Hero's March

by FrostByterFang

That fateful battle in the wastes dealt Zack Fair a cruel hand: He barely survives, albeit with permanent injury. Taking advantage of Zack's K.I.A status, Tseng enlists his aid to secretly help free Aerith and Cloud from Shinra's all-encompassing shadow. Zack must use his new identity to protect his friends, all the while they remain ignorant of his survival. Survival AU

13. Where Hope Dare Tread

~777~

-Four days after arrival: Midgar Administrative Apartment Complex-

Zack gustily sucked in air; doing his best to resist the temptation to punch Hendel's lights out by frightened reflex.

He'd been in and out of here quite a few times now; having stayed in the Turk building the last few days, as he wanted. However, it meant that with every day that's gone on by, Hendel had required Zack to come visit him; seeing as he couldn't hope to keep the man here anyways. Being in this featureless, white space spiked Zack's nerves; and watching the diminutive doctor stick cold metal objects against (and in) his bare torso hasn't exactly been an easy thing for Zack to endure. When the doctor asked Zack to strip and take a little nap the first time around, you can bet Zack had a HUGE issue with that.

Throughout that time though, he'd been in and out of Tseng's office to discuss the dossier and Hojo's findings too. During one such visit, Zack had asked the taciturn man if there's any impending mission coming up that'll lead into him being able to help his friends; but Tseng's only reply had been this:

"Nothing concrete on Aerith yet, sadly. However, once Hendel is done studying Cloud's blood, we'll be able to do something about him almost immediately. Perhaps we can even start treating him in earnest within the next week or two- thanks to the spinal sample you supplied."

Zack nodded, happy to hear this no less. However, he still couldn't help receiving this mixed news with a bit of a somber air anyways. He sighed resignedly next, "You sure you haven't come up with anything for Aerith though? Surely you found something that must've stuck out to you after all this time-?"

It almost sounded like he's begging at this point; but this wasn't the case. After all, Tseng has had weeks to lay out a plan for her; whereas he needed only days to help Zack whenever a situation got tight real fast. Still, Zack knew better than to get his hopes up; seeing as Tseng's immovable expression was anything to go by.

The Turk's shoulders slumped as well, his obsidian stare locked onto Zack's glowing pair, "Believe me, I've been doing my best here. Aerith however isn't so easy to deal with due to her being such a high-priority target. In fact, you only managed to get out of Shinra scope at all by actually almost literally dying. But making it so we stage a similar situation for her-? Well..."

Zack hung his head, feeling dispirited by this.

"I've been considering a plan though; and its not to say I don't have one," Tseng went on to say; much to Zack's puzzling shock. "I sent you to Nibelheim for another reason beyond finding anything of Sephiroth's birth."

"Huh?" Zack cocked his head, raising one brow.

Tseng released another pent-up sigh; shutting his eyes as if to envision the goal before him. "As you no doubt know, the only way to save Aerith's life, and to keep her safe from Shinra permanently is to stage a false death; as had been the case with you. However, Aerith has no known enemies except Shinra itself; and she isn't known to make them either. So finding someone to pose as her would-be killer has been..." He waved a hand around eye-height, "Abysmal, to say the least."

Zack blinked again, folding his arms and tilting his head to the other side, "So you can't stage an accident instead?"

"Not when she's on the move with AVALANCHE constantly, and they rigidly guard her well-being no matter where they go. On the side, manipulating so many variables in a staged accident involves a lot factors we won't always have control of," he elaborated with another bob of his shoulders. "-Which puts her unnecessarily at risk; and puts her in very real danger of actually getting hurt, or worse. So instead, we default to the original idea of having someone with a believable enough motive going after her instead. See the issue here?"

"And what does sending us to Nibelheim have to do with that?" Zack wondered aloud, tilting his head yet again. Seriously, he could never hope to wrap his head around Tseng's more convoluted motivations and methodologies. Every moment this conversation went on only served to confuse and frustrate him even more.

"By inter-weaving deception with another currently existing problem, we decided we'll utilize confusion as some sort of smoke-screen," Tseng went on to say. "We wanted to make it appear so that a rogue and untouchable variable who isn't easily followed and investigated, like say Sephiroth for instance, has an interest in getting Aerith out of his way."

"I'm sorry, but HUH?!" Zack jolted in place. "Like where the heck did you even get that idea?"

"The Promised Land."

Now Zack was REALLY confused.

"Think of it this way," Tseng began again, this time to thankfully simplify the thought process. "Shinra, without a shadow of a doubt, has always had an interest in finding the Promised Land. If they get a hold of Aerith however, they just may achieve it. Not that I'm saying she'd willingly relinquish the information, and that's assuming she actually knows anything about it. However-" Tseng leaned back in his chair, hands interlacing the other, "Sephiroth has, in the past, showed interest in going to the Promised Land himself, yes?"

Zack folded his arms, meandering around the chair in front of Tseng's desk. His expression darkened, his mind slipping back to five years ago. "He did, yeah," he confirmed with a morose air.

"Considering that Sephiroth's warped mind is in this presumably fanatical, delusional state," The Turk director stated. "Then he wouldn't want Shinra to have a means of getting there first-"

"-By going after a strategically easier to reach and more vulnerable target," Zack mumbled to himself.

Tseng nodded, his expression reflecting a firm quality the ex-SOLDIER couldn't quite place. "You're catching on quickly nowadays," he smirked.

At this, Zack merely shrugged off this praise, but still couldn't help meekly smiling back in the process. Nonetheless, his mind turned over the Turk's words quite meticulously. "Yunno? That actually sounds genius!" Zack energetically imputed. "But then... how come you just don't wanna go along with that? Its sounds pretty legit to me."

"Its not to say it doesn't, but its also a bit of a stretch," Tseng informed him. "Other than big-wigs like Scarlet and the others, the one person we really want to convince here is Rufus: We want him to think Sephiroth has a genuine motivation in taking Aerith out of the picture; but getting him to believe that is a different story entirely. Think about it: How would Sephiroth had known Aerith is an Ancient in the first place? Its not like they've actually met before. How would he have access to that kind of information anyways?"

Zack flapped his gums once, and then slammed his trap shut at that.

"Also, why would he want to kill someone he may believe is technically family, other than to keep her out of Shinra hands? How can we can convince Rufus Sephiroth killed the girl, and with what evidence without supplying the body? And lastly, even if Aerith is theoretically 'killed', Rufus would want the body given to the science department anyways; but there wouldn't be one to give him," The Turk Head went on to say, gesticulating as if to blatantly point out the elephant in the room.

Both men sighed simultaneously here, completely at a loss for what to do upon absorbing this. Still, it didn't quite answer one of Zack's earlier questions; and this he couldn't help asking.

"So... you wanted us to look through Sephiroth's files for what, exactly? I'm still not getting that part," the larger man inquired.

"Other than confirmation on his heritage as an Ancient, and to see what Hojo's done to you and Cloud; we wanted to see what data was in these files could've fueled Sephiroth's madness in the first place. His motivations, and what triggered them; as it were. If we can understand it from his point of view, we'd have an easier time selling it to Rufus in the meantime," Tseng went on to say. "-That is to say, should we go along with this plan."

Zack nodded, scratching his head once and moving to stand closer to the desk. "So, what, we do nothing for her in the meantime?" he inquired in a dreary tone that left nothing to the imagination as to what he felt about the impending answer.

Tseng heaved again, his expression rather despondent within itself. When he replied, its in a way that told Zack he felt just as bad about it as he did. "Not until we figure something else out," Tseng said instead. "We could stick with the idea of using Sephiroth as a way of sorting Aerith's situation out, but we need more information on him first. Perhaps doing this will eventually help us work something out. Maybe."

"'Information is an asset; flexibility is a friend, and ambiguity is a Turk's primary weapon of choice'," Zack muttered to himself, upon remembrance of Cissnei's words back in Nibelheim. He straightened up and then asked, "So like, we just have to adapt and build upon what little we find, and go from there. Right? Pretty much improvise-"

Tseng blinked at him, untenting his hands like he was saying 'you won the prize'. "Correct," he blandly replied. "All the while we keep our motivations to ourselves; we don't want outliers like AVALANCHE or other Shinra personnel manipulating scenarios we come across in a way that plays us right into their hands. You'd be surprised just how easy it is to mislead someone with even the most sincerest goals into doing something malevolent."

"...Ain't that the truth."

And beyond that, Zack did his best to come up with one hypothetical after another throughout his stay here. Whenever he thought he had any decent ideas, he wrote them all down; only to toss it away in frustration or for Tseng to reply in the negative. He ended up sitting down and discussing these things with the inscrutable Vincent sometimes too; the times he rarely ever saw him in the tower. Vincent however couldn't offer much himself, and it only frustrated Zack all the more.

Truly, it seemed Aerith's situation grew more hopeless by the day. And this was something Zack couldn't stand tolerating. He knew he wasn't going to rest until he knew how to help her.

Never. Never will he rest until she was safe and sound. Never will he stop plowing forward until he knew she was genuinely happy with her life. Never will he stop until he knew she could smile for real; and not just plaster it on for the sake of others.

That, he swore to uphold.

"Not good."

"Eh- Huh?" Zack shook himself out of his daze, blinking off his reflective stupor.

Hendel's hazel orbs were grim saucers in his round skull; the scrawny man brandishing a clip-board in hand. He passed Zack what seemed to be a piteous once-over; and its something that actually vaguely irritated him. "Your fight with Cloud and Tifa," he began in a small voice. "I don't know which one of 'em was using your chest and ribs for a make-shift sand-bag, but... Well... the damage was reversible and all, thanks to your mako-powered regeneration. But..."

"-'But'?"

"Your condition," Hendel opened up with. "You do realize you have mild to severe Traumatic Pneumothorax, right?"

Zack felt his lips thin, cocking his head at the doc, "You mentioned it before I left Midgar. Right? You said I could heal it off if I took it easy."

"And you didn't," he sounded quite cross here. "With Cissnei monitoring it, it should've died down some and eventually go away; seeing as your last mission should've had little to no combat. However, your pro-active life-style only makes it increasingly impossible for you to heal it off at all," the scrawny doctor stated in dour vexation. He paced around the room some, his woody eyes arrested on his patient, "If you hadn't come back when you did, you would've been experiencing a whole lot more than just a little shortness of breath, chest pain, and whatever else you refuse to admit."

Zack scowled back, but knew the doctor was right.

"Do you realize what I had to do to you when I first put you under? Right after you came back here?" He said in a voice that's not too dissimilar from a scolding parent talking down their bratty, out-of-control kid.

"You said something about air getting trapped in my chest and you having to decompress it-?"

Hendel sighed as if its the most obvious answer ever. "Yes Zack," he drawled. "That's pretty much the gist of it. Seriously though; its no wonder Cissnei's been going gray the entire time she's been out with you."

Zack propped his arms up on a single leg, curling it closer to his vibrantly colored and increasingly more scarred torso.

"Do me a big favor, Zack," continued the doc. "And stay the Hell away from anymore fights. Do you want to slip into a confused delirium and eventually into a coma and die because I couldn't get to you on time?"

"No."

"Do you want me to keep giving you numbing drugs and stick even more tubes in your chest for the rest of your life?"

"No," Zack shifted a bit in his seat, the crumbly paper beneath his rear a rude noise.

"You want a clunky oxygen machine following you around when you're older too?"

"No man! Jeez. I swear I'll be more careful!" Zack dramatically waved his arms, as if to push the whole scenario away.

Hendel clapped him lightly outside the skull with the clip-board, his eyes narrowed. "Then do what I tell you and stop getting mixed up in this bull-shit. I don't care what Tseng says what you should or shouldn't do; because its my word over his. Even he can't tell me what to do when it comes to your well-being, or his for that matter. So if he orders you to get in a scrap with Cloud again-" He harrumphed, "-Just don't fucking do it. You feelin' me?"

"God. Yes, I get it already!"

"I hope you do, 'cuz I don't want to see you in my office again anytime soon. And I mean that in the nicest way possible," Hendel sternly imputed. He turned away and rested the board onto the table, instead reaching for a tiny pack of papers clipped together. "Now, I'm going to prescribe even more crummy meds and mako vials and send you off with these instructions on how to take better care of your body. If you don't adhere to this more carefully, you could very well die where it could've been easily avoidable."

He eyes narrowed even further, "-And since you have both J-Cell Toxicosis and mild-to-severe Traumatic Pneumothorax; plus whatever the heck those Sephiroth cells are doing, its all playing havoc on your weakened body. After Hojo finished tinkered around with it, I'm honestly shocked your immune system hasn't collapsed in on itself by now. Having said that, its fair to say its especially easy for something horrible to happen to you; should you endure anymore stress." He gave these papers to Zack directly, his autumn stare softer this time around, "You have a lotta good friends who want to see you live for Minerva's sake. Cissnei, Tseng, Kunsel, Aerith, your parents, and Cloud too. And me if you can believe it."

The ex-SOLDIER averted his gaze, feeling his shoulders slump heavily.

"So technically, you literally have family, friends, and a woman who loves you who only want what's best for you. That's more things going for you than most people nowadays." Hendel then added with a wistful smile, "And frankly, I couldn't help feeling honored being your personal doctor when Tseng first told me about you. You're probably the most honest person I've ever met. And if you can win over somebody as strict and loyal to the company as Tseng was, then you must be something special."

Zack cocked his head again, wondering where all this praise was coming from. If nothing else, it was out of nowhere; and it sounded borderline personal. He wanted to ask, but he didn't think the smaller individual would be inclined to say, yet. Not while he was still in mother-hen mode.

Hendel's stare was the most serious its been since when Zack first came here days ago, "Now then, I want you to know: Even though I'm wearing this Shinra badge and I still technically work for the company, I support you and Tseng's endeavors fully. Should this all work out, I'd be more than happy to continue on as your doctor in the time even after this. But that also involves you surviving. Get my meaning?"

When the other nodded, Hendel's expression brightened considerably. "Okay then," he nodded. "Do me a solid and make sure to send me texts. Let me know how you're feeling on the daily. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. You know I can verbally walk you through a lesser attack, should Cissnei somehow not be around."

Zack eyed the man somewhat warily, finding all of this personal talk to be weirdly disconcerting, at first. However, Zack deemed himself a fairly good judge of character; and couldn't help noticing the level of sincerity present within the doctor's words. This said, he finally came to the gradual conclusion that Hendel truly did care for his patients. If nothing else, its possible he took the job in Shinra in the first place just to experience the boyish joy of saving someone's life- Not get strung along by Hojo's crazy and emotionally draining escapades.

And seeing as Hendel had laid down hours, days, even weeks of his life just trying to keep Zack alive, he decided that maybe all of this truly was coming from a genuinely good heart. Not unlike Kunsel, or Cloud in a sense. Its a little jarring admittedly; seeing as Zack was used to meeting more deviant or self-centered individuals in Shinra- especially doctors.

"Okay," he finally nodded, realizing that he's taking far too long to answer.

"Good. Now then," Hendel turned towards his computer and typed. Despite this mind-occupying task, he went on to say, "You're free to go. As for your medical report, its going to Cissnei and Tseng; but no one else. Cissnei has to keep an eye on you, and Tseng needs to understand your limits. Otherwise, I'd keep this whole thing just between me and you; as is proper."

"Right," Zack breathed, understanding the reasoning for it. He got to his feet, going to reach for his shirt on the adjacent table. Once he pulled it back on, he asked, "Is there anything else I should know?"

Hendel didn't turn around, keeping his gaze locked onto the computer. "Just promise me you won't go deliberately looking for trouble anymore. And if not me, then at least for your friends. Or your girlfriend."

Zack hung his head, remembering his sworn vow to see Aerith safe. "I can't promise that," he murmured in a tone that betrayed his disconsolate attitude. "However, I can promise to try-"

"...I expected as much. I don't like hearing it, but I suppose it'll do," the medic said in a voice betraying his disappointment. Zack actually felt bad about it in hind-sight. Hendel then turned his attention away from the monitor, his expression soft, "Well then, I guess it just goes to show just how committed you are to Project Septimus, and to Cloud and Aerith in particular. I can only imagine how irritated they're going to be when they see you again though, once they see what you've been putting yourself through."

Zack huffed, his chest a sore patch-work that reminded him of just how debilitating his infirmities are.

"On that note," Hendel gesticulated. His next words were exasperated, "Get on out of here. You're done here until your next visit Midgar- or until you get into another fight. Whatever comes first."

The ex-SOLDIER balled a fist and raised it; his grin weak, but present. After plastering on his best determined face, he said, "Got it. Thanks again for everything, doc. Really."

"If you really wanna thank me, don't come back here so soon," Hendel admonished.

Zack smirked, and then scooped up his papers. After sifting through them in a somewhat worried daze, he turned to Hendel and said, "I'll be seein' ya."

Hendel waved him off, his gaze warm but distant somehow.

The larger man nodded back anyways, lumbering out of the office without a backwards glance. He shut the door, and then headed towards the elevator without actually realizing his feet were naturally guiding him there. He surveyed the papers, but after a few paragraphs he couldn't focus on them anymore. At that point, he was merely seeing them but not quite absorbing any of it.

When he finally found his bed again, he plopped down in it and tossed the paper-clipped and stapled pack on the table beside it. Folding his arms beneath his head, he eyed the ceiling and continued contemplating on how to best help Aerith; but of course, nothing came to mind. It didn't stop him from thinking though; and think he did until he eventually nodded off in the hours to come.

---

~777~

Eventually, the sound of the bed-room door being rapped upon stirred him from his daze; the tapping minute but audible enough to be distracting.

Zack straightened up in his seat, wondering if it was Kunsel again or something. The man had been on Zack's case the whole time he'd been here; but he'd been so happy to see his long-lost friend that Zack had forgiven the irritating aspect about it. Besides, explaining his story to the fellow ex-SOLDIER had been an enduring and stupidly long process; especially since Kunsel has had his own tale to tell before-hand.

For the record, Kunsel's tale had been this:

When Zack had gone missing initially, Kunsel scented bull-shit; and didn't buy any of Shinra's crap once the message announcing Zack's death showed up in his phone. Instead of simply lying low and pretending he had no association with his friend, Kunsel had gone on to investigate what happened; but kept hitting dead-ends thanks to the higher-ups hushing up the whole Nibelheim incident. Kunsel stayed on as a SOLDIER for a while though; knowing his position of power would enable him access to more sensitive Shinra sources.

That's where the Turks came in. Tseng had been ordered to stop Kunsel's investigations; seeing as Shinra loathed having nosy busy-bodies hovering around them like desperate buzzards. There's that, and the fact Kunsel's past association with Zack was deemed potentially dangerous. Tseng was given the order 'Zero-Zero-Dark' for those reasons; but instead of actually enacting upon it as expected, he manipulated the scenario in a way that made it look like he followed through on the order. He made Kunsel disappear; and nobody bothered to investigate his disappearance further seeing as he hadn't been as notable as Zack or the Big Three. He wasn't a high-priority target like Aerith, and the escaped Zack or Cloud. Making him vanish had been a cinch for Tseng.

The door rapped again; stirring Zack from the vague recollection. He yawned and grumped as he creaked to his feet; feeling surprisingly old. He had an irritating migraine now; and he hadn't the slightest idea of where it came from. He was on pain-killers for crying out loud. Like, a metric fuck-ton of them.

I wonder. Is this somehow connected to Cloud-? He internally noted as he trudged his way to the door. Even when he opened it to greet his visitor, still his mind stayed latched onto that thought; finding no other reasoning for it. After all; Vincent had offered just a day ago if the two were connected somehow; especially after he told Vincent he experienced this pain during their excursion outside Runen.

When Cloud had been retelling his story, it hit Zack at that precise second; and not another moment there-after. It was gone as quickly as it came, and only deigned to happen when it seemed Zack (or possibly Cloud) was uncomfortable somehow.

Or maybe he was over-thinking it and its as ridiculous as it sounded. There's no way of knowing for sure until Cloud got treated. Still, it wasn't like he forgot that time he passed out at the same time as Cloud too; so there's that.

"-Eh, hello? Zack?"

The ex-SOLDIER once again blinked off his stupor, realizing he'd been spacing out right there in the doorway. He took in the sight of the rusty-haired girl before him, taking the second to identify her as Cissnei.

"Uh, huh?" He shook himself out of it; but still the migraine remained.

Cissnei's brows rested neatly against her cinnamon eyes, her gaze very much emanating concern on several degrees. At this, Zack was just now realizing how disheveled he must look, but still he ignored this as she inquired uncertainly, "You okay? You don't look so good. And you seem distracted."

Great. I'm officially that obvious to her now.

"Eh... uh... right. Yeah. I'm good," he mumbled, waving it off noncommittally. He stood aside and pushed the door further ajar, "You can come in, ya know."

"Hm."

Cissnei casually strolled in, but her caramel-mocha stare lingered over Zack's countenance the entire time. Zack said nothing to this of course, going to shut the door and skulk his way back to bed. He rubbed his scalp next, yawning and blatantly ignoring the irritating throb of the migraine's effect resting behind his eyes and forehead.

"Somethin' you want?" he asked, hoping he didn't come off as too unfriendly. Although to be honest, he wasn't really up for visitors right now.

Cissnei took her time in replying, pursing her lips and gluing a troubled expression onto her rounded face. "I'm just letting you know Hendel already sent me the details on your recent visit. And uh," she hesitated here. "-Tseng wanted to talk to you about Cloud."

"Why don't he just send a text?" Zack pondered.

"He did. You never answered," Cissnei's eyes flicked to his phone on the beside table; lying in the exact same position its been for the entirety of the day.

"Huh? Oh."

Zack collapsed onto his bed, yanking the charger out of it and flipping it open just to reveal the dozen-and-a-half messages in his notifications; some from Kunsel, a couple from Cissnei, and the rest belonging to the Turk Head himself. He sighed at this, and then shook his head. Fucking hell this is frustrating, he internally groaned as his migraine pulsed again.

And then he realized the time, hard-core eye-balling the clock on his phone and realizing its almost freaking midnight. He left Hendel's office sometime after two or three in the afternoon; so finding out that he slept in to this degree was strange to say the least.

He flinched when he felt a hand on his forehead; watching as Cissnei felt for some sort of fever. When she didn't seem to feel anything different with his temperature, she gave him a cursory inspection that felt like it lasted too long. After a moment or two like this, she clucked her tongue and leveled him a serious look.

"Hm. Maybe we shouldn't go yet."

Zack blinked, feeling his gaze narrow somewhat, "Whaddya mean 'go'? Tseng say somethin'?"

"He had another job for us," she dutifully informed him, despite her apparently inner reservations. "And he wanted to talk to you about what he finally came down to about Cloud and you; based upon the results Hendel brought him earlier today."

Must've been after I fell asleep. Man that Hendel doesn't waste any time though.

Zack put his phone back down, his expression hardening. "Alright then. I'll get my shit packed and-"

"No."

"Who-bit-tee what now?"

Cissnei shook her head again, her inner-most emotions strangely open this time around. No cryptic stares, no coy commentary, no fondly irritated and half-hearted scowls. She just stood there, her arms suddenly before her and no longer hidden behind her back. If anything, one had wondered to the other; clasping her forearm like she wanted to hug herself but didn't. Its a gesture Zack saw rarely; if at all. He could probably count on a tonberry's hand just how many times he saw this throughout all of his years in knowing her (not including the five where he was absent).

She shook her head, suddenly unable to meet his brilliant gaze, "I don't like this. I don't feel comfortable with going back out there with you hurting so bad." Her down-trodden gaze deepened, "I know its probably not so bad most times, but in conjunction with the J-Cell sickness and the exhausting nature of our work on the side... I just don't like this. You're not any better than when Hendel first released you."

Zack flapped his mouth at her, wondering what and where the Hell this was all coming from. "Sis-" he started, not at all understanding this coiling mass of nope wriggling its way through his innards.

He suddenly recalled her odd, emotional explosion back at Runen; quickly landing upon the one thing about it that struck him as most peculiar: It was like she's been internalizing all of her worst ticks; bottling up the most complicated and possibly misunderstood feelings for the sake of her mission throughout her years- and especially most recently. However, when she saw Zack creep back into his room that night in Runen, with Cissnei finding out just how injured he was, the girl had exploded.

Not explode in a way that's absolutely uncharacteristically crazy or truly epic; but in a self-contained, stifling, barely muzzled way that told Zack she's been doing this for a very long time. He quickly noted just how unhealthy this was; and internally wondered if he'd been merely adding onto the emotional garbage she no doubt slugged around. This thought made Zack feel immediately guilty; his brain bringing him back to Hendel's words just earlier today.

Cissnei shook her head once, and then released her arm; only to fold both across her breast. "I- I've been quiet about it, but even Kunsel had noticed," she mumbled, her words directing Zack's wavering attention back onto herself. "He already knows you're not well; and aren't improving. And with what I saw in the report, I can't say I haven't been considering not going at all."

Zack surveyed her carefully, wondering on to how best reply in this situation. If he didn't know better, he could swear she was in a mentally vulnerable place right now.

"Cissnei," he tried, keeping his tone low but firm. "I'm fine... Really. I just need to keep staying low is all. I just don't feel great now 'cuz I was stupid, like you said-"

"Then why don't you stay here a little longer?" she interrupted with just the slightest edge in her tone. "You and I both know its better for you; Hendel can keep looking after you-"

He rested both arms on his knees, keeping his oceanic gaze perfectly level with her own, "Cissnei. You and I both know that's not how it works. I can't sit around for that long; especially considering the shit Shinra's been pulling. I just don't have that luxury." He heaved, "I know its gonna sound corny, but I can't wait around for every injury to heal while Cloud, Aerith, and the rest are still running around with Hell on their heels. If I can do something about it, then I damn well will."

The girl's expression darkened several shades, but then her head lowered enough so that she's no longer meeting Zack's eyes. She relented, but she didn't seem happy about it.

At this, Zack couldn't help feeling absolutely terrible, but he knew it also couldn't be helped. He took that second to breathe; gathering his thoughts so he could best supply her the answer she may be looking for. "You were right in telling me I should be picking my fights more wisely," he tried this time. "Truth be told, even Hendel and Angeal in the past lectured me about it."

Cissnei wrinkled her nose again, looking very much like she had more to say.

Zack didn't let her, of course. Instead, he went on, "I understand this much: There's a big difference in me being part of a fight, or avoiding one in general. As I understand it, you want me to do a better job in staying out of them." He gesticulated here, waving a hand once, "I told Hendel this, and so I'm gonna tell ya now: I promise I'll do better in picking my fights. However, if push comes to shove and I actually get involved in one, I'm giving it my all; no matter what."

He leaned towards her, so to better meet her expression, "You do it too; you don't back away from a fight if it boils right down to it. You'd gladly give yourself up for a Turk brother or sister, no matter what condition you're in. Am I wrong in that assumption?"

"...No," Cissnei sighed, sounding strangely like a child that's just lost a fight with their bigger and more sensible sibling.

Zack suddenly reached over, placing a gentle hand on Cissnei's russet scalp and ruffling it somewhat. He managed to properly catch her eye this time; keeping her gaze locked in place with his own while adding a toothy smirk on the side. "Look," he began again, not bothering to sever the contact between his palm and her head. "I'm telling ya; I won't go picking fights I can't win. If it really boiled down to it, I'll absolutely avoid them. But if someone's life is on the line, like yours or Aerith's or Cloud's, or even Tseng's-"

He smirked even more brightly here, "-Then I'm gonna get involved, and I'm gonna give it everything I got. If I didn't, I'd think you would've seen it reflected in my track record throughout my service history more often." He finally released her then, hands resting on his knees, "I can't half-ass a fight; and I know you certainly don't. You understand why, right?"

The girl nodded, her expression morose but incrementally harder than it was before.

"Okay then. I guess I've said my peace," Zack scratched his head, getting to his feet next. He then stepped around her, reaching for his previously discarded duffel and satchels. "I'm gonna get ready for the job. While we're out, I promise-" He threw her another backwards glance, "-If you're really that worried, then I'll do better in trying to stay out of the thick of it. I won't take anymore unnecessary risks. If a fight looks hopeless and there's nothing to gain from it, I won't stay in it. However, I can't extend that promise if someone else's life is in danger. Understand?"

Cissnei kept her gaze leveled elsewhere, her amber coals for eyes locked onto Zack's rumpled bed. Her shoulders were slumped, her arms keeping their folded position across her chest. Eventually, she released a pent-up breath and dragged her eyes shut; as if coming to terms with something.

"...Alright," she breathed, finally letting her arms drop to her sides. "I guess I can't ask for more."

She said that in a way that seemed more like a resigned obligation; not a willing choice to be made. Zack of course didn't think that would do; so he immediately settled upon a bolder approach that's a little different than his usual way of assuring someone. His expression flickered, and then he was right there within her bubble quicker than he can think twice. Cissnei jerked at this, not at all expecting the sudden invasion of her well-established personal space-

And then he's pulling the tiny woman close; hugging her as he would any intimate, long-time friend. And seeing as she's saved his life on more than just a few occasions, and had shown devoted willingness in putting him above her entire life's work; how could he not?

He moved one arm over her shoulders, and another around her head; as he would if she were in a dangerous situation and he had to protect her from it, for once. Her warmth was this slight, fragile presence; barely passing her tux and betraying just how small she was. Like a candle that just couldn't burn hot enough; flickering meekly in a bitter, Northern-chill that threatened to smother it. Being head and shoulders taller than she only continued to cement this fact; the girl being pretty even with his chest.

Cissnei's surprise couldn't be more evident; especially with the rigid way she held herself. Zack could tell just from the feel of this hold that she wasn't used to this kind of contact at all. If nothing else, he couldn't help wondering how often she got a hug or some other sign of affection from her familiars- Something as snug as a simple, very basic, very human embrace. The most he's ever seen was Tseng willingly patting her shoulder and smiling in a way he's never once witnessed.

The more he thought about it, the more he thought about giving her hugs like this if no one else was doing it. Hell; Zack wasn't above hugs. He actually loved them, in hind-sight. To be honest, he never got the chance to give them often after he joined SOLDIER; he'd been mostly surrounded by a bunch of pig-headed meat-shields with a god complex in that time. The last recipient of his hugs were a comatose Cloud and Aerith before him. Angeal was the last one even before that. He'd gotten something like this from Kunsel just a little more recently too, but more often than not, Zack ended up getting hugged more or less by dudes than gals. Its not that he didn't appreciate it, but sometimes it was just weird- especially for a self-proclaimed chick-magnet stud like himself.

So why not give one to Cissnei? Every person deserved a good one, right? Especially a girl who tried her damnedest to see he was okay every day; or covered his ass if Shinra came sniffing around. And with that particular thought hitting him, he couldn't help the jump in his throat; somewhat glad Cissnei couldn't see it right this instance. His hold marginally strengthened; his jaw clenching once and releasing just as swiftly.

After some terse seconds in this strange mental limbo, Cissnei seemed to remember herself. Considering Zack wasn't going to let go until she did something, the smaller girl could only oblige; albeit with sheer reluctance. She moved almost mechanically; as if she didn't know where to place her own limbs. Eventually, both arms found their way around his waist; her grip as uncertain as if she's treading thin ice. When another moment passed after this, her hold became stronger; and the clumsy grip became a desperate vice that betrayed her innermost gratitude. The end result was a snug hold that certainly perked up both she and himself.

Once he felt some sort of long, severely drawn-out breath escape her, he knew he finally managed to break through somewhere. He didn't what or where exactly, but its progress he couldn't help inwardly fist-pumping over. He dipped his head down some, his next words audible only this close.

"...Don't worry so much for me. Worry about yourself once in a while," he murmured, breath ruffling the rogue strands atop her head. "Sometimes, I can't help wondering about how you deal with the shit you do on the daily. Frankly, I don't wanna be losing anymore friends nowadays. If nuthin' else-" He sighed again, his chest heavier than usual, "They're in pretty short supply. You know what I mean?"

He felt a slow nod, her arms tightening again once before he felt her gradually (begrudgingly?) release them. Sensing the moment was over, he hesitantly obliged and stepped away as well. He kept her gaze though as he went on, jabbing a pointed finger next, "And I promise I'll do better. But you gotta promise me somethin' too!"

"Hm?" Cissnei tilted her head some; but not by much. She was probably picking this up from him for all he knew.

Zack kept his finger elevated as he said, "Promise me you'll take better care of yourself? That you'll remember to take it easy once in while. You work so damn hard that its freakin' irritating." He shook his head as if to tut at her, "You're always tired, always stressed, and the first person you worry about is usually me; which is flatterin' and all, but it works both ways: What I do to make you worry on a daily basis is pretty much what you're doin' to me too. Get my meaning?"

"I do," she nodded, arms behind her back.

Zack jabbed it again, this time more furiously, "I mean it; I'm holding you to that. You're gonna watch out for yourself too. Right?"

"Right," she gently smiled.

"Don't be sayin' that just to appease me."

"I'm not," she asserted.

"Okay then. Now we're cooking with actual fire here," he cockily smirked, feeling much better than he did before she'd come in. If anything, his own worn nerves felt as if a healing balm had been rubbed all over them; his grin much more vividly brighter than its been since seeing Kunsel for the first time in years. He felt himself; and that couldn't have cheered him more.

By now, her own current smirk wasn't her coy, false, or playful one; its something else entirely. His best approximation of it was earnestly affectionate; and he couldn't help smirking over it himself as he realized he succeeded in making her feel better. Even just a little bit.

"'Kay then, lemme get dressed a bit more properly and get my stuff together. I can meet you in his highness's office," he chortled, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

Cissnei giggled back; the sound demure but sincere. Zack hadn't heard something like that since that one time he made her genuinely laugh back in Nibelheim. Internally, he couldn't help wondering if he can get her to do this more often.

"Alright," she finally relented. "I'll see you in a minute, then."

"Cool."

He watched her glide over to the door and open it; but just as she was about to walk through, he couldn't help jerking as a passing thought smacked him outside the head. He gasped and dramatically threw his hands up in shock. At this, Cissnei jumped in place and whirled around herself.

"Zack? What is it?"

"Oh. My. God! Cissnei!"

"What?" She came back towards him, her expression darkening.

"It just hit me," he suddenly blurted.

"For the love of all things good, just spit it out already," she pressed.

"I finally have some bad-ass names for my blades!" he giddily exclaimed, waving his fists like a child in a candy shop.

Cissnei's jaw flapped open, slammed back closed, and then she threw one of Zack's shirts (which was lying on the floor in a rumpled heap) right at his stupid face. "Great Minerva, you had me thinking its something serious!" she grumped, her expression however was part-way half-hearted; despite her harsh tone.

"I didn't mean to scare ya!" He pulled off the wadded up article and threw it in his bag, not caring if it needed a wash for the moment. "It hit me just like that, that's all!"

Cissnei harrumphed, shook her head, and whirled on her heel. She puffed her way to his door and was shutting it before Zack could get another word in after her.

"Hey! Wait a sec! Didn't you want to hear the names?" He barked, snorting gustily after her. "They're pretty frickin' cool!"

---

~777~

After Zack finished up his packing, he trudged his way to the Turk Head's office; feeling a little apprehensive despite the man being his friend.

Inwardly, he knew Tseng's words couldn't be good; and it never usually was. And with his seemingly urgent desire to talk about his accumulated results from Hendel's extensive testing, there's no doubt that Zack would receive this about as elegantly as he did when he first learned about the chip in his head. Worse yet, Zack knew Hendel couldn't be all the way done in just four days; and he knew there would be far more yet to come. Give or take a couple more weeks.

Without much eagerness or ceremony, Zack entered the office with his spare clothes (and Aerith's STILL unopened letters) slugged over his shoulder already. His mask was in place, his weapons equipped, and his armored bracers a reassuring weight on his forearms. He kept his gaze as expression-less as possible; having not bothered with the goggles for the moment.

Tseng looked up, having Vincent, Kunsel, and the certainly more cheered Cissnei standing around his table. Cissnei passed him her best approximation of smile; but the strained quality about it told Zack enough immediately. He nodded at her though, and then seated himself in the vacant swivel in front of the desk. Cissnei and Kunsel were at his sides, whilst Vincent hovered over by the wall; leaning coolly against the dark, featureless space.

And as soon as Tseng opened his mouth, everyone was immediately emotionally invested.

"Hojo has been sighted," he began in his best business tone, poker mask sewn solidly in place. "Headed for the Northern Rocket Port two hours away from Rocket Town itself."

Zack was almost on his feet again at this; but forced himself to keep seated anyways seeing as he knew he'd only get too excited by this news. Beside him, Cissnei was thankfully asking for him, "Are you sending us after him?"

"I could, but you'll miss him by the time you get there," Tseng shook his head gravely. "However, Septimus himself is personally on him as we speak, alongside Freyra. For the record, Zack," he leveled the ex-SOLDIER a more direct stare, seeing the passing flicker of confusion in the other's azure gaze. "Freyra is my best head-hunter within the out-laying Turk operatives. She's been doing this her whole life actually; even before joining the Turks. So if anyone can track him down, its her. In fact, she's the one who saw Hojo and relayed the information."

"How?" Zack rasped through his respirator.

"As an outside member who doesn't get paid for her services, Freyra has a job as a steward on the trains going between Rocket town and the other towns surrounding it. She keeps an eye on any suspicious individuals who board them; and will let Septimus or me know directly," he shrugged helplessly next. "However, she can't personally apprehend them until after they get off; seeing as it'll cause too much commotion. She gets paid to serve them while they're on the train; not wrestle them down and blow her cover."

"Oh."

Tseng then lifted his chin, his expression briefly smug but proud, "I trust her Intel completely, alongside her instincts. She can keep on a target if they stick out too much; and seeing as she's blazingly passionate about it, you can't deny the results she's garnered us in the past. She'll definitely keep tabs on Hojo for the time being."

Zack noticed Cissnei's expression shift; the look almost gleeful to him. He found it strange seeing something like this on her, but he took this as a good sign. All things considered, he couldn't help feeling the same; and he had no doubt Vincent shared in this sentiment.

"Now then, as good as this news is, it won't be long before Freyra gets her man," Tseng went on in an almost bored tone. "Which is both good, and somewhat bad in a way. Once she has him, he'll be given to Septimus first and foremost for interrogation. However, Sir won't be able to hold onto the man long before he has to do something about him..." He sighed here, "Hojo will probably end up seeing Septimus' identity, or discover the Sect's existence. We can't pass Hojo along to the Turks within the company if that happens; as he'll tell Rufus about us once the president learns we had him first."

"But if you don't relinquish his custody," Vincent spoke up this time, surprising Zack somewhat. "-And end up consequentially killing him for seeing Septimus and the project close-up, Rufus will be angry the Turks failed in capturing him."

Zack's jaw flopped open, realizing the repercussions of this.

Tseng bobbed his shoulders, hands keeping their tented position in front of him. "It can't be helped," he sighed. "We're stuck between a rock and a hard place in this one; should Freyra succeed or fail."

"On that note, it sounds like you'd have to let him go for now," Cissnei wondered aloud.

"Now I didn't say that," Tseng informed her. "I'm afraid we just can't let Hojo go; seeing as the next time he appears, he'd be most likely willingly giving himself up to the authorities. The Septimus Sect wouldn't have been able to extract the information we needed regarding his project on Cloud and Zack; and then what we've all worked towards will be for nothing."

The Turk stood then; going to meander around his desk again. Zack was quickly learning that this was some sign of a nervous tick; or something akin to it. "And when that happens," continued Tseng grimly. "Should Rufus get a hold of Hojo and extract what he wants from him, given Hojo relents at all, he'll end up telling the president of Sephiroth's lack of relation to Aerith. And when that eventually comes to pass-"

"HOLY SHIT AERITH'S LIFE WILL BE IN DANGER!" Zack roared right then; immediately on his feet at this revelation.

"Yes," the Turk Head quickly confirmed; ever the master of dead-pan.

Zack spun around on his feet; wondering why he wasn't on a helicopter and half-way to Aerith already. He paced around, his emotions near-boiling point already.

"Now, considering we're now on a timed clock," The dark-haired Turk elaborated, gaining Zack's attention again. "I've settled on letting Septimus and Freyra capture Hojo anyways; before Rufus knows anything about it. They'll come to him disguised; and hopefully he won't be able to identify them as part of the Turks or ex-Shinra. Hojo will be blinded and apprehended accordingly, but he may eventually figure out the Septimus Project's existence in the following interrogation anyways; considering the nature of the questions that will be posed."

He circled his desk completely by now; moving past the group and migrating his way to his gigantic, panoramic window over-looking the vast majority of Midgar's streets. "That said, we'll have no choice but to make a hasty decision; whether to kill him, or hand him to us here in the main Turk branch. And then, Rufus will see we've got him, but he'll learn what we've been doing behind his back; even if Hojo never figured out Project Septimus."

"So, what're you going to do?" Kunsel asked, looking just as worried about this as any of them.

Tseng's fingers were loosely intertwined behind his back; so Zack was clearly able to see the nervous roll of his digits like they wanted to tap a dance on a flat surface. "Admittedly, I don't know," he began again; only this time his words struck fear in all those present. "All I know is that should Rufus decide he'd much rather kill us off than give us another chance, I suppose we'll have to defect from Shinra. I've accepted that, as had Reno when I talked to him last."

Cissnei's slack-jawed expression couldn't be more obvious; the girl by now standing ram-rod straight with the very primal definition of fear within her gaze.

"I've decided though, if all else fails, we'll kill him and claim it was an accident," Tseng drawled, almost like he's talking about the weather. "-Like what happened with Ifalna fourteen years ago."

"Do you really think that'll be a passable excuse?" Vincent inquired, his guttural growl marginally concerned.

Another shrug, "Probably not, which brings us back to the original idea of us defecting." Tseng turned around and returned to his seat, hands tenting together again. "Although admittedly, we do have another solution to all this."

"Then why didn't you just say so sooner?" Zack angrily snarled, feeling his heart fall right back out of his enlarged and partially dried out throat. His respirator had felt too tight around his face; his migraine flaring up again after his initial reception of this information.

The Turk dipped his head at his friend, repentant of making him feel so on edge. "I wanted to be clear about the stakes involved before I said more. As soon as we understand the risks, only then can we proceed." His slate-gaze turned flinty suddenly, "Zack, do you remember us talking about having Sephiroth pose as a would-be murderer for Aerith?"

The mention of this portent certainly garnered the attention of everyone in that room; all sets of eyes switching between the aforementioned ex-SOLDIER and his superior.

"Yeah?" What about it?" He asked while folding his arms.

"I've decided we can probably simply kill off Hojo using Sephiroth as a realistic and likely scapegoat," he matter-of-factly imputed. "-Seeing that Sephiroth would've seen the research relating to his birth, and Hojo's blatantly obvious involvement in it- Plus what I've already deliberately funneled to Rufus; we can easily convince the president Sephiroth finally came upon Hojo and killed him out of vengeance. And seeing as Sephiroth is presumably not mentally stable, I don't think the president will argue with the insane, genocidal and murderous intentions Sephiroth's already established having."

Zack blinked, nodding approvingly at this. Cissnei and the others reacted very similarly as well; seemingly agreeing whole-heartedly to the suggestion. Vincent didn't move, but his eyes glinted in a way Zack couldn't quite miss.

"With this fiction established," Tseng droned on, "I think I can almost safely say, we can even use this development to help Aerith too."

"Wha- How- Really?" Zack lowered his arms, feeling his spirits lift somewhat. He knew Tseng well-enough by now to know he shouldn't get his hopes up too much though.

"Hm."

"But- wait a sec here," Cissnei started this time. Already, she'd wrapped her whip-smart mind around the Hojo-related aspect of the situation. Its likely she even figured how it could tie in with Aerith as well. With a hand under her chin, she said, "-I thought we don't know if any of the Sephiroth sightings we're getting are legit? How can we convince Rufus the real Sephiroth killed Hojo? Or Aerith for that matter?"

"Hopefully, his motivations I'd think would be proof enough," Tseng in-toned. "Sephiroth has a personal stake in this, considering Hojo's actions towards him ever since before his birth and well into his adult-hood. Perhaps we can even establish the additional mis-information that this was, in fact, the real Sephiroth and direct Rufus to keep going after him and not AVALANCHE. It'll take the heat and the spot-light off of them long enough to give us some breathing room to deal with them. And while we're at it-" He actually smiled here, "I think we can finally lead Rufus into thinking-"

"-That the real Sephiroth is really interested in killing Aerith too!" Zack excitedly boomed, pumping both fists in unrestrained joy. The tonal shift in this conversation had completely turned-around here; filling Zack's veins with a thrill he couldn't control.

"Perhaps," Tseng nodded, keeping his reserved expression in place. "Not that we still have a fool-proof way of selling that possibility, yet."

"Is it possible that through this meeting, Hojo could've willingly told Sephiroth he isn't a true Ancient?" Zack tried instead, his words nearly jumbled thanks to that aforementioned thrill.

"I'm not entirely sure if he's willing to do so unless he's trying to enrage Sephiroth on purpose," Tseng shrugged. "Whether or not the situation is hypothetical."

Zack snapped his fingers, muttering "Damn" right after.

"-If nothing else, Sephiroth could possibly figure this out for himself after engaging Cloud and the others at some point-" Tseng offered instead. "-Not counting the encounter on the ship though, seeing as we all know that Sephiroth was a fake. However, if we can get that bump out of the way, we could also probably say Sephiroth came after the girl just to spite Cloud; who we know bested him several years ago."

"So," Cissnei placed a thoughtful hand on her chin. "-If we can tell Rufus Sephiroth learned about Aerith's heritage through a believable meeting with Cloud, then the whole scenario will have almost all its set-up. Right?"

"Man my brain hurts," Kunsel grumbled.

"You and me both, buddy," Zack shrugged at him.

"That may sound feasible, but will it be enough?" Vincent queried while keeping his own arms folded. "Say you carried out the ludicrous idea of sending a fake Sephiroth to 'kill' Aerith right before her friends' eyes to further cement the illusion- how can that possibly work if you don't have the real deal? And who the hell could even pose as him to begin with?"

"Ah. All good questions," Tseng smugly replied, his composed demeanor completely glaring. Zack had never seen the man like this before, honestly. "-And they all have one, good answer. Allow me to finally get into the main focus of our entire conversation."

The man went into his desk and pulled out a drawer; the clattering of a tiny, glass-like object becoming audible with the motion. Zack already had a pretty good idea of what he's about to see by the mere sound of it; but still his excitement refused to be abated as he witnessed Tseng draw out a very plain-looking magic materia. The green orb shone brilliantly in his palm; as innocuous, unblemished, and unassuming as any crystallized gem Zack has ever seen.

"What you're looking at is the first and only working proto-type of its kind," The Turk elaborated in a serious manner. "I have a small bunch of these in our weapons hangar in the basement here, but none of them work. Zack, you probably remember seeing the jelly-materia when I first out-fitted you, yes?"

Zack blinked and cocked his head, indeed recalling the many failed attempts at materia fusion in the secret basement below. He remembered the eerie sensation of that one summon materia, the one that emanated toxic gas, and the one that had a constant discharge of violent electricity. As for the jelly-one, he couldn't recall what that formerly was before its fusion.

Seeing the recognition in his gaze, Tseng nodded and went on, "Nobody knows about this brand new, and finally successful crystal; except for the developer who fused this. As it is, the man agreed to not speak a word of this materia to Scarlet; as he knew it would be too powerful in her hands. He also made the majority of the materia the Turks and Zack are currently using; so he understands the secrecy involved. I trust in his work, and in his loyalty; seeing as he's a man even Septimus hired on personally some years back. That said-"

He lifted the gem until its eye-level with himself, but still his serious expression remained fixed in place, "This thing you're looking at is also still experimental. Meaning, whatever other effects or limits it has are largely unexplored. Moreover, producing this took a great deal of resources that can't be replicated in mass production; so its not like Scarlet can make these even if she did learn about it." He threw the orb once in the air and caught it, his stony gaze belying the twisted amusement glittering within his beetle-black eyes. He was enjoying milking the suspense here; as in visibly happy about the secret little weapon he had.

"As to what this does... well, I think its best to demonstrate," he informed them. "And yes, before any of you ask, I did say its experimental. But potential risks aside, from what we did find out about this thing, it functions as it should. So do not worry about any back-lash for the time-being." He then brandished the materia, holding out as if to mutely say "Behold"; and then he balled his fist. The gem fused with his body, disappearing into his arm as he put it behind his back.

And then Zack visually understood why this thing was so dangerous.

What it did, well, it couldn't be explained easily. But if he could look back upon this day in the distant future and describe this moment to anyone listening into this story, it was in these words:

Tseng's face practically melted; but it didn't do exactly that either. It almost shimmered; his features as distorted as a reflection in rippling water. And then, his hair shortened and lightened considerably with each flickering wave of the materia's effect. His eyes did very much something similar, Zack looking on in helpless shock as Tseng's familiar slate-gray and hooded gaze continued to brighten until he was staring at a color almost its total polar opposite-

Light blue, to be precise.

Everyone in the room, Vincent included, were now standing completely breathless with weighty surprise as they stood eye-to-eye with Rufus fucking Shinra of all things. Or rather, his doppelganger: He still wore Tseng's black tux and possessed the same height, but its unmistakably his face sitting on top of the Turk's shoulders. In fact, he even chuckled; the sound almost exactly matching the president's iconically more arrogant harrumph.

"Well then," he began in his usual, prim and eerily calm monotone. "I suppose I can consider your flabbergasted expressions a way of knowing the materia worked."

"Whaaaaaaaaa-" Zack garbled, his words barely above baby-babbling.

Cissnei slapped a hand against her temple, her amber eyes wider than platters. "Great Gaia be merciful- What the fuck-?"

Kunsel and Vincent spared no words themselves, choosing instead reserved silence and stupefied staring.

Tseng actually chuckled again, and it unnerved his audience with its believability. He then meandered around his desk, keeping Rufus's smug smirk glued on his face, "As you should know, this over-powered gem was formerly ordinary Transform materia. It no longer has these original spells, but its not really needed for the mission ahead. With extensive experimentation, it became Shape-Shift upon successful creation." His tone become stiffer as he went on, " And as you would expect, it does have a few drawbacks: I can't maintain this illusion for more than two minutes, for instance. Maybe three on a good day and a decent cup of coffee. The draw on my stamina however, even now its near debilitating."

And as if on cue, the president's mask vanished before them, leaving only a haggard Turk in his place. He actually had to stop and breathe here, taking the moment to gather himself and sit back in his swivel chair. Once he was comfortable, he willed the materia back into solid being; letting the orb emerge from his palm again.

He spared the crowd a tired glance, his smile still present unbelievably, "Should anyone use this for too long, they'll inevitably pass out from sheer exhaustion. The illusion it casts is actually tangible; but its also localized. Meaning, you can't use it to cover your entire body." He huffed again, his expression dimmer, "As an example, if I were to use this to make myself appear like Zack here, the effect wouldn't be as convincing. I would have your face, but my height and weight wouldn't change or shift enough to have your same muscle mass. However, due to Rufus being my equal in terms of basic average size, I can mimic his appearance nearly flawlessly."

He suddenly tossed the materia to Zack; shocking the latter in the process. The ex-SOLDIER nearly fumbled it, playing hot-potato with it being finally settling. Zack darted glances between it and he; his brain slowly ticking back to normal function.

Seeing his shock still hasn't quite subsided, Tseng went on to say, "In case you haven't already figured it out, yes: The effect tickles too; and its not really in a pleasant way. At the very least, its not painful." He chuckled yet again next, "It took us quite a while to finally make it so that it didn't just permanently disfigure your face for life and leave a painful mess."

Zack wanted to drop it suddenly; as if half-expecting it to bite his hands off. Suddenly, he heard an "OH!" and couldn't help focusing his attention Cissnei, whose hands were both covering her mouth.

"I get it now," she reverently started. "You want Zack to use this, right? To turn into Sephiroth and carry out the illusion of killing Aerith or Hojo?"

"Da fuck-?" Zack sputtered.

"That's precisely what I have in mind," Tseng confirmed. "And seeing as he's had more training in endurance, he can make the effect last twice as long than when I use it. I think physically speaking, the only person whose able to mirror Sephiroth's might or get as close to it as possible is Zack here. If I'm not mistaken, you've even trained with Sephiroth a few times, yes?"

"I... Eh... Yeah... I did-? But- I'm not-"

"I know this is a demanding and daunting task," Tseng calmly asserted before Zack could choke out a proper response. "-Especially since it'll no doubt put you at risk at some point. But other than Kunsel here, I literally don't have any other person of former SOLDIER affiliation who can do this. No one else alive other than Hojo knows Sephiroth's quirks and can replicate the illusion nearly half as well. As an example, Kunsel's never trained with Sephiroth; and doesn't know his patented Octaslash. He isn't as physically large either."

Kunsel sighed, as if feeling put-out by this whole plan.

"Frankly, I'd much rather have him do this than ask you," Tseng admitted, his gaze harder than it was before. "-Especially considering the lecture I got from Hendel regarding your health. But if I wasn't confident that you'd know how to escape a bad-enough situation, I wouldn't have bothered you with this. You've been under enough duress lately as it is."

Zack finished reclaiming his composure; shaking his head and then jabbing a finger at Tseng rather harshly. "Look man," he tartly replied. "If you comment on my 'condition' like everyone has been doin', I'm gonna flip this fucking desk over and throw it out your expensive-ass window. I've heard that word enough times this week."

The Turk merely chuckled at him, "Think you can break bullet-proof glass that can actually also repel materia-based magics and SOLDIER-level temper tantrums?"

"Oh ho boy," Zack threw up his arms, briefly forgetting he had the tiny, emerald gem glinting innocently in his hand. "You wanna put a bet on it?"

The other shrugged it off, "Alright. I'll refrain from using the word again. Anyways-" He untented his hands and held them up in submissive acceptance. "As I was saying, I want Zack to pose as Sephiroth, but I'm letting Cissnei spear-head this operation; seeing as she'll actually be on sight and able to aptly judge whether or not to enact on this. I can't formulate a proper plan that'll remain flexible enough to tackle whatever growing development happens around the situation- and whether Zack will be physically capable of pulling it off on a decent day."

"I... huh?" Cissnei blinked. "Sir, you can't be serious-?"

"I am," Tseng told her, his gaze lingering over she. "You have the experience for it, and the best judgement. Besides Mr. Valentine here, of course."

Cissnei looked positively taken aback, her mouth working but no sound coming out. Eventually, she said, "What about Reno? Or Rude for that matter? Those two have far more experience than I do, and they're part of the Project too-"

"Make no mistake," the elder Turk replied. "Those two are sufficiently experienced enough to guide you along, should you need it. However, they have their own jobs to worry about right now; and they're helping me keep Rufus pacified. If you really think you need the help though, you're free to ask. But keep in mind-" He spared Cissnei a warm stare that matched the one he had when he first told her about his promotion; his gaze fleetingly warmer, "I also confide in your extended experience and situational judgement to be more than enough. I can't say it may go off without a hitch, but that's what you have Reno, Rude, Sir, and even Vincent here for; should you have any remaining reservations. Understand?"

Cissnei's mouth claimed shut, her expression steeled.

"Excellent. Now then," Tseng faced the rest of the group, his eyes focused almost solely on Zack in this instance; who was by now pocketing the materia for future use. "-I only have one more thing to add this conversation; and its a topic I wanted to save for last. After that, you, Cissnei and may depart for your next mission."

"Eh-" Zack raised a pointer finger at him, confused as to what the mission was specifically. Sure, Tseng had gone on at great length describing how to deal with Hojo and Aerith, but he never explicitly told Zack what he's doing exactly.

Seeing this, Tseng immediately clarified, "Cissnei will give you the run-down beyond this point. I already told her what you three should do. From hence-forth, she's taking charge of this mission entirely."

Zack passed his other friend a glance, "And Kunsel? What about 'im?"

"Kunsel's got another assignment to get on. I'll be guiding him there myself," Tseng pointed out.

"Ah. So, what, you're a part of this now?" Zack inquired as he folded his arms.

Kunsel puffed out his chest, his leafy green gaze jovial. "Tseng's already gotten Septimus' permission to let me be a part of this operation. I'm officially a member of the Septimus Sect!"

Of course he is. He never did learn how to keep his nose to himself, he internally sighed. Still, Zack grinned at him anyways; even high-fiving him next.

Tseng then interjected with, "I don't mean to spoil the good mood, but I wanted to briefly go over Cloud before you go, as I've originally intended. Again, its brief due to lack of profound details; and Hendel's still analyzing the samples you supplied."

Yup. Been wondering when he'd dive right back into the doom and gloom crap, Zack almost groaned aloud. After everything else he's faced so far, Zack was almost positive he'd be prepared for whatever horrid portent Tseng was about to share. Still, he kept his wits about him anyways.

"From what Hendel managed to scratch up," Tseng opened up with. "I think its safe to say that the amount of Sephiroth's cells in both Zack and Cloud's respective bodies tell us he's never lost his interest in understanding Sephiroth's strength; nor his general resilience against J-Cells in general. And even though both were part of the same project, Cloud has significantly far more of these cells in his body than Zack does. Perhaps, even thrice as much."

The room was real quiet now; without a sign of interruption to be seen. Zack even felt that lump in his throat come back with a vengeance; the sensation restricting his breathing suddenly.

"Thanks to those packets retrieved from Nibelheim, the extensive research on Zack's blood and the baseline its established, alongside what can be glimpsed of Cloud's own samples thus far; Hendel believes that the project was to actually replicate Sephiroth or his abilities in general in other individuals," Tseng went on in the driest, but most severe tone ever. "Another Copy project, like Genesis and Angeal."

"Wha- why would he do that...?" Zack pressed, certainly recalling Genesis' words back in Nibelheim five years ago. "And for that matter, how the heck did he even succeed? Last I checked, it shouldn't be possible for Hojo to do that!"

"No, but this is Hojo we're dealing with," Tseng shrugged. "That man's obsessive and rather fanatical desire to seek different truths other the ones everyone else has accepted has always driven him to heights deemed impossible by normal law. He isn't afraid to speak these truths either; once he knows he can back them and if he feels the timing is right. Considering his compulsive mannerisms, we can safely say Hojo's able to achieve through science in just a few, short years what Gast has spent his entire career searching for."

Tseng reclined in his chair, hands seated on his lap, "He always was too brilliant for his own good. And I suppose its to be expected: Its no secret he's been obsessed over the concept of Jenova cells and their effects in others after Sephiroth's birth. I suppose since he had access to so many 'research' materials after Nibelheim's burning, he was able create these Sephiroth duplicates successfully; seeing as the thing on the boat wasn't him."

This bomb-shell immediately curdled Zack's nerves; his fists balling at his sides and his heart leaping where its never gone before. "N-No," he stuttered. "You don't think... that the villagers... the Nibelheim citizens... Tifa's dad for fuck's sake-"

Vincent's burgundy eyes flashed; glittering almost malevolently within the gloomy lighting of the room. "The townsfolk-" he croaked out in that distinctive growl of his; the sound distorted by his own budding shock and fury. "Both dead, and alive-?"

Tseng's expression couldn't have been the better definition of granite-like; his gaze stonier than the subject in comparison. "Perhaps," he breathed, his tone lacking any inflection whatsoever. "-He transfigured all the bodies recovered into these duplicates we're seeing now; with the outstanding exception of Cloud and Zack. Zack's natural resilience and core training as SOLDIER gave him immunity from the worst of the project, but Cloud... I think it broke him somehow-"

Zack's armored fists slammed onto the desk; the object in question groaning noticeably and splitting in several places. His sapphire eyes were a rioting flare of azure flames, his shoulders squarer than a perfect picture frame. "Define... 'Broke'-" he growled, his teeth flashing underneath his respirator plate. He had to force himself to breathe; seeing as the task had become far too laborious for him to do unconsciously.

Tseng didn't flinch; as any other normal man would've done if they had a thoroughly infuriated six-foot-four-inch ex-SOLDIER towering over them whose fury became this highly corrosive, volatile, tangible thing that threatened to eat away at their very composure. Instead, Tseng merely coolly regarded the pissy, more imposing individual before him with calculated indifference; as per usual.

"We have reason to believe Cloud's current amnesia may be connected to it somehow; alongside his gargantuan boost in strength. Other than the normal effects of tame J-cells and mako energy granting him SOLDIER level endurance, these exponentially larger amounts of this foreign material in his untrained body may have already impacted him in more ways than we can physically see." Tseng drew in another slow breath, "However, we've yet to understand the full scope of these conjoined factors. It'll take time for Hendel to fully analyze them. Thankfully, we have your files and records to help us draw some comparisons."

"And you said we were 'failed' projects, right?" Zack quoted, trying to grasp the situation.

"Thankfully, yes. Although, I don't know how Cloud still came out of this without physically changing much beyond having enhanced strength," Tseng commented. He suddenly blinked, as if in light of an epiphany. "On second thought," he corrected himself, trying to find the most correct wording for it. "-Changing so much both mentally and physically speaking without actually physically transforming into another Sephiroth clone altogether like the rest of the villagers."

Zack felt it again; that seering, animistic, uncharacteristic rage boiling away within his tightening belly. It scoured his once healed nerves, his fists suddenly trembling as an effect of this. The roiling inferno of absolute anger and loathing at its most base was familiar; Zack having felt this back in Nibelheim after Vincent finished telling his story. Zack had shivered at the sheer weight of it then too; but then passed out right after.

Upon realizing this, Zack tried his best to get this rancid resentment under control; drawing himself away from Tseng and pacing around the front of his desk while counting breaths and willing his shaking to go away. He felt someone's hand on his back next, the motion familiar enough so he was able to identify it as Cissnei not seconds there-after.

She moved her hand in steady patterns; and one Zack was growing quite familiar with. This same pattern sapped away the pointed dregs of his bubbling rage; leaving a drained, shivering after-math. His flickering sight started to straighten out; his clenched belly releasing its vicious vice on his diaphragm. Breath finally came naturally; all the while Cissnei's expert touch found various places somewhere along his spine that helped him retrieve his scattered senses- not unlike the time he got sick on the ship.

He couldn't be more thankful, dammit.

He turned around and faced her, lowering his respirator enough to show his teeth as he smiled in humbled gratitude. "Thanks," he mumbled rather lowly, his timbre coarser than usual.

Cissnei nodded, eventually relinquishing her touch upon seeing this.

No one had said a thing this entire time, favoring instead to observe the exchange in mute reverie. Kunsel was certainly surprised; having known Zack to ventilate his frustrations through squats and not though uncontrolled bouts of shouting and breaking things. He'd never seen this change in him before; and its something he found unnerving, to say the least.

Tseng eventually went on, decidedly drawing the conversation to a close, "Alright. I believe we've talked long enough. As it is, I have nothing else to offer on Cloud, except to continue supervising him from afar." His hands relaxed their hold on the other, but not by much, "I believe you should've been long gone at this point. Its already late as it is."

"Late or not, I think we'll just get going," Cissnei shrugged. "There's a lot of ground to cover between here and AVALANCHE."

"Hm, true," Tseng dipped his head, relenting to the logic of that statement. "But keep in mind Cissnei, you're going to take the time to rest once in a while. Don't over-exert yourself like you did before we met in Gongaga. I don't want to have to lecture you about it again."

"...Yes sir."

"Good. Now then," he turned to Zack once more. "-Cissnei has your basic mission specs already prepared, and Kunsel and I have a rendezvous with some outside Turk members in the North and Rufus to deal with. You're to do everything Hendel and Cissnei says regarding the details of your health. As for changing mission parameters-" His flinty shards for eyes flashed minutely, "I trust you'll do a better job picking your battles?"

Zack nodded, feeling thoroughly chastised by now. "Yes mom, I'll play nice with the other kids," he sighed, rolling his eyes in the process.

Tseng once again was on his feet, hands migrating behind his back, "Hopefully, by the time I see you all next, Aerith will be safe and Hendel we'll have some medicine prepared for Cloud. And even if the former cannot be done, then the other will become available soon." He walked around his desk, stopping just a polite meter from Zack. He leveled him his straightest gaze, one hand lifting in brief hesitation. He considered his next move carefully, finally relenting and giving Zack a small rap on his chest to indicate his support of the future mission.

"I trust you'll make the right decision," he began again, his modulated monotone not without feeling this time around. "Don't do something we'd both regret. Alright?"

Zack's expression hardened, nodding assuredly and lifting his chin proudly next.

Tseng's next smile was a diminutive curl of stiff corners, but its fleeting existence betrayed his own inner sincerity in Zack's objective. He nodded, and then turned to Kunsel, "I trust you have everything?"

"Already loaded and ready to go," Kunsel gesticulated.

The Turk Head faced Cissnei and the rest again, "Well then, I suppose I'll see you all soon. I can only tell you to exercise the utmost caution; and to focus on AVALANCHE's movements in general. As for Hojo-" He turned towards Zack, "Once Freyra has him, I'll call you and the rest of your squad to come dispose of him after we've extracted what we needed. Practice using that new materia in the meantime- but don't go over-board with it."

"Noted."

Tseng turned towards Cissnei, this time resting a single hand on her shoulder and squeezing once. He spared no words, but whatever obscured message was hidden within this exchange was mutely understood. The girl even reached up and grasped Tseng's wrist in turn, her lips thin but her eyes a lit with fervent energy.

When he finally released her, Tseng watched as the group turned to leave; but not without Kunsel throwing in his last word.

"Hey Zack!" he shot out, ensnaring his friend's attention for that second. "You better come back alive, man! I fucking mean it!" He jabbed a furious finger at him once, "If I wind up hearing about how you got your stupid-ass killed trying to be a hero again, I'm going straight to Minerva herself and telling her to bring your stupid carcass back so I can kill ya again myself!"

Zack cackled at him in his usual way, one hand in a pocket and the other keeping a firm hold of his bags. He jerked his chin at him, "Don't be worrying about me. The only person that should be worried is Hojo." He ducked his head, his smile still in place but transforming into an expression that's much more insidious than expected. His tone almost a crisp snarl, "He's the one who isn't coming out of this shit alive."

Vincent dipped his head at this, his bloody-gaze the very epitome of cold confidence.

And without another glance, the trio was in that elevator and gone; Zack's mind arrested on the invasive, perversely satisfying subject of wrapping Hojo's own disemboweled intestines around his scrawny, vein-riddled throat.

And what a lovely thought that was.

---

~777~

-Three days earlier-

It shouldn't be here.

It couldn't be here.

It couldn't possibly be here at all.

...And yet, here it was.

The initial approach to this place had been nothing but a monster-strewn nightmare. But, upon seeing the structures in the distance and taking in the fact that they're actually there and not some part of a delusional fever dream, it all struck Cloud and the rest with a sense of dubiety that paralyzed them. If anything, he and Tifa both expected to find charred, wooden skeletons blanketed in mold; alongside browned, broken glass and crumbling shingles lying in disarray around long-shattered foundations. The path winding around the village and its square should've been an undiscerned wreck that blended seamlessly into the ever creeping tendrils of nature itself; buried beneath the detritus of a long-gone water tower.

But this was not the case: Instead, the group found an entire village; whole and as it should be before the purge. As if time has re-wound itself to the moments before the madness; to the calm and somewhat semi-somber days of Nibelheim's normal day-to-day life. They found a village, alive and inhabited; albeit not bustling with the utmost activity.

Barret, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Aerith, and Nanaki spared Cloud and Tifa dubious glances; only to find slack-jawed shock and rigid fear etched across the latters' faces. Both man and woman meandered in dazed circles around the base of the town's central water tower; completely at a loss for words. After a moment spent like this, finally they found their senses; and slowly the shock wore off.

"This... This is insane," Cloud grounded out, fists balling at his sides. His eyes flickered almost fearfully from one place to another, "There's gotta be some kinda bullshit mistake-!"

Tifa stopped just shy of the weird, two-story replica of her house; her cherry-wine gaze distant. "How can it-? I mean... the heat and the smell and the- I just don't understand," she murmured in sheer disbelief, her voice tapering off in this agonized and breathless sigh.

She jumped when she felt Cloud's hands clasp her forearms; his grip strong but containing just the slightest quaver. She was forced to stare him dead in the eyes as he said, "You saw it too."

"Huh-?"

"Tifa," his mild tenor faltered, his grip increasingly jittery. "Tell me you saw it too. Tell me you felt the same thing I did? You saw it too, right?"

The woman flapped her gums once, twice, and then clamped her mouth shut. She nodded, having never forgotten the ghastly sensation of Sephiroth's blood-caked blade gluttonously chew its way into her body. She never forgot the feel of her father's quivering hands as he tried feebly grasping onto life; nor the angry inferno cooking her bare flesh alive. She couldn't forget watching her entire life get blown away in a storm of glittering embers; the fires rising high as the Nibel mountains caging her in. The screaming wails of the dying and damned drowning out her common sense.

She couldn't especially forget the searing brand of her aversion of all things Shinra score her heart in its aftermath; the night she believed herself alone in the world, upon waking up in a room under her master's care. When he wasn't there in the first moments of her awakening, Tifa had curled in upon herself and balled. She knew she'd lost more than just her home that day; and sometimes even now that painful prod of desolation nipped her heels as would any creeping predator.

Tifa passed Cloud her surest nod, knowing he needed the support more than ever right this second. She clasped his larger hands in turn, extracting them from her shoulders and holding both in the strongest and most reassuring way she knew. "I know," she murmured softly, but with no less the conviction. "I certainly never forgot. I could never forget what true Hell felt like that night."

Cloud's brittle composure sewn itself back in place almost immediately upon hearing this. His mako-charged stare hardened again, a solid wall slammed profoundly shut upon on his turbulent emotions. His mouth thinned, his gaze shifting to the roiling glare Tifa had grown familiar with- a stare she always found somewhat alien, in hind-sight.

"Okay," He breathed, in and out. He turned towards her house, and then his own right next door. "Right," he mouthed to himself. "I know this is gonna sound weird, but we need to check this out."

"I certainly don't refute that," Tifa whole-heartedly agreed.

Cloud passed her the faintest, but most secretive of smiles; thanking her with his eyes. As quickly as it happened, it was gone again; the man facing the others while not at all acknowledging their own disbelieving stares. With a command on his tongue, he said, "We're gonna start here, and then we're checking around; thoroughly. We're not leaving Nibelheim until we get some answers. Got that?"

"I thought we were chasing Sephiroth?" Barret half-heatedly groused, as Tifa expected. Not that taller man was disputing Cloud's order here; seeing as he was just as confused by this whole mess as Cloud and Tifa were.

"Well, he's taking the back-burner for now," The blond assured. "All things considered, this whole place being here is rubbin' me the wrong way. Both Tifa and I know what we saw-"

"What we felt," she gently but resolutely corrected; shuffling uncomfortably on her feet as she remembered the puckered scar that stretched from her lower belly to just underneath her collar-bone. The only person whose actually ever seen it had been herself and her master. Not another living soul in the world has seen it; not even Marlene, or Cloud for that matter.

Barret nodded again, raising his metal arm and balling it in a confident and supportive way. "Awright then," he turned towards the remainder of their group. "Guess we're taking a little detour."

"Not like we have much of a choice for that matter," Nanaki bespoke in a reserved manner. He lifted his nose towards the distant peaks of the Nibel mountain range; his one eye arrested on the tallest and most imposing of them all. "I believe the only way we can search for Sephiroth at this point is to abandon the buggy. It won't make it over the mountain; should he have actually headed North."

"He's right," Tifa confirmed grimly. "Mount Nibel's paths are too steep, narrow and unstable even if you're on foot. I can tell you from experience. Moreover, we're going to need to employ some stealth climbing it; as there's a lot of monsters on it we'll end up stumbling across."

Cloud nodded, "Right. In the meantime, we're gonna search around first and foremost. Then we'll worry about climbing the mountain."

His azure gaze switched to the hulking monstrosity itself, his shoulders squaring. Despite the confident way he usually carried himself however, it didn't take long for Tifa to see his hesitation- if his clenched fists were anything to go by. And frankly, she couldn't help feeling the same.

After-which, Tifa expressed her desire to explore their former homes first, with Cloud jumping right on the idea himself. The group was hesitant about this, but agreed to stay outside anyways. That said, Tifa approached her house first and tried the knob as any sane person would; finding it locked funnily enough. She considered slamming it open, but decided to merely knock instead. When still no one answered, she repeated the process; wondering why in all the nine layers of Holy Hell she was knocking on the door of her own God damn house like she hadn't lived there before.

To be really honest, she hadn't expected to get so freaking irrationally irritated when nothing continued to happen. Her nerves already felt like they've been dunked in liquid nitrogen; brittle as they were. She couldn't help wondering how Cloud felt too on that note. And after another minute of waiting without hearing any signs of anyone coming, Tifa eventually huffed out an exasperated breath and decided on the slightly less formal approach of breaking and entering; not giving two shits if somebody was inside for some horrible reason.

She wanted her damn answers; and no one was going to keep her out of her own child-hood home for crying out loud.

Tifa shocked Cloud when she randomly kicked in her own front door; the hinges not at all able to hold up to her innate might. The wooden barrier swung unceremoniously on the mechanisms of its own lock before collapsing in on itself; dropping with a rattling crash in the door-way. Cloud flapped his lips behind her, but chose not to say anything as he followed the martial artist inside with evident trepidation.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" Tifa called out.

Yuffie stuck her head in the frame next, biting on her lower lip nervously. "Tifa? is this really a good idea?" She hesitantly walked in, rotating about in place to take in the spacious interior, "I can't help thinkin' something fishy about this whole thing-"

Cloud rolled his eyes, "Naw... Well obviously nothing's wrong with our long-since burnt down home still bein' here despite fucking Sephiroth himself razing the fuck of it."

Yuffie flapped her lips at him, looking rather contrite and fidgeting with her nails after the bitter commentary. Cloud's following expression looked a little apologetic after that little sardonic quip though; the man taking in a long draught of air and shaking his head like he was frustrated with himself.

He knelt somewhat, his gaze a touch softer than it was before, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to sound like such a dick. Its just-"

Yuffie was immediately her peppy self again, straightening her shoulders and throwing her hands on her hips. "Don't worry about it!" she blithely reciprocated. "I get it, dude. Being here is stressful enough, right? So don't sweat it. We'll get to the bottom of this yet! Or on second thought-" She pointed at the retreating form of Tifa; watching as the elder woman took the stairs to the upper floor. "More like the top of it! Hehe."

Cloud blinked off the cringey attempt at the joke, decidedly following his friend to the second story. He trailed uncertainly after her, his throat jumping along almost audibly. Once he reached the top of the stair-way though, he immediately took the left towards Tifa's room where he heard the most noise emanate.

"Tifa?"

Said woman didn't acknowledge him as he crept incrementally in; busy as she was rummaging around the largely unchanged room. She was seen turning over everything in sight; not giving a hot damn she was vandalizing or throwing around things that didn't belong. As far as she cared, these paltry items didn't belong here; in her former living space, in her room, in her old sanctuary for Minerva's sake.

What Tifa found when she'd initially come in here though, were visible signs of someone other than herself living here. Nibelheim had been a small town back then; made up of pretty much everyone who knew each other. Once Sephiroth killed almost all present, he killed more than just a few neighbors: He killed friends and friends of the family; he'd killed individuals who, although they usually kept their distance, who knew of the Lockharts and the details of their home. However, no one since Tifa's childhood friends and her father had seen her room; and haven't seen much of it even years before the burning itself.

So, you could say her final sanctuary was indeed the bed-room in her memories; and the only living person who'd know what to put which knick-knack where would be herself and maybe her master. As fate would have it, whoever recreated this living space didn't replicate the more intricate details of her room. Obviously, they tried; but they failed in the process. And that, for some reason or another, gave Tifa some kind of misplaced sense of satisfaction she couldn't hope to understand.

"I knew it," she breathed as she sensed Cloud stop behind her. She picked up a crummy duplicate of a stuffed plush of a Nibel Bear; a toy she never had in her child-hood. She turned it over, and then callously threw it over her shoulder like she has everything else. She stopped before the piano sitting near the bed, taking a moment to investigate the sheet music booklet itself. "I freakin' knew it," she murmured again.

"Uh... Tifa?" Cloud paused just shy of her, swapping his gaze between she and the paper booklet.

Tifa was seen shaking her head, having flipped through the packet and found that its indeed the wrong version of her old beginner's guide. After this observation, Tifa wound up searching the piano itself; finding that while its the right brand, the model was a little too new to be the one she grew up around. She even opened it up to inspect the wired keys on the inside; her mouth flopping open as she took in the incredulous sight of a plain piece of copy paper. She "Ah-Hah'd!" loudly enough to almost make Cloud jump.

Cloud watched as the woman reached in to snag it, folding his arms as he eyed Tifa's flurry of expressions flicker around as she read it next. And she wasted no time either; even going as far as to read it a few more times before he felt the need to speak up.

"Tifa, what is it?"

Her spacey gaze leveled to some point somewhere in front of her; as if her mind had finally wrapped itself around some elusive mystery that's evaded her for the better part of the last few years- which wasn't untrue, in hind-sight. She worked her jaw and then snapped it shut, turning to face Cloud and present him with the paper itself.

"You see this? This proves it," she said.

"Eh-? Proves... what, exactly?" He inquired as he took it.

"This whole place... its a cover-up by Shinra!" She folded her arms next, a trait she was slowly picking up from Cloud. "I can't say I'm surprised to see that though."

"No shit," Cloud spat, absorbing the letter's details. "They wouldn't want the public to know their best dog went rabid and burned an entire, innocent town down. Its bad for publicity."

Tifa took the somewhat old sheet back, eyeing what's no doubt her master's loopy chicken scratch. Contained within the sheet was the recitation of her master's endeavors to save Tifa's life after the burning; and his investigation into why the town was here at all. Apparently, he'd found most of his conclusions within the Shinra manor itself; and its a place Tifa wouldn't mind paying a visit next.

Tifa noticed Cloud's following expression; seeing him squint his eyes like the already low-lighting of this room was giving him some sort of migraine. He sighed, and then nodded with no other outward sign of this weakness, "Alright then. I guess this letter does prove it. We didn't jointly hallucinate that whole ordeal."

"No, we didn't," Tifa agreed. She then neatly folded the letter; stowing it away in one of her pockets next. My master knows me well enough to leave it here. Of course.

He huffed next, scratching the back of his scruffy head in mild confusion, "I couldn't help wondering though... your master I mean. I wonder where he went?"

Tifa's hands folded behind her back, her head ducked as she weighed this conundrum. She'd love to find out what happened to the only other most important person left in her life; but by the sound of it, Zangan wasn't aging too gracefully nowadays. The letter had explicitly stated he could "barely jump anymore"; and it hinted he may have simply gotten an injury from his line of work, or age decided to finally smack him one for shits and giggles. Moreover, he never did say where he went after he and Tifa parted ways.

Tifa couldn't help feeling a little bad about that last part admittedly: Having just now recalled leaving her master's care for the seemingly short-sighted goal of avenging her home-town for AVALANCHE. Zangan had tried talking her out of it, but Tifa wouldn't have it. She ignored his last bit of wisdom, but it wasn't like they split ways on a bad note. If nothing else, Tifa had hugged her master goodbye, and then packed what little clothes, food, and gear she had and went to Midgar. She hasn't seen Zangan in about four and a half years now; and couldn't wondering when he got the time to back-track to Nibelheim to look into it.

I can only hope he didn't do something he'd regret; like get caught by Shinra or something, she internally wondered.

She jolted when she felt a gloved hand clasp her shoulder, locking eyes with Cloud's brighter pair. He spared her another weak smile, and then jerked his head, "Let's get out of here. If we stay here any longer, chances are Shinra will come after us- especially since we just technically broke into someone's house and destroyed half of their shit."

Tifa nodded, matching Cloud's more slight smirk with her own. She even giggled; much to his surprise, "Not like I care about some Shinra scum-bag pretender whose helping bury the company's dirtiest secrets by living here. What's a few broken dust-collectors to the lie he or she is helping fabricate?"

"Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you so readily agree to the idea of vandalism before, but I'm not bitchin' about it," Cloud snorted with humor.

"Oh please. We're AVALANCHE for Gaia's sake. Its not that surprising," Tifa giggled back.

Cloud kept his smile in place; but its the tiny, slightly timid one Tifa favored more than his ego-brimming, confidant scoff. Tifa preferred this one frankly; and couldn't help ducking her head again out of a random streak of shyness.

The two departed after-which; their next destination sitting just outside the town's main hub. And its a place Tifa had always longed to explore, but never could muster enough courage to do thoroughly. But with Cloud and the rest of her friends by her side, she found no sense of dogged, childish fear skulk about in her wake. Not at all.

Not anymore.

---

~777~

And while Tifa had managed to endure in a way he couldn't help but admire, Cloud still couldn't get over his own inner reservations.

This whole place screamed WRONG in every way, shape, color, and form: The blond even going as far as finding a complete stranger living inside his own home. After he and Tifa left her house, they checked into Cloud's right next door and found an old woman in the residence. What especially infuriated him was the fact that she claimed she'd lived there her entire life!

If you're going to lie, then you're going to need to be a lot more convincing than THAT, he inwardly snarled.

As it was, Tifa had been correct: The town was indeed a horrible, cruel, shallow mockery of Nibelheim. Even Aerith had said, "Its a memory, and that's all it is. Even though this town looks like the old Nibelheim, it doesn't mean it is." And frankly, Cloud couldn't help agreeing with the flower girl more.

Once they eventually made it the Shinra Manor though, Cloud felt the atmosphere take on a wholly unnerving tonal shift that's nearly enough to snap-freeze his own calm. Something about this place just felt eerily familiar in a way he didn't understand; and its not because this thing has been here since before everyone else's grandparents' were even born. After checking out the first floor and its adjacent rooms, he climbed the stairs to the second story, and then migrated around both wings with all his friends trailing behind. Cait Sith babbled terrified nonsense, while Nanaki sneezed every so often; the musty smell apparently irritating to his nose. Yuffie whimpered once in a while.

After thoroughly checking the left wing, they crept towards its opposite with empty hands but guarded hearts. The group split up and searched the neighboring rooms; only to find nothing out of the ordinary. The ancient guest rooms were all untouched; with the exception of the one that held the secret entrance to the basement below. After Cloud pointed this out, the group crowded around and watched the man open the passageway; his fingers expertly finding the catch along the side of the stone sliding door. In this sense, Cloud's memory hadn't failed him; despite even he being wary of how unreliable its been lately.

As soon as the crashing BANG of the door reached his ears though, another irritating ringing sang within him. The pitch increased in frequency until it drowned out all other sound; Cloud not noticing his comrades muttering comments about the basement door at all. It jumped around the inside of his noggin like its a resonance chamber; the ringing growing increasingly into a deafening, screaming frequency that actually made his eye-sight flicker. His migraine from earlier returned; and the siege on his senses began anew.

He shook it off not long after, but could feel someone's eyes upon him. He didn't know whose, but he didn't stop to ask. Instead, he lead the party down the wooden spiral; carefully picking their way down one by one.

Just ignore it, he wondered to himself. You'll be fine. You're doing absolutely fine.

Cloud hit the bottom first, feeling a dreadful sense of tumult slam into him like someone dunked him in frigid ice water. He paused, but not long enough to continue blocking the way for everyone else.

"Eh, Cloud? Is everything all right, lad?" Cait inquired.

The aforementioned individual briefly tossed the cat a glance, and then shrugged off the comment with a gruff, "Yeah. Just getting nostalgic is all."

Tifa pulled out their little flash-light, shining it down the dank, likely-man made, carved cavern hall. Right next to her, the increasingly jittery Yuffie pulled nervously at her hands while tossing flighty glances at every nook and cranny all around. She whined once, but Aerith landed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, slowly pulling the smaller girl against herself in motherly affection.

"Don't worry," she murmured just to Yuffie. "If there was anything wrong or someone unwelcome already here, Nanaki would let us know. Right, Nanaki?"

"Hm. Of course," the scholarly animal acknowledged humbly, his flaming tail another torch for the group to utilize. He waved it around just enough to light the way, tossing all those behind him a confident smirk. "I can lead the way, if you wish."

Cloud pursed his lip, deciding not to argue point with a creature that had a natural light-source stuck to its body. He gesticulated, watching as the quadruped padded near silently down the hall.

It was both wide and fairly long too, but the hall wasn't as immense as they thought. Or at least, that's what Cloud thought at first: As he looked around, he and the others certainly caught sight of the various out-crops of rocks helping hold up the tunnel, and the doors with locks stuck on them. On one such instance, Barret tried one of them just to see if it'll open; but to no such luck. Even if it was Gods-know how old, it didn't yield even to his careless strength. Barret wound up grumbling something under his breath after this; likely being on the subject on his distaste for Shinra and their need for secrets.

The group branched into a couple of parties of two and one of three, checking around the hall and remaining within visual range of each other. Cloud loped the furthest away; his crystaline gaze locked upon the door at the very end of the cavern. Tifa stayed dutifully close by his side, her face a guarded wall of well-concealed thoughts.

Once they stopped before it, Cloud paused; his head doing that irritating ringing yet again. He tried blinking it off, but it rung at a frequency that couldn't be more disruptive. His hand hovered just above the knob, the man not realizing Tifa was tossing him concerned glances. Thankfully, it subsided before too long; not lasting quite as long as the first one did. He turned towards Tifa, catching her wine eyes lingering over his own.

Without saying a word, he merely got on with the program and opened the door; shoulder shoving it all the way ajar. The two then crept carefully in, but quickly found out that they didn't need Tifa's light as they noticed the glittering array of devices ranging from wires to coils pumping straight mako energy into a pair of gigantic tanks. Tifa shook her head, smacking her lips in distaste at the sight of it all.

"Tifa, ya mind giving that light to Aerith and Yuffie?" Cloud asked her. He jerked his head over his shoulder, indicating the pair staying near Nanaki. "I think they need it more."

"Huh? Oh. Alright," she reluctantly conceded, stepping gradually away from him.

She was giving him looks that Cloud could swear betrayed her reluctance to leave him alone for even a second, but still she thankfully stepped away. For some reason or another, Cloud had felt the intrusive desire to be alone; although its not to say his request was out of the question. To be honest, he felt better about Tifa hovering around Aerith and Yuffie anyways; seeing as she's fully capable of protecting them should something unsavory pop out of the darkness.

Or at least, that's what he told himself at the time.

Tifa slowly dipped out, but she kept the door wide open anyways. Cloud watched her vanish down the dreary cavern, and then took the moment to wander around the brightly illuminated madness that's a scientist's true lab. He absorbed the sight of the ominously stained metal table with actual steel braces lying at certain key points; the flickering lights on the black coils; and the brightly-lit mako pods large enough to hold a man even Barret's size. He glanced to the left and found the vast array of shelves stacked to the very last inch with books on every subject ever. Both sides of this hall, completely filled with a vast archive of knowledge likely gleaned from the suffering of others.

Overall, he knew it hadn't really changed since five years ago; give or take some new or updated equipment. Which means Shinra's still using this place for something, he quickly deduced as he approached a wooden table with some not-so-sensitive documents lying upon it. But for what exactly?

He suddenly heard steps; but the sound suggested someone with a heavier set of feet. Cloud turned to face whom he presumed was Barret, only to find the door to this room was closed. No one else had come in, no freak wind had blown it shut. No Tifa, Barret, or the others to be seen or heard.

At this point, Cloud couldn't help his creeping anxiety; briskly making it to door and jiggling the knocker vivaciously- only to find that its indeed locked for some mysterious reason. Cloud kept pulling on it; only vaguely aware of the sound of boots echo elsewhere within this very room. Confused and growing increasingly paranoid, he looked down the hall with the books stacked in it.

Only to find he wasn't as alone as he thought.

Cat-like in the gloom, energetic green orbs a lit with the charged pulse of mako energy ensnared his own. Framed only by shadows and spider-silk bangs, they caught the entirety of Cloud's bewitched gaze; keeping him trapped in place as the owner skulked into the glare of the mako tanks. Heavy, deliberate steps betrayed his size; his outline as immense and imposing as ever.

Sephiroth's acidic smile slipped easily and gradually across his angel-carved features; his very appearance sucking in almost all light around him as would a gaping black-hole.

Cloud was drawing the Buster sword quicker than thought; leveling the blade between himself and the former SOLDIER before him. Sephiroth remained unconcerned by the threat display though; instead choosing to keep both arms behind his back while lazily slinking into the more open space of the circular room. He had no sword for some reason; not that he needed his precious Masamune to be dangerous. He stopped just shy of the blade's reach, his chin lifting somewhat and his expression border-line neutral as he regarded the agitated individual before him.

Cloud was the first to speak between them, his blistering fury a palpable whirl that could scorch the hardest hearts; minus the taller man before him. "Sephiroth! What the fuck are you doing here?"

The aforementioned other merely blinked; the motion a deliberate and calculated twitch that belied his sense of self-control. When he spoke, his modulated cadence was a lone cello's symphony; the sound a plummy near-bass that reverberates in your bones- A sound that Cloud could never forget.

"...The same reason as you," he purred, his tone lower than usual. He leaned in conspiratorially, as if to breathe the world's most intimate secret just between the two of them, "To find the truth we've both shed so much blood over. The very thing that continues to elude not just us, but Shinra as well."

He turned away, still very much unconcerned for the sword barely inches from his bare chest. If nothing else, Sephiroth's stare lingered over the mako tanks, his expression darkening marginally. "And apparently, it eludes Hojo too- seeing as he's yet to shut this place down, even after discovering so much."

"Hojo?" Cloud'es eyes darted briefly to the tanks and table, and then immediately back onto Sephiroth. "You don't mean the Promised Land, do you?" he went on to ask, still keeping his choleric tone in place.

Sephiroth didn't reply immediately, choosing instead to glide over to the tanks. His slitted stare stayed locked onto the glass cylinders, his mouth losing its earlier smirk. "Not quite the answer I'm looking for, but I suppose that's part of it," he murmured. "You're not too far off the mark."

"Then... are you... you're not a fake or somethin', right?" Cloud wondered aloud, not at all sure he was actually seeing the thing in front of him as Sephiroth. For all he knew, it could've been another duplicate or something like the one that was on the freighter.

"I'm real enough," he added cryptically, tossing Cloud a brief glance over his pauldron. "-Real enough to you."

"The Hell do you mean by that?" the smaller man snarled.

Sephiroth didn't reply to this query; instead choosing to stare pensively into the tank as if it would yield the answers he's long sought for. He was as largely unmoving as a sentinel; statue-escue in the greenish tint coloring the room. His platinum silver hair reflected light as would the moon; the color somewhat vibrant despite the otherwise drab color palette around him.

"Its astounding," he eventually murmured. "-Just how foolish he is. His means to an end couldn't be more repugnant; and yet are admittedly and begrudgingly effective. I suppose that's why I've always loathed the man." He threw back his head, his proud shoulders slumping, "And I'd be remiss to not acknowledge that he isn't actually on to something." He turned back towards Cloud, his eyes a low flame in a slow-burn hearth. His next words were an insidious, sanguine tone that was more or less felt instead of heard, "-Not that its relative to you right now. Not yet anyways."

Cloud continued to hold his poise, but even a comfortable weight like the Buster sword was beginning to feel like it would inevitably drag him down. After a moment spent staring intimately into one another's equally mako-charged eyes though, Sephiroth's smile grew yet again; leaving Cloud to feel like the temperature in this room had just dropped to a chilling degree. He didn't know when it started to feel like this, but it still wasn't enough to banish the budding build of sweat on his temples and pits.

Just when and why the fuck did he feel so feverish now?

Sephiroth coolly regarded the bloom of weakness in the other, his stare as weighty as a behemoth's sheer mass. He kept his prey locked in perpetual paralysis with just his eyes alone; staying idle and only moving to blink or leer in mute satisfaction of something.

"Do you... remember anything?" he nearly whispered between them.

"Remember what?" Cloud spat angrily, baring his teeth as would a fearful dog in danger of getting kicked.

Sephiroth didn't chuckle, scoff, or even so much as make another sound: Even when he took the second to incrementally step towards his quarry, his boots didn't produce the echoing clack expected. "The falsehood you delude yourself with," he began in the lowest murmur ever. "You know the truth, and yet seek solace from its grip behind a veil of lies. You breathe your corrosive and twisted variations of 'truth' to even your closest familiars, unable to face the reality that trails behind."

He took another step.

"You can't stomach regret. You can't admit your sin to his loved one. You know it would just break her if you did."

"What're you talking about?" Cloud inquired, suddenly realizing his usually steeled tenor was faltering into a near sputter.

"The girl," Sephiroth hummed. "Aerith, I believe it was?"

Why was the Buster sword's tip kissing the floor now?

The larger man was closer now; standing right by the Buster sword with no fear of its strike. "Her beloved boyfriend," he continued. "You know what happened to him."

"I don't know who he-"

Sephiroth tutted at him; interrupting Cloud's meek reply in the process, "You shouldn't tell anymore lies; for fear of losing yourself completely. Is that what you really want? To continue lying to poor Tifa?"

"I-I'm not..."

"But you are," he breathed, the sound almost an exasperated sigh. He rested a gloved hand on the blunt side of the Buster Sword, trailing his musicians digits across its length. "And you're lying to Aerith too. Just how pathetic can you be before it eventually eats you alive? Its bad enough your gross incompetence damned him."

"W-who..."

"Zack Fair," Sephiroth almost snapped; as if he didn't want to hear anymore of Cloud's childish whimpering. "You know very well who he is. You simply can't stand the fact that you're still in need of someone's guiding hand to help you plod along as you've been doing. Its grotesque really-"

Sephiroth did something strange; his next smile a flash of perfect teeth revealed in a grin he isn't known for displaying. The hand on the Buster sword kept the blade pinned to the floor; the man by now standing almost a mere breath or two away. Cloud was this pitiful, disgusting, new-born whelp beneath this larger, ever-looming, gunmetal black nightmare: Unable to do more than gulp down air and stare back into what he felt was his worst fears made tangible.

And it smelled just like blood intermingled with charred flesh and ash.

"Its no wonder," Sephiroth whispered almost huskily, his angelic features contorted by liquid shadows made distinguishable only by the light of his contaminated, oily gaze. "-That Tifa's own father didn't want you around her. You're only going to bring her down... just like you did Zack."

BANG.

The grating snap of splintered wood and bent steel violently yanked Cloud out of his terrified daze; the debris whipping just past he and the larger being before him. He felt a shaking hand clamp onto his shoulder, twisting him around until he was eye-to-eye with Tifa Lockhart herself.

"Cloud! CLOUD! Can you hear me?" She hollered right in his face.

"H-huh? Wha-? I-" Cloud shook his head, unable to produce a coherent answer.

Tifa's expression hardened briefly, the woman giving Cloud a firm shake just to help him breach the murk of his mind. "Cloud, listen to me- Are you listening? Are you okay? Do you hear me?!"

"What... I... uh... yeah- NO!" Cloud's eyes snap-froze into furious shards as he whipped himself out of her grip. He turned, hefting the heavy tungsten blade high enough so to put it between himself and-

And the vast amount of nothing before him.

"What the-?" He darted frenetic glances around, unable to locate the subject of all of his qualms. He turned back towards Tifa, and then saw the others materialize behind her next. "I thought- uh..." he faltered, meeting the gaze of every individual he could call his friend.

Aerith's hands went to her breast, balling there in another show of her own apprehension. Barret was muttering under his breath, whilst Nanaki eyed Cloud with genuine concern. Cait Sith was scratching his fuzzy scalp in confusion, the large Mog mimicking the feline in turn.

Yuffie searched around the room, and then faced Cloud with a strange level of uncertainty he's never seen before. "Just who the heck were you talking to?" she borderline dead-panned. "And why did you have the door locked?"

"I... Did you not... Did you guys not see... him?" He feebly returned, trying his best to gain back his composure- to gain back control.

"See... who?" Tifa murmured in a somewhat terse but no less motherly tone. "I didn't see anything when I came in here."

"And I certainly don't smell anything else abnormal," Nanaki added.

"You didn't-?" He muttered, unable to wrap his head around the situation.

The Buster sword slipped free of Cloud's deadened grip; the profound clattering of the over-sized blade temporarily drowning out the thrumming drone of the machinery. Even in the lull that followed, the sounds of the machines couldn't quite reach Cloud's ears.

Only the silence was his answer.