By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spinoffs. That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Dr. Owen is an original character.
Finally, a special note of appreciation is in order for HCloudXIII over on Youtube and Dark Angel from the website, Gunshot Romance. Without their phenomenal efforts to translate the Before Crisis game text and make the gameplay at least viewable to the English speaking world, I would have been so lost.
Now, when we last left our heroes...
Part I: Crossfire
Chapter 4, Shinra's Internal War Escalates
October 1st [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
Kunsel had been waiting for quite some time, when he noticed Aerith exit the hospital. He'd seen Tseng leave a while ago and Aerith was now being escorted by a tall woman with copper colored hair. Another Turk, by the look of it. It wasn't all that late in the afternoon, so he discreetly followed them to the train station, and once they embarked, he got into a different train car. The train they were on definitely went back to Sector 5, so he didn't think Aerith was in any danger. No, he had only stayed this long because he had found a lead on Zack, and he really wanted to ask Aerith what was going on, but he didn't know if he could with the Turks around. He was on thin ice as it was, and if the rumblings he'd heard from his friends in the regular army were true, and the company was having internal troubles with the Turks, then this whole situation was a powder keg that could blow up in his face if he wasn't careful. He had no business getting involved in Shinra's company politics when he was about to leave… unless Zack really was being held by the Turks. At that point he might not have a choice.
He rode in silence as the train pulled into the Sector 5 train station and attempted to fade into the throng as the passengers disembarked while keeping an eye out for Aerith's bright pink hair ribbon among the small sea of heads. As the crowds dispersed he nonchalantly walked at a steady pace, and pretended to be observing the scenery. The lady Turk stopped in front of the Church and saw Aerith inside before turning around and walking back the way she had come. They passed each other on the street and Kunsel made a point to walk a ways past the Church before circling back around. After he was sure no one had seen him return, he slipped inside.
Aerith had gone back to tending her flowers as though nothing had happened, but she looked up when she heard the church door and saw the SOLDIER standing at the opposite end of the aisle. She regarded him suspiciously before he took off his helmet, revealing a head of dust brown hair and glowing hazel eyes. He had done so the first time he'd walked in here five years ago, since she'd seemed intimidated by it. When she recognized him, she visibly relaxed.
"Big day for surprise visitors," she commented. "I haven't seen you for a while."
He walked down the aisle, stopping a few feet away from where she tended to the delicate blooms. "I've been busy," he replied honestly, and then continued. "I spotted Tseng near here earlier today and I saw him lead you off. Is everything all right?"
Aerith nodded. "Everything's fine…" She seemed to be debating how much more to say.
"Is it true what he said about Zack?" Kunsel asked impatiently.
Aerith looked startled so he decided to clarify. "I… guess I kind of eavesdropped too… sorry… I saw him come in here and I thought maybe he might know something. The thing is, I never stopped trying to find Zack, you know? I thought he was in trouble and I wanted to help, and that was the only solid lead I'd had in weeks."
Aerith gave him a smile at that. "He does have a knack for getting into trouble, doesn't he."
Kunsel nodded. "You should have seen him in cadet training. I could tell you some stories."
"Oh, I bet you could." Kunsel looked around for the new voice and cursed. The lady Turk stood in the rafters, aiming her shotgun right at him.
"I guess I wasn't as careful as I thought, huh?" Kunsel said, making it clear he wasn't going to move.
"No, actually you did pretty well," the Turk said. "I just happened to spot you getting on the train from Sector 2 and got suspicious."
"It's all right Freya," Aerith assured her. "He's a friend of Zack's."
The Turk backed away in the rafters and then disappeared briefly before reappearing on the ground floor behind the flowers. She had not lowered her weapon.
"Tell me. Is he all right?" Kunsel demanded.
Freya walked over to where they stood but didn't answer him.
Aerith spoke up at that point, clearly not wanting any fighting to take place in her church. "He's fine. Tseng took me to see him today, though I'm not sure why he did that."
"I wasn't entirely clear on that myself," Freya admitted. She looked Kunsel over appraisingly. "You've got some skill, I'll give you that. I was almost convinced you weren't following us."
"Well, 'almost' doesn't count," Kunsel replied, sitting down on one of the pews now that it didn't look like Freya was going to shoot him. "So what now? Are you going to arrest me too? Send me off to the labs like you did to Zack? Or are you guys too busy to worry about the fact that I've been snooping around?"
"How did you know about that?" Freya asked.
"It was easy," Kunsel growled. "The report was that there were two escaped specimens from Nibelheim. That was where Zack was reported dead. I don't know what happened there, but two SOLDIER 1sts don't just die without something serious going down."
At the mention of Nibelheim, he noted that Freya was gripping her shotgun very hard. Her knuckles were white, even though the calm expression on her face had not changed. After a while, she seemed to come to a decision. "Well, your knowing won't change anything now." Without another word, she walked to the door of the Church and was gone.
"I'm planning to go back and visit him in a couple of days," Aerith said after she'd gone. "If you'd like, I'll ask if you can come in with me."
"I've got nothing to lose at this point," Kunsel remarked, a frown knitting his brow. "Just what by the Planet is going on? I was so sure I was in for a fight."
Aerith walked over to her flowers and resumed the job of tending to them from which she had left off. "I don't know. It sounds like Shinra may not be completely aware of what's going on with the Turks right now. In that case, it may be better not to say anything to anyone else."
"Don't worry about that. I'm not going to tell anyone," he promised. "But if Zack needs my help, all he has to do is ask."
Aerith smiled. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear you say that."
Kunsel stood up at that point and started moving towards the exit, since it looked like Aerith was busy with her flowers. At about halfway down the aisle, he stopped and turned back to look at her. "Before I forget, what time are you planning to go see him?"
"I was planning to leave around 3:00," Aerith answered.
"I'll be here," Kunsel affirmed, and then walked resolutely out the door, reaffixing his helmet as he went. As he made his way back to Shinra, he found himself thinking that maybe it would have been better if he'd come down to the slums in a disguise.
October 2nd [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
Two figures fought their way out of a passing sandstorm in the Corel Desert as they attempted to get closer to the AVALANCHE encampment. One of the women wore a dark suit and carried a set of throwing knives, and the other wore rugged clothes, sporting glasses, red hair, and an artificial arm. It was around midday, and Valerie was hoping she'd be able to at least get a report on AVALANCHE's movements before she reported in to Tseng. In spite of the distraction of having had to save her companion from dehydration earlier that morning, her current mission had been accomplished. The support materia sat in her pocket, waiting to be delivered to Tseng when the retrieval helicopter arrived.
"It's just a little longer," she called back to her companion, who had yet to give her name. "Then we'll get out of here."
The other woman said nothing, and instead continued on sullenly behind her. The trek would have continued in that fashion except at that moment, they crested over a hill and found themselves face to face with a whole squad of Ravens.
The AVALANCHE SOLDIER at the front of the pack cackled madly upon seeing them.
"Well, this is a problem," Valerie commented, pulling out her knives.
At that point her companion caught up with her. "They don't seem to like you all that much, do they?" she asked.
"It's nothing personal," Valerie answered. "I'm just doing my job."
"Then you know." To Valerie's surprise, she suddenly felt the barrel of a handgun at her back.
"Know what? And point that thing somewhere else, these guys aren't going to wait until we're done," Valerie hissed.
"You know that the Turks hurt me too."
"You have some nerve pulling a stunt like this in this situation, are you crazy?" The Ravens were getting closer and Valerie really didn't have time for this.
"My name is Shalua, and there's no way I can forget what you bastards did."
"What are you talking about?" the Turk demanded.
"You took my sister away in the dead of night because you said she was a good candidate for SOLDIER. So tell me, Turk, where do you take your SOLDIER recruits? I don't care if those guys over there do mess you up, you're going to tell me, now! Where is my sister?"
"I don't know!" Valerie exclaimed angrily.
At that point one of the Ravens lunged. Their time was up, and Valerie dodged as she struck him with a well placed knife.
"Stop!" Shalua called out, as if they would listen. "I'm not a Turk, I'm AVALANCHE like you!"
As Valerie expected, the Ravens just continued to giggle with insanity. As they closed in she spoke again. "So you were part of AVALANCHE."
Shalua nodded. "I only joined because I thought they could help me."
"Ah, well, these guys may be AVALANCHE, but they aren't gonna listen to you. They all belong to Fuhito now."
At that point, all talk ended as the Ravens swarmed in and the two women became immersed in the task of fighting them. Knives flew through the air and gunshots peppered the sand for several seconds. Unfortunately, there were far too many. After a while they were completely surrounded.
"We can't fight them all off like this!" Shalua exclaimed.
"It's gonna be tough," Valerie agreed. But as she was about to dive back into the fray with her last few knives, she spotted two newcomers on the scene. A man with a scarred face, wearing a grey business suit, and another man with brown hair in a white AVALANCHE uniform, and wearing a bandanna with camouflage colors over his brow. The next thing Valerie knew, there was a huge flash of light, and then all the remaining Ravens collapsed. She grinned as she called out to the man in the suit. "Director Veld?"
Shalua clearly knew the other man for she called his name too. "Shears?"
Shears approached. "It's been a while Shalua. Are you all right?"
The woman nodded. "I'm fine. Those underground doctors earned their reputation."
"I can hardly believe it. It's like you never got those wounds." Shears gave her an appraising look and then reached out a hand to take hers. "Come on, let's go."
"Why are you helping the Turks?" Shalua demanded.
"There are reasons."
Shears looked like he was about to say more but Veld interrupted. "Shears, it's too dangerous out here, explain to her later. I'll be the rear guard."
Shears nodded, and with that, he and Shalua headed towards the dunes. Before they were over them however, Shalua looked back at the Turk and the ex-Turk disdainfully. "It may not have been you specifically, but I still haven't forgiven what you did," she said. Then she was gone.
The Turk and the ex-director looked at each other and Valerie asked "Don't you want to know what that was about?"
Veld shrugged. Unfortunately, neither of them realized that there was a whole horde of machines being led over the next line of dunes by Shinra's head of Weapons Development.
Tseng was in a helicopter flying towards Corel as fast as he could go. He knew he would probably be too late. By the time Rufus had told him that he'd found out what Scarlet was planning through his perusal of the security network feeds, she was already marching her small army towards Corel Prison, and they already knew Veld was there. But he still had to try.
He scanned the ground below for any signs of life, hoping against hope that he hadn't lost anyone to his own company today. The desert stretched on for miles, bobbing up and down like huge sandy waves on an endless ocean. It was mid-afternoon so the sun was still high in the sky when he saw the Gold Saucer off in the distance, and he focused on the ground hundreds of feet below him with even more intensity.
Half an hour passed, and then the other half, and then finally, at the end of another, he spotted a figure lying in the sand off in the distance. He quickly slowed down his aircraft and after finding an appropriate spot to land nearby, brought the chopper in for a touchdown.
It was one of the rare times Tseng ever felt the need to run. He raced over the adjacent dune and slid down its crest until he stood by the fallen figure and swore. Valerie lay there bleeding and bruised. He could see a couple of fresh bullet holes in her suit.
"I was too late," he muttered disdainfully as he knelt by her side, checking her for any signs of life. "Valerie, are you with me?" he demanded.
"Tseng…" The injured Turk looked up at him. "I'm sorry… the Director… Veld's been…"
It had been a quiet day at the annex relatively speaking. Cloud had slept through a large part of it, though after dinner, Zack had once again helped him out of bed to sit in the chair by the window. Already, he could tell that Cloud was getting his own strength back. He'd managed to eat a bit more than he had yesterday for one, and he'd stood on his own, briefly, before Zack helped him over to the chair. He hoped that if things continued this well, he might have him actually walking on his own a little by tomorrow. Cloud seemed to be looking forward to that prospect too, as he had unsteadily tried to take a step before Zack had to catch him to keep him upright. He hadn't said it in so many words, but Zack could tell that being in his current state frustrated Cloud greatly, when he was aware enough to comprehend it.
Cissnei was in the room right now and he could hear Freya chatting with Mao outside, though it was too soft for him to make out any of the words. The ambiance was soon broken by the sound of the double doors to the annex swinging open and the relaxed chatting became rushed and serious tones.
The two men looked up towards the door, and Cissnei stood. After a moment, she walked to the door and opened it, flooding the more dimly lit room with a ray of brighter light from the main corridor of the annex. "What's going on?" she asked.
Zack distinctly heard Mao answer "Valerie was shot."
"What?" Cissnei asked.
Zack stood up and walked behind her. Mao and Tanjuu saw the action and lifted their dart guns, but he held his hands up to show he wasn't planning anything. Out in the main corridor, he caught a glimpse of Owen walking with a gurney carrying one of the other Turks he didn't know. The woman wasn't bleeding, but she still didn't look so good. Her skin was ashen and pale.
"She's still carrying a couple of bullets?" Owen was asking someone he couldn't see.
"I'm pretty sure. I used a Cure materia to stop the bleeding, but that was the best I could do." It was Tseng's voice.
Owen had moved out of Zack's line of sight again and he heard the sound of a door closing.
"What happened, Tseng?" Mao asked.
"Valerie was on a mission to retrieve the last support materia. She got it, but she also found Veld. Unfortunately, Scarlet found Veld too."
"Scarlet?" Zack was surprised. "Wait a second," he spoke loudly over Cissnei's figure in the doorway. "She's the director of Weapons Development. Why would she shoot a Turk?"
Tseng approached the group at the door. "I don't believe this is something that concerns you…" he was saying when suddenly his PHS went off. He answered it immediately. "Reno?"
Zack heard Reno as a quiet yet persistent murmur before Tseng walked down the corridor a ways and into another room. There was a noise that sounded like the chatter from a television and then he heard another door close. Zack frowned. "Is there something I'm missing here?"
The four Turks who had been assigned to guard their room; their prison, he reminded himself; looked at him and he could see the concern on each of their faces, but they didn't answer him.
A couple of minutes passed and then, without warning, each of the Turk's PHS's trilled. Freya and Cissnei, who had moved back into the room, checked theirs first.
"What?" Freya cried out in surprise as she saw the message played across the screen. "They can't do this!"
"They just did," Cissnei observed.
"But…" Freya's protests died on her lips as she suddenly looked up at the other two Turks. They too had gone for their PHS's. At that moment the sound of a door down the hall opened and Zack heard Tseng approaching again.
"Sir, what is the meaning of this?" Mao demanded.
Tseng walked to the door.
"What's going on Tseng?" Zack asked.
The director of the Turks looked around at his assembled subordinates and their prisoner standing in the door. "I'm calling a meeting, Reno will be patching us through to the other Turks waiting at headquarters." He looked to Zack. "This information is relevant to you also. You will be joining us."
Zack glanced back into the room. "Cloud too?" he asked.
"If he is coherent. It concerns him as well," Tseng agreed.
"All right. Hang on a second." He found himself rather glad now they'd gotten Cloud into some pajamas during the course of the last couple of days so at least he was wearing something decent.
"Zack?" Cloud asked as his friend walked over to where he sat. "What's going on?"
"We're going for a walk," Zack said. "It's not far though so just take it slow, all right?"
"Where are we going?" Cloud pulled himself up to a standing position, swaying a little bit and grabbing the back of the chair before Zack reached out to put an arm around him in order to keep him stable and provide extra support.
"Down the hall. I think we'll get some answers when we get there." The Turks made way wordlessly as Zack guided Cloud towards the door and out towards the conference room, letting him take most of the weight, but ready to lift more of him if he needed it. Zack couldn't help but be a little proud for him. He'd improved so much since first waking up. He was still poorly balanced and easily fatigued, but those issues probably wouldn't remain for too much longer. They soon made it down the hall and into the other room. Once there, Zack found that it contained a long table and a view screen, probably connected to a computer he couldn't see. He also found several chairs lining the side of the table opposite the screen, and so he picked one of the ones nearby and helped Cloud into it.
Freya took a seat next to Cloud while Zack took the chair on the other side. The other Turks filed in and sat down, while Tseng got on the phone with Reno again and started setting up the communication with Turk HQ.
At that point Cloud gave Zack a questioning look and Zack shrugged. He wanted to know what was going on just as much as Cloud did. Soon, the lights dimmed and the screen changed to a live feed of another conference room, in which Zack recognized Reno and Rude standing in the center of another group of Turks, none of which he knew aside from Lou and Rod.
"Did you see that, boss?" Reno asked.
"Yes, I did. We're officially on our own," Tseng said.
"They really did it," Freya said, the shock still not gone from her voice.
"Did what?" Zack demanded.
Tseng turned to him, and for once, Zack thought he looked tired. "The board of directors has disbanded the Turks."
For what felt like the hundredth time since he'd been here, Zack was dumbfounded. After spending a few moments trying to think of a good way to frame the thoughts racing through his head, he finally decided to suffice with a question. "What does that mean?"
"For us, absolutely nothing, our objectives haven't changed. For you, it means that we no longer have any reason to hold you. The two of you are no longer our prisoners," Tseng answered.
"Whoa, back up!" Zack exclaimed. "Just what is going on here? Sure I appreciate that we're not prisoners anymore, but could you explain to me why in the hell the Turks just got disbanded?"
"I'm willing to bet you aren't the only ones here who'd like to know," Freya observed.
"Start talking," Zack growled, and Cloud nodded in agreement.
"I can see you're as feisty as ever," Reno commented in the other conference room.
Tseng motioned for silence and then he walked to the center of the room, arms folded in front of him as he considered how he would begin.
"This is how things stand at the moment," he finally began. "Some time ago, our previous Director, Veld, left Shinra in search of his daughter, who we have identified as the AVALANCHE leader, Elfe." He paused for a moment and then went on. "Nobody leaves the Turks, and Veld's knowledge was dangerous to Shinra, so they ordered him to be taken out. However, there are complications." He pulled out a strange looking materia from his pocket.
"It seems that Elfe ran afoul of Hojo some time ago, after a disastrous attack on Kalm. The survivors including her and Veld were taken to Nibelheim and while Veld lost a hand, Elfe, or Felicia, as she was known at the time, had a summon materia implanted into her arm."
Zack shivered. Having personally been at the receiving end of Hojo's 'mercy', he could empathize with the girl.
"It seems that the current leader of AVALANCHE, Fuhito, is seeking to use the materia to summon a being called Zirconiaide. In order to do so he needs four of these support materia which will enable the Summon materia to gain enough power to activate." He held up the materia so that everyone could see it. "Unfortunately, because the summon materia is incomplete, it is currently draining away Elfe's life force and the only way to prevent it is to use the Summon. Veld seeks to control the summon to save her life while Fuhito seeks to use the Summon to destroy Shinra. If Fuhito succeeds, then Midgar will also be destroyed, and the planet will follow."
"That's pretty serious," Zack commented. "What does this have to do with you guys being disbanded?"
"Because Scarlet has captured Veld for the president. We are now at a stalemate. Even though Rufus is currently imprisoned in Turk Headquarters, the president apparently thinks that now he has enough leverage to outmaneuver us. All he seems to care about is that those who defy him are punished. In essence, we are in a situation where we are damned if we do, and damned if we don't."
"So what are you going to do then?" Zack asked.
"Finish the mission," Tseng intoned. "According to the feed from the board meeting Rufus just sent us, Veld is scheduled to be executed in three days. Our goals are simple, we intend to rescue him and stop Fuhito." Upon seeing the look of absolute disbelief on Zack's face, he added as an afterthought "No mission is impossible for the Turks."
"And where does that leave us?" Cloud asked.
"Well, you aren't our prisoners anymore…" Freya stopped, glancing at Tseng.
"We may have a use for you still," Tseng said.
There was murmuring among the other Turks.
"And what would that be?" Zack demanded. "You have a lot of nerve assuming we'll help you."
"Actually, since Shinra has cut us off, it makes this even easier to ask," Tseng answered. "AVALANCHE is probably going to be converging in the slums soon, as they will be searching for us and the materia we have in our possession. As a SOLDIER you would be perfectly equipped to aid in fighting them off should it come to that."
"In return for your assistance, we will allow you continued use of these facilities. This location was annexed by the Turks out of our own budget for discreet expenditures. It is also one of our safe houses. Corporal Strife is still recovering from Mako poisoning. It would be in your interest to have a place to hide, until he is sufficiently recuperated, especially since the army will be looking for both of you. We both have something to gain here."
"I can't say I'm too fond of the idea of helping Shinra again…" Zack began. "But on the other hand, I can't say I'd want Midgar, or the planet to get destroyed either. What happens after this though?"
Tseng gave him a wry smile. "We'll see."
That wasn't the answer Zack wanted to hear, but knowing how hard it was to get anything out of Tseng, he was surprised he'd even gotten this much. By his standards this was practically an information tsunami.
With that, the meeting continued as the Turks discussed their next move. Neither Zack or Cloud felt the need to add anything else at that point. It wasn't until the meeting ended and Zack helped Cloud back out the door, that he realized the Turks were no longer holding their dart guns at the ready in case he bolted, and Tanjuu and Mao had not resumed their posts in front of the door to their room. Tseng was being true to his word. As of this moment, he and Cloud were once again free men. The cynical side of his mind that had become more prevalent in recent years completely dashed that thought by asserting that in some ways, they still couldn't be more trapped.
Zack breathed in Midgar's polluted night air as if it were the cleanest breezes wafting in from the ocean at Costa Del Sol. Tseng had left with Freya and Tanjuu some time ago to go back to headquarters. He didn't understand how that was a good idea, but he guessed that the fact the Turks had Rufus still offered them some protection until they abandoned HQ entirely, and apparently the regular military still had yet to find their secret entrance. Tseng had determined that he would evacuate everyone but Reno, Rude, and himself and then they would focus solely on using Shinra's data network to locate Veld. Or so he had said at the meeting.
He took in the cityscape that lay out before him. He and Cloud were currently in an open observation deck that had been built on the roof of the hospital, and while their viewpoint had nothing on the giant skyscraper that stood at Midgar's center like the hub on a giant wheel, they still had a decent view of the city lights painting a mosaic against the green glowing backdrop of the Sector 2 reactor off in the distance. This was really getting messy, in ways that he had never anticipated in a million years.
"What now, Zack?" Cloud asked from behind him. He was sitting on a bench that was built into a low wall with a planter on the top to create the ambiance of a garden.
"I don't know. But I think we may have caught ourselves a lucky break at least." Zack walked back to Cloud and sank down next to him on the bench.
"So, you're going to help them?"
Zack grinned humorlessly. "I don't like it, but like I said, the world getting destroyed by a summon doesn't sound like a good thing. Shinra didn't exactly help us with those experiments, but there's a lot of people who are gonna get caught in the crossfire if we don't do something, including us. Rayleigh said you fought AVALANCHE before. You should know how little they care about collateral damage."
Cloud frowned. "Rayleigh… the name sounds familiar…"
"She said you'd met her before, something about a mission Freya was on," Zack supplied.
"Oh…" He thought about this new information for a little bit. "It sounds right… but it's not all that clear… did you talk to her, or something?"
"It's understandable if you don't remember when she came," Zack observed. "You were pretty out of it."
"She was here?" Cloud asked.
"Tseng brought her in to take a look at us." Zack admitted. "Said he wanted to find out what Hojo did. We didn't have much of a choice at the time. The Turks were ready to knock me out if I tried to fight them on it."
He noticed Cloud shiver next to him. "I really hate this," he heard him mumble.
Zack reached out and put hand on his shoulder. "You and me both."
Cloud seemed to be thinking for a moment and then he muttered a little more loudly. "It's almost like we were back at the lab again…"
"You remember?"
"No… not exactly. But it feels the same… if that makes sense."
"I can understand that, I think."
Having temporarily lost the thread of the conversation, they remained silent for a little while before they heard a door opening behind them and turned to see Freya and Tanjuu. It appeared they were working together to carry a large object.
"What brings you up here?" Zack asked.
"Since you aren't our prisoners anymore, we figured we ought to return some of your belongings," Freya said with some effort, before lowering the shrouded object to the ground, along with her partner. "Still, how do you lift this thing by yourself? It's so heavy!" She wiped the sweat from her brow as she took a step back so Zack could examine the items they had brought.
In a bag that Tanjuu had also dropped by the shroud, Zack recognized the materia he'd picked up over the course of their escape. It wasn't nearly as impressive a collection as he'd had before Nibelheim, but when you're on the run you take what you can get. Then he picked up the shrouded object and grinned. The cloth blew a few feet away as he held the Buster Sword aloft, and it seemed to glow from the ambient points of light in the distance. As the Turks backed away, he took a few practice swings with it, discovering that even after being separated from it for over a week, he was still able to wield it with practiced ease.
After watching him for a minute or two, the Turks started back the way they'd come. As they neared the door, Freya called over her shoulder "We'll see you two back inside."
Zack nodded in her direction before going back to practicing. It felt good to work his body in the rhythm of the familiar movements. He parried, sliced, thrust, and dodged against an invisible enemy for a while, allowing his thoughts to take him wherever they went. For whatever reason, they took him to the fight with Sephiroth at Nibelheim. He regarded it now with detachment. The pain of losing his friend to madness was still there of course, but it had been so long ago now. His memory of fighting the man in the bowels of the reactor, and seeing the utter loss of humanity in those slitted green eyes was haunting, but there was more to the memory than that.
Almost as though it had been tattooed into his mind, Zack could see the exact moment when as he lay on the stairs, Cloud had thrust the sword he now held in his hands into Sephiroth's back. He recalled marveling how the kid had even managed to lift the Buster Sword, not only once, but the second time too when he'd run at Sephiroth to finish the job. Then there had been that eerie stillness as Sephiroth had run him through with the Masamune, and the last thing he'd seen before everything had gone dark was Cloud falling down the stairs in front of him. Cloud had mumbled something about what had happened, later, when they'd been in the cell in Shinra Mansion in the short time between recovering from their wounds and their first introduction to Hojo's experiments, but now, it left him thinking.
He stopped practicing for a moment and looked over at his friend, evaluating him. Cloud looked back at him, as though curious over the attention. After a few moments, Zack balanced the Buster Sword on his shoulder, having come to a decision.
"Hey, Cloud."
"Yeah?"
"When you get better, do you want me to show you how to use a sword?"
Cloud looked surprised. "What brought this on?"
Zack gave him a serious look. "Well, I saw you, at the reactor, and I thought you did good, under the circumstances. Not to mention… now that…" He stopped himself, wondering how he wanted to word what he was about to say. Cloud hadn't questioned him about the experiments before but if what Rayleigh said was true, then he was as good as being SOLDIER now anyway. Teaching him how to use that capability could only be a good thing, in his opinion.
"What is it Zack?" Cloud asked him.
He breathed in and let it out slowly. It felt kind of off to be bringing bad news right after good, but he knew he'd have to tell Cloud sooner or later. Probably better that it was now, while he was lucid. "I… know you haven't looked in a mirror lately, and I haven't exactly pushed it since you haven't been yourself and I didn't want you freaking out… but… Hojo's experiments did more to you than just give you Mako poisoning."
Cloud didn't look surprised, but instead gave him a questioning look.
Zack continued. "Rayleigh said it looked like he'd been doing something with SOLDIER enhancements. Last I heard, she was still trying to figure out exactly what, but if that's true…"
Cloud sighed. "I should have guessed. Freya said she had mako poisoning once but her eyes don't glow nearly as bright as mine do." He held up his right hand, observing the blue glow reflecting off of it from his eyes.
"You're not… mad are you? That I didn't say anything?" Zack asked.
Cloud frowned at him. "I'm not happy about it, but it's not like there's anything I can do to change what happened." He paused, reflecting on recent events. "Is there anything else I should know?"
"Well, like I said, Rayleigh was still trying to figure out what was going on, but apparently it has something to do with these things called S-cells. I don't know what Hojo was doing, but apparently he tried it on me and it didn't work the way he wanted, so he started focusing on you. That's about as much as I know." Zack lowered the Buster so it rested on the concrete as he looked away, not wanting to meet his friend's eyes, or confront the pain he had unwittingly revisited, but if he kept running away, it wouldn't help either of them.
"It was pretty awful," He said simply. "Once Hojo decided he was done with me, up until we ended up in the mako tanks, he wouldn't leave you alone. Every day, you were fading a little more. You stopped talking, stopped eating, stopped… anything really… and… all I could do was watch. Afterward, when I broke us out of there, you were still pretty bad off. A couple of times along the way, I was afraid I might lose you for real. " He finally looked back at Cloud, and he noticed that his expression had changed, replaced now with sadness mired in confusion, as though he didn't know how to react. "I never wanted to keep it from you. But… I guess, I didn't want to think about it either… you know?"
Cloud regarded him for a moment. "I understand... I think…"
"Well, I'll try not to do that anymore," Zack promised. "The truth might not be pretty, but you of all people have a right to know."
He started gathering up his materia and other belongings as he felt a breeze blow across the roof. Cloud didn't look like he was getting cold yet, but he figured it might be time to go back in. At that point, he realized he'd probably have to make two trips since he wasn't wearing his sword harness right at the moment.
"Do you want to go in first or do you want me to come back for you?" he asked, although the real question, which remained unspoken, was more along the lines of "Do you want to be alone?"
"I'll be all right here." Cloud answered.
Zack nodded, and hefting his sword over his shoulder again, he walked to the door.
It felt a little odd, not just walking the hall alone, but to be walking it at all. Just this morning he hadn't even been allowed out into the annex. Still, he figured Cloud should be okay up there just for a couple of minutes. He'd been the center of attention for so much of the time that he'd been here, it was probably a relief for him, especially after that last part of the conversation, to have at least some time to himself. He wasn't willing to risk too much longer though. Cloud hadn't had any repeats of that strange incident with the headache, but on occasion he did still get confused, and Zack didn't want to risk someone not being close at hand for too long if that happened.
He walked purposefully along the corridor, the shroud back over his sword to camouflage its presence. He found some of the Turks still around, mostly near the bed at the far end of the corridor where Valerie was resting. Owen had apparently found all the bullets while they'd been in the meeting and had deemed them safe to remove but he wanted to wait until she'd recovered enough to be able to withstand the procedure, which he said would probably be the following morning. She had already needed a transfusion to prevent complications and didn't need the added trauma of surgery right now if it could be helped.
Cissnei saw him first. "Where's Cloud?" she asked.
"He wanted to stay out a little longer." Zack said nothing more before stowing his belongings in their room, and then turning around to head back.
He returned to the roof quickly. As he opened the door Cloud glanced back to see who it was.
"Okay, you ready to go in?"
"I guess."
Zack took up his usual position next to Cloud as he used the bench to pull himself up. They both knew he'd get tired long before they made it all the way back, but Zack didn't mind it if they stopped to rest along the way, and if he had to carry him a few more steps, it wasn't like he hadn't done that before. The days of not being able to stop due to being chased were behind them for the moment, and there was no need to hurry. They were almost to the door, when Cloud spoke again, half dreamily, like the daze he sometimes went into was starting to take hold again. "Hey Zack?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you really mean it, when you said you wanted to teach me how to use a sword?"
Zack grinned and it was a real one this time. "Of course I did. We'll start as soon as you're ready, and when I'm done, not even a 1st Class'll stand a chance against you."
The two shared a soft chuckle as they headed back towards the elevator.