Title: Everybody (Else) Loves Cloud
Author: CrisisChild
Summary: A compilation of deleted scenes/ideas that were scrapped for one reason or another for 'Everybody Loves Cloud'.
Rated: T
Beta'd: Nope.
Disclaimer: No part of the FFVII Compilation is mine.
Everybody (Else) Loves Cloud
Aunt Scarlet
Once upon a time, there lived a country bumpkin by the name of Red who had freckles for days, a little sister who kept underfoot and a tractor that never seemed to want to work right until Red decided to whack at it with a wrench. She'd always dreamed of leaving the farm to head out to the big city and work on some high end job with bigger, better machines. However, she promised her little sister if anything ever happened, big sister would come to lend a hand. Red loved her baby sis.
Even when she ran away at age 18, changed her name and got implants put in and wore so much make-up you could hardly tell she used to be some sun burnt kid from just north of Cosmo Canyon, Red (now called Scarlet) still loved her little sister like she was the only good thing in this whole Minerva-forsaken Planet. In her mind, she probably was. Precious little Raine Strife who was her best friend and confidant who helped her pack her things so Scarlet could hitch a ride with her ex-boyfriend all the way to the city of dreams at 2 in the morning while their parents were asleep.
Men were idiots. Animals, she always thought. That thick-necked redneck had simply been a means to an end. It didn't take much to convince him to get her to Costa del Sol and then empty out his bank account on the promise she'd be back. The Western Continent was too old fashioned and stifling; the guy really believed she'd start a family with him. As if! Scarlet had way better things to do and places to be.
And after a lot of clawing and biting her way to the top, here she was, head of Weapons Department.
Not that it had much to do with anything currently concerning her. Neither the troubles of the city or the complaints leveled at her from the SOLDIER division about her faulty machines (they were flawless, it wasn't her fault people never seemed to read the instruction manual on how to program or use them) were of any import. No, what drew out those naturally forming wrinkles out of hiding on her normally immaculate face was, in fact, something that belonged to her little sister.
A letter pleading with Scarlet to keep an eye on her nephew.
First off, Scarlet could hardly believe Raine had slept with someone (oh, how her blood boiled with the thought that some greasy, dirty charlatan laid his mits on her little Raine!) let alone allowed a child to come to term resulting in Scarlet becoming a newly minted aunt! Just how long ago was this? She knew letters were slow to arrive from the Old Continent, but this was ridiculous...!
A cursory scan at the postmark let her know that this letter was recent enough. So wait, Raine only decided to let her know now, now that the boy was only – Scarlet took a moment to quickly calculate...
1...2...3...4...8...11...13...
Minerva's pants, the child had to be 16 now!
A chill went up her spine, as if sensing something off this day as her eyes went to the sweet faced little boy who looked so much like Scarlet's dearest little sister. If he put on a dress and grew out his hair he'd be the spitting image of his mother and Scarlet, for a moment, ached at the thought of being away from Raine for so long, ached at her having to raise a son all alone (Raine mentioned no husband or even a boyfriend; a single mother!).
Her mind was made up. She'd look after the kid to the best of her ability. Apparently he was in Midgar now, trying to get into SOLDIER and she resisted the urge to scream. Gods, no. Not that death trap. Not that monster making machine. Not that den of repressed men.
Scarlet stared at the cherubic visage of her nephew, already in love with his cute little face. It shouldn't be hard to find him, she mused. Just a quick check into the personnel files using her high security clearance should do it. After all, how hard was it to find one person with a unique name like Cloud Strife?
======================EVERYBODY (ELSE) LOVES CLOUD======================
There he is, Scarlet thought with delight, watching this young man through one of the security feeds leading straight to her personal computer. In the privacy of her office she could keep a bird's eye view of the boy and not be bothered by it. At some point she would have an assistant do the work (being a Director had its perks and she wasn't shy about using them), but for the beginning of this venture Scarlet herself would take the time to watch over her nephew.
Such a thin frame, she mused, watching him help carry barrels of mako on a cart. But strong. Still a growing boy, he'd need some beefing up. Not a SOLDIER though, to her surprise and indignation: a part of her was truly relieved that Cloud would have nothing to do with the SOLDIERs directly, but the other part was ready to rage and throw a fit because how dare they not let the boy in. Did they think he wasn't good enough?! What was it about her Cloud that they didn't like?!
Scarlet's poor assistant had already heard the rant that came when Scarlet had discovered that Cloud did not reach SOLDIER after all.
After jerryrigging her own set-up to view the feeds (Scarlet had asked to use the security system proper, but they'd denied her under the rule of 'not abusing the system for personal use'), she set to Cloud watching. Today would be the first day he would be protected under her wing! But like any good researcher worth their salt, Scarlet would not go to him. This was all done to observe the boy. She had to get to know him so she could protect him form afar, as his darling mother hope she would do. Nothing could be done for the last 16 years of the boy's life, but from this moment on...!
Scarlet wished she could have gained the audio feed as well as the video. As it was, it was a dangerous game she was playing, tapping into the video cameras all over Shinra without permission. So she could only imagine the sound Cloud was making as he painfully ripped his helmet off his head. A few stray hairs fell, dissolving into the mako vats. She could imagine the colorful curses flowing from his lips – the Western Continent had a good few choice ones that Scarlet herself still used whenever something went wrong.
Sighing, Scarlet ordered her assistant to make her a very large pot of coffee while she settled in for some Cloud watching.
======================EVERYBODY (ELSE) LOVES CLOUD======================
Halfway through the day something interesting occurred.
Somebody kissed Cloud. In fact. Two somebodies kissed Cloud.
Scarlet would have normally taken issue with this, because the two people in question were SOLDIERs. And she firmly believed they were all secretly a lot of degenerates. However, there was something oddly cute seeing her nephew all flustered and angry as these men were attempting to make advances on him. All right, perhaps she was a little upset, but somehow wound up more amused than anything.
Ah, was this the privilege of an aunt? Getting to be evil with your nephew? It felt great! Certainly quite fun in its own right.
Scarlet simply stroked her chin, wondering what orientation Cloud was. The boy certainly didn't seem to hate being touched by men, but by principle, simply hated things being done to him without permission and that she could get upset about. Having figured out how she should be feeling, the Weapons Department director kicked over a nearby empty trash bin. Satisfied that she showed some modicum of outrage, she let out a laugh ('kya ha ha!') before sitting back down and watching the drama of her nephew's life unfold.
Apparently today was just not the poor kid's day.
Not stopping at two SOLDIERs taking advantage of him soon came harassment from Palmer (a normal rite of passage working in any conglomerate, Scarlet mentally posed, was being groped at least once by some random executive). An odd situation wherein Scarlet cursed for not getting the audio – the exchange between Cloud, Palmer and Director Lazard in the same elevator looked beyond juicy. Another piercing laugh echoed through the office as Palmer was sent packing' Scarlet knew the man was straight as could be. Probably finding out the object of his slimy attention was a man instead of a pretty girl scared him off.
"Serves the oaf right," Scarlet muttered with a mocking smile. She soon had to switch cameras as Cloud and the Director were exiting the elevator. She checked the feed. The SOLDIER floor. She clicked on the mouse and it switched to the corridor just outside Lazard's office. At a guess she figured the two blonds would be heading in there, so she tried to pre-emptively get the feed from within the office. However, much to Scarlet's consternation, there was none available within the office.
Scarlet frowned, tossing a glare up at the camera not-so-well-concealed in a corner of the ceiling. How come he had total privacy and every move she made was watched?!
Anger boiling under her skin, it only outwardly showed this time in how her manicured nails were tapping incessantly on the desk top. Tap, tap, tap, as she waited for Cloud to exit the Director's office.
The wait was not particularly long as Cloud came back out almost within five minutes of entering.
Hands held tightly around the neck of his shirt, eyes glancing back furtively – Cloud looked more nervous than a chocobo. And was that...?
Scarlet leaned closer to the screen, eyes squinting as she tried to make out what that dark blotch was...
A bruise...on her nephew's face. No, his lips. His lips were puffy. Wait. Had Lazard been...putting the moves on her one and only nephew?! Why that slimy-!
A huge bang reverberated through the entire Weapons Department, a door now hanging off of a hinge whilst a bright red wraith went storming straight out of Scarlet's office, armed with a shotgun and utility knife.
Tania, Scarlet's secretary, quietly went over to ask if Scarlet needed anything. Maybe some pressure pills. A cup of soothing tea. A...a less obvious weapon? "Seriously, boss? Anything you need. I'll get it. Just...um...you're scaring the engineers."
The look that Scarlet gave Tania at that moment could fell behemoths.
"Not today," groused Scarlet, fixing up her bun more securely for the mayhem to come. She cocked her gun, satisfied by the clicking sound it made. Loaded and ready to go. Excellent. "Cancel my appointments Tonia-"
"It's actually Tani-"
"Cancel my appointments and order some bouquets. I'm manhunting today."
"Oh, dear."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
So originally the chapter with Reno watching Cloud go through all of his mishaps? That was originally going to be involving Scarlet. However, when I looked at the full story could not find a way to fully integrate her into the fic. So here we have this aborted short which I have now posted here in this collection of scraped ideas. As you've noticed, Scarlet here is a bit of a siscon and a trite out of character concerning Cloud. Also she just didn't come out as funny as Reno does. Admit it guys, y'all wanted Scarlet (ok only SOME of you wanted her), but she's honestly not as funny as Reno trailing after Cloud.
Also, you guys are welcome to request scenarios for poor Cloud to go through or characters you want to see. As long as they're from Shinra Inc ANYTHING GOES. I'll make it work somehow.