Strap in for a beast of a chapter y'all (it's long). Apologies for any errors I missed while editing. I'm tired. Hope you're all taking good care of yourselves and thank you as always for reading and commenting. You guys are the best! *virtual hugs*
~Fifty-Seven~
Did I fix it?
Not an easy question for Tseng to answer without knowing just how Cloud had managed to save Johnny Six's life. Or rather, to give him life again. The only explanation Cloud had been able to give was that he'd 'helped show him the way back.' He didn't attempt to get a much clearer description than that. In fact, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. If he was being honest with himself, the things that Cloud was apparently capable of were frightening to accept as real. Imagining a whole army of SOLDIERs like him was more terrifying than desirable, at least for Tseng. Fighters who could summon or create fire with their bare hands, could withstand bullets and explosives, could control peoples' actions, could travel in and out of the lifestream and rise from the dead… the concept was so far into the realm of unnatural, it was hard to believe there were so many people willing to pay to have it.
So, Johnny Six was alive, news that was equally as welcomed as it was concerning. Shinra would certainly want answers as to how the former PFC had escaped death in Wutai and made it back to Midgar, and what his connection was to Zack and the events of the parade. Tseng could tell when he informed Rufus of Six's sudden recovery that he was relieved but also worried if the contract he'd given Johnny to assassinate his father at the parade would come up during questioning.
Tseng thought, at the very least, it would be days before anyone from the company, or the army specifically, was able to officially question Six, but he was wrong. It had been barely eight hours from the moment he'd suddenly woken up after being declared brain dead when he was first spoken to by someone from the militia. The information gathered during the short questioning period trickled into headquarters around mid-day and it turned out to be reassuring in a small way.
Private Six was awake. He was coherent. He was speaking, but he would be no help in answering inquiries, at least for the time being. He'd apparently conveyed that while he did know who he was, and he could recognize his family members, he had no memory of how he ended up in the hospital in Midgar. He had no memory of the parade, or Wutai. No memory of joining the army or the SOLDIER Academy…he had been diagnosed with amnesia and there was no clear picture on whether that would be temporary or not.
Rufus was safe. The contract he'd given Johnny was still secret. The military would need to decide whether they believed Johnny had gone AWOL or not and the company needed to decide just how innocent they felt they believed he was regarding his involvement with Zack. But they couldn't very well charge him with something he had no memory of. Maybe they could, if the evidence was there, but it certainly wouldn't look good, especially given what the public knew of Johnny.
Years ago, they'd all watched as he and another young private were planted in front of a camera in an unknown rebel location, bound and blindfolded, injured and weary, used as leverage in an attempt to force Shinra occupation out of Wutai. And they'd all watched as the two privates were seemingly shot to death when Shinra refused to submit to the demands. It hadn't looked good on the company at the time. What would it look like now if the company punished one of the soldiers once thought killed so tragically? Despite what may or may not have occurred afterward, Johnny Six had still been a hostage in a rebel compound somewhere and anything he may have done after the company failed to save him didn't change that fact, or the things he'd endured. Tseng had to wonder if Six knew as much. If he knew that what was best for him and anyone he had been associating himself with in Midgar was to have no memory of anything. From what he knew of him, he certainly wasn't a stupid person…
Reno had similar thoughts when Tseng informed him of Johnny's amnesia diagnosis. They'd already spoken hours earlier when the man had called Reno back to tell him what had happened at the hospital when they took Johnny off life support. Reno asked Tseng if he thought Johnny could be faking the memory loss. All Tseng could say was that it was possible. Doctors were still doing testing to see if anything would be visible in imaging but the results wouldn't necessarily mean anything.
Unfortunately for Reno, Rayna, Aerith, and Tifa, none of them would be able to visit with Johnny at the hospital while he was recovering from his head injury. He may have been awake and breathing on his own but he still had a hole in his skull and brain damage to be treated. No one outside of family or the military members or police investigating his case were allowed to see him.
News of Johnny's initial brain death diagnosis hadn't made it to Zack before the sudden resurrection event, so fortunately he hadn't had to experience the temporary grief. Aerith delivered the news to him that he had woken up and was able to tell him of the miraculous event that had occurred. Tseng had kept what he knew of Cloud's involvement to himself. He didn't really know how to explain it and for Cloud's sake, he wasn't sure it was the best thing for anyone to know what he was capable of. If that kind of information fell into the wrong hands…well, he didn't want to think of it.
Zack was relieved to hear about Johnny. It was one less thing to agonize over. He had so much on his mind, the most pressing of which came in the form of a plea deal. The city prosecutor's office had contacted his lawyers and told them that in the interest of saving the city the time and money it would cost to go to trial, Zack could plead guilty to the charge of second degree attempted murder with the mischief and kidnapping charges dropped, and he could serve his sentence of between five and fifteen years in a hospital-type facility where he could receive continued treatment for his chronic trauma-related conditions. He found the offer laughable and Aerith had agreed that it didn't seem fair. His lawyers sent a formal rejection back to the prosecution and Shinra was quickly made aware of it.
After another long meeting on the issue back at headquarters a second deal was prepared and delivered. The charge would be changed from attempted murder to second degree aggravated assault. All he had to do was plead no contest. His sentence? It would be up to the judge to decide on a suitable length of time when he pleaded but punishment for a crime like that could still mean up to ten years. It could also be much shorter, he was told, somewhere in the realm of months. The range of possible time he would spend in the so-called hospital was so wide, he didn't really know what to think.
His lawyers seemed to think it was a great deal because as part of sentencing determination, the judge would be accepting an official acknowledgement from Shinra that his behaviour during commission of his offense may have been influenced by known pre-existing mental or psychological afflictions of which they take responsibility for underreporting or properly treating.
So that was the final and best offer. No prison. No official record of him attempting to kill Rand, although he still somewhat wished he had. Shinra taking partial responsibility for his actions. And an uncertain amount of time locked away in a mental ward somewhere. His lawyers told him that if he chose to reject the offer he could be waiting for trial for months or even a year or more and if he did take the deal a civil law suit could still be initiated at a later date going after Shinra for what was done to him and Cloud.
His parents differed in their opinions of what they felt he should do. His father really wanted him to hold out and go to trial to argue for a not criminally responsible defense. His mother felt the plea deal might be more acceptable if they could give him a specific sentence length, which he knew wasn't going to happen. Aerith said she just wanted him to choose what he wanted for himself and that she was going to stand by him no matter what. He didn't know what he wanted for himself.
Over at Shinra, plans were being made to honour and reward the SOLDIERs and Turks who had done what they had needed to the day of the parade to protect the president and innocent bystanders from harm during the attack. Nothing like a party to try and distract from a serious issue like the upcoming official partnership of Shinra with a company whose reputation was perhaps worse than theirs when it came to destruction of ecosystems and wildlife, depending on who you talked to. Oh, and the little matter of an eco-protestor uprising that was willing to resort to terrorism to make waves. Never mind that there had been civilian deaths at the parade, the important thing was that the president was safe and sound, as always…
When Rufus landed the deal with Hark Inc. and delivered the news to his father, he'd never intended for the deal to make it to where it was official and written into binding documents. He'd made the move strategically to earn back his inheritance and a place as president when his father either passed the designation onto him or simply passed on. The last thing he really wanted was to be in a partnership with Hark and time was running out. His father was supposed to be lying in a coffin, not barricaded for safety in his cozy tower oasis. He'd finally convinced Tseng that if they wanted radical change quickly, they needed a radical plan. They needed Cloud.
It wasn't easy for Tseng to agree to the idea of having Cloud execute the president for them and he told Rufus that the only way he would agree is if Cloud did. He wasn't going to be ordered to do it. He would need to decide if he wanted to take that burden on himself. Rufus accepted it as a challenge of sorts, deciding to speak to Cloud about why there really only was one choice.
At Rufus's request, Tseng brought Cloud down to the man's office to meet with him and left them alone to talk. It was something of a field trip for Cloud, getting to see a different part of the building and a different setting from what he saw day to day. There was a lot to look at in the vice president's office. Cloud was sure it was larger than the main area of his apartment. There was a large wooden desk near the back wall with two cushioned seats in front, facing it. In the centre of the room were two black leather couches and a long oval coffee table between them. There was an impressive electric fireplace and mantel built into the back wall and floor to ceiling windows along another, with an even more amazing view of the city than he could see from his own suite. There were pieces of artwork on the walls and some sculptures and potted plants in various corners and framed photographs of various people. Cloud found himself drawn to the photos, even if he didn't really recognize anyone other than a few faces. Rufus let him continue to wander as he got down to business and the reason he'd asked Cloud to his office to meet with him.
"You saved my father's life at the parade," he stated, and Cloud looked over at him in acknowledgement. "I'd rather you hadn't," he said then, earning him an expression he'd already expected. "You're confused," he noted. "Understandably." He sighed then. "I made a mistake not ensuring you were aware of what might transpire at the event, but then I really had no idea you could see the future."
Cloud shook his head at the assertion. "I can't—" he began to argue but Rufus interrupted him.
"It doesn't matter," he told Cloud.
"You wanted the president to be shot?" Cloud asked him and he smiled.
"Well, it would have made life a whole lot easier," he claimed.
Cloud thought about it only a second before asking "Why?"
"I could ask you 'why' as well," Rufus countered. "Why would you want to protect a person who did so much harm to you?" he asked almost accusatorily. Cloud didn't seem to know how to answer that question. Rufus walked away from him to approach the cart near his desk where he kept some crystal containers of alcohol. He poured a shot each of scotch into two glasses, talking as he did so.
"Shinra has been funding cutting edge human experimentation even before conducting the experiments in-house, so to speak," he explained. "In the early days, things were relatively legal. It's how we ended up with our hugely successful and popular SOLDIER program. Over the years, things changed, boundaries were constantly being pushed and perhaps while having the appearance of being under control, they are very much out of control."
He approached Cloud again and held the one glass out for him to take. He looked at it as something almost foreign before taking it and lifting it toward his mouth. Instead of sipping it the way Rufus thought he would he smelled what it was and shook his head.
"I'm not allowed," he said and attempted to hand it back to the vice president.
"Says who?" Rufus asked.
"Rand," Cloud told him and he scoffed.
"Rand's not here," the man pointed out with a smirk. He took a drink from his own glass and Cloud looked down at the one in his own hand before turning his attention back to the pictures on the wall ahead of him. He read the label under it. Executive Director Lazard Deusericus at Junon Arms Summit 10th Anniversary. He knew the name, but it didn't match the image of the person in his head.
"This is—" he started to say, and Rufus nodded, already knowing where he was probably going with his words.
"Yes," he said. "And by the time I knew the secret he was hiding he was no longer the person I or anyone else recognized," he commented. "My father still won't say it aloud."
Cloud looked at him, not knowing what he was referring to.
"He was my brother," the vice president told him and he regarded the picture again with some surprise.
"Brother?" he said while thinking about Lazard. About the man he'd known. The man who Genesis had referred to as their brother also. At least until he'd referred to him as a traitor instead.
Rufus exhaled deeply and turned back toward his desk. "He didn't get the send off that he should have, given what he did and what became of him," he noted of Lazard's recent death. "It's funny, I was always looking for the wrong secrets around here. The ones I wasn't looking for were so much worse," he spoke cryptically. "I didn't ask you here to discuss my past though," he announced then as he picked a piece of paper up off the smooth and polished desktop and held it out for Cloud. "It's yours we need to get straight. Here," he said and Cloud walked toward him to take the paper from him. He set down the glass in his hand on the man's desk so he could hold the page in both hands to look at it.
"I thought I'd give you the facts in the simplest form, because you are so confused these days," the vice president told him before beginning to read off of a second copy of the document.
"At fourteen you entered the Academy," the man stated. "After failure to qualify for continued enrollment after some months, you were offered a contract with the army. Then on a mission to Nibelheim, Sephiroth attacked the town and you and Zack Fair were injured and ultimately found by members of the Shinra science department. You were brought to the mansion facility nearby and held for experimentation for approximately four years, until you escaped with Zack back to Midgar. Presumably a lot of drama later, courtesy of Genesis Rhapsodos, you were taken back into custody by Hojo and moved to the facility in Gongaga where experimental procedures commenced once more."
As the man finished speaking Cloud shook his head once more in denial. "But—" he began to respond and Rufus cut him off.
"But what?" he asked sharply as he set down the document in his hand. "This is the truth, you must know it, even if you can't feel anything about it because of your implant," he asserted. "You know of the implant, correct?" he asked and Cloud nodded.
"Yes," he agreed softly.
"What did you think it was for?" the man questioned before downing the shot of liquid in his glass.
"To save my life," Cloud told him simply. It's what he'd been told before.
"From what?" Rufus asked as he went to pour another drink for himself.
Again, Cloud repeated what he'd been told. "I was sick."
Rufus balked at the suggestion. "Sick of being tortured perhaps," he remarked sarcastically. As he turned to face Cloud again he could see he was oblivious to his own reality. Or at least, that's what his facial expression seemed to suggest. "The purpose of the implant, in part, was to separate you from your emotional pain," he told Cloud. "Those are the exact words in an investment proposal. I've got it here somewhere," he said as he began sifting through some more documents he'd had prepared on his desk for their meeting. "Here," he said when he found it. "'Device inhibits emotion-based recall and separates subject from spontaneous emotional pain attributed to cognitive retrieval of negative or traumatic memories." He set the page back down and looked at Cloud straight. "So, I guess the question is, even if you know the truth, why should you care about it, right?"
Cloud placed the paper the vice president had handed him on the desk next to the glass of untouched alcohol. He lowered his eyes to the floor and crossed his arms in a gesture that seemed more insecure to Rufus than anything else.
"Remembering it doesn't hurt you, so what does it matter for you if it's true, right?" Rufus went on. "You do know what is on that is true though, don't you?" he spoke of the details of Cloud's past.
"No, I don't know," Cloud replied at first. But after a moment of thought he found himself speaking a hesitant and quiet, "Yes."
Rufus took another deep breath before continuing. "Hojo wasn't the only one who did the horrible things that were done to you, the president is just as responsible. He's been on board with what was being done to you every step of the way. Emotions aside, you owe nothing to him. You have no reason to protect him," he argued. Cloud looked up at him again then.
"But I'm a SOLDIER," he stated.
"No, you're a human being," Rufus corrected. "You're not just some weapon."
"But that's what you want me to be," Cloud argued as he lowered his arms. "You want me to kill him now, right?" he asked.
"That's what I want, yes," the man agreed. "And I've chosen you to do it for a reason," he added. "Given what happened at the parade, the president's not too keen on setting foot outside. He spends most of his time in his private quarters. The security is impenetrable. No one is getting near him without being accompanied or at least recorded on surveillance. But you don't need to make contact with him to do what needs to be done for the company. You don't even need to be in the same room as him. Apparently, you can see through walls and force people to shoot themselves," he told Cloud, who realized he was making mention of what happened to Johnny. "So I've heard anyway," the man spoke a little more gently. "No one would be able to question my father's suicide once they realize that the company was sinking slowly into financial ruin from his irresponsible spending habits."
"And then what happens?" Cloud questioned.
"Hojo would be finished," Rufus replied as he swirled the liquid in his glass around slowly. "I would have control of the company. We could give you proper treatment, Zack as well should he stop stubbornly refusing plea deals coming his way. If all went well, you could both eventually have something resembling absolute freedom, a concept that I understand is probably difficult for you to grasp the significance of right now."
Cloud thought hard about what the man was saying. He thought he understood what Rufus was saying but he wanted to be certain. "Eventually have something resembling absolute freedom? What does that mean?" he asked.
"It just means, it wouldn't be immediate," Rufus replied a little hesitantly. He didn't really want to elaborate but he could tell by Cloud's expression that he would have to. "Look, the fact is, Zack committed a crime and he's going to pay for it. Whether that means years or weeks, or days, I don't know. Part of that is up to him and if everything goes right, if I have the control my father does now, I could get him freedom very soon. For you though, it's a little more complicated. Shinra isn't the only one who has a say—"
"Because Shinra only owns part of me, right?" Cloud interrupted him and the question surprised him
"Guess maybe you aren't as out of touch with reality as you seem," the man commented. "It would just require buying the investors out," he explained. "But, even owning a hundred percent of you doesn't mean we could just set you loose on the city," he declared. "The things you're capable of make you dangerous. We would have to make sure you aren't a threat."
"How?" Cloud just barely managed to ask as he felt suddenly overwhelmed by the insinuation he was a danger to others.
"By treating you," Rufus answered vaguely. "Maybe trying to undo some things if possible…It's not important right now. It's something to worry about later. Right now, I just need to know if you are willing to do what I need done. And I don't need to know this second, but I need to you to think about it and know that the longer you wait to decide, the less likely I can help you and Zack."
Cloud didn't know what to say to him but he agreed to think about what the man said. Even if he agreed to kill the president though, he couldn't actually imagine doing it and he didn't even know if he could. He still didn't really know how he'd managed to make Johnny shoot himself at the parade. Tseng had said he was probably angry at that time, having watched Genesis being shot down. He didn't remember being angry with Johnny and he certainly wasn't angry with the president. What if he couldn't even do what Rufus was asking?
000
When nearly a day passed with no acceptance of the most recent plea deal offer to Zack and his legal team, Tseng took it upon himself to pay Zack a visit. Given Rufus had spoken to Cloud regarding the plan to replace the president, he thought Zack should know, in case it helped make his decision easier. He had part of the morning off so it was a good time to take the trip knowing he wouldn't likely be bothered by work. Just so long as there were no sudden emergencies.
He waited patiently in the visitation room while Zack was being collected. When he was finally brought in, Tseng noted how exhausted he looked. As if he hadn't slept in days and like the weight of the world was bearing down on him. His body language indicated Zack was less than happy to see him, perhaps already knowing the reason for his visit. When the guard who'd brought him in had left, Zack stood at the back of the room for second and rubbed his face tiredly before dragging himself forward.
"Definitely didn't expect to ever see you here," Zack remarked from the other side of the bars. He lifted and rested his forearms on them, letting them support his weight. "Could be the first time I've ever seen you out of a suit, too," he added, making note of the man's casual clothing. "Is that supposed to be a disguise? You're not really supposed to be here are you?" he inquired semi-seriously.
"It would no doubt be frowned upon, I'm sure," Tseng agreed. "It's a chance I need to take."
"Let me guess," Zack said, "this is about the latest bullshit plea deal that Shinra came up with?"
"The deal the prosecution is offering, you mean?" Tseng corrected.
"You really think I'm that stupid?" he asked rhetorically. "The deals have had the company's signature stamped all over them. They really think I'm going to agree to some treatment-based sentence in a criminal mental rehab hospital?" Zack challenged. "Sounds like code for lab."
Tseng cleared his throat gently before responding. "The company was prepared to deliver the information to the local police linking you to the deaths of the mansion guards," he revealed quietly and watched as the information sunk into Zack. He didn't say anything, just lowered his head a little and looked down at the floor as he appeared to be thinking. "It would be intentional homicide charges for all, as well as some other charges for the one, because of what was done to him prior to his death."
Zack allowed himself a moment to think back on what he'd done to Mailer. The torture he'd put him through before ending his life. Some of the details were hazy. Maybe it was because he'd been using drugs at the time, or maybe his mind just didn't want to remember everything. He remembered enough though and while he didn't regret the things he did, picturing it was a surefire way to bring on a wave of nausea.
"Was prepared?" Zack responded in question, picking up on the interesting wording Tseng had used.
"Is technically still prepared to," Tseng told him in return. "But it would be better for you if you were in a facility that Shinra still has some pull with or some kind of connection to, rather than a prison."
Zack scoffed at the suggestion. "Better for me, or better for Shinra?"
"Both, honestly," Tseng answered simply. He sighed then before explaining. "A plea deal was Rufus's idea," he revealed finally. "The company is aware of your attorney's plans to seek an NCR designation for you should the case go to trial and there is a big difference between the company willingly taking responsibility for your actions at the parade, and being found guilty of it by a judge. The deal allows Shinra to save some face, which obviously appeals to the president, the legal team, and the public relations department."
"Well after everything, I sure am interested in making things as easy on the company and its image as possible," Zack retorted sarcastically.
"It's the best chance we would have to give you back the freedom and liberty that was stolen from you, should things go…according to plan," the Turk spoke almost tiredly then.
"Who's we?" Zack asked.
"The company when Rufus Shinra is president," Tseng told him.
"Why?" was Zack's next question.
"It's simply easier to persuade the medical staff at such a facility to approve release and submit the documentation to a judge. Release is contingent upon your health and rehabilitation status, not on how many years you serve in a cage," the man explained to him. "For the things you've allegedly done, you'd be looking at a lot of years, best case scenario. This latest plea deal is the best you're going to get. The attempted murder charge is gone."
"But the sentence is still up to ten years, Tseng," Zack pointed out. "I won't know what I'm going to get before pleading."
"It's an arbitrary number," the man countered fast. "A legal formality for now. You could be out in a matter of months, or perhaps weeks."
Zack thought about his words a moment. "But you can't guarantee anything. You can't guarantee that I could get any earlier a release from one of these medical facilities than a jail. That's assuming that after I get transferred it's to a real facility and not some hole in the ground, right? Or one of Hojo's special little workshops?" Zack could tell from the expression on Tseng's face that the man couldn't really argue with what he was saying. "Accepting a deal like that means accepting a mission to a black hole. In a prison, people, corrections officers, need to physically see my face to know I'm an inmate. To track my time served. All anyone needs to see from one of those rehab hospitals is a progress report signed by some doctor."
"The fact is, anything could happen to you no matter where you go, Zack," Tseng told him. "People can be paid off at any venue to take care of a problem," he pointed out.
Zack couldn't help but laugh at the argument the man was making. "I'm kind of thinking at this point I should just do what my fancy lawyers wanted initially and take the company on a nice long ride through the court system, supposing someone doesn't just kill me in my holding cell to take care of the problem."
"Don't think that wasn't discussed," Tseng shot back at him.
Zack shook his head then. "This is a pointless conversation," he stated as he turned around, prepared to end their visit.
"Zack," Tseng spoke up fast, stopping him. "I've agreed to help Rufus in a plan for him to take presidency as soon as possible," he revealed. Slowly, Zack turned to face him again. "He wants to move quickly, so that he'll be able to terminate the tentative agreement made with Hark Inc before it's too late."
"You sure you should be divulging this aloud?" Zack questioned as he looked around the room, making it clear it wasn't the most discrete location to talk about something like that.
"There's no recording devices in here, and even if there were, I've got a jammer on me, I'm not a moron," Tseng replied.
"Debateable," Zack argued.
"The plan involves Cloud," the man told him then, shocking him into silence. It took a second before Zack was able to clue into what the plan probably entailed and when he realized he found himself breaking into a sudden sweat. They intended to use him to take out the president.
"You're going to ask him to do that?" Zack spoke back to him in a low tone.
"He's already been asked," Tseng replied.
Zack found himself quickly becoming angry. "You can't do that," he said loudly at first before he was able to restrain his volume once more. "Tseng, if something goes wrong—"
"Then I will deal with it," the man spoke firmly. "And make no mistake, this is the last thing I wanted to agree to. Initially, I pleaded with Rufus to keep Cloud out of whatever he was planning but new information came up and…It makes the most sense to use the skills he has."
"What information?" Zack asked in confusion.
"How he controlled Johnny Six at the parade," Tseng answered him straight, taking him by surprise yet again.
"You know about that?"
"Cloud told me," Tseng said with a nod.
"So you think he'll just make the president put a bullet in his own brain now too?" Zack fired at him.
"Hopefully, Tseng agreed. "And hopefully from outside the man's apartment. Failing that, there are some other…options," the man explained a little uneasily.
"That's insane!" Zack exclaimed then. "This is the best plan you could come up with?"
"Within the time constraints available? Yes. We still haven't identified the person who did fire the shots at the president's float, and after what happened he isn't taking any chances with his security and he's not letting anyone near him in his private quarters armed or alone, not even me."
Zack started to respond to that with something along the lines of an insult but he stopped himself. "Obviously I can't stop you. You've already made up your mind, and I think I actually believe you when you say you don't really want Cloud involved," he spoke more softly once more. "But you have to know that this could really mess him up one day. Maybe right now he can't feel anything about it, but if by some miracle someone can help him and give him back that ability to feel, how do you think he's going to feel about what he was forced to do?"
"You don't know the half of it," Tseng said to that.
Zack was taken aback by the comment. "Meaning what?" he asked.
Tseng shut his eyes and exhaled deeply. He had a very sudden and powerful urge to divulge to Zack what had been going on between Rand and Cloud, but at the same time a voice inside his head very loudly expressed to him the danger in doing that.
Shaking his head, he replied calmly. "I very much understand your concern and it is one I can say I also share. Ultimately, it's going to be his choice. No one is going to force him to participate in this plan, we can only ask," he explained. "Should this plan be the one that gets Rufus into the president's seat then you could be free in a matter of weeks, even sooner than if you chose to take your case to trial. If you decide on the plea deal."
Zack sighed heavily after listening. "You know, I used to think I had a pretty good sense of when something was a bad idea or not, but I don't know anymore. Everything just feels wrong all the time. So maybe that voice telling me taking that deal would be a bad idea is wrong," he said. After a heavy exhale he nodded. "I will ask to make a call to my lawyers," he told the man finally. "But there's something I want in return," he added.
"Other than this gift you're receiving?" Tseng replied with a bit of a smirk.
"I want to see be able to see Aerith in a room without bars before I'm transferred," he said Tseng nodded.
"That won't be a problem," Tseng said.
"And I want to see Cloud," Zack told him, stealing the expression of relief from the man.
"Um," he started to respond in a way that indicated a denial of his request was coming.
"I want to talk to him alone," Zack said. "It can be in here, I just need ten minutes."
With Rand out of the picture, there really wasn't anything stopping Tseng from granting that request. No one would need to know about it.
"Okay," Tseng agreed after a moment. "I'll bring him by tonight," he promised.
He actually thought Cloud might be happy to be able to see Zack. They'd had a brief interaction at the parade but other than that it had been a long time since they'd been able to talk in person. When he told Cloud where he was taking him later in the day, however, the reaction wasn't a happy one. He asked why and Tseng explained that Zack would soon be transferred to a place where he wasn't going to be able to have contact with visitors, for at least the initial two-week intake period while he was being assessed and a treatment plan was being developed and executed. He told him Zack wanted the chance to see him before then. Cloud's response had been that he wasn't supposed to have contact with Zack, which was technically true. All Tseng could really think to say to him was that it would be a secret they could keep between them. Even after reassuring Cloud, though, that for this one time it was okay to see his friend, he still hesitated.
"Do I have to do this?" he asked when they were at the holding centre and Tseng directed him to the one visitation room where they'd been instructed to go to see Zack.
It struck Tseng suddenly then that maybe Cloud wasn't only worried about being in trouble for breaking some kind of rule, but that he may not want to see Zack at all.
"You don't want to?" he asked, and Cloud looked from him to the metal door with chipped green paint leading into the visitation room. "What is it?" the man asked when Cloud didn't respond. To Tseng he now definitely looked worried or concerned.
After another moment, Cloud opened the door and entered the room without ever telling Tseng what he was thinking. When he walked forward, he looked to the barrier of bars to his right. There was no one on the other side, yet. Not knowing what else to do, he sat down on the bench that was facing the bars. He looked back and forth from the door he could see in the wall on the other side of the bars to the door he'd come through, thinking repeatedly about how he should just go back out to where Tseng was. It startled him a little when the door on the other side of that barrier did open and Zack was led into the room. He stood up from the bench but didn't get any closer to the bars as Zack was being uncuffed. Unlike him, Zack did move closer when he had the chance, stopping only when the barrier forced him too. Zack couldn't help but smile at Cloud when he saw him. Until that moment he wasn't sure Tseng was going to be able to keep his word.
"You're really here," he noted aloud, feeling like he could suddenly start crying if he let himself.
Seeing Cloud now was different than at the parade for a number of reasons, but mostly it was because when he'd seen him that morning he had seemed like an entirely different person. When he'd looked into Cloud's eyes he'd barely seen a glimmer of the person he knew. With that in his mind and the words Kunsel had said that made it seem like he was a lost cause, he'd imagined the worst. But now, with Cloud gazing back at him, he was reassured. Implants and conditioning aside, changed or not, the Cloud that he cared so much about was still there somewhere, he could just tell.
"You look really good, you know that?" he said a little weakly before clearing his throat of his emotions. "Different. Taller even," he added with a smile.
Cloud glanced back at the door once before responding. "You too, I guess," he said then. "Different."
"Yeah not so good though," Zack replied with a slight laugh.
Cloud's eyes were drawn to the bandaging around Zack's one hand and he was quickly reminded of the reason Zack needed it and that he'd been the cause. "Are you okay from..." he began to ask slowly as Zack looked to where his eyes were focused.
"Oh yeah it's fine," he said fast with a shrug. He let go of the jail bar he was holding with his healing hand and placed both his hands in his pockets, feeling almost embarrassed in a way. He didn't want Cloud even thinking about it because he didn't feel like it was his fault. He was also the one stupid enough grab hold of a moving blade with his hand.
"I don't know why I—" Cloud began to try to explain his actions at the parade and Zack interjected firmly.
"No, it's not your fault," he said and Cloud looked back at him with confusion.
"But I did it," he claimed. "And Johnny—"
Zack shook his head at that. "It's not your fault, Spike," he tried to assure him. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine."
Again, Cloud was confused by the suggestion. "What is?" he asked and Zack shrugged once more before beginning to tell him why.
"Everything, you know," he said as he started to walk along the line of bars slowly, looking at the concrete floor. "It's like...I mean, I spend a lot of time thinking about the exact moment that led to all this and at first I thought it was when I failed to save you that night we took a boat to the facility," he stated. He turned around as he reached the one wall of the room and started to pace slowly back, glancing from the floor up to Cloud a few times as he moved.
"But then I think, no, it was before that, in Kalm, when I should have said something to make you stay and not go back to Genesis," he went on. "And then I think if I hadn't lied to you about so much then you wouldn't have felt like you needed to get away. But why stop there, right?" he asked rhetorically. He smiled as he looked at Cloud but his vision was blurring as he had tears suddenly rushing to his eyes. Cloud could see it too. Zack took his one hand from his pocket to wipe them away but more were quick to replace them.
"I can take it back to the apartment we had in Midgar and how I walked out on you when you wanted to stay and fight Shinra and Hojo from taking us back to the labs," he said, his voice shaking. "When I just left you to be taken, like how could I do that to you?"
He had to stop moving then and he exhaled hard as he realized he couldn't keep talking without possibly breaking into sobs. It took a few seconds for him to calm himself enough to turn and face Cloud again. He wiped at his cheeks again before asking aloud, "How could I ask you to stay and fight Sephiroth in the reactor in Nibelheim? How could I bring you on that mission at all? I should have left you alone. I should never have taken that position as a dorm officer at the Academy. I should never have put myself in your life," he concluded.
Cloud watched him crying quietly for a moment while thinking about all he had just said.
"Sorry," Zack apologized. "Can't seem to stop crying these days. I should get Shinra to hook me up with one of those brain implants," he joked awkwardly.
"Didn't I let you into it?" Cloud asked him suddenly.
"What?" Zack asked.
"I just think that, I had a choice too," Cloud spoke a little uneasily, like he was trying to pick the right words. "Whether to let you in my life, I mean," he clarified, making Zack smile again.
"Well, I can be pushy, trust me," he said.
Cloud shook his head then. "I'm not supposed to trust you. I'm not supposed to think about you at all. I don't really know why I was brought here."
Zack nodded in understanding, as hard as it was to hear that, it wasn't surprising. "Because I told Tseng I wanted to see you," he explained. "I'm going to be going away for awhile and I figure my life's probably pretty well over at this point," he declared sadly.
"But you could get out. It wouldn't be forever, right?" Cloud questioned, prompting a sigh from Zack.
"Who knows, maybe," he agreed dully. He faced Cloud straight on then. "I just really needed to see you because I know what Rufus and Tseng have asked you to do and I need you to know that you don't have to do anything they say. You don't have to do anything anyone tells you from Shinra. From anywhere. You don't owe them anything."
As Cloud listened he knew that Zack was talking about how he'd been asked to kill the president so that Rufus could take his father's place. One of the reasons he was supposed to agree was so that Zack could have a better chance at being free. Now Zack was telling him he shouldn't do the thing that could help him. It was confusing. "But what if it means you could—" he began to question and Zack stopped him.
"Don't think about that," Zack spoke firmly. "You don't owe me anything either, alright? If you decide to do it, because you think it could help you, then that's fine, but…don't do it for me, and don't do it just because they want you to."
Cloud just stared back at him, looking unsure about how he should respond to that and Zack lowered his head, releasing a long exhale as he tried to decide how he should say goodbye to him for what could very well be the last time. He didn't know what was going to happen after he was moved from the holding centre the following day.
"Did you really know Sephiroth was going to burn down Nibelheim?"
Zack didn't expect the question he was hit with and he looked up fast.
"What?" he replied, not knowing what would make Cloud ask that question but he didn't try to figure it out, he just listened as Cloud talked.
"Rand told me...he told me a few times, and showed me a video from the mansion, of Sephiroth telling you that the town was going to burn. Was that real?" he inquired in a level tone.
There was nothing that sounded like accusations or anger in his voice. It was just a calm question. Still Zack felt like he'd been pummeled by it and he had to set aside his immediate anger he felt rising up over hearing that Rand had shown him something like that and used it as some kind of manipulation tool on Cloud. He had to go back in his own memory to the time Cloud was referring to. It almost felt like decades ago now…
The mansion in Nibelheim? He must mean the old manor, Zack thought to himself. There had been an old security system wired up in the building. He wasn't sure at the time it was operational but now he knew. He imagined himself back there in the library where Sephiroth had consumed himself in some old science records. He'd tried everything to get the man to leave but he wouldn't. Burn the town. Did he say he would burn the town? He let the question repeat in his head a few times until he thought he could recall Sephiroth saying something along those lines but it wasn't in that wording, or at least, it wasn't that specific. Still, he could understand how it would have seemed for Cloud watching it after knowing what had happened.
"Uh...yeah," he said finally. "He did say something like that...but buddy, he was saying all sorts of messed up stuff in the days before the fire," he explained softly. "What he said about the town burning wasn't even the worst thing he said. If I knew he was making a plan out of it, that he was physically going to start setting fires all over town, I would have done everything I could to stop him," he stated surely.
Cloud lowered his eyes then to the floor as he seemed to be thinking. It was hard to know if Cloud believed what he was saying.
"I was just, god, I was so over my head," he told Cloud then. "I was too young, it was too soon for me to be in the rank I was in, I dunno. I'm so sorry I couldn't stop him Spike, and for everything else, I tried to be your friend and I just screwed everything up."
It was a long and painful moment of silence before Cloud asked him, his voice unsure, "Are we still friends?"
Zack looked to meet his eyes but he was still looking away. Instead, Zack put his hand over Cloud's where he was holding one of the jail bars and he held it tightly.
"Friends?" he said the word as if it were foreign to him. "Now? You're not my friend, Spike, you're my brother," he told Cloud with as much conviction in his tone as he was capable of. "I love you. You know that? I need you to know that."
Cloud stared down at their hands, Zack gripping his tightly. He could hear what Zack said but there was so much more to hear in Zack's thoughts that suddenly flooded his brain. Rushing up behind the thoughts was an overwhelming amount of feeling. It was near painful.
"Cloud," Zack said his name, urging him to look at him and he did. "No matter what happens, that's not going to change. There is nothing you could do, and nothing that could ever happen, to change how I feel about you and how badly I want to fix things for you. You got it?"
He barely heard what Zack was saying then. There were things coming into his head he didn't recognize. Moments with Zack. Things from when he was young, when they'd first met. And it did hurt now. It hurt so much he found himself beginning to cry.
"Spikey?" Zack spoke with concern then as he watched Cloud suddenly breaking down. He looked ready to sink to the floor, but instead he was suddenly tearing his hand away and without another word was fleeing the room, despite him calling out for him to wait.
Outside the visitation room in the waiting area, Tseng was standing at a window on his phone. He'd just finally received information he'd requested about Kunsel and his unexpected leave of absence. The sudden sound of a door bursting open nearby had him turning just in time to see Cloud sprinting out and in the direction of an emergency exit. Shocked, Tseng ended his phone call without a word and went after him, calling out to him and asking him to stop. He wasn't stopping. An alarm went off when he pushed through the emergency exit door into the evening air. When Tseng made it outside after him he could see Cloud in a flat out run and knew there was no way he was going to catch up to him on foot. Cursing, he made his way to the parking lot to get his vehicle. He thought about first finding out from Zack what had happened but if he lost Cloud, he was going to have a hard time coming up with an excuse why.
He wasn't too worried at first that he may not be able to quickly track him down on the streets near to the holding centre but after ten minutes of circling the surrounding blocks with no sign of him he began to feel panicked. He could have run anywhere, in any direction. It would be impossible for him to search every possible path on his own, but who would he call to help? In the past he would have called Reno, Rude, or maybe Cissnei, but he couldn't call any of them now. Reno was no longer part of the Turks, it would be risky calling him, and both Rude and Cissnei were currently stationed in Junon. There was no one.
He searched for over an hour, even getting out of his car in some places that he could only check on foot before he finally asked himself where Cloud would actually go. Where he would think to go. Where he would go to feel safe. The answer was unfortunately unsettling. He was about to head down into the slums when he realized he probably knew exactly where he was. He pulled his car over and took out his phone and dialed the number for the directory at headquarters. He asked for the phone number for Galen's apartment.
"Hello," the man answered after a few rings.
"It's Tseng," he informed the lab assistant. "I was hoping I might be able to avoid calling Hojo if possible."
"Regarding?" the man inquired.
"Could you check in the lab to see if Cloud is there?" he asked.
"Why would he—" Galen began to question then.
"Please, just check and call me back to let me know," he requested and the man agreed with a sigh.
Tseng stayed parked where he was as he waited to hear back. It took near fifteen minutes. Long enough that he was sure Galen was going to tell him to look elsewhere. However, when the lab assistant did finally call him back, it was good news. Cloud was there. But that's where the good news ended.
"He's really wound up right now," Galen told him. "Where was he before?" he asked and Tseng struggled with an answer. He deflected with a question instead.
"What do you mean? He's upset?" he asked.
"Well he was on the floor pounding his own head with his fists when I came in, so sure, we'll say upset," Galen told him in a somewhat condescending tone. "I gave him something to calm him down and he's begging to see Rand now." Tseng exhaled heavily over the information and the sudden pressing guilt he felt. "Any chance of getting him on a phone from the hospital?" Galen asked then and Tseng was quick to respond.
"No, and if for some reason he calls the lab or the professor, or if you see him in the building, you need to let me know," he told Galen, knowing that his response would prompt curiosity at the very least. Perhaps it did, but the lab assistant didn't question it aloud.
"Fine," he agreed. "I'm going to have to call Hojo in here though—" he started to explain.
"Is it necessary?" Tseng asked and Galen sighed.
"Is that an actual question?" the man asked sharply.
"No, I understand," Tseng said in acceptance. "I will come to the lab as well when I can. I'll answer whatever questions he has," he told Galen, knowing that Hojo would certainly require an explanation for why he was being dragged from his living quarters to deal with the problem he'd created.
When he finally made it to the lab, things were relatively quiet. Hojo looked to be mid-rant to Galen when he entered. Galen was nodding as the man spoke, though didn't really seem to be listening, instead leaning over the exam table, writing notes onto a clipboard while he rested his chin in his other palm, keeping himself propped up on his elbow. They both looked over at him when Tseng arrived. Tseng acknowledged them with a nod before looking over to where Cloud was. He was lying down on a cot, facing away and possibly sleeping. There was an IV line hooked up to his one arm.
"You have some explaining to do," the professor told Tseng sharply.
"Yes," Tseng agreed. "In your office," he added firmly, not making it a question.
With something of a grunt, Hojo headed in his direction, passing him by as he went for the door. Tseng followed him out into the hall and walked the short distance with him to his office. Once inside, Tseng prepared to defend himself and his choice to bring Cloud to see Zack, assuming Cloud would have already given up the information under questioning.
"Please do explain why you feel it was appropriate to call one of my assistants with an issue pertaining to one of my subjects, rather than call me directly," the professor asked as he stood just inside the room, rather than taking a seat at his desk.
"Ah, well, perhaps I thought I was doing you a service by not disturbing you if not necessary," Tseng suggested. He tried not to let his nervousness show as he began to try to explain his actions leading up to that. "I know you're not happy, but I—"
"Has he been having the nightmares every night since the parade?" Hojo cut him off abruptly and all he could do was stare back at him. "Am I speaking a different language?" the man barked and Tseng shook his head.
"I'm sorry, I—no," he began struggling to answer with confusion. He didn't know what Hojo was talking about.
"It's important that I know because that would most certainly mean something is malfunctioning with the implant," Hojo declared.
"He said he's been having nightmares?" Tseng questioned in return, cluing in then that Cloud must not have told Galen or Hojo where he'd been before showing up in the lab suddenly in a panic.
"Well he didn't say the word exactly," Hojo admitted. "He described visions while sleeping that he found upsetting. I suppose I made the leap in guessing at what he was experiencing. He said he was alone in the apartment and called you before he retreated to the lab on his own," he revealed.
It was hard for Tseng to withhold a visible indication of his sudden relief and gratitude he felt for Cloud having lied about what had gone on that evening.
"Right, uh, no this would be the first time he's spoken of having any upsetting visions in his sleep, to me at least," Tseng replied. "He's been fine since the parade," he added. "If there were something of concern, I would certainly have informed you, professor," he assured the man.
"I'll need to speak to Rand," Hojo said after another grunted acknowledgement. He moved around to the other side of his desk and moved some papers around. "His reports haven't mentioned anything, but I don't trust him to relay every detail of what he has observed of C4 outside of the lab."
"Cloud, you mean?" Tseng said and Hojo looked at him fast. "He hasn't been C4 since Gongaga," he reminded the man who responded first with a low chuckle.
"It's what he'll always truly be to me, Tseng," he stated coldly.
Tseng chose not to argue the point, moving on to a more pertinent topic. "Rand will not be coming back here, professor," he announced, and it seemed like new information for the man. "Has he not informed you?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Hojo snapped back.
"In light of his condition, the injuries he sustained, and the recovery time he has ahead, he's decided he won't be resuming his contracted position with the company," Tseng explained.
Hojo scoffed. "That's ridiculous!" he remarked. "Regardless of the amount of recovery time required, he—"
"Professor," Tseng spoke firmly as he took a step closer, standing directly across from Hojo on the other side of his desk. "The decision's been made," he said. "He's not fit to return, even if he says otherwise," he elaborated.
"That's for me to decide," Hojo argued and Tseng shook his head.
"No, not anymore," Tseng said definitively. "And you'd do well not to align yourself with him in any way lest you should be found to have facilitated some of his very morally questionable actions," he warned.
Hojo studied his expression, judging the severity of the warning and whether he wanted to argue.
"Which action?" he asked after a moment, his tone lower.
"One which had no scientific basis or rationale and may be designated as entirely exploitive, self-serving and reprehensible," Tseng declared. "Is Cloud going to be staying in the lab for much longer?" he asked, switching topics.
"The next few hours," Hojo answered gruffly, looking away.
"Then you can let me know when I should come collect him," he spoke by way of farewell, opening the office door to leave.
It was late when Tseng did receive that call. When he retrieved Cloud he found him to be sedate and clearly tired. When Tseng asked him what had happened with Zack, he said nothing and he had nothing to say other than that it was okay when Tseng apologized for the pain seeing Zack had caused him. He only nodded when Tseng thanked him for not telling Galen or Hojo where he'd been. After that, Cloud had retreated to his bedroom and hopefully had slept. Tseng wasn't sure once the door to the room was closed, but he hoped he was resting.
When Cloud woke up the next morning, he felt different than he had when he'd gone to sleep. He couldn't explain it at all, but he knew it had to do with seeing Zack the day before. For the first time in months, he actually felt something deeper when he pulled the memory of some event into the front of his mind. He had gotten used to the discomfort or knotted sensations in his stomach when thinking back on certain things. The headaches. But he couldn't emotionally respond to them. It was just like Rufus had said to him. No spontaneous emotional pain or any emotion at all. It was all physical reactions, he could see that now.
But now that he'd seen Zack, there was something else, the physical pain when he tried to focus on those memories of his friend—of all his friends—of the things he could remember from the past five years or so was so deep, so hot and so constricting. It was like his actual heart was being squeezed in a tight grip. His whole body ached. He could physically feel what was missing from him. The things that had been stolen from him. He could see inside himself to where all the missing pieces in him were. The spaces left behind where memories had once been, where his emotions had been, like punctures or perforations. He was so…incomplete. Segmented almost. He couldn't really explain what he was, even to himself.
000
After Zack had accepted the plea deal he was offered, he felt equal parts apprehensive and relieved. The relief surprised him, but he was so exhausted that he was just happy to not have to think about what he should do anymore. There'd been a short hearing for him to enter his plea of no contest to second degree aggravated assault into the court records. Aerith, Tifa, and Reno were all there to support him. The Turk, Anya, was in court to speak on behalf of Shinra, entering into record an official acknowledgement that they were negligent in their handling of his initial release from treatment. The judge then delivered the sentence that he had decided was fair. It came as a bit of a shock, maybe to everyone.
The judge acknowledged that the crime he was essentially pleading guilty to was serious and that he had attacked his victim without regard for his life and in a manner so as to inflict grievous injuries that may be life altering. However, he didn't believe that someone who had been dedicated from a young age to city and community service through SOLDIER and one who had received numerous commendations would commit such a violent act on what was essentially a stranger to him had there not been some precipitating factors. He believed that Zack did suffer from both physiological and psychological side-effects of the trauma he sustained in Nibelheim, and perhaps even prior to that event, owed to past missions he'd been involved in. Given that, he felt that his sentence should be dependent on his rehabilitation and response to treatment and gave a sentence of an "indeterminate length of time, not less than six months with mandatory evaluation for possible release if still serving at five years, and mandatory release at ten years should treatment be extended."
Zack looked over at his lawyer as the sentence was given, needing him to clarify what that meant. Rice just held a hand up subtly at him, telling him to wait. The judge indicated that Zack would be serving the sentence at a facility in the city called The Conlin Centre and Correctional Complex He did recognize the name of it but didn't know anything about it. He was going to be transferred almost immediately.
When the hearing ended, it was Tifa who actually spoke before Zack's lawyer could. She came to stand with the others just behind the partition that separated them from the gallery.
"Ten years?" she questioned sharply. "That's their idea of a more lenient sentence?"
"It's highly unlikely that you'd end up serving the full sentence," Rice explained, looking at Zack, rather than Tifa.
"Can he appeal?" Aerith asked then and the man nodded.
"You can try to appeal the sentence," he said as he looked from her to Zack once more. "But it actually is a very good sentence. Provided that you respond well to the treatment you're given, you could be released in as little as six months. There will also be a chance for you to apply for daytime release at the three-month mark."
Zack found himself nodding as Rice was talking but he was looking at Aerith. All he really cared about at that moment was what she was thinking and feeling. The bailiff standing by indicated that he needed to be brought back down into the holding centre to be prepared for transfer.
"We'll meet back up with you in a few minutes," Rice told Zack, meaning he and Aerith.
Zack said a quick goodbye to Tifa and Reno, telling them that he was thankful for everything they'd done for him and Cloud. Tifa told him to shut up and that they'd visit him whenever he was permitted to have visitors. He said okay but he wasn't so sure he would want anyone visiting outside of Aerith. He wasn't even sure he'd want Aerith to visit.
Once he'd been taken from the courtroom back down to the holding facilities, he was taken to an area where he was shown his personal effects that had been sitting in storage and he signed to indicate they looked to be all present. He decided to have them released to Aerith now rather than having them transferred with him. She said she'd bring whatever he needed to Conlin when he was finally released and would be there to pick him up. His lawyer took a moment to say a few things to him before leaving him and Aerith alone.
"I'll be in touch with you, and my office is going to be kept updated on your status," the man assured him.
"Thanks," he said softly. He actually was thankful. It was a strange thing to think that they actually cared enough or considered his case important enough to keep contact with him.
"If you decide later to move forward with a civil case against the company then we're certainly going to be ready to make that happen, alright?" Rice said and he nodded, shaking the man's hand when he offered it.
When he was finally alone with Aerith, waiting to be transported, he suddenly had a hard time coming up with exactly what to say. They sat together on a bench quietly for a few moments before he took hold of her one hand in his. She gave him a small smile that he half-heartedly returned.
"Are you okay?" she asked him then and he nodded. "I'm sorry about Cloud," she said and he shrugged lightly.
"It's alright," he said as he thought back on the short visit he'd had with him the night before. He'd been upset himself after Cloud had run out and had thankfully been permitted a call to Aerith afterward. "I got to tell him what I needed to," he told her. He turned himself on the bench to face her and hold onto both of her hands as she did the same. "I love you so much," he said as he looked in her eyes.
"I love you too," she replied softly before leaning in to kiss him. "It's going to be fine," she promised him. "I feel it."
He really hoped she was right.
000
The strange feeling Cloud woke up with the morning after seeing Zack didn't dissipate at all over the following twenty-four hours. In fact, after learning from Tseng that Zack had been transferred out of the holding centre and into the medical facility to begin his sentence and subsequent treatment, the feeling only amplified. He couldn't really describe it, or put words to it. He just knew that he didn't really want to speak at all and he didn't want to do anything to pass time as he normally would have. Not study, or train, nothing.
As he sat in the lab, waiting for his afternoon treatment from Galen, Genesis approached him, having been brought in for some testing. Hojo was in the infirmary having a routine check up with one of the doctors. It took Genesis saying his name to get his attention as he stared absentmindedly at the floor.
"Are you alright, brother?" Genesis asked when he looked up at him.
"Brother," Cloud echoed, the one word pulling him back yet again into those minutes he'd spent in front of Zack at the jail. "Zack said I was his brother," he said softly, to himself mostly.
"All three of us are," Genesis told him.
"We are?" Cloud questioned, and Genesis moved even closer to him so that he could speak in a hushed tone and still be heard.
"We are a family connected by our mother, Jenova," he reminded Cloud. "In her embrace, we are never alone. That is the only truth that matters," he stated firmly. "That truth makes us whole," he added.
"Makes us whole…" Cloud repeated quietly.
"You seem unsettled," Genesis pointed out then. "Something's different."
Cloud listened to his words and nodded. He looked straight at Genesis as he spoke what was a sudden realization to him. Something that just seemed so clear after seeing Zack. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"No," Genesis agreed after a moment of regarding him quietly. "I suppose neither of us are," he concluded. "I won't ever be that hero they look to with hope," he spoke wistfully.
A hero. Hope. Was that what Rufus and Tseng were looking to him with? Hope? Did they ask him to eliminate the president because they hoped for something different and better? Rufus told him the company would be able to help him and help Zack. To make them free again. He didn't know what that was supposed to feel like…but he was sure of one thing and he didn't think Zack was supposed to be locked up. Just like he knew Johnny wasn't supposed to be in the lifestream. He'd set one of those wrongs right and he knew he had the power to do the same with the other. As far as being free…he just wanted to be whole again and to not be constantly trapped in a state of confusion and uncertainty.
"I'm ready," he told Genesis and the man looked back at him with some surprise, somehow already knowing what he was referring to.
"Now?" Genesis asked. He looked back toward the doorway to the adjoining room where Galen supposedly still was.
"I have to do something first," he said. "Tonight."
Genesis leaned in then and took hold of his head gently in his hands. He smiled as he said, "She'll be so pleased."
Cloud gave a small smile in return before Galen returned with some syringes and Genesis stepped away from him. That night Jenova would have the reunion she wanted. Just the prospect of it made her happy, he could already feel it in his cells, her cells.
When he was released from the lab he went back to his apartment and called Tseng. He told him that he was ready to do what Rufus had asked him to do. It was a short call. The man told him he didn't want to talk on the phone about it. He made a short visit to the apartment around dinner and asked him if he was sure that's what he wanted. He didn't know. He never knew what he wanted. He just knew it's what he should do to achieve his objective to get Zack free. Killing the president went against what he knew as a SOLDIER. But he supposed, maybe he wasn't one after all. When he told Tseng again that it's what he had decided to do, the man contacted Rufus and the vice president asked that he come to his office alone at midnight for last minute details and so the man could walk him through what he wanted. Tseng wouldn't be there, but would be on duty in the building, so it was up to him to get himself around the building. It was all up to him…the fate of the company's future was up to him…Zack's fate was up to him. His own fate…
After plans were set and Tseng had left the apartment once more, Cloud sat alone for awhile in the bedroom, staring into the open closet at Rand's clothing. Tseng had said the man wasn't going to be coming back, but with his clothes there, it still felt like he was. His clothing, and the room still smelt like him. He had the sketchbook the man had given him resting in his lap. He'd only drawn a few things. Things that were in the apartment. The furniture. The shapes of the windows and the doors. Once he'd tried to draw the rays of sun that had spread across the living room floor from the wall of windows, but he hadn't been able to draw anything from imagination. He just couldn't.
It had been hard, not having Rand around. The apartment, even with Tseng there, felt empty. It reminded him of being back in his room in the Gongaga facility, when he used to stare at the door or the clock and know he'd be seeing the man enter to bring the otherwise quiet and sterile space to life. The thought of not seeing him ever again was…something. He didn't know what it made him feel, only that every time the door to the apartment opened and Tseng entered, there was always a split second when he imagined it was Rand. Even when he could already see through the walls to the elevator and know it was Tseng. His brain always tried to second-guess it.
In the last hour before he would leave the apartment for the last time, he showered and put on his SOLDIER uniform. He affixed the two pins the president had awarded him at the Holiday Banquet to his collar. He stood alone in the dark then, watching the traffic and the lights outside, until at last the moment had come for him to commence with the only mission he'd been given as a newly recruited SOLDIER and the only one he'd ever probably have.
The halls were empty as he made his way to the vice president's office. The lighting was low. He supposed a lot of the building was powered down at night, but he'd never been in that part of the building at that time of night before. He kept himself invisible to the cameras. Rufus said he would leave his office door unlocked for him but when he arrived he still motioned to knock. He had raised his hand about to wrap on the surface to announce his arrival when something made him pause. He thought he heard something, strange sounds that he couldn't picture the cause of. Dull thudding. He tried to look through the barrier in front of him, to see what the source was but the way the office was constructed made it difficult. He remembered that through the door was a short hallway with a bathroom on the left and a coat closet on the right, and another set of doors that led into the vice president's actual office area. He could see into the hallway but it more difficult to see all the way through the second door into the main area. He thought he could see movement but he couldn't make out distinct shapes.
Something wasn't right. He could just feel it. He felt like something bad was happening inside the man's office. When he placed his hands on the door he could hear what seemed like sounds of a struggle. He didn't even think of knocking then before opening the door and making his way quickly through the second set of doors that led to the main office area. He was stopping suddenly in his tracks when he first saw what was happening inside. There were two people in the office but he didn't really recognize either one right away. All he saw was the large-seeming form of the one bearing down on the other where he had him pinned on one of the leather couches.
Although he couldn't see much of the man, he recognized the vice president's shoes as he was kicking into the one arm of the couch struggling against the person who appeared to be attacking him. Cloud could just barely make out some strangled sounds under the strained ones of anger from the person looming above him, pressing him down with a knee on his back. He rushed forward then and wrapped his arms around the attacker, attempting to pull him backwards and away from the vice president. The man was so much stronger than he'd expected.
Cloud dug into the carpeted floor with the treads of his boots and yanked him backwards hard, feeling like every single muscle in the man's body was fighting him. As he was trying to separate the two men he realized suddenly who was in his grasp and what he'd just intercepted. It was the president, and the man had been in the midst of choking and suffocating his son. The vice president was facedown on the couch his head almost seeming lodged between the cushions of the couch back and seat. There was something wrapped tightly around his neck and there was blood on it and the man's skin. He was gripping some of the couch leather in his left hand, his fingernails bleeding as he must have been tearing at the material trying to save himself.
The president lost his grip on what he'd been using to strangle Rufus with but he still strained hard in Cloud's hold. He was shouting in fury then, telling the vice president over and over that he was a traitor and he was dead to him. Fortunately, the vice president wasn't dead, not yet anyway, so long as Cloud could keep the man in his hold under control. Rufus was moving and making sounds, lifting his head from the couch, coughing and heaving in breaths of air. He was bleeding from his nose and possibly somewhere else on his face. As Cloud followed the cord that had been used to strangle him he could see it attached the man's office phone lying in pieces next to the couch. While the vice president was still struggling to get the oxygen he'd been denied, suddenly the president was losing tension in Cloud's arms. He found the man sinking to the floor as he cried out now in pain, not fury.
Cloud didn't know what was happening. He was looking at the man from behind. He just knew the president was no longer fighting back against him but instead seemed to be in distress. It was only moments before the man was grabbing at his own chest and collapsing forward onto his face on the floor. Lowering himself to one knee on the carpet next to him, Cloud tried to turn the man over and suddenly he felt like a couple hundred pounds of dead weight. He heard his name spoken then, barely audibly as the vice president had turned himself over on the couch and was struggling to speak, holding the front of his neck in his one hand.
"Phone," the man rasped out and Cloud looked from him to the broken device nearby. He shook his head. "My desk," Rufus said and Cloud realized he was asking for his cell phone.
Leaving the president's side, he retrieved the phone quickly and brought it to Rufus. He watched him dial one number with his bloodied shaking fingers. He asked whoever he'd called for help, but he barely managed. He dropped his cell phone to the floor then as he lay his head down and covered his eyes with his one arm. He still sounded like he was gasping for air. Cloud looked from him to the president, not knowing what he should be doing. He didn't have to wait long before he heard the sound of someone running toward the office out in the main hall. When Tseng entered the room, he looked first at the floor where the president was lying then from Cloud to the vice president. He tried to make sense of what he was seeing but all he could really think of was protocol and the steps he had to immediately follow.
"Mr. President!" he called out as he approached him first, checking his pulse and not finding one. "Rufus, what happened?" he asked as he abandoned the president a moment to retrieve the nearby AED off the wall. He had his phone in his hand and was dialling at the same time. "I need emergency medical to the vice president's office!" he spoke urgently before returning to the president and prepping the man to apply the AED pads to his chest, pulling his shirt open to expose his skin. "Are you alright?" Tseng called back to Rufus, whose breathing had only just seemed to level. When he didn't respond the man looked back at him. "Rufus!" he nearly shouted. He could see Rufus was injured and he could see the cord that was still wrapped around his neck.
"That son of a bitch," was all Rufus said in return, his voice hardly sounding like his own and steeped in emotion while he lay trembling on that couch.
Tseng looked at Cloud as he prepared to deliver the shocks to the president that may or may not save his life. "What happened?" he asked.
Cloud shook his head at the question. "I don't know, I—he was…" he struggled to explain, looking to where Rufus lay. "I just pulled him back," he said finally, "and then he fell."
Tseng didn't respond as he focused all his attention on trying to save the president's life. He found it to be a strange position to find himself in at the moment having plotted to end it.
Cloud just stood by and watched until the medical staff arrived and took over for Tseng. He heard the man tell them that it looked like a heart attack. There was more than one patient in the room though, and as it became clear that resuscitative efforts for the president were failing, the attention was turned to Rufus and his injuries. Tseng pulled Cloud aside then to talk to him.
"Is the vice president okay?" Cloud asked first.
"He will be," Tseng said. "But they haven't been able to get a normal pulse back on the president. He'll be taken to a hospital but, I think…" he trailed off as he looked back over to where the man's body was lying on the floor with one of the medical staff still attempting aid. "I just never thought this would be how it ended," he uttered quietly.
"He's dead then?" Cloud questioned and Tseng looked his way once more.
"Unofficially," the Turk confirmed. Tseng didn't know yet exactly what had happened in the office. He would have to get the details from both Cloud and Rufus but just from what he'd observed, it seemed that the unimaginable had happened. Something had gotten the president angry enough to attack Rufus. There were so many of Rufus's indiscretions that the man had overlooked or forgiven in the past that it was difficult to imagine what could have led to the sudden violence. Whatever had led up to that moment, he was thankful that Cloud had been able to intervene.
"I'll have to ask you some questions later," Tseng told him. "But you should just go for now, okay?"
"Yes, sir," Cloud said with a slight nod.
When he left the office he headed in the direction of Genesis's apartment. Tseng hadn't said anything about where he should go when he'd suggested he leave. It wouldn't have mattered anyway since he'd already decided on where the night would take him after he followed through with his mission from the vice president. He supposed that even though he hadn't exactly done the job he was tasked with, he'd still played a part in the president's death, the man basically dying in his hands, if not by them. How the man died didn't change the path he was on now and he had Jenova's encouraging words in his head to remind him of that.
He walked in the safety of the invisibility he could create with his ability to disturb the surveillance operations in the building. No one would see him headed to Genesis's suite and no one would see them walking together to the room where Jenova's remains were kept. There were no alarms that he couldn't disable, no locks he couldn't bypass, no camera that he couldn't control. The incident involving the president and vice president also created a perfect distraction. It was all so easy, and Genesis told him it was because they were on a destined journey. Fate wanted them to success. Their reunion was inevitable, it always had been.
Together they loaded the container encasing their mother's remains into the cargo hold of a Shinra helicopter and buckled themselves inside. Cloud watched as Genesis prepared the aircraft for their flight and guessed by the way he worked so methodically that he must know how to pilot it. They'd barely spoken to that point.
"Where are we going?" Cloud asked him then.
"Gongaga," Genesis replied. "To collect our brother."
"Sephiroth?" Cloud said and Genesis just nodded. Of course, they would need Sephiroth for the reunion to be truly complete.
As they lifted off from the roof of the headquarters building and set off in the direction of Gongaga, Cloud kept his eyes on the city lights of Midgar, until he could no longer see them and it was just the darkness of the night ahead.
