Disclaimer: I own nothing, make no money from anything, and am writing this purely for personal enjoyment.


Cloud was already halfway to attention before he remembered he wasn't supposed to do that any more. He waved his new secretary back from where he hovered awkwardly at the door.

"Nice office," said Sephiroth.

Cloud grimaced. "Thank you."

It was a very nice office. In fact, it was a very nice office suite. Even once the visitor was past the outer office, they had to walk a dozen paces past the bathroom and the balcony garden just to get to his desk. It was an insane waste of space, although Cloud had done his best to fill it with the equipment and models he'd previously been stashing in with his long-suffering staff. Sephiroth wandered over to have a look at them.

"What's the spiky ring?" he asked, pointing at the largest of the models.

Cloud came out to stand next to Sephiroth. "It's going to be the space station where we produce artifical mako. The growing system needs to be in a spinning system so that the mako can drain out of it, so we figured we'd put all the areas containing air in a ring arounf the edge. That way both the plants and the scientists will have at least some sensation of 'down' once we get it up to speed. The spikes are solar panels and engines and other equipment."

"It sounds exciting."

"It really is. Especially since we'll be able to do it properly now."

Being the Vice President of Research came with some perks. By no means an unrestricted budget, of course, and he'd had to swear in writing that the profit potential was astronomical, but he would be allowed to put back all the things that would increase the chances of it being successful – like living quarters for scientists.

"I hear you fired Palmer and Scarlet."

"Not at all." Not that Cloud hadn't been tempted, but he knew his new authority didn't extend that far. "I've just renamed the departments and reduced the overlap. Palmer's department is now called sub-orbital defence, and Scarlet's department is mechanised weaponry. They're still doing the same thing they were doing before."

"Except that they used to pretend to do a whole lot more, and now they can't."

It had been a problem with no right answers for Cloud. Since he was forced to keep them around, it was hardly wise to turn them into enemies, especially someone as unhinged as Scarlet. But more importantly, he had to reduce their credibility within the rank and file. The average worker had to believe they'd be more successful within Shinra if they developed ways to help people rather than to slaughter them.

"Scarlet has a fine innovative mind, and she appreciates that it's a better use of her talents to concentrate on that than to waste time on the less demanding work of finding non-weaponised applications for her advances."

"You mean she's a genius at making over-elaborate killing devices, and sucks at everything else, so you have to rescue her work out from under her."

Cloud shrugged, not arguing about his political goals, or Sephiroth's continuing over-estimation of his intelligence. In truth, after all his years of analysing reports in cutting edge science, he only occasionally encountered something that he didn't understand at least in high level – and when he did, the scientist was usually so convinced he was as bright as they were that they were willing to take the time to explain.

"Are you going to publish the link between mako usage and the aggression of monsters now that you're in charge?"

Cloud stilled, and then stalled. "Why do you think they're related?"

"Of course they're related. Anyone with access to the reports of numbers of attacks can see that."

"Really?" said Cloud faintly.

"There's no point in playing unaware with me, Cloud. As part of the handover, I went through your assignments and you show a very clear pattern. You build up the numbers of SOLDIERs in areas that open reactors or any large mako factories, and you pull them out of areas that transition to other forms of energy production. It doesn't usually take long for the number of recorded incidents to justify your placements, but it's still obvious you're moving people in advance of the change in frequency."

"Ah," said Cloud, and then shot Sephiroth a smile of apology. It had been rather stupid of him not to have foreseen Sephiroth would have figured it out for himself. "You're right. I do think there's a link between mako contamination and the number of attacks, although we don't yet have enough data to prove that definitively. But I won't be publishing it."

"What? But people are getting killed out there!"

"Because they won't believe me. They'll accuse me of being deluded, or politically motivated, or a traitor loyal to AVALANCHE. And even if they do believe it, they won't do anything about it. Life without mako is a far worse prospect to the majority than a few more monster attacks in outlying areas. I currently have the credibility to do things like increase alternate power sources, and reduce mako mining. If I make any inflammatory statements, I'll lose that."

Sephiroth stared at him searchingly. "That sounds like something a politician would say."

Cloud shrugged awkwardly. "I am a politician now."

Sephiroth nodded, looking unhappy. Cloud wasn't very happy either. He wanted to believe he lived in a world where telling everyone the truth and letting them make their own decisions would naturally produce the best results. But he didn't believe that, and he was coming to terms with the loss of his idealism. People's lives were more important than his opinion of how things ought to be.

Cloud was startled out of his thoughts when Sephiroth reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. "We always knew you were meant for more, but don't lose yourself in it. Whatever official title you may or may not have, you'll always be a SOLDIER."

Sephiroth walked out without another word. Cloud caught sight of his own reflection in a window, and flashed his eyes mako bright. He sat back down at his desk with a smile. He would, indeed, always be a SOLDIER.


Cloud's responsibilities sky-rocketed, and inevitably some things had begun to slide. Some were forgiveable. This one not. The one thing he had known would go wrong before he had even came back in time, and he had managed to forget it. He first found out about the problem when a flunky raced into his office.

"Vice-President Strife! Vice-President Strife, sir! It's an emergency."

Cloud put aside the report on water contamination levels, frowning at the lack of protocol. "What is it?"

"Colonel Sephiroth's gone mad!"

Everything whited out. All thought, all emotion, all action, halted in that moment as his worst fears were confirmed aloud.

Then the world rushed back in, going twice as fast now to make up for the pause. Cloud stood up and started equipping himself with some of the many materia now filling a shelving unit of his office. "Where is he? What happened exactly?"

"Colonel Sephiroth and the SOLDIERs with him, sir, the descriptions are that they've all just gone, like, feral."

Cloud considered trying to get something more coherent of the man, and then dismissed it as an inefficient use of his time. There was only so much you could expect from a civilian, after all, and the outline was clear enough.

"Call up a driver to take me to them, and then get me a communications link with the highest ranking security officer on duty," Cloud said, pulling his coat on and opening the door. "Tseng?"

"A team will meet us downstairs, sir."

Cloud turned back to the secretary that was still wibbling. "Now, please. There is an emergency."

That startled the man enough to get him moving, and there was an armoured car waiting for Cloud when he got out at the basement level. Cloud walked towards it, but stopped as a pair of SOLDIERs moved to accompany him.

"Sorry, boys, back to your positions. You aren't going anywhere."

"Sir, we're here to act as your protection team."

"I have these fine Turks with me, and I'll be meeting up with a good half of the security forces unless I very much miss my guess. You don't need to worry about me."

"Regardless, sir, I think-"

"That wasn't a request, Lieutenant. Dismissed."

"Yes sir."

Cloud would never normally have been so curt, but he didn't have time to explain why they'd be an additional danger without frightening or offending them. Planet, all the time in the world might not be enough to make that conversation possible. A Turk handed him a PHS as soon as he settled into the back of the armoured vehicle.

"Colonel Hill, sir."

"Colonel. What's the situation?"

"Sierra Kilo 6 outpost is in rebellion, sir. Six SOLDIERs, including Colonel Sephiroth who claimed to be on an inspection tour, suddenly went berserk and tried killing everyone. So far, five security members and two civilian employees are down, as well as two SOLDIERs on their side, but the situation is not secure enough to determine their exact status. The officer in charge ordered an evacuation and containment after it became clear the outpost was lost."

"Good. Maintain a perimeter and tell them to wait for me. Don't engage unless absolutely necessary to protect lives. I should be there within an hour."

"Sir, you can't be thinking-"

"Colonel. Do you have any further information I need to know?"

"No, sir."

"Then carry out my orders."

Nine people down, possibly dead. It was hardly a drop in the bucket compared to Wutai, but at least there he could say he'd tried his hardest, ineffective though it might have been at times. These people had died because he'd ignored a problem. Perhaps he'd subconsciously hoped it would disappear if he didn't think about it. And the nine people might just be the very beginning of it all. Planet, Sephiroth had to still be reachable. Cloud honestly didn't know if he had it in him to kill the man again. Even if he could bring his emotions under control enough to try, he wasn't sure he'd be able – this Sephiroth was a far more cunning and well-rounded opponent than Before.

Cloud wasn't as incautious as Colonel Hill would later accuse him of being, and had the driver slow down as they neared. It helped with navigating through the milling security forces, but it's primary purpose was to allow Cloud enough time to order a retreat if JENOVA was in the area. Minute by minute, Cloud could feel his dread lessening. AVALANCHE had caused their chaos and left without Sephiroth, which meant it was a clone rather than the real thing. Cloud reached the perimeter without feeling any trace of a presence, which further meant they'd taken it with them when they retreated.

Cloud allowed himself to be talked at while he examined the SOLDIERs as far as possible from the distance they had drawn up their cordon. The SOLDIERs seemed to slowly be winding down. They might even have returned to normal already if it hadn't been for the amplifying effect of Sephiroth's presence. Cloud could solve the entire problem with a well placed stun, but he'd have to be a lot closer than he was now for that to be effective. He thought about the people surrounding him, and decided to skip the argument. He just started walking. The people surrounding him gave way out of habit before the fully realised where he was going, but by that time it was too late. By the time they moved to stop him, he was already halfway between the cordon and the outpost.

His presence seemed to startle the SOLDIERs out of some of their bloodlust, because none of them tried to attack him. Since they weren't a threat, Cloud ignored them and made directly for Sephiroth. Sephiroth took aim at another sniper on the cordon, then swung around to face Cloud, swapping his blade to his primary hand. Cloud just carried on walking, making no move to go for any of his own weapons.

Sephiroth growled at him, then started to say, "Stay away from-"

Cloud used mako enhanced speed to cover the last twenty meters, and laid a hand on Sephiroth exposed wrist. Sephiroth's muscles relaxed, and his eyes came partway into focus. "Cloud? What-"

"I'm sorry about this, Sephiroth. Stun."

Cloud lowered Sephiroth to the ground and then looked around at the SOLDIERs. That had been enough, he judged. These were men acting on adrenaline now, not on JENOVA.

"Attention!"

They all instantly stiffened up, the last of the haze in their eyes clearing.

"You have all been medically compromised. Until such time as you are declared healthy by Shinra medical, you are under restriction. You will hand over all weapons and materia to the security officer, and accompany them to SOLDIER headquarters. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!"

None of them questioned his authority to order them to do anything, which was a good thing. He wasn't sure they did owe him anything more than courtesy, now that he was a civilian leader of another department.

"Good. Wait here."

Cloud walked back towards the cordon, which was already losing form, like an ant line interrupted by an insect. He held up a hand to stop Hill when Hill opened his mouth. Cloud did not have either the time or the duty to explain his actions to security. The Turks had that particular brand of neutral expression that meant they wouldn't say anything in public, but he was going to hear about this the minute they got him in private. That was fine – they'd let him finish his work first.

"Assign a team to take custody of the materia and weapons and to transport the SOLDIERs to the base medical. I'll be travelling with Colonel Sephiroth personally to ensure we encounter no further problems. And Colonel? Pick people with self-control. This isn't their fault, and I don't want security taking revenge for their losses. I want those SOLDIERs treated with absolute professionalism by your men, are we clear?"

Equally fortunately, and without even the same history to justify it, Hill didn't take issue with his authority either. "Yes sir."

Cloud walked slowly back to the outpost, this time firmly in the middle of a group of Turks and security personnel. The SOLDIERs were still at attention, their expressions wavering between horror and disbelief. As they were systematically disarmed and led away, the security forces relaxed, although they kept shooting glances at the still body that was Sephiroth. Cloud realised belatedly that by insisting the uncompromised SOLDIERs remain away, he had become the only person here with Mako enhancements. It would take four or more normal people to lift Sephiroth, and with the way the security forces were twitching, it seemed unlikely he'd find even two people with sufficient nerve. Cloud shrugged to himself. In for a gil; in for a treasure chest. He threaded his way through the milling crowd, knelt down, and pulled Sephiroth over his shoulder. He'd never match Zack's bulk, but this was trivial.

"Shall we go?" he asked his driver.

The wide eyes he received at this casual display of his strength was almost enough to make him smile, despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Ah, yes, sir."

Cloud settled back into the car with Sephiroth propped up against the door. It was too late to stop the problem now, so he'd just have to do everything he could to fix it.