Disclaimer: Don't own FFVII or Crisis Core or ANYTHING.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Ya, Zack being a WEAPON was from out of left field, but we'll see how it runs. :-D Please RnR me kindly.
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Stand By Me
Chapter Five
Don Corneo's Epic Return
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"So, did you hear anything about what happened last night?"
Zack was at the stove making breakfast. He was in the middle of flipping pancakes, so he didn't have the time to be startled when the question he had somewhat been dreading came from Shera's mouth. He was happy he had his back to her. He might've been wearing a expression that had given himself away...whatever way that might've been.
"No." It was partly the truth. Partly not, too. He hadn't gone walking like he said he was going to after all.
"Oh." Shera slid down in her chair, hands in her lap.
Zack flipped the pancake again with miraculous skill. "So…yeah, I'll be at work for a few hours today," he reminded her. "After that, I'll take you anywhere you wanna go. Is that all right?"
"Of course," she said. "You've been very kind to me. It would be rude if I complained now."
He chuckled,"You've been through a lot. Feel free to complain all you want."
Zack heard her hum slightly and he tossed the last of the pancakes onto the plate. There were six in all; he wasn't sure how many she could put away.
Not like I'm implying that she's fat or anything…Ha, listen to me having an inner monologue with myself. Good thing she can't hear me.
Taking the plate in one hand and syrup in the other, he began to whistle to a little tune he had heard way back when, and set the plate down in front of her.
"Here ya go," he smiled.
She stared down at them, eyes wide, and either she had never seen a pancake before or the hospitality was too much. Either way, Shera didn't argue when she took the fork he had set down earlier and began to cut away.
"T-Thank you," she managed, "but you really didn't have to."
"You're a guest here!" he argued lightly. "I'll do what I please. Besides, your arguing skills are failing you since you've already doused them in syrup." He pointed to her, accusingly, and she was caught in the act of holding the little cup sideways, syrup draining onto the fluffy treats. Reaching over to the chair that held his blue flannel, he pulled his arms into it and continued, "Now then, I'll be back in a while. Try to stay out of trouble before I get back, all right?"
It was meant to be a joke, but she didn't appear to see it that way, especially after the remark about the pancake. His lips contorted and he sighed.
"Oh, r-right," she mumbled.
"Ch," Zack shook his head. "You're too stiff, Shera. It was a joke!" Moving toward the door, he called back, "Well, we'll work on it later." He turned around to shoot her a pearly smile.
This prompted her to stare at him awkwardly, eyes wide with fidgeting fingers. He hated to see her so uptight. Zack couldn't help but laugh, and waved to her on the way out.
"See ya later, Shera."
\/\/\/
Shera thought it best to tidy up around the house whilst Zack was at work. She was never one who took hospitality for granted, and wanted to do her best to make it up to the man for not only saving her, but being as kind as he had been. He was even going out of his way to help her find Cid and the others—the reason she had come to Midgar in the first place.
It really had been a coincidence how she wound up in such a predicament that almost led her to the Don, and thinking back on it now put a soft smile on her face. Old memories were prone to do that. She had heard about the Sister Ray and Diamond WEAPON (she wasn't too far off from connections at Shinra. Though Cid had disbanded from them, she still had friends), and the thought worried her sick when she learned that the sky-loving captain was heading straight for Midgar. After the rocket had launched, Cid made it perfectly clear that he was going there with Cloud and the others to straighten Shinra out.
His words left her waking in a cold sweat every night until she found the urge to find a way to Midgar to try and warn him—stop him—anything to make sure that he stayed safe. After all, he was her Captain, no matter what he thought of her. She had said it once and she would say it again:
"I'll live my life for the Captain…"
It wasn't very hard, after all. Connections were connections, and she made it across the ocean as a stowaway in Shinra's large cargo ship to Junon where a friend awaited her in a personal helicopter. He couldn't take her inside for fear of his own safety, he had said, but it was good enough for Shera.
She hadn't traveled far into the slums before she became lost. Though she had been to Midgar many times, it seemed as though every trip made the horrible place appear different each and every visit. She stopped to ask for directions to the Shinra building in some place she thought to be Sector 6. Normally, the train station was the more efficient way of getting to Headquarters, but something happened, she had heard, and the entire plate had collapsed. It had destroyed all of Sector 7 and the people in it.
Those she had asked seemed kind and offered to take her there personally. It wasn't long after that she had been tossed into the back of a carriage and learned that the Don was still alive—a man to be despised all the way around—and that if she wanted something from them, she would have to show a little hospitality in return. The very thought of the Don sent shivers up her spine. Shera remembered cowering into the corner of the carriage, frightened, and riding along the bumpy terrain for what seemed like hours. Her emotional will had depleted, and tears stained her cheeks. She had to take her glasses off several times to clean them, only to remember why she was crying in the first place. Then the wagon stopped and there were voices. The tail end of the carriage opened.
That's where Zack had come in.
Shera worked at washing the dishes for a little longer in Aeris' old house.
Aeris' house…Now that was a strange thought. The girl was dead and Shera couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about intruding upon the younger woman's home. She had learned about the flower girl's death through Cid, who wasn't in the jolliest of moods to tell it. It was even more of a coincidence that the man who had saved her was none other than her old flame.
Is this really by coincidence, though? That's a very hard coincidence. He comes to save me without question or cause, and he turns out to be the old lover of someone I once knew. It still puzzles me.
What took her aback even more than that, however, was what had happened the night before. There was a large beam of light and then violent shaking. That's all she could remember before putting on her glasses, focusing her eyes, and tearing down the stairs like the house was up in flames. Zack was an odd one, too. He was lying on the porch, watching the stars, and seemed indifferent and unruffled about the entire thing. She saw the Shinra building from in the middle of the city burning. Debris was raining down in flames.
The first thing that had crossed her mind had been Cid. Had he been in the building? Had he been caught in the explosion? Was he okay? Thousands of thoughts like these passed through her mind. She couldn't bear to think that all of her efforts of trying to protect him had been in vain. She almost impatiently awaited Zack's return so that the two could find out.
His hospitality is most unusually nice. But, then again, it's probably because I knew Aeris.
She immediately scolded herself for the thought. What was wrong with someone trying to be nice?
Not everyone needs an ulterior motive, Shera. You've been living with the Captain for too long.
She held a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beat slowly. "Just trust him for now…" she whispered.
Then her head jerked to a sudden thud from outside the window. Thinking that Zack had come back early, she casually walked over to the window and peeked out the curtains. Two black motorcycles were parked outside the house.
"It's not Zack," she breathed, stepping away from the window. "Friends of Zack's, perhaps?"
No, no, he would've told me if he was expecting company over. I've a bad feeling about this… Then there was another noise coming from the side of the house. It sounded as though someone or something was scaling the wall. She wanted to shriek, but she simply climbed the stairs instead, trying to keep her footsteps light and airy. Rushing around the railing, she fled into the guestroom where she had spent the night and pulled the curtains back on the window.
Indeed, there were two men dressed in black climbing up the side of the house, using worn ropes for support. One was nearing the window where Zack's room was while the other was still latched to the wall. Shera could feel her chest tighten and her face flush with worry. She recognized the men. They had been with the two men who had thrown her into the back of the carriage the night before. Her mouth gaped and she could hear a rattling coming from the window next door.
Peeking outside again, she could see the man concentrating on the glass in front of Zack's room, a hammer in his big, burly hand. He tapped against it twice, and then reared back so fast that Shera hadn't caught sight of it until after the window shattered and the man was halfway through the frame. She did shriek this time, watching as the second man quickly followed in behind him.
Another sight caught her eyes.
Down below was a man dressed in a long, satin red coat with white, furry ends. His blonde Mohawk stood out against the rays of the sun and he was smoking a long cigar.
"Don Corneo," she whispered, watching as four other men pulled in behind him.
The sound of more shattering glass, like a vase or a mirror, rang out in the distance and Shera whirled around to see the two black men stalking around outside of her room. Throwing her back to the wall, Shera looked for anything that could protect her in her time of need. Her frantic eyes trailed across the room and caught sight of a rod sticking out from behind the open door.
Of course. Aeris used a staff to help guard her in battle. Racing to the door, Shera grabbed the long stick and held it protectively to her chest. Suddenly, her heart fell. Who was she fooling? She knew that she had no experience in fighting. She was an engineer and nothing more. Of course she couldn't be of any help to Cid. It was then that she realized how far she had traveled without any inclination of what danger may linger in the outside world. Still, her blinded love for the man kept her going. Now she wondered if she would live to regret it.
"Where is she?" one of the men called out to the other. He had gone downstairs and she could hear him rummaging through the drawers and closets below.
"Not down here," Shera heard the second man shout back.
"We saw him take her here!" the first man argued. He ran back upstairs and she could see him through her open door run back into Zack's room. "This morning we saw him leave without her. She has to be in here!"
Shera bit her bottom lip, becoming full aware that she was still glued to the wall in front of the door. If the man turned and saw her now…
She made a daring attempt to take a large step to the wall on her right, where the door itself would safely cover her. She did so and released a soft breath of relief when she remained unnoticed. Sidestepping along the wall until she was behind the door, Shera knelt down, keeping the staff close to her chest, and prayed that she would not be found out.
The man was still shuffling through stuff in the room over whilst the second man was throwing things downstairs. Shera tried to think of somewhere she could run to, but every place was surrounded. She immediately wished that Zack would come home. Her attention was drawn back to the real world when the man suddenly barged into the room she was in, looking around and grunting.
This is it… she tried to sink further back into the room. I'm going to be found out either way, so I must make the first move.
Slowly standing up, Shera tightened her grip on the staff in her hand, body trembling and palms sweating. Raising it above her head, she prepared to strike the man in the back.
The wood came down, but was instantly seized with the reaction time of someone who was inhuman. But this man was human and had managed to capture Shera's staff in a single hand. That meant that Shera had been too slow. She clenched her teeth together, silently cursing herself for a miserable failed attempt. She still held the staff, but it was held high, much too high for her, causing her to stand upon her tip toes.
The man looked at her, not even breaking sweat. He gave a half smile, his eyes dazzling with something malicious swimming within.
"Found her," he called out and seized Shera by the waist with his other hand.
She screamed and fought against his pull, pushing at his chest as she immediately handed over the guard stick. She twisted and turned and he callously hurled the staff to the other side of the room, forcefully turning her so that her back was against his chest.
"You're a stubborn thing," he whispered into her ear, something that sounded grimy and with a slithering tongue. "I'd love to have my way with you if I could, but Don always gets the cake first." Letting out a gasp, Shera desperately tried to think of something that would remove herself from the man who had her bound. Tilting her head to catch her sight of aim, she thrust her leg upwards, the back of her heel catching the man in between his legs.
"Gah!" the man screamed in agony, immediately releasing her and dropping to his knees. "You bitch!"
Sprinting away from the room, Shera stopped atop of the stairs as the second man ascended, licking his lips devilishly.
"My, my, you took down my partner with little time. I suppose that it was worth it to come after you. The Don's downstairs…waiting…"
Retreating backwards, Shera fled for Zack's room. There were angry footsteps trailing behind her. When she managed to get inside, she turned to close the door.
"You're quick, but not quick enough."
The first man whom she had kneed was already in the door frame, pushing against her own weight to force the door open. Shera screamed, stumbling backwards as the man stalked in, his partner behind him. She fell upon the messy bed, head lowered, and whimpered. The first man was looming over her now, and placed one hand on her shoulder and the other cupped her chin, pushing her attention up to his eyes.
"That was a really naughty thing you did back there," he whispered. Then the hand left her chin.
He slapped her.
Stifling a cry, Shera tumbled to the floor, the stinging sensation accenting her cheek. It burned and tingled, and just downright hurt.
"Get her downstairs," the same man told his partner and she could hear him leave the room. She was immediately hoisted onto the shoulder of the other man, her arms dangling and her face against his back as he held her legs.
Still dazed from the slap, the female engineer struggled to look around at her surroundings. She realized they were going downstairs…
…and that six other people were waiting, the Don included.
The man who had slapped her seated himself in a chair, nursing his wounds it seemed.
"Is this my feisty little girl?" the Don asked, walking up to the man who held her.
"She's feisty all right," the man agreed and then leaned forward to drop Shera to the ground. Her face was contorted for a second, the pain in her bottom striking all over her body, and she rubbed the soreness for a moment. Shera used her other hand to cup her injured cheek. "She kneed Joe right in the—"
"Now, now," the Don waved a finger at him. "No need for impolite language in front of our guest."
Shera could feel his eyes upon her and she remained focused on the ground. She tried to ignore it when he ran his fingers through her ponytail as well.
"The boy might be back soon. Let's take her back to Sector 6," the ringleader in red ordered. She could see three of the men step outside, leaving the door open. "But first…" Suddenly, Shera's head was yanked upwards, the face of the Don burned into her mind. His lips curled into a sneer as his eyes narrowed into an even line. He was enjoying this, she could tell, "A kiss!"
She struggled against him, ignoring the abrupt nausea that had forced its way up to her throat. Shera tried to pull his hands from her face, but she was caught from behind by the bodyguard who had taken her down the stairs. The man whom she had kneed was still in the chair, laughing. The last man whom had stayed behind wandered outside.
"It's no use resisting, my dear," the Don said, puckering his fat, little lips. "You'll have to have me one way or another."
There was a sudden thud from outside and all of the attention that had been on Shera was diverted, a moan coming from the doorway. Indeed, one of the men who had come in with the Don was lying in a crumpled heap in the open door frame. An immediate silence fell about the room and the man who held Shera now released her to withdraw a rather large knife. The man in the chair stood, holding a pipe that had been tied to his belt. Shera had failed to notice its presence, and blamed it on the fact that she had been so scared during the struggle upstairs. Whatever the reason, she realized it now.
The Don took a step backwards behind the man with the knife, leaving Shera out in the open. All eyes were focused on the doorway where the fallen henchman was. A sudden shadow fell on top of him.
"Damn trespassers," a voice broke the silence and a black haired youth stepped over the unconscious form and into the household.
"Zack!" Shera cried.
She watched him take his time to observe the situation and he rubbed the back of his head, "Man, you guys are persistent." He looked to the Don, "You know, Donald, you could've just taken the time to find a new chick."
"My name is not Donald!" the Don roared, his face growing red. He clenched his fists together "It's my wonderful title! And how dare you intrude on our 'alone time' together!"
"Alone time?" Zack blinked. "You sick suck. Not to mention, you were planning on doing it in my own home on top of kidnapping my good friend. That is unforgivable."
"Oh yeah?" the Don snorted. "What do you intend on doing about it?"
Zack flicked the cowlick from his face.
"What am I gonna do about it? That's easy. First, I'm gonna rip both of your buddies to pieces. Then I'm gonna make sure you never have the urge to run after another female as long as you live. Them, maybe after that, I'm going to steal your coat. I've always wanted one. How's that sound?"
The Don looked intimidated, but it lasted for only a brief moment. "Oooh, touchy. But talk is cheap. I want to see your moves."
"But of course," Zack bowed and then turned to the closet man to the right of him. "But a warrior can't defend himself without the help of his faithful…" he opened the door and reached inside, "…Butterfly Edge, straight from the mineral mountains of Cosmo Canyon." He twirled the hilt of the long blade around his fingers and wrist, grinning wickedly.
A man stepped into the doorway, holding a gun.
"Not in the house," Zack warned.
"Would I even?" the voice replied. He cocked the gun, "Who're we taking out first?"
There was an immediate sound of a clanking pipe resounding against the floor and Shera turned to look at the man she had slapped. He had surrendered.
Don was held in bewilderment. "W-What are you doing! Pick that pipe back up right now!"
"Hey," Zack jerked a thumb into his direction. "He's got a good sense of what's happening. There are two men, one with a sword much larger than any of your weapons and another with a gun, against three boneheads with no chance of survival. Hey, did you see what I did to your buddies outside?"
"S-Sir!" the man who had held the pipe stammered, whirling to Don Corneo. "Maybe we shouldn't piss them off…"
"Grow some balls!" Don shouted back, reaching forward to grab Shera.
Suddenly the gun went off.
The entire crew was in silence, nobody moving. Shera could feel chills run up her spine and she took in a deep breath. After the sound had stopped ringing in her ears and the smell had begun to dissipate, Zack turned to the man behind him.
"I told you not to shoot in the damn house!"
"Sorry," the other man apologized. "I had an itchy trigger finger."
Whilst he was distracted, the man whom Shera had slapped ran towards the door, violently pushing past the man with the gun, and was long down the road before anyone could realize what had happened.
The man with the knife seemed tempted to do the same thing.
"S-Sir…" he began.
"If you bail out on me…" the Don began to threaten.
"He…He has a gun!"
"Listen you—"
But the man had already raced forward, throwing his knife aside, shouting, "I'm not a solider!"
The man with the gun let him by before he ended up trampled again. Don was the only one left in the room. Eyes vacillating between him and Zack, Shera quickly crawled over to where her friend was, and he welcomed her presence.
"Well, Donald? What's it gonna be?"
"D-Damn all of you! Damn you to hell!"
Zack smiled. "I see...Well, I'm still here, so your damning didn't work. Now then, are we gonna fight?"
The odds were obvious, and even the Don wasn't stupid. However, he turned from the man with the gun to Zack, pointed a sausage-like finger at him, and said, "This ain't over between you and me, kid. I want my flesh and I get my flesh. Always." He looked back to the gunman and then darted up the stairs. The man with the gun started after him, but was halted by Zack.
"Aren't ya gonna go after him?" he asked.
"Let him go," Zack replied, listening to the sounds on the roof above. "He gets the picture."
A moment later, the sounds were gone. Then there was just the sound of revving bikes. The humming of the engines got louder and louder, then gradually began to vanish into the distance. Shera was still on the floor, shivering.
"Hey," Zack nudged her shoulder. "You all right?"
She stared up at him, never happier to see anyone else other than her Captain, but Zack was equally as refreshing. With a whimper, she tugged on his arm, bringing him down to her level.
"Woah, woah," he struggled to regain his balance. "Did I…not make it in time?"
"No..." she quickly shook her head, "your timing was fine…" Then she threw herself into his shirt, trembling. "I've just never been that scared before."
Zack forced a chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her, consolingly. "Hey, hey, that can't be true. There's got to have been other times that have scared you, right?"
Her face was pressed tight against his chest, "But it was horrible! They broke in through the window upstairs and chased me and…and…the Don, he was—"
"He was a fool for trying to mess with me." Zack patted her on the back, "Come on, now, Shera. You've got to be braver than that."
She looked up at him, her eyes still beholding fright. His face was kind and gentle, and she knew that he wasn't trying to be harsh with her because he was uncaring. If that were true, then she doubted he would've come. Her eyes became downcast, realizing her weakness, and she couldn't bear to stare at him any longer.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, barely above audibility. She lowered her hands to her lap, fidgeting with her hands. "You're right. I should've acted better."
"Huh?" Zack blinked. "No, wait, I didn't mean it like that. Shera, I just…I just want you to be safe and to be able to defend yourself when others aren't around. This is the second time and…"
"I know," she cut him off, feeling more embarrassed than before. "I'm sorry I'm so much trouble."
"I didn't mean it like that," he repeated, holding her shoulder firmly and taking the bottom of her chin with his other hand. He forced her to look up at him. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. We're friends, aren't we? Friends look out for each other."
By this time she was speechless. She had never had anyone say something like that to her or had ever felt as though she deserved to be protected. Shera had once hoped that the object of her affection would have said something like that to her, but that was a dream from long ago. Zack helped her to stand, in which she greatly appreciated the help, and he smiled.
ML
