"What is the end result Hojo is aiming for in separating us?" Lazard asked his siblings.
"Who knows? Now I suspect he lied about Cloud's evaluation." Rufus scowled.
"But he's the current expert anything Sephiroth. Unless we find someone to discreetly study us on a cellular level." Cloud pointed out.
"That can be arranged." Lazard liked this idea.
"Will he agree to work with us?" Rufus raised an eyebrow.
"I don't think that will be a problem." The youngest confided.
"There's something more, isn't there."
It took everything in Cloud not to flinch from what Rufus stated. He simply stared blankly. When the silence was being near unbearable he replied.
"What makes you say that?"
"I know you lied when you answered Hojo's last question." Rufus eyed him sternly.
"There really isn't anything else going on. Shall I go into explicit detail of my sex life or something?" Cloud countered.
"No, no. That won't be necessary." Lazard cut in.
"Then I have something else to address. You're bold. Recruiting Reno from under Tseng's nose like that." Rufus crossed his arms.
"What? You can't have all the power over the Turks. I know Lazard would never go behind your back to search into who released that rumor that turned out to be true." Cloud stared him down.
"He has a point." Tseng spoke up from being the silent spectator.
"Face it, brother. I beat you to something big that would have definitely bit us in the ass later." Cloud couldn't help a smirk.
Rufus breathed in to collect himself. When he exhaled he stared at the youngest brother. His face was well guarded, but his eyes showed the pain and fury he felt.
"Who did you suspect at first?"
"To be honest? You. Lazard was too shocked to be the cause. Then you swoop in and save the day? A little too convenient. Then you used it to your advantage to take away my option of not coming back at all. In the same instance you looked better in the outcome of that interview." Cloud explained.
"My intentions were to show that we, as brothers, stand together. That was my mistake for taking your option away." Rufus tilted his head. "Although, if you had refused, I would have respected your decision."
"And miss the fun in personally tormenting you two for the rest of our lives? No. I came back out of spite to make your lives hell." Cloud stared them down.
"...He's taking after you." Lazard commented to Rufus while raising a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Can you blame me? You two stopped me and Sephiroth from meeting. He knew you were lying, Lazard. That's why he made it public." The youngest heir defended. "In the end it worked in our favor, I guess. But imagine the greater upsides we would have if we had met a lot earlier."
The older brothers pictured it. With how easy the majority of the department heads gave in because of Sephiroth, then it wasn't hard. Heidegger would have seen an opportunity, a bigger slice of cheese. He would have helped them throw the president under the bus.
"I still count this as a blessing. Heidegger has been suspicious for years. With digging into him and how he ran Public Security, it helped us arrest him in the end. The company doesn't need someone so shady." Lazard spoke honestly.
"That can also be said about Scarlet." Rufus frowned.
"What's your beef with her?" Cloud raised an eyebrow.
"She has also come up for mistreating the men in her department. However, those same men are so loyal they won't say anything to take the accusations to her." Tseng spoke up once more. "Now that she's witnessed Heidegger and the president being removed, she may be more cooperative."
"How many of the board are like this?" Cloud was alarmed by this.
"Of who is left? Scarlet and Hojo are the worst ones. But they're sneaky. They can hide evidence well. Palmer can also be considered as bad." Lazard explained.
"But his fraudulent ways weren't as greedy as Heidegger. He was left with barely a working department since the space exploration was shut down, so he did it out of boredom." Tseng added these details.
"That's not an excuse. But maybe if we put effort to start up the space exploration again, maybe he won't be so bored to keep doing these habits." Cloud wanted to give him a chance.
"Good luck convincing the the pilot that would have made it into space. He is the only known person with the creditionals to even make it up there. Let alone the only person with the drive to do so." Rufus heard stories.
"Then I'll get on it. Personally if I have to." Cloud wasn't going to turn down a challenge. And he wasn't seeing either of them to get off their ass and get down to the bottom of the business.
"If you can convince the man who is known to talk bad of the company and refuse to even accept my apologies for what father has done with the department, I will personally see to it that Palmer is squeezed so tight his fat ass won't be able to squirm if he so thinks he can get away with more fraud." Lazard promised.
"Wait, who is he?" Something about the description rang a bell.
"Cid Highwind. He lives in - "
"Rocket Town. Ran across him a couple of times. I think I can break through him for you guys." Cloud smirked.
The shock on their faces almost made the youngest heir laugh. Apparently they didn't believe Cid would be reasoned with. But Cloud had an advantage.
"We bonded when I was a hunter. A few times I got stuck in Rocket Town when it was too late to make for home. He saw me just laying in the grass and let me stay the night. Don't get me wrong, he was the rudest piece of shit I've met. But he had a heart under all that porcupine exterior." Cloud explained.
"Don't tell me. You guys talked shit about the company." Rufus saw through the word bonded.
"...Maybe." This time Cloud almost couldn't contain himself. He did smile from ear to ear, though.
"This will either be brilliant, or backfire." Lazard wasn't sure which it will be.
"I'll schedule for some time off to make a trip out there. But how soon would we need him? I haven't found my replacement yet." Cloud inquired.
"Maybe in a month. For right now we're focusing more on Scarlet and Hojo to reform their departments almost entirely. Scarlet is being restricted because of her mistreatment of her men, Hojo for his inhumane experiments that have come to light over us coming into taking over."
"Don't forget Reeve. He's the only decent fellow in the board that hasn't done anything shady. We're currently trying to expand his department to not be so restricted. Father chained him because of his sentimental values and his department became the laughing stock from the others." Rufus added.
So then the brothers had been very busy. And Cloud supposed he was just late for the party. In some way he felt bad, but he needed to be mentally prepared to handle the new stress of being head of Soldier.
"What's wrong with the candidates we had in mind?" Rufus wondered.
"I don't want to leave Soldiers with someone who will botch the entire department. Look at Heidegger's mess. I want to be thorough with who I eventually hand my seat over to someone else." Cloud had already glanced over the resumes.
They all looked good on paper. Too good, in fact. So he already had in mind to talk to each of them in person. If nothing came to mind then he will broaden his search to among the Soldiers. Cloud had noticed that he earned major respect already for being Soldier like them.
"I can't fault you for that. To be honest, I was being just as picky before you made the announcement." The oldest agreed with Cloud.
"Just as picky? You wouldn't even meet with any of the candidates." Rufus raised an eyebrow.
"Gentlemen, lunch hour is almost finished." Tseng reminded.
Cloud checked the time. And Tseng was right. He supposed he could grab a snack on the way down. He had forgotten to grab an actual meal on the way up.
"We should continue this later. Perhaps over dinner?" Rufus offered. "I can get us our own table."
"Dinner is meant to be relaxing." Lazard reminded.
"Then a small celebration for us brothers united again. We can make time during meetings if we're too tired afterwards." Rufus compromised.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll be making my way." Cloud began to take his leave.
Soon as he sat down in his own desk with a bag of chips, Sephiroth entered. Cloud sensed him so he didn't bother to tell him to knock.
"I brought you something to eat." Sephiroth placed the bag on the desk.
Cloud did a double take. He never expected the general to go out of his way to take care of him. He opened the bag to the smell of a cheeseburger and fries. He flashed a grin, and his eyes danced with adoration.
"Thanks. I'll make it up to you later." Cloud promised.
"You don't have to. But, I won't stop you." Sephiroth smiled in return, having an idea what the blond meant.
When Sephiroth left, some men were waiting for their scheduled appointments. They caught sight of a delighted Director Cloud inhaling as much as his food as he can before the appointments started.
Later that day all of Soldier were supportive of the couple as everyone talked how General Sephiroth changed. It was enough to settle their worries of having an heir of Shinra being their Director. If he managed to break the ice around the general's heart then the Soldiers felt they can give the director a chance.
It helped in their eyes that Cloud was Soldier. He claims to still be one, because apparently he was planning to step down from Director to continue his Soldier career. This news left many to wonder just what kind of Shinra heir was he?
After Cloud's first day as the new director, he earned many respect for several reasons. This was enough to put a Soldier's mind at ease, for they were reluctant to see Lazard move up.