Disclaimer: I do not own FF VII or any of the characters from it. However, I did create the character of John.

Thanks to everyone who's still reading this story. I was surprised to find that 5 people still cared enough to comment on it. Thanks a lot guys! I wrote this one pretty quickly and it came out a bit longer than I thought. Enjoy!

Testing Fate

Chapter XXXV

As Aeris awoke to the sunrise, she saw Cloud standing over her and Cait Sith, looking outward. They had decided to sleep against the wall where they had been left.

"How did you sleep?" he asked.

"As well as possible," she answered before turning to Cait Sith, "How about you?"

No response.

"Heavy sleeper I guess," said Cloud as he leaned in to poke the cat.

"Hey hey hey!" was the response, "I'm up now! No need to get physical!"

Cloud sighed before speaking.

"We don't have time for this, we have to find the other and get to the bottom of what's going on."

"Hey look!" said Aeris as she got up and pointed in the distance, "Isn't that Barret?"

"Yeah it is! Let's hurry before he runs off!"

As they ran up to him, they noticed that he was standing over the corpse of man.

"Barret," began Aeris with fear, "Did you-"

"Stay back!" ordered Barret, "There's things that I gotta take care of that don't concern you!"

With those words he started to walk away.

"That's one of your friends?" whispered Cait Sith, "He looks quite dangerous…"

After Barret was a decent distance away, but still visible, Cloud spoke.

"The only thing we can do. Follow him."

But before they took a few steps, they heard a dashing behind them.

"There you are!"

They turned around to see Red with the rest of AVALANCHE running behind them.

"Red! You're safe!" exclaimed Cloud, "We can't lose Barret! Let's go!"

Wow, this place is in shambles… thought John as he walked through North Corel, trying not to make eye contact with the residents, It's so different seeing it in person…

He silently made his way through to the Gondola and quietly got on, waiting for the next trip.

AVALANCHE entered the house to find Barret in the corner, refusing to turn around.

"I heard that the murders at Gold Saucer were done by a man with a gun on his arm," said Red before a short pause, "Was that you?"

Barret shook his head and sighed.

"There was another man who had a gun grafted onto one of his arms. Four years ago…"

As Barret told his story, Tifa's thoughts drifted back to her meeting with Chocobo Joe and what she had learned.

I wish John was here so we could ask him about that stuff. What could he want with a shovel? What was he doing back there? Was he meeting someone? …should I tell the others?

When Barret was done with his story, he prepared to head out when Aeris stepped forward.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"I told ya!" yelled Barret, "I have to settle things. This-"

"Isn't our business and we shouldn't get hurt because it doesn't involve us yadda yadda yadda," finished Aeris sarcastically, "That sounds like stuff that Cloud would say. We're your friends Barret and we're coming with you. We know you'd do the same for us."

Barret stood silently for a moment before continuing to walk.

"If there's a fight, remember that Dyne is mine and mine only."

Wow, this looks so amazing in person!

The bright lights and loud sounds of Gold Saucer mesmerized John as he approached it on the gondola. It looked different in the daylight, but the strength of the strobeligths was still seen.

There's no time for this now though, I've got to get to Dio.

"Excuse me?" he asked as he walked up to the booth, "I need to speak to Dio."

"And who would you be? Admittance is 3000 gil," answered the woman.

"My name is John, a few friends of mine were arrested here for something that they did not do. Please, I need to speak to him!"

"You sure about that?" asked the woman suspiciously, "For all I know, you could be trying to go on the rides for free."

"Ugh, just call him!" exclaimed John, very annoyed, "Please, they're in danger for something that they did not do. You can walk me over to his office by yourself if you don't trust me."

"…I'd rather have security do it," said the woman as she dialed the phone.

After travelling to the other side of the prison, they reached the edge of a chasm with a man standing there with his back to them. Barret walked forward and took a huge breath.

"Dyne… is that you?"

The man slowly turned around.

"Now there's a voice I haven't heard in years, a voice I'll never forget…"

Dyne pointed his gun-arm at Barret's feet and unleashed a few rounds onto the ground.

"Dyne, what are you doing?"

"You know what?" he asked with the calmness of a deceased one, "I still hear her voice! Eleanor's voice! Begging me not to hate your rotten guts, that's why I didn't hunt you down."

When he stopped shooting, Barret spoke again.

"I knew that the operation was done to another man too and I knew that it had to be you. I was always hoping to meet you again, but not like this… What are you doing Dyne? Killing people who aren't even involved…"

"What does it matter Barret huh?" yelled Dyne, "Do you think the people of Corel would understand?"

Barret stayed silent as Dyne continued his tirade.

"I got nothing left in this world Barret! Corel! Eleanor! Marlene! They're all gone!" yelled Dyne as he continued to shoot above him.

"Dyne! Marlene's still alive!"

"What?" came a surprised question as the shooting stopped.

"I went back into town that day…and that's when I found her. She's in Midgar."

Dyne's stern face suddenly showed a very frightening smile.

"Well then Barret, that means we've gotta fight!"

"What are you talking about Dyne?"

"Eleanor's lonely Barret. I gotta send Marlene to her."

"Dyne!" exclaimed Barret in shock, "You're insane!"

Cloud started to walk forward when Barret extended his arm.

"No! This is my battle! You guys stay out of it!"

Dyne then took a few steps forward.

"How 'bout a special rule as well Barret? We'll do it like in the old days. No materia, just brawn!"

"Heh, I wouldn't have it any other way," replied Barret.

"Shame you won't be doing this for long!" yelled Dyne as he unleashed some rounds.

Barret was quick to duck behind some wreckage to shield himself.

Ugh, I don't want to kill him, I gotta find a way to get close….

Barret grabbed a large rock from the ground and threw it towards Dyne, who easily knocked it away with his gun-arm. However, this gave Barret the time to run up and deliver a punch to the stomach. As he tried to land another though Dyne brought his gun-arm up and hit Barret in the jaw, knocking him back. As he was stumbling, Barret received a kick from Dyne that sent him to the group. He looked up to see Dyne charging up his weapon.

"Well Barret!" he yelled as it reached full power, "It's been good!"

Barret quickly rolled away as Dyne unleashed his attack, which sent tiny bullets all into the ground. Due to the power of the attack, he was unable to move before it finished. Barret took this opportunity to deal him a kick to his stomach and then to elbow him back.

"Dyne! We don't have to do this!"

"Yes we do!" screamed Dyne, "For Marlene!"

Dyne prepared to fire again when Barret tacked him to the ground and used his gun arm to hold him down as he hit him the face repeatedly. He then took his gun arm and pointed it straight at his face.

"Dyne, please…"

"Go on… do it…" said Dyne carelessly.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Barret punched Dyne again and stood up.

"Dammit Dyne! Why?"

"Think about it Barret, how old was Marlene then" said Dyne with a slight crack in his voice, "Even if she saw me now, she'd have no clue who I was."

Dyne then started to walk slowly towards the edge of the chasm.

"Besides, these hands are a little too stained to carry Marlene anymore"

"Dyne…"

As Barret reached out his hand, a pendant fell into it, thrown by Dyne.

"That pendant…it belonged to Eleanor, make sure Marlene gets it"

With that Dyne continued his final walk.

"Wow, Marlene's already four…"

"Dyne?"

When Dyne reached the end, he turned around and Barret saw his friend's familiar smile for the first time in years. And with that, he fell backwards into the chasm.

"DYNE!" yelled Barret as he ran towards the edge and fell to his knees.

"It's not fair Dyne! My hands aren't exactly clean either…"

Barret stayed like that silently until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Tifa standing above him.

"Barret… I'm sorry," she said, and he could see in the her eyes that it was genuine.

"Me too Tifa," said Barret as he got up, "Me too."

As the afternoon got started, Rufus heard the sound of a helicopter and went outside to the front entrance of the Shinra estate.

Right on time.

He smiled as he saw the leader of the Turks get off and approach him.

"Good to see you Rufus," said Tseng as he shook his hand.

"Likewise. Let's go inside."

The walk was silent until they reached the balcony and Tseng sat down where John had been only the day before.

"How's your break been?"

"It's been very well," said Rufus, "Just being here away from everything gave me a chance to regroup and decide what to do next."

"Which would be?"

"It's difficult for us to follow Sephiroth right now, and our airship is too big to follow him quickly enough."

Tseng listened as Rufus continued.

"Do you remember when I asked you to check up on Cid Highwind?"

"You expect him to make us another airship?" nods Tseng, "Somehow I don't think he's going to do it willingly."

"He doesn't have to make us anything…just hand over what he already has."

"…you mean that tiny plane of his?"

"That 'tiny plane' is exactly what we'll need. Fast, agile. We can travel quickly without getting much attention."

"If you say so Rufus…" said Tseng, "You're the boss."

Rufus smirked as he spoke again.

"I suppose Reeve is happy."

"You mean his success right after Heidegger and Scarlet's blunders? I do not doubt that the least."

"Speaking of Scarlet, shouldn't she be with you guys by now?"

"She's arriving at Costa del Sol later today. I got her a room with Elena."

"Poor Elena, is that the Turk way of hazing?" laughed Rufus.

"Well…unintentionally I suppose…" smirked Tseng.

"Boy, that's something mighty tall you're saying right there!"

"It's the truth! They're innocent. There's no way any of them would have done anything like that. It was someone else!"

"If they didn't do it, then who did?"

"I-," began John before cutting himself off for a bit, "I don't know, but I can assure you that it wouldn't be any of them. Please, check with the prison to see whether someone escaped up here or no."

"Escaped?" laughed Dio, "Corel Prison is inescapable unless you are let our or you die."

"Please, it couldn't hurt to just make a phone call…"

"Well, if it'll get you out of my hair boy…" said Dio as he picked up the phone and began to dial Mr. Coates' number.

As John listened to Dio talk Mr. Coates, a smile grew on his face.

When he hung up, Dio sighed and looked at John to match his smile.

"Your friends are lucky to have you and I rushed too fast. Looks like there might have been a straggler from the prison up here last night."

As Mr. Coates put down his phone, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Excuse me, are you in charge here?" asked a blond man with spiky hair.

"Let me guess," said Mr. Coates, "You guys were wrongly put here due to the shootings above."

"How did you know?"

"I just got off the phone with Dio. You have a very persistent friend up there."

Persistent friend…he must mean…

"Sooo does that mean we're free?" asked Aeris.

Mr. Coates stood there in silence, thinking when Barret threw something at his feet.

"That belonged to the real attacker. You might now who it was."

As he picked up the object, Mr. Coates knew exactly what had happened.

"If you have this…then Dyne must be dead. He was one of the few who knew how this place operated, and the only one who used guns. He would have had no problem sneaking up I suppose…it's my fault that he did. Did you know him?"

"I did," said Barret, "We were friends a long time ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss then Sir," said Mr. Coates to Barret before handing him the pendant back and turning to the others, "If it were only up to me, you guys could leave now. Dio has been known to act impulsively. I need to check the security videos and take care of the necessary paperwork, but it should all be done tomorrow morning."

"What are we supposed to do till then?" asked Cloud.

"Make yourselves at home. You survived one night, I think you have it in you to get through another."

As the group gathered in the house, Cloud knew that there were things to talk about. Things that everybody might not be comfortable with sharing with their new teammate right off the bat.

"Who's the new guy?" asked Yuffie.

"His name is Cait Sith," sighed Cloud, "He read us a fortune, and now he has to follow us to see if it comes true."

"Very pleased to meat all of you," the cat said to a rather silent audience, "Wow, lively bunch aren't you?"

"Hey, we should take turns keeping watch so we don't get attacked," said Cloud. "Cait Sith, why don't you start and I'll come out next in a bit?"

"Sure thing guys," replied Cait Sith as he walked back out.

"He seems nice…" sighed Tifa as the found random places to sit down and rest.

A few moments of silence passed before the talking started.

"So…now what?" asked Yuffie.

"Same thing as before," shrugged Cloud, "Go on. Find Sephiroth. Stop him. According to the owner of Gold Saucer, he came around here asking about a Black Materia, there we go."

"You're ignoring things," said Barret, "What about John? Or have you forgotten that he was with Rufus?"

Oh trust me Barret, I have not forgotten that one bit…

"What do you expect us to do?" asked Cloud back, "We have no idea where they were. In this time, Rufus could have had him anywhere in the world."

"And for all we know, he could have told him everything about us!"

"Don't say that!" exclaimed Aeris with worry, "How can you guys talk like this? John is one of us."

"Look," spoke up Red before either Cloud or Barret could, "I'm agreeing with Aeris here. I can't explain it, but John is tied in to what is happening more than most of us somehow. And I know that you guys know that as well."

A silence overtook the group before he continued.

"Those voices that you mentioned Cloud, if they are indeed connected to Sephiroth, then John could be in danger, and we have to protect him. For all we know, if Sephiroth finds John, he'll just get stronger. Maybe there's…"

Red then quieted down and looked at the floor.

"What is it Red?" asked Tifa, "Please tell us."

"Look, this is just something I've noticed, and when we meet up with John again, please do not mention this to him alright?"

Receiving nods around the room, he continued.

"When we were at that chocobo ranch and found that material, his eyes were on that spot as they dance and happened to kick it to us. There was no way a human eye would have been able to detect that unless they knew where it was. And back when we were at Junon on the beach, he was looking into the distance before that creature attacked as, almost as if he knew what was going to happen…"

"Red, what are you saying?" asked Yuffie somewhat jokingly, "That John's the fortune teller now?"

"Only what I saw. And my…discomfort with it. There's something there, I just can't seem to hone in on it."

As another silence overtook the room, Tifa now spoke up.

"Hey…as long as we're talking about John…" she began nervously as all eyes turned to her. "Remember when he took off during the night on that chocobo in Kalm?"

"Well, when I was at Gold Saucer before the guards came to get me, I saw the person who let John borrow that chocobo. It was Chocobo Joe, a famous jockey. I knew that I had recognized him from somewhere that night, but I couldn't exactly remember at the time. Anyways, I talked to him and he said that there was something else that he gave John, something that I failed to see."

"What?" asked Aeris, recalling the night as well.

"A shovel."

"A shovel?" asked Cloud, "What did he want to dig up?"

This is making no sense at all.

"How do we know he had to dig up?" began Barret, "Maybe he wanted to bury something."

"But what?" asked Aeris.

John…what are you doing?

"…I think we need to talk to John," said Red.

"Yeah, but do you think he will?" asked Yuffie.

"Who said he'll have a choice?" asked Barret as he tapped his gun-arm, "I already put one friend in his place today, what's another?"

"Barret!" bolded Tifa, "listen to yourself!"

"Come on Tifa! The guy goes around apparently seeing things before they happen, runs off with a shovel in the middle of the night, has strange voices in his head that seem to be trying to kill him or whatnot, refuses to explain anything, and then he goes off with the President of Shinra. You can't tell me that you're not a little curious about what the hell is going on! I mean, when I asked him what he was about, he said that he was waiting for something to happen! For all we know, it could be for all of us to be dead!"

As Barret breathed heavily, Aeris stepped in.

"Look…if that was what he wanted, he would have just left us in the Shinra building…but he didn't. He risked his life to save us Barret, which includes you! Marlene still has a father because of him! He's getting us out of this place again as well!"

"Are you so quick to trust him?" asked Barret somewhat sarcastically, "You barely know anything about him, like the rest of us."

"Barret," chimed in Red, "Regardless of his…eccentricities, I have never doubted John's heart or dedication to this journey. His part in it is genuine, and I truly believe that he wants the best for us. How he might go about it, I will certainly question, as I will other factors about him, but as far as our wellbeing is concerned…no."

Aeris in the meantime was in her own thoughts, remembering when he came to her cell and the night on the top of Fort Condor.

He told me he wouldn't leave…and he misses his family. That was genuine! I don't care what Barret thinks! Oh John, I wish I knew more though…

"Alright now," said Tifa, "We can't continue bickering about one of our own at a time like this. In case you haven't forgotten, we're still in prison for the day, and when we get out, things could be even more dangerous. We've seen how powerful Jenova is, and she's only going to get stronger, and that's not counting Sephiroth himself. We can't beat them if we can't believe that we've got each other's backs."

"Tifa's right," said Cloud, "This thing with John isn't over, but this isn't the time nor place. Sephiroth is moving farther away and we're still here. I'm going to look outside and tell Cait Sith to come inside. So please try to make our new friend welcome and stop building up or tearing down others."

But which one am I doing? thought Cloud as he walked out, Am I being needlessly harsh towards John or am I assuming the better when I have no reason to?

At the inn in Costa Del Sol, while the rest of the Turks were waiting for Tseng to return, a knock came on the door where Reno, Rude and later Tseng would be sleeping.

"Wait a sec," whispered Reno as Rude went to open the door, "Give me just a dew more seconds of peace before you do that…"

"Hey! Open up you two! I know you're in there!" came a familiar voice from the other side.

Oh God… thought Reno as Rude opened the door and Scarlet walked in, Still looking like a cheap Midgar hooker…

"How are you Scarlet?" asked Rude, trying to be civil.

"As well as can be considering everything," she answered before walking over to Reno, "You look delighted to see me Reno."

"As always," replied the redhead smugly.

"Now now, you know that's really no way to talk to your superior."

"Superior?" chuckled Reno, "Let me refresh your mind. I take orders from Tseng, who takes them from Rufus. I don't see you anywhere in that hierarchy."

"And who do you think Rufus listens to for advice?" quipped Scarlet.

"Certainly not you and Heidegger, after all of your failures since he took office."

"Just you wait Reno! You'll see what I have in store!" exclaimed Scarlet angrily as she stormed out to her and Elena's room, slamming the door.

Reno simply looked over at Rude and shrugged.

"Happy times…"

That night, Cloud was on his watch of the outdoors when he heard someone approaching him.

"Who's that?" he asked as he turned around, sword pointed.

"Hey, calm down," smiled Aeris, "You don't have to be that on edge."

"What are you doing up? You should be getting sleep."

"That's a nice way to say hi to company," answered Aeris as she rolled her eyes, "Besides, I couldn't sleep."

"…you're worried," said Cloud.

"…I guess so. I mean, I was really looking forward to seeing John again, and I still am, but…"

"I know, I'm the same…"

After a bit, Aeris spoke again.

"If he is connected to Sephiroth…or Shinra…"

"Aeris, maybe…nevermind."

"No please, say what's on your mind Cloud. You really don't do that enough."

Cloud gave a light sigh before continuing, looking directly into her eyes.

"Look, maybe I'm stepping on ground where I shouldn't go, but…you should be careful about depending so much on one person. It…usually leaves you disappointed."

Aeris looked back with a smile that seemed to have light melancholy touch to it.

"You're wrong if you think it is just one person.

What is she talking about? thought Cloud dumbfounded.

Unfortunately for Cloud, their conversation would have to be cut short by the sound of wheels.

"What the-" began Aeris as Cloud tackled her to the ground.

Getting up they saw that what they had just dodged was a Bullmotor with two Death Claws on top of it that jumped off.

"Good thing that I came out here then eh?" asked Aeris jokingly as the Bullmotor opened its weapons and unleashed a Matra Magic attack.

"Fight now. Talk later."

Cloud extended his arm and fired off a bolt attack, but the Bullmotor was able to dodge it and started to ride towards him.

Dammit!

Cloud raised his sword and plunged it into the ground and used The Earth materia in it, making the ground close to them shake and setting the Bullmotor off its path and past him.

That was close!

Mean while, the two Death Claws had both gone for Aeris.

This isn't good, I gotta take them out!

Aeris quickly extended her Wizard Staff and shot out a fireball, blowing one of them back.

Alright, now for the oth-

Before she could finish her thought, Aeris was hit by a Laser attack and sent to the ground on her back. As she hit the ground, her Enemy Skill materia started to glow. Her attacker moved closer and got ready to jump on her

"Aeris!"

Cloud ran in her direction and quickly sliced the Death Claw in half as it was in the air.

"Thanks…" she said as she got up, "Behind you!"

Cloud looked back to see the Bullmotor heading at them at full speed. Before he could act, Aeris reached out her arm and fired off a Laser attack of her own, hitting the Bullmotor square in its armor and blowing it off, making it freeze in its tracks in the process.

"Now Cloud!"

Cloud rushed forward and plunged his sword into its circuits, shutting it down permanently. He did it just in time to dodge the Death Claw that Aeris had knocked back earlier. As it tried to strike again, Cloud blocked it with the Hardedge, leaving Aeris the opportunity to deliver a finishing blow it its back with her staff.

"Alls well that ends well I suppose," said Aeris as she caught her breath.

"You okay?" asked Cloud as he walked over to her.

"Yeah…"

"Hey…"

"Hm?"

"What did you mean? Earlier, about-"

"Shh…" said Aeris as she lightly pressed a finger to his lips, before smiling and slowly starting to walk away.

"Not right now. This isn't the time or place Cloud. But…just don't be to yourself all the time…"

With that the flower girl walked back to the house, leaving Cloud silently by himself.

While the rest of his teammates were down below, John had been offered a free night at the Ghost Hotel. He accepted it with guilt after Dio strictly forbade him from going down to the prison to be with his friends. As he looked out of the window, he was lost in his thoughts.

I should see them tomorrow, he thought, But what will I say? They no doubt will ask me where I've been. Cait Sith is with them as well, so Shinra has their eye on us. What will they do if they knew that I was with Rufus? Would they…still want me with them?

He sighed as he lied down on his bed.

No! There's no way I can't go with them. If I'm not there when the time comes, then Aeris…

It was then that he recalled his dream at Fort Condor.

Dammit! If Meteor is summoned and Aeris is still on this side, who will call the Lifestream? Can I save Aeris AND stop the Black Materia from getting to Sephiroth? Can I risk the entire planet for one person, a person who is supposed to save it by dying? Is there no other way?

Just then, he remembered being with Aeris in Junon just about a week ago.

"Can you imagine that? Flying over the land and sea on that, feeling the wind…what do you think?"

"Yeah…we should."

"Really? You mean that?"

"Yup. Trust me Aeris, one day we're going to be on that ship, looking down at the world below…you can hold me on that."

Aeris…I made you a promise, and I want to keep it. I want to do everything I can to keep it! But if I keep it, will you have much time on that ship?

In contrast to his peaceful nights at the Shinra estate, John was plagued with his apocalyptic dream once again when he went off to sleep.

In the morning, AVALANCHE went back to Mr. Coates Office. As they walked in, Cloud noticed a red glow from the corner of the room.

Hmm…this couldn't be…

To his surprise, his suspicions were correct and he pocketed the summon materia.

"You guys are free to go, but Dio wants to say something first. He's on speaker," said Mr. Coates.

"Are they there?" came the cheerful voice.

"We're here," said Cloud.

"Boy! Good to hear you again. Listen, you have my apologies for what happened. I hope that the prison wasn't too hard on you and your friends."

"We're still in once piece."

"Hah! That's the spirit boy!"

Stop calling me boy! thought Cloud as Tifa and Aeris giggled.

"I felt bad about making your buddy up here scared and giving you guys a hard time, especially with you having to stay an extra day down there. so I decided to give you guys a little present. He should be coming up to you with it now. Happy travels!" said Dio.

"Wait!" began Cloud before Dio could hang up, "That guy who talked to you, asking about the Black Materia. Do you know where he went?"

"Oh, trying to find the popular crowd, eh boy?" smirked Dio on the other end, "My guess is that he would have gone further west towards Gongaga and beyond. There's really nothing else to do for travelers."

Beyond…is he going back to Nibelheim?

With that, Dio signed off and the present members of AVALANCHE were left staring at each other.

"This friend…why are they not travelling with you right now?" asked Cait Sith.

"Well…" said Barret with a cold tone, "He went off for a bit on his own and said he'd be back."

"Oh, where did he go?"

There was no answer as Cloud started to walk, with Cait Sith realizing that now was not the best time for more questions.

"Look, we don't even know who this is. If it's John, then we just saved a lot of time."

It better be him, and he has some serious explaining to do…

The others followed behind him as they left the building and went outside. Aeris walked up to Cloud and spoke in a low voice.

"Hey, if it is John, don't cause a scene."

"…don't worry Aeris," said Cloud, "First things first, we have to get back to safe grounds."

As the team reached the edge of the desert prison, they saw a red buggy waiting for them. As they approached, the top rose to reveal a familiar face with a familiar smile.

"Hey guys! How've you been?"