Intermission I

The Hand of God: Remix

Juicebox - The Strokes

It was midnight, silent and dark. A country lane, unused for more than the occasional traffic, lay straight as a line between fields and forest. There was the rare rustle or squeak from nocturnal animals, but mostly there was silence. Even the noises of the city didn't reach this far.

Then a sound from far away started to build. Lights disrupted the darkness, sending small creatures scurrying away from the road. The rumble progressively got louder until it was a full-throated engine growl. A sleek silver four-door sped down the road, its loud rock music breaking the silence like glass.

"Man, this sucks," a black-haired passenger swore under his breath. "That party was too good to just leave."

The tall, pale driver spared his friend a glance. "You're the one who insisted we leave."

One shoulder shrugged as the passenger glanced his dark blue eyes over the body in the back. "Yeah, but look at him. He really needs to go home."

After a glimpse of the blond spiky hair through the rear view mirror, the driver scowled. "Just remember, this is your fault. You wanted to bring him."

"Hey, I thought he could hold his liquor."

Green eyes flashed at the passenger. "He can't. You obviously…"

"There's something out there," the kid in the back whispered interrupting the driver, his blurry eyes unable to focus even on the interior of the car. "It's outside…"

"Cloud, bro–" There was a sigh from the passenger's seat and the young man reached a hand back to pat the kid's knee. "There's nothing out there, you're imagining it."

An angry thump sounded off the wheel. "Christ, your brother is the biggest pain in the ass…"

His companion rolled his eyes. "Look, dude, I know you don't like him but he's just a kid. Cut him some slack."

"I was perfectly happy there, but nooo, you stupid brother had to go get fucked up and here we are."

"We can go back as soon as I get him home. Aerith is waiting for me." The passenger's wide mouth smirked. "She's keeping a bed warm."

"Oh God" –now it was the driver's turn to roll his eyes- "You two are like freaking rabbits. It's not even your house, or hers."

"Yeah, well, get two drinks in her and it's either find a bed or use the floor."

"Jesus." A smirk lifted the corner of the pale youth's mouth. "A little goody two-shoes like her?"

"Get her in the right mood and she's a wildcat." A shit-eating grin spread across the friend's face. "If I don't get back, I'll be in big trouble."

"Zack… Zack," the kid in the back groaned. "It's dark…"

"Of course it's fucking dark," the driver muttered and clenched his fists on the wheel until his knuckles went white. "Seriously, why didn't you just leave him with that chick? She could have taken care of him."

The black-haired passenger grinned, a lopsided, engaging smile that totally ignored his companion's annoyance. "I couldn't just leave her with him- besides, it'll be fine. We just need to drop him off at home. Then I can get back to Aerith."

"Fuck you, Zack."

"Hey! It's not my fault you can't get laid."

A glare shot in his direction. "For your information I was just about to."

"What?" The grin just got wider. "Seriously? Sweet. I'm rubbing off on you."

"I can get girls on my own ass," his friend snapped back, but he was smiling.

"Aww, big Sephy's finally growing up!" He reached out and looped an arm around the driver's neck, pulling him down and rubbing the top of his head with one fist.

The pale youth tried to pull away, but he was already below the dashboard. "Shit, man, I'm driving! Let…"

Suddenly, the car swerved sharply and burst through the fence along the side of the road, shattering the wooden fence posts and showering the car with debris.

"Holy Fuck!" The passenger pushed his friend away and grabbed for the steering wheel, but it was too late. "Hit the brakes!"

"I'm trying!" The other guy shouted back, but the car was already spinning into the woods. Branches tore through the windows, ripping at both their faces and someone shrieked, "Tree!"

The driver cranked the wheel hard, but it was too late. The back end of the car flipped into the air, flinging the passenger half out of the window, until it crashed down on him with bone-crushing force. But the car just kept going. Glass shattered, metal screeched. An old rusty fence post pierced the roof and rammed the kid straight through his upper chest.

Then everything slid to a halt. The driver blinked and tried to clear his blurry vision, but the darkness was quickly overwhelming him. The last thing he heard was stomach-wrenching screams coming from a long way away.

Hey guys, I know this is short, but that's by design so you'll just have to live with it for a while. This chapter had to happen before I could move on with anything else so here it is.

My usual round of thanks to everybody who reviewed: mom calling (yeah, Cloud's going to have a lot of work to do if he's gonna function, but so is Den and the rest of the "Family" so it should be interesting), JukedSolid (the reason Cloud has a stuffed tiger is purely from me growing up on Calvin and Hobbes, kid with blond spiky hair just equals tiger stuffed animal in my head, and yes he is complex, but it's not up to Tifa to solve him, she can help but in the end he has to do it for himself.), Aeralyse (Sorry this was so long in updating, school is not conducive to writing and I was stuck on this chapter for a bitch ass long time, hope you keep reading), Nuingarian (I can see why you introduce internal fluff while you're reading, I do it to, but it's gonna take a hell of a lot more than a little cut to let Cloud get over his fear. There is no quick fix for this kind of thing. Oh and my mom doesn't call me about my writing, although we do talk about it since she writes too, mom calling is a reviewer here), SingleStone (I'm glad you like my story and hope the long update time hasn't discouraged you from reading more), and sdphantom10 (I hope you'll keep reading).

Finally one huge shout out to demonegg, who proofed this chapter, she's absolutely fantastic and this story would not be functioning without her. Plus if you get a chance she's got some pretty awesome stories of her own. I seriously needed the help and she delivered, so demonegg thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are fucking amazing!

Remember reviews are awesome and make me feel loved, so let me know what you guys think.

Palo