DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FF7 OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS

Chapter Fourteen

Cloud hadn't been aware of falling asleep but he must have nodded off at some point, as he found himself being shaken awake by Hojo.

"Wake up!" the scientist demanded. "Have you thought over my proposal?"

Cloud's mind wasn't at its best, though the aching throb in his head did seem to have lessened. He struggled to make sense of what Hojo was saying. Proposal? What proposal? Then he remembered.

"Ugh," he mumbled, opening his eyes to see Hojo's poison green eyes piercing into him through the thick spectacles.

"Well?"

Cloud shook his head, "I don't trust you, Hojo. I still don't believe it's possible."

"Of course it is possible!" Hojo snapped. "If it were not possible, why would I be offering it as a bargaining tool? Why would I be keeping you alive?"

"Beats me. Personally I think you've cracked."

Hojo smacked him about the head, "Fool! I told you to take this seriously."

"Besides, if you brought Aeris back, you'd just kidnap her again so you could do experiments on her."

"No, I wouldn't. All I need for my research purposes is a sample of her blood. I had one taken when she was…under my care…in the Shinra research lab. That is what I will use to clone her."

"It's really possible?"

"Of course it is!"

"Prove it."

Hojo gave an impatient sigh, "I already have! Don't you remember when I mentioned your battle on top of the Sister Ray in Midgar? That was my clone! Proof that this technology works! You yourself were part of the Sephiroth-cloning experiment! Isn't that proof enough?"

"I – I guess so," said Cloud hesitantly. "It still doesn't mean I should trust you."

"You can trust me."

"I – I want some more time to think about it."

"Very well."

Hojo left the room and Cloud tried to collect his thoughts. Was it possible to bring back Aeris in both body and spirit, due to the fact that she was an Ancient? It sounded plausible, but could easily be a lie. Unless – of course! He remembered now! He remembered standing on the Highwind's deck and desperately trying to recall what it was that Aeris had told him. Now he remembered. She'd told him, one night when they were journeying east of Midgar, that an Ancient's blood carried their thoughts and personality as well as their genetic information. So it was true, what Hojo had said. Bringing Aeris back was possible. Cloud could almost feel her close to him as he thought about what it would be like when they had her with them once more. All he had to do was join Hojo. But could he trust Hojo?

Yes. You can trust him.

"Huh?!? Who's that?" Cloud said out loud.

It doesn't matter. Just listen to Hojo.

"Aeris? Is that you?"

I told you, it doesn't matter. Don't think about me. Think about you. You and Aeris.

"No, wait, who are you? How come you can speak in my head? That's like – "

Like what?

" – like Jenova!"

Jenova is dead, remember? Don't worry. You can trust Hojo.

"How do you know?"

Don't talk. Just listen. You can trust Hojo.

"Can I?"

Yes. He will bring back Aeris. Isn't that what you want?

"I – I – "

You must trust Hojo!

"Stop it! Leave me alone! Get out of my head!"

I will. For now. You must think over the proposition.

Cloud waited for several moments but the voice did not recur, and he assumed it was gone. That had been creepy. The voice in his head; exactly the same as those terrible times when he was being controlled by Jenova. He'd thought that his fall into the Lifestream had cured him of that, and besides, Jenova was dead. It couldn't be her. Then who? Aeris? Was she communicating with him in some way? Was she still out there somewhere, existing as Spirit Energy, desperate to return to physical form so she could be her friends once more? Was she even now urging Cloud to trust Hojo so that she could be brought back? That sounded possible, and it was an attractive proposition. He didn't fully understand how the life-death cycle of the Ancients worked – probably no living person did – but he knew they were different from humans in many ways. If only the owner of the voice would tell him who they were…he'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing who it was.

Cloud decided to stop worrying about that for now, and concentrated on how he might get out of here. Escape on his own seemed unlikely. Maybe he could pretend to agree to Hojo's proposition, lull the scientist into a false sense of security, then make a break for it at the first opportunity. No, Hojo wasn't dumb. He'd have planned against that possibility. Still, it might be worth a try. His only other hope was that Reno, Cid and the others might somehow find out where he was, and come to find him. If so, he hoped it would be soon. He wasn't sure how much more time Hojo was going to allow him to come to a decision. He also couldn't work out what Hojo was planning. Making Cloud a military commander wouldn't help the scientist in any way.

"I'm handy in a fight, if I say so myself, and I am leader of the party, but I've no real experience as a military leader," he muttered to himself. "The only time I've done anything like it was when we defended Fort Condor from the Shinra. No, there must be something else Hojo wants out of this."

But what? By offering to resurrect Aeris, Hojo was giving Cloud a lot more than Cloud would be able to give him as general of the army. Hojo had to be trying to trick him in some way, but Cloud couldn't see it. The most obvious answer was that he was lying about bringing back Aeris – either he couldn't or wouldn't do it – but if that turned out to be true, it wouldn't leave Cloud any worse off, or Hojo any better off, than they were now. Cloud decided he had to find out what Hojo's scheme was. If he pretended to accept the offer, then betrayed Hojo, he might able to get back to his friends and continue fighting. But what about Aeris? If Hojo was telling the truth, then Cloud would have to wait until she'd been brought back, then the two of them could make a run for it together. Yes, that sounded like the best plan.

* * *

"All right, I've made up my mind," said Cid, walking over to where the Turks stood on the flight deck.

"…?"

"We'll go back to Nibelheim. Although I reckon getting Cloud away from Hojo is more urgent, you're right that we don't know for sure where they are."

"I just hope Reno hasn't done anything stupid," said Elena. "He's so irresponsible sometimes."

"Well, we'll soon know," said Cid. "Rude, can you flick that lever over there? The red one. Yeah, great. Let's go!"

He put the engines to full power and they were on their way.

At top speed it took them about an hour to get to Mt Nibel. Cid landed the ship in a narrow pass in the mountains, not far away from the reactor, and they prepared to approach it on foot. Elena agreed to stay and watch over Marlene, while Cid and Rude threw down the rope ladder to climb to the ground. Cid still wasn't totally comfortable about being allied with the Turks, and Rude never spoke unless he really, absolutely had to, so there was little or nothing in the way of conversation as they worked their way through the mountain range towards the reactor. It was the middle of the night by the time they reached the Mako reactor, but it was not a cloudy night and there were plenty of stars to provide illumination.

"Five guards," Cid muttered to Rude as they surveyed the reactor from a distance. "Think there'll be more inside?"

"…hard to say."

"Come on, we don't want to waste any time."

Rude followed Cid as he made his way down the rocky slope towards the reactor's front entrance, keeping low and taking advantage of what cover they could, to avoid being seen. Ducking behind a big rock near the entrance to the reactor, they watched the five guards.

"They seem edgy," Cid hissed to Rude. "As if someone's already messed with 'em today."

"…so it seems. Presumably Reno and the others had to deal with them earlier."

"Yeah. Assuming they got this far. Hopefully we'll find 'em soon. Let's go."

Sneaking out from behind the boulder, they took the guards completely by surprise. Cid finished off two with the Venus Gospel while Rude knocked another one unconscious with a perfect punch to the jaw. The remaining two rushed towards the Turk, but Rude was too fast. A swift blow to the neck incapacitated the first one, and Cid speared the other one from behind.

"Drag them behind that rock so no-one finds them," said Cid. "Just hope no-one gets suspicious when they're missing."

They left the unconscious or dead guards behind the large boulder, and hurried to the reactor entrance.

"Okay," Cid said, turning to Rude. "You know Mako reactors, I don't. Where to?"

"…it appears Hojo has altered this facility. My knowledge may be of little use."

"Well, better than nothing. Where do we start?"

"…ground floor?"

For an hour or so they searched the ground floor, finding no trace of their friends, or anyone else for that matter.

"This place seems empty," said Cid. "You think Hojo could have abandoned it and moved to a more secure facility?"

"…either that or it no longer serves any useful purpose," said Rude. "This building would have been where he was growing the first of his genetic soldiers. Perhaps he has constructed another such facility and no longer needs this one."

He fell silent after this uncharacteristically long speech, and Cid shrugged, "Well, let's try the next floor."

After another half hour that concluded that the second floor of the building was also empty. The only logical option was to take the elevator to the floor above. As the doors to the third floor slid open, their eyes immediately lit on the three motionless figures lying on the floor.

"…!"

"Tifa! Barret!" Cid shouted, running over to kneel by his friends. "You guys OK?"

Rude knelt beside Reno and checked his comrade's vital signs, "…he is alive, but only just."

"They asleep or just out cold?"

"…don't know," said Rude, then. "…!"

"What?"

Rude pointed to the tiny dart sticking out of Barret's neck, "…poison?"

"Hope not. Damn, there's one in Tifa's neck too. Has Reno got one?"

"…yes. Do you think it's the flower of vengeance?"

"Do I look like a doctor? Better get 'em back to the ship all the same. Can you manage Reno?"

Rude nodded, and easily lifted the comatose Turk leader on to his shoulders. With much swearing and cursing, Cid managed to sling Barret's heavy frame over his own shoulders, then swore, "This ain't gonna work! How the hell do we get Tifa down to the ship?"

"…we could come back for her."

"Too dangerous. I want to get them all away from here immediately."

"…call the ship and ask them to pick us up here?"

Cid snorted, "You kiddin'? I'd sooner trust Hojo with my ship than let that dumb blonde pilot it! No, there's gotta be another way."

Just then, as luck would have it, Tifa groaned and sat up. She looked weak and sickly, but opened her eyes and managed to croak, "Cid? Rude?"

"You all right?"

"Dunno," she said. "I don't feel good. Someone shot a poison dart at me and – "

"Yeah, they got Barret and Reno too. We're takin' 'em down to the ship. You think you can walk it?"

"I-I'll try."

She struggled to her feet and swayed for a moment or two while she got her bearings. Then, supported by Rude, she followed Cid into the elevator and back down to the ground floor.

* * *

Yuffie was beginning to regret her decision to stay with Red and Vincent at the Shinra building. While the two of them busied themselves with the computer system, Yuffie had little to do. She'd explored the top floors of the building, looking for anything that might be worth 'borrowing', but the place was a bit of a mess and everything valuable appeared to have already been taken or destroyed. After that she'd headed for the executive gym on the 64th floor and worked out for a couple of hours. Still feeling a bit stiff after being cooped up in Hojo's cells, she'd tired sooner than normal, and now lay on one of the beds in the adjoining room, resting. She sighed and muttered to herself, "It's so boring here,"

She figured she'd eventually wander back up and find Vincent and Red, and bug them for a while, then go off on another exploration. The Mayor's office might be worth searching…

Meanwhile Vincent and Red XIII were still concentrating on their examination of the Shinra building's computer system.

"Here," said Red, pointing his paw at the computer screen in front of him. "It would seem Hojo has a small research facility in the underwater reactor at Junon."

"You think he has taken Cloud there?"

"Yes. It would explain why he had the anti-aircraft weapons in Junon activated. He did not want us landing there."

Vincent said nothing, but stirred uneasily and looked behind him as if he expected an enemy to be waiting there.

"Is something wrong? You seem tense," Red remarked.

"I'm just a bit confused," said Vincent. "I don't understand why Hojo has run off like this. I also don't understand why we haven't seen any of his super-soldiers in a while."

"Perhaps they are all dead. After all, there were only a finite number of growth chambers in the Nibel reactor. I doubt Hojo had time to grow more than one or two batches of soldiers at that facility since we defeated Sephiroth."

"We haven't killed that many. There must be some left."

"Maybe he is holding them back, realising they are not as invulnerable as he hoped. He must have underestimated the power of our Limit Breaks."

"Possibly. D'you think he's going to use Cloud as a bargaining chip against us?"

"Do you mean he will threaten to kill Cloud if we don't get out of his way? Yes, that thought had crossed my mind. I don't know what to make of it, to be honest. He hasn't contacted us yet with any demands, so all we can do is try and find him, then see what his plans are."

"So you think he's in the Junon reactor?"

"I do. I think it is time we contacted Cid, and find out what he is doing. We can ask him to pick us up here, then be ready to make our next move."

Vincent nodded his agreement and grabbed his PHS from his belt, calling Cid's number. As he waited for an answer, Yuffie ambled into the room, stretching her arms, looking restless.

"Hey, Red," she greeted him, pulling up a chair to sit next to him in front of the computer. "Whatcha doin'?"

"…it is complicated," the lion replied. "I think it would bore you."

"That's all right, it can't be any more boring than the rest of this building. Come on, clue me in a bit here."

Red sighed and would have spent a fruitless hour trying to explain the workings of the computer system to Yuffie, if he hadn't been interrupted by Vincent. The raven-haired man had just finished his call on the PHS.

"I just spoke to Cid," he told them. "They've found Barret and Tifa."

"Are they OK?" Yuffie asked.

"He thinks so. It seems they were poisoned by the flower of vengeance, but Cid and Rude managed to get to them in time, and there was enough antidote left on the ship to cure them."

Red breathed a sigh of relief, "So we are all safe."

"Except Cloud."

"Yes, except Cloud. We must endeavour to make sure he also is safe. What else did Cid say?"

"He also thinks Hojo might be in Junon," said Vincent. "He's heading there right now, but I asked him to come here and pick us up first."

"When will he get here?"

"Within the hour. Is there anything else we can do here?"

"I do not think so," said Red. "I will continue to check the computer for any useful information on Hojo's research. Perhaps you two could try and work out some plan for rescuing Cloud once we get to Junon."

* * *

Cloud.

Cloud!

"Hmm? Wha?" he mumbled as he awoke once more.

Hojo is coming. He will ask for your decision. Tell him you agree.

"Wait a minute! Who are you?"

I told you that doesn't matter.

"Of course it matters! If you want me to do what you say, you've got to let me know who you are first!"

Think of me as a guiding spirit.

"Aeris? Is it you?"

Don't think about me. Who I am is not important. All that matters is you and Aeris.

"But why can't you tell me – "

Hush. Hojo is coming.

"I – "

He is coming. You must say yes.

"Yes?" Cloud repeated, beginning to feel slightly light-headed.

You must agree to his proposition.

"His proposition…yes, his proposition……hey, wait a minute!"

I must go. Hojo is coming.

"Just a second! Tell me – "

He is here!

The voice disappeared as the door to the room swung open and Hojo entered.

"I have come to ask for your decision," he said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice.

"My decision…"

Cloud's head was swimming and he felt horribly dizzy, as if he was about to faint. He remained conscious, however, and managed to focus his eyes on Hojo's.

"I – " he began. "I – can't – no – I – I agree. I agree to your proposition."

Hojo might have been smiling in response, but Cloud couldn't make it out through his blurred vision. His dizziness and nausea became worse, and he felt himself on the verge of blacking out.

"Very well," Hojo responded. "You will join me. And I will bring back your friend. So be it. I will return in one hour."

He left the room, closing the door behind him. Cloud struggled to stay conscious, and managed to fight back the wave of giddiness that threatened to overwhelm him. Putting his head between his knees, he focused his eyes on a spot on the floor and forced himself to stay awake. Once he felt he was no longer in danger of fainting, he sat upright, and stared at the door through which Hojo had just left.

"Aeris," he whispered. "Aeris…please let me have made the right decision."

If he'd made the wrong decision, he had no way of knowing what Hojo had in store for him or his friends. Only time would tell.