A Steamboat Named Disaster

FFVII; Zack x Cloud; Rating: T, Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure

PLEASE NOTE: You'll be able to best follow the story by assuming that nothing from the original FFVII universe exists unless it is mentioned, i.e. Shinra as a power company, mako, the SOLDIER program, etc. Some of these things may appear, but others may not. Assume that it is all in your minddddd!

Disclaimer: I was supposed to write a paper about a "true" story once, and I wrote it about how I created the Final Fantasy franchise. The paper got an F for FUTILE EFFORT (and also being a big liarface). I also don't own Bonnie Tyler's beautiful singing voice (turn arounnddddd, bright eyeeeesssss!) which inspired the chapter title, kthx.

Warnings: One vulgarity. (I'm being good. :D )

I think it would have been more accurate to refer to the "boilers" as "furnaces," because Wikipedia told me that the furnaces powered the boilers which made the ship move. I've corrected the error in this chapter, and I'll probably fix the other chapter at some point.

3: Hey There, Bright Eyes

It felt as though it had been hours since he'd hidden here in the engine room, and Cloud literally thought he could be sweating to death. In reality, there was no means of telling time in his position however, and he may very well have been in hiding for only fifteen minutes or so. He didn't dare so much as breathe too loudly, for fear that one of the ship's laborers would caution a glance in his concealed wedge. That would pretty much be the end of the line. Due to his lack of familiarity with ship procedures, policies, and ship…well, anything, he had no idea what the actual reaction would be to his surprise and quite unwelcome presence. At the same time, he had no desire to find out.

There were men standing around the room now, shoveling coal away into the steaming metal tanks every so often. With each scoop that was tossed into the furnaces, a noise like the exhalation of a dragon erupted near Cloud's ears. Fortunately it wasn't a constant chore; they waited for the coal to burn before more was added. Ironically it was when the ship-hands weren't throwing pounds of sooty fuel in his general direction, that he was least safe. They sat on crates between shovelfuls; they chatted and shared a flask of wine. Sitting as compactly as he could, hoping all the while no one would notice the slight hint of blue and blond concealed to the side of one of the crates…it was strenuous.

'When are they going to leave and at least give me a chance to get the hell out of here?' Cloud wondered with a subtle desperation. Wherever else he could find to hide out for a few days, it had to be better than sitting here.

But that brought to mind another trail of decisions. Suppose he was able to sneak his way out of here, suppose he found somewhere else to lie low for a bit: What then? Cloud was more practical than perhaps circumstances would suggest; he knew very well that at some point he would need to integrate himself into the crowd of the ship, be it with the passengers or the sailors. It was only a matter of deciding where he was most likely to blend in.

So, sweating beside a furnace and keeping a wary look-out for any curious individuals getting too close to his position, Cloud planned his next move.

With a final survey of the ship and all of the necessary equipment, Zack blew the horn to indicate that they were setting sail. Many passengers were standing along the sides, waving, yelling, and occasionally sobbing their goodbyes to those still ashore. The Shinra would be a town of its own over the next two weeks, he knew. Friendships would be made and broken on the most enormous vessel the sea had ever seen. Hell, people might even fall in and out of love as emotions rose and fell like the waves of the vast ocean.

"Weird," Zack muttered with a sigh, shaking his head as the boat moved away from the dock. But fortunately, he wouldn't be subjected to any of that emotional mess. He had already been acquainted with all of the ship-hands accompanying Captain Hewley and himself – good men, most of them – and aside from the generic polite pleasantries he was expected to exchange with travelers, Zack highly doubted he'd really associate with them. It wasn't as though they were going to sit at the controls with him until the wee hours of the morn when Angeal took over.

Besides, they had their own little spheres of existence within which to be contained. There were people, people, and more people to meet of a similar socio-economic class! There were connections to be made! There was information to be traded regarding "What you're doing on the West Continent!" Passengers didn't ask him those sorts of questions, and why should they? Zack Fair and the rest of the crew were a means to an end, and he honestly didn't hold it against them.

As another sailor took the controls, Zack walked up to the large window in the front of the compartment and looked out over the churning waves of the sea.

"Here we go!" he exclaimed lightly to the other man, who chuckled a little at his efforts, "Captain Hewley will probably be up within the hour after he gets things settled. You hold down the fort, alright?"

The sailor gave his affirmation, and Zack left the top cabin to make his rounds.

Cloud was contemplating. Common sense said that these ship-hands would have to leave eventually; when they did, he needed to be ready. But regardless of how much planning he did, he also knew that there was no way he'd succeed without thinking on his feet. There were just too many variables to plan it all out beforehand. Strategic thinking was interrupted when another pair of footsteps echoed over the hard floor, audible because the banter and cursing of the men in the room already died down with a startling abruptness. The footsteps stopped, and Cloud could see the slightest bit of black hair falling over a blue-uniformed shoulder.

This new man was standing very near Cloud's current shelter. In fact, Cloud thought that he was much too close for comfort. The instinct struck him like a ton weight to curl further up and do his best to disappear. If he could see them, they could see him, and that would be the end of it. He leaned a little too far to the right in an attempt to ensure that he was out of anyone's range of visibility, and his arm made contact with the heated metal of the furnace. Automatically his body squeezed a hiss through his lips before he realized what had happened. The raw flesh of the burn seethed with pain.

'Shit,' he thought upon practically hearing the first mate freeze for a moment, visually noticing the very back of the profile stiffen. But to Cloud's surprise, the man with the black hair did nothing. He'd surely heard Cloud's little slip-up, judging by his reaction. The other men were probably too far to have heard over the constant groans of machinery.

After a moment that seemed to stretch on for eternity, Zack opened his mouth. The words were not what Cloud had been expecting.

"Say, guys. You've had a long day. How about you call it a break and go get yourselves some dinner? I'll keep an eye on things in here."

Apparently he wasn't the only one who found this comment strange. One of the engineers looked curiously at Zack. "You sure, Fair? You definitely have more important things to do as first mate than grunt work down here!" He chuckled lightly; despite the difference in positions, all of these men seemed to find easy camaraderie in Zack.

This man was just full of surprises, Cloud decided: Disproving one assumption after another...

"Hey, I wouldn't offer if I didn't have the time. Besides, I need to get myself reacquainted with these beasties," the first mate said cheerfully with a shrug, tilting his head towards the power of the huge boat.

"Aren't you getting hungry?" Zack's eyes were mischievous in his teasing, "Elmyra and the other chefs cooked some mighty fine ducks tonight..."

They didn't need to be told twice, that was for certain. One after another, the engineers filed out of the large compartment, offering their thanks and a frequent clap on the back for their kindly first mate.

Finally, Zack was alone in the room with Cloud. He watched the door close behind the last hungry worker, before he turned calmly to the row of furnaces on the port side. He had to admit, this was a rough room in which his anonymous little friend had been forced to hide. The only cover from sight was between the high-temperature furnaces and crates filled with sooty coal, and heaven knew he sure didn't want to have to sit close to either of those things for more than a few minutes.

"It's just me now. You can come on out."

Silence answered him, and Zack's face fell into an expression of concern.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you or anything," he explained with the patience of a tutor to a child, "I don't want you to get burned back there; it can't be very comfortable. Besides, I already know that you're here. Please?"

Perhaps it was the compassionate tone of voice used by the older man that moved the rock that was an independent and skeptical Cloud; but at any rate, he carefully began making his way out into the open after a minute's internal debate. A hand was offered to him, but he didn't take it. The young man looked thoroughly defeated as he stepped over a large copper pipe and was finally revealed to Zack.

Cloud looked uneasy as he scratched the back of his neck knowing he'd been caught.

Zack just smiled kindly upon looking into the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. "Mind telling me what you were doing hiding back here?" And as soon as the words had left his mouth, the recollection hit him. "Hey, you're the guy who tried to barter for passage with Tseng earlier, aren't you?"

Because Cloud had no idea who Tseng was but assumed the man remembered the appropriate encounter, he just gave a brief nod.

"…Which means you don't have a ticket."

In response to this, Cloud merely looked up at the man blankly. Well no shit, Sherlock.

Zack exhaled through his nose and turned to the door, gesturing with a hand for the man to follow behind him. "Come with me, would you?"

It wasn't a question.

They left Cloud's sanctuary of the past several hours, and he spared it a brief backward glance before the steel door closed on the furnace room. At least in there he'd known what to expect. Out in the open, he was subject to whatever rules they followed…and whatever subsequent consequences they warranted.

"Really needed to go West badly, I guess?" Zack asked as they walked along the lower deck; Cloud wasn't sure what this looked like.

"They told you there was a ship at the end of the month, right?" He looked over with such a non-condemning expression that Cloud felt almost obligated to give him an explanation.

He looked straight ahead, trying to keep his shoulders back and his spine straight so that passer-bys wouldn't be keyed in that he was somehow guilty. "I couldn't wait that long."

"Huh. Fair enough."

The curious pair continued on until they reached a deck where Zack folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against a door. "What's your name, Spike?"

A little affronted at the audacity this stranger was taking, but knowing that he was in little position to do anything about it, the stowaway frowned. "My name is Cloud." He thought, and thought a little more, and unsurprisingly the first memory that came to the forefront of his mind (which he knew wouldn't induce the stabbing pain into his nervous system) was looking up at a sign with big block letters, a voice calling his name in a sing song off a few yards. "Cloud…Strife."

If the pause was as awkward as it sounded to the blond himself, Zack said nothing of it. "Good to meet you, Cloud, despite circumstances and all. But I think I might like Spike better," Zack taunted, chuckling as the crease between his counterpart's eyebrows rose. "I'm Zack Fair. First mate of this beauty you fancied to swing a lift on." He rose a hand while nodding, assuming that Cloud would be instilled with as much appreciation for the effort that had gone into the vessel as he himself had been. "But onto important matters of business, now that niceties are over. Why shouldn't I handcuff you to a pipe until we hit the next beach?"

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble for you-" and he almost added a 'sir' on the end of that admission, but then he recalled the lack of formality with which Zack had regarded him (though, Cloud grudgingly conceded, it was more comforting than being treated like dirt, as a common thief very well could have been). "I had my reasons for needing to leave…at any cost."

The scrutiny to which Zack's deep eyes subjected him was almost unnerving. It was as though this fellow could judge his sincerity, read between the lines, and see into his thoughts all at the same time. Cloud almost would have rather had Zack yell and curse at him from the start, or at least act more like Cloud expected from a sailor.

He shrugged, blue eyes still scanning every inch around them that wasn't the emotionless face interrogating him. "I understand that you're required to do … whatever it is that you need to do now." That was the blond man's way of assuring his captor that he didn't intend to cause a fuss or put up a fight. The last thing he needed was to stir up additional strife…no pun intended.

Zack was quiet for a longer span of time than he'd been since Cloud met him, and when he straightened up from leaning against the door, it was sudden enough to make Cloud flinch. The man merely opened the door upon which he'd been resting, and gestured for Cloud to follow him inside.

The room was…certainly not what Cloud expected. It didn't appear to be a cell, and it didn't seem like a containment facility, either. Or, at least, Cloud had never been made aware of any cells with full furnishings.

"I'll have to pull out a cot from storage somewhere, so your legs might hang off the end a little; but it's better than the floor, right?" Zack guffawed at the expression on the blond's face. "What's the matter? You'll need somewhere to stay, Cloudy, and if you're with me I can make sure you don't get up to any other mischief."

A/N: I'z in ur fanfictions, gettin' mah shit together. The last five hundred or so words were fairly elusive until 3 in the morning after I told psychology to go fuck itself because I wanted to write FF VII, bitch. Hope all of you readers are doing well; thanks for being so patient with my poor time-management skills. 8D