Author's Note: hey, this came surprisingly fast. Don't really expect too many updates this fast, it's really a rarity for me, but I guess summer's left me the insiration to write.
I'm just curious, but how many of the current readers read the story Falling Up by Etrixan before checking out CSSA? It'd be nice if you drop me a review or pm saying you have. I'm just a bit curious, as I stumbled upon the fic again after losing track of it because of schoolwork. It's a great fic, so please, go read it if you haven't already.
Anyway, the next chapter is already in the works, but my Beta is ill and she was a darling just to edit this, even though she didn't have to, so excuse any mistakes that both of us might have missed.
Tobi-Uchiha—Seph is… obsessed. To a small degree. It's been 7 months or so since the story started and… well he's uh STILL thinking about Cloud. And yeah, I imagine that Seph is hiding a lot more crappy emotions than he realizes. And Coud's becoming stronger! Yay!!
Lilia0—Hmm, well that little tid bit will be divulged, actually, within a couple chapters. Kukukukuku
Quin Goblin—aaw, thank you for stepping forward and reviewing. It mad me really happy to hear you like this enough to review. An your username—it totally reminds me of Quinton Flinn… Reno's VA… So random.
Namesake—Seph's head… is not a pretty place on most days… like in the uh, next chapter after this one. But that walkthrough is definitely worth it. It doesn't cover the sidequests, but it's nice for the basic plot. :P
-w-easy enough—yes. He's General Stalkeroth. :P
Xeron—yes, go ahead. I'm glad to see tht I was able to make that scene so touchy. I was worried on how it would go over. And Cloud's dad? Another thing to come with in the next few chapters. Kukukukukuku.
And a random shout out to the ppl that read my story in Asia. It's awesome to see some many hits from there. Like the US and Canada I expect, but Asia? I think it's amazing.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The sirens blared, causing Cloud to snap out of his slumber. It couldn't have been anywhere near wake up call, he decided, since he was practically wired to wakeup before those bells went off. No, these sirens were different. It took him a good four seconds to realize that it was the scramble command. One of his roommates grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.
"Get up Strife, something big's happening," his roommate said before leaving him to scramble into his clothes. Cloud rolled from the bed, landing on his feet and steadying himself with one hand. He grabbed for his clothes at the foot of his bad and dressed as fast as he could. He grabbed his weapons, securely strapping them in their proper places.
"Sir! Where do I report?" Cloud called out to his roommates. Two of them paused for a moment, looking at each other.
"Come with us, Strife, since you aren't with your Squad. It'll take too long for you to get down there," One said, motioning for the blond to follow. Cloud nodded, falling in line behind the others as they ran from their room and down the hall. They took a few sharp turns before stopping in an area where about fifty people were gathered. Cloud could hear someone barking orders with a microphone at the men that were gathering. Cloud fell in line with the others, his odd bandana color setting him off from the rest of the infantrymen. When the people finally stopped trickling in, the commanding officers began to bark orders.
"Stand at attention! This is a state of emergency, everyone pay attention! Genesis copies have laid siege to Junon! Casualties are already great, and they have requested back up. Company A, you are assigned to this mission, depart for the immediately. You will receive further orders upon departure!" the officer screamed at the men. Cloud felt a chill go down his back. He couldn't just go with the men in Company A, he wasn't a part of that. As the men scrambled to get to the hangers, Cloud made his way to the commanding officer. As he neared, he saw the colors designating the man as a First Lieutenant. Cloud stood at attention.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant, Sir!" Cloud yelled over the sirens "Private Second Class Cloud Strife, Sir! I was advised to report with my roommates, Sir, but I'm a part of Company 1225! Orders, sir?" The Lieutenant turned to Cloud, giving him a once over.
"Stay with Company A, join a platoon and get your ass to Junon, Private, I will inform your Unit where you are going. Now go!" the Lieutenant yelled harshly.
"Sir!" Cloud yelled, nodding. He took a step back before running down the hall to follow the other infantrymen. When he arrived on the airstrip, copters were already taking flight.
"Strife!" one of his roommates called from a copter. Cloud ran over, taking the older teen's hand as he was hoisted into the copter just as it was taking off. His roommate shoved him towards the back of the cabin where there was still an empty seat. Cloud seated and strapped himself in as the commanding officer started barking orders.
"It will take approximately three hours to reach Junon from Midgar. Upon arrival you are to make your way to level six! You are to clear out as many copies and robots as possible! Secure your area. Protect civilians and tend to wounded! Remember, the people on this level are Class B3 and above! The less civilian casualties the better!"
Cloud sighed, not liking the sounds of this mission. All he knew about the copies was that they were incredibly dangerous, and the matter of protecting higher classed civilians only complicated matters. If an infantryman and a civilian were both injured, the civilian would take precedence over the infantryman, even if the civilian was useless to the fighting cause. He foresaw the situation becoming incredibly bloody fast.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
About halfway into the flight, the helicopter suddenly veered off course, headed towards the mountain range. The infantrymen began mumbling possibilities to one another for the sudden course correction. After about twenty minutes later the copter began to descend at the base of the mountain chain. A ShinRa military jeep pulled up a few moments later, breaking as it reached the copter. After a few moments the doors to the vehicle opened and the general stepped down from the cab. He made his way swiftly to the copter, pulling himself in as the pilot started to take off again. The gossiping had ceased the moment the General stepped onto the copter. The sergeant in charge of the platoon stood to greet Sephiroth.
"General, sir, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but we are already at maximum capacity. Would you prefer to sit with the pilot or to take my seat?" the sergeant asked. The General looked around at the boys in the cabin. Most them had removed their helms for comfort while flying in the helicopter for the prolonged time. He was delightedly surprised when his eyes landed on a certain blond. Cloud Strife was on board the helicopter that had come to pick him up. What luck. He steeled his expressions, not wanting to frighten the boy, or any of the others in the copter.
"Near the pilot," Sephiroth answered, turning away. He couldn't let on that he was interested in Cloud—no, that would completely ruin everything. He would make his move later, but first he needed to extort every ounce of information about the boy's platoon he could before they landed in Junon.
"Ah, then please, sit here," The sergeant directed. Sephiroth nodded, taking his seat. The sergeant returned to the cabin, seating himself again. Cloud felt paralyzed. The general was on the same helicopter he was. Although the man was beautiful, he had a frightening presence. It was much different than the one he had become accustomed to when passing him at the psychiatrist. This face of the General intimidated him, causing him to hope that they had as little contact as possible while on the mission. Cloud couldn't get the two questions out of his head, though. Just what had Sephiroth been doing in the mountains, and why was he now getting picked up by a helicopter on its way to Junon?
When the copter touched down on the landing bay at Junon, the infantrymen scrambled out. Cloud followed suit as they entered the elevator that took them down to level six. The sergeant took off running first from the elevator, motioning with his hand for the rest to follow. The group was guided from the main street into the facilities. Cloud could make out gunfire coming from just down the hall. Before the platoon could reach the end, a body was blasted back into the wall from an intersecting hallway. The firing continued, shooting the already dead body into pieces.
"Squad A, you support the survivors on this hall, Squad B, continue down the hall!" the Sergeant major barked. A staff sergeant grabbed Cloud's arm, dragging him down the hall.
"You're with me, kid," the man said, as he shoved Cloud in front towards the doors that another person was holding open. "You better be damn decent if you're planning on making it out of here alive." Cloud felt a shiver go down his spine at the comment, but didn't reply. He ran through the doors and joined the squad. This area seemed calm compared to the area they had just left.
"Team one, split up and secure the rear sector. Team two, follow me into the front," the Staff Sergeant barked. He once again grabbed Cloud's arm and began dragging him. As they proceeded into the compound, the sergeant ordered for the team to split up further, leaving Cloud alone with the sergeant. There had yet to be enemies, but Cloud was still anxious.
The hallway ended at a set of opened double doors, leading into a large office room. Cloud spotted a hand on the ground, just far enough out to be visible from ten feet away. Cloud made a move to speed up, but the Sergeant held out a hand for Cloud to stop. He placed a finger over respirator on his helmet, telling Cloud not to speak. They began towards the door at a slow pace, guns raised and ready to fire. When they reached the doors, the Sergeant entered first, shooting off a few rounds before Cloud entered behind him.
There was a group of men in uniforms that looked strikingly similar to the ShinRa guard's except for the vibrant red color. Cloud began to open fire, knowing that this had to be the enemy. One of the Copies dodged, successfully evading the majority of the bullets and dashed to the sergeant, blowing a hole in the man's stomach before swinging a kick at Cloud. The sergeant fell to the ground, incapacitated. Cloud blocked the kick with his gun before shoving the copy back and opening fire on it again. This time he hit several vital spots and the copy collapsed, dead. Cloud rushed to the Sergeant, checking for a pulse. He found one and began searching the superior for the man's potions. As soon as he found one, he uncorked it and forced the man to drink. As the wounds began to knit themselves together, Cloud left the Sergeant to make sure the rest of the room was secure.
He stepped over four dead copies and found an additional two ShinRa infantrymen on the floor. It seemed that the room was secured for the moment, so he took to attending the others. At least one was still alive, so he forced the man to drink a potion before half dragging, half carrying the man to lay next to the Sergeant. Cloud began digging around under the Staff Sergeant's bandana to find his dog tags. The walkie talkie on the man's side began crackling to life as men began to report in. All the areas were clear. Cloud grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button.
"This area is secure, however Staff Sergeant…" Cloud paused as he looked at the name on the tags, "Valesso has been injured and is unconscious. There is one other injured."
"Good job at securing the area. The nearest team will be there to assist you with the inured, we'll be moving back out to the streets. This building is secure," the voice of the Sergeant Major crackled over the device. Cloud sighed, ready to leave the area. Once the other members in the team arrived, two of the bigger men saw to carrying the injured out. The two teams reunited and later joined the rest of the squad as they exited.
They charged down the street, firing at anything that got in their way as they approached the gate to upper Junon. Several copies, as well as robotic attack droids, were still wandering around the streets. While he was taking out a group of droids, Cloud was shot in the shoulder by a clone. One of the other men fired back, taking the copy out. Cloud dropped his guard momentarily, grabbing at his shoulder with his free hand. He could feel the blood starting to seep out. His comrade was instantly at his side.
"Hey, the kid's injured!" He called before taking out a potion. "Hey, kid, don't drink it all down. If the bullet's still in there, and you drink the whole thing, you'll have a bullet in your shoulder for life." Cloud nodded in understanding, taking only a small sip. The older infantryman scooped Cloud in towards his body as he pushed through the forces to get them to the gate. Cloud could see Tseng making a fuss at the gate, directing a young female Turk in battle as he was working on the switch. It did not take long for them to reach the relative peace of the gate. The Turk girl was far more an advanced fighter than the infantrymen and was easily able to do away with the lesser copies.
Tseng looked away from the switch's circuit board to check on Cissnei, only to see a squad of infantrymen arriving at the gate. Among them, a smaller boy was bleeding. The boy was taken to a wall to be treated. Cissnei returned to Tseng, nodding.
"It seems this sector is completely secure now," she said. Tseng nodded, looking down the road.
"The switch is still unresponsive, I'll continue to work on it, you talk to the grunts," Tseng ordered.
"Tseng, I think… Isn't that boy leaned against the wall Cloud?" Cissnei asked, looking back at her superior. Tseng left the switch to investigate the claim, unhappy when he found it the truth. The boy should have been back in Midgar patrolling the slums with the rest of his company.
"So it seems," Tseng said.
"It appears that he's been shot. I don't think the bullet's exited judging by the way they're digging around in his wound like that," Cissnei observed.
"Cissnei, work on the switch. I'll attend to Cloud," Tseng ordered. Cissnei nodded, taking to the switch's circuit board. Tseng moved towards the group huddled around Cloud, pushing a few to the side. "What are you doing?" the boy attempting to get the bullet from Cloud's shoulder looked up at him.
"S-sir! He's got a bullet in the socket. We need to get it out and get him healed before he loses too much blood."
"You won't get anywhere with cleaning materials and fingers. Let me do it," Tseng said, leaning down in front of Cloud.
"Sir! No, you shouldn't be doing this, He's not as important as the gate!" One of the other men called from the group. Tseng ignored the comment and he nudged the man that had been operating away.
"Ts-tseng," Cloud stuttered upon realizing that the Turk was there.
"Relax, Strife, I'm here to get this bullet out. It's going to hurt, but bear with it," Tseng said, reaching into his suit jacket and pulling out a set of surgical knives. One would think it was odd to carry such items, but to a Turk, they were most valuable. Not only did they come in handy at times such as this, but they were also excellent lock picking materials and good to use during assassinations.
"Don't worry, I can handle pain. It won't be anything new," Cloud said, leaning his back against the wall. Tseng nodded, understanding the meaning of the boy's words quite well. He began picking at the wound until he located the bullet. It had been lodged under the clavicle where it met the shoulder joint. Cloud hissed as he hastily removed the bullet. Tseng tossed it aside before casting a Curaga spell on Cloud. The Turk stood, tucking his tool back into his jacket before zipping it back up.
"Stand up, Strife," Tseng directed before turning back to the others. "Prepare to storm the tunnel as soon as the gate opens!" the infantrymen began to buzz as they reloaded and began healing. Tseng headed back to the gate, reaching it just as it began to open. "Move!" he yelled, beginning to run in himself.
Zack Fair was standing in the middle of the tunnel in front of a destroyed tank. Tseng stopped halfway to Zack, the infantrymen storming in around, securing the rest of the area. Two Second Class SOLDIERs joined the group behind them. Zack turned to face the Turk.
"We've killed most of the enemies in this area and contained the rest. We'll lock off this section and begin evacuating and saving the injured," Tseng said, before stepping closer to Zack.
"Great. It looks like everything's handled on your side then," Zack said, cracking a sheepish grin. "Unfortunately, Hollander's escaped. I lost track of him when I entered the tunnel. I need to get going."
"We're counting on you," Tseng said nodding. Zack turned around and began running towards the second gate. From the corner of his eye he glimpsed blond spikes. He did a quick double take, realizing that it was the grunt from Modeoheim—the other country boy. And then he saw the blood on the teen's shoulder. Zack quickly moved towards the Private, not caring that the action was completely out of order.
"Cloud?" he questioned. The blond's eyes snapped towards him, a bit of fear tinting their sky blue color. "Dude, are you ok? Your shirt's all bloody."
"I-I'm fine, sir,"
Cloud said timidly, looking around at the others as their attention
was drawn to the conversation. "I was shot, but my wound has
already been healed."
"Aw, damn. At least you're ok now.
Say, if you make it out of here unharmed, I should take you to
dinner. You know, celebrate your first major combative mission
success," Zack suggested, hitting the younger gently on his clean
shoulder. Cloud winced slightly, uncomfortable with the touch.
"I-I don't know, sir," the blond replied timidly. It wasn't that he didn't like Zack, that he wasn't certain, but more that he was afraid that this accepting the invitation would negatively affect the opinions of the men that he was placed with as a refuge from his peers. The last thing he needed was harassment from his roommates.
"Come on, it'll be fun. I'll come find you at the mess hall once it's all over and take you out for a night you'll remember!" Zack said, ginning before running off. He could hear Cloud stuttering to object from behind him, but he didn't care.
After a few more seconds he heard one of the other infantrymen call, "What the hell, Strife? You know both Tseng and Zack Fair?" Zack chuckled at them before exiting into the next section of the tunnel. Maybe he'd get Cloud some friends, even if they'd just hang out with him to get at Zack. It couldn't hurt the kid too much; the blond was too shy—deliciously hot, yes—but incredibly—cutely, even—shy.
Zack shook his head; he had to steel his mind for what he had to do. Hollander was on the loose and it meant that he had to focus on catching the man again before he ran back into the arms of the enemy. He pressed the button for the gate to open and dashed through. The tunnel continued on the other side, leading to another gate. He ran down the hall, not encountering any further bars. He pressed the button for the last gate to open and ran out. He could see Hollander at the end of the road, making for the airstrips. Zack cursed, darting forward as fast as he could. Several robotic enemies began making their way down the road, headed towards him and the gate.
"Dammit Hollander! When I get my hands on you!" Zack yelled, beginning to hack away at the robots. He laid them to waste relatively easy; one slice for the smaller, two for the larger. He slammed his hand on the switch to open the gate to the airstrips, running through as soon as it was wide enough. He ran onto the joint between the main structure of Junon and the main airstrip, stopping only to slice the chains that closed the too tall gate. Kicking the gate open, he continued, spotting Hollander flailing towards the edge.
"Ha. Looks like a dead end, bugger, now come back calmly. That's far enough!" Zack said, stepping closer. The older man looked behind himself at the drop he faced if he took another step back.
"Really? Are you sure?" Hollander said before raising his and allowing himself to fall over the edge. Zack started, rushing forward to try to save the man.
"H-hey!" He called, his hand reaching out and almost grabbing the man's lab coat. The fabric fluttered back, slipping past Zack's fingertips. He was shocked. The man had apparently committed suicide. "What is he…" Zack trailed off as two Genesis copies suddenly flew up from past the ledge, carrying Hollander away. "Dammit. Should have known." Cissnei and Tseng ran past him, headed towards a copter to pursue the scientist.
"Mission failed. This is going on your permanent record," a familiar deep, silky voice said from behind Zack. The ravenet knew instantly whom it was, turning around as swiftly as he could.
"Sephiroth! Long time no see!" Zack said, his face lightening up at the sight of his lover.
"Let the Turks take care of it from here on," Sephiroth instructed, as he moved towards the end of the airstrip.
"Sorry about letting that bastard get away," Zack said, kicking at the ground.
"It's not your problem from here on."
"Right. So, uh, why are you here exactly?"
"I was on my way to Modeoheim by jeep when I heard of the attacks. I didn't have any interest in coming until I heard that they pulled you from your… vacation a week early to have you fight. So I radioed in for a copter," Sephiroth explained.
"Lucky me," Zack said, placing his arms behind his head.
"Everything here is calm now, but the situation is not resolved. There have been sightings of Genesis copies all around the world."
"That can't be," Zack said, lowering his arms and scrunching his nose in puzzlement. "We defeated all of those copies."
"Is Genesis really dead?" Sephiroth questioned whimsically. Zack thought back to Genesis' suicide, and decided that there was a great possibility of him being alive. Could that have meant that Angeal was possibly still alive too? His heart leapt at the thought. Even though he was back to acting normal, he hadn't fully come to terms with what had happened that day. He was still aching inside, and he knew that Sephiroth was probably too, to some extent. "They've been sighted in Midgar too. Even in the slums."
"No…" Zack said, his mind shooting to Aerith. Sure, she wasn't his closest companion, but he still cared for her a lot. He may not have seen her in several months, but he had made several phone calls over the course of his so-called vacation. He needed to make sure she was safe. Sephiroth quietly looked over his younger lover, taking in his reaction. He quickly concluded that the teen was thinking about someone important there.
"Permission to return granted," Sephiroth said, turning away to look back out at the ocean. Zack was a bit shocked. The General was telling him to go home instead of accompany him for the night before returning. It caught him off guard. "Take care," the silveret said, trying to usher Zack off with words.
"Why were you going to Modeoheim?" Zack asked, not wanting to leave Sephiroth, but at the same time curious to all of the other events he'd missed.
"The device that Hollander was using has been stolen," Sephiroth answered simply, not turning around to look at Zack.
"Genesis?" Zack questioned a bit timidly.
"Probably," the older answered solemnly. Zack could hear the sadness in the General's distraught voice. All thoughts of Aerith cleared momentarily as thoughts of pulling Sephiroth into the nearest closet to kiss and screw began to take over his mind. He wanted to comfort the man, much like Sephiroth had done for him almost two months ago. Sephiroth sensed Zack's unease and turned his head to glance at the boy from the corner of his eye. "Don't worry. We'll see each other again soon."
"I'll hold you to that," Zack said, nodding resolutely. The moment he heard that Sephiroth was back at the base, he was going to drag that nice piece of ass to the nearest concealed place and screw his brains out. He began to back up slowly before turning around fully.
Only when Zack's back was towards him did Sephiroth turn to look at the teen. A small smile began tugging on his lips as he looked after the boy with a hint of longing.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Zack ran from the sector five slums station to the church, the anticipation to see Aerith becoming nearly unbearable. As the church came into view he paused, feeling a presence behind him. He peeked over his shoulder, only to find nothing. He shrugged before continuing on his way. He pushed open the church doors and just as he was about to call out a cheerful greeting to Aerith, he saw it. A beast, much like the ones that accompanied Genesis clones in more sparsely populated regions. It was dog-like in shape, but thinner than any breed he'd seen before. Armor covered the majority of the beast. One big wing protruded from its shoulder, a smaller one from the other. Aerith was standing behind the beast, unsure of what to do.
Zack reached for the buster sword, preparing to slay the animal if it attacked. However, the creature simply raised its head, revealing the crest of Angeal's face on the bottom. Zack balked, pulling back. An Angeal copy. If it existed than Angeal had to have been alive. He released his hold on the sword and relaxed, stepping towards the beast cautiously. Suddenly the church doors pushed open wider. Zack snapped his attention to the intruder, a robot. Zack quickly moved back, getting in a stance to protect Aerith. The Angeal clone suddenly rushed at the robot, ramming full force. It crunched in and exploded. The beast stepped back, standing victorious for a moment before collapsing. Zack rushed to its side.
"It was protecting us…" Zack said solemnly. He could see no injuries on the creature's body, but it was clear to him that it was degrading, slowly, but surely. Zack cursed inwardly. This had to be following Angeal's will. Otherwise the creature wouldn't be there protecting instead of destroying them. Suddenly the creature lurched up to its feet. Zack backed off, giving it space. It began beating its wings, slowly lifting off the ground. Slowly, it flew to a ceiling beam, where it perched itself, staring down at Zack.
"It seems so sad," Aerith said, looking up at it. Zack glanced at the girl. He'd found out only recently from Cissnei, but the girl was an Ancient. She had a connection with all living thing and the lifestream. He knew he could believe her if she said something like that. Zack frowned, staring back up at the creature.
"So, uh, Zack! It's been a while," Aerith said, tugging on Zack's hand to get his attention. "Tell me about Costa Del Sol." Zack looked down at her and forced a smile.
"Ah, Costa Del Sol. It was great. The sun was shining bright and the view of the ocean was gorgeous. I really want to take you there someday."
"Lots of sun? Sounds kind of scary…" Aerith said, diverting her eyes from his.
"Trust me, it's not. I'll get you used to it. First I'll take you up to the plate, and then one day I'll take you out to the country where you can see the real sun. Midgar's covered in pollution, so not all of the sun even shines down here."
"If you say so," Aerith said timidly. She looked back up at Zack. "Hey, let's make me a flower wagon." Zack almost groaned at the idea. The things he did to keep cuties interested in him.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Author's Note: So anyway, I bet that was a bit thrilling? Aerith's reared her head again… and well Zack's only after what pleases his dick still… Anyway, the reviews I got for last chapter really encouraged me to continue writing on this story while it was fresh in my head. It'd be wonderful to get a few more. I'm still writing that one shot, so Look out for a CloudxKadaj fic from me soon!