Author's Note: Okay, first off, sorry for the long delay. I got sidetracked into other projects and this got pushed back. But I've officially finished the rough draft version, so rest assured this isn't going to go into the swirling vortex of unfinished fanfics. I'll try and post regularly from here out - just remember, reviews ALWAYS make me post faster! Thanks!
Chapter Eleven
It was a short ride to Umbrella's HQ. And when they got close enough, it became apparent that it wasn't going to be an intense fight. It wasn't going to be a fight at all. Security at the facility was maxed out. A thirty foot brick and steel wall surrounded the compound. The top was ringed with barbed wire and there were evenly spaced guard towers, equipped with machine guns, spotlights, and soldiers. There was a thirty foot deadzone around the wall, with all the foliage burned away. After a brief survey, Cloud declared that it was actually a minefield. And unless they knew the safe route through, they'd get blasted.
Claire, still a frog, wanted to say they should look for trampled grass, but Vincent beat her to it. He said, "Looks like the only path is through the front doors."
That wasn't helpful, considering that the front doors were more heavily guarded than the rest of the overly guarded facility.
"We're going to need more help," Cloud mused.
"I was hoping a surgical strike at the leadership would be sufficient," Vincent said.
Cloud sighed. "So was I. Listen, Vincent, about that girl. There's something that you should know about her."
Vincent was silent.
Claire wondered what he could possibly know about her. Had he discovered she was with the Turks? Or that she was from another planet? And if he had, who had gotten hurt to give him the information? She cursed her froggy-form for the eighty-billionth-time.
"She's been infected by Hojo with a preliminary strand of his latest project. And –"
"I already know," Vincent interrupted. "She's afraid that she'll turn into a zombie."
Cloud shook his head. "From what we can gather she's not in danger unless he gets his hands on her. She apparently escaped before he could complete the experiment."
"I see," Vincent said. He shifted, red cape suddenly obscuring Claire's vision.
Cloud's voice penetrated the cloth. "He's trying to use her to bring Sephiroth back. The WRO thinks he's got a pretty good chance."
"He doesn't," Vincent said, voice firm. "I will not let him have Claire."
"You sound possessive," Cloud said. He caught the reigns for his chocobo and started away from the facility. "But you did leave her on the beach unattended. We should get back. It would be really bad if she were captured."
"Yeah," Vincent said, without any real conviction. "We should get back."
Claire squirmed. What about Umbrella? she wanted to ask. They ALWAYS had a hidden bolt hole, and all they had to do was find it. Then they could find Hojo and lay down some serious hurt.
"We'll have to assemble a full-scale assault," Cloud said. "But I doubt we'll manage to get any sort of solid troops together. The WRO is completely preoccupied with minor outbreaks of this T-virus around the Planet."
"Your point," Vincent said.
"We'll need the girl to be completely hidden until after this passes. So long as we don't have to deal with Sephiroth we can handle anything Hojo can dish out."
Claire rolled her eyes. Whoever Sephiroth was, he was NOT worse than a full-scale outbreak. And if they thought she was going to hide under a rock, they were going to find that they had another thing coming.
"Agreed," Vincent said. "I'll take care of her."
Like hell you will, Claire thought. It was reminiscent of the way STARS was always shuffling her to the side. So what if she didn't have formal training – at least she wasn't as helpless as Rebecca.
Vincent was still outlining how he was going to protect her. His description sounded halfway decent, and if his reasons had been to establish a romantic getaway, she would have been sold. But not when she had a stupid scientist to stop. She hopped loose of him, landing silently on the ground and then hopping into the foliage.
Vincent didn't notice her departure; he was listening to Cloud talk about picking up his new motorcycle – well, actually it was Tifa's, but he considered it his. Vincent was agreeing that the stop would be a good idea, and he was probably thinking about how to get her to the Tiny Bronco before Cloud realized she hadn't been left there.
Claire watched him leave, regretting the separation. The further he got the more she wanted to be close to him. So she turned away, and tried to come up with her new plan of attack.
It was then that she remembered she was a frog. This was going to be more difficult than she thought.
Leon parked the sub, and led the black chocobo from the hold. "Come on," he muttered. "Let's go find Claire."
"What was that?" Jill asked. She was tying the sub up as best she could. "Did you say something Leon?"
"Yeah, he did," Rebecca said. "And then he left." She pointed at his retreating back. "Apparently when he said we weren't riding a big bird he meant he was riding and we weren't."
"As in he just ditched us in favor of speed," Jill said. "Perfect." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh well, I guess that's male-confusion for you."
"Male confusion?"
"Yeah, he hasn't decided if he loves Claire yet. The result is that – he's riding off to save her on a white horse."
"Black bird," Rebecca corrected. "Big black bird."
Jill rolled her eyes. "I guess so."
"So what are we going to do?" Rebecca asked. "Wait here?"
Jill, who had been looking around, shrugged. "No. I think we're going to take a motorcycle."
"Really? And where are we going to get that from" Rebecca crossed her arms. "I mean, if we –"
"Someone left one here," Jill said. She walked around the bike, noticing two sets of foot-prints. It looked like a big guy and a little guy had gotten off the bike, and took something from the shore – maybe a boat of some kind. Even more curious was the fact that the motorcycle tracks came from the water and looked like they had chased a chocobo into the distant forest. And then the bike came back but not the bird.
Weird.
But irrelevant. "Get on, Becca. We have a pharmaceutical company to put out."
Rebecca sighed. "No helmets?"
"Get on."
"Fine."
Five minutes later they were gone.