"Here's the transcript of what the lip readers could make out," Sephiroth said, handing over a single sheet of paper, "if you're interested."

Zack was interested. He snatched the paper and scanned.

Anything the animal said was unreadable.

Hardly surprising. Who learned how to read a giant cat's lips?

Gunman: "No Turks on the dock. Surveillance from the upper stories. I see seven pairs. So long as department policies haven't changed, there will be at least five in plain clothes."

Beast: unintelligible.

Swordsman: Stay as close together as possible. If they separate us we'll be hard pressed to accomplish the goal without casualties on their part.

So they definitely were trying to keep from killing anyone.

Beast: unintelligible

Swordsman: Let's mosey on forward shall we.

He threw the paper back at Sephiroth's desk. It fluttered uncooperatively and landed gently on the surface. "That's useless. They could have at least said each other's names or something. They're not friendly at all. How can they form a terrorist cell if they're not even friendly with each other?" As an afterthought, he demanded, "And who the hell says 'mosey' before raiding a mako reactor?"

"CS Delivery apparently," Sephiroth said dryly. "The Turks aren't too pleased either. Even the Soldiers who would normally be gloating over a Turk defeat are anxious that they'll be beaten in a similar manner. Especially after reports of how you fared against the swordsman." Sephiroth sent him a hard look. "Do you think you would have fared any better if you were better prepared?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "He didn't even use any materia but Ifrit. I could barely follow his movements and I know he didn't have Haste cast. He actually reminded me of you. I don't know if I could tell the difference between you and Genesis or…Angeal so I don't know what level that puts him on. I just know all three of you got to enhancement levels much higher than mine." He paused. "I'd like to see what I can do if I were prepared for the toughest battles I face on S-Rank missions. I only had the basics on earlier."

Sephiroth nodded thoughtfully. "It still might be a better idea to allow me to take care of this. Turks are clearly inadequate and there's question as to whether or not a typical First can do well."

Zack nodded, the information stinging, but still undeniably true.

"Focus on finding Strife," Sephiroth said. "If Strife turns out to be CS Delivery, you're probably the only one safe from immediate attack. If you find out that Strife is CS Delivery and he hasn't realized, don't make him suspicious. If he's somehow involved and turns to you for advice, draft him to double cross CS Delivery. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." At least he knew exactly what to do when Sephiroth used his no-nonsense-General tone.

"I believe you have a hunch to follow in that regard."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He'd nearly forgotten what with the sudden trip to Junon and subsequent kicking of his ass. "Am I good to head out now?"

"I order you to go." The faintest hint of upturned corners to the general's mouth declared him teasing and attempting to hide it.

"I'll tell you all about it later Sephiroth." He sent the man a manic grin and bounded out the door.

No one stopped him in the hallways, perhaps said manic grin kept them fearful of whatever he might involve them in. The trip train down below the plate was uneventful, boring even. Except for the old lady who kept winking at him. That was creepy.

He wandered through the slums. He didn't really feel comfortable with the direction his thoughts took. The idea that Aerith, sweet, lovely, scrumptious Aerith, had anything to do with terrorists churned his stomach. The idea that Cloud, shy, naïve, adorable Cloud, had anything to do with terrorists did the exact same thing.

It was painfully simple and unbelievable. Cloud couldn't possibly have been staying in Aerith's church. Cloud couldn't possibly have known Aerith for as long as she implied she knew her guest. Cloud couldn't possibly have been farming monsters in the slums and selling the parts for gil. Cloud couldn't possibly have gone to the other continent and started going on a terrorist spree of bombings, assault, and burglary.

He swallowed hard and steeled himself as the church grew closer. All it took to clear up this mess in his head was a single question posed to Aerith.

The doors loomed in front of him far too quickly but he didn't hesitate before slipping inside. "Aeeeer-iiiiiiith," he sang out. "I came to viiiiiii-siiiiiiit."

"Zack," she called back, her own delighted laughter tickling the air. She straightened from next to her flower patch, dark soil raining down from her hands as she brushed it off. Her smile just melted his heart.

He jogged through the aisle and joined her. Leaning down practically into her face, he continued to grin. "How's my favorite flower girl?"

"I'm doing well, Zack. How are you?"

His smile fell just a little. "Things are getting a bit crazy and I'm really worried."

He watched the change in her face. Her eyebrows pulled incrementally closer and crept higher. She always was a softie for a sob story.

"Worried? What's wrong?" She placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He took her slender hands in both of his and softened his smile. "I don't know." He took a deep breath as surprise crossed her face. "I know it's a long shot, a really long shot, a ridiculously long shot, but you know my friend that I wanted to introduce you to? He disappeared the same day you let your friend stay in the church. Everything is really weird about how my friend left and now no one knows where he is. His mother doesn't even know he's left Shinra yet."

Her expression turned curiously neutral. He took a deep breath and posed the question. "Was Cloud Strife the friend you let stay in this church Aerith?"

Her expression didn't change. The silence stretched. His eyes widened. What the hell? "Was I right?"

"It's a little difficult to say," she said vaguely.

He didn't drop her hands but he did fight to keep from squeezing harder. His world rocked on his axis as Aerith, his perhaps girlfriend, secretly knew the kid he'd taken under his wing and the both of them had been lying to him about knowing each other.

"Well say it," he blurted. "I'm trying to figure out how to feel here. Spike disappeared without telling me and you might know where he is and Shinra thinks that he might be-" He caught himself before blurting something else he shouldn't be saying.

"Please, Aerith," he pleaded, "tell me what you know about Cloud."

Her face melted into this pained sort of understanding expression. She nodded once then nodded again. She pulled one hand free from his but gripped him tightly with the remaining one to let him know she wasn't going anywhere. Inexplicably, she pulled a PHS from her dress pocket and flipped it open. She kept her eyes locked with his while she held the device to her ear. With his enhanced hearing, he listened to the ringing as they waited for whoever was on the other end to answer.

"Aerith?"

His heart jumped at the surprised voice on the other end. He couldn't say for sure who it belonged to, the speaker being next to her ear and not his and all, but something was going on.

"He came," Aerith said.

They, Cloud maybe, had expected him to come looking in Aerith's church?

The silence stretched so long he thought the call might have dropped.

"Twelve days," he heard from the other end. "Do I need to add anything?"

"No," she said. "I understand."

"See you then." The call cut out and the beep tone rang.

Aerith replaced the PHS in her pocket and place her hand on top of their already existing hand conglomeration. "Come back in twelve days and certain things will be made more clear."

"Twelve days?"

He nodded.

"You- he- you expect me to wait twelve days?"

"I'm sorry Zack but I can't tell you things that other people are responsible for telling you."

"What am I going to do for twelve days? Spike has been missing for so long already. I can't hardly sleep at night Aerith. What am I supposed to do?"

"Why don't you," she paused searching for the right words. "Why don't you come help me find materials for that flower cart we're always talking about the day after tomorrow? We'll gather up all the materials and in three days we'll build a cart and you can come help me see how well it works." She squeezed his hands and offered an empathetic smile. "I'll think about what to say."

Aerith took great pains in choosing her words and she never did that. He couldn't help but notice that she'd never even actually agreed that she knew Cloud. She'd never sidestepped his questions before so some serious confidences had to be being kept.

"I…guess I'll have to live with that." He looked at the floor to gather himself. Hoping he could make himself look as pathetic and needy as possible, he widened his eyes and stared at Aerith again. "Is Cloud alright?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. Excellent! He had her there.

"My friend who stayed with me last week," still not mentioning Cloud, "he's alright." She paused. "For now."

Though it settled his mind somewhat to hear that Cloud, probably, was alright, he didn't like hearing that that might not always be the case. It knotted his gut in a completely different way than not knowing what was happening at all.

He kissed the back of her hand and grinned. "I'll be back the day after tomorrow. You're the best Aerith."

"I'll see you in two days," she said with her own soft smile.

"You'll see Strife in twelve days?" Sephiroth asked.

"Maybe," Zack said. "The person who might know him said as much."

"Who's this contact that might know Strife?"

"I can't tell you. No one will talk to me and Cloud won't come if I tell anyone." He didn't really know that for sure but he wasn't willing to risk it.

"How do you know your source is trustworthy?"

"What?" he scoffed. "How can you ask if-" He bit his tongue to keep from blurting out Aerith's name. "They're trustworthy. They're really trustworthy. You can try to trust me right? Besides, if Shinra has troopers all over the slums I won't be trusted and I'll never see Cloud." He held up his hands and straightened. "They may not be telling me much but I do know something big is going on. I just know if I can talk to Spike I'll get something. I'll have something or learn something or he'll do something for me. I may not get what's going on with him right now but I know the guy. I know Cloud, Sephiroth. He's a softie at heart and we're friends."

Sephiroth's expression softened from steel to rock, so it wasn't much, but any was an improvement. "Will you at least consent to surveillance during the meeting in twelve days?"

His mouth twisted to the side. He really didn't want anyone knowing it was Aerith who might have helped Cloud out. "Let me think about it alright? Give me a week and I'll give you an answer."

"Think about it carefully Zack. In the meantime, I'm going to let Tseng know about your progress. Also, I've got a mission here for you. With the Turks shorthanded they've been sending some of their missions our way. We've got reports of more Genesis copies in a network of caves outside Midgar. You shouldn't have a problem taking care of them."

"Haven't seen many missions with them lately," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"I've been sending squads of Seconds so you can focus on Strife and CS Delivery. Go take care of this mission Zack."

He clenched his fist and pumped it triumphantly. "Can do boss."

"I just don't get it," Zack shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "I thought that wagon would be a total hit. It looks super technological and cool."

"It's sort of odd, Zack," she said with a giggle. "The flower wagon is probably better. People bought all our flowers when we took that wagon out."

"But it's just that the wagon is awesome." He bounced along backward so he could watch Aerith's expressions. Her smiles were lovely. "So can I come selling flowers with you again tomorrow? I can chase down all the people again that don't stop at your wagon to look."

"Oh, Zack," she said, shaking her head. "You don't have to chase people down. People who want flowers will come."

"But if people don't know they want flowers then they won't stop." He pointed a thumb at his chest. "That's what I'm there for."

He bounded up the church stairs before her and swung them open. He froze in the opening, instantly sobering. Someone was in the chapel. They sat at the front, dust motes swirling around them, but jerked to their feet at the creaking of the doors.

He spied goggles and a bandana that forced spikes of bright yellow hair down to line face and neck. He wore a loose sweatshirt, board shorts, and sneakers. No visible weapons.

He held a hand out to Aerith to keep her from moving but she touched his fingers. He turned a glance her direction in surprise. She nodded significantly in the guest's direction.

His eyes widened and his head whipped back around. Blond hair? Cloud?

Cloud's heart beat heavy as he watched Zack run through a gamut of emotions. Surprise, suspicion, caution, tentative curiosity. Cloud rubbed his hands on his shorts to try and clear his clammy palms. So much rode on convincing Zack of little bits of the situation. He would tell Zack everything eventually, hopefully, but now he had to give his friend something, just enough to keep him pacified. Just enough to keep all those people back at Shinra distracted with the possibilities.

He shifted away from the bench to give himself extra space in case Zack inexplicably flipped out. But Zack looked equally as cautious as Cloud felt. He shoved his hands in his pockets and waited to see what the Soldier would. It was important to appear more fearful than he was. At least the anxiety wasn't entirely false. He didn't want to lose his best friend.

He shifted his weight and folded his arms instead. Zack approached cautiously, eyes shielded and wary, but still hopeful. He stopped some seven feet away, his eyes searching.

"Cloud?"

"Uh, Zack." Better to keep calm and neutral until he figured out what Zack was going to do.

Apparently, Zack thought the same thing because he didn't do anything but stare. It was like he was trying to figure something out just by looking at him. Probably determine if he was CS Delivery. He went to great pains to make himself look as un-terrorist-like as possible. The sweatshirt and shorts were supposed to make him appear more like the kid he should be.

"Take that stuff off Spike," Zack said, waving a finger at his face and head.

He slowly reached up and pulled the bandana off, his unruly spikes practically singing with freedom. He ran fingers through the locks just to get them to feel right. He shoved the bandana in his pocket but only fingered the goggles.

He dropped his chin to eye Zack's boots. "There's some things," he said, voice quieter than he expected. He fiddled with the strap bracket on the goggles.

Zack moved closer and put a hand on his shoulder. He kept the muscles loose beneath that hand. "Tell me what's going on Cloud."

He wasn't particularly fond of lies of omission or misdirection, they were partially responsible for Sephiroth's psychosis, but Zack would only be able to take so much truth at the moment. Because how could one really tell their best friend that in some future timeline they died and had chunks of their memories absorbed by someone else in the midst of a catastrophic mental breakdown.

"There are…holes…in my memory Zack." He paused, lifting his head enough to eye Zack's neck. "I don't remember how I got on the Shinra yard. I just kind of…," he shrugged, "woke up with all those infantrymen and that Second Class yelling at me. I can remember…seeing the results that I failed the Soldier exam but I can't remember taking the exam. But Zack," his voice dropped to a whisper, "I do remember things I don't think I did. I've got bits and flashes of…of storming a compound in Wutai. I can remember pagodas everywhere and all these ridiculous false walls that the Wutai troops kept popping through."

He rubbed his forehead and dropped his chin again. "There's this really weird memory too. There's green everywhere and I can't breathe and it all burns like acid. In my lungs and on my skin and on my eyes."

He had to stop talking. Even thinking about the bits and pieces he remembered of his time in the Shinra manor basement made him shaky. In the years since Sephiroth, he'd started to remember more and what he saw in his mind sometimes gave him nightmares.

He needed to focus. He needed Zack to not want to take him back to Shinra. He needed Zack on his side without telling him what was really going on.

"I freaked out Zack. I can't go back to Shinra. I won't go back to Shinra. I'm sorry I took the sword. I'll bring it back. But I needed gil and the only way to do that was to kill monsters in the slums."

"Spiky," Zack said, second hand clamping over his shoulder, "look at me." Zack bent at the knees to shorten his considerable height to bring them closer to even.

He lifted his head so he could eye his friend.

"I don't care about the sword. Something is going on and we're going to figure it out." The concern oozing from Zack's being lifted his heart. "Let me see your eyes alright? I need to know if what I saw on the video feeds was real or my imagination."

"Probably real," he mumbled, grabbing the goggles and pulling them down to leave them hanging around his neck.

Zack used one hand to angle his head up more for a better look. He wasn't quite expecting it when Zack leaned in close enough that he hovered right on the edge of getting so close his vision would blur.

"Damn, Spike. You've got some pretty advanced mako shine in your eyes."

He was aware of that. He was also aware of the fact that it was so advanced that when mixed with all his Jenova cells, he sported spots of green and slightly elongated pupils when his emotions spiked. Which they might be doing at that moment because he was still desperately hoping his friend wouldn't try to drag him back to Shinra and inadvertently force him to reveal his ridiculously monstrous fighting abilities. It wasn't entirely disastrous to have Shinra Company find out exactly who he was but it made things easier if it took them a while longer, and if he could reveal things on his own terms.

"What other things do you know that you've forgotten?" Zack asked. "You remember me right?"

He huffed a laugh. "It's kind of hard to forget you Zack." It took years of experimentation, fragmented mental capabilities, and a boatload of alien genetics to forget him, and even then it wasn't complete. But at least the comment drew a smile. "And it'll be kind of hard to know what I've forgotten. But I get what you mean. I can kind of guess what's in some of the holes. I don't remember crossing the ocean to join Shinra Company. I remember actually being on the boat but not getting on it. I'm pretty sure I must have been in Costa del Sol to get on the boat but I don't remember that. I remember being stationed in Junon but I don't know how I ended up in Midgar."

"You shouldn't have eyes like this without lots of exposure to mako."

Understatement in the extreme. Cloud shrugged. It wasn't like he could just randomly say that he'd been imprisoned in the Shinra manor basement for years of experimentation in an effort to replicate Sephiroth after he'd killed him for burning down his hometown in a future that might not happen now that he'd blown said manor to smithereens.

"How do you know Aerith, Cloud? I never told you her name."

"Zack," Aerith said, stepping closer to the two of them. Zack still didn't let him go but straightened and turned to acknowledge her. "Cloud came to me for help. He remembers falling through the church roof and meeting me."

That was the clincher and one of the few deliberate misdirections Cloud and Aerith agreed on. Zack's eyes widened.

Aerith asked, "Did you ever say anything about…?"

"No," Zack breathed. "I never told anyone."

He watched Zack's mental wheels turn without knowing why. Would this be enough to ignite Zack's protective fire? Was it too little? Would he need to give him more? Did he give too much? The tension was making him jittery. This was why he kept to himself. People made him nervous and energy without an outlet made him strange. As it was, his blood felt like it started to buzz.

"Where have you been Cloud?" Zack asked.

He folded his arms. "Around," he mumbled, dropping his chin again. He had to focus on keeping still.

"You left Shinra at a really bad time Spike," Zack said gently. "There's been some bad stuff going down and you leaving when you did makes things really suspicious."

He brought his head back up, brow furrowed. "Suspicious? What's suspicious?"

"Cloud," Zack said deliberately, "you withdrew, stole a sword, acted really bizarre, and then Shinra facilities in your hometown started blowing up. Throw in the fact that no one can contact you and even your mother still thinks you're in Shinra, it all looks very shady." Zack gave him a hard look. "Have you had anything to do with a group or a guy called CS Delivery?"

Aerith coughed, probably at his liberal use of his old delivery service's name.

He shifted nervously again and looked away from Zack. "There's some people," he paused, "who've been helping me. There's something about them. Maybe they…." He shrugged. "I don't feel like they're going to try and run experiments on me to figure out why I am the way that I am. Don't make me go back to Shinra Zack." He shuddered, hoping the deflection worked. "I don't think I felt like this before Zack. I'm honestly terrified of ending up in labs somewhere. I can remember people talking about labs and in a very bad way."

A little prick of pain zipped through his head. He put a hand to his temple as a memory flashed through his mind. "Commander Rhapsodos?" That didn't make sense. "He told me something about labs. But he looked really weird, like he was going gray or something." He shook his head. "Zack, when did I meet Commander Rhapsodos?"

He could feel the mako and Jenova cells in his blood starting to hum. That wasn't good. Why would the Jenova cells be activating? Jenova was dead and there was no one hovering in the Lifestream waiting to take control of him. He needed to calm down. Things always went weird in his head when he got emotional because it left him vulnerable to outside influence. But there wasn't anything that he could consider an outside influence.

His thoughts took an abrupt shift. Vincent and Nanaki were waiting for him in Kalm. What if something happened to them? He blinked rapidly, shaking his head. That didn't have anything to do with anything at the moment.

Another memory flashed through his head. Sephiroth talking about Project G. Didn't that have to do with the mass desertions? And there was some other scientist. The guy looked like a freak in beat up shorts and a t-shirt under his lab coat. It practically made Hojo look professional.

"Whoa, Spiky," Zack said, bracing his hand on either side of his face, coming back down to his height, "you look like you're freaking out. Or you're going to have a seizure or something. Just breathe."

The taller man took a ridiculously exaggerated breath. "Breathe in…and out. Just breathe with me Spiky."

As stupid as it seemed, he did what Zack told him. Oddly enough, it worked.

Then it hit him that those must be more of Zack's memories. But that tingling, zippy hum of Jenova cells only happened when he was taking in new memories. He vaguely remembered it happening a lot when he first joined Avalanche. It wasn't something that should be happening now.

"Thanks Zack." He grabbed one of the Soldier's armor harnesses. Something solid to anchor him.

He would never understand it seemed. Technically, he was the older of the two now. But Zack, in his infinite energy, understanding, and devotion, could ground him like nothing else. It was no wonder the guy's spirit kept having to resurface to give him pep talks in the middle of battles. He'd go worse than clinically insane without all the extra help and the Planet seemed to know it.

Then he remembered. Jenova might be nothing but cosmic dust, but the entire Soldier department had been infused with small amounts of Jenova cells. It wasn't Reunion levels as Hojo hadn't started trying to replicate Sephiroth until after he was dead, but they still had a bit of evil alien parasite in them. Maybe…when he was emotionally agitated, it left him particularly open to the memories of someone else with Jenova cells. Jenova cells liked Jenova cells after all. And having chunks of Zack's memories already floating about in his head probably made him even more attuned to picking his up.

"I won't make you come back to Shinra Cloud." Zack shook his head. "But you've got to give me something to work with. It may come as a bit of a shock but Shinra's got you on the suspect list for those terrorist bombings and a raid on Junon. If you know the people who did it, you've got to help me catch them. They took some very dangerous things and when they use them, it'll hurt a lot of people."

"But if I help you then Shinra will know about me and I can't go back there. I just can't Zack." If he convinced Zack of nothing else, he needed the Soldier on board with his not going anywhere near evil researchers.

"Don't you worry about that Spiky. You're not going back there. I'm not going to let even one of those scientists get a hold of you. I'll figure out what's going on. But you've got to give me a way to get hold of you. Will you give me your new PHS number?"

He stared into Zack's mako bright eyes and studied him. He knew Zack about as well as he knew himself. He had enough of the important memories to know the best bits and he learned a lot of the rest. The Zack in front of him was every bit as honest as the one in his memories.

He nodded. It wasn't like Shinra would be able to backtrack the signal anyway. He'd taken care of the hardware. Thank you again Reeve.

Suddenly, Zack had him wrapped up in a bear hug and picked him up off the floor, swinging him around like a dog with a new toy. "I missed you Spiky! Don't you ever do something like this again. If you decide to take off on a random trip you've got to tell me so I can get time off work to follow you like the big stalker best friend that I am. Things have been crazy and I don't get to see you often enough. But you'll work with me right? I'll make sure everything gets worked out just right and the people you're hanging out with don't have anything to do with terrorists. Then we'll all throw a party with all our friends. We'll even invite Tseng and vice president Shinra. I know that guy is pretty young to be the vice president but he seems to know what he's doing."

He returned Zack's hug as best he could, resigning himself to being swung around like a toy, and chuckled. He'd forgotten what it was like to have Zack around in the flesh without the somber attitude that permeated his being once he'd died.

He just hoped Zack was still this happy once he had the whole story.

AN: Any and all comments, disclaimers, and notes are on my profile page. If I get asked a question enough times, its answer is there too.