There was little to prepare him for being sent into the field to help destroy Sector 7 plate. He had warned Roche to spread the word, but something must have happened.

Still the news must have reached Avalanche somehow since they're taking a stand. As Cloud circled around dropping off Public Security round after round, he saw no sign of Roche or Aerith. He hoped it stayed that way.

He had more concerns to think of. Mainly how chaotic this fight was escalating very quickly. Cloud was doing his best to dodge missiles and bullets. All this movement was making him sick. Cloud wasn't used to being the pilot.

"You all right, babe?" Reno asked through the intercom.

"Just peachy." Cloud spoke with slight venom in his voice. Why the redhead was being so persistent was beyond him.

"Your motion sickness not being a problem?"

"Course not." Even though he was resisting the urge to vomit right then and there.

"Inform Tseng if it gets too much, okay?"

"I'm not a child, Reno. I can handle this." Cloud frowned.

"Not saying you are. But things are about to get ugly, babe."

"I can already see for myself." All he had to do was look out the window.

Several more rounds later of dropping off Public Security members, Cloud ran out of his luck. A missile hit his tail and he began spinning.

"Tseng!" He cried out, knowing that his boss will arrive soon.

"Status report."

"Going down!" He panicked, and suddenly he crashed.

Cloud undid his belt as the helicopter rolled. When it stopped he pushed his way through the cockpit window and crawled out. He had just touched the ground when the helicopter exploded. Even on the ground he still felt a few burns on his body, but nothing too major.

Slowly he got up and stumbled his way into the nearest building. Cloud didn't get a good look at the sign, but it read Seventh Heaven. Soon as he was inside he collapsed against a wall. Cloud heard soft crying, but darkness overtakes him.

"Cloud? Hello? Cloud! Wake up!" A soft voice demanded.

He awoke with a jolt. Cloud opens his eyes to the sight of Aerith kneeling before him.

"What? What are you doing here?" His voice was hoarse.

"I should be asking you that! If they find you here, they will know you're behind Avalanche." She frowns with a stern expression.

"Where's Roche?" He asked.

"He's helping Tifa and Barret fight them off."

Cloud blinked at the name.

"Tifa is alive?" He didn't think anyone survived Nibelheim.

"You know her?" She seemed a little jealous. "Know what, it's not important. I've healed you as much as I can. How about you go help Wedge guide people to safety? I got something to do here." Aerith was certainly being demanding.

"... Okay. Who's Wedge?" Cloud knew better than to argue her. He stood on shaking legs.

"Avalanche. He's got a red bandana on his head. Now go!" She ushers him out the door and closed the doors behind him.

Cloud couldn't help but watch the flames of his old helicopter. He had read the reports of everything in Nibelheim burned down. Was it anything like this? Cloud shook his head, pushing out any weird thoughts to focus on the task given to him.

Took him a while to get through the maze of the streets. But it didn't take him long to find the man. He stood out like a sore thumb with his red bandana and white shirt.

"You Wedge?" Damn his voice was still raspy.

"Who are you? Huh? A suit?" Wedge frowns.

"More like a drowned rat. Anyway. Aerith sent me to help."

"Okay! Any friend of Aerith's is a friend of mine!" Really? That was all it took?

Perhaps Cloud had miscalculated how effective Avalanche really was. Too late now. He helped Wedge guide the town's people to the routes for safety. Then, without warning the plate was falling.

Wedge was having trouble gathering his cats, and in the panic the animals didn't trust Cloud. So the pair were struggling to get moving on when suddenly the upper plate was crashing down closer towards them.

The last thing Cloud remembered was that the ground underneath his feet crumbled and then he was falling.

xXx

"Who the hell is this?" Barret points at the unconscious suit.

"He's a Turk." Roche shrugs. "And he's our inside contact."

"Hold up! You mean this is our mole? But why a Turk?" The one armed gunman was beside himself.

"Cloud?" Tifa recognized him. She had looked up from checking Wedge's wounds to see who the other two were talking about.

"You know him Tifa?"

"We're from the same village. I didn't hear from him, so I thought he died with his mother. I didn't know he became a Turk." She made her way to the blonde and checked him over. "He seems all right."

"Roche, you carry him. I got Wedge." Barret said as he gathered the other big man over his shoulder.

"What will we do with him?" Tifa asked.

"Well, we ain't gonna leave him down here in this dump. And we can see if he can get us top side."

"And if he can't?" Tifa seemed worried.

"Then he'll be our ticket."

"You mean... A hostage? You don't understand, he's a Turk. They won't take such situations lightly even if you think you got the upper hand." Roche stops, watching them warily.

"Man, you're backing out ain't you?" Barret saw right through him. "I knew your heart wasn't into this."

And just like that Roche began to wonder if this secret lab will become his grave. His and Cloud's. He tightened his grip on the smaller blonde. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

"Barret, just let them go. They've dug too deeply with us." Tifa reasoned. "I don't want to see either of them hurt."

"... Fine. Only cause Tifa said so. You can be on your way. We'll find our own way up."

So the group separated their own paths. Roche didn't know where to go with Cloud unconscious on his back. But he figured he had to get away from Avalanche as far as possible. Roche ended up at Wall Market when he found himself surrounded.

"Knew you Turks would sniff me out." Roche sighs.

"Hand him over, before things get ugly." Reno glares daggers.

"Come take him from me. I got no problem with you lot." His hands were kinda busy keeping Cloud balanced.

Reno and Rude moved closer cautiously. The redhead pulls Cloud off and held him bridal style. Reno slowly backs away with Rude being his guardian.

"He's still alive, boss."

"Good. The rest of you, dispose of the loose end. Reno, follow me." Tseng turns tail and leaves.