Ari ran down the Shinra Mansion's corridor, trying to keep up with the man in front of her.

"Wait a minute, Johno!" Ari called crossly as her so-called supervisor continued to walk away. He entered the lab and she sprinted to catch up. That jerk still wasn't taking her internship seriously!

Before she could enter the room and continue her lecture, she heard a loud crack.

She saw Johno crash into the bench in the middle of the room. There was another crunch of bone and he slid to the ground, a dead weight.

And it wasn't just an expression, he was actually dead, Ari realised. She glanced at the black clad man, who had trails of bright green mako running over him. He turned his glowing eyes on her and she screamed and backed into the wall.

He dropped to his hands and knees and coughed up a glowing green lump. He staggered back to his feet and wiped his mouth. She knew there was no point in trying to run from one of these monstrous experiments.

The man ignored her, choosing instead to release his companion from the mako tube. The man grabbed his companion's shoulders and shook him. "Cloud?" he asked hoarsely, before coughing up more green goop. "Speak to me!" he demanded and released him. The blond one simply fell as Johno had earlier.

The dark haired guy felt his pulse then shook his shoulder, gentler this time. "Come on buddy, I know you're in there somewhere," he glanced around the room, then suddenly seemed to remember Ari was there. "Just a sec."

"W-wait! I know what's wrong with him! But it's not something that we can just fix overnight," she lied through her teeth.

"Well we're not staying here. You work on him on the move or I'll get rid of you," he said. She gulped and nodded. She had always learnt quickly, but she had come here to experience lab work, not maintain specimens.

"Ok, but I think we should stay here for a night or two," she carried on despite his menacing glare. "It's mako poisoning." Something any idiot could tell from here. "The fastest way to get it off him is to shower him. Since he's come this far in the testing, he must be tough. He'll sweat it out quickly, but will need to be showered every few hours, or it will just be reabsorbed. We can deal with the withdrawal symptoms when he's more conscious."

"Fine," he eventually agreed. "We'll stay in the mansion. But you will not leave my sight. If anyone else gets wind of this and we get cornered, you will be the first to go."

"Got it," she murmured and stood slowly. "I'll get spare clothes and bed sheets. We're going to need them," she said and nodded at the blond by way of explanation. She discretely grabbed the folders off the table that pertained to the subjects and their condition. Hopefully she would find useful information to fuel her bluff.

He hefted the massive sword that was lying on the ground onto his back. Ari had no idea where that had come from. He slung the blond's arm around his shoulders and followed her.

The younger man seemed to be stepping along with him, but wasn't supporting his own weight, or registering his surroundings. The pair followed Ari up the spiral staircase. She glanced through their files as she went, hoping the man behind her wouldn't realise why she was looking at them so closely.

Soon she learnt she had 1st Class SOLDIER operative Zack Fair and the next Sephiroth behind her. What she didn't understand was why she had been put here for work experience. Surely it was way too dangerous? But the Jenova cells explained why the one named Cloud Strife wasn't dead yet.

They stepped out into the bedroom the entrance to the basement was hidden in. There was an ensuite and spare linens in the cupboards. "Ok, erm, I believe there are spare Soldier uniforms in the bedroom at the end of the hall. You can both get changed into those after showering, I guess."

"Wait here a minute Cloud," Fair said to his comatose friend as he sat him upon the bed. "Come on, there's no way I'm leaving you alone," he said, indicating she should follow.

She nodded and took the lead up the hall. The monsters that lived here fought each other more than the human residents, so Shinra had basically told its scientists to suck it up. To her shock, a group of what Johno not-so-affectionately called 'Dorkys' began flying at the dark haired man. A sweep of the huge sword was enough to take them all out.

Ari shivered, wondering what she was playing at here. That would be her as soon as the other one woke up. Or as soon as he didn't wake up. Or as soon as she gave him reason to distrust her. She hugged the folders tightly and stepped into the room hurriedly.

"Don't worry, I can take care of them," he said, as though she should be more concerned about the monsters than him. "You live with these things or what?"

"They don't try to attack me," she replied shortly as she unlocked the cupboard. She made sure she had at least three of each piece for each man, in a reasonable size, before closing it and going to the next one. Towels, flannels and for some reason the pillow cases were in there. She took it all, just in case.

"I can't take chances with the Shinra science department. There is no way either of us is getting back in those tanks. How many weeks has it been, anyway?"

"Since you were put in the tank?" At his nod she awkwardly flipped his file open with one hand. "You were admitted nearly four years ago."

Fair visibly blanched and snatched the folder, tearing it in two when he tried to open it up. "Four years of our lives, gone!? Why the hell did Shinra think we would still work for them once these experiments were done?"

"I-I don't know!" she cried, cringing away from the angry, frighteningly strong man. The glowing goop that was still spread over him wasn't helping with reducing the fear factor. This could have been taken straight from a horror film. "Maybe there's a reason Strife is in the state he is. I only got here last week, and I've only been with Shinra for three."

He paused and very carefully put the damaged folder back in her hands. "So you aren't involved in this? Why did you say you knew what was wrong with Cloud?"

She mentally slapped herself. "You would have killed me too, otherwise."

He hesitated and turned away, not denying it. "Let's go back. What if the monsters think Cloud is one of them too, and start attacking him?"

She nodded and followed. They quickly barricaded themselves in the bedroom before anything else could find them. She dropped everything from her overloaded arms onto the large desk in the corner of the room. Fair had Strife supported against him again. She tried to hand Fair a towel and a uniform for each of them.

"I said I'm not leaving you alone. I'm sure you have a panic button somewhere. Come into the bathroom and stay where I can see you," he said as they moved to the ensuite.

She sighed and complied. "If you try to watch me when it's my turn to shower, I'll beat you up."

He laughed, too loudly, as he nudged the door open. "I'd like to see that!" He became more serious. "But unless you have an implant, I think I can allow you that much privacy."

Ari turned the light and fan on behind them, and put the towels and clothes within their reach. Fair put the blond down and stripped off his mako soaked clothes. Ari glanced away politely. Her fellow female scientists had joked she would soon get used to seeing naked, attractive men, but three weeks wasn't enough to make her completely apathetic.

She toed the laundry basket in his direction, and the slap of wet clothes against the plastic indicated he was making good use of it. A few more heavy slaps, and they both stepped into the shower. Fair didn't bother drawing the curtain. Ari sat on the stool and began going through Strife's folder more closely.

She found a draft of his recovery plan and was glad to see her guesses and common sense had mostly been correct. As for what she could make out from Fair's folder, he was a lot tougher than they had given him credit for. The fact he was alive, let alone conscious, was amazing in itself.

The water was shut off and she threw the towels in their direction without looking up. "There was some truth to my earlier bullshitting. We should stay here as long as it's safe, so we can shower him every three or four hours."

"Well I feel fantastic now. How about you Cloud?" He smiled tightly at the complete lack of response. "I'll take that as: yes, thanks Zack."

He spread a towel on the floor and sat Cloud on it. He immediately flopped back against the bathroom cupboard. Zack got changed before beginning the difficult task of clothing an unconscious person.

"So, you probably know everything about me after reading that. What's your name?" He winced when Cloud's head fell back against the cupboard with a solid thump. "Sorry Cloudy, wasn't paying attention." The blonde man's brow twitched slightly before his blank expression returned.

"I'm Ari," she replied, seeing no need to elaborate. "There's probably no point in dressing him in more than a towel. They're easier to wash, too."

"True. Oh don't worry, you'll be in bed anyway. Perfectly modest," he said as he stood and returned him to the bedroom.

Once Strife was tucked in, Fair leaned against the doorway between the bedroom and the ensuite and closed his eyes. Ari stood still, unsure whether she should move.

Fair opened his eyes and frowned at her. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I am not getting back in that tank, so I'll be cautious around you for a while, but I don't normally run around killing my housemates." He glanced at Cloud, glad to see his chest was rising and falling more steadily. "I have to look after my little buddy too."

Strife's brow crumpled again briefly.

"You can't deny your shortness," Zack teased, but there was no response at all this time.

"He should start regaining consciousness in a few days, and full motor function within a few weeks," Ari explained based on what she had read.

Fair tensed, then his stomach growled loud enough for Ari to hear from the other side of the room.

They both laughed, trying to relieve the tension between them. But Ari couldn't stop thinking about Johno's dead body. He hadn't been here that much longer than her, only 8 months or something, but she didn't have the heart to tell this Zack guy that. "Let's go find something to eat."

They walked down the hall and down the stairs into the dining room. They went downstairs again into the kitchen and cellar area, where they encountered a new group of enemies. Again, Zack disposed of them easily, and again they only attacked him.

"Guhhh, why am I such a freak?" he complained.

Thankfully they had been resupplied recently, so they had everything available, including fresh fruit and vegetables. "I'll make a smoothie for Strife," she said as she opened the fridge. "I don't know if he'll even stomach anything today, but I can't just give him nothing."

"Let's all go for that then. I'd rather get back to Cloud as soon as possible. If these enemies think I'm one of them, I don't want to know what they think about him," Fair replied, standing vigil in the doorway.

In the end Cloud was about as receptive to food as Zack was to Shinra employees. "Eh, you'll be fine til tomorrow. If you're anything like me, your guts is full of mako."

An awkward silence played out as Ari wasn't sure what she could do and Zack wasn't sure what he should let her do. "Look, if I don't send Johno's usual daily report, they're going to get suspicious before the end of the week."

His eyes widened. "I didn't even think of that. I'm terrible with taking prisoners. Always the hero, that's me," he muttered bitterly.

"I'll show it to you before I send anything," she offered.

He turned to the secret corridor contemplatively. "No, forget it. I can't just sit around here for three or so weeks, worrying whether you're speaking in code. We'll leave once Cloud is more conscious, and you'll never have to see us again."

Ari nodded, relieved she wouldn't be in danger anymore, but also worried she could get fired - or worse - over this. "All right then," she said. "Guess we'd better get a few fold out beds in here."


"Oh come on Cloud," Zack sighed, bringing the glass up to his mouth again.

Cloud shook his head weakly, and opened his mouth as if trying to speak. He brought his hand up to cover his mouth, and Zack thought he finally understood what he was saying. He carried him to the bathroom and let him rest over the toilet bowl.

The blond man weakly gripped the rim and proceeded to throw his guts up. The toilet looked radioactive when he was done, and Zack patted his back encouragingly. "That's the way, out with the crap."

Cloud leant back against his legs when he was done, looking almost content.

"Better now? Should we head off tomorrow?" Zack was relieved when he was answered with a nod. Now this was progress!

He supported Cloud's weight as they moved back into the other room. This was their third day in the mansion, and they didn't intend to stay much longer no matter Cloud's condition. He didn't know where Ari was right now, and didn't particularly care. Shinra could search for them out here, and they would go back to the city and hide under their noses.

Zack got Cloud to drink the water this time, then followed up with the smoothie that had been sitting in the freezer the last few days.

He fell back against the pillows again, tired already. Zack hoped that had been the last of the excess mako, and that his recovery would be swift from here.

"Thanks, Zack," he said through a cracked throat.

"Oh good, you're finally talking to me again," he joked. "I'm gonna pack us some supplies into a vehicle, ok? I don't really trust Shinra to not put tracking devices in them, but I'll see what I can do."

Cloud smiled before passing out against the bed head again.


Ari sighed and turned back to Zack, lifting her safety glasses. "I can't get the tracking chip out, and it's attached to one of the fuel injectors. It won't run if we destroy it."

Zack folded his arms and frowned. He supposed they could make a break for it on a false trail, then ditch the car and hitchhike the rest of the way.

He whipped around as there was a bang and a cracking of plaster. Cloud groaned and extricated himself from the hole he had made in the wall after falling down the stairs. Zack laughed while Ari felt a sudden rise of terror. What else would he 'accidentally' destroy?

"Sorry," he mumbled, letting Zack put a hand around his shoulders and guide him to the car bonnet. "I've been thinking about what you said about the Shinra vehicle. Let me try and get the chip out."

"No offense buddy, but you'll probably break it," Zack said, concerned.

Cloud frowned and looked down. "Oh, it's one of the old setups. I had to reroute one of these outside of Junon once," he said, grabbing the chip and extracting it with a flick of his wrist. Half the pipe it was sitting on also tore away. "Of course it wasn't this easy without super strength."

He applied pressure to the metal, sectioning off the damaged pipe and ensuring no leakages, as if he were moulding clay.

"If you have some sort of tape it should hold together for several hundred Ks," he explained. Ari produced some from the back of the shed and they began finishing the dodgy job on the engine together.

Once they were done, Zack started it up and crowed in triumph. "All right Cloudy, you're a genius!"

Cloud sighed at the nickname and put the bonnet down. Gently.

"Ari, you sure you want to stay here? Shinra employees have a habit of vanishing after a disaster," Zack added, looking sincerely concerned.

She shrugged. "I'm just an intern who knows nothing about nothing. I think I'll take my chances."

"All right then, I guess this is goodbye. Good luck," Zack replied.

"Thank you," Cloud added, barely audible over the car's engine.

She suddenly felt sorry for both of them. Monstrous strength or no, the experiments hadn't even been informed let alone consensual. "Treat the car well, it wasn't intended for SOLDIER personnel of any rank." She used the panel to open the garage door for them. "And… you're welcome. Try not to hurt anyone else."

She eyed the sword taking up the back seat as they rolled out of the drive way. Zack's guilt-ridden posture made her feel a little bad for having said anything.

She watched them go and took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth. Now she would have to convincingly pretend they had broken free and taken off. She remembered Johno's body had been sitting in the basement for the past four or so days, and wondered how she could possibly spin this.