Chapter 1

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It was silent, cold, and dark. It also stank of unwashed bodies. The mattress was harder than Cloud remembered and the single sheet was rough. It took only a moment to realize where he was. The old barracks where the infantry stayed. His memory may be a patchwork and badly stitched together at that, but he never forgot that place.

Cloud kept his eyes closed. He wanted just a few seconds longer to hold onto his past. He locked into his memory all the faces of all the people he loved. He knew it was childish to lay there when he knew he had so much to do, but if he had to go back to his personal nightmare, then he could act like a child when no one was watching.

If only for a couple more minutes to focus on why he was doing this.

Despite the situation, Cloud smiled at the ridiculousness of his thoughts. Tifa would have a few things to say about him lazing about. Any time she caught him moping she was quick to put an end to it. But she wasn't here to put him right anymore. Not as she used to be. Denzel would be proud of his sulking ability. Denzel would never beg him to teach him out to fight again. He'd never work on his bike with Cid or go drinking with Reno or let Yuffie would never steal his materia again.

Not as he once knew them. They were all still here, still alive. But they were no longer his family. They were all strangers to him now.

Well, he might get some of them back again. Cloud was positive he would run into the street smart Turk at some point. He would definitely meet Cid and run into Tifa at some point. But the others were most likely lost to him, and well they should be. They only came into his life after theirs were destroyed. If losing them meant their happiness, then it was worth it.

As much as Cloud wanted to keep sulking, he had a job to do and like it or not he couldn't stay in bed and procrastinate forever. He had two weeks until the first pivotal change he needed to make. If what Aerith told him was correct, he had a lot to do in that time. He spent who knows how long in the lifestream learning about all he needed to do and now it was time to do it.

Cloud sat up in his lumpy rock-hard bed, barely avoided smacking his head on the bunk above as he looked around the barracks. With his enhanced vision he could easily see the three other bunks sharing the same room, each in a parallel line. His was the furthest from the door, a testament of his lack of stature with his peers. There were eight people in his old squad including himself and there was nothing to identify anyone by. No personal affects, no pictures or baubles scattered in the stark room, just the beds and lockers. It was a barren life the infantry lived.

Each top and bottom bunk had its own snoring grunt within, including the bed he almost brained himself on. He couldn't remember the names or faces of any of them. Cloud shook his head with wry amusement and just a touch of disgust. He should probably feel…something about that, but he felt nothing towards them. These people were from a different life. One he lost long ago. He didn't miss it.

Most of them wouldn't survive the year. Technically that would have included him. The disastrous Nibelheim mission was just over a year from now if he remembered it right. They all knew they were nothing but cannon fodder for Shinra. If they were lucky, they would be able to distinguish themselves and enter the Soldier Program or officer's training, but those opportunities were few and far between. Most realized it was just a pipe dream and were content to serve out their allotted time and move on to a better life with their pension secured. Cloud hadn't been willing to completely let the dream of Soldiers and heroes go back then, now the stigma of 'hero' wouldn't let him go, no matter how much he wanted it to.

Cloud kicked himself into gear with a silent groan and silently stood up on the chilled concrete floor. He almost tripped over something on the floor with his first step. He paused cautiously and listened to see if the slight noise disturbed anyone. After a few tense seconds, he looked down and saw his Fusion Sword. Cloud stared at his sword in shock, wondering how it got there.

'Ah' he remembered, Aerith did tell him he would have his tools of trade. The Fusion Sword was made from the planet's Weapons. Weapons for a Weapon Cloud snarked quietly, anything he needed to help finish the job. He wondered what other 'tools' he would also stumble upon, and if it would include his beloved bike Fenrir. It would give him at least one thing to look forward to.

Shaking his head at his own inner musings, Cloud searched until he found his locker in the still room. His mako enhancements certainly made it easier to move around without disturbing anyone and risk getting caught. Looking through it, Cloud found not only his regular army uniform, but his battle armor from before, as well as a large number of his materia. More gifts from the planet.

"Strife, wha' 'ou doin' up?"

Cloud whirled around to find one of his bunkmates awake and blurrily peering out at him through the darkness.

"Nothin' jus hitting the head."

"Be quiet abou' it wou'd ya? Some of us are tryn' t' sleep."

Cloud quickly grabbed his armor and sword and left the barrack for the showers before anyone else woke up. The shower room further showcased Shinra's disregard of its 'regulars'. The large room had two dividing walls that were parallel and floor to ceiling. They cut into the space two-thirds of the way making it impossible to hide anything to anyone who walked in. The first section held the toilets, a double row with partial walls. The middle could be called the changing area. Several benches ran perpendicular to the walls with cubicles to hold clean clothes in when showering. The third and farthest were the showers themselves. It was just a 'U' shaped line of shower heads in the wall with drains placed in the concrete floor. The final front wall was where the mirrors were located for no matter how unpleasant the conditions were they were to always look their best while on duty or off.

The stalls were empty. It wasn't surprising, given the clock Cloud glanced at said it was ten past two in the morning. It was another three hours left to the night shift and two before the morning shift started stumbling in. Cloud made use of the empty showers and quickly and efficiently got ready, dressed, and carefully looked himself over in a nearby mirror.

It was almost a shock that Cloud realized he looked exactly the same as he did that morning before the planet snatched him. He could still see the minor cuts and abrasions from rocks that he got from riding his bike. Such small wounds healed over in a matter of hours leaving no trace of their existence. It was funny how smaller wounds would more often than not take longer to heal than the greater ones.

When the planet transported him into the past, it didn't just send his consciousness back. It sent his body back as well. For this swap to work she said, his original self that should be here was taken by the planet too. A necessary sacrifice Aerith called it. Cloud tried not to wonder what would become of it when this was all over.

Cloud quickly shook off his darker thoughts as best he could. 'Live in the now, not the memory' as Tifa often tried to teach him. Dwelling on what was completely out of his control won't help him. Whether or not they knew it, his family still needed him. He needed to focus on taking the steps to protect the people he loves, even if they no longer remember him. Still, he missed Tifa's lectures, and Barret's temper, Cid and Reno's drunken ramblings…Denzel's smile.

Cloud finished dressing and left the showers as quickly as he came and silently made his way through the near empty hallways. He thanked the planet for the stealth lessons Vincent and Yuffie forced onto him. Even with his not-subtle-at-all appearance, he could still blend in thanks to them. Apparently, running into the middle of the battle with sword swinging wasn't the only way to win a fight.

Who knew?

After forty-five minutes of sneaking, Cloud finally made it to his destination. It wasn't hard as he knew the path well but avoiding detection took far longer than he wanted it to but at last he was in the upper scientific labs. These were the Shinra approved labs of course, not to be confused with Hojo's private torture chambers far beneath the Shinra tower. He would be spending enough time in those in the near future, something he wasn't looking forward to. But that was for later, now it was time to carry out the first part of his task, and as much as he hated it, he needed Hojo to complete it.

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Even at this late (or early) hour, the labs were busy with people running around. This was one area of Shinra that never slept. There was always something going on with one experiment or another. The hustle never stopped between the other scientists, lab techs, and guards. It was controlled chaos at its best.

Cloud took a steadying breath then with as much authority he could muster, he marched up to one of the scientists rushing past and pulled him aside. The scrawny man squeaked in surprise at the sudden interruption of his task. Cloud glared balefully at him, cowering him instantly.

"Where's Professor Hojo?" Cloud demanded "Take me to him." The scientist, more a lab tech really, started shaking as he took in Cloud's heavy black armor, giant sword and bright mako glow. Cloud knew exactly what he looked like, and he knew how to use it. Sorry Vincent but impression always trumped discretion in his book. He was a monster and he made sure everyone in the room knew it. He sensed the other people in the room stop and stare at the scene he was making.

"H-he's down in the secure labs, you need to have special access there. I-I c-can't just let you in." the man stuttered out in near panic.

Several of the guards slowly approached them. Fear could be clearly seen from their eyes but it also came with the grim determination to do their job no matter what. Cloud could commend them for their bravery but the last thing he needed was for a fight to break out.

Cloud looked down at his captive and almost pitied the poor man for what he was doing, though it didn't show at all in his face. He did tone down the aggression though.

"Then take me to a secure room you CAN let me into and go fetch him!" he commanded as only one who was used to being obeyed could.

The tech immediately led Cloud to an exam room off the main corridor. He wanted to shudder at the white walls with a single 'exam chair' bolted down in the middle of the room. To one side were cabinets, drawers, a sink and counter with various 'doctor's' paraphernalia. It would do. A quick glance around didn't reveal any hidden cameras, he wouldn't have much time to be more thorough and get things ready before Hojo arrived.

"W-what do I tell the Professor? He won't come on command" The tech quavered.

"Tell him a specimen from the Nibelheim reactor escaped, and unless he wants everyone to know what's going on there, he needs to get up here so we know how he wants me to handle it." the irony that he was reporting himself wasn't lost on Cloud at all.

"W-Who are you?" the tech asked fearfully.

Cloud just glared at him as the lab tech's face bleached white as he grasped what Cloud had said. He lost any remaining sympathy over frightening him as he realized that the man knew exactly what was going over there. That made him just as guilty as Hojo in his book.

"Wait here, I-I will let the Professor know at once!"

"Remember, be discreet," Cloud cautioned "we don't need this getting out and alerting board."

As soon as the lab tech took off at a near run, Cloud wasted no time getting to work. A deeper search revealed no bugs in the room. Next was the far less pleasant step two. Cloud searched the drawers until he found a needle and a couple of vials, and as calmly (not very) as he could manage he stuck the needle into the vein in his arm and started filling the vials with his blood. His experience traveling around the world trying to spread the cure taught him a bit about medical practices that were useful if not enjoyable.

When he had enough blood he placed the vials into the centrifuge and set it to work. It wouldn't take too long to separate the cure from his blood. Aerith told him he could produce the cure straight from his body. The last time he died when he came back in the pool bonded the cure to his genetic structure. He wasn't looking forward to extracting that.

The centrifuge just started running when Hojo stormed in. He was the same disagreeable horrific man Cloud remembered from his nightmares. The stench of Jenova came off him as a bad cologne. It took everything in him to keep from shuddering or killing him on the spot.

"Who are you? And how do you know about Nibelheim!" Hojo all but spat at Cloud as he stormed into the room.

"Is the room secure?" Cloud asked coldly.

"What's the meaning of this? Answer me!" Hojo shouted, spittle flying everywhere.

"Is this room secure? We both know what sleeps in the heart of the Nibelheim reactor, and we both know that information cannot be allowed to get out. So before I tell you anything, I need to know this room is safe." Cloud fought to control his rage at being in the same room as his once tormentor.

"YES the room is safe! Now tell me what happened!"

The second Cloud heard that he moved with all his mako enhanced speed to cross the room and punched Hojo on the side of his head, knocking him unconscious with one blow. He allowed Hojo to fall to the floor as he quickly locked and secured the door. He turned around slowly and stared at the fallen professor.

'He should probably do it while he was still out.' Cloud thought. It would be the smart thing to do. But Cloud didn't want to do the smart thing. He wanted to see the look in Hojo's eyes, he wanted Hojo to know what it felt like to be the specimen…if only a little.

;,,,;

Hojo regained consciousness almost an hour later. The left side of his face was black and swollen from where he punched him. It gave Cloud a deep sense of satisfaction every time he saw it. It was a pity he would have to heal it before they left the room. He couldn't risk setting off any more alarms.

It was almost four in the morning by then, Cloud was running out of time. Fortunately he was also almost done, and if it worked, he would have the perfect alibi. He really hoped it worked, so much was resting on it.

Cloud was sitting at the doctor's desk with his back to Hojo writing down everything he could remember Aerith instructing him to do. He had enough problems with his memory already that he didn't want to chance forgetting something that was critical later on. He didn't bother turning around when he heard Hojo start struggling in the exam chair. How unfortunate for him that all exam chairs in his labs came with near unbreakable bindings. Those chains could hold Sephiroth in a rage and one scrawny professor was going to best them. He remembered similar bindings from another time.

"Let me go you imbecile! I am the head of the science department! I will have your hide in a jar for this!"

"For a man as smart as you're supposed to be, you're not very creative with your insults" Cloud said as he stood up and removed the vials from the machine. He turned around for Hojo to see what Cloud was holding. The three vials from earlier had finished separating into distinct various layers. The bottom of the vials held a dark red liquid, on top of that was a yellow translucent one, next held a layer that was more than half the vial of glowing green that could only be mako, and at the top was a clear substance that held the barest hint of blue in it. Cloud took a syringe and very carefully withdrew the clear/blue liquid. He discarded the waste in a disposal shoot in the wall. If he remembered correctly, it would fall directly into the furnace. Hopefully he was right, there was enough mako in it to burn a person like acid.

Hojo watched the entire process scientifically. His beady eyes followed Cloud's every movement, studying him. Cloud could see the wheels turning in the scientist's mind as he tried to work out what he was doing and what was in that syringe.

"What is that?" Hojo asked. He was trying to look calm, but Cloud could see fear in the back of his eyes…good.

"This" Cloud said holding up the syringe "Is an antidote. Or at least it's supposed to be. I can't say for sure, it hasn't been tested yet." Cloud walked up to Hojo with the full syringe in his hand. "You like to experiment right? This should be right up your alley."

"Are you planning to kill me? You will never get away with it" Hojo sneered. "Shinra will hunt you down!"

Cloud immediately leaned over Hojo's bound body, and locked hate filled eyes with the scientist. The sharp spike of terror filled the air as Cloud struggled to control himself.

"No Professor, I'm not here to kill you. I'm going to cure you." Cloud gritted out between clenched teeth.

With that statement, Cloud covered Hojo's mouth with one hand and stabbed Hojo right into the heart with the syringe and squeezed the plunger.