Mesophase

As soon as Zack keeled over asleep Cloud hefted the higher-ranking SOLDIER over his shoulder and made tracks for the radio tower at top speed. This was bad. Very bad. However the only thing he could do was take care of Zack, distract Tseng and trust Vincent to fix things. Angeal had probably died, but the past few years had taught him that –provided a person got to you in time with phoenix down– such an inconvenience was not necessarily permanent. And Vincent moved fast.

The blond forcibly pushed his worry and speculation to the back of his mind and resolutely ignored it. He was on a mission. The mission came first.

"What happened to lieutenant Fair?" Tseng asked as Cloud carefully laid his friend out on the floor near the wall heater in the main room of the radio tower, incidentally the only heated area in all of Modeoheim.

"He killed former-General Hewley and went into shock," Cloud said shortly. "I cast Sleep on him to prevent further damage; once we're back in Midgar I'll take him to his girlfriend's house. She's got a good head on her shoulders and will be able to help him mourn so he can get over it and put himself back together."

Tseng did not say anything in response to the third-class' somewhat high-handed actions and decision, preferring to change the subject: "A helicopter will be here to take us back to Midgar in approximately half an hour. Would you report what occurred in my absence?"

Cloud straightened. "Sir. First-class Fair and I entered the reactor in search of professor Hollander. We found him on the suspended floor over the reactor core but were too late to prevent his decapitation by former-General Rhapsodos. Rhapsodos then engaged me in combat while lieutenant Fair continued exploring the area. My battle against the defector continued until he jumped over the railings into the reactor core, quoting LOVELESS. Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest." The blond did not add that there was no way that Genesis could be dead: winged people do not passively fall to their deaths after all. "Being unable to follow Rhapsodos to confirm his status I went looking for lieutenant Fair. I found him in the snow outside the remains of the old bathhouse, which exploded just as I was leaving the reactor. He informed me that former-General Hewley was dead and then mumbled something about Sephiroth, which alerted me that he was in shock. Seeing that the confrontation with his former mentor appeared to have inflicted a degree of psychological trauma I cast Sleep on him and brought him here, sir." Report complete. "Is that satisfactory sir?"

"It will do," came a dry voice from the radio set, which Cloud belatedly realised had been turned on for the duration of his report. Vincent would skin him alive for being so abominably oblivious to his surroundings. "General Sephiroth will be dispatched to Modoeheim to conduct a full inquiry into the deaths of the two former Generals. Third-class Strife, you are ordered to return to Midgar with first-class Fair, who is granted four weeks leave effective immediately and will be subject to an evaluation before returning to duty. He will regardless of the outcome of said evaluation be commended for his loyalty to the company." The voice paused. "Third-class Strife?"

"Sir," Cloud responded neutrally. The voice did not belong to anyone he recognised.

This is the Head of the Department of Administrative Research speaking."

Ah. Veld. Vincent's old partner. Interesting. "Was there something in particular you wanted to ask, sir?"

"AVALANCHE is becoming ever more tiresome to deal with. Would you be prepared to work more closely with the Turks to counter further terrorist action?"

Cloud thought about it. "How did I come to your attention sir? I'm only a third-class with less than a full year in the Company." Not that he didn't know the answer, but he wanted to hear how Veld would answer the question. One of the Turk Rules was 'admit nothing'.

"You have shown skills that compliment those of my Turks and more neutrality to my operatives than almost anyone else in SOLDIER," came the reply.

"Should General Sephiroth and Director Lazard approve these missions I see no reason not to assist your department in performing them," Cloud said carefully. He knew Veld would pick up on all the things he hadn't said, one of which was a silent confirmation that the Valentines were in no way affiliated to the terrorist cell.

"Excellent. I look forward to hearing more about the abilities of General Sephiroth's protégé from my operatives." The radio clicked and Tseng turned it off. Cloud scowled.

"Tseng, if it weren't for our impressionable audience" –he gestured at the infantryman standing silently by the door– "you and I would be having words."

Tseng did not move, but the sudden stillness was as good as a flinch from a Turk. The blond shook his head chidingly.

"You sicced your boss on me with no prior warning. How would you feel if I did that to you?"

That did get a proper flinch, even if it was only a slight tightening of the skin around the half-Wutaian's eyes. It seemed that General Sephiroth's ruthlessly protective behaviour in regard to his short protégé even intimidated the Turks.

"You are a hard person to fathom, Strife," Tseng said eventually. It wasn't an apology but it would do. He'd clearly got the blue-suit all in a tizzy because he couldn't fit Cloud into a neat mental box since the blond acted interchangeably like a Turk and a SOLDIER depending on the situation and occasionally like neither.

"You're coming at the problem the wrong way," the blond offered. He knew he bugged the shit out of the entire Department of Administrative Research; he didn't behave the way any underling –Turk or otherwise– should. They didn't like unpredictable things. "I'm a Personage." The army grunt was too far away to catch that whispered afterthought and wouldn't have understood the implied nuances anyway.

Tseng however understood exactly and stiffened. "My apologies," he said after a tense pause.

"Now that's out of the way, who's picking us up?" Cloud asked, slumping against the wall and jamming his hands in his pockets like Zack did when he was trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"Rude is piloting the helicopter and should be here in ten to fifteen minutes," Tseng replied.

"Cool. Once I get back to Midgar I'm going to have a hot shower. How about you?" The question was directed at the grunt by the door and accompanied by a genial smile.

The infantryman seemed a little awed to be spoken to by the student of 'the Great General Sephiroth'. "I like the sound of a hot shower too, sir," he agreed shyly.

"Hot water, nothing like it," Cloud sighed, eyelids drooping. "How 'bout you, Tseng?"

"I will most likely be called upon to report to my superiors," the Turk said non-committally.

"Sounds pretty rarefied company," the blond SOLDIER said absently. There were not many people higher up the food chain than Tseng and most of them were on Vincent's Hit List. Personally Cloud wanted the privilege of killing Heidegger. The man was nominally in charge of SOLDIER above Lazard and the Turks over Veld, but he was an inept moron who sounded like a jackass. A literal jackass: he brayed.

Fortunately for Cloud however he was not required to go on trying to keep the conversation afloat as a helicopter became visible against the night sky. The blond SOLDIER heaved Zack over one shoulder and looked back at the last surviving grunt: "Come on; we need to make sure there's a mostly ice and monster free spot for the chopper to land on."


Once they were all sat inside the helicopter Cloud reapplied the Sleep spell on Zack, closed his eyes and did his best to ignore the feeling of being dragged through the air inside a small, vibrating metal can. Helicopters made him feel dreadful but at least they didn't make him throw up like cargo planes, boats and trucks did. Sure he was uncomfortable but that was pretty much it.

Which reminded him...

"Infantryman?"

"Sir?"

"Did you know the other three personally?"

There was a pause. Cloud did not open his eyes, waiting patiently for an answer. "They were in my unit, sir."

So yes. "That you survived when they did not has nothing to do with your skill or their lack of it. You were lucky. They weren't." The third casualty on the trip had been due to a pair of Bandersnatches the poor grunt hadn't seen until it was too late. "Or maybe you're the unlucky one, since all their problems are over now. Whatever. What I'm saying is, don't blame yourself. Remember them, honour them, but don't dwell on what-ifs. I'm sure you did your best and not even SOLDIERs can do more than that."

His conscience appeased, the blond went back to ignoring his surroundings. Rude was a slightly better pilot than Tseng, but that didn't mean that the SOLDIER was enjoying the experience any more than usual.

Once Midgar was only an hour away Cloud sent Rosso a message from his personal PHS informing her of Zack's breakdown and his intention of dropping the brunet off at her flat. He got a reply back immediately agreeing to the scheme; it seemed Genesis had filled her in already on what had happened. Cloud doubted she would be seriously upset about the incident if it wasn't for Zack: none of the ex-Deepgrounders had managed to bond with Angeal. Rosso only cared about the man because Vincent, Genesis and Zack did, and even then she only cared when he managed to upset the latter trio.


Rosso's apartment was in sector five in the Slums, not too far from Aerith's church. Rosso had selected the location so she could keep an eye on the focus of Genesis' affections while being conveniently able to spend time with Zack when he was off duty. The redhead had managed to befriend the flower girl and the two spent quite a lot of time together. However when Cloud knocked on the door of the dingy flat at five o'clock in the morning he was let in by a very frazzled looking Rosso, who was up, awake and fully dressed. Cloud wondered if she'd actually slept.

"Genesis said Hollander was drugging Angeal," she said tersely, "but that in no way excuses what the bastard did to Zack."

"No, it doesn't," Cloud agreed, "but it means we may find it less difficult to forgive him when he apologises for his stupidity."

"He's a moron."

"Men often are," the blond said blandly, echoing Vincent as he shifted his unconscious burden. "Speaking of which: one SOLDIER first-class, spelled with Sleep, delivered to your door by Strife Deliveries. I'd ask you to sign for him except I don't have the paperwork on me. He has four weeks leave starting today; where do you want me to put him?"

"In the bedroom; I'll take care of him Cloud, I promise," the redhead said earnestly. "Vincent will get in touch with you as soon as the mess is straightened out. At least, that's what Genesis said she said."

"Good enough for me," Cloud sighed, rolling Zack off his shoulder onto Rosso's bed. "Take care of yourself; you know how to get in touch with me so don't hesitate to call if you need anything flamelet."

"I'll be good. See you blondie!" Rosso called after him as he let himself out.


Cloud and Tseng come to an understanding, Veld makes overtures, Rosso gets a bit more screen time and Zack is looked after. Plus, more insight into our favourite blond.

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