I'm so sorry this took longer than usual, I've had some life issues that needed dealing with. I hope that the rest of the chapters come at the usual three day intervals, but it might take me a little to get back into the groove of writing. :3 Thank you to SinisterPurr for beta-ing!

Closer

Plan C

Spells and bullets were flying.

Many people operate under the assumption that spells always hit their target. This isn't and currently wasn't the case. Spells would follow their intended victims for an extent, but there was a point where the spell simply detonated where it was or just faded from existence. Bullets had a somewhat similar problem, while you could aim and fire; the opponent could avoid the shot and simply fire back with whatever. The advantage bullets had over magic where they were wicked fast, avoiding a gunshot had to do with luck rather than speed.

It just so happened, these snipers had both luck and speed. They were out-maneuvering the spells and somehow dodging Lightning's shots. They had switched tactics to basically distracting the foes from getting a clear shot at the blond-wonder on the wavering platform. Snow was a brilliant guardian, he was large, intimidating and could challenge anyone or thing he wanted…

But he was only a good guardian when he was alive.

He was having one hell of a time staying alive with the bullets, spells and the unbalance of the shaky plateau he had landed on. Lightning would've found it amusing had his life not been in immediate danger. She rolled out of the way of another volley of bullets and fired a quick shot back. The bullet ricocheted off the massive jetpack, leaving nothing but a small dent.

I don't suppose I could throw Snow at them again, they might see him coming.

"Light!" Hope called over the chaos; he and Vanille had formulated a plan. "Keep me covered!"

What do you want me to do? Jump up and down and hope to hell they shoot at me?

Grunting she stood up and pointed at the sniper. "You, come get me."

He paused, considering his options. His teammates were having an easy time, to be honest. It seemed that the l'Cie were much easier to handle when they literally didn't have even ground. His confidence got the better of him and he flew closer, taking aim.

He fired a shot and cursed as Lightning nimbly slid to the side, making good use of the little ground she had. He tried to hit her a couple of times, each time getting closer but never managing to land the hit. Lightning was having the same sort of luck; he would dodge when she fired.

Hope gritted his teeth, in his hands an orb of water sloshed and bubbled wildly. It was a difficult spell, something he noted he should have practiced before trying it in the thick of battle. Vanille was next to him, her clenched fists sparking and turning the air dry with static.

"Ready?" He questioned, nervous about how Lightning was beginning to tire of dodging.

"Uh huh!" Vanille nodded.

He threw his hands forward and watched the orb almost daintily glide towards the soldier. He saw it and tried to dodge. Lightning took her chance, firing a couple of shots, one hitting the man in the chest and denting his armor as the rest hit the jetpack. The watera spell erupted, it didn't precisely hit the man, but the wave of liquid splashed over him.

"Hnnn!"

Lightning visibly winced at Vanille's war… Noise… She didn't want to say what it sounded like.

Maybe it's a tactic, distract the enemy via… Arousal?

…

Anyways.

The thunder spell crashed into the soaked sniper. He screamed, limbs shaking and becoming uncontrollable. He managed to see the element take its toll on his oversized flight unit though. It shot into the circuits via a small bullet hole Lightning had made and tore the wires inside apart.

There was a small explosion and the man let out a cry of defeat. His pack smoked heavily as he tumbled down and crashed to the bottom of the gorge.

"One down!" Vanille cried reassuringly, watching as Fang bounded from a center pillar and onto the jetpack of another.

The soldier roared in anger, spinning himself around as Fang hacked and slashed at his pack. The other moved away, putting distance between him and his ally who seemed to be intent on creating a whirlwind. The tribeswoman spiraled off, thrusting her spear into the canyon wall before perching upon it. She snarled, infuriated her plan didn't work.

Five against two, in any other situation this fight would've been going smoothly.

Only the group hadn't trained on cliffs, they were rather good on full ground, where one could run and not have to worry about any sudden falls. This was entirely out of their league, Fang had the easiest time moving around, but she was almost completely close-ranged. Vanille and Hope had to work together to bring someone down, and only if one of the others was distracting enough.

Seeing as Fang couldn't land a ranged-hit for the life of her and Snow was too busy doing some strange survival-jig to keep the pillar balanced, it was up to Lightning.

Lightning was the only one with a weapon that could deal damage to ranged foes compared to the others. Fang had a nun-chucking spear, Snow had his fists (typical man), Hope had a boomerang, and Vanille wielded a damned fishing rod!

The sergeant stared at one of the snipers, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Vanille!" She cried, catching the girl's attention. Lightning pointed towards the sniper aiming a shot at Fang. "Go fish!"

It took a second for the order to make sense, but as soon as it did the girl whipped out her strange, magic staff. Bracing herself for the pull she was no doubt going to feel she whipped the rod forward, watching as four lines of tight, steel wire shot out and glided through the air. The razor hooks clinked against the jetpack and slid along the smooth surface before they latched onto something.

Hope didn't waste any time, his eyes glowed white as the wind in the gorge picked up. It howled like a demon as it rushed towards the foe. A couple of the shaky pillars blew right over, crumbling to the bottom to cause massive clouds of dust to explode upwards. Everyone was at a lost in the darkness that ensued, except for Hope.

His eyes were fixated on his enemy, a figure of white. Gritting his teeth he began to make his hands circle around each other. The gust acted accordingly, centering its chaotic attention on the man. He roared in anguish as the spell picked up, the gust turning into a full blown twister that spun him around harshly.

The dust cleared and now the soldier was wrapped in wire as the other had been taunted by Lighting. Fang chuckled, the man looking over at her, only his mask hiding his undeniable fear. The woman braced herself against the gorge wall, defying gravity for a moment as she tore her weapon from the rock wall, pieces of it going flying to the bottom.

"Let's try this again.." She beamed, launching herself off the wall. She twisted in the air, bringing the tip of her lance crashing down onto the man's head.

Vanille winced, covering one eye as she watched the spear slip in one side, and explode out the other. Fang stood on the jetpack, keeping rather good balance as she eyed the other one.

The sniper eyed them all; Raiden hadn't said that they would be this adaptable! They had been sent here to catch them; the behemoth should've tired them out enough for spells and super-human reflexes to be out of the question. Gritting his teeth he moved back, putting distance between himself and his opponents.

"If I'm doomed to fall…" And he knew he was. "I'm taking all of you with me!"

Snow took an unsteady step back as the jetpack on the soldier's back began to flash and blare alarms. The energy pouring out of the vents turned red, almost like it was spewing magma.

Fang looked confused, keeping her floating perch steady. "What's with him?"

Lightning didn't know either, watching curiously before the white panels on the contraption began to fall off.

Oh no…

"Run!" She ordered, watching as the rest of the group reacted to her command instantly. Snow made a daring leap to the other side of the gorge, and began bounding away, hot on the heels of Fang.

An impressive burst of speed for a man the size of an airship.

Vanille jumped passed her, and Hope followed. Lightning was last, bringing up the rear, glancing back as she heard the soldier almost cackle.

There was a light sort of 'pop' before a brutal rush of air blasted them. Vanille was thrown three ledges forward, and Hope nearly tumbled to his death before Lightning grabbed his ankle (of all things) and flipped him into the air. He landed smack flat on his belly and groaned.

"Get up." Lightning snarled, like she was talking to a new recruit who was failing basic training. Hope snapped to it, taking off again.

A quick glance showed the blond idiot and Miss-Jumps-a-Lot were just peachy, leading the way. The sergeant inwardly grumbled, she didn't like being the slowest, but she had to make sure Hope made it to the end of the pass. Daring her luck, she looked over her shoulder and felt herself pick up pace. Masking her fear behind determination, Lightning bolted, threatening to trample the boy.

A wave of energy from the rigged jetpack was cascading towards them. It was consuming the gorge, blowing over pillars and crumbling ledges as it quickly gained ground on them.

"Hope!" Lightning roared, now by his side. "You'd do well to pick up the pace!"

Fang had reached the other side; she hit the ground and rolled. Ducking as a not-so-graceful Snow flew over and smashed into the wall.

Vanille had an odd grace about her; she seemed about to trip most of the time. She would turn that flounder into a jump, so she was almost bouncing her way to the finish. The girl landed almost neatly next to Fang, if not for landing a bit hard on her bum.

"Oww…"

Fang watched on edge, that blue wave was dying down, but it was eating away at whatever they could use for jumping material. Snow and Vanille moved up beside her, gazing on as Lightning forced the fourteen-year-old to work harder. They were running faster than any of them had ever seen, but Fang could see the ground beginning to crack under their heels..

"Come on!" Snow called, Fang holding him back from jumping back out there. Her intense gaze shot back out to Lightning.

"Hurry up!"

"Oh no…" Vanille gulped.

Hope was slowing down.

Adrenaline could only get him so far.

It wasn't going to be far enough, as Lightning shot past him.

Lightning didn't even stop; she pivoted gracefully on her heel and went sprinting back for the boy. Her curse was drowned out by the odd thundering noise the wave of energy gave off, but her expression told all. She was now basically carrying Hope, forcing his desperate limbs to work harder as the duo ran for their goal.

The pink-haired woman could feel the ground crumbling beneath her feet. With a roar she tossed him, the boy went flying into Fang, who let out a started yelp as he took her down.

There wasn't anyone holding the beast of a man back anymore. He sprang forward, the distance between the frantic Lightning and himself closing. Vanille called out to him as Fang cursed, struggling to get the flailing kid off of her.

She can save herself.

Snow gritted his teeth, heart-pounding in his ears. Lightning had that gravity-trick; that was true. But what if it didn't work? What if it malfunctioned because of the blast or was out of juice?

You're not going to make it.

The cliff-edge was in the middle of them, both mere feet from it and each other. Snow's eyes widened as Lightning's feet got caught up in the rubble and debris she had been racing along. He watched her begin to fall out of sight, their eyes locking as true emotion shot from hers into his.

Fear.

Pure, unhindered and uncontrolled fear.

And down she goes.

"No!" Snow cried, purposely sending himself onto the ground. He slid to the edge, his hand shooting down to try and grab something, anything of hers.

There was a rumble as the energy smashed into the cliff he lying on, and smoke began to rise. His eyes slowly opened, glancing down nervously. What if he missed? What if he hadn't managed to grab her in time? The cloud blocking his vision cleared at an agonizing pace, but slowly a form filtered through. Lightning was in his grasp, she hung in his ferocious grip, covered in soot and dirt.

She coughed, realizing she wasn't dead or falling, her own hand wrapped around his wrist. Locking.

"Hi." Snow offered, honestly surprised he made it in time.

She snorted, dust exhaling from her nostrils. ".. Hi."

The blond smirked, raising a brow at the woman. "Why is it," he began, watching her expression turn to something close to annoyance. "That I'm always saving your ass?"

"Tch, pull me up."

"Yes, master." His grip tightened as he began to lift. "Of course, master…"

The ground shook, and Snow looked down to see the floor below him begin to give way and tumble.

Lightning shot him a glare.

Ah shit.

"… Sorry, master?"

*

"Lightning,"

Lightning blinked, looking around confused. She was standing in space again, but still could feel the rush of air from free-falling. Pivoting the woman came face to face with her sister, hair tied up in a cute side-ponytail, just like before. It wrenched at Lightning's heart a tad, for the reminder to be in front of her, so clearly.

"Serah?" She was confused. Had something hit her during the fall? "What are-"

"You have to tell him Light," Serah insisted, taking a step towards her sister. "You have to."

Lightning couldn't find the right words. Faintly, in the back of her mind she could hear Snow. He sounded frantic, like he was trying to wake her up. The sergeant frowned, looking to the floor as her arms folded over her chest. It wasn't healthy to keep getting ignored; it was causing her to halluc-

"Lightning, please," Serah grabbed Lightning's hand. The woman looked at the gesture, like it was foreign and strange. "You have to."

"Tell him what?" She shot back. "What's the message?"

The girl looked torn for a second. "You don't remember…" Her eyes were cast at the ground.

"I don't." Lightning narrowed her eyes. "I tried."

Serah smiled weakly. "You'll remember… You just…"

"I just?"

She giggled, waving. "Have to stop being afraid."

*

Lightning's eyes shot open. The wind was rushing by and she was in a head-first dive towards the ground. Instantly she moved, seeing Snow beside her almost look relieved she was awake until reality dawned on him. Awake or not, they were both plummeting to their almost certain death. She directed her body closer to him, grabbing firmly onto his arm.

"You're awake!" He called. "I was worried I'd have to catch you!"

Lightning frowned, and snapped her fingers. There was a spark of blue from her hand before… Nothing.

Nothing happened.

Oh no. Her eyes shot to her hand as she desperately tried to make the AMP-tech kick-in. No, no, no…

"Uhh, Lightning," Snow frowned, noting how the ground was coming fast. "Now would be a GREAT time to defy gravity!"

"Shut up!" She snarled, snapping more furiously. "Damn it!"

"Alright," Snow grabbed her, and flipped them so he was going to get the brunt of the impact. Lightning froze, being hugged by him was one thing, but being hugged by him while falling to their most certain doom was something else entirely. "Plan C then!"

Lightning gave him a look. "Plan D, idiot."

Snow rolled his eyes. "Yes, master."

"Don't start."

"Why not?" He grinned. "We're about to die, it's not like I have you to fear."

"Snow…" Lightning growled, watching him shake his head. She stared at her hand intensely, biting her lip in concentration. Her eyes narrowed, turning to slits as she snapped her fingers.

Once.

Twice..

On the third the blue energy crackled to life, surrounding Lightning and spreading to cover her ally as they fell. Though the fall seemed to gain a tad bit of grace, it was far too late. Even as they begun to slow, the sergeant felt Snow come to a suddenly halt as they met the surface of the gorge, and then she slammed into him. The hit was enough to send her mind reeling as she bounced carelessly from Snow and smashed down onto the ground with a hard thud.

"Urgh…" She groaned, eyes fluttering. "Snow?"

No answer.

She couldn't move, her limbs decided it was better to lie still.

"Snow??" She sounded concerned, something that surprised herself.

He groaned, but didn't respond past that.

"Argh…" Lightning's eyes closed. "I hope you don't expect me to haul your ass back to the top…"

She could've sworn the man snorted.

"Oh…" Unconsciousness began to claim her. "Shut up…"