To the Morrow, For the Past

Chapter 11 – A New Problem –

"Hey Cloud!"

Cloud sighed slowed his walking pace. An arm was thrown around his shoulders and he dropped them slightly to accommodate it. "Good morning, Zack." Cloud greeted his energetic friend. This had quickly become their usual morning routine. Cloud would get up, head towards the cafeteria and at some point between his room and the food, Zack would throw his arms around Cloud's shoulder.

While he would grumble about it, Cloud actually liked that he had a routine with this Zack. In his own time line, they'd barely known each other before Nibelheim, and after... well, Cloud hadn't been in much of a state to properly make friends.

"What are you doing today?" Could Zack be any more energetic? It just didn't suit the time of day.

"Coffee."

"Wow, you're really grumpy in the morning. Did you know that?" The arm around his shoulder disappeared as they reached the cafeteria to allow them to walk through the door.

Cloud shot a playful glare at his friend, not answering him until he had a cup of coffee in his hands. "Coffee good." He muttered, breathing in the vapours coming from the cup. Coffee didn't have much of a physical affect on him – not unless he had about five cups of the stuff in rapid succession, but it had become so much of a part of his morning routine when he'd first brought home his own Zack, that his day never started well without it.

Sometimes he missed the recipe Tifa had come up with. She called it 'Super Coffee' and it had actually given him a boost when he drank it. Of his other friends, only Vincent could stomach it – it made everyone else sick. But it had worked on him. Now he wished he'd asked her what it was made from.

He made a note to ask her when his mission was complete.

"Okay," Zack sat beside Cloud, his tray piled high with various food stuffs. "Now you've had some of your coffee, how about we talk about what we're going to do today."

"Isn't it your day off?" Cloud asked, watching in mild disgust as the man shovelled down food.

Zack shrugged, "Yeah bu-"

"Zack, don't talk with your mouth full." The words were out of Cloud's mouth before he could even think about them. He'd said those words often enough back home that they were almost automatic.

The Zack in front of him flushed slightly and swallowed his food in one gulp, looking a little bashful. "Sorry." He muttered, "But yeah, it's my day off, which means it's your day off too. And my orders are to shadow you. So even though we have days off, I think I'm supposed to still follow you around and stuff. Not sure why. It's not like you couldn't get away if you really wanted to."

That was true. Zack had admitted that Cloud was a lot stronger, faster and more technically skilled than he was, and if he really wanted to, Cloud would have no trouble over powering the younger man and leaving.

"They're paranoid." Cloud could appreciate that. He'd spent most of his life paranoid. If he had come across someone like him in his travels, he'd probably have kept tabs on them too. It was a little irritating, but it didn't get in the way of what Cloud was here to do. Yet. "Probably because I would have no problem getting away."

"I mean, I could probably just get a whole bunch o' Seconds and Thirds and just... I dunno, sit on you? Or something?"

"I've had buildings thrown at me Zack." Cloud said, "Sitting on me wont do much help."

Damn it. He'd said something he shouldn't have again. Zack was giving him that wide eyed astonished look and Cloud sighed.

"What now, Zack?" He asked, sipping more of his coffee.

"You are so cool. You know that? Who was throwing buildings at you?" Once again, Zack was vibrating in his seat. This had been the most unexpected thing in this timeline. He hadn't expected Zack to be so in awe of him. Of all the people in the world that Cloud had looked up to, Zack had seemed the most down to earth and reasonable. He wasn't sure how much that had to do with the things that happened before Nibelheim, and how much of it were his own memories being inconsistent, but he didn't remember Zack ever having been this energised.

Cloud needed more coffee. He shrugged at Zack before standing to pour himself another cup.

By the time he got back to his table, Zack was no longer alone. Sitting beside him with his own mug of steaming liquid was Sephiroth. He was reading a news paper while Zack just stared at him.

"Sir?" Cloud questioned, retaking his chair and sipping at his new drink.

Sephiroth finished what he was reading before putting the paper down. "I'm here to relieve Fair of his baby sitting duty." Sephiroth explained, "It's your day off. Go." He ordered.

Zack hesitated, looking between Sephiroth and Cloud but when Cloud just shrugged, he grinned and all but ran away.

"So you're a babysitter now?" Cloud asked, amusement dripping from his voice.

"Hardly. However the higher ups have decided that you're a risk that needs to be watched." He folded the paper up fully and dropped it on the table, turning his cats eyes to Cloud. "We're wanted in Lazard's office once you have finished your breakfast."

– – – – – –

"Ah. SOLDIER Storm." Lazard greeted Cloud and stood behind his desk. Cloud stood at attention in front of it, and Sephiroth took his usual position leaning against the wall in the corner behind Cloud.

"At ease." Lazard waved a hand at him, "I'm here to congratulate you. Given your success on the Zolom mission, it's been agreed that the rank of Third is below your abilities. Frankly, you would be wasted on anything less than First. However, policy dictates that there is a mandatory minimum time that you must spend at each level before a promotion. That bit of policy hasn't been used in a long while, but it's one we must follow. Congratulations, you have achieved Second Class."

Cloud just blinked at him. He'd only been a member of SOLDIER for a little over a month. Surely that wasn't long enough to qualify him for Second. His skill wasn't in question, but his loyalty and his motivations definitely were.

"Sir? What is the minimum time..?"

"Thirty-six days. Between Third and Second, a further sixty between Second and First." Sephiroth was the one to answer that time and he pushed off from the wall to stand beside Cloud. "I believe I was the last to advance that quickly."

Cloud was surprised. He'd believed that Sephiroth had jumped straight to first. He hadn't realized that the man had spent any time at all in the lower ranks.

"There is the issue of moral." Sephiroth spoke to Lazard this time, "If somebody is rising through the ranks too quickly, it could become a problem for those they leave behind. I believe a showcase of his talent might alleviate that."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Another sparing match." Sephiroth said lightly, "Between the two of us. If Cloud is capable of keeping up with me, then it will show the lower ranks that he has earned his promotion."

Cloud looked at Sephiroth for a moment. To anybody else, his face may have seemed expressionless, but Cloud could see the small twitches that told him what the man was hiding. He was amused, possibly excited? He wanted another match. Cloud could tell that much.

"What do you say, Storm?" Cloud turned his attention back to the Director and shrugged.

"Why not?"

– – – – – – –

His new uniform was somehow itchy. He'd never had that problem in his Third garb. He grumbled slightly as he idly scratched the scar on his chest as he double checked his equipment.

The second spar had been organised properly. There were benches set up for spectators on the field and it seemed like every SOLDIER not on a mission were there. Many of them had their PHS's out, probably to take videos or photographs. Cloud hated being the centre of such attention and really wished he could have worn the helmet that came with his new uniform.

Sephiroth was waiting for him, already stood in the centre of the field when Cloud approached. Zack walked along side Cloud, grinning like a mad man. "You look grumpy, cheer up! You made Second!"

"Isn't it your day off?" Cloud mumbled, fiddling with his uniform again. "Are all Second uniforms this itchy?" It felt like the shirt had been soaked in mako or something. His skin was burning.

Zack gave him a weird look. "No. Mine aren't. You're just nervous. Who wouldn't be, going up against Sephiroth?"

Cloud shook his head and tried to ignore the itching. It was getting harder to do by the second. By the time he reached Sephiroth, he was sure there was something wrong. He stepped close, speaking quietly enough that he was sure only Sephiroth would hear him.

"There's something wrong with my shirt." His voice was grave, letting Sephiroth know that this was important, "I'm itching as bad as I was in the Zolom nest."

Sephiroth's mouth tightened and he nodded, showing Cloud that he'd heard and understood. Cloud resisted the urge to squirm as he wracked his brain, trying to figure out what to do next. He saw Sephiroth's nostrils flair and his eyes narrow.

"You smell like mako." He said and Cloud took a deep breath. It was subtle, but Sephiroth was right. His uniform did smell like mako.

"Do you think it was deliberate?" Cloud asked as they stepped into position. He drew his sword and held it in front of his face, waiting for Sephiroth's reply. They were close enough to each other to converse quietly without anybody overhearing them, but only if they were careful.

"Probably."

There was a whistle from somewhere behind him and the match had officially begun. Cloud tried to push the burning of his torso from his mind and concentrate on the fight, but it wasn't an easy task.

He rushed at Sephiroth, knowing that the man would easily block his sword, "Lets get this over with quickly," He said before pushing off and jumping back. He readied himself as Sephiroth came at him, planting his feet and blocking Masamune with ease.

"It has to look good." Sephiroth's reply came before Cloud pushed him away. With a nod, he jumped, once again taking the fight vertical.

Cloud battled Sephiroth mostly on autopilot, the burning itch in his chest intensifying with every move until he felt like he was blistering and bleeding every time his shirt came into contact with his skin. The fight seemed to drag on forever, but Cloud knew that it had only been a few minutes when it had all become too much for him. He didn't block a blow on time and found himself plummeting to the ground.

Instead of turning and getting his feet under him like he normally would, he let himself drop, landing in a heap on the ground. The pain of the landing didn't even register to him. All he wanted to do was get out of his uniform and soothe his skin.

Sephiroth landed beside him and knelt down. "Its bad?" He asked and when Cloud nodded he stood again and walked away, calling an end to the match.

Within moments, Zack was by Cloud's side, taking an arm to help him up. "Sephiroth said you needed help." Concern made Zack speak faster and Cloud barely understood him. He nodded and allowed Zack to help him up. "He said not to touch you where your uniform sits?"

Cloud nodded "I need somewhere with running water." He told Zack, eyes scanning the area. Most of the crowd had followed Sephiroth but a handful of people remained. Including the one man that Cloud had never wanted to see again.

Sat in the middle of the back row was Hojo, his ever present smirk aimed at Cloud. "Lets get out of here." Cloud muttered, grateful for Zack's help. He didn't want to think about Hojo right now.

– – – – –

Zack had helped Cloud get to the nearby barracks where they had communal showers. Cloud quickly stripped all his clothing and stepped under a cold spray of water. Almost instantly he felt a lot better.

Zack was fiddling with his phone and politely not looking at Cloud, who didn't actually care that he was naked. Given everything he'd been through, nudity was no longer embarrassing.

"I let Sephiroth know where we are." Zack finally lifted his eyes, carefully looking only at Cloud's face. "He's on his way."

Cloud nodded and concentrated on the cold water. "See if anybody left some soap around." He ordered, "There was definitely mako on that shirt." He could feel it stick to his skin. He didn't understand how he'd had a much stronger reaction to what had to have been a small amount of mako on his shirt than he'd had when he fell into the pool.

A bar of soap was thrust towards him and Cloud took it with a grateful nod, quickly scrubbing at his skin.

"Cloud." Sephiroth's voice came from the entrance of the showers and Cloud could hear his footsteps getting closer. A towel was handed to him and he shut down the water flow, wrapping himself in the warm fluffy towel.

Sephiroth regarded him for a moment, then looked at the uniform that had been thrown on the floor. He picked up the shirt and held it to his nose for a moment. "I don't understand." The shirt was dropped to the floor again, "I've seen you sit in a mako pool and be fine. How could there be enough on your shirt to give you such a reaction?"

"You sat in a mako pool!?"

Both Cloud and Sephiroth ignored Zack for a moment, Sephiroth still looking at Cloud's uniform and Cloud using the towel to dry off. His skin was feeling a lot better now.

"I don't know. But I think I know who was behind it." He retrieved his uniform trousers and sniffed them. They seemed to be clean, and his legs hadn't itched at all. He pulled them on and slung the towel over his shoulder, glad his mako enhancements stopped him from feeling too cold. "I saw Hojo in the stands. He was watching me."

Sephiroth's spine stiffened slightly and his mouth tightened. "I see." He gathered up Cloud's shirt and belts and swiftly left the room.

"You... sat... in a mako pool?" Zack repeated, looking at Cloud like he had two heads.

Cloud shrugged, "I was pushed. Come on. Before someone sees us here and sparks rumours." He followed Sephiroth out of the building to find him standing nearby, casually lighting Cloud's shirt on fire. Cloud could see other people nearby and winced as he caught the bright light of a flash. "Never mind. Looks like we'll get them anyway." He stepped towards Sephiroth, "Sephiroth. You're attracting onlookers."

"Hmm." With a final flick of his wrist, Sephiroth sent a last fireball at the shirt.

"I think it's dead." Cloud muttered. "C'mon." He grabbed Sephiroth's elbow with one hand and Zack's with the other, glad to see that Zack had gathered up Cloud's armour and his sword. "Lets get out of here."

– – – – –

Cloud had known that it wouldn't take too long for Hojo to come after him. Even with his agreement with Tseng, it was only a matter of time. Cloud was unique and brought in to question a lot of what Hojo believed he knew. From his perspective, Cloud would seem like an easier and cheaper way of making more SOLDIER. He was just as fast, strong and agile as Sephiroth but hadn't had to be SOLDIER for it to happen.

Hojo didn't know that Cloud had both S-Cells and J-Cells. He didn't know that Cloud had been classed as a failed experiment. Hojo didn't know that he'd tried to make Cloud into a Sephiroth clone.

To him, Cloud was an enigma, one that he dearly wanted to get a hold of.

"If he comes near me," Cloud said the minute they made it into Sephiroth's office. "I will kill him." It was said as a matter of fact. He didn't want to explain why, but Sephiroth didn't seem to need to ask. Zack, for once, was staying quiet.

The man wasn't an idiot. He knew how to read a room and how to be serious when needed. He just preferred to be happy go lucky so often that people tended to forget about that.

"You think he was the one that poisoned your shirt?" Zack asked. They'd stopped by his quarters along the way to pick up one of his spare shirts that Cloud now wore. It was a little big on him, but it didn't itch. His chest was still raw to the touch, but Cloud could ignore that for now.

He nodded, "Yeah. Part of the conditions I gave the Turks when they recruited me was that I would never be near him." It was pretty much the only condition he'd had. "And I warned them that I would hurt him if he came close."

"That's probably the only reason you haven't been taken by him." Sephiroth admitted. "At this point, nobody really knows your true skill. He's not stupid enough to go up against some unknown without testing first." He leaned over his desk and let out a growl. "That's why he poisoned your shirt. It was a test."

"That would make sense." Cloud sat down in front of the desk, putting his sword down beside him. "I just want to know why I reacted so strongly. It seems a bit much for a first test." But then again, Hojo didn't have regular contact with Cloud, so he would have to do as much as he could with as little as he could.

"What if it wasn't the first." Zack moved to lean against the desk, his arms crossed over his chest and a small frown on his face. "I mean, you said you fell into a mako pool and it wasn't as bad? What if he's done other tests but you just didn't notice it?"

"Like what?"

"Well, apparently yesterday half the men on the Third floor fell sick." Zack told him, "They'd had a mako overdose and it was traced to the coffee in the cafeteria. The Turks are apparently investigating how it got there."

"Shit." Cloud sunk down in his chair and let his head fall back. "Should've stayed in Edge." He muttered to himself, even knowing that it hadn't actually been an option.

"We should get proof." Zack said, "That it was Hojo."

"It wouldn't matter." Cloud muttered. "Shinra will turn a blind eye. Or I'd just disappear." He leaned forward in his seat. "I... know of people that disappeared because of him." He said quietly.

"Is that why you're using an alias?" Cloud straightened up at Sephiroth's question and regarded him cautiously. "I ran a background check." The general explained, "I found nothing. Either you're using an alias, or you don't exist in our system."

"Alias." Cloud confirmed and Sephiroth nodded.

"Man this is messed up." Zack threw himself into the other chair and looked between Sephiroth and Zack. "What do we do now?"

"Nothing." Cloud said earning surprised looks from both of the men in the room. "If we do anything now, we tip him off to the fact that we know, and he'll get less subtle. If he's doing things this way, it means that he doesn't want to take me in if he can get the data he needs otherwise."

"Then what do you suggest?" Sephiroth finally sat in his own seat behind the desk. His elbows rested against it and his hands clasped in front of his face.

"Caution." Cloud said with a shrug. "At this point, it's unlikely that he'll do anything that could seriously harm me. He wants data and I'll give him less information if I'm dead. He'll watch me, try to get a baseline for my abilities and then he'll try to change something and see what that does."

"You want to just let him?" Zack's voice was grave and he was looking distinctly uncomfortable about the idea.

"Pretty much. I've been through worse." He could handle Hojo's little games. And if he couldn't, well then he'd just have to kill the man. It was probably better if he didn't involve the other two in that though. Leaving Shinra wasn't exactly a big thing to him. But Zack and Sephiroth? It would be a big deal for them.

"It is fortunate," Sephiroth said, a small smirk playing on his lips, "That we have been given orders to shadow you."

"That's right! We can look out for you! We have your back. If you start acting all weird or get sick, we can help you and then we can go and kick some scientists ass!"

Cloud couldn't help but chuckle. It was good to see Zack's enthusiasm back.

- – – – – –