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Newcomer

Jessie leaped down first onto the empty platform. No – almost empty. The two guards goggled as two people – as now Biggs was landing neatly next to her – fell out of the sky. The top of the train, but they didn't need to know that. Grinning, Jessie gave the guard on the left her best kick, and he collapsed before he could even open his mouth. Biggs knocked out the other one.

"Nice one, Jess," he nodded an approval.

"What, it's over already?" Came the squeaking voice and a loud thud as Wedge jumped down. He rolled a couple of times but then hurried to get up. He squirmed, but didn't complain that his ass hurt or anything – he was finally learning. Jessie rolled her eyes.

"And you would've totally knocked them out if it wasn't, right?"

Wedge crunched up his round face in a scowl. The only reason he was in AVALANCHE – a proper terrorist group, thank you – was because Wedge could make bombs. Really flashy ones, too. Right now, though, what with the soft eyebrows and the plump, pale body, he looked like a scowling twelve-year-old. Jessie was about to tell him so when a growl interrupted them from behind.

"Can it, crackheads." A rough bark of a voice, then a louder thud. It was their leader, Barret. She turned around with a playful grin.

"Just kidding, boss."

Barret hated when she called him that. Biggs chuckled. Barret frowned, but then another thud cut him off. Softer this time; almost gone unheard, like he had no weight. Or had wings, perhaps. Jessie wondered at this possibility as she regarded their latest member – maybe, if he and Barret didn't kill each other first. Jessie hadn't even heard his name before Tifa – something like their operator – pushed them all out of the bar, unwilling Barret pouting like a baby. Tifa's childhood friend or something. Looking for a job. A mercenary.

The newcomer looked around himself, at the desolate train station. Nobody ever got off the train in this corner of Sector One Slums. People who didn't live here had no business to; people who did had no money.

"C'mon, newcomer. Follow me." Barret grunted. The stranger followed without a word. Jessie figured he was either shy or uninterested. Probably the latter, judging by the quality of the silence. It wasn't scruffy like it would be, if he was nervous.

His hair was soft blonde, and it was sticking out in messy spikes at all directions. That might have looked unimaginably comical on other people – Jessie mused. On him, though, not so much. Most people would notice his eyes first. Large, fragile blue the color of the summer sky at its brightest. He wasn't so tall. Just a little bit taller than Jessie herself, but he didn't seem to have too much of a problem carrying that giant monster of a sword on his back. Jessie had stared at it for a full minute with her mouth open the first time she met him. Which was maybe three hours ago.

So, basically a complete stranger. Hopefully not for long, though, if –

Jessie's thoughts were cut short when two guards appeared out of nowhere. Damn – how had she missed the door on the wall? It must have been the guard office. Jessie braced herself for another kick, but the collision never came.

She blinked in confusion. She was staring at nothing; where the two guards used to be was just the same black air that haunted every breath of the slums in Midgar. They had disappeared.

A low whistle. Jessie snapped her head at Biggs, who was staring at the ground near the mercenary's feet. She followed his gaze, and found the two guards lying motionless there. Crumpled pathetically, but no blood. The newcomer hadn't even drawn out his sword. Jessie frowned, and Biggs chuckled beside her.

"Wow, you used to be in SOLDIER all right. Not every day you find one in a group like AVALANCHE."

Wait. What?

Jessie snapped her head up again, looking from the newcomer to Biggs, then back again.

"SOLDEIR? Aren't they the enemy? What the hell is he doing with us?" She narrowed her eyes. Biggs' hand was already on her shoulder, reassuring.

"Hold it, Jessie. He was in SOLDIER. He quit them and now is one of us. Didn't catch your name..."

Biggs lifted his eyebrows under his long fringes. The newcomer hesitated for a moment, then a quiet voice echoed off the empty walls.

" … Cloud Strife."

Biggs grinned. "Cloud, eh? That's an unusual name. I'm..."

"Don't bother."

It was like a sudden splash of cold water, shocking you into rage. Jessie scowled. She should have known. Cloud didn't see her expression, though, as his gaze was wandering somewhere over Biggs' head.

"I won't see you again after this job's over."

Jessie opened her mouth. She had such a good comeback ready, she really did, but Barret's hushed shouts – if that was even possible – interrupted them. His shadow loomed over them as he came back, teeth gritted.

"The hell you all doin'!? I thought I told you never to move in a group!"

"Sorry." Jessie grunted. There was no one around right now, but someone might have heard the commotion. Barret shook his head in exasperation.

"Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it. Jessie, open the door."

"No problem." Jessie grumbled, pushing Cloud out of her mind. If he didn't care, then she didn't care either. Whatever.

The gate to Sector One opened with a rusty creak, and Jessie held the door as Biggs and Wedge ran through. Barret was about to go, too, when he turned sharply back to Cloud. Cloud stopped and glared up at Barret. Or maybe that was just him looking up – Jessie couldn't tell.

"Ex-SOLDIER, huh? Let's make somethin' clear. We don't trust ya." Barret said with narrowed eyes. Cloud didn't even bother to shrug.

"Barret, let's go already. My arm's falling off." Jessie whined, and Barret's glare briefly brushed her, muttering under his breath. Jessie waited with an exaggerated sigh for Cloud to go through, making it very clear that she didn't care about him one way or another. She had her eyes closed just for the effect. But instead of the sound of Cloud running past, she felt the weight of the door gone. Startled, Jessie opened her eyes to find Cloud holding the door instead of her. He was staring at her without saying anything, and Jessie shook her wrists a few times to get the senses back. She cleared her throat to dissolve the awkward confusion inside her head. Then Cloud jerked his chin to where Barret had disappeared, and Jessie felt a little dazed. That was unexpected. What happened to Mister too-cool-to-know-your-name, then?

"Right. Uh, thanks." Jessie murmured as she hesitantly walked past him.

And why was she flushed? Damn it. And who names their kid after a heavy cluster of water in the sky? Except it kind of (really) fit him, Jessie thought, and almost tripped over a stone.