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.

And now, for you're reading pleasure...

Part I: Crossfire

Chapter 8, Aren't We a Little Early for This?

October 4th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007, 7:30 PM

They weren't nearly as slow getting to the parking garage as Kunsel had feared. It seemed Zack's assessment of Cloud's ability to walk was spot on as he only really needed Kunsel to prevent him from stumbling. Granted, the prospect of being captured again provided no small amount of motivation. He could see the effort was causing him to get a little shaky as they got to the end of the stairs, but Cloud said nothing about it so he didn't bring it up. As they reached the door to the parking garage, Rayleigh pulled ahead of them sighing with relief as recognition flashed across her face. "I think I may have actually parked on this level, I saw that van over there when I got out. I'll be back in just a moment."

They waited as she hurried to a small maroon sedan that was across the deck. Soon, she had backed it out of its space and pulled in front of them. There was a click as she unlocked the back doors. It didn't take much to get Cloud inside and once he was situated, Aerith hurried around to the front passenger seat. Kunsel dropped his bag into the seat beside Cloud and then said "Go on ahead, I'll be right behind you" before walking over to a small line of three nondescript vehicles that had been parked by the door. The Hardy-Daytona he was looking for was a little off to the left and he wore a satisfied smile when he realized that the fuel gauge was at full when it cranked to life. Perfect. As Rayleigh pulled toward the ramp of the garage, he backed the motorcycle carefully away from the wall and followed them toward the exit.

When they reached ground floor, they saw about four troopers headed in from the main entrance, probably coming to secure the hospital's entry points in the garage. Kunsel pulled the motorcycle up next to the car and motioned for Rayleigh to wait. He had no worries about being able to take the troopers on his own if they saw them but he swallowed hard anyway. There would be no turning back for him after this, and if he played this out the wrong way, it might put his name on the wanted list a lot sooner than he had anticipated. He waited to see what the troopers would do. Two of them were walking towards what he assumed was the entry point for the hospital on the ground floor while the other two were clearly headed towards the ramp. Obviously those would have to be dealt with. Kunsel pulled ahead of the car on the motorcycle and as the two troopers saw him they stopped and saluted. He checked their rank insignia before speaking. They were obviously enlisted troops. One of them was definitely a recent recruit, and the other was a Private First Class, which, as impressive as that sounded, was not much higher. Hell, even Cloud would have outranked them if what he'd said about being a Corporal had been accurate. He'd try distraction first, and hopefully violence wouldn't be necessary.

"At ease soldier, what business do you have here?" he asked formally.

"Sir, we've received reports of escaped specimens hiding in the near vicinity with orders to initiate a retrieval. F-for that reason, we've been asked to question anyone entering or leaving the area." The First Class private looked like he was about to faint at the sight of the SOLDIER uniform alone. All the better. "What business do you have here… um…"

Kunsel offered them a friendly smile and answered "SOLDIER 1st Class, Kunsel, though I'm off duty at the moment. The hospital just released a friend of mine and I'm seeing him and his family home." He leaned in a little. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't bother him though. It was really serious and even though he's been okayed to leave, they told him to take it easy until he's feeling better."

The two troopers conferred among themselves for a moment before the higher ranking private answered "We'll try not to disturb him sir, but we should at least inspect the vehicle before you go."

"I can vouch for them personally, there's no need," Kunsel said with as much authority as his day job of drilling the SOLDIER recruits had imbued him with.

"I-I'm sorry sir, but we have orders from Heidegger himself." Kunsel had to give the trooper credit, he had balls, talking back to him. But that was a problem he really didn't need. He saw the lower ranked private giving his comrade a worried look.

He tried one last time, putting a little more urgency into his voice. "Look, my friend's had it pretty rough the last few days. He was really sick and for a while they weren't sure he was going to make it. His mother and sister are exhausted from worrying about him and none of them need this right now. So let us out of here, and I'll put in a good word for you guys when the performance reviews come up. Understand?"

It worked. The two privates nodded and saluted again. "Yes sir." The higher ranked trooper then added "I hope your friend feels better soon, sir."

"Thank you Privates." he looked at their nametags as though to note who he was speaking to and then waved to Rayleigh to bring the car past the two troopers as they moved in the opposite direction. As they walked past the tinted windows of the car, Kunsel was grateful that he'd pulled it off. That was too close, but maybe, just maybe, they'd get out of this without having to fight anyone…

As they reached the exit to the garage, two more troopers walked in and one of them held up his weapon. "Sir, we apologize, but no one is permitted to leave the area until we've located the specimens." Kunsel grimaced under his helmet before preparing to tell them the same lie. One of these new troopers was a Sergeant, he noted, but his bluffing might still work… Out of the corner of his eye, just down the street, he saw a Moth Slasher floating nearby with its lights flashing like its scanning program was running. There'd be no way he could bluff his way past a machine, especially when it was highly likely they would have Rayleigh and Cloud's profiles loaded into their databanks by now.

Decision made, he dismounted from his motorcycle. Before the troopers could even report what had happened, two quick blows to the backs of their necks brought them tumbling to the ground, unconscious. Kunsel picked up one of the trooper rifles and slung it over his shoulder alongside his sword before hurrying back to his bike. Once he was mounted again, he ushered Rayleigh ahead of him, and as the two of them rounded the corner, they both gunned their engines.

The entry-ramp to the highway was only a few blocks away and it took them a matter of seconds to reach it. Kunsel saw a couple of new sets of lights behind him when they were almost onto the highway, but for now, he ignored it, instead paying more attention to Rayleigh's driving. She was handling her vehicle remarkably well, given the circumstances and had just pulled ahead in the passing lane. The highways were mainly Shinra's transportation arteries as few people actually owned cars within the city and traffic was usually nonexistent out here. He zoomed after Rayleigh, feeling the night wind beating against him. That was when he heard the sound of another motorcycle nearby and checked his rear view mirror. There were three of them behind him, each being driven by a trooper. He reached behind him and carefully pulled out his sword. He'd never tried this before but he'd always been good with motorcycles, so this shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

He decelerated, holding his sword horizontal to the road as he did so and two of the troopers immediately crashed to avoid the blade. The third ended up on the opposite side of his bike from where his blade was, but that didn't stop him from slowing down a little bit as Kunsel's gaze met his. The trooper soon pulled ahead, attempting to make a play for Rayleigh's car, which was by far a less dangerous target than Kunsel, but that was exactly what he'd wanted. He shifted to the left behind the trooper and followed his acceleration, poking deftly at the trooper's rear tire once he was safely out of the way. The tire burst and Kunsel swerved to the side as the trooper's bike fell over, still skidding in the distance behind them. They were soon alone on the road again, but Kunsel kept his sword out, keeping it close to the bike as he maneuvered behind Rayleigh's car in a defensive position. He couldn't see the inside thanks to the tinted windows, but he hoped everyone was all right in there.

They flew around a curve and he cursed again as five more motorcycles pulled into view behind them. At the very least there didn't seem to be any helicopters. He decelerated again, spooking one of the troopers who pulled off to the side of the road rather than brave his sword. Kunsel ignored him, instead pulling behind two of the other troopers and then gunned his accelerator as he sent his sword out in a broad slash. Predictably, one of them turned hard in surprise and Kunsel swerved to the side again as he spun out, catching the other trooper's bike in a tornado of screeching metal and sparks. He heard an explosion behind him as the two bikes collided with the guard rails. One of the remaining bikers tried to pull up behind him at that point, pushing on his rear wheel. With SOLDIER reflexes he put the bike into a controlled spin, bringing the bike around as the trooper flew past him before speeding up, bringing his sword out in another slash and sending the man flying off his bike as it sped into the guardrail on the side of the road. He then noticed the last of their attackers who was pulling up level with the car. The SOLDIER would have to deal with that immediately. Rayleigh clearly saw it too because she had accelerated some more and was attempting to stay ahead of him.

There was a tight curve coming up in the road. Kunsel pulled ahead as far as he dared, hoping Rayleigh was a skilled enough driver to make it around without incident. She certainly didn't need that trooper pushing her. That was when their attacker pulled out his rifle. He was going to try to shoot out the tires.

Kunsel pulled level with the trooper and lifting his sword deftly over and to the front of the other bike he swished it in a backwards motion, chopping at the man cross his chest as his ride also skidded into a crash behind them. He was probably already dead by the time he hit the pavement. They entered the curve and Rayleigh's tires squealed as they rounded it before pulling out onto a straight highway once more.

That was when Kunsel noticed the tunnel up ahead. Good. No helicopters would be able to give chase in there. As they flew out of the night air and into the dimly lit space, he watched his mirrors carefully in case they were still being followed. Rather disconcertingly though, he didn't catch any signs of further motorcyclists. Instead, his enhanced senses picked up the sound of a large vehicle behind them. As pavement flew by underneath them, he looked up ahead and signaled to Rayleigh hoping she understood that they needed to gun it.

He checked the mirrors again as the tunnel lights departed in favor of a starlit sky and his eyes widened. He'd heard that Scarlet had been developing a robotic vehicle for retrieval squads but he'd never seen it actually used. Motorball… Not good. He searched his memory of the area for any off ramps that could get them back into the city streets where they could hopefully lose the approaching menace and realized that they were near the border between Sector 3 and Sector 4. There should be an exit coming up soon… Hmm… those looked like road construction signs up ahead...

He'd already known the Shinra Transit Authority was incompetent, but if he didn't know better, he could have sworn this was on purpose. The detour was ridiculous, requiring a U-turn onto the lane going back, towards their oncoming enemy, and as he looked up ahead, he could see that a whole segment of the bridge was out. There was nothing for it. They would have to make a stand here. Rayleigh saw this too, and she pulled her car to a halt. As he got closer, she came out of the driver's side holding a doctor's bag. Aerith came out the other door, holding her staff. He skidded to a halt and dismounted from his bike, taking a forward position with his sword drawn. He considered what materia he had on him. He had Bolt, an Elemental, a Cure, and a Barrier. That ought to be sufficient to take care of protecting everyone. He really wished he had an All though.

As the three of them prepared for the assault, he quickly cast Barrier on Rayleigh and Aerith, before linking Bolt with the Elemental in his sword. Maybe the electricity would short the thing out. With a yell, he charged at the oncoming robot and they met each other halfway. He leapt, hearing his sword screech through the metal as he flew overhead and landed behind it, careful not to make contact with it apart from the blade and his boots, lest he be shocked by his own spell. Behind him he heard the contraption bump against the barriers he'd cast on the two women, but they held as Aerith moved closer to the other woman, assuming a defensive stance. Taking stock of the situation he saw that the rubber treads were probably the most susceptible to his blade and the sooner this thing was rendered immobile, the better. With that thought, he charged in running his sword through the closest tread, cutting at it. The tread snapped, but that was when he heard a loud pinging sound as Aerith's staff raised up to guard against the robot's spinning blades. It seemed the last hit had broken her shield. He raced back to the front just in time to come to her aid and divert the blades before he heard Rayleigh shout as she cast a spell.

Was that Fire? It didn't look like it. It was too small to be a full Fire spell, but he didn't know what else it could be. He glanced in the direction she had cast it to see that she had focused whatever sort of spell it was on what appeared to be some kind of piping on the inside of one of the treads. As he brought his sword up to push the blades away from Aerith he realized that just might be the way to handle this.

He cast Barrier on Aerith again and raced toward the fuel line, when suddenly, something hit him, knocking him back towards the vehicles. He felt the rifle that he'd brought with him fly clear of his body and land against the car with a resounding thunk. No time to think about it. He picked himself up and raced into the fray again casting a Bolt spell as he ran, before stabbing at the line but only really succeeding in lodging his sword into the robot's metallic hull. That was when he felt the grinding of gears vibrating through his sword and cursed.

The robot could change its shape! He dislodged the sword quickly before the shifting monstrosity could eat it, and ducked to the side as a flamethrower sprayed the area with crimson blooms. He took a step back, searching the robot for a weak point. It had shifted so that the upper portion resembling a torso had hunkered in and forward in such a way that the flame cannons were pointed towards them, but it appeared that if he could get under the thing, he might still be able to cut the fuel line. If he could find it again.

He heard Aerith cry out at that moment and another pinging sound as her staff met blade when she'd moved to defend the doctor. Rayleigh had only just barely avoided being knocked to the ground by a swipe from a mechanical arm. Aerith's barrier was gone again now so he cast the spell once more, hoping he wouldn't have to cast it too many more times, as he joined Aerith in holding off the attack.

As he did so, he called out to Rayleigh "Hey. Do you think you could light up the space underneath that thing?"

"I'll try," she answered preparing to cast the weak fire spell again as Aerith brought up her staff to divert another attack. A small flame whooshed to life briefly underneath the robot and Kunsel just caught a glimpse of the tube he was looking for, coiled up against one of the contraption's axles. He charged again, sliding under the chassis and slicing the tubing clean through before rolling out the back. But to his consternation, even as the oil-based fuel leaked out from the pipe he'd just split, the thing was still going! That must have been the reserves for the flamethrower. Damn it! He raced around the opposite side of where he'd sliced the other tread and brought his sword through its mate, hoping the loss in traction would slow it down further.

That was when he heard the report of a rifle and a bullet connecting with steel. It was when he raced back to the others that he saw Cloud.

Standing, but using the roof of the car to support him and steady his aim, the former infantryman had shot into the space under the robot, once he'd seen Kunsel was clear. As Kunsel rejoined Rayleigh on the other side of the car, Cloud fired again, and the SOLDIER only looked back just in time to see a spark catch on the bleeding fuel line before he pushed Rayleigh to the ground and Aerith followed in a duck and cover. The explosion was mostly contained in the robot's underbelly, but it lifted it into the air slightly before the blown out chassis fell to the pavement, sending vibrations along the entire bridge. At the impact, gears whined before something inside the metal frame snapped and the robot's torso slumped to the side.

Motor Ball was no more.

Kunsel sat up and took off his helmet temporarily to wipe the sweat away from his brow before putting it back on again and taking stock of their situation. Aerith looked like she was okay. She picked herself up and dusted herself off. Rayleigh too, looked like she was mostly unhurt. She just had a few scrapes and bruises. "That was close," he breathed out.

Aerith nodded and to his surprise she walked to the center of the highway and gripped her staff to her chest. As she did so, Kunsel suddenly felt a cool breeze in the area and the cuts and scrapes he'd acquired suddenly healed. Rayleigh stood and walked over to the flower girl curiously. "That wasn't just a Cure spell. That was a limit break," she commented.

Aerith smiled. "I thought it would help."

"Well, thank you." The two women stood there for a moment, catching their breath before all three of them walked over to the other side of the car. When the explosion had gone off, Cloud had dropped to the ground and was leaning against the car as though he'd just sat up. He looked as though the effort of moving had been very tiring. The rifle lay next to him.

"How are you holding up?" Kunsel asked him, picking up the gun and placing it back over his shoulder just in case.

"I'm all right…" Cloud took a moment to breath. "That thing was crazy," he added as an afterthought.

"Well you're the one who made the killing blow. That was great!" Kunsel knelt down to take a better look at him, though it didn't seem like he'd received any injuries from the blast, either that or Aerith had taken care of them with that healing technique of hers.

Cloud laughed quietly. "You did all the work…"

"So? That was still some pretty good shooting. Nice job." He tried not to think about what could have happened if Cloud hadn't been able to shoot straight, before reality imposed itself back on his thoughts and he stood to talk to the others. "We're going to have to ditch the car here," he said.

"You're right. It'll be easier to hide, and they'll probably be back soon." Aerith was putting her staff back over her shoulder as she spoke.

Kunsel walked over to the edge of the bridge and was relieved to see a cable nearby that snaked its way down the girders. "Okay, we'll make for the church. We can climb down here and then find a way into the slums. After that, it's a short walk through Sector 4 and then once we're in Sector 5, we'll be where we want to be, right Aerith?"

The flower girl nodded. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

Rayleigh gave her car a last going over before retrieving what remained of her belongings. "It's a shame," she said with a wistful look. "I liked this car."

Kunsel shrugged. "We need to get going. Who should I carry first?" He asked. It was at that point he heard a painful grunt from the man sitting at his feet and looked down. "Cloud? Are you okay?" The man had curled in on himself and was clutching his head.

"Cloud?" Rayleigh knelt down next to him.

A few seconds later, Cloud lifted his head from his hands, before looking up at Kunsel with a totally confused expression. "Who are you?" he asked, and he suddenly looked very worried. "Where's Zack?"

"Zack's not here, Cloud. He'll be back with us soon though, okay?" Rayleigh spoke up. "Now what happened? Are you in pain?" Cloud's eyes snapped over to her… no not her specifically… but to the lab coat she was wearing.

"Keep away from me…" he growled, pushing himself back until he was leaning against the door of the car.

"Hey easy!" Kunsel knelt down next to him again, only just now remembering Zack's warning. "She's just trying to help. Come on Cloud, you know Rayleigh. Even if you don't, it's okay, we're friends of Zack's all right?"

He looked up at him suspiciously and at a guess, this was probably an instance when the fact he was wearing a SOLDIER uniform and a SOLDIER helmet didn't help. He took the helmet off, but that didn't seem to have any effect. "How do I know you aren't lying?" Cloud asked coldly. They were clearly at an impasse.

That was when Rayleigh took the initiative. "Cloud, I'm sorry." She raised her hand in his direction, palm open and Kunsel saw evidence of a sleep spell being cast before Cloud slumped over.

"I didn't want to have to do that," Rayleigh admitted as she reached into her bag. "But we don't have time to sit here and talk him out of it. We'll have to wait until we're out of the open." After a moment, she pulled out a filled syringe, cotton, and rubbing alcohol. She looked back at the former infantryman, estimating his weight before tapping out a small amount of the fluid in the syringe.

"What's that?" Kunsel asked.

"The sleep spell won't hold, especially if we're dragging him all over the slums. Chances are it'll wear off before we even get that far. This is a sedative. You'll have to carry him but at least this way he won't panic when he wakes up, so if he's still having problems, we can explain things when we're safe." She used the cotton to clean a place on his arm before inserting the needle and depressing the plunger. He stirred, but didn't awaken again. Once she was finished, she replaced her equipment in her bag and then stood up. "You should take Aerith down first and then come back for Cloud. I'll go last."

"Are you sure?" Aerith asked.

Rayleigh was adamant. "We can't stand here and argue. We need to move."

Kunsel nodded and wordlessly beckoned for Aerith to follow him to where the cable hung. He took her in one arm as he prepared to slide down the cable. The doctor was right. Another squad could be bearing down on them even now.

October 4th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007, 8:30 PM

It did not take long for Kunsel to get everyone down to the plate's street level. The physical exertion was not a problem, and even though Cloud had stirred again at one point, he had remained asleep. They couldn't take the train anymore due to the security system so instead they used a set of emergency stairs Aerith pointed out at the border between Sector's 4 and 5, and once they were in the slums the Church was really close.

It was shortly after that when Kunsel heard a low mumble next to his ear. "…Zack?"

"Kunsel," he corrected. "Do you remember what happened up on the bridge?" Up until this point, he had been carrying Cloud with one arm over his shoulders but he felt the burden lessen as Cloud suddenly attempted to carry some of his own weight again. He paused, waiting for the answer.

Cloud was quiet for a long time before he finally spoke again. "…I shot that thing… but after that… I'm not sure…"

Rayleigh seemed to have heard the conversation because she hung back from where she had been following Aerith to wait for them to catch up. "Cloud, are you awake?"

Cloud's eyes tracked to where she stood. "Yeah… um…" He frowned. "Rayleigh...?" At a guess the sedative was probably still keeping him from being totally coherent, but Kunsel was definitely relieved that he wasn't freaking out at her presence anymore.

"Yes, that's right." She took up a position next to them as Kunsel slowly loosened his hold on Cloud so he could help himself along as much as he felt the need to. "How's your head?"

He looked at her in confusion so she tried again. "You were acting like it hurt earlier. I guess that means it doesn't now?"

"No..."

"Good." At that point, she elected not to bother him further. Kunsel looked up and saw that the Church was looming ahead of them. Aerith was waiting for them at the door, holding it open for them to pass through.

"We're almost there," he said, to no one in particular.

As they went carefully up the steps, Cloud lifted his head to take in his surroundings, but didn't say anything. It didn't take long for them to get to the front of the pews, and after Cloud was sitting on the front row in the darkened building, everyone took a moment to revel in the fact they were probably safe for now before Aerith spoke again. "We should probably call Freya. Zack should be with her, I think."

"What's her number?" Kunsel asked.

Aerith checked her pockets before pulling out a slip of note paper and handing it to him. He couldn't use his own PHS, since chances were by now, Shinra would be tracking it in case he made a call, so instead, he left the church and looked around for a public phone. He soon found one on a street in Sector 5's shopping district and after slipping a few gil into the coin slot, and using the backlight from his own phone to read Aerith's handwriting, he quickly dialed the number. Almost as soon as he initiated the call, a familiar but slightly breathless female voice answered, "Yes?"

"It's Kunsel, is Zack with you?"

"Just a moment." There was the sound of something shifting around and then he heard Zack's voice on the other end, and he too sounded like he had been running.

"What is it Kunsel?"

Judging by the sounds on the other end, Kunsel decided that now was not the time for pleasantries. "Zack, I don't know what you're doing, but when you're done, don't go back to the hospital."

"What? What happened?"

"I'll explain later. The main thing you need to know is that we got everyone out okay, and that we're waiting for you at Aerith's favorite place." He didn't think a Turk would suffer herself to be phone-tapped by anyone, but he felt it best not to outright say "the church."

There was silence for a moment and then Zack asked "So everyone's all right?"

"Yes, everyone's fine. Rayleigh's here with us too. Don't worry about us; just make sure you make it back, okay?"

He heard a relieved sigh on the other end and when Zack spoke again, a bit of his old cocky attitude back in his voice. "Would I do anything less? Things are a little crazy right now, but I'll get there as soon as I can. Thanks for the warning."

"No problem." Kunsel ended the call and hurried back down the street to the church. As he reentered he took stock of everyone's current situation. Cloud looked exhausted, and no wonder. It had been a very stressful night for him, even in spite of all the sleeping he'd been doing, natural and otherwise. Rayleigh had seated herself on one of the other pews and Aerith was returning from the rear storeroom with a lantern and supplies for lighting candles.

When Aerith saw he had returned, she said "I need to go get my mother. She might be in danger too after this."

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I'll be all right by myself. It won't take long and I know this area well enough that I can hide if I have to." She reached into a bag that he suddenly noticed she had with her. "I hope you don't mind, I packed four of them when we left. I didn't look to see what kinds they were though." As he looked, she produced a couple of small bundles wrapped in paper which he suddenly recognized as two of the sandwiches that would have been their dinner.

He laughed. He'd been far too busy making sure Cloud was ready to move to even think about food. "Of course I don't mind. Armies don't move on empty stomachs and neither should we."

Aerith smiled and then passed him the food to divvy out. Once that was done, she walked to the door of the church. "I'll be back soon," she called back to them. With that, the door creaked shut, and she was gone.