I don't own a thing, dangit anyway. As mentioned in the description, this is a detailed retelling of the events of FF7 and precursors through my eyes. This is just how I view their personalities in my head, and how I want to portray them. Please review and let me know if I should continue!

Rolling off the top of the freight engine Cloud became aware of two things. Firstly, the sirens overhead he had been better off tuning out were blaring loudly. If they hadn't already announced their presence through all the gunfire, surely these little auditory gems would do the trick. Ever the skeptic, he reasoned that their chances now hovered in the unlikely to definitely-not-freaking-likely range and wished Tifa had come along. Her wit and careful nature would have been a sorely needed prescription for this group.

"Common newcomer, follow me!" The rough voice of Barret Wallace interrupted his thoughts. It was an unwelcome, but common event in the big man's company. His dark skin glowed with a thin sheen of sweat that reflected Midgar's neon sky perfectly. Where his bare arms ended, his combat gear began. A vest chalk-a-block full of ammunition for his synthetic arm hung heavily by his broad shoulders and his waist was wound tight with a pressure bandage. Whether from an old injury or purely for style, Cloud couldn't be sure the reasoning for that, but it mattered little to him at the present moment.

Large brown combat boots thundered away down the paving stones and through the steam of the locomotive's engine valves, past the two incapacitated guards that'd been unfortunate enough to be on duty that evening.

Shame, Cloud thought to himself and he knelt beside the first and relieved the man of his potions. Barret might not be thinking ahead, but he wasn't going to be caught in a nasty fight with no way to heal himself. His blue eyes kept low to the ground as he checked the second guard, unwilling to see in detail exactly what Biggs had managed to do to his head when he'd thrown him against the train. As a member of SOLDIER, (ex-member, he reminded himself) he was used to seeing the gore of battle, but that did not mean he had to enjoy it.

Rising to his feet, uttering a few condolences for the guard and his family, he hurried to meet the rest of the group at the main gate. As he arrived, they wasted no time greeting him with smiles. Trust Tifa to lock herself in with a group of friendly terrorists.

"So you used to be in SOLDIER, huh? It's not every day you find one in a group like AVALANCHE." Biggs' grin was the widest as he clapped Cloud on the back with a gloved hand. The action earned a short-tempered glare from Strife, and the other man held his hands up in surrender.

"I don't think there are many groups like AVALANCHE, Biggs," Jessie piped up from her position against the gate, small hacking tool in her hands that beeped and whirred as she worked. "Not to mention there aren't many ex-SOLDIERs. Once you're out, you're dead. They're part of Shinra. They're the enemy." Her eyes drifted to Cloud then, as if asking a silent apology for her choice of words.

Wedge nodded from beside her, not voicing his own opinion on the subject, but in reply Biggs simply shrugged, that insufferable grin returning to nearly split his face in half. "Well he's with us now! Hey, I didn't catch your name…"

How Cloud wanted to be finished with this already. Jessie was the only one among them with some sense. "…the name's Cloud. Cloud Strife."

"Awesome! My name's Biggs. Sorry for the hurried introductions, Tifa kind of threw you into the mix."

"I don't care what your names are." Cloud snapped, though for being so annoyed his voice was rather deadpan as he delivered the rebuke. "Once this job is over I'm outta here."

He internalized the last bit of dialogue. It wasn't as if the others would understand. They would never accept that he heard another's voice in his head. It was part of him now, and though it may have been unsettling to some, the voice was comforting. It kept pushing him forward, toward his goal to find out about what happened to Zack.

He was lying in a barren patch of dirt covered in muck, rainwater, and his own blood. The monstrous outline of Midgar was looming in the mist behind him like a shadow of death. The first thing Cloud remembered when he came to was crawling on his hands and knees through that same mud, oblivious to where he was, only knowing he had to get to his friend no matter how his body wanted to protest. His muscles screamed in outrage at what felt like months of disuse. Still, he bore it and managed to sit up at his friends' side.

"Zack?"

Hearing his next words would forever be etched into his heart. No…his very soul would echo "For the both of us."

What was that supposed to mean? Wracking his brain for an answer that didn't come, his eyes swept over his friend, and in that moment knew he was watching him die. The weight on his chest increased tenfold at the memory as the group chattered around him. He could not hear a word. He often slipped into moment like this. Solipsism was his only vice right now. Zacks death…it was the clearest memory in his head. He could even smell the wet earth as it shifted around the moth of them, the sound of the rain hitting his bare skin, the feeling of it slipping down his skin as he stared in horror at the scene before him.

"That's right," Zack gasped, lungs slowly filling with blood as the mutinously suffocated their owner. "You're gonna live." He reached up a shaking arm, grasping the back of Cloud's head with his large hand and pulled him to his chest to hold him there a moment. "You'll be…my legacy."

His hand slipped from Cloud's hair, and Cloud lifted his bloodied face to study him intently. There was a moment when the two of them locked gazes, saying without words what needed to be said. There was pride in Zack's eyes. There was no fear. It was something Cloud admired greatly about this man.

Zack's gaze slipped from Cloud's and over his outstretched hand to where his Buster Sword lay. It shone like a gem amid the dirt and grime. "My honor, my dreams…" With all that remained in him he lifted the heavy weight of the sword above him and his voice grew fierce, "…they're yours now."

Cloud could not place the source for such a deep sorrow as he experienced that day, only fleeting memories flashed through his mind. All of them were of Zack. Why couldn't he remember? Just what on Earth had happened to him- to them?

"I won't forget." He said aloud, the present suddenly rushing up to meet him like a tidal wave. Midgar replaced itself around him like a vast puzzle, and the others were eying him strangely now. Well, it wasn't as if they didn't before.

"What the hell are y'all doin? I thought I said to never move in a group!" Barrets' over-loud voice filled the small courtyard like a sonic boom. It shocked Cloud back to his senses. He would think on it later. He had a job to do and money to make. "Our target's the Northern reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it."

Spurned and shocked just as much as Cloud had been, the other three scrambled through the now open door and out of sight. Barret remained. It was something that set Cloud's teeth on edge. What now?

"I don't trust ya!" he spoke, pausing to turn away from the retreating backs of the other members. "Once a Shinra dog, always a Shinra dog. You gotta prove yerself to me." He pointed a single finger at him to punctuate his statement before turning to head after the others, leaving Cloud to grumble about overcompensation and Tifa's taste in company.

He started forward, eyes rising to meet the mass of Shinra tower. Like icy fingers, a chill shivered up his spine and blossomed pain at the back of his skull. He was supposed to remember this. Why couldn't he get himself together?

The group splintered off here and there once they reached the bridge to the massive reactor and Cloud found himself listening to Barret once more. At least now he was being informative.

"Yo, you ever been inside a reactor before?"

What an absurd- Of course he had! But now that he really thought about it, no memories floated up from the depths to enlighten him. He wanted to beat his head against a wall. Remember, damn it! Finally, he answered with something believable and as far as he knew…true.

"No. I was in SOLDIER. Had no business being inside a reactor."

The large man rolled his eyes and took a step back, scratching the back of his neck as if to say "the hell am I gonna do with this guy?"

"Listen up. The planet is full of Mako energy. People here use it every day. It runs lights, cars, your damn electric shaver, but there's a catch. Mako energy is the lifeblood of the planet. Shinra keeps sucking that blood out with machines like this reactor here." He jerked his thumb behind him to the tower.

Enough already! He wanted to be rid of this place. His lack of knowledge was making him decidedly more edgy. "I didn't come for a lecture. Let's just do it."

"Why you-!" Barret stepped forward, fist raised to wallop Cloud but good before he caught himself. This spikey haired kid was Tifa's friend, and she'd be pissed if he killed the brat, though he deserved it like a boot in the ass. "Alright!" He straightened up and eyed Cloud. "You're coming with me." The better to see ya with…he quoted a bedtime story from one of Marlene's books in his head. This white boy didn't have a clue.

Barret spoke up again on their way down to the floor level of the reactor, deciding he'd indirectly educate little spikey who seemed to be moping in his own corner. "Little by little these reactors will drain all the life of this planet and that will be that."

Cloud looked up from his crossed arms and frowned. "It's not my problem." What did he care about the planet anyway? He needed to unravel the mystery Zack had left him with.

Barret pushed away from the wall of the tiny service elevator and bellowed, a sound that vibrated off the eardrums painfully. "The planet is dyin', Cloud!" He couldn't contain himself. How could this kid be so nonchalant about something so serious?

Strife leveled his blue gaze with the hot brown orbs of AVALANCHE's leader and managed a small smile. "The only thing I care about is finishing this job."

Barret looked like he was about to have an apoplexy, leather bound fist crackling as he clenched it to keep from beating the spike out of spikey. Finally, he settled for saying nothing at all, and simply glared at him for the remainder of their descent.

A few robo-guards were on patrol in the reactor proper, but the finery of Shinra's laboratories were no match for Cloud or Barret. The pair, though opposite of mind, managed to fight rather well together. Their style was similar in that they both opted for the quickest was to resolve conflict. Of course that always boiled down to leaving nothing to be recognized of their enemies. Tact was not a specialty of either man. They dispatched all of the security drones as well. Shinra wouldn't know until they lit a fire under their asses.

They approached the bridge, slowing down to observe the inner workings of the reactor. Cloud, less impressed, returned his gaze to the grated walkway and was rewarded. Glinting in the distance between the grated wires and beneath the mesh portion of the walkway lay a small green mako orb. Materia, Cloud remembered suddenly.

His excitement at remembering something he'd seemed to have forgotten made him giddy. Butterflies took sing inside his stomach. More, more memories about Materia and its uses, how it was made, that it was also produced from Mako energy. The Planets' life blood.

All too soon the moment was once again ruined by Barret. "When we blow this place, it ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunk a junk." Probably less than that, Cloud added silently as he straightened himself and slipped the Materia into the bangle on his arm. "Cloud, you set the bomb."

"Me?" he smiled, sarcasm coating his words "You mean the man you don't trust? You're allowing me to set a bomb for you?" His laugh was short, derisive.

Barrets skinned darkened as the blood flushed to his face. "Jes' do it!" He huffed. "I gotta make sure ye ain't gonna pull nothin'."

"Fine." Cloud walked over to him and snatched the explosive from his fingers, taking it over to the reactor's core. He set it perfectly between to circuit boards. If someone were to look at this after they'd left, they would ne none the wiser. It blended in perfectly with the rest of the hard wiring. His fingers ghosted over the device once more, and suddenly he found himself doubling over, his head feeling like it was being cleaved in two.

Watch out! This isn't just a reactor!

That voice again. He backpedaled away from the core as quickly as possible. He had learned to rely on his…condition. More often than not, it was correct.

"What's wrong?" Barret asked, giving him the same weird look the others had the last time he spaced out. And no wonder. He was drenched in a cold sweat, hands shaking and eyes wide.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!"

Of course, of course. The bomb. He shook himself once for good measure. "Yeah…sorry." He set back to work and clicked everything back into place before setting the panel up to cover the circuitry once more. "Done." He took a step back, as the whole walkway began to shake. Barret immediately readied his gun-arm.

"Watch out, here it comes!"

A behemoth of a machine dropped from the catwalks above, landing on the flimsy metal grate with a shuddering thud. For a moment Cloud fearing dropping through as it buckled beneath the mechs' weight. Barret's gunfire punched through the fog of his shock. "Common, Cloud! Aint no time fer day dreaming 'bout Tifa!"

A flush rose up his neck and to his cheeks before he nodded once, feinting to the side in a roll to circle around the spider like legs. Barret had taken up cover behind one of the metal rails protecting the reactor core, firing shots every so often with deadly accuracy. One such attempt split the green resin that encased its synthetic eye, leaving the beast sightless.

Rushing forward at the opportunity, cloud ran straight forward, leaping up, and brought his sword arcing down over his head in a murderous swoop that cleaved the sentry in two. With life still left buzzing through its electric veins, it brought its tail around and aimed sloppily at the pair of men, who dove for cover the instant it unleashed a yellowed particle beam.

It lasted for only a moment. The beam sputtered and died, and both Barret and Cloud emerged from their respective cover to examine the thing.

"Dayum this bitch is huge!" Barret thundered, and at the same time Cloud heard a popping noise from behind him. The pair turned slowly toward the core, faces going pale. A large black scorch trailed through the middle of the panel, door swinging open as the wires sparked and crackled. They uttered a curse before turning to each other.

"Run!"

They and their comrades booked it out of the reactor, making it across the bridge with Cloud trailing behind. He couldn't help but chastise himself for not working out longer before accepting this job. His body still ached all over, and from what he couldn't be sure. Above him the tower fizzled, and all five members of AVALANCHE succeeded in just barely avoiding the blast of the No. 1 Reactor as it clouded up the sky in a blinding haze of orange fire and black smoke.

Thanks to Wedge, they all now found themselves in a service tunnel adjacent to the once-reactor, without a way out.

Damn them… Cloud clenched his fist and set his jaw. Punching someone wouldn't fix this, though it would have certainly made him feel better.

"That should keep the planet going a little longer!" Biggs supplied jovially, devolved brain not really grasping the severity of the situation.

Even Barret looked a little annoyed, though maybe it was his permanent look. Once couldn't be too sure.

Jessie popped up from the rubble then, reminding Cloud of some kind of burrowing rodent. "Stand back!"

Alarmed, they all scrambled backward as she opened up an exit for them with a few spare charges. Bless her heart, Cloud sighed inwardly. He'd just finished that thought before getting singed by the blast, though he wasn't worse for wear. Wedge got the worst of it, pants now sporting a brand new hole on his rear end to show all the world his bright yellow underwear.

Coughing and nursing their singe marks and bruises, they emerged from the tunnel in time to hear the security alarms.

"Time to get outta here!" Barret called as the others quickly began to split up. "Rendezvous at the train station!"

He began to take off as well before Cloud lay a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Hey!"

The big man growled. "If it's about yer money it can wait til we get back!" Shrugging off his hand, he fled, and Cloud soon followed suit.

Dodging Shinra soldiers on the side streets, he was driven into Sector 1 proper and was stunned at the destruction. Crumbled buildings, overturned cars, people laying within the rubble calling out for help. It was disastrous. Of course he knew what he should have expected- the consequences. Nothing made them come to life like this, or made the feeling of guilt hit home so hard. AVALANCHE was a terrorist group. They didn't account for civilian casualties when they created that shoddy bomb. Now the blood of innocents stained his hands.

Clenching his fists, he strode through the sector, determined not to let the weight of what he'd done press down upon him until he was alone. It wouldn't do right now to break down.

"Watch where you're going!"

He looked up, breath catching in his throat. That girl, she was the one haunting his dreams. Her face. Her hair. Everything about her he instantly recognized. He knew her. As surely as he'd known Zack. Hurrying forward, he let out a hand which she took gratefully and got to her feet. She dusted herself off, picking up her little basket before giving him a charming, lovely smile.

"Thank you. Everyone is in a panic. I don't know what happened."

Cloud nodded, finding the foreign feeling of a genuine smile on his lips in return. "It dangerous here, you should go home." He paused and glanced down to the contents of her basket, eyes widening. "Hey, you don't see many flowers around here." That's right. Flowers. Their smell permeated the woman before him, the scent comfortable to his senses. "Where did you find them?"

"Oh, these?" She stifled a small laugh with the palm of her hand. "If you like them, they're only one gil."

The sound of her laughter was like music to his ears. It was like a small bell ringing out amongst the destruction. A sound of contented peace.

"S-sure," he spoke, voice wavering as new feelings and emotions surged forward. "I'll take one, that is."

She laughed again and exchanged his money for a simple white lily. "Here you are. Don't crush it, now." She warned before walking away, taking his earlier advice.

And then she was gone without so much as a wave. He felt cold all of a sudden, bereft of the warmth of her presence. It was horrid. Ache in his chest set firmly in place, he moved on. Shinra was soon to be on his heels.

As if on cue a contingent of soldiers emerged from an alley way behind him, and he didn't want to waste the time or the energy of his tired body fighting. Breaking into a run, his feet flew over the cobbles of the main streets, only to skid to a halt as more appeared in front of him. They'd surrounded him… He glanced back over his shoulder. More there too. Well, shit. Biting his lip, he glanced to his left where the railroad tracks broke free from beneath a bridge and edged closer to the railing.

"Now, now," he spoke warmly, confusing the soldiers for a moment, "you really don't want to arrest me…" He felt the rumble beneath his feet, the sound of the train at the other end of the tunnel growing closer still.

"Arrest him! He can talk in his cell!" The foreguards' shriek was motivation enough for the other as they closed in. One, faster than the others, surged forward and attempted to trip him from behind using his rifle. Clearly used to using such tactics on the civilians here, he had not yet confronted a First Class SOLDIER before, and was thus surprised when Cloud simply jumped over the automatic and onto the stone rail over the tracks. "Don't let him jump!"

Cloud bid then adieu with a small smile and a wave before falling backward, flipping over to land on his feet upon one of the many passenger cars linked together on the train.

"This will not become a habit…" he muttered to himself, looking forward to seeing Tifa and her 7th Heaven.

I decided to end here for now! It's my bed time, after all and I don't want the characters to become muddled. For now, I'm not settling on a particular romance, though obviously that with heavily influence the story with Mr Strife here. He can't seem to get away from all the LOVE.

If you have any suggestions to a feasible pairing, please let me know via review. ;) Cause that's a great way to get them.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know if it's something you'd like to see more of!