Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.
Warning: There is a very small m/m scene in this chapter.
Reviews, critiques and flames are welcome. I absolutely love all reviews about the story as it gives me motivation, I use good constructive criticism to help my writing improve and I feed the flames to the fires of my imagination.
Thanks to my before posting beta Queen of Jokers and my after posting beta SubZeroChimera!
"When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile." –Lou Holtz
Chapter 72
The loud whirr of the wind whipped around the invisible wall that held the frigid air behind it and away from their "living area." He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out at the snow blowing around. Silent and stoic, he waited. Waiting for his comrade that they called Zack to need them to retrieve him. If Jade knew that neither of them was listening for him, she would be angry, but she was meditating, so he could think about what he wanted to for a short time. Although she was the way to Jenova, she had to have all the tools first, that's all they were to her, tools.
The one known as Sephiroth was different from him though, he seemed to have a deeper connection with her. The jealousy was pretty obvious, but with Sephiroth's deeper link, Cloud got pushed aside. He loved Sephiroth, would defend him to the death, but he still felt like an outsider sometimes. This one that they called Cloud had many memories, painful memories of always being on the outside, looking in. He supposed it fitting, Cloud's natural curiosity melded well, but caused him to be different.
There was a bonus to not being linked as deeply; she had a more difficult time maintaining her constant link on him. In that way, he could let his thoughts fall into the exploration of this one's memories, fears, dreams and what he loves. This girl that he keeps close to him, he won't let go of the memories so that he can explore what his love for her means. The constant battle to keep him from breaking through seems to wane. The whole inner battle might just be wearing him down. Perhaps after a little longer, he will calm down and just stay in his place in the cage that was erected for him. However, he liked the fight that he consistently put up.
Sephiroth walked up behind him and ran his fingers through the feathers on Cloud's wings, "It won't be much longer."
"I know, but this wait is intolerable and I'm bored," Cloud's sly grin lit Sephiroth's grin. He looked at the silver hair of his companion, his green eyes bright with brilliance. He wanted to know more, he craved to know more. Cloud stepped into his face and looked up into his eyes, stared at them and waited.
What were his secrets, his weakness and his strengths? As he smelled of him, Sephiroth stood perfectly still for the inspection. Pondering on how to get the knowledge the quickest way, he figured that if the mind was busy with other intimate thoughts, it left the rest unguarded. Cloud leaned up and took his face into his hands and kissed his cheeks and then his lips lightly brushed against Sephiroth's and then the taller man added an embrace.
When Cloud pulled away from him, he studied him and smiled, "I know your nature… it is strength. I want to know more," Turning to look in the direction of his daughter, he excitedly said, "I want to know Jade." He knew how to get the information he sought now, intimacy. They both went to Jade and sat next to her as she readied herself for Jenova.
Sephiroth took one of her hands and his fingers glided gently across the skin on the back of her hand. She opened her eyes and radiantly smiled, lightly squeezing the hand of her silver-haired father.
As quickly as the smile lifted her face into a beautiful exchange of looks, it just as quickly changed to something more sinister, she sensed something and she would know now that they had not done what they were supposed to. It was confirmed when she stood and slapped Sephiroth across the face. Cloud rose to his feet and waited for her to say something, anything.
Sephiroth lay on the ground, with his eyes down, "What have I done to anger you my child?"
Her eyes burned with green fire, "Have you not been listening?!"
Cloud got on the ground next to Sephiroth, cowering at her feet with his eyes also down, he pleaded, "Please, we are sorry."
She grabbed the back of Cloud's hair and yanked him to where he was looking at her, "Listen then, listen to father scream in pain." Letting go of his hair, she shoved him back to the ground and leaned down to Sephiroth's face, "Are you going to let him suffer?!"
They both shut their eyes and reached out to Zack and felt him agonize. Sephiroth stood and Cloud met him next to her, "May we go and get him now?"
She nodded her head, "Yes, and make sure that whoever it is that is hurting him suffers just as he has suffered."
Sephiroth and Cloud smiled at one another and ran out into the harsh wind and snow.
Tifa and Vincent sat in their cell for what seemed like hours when the sound of the door opening caught their attention. Tifa put her hand to her mouth in surprise at Zack's condition. His head hung limply and blood trickled on the floor as he was dragged to his cell next to her cell. It was difficult to see all of his injuries, but he was beaten badly. Leaving Zack alone in his cell, bleeding, the guards went to Vincent's cell who said nothing as he was escorted from his cell. He looked back at her once, just before the door separated them completely.
She had to try to get his attention, she loudly whispered his name. There was no sound, maybe he passed out, so she threw caution to the wind and yelled, "Zack!" Still there was nothing. The helpless feeling got her to the floor and she kept herself from panicking or crying. All she could hope for was that everyone else would wonder where they were and mount a rescue mission.
A rescue mission would be the first thing that Barret would insist on. She let her thoughts float away in all different directions and they landed on Barret. He had lost everything to Shinra. His wife was a casualty of Shinra greed. How he coped with it was to move on, continuing the fight and bringing it to their doorstep. Then there was Red. He was the only one left of his kind. Shinra was killing the very planet that it usurped into nothing but death. It was a trend, death always seemed to follow Shinra, no matter how far, and it would catch up every time.
Yuffie was no different from any of the others. Her entire life pretty much screamed war. Her country had always been under some sort of attack. Maybe that is why she was so non-committal. She was a grown woman, but yet she never wanted to keep up long-term relationships. That was until Vincent came along. Even before him though, she seemed to connect with the group on a deeper level. Perhaps being with them, she had changed, but now, she might lose Vincent. Would Yuffie react as she had when she lost Cloud?
Harding had actually worked with the man responsible for the atrocities that was done to so many innocent lives. Hojo took these people and ruined their lives. The very lives that they were supposed to live were gone forever. There was no escape from the horror. Vincent, Sephiroth, Zack and even Cloud had become victims. Now their lives were forever changed, and not in a way that it was intended when they were born. Harding had been part of that and for that reason she could never forgive him. No matter how much he protested that he did as little as possible, he still helped a monster to breed more monsters.
Now, they waited for what could only be described as the end of a journey, perhaps to start another one.
Moaning in the cell next to her raised her attention back to her current situation, "Zack?"
With more moaning and a weak affirmation of his consciousness, he finally said quietly, "Oww."
"Zack are you okay?" Tifa stood at the bars and wished that she could push her way through them. Wet sounding gurgling and a cough made Tifa cringe, "Can you hear me?"
Interrupting her panic, loud noises erupted from the hall outside the small block of cells. Gunfire. She smiled tentatively and started yelling, "In here! We're in here!" The door swung open and she saw no one at first so she yelled again, "We're in here! Zack needs help!"
Blond spikes bounced as he walked into the area. Her heart hitched, she couldn't look at him, but she couldn't look away either. His wings tucked neatly behind him. The sword harness held his sword in the middle of the rows of shimmering feathers. He looked at her curiously and he walked toward her and then turned to Zack. Sephiroth came through the door and Cloud unlocked the door to Zack's cell and she yelled, "Leave him alone!" Cloud looked at her again as Sephiroth picked Zack up. The brunette looked terrible as he just lay limply in Sephiroth's arms.
Sephiroth started toward the door, but Cloud stayed in his spot and studied her, "It is a curious thing, all his memories. You are a distraction, an unimportant creature, but his memories say otherwise."
Tifa cried, she couldn't hold the tears anymore. The sight of him, his hair, his face, his body, it all screamed to her that it was him, but yet his eyes were not, "Give Cloud back to me, please." Reaching in vain through the bars to him, her tears roamed freely. Remembering what he had said the other day, the possibility that he might be gone forever, she couldn't forget that.
He stepped close to the bars and grabbed her hand. He pulled on her roughly, "Who says he wants to come back?"
When he released her hand, she fell to the floor in a heap of blubbering distress. That is when something happened that she never expected, he dropped the cell keys right in front of her. She looked up at him as he backed away; his eyes were a storm of green that didn't let up until a small flash of blue and one corner of his mouth curved into a smile and then disappeared. Her heart leapt as he joined Sephiroth as they left. What just happened? Was Cloud still there after all? She grabbed the keys and frantically worked at finding the right one. She had to find Vincent.
The engine roared and they couldn't hear very much. Yuffie felt confident that Cid's wife, Shera would take good care of their belongings, but what concerned her was that they hadn't heard from Tifa, Zack or Vincent for almost two days. The wandering thoughts of a woman in love caught her off guard. She didn't ever think that a man such as him would have her at such a disadvantage. That was exactly what she felt, if they wanted to get to her and tear her down, it would be through him. They got caught, that had to have been the reason that they hadn't heard.
She watched the others in the small plane, they all thought the same. Red had gotten a gamble of a plan together and Barret was ready to bust them out of where they kept them. Yuffie sharpened the edges of her shuriken and Barret busied himself with loading his gun arm with as much as he could. Harding had stayed with Shera, but Aerith sat in her seat praying. She prayed for the entire flight, nerves were the reason.
The motion of the plane jiggled a gag from her and she laid her head back on the headrest. Red stayed next to her while she tried to stay as unemotional as she could. The thought of what they could be going through stuck in her heart like a dagger.
Barret looked like he was deep in thought, but he turned to everyone behind him and said over the engine, "When Cid drops us off, we we'll recon until he catches up to us."
Aerith's glance to Yuffie had a hint of a smile. Did that mean that Vincent was alright? She had to think positive, stay focused. When Cid landed the plane, they got out, and checked their gear. As Cid got the plane close to some trees and was covering it, Barret made up the teams, "Okay, Yuffie, you're with Cid and me. Aerith, you and Red follow behind us. Aerith, do you think you can handle being the medic if needed?"
Aerith nodded and added, "Yes, I have Harding's medical bag and some of my homemade ointment."
"Great. Red, you keep her safe if we get separated. Does anyone have anything to say before we get going?" Barret re-checked his gun arm.
Red's tail glowed brightly, "We must also consider that if they got caught, Shinra might be using Zack to get to Jade."
Yuffie's heart sank a little at that thought. They had just gotten him back. He turned out to be a pretty cool guy after all. He had even treated her to an ice cream cone from the corner store. It was almost like they had known each other their whole lives. He even apologized for the comment he made to her while he wasn't himself. She could tell that he felt bad about it, so she milked it for as long as she could until he caught on. Yuffie cleared her throat, "What if Jade comes and gets him?"
Cid walked up and twirled his spear, "I guess if the fruit loop is with Cloud and Seph, we will have to think of somethin' else." Yuffie's glare made him stop and he raised his eyebrows, "What?"
Shuriken in hand, she went to stand beside Barret, "If you're going to come with us, you gotta stop calling him that."
Barret nodded and added, "Yeah! We gotta rescue the princess again. Now, let's go!"
Yuffie shook her head in slight amusement, but she still couldn't get Vincent out of her mind. Aerith sidled up to her as they walked, "Yuffie, Vincent will be fine, I know it." Aerith's radiant smile put her at ease. She'd only known Vincent for a couple of months, but she felt so close to him. His face stayed in her thoughts as she remembered his smile the first time he kissed her back in Nibelheim. It had only been a week, but there was sparks from the first time she met him.
The guard at the elevator entrance stood proudly and as they approached he straightened up. Yuffie snuck around the back, ready to steal his keys, but Barret sent Aerith over to talk with him, "Hello sir. I'm Aerith and we have a present for my sister's birthday party. I forgot my passkey though. Could you let us in this way?"
Aerith batted her eyelashes and Yuffie rolled her eyes and whispered to herself, "How cliché." However cliché it was, it worked, because he opened the door and they all squeezed into the elevator. The whole ride up, the sinking, heavy weight in her gut said something was wrong, that Zack, Tifa and Vincent were in trouble.
He had to look twice as hard to see what he had hoped was just a weird dream. From his vantage point, behind the open door, he looked through the crack between the door and door frame. The man with long pretty hair and the man with pretty blue eyes had wings? How did that happen? Were they angels now? Tucking their large wings behind their backs, they drew swords and began fighting the guards.
The man with pretty eyes cut down several of them before he looked toward the door that he was hiding behind. His eyes were different, mean and angry-looking… and green. As both finished off the few remaining guards, the one with pretty hair pulled keys from one of the guard's uniform and tossed them to the other and entered the cell block that held the three that he had followed from the main concourse.
He didn't want to make his presence known, not yet. The reaction that one of them at the restaurant wasn't very pleasant and he didn't want that again. He would just wait, just like he had waited almost all night. He would have to book a different way home at a later time.
Just when he was going to look away from where they had gone, they appeared again. The man with pretty hair was holding the one with the pretty smile. He didn't think that he was even conscious, he was beaten and who knows what else. The one with pretty eyes caught up to the other holding an enormous sword that looked similar to the one already on his back. They hurried out of the door and took to the sky. He knew that the girl was still in there, but he had to find out where the man in red was taken.
Cautiously pacing himself into the cell block, he noticed the woman frantically working at the keys to the lock. Her eyes widened when she froze. As he took steps toward her, she retracted the keys and held them to her stomach as she backed up to the back of the cell. He approached the door slowly with his hands up and a pleasant smile. Motioning for her to come closer to him, hesitantly she inched her way to the bars. When he pointed at the keys, she looked down at them and held them to herself tighter.
"Who are you?" She stood motionless, unwilling to move any further.
He held his hands up again and smiled. When she relaxed a little, he held out his hand to take the keys and pointed to the lock. Slowly inching her way to the bars more, she reached out and dropped the keys into his hand. He felt better knowing that she trusted him at least that much. He remembered her from the restaurant; she had been with pretty eyes. When he found the right key and he opened the door, he held out his hand for her to take.
"Wait a minute. You're the guy from the restaurant, the one that Cloud was afraid of."
His heart sank when she said that he had been afraid of him. He had never meant any harm, he just didn't know how to help them. He could make it up to them now, by helping his woman and friend. When his face dropped, she seemed to sense his sudden sadness, and she asked, "What was your name?"
He shook his head and pointed to his throat. That was what he started doing anytime someone would want him to talk, that way they would leave him alone.
"You can't speak?" He smiled and grabbed her hand and started out the door when she pulled back, "Wait, I have to find my friend. They took him." He nodded his head and pulled on her again, "You know where he is?" He kept walking.
The large metal door stood in front of them and the key slid in the lock and with a click, it opened. Several doors were off shoots of the main hallway. All the doors looked the same so he would have to open all of them. It wasn't until they got to the third one that they noticed something. Blood on the floor, all over the floor between three steel loops anchored in the plain concrete, Zack's outer shirt was flung a couple of feet away, against the wall in a bloody heap. A grimace of bad memories surfaced for him and so he turned to leave. The woman stood silent though, her hand went to her mouth, tears welling in her bloodshot eyes.
He pulled her hand gently until she looked at him, with motions of his hand she followed along. Finally on the fifth door, they found the man in red. He sat in the corner with an elbow lazily resting on his drawn up knee. With the back of his head leaning against the wall, he looked as though he was sleeping. Thankfully he didn't look as though he had been interrogated. The woman ran to him and he raised his head and stood. They seemed really happy to see each other and he was glad that he could help. He just wished he could help the three men he knew from the lab.
"Vincent! Are you okay?" Tifa pulled him up to standing and he looked at the other man in the room.
"I am fine, Cloud and Sephiroth got to the interrogator before he did anything," Tifa followed Vincent's finger to the corner where a bloody pile of clothes were. Only upon closer inspection, there was a body in the clothes, mangled and beyond dead, "Zack's interrogator. They didn't pay any attention to me, except to make sure that I stayed over here."
"They did this?" With the single nod from Vincent a shudder went up her back. The initial shock subsided and as soon as she was able to speak again, "They took Zack."
"I figured that would happen. I believe that was Rufus's plan all along. However, it wasn't Jade that showed up, it was her soldiers," Vincent looked to the man standing at the door, "Who is this?"
"Oh, this guy was one of the guards at the labs. Cloud said he had been the only one that didn't hurt them for fun. He doesn't speak, but I think Cloud said his name was Drake," Drake nodded and smiled. With a wave of his hand he urged them to follow him. Vincent followed, but stopped long enough for Drake to open the door to the small locker room that held his gun and her gloves.
Following the silent man known only as Drake, they made their way back out to the area where they had originally gotten captured. They would have to make their way to the airfield undetected. He figured that with the attack from Cloud and Sephiroth, the soldiers would be on high alert. The mass of soldiers congregated at the highest security risk areas, so they kept to the less traveled civilian areas. Heading to the elevator back to the small town beneath Junon, they spotted Reno's bright red hair.
Reno's nervous switching of his weight caught the president's attention, "Reno! What is wrong with you? Do you need to go to the bathroom or something?"
"No sir, I'm on guard, you know keeping vigilant and all that shit," In some of his fidgeting, he saw Vincent and Tifa. He stilled himself and tried to avert attention elsewhere, "Sir, have you tried the taffy in that shop over there? It is like a wild orgasm in the middle of an orgy!"
"Reno, you are disgusting," Rufus turned his attention to the file in front of him. Talking to Tseng, he was not pleasant-sounding, "So it wasn't Jade who showed up? How much damage was there?"
Tseng informed him, "Sir, there was minimal property damage, but many soldiers and guards were lost, at least twelve."
"What I want to know is, did they get the tracking device in Fair or not?"
"Yes sir," The corner of Tseng's eyes caught their presence and he understood Reno's demeanor.
Tifa held up a fist at Reno and his eyes got big and he shrugged. When he mouthed the word, "Sorry," she narrowed her eyes. She wanted him to feel her wrath and as soon as he was within her strike range he would. She got the plan of Rufus's now. He wanted Jade so she could lead them to the Promised Land, but he would have to make a deal with her first. She hoped that they could get the guys back before that happened.
Tseng looked back at Rufus, "May I suggest that we move to a more secure location?"
As they left and rounded a corner, Reno ran back over to them and Tifa let a punch fly and got Reno in the face, "Oww, that fuckin' hurt! What the hell was that for?"
"Oh, well what about the fact that we were led to a trap and Cloud and Sephiroth took Zack!" Tifa's rage was not quelled, so she punched him again.
"Stop hitting me in the face!" Reno held his nose and tried to get away from Tifa by running around and getting behind Vincent, "I don't know what happened. Rufus ordered me and Rude to his detail. We had to stay with him. We left the airfield open though. How come you went the other way?"
Vincent finished loading his gun and answered, "We thought that it smelled like a trap."
"It was a trap, but you didn't take the bait, so we went with plan B," Rufus snuck up behind Reno, "Reno, I knew you were a snake."
"Sir! I wasn't working with them. I was infiltrating, until you laid an unnecessary trap," Reno pulled a tissue out of his pocket and put it to his nose, "Why the hell do you think that she hit me? They found out! Damn."
Rufus crossed his arms and handed the file to Sebastian, "Under whose order was this infiltration given?" Tseng lowered his head behind Rufus, but still maintained constant eye contact with Vincent. Tifa looked around and a cringe weaved its way up her back at the sight of a dozen soldiers behind them.
"The president, or well, your father, sir," Reno's gaze went to Tifa as she readied another punch, but Vincent grabbed her arm.
Tseng stepped between Rufus and Tifa's group, "Sir, I was aware of this, however, until it concluded, I was ordered not to divulge any information. Since it is out in the open now, I suppose that I can inform you that they know how to get Hojo back."
"So are you suggesting that I let these criminals go?"
Tseng maintained his place, "These are not really the ones that you want, its Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth. I am sure that if we let them go, they will lead us to Hojo. However, if we keep them, the rest of their group might show up and mount a rescue, then it will be for nothing, we still have the tracking device."
Rufus considered what they said then looked at Sebastian and answered, "No, I want them here. I think that they could be of more use to us if they are in custody. Handcuff them and take them back to the cells."
Tifa started to fight, but when Vincent shook his head, she stopped. What was going on? She was so confused, but if Vincent had a plan, she certainly wasn't going to ruin it. When the soldiers got to Drake, Rufus stopped the soldiers, "Don't take him, he needs to go back to his brother."
Without thinking Tifa asked, "Who is his brother?"
Rufus smiled, "Well if I told you that, it would threaten the security and the best interests of Shinra Inc."
Reno's look told them nothing. They supposed that if he knew, he would tell them later. For now though, Reno, Tseng and several soldiers escorted them to another jail area. Looking at Reno and Tseng through the bars, Vincent didn't know what their looks told him. Being Turks, they were difficult to read by others. Once most of the soldiers left and took their guard posts, Vincent stood at the bars, "How long can we expect to be in here?"
Reno stepped back and Tseng moved closer, "It depends. If your friends come for you, they may try to help you escape, but then again, who's to say they'll even be here?"
Vincent was soon joined by Tifa and she obviously was upset, "You don't care that they took Zack? They will have the ability to do whatever it is that brings Jenova back."
As Tseng left, he said, "It isn't our problem anymore," He turned and looked right at Tifa, "It is yours now." Reno followed him out the door and once the door shut, several soldiers stood right outside their cell.
A/N 2: 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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