A/N: I know, starting something new while endless projects are begging for my attention. I'm horrible. I just need to scratch this itch enough to continue the others.

Bonus points to those who figure out what two songs the title is based off of. Part of it should be obvious.

"You doing okay?" Zack asked, tilting his head as he brought the blond recruit out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." Cloud blinked, suddenly realizing that class was over.

"You sure? You looked like you weren't mentally here all of class." Zack crossed his arms.

"I said I'm fine." He said firmly, almost glaring. In truth he could never glare at Zack. But this was the closest he could be irritated at him.

"I'm just concerned, all right? I let this continue for a while now, but this is getting out of hand. I can tell when you're focused. And you haven't been focused."

"I said. I'm fine." This time Cloud frowned.

What was he supposed to explain? That everything was familiar? That he was going crazy that he's lived through all of this before? Over and over to the point he lived in an endless loop, an infinite sense of deja vu?

Yeah, that will land him to be observed for mental shit real quick.

"Easy, man." Zack raised his hands. "I just wanted to know if something was going on that needed my help."

"Everything is fine." Cloud wanted to get away. As much as he loved his dear friend, his only friend, this was getting too personal.

His PHS beeped. His schedule for guard duty.

"Excuse me. If I'm late I'm referring to you on the reason why." Cloud turned and walked away, leaving behind a distraught Zack.

As he left, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Cloud felt his breath hitch. Slowly he turned his head to his left. It took everything in him not to panic.

There, General Sephiroth had observed the whole exchange.

His eyes were curious. And yet images of them glowing with malice and madness came to mind. Those images made Cloud's heart constrict almost painfully.

He could almost feel the heat of the flames. The smell of blood in the air over the haze of smoke. The screams of pain and terror dying, leaving behind the sound of fire as it consumed everything in its path.

The elevator opened. And it was incentive enough for Cloud to bolt inside. He quickly pushed the button to close the doors faster. When they finally closed he finally breathed.

He raised a hand to his chest. Cloud began to feel dizzy. He leaned against the wall as he felt the familiar motion sickness not helping matters.

Cloud vaguely heard the door open. He was at his floor already? He tried to glance up. Only his vision blurred even more. He spotted well dressed black shoes before he collapsed. The pain had become too much and the lack of oxygen made his body shut down.

He barely registered a pair of hands capture his fall.

"Recruit?" Tseng tried to rouse him. After getting no response he felt for a pulse. He found it weak.

"Damn." He repositioned them so he could reach for his phone. He began to make a call to the medical ward.

"What seems to be the problem?" A nurse answered.

"I have a recruit collapsed in the elevator. Making our way to your floor at the current moment." The Turk informed as he pushed the designated floor.

"All right, can you give me details?"

"I am unsure on his name. I happened to enter the elevator at the right time just as he collapsed. His pulse is weak and he's unresponsive."

"This sounds stress related. We get these cases sometimes. Is he at least breathing?"

Tseng checked. "Yes, he is."

"Any signs of fever?"

"No. He might have just left class, though." Tseng noted the thin layer of sweat.

"Is there any head injury we should worry about?"

"I don't believe so. I caught him before he fell to the floor." He glanced down as the recruit began whimpering in his sleep.

"I believe he's experiencing a nightmare." Tseng speculated.

"Noted, he might be prone to panic attacks soon as he wakes up."

"I'm almost to your floor." He said before he hung up. Tseng then proceeded to carry the recruit in his arms, surprised he barely weighed anything at all.

"Sephiroth..." The boy whispered so softly.

Tseng blinked. What was the meaning of this? The doors opened and he entered the infirmary.

"Oh, dear. It's Strife." The nurse sighed at the sight of them.

"Is he prone to collapse often?" Tseng raised an eyebrow. Such a risk shouldn't be staying in the recruit program.

"No. He has nightmares. Comes around often to get help. The best we can do is give him something to help him sleep but not strong enough he can't wake up in time for classes." The nurse elaborated.

"Come this way. We have a room prepared for him." Another nurse lead the way.

Tseng followed. As he placed the recruit gently onto the bed, he checked the time. He had a few minutes to stick around. And because of his status he wouldn't immediately be turned away as the doctor came in to check him over.

"Seems like a mild heart attack. Keep him on heart monitor. Maybe we should give him some fluids, see if that should regulate his heart." The doctor said after some minutes.

"Isn't he young for a heart attack?" Tseng wondered. The recruit barely looked fresh out of his teens.

"It's most likely stress related. Due to his recent history coming in for his nightmares, there might be a bigger issue at hand. But he refused to give details what his nightmares are."

"...Would you mind keeping me updated on his condition?" Tseng couldn't ignore his gut instincts. Something was going on. And as a Turk it was against his nature not to turn this down this offer that literally collapsed into his arms.

"Of course. If you can get into the bottom of this, by all means. I haven't been able to crack him in the six months he's been coming for help."

"May I have his full name?" Tseng wanted to pull his file later.

"Cloud Strife."

Interesting. Tseng wouldn't forget it. He left silently with the name turning in his head. As he entered the elevator his phone rang. With a sigh he answered.

"I hope there's a good reason you're late." Rufus, although infuriated, didn't have the usual bite as he spoke.

"My apologies. A recruit collapsed in the elevator on my way to you. I took it upon myself to handle the situation. I am on my way now."

"Was it anything serious?" What's this? Rufus Shinra actually caring?

"The doctor claims a mild heart attack brought by stress." Tseng made a mental note to mark his calender.

"From whose department? Maybe a word should be brought to whoever he's under." Which meant either Lazard or Heidegger.

If Heidegger then it could be easy enough to imagine. Lazard is known to take very good care of his men. Heidegger, not so much. Everyone knew this. But those who don't make the cut into the soldier program are handed over to Public Security.

"I will have to look into that later." Tseng was itching to look into the file.

"Oh, well. I'll leave it to you on that then. Until then, we need to go over these plans my dearest father wants to proceed with." Rufus sighed.

Later that evening, Tseng finally had the time to himself. He sat down at his desk and brought up the file.

"He's under Lazard?" This was surprising.

A recruit with an attitude problem to most superiors, and yet held promise. Even caught the eye of one Zack Fair, who is one of the boy's teachers. Strangely Zack held no complaints towards Strife. Yet the other sergeants reported he talked back, held no respect to their rank or even tried to make friends among others.

Tseng looked deeper into the file. It said he was somehow a natural with materia. And while his strategies were unconventional, he still passed those classes. He was still marked with the inability to work well with others, preferring to be alone.

And looking into the mission records, Strife only had a few. One of them was with Zack. Nowhere on record has shown that Strife ever crossed paths with Sephiroth. Although it wouldn't surprise him if it was in passing, considering Zack is now viewed as a close friend to the general.

But nothing to warrant that whimper Tseng heard.

He even looked into Strife's background information. Born and raised in Nibelheim. Sephiroth never set foot in that village. Hardly any missions lead that way, unless to Rocket Town. Even those were few and far in between.

A curiosity indeed.

The next morning Tseng decided to visit. He had time before a meeting. He entered the infirmary, and the nurses didn't argue when he explained he came to visit Strife. Tseng entered the room to see the boy sitting up, refusing to touch breakfast.

"What's a Turk doing here?" Strife tensed.

Well now, things just got a little more interesting.

"You know who I am?" Tseng raised an eyebrow.

"...Zack described you to a T. Did you know he calls you Mr. Stiff?"

Something seemed off with his explanation. He was telling the truth, but it felt like he used it as a cover up.

"I am aware now." Tseng will have to bring this up with Zack later. "Anyway, I was the one who brought you here. I came to check on you."

"You did? Oh. I'm sorry. They didn't tell me who brought me." The boy eased up, suddenly feeling horrible.

"Would you care to explain what happened before the elevator?" Tseng inquired, gentler this time.

"Class just ended. I remember Zack asking if I was all right. Said I spaced out all of class. I said I was fine. When he pushed the issue, I wasn't very nice. I didn't tell him off or anything, but I don't want to admit to him about the nightmares."

"I see. And is that all?" Tseng wondered.

"Yes. I turned and left, I was supposed to report for guard duty at a warehouse. But I guess the stress from lack of sleep caught up to me."

Now there was a lie here. Tseng picked it up. It was the way he his voice sounded rehearsed. His explanation not so detailed. And he made an assumption that could very well be a good enough reason to why he collapsed. The doctor did mention this has been a problem going on for six months.

Something had to have triggered the heart attack.

"I see. If you ever think of a career change, here is my contact information." Tseng handed his card over.

"...What?" The boy openly stared.

"I looked into your file. I'm curious of your strategies. Who knows, the Turks might not be so strenuous on your body." Tseng couldn't help but smirk.

Those blue eyes studied the card as if it were a snake. The reaction made Tseng almost tilt his head. That behavior usually reserved in a Soldier well into his career with a bad view against the Turks. Being under Zack's care the boy had a higher chance of not being so close minded.

"...Thanks. But no thanks." The boy turned it down.

"I'll leave it here in case you ever change your mind. Or if you ever need someone to talk to. I keep everything confidential." Tseng assured as he placed the card down. He made sure to place it away from the untouched food.

He felt those eyes watch him warily as he left. The next day Tseng got a frantic call by Zack.

"Calm down, what's happening?" Tseng tried to put a stop to the string of words that made no sense.

"It's Cloud! One of my recruits! He disappeared!"

"Curious, he was at the infirmary? Recovering from a mild heart attack." He tilted his head.

"He's gone! I went in there to check on him and he's not there! No one can explain when he left! He even left his PHS!"

Odd. Tseng decided to make time to look deeper into this.