Part III Chapter IV - Science and Preparations

Hojo checked the readouts on the computer screen, nodding every once in a while, stopping every now and then to readjust something in the treatment. Almost done. It was moving out of the critical stages; all that was left was time to let his little concoction work its magic, and then the recovery.

An annoying beep broke him out of his focus, the tunnel vision-esque mode he entered whenever deeply involved in an experiment, and he let out an annoyed huff. The interdepartmental line was ringing, the light blinking on the computer terminal a bright red. It was the buffoon again, didn't he understand that Hojo had better things to do than listen to him complain?

With great reluctance the professor set the rest of the procedure to automatic, he'd already triple checked the routines so the chance of error was less than 1%, and pressed the button to answer the call. Maybe if he acknowledged the idiot he'd go away and leave him alone.

The video call connected, a window spreading across the screen showing the caller. Hojo scoffed, he was right, it was the buffoon.

"Hojo! What is this I hear about you killing off one of my SOLDIERs? Using my Turks to do so?"

"That wasn't my intention." He responded, rather bored, drumming his fingers against the cool metal panel. "I'd wanted that specimen to study. It is the fault of your Turk that it ended up dead."

Hojo shook his head, what a waste that was! It had been discovered during the cadet's promotion to 3rd class that S—what was its name again? No matter—that the youth had an unusually high tolerance for mako injections and a very intriguing reaction to them. Unfortunately, the SOLDIER was rather skilled, meaning it would be annoyingly difficult to capture it. That was the reason he'd gone out of his way to plan the retrieval right after the 2nd class examinations.

"Strife was one of the more promising SOLDIERs! Because of your meddling—"

Yada, yada. Heidegger continued in that vein for a while, trying to shift the blame from the Turk to Hojo, but the professor just let it slide off him. Bah. Incompetent baboon. Heidegger was barely above a monkey as far as brains went.

"I demand some kind of compensation!"

Oh? Do you now? The absentminded scientist slowly slid away, Hojo finally deciding to give the overgrown primate his full attention, "If you must know, I did have permission to retrieve that specimen. I broached the topic with President ShinRa some time ago, and he gave me permission to act. I even submitted the request to you, and obviously you permitted it since the specimen was assigned the mission."

A satisfied smile spread across the scientist's face when Heidegger froze. He could see the wheels in that fat head turning. Truly it was Heidegger's own fault; the idiot had a tendency to randomly approve mission requests without reading them. He'd just glance at it, sign on the dotted line, and then push the rest of the work off on his assistants. Unfortunately this little trick didn't work all the time, any mention of Sephiroth or Zachary had the buffoon triple reading the pages. Not that Hojo had to resort to such…sneaky tactics to play with Sephiroth, but he'd had a few projects in mind for Zachary Fair.

"In fact…" Hojo continued, not giving Heidegger enough time to figure out a counter attack, "I should be the one demanding compensation. Because of your Turk's inability to follow instructions, I lost a valuable specimen. He was ordered to apprehend, or if that wasn't feasible, collect the remains for study. By now the specimen has probably been mutated beyond use in all that mako."

"Urk—Hojo, well, erm…" It was so much fun turning the tables on people like that. Any and all bluster was gone from Heidegger, although the oaf did look rather red in the face, from embarrassment or fury Hojo didn't know, or care. He glanced at the clock ticking in the corner of the computer display, drumming his fingers faster against the panel, the man was still trying to save face. "I'm sure—er—we could work something out…?"

"I'd hope so." The professor shrugged nonchalantly, inwardly gleeful at how he was slowly grinding the annoyance into dust, "I could always talk to the President…"

Bingo. Heidegger went white, jaw dropping. All he had to do was threaten to get the president to slash the budget and the oaf would crumble into dust. It was exceedingly useful to have the ear of the person who controlled the budgets, and as long as he kept promising the Promised Land, it wasn't likely he'd lose it. It disgusted him, this filthy game of politics, but it had its uses.

"No, no, no need for that Professor." Heidegger laughed uneasily, trying to put on an unconcerned face, to act like the prospect didn't bother him that much. "Ah, how about I offer you a trade? A, ah, specimen in return for the one killed."

Hojo removed his glasses, polishing them, putting on his own disinterested airs, "And who would that be? Fair?"

"No! I ah, mean, Fair is too valuable, too public. If he were to disappear…" Heidegger coughed, yelling off the screen for someone to get him a glass of water. "What about the Turk? The one who cost you your…specimen."

Hojo sneered, replacing his glasses, "Turks have no resistance to mako. At all. What use would he be to me?"

A Turk just wouldn't be useable for the projects he'd had in mind. Of course, he could always come up with something if he needed too. Turks were generally resilient individuals, especially since they had to make up the difference between mako-enhanced and not without the enhancement, and it was very easy to make them vanish without awkward questions. Valentine had been a good example of what he could do with a clean Turk, and what an interesting side project that had been. He almost mourned the loss of the Chaos project; it had been such a valuable research opportunity.

On second thought, he could always try and recreate and expand on the principles of that project. He'd learned quite a bit over the years since he'd locked Valentine away, and it would give him something to work on while waiting to see if his Reunion Theory was accurate.

"I would much prefer another specimen with Strife's mako tolerance, but if you fail to find one, I 'm sure we could work something out."

Heidegger frowned but agreed. He didn't have much choice to do anything else.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." The professor abruptly canceled the call, quickly checking to make sure it had been recorded. It had. Good, he could use it as evidence should Heidegger change his mind. He highly doubted another SOLDIER with Strife's unique reactions would come around, but if one did, well, he'd make sure he got one of the more experienced Turks on the job; one that knew what would happen if they failed a job for the Science Department. Hojo chuckled to himself, quality specimens were so hard to come by.

The professor turned back to the readouts, glancing to the side to where the wires led. Out of the corner of his eye he could see him, the most valuable specimen of all. At least his original project was still moving along as planned, and just in time, too. President ShinRa was giving him grief for taking his "super soldier" General out of commission. Bah, the money grubbing executive knew nothing about the importance of his work. At least once his theory was proven he wouldn't need the man anymore, or his company.

He eyed Sephiroth once again, double checking the IV that was currently pumping a faint yellow liquid serum into his arm, miniscule shards glittering as it passed through the clear tube. It wouldn't be long now. According to his calculations the treatment would be finished in another hour, and Sephiroth himself should sleep until morning. Then he could administer the counter to the inhibitor.

His side ached, remembering when he'd been shoved into the wall before the inhibitor had taken effect. The General hadn't been pleased when he'd been told he couldn't leave, but Hojo knew how to deal with his own creation. Just a prick and he'd been out cold, strength sapped. Even the great General could be taken down by a tiny needle, and Hojo was the only one with that secret. He laughed, giddy at the memory, it felt wonderful to have power over a soon to be god.

--

Zack sighed, looking up at the clock. Damn thing, he couldn't justify putting it off any longer. He cleaned up the mess on the desk, the file lying open staring up at him, mocking him. He just had to submit the paperwork to change Cloud Strife's status to KIA. As much as he hated to admit it, the evidence presented by Grant did not present many possibilities for Cloud to be alive. Zack felt sick even thinking about it, Cloud had been his kid damnit! He'd even taken on the burden of informing Cloud's mother! That looming task felt like it was hanging over his head, and it made the prospect all the more real. He was definitely going to wait the official period before making that trip, but even before that…

How was he going to tell Vincent…?

Zack tore his eyes away from the folder, snapping it shut, cutting off the smiling picture. He wasn't looking forward to that meeting at all. Zack had done his share of informing family members, but never before had those members been his friends. But it was because Vincent was his friend that he felt the need to let him know right away. He couldn't justify keeping the news from him.

The SOLDIER shoved the file under a random pile of paperwork, a small thought in the back of his mind noting that Sephiroth was going to kill him when he came back. It was a mess, papers everywhere, and the general's once immaculate desk looked more like an Academy student dorm room. But it was okay. Seph was going to come back, he would put it to rights.

With a final glance Zack flicked off the light switch, closing the office door shut and locking it behind him.

--

"Don't know... why the hell... we gotta climb..."

"Yo... What floor is this?"

"...I gave up counting."

"Why they gotta build these buildings so damn tall?"

A faint nudging feeling pulled Cloud out of his sleep, away from a dream of stairs. An endless sea of stairs; he'd been looking for someone, there was someone…he'd needed to rescue. He shook his head, waving off the faint sense of urgency that had accompanied the dream, it was time.

Cloud slipped out of the bed, noting absently that someone (probably Aeris) had pulled the blankets around him after he'd drifted off earlier. He hadn't meant for it to be a long sleep, just a short nap to regain his energy. He wandered to the mirror hanging on the back of the door, what he saw made him frown. He could feel the bandages, and a dull pain from the burns beneath them, but he hadn't realized how...many there were. He looked like one of those monsters from his mother's tales, the zombies that wandered the deserts, wrapped in nothing but bandages. Cloud shook his head, it wasn't time to think about old fairy tales, the bandages would make him stick out, but the burns would probably be even more memorable. He ran a finger along one of the strips of cloth, wincing at how sensitive the skin was to the touch, even with how light his touch was. He'd definitely have to leave them.

Cloud tore his attention away from the mirror, stalking across the room where he could see the glitter of his materia, sitting in a mythril bangle on the night stand. Grant had said he needed his sword for evidence, so the materia was the only weapon he had at the moment. The materia and the knife he'd had stashed in his boot. It wasn't much, but as long as he didn't attract too much attention it should be enough.

He had his back to the door when it opened, in the middle of hunting down his boots. The sound had him straightening up in no time, glancing across the room to where Aeris was closing the door behind her, something glittering in her hand. She looked up, and Cloud was taken aback by the concern in those deep green eyes. He wanted to reach out to her, tell her that everything would be fine, but he didn't say anything. He was planning something with the potential to be suicidal after all. Sneaking into Hojo's lab was foolhardy on the best of days, and here he was considering doing it with a severe case of Mako burns and a lack of weaponry.

Even though there was concern, he also knew that Aeris understood why. She was the only one who had the faintest idea of what he had to do, of why he had to do it. Wistfully he remembered when they first met. He'd been thoroughly freaked out—

-"I know you!"-

--and she'd been just as calm and understanding as ever. It had to have something with her connection to the Planet, especially since the Planet was supporting him in this foolhardy venture. It had been the Planet that had told him of his chance, in this timeline altered by his own actions.

"Cloud…" Aeris sighed, putting her hands behind her back and leaning against the door, watching him with those worried eyes of hers. Cloud tilted his head to let her know he was listening, grabbing his boots and sitting back down on the bed, pulling them on and trying his best to ignore the stabs of pain as he kept moving and stretching the burns.

"You've got to do this, right? Nothing I say can stop you?"

He nodded, though he kept his attention on his shoes, lacing them up and sliding the small knife into his right one, "Yeah."

She was quiet, and it was a good couple sentences until he heard her moving away from the door, across the carpeted floor until she was right in front of him. It was only then he looked up, as she took his hands in hers, placing a cool green sphere into them. "Then take this. It might help."

The materia felt cold, the green indicating a magic materia. He probed the depths, search for the identity of the magic. His eyes widened as it whispered back to him, a sense of escape, flight, Exit, "Aeris—"

"It won't work inside the lab, but I'm sure you knew that." She was saying, her hands still holding his, the materia between them, "I don't know where you'll end up, either. My mother used it to escape the ShinRa building, and ended up in Midgar, but I understand it is very rare, exiting to the city you are currently in. Still, if worse comes to worse, and you can't get out otherwise…"

"Thank you." Cloud smiled at her, drawing away his hands and reaching to pick up his bangle. He slipped out an ice materia, replacing it with the gift, the Exit materia snapping into place with a small snick. "Don't worry, I've done this before. I—" He cut off, realizing what he was about to say rescued you. He shook his head; it'd been some time since he'd made a slip like that, referred to his dreams as if they'd actually happened. He wouldn't let them happen.

"I need to get going now."

And then Aeris surprised him. Without warning she threw her arms around him, giving him a quick hug before pulling away. She put her hands on her hips, giving him a pointed stare to reinforce her words, "You better come back, you hear? As it is Vincent's going to kill me for letting you do this. He's also going to kill me for sending him on an errand so you could get away." She paused, "You come back to make sure he doesn't. AND to explain what's going on. The man has a protective streak a mile wide when it comes to you."

Cloud chuckled, "Believe me; he'll thank me in the end, if this works." He remembered how broken Vincent had seemed at the end, forced to help kill the last thing left in the world of his love, once Lucrecia's spirit moved on. He'd done it, but the last thing dream-Cloud remembered was Cid telling him that Vincent disappeared into the wilds of Wutai, just wandering.

But that wouldn't happen now. He had a home. A home with Cloud's Mom, with Aeris and Elmyra, with Zack and of course Cloud.

Cloud slid the materia bangle onto his wrist, flicking the clasp to tighten it securely. He needed something to cover the worst of his bandages, a hat, cloak or something, maybe some glasses to hide his eyes. He had some money—he always kept some in a hidden pocket inside his uniform in case of emergencies—and could probably grab something from Wall Market on the way.

Aeris politely excused herself, there wasn't anything left to say that hadn't been said, and left Cloud to his own devices. He bundled up his SOLDIER uniform; it would be useful camouflage once he reached the ShinRa building.

The ShinRa building…

"N... never wanna see... no more stairs the rest of my life..."

It really was pathetic that there weren't any cameras or alarms in the stairwell.

--

Cloud was walking down the street, a newly purchased hat pulled down low, covering his tell-tale blonde hair and mako-bright eyes. The bandages on his face were still visible, there wasn't much he could do about them, and so he suffered a few stares as he made his way toward the SOLDIER compound's quick access elevator. He could take the train, but this would be faster. He still had his keycard, and since KIA or MIA SOLDIERs weren't processed for a few days there was a good chance it'd still work. From there he could easily get to Headquarters.

He stood in the drearily lit room, before the closed doors of the elevator. The hum of machinery filled the air, telling him that it was currently in route from the plate to the slums. Cloud wondered who was heading down to Lower Midgar at this time of night, going through his memory and absently listing off SOLDIERs who were most likely, just to pass the time. Zack was at the top of his list, of course. Zack…

Zack probably knew he was "dead" by now.

--

The elevator's carriage settled with a faint clang, and Zack pushed himself away from the wall, the folder tucked under his arm as he waited for the door to open. The hiss of pressure being released and the doors slid open, letting him step out into the pollution tainted air of the Midgar Slums. There was a single person waiting for the elevator, but Zack didn't really give him more than a cursory glance. His mind was off in the clouds, playing the upcoming meeting over and over in his mind. How was he going to tell Vincent Cloud was dead? He'd been trying to come up with a way the entire way here, with no luck. He didn't really want to believe it himself.

The person stood there frozen as Zack passed—wasn't he waiting for the elevator? It wouldn't stay down here for long. Zack noticed that the guy was hurt, the white of bandages peeking from under the hat, along with wisps of blonde hair. For a moment he held out the hope it was Cloud, but then his mind kicked that wistful thought and ground it into the dust. Cloud wouldn't just stand there and let him walk by. Cloud's hair was a deep, sunny golden blonde, not the platinum, almost whitish that he could see from beneath the hat. Plus, Cloud was dead.

The guy moved when Zack had passed him, stepping into the elevator. Before leaving the room, the SOLDIER 1st glanced back, only to see the doors closing..

--

Announcement! Chapter 1 and the Prologue have been revised. More details to follow.

And now back to the regularly scheduled Author's Note:

s'not quite as long as the last chapter, and probably not enough after such a long wait, but this was where it wanted to end. I'd had this ending in mind ever since I decided on this plotline, Zack passing Cloud without realizing, and Cloud letting Zack go without saying anything.

We see Sephy again~ of course, he's drugged and out cold, and it's from Hojo's POV, but at least we know he's alive, right?

For those who haven't noticed (which shouldn't be many, considering the bold announcement), the prologue and the 1st chapter have been revised. There isn't much of a difference plot-wise, but I added details, especially to the prologue, and now there are clues about why Cloud has the dreams. As for the 1st d chapter, I tried to make Vincent more in character. I hope it worked. Let me know please? In a review? –hint-

P.S: Is it just me, or does add to the word count?