Several hours later and they were finally coming into Midgar, where a small medical team was waiting with Tseng and Balto. Someone - probably Tseng - had made the decision to tell him about all this, and that was something Veld was going to have to address eventually. Last he'd checked, Balto and Zack hadn't been in any sort of contact, but they were some shade of cousin and it was clear from the rare look of anxious anticipation on the senior Turk's face that he still cared deeply.

"Alright, let's get Cloud and Zack on stretchers and then we can all get moving," Veld said. "Let medical in, everybody out of the way."

"Where are my patients?" A petite brunette slipped in, blue eyes locking immediately on Zack and Cloud. "Ah. Alright. I don't suppose anyone can fill me in on what's happened?"

"Uh, I can? Mostly?" The tech offered quietly.

"We have their files," Veld said. "To be kept confidential, of course."

"I do understand doctor-patient confidentiality, Director," she said. She smiled when she realized Zack was awake. "Amber Rayleigh. I'll be overseeing your care with the help of a small team. I've spoken with SOLDIER First Class Morrison already and he's arranged for a SOLDIER rotation to be cleared on guard."

Zack relaxed a little. "Yeah? Okay… that works. Haven't seen him in a while."

"I'm coming with them," Kunsel said immediately.

"They're soulmates," Veld said.

Understanding lit her eyes. "Ah, I see. Well, I do my best not to separate soulmates. But you'll have to clean up, first. I'm not sure what you have on you, but you're not bringing that into my ICU."

"Mako solution," Kunsel said, not caring to elaborate that he'd broken Zack out of a tank by force. He was sure it would come up later, in front of less people.

Rayleigh arched a brow. "…I see. Well you are most definitely not coming into medical like that. Go home, shower properly, change and come back down and someone will bring you to them."

"Hey if you go back to our place, can you bring me one of my SOLDIER hoodies and those black running pants?" Zack asked.

Bless him, he always knew what to say to take the sting out of a shitty situation. Kunsel smiled fondly. "If that's what you want, sure."

"And a good pillow? I'm sorry but the pillows in medical suck. They've sucked since I was in bootcamp," Zack said.

Kunsel chuckled. "Yeah, I can bring you your pillow, too."

"Awesome, thanks babe." Zack hooked his fingers in Kunsel's suspenders and tugged him down to kiss his cheek. "Love you."

Kunsel swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat, turning to catch his lips, just a bare brush of a kiss. "Love you too. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?"

"I know you will." Zack smiled softly. "You're always there."

"Always," Kunsel promised.

"Hey, I'll go with him," Kythe said. "Silva and Drake can go talk to Morrison until I get there."

"I can call him on my way," Kunsel said. "They can go with you until another shift gets there."

"Guys -" Zack started.

"It has been three weeks, I thought you were dead," Kunsel said quietly, immediately shutting him up. "You're getting a guard. More than Turks."

Zack closed his mouth with an audible click of teeth, stricken. He swallowed hard, wetting his lips. "…okay."

There was a moment's pause before Rayleigh cleared her throat. "The sooner we all get going, the sooner we can get settled."

Zack took Kunsel's hand again, squeezing it hard. "Go on. They'll keep me safe."

"On my life, Kunsel," Kythe said. "You know it."

Kunsel nodded, kissing Zack's forehead and slipping past the doctor and the medical team as they moved in. If he didn't go now, he wouldn't be able to talk himself into it.

Zack was subdued right up until they got out onto the airstrip and he caught sight of a man who was shockingly familiar, down to the slicked back spikes and scar of mourning on his cheek. "Balto?"

Balto smiled a touch sheepishly, nodding. "Hey, cousin."

"What the everloving hell, man? Since when are you… where did you come from? We had a funeral and everything!" Zack said, stunned.

"Director took me off death row," Balto said quietly. "I laid low on a covert field assignment for quite a while."

"And you didn't think to look me up? I haven't exactly been subtle," Zack said. "Like, literally everybody in SOLDIER knows who I am."

"I don't exactly travel in those circles," Balto said.

"You're a freakin' Turk, information is your goddamn day job," Zack snapped. "Get over here."

Balto came over to the stretcher, and made a startled sound when he was hauled down by his tie into a hug. "Zack?"

"We are having words," Zack informed him. "You're coming?"

"Yeah, I was cleared to be part of your guard," Balto said.

"Perfect. Okay. Let's get out of here."

Kunsel scrubbed down until his skin tingled, admittedly grateful to get rid of the cloying scent of mako and the tacky feeling of it dried on his arms. But he hurried, because every moment away from Zack grated on him. He couldn't shake the feeling that if he was away too long, he'd be gone again, and every little stab of pain had him wanting to reach for his phone to call Kythe, even though realistically he knew it was just them having Zack move or twist or sit up in a way that pulled on his injury.

But he also had a job to do, a job that would make sure they all were safe, so as soon as he got out he called Drew Morrison, the First that had been recalled to Midgar right after the Nibelheim Incident to try to get some semblance of authority they could accept, and a buffer between the department and Heidegger's ham handed control.

He'd half wished someone had gotten a hold of Benji Richards. The man had served with Sephiroth and Genesis in Wutai, and it showed.

"Hey, Drew," Kunsel said. "Mission complete."

"Yeah, I heard Zack's in the ICU," Drew said. "I'm kind've surprised you brought him back to medical in ShinRa."

"Yeah well… Hojo's dead," Kunsel said.

A beat of silence. "You killed him?"

"No, Veld got in the way, and then one of his friends who looks like he has reason to carry a grudge did it while I was in the other room," Kunsel said. "Red mako eyes, doesn't look a day older than Sephiroth, but was apparently Veld's partner back in the day. There's a story there."

Drew whistled. "Yeah, I guess so. But who knows what all that freak got up to. I'm glad he's gone, whoever did it. You think they'll try to pin it on you?"

"No," Kunsel said. "So, uh. Apparently on top of whatever went down with his partner, Hojo did something to Veld's daughter. He's a lot more sympathetic to our cause now."

"…that'd do it," he agreed. "So what's that mean for us, in practical terms?"

"He said he'll see about getting Heidegger out of SOLDIER, and he suggested his head Turk from Junon," Kunsel said. "At least temporarily."

"Who, Torvik?" He hummed. "I've worked with her a little. She was always upfront, even about something being classified. A little blunt, but that's not a bad thing, alternative considered. Extremely good at running herd on… pretty much the whole base, except when one of the directors was literally there. I think the only people she didn't unofficially oversee was City Planning."

"So you think she would be tolerable," Kunsel said.

"Sure as hell a step up from the pig," Drew said.

"That's not exactly a high bar," Kunsel said. "Okay, talk with the guys, see if enough people are on board that we could go with that."

"You think the President would go with that?" Drew said.

"That's the other thing," Kunsel said. "He's pretty sure the President's got to go."

"…Turk style 'go'?"

"Turk style go," Kunsel agreed, darkly amused. "And promote the VP. Apparently he thinks Rufus would be motivated to try and keep us happy, if it means keeping us on the payroll. Especially since he's going to have to work with the Turks."

"If Faraman's serious about working with us, we have a lot of collective bargaining power," Drew mused. "That might work. Who's he suggest in Hojo's place?"

"A doctor from Junon, Amber Rayleigh. She's seeing to Zack personally right now, so I'm thinking I'm going to get a firsthand opinion real quick," Kunsel said.

"Alright… tell you what, you give me a couple hours to get ahold of Benji and Nikolas, and we'll all run it through the ranks," Drew said. "See if that's a compromise we can work with."

"What do you think?" Kunsel asked. "I know I'm biased. Zack needs people who know the SOLDIER program right now. I just don't know if that's the best thing in the long run."

"Personally, I think defecting now might be premature," Drew said. "We can always leave later. Mending bridges is harder than burning them."

"Fair point," Kunsel said. "Thanks, Drew."

"Anytime, Kunsel," he said. "We've got each other's backs. You just keep an eye on Zack, and keep me updated on the Turks."

"Will do."