"Cloud! You're alive!"

Bursting with happiness, Zack leapt across the tiny cell and gripped Cloud in the tightest bear hug he could muster. He lifted him clear off of the floor and spun him around several times with giddy delight.

"Cloud, I can't believe it's you! It's really you! How'd you know where to find me? This is SO awesome!"

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"Oh Cloud, you joker! This is so great! I didn't know what happened to you, man!"

"Put me down-"

"So you had my buster sword! I was wondering where it went! And I gotta tell you-"

"Aerith, WHO is this?"

Zack stopped mid-spin and looked up at Cloud. The smile faded from his face when he saw the look that Cloud was giving him. It wasn't the look that an old friend would give to another after such a long separation. It was one of silent question and apprehension.

"Cloud? You serious? It's me, Zack."

"What the HELL you doin', Cloud?"

Another man entered the cell. He was large and just…very large. He wore dusty green cargo pants, a torn brown vest and a pair of dog tags which hung from his neck. Every single limb on the man was made up of bulging muscles just waiting to burst the seams of his ragged clothing. All except his right arm, which wasn't an arm at all but large gatling gun that was grafted in all the way up to his elbow.

"We SUPPOSED to be finding' Aeirth and you up in here huggin' dudes! And you're telling' ME to focus? $&*^$!"

Zack lowered Cloud back down to the ground and released him. Confusion and hurt swam through his mind. How could Cloud not know him?

"Just a misunderstanding," said Cloud, brushing himself off. "I think he thought I was someone else. But in any case, Aerith's in here too."

Zack backed away and placed himself between Aerith and the other two men. Cloud wasn't of the right state of mind, he obviously was still being affected by the mako and Zack had no clue who the other man was, but he looked dangerous. There was no way he was losing Aerith again.

"You're not taking Aerith anywhere until I know what's going on here. Who are you?"

"Oh hell no! I'll be the one askin' questions here!" said the giant man, pointing his gun arm at Zack. "You the one in the prison cell, so you the one who can't be trusted!"

"Wait, Barret!" Before Zack could restrain her, Aerith darted from behind him and walked right up to the gun-toting black man.

"Aerith! What are you doing!" exclaimed Zack.

"It's okay," said Aerith. "I know them. They came to help me."

"What?"

"Barret, this is Zack. He used to be a member of SOLDIER, but the Shinra betrayed him. He's alright, I promise!"

Barret studied Zack for a moment, no doubt trying to decide how much of a liability he was. Zack waited for the gunshot to ring out, but it never came. Instead, Barrett lowered his gun arm and extended the hand on his other arm.

"Any enemy of Shinra is a friend of mine. Name's Barrett Wallace, leader of AVALANCHE."

"Uh, nice to meet you," said Zack, nervously shaking Barret's hand. "Wait a minute. You're the guys who blew up the reactor!"

"Yessir, that was us. And we were 'bout to blow another one before those Shinra dogs decided to play dirty. They blew the plate support for Sector 7."

"They blew the plate support!"

"Yeah. Flattened the slums just to get to us. Damn shame. The Shinra is always takin' from the little people, but this time the went to far! So we came here to some payback!"

"Why were you looking for Aerith, though?" asked Zack.

"Well, when the plate fell I….I thought my little girl was still in there. But Aerith, she saved her and brought her to Sector 5 at the cost of bein' captured by those damn Turks. I don't think I could ever repay her for that. The least I could do was break her out of this &$(* place."

"You did that?" asked Zack, who was now looking at Aerith in a whole new light. Aerith nodded her head and blushed.

"It was nothing!" she said bashfully. Zack knew that Aerith was always kind and gentle but a new side of her was beginning to show. A side that was made up of strength, resilience and courage. Zack couldn't believe it was possible for her to become any more perfect, but Aerith kept proving him wrong every day.

"We should really get going," spoke Cloud.

"Yeah, you right," added Barret. "Aerith let's get out of here."

Aerith walked back over to Zack and took his hands in hers. "Will you come with us Zack? My gut is telling me that to go with them is the right decision. All these questions I have about myself…I have to find the answers. And if you're with me, I know I can."

"Aerith. You don't have to ask. If you trust them, then so do I. From now on, every step I take will be right next to yours." Zack smiled down at Aerith and then planted a kiss in her soft auburn hair. He released her and then stepped over to speak to Barret.

"So, what's the situation out there?"

"It wasn't too bad getting' past security on the way in so we got up here pretty easily. But, something' jus ain't right on these upper floors."

"How do you mean?"

"Every floor past this one is crawlin' with monsters! We haven't found anybody alive for a while now. We think somebody else is in here too. Or something."

"Whatever it is, we can handle it," said Cloud. "But we can't waste time. We need to meet up with the others. I'll take point." With that, Cloud slid back out of the cell and disappeared down the hall.

"Spiky-headed…always runnin' off…*&%," said Barret, shaking his head. "Ah well, we better follow him. Try to keep up."

Zack, Aerith and Barret exited the tiny cell and followed after Cloud. The floor was eerily quiet, no employees, no guards. None that were alive anyway. The only sounds that could be heard were their echoing footsteps and the dim hum of electricity. They weaved through a maze of office cubicles and emerged into a room that was full of wooden crates stacked from the floor to the ceiling. The trio made their way around the crates into the center of the room. There they saw Cloud standing in front of some sort of storage device. The metal unit was torn and twisted in awkward angles and a trail of blood leaked from the gaping hole in its center. Barret set his gun arm and silently signaled that he would scout out the area ahead. Cautiously, Barret stepped over the blood and followed the trail. Cloud still stood frozen in front of the unit, making no acknowledgment of Zack and Aerith's presence. As Zack got closer to investigate, Cloud collapsed to his knees.

"Cloud! What happened?" shouted Zack as he dashed forward to catch Cloud.

"It's…I don't…Je…va…"

"What are you saying? I don't understand."

"Za…moved….on it's own," sputtered Cloud.

"What moved?" Zack didn't have a clue what Cloud was trying to say. He grasped Cloud's shoulders and shook him to try and bring him back to his senses. Zack felt desperation seep into his heart. Besides Aerith, Cloud was the only friend in the world that he had left. They'd fought together, laughed together and overcome impossible odds together. And then it was all taken away in an instant by Professor Hojo and his mako torture. But now, even though physically Cloud was better, his mind was still fragmented and weak. Zack prayed that Cloud would remember and be his friend again.

Finally, Cloud's blue eyes came back into focus and he started to calm down.

"I'm fine. I just…I just need a moment." he said.

"Hey no prob. Take all the time you need." said Zack, patting him on the shoulder. Barret reappeared a moment later. His face was even whiter than Cloud's has been, completely drained of color.

"You guys have to see this. I ain't never seen anything like this $!%" he sputtered.

"What's up there?" asked Aerith.

Barret shook his head. "I can't even explain it. Ya'll gotta come and see this for yourselves."

Zack helped Cloud back up to his feet and the four of them pressed on. The blood trail stretched on through the upper floors, streaking along the lab and up through the Presidential lobby. They followed it up the stairs that Zack had traveled up with Tseng only a week before and into the President's office.

Zack had expected to see the President sitting smug and happy behind his bulletproof desk. Whatever it was that was lurking in the Shinra Building surely wouldn't be able to get through security. But that was definitely NOT the case. Every guard had been laid to waste and only monsters had been left in their wake. The President didn't have any protection whatsoever. He would have never seen what hit him.

"You have got to be kidding me. Is that what I think it is?" said Zack as he inched forward towards the desk. The President was sitting behind it alright, but he wasn't smug or happy. He was dead. And emerging from his slumped form was any incredibly long and thin silver blade.

Zack fell to his knees. "It can't be. Is…is that Sephiroth's sword?"