Zack backed out of the duct and carefully started to tip-toed back to his room. He was dead meat if anyone saw him sneaking around. Thankfully, he made it back to his room without running into anyone. He slowly opened the door, slipped into his room and then shut the door. Leaning his head on the door, he let out a sigh.

Then the light flicked on.

Zack spun around and was met with an icy cold glare.

"Where have you been!!"

"Fuck!" Zack hissed. "Reno, you bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

Reno crossed his arms across his chest. "I got worried. You were supposed to contact me at 9:00 you fuckin retard...what the hell happened?"

Zack pulled out his phone. "Battery crapped out on me."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "So...why didn't you come and get me?"

Zack looked at his feet. "ummm..."

"Zack?"

"ifellasleep." Zack mumbled.

"You what?"

"I fell asleep, ok?"

Reno's jaw dropped. "You WHAT!!"

Zack winced. "Keep it down, will ya Reno? We don't wanna get caught."

Reno frowned. "Whatever yo. You suck at recon. I'll get you up at 4:00am, alright. No excuses!"

Zack pouted. "Yeah, fine. Now get outta my room Red."

Reno quietly left the room and Zack plugged his phone in to charge. He turned it on as it was charging and looked to see if anyone called him. His eyes went wide as he looked. "74 missed calls!? What the fuck?" He looked at the number and realized that about 97 of the calls were from Cloud. Zack's stomach turned. "Oh no…" he mumbled. "Something must be wrong…" he thought as he dialed Cloud's number…

Earlier that day…

Cloud shifted the pack on his back and glanced over at Dana. "You o.k?" He asked.

Dana stopped and looked at her feet. "You…you're really kind for helping me out Cloud. And no matter what happens, I just want you to know that what you're doing means a lot to me."

Cloud turned to face his companion. "Is that all?"

Dana looked up and smiled a little. She nodded. "For now. Let's go. My home's right over that ridge."

Cloud looked to where she was pointing and nodded. "O.k, let's move it."

Cloud and Dana reached the ridge and looked down at the small town bellow them. Dana smiled.

"Come on! I'll introduce you to the family!" Dana grabbed Cloud's wrist and dragged him towards the nearest house. Cloud frowned, but followed obediently.

Once they reached the house, Dana let go and opened the door. "I'm home!" she shouted.

A middle aged couple came into the room and stopped short. "Dana!!" The woman said, as she rushed over to give her a hug.

"Mom! Good to see you! Hi-ya dad!!"

Hi sweetie…who's that?" Dana's dad pointed over towards Cloud.

"Oh! Dad, thats' Cloud. Cloud, this is my dad, Jason and my mom, Chrystal."

Cloud smiled. "Hi sir, ma'am."

Chrystal smiled at Cloud. "Oh, none of that boy! You'll make me feel old!"

Cloud nodded. "Right, Chrystal and Jason then, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

Jason looked at Dana. "You guys must be tired. Dana, you gonna show Cloud to the spare room?"

"Sure! Come on Cloud…follow me!" Dana started walking through the house and Cloud followed.

She led him to a nice bedroom at the back of the house. "Here ya go. My room's right next to yours so if you need anything just shout. You can use the dresser for your stuff if you want. You have a bathroom right over there and that sliding door leads to the back yard. I'll let you get settled then I'll show you around a bit."

"O.k, thanks." Cloud dropped his bag on the floor, looked around the room and sighed. "That's weird…I feed…home sick. I haven't felt like this in months."

Cloud's thoughts were interrupted by a noise behind him. He turned to see what it was and…

"Oh shit!" Cloud jumped back from the door and almost hit the dresser. There were three people staring in the door at him.

Dana heard Cloud jump and came rushing back into the room. "What is i— oh. I forgot about them."

Dana walked over to the slider and opened it with a scowl. "What the hell is wrong with you!! You want to give our guest a heart-attack??" Dana looked back at Cloud. "Sorry about that. This is my brother, Brian and his friends, Kevin and Mike."

Cloud looked at the three guys in front of him. They were about his age and they were covered in dirt and grime. Cloud decided to try and be friendly…even though he just wanted to be left alone. He extended his hand to Brian. "Hi. I'm Cloud. Nice to meet you."

Brian looked at Cloud's hand. Then he smiled and shook the extended hand. "Zup? You like bikes?"

Dana rolled her eyes. "I'll leave you guys alone then I guess. Have fun."

Cloud watched her go…almost wishing she hadn't. That was different…what was going on with him all of a sudden??

"Hey dude! You o.k?"

Cloud turned his attention back to the three guys in front of him. "Yeah, sorry. Dana and I had to take a boat to get here. The trip was long so I'm just kinda beat…it was a tiring night." "Oh snap…that didn't quite come out right…"

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Mike hit Kevin in the arm. "Heh…score."

Brian hit them both in the head. "Shut up!"

Cloud could feel the heat creeping up his neck. "I didn't mean…"

Brian cut him off. "Don't sweat it dude…these two are just idiots."

"Hey!" said Mike. "That's not nice…"

Brian made a face. "Oh well."

Cloud looked at his feet. He felt out of place and he just wanted to relax. "Umm.."

Brian snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! You wanna come out back and see the bike we're working on? It's really sweet."

Cloud shifted his weight from one foot to the other, thinking. He wanted to be alone, but… "Sure, I'd like that." He said.

Kevin and Mike were already back outside, so Brian went out with Cloud. Brian could tell that Clout was a little uneasy. "Hey. Don't let those two bother you…they just like teasing and all…"

Cloud smiled. "It's ok, People back at the academy are like that all the time. I'm used to it."

Brian flashed him a smile. "I just don't want to you get scared off, that's all. This town can be a little…weird about stuff. But don't worry! You'll be just fine!" He said as he rushed off to brag about the bike.

Cloud felt his stomach twist and he frowned. "Weird?? Just what I need…"

A few hours later…

Cloud was beginning to see what "weird" meant and he didn't like it. Kevin (at least Cloud figured it was him…that guy gossiped non-stop), had started some rumor that Cloud and Dana were boyfriend/girlfriend. And of course, that rumor grew and now the whole town thought that they were getting married or some such nonsense.

Cloud was beside himself. He was in a strange town, with only one person that he knew. And unfortunately, if he tried to talk to Dana alone, people would really get the wrong idea.

"Damn small towns…everyone talks to everyone and they're all just waiting for the next 'big' thing to happen…and then they all gossip about it. Fuck!! I need to talk to Zack, but he won't answer his phone… "Cloud snapped his phone shut and sighed. Oh well, nothing for it but to ride it out. In two days this would all be over and he could go back to base.

"Cloud!! Dinner!" Dana's voice ripped through Cloud's thoughts.

"Coming!" he said. He stood up, put his phone on the dresser and went to eat.

After dinner…

Cloud helped clean up and then said he was going to bed. They all had a big day tomorrow, seeing as that's when the funeral was. The family had opted to have an early viewing and a late in the day burial so that Dana and Cloud wouldn't feel to rushed.

Cloud showered, brushed his teeth and then shut himself in his room for the night.

"Finally." Cloud thought. "Quite…" or not.

"Who's Z??"

Cloud spun around and looked into the blazing eyes of Kevin and Mike.

"Wha-??" Cloud gasped.

Mike (the larger of the two) took a step towards Cloud. "Who's Z?? Another girlfriend?"

Cloud backed up a little. "What are you talking about?"

Kevin spoke up. "We looked in your phone…we know that you're calling someone, Z, an awful lot. You're not cheating on Dana, are you??" he asked threateningly.

Mike cracked his knuckles. Kevin glared. Cloud gulped…what were they talking about?

"Well?" asked Mike. "Who's Z??"

Suddenly it hit Cloud. He let out a deep breath. "Z is my friend, Zack…he programmed his number into my phone, but he was too lazy to write out his name."

Mike and Kevin were unconvinced.

Cloud gulped again. "Here" He said, grabbing his phone. "Call the number and see what happens." He held the phone out to Kevin, who snatched it. He called the number and went straight to Zack's voice mail.

"Hi, this is Zack. Uhhh…yeah, so, if you're a cute girl, leave me your number, and I'll call you back. If you're the General, don't bother leaving a message, I won't call you back anyway and if this is Cloud calling…I hope you're not in trouble Spike cuz I'm busy. Later!!"

Kevin closed the phone and threw in on the bed. "He's right." He said to Mike. "Z is Zack."

Mike smiled and walked up to Cloud. "Just remember, we watch out for our own…don't you ever cross Dana…ever." And then they were gone.

Cloud fell onto the bed, relieved he was still in one piece. "This place is really fucking weird…"

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Woo…did you all think I was dead? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not! Lol I got sooo busy with work and other things, I didn't have time to write…and even if I did have time, I had writers block. Damn, I hate when that happens. So anywho, what think you? I'm not too sure I like the way this chapter turned out, but I figured you should have something from me by now, so here it is.

Lots of thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter! You all get 100 Monopoly money and apple pie. Enjoy!!

P.S. Longest chapter!! Yay me!! Lol

P.P.S Don't hold your breath for the next chapter…I'll get it out asap, but that may still be a while. Catch ya later!!