Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are the OCs. This chapter sees the finale of the Paradox story arc. Enjoy.

..:-X-:..

113 – Walls of Weird

Aerith stood in the doorway to Cloud's apartment, arms folded, torn between being too startled at the mess and being a little wary of causing an avalanche if she touched any of it. There were boxes of files littered about, some stacked on top of each other and others lying half-disemboweled with its contents splashed over every surface. Was this why she hadn't heard from Cloud in a few days? Had he been buried under this mess?

Cloud, for his part, was oblivious to her entrance, his back turned as he faced the opposite wall, where several documents had been hastily pinned to the drywall. He had a thick black marker in one hand, and was repeatedly tapping himself on the neck with it, seemingly in a thoughtful frenzy.

"And you thought I was obsessed with my research." Aerith announced herself.

Rather than starting in surprise, Cloud merely swiveled around in place to face her. The eyes that met hers had clearly not seen sleep in at least 24 hours.

"Hey." He greeted, still tapping the marker against his neck.

"Hey." Aerith narrowed one eye, glancing around the clutter as she stepped into his apartment. "What…Whatcha doin'?" She asked in a singsong voice.

"I'm…" He vaguely glanced around the room, as though noticing the chaos of the strewn papers for the first time. "…thinking."

Aerith crossed the room slowly, folding her arms as she glanced at his wall of pinned documents. "About?"

It was a pointless question, she quickly realized, as several words repeated themselves across the files, print outs, clippings, and photos in black marker: blue flash, time vortex, history, and leech. She pursed her lips. This again?

"Cloud," She sighed gently. "You have to let this go."

"No." Cloud stopped the tapping and backed up toward an open box, rifling inside for a manila folder. "I told you what happened, what I saw. You can't still doubt—"

"I'm not doubting." Aerith quickly said. "I'm worried that you're becoming obsessed with this though."

There had been no doubting since he had stumbled into Merlin's house several weeks ago, white as a sheet and close to emotional collapse, after his latest encounter with that mysterious time traveler who only referred to herself as Agent Mike. Aerith had come to accept that, between magic and science, time travel wasn't exactly a stretch…particularly when you considered what Aerith herself had been researching for the past several months. Still, she didn't exactly delight in watching him obsess over an encounter with another woman.

"She knows me." He was rambling—a bizarre enough thing for Cloud to do anyway. "She knows the Restoration Committee, its members, its history, everything. When I fell through the vortex with her, I saw some of that. I was in the future, Aerith." He looked at her, his expression impossibly frazzled and passive at the same time. "And the past too. Some of it wasn't too far off from now. There was an eclipse or…something…Radiant Garden was under attack—"

"I know, you told me." Aerith dropped her arms to her sides. "And we're taking the proper precautions. Radiant Garden is the military epicenter of the Alliance. We're well armed."

"Not against that." Cloud shook his head. "You didn't see…You didn't feel it…."

Aerith gave him a once-over, rubbed her jaw, and inhaled. "Okay. When was the last time you got any sleep? Or eaten anything? You look ready to keel over."

Cloud made an absent gesture to wave off her concern, mumbling something about a brick house and a spare key as he turned back to his wall of papers.

She sighed and pulled out her phone. "Well, I'm going to order a pizza. Walk me through…this…" She gestured to the papers. "…and then you need to take a break."

"House…house…brick hou—brick house." Cloud's spine straightened and he whirled back to face her, epiphany in his eyes. "Brick house."

He dove toward a box that was precipitously balanced on the couch, nearly going headlong into it as he snatched up a notebook covered in scribbles. There was a loud meow and a hiss as Aerith's grey cat, Piper, was jostled from his spot on one of the cushions.

"Why is my cat here?" She paused, mid-dial on her phone.

"Spare key…but she knew…SHE KNEW." Cloud was in his own world, and Aerith's concern was rapidly swinging from moderate to severely worried. "The Djinn. I saw it…I KNEW I had seen that house before!"

"Cloud…Cloud." Aerith crossed over to him, taking the files and the marker away from him, setting them absently aside, and putting her hands on either side of his neck. "Look at me. Breathe. You're starting to scare me."

Cloud looked annoyed, but briefly closed his eyes and took a deep breath for her. As he released it, he opened his eyes and looked at her calmly. "Sorry."

He was almost on the brink of a smile when his eyes slid from hers, looking over her shoulder to the open door of the apartment. His expression became wooden. Nonplussed, Aerith turned to follow his gaze.

A woman stood in the doorway, in a black suit, brown hair tumbling from a messy ponytail. She offered a short wave and a plucky grin, her hazel eyes playful. "Sup."

"Mike." Cloud muttered.

..:-X-:..

114 – Whispering into Megaphones

Subtlety was an art long lost to Jake Alms. He was aware of this and really didn't care. Subtlety was boring. Subtlety was quiet and calm, a nod, a wink, a smile. He had made it this far without that mess. If you could get away with megaphones, confetti, and fanfare, why wouldn't you? That was just more fun.

But as Jake walked through the throngs of soldiers in the training center on his way to deliver a package to Cid Highwind, his eyes found Tabaeus as she was emerging from the armory stairwell. Her gaze absently drifted and found him looking back at her, and Jake knew this was going to take subtlety.

They both froze for a moment, ten meters between them and a couple dozen people around them. She looked petrified, and Jake felt his chest ache, immediately wanting to do something—anything—to make that expression on her face go away. Instead, he awkwardly shifted the box in his arms and canted his head, offering a meek smile of greeting.

Tabaeus pursed her lips and cast her eyes pointedly toward the file storage office down the hall before looking back at him. She was…inviting him to talk, somewhere private. Jake nearly dropped the box in his arms and vehemently nodded, abruptly dumping the package at the clerk's desk that was two meters to his left.

"For Highwind." He blurted to the flustered clerk before navigating through the people.

He reached the file storage office and opened the door, finding the room empty except for a dozen grey file cabinets and Tabaeus, arms folded across the room. He inhaled to catch the breath he didn't remember losing, and when she said nothing, he swallowed.

"Hi." He said, trying to appear as even as possible while his emotions pinballed through his chest. How was he supposed to react? She'd hardly acknowledged his existence since the fight in the Borough, and her eyes were unreadable at the moment. Being this close to her was painful, but it was a pain that he relished after so long out in the cold.

"Hello." She replied, looking uncomfortable. "I got suspended."

"I heard…Sorry." He rubbed the back of his head.

She unfolded her arms, letting them drop to her sides. "I'm sorry too."

Jake blinked. "Eh? What?"

Tabaeus inhaled, her gaze faltering. "I didn't handle…any of that…very well."

"Oh," Jake lifted his hands, "No, no, no. I," He put a hand on his chest. "screwed up."

"Yes, you did." She cut him off, and he quieted. "But I know Mindy Tallman. I've known her for years. I shouldn't have been surprised that she—" She glanced away abruptly before looking back at him. "I'm not girlfriend material, Jake. I think we've figured that out."

Jake grimaced. "This is all my fault, Tabaeus. I shouldn't have—I just want to understand. What happened between you two? I know—" He immediately started as Tabaeus flinched. "You aren't a robot; she was wrong about that. But you are a vault…We've known each other for years now, and I still feel like sometimes I hardly know you."

Tabaeus looked pained. "You know enough."

"Knowing isn't enough." He pressed delicately, taking a slow step toward her. "I know that you are tough and smart and loyal to the bone. I know that you fold paper cranes when you're bored, and you would rather jump into a volcano than admit that you might need help or that you don't know something. You're stubborn and you have these walls around you…I don't just want to 'know' you, Tabs. I want to understand you."

Tabaeus looked at him. "Jake, I don't know how to have a love life. For the past few years the universe has frequently reminded me that I'm not good at it. I'm not soft. I'm not warm or cuddly or open about my emotions. But you are, Jake. You…hug people when they're sad and you hang a thousand paper cranes in my apartment just to ask me out. You helped Lockhart research childbirth, and you set up Kisaragi with your friend Trevor."

"What are you getting at?" Jake questioned, confused.

Tabaeus's shoulders slumped. "I'm saying that you're a good guy, and I don't want you to wind up wasting your time on me."

Jake put his hands on his hips. "Can I be the judge of whether I've wasted my time?"

She met his eyes. "Have you?"

Jake paused. She looked painfully sincere in her question. Was she really that insecure? Did she truly think so little of herself? What had happened to her to make her think like this? The Restoration Committee respected her. Leon trusted her to the end of the world. Yet she still saw herself as a shadow, a background character in everyone else's story, including her own. That mindset made Jake's throat constrict and his eyes burn. He hated that she felt that way.

"Jake?" She looked alarmed at his silence.

In two strides, Jake reached her and threw his arms around her, pulling her close. She stiffened but didn't move away from the embrace, standing still as Jake held her. He couldn't help it. He couldn't watch her stand there any longer, looking so alone and looking so accepting of the fact that she was alone…Not when he had something to say about it.

He shook his head over her shoulder. She smelled like gunpowder and paper. He breathed her in and continued to hold her, as she continued to allow him.

"God, I miss you." He exhaled. "I'm so sorry. Please. I miss you so much, Tabaeus." He kissed the top of her shoulder. "Time spent with you is never, EVER wasted."

Screw subtlety.

..:-X-:..

115 – Paradox Concluded

"Sup?" Cloud repeated Agent Mike's greeting caustically. "SUP? You disappear for weeks after…after THAT, and all you have to say is SUP?!"

The time traveler twitched and looked sideways to Aerith. Her eyes widened fractionally. "Oh…hello."

Cloud looked from Mike to Aerith. "Aerith." He stepped around her and pointed to the newcomer. "This is her. This is Agent Mike." He glared at the time traveler. "What happened?"

Mike lifted her hands placatingly. "A lot of crap, that's what's happened." She stood loose. "Our little jaunt through the vortex nearly got me fired from the agency, but as far as time itself, no harm, no foul."

Aerith looked frozen where she stood beside Cloud. He looked to Mike in exasperation.

"So…" He glared at her. "Are you going to explain any of what happened?"

Mike offered a shit-eating grin. "That's not how it works, bud. We've been through this. I just came by to thank you for saving my life." She rotated her wrist. "That Leech would have sucked me dry if you hadn't done what you did."

"Just another scar for the collection then." Cloud said, remembering the discolored burn scar that he'd seen on her bicep. "That's not an answer. Who are you? What was that shadow?"

"You'll know when you're supposed to know." Mike explained. "I didn't intend for you to see all of that. That was no magic carpet ride for either of us. When my boss found out—"

"Shut up." Aerith cut in like a hot knife through butter.

Agent Mike's jaw involuntarily clamped closed, and she looked in alarm to Aerith.

Aerith, for her part, looked livid. "You," She pointed at the time traveler. "You are the one who's been popping in and popping out on him for months, dodging every question and dragging him through nine different circles of Hell. Look at him!" She gestured to Cloud, who flinched. "He's nearly gone mad trying to figure out…whatever…happened to you two."

Rather than make the expected snarky comment, Mike grew serious.

"My dimensional manipulator was damaged; the device that's used to time travel." She tugged her jacket sleeve up enough to show the translucent blue manipulator around her wrist. "I fell through five different timelines before I managed to get back to my own. Cloud saved my life, but I was still pretty gimpy when I got home. Then I got my ass chewed by my boss. I went to my partner's funeral, the man I had to KILL because the Leech was using his body like a puppet. I made sure it was safe to come back to explain myself. The future, your futures, changed because of what he saw," She nodded to Cloud, but her eyes stayed intensely on Aerith. "because of what I accidentally let him see."

Before the two women could burn each other's skulls with their hostile stares, Cloud interjected. "Changed how?"

Mike slid her eyes to Cloud. "Nothing serious." Her gaze drifted around to the pell-mell state of his apartment. "I can't say the same for you."

"Yeah, well, you didn't exactly give me anything to go on." Cloud tried to snap, but he was too tired so it came out dry. "And I think I'm starting to figure out why."

Both Aerith and Mike looked at him, confused and expectant respectively.

He glanced at one of the open boxes of files. "There're several years of missing history for Radiant Garden. Nearly an entire decade of nothing. No documents, no videos, no files, no correspondence: it's like someone erased a chunk of the world's past." He looked squarely to Mike. "Someone's trying to cover something up."

Her expression gave away nothing, but her eyes were taunting, teasing him. Like she wasn't going to tell him anything, that she wanted him to figure it out himself.

"Something like a war." Cloud said quietly, staring hard at her for a reaction. "Like the Sorcerer's War, maybe."

"What Sorcerer's War?" Aerith pressed. "You've mentioned that before…"

"Exactly." Cloud replied. "Merlin mentioned it once, by accident I think. He won't answer my questions, and he's the only one old enough to remember that period in history. It was almost 30 years ago. Eight years of history is just…gone. But we were there, weren't we?" He looked to Mike. "In the library. I heard them talking…What's with the cover up?"

The time agent's expression remained passive, like a mask.

Cloud pushed. "Does it have to do with the other timelines? Those couldn't have been completely random; they had to mean something. Radiant Garden being under attack in the future…The shadows and the unconscious bodies…the brick house."

For the first time, Mike looked uncomfortable at his prying, rather than amused.

"You were familiar with that house, and I recognize it now." He pointed at her. "Who are you, really?"

For a long moment, the woman stood lax, head tilted slightly as she surveyed him, almost with a thoughtful air. Then she smiled slowly. "I'm just someone who grew up hearing stories. About the war against the Darkness, about Keyblades and heroes and Kingdom Hearts." She spoke smoothly. "And I didn't hear those stories from data archives or history books. They were bedtime stories for me, for my siblings, for my friends."

"That means the war ends." Aerith breathed. "You're from the future, but you grew up. You talk about the war against the darkness like it's in the past…and if you're alive and your people are thriving in the future…That means we won. We'll win. This will end." She lifted a hand to her mouth.

Mike's eyes were dark and sad as she looked from Aerith back to Cloud. "Question everything." She implored, lifting her wrist and taking hold of the manipulator device. "Don't stop what you're doing." She offered a small smile. "But try to chill out sometimes too, m'kay? Eat greasy food. Enjoy life without angsting about it all the time. Thanks for the adventure. I'll see you on the other side, yeah?"

Cloud still had a thousand questions burning at the forefront of his mind, but he shoved them back. "You're kind of a bitch with this whole…no answers thing."

She snorted. "I learned from the best." She winked. "Live long and prosper."

Mike activated the device, and with a short blue flash, she was gone for the final time.

The apartment was quiet for a beat.

"Is she coming back?" Aerith blurted, rounding on him. "What was that? What did any of what she just said mean? I don't—" She ran a hand through her hair, turning and scrutinizing his frantic notes on the wall. "What brick house are you talking about?"

Cloud remained where he was, an unexplainable sense of calm settling over him for the first true time since his experience in the time vortex. 'Question everything.' He had his answer. Something was coming. Something was coming, and it was connected to those missing years of Radiant Garden's past. Just as he found some sense of closure, though, Aerith was having her eyes opened to the whole situation.

"Ordering a pizza sounds like a good idea." He said, taking out his phone. "Then we can work our way through all of this."

Across the room, Piper meowed loudly and continued to tear his claws through the couch cushion.

..:-X-:..

A/N: That's the last of Agent Mike that we'll see for a while. Major teasers were dropped in this chapter about some upcoming projects, but next chapter begins the final arc of this story, so stay tuned!

Preview for next week: Leon knew that Sora had been slowly remembering pieces of Project Stasis for some time now.