Chapter 13

The foursome from the basement had begun to regain consciousness. Tifa was waiting for them to wake so there would be no farther fighting. Barret was the first to wake. Tifa told him to remain calm and come with her. The large man had gotten up and followed her to the bar. There waiting were two SOLDIERs a red cat, and a tall sleek man. He felt uneasy almost immediately.

"Barret this is Zack, Cloud Nanaki and Tseng." Tifa pointed to each of them. "And this is Barret everyone. " Tifa gave the pleasantries for the men.

"Look let's get right down to business. We came here for a reason; well I came here for a reason. "Tseng said in a very stern tone. Everyone looked at him; they had no idea what he was talking about.

"I know who you are Barret Wallace. You are the leader of the rebel group AVALANCHE. We are not here to stop you. In fact we are here for your help. We are on the run from Shinra ourselves, but we need your help to take Shinra down. I have the means to get into the Shinra building. And as you painfully noticed, we have the muscle to overtake them. But we need you to make a distraction. If Shinra makes you there first priority then we can walk in without and innocent life lost. "

Barret looked at the man. He was shocked; he had no clue that when he woke up this morning thing would unfold this way. In what world would former Shinra employees would be at his door step asking for help. But what they were asking was for him and his men to risk their lives to help them. "Look I'd love to help ya' but word on the street is that Shinra has their entire army somewhere outside of Midgar. What's stopping them from storming into Midgar and taking us down?" Barret asked thinking this mission was going to be impossible.

Zack spoke up before Tseng could answer. "You won't have to worry about the army. They have already been eliminated." Zack said with the fresh wound of the resent loss of Genesis.

"Eliminated! How!?" Both Tifa and Barret had asked at once.

"We eliminated them. All of them…" Zack answered.

"Their numbers were in the thousands, how…how could that be possible?" Tifa asked in shock.

"It didn't come easy Tifa. We lost our friend Genesis, and Zack almost died protecting me and Red. We were both injured and Zack continued fighting. The entire army had fallen but we paid for it in blood." Cloud chimed in.

Shock filled Tifa and Barret's faces. BY the look of the faces in the group they knew it was true. " I'm sorry about your friend, but he died for a good cause. Shinra is killing the planet draining all the mako from it. Once they fall we will be free of their tyranny and the planet will not have its life being sucked from it through a bendy straw. " Barret said with sorrow for their comrade.

"So what's your idea?" Tifa asked.

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Everything was set. The plan will be carried out tomorrow. Barret's daughter Marlene had been sent to Kalm along with Aerith's mother. Zack was still a little steamed he couldn't convince Aerith to go with them. Cloud was seemingly in the same boat. Zack had to take Cloud aside and be sure that he would not be emotionally compromised for their upcoming mission. But yet again the girls had just as much reason as they did to fight. Zack just told himself that he would protect Aerith, and he trusted those around him to do the same.

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"Ok guys we have the rest of the day to do what you please. Spend time with your loved ones; do whatever you please. Today could be our last so live it like it is." Zack told everyone. After a while people started to drift off to do their own thing. Barret went to see Marlene before she had gone to Kalm with Aerith's mother. Zack and Aerith went to the church in the slums, Tifa and Cloud went to the hideout under the bar, and Red and Tseng went for a walk and to go find the best steak they could find.

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Zack and Aerith were laying in the flowers together. Aerith was lying on Zack's shoulder, as he played with her hair. They just wanted to spend time together, it's been years since they saw each other, but things were like he never left. Zack looked at her will eyes filled with love. He really truly loved her. He knew it in his bones, and his heart was screaming it. Aerith sat up and turned to him, she had tears in her eyes. "Zack don't you ever, ever do that again! You scared me soo much. I thought I lost you years ago, but I could still feel you. But when you came into my church I couldn't feel you anymore. I thought I lost you! Don't do that to me again!" as she collapsed into his arms. Zack rubbed her; he knew she was holding this in for a while now. Zack rubbed her until she began to quiet down.

"Hey Aerith can I tell you something and you not think I'm nuts or let it upset you?" Zack asked her wanting to get something off my chest.

"Sure Zack, I'm listening." Aerith said with curiosity in her eyes.

"When I came into the church a few days ago… you did lose me. I died, I know I did. I woke up in this field with a tree. I thought I saw Angeal. He was waiting for me, I think. He told me that I had died, but it wasn't my time yet, I had to finish my work before I could rest. He said I had to save the planet from Shinra. But he told me that that wasn't the real threat. He said there was a real dark evil energy coming. Aerith, I think it's here in Midgar."

Aerith looked at him for a second, "Zack you're not crazy. I felt Angeal's presence when I lost yours. I knew something was going on. The planet was speaking to me, I think." Zack remembered when he had talked to Tseng. Aerith was an ancient, the last one. Zack knew her existence was special but he didn't know how quiet yet.

"I'm glad you came back to me though Zack. I don't want to lose you again." Aerith said as she held him close.

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Cloud and Tifa were sitting on the couch down in the basement of the bar. They were just catching up on old times. Cloud was sitting far away from Tifa, he was fidgeting. He was clearly uncomfortable. "Cloud, what happened to you? You left town and never came back. "Tifa asked Cloud with a glimmer in her eye.

"Well I left to join SOLDIER as you know. Once you join Shinra, they don't give you a lot of time for leave. So I never got a real chance to come home. But there wasn't any reason why I couldn't write. I guess I wanted to be a success before anything. Then I came home with Zack and Sephiroth… and the rest is well…history." Cloud said making sure he avoided saying anything about making it into SOLDIER. He didn't really wana tell her, but there was nothing to hide.

"Oo… Well I'm glad your back. I missed you, I never forgot about you, ya know?" Tifa gave him a hug. It lasted oddly long. She looked at Cloud and gave him a light kiss. Cloud looked at her in confusion. Did she kiss him as a friend, because she missed him, or did she like him. Cloud scratched his head, fuck it, girls are just confusing. Hopefully he'd figure it out later, and not miss out on his chance. Damnit, he knew Zack was going to make fun of him once he told him this. Zack would go on about how he missed his chance, or go on about his charm and how he's great with women. Maybe it just maybe best not to say a thing to Zack.

Cloud had to think of something fast before Tifa noticed his mind was melting. "Hey Tifa, let go to dinner. My treat. Just lead the way to your favorite place." Tifa grabbed him by his arm and ran to the restaurant.

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The next day bright and early, everyone had grouped together, at Aerith's house. Zack was fussing about how early it was, and Cloud was half awake slightly drooling on himself. "Ok everyone doesn't seem fully awake. I'll put on some coffee." Aerith said in a freakishly awake voice.

Tseng stood up looking as stern as he ever has. "It's time to get this operation started. Detail is very important; any tiny slip up will end in someone losing their life. Barret, you and your team is up first. It is currently 5:32 am at 9:00 you and your men must invade reactor 6. The charges have been provided for you. Just set them at the core like I told you before, and it will go off without any issues. I myself well evacuate the entire upper plate, just in case the explosion of the Shinra building is larger than expected. Zack and Cloud, your team will move in the Shinra building once the reactor explodes. Use the access codes to get throughout the building. Remember, kill anyone who stands in your way. They may compromise the mission. Everyone make sure you eat well, we won't be eating again until tonight in Kalm."

"Alright Tseng we got this, me and my team will move out in a few minutes." Barret said with his booming voice.

"Good luck Barret, you're going to need it. Those reactors are protected heavily by Shinra. There may be a SOLDIER or two. Just keep your guard up." Zack said with a little bit of nervousness in his voice.

"Don't worry fool, we'll be fine." Barret said as he was heading out the door with a egg sandwich in his hand.

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Barret, Briggs, Jessie and Wedge moved towards reactor 6. Everyone was armed and ready for action. They arrived at the Reactor door and Jessie started doing her work. She took a few minutes but she cracked the code to the Reactor door. Everyone moved into the door, just to find a surprise they were not prepared for. The entrance was blocked by a group of Shinra infantrymen. They had their backs turned and did not seem to have heard them come in through the door. The group snuck up behind the men, they covered their mouths and snapped their necks. Barret looked down at the now dead men. One of them was extremely young, in his teens most likely. Barret shook it off; it was needed to save the planet.

They all crammed into the tiny elevator which Barret almost filled entirely. The elevator went down, after a few minutes it had stopped. They got off into the control room of the reactor. There were six scientists in the room working the reactor and watching the systems, making sure everything was in working order. Before any of the scientists saw the rebels, Barret opened fire, mowing them down in a blink of an eye. Jessie ran up to the computer screen to open the next door leading straight into the reactor door. Jessie had to whip blood off the screen to see what she was doing. As she was typing one of the half living scientists hit a hidden button on the floor. It was silent alarm that went straight to the President's office.

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The President was on the phone with his son Rufus, who was on his way to Midgar after a foreign relation trip to Wutai. "Son, I'm going to have to call you back." As the president hung up without a good bye.

He pick up the Phone again, it rang twice before a man picked up. "Weiss, get down to Reactor 6 now."

"Yes sir" and the phone hung up.

Thank you for the virtual cupcake!!!!