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.
Now, when we last left out heroes...
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 15, Here Comes the Cavalry
December 13th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
When everyone else saw Zack rush to the other room, they'd followed after him to see what was wrong. Freya ended up being the next person to come into the room after him, and as she saw the report on the television he heard her say something that sounded like "Barret?"
He saw her go a little pale as she walked to the old couch they'd put in the living room and sat down, listening to the report as Kunsel and Cissnei entered. "What's going on?" Kunsel asked.
Freya shushed him as she reached for the remote to turn up the volume.
"…apprehended the suspects three days ago, but according to Shinra's press secretary, they managed to escape their holding cell and murder the president as he was working late in his office. Rufus Shinra, the former president's son and the acting president of the Shinra Electric Power Company made himself available for comment earlier this morning."
The newscaster was replaced by Rufus as he spoke in an interview that had obviously been recorded earlier. As close in proximity to the man as Zack had once been, (literally right down the hall from him at one point) this was actually the first time he'd seen what Rufus Shinra looked like. The acting president barely looked much older than himself, he noted. He sat there, ice blue eyes calculating under neatly trimmed blonde hair, delivering his comments to the newscaster in a pressed white suit. "…As time went on, there were a number of issues with the way my father ran things, and as much as I respect him for what he accomplished for the world, it was those problems that led to his downfall. However, things are going to change now that I'm in charge, and I have a new vision for the way the company is going to go in the future. Make no mistake, these terrorists have been recaptured, and they will be dealt with."
The recording ended and the announcer returned. "The terrorists were already scheduled to be executed on the 16th, as of now, the date has not changed but Shinra has authorized full media coverage of the event. We'll be back after this short break…"
As the commercials ran, Cloud walked out the door and Zack followed him onto the porch. "Cloud?" he called after him.
His friend stopped at the steps, still looking out at the trees, as he leaned against one of the beams supporting the roof. "When we were kids… I made her a promise…" He said. He spoke haltingly, still in shock from the news. "After I joined SOLDIER, if she ever got into any trouble. If she was ever in a pinch, then I'd come to the rescue…"
Zack was surprised. He had asked about Cloud's relationship to Tifa once, before Sephiroth had torched the village, but he'd never heard him give an answer to the question outright. Not even in the lab, as Zack had tried to keep him talking to keep his mind off the pain. He knew they'd grown up together, but…
"I never joined SOLDIER… and I'm not famous… but Zack…" He turned to look back at his friend, his face hardened in determination and yet his eyes were pleading. "We've got to save her! She's all that's left of Nibelheim!"
Zack considered the statement before putting an arm around his friend. "I know. We'll find a way."
He heard someone clearing their throat behind them. As he turned around he saw Freya standing at the door, watching them with her arms folded. "Let me guess. You're going to try to stop us or talk us out of it," Zack said, letting go of Cloud and mimicking her by folding his own arms in front of him, ready for a standoff.
Freya remained calm as she spoke. "Actually, I want to help."
It was Zack's turn to be shocked and he checked her expression for any hint of a joke, but there was none. The lady Turk was dead serious. "I thought Turks were supposed to look out for Shinra's interests." He said at last.
"Who says I'm not?" Freya answered, "I wasn't lying when we fought Zirconiaide, Zack. More than that, there's someone I want to rescue too, and this is my chance."
Zack recovered the quickest from this announcement. "Okay then, I guess the first thing we need to do is come up with a plan."
"Before any of that, what we should do is call Shears. He and Elfe would probably have the best knowledge of what's going on up there at the moment. And they'd probably be the most willing to help."
"What's Veld going to think about this?" Zack wondered aloud.
"Good question." Freya grinned sheepishly. "I guess we'll find out."
They walked back into the lodge and found that in their absence, the others had been talking. "You're going back to Midgar, aren't you." Kunsel spoke first and it wasn't a question.
"What do you think?" Zack answered him. "Here's the thing. If we can do this quietly, that's how I'd rather handle it."
"What you're saying is that you want us to stay behind, right?" Aerith said.
"I'm afraid so," Zack said, "Cloud and Freya have reasons, but the rest of you should stay here. After what you told me about how Hojo found you, no one's going anywhere near that city who doesn't have to be there."
"Are you sure this can be handled quietly though?" Kunsel asked, "I mean, you do realize you're planning to go back into the Shinra building, the corporate center of the company that wants both of you back in their laboratories, to rescue a terrorist who is all over the news right now, don't you?"
"Two terrorists and a laboratory specimen, actually," Freya corrected.
"You're planning to raid the Science Department too?" The look Kunsel was giving Freya suggested he thought she had taken complete leave of her senses. Cissnei looked like she agreed.
"If I have my way, I'll be the only one who goes there. That's going to be on my own time," Freya countered.
Now Zack was looking at her like she was crazy. "Freya, just what exactly are you thinking?"
"Maybe I should go ahead and make that call to Shears before I jump to conclusions about who's going to help us, but it's not impossible. We did it before when we took the helicopter," Freya said as he finished.
"Yeah, but the security will probably be even worse now, and not just because of you," Cissnei interjected.
"No mission is impossible for the Turks." Freya reached for her PHS, and started toward the front hallway so she could make the call. At that blanket statement, Cissnei stopped. The older Turk had made up her mind and nothing she said was going to change it.
"You know, I think she might be even more gung ho about this than we are," Zack observed. He looked around the room at those assembled. "About what I said before. I'd feel a lot better if as few people had to go as possible. We're high profile targets as it is."
"I hate to say it, but you're right," Kunsel said finally, "I understand. But still, you'd better come back, otherwise, I'm coming after you myself."
"And I'll be right there with him," Aerith said, her expression severe. "We're not losing you again, Zack. Any of you."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to be extra careful." He walked back over at Cloud, who had stayed by the door as the others argued. It seemed that in the heat of the moment, he hadn't realized he'd stir up so much controversy. "Tifa's going to be fine, Cloud. We'll get her out of this."
"Thanks."
The word was barely out of Cloud's mouth when Freya returned, looking pleased. "Shears and Elfe are in, and they've got a couple of others they're also talking to. It seems we aren't the only crazy lunatics out there trying to infiltrate the Shinra building and Shears says he thinks there's something fishy about that report."
"I kind of agree with him," Kunsel admitted, "How incompetent would the guards have to be to let two terrorists waltz into the President's office unhindered?"
"Looks like we're going to find out." Zack looked at Freya and Cloud. "Three days isn't a lot of time though. How soon can we get there?"
Freya thought for a moment, weighing their options. "The helicopter would be faster, but I don't think we want to get too close to Midgar with it. There's too much of a chance of getting spotted right now, since they're going to be on high alert. Our best bet would be to fly to the Chocobo Farm and then go the rest of the way by bird. We'll get to Midgar either late tomorrow or early the day after that, if we ride fast."
Zack nodded, decision made. "That's still not a lot of leeway, but we'll make do. Cissnei?" The younger Turk looked up at him. "We'll need you to fly us to the mainland. How soon can you be ready?"
"We'll have it prepped in an hour."
"All right, we'll be taking off as soon as we're set." When he finished speaking, everyone hurried out of the room to make preparations.
Cloud tried to focus on the horizon out the window of the helicopter as he wondered how he had ever talked himself into getting back into this thing again. Fortunately, for everyone involved, Rayleigh had been kind enough, before the first ride out of Midgar, to provide him with medicine for motion sickness, but even with that on hand, he was not happy right now. He wasn't about to complain about it though. Tifa was in danger. There were more important things to think about.
He tried not to look down at the vast oceans of grassland below. As they neared their destination, Cissnei spoke up over the crackle of the radio. "I'm going to take us down about two klicks to the east of the farm. You should be able to get there pretty quick."
He felt Zack shift in the seat next to him as his friend answered, "That's perfect. Once we're gone, just head back to base and we'll call you as soon as we're ready for a pickup."
"Got it," Cissnei responded. The helicopter lurched underneath them as it halted in midair before slowly descending and in the dying light of sunset, he could see they were out in the middle of an open plain, with nothing but grass as far as the eye could see. The chopper finally landed and Zack had barely pulled open the door before Cloud pulled off his headset and climbed out, relieved to be once again on solid ground.
Zack stepped down behind him. "Okay, so next order of business is to rent some Chocobos." He stretched as he caught up with Cloud before stopping to wait for the others. As the rotors went silent, Cloud turned to see Freya leave the helicopter behind him along with Cissnei. Unlike when they'd gone after Jade WEAPON, neither of the two Turks had changed into their suits this time.
Freya walked over to join them as Cissnei stopped right at the edge of the propeller radius. "Please be careful. All right?" she called after them.
"We'll be back before you know it." With a last wave over his shoulder, Zack turned and the three of them walked towards the farm, which they could see, just over a mile away over the fields. It didn't take them long at all to span the distance and soon they reached a split rail fence containing several large yellow birds.
As they approached, a few of the Chocobos came closer to the fence to watch them curiously. After looking around the place, Zack walked off towards the barn and Cloud hurried after him. Once their eyes adjusted to the darker interior, Cloud caught the scent of fresh hay and the sounds of someone working in one of the stalls. Zack called out "Hey! Billy! You in here bud?"
A boy with freckles and a feather in his hat, probably a teenager, peeked out of one of the middle stalls, carrying a pitchfork. "Zack? Is that you?"
"The one and only!" He sauntered over to where the kid was working. "You shot up a bit since I was last here!" He said.
Billy shrugged. "It's been a really long time."
"It has. Listen, I hate to cut this short, but I was wondering if you guys happened to have some Chocobos we could rent."
The boy thought for a moment as he climbed out of the stall and shook some loose straw and feathers from his shirt. He walked over to the opposite side of the barn where a small crate containing various greens and items sat. "Sorry, but you came at a bad time. All the Chocobos here have owners and we can't lend them out. But you helped us out a lot with those monsters back when you were here for Shinra, so here's what I'll do." He reached into the crate and pulled out what looked like a purple materia. "This here, is a Chocobo Lure. We've got some wild Chocobos that run around outside the farm, and if you can use the lure, you ought to be able to catch a few to get where you're going."
"I guess if that's the best we can do…" Zack said.
"Of course, I can't let you have it for free. My grandpa would throw a fit. I'll let you have it for… let's see here…" He thought for a moment and then finished "2000 gil. A bargain, huh?"
"I think you've got yourself a deal," Zack said.
"Great." The kid thought for a moment before continuing. "Do you need greens too?"
It wasn't long before the transaction was completed and Zack and Cloud walked out of the barn. Freya had been watching the great yellow birds that were wandering around the yard, but as the two of them reappeared, she rejoined them. "So what's the story?" She asked.
"It seems tomorrow morning we're hunting Chocobos," Zack said.
"Oh?"
"They didn't have any birds for rent," Cloud explained.
Zack walked ahead of them, looking around as the last of the light started to disappear. "It's too dark to hunt for them right now, so we'll just have to wait till morning. See that hill over there?" He pointed to one out behind the storage silo. "We'll camp there for tonight."
At that moment, Cloud happened to glance over at the pen and noticed one of the birds had edged close to the fence like it wanted a scratch, and so he decided to oblige while Zack and Freya talked. It crooned at the attention, uttering a soft "Wark."
Nobody heard the reply (good thing too, because it probably would have resulted in some teasing), but everyone noticed when the Chocobo rolled something toward the fence with its foot, and Cloud picked it up. As he held it in his hand, Zack walked over to look at it. "Hey, that looks like a summon materia."
Freya joined them, curiously. "What kind?" She asked.
Zack held it in his hand briefly. "I think it's ChocoMog." He handed it back to Cloud. "Hold on to that, it may be weird, but summons can come in handy."
"As long as they aren't of the 'harbinger of death that will wipe out the world' variety, anyway," Freya added.
After a moment, Zack snapped his attention back to the present. "Come on, let's go get the campsite set up."
Without argument, Cloud and Freya followed him towards the rising slope and it wasn't long before they'd pitched their tents.
December 14th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
The next morning, the three of them were up bright and early and after a quick breakfast, camp was broken down in short order. As the three of them shouldered their packs, Zack tossed Cloud the lure since he had an empty materia slot on the bangle he'd purchased, and then looked over at Freya. "So any ideas on the best place to find Chocobos here?"
The huntress frowned, considering the question. "At a best guess…" She squinted as she looked over the open plains critically. "That way," She said at last. They headed south a little ways and it wasn't long before they came across some Chocobo tracks. Freya knelt to examine them, checking the various factors such as wind direction and the changes rendered in the dirt since the birds' passage.
"What have we got?" Zack asked when she stood again.
"They're definitely around here somewhere." She looked to Cloud. "Go ahead and activate the lure."
Cloud reached down to his bangle and felt the materia warm under his hand. Once that was done, Freya walked to the top of a hill and looked around. "If we just wander around here a bit…" She said thoughtfully, "we should get some results."
They walked along the tracks for an hour or so, and Cloud was starting to get a little worried that they were burning daylight when far off in the distance, his ears finally picked up the sound he wanted to hear. "Wark?"
He perked up at the noise and judging by the way Zack froze, it seemed he'd heard it too. The two men hurried in the direction of the noise as a second "Wark" broke the morning stillness. Freya heard this one and pulled level with them as they headed towards the next hill. They almost ran straight into the birds at the top. Before Cloud knew what had happened, he found himself engulfed in a sea of yellow down and feathers as four Chocobos swarmed around him, trying to get at the lure.
"Well, I guess we found our rides," Zack quipped. "You okay in there Cloud?"
"Fine." Cloud deactivated the lure and Zack offered one of them some gisahl greens. One of the other birds nudged Cloud in the back and so he offered it some greens of his own as Freya approached one of the others, before also holding out some seeds for it to eat. As Cloud tried to dislodge himself from the small flock they had attracted, the fourth one also tried to nibble at the greens in his hand and eventually he took pity and let the bird have what was left.
Once that was finished he pulled himself up on the back of the first Chocobo he'd been feeding. "Are we ready to go?" He didn't try to hide the impatience in his voice.
"Yeah." Zack gave his Chocobo a last sprig of greens before he too hopped up onto its back. Freya followed suit and Cloud was already steering his Chocobo northwest as the others hurried to catch up.
Tseng was in his office, dealing with paperwork. The last week had been one headache after another. While it was definitely a relief to him to discover that the group responsible for the terrorist bombings and claiming to be AVALANCHE wasn't related to Elfe and Shears (and therefore, Veld) in any way, subsequent events had left the Turks with a shortage of manpower. While Reno was busy hunting up leads on where the man who appeared to be General Sephiroth had gone, Rude had been forced to work alone on the breakout in Hojo's lab.
The security cameras had presented a most unusual puzzle to them to say the least. General Sephiroth was supposed to be dead. Freya hadn't seen the moment herself, but she was fairly certain, and he had to admit after he'd seen the inside of the room where Corporal Strife had thrown the man into the reactor, he found it highly unlikely the General could still be alive. Even a SOLDIER of his caliber shouldn't have been able to survive a fall like that into a pit of mako, that most likely would have caused him to be poisoned worse than Hojo's experiments had poisoned Strife shortly after. Even with Mako's uncanny ability to speed the healing of injuries, said poisoning alone should have been enough to cause him to starve to death long before he could have ever pulled himself out.
Hojo himself was also an issue. Tseng had been avoiding making waves on it after the loss of Zack, Cloud, and Aerith, and thus most of his physical evidence against the man, but the death of the President, and Rufus's subsequent assumption of the role had opened an opportunity for him. He had instructed Rude that if possible, he was to look into Hojo's activities while investigating the breakout. After all, in the event that Hojo had dealt further in research that could damage the company if it came to light, it should be contained immediately. Between these three things, there wasn't enough manpower to focus on hunting down the rest of that terror cell.
It was this last problem that brought him to a sheet of paper that sat on his desk. The application had come as a surprise to him, but not too much of one, and the applicant should be coming to meet with him any time now. If she turned out to be what he needed, which he felt she would, it would go a long way towards rectifying their staffing problem. There was a soft knock on the door.
"It's open," He said calmly.
As the door opened, he found himself looking at a young woman with short blonde hair. It seemed that since the fight with Zirconiaide, Elena had shed her pigtails for a more professional hairstyle, and it fit her well, as did the dark suit she now wore.
"I can see you already look the part," Tseng observed. "Please, come in, there is much we have to discuss."
"Cloud! Wait up!" They had been riding for several hours and Zack had noticed his friend pulling ahead of the others quite a bit. The shorter man directed his Chocobo to stop as he waited for Zack and Freya to catch up. As Zack pulled up next to him, he shook his head regarding his friend seriously. "I know you're worried, but we've got another day after this, and Freya just heard from Shears that we might be waiting a little bit anyway."
"Why's that?" Cloud asked.
"One of the people he's talking to thinks it'd be easiest to rescue Tifa while they're being transferred and that won't happen until the day of the execution," Freya explained.
"There won't be an execution," Cloud said firmly.
"Not if we have anything to say about it," Zack agreed. He drew his Chocobo level with Cloud's as he tried to change the subject. "So are you sure this is the first time you've handled a full grown Chocobo?" He asked.
"You didn't see any back in Nibelheim did you?" Cloud returned, his tone slightly strained, as his mind was obviously still on Tifa.
"No, I guess not. Probably too cold for them there," Zack mused. "But really, I was kind of surprised we found so many so fast, and they were still hanging around after you canceled the lure."
Cloud shrugged. "I don't know, maybe they just really wanted the greens?"
"Maybe." As they pulled over another hill, Zack could see that they had reached a vast expanse of the plains that was fairly flat just before the mountains came together to meet at a gap that he knew led towards Kalm. He grinned with mischief as he looked over at his friend and then at the lady Turk, an idea starting to form as to how he was going to lighten the mood. "You see where the pass is on the other side there?" He asked as they reached the bottom of the hill.
Cloud looked up at it, curious as to why it had Zack's attention. "What about it?"
"Last one there has to find the firewood tonight!" With a yell he coaxed the Chocobo into a run and felt the wind blow that one stray lock of hair that usually fell over his face back over his head as the bird raced across the open field. He was a little worried they wouldn't take the bait, but as he reached about a quarter of the way across, he noticed a second Chocobo on his right, and shortly after that, he saw Cloud pull ahead of him. It stood to reason. Being shorter and lighter, he'd probably be less of a drag on the bird he was riding.
As he looked to his left, he also saw Freya coming up behind him and urged his own Chocobo to run as fast as it could go, but it was no use. The huntress saluted him with a laugh as she rode past him, leaving him in the dust as she followed after Cloud. Zack didn't mind. He encouraged the bird onward with another yell as the grass sped by underneath him. He'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.
Little by little, the gap they were aiming for was pulled closer as he pressed onward after the other two riders, and it wasn't long before they stopped to wait for him at the mouth of the pass.
He brought the Chocobo to a stop. "Who won?" He asked.
"Cloud," Freya said before turning her Chocobo towards the gap and leading the way. Zack probably hadn't even needed her to say anything. As Cloud steered his bird to follow her, he could see a hint of triumph in his friend's expression even as the laughter left his eyes to be replaced once again with seriousness. The laughter alone was worth a night hunting for kindling.
As they pulled beyond the gap, they found themselves on a slight rise with a river to their right, and off in the distance Zack could just barely make out the roof tops of the small town of Kalm. It was early afternoon, so the trio decided to stop and eat before continuing onward.
About half an hour later, they were back on their birds, and riding down the gentle slope by the river. They slowed down a little bit at this point because they didn't want to tire their mounts, but they kept a steady pace as the birds picked their way through the rocks, sand, and dirt by the riverbank. Zack whistled as he rode along, though he didn't think anyone could make out the melody over the sound of the rushing water. He wasn't quite sure he remembered where he'd heard it either, but he could have sworn there was a piano involved.
It was getting later by the time they reached Kalm though it wasn't quite dark yet. Zack figured if they hurried they could make it to the wastes, and once there, they could walk the rest of the way the following day. It was far better than staying at the inn in Kalm and taking even longer the following morning because the birds they were riding were wild and would have run off. Cloud and Freya were in agreement, so they rode past the town without stopping. There were almost out of sight of the town, when Zack imagined he saw a figure off in the distance. Something felt odd about it. He couldn't quite put his finger on what, but in the end, he shrugged it off.
He was continuing onward when he noticed Cloud had stopped his bird in front of him. "What's up?" He asked.
Cloud shook his head after a moment. "It's nothing. I just thought…" He frowned for a moment. "Never mind," He nudged his Chocobo forward, and that was the end of the matter.
Soon they reached another familiar landmark, the highway where Zack remembered they'd hitched a ride with that old guy in the truck. He half wondered what had happened to that motorcycle he'd lifted when those troopers had tried to catch him in the Mithril Mines. Had that really been three months ago? He marveled at how things had changed in that period of time as the flat land covered with grass began to give way to dirt and rising cliffs. The Chocobo picked its way along the side of the road along with its fellows and as the stars began to blink into existence up in the sky, he looked up ahead and saw another source of eerie green light off in the distance. Mako reactors.
They followed the highway a little further as the lights drew closer before finally making camp on a cliff that had a view of the city off in the distance, allowing the Chocobos to go free at that point. The Shinra skyscraper towered over the rest of the plate, daring anyone to challenge the superiority of the company that built it. At a guess, Zack figured they were far enough away that there was absolutely zero possibility of being spotted, but at the same time, they decided to put their campfire behind an outcropping of rock, just in case.
He was feeding the fire when Freya reappeared, having gone to scout the area. "Find anything?" He asked.
"Not much," She admitted, reaching into her pocket. "I think there was a military unit of some kind around here within the last couple of months." She fished into her pocket and pulled out a discarded clip from a machine gun. "It's been long enough since they were here that all the tracks have been washed out, but I found this a couple of hills over." She tossed it to him so he could look at it. "For all I know, it might have even been the one they sent out to get you."
Zack shivered and it wasn't just because of the cool night air. "It's probably for the best we never ran into them." He examined the cartridge before returning it to the Turk.
Freya nodded. "Most likely."
Zack looked up at the rocks. Cloud had climbed to the top of them, and he was sitting with his eyes towards the city, watching it. The ex-SOLDIER stood and climbed up after him. The city lay before them, a jewel of colored lights surrounded by nothing but darkness. "When I first saw this place, back before I joined SOLDIER, it was still being built," Zack said after a bit. "There used to be cranes all over. I don't even think the Shinra building was completely finished." He pulled up some dirt next to his friend after reaching the top of the outcropping.
"I don't think it was finished when I first saw it either," Cloud muttered. He didn't sound like he was focused on the conversation.
After a moment, Zack sighed. "Don't worry so much, all right? It's a waste of energy and we want to save that for when we rescue Tifa."
Cloud gave him a sheepish grin. "I'll try not to."
"That's what I want to hear." Zack leaned back and looked up at the stars. They were far enough away from the city that he could make out a couple of the more prominent constellations here. After a moment, he started pointing them out, and the conversation continued until Freya alerted them to the fact that dinner was ready.
December 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007
The next morning, after stowing their gear, the three of them began the last leg of the journey at a moderately fast walk. It was a little after noon before the city walls started coming into view under the plate. Another hour later put them at the wall, and soon they had reached the gate leading into the slums for Sector 8. As the three of them entered, gaining a few nervous stares from onlookers, Zack spotted a familiar man with brown hair and a camouflage bandanna. Even in plain clothes as opposed to his AVALANCHE uniform, Shears was easily recognizable as he approached offering a wave. "About time you got here! I've been waiting for a couple of hours."
"So how's life with the former Director these days?" Zack asked.
"He's not very happy with us right now," Shears' grin mirrored Zack's as his gaze turned to Cloud. "So this must be the lover boy himself. Your lady friend must be a lucky girl if her man's willing to travel across continents to come save her."
Cloud looked a bit flustered at that. "Oh, she's not… We're just friends…" He looked over at Freya and Zack could see the question in his eyes. "What did you tell him?"
Freya just shrugged and said nothing. Shears laughed. "I'm just kidding. It's all right though, I understand. I've seen you before, but I don't think we've been introduced." He held out his hand to Cloud. "Call me Shears."
After a moment, Cloud regained his composure and took the hand, shaking it firmly. "Cloud." He returned.
Shears nodded and then gestured that everyone follow him. "Come on, the safe house is this way." They meandered towards the center of the underside of the plate before they reached a set of emergency stairs that took them up onto the upper plate. When they reached the end of the steps, they found themselves surprisingly very near Loveless Avenue.
Zack could even see the fountain down the way. "Isn't this area a little conspicuous for a safe house?" He wondered aloud.
"Not as bad as you'd think," Shears answered him as he turned in the direction of Sector 1 and away from most of the more populated areas. "We were really shaken up when your friends blew up Reactor 1 though."
"I'll bet," Freya observed.
"I'm not surprised the Lockhart girl had friends, but I have to say," Shears turned to the Turk. "I never thought you'd turn out to be one of them."
Freya shrugged again. "I've got my reasons. Besides, she helped me out when I went to Nibelheim."
Zack wasn't surprised by that. He'd seen Freya wandering around in the village and she had been the one who had recommended Tifa as their guide. It was at that point he remembered what she had said when seeing the newscast. "So how did you know that guy… Barret Wallace?" He asked.
"He helped me get to the Mako reactor in Corel. I had no idea he'd ever get himself involved in something like this, but then again, I suppose I never anticipated what they did to Corel either." She frowned, looking around warily for potential eavesdroppers. "I didn't even know what had happened to the town until I woke up and found out it was three years later."
"Don't sell yourself short. We got Fuhito didn't we? But that's right, you did have mako poisoning after the reactor didn't you?" Shears reflected.
"Quite frankly, I'm surprised your eyes don't glow too."
"I think the support materia protected me. I wasn't in there long after I threw you out with it. Though I guess I did feel a little woozy for a bit once I got far enough away to rest." Shears shrugged. They came to an apartment building at that point, and he led them up the steps. "I get why you'd want to help the girl and that Wallace guy, but why did you want to break into the Science Department?"
As they walked into the hall, Freya went quiet for a bit, her expression hardened as she adjusted her shotgun where it hung over her shoulder before speaking. "Because now is my chance to correct a mistake."
"What kind of mistake?" Zack asked.
"The kind where we were ordered to capture someone for Hojo, and we did it without question."
"You call kidnapping someone for Hojo a mistake?"
"I'm not going to make excuses for every decision we made, Zack," Freya said, her tone frigid. "What I did can't be changed, but at the very least, I can halt any further damage."
Shears shook his head as they came to another set of stairs. "I don't know what happened to you Freya, but if I didn't know any better I'd say you're starting to sound more like us every time I see you."
"At least I didn't go around blowing up reactors."
"I'm not going to make excuses for what we did either," Shears said calmly. "The execution is tomorrow and we've got things to do."
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See ya next time!