Hey everyone. I'm such a liar. I said this would be out a long time ago. I ran into a bunch of stuff I needed to finish for school and work and THEN when I was all ready to submit, I decided the chapter wasn't finished and decided to make it a few pages longer. So sorry for the wait. I'll confess I've been getting excited over the final chapters of Reduced to Specimens, so I may have been working on that a little more often than this. But I won't forget this story, I promise lol.

Also, I appologize for any continuity errors you spot in this. For some reason I was dumb when I wrote the first draft and had it as if Cloud was working his way through the exams into the second semester at the Academy and not the second half of the FIRST semester. I think I fixed all the errors but if I missed any, please point them out and I'll make the corrections when I get the chance.

Thanks guys!

Disclaimer: No own FFVII

Chapter VII

About a mile away, at one of the other testing sites, a group of cadets and their exam administrators turned suddenly as the sound of an explosion caught their attention. There was silence among the group for a moment before one cadet spoke up.

"Uh oh, someone fucked up."

The other cadets laughed but the officers were nowhere near as amused. Zack was one of them.

"Goddammit," his coworker, Nico, muttered under his breath as he turned toward one of the nearby Humvees. Zack stopped him.

"I'll go," he stated firmly. "Continue with the examination," he added before making his way to the vehicle. He sped off toward the now burning test site down the road, coming to an abrupt stop near the small group of cadets and the two officers standing outside of the building.

"Sir," the one second class officer acknowledged him formally as he approached. The other was a first class. He was busy taking attendance.

"What happened? Everyone okay, Dixon?" Zack asked the officer as he made his way over to him.

"No one knows. The blast came from the back of the building. There are two cadets not accounted for," the first class answered him in a tone that was a cross between anger and dread.

"Who are the cadets?" Zack inquired, feeling a knot tightening in the pit of his stomach. He hated the thought the missing cadets may be critically injured, or worse. Officer Dixon looked over the top sheet on his clipboard.

"Cadet Baldwin," he announced, "and Cadet…Strife."

"What?" Zack responded fast. He had heard Dixon just fine but he was shocked. Without a moment's hesitation, he bounded toward the building's doors.

"Fair! Hey!" Dixon shouted after him. "Zack, you can't go in there!"

Zack ignored his shouts and entered the building, a haze of smoke greeting him immediately. He coughed roughly as he took his first breath of the clouded air. There was an odd smell to it. He suspected it was an odor being given off by something like plastic burning. That raised an immediate red flag. No matter what, he didn't want to be breathing in those chemicals being released into the air for too long.

He began making his way to the back of the building as quickly as he could without tripping over the debris strewn across the area. It was too dark to see more than a few feet ahead of him, with the only light sources coming from the small fires around him. He called out to the missing cadets as he went.

Halfway into the building, he was confronted with a barrier, a hoard of partitions that had collapsed upon one another and lay in his way. He contemplated moving them out of the way as he went. They weren't as heavy as they looked, but he knew it would be faster to climb over them. Past that, the real destruction became apparent. The explosion had torn through the roof. Several I-beams had been displaced and fallen to the concrete floor, as well as sheets of the metal roofing material. On the bright side, the gaping hole above him provided him with more light, though the smoke did much to blot it out.

A large fire was still burning inside the remnants of the hydrogen tank it had erupted from. Zack could see now it was the source of the explosion. Next to it was a water tank. It had been penetrated by a piece of shrapnel and was leaking water out onto the floor. Several severed electrical wires were swinging slightly over the large puddle, just close enough to make contact.

"Keeping the hell away from there," Zack muttered as he pushed his way through more debris to get closer to the back of the building. The debris was thicker around that area. Most of the inner walls of the building had been crushed by the explosion and lay in chunks on the floor. The heat was stifling, and the smell of burning plastic overwhelming. He tried to take only necessary breaths. As he made his way around a few pieces of twisted metal hanging from the ceiling he spotted one of the cadets. It was Baldwin.

Even from a distance Zack could see he was in bad shape. He tried not to let his grim suspicions push to the forefront of his mind but as he lowered himself next to the cadet's body he knew even before checking for one that the boy had no pulse. "Shit," Zack whispered as he stared down at the cadet. Casualties in the SOLDIER training program were rare but they did happen, usually because of someone making some stupid mistake which was undoubtedly the reason this time. The support structure of the building whined loudly overhead, drawing Zack back to his mission. "Cloud!" he called out loudly, straining his eyes in the near darkness, trying to locate the missing cadet. At last, he spotted him.

Cloud was just barely visible under the pieces of what was left of the back wall. There were panels of aluminum and bits of twisted plastic all over. Only Cloud's left arm and shoulder were uncovered fully. Zack moved cautiously, pulling the debris off him, not knowing yet what his condition was. When he had uncovered his head, he knelt down next to him and put a hand to his neck to check his pulse. The one side of his face that he could see was scratched up in a few places, but not badly, the blood already hardening against his skin. Relief rushed through him when he felt a pulse. "Strife!" he called to him. "Come on, kid, open your eyes!" he urged as he squeezed his arm gently. Slowly, Cloud's lids lifted and he looked up at Zack tiredly. Zack smiled wide. "Hey, whatdoya think this is? Naptime?" he joked.

"Sorry, sir…" Cloud mumbled almost incoherently.

"Just hang on a minute while I get this crap out of the way alright? You're gonna be fine," he assured him as he stood and began lifting the broken slabs of plastered jip rock off him. When it came to the final slab, the largest of the bunch, he curled his fingers around the one edge of it and began to pull back. He stopped dead when Cloud released a startled cry of pain. "What?! What is it?!" he questioned frantically.

"My leg!" he responded fast, struggling to try and see what it was that had caused him the sudden agony. Zack knelt down and slid his arm up under the slab, trying to feel around for what it was that was hurting Cloud. His eyes widened when his fingers touched the rusted metal that was imbedded in his leg.

"Damn," he exclaimed softly, knowing that he was faced with a big problem. He had no way of being able to tell if the long metal peg had struck his artery or not. If it had, it was the only thing preventing him from bleeding to death in mere moments. He struggled with what to do. The building continued to groan and whine, threatening to fall in on itself with each passing minute. Each time a beam shifted above there came a shower of dust and small debris. "We gotta get out of here before this place decides to come down on us," he said to Cloud who was trying to maintain steady breathing.

"Sir," Cloud spoke then, drawing Zack back over to where he could see him. "You should get out…before it's too late." The first class officer raised his eyebrows at Cloud's statement.

"Well, you should know better than to give orders to a commanding officer, cadet," Zack responded in mild amusement.

"It was really more of a suggestion than an order, sir," Cloud tried to clarify.

"Well, suggestion duly noted," Zack commented as he gazed around the area. "Hang tight, kid, I'll be right back," he said then as his eyes fixed on a closed door a few yards away. It was the supply room. Gripping the doorknob, he turned and pushed on the door. It wasn't locked. I just wouldn't open. The explosion would have increased the pressure around its frame. He threw his shoulder against it lightly, not wanting to disturb the weakening building anymore than he had to. When that didn't work he sighed in defeat, taking a few steps back. He gathered his strength and kicked the door. It shot open and there was a loud moan from the building as more dust and crumbling drywall rained down. He entered the room quickly, searching for what he hoped he would find. At the bottom of a locker cabinet he found what he was looking for. He smiled in triumph as he pulled the dusty black and red toolkit from the locker and clicked it open. Grabbing the whole handful of screwdrivers that were there, he turned and left the kit behind.

There was a loud creaking coming from outside the room. His stomach clenched when he heard something large and heavy hit the floor. Racing from the room he looked in Cloud's direction but couldn't spot him from the thick barrier of dust and smoke. "CLOUD!" he shouted out anxiously, fearing he had just been hit. He heard muffled coughing as he approached. As the dust began to settle he could see that the support beam that had fallen from the ceiling had landed to the other side of him, missing him by mere feet.

"You alright?" he asked when he'd reached him, covering his face with his arm to block out some of the dust. Cloud nodded. "Okay, hang on, I'm getting you out of here," he assured him. He left him momentarily to find a slab of wall with another peg in it. It didn't take him long. The long pegs had been screwed into the wall every 3 feet or so. Inspecting the heads of the screws, he sorted through the screw drivers in his hand for the one that fit it. He planted himself next to Cloud once again. "Okay, kid, I gotta lift this crap a bit to get under it, you ready?"

"Yes, sir," he spoke with a firm nod.

Slowly, Zack began lifting the slab with his one hand while reaching under with the screwdriver in the other. Cloud held back his urge to cry out as he felt the steel peg pulling out of his flesh a few centimeters. Satisfied that there was enough room to work, Zack began searching for the first screw head. He ran his index finger along the area until he felt it. In no way was it an easy task to unscrew that peg. The screwdriver slipped from its target more than once, prompting more cursing from Zack. One by one, he managed to achieve his goal and the peg was released from the jip rock. Zack abandoned the screw driver then before attempting once again to pull the slab away from Cloud. In one strong pull he was able to free the cadet.

"You okay?" he asked as he crouched next to Cloud, taking his one arm and helping him turn over. Cloud nodded as he coughed into his shirt. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Zack asked next.

"I don't think so," Cloud replied weakly.

"Good, let's get out of here, shall we?" Zack said as he rose to a stand and reached down to help Cloud to his feet.

"What about Baldwin?" Cloud inquired then as they began their slow trek to the exit. Zack had purposely been shielding the other cadet's body from view.

"Don't worry about him," Zack replied tightly, hoping that Cloud wouldn't press the issue further.

"We're going to get kicked out of the Academy, aren't we," Cloud asked meekly. Zack laughed lightly.

"Believe it or not, kid, we do have accidents here and unless you purposely blew the place up I wouldn't be worrying too much about it," he said reassuringly.

They emerged from the building just as fire crews were readying themselves to enter. "He needs medical attention," Zack spoke to one of the Shinra paramedics who approached them.

"And you, sir?" the paramedic inquired.

"No, I'm fine. Just take care of him," he said, allowing the paramedics to take over and help Cloud over to one of the medical vehicles. Dixon shook his head as Zack approached him.

"Always trying to be the hero," the officer said with a tight smile. "You sure you're alright?" he questioned, watching him rubbing his head.

"Yeah," Zack assured him, nodding. "Just a headache. There were some pretty nasty smelling chemicals being burned off in there," he explained.

"You should go to the infirmary and get checked out," Dixon suggested. Zack threw a look at him and Dixon took the hint. "Yeah sure, whatever. If you die from chemical poisoning it's your own fault."

"I know," Zack said with a smirk as he watched the fire crews starting to work on getting the blaze put out.

"You couldn't find Baldwin?" Dixon asked uneasily.

"Yeah, I found him," Zack replied sullenly without looking at his fellow officer.

"I see," Dixon said quietly after a brief moment of silence. "I'll let the paramedics know."

He patted Zack on the back before making his way over to the second team of medical staff on the site.

000

"Quite the bit of bad luck you've had lately, Cadet Strife," the admissions officer mused as he was looking over Cloud's medical file. Cloud had been fidgeting with a piece of thread that had come loose from the hem of his uniform shirt. "Fortunately you did well enough on your other exams that your admission to the second half of the first semester of the recruiting program was not hindered by your final practical test."

Cloud smiled at the thought. He had passed another obstacle. He was one step closer to becoming a SOLDIER.

"Unfortunately, the injury you sustained during your test will affect your training abilities," the admissions officer continued, stealing any vestige of happiness Cloud had been feeling at the moment. "I understand you've been ordered to undergo physiotherapy for at least six weeks—"

"Sir," Cloud cut the officer off. "I'm sorry to interrupt you but this isn't going to stop me, sir. And the doctor assured me there would be no permanent damage. I will still make a good SOLDIER one day, sir."

The officer was silent a few moments as he appeared to be thinking. He sighed finally and picked up his pen off the table before writing something down inside the file folder he'd brought in with him.

"Alright," he said. "It is due to your genuine interest in being part of the SOLDIER Program, as well as the encouraging comments your instructors have provided, that you will be allowed to continue on in the first semester of the Initiate Program. Hopefully, there are no more incidents that interrupt your progress.

"Yes, sir," Cloud agreed, trying not to sound too eager. He could have danced for joy had he A) not been sure it would be highly inappropriate, and B) actually been able to dance. It was something he felt no one should have to witness.

It had been just under a week since his final exam. Despite the fact his thigh had been impaled with a piece of steel, there was minimal damage. He was not prescribed physiotherapy because he had trouble using his leg. It was because of the pain. The doctor thought it necessary he have muscular and ultrasound therapy, which were essentially massages and acupuncture. It was ridiculous in his mind, but he had no authority to argue it.

He hadn't known about Baldwin's death until three days after the test when he received word there was going to be a memorial held for him in one of the community halls. He felt guilty. He knew his reasons weren't enough that he should blame himself but he did. If he had been faster to warn Baldwin of the chance that power consol could erupt maybe he'd still be alive.

He didn't go to the memorial. He didn't feel right about it. He hadn't even really known the guy and he doubted he'd feel welcome. He knew some of Baldwin's friend's were pissed at him. He couldn't really blame them. He was sure he'd be angry if he were one of them. Now, five days after the whole thing had gone down, he wasn't sure he was ever going to fully get over it.

"So they're letting you stay in the program," Paul said to him when they were in the dorm later that night. "That's good news at least." Paul, Johnny, and Lou had all passed their exams, granting them admission to the second half of the semester. But there were many cadets who'd failed. The dorms shrank in size to about 25 cadets a piece.

"Yeah," Cloud agreed, happy, though afraid to really show it given the circumstances.

"It's not your fault you know," Paul pointed out, though he hadn't been the first one. Cloud said nothing. He wasn't about to agree and he certainly didn't want to try to express his reasons why.

"Yeah, it's the guy's own fault he was such a dumbass," Lou called down from his bunk.

"Watch it, Lou, he may have friends in here," Paul berated him and glanced around to see if anyone was throwing glares their way.

"So what?" Lou countered. "What're they gonna do about it?"

"Kick your ass?" Paul suggested.

"I'll fight every one of 'em. And I'll win too," Lou stated confidently. Johnny released a short laugh from his own bunk.

"You got somethin' you wanna say, Six?" Lou called over to him. "You wanna go for a round?"

"With you?" Johnny inquired without looking away from the book he was holding. "That'd be a waste of 60 seconds."

"Don't be so sure," Paul spoke up. "Lou, here, used to play football. And apparently was one of the best defense-men on the team," he explained while rolling his eyes. Clearly it was a speech originally given by Lou himself.

"So what you're saying is he's an expert at grabbing other guys' asses?" Johnny asked casually.

"Fuck you, Six, that's not what football is!" Lou threw back at him loudly.

Johnny scoffed. "Coulda fooled me."

"I'll take you on anytime, any day!" Lou declared as he jumped off his bunk.

"Sorry, Lou, I don't do pie-eating contests," Johnny replied, smirking at his own comment.

With that said, Lou went for Johnny, aiming to hit him in the gut but Johnny scooted back from him fast, laughing at Lou as he continued to try and pummel him. It only served to frustrate Lou more. Paul glanced up at the underside of Johnny's bunk nervously as it creaked. He pulled himself off his own bunk and moved away.

"I'm gonna get something to drink," he said to Cloud as he glanced back at the other two guys. "You want anything?" he asked.

"No, thanks," Cloud said back. He watched Paul walk away before turning back to the text book he was flipping through. He was happy that the attention had shifted from him once again. He'd had enough of it in the past few days. Enough to last him a lifetime.

The next morning, the cadets stood on the field awaiting some remarks from their dorm officer before their exercises were to begin. It was a cold morning. Cold enough for snow though the sky looked desperate to dump some rain instead. Tanner approached them at last, standing next to Sigg.

"Two weeks from now is the Dorm Challenge," he began. "For those of you who don't know what that is, let me enlighten you. It's an all-day competition between dorms for several titles: Most-Fit, Most-Organized, Best-Endurance, and Best-Agility. Naturally, how all of you do will reflect on me. So don't fuck it up. Morning routines are going to be harder until then, with example challenges you may be faced with during the day of competition. It's meant to be somewhat fun, so don't get too down about it."

Cloud was sure he was thinking what most were. That Tanner was making it seem more like Hell than fun.

"Let's get started," Tanner said, indicating he'd finished his speech. Sigg began yelling almost immediately, ordering them to begin their usual laps around the track.

Cloud did poorly that morning. Worse than poorly. It was pretty much a disaster. He'd been able to manage the few days before because the work-outs had been lighter and the driller less-motivated to drive them into the ground. Today he was lacking the strength and endurance to be able to perform at par. He was relieved to see that a few others were falling behind just as he was. He knew that he and the others had not gone unnoticed. Sigg may not have said much to them during their exercises but he certainly noticed. That became clear when the cadets were lined up in formation at the end of their last drill for closing remarks.

"Myers, Lewis, Strife, get up here now and give me thirty-five push-ups!" Sigg shouted somewhat unexpectedly to the rest of the group. Cloud obeyed immediately, moving his way to the front and lowering himself to the ground.

The driller looked on for about a minute before continuing his verbal onslaught. "How you three losers managed to pass the mid-terms is beyond me!" Sigg went on. "You're the slowest bunch of pussies to come through here!"

Myers and Lewis were drawing close to the end of their assigned push-ups. Cloud had fallen behind right from the beginning. He was exhausted, his muscles sore and rubbery, his head pounding and his legs aching. He felt sick to his stomach from all the exercise he'd had while under the influence of the pain killers he'd been given. The rain had begun to pour harder during the last half of their drills so the ground was mush. His hands and feet slipped in it as he tried to keep the momentum of his body going.

"Strife, what in the hell are you doing?!" Sigg questioned loudly. Cloud didn't bother to answer. He knew there was no appropriate response he could give. "You really are pathetic you know that?" the driller mocked. "What does your father think of such a pathetic case as you, Strife?!"

Cloud didn't respond. He didn't know how to respond, or if Sigg even wanted a response. He was just nearing the thirty-fifth push-up.

"Did you hear me, Strife?!" the driller yelled down at him at little louder. "Keep going!" he added harshly, seeing Cloud was about finished.

"Yes, sir," he called up gruffly. Despite the icy rain drenching him he was sweating from every pore. His arms were trembling as he continued to force himself up and down for Sigg's never-ending punishment.

"Then answer me, goddamit!" the driller nearly screamed.

"I…I don't know what he thinks," Cloud stammered. He couldn't believe the topic had even come up.

"And why's that?" came the next question. He was taking in air in pants. Some of his soaked wet hair was sticking to his face around his eyes. He wished to God he could move it out of the way. His body burned all over from the continuous strain he was being put through. The question, he reminded himself. Answer his question.

"Because…because I never knew him," he replied truthfully.

"Never knew him?" Sigg echoed him. "Did he die, cadet Strife?"

"No, sir…" Cloud barely breathed out, shifting himself to stay in position as his feet were slipping for the tenth time in the mud below him.

"Then what happened to him?"

Cloud paused mid push-up but he was forced to continue when Sigg screamed at him, "Did I tell you to stop?! No! Now answer my damn question!"

"H-he left my mother and I, sir," he managed to stumble out. There was a momentary silence as Sigg continued to pace in a circle around him. The tension was heavy amongst the cadets standing in formation. Paul and Johnny exchanged glances. Paul hadn't known that fact about Cloud, though Johnny had suspected as much from the conversation he'd had with Cloud that one night in one of the locker rooms.

"Is that right?" the driller questioned. He stopped walking and crouched next to Cloud. "We'll you know why he left, Strife?"

"No, sir," Cloud uttered barely audibly, thinking about what he'd give to be invisible at that moment.

"Because you're a failure," Sigg stated firmly. The words hit Cloud hard. He felt weaker almost instantly and thought right then his arms were going to give out on him. "A failure," Sigg repeated. "Always were. Always will be." Instead of feeling angry, like he knew he should feel, Cloud felt shame. "Say it, Strife," Sigg ordered then. He lifted a booted foot and set it down on the middle of Cloud's back. Cloud groaned aloud. He ceased all movement again as he struggled to keep his elbows from buckling. He was barely holding himself up. His shoulder joints had gone numb. "Say it!" Sigg repeated then, his voice back to shouting level, he pressed his heel harder into Cloud's spine.

Tears built up in Cloud's eyes suddenly then. He was thankful that the rain masked them.

"I…I'ma failure, sir," he said quietly. He wasn't sure why he had, if it was just to get Sigg to leave him alone or if he actually believed it somewhat.

"I can't hear you, cadet!" the driller shouted.

"I'm a failure, sir!" he declared as loudly as his exhausted lungs would permit.

"Yes, you are," Sigg agreed before pressing his foot down just hard enough for Cloud's arms to give out and find him lying in the mud below him.

At that moment, Johnny stepped out of formation. Sigg noticed him immediately. He stepped away from Cloud and marched up in front of Johnny in a flash of anger. "You got a problem, Six!" he screamed into Johnny's face.

"Yes, sir, I do!" Johnny shouted back at near equal volume. Sigg's face reddened with increased fury.

"Really?" the driller questioned rhetorically. "Well get over it!" he ordered. At the same time he delivered a hard shove to Johnny, pushing him back in line. He turned away from him, back to Cloud, who was raising himself onto his hands and knees.

As Sigg turned his back on the line, Johnny stepped out again, this time grabbing hold of Sigg's right shoulder and pulling it around so the driller was forced to face him. He never gave the man a chance to say anything else as he drew his right fist back and let it fly, directly into the left side of Sigg's face.