By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. Square-Enix owns them, and they merchandise until the cows come home.

Dr. Owen is an original character.

Part I: Crossfire


Chapter 2, A Less Intolerable Situation

September 26th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

The first three days at the annex passed uneventfully for the most part. Not surprising when there was really nothing to do. The Turks had been true to their word so far when it came to their assertion that nothing would happen to either Zack or Cloud, and some of them appeared to be going out of their way to make their imprisonment easier to bear. It was a little disconcerting, but Zack supposed that it had been well known back before Nibelheim that he and Tseng had a decent rapport with each other. Being that the Turks were Tseng's organization now, Zack could only take this as a sign that their old friendship still meant something.

This seemed to extend to their guards. Mao and Tanjuu, the man who carried the two handguns, preferred to spend more time outside the room, on alert, but Cissnei and Freya would come inside to sit with him, run errands, bring Zack food, and would sometimes talk to him about what had been happening since he'd been in Nibelheim, and/or on the run. There had even been a morning when Freya had walked in and offered him a newspaper to read. He had asked the older female Turk once if she was worried about him hurting her or taking her hostage, should he try to escape, but her answer was about the same as Cissnei's.

Cloud's condition had stayed pretty much the same. He opened his eyes every now and then, and whenever Zack noticed he'd try to talk to him as much as he could, but he hadn't seemed too much more aware of his surroundings than on the first day. Owen, the doctor who presided over the Turk annex didn't seem to think this was terribly unusual. He had made it clear to Zack that while his actually moving out in the wastes was definitely a good sign, the best anyone could do right now was keep Cloud comfortable and wait for him to come out of it on his own. The real question was what condition he'd be in once that happened, and that could be a whole different can of worms.

It had been four days now and Owen had once again entered the room. If Zack had not known who paid his salary, he wouldn't have pegged him as belonging to the Turks. The man was in his mid-sixties, with greying, dark hair and a demeanor that reminded Zack of someone's grandfather. He wasn't a tall man. Zack had him beat by several inches and he may have even been shorter than Cloud. It was hard to say. But he was well built like some of the more robust troopers he'd worked with in the past, and it was quite possible he might have been in the military prior to working here, though he never said.

Zack had been sitting on his own bed, doing the crossword in the newspaper that Freya had brought him, but he looked up when the man entered, and once he knew who it was, he stood up.

"Good morning, Zack," the doctor greeted.

By now, Zack had gotten used to the man coming and going, though he still kept an eye on him as he neared Cloud's bed to check on him.

The first couple of visits had been something of a trial for Zack, mainly because he'd been fighting down bad memories of Hojo, and trying to rationalize the fact that Owen had been charged with trying to help Cloud recover. It was nothing personal, but even now, he didn't completely trust himself when it came to those memories, and he didn't totally trust Owen either. That was why he had not mentioned S-cells until the doctor had specifically asked why it looked like Cloud had SOLDIER enhancements, and his concern that it might be a factor in why Cloud wasn't showing more improvement won out.

He could not forget that as an employee of the Turks, Owen was still paid by Shinra. This was also why he had taken to placing himself in a location where he wouldn't be in the man's face and could allow him to do his job, but could still send a clear message that he wasn't to try anything funny. Sure, he was able to stand at his friend's side now instead of being locked in a mako tube or a cell, unable to do anything but watch him suffer, and he believed Owen's goals to be very different from Hojo's, but Cloud's life was still very much in the hands of someone else. It was a feeling that reminded Zack far too much of Nibelheim for his peace of mind. After a moment, he stood and made his way around to the other side of Cloud's bed so he stood across from the doctor.

"Anything interesting going on out in the world?" he finally asked, making a stab at conversation.

"Not much. The weather's been a little wet but there's little else of note," Owen answered him before turning his attention to his patient. "So how are you this morning Cloud?" The doctor briefly shone a light in one of his eyes to check for a response. There was none, but at the very least his eyes were open.

Owen handled it like the professional he was, and went on to checking his pulse and other vital signs. It didn't take long for him to finish the familiar routine and once he was done he made some notes on his clipboard and spoke again. "Okay, so no big changes, but you've got a strong pulse, and a little more color to you, that's good." He gave Cloud's hand a soft pat before looking up at Zack, who was marveling how the doctor could tell on that last count when Cloud was naturally very pale to begin with.

"Tseng is on his way to see the two of you. He should be here in a little while," he said.

"Any reason?" Zack asked guardedly as the doctor adjusted the stethoscope around his neck.

"Apparently he's bringing in someone who wants to talk to you."

"Oh. Anyone we know?" His suspicions were already driving him crazy.

"Maybe; he just told me he'd have a guest with him." He took a moment to switch out the IV bag and turned to leave. "Of course, contact me if there's any problems. If not, I'll see you later." With that, he walked out of the room. Shortly afterward, Freya entered with the book she was reading in her hand and took a seat in her accustomed place by the door.

He looked down at his friend contemplatively. "I wonder what that was about?" he mused. "Still, glad to see you're awake." He looked over at Freya and shot her a grin that belied his current mood. "So how goes the guard duty?" he teased. Allowing the situation to get the best of him was not going to help anything or anyone. Better to save his energy for when he could actually do something.

"Boring," she answered cheerfully, tucking a few of her bangs behind her ears as she did so. "I'm going to need a new book soon, this one's almost finished."

He chuckled as he went to pick up the word puzzle he'd been working on and pulled the other chair in the room closer to Cloud's bed, in the unlikely event his friend might want to see what he was up to. "Well, the newspaper's been handier than I thought. I didn't used to like crosswords that much, but when there isn't anything to do…" He didn't finish the sentence, but instead turned back to the current question. "Hey Cloud," he said, after checking to see if his friend's eyes were still open. "You wouldn't happen to know a seven letter word for 'huge', would you?"

No response.

"I think I might," Freya answered, after she felt enough time had passed.

"You do, huh? Well, what do you think it is? It can't be gigantic, because that's eight."

"No, it's definitely not that one," Freya agreed. "But how about I make you guess?"

"Okay, should we play this like twenty questions?"

"Sounds fine to me, though I'm sure it'll take you forever." She grinned.

"Hey, I've got Cloud in my corner too," Zack said. "He's always been the quiet type, but I'm sure he'll speak up if he wants to."

"All right, let's see what SOLDIER and the army can do against me."

"Okay, so, yes or no questions…" Zack thought on what his first question was going to be for a bit and then finally, "Does it have more than two vowels?"

Freya gave a look of mock surprise. "I'm shocked you even know what a vowel is. But yes."

"Hey," Zack defended with a chuckle. "Gongaga may be out in the middle of nowhere, but we aren't backwards, we had grammar just like everyone else. So is it more than three vowels?"

"No," Freya answered, still grinning.

"Okay, does it begin with a letter that isn't a vowel?"

"Yes."

Zack nodded. "I think I got this one, does it start with the letter T?"

"How did you know?" The Turk gave him another look of mock surprise.

"Lucky guess. Would it be 'Titanic'?"

"All right, Gongaga's education system is not backwards," Freya agreed. "Or at least, it wouldn't be if it actually had a school."

"Well, I thought my folks did a good job," Zack said, and he felt a pang of guilt as he wondered how they were doing. He hadn't been able to see them when he'd stopped by his hometown, no thanks to the Turks.

"I'm sure they did," Freya said, quietly.

Zack wrote his answer into the word puzzle before putting it down, and thought carefully for a minute before saying "Okay, I've got one." He looked over at Cloud and saw that his eyes were still open. "You can ask a question too if you have any ideas."

No response.

Zack was grateful that Freya seemed to understand exactly what he was trying to do, instead of being put off by the fact that it was just a game. She waited for an appropriate amount of time and then spoke up. "This thing you're thinking of, is it alive?"

"Yes," Zack answered.

"Is it a human?"

"No."

"Hmm…" Freya thought on that a bit.

"Is it a plant?"

"Yes… kind of."

"It moves?" Freya asked, curious.

"Yes," Zack said. "You're up to four now."

Freya smiled as she thought about her next question.

"Is it dangerous?" she asked.

"Yes, unless you're good at fighting," Zack said. "That's five."

"Does it live in… say… a jungle?" she asked.

"No."

"A… desert?"

"Yes," Zack answered, "and that's seven."

"It's a Cactuar isn't it," Freya decided.

"You got it," Zack said.

They went back and forth a few more times, going through things as frightening as a Tonberry, and as random as the rocket in the Shinra display room. It may have been a silly kid's game, but it worked wonders to clear the tension in the air. Even though Cloud had remained silent through the whole exchange, Zack hoped that on the inside, if nothing else, he was laughing at their absurdity. His eyes had stayed open, it seemed. It wasn't unusual for that to happen, but it gave Zack hope that he might have been at least a little engaged.

"Okay, I've got another one," Zack said after they had finished chortling over Freya's last pick, which had ended up being a Chocobo. He'd been a little confused because at one point it had sounded vaguely like she had settled on Cloud's hair.

"All right, is it alive?" Freya asked.

"No," Zack said. "Definitely not."

"Is it an object?"

"Kind of..."

"Okay…" Freya looked around the room, thinking and then looked down at her book. "Is it something you can read?"

"Yes, you can."

"Is it a book?"

"It can be in a book." Zack nodded.

"It's not a novel, or a storybook," Freya observed.

"No," Zack agreed.

"All right… hmm… could it be… a play…. Maybe?" Freya was starting to smile as though she thought she knew what the answer was going to be.

"Yes, a specific one," Zack answered.

"Well then, I think its…" Freya had almost spoken the name of the play she was thinking of when the door swung open revealing Tseng. Freya looked up at her boss. "Hello sir."

Tseng nodded to her and then turned to the SOLDIER. "It's good to see you haven't changed Zack." Zack was tempted to grin when he saw the wry smile on Tseng's face, but upon seeing the bespectacled woman with brown hair in a lab coat behind him, any mirth he might have felt suddenly quieted.

"I've brought someone to see the two of you," Tseng said.

The woman pulled in front of Tseng and gave both him and Cloud an appraising look before speaking. "Now I remember where I heard that name," she said quietly, and then noticed that Freya was here as well. "Corporal Strife was on the escort mission where we met. Cloud… He was that blonde boy who protected me and helped you fight those men from AVALANCHE."

Freya nodded. "Good to see you Doctor."

The woman returned the gesture in greeting. "I'm glad to see you're in much better health than the last time I saw you, Freya."

"Haven't had a problem since. If anything, my aim has improved." Freya made a motion that resembled the unloading of a spent shell on an invisible shotgun with a grin.

Zack didn't quite know what to make of the situation. This woman knew Cloud? And Freya? "So what brings you here?" he finally asked.

"Oh, that's right, you probably don't remember me. I'm Dr. Rayleigh," the woman finally introduced herself. "Tseng asked me here as a consultant. He's called on me before on matters pertaining to SOLDIER enhancements and mako related issues, and I am here because he wants to know about you. It's been a very long time Zack, but you look like you've grown into a fine young man."

"You know me too?" Zack asked suspiciously.

"We've never actually spoken, but I was on your enhancement team when you first joined SOLDIER. I took part in the procedure to implant your JENOVA cells."

"So that means… you aren't with the Science Department are you?" He wasn't even trying to conceal the emotions he felt over that particular entity.

"No, I am not with Hojo, if that's what you are worried about. But I am here to take a look at the both of you."

Immediately, Zack's expression darkened. "If you think we're going to be nice little lab rats for Shinra again, you are dead wrong." Almost unconsciously, he stood, placing himself in a defensive position in front of Cloud.

Tseng took a step forward. "Zack, Dr. Owen told me you mentioned something about S-cells to him. We don't know the specifics, but if we could learn more about what Hojo did, it will help us to understand what happened. And if it helps Corporal Strife recover faster than it's in both of your best interests…"

"How do I know that's not a lie?" Zack asked, keeping his voice quiet. "After all, you're the ones who left us to Hojo in the first place." It had been the elephant in the room for a while, and now that someone had acknowledged it, everyone had gone silent. He noticed that Freya was biting her lip nervously. "You probably had orders. But you knew what was going to happen to us, didn't you?"

"We didn't actually know until it was too late," Freya said, her voice soft as though not sure what the reaction to her words would be.

"I'm sure you suspected though." Zack shot her a glare.

"It's true that we did walk away," Tseng admitted. "But as a SOLDIER, how many times have you been ordered to look the other way or do something distasteful when Shinra decided it was in their best interest?"

Zack's thoughts drifted to a quiet village with dumbapple trees as it went up in flames, but he firmly pushed it to the back of his mind. "That was different. No one ever asked me to leave someone I considered a friend behind to be experimented on by a madman." Someone had however, deliberately placed him in a situation where he had to kill his mentor… Once again, he forced himself not to ruminate any further.

The tone of Tseng's voice was unflinching. "Right now, this situation is different. As our prisoners, your health, and that of your friend have become our responsibility, therefore, it behooves us to find out what Hojo did to you."

"It's not idle curiosity," Freya spoke up again, having regained her professionalism as the subject left Nibelheim. "If you can't consider it friendly concern, than at least think of it as our job."

Zack thought about what she said, though he hadn't moved from in front of Cloud. After a moment, he turned his attention back to the doctor. "So just what do you plan on doing?"

"Not much until we have more information," Rayleigh admitted. "But once I've spoken to Dr. Owen, I would like to examine the two of you and collect blood samples. That's all."

"I still don't like it," Zack said, doing his best to keep his voice calm and even lest one of the Turks in the room decide he was getting out of control.

"It would be better if you cooperated willingly," Tseng added, as he turned to leave the room, Rayleigh behind him. "You have until we are done speaking to Owen to decide how this is going to go." With that, the door shut, and Zack was alone with Freya and Cloud again. She watched him warily from her seat. It amazed Zack just how one little conversation had shifted her normally friendly attitude to one of being all business again, although even the former may have been an act to set him at ease.

He had no doubt that if she was comfortable enough to be reading and playing word games while in a room with a prisoner with SOLDIER strength as an attribute, she was confident enough in her Turk capabilities to take him down on her own if she needed to. Or at least confident in the belief that it wouldn't be necessary. Part of him admitted she was right. Not with Cloud the way he was, and especially not if they were providing him appropriate care to speed his recovery. It was a disturbing thought just how easily the Turks had managed to put Zack in a situation where they could control him simply because Cloud needed their help. It was so deceptively subtle, and yet somehow, a very Turkish thing to do.

He could tell by now that Tseng was very prepared for the possibility that he was unwilling, and that Rayleigh's request was more of a non-optional edict. He weighed the situation in his mind carefully, sitting down on his own bed to mull it over.

"Zack," Freya said after a moment. "Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

He gave her another glare before going back to considering the situation. His experiences with Hojo were nightmarish in their own right. He'd been cut and had bled at Hojo's hands too. The scars were there. The very memory of that pain made his hands shake, much more than any injury he'd received on the battlefield ever had, and he'd been the lucky one. It wasn't just his problem either. There was Cloud to consider too. The idea of allowing Rayleigh to do what she wanted with either of them fell dangerously close to reminding him of memories he didn't want to revisit, even if by comparison, her request was quite mundane.

"Is there any chance I can ask them something first?" He asked after a little while.

"I don't see why not," Freya answered.

They waited a little longer and then when he heard the door open, Zack got to his feet. Tseng and Rayleigh reentered and he noticed that Cissnei, Mao, and Tanjuu stood ready to come in if he gave them trouble.

"Well?" Rayleigh spoke first.

"I have three conditions," Zack said. "If you want me to go along with this."

"You aren't in a position to negotiate," Tseng observed.

"No, maybe not, but if you hear me out it'll make things easier." If the situation were any different Zack might have found this funny, arguing over whether or not he made a fuss over something, but to him, this was serious business. This was a situation he had no control over, but he could at least use what little leverage he had to make it less intolerable.

"Very well," Tseng said. He had no desire to start a fight if he didn't have to, though admittedly he was probably willing to give Zack a little more leeway than most.

"Number one. I go first." Zack started counting his points off on one hand for emphasis.

"Number two, I want to be there when you look at Cloud." That should be reasonable, he thought, after all in Cloud's current condition he couldn't defend himself. Like hell was Zack going to leave him at someone else's tender mercies, old acquaintance or not. The third one seemed like the hardest to fly past this crowd, but he had to say it.

"Number three. If I notice you doing something I don't like, don't trust, or don't understand, I will want an explanation, and if I'm not happy with that…" Before he could continue he heard a click from the doorway and noticed that Tanjuu had raised his dart gun. Gaia, was he really that threatening? He glared at the man before taking a deep breath and continuing slowly. "…then I will…" He heard another click and noticed that Mao was also holding his dart gun at the ready. "…politely…" He nearly choked on the word. "…ask you to stop, and I will expect you to listen." He didn't want to think about what he might do if Rayleigh didn't stop. Hopefully they would never get that far. He didn't want the Turks to get too trigger happy either. So once he was finished naming his conditions, he walked over to Cloud's bed again and waited for Tseng and Rayleigh to think it over.

To his surprise and by all appearances, everyone else's as well, Rayleigh gave him an understanding smile. "That doesn't sound unreasonable at all."

Tseng walked outside issuing instructions to the other Turks. Rayleigh looked up at Zack and said "There's a room with better light down the hall, if you would bring Cloud with you." She went to the door and waited for them there. Zack saw that Freya had gone into the room's closet and had brought out a wheelchair. Well, he had agreed to this, however grudgingly. Best to make it as painless as possible. He took a deep breath, and looked down at his friend. Cloud's eyes were still open, he noticed. Zack had almost hoped he'd gone back to sleep. "I guess we gotta move." He reached down and lifted the man to a sitting position before pulling him into the chair Freya had brought around for him. She had taken the IV bag off the stand and was attaching it to an extension on the back of the chair.

"It'll be all right, this won't take long." Zack was fighting down his own dread as he wheeled Cloud out of the room. He saw that Tanjuu had disappeared, but the other three Turks were on full alert, in case he tried anything. Rayleigh saw them emerge and then ushered them down the hall in the opposite direction from the doors leading out. Soon, they were by another door which she opened and gestured that they go in. Freya took a position outside as they did so, and Zack saw that Tanjuu was waiting inside, leaning against the wall. He supposed Tseng had picked him because he seemed to have the least reservations on intervening if one of them got difficult. He tried not to think about it as he pulled Cloud into a corner nearby and took in the rest of the room while he waited for Rayleigh.

The table in the center of the room looked nothing like the one in Hojo's lab. His had been cold and metal, this one was padded and did not have restraints. No… he didn't want to think about Hojo right now. He blinked as though that would push away the horrors, and tried to focus on other things. It was a standard exam room. The usual cabinets with supplies and a sink in the corner. A dispenser for disposable gloves hung on the wall, over the cabinet… and that was when Rayleigh entered and Zack found that his heart was beating awfully fast, as though he was scared… which he suddenly realized he was. There was no logic to it, he knew. Rayleigh wasn't Hojo, he knew that. Even if he suspected her motives, she wasn't him! After a moment he shut his eyes and breathed in, attempting to center himself. It was not something that could be done discreetly and when he opened his eyes, he saw that Rayleigh and Tanjuu both were giving him a curious look.

Rayleigh shut the door and asked "Are you all right?"

"Just… give me a second." Zack placed a hand on the table for support as he forced himself to breath. Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…

Slowly, but surely, he felt himself begin to calm down, until he heard Rayleigh speak again. "I'm surprised you haven't torn the annex apart yet, if that's the reaction I get."

"They left me alone until now," Zack said, looking determinedly at the far wall so he didn't have to see her or the labcoat she wore until he was ready. "And I've had Cloud to think about, so I couldn't afford to lose it."

"You really care for him don't you." He heard her footsteps as she walked over to the sink and the sound of a tap being opened, then falling water as she washed her hands.

"He's my friend," Zack said. "It's what friends do." Once he believed he'd found his resolve again, he looked down at the slender woman who was now reaching for a pair of gloves.

"Well, you don't have to worry. I'm just taking a cursory look over to see what we have, so just try to relax and… erm… why don't you try thinking about something else if that happens again? We can't have you passing out on us now can we?" She had finished with the gloves and had moved towards the table, gesturing to it. "Would you sit please?"

Zack pulled himself up so that his legs hung over the side and waited for Rayleigh to make the next move, while continuing to focus on breathing. It helped… sort of. The anxiety was still there, but he had it under control at least. He searched for a topic of conversation to distract himself with and his eyes landed on Tanjuu.

"So how did you get a name like Tanjuu?… It's Wutaian isn't it?" He asked, though he nearly jumped away when he felt Rayleigh's hands at his wrist, about to take his pulse, maybe? He was too busy trying not to think about Hojo to care.

"It means 'Gun',"Tanjuu said in a deadpan. "I got the name when I was with the Wutaian syndicate before they were purged for hiding spies. They thought it suited me since I could shoot a faster than most of them could blink."

"Oh…" Zack mused. "So… uh… How did you end up partnered with Freya then?"

"We joined around the same time," Tanjuu replied and left it at that.

"I see." Zack was beginning to think that Tanjuu did not care for this topic and decided to try thinking of something else when he felt something cold on his back as Rayleigh instructed him to inhale. "Hmm… have you been anywhere interesting as a Turk?"

Tanjuu looked further annoyed, but he said "I was in Wutai for a while when we were dealing with rebels."

"You don't say. I got sent there too, when I was with SOLDIER…" Zack warmed up to the subject and tried to think of some of the happier stories he remembered from before Fort Tamblin and Angeal's desertion. It kept him mentally occupied for quite a while as Rayleigh carried out her work, most of it being the kind of thing one saw in a standard physical. He had almost exhausted the subject of Wutai when she spoke up again. "I'll need you to take off your shirt if you would please."

Zack cringed. This was the part he'd been dreading. He reached down and slowly peeled off the T-shirt he was wearing. His SOLDIER uniform had been taken to be washed as soon as he'd changed into something else, and even though he had it back now, he'd also been provided with some extra clothes so he wasn't stuck wearing the same thing all the time. As the fabric pulled up in his hands, he heard Rayleigh suppress a gasp.

He held the shirt in his lap, flinching as he felt a hand reach up to the nape of his neck. There was a scar there right below his hairline, where it was normally concealed by his SOLDIER turtleneck, he knew, and three more at key points along his spine. There were others too, but those were the most obvious. He felt a chill as she ran her hand over each of them and he recalled being thankful after he woke up in the cell, nearly paralyzed from the physical trauma, that he'd blacked out after the first one.

Rayleigh felt him tense underneath her hand and paused before clearing her throat. "He closed these without materia," she commented.

"Yeah," Zack answered bitterly.

"All of these are along the old marker scars from when we implanted your JENOVA cells, and I can see a couple of more, in non-standard locations, here… and here." She tapped a couple of places near his shoulder blades.

"Marker scars?" Zack asked.

"Usually when JENOVA cells are implanted we heal the incisions with Cure materia, but often we'll leave a tiny scar mark to show where we placed the cells just in case there's an issue with the site," she explained. "If you recall from your initiation into SOLDIER, we implanted the cells and then you had a regimen of mako injections to balance out their effects, before getting the full showering with mako at the end."

"I remember those."

"Well, Hojo definitely tampered with the old sites. You can barely see the old scars from your first treatments, but these others are newer." She walked around to his front and silently gestured that he lean back so she could get a better look at his chest and abdomen. Having not found anything of note there, she walked to the door and leaned outside. "Could I get a camera in here please?"

She walked back over to the table, writing something in her notes. "While we're waiting, I'm going to take that blood sample, all right?"

"I guess."

Rayleigh had just finished prepping the needle with the collection tube and she paused. "So what was that I read in the reports about these S-cells?"

Zack shook his head for a moment, eyeing what she held in her hand and feeling the anxiety starting to rise again. "I'll tell you in a bit. For now, I think I'd like to talk about something else."

"All right." She deftly moved forward and after tying off a tourniquet over his right bicep, she began to swab a place on his right arm. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Has SOLDIER changed much since I've been gone?" It was just a shot in the dark… so to speak, but he hoped that would keep them going until well after she was done.

"Not too much. We've taken fewer recruits lately." She went in for the kill and Zack let out a soft grunt as the needle found his vein before she continued. "But we actually have a few more 1sts now. After we lost you and the big three, I started to wonder if anyone would last to retirement age. Some of them have disappeared, and others, I have to admit, I worry about them."

"Is that so?" His voice was pinched slightly. "Did you know any of the guys who got promoted after me?"

"There were a few. Ramius… Bradley… Kunsel…" She glanced down at the vial to see if it had filled enough.

"Kunsel…" Zack thought of the old messages he'd found on his phone when he'd first escaped and in spite of the pain in his arm, he smiled. "He was a good friend. He deserved it."

"He's not the most decorated. They don't send him on a lot of missions, but they love him for training the rookies. I honestly don't know why the director doesn't just put him in charge of that part of the job."

"He always was good at that," Zack agreed. "Even taught me a few things I hadn't figured out yet as a 2nd."

It was at that moment that she pulled out the needle and pressed a cotton swab to the spot where it had been. "Hold that for me, would you?" He obeyed, applying pressure to his arm.

Just then, he noticed the door open and Freya peeked in, holding the camera Rayleigh had requested. "Sorry it took so long. Owen had a little trouble finding it."

"All right." Rayleigh took the camera from her and then turned back to Zack as the door shut again. "I'll be done in just a minute and then we can take care of Cloud, all right?"

Zack nodded and shut his eyes again, trying to find a well of tranquility within himself from which to draw the strength he would need for the second half of this ordeal. The camera clicked several times behind him, and he tried to ignore the noise. After a while the sounds stopped, and Rayleigh told him he could put his shirt back on.

Once he was fully dressed, he saw that Rayleigh had taken a position behind the table again, waiting expectantly.

Zack looked over at Cloud and saw that his eyes were still open. "I'm impressed Cloud," he said, trying to put as much positive energy into it as he could. "This is the longest time you've been awake in a while. We'll just keep what happened when the Doc walked in between the two of us, okay? I'd rather not let that get spread around." He rolled the wheel chair over towards the table and lifted Cloud up so he was sitting in the same position, and then carefully settled him on his side, minding the IV as he did so.

"All right, now if you could, roll him a little more towards you. I won't have to do nearly as much with him since I already have the information on his vitals and physical condition from Owen."

Zack did so, and watched warily as she undid the back of the hospital gown, his composure regained in the need to be there for Cloud. After a moment, she pulled back the folds of the gown revealing the scars Zack knew to be there.

"It's exactly as he said," Rayleigh muttered, "These are also definitely scars from SOLDIER enhancements. Although it looks like there are some other marks here too..." She ran a hand over a scar on the left side of the man's ribs. "This looks like a sword wound."

"Sephiroth did that," Zack confirmed grimly. "When we faced him in the reactor."

"Oh…" Rayleigh's answer was barely above a murmur as she regarded the injury.

Zack nodded, sadly remembering another friend he had lost and noticed that the doctor had gone for her camera again. He held his friend steady as she snapped photos of the individual scars.

When she put the camera down, she spoke again. "Right. Now let's get him on his back."

Zack complied, and once his friend lay flat, Rayleigh pulled the gown along Cloud's body, leaving it high enough that it still protected his dignity, but didn't obscure her view of his chest and lower torso. The other side of the wound where Sephiroth had speared him with the Masamune was clearly visible, as were a number of other surgical scars.

"Some of these look like Hojo might have been trying to see the effects his work was having on his internal organs." Rayleigh commented. "These smaller scars here, along the lines between the individual muscles, are common for such procedures. Some of these other scars though..."She shuddered involuntarily. "I really don't know. Some of these are just cruel."

"It all was," Zack commented.

Rayleigh reached for the camera again, to record her findings, and then asked "Are you ready to tell me? What you meant about S-cells, I mean."

"To tell the truth I only heard it from someone else," Zack admitted. "While we were on the run, we bumped into Genesis and Hollander. They were pretty far gone by that point but they were going on about how Hojo had been working with 'S-cells' and how the ones Cloud supposedly had were pure. I ran into Genesis again later and he said I carried a part of Sephiroth in me. I don't know much more beyond that, or even if they were in their right minds when they said that stuff, but I think the S-cells had something to do with Sephiroth." Zack looked down at Cloud and noticed he was shivering slightly. "Can we hurry this up a little bit? He's getting cold."

"This won't take but just another second." She snapped the last of the pictures and then Zack pulled the gown back up so Cloud was wearing it properly again.

"So Professor Hollander's still alive?" Rayleigh asked, and Zack noticed that she was carrying the needle for the second blood sample and another tourniquet.

"Afraid not. I ended up having to kill him."

"Well, alive or dead, Hollander probably would have known about things like that better than anyone aside from Hojo himself. I'll definitely look into it once I have the chance to run your blood work." She moved to place the tourniquet on Cloud's arm as she spoke.

"I really hope you aren't going to do anything else with those." The defensive edge was back in Zack's voice again.

"I'm not Hojo, Zack," Rayleigh answered evenly. "You have my word. All I've been asked to do is find out what's going on. That's all I'm going to do."

Zack gave her a frown to show he wasn't sure he believed her word was sufficient, before taking Cloud's hand in his own. "We're almost done," he said, patting Cloud's shoulder with his free hand.

"That we are," Rayleigh agreed, swabbing the spot on Cloud's other arm where she planned to stick him. "This'll only hurt for a little bit, and then it'll be all over." Cloud didn't make a sound or even jolt when the needle sank into his skin, but Zack continued to grip his hand anyway, trying not to hold it too hard. After a while, he had to look away from the small vial filling with dark red. It was making him a little nauseous…

"…Zack?" He blinked and saw that Rayleigh was holding a piece of cotton to Cloud's arm. "You can take him back to the room now. We're done."

"Okay." Zack looked away from the doctor again, and took another deep breath before looking back down at his friend. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" He said, adopting his most cheerful voice as Rayleigh walked towards the trashcan and began to remove her gloves.

Zack did not need further prompting. Without another word, he picked Cloud up again and lowered him back into the wheelchair, shooting a questioning look at Tanjuu to see if he was ready to let them go. He had opened the door and gestured that they exit. Once they were through and headed back towards their room, Zack felt relief flow over him in a wave. Their situation had not changed, but the ordeal was over. Hopefully not to be repeated. He also noticed as he walked Cloud back that Tseng seemed to have left.

Freya and Cissnei followed him into their room. "How did it go Zack?" Cissnei asked after a moment.

Zack busied himself with getting Cloud back to bed, hoping he wouldn't have to answer. The whole scenario bothered him.

That was when he noticed that Rayleigh was looking into the room and had apparently heard Cissnei's question because she took the opportunity to answer for him. "They handled it just fine."

Zack felt gratitude for the woman which also annoyed him because it further confused his sense of what side everyone was on. In the end, he settled for continued silence.

"I'll be back with the test results in a few days," Rayleigh said. "Zack, you and Cloud take care, all right?"

Zack acknowledged her farewell with a nod and looked out the window. There wasn't much to see, and it was raining out there, so he turned disappointedly to see who was left.

"Are you okay?" Cissnei asked.

"Should I be?" Zack volleyed the question back at her.

Cissnei thought about it before saying "I don't know."

The silence was deafening. Finally, Zack couldn't take it anymore. So he did the only thing he knew how to do when he didn't want to think. He started doing squats.

Cloud had shut his eyes again. He had probably been just as strung out as Zack was from Rayleigh's visit. Zack hated this. He felt constricted. He wanted to leave. To go somewhere far from here. As he worked his muscles, his thoughts drifted to a church in the Sector 5 slums, and he sorely wished he was there right now, talking with Aerith and admiring her beautiful flowers.

After a while, Cissnei looked down at the clock on her PHS and saw what time it was. "So, are you hungry?"

"A bit," he said, not stopping his exertions.

"I'll go to that shop down in the lobby. What will you want?"

Zack told her, and after taking requests from the other Turks, she was gone, leaving him alone with Freya again. She'd been quiet since he'd reentered the room, and now, she walked over to Cloud's bed. Zack noticed her smoothing his hair away from his face before she went back to her seat.

"You can trust Rayleigh, you know," she said after a little while.

"Why should I? She belongs to Shinra just like you," Zack accused, pausing in his squats to shoot an accusing look at the lady Turk.

Freya paused just as she reached the chair, then walked over to the light switch by the door and turned it off. The room darkened, with the exception of the tiny bit of light filtering in through the window, but as his eyes adjusted, Zack saw something he hadn't expected. They were a far cry from the strong mako-enhanced glow of his own, but Freya's light brown eyes were glowing faintly in the darkened room.

"You can't tell it unless you look close, or it's dark, but I had mako poisoning too once." She turned the light back on, and Zack realized that it was true. The glow in her eyes had nearly been invisible under normal conditions. He only saw it now because he knew it was there.

"It happened when the Corel reactor blew," she continued. "I was just like him for three years." She gestured to Cloud for emphasis. "Tseng got the best people he could to take care of me, and they were Rayleigh, and Owen. Now if these are the people Tseng trusts to take care of the Turks, don't you think you could at least give them the benefit of the doubt?"

Zack didn't know what to say to this. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I can think about it… I guess." He couldn't give the Turk a straight answer.


September 27th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

"L-loveless…"

Zack blinked.

It was the evening of the next day and Freya had been sitting with them again, a new book in hand. Zack had been doing squats again, since he'd thought Cloud was asleep and he had nothing better to do. That was when he had heard that soft male voice… it was so familiar… and yet he hadn't heard it in years.

"…Cloud?"

There was silence for a few moments, and then, just when Zack thought he'd been hearing things…

"That… play… just now… it was Loveless… wasn't it?"

That was when Zack remembered their interrupted game and laughed. "Cloud, that was yesterday." He walked over to the bed and saw that while Cloud's glowing blue eyes still looked a little bleary, they were looking around the room, and finally, they rested on him.

"…Z-Zack?"

Zack felt tears well up in his eyes. Cloud had recognized him. Responded to him. Said his name even! "Welcome back, buddy." He reached down and gently ran his hand through his friend's hair. "I missed you."

Cloud seemed completely confused, but Zack didn't care. He was awake. Really awake, and that was all that mattered.

Withdrawing his hand, Zack looked away briefly, wiping away his tears. When he was finished, he turned back and gave his friend the biggest grin he could muster. "How do you feel?"

"Weird… it's hard to think…" Cloud answered, his voice halting as though both the mental concentration and the physical effort speaking required were causing him difficulty. He looked around the room again, unable to get his bearings. "Where… are we…?"

Freya stood up and joined them. "You're at a hospital in Midgar, Cloud. This is the Turk annex. We brought you here a few days ago after we found you in the wastes. Remember?"

Suddenly Cloud's expression turned fearful. "The Turks… Zack, you were… they shot you…" He frowned, willing himself to remember and then looked up at Zack, blue eyes wide with concern.

"Don't worry about me. I'm okay." Zack said, grinning. "They wanted us alive so they used tranquilizer darts. I was none too happy about it. Still not exactly pleased."

"So we're…"

"Prisoners again? I'm afraid so." Zack couldn't lie to his friend. "But at least they've been a lot more understanding about you being sick." He left the comparison to Hojo unspoken. He didn't want to bring back bad memories right now, for either of them.

"Sick?... I guess I am… I don't feel… right."

"Well, that's what we're trying to do something about," Zack said. "Can we get you anything?"

"…Water?"

Before Zack even moved, Freya had grabbed a glass off a nearby shelf and walked into the bathroom. She returned shortly afterward. Cloud still seemed pretty weak, so Zack helped him to a sitting position, keeping an arm around him so he wouldn't fall over. After Freya handed him the glass, he slowly brought it to his friend's mouth. Cloud swallowed a few sips and then pulled away, indicating he was finished. He didn't say any more after that, and eventually Zack realized he'd fallen asleep again.

He sat there for a minute or two, almost wondering if he'd wake up himself and realize it had all been a dream. But then, carefully, he eased him back down on the bed. Once he was finished, he said quietly. "Don't wait so long to wake up next time, okay?"