Hi all,

Thank you so much for reading and to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and also to all of you who have added this story to your alert or fav lists :)

~Fifty-Four~

Galen looked up from where he was typing something on a small laptop at a standing desk when Tseng entered the lab. The Turk gave a short nod and looked at Cloud who was sitting in the medical chair where he had blood drawn frequently. Cloud didn't look back, his gaze instead on his hands in his lap. He was still partially dressed in his uniform he was wearing at the parade, but his top half was unclothed and he had what looked to be pieces of gauze or bandaging taped to some places on his chest. There was some pinkish staining suggesting he'd been bleeding through the patches a little.

Galen picked something up on the desk next to him and approached Tseng then.

"Thank you for calling," Tseng said when the man was in front of him.

Galen just nodded once more before asking how the professor was in a tone that was perhaps more curious than concerned.

"He's going to be fine but he's not going to be released from the hospital for at least the next few days," Tseng told him. "That's going to leave whatever goes on in here day to day to you," he added. "I'll need a schedule from you on when Cloud comes in during the day for your tests and treatments. I'll be taking charge of him for now."

"What about Rand?" Galen questioned next and Tseng sighed a little.

"He's also in the hospital and it's going to be a little while I would imagine before he's back, if he comes back. I'm not sure of what this means for his contract since he's technically not solely a Shinra employee," he explained. He looked once more at Cloud who was now just sitting with his head resting against the back of the chair and staring off into space, not seemingly caring what they were taking about.

"How is he?" Tseng asked and Galen glanced back at him before answering.

"Fine," he said with a slight shrug. "He came here with five bullet wounds but he'd already taken three bullets out himself," he said as he lifted his hand to show Tseng a small sealed plastic bag with what appeared to be two intact bullets and several fragments of one or more others. "I took the other two out of his back. It's just superficial damage but the wounds are taking longer to close and heal than they should be so I was just in the process of running some tests to see if I can figure out what's going on."

Tseng nodded. "May I take these?" he asked of the bullets and fragments and Galen agreed, handing the bag to him. "I'd also like to talk to him alone a few minutes," he spoke of Cloud.

"No problem," Galen said. When he'd left the lab Tseng approached Cloud who even when the Turk was in front of him didn't really look at him until the man said his name. His body language had suggested indifference but his eyes said something different. He seemed unsettled or apprehensive.

"Are you alright?" Tseng asked then.

"Yes, sir," Cloud replied softly, his focus seeming to drift a little again then.

"There's been a few people looking for you since the parade," Tseng told him.

"Kunsel told me to go back to headquarters," he said.

"Why did you come to the lab?" was Tseng's next question.

Cloud appeared to thinking a little. "I go to the lab in the afternoons...I don't know," he concluded.

That did seem to make sense. The details of what had happened at the parade were still not entirely clear. A lot had happened very quickly so the investigation was going to take some time but there was one thing that was obvious and Tseng thought that it might help ease Cloud a little or dispel a little of the sadness that seemed to be crowding him.

"You saved the president's life today," he told Cloud. "You probably saved Hojo's as well, perhaps others." Cloud listened but his eyes were downcast. "You should be very proud of that," the Turk assured him. "The president's very grateful."

"The professor got hurt," Cloud replied after a moment.

Tseng nodded. "Yes. He's going to be in the hospital for a few days. Rand will be away as well so I'm going to be watching over you for the time being," he explained, and Cloud looked up at him once more.

"What happened to Rand?" he asked.

"He was injured quite seriously." Tseng answered through something of a long exhale. "But, I don't want you to worry about it right now."

"What about Genesis?" was Cloud's next inquiry.

"I'm not sure of his status but I'll check for you if you want to know," Tseng said. "I need to return to the hospital and I'll busy for the next several hours. Whenever you're finished in the lab with Galen you can go back to your apartment but I don't want you wandering, alright? Just stay in the apartment until I get there, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Cloud agreed with a nod.

Tseng left the lab fairly certain that Cloud would do as he instructed. He didn't really want to leave him on his own but there was a lot he needed to attend to for the rest of the day. His first priority had been to make sure the president was safe and secure and to confirm the vice president was also safe. Rufus hadn't been at the parade but Tseng had been able to determine quickly that he was fine. He'd then been at the hospital briefly to get an idea of how many casualties had resulted from the events of the morning. Fortunately, it appeared that no one employed by Shinra had been killed, but there had been injuries, some critical. Bits of information had been coming to him from either Turks or SOLDIER members over the past few hours. It seemed that there were at least a few individuals from the group who had attacked in custody alive, either at the hospital or a local police station. He'd spoken to Elena and they were going to have a meeting with a team they were assembling to be involved in the official investigation into what had happened. He hoped that the local police would allow the company to carry out the investigation on their own but he wasn't optimistic about that, given the attack had happened at a public event and there had been civilian casualties.

Having to work with any agency, even just within the company was challenging. It was always easiest if the Turks could handle something on their own. Having to collaborate even just with SOLDIER or the military made things more complicated but working with the city police could be a thousand times more frustrating. He assumed that at some point he was going to be getting contacted by the police chief to work out how their shared investigation should go but until that happened he wasn't going to wait to begin the internal detective work. He wanted statements collected from whomever the company had access to as soon as possible. One of those people, unfortunately, was Zack. He only had a few details about why Zack had been arrested. Supposedly, Rand had been assaulted by Zack during the attack on the parade. Obviously, they were going to need to determine Zack's motive for being at the parade and whether he was involved in the organized attack and attempt on the president's life. As it stood currently, it wasn't looking good for him.

Over at the hospital Zack had been feeling himself sinking further and further into what felt like a thick mud of anxiety and regret. He'd been treated for his injuries and had been left on a gurney in a corner of the emergency department with police close by to make sure he stayed where he was. His hands were cuffed and secured to a belly chain around his waist. The wounds in his head, shoulder and hand had been stitched closed and bandaged. Apparently, he had a concussion and he knew it likely meant he was going to be spending an uncomfortable night where he was before he could be questioned by anyone or moved to a jail. It also meant he wasn't going to be able to see or talk to Aerith or anyone else until he was moved.

He was consumed in worry over what Aerith would be thinking and feeling, whether Rayna had made it to safety without being stopped by authorities and questioned, what was happening with Cloud, and if Lazard had survived Genesis's attack on him. But mostly he was worried about Johnny. The moments when Johnny had shot himself and had fallen seemingly dead against the ground were replaying over and over in his mind like a movie. He couldn't think of much else. When he tried, all he could think of were the cluster of other horrific moments of the morning. Cloud being shot, Lazard lying with a knife in his body and blood coating his chest, Rand on the ground unconscious and beaten unrecognizably…

He wondered what was going to happen, what he was going to be charged with. He couldn't even remember what the Turks had told him he was being arrested for. Obviously, it had been something to do with Rand. Something like, suspicion of assault? They'd said what it was, but his brain hadn't really processed it and he hadn't asked anyone what it was after that. He hadn't spoken at all to anyone, other than the medical personnel when they asked him questions pertaining to his injuries and how he was feeling. He knew it was going to be a long evening and night.

000

It was late into the evening when Tseng was finally able to retire for the night. With the president safe and sound in his apartment in the Shinra tower, he took the opportunity he had to check on Rufus in person, having only briefly spoken with him on the phone much earlier in the day around the time of the parade attack. His knocking at the man's apartment door went unanswered. He was sure the vice president was home though so after another few moments of waiting, he decided to enter with his master security key. As soon as he'd opened the door he could see Rufus where he was sitting in near darkness in his living room. Electric light from the faux fireplace on the one wall was the only light source. The man had apparently been reading, or trying to when Tseng let himself in. The Turk was met with an unimpressed expression when he entered the apartment.

"I guess the fact I didn't answer the door wasn't a good enough indication I don't want to see you right now," Rufus commented as he turned his eyes back to the book in his one hand.

"Forgive my intrusion but given the events of the day, confirming your wellbeing in person is necessary," Tseng told him. He shut the door behind him and walked toward the vice president slowly. When Rufus gave no response he continued. "Your father is fine, in case you're wondering."

"Happy day," the man replied without looking at up from his book, his tone clearly indicating he didn't care one way or the other.

Tseng placed his hands in his pockets as he stopped near the couch Rufus was planted on. "How fortunate it was that this is the one year you decided to forego riding on the float," he commented and Rufus released an audible sigh before picking up a bookmark next to him and setting it between the pages of the book before closing it over and setting it on the side table next to him.

"How is everyone else?" he asked then. "I heard something about a former military soldier being shot down."

"No Shinra affiliated deaths so far," Tseng told him. He eyed Rufus curiously, suspiciously. "Why would you inquire about the military soldier? How did you even come to hear about him?"

Not looking at him, Rufus shrugged. "I'm not even sure actually," he claimed.

Any suspicion Tseng had that there was a connection between Rufus's absence from the parade that year and PFC Johnny Six's sudden reappearance from the dead was quickly becoming confirmed. He could see it in Rufus's demeanor and expression. "I think I've got some idea," he stated.

"Tseng—" Rufus began to say something, something Tseng imagined would be in the realm of denial. He didn't let him speak it though.

"It makes sense now," the Turk interrupted. "How did you come to meet him?" he asked. Rufus sank a little under his words. He rubbed his forehead a little before answering.

"It was in Gold Saucer," he revealed. He sat back on the couch and lifted his one leg to rest his ankle on his other knee.

"Explain," Tseng ordered.

Rufus shook his head. "I had nothing to do with what happened today. I don't know who those people were who attacked the parade."

"Eco-protestors it's looking like," Tseng told him. "They don't seem to be from Midgar," he added.

"It's just coincidence they ended up choosing the event for their attack. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have contracted the former soldier," Rufus replied.

It was Tseng who shook his head then, partly in disappointment and partly confusion, "Why the hell would you do this?" he asked.

"Do what?" Rufus fired back at him fast.

"Do what? You've never been a planner with all do respect, Rufus, what are you thinking?" Tseng responded sharply. "A young man is lying barely alive in a hospital bed right now," he pointed out.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Rufus said more softly. He did genuinely seem concerned about it.

"Zack Fair has been arrested," Tseng added and Rufus became defensive then.

"I obviously saw this going differently," he said.

"Why did you do this on your own?" the Turk inquired after a moment of silence between them. Rufus wasn't looking at him anymore, choosing instead to look over at the fireplace and its soft flickering glow. "You should have come to me, you know I'm on your side," he told the vice president.

"I wouldn't do that to you," Rufus spoke back quietly.

"To me?"

The vice president looked over at him. "I know what you've been through, Tseng. I wasn't going to involve you."

Tseng released a long exhale. As considerate as that sounded, it was also stupid. "And look what happened," he chastised. Rufus nodded subtly. "Are you done?" he asked.

Rufus gave a brief tight smile and shook his head. "I could lie to you," he said. "I know what my mistake was. It won't happen again," he claimed.

Something about the way he said it had Tseng thinking about Cloud. He wasn't positive that's what Rufus was referring to when mentioning a 'mistake' but he was pretty good at reading the vice president and knowing what he was thinking.

"Please," he spoke to Rufus sternly. "Whatever you decide to do, leave Cloud out of it."

All he got in return was another brief smile and a short nod that he didn't really trust for a second.

000

It was early the following morning when doctors who'd been monitoring Zack over the evening had deemed him well enough to be transferred. A quick test had been completed before he'd been discharged from hospital care to determine if he was competent enough to be questioned about what had happened at the parade. The authorities must have been given the green light because he was taken to a police station and directly to an interview room to be questioned. He was left alone in the small room for a few minutes. He gazed around a little at the grey walls and the camera affixed to the ceiling in the one corner. There was nothing else in the room except for a table in front of him and two other chairs sitting empty on the other side of it. He found the room chilly, especially in the clothes he was wearing. He'd been given a pair of medical scrubs to wear at the hospital to replace his own bloodied clothing. He didn't have a sweater or a coat to keep him from shivering a little.

When the door opened again two people entered. One looked to be a male detective for the city police, a middle-aged man with graying hair and mustache, wearing a pair of dark blue slacks and a white shirt with light gray pinstripes, barely visible. The other was a female Turk he didn't recognize. She was younger, closer to his age.

"Good morning, Mr. Fair, I'm Detective Carter with MCPD," the man introduced himself before approaching Zack to unlock the chain that was holding his wrist cuffs to his waist. He didn't remove the cuffs however, but Zack was happy to at least be free to raise his hands easily to rub or scratch at his face when he had an itch.

"Zack is fine," he told the man, not wanting to hear his last name said over and over again during the interview.

"Sure," Carter acknowledged with a nod and a friendly smile that perched up the mustache he had a little. "I've got Anya here with me from Shinra. Right now your case is being looked at jointly by Shinra and MCPD. That could change but it seemed suitable given your past affiliation with the company. If you were still employed in SOLDIER things would have been handled in-house, so to speak," he explained.

"I get it," Zack replied flatly.

"Good," the man said. "Just to be clear, Zack, you've been arrested and detained under suspicion of assault and it's possible that you will be facing charges today. Do you have a lawyer you'd like to speak to first before we get started in here with our interview?"

"No, it's fine," Zack told him. He didn't know any lawyers and he certainly didn't have money to retain one.

"Alright," the detective said as he opened a folder in front of him on the table that separated them. He took a document from the stack of papers inside and oriented it so Zack could read it before sliding it toward him. "Because you sustained a head injury yesterday morning, we're going to need you to read and sign this document that declares we are recognizing your injury and that you believe you can answer questions truthfully today despite the injury and you understand that you can request to stop the interview if you feel that you cannot continue at any point in time. We are required to honour that request if you make it, but it would mean resuming the interview at a later time," he explained.

Zack just nodded in understanding and lifted his hands to the table to pull the document toward himself. Carter passed a pen across the table to him. He didn't even bother to read the document before signing it in a few loose strokes before dropping the pen to the table. He didn't actually care what it said.

"Thank you," the detective said as he took the signed document back and slid it somewhere in the back of the folder. "Do you want something to drink? Coffee or water?" he questioned.

"Water," Zack replied, and the man nodded before turning in his chair and grabbing for the doorknob to the room. He opened it a little and called to someone out of the room to bring some water.

"So, Zack," Carter began then as he looked down at some hand-written notes in his folder. "I'd like to start with you just telling us about your movements yesterday morning."

"What do you want to know?" Zack asked in return.

"Well, you woke up at home, right?" the man asked.

Zack released a heavy exhale. This interview was going to take awhile. "Yeah," he agreed.

"Where is that?" the detective asked.

"The slums," Zack replied.

A knock on the door had the detective reaching to open it again and took from the person three small bottles of water. He loosened the cap on one before passing it Zack's way. He thanked him before taking a long drink from the bottle.

"Then what?" the man asked. "You decided to go to the parade," he stated and Zack nodded. "Why did you want to go?"

Zack shrugged then. He looked back at the Turk who was watching him critically. She hadn't said anything yet. She sat with a notebook in front of her a pen hovering over the surface ready to make note of anything important.

"I…" he started to speak but found it difficult. He didn't know how much he should say that was true. He'd gone to the parade to help Johnny if he needed it but he wasn't going to say that. He wondered if the company had made any connections yet as to why Johnny had been at the parade. They must have known his identity at that point. What if Rayna had been caught as well and detained and they'd found Johnny's weapons? What if they assumed he, Rayna, and Johnny were all involved in the attack on the parade…There was so much to wonder about, it was overwhelming. He shook his head then. "I wanted to see someone I know that I thought may be in the parade," he answered finally. The Turk was writing then.

"Cloud Strife?" Carter asked.

It surprised Zack to hear the man say Cloud's name but he knew the detective was obviously coming into the interview armed with at least some prior knowledge or information. "Yes," he told the man.

"Why?" the detective asked next.

Zack took a moment to rub his face a little from the quickly building tension he already felt.

"Because I miss him," he spoke bluntly then. "You obviously know some things about us," he spoke to the man and directly. "We are or were friends, I don't know, I haven't seen him in a long time so I thought I'd just go and watch the parade in the chance I'd get to see him for a few minutes from a distance."

"Why haven't you seen him?"

It was a question Zack had a hard time understanding the reason behind. He thought it should be obvious.

"I'm not allowed to, I guess…" he concluded and the detective hummed a little in acknowledgement as he made a few notes of his own. His eyes were down as he asked his next question.

"Not allowed to, by whom, and why?"

"I…" Zack began to try to answer but he found himself suddenly getting annoyed. "Is this important?" he asked and the man met his eyes once more.

"I'm not sure yet," he said, boosting Zack's irritation even further.

"I thought you wanted to know about what happened to Randon Cane," Zack shot back at him.

Carter cleared his throat a little and shifted in his chair. "Alright," he said then. "What happened to him?" he inquired with a knowing look.

"Hilarious," Zack muttered. Of course, both of the people in front of him already knew.

"Are you familiar with Randon Cane?" the detective asked and he shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess, what's familiar?" he challenged.

"You know who he is?"

"I've seen him on the news," Zack told him.

"Tell me what you know about him," was the man's next request.

Zack released another long exhale before answering. "Uh…he's some kind of head doctor. He's been working for or with Shinra, I dunno."

"Doing what?" the man asked after slowly nodding to his words.

"How the hell would I know?" Zack snapped back.

"Well, you know he's identified himself as part of a team of people who have treated and been treating Cloud Strife for various types of trauma he sustained in a reactor incident years ago?" It seemed like a statement but Zack supposed it was a question so he answered.

"Yeah, that's what was said on the news."

"You also sustained trauma as a result of the incident, correct?" Carter questioned next but Zack withheld a reply. He was confused by the direction the interview was heading. The man lifted a few papers in front of him to check something or read something. "Months ago, a video also made the news with someone identifying themselves as you, making some serious claims against Shinra. Claims which have ultimately been disproven or been unsubstantiated. That was you in the video, correct?" Again, Zack stayed silent but it didn't seem to make a difference. It was obvious the detective believed it was. "Would you like to talk about what you alleged in that video?" he asked and Zack shook his head slowly.

"I would not," he said firmly.

The man took the interview back in the direction Zack had thought it was supposed to be going. "Did you ever have a meeting or encounter with Randon Cane before the parade?" he was asked.

"If I even met or encountered him at the parade, you mean?" Zack retorted and the man gave something of a smirk while looking down at his notes once more.

"Sure," he agreed.

"Not exactly."

Carter looked at him. "What's not exactly mean?"

"We spoke on the phone. He called the place where I work to talk to my employer," Zack explained.

The detective glanced at the Turk before asking, "Why is that?"

It made Zack wonder if anyone had known about that at Shinra.

"He wanted to arrange for her to meet with Cloud but ended up cancelling later," he told them.

"Your employer is familiar with Cloud, I take it?" Carter asked.

"Yes," Zack confirmed.

"Did you exchange any hostile words on the phone?" the man inquired next and he shook his head.

"No, I don't think he knew who he was talking to."

"But you knew it was him?"

Zack shrugged a little. "He identified himself."

"So, outside of that one phone call you've had no contact with him," the man asked.

"Yep," was Zack's simple reply.

"Until the parade?" Zack shrugged again at the question, prompting a small nearly inaudible sigh from the detective. "Listen, Zack, we know you had a run-in there. Doctor Cane was able to indicate that you approached him at the parade in an aggressive manner and I've spoken to witnesses who have stated they did see you with him. What I would like to know is how you came to encounter him there and what happened after," he stated.

Zack stared back at him a long moment. "So, you're charging me," he said then, knowing that had to be where things were leading.

"Right now, I'd like to get your side of what happened," the man said, avoiding answering his question.

"What does it matter?" Zack asked as he slid a bit lower into the chair he was seated in.

"You think it doesn't?"

Zack scoffed in return. "No, I don't."

"This is your opportunity to tell your story," the man spoke in something like a reassuring tone, like he was trying to be his friend. "It could change what charges you may be facing. Did he say something to provoke you? Perhaps you were acting in self defense. You sustained injuries, we know that," he said as he indicated to the visible bruising and bandaging on Zack's body. "You didn't do that to yourself," he acknowledged.

Zack let his eyes fall to the table in front of him. "I have nothing to say about it," he declared.

"You're giving up the chance to explain what happened?" the man inquired quickly, leaning into the table, getting inches closer to him. "The evidence is going to show us what happened," he stated.

"Then you don't need me to say anything," Zack argued.

The detective gave a small shrug of his own. "Alright, Zack, that's fine then. I want to move on. Did you have any idea what would happen during the parade?"

Zack looked back at him expectantly, waiting for him to be more specific. "As in?" he asked when the man stayed quiet.

"As in, are you familiar with any of the individuals who were involved in the attack on President Shinra or the parade event itself?" the detective clarified.

"No, I had no idea what was going on," Zack told him honestly.

"When you were arrested, you were with a member of the Shinra Military. Private First Class Johnny Six. He'd been assumed dead for some time. You're familiar with him?"

"Yeah," Zack replied with a short nod, nervous about what they were going to want to know about him. He still had no idea what had happened to Johnny once he'd reached the hospital.

"How do you know him?" Carter questioned.

"He was a cadet at the SOLDIER Academy at the same time as Cloud. I was an officer. I saw both of them frequently. They were friends, sort of. Then later they were both in the militia together," he explained.

The man nodded and jotted down some of the details Zack gave. "Did you attend the parade together?" he asked then.

"No," Zack replied quickly.

"Had you seen him before yesterday?" the man asked next.

"Yeah at the Academy—" he began to say but was cut off.

"Sorry, I mean recently."

"Why?" Zack asked back.

"We're trying to determine his level of involvement if any in the events of yesterday," Carter told him.

"He wasn't involved," Zack stated surely, hoping his expression was as convincing as his tone.

"How do you know?"

"I…yes I've seen him recently. I know him well enough to know he had nothing to do with the attack on the president or the parade.

"Were you aware of his KIC status?" Carter asked him.

KIC. Killed in captivity. Zack nodded. "Yeah, it's not a crime to know and not tell anyone," he pointed out. The detective smiled a little.

"You're right," he agreed. "But I'm sure you also know that it is a crime to abandon contracted service with the armed forces without authorization."

"He was a POW. He didn't abandon shit," Zack shot back at him, not hiding his annoyance with the suggestion Johnny had gone AWOL.

"The last time he was seen alive he was in the company of what would be considered an enemy of Shinra and by extension Midgar, and now he turns up at the scene of an attempted assassination on the president," the man said. "You can see how that would prompt questions, right?" Zack didn't say anything in return. "Do you know why he would hide the fact he is alive?" Carter asked when he said nothing.

"Is he alive right now?" Zack asked back a little uneasily.

"Right now, yes," the man revealed.

Zack couldn't help but release a slow exhale. He felt a small bit of relief over the thought.

"No, I don't know why," he answered finally. "Maybe the same reason Cloud and I decided to stay publicly dead," he offered.

"Why was that?"

"Ask her," he spoke of the Turk next to Carter. The fact she hadn't said anything yet made him want to flip the table over just to get some kind of reaction from her that wasn't a blank or robotic-like expression. "Or ask Shinra," Zack went on, "or check the media archives for that convenient explanation they came up with."

The detective glanced briefly at the Turk but he didn't bite at the bait Zack dangled as a distraction. Remaining on his topic of choice he asked, "Did you witness who shot Private Six?"

"No," Zack lied.

"Did you see him being shot?" the man pressed him further. "It was very close to where you were supposedly situated," he pointed out.

"No," Zack repeated.

"Are you telling the truth?" was the next question.

The way the detective looked at him indicated he was sure Zack had in fact seen what happened and there probably wasn't anything Zack could say to convince him otherwise. What was he supposed to say? He shot himself? Or, that Cloud had somehow mind-controlled him into shooting himself? Either way, how would he explain where the gun went?

"I think we're done here," he decided to say instead.

"You don't feel you can continue?" Carter inquired and he shook his head.

"No, I mean, I'm done talking," he stated in return.

"Zack," the Turk suddenly spoke then. "As it stands right now, if you don't talk to us and answer the questions we have you're not going to make things any easier for yourself. Your best option is to be cooperative or things could get…difficult."

Despite her level tone, there was a clear threat somewhere behind her words. He'd never particularly responded well to threats. There wasn't a lot they could do that hadn't been done to him already.

It was his turn to lean into the table. Placing his cuffed hands on top of the table and staring into the woman's eyes, he reiterated firmly. "We're done."

"Okay, well Zack," the detective spoke through a sigh then. "You are going to be charged today."

Big surprise, Zack thought to himself.

"You're being charged with attempted murder of Randon Cane."

That was. Assault, battery, maybe even assault with a deadly weapon or assault with intent to cause injury…there were a bunch of variations he could imagine being charged with but attempted murder wasn't one of them, even if that's actually what he was guilty of. He had certainly reached a point during the attack on Rand where he wanted to kill him. Still, he felt the need to argue it, only he didn't get the chance.

"You're also going to be charged with mischief pertaining to false claims you made in your video you distributed publicly," the Turk spoke up again. Her tone was different now, stronger and sharper. "And with kidnapping," he announced.

"Kidnapping?" Zack blurted back in confusion and shock. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded to know as the Turk was shutting the notebook in front of her and standing up from the table.

"You took Cloud Strife from a treatment facility in Nibelheim without his consent while he was incapacitated and unable to care for himself," she accused as she straightened her suit jacket. "You had no authority to do that."

"Are you kidding me right now!" he nearly shouted at her, feeling his anger rushing through him.

"I'm not," she replied coolly.

"You'll have a hearing tomorrow morning to determine if you will be held in custody or not," Detective Carter told him. "We've also got a warrant for your DNA."

"What? It's not on file already?" Zack fired back sarcastically. "How did Shinra ever positively ID my damn remains at the reactor in Nibelheim—oh wait…"

"We don't need your consent for it," the Turk told him.

"Not for anything, right?" Zack was quick to throw back at her.

"I'd suggest that you retain an attorney if you don't have one yet," Carter said as he also packed up his things. "You'll want one with you for your hearing tomorrow," he concluded.

The detective swabbed the inside of his mouth for the DNA sample before he was released from the interview room. He didn't try to fight it. Afterall, it really didn't matter and he knew his DNA already existed somewhere in a Shinra database. He assumed the police just wanted their own.

He was processed at the station after the interview ended. He was issued a dull mustard-like coloured jumpsuit and shoes. His prints were taken, even though he knew they were already on file somewhere. He was photographed and taken to a holding facility not far from the station where he was told he'd be visited multiple times by medical staff who would check on his injuries and change bandaging for him.

It was a few hours after he'd been brought to the holding centre that he was told there was someone there to see him. He had a pretty good idea who it would be. He was brought to a small room where he was uncuffed. The room was divided in two with a line of prison bars down the centre. Standing on the other side of those bars was Aerith. He almost didn't want to approach her, but he did slowly. When he was close enough, she reached between the rods of tarnished metal separating them to take hold of his hands.

"Oh god," she spoke softly, taking note immediately of what was visible of his injuries. "Are you okay?" she asked and he nodded.

"It's fine, I'm fine," he assured her. "Did Rayna make it back—" he started to ask and she nodded as well.

"She did," she confirmed. "She told us what happened, Johnny…"

Zack lowered his head a little, looking down at the concrete floor as she spoke.

"I tried calling the hospital, but they aren't giving any information to anyone not family," Aerith explained.

"A detective this morning said he's still alive," he told her and she sighed with relief.

"Good," she breathed. She squeezed his left hand a little and he met her eyes again. "Do you think it was really Cloud who made him do it?" she asked.

He looked around a little, not really wanting to acknowledge what had happened but clearly Rayna had already divulged the truth. "I think so, yeah," he confirmed softly.

Aerith looked back at him with a mixture of sadness and sympathy that almost had him tearing up.

"You know he would never hurt Johnny if he weren't—" she began to reason and he stopped her gently.

"I know," he agreed. He took a deep breath before asking, "Did Kunsel come talk to you?"

"He called," she told him. "I thought you'd call. Did they not let you?" she questioned, and he shook his head.

"Not until this morning but, I just, I guess I just didn't know what to say…I didn't listen to you. You warned me, and I didn't listen," he explained.

"I'm not one to say I told you so," she replied and he smirked a little without looking at her.

"It'd be fair if you did," he said.

"Of course it wouldn't," she spoke seriously. "Nothing I could have said would have changed what happened," she explained slowly. "Sometimes I feel like if I have a sense of something bad coming, that I can do something about it, but…it's already happened. You can't stop something that's already written," she concluded sadly.

Zack thought about it but he couldn't help feeling regretful, or like if he had done something differently then the outcome would have been different as well. "Still, I'm sorry," he said to her. "You don't deserve this," he added.

"Neither do you," she replied quickly. "I heard about Rand," she said then. "What did they charge you with?"

He couldn't help but scoff a little. "Attempted murder," he answered her and watched as shock was quick to set in to her expression.

"What?" she uttered in surprise.

"Also mischief for that video I did," he went on. "Oh, and kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?" she echoed.

"Cloud," he told her. "When we or, I guess, I escaped the mansion with him."

"It's a lie," she said.

"Well, yeah," he replied dryly. That much was obvious.

She shook her head. "Why would they try to charge you with that now? They didn't seem to care before," she pointed out and he shrugged.

"I assume it's to make a point," he said. That wasn't really the exact truth. He was sure the real reason was to enforce the idea that he was a danger to the public and that there should be no question he needed to be locked up. He wasn't going to say that to Aerith though.

"Well…what happens now?" she asked him uneasily.

"A hearing tomorrow for a judge to decide if I can be let out or if I need to stay locked up until my trial date," he explained tiredly.

"Do you need a lawyer for that?" she asked him and he shook his head.

"There'll be a public defender," he told her.

"Shouldn't you have someone better than that?" she said after a second of thought.

"And I'd hire them with what money?" he asked a little more sharply than he'd meant to. He just knew there was no point in it. "Forget it, it doesn't matter anyway," he told her a little more calmly. "They aren't going to let me out, Aerith. There's no way."

She looked back at him seemingly a little confused before asking, "Are you giving up?" Her tone was bordering on accusatory as she released his hands from her own.

He wanted to say something reassuring but he couldn't. All he could do was shrug and exhale heavily before delivering his unfortunate truth. "I dunno, maybe," he told her. He put his now free hands into the pockets of the jumpsuit he was wearing. "I just don't see a point in fighting it. I technically did the things they charged me with—"

"That's not what happened!" Aerith argued.

"It's what's a judge is going to believe," he said.

"It's why you need a lawyer!" she told him firmly.

"It is what it is, Aerith," he fired back at her with frustration. "You just said that if something's going to happen then there's nothing you can do about it right?"

She was shocked by his words, he could tell. He didn't want to upset her, but there didn't seem to be a way around it at that point.

"Is it that you don't think you can win or just don't want to try anymore?" she asked after a long moment of silence between them.

He couldn't lie to her, and after a few seconds of his lack of response while trying to decide what he could say, he didn't need to say anything because she was turning and leaving him alone. He called her name with an exasperated sigh but when she left he was almost glad. He didn't think there was anything he'd be able to say at that point to assure her things would be fine. He didn't know if things would be fine…He didn't think so…