The Inevitable Crisis

Chapter 7-Stay With Me

Disclaimer: Still don't own FFVII Crisis Core...dang it.

A/N: So...please don't hate me too much for this. I've gotten a few reviews wishing Cloud and Tifa got together, and Zack and Autumn. Just know...all of your reviews are treasured and loved. I'M SO SORRY!

"It's hard to let go. Even when what you're holding onto is full of thorns, it's hard to let go. Maybe especially then." -Stephen King, Joyland

Autumn's POV

I laughed a little, hearing Cloud do so on the other end as well. It was getting late, but it was still so warm out I hadn't bothered to change yet. It'd been a couple hours since we started talking, and I had yet to hang up.

The shame did not lessen as time passed, only feeling more weighty. But another part of myself urged me to partake in the light-hearted conversation, to forget about the changes I was about to make to my life.

To stall.

"Do you remember the super thick fogs in the fall?" I queried between laughs, beginning to calm down.

"Yeah, how can I forget? They were so thick no one could see their hands in front of their faces." My best friend answered in amusement.

Giggles spilled from my lips, a reaction so foreign to me that I surprised myself doing it. "Then, do you remember when you called me outside when we were nine to try and prove you could see through it? You walked right into a post! I don't know what you were thinking. I had to lie to Zangan to get him to treat you 'cause he said, "I'm not treatin' anyone that can't seem to find the common sense not to walk outside in such a thick fog!". Just in case you forgot, I got grounded for two weeks with extra conditioning since I fibbed that I dared you to do it."

A few embarrassed chuckles filtered into my ear. "Yeah, that was...pretty dumb. But I do remember you taking the hit for me - you pretty much reminded me every time we saw each other. I can't believe you still remember that."

"Hey! I remember a lot of things, thank you!" I smiled, curling up against my chair.

"I know. You have a better memory than me, at least. You always have." Cloud replied, and I could practically see his gentle smile on the other end. My eyes drifted down to the data as my nervous habit of chewing on my lower lip emerged.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know what you would've done without me. I even helped you make half-decent meals on your own. Of course, since your memory is so horrible, I had to write down the recipes for you so you wouldn't be living off of canned food and take-out." I grinned, practically hearing him eye-roll on the other line at the sound of my dramatic tone.

"Okay, okay. I get it - thank you for everything, Autumn. To be honest, I really don't know how things would've turned out without you."

Hearing his genuine, soft voice caused me to panic. "Whoa, I - uh, I didn't mean for you to take me seriously. It's not a big deal, really. Helping your mom to teach you how to cook was kind of necessary for you to live on your own in a big city."

He sighed. "Yeah, but you know how I was with the other kids. They didn't like me, and I didn't like them. I always got into fights with them to prove that I was tough, that I was worth something. Even Tifa didn't notice me until after you came, befriended me, and introduced me to her. You're my first best friend, and you changed my life for the better in Nibelheim. So, er - I-I mean, don't freak out or anything, but I'm just really grateful. And, Autumn-"

My heart was pounding inside my chest, hammering away so loudly I wondered if he could hear it. "U-uh, hey, Cloud? I have some more research to do. I'll call you back later, okay? It's getting late anyways."

"Oh, yeah, uh, okay. You must be keeping yourself busy on all of these vacations. Er...good...night." The blonde stuttered, though it only elicited a smile from me.

"Good night, Cloud."

I finally hung up, basically flinging my PHS onto my hotel bed. I took a few deep breaths to get my breathing back to normal. What was he going to say? No, I already had a pretty good idea. I couldn't bring myself to hear it, I just couldn't.

Picking up my pen again, I jotted down more notes based on the information.

"What...is wrong with me?" I sighed, shutting the window closed to finally activate the air conditioning.

Knock! Knock!

I quietly cursed. How long had someone been standing outside at the door? What if they heard my conversation with Cloud? Humiliation caused a heated blush to spread across my cheeks as I called out, "What?"

"It's me. Can I come in?"

"Still a no, Zack." I answered, rolling my eyes a bit. "What is it?"

"We have to head out to Junon tomorrow-new assignment. It's under attack by an unknown force." The 1st responded.

I chewed my lower lip again. "Alright. Anything else?"

"Well...first, can you open the door?" Zack queried.

"No. Just tell me so I can get ready for bed."

I heard him whine from behind the door. "Whaaat? Pleeaasseee open the dooorr~"

The Puppy had returned, as I so observed.

"Still a no! Tell me or go away, I don't care. But I'm not opening the door!" I snapped, wanting to stab something with my pen that kept ceasing in its strokes due to breaks in concentration.

He groaned. "Fine. It's serious, though."

"Zack, I'm not five. Whatever it is, I can probably handle it."

"Okay, here goes...Cissnei, Tseng and I were attacked by Genesis clones at the beach. They came out of the water wearing scuba gear." The ravenette said.

His words caused my heart to constrict, shock running through my nerves like electric channels. So, Genesis had finally made his move. I'd been anticipating it, yet surprise still gripped me.

"Tseng has this wacky theory that he's controlling his copies from the Lifestream. Ridiculous, right?" Zack snorted, clearly not believing in what I knew to be true.

"Or maybe, you know, he's not dead." I replied sardonically.

"What?"

"Come on, you didn't really assume he died by dropping off the edge into total darkness when he has a wing that somehow helps him remain airborne. Genesis has never been suicidal. A pyromaniac, yes. A snarky, egotistical, competitive, jealous wannabe poet, yes. But able to take his own life? No."

"Err...of course not!" Zack protested in a tone higher than normal, which was a rather dead give-away that he was just in denial.

"Wait, so...why didn't you say anything? Why'd you act all depressed when it happened?"

I chewed my lower lip. "I had no way to prove what I thought. But now...now, it's obvious he's making his move. I don't know what he's been up to, but it's evidently not good. Maybe he's the one attacking Junon and trying to break out Hollander."

"It's a better theory than Tseng's. So Genesis was the one..." The 1st trailed off, arousing my suspicion.

"Genesis was the one of what?" I questioned.

It was like I could see him stiffen on the other side of the door. "Nothing!"

Now alarmed, I marched over to the door and swung it open, facing a sight I hadn't expected. Zack had yet to change out of his swim trunks, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. Which meant I could very clearly see his extremely toned muscles and six-pack. Sure, I wasn't interested in Zack romantically anymore (it was complicated to begin with-still not sure if I really had been or not), but I still had hormones.

Regardless, I managed to keep my composure as I glared at him. "What did you do?"

I didn't receive a response. Instead, my partner just stood in front of me slack-jawed with his eyes roving up and down. It didn't last very long, only a few seconds. But those few seconds were a sign he wasn't being entirely faithful to Aerith. I sent him my iciest, most withering look yet, which was a startling feat.

"Zachary Fair. What. Did. You. Do?"

He finally made eye-contact with me with fear on his countenance. The brilliantly glowing mako sky blue irises I was glaring at caused flashbacks of Angeal to appear in my mind.

"Uh, right. Er, I might've peeked at your report when I turned in mine. On the second page it mentioned-"

"-Genesis possibly survived the events of Modeoheim considering the experiments performed on him and his ability to fly. Clearly you managed to peek only partially or you would've known that." I interposed, hands curling at my sides.

He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, Lazard kinda just accidentally shifted the top paper."

"I can't believe you. If I wanted you to know, I would've told you. Don't go prying into things when it's none of your business!" I cried, though it felt like he was just connecting it to something else.

"Yeah, I guess not. Sorry about snooping and everything, it wasn't right of me. But it still would've been nice to know."

Sighing in defeat, I retreated back into my room and was about to shut the door again. "See you tomorrow, Zack. Don't forget about our assignment and leave me to take care of everything. Again."

He jammed the door with his foot, shoving his way past me as the force I was still exerting caused me to slam the door behind me. I whipped around to face him, fury building inside of me like a volcano.

"What the hell, Zack!? Get out of my room!"

The ravenette stared at me, fervently trying to explain. "Wait, just...just give me a few minutes, okay? Please? Then I'll leave, I swear!"

"No! Get out NOW you dolthead!" I nearly shouted, beginning to lose my ever thinning patience. "You have no right to-"

"-I was down at the beach with Cissnei and was about to call Aerith when Cissnei already knew. We got into a conversation about it. Funny, Aerith never mentioned she had a twin sister. Well, she never mentioned she was one of the two Ancients left on the planet, either."

Panic blossomed in my chest as I struggled for a way out. "Zack, what she told you-"

"-Is the truth. Cissnei has no reason to lie to me, Autumn. At least, I don't see any. Why didn't you say anything?"

I felt my eyes narrow into slits. "Why do I have to? It isn't your place to know, nor did I ever want to talk about such a subject. What Aerith and I are, and what our relationship is, is none of your business!"

He inched closer, frustration evident in his own features. "Yeah, I get it! But since I'm dating Aerith, I guess it is kinda my business now, isn't it? And you're my partner, I just wanted to know more about you."

Zack got closer so we were about a foot apart. "Autumn, why do you wear a mask? Why didn't you tell me anything? Why can't I know what's going on?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line. "You don't understand. You'll never understand. Besides, I am not feeling very talkative tonight, Zachary."

Now we were inches apart, so close I could feel his quickened, hot breaths fanning across my face. Close enough to tense in preparation for any sudden movement.

"Autumn, I'm your partner. You can tell me anything-I won't judge you or rat you out or anything like that." Zack insisted.

"The higher-ups made me your partner. I don't need to tell you anything." I answered bluntly.

His expression turned to one of confusion and slight hurt. "What's going on? Lately you've been either avoiding me or straight-out ignoring me, you won't accept my calls, you're starting to isolate yourself, and you've become the Ice Queen 24/7. Autumn, what's-"

"I'm going to LEAVE!" I cried, sending Zack into such astonishment his eyes widened ten-fold.

"What...? What're you talking about?" He whispered, clearly not believing what was happening.

I tightened my jaw as I stonily gazed up at him. "I'm going to leave. As soon as what I've come to do is complete, I'm leaving. I need to talk about it with Sephiroth...maybe he'll go with me."

A laugh of utter disbelief left his lips. "Now you're bringing General Sephiroth with you? Has he known all along?"

"I told him once we got back to HQ after Modeoheim. He was the only one I could tell. Not even Aerith is fully aware of what's going on." I elaborated, analyzing him carefully to watch for his reactions.

He raked a hand through his swept-back hair. "This is crazy. You're my partner and best friend, and now you're leaving? I've needed you for someone to talk to and lean on, and now I find out you're gonna desert?"

"I'm not going to hold your hand throughout everything that happens, Zack. What did you think was going to happen? That we were going to remain partners in SOLDIER forever? That is childish, naive and illogical. I thought you were at least smart enough to realize this much."

He roughly grabbed my forearms despite my resistance. "Zack, let go!"

"Are you kidding me?! We've gone through so much together over the past three years, and now you're throwing it all away? You're gonna walk away from SOLDIER? After you worked so hard to get where you are? Was our partnership...was everything a lie?"

Being the cold-hearted bitch I am, I responded with, "To me, it was. I've lied since the beginning. I've lied about everything. You were the clueless one, always thinking you knew better. But you didn't, and never will. It's just...I was lying so well that I started to get confused and found myself beginning to succumb to my own lies. But not anymore. Now, I see everything clearly."

His grip remained firm but gentle, even though I could see the betrayal and hurt in his eyes. "What about our date? What about everything that's happened between us?"

One of Zack's hands left my arm to pull down my mask, tracing my jawline. "For three years, I kept asking you out. There was something different about you, something that I kept finding myself wanting. But you always rejected me, which never happened before. So I tried to become someone you'd say 'yes' to. I don't want you to leave, Autumn. In all honesty, I don't know what life will be like without you now. You've gotta stay. Please."

"Zack, don't-" I began when his lips crashed down upon mine.

For a moment, I was too stunned to do anything. His lips moved against mine, trying to elicit a reaction. His tongue slid out to trace my lips, in which I mistakenly decided to gasp due to surprise.

As his tongue slid into my mouth, I found myself crushed and ultimately confused. Not much of a shocker, but this was my first kiss. And I'd been saving it for someone else. This wasn't the first kiss I'd wanted at all. Not to shut me up, or something that happened because of a heightening of emotions or in the heat of the moment. I'd wanted a genuine first kiss, and now it'd been ruined and sullied.

I instantly reared back a fist to clock him across the face with the arm that had been freed. He stumbled, staring at me in surprise as if he was shocked at his own actions.

"Autumn, I-" He tried to explain, but I didn't want to hear it.

Now seething, I spoke in a disturbingly calm voice. "Get out, Zachary."

"Please, let me explain." The ravenette pleaded.

"You just not only betrayed me, but you betrayed Aerith and you betrayed yourself. You were her first, and you just went and ruined any trust I had in you that you wouldn't screw the relationship up! Aerith deserves better than you, and so do I. From this moment on, our partnership is over. Don't expect me to have your back anymore, because I won't be there."

Complying with my demands, he headed for the door with slumped broad shoulders. He turned to me when I was already trembling with anger. "Autumn, I swear I didn't mean to act on instinct like that. I didn't-"

"GET OUT!" I screamed.

He quickly left the room, closing the door behind him. I sank to the floor in mortification and guilt, feeling waves of depression threaten to crush me in its icy depths.

"I'm so sorry. Don't leave because of what I just stupidly did. I'm an idiot, I know. A clueless, bumbling, stupid idiot. But I'm begging you...please, stay. If it's not for me, then do it for Aerith. She needs her sister." I heard him say behind the door, but I didn't care.

He left a few minutes later, leaving me in the darkness I'd grown accustomed to. Maybe the dark wasn't so bad - maybe it was where I needed to be.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I buried my head in them to wrench out quiet sobs. The salty drops landed on my bare skin, trailing down my legs.

I let Zack kiss me. Even though I knew it was due to shock and confusion, I shouldn't have given him the chance. And it hadn't been a peck on the lips, either. My mouth still contained traces of him, of his taste that consisted of ice cream and mint. I felt so dirty and horrified. Because a tiny part of me liked it.

Not only that, but I finally broke off my partnership/bond with him. I accomplished something I'd planned on doing all along...so why did it hurt so much?

I hated myself so deeply right now.

Beep! Beep!

My PHS going off broke the near-silence of my room with its incessant ringing.

I didn't answer it.

Zack

The next day, the four of them boarded the Shinra-issued chopper that landed at 11 AM. Zack glanced guiltily at Autumn as they boarded, knowing she wouldn't look back.

She wouldn't even acknowledge he existed.

Cissnei watched them with wisdom and understanding beyond her years, attempting to lighten the atmosphere by chatting away with Zack about random things.

Be that as it may, she still decided to sit with Autumn. Girls would be girls, he supposed. Still...it was painful to be in this kind of situation. The ravenette knew he screwed up big time.

When she'd thrown open the door, he'd been caught off-guard to see her in a bikini. Her toned, thin waist had never been so exposed, nor had her cleavage due to the bikini top. The sarong had a slit at the side, revealing part of her smooth leg.

Her face, even with the mask on, had been flushed red with alarm and exasperation and her hair was pulled back into a messy bun. She'd looked so tantalizing even with all of her still healing scars, for a moment he'd lost composure and forgot he had a girlfriend. Then he just had to step into her room. Talking about the past and his feelings for her sparked something that he thought he'd let sputter and die, which lead to him kissing her out of desperation.

Deeply.

How was he supposed to face Aerith now? There was no doubt Autumn would tell her, anyways. They were twins, for crying out loud! He'd gotten so panicked that he acted on instinct. Or at least, in the hormonal sense.

What kind of hero had he become? If Angeal was here, he'd be ashamed.

'I screwed everything up so bad this time...some hero I'm turning out to be.' He thought grimly.

Sitting with Tseng was no longer awkward or intimidating, though now that the Turk was observing him so intensely, it was a bit uncomfortable. Still, he didn't say anything. It was obvious something had gone sour last night, and he'd made it very clear he didn't want to talk about it.

"It's going to be a few days until we can reach Junon, so I suggest you make yourselves comfortable." Tseng stated, though neither of the 1sts responded.

Cissnei was still talking to Autumn, who replied with a forced smile under her mask. Zack wanted to rip his hair out for his stupidity. How could he do this to himself? To Aerith and Autumn?

He had to rectify his mistake. Even though he had liked Autumn for a long while, it was time to let her go and get his friend back. Zack didn't want to be the reason she hastened her departure.

'I've gotta set things right.' The ravenette thought, determination blazing in his eyes.

He would not be the reason Aerith lost her sister. Never.

A/N: Err...sorry! *flips table to use as a shield from various objects* I hope Zack isn't OOC. It just seemed like something he would do, especially if he was panicking like he was. Considering recent events with Angeal's death in the back of his mind, in my opinion it seemed logical. So...sorry ZackxAutumn shippers.

So yeah...please, don't let this stop you from reading The Inevitable Crisis! Also, review, favorite and follow! I'm giving you guys power to decide other pairings through the poll I have up, so make sure to check it out!