Guilt’s Cost: Part XC

Rayna’s Problem

Porter fidgeted nervously as he stood with the ASRIO members waiting for Rayna to show up. He kept casting worried glances up to the lab level of the building, fearing that Hojo would notice what was going on. Fortunately, the scientist was currently so engrossed in working on Vincent that Porter could be spray painting obscenities on the side of the building and Hojo wouldn’t notice.

Reno kept his arms crossed over his chest looking genuinely annoyed. He only wanted to get Tifa back into the hotel room where he knew she would be safe. She might be able to trust the Turk, but there was no way that Reno was going to so quickly. He fully expected an army of guards to burst forth from the building at any moment.

Jaras stood staring down at the ground, growing ever more depressed that Tifa had yet to acknowledge his existence. He knew that she was in a highly excited emotional state at the moment, but still a simply smile or hello would have been nice.

Tifa heard Jaras sigh loudly as they continued waiting and she looked over to him seeing his dark expression. She took a few steps over toward him, wondering what was on his mind. "Jaras?"

He looked up from the ground and was a little surprised to see her so close. His expression at once brightened. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, pretty much." She managed a smile for him. "Thanks for coming here."

Jaras felt a blush upon his cheeks and looked away. "It was the least I could do."

"Who else is here?" Tifa asked, hoping to keep the conversation between them light.

"Ericson, Morris, and Angel." He said quietly, glancing over his shoulder, trying to remain vigilant.

Tifa furrowed her brow. "What about Zale?"

Jaras’s expression fell, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he hadn’t come back from the last mission.

Reno turned to look at her. "He’s dead."

Tifa covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh God, he was killed?"

"Yes." Reno answered flatly, still bearing the guilt of the young man’s death. He wanted to ask Tifa about what had happened in the lab, but a woman’s voice drew his attention back to Porter.

Ranya walked briskly up to Porter’s side, giving him a shy smile still feeling a little giddy from their actions the night before. "Hey Porter."

The Turk grinned widely and put his arm around her shoulders. He knew he was doing the right thing. "These are the people I wanted you to meet."

Rayna examined the trio before her, noticing the dress of the two men. "You guys are Turks?"

Reno scoffed. "Not exactly."

Tifa extended her hand toward the brunette. "Hello, nice to meet you."

Rayna returned the handshake firmly. "I’m Rayna."

Porter brought his lips close to his mate’s ear. "Rayna, they are from ASRIO."

"What?" Rayna gasped. She knew associating with members of that organization was strictly forbidden by Shin Ra and punishable by death.

Porter could see the concern well up within her, and he took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Rayna, they are here to help us. Hojo has put an implant in you that will kill you if anything happens to him. They can get it out."

"But, how?" Rayna’s mind raced, wondering about how the madman could have put such a thing into her. The memory of the night she passed out at her desk after taking the coffee from him arose, and she unconsciously placed a hand over the site of the wound she had incurred then. Any doubt she had about Porter’s words at once vanished. Her knees buckled under her.

As she started to drop, Porter easily caught and supported her, holding her against him. "They can get it out, Rayna. Don’t worry, please trust me." He looked over to Reno and Tifa. "What now?"

Reno let his arms fall to his sides. The thought of bringing a Turk to their stake out room wasn’t his first choice, but he couldn’t think of another. If this woman’s life did hang in the balance, then they would have to get her to Angel quickly. "Come on."

They quickly made their way back to the hotel, with Porter leading his crying girlfriend gently behind the others.

By the time they got to the hotel room, Angel had woken up and was sitting over by the window with Ericson and Morris. All three of them were quite curious as to what was going on as they watched the Turk come along with the ASRIO members.

Reno opened the door to the room and everyone filed in. Porter sat Rayna down on the bed and sat beside her. Angel approached Tifa directly, concerned as to what she may have been subjected to in the lab.

"Tifa, are you okay?" Angel asked after a quick embrace, very much concerned about her friend.

She nodded slightly. "Yeah, I’m okay now. Hojo did some sort of surgery on my to get eggs, that’s it."

Angel’s eyes went wide. "Eggs? He harvested your eggs? Did he say why?"

Tifa hung her head. "The Neo-Jenova Project."

"Holy shit." Reno came up beside Tifa. "He’s really going to try it?"

Porter knew that he should volunteer any and all information to these people. "Hojo has been searching for a suitable female to donate eggs for the project for a long time. Once he realized that Ms. Valentine was suitable, he came up with the plan to lure her into the lab."

"So what was all that shit about Cloud being alive?" Reno narrowed his eyes in curiosity.

"Cloud is dead, and has been since his suicide in New Nibleheim a while back. Shin Ra agents learned of his death via the implant that was in Ms. Valentine and they claimed his body." Porter hung his head in shame, having taken part in these activities. "Hojo got a hold of the body and somehow wired it into a computer, making it walk and talk, seeming to be alive."

All those present except for Tifa were shocked to hear this and a hush fell over the room.

Tifa looked over at Angel. "Hojo has put some sort of implant into this woman, and if anything happens to him, she’ll die. You need to get it out."

Angel knew how difficult some of the Shin Ra implants were to get out. "I don’t know if I can, I’ll have to see where it is first."

Angel knelt before Rayna and looked into her tear filled eyes. "Can you show me where the implant is?"

With her hands trembling badly, Rayna lifted up the right side of her blouse, exposing the side of her abdomen. The small scar that she bore from the night she passed out was easily found. She pointed at it. "Here, I think."

Angel reached out and felt the area. There was a small hard object placed just below the skin and she knitted her brows. "It seems to be fairly superficial. I think I can get it."

Porter sighed in relief. "Really?"

Angel stood back up and strode over to the dresser where she had set her medical bag. She returned to the bedside. "Lay down on you left side. I’m going to use a local anesthetic and then get it out of you."

Rayna looked at Porter with fear in her eyes. He reassured her with a smile and a nod and got up so she could lay down as ordered. Porter then knelt down on the floor and took Rayna’s hands into his own. "It will be okay."

Angel drew up a small amount of lidocaine and got out the few items she would need for the procedure. She climbed onto the bed and sat on her knees behind Rayna. She gently scrubbed the area and then prepared to inject it with the lidocaine to numb it. "Okay, this is going to sting a little."

Rayna’s grip on Porter’s hands tightened almost painfully as the medication was injected under her skin. The burn was intense, but only lasted for a second and soon she couldn’t feel anything.

Angel set the syringe down and laid out a small drape on the bed beside her. She dumped out a scalpel blade, handle, and a package of suture onto it before slipping on a pair of gloves. Angel snapped the blade onto the scalpel handle and prepared to make the small incision.

Porter watched from the floor with great anxiety as he saw Rayna’s side opened. The cut Angel made was only about an inch long, but to him it seemed much bigger.

Angel applied a little pressure to either side of the incision and the small implant popped right out. She grabbed it with a piece of gauze and placed it onto the drape. "It’s out, I just have to close the wound now."

Rayna drew a jagged breath of relief and smiled at Porter. "Thank you."

Angel quickly placed three sutures and then pulled off her gloves. "That’s it."

Rayna sat up and inspected the tiny surgery site. It wasn’t as bad as she was expecting and she was extremely grateful.

Angel picked up the implant to give it a proper inspection. It was about the size of a pea. It was simple in appearance, looking like little more than a tiny cylinder. There was a small aperture on the side, and if the signal were received from Hojo, it would open, dispensing its deadly contents into its victim.

Reno and Jaras looked down to see the device as well. Once they had a good look, Angel offered it to Rayna. "Do you want it?"

Rayna shied away as it was held out to her. "No, I don’t even want to see it."

Angel smiled and retrieved a small vial from her bag. She dropped the implant into it and replaced the top. "So much for that."

Rayna looked over at Porter. "Now what?"

"I don’t know." Porter said, turning his gaze back to Reno.

"She should probably get back to work." Reno sighed. "If anyone notices that she’s gone for the rest of the day, someone might get suspicious."

Rayna nodded and stood back up. "You’re probably right."

Porter moved to go with her, but Reno grabbed his arm. "You can’t go back yet. You’re supposed to be taking Tifa to the train station, if I recall."

"Oh, yeah." Porter looked at Rayna with concern. "Are you all right to go back alone?"

Rayna smiled weakly and nodded. "Yes, I’ll be fine."

"Okay." Porter took a few steps forward and gave her a brief kiss. "After work, go straight home. I’ll come for you as soon as I can."

Rayna agreed, and slipped out of the room.

Reno checked his watch. "You probably have about fifteen minutes or so before he’s gonna expect you back. I suggest you spent that time telling us how you’re going to help."

"First, tell me what your plan was." Porter sat heavily on the edge of the bed.

"Me and the guys were going to walk in pretending to be Turks, make our way to the lab, grab Vinny and get to the roof and meet our chopper. I figure the lady birds can wait on the roof of the hotel and we can pick them up and bail." Reno said, quite proud of his plan.

Porter shook his head. "You’re just going to walk in, pretending to be Turks?"

"Yeah." Reno said curtly.

"What kind of plan is that?" Porter was growing worried over the competence of his new associates. "Turk or not, the guards at the front aren’t going to recognize you and they won’t let you pass with out I.D."

The thought of anyone challenging a Turk like that in Reno’s day would have been out of the question, but times had changed. "So, what’s your suggestion?"

"If they saw you entering with a Turk they recognize they wouldn’t harass you." Porter said thoughtfully.

Reno raised his eyebrows, realizing that Porter just might be more useful than he thought. "We were going to go in tonight."

Porter nodded and glanced down looking for his dog, finding him sleeping on the corner of the bed. "All right, here’s what I’ll do. I get off work at five, six if Hojo decides to give me any crap about leaving. Once I’m free, I’ll come here and meet up with you guys, then we’ll make our move."

Tifa crossed her arms. "Reno, I’m going with you."

"No way, Tifa." Reno turned to her. "You’re in no shape to do this, and you don’t have anything to wear to make you fit in as a Turk."

"I’m fine, and I have all day to go pick up a suit." Tifa was not about to leave the rescue of the man she loved up to anyone other than herself.

Jaras couldn’t help but protest. "Tifa, I think Reno is right. You shouldn’t go back in there."

"But I have to help Vincent!" Tifa stamped her foot, her face growing red with frustration.

Jaras placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Tifa, do you think Vincent would want you to go back in there? If anything happened to you while trying to help him he wouldn’t be able to live with it. Besides, you don’t know what we’re going to find when we get to him. God only knows what Hojo has done."

Tifa looked over pleadingly at Porter, hoping to find any information about Vincent’s status. "Have you seen him?"

The vision of the dismembered man strapped to the table was forever imprinted into Porter’s mind. "I have, and I think it’s best if the others go and get him."

Tifa’s eyes filled with tears and she began to shake. "What has he done? I know about the arm, has he done something else?"

Porter hung his head, and just repeated his last remark. "I think the other’s should retrieve him, that’s all."

Tifa’s hands were drawn up to her mouth and she felt sick. There was something in Porter’s tone that terrified her. She started to feel weak.

Jaras saw Tifa’s deteriorating condition and dared to take her in his arms. He couldn’t bear to see her in this much pain.

Tifa gave in to Jaras’s embrace and buried her face in his chest. Her body was wracked with sobs, and she prayed that Vincent would be all right.

Reno had to turn away from the spectacle as he too was hurt by Tifa’s pain. He looked back at Porter. "You should probably go now."

Porter rose up from the bed and nodded. "Okay, I’ll be back tonight."

Reno watched as the Turk retreated, finally feeling like he could be trusted. "All right, see you then."