Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.
A/N: This is a "continuation" of sorts from the previous chapter.
Ryma: Chapters 18 and 19 were originally just one chapter, and was a transition chapter, skipping over some of the more mundane and repetitive things and hitting the highlights that are happening. I didn't want to soak in a pool of the same things happening and writing about it and basically the story kind of stagnates. I figured that the rapidness of the escape attempt with Noah, Zack being tortured for killing Davis and Destiny growing up, it set the tone for the way things were happening with the guys, everything is happening so fast, but nothing is happening at the same time. Really though, I have a tendency to have a sense of a need to rush, as though it were happening in real time and that can really make it seem as though I am rushing through. I try not to do that, but sometimes I do, sorry about that. Does any of that make any sense? I'm not sure if I am making any sense right now, no sleep and studying for upcoming finals has me all blah...
Thank you so much for sticking with the story and me! I really do appreciate your feedback, all the reviewer's feedback, good, bad and constructive! It takes quite a bit to really offend me so don't worry about that. Also don't any of you worry about rambling, I have a tendency to ramble from time to time and I rather enjoy seeing other rambles from other people too!
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Thanks to my after-post beta SubZeroChimera and my before-post beta Queen of Jokers!
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." -Dr. Suess
Chapter 19
The girl they called Destiny had been on the table in a drug induced coma for a week now. Hojo did not need Harding anymore, so he had sent him to the main labs once again. The beautiful and unique multicolored wings were still wrapped around her so getting the monitors unhooked took a little longer than the professor liked. She was mature enough now that Hojo felt comfortable with trying to wake her.
A cold bony hand caressed and stroked her hair softly as he whispered to her, "You are my greatest creation, even better than Sephiroth." The smile that crossed his mouth was full of prideful thoughts, "Those three specimens were very useful and they will be of great service to you in the future. They will be able to help you fulfill your destiny."
His hand rested on the side of the table and he leaned down closer to her face, "You will know when it is time. Until then, I will keep them here so that nothing unfortunate happens to them." A flip of a switch and the sedation medicine and the mako stopped and he removed her IV. He waited patiently at his desk finishing up paperwork that the President required of him. Several minutes later he heard her take a deep breath. Standing quickly, he moved to her bedside.
When her eyes opened, he wanted to be the first person that she saw, but she looked around the room slowly. Hojo's eyes brightened and being so keyed up, he almost vibrated in place, "Hello my dear." She sat up with little help from him and her curious blue eyes studied him as he asked, "Can you talk?"
She tilted her head at a slight angle, "Yes."
Hojo jumped and clapped his hands together in excitement, "Excellent!" She stood up and she still had her eyes on Hojo, "Yes. Come to me."
Her feet did not move, yet she asked softly, "Who are you?"
Hojo smiled and held his hands out to her, "I am your father."
She stood for a minute and studied him, "No." Her stare changed to something akin to sinister and it even sent chills down Hojo's spine and she yelled angrily, "You are not my father!"
"I made you! Of course I am your father," Hojo screamed at her, "You belong to me. You need me!"
She looked around as if she was trying to hear something from far away. After she listened for a few short moments, a flame of anger kindled in her eyes, the deep blue gleamed brightly as she asked in a furious tone, "What have you done to my father?" She dashed across the room faster than anything Hojo had ever seen, invisible. She touched a soft dainty finger to his chest and he crumpled to the floor, still conscious but unable to talk.
With a gentle smile she took a deep breath and whispered, "I am mother, I am everything…," She realized to herself. She looked down at herself and she was wearing a white dress with short sleeves and embroidering of colorful flowers on it. Taking the skirt of the dress, she held it out and seemed to admire it for a moment. Hojo had slit the back to make room for her wings; she tucked them behind her and headed for the door, just noticing as Hojo lost consciousness.
Zack and Sephiroth were in the middle of their reps when they heard a loud noise from outside the gym. A few pained screams, someone barking out orders, gun fire, the sound of organic things thrown against heavy steel walls and then ominous silence. Curious, they looked over as Drake went out the door while Ryan stayed in the gym and had his head sticking out the door. Sephiroth and Zack looked at each other and wordlessly and efficiently sprang into action.
Sephiroth swiftly moved to the techs, Burton and Wolfe, killing them silently.
As Sephiroth dealt with the lab techs, Zack pulled Ryan back into the gym by the back of his shirt, getting him right in the face with a quick jab, the guard stumbled backwards against the door frame and the dark-haired former Soldier punched him again. The force of the punch knocked his head back into the door frame and he slid down it holding his nose. He finished him off with a swift kick to his throat. Sephiroth picked up the baton that lay unused in the dead guard's lax hand.
They ducked down and dashing across the hall, Zack peered around the corner and seeing no one but a few soldiers that littered the floor. Looking at each other again, they quickly and cautiously made their way to the hallway where the labs were. They didn't see Drake. 'I kind of hope Drake is okay,' Zack thought to himself. They made their way into the lab where Cloud was floating in his tank.
Upon opening the door, they stopped in their tracks at the sight. Harper's dead body lay next to one of the tables staring lifelessly at the ceiling.
Across the room, there was a woman with very long, thick black hair that had small streaks of silver in it. She had a set of wings with black, white and silver colors, like a television screen when it's gone off the air, and she was standing directly in front of Cloud as he floated in the mako tinted water in the tank.
Turning at the sound of Zack and Sephiroth entering, she smiled and then looked at them in bewilderment; she studied them and tilted her head again. Her deep sparkling sapphire eyes had Zack and Sephiroth mesmerized momentarily at her fascinating and dazzling unnatural beauty. Skin like porcelain that perfectly contrasted with her hair. The soft facial features blended like a bewitching piece of music.
Smiling at them again, she turned back to Cloud and put her hand on the glass of the tank. Looking up at the fair-haired man's face, her small frame hid away a voice full of fire and intent, "I will come for you, but only when it is time father." Turning to leave, she looked at Zack and Sephiroth again, then smiled just before she dashed past them and disappeared through the door.
Sephiroth and Zack stood there speechless, until they looked at each other and asked one another with astonishment in their tones, "Father?!"
There was way more going on behind the scenes than either of them thought. Breaking the daze, Zack set into action, "I'll get Cloud, if you go see what else you can find." Sephiroth went out the lab door.
Cloud had lost weight, but he still looked healthy enough, despite his very pale complexion. His muscles were very well-defined, even on his thin frame. Zack went to the tank and looked at the buttons and rubbed the back of his head, "Which one is it? Let's try this one." Lights flashed before the tank started to drain the water, "Yes! Who's the most awesome?!" He opened the tank door and started untying the blond and removing his IV, the intubation tube and monitor leads, "Wake up Cloud, we're getting our asses out of here."
Slapping his cheeks lightly resulted in no response. Cloud was still comatose, "I guess this means I gotta carry you."
Sephiroth came back in with both of his arms full of various things. Zack grabbed a nearby sheet and wrapped Cloud's naked body and threw him over his shoulder.
Feeling more confident, since they hadn't seen anyone alive, they headed for the stairs that led to their freedom.
Things were oddly quiet up in the mansion so they were able to find an unoccupied room so that they could look over the spoils that Sephiroth had gathered. Apparently, the former General had found the mother-load. It turned out that it was most of their clothes and armor, and what was missing, Sephiroth replaced it with someone else's, most likely another one of Hojo's victims.
They changed their clothes and put their armor on and Sephiroth went to see if the coast was clear. Zack got Cloud dressed in an extra Soldier first class uniform, "You don't look half bad in that uniform," He told him, "As soon as Seph gets back we are out of here Spiky." When Sephiroth returned he had Zack's sword and a sword for himself and Zack couldn't help but comment with a smile, "Guess you gotta make do with just that measly little Soldier Third Class blade now."
"Mine must still be at the bottom of the reactor. I will get used to this one until I can get my spare," The once impressive man smiled with uneasy feeling about his statement.
Ignoring Sephiroth's sudden lack of confidence, Zack was working on getting things gathered up and asked, hoping to distract him and get his thoughts in their fight to escape, "Are we all clear?"
Clearing his throat, Sephiroth stated, "It is too quiet outside, we must expect an ambush."
Hearing footsteps first, they saw one of the lab techs walking down the hall and he went into one of the rooms. "I got this one," Zack patted Sephiroth's shoulder before he quietly went down the hall and into the room, right behind the tech.
"Hey there. So…how are things?" Zack had his sword pointed at his throat, "You got keys to this place and maybe a car?"
The lab tech was able to say, "I don't have a car, but I do have keys to the doors and gates." He pointed over to the desk, "Please don't kill me. I'm on your side! Really! Look!" He showed him the last communication that had come in from the resistance.
Zack narrowed his eyes at him. He reached over and grabbed the keys and left the room. He breathed out in relief until Zack came back out of nowhere and knocked him out and once he got back to Cloud and Sephiroth, the blonde's eyes were open and he was trembling like he was cold, "What's up Spiky? Are you cold?" Cloud closed his eyes slowly. "Let's get the hell out of here Seph!"
"Agreed," Sephiroth stood up and swung the sword in small arches, getting the feel for a weapon once again.
Zack smiled at him and winked, "You are definitely a man of few words Seph." As he was throwing Cloud over his shoulder, "You ready to get out of here Buddy?"
Reaching the front door, Zack tossed the keys to Sephiroth and moving quickly, he opened the door and the afternoon sunshine lit up their faces. They unconsciously stopped for just a moment and just felt the warmth of the sun that they hadn't felt in so long.
Snapping out of their trance, Sephiroth signaled Zack to the right, soldiers were standing guard. They ducked down and Sephiroth took out the three guards and moved them out of sight. Still carrying Cloud, they made their way to the gate. With a smooth movement, Sephiroth had the gate unlocked.
Once out of the gate, running to one side of the road, behind some trees and bushes, they surveyed the area. Zack signaled to Sephiroth, pointing to his eyes, he held up three fingers then pointed to the left and the former General to the right.
Sephiroth nodded and put two fingers up and pointed to his right. Putting Cloud down behind the tree, Zack moved to the left and took out his three soldiers just as Sephiroth was on his two soldiers in an instant. Moving the dead soldiers out of sight, Sephiroth stayed in his position, on the side of the road and waited for Zack.
Heading back to where he left Cloud, Sephiroth pointed to himself and held up three fingers and pointed farther down the road. When Sephiroth had taken out the three soldiers, Zack caught up to him. They stayed for a moment looking at the sight that shocked Zack. The town was not burned.
Sephiroth pointed to his eyes then pointed to Zack and then to a small storage building. They made their way behind the building and noticed that there were four squads of soldiers walking through town toward the mansion. Waiting until the men were past them, they ran toward some trees that were part of the forest at the base of the mountain. They went deeper into the forest, about a two-hour walk, Zack put Cloud down. Sephiroth looked at Zack and whispered, "I thought you said I burned down the town?"
"You did, but you know Shinra, they probably did this."
"You are correct. They would have covered their tracks to keep people from asking questions," Sephiroth whispered in a clearly annoyed tone.
"Hey Seph, it's starting to get dark, I'm gonna sneak back into town and get some provisions."
"No, I will go. Cloud seems calmer with you right near," Sephiroth put his hand on Zack's shoulder, "I will back soon."
Sitting there with Cloud, the brunette looked at him and the blonde's eyes were open. Small little whimpers were coming from his shaking and frail frame, "Hey there, how do you like being outside?" Cloud stopped whimpering and his head fell forward a little.
Sephiroth ducked down and quickly tied his hair in a knot. He hated when it would snag on tree branches when he was out in the field. However, it had grown a bit since he'd been in captivity and it wasn't very often that he got sent on deployments that had him using guerilla tactics, so he hadn't had to use his stealth very often, but when he did, it required him to tie his hair back.
Heading back the way they had come, Sephiroth slipped past the patrols with ease. Ducking into a house he lost sight of the patrols. A large empty duffel bag sat next to the door. It had been hung on one of the hooks of the hall tree.
Getting it filled with as much food and water as he could find, he added some medical supplies too. Upstairs there were two bedrooms and he grabbed a blanket and folded it quickly and put it in the bag. When he heard someone come in the house, he froze until the footsteps where coming up the stairs, he slipped behind the bedroom door. The footsteps went to the room across the hall and the door closed. Slipping silently out to the hall and quickly made his way back to the front door.
Opening a corner of the curtain, he checked outside the house. Seeing no one, he opened the door and slid himself across the front of the house to the side closest to the tree line. Waiting for a patrol to pass, he dashed across the yard silently and made his way back to Zack and Cloud. By the time he got back to them it was beginning to get dark.
"Take this, I'm going to go ahead and secure a route," Sephiroth tossed the large bag next to Zack.
"I think we need to stick together Seph."
"Zackary, do not argue with me, just stay here with Cloud and keep an ear out. I will be back before dawn," Sephiroth took off in the direction away from town.
Zack looked at Cloud and he had his eyes closed and it looked like he was sleeping. With it getting dark now and not quite spring yet, it was still pretty cold out. He found a small soft area between some trees and cleared as many crisp leaves as he could. Cloud fit perfect in the new leafless spot. Zack stood with his hands on his hips and admired his work. He crossed blonde's arms in front of him and got the blanket out. The brunette put the blanket over himself and wrapped his arms around Cloud. Zack made sure that they were face to face if Cloud woke up screaming.
The former Soldier stayed awake for a while, just listening. It was noises that he hadn't heard in so long. He had missed the sound of the crickets, the quiet breeze rustling through the trees. The crunch of the leaves on the ground when you stepped on them, all the things he had taken for granted, until then. He could see a bit of the sky through the tree tops. The stars, the moon, it was all so beautiful. Cloud laid still, breathing in a steady pattern, every once in a while he would groan, but Zack allowed himself to doze lightly. The feel of Cloud's breath on the side of his face kept him from sleeping to deeply.
Hours later, his ears perked at the sound of one very quiet footstep. Moving quickly, and unwrapping himself from Cloud, he grabbed his sword, crouched and watched in the direction the sound had come from. Zack let out a breath in relief at the sight of Sephiroth, "Good to see you are on alert. We have company all around us."
"Any luck on a route?"
"Yes, there is one that would work, but it is pretty rough terrain."
"Well of course, it wouldn't be easy," Zack looked at Cloud when he started to sob. His sobs were getting louder and turning into quiet cries of pain. Zack dove to the ground and put Cloud's face into his chest. When Zack was holding him again, he stopped sobbing as loudly, "Maybe he was cold. Either that or he knows that I'm the awesomest!"
"Zackary that is not even a word," Sephiroth began to gather things up.
"Sure it is! I just made it up," Zack's smile beamed in the rising sunlight.
"We should get moving," Sephiroth rolled the blanket up and threw the bag over his head and shoulder.
Zack looked at Cloud and his eyes were open, "Good morning, we are gonna get going. You ready?" Throwing the lighter man over his shoulder, they started through the trees following Sephiroth. The steady rhythm of Zack's footsteps caused a regular rhythm as Cloud's hands tapped the backs of Zack's thighs.
After walking for a little over an hour, Zack thought he should check on Cloud because his hands had stopped hitting him; Cloud had pulled his arms up to his chest, "Are you trying to tell me something?" Zack rearranged him so that he was carrying him in a bridal carry. Zack started walking again, and Cloud tilted his head and rested it on Zack's shoulder, "Yeah, I know Buddy, but we gotta put some distance between us and Nibelheim." The sight of Cloud, with his arms curled up to his chest, and his head on the brunette's shoulders, caught a grimace of pain in his heart. His friend looked so young and so damned innocent, like a fallen and injured angel.
Many hours of walking he saw Sephiroth was just up ahead crouched down. There was a large clearing in the forest in front of them, "When I checked this clearing before, there was nothing, but now look." Zack looked at where he indicated. There were about 100 soldiers and they were on alert, "We could easily take them out, but probably not before one of them gets a radio call out. I must say that I am at a bit of a disadvantage."
Zack laid Cloud down flat between a tree and a bush and whispered to the limp blond, "Stay right here okay." His eyes were partly open and he very quietly sighed then closed his eyes, "How so?"
Raising an eyebrow, Sephiroth seriously lamented, "I am a bit out of practice and…"
Distracted by a small two-man patrol on the other side of the field, Zack asked, "And what?"
"I… I miss my sword," Sephiroth lowered his eyes slightly and then brought them back to the infantry camp.
With a slap on his back Zack smiled, "Don't worry about it, we are in a valley of sorts so they would need a more powerful antenna. If I could take out communications before that happens, this may actually work." Zack suggested, "That looks like the main antenna over there." He pointed to a tent with a vehicle parked next to it.
"Agreed."
Zack smiled, "Okay, I bet I can do this in 3 minutes. Then on my signal you come in with your, um… short little baby sword." Before Sephiroth could slap the younger man, Zack took off toward the flank and the communications tent. As he kept count in his head, he was taking too long to get to the antenna.
He ducked around a tree as two soldiers walked right in front of him, sometimes he was grateful for his heightened senses. If the infantry soldiers had his enhancements, he would've been caught. Stopping for them to pass, he dropped down to the ground and waited for his opportunity. Finally he had his chance to duck into an alley of sorts between two tents, rolled under a Hum-V and then dove into the tent and subdue the soldier inside.
Picking through the soldier's pockets, Zack found a knife and his wallet. Inside the wallet there was a little money and a naked picture of a woman. The back of the picture said, "Just remember what you're missing! Love, Rita." Zack sighed in an, 'I sure do miss Aerith' tone at the naked woman.
Looking at the radio, it was newer than the ones he remembered, "This can't be too much different from the ones I'm used to." He pulled the microphone from the radio and cut the main wire to the antenna and power. Sneaking back out to the tree line, he gave the signal. Sephiroth and Zack attacked simultaneously. They were a little out of practice for those numbers, but it came back to them fairly quickly.
After everything calmed, "You took longer than 3 minutes," Sephiroth said with a very small smile.
"Hey, don't hassle me. I got distracted by a naked woman," Zack nervously shifted his weight.
Raising a silver eyebrow, the skeptical former General nodded, "Okay Zack, whatever it takes for you to get through your day," Sephiroth turned and grabbed a duffle bag and emptied the current contents. While Sephiroth gathered more things they may need like MREs, knives, medical supplies and some water, Zack went around and found as much money as he could. Loading up the bags, Sephiroth slung the extra bag over his head and his other shoulder.
Zack went back to get Cloud. He was right where he had left him, "Did you see that? Me and Seph were awesome! What am I saying? Of course you saw it."
Meeting back up with Sephiroth, they made their way across the clearing. Once they got on the other side, they made good time. They walked for the rest of the day, with as few breaks as possible. Once they got to the edge of the forest and the foot of the mountains, they stopped and made camp. Zack's shoulders and back ached from carrying Cloud for so long. On one side of the natural path, they found an overhang of rocks and trees almost surrounding it. It was a really tight fit but they squished under it. Under the overhang they were out of sight from above and behind them. Sephiroth pulled out some MREs that he'd picked up earlier.
Sephiroth worked on heating their meal with the chemical heater in the MRE. It dawned on Zack that he didn't know if Cloud was even able to eat. Sephiroth handed him his heated processed beef. He picked a piece off and put it in Cloud's mouth. Nothing. His eyes were open and he was looking around, "Come on, you need to eat, we haven't eaten in 2 days."
"Try putting his head in your lap and try again," Sephiroth suggested.
Laying him flatter, he put his head in his lap and put more food in his mouth and then a little water. After that, he swallowed the food pretty well without the water. Zack would take a bite of food for himself and then one for Cloud. He figured Cloud had enough when he started spitting it out to Zack's lap, "I guess you're done?" Cloud closed his eyes and commenced shivering. Zack pulled Cloud up to him in a sitting position with his arm around Cloud's shoulders.
"What do you think that was all about at the lab?" Zack asked between bites of his meal.
"I don't know, but I am betting it has something to do with all the DNA samples Hojo took," Sephiroth cleaned up around where they were and settled in on the other side of Cloud.
"She said that she was going to be coming for Cloud," Zack squeezed Cloud's shoulders a little, and the blond relaxed and sighed quietly. Zack removed his arm from Cloud's shoulder and finished his food.
"I do not know, there is really no sense worrying about it now. Let us just try to get some rest, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow." Sephiroth took the blanket out and spread it out over all three of them as they huddled together for the night and took first watch from his spot.
The morning sky was starting to brighten. Zack slid Cloud over to Sephiroth's shoulder and got up. He had to go to the bathroom and he thought he would do a quick perimeter check. Doing a once around their camp, he went back and looked down at Cloud, sleeping, wondering when he was going to wake up.
Zack held tightly to his optimistic attitude, he had to believe that Cloud would be okay; after all he had made Cloud a promise.
With a verbal nudge to Sephiroth, Zack yawned, "Hey Seph, its dawn."
Sephiroth opened his eyes and sat up, carefully laying Cloud down, he got up and stretched and headed over to one of the trees. Zack looked at Cloud and tried to picture the young infantry trooper he missed, the one whose eyes conveyed everything about him in a single glance.
Sephiroth got back and reached into the bag and tossed Zack a power bar and a bottle of water. Taking a bite of the bar, Zack got down on the ground and put Cloud's head in his lap. He got the water and poured some in his mouth. He took a couple of swallows and then spit the rest out, "I guess you're not thirsty." The blond opened his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows. "What's wrong Spike?"
Sephiroth spoke up without even looking at them, "He needs to use the bathroom." He took a bite of his power bar then paused as he looked up. He glanced at Zack and Cloud with a puzzled look, shrugged his shoulders and went back to his bar.
"No kidding? I hadn't even thought about that. Well I wonder if he can even stand," Zack picked him up and tried to stand him up and he stood up with help. "Awesome Spike! Let's try to walk," Cloud didn't move. "Okay here we go," Zack picked him up and carried him to the tree line, "Stand up right here." He leaned him against a tree. "Well Spiky, I don't know who this is more awkward for, you or me." Zack took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, then he reached down and unzipped him and Cloud surprised Zack by pushing him away, "I get the hint. Thank Gaia." Zack let go of him but he started sliding off the tree and Zack caught him and kept him upright. When they got back to camp, "Hey Seph! He did it himself!"
"That's great," Sephiroth raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Yeah, I guess that part of him is functioning okay. He has always been a really private person. I wonder if this means he's getting better. You have no idea how relieved I am." Zack brushed his forehead and sighed, not trying to hide his relief.
"He was able to do it this time, but what about next time?" Sephiroth asked pointedly as he peered at Zack.
Zack got a shocked look on his face he held his hands up like his hands were circling a ball, "Here is my bubble." He moved his hands apart and made a quiet pop sound, "You just had to burst my bubble didn't you?"
Looking at Cloud, Sephiroth said, "Not knowing exactly what Hojo did to him, you need to take that into consideration. You need to prepare yourself for the possibility that he may not get better for a long time." Getting up, Sephiroth shouldered the bags and Zack gathered Cloud up and they began their trek through the mountain pass.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."
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