Note: And we're back! Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me. I have 5 chapters after this one done and waiting for edition, and probably 2 more chapters and an epilogue to finish the story. It's now a quasi-certainty we'll get to the end. :D I'll try and update monthly, so expect chapter 13 around December 16th. Chapters 10 and 11 have been edited so Rain's pov is back in third person, in accordance to the results of the poll. Two of a kind is now hosted on Archive of Our Own as well, if you'd rather follow there. Enjoy!
Published on: 11/16/2015.
Chapter 12
"I'll pay you back."
"I told you, there is no need for that."
"I still will!"
Bewildered, Cloud watched Sephiroth and Rain argue back and forth across the kitchen table. Sephiroth wasn't even looking up from the newspaper he had sat to read. Arms akimbo, Rain was glaring at him. On the table before him, two large twin swords winked in the afternoon sun.
Humming to herself, Aerith was putting away the groceries Cloud was getting out of the bags for her. According to her, she had gotten up early, thinking to walk to town to do some shopping. Only Vincent and Sephiroth had been up, and they had both agreed to go with her.
This is where her story became a little fishy. She claimed Sephiroth had merely made a quick stop at the town's weapon shop before joining them again, but they had been gone much too long for a simple round trip. Sephiroth wore casual clothes, so he must have disguised himself; this and the groceries meant they had really gone in town. But the glint of humour in Aerith's eyes made it obvious Sephiroth was hiding something and she found it too funny to give him away. Maybe Vincent would answer if Rain thought to ask him, but Cloud's brother was so flustered he had taken their explanation at face value.
Sephiroth finally glanced up, his face a study in indifference.
"I don't know why you insist so much, Cloud. We are currently pooling resources, anyway."
Rain rubbed his brow, frustrated.
"That's not the point. And I told you not to call me that. There is no need to confuse everyone."
"What's your point, then?" Sephiroth asked without much interest, having already returned to his reading.
"Look, whatever you're… trying to achieve, plying me with gifts won't work," Rain snapped, kindling Cloud's curiosity. "And I could have gotten them myself."
"Your leg is not healed enough that you could have made the trip to the town and back without trouble."
"Sephiroth…"
Sephiroth leaned back in his chair and deigned to look at Rain, folding his finished newspaper.
"I am not trying to buy your mercy, Cloud," he said, ignoring Rain's irritated mutter that he stop using this name. "You should know better. But I do want to spar with you as soon as you will be well enough. For which you will need weapons. I trust these are adequate? I remember you mentioning you were best at ease with multiple blades."
Rain gave him a queer look.
"When did I agree to spar with you?"
"Don't you want to ascertain for yourself my current level of expertise? Given how much you insist on remaining wary of me, I thought it was a given."
From his disgruntled frown, Rain found some logic in this, although he was none too happy about it. Sephiroth took this to mean the end of their conversation and calmly got up to refill his cup of coffee. Cloud glanced down when he came near. Where Aerith and Vincent's shoes were muddy, as was appropriate after a walk through the forest, he was surprised to see Sephiroth's coated in as much dust as dirt. And, was that monster blood?
Just then, Zack appeared in the doorway and spotted his girlfriend.
"There you are, Aerith! You have been busy this morning, I see."
She turned to greet him with the extra-sweet smile she always had for him. Cloud took the opportunity to slip to his brother's side and gently elbow him.
"What was that about?" he whispered to him, teasing. "Isn't it a good sign if he feels like being generous with his money?"
Rain sighed and seemed to relent a bit. He picked up one of the swords, thumb rubbing the flat of the blade.
"I guess. I can't complain, they look like they're better quality than I would have expected from such a remote town." He frowned at the grit clinging to the hilt grooves. "Shoddy upkeep, though. Where did he find those, in an attic?"
"Maybe in some mysterious ruins in the woods," Cloud quipped, only half-joking.
He had to refrain from bursting out laughing at the glance Sephiroth sent him, proving he could hear their conversation well enough over Aerith and Zack's chatting.
A sudden cry from the living room had the SOLDIER turning.
"Sephiroth! You'd better come see this!"
They all shut up, troubled. Genesis sounded tense. Cloud followed Rain and Sephiroth out.
The TV was on in the front room and their remaining companions had gathered around it. The screen showed some sort of arena in an appalling state of destruction. Smoke and dust hung in thick sheets in the air as the camera panned unsteadily over bleachers where spectators could be seen screaming and fleeing to the overflowing exits.
"— panic in the public at the appearance of mysterious fighters in the very last stage of the new SOLDIER First Class selection show!" a commentator was babbling in an anxious, breathless voice. "The best SOLDIERs are all…!"
Corpses and blood, sprayed carelessly among the arena's debris. All the bodies wore the distinctive SOLDIER uniform, all had been mercilessly cut down. Cloud gasped, unable to believe it. In the very centre of the stage, the camera caught on figures. Only four people, standing back to back. As the smoke cleared around them, it became obvious that three of them were mere teenagers, one red-headed girl and two boys around Cloud's age. The fourth alone seemed capable of the carnage, a big man displaying an equally big smirk, and yet he stood further apart from the others, as if deferring to them.
"Are you kidding me?" Zack yelled. "These guys defeated all of them?! Who the hell are they?"
Next to Cloud, Rain made a strangled noise. He glanced up and found him staring at the TV set with growing horror.
The screen flickered abruptly, cutting him off as he was opening his mouth to question him. Without any transition, the arena was replaced with the view of a huge metallic desk standing before an equally overbearing window bay. From his throne, President Shinra looked right at the camera. Triumph and satisfaction were written all over his face.
"Attention, citizens of the world!" he rumbled. "There is no need to be frightened. The excellent soldiers you have just seen are part of a new, innovative Shinra program."
His fist slammed on the desk, making Aerith jump with a squeak.
"As this demonstration today has clearly proven, SOLDIERs are nothing to them!" he claimed with vindictive glee. "They are the strongest fighters Shinra has ever produced, and completely loyal to the interests of the company and the population. As such, they will from this very day replace SOLDIERs at the top of our army! They will take care of all dissidents and terrorists currently plaguing our good towns! They will ensure your security. You are to cooperate with them at all times. Resistance will not be tolerated! The Deepground units are the new elite force of Shinra. Invincible, swift and merciless!"
"Deepground…" Angeal repeated in a shocked whisper.
If not for the man ranting on TV, you could have heard a fly buzz in the room. Then Genesis exploded:
"Where did they get these freaks from?! Did they really plan this whole SOLDIER TV propaganda just to slaughter them in the end? How dare they!"
"Shinra was aiming for a show of strength," Vincent said. "Now all the rebels and company opponents will panic."
"But who are…!"
As one, all heads in the room turned to Rain. Cloud's brother had tangled his free hand in his hair and was staring, unseeing, at the ground. Cloud gingerly touched the arm with which he was clutching his new swords and called his name.
"Why?" Rain whispered. "Why am I so damn stupid?"
He whirled out of the room before anyone could stop him. Cloud flinched when the front door slammed in his exit, unused to so much anger on his part.
"It's pretty definite that he knows something about that too," Angeal noted darkly.
"Then let's interrogate him," Genesis decided, already marching to the door.
"No, don't," Sephiroth cut in.
"What? But, Sephiroth—"
"That man's fight or flight reflex is awfully developed," Sephiroth mocked, prompting Cloud to draw taller in outrage, "but he'll come back. He always does, when he's done working himself up over shadows. If you go after him now, however, he'll just clam up. Believe me, you do not want to deal with him when he is in an uncooperative mood."
"But we need more information!" Genesis protested.
"Do we? What do you expect to do with it, exactly?"
The ex-SOLDIER stopped, as if just remembering his situation. Their situation. Sephiroth moved to sit in an armchair where he crossed his legs. He appeared very calm, all things considered, but an undercurrent of anger still filtered in his voice as he addressed them.
"Unless you suggest the nine of us storm Midgar and fight an undetermined number of enemies with unknown abilities while also fending off Hojo's next monstrous pets, I suggest we wait and see how this plays out. Things have just gotten a lot more difficult and odds are the next months will be gruelling for us. More than ever, it's vital that we rest and heal. There'll be time to find our place in the coming struggle when the initial dust has settled."
The silence that followed was broken by the sharp sound of Zack cracking his knuckles. Cloud's heart sank. He had never seen his friend look both so grim and angry. Dismayed, he realized Zack had probably known most of the SOLDIERs now lying dead, flung like broken dolls in Midgar's arena. Maybe Kunsel had even been among them. Cloud hadn't paid enough attention to the tournament to know.
"I need to hit something."
"Let's spar, Zack," Angeal suggested, stepping forward with understanding eyes.
The two men filed out of the room. Unable to bear the sound of the TV anchorman droning on about Shinra's announcement like it was the best thing that had happened to mankind since the discovery of Mako, Cloud fled with them.
As Sephiroth had predicted, Rain came back within a few hours of his hurried exit. Cloud was nicely surprised, having expected that it would take longer. However, it appeared that his brother was simply forcing himself to remain close to the group, perhaps out of some sense of responsibility. He still kept apart from them, taking his meals alone and brushing off all attempts at conversation, even gentle Aerith's.
"Man, does he wear that name well," Zack said a few days later at breakfast, as Rain had stayed upstairs to perch on a windowsill and brood. "I mean, this sucks for all of us, but he's the only guy in the house that's depressing just to be around."
"Rain is just for short," Cloud confessed without thinking. "My mom really named him Raincloud."
That got a bark of laughter out of his subdued friend, a giggle out of Aerith and small smiles from the grim faces around, so even though the hilarity made Cloud blush, he felt warmth bloom in his chest at having defused a bit of the gloom.
Later in the morning, as the house was nearly deserted and Cloud had chosen, with no small amount of trepidation, to keep vigil in front of the TV with Genesis—who seemed to have turned staying updated into his personal responsibility—footsteps came from the stairs. Almost immediately, Cloud heard the creak of a chair from somewhere else in the house and a confident stride converging towards them. Cloud and Genesis both perked up when Sephiroth's voice rose:
"Alright, that's enough."
Ex-trooper and ex-SOLDIER exchanged a glance and went to the door. Rain had stopped on the last step and was warily staring at an unrepentant Sephiroth standing in his way.
"… What?"
Cloud fidgeted, nervous, but Sephiroth looked calm enough. Calmer than he often was when dealing with Rain, truth be told.
"That's enough space we have given you."
"Weren't you the one suggesting to leave him alone?" Genesis pointed out.
"Yes. And now I'm saying not to. In case you are wondering, Cloud, there are no Lifestream affluent around that you could throw yourself into."
Rain's face snapped closed in annoyance.
"That's not what I— Don't."
Sephiroth tilted his head.
"Really? Because I'm not seeing much difference, here."
His cryptic words must have meant something to Rain, for his shoulders sagged in something like defeat and he put a hand to his forehead.
"I'm not giving up. I'm just… just tired of messing up. I keep thinking of ways to make things better. But what if they just go on blowing in my face like everything before?"
Sephiroth shook his head in disgust.
"You have shackled yourself with such heavy chains you can't even see they bear no lock. If your shoulders can no longer bear this burden, then mine will."
Rain's wide eyes snapped to him.
"What?"
"I'll take full responsibility for any action you and I will take going forward. You're only the safeguard, after all. You'll leave the decisions to me."
"I…"
By Rain's sudden paleness, Cloud gathered that these apparently innocuous words carried for him a weight the likes of which no one else could ever fathom. Even Sephiroth seemed surprised by his reaction, though it only strengthened his resolve.
"That's an order, Cloud."
His voice had hardened into nothing less than that of the commanding officer he would never cease to be, even now, and it was so jarring that Cloud himself, hearing his name, stiffened to attention out of pure reflex.
More surprising was Rain's aborted motion to do the same. Rain stopped and blinked, confused and out of balance. His eyes flickered in and out of focus, as if he wasn't sure where he was and what he was doing.
"Cloud," Sephiroth snapped.
He jerked and clutched the stairs railing in a white-knuckled grip.
"… Yes," he whispered, and because Cloud had been watching for it, he saw him swallow the "sir" back.
Abruptly, Sephiroth's head swivelled.
"Do you feel that?"
"Uh?" Cloud said.
Next to him, Genesis breathed deeply with an air of forced calm.
"And here I was hoping I was simply coming down with some kind of cold."
Rain seemed to shake off his haze and his eyes widened.
"Oh," was all he said before darting up the stairs.
"What's going on?" Cloud called after him, bewildered.
"Hojo," Sephiroth growled.
He stormed out of the front door, Genesis barely detouring through the living room to snatch his sword before following him. Although unarmed, Cloud was hot on their heels, heart slamming in his ribcage. One of Hojo's monsters, again? How had they been found out?
Both SOLDIERs had stopped in front of the house and were scanning the neighbouring tree line. The girls, who had been chatting nearby with a few magazines, looked on in confusion. Cloud ran to them.
"Aerith, you should get inside."
"Why?" she said, rising to her feet. "Is something coming?"
As if to answer her, dozens of birds suddenly took flight from the forest. In the heavy silence they left in their wake, they heard regular thuds, still faint but quickly growing closer. Sephiroth and Genesis exchanged a glance and vanished. Rain appeared in the doorway. He had his twin swords in hand, now impeccably clean, and threw his own weapon at Cloud.
"They went north," he told him.
Rain hesitated, glancing in that direction as if to join them, then merely nodded. Aerith flinched behind Tifa as the sound of footsteps caught their attention, but it was only Angeal and Zack coming running back to the hideout. No sooner had they stepped in sight that an enraged shriek erupted nearby. In a crash of falling trees and raining foliage, the monster burst in the clearing and promptly collided with the side of the house.
The wall collapsed under its weight, taking part of the roof with it. Both girls screamed, though Tifa alone followed through with a few choice curses as they stumbled back, Cloud and Rain covering their retreat. Beady Mako eyes fell on their group, but before it could find its feet again and attack them, bullets rained down from the sky and pelted its thick hide. It roared and turned around, only to face Sephiroth and Genesis' lightning-fast simultaneous strikes. It was dead before Zack and Angeal could even reach the scene.
"That was quick," Angeal said with a strained smile, still fighting the headache.
"You know, if we're gonna keep meeting these things, we really should give them a name," Zack quipped. "I'm thinking 'Hojospawn'. It's got a nice, creepy ring to it."
Meanwhile, Genesis was elbowing Sephiroth with a friendly smirk.
"Teamwork, Sephiroth? That's a new one for you. Are these creatures making you more humble?"
Sephiroth brushed him off with a huff, but his eyes betrayed a hint of amusement. He pointed Masamune to the corpse, Fire Materia lighting up in preparation to the spell. A golden claw landed on his arm. Vincent touched down by his side without a sound, rifle drawn.
"Wait."
"It's weird," Rain added as everyone gathered around the corpse.
"No harness," Angeal realised. "This one doesn't have a harness. Where are the camera, the microphone?"
Cloud had no idea why this was so important, but Sephiroth's eyes narrowed.
"Hojo would never miss a chance to brag. And why was it alone? He knows by now it's not enough against us."
"Yes, well," a new, familiar voice said, "we were really hoping to find you, not kill you."
By the time Tseng finished his sentence, there was the barrel of a gun and various swords pointed at him, and their group had already snapped in formation around the girls.
"Turks," Genesis spat.
Unfazed, Tseng stepped out of the shadow of the trees. The red-headed woman, Cissnei, stuck close to his side. At first glance they were alone, but Cloud knew better than to trust appearances with Turks. He grimly wondered how many of them were hiding around. How many snipers? He shifted back to better shield Tifa. She sent him an arch look, but the fact that she didn't argue said volumes.
"We didn't come to fight," Tseng said. "We came to negotiate."
The tip of Masamune delicately brushed the spawn's body, setting fire to it in the same movement.
"And you introduce yourself with one of Hojo's pet projects?" Sephiroth countered in a frosty voice.
Tseng sighed.
"I apologise for this, but it was the only way we could find you. Although… we were not looking for you, per se. I didn't realize exactly how hard a man you are to kill, Sephiroth."
"How?" he asked, more of an order than a question.
"As I am not a scientist, I don't know the details. Only that these creatures are built with the ability to find you, wherever you are in the world. I believe it has something to do with the lot of you representing the highest concentration of J cells on the planet."
Sephiroth only had to tilt his head above his shoulder for Rain to come to his side, staring back with dismay.
"The Reunion," Cloud heard him whisper in dawning realisation. "I didn't realise… I didn't know it could be used this way."
Sephiroth nodded, apparently only caring that Rain knew what was going on.
"Tell me later," he just said, and Cloud was amazed to see his calm soothe whatever guilt was plaguing his brother.
Tseng had observed the exchange with interest, but didn't pry.
"That's how we found you in Banora, in case you were wondering. But I'm sure you remember that collaboration quickly went south. Stealing this one from the laboratories was quite a pain."
That caught their interest.
"You mean you're not here on behalf of Shinra?" Angeal asked.
"No," Cissnei said, spreading her hands. "In fact, we had to sneak under Shinra's nose to get here. That's why there's only the two of us."
Sephiroth frowned and turned, but Vincent was already gone in a flash of red coat. Cissnei started and swivelled around, looking for him. He returned a minute later, as swiftly as he had left.
"There is no one else."
Cloud felt relief flood his body, so powerful he sagged under its weight. They all relaxed.
"In that case, why don't we all just sit down and talk this out?" Aerith suggested sweetly.
"Wah… Aerith?" Zack did a double take.
"Well, they are not here to hurt us, right? We can be civil, can we not?"
Zack shook his head with a laugh.
"Only you, Aerith…"
"I think we can forget tea, seeing as the kitchen didn't survive their knocking method," Tifa snarked, not being in such a forgiving mood.
"I'd rather we forgo the pleasantries altogether," Sephiroth said, crossing his arms. "Why are you here, Tseng?"
The Turk's eyes flickered down as he gathered his thoughts.
"Did the news reach you here?"
"You are speaking of Deepground, I presume," Genesis said.
"So you heard. But I don't think you realise exactly how bad it's gotten. Right now, the company is collapsing from the inside."
"Are you forgetting who you are talking to? Why should we care what happens to Shinra?" Genesis scoffed.
"Shinra may never have been perfect," Cissnei butted in, "but it's getting a lot worse even as we speak. Deepground has taken over all departments, and believe me, their methods are not something you want to see spread. They make us Turks look like angels. Um… no offence."
Angeal lifted amused eyebrows as she turned to him.
"What do you expect us to do about it?" Zack asked dubiously. "If you've got a problem with these guys, why don't you take it to the President?"
Tseng and Cissnei exchanged a loaded glance.
"For various reasons, not the least of which being the favour we granted you last week, we Turks were already under suspicion from the President. We could have made it as long as the company relied on us, but with Deepground's unveiling… the President took the opportunity to shut us out."
"Our leader Veld was demoted," Cissnei added darkly. "We are now under Heidegger's direct jurisdiction and he's doing his best to keep us locked out of everything. With the way things are going, the Turks won't survive this. Our only options now are to flee the company, or to fight."
"Fight?" Zack repeated. "But fighting Deepground would mean fighting all of Shinra, right?"
"No," Tseng said to their surprise. "When I said that things are getting bad… it's a huge understatement. Deepground is a chokehold. Midgar is on curfew and even during the day, patrols seize the slightest opportunity to harass civilians. Citizens are getting manhandled or arrested for the most ridiculous reasons. Junon is in the same situation, and about every other city is heading there fast. Economy is shutting down, the people are afraid. In the company itself, employees cooperate under duress. Everyone's every move is under scrutiny. Those that are suspected of treason disappear without warning. This cannot go on."
Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"That… that can't be!" he exclaimed. "Why isn't the President doing anything? Even he should see how bad it is if it's gotten to this point!"
"The President doesn't care," Cissnei said bitterly. "For months now, ever since your successive defections, he's been deathly afraid his prized SOLDIERs were out to get him and it was only a matter of time before Sephiroth turned up on his doorstep to run him through. It's been his only obsession. Now that Deepground is here, he feels safe. He's probably happy everyone is afraid. Less people plotting against him."
"What do you know of Deepground?" Sephiroth asked.
"Barely more than you do," Tseng answered. "Not even us had heard of it until a few days ago. It's an unbelievably secret project. Apart from their members, the only people aware of their existence were apparently the President himself, Heidegger and Scarlet. With our limited accesses, we have yet to figure out where the project was housed or how they could have reached such an incredible level of security."
Rain shifted, as if eager to talk, though he only did so when Sephiroth prompted him with a look.
"They are right, Sephiroth. Deepground can't be allowed to go on. They are ruthless and relish on chaos. The President has no idea what he's done by releasing them on the surface. He's parading a monster that's going to devour him and burn the world to ashes as soon as it gets the chance."
Cloud gulped at his bleak earnestness. Tseng coughed to regain their attention. He was eyeing Rain with wariness.
"I had been wondering this for a little while, now. Could it be that you… are from Deepground?"
"Uh?" came simultaneously from Rain, Zack and Cloud.
"You are definitely not a regular SOLDIER, yet you are enhanced like one. I couldn't understand where you came from, but Deepground's existence changes everything."
"No, I'm not—" Rain started to say, but Sephiroth interrupted him by clutching his arm.
"Rain. A word, if you would."
Probably more startled into compliance by Sephiroth's use of his actual nickname than anything else, Rain let himself be dragged away. The rest of them stayed there in baffled, uneasy silence.
"Hum," Cissnei finally asked Aerith. "So… didn't you and these guys fall in the Lifestream?"
Rain followed Sephiroth all the way to the opposite side of the clearing, well out of earshot of the two Turks, before shaking off his grip.
"What's with you? I'm not from Deepground, Sephiroth."
He turned to look him up and down. Rain fought the urge to fidget.
"Tseng's reasoning is not without merits. You can't have become a SOLDIER by traditional means, as Strife couldn't make the cut."
"Yeah, well… I'm not denying that, but I'm not Deepground either," he said, averting his eyes. "Was that seriously bothering you?"
"I'm not bothered. I'm seeing an opportunity."
"What?" Rain blinked. "I don't follow."
Sephiroth joined his hands behind his back and paced, thoughtful.
"Have you spared a thought to your complete lack of administrative existence in this world, Cloud? You don't have any papers. No birth record, no bank account, no employment registry, nothing."
"Oh. I don't… It doesn't seem really important right now."
Sephiroth again speared him with these cat-like eyes.
"You'll have to think of it one day. Meanwhile, I imagine that if Deepground was such a deeply secretive operation, next to no files on it will exist. Paperwork always leaves a trace. Am I right?"
He stared, taken aback.
"I guess, yes. The W… we did our best to scour Deepground's base in the future, once it had been brought down, but the only things we ever found were bits and pieces. Scientific reports, receipts, personal notes without any correlation to each other. A complete mess."
"So if you were to pretend to be a Deepground defector, would anyone be the wiser?"
"Why would I do that?" he frowned.
Sephiroth tilted his head, amused.
"Because, Cloud, I'm sure the Turks would be grateful enough for our help they would gladly create proper records for an ally, providing we can explain why you don't have any."
"Oh. I hadn't thought of that."
Of course he hadn't. Rain was a fighter. Give him a proper enemy and people to battle by his side and he would lead them forward come hell or high water. He could even be a decent tactician, when the situation called for it. But seeing the bigger picture had never been his forte. That's where he needed people like Reeve and, well… Sephiroth apparently.
It was still hard to remember that this Sephiroth, under all probability, had no hidden agenda. It was even harder to believe. Yet his words earlier… Rain repressed a shiver and looked down.
Right now, any glimpse of the man's face brought echoes of their previous conversation. Rain had yet to fully understand the impact it had had on him. What he knew was that, somehow, Sephiroth had managed to say what a shameful, desperate part of him had been wanting to hear for years. The option to lay down his problems at someone else's feet, to have them shoulder the heavy responsibilities that came with the respect and quiet awe everyone, back in his time, had looked at him with… He couldn't pretend he hadn't yearned for it.
Years ago, when the false life he had built on Zack's memories had come crumbling down around him, leaving his true self, bare and raw, exposed to the cruel reality, all he had wanted to do was curl in a tight little ball and let a real hero save the world. But there had been no one else, because Zack had died to save him. In the end he had picked up his sword and chosen to fill the hole his friend had left, but he had always felt like he was wearing shoes too big to ever fit him. The pain had numbed over the years, but it hadn't gotten any easier. However, he had kept at his unwanted task, because the only people he respected enough to take over from him, he loved too much to burden with such an excruciating duty.
But here was the man, amongst all men, whose keen intellect and unbelievable talents he would never in a million years think to doubt. A man he didn't love, didn't feel responsible for, but still believed superior to himself in everything but heart and sanity. And this man was willingly tugging the weight of the world from his shoulders.
Rain knew he had to remain wary of him, but truthfully, he couldn't get over how easy it had been to just let Sephiroth take the lead while dealing with the Turks. He felt like he should be clinging to his charge, yet his tired, numb fingers wouldn't obey.
"Cloud."
He started, jerked out of his reverie. Sephiroth was waiting for him, a minute rise of his eyebrows his only indication that Rain might want to answer sometime soon.
"Yeah, uh. Sorry. I mean…" He shook his head to try and clear it from the cobwebs. "Yeah, it could work, I guess. Deepground members… It's too huge, too unkempt. They wouldn't know I'm not one of them. And some of them were born under there. They won't have papers either."
"So you'll fit right in. Very well."
"Does this mean you'll help the Turks?" he asked, keeping pace with Sephiroth as he strode back to the others.
"We'll help, I believe," he said, a glint in his eyes. "I know better by now than to ignore your warnings, Cloud."
By the time Rain realised instinct had had him fall just behind Sephiroth, right where a second-in-command would have been standing, they had already crossed the clearing.
"And you trust him in these circumstances?" Tseng asked, eyeing Rain with obvious misgivings.
As the sky was threatening to open over their heads and drench them to the bones, they had retreated inside the house for what promised to be a lengthy negotiation. The living room was somewhat intact, though rubble from the kitchen's outer wall had rolled as far as the doorway. It was drafty, but dry, and they had managed to salvage enough of their food reserves in the destroyed room to improvise some lunch.
"Enough that you doubting him will change nothing, Tseng," Sephiroth said. "We don't have to justify ourselves to you when you are the ones who came to us for help. Rain has earned our trust and that's all you need to know."
Rain shifted, uneasy at being talked about like he wasn't right there. Cloud handed him a roll of bread with an expectant smile. He thanked him with a twitch of his lips.
"Excuse my scepticism," Tseng argued, "but I can't help but remember how absolutely certain of Deepground's loyalty President Shinra seems. Someone as innately suspicious as he must have very good basis for such a judgement."
"He does," Rain mumbled.
"Oh, is the fountain of knowledge finally running again?" Zack said, perking up with a grin, to which Cloud retorted with a swift kick to his shin. "Ow, Cloud!" he laughed.
"Care to be more specific?" Tseng coolly asked.
Rain stopped, an apple halfway to his lips. He forced himself not to glance at Sephiroth before answering.
"All proper Deepground members are implanted with a control chip. I'm not."
His monotone had dropped a cold spell on everyone. Zack's smile had vanished.
"You mean they are being forced to obey?" he exclaimed. "Like… like… robots?!"
He shrugged. Sephiroth fully turned to him from where he sat at the table, across from the two Turks.
"What exactly do these chips insure? That they can't act against the President's will, or that they can't even think of it?"
Trust him to ask the hard questions.
"I'm not really sure… I only know what I heard. Soldiers are implanted with a chip that force their loyalty to four special members of Deepground called the Restrictors. They are the ones with the real power down there. Each one of them swore fealty to the President."
"You've mentioned 'down there' a few times now. I take it Deepground earned its name from its base location?"
He nodded.
"It's far below the Shinra building."
"The abandoned facility around Mako Reactor Zero," Tseng realised, his eyes widening minutely. "It used to be medical labs for wounded SOLDIERs. It was shut down many years ago."
"Not shut down. Repurposed. And much enlarged."
"What about these Restrictors?" Angeal asked. "Who are they? Can they be brought down?"
"It seems like the best way to go about this," Genesis approved.
"No!" Rain exclaimed. "Absolutely not! Getting rid of the Restrictors is the last thing you want to do."
Startled by the urgency in his voice, the whole room exchanged glances. Sephiroth raised an enquiring eyebrow at him.
"And why is that?"
"If you kill them, you won't incapacitate the rest of the force; you'll just free them from any sort of control. And a lot of Deepground members hate surface-dwellers and were trained for blood and destruction."
"We'd unleash the monster you were talking about earlier," Sephiroth understood. "The Restrictors are only its reins."
"You truly trust his word? He could be leading us on," Tseng argued. "The Restrictors do seem like our best chance."
"If they aren't a weakness we can exploit, I'm not sure what we can do," Angeal confessed.
He finished preparing a sandwich which he handed to Sephiroth. His friend nodded in thanks.
"We'll attack the central point of the whole structure. President Shinra," he announced matter-of-factly.
Zack swallowed wrong and proceeded to choke. The rest of them stared.
"While I can certainly see the poetic justice in such a move, wouldn't it have the same end result?" Genesis said.
"I said 'attack', not 'kill'. If the Restrictors are so deeply loyal to the President that he feels no need to doubt them, then they will place his safety above all else. Capture Shinra and we'll have the whole of Deepground in the palm of our hand."
"Then what? What will happen to the company?" Cissnei asked, worried.
"We can't worry about that now," Tseng said grimly. "We came here because we know something has to be done, no matter what. Predicting the consequences of this course of action is impossible at this point. All we can do is forge ahead and adapt as the situation changes."
"Then we're in agreement?"
"Yes. The Turks will support you in your capture of the President."
The words rang heavily in the air, echoing off a ring of solemn faces. They had a plan.