Chapter Nine

ShinRa's helping hand

Tifa held onto Matt as Barret drove the truck quickly down the wasteland. Zeke was beside her, speaking into the radio.

"I got a clear view on it, guys." The back of the truck began to open. "You two go have fun with it, all right?"

"Not a problem." Jeanne's clear voice replied as Cloud placed his goggles on. They were on their bikes in the back of the truck.

"Time to go, Fenrir." Cloud led the way, taking off onto their own wheels. As the two bikes took off past the truck, the inhabitants gave off cries of support as the rest of the trucks, nearly twenty of them and carrying the other members, followed behind.

Jeanne felt excitement flowing through her veins. You had no idea how much she missed events like this. Being a SOLDIER for as long as she was made fighting apart of you for the rest of your life. Maybe she should start hosting tournaments or give someone an idea to bring tournaments into the world. Now THAT would be really fun…and an awesome way to get some free cash.

What was left of Midgar was run over with Deepground's men as they fired at the arial units and were fired back at. Each side was being wounded. Watching as the arial members were dropped, Jeanne gave another grin as a certain ninja could be seen as she flew through the air. (It was kind of hard to miss Yuffie due to her giant ninja star.)

Barret shielded Cloud and Jeanne from behind with missiles as the two bikes finally entered the frontlines. Grabbing Genesis' sword, she pulled it out and got ready to start her own attack. From the corner of her eye she watched as Cloud flew off, fighting some woman in red and then grinned as she caught sight of a large, REALLY LARGE, man in blue. That was her target; especially as he shot at one of the helicopters. Zipping through Deepground, she sliced through the men and ran some of them down as she attacked the Black Widows. She pulled the bike to a halt in front of the large man as the robots exploded behind her, a grin on her face. The man took instant notice of her and smirked himself.

"Ahh, a strong opponent. Let's hope that you're better than Vincent Valentine."

Jeanne continued to smile. "Jeanne Rush." She introduced herself.

The man's smirk turned into a blood-thirsty smile. "The legend. You have just made my day. Azul the Cerulean."

"Ah, so you're the one that Claire told me about," She glanced back at the blond in the sky. "And I take it that that's Rosso the Crimson?" She turned back to him. "I'll take care of her after I get done with you."

"Challenge accepted." Azul lifted his gun and began to fire. Jeanne took off on her bike again, zooming in closer to him before jumping off, coming down on the man's head with an attack.

~I'm never gonna dance again

These guilty feet have got no rhythm

I'm never gonna dance again

The way I danced with you~

Claire caught sight of her brother nearby, flying through the air as he fought Rosso. Anger traveled through her. There was no way in hell that this woman was going to do to her brother what she did to her and Vincent! Her board whacked Rosso in the side, sending the woman flying off and away from Cloud. "How'd you like that one, bitch!"

"Claire!" Cloud grinned happily at his sister before grabbing her in midair.

"Ahh! Cloud! This board can't take both of us!" She gave out a cry as they crashed to the ground. She slapped him in the back of the head. "What in the hell is wrong with you!"

Cloud ignored her and hugged his sister. Claire gave a smile and hugged him back. "It's good to see you're safe." He told her.

"What were you expecting?" She asked him.

"I'm not sure, but I'm glad I didn't see it." He told her, helping her stand up. "So, you ready for this?"

Claire pulled out her sword before they placed their backs to one another as the Deepground soldiers encircled them. "I'm always ready."

"Then stop talking and help!" Claire turned her head at the voice to find Zeke not too far away, whacking the enemy with his lance as Tifa wasn't too far away herself.

Claire grinned before launching in some attacks herself. ~This is what I live for,~ She told herself. ~What we all live for!~

~I should have known better than to cheat a friend
And waste a chance that I'd been given
So I'm never gonna dance again
The way I danced with you~

"Look at all this. Foolish idiots. Why do they think that they can win? Their leader must be an idiot."

"Don't be so quick to judge. We did the same thing three years ago, remember?"

"Yeah, well we weren't trying to destroy the world. There's a difference."

"Yeah, the difference is that they're succeeding."

"The hell they are! Fire!

The woman hung her head as Liana and Reno continued to argue as they fired down upon Deepground. "Can the two of you just do your job?" She growled.

"Calm down, Jena." Myra smiled at the woman beside her. "You're going to fight soon, don't worry."

Jena Rush was in her early thirties at the height of 5'10 with pierced ears and in that Turk black suit with red eyes. Her brown hair hung to her shoulders as a diamond sat on her left hand; compliments of Rufus ShinRa.

"Yeah, don't worry boss!" Liana grinned as she looked back. Liana was a young woman with long hair on one side and short on the other. Her hair was dyed a dark blue and streaked with gold as her ears were pierced four times and her eyes were a bright amber.

Trying not to reply as they flew over Midgar, Jena opened the side door of the copter and glanced across to the other one. She could just see Tseng and Rude flying it as Elena sat in the back with another man.

Rufus ShinRa was a tall man with short blond hair and blue eyes as he wore his white suit. Elena hand short blond hair and was dressed in the black suit like the rest of them were.

Rude was tall with tan skin and bald with a little goatee. His ears were pierced multiple times and he was always seen in the Turk suit and wearing a pair of sunglasses. He was never seen without them. Tseng sat behind him with his long hair and the matching suit.

"We need a new change of clothes." Liana commented from her seat as she let out another set of rounds. "Don't get me wrong, I love the suits, but we need something…flashy."

Reno glanced at her. "You sound just like your boyfriend."

Jena rolled her eyes, trying to keep herself from smiling as she searched below. She quickly found what she was looking for and a huge grin spread across her face. "All right guys, I'm out."

"What? You're just going to jump out of the helicopter?" Liana turned in her seat in shock.

"Yep. Done it before." Jena grabbed out her sais and gave a salute. "Besides, if jumping out of a helicopter kills me after all the shit we've been through then its my time to go."

"Go kick some ass for me, Jena." Reno told her.

She grinned and gave a wave before jumping out. "Later."

"You're a strong one," Azul grinned. "No wonder Genesis spoke so highly off you."

Jeanne was caught off guard. "G-Genesis? You know Genesis?" She lowered her blade for a moment before tightening her grip on it. "Where is he? If you did anything to him, I swear-"

Azul gave a laugh. "Beat me, and I'll tell you everything."

Jeanne grinned again. "You've got a de-" Jeanne was cut off, eyes wide, as a certain woman fell onto Azul's head, knocking him to the ground and creating a crater. She then shook her head. "Jena, what are you doing?"

The older woman grinned at her younger sister. "Just dropping in to help."

"I can see that." Jeanne shook her head again. "I can also see that ShinRa has decided to lend a hand in all of this."

"Well, if my sister's involved with it then of course I'm going to be." Jena took a place beside her sister, running a hand through her hair. "Besides, I-" She paused as Jeanne grabbed her left hand and took a look at the ring on her finger. She grinned. "A gift, from Rufus last night."

"A gift? Or a gift?" Jeanne asked. She was answered with silence and a smile. "Congratulations."

"Thank you. So, when is Cloud going to-"

"All this talk is making me bored." Azul's voice made the sisters turn back to the large man that was now standing again. "Fight or die!"

Jena frowned and gripped her sais. "Hasn't anyone ever told you-" She jumped forward in another attack.

Jeanne followed her sister. "Never to interrupt the Rush Sisters?"

~Time can never mend the Careless Whispers of a good friend

To the heart in mine Ignorance is kind

There's not comfort in the truth pain is all you find.~

Claire got separated from Cloud somehow and found herself taking down another set of Black Widows by herself. They seemed so much easier to take down this time, but why? Something just wasn't…just wasn't right.

"I was wondering when you were going to show back up." The man's voice made Claire turn around to find who had joined her. "I feared that you had forgotten about us completely."

The man was thin with long, unkempt black hair and red, cat-like eyes. A pair of mechanical wings spread from her back as he wore a grey Mako suit with straightjacket like arms. He wore a pair of grey boots with blue soles and there were strips of metal across his face as a gun was on either of his legs. Something about this man…she didn't know what it was, but he did seem familiar to her.

"Do I know you?" Claire asked, gripping her sword.

The man closed his eyes. "I don't understand it. What could have made you forget everything? What made you forget both of us. Forget him?"

"Who is him?" She demanded. "Ever since this Deepground crap started you and your Rosso friend have been telling me that I've forgotten someone! Now who in the hell are you talking about?!"

The man closed his eyes. "I suppose that I have to remind you of everything, won't I?" One of his wings shot out and the hand-like end of it grabbed her head before Claire could move.

She didn't see the man in front of her anymore. Instead she just found herself staring at a young man about the same age as she was when she first started as an Infantryman with long, spiky white hair and blue eyes with yellow rings around the pupils as he dressed in white and gray.

"You're part of ShinRa, too? Same here."

"Something called Deepground."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Weiss, and this is my brother Nero."

"Oh, you have a brother, too? Maybe we should get together sometime and hang out. It's nice to meet someone closer to my age."

"Uh oh, I think we've been caught. Claire, I'll be here later tonight, if you wanna hang out some more!"

Claire didn't understand what was going on but at the same time it felt so familiar, like she knew who she was talking too. And that boy, the brother, he was the one standing in front of her now. Nero…

"You actually came. I'm surprised."

"Normally, people run when they see me or my brother."

"I'm not sure why, it just…it…"

"Yeah; hurts."

"Hanging out with you is lots of fun, Claire."

"Do it more often? What do you mean?"

"You mean…you would like to see more of me? What about my brother?"

"Of course he'd want to come!"

"Once a week? No problem! You can show me around the city!"

"Don't worry. I'll be here!"

What was going on? What was she seeing? She recognized the man. It was the one from the video announcement that they had watched in the back of the van with Reeve, just younger. He knew her name, and knew about Cloud, too. Was she in trouble? Or was this just…

"You know, you're the first girl I've ever really talked to. I like it. I like you."

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'? I like you. You talk to me, not run. You…you accept me."

"I…I want to do something for you. Something special. Maybe tomorrow we can…"

"You're going on a mission with Sephiroth and Sienna? For how long?"

"You don't know…well don't worry. I'll be right here, waiting for you to come back, no matter how long it takes! And then we can, I can take you somewhere special."

No matter how long, Claire…

Claire's breaths were fast and deep as the man's picture slowly faded from her mind. What in the hell was all of that? That mission with Sephiroth and Sienna…had he been talking about the mission to Nibelheim? How did he know?

"That man…Weiss…did we-"

"Get away from her!" Nero jumped back just in time as a lance came down on his previous spot and Zeke landed between them.

"It appears that we have been interrupted." Nero closed his eyes. "I will see you again soon, Claire." He evaporated into a dark portal as the woman continued to breathe hard.

"Are you all right?"

Claire looked up and found Zeke with a worried look on his face. "Yeah," she nodded.

"Good. Why are you here by yourself?" He asked her. "Where's Vincent?"

Claire crossed her arms and glanced away. "I'd rather not talk about him, if you don't mind."

Zeke stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Claire, I know how you feel but this is not the time to be acting like this. Right now we need to be serious and take care of these Deepground chumps. And from the way they beat you to hell and back when you were together, just imagine how bad Vincent is going to be doing on his own." Claire frowned, not wanting to hear this but she sighed as Zeke placed a hand on her shoulder. "After this is over, I'll help you beat the hell out of Vincent for whatever he did, okay?"

That made her smile. "You got yourself a deal."

"Good," Zeke shoulder his lance and turned towards the ruined ShinRa building. "Now, let's go find Vampire-Boy."