To the Morrow, For the Past

Chapter 29 – Their Crew

After dinner, Sephiroth and Cloud returned to Sephiroth's apartment. Cloud was still getting used to their new dynamic, but could admit to himself that he liked it. He'd never really been in a relationship before. He'd tried once with Tifa after Meteorfall, but they hadn't managed to make it work, and it wasn't until after some deep personal reflection that Cloud realised that he preferred the company of other men. That had been a bit of a shock to them both until Cloud had realised that Zack had been completely straight, and when he'd adopted Zack's memories, he had apparently tried to adopt his sexuality also. Along with a lot of things, that hadn't stuck after he'd regained his own sense of self.

But now, now he was in a relationship with Sephiroth. It was new, it was exciting and it was a little terrifying. Above all else, it felt right.

With a small smile, he crossed the room to stand beside Sephiroth by the window. When the man turned to him, he took the opportunity to press their lips together in what slowly built up to a rather passionate kiss. Cloud wasn't complaining, he was very much enjoying it, and he could tell that Sephiroth was too. It may have gone further, if not for the sudden and crippling pain in his head.

Like always, it had come on suddenly and without warning. The pain struck his brain like lightning, and whispers of images flashed through his mind, one after another in rapid succession, never giving him enough to understand what was going on.

He was aware enough of his surroundings to feel the hard floor beneath his knees and the strong arm on his shoulder. He could hear Sephiroth's concerned voice, but couldn't make out what he was saying. The pain was intensifying, building and Cloud knew that this one would likely knock him out.

He grasped his head, crying out at the pain and then let darkness take him.

– – – – – – –

He had expected to wake up somewhere different. It was a common occurrence when his brain exploded in pain. What he wasn't expecting, was to wake up in the infirmary with a very concerned Sephiroth by his side.

"Cloud!"

With effort born of exhaustion, Cloud moved his head to focus on Sephiroth. "Hey," He managed, wincing at how dry his throat was. How long had he been out?

He was gently helped into a sitting position and a straw was pushed against his lips. Checking that it was Sephiroth who was offering him the drink, he slowly swallowed and his throat started to feel better.

"What happened?" Sephiroth asked when Cloud had finished the water.

"I'm not sure." Cloud answered honestly, "Either it was Jenova or the planet." He sat up fully, feeling a lot better already. "Some sort of message?"

"We successfully sent Jenova into deep space." Sephiroth informed him. Good. That was good. That meant that the message must have come from the planet. "But her people are still coming." Or not. That was not good. Very not good.

That was possibly something he should have asked about earlier, he realised. But he'd been so caught up in being home and with the budding romance between himself and Sephiroth, that he hadn't even thought to ask.

"What's the plan?" He asked instead.

"We don't have one as of yet."

Cloud grimaced. "How long?"

"Aerith predicts a few weeks."

They were interrupted by a woman in a lab coat approaching them. Cloud tensed until he felt Sephiroth's hand on his arm. He still didn't trust scientists, especially ones who had worked for Shinra. But Sephiroth had been going through personnel files and firing anybody he didn't think could be trusted. So Cloud didn't need to trust the scientist. He needed to trust Sephiroth. That was easily done.

"Good morning sir." She greeted, "I'm afraid your blood work all came back normal." She was consulting the chart in her hands, "We haven't been able to find the cause of your migraine, or your black out, but that isn't unusual in migraine cases. Sometimes there is an easily identifiable trigger. What were you doing in the moments leading up to your migraine?"

Cloud felt himself blush and he shook his head, "Don't worry." He told her, "I've had these before. I know what happened."

"Oh, there's nothing in you file..."

Cloud knew there was not much in his file. He'd kept it that way quite on purpose, and he didn't intend on changing that now. He shook his head again and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "I'm fine." He told her, "I'm leaving."

He collected his boots and left, not bothering to put them on until he was away from the infirmary. As he'd predicted, Sephiroth followed him out. "I apologise." He said when he caught up, "I wasn't sure what to do when you didn't wake up right away..."

Cloud shrugged. Sephiroth had never seen him have one of those headaches outside of Nibelheim, and he'd been struggling with his own at that time. "It's fine." He muttered, still walking away. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and the medical wing as possible.

"You need to update me on what's going on." He said, still mad at himself for not asking earlier. Sephiroth nodded and Cloud could see that the man understood. He was military after all.

– – – – – – – –

Sephiroth had called a meeting of their party, and for once they could actually use a conference room. It was a little surreal, being able to discuss this in such an open area, and Cloud knew from experience how easy it was to spy on this meeting in that room. All it took was jumping off a toilet.

But Shinra was no longer in charge. Sephiroth was. This was his company now, and the majority of the people here were loyal to him, either out of respect or fear.

The conference room had more people in it than Cloud was expecting and he paused slightly when he walked in. His party were there, Aerith, Zeke and Zack were sat on one side of the table and Sephiroth took his place at the head. But the other side of the table also had people sitting there. He gave Sephiroth a curious look. How much had he missed?

"Ladies and gentlemen," Sephiroth began, "I have gathered you to discuss a matter of great importance. Many of you know Cloud Storm," he gestured to Cloud with one arm, "my third in command." Since when? Cloud knew he was helping with the military, but official third in command? "Cloud, most of these people you know."

Cloud looked around. Across the table were four Turks, a woman in a white lab coat and Reeve. On the same side as Zack, Aerith and Zeke sat another Second Class SOLDIER and he was only vaguely familiar. He nodded.

Sephiroth continued, "Tseng, Reno, Rude and Cissnei are Turks that are now loyal to me." Cloud didn't completely buy that. He remembered a time in the future where three out of four of them were loyal to Rufus, even after everything that had happened. He intended on being wary, but also knew from experience that the Turks could be somewhat trusted. He'd worked with them before.

"We also have Doctor Kiki, the new head of science." Cloud had never even heard of her. He wondered just how far down the chain Sephiroth had had to go to find someone even slightly trustworthy. "Our new CEO Reeve Tuesti, and Second Class SOLDIER Kunsel."

Ah. Kunsel. That was why he was so familiar. He was one of Zack's friends and Cloud had met him a handful of times. Including once in the future when he'd found a lost little boy and brought him back.

Cloud nodded, and Sephiroth continued for everyone else's benefit. "Also in attendance are First Class SOLDIER Zack Fair, Aerith Gainsborough and Zeke Valentine." He gestured for Cloud to take a seat beside him and Cloud sat.

"So why're we here?" Reno asked, leaning back on his chair as he regarded the room. To most, it looked like Reno was being relaxed, but Cloud knew what he was doing. He was putting on a show designed to make people underestimate him. Most of the time it worked.

"There is an enemy approaching." Sephiroth told them before turning to Cloud. "Cloud. You are our foremost expert, if you would," He gestured around the room and Cloud nodded, realising that he was in fact their expert on Jenova.

"Two thousand years ago, a creature fell to the planet. The Cetra called it the Calamity. From what I can tell, it was some sort of parasite that invaded a host. It used that host to mutate or kill most of the Cetra before they were able to seal it away in the Northern Crater where it remained for almost two thousand years until Shinra scientists found end excavated it. They believed it to be Cetra and attempted to use it to bring the Cetra back from the brink of destruction."

He saw the Turks eyeing Aerith and knew that these had been the ones assigned to watch her. She seemed to realise it too, because she gave them a small glare.

"Did it work?" The scientist – Kiki – asked.

Cloud gave a half shrug. "After a fashion." He admitted, "Their initial experiments didn't yield the results that they wanted, but it did give them something. After further study, they modified a serum that could be used to enhance a human being."

"What sort of enhancement?" It didn't surprise him that the scientist was interested in this, nor did it surprise him that the Turks were paying a lot of attention to his words.

Cloud simply gestured towards Kunsel and Zack, the latter of which gave a small wave and the former was looking between Cloud and Zack. It was difficult to tell what the man was thinking since he was wearing a helmet, but Cloud couldn't help but think that this was the first the man was hearing about it.

"SOLDIER came from the experiments done on the Calamity?"

"Yes." This time it was Sephiroth who spoke up. "The experiments carried out on me showed promise, and Hojo decided to test what would happen on an adult."

"On an... You mean they experimented on you when you were a kid?" This question had come from Reeve who was wearing an appalled look on his face. Cloud couldn't blame him, and grimaced as Sephiroth continued.

"I was conceived to be experimented on." He told him and Reeve's face paled even further, "They began before I was born. I was injected with live cells, however, SOLDIER were given inert cells."

"The problem is," Cloud took over, "That while the Calamity that fell to the planet has been neutralised, her people are on their way." He gestured to the window, not surprised when everybody looked. "You can't see it now, but has anybody noticed the new stars in the sky?" He asked. The new stars were bright enough to be seen through Midgar's light pollution and general haze. There were nods around the room and Cloud carried on, "Those aren't stars. They're Jenovians."

"But why are they coming? They're a bit late for a rescue mission..." Reno now had both feet planted on the ground and was paying complete attention.

"Because Jenova called them. One of the characteristics of this race is that they are able to summon individual cells to them. A large enough mass of them will attract others if they want to. They will also attract anything that has absorbed enough live cells."

"How do you mean?" This time it was Tseng asking and Cloud turned to them. He wasn't entirely sure how to explain Reunion to these people. He barely understood it himself.

"When the creature takes on a host, it floods the body with its cells. It can then use those cells to control the host. It also has telepathic abilities which it can use on other creatures that contain enough of its cells." He wasn't sure if he was making sense to the new people in the room, but the scientist at least was nodding.

"Then what about SOLDIER? Can we be controlled by it?" Kunsel asked and Cloud could see how white the man's skin had gotten, even under the helmet. He shook his head.

"Normal SOLDIER's aren't effected." He reassured the man. "I, however, am."

"As am I." Sephiroth added.

Zeke nodded and put his hand up, "Me too." He told them.

"The three of us are products of some of Hojo's experimentation." Once again, Sephiroth was speaking, "As far as I am aware, we are the only three people alive with sufficient live cells to be effected. We have all experienced it before, and are prepared for it."

"You're project C!" The scientist was looking at Cloud with wide eyes.

Well... At least in this timeline he got his number. Or letter. The Hojo of this time period didn't consider him a failure. There was a time when Cloud would have been happy about that. Now he just found the thought oddly amusing.

"Project C?" He prompted, wanting to know exactly what the project was about.

There was a flurry of movement as the scientist flipped through one of the many files on the desk in front of her. "Yes. I've been going through Hojo's files since taking on the position of Head of Science and I came across a few... Projects. According to Hojo, you were naturally enhanced by way of falling into a mako pool as a child. He found you very fascinating, especially when he found out that mako has no effect on you and that you're immune to mako poisoning."

There were a few surprised faces in the room but Cloud just gestured for her to continue. He probably should have got her to tell him this in private, but he had the feeling that these people would find out anyway. Many of them were Turks, one was the CEO and the others were trusted members of his party.

"So he devised a few tests to run. The first was an injection of the SOLDIER serum usually reserved for Sephiroth. Your only recorded reaction to that was skin irritation." Cloud remembered. That had been his first day. He hadn't even made it to SOLDIER at that point.

"The next one was... Oh goodness, he poisoned the coffee on the SOLDIER floor with mako." Her eyes widened at that, as if she was surprised at the lengths that Hojo would go to. "Many people fell sick, but you weren't affected, despite drinking... nine cups in an hour?"

Cloud nodded, that sounded about right. "Coffee isn't very effective on me." He told her, "I have to drink a lot of it to work."

She nodded and looked back down at the files. "The next was... He soaked your uniform shirt in a mixture of mako and... J-cells..."

Okay. So that explained a few things. He held up his hand to stop her from speaking, deciding instead that he would talk to her alone later. Cloud had never figured out what Hojo had given him to make his skin react like it had, and it was one of those little things that had bothered him. Direct exposure to mako had made him mildly itchy, but when Hojo had dosed his shirt, he'd felt like he was about to scratch his skin off.

It made sense and he gave a nod. "The skin irritation was because the cells on the outside of my body were trying to join the ones on the inside." Or at least, that was his working theory.

"So the rest of her people are coming?" Tseng prompted after a moment, apparently wanting to move the briefing on. "You said that the one that had landed here was neutralised?"

Cloud nodded, "Shinra No. 26." He told him and Tseng nodded.

"What's Shinra No. 26?" Kunsel asked.

"A rocket designed for space travel that Shinra had been working on. Just over a year ago it was launched without authorisation." Tseng told the SOLDIER. "I believe I can now close that investigation."

Sephiroth nodded.

"What is our current plan?" Reeve spoke up again, looking very lost. This wasn't really his area and Cloud wasn't entirely sure why he was here other than the fact that he was now running the company.

"We don't have one." Cloud told him. "We need ideas."

"Could we use more rockets?" Kunsel suggested.

"Shinra No. 26 cost Fifteen Billion Gil and took almost a decade to design and build." Tseng told him, "It would not be feasible."

"What about the cannon at Junon?" was Reno's suggestion.

"We need a way of defeating them before they get here." Sephiroth told them. "If they die here, they will join the lifestream here and pollute it. Which in turn will poison the planet and everything on it."

There was quiet in the room, and it was then that Cloud remembered that believing in the lifestream was considered a religion. Suddenly he realised that the people in the room thought that Sephiroth was a religious man who was recruiting them. He shook his head.

"The lifestream is real." He told them, looking at each one of them in the eyes. "I've been there." He told them, "A few times."

"I am Cetra." Aerith spoke for the first time, hands clasped on the table in front of her. "My people can commune with the planet."

"Aren't Cetra the ones who're supposed to help us find the promised land?" Reno asked, looking at Aerith.

Cloud laughed and shook his head, "I can take you there right now, if you want."

"Cloud..." Sephiroth warned, a hand on his arm. It was then that he realised just how tense he was and he forced himself to calm down.

"The promised land is a meeting place in the afterlife." He told them. "A Cetra can take you there to wait for your loved ones to join you." There were a lot of disbelieving looks in the room and he rolled his eyes. "It looks like a garden." He added with a shrug.

"Believe us or don't." Zeke said quietly, "But the lifestream is real. And if even if you don't believe it, the Jenovians are still a threat that needs to be taken care of. Even if it wasn't going to hurt the planet, wouldn't it make sense to take them out before they get here anyway?"

Silence fell in the room again while everyone thought on that.

"I'm in." Kunsel raised his hand and shrugged, "I mean, I'm SOLDIER and under your command, so I'm kinda already in, but hey, I know what's going on and I volunteer."

Cloud let out a bit of a chuckle and nodded, a little relieved that someone was interested in helping.

"Me too..." Doctor Kiki timidly raised her hand. The Turks nodded and Reeve just looked a little lost.

"I'm happy to do what I can to help," He told them, "But I'm not sure how much use I'll be..."

Sephiroth nodded. "We need ideas on how to get to them, and how to destroy them." He turned to Doctor Kiki. "Find what information you can about Jenova. Make sure that everybody in this room gets everything you can find. I don't care how classified it is." She nodded. "Any ideas come directly to either myself, Cloud, Zack or Zeke." He told the room. "Dismissed."

The Turks, scientist, Reeve and Kunsel slowly left the room, leaving Cloud and his party behind.

"Are you sure about this?" Cloud asked, looking at Sephiroth and perching on the edge of the table next to the man. He had his arms folded in front of his chest.

Sephiroth let out a slow breath and shook his head. "No." He answered honestly, looking up at Cloud with a soft smile. "But what happened to me, happened to me. People not knowing about it doesn't change that and they already know that I'm different. Some may see me as a monster and fear me, others may pity me, but that doesn't matter." He looked around the room, at his friends. "I know I'm not a monster."

– – – – – – – – – –

Cloud spent the afternoon with Aerith and Zeke, trying to make sense of the information he'd gathered during his migraine. All he could clearly remember seeing were small orbs of light trailed by multicoloured energy. There were seven in total.

They had come to the conclusion that it had been the planet making a distress call to all those that could hear her. Sephiroth hadn't mentioned anything to Cloud, but Aerith pointed out that Sephiroth might not have his mind open enough to receive the messages. He believed in the lifestream because it had given him comfort to believe, and because Cloud had told him it was real. He saw it as a fact of life, not as something spiritual.

Aerith had said that the mindset mattered and only those who understand the planet and are Cetra would be able to hear it. Cloud could only hear it because he had been touched by the planet, sent through the lifestream on many occasions, and because he had been born of an experiment designed to copy Sephiroth. He wasn't a Cetra – he wasn't born into his gifts – but he was close enough to hear the planet shout. Which was also why his brain had felt like it was going to explode.

Aerith likened it to someone being only able to get your attention with a grenade. It had to be loud and powerful enough to hurt.

– – – – – – – – – –

Later, Cloud and Sephiroth were sat on Sephiroth's couch relaxed and intertwined. The television in the corner was being vaguely watched by the pair as their minds went over the information they had gathered and parted with today.

"Are you upset that I brought others into the discussions?" Sephiroth asked and Cloud shook his head, closing his eyes and sighing.

"No. A little warning would've been nice, but all the help we can get, right?" He shifted slightly and found himself once again on Sephiroth's lap. At one point in his life, he would have been irritated at being the one sitting on someone else's lap. He would've taken it as an insult towards his height. But now? Now it just felt right. He could curl up and be surrounded by the man.

Sephiroth's phone beeped and the man leaned over to retrieve it from the small table beside the couch. He flipped it open and let out a chuckle. "The Chocobo's Sword are back." He told Cloud.

"My fan club?"

Sephiroth nodded and gave a hum of affirmation while he read through the message. He let out another chuckle. "And they're very happy that we're still a couple, even after a year apart."

Cloud let out a sigh and Sephiroth chuckled again. "Like it or not, Cloud, our relationship will be publicised." He warned him, "As you said, I am the most powerful man in the world right now."

"I know." Cloud muttered, "I was just hoping it would take them a little longer."

Again, Sephiroth laughed. He put his pone away and looked down at the man in his arms and offered him a smile when he looked up. "They only see what we let the world see." He told him, "They won't see this." He gestured to how they were sitting and Cloud gave him a smile.

"Right." He had to admit, he wasn't as upset about his fan club as he felt like he should have been. Definitely not as upset as he would have been before he died. Now it was just a minor irritation.

"Good." Sephiroth dipped his head and kissed Cloud.

– – – – – – – –