I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters.
Road Rage
Cody raised an eyebrow as Biggs and Wedge walked over, Biggs pushing two bikes.
"Tough break," Biggs said. "They changed the times. Last train's already left. Which is why we borrowed these bikes. Need a lift to the plate?"
"How did you guess?" Jessie asked.
"Easy," Wedge said. "You've been acting weird. Like talking about one thing when you're obviously thinking about something else."
"Yeah," Biggs agreed. "And don't get me started on all that pep."
"Alright, I'll give you that," Jessie said. "But how did you know I wanted to head topside?" Her eyes widened. "Was I talking in my sleep? What else did I say!?"
"No, we just figured you wanted to see your parents, that's all," Wedge said.
"Nailed it, huh?" Biggs asked, flashing a thumbs up.
"Yep," Jessie lied. "Right on the head."
"So, seeing as we don't have any family of our own, how 'bout you let us be a part of yours for a bit?" Biggs asked. "You know, spread the wealth."
Jessie rolled her eyes. "Are your parents still around?" She looked to Cloud and Coy both.
"No," Cody said.
"No," Cloud said.
Wedge and Biggs both nodded. "Mhm."
Jessie laughed at them. "Okay, then! Guess you're all invited! Here's to awkward family reunions!" She held a fist over her head and Biggs and Wedge cheered.
Cody took one of the bikes from Biggs and climbed on, keeping his right hand on the throttle and his left holding his gun.
"Can you drive and fight at the same time?" Jessie asked.
"Probably not," Cody said, even though he most definitely could.
"Then maybe you should let me drive," Jessie said smiling. "You'll get to protect us, and hold me real tightly."
"Is there a bright side to this proposal?" Cody asked, Jessie pouting instantly.
"You're no fun at all," Jessie said.
Cody snorted. "Just wait until I start driving, then try and tell me that."
"Ooo, that sounds exciting," Jessie said.
"Hey, is this a job or a date that I'm being dragged along for," Cloud asked.
"Why can't it be both?" Jessie asked.
"Okay, that's it," Cody said. "You're riding with him."
"What?" Jessie asked. "No way! I wanna see how exciting it is to ride with you!"
"You're riding with him so you can explain what we're actually doing," Cody said quietly. "Now hurry up and go climb on with SOLDIER Boy. I'm getting impatient to meet my new family."
"Oh you should be!" Wedge said. "Jessie's mom makes the best pizza! The Midgar Special!"
"Can't wait," Cody said as Jessie climbed on behind Cloud, hugging herself tightly to his back once she was situated and sticking her tongue out at Cody, who simply rolled his eyes. "Are you ready now?"
"Ready!" Biggs and Wedge reported.
"Ready!" Jessie nodded.
Cody shook his head, giving the throttle a sharp twist and popping a wheelie before streaking into the train tunnel. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all cheered, both the other bikes catching up to him after a moment. He glanced at them, seeing Biggs sitting behind Wedge with his pistol in-hand, and seeing Cloud holding his sword out to his left side. He rolled his eyes, turning back tot he front. Oh how he wished he could use his own sword. Using a stolen Shinra gun was getting annoying. He missed the familiar weight of his gunblade. And he missed wearing a suit and having his hair be anything but a rat's nest every day.
Just then, they passed through the ID scan. No alarms began immediately, but Cody was sure it would only be a matter of time. Up ahead, he saw a board set up in a jump and stuck his gun in the back of his belt then revved the engine, speeding ahead of the others and shooting up the board, laying his bike sideways and kicking his legs back, using his right hand to salute to Jessie before grunting and getting himself back on the bike and the wheels under him before landing and speeding along with the others, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all cheering.
"I'm definitely riding with the wrong person!" Jessie shouted over the engines and the wind.
Cloud rolled his eyes and sped up as a second jump approached, hitting it and flipping the bike backward before landing, jessie shrieking in surprise, then cheering. Cloud looked to Cody expectantly, just as another bike's engine began to gain on them from behind. Cody rolled his eyes, pulling his gun out of his belt as a Shinra soldier on a bike began to rapidly gain, gun in-hand.
"We've got company!" Jessie called out.
"Someone's having fun," Cloud said, then dropped back, slashing the front tire off the bike before catching back up on Cody's left.
"-could I not?" Jessie asked. "'Pursued by villains, a young couple thrust together by fate race through the neon-streaked night.'"
Cody laughed at her quoting a popular romantic play, Loveless.
"Get off!" Cloud said.
Again Cody laughed, trapping his gun under his leg and holding out his left hand to Jessie. She reached her right hand over, but he smacked it away, pointing to her left. She tiwsted, grabbing his hand with her left and Cloud quickly reached back and shoved her just as she jumped, more-or-less throwing her to Cody's bike, where Cody twisted his arm up over his shoulder to hold onto her own as she swung her legs over his bike, screaming. Finally, she was seated and wrapped her arms tightly around him.
"I am never doing that again!" She shouted.
"Good," Cody said. "It's harder with bullets flying. Hang on!"
She tightened her hold even more as he grabbed his gun from under his leg and popped the bike's clutch, spinning it and firing an arc of bullets behind them, hitting three troops on the way, before getting them going forward again and speeding up to catch up to the others.
Jessie cheered as he did. "You're awesome at this!"
"I'm awesome at everything, remember!?" he shouted back just as bullets slammed into the ground to their left. "You mind?"
He handed her his gun and she twisted around, shooting a Shinra troop as several more raced past them to catch up to the others, only for Cloud to take them all out quickly. After a few minutes, drones began to arrive with more troops, Cody catching something about a SOLDIER being on the way. He swore, holding out his hand to Jessie, who gave him back his gun. He shot one of the drones, sending it crashing into the back of a Shinra troop's head, knocking him out and making him crash, then sped up, reaching Cloud just as he slashed the last troop's bike, Biggs shooting the last drone.
"We're about to have a SOLDIER playmate!" Cody shouted.
Cloud nodded. "I'll deal with him!"
Cody nodded and turned back to the front as they left the train tunnel, now on the plate. "Station first, or straight to the warehouse?"
"Warehouse!" Jessie called back. "Aw. Our magical ride filled with fireworks is almost at an end."
"Those weren't fireworks, Jessie," Cody said. "Those were explosions."
Jessie smiled, jabbing him in the bruise from the reactor, and he yelped, smacking her hand with his gun. "Ow! Hey, that's not nice!"
"You poked my bruise!" Cody said. "Deal with it!"
Just then, several Shinra troops began to gain on them, only for a SOLDIER on a bright red bike to speed up the side of the trench the tracks were running through, landing on one and making it explode, killing all of the troops gaining on them and hurling the SOLDIER into the air, cackling. Then, he landed hard, swerving and fishtailing for a second before popping a wheelie and rapidly gaining, grinning widely.
"Well hello!" he shouted.
"Who's this!?" Biggs asked.
"Too quick for the eye, you cross him, you die!" the SOLDIER grinned.
"Well, I can definitely see you, so you're off to a pretty bad start!" Cody called out, the SOLDIER staring at him, deadpan for a moment before grinning.
"I know that mask!" the SOLDIER grinned. "Let's see if you've still got the moves, Turk!"
Cody's eyes widened and he gasped harshly, just as the SOLDIER slashed several times, sending arcs of shining mako-green energy at him. "Hang on!" He revved the engine, swerving right up onto the sloped wall of the trench, going around the arcs of energy before swerving back down and glaring at the SOLDIER. "You want a fair fight, give me a sword!"
"I'll handle this!" Cloud said. "Let the Ex-SOLDIER handle the SOLDIER."
"Oh, an Ex-Soldier!?" the SOLDIER grinned. "Splendid! I've been looking for a new dance partner!"
He blasted a bridge ahead of himself and it began to fall. Wedge and Cloud both sped through without a problem, but Cody was further back. Fortunately, a chunk of the road landed like a jump and he sped up it, taking to the air and opening fire at the SOLDIER, only for the SOLDIER to form a barrier that blocked the bullets. He grinned up at Cody, then turned, deflecting Cloud's sword with his own.
"What's that guy's deal?" Jessie asked.
"The lady's curiosity has been piqued," the SOLDIER said. "My name is Roche, but you may address me by the more accurate appellation, Speed Demon!"
"I'm shocked he could hear you from this far," Cody said.
"My ears are attuned to the feminine voice," Roche said.
"Course they are," Cody said, glancing at his right wrist. "You gonna give ma a blade to fight you with?"
"Why?" Roche asked. "Don't want to show off that fancy custom one of yours for the cameras? I don't blame you."
His blade began to glow mako-green and he slashed, sending an arc at them, only for Cloud to swerve into the way, slashing the arm and sending it sideways away from them. Then, Cloud shot forward, slashing at the back of Roche's bike, only for flames to shoot out of Roche's exhaust, flipping him backward over Cloud's blade before he slashed downward at the back of Cloud's. Cloud flipped his sword over his shoulder, blocking Roche's blade before hitting the brakes, dropping back away from Roche and shoving the sword backward further. Roche spun, beginning to drive in reverse as though he always had been, and slashed several times, sending a half-dozen arcs of energy speeding through the trench at them, only for Cloud to spin, his sword deflecting them all. Biggs and Wedge dropped back beside Cody and Jessie as they watched Cloud speed off to attach Roche again, this time firing an energy arc of his own on the way, only for Roche to deflect it. Then, their blades began to rapidly clash as Cloud got up beside him. Roche spun his bike, swinging the back tire at Cloud while deflecting Cloud's blade backward and Cloud swerved out of the way, then swerved back again, ramming his bike into the side of Roche's, getting their handlebars stuck together before flipping off of his onto Roche's. Roche slashed at him but he slashed upward and sent Roche's sword spinning into the air. Cody hit the brakes, skidding to a stop beside the sword as it stabbed into the ground, grunting and pulling it free, passing Jessie his gun, then sped off again with the sword, seeing Cloud flip and slash Roche's engine before flipping back onto his own bike and kicking Roche's bike off, speeding away from him.
"I'm keeping this for a little while!" Cody called out as he passed Roche, who simply waved.
They quickly caught back up to the others. As they did, Jessie wrapped her arms more tightly around him, resting her head against his back.
"You were right," Jessie said. "That was kind of fun."
Cody shook his head, smiling, and a few minutes later, the three bikes slowed to a stop beside a set of stairs close to Jessie's house. Jessie got off, holding out his gun and he thanked her, keeping the sword in his right hand.
"Why'd you stop for that thing?" Jessie asked.
"We'll see Roche again," Cody said. "And I can't fight with my gunblade, but he'll still want to settle our score."
"What score?" Cloud asked.
"He and I sparred together for training a while back and I beat him," Cody said. "It was the only time he ever lost to a non-SOLDIER, so I guess he's been a bit sore about it ever since."
"And now that you have that sword, you can fight him without entirely exposing who you are," Jessie said.
"Right," Cody said. "So, I'm kind of hungry."
Jessie grinned. "Right! Follow me everyone! Oh, but Cloud...I hope you don't mind. I need you to do something else. I'm really sorry."
"It's fine," Cloud said. "What do you need?"
"I need you to rob my house," Jessie said.
He raised an eyebrow and she quickly explained what she needed. He agreed and they headed up into the street, following it to Jessie's house. Cody leaned his gun and new sword against the side of the house as Cloud walked around toward the back to get ready.
"So, we're just keeping your mother distracted?" Cody asked.
"That's right," Jessie said. "We need to keep her as busy as we can for as long as we can."
"That shouldn't be hard," Cody said. "After you. And just try to follow my lead."
Jessie narrowed her eyes at him before nodding. A moment later, as Jessie opened the door and stepped inside, Cody stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her abdomen, pulling her into him just as Jessie's mother stepped into the room, eyes widening.
"Uh, hey Mom, I'm home!" Jessie greeted her, the slight blush from Cody's surprise acting adding credit to the act.
"Uh, hey honey," her mother said. "Who's your friend?"
Cody slipped around Jessie, pulling his mask down and smiling brightly. "I'm Cody. It's such a pleasure to meet you! I can see where Jessie gets her beauty from." He offered his hand and Jessie's mother shook it awkwardly.
"Cody!" Jessie said, her blush darkening as she hid her face behind her hands. "Stop! Please!"
"Uh, thank you," Jessie's mother said. "Who are you, exactly?"
"I'm a friend of Jessie's," Cody said. "Though only because she won't let me introduce myself by the full word."
"Cody!" Jessie gasped. "You're not supposed to tell her that!"
"Well I wouldn't have to if you'd just introduce me properly, would I?" he asked. "Besides, you did bring me here just so I could finally meet your family, didn't you?"
"If you don't knock it off, I'm not going to have to introduce you at all!" Jessie threatened.
He chuckled, kissing her on the forehead before pulling his mask back up. "Alright Angel. I'll behave."
Jessie rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry about him."
"Oh, it's no trouble," her mother said. "He seems very...interesting."
"Well, you're not wrong about that," Jessie said, glancing at Cody. "Sorry. I should have told you about him sooner. He's one of the actors at the Gold Saucer. He's actually really fun to be around, when he behaves himself."
Cody raised his hands in surrender, glancing at Biggs and Wedge, who were watching the scene in amusement, both having guessed what Cody was going to do the moment he said he had a plan.
"He usually gets cast as the villain, though, because of the mask," Jessie said, glancing at Cody, who nodded. "He's allergic to oxygen, so he needs the mask to breathe safely."
"Oh that's horrible!" her mother gasped. "How did it happen?"
"Mako exposure during pregnancy," Cody said. "There was an accident and my mother was exposed. She...ended up dying giving birth to me."
"Oh my God!" Jessie's mother gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bring up anything unpleasant."
"It's alright," Cody smiled. "No harm done. Though, I think Wedge might be in danger. He's been talking about your famous Midgar Special pizza for so long I think he might die soon if he doesn't get some."
Jessie's mother laughed. "I should have known that was why you two tagged along. Alright. Sit down. Me and Jessie will have a pizza ready in a few minutes."
Wedge and Biggs cheered and Cody grinned as Jessie hugged him.
"Good plan," she whispered, then went to help her mother.
Cody sat down, winking at Biggs, who nodded, clapping slowly.
"Well played," Biggs said. "I've never seen her that flustered. You actually caught her off guard there."
Cody did a half-bow from his seat, and Biggs and Wedge began to talk excitedly about Jessie's mother's cooking, mentioning that she loved guests who asked for seconds and thirds. Cody laughed. Obviously Wedge would be her favorite, after Jessie. After a few minutes, the two women walked back in with a pair of pizzas. They served everyone slices, Jessie telling Cody that she cooked the pizza his slice was from, so Cody got a slice from her mother's pizza as well to compare. They all began to eat and after Cody had finished both slices, Jessie looked at him expectantly.
"Well, I don't want to say your mother's a better cook, buuut...you used a little too much hot sauce," Cody said.
"I didn't use any hot sauce," Jessie frowned, taking a bite from her pizza.
As she went to take a bite, Cody bumped her hand, making her hit her nose with the pizza. She stopped, glaring at the wall before setting it down, picking up her napkin and wiping her face.
"What do you know, the sauce is, in fact, hot," She said, balling up the napkin and throwing it at him. "You're such a child!"
Cody laughed. "The pizzas' are both delicious. Even if you did cook one of them."
She glared at him, kicking him under the table and he laughed again, getting another slice from hers. Her mother watched them quietly, smiling slightly. They continued to eat, Wedge continuing even as his mother brought out a third and fourth pizza, apparently having known he'd need it. Finally, as there was only one slice of the fourth pizza left, and they were waiting for the fifth, Jessie's mother apparently decided to try an old conversation she and Jessie had had a million times.
"When are you going to give up on the Gold Saucer?" her mother asked. "How long has it been since you even performed?"
"Uuhh," Jessie trailed off uncomfortably.
"A lot of people really rely on Jessie," Wedge said.
"As a stagehand, though, right?" Jessie's mom asked. "You can be one of those anywhere. So why not come home and get a job at the Sector Eight theater?"
"But not everyone can be Jessie," Cody said, taking her hand. "I couldn't possibly be where I am without her. I practice all my parts with her. Whenever I try to practice with someone else, it just doesn't feel right. And then I can't even focus on the play enough to learn my lines."
Jessie's mother's eyes softened slightly, and Jessie smiled gratefully at Cody.
"I love it at the Gold Saucer, Mom," Jessie said. "Even if I'm not performing, I love it there. Everyone's a family, and I get to be with Cody, even if he can be an asshole sometimes."
He shrugged, smiling.
Jessie sighed. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we gotta go."
"So soon!?" her mother gasped.
"Yeah, well, we hadn't even planned on dropping by," Jessie said. " But Wedge wanted some of your famous pizza, and I thought it'd be nice to get to finally introduce you to Cody."
"Well, it was nice to meet him," her mother said. "But are you sure I can't tempt you with some more pizza?"
"Maybe just a couple slices, Miss R.," Wedge said, settling in.
"Wedge!" Biggs, Cody, and Jessie all said.
"Hey!" Wedge said. "I'm...I'm doing it for you guys! You don't want me going to work on an empty stomach."
"Your stomach's not empty, Wedge, your brain is," Cody sighed, standing. "It was wonderful to meet you, ma'am."
"You too," Jessie's mother said. "Please look after my daughter."
"Always," Cody smiled.
"Come on Romeo," Biggs said. "Time to go."
Cody nodded and followed the others out of the house. Once they were down the street a little ways, Jessie turned.
"That was a great idea!" Jessie grinned. "You were really good at it too! Sure it was just an act?"
"Only anything to do with you," Cody said. "Your mother's pizza really is great."
"You're a dick," Jessie said.
Cody laughed. "Say, what's your last name anyway? That's probably something your fake boyfriend should know if he runs into your mom again."
"Rasberry," Jessy said. "Like the fruit but without the 'p.'"
Coud snorted, but then began to laugh anyway, Jessie glaring at him. "I'm sorry. I just wasn't expecting it to be a fruit."
She huffed, turning and storming away.
"Wow," Wedge said. "She didn't even punch you."
"Now that's impressive," Biggs said.
"Come on you three!" Jessie called back to them. "We still have a job to do!"
They all jogged after her, Cody trying to force himself to stop thinking about what he should wear for the next time he met her mother. He reminded himself that it was only an act. Nothing more.
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