At first Cloud didn't believe he was alive. He laid where he was, too comfortable to move. His eyes were too heavy to open. Then he began to hear voices.

"There's little time left with Avalanche making their move."

Was that Tseng's voice?

"Let him rest. He's been through a lot."

Huh? Was that the vice president?

Confusion and curiosity won him over. Cloud slowly opened his eyes. He was in an office. This didn't look like Tseng's, so was this the vice president's office? Why was he here? He groans softly and tried to sit up. The movement caught their attention, and someone who was at his side stirred.

"Don't push yourself, babe." Reno insisted that he lay down. Cloud didn't fight him.

"I'm alive?" His voice was still hoarse.

"By some miracle. Which is a good thing, because I would hate to lose you." Rufus says. Cloud glanced over at him with a mix of surprise and confusion.

"Why?" He didn't make that much of a difference here.

"Ever wondered why you didn't have a father?"

"Why is that important?" Now he was getting upset. It was one of the few things Cloud was bitter towards his mother. That she never told him. It didn't matter to him now.

"Cloud, it's everything. Tseng, show him."

"Show me what?" A phone was being passed to his hand. And he jolted at the sight of a video, and the video was his mother.

"M-Ma?" His Nibelheim accent came through.

"This was taken five years ago, just before the incident." Tseng informs.

Cloud pressed play.

By the end of it all his head was reeling. He had no idea what to think of all the information being thrown at him. It was difficult to fully process. He was the president's son? And Rufus was his brother?

"Wait, she said wait until Rufus is president to tell me. You're still vice president, right?" He hoped he didn't miss out on a whole lot.

"Yes, I still am. But tonight, I get the feeling something big will happen. So I thought to inform you beforehand."

"Why is that?"

"Because if the outcome is that I do become the next president, then I want you at my side as a Turk. I've known for a while now you were behind Avalanche's advances. You have the makings of a great advisory and leader. That is, if you wish to take me up on my offer. If not, you are free to do as you please. Except for killing me."

"Why would I kill you? I just wanted the company to pay for everything."

"I understand completely. It's not just you who lost someone. I spent years of my life thinking she was dead. Until I met you. Then I began to question everything. And I was simply gaging how far you were attempting to go with your Avalanche plans."

"... If that's the case, then what will make you any different as president?"

"I have a lot of plans to change ShinRa for a brighter future. You know secrets even I don't, so together we can possibly uproot some of the higher ups. Does this mean you will take me up on my offer?"

"You mean... Change from the inside out? Does this include Hojo? He's the root of all of this, the root of Sephiroth." Cloud had hoped the scientist would be caught in the crossfire.

"If you so wish. I will admit, I rather don't like his eccentric behavior, anyhow."

"Then I'm in."

xXx

Due to Cloud's injuries he couldn't be present when Rufus addressed the other members of the council as the new president. A part of him had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact it was Sephiroth who killed the old man, but there was no denying the security footage.

When Darkstar limped his way into the office he laid down by Cloud. The blonde gave him head scratches. The hound leans into his touch. At the desk and other couch Cloud could faintly hear Reno and Rude working through paperwork.

Cloud glanced at the pair curiously.

"So did you two know of that little secret?" He inquired.

"Hm? No. This is much of a shock to us as it is to you." Rude never looked up from his paperwork.

"To be honest, babe? I knew there was a reason why I liked you."

"Liked? So then you don't anymore?"

"What you did hurt, yo."

"I did that to keep you out of the crossfire, idiot." Cloud scowled.

"Oh." Reno felt like an idiot. But nonetheless it still hurt what the blonde did. On top of that now that he knew the little family secret, Cloud was now a little intimidating.

Silence fell over the office. It was awkward for everyone involved. Cloud wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Sensing his distress, Darkstar leaned fully into his hand for more attention. Cloud absent mindedly pets him.

"Maybe once things calmed down. I mean. I still can't wrap my head that you're behind Avalanche." Reno had the suspicions, but to actually be proven that it was true was a different story.

"Grief can make people do crazy shit." Cloud admits.

"You take it to the extreme, babe."

"It was either that or I die." The blonde shrugs.

"Damn, babe." Reno muttered under his breath.

Silence fell once again. And this time Cloud didn't fight as sleep claimed him. He had uneasy dreams about fire and buildings burning. He dreamt of Sephiroth in the center of flames. It was as if Cloud had been there himself. It was unsettling because the dreams were so clear.

When he next awoke it was morning, he couldn't help but wonder about the dreams. On the screen of the computer on the desk, Rufus was already in the news as the new shining president of Midgar. Since Tseng was in the chair this was already a prerecorded.

"Ready to be put to work?" Tseng greeted upon noticing he was awake.

"Sure. What am I doing this time?" Cloud yawned.

"Finding all the dirt you can about Heidegger, Scarlet and Hojo. If we play our cards right, then we will swiftly fire and arrest them all at once."

"I might have to go back to my roots as a Honey if you want the juicy details." Cloud stood up. He stretched out his sore shoulder.

"You have full permission to do whatever it takes to take them out."

"Wait. Does their offices have cameras?" Cloud recalled that privacy was never an option in the building.

"Good. The better to have any evidence, the better."