Chapter 5
The observation room was quiet, and Cloud was glad that he was alone. It was the first time since he had agreed to this that he had the time to actually think about that he had undertaken. Reeve's doctors dire predictions about the… Was it right to call them Remnants, or would it be better to call them clones? As he watched the scene unfolding in the infirmary he eventually settled on just Brothers.
The doctors' predictions had been dire, and every word Reeve had told him was burned into his head. He knew that Reeve and Cid believed that he had lost his resolve to take the three in after he had been told those things about them. But that wasn't the case. It had all just overwhelmed him for a moment, the sorrow, the hatred towards those who had done this and the realisation that if what Reeve said was true, there was nothing he could do to help them, nothing he could do to make their lives easier.
Which was why he watched them now, looking to see beyond the morbid predictions for each of them. 569, Loz, was proving to be the one who defied all the doctors and scientists had said about him the most. Of the three he seemed to be the most stable. He wished he could hear what they were talking about, but he had deliberately switched off the intercom to the room to give them as much privacy as he could, but watching them could only tell him so much about their states of mind.
Once he'd closed to door he'd immediately gone to check on Reeve, who had just waved him off with a gasping chuckle that was so like the man, it was easy to see that there was no blame in him, which had immediately put Cloud at ease, he had been worried the attack would have turned Reeve and consequently the entire WRO against the idea of rehabilitating the clones. Cid had gone with Reeve to get some sleep in one of the nearby bunks, leaving Cloud alone to watch over the brothers in the infirmary.
By the time he'd returned they had moved Kadaj onto 92966—Yazoo's bed, Yazoo was sitting at the head of the bed, Kadaj's head cradled in his lap, Loz was standing by the end of the bed, looking relaxed, but Cloud could see he was ready to fight at a moment's notice. They had been speaking, softly, and if he listened hard he would have heard every word. Instead he had flipped the switch on the intercom, giving them the privacy to talk.
The seizures that had shaken Kadaj's body had eased almost completely, and Cloud recalled the shock he had felt seeing him collapse from them. It seemed that Kadaj's reports had not been far wrong by just how messed up his brain chemistry was, and that could prove a problem, especially if he always lashed out like that before a—fit Loz had called it—took hold. He'd need to have a talk about that. His eyes flicked to the image of Loz, he'd try and do it as discreetly as he could with Loz, he had a feeling he'd get a far more honest answer then. But even if his reaction had been violent, it had, in the end been for a reason, and not just because he wanted to kill.
Even if Loz had not tried to smooth things over, there really wasn't any way to place blame at Kadaj's feet for the misunderstanding. If it had been him waking in a strange place he might have reacted in the same way if he'd believed Tifa, or any of the others would be in danger if he did nothing. That put him outside the psychopathic category as far as Cloud was concerned.
Yazoo didn't appear to be taking much part in the silent conversation between them, his head was angled down and his hand was making soothing motions over Kadaj's hair. There was even less to disprove the doctors reports on him thus far, aside from moving to stop Kadaj killing Reeve and the faint whispered words Cloud was still not sure he had actually heard, he hadn't so much made the brainwave monitor, that had gone unnoticed so far, blip. It stayed at a constant level well below average, very almost at brain dead, and as he looked at how close it actually was he was honestly surprised that he was even conscious. At this level, one of the doctors had helpfully informed him, the patient was normally in a coma.
They were a walking set of contradictions and if Loz was anything to go by then there were likely hidden depths in the other two as well. Cloud wondered if he should be surprised to find that he was looking forward to uncovering them.
He glanced back at the screen and was surprised to find Yazoo looking directly at him. He sat back, surprised. He realised then that Loz was making his way to the door and Kadaj had pushed himself up into a sitting position. Cloud stood and went to the door. He didn't open it right away, waiting until Loz gave it a quick bang, a glance at the screen showed Loz quickly backing up a few steps, and Kadaj readying himself to get off the bed.
He opened the door and slowly stepped inside.
"I don't like this!" Kadaj said as he entered, and Cloud was shocked by how weak he looked, in fact, if Yazoo's hand hadn't been on his shoulder he had the impression Kadaj would have just fallen backwards.
"Kadaj." Loz said, pleading. "Just… please?"
Kadaj looked away, leaning back heavily on Yazoo.
This must had been agreement of some kind, because Loz turned his full attention back to Cloud, who waited patiently. This was an interesting byplay to watch. When he had faced them before Kadaj had been the undisputed leader, it had been obvious, but now there seemed to be far more equality between them. Jenova's influence had dulled this bond they had, and Cloud felt himself smile as he realised that Aerith had known of this, had known that without Jenova they were a far more stable group.
Loz squared his shoulders and said. "We've discussed it, and… and we'd like to take you up on your offer."
"We have no intention of staying with you." Kadaj said his tone just shy of sullen.
Loz nodded. "It's not that we… We'd rather not…"
Cloud summoned a smile for them. "That's ok. We'll need some time to get something set up, but it should be doable. It'll take a few days though."
"About that." Loz hesitated before he barrelled on. "We can't stay here."
"Try and make us and you won't like what happens." Kadaj added, though the threat fell short as it was obvious he wasn't anywhere near strong enough to do anything about it.
"It's too much like the Labs." Loz explained. "We can't stay here."
Cloud was silent, studying them. It took a moment before he recognised it as a test. He smiled again. "You can stay at the bar until we can find you something then. If that's ok with you?" If there was anything he had learned from living with Tifa and the kids before the Geostigma drove him away, was that it was better to ask than order.
It was Kadaj who answered, sighing and turning to look at him. "Yes. Anything is better than here."
It was then that Cloud realised the real extent of their fear of the Labs they kept mentioning. They would be willing to do anything, stay anywhere to avoid being in any place that reminded them of the Labs. It was sad, and it was also the instant Cloud realised that he, and anyone else who helped him fulfil his promise to Aerith, would have to prove that they could be trusted, just as much as the clones needed to prove the same.
*x*
Tifa was just finishing cleaning up in the bar. She wouldn't be opening tonight, it was the second day, but she didn't really mind; she made more than enough at the weekends to cover closing up once or twice during the week. Besides, after the stress of the last few days she needed the time to devote to Denzel and Marlene.
Explaining why Cloud had disappeared again to them was difficult and not helped in the slightest by Barret's constant negative grumbling. He had even been making noises about taking Marlene away with him for a while, something Tifa would have seen as a great opportunity for the two to reconnect had it not been for the fact that she knew it was more a reaction to the presence of the Remnants and Clouds intentions to keep them, and her own to help.
If he really intended to take her, Tifa knew she would have no real right to stop him, to all intents and purposes Marlene was his daughter, and he did truly love the little girl. But if it happened Tifa thought her heart might break a little, she had grown so used to Marlene as the closest thing she had to a daughter of her own.
Eventually she had made them both understand, it hadn't been pretty, and there were more than a few hurtful words thrown around, mostly from Denzel. She had tried not to take the things said to heart, but she had not fully managed it, and Denzel's continued silence at what he considered to be a betrayal was hurting her. She needed to try and break through that silence tonight, to try and stop up the hurt she knew both he and Marlene were feeling.
She cast a final glance around the bar before tossing her cleaning rag in the sink. She'd been thinking of expanding out the bar, turning it into more of a café/bar, it had been just a vague idea, rattling around in her head, as a way to move away from late nights. She sighed, maybe after this entire fiasco died down she could speak to Reeve about getting planning permission for an extension. Maybe a few big windows, it would be nice to have some light in here.
"Tifa."
She started in surprise, her eyes wide as she turned to find Denzel standing by the door to the stairs. His eyes downcast and his hands twisting into the fabric of his trousers.
"Denzel." She said, caught somewhere between her heart melting at the sight of him so nervous, and fear of what he had come to say to her. If she was going to lose Marlene to this, she didn't think she could stand losing Denzel as well, she had grown to love him in the year he had lived with them.
He looked up at her, but dropped his eyes immediately afterwards and stepped further into the bar. The silence stretched, and Tifa was at a loss as to how she could break it.
"Tifa…"
He sounded so very lost right then that she wanted to take the five steps forward and wrap her arms around him, but she was frozen. "Yes?" she breathed out.
He looked up again, and there were tears shinning in his eyes and she was suddenly unfrozen and moved forward quickly, kneeling and pulling him into a hug. As she did so she felt him give a shudder and suddenly the tears began to fall. His thin arms wound round her neck and he dropped to his own knees, burying his head into her shoulder. It took a long time for her to distinguish the words that were forming in the sobs, but when she did hear them she just pulled Denzel tighter.
"You have nothing to be sorry for" she whispered, drawing away and brushing away the tears still clinging to his cheeks. "Now, do you want to tell me what's wrong?" she asked.
He looked at her, all his despair and sorrow plainly obvious in his eyes. "I said awful things." He told her. "And I didn't really mean them."
Tifa sighed and considered her response carefully. "You were angry. And that's understandable, after everything that's happened it was maybe a bit much to expect you and Marlene to take this news in good grace." She smiled to reassure him that she wasn't angry. "But it's ok to be angry sometimes Denzel and its ok for you to have an opinion on what happens here. This is your home too."
He swallowed and nodded and looked away from her, embarrassed now. "Why does Cloud want to bring them here?" he asked.
Tifa took the question as a good sign, though she could still hear the despondent air behind it. At least he wasn't shouting again. "Sweetie, you remember me telling you why I wore this ribbon?" she asked, and he nodded. She had told him all about Aerith, and what she had done to help them stop Sephiroth. It had become his favourite bedtime story because it was a true story involving his very own hero, Cloud.
Which was why he was so angry now. She could understand it, Cloud was away, at the WRO headquarters seeing to the same three who had kidnapped Denzel and Marlene, and not only that, but he wanted to bring them home. It was always hard when your hero didn't act in the way you'd come to believe he would.
"Well, Aerith still speaks to us, not all the time, and some of us can't hear her so well. But Cloud can hear her, better than any of us, and she asked him to do her a favour. She asked him to make sure that those three were given a second chance."
"But why?" he asked.
She smiled and shook her head. "Everyone in the whole wide world deserves a second chance Denzel, because sometimes, if you offer it to them they can show you a side to themselves that you could never believe possible." She rubbed a finger between his eyes, where a frown line was forming, forcing it to smooth out, before tracing upwards to where the Geostigma had been at its worst. "I'm not saying that everyone will change, in fact, most adversaries you face all your life will never show you more than one side, no matter how many chances you give them. But some are just waiting for the chance to change, some people are trapped, maybe by what someone has told them, or has done to them. Maybe they've been hurt in the past, or maybe someone is still hurting them when you meet them. Sometimes all they need is someone to listen, and to believe in them."
She looked to see if he was following this, he looked at little confused, but he nodded for her to continue, so she did. "Aerith has faith that those three can change. She told me that Jenova had hurt them, had manipulated them into doing what they did. That they had never been shown love."
"Never?" Denzel asked.
"Never. I can't even imagine what it must be like to have never known love. I always knew my mother loved me and it broke my heart when my mother died, but I don't think I would trade any of my precious memories of her."
"Neither would I…" Denzel whispered, and Tifa gave him an encouraging smile, it wasn't often he brought up his parents in conversation, and even something as small as this could ease the pain, at least a little.
"So you see, she asked Cloud to try, to maybe help show them that there's more to life than Jenova. That's why he's there now, and that's why he'll be asking them to come back here." She pulled him back in for a hug when he tensed a little at that. "It's not set in stone yet Denzel. They might not want to stay here with us. But if you don't feel comfortable then I'm sure you could—"
"No!" he cried, pulling back from her and getting to his feet, she looked up at him in surprise. "I don't want to leave Tifa!"
Tifa closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to force back the tears that welled up in her eyes. "And I don't ever want you to leave Denzel." She told him, blinking to hide how wet her lashes had become. "And if you're uncomfortable, then we'll work something out."
He sighed and moved closer to her again, kneeling back down, and Tifa wasn't sure exactly how, but somehow they changed positions until she was leaning against the shelves under the bar, uncaring about her comfort, and he curled up at her side, leaning heavily on her.
"This is important to Cloud isn't it?" he asked.
"Mmm?" she breathed, nodding. "Yeah."
"Barret doesn't like it." Denzel pointed out.
"I know." Was all the reply Tifa could give.
There was a long silence before Denzel spoke again, long enough for Tifa to once again become lost in her thoughts, most of which centred around how to talk Barret round to their way of thinking how to keep Marlene here, with her, just for a little while longer at least.
"Will he take Marlene away?" it was said with such sorrowful apprehension that Tifa could no longer hold back her own tears and began to cry. She felt Denzel's arm circle her waist and tighten. She didn't answer, but she could tell he already knew that she had no way of knowing, to say anything different would be lying.
He said nothing as she cried, just hugged her, and she hugged back, secure in the knowledge that she would not lose him, even if she did lose Marlene. Eventually the tears stopped, but they remained where they were, content to let the time pass. There was so much uncertainty running wild with the whole situation, so much that she was afraid it would rip them all apart.
But she had to trust in Aerith, she had to trust that this was not in vain, that there would be a happy ending. Aerith would not have asked this of them if it would break them she just didn't have the nature to be cruel in that way. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Denzel's hair, closing her eyes and breathing in his scent. She had been so worried that she would lose him, seeing him standing there, blank and under Jenova's control, she had thought for an instant that the Denzel she had grown to love, the scrappy little boy who had stolen a piece of her heart, would never return.
Sometime later the insistent ringing of the phone woke her from the doze she had fallen into and she groaned as her back protested to the position she had been sleeping in. The phone rang off but she gently woke Denzel anyway, this wasn't the best place for sleeping, he woke groggily and she smiled.
"Come on, maybe you should go to bed." She urged. It was still early, they hadn't been sleeping long, but it was obvious that the upset had tired him out completely. He nodded slowly and got his feet, Tifa stood too, and stretched the kinks out, she smiled when she saw just how adorable Denzel was when he was tired. "Go on."
"Wake me when Cloud comes home?" he asked.
She rested a hand on his hair. "I promise." She told him, shooing him towards the stairs. The phone started ringing again and she turned to answer, lifting the receiver. "Seventh Heaven bar, Tifa Lockhart speaking."
"Tifa?"
"Cloud?" she was surprised, she hadn't expected him to call, just turn up unexpectedly, like he had in the past. She glanced behind her to see Denzel had stopped and was looking at her curiously.
"Tifa, we're on our way home."
Vague as always. "Are you bringing them back with you?" she asked, knowing Denzel could hear, but perhaps it would be best if he had some warning one way or another.
"Yeah." She looked across at Denzel and nodded slightly, knowing he would understand. All the emotions he had been feeling since she had first told him about this were plainly visible, but he surprised her with a look of determination. "But we're going to have to find someplace else for them to live. They'll only be staying until then."
"Really?" she asked. "They decided this?"
"Yeah, but they can't stay at the WRO until then. I'll tell you about it when we get back. Do we have somewhere to put them for a few nights?"
She had already been thinking of clearing out the attic for them if they had been staying, but if it was only going to be until they found them somewhere else then she had just the place. "As long as you don't mind giving up your office, and they don't mind camping out on the floor."
"I don't think they'll mind."
"Ok, hang on just a minute." She set the receiver down on the counter and went to Denzel and smiled a little uncertainly. "Cloud's coming home tonight. And he's bringing them with him." The determination she had seen warred for a moment with resignation and she reached down, tipping his chin up so he looked at her. "But they'll only be staying a few days. Do you think you can handle that?"
He blinked and considered what she'd said, finally nodding. She smiled her thanks. "Ok, could you go and get three sleeping bags from my room cupboard and set them up in Cloud's office for me. And try and get some more sleep, you look tired."
He nodded again and turned to leave, she had just turned back, ready to pick the phone back up when she heard a soft, "Tifa." And she glanced back to see Denzel's head peeking round the door jamb. He seemed to struggle with something for a moment. "I… we… I mean Marlene and me… we love you, you know." And his cheeks turned red and he disappeared round the door. Her fingers curled tight around the receiver of the phone, and she swallowed back the tears as she listened to him bound up the stairs. Blinking rapidly she swallowed again before lifting the phone back to her ear.
"Cloud."
"Tifa? Are you alright?"
Did she sound as close to tears as she felt? She let out a small laugh. "I'm absolutely fine. So, what's your ETA?" she asked.
"About an hour and a half as soon as we get ourselves on the Airship."
"Ok, I'll have something to eat ready." She told him. "And Cloud, you need to talk with Denzel when you get back."
There was silence on the other end, and then a small sigh. "I guess I do. Are you sure you're alright?"
She smiled, her eyes drifting to the ring on her right hand, his promise to her. "I'll tell you about it when you get here Cloud, but it's not a bad thing."
"Ok, I'll be home soon."
"Bye." She replaced the receiver and leaned against the counter, glancing up at the ceiling as she heard Denzel's footsteps in Cloud's office, his words reverberating in her head, and settling warmly into her heart.
She wasn't sure how long she had been there, when Barret's hulking frame appeared in the doorway, startling her, and she quickly steeled herself to hear him say that he was taking Marlene away.
