Tobi: Yo! Thanks to MizuYousei (1,050!) and honeyberries (1,100!). and, look, finally! WARNING: MAAAAANLOOOOOOOOVE! ...Finally. :D OH! WARNING: random people ahead! Yes, everyone is in this chapter. I apologize for our freakishness; you can ignore all the Dissidia characters if you want.

CM: Hi guys. Man this week was so rough on me. I'm pretty sure many of you are gonna enjoy this chapter... :D Go on now. Read.

For some reason, it felt like he was being watched.

In Midgar, when you were out in public, you were always being watched or glanced at, but that was normal. This persistent, uncomfortable prickling on the back of his neck was making him more than a little suspicious.

He wasn't up to much. He had just visited Aerith and Denzel below the plate, and now he was on his way back to his apartment. Strolling along on the sidewalk seemed perfectly safe, but he couldn't quite shake the feeling that he wasn't safe.

The odd feeling lingered and even strengthened after he turned a corner. Cloud sped up, uneasy.

About fifteen seconds later, he was roughly grabbed from behind. A hand clamped over his mouth and Cloud immediately started to struggle, but then he was stuffed into the passenger seat of a car before he could do anything. The hands disappeared, something cold closed over his wrist, and then he heard the slamming of his door.

Cloud's eyes, which had previously been clenched shut in fear, snapped open. The shiny ring of a set of handcuffs glinted; he was cuffed to a metal bar on the ceiling of the car. A man with the reddest hair he had ever seen was in the driver's seat, pointing a gun directly at his chest. "Stay still for me, alright?" he said in a voice that seemed to be calm, but had an undertone of growing panic. He was adjusting and flicking switches and checking the mirrors of the high-tech car they were in.

With a gun in his face, he really wasn't thinking about trying to run. Cloud gave a frantic nod, mouth glued shut in fear. The redhead kept the gun pointed at him and brought the car to life.

I'm being kidnapped! Why hasn't anyone come to my rescue yet! Didn't anybody see me get thrown in here! Holy shit!

Cloud pressed against the wall of the car, eyes wide. A steady stream of curses flew through his head. Oh, he was too young to die—

The car abruptly flew into motion. Cloud jerked and hit the back of his seat. The hard cuff dug into his wrist, and he let out a small yip of pain. The redhead drove like a madman, going at least forty miles over the speed limit. Oh jeez... he was trying to run from the law!

Cloud finally found his voice. "What's going on! Where are you taking me!"

His kidnapper didn't answer; he kept the gun pointed at him and drove with the other hand. He was wearing a suit. A Turk.

I'm being abducted by the Turks! I'm so dead!

The wail of sirens came from behind them. A chopper was overhead somewhere. ...This was bad. Very bad. The man cursed and sped up even more; he weaved through cars and went through stoplights like a crazed drunk.

"Hey!" Cloud shouted. He struggled a little, cuffs rattling against the bar on the ceiling. The man glanced at him briefly before going back to driving; a few seconds later his head snapped back onto him.

"You're not the target!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"What target!" Cloud was nearly in tears. A cop car came at their right side, and they sped up, skidded and shot towards an alley near a pizza shop to avoid it.

"Dammit!" the man swore. "Fuckin' cops. I knew I shouldnt've taken this mission!"

Cloud yelled when bullets rained down on them. The back windshield exploded and sprayed glass onto them, and a huge dent appeared in the roof almost directly over Cloud's head.

"Fuck! Alright, calm down, yo! I'll get us out of this. Hold on tight!" He flipped a plastic covering over a switch up and flicked it up. Something in the hood of the car whined, and, like there was a rocket on the back of the car, they zoomed forward so fast Cloud was pressed into the back of the seat and couldn't breathe. Lights and cars melded together in one long blur. The redhead whooped and hollered the whole time, and after about a minute, they slowed back down to a normal speed. They were out of Midgar, speeding down a highway that was suspiciously empty. The man jerked on the brakes, and Cloud went flying forward, cuff digging into his wrist so much he felt it cut in.

"Whew! That was awesome, yo!" The man turned to him, grinning. Cloud was silent, hair a mess, eyes huge, blood trickling down his forearm. The man's smile fell. "Uh, hey—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kidnap you, alright? You just look like the guy I was supposed to get..."

His phone rang, and he answered. Cloud very clearly heard someone scream, "RENO!"

The man winced. "Look—this mission was fucked up from the start, alright? Don't—"

Cloud listened to the conversation, shaking with rage. Eventually he shouted, interrupting Reno's long list of excuses, "Let me go!" He rattled his aching arm and sputtered incomprehensibly. There weren't words for how angry he was!

Reno hurriedly uncuffed him, whistling when he saw the damage. Cloud wrapped his hand in his shirt and glared.

"Uh, look," Reno sighed. "I'm a Turk, so don't think about doing anything funny."

I wasn't going to. Out loud Cloud spat, after saying a few choice words that made the man's eyes widen, "You better take me back to Midgar. If you're really a Turk-" he made sure his voice was dripping in scorn and disbelief, "-then I know enough people to get you fired in no time flat."

Reno's eyes narrowed. "You're lying."

Cloud smirked, looking a lot more confident and tough than he felt. "Am I? Rufus Shin-Ra is my cousin. And if I'm not mistaken, he's ultimately in charge of the Turks."

Reno choked. He critically inspected Cloud's face for almost a minute before whistling again. "Midgar, here we come," he muttered. "Oh, but we can't take this car back. The cops are after it. Long story, don't ask—complete lack of Turk protocol involved, yo."

Cloud grunted, and Reno unlocked the car. They scrambled out, and Reno led him across the highway (it was odd walking on it and not seeing any cars) to a motorcycle hidden behind a small shack about forty feet from the road. Immediately Cloud tensed and debated walking the gazillion miles back, but had to decide against it in the end. Reno sat on it and dangled the helmet out.

"You coming, blondie?"

Cloud growled and perched on the seat behind Reno. The man smushed the helmet onto his head, making a comment about "rich boys and their soft skulls."

"I'm dirt poor," Cloud murmured, hesitantly putting his hands on Reno's shoulders.

Reno snickered. "You've gotta hold on tighter than that, yo. You're gonna fall off. No skin off my back if you die, but I figured I'd tell you."

Cloud grumbled and hugged the man's chest tightly, squeezing so hard when Reno shot forward the man had to elbow him so he could breathe. The ride back was considerably less exciting than before. Cloud wondered why a helicopter had been shooting at them but didn't ask.

"So, what's your name?"

"Cloud," he unhappily said into the other's ear.

"Weird name, yo."

"Reno's a stupid name."

They continued to bicker as they re-entered the city limits. Reno had to enter a different way from where they had left; Cloud now saw exploded rock sitting all over the ground. There had been an explosion. Twisted Turks.

Cloud pointed out the way back home, and Reno dropped him off in front of an apartment complex. It wasn't where he lived, but one a few blocks away from his house. He didn't want a creep Turk with a gun knowing where he lived. Cloud glared fiercely and turned to leave, but the redhead called him back.

"...Hey. I guess I'll stop by in a few days to check up on you, make sure you're alright. I'll have some guys stake you out, just to make sure you aren't being targeted 'cause of this little mishap or nothin'."

Alarmed now, Cloud could only nod.

Reno winked at him. "Take care, Cloud."

Cloud lifted a hand in farewell, and Reno drove off.

...That was weird.

He walked home and cleaned his wrist up, bandaging it and cursing. Stupid Turk! What a waste of an hour of his life... but it had been fun, he'd admit, even though he had been about to pee himself for over half of it.

A year later, when Reno and Cloud thought about how they first met, they could only laugh.

...It was much quieter than usual in the library. The air seemed stiller, the dusty air seemed more oppressive because it wasn't oppressive, and the tall bookshelves seemed more foreboding than they used to. It was... a curious experience.

Mako was risky to read. Before he never would have dared read it anywhere other than his bedroom, but now that the ghosts were gone, he felt brave enough to read it in a more comfortable spot. Still, he had the cover pressed against his thighs so it couldn't be seen. He didn't quite believe that they were gone. Four ghosts... they had actually left? Because of him? Really?

A war and they were still around. One little screaming match, and they disappeared! Cloud felt kind of... cheated. Talk about anti-climatic.

He shook his head and returned to reading. After a week or so of being totally alone, he was desperate for information, to get closer to the ghosts and figure them out. Where had they come from? What did they want? Why did they suddenly decide to listen to him and leave him alone? He had questions, and he wouldn't stop looking until he found his answers.

He didn't miss them though. No way! That would be stupid. He didn't miss the ghosts, but he did sort of miss the excitement that came along with them.

Cloud sighed. Mako was talking about some sort of experiment now. A syringe with some horrible dimensions for the needle, restraints, a scalpel... he was creeped out, most definitely. What was worse was that parts were written in the first person. He could practically hear Hojo's slimy voice say the words. "If I am successful, I could then check the variability in erythrocyte counts and the viscosity of the plasma samples for signs of..."

Hojo. Without a doubt, the man had been involved in human experimentation. Again, Cloud was getting the feeling that there was more to his ghosts than he originally thought. But... invisible humans? That seemed to be a bit of a stretch.

Some things didn't match up. He had four ghosts. Hojo talked about having five main subjects. But, some things made an eerie amount of sense. Hojo specifically mentioned a laboratory in Nibelheim more than once. The creepy tunnel he had found in the coffin room appeared in his mind's eye with strange clarity.

The library now seemed too big, too scary. Cloud shivered and moved back upstairs to his bedroom, where it at least felt safer. The whole mansion seemed cold and still, like it was waiting for something. In all the ghost shows he had ever seen, people always talked about the amazing feeling of warmth and peace that came over their home after the spirit that had been torturing them was driven away. Cloud's situation was exactly the opposite. The life seemed to be sucked out of the mansion.

Cloud lay down and continued to read. His blond brows drew together as he learned more secrets. ...Who had Hojo let read this book? If anyone normal, and not a mad, insane scientist got their hands on Mako, Hojo would have been in jail in the blink of an eye. It was a little horrifying.

When he couldn't bear to read any more, Cloud tossed the book to the floor and stared at the ceiling. Maybe there were invisible humans in his mansion. Why hadn't they spoken to him? What was their beef with him to start with?

He had so many questions.

For a while, Cloud entertained the thought of being invisible. That would be really fun. Imagine all the stuff he could do to people! He could play tricks on them, take their stuff, pretend to be a ghost... and holy crap, maybe he really did have invisible people in his house! That was exactly what happened to him! But really... he could do a whole lot of cool stuff.

Cloud wrinkled his nose as a totally gross thought crossed his mind. Eww. He thought about it, though. If you were invisible, you could get away with a lot of things... and that included activities of a sexual nature. Gaia, he was a sick fuck if he thought about being fucked by ghosts. Well, certainly not his ghosts—as they were assholes who deserved to rot in hell—but ghosts in general. That was kind of interesting, actually.

His breathing sped up, and Cloud mentally kicked himself. Getting excited over something like this! But 'invisibility' must have been a secret fetish of his, because the more he thought about it, the more he was... interested.

There was something exciting about being touched with hands that he couldn't see, and something thrilling about not knowing where the next touch would be or where it would come from. (Reno always did like blindfolding him, and he had never complained.) It had been so long since he had indulged a little bit—not since he had moved in! Gaia, he could barely be called a man.

"I am so fucked up," Cloud breathed as he glanced down at his crotch. It agreed with him.

Cloud winced and let the fantasy unfold in his head, then gave in and lowered his hand.

Of course, the Invisibles had no intention of leaving the mansion. They still considered it theirs, after all. They were still around, but they were giving Cloud his space. Lots of it. If he entered a room, they left it. If Cloud came outside, they went inside. It was annoying and tried their patience, but they kept this new system going.

They left no traces, they made no noise, nothing. They hung around, though, making sure Cloud was more or less okay and not killing himself or lighting the house on fire or anything. That would have been bad.

Today they planned on spending some time on the balcony of the third floor. It was a nice place to sit and look out at the mountains. Soon it would be too cold to do anything like that, so they got it in while they could.

Cloud was in his bedroom; earlier he had stopped reading in the library and went there. It was sort of a habit to check in on him, and as they passed Cloud's room on the way up, Sephiroth peeked in. The door was open a few inches.

The General stopped short and didn't budge. The other three came back, squeezing to see whatever Cloud was doing that made Sephiroth pause.

All four got an eyeful of an arched back, a pumping hand and thrusting fingers before they all stumbled over themselves and fell back into the hallway. Angeal tripped over Zack's foot and actually did fall, hitting the ground with a thud. Cloud didn't hear it, but that wasn't a surprise.

"Goddess!" Genesis exclaimed softly, backing away from the door. Zack swore and danced down the hallway, jumping into the next room and poking his head back into the hallway like a scolded pet. Silence.

Angeal got up, flashed a horrified look at the others and continued on his way upstairs, but at a considerably faster pace than before. The others quickly followed. Once outside, they were quiet. Embarrassment seeped out of their pores like slime. ...Cloud really must have felt sure that they were really gone.

"...You know," Genesis said, ignoring his bright red face, "We should have expected to see something like this. I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner."

Angeal snorted and laughed deeply for a few seconds. Zack snickered and said to Genesis, "Hey. I know what you meant about a fourteen, though."

Sephiroth kicked him in the shin for that.

The watermelon didn't stand a chance. Cloud viciously cut it into pieces, frowning. This whole alone thing was getting to him. For about two weeks now... nothing. His days were filled with reading Mako and watching television. Nothing fun. Nothing exciting. Nothing weird. It was scary, actually—being alone obviously wasn't his thing.

There were plenty of things to do, true. But working out in the basement was getting old. There was only so many sports one could play by oneself without someone else; tennis was one of them, since he didn't have a wall to bounce anything off of. Cloud tried—he really did—to entertain himself, but it just wasn't working. If he had to watch another movie by himself he would scream. He wanted to be with people; he wanted to interact with someone, but he couldn't.

Cloud accidentally dropped the knife on the floor. The sharp sound it made as it hit echoed in the house. ...That wasn't normal. This whole freaking mansion was silent and empty and scarier than it ever had been.

He ate the fruit at the dining table, getting juice all over his chin and fingers but not really caring. Just a couple weeks ago, a whole roll of paper towels would have found their way to his face, but now not even the napkin in front of him moved. Cloud sighed and wiped his face.

Tifa had called and suggested he throw a Halloween party, as the holiday was just around the corner. His original plan was to eat candy and try not to watch scary movies, but this sounded more fun. Only Aerith had seen the mansion so far. His other friends had been badgering him, begging to be invited over. Now he could shut them all up.

It was a good idea. He wouldn't be by himself. He'd get to see the friends he hadn't hung out with for months. He'd be able to stop thinking about those damned ghosts too.

Smiling, Cloud cleaned up and called Tifa. She was as excited as he was about it, and once they agreed to get together the next day and buy decorations, he hung up and began calling everyone else.

The mansion was no longer a quiet, still place. Tifa and Cloud sucked Nibelheim dry—very fitting, Cloud thought, given that it was almost Halloween—and spent days decorating the mansion. A good number of people told him they could come, but Cloud prepared for more than that. People just loved to show up to things uninvited. It had happened before.

"Oh man," Zack said excitedly, examining a huge fake cobweb Cloud had put in the foyer, "I love Halloween." He itched to help the blond decorate, but knew he couldn't. They were supposed to be "gone," after all. It was a shame.

"We know you do," Angeal said fondly, drawing the younger male into a brief kiss. Zack had been chattering about the thirty-first endlessly for weeks.

Sephiroth was outside, nervously hovering beneath the ladder Cloud was standing on. Cloud was hanging giant fake spiders. He wasn't the most coordinated person, they had gathered, thus Sephiroth's concern. He'd catch him if he fell, though that would certainly have some bad after-effects.

Once Cloud and Tifa finished decorating, Tifa stayed away for a few days to make her costume and do bar-related stuff. That was fine with Cloud; he spent the whole day before the party cooking without distractions. He made all sorts of things that could be heated up in the oven before the party; no one would know.

When Cloud opened up the oven and bent over to stick the tray inside, he was consumed by fear. If this had been just a few weeks ago, he'd be dead, shoved into it like the witch from Hansel and Gretel.

The fact that he was still alone resurfaced when nothing happened, and he started cooking the food without incident.

...Dammit.

That night it was even harder to sleep than it had been with the ghosts around. He didn't know why, but it was. He was nearly shaking; nothing had happened in so long, he was convinced something bad would happen as soon as he closed his eyes. He'd be cut in half or smothered or beaten to death... it was a completely irrational fear, but Cloud was terrified. He did eventually manage to fall asleep, and when he did, Zack made sure to fix his sheets. Stupid paranoid kid had nearly kicked them off.

The next day was Halloween. Cloud woke and went downstairs to eat breakfast. He was sleepy. Cloud mindlessly shoveled cereal into his mouth, and when he heard his doorbell ring, he nearly spit it all out onto the table.

Someone's here already?

The time to show up was five. It was about eight in the morning. Cloud hurried to the door; whoever it was was repeatedly jabbing the button like a turd. Gaia, he hated it when people did that!

He opened it. He saw a flash of purple before he was being embraced. He was kissed once on the lips and again on each cheek, before he was pushed away. They briskly walked into the house and exclaimed, "How on Gaia did you manage to get your hands on this, Cloud?"

"Rufus," Cloud said stupidly. His cousin turned. He was wearing a pimp suit—Cloud almost didn't dare believe his eyes. It was made out of that fuzzy-looking velvety fabric. He had a big corny top hat, a giant Gil sign necklace (were those real diamonds?) and a ridiculous pair of sunglasses. He had a cane in his right hand, but it wasn't the old person kind—no, it was the rich, spoiled brat kind with a gigantic emerald in the top.

"Do you like it?" Rufus asked, posing a little.

Cloud smiled faintly. "It fits you perfectly." He was still in his pajamas and coughed self-consciously. He grinned and led Rufus to the kitchen, saying, "I didn't know you were actually going to come."

"I'm too good to answer invitations," Rufus said seriously, nosily poking his head into each room they passed. "I just show up."

"Yeah, like nine hours before anything starts."

"I'm fashionably early."

"I think you just forgot what time you were supposed to be here."

Rufus didn't answer. Cloud smiled.

The Invisibles were in a state of shock. Rufus Shin-Ra had just waltzed inside their crazy blond's house, kissed him and now was eating breakfast with him. Rufus was the second most powerful and wealthy man on the planet; Cloud was a marshmallow boy who slept with a stuffed chocobo. How...?

"They're cousins," Sephiroth said, finally getting it. He and Rufus were distantly related, and if Cloud was related to Hojo it meant he was related to Sephiroth and it made sense that those two were closely related; they looked quite alike, even if they acted totally different. Everyone seemed to be connected somehow, and it was irritating.

"Damn. Cloud knows some people in high places, huh."

"I'm actually surprised I haven't met Cloud before," Sephiroth mused. "I would have remembered him if I had." That would have saved everyone a whole lot of grief, if they had known him from before Hojo had kidnapped them.

Rufus listened attentively as Cloud filled him in on everything. The older blond not-so-subtly made Cloud go outside and help retrieve his bags as they talked. Cloud said Hojo's lawyer had given him the house, and he had been here ever since. He left out anything about ghosts. Rufus nodded when he was done and said, "I'm glad you don't live in that shitty apartment anymore. The color scheme here isn't to my tastes at all, but this mansion is pretty okay, as far as mansions go."

"...Thanks," Cloud said, rolling his eyes.

He left Rufus to no doubt sniff around as he darted upstairs to put on his costume once all of Rufus' crap was inside. He had gone for cute at first, but then decided to go for something a little tougher. Now he was supposed to be some sort of sexy biker dude, but he just felt like a leather-wearing crackhead. Aerith had suggested he have a sign on his back that said "Fenrir's Bitch," but he had politely turned her down. That was a little bit creepy.

He tugged on his rarely-worn motorcycling jacket, jingling and clanking slightly as he did so. Leather pants were not his thing, and he already didn't like all the chains and belts he had hooked onto them.

How does Squall do it?

Cloud raked gel through his hair to make his spikes look even straighter and more awesome and deadly than usual, then went back downstairs to Rufus. He was inspecting the candy bowl set on top of a dresser in the parlor that made a screaming sound whenever anyone took a piece out.

"Pfft," Rufus enunciated clearly when he saw his cousin. Cloud flipped him off and returned to the kitchen, heading to the oven and starting to prepare. Surprisingly, Rufus helped him. They chatted and sort-of flirted as they worked.

Cloud's relationship with Rufus was weird, sort of sexual but really asexual at the same time. He still acutely remembered their first little escapade in the bathroom of that SOLDIER's apartment. They bestowed a peck or two every now and again and Rufus really liked to grab his butt (and vice versa, Cloud would admit) but that was the extent of their... strange friendship. And Cloud hardly ever saw Rufus anyway, so it was alright. Right? It wasn't as bad as it sounded—it was...Planet, they were weird.

Cloud kept piling food on the table in the middle of the foyer in between the two staircases. Rufus got cups out of their plastic wrapper and got out the silverware, things like that. Sephiroth was trying to figure out a way to eat a piece of candy without the bowl screaming and giving him away.

"So, how many are coming?"

"I can't really guess," Cloud said dryly, "since there's people like you who don't tell me they're coming and show up anyway."

"Shut up."

Chuckling, Cloud said, "Uh, maybe ten people? I dunno. Oh—my friend Tifa said she'd be over pretty early."

"Hmm," Rufus grunted, setting paper plates on the table. They worked for perhaps another half-hour before someone knocked. Cloud hurried to the door and greeted Tifa. She was a butterfly, in a black dress with big shimmery wings tied to her back. It was... strangely feminine for tough Tifa, and he raised an eyebrow.

Tifa grinned. "What, I can't wear a dress around you?"

Cloud looked her up and down. "Nah—you can pull it off. It's fine." He scrunched his face up in thought. "You have really great legs, Tifa—you could get away with a shorter dress next time. Hmm... and think about getting a better pair of heels. Those don't go well with your dress."

"...Uh," Tifa said, following him inside. Was she supposed to feel praised or insulted? "...Alright."

They both marveled at how great—and maybe a little bit cheesy—the mansion looked. Cloud had just pointed out the fake rats on the couch cushions when Rufus poked his head out of the kitchen. "Is this stuff supposed to be burning? You might want to get in here...quickly."

Cloud cursed and darted to the kitchen. Rufus noticed Tifa and came out to say hello. Cloud removed a giant pan of baked ziti from the oven, frowning when it appeared to be perfectly fine. Rufus was such a picky eater. He set it on the stove top and returned to his friends; Tifa was staring at Rufus as he blabbered about something, absolutely star-struck. It was funny.

The three of them continued to get ready. Tifa took over in the kitchen, Cloud tried to fix the prongs of the giant stereo he had ruined a while ago, and Rufus texted people.

More people showed up around four-thirty. Barrett had driven Aerith, Yuffie, his adopted daughter Marlene and Denzel up from Midgar. Aerith was an alien, and Cloud cracked up as soon as he saw her. Her face was painted green and she had two cute antennae on her head. Her shirt and shorts were green too. Barrett was a fireman, Marlene was a fairy, and Denzel seemed to be a wizard. Yuffie was some sort of ninja princess thing. Cloud owed his life to her, literally—she was a leader of a gang back in Midgar and had gotten him out of an extremely sticky situation once. ...Seriously.

Cloud stooped a little and gave Denzel a hug. Aerith had told him that the kid had missed him. Marlene immediately made friends with Tifa, and Barrett glared daggers at Rufus. It was no secret that Barrett despised Shin-Ra. Cloud nervously wondered if there would be a problem, but Rufus seemed just fine ignoring the man, so it seemed everything would be fine. Just in case, he shot a warning glance at Barrett.

"...You really live here, Cloud?" Denzel sounded doubtful. Cloud grinned and nodded. Yuffie looked just as disbelieving.

"I told you it was nice," Aerith said, smiling.

Two more people suddenly walked through the door, and Sephiroth nearly had a stroke.

"Lazard!" Cloud said gleefully. "Holy sh—crap, you came!"

Rufus' head snapped around so fast it was a miracle he didn't break his neck. Those two had always disliked each other, and just recently they had found out that they were half-brothers. Cloud liked him though. He had met the Director of SOLDIER for the first time probably about a year ago when he had been visiting Rufus at the Shin-Ra building. With Lazard was Reeve Tuesti, who Cloud had only met, like, once. Why was he here?

"Oh my fucking..." Zack trailed off. How the hell was Cloud so well-known? The Director and the Head of Urban Development? All four ached to go to Lazard and tell him that they were okay and alive, but... they couldn't. Lazard wouldn't believe them; he'd think he was going crazy.

"...He's a vampire," Zack said, flabbergasted. He watched Lazard shake Cloud's hand with his mouth open.

Genesis had his hands over his eyes. "I can't believe Tuesti." Reeve was in a giant moogle costume, and he kept giving the evil eye to anyone who stared at it for too long.

Next to show was Terra, who was a clown. Aerith had managed to get the giant stereo working, and now the whole mansion was filled with Halloween music. Every time there was a loud wail or scream from the speakers Marlene would scream too, to Barrett's displeasure. He told Cloud to turn the stereo off but he was ignored. Parties without music were boring and lame.

Olga and Helga came as witches. They nearly fainted right at Rufus' feet, and then once they found out who Lazard was, tried to follow him around. Cloud pointed everyone towards the food and hovered near the door, waiting for more arrivals.

Squall and Firion came next. This was a surprise, as Squall hadn't answered his invitation. Firion had, though, and Cloud trotted outside a little to give him a brotherly hug. Firion owned a weapon shop in Midgar down the street from his old apartment. His stuff was so good, SOLDIER went to him sometimes if they wanted custom-made weapons. Squall was a SOLDIER Second who was friends with Reno. After he had broken up (quite spectacularly, too) with Reno, he thought that he wouldn't be able to talk to Squall anymore, but luckily he still did.

The typical pre-party mingling continued. Aerith told him Marlene was upstairs exploring, and he nodded. When he had invited everyone he had asked for them to bring something to eat, and Tifa was taking everything and putting it on the main table.

Cid was last to arrive, cursing and spitting about traffic or something. He grinned at Cloud and tried to give him a high-five, but Cloud was staring at his hand.

He had a bag of jolly ranchers.

Cloud ripped it out of the man's hand and threw the bag as hard as he could into the woods with a yell.

"...What the fuck," Cid said flatly, turning and going inside. He didn't even ask.

With everyone (hopefully) present, Cloud shut the door and surveyed everything. Rufus was half-drunk already, Lazard was glaring at him, Tifa was avoiding Aerith, Firion was explaining lances to an entirely too-interested Denzel, and Marlene was stuffing her face with candy while complaining of a stomachache.

Someone switched the Halloween music with the radio, and the party picked up. Helga, Olga and Yuffie immediately started dancing. Cloud scurried to the food table, absolutely starving.

"Hey, Cloud," a voice said to his left, just as he shoved a forkful of ziti into his mouth. Cloud chewed hastily, swallowed and turned. Firion smiled at him, dressed up as Prince. He had light blue puffy pants, a frilly, royal-looking shirt and a loose cap thing made out of a shiny fabric on his head. It had a feather sticking out of it. Cloud immediately laughed at him.

"It's been a while," Firion said casually, popping a chunk of a chocolate bar into his mouth.

Cloud agreed. "How's the shop?"

"Business is good," the "Prince" said. "There've been more monster sightings lately, so more common people are buying weapons to protect themselves."

Cloud remembered the monster in his pool. Scary stuff. He eyed the costume and laughed again. "Sorry," he giggled, "I can't help it. A guy who makes swords to kill things for a living can't be a good Prince Charming."

Firion sighed. He stood a little straighter and plucked a rose from a front pocket on his shirt. He held it out, going into a little bow.

"For you," he said, voice like silk.

Cloud blinked. Twice.

"It's the wild rose," Firion said, taking Cloud's hand and gently making him hold the bottom tip where there weren't any thorns. He stepped closer and tucked some hair behind Cloud's ear. He stared right into his eyes as he said, "It's beautiful, isn't it? But..." he pricked his thumb on a thorn, letting a drop of blood appear. "They've got thorns." He slowly licked the blood away. "But having something that is truly beautiful is worth any pain or hardships, is it not?"

Cloud was completely silent. Firion stayed still, looking into his face with his hand over Cloud's until Cloud gasped, "Holy crap!"

Firion cracked up. He doubled over and laughed until he was on the ground on his knees, nearly crying. Cloud joined him, sitting on the ground and chuckling until he was red in the face.

"...Woooww," Genesis moaned, slapping a hand over his cheek. He shook his head at the two of them.

"I make a great Prince Charming," Firion said proudly.

"You really do," Cloud confessed, smiling. Across the room Tifa frowned at them. That had been kinda weird...

Half an hour later, everyone was going crazy. The music was turned up so loud you could practically hear your teeth vibrate. Everyone was dancing, yelling, screaming or doing something stupid. Cloud had his arms around Rufus's neck and was thrashing around wildly. It wasn't quite like dancing—more like an intense mix of play-fighting and humping.

"I'm convinced Cloud's gay," Genesis declared as he watched Rufus accidentally fling Cloud into a wall. Cloud laughed and Rufus fell on top of him. They both lay there, drunkenly wiggling for a minute.

Sephiroth's lips twitched. "Does it matter?"

"No, but I'm not putting up with some gross boyfriend in our house someday. I won't tolerate a woman, either! Cloud is bad enough as it is."

Once the alcohol was brought out (once Marlene had fallen asleep), things got crazy. Aerith relentlessly teased Squall (who was dressed as a cop) and Barrett. Reeve (and Cloud still didn't know why he was here) was taking apart an electronic spider thing in the corner and holding all the different parts up to the light. ...Weirdo.

Denzel tried to sneak a beer, but as soon as he took a sip, Tifa saw and yelled at him.

"You're too young!" she scolded, taking it. Denzel grimaced.

"I can handle it," he challenged.

"Alcohol can really mess you up," she said sternly, hands on hips. "Especially if you start drinking early."

Denzel rolled his eyes. That was a bad move. Tifa immediately got huffy and started the "overbearing mother" routine, making him get away from the cooler and go hang out with Firion and Aerith. He grumbled but listened to her.

Cloud smiled at that. He was still starving and trotted to the food. He watched as Squall and Terra quietly argued over something. He plunged his hand into a bag and shoved a few of whatever it was into his mouth.

Before he could quite get the stuff up to his lips, however, a hand clamped over his mouth and he felt a sharp pain on his wrist. He dropped everything he was holding. He was suddenly released, and the bag clearly floated up a few feet, rolled itself up and was tossed to the ground. It slid across the floor about thirty feet.

Startled, Cloud stepped back. No one else noticed anything. Cloud blinked down at what was now on the floor. Peanut butter filled pretzels.

A wave of nausea washed over him. He had almost eaten that.

...His ghosts were back. They had saved him?

Angeal wheezed, hands on his knees. He had seen Cloud unknowingly grab what could kill him from the next room over, and had sprinted so fast he nearly flew over to him and had knocked it right out of his hand. That had been too close.

The ghosts were still here! Hadn't he told them to get lost? The nerve! But...

They had saved his life.

...What did he do now? He still hated them, yes, but... he felt some piece of hatred towards them crumble away to nothing inside. Oh, yes. He still wanted to kill them. Just... not as much, maybe. Maybe.

Not hungry anymore, Cloud grabbed a beer and left the table. He'd spend more thought on the matter later. Right now, everyone was gathering together to do something fun, and he didn't want to miss it.

"We're playing spin the bottle, Cloud," Yuffie hiccuped at him. Mostly everyone was sitting in a circle on the carpet of a living room. Barrett was sitting on a couch a few feet away, clearly not intending on playing. Terra was passed out on the couch, cuddling a sleepy Denzel. Reeve was—holy shit, he was taking apart the television now.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cloud said, probably a bit too loudly. Everyone by this point was drunk or somewhat so.

Reeve glanced up at him but said nothing.

"Who has a bottle?" Yuffie asked. Everyone checked their pockets, like one would just be sitting there. Rufus eventually noticed the one in his hand and volunteered it, but only after draining it first.

"...What are we?" Squall said slowly, blinking a bit too often. "Fourteen? Spin the bottle..."

"Quiet, SOLDIER," Lazard said pleasantly. He had Olga's arm around his waist and Helga was leaning against his shoulder. He looked perfectly happy. Angeal was horrified, seeing his Director like that.

Someone spun the bottle, and the game started. Right away Tifa had to kiss Cid. She seemed to realize that the boys outnumbered girls and shrugged, figuring she'd be doing a lot of kissing. Her eyes went wide when Firion had to kiss Lazard.

Lazard winced but let Firion, who by now was missing his fancy hat and slurred every word, plant a sloppy smooch on the corner of his mouth. Yuffie cheered and egged them on but that was all they did.

Suddenly it was Cloud's turn. He gulped and spun, hoping it landed on someone halfway decent. ...Tifa.

Aerith suddenly started giggling. Cloud glared at her, then crawled across the circle. Tifa looked shocked, and Cloud smiled before lightly pecking her. He then retreated, scooting back to his spot. Tifa was blushing.

Not good, not good... dammit.

Aerith kissed Squall, Yuffie had to kiss Helga (that had been interesting, to say the least) and then Lazard spun... and got Rufus.

"Fuck," they said at the same time.

The three Nibelheim-born girls stared with wide eyes as Lazard unhappily kissed his half-brother. Rufus made a gagging sound and wobbled drunkenly. Lazard drew back, wiped his mouth and sat down.

Sephiroth and Angeal were almost in stitches. This was too funny.

"They're all crazy," Angeal sighed, smiling.

Squall spun slowly, trying to not go fast and screw up and look like a drunk like everyone else. It spun around four times before stopping on Cloud's foot. "Ooooh," Yuffie giggled.

Squall sighed. Cloud leant back on his hands and waited, chuckling. Tifa looked at Cloud closely, probably expecting him to refuse or be grossed out.

Sorry, Tifa.

Squall stood, walked the seven feet over to Cloud and crouched again. Cloud snickered in the brunet's face, laughing almost uncontrollably when a hand threaded into the hair on the back of his head. Squall silenced Cloud's giggling with and uncoordinated, messy kiss that nearly wasn't placed on his mouth at all. It was easy to miss when you were drunk. But they made it work, lips melding together and staying put for a few seconds.

Yuffie started cheering, and both men started laughing for no reason. Squall craned Cloud's head back and kissed him with more vigor. Cid pushed the SOLDIER's back and Squall awkwardly fell forward. Yuffie continued her unintelligible yelling, and Aerith clapped her hands.

Tifa watched Cloud try to stick his tongue in Squall's mouth. He ended up licking the other man's lips twice before he finally managed, and once he did, both started laughing so hard Rufus said he feared one of them would soon wet themselves.

After another minute or two they gave up, realizing that they were too drunk to do much of anything. The game continued, but Tifa sat, still shocked.

Why hadn't she seen it earlier? Cloud was... gay? Or... bisexual, maybe? She sat and watched him. Now that she had figured it out, it was painfully obvious. No straight man, even a drunk one, would have made out like that with another guy.

What hurt the most, Tifa realized, was that Cloud didn't tell her. She couldn't really expect him to tell her something like that; they still didn't know each other all that well yet. But still, all the same...

Tifa ducked her head and spun.

Outside, Genesis and Zack eagerly watched them approach. There were about ten teenagers who had trekked up the mansion, probably to see who owned the mansion more than to trick-or-treat. A roll of toilet paper was clearly in one kid's hand.

They walked onto the porch, and one kid reached for the doorbell. Genesis dropped a fake cobweb on his head.

"Eww!" the kid exclaimed. He realized what it was and calmed down. The others laughed at him.

"Fuck, this is a fucking big house," one muttered. "Some Shin-Ra fucker probably lives here—look at that car! A fucking limo!" (the limo, of course, belonged to Rufus.)

Zack sighed. What was it with teenagers and saying "fuck" every five seconds? He grinned and blew right into his ear. He twitched,and Zack knocked his bag of candy to the ground. Genesis edged closer to one of the fake spiders Cloud had hung and prepared for battle.

Four minutes later, every one of them was running away screaming. The kid whose pants were around his ankles tripped. None of his friends stopped to save him.

Genesis harshly grabbed his foot, and he shrieked. He got away because the ex-Commander was laughing too hard to get a keep a good grip on him. Both men stuffed their pockets with the candy one of the teens had dropped.

"That was fun," Zack said simply.

"Indeed," answered Genesis. He grinned when one of the retreating figures shouted, "It's haunted!"

Laughing, Zack opened the door to come inside. Something shot between his legs and into the house. Something... furry. What the—

Cloud sat down from kissing Yuffie and stared at Cid when he blurted, "What the hell is that?"

He turned. A black and gray thing was hurtling straight for him. It was maybe a foot tall, with short legs and—

It leaped on him, knocking him over. Cloud screamed, covering his head and curling into a ball. Everyone else was yelling and scrambling around.

"Get it off!" Cloud yelled. Whatever it was was on his side, and it wasn't leaving.

He heard hissing and spitting. Cloud clenched his eyes shut and tensed, but nothing tore into his face or mad him bleed. He blinked and turned his head. A raccoon was sitting on him. Its mouth and nose were stained purple.

Oh my God.

It was the raccoon he had thought he had killed! Why was it here? Why wasn't it hurting him? ...And why was it hissing whenever anyone got too close?

His eyes met Firion's; the man had tried to scare it away but nearly had his foot taken off. Lazard and Squall tried to get it off, but the thing screamed at them. It was the same horrible scream it once gave Cloud. Everyone jumped, and Cloud very nearly started crying.

The raccoon turned its head to look at him. Cloud stared back, too afraid to breathe. It gently lowered its head and nuzzled his throat. He felt a rough tongue slide against his adam's apple.

Cloud lost it. He yelled and thrashed, knocking the raccoon to the ground. Not once did it hurt him, though. It darted up a staircase and disappeared onto the second floor.

The house was silent at first, but then everyone started laughing. That thing had just molested Cloud. A search party ventured upstairs, but they found nothing. Assuming that the thing had left somehow, they let the matter drop and enjoyed themselves.

Not too long after that incident, the party started winding down. Everyone stayed up into the early morning talking and drinking (and in Cid and Squall's case, getting into a fight that broke a couch). But eventually people started falling asleep, so the party disintegrated.

Cloud looked around before going to his bedroom. Everyone was asleep on couches or upstairs by this point. He swallowed. He hadn't forgotten what had happened earlier.

The ghosts had been there. Now, the mansion was devoid of all the energy of earlier. There was just... nothing, like it had been for the past few weeks. He had been excited there for a minute, thinking he'd be able to yell and scream and run for his life and have some fun again. ...Guess not.

Cloud sighed and went upstairs. Cid was in his bed, and, oddly enough, Firion was sprawled sideways across the bottom half of it. He shoved Cid over and kicked Firion a little, then crawled in and closed his eyes.

...This was really, really boring.

Reno was a city boy. Nibelheim was, like, as far away from the city you could get. It was sleepy, not much fun, and the food sucked. So did the inn.

He had been staking out the mansion for about a week or so. It had been a very, very bad week. What made it worse was that Cloud was throwing a party, and he was stuck in town peering at the mansion through his binoculars. He could only make out whether the lights were on or not, not much.

Rufus was at the party, for crying out loud! So were Deusericus and even Tuesti. Cloud had become quite the social butterfly.

Cloud...

He hadn't seen him in a while. Not since... Reno leant his head against the glass of his window. He knew he had fucked up, but back then he never would have thought Cloud would break up with him over it!

That wasn't right. He had been a wreck ever since the guy had left him—it was obvious that he was... that he liked him still and wanted him back. That damned Yuffie... he had everything under control. Really. She had made the situation get completely out of control.

...Dammit.

Reno looked up at the mansion on the side of the mountain and sighed, lighting a cigarette.

He wanted to go to a party. Going to Cloud's would be even better.