A/N: This is my first serious fanfic. This is a Clerith, Zerith, and Cloti fic. This takes place in Crisis Core. It shows what would have happened if Zack hadn't decided to tell the guy driving the truck to pull over so he could fight the entire army. This will be told through several view points. Oh, and I have a beta reader now, chibipinkbunny, so you can expect to see better spelling and grammar. This means thought and this means writing. Now, on to the story!!

But first, Disclaimer: None of the characters in this story are mine; they all belong to Square Enix.

Chapter 1: Abandonment

(Revised 5-11-10)

Two dust-covered friends rode in the back of a yellow pick-up truck. One of them had hair that was as black as a raven's feathers, while the other man had light blond hair that looked like a chocobo's rear end; they were named Zack and Cloud respectively. The latter had a case of Mako poisoning and was in a deplorable semi-conscious state.

They were on their way to Midgar, where Zack's girlfriend lived. He desperately missed her and hoped that she was still waiting for him. Zack was thinking of ideas about what they would do when they got to Midgar and he quickly relayed his thoughts to his friend. He wasn't sure whether the blond man could hear him, but he needed someone to talk to or he would go insane.

"Of course!" He said as he pumped his fist in the air. "I got a lot of brains and skill that other guys don't!" He looked over at Cloud. "That settles it!" He puffed his chest out and paused for dramatic effect. "I'm gonna become a mercenary!" He leaned a little closer to Cloud. "So, Cloud? What are YOU gonna do?"

"u... uhhh......" was Cloud's response. Zack couldn't help but smile a little as Cloud's head lolled to the side.

"Just kidding... I wouldn't leave you hanging like that," he said as he fixed Cloud's head so that he was looking at him.

"We're friends right?" he asked. The silence was all he needed to hear. He broke out into one of his famous puppy-dog smiles. He shook his head and then stood up and turned around to rest his left arm on the cab of the truck.

"Hey pops are we there yet?" he asked. He was lazily watching the big desert rocks pass by and the blue sky stretch overhead. Then there was the sound of a gun shot. There was only a second to react. Zack's eyes glimpsed a flash of light on metal. It was a ShinRa brand helicopter. He saw the pilots inside the helicopter. Zack knew that the pilots weren't aiming for him. After all, he was Zack Fair ex-SOLDIER 1st class, and could easily defend himself. Instead they were aiming for his comatose friend, who couldn't even move. He whirled around and grabbed Cloud's head. He just managed to pull it out of the way just as the bullet whizzed past.

Zack PoV

There wasn't a second to waste. Thinking as fast as I could, I picked Cloud up and knocked on the back window of the truck. The driver inside turned around and opened it up. I slipped Cloud in through the window and he landed directly onto the front seat.

"I'm sorry, Cloud," was all I said before I closed the window and turned towards the offending helicopter. It was behind the truck now, so I should be able to fight it without harming the truck or its passengers. I pulled out a fire materia and focused all of my energy into casting it. My arm glowed orange and a fiery aura surrounded it.

I smirked "Guess it's time for a final showdown, huh?" I shot a fireball at the helicopter causing it to fall out of the sky and crash. But that one was quickly replaced with two more. I could also see several military trucks coming my way.

This is going to be harder than I thought. The pick-up truck limited the space I had to move around in, so I was an easy target. I couldn't just stay stationary and throw magic at them. I glanced at my DMW watch, which said that I was low on MP and then I took one last look over my shoulder at the form sitting in the front seat of the car, his spiky hair was just visible through the tinted glass of the window.

"Goodbye spiky," I whispered quietly, "and good luck." Those where my final words to him before they left. I jumped off the truck and then used a boost materia to lunge straight at a helicopter. The buster sword sliced through it as though it was butter. I landed on both of my feet and the helicopter landed in front of me. It exploded in a flurry of flames. I turned around and looked longingly at the yellow truck that was slowly disappearing into the distance. I glanced behind me to see that the military trucks were almost to the spot where I stood. I prepared myself for the fight of my life. This is it! I thought.

"Bring it on!" I shouted as I lunged at the nearest truck.

Cloud PoV

I opened my eyes and everything was in various shades of green and black. I could see perfectly clear, but the mako distorted all the colors. It was like waking up from a coma only I knew that I had only been sleeping for a few hours. My memory was a little fuzzy for a while because I had just woken up, but soon I was able to recall all that had happened within the last year. I couldn't stop my body from involuntarily shivering at the mere thought of Hojo and his horrific lab. I was glad that Zack and I were able to escape, even if it meant that I would have to suffer this accursed condition. I noticed that there seemed to be something that was absent from my surroundings: something that was always there before. Without it I felt strangely empty, like all the warmth had been sucked out of me.

I was in a truck now, moving, moving fast. Beside me was a big burly figure. He must be driving the truck. But where was Zack?

"Z-Z-Zack?" I just barely whispered, my faint voice tinged with fear. The driver looked over to me. "Sorry," he said, "your friend Zack isn't here." Then he turned his attention back to the road. I was surprised, even though I knew I shouldn't be. Zack has abandoned me! I thought. Well, I guess I wouldn't blame him, I'm just dead weight. I'm no use to him. But for some reason I couldn't believe it. That Zack would just abandon me like that. So, I decided to ask the truck driver.

"A-a-abandon?" I said trying to get it all out at once. The burly man reached over and ruffled my hair before putting his hand back on the steering wheel.

"No, I won't abandon ya," The truck driver answered. He apparently misunderstood me so, I took a deep, painful, breath and tried again.

"Zack a-abandon?" I struggled to say. The driver looked over at me again. This time he had a sad look in his eyes.

"No, your friend didn't abandon you. He had to fight off our pursuers so that I can get you to safety." He paused, then sighed, "not sure what I'm gonna do with you though." He turned to the road and stared at it for a few minutes, thinking.

"I know, I'll take you to that one girl's house! She used to know me, and she was Zack's girlfriend a long time ago. That was way back when I had my materia shop though and I'm not sure if she's still there." He looked pleased with himself. "But, if she is, I'll take you there. I'm pretty sure she'll take good care of you"

Chapter 1: End

A/N: Chapter 1 is finally revised! I think it sounds a lot better now. This story is much longer now but, it's still pretty short x.x. I finally got done with Chapter 9 and I should be posting it soon! I also like positive reviews or reviews telling me what parts of the story don't sound right. Because, 'how am I going to correct my mistakes if I don't know what I did wrong?' Anyway, my grammar is much better now, right? I will try to update soon. This story is inspired by Chibipinkbunny's In the Shadow of Freedom and Jediempress' End of HeartacheFanfics.