DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. I do, however, own the plot to this story.

Okay, so I'm going to to go ahead and mention that I only have the free time to type this biweekly, so don't freak out if I update every other day and suddenly drop off the face of the Earth for a week. I will return, I swear I will XD

Also, this chapter was originally part of the last one, but I just felt like I should cut it off where I did, so yeah...

I once again wish to think everyone for reading and GeneralAllenWalker and Her Pretty Smile for leaving me your wonderful reviews.

Anyhoo, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

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Tracking My Marks

Cloud bounced his leg anxiously as he nibbled on his toast. The blonde haired, blue eyed little girl that sat beside him kept commenting on how pretty his eyes were and that she liked his "freckles" and it was causing her mother to shoot him dirty looks. Fortunately for Zack, his jacket hid his own track marks, sparing him from as many looks from the judgy mother. He couldn't help but wonder how she'd react if she saw the [JENOVA] tattoos on their left wrists.

"Soooo," Zack started, trying to lighten the dreadful mood that had filled the dining room as soon as the other guests noticed they weren't exactly normal civilians. He drummed his fingers on the worn mahogany table as he desperately tried to come up with something, anything, to say to these people that make them stop looking at them like that. "I know we look like we work for ShinRa, but we really don't. I swear." He mentally slapped himself.

"Yeah, 'cause mako eyes are a real common trait in ordinary folk," A middle aged man Ben referred to as Gem muttered as he read the daily newspaper. The headline read "AVALANCHE Attacks Local Reactor!"

"Did they succeed?" Cloud asked, his interest piqued.

"'Scuse Me?"

"AVALANCHE," Cloud clarified, motioning towards the paper. "Did they succeed in blowing the reactor up?"

Gem scoffed. "Hell no. All those heathens managed to do was trip an alarm and run off before ShinRa managed to catch 'em. Need to be thrown in prison, every one of 'em. All they're doin' is causin' an unnecessary ruckus by knocking our power out every couple of weeks." He raised an eyebrow at Cloud. "If ya don't work for ShinRa, why's it botherin' ya so much, blondy?"

Cloud slowly unclenched his fist, revealing that he'd accidentally bent the handle of his fork. Zack let out a low whistle at the sight of it and promptly swiped it to get a better look at the damage his friend had done to the seemingly sturdy silverware.

"I just happen to be friends with some people who'd be directly affected by it is all," Cloud grumbled.

"Sure ya do."

"What did you do to my fork?!" Sofia, Ben's wife, asked as she waltzed into the dining room to place another platter of food at the center of the table.

"One of them boys your husband foolishly let in last night got mad and bent it," Gem supplied, not looking up from his paper as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh please, Giminy. I'm sure you're over exaggerating," Sofia told him as she collected the fork from Zack, whose mouth clamped shut to prevent him from biting the man's head off. This didn't go unnoticed by the plump hostess. "Don't mind him. He's always cranky towards strangers."

"I am not! I'm cranky towards good for nothin' SOLDIERS who think they own every damn thing just 'cause they got big swords and fancy eyes!"

"It's not appropriate to swear in front of women and children," Zack drawled, throwing a glare Gem's way. So what if he was egging the guy on. At this point he honestly didn't care anymore.

"'Scuse me?!"

"All right, now. Settle down," Sofia ordered, hands on hips. "Gem, leave them alone." She looked at Zack and Cloud in turn. "And the same goes for you. The last thing I need is for the lot of you to end up in a fight."

Gem muttered something unintelligible under his breath, dropping the newspaper on the table petulantly. Zack and Cloud swiftly nodded their heads, turning their attention back towards their food. Cloud stopped mid chew to glance over at the little girl who was once again boring holes into him with those deep innocent eyes of hers. He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his neck as he desperately tried to ignore her curious gaze.

"You're a SOLDIER?"

Should've saw that comin'... His ears turned red as everyone directed their attention back towards him. "N-no. I'm not."

Gem let out a humorless snort, his eyes rolling, but somehow managed to keep whatever snide comment he had to himself as he leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. Oh how Cloud would've enjoyed giving it an extra little push, sending it, and Señor Asswipe, tumbling to the floor. He turned back towards Zack, who must have been reading his mind, because his eyebrows shot up towards his hairline as he did his absolute best to hide the demonic grin working its way onto his normally gentle face. Half a smirk forced its way onto the blond's lips before he mouthed the word "no" at his scheming companion.

By some miracle, they somehow managed to make it through breakfast without any further incidents, the girl's mother sliding her chair further away from Cloud when he sent a sheepish smile her way not included, and went about paying what they owed Ben before heading upstairs to gather their stuff, being intercepted on the way back down by Sofia who insisted that they were welcome to come and stay again whenever they liked.

"What the fuck was that guy's problem?" Zack muttered as they made their way towards Sector 7. They'd contemplated visiting Aerith first, but there was no guarantee that she'd be at the church. There was also the fact that they wanted to try and avoid the Turks as much as possible, which would be near impossible within the confines of the Sector 5 slums.

"Dunno. Probably has bad history with ShinRa," Cloud supplied as he toyed with the handle of Demon Bat, which was secured to a second belt that, unlike the studded one he used to secure his pants, hung loose around his hips.

"Even so, that doesn't give him the right to take it out on every person he sees with SOLDIER traits." His scowl turned into a devious grin. "We totally should've knocked him over, kid. Would've made my freakin' day to watch him flail."

Cloud rolled his eyes at his friend. "I don't recall you being so evil when we first met. You acted like a saint the first couple of times we hung out."

Zack shrugged. "That's because I didn't know you very well. Had to make sure you could handle me showin' my horns first so that I wouldn't freak you out."

"You're such a dork."

"Wha- Dude, that is totally uncalled for," Zack laughed, his smile actually making it to his eyes in the first time in ages. He playfully shoved Cloud's shoulder, earning a faint smile from the smaller man.

Their playful banter came to sudden halt as they paused just inside the alleyway they'd been traversing. There was, give or take, fifty troopers gathered on the only road leading to Sector 7 that wouldn't involve them going all the way around their asses. A noise of agitation rumbled deep within Zack's throat.

"Of fuckin' course," he muttered, his eyebrows furrowing. He glanced at Cloud. "You wanna take 'em head on, or would you rather we try and sneak around?"

"If we attack and cause a scene, we won't be able to get to the bar without riskin' being tailed. It's not worth the time or effort," He answered, tapping his knuckle against his lips as he thought. "And the longer we stay here with all these guys running around, the more likely we are to get caught." He closed his eyes, a knot forming on his brow. "I dunno, but what I do know is that we need to move before we get spotted."

"We need to think on our feet and dig for hidden option number C," Zack announced, jogging in place.

"C is a letter, Zack," Cloud chided, only to be waved off by the bigger man.

"Details, details. Now what to do?" He stopped suddenly, grabbing Cloud by the elbow and dragging him backwards into a darker part of the ally, crouching behind a grungy dumpster. He couldn't help but grimace as he stepped in a puddle of foul smelling something.

Cloud was about to ask what they were doing but immediately decided against it when he heard someone approach the ally, stopping only a few feet from where they were hiding. They held their breaths as they waited for the person to leave, their hearts pounding so hard Cloud was sure he could hear them.

"Whatcha doing, Dosse? Taking a shit?" Called an irkingly familiar voice.

Cloud and Zack locked eyes. "Reno," Cloud mouthed silently. Where there was one Turk, there was always more, which meant they most definitely needed to haul ass out of there ASAP.

"Thought I heard someone," the so called Dosse replied, turning back towards his superior.

"This is Sector 6. Chances are what you heard was some guy nailing a cheap whore behind a trashcan," came Reno's voice again, sounding a tad more agitated than he had before. "Would you get your ass over here already?! Today is supposed to be my day off. I wanna wrap this shit up so I can go home, get drunk, and watch a shitty movie."

Dosse exhaled slowly, casting one more glance into the alley as if hoping the source of the voices he heard would magically appear before hurriedly following after Reno.

After several minutes had passed, Cloud sighed in relief as Zack rolled his shoulders, working the tension out of them. They were just about to stand up when something fell above, hitting Zack in the head. He picked it up, examining it carefully. It was a balled up banknote.

"Would you mind giving that back? That's my movie rental money." They begrudgingly looked up to find Reno leaning over the building next to them, smirking as he pulled out his cellphone. "Tseng. I found the targets."

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SEPHIROTH: You actually did pretty good with the length of this one.

A/N: Thank you, Sephy :) I would also like to inform those of you that actually read this part instead of skipping past it for the next chapter that I accept outro script requests. I will make Sephy say WHATEVER you want!

SEPHIROTH:(is alarmed) Wait a minute! Don't I have any say in this?

A/N: 'Fraid not, buddy.

TSENG: (over the phone Reno is holding out) Review or else we might have to perform some... "Clean-Up"