The Future Imperfect

AN – I've been struggling with upcoming chapters and I almost decided not to post this week… but I've made enough progress that I thought I would anyway.

Chapter Eleven

"Cloud." The newcomer greeted, and Cloud felt his heart sink. Of all the people it could be, it just had to be him. The one he felt most conflicted over, had had a breakdown in front of earlier and had subsequently not-so-subtly been avoiding ever since they had left the labs.

"Hey Sephiroth."

Sephiroth was the most famous SOLDIER that had ever lived. He had become famous during the Wutai war for his efficiency and ruthlessness, not to mention his other-worldly appearance and dangerous demeanour. Boys grew up wanting to be him, or to be a hero like him. Cloud had not been the exception. With his tall stature, his broad shoulders, long leather jacket and ethereal silver hair he had graced many a poster and billboard throughout the Shinra controlled territory. Which was basically everywhere bar the small island nation of Wutai.

Right now, though, he looked a little lost.

Zack's parting words came back to Cloud.

"Look after him, alright?"

"Cloud." Sephiroth greeted again, then paused for a while without saying anything further. Once, Cloud might have thought that was just because he had nothing to say or thought mere mortals to be beneath him, but over the last couple of days he had begun to see the very human side to the war machine.

Cloud thought maybe he didn't know what to say, or how to say it.

Well, that made two of them. Cloud shifted over to make some space on the ground next to where he was sitting.

Sephiroth stiffly acquiesced, folding himself up and looking out across the water towards Aerith's house. His knees bent, he rested his forearms against his thighs with his hands clasped between his knees. He stayed silent, the moment stretching between them awkwardly. Eventually, Cloud could take it no more.

"Did you need something?"

"I saw you," Sephiroth explained, gesturing towards the area where he had set up a rudimental camp alongside Angeal and Genesis. "I wanted to see why you were up."

"I couldn't sleep." Cloud replied. It sounded a bit saner than 'I thought I saw my dead best friend who I forgot about until very recently so I came out for a chat with him'. Yeah, probably best not to go with that.

Sephiroth nodded once, tilting his head down and causing his hair to cascade forwards and hide his face from Cloud. The silence stretched between them. Cloud looked out into the sky, hazy from the Midgar smog, through the gap where the plate had been.

"There… is much I do not understand." Sephiroth said eventually, sounding as though the admission cost him. "But it feels as though a lot of it is centred around one key element. Will you tell me about Nibelheim now?"

Cloud took a sharp intake of breath.

"I apologise for needing to ask." Sephiroth said hurriedly. "But… it feels as though the answers I seek all involve that place." The leather on his gloves creaked under the tension as his hands grasped each other tightly. "I feel… a dread, of sorts, when I think about it."

"I don't have all the answers." Cloud replied eventually, idly playing with the grass underneath his fingers. "I have… memory problems."

"Due to your time in the laboratory?" Sephiroth asked perceptively.

Cloud nodded. "I had mako poisoning. Bad mako poisoning."

It was Sephiroth's turn to take a sharp breath. His head turned to the side, green cat eyes looking at Cloud in surprise. "People don't usually recover from that."

"People haven't usually undergone human experimentation beforehand either." Cloud replied with a humourless laugh. "Whatever they did… I'm not what I was before." Silence fell again, Cloud absently picking at the grass and letting it drift lazily back to the ground from between his fingers. "I have two sets of memories." He admitted eventually. "One set is mine, one is… someone else's. It makes everything a bit of a mess. Bear with me." He let go of the grass and tipped his head back, putting his arms behind him and resting his weight on his palms. Sephiroth barely breathed as he watched Cloud intently.

"About five years ago, I think, you were sent on a mission to Nibelheim. Something to do with checking the reactor after it was supposedly leaking contaminated mako into the environment. The team sent with you consisted of a SOLDIER First Class and three troopers. It was late September in year two."

"Odd that they would send myself plus an additional First Class to a simple reactor malfunction." Sephiroth stated with a frown.

Cloud sighed. "Maybe that should have been the clue that it wasn't an ordinary mission. Something was there, in the reactor, that caused you to go a little crazy."

"Crazy?" Sephiroth asked sharply.

"I don't know how else to describe it." Cloud replied with a shrug. "You holed yourself up in a science lab for days on end, didn't eat or sleep from what I am aware. Then when you finally did come out, you burned Nibelheim to the ground and killed everyone living in it. Including my mother and Tifa's dad."

Sephiroth looked at Cloud with horrified eyes. He tried to speak but couldn't get out the words. Cloud turned his gaze to the grass next to him, absently playing with it again.

"The SOLDIER and a trooper followed you up to the reactor, but Tifa got there first. You cut her down, but didn't manage to kill her, though I'm still not sure how she survived. Then…" Cloud closed his eyes, trying to get the memories in order. "Then the SOLDIER fought you and you beat him. As he lay there, he told the trooper to… to take up his sword and fight you. And the trooper did."

"An unenhanced trooper?" Sephiroth winced. "I can only think of one way that went."

"He managed to take you by surprise. He threw you into the mako in the reactor. He killed you. Or at least, he thought he did. Now…" Cloud tailed off with a shrug.

There was silence for a few moments.

"The trooper was you." Sephiroth said quietly, with surety. Cloud nodded in reply. "What happened to you after that?"

"Hojo." Cloud's tone was final, ending that line of questioning.

Silence fell for a while.

"What was in the reactor?" Sephiroth asked eventually. "What was there that made me lose my mind?"

Cloud shook his head.

"I don't-"

Static assaulted his senses.

Pods lined up below the sealed inner compartment in the reactor. Tubes feeding them, all connected to the host. A name…

"There were… monsters."

Jenova.

"The same as those we found in the laboratories?" Sephiroth asked.

No… worse, much worse.

"…yes."

"I see." More silence. The static receded and Cloud was able to bring his hand down from his head.

"You were an unenchanced trooper." Sephiroth stated eventually.

"Yes."

"Then, now you are enhanced you would find it even easier."

Cloud looked across and found himself meeting green eyes. "Easier to do what?"

"To kill me." Sephiroth said succinctly. He leant towards Cloud. "If I work with you, you will be able to do it again."

Cloud leaned away warily, eyes tracking the SOLDIER. "You think I'm a threat?"

"No." Sephiroth shook his head, his hair cascading onto the grass between him and Cloud. "More like a promise. If I lose my mind again, I want you to kill me before I can raze anywhere to the ground." He straightened up and his lips quirked up in a wry smile. "It's a truly selfish desire I am aware, but I want the security of knowing that there is someone out there that can stop me."

Cloud sighed and slowly got to his feet. "Well ok then."

Sephiroth arched a brow at him. "Now?"

Cloud shrugged in response. "Why not?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Angeal blinked his eyes open, taking in the early sun slanting between the wooden slats of the basic shelter that he, Genesis and Sephiroth had decided on for the night. It was really just a covered walkway that stretched between the main town of the Sector Five slums and Aerith's house, tucked away in its quiet valley. But it was dry and carved between two rocky outcrops; it was as secure as they could get without staying in the actual house.

He could hear the sound of distance swords clashing. Angeal frowned, listening intently. It sounded more like a spar than a fight. Curious, he got to his feet. In doing so, he accidently nudged Genesis who sprung awake with a start.

"Don't let Ifrit have it!"

Angeal raised a curious eyebrow at Genesis, who blinked sleep out of his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, red creeping up his neck. "Sorry, strange dream." With a sigh, Angeal walked down the path towards the sound, away from the little house. Genesis followed for want of anything better to do.

They didn't have to go far before they reached a pair of red metal gates. The night before they had been closed, but now stood open. The far side of them was a large circular area, with a sandy floor and debris littering the edges. The perfect place for a friendly spar.

And he obviously wasn't the only one to think so. He leant sideways onto one of the gates and watched Sephiroth and Cloud circling each other, occasionally darting in and meeting each other's blades.

"Good," Sephiroth was saying to him. "Now widen your stance slightly. And move faster – you have a heavy sword, but you need to be able to make the most of its momentum by moving quickly into its arc, so it doesn't leave you off balance."

"Right." Cloud was concentrating fiercely, bringing the Buster Sword back in again to meet the Masamune. Angeal was impressed despite himself, Cloud was good with that sword. Possibly even better than he was himself, but then he had only started using it recently through the lack of any alternatives.

"Is Sephiroth… teaching him?" Genesis asked quietly, incredulity in his voice. Sephiroth never taught any classes usually and had been reluctant to even give Genesis and Angeal pointers.

"So it would seem." Angeal cleared his throat and stepped forwards. The swordsmen stopped, having finally noticed their audience. Angeal looked them both over quickly. Cloud was flushed, slightly damp with sweat but not looking too tired. Sephiroth's skin held a sheen and his eyes were bright, an indication of how much of a work out the session had been. Angeal was now very impressed, Sephiroth very rarely looked anything other than calmly composed. Cloud must have been more of a challenge than he had expected. "How long have you been sparring for?"

Cloud shrugged and looked at Sephiroth. "Some time. I couldn't sleep."

Sephiroth sheathed his sword and walked over to Angeal. "I could guard the path from here as well as I could sitting on it. I thought this was a better use of my time." He paused and turned to Cloud with a small smile on his face. Angeal raised his eyebrows at the unusual expression.

"You did well." Sephiroth praised the blond. "I enjoyed myself."

"Thanks," Cloud muttered, putting his hand on the back of his neck and rubbing it in a way which reminded Angeal of someone. With a frown, Cloud then tugged his hand down and balled it into a fist. "I'm going to go get a shower and collect the others." He walked off quickly back to Aerith's house.

As soon as he had gone out of earshot Genesis turned to Sephiroth. "Private lessons? You never give anybody lessons. Not for want of them asking."

"It seemed like a good time to start." Sephiroth replied blandly.

"But why him?" Genesis persisted. "Of all the people that you could teach, why him?"

"I like him." Came the equally bland reply. "He shows potential."

Genesis threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "By the Goddess Sephiroth, SOLDIER is full of people that show potential! What exactly is it about that one that makes him stand out?"

Sephiroth paused, head tilted to one side. "Are you… jealous?" He asked, confusion on his face.

"Of course I'm jealous!" Genesis exploded at him. "You've always been the best of us, but you've never deigned to teach us anything before. I've been hinting for years! Then a snotty nosed blond SOLDIER comes along and you're following him around and falling over yourself to teach him! Anyone would think you were a teenager with your first crush, not a twenty year old experienced SOLDIER First Class."

Sephiroth blinked. "Cloud was not a SOLDIER." He said eventually.

Genesis looked as though he was going to punch the rock wall. "That is what you took away from that? And of course he was a SOLDIER, just look at him."

Sephiroth frowned at Genesis, his expression cold. "I am not in the habit of lying, Genesis. Cloud was not a SOLDIER."

"How did he get so enhanced then?" Angeal asked curiously, cutting through Genesis's not-so-silent fuming.

It took a long time for Sephiroth to answer. He gazed down towards the small house, a frown on his face as he considered. "It is not my story to tell." He said eventually. "I do not know most of it."

Genesis huffed, his anger fading but irritation remaining. "My soul, corrupted by vengeance, has suffered torment. I hope he appreciates what an honour it is to be thus chosen."

Sephiroth shot Genesis a bemused look. "Chosen?"

The redhead shook his head, looking to the heavens as though they held answers. "You genuinely don't realise, do you?"

"Even I don't know what you are talking about, Genesis." Angeal told him with a frown.

Genesis waved him off. "The wind sails over the water's surface, slowly but surely. You will see in time."

The sound of approaching voices heralded the return of Cloud, accompanied by Barret and Tifa.

"Elmyra has finally agreed we can go and look for Aerith." Tifa rushed out, with a relieved sigh.

"What changed her mind?" Angeal asked as he tied the bandana back in place from the disguise Tifa had given him previously.

"Cloud spoke to her." Tifa glanced at her friend. "I guess, after what we saw yesterday…"

"What did you see?" Genesis's eyes were fixed on Tifa, demanding answers as though that might help clear up the layers of confusion Angeal felt they were smothered in. They hadn't spoken so far about what the others had found in the ruins of Sector Seven, but something must have happened if Sephiroth was acting so out of character. But the brunette only shook her head, unwilling to talk about it.

"Them laboratories Shinra has been building under our damn feet." Barret growled out, waving his gun arm angrily. "That's what. Human experimentation and god knows what else goin' on in there."

"Come on," Cloud cut through the discussion, ending it swiftly by walking away towards the town. "We need to find a way to get topside. The city is locked down, trains won't be running and there will be security everywhere."

"What's the plan then?" Barret asked, catching him up with long strides. "You know of another way up?"

"No…" said Tifa, cringing. "But I think I know of someone who might."

"You mean Corneo." Cloud stated expressionlessly.

"He has his fingers in everything." Tifa explained. "He's bound to have some way of getting to the plate without Shinra knowing."

"Who is this Corneo?" Angeal interrupted, trying to keep track of the conversation.

"He's the crook in charge of Wall Market." Cloud sighed. "I don't like it, but you're right."

A crowd was gathered in front of them when they reached Sector Five. A large screen was displaying coverage of the plate collapse, but in front of it stood a woman loudly shouting to the crowd.

"After taking out mako reactors one and five, what do the ecoterrorists do? They go for the trifecta and take out mako reactor seven! Another attack by amateurs that don't care about collateral damage! The sky is falling and Avalanche is to blame. But wait! Did you know Wutai is the one funding their activities? For all their claims about fighting for the slums, they are nothing more than pawns of Wutai. Puppets dancing to the tune of their foreign masters. That's the truth! Topside news delivered straight to your ears. That'll be five gil, c'mon cough it up! Five gil!"

Angeal heard Barret curse quietly as the crowd dispersed, many of them muttering about Wutai and the war.

"We ain't no damn pawns of Wutai." Barret ground out. "I couldn't care less about the rest, but that shit?"

"What was that about the mako reactors?" Genesis asked sharply. Tifa looked back at him from where she had grabbed Barret's arm.

"Not now, Genesis. Barret, there's no point. No one will listen to us."

"There ain't no room for regrets or what-ifs." Barret replied to her. "We just gotta keep going on the path we're on, keep looking forward. So we can say we did all we could."

"I know. But, right now, instead of looking forward we need to look around." She gestured to the people milling around, murmuring unhappily amongst themselves. "Everyone here is terrified. So I'm asking you, don't. I know we're short on time," She continued, turning to Cloud as the de facto leader. "But let's try to help out where we can."

"There are enough of us to do both." Angeal suggested calmly. "You can go and find this Corneo, we can try to help the people here."

"I'll come with you." Cloud said, looking over at Angeal. "I was doing some mercenary work here before, I'm not a stranger to the people in this Sector."

"We might need you with Corneo if he springs another surprise on us." Tifa worried, shifting her gaze between Cloud and Barret.

"Well, it sounds as though you may need a hero." Genesis tossed his hair back and stepped forwards. "Hero of the dawn, healer of worlds."

"What's the hells that meant ta mean?" Barret scratched his head.

"It means he's coming with us, right?" Tifa replied with a smile. Genesis coughed into his hand. "Great! We can meet up at the playground in Sector Six in a couple of hours, we'll let you know what we find out from Corneo."

The party split up, Cloud guiding Angeal and Sephiroth around the Sector Five slums. Soon they found themselves looking for chocobos, of all things. Apparently the giant, flightless yellow birds had been part of a transit service and pulled wagons to deliver people and goods around the slums, but had run away in fright at the commotion when the plate fell.

Of course, the creatures were bird brained by definition and had run into some of the most monster infested areas of the slums. And there were a lot of monster infested areas to choose from.

"Remind me why we are doing this?" Angeal ground out as he rolled to get away from the gravitational attack fired at him from the flying dragon monster that had targeted this particular chocobo, thinking it was an easy meal.

"Because it would not be the honourable thing to do?" Sephiroth replied with a smirk, leaping into the air to finally dispatch the dragon with a series of elegant strokes.

"Plus, you have to build up a reputation to get jobs." Cloud replied with a shrug. "Tifa and Aerith taught me that."

"You have been a mercenary for a while?" Sephiroth asked curiously.

Cloud shrugged again. "Not really. We… I planned to be a merc in Midgar, plenty of places to hide here. But Tifa helped me get set up after I helped them out on a job."

"That job wouldn't have anything to do with a mako reactor?" Angeal asked shrewdly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning up against a wall as he pinned the blond with his gaze.

Another shrug. "Mako reactor one."

Sephiroth's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "And what do you achieve by removing a reactor?"

"Money." Cloud replied curtly. "Merc, remember?" He stalked away from the area, turning back to them impatiently. "We still have two chocobos to find before we need to meet the others, let's get going."

They ended up having not just the two chocobos, but a bunch of lost kids and a few medicinal items to find before they needed to get back to the others. The medicinal items saw them returning to the laboratories that Cloud and Sephiroth had already explored together; Angeal couldn't help but be relieved he hadn't gone any deeper into them. It was disturbing to think about what Shinra had been up to down there.

They had also raided a couple of storage areas that according to Cloud had Don Corneo's insignia plastered all over them. They had liberated a few very expensive looking jewellery items that Angeal really didn't know what they were going to do with.

He was turning one of them over in his hands now, looking at the detailed metalwork and precision cut rubies that made the elaborate form. It was a tiara, dripping with jewels and obviously very valuable.

They were waiting in the old playground in Sector Six. Cloud was leaning up against a wall, his arms crossed impatiently. Sephiroth stood very close to him, hands down by his side as though he was standing to attention and his gaze directed up towards the sky again. Angeal had found a spot on a bench just further along the wall to wait on.

"Cloud!" A voice called brightly, causing Cloud to straighten up. Angeal watched the girl with brown hair he had helped the day before run over, not looking as though she had been injured until she stood gasping slightly in front of them.

"Jessie," Cloud replied, half a smile playing on his lips. "You look better."

"I feel better," Jessie chirped with a wink, before wincing slightly and holding her side. "Well, to be honest I'm not exactly great, but I'm doing better than a lot of people are and that's something right?" She looked out over the fallen plate towards the sky that was just beginning to darken as night approached. "Looks like we won't be able to go get that Midgar special anytime soon, though."

Cloud looked at her in concern. "Are you ok?"

"Who, me? I'm fine!" Her face fell slightly and she turned back to Cloud. "Well, you know…" She shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah." Cloud frowned, a small crease appearing between his eyes. "You should take a break."

"Nope!" She slung an arm around Cloud's neck, leaning into his shoulder. "I've got my favourite merc to help me, right."

"Hm." Cloud crossed his arms again and glared at her, but Angeal could see there was no heat in it. Behind him Sephiroth shifted uneasily, drawing Jessie's attention.

"What's with tall and broody?" She asked in a stage whisper.

Cloud shook his head. "Don't worry about him, he's just… processing."

Jessie blew out a long breath. "Aren't we all." The next second she danced back in front of Cloud again, smile back in place. "Tifa tells me you guys are about to head topside, I guess you'll be gone for a bit?"

"I expect so."

"Well, when you get back maybe I'll have managed to get something sorted out – then I can make you the Midgar special! Just you and me, otherwise Wedge will eat it all. What do you say?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms again. "No promises." Jessie fluttered her eyelashes at Cloud and he sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Pizza it is."

"Yes!" Jessie clicked her fingers at him. "It's a date!" Cloud rolled his eyes again, causing Angeal to laugh softly. The sound drew Jessie's attention like a laser.

"Say, Cloud," She started, eyes glinting mischievously. "Where do you keep getting these hot guys from? And can I go there?" Cloud spluttered and she winked flirtatiously, pointing her finger at him coyly. "Psych!"

With that she turned to leave, though as she passed Angeal she smirked at him and called over her shoulder to Cloud. "But you can bring them around for pizza anytime!"

Cloud sighed and rubbed at his forehead once she was gone. Angeal smiled at him and opened his mouth to speak. "Don't." Cloud cut him off with a glare. Angeal put on his best innocent expression.

"I wasn't going to say anything."

Cloud sighed again and shifted awkwardly. The far side of him, Sephiroth has turned his focus away from the sky and onto the blond. Angeal returned his attention to the tiara in his hands, deciding not to annoy the embarrassed Cloud any further. Lucky for him, Genesis hadn't witnessed that exchange or he wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Finally." Cloud breathed, straightening up and uncrossing his arms. Angeal looked up to see Barret, Tifa and Genesis walking towards them from the direction of Wall Market. "Did you get anything out of Corneo?"

Genesis's face twisted up into a snarl. "Only that he is one of the worst excuses for a human being that I have ever had the misfortune to meet."

Tifa gently placed a hand on Genesis's arm and smiled at Cloud. "Not from Corneo, no. Leslie helped us out though – he's given us some grappling guns that will get us over the wall into Sector Seven, from there we can climb."

Cloud frowned, looking at the grappling gun Tifa showed him. "And he just gave them to you?"

Genesis sniffed. "Hardly. We had a merry chase through the sewers first. It wasn't pleasant."

"We did find a treasure stash of Corneo's though!" Tifa exclaimed brightly. "There were some valuable things there, we thought we could give them to Marle to sell. She'd be able to distribute the profits where they can do the most good."

"Oh, I think we found something similar." Angeal added, showing her the tiara he held in his hands. "I wasn't sure what to do with it though…"

"Leave it to me," Tifa said with a smile, taking both the tiara that Angeal held and the rest of the jewellery they had come across. She ran over to Marle, so Angeal turned to Genesis.

"So what happened to Corneo?"

"He got away." Genesis huffed. "Slippery little devil."

Cloud snorted in amusement. "Sounds like Corneo, alright."

Genesis tossed his hair back. "What did you get up to?"

Angeal was busy describing their tasks across the slums when Tifa came back. All conversation died as the whole group turned their attention to her. "Right, that's me finished here. Are we ready to go?"

Angeal stood and rolled his shoulders. "Let's. Aerith is waiting for us."