Cross posted on my Tumblr and AO3 accounts (got one of those too!) Both under the same name.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the games associated with that series.
When Cloud had received a text from Reeve, asking him to stop by the older man's office, he had assumed it would be for a package or one of the rare missions he took for the WRO. The blonde had just finished up his last delivery for the day when he had received the text. Thankfully the delivery had been inside of Edge, meaning that the ride over to WRO's Headquarters was a short one.
After parking Fenrir and heading inside, Cloud greeted the receptionist – Renee, or something – before strolling into the elevator. He normally would have preferred taking the stairs (while his motion sickness wasn't as bad as it used to be, it was still affected by small things like this), but by the way Reeve's text had been written, whatever he needed seemed unusually urgent.
Slightly staggering out of the elevator several floors later (looking a bit green too), Cloud righted himself before walking down the seemingly endless hallways, heading towards the President's office.
What he had been expecting to find inside of Reeve's office had been a worried or concerned man. Or perhaps a relaxed one, sitting behind his desk and tinkering with one of the many robotic projects the man was working on.
What the blonde hadn't been expecting was to see his four dead lovers inside.
It was Zack's low whistle that brought his attention to them and he froze. For a moment Cloud thought he felt his heart literally stop as he took in the sight of a younger Zack, mid-squat, near Reeve's desk.
"Damn Chocobo, you got hot!"
A nervous and surprised laugh bubbled in Cloud's throat but he swallowed it down instead as his gaze raked over the five men inside of the office before settling on one.
In his peripheral vision, Cloud could see that Genesis was looking him over, a flattering smile adoring his lips as he 'lounged' in one of the comfortable leather chairs in front of Reeve's office. "You have filled in nicely, very nicely indeed," the redhead was agreed with Zack.
Angeal was sitting straight-backed in the other chair, gazing at him curiously as he nodded in agreement with Genesis. Cloud watched briefly as Angeal's attention turned to the swords strapped onto his back, a faint frown curving the larger man's lips downwards.
Reeve himself was watching Cloud cautiously, the blonde noticed. Sitting comfortably in the leather chair that was stained with different oils from Gaia knew what.
Only one of them had the delivery man's full attention though. Standing there calmly, looking at him with a mix of bewilderment and curiosity; was Sephiroth.
It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head, the pure terror that ran through his veins at seeing the one man who had managed to make his life pure hell. A hot flash followed the cold one as pure anger ran through him shortly afterwards. Although, this Sephiroth (like everyone else who was supposed to be dead) looked younger.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Cloud spun on his heel to face Reeve. A blonde brow just barely managed to rise before the man was answering his unasked question, "Young Mister Zackary Fair had an accident with Materia earlier. Somehow he managed to mix Stop and Warp together in a way that has caused him and the others to time-travel from the past to here. I can only assume – and hope – that we can reverse the effects with some help from Yuffie."
Cloud's lips pressed together tightly as he thought over what the other man told him. "When are they from?"
"We're right here you know." Genesis tsk'ed loudly, annoyance dripping in his tone though his brows were furrowed. "You could ask us, Cloud." He huffed, crossing his arms.
Sapphire glanced over at him before refocusing on Reeve, the blonde not bothering to respond. Genesis' expression faltered and the others (ixnay Reeve) frowned at Cloud, more in worry than anything else. Had something in this Cloud's past that caused the blonde man to dislike them, or give him a reason to ignore them so blatantly? Did they break up with him sometime in the future?
"They thought the year was 2000," Reeve answered, shooting the others an apologetic look for Cloud's behavior. He opened one of the drawers to his desk and began to rummage through it. The head of the WRO smiled as he pulled a keycard out of it. "Here, this is the key for the apartment I'm always offering to you," he said, offering the card to Cloud. The blonde took it as Reeve shook his head fondly and said, "Yet you're always declining the offer. Not that I blame you, your home is very homely."
The four others in the room noticed the faint smile that momentarily graced Cloud's lips before it disappeared. "I think the kids would go on a strike of sorts until I returned home. They threatened to unless I moved back in after all."
Reeve laughed lightly and nodded in agreement. "Knowing those two, they would."
Kids? Sephiroth's brow rose as he exchanged a confused look with Zack, Angeal and Genesis doing the same. Did they adopt sometime in the future? Why had Cloud moved out? Just… what had happened?
While they were deep in thought, wondering what would happen sometime in the near future, Reeve kept talking to Cloud. "I'll be sure to send someone out for groceries soon. You might want to text Tifa asking for some extra clothing as well. I'd like for you to explain to them what has happened within recent years, perhaps if we're lucky and find some way to get them back to their time, they can keep what has happened now from happening then. Whether or not it would happen, it is better to be safe than sorry." Dropping his voice lower, Reeve murmured, "You need to keep an eye on all of them, especially Genesis. From what I remember, and I know you remember too, it started the year they're from."
Cloud nodded once then turned to the others. "It's getting late. We better head up." Four silent nods of agreement followed. Genesis and Angeal stood while Sephiroth pushed himself away from the window with an elbow. Zack straightened from a squat and stretched his arms above him. "Follow me," the blonde commanded quietly, nodding a goodbye towards Reeve, before turning and exiting the office.
The walk to the elevator was silent, the four time-travelers each caught up in thoughts of their own. Genesis was worried about the reaction that Cloud had given to seeing them. Angeal wondered if Cloud had left them sometime in the future or if they had left him. Zack on the other hand, was curious to know what happened to the Cloud they had known; and Sephiroth…
Sephiroth wondered why Cloud had been terrified of him, why he had seen the pure anger in those sapphire hues that he loved. What had he done to Cloud to make the blonde look at him like that? Like he had destroyed his whole world, like he had killed everyone Cloud loved and held dear?
The ride up in the elevator was as silent as the walk to it was. Cloud leaned against the side of the small room-like box, as far away from the others as he could. His mind was still reeling from having found them sitting in Reeve's office, almost like nothing was wrong – almost like they were about to be scolded by Lazard, again.
His fingers dug into his skin, no doubt leaving bruises that would heal momentarily. Goddess, it was hard to see them all again. Angeal, the last time he had seen the Lieutenant had been right before the man had Zack kill him, when he had attacked the blonde with an apology, knocking him out. Genesis… Cloud wasn't certain when he had last seen the redhead, but he assumed that the man too, was dead. And Zack…
Cloud quietly attempted to swallow the lump that appeared in his throat. The last time he had seen the bouncy Fi-Second, had been as he died, having died protecting Cloud. Sephiroth on the other hand… The delivery man wasn't certain what to think about him yet. On one hand, he hadn't gone insane yet, yet being the keyword.
He had to admit that he was surprised on how quiet the others were being as the elevator doors opened and they walked out. Down one hallway and then turn down another and they were at the large apartment that Reeve tried to push on Cloud after the WRO Headquarters had finished.
A small beep from Cloud's PHS caught his attention and he flipped it open. Cloud read the message aloud as Genesis and Zack poked around the apartment curiously, "Reeve said that he'd send someone with clothing for you guys shortly and groceries before dinnertime."
"Sounds good," Angeal said as he sat down on one of the couches, Sephiroth perching himself next to him on the arm of the couch.
"The apartment is decent enough, nothing like our own but, it'll do," Genesis announced as he reappeared into the living room. Strolling over to the others, he sat down in one of chairs and stretched out, tossing his legs over the arm. "My friend, your desire,
is the bringer of life, the gift of the Goddess."
"Quoting LOVELESS again, Gen?" Zack asked, poking his head out of the kitchen. "Three bedrooms, one chef sized kitchen, two baths, and a nice living room," he told the others as he too, joined them in the living room. "C'mon Cloudy! Sit down!" He grinned widely at Cloud.
The blonde shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. He ignored the pout that the raven haired man sent his way before the SOLDIER was chatting away again.
"Hey! Are we going to meet our future selves?" Zack asked excitedly. "I think that'd be really cool! I want to see how we've changed. Has Genesis finally gotten any gray hairs he's always ranting about having?" He snickered at the noise of protest coming from his redheaded boyfriend and continued chatting on, not noticing how Cloud's hands had tightened into fists or the slightly pained look on his face. "Did Angeal open up a flower shop with Aerith or just a flower shop by himself? How is Aerith by the way? What's Sephiroth doing? What am I doing? Ho-"
"Zack, stop," Cloud cut him off. Zack flinched at how sharply the blonde had said his name. Shooting the blonde a curious glace, he took a step forward in concern when he saw the pained look.
"Cloud…?" Genesis asked softly. He held his hands out as he too, stepped forward. Angeal and Sephiroth exchanged worried glances as Cloud shook his head, schooled his features before turning to face the others.
"It… it isn't possible for you to meet your future selves," he said, skillfully avoiding the eye contact that the others were trying to make. "Or for me to tell you what you're doing now."
"Ah…" Zack rubbed the back of his neck and gave a faint, uncertain grin. "It's because of the whole time travel thing, huh? If we meet our future selves we might make a paradox or something? Or is that time traveling into the past..?" he mused aloud.
Cloud shook his head again. "That's not the reason." Making eye contact, he took a quiet breath before saying, "It's because you're all dead."