"You know you just prolonged his death, right?" Reno asked from his seat. You sat down, glaring daggers at him. You told yourself you were going to behave and play it safe. However, that didn't last long. 

"I haven't prolonged anything. He'll make it out," you said sharply, with confidence you had doubts about backing up. You vowed that you would escape before you would even have to face your father again.

"You can tell yourself that," Reno scoffed.

What is the matter with you?" you said coldly. "The Reno I knew would never talk about death like this, or speak so morbidly."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but people change a little when they're betrayed." That word stung so bad; betrayed. Especially coming rolling off Reno's tongue, towards you. You knew you were in the right, but it still hurt a good deal.

"I didn't 'betray' anyone, so come off it already! And if I did, it certainly wasn't you!" You shot back. "You know I had a good reason for what I did. The world doesn't revolve around you or ShinRa, so stop bitching and moaning!" He went to talk over you, but you interrupted him. "Honestly, how did you of all people become so low? Destroying not one, but two cities for your paycheck!"

Reno let out a frustrated growl and turned toward you, getting ready to tell you off. Rude cleared his throat in an emphatic manner and stuck his arm out in front of Reno. He just wore a disgusted look and minded himself. "You're lucky I'm not allowed to hit the president's daughter. Don't know why that guy even wants you still. He has two other kids after all."

You ignored his comment, knowing you were the best thing ShinRa created. You always felt that you were better than Lazard and Rufus, since you had an open mind. One outside of business and paychecks and being a follower. 

As the helicopter ascended, you saw Cloud running across the platform towards Biggs who was in critical condition now. Cloud hadn't noticed the helicopter, but Biggs was still staring in the direction it went. He turned toward Cloud and they began talking (inaudibly to you, obviously). This was all you saw before the other floors blocked your few and the helicopter scoured the pillar for more Avalanche members. 

Eventually, once again ambling up the stairs was Cloud. He was face to face with the helicopter, the light blinding him. He backed away, shielding his eyes and peering into the windshield. 

Reno cleared his throat. "Testing... testing. Ahem... Attention Avalanche scum! We know all about your even plan to destroy the pillar. But the Turks-- uh, I mean, ShinRa--that's us-- won't let you get away with it. So don't you go back to whatever hole you crawled out of. Or something."

"That ought to do it, right?" Reno said, looking over at Rude, who just grunted in response. Reno glanced at you again but looked away with a smug look and sat back, studying the figure in front of him. He slowly leaned forward. "Wait, I know you... Mister First Class..." He then took ahold of the copter's turret operator, chuckling a bit to himself. "First-class asshole! Gotcha now!" He began firing at Cloud. You got up from your seat for a better view and watched Cloud evade the bullets. 

"What are you doing? Sit back down," Rude said. 

"President's daughter. I don't take orders from you," you reminded him smugly. Reno shot a glare at you and turned his attention back to Cloud. 

"You ain't got nowhere to run!" Bullets bounced off the steps as Cloud climbed them, causing sparks to fly. Cloud took cover behind a few metal cylinders. Reno fired at them, sitting back once again. 

Reno looked at Rude who nodded and flipped one of the switches on the control panel. "Throw down your weapon and surrender immediately," Rude ordered. "ShinRa does not negotiate with terrorists." He then turned the switch off and adjusted his glasses.

Reno just stared at him for a second, laughing under his breath. He took ahold of the turret control once again. "Man, screw this cheap ass play." The helicopter approached the pillar, shooting down the canisters Cloud was hiding behind.

"Pop your head out and let me finish this already..." Reno growled. He sat back again with his arms behind his head. 

"Stairs." Rude pointed out.

"Huh?"

Out of your peripheral vision, you saw Tifa coming up the stairs.
"Two birds and one shitload of bullets!" Reno prepared to fire at her, when suddenly the helicopter jerked to the side. "Hey!"
You lost your balance and fell over Reno, who hit his head against the window. He shot blindly as he recovered, hitting the stairs, which eventually gave out to the gunfire and collapsed. 

"Tifa--!" you cried as she reached out to Cloud, who thankfully caught her and pulled her up to cover. 

Reno rubbed his head, groaning. You both looked over at Rude.

"Dammit! You wanna explain yourself, partner?" Reno snapped.

"Hand slipped..." Rude shrugged. You and Reno looked at each other. You were still against the window as well, incidentally blocking his view. He scoffed and pushed you away, his hand hitting your wound, causing you to cry out in pain. 
"What's this?" he asked. "That couldn't have hurt that bad," he observed before lifting up your shirt, just enough to see your bandaged side. The stitched wound had broke open underneath and blood was beginning to soak through. 
You stumbled to the side and caught yourself on Rude's seat, pulling your shirt back down. "Jerk!"

"Put a cork in it, princess," Reno barked. "I'm tryna do my job here." You both glared at each other and he sat back once again. 

"We'll meet them at the top," Rude said. "If they make it."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," Reno scoffed and they began ascending once again to the top of the pillar. You crouched in between their seats and watched the fighting. Suddenly, an explosion went off about a floor higher than your current altitude. It was in mid-air, so you thought it had to be a grenade. And grenades normally meant Jessie. 

"Jessie!" you called, standing up. Some of the scaffolding on that floor came crashing down. "No!" 

"Didn't I say can it?" Reno snapped. 

"I don't care!" you roared, hauling back to hit him. Rude caught your wrist behind you, twisting it slightly, causing you to yelp. "Ow, ow!" 

"The last thing we need is infighting," Rude muttered, not letting go of your wrist. 

"You say that like I work here. Don't let me in with you!" you shot back, struggling in his grip. You grabbed his wrist back and twisted yourself out of the lock, causing him to let out a small grunt of pain. This was a move Biggs had taught you when you started learning self-defense with the Neighborhood Watch and training together. 

"She actually does have some bite on her," Reno said, slightly surprised. "I bet your boyfriend taught you that one, didn't he?"

"Yeah," you replied turning away from Rude, panting, "he did." Reno scoffed and looked away. 

"Just sit down, princess," he ordered. As much as you hated giving him the satisfaction of obeying him, you sat down anyway. You were going to wait for your window. There was no doubt they'd get into a dust-up on the top of the pillar. You just needed them to land and then you'd fulfill your promise.

Soon enough, the helicopter reached the top of the pillar where Barret was firing like a madman. "I ain't done with you yet! You hear me!?"

Reaching the top shortly after was Cloud and Tifa. The staircase gave way behind them and they barely made it onto the platform. They both rushed over to Barret and took cover. 

Dammit! You thought. That was my way out to evacuate the others. 

You figured you'd find a way down one way or another. Reno got up from his seat and walked over to the door, looking at you. "You stay right there, princess." He then opened the door and crouched slightly, watching the fight. "Time for a rematch, huh..." he murmured with a smirk and looked at his parter. "Rude!"

Rude complied and passed Reno his weapon, which he caught in a dramatic manner behind his head. You sat back and rolled your eyes. He stood up, tapping it against his shoulder as the helicopter approached the platform. Cloud looked over and narrowed his eyes. "You..."

"It's nothing personal... bitch!" Reno snarled as he jumped down. You scooted across the backseats and watched him, wide-eyed. Cloud noticed you and turned towards the others, telling them something you could no longer hear. Reno hauled back his weapon, swinging it. Cloud blocked, his sword behind big enough for Reno to land on. 

Reno jumped back and landed close to the railing. Cloud swung, only for Reno to duck under it. "Missed me!" You watched as he made off for the control panel. But when Cloud pursued him, Rude shot in front of him, almost as if drawing a line that Cloud could not cross. Except with bullets. 

The next thing you knew, a speaker chanted: "Plate separation authorized. Awaiting confirmation. Plate separation authorized. Awaiting confirmation." As Reno went to press the button, Cloud came up behind him, only to be blocked once again. The four broke out into a fight as the Rude backed off for a while.

You came up and sat in Reno's seat for a better view. Rude gave you a stern look. "Don't touch anything." He ordered. 

"Wouldn't dream of it," you sneered. You wouldn't know what to touch anyway. You were good on a motorcycle, not in a helicopter. 

The others seemed to be doing a number on Reno. You weren't sure if you should feel bad or just laugh. Rude steered the chopper closer to the platform once again and began pressing a few buttons. "Prepping for a bomb run, how copy?"

You saw Reno look at the copter with a shocked look, saying something inaudibly to himself. He then sprinted off and jumped the fence, hiding behind a few crates. The helicopter swooped over the platform, dropping bombs.

"Are you crazy!?" you yelled. "Stop it, you're gonna kill them!" You stood up and reached for the controls, but he pushed you back down into your seat

"It's why we're here," Rude reminded you bluntly. You growled. "Besides, if you press something wrong, you could be the one to kill them." He turned his attention back to Avalanche. "Run complete. Reloading."

The others began attacking the helicopter to stagger the bombings. You heard Rude exclaim and curse as the helicopter went out of control. Barret had shot out the propellers. 
"We're gonna crash!" you shrieked and covered your head, preparing for the absolute worst. The helicopter collided with the platform and you flew into the back as it exploded. The momentum sent you out and you slid across the grating floor, with not even enough time to scream. 

"[F/N]!" Tifa called, running over to you. You could feel some blood trickling down your cheek from your forehead as you sat up, groaning. 

You gasped and snapped back to your senses. "Tifa!" You exclaimed, grabbing her hand. "Where are the others?" You asked, panting. Tifa looked a little shocked by your sudden outburst but looked down with a sad look. 

"Jessie... she..." 
You already knew what she meant, and looked away. 

"Where is she?" you asked. There was still hope. All you promised was to make it to Sector 5, but now you felt you could do more. Even though you sustained more injuries along the way. 

"She's a few stories down, but please don't try to be a hero. You'll never make it in time," she pleaded as you stood up. "The stairs are collapsing, you're injured, and there's--"

"I have to try," you said. "They haven't authorized the separation yet," you pointed out. "Once they do, we still have five minutes for the initiation to complete. We can still save more people." Tifa gave you an appalled look, tears beading her eyes. You were trying to hold some back yourself.
"I promise I'll get them out of here. Just buy me some time." You looked down and swallowed a lump in your throat. "I really don't think we'll succeed in stopping them. The truth is, we can't win here. But we can still save more people. Please, make it out if anything." 

Tifa went to say more, but you turned and ran off. "Cloud, I need your grappling gun!"

"What are you doing--?" Cloud began

"Just give her the damn gun!" Barret roared. Cloud cringed and tossed you his grappling gun. 

"Oh, no you don't!" Reno snapped, sprinting after you. You jumped as he went to tackle you, and he missed as you caught the gun mid-air and fell over the side. You were wide-eyed, almost regretting your decision. 

"[F/N]!!" your friends hollered. 

Using a grappling gun was never ideal. Really, you'd only ever use one when someone else was with you to make sure you wouldn't fall, but right now you needed a way down. Falling had this strange feeling to it. The air seemed to catch in your throat, but you were too overcome by instinct to let yourself choke up on that. You fired the grappling hook at the scaffolding above the floor you knew Jessie was on. 

You landed on an unstable railing and quickly jumped onto the platform, wincing as you landed on your bad leg. The adrenaline had taken a great deal of pain away though, and you spotted Jessie right away. She was leaning against a piece of fallen rubble. Her head was tilted to the side. 

You dashed toward her, but suddenly a ghost-like shadow blocked your path. You started throwing punches at it, knowing it was what kept you from throwing off the one officer's shot from earlier. The darkness of the specter's face met yours and you backed away, stumbling, when suddenly it disappeared. 

Not skipping a beat, you immediately dashed towards Jessie, sliding on your knees next to her and quickly feeling for a pulse. You heard her exhale as soon as you felt the beating of her heart. It was slow and scarce, but you had a feeling she'd pull through. She would be too stubborn to let these injuries take it out of her. Too stubborn to die at ShinRa's hands. She was always stuck up like that. 

"Jessie..." you sniveled. You grabbed her and pulled her to her feet and crouched down, moving her over your shoulders military-style. You didn't take another breath before racing down the stairways that weren't destroyed. 

You were eventually met with the staircase that Reno shot down. You peered down at the other stories of the pillar, panting. All you could do now was grapple down, but could you with Jessie? It was your only option so in the head of the moment, you decided you could.

 You sat her down against a column and removed her bandana from her head, taking her grappling gun as well. You turned and sat against her, draping her hands over your shoulders and tying them together at your chest. 

You lifted her up as if giving her a piggyback ride. She was leaning back, but her hands were tied firmly around you. She wouldn't be letting go, but her limp body was almost choking you. You turned your head to the side for air and inhaled sharply, holding your breath as you jumped through the gap in the stairs. You quickly twisted your body and used both guns to catch you. You did this multiple times, taking breaks in between.
The plan was to descend as many floors as possible and get Jessie out before you would go back for Biggs. There was no way you were getting them both down at once. 

Eventually, you reached the bottom. You could feel how the lack of air was taking its toll on you. You finally adjusted Jessie's position on your back and ducked through the chain link fence. You gasped for air as her weight shifted off your throat. Despite this, something new invaded your airways; smoke. 

"Please help!!" you hollered. "Anybody, please help!!" A few Watch members came out as you fell to the ground, untying Jessie's hands and laying her down. You coughed with a hand on your throat. Your adrenaline was dying down and all the pain in your body began returning. 

"[F/N]?! Are you okay?" one of the guys asked. "What happened up there?"

"The Turks are preparing to initiate the plate separation. You have only a little over five minutes before it comes crashing down!" you choked out. "Please get Jessie out of here. I'm going back up."

"You're crazy!" one of them exclaimed, helping you to your feet. Another picked Jessie up. "You have too many injuries to go back up. Didn't Biggs turn you over to Marle?"

"He did, but that's not important right now," you insisted. You broke away from the one guy's grasp and ran back to the pillar, protecting your face from the dust, smoke, and fire. You waved it out of your face as you raced up the stairs that weren't severed. You could feel your strength declining rapidly. Blood was trickling from multiple places that you never realized were wounded. 

"Plate separation initiated. Plate separation initiating. Commencing separation sequence. Section 1 separation imminent. Evacuate immediately. Plate separation initiated. "

You heard this announcement just a few levels before you made it Biggs was supposed to be on, arriving almost two minutes after. Only thing was, he wasn't there. You stopped, resting against a post. Your eyes were wide and your brows were knitted together with a tired look. You stared at where he used to be sitting and fell to your knees. 

Pieces of the plate were already falling around the pillar. You keeled over in pain, sobbing with your head against the metal floor. Were you on the wrong floor? Did you miss him? Or was he dead already? You thought of any scenario that wasn't positive. 

Overall, you had broken your promise. Doubts raised in your mind that you would ever see Sector 5 again. That familiar ringing in your ears came from the night of the first reactor bombing. 

"[F/N]!" The man from the Neighborhood Watch had followed you up, shouting your name. You sat up on your knees, looking at him. Your knees gave out and you hit your head on the floor, knocking you unconscious. 

~~~~~~~~

3109 words sheeeesh. Lots of things that transpired in this chapter where physically impossible but it is a video game so like yeah bye