Kunsel was relieved when Zack and Cloud were quickly cleared out of the ICU to the regular part of the med ward. Of course, Zack had raised a grand royal fuss to get to stay with Cloud, but all it had really taken was seeing the way his eyes went overbright with panic at the thought of separation for any length of time. Given what they'd been through together, Kunsel didn't want Zack dealing with waking up without knowing immediately where he was.

He liked Cloud, honestly. They'd had him over to the apartment once and he'd been ridiculously shy until Zack had managed to tease and poke him out of his shell enough to swat back. From then on, it had been fun.

They'd have that again.

Rayleigh had mostly handed them over to one of her nurses while she worked on making sense out of Hojo's notes, a man named Jack Hughes. He was built more like a SOLDIER than a medic, but had a laid back, playful bedside manner that put Zack at ease, and for that alone he'd have liked him.

The problem, of course, was a relaxed Zack was suddenly a very restless Zack, because Zack Fair did not know the meaning of still.

"Kunsel I'm bored." Zack groaned. "Bed rest sucks."

"You know what sucks? Torn stitches suck," Kunsel said.

"Kunseeeeeeeel."

"I asked the guys to bring you some puzzles, you big baby, quit whining," Kunsel said, reaching over and mussing his hair affectionately before resting his palm on his forehead. He'd been running a low grade fever since shortly after they'd gotten to Midgar, which Rayleigh said was his body detoxing from all the drugs Hojo had him pumped with.

"Mmmm…" Zack closed his eyes with a sigh. "Howzit?"

"Still a little bit of a fever," Kunsel said. "How do you feel? For real?"

Zack sighed, shrugging. For someone who was normally an open book, that particular question was like pulling teeth. "I mean, not great?"

"Zack."

"The painkillers help," Zack said quietly. "I'm just… tired."

"You've been through a lot," Kunsel said, petting his hair.

"Yeah." He stared blankly at the ceiling a moment before reaching for Kunsel's hand.

Kunsel took it immediately, like he had every time Zack had reached for him, offering him that anchor he needed and didn't know how to ask for. He squeezed it in a silent 'I'm here, I've got you' and leaned against the bed a little, ready to stay as long as he could. He'd have crawled in bed with him if he thought he'd get away with it. "Love you, babe."

Zack took in a deep, shuddering breath. "…love you too."

"Always," Kunsel said.

"Yeah." Zack squeezed his hand. "Forever."

Kunsel smiled, squeezing back, though he was distracted by conversation outside.

"Is that Drew?" Zack asked. "Let him in, Balto, I'm awake. I need something to do."

"Awake and whining," Kunsel said, grinning when Drew popped in followed by an unexpected second. "Well I'll be. I thought you were in Wutai."

"I was in Wutai," Benji agreed. "Flew in as soon as I heard."

"Geez, I didn't know you did sweet," Zack said.

"I am a goddamn delight," he said. "So. Drew says we're getting rid of the pig?"

"Wait, are we seriously…? I mean, I thought we were just getting a new director?" Zack said.

"That, yeah." Benji waved. "Oh, here, I brought you mochi."

"…am I allowed to have mochi?" Zack asked.

"Not a clue." He grinned. "But if Professor Batshit didn't kill you, that's not gonna."

"Benji, could you have like, an ounce of tact? Please?" Drew asked. "Sorry, he has no filter."

"No one has a filter after the first ten hours of a flight," Benji said, setting the little box beside the bed. "Seriously though, a new director? I'd take Palmer at this point."

"Torvik, from Junon," Drew said. "Nikolas likes the idea. They've been working together for years."

"Huh." Benji considered that. "Heard she was a real hard case, but fair. I could deal with that."

"Anything's better than someone who hates us," Zack said.

"Yeah." Benji sobered a bit, looking at him. "You okay staying? I mean, even with that, it's still ShinRa."

"I know." Zack sighed, looking down at where Kunsel still had his hand. "And I know Hojo wasn't the only rotten part of the company, either. But with some changes, maybe we could make it what it should have been. What we thought it was, when we joined."

"Yeah well, someone told me it's a lot easier to burn bridges than mend them," Kunsel said. "We can always leave later, if we have to."

"True," Benji agreed. "I still want to have a word with the Turks myself."

"Their director's supposed to be down soon for an update," Kunsel said. "Just stick around."

"Can do."

"I think I will too," Drew said. "I've talked to him some on the phone, but I'd like to get a face-to-face update."

"He's been…" 'Good' wasn't quite the word Kunsel wanted, not for someone who had let this happen in the first place. But he'd been… "accommodating."

"He knows which way the wind's blowing," Benji said. "I'd be 'accommodating' too, if it was my ass on the line."

"You'd be contrary to your last breath," Drew said flatly. "But for someone who's got to be pretty strategic, it makes sense, yeah."

"Excuse you." Benji knocked shoulders with him, huffing.

"Here he comes," Drew said abruptly, turning to face the door.

Sure enough, enhanced hearing paid off - Veld came to the doorway, finding himself the focus of four sets of glowing eyes. If it bothered him, you'd never know. "Gentlemen."

"Sir." The two Firsts stepped aside, letting him in before each taking one side of the room. Given the size of the group and the amount of equipment in the room, it was standing room only for the newcomers.

"So, how's… everything?" Kunsel said, not sure what, exactly, was safe to say in their current location.

Veld smirked faintly. "Anya said yes, assuming your department goes along with it. Have you discussed it?"

"General consensus seems to be we'd give her a shot," Drew said. "She's always played it straight with us. She's fair, even when she's hard. We're not afraid of hard work."

"No, but it's hard to work under the resident jackass always undermining us," Benji said.

"Then, when it's time, we'll see that she's put into place," Veld said. "What about Rayleigh?"

"I like her," Zack said. "You said she knows the program too, right?"

Veld nodded. "She's worked with the SOLDIER program fairly extensively from Junon."

"But not with Hojo or Hollander," Kunsel pointed out. "Always a plus."

"No, she was more on the medical side of it than they were," Veld said.

"Great, glad we're getting some competent people in charge," Benji said. "And on the note of people in charge?"

Veld arched a brow, smiling faintly. "You just let me handle that."

"Sounds good to me," Zack said.

"How are things here?" Veld asked.

"Eh, I mean, I'd rather be out and about but doc says I've got some recovery to do even once I finish detoxing," Zack said.

"I can imagine," Veld said. He glanced at Cloud, motionless and pale except for a feverish flush across his cheeks. "And your friend?"

"Pretty much what the tech said - mako poisoning." Zack frowned. "Physically, he's adjusting pretty quickly now that there's nothing else being pumped in. It's just a waiting game for him to wake up."

"But she thinks he will?" Veld said.

Zack's frown deepened. "She's not making any promises, based on his rejection from SOLDIER. But he will. He stood up to Sephiroth. A little mako's not going to keep him out."

Veld nodded, not arguing it one way or another. "I look forward to seeing you both back on your feet."

Zack smiled at that, nodding. "Yeah, thanks. Can't wait to get out of this place myself."

"Oh I'm sure. I'm not a fan either," Veld said. "I'll leave you all to discuss things further, then. I just wanted to make you aware everything was still on track as we discussed."

"Thanks for the update," Kunsel said.

"Of course. Just keep it quiet, for now," Veld said.

"Believe me, SOLDIER's not exactly buddy-buddy with anyone else in the company right now," Benji said.

Veld arched a brow. "I guess we'll see how that goes, then."

"An alliance of convenience is as good a start as any," Drew said. "Something we can build on."

That got him a faint smile. "I like to think so."

Drew inclined his head. "We'll be in touch. Take care, Director."

"You too," Veld said, slipping out.

Benji closed the door behind him. "An alliance of convenience?"

"If we want this to work, we need each other," Drew said.

"Politics makes strange bedfellows," Kunsel said. "We'll see how it goes. For right now, I think it's our best option. I want it to work."

"We all want it to work, Kunsel," Benji said. "I'm just not betting it will."