Hi all! I've never written FF7 fanfiction before but I couldn't get this out of my head after playing Crisis Core so thought I'd write it down. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Organization Gaia Chapter 1

He was dead. A moment earlier, Zack had been sure of the fact. Searing pain all over his body, Cloud's crying face, blank whiteness, and then blissful darkness. Even if he was strong, even if he was a First Class Soldier, he was certain even he couldn't have lived through that many bullet holes.

But then again, there he was - back flat on a table, feeling quite vulnerable with nothing but a thin sheet over his body, staring up into the face of a man he didn't know. The bright lamp on the ceiling caused his vision to spot at the edges and it was so hard to concentrate. Was the man trying to say something? His lips were moving, probably trying to convey some important information to him. Maybe even explaining why Zack was there and not happily zooming around in heaven - if it existed.

"Mr. Fair? Mr. Fair? Can you hear me?"

"Yea... yea I can." His lips were dry and his throat hoarse when he managed a reply at last. Even saying that much exhausted him. It felt as if he'd been asleep for a thousand years and hadn't brushed his teeth in that long either.

The man - probably a doctor from the looks of his white uniform and the telltale cross on his arm - seemed relieved.

"Welcome back from the dead Mr. Fair. I'm sorry there isn't much time to explain the situation - "

Zack blinked, once, twice. The new information didn't seem to want to join the rest of his scattered brain. So he had died. Did that mean that Cloud survived? The thought made his heart feel lighter, even if the rest of his body felt heavy and sluggish.

"I know this is hard to take, but right now you're a few thousand years into your future, Mr. Fair. I'm part of the organization Gaia - we saved your life - and right now, we're desperately trying to save your Planet too. You see, your friends failed when they tried to stop Jenova. Your Planet didn't survive much longer even after they defeated her because the Lifestream was far too polluted. We've tried several times before to help but we've always been missing something - we were always in the wrong place at the wrong time. And we think you're the solution to preventing your Planet's death and of course, the death of its people too. "

"W-what?" Too much information. Way too much. Zack had only really understood that last part. Everyone was dead? Cloud? Aerith? The family he'd left behind in Gongaga? He hadn't been able to save anyone after all? Hot tears stung the corners of his eyes. If only they would fall instead of lingering there, blurring his vision.

The man continued. "You see, Jenova is not the only one of her kind and the Lifestream doesn't just exist on your planet - it connects every single one in this universe. We've been studying your history for some time, but our technology isn't precise enough yet and it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where and when it all went wrong and what we can do to change it. For that we need you to - " The doctor looked up, and it seemed that someone else had entered the room.

But Zack was less interested in that and more involved with what they were expecting out of him.

To what? Need me to do what? Zack thought and couldn't voice. This was all too much. He'd barely been awake - alive again - for what, a minute, three maybe, and they were telling him the world had ended? Was this some bad practical joke? He hoped fervently that he'd just drank too much spoiled rum and would find himself in the morning with a nasty hangover, and maybe if his luck was good, Aerith would be there to chastise him and Cloud would make fun of him and - But wasn't it already too late? What could he do now that everyone he knew and cared about was gone?

He closed his eyes with a shuddering sigh.

"Is he ready?"

The doctor glanced down and finally noticed the wet lashes on Zack's cheek. "I think he does. Terra help us all if he doesn't."

"Mr. Fair, Mr. Fair! Wake up!" Gentle hands prodded his face and his eyes shot open. "We're sending you back now."

"To where?" He whispered, his voice barely leaving his throat.

"To the past." And suddenly it all made sense. They were giving him a chance to do it all over again. To save his home, save his loved ones - they were sending him back in time.

"That's it?" Zack managed a wry smile. They'd met only moments before and already they were putting the fate of the world in his hands. "You're just going to send me back and hope I don't mess up again?"

"Pretty much." Somehow the response didn't give Zack much confidence. "A few pointers. Every action has a reaction in time - the more things you try to change, the more things will change - Sometimes, letting history run its course is still the best thing."

Kill Hojo on sight. Check.

"Also time traveling requires great accuracy - we can't be off by even a millisecond - otherwise we can't be sure of where you'll end up, which is not to say we're always correct in our calculations either -"

Zack was having less confidence in this man by the second.

"But don't worry, we already have agents from Gaia settled in. They'll meet up with you and explain everything. Brace yourself for this next part, and for Terra's sake, try not to act like you're from the future," the doctor admonished before cupping his hand over Zack's eyes.

"Wait!" There was still so much more he wanted to ask, so much more he needed to know. But then he noticed something strange.

He certainly felt his lips moving but no sound came out. Only a deep silence met his ears, one that didn't last long enough as a loud explosion painfully rocked his head. He would've cried out in agony if he could - but then the colors came - beautiful, intricate - most he'd never seen before in his life, rushing out of oblivion, dancing in front of his eyes as his body rushed forth to meet them. It felt like heaven, it felt like hell - he was getting torn apart and reborn every moment - until it all came to an screeching, abrupt stop.