I must confess I really like this universe. And Cloud'll actually speak this part. He's a little angsty at the moment, but he's got some issues to work through. He'll get over the emo-crap soon enough because I can't write angst for shit. It's the only downside to being British.

Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You)

Leon was awoken from an uneasy sleep filled with vague images of eerie blue eyes by the sound of voices. Blinking to clear the last few thoughts of glowing eyes, Leon immediately frowned at the temperature in his room. It was absolutely freezing. The condensation on the inside of the window had crystallised and his breath from small clouds of dissipating warmth. Leon threw off the sheets and began to hunt for some clothes, finally pulling on his fur-trimmed leather jacket as a last resort when the chill refused to lift from his skin. Still shivering, Leon left his room and headed in the direction of the voices. He paused at the top of the stairs to glance at the door that stood ajar to his right. He couldn't see the blond from the bar from this angle, but somehow he knew that the other man was still within that room.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Leon paused as the conversation from downstairs drifted up at the sound of heavy footsteps before a door opened below him.

"What the fuck happened to the kid?"

"I don't know, Cid. I haven't had the chance to ask him. He's still sleeping."

"Sleeping? I don't know if you're trying to put a positive slant on things or if you just haven't bothered getting close enough for a good look. Whatever Spikey's doing up there; it ain't sleeping. If it was, he'd had woken up when Yuffie went in to visit him."

"Maybe he was tired, Cid."

"And maybe he's all but fucking comatose. He was half-dead when he dragged himself in here."

At the top of the stairs, Leon paused. He had little desire to descend and interrupt the tense conversation between Tifa and the older man from the bar last night, but equally found being caught eavesdropping a far from desirable start to the morning. He turned slightly and looked back towards the room where the blond man rested.

Before Leon really had a chance to think about his actions, he had crossed to the door. Pushing it open wider, Leon peered into the room, trying to catch sight of its sleeping occupant. He wasn't sure if it was concern for the blond's well-being or simple curiosity, but Leon couldn't deny that there was something that seemed to be compelling him to cross the threshold and step inside the room. Leon looked towards the silent and unmoving shape on the bed and decided he'd just check the man was sleeping peacefully. If he looked like his condition had deteriorated from when Leon had last seen him last night, then Leon would immediately head downstairs and get the blond some help. If he seemed fine, then Leon would obviously have a touch more peace of mind and could continue on his investigations in Midgar without worrying about how the blond was faring.

Leon had barely finished thinking through his reasoning when he found himself beside the bed. Leon paused and glanced around the room, unsure as to just why he seemed to be so absent-minded this morning. A scowl formed, though it was fuelled by worry, not irritation. The last time Leon had felt this out of control regarding his own actions had been with Rinoa. But Rinoa wasn't around anymore and the bond connecting her to Leon had been dissolved years ago. Leon looked down at the sleeping man as his frown deepened. Whatever was going on, he knew that the blond would have some answers. It was just a case of holding on long enough until the other man woke up.

The blond was lying on his back, in virtually the exact same position Leon had left him in. Even though there wasn't even the slightest trace of movement from his sleeping form, the pained expression Leon remembered from last night was still on his face. Leon sat carefully on the edge of the bed as he studied the man more closely for signs of fever. His skin wasn't flushed, but it was unnaturally pale. Leon reached out with one hand and carefully brushed away a couple of the blond spikes that drooped over the man's forehead before resting the back of his hand against the blond's skin to check for a temperature.

As Leon's bare skin came into contact with the other man's forehead, Leon felt another jolt of the static electricity he'd experienced last night. For a moment, he was half-certain he'd seen a blue flash pass from his hand to the blond's forehead. With a low moan, the man on the bed moved slightly, his eyelids flickering.

Leon flinched at the thought that he'd woken the man up from his rest and made to remove his hand from the blond's forehead. He had barely begun to move his hand when another grabbed hold of his own. The blond's hand felt hot, yet the grip was far too firm for Leon to break free. In addition, Leon suddenly felt as though he'd not slept in weeks. Without really being aware of much other than the fact that he needed to rest, Leon's eyes slid closed and he pitched face forward on top of the blond.

"If it's not Cloud passed out cold, then it's this one. Honestly, what would it take to have everyone conscious at the same time around here?"

"Tifa, I don't think shaking him like that is going to help him much."

"If I wanted your opinion Yuffie…"

The worried voices were echoing somewhat painfully in Leon's head, which had decided to develop a colossal migraine while he hadn't been paying attention. In addition, someone had also grabbed a hold of his shoulders and was currently shaking him in much the same fashion one used to air bed linens. Leon felt a low groan of protest emerge from his throat.

"What did you do to him, Cloud?"

"I don't know."

Something about that low voice speaking almost too quietly for Leon to hear sent a jolt through the SeeD Commander. Without being really sure how he suddenly had the energy to open his eyes that had been missing earlier. He was lying in the bed in his room with Tifa and the younger girl from last night watching him closely. Blinking a couple of times to adjust to the light that was pouring in through the window beside the bed, Leon squinted up to better focus on Tifa, who was seated beside him on the bed. She was currently scowling off to her left, but on hearing movement, she glanced down. On seeing Leon awake, her face relaxed with relief. "Oh Holy, you're alright. You had me worried."

Leon nodded slightly as he focused his energy into struggling into a sitting position. For some reason he felt as though he hadn't slept for a week, every part of his body seemed to be screaming with exhaustion. And the cold from earlier had once again settled under his skin. Trying to fight off the shivers that stemmed both from the chill and the continuing tiredness, Leon rubbed at his face. "How long was I asleep?"

"About five hours."

His question was answered by that same soft-spoken voice that had jolted Leon into full alertness. The speaker was stood somewhere to his left and no doubt had been the recipient of Tifa's scowl from earlier. Turning his head, Leon saw the pale blond from the bar last night now awake and standing in the doorway.

The worst of the dark circles had been banished from beneath the blond's strange blue eyes. Even in the brightness of the room, Leon was still half-convinced that the damn things were glowing slightly. The blond narrowed his eyes slightly under Leon's gaze and shifted his weight onto his back foot, ready to flee out into the corridor at a moment's notice. The other man was clearly on edge about something, Leon noted, though he doubted finding the cause would be an easy matter. Normally he would assume the other man was uncomfortable at the thought of waking up to find Leon slumped over him, but Leon had a clear recollection of the way the blond had grabbed onto Leon's hand to hold it in place when Leon had made to move away.

Leon wondered if the blond had shared that fact with the others in the room and decided to test the waters. Inclining his head in a gesture of apology towards the blond, Leon subtly kept his gaze trained on the other man's face. "I'm sorry for passing out like that. I was feeling fine when I came in to check on your fever, but when I went to leave, exhaustion hit me."

The blond looked away, unable to meet Leon's eyes. "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Puts you on an equal footing with Cloud here, at least," Tifa chipped in with a knowing grin as she too watched Cloud's discomfort. "Seeing as he passed out in your arms last night."

There was definitely a vague hint of colour along those high cheekbones, Leon noticed, as Cloud's head dipped even lower and the blond rubbed a nervous hand across the back of his neck. "Oh. Sorry about that."

Leon shrugged off the other man's apology. "It's fine. At least I was there to catch you."

Cloud's head shot up to stare at Leon, possibly out of shock that Leon was letting the opportunity pass without teasing. Leon had a feeling that the two dark-haired females in the room were more than capable of giving Cloud a hard time without him adding to the other man's discomfort. And honestly, Leon really couldn't say he had minded the incident. Despite having a noted low tolerance for intrusion into his personal space and general unsolicited physical contact, nothing about last night or even this morning had caused his temper to flare. Leon wasn't entirely sure why this was, but reasoned it was probably due to the fact that even he, the Ice Prince of Balamb himself, wasn't capable of being a complete arsehole all the time.

Sitting up didn't seem to be causing Leon to feel like he was going to pass out again, so he decided to try standing. As he began to slide out of the bed, Tifa hurriedly stood herself and gave him a smile. "Planning on getting back to your investigations?"

Leon nodded in reply and felt a small guilty twinge at being dismissive towards someone who probably didn't know it was his natural behaviour. His friends back in Balamb were more than used to his behaviour and didn't take it personally when they failed to get much of a response from Leon, but Tifa might feel snubbed or that she had done something wrong. Forcing himself to actually speak his response, Leon shot a brief look in her direction. "I plan on mostly observing people today. Direct interaction didn't work out too well."

Yuffie giggled at that admission. "Did they think you were a wych?"

Leon rolled his eyes and began to hunt through drawers for a warmer shirt. The worst of the chill from earlier had passed, but if he was heading outside, then Leon definitely wanted something thicker under his jacket. Behind him, he heard Tifa shushing Yuffie to little effect as the teenager continued to giggle.

"What are you investigating?"

Leon shivered as he tugged on a loose-knit sweater before turning to answer Cloud. "Organisation XIII. I'm trying to discover if they're more of a threat to SeeD than these so-called wyches."

"Leon's from the Sorceress Continents," Tifa explained to the blond who was now frowning slightly as his gaze switched between Leon and Tifa. "It seems Organisation XIII is looking to stir up trouble over on their half of the planet as well. Leon's over here trying to find out what they're really up to."

Cloud made a small sound of understanding before dropping his gaze to the floor. "I should probably get cleaned up," he muttered as he turned to leave the room. He glanced back briefly over his shoulder at Leon. "Sorry about everything."

Leon frowned, unsure if the other man was still referring to his fainting fit. He watched Cloud leave the room and looked over at Yuffie and Tifa in case either could shed any light on things. Tifa was frowning after Cloud and clearly preoccupied, but Yuffie caught his eyes and shrugged with a grin. "He's almost as chatty as you, eh? Not as cute though…"

Leon thought it an extremely good idea to leave then.

Cloud hurried from the room trying his best to give the appearance of not hurrying. Tifa could be preternaturally observant when it suited her and the last thing Cloud wanted was to have to start explaining the past couple of months to her. And aside from anything else, right now he felt uncomfortable in his own skin. It tingled; seeming to hold no regard for the actual room temperature as it brought Cloud out in goosebumps one moment before feeling unbearably hot the next. With any luck a shower could at least rid him of the worst of this sensation.

The bathroom was at the end of the hallway. Cloud made his way inside and locked the door, taking a moment to lean on it as he frowned at the wood. His thoughts were all over the place and there were large gaps in his memory that made the blond feel decidedly uneasy. And then there were all the other thoughts that Cloud wasn't a hundred percent sure were even his own. For instance, as he stood with his eyes closed and his forehead resting against the smooth grain wood of the door, Cloud knew that the dark-haired man from the bar last night was all but fleeing Yuffie and heading for the street outside. He also knew that the man had paused on the stairs that led to the bar to readjust his hair into a style that covered the bulk of the scar that marred his forehead. If Cloud concentrated, he felt that he could know even more about the other man, but even the idea of that made his blood run cold. The brunet had reeked of power in the same way that Sephiroth did and Cloud needed a while to work out just what that meant.

Opening his eyes again and shaking his head in a vain attempt to clear his thoughts, Cloud resolutely turned on the shower and began to remove his clothes as he waited for the water to heat up. An accidental glance in the mirror as he pulled his shirt off made Cloud do a double-take as he noticed the black mark on his shoulder.

Moving closer to the mirror, Cloud twisted his torso to bring his shoulder blade into view. There was some sort of design tattooed into the skin there, but working out what it was supposed to be was difficult for it was clear that the artwork had only been partially completed. What there was formed a semi-circle, implying that the finished design would have been circular. Cloud stretched an arm to try and brush his fingers across the scar tissue that had been stained black with ink and suppressed another involuntary shiver as memories of Nibelheim and its aftermath tried to intrude. When had this been done to him and why couldn't he remember?

Dim recollections stirred of Cloud waking up face down on some sort of operating table with a burning pain in his shoulder. He remembered struggling and a fight, but there had been a weight on his back that had thrown his balance. Cloud tried to recall more detail, but the memory faded altogether. Rather than head over to the nearest wall, Cloud hit his forehead with the heel of his hand instead. He could deal with this; he'd been through worse. Right now, he just needed to get cleaned up and then he could focus on the biggest of his current problems. Which would involve having to talk to Tifa.

Cloud hurried finished shedding his clothes and stepped into the shower. He let the water soak through his hair and refused to focus on anything but the task of making himself feel clean.

Once again dressed and feeling much better after the shower, Cloud hesitated at the entrance to the bar as he mentally debated his chances of simply sneaking back out onto the streets. He turned away from the bar just as there was a delicate clearing of the throat from behind him. Cloud spun to find Tifa watching him with a mixture of exasperation and affection as she stood a couple of steps behind him. "Head on in Cloud," she told him in a tone of voice that brooked no argument. "There's no one else there. I sent Yuffie out with Rude and Reno to let the others know that you're okay. So whatever you want to tell me; it'll go no further. Okay?"

Mute, Cloud could do little other than nod as he was all but herded into the bar by a very determined Tifa. She sat Cloud down at one of the booths and left him for a moment before returning with a large pot of steaming tea and two mugs. "I know once I start hearing what you've been up to, I'll be wishing I brought the whisky over," she informed the blond as she poured out tea for the both of them. "But there's no harm in pretending we're not shameless alcoholics every now and then, hmm?"

Cloud managed to muster a faint smile as he curled his fingers around the china and let the heat seep into them. He was so preoccupied with staring at his reflection in the liquid that Cloud was unaware Tifa was waiting for him to start talking until she cleared her throat again. Cloud glanced over at her briefly. "What do you want to know?" he asked quietly.

"A fair bit, to be honest," Tifa answered bluntly. "Where you've been these last few months, what the hell happened to you, why did you suddenly show up looking like death warmed over and how do we fix it?"

Though it didn't show outwardly, Cloud felt a little of his worry ease on hearing Tifa's unthinking assumption that she'd be helping Cloud with whatever was causing him trouble. Simply knowing that he wasn't on his own made everything seem a little less likely to overpower him. Cloud took a deep breath and tried to organise his thoughts into coherence. "Organisation XIII's been rounding up people involved with SOLDIER."

Tifa swore under her breath. "I might have known those bastards were behind this. How did they find you? Surely according to the records you were never in SOLDIER?"

Cloud nodded. "I'm listed as a reject, so I'm not sure how they managed to track me down. But they did."

"Which can only mean they have access to the files from the Shinra mansion at Nibelheim," Tifa concluded. She drummed her fingers on the table as she thought over the implications while taking a large swallow of tea. From the involuntary wince, Cloud guessed that Tifa had momentarily forgotten that she wasn't drinking cold alcohol. Tifa shot Cloud a warning look that prevented the blond from showing his amusement, but the smile hovering about her mouth proved that the glare was just for show. It abruptly faded as Tifa returned to the subject at hand. "So how did they catch you? Did they hunt you down or was it opportunistic?"

Cloud felt the last hints of amusement abruptly fade and he took a drink of his own tea in an attempt to hide his discomfort. A sigh from Tifa told him that the act was unsuccessful and Cloud clenched his jaw before all but forcing the words out. "I don't remember." Cloud took a deep breath and met Tifa's concerned gaze. "My memory … it's been failing. I've been having blackouts. One minute I was leaving Wutai with a delivery of hand-painted silks and the next … I was there."

"There?" Tifa prompted.

"Back in a tube," Cloud ground out. Tifa's hand reached out to entwine with one of his own and Cloud felt his grip tighten as he thought back. "It was underground. A proper laboratory; not like the one in Nibelheim. There were more of us there, but I didn't recognise anyone. They … they were doing something to us that involved lots of drips and wires."

"Cloud…"

He squeezed Tifa's hand, feeling her immediate response as his friend no doubt searched for a way to reassure them. "I think I blew up a good portion of the lab. Everything turned into chaos so I used the chance to escape."

Tifa summoned a smile onto her face. "They obviously didn't read their notes well enough or they'd have known that you were pretty good at escaping from captivity."

Cloud smiled back, but it was a rather weak effort that quickly faded. He didn't feel like explaining to Tifa how he found Fenrir parked neatly outside and had to fight the crippling fear that he'd delivered himself to them in a puppet-like trance. How he feared that he was losing control of himself once again and how also, once again, there was a faint presence in the back of his mind.

Tifa was still focusing on what he'd told her. "So what were they up to? If Organisation XIII really is dedicated to stamping out this so-called wychcraft, it makes no sense for them to experiment on a bunch of SOLDIERs. You were all exposed to Mako, but that doesn't fit with their claims of wychcraft being naturally generated."

"I don't think they considered us wyches," Cloud admitted. "They were after something else. Besides…"

Tifa raised an eyebrow and tugged at Cloud's hand. "Besides?"

"I can still work magic," Cloud confessed in a low voice. "Without Materia."

Tifa frowned. "But how? And wouldn't that prove you to be a wych?"

Cloud shook his head. "Wyches have unlimited power. I … I'm like a battery. I can work magic, but once it's run out then it doesn't replenish. And if I use too much, it drains me."

Tifa's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Last night in the bar. You were looking half-dead because you'd used too much magic? Cloud, what were you thinking, putting yourself at risk like that?"

"I had to get away," Cloud defended himself. "I wasn't thinking about the side-effects."

"Well that explains the way you were passed out this morning," Tifa mused before pinning Cloud with a questioning stare. "But if you can't recharge then how the hell did you manage to wake up at all? In fact, how can you be sitting here listening to me chewing you out?"

Cloud swallowed and pulled his hand away from Tifa's as he felt himself retract at the question. On waking, Cloud had been asking himself much the same thing and as vague memories of last night returned to him, he had found the answer. And it was one that both shamed and terrified him. Cloud raised both his hands and rubbed them over his face. "I did something I shouldn't have."

"Cloud?" Tifa leaned forward in concern, but stopped when the blond shrank away from her. "Cloud, what did you do?"

"I think I'm turning out like Vincent," Cloud muttered. "I fed on someone."

Tifa frowned in puzzlement. "You what?"

"I can't explain it better than that," Cloud said. "I just sensed a source of energy and it drew me in. Then I … took some. What if I start loosing control and transforming like Vincent? I'm not sure I could keep control of myself."

"Cloud," Tifa's calm voice cut through the state Cloud was working himself into. "Cloud, calm down. We can sort this out. If you've managed to not turn into any sort of rampaging beast while escaping from captivity, then I doubt you're going to start now."

Cloud looked up to see Tifa smiling at him and felt himself begin to relax a little more. "No … I just threw around a lot of Ice spells," Cloud admitted before frowning. "And maybe one Ultima."

Tifa groaned and dropped her head to bang against the table surface. "Never one for doing things by half, were you?" Peering up, she caught a glimpse of the beginnings of a smile on Cloud's face and straightened once again. "So whatever was done to you has resulted in this ability to 'feed' or whatever we're going to call it? Do you feel the need to do that at the moment?"

Cloud considered this. "No. There's no energy sources nearby," he replied before rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, this is making no sense."

"Don't worry, just explain it as best you can," Tifa reassured him. "So you fed off Leon? Would that be why he passed out on top of you earlier?"

Cloud felt his cheeks colour. "Must have been. I wasn't even aware of doing it that time. But last night in the bar as well."

"Right," Tifa mused. "So … is Leon going to return the favour as it were? Do you think he's going to need to pull something similar?"

Cloud shook his head. "No," he answered immediately. "He's different."

Tifa raised an eyebrow as she cocked her head slightly to one side. "That was an awfully quick answer," she said. "Different how?"

Cloud shrugged. "I can't explain it. But I just know."

"Interesting," Tifa murmured as she leaned back. "We're going to have to keep an eye on Leon when he gets back, I think. See if we can shed anymore light on this."

"What are you going to tell him?" Cloud asked, trying to sound unconcerned but still aware of the nervous tremor in his voice. "I don't think he'll take too well to finding out I mistook him for a midnight snack."

Tifa grinned. "I doubt you'd get any discernible response from that one. He's as bad as you are when it comes to social interaction. Possibly worse in fact, as he gets snarly when pushed too far. You at least can be beaten down into attempting to be a little outgoing every once in a while." With a loud exhalation of breath, Tifa gathered up the tea and mugs as she rose from the table. "Guess it's about time I started getting the bar ready for business. You got any plans for today?"

Cloud considered this with a small smile. "Other than moping?"

"Cute as you look while doing that, I don't consider that a valid response. Nice try though."

Cloud shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Fenrir sustained some damage while I was making my way here. I should probably look the engine over and see what parts I need to buy off Cid. Other than that; I want to keep a low profile for a while. At least until I work out what's going on in my head."

Tifa nodded in understanding and shot Cloud a reassuring smile. "We'll work through this, Cloud. We saved a planet; surely after that anything else should be a walk in the park?"

Cloud actually managed to return the smile, brief as it was. "Thanks Tifa." He watched the brunette bustle away before leaning his head back and letting his eyes slide closed. The smallest amount of concentration and he could sense that the dark-haired man from last night was currently on his way out of Sector Seven and generally keeping to the shadows. Cloud felt a frown crease his forehead. He hadn't mentioned to Tifa the fact that he could still sense the other man in his thoughts and he wasn't entirely sure how he could broach the subject. Cloud opened his eyes again as he rubbed a hand across his face and rose from his seat. What had he managed to do now?

Leon made his way back to the Seventh Heaven bar unsure as to whether he should regard today as a success or not. Staying unnoticed while listening in to other people's conversations certainly avoided the problems of yesterday, but Leon had no way of steering the conversation towards anything useful. As a result he was more than filled in on all the various ongoing relationships and rivalries that were currently ongoing in Midgar, but had found out little concrete facts about Organisation XIII other than the odd muttered aside. Whatever they were up to, it was clear that they had made people nervous and from the few asides he'd heard, Leon felt that they probably had good reason.

A glance at his watch showed that there was still little over an hour before the bar opened officially for the evening. Tifa had already informed him that he was welcome to show up whenever though, and so Leon made his way inside on the off chance that there would be someone there and he could grab a drink.

The only current inhabitant was the blond man from earlier, sat by himself at one of the booths and staring intently at an untouched glass of whisky, the half-empty bottle sat beside him. Leon paused for a moment as he studied the blond, unwilling to intrude on someone else's privacy. But there was a strange tugging sensation at the back of his mind that was urging him to head into the bar. It was hard to describe, but Leon couldn't shake the feeling that his company would not be unwelcome.

Leon cleared his throat as he made his way inside to alert the blond to his presence. The other man looked up at the sound and exposed Leon to that strange glowing gaze once more. Leon nodded to the empty side of the booth. "Mind if I join you?"

"Please."

Leon snagged a glass from the bar before he moved to sit down opposite the other man and extended a gloved hand. "We were never properly introduced, were we? I'm Leon."

The other man's eyebrows twitched towards each other as though about to form a frown before thinking better of it. Instead the blond returned the handshake by reaching out with his own hand, also currently encased in leather. "Cloud."

Releasing the other man's hand, Leon took a moment to study Cloud, noting that although the blond's skin was still pale, it had lost the unhealthy pallor and dark circles from the night before. "You're looking a lot less likely to collapse from exhaustion now."

Cloud's mouth quirked upwards in a small smile as he lowered those strange, blue eyes to study the wood grain of the table. "Sorry, I'm not usually like that; fainting and everything. It can't have been a very good first impression."

Leon nodded, vaguely aware that his mouth had taken control of the conversation without any apparent input from his brain. "You were the one being chased yesterday, weren't you? By the guys on motorbikes."

Cloud's eyes widened. "What?" He opened his mouth as though to say something else, but visibly thought better of it and fidgeted for a few moments, spinning the glass of whisky in his hands. Leon was familiar with the gesture. It was one he did himself when lost in thought. "No one was supposed to have seen that," Cloud said eventually.

Leon shrugged. "You were a bit hard to miss, riding at that speed through the centre of a busy street. I was amazed you didn't hit anything. That's quite some skill, you've got."

"Thank you," Cloud mumbled, though he was clearly preoccupied.

"You know, if you need help in hiding from those guys who were after you; I can probably be of some help," Leon found himself saying. "SeeD might specialise in resolving conflict in a touch more direct fashion, but we've all done a fair amount of work keeping people safe from the bad guys."

Cloud tilted his head slightly to the side. "SeeD?"

"The organisation I belong to," Leon clarified, wondering why the hell he was so chatty all of a sudden. "Technically we're an army for hire, mercenaries if you want to be crude about it; but lately we've been doing a lot more of protection stuff. Peacekeeping now there aren't any Sorceresses intent on taking over the planet and generally making sure no one else tries to."

"I haven't heard much about Sorceresses," Cloud admitted as he propped his chin in one hand. "It seems everyone from your side of the world seems a little too intimidated to talk about them."

Leon leaned further across the table as he shrugged. "Sure, they were powerful; it was a Sorceress that achieved Time Compression after all, but that got them a lot of bad press. There were some evil ones, power-mad and out to destroy the world … that sort of type. But they weren't all like that. Rinoa … none of us would have been here if it hadn't been for her. I'd still be trapped in some sort of Limbo … then there's Matron and Sis, I mean Ellone…"

Cloud was watching Leon with a strange expression. "You seem to have encountered quite a few Sorceresses even taking your profession into consideration."

Leon considered this with a somewhat twisted smile. "Yeah, I seem to be a regular magnet for them. No wonder I became a Knight."

"Knight?"

Leon glanced up to see Cloud was watching him closely, obviously intrigued by the discussion. "Yeah, every Sorceress has to have a Knight. He has to protect her and in return, he gets more powerful. And then there's this bond between the pair … it's hard to explain."

"Sounds like Wychkin," Cloud murmured, colouring slightly when he saw Leon's surprised expression. "Not that I'm saying these Knights are animals or anything. Rather, if Wychkin were human, I'd suppose the closest thing to compare them to would be Knights. Choosing a Master and then remaining loyal."

Leon snorted. "Now there's a difference, right there. Knights don't get to choose. They get chosen."

"It's not voluntary?" Cloud enquired.

Leon pulled a brief face. "There're those who seek it out. It does have a romantic ring to it and there's countless stories and plays about the endangered Sorceress and her valiant Knight, but at the end of the day, if a Sorceress chooses you; that's it."

"Oh," Cloud's voice was quiet as he swirled his whisky in the glass before taking a gulp. The alcohol made him wince slightly and he screwed up his eyes before opening them again to glance at Leon. "I don't think I'd like that much. I've had enough of being someone's puppet."

Leon finally reached out and poured himself some whisky. "I can drink to that. From now on, I make my own choices about my life."

Cloud's lips curled up into a remarkably soft smile as he clinked his own glass against Leon's. "Absolutely. Cheers."

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't start drinking before the rest of us! That's just rude!"

Cloud let out a quiet groan as his head hit the table. "Hello Yuffie."

"Hello to you as well, Spikey! Man you gave us all a fright showing up like that last night." The young brunette immediately draped herself over Cloud's rigid back as she bounced over to their booth. "Aww, I'm just glad you're alright." Then she straightened and released Cloud only to administer a brutal-looking slap upside his head. "Don't you dare worry all of us like that again!"

"Yuffie, stop attacking Cloud." More people filed in through the doorway, led by the aging man from last night who was chomping on a cigar as he glared at the young girl. "The kid was half-dead this morning so let's give him at least the rest of the day to recover." His gaze was transferred to Cloud. "Good to see you up and about again, kid. When you're done gathering your strength, you should probably do something about that monstrosity you call a motorbike. If anyone's still looking for you, it's a pretty big giveaway."

Cloud nodded as he rose from his seat. "I was just about to check the damage. How are you stocked for parts?"

Cid made a rude noise as he made a dismissive gesture. "If I haven't got 'em, I'll be able to get them a damn sight quicker than you. Just let me know what you need."

Cloud dipped his head again in another nod as he left the bar. Leon turned back to his drink. But he could hear the heavy tread of the other man's boots as he headed out into the street. Quite a feat considering the volume at which Yuffie was trying to cajole alcohol out of Tifa. Leon shook his head slightly as he tilted the glass to catch the last few traces and caught Tifa's eye as he lowered the glass once more.

Not waiting for any verbal response, Tifa leaned across the table with a faint smile. "So Cloud finally managed to come out of his shell enough to talk with you. He might not look it, but he's horribly shy around people he doesn't know. You might just have set a new record in getting past his barriers."

Leon couldn't really think of any way to respond to that besides a distant 'Hn'. His grunted reply seemed to amuse Tifa greatly rather than offend the brunette for though she left him to his own devices, she had a distinct smile on her face as she turned back to talk to Yuffie and Cid. Leon watched her turn away with a faint frown. It was probably all in his head, but he couldn't help but shake the feeling that on some level Tifa was trying to encourage him to befriend Cloud. Leon mused as to the reasons why that would be. The most obvious was that she wanted to find out what had caused the blond male to show up in her bar in such a state and for some reason she thought Cloud was more likely to confide in a virtual stranger than his friends. It wasn't a ridiculous notion; Leon had been all but doing that during his conversation with Cloud before they'd arrived in.

Leon reached for the bottle to pour himself another shot of whisky, but froze as his heart suddenly seemed to clench in his chest and a cold sweat broke out across his forehead. Dropping his hand quickly, Leon stared down to find that both were trembling and he clenched his hands into fists in an effort to get them to stop. Leon frowned. His sudden increased pulse rate and tensed muscles indicated fear, but he couldn't think what he'd done that could have caused such a strong emotional reaction. All he wanted to do was pour a drink, why was he all but giving himself a heart attack?

Glancing up at the others in the bar, Leon was relieved to see that none of the others had appeared to notice his abrupt freezing. Taking deep breaths and forcing himself to calm down from whatever random and imagined fear startled him so, Leon suddenly felt his attention wander to the steps that led out of the bar and down to the street.

"Leon? Are you alright?" Tifa's concerned voice broke into his thoughts and Leon turned in surprise to find he'd already left his seat and was now heading out of the bar.

Leon opened his mouth to respond, but felt his heart spasm again. "He's in trouble. I have to go." The words fell from his mouth without any conscious intervention of his brain and as he said them, Leon realised he knew exactly what was going on. Cloud was in trouble and all but terrified. Just how he knew this information could obviously take a back seat to that overriding problem for now.

Leon took the stairs two at a time, leaping down them in a handful of strides before bursting out onto the street outside. His eyes fell on the hulking motorcycle that clearly belonged to Cloud and the tools that were still scattered around it before drifting to the left where the blond stood with his rigid back to Leon. Leon was at Cloud's side in a matter of instants, but the blond seemed unaware of the company as his gaze was fixed on a point further down the road.

Following the gaze, Leon saw a figure standing just beyond the circle of illumination provided by a streetlight. It didn't prove too much of a hindrance, for the man's pale skin and silvery hair seemed to all but glow on their own. His unnaturally green eyes certainly did, reminding Leon in a strange way of Cloud's blue eyes. The man didn't appear to be making any threatening gestures, simply choosing instead to stand and stare at Cloud, but Leon knew better than to dismiss the man. He got much the same feeling from the stranger as he had on that assassination mission in Galbadia and that had entered with shards of ice through his chest, nearly piercing his heart. And it wasn't just due to the form-fitting black the man wore, it was the expression on his face that reminded him strongly of Edea when she'd been controlled by Ultimecia.

"Cloud," the man said in a low voice that left Leon in no doubt that this was someone who was used to being obeyed without question. "You shouldn't have run away from us. You have nowhere else to go."

Cloud didn't respond, but from his spot right beside the blond, Leon saw the way the other man's jaw clenched even as his breathing sped up. Cloud was completely lost to everything but the other man, it seemed, even though his skin was breaking out in goosebumps as the temperature dropped. Leon was already wishing he'd grabbed his jacket even as he cursed himself for not bringing the gunblade. For some ridiculous reason, he'd not felt that it had been needed as he'd made his way out of the Seventh Heaven bar in all that rush. A dull ache in his chest area made Leon shift his stance slightly, shaking off the memories of his first real SeeD mission. There was nothing to suggest this was going to end with magic, after all, it no longer existed.

Movement from in front caused Leon's attention to immediately snap back to the unidentified man as he stretched out a hand. "Come back with me now. Your presence is needed for the Reunion."

Cloud's forehead had creased into a frown. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You're supposed to be dead."

The man laughed and began to move forwards. Leon felt rather than saw Cloud's flinch and decided this had gone on long enough. "Who are you and what do you want?" Leon demanded.

The man's green gaze slid over to Leon and it was clear that the stranger didn't care much for what he saw as his perfect face twisted in anger. "So you're the reason Cloud's still resisting. He's mine."

"Really? I don't see your name on him," Leon shot back without any real thought.

The man laughed. "Clearly you've not been looking hard enough." He continued to advance with the almost lazy grace that only the truly dangerous opponents ever used.

Leon moved into a fighting stance even as Cloud moved beside him. Drawing up one hand to his mouth, Cloud tugged his leather glove off with his teeth before glancing at Leon out of the corner of his eye. There was a flicker of hesitation before Cloud's expression hardened. "Sorry," the blond whispered before he abruptly reached out and pressed a hand to the back of Leon's neck.

It was hard for Leon to be absolutely sure what happened next. The cold had obviously done something strange to his brain for he was almost positive he felt something warm, yet leathery brush against his face. There was the sound of wings and what Leon was convinced looked like magic flying about. Then there was a moment of protective aggression when Leon realised that Cloud was no match for this man and raised his hand. Then the man was falling backwards, shot full of spears of ice and disappearing in a shower of black feathers.

Leon wavered on his feet, only vaguely aware that Cloud was attempting to steady him. He was finding it hard to focus and feeling both very cold and very tired. He went to take a step back towards the bar, but abruptly found himself on his knees staring at the pavement and trying very hard to pass out. Beside him, he could sense Cloud worrying over him.

"It's strange," Leon heard himself say as though he was speaking from somewhere very far away. "I always seem to end up passing out after fighting sorceresses. Didn't think it would be the same for the male version. Least he was the one shot with ice this time."

Then Leon felt his eyes roll back as he gave in to the exhaustion and simply passed out.

TBC

Leon: Hmmm, there's something familiar about all this.

Cloud: Familiar? That'll be me.

Leon: Ah.

Author: Damn it, forgot to work in the smooching. Maybe next time. Seriously, there'll be one more part to this in which all will be revealed.