Summary: Down and down – into the deep, dark depths. It was exciting and scary, and Aerith didn't know what to expect, but she knew it wasn't gross kids' songs!

AN: Thanks for your patience. Start of the year at work slammed me and all I wanted to do was silly match-3 games. Plus, I completely rewrote a chapter and a half for, y'know, reasons.

I hope y'all had (or are still having) a great holiday season despite the RL situation.

Chapter 18: Go Down Swinging

At first, the descent had been kind of fun. She'd chased after Tifa, and Zack had chased after both of them. (Catching up easily by jumping over the rail to a lower floor – cheating, in fact.) But now? Now Aerith was starting to feel…. Not spooked, but… uncomfortable?

There were fourteen stairs per flight. Fourteen stairs, landing, turn, fourteen stairs, and their feet went tappity-taptap-tapap-tap in a constant but unsteady rhythm that echoed, just a little, in the enclosed space.

The lights were dim when they they weren't flickering. They didn't flicker often, but enough for Aerith to feel they could go out any second.

There'd been no windows. They'd passed no doors.

They had no way to get out.

Worse, the presence that had been with her for so long – the one she associated with the Planet – she couldn't feel it here.

They were deep, deep underground, buried in the earth, and Aerith could feel and hear nothing from it.

What was going on down here, that it could so completely drown the Planet out?

"You okay?" Cloud's voice was quiet. Zack and Tifa were nearly a full flight ahead of them, but as if sensing the question, Zack looked up at them.

Aerith's cheeks heated in embarrassment. "I'm fine," she said. Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Really. I just… There's no way out."

Cloud nodded, and Aerith thought she caught a small reassuring wave aimed at her boyfriend. "Deliberate," he said. "If all Deepground is enhanced like Rosso, then only SOLDIER is on equal footing, and even a SOLDIER First would tire before reaching the top."

"That's not actually comforting," she told Cloud.

"Truth often isn't."

Hard to argue with that one.

They'd caught up to Zack and Tifa because the two of them had stopped to wait.

"We could sing," Tifa suggested. "Break up the quiet."

Aerith gave her a rueful smile. "Wrong kind of noise."

Tifa shrugged. "I'd be happy with any sound that wasn't metal stairs." She rubbed her arms vigorously, as if chasing away a chill, but the stairwell wasn't cold.

"Doubt we'll have the element of surprise at bottom, no matter what," Cloud added.

Which is how they ended up singing the most horrible songs!

Zack started with one about the worst quartermaster ever. He said he'd learned it from the troopers during the Wutai War. He also said that everything he'd seen in camp made the song 100 percent accurate. Then Tifa taught them a song about black socks, and another one about green gobs of grossness that Cloud recognized. Finally, Cloud added another horrible song about eating worms!

What was it about Nibelheimers and eating nasty, nasty things?

Aerith sang the songs anyway.

Their voices were terrible, but so cheerful that Aerith couldn't help but feel better. She hadn't had childhood friends. Both she and Elmyra had been too aware that she wasn't like other kids, but maybe this was what it would have been like?

When it was her turn, she had one song she'd learned from the kids at the orphanage. She led the others in singing a song that didn't end – literally. It was both the title and the content – over and over and over….

When they finally stopped (about three quarters the way down) Zack lifted her up in a one-armed hug (his other was holding his new sword) and whined about her never-ending song. He also gave her a kiss, so Aerith didn't think he was that unhappy.

"Better'n 99 Bottles of Beer," Cloud said with a shrug.

"Gods, yes!" Zack agreed. "I never understood how a group of adults would willingly sing that stupid thing on long marches."

Cloud smirked. "Endurance challenge," he said. "Last one singing wins." Zack just groaned.

"Bet you won lots," Tifa said to Cloud. She was pulling ration bars out of her pack and handing them out. Zack traded her a full canteen.

Cloud shook his head. "Boring song. Plus, was usually stationed in Junon. No long marches."

"How'd you end up with me on the Modeoheim mission then?" Zack asked. He was determinedly chewing the ration bar. When Aerith bit into hers, she understood. It was a lot more like a brick of sawdust than food. She held out her hand for the canteen.

"They were assembling the test squad. For Hojo." All lightness was gone from Cloud's voice. "Dannison – the other trooper – was there too. Mother'd worked at a reactor when she was pregnant. There were leaks, but Shinra didn't tell anyone."

"Did he recover?" Zack asked. "From Hojo's…"

Cloud shook his head. Then changed it to a shrug. "Wasn't next to me when I woke up. Rumour was he'd been taken for more intensive medical treatments, but no one would tell me where."

Zack's eyes widened. "Wait a minute – medical treatments. Medical and Deepground, why do those sound familiar together?" Aerith watched as he paced away from them all and started doing squats. There was barely enough room for him to move while carrying not one, but two large swords, but someone he managed it. Years of practice, Aerith imagined.

"How can he be doing squats?" Tifa asked. "After all those stairs?"

"It's how I think," Zack responded.

"Knew it. Brain's in your ass," Cloud said with a sly smile."

"It's a great ass," Zack shot back.

"It really is," Aerith sighed in support. Zack grinned at her, even as his cheeks went pink. Aerith hoped he never fully lost that. If he ever started taking her little comments for granted, well… It wouldn't be half as rewarding to say them.

He straightened and stopped. "I've heard of Deepground before, or Deep-something. New Ground?" He shook his head. "I can't place it. But it was something to do with medical… stuff?"

"More of Hojo's muttering?" Cloud suggested?

Zack made a face. "Probably."

"Imagine we'll find out." Cloud stood up and brushed off his pants. "Ready to go?" He looked around at all of them as if gauging their reserves. Aerith felt pretty good, all things considered. The short break had helped, and the singing. And picturing Zack's butt!

"Good to go!" she said happily, and they all formed up in their accustomed positions and headed down. Their boots going tapat-tap-taptap on the metal.

They didn't sing. Instead, he and Tifa tried to make some kind of drum pattern with their steps, and then encouraged her and Cloud to join in. They only stopped when Zack said he could see the bottom.

She and Tifa both looked down, and then at each other. Aerith shrugged – she hadn't seen anything. Tifa shrugged back, so Aerith figured she hadn't seen it either. However, Cloud peered over the railing and backed Zack up.

There were only a few flights left by the time Aerith was absolutely sure she was seeing an end to the stairs – and maybe even a door out!

"Wait," Cloud said. They all obediently stopped. "Rosso came up these stairs. Maybe someone's waiting for her to come back down with Hojo."

"They'll be on the other side of the door," Zack agreed.

Cloud continued, "If they're enhanced, like SOLDIER, they've heard us already."

"Buff up now?" Aerith asked. Cloud nodded, and they all agreed it was a good idea. They also switched the order so that Aerith was at the absolute back of the line. She was the best at healing and if she went down, they might not get up.

She wasn't happy about the change, but Aerith could admit it was logical.

Tifa and Zack slinked down the last flight, making hardly any noise. Cloud braced his sword and settled into his stance. He had Zack's big buster sword on his back, and he wasn't used to the weight.

Tifa shifted so she could open the door for Zack. They counted down silently. Zack lifted up onto his toes.

She pulled open the door and Zack burst out….

There was nothing.

No sounds of attack. No shouts of surprise.

Nothing.

Zack popped his head back in. "It's clear." He sounded puzzled.

One-by-one they trooped out of the staircase into the wide, yet mundane hallway that dead-ended at the staircase. It was darker here. The emergency lights were dim to uselessness.

"Maybe they're waiting farther up?" Zack suggested. He took back his buster sword and swung it onto his back. Aerith could almost hear his breath of relief as the weight settled.

"Can't hear anything," Cloud said, and they were all quiet and listening. All Aerith heard was the artificial sounds of a large building.

"Oh, look!" Tifa grabbed her arm and pointed a little way up the hall. "Toilets!"

Sure enough, two doors with flickering signs, broke up the bleak hallway about five metres farther along. And knowing that there were facilities within walking distance, Aerith suddenly felt pressure in her bladder. It had been a long walk down.

"Hopefully they work," she said back.

Cloud tipped his head. "Need a lookout in the hall, but yah."

Zack nodded and they fell into their marching order.

"Fill up your canteens," Cloud said to them as she and Tifa pushed open the door. Aerith threw him a thumb's up, so he'd know she heard.

"It's kinda ordinary," Tifa said, looking at the plain white tiles and the plain steel stalls, the ordinary mirror and the industrial hand dryer. There was one light over the stalls, and it gave off a blue-white glow.

"You wanted monsters?" Aerith asked, sliding by the fighter and into a narrow stall.

She heard Tifa opening the door to the stall beside hers. "No, but… Secret underground lab. Should have spooky red lights at least."

"Something indicating it's evilness?' Aerith teased, because even she knew that's not how it worked. The most evil man she knew was Hojo, and he didn't think he was evil. In his own mind, he was just a scientist, expanding human knowledge in ways others were too weak to explore.

"Why didn't you punch Art in the nose?" she asked,

"Art?"

"The man bothering you when we arrived at the entrance to Scrap Boulevard." Art hadn't thought he was doing anything wrong either. "He was trying to intimidate you, and you didn't stop him. Why?" The toilet flushed automatically when she stood up, so at least she didn't have to fumble around for a handle.

The stall was so small that it took some manoeuvring to open the door without stepping on the toilet seat, but she did it.

Tifa followed her moments later. She was frowning and Aerith let her think while she washed her hands. She pulled a handkerchief from Marlene's backpack and dampened it. She wiped off some of the sweat and dirt she'd acquired. The damp cloth felt nice on her face and neck.

She handed it to Tifa when she was done. "Well? I've seen you fight now, and you really could have flattened him like a nail."

"It didn't occur to me," Tifa finally admitted.

"Why not," Aerith asked.

Tifa ran the cloth under the water. "Because it's not what nice girls do." She gave Aerith a quick glance as she spoke.

"Even though he wasn't being nice to you?"

"Was alright," Tifa said, finally lifting the cloth to her face.

"Tifa!" Aerith protested. "He was bullying you. That's not alright."

Tifa gave her a quick shallow smile. "Wouldn't be a very good bartender if I made my customers uncomfortable."

Aerith hummed and watched as Tifa wouldn't look at her. Tifa wouldn't look at herself either. That's when Aerith realized she'd hit a sore spot. She waited, patient, until Tifa felt the need to speak."

"Plus, you know, 'get more bees with honey'."

"But he wasn't a bee you wanted to attract. At least, it didn't look that way." Again, Tifa flicked her a quick glance. "Tifa, you don't think… You don't think you deserve to be treated that way, do you?" Aerith asked it gently because she didn't want to be cruel. That was Shinra's speciality.

Tifa kept her face down, washing the worst of the dirt off her legs. "Not like he was saying anything new."

Aerith snorted, a bad habit she'd picked up from Cloud. "That is not a good reason. It's quite an awful one in fact. You didn't pick your body, so there's no reason to let yourself be punished for having a great one."

Tifa blushed a little. "I don't think that." It was said quite firmly, so Aerith thought it might be true. So, what was the reason?

"You object quite loudly to Shinra's bullying," Aerith pointed out. She took the dirty cloth Tifa held out and placed it in the trash container. "Why was that guy different?"

That made Tifa pause. "Habit," she said in a voice of quiet surprise.

"From when?" Then it dawned on her: "Cloud said you were the town's sweetheart, back in Nibelheim. A princess."

Tifa's shoulders pulled up, and Aerith knew she'd nailed it.

Why would that be the issue, she wondered. In the stories, being a princess meant being given all the things – wealth, lands, a handsome prince. On the other hand, they were always on display, judged by how pretty and well-behaved they were. Misbehaving princesses were punished by evil curses.

"There's always a lot of things princesses aren't supposed to do," Aerith said slowly. "Is that it?"

In the time it had taken Aerith to think it through, Tifa had dug out the canteens from her pack. She began filling them, concentrating on the simple task. Aerith took hers out of Marlene's bag and did the same. Tifa didn't have to respond, as long as she was thinking about it.

"My father loved me," Tifa finally said. "Had a piano brought from Mideel so I could learn to play. He let me take fighting lessons from Master Zangan." She stopped. "You have no idea how scandalized the town matrons were."

"But," Aerith prodded, keeping her tone supportive, no judgement.

"Wasn't allowed to be unhappy," Tifa said quietly. "After mother died, everyone expected him to remarry so I'd have a proper female influence. But I didn't want someone to replace her, so he didn't marry."

"Because of you?"

Tifa nodded. "Because of me."

There could've been other reasons, reasons a very young child wouldn't have heard or been told. They were unimportant, because knowing those reasons wouldn't change how Tifa felt then which was what was affecting how she acted now.

"There were consequences," Aerith suggested.

Tifa capped the first canteen and started on the second. "It meant, I had to be fine. I had to be better than fine."

"Why," she asked.

Tifa finally looked at herself in the mirror. "My behaviour couldn't reflect badly on him, because I made him raise me alone." She gave an unhappy laugh. "Nibelheim's been gone for four years. No one's gonna take him to task about my behaviour. No one can." The last word was cut suspiciously short.

"You miss him," Aerith said.

Tifa blinked, and blinked some more. "Every day." She swiped at her eyes. "It's stupid. Was planning on leaving Midgar anyway. Kalm University first, then who knew? Hadn't told my father, but… That was my goal. He would've been devastated I was leaving him behind."

Guilt.

Aerith knew it was a powerful, and insidious, motivator. After all, she had left her mother behind. Even knowing Ifalna would die alone, she had left.

"He let you take fighting lessons so you could protect yourself," she said.

"Know that," Tifa snapped. "I just… It was just habit. Like I said." Tifa dropped the canteens back into their slots in her bag and stalked out. Aerith followed more slowly, to let Tifa get her composure back.

Really, it had been foolish of her to bring it up right now. They were deep in dangerous territory, and honestly, they didn't know each other that well, but it had bugged Aerith. Tifa had let that man back her into the fence and it hadn't matched how Zack had described her – kick-ass and confident. It made sense now.

Aerith wondered if she did the same thing. Did she smile to ease her way out of uncomfortable discussions? Did she pretend to be happy when she wasn't?

She didn't think she did the latter, but she'd done the former a few times. There were a couple people in Sector 5 she really didn't like talking with, so she'd smile very brightly and invent an excuse to leave. Was that the same thing?

In the hall, both the men and Tifa were waiting for her. When he saw her, Zack's eyebrows went up. "Everything okay?"

Was she okay?

"Yes," she said. "On a sliding definition of okay."

Tifa fiddled with her new gloves, but Zack laughed and gave her a hug. Cloud smiled and nodded in understanding. "I did a quick reconnoiter up the hall. I think I know which way to go at the first intersection."

"Well, then," she said. "Let's mosey!" For that, Zack gave her a kiss.

They organized themselves in marching order: Tifa and Zack in the lead. This time Cloud walked beside her. Made sense. Nothing was likely to come up from behind them considering it was a dead end.

They wandered long and identical metallic halls for what seemed like forever, but that Zack assured her was only about thirty minutes. They found a few offices, and as promised, ransacked them looking for any information on Deepground – what it was, who was backing it, what it was its purpose – but what they'd found was the custodian's supply closet/break room, which could be even better. As Baz had showed them, scientists and bureaucrats knew things, but custodians went everywhere.

There was a row of open lockers with a series of bright yellow coveralls. In the pockets of one of them, was a flip book of maps, each hand-drawn like the one Baz had had for the upstairs lab.

"Yessss," Tifa hissed in triumph. She flipped through a couple pages. "There are notes in here," she said. "Look: 'bad smell'; 'wear gloves'." They crowded around to look as she flipped the pages.

"'Avoid: flying guards shoot first'," Zack read. "That's good to know." They all murmured their agreement.

Tifa flipped one more page and then stopped. "Specimen G holding area," she said.

"Fucking hells," Zack whispered.

"Can you figure out best way to get there from here?" Cloud asked.

Tifa nodded. "I'll need paper. And a pen," she said as she sat down at the table. They got her the items and let her get on with it, while they searched for anything else that could be of use.

Cloud booted the computer, but apparently it was passcoded. He searched the rest of the desk instead, working around Tifa in a way that could've been flirtatious if either one of them had bothered, but they didn't. It was kind of sad, actually. They could've made a nice couple.

Aerith stopped watching Tifa and Cloud and looked through the supply shelves for anything of interest. There were a couple of healing potions that she grabbed, but mostly it was light bulbs. "They have a lot of hazardous material suits," she said, moving out of the storage area.

Zack, who'd found a work schedule that covered scientists as well as custodians, grunted. "Hardly surprising if they're messing around with mako," he said. He looked up at them, letting the sheets flip closed. "I recognize a couple of the scientists from my time. They worked under Hollander. What the hells are Hollander's people doing on a Hojo project?"

Aerith had no clue.

"Genesis?" Cloud suggested, and Zack's face cleared in enlightenment.

"Why would that make a difference ?" Aerith asked.

"Because Genesis was a result of Project G – Hollander's project," he explained. "If they're using G-cells in Deepground, they'd want people who'd worked with them before." He gave a lop‑sided smile. "Though, one'll get you a hundred that they were forced on Hojo."

"Got it," Tifa said from the desk.

"Cool." Zack bounced a little. "I'm ready to get out of here."

"Hey!" said an unknown voice at the door. "Who're you?"

Less than a second later, the custodian was on the ground, knocked out, Sleeped, and Silenced. A couple seconds after that, he was tied up and put in recovery position on the top shelf at the very back of the room where there was very little light.

"Will he fall off?" Aerith asked.

"Only if he squirms," Zack answered cheerfully.

To give themselves a bit more time, Cloud carefully disconnected the panic button under the desk, and borrowed Aerith's Lightning to short out the computer terminal.

"That's a useful trick," Zack said, standing hands on hips to watch.

"Used to do it by accident," Cloud replied. "We ready?"

Tifa led, consulting her map every couple turns. By unspoken assent, they no longer searched the offices, but focused on their goal.

"We have to cross a main corridor," Tifa said.

"Good place for an ambush?" Zack asked.

Tifa nodded. "Big and open. Probably has cameras." She showed them what she figured was the best path – essentially keeping to the edges until they reached a narrower spot to cross. "Hopefully, won't be surrounded if we are attacked."

"Good idea," Zack agreed, and Aerith swapped her Ice for Barrier so she could use the linked All and cast it just once. Holding the Barrier materia, she could feel that it was more stable than it had been at the start of this messed up journey. She kind of felt the same way, like her magics were easier and more powerful. She wondered if the others felt the same.

"Zack in front," Cloud said. "Tifa next."

Tifa protested. "But–"

"Zack can block bullets."

"And I heal better."

"Plus, you can springboard off him and take out any aerial troops," Aerith added cheerily. She didn't like it when Zack got shot, but she'd fought beside him enough time to know that he did heal very fast.

Zack grinned. "Happy to be anybody's bouncy board."

"Say that when I do it," Cloud muttered, and Zack laughed outright. He was practically vibrating in anticipation. He swished his new sword through the air.

"I'll protect our rear," Cloud finished.

And they moved out. Zack didn't bother trying to sneak. "If the cameras are working, they'll know at a glance we're up to no good. But if we act like we belong, it may take them a moment."

"Number one rule of getting away with stuff, is to act like you're not trying to," Aerith added, also strolling fake-casual along the edge of the large room.

"Experience?" Cloud asked.

"Hmm," she agreed, thinking of the times it had worked on the Turks watching her. She'd been a kid then, and they hadn't expected it which had helped. They were far harder to dodge now. Too bad none of them had been in the bar when it collapsed. Whatever else could be said about them, they were effective fighters, and Aerith had a feeling they'd need that soon.

The main corridor they entered was easily twice as wide as the one they left – five metres, at least. It was metal and concrete, like the old one, but some effort had been made to give it features. It had fake columns sticking out from the wall at regular intervals, and there were three rows of glass blocks near the roof. Maybe at one time they'd would have all emitted light, but now it was only a few that glowed. Most of the light came from orangey-red strip lighting in the floor.

"Oh yeah," Tifa said softly. "This looks like an evil lair."

"Does it need to look like one?" Zack asked puzzled, while Aerith swallowed her giggles.

"Cameras up top," Cloud said quietly.

Everyone obediently looked up. Sure enough, mounted at the top of the fake columns, Aerith could see rectangular boxes with lenses, smaller yet somehow more menacing than the cameras mounted at the sector wall crossover points.

"Any way to tell if they're on?" She asked. She couldn't see a blinking light or anything.

"They're not moving," Zack said after a pause. But their moment of relief was short-lived when small sentry drones whooshed down the hall. They were cameras on tentacles, and they were flying.

There was no place to hide, so everyone was ready when the drones turned on them.

Aerith got off one Thundara cast before the machines shielded themselves. Zack's swings and Tifa's punches couldn't penetrate anymore. Each strike caused a gold faceted after-image that was completely unlike Aerith's greenish barriers.

They didn't stop hitting the drones though.

The one nearest Tifa started to vibrate, building up to something. Some of its tentacles spun straight out, like whips. The middle tentacles wrapped around each other to form a point. Aerith figured getting hit by either would hurt, but before it could get moving, Cloud cast a strong wind spell that pushed it away. The drone was spun around in the air and zoomed toward the far wall instead of any of them, shattering a glass block shattered and cracking several others.

"Thanks," she said, gulping a breath in relief.

"No elemental weaknesses," Cloud called out, looking at his yellow Assess. "Defenses not great."

Tifa, who had jumped up in the air to deliver a very impressive punch-kick combo that did hardly anything, grunted unhappily. "Seriously?"

"Once barrier's down," Cloud corrected. "Two attacks: spinning drill – we've seen – and fire." He cast Slow on the one in front of them, and it was enough for Aerith to see it gathering its power.

Unsurprisingly, it spat fire at Tifa. She'd already moved out of the way and was doing her own version of powering up.

Zack hit it with Hardedge and its gold barrier dissolved into glittering lights. "Barrier's down!" he shouted, and they all piled onto it.

Aerith had her Arcane Ward up so she stood in it and cast Thundara. To her surprise, Cloud, who was standing right beside her, had his cast doubled as well. "Nifty," he said.

Tifa threw some lighting at it as well and Zack had ice in his sword. They hit it a lot, and they hit it hard. They hit it until it was smoking and stuttering, but they didn't kill it. It wobbled and jumped, but it managed to cast its pretty gold barrier and became practically untouchable once again.

Tifa must have caught movement from the far side of the room. "Second one's coming back!"

Aerith turned, but it was heading toward Zack. He spun to face it, deflecting its spinning attack by twisting somehow. It sent the returning drone careening into the damaged one and they both spun out and away.

As it they spun, Aerith noticed that the barrier on the badly damaged one flickered and failed. She cast another Thundara, knowing her ward would double the cast. The first bolt was stronger, but the second took it down. It fell in a crackling, hissing pile.

"Good job," Cloud commented. He cast Slow on the second one. Because it wasn't an attack, the cast slipped through the sentry's Barrier and its jittery movement turned into gentle bobbing.

"Back at you," Aerith said. She recast her own, weaker Barrier on them all – so close to being something more!

She decided to save the rest of her mana for when it could do the most damage, so she used the magic in her staff instead. She wasn't sure it was getting through, but it helped to not feel useless.

Zack and Tifa had it flanked, and they had a rhythm to how they were hitting it. Tifa hit it twice, Zack slashed it once. Tifa kicked it – a roundhouse kick, Aerith thought it was called – and Zack stabbed it. It was quite impressive.

It was probably wrong of her, but there was something very exciting about being in a fight like this. She felt more energized and alive than she'd felt the whole five years he'd been gone. No wonder Zack had enjoyed being SOLDIER.

The drone powered up for an attack and Tifa was forced to dodge as it twirled like a drill and dove at her.

Tifa got out of the way, but that meant it was coming straight at Aerith.

"Move," Cloud ordered. Aerith obeyed automatically, spinning out of her arcane ward and away from the attack. Cloud raised his blade like a shield and blocked the drone when it shifted to follow her. He had his feet braced, but it was hitting him hard.

Zack and Tifa attacked it from behind and the gold barrier sparked and glowed… then dimmed.

As if they were twins, both Zack and Tifa leaned back on one leg and then swung themselves forward, fists out and glowing with power.

The drone dropped to the ground. Not even a crackle left.

"Alright!" Tifa said. She held her hand up for a high-5, and Zack smacked it lightly, grinning. Aerith spun forward, so happy to be alive, and offered her hands for high-5s.

Cloud searched the drone, of course. He always searched the bodies. So far, he'd found smelling salts, some antidotes, and a phoenix down. This time there was nothing.

"Anybody hurt?" he asked as he rose.

He was hurt the worst. Probably from when he'd blocked the attack on her. Rather than using up more mana, Cloud decided to use a couple healing potions.

"Don't have time to drink in a fight," Zack said approvingly.

"Heavy, too," he said digging another small potion out of Marlene's backpack.

They were all extremely alert as they continued up the corridor, but nothing else came at them.

"Programmed patrol pattern," Zack said. "Maybe nobody was watching the screens?"

Cloud made a sound like he wanted to believe it but didn't really. Aerith agreed with that sound. Still, they made it to the turn off with no issues.

This new corridor was very narrow compared to the last one. A service corridor, Tifa said.

There was still room for Zack and Cloud to swing their swords (and Aerith could spin her staff), and without the looming industrial aura-of-evil, they all breathed a little easier. Well, Aerith breathed easier. Neither Cloud nor Zack seemed to relax much.

"Right up here," Tifa said. "Take the ramp down."

Except there was no ramp. There was no left turn. The corridor had been ripped away and a gaping hole revealed that the bottom was a long, long way down. Maybe ten metres beyond where they stood, and about 5 metres lower, there was the landing that would've been at the bottom of the ramp.

"I can jump us across," Zack said, but his voice held doubt.

They stood at the gap, hearing wind and distant explosions and screams, while Tifa opened up the map book to find a new way down.

"It's like another whole city," Aerith said to Zack. She was standing in his arms, holding and being held. There were spots of lights all around the open central area, and the support columns, less massive than the ones supporting the Midgar plate, had its own light – it actually had a lot of flashing red lights, but from a distance they looked kind of pretty.

"It must've taken them years to dig this all out," Zack replied. "The risk to the plate…."

"They probably thought it was indestructible." Shinra always thought it was indestructible.

"Maybe it was terrorists," he said. "If I was a terrorist, and I found out the base of Midgar was basically a big hole, I'd bomb the hells out of it, too."

"Could also be poor maintenance," Cloud added.

"True," Zack agreed. "Shinra loves to build big, but everything I know says they hate repairing."

"Hmm," Cloud nodded. "Boring."

"And expensive," Aerith added.

"I've got it," Tifa said. "Need to go back to the big corridor and keep going for a bit."

"We'll be exposed." Zack's voice was grim.

"Either that or climbing down." She tipped her chin at the gap.

"Fuuuuuck," Zack moaned. "I mean, frog nuts!"

Aerith grinned and gave a little skip. Tifa's jaw dropped in disbelief, but Cloud just lifted an eyebrow.

Zack grinned. "You're right. It stands out more."

Cloud rolled his eyes. He turned away to pick up his packs. "Don't get moving soon, we're gonna end up sleeping down here." That made them all shiver, so they sorted themselves out and walked back to the big corridor. When Zack checked, it was clear, so they walked – fast but not scurrying – along the side.

It didn't take long before the ceiling lowered dramatically, and the floor sloped steeply downward.

Tifa stumbled, and they all noticed the line of bumps across the width of the ramp. They were matched by a similar line in the roof. Cloud pointed out the dark control box on the other side. "Laser gate."

"No power," Zack smiled. "Let's keep going."

Down and around. They passed another dead laser gate and emerged into a warehouse space that was even larger and higher than the corridor up top. It was filled with palettes stacked with crates and barrels. Wheeled bins taller than even Zack, were stuffed with boxes and parts, and one wall was lined with mechanical creations. They reminded Aerith of the old smoggers in the junkyard, but with more guns and sawblades.

An entrance like the one they'd just left, beckoned from the far side of the room.

"Please say we don't have to cross through this."

"Okay," Tifa replied. "I won't say it."

"Frog nuts," Zack said.

Tifa shook her head. "That's just wrong."

"Frog balls?"

Aerith giggled.

"Toad poop," Cloud suggested sarcastically, and everybody wrinkled their noses. He smirked in triumph. "Stick to the right," he said, lifting his chin to point. "Stay behind palettes as much as possible."

"Worth a shot," Zack agreed. "If I remember rightly, those things are more visual than aural. If they don't see us, they won't attack." Cloud hummed agreement.

Order didn't matter so much when any attack would come from the side, so they moved in a clump. It meant they were a bigger target, but it also meant those things only had one chance to spot movement instead of four.

Heart pounding, Aerith moved with them steadily from palette to bin to what looked like a pile of scrap. She almost wanted to close her eyes to concentrate on listening for movement. But it wasn't sound she heard, that made her pause.

She felt something…

It was hard not to talk loudly, but she managed it. "Wait."

The others all halted, crouching low behind cover.

Aerith did close her eyes to better sort out the feeling she'd gotten. It wasn't like hearing the planet, but it was something. Just a fragment of awareness.

Careful to stay hidden from the machines, hands tucked up so she didn't accidently hit any of the piles, Aerith crept towards the scrap heap. The pull was definitely stronger. "Zack!" she whispered, waving him over. His crouched walk was much smoother than hers had been.

"Can you pull this up?" She pointed to something that looked like the wheel well of a car.

Zack popped his head over the top of the pile, gauging the distance from the nearest sentry machine. When he crouched back down, he huffed out a breath, and lifted the sheet.

It screeched like the terpsicolts in the collapsed tunnel between Sector 5 and the playground.

Everyone froze, listened….

Nothing.

"Clear," Cloud murmured.

Zack lifted it a little higher, and Aerith shifted a couple other bits of scrap until they could both see the glow. "Well, monkey nuts."

"Oo, I like that one," she said.

"And frog balls?" he suggested, and Aerith couldn't stop her giggle. Playful Zack was her favourite Zack.

"Still clear," Cloud said. He sounded resigned to their silliness. However, when Aerith pulled out the green materia, he couldn't stop his own mild curse.

"It feels almost like that phoenix down you found," she said once they were back together. She handed it to Cloud.

Cloud focused on the small green ball. It seemed to expand in his hand. "Revive," he murmured reverently. "Exactly like a phoenix down." He smiled, as wide and bright as Aerith had ever seen him, and she had to blink.

He held the orb out to her. "Here. You're our best healer."

"Is it valuable?" Zack asked.

Both Tifa and Cloud nodded. "Rare, too," Tifa said.

Zack's smile was as bright as Cloud's. "Cool."

Then it was back to scuttling from bin to palette, moving down the room a couple metres at a time. Until there were no more palettes, no more bins. "How far?" Cloud asked.

"Five metres," Zack answered. "Maybe a bit less."

All four of them turned to look at the final sentry. It looked like it had rocket launchers or flamethrowers.

"It's gonna notice." Tifa said what they were all thinking.

"It'll notice, but it's still going to take it a few seconds to react," Zack said. "It's too big to follow us down the next ramp."

"What if we move real slow?" Aerith asked.

"Slow enough not to trip its sensors?" Cloud didn't sound hopeful.

"So run," Tifa repeated. She was already bouncing on her toes.

Aerith looked at the big swords Zack carried – one on his back and one in his hand. Would he be able to run fast enough? She looked at him, waited for him to look back. He nodded in answer to her unspoken question. She decided to believe him.

Actually, he could probably run faster than she could even with two humungous weapons. She'd been practicing at home, but none of the bounty work they'd done had required speed.

Besides, how did you train for that?

She said she was ready, though it wasn't completely true.

"On three," Cloud said. It was his turn to look at Zack in question. Zack nodded. They all counted down….

Tifa took off like a bullet, easily outpacing them all. Aerith lifted her skirt above her knees so that she could take a full stride and that helped. She could hear Cloud just behind her, and then he was beside her, between her and the sentry machine.

Zack was more distant.

She turned her head–

"Eyes front," Cloud snapped, and Aerith obeyed unthinkingly. "He's coming," he added in a softer tone.

She could hear the whirr and hum of the machine coming to life. Then more whirrs and hums as the other machines followed suit.

Its first step rattled the flooring and drowned out their footsteps.

Zack was behind them, she reminded herself. He wasn't trying to be a hero and fight all the machines.

Tifa dove through the opening, allowing herself to roll down the ramp. Or maybe she tripped, because that's what Aerith did – the ramp was a finger or two higher than the floor of the room. Cloud caught her before she could fall, and they spun-hopped into the wall by the entrance and kind of tripped-skipped down the slope.

"Keep going," Cloud said, as Aerith wobbled on the landing. Tifa caught her, let her get her balance. "You okay?" she asked.

"Uh-huh," Aerith nodded. "You?"

"Good." This time when Tifa took off, she dragged Aerith with her. Cloud was right beside them.

They were halfway down the second one, when Fire filled the top of the ramp area. A huge blast that melted the non-skid flooring and scorched the metal walls.

Zack jumped over the railing from the higher side. His shirt was burning when he landed.

He dropped Hardedge and rolled the rest of the way down the slope. Aerith tucked herself into the wall as he spun past. Cloud jumped over him, but he hit Tifa hard and knocked her over.

"Fuck!" the fighter spat out.

Aerith had never heard Tifa swear before, and she'd wonder about that later, but right now Aerith concentrated on keeping her feet as she ran the distance between her and Zack, calling his name.

Zack scuttled into the corner and covered his head.

Aerith wobbled to a stop. "Zack?"

"Damn," Cloud whispered. Aerith turned to him in dismay, but Cloud was going up the ramp in a crouch. Getting Zack's new sword, she realized.

She could hear the sentry at the top of the ramp, stomping and whirring.

Cloud was taking a risk getting the sword back, but Zack would appreciate it.

Another gout of fire filled the upper ramp and curled around the landing. She could feel its heat, but it didn't get close to them. Not even to Cloud, who still flinched away from the blast.

"What's the matter with him?" Tifa asked as she picked herself up.

"Flashback," Aerith said sadly. She crouched to make herself smaller. "Zack? You're out," she said before inching a little closer. "You're safe." She stopped as soon as Zack flinched.

"Flashback to what?" Tifa asked.

Cloud answered her. "Hojo's lab. What else."

"Oh right," she said, as if she'd forgotten.

It was probably easy to do if you didn't spend much time with Zack, Aerith thought. He spent a lot of energy making people think he was the same boisterous, cheerful person he'd been before, but it slipped sometimes.

She focused on her sweet, loving boyfriend, repeating his name and reassuring him that he was out, he was free. Cloud crouched beside her. He added his soft voice to hers.

Tifa had more questions, but at least she kept her voice soft. "Why don't you just go over and hold him?"

"If he thinks we're Hojo's minions he might attack," Cloud answered. "Super enhanced SOLDIER versus somewhat enhanced amateur…."

"Squish," Tifa supplied.

"Yup."

Tifa decided to consult her map while Aerith and Cloud kept up their reassurances. It didn't actually take that long (it took forever) before Zack lowered his arms from around his head.

"I'm good," he said. "I'm out."

"Are you burned?" she asked. Zack just blinked at her. "Can I come over and look?"

"Yeah?" More blinking.

Carefully, slowly, Aerith moved to Zack's side. She cupped his face in her hands, running her garden-rough thumbs over his smooth cheeks. Whatever Hojo had done, it had ended Zack's ability to grow a lot of body hair: no chest or leg hair – no beard. Usually, she enjoyed the feel of it, but now, it just made him seem vulnerable.

"Hey Aerith," he said, finally seeing her. "You look good."

"You looked spooked," she responded. He just nodded. She made him turn around so she could inspect the damage herself.

Cloud crouched beside Zack's head. Something familiar he could focus on. "Hey Cloud."

His frog shirt was gone nearly to his waist on either side of his big buster sword.

"Hey, jungle boy."

She twisted the huge blade attached to Zacks' harness so she could check underneath.

"No fair insulting me now; I'm hurt."

It hadn't burned as high, but a couple threads were smoking, a little, so Aerith pinched them off. She checked his skin.

Cloud shifted his crouch. "Why the delay."

"Fucking tripped," Zack whined. "Can I just say, this place sucks balls?"

Small blisters only, already mostly gone.

She let out a relieved breath.

"How's the shirt?" he asked. "Is it salvageable?"

"No," Aerith answered. "It's an offence to good taste and should be destroyed." Cloud grunted in agreement.

"Damn," he groaned. "I really liked those frogs. Reminded me of home." He gave another over-pathetic groan and got to his feet. Cloud held out Hardedge, and Zack took it with a nod.

"How much farther," Cloud asked Tifa.

"One more level down," she said. "Nearly there."

"How many more of these deathtraps?" Zack asked, still using his whiny voice.

Tifa looked at the map. "Uh… One large room. No notes about what it's used for."

"Yay." Zack's voice was flat and resigned. He swung Hardedge a couple times. Aerith was probably the only one who heard him say that he hated "fucking fire". She wrapped herself around his free arm.

Cloud saw. He looked at her, flicked a glance at Zack, and gave a small nod.

"Zack, you have the best eyes. Watch for any small flying doohickeys coming from up top," he said. "Tifa'n me in front."

The noise Zack made said he knew exactly what Cloud was doing. Lucky for him he didn't argue. He needed the break, the time to get steady again, and she'd use anything in her power to make sure he got it.

Above them, the sentries still paced and clanked. In front of them the area was dim and unknown.

"Let's get this over with."

End notes: The songs that they sing as they descend the stairs are, in order:

1. The quartermaster's store

2. Black socks (don't ever get dirty)

3. Great green gobs (of greasy grimy gopher guts)

4. Nobody likes me (the worm song)

5. This is the song that doesn't end

I have four siblings and a multitude of cousins growing up, and then I had two spawns of my own. My knowledge of disgusting and repetitive children's songs is deep and wide. Unfortunately.