Some really good points have been raised in reviews, and I will try to use some of those points, but I guarantee nothing. Not even consistent updates or chapter lengths.
A reminder: This is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. Therefore, EVENTS HAVE BEEN ALTERED FROM CANON. In some cases, events are MAJORLY ALTERED. Someday, I hope to not have to post this reminder. To the flamer (and any future flamer) with poor grammar and inability to read large print, your flame was given to Genesis who used it to attack (I mean, train) recruits.
Final Fantasy VII (Y'know, they probably should change the name, cause there's nothing 'final' about it.) and it's Compilation (See?) are property of Square. This is a slightly deranged mind having fun.
(This turned into a monster of a chapter, about 16 pages in word, so . . . sorry.)
Vice President's Office, ShinRa, Midgar
Reeve sighed as he finished unpacking another box. He would have preferred to stay in his Urban Development office, but Rufus had been insistent, and his so-called friends had found the entire thing amusing and didn't try to help. Which lead to him using his lunch hour to slowly move boxes from one office to the other and unpacking them, mostly because he wanted to draw out the process for as long as possible.
"Sir, Major Strife is here." Something else that still needed to be fixed, Reeve absently noted as he reached for the button to reply, was that Elena was still his secretary, with no intention of ever joining the Turks while her sister was there.
"Send him in." Reeve spotted the box he had just unpacked begin moving of its own accord. Mini Cait had randomly decided to start building a fort of boxes in one corner, and Cait Sith was helping. "Oh no, I'm going to need that box later!"
"Och! Please, Reeve? I need it for the tower!" Mini Cait held tight to the box. "Ye can always get another box!"
"So can ye- I mean, you!" Cait Sith was laughing at the two of them. "You keep stealing all the other boxes."
"Should I come back later?" A dry voice interrupted the impending argument.
"Cloud! Ye're looking different." Cait Sith jumped up from his seat near the fort, and dashed toward Cloud. "Familiar, though."
"Cloud, tell Reeve to let me keep the wee box!" Mini Cait also dashed, but due to his holding onto the box ended up tripping and landing inside of it.
" . . . I don't want to know." Cloud stated as Reeve scooped up the box.
"It's a long . . . story . . ." Reeve finally looked at Cloud, and found himself blinking. The wolf's head on the single pauldron, and harness for the fusion swords weren't unusual, but Cloud had managed to recreate the rest of the outfit he had worn during and after the Geostigma crisis, though the cloth covering his left leg didn't appear to be an apron, and was attached to a smaller black version of the soldier belt. "When did you?"
"This morning, after training with Zack, finally got it all together while he went off to speak with Angeal- think Rufus will mind?"
"Probably not. He knows you." Reeve smiled, relaxing in the presence of something familiar. Despite trying, successfully, to change the timeline, the differences still made them uneasy at times, and having something, anything familiar helped ease the transition. "We've got a mission for you."
"I'm not going to like it, am I?"
"What makes you say that?" Reeve blinked.
"Rufus is having you do the briefing." Cloud pointed out as he moved to sit down.
"Well, he assigned it to me as well . . ." Though Cloud was more than likely right- Rufus had developed the habit of using Reeve to mention things to Cloud that the other knew wouldn't be received well. "Anyway, Rufus needs us to look into Heidegger- he's gone quiet. You'll probably be assisted by a Turk, but they're busy with Business, Science and Weapons."
"Why me?" Cloud took the paperwork for the mission. "I'm a bit more likely to kill him." Heidegger had been one of the few kills that Cloud couldn't bring himself to care about, one way or another. (Then again, none of them had cared- Heidegger and Scarlet had been so wrapped up in themselves that they hadn't cared about the end of the world.)
"Fair's focused on his marriage, Lazard and Genesis are making sure that no soldiers went AWOL when they hid themselves from ShinRa, Sephiroth is working with Wutai, and Hewley is focused on the new trainees, the other firsts in Junon are overseeing deployment and recruiting. You're the only one that Rufus would trust with an assignment like this." Reeve pointed out, and quickly grabbed the box that was once again moving away from his desk. Mini Cait hopped back into it and sulked. "Mini Cait will be going with you."
"What?!" Mini Cait's head popped up with a yowl. The intercom's buzzer temporarily saved Reeve from the impending tantrum.
"Sir, there's a Turk to see you." Elena sounded slightly annoyed.
"Send them in." Reeve sighed- Mini Cait's accent had thickened to the point of being incomprehensible as he protested being sent out.
"Turk Reno, reporting for a mission, yo." Reno entered with a smirk. It froze in place when he noticed the temper tantrum Mini Cait was trying to throw.
"Sit down. As I was explaining to Major Strife, we need to find out what Heidegger has been up to- he's become rather withdrawn, and that is worrying. You two will have Mini Cait Sith with you, in case something happens." Mini Cait crossed his paws, still sulking.
"A cat with a crown and cape is going to be pretty obvious, don't you think?" Reno blinked. In response, Mini Cait jumped out of the box, removed the crown and cape, and a soft whirr of machinery shifted his spine and front paws so that when he stood on all fours, he more resembled an actual cat.
"Mini Cait is the only Cait Sith unit capable of resembling an actual feline."
"And he's mah little brother, so dinnae go getting him destroyed." Cait Sith added as Mini Cait shifted back to standing on his back legs and quickly grabbing his miniature cape and crown.
" . . . Right . . ." Reno blinked, and Cloud quickly scooped up Mini Cait before the little guy jumped back into the box.
"Call in anything you find that might be of interest, I'll be working on things from here."
"Where was Heidegger last seen?"
"Sector Seven Plate, he was moved there after ShinRa repossessed his Sector 1 apartments due to proven embezzlement."
"Then we'll start there." Cloud glanced at Reno. "Unless you have another suggestion."
"Not at all, probably the best bet." With that, the two (with Mini Cait holding onto Cloud's pauldron, refusing to look at Reeve) headed out.
Soldier Commanding Offices, ShinRa, Midgar
Genesis had half a mind to set the files on his desk on fire. The amount of paperwork for confirming that the soldiers were returning to duty was staggering, and while his stint as a POW had improved his patience . . . there were only so many times one could read the in-triplicate forms and their triplicate confirmations that he had read them before he was sure he'd go insane.
A knock on his door was a welcome relief. "Come in!" Genesis blinked as Zack came in, glancing around his office. "What do you want, Puppy?"
"Have you seen Angeal today?" Genesis blinked at the question, looking at the younger first.
"This morning, for awhile before he was going to meet you. Why?"
"He never showed. I figured maybe something came up, and he had to deal with recruits or something, but they haven't seen him either and he's not in his office." Zack sighed. "I don't know, I've got a bad feeling."
"So do I." Genesis got up from his desk. "Let's check his room first, he was under the weather this morning, he might have gone to lie down." And not told anyone. Genesis shook his head slightly. Even sick, Angeal always called to let someone know.
It was a short trip to Angeal's quarters, and Genesis didn't bother knocking, Zack on his heels.
"Angeal!" Zack called out as he entered the rooms, and noticed the buster was missing from the spot Angeal always had it when he was home.
"He's not in his bedroom." Genesis was scowling as he exited the bedroom. "Everything's where it's supposed to be."
Zack didn't answer, looking worried. Genesis rolled his eyes.
"Puppy, we might be over-reacting, there are plenty of things that could have happened- he stopped by medical, he stopped by Dr. Crescent's, Tuesti's Cait Siths ambushed him and stole his PHS, the Turk's asked for his input . . . it could be anything, and I'm sure that he will call when he can."
"I hope you're right . . . I'm going to be heading to Aerith's . . . let me know, if you find him?"
"Don't worry, Puppy, you'll be first on the list." Genesis waved the other off, but was privately still worried, and headed to Angeal's office, just in case the other had returned while they weren't there.
Nothing had changed much from the morning, he quietly noticed, and the bad feeling he had grew, though he didn't know why.
Science Labs, ShinRa, Midgar
Lucrecia glared at the box of unorganized files. Apparently, Hojo had decided that, in case of him not being able to continue his work, he would make it as difficult as possible for someone else to figure out his system.
"Doctor, I found you a secretary." Raleigh entered the room with a nervous young red-head. "She's good with computers; I need to get back to my lab."
"Alright, thank you." Lucrecia looked at the young woman who looked a little unsure. "I'm Dr. Crescent, you are?"
"Jessie, Jessie Blanc. I was just hired . . ." Jessie looked at the mess of papers. "Wow . . ."
"And this is only a small percentage of the stuff I have to go through." Lucrecia sighed. "It can wait for a moment, let's go to my office and get you oriented."
Jessie followed, eyes wide as she took in her surroundings. She had just submitted her application to the office that handled applicants, highlighting her ability to use computers when Professor Raleigh had come in, taken a look at her application, and practically hired her on the spot.
"Tea or coffee?" Dr. Crescent leaned on her crutch. She was going to have to lie down soon.
"Coffee, please- wait, shouldn't I be getting that for you?"
"Later, let me do it right now. How much did Professor Raleigh tell you?"
"Just that you needed an assistant to deal with paperwork."
"My predecessor left a lot of his notes scattered, I need help putting them in a computer system for easy access." Dr. Crescent gave Jessie her coffee as she sat down at a cluttered desk, gesturing for Jessie to join her. "As well as someone to occasionally run errands and make notes. It's going to be a lot of work for the next few months, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for overtime right off the bat- I've been trying to get the system organized for months already while the entire department is being audited due to my predecessor's . . . lack of discretion in projects. It's just a large mess right now."
"I'm great with computers and organizing, and I don't mind overtime!" Jessie assured the doctor, who looked at her in weary amusement.
"You might change your mind about that last bit." Dr. Crescent took a sip of her coffee. "Oh, and Vincent might be dropping in at random points, he's my boyfriend/bodyguard. He looks frightening, but he won't bother you."
"Oh, okay." Jessie blinked, and took a sip of coffee before she could ask why her boyfriend was her bodyguard. "Um, if I can ask- what did happen to your predecessor?"
"Feel free to ask any questions you want, as for my predecessor . . . I shot him." Dr. Crescent stated matter-of-factly. "He was going to kill Vincent and my son." She added, seeing Jessie's shock. "As well as experiment on me, so, he had it coming."
"Ah, that makes . . . sense?" Jessie was failing at imagining the woman in front of her shooting anyone.
"Trust me, go through a few of his notes on his . . . experiments, and you'll be wondering why no one shot him before." Dr. Crescent gave her a small smile. "What else would you like to know, about either the job or me?"
"Well . . ."
Aerith's Church, Slums Sector 5
"What do you think about these colors?" Aerith held up a sky blue and light pink.
"They look like a nursery?" Zack blinked from where he was laying next to the flowers. "Why not green, white and yellow, like your flowers?"
"I think the green would be too dark . . . white and yellow would wash out, I think . . ." Aerith sat next to him with a frown. "Mother's already gotten the cake planned, I think Mrs. Strife is going to be helping her . . . Tifa's coming in a week and a half to work on dress fittings, though Yuffie keeps insisting I try Wutaian wedding dress- so I half expect her to pop out of nowhere with a dress for me to try somewhere in the near future. –Ah!" Aerith squeaked as Zack reached out and pulled her so she was lying half on him. "Zack!"
"'Relax, it'll be alright', isn't that what you're always saying to me?"
"Sorry, I should really follow my own advice . . . I just have this weird feeling that trouble's coming."
"Well, that would be because I finally wrote my parents telling them I'm getting married . . . I haven't written anything since I wrote that I met you . . . Dad might kill me." Zack sheepishly ran his free hand through his hair. Aerith just smiled. "How about blue and green?" Zack offered after a moment of silence. "Not too girly, white would go with that, and so would yellow and red, if you want to use some red flowers."
"That might work . . . I thought you liked pink."
"On you, yes, it's your color. Not so much for a wedding." Zack shifted a little. "Reception could be here, we're only inviting friends, which just leaves the place we're going to actually say I do."
"Tseng said he knew a judge that could be trusted not to talk." Aerith frowned and sat up. "There it goes again."
"Trouble?"
"I don't know, it never lasts long . . . after that battle with the Calamity, it's like I can hear the planet better, so maybe I'm just feeling something that's always been there."
"But you don't believe that." Zack noted, pushing himself to sit up.
Aerith just shook her head, and let Zack wrap her in a hug. "It's trouble, I just don't know what kind."
Vice President's Office, ShinRa, Midgar
"Do you have to sneak up on me like that?" Reeve sighed, shaking his wrist a little to dispel the small traces of an aborted spell.
"Keeping you on your toes." Vincent leaned against the desk as Cait Sith began playing with the tattered edges of his cloak. "You wanted to talk?"
"Yes, I didn't get a chance with Cloud . . . what do you think about getting Elena into the Turks?"
"I don't see any reason to do so." Vincent crossed his arms, mindful of his gauntlet. "We changed things, Reeve, you all mentioned before that Elena joined the Turks after Reno was badly injured at Sector Seven. That event happened a year or two from now, give or take. Elena may join the Turks then, or she may never join them. Things have changed, there is no reason to try and make them what they were in an alternate timeline."
"I suppose so . . ."
"Or is this because she's developing the same sort of crush on you that she had for Tseng?"
"I don't think-"
"Reeve." Vincent cut him off. "Don't worry about it. Focus on the present."
" . . . I'll try not to." Reeve sighed.
Above Plate, Sector 7
Reno would be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit curious of Cloud Strife. Unfortunately, once Rufus had taken over that meant that, while Soldier returned, the Turks had their work cut out for them trying to find out who was embezzling, who was a certified Psycho (somehow, it didn't surprise him that Hojo's staff were all varying degrees of psychotic, or the guys in developmental weapons were a couple bullets short of a full clip) and helping the business departments check out their many, many numbers to make sure things were okay. Air and Space was now considered a satellite business, and Safety had gotten broken into Soldier (Troops) Urban Development (some sort of city police or fire department force, Reno hadn't paid attention) Medical (apparently, Safety had been responsible for disease control and quarantine, which didn't make him feel safe) and Weapons (Technically, their joint projects became just Weapons).
It was a giant mess to try and organize, and there were a few weeks where he was sure something like a riot or strike was going to happen, especially in the beginning. And it had left not a lot of time for him to satisfy his curiosity beyond looking at a couple files that he'd managed to get his hands on.
"So, Cloud- can I call you that? You grew up with Valentine, right?" Reno looked over at Cloud as they drove over to Heidegger's new address.
"Yes." When Cloud didn't elaborate, Reno resisted the urge to hit his head on the steering wheel. This was like Rude and Tseng. Although, apparently Rude talked more to him than he did to Tseng, which Reno had always found odd.
"And he let you join soldier- you knew what you were getting into, right? Hojo and all that shit."
"We discussed it." Cloud shrugged, and then frowned. "We're going to have to walk." There were a group of cars parked in the middle of the street.
"Yeah . . . at least you didn't bring all those swords with you." Reno wasn't sure what to make of the amount of swords the blond liked to carry, but at least he settled for just bringing two.
"I brought materia to make up for it." Cloud pointed out a spot that was out of the way, but still clear if they needed to make a quick getaway.
"Works for me, yo." Reno pulled over, and then glanced at the cars. "Think it's a funeral?"
"Possibly, or bad news." The two headed down the street.
"Bastards! Give me back my son!" Reno took a step back as a blur from one of the houses lunged at them; Cloud, instead, took a step forward and caught the screaming woman before she impacted into a car. "Give him back! Give him back!" She hit Cloud's un-pauldroned shoulder repeatedly.
"Lady, we have no idea what you're talking about!" Reno glanced at the very unfriendly crowd that came out of one of the apartment complexes.
"Honey, stop . . ." A man, the woman's husband apparently, pulled her away from Cloud, who hadn't reacted to the assault.
"Abel?" Cloud tilted his head, showing a lot more interest. "Is that you?"
"Do I know you?" The man blinked, before recognition crossed his face. "Oh, you're the soldier I talked to . . . Cloud, right?"
"Yes, what's happened?"
"Like you don't know!" The woman snapped. "A soldier took my son!"
"You sure it was a soldier, and not someone dressed like one?"
"Of course I'm sure! He took my son into a van and cast some sort of spell that made it impossible for me to move! The driver's laugh as he pulled away-"The woman seemed to deflate and burst into tears, and Cloud stiffened, looking at Reno.
"The driver's laugh . . . could you copy it?"
"It was loud, and abrasive, it sounded like Gya-ha-ha . . ."
Somehow, hearing that really pitiful attempt at Heidegger's distinctive laugh made Reno's blood freeze.
"That sonuva-" Reno cursed and shot towards the apartment Heidegger had.
The door was open, and everything was pretty much cleaned out. Just the larger pieces of furniture remained. Steps behind him signaled Cloud, and probably the parents of the missing boy, had followed.
"We should have just locked him up, forget 'unreasonable holding', we should have just made him disappear!"
"We didn't know he'd do something like this, the guy was a warhorse and embezzler." Cloud pointed out, and Reno felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder for a moment, before pulling away. "Ma'am, did the soldier have a helmet?"
"Yes . . . I recognized him as second class, he had the uniform for one . . . The van was black and paneled, I think there were a couple other people inside." The mother wiped her eyes.
"Alright, Could you go and write down everything and anything you remember about what happened, including events leading up to the Soldier taking your son? Also, Abel, if you could start calling around, making sure that anyone nearby keeps an eye on their kids . . ."
Reno kept half an ear on the rest of conversation, exploring the kitchen trash for anything left behind on accident.
"Of course- you know who did this?"
"Heidegger, he was let go because there was proof of embezzlement, and some questionable projects . . . Abel, I promise, we're going to find your son. I'll try to keep you in the loop as much as possible." Reno paused, looking at Cloud. That was the oddest thing to say . . .
"Thank you, Cloud. We'll get right on that." Abel pulled his wife away.
"You know you can't tell them everything, right?" Reno asked as he started looking through cabinets.
"I can tell them if the investigation is going well, and I think Abel's wife would kill me if I didn't try to tell her what I could." Reno glanced up at Cloud, and noticed some healing scratches on the other's bare arm. "I'm calling Tuesti; let me know if you need help." Reno waved the other off, finding a vial of something in one of the cabinets. The label was partially torn, and all that was left was D-G:23-, the last couple digits were destroyed by a dark spot.
Reno pocketed it, and then headed to the bedroom, deciding to check the closets on the way out. The bedroom was empty, and Reno opened the bedroom closet door, expecting it to be empty.
CRASH! "Shit!" Reno hit the ground as everything shoved in the closet fell on top of him.
" . . . I don't think I needed to know what was in that closet." Cloud commented from the doorway. Reno looked up at him in surprise. "Tuesti's putting an APB on the black van and Heidegger. Need help?"
"I'm okay . . ." Reno picked up a box that had fallen on him, and froze in disgust. "Why does Heidegger have a pole dancing kit?" Several kits, and several boxes of other toys that made Reno want to gag.
"And a lot of boxes for handcuffs . . . which are empty." Cloud frowned. A couple boxes were ShinRa Issue, which were strong enough to hold Soldiers.
" . . . Some of these are marked small, yo." Reno looked at the boxes, going through them quickly and quietly. "Damn, he must've charged this stuff; I'm going to introduce the idiot who was supposed to be monitoring Heidegger's expenses to my rod when we meet him. He probably bought all this stuff at the same place, but he only wanted the handcuffs . . ."
". . . he's planning on needing restraints to hold a lot of people, some of them Soldiers, others children . . ." Cloud pointed out softly, before turning his back to Reno to study the nightstand by the bed.
"That comfortable with me to be showing your back already?"
"Nope, Mini Cait's got a Thunder equipped just in case . . . and he's been behind you this entire time." The Soldier sounded amused.
Reno twisted around to see the robotic cat smiling up at him, playing with a broken pair of handcuffs.
" . . . I completely forgot you were here, yo." The Cat must have hidden himself under that weird-apron-like-thing Cloud wore.
"Don't worry, we won't tell Tseng." Cloud frowned as he held up a token. "Gold Saucer . . . where is that?"
"No idea, I've never heard of it." Reno watched Cloud pocket it. "Let's go check the other closets, and then head back."
Director of Soldier Office, ShinRa, Midgar
"Where's Angeal?!"
Lazard jumped, startled, and the two Second Classes he'd been talking with reached for their weapons.
Genesis with Zack in-tow (the younger first class had returned from wedding planning to find an almost frantic Genesis) ignored them.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him today, though I got an email saying he had to be taken off duty for a while." Lazard blinked as Genesis dropped a PHS on the table.
"Angeal's PHS. Who sent you that email?"
"Hollander did. Has something happened?"
"We can't find him, and no one in medical or science remembers seeing him- Dr. Crescent said Hollander left not long after arriving this morning, but she's been dealing with a new secretary so she doesn't know where he is now- he's not in his office or lab." Zack explained as Genesis glared at the two soldiers for staring.
"I'll notify the president, Strife's in the Turk wing, working on a mission with them, by the way."
"Ripples form on the water's surface . . ." Genesis ran a hand through his hair. "Sephiroth's in Wutai, he won't be back for another week . . . I'd like Zack and myself in charge of this investigation."
"Just Soldier Fair, Commander, you're needed to oversee the rest of Soldier while I deal with the troopers." Lazard met Genesis's glare head on. "I'm sorry, but the Junon First classes are busy with their usual summer training, if General Sephiroth was here, I would have no trouble assigning you this investigation, but I need you to keep Soldier from panicking. I can have Fair report directly to you on anything he finds, but you have to stay here."
"Understood." Genesis was about to storm out, when Lazard stopped him.
"Genesis . . . While I need you to stay here at ShinRa, I certainly can't stop you from doing whatever you want here."
" . . ." Genesis gave a short nod, and Zack quickly followed the very angry commander.
Lazard glanced at the two soldiers who were still frozen. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell or write anyone about this."
"We're not idiots sir; I'd like to live a long natural life."
Lazard gave him a wry smile, and quickly dialed his brother's office. "Professor Hollander and Commander Angeal Hewley appear to be missing, Commander Rhapsodos and Fair are going to be looking into it . . . Fair will be doing most of the footwork, Rhapsodos has reluctantly agreed to stay here." Lazard pulled the receiver away from his head for a moment and glanced at in confusion. "What was that? . . . I understand, I'll be there in a moment." Lazard hung up, and glanced at the two soldiers. "I really hope I'm wrong, but could you repeat what you mentioned earlier about a couple soldiers not showing up for drill today? It was before you explained why Sgt. Thompson and four trainees were in Medical."
"Well, Second Class Luxiere normally shows up for drill early, he wants to be promoted again, but he didn't show. We figured he was sick and didn't check on him . . . we're not that close."
"The other two we don't know that well either, but we figured they caught whatever Luxiere had."
"Essai, Sebastian, I want you two to go and check their bunks and medical and report back here in an hour, if I'm not here, report to Lt. Commander Fair and send a email copy of that report to me."
"Yes Sir!" The two saluted and left, and Lazard stood, grabbing his PHS. His mind wandered back to the odd noise that had come over the phone. The noise was familiar sounding, and not odd in and of itself . . .
But his brother wasn't the type to randomly get a puppy . . . was he?
Costa del Sol
Tifa picked up her PHS on the second ring as she walked down the street to her job. "Lockheart- Oh, hey Cloud, I was just-"
"Tifa, Denzel's been kidnapped by Heidegger." Cloud's voice was quiet, and Tifa had a feeling that he was gripping the phone too tight.
"His parents?"
"His mom's livid and his dad is pacing the floor, I'm halfway between joining him or just going down to the slums without backup and asking around." Cloud let out a breath. "Anyway, I need you to be on the lookout, Heidegger's got a couple Soldiers and Troopers helping him, and we don't know if they left the city or not, or what sort of transportation they have."
"Got it, I'll ask around . . ." Tifa trailed off, staring at a pole where the missing child poster had been hanging.
"Tifa?"
It had been joined by three others, and Tifa felt a little ill.
"Tifa?"
"Cloud . . . have any other children gone missing in Midgar- Slums or topside?"
"I don't know, I'll ask . . . but Heidegger had a lot of handcuffs that would fit children."
"Because I think it's more than just a couple Soldiers and Troopers . . . We've got four children missing in Costa, there's a chance it might be more, I've got to ask around."
"Don't take any unnecessary risks, Tifa."
"Same to you, send an email to the others, I'll send one in a bit."
"I'm working with Reno, but I'll try to be careful. Legend still around?"
"Yes, Veld cleared him for active duty before he retired, and Tseng also cleared him, but he says he'd rather stick around Costa for surveillance. He likes the bar I work at, so I'll probably see him tonight."
"Good luck."
"You too." Tifa hung up, and quickly took copies of the missing child posters. She'd hang them up in the bar, her boss wouldn't complain. In her hurry to get to work, she missed the young man watching her from across the street.
Emperor's Palace, Wutai
"Captain Cranky!"
Cid Highwind yelped, and then cursed as a hyperactive ninja princess hugged him from out of nowhere making him drop his cigarette. "Damn it, girl, what have I told you about that!"
"You haven't asked Shera out, so what you want is not important?" Yuffie grinned at him. "C'mon, it's not like how it was, you could ask her out without her ever knowing what a jerkass you could be."
"And that's why I'm not asking, Yuffie." Yuffie froze as Cid looked at her. "I did a lot of damage to her the last time, she might have claimed it was her fault to begin with, might have even forgiven me, stayed with me . . . but that doesn't change the fact I was still cruel and cut her down verbally every chance I got. She's a brilliant woman now, she's got her own career, she deserves better than me."
" . . ." Yuffie didn't say anything before hitting Cid on the head. "That's just dumb! Yeah, you screwed up majorly last time- we all did, remember? Barret and Tifa were eco-terrorists, Vinnie was so messed up we thought he'd go back to that coffin, Nanaki had some serious daddy issues, Reeve and Cait Sith initially planned to betray us to ShinRa, and let's not get into Cloud's issues, we'd need a book, and I was just a rebellious princess-thief, and that's not getting into everyone else's issues . . . but we're all getting a second chance now that Jenova's evicted from the planet with Professor Creepy-pants, and if all that we've done, that we did, can be forgiven . . . You still deserve a chance to ask Shera out. The worst that happens is she'll say no, right?" Yuffie pointed out. "And this time, you can give her the chance to walk away."
" . . . Of all the times for you to make sense, wait, you've been !ing talking to Mama Strife about me and Shera!" Cid glared at her.
"Hey, she likes hearing about what we were before we came back! And how would you know?"
"First, you just admitted it; second, she mentioned me giving Shera a chance to walk away when she talked to me a couple weeks ago."
" . . . Damn. But you'll consider it, then?"
" . . . Yeah, I'll consider it." Cid lit a new cigarette.
"Good, then, I've got a favor to ask." Yuffie sat next to him.
The word 'favor', sent a chill up Cid's spine. That word with Yuffie had many meanings, usually ones that were asinine and had him questioning his sanity. "What sort of 'favor'?"
"Well, I need a ride for Dad and me to Costa, I want to introduce him to Mama Strife- I've been unable to do anything other than introduce them on the phone, but Dad's too busy with matters of State to talk casually, so that hasn't worked." Yuffie kicked her feet. "And Cloud can't bring his mother here, he's too busy and Mama isn't much of a traveler on her own . . ."
"I'll think about it. How're you going to get him to agree?"
"Oh, I've been working on that, he should agree before you have to leave." Yuffie offered him an innocent beaming smile that made Cid feel sorry for Godo.
In another room, Sephiroth and Godo were discussing the withdrawal of troops with a small council. The ceasefire was tenuous at best, and still hostile at worst.
"We can pull out troops here in the next week. It's going to take time to mobilize them to leave, and some may not want too. I know of a few men have taken wives at different villages."
"And it might not be feasible for them to move." Godo nodded, studying the map. "I would like for this peace to be more than just words . . . perhaps I should meet with this new President of ShinRa in person." One of the council members actually squawked in surprise. "Is there any neutral ground we can agree on? My daughter mentioned several places in her travels that had a small ShinRa presence."
"Cosmo Canyon and Nibelheim are too remote . . . perhaps the best places would be Costa del Sol or Mideel." Sephiroth pointed them out on the map. "I will have to talk with our new President."
Cosmo Canyon
Nanaki headed out for his evening run after another day of keeping the peace, practicing spells on any stray monsters that tried to cross his path, and debating on using his PHS headset to call someone. A sixth sense had him dodging something that impacted against the stone. It was a dart. A ShinRa logo proudly displayed on the side.
Nanaki growled, and took off, engines roared to life as the hidden men gave chase on motorcycles and jeeps.
"Voice Activation, Red XIII, emergency!" He set of his own emergency signal to the others, and mentally cursed the fact Deneh didn't have a PHS as well. He quickly shook off a Confuse and Sleep as he turned to go deeper into the canyon, and began recording a message- a useful feature Reeve had recently added. "All contacts, this is Nanaki, humans are trying to capture me! Repeat, Humans, possibly ShinRa, are trying to capture me." He jumped over a large chasm, losing a few pursuers, but a couple jumped it as well. "Motorcycles, materia and dart guns, they want me alive, possibly for study, where are they going to take me, I don't know, but I expect a rescue sooner, not later this time."
A helicopter passed overhead, and Nanaki felt something prick his leg, and he felt the limb start to go numb as he tried to find a cave to hide in. A second prick in his side, and his vision started to blur.
"Found it!" A voice yelled, and Nanaki growled trying to focus.
"I'm hit, and I'm out of magic, please, hurry!" And then the world went black.
Needed a rank for Cloud, 'Major' is a popular one for Zack in some older fics, so I used it. (Final Fantasy VII seems to mix up Army and Navy (with occasional Air Force) ranks up quite a bit- 'Commander' is Navy, while 'General' is army, for example. Lt. Commander is actually the navy equivalent of an army major, but sounds like it's higher up. A Captain like Cid is the equivalent of an army Colonel, and yeah, that's it on my note on ranks.)
Denzel's mother struck me as a very strong woman, especially since both her and Abel went out to warn people about the plate going to be dropped. Does anyone know what her name is? I can't find my notes for her anymore.
Jessie Blanc is Jessie (or Jesse, depending on spelling) of Barrett's Avalanche from FFVII. Life is a little different for her due to all the changes made by the other characters, and as you can see, she's managed to not get involved with Avalanche, or even Biggs and Wedge . . . why do those two names remind me of Star Wars (The Original Trilogy, not the prequel)? Blanc, depending on the language is either 'white' or the word blank misspelled. I wasn't feeling all that creative with making a last name.
Realistically, we know there are a few more firsts at this time period than Crisis Core gives. Zack could not have been the only one since Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth to achieve first. 'The Junon Firsts' will remain unnamed, describe, and without much presence, except as a reason why at least one of the trio needs to stay in Midgar.
I think I messed up the map again . . . someday, I will find a reliable map, I swear.
And the plot gets catapulted forward. Next chapter: unwanted visitors, missing people, and Kunsel. Oh, and a upset Yuffie.
Hmm . . . dunno when I'll post next, not feeling too good recently. I think it's because I've been taking morning and evening shifts at work (Waitressing) and trying to clean the house so my mother doesn't have to stress on top of an unpaid internship two days a week. And College classes two days a week. To those of you still in high school (or even middle school) growing up is not as fun as you think it is. It's a lot more work.
