Beautiful Lie
Inner Conflict

It's a beautiful lie;
It's a perfect denial;
Such a beautiful lie to believe in;
So beautiful, beautiful lie makes me—

Beautiful Lie by 30 Seconds to Mars

Cloud sat down on his bed heavily and gently pressed the heel of his palm against his eyes in an attempt to stop the headache that had begun building. Zack's reaction downstairs, while not unexpected, definitely could've gone a bit better. The fact that Zack had attacked him wasn't really the problem; it was that Zack had attacked while Barret was present. The big man did hire him and just as he hired him he could dismiss him as well.

Being dismissed was something he couldn't afford; Shinra wanted him to infiltrate AVALANCHE and Cloud would be damned if he failed. To him failure was not an option—in fact that word was the least used out of all of his vocabulary; he wanted it to stay that way.

As was however the blonde couldn't do damage control beyond what he had done so far and he really didn't like that.

Tifa stood just outside the door to the room she had assigned to Cloud hesitantly. She wanted to talk to him, to confirm things for herself even though Zack's reaction was confirmation enough. She wanted answers too; she wanted to know why Zack would tell her Cloud was dead.

Then again she also wasn't sure if she'd like the answers she'd get. It was obvious that the whole ordeal still affected Cloud though Tifa could tell he didn't think so.

She bit her lip; would it make things worse to talk to Cloud? Or would it make things better to speak with him?

Tifa started to raise her hand and then paused as a sudden thought crossed her mind.

Did Cloud even remember her?

"Hey Biggs," Zack called as he headed over to the corner the four other members of AVALANCHE had claimed, "can ya do something for me?"

Biggs nodded to Zack and said, "Sure. What do you need?"

"I need a background check on Cloud Strife," Zack told him seriously. His mako eyes became more prominent as he spoke. "I want to know where he's been and who he's been working for."

"You don't trust him?" Jessie asked with a puzzled expression. Zack nodded and Jessie continued, "You obviously know him so why don't you trust him?"

Zack hesitated slightly before biting out, "No, I don't know him. Not anymore." He turned his attention back on Biggs. "You'll get what I need, right?" he asked and Biggs gave him a nod.

"Consider it done," he replied standing. "Computer's in the same room?" he asked after a second and Zack nodded. "Right; I'll be back in a few minutes." Biggs darted around Zack and to the hidden elevator.

"Should I get rid of him?" Barret asked Zack as the man sat himself down where Biggs was.

"If his story checks he can stay," Zack replied, "but I'll be keeping an eye on him still." Barret gave a nod of acceptance and Zack changed the topic back to AVALANCHE business. "We've already trashed a few of Shinra's computers to reactor's six and three; I was thinking of going after reactor seven next to deter Shinra from realizing we're located here…."

Tifa had stayed in front of Cloud's door for five minutes before deciding to just head back downstairs; she figured Cloud would need space and she needed to think on everything herself. She had to be there just to make sure the group won't make a stupid decision, and knowing Zack they just might.

Maybe things were better this way anyway; for all she knew Cloud didn't even remember.

Yes, she decided, maybe it was better to leave the past alone; after all that was what Cloud said he did, right?

Finally having gotten rid of his headache Cloud fully relaxed against the mattress; it was a bit softer then the one in his room back at the Headquarters and he rather liked the change. He gazed at the ceiling though he didn't really see it; right now he was lost in his thoughts both trying to puzzle out how to continue without letting his past emotions interfere and attempting not to think about the past in general.

It wasn't really working, not that he could blame himself; the fantasies of Tifa being alive and Zack still his friend kept swimming back. His hopes, the little dreams he discarded as futile, now wouldn't leave him be.

It was the ringing of his cell phone that eventually dragged him away from the impossible dreams and back to reality.

Mako eyes hardened as he slid off the bed, snatched the phone, and disappeared out the window.

He had a job; nothing else mattered.

"Someone was looking into your background; I thought you should know. They won't find anything except what we want them to so don't worry."

Biggs returned to the group with several sheets of paper print outs in hand. He gave them to Zack wordlessly as he said, "Cloud Strife; age, twenty three; occupation, mercenary—formerly a member of Shinra's military guard; he defected at the age of seventeen. Almost a year later he began to make a name for himself as the only mercenary who would take jobs that made even the Turks flinch in disgust.

For two years he took jobs off and on from Shinra. During those years he allowed himself to be subjected to various tests, most of which included injecting him with mako; Shinra quit hiring him on the two year mark when he took a job that killed General Sephiroth of SOLDIER. He pretty much dropped of the charts after that considering Shinra put a bounty on his head. Two years later Shinra rescinded the bounty believing him to be dead.

Just this last year he started reappearing; for a while he stayed in Costa del Sol and then in North Corel. The last place he was seen was Kalm," Biggs finished. "All the details are on those papers, including what I could get on the tests he was subjected to and every job he took; he hasn't failed a single one Zack."

Zack flipped through the sheets, skimming over most of it but what he did see confirmed what Cloud had told him.

With an irritated sigh Zack tossed the papers down onto the table as he said, "He checks out; the bastard can stay," reluctantly just as Tifa descended the stairs.

"Cloud's staying?" she asked, surprised.

"His story checks out," Zack repeated. "He can stay; I'll still be keeping an eye on him though." The dark haired ex-SOLDIER looked at Tifa out of the corner of his eye as he asked, "Did you talk to him?" Tifa shook her head slightly and moved to sit down with the rest of them. "Why not?"

"You don't need to know why," Tifa told Zack calmly although her voice had a steely edge to it. "I'll tell him he's staying in the morning," she added before turning the topic to AVALANCHE. "So what did you guys decide on?"

Zack launched into an explanation of the plan, pushing away all thoughts on Cloud Strife from the past to Cloud Strife of the present. Right now AVALANCHE was all that mattered.

End chapter.

I know this chapter is short and probably holds more explanations than I'd like but it isn't gnawing at me to rewrite the majority of it like the last three had. Now there are a few things I do want to address that are in this chapter; mostly so that I don't get tons of reviews saying 'Cloud's not twenty-three!' or something along those lines.

The 'timeframe' this AU is in is two years after 7 would have ended if this weren't an AU. Basically it takes place during the timeframe of Advent Children. Since Cloud was twenty-one in 7 and since this is two years after when 7 would have taken place he's twenty-three. For those of you who have played Crisis Core or have researched about the game's storyline then you probably know that Zack and Cloud were captured for four years.

Since that capture never took place and since Sephiroth wasn't tossed into a river of mako Cloud deserted Shinra at the age of seventeen since he's twenty-one in 7 and this took place four years before 7.

That's all of the technical issues with the ages I tossed out and I sincerely hope I won't be getting any reviews pestering me about Cloud's age. This is an AU.

That said and done I would like to, once again, thank FinalFantasyFan. That last review made me really happy and I totally agree with you on the fact that sometimes a single sentence can convey much more than an extremely long paragraph. I look forward to what you have to say for this chapter.

Once again I wish to apologize for the length of the chapter; it is rather short however I couldn't find other things to add on for this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be longer and actually begin progressing the story further. I think I spent a bit too long on just this situation alone.

Can't wait for the reviews; I really like hearing everyone's thoughts!

TK
Twin Kats