Hey readers!
Thanks so much for your patience in waiting for this update and special thanks to all who commented on the last chapter. I really appreciate it. Also thank you to those of you who sent messages lately encouraging me to keep writing. That's very sweet of you guys to think of me! Always thinking of you guys too, sorry to keep you waiting so long for chapters but I'm so happy you come back here to read!
Take care :)
-Jaydee
~Twenty-One~
That same day that Cloud had woken from his coma in the lab, he was returned to his cell, weak and still feeling the lingering sickness from the mako Hojo had administered to him. He knew a little more now about how Galen was able to cure mako poisoning, but only a little. The process involved removing a great amount of his own blood from his body, leaving only the minimum necessary to keep him alive. After that, he was given a transfusion of his own clean blood that Hojo had in storage.
He'd been brought back to his cell with several bandages taped to his body. Although he had no trouble remembering that they had been self-inflicted wounds, it felt somehow like someone else had injured him. Once he was alone, he pulled the bandages off in a few spots, wanting to see just how bad the injuries were. They seemed minor for the most part. The one on his right wrist where he'd bit into it was the worst. The punctures his teeth had made were deep and when he flexed his wrist or made a fist he could feel pain shooting to his fingertips.
Galen had told him almost ominously that he would get him "safely mako-enhanced." Try as he might to guess at how the man would accomplish that, he couldn't come up with anything. Hojo had tried so many ways in the past to get as much mako into him and Zack as he could and it only seemed to make them sick. Zack seemed to take to it better than him. He had always been so much stronger. Even now, Zack was capable of more than he knew. Rand's Seraph revelation, although nearly unbelievable, was undeniably interesting. To have that kind of power, to be able to move matter, to move the very walls that confined him…
Apparently, that was the power that Zack had in his hands, and which potentially put him in danger if what Rand had said was any indication. Despite the fact he knew he was being watched and that Rand had already been curious about his last incidence of meeting Zack in what was like some other separate consciousness, he couldn't just ignore what he'd learned without making Zack aware of it.
He waited until the lights were out in his cell that night and pretended to be asleep, while he was actually trying to figure out how to make contact with Zack. He didn't really know how it worked. He'd only managed to do it once so far and he had no idea how he'd done it. He'd been desperate to escape Sephiroth at the time and there was only one living person he could think of when he was terrified. He wasn't currently terrified. All he felt was the standard level of fear that was a constant in his circumstances. He needed to see Zack all the same, so he did what he could to focus on him and try to will him into a connection.
With his eyes shut tightly, he pictured him, tried to talk to him. Tried to tell him somehow that he needed to see and talk to him. He tried so hard he felt his head beginning to pound. He even held his breath.
Nothing happened. He turned onto his back, sighing dejectedly before rolling to his left side, prepared to try and actually sleep, thinking maybe he'd try again the next night.
"Buddy."
That word startled him, making him open his eyes fast.
"Zack," he breathed out with relief as he found his friend looking back at him as he lay on his right side next to him.
"I'm so happy to see you," Zack told him. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Cloud nodded. "I'm okay."
Zack saw through his words. "You're weak. What's Hojo been doing to you?" he inquired with deep concern.
"Nothing," Cloud replied. "Just mako. A lot of it."
"You're sick again," Zack spoke worriedly.
"I was," Cloud confirmed. "Hojo brought Galen back here to cure me again. Now Galen's helping him figure out some other safer way to give me mako without killing me."
Zack seemed shocked before his expression turned to one of subtle anger. He shook his head and turned over onto his back, staring upwards. "Right. Safer. So he's working with that psychopath again. I knew it. Never should have let that bastard go. But…guess it's a good thing if he saved you some pain."
"Wait," Cloud said. "What are you talking about?"
Zack faced him again, turning and propping himself up on his elbow. "Johnny tracked him down after Hojo got hold of you again. I thought I could get some info out of him but he was nearly useless. I knew he'd go back to Hojo if he had the chance."
"All his plans he had for taking down Shinra and the president…he never really cared about any of it. He was throwing a tantrum," Cloud said, mostly to himself as he thought back on his time in the school with Galen and the rest of his group. He shook his thoughts away as he remembered he had a reason for contacting Zack.
"There's something I need to tell you about," he said.
"Okay," Zack replied, curious to know what it would be.
"I know what Hojo wants from me. At least, his immediate goal. I suppose it was what he had planned for both of us before."
"What? To use us as weapons?" Zack asked and Cloud nodded. It wasn't a surprising revelation but Cloud wasn't finished.
"Yeah, but like super-human weapons. He gave us some drug before. Some part-biological thing he made that is supposed to give us certain abilities. It needs a lot of mako to work," Cloud explained.
With a raised brow Zack asked, "Hojo told you this?"
"No," Cloud denied. "Someone else"
Zack suspected he knew who. "Someone named Rand?" he questioned, drawing a look of surprise from Cloud.
"How do you know about him?"
"Reno," Zack said. "What's the guy's deal?" he asked.
"He helps Hojo and he watches me," Cloud told him.
"Like…literally?" Zack said back.
"Literally," Cloud confirmed. "He is almost always watching me. He watches me all the time. Either he's watching me right now or he'll see the surveillance footage later."
The information was unnerving. "How big of a problem is this guy?" Zack asked him.
"I don't know. Maybe a big one. Hojo trusts him enough to let him make decisions on what should happen to me and what should be done to get whatever results Hojo is looking for in me. I hardly see Hojo. I see Rand every day."
Zack hummed in acknowledgement. "Reno said he's some kind of behavioural therapist or something," he said and Cloud shrugged.
"I guess. He calls himself my Keeper," he told Zack a little uncomfortably.
"What?" Zack fired back fast. "Like a zookeeper?" he inquired and Cloud rolled his eyes. "Weirdo," Zack concluded. "He any good at his job?" he asked with a small smile, his poor attempt at joking.
"Good enough," Cloud answered without really looking at him.
"You're worrying me, buddy," Zack told him seriously.
"Sorry," Cloud said back. "Is there any way you won't worry?" he asked.
"No," Zack said. "No way in hell. You always worry about the ones you love, even when you know they're safe."
It brought a small sad smile to Cloud. "I love you too, Zack," he said. It made Zack's heart hurt a little. His friend had never easily been able to express his feelings with words. Maybe he'd heard him say that once. Maybe twice, though he really couldn't recall. As nice as it was to hear, there was something about it that scared him.
He cleared his throat. Cleared his emotions. "So, um, how do you know you can trust what the zookeeper tells you?" he asked.
"I don't, but I believe him because of what I saw in Galen's files that he took from Hojo. They show proof that the drug does something unbelievable," Cloud reasoned.
It was on the video footage in Galen's boxes? That certainly had Zack curious. He had been going over all the files slowly but hadn't made it through all the videos yet. "What does this thing do?" he asked next.
"Makes it possible to do things like…like destroying something by thinking about it," Cloud struggled to explain.
"We can do that?"
Cloud shook his head. "Not me. Not yet. But you…"
Zack let out a dry laugh in response. To say he was skeptical was an understatement. "Spike, come on."
"Zack, I saw it," Cloud argued. "In Galen's files. There were video files—"
"I have all the stuff Galen showed you," Zack cut him off. "All the stuff from the lab."
There was a few seconds of silence as Cloud processed Zack's words. "So then, you've seen the footage from that night of the escape from the mansion?"
"No, not yet. Truth is, I'm having a hard time getting through all of it. Just trying to take things slowly. Seems to make it easier." Zack confessed. "You said you saw it all?" he said and Cloud nodded. "Some of it I wish you hadn't," he added with difficulty before swallowing hard.
"Vallow," Cloud said the man's name quietly.
"Yeah," Zack said without looking at him. It was clear that he was trying to supress his emotions but his eyes still glistened a little with building tears.
"Did I know what he was doing at the time?" Cloud asked him.
Zack nodded. "Yeah he didn't make any secret about what he wanted from you," he said.
"No," Cloud replied fast and Zack looked at him again. "Did I know what he was doing to you, Zack?"
For a second Zack just stared back at him. His face seemed to say that the thought was ridiculous. His words backed that up. "N-no, Spike."
"But I did find out?" Cloud pushed and Zack nodded once more. "That's why I killed him."
"That prick deserved it, Spike," Zack told him in a scolding tone. "I didn't want you feeling guilty then and you shouldn't now."
"I guess, I don't," Cloud admitted. "But, you shouldn't have done what you did to protect me," he pointed out.
"Well I did so that's how it is," Cloud stated firmly. Zack was quiet next to him. Maybe he was thinking, or maybe just waiting for something. Cloud was hesitant to ask what came to his mind next but he did anyway, sort of. "Did he…" It was harder than he thought. Now he understood how difficult it had been for Zack to ask him that same question.
"What?" Zack replied when he didn't finish.
"Well how far did things go?" There, he asked. And he was immediately afraid of the answer.
"Did I let him take a trip downtown?" Zack spoke dryly. Another attempt to cut the tension of the situation. "No," Zack finally said. What he said next squashed any relief that one word brought with it. "Not for lack of trying on his part. He kept pushing for it. He kept threatening to go after you if I didn't give in. I never told you that. I probably would have given in—I know I would have." He smiled a little. "You saved me from that," he spoke gratefully. His expression was quick to turn. "Kills me to know I couldn't do the same for you."
Cloud found his eyes suddenly blurring. He hadn't felt tears coming on. He wiped at his eyes before they made a move to his cheeks. "You suffered for me, Zack. What you did to keep him away from me…God, it must torture you to think about."
Zack shook his head at that. "I don't, Spike. I don't think about it at all. I just…I think about you. That's it. I think of Aerith but not as much as I should. I feel like shit for that."
Cloud smiled a little. "She needs you, Zack. More than I do. I'll be okay."
"Spike, no, you can't give up—" Zack was quick to say, reaching out to grasp the back of Cloud's neck and squeezing gently with reassurance.
"I'm not," Cloud replied with his eyes closed as he struggled to explain. "I just…" The words wouldn't come.
"Cloud, I've got a plan," Zack told him. "I'm getting you out of that place."
He looked at his friend again. "How?"
Zack smiled. "Well if what you say is true I can just bust down a wall and let you out," he joked.
"No you can't."
"Why not? I can shatter bullet and blast-proof glass just by thinking about it," he pointed out. "Actually, not even thinking about it. Pretty sure I wasn't thinking specifically about that. Pretty sure I was just stressed out."
"You can't because it's dangerous, for you," Cloud told him. Zack could tell he was serious.
"Why?"
"Because you could get hurt or sick. It doesn't work right without Jenova."
"I got the Jenova cells too," Zack said.
"Yeah but they didn't bond to you or something," Cloud argued. "They don't do anything."
"And you know all of this how? And, why would the Jenova cells make a difference?"
"Rand told me and they just...I don't know." Cloud shook his head to himself. "I sound crazy," he said softly.
"A little, yeah," Zack laughed. "Don't worry, okay? I promise I won't try to explode something with my mind."
"Zack," Cloud said, looking at him straight. "What is your plan? You promised it wasn't going to put you or any of the others in danger." As Zack opened his mouth to reply he added one more thing. "And don't just tell me you have it under control."
"Well first, it's under control," Zack said happily, earning a frown. "But uh, the plan…the plan is…"
"You don't have one."
"Alright, it's an idea more than a plan," Zack admitted. "I'm looking in to getting the blueprints to the compound and access to the surveillance system."
"So you can break in? Zack, I don't want you—"
"Spike, relax," Zack interrupted. "I'm not going to break in. Reno and you have done a pretty good job convincing me that's not going to work so I'm going to break you out." Cloud seemed at a loss for words. His lack of reaction surprised Zack a little.
"Is that…okay?" Zack asked him. "You don't like staying there do you?"
"No, sorry. I just…you want me to break myself out?" Cloud questioned.
"No, I'm breaking you out, I'm just not coming in there myself. I'll get everything shut down and I'll have a route for you to get out of there," Zack explained.
"What about Hojo? Rand? Galen? Everyone else?"
"What about them, Spike?" Zack fired back. "You can take them down if they stand in your way. You're a badass," he assured him with a smile. Cloud didn't seem comforted. "Cloud," he said, trying to meet his friend's eyes which stayed firmly planted on something else. "Even if it looks like it, it can't be impossible for me to get in to that place. There's a way somehow. We just don't know what it is. I would come in there in a second. It's not even a question for me. It's just that you—"
"No, I know. I don't want you near this place," Cloud responded fast. "Sounds like a good plan," he said with a weak smile. "I should go now Zack, just in case…"
"The zookeeper?" Zack said and Cloud nodded. "Hang in there, okay?"
"You got it," Cloud replied softly. Zack hugged him then. It was only a moment before he felt him disappear from next to him, leaving him alone in the darkness of his cell.
000
It was a long few days for Cloud in his cell while he was recovering from his latest mako ordeal. Rand came to visit him as usual and he was given access to the fitness room but he tried to use it, if only to get out of his cell. He still felt too weak to really push himself. Rand had told him Galen and Hojo were busy readying his new treatment and he felt increasingly fearful of what it would be the longer he had to wait. He knew the time had come when Galen finally entered his cell one morning. A clone stood behind him.
"What do you want?" Cloud asked him, though he knew why he was there.
"I'm here to give you your mako treatment," Galen said. Cloud looked at him and past him. There was no equipment with him but he was holding a paper cup. The man reached into the one pocket of his lab coat and retrieved something that he reached out for Cloud to take. It was a pill.
"What's this?" Cloud asked.
"The treatment," Galen answered simply. "Down the hatch," he instructed as he held out the cup in his hand to Cloud. He didn't take it right away.
"There's mako in this?" he asked.
Galen nodded. "A lot actually. An elephant's dose. Don't worry, though, it's perfectly safe."
"It's not going to make me sick?" Cloud replied.
"Oh, you'll get sick. Like throw up twice a day for a week sick but you won't be poisoned." He held the cup out again to Cloud who just stared at it. "You want to know how it works?" Galen asked him and he said nothing. The man went on to explain anyway. "It's complex, but let's just say the mako is bonded to protein which is metabolized by your body and used more effectively as energy. The process is helped by exposure to sun so lucky for you, you're going to get some outside time."
"How many of these do I have to take," was Cloud's next question.
"Seven doses should do it."
Cloud looked from the pill to Galen. "And then what?"
"If all goes well, and it will, you will be ready for the new and improved Seraph, manufactured by yours truly," Galen spoke proudly.
"You came up with this awfully fast," Cloud said sharply.
"I came up with it two years ago. Do you think I could get Hojo to use it on you and Z1? Stubborn. But, he's finally coming to his senses."
Cloud couldn't help but shake his head. "You think he cares about you?" he said. "He's only using you and then he'll dump you, just like you dumped Genesis and left him to die. You screwed both of us. All that shit you spouted about wanting to take the company and the president down. You were just sulking because Hojo got mad at you."
Galen smirked back at him. "Genesis made his choice back at the school. He chose to stay, hoping you'd come back like the little sheep you are. And you were stupid enough to return. Something in you wants to be where you are right now. You had freedom again and you were incapable of accepting it. You chose to take the path back to Shinra, or at least something connected to it. You're not meant to live a normal life like all those average innocent, good people out there. You're a killer with a quite a body count. You don't belong in society and you know that." Galen held the cup out to him once more, placing it in front of his face. "I have no problem forcing that pill down your throat," he warned and Cloud took the cup from him. He kept his eyes on Galen as he put the pill in his mouth and drank it down with the little bit of water in the cup. "Bah bah little sheep," Galen taunted him as he reached his hand out to take the cup back.
"Zack should have killed you when he had the chance," Cloud told him as he put the paper back in his palm. The man just smirked at him again before leaving.
It took hours for Cloud to feel anything from the pill Galen had given him. It wasn't until early afternoon that he started to feel dizzy and sick to his stomach. He managed to keep down what he'd eaten earlier but decided not to eat what was brought to his cell later for his dinner. There was no significant pain and he didn't feel paralyzed with weakness. It was all-around bearable. He had to wonder though if it would actually work as well as Galen thought it would. If so, the man was going to be a pretty important asset to Shinra. At least until someone else could copy his work. Something like that would be useful in SOLDIER.
That day was unlike most of the others before it for one reason in particular, and it wasn't the miraculous mako pill. It was the fact that he didn't see Rand once. He didn't see anyone else either. The curtain stayed closed over the glass wall in his cell and no one other than Galen had come to see him. The only other person who got close to him was whoever had brought his meal trays and slid them under the door. It made for a long and lonely day.
The following morning he woke around 5 am to find Rand in his cell, sitting in a chair across from his bed. Cloud glanced up at the clock in the wall before fixing his eyes on the man. He was sitting back with his one ankle resting on his other knee. He was holding something in his right hand. It looked like a ball which he was rolling slowly in his palm with his fingers. At seeing Cloud was finally awake, he gave him something of a forced smile.
"You're here early," Cloud said to him after a few moments of the man staring at him in silence. Maybe the Keeper was there to bring him outside. Galen had said he'd be getting some time outside. He was looking forward to that.
"There is something I need to talk to you about," Rand told him in a tone that suggested something wasn't right.
"Okay," Cloud responded uneasily as he sat himself up slowly.
"You've been communicating with Z1 and I want to know how," he declared.
Cloud's stomach sank immediately. How could he know that? "What?" he asked. He found his eyes drawn again to that ball in the man's hand which he gripped suddenly tighter, squeezing it.
"Trust me C4, there is no way you can fake excuse yourself out of this," Rand said sharply.
Cloud felt immediately defensive. He hid his fear and apprehension with annoyance. "I haven't spoken to Zack in months," he claimed, being sure to emphasize his friend's name. "Since the last time I saw him in person," he added. He could tell his words weren't appreciated by Rand who glared back at him hard.
"His name is Z1," he corrected. "Do you need a reminder of yours?" There was a definite threat behind those words. It had Cloud averting his gaze to the floor between them. "Do you know how I know you are communicating with Z1?" Rand asked him but he didn't look up or respond. "I observed your interaction with Galen yesterday. I noted that you told Galen that Z1 should have killed him when he had the chance. I asked Galen when this event was and turns out it was after you had been reclaimed by Shinra. Galen says he did not tell you of this so how is it you came to know this?"
Cloud remained silent though his mind was racing. He'd messed up. He couldn't think of any logical reason why he would know the information Rand spoke of.
"I have reason to believe you have communicated with Z1 at least twice while in this facility," Rand went on. "What I want to know is how and what it is you have told him."
There was a long pause as the man was waiting for him to explain himself. Cloud could think of nothing but the truth and he knew he couldn't give that. He could only refuse.
"No," he said at last.
"What?" Rand questioned fast, setting both his feet on the floor and leaning forward in his chair.
Cloud forced himself to look at the man straight. "No. I'm not talking to you about this," he stated.
"You are going to, C4, trust me," Rand warned him.
"No," Cloud repeated, shaking his head slowly.
"You can tell me, or you can tell the professor," was Rand's threat at that.
"I won't tell him either," Cloud said back fast.
Rand exhaled heavily and sat back in the chair. "We've made a lot of progress, C4. I feel that we've built a relationship that I've come to value. We've been honest with each other. Are you now going to make me resort to something I'd rather not do?" he questioned. Cloud just stared back at him challengingly. "Very well," Rand uttered almost sadly.
Cloud watched him rise from his chair and a moment later he had left the cell, leaving him sitting with a feeling of heavy anticipation. He didn't know what was coming. Was he going to tell Hojo what he knew?
He didn't have to wait long for Rand to return. Maybe ten minutes. When he came back he wasn't alone. He brought two clones with him, which made him immediately fearful they were going to drag him to the metal room for a beating. They could beat him to death, he wasn't going to tell Rand what he wanted to know. Telling him anything about his secret communications with Zack put his friend in danger. He imagined that if Hojo knew they could talk to each other psychically that he would want to reclaim Zack as well. For now, at least, it seemed Hojo had let Zack go. Whether he planned to hunt down Zack again later, he didn't know, but for the time being he was safe and free.
His suspicions Rand had set him up for a beating seemed confirmed when the clones forced him into the metal room outside his cell, but they didn't drop him there like he expected. Instead, they were pushing and pulling him into the familiar hall outside the metal room. The one that led to the other places he'd been in the compound. His eyes fixed on the door to the room of boxes in the floor. The boxes scared him more than the prospect of having fists and feet pummeling him. He suddenly found himself struggling to breathe just thinking of it. But just maybe he'd be able to speak to Vincent?
He couldn't help but feel a little relieved when he was pushed past the door that led to that room but it became clear then that his destination was likely the elevator. That was confirmed when Rand unlocked the door in the hall that led to it. One thing he knew is that he wasn't about to be rewarded with a trip outside and the only other direction was down. He felt sick immediately and panic was setting into him but he didn't want to let it show. He didn't want to give Rand the impression what his threat could work and get him the information he wanted. He didn't fight to stop the clones from moving him into the elevator but against his will his body began trembling a little as the elevator was heading downward.
Rand looked at him then, a blank expression on his face. "You know where we're heading," the man said.
Cloud shook his head slowly. "Please don't do this to me," he said back softly.
"You know how to get out of this," Rand told him. "I don't have time to try less extreme measures, hoping you'll come to your senses. I need to know what you've been telling Z1. Do you know that the General's success rate in obtaining information through interrogation while he was active in SOLDIER is one hundred percent? Every single person he questioned eventually told him what he wanted to know. I'm sure if I give him an information objective he'll be able to get an answer out of you as well."
Cloud thought back on when he was trapped with Sephiroth. The man already knew the answer Rand was looking for, or at least could give him some information. He must have known how the connection between Cloud and Zack worked because he'd been able to interrupt it. Now he had the problem of convincing Sephiroth not to say anything.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing that Rand had, in fact, taken him down to where Sephiroth was kept. A part of him actually felt betrayed by Rand and he wasn't sure why. The man wasn't his friend. The Keeper had made that clear more than once. He didn't care about him.
"Last chance, C4," Rand said to him firmly.
Hardening his own expression, Cloud looked from him to the space outside the elevator. Without waiting for the clones to be ordered to force him toward his punishment, he walked himself forward instead, exiting the elevator. Once outside of it, he turned around to face Rand again. He tried not to let his fear show. He was terrified, but he couldn't let Rand know that.
"You're calling my bluff?" Rand asked him but Cloud said nothing. "I'm not bluffing, C4."
Cloud's fear gave way momentarily to something else. His determination. This wasn't about him. It was about Zack and protecting his best friend. Zack did everything to protect him over and over again. He'd made his life about protecting him, even at the expense of himself. He'd faced shame and degradation and abuse for him. He'd probably do it again. Nothing that Rand or Hojo or Sephiroth could do to him was going to make him speak a word that could focus any further interest or attention on Zack, even if it all meant nothing in the end anyway.
"Did you hear me, C4?" Rand asked him with his hand holding the elevator door from closing.
"Yeah," Cloud said with a short nod before turning his back on the elevator as he motioned to make his way toward the doors to the anteroom outside Sephiroth's chambers. He paused though, looking back briefly. He made sure to look directly into Rand's eyes as he spoke one last thing in a biting tone. "And my name is Cloud."