Very quick A/N:

Just want to say that I plan to update this as often as I possibly can, but due to time constraints inflicted by numerous things (job, family, other hobbies and misc. "life" obligations) I may be delayed at times. A rigid goal I am setting for myself is to update this story with AT LEAST one new chapter within every two weeks. I hope a snail-paced speed like that doesn't disappoint or deter anyone from reading. I am doing my best to write this quickly, but at the same time I reeeally want to give it the time and effort that quality work requires. So please bear with me and have faith! Thank you. ^^;

. :: Chapter 2 :: .

Underneath the Rotting Pizza

The explosion was deafening, and the sudden burst of fire consumed most of the oxygen in the small space. The group of them clamored for the opening Jessie's bomb created and they came stumbling out coughing and struggling for air.

Cloud took a deep breath as he paced away several yards, trying to put some space between himself and the billows of smoke wafting from the hole in the cement wall. A quick glance around told him they were definitely back down in the slums, but beyond that he had no idea where they were. It made no difference what Sector you were in -- all of the slum's dilapidated buildings and junk-infested alleys looked the same…

"Alright, now let's get out of here!" Barret's voice rang out. "Rendezvous at Sector 8 Station! Split up and get on the train!" Immediately the group began to scatter,

"Hey -- " Cloud started.

"If it's about your pay, save it 'til we're back at the hideout!" Barret barked, and before waiting for any kind of response from Cloud he turned and took off. Cloud watched him for a second with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out exactly how -- while thundering his big body through alleyways and swinging his gun-arm -- a character like Barret was going to avoid suspicion. What is he doing leading an operation like this? He's not even qualified to be a participant…

Cloud shook his head and looked elsewhere, trying to figure out which direction he should take. There was a short flight of stairs to his left that seemed to ascend up between two street-level buildings. He took the stairs. Getting up to street-level and mixing in with some civilians was probably a good idea right now.

***

What happened?

People were moving quickly around her, most of them in a state of near-panic. She stood upon a cobblestone sidewalk amid the chaos, peering upward at the thick haze of dark smoke surrounding Mako Reactor No. 5.

Someone slammed into her backside, violently knocking her forward. She gasped, fell to her knees and caught herself with her hands just before face-planting into the stone. During the fall the basket had slipped off of her arm and was now rolling itself in a circle, scattering flowers across the ground. She snatched it quickly before someone could kick or step on it, only saving about half her flowers in the process. With a small groan she came to her feet and looked downward at the front of her long dress. Oh… The knees of it were gray with dirt. She brushed at it in vain, then pursed her lips and glanced around.

Her eyes landed on a young man coming down the street in her direction. He wore a SOLDIER uniform, and although his stride was quick he appeared to be calm. He stared at the space ahead of him and walked with confidence. As he got closer she could make out a head of blonde hair cropped in different lengths, all sticking out away from his head with one piece hanging down beside a set of icy blue eyes.

Hmm, well you don't see anyone running into him... she thought.

"Excuse me, " She caught his attention as he came within earshot. "What happened?" She brushed at the front of her dress with her free hand as he approached.

He slowed to a halt in front of her and a slight frown grew on his face.

***

For a moment Cloud simply stared at the girl in front of him. Girl? No – she was a young woman. Around his age, probably. She had a frail sort of charm to her though, like a young girl. He frowned, wondering briefly why on the Planet this girl – woman – would even want to find out what happened. Shouldn't she be frightened and on her way home to family, like every other civilian in the vicinity? But no; she watched him expectantly, undeterred by his frown and positioned so precisely in front of him that even her small frame would require a sidestep to move around.

"Nothing." His answer was so blatantly lacking it was almost rude, but he didn't care. There was no way he could explain the bombing to her even if he wanted to. He needed to keep moving, and… His eyes wandered. The scent of crushed flowers hung in stark contrast to the dirty musk typical of these streets. His gaze lowered, flicking from the half-empty basket hanging from her arm to the flowers scattered at her feet.

"Do you like them?"

She'd caught his wandering eyes. Like her dainty appearance, her voice was a gently alluring. Ingenuous but soft, light but armed with a decisiveness that belied naivety. He met her gaze again; this time he wasn't frowning quite so much.

"Flowers in Midgar?"

She smiled an infectious smile. "They're only one gil each… "

Staring back at her, he intended to decline immediately. The thoughts were there but before any words came to him his voice rooted itself deep in his throat. He felt… compelled to humor her. Compelled to be kind. After an awkward pause he nodded. Then, as he dug into his pocket, his voice became serious. "Listen," He produced a gil note and pressed it into her hand. "You'd better get out of here."

Her fingers closed around the note, her smile now faltered as she too became serious. She nodded once. "Thank you! Here you are," she flashed another smile as she handed over his flower, then gave his rounded shoulder armor a light pat as she slipped around him and continued on down the street. The gesture turned his head in time to catch a glimpse of her before she disappeared around a corner.

Cloud dismissed the encounter from his thoughts and turned for the opposite direction. As he rounded the building he realized he was at an overpass that crossed the Sector 5 train tracks. If he waited for the train he could make things really easy for himself by hitching a ride to the Sector 8 Station. But who knows how long it'll be before the train comes through…

"You there!"

His head snapped in the direction of the voice. Two Shinra city-guards sprinted toward him from the end of street. Cloud brought his Buster sword into hand as he watched them near, his stance shifting defensively. He outstretched his free arm as the closer of the two came within range. A bolt of power sang down from his shoulder armor and through his arm, rocketing out of his palm as an icy blast. His Shinra target didn't even have time to cry out before the spell hit him in full force, sending him skidding and rolling backward across the pavement like a kicked cat. The second Shinra guard readied his firearm but a lightning-quick swing of Cloud's blade sent the bullets upward and astray into the night. The slice angled up the guard's torso and through his neck. His body fell limply and bled into the street.

The sound of more boots echoed from the alley's mouth. Had he made the mistake of not moving through the Sector quickly enough? His outdated SOLDIER outfit had undoubtedly awakened suspicion. Or maybe the pretty little flower merchant wasn't as ingenuous as she seemed…

Shit. I don't have time for this.

"That's as far as you go!"

He could survive the fight. It wasn't this group he was worried about. The thought that worried him was how many more would show up within the next few minutes.

As if on cue the ground beneath his feet began to shudder. He turned his body and walked backward toward the rail at the side of the overpass, his eyes trained on the soldiers headed for him on their way down the alley. Come on… The deafening howl of the train's horn blared through the tunnel, and when it ceased he could hear the thundering of the wheels turning over the tracks. The ground continued to vibrate. He waited.

Then, when the moment was right, with one hand on his sword and the other on the rail behind him, he twisted his body and vaulted over the rail. A quick sheath of his wide sword shielded part of his back from the rain of gunfire behind him. His boots and palms slammed against the steel surface of the train car top. The speed of the train made catching balance tricky, but proved to work in his favor for dodging the bullets fired at his back.

He looked down at the surface in front of his eyes and realized how close he had been to landing through a ceiling vent. With some amount of dread he wondered, Did the passengers hear me hit the train… ?

Just a moment later the vent slid open.

***

"Cloud!"

It was Jessie's voice he heard first, followed by the gasps of a few others.

The stroke of sheer unbelievable luck dumbfounded him for a second. Briefly he peered through the opening to be sure it was them, then pushed his feet and legs through the small opening and dropped down into the cabin of the car. A quick glance at his surroundings told him why they were alone – this was a cargo car.

"What in th' hell?!" Barret's voice exploded behind him. "You mean to come in here makin' a huge scene?!"

"It's not that big of a deal." Cloud shot a look at him over his shoulder.

"Shit! That kinda stunt could put us all at risk -- you don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself."

Now Cloud's body turned to face him. "You said to split up. Should I have been worried about anyone else?" Barret's lip curled into a snarl. Cloud's face was serene but his voice was frigid. "Were you worried about me?"

"You should'a been at the station when th' rest of us were!" The big man's voice swelled into every corner of the small cabin. "Now the guards are on the heels of this train. You put us at risk and I'm takin' it outta your pay!" His broad chest puffed out. "Wake up people!" The words were a bark. "Follow me!" He maneuvered his large frame down the aisle and into the next car. Biggs and Wedge followed, Wedge shaking his head and Biggs snickering at his back.

"Thanks for helping me out back at the Reactor. I thought Barret was going to chew my head off."

Jessie rose from her seat and flashed Cloud an apologetic smile before moving herself into the aisle. Remembering her ankle, he wordlessly moved to help her, but she waved his arm away and used the tall-stacked boxes on either side for support instead. He watched her feet carefully as together they followed the others into the next car.

"Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23AM, Midgar Standard Time… "

Cloud took his eyes away from the intercom just in time to see Barret bully a well-meaning businessman out of his seat. The ex-SOLDIER couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"You see the headlines in the Shinra Times?" Cloud's eyes averted to follow the voice. A man and woman sat together not far down the seat from Barret. "The terrorists that bombed the No. 1 Reactor are based somewhere down in the slums… " Cloud looked away.

"Blowing up a Reactor… they sure would have had to put a lot of thought into that. They must have a pretty calculating leader… " The woman mused. "I wonder what they'll do next?"

Calculating?

Cloud didn't smile too often, but at that thought he came dangerously close. From the corner of his eye he could see Barret cross his arms over his chest and shift in his seat. The conversation probably had him feeling edgy. Uncomfortable.

"Hey Cloud, come check this out." Jessie beckoned with a hand at the far end of the car. Cloud paced down the aisle. He joined her in standing before a small monitor build into the side of the cabin's wall, close to one of the car's doors.

"It's a map of the Midgar rail system. See," Jessie pointed, her finger tracing circular neon green lines against the dark screen. "It shows you a complete model of the city of Midgar. There's the top plate. Did you know it's only about 50 meters above ground? Doesn't it seem higher?" She glanced his way. Cloud crossed his arms and frowned at the screen.

He already knew some of this stuff, but the on-screen visual of it was a little fascinating.

"Well, anyway," Jessie continued. "It even shows all 8 of the Reactors, and the upper-plate towns and lower slums in between them. I've read that they used to all have names, but since the upper plate was built and the old town became the slums, we lost our names… I don't know that anyone even remembers all of them… " She looked toward Cloud again, this time smiling awkwardly, as if embarrassed. "I like this kinda stuff – you know, bombs and computers and such… oh, look!"

Her finger traced a dotted line on the monitor. "This is the route the train is on. As we pass through each Sector we're going to go through a security checkpoint. The lights will cut out while they use an ID sensor device to scan our ID's. " Her voice lowered to a whisper, her eyes flickering mischief. "Don't worry though, we're using fake ones."

"Look, you can see the surface now… " Barret's guttural voice was low, for once. Cloud looked toward one of the cabin's many slim windows. "If that plate wasn' there, we could see the sky."

A floating city… pretty unsettling scenery.

"The upper world, a city on a plate… " Barret groaned as he rose from his seat. "It's 'cause of that fuckin' pizza that the people underneath are sufferin'. The city below is full of polluted air, and on top'a that the Reactors keep drainin' out all of the energy… "

Cloud indulged himself with an inward sigh.

"But," Barret gripped the top of a seat and peered through the windows as the filth of Sector 7 rolled by. "People either don't have the money to move up, or they don't have the heart to leave their home… no matter how polluted it gets."

"Well, of course." Cloud glanced toward the window as well. "No one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train – it can't run anywhere except where its rails take it."