I HOLD NO CLAIM TO ANY OF THE ORIGINAL FINAL FANTASY 7 CHARACTERS! NOTHING! :(

Chapter Six

Get Ready

"It's about time you got here."

"Well, my bike decided that it would be a good idea to break down on me."

"Wait, your bike? Not Cloud's?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Dammit!" Zeke Fair hissed, turning from the woman before him. "I knew that idiot would get the wrong bike."

Zeke was nearly 28 now, his black hair still holding its shaggy look his brown eyes still held that cocky glance. That Knight Chess Piece earring was silver still as he hit the height of 6'3' in his black leather pants, boots, and jacket as his red shirt held a black cross. His chains still hung on his pants as that obsidian stone still rested on his throat. The only true difference about Zeke was that he no longer wore those fingerless gloves of his and that there was a golden band on his left, ring finger.

The woman, a little over 28 herself, reached the height of 5'9' with long brown hair and Mako eyes. There was a single, white feather hanging from the left side of her head as a pair of crystal earrings hung in her ears. In a pair of black leather pants, she wore a silver tank top with a white, long rider jacket that hung to her flat boots with an amethyst ring on her right hand.

Jeanne Rush frowned at the man for a moment before glancing at the baby in his arms. "Matt! How's my godchild been?"

The baby, only a few months old with tuffs of black hair like his mother and dark eyes like his father, squealed happily and reached out for the other woman. Zeke frowned. "Why doesn't he do that for me?"

"Because Jeanne doesn't scare him." A new voice chuckled.

"Tifa, who's side are you on?" Zeke moaned, hanging his head.

"Sorry, Zeke." The woman laughed at her husband.

Tifa Lockhart Fair was now 23 with her black hair as long as always and brown eyes as she was dressed up in a pair of black shorts and a sleeveless, white top much like her outfit from the events before Meteorfall. Her red ribbon was still tied around her left arm as her pearl earrings were still there and a golden band was on her left hand as well.

"Where's Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"Oh, Barret dragged him off somewhere the moment we arrived." Jeanne asked. "They're probably talking about the oil fields or something. Marlene's here, right?"

"Yep," Tifa nodded. "She and Denzel ran off to play. I told them to be careful and Myra offered to follow them to keep an eye on them."

"Reno's with her, though," Zeke added. "So I doubt that it's the kids she's going to be watching."

"Reno's here?" Jeanne raised a brow. "I didn't know that."

"Yep. I'm surprised that they're not engaged yet. You should have seen them at the digging site." Zeke told her. "So, why are we all here again?"

"Well, we were going to be planning the party for Cloud and Claire's birthday but Cloud refused to go on to Edge without me so I had to bring him here. When Cid, Renee, and Yuffie get here we'll send Cloud off with the kids for a bit to keep it secret."

"Really? All for a party?" The man sighed as Tifa took their baby back. "I guess since it's for Claire too that I can suffer through it."

"Still don't like Cloud, huh?" Jeanne smiled.

"It's not that I don't like him," The man told her. "It's just…"

"It's all right, I understand." She told him. It was because of what happened with Zack and it was understandable for Jeanne. She had felt the same for Aerith; perhaps her's were a little more extreme, though. "How about Red Xlll?"

"Yeah, he's here." Zeke nodded. "Saw him first when we arrived. Poor guys' exhausted, coming here on his own."

"He came on his own? I told him that he should have contacted one of us; we would have picked him up on our way past."

"I-"

"Jeanne!" The call made the three of them turn to see two figures running to them.

"What's wrong, Cloud?" Tifa asked.

Cloud Strife, that notable, spiky blond head of his and those Mako-induced eyes, was still dressed head to foot in black and leather with one long sleeve on his left arm and no sleeve on his other arm with the metal emblem of a wolf on the left side of his chest.

Barret Wallace, beside him, was a large black man dressed in green pants and boots with a net shirt and a white, unzipped vest as his new outfit.

It was Barret that answered. "I'm not sure. He just took off without a word."

Cloud just stared at Jeanne in silence. The woman shrugged. "Call her."

Zeke watched for a moment before his mouth dropped open at the sight of Cloud pulling out his phone. "Are you serious?" He began. "You have to ask permission to call your sister? What is she, your boss?"

"Shut up, Zeke."

"Yes dear," The man sighed, hanging his head.

"Like you can talk." A smug voice sounded from behind them.

"Shut up, Reno." Another female voice mimicked Tifa.

"All right."

Jeanne couldn't help but chuckle as the two others all moved towards them.

At the height of 5'7' and in her early thirties the woman held long, silky violet hair that reached to her waist and matching eyes full of rage. Dressed in a pair of black capris and a pair of boots covered in dirt and worn out with a brown and grey t-shirt, a pair of silver dragons hung from her ears as a necklace disappeared beneath her shirt.

"Jeanne, how's it been?" Myra Zoon asked with a small smile.

"Not too bad. Yourselves?"

"Perfect." The man grinned.

Reno was a man in his late twenties with a lanky physique, unkempt red hair pulled back in a long ponytail and two symmetrical red marks on his cheek bones. With goggles on his forehead, the man still wore an un-tucked dress shirt and unbuttoned suit jacket.

"More or less," the woman agreed with a short nod.

"She's not answering." Cloud commented.

"Oh, yeah, about that," Zeke gave a smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Give Vincent or Rufus a call; I'd go for Vincent. The three of them were together when I called them the other day."

Cloud did so and Jeanne raised a brow. "Why is that?" Vincent had come out of hiding? That was a surprise.

"Shocking, I know," Zeke admitted, that look still on his face. "But there's something that I forgot to tell you about that."

"Where's my sister?" Cloud's voice cut through.

"And what is that?" Tifa raised a brow. The man began to sweat as they all stared at him.

"Is Claire all right?"

Zeke rubbed his head again as he inched over to Cloud. "Claire is-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'IS SHE STILL ALIVE'?"

"Ho!" Zeke began to laugh. "Can you say busted?"

A surprised face split across Jeanne's face as she turned to Cloud. What was that supposed to mean? She suddenly got a very bad feeling about all of this…but Claire could take care of herself, couldn't she?

"Vincent," Cloud's voice was full of rage and Jeanne swore she could see some smoke spewing out of the man's ears. "VINCE-" Cloud gave a growl as he snapped the phone shut.

"I take it that that mean's something bad has happened." Jeanne glanced to the side to see that the last member of their little group had shown up with two children. Red Xlll was a large animal that looked like a mix between and lion and a dog. His fur was a fiery red and there was a large '13' on his hind leg.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked.

"I'm not sure," Cloud shook his head, trying to keep his anger under control. "Reeve burst into the room, asking if she was still alive."

"Still alive?" Barret raised a brow. "What in the hell are they doing?"

Jeanne closed her eyes. "A few days ago, Reeve called me. I wasn't going to say anything yet but it seems that I have to now. A group under the name of Deepground has appeared."

"Yeah," Zeke nodded his head. "I caught sight of the announcement of their leader the other day on the television. What was his name? Weiss?"

Jeanne nodded. "Yes. It appears that they are another group of SOLDIERS that Hojo had been working on. They were trapped under Midgar for three years but now have found a way out, most likely due to the events that happened with Kadaj and the others. I'm not sure what they're up to but we do know that they're planning on 'cleansing the world'. Reeve and the WRO have been trying to stop them and he called upon Vincent for help. Naturally, that night we talked to your sister while she was in Kalm to meet with Reeve, Claire decided to join Vincent and help Reeve out."

"Isn't Yuffie a member of that WRO thing?" Zeke asked.

"Yeah," Jeanne nodded.

"Idiot," He snickered.

"And if you want to get nasty with it, we all are too, right Tifa?" Jeanne glanced at her friend.

The woman gave her husband a look. "That's right." Zeke frowned but stayed silent as their son slept in his arms.

"The events led to Edge, apparently." Jeanne continued. "Nearly the whole town has disappeared. Vincent and Claire were just on their way to the city when I last heard. The attack must have happened there." She looked at Cloud. "Your sister will be fine. If she wasn't then Reeve would have called us first thing."

Cloud nodded. "I-"

"Hey kid, do I have your attention I know the way you've been livin' Life so reckless, tragedy endless Welcome to the Family."

Jeanne raised a brow and pulled her phone out as it continued to ring.

"Who is it?" Myra asked.

"Renee." She opened the phone. "Hello?"

"Jeanne," The elder woman's voice sounded stressed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing too much, but we're not going to make it. Reeve called us and needs our help with the events that's been going on with the Deepground."

"I heard about Deepground but why does he need you?"

"We're not exactly sure, but he said to go ahead and ask for you to come to."

"Us?"

"Yeah, he wants everyone. Said that something big was about to happen. We can turn around for you."

Jeanne smiled. "No, there's no need for that. I can get us a ride. Is Yuffie with you?"

"Yes. We're-" Renee's voice was cut off as the phone lost the signal. Jeanne sighed and tucked it back into her jacket.

"What's up?" Reno asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Cid, Renee, and Yuffie are heading towards WRO Headquarters. Says something about to happen and that Reeve asked for all of us to show up as well."

"Really?" Red Xlll raised a brown as Marlene and Denzel stayed silent, just watching.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Barret demanded. "I was getting bored with all this non-fighting crap, anyway! When do we leave?"

As the group all broke into a conversation with eachother, the two children joining in as well, Jeanne turned and began to head for the door.

"Where are you going?" Cloud called after her.

Jeanne turned back and gave them all a small smile. "I have to make a call." She turned again and left the room, pulling her phone back out. Dialing a number, she paused, waiting with a small smile.

"Well, well, look who it is. I thought you said you weren't going to call me until after the party."

She smiled at her sister's voice. "Jena, can you do me a favor?"

"It all depends. What kind of favor is it?"

"Well, it involves…Hojo."

There was silence for a moment before a sigh sounded. "Can't ever get rid of that senile bastard, can we?"

"It seems not."

"So, what is it that you need?"

"A ride to the WRO Headquarters, and…"

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