Having been warned ahead of time, it took Anya much less time to be ready to fly in from Junon than it might have otherwise. She would have to meet with Rufus and Reeve, of course, but having already talked to Veld she had a different priority.

She went down to medical to meet up with the SOLDIERs currently in Midgar, who were quite insistent on having Zack involved, never mind that he was the newest to the Firsts' rank.

She wasn't surprised to be immediately assessed by the group. "Gentlemen."

"You guys keep calling us that like you have no idea what you've walked in on," Benji said, apparently unbothered by the elbow that found its way into his side.

"Good to see you too, Richards," she said, smiling.

"Excuse him, he was born in a chocobo pen," Drew said.

Anya smirked, shaking her head. "I assume you've been updated on my new position."

"Yeah, Faraman mentioned," Drew said. "Better than Heidegger."

"Not a very high bar," she observed.

"Nah, you got it easy there," Benji said.

"Perhaps. But I'd like to make it a little easier, given I still have responsibilities in Junon I hesitate to abandon," she said. "I want to implement some internal leadership positions again."

Drew arched a brow. "Like what, another general-and-commanders situation? Even without the war?"

"I don't know that a general is necessary, given we're not at war, but some sort of internal command structure," she said. "Oversight. If nothing else, it would make communications between an otherwise independent force more convenient, don't you think?"

"Wait, you're encouraging us to work as a group?" Zack arched a brow. "Or are you saying you want us grouped all the time now?"

"I'm saying I think, current circumstances what they are, a little more organization and cohesiveness would do you some good," she said. "Besides, it makes more sense to outsiders. The public is more comfortable with a force that makes sense, even one that's as powerful as SOLDIER."

"So we need some poster boys," Benji said, humming. "I nominate Zack."

"Me?" Zack blinked. "I have the least experience -"

"- and the most popularity," Kunsel said. "You have a fanclub, babe. And some of the others have grabbed on to you too."

"But…" Zack gave them a disbelieving look.

"Everybody likes you, you've got the whole 'inspirational speech' thing down, you're popular outside of SOLDIER, and I mean…" Drew faltered a little. "You had connections, too. Some people might think it makes more sense."

Zack looked down, swallowing hard at the sting of the reminder. "Guess so."

"Just give it some thought, man, no one's making decisions this morning," Benji said.

Zack nodded. "Yeah. I'll think about it."

"Given there's only four Firsts left, it wouldn't be unreasonable to split things that way," Anya said. "If you didn't want the spotlight."

Zack nodded, relieved. "Yeah, I mean that makes more sense to me."

"We'll talk it over," Drew said. "Was there anything else?"

"Not as of yet," Anya said. "I need to see what Heidegger has made of things and what may need straightened out. If you're aware of what, then I would be happy to hear."

"Talk to Nikolas about it," Drew said. "He was working with Sephiroth on it, so he's got the best idea. I haven't dug into Midgar's end yet, but I know where things were kept, and he wouldn't have thrown away a good organizational system."

"He was still working out of the director's office when we left," Zack said. "So he probably hadn't moved things. As busy as he was, I don't think he had time."

"Probably not," Kunsel agreed.

"I'll look with you," Drew said. "I'm more familiar with the ins and out of the program, anyway."

"I welcome whatever assistance you're willing to give," she said. "Ultimately, my goal is to have SOLDIER as self-sufficient within its own ranks as the board will allow."

Benji grinned. "Then I think we might just work out alright."

"I thought you might say so." She smiled. "Any thoughts or concerns?"

A glance was exchanged, and she was intrigued to find the eyes settled on the single Second among them.

"I think we need to discuss your plan first, and get back with you," Kunsel said. "But it sounds good."

"Do what you will, then." She nodded. "You might consider what I said, about breaking things up. It would make these conversations amongst your ranks easier if they were pre-split into groups, even though functionally you're all independent operatives."

"We'll talk about that too," Drew said. "Pull on some of the old war communications and report structure from the bigger campaigns. There's a foundation for what you're talking about, we've just got to repurpose it a little."

"Then I leave you to it, and perhaps tomorrow you and I will discuss things," she said.

"Yeah, sounds good." Drew nudged Benji. "C'mon, we'll go take a look at stuff and let these two rest some before someone else gets it in their head to visit."

"Aw, you know I don't mind," Zack said.

"Still. You've been through a lot," Drew said. "Just chill out a while."

"It'll be a new experience, I know," Benji said. "But we've got faith."

"Yeah, yeah, smartasses. Get going, then," Zack said, shooing them.

Kunsel watched them go, absently rubbing Zack's shoulder. "We're lucky to have them."

"Hell yeah we are," Zack agreed, leaning into him at once with a sigh. He smiled at a brush of lips over his forehead, how Kunsel had taken to checking his temperature lately. "I'm still hot, right?"

"Dork." Kunsel chuckled. "Fever's going down some, but yeah, you're still hot."

"That's very important information," Zack said. "You'd still love me if I wasn't hot, right?"

"I love you even when you ask stupid questions," Kunsel said, giving him a loud smacking kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, but you think that's cute. I mean like, if I grew horns or a tail or… y'know…" Zack laughed weakly. "Wings."

Kunsel straightened, realizing he was serious. "Zack -"

"I mean, wings are cool, I'd love to fly. I bet it'd be great if you weren't being hauled around like a sack of potatoes!" Zack said quickly. "And they look epic, even if they're lopsided, it's just -"

"- Zack -"

"- historically, wings have not ended well for SOLDIERs and there's a whole stigma now, and -"

"Zack!" Kunsel grabbed him by the chin and made him look at him. "Breathe."

"…I'm breathing," Zack said.

"Good." Kunsel cradled his face in his palms, thumbs pressing lightly over his lips. "You're gonna be okay."

"We don't know what he did," Zack whispered.

Kunsel tapped his lips. "Shh, hey now. We've got his records, Rayleigh's going through them. If she thought you were going to mutate and lose your mind, we wouldn't be here, we'd be quarantined somewhere, right?"

"Yeah but -"

"No, no buts. The Turks are paranoid as hell, you can bet they've asked her about that very thing and she's deemed it such a low level threat that she's not worried," Kunsel said. "You're gonna be okay."

Zack made a tight sound. "I'm worried. You didn't see them, at the end, Kuns. They lost their minds. Angeal's dead, and when we saw Genesis that last time, he was just… he was a dead man walking. And I'm not sure that's better."

"That's not going to be you," Kunsel said. "Okay? You're gonna be fine."

"You don't know that." Zack took a sharp breath, holding it a moment. "I don't want that to happen. And I don't want to put you through it. But I don't know that there's anything I can do about it, and it's driving me crazy."

"Hey, hey, okay wait," Kunsel said. "Let's talk to the doctor first, okay? Before we go getting upset about maybes and could bes, let's see what is actually going on, alright? We could what if- this to death, but it's just upsetting you, not actually helpful. We can talk to someone with actual answers."

Zack nodded slowly. "Yeah… yeah, okay. I'd like that."

Kunsel nodded, kissing his forehead and getting up to go peek his head out. "Hey, Cissnei? Would you grab Professor Rayleigh? We want to talk about Zack's files."

Cissnei arched a brow, but nodded. "Sure. Be right back."

Kunsel nodded, started to duck back in, then hesitated. "Ask her about a bed I could get up in with Zack too, alright?"

She smiled at that. "You're adorable. I'll go ask."

"Thanks." He ducked back inside at once. "Cissnei's getting Rayleigh."

Zack nodded, managing a little smile. It widened into something more genuine when Kunsel promptly came back and kissed him. "Love you, babe."

"Love you too," Kunsel said. "Even if you had wings. Just try not to molt on the bed or anything."

Zack snorted, shoving at his shoulder. "You are such a jerk."

"Yeah, but you love me." Kunsel grinned.

"Head over heels." Zack winked. "C'mere."

"You're the one that pushed me." Kunsel came back to the bed, wrapping his arms around him. Even when there was a knock on the door and Zack went tense, he didn't let go. "Come in!"

Rayleigh let herself in, carrying a small collection of files on top of a laptop. "I understand you have some questions?"

"Yeah." Zack took a quiet, steadying breath. "Am I… stable? Whatever he did… I mean, you know what's happened with some of the others…"

"I'm familiar with degradation, it's something that's been documented in tests on animals in enhancement trials," Rayleigh said. "You are not a candidate for degradation."

Zack made a breathless sound of relief. "I'm stable?"

"You're stable," she agreed. "While I'm not sure the purpose of Hojo's experiments, you seem entirely stable by every test I've run. You may, however, experience a bit more growth in your stats."

"Like, my strength and stuff?" Zack blinked. "…huh… I mean, I guess that makes sense. Mako tends to kick things into high gear and I was pretty saturated for… a while."

"You were, yes. He appears to have tried to introduce what he calls 'S Cells' - a particular type of cell somehow related to Sephiroth's unique enhancement process," she said. "But they seem to be both harmless and honestly useless. Even in his notes, he mentions that they were showing no result. His theory was that it was because you were already highly enhanced as a First. There were other experiments slated to be done once you finished healing, which… he expected to be done very quickly, apparently."

"Yeah, mako tanks do a lot, plus First's enhancements…" Zack sighed. "I appreciate you not putting me back in one."

"I don't think the trauma's worth it when you can heal naturally," she said.

"Thanks," he said softly. "So, uh, what about Cloud?"

"Cloud was also treated with S Cells, and given Third Class mako enhancement levels," Rayleigh said. "Judging from the notes in his files, more was intended once he'd finished processing it all, but lack of preconditioning has left him with mako poisoning."

"…wait, he was going to give him more? He had to know he was poisoned!" Zack said.

"It was clear in his assessment that he viewed the poisoning more as a temporary inconvenience than a long-term problem," she said.

Zack's eyes widened. "So, he expected him to wake up?"

"That's the thought," Rayleigh agreed. "And I have to say, with how well he's metabolizing it… I could see it happening."

Zack looked over at Cloud. "Gods, I hope so."

"He, also, appears stable," she said. "But his system is overwhelmed. It would take time and therapy for him to fully recover."

"…do you think he will?" Zack asked softly.

"I can't make you any promises," she said. "I'll know more when he wakes up and a team can assess his condition."

"Okay." Zack sighed. "Could, uhm, I see those files sometime? Mine, I mean, I know you probably can't show me Cloud's…"

"Actually, that's what all this is. Your files, and a laptop with a suite of information to help you look up terms," she said. "Just promise me you won't read them alone."

"He won't," Kunsel said immediately.

"Then you can see them, yes," she said.

"Thanks, doc." Zack smiled, relieved.

"Of course. Is there anything else?" She asked.

Zack hesitated, then shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. But thanks."

"Then I'll see myself out. Feel free to approach with any questions," she said.