Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Final Fantasy Saga

A/N: I hope I did Zack alright. It's hard to get his optimism and hidden pain in proper balance. I'm still not sure I got it right. The conversation between Zack and Cloud came almost word for word, with a few minor changes, from CC.

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Cloud entered Hojo's upper labs. The huge hole Genesis blew, just hours ago, was still smoldering. The repair crews haven't arrived yet to fix it. Shinra maintenance at its finest Cloud thought in disgust. He shook his head at the theatrics of it all. Genesis seemed to love the spotlight in just about every area in his life. The man might be a thorn in his side every now and then, but he was never boring.

Cloud was anxious to get on the move. Planning and preparing were all good things but he was a man of action. Waiting around doing nothing broke him down easier than any sword or spell. Fortunately things were about to happen and he was ready to fight again. Being stationary was never good for his mentality.

Having Zack there, so close, yet unable to approach was…difficult, and coming face to face with Sephiroth made it an all-around stressful day. Cloud was doing his best to stay calm as he got ready to go but he was sure he wasn't all that successful. Hojo watched as he methodically stripped out of that awful uniform and redressed into the armor he favored. He caught the scientist studying his scars that littered his skin from Hojo's experiments from before as well as the various battles he fought. Hojo didn't say anything, but Cloud could see the questions in his eyes. He'd get a chance to study them soon enough.

Hojo handed him two thin metal canisters each containing a syringe "Here are the antidotes; they should be safe in the cylinders." Hojo hesitated "Are you sure you want to go through with this my boy? I can arrange a different meeting for you."

The Professor really didn't want him to leave the control of his labs. Cloud was still somewhat of an unknown for Hojo. While they were developing an understanding it wasn't anything like trust. Added to the fact that Hojo had no idea of his fighting skills as of yet. While he knew that the two Firsts were no match for Sephiroth, they weren't the top Soldiers for nothing.

"I'm sure Doc. Angeal might not be important to the planet, but he's important to Zack. If I can save him, I will. Besides, I'm supposed to be there." Cloud answered him as he secreted the two canisters behind the heavy leather apron guarding his left flank.

"If you get the Soldiers, bring them to me. I want to confirm for myself they aren't a danger." Hojo ordered.

"Whatever you say Doc." Cloud tried really hard not to roll his eyes; he was more mature than that.

He was trying to act more mature than that.

"I mean it Cloud!" Hojo grabbed his arm and forced Cloud to face him. It took everything he had not to strike the scientist.

"If they're still degrading after your cure and they let them loose they could pose a threat to Sephiroth. I won't tolerate that, my boy."

"I understand, he's your son, and you will do what you must to protect him." Cloud assured him. "I've often done the same for mine. Most of why I'm doing this is for him. This will work Doc. I won't fail."

Cloud hated using Denzel like this. But if it formed a tighter bond with Hojo and got the man to trust him more than it was worth it. After all, Denzel would never become his son in this timeline. Not if he could help it. Didn't mean he wouldn't keep an eye on him while he could.

"I never said he was my son." Hojo huffed.

"Not this time around, no. I know that in every way but blood, he is yours though." Cloud tried to smile at him, it didn't really work "You were very proud of him, of what he could do."

Of the horrors he was capable of.

Cloud paused then continued back on track "You'll have the second copter ready for Nibelheim right?"

"Yes, yes." Hojo eyed him at the sudden subject change. Cloud didn't care, that line of thought was getting a little too painful to continue.

"Why 'Project Chaos'? Why not use his Turk codename." Hojo asked.

Hojo sneered a little. He hid it well, but without Jenova's madness twisting his mind, Lucrecia's betrayal still hurt. It was one of the few human moment Hojo showed that didn't involve Sephiroth, well not directly.

"It was Crescent's final work. Valentine occasionally spoke of it. It…seemed to fit. That and Tseng knows Valentine's codename."

Hojo huffed again then pushed Cloud towards the door, "Better go, I somehow doubt they're going to wait for you."

Cloud nodded, grabbed First Tsurugi off the table and took off. He couldn't wait to meet Zack…again.

….

Zack wasn't having the best of days. Okay, so he wasn't having a very good year in general. But yesterday really took the cake. He fell off the top plate and through a roof in the slums, fought clones…multiple clones! argued with Angeal (never fun), and took on a summons, By Himself!..!

Okay, so that last one was pretty awesome.

Now he was on his way to frozen Modeoheim first thing in the morning with Tseng, who he thinks secretly hates him, and some mako enhanced new experiment of Hojo's he's supposed to lead. All so he can fight Genesis some more. The new guy didn't say a word and Zack couldn't get a read on him through the flight helmet and glasses. Tseng had assured him the new guy was "well trained". Somehow Zack didn't find that very reassuring.

But the day did have a silver lining in the most beautiful, sweetest girl on the planet. Remember that roof he crashed into earlier? Yup! It was hers!

She was a perfect bloom in the rubbish heap of the slums. Zack sighed heavenly at the thought of her, causing the new guy to look his way. She was so kind and gentle she must be an angel from the heavens. He already scored one date from her so it wasn't really the worst of days either. Maybe when he got back, he can ask Aerith out on another date. Although he would have to remember to use the right name.

Zack's sentiment lasted all the way until the helicopter was shot down and crashed. As long as he lived, he would never let Tseng live it down. Crashing a helicopter like some kind of noob. It didn't matter that they all safely survived. The point was…they went down!

He was thrown pretty far from the main crash, making a crater in the snow. Luckily nothing was broken. He got snow inside his uniform though. That was going to be unpleasant until it melted and dried. Zack was lucky his mako booster that Hojo gave him before everything blew up allowed him to stay warm in this frigid wasteland. It was almost as if he knew he was coming here.

But that would be impossible…right? Genesis hadn't even attacked the labs until after he'd been treated. So how could the Professor know?

Zack turned to check on the how the others had fared in the crash. He saw Tseng, an infantryman, and the stranger were all several yards behind him. He now knew the new guy was blond since his helmet seemed to have disappeared with black armor that was similar to what the Firsts wear now complete with a freaking HUGE sword on his back. Seriously about the sword! That thing was bigger than Angeal's Buster.

He was going to have to learn the new guy's name here soon since he couldn't just keep referring to him as 'new guy'.

Tseng was already on his feet surveying the area. The stranger also looked like he came out of it none worse for wear and was helping the infantryman get to his feet. Looks like they all really did survive; he still was going to give Tseng a hard time though. Things like this never happens when Reno flies.

Zack shook the snow off with a "fine how-do-you-do" and worked his way over to the others, while trying not to slip and fall on the white wet stuff from hell. Tseng was already on his PHS trying to find a signal. The blond new guy, henceforth to be referred to as 'Spike' on account of his hair until he learns his real name, was still kneeling next to the infantryman.

"No signal" Tseng said when he was close enough to talk to.

"Well at least we're all in one piece," Zack said, trying to sound confident and comforting, "we'll be all right."

"Thankfully, we have someone used to this kind of terrain."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a country boy…"

"I wasn't referring to you."

Tseng gestured to 'Spike', who looked up before asking in a soft voice that still carried "How do you know I'm used to this terrain?"

"I looked up your file before we left."

"Of course you did." 'Spike' glared slightly at Tseng before steading the infantryman on his feet.

So Zack might not consider himself the brightest person in the room but it was pretty obvious that there was some tension between Spike and Tseng. Something like that didn't bode well for him. Whatever it was he hoped it didn't rear its head on this mission. He had enough on his plate without having to deal with infighting.

Spike walked swiftly past Zack, ducking down and away a bit when he passed by heading in the direction they needed to go. Zack didn't know anything about this stranger, but his did know he didn't like people flinching away from him for no reason. Being a Soldier caused more people than most to fear him. It was one part of his job that he flat out hated.

Zack could tell just by watching that this guy was more than capable in any situation. Just the ease in the way he moved through the snow told him that. Yet he had a haunted, almost hunted, feel to him. He twitched at the slightest sound or movement around them. His mako eyes shifted over any possible threat and his body curled inward slightly as if expecting something or someone to attack him. He'd seen similar behavior from veteran Soldiers and infantrymen just back from Wutai. They just couldn't relax no matter what they tried and would attack at anything.

Something was hurting him bad and Zack decided then and there, he would do what he could to ease some of it. He was far too young to act so old. Hojo's experiments often took on a far darker tone when no one was watching. Just look at Sephiroth.

"Alright, follow us then," Zack called out to the remaining two before running to catch up to 'Spike' slipping a little "Don't fall to far behind!"

Zack caught up to him rather quickly given how fast he was moving before. Something told him that Spike allowed him to catch up. He could feel Spike's eyes on him from time to time just watching him. Zack preened a little under the attention.

"So" Zack started after a while trudging through the snow, "you're a country boy too huh? Where are you from?"

"Nibelheim."

Zack stopped and started laughing. As he spun around in place he could see the barest hint of a half-smile on Spike's face. Score 1 to Zack.

"How about you?"

"Me?" Zack asked, stopping quickly to face him head on "Gongaga."

Upon seeing Spike chuckle slightly, Zack decided to play it up a little "Hey, what's so funny about that!" Zack tried to sound put-upon, "You know Gongaga?"

"Not really," Spike said with a slight smile "but it's such a backwater name."

He felt good at getting Spike to loosen up some. He had a feeling the other man didn't get the chance to do so often.

"Ditto Nibelheim." He teased back.

"Have you been there?" Spike asked as he slowly started walking again.

"I haven't" Zack admitted "but there's a reactor there right?"

"Yeah."

"A reactor outside of Midgar usually means…"

"Nothing else out there" "Nothing else out there"

Zack started laughing again, and he heard Spike even let out a few more chuckles. Excellent! He thought, the first part of his master plan was a success!

"So what do I call you?" Zack asked suddenly.

Spike paused and glanced out at him from the corner of his eye. Zack could see genuine affection in his gaze, but there was also a hard calculating look in it too. It reminded him of the wolves that the Nibel Mountains were famous for. They had an almost feral quality within a strong mako glow. It didn't sit well with him.

"Cloud." he finally said.

"Cloud?" Zack asked.

Spike, now dubbed Cloud, nodded.

"Well Cloud," Zack said with full confidence as he swung his arm around the smaller man's shoulders, being mindful of the freaking huge sword "Don't you worry, us country boys need to stick together."

Zack saw Cloud's first real smile.

It made his day almost as much as Aerith's did.

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Cloud was in seventh heaven as they made their way into Modeoheim. Zack was here, talking to him, and even teasing him. Cloud had no illusions that this would last past this mission. If he remembered it correctly, they didn't ever socialize in the time before. It could be that their friendship was entirely in his head. A result of mako poisoning and overexposure to Zack's presence that twisted him into thinking they were friends. After all, for several months he thought he WAS Zack.

What he was about to do could almost guaranteed that Zack would forget all about him. When Angeal recovered Zack would soon focus all his attention on his mentor. He was fine with that. Zack alive and happy without him was a sacrifice he could easily live with. For now though, Cloud would enjoy this.

"So," Zack asked as they made their way towards the buildings "Why exactly are you a part of this mission? I mean, I can tell you're enhanced, but I've never seen you before, so you must be new. This isn't the sort of mission they send a 'greenie' on."

Cloud took a deep breath to brace himself for the story he and Hojo had hashed out. He didn't want to lie, but until the Jenova infection was cleared from Zack, he just couldn't risk her overhearing, regardless of how small a chance that would be. Jenova knew how to use her puppets. He knew that all too well.

"You're partly right, I am enhanced, but I'm not tied to Soldier."

"Not calling you a liar, but you're mako glow and armor say otherwise." Zack smiled when he spoke but there was definitely an air of suspicion around him.

"I'm aware," Cloud paused "As you know I'm an experiment. I…guess you could say I, belong to Professor Hojo. In much the same way Angeal and Genesis belong to Hollander. When this mission came up, the Doc thought…it would be the perfect time to…cut my teeth, so to speak." Cloud almost cringed at what he was saying. The only lies he was good at telling were the ones he told himself.

Zack looked horrified, "That's awful! Testing on something like this! What is he expecting? For you to take on two of the top Firsts? Does he really think you can kill them single handedly?"

Zack had stopped just outside of the main building and put both hands on Cloud's shoulders and kept shaking him with every question. The concern he was show was a pleasant surprise for Cloud. He had been all but convinced Zack would turn away from him if he thought Cloud was here to kill is beloved mentor.

Zack truly had the biggest heart in the world and he would do everything in his power to protect it.

Cloud copied Zack's hold and told him if only to stop Zack from shaking him "No Zack, I'm not here to kill either of them. I'm actually here to try and save them."

"What?"

Wait a minute…They hadn't informed him about the cure? Cloud was going to punch Lazard the next time he came across the man. Killing the two Firsts was always a possibility on this mission but Zack should have been read in on the other possibility of curing them. So why wasn't he informed?

"The Doc gave me an antidote that should reverse the degradation."

"It should?" the hope was almost painful to witness.

"Won't know until I give it to them, but the Doc's confident, and…I trust the source."

Zack whopped and picked Cloud up and started spinning him like a rag doll "This is the best news I've had all day!" Zack crowed, then set down a now beet red man.

"Yeah, well, we still have to get them to take it, and convince them to return." Cloud muttered uncomfortably trying to get his blush under control.

"Alright then!" Zack said with fresh cheer, "Let's Mosey!"

Cloud turned to look back trying to catch sight of Tseng and the sergeant but he didn't have any luck. He knew they hadn't been moving that fast over the terrain so they couldn't be too far behind. He just hoped they would catch up and join them soon before any trouble came their way. With a wry shake of his head, he turned back and followed Zack into the rusted over elevator. He honestly couldn't tell if he meant trouble for Tseng, or for him.

Either way, trouble was guaranteed.