"Can't you shut him up, he won't stop screaming," the man rubbed his brow, "I don't see why you even brought him here... I know, I know I don't see the bigger picture, it's a little fucked up if you ask me," cold hand on soft warm flesh, a whispered name the meaning fading in the air,
The look in Vincent's eyes was distant, haunted, yet he swore he knew nothing, Cloud pushed no further simply because he didn't see any reason for the other to lie. He sighed and unintentionally ignored Marlene when she attempted to show off her new dress, Tifa smiled and whispered something he couldn't hear, whatever it had been it seemed to please the girl and she disappeared upstairs. Cloud itched to go, to solve the mystery that burnt ferociously in his mind; he had an idea of where to go, he'd go see Rufus Shinra, not a lot seemed to escape the eyes of the president or his little red haired Turk, Reno seemed to have a knack for knowing everyone else's business.
"Do you know when Fenrir will be fixed?" Cloud asked meeting Tifa's wine coloured eyes, she sighed and slumped against the bar somewhat,
"In an hour or so, planning on going somewhere, I have to be honest you're not really up for it," the door closed with a gentle click and sometimes she wondered why she bothered, Cloud never listened, she cared so much about him, would give anything to see him smile but he was so distant, even when he was there it was like he wasn't, like you could reach straight through him, the blonde was becoming a shadow of himself and there was nothing she could do to stop it, she smashed her fist into the bar; Vincent placed his hand over the appendage,
"He has to do this," the dark haired man explained, "you have to let him," she nodded but she didn't want to, she hated herself for it but part of her wished that Zack Fair had stayed dead.
XxxxXxxxX
Fenrir roared as he started her up and she glimmered like when she had been brand new, a smile tinged his lips, he handed over the gil like it was paper.
It didn't take him long to get to where Rufus Shinra resided, pushing the door open as if it weighed next to nothing, as had became customary for Reno he charged at the blonde whom avoided the attack easily, the red head slammed non to gracefully into the door. Rude bit his lip to hold back the chuckle, the President did not, he walked towards the blonde, smiling all the way, like a con man trying to sell him low level Materia for far too much.
"Not that it's not good to see you Cloud but what is it that brings you here?" Rufus asks all charm and smiles, Reno groans behind him and Cloud can feel the half hearted glare the red head throws at him.
"What do you know about Zack Fair?" The three fall silent, eyes furrow with confusion, Rude and Reno share a glance of worry before ghosting it over Cloud,
"He's... dead... you know that..." Reno all but whispers his voice seems to waver somewhat and Cloud worries his brow over the emotion.
"Surely you of all people remember that, now anyway," Rufus comments and Cloud snarled causing a perfectly arched eyebrow to rise, the elder male smiled. The blonde clenched his fists, he had no reservations to punching Rufus Shinra in the nose, he deserved it, if not for this then the things that had gone before.
"I saw him," Cloud ground out between clenched teeth, "he's very much alive... how?" the Mako tinged the sapphire blue eyes and reminded Rufus of just how dangerous the boy could be, he subdued somewhat and shook his head.
"It's news to me," he sighed and sat down in a nearby chair, "Last I heard Zack Fair was dead, that was a long time ago, I've heard nothing of him since. It was a shame though; he was a good SOLDIER, one of the best,"
There was a hand on his shoulder, warm and familiar, it moulded perfectly to his shoulder blade, like it had been designed to fit there, that's how he knew who it was, each and every time, even if it was a brief touch as the other had ghosted past. It sent a shiver tumbling down his spine that he'd struggle to understand for years to come. Then there was that smile, the one that could melt any feeling of angst to nothing in the very pit of his stomach.
"Zack was our buddy Cloud, you don't go playing with this sort of thing," Reno was pinned to the wall before the last word even fell from his lips, dangerous Mako blue eyes burning into his own aquamarine orbs.
"He was my friend, you think I'd lie about something like this... you didn't know Zack, you never knew any of us, none of you. All too high and mighty to stare the grunts in the eye and ask them their name, the same grunts you sent to kill us both..." Reno met his eyes in that instance, a fire burning dangerously in the emerald depths,
"I think you'll find we were on our way to get you, Tseng and I, we're not the monsters in your fairytale Cloud, if you're looking for someone to blame maybe you should look a little closer to home," he took the punch, his lip splitting under the force of the blow,
"Enough, both of you," Rufus demanded as Rude began to pry the two males apart, "whatever is going on Cloud you have my word none of us know anything about it, but should the information become available to me I will pass it onto you immediately," With little more than a nod of understanding the blonde was gone, nothing but the sound of a door slamming in his wake, Rufus' eyes fell on Reno, "Just what was that about?" the red head mumbled under his breath and stormed off into the back room, Rude merely shrugged at the enquiring look the president passed at him.
XxxxXxxxX
The walls of Seventh Heaven seemed to shake with his bottled rage, he sat in his office, fists clenched the phone lying off its hook by his side, he had exhausted every line of inquiry he had at his disposal and nobody knew anything. His eyes ghosted to the drawer of his desk, slightly ajar, he pulled it open, delving his hand into the jumble of mismatched objects that few would understand, his hands gripped at a small metallic object, lifting it from the tangled recesses of the drawer.
It was a locket, simple enough, square shaped, engraved with beautiful and yet meaningless designs, a small chip of a Materia sealed forever in the back, it had been Zack's mothers, that's what he had said, it was for luck and protection he remembered the elders words as if he had spoken them just yesterday, "it'll keep you safe" he had whispered as he had slipped it from himself to clip it around Cloud's neck, ruffling his hair. He ran his gloved thumb over the engraving; Cloud was never really sure why Zack had given it to him, fleeing from ShinRa in a rushed and broken moment of calm. It was one of the very few things Cloud remembered clearly from those days, even if Zack hadn't known, Cloud absorbed every word, every emotion from that moment, if only that.
The door creaked open, slowly, Cloud clenched his fist essentially hiding the locket from view, it was his to stare at, his to remember and he wanted to share it with no one. It was Tifa, who destroyed his silent reverie, slipping into the room and pushing the door closed with the weight of her body as she leant against it,
"Do you want something to eat Cloud? You've been up here for hours," she all but whispered into the darkness, the locket in his hand seemed to be burning into his flesh,
"It'll keep you safe" that smile, everything would be alright, "we're friends... right?"
Blood too much blood, it stuck to his face, engrained in his hair staining the blonde in some sort of morbid twisted reminder of that moment, he couldn't touch it the very concept made him feel sick, his mind fogged, the Buster Sword weighed heavy in his hands... "Zack..." that was all he knew, that and pain, a scream torn from his lips for something that blurred away with each day, forgotten in a sea of Mako that ate away his memories.
"Cloud?" her voice bled with worry, she reached out to him, her hand hovering mere centimetres above where his shoulder was, she pulled it back as if it had been burnt. "You should at least come down for a bit, it's not good for you to be cooped up in here by yourself all the time,"
"I'm fine Tifa, I've got... work to do..." she noticed the small intricate chain that dangled from his closed hand, briefly thought about asking about it but knew that it would be best not to, something's Cloud liked to keep to himself, those treasured memories that he could just about remember now, gone for so long, he needed them more than the blood that pumped through his veins.
"Oh... I'll just be going now then..." she stuttered softly, the door creaking back open and he let her go in silence because anything he had said in that moment would only of hurt her more and he'd given Tifa enough pain to last several of her lifetimes. He hadn't meant to cause any of it but he had nevertheless. He had heard her at night, on the rare occasion when he got back late and she had departed to her room rather than wait up for him, he had heard her crying softly to herself. He had just turned and left because there was nothing in himself that he could use to comfort another human being anymore; it had left him in rain and the desert sands, in blood that sometimes he could still feel on his skin, thick and warm.
Zack Fair had died for him, protecting him, Cloud couldn't understand why he had done it, he closed his eyes against the tears that stung the backs of his eyes.
Then there had been the Zack he had seen yesterday, he looked exactly as he had and it had broken more than a rib when the elder had lashed out at him, what it was though Cloud wasn't entirely sure. Yet he knew that all he had wanted to do was to embrace the elder, to have been held by him and he didn't understand the desire at all.
XxxxXxxxX
"Why did he look at me like that?" the raven haired man asked, tossing his sword at the wall as if the hilt was stinging his hand, the woman glanced up at him from behind her glasses, she merely shrugged checking Weiss' vitals and placing her clipboard back in its slot at the foot of the bed.
"Who are we talking about exactly?" she asked, her blonde hair brushing against the deep red that painted her lips, several strands became coated in the crimson gloss and the violet eyed man found her face changing before his eyes, there were tears and a scream, longer face still holding the faintest trace of baby fat, brown eyes turned to sparkling sapphire and Zack lashed out at the wall, the face returning to that of the woman stood before him. "What was that about? Don't tell me you're freaking out again, I've had just about enough of the lot of you, far too high maintenance," she smirked and stalked past him, "lose your master on the way home?"
"He had something to do," and as an afterthought, "he's not my master, and don't change the subject?" he chased her down the hallway where she stood before a door, bolted and locked,
"What? Oh you mean Cloud Strife don't you?" she smirked more to herself than to anyone else, "how exactly did he look at you? Begging for mercy?" she folded her arms across her chest seeming completely uninterested in what the other had to say, Zack seemed puzzled by the question,
"No...Well... it was sort of like... like he remembered me, like I was a ghost he'd been waiting for years to see," she turned to face the door before he could see the shadow of worry that flickered across her eyes, she hoped her boss knew nothing of these troubles that plagued the dark haired man, he would not be pleased if he knew and she would ultimately suffer for it.
"You probably mistook it for desperation, or he was trying to confuse you, he's tricky like that, he'll try and convince you of anything to save his skin. Just... don't be affected by it, it's a trick Zack, remember what we told you about him, he killed Sephiroth, he's not stable, it'd be best to bring him here for tests so we can establish the threat we're dealing with." She smiled, shimmering red lips sparkling in the dim lighting; he nodded, smiling softly,
"Sorry, guess it's just been a long day," she placed her hand on his shoulder gently,
"Go get some rest, in my opinion this was too early for you to be going on a field mission, you're still too weak... no arguments Zack, go get some sleep whilst you can." He disappeared and her smile fell into a grimace placing the 6 digit code into the lock and slipping through the gap as the door rolled back.
"AKANE!" she grimaced as her name echoed throughout the building, she figured that she was in trouble and she was fairly certain she knew exactly what it was about. Zack and Cloud, she wasn't entirely sure what he wanted her to do about the whole situation, emotions were tricky things and she wasn't very good with her own let alone rewriting others. Her dark scarlet nails raked through her hair, she wasn't Hojo, she couldn't work miracles it just so happened she'd stumbled into the job where miracles were expected daily.
She smiled at the red haired male as he found her in the corridors, distorted look across his perfect features, he did not look happy; he gripped her collar, pushed her up against the wall and glared down at her.
"You haven't done your job properly have you? Hope I'm not going to have to find some sort of leverage to get you to obey by the rules." She pulled herself from his grasp, rolling her eyes,
"I misinterpreted his feelings; it won't happen again, he seems satisfied with the answer I gave him today, maybe if you told me what was going on things like this wouldn't happen." She brushed off her lab coat and turned to head down the corridor.
"Maybe, still, it had better not happen again, you're not irreplaceable Miss Stone," she shuddered involuntarily at the tone that he used, he disappeared into the darkness and she merely stared after him feeling all the world like a helpless child.
XxxxXxxxxX
Ok so I didn't really check through this that much I wrote it a while ago and then my computer killed itself and thankfully they managed to salvage all my stuff even if it was gone for what felt like forever... so if there are mistakes take them with a pinch of salt this once please this was basically just written for my own entertainment and I then decided to post it so I know it's not perfect... next chapter will be better I promise...