Chapter Nine

'You can't rewrite history. Not one line!'

Cloud barely remembered the rest of the return trip to Midgar. Zack woke him up at some dead hour of the night because the helicopter was landing. They must have said goodbye to each other at some point, or perhaps the other two were as tired as he was and they'd all just slouched off back to their beds. Either way, he woke up the next day and couldn't even remember getting back into his bed in the barracks.

It was the 21st of September. Zack and Sephiroth would be leaving for Nibelheim in just four days, and walking straight into their untimely deaths.

Two years had felt like no time at all, and now four days stretched out in front of him like a road that never ended. But he had decided on a plan, and four days was plenty of time for what he had to do.

One shower and very strong coffee later, he was loitering on the Turks' floor looking out for red hair.

Reno came in with his suit in tatters and bruises all over his face, with a similarly dishevelled Turk that Cloud did not recognise. They stumbled past Cloud into Veld's office without so much as blinking at him. Cloud listened to Veld's slightly muffled yelling for a good twenty minutes before they were excused.

'He took that well, I think,' Reno muttered to his partner, who only glanced at him in disgust before marching away.

'Hey, Reno,' Cloud said, stepping quickly into his path as he came near. Reno's eyes narrowed as he tried to recognise the slight boy in front of him. Cloud didn't really blame him for forgetting who he was; every time he'd ever seen Reno before, the Turk had been either blind drunk or working his way towards that state. He almost wished he could forget Reno, sometimes.

'Who's asking? If Reno owes you money, he went that way.' He pointed in the direction of his now-fled associate.

'No, you don't owe me money,' Cloud said.

'Really?' Reno looked genuinely surprised.

'Well,' Cloud amended, 'actually you do, but that's not what I want right now. Look, are you up for a bit of breaking and entering?'

Reno's entire demeanour changed in an instant from tired and suspicious to bright enthusiasm.

'Am I!' he said, tearing his jacket open to reveal the dozens of lock-picks, screwdrivers, knives and other various criminal tools on his person. 'What do you need?'

Cloud glanced up and down the corridor. It was empty, and Veld's office door was firmly closed.

'I need to get into Director Lazard's computer, so I can change where Sephi—someone—is being sent on a mission this week.'

Reno didn't miss the slip, and didn't bother to let Cloud think he had.

'Sephiroth piss you off or something?'

'Yeah,' Cloud muttered. 'Something like that.'

'Well, Lazard's computer isn't going to be good enough, not for a First Class,' Reno said. 'Their missions have to be approved by the President, so we'll have to break into Lazard's office first and then sneak up to the President's.'

Cloud nodded, undeterred.

'That's what we'll do, than,' he said.

'Woah, woah, though,' Reno added, putting his hands up. 'I'm doing this for free. Veld already kicked my arse once today—'

'I heard.'

'—and I'm not giving him another opportunity without some compensation.'

Cloud had already thought of that.

'How about you don't have to repay the money you owe me?'

'… How much is it?'

'Five hundred Gil.'

'Oh.' Reno stuck his hand out and they shook. 'Deal.'

They walked together out of the corridor and down the stairs, making their plans for the big event. Reno claimed to be able to get keycards for every floor, and said he could get Lazard and Shinra's passwords without a problem. It occurred to Cloud that this was going very easily: all he'd have to do was turn up.

Then, of course, Sephiroth came around the corner.

Reno smirked,

'Later dude,' he said, and jogged away from Cloud, probably in the direction of the infirmary. Then again, knowing Reno, he could just as easily be headed for a bar.

'Was that… Zack's Turk friend?' Sephiroth asked, watching Reno's retreating back.

'Reno,' Cloud said. 'He owes me money.'

'He owes everyone money,' Sephiroth muttered, then helpfully added: 'I wouldn't speak with him too often, if you can help it.'

'You don't like Reno?' Cloud said, trying to sound innocently surprised. It didn't work; Sephiroth hadn't forgotten the rescue mission in Hojo's laboratory two years ago, or Reno's involvement in the escapade.

'I don't trust him,' he said. 'I don't trust anyone who clangs like pocketful of change when they walk.'

Reno approached Cloud two days later, when he was on guard duty at the doors.

'I've got everything,' he said. Cloud stared at him through the red haze of his helmet visor.

'I was starting to think you'd forgotten,' he said. Reno held his arms open in a 'sorry' gesture.

'This shit takes time, kid.'

They agreed to meet on the SOLDIER floor at ten in the evening, on the premise that Lazard would be out by that time. Cloud was there, waiting on the stairs at ten. Reno arrived with the keycard at half eleven.

'I hate you,' Cloud said, but not loud enough for Reno to actually hear and possibly decide that this adventure wasn't worth it.

Reno had assured Cloud that no one would be working this evening, but each of them held their breath and tip-toed past Sephiroth's office nonetheless. When Reno had gotten Lazard's door open and they'd snuck inside, Cloud was sure he heard the Turk release a sigh, and wasn't entirely certain that he hadn't done the same.

'Get me into the computer,' Cloud said, and Reno flopped in Lazard's chair and started tapping keys.

Cloud drummed his fingers on the desk in agitation until Reno finally said,

'Okay, got you into the timetable programme. Find whatever you want to change.'

He stamped his shoes on the edge of the desk and kicked the wheeled chair backwards, effectively gliding out of the way as Cloud practically jumped over the desk to get to work.

The programme was incredibly simple: laid out like a spreadsheet with colour-coordinated tabs for Third, Second and First Class SOLDIERs. Cloud scrolled down until he found the date he wanted: 25 OCT. There in bright red was a tab with both Sephiroth and Zack's names on, and the little note: Nibelheim. Double-clicking the tab brought up a more detailed explanation of the mission the two of them were being sent on, and the additional note that a few volunteers from the Shinra Militia would be needed.

Cloud deleted Sephiroth's name from the entirety of the report. After some thought, he decided to leave Zack's name behind: somebody still needed to sort the Nibelheim reactor out, after all, and it would be suspicious if a mission once deemed worthy of two of Shinra's finest was suddenly demoted to needing none of them at all.

He made a new tab for the same day, with Sephiroth's name in it, and sent him off to Bone Village for a week to 'investigate terrorist action', at Reno's suggestion. He chose not, however, to use the name that Reno suggested for the supposed leader of the secret terrorist organisation. He doubted that Sephiroth would buy that Tits Palmer was behind it all.

'Done,' he said, and clicked the bright yellow button in the corner marked 'Send for Approval'.

'Up to Shinra's then,' Reno said. 'And then I don't owe you any money.'

'No, you don't,' Cloud agreed. 'After it's done.'

Reno huffed but said nothing as they exited the room and crept back out along the corridor to the stairs. Cloud couldn't help checking over his shoulder every few paces, expecting Lazard to come storming after them for daring to mess with his SOLDIERs.

They got up to the president's office without interruption, and Reno wasted no time in hacking onto the computer terminal. Cloud was, once again, left to entertain himself around the room while the work was done for him. He hovered by the door, ready to take a dive at anyone who tried to break in – even if it meant knocking President Shinra himself to the ground. The president could stand to spend a few days concussed in hospital, and by the time he came around Zack would have dealt with Nibelheim by himself and there'd be no need for Sephiroth ever to go there. Remembering the sound of the plate over Sector Seven crashing down, Cloud actually started to hope that the president might walk in so he had an excuse to give him a kicking.

'Found it,' Reno muttered. He clicked a few buttons and then punched both hands in the air in victory. 'Aaaand, approved!'

Cloud slumped against the wall. There, it was done, now there'd be no need to—

The door opened and Cloud leaped at the intruder. He had won, God damn it! He had saved Sephiroth's life and there was no way that this bastard was going to change that, whoever they were.

The intruder caught his wrist as he came forward, twisted it sharply and threw him to the floor. He turned and got up to face them again, but:

'S-Sephiroth?'

Sephiroth gave him a look that he usually used on Zack. It generally meant you are an idiot or you've just broken something precious. He turned the look on Reno, who took it without flinching – he was probably used to worse from Veld. Sephiroth stepped towards the computer.

'Move,' he said to Reno, who did so, and mouthed to Cloud:

'No take-backs.'

Cloud shook his head, but not so much in disagreement with Reno as in complete disbelief that he had managed to get this far for the hundredth time, only to have everything ruined by the man he was trying to help.

He hated irony.

Sephiroth was reading the document on the computer without expression. After a while, he muttered,

'You've transferred me to Bone Village.' His eyes flicked up to Cloud, who actually concentrated on them for the first time since he had arrived in the past. They still didn't look the way they had – would – in Nieblheim. But they looked angry.

'You're not drunk?' he said, and although he phrased it like a question, Cloud could tell that he already knew the answer. He shook his head, because if he answered out loud he was pretty certain that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from screaming all the things he wasn't supposed to say. Then any other chances of changing this would be ruined.

If he even had any chances left.

Sephiroth crossed his arms. He glanced at Reno.

'Out,' he said, and Reno scampered away without hesitation. Cloud took a few steps back as if to follow him, but Sephiroth snapped,

'Not you.'

Only when the sound of Reno's footsteps had stopped echoing from down the stairs did Sephiroth speak again.

'You had better make the explanation you are about to give phenomenally good.'

Cloud pressed his lips together. Sephiroth eyes narrowed and his anger seem to shift down a few gears into marked irritation.

'Did Reno rope you into this?'

'No,' Cloud muttered.

'Because,' Sephiroth continued, sounding a little hopeful now, 'a Turk could get into considerable trouble for blackmailing a fellow Shinra employee, especially when that employee is underage…'

'Reno didn't blackmail me,' Cloud said stiffly. As Sephiroth's mood became more reasonable, his shifted up into despairing fury. He turned for the stairs out of the room, ignoring Sephiroth's protesting call. 'I'll see you tomorrow, before you leave.'

He woke up in the barracks with Zack sitting on his chest.

This wasn't particularly unusual, because Zack did like to drag Cloud off to strange places around Midgar at the weekends, and always got fed up with Cloud lying in.. Today was a weekday, though, and Cloud frankly wasn't in the mood to look into the eyes of the man that he had doomed to becoming a corpse in the desert.

Cloud shoved upwards in the hope of toppling him off of the bed, but Zack neatly dodged the attack by jumping up, and landing straight back on Cloud's stomach. Cloud grunted as his lungs were crushed. He gasped a few times to get his wind back, during which time Zack said,

'Sorry kid, but you've got to get up.'

Cloud wriggled an arm out of the blankets and checked his watch.

'It's five in the morning,' he said. 'My shift doesn't start until eight. Piss off.'

'You aren't doing your shift today,' Zack said cheerfully. 'You're going to Director Lazard's office to be debriefed, and then you're spending the day preparing for your mission away.'

'Mission… away?'

'To Nibelheim!' Zack grinned in what he probably thought was a cheerful and nonthreatening manner. He looked to Cloud like a shark swimming up to snap its jaws around a seagull. 'Sephiroth told me that you were pissed about us going away, and I remembered that – hey, wasn't Nibelheim your hometown? So we hacked into your records and it totally is, so we volunteered you for the mission. You're coming with us!'

He frowned.

'Cloud? You look kind of sick.'

[AN: Second week late in a row; really sorry everyone! Also, the line 'You had better make the explanation you are about to give phenomenally good,' is an intentional reference to the British historical sitcom Blackadder, which has been a huge influence on my sense of humour over the years. Specifically, it's from Blackadder II, Episode 5: 'Beer'. Also also, I've only just realised this week that FF has been removing my paragraph breaks (which I mark with *s) from all my documents. I've added in the line breaks this site uses for this chapter, and I'll get around to correcting all the previous chapters whenever I can. Sorry about that!

Have a great Christmas tomorrow!]