so much fucking shit happens in this chapter.
...just kidding, nothing happens.
"Costa del Sol, yo! I'm back, baby!" Reno shouted out to the sun once he and Cloud were out of earshot of the crewmen on the ship. And for good reason too. After hauling out Cloud's bike and hiding it in an alleyway behind a nearby inn, Cloud was quick to drag the still enraged Turk out of walking distance of the ship. Near rape or not, he didn't exactly want three bloody - and possibly dead - Junon crewmen on their hands.
Reno spread out his arms and faced towards the blue cloudless sky, reveling in the sunlight after being holed up in a dreary, smog-filled city like Edge for so long. "Damn, has it been long since Rufus visited the Shinra Villa, yo! I mean, yeah, he couldn't exactly move, much less enjoy a beach when he had that geostigma, but, man, does a guy need some sunshine once in a while, you know what I mean-" Reno raised a hand to playfully smack the blonde across the shoulder, but was surprised to see that the younger man had effectively teleported - or rather, he had moved over to the closest trashcan to tear off the bandages wrapped around his head. "Yo, what're you doing, Cloud?" Reno asked with raised eyebrows.
Cloud shook off the last of the bandages into the trashcan and ran a hand through his mussed hair before making his way back to the red-head. "Well, I appreciate you taking care of the injury for me," He said with a shrug, "But the bleeding has stopped. I don't exactly need them anymore. Not to mention the fact that the Mako in my bloodstream probably healed the wound already."
The Turk looked as if he was going to say something about Cloud's once again lack of interest in his own well-being, but thought better of it, shrugging instead. "Suit yourself, yo. But don't come crying to me when your wound bursts open and you lie on the streets bleeding profusely and die unloved. Just sayin', yo." Reno said indifferently, making a show of putting his hands behind his head and whistling nonchalantly.
Cloud just rolled his eyes, "You're over-exaggerating."
Reno laughed and slung his arm across the blonde's shoulders, nudging him in the side of his head with his fist, "Says who, yo? Next thing you know, you might be bleeding to death and I sure as hell won't be responsible." He managed to get a small snort from the blonde, which only served to augment the teasing Reno wrought upon him. But suddenly, Reno froze mid-sentence, glancing down at the close proximity between him and the blonde. Since when did the relationship between them get so casual that Reno could just playfully touch him as if it were only natural to do so? They had exchanged friendly insults on the rare missions that the Turks and AVALACHE had cooperated on before, but never so much that they actually got close enough to do anything remotely like what friends would do - not to mention the fact that maybe a year or so ago, they would have probably ended up beating each other up for even touching. They were only together for the profits of the Turks after all. Just because it was convenient. Nothing more. So, why was this time any different?
Goddamn, sweet fucking Shiva, he needed something to snap himself out of this homosexual delusion he'd gotten himself into. Reno glanced away from the blonde and, lo and behold, there was the answer right before his very eyes, sparkling blue and wonderfully bikini-clad. "That's it!" Reno yelled suddenly, pumping his fist into the air. The abrupt movement actually made Cloud jump in surprise, which would have amused the redhead greatly if he wasn't trying so hard to not think about him. "Yo, that's it, Cloud. The fucking beach! That's what we need! After all this gang-rape plus Kir Facaz destroying the world shit, we seriously fucking need some R&R, you get what I'm sayin', yo?"
"No." Cloud put out bluntly. "What are you getting all excited for? You're the one that dragged me onto this stupid mission, you should be the one getting your priorities straight, right?"
Reno looked away sideways. Yeah, and right now getting myself back to being attracted to living, breathing, sexy females is at the top of my list, yo, Reno thought before stuttering out, "Er, well, you know, I kind of just need to, you know, yo—I mean, yeah, right...?" Caught in between just spitting out the fact that he just wanted to get laid and hiding the shameful secret that it was because some sick bastard inside him wanted to get Cloud laid, Reno was left utterly flabbergasted.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Cloud answered flatly before grabbing Reno's jacket collar and dragging the reluctant redhead back towards the bike they had parked behind the inn earlier. "We have better things to do than me waiting here while you go chase around girls."
"Oh, c'mon, you asshole!" Reno protested, uncaring for how loud or immature he was being at the moment, "Can't you just let a guy get some action before going willingly to his death just because he's on probation, yo?"
"I think we'll get plenty of action once we get around to Wutai. Just wait, Reno. By then you'll be on your knees thanking me I didn't let you run off like a psycho at Costa del Sol," Cloud replied, continuing to drag the Turk along behind him mercilessly.
At this, Reno ceased his protests completely as he was once again dumbstruck from the innocuous double entendre only he seemed to catch. Burying his face in one palm and wishing with all his might that that idiot chocobo-head wasn't a mind reader, Reno cursed his poor luck and double-crossing hormones to hell. "You are so fucking doing this on purpose, Cloud Strife. I am going to fucking shoot you for torturing me like this, yo..."
"What?"
He technically shouldn't even be driving. The constant flashes of darkness and sunlight through the dense forest coupled with his more than minor concussion from the day before was disorientating to say the least. If he wasn't wearing his tinted goggles, Cloud wouldn't have been surprised if he got a seizure by now with all the flashy lights.
"You know, you technically shouldn't even be driving, yo." The redhead's voice sounded over the loud engine of the motorbike. "With all these flashing lights and shit in this forest, I'm actually surprised you haven't gotten a seizure or something—"
"I know, Reno. Don't worry about it, alright?" Cloud rolled his eyes in irritation. Though he probably shouldn't have, seeing as it just made him dizzier than he was before. But from the seemingly disorientating movement, Cloud caught a flash of scarlet from the corner of his eye. In any other situation, he would have passed it off as just another variant of the myriad of colors he was seeing already, but right now the crimson flashes tailing them through the bushes only served to confirm the suspicion he'd had from the past few hours that someone had been following them. "Reno, did you see th—" He began before getting promptly cut off by the redhead's arm swinging over behind him to tap against his upper leg.
"You know, you really should've let me get some action back there on the beach," The Turk called out loudly over his shoulder, amusement in his voice as his fingers roamed around the blonde's leg area.
"Wait, what?" Cloud started hastily as he felt heat rise to his face, "No, now's not the fucking time, what the hell are you—"
The redhead's hand slid further down his leg, but instead of moving inward, Reno abruptly slammed his fist against the switch of Cloud's sword compartment and snatched out one of the smaller – but still undeniably gigantic – blades. "'Cause I'm just aching for it now, yo!" And before Cloud could utter a word in confusion, Reno tossed the sword into the air to get a better grip on the handle and flung it headstrong into the trees beside him.
The Turk nudged the blonde in the head with his fist on the follow through of his swing and laughed, "What are you getting all worked up for, yo? Thought I was going to grope you? As if a Turk like me would let a tail get past my eyes, yo."
"Kind of..." Cloud grumbled under his breath, cursing himself for reacting in such a way to what was now obviously a move in response to his earlier warning. "Wait a minute—Hey! That's my sword, you idiot!" Cloud yelled in protest.
But no sooner after he said it, the sound of two gunshots echoed throughout the vast forest, closely followed by the clang of what was undoubtedly bullets on steel. Passing through yet another patch of sunlight, Cloud caught sight of the ray of light reflecting off the sword that was flying back towards them just in time to maneuver the motorbike out of the way. The sword collided into a neighboring tree with a low thud.
Cloud swung his motorbike around on its side and skidded to a stop just as the scarlet enemy landed gracefully on the road before them. Reno flipped over Cloud's shoulder and off the bike with one swift movement and leaned against the front tire, smirking, "Well, well, if it ain't Vincent Valentine, yo! Got some nerve shooting at us like that."
The cloacked-man glared at him for a moment before walking towards the sword protruding out of the tree near him. "If I recall, it was you who threw the sword at me first." Wit ha light tug on the hilt, he pulled the sword out with ease and tossed it back to Cloud. "It's been a long time, Cloud. Reno." He acknowledged the latter with only the slightest of nods. Evidently, their previous encounters with the Turk in the past years was not yet above him enough to consider Reno an ally.
Cloud caught the sword with one hand and brought it up to his face, scrutinizing the blade with a frown. "Damn it, Vincent. I thought you knew better than to shoot my sword like that. You know the First Tsurugi doesn't stand a chance against the Cerberus' bullets." He shot an extra glare at Reno as he slid the sword back into its holster on the motorbike, but the Turk merely shrugged.
"I'll pay for repairs, yo. No big."
"Yeah, you better."
"All jokes aside, Strife. What are you doing here?" Vincent took a couple steps closer to the two, simultaneously brushing his long cloak back with his clawed hand. "Last I saw, you were back to being the honest-to-good delivery boy working for Tifa's Seventh Heaven, living the peaceful life. Now, you're here with Reno the Turk?"
"Last I saw, you were doing recon around the Shinra Building. Now you're here on the Western Continent?" Cloud retaliated. He doubted that the former-Turk was this down south for no reason at all. He had better things to do.
"Hmph." The black-haired man glanced at Reno and then back at his comrade, "If you two are here for the reasons I suspect, then my travels won't be for naught. I've been somewhat searching for you." He gave Cloud a meaningful look before continuing. "I went to the Wutai Continent."
Reno's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms in speculation, "Kir Facas, huh?"
"Indeed," Vincent nodded and made like he was going to elaborate, but instead his gaze landed upon a couple of traveling merchants a ways behind them. He turned towards the forest and gestured for the two to follow him. "It may be wiser not to talk out here in the open. The information I am about to give you isn't to be overhead by the common traveler."
Upon proceeding to a more isolated clearing, Cloud parked his motorbike and immediately cut to the chase. "Vincent. Tell me what you know." These were the exact words he had said before in the Forgotten City's surrounding forests after his encounter with the Jenova remnants. The stealthy sharpshooter never failed to collect a myriad of useful information from the various cities he had traveled to and incidents he had seen.
"I went to the Wutai Continent a few days back to confirm whether or not the rising suspicions about another calamity of the planet were true," The former Turk began from his place leaning against a tree in the darkness, "It wasn't easy finding the lab deep in the mountains, but after consulting Yuffie and some Wutain traders and getting past security, I saw Kir Facaz."
Reno leaned closer in curiosity, "You saw him? Was he human, or just another monster created from Mako and Jenova cells?"
"He was... human." Vincent paused as if trying to pick out the right words to say. "Or rather, something between a SOLDIER and how Professor Gast created myself. He didn't seem to be like a Jenova remnant like Sephiroth, but he was clearly just as dangerous."
"What, was he being field-tested or something?" Cloud questioned, though he didn't know whether to be relieved or intimidated by this information. Like a Mako-enhanced SOLDIER but not quite Sephiroth. It would take quite a feat of power to defeat this Kir Facaz, but at least it wasn't another insane monster with psychotic urges to take over the world. Just a scientist who reaped revenge.
At these words, Vincent turned towards Cloud, looking him directly in the eyes. "Something like that. He fought like you."
"He—what?"
"Vincent." Reno said suddenly, looking up at the man from his place on the grass with a serious look on his face. The older man merely returned the look with the slightest of nods and then gesticulated subtly towards the ex-SOLDIER. The Turk glanced over at the blonde from the corner of his eye before slowly standing up and brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Yo, uhh, Cloud, go get some firewood will ya? It's getting pretty dark. I, uhh, can't see shit around here, yo."
"Huh?" Cloud looked from Reno's face up to what could barely even be called a sunset in the sky back down to the overly wide grin on the Turk's face with raised eyebrows. "You're kidding, right?"
Reno awkwardly plastered smile immediately faded to a clearly irritated glare. "I'm not, yo. Now get outta here!" He yelled hastily before booting the other man in the back and pushing the blonde into the trees behind him. "Hey, better get back here with an armful of that shit, or I'm wrecking your bike!"
"The hell—you're an asshole, you know that?"
"Whatever, yo!"
Though, luckily, because of the blonde's naturally taciturn personality, he left without another word. Reno waited a moment to make sure the other man was out of earshot before turning back to Vincent, who was leaning against the tree with a clearly amused look on his face, "Alright, now—what, yo? I'm a paid Turk, not an award-winning actor. Let's see you do better."
"I didn't say anything," Vincent said dryly, shrugging.
"Well, you...! Alright, forget it, yo. You better cut to the chase before Spiky gets back," Reno said in a low voice, his eyes scanning the trees warily. "I know you're hiding something."
Vincent scoffed and shoved a hand into his pocket, looking up at the blood red sky, "Do you really think I should have let out another hint that it's actually him? Give me a break."
The redhead ran a hand through his hair, still slightly confused, "I have my suspicions, but honestly, I don't think I believe even half of what I think it means." After all, Reno was the one who had researched the entire mission in the first place. Despite the lack of information the Turks had on the experiment, he probably already knew enough to confirm that his suspicions were true. And with what Vincent had hinted, the truth might as well have been splayed out in front of him clear as day. But now he just didn't want to see it.
"I'll tell you straight out then." Vincent let out a slow breath and then continued in a dark voice. "Kir Facaz was originally found half-dead on the cliffs of Midgar. Long black spiked hair. And a SOLDIER uniform, riddled with bullet holes." He paused. "A 1st Class SOLDIER uniform."
"Then..." Reno actually had to cough to clear his throat before opening his mouth again. Suddenly, his throat felt unusually dry. "Shit, yo. Then I know exactly what this means," He muttered as he pulled out his e-mag rod and started scratching letters in the soft dirt of the forest floor. He took a step back and began drawing lines from the name to more letters below the word. "K... I... R... F... A... C... A... Z..." He closed his eyes momentarily at the sight of the new words formed before punching a nearby tree so hard he dented the bark. "Fuck... Zack Fair. It can't be."
"Zack Fair was merely convenient... because everyone already thought he was dead. But by intermittently injecting Mako into his already SOLDIER-enhanced body, he wouldn't die from mere bullet wounds. All they needed to do after that was bring him back to the lab and begin testing. He would only be their experiment." The two men fell silent, both eyes focused on the pair of names before them as if they needed to see it physically to believe it was actually true.
But as much as it pained Reno to see Kir Facaz's true identity, he could barely even imagine what the truth would do to Cloud. From how much Rufus mocked the blonde for his pseudo-ex-SOLDIER status, it was clear to anyone how deeply ingrained the memory of Zack Fair was in Cloud. The Turk shut his eyes tightly, cursing himself for even thinking to take Cloud on such a mission for such a trite reason as getting off probation. But even through his closed eyelids, he could still see the name as if it were tattooed in his mind, just as his guilt was. Fuck morality. Fuck it all. This was just wrong.
"What are you going to do, Reno?" Vincent's voice interrupted his thoughts suddenly.
Reno slowly opened his eyes and peered down at the name once more, his e-mag rod hung loosely in his hand. "I..."
"Alright, the sun's still not down and I'm back with your useless firewood."
"WAGH!" The red-haired Turk yelped in shock and fell back hastily over the words scrawled on the dirt. "Fucking—god, fuck, Cloud! You sure have the worst timing in the fucking world, you know that, yo?" The spontaneous anger was half from the fact that he was so wrapped in his thoughts he forgot to be on guard for the other man, and half from the embarrassing position he was put in. With the split second moment of panic he had, the only instinctive means he had to cover up the truth was with his rear. Literally.
Cloud narrowed his eyes at the other man and dropped the armful of wood on the ground before him. "Pretty suspicious look there. What were you two talking about? Appreciate the gratitude, by the way, Reno."
"Er..." Reno glanced quickly at Vincent behind him with a meaningful look before springing to his feet and grabbing the blonde's arm, hurling the other man off balance. "Nothing! Thanks for the wood! We'll chat again later, Vince? Gotta go, yo!" And with that hastily yelled goodbye, Reno unceremoniously threw Cloud full-bodied onto the back of the motorbike and drove off top-speed. Ignoring the subsequent punch in the back from the blonde behind him, Reno rode as fast and far away as possible, uncaring as to which direction he was actually going. At this point, it didn't matter. He either needed to get Cloud off of this goddamn mission, or rip the truth out of his own mouth.
A week ago, the choice would have been obvious. But now... they both seemed equally painful.
Reno skidded to a stop by the gates of the closest town he could get to. The sky was pitch black at this point and, in all honesty, the Turk could care less for the fact that he had no idea where they were. With his mind still racked with thoughts of the supposedly dead SOLDIER, reading the name of the town off the gateway in the dark would have taken far too much effort.
Cloud groaned as he slid off the back of his own motorbike, evidently still irritated by the Turks' previous antic. He glanced around through the dark before meandering through the gates, calling at the redhead behind him, "Shiva, you Turks are all of a kind huh? I hope you got enough information from Vincent while making me search for that firewood you never used because—" Cloud suddenly froze at the familiar silhouette of the well before him. The image of the well against the starlit sky was a memory so pronounced in his mind, he could have recognized the place a mile away. "Nibelheim?"
"If I'm ever in a bind... you'll come to save me, right?"
Cloud flinched, clutching his forehead with one hand. He hadn't returned to his hometown since Sephiroth had revealed the truth to the illusion Cloud had created for himself years ago. He couldn't bring himself to step back into the very town he was born and spent his childhood in. The very town he helplessly witnessed burn to ashes.
"Promise me, Cloud!"
"Hey, Cloud, you alright, yo? You look kind of pale."
Cloud's eyes snapped open at the familiar voice to see the red-haired Turk peering at him with an uncharacteristically concerned look on his face. Reno reached out to steady him for a moment, but Cloud brushed his hand off and walked briskly towards the inn beside them. "I'm going to sleep," He said in a low voice before throwing a few dozen gil on the counter and blindly making his way to any of the various open rooms.
He heard the Turk walk into the room moments after and ask him something before settling in himself in the other bed, but the words were a blur in Cloud's mind. Just another sound accompanying the incessant chatter of memories that crowded his thoughts. He shut his eyes under the cover he threw over his head and gripped the bed sheet so tightly in his fist that his hand felt numb, desperately trying to cling onto reality. But he felt himself steadily losing himself to his memories. It was just like how it felt when he fell into the Lifestream in Mideel. Helpless. Confused. Racked with fear.
"SOLDIER... Shinra... Sephiroth... I hate them all!"
"Cloud... get Sephiroth..."
"Cloud, you came for me. Just like you promised."
"I'm gonna be in SOLDIER!"
"The calamity from the skies, Jenova. Mother..."
"Cloud..."
"Don't get in my way."
"Cloud!"
Cloud awoke with a gasp, covers wrapped tightly around him like a straitjacket and drenched in cold sweat. He quickly untangled himself and sat straight up in his bed. If he thought going to sleep would cease the voices in his head, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now.
"Cloud? The hell are you doing up, yo? You have any idea what time it is?"
Tifa. Sephiroth. Zack. Their voices and feelings so strong it almost completely engulfed him. He needed to get out of it. Cloud swung his legs over the edge of the bed and slowly made his way across the room. Blinded by the piercing headache, he stumbled out the door and into the hallway.
"Hey. Hey! You listening to me, yo? Argh, I'll just follow him."
Even as he finally staggered out into the night air, every breath he took smelled of Nibelheim. No, not Nibelheim. Not the Nibelheim he knew. He had no connection to this town anymore. No one even knew him here. Cloud walked slowly across the ground aimlessly before eventually colliding into a wooden column. He felt the splintered wood with his hands and looked up with unfocused eyes.
"Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come rescue me."
"What?"
"I want to... experience that at least once."
"All right, I promise."
Cloud shoved himself away from the well abruptly, as if avoiding physical contact with it would cease the eruption of memories it had caused. But it only continued to steadily worsen. He blindly staggered farther into the town, desperate for release from his mental torture. He had promised he would protect Tifa that night, but she was still nearly killed by Sephiroth. Who was he kidding? He couldn't protect anyone. Not his friend, not the girl he had loved so dearly, not Nibelheim, not even the planet. Too weak to fight without the help of stronger allies. It was always like this. Coward.
"Yo, it's fucking four in the morning. Don't make me drag you all the way back to the inn, yo."
He suddenly heard the creak of a gate and looked up. The Shinra Mansion. He pushed the door open and stepped inside the mansion, breathing in the air, old and unused, his boots echoing across the room with every step. This was where everything started. Sephiroth went from an admirable SOLDIER General to an insane monster, obsessed with revenge. The town was burned down. Tifa was stabbed. Zack defeated.
"Sephiroth... you!"
"What're you—GUH!"
"...Cloud, you did good..."
This was too much.
"You are seriously in bad shape, yo. We gotta get back."
It pained him to even open his eyes the slightest bit, but as his hands touched the familiar roughened door before him, he gazed up at it as if he could see through the wood and into the room. Through the stone door beyond it and into the basement. Into the files. Into all that happened. It made him sick.
"Cloud..."
It hurt.
After all that happened in that basement with Sephiroth and then Zack, everything began collapsing around him. His hometown. His mind. And even his goddamned false memories. Savior of Gaea? Hero? Bull shit. He started everything. And all he did was piece back together all the people and cities he ripped apart. Destined to be in battle for the rest of his miserable life. He was the beginning of everything.
Cloud raised a clenched fist and punched the door in front of him in sheer anger. Or was it out of agony? "Damn it..." He whispered as he swung his fist back yet again. "Damn it." And again. "Damn it!" And again. "Damn it! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!"
Then he felt warm arms wrap around him, restraining him from banging up his hand even more. And then a familiar voice. "What the fuck are you doing, yo?" Reno said frantically, his arms tight around Cloud from the back and his hand around both of the blonde's wrists. He felt blood dripping down on his own hand, blood that was clearly not his own.
Cloud rested his forehead against the dented door, somewhat appeased by the warmth against his back, tying him down to reality, but still racked with memories, enough that he had to strain to hear the Turk's voice. "Get out of here, Reno," He said in a low voice, breathing heavily from anger, "Just fucking leave me here."
"The hell are you talking about, Strife?" Reno began, confused, "All right, it's my fault for driving you here, okay? Let's just get out of here. It's messing with your head, yo—":
"Damn it, Reno! Just fucking leave me alone!"
"Will you just shut it?" Reno yanked the blonde away from the door and pulled him in tighter. "I..." He paused, letting his head fall on Cloud's shoulder. "Listen. I don't know what's wrong with you and I can't even begin to imagine what's going through your head right now, but I won't leave you here, yo."
"I don't... You should go, Reno." Cloud clutched his head in his hands, feeling the pain flow out of his mouth before he could even stop himself. "Coming back to this place just made me realize all over again. You should get off this mission. I don't... I don't want you to end up like Zack. I don't want... someone else I care about dying because of me again. This calamity only exists because of my own failures. No one... no one should have to die from that."
"What...?" Reno blinked before letting out a short laugh from genuine amusement. "You are one huge fucking idiot, you know that?" He put his hands on Cloud's shoulders and turned him around to hold him properly. "No one's going to die, yo. Not me. Not you. Seriously, like fucking hell you're going to do this mission without me."
At this, Cloud began to protest, "No, but I—"
But Reno just raised a hand to press Cloud's face against his chest, muffling his words. "And if anyone deserves some good in this godforsaken world, it's you, Cloud. I won't leave you like Zack did," He said in a low voice, "I promise, yo."
Cloud just stood there, face wedged against the redhead's dress shirt, enveloped by his arms. Something about the way the Turk said those words, filled with that cocky sort of confidence he always had, made Cloud almost begin to believe it himself. "Thanks..." He mumbled eventually, "Thanks, Reno."
just kidding, i lied. kind of.
alright, well, the not-so-well hidden truth is finally revealed! kir facaz is zack fair! props to the devil wears white for guessing it straight off the bat. i tried to litter around some hints here and there until now. whether i failed or not, i don't care. there's only so much i can do with the eight letters of zack's name. seriously.
and about cloud being extremely depressing in the end. uhh, well, he's a tortured soul, what can i say? i promise more comedy and smut in the near future! :)
review?
