"By the Goddess…" the man breathes reverently, his lip quivering. "Little bird… have you come to collect me at the end, after all?"

"Little… what?" Cloud feels his face scrunch up in confusion, his eyes searching the man beneath him for any unseen injuries. The Scan output had said he was fine (aside from, you know, the fact that he was still slowly bleeding out from the half-cauterized claw marks to his side), but had Cloud read it wrong? Had the man hit his head after all? "Are you ok?"

The white-haired man chuckles (Cloud almost calls him Snow White, but no, he had already harnessed his inner-Cid once today). "Does it still… ruffle your feathers… when I call you that?"

"Uh… what?" Cloud should tell him to stop talking – it was clearly a challenge for him – but apparently this talk of birds and feathers had Cloud incapable of forming any words for himself.

"Oh, love…" the odd 1st says, the man seemingly disinclined to explain why he was calling Cloud a bird. "I never thought… I'd see you again..." His hand remains balled almost desperately in Cloud's sweater, as though afraid Cloud would disappear if he let go. "You were always… too kind… Too kind… to an old fool like me… I don't… I don't deserve your kindness… but I will lap it up… greedily… like a man dying of thirst…"

"Well, you've got the dying part down…" Cloud deadpans, unsure of how else to handle this exceedingly strange conversation.

But glossy mako blue eyes continue to gaze fondly up at him, the quirk of the man's lips a sign that he either hadn't heard Cloud or just didn't care. "I've missed you so… your dry wit... your sass – " apparently, he had heard Cloud – "And… what I wouldn't give… love… to hold you… in my arms again… To hear you moaning… my name once more…" The choked noise Cloud makes is echoed by the 3rds above him – apparently, he wasn't the only one ill-equipped to handle that particular revelation. "To bring you… to the height of pleasure… with only my—"

"Ok! I get it!"

"—mouth," the man finishes, winking entirely too seductively for a dying man. "You always… ha… always did fluster… so easily…" he sighs happily, his mood brightening as Cloud's face darkens. "I'm glad… that hasn't changed…"

And while Cloud is still 99% certain that this 1st has the wrong person – the Cloud in this world is still underage… right? – he is right about one thing. Cloud is flustered. Embarrassingly so. Far more flustered than Reno had ever managed, even with the bawdy-ass shit he liked to throw left and right ("You do look oh-so-pretty riding me like that, Mr. First Class").

But, flustered or not, that doesn't change the fact that the man was still dying. Still bleeding out on the rocky turf. And, honestly, Cloud hadn't jumped from the back of Zeke's pickup truck just to watch this SOLDIER flirt himself to death. "Look. You're injured." And probably delirious, too. "Think you could stop talking for a minute so I can get a better look – "

"Your eyes…" the red-clad (and red-stained) SOLDIER interrupts him again, sucking in a breath so harsh that Cloud's afraid he had only just realized how much pain he was actually in. And yet, the only emotion Cloud can see on his face is wonder. "Your eyes… Oh, little bird… How I longed… to see them… shining like that…" The hand in Cloud's sweater uncurls itself to trail a slow, shaky path up his chest, neck, face. Cloud feels like he should pull away – he doesn't know this man – but he finds himself frozen to the spot, barely daring to breathe, as that same hand strokes the patch of skin just below his left eye. "Goddess… You're so beautiful…"

Cloud trembles, barely noticing as the world darkens around him and rain starts to pitter-patter against his face, his arms… his heart. No, he finds there's no time to spare to the thought that it was sunny just a second ago, not when snow white fades to coal black and ashen grey to mottled ivory right before his eyes.

"You'll be… my living legacy."

A smile. That's all it takes for the dam holding his emotions in check to break. That's all it takes to convince Cloud to suck in a shuddering breath and croak out, "Z-Zack…?" That was Zack lying underneath him. Dying underneath him. How had this happened? He thought he would save him this time. Thought he would finally be fast enough to protect him, to protect everybody he cared about. But was he wrong? Was he destined to fail over and over and over again?

It wasn't fair.

Zack scoffs below him, the sound alone enough to drag Cloud from his ill-timed vision – Zack would never treat him like that. "Even when… I'm the only one… here in front of you," whoever it is growls. "All you can think about… is the Puppy."

Cloud knew this wasn't really his Zack, he swears in his heart he did. He doesn't even need to see the white hair nor the sun shining above for it. But the speed in which his surroundings shift back to the present and the abruptness in which he jumps from Zack's tender, smiling face to this stranger's scowling one has him half-convinced that he had been rammed by a Grand Horn all over again – the pain was definitely the same. Why did this keep happening to him? Was he destined to be so close, yet always so terribly far away? Sure, he hates reliving Zack's death, hates seeing the once larger-than-life man reduced to nothing more than cannon fodder, but he wasn't ready for this. Wasn't ready to say goodbye again.

It was all too much, too soon.

"Goddess… I'm so sorry, love…" the man falters, the scowl wiping itself clean from his face. "I… I shouldn't have… I'm just so angry… all the damn time." he huffs, quite forlornly, his fingers wiping away tears Cloud hadn't even realized were there – was his heartache so great that he would cry in front of a stranger? "But… But that's no excuse… It's not… not fair of me… to take it out… on you, little one… But even now… even after everything… I just… can't stop myself… from hurting you…" He sniffs, the hand by his side curling into a loose fist. "The others… won't admit it… Not to my face… at least… But I know… know that they must… blame me too… For if it wasn't for me… you'd still be…" But the red-clad man falls silent, the end of his sentence – alive – audible only in the way his eyes shine with unshed tears.

And, oh… Well, no wonder this man was acting this way. No wonder he was clinging to him, if, in his delusion, he had Cloud mistaken for his lost lover. But that realization doesn't help Cloud. Doesn't stop his mask from crumbling before the absolute devotion shining in this man's eyes. And, sure, he knows he's not who this man thinks he is. But the hand holding his face, holding him far more delicately than anybody ever had in his life, almost makes him wish he was.

But perhaps even more distressing yet was that this man still reminded him of Zack. He's not entirely sure why, but something about the way he was bleeding out on the dusty ground, while not exactly how Zack had looked, still proved to be a painful reminder of his friend's death. A reminder that Cloud couldn't blink away – the bullet-ridden body and glassy, lifeless eyes still seared behind Cloud's eyelids even as he squeezes them shut in some last-ditch plea to keep the returning tears at bay.

He has to save this man.

He wouldn't forgive himself otherwise.

So, coughing into his hand to hide how affected he really is, Cloud tries to pull away to see the man's wounds better. He doesn't get far, though. Not when the hand on his face drops, lightning fast, to curl in his sweater again, the dying man's still surprisingly strong grip halting all hope of Cloud's escape. "Please, little bird…" the man begs. "I don't… don't deserve it… But please… Please let me gaze… upon your brilliance… for just… a little while longer…" The 3rds are eerily quiet above them, but Cloud knows they must be hanging on every word too. "I've been… so lonely… without you… dearest one…"

"I-I…" Cloud stutters, painfully aware that his face must be a brilliant shade of red by now. "I c-can't heal you like t-this." Why does this man affect him so?

"Please don't…" the man shakes his head, far more vigorously than he should in his state. "It's been agony… ever since you died… Just please… Please let me stay… with you – " he groans – "guide me to bliss… and maybe… maybe I can finally atone… for my sins… I… I would grovel… til the end… of time… if you… could just forgive me…" The man tries for a smile, but it's overshadowed by the creaky way in which he breathes. "Trust me… the others… would be happier… without me… Especially the Puppy… Goddess knows… I've taken my frustrations… out on him… the most…"

"But you're dying!"

"It's what I deserve…" The man doesn't seem fazed. "My just punishment… for everything… I've done…" His words trail off into ragged coughs, and Cloud is horrified to see the blood now staining his teeth.

"Please. Let me help you."

But the man doesn't answer him right away, his glossy eyes searching Cloud's desperate ones for several nerve-wracking moments more. It's not until his wet coughing has tapered away into nothingness, that he lets his hand drop from Cloud's sweater, back to the dirt. "Goddess…" he concedes, weakly, "I never could… deny you anything… little one…"

Cloud grunts, still at a loss of how to handle this conversation, and eases the man's coat up and over his shoulders – "Oh… to have your hands… on me again…". Rolling his eyes at the continued flirtation, Cloud focuses on the man's harness instead. The one that looks more like a ragged cat toy, lying in tatters against the man's chest, rather than the shining symbol of a proud SOLDIER that it was supposed to be.

And that, that tells Cloud just how much those Behemoths wanted him dead. If the claw marks in the man's side were half as deep as they looked, then Cloud shudders to think of how bad he would have been without the thick leather of his harness there to protect him.

But the harness serves no real purpose now, hanging by one strap (and nearly shorn in two) as it is, so Cloud makes quick work of it and the double belts around the man's waist. And yet, even as close as he is, he doesn't notice the smirk that is his reward until he's pulling the hem of the man's shirt free from his pants. "I don't remember… you being this forward… little bird…"

"Stop talking."

The man chuckles, possibly at how flustered Cloud still is, but Cloud is too distracted by how close to wheezing the sound is to care. "Your wish… is my command…"

Cloud continues his work in silence, using the smallest of Tsurugi's blades to carefully, but no less deftly, cut the 1st's sweater open. There's an aggravated grunt from above him, but the intensity in the dying man's eyes is so much more important to him right now. An intensity that he tries to ignore as he peels the sides of the man's sweater back. But, from how hot his ears burn, he knows he's not entirely successful.

But all of that, and the claw marks to the man's side, are easily forgotten once Cloud gets a good look at the black tendrils that stretch from underneath the bandage on his left shoulder and wrap almost possessively around his bare chest.

"Shit."

He should have known.

Wounds that wouldn't heal. Crap vitality. A decaying body. All the signs were there. True, there weren't any sores oozing black pus anywhere that Cloud could see, but there was no denying what this was. Or, rather, there was no denying what was behind this. Even if this wasn't Geostigma, per se, Cloud would recognize Jenova's influence anywhere.

Was this what Reno had mentioned all those months ago? That damn bedtime story he thought would make good pillow talk, about SOLDIERs slowly fading away because of an incomplete union between them and the Jenova cells in their body? "Glad you got that bastard's cells, yo. Would be a true shame to lose that fine ass to degradation, ya know?"

Well, good thing he had filled up those vials of water, then. He had thought he was just being silly, but he guesses new world, new rules.

There's another grunt above him as he pulls the case of healing water out, but like when he had grappled with Tsurugi earlier, he only has eyes for the man beneath him. "Here," he says, flipping open the case and pulling out the first vial of water. "Drink this. It'll help." Now, Cloud normally would just dump the water on the afflicted person and get it over with, but he had never seen a case this severe before. Maybe ingesting it would help with the healing process.

"Water… won't help me… love…" The man smiles fondly, blood leaking disconcertingly from the corner of his mouth. "The only thing… that could cure me now… is the gift of the Goddess… But it doesn't exist… Believe me… I've looked…"

"But it is from a goddess," the words tumble from Cloud's mouth, almost mindlessly, the swish of a pink dress and the fluttering of flower petals flashing before his eyes. "A goddess so powerful, she could make flowers grow anywhere, even in the slums." Gaia, the thought of Aerith was almost as unbearable as that of Zack, but he finds he'll say just about anything to convince this man to listen to him.

"Flowers… you say? Huh… that sounds… like the Puppy's… little friend."

The man doesn't offer anything more than that, instead falling silent and contemplative for several anxiety-inducing seconds, leaving Cloud no less frantic to save him than he was a moment ago. "Please."

A smile stretches itself across the man's face – something that was so reminiscent of Zack's final one, that it was painful to see. So comparable, that Cloud is half-convinced that Sephiroth must have stabbed him again with how hard his chest aches. "Anything… for you…" the man vows, his eyes never leaving Cloud's, not even to blink, as he opens his mouth obediently.

Cloud lets out a shaky breath – what was it about this man? – before managing to pull himself together enough to unscrew the vial in his hand. Honestly, he should just knock this SOLDIER out (all three, really) and get on with it. It would certainly make his job easier. Then he could forget all about how jittery a complete stranger made him feel. But he can't. Can't help but cling to the love in the man's eyes for just a little while longer.

Because, if Cloud squints his eyes just right, he can almost convince himself that it was Zack lying before him.

And he would do anything to live out that fantasy, even if it meant he would have to watch that love turn to hatred once the 1st finally came back to his senses.

Biting the inside of his cheek, Cloud pretends like there's nothing wrong, like his ears don't burn and his eyes don't sting. Pretends that he's just as unaffected as ever, his mouth a thin line as he lifts the man's head up to tip the contents of the vial down his throat. "Swallow."

But the man's condition must affect the way his muscles (or his ears) work, for he splutters around the liquid in his mouth instead. "He's choking!" one of the 3rds yells, but Cloud ignores him. Ignores him in favor of dropping the empty vial in his hand to run his fingers up and down the man's throat. "Swallow," he repeats and continues his ministrations (he's not about to call it a massage, especially not after everything the delirious 1st had said to him).

The man shudders once, twice, in response, but clamps his mouth shut and swallows as instructed. "There…" he gasps once finished, the strain on his face and the heavy way in which he breathes a good enough sign that the act was no easy feat. "Done… But I don't see… how a drop… of water… will help any – ugh!" But the man seizes mid-sentence, his eyes squeezing shut and his free hand flying up to clutch at his chest.

"What the hell d'ya think you're doing!?" One of the 3rds yells – Ryu, he thinks – but Cloud has already pulled the dying man in close, has already cradled him to his chest, increasingly concerned by the pained noises he was making. "Are you ok?" Cloud asks over the 3rd's heated threats of accountability. He had thought this Geostigma lookalike could be cured in the same way, but was he wrong? Had he miscalculated?

But the man only groans miserably one last time – "Agh!" – before his eyes roll back in his head and he falls limp in Cloud's arms. "Shit."

"You bastard!"

There's a shing of metal above him – "Stop, Ryu!" – but Cloud's not paying attention. Not even when the cocking of a gun and a forceful "Drop your weapon!" are added to the mix. No, he's far more focused on the color that's finally (finally) returning to the dying man's face.

"Wait a second," he says, his eyes still riveted to the strange man in front of him. The same one he lies gently back on the ground, before wiping away the mess the man's bloodied hand had made. "Look."

The change is subtle at first – just a healthier pink to the man's cheeks and a more pronounced rise and fall to his chest. But it's only that much more dramatic from there. The cracking pottery that is the man's skin smooths itself out, and his snow-white hair darkens back to brilliant auburn – "Holy crap…". But what Cloud finds to be the most relieving of all is when the black tendrils, that almost look like inky chains holding this man prisoner, evaporate back into thin air.

"You really healed him…"

"Not entirely," Cloud says, pulling his eyes from the chiseled beige chest left behind (he swears he was only checking to make sure that Jenova's influence was really gone), and turning back to the 3rds. "Please tell me one of you has healing materia on you." But when he looks up, he's met with the strangest sight of Ryu and Walker in some sort of aborted standoff. "What are you two doing?" he sighs.

"He started it!" is Ryu's childish response, the man still holding his sword out in front of him.

"I wasn't the one about to attack a man with his back turned!" Walker returns, his rifle aimed at Ryu's face.

"Why you…!"

"Who drew their weapon first?" Cloud interrupts, his voice soft, but no less powerful for it.

Ryu grimaces. "Uh… I-I…"

"Uh-huh. Let me guess, you thought I had poisoned your, 'uh... commanding officer'?" It might be mean of him to mock Ryu and his friend (Rowan?), but he doubts they'll notice anyway.

"Well… I mean…"

"That's what I thought." Cloud cuts him off – they didn't have time to wait for him to finish beating around the bush. "Please put your sword away."

Ryu doesn't listen, though, the man still baring his teeth at the rifle pointed his way. Not that Cloud is terribly surprised. Apparently, Shinra only hired idiots. And, yes, he is including himself in that one.

"Look. My friend here – " Walker jolts – "just shot out a Behemoth's eye from over 1000 yards away. Imagine what he could do to you from only 5." Ryu grumbles at the reminder, but seems to have at least one functioning brain cell left, and (very reluctantly) lowers his sword until the tip is pointed towards the ground rather than at Walker's crooked nose. "Thank you," Cloud says, leaving the 'finally' to himself. "Now, about that healing materia. Your friend's illness might be cured, but don't forget that he was nearly clawed in two by those Behemoths," he explains as thoroughly as he can – he'd rather avoid the inane "Whaddya mean?" this time around. "He might not make it to Kalm if we leave him to bleed out on the way there."

Ryu stares back at him, like a Chocobo in the headlights, while Rowan pats his pockets down. "I don't… Wait! Commander Rhapsodos might have one!"

…Rhapsodos? Was that the man's name? Cloud's not sure why, but something about it just sounded so familiar. And, like the man's red coat, reminded him so terribly of Zack – "See, bud, I told you I'd be back for you". Cloud shakes his head – he'd have time for that later, when he wasn't still searching for healing materia.

The man below him is quiet, eerily so given everything that was spoken between them, but Cloud can still hear the words, see the love, and feel the heat from his hands… and his eyes. Something that leaves Cloud a shaking mess as he reaches for the man's bracer.

It takes him two tries to actually grab the man's arm – something he will most certainly not admit to, even if asked. But the pale green orb he finds glinting back at him from the top-most slot is relieving beyond measure (and not just because it distracts him from the butterflies still in his stomach). And yet, he's infinitely more impressed by the state of the materia when he pops it out and rolls it around in his (still trembling) hand. Natural and mastered? Wow, this guy sure knew what he was doing.

He kneels like that for a second, toying with the materia as he thinks. This man's affliction might be healed, but he was still weak. Very much so. Cloud wouldn't be able to heal everything at once, not like this. The man's body wouldn't be able to handle it.

So, instead he improvises.

He casts Cura and Regen in quick succession, watching as the white-green of the magic sparkles around the man's wound. He can't tell how much was really healed, but the way the man's breathing loses its creaky edge is rather reassuring. "Alright, does anybody have a first aid kit?"

"Can't you just Curaga him better?" is Rowan's not so helpful response, and, well, it would seem like he and Ryu were tag-teaming with their stupid questions. Ugh. Shinra really needed to step up their training program – these two would just get themselves killed at this rate.

Cloud takes a breath to answer, but he never gets the chance. Not when Walker chimes in, an edge to his voice that makes him sound just as tired with these two 3rds as Cloud himself is. "Not when he's this weak. That would put too much strain on his body. Honestly, didn't Shinra teach you two anything?"

"Hey!"

Cloud won't lie, the same thought had run through his head at least once or twice since he had jumped from the back of the pickup truck. But he knew better than to voice it out loud, not when time and their cooperation was of the essence. But too little, too late now. Really, it was like he was dealing with children.

Actually, no, children were easier to handle than this. He actually had experience with that. What he didn't have experience with was coddling ignorant, self-absorbed SOLDIERs.

Well… except for Roche. But then again, he's pretty sure Roche did most of the handling…

"Bandages. Needle and thread." He interrupts before Walker can reach for his rifle or Ryu for his sword again. "His wound is still bleeding. We don't have time for you three to argue."

"But we don't h-have…" Rowan stutters, staring at Ryu nervously. And, honestly, Cloud shouldn't be so surprised, this seemed par for the course for them. But he still can't believe just how ill-prepared these two are.

Then again, if Heidegger was in charge here, maybe things really did add up…

"Gimme a sec!" Walker shouts, shocking Cloud out of his unplanned daydream. The one where he actually got to plunge his sword through Heidegger's heart. A far more satisfying daydream than the reality of watching the bastard blow up along with Scarlet and the Proud Clod.

But, like he said before – new world, new rules. Maybe he would actually get to hear the satisfying crunch as Heidegger's sternum gave way to Tsurugi.

He could at least wish.

"Here!"

Walker's return is just as pronounced, but Cloud hesitates, even when a white case is offered his way. Honestly, he's much too surprised by the man's willingness to help (just as surprised as Zeke looks). Didn't Walker have an issue with SOLDIERs?

"Are you sure?" Cloud asks hesitantly. "I know this can't be… easy for you." Especially when Walker wouldn't even look at the unconscious 1st, his shoulders hunched and tense.

But the history between those two, whatever it was, doesn't put a damper on the fire or the indignation in the man's voice. "Just because he… Just because we parted on the wrong foot doesn't mean I want him to die!" He grabs Cloud's hand with a shaky one of his own and passes over the first aid kit, his eyes watching his boots. "Besides… I'm not doing it for him."

"You're a good man, Walker." Cloud says, smiling a little ruefully when Walker turns scared (but hopeful) eyes his way. He supposes the man doesn't hear that that often. "And a good friend."

"Y-You…You think so?"

"Yup." Cloud replies, popping the 'p' and wrapping his fingers around the first aid kit. "Thanks."

With a renewed sense of purpose, Cloud turns back to the 1st and pops the lid off of the white case. But he doesn't get further than that. "Hey, we can do something too!" Ryu announces, the man sounding like he was more jealous of Cloud's exchange with Walker than anything else. Like it was a fucking competition.

But Cloud sighs and tries to take the high road – perhaps he'll blame their immaturity on the adrenaline rush (and one too many hits to the head) and call it a day. "Ok. How about collecting all of the horns and claws from those Behemoths for me?"

"Horns and… what now?"

"Oh, so you weren't planning on paying me back for all the trouble I went through to save your asses."

"Uh… I-I… T-That is…" Rowan stammers, before turning towards the downed Behemoths when his words fail him. He doesn't make it far, though, not when Ryu slaps him and jerks his head to their superior again.

And, well, Cloud can guess what's going through the burlier one's head. "Do you still think I'm gonna try to kill your friend the moment you turn your back?" Cloud asks, easing the tip of the surgical thread through the eye of the sterilized needle. "Honestly? After everything I've done to keep him alive?" Ryu winces, ashamed, but otherwise doesn't respond. "Look. I'm broke and you two don't look like you're good for much – " Ryu looks like he wants to argue, but Cloud keeps talking – "Those Behemoth parts will sell for a pretty gil, though. If you two collect them while I help your friend here – " he holds the needle up in emphasis – "I'll consider us even."

Luckily, that seems to do it for the 3rds, who offer twin, embarrassed nods and turn as one towards the forgotten battlefield. Gaia be praised.

And with the 3rds finally out of his hair, Cloud returns his attention to the strange man, his heart lodged somewhere within his throat at the sight of him so weak and vulnerable on the dusty ground. Seriously, why did he remind him so much of Zack?

.

.

.

Cloud's not sure how he manages it, really. How he manages to stitch and bandage the man's wounds so efficiently when all he can think about is Zack bleeding out on that cliff outside Midgar. When all he can see is Zack's painfully tender smile as he utters his last words – "My honor… my dreams… they're yours now." It certainly doesn't make anything easier. But then again, perhaps it's the thought of Zack that causes his hands to be that much faster, that much steadier. For if Cloud could save this man, then maybe he could actually do something for the Zack of this world too. Maybe he wouldn't be too late again.

Gaia, he certainly hopes so.

Time passes in a bit of a blur without the 3rds around, Walker and Zeke quiet behind him as he finishes his task. He's just tying the bandage in place when Ryu and Rowan return, Ryu's helmet filled to the brim with all of the monster parts Cloud had asked for. "Here ya go," Ryu says, a childlike innocence visible in his mismatched eyes now that his helmet was no longer in the way. "Will he – " he gestures nervously to Rhapsodos – "Will he be ok?"

"He's a fighter," Cloud replies, specifically avoiding the words 'I don't know' – that wouldn't help things right now. "He'll have a better chance once we reach Kalm, but I don't think he'll die on the way there." The two 3rds look so happy that they might cry, and Cloud's not sure whether it's their relief or their exhaustion that makes them look so much younger than they really are. But whichever it is, Cloud can't help but feel bad for being so harsh on them before. "You guys did a good job keeping him alive for as long as you did." He ignores the stunned pride on their faces as he draws the man's coat back over his shoulders. "Now, I don't suppose you two have a good way of getting to Kalm?"

Pride twists into something more like shame and Rowan shoots a morose look over his shoulder. "Uh… not anymore."

Cloud follows his line of sight and can just make out three motorcycles near the first two downed Behemoths. Three very much destroyed motorcycles – the Behemoths must have rampaged all over them. "Figures," he sighs to himself, finally standing and stretching the kinks out of his shoulders. He guesses he'll just have to deal with his motion sickness the rest of the way to Kalm, then.

Great.

"I don't suppose you have a bag for that?" Cloud asks, jerking his head wearily at Ryu's helmet. He doesn't wait for a response, though. He's too tired for that. Instead, he turns to Zeke and Walker, a little uncomfortable with the quiet, discerning way in which Zeke watches him (he's supposed to be loud, right?) and the tense way in which Walker watches his own shoes again. "Old Man, I know this wasn't the agreement, but would you have room for a couple extra stragglers?"

"Hmm…" Zeke frowns, Walker going absolutely rigid at his side. "Not unless Walker here is ok with it. I'm not about to traumatize the poor boy any more for a twink I don't even like."

Surprisingly, there isn't an immediate uproar from said twink's personal guard dogs. But when Cloud chances a look back, he finds Rowan on the other side of the battlefield rooting through the mess that used to be their functioning motorcycles. And Ryu appears to be far too busy standing watch over the 1st's unconscious body to hear them, his helmet of monster parts held awkwardly in front of him.

Well, that was one less thing to worry about.

"Hey Walker," Cloud says, soft and slow, as if he were talking to a spooked Chocobo. "I know this must be hard for you, but do you think you could handle another 15 minutes or so around these SOLDIERs?"

Walker laughs, more of a distressed huff of breath than anything, his eyes never leaving the black of his boots. "I guess I shouldn't have given you that first aid kit if I was just going to turn around and say no…"

"If you want to say no, then say no. I won't judge you for it."

"…I would, though," Walker admits, his words practically a whisper. He stares into nothingness for a moment more, but then shakes his head, almost agitatedly. "No. I can do it."

And yet, Walker's resolve doesn't detract from how haunted his eyes look. Something Cloud feels infinitely sorry for – he'd have to make it up to him later. For now, though, he settles for returning the white case and clapping Walker somewhat awkwardly on the shoulder. "Thanks, man."

But his words prove to be little reprieve for Walker, the furrow to the man's brow and the caged way in which he holds himself – shoulders hunched, eyes lowered – far more telling than if he had cried or screamed. "You…" Walker swallows, his mouth pulling itself into a thin line. "You really don't know Commander… R-Rhapsodos?"

"Rhapsodos…" Cloud repeats, rolling the name around on his tongue. There's a twinge, a spark of something from the foggy recesses of his lost memories, something that recognizes that name. But Cloud? Well, Cloud doesn't. "No. Never met him before in my life."

Cloud knows his answer wasn't one Walker was satisfied with; it was obvious from how the man's face had scrunched up in confusion. But while he had opened his mouth as if to ask something else, as if to call Cloud out on his hesitance, he didn't. Didn't do more than shake his head and offer a somewhat stilted "Ok," brushing silently past Zeke and climbing back into the passenger side of the truck.

Zeke had watched him go, before turning a raised brow to Cloud, his simple mannerism as understandable as if he had said the words "Better be worth it" out loud. But the old man had kept his thoughts to himself too, grabbing the oversized sack Walker had forgotten out of the truck bed and taking his seat back behind the wheel. "You got 5 minutes!" he had called through the open window. "If you're not ready by then, we're leavin' without you!"

Cloud's pretty sure it was just an empty threat – they wouldn't have stuck around for so long otherwise – but he had taken him at face value anyway. Had turned back around to find Rowan already returned from his slapdash search, an empty burlap bag in his hand and a grumpy Ryu in his face.

"I told you, Ryu, there weren't no seeds left! It was just a big pile of sunflower dust when I found it!"

"It's still mine!"

"Are you gonna give him your helmet then?"

Amazingly, it had been simple (yet no less frustrating) work to convince the two to stop with the arguing and help him move this Rhapsodos fellow to the truck bed. Rhapsodos, for his part, hadn't made so much as a sound as they carried him, something in direct contrast to his declarations of love from earlier. Something that seemed to really unnerve Ryu. For no sooner had they set the 1st down than Ryu had jumped back out of the pickup truck and upended his helmet into the empty sack, the 1st's life apparently more important to him than his lost sunflower seeds.

.

.

.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Huh?" Cloud pulls his eyes away from the growing outline of Kalm, a little miffed at the sudden interruption. After his awkward display earlier (and what with Zeke and Walker having their own, hushed conversation up in the front of the truck), Cloud had fully intended to sit in silence, staring mindlessly at the horizon for the rest of the trip. And he's pretty sure he had earned it, too. Earned that small amount of relaxation. But he guesses there really was no rest for the wicked, or whatever it was that Reno liked to say. "Oh, uh… Sky."

"Hmm…" Ryu crosses his arms over his chest, his head bent as if thought. "Not Clyde then…"

"His name was Cliff." Rowan corrects.

"No, it was definitely Clyde."

Cloud groans, trying to shuffle as far away from the arguing 3rds as he possibly could (which was difficult what with Rhapsodos taking up half of the truck bed all by himself). Damn. He had thought he had lucked out. For while he had to relive Zack's death and deal with a stranger's (unwanted?) advances, his roiling emotions seemed to be keeping the motion sickness at bay. But nope. He could definitely feel a headache coming on now.

Great.

"Oh, come on. Cliff Shinra? No way!"

But headache or no, Cloud can't help the way his ears perk up at the mention of Shinra. Nor the way his eyes close and his chin tucks itself closer to his chest. Maybe listening in on their conversation wouldn't be so worthless after all.

"What are you talking about? His last name wasn't Shinra!"

"It started with an 'S' and it certainly wasn't Shaw!"

"Hey! There's nothing wrong with Shaw!"

"Maybe for you, but not for the President's – "

"Oi! Enough with the hollerin' already!" Zeke interrupts from the driver's seat. "We're almost there!"

Cloud nearly groans – of course Zeke would have to cut them off right then. And of course the 3rds would chose that exact moment to actually pay attention, their mouths clanking shut at the sight of the approaching city. Though, that probably had more to do with their concern for the still unconscious 1st than any real deference towards the old man (they were SOLDIERs (!), after all).

But whatever, it's fine. He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, he'll admit, but he doesn't need to be to understand what's going on here. Not when the 3rds had already let the name Shinra slip. And certainly not when Rhapsodos had all but propositioned him earlier. No, it seemed clear that this Cliff or Clyde person (or whatever the hell his name was) was the President's son… and Rhapsodos's (dead) soulmate.

Well, at least that was one less thing that Cloud had to worry about. Honestly, he was beginning to think that he might have miscalculated a bit, that he might have been wrong about just who this Cloud was. But no, his dad had died in a hunting accident, his mom had said so herself. So, he couldn't be the one they were talking about. He couldn't be the President's son. Somebody would have said something by now.

Besides, the 3rds certainly didn't seem to recognize him, and he's pretty sure being the President's son or Rhapsodos's soulmate would have made him instantly recognizable. Both was just a double whammy.

So, no. His counterpart wasn't Shinra's son nor was he Rhapsodos's soulmate (a realization that does not disappoint Cloud at all, even if the man's touch had almost been electric).

Huffing to himself, Cloud tries to tamp down on the rising ire – his father loved him, he wouldn't have given him to Hojo to play with – and turns away from the 3rds, watching the welcome sign with far more rapt interest than was absolutely necessary.

Welcome to Kalm, Chocobo Capital of the World. Population: 41,020.

It takes another five minutes for them to reach the hospital. Another five minutes of winding roads and milling townsfolk that Cloud was left to his simmering anger, completely at a loss as to whether he was more indignant because these 3rds thought he might have been the President's son… or because he really wasn't.

Gaia, what was wrong with him?

But then, after one last right turn, they pull up in front of the large brick building that is the Kalm Memorial Hospital, and it's like a switch has been flipped. The anger dissipates, replaced only with a sense of duty. And Cloud doesn't even stop to think as he vaults himself over the side of the truck and splits Tsurugi in two, sliding the pieces back into his harness. "I'll go get help!" he throws over his shoulder, but it's not needed, not when the glass doors slide open in front of him, and three nurses (two male, one female) rush out, a gurney drawn between them.

Apparently, Zeke had called ahead.

Cloud wastes no time taking point then – after everything with Avalanche and the return of Sephiroth, he was no stranger to being in charge – and directs the nurses to Rhapsodos's still unconscious body. "There are four deep, partially cauterized lacerations to his left side."

"Partially cauterized?" One of the male nurses – a man who appears to be of Wutaian descent (like Ryu) – asks.

"It looks like he cast Fire on himself."

"Shit."

"Yup." Cloud says, turning his attention back to Ryu and Rowan now that they had reached the foot of the truck bed. "Ryu, Rowan, help me out here." And with some very direct instructions – "Ryu, watch his neck.", "Rowan, I've got his legs now. Let go of him and come down here with me.", "Yes, Ryu, I know you want to help. Just pass him to Rowan and then you can keep an eye on his sword." – they manage to transfer Rhapsodos to the gurney as efficiently as possible with two rather competitive 3rds.

"Wait! Isn't that Genesis Rhapsodos?" the female nurse gasps as soon as they finish.

And it's not a question Ryu seems to appreciate, the man wrapping his hand tighter around the sheath of Rhapsodos's red sword and narrowing his eyes at the pretty brown-skinned woman in front of him. The reaction is not one Cloud was expecting, really – the short, slender woman didn't seem like that big of a threat, especially not with the Stamp the dog scrubs she was wearing (or at least Cloud thinks the brown and white Midgar Spaniel is supposed to be Stamp). But perhaps he should have realized that his 'order' to guard Rhapsodos's sword would backfire in some spectacular way.

But it doesn't really matter anyway. Not to Cloud at least. He would be washing his hands of this overzealous dunderhead soon enough. Somebody else could take over from there, it wasn't his problem anymore.

So, instead of trying to tell Ryu to cool it, Cloud just steps subtly in front of the man and answers, "Yes, it is. And he needs medical attention right away." The woman nods, a little starry-eyed, and Cloud just hopes that he (or his hair) is tall enough to hide the glower on Ryu's face. "I've already cast Cura and Regen on him, but his body's too weak to handle any more magic right now."

.

.

.

Cloud had every intention of watching Rhapsodos get wheeled into the hospital, Ryu and Rowan following behind like little ducklings (little SOLDIERlings?). Was planning to hop back into the truck bed once those glass doors finally slid shut, and bid all this weird shit goodbye.

But his name was still cursed.

"Wait. Aren't you a SOLDIER too?"

"No."

His tone is completely flat, but the nurse who had called him out – a black man with very neat braids along his head and down his back, and something of a fondness for the color purple – smiles knowingly and tuts. "Nice try, man, but I can see your eyes."

"I'm really not – "

"Look," the nurse sighs sympathetically. "I know you guys don't care for all the extra physicals, but it's our job. It's just standard procedure."

"Standard procedure?"

"You were involved in that fight too, weren't you?" the female nurse takes over, one hand still holding the gurney. Cloud nods his head, though he probably doesn't need to – his clothes are probably dirty enough to answer for him. "Well, then you'll need to be cleared by a doctor before you can return to duty. President's orders."

What a load of baloney, Cloud thinks. But outwardly, he keeps his face neutral and says, "Oh, of course. Let me just grab my stuff and say goodbye to my friends here and I'll be in in a minute." Ryu and Rowan stare at him, eyes glazed over – either they had already forgotten he wasn't a SOLDIER or they just weren't paying attention. Something Cloud is eternally grateful for. "You can get started on the others in the meantime. They're a lot worse off than I am."

It's a lie, naturally. But one the nurses and 3rds seem to buy far too easily. Not that Cloud's complaining. He guesses all that time with Vincent had paid off.

He pretends to rummage through the burlap sack of monster parts while they wheel Rhapsodos into the hospital, trying not to focus on the weird sense of loss he feels. But once those doors close, he hops back into the truck bed and tells Zeke, "Drive." in a tone that brooks no argument.

Zeke still argues, of course – "Dontcha need ta get yer ass checked out?"

"No. I told you I'm not a SOLDIER. And I don't like doctors." Or needles. Or anything that reminded him of Hojo and his time as the creep's toy. "So, please… drive."

Cloud doesn't miss the weighted silence, nor the way Zeke growls as he turns the keys in the ignition. But, honestly, as long as Cloud could put the hospital and all thoughts of Hojo as far behind him as possible, he doesn't really care what sort of impression he gives off.

"Whatever ya say, Princess!" Zeke yells and finally gets them the hell outta there, the rumbling of the truck's engine now sounding entirely too much like the roaring of mako in his ears.

"Why are you screaming like that, little boy? I haven't even removed anything yet!"

A/N:

- I was going to end the chapter on a happy note, but then Hojo just wormed his way in there somehow...

- This one was super subtle, so I'll be super impressed if anybody noticed. The population of Kalm (41,020) was taken from the release date of the Remake (4/10/20).

- I'm not sure how clear it was, but I used 'mottled ivory' to refer to the fact that Zack's face was dirty when he died in canon.

- Also, the idea I was working with is that sunflowers are not common in Midgar (since flowers are so rare there). So that's part of the reason Ryu was so upset about his lost sunflower seeds - I imagine they're something of a pricey import.