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.
"It's because you're all dead."
A long silence followed Cloud's sentence as the others struggled to accept what the blonde had said; to hear that all of them (besides Cloud) would be dead in less than, what, five years? It was almost laughable to even think that the four strongest men on the planet were dead in such a short amount of time. Genesis actually felt a laugh bubble up his throat before he forced it down at seeing the look on Cloud's face…
It was Zack who broke the silence. "You… you're telling the truth, aren't you?" The Second Class' face was unusually grim and pale. His hands were shaking slightly as he sat down in one of the armchairs. Angeal too, looked unusually grim and pale.
The blonde nodded silently, adverting his gaze once more. His own hands were trembling as he moved to sit in an armchair, one that faced all four of the time-travelers. On the outside, Sephiroth looked emotionless, but on the inside he was shaken. What had happened that had caused their deaths? Who had died first, who most recently? No wonder Cloud had been shocked to see them, and angry to se…
Acidic eyes widened slightly as Sephiroth recalled the absolute looks of fear and loathing Cloud had given him when he had seen him. Was he the reason they were all dead? Had he done something to hurt his lovers? These thoughts left him more shaken than the thought of being dead. It was Angeal's hand gently grasping his that pulled the silverette out of his thoughts and he gave the man a faint, fleeting smile before returning to his somber expression.
Genesis fell into the seat he had previously occupied. "How?" he voiced the unasked question aloud. "How did…" he paused, looking pained, took a deep breath and cleared his throat before continuing, "how did we die?" The redhead's voice cracked on the last word. He didn't (and Genesis was certain that the others didn't as well) want to know what had happened, he didn't want to know how he had died. But most of all, he didn't want to put Cloud through the pain he was obviously going to be in again, going through memories like those. Some things were better off not being known, but this – their deaths – was important and they needed to know how, so that they could find a way to stop them.
The blonde was silent for a long moment before he spoke, "I guess I should start at the beginning. It begins over two thousand years ago…" And he did. Cloud told them about the beginning of the Cetra, WEAPONs and of Jenova. He told them about Gast, Hollander and Hojo, about how Angeal and Genesis were technically the first SOLDIERs, the 'beta' versions and of how Sephiroth was supposedly the 'perfected' version.
He told them about Projects S and G; and of the start of Angeal's and Genesis' degrading. "It began after Genesis was hurt in a spar. He… changed. He became snappish, angered more quickly than normal and mostly downright awful to be around," Cloud said. "Sometimes it almost seemed like he didn't know what he was doing. He seemed to snap out of something most of the time, and apologized immediately after he realized what he was doing. But those times came less and less until he stopped apologizing altogether. Genesis started pulling away after that, and then one day while on a mission in Wutai, he disappeared. He took a few platoons of Second and Third Class SOLDIERs with him." Cloud sighed.
"Not long after that, we heard rumors and reports of Shin-Ra bases being attacked by Genesis and his SOLDIERs…" The blonde continued on, telling them about how Angeal had started acting off shortly afterwards, the tense months that followed Genesis' departure before Angeal too, left Shin-Ra.
Cloud told them of Banora's destruction, the attack on a reactor and of the attack on Shin-Ra. He told them of how Angeal had told them that Genesis had been staying at an abandoned Mako Plant in Modeoheim.
"Lazard dispatched us to Modeoheim. Originally the Director wanted to send Sephiroth, but he pulled rank and passed the mission onto Zack (Sephiroth flinched at hearing that). It was Zack, Tseng, another trooper and me – I think Lazard sent me on purpose," Cloud said, frowning thoughtfully. He then gave a quiet snort and at seeing the curious looks sent his way he explained, "Tseng crashed the helicopter. He claims to this day that it was a machine malfunction."
The younger man then continued with the story, "We made it to the Mako Plant with no injures other than a few scratches and bruises from the crash." Cloud paused, a pained expression spreading across his face as he told them of Zack confronting Genesis. "Genesis fell down a mako well after that and was presumed dead."
"Presumed?" Genesis himself broke in. The redhead felt a bit of relief at hearing that he was not dead (yet, he reminded himself grimly) by falling down a mako shaft of all things.
"We found out later that you weren't," Cloud answered shortly. Before anyone else could ask anything, a knock on the front door drew their attention. The blonde was up before anyone else was.
Opening the door, sapphire blinked in surprise at not seeing anyone and then he glanced down. Cait Sith stood there, several bags in the AI's arms, one smelling particularly good.
"Hey Cait," Cloud greeted the robot, kneeling to accept the bags from him.
"Hiya, Lad!" the AI chirped brightly. "Reeve said to drop these off fer ya and the other boys stayin' with ya. Glad ta see that yer taking up his offer of using yer apartment!"
Before Cloud could respond, Zack's voice piped up curiously. "What is that?"
Frowning faintly as he stood, Cloud turned to face the other four, who were looking at Cait curiously. "Cait Sith is not an it; he's an AI – as in Artificial Intelligence. Reeve created him years ago. He's also a friend," he explained before turning to the robot again. "Thanks for dropping these off, Cait. Tell Reeve thanks too," he said. Raising the bag of take-out up, he cocked a brow at the familiar smell. "Wutaian?"
"Yep! I'll let Reeve know that ya thanked him. I'll be glad ta finally speak ta someone who isn't as busy as Reeve is," the AI laughed, cat-like face stretching into a grin. "That bag," he pointed at a shopping bag, "Is just fer ya, Cloud. Special from Reeve," the AI snickered and then pointedly ignored the curious look Cloud gave him, instead raising his voice, "See ya lads around!"
"Bye, Cait," Cloud watched the AI disappear around a corner in the hallway before setting his bags aside on a table for a moment. "Here." He tossed the rest of the bags (ixnay the one with food) at the others. The red one was obviously for Genesis, who caught his with ease. Purple for Zack, who nearly fell off of the couch trying to catch his. Silver for Sephiroth, who simply looked amused at the color choice, and brown for Angeal. His own bag was black, and Cloud gave it a fond glance. Tifa had packed his stuff in his favored bag for when he was going to be on the road for a while.
Cloud made his way over to the others, digging out five pairs of chopsticks. He passed them out before producing the food, each snagging their favored food. Sephiroth was silently pleased to see that Reeve (who he had considered a friend of sorts) had remembered his, and his lovers, favorite orders.
Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal had no trouble with the chopsticks, used to using them during their stays in Wutai. Zack however, was having several issues. Setting his carton of food down, Cloud gave the young man an amused glance before deciding to help, seeing as how the others weren't going to.
"Like this, Zack." Cloud leaned over from his seat, nimble hands correcting the other's grip on his chopsticks. "It can be difficult at first, but it's easy to do once you get the hang of it."
"How'd you learn?" Zack asked curiously, turning his gaze downwards to scowl grumpily at the chopsticks. He ignored the amused huffs coming from his lovers as he tried the way that Cloud had shown him and to his delight it worked better than how he had been attempting to use the utensils.
Cloud too, shot Zack an amused look. "I'm friends with Wutai's Princess, so it's kinda necessary to know how to eat with 'em. She taught me," he explained. He ignored the surprised exclamations from Zack and Genesis, as well as the curious looks from Angeal and Sephiroth, in favor of finishing the carton he was eating. "You'll probably be meeting her, she's a Materia expert. If anything like your predicament has happened before, she'll know."
The others accepted this and the rest of dinner was a quiet affair, each person mulling over their thoughts about what had been said so far. Genesis was still struggling to accept that in the near future it was possible that he would began to degrade, and so would Angeal. He supposed it was a good thing that he wasn't dead, yet. No one had died so far, and Cloud had said that months had passed. Perhaps they had time to find a cure? After all, this Cloud had told them that Hollander hadn't been actually searching for a cure, too interested in what had been happening to his and Angeal's bodies.
Angeal was thinking along the same lines as Genesis, while Sephiroth was struggling with his own thoughts. Why had he pulled rank on this mission? There was only one answer he could come up with – that someone would actually die. It obviously wasn't Genesis, seeing as how he had 'died' already, or would it just be Genesis supposedly dying? He prayed that that would be the only 'death' on this mission, but his gut told him otherwise.
Zack was wondering how Cloud had gotten his mako shots. If he was correct in guessing the timeline (and he usually was good with this math-like stuff, so he was) the SOLDIER exams had happened. The blonde sitting next to him had mentioned that he was still a trooper, so did that mean they had pushed it off with the whole thing going on with Wutai and Genesis, Angeal and the attack on Shin-Ra? No, wait, the attack had happened days, almost a week, afterward. So, did that mean they had put it off personally? Or was it just coincidence? SOLDIER was obviously a sensitive subject (by the way Cloud was acting about it), so Zack figured asking later would probably be the best. Or maybe Cloud would just tell them.
When dinner was finished, it was cleared away quickly with everyone tossing the empty cartons away and sticking the leftovers in the fridge. They retook their seats, but with a few changes. Sephiroth was seated between Angeal and Zack on the couch, Genesis still had an armchair, but it was the one closest to Cloud's. The blonde didn't seem quite comfortable with it, as he kept glancing at the redhead Commander every few moments and shifted away a bit, but if it was really bothering him, he'd say something. They hoped, away.
Cloud cleared his throat before he continued on with the story, telling them of making their way to the bathhouse, of Cloud and Tseng heading in first, getting attacked by Angeal and Angeal clones. The delivery man's clasped hands were trembling as he told them of Angeal's death at Zack's hands. "He merged with the clones he summoned, creating a chimera of sorts. Angeal attacked Zack, forced him to kill him. Before he died, Angeal passed the Buster, along with his honor, onto Zack."
The blonde then paused, allowing the others time to accept what they had just heard. Angeal's expression was grim, lips pressed together tightly. He agreed with his 'future' self's choice of who to pass the Buster onto, but had wished that it hadn't happened the way it had.
A few tears were slipping down Genesis' cheeks at hearing of how his best friend – his first lover, his person he cared about in any way – had died. Merged into the body of a monster, Goddess… He deserved much better. Zack was crying too, a hand raised to his mouth, muffling any noises that left him. He was burrowed into Sephiroth's side, the silverette's arm wrapped tightly around him. Acidic eyes held the grief that his expression didn't show.
Cloud's head was ducked, bangs hiding his eyes as he too, silently mourned. It was several minutes before Cloud spoke softly again, "Everything changed after that. Shin-Ra made cover ups, silencing those who knew that Angeal and Genesis hadn't died the way that they had claimed beforehand. Our relationship changed too – Sephiroth, Zack's and mine. We were closer than before, but there was a gap leftover, one that we knew couldn't be filled by anything or anyone, we didn't even try to."
He sighed softly, raising his head as he talked, "It was a year later when everything changed again. Early in the summer, Hollander – who had been arrested – went missing along with Lazard. Then in late autumn, the Turks were sent to Nibelheim's reactor after the workers there went missing. They found a large outbreak of monsters and asked for SOLDIER backup. Sephiroth, Zack, I and another cadet went to deal with the situation. The day we got there we went up to the reactor to see what the problem was, and that's where everything started to go wrong again."
Cloud grimaced at the memory and rubbed ghost wounds, "Genesis showed up. He attacked the other cadet and I, killing the other one and but only hurt me," Cloud said, frowning faintly in puzzlement. He hadn't really thought of it before, but why had Genesis left him mostly uninjured? Had some part of him recognized Cloud, even with the helmet on? Shaking his head to clear away these thoughts, the blonde continued on, "He went into the Reactor, told Sephiroth that he too, was a product of Shin-Ra's experiments. Genesis told him to read the reports that Hojo left in Shin-Ra Mansion's basement. What neither of them knew, was that most of the reports left behind were false, planted by Hojo in hopes of driving Sephiroth insane and to create a 'reunion' between 'son' and 'mother'," Cloud spat out angrily.
"Sephiroth did read those reports, locked himself in the library, reading day after day after day. Nothing Zack and I tried ever brought him out of there. He began to eat less and less, driving Zack and I nearly insane ourselves with worry…" Cloud chuckled faintly, a bitter smile on his lips. "He came out one day though, on the seventh day. That was the day that Nibelheim burned."
"What?" All four practically shouted.
Cloud winced and rubbed at his ears, shooting the others a disapproving look before it morphed into a grim one. He nodded as he lowered his hands. "Something in him snapped. He gave into Jenova's advances. She," Cloud hesitated for a moment before continuing, "She can control the minds of those who have a majority of her blood. From what I understand and know from experience, the closer you are to her, to better control she has. Sephiroth fought, but in the end, something just snapped when he read those journals, those false tales, the lies."
"With Jenova in control, he attacked and killed most of the villagers, including Tifa's dad and my mom." Instantly Sephiroth flinched. All four of them had met Mama Strife, all liked her. To hear that someone who had treated him like her own son, was killed by his own hands… Zack's hand rested on top of his suddenly and Sephiroth glanced at the other man, who gave him a shaky, but gentle smile.
Cloud (who had watched the interaction) continued after reassuring himself that Sephiroth was in control at the moment. "He went to the reactor to get Jenova, he wounded Tifa there and that's where he and Zack fought, after Zack and I got there. Zack lost, and Sephiroth pulled Jenova's head off of her body when I attacked him with the Buster." This got noises of surprise. Cloud ignored them and went on, wanting to get it done and over with, "We fought. It was a short fight though, I was ran through with Masamune," Cloud raised a hand again to press against the spot on his chest where the scar from that night, that attack, rested.
"But the wound I had given him was fatal, even with his fast healing Sephiroth wasn't healing fast enough and was bleeding out. I somehow managed to get my footing and attack Sephiroth again, and this time, I tossed Sephiroth along with Jenova's head into the reactor." This statement was met with choking noises from the other four. Cloud silently prided himself momentarily for shocking the others, and a chuckle escaped past his lips as he shrugged. "What? I did."
"Did you rescue Tifa and I like princes rescue fair maidens?" Zack teased after getting over the initial shock. The other three tossed him curious looks too, wondering what happened after that.
Cloud shook his head; a smile flittered across his face before his expression was schooled again. "I was bleeding fairly badly from where Sephiroth had stabbed me," he said. The blonde raised a hand and placed it over where the scar he had obtained from that night rested. "I made my way out into the area where Zack and Tifa were before I collapsed." He frowned as he dug around in his memories for a moment. "I… I remember waking up briefly, just a few seconds, to see Hojo directing SOLDIERs to carry us – Zack and I – to someplace. He was muttering about how we'd make fine specimens and of how his finest had been defeated in the end."
The blood had drained out of the other four's faces. Sephiroth's lips were pressed together tightly, hands curving into fists as he resisted the urge to punch something. He had sworn when he had gotten together with first Genesis and Angeal, and later Zack and Cloud, that he would never let the man who called himself his father get his hands on his lovers.
Angeal and Genesis however, were horrified. They both knew what happened to Sephiroth whenever Hojo called him into the labs, even if Sephiroth dismissed it like it was nothing. They knew he was being tortured, not only psychically, but mentally as well.
"So, you mean, your eyes…" Zack stammered, unable to finish as his own mako-gaze darted up to meet Cloud's. His mind didn't even seem to process that Cloud had all but said that he was still alive, and also in Hojo's care. What it did process, however, was that his lover had been placed in Hojo's care as well.
"You were not given your injections willingly, were you?" Sephiroth asked. When Cloud raised his head to meet the General's gaze, all he saw there was understanding. Not a look of pity (something he was often given), but simple understanding. It reminded him of the looks Vincent gave him whenever Hojo was mentioned, or of the looks he gave Vincent. They had both suffered at Hojo's hands, Vincent much longer than Cloud had, but they had suffered all the same.
As had Sephiroth.
"No, I wasn't," Cloud agreed after a moment. He had almost forgotten that Sephiroth had suffered just like he and Vincent had. Almost as long as Vincent and in much harsher ways that having demons or a WEAPON bound to him. "Hojo was pissed that I had killed Sephiroth – me, a little trooper who couldn't even make SOLDIER. He tried to make Zack and me into Sephiroth Clones. Failed, obviously, due to the amount of natural mako I carry and because Zack had been a SOLDIER before Hojo got his hands on him."
"I… I don't remember much after the last time I woke up before the labs. I have quite a few dark spots or gaps in my memory because of the mako poisoning I had," Cloud explained. "Nor can I remember much after the labs, again due to the mako poisoning." He closed his eyes as he thought of the last few moments he had had with Zack before the man's death. "I remember a few details though, of when we approached Midgar. Cissnei told me that Zack had planned on hiding in Midgar, right under Shin-Ra's noses. That'd be the last place they'd look after all." A soft, fond chuckle left the blonde.
"I can barely just remember being in the back of a pickup truck. Zack was saying something, but I couldn't hear him, though I could see the grin he gave me before I fell back into the darkness. The next thing I can remember is feeling him ruffling my hair, and I opened my eyes. My whole body felt heavy, weighed down by something I couldn't see. I reached out for him, watched as he walked away, and then the darkness came again, but in waves this time. I can remember hearing shouts, garbled noises, the sound of a helicopter, guns shooting and then silence."
Cloud paused to take a deep breath, hands shaking as he continued to speak, tone forcefully calm, "When the darkness stopped claiming me so frequently, I crawled out of the hiding place Zack left me in. I crawled over to him. It felt like it took forever, with how heavy my arms felt, my body felt, how the darkness attempted to claim me again and again, but never quite doing so. Zack," Cloud swallowed harshly, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He dipped his head to hide them, his voice cracking just slightly as he continued.
"He… he was shot, dying… And he did, Zack died there, on that cliff. He passed his – and by extension Angeal's – honor and dreams onto me as he bled out; he gave me the Buster. I think… I think he knew he wasn't going to make it, when the military faced him, and I think… No, I know he accepted that he would die that day," Cloud said seriously, even as hot tears slipped down his cheeks. "He died the way he would've wanted to; protecting someone he cared about – someone he loved."
The others were silent; Angeal and Sephiroth both nodded just slightly in agreement, both unable to speak. Zack was trembling next to Sephiroth and the silver-haired General carefully lifted the younger man from his spot and scooted over to place him between Sephiroth and Angeal. It was one thing to hear that you had died; and it was another to hear exactly how you had died.
Genesis sat silently in his chair, his body language showing grief as he had done at hearing Angeal's death and Sephiroth's. True, he wasn't as close to Zack as he was to Sephiroth, Angeal and even Cloud, but he still loved the young man dearly. The redhead silently swore to himself at that moment to remedy that in the near future.
It was several moments before Cloud reached up and scrubbed a hand over his face, wiping the tears away. He took a deep breath as he looked up again, continuing from where he had stopped, "I took the Buster Sword, and finished the walk to Midgar, practically dragging it behind me. It was in the Train Graveyard that Tifa found me, and that where we're stopping for tonight. It's getting pretty late," the blonde said as he glanced at the clock. It read close to three in the morning.
"But," Zack began to protest, frowning. He needed to know what happened next, Cloud hadn't told them how he had become the way he was. Or what had happened to Midgar, or anyone else they knew.
"Tomorrow," Cloud repeated firmly. He frowned as Zack opened his mouth to protest again. "Like I said, it's getting late, I'm tired and I've told you enough for one night already. Tomorrow, Zack," the blonde sighed. His expression softened a bit as he said, "It's a lot to take in. It might not hit you right now, but it will soon." With that said; Cloud turned on his heel and stalked down the hallway and into one of the pair bedrooms – managing to snag the bag shopping bag along with his bag with his clothes and toiletries off of the table without missing a step.
The four watched him go, none of them uttering another protest.
"I don't think I'm going to sleep well tonight," Genesis sighed after a long moment, raising a hand to rub his temple. Sephiroth made a quiet noise of agreement while Zack slumped against Angeal.
"I don't think any of us will," Angeal said after another moment. "But Cloud was right, it is getting late. We should at least try to, before the morning comes."
"Fine," Genesis agreed, pushing himself upright before standing. Making his way over to the bags Cloud had left in the only empty chair he stated, "I get the bathroom first."
Despite being fairly tired, Cloud took his time unpacking his clothes. It gave him something to do besides think. He knew he couldn't put off thinking forever, but he needed even just a little bit of time before he would let his whole world flip upside down.
They were alive, they were here, and even though what he was telling them was painful, was something that he had never truly discussed with anyone else, it could help. It would help, if they went back to their own timeline or alternate universe and things followed the same way.
All too soon the bag was empty, clothes were refolded and put away, and he had his thoughts again. Cloud sighed, ran a hand through his hair, debating on what to do next when he spotted the extra bag for him sitting on the bed. Snagging it off of the bed, Cloud's eye twitched in annoyance as he looked inside of the shopping bag, a box of condoms and bottle of lube lying oh so innocently inside of it, along with a folded note. Plucking the note out of the bag, he sat on the bed as he read it.
'Thought that you'd might be needing these sometime soon, perhaps not tonight, but soon. ;)
Teasing aside, I do wish to apologize for suddenly springing all of this on you, Cloud. As well as asking you to be the one to tell them what has happened in our timeline. It was a sudden choice and I didn't think about you and your needs when I decided to bring you in. I know this must be hard on you, but I do hope that sometime soon you open up to these four. They might not be your Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth or Zack, but they are a version of them. I am not saying that you have to put the condoms or lube I've gifted you to use, but what harm could it bring befriending them during their time here? I know that you have been working hard to fit back in with the rest of the world, to stay close to those you care about, but I also know that you have been struggling. I can only hope and pray to the Goddess that working with these four will help you, Cloud, rather than damage you.
I wish you the best of luck and shall talk to you tomorrow,
~Reeve.'
Cloud stared down at the note, reading it once, then twice. He sighed as he dropped the bag onto the bed beside himself and ran a hand through his hair. The blonde wasn't certain if he wanted to wring Reeve's neck, or hug the man. On one hand, the man was giving him time with the four who had impacted his life majorly when he had been younger, people whom he had loved with all of his heart. On the other hand, Reeve was wrong. There could be harm befriending those four. What would happen if he got attached again, opened his heart to those four again, only to have them disappear back to their own timeline or universe, leaving him again. What if things played out the same way as last time, with Genesis going insane, Angeal leaving and Sephiroth losing control to that alien bitch and Zack dying, but with them here this time?
The delivery man shook his head, reminding himself that Jenova was truly and well gone, so there went the possibility of Jenova taking over this version of Sephiroth, but the thing with Genesis going insane was still possible, unless… Cloud paused, eyes widening a bit.
Degradation was similar to Geostigma, wasn't it? Was it possible that Aerith's healing water could hear Genesis' degradation if it began to show while they were still here? He scowled as he felt his hopes rising. Too much thought, too much to think about right now.
Shoving any and all thoughts of the other four in the apartment aside, Cloud groaned as he sat up, snagging the bag off of the bed as he stood. He gave it one last look before stashing it away up onto the top self of his closet built-ins, carefully moving things around so it was well hidden. It would be a nightmare if any of those four found the items inside.
The blonde snagged a towel from another shelf and his small bag of toiletries before making his way out into the hallway, then into the bathroom for a shower. Cloud took his time, scrubbing shampoo into his hair, rise and repeat with conditioner. He let the hot water wash over his body, mind blissfully empty for the moment, thinking only of the actions of cleaning himself.
Sadly it couldn't last, and Cloud knew it. When he had scrubbed his body from heat to toe the second time, he regretfully left the shower, toweled himself dry and wrapped the towel around his waist before making his way back to 'his bedroom', passing the other's in the process. From what his hearing could pick up, at least two of them were asleep if the deep, steady breaths were anything to go by. The other two (Cloud wasn't sure which two it was) were talking in such low tones that he could only hear the low noises leaving them, but couldn't pick up any of the words.
He stepped into his bedroom and quietly shut the door behind him. The ex-mercenary tossed on a pair of sweatpants and a wife beater before crawling under the covers, suddenly feeling the exhaustion of the day hit him. Despite knowing that he'd probably have a horrible time sleeping, Cloud wrapped his arms around one of the rather fluffy pillows and rested his head against it as he began to fall into the predicted, fitful sleep.