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, without further ado, the moment so many of you have been waiting for... I hope...

Part II: Reunion

Chapter 16, The Plan

December 15th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

When they reached the level Shears was looking for, he led the group down a short hallway until they came to a door with a brass number on the front. As he opened the door he called out "I'm back!"

He walked in, holding the door open and gesturing that they follow him in. As they entered, Zack found they were in a decently sized common room with a kitchen area near the door. A young woman with brown hair whom he didn't know stood with Elfe in the kitchen, apparently in the midst of a discussion while a little girl played with a doll on the other side of the room. The two women looked up when Shears entered and Elfe spoke first. "Good. They made it."

Shears nodded. "We have almost everybody now." He turned to Zack and the others. "I know you've at least seen Elfe before, but this lady here with her is Jessie. She ran technical support for… uh… the other AVALANCHE."

Zack was about to offer introductions of his own for their group when he noticed Jessie's eyes flicker between his face and Cloud's. "I had no idea Tifa's friends were SOLDIERs," She said, having obviously noticed the mako eyes.

"Two SOLDIERs and a Turk," Shears added with a grin.

Zack rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about how to explain things. Finally he sufficed with "I guess, but the full story would be really complicated."

Jessie shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Shears said you've got problems with Shinra. I've got problems with Shinra. We can work together."

"All right then. I'm Zack, and this is Cloud, and Freya." He pointed them out in turn. "So what's this I hear about us having one more?"

"Shalua will be here in a few minutes. She and Jessie have been working in shifts at a different location to hack Shinra's database and trawl for the information we need," Elfe confirmed.

"It's been a hell of a job too," Jessie added. "We're lucky you all had the right equipment for it."

Elfe walked over to the dining room table in the middle of the common area and sat down. "We used to be well funded."

They were quiet for a bit before Freya spoke up. "So, where's Veld?"

"He's out at the moment. Like I said, he doesn't think we should get involved, but he's taken the attitude that it isn't his job to stop us. As long as we don't jeopardize the safe house, he's just going to pretend we don't exist for a while." Shears walked over to the kitchen counter and selected an apple from the fruit basket sitting there.

Zack chuckled. "Just like a Turk." It was at that moment, that the little girl who had been playing with the doll stood and walked over Jessie, having noticed the abundance of new faces in the area, and took shelter behind her leg, looking shyly up at the three newcomers with wide brown eyes. Having been distracted from the discussion by her actions, Zack looked down at the girl and offered her a gentle smile. "Hey there. What's your name?"

The girl pulled a little further behind Jessie and didn't answer. After a moment, the woman spoke up. "Her name's Marlene. I'm sorry if she's a bit shy. She's been really nervous since we left Seventh Heaven… that's the bar we were using as our headquarters before."

"Seventh Heaven?" He looked at Jessie in surprise. "By any chance was that name held over from the previous owner?"

Jessie looked surprised. "Actually, I think so."

"What would you say if I told you I think I named that place?"

"Really?" Cloud asked, curiously.

"I don't know for sure, since I never saw the guy again, but I've never heard of another bar named Seventh Heaven." Zack removed the Buster Sword from his back and leaned it against the wall before kneeling down so he was at eye level with the girl. "It's okay. I know we look pretty strange, but we don't bite."

Marlene stepped tentatively around Jessie's leg but didn't let go of her. After a moment she asked in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper, "Are you here to help save Daddy and Tifa?"

Zack's smile reverted to more of a grin. "That's what we came to do. Me and Cloud'll have them back before you know it. That's a promise, all right?"

The girl nodded, a hopeful look now in her eyes even as she hid behind Jessie again. Deciding not to bother her further, Zack stood up so that normal conversation with the others could resume. "As things stand, what do we know about their plans for tomorrow?"

Jessie took this question. "From what I can tell, the Science Department might be the easier job, the guards are lighter there right now, and I've got the I.D. badges set up, so that part is a go. We've figured out that Barret and Tifa are on the 20th floor, but when they're moved, it'll be to the third floor basement. The transfer route's going to be from the cellblock, down an elevator and past an observation area Scarlet's set up for the press corps. Then they'll be transferred down another elevator to the actual level where the gas chamber's located."

At that moment, the front door opened and a woman with flaming red hair and glasses walked into the room. She had an artificial arm, Zack noted, and was dressed in a T-shirt and very short shorts. As she looked around, she gave an approving nod. "So everyone's here," she said coolly.

"What kept you?" Shears asked when he saw who it was.

The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a small disk. "Just the guard schedules and security details for tomorrow. I managed to snag them before I pulled out and destroyed the terminal. No one's ever going to be able to identify who was using that charred mess."

"You weren't spotted?" Elfe asked seriously.

"Of course not." The woman walked forward and placed the disk on the table.

Freya walked over and picked it up, observing as it caught the light from the lamp hanging over the dining room table. "Well, I think we're ready to come up with a plan of our own."

December 16th [ ν ] – εуλ 0007

As dawn broke over Midgar, and Rufus departed the city for Junon along with Heidegger, down below on a street in Sector 1, a small contingent of troopers encountered a slender woman with red hair. Her left arm was concealed by her coat, as she approached them, claiming that someone had broken into her house and she needed their help. Several of them broke off to assist her as the others went on ahead, and she led them a ways through the Sector before bringing them to a back alley.

The troopers never knew what hit them…

A small window opened and Tifa watched Barret accept the two trays of food that were shoved through. He balanced one of them on his disabled gun arm as he offered her the other one which she took, before sitting on the bunk as the other man sat on the floor. They ate in a silence as the fluorescent light buzzed overhead. This would probably be their last meal, she reflected. One of the guards had laughed when he'd told them about Biggs and Wedge's failed rescue attempt some days ago. And then there had been the news about the President. She had no idea why they were being blamed for that. After all, they'd only been in here for the last few days. They hadn't even so much as set foot in the President's office. Not that it mattered. No one here cared.

She finished her meal and set the tray by the door, though as she did so, she noticed her hands were shaking. She folded her arms in front of her, trying to breathe as Zangan had taught her to when she was nervous. She had no intention of just walking to her death, but she wasn't sure how she and Barret were going to get out of this.

"You all righ' Tifa?" Barret asked.

She smiled at him. "I'm fine. It's nothing."

Barret gave her a stern look. "Don' you lie to me, girl."

Tifa sighed, fighting back tears as she wondered why she was having so much trouble thinking straight all of a sudden. "I guess I just… really don't want to die today..."

Barret stood up and very gently put his real arm around her. "Nobody's gonna die, we'll fight our way out, righ?" The two of them stayed that way until Tifa wiped away her tears and then they sat down on the bunk and waited.

It was at that moment when the door opened and they saw two troopers outside holding their weapons as one of their guards stood nearby. Two more stood in front of them, each holding a pair of hand cuffs. As Tifa observed them defiantly, the taller of the two spoke from under his helmet. "It's time. We're coming in to cuff you. Neither of you try anything funny, or there will be trouble. You got that?"

Tifa scowled as the two troopers walked in and the shorter one proceeded to put the handcuffs on her as the taller one moved to work with Barret. She flexed her right hand as he worked with her left, contemplating the right moment to punch him out. She knew she could fight her way out of this. Dealing with the troopers that had guns would be tricky, but it was possible. As though he knew what she had in mind, she felt the trooper's left hand close over her right. It was when she tried to pull back away from him, that she realized the man was strong… Unnaturally strong.

"Don't try anything," The man said under his helmet, but the tone of his voice wasn't harsh. If anything, it sounded like he was trying not to be heard. If she didn't know any better… had she heard his voice before?...

She glanced out the door, and Barret took that moment to try swinging at his guard. As Tifa whirled back around, the trooper ducked and then leapt forward, violently pinning him against the wall. "Did you hear what I said?" He growled out, "If you do that again, I will kick your ass so hard your ancestors'll feel it!" Tifa's eyes widened in shock. What were these guys? Barret seemed equally surprised, and the taller trooper took that opportunity to finish cuffing him.

Finally she looked back at the guard working on her wrists, as though through strength of pure will she could see through the visor at the person underneath it. It had distracted her so much that she almost didn't register the other cuff clicking around her wrist.

"Who are you?" She whispered when she thought no one was looking. The trooper didn't answer, but instead pulled her up and led her out of the cell without saying anything more. Barret was right behind them. The trooper with the gun checked out with the guard, and soon they were walking down a hall towards the elevator.

Nanaki had long ago lost track of the time he had been here, or the number of procedures Hojo had performed on him since he had branded the number XIII on his shoulder. It had to have been several days since the incident with that strange man with the white hair and the sword, but his everyday life here, if it could be called a life, had not changed. There had been a bald man wearing the uniform of the Turks who had come to look around the lab, but that had been it. He lay in a corner of his cage, positively numb with boredom, but grateful that Hojo's interest was directed elsewhere for the time being, as he tried not to listen to the sounds of the specimens in the other cages.

He heard the sound of a door whooshing open nearby and his ears perked up. Someone was coming? No… two of them. By the sound of it, it was a pair of troopers. He could tell by the boots. But that was odd. What were two troopers doing here?

He cracked open his good eye and raised his head curiously when the sounds of the boots stopped, and that was when he saw that one of them was standing in front of his cage. When the person noticed that he was awake, they signaled with their right hand for him to wait a second, and then reached over to the access panel. He growled warningly and the trooper's hand paused. Carefully, as though making sure to avoid being seen by the cameras, the trooper lifted their helmet, revealing a young woman with glowing copper colored eyes. "It's all right Nanaki. I've come to get you out." She whispered, before pulling her helmet back on again.

"Freya," he growled. He knew who she was all right. While she hadn't been cruel to him upon his capture, he couldn't forget that she was the one responsible for his being here in the first place. Still, if she was going to let him out, he wasn't about to argue. He waited patiently as she worked the security panel by his cage. He noticed that the other trooper was messing with a computer on the other side of the room. Their right hand flew across the keys in a flurry of movement even he had trouble following.

The door to his cage opened and he padded out without a word. "What now?" He asked coldly.

"We wait until she's finished, and then we leave," Freya said, her voice muffled by the helmet. They walked over to where the other woman was working and she asked "How's it coming?"

"You were right about Hojo's computer being separate from the mainframe, and there's a lot here. I've found a number of encrypted files that are of interest, so I'm loading them onto a disk and we'll try to analyze them later," she answered, also muffled by the helmet she was wearing. As Nanaki drew closer, he could see that her left arm was artificial.

"Anything specific?" Freya was looking around warily, ready to shoot if anyone walked in on them.

"Well, no sign of anything I'm looking for yet. I saw something that might be related to what you wanted though."

"Oh?"

The woman brought a file up on the terminal. "This file here, labeled 'The Jenova Project,' There's a secondary file attached to it with Sephiroth's name on it, but the whole package is encrypted. It'll probably take a little while before I can get the information for you. I'll send it to you once we've broken down the codes." As she worked, Nanaki saw another file on the screen, with the words 'Deepground' on the heading, but the contents of the file looked like they were equally unreadable.

"Is there something you're looking for in particular?" he asked after a moment.

Even under the helmet, he could tell the woman did a double-take. "You can talk?"

"I know your language," he answered her, flicking his tail impatiently, and sending a couple of sparks into the air.

"We don't have too much time left," Freya muttered, checking what appeared to be a PHS. "We're supposed to be at the rendezvous point in ten minutes."

"I'm almost finished." The other woman typed something more on the keypad and then pulled a disk out from a slot that opened from the main terminal. "All right, let's go."

The three of them left the Science Department and hurried towards a service elevator. As they got in, Freya pushed the button for the door to close and then the one for the floor she wanted.

The elevator began to move and Nanaki watched her fiddle with the machine gun she carried. "Where are we going?" he asked after a moment.

Freya looked up, though he couldn't see her expression underneath the helmet. "Away from here," she said. Her answer was soft, and he could almost see her eyes going to the one that was permanently scarred closed. It hadn't been that way when she'd last seen him.

Nanaki decided that would have to be enough information for now. Once they were away, he could question her change of heart from when she'd captured him if he cared to.

When the elevator Tifa was on with Barret and the troopers slowed to a halt, she found herself looking along a hallway. On one side, she saw a room filled with chairs, some of which were occupied by photographers. One of the troopers pulled ahead of them, guarding the front as the trooper behind her guided her along the corridor. She could hear the clunking of Barret's boots behind her and that of the other two troopers behind him.

Scarlet was in the room they were walking past, talking to what appeared to be one of the other reporters. As they moved beyond the door, she saw several cameras flash though a security detail was keeping the press from actually coming out of the room. Several people demanded questions but she couldn't make out what they were over the din. Everything was drowned out by her own inner noise. What was going on? Who was this person behind her? Was she really going to die like this? Was this it? She forced herself to remain calm. Getting frightened or upset would only give Scarlet more ammunition.

Each footstep along the hallway echoed in her ears in time with her beating heart. Door after door passed by in her field of vision, and soon they rounded a corner headed to another elevator. But to her surprise, rather than going into it, they walked past it.

The trooper who was guarding the elevator looked equally surprised and called out "Hey, where are you going? The route we planned was down this lift!" The trooper ahead of them remained silent as he marched towards a door nearby. It wasn't until she heard the popping noise of a gun with a silencer on it that Tifa realized the guard at the elevator had been shot so he wouldn't call for backup. As she glanced behind her, she saw that Barret looked equally confused, but the man who held her was gently leading her through the door the first trooper had opened ahead of them. Before they could question what was going on, they found themselves on a landing on the 5th level of the building's emergency stairs.

"Who…?" She tried again.

"Don't stop. Ask questions later!" the trooper ahead of her barked with a force that rivaled Barret's when he got going. She was certain she had never heard that voice before, but given that this was obviously not where Scarlet had intended them to go, she decided it might be better to follow his advice. They were moving faster down the stairs now, and the trooper behind her had moved to her side to prevent her from stumbling since her bound hands couldn't be used for balance. It wasn't long at all before they had reached the ground level and were out the door.

As they stepped into the alley, Tifa found herself looking at a black unmarked van with the back doors open. The first trooper stepped out of the way as the one behind her helped her inside before climbing in after her and taking a seat on her right. Behind them, Barret stepped into the van's interior, followed by the taller second trooper, whom she now saw, carried a set of handcuff keys. Behind them, the last of the troopers climbed in and the first one motioned that they wait. Barely half a minute later, two more troopers hurried out of the door they'd just come through, accompanied by an animal that resembled a red lion with a flaming tail. It hopped up into the floor of the van, as the remaining troopers joined them, and after pulling the doors shut, they were moving.

As the van pulled out onto the street and left the Shinra building behind, there was a collective sigh from the six troopers in the back, and almost in unison, everyone pulled their helmets off.

"I don't think I could ever get used to these things."

Tifa found herself face to face with a dark haired 1st class SOLDIER she hadn't seen in five years, as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Zack? What are you doing here?"

He offered her a smile. "Hey there Tifa. It's been a while. I'd ask how you're doing, but… the situation kind of speaks for itself, I guess." He ran a hand through his dark hair, shaking it out into its familiar dark spiky mane. "Man, I was worried that guard would sound the alarm before we got away. Nice shooting Jessie."

Tifa looked to her left and found the brunette next her. "It was a lucky shot," she said modestly before reaching over and giving Tifa a hug, looking like she was about to burst into tears. "I'm so glad you're both all right!"

Barret harrumphed as he leaned back in his seat. "'Course we're all right, but somethin' about this ain't. Jessie, what the #$%& are you doing, joining up with a Turk?"

As Tifa looked on the opposite side of the van, next to Zack, she recognized Freya, holding on to her shotgun as though she'd missed it, her long ponytail hanging freely behind her now that it was out of the helmet.

"You're welcome Barret." Jessie hadn't let go of Tifa, even as she glared at him.

"I'm not sayin' I don' appreciate the rescue, but still…" Barret looked away, embarrassed, but in no less of a sour mood. After a moment he asked "How's Marlene?"

"She's safe," Jessie said. "We've been taking good care of her."

"That's good…" Barret was quiet a little longer before his eyes landed on the trooper in front of him. "How is it… that we've also got a couple 'a SOLDIERs in here?" he asked.

Zack suddenly remembered the keys in his hand and hurriedly gestured to Barret that he was going to unlock his handcuffs. "It's a long story. We can explain later…" Tifa looked to her right and found herself looking at another face she hadn't seen in a very long time.

"…Cloud?"

He smiled sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his neck as though not entirely sure what to say. "It's been a long time, Tifa…"

"It's been seven years!" It was at that point she noticed the mako glow in his blue eyes. "So you did make it into SOLDIER?"

The smile wilted a little and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Not… exactly…"

Zack took that moment to interupt. "Once again, it's a long story." He passed Cloud the key ring. "I think Tifa's is the middle one," He said.

Cloud nodded and after Tifa held out her hands for him, he set about undoing the handcuffs. She massaged her wrists after they were off. Upon noticing this Cloud muttered "Sorry if they were too tight."

"It's all right," she answered him. "You remembered the promise after all."

"I did." The small smile was back, tentative and anxious, but it was there, and she returned it with one of her own before he looked away. She could barely hear him mumble "And I wasn't late this time."

She was a little confused by that but let it slide for now. Suddenly the driver spoke up and she saw that it was a brown haired woman in a uniform she didn't recognize. "We're getting close to the scatter point. Get ready."

"Roger." The gruff voice she'd heard earlier spoke up again and she saw it belonged to a man she also didn't know who was wearing a camouflage bandanna.

"Okay," Freya said. "The plan is we'll leave in pairs and regroup at the safe house. Tifa, you stay with Cloud. Barret, you're with Zack. Nanaki?" The animal resembling a lion with a flaming tail looked up. "You're with me." Freya finished.

"I understand," Nanaki answered, to everyone else's surprise.

"You can talk?" Jessie asked.

"I think this conversation might be better held later," Nanaki answered as the van started to slow down. "Once we're safe, I'll talk all you want." The van pulled to a halt and everyone hurried out to find themselves in a small parking lot near the edge of Sector 6's upper plate. As they exited the van, Zack and Cloud pulled their swords out from under the seats, and slung them over their shoulders, leaving their rifles in the van. Jessie joined the red-haired woman as she checked the ammo in her pistol and then they hurried off in the direction of the train station. Zack gestured that Barret follow him down a side street in one direction and Freya and Nanaki had already disappeared in another direction. The woman who had been driving and the man with the bandanna were doing something with the engine, even as Cloud was pulling Tifa after him, headed in the general direction of another back alley that looked like it was pointed towards central Sector 8.

They were a bit further away when she heard a loud explosion behind them. Apparently the last two members of the rescue party had blown up the vehicle before departing. "How did you…?" She started to ask as they reached the other mouth of the alley.

"Later," Cloud said, looking around warily, checking for troopers in the next street. Once he was satisfied the street was safe to cross, he gestured that she follow him and they dove into the next space between two buildings. They paused as he listened for any sound of being followed and Tifa took a good look at him. He was very different from the last time she'd seen him. He looked older, and his face was much more careworn. She couldn't ignore the mako glow in his eyes either. If he hadn't joined SOLDIER, how had he gotten it?

Cloud gestured that she follow him deeper into the alley and they continued their trek further and further away from the parking lot.

Tseng found himself torn between extreme annoyance and grudging admiration when he had first seen the recording of the successful rescue of Tifa Lockhart and Barret Wallace. The mission had been carried out beautifully, leaving little to no physical indication as to who might be responsible. There weren't even any fingerprints to compare, no facial recognition possible, due to those damnable trooper helmets. All of which had been taken with them by the persons posing as guards rather than being left in the debris found near Sector 7. As he looked over the details the investigative team had gleaned from the wreckage of the stolen van (completely clean, right down to the two discarded rifles found in the back) he realized this was definitely not an amateur job.

The engineering department was currently going over a destroyed computer terminal in an abandoned apartment complex at the base of the Sector 4 pillar, through which it was believed someone had hacked the Shinra database, but that was also mostly clean of evidence apart from a single red hair that forensics had picked up. This could not have been the same group Miss Lockhart and Mr. Wallace were the leaders of. Their M.O. had been much less technically advanced, and they cared little about covering their tracks. No, this had been a well-coordinated infiltration worthy of a tactical paramilitary unit, or the old AVALANCHE, or the Turks.

Those last two gave him pause. The physical evidence may have been minimal, but the circumstantial evidence was a different matter. One of the first things he'd done was revisit the files for each of the individuals the enemy strike team had removed from the building. Wallace was from Corel in origin, he had every reason to hate Shinra for what they had done to his hometown. Lockhart was from Nibelheim. The specimen dubbed Red XIII by Hojo was originally from Cosmo Canyon. At first glance, there didn't seem to be a connection, but as Tseng had read deeper into each profile, he had discovered some interesting facts that could be quite damning.

All of them were in some way connected to Freya, and had in some way been mentioned before in her reports. Further, Lockhart had greater significance, as she had been in Nibelheim during the Sephiroth incident, though she had not been found by the cleanup team afterward. Nibelheim. The hometown of Cloud Strife. That also meant an indirect connection to Zack Fair. Dr. Owen had reported to him that Strife had been removed from the hospital by Aerith and one of Zack's other friends. Freya had not only guarded both of them at the hospital, but she had been working with Zack during the Zirconiaide crisis. The assumption was that after Zirconiaide had been destroyed, they had all regrouped with each other and left the city for parts unknown, as it would have been unwise to do anything else and there had been no further sign of them. Zack Fair and Cloud Strife would also explain the raiding of Hojo's computer. Dr. Rayleigh had fled with Strife as well, and it was quite possible they would want her to keep looking into Hojo's research.

However correct this hypothesis was, there was still no physical evidence to back it up. He had no inkling as to the identity of the owner of that strand of red hair, but he supposed that if he could catch the renegade, the SOLDIER, and the infantryman, he could ask them all the questions he wanted. In the meantime, he had put Elena onto scanning the security cameras in the sector where the van had been detonated for any sign of where the strike team might have gone. Rude was to analyze the files that had been copied on Hojo's computer (and discreetly make copies for Tseng's perusal as well, since with his resignation, Hojo had left an opportunity to investigate his activities that the Turks simply could not ignore). Rufus had given finding the perpetrators top priority, even as Scarlet had been put on damage control. He did not envy her job, considering the infiltrators had walked the prisoners right by the press without them even knowing there was a conspiracy going on in front of them. In the quiet of his office, a faint chuckle escaped his lips. Maybe this fiasco would teach the head of Weapons Development once and for all that it was best not to play with her food.

Zack and Barret were the first to make it back to the safe house. As the door opened, after Zack knocked, he found himself facing Veld, who nodded curtly, before letting them in, apparently having decided to continue pretending there hadn't been a successful conspiracy to break out a terrorist carried out from his apartment. Not that Zack had a problem with it. He was perfectly okay with pretending the man did not live in this apartment.

"Daddy!" Barret leaned down and pulled Marlene into a bear hug as she tearfully ran into his arms. He carried her to a chair in the living area, holding her like he never wanted to let her go.

It was a minute or two before he could get a word in. "I was so worried, are you all righ'?" He asked gruffly.

"I was scared!" Marlene answered. "Biggs and Wedge never came back, and then Elfe came and brought us here!"

"I know..." Barret said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Marlene continued her story. "Then Zack and Cloud came and Zack promised they'd go get you!"

"He did, did he?" Barret spared a glance at the ex-SOLDIER as Zack removed his sword and started towards one of the back rooms.

When he saw the man looking at him, he grinned and shrugged. "We try to keep our promises."

"Well… thanks." At that point Barret turned his attention back to Marlene.

"Uh… listen." Zack rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. "No hard feelings about me pinning you in the cell, right?"

Barret narrowed his eyes at him. "You broke us out. We're even."

"Okay…" As Zack left the living area in search of a place to change back into his own clothes, he heard the door open again. Judging from the fact that Marlene had called out Jessie's name, it sounded like Jessie and Shalua had made it back.

It only took him a couple of minutes to slip back into his SOLDIER uniform and as he rejoined the others, he saw that Elfe and Shears had returned as well. Shalua had set up a computer on the coffee table in the living area and was working through some of the files they'd just lifted as Jessie watched her.

Zack went to the sink and got himself a glass of water, before walking over to the television and turning it on. To his surprise, the news wasn't about any break-ins, or rescue attempts. Instead, it was some human interest story about some man who went around the slums doing work for charity.

"I wonder why we're not on there?" Shalua remarked, casually typing away at her keyboard.

"Hmm. I don't know," Zack answered.

"It's probably because now that Rufus is in charge, they don't want anyone knowing someone initiated a successful rescue attempt," Elfe observed. "It's okay to talk about his father's failures, but he doesn't want his own getting out there. That would make him look weak."

"How did he keep those reporters quiet though?" Zack drained the glass he'd just filled and set it down on the kitchen counter.

"It's amazing what a solid bribe can do," Shears sat down on the couch, a reflective expression on his face. "It's even easier when you own everything. You can make it very uncomfortable for those who don't listen."

Zack shook his head. "That's kind of sick."

Shears shrugged. "Welcome to reality."

There was another knock on the door and when Elfe answered it, Marlene let out a cry of joy. "Tifa!" The dark-haired bartender walked into the room, followed by Cloud as the little girl ran over to give her a hug. Tifa knelt down to return it as Barret followed after his daughter.

"Glad to see ya made it Tif." He said.

She looked up at him warmly. "I'm glad we all made it too."

Marlene held on to her for a little bit before looking at Cloud, eyes wide with admiration as Barret picked her up again. Cloud offered her a shy grin, before quietly slipping out from behind Tifa to go find his own clothes so he could get out of his disguise. Zack couldn't blame him. He'd been just as eager to ditch the trooper uniform.

The silence after his departure was only broken by Shalua's typing, and Marlene complaining about Barret's whiskers scratching her face as he held her close. Tifa looked around after a moment and her eyes landed on Elfe. "I don't think we've met before, but I can't thank you enough for your help."

"You should really be thanking Zack and Cloud. It was their idea to come and rescue you," Elfe said.

Tifa's eyes met Zack's across the room and he offered her a polite nod and a smile. They hadn't parted on the best of terms in Nibelheim, and while in the van, he'd been friendly, he wasn't exactly sure how to approach her in this situation. Tifa returned the gesture, before turning her attention back to Elfe. "Still, who are you?"

"We used to be AVALANCHE," Shears answered from across the room. "The original AVALANCHE."

Barret looked up in surprise. "Ya mean, you guys were the ones who started the whole thing?"

Shears offered a salute. "That's us."

"Well, I'll be damned." Barret shook his head in amazement.

It was at that moment there was a third soft knock and this time, when Elfe answered it, Freya walked in, followed by the strange lion-like creature. "It looks like everyone made it," she said, glancing around approvingly.

"Of course we did," Zack answered her. "Still, I'm amazed at how we managed to make that go so smoothly. I was sure we'd end up having to do something crazy, like storming the building and fighting our way through."

"Just look at who we had on the rescue team." Freya laughed. "We had two SOLDIERs, a Turk, and three former operatives from AVALANCHE, two of them leaders. With that many experienced people, how else could this have ended?"

"I guess you have a good point," Zack conceded. He looked down at the red lion… thing. "So, you can talk, right? That wasn't my imagination, back in the van?"

The beast flicked his tail and answered "No, I speak. It's been a while since anyone has been interested in hearing what I have to say, though."

"Yeah, and Hojo's not exactly the type you particularly want to talk to either," Zack noted.

"You speak as though you know him."

"Better than I ever wanted to. I'm Zack, by the way."

The red creature's face shifted into what Zack assumed was a friendly expression. "Hojo called me Red XIII, though my given name is Nanaki. You may call me what you wish."

Zack lowered into a crouch so he was face to face with the lion/dog… thing, regarding him curiously. "Nanaki then. So… what are you? Don't mean to be rude, but I've never seen anyone like you before."

"That's not an unusual question." Nanaki made a chuffing noise that might have been laughter. "I am what you see."

"Well, I suppose that'll just have to do." He heard someone behind him and saw that Cloud had reentered the room, back in his SOLDIER uniform. He looked up at his friend, from where he knelt on the floor. "Did you have any trouble out there?" He asked.

Cloud shook his head. "No. There was a close call with some troopers, but they didn't see us."

"Good." Zack stood up straight. "I think we should probably leave in an hour at the latest. That way we'll reach Kalm before dark."

"That would be wise," Elfe agreed. "Don't go as a group though. Rendezvous at Kalm if you must, but Shinra may already have an idea of who was responsible by now."

Freya nodded. "Tseng's no idiot. I'm sure he already knows."

"How would he be that fast?" Jessie asked.

"Because he'd be able to figure out pretty quickly that we're connected to everyone that we rescued," Freya said matter-of-factly. "The hunt for us will kick up again. The sooner we leave, the less likely it will be that Tseng will find out Elfe and Shears were involved."

"You were in trouble with Shinra already?" Barret asked.

"More or less," Freya said. "It's complicated…"

The uncomfortable atmosphere was suddenly broken as Shalua exclaimed "What the hell?" Everyone who was listening to Freya turned their attention to the red head as she stared at her computer screen in surprise.

"What is it?" Zack asked.

"I downloaded this piece of security footage that had a special label on it in the lab. It was from the same night the president was murdered, but I didn't know this happened around the time he died." The bespectacled woman adjusted the angle of the screen so that everyone could see. "Look off to the right there," She said.

As Zack looked where she pointed, he recognized what looked like some kind of mako tube though he couldn't see the contents. As the video ran, an orderly walked up to the tube, before it suddenly burst open, and the man lay dead on the floor.

Nanaki had placed his paws up on the coffee table to get a better look. "I was in that room that night," he said.

"You were?" As Zack continued to watch, transfixed, a familiar man strode out of the tube with silver-white hair and walked towards the lift.

"He walked right by my cage," Nanaki confirmed. "He was tall, and had green eyes that reminded me of a reptile's. Was he a SOLDIER like you?"

"Cloud?" Zack looked behind him and saw that Cloud was also watching the footage, his eyes wide with horror at the very idea that the man of whom they spoke could possibly still be walking the planet. "He fell into the reactor, right? You saw him, didn't you?"

Cloud nodded slowly. "There's no way he could have survived."

Zack looked back at the security footage, furrowing his brows in concentration. "Then how is it…" He leaned in closer to the screen over the back of the couch, not wanting to believe his own eyes, "…that Sephiroth was walking around the Science Department on the night the President died?"