A/N: Thanks for the review, Dagreatonion. So far, I'm happy with the idea's I've had and have been having with this little story. Everyone, do enjoy my second chapter and do remember to please Read and Review, its much appreciated and greatly helps me learn what good or bad ideas I might have created.
Finally the ceremony was over. Vincent, Yuffie and Nanaki departed shortly after, before everyone else headed for Seventh Heaven. Barret was eager to get back to the bar so he could have some time to talk to Marlene, even if all he could was watch her sleep. All his time out in the oil fields didn't allow him the time he wished he had to stay with her. But Cloud and Tifa were perfectly capable of taking care of her in his absence. Denzel helped the situation, giving Marlene a friend she always knew would be around, even when Cloud and Tifa were overwhelmed with issues with the bar and the delivery service.
Cid stuck around for a change, usually departing soon as he could to get back to Shera. The ceremony had went on till sometime early in the morning, so he figured he'd stick around while Shera did who knows what back in Rocket Town. Everyone sat in silence. Tifa and Cloud took seats at the bar, Cid took a booth and stretched himself out to take up an entire side, after a few moments watching Marlene rest soundly Barret finally came down.
"This ain't no celebration, ya dumbasses! More like a morgue…"
"Barret…" Tifa sighed, shooting him a stern glance.
"He ain't lyin' though, for us all getting knighted the moods thicker than Chocobo shit."
"So…everyone's happy with this then?"
Everyone eyed Cloud, his voice being a perfect audio of just how the mood felt. It wasn't a question any of them could answer quickly, even if they could have smiled eye to eye at Reeve and said yes. For some reason when Cloud asked, it really made them think.
"Shit, Spiky. What's not to be happy about exactly…?" Barret chose to ignore the answer that floated to his own mind.
"Everything rest on us. Hopes, dreams, the future. We're no longer just along for the ride…"
"We're expected to be the future." Tifa finished, filling in Cloud's hesitation, eyeing him thoughtfully.
Cloud gave a soft nod of his head, finally looking up from his glass of Corel wine, having felt he'd thoroughly stared a hole into it. Eyes glowing with brilliant Mako looked from face to face, beginning with Cid and ending with Tifa. No ones eyes actually met his; everyone had finally ignored the feel good vibe the mission gave them.
"It may already be too late for us to even think about it, not that we were given a chance to process anything."And back he went to eyeing that glass of wine.
"This…is the world we're talking about. Being selfish, it's a luxury we can't afford ourselves. There may be a lot on our shoulders." Tifa looked from Cloud, to Barret, to the cranky looking Cid. "But we're a team and we'll always be there for each other, right?"
Barret nodded and a wide grin spread across his face, it was all he had to hear. Cid slammed his fist to the table and then quickly gave a hoot of joy, applauding. That tender and shy remnant Cloud called a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, even as he spoke.
"Always."
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CHAPTER TWO: Imprisoned
"Yo…seriously, it's the middle of the night, Reeve. This had better be one helluva damn good reason…my ass been out on the oil field for the past three days straight!"
Snorting out of his nose, Barret hung up his cell and sat for a moment at the side of his bed, rubbing his left hand across his face and trying to stifle a yawn. For a long moment he simply stared at the ground, thinking of all the lovely rest he was missing out on.
"Hurry and get ready, Reeve sounded like it was important."
On pure instinct Barret's hand flew from his face and braced the top of his right forearm, his gun arm prosthesis aiming at his darkened bedroom doorway. Even knowing the voice, he couldn't help but get ready to open fire.
"Damn it Spiky, what in the hell you doin' here?"
With tender steps, Cloud's form slowly left the shadows and stepped into the moonlight, giving Barret a quirked brow of caution. Leaning to the side, Barret attempted to look past him, expecting to see Tifa somewhere nearby. Even he knew that they were both sent to Nibelheim for their mission tonight. Instead of answering his question, Cloud stood there staring at him.
"You're givin' me the creeps, aight man. Did Tifa already head back to Edge? You guys didn't leave Marlene alone, did ya?"
"Tifa headed back early for Marlene and Denzel, I was able to handle Nibelheim alone. Did Reeve mention to you what the meeting was about?"
"Shit, you should know. You're the one that called his ass and…"
Barret halted his words, only realizing what he said while he was saying instead of while he thought it. If Cloud put in the call from Nibelheim and Reeve had called him, there wasn't a chance Cloud could have already forgotten, let alone made it to the oil site outside of Rocket Town. But there he was, it had to be him. Barret wasn't dreaming, he knew that much.
"Barret, do you think we're ignoring the big picture, you know, regarding restoring the world?"
Cloud slowly walked from the doorway and over to the window, basking completely within the moonlight. This gave him a more pale appearance than usual.
"We're doing the best we can…we're all takin' steps towards a better world. Free of those damned Shinra jackasses. You know that."
"You…really believe it all ended with the death of Sephiroth, the fall of Shinra?"
"We had hard times since then. Geostigma was some shit…and all the Deepground business. Our world is far from perfect 'n all. Get to the point, aight?"
"Sephiroth died. Jenova cell's entered the lifestream, corrupting it. The lifestream that erupted from the planet to dissolve Meteor held infused Jenova cells, and began infecting the world with Geostigma…"
"Same shit, different day…I said get to the point." Whatever Cloud was saying, Barret was losing his patience with.
"It's an endless cycle Barret. We die, inactive Jenova cells are forced back into the lifestream. Day by day, death by death, the world crawls towards a slow end."
Finally, understanding riddled his expression. It was something that had only briskly been brought up in various WRO meetings, but it was labeled as a topic with little factual backing. Hypotheses had sprung up since even the death of Sephiroth, but nothing could be fully scientifically proven. Though Geostigma and the remnants of Sephiroth were proof Jenova's consciousness and her cells had infected the origins of the planets life. It was all the proof they needed, but the WRO still needed more than just a "hunch", as they called it.
"You tellin' me you found a way to prove it the WRO? We finally gonna get to the meat and damned potatoes of the problems, Spiky?"
"Vincent told me it's too late to fix. That it was futile."
"Wh-what? Guy sure knows how to shit on hope, doesn't he? Guess he's a got good argument as to why it's futile, huh?"
"He did find another answer." Cloud hesitated before he continued, an idea coming to mind. "Dyne said it best, all that time ago at Corel Prison, you remember that right? "Destroy everything." I believe that was it."
Standing up, he tensed his muscles as best he could, trying not to punch Cloud's clock completely out then and there. His jaw clenched and unclenched several times before he finally managed to voice his thoughts.
"You know not to bring up Dyne and you sure as hell better not bring up what he told me back then…you best explain yourself, peacock."
"It can't be reversed, the planet will die slowly. We…yes, we have to cause a big enough surge of the Jenova Cells, so the lifestream is purged into darkness. Gaia deserves mercy after all we've done. You agree, right Barret?"
Cloud turned to look to Barret, his eyes appearing empty and lacking their usual glow. Instead of wearing his stoic expression, he was sporting a very lively smirk, as though his words truly amused him.
"Barret, the world needs to be saved…"
"We been through a lot, Spiky. But if that's your plan, you can go to hell…"
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"Vincent, don't take our trust for granted…"
"We saw you in the Shinra Mansion. You fired at Cloud."
"I have never given you reason to believe I would betray a single one of you…"
"I was talking to him most of the night, asking him how everything was going in Kalm! You two are way too worked up, chillax!"
Yuffie couldn't stand watching them fight it out with each other. It was like watching rabid carnivores tear at each others throats. Neither side budged with their stories; even she was careful what she said unless it was pure fact. What surprised her most was that Vincent wasn't losing his patience, least not yet.
"As much as it pain's me to say, that's what I've been doing most of the evening…"
"This doesn't…make any sense."
Cloud shook his head, wondering if somehow he had hallucinated Vincent in the mansion. Tifa saw him too, though. There was no denying they had seen him.
"Is it safe to come in now…?" muttered Nanaki, shooting confused glances between his friends.
"We're sorry, Nanaki. There's just a lot that's not making sense right now. Please come in." Tifa smiled as best and apologetic as she could.
Reeve had his fingertips buried in his hair, sliding his hands to the back of his head and staring down at the report Cloud made while they flew back to Edge from Nibelheim. By all indications Vincent shouldn't be standing before them now, least not bearing the story he had.
"Did you call Barret, Reeve? He and Cid are all we're…"
"I'm here, I'm here…don't get your silky panties in a wad."
Cid entered, grumbling and piping cigarette smoke from his mouth with each word he uttered. Tossing the quickly dying butt in an ashtray near the door, he wandered to a seat and made himself at home. Everyone followed suit, with the exclusion of Nanaki. Chairs were really beyond his area of sitting expertise.
Reeve read Cloud's report, verifying he'd fill Barret in when he arrived. It didn't pass his mind to mention to the lot of them that Barret was worn out when Reeve called him. It was assumed for the moment he was drooling on a pillow, dreaming of black gold. As Reeve finished his report, all eyes once again fell on Vincent who glowered at them, shocked they felt he'd betray them.
"Well, g'damn son! You gonna turn Cerberus on us, I'll ram the Shera clean up your ass like a coffin nail."
"Seriously old man, give him a chance to defend himself! Besides if you'd been here on time instead of waltzing in like someone cast a damn Stop spell on you, you'd have known I mentioned I was talking to Vincent all night, gawd!"
Yuffie slammed her open palms heavy to the round table, letting a heavy sigh huff barely through her clenched teeth.
"Calm down, Yuffie. They for some reason believe I would betray their trust." Glancing between each of them, Vincent stifled his own heavy sigh. "If I must prove myself, I will. Commissioner Tuesti, I request you confine me."
"Vincent…" Yuffie whispered, disbelief thick in her tone.
"It…would probably be best."
All eyes turned to Cloud, minus Vincent. He already knew what Cloud was going to say, that he was going to agree to the idea for the safety of the team. He wouldn't have proposed the idea if he didn't also feel it was for the better, even though he knew he was innocent.
"Until we figure out what is going on, Vincent must be detained. But…please don't take it personal." Cloud finished, knowing it was perhaps an impossible request to make.
Vincent said nothing; he merely turned to Reeve and nodded. With the press of a button, several armed soldiers enter the room and were ordered to escort Vincent to a "special cell", but offered no explanation as to why it was considered special. The same silence that riddled the room before Reeve read the report had begun to haunt the room once more. Everyone felt guilty, especially Cloud and Tifa.
"I'll try to call Barret again…"
Tifa cracked the silence of the room, seeming to bring everyone else back to reality, back out of their own thoughts. Cloud leaned back in his chair, releasing a soft sigh and searching the ceiling as if it held some sort of answers. Nothing was making sense at the moment and more bad news was on the way.
"Barret didn't answer. It might be too early to jump to conclusions, but…"
"Our best guess now is that…maybe Vincent got him after he left us. It's better we play caution right now. "
"I told you guys!" Yuffie roared, glaring at Cloud.
"We know what we saw, Yuffie. Just…please."
Tifa looked more upset at the thought than Yuffie had presumed. Seeing this, she finally conceded to giving up for the moment, but she wasn't about to just leave Vincent to be stowed away a convict when she knew he wasn't. There was a time to fight the groups choice, but that time wasn't now.
"This isn't the time to sit on your asses, kids. I got the Shera parked outside!"
"This meeting of the Round is convened, dismissed."
Reeve made his order, yet even after they had left he sat in the room, still in disbelief that Vincent would do anything like the report said. Was it right of him to trust Tifa and Cloud over Vincent? Gritting his teeth he tried to shake off the thought, there was plenty of trust issues in the WRO as it was.
As they marched toward the Shera, Cloud felt Tifa's gaze literally piercing into his side. Turning to look to her, he read the question in her eyes. There was more than one, and even more than questions there were concerns that he wished he could make go away. For now he would do what he could, for her, for himself and for the team. He would be strong.
"Let's go find Barret."