Author note: Hey everyone, quick announcement, i want thank the readers who have stuck with me and my irregular updates, I've recieved a lot of very kind thoughts lately. That being said i also keep getting anonymous messages telling me to delete all of my stories because they don't like my writing style, I've got one thing to say to whoever you, if you don't like it then don't read it. I am not looking to be a writer, i only write these stories to get them out of my head, (see irregular updates) the fact that some people enjoy them is super awesome but if you don't like then just don't read it

"Hold still" You told Cloud, as stiff as he usually is, as soon as you have to examine him he gets all fidgety.

"I'm fine" Cloud told you as he removed your hands from his face.

"Its bruising." you told him as you went to examine his face again.

"And the mako will make me heal faster, I've had worse" Cloud told you as he went to remove your hands again. You attempted to dodge him but he carefully grabbed your hands and held them in front of you, you could have sworn you heard an amused chuckle from the stoic Cloud Strife. "If I let you go are you poke at my face again?" Cloud teased.

"Its a medical examination" You told him, "And I make no promises" you laughed.

"Then I guess we'll just have to stay here" He replied, an amused smirk on his face.

You sighed, knowing you wouldn't be able to beat him. While you could be more stubborn than Tifa at times, Cloud enjoys picking on you way too much to let you out of this one. "Fine if you won't let me examine your face, will you at least let me take care of your arm?" you asked quietly.

Cloud's gaze went from playful to solemn understanding, he just nodded with a small smile as he released you. You stood up and went to find Elena, she would give you bandages with the least fuss. You knocked on her door and she greeted you with smile, when you requested the bandages, she gave you a knowing look, "Its Cloud isn't it, he has it too?" she asked, already knowing the answer. You bit your lip, its not your place to say, she gave you an apologetic look and went into her room and returned a second later with the bandages and ointment. "This is what Rufus uses" she explained.

You looked at it, it was all wrong, if anything it was a glorified moisturizer. You declined the ointment, "He should probably stop using that" you told her, the listed a few ingredients and explained how to make what you make for Cloud and Denzel. As much as you hate Rufus you still have a duty as a doctor to help people.

You returned to the room you're staying in and was shocked to see Cloud pulling his shirt off. You've had sex with the guy but you still get so flustered seeing his perfect body. "Did you bring the ointment I made you?" you asked as you went into the bathroom and grabbed a towel and two wash cloths. You washed your hands and with one of the wash cloths you dampened it with warm water.

"Yes, I always have it" He told you as he sat on the bed.

You approached him and placed the towel and wash cloths on the bedside table, then started to remove the old bandages from the Cloud's arm. Every so often his muscle would twitch in pain but Cloud would never make a sound. "Hows the pain?" you asked, the bandages began to stick to the wounds, you tried to remove them as carefully as possible.

"Its not bad" Cloud mumbled quietly. You gave him a look, knowing he was holding back, then he added, "its more sore."

When the last of the bandages were removed you frowned as you cleaned off the wound with the damp wash cloth. You wanted to understand what really brought geostigma on. It's not contagious, at first it only infected soldiers and Shinra employees, which would have made sense, they were exposed to the mako energy, the raw forces of the lifestream but when it started appearing in children, no one was really sure where it came from. You thought of Ryan for a moment, when you last saw him the stigma had spread from his left arm to most of his chest and neck. It had been almost two years since you've seen him, you wondered if he's even still alive.

Suddenly you were pulled from your thoughts when Cloud placed his hand under you chin and carefully forced you to look at him. "Are you alright?" He asked, he looked worried about you, you always seem to worry him.

"I'm sorry I was just thinking, I feel like if I could just understand where this came from, I could cure it" you began to ramble.

"I don't think theirs a cure" Cloud told you, he looked so distant.

"There has to be" you told him, almost childishly.

He frowned, "Its a blight, punishment for tampering with the lifestream" Cloud told you. You frowned and turned away as you continued to work on his arm applying the ointment. The ointment seemed to be working, actually affected area is a littler smaller than the palm of your hand and it seems to ooze less than before you started treating it. "I'm sorry" Cloud said suddenly, you looked at him in confusion, so he continued, "I didn't mean to upset you" he said frowning.

"I just…" you trailed off unable to find the right words, you turned away from him and forced yourself to focus on wrapping his arm. "Just don't let this kill you" you nearly mumbled.

Cloud carefully removed your hands from his arm and pulled you in his arms, he held you close and buried his face in your neck. You nearly gasped in shock, he's always been sweet to you in his own way but this was out of character for him. "I'll be here to protect you" he mumbled, you could feel his warm breath on your neck and shivered.

Neither of you really felt the need to speak, it was an emotionally exhausting day between remembering part of your past and having to think about the fact that Cloud's geostigma will eventually become fatal, you just really wanted to sleep. Cloud exiled himself to the couch, it was comical because he really didn't fit on it, he's just too tall. You tried to get him to let you take the couch but he was having none of it. Eventually you fell into a fitful sleep.

~dream~

You opened your eyes to find that you were staring into the the mako blue eyes of Zack Fair, groggy you looked around, still in the medical lab in the basement of the Shinra mansion.

"Come on, get up" Zack said as he brought you to your feet.

You nearly nearly stumbled, still half asleep. "Whats going on?" You asked in confusion.

"We're breaking out" Zack told you as he roughly kicked Ryan, he nearly yelped either in surprise or pain you weren't sure.

"What do you mean? how?" you rambled.

"We don't have much time, don't you trust me?" Zack asked.

That woke you up, "Yes with my life." You told him. Zack gave you his typical toothy grin before he kicked at the door, breaking the lock in the process.

"Were you always able to do that?" Ryan snapped as he glared at Zack.

"I needed more time to recover" Zack replied, completely oblivious to Ryan's tone. Once the door was open, Zack went over to Cloud and hoisted him over his shoulder. "Come on we gotta leave now"

"Hold on" You said as you grabbed a bag and threw in as many medical supplies as possible. It was mostly bandages, and disinfectant but you also made sure to grab the necessary supplies for a blood transfusion. Then you returned to Zack's side.

"I'm not leaving" Ryan said as you and Zack were about to leave the room.

"Fine then stay" Zack replied, it was not like him to say something so mean but you understood, Ryan has been unbearable.

Ryan looked panicked for a moment, "Autumn?" he asked.

"I'm leaving with them" You told him, he was about to speak, "I don't know how many more beatings I can handle, besides Cloud needs me" you explained, then turned away. Zack nodded to you and the two of you began running down the halls. You noticed Ryan's clumsy footsteps catching up.

As you came up to Vincent's door you stopped. "Autumn we gotta go" Zack told you, he shifted Cloud's weight to his other shoulder.

"Vincent can help" you told him, then tried to open the door but it was locked. You heard shuffling from inside.

"Who's there?" Vincent's muffled voice came from the other side.

"It's me" You told him.

"Autumn how did you escape? Did that hurt you?" He asked but then said "you need to leave right now" he told you.

"You can come with us" You tried to force the door open.

"I am trapped here, its no use, they locked me in long ago" Vincent said sadly, "You need to leave now, before its too late."

You frowned, you didn't want to leave Vincent but you knew you needed to make sure Cloud got out of here, you weren't sure how many more experiments he could take. You put your hand on the door, "I promise we'll meet again you grumpy old vampire."

"I hope so little one" Vincent replied.

And with that you, Ryan and Zack with Cloud in tow found your way out of the basement. You tiptoed around the base level, avoiding Turks and Soldiers on their nighttime patrols. Escaping the mansion was easier than you thought it would, but once you were outside and in Neiblheim you heard an alarm. Then several search lights came on. You heard the sounds of dogs barking and Soldiers getting into formation to begin the search to you and your friends. You looked to Zack, for a moment he looked like he was about to panic, then he spotted something/ He put Cloud down and moved a tarp that was next to what looked like was a home repurposed to be a military barrack. under the tarp was a pickup truck and two motorcycles, one with a sidecar. Zack looked inside and found the keys easily. He tossed the truck's keys to Ryan and then picked Cloud back up before putting him into the sidecar or the motorcycle.

"Why aren't we taking the truck?" you asked.

"You are," Zack said. "We need to split up, its not safe if you stay with me, at least not now. The Turks are going to be after me and Cloud, Shinra knows you don't have your mom's medical journals they wont be after you"

You could feel tears in your eyes. "But what about Cloud, he needs a doctor" you told him trying to find anyway to stay with him.

"He's not going to need a doctor if we don't do this now, they're going to kill us" Zack said. Then turned to Ryan, "If you heard north, you'll eventually hit Rocket Town I overheard some of the Turks being ordered to bring Riley there, just keep Autumn safe."

You were freely crying now, Zack frowned, he never wanted to hurt you, He pulled you into a hug. "Where will i find you?"

"Get your brother back, then go to Midgar," Zack told you. "No one will notice Cloud and I there, plus Areith will help get Cloud some medical attention, we'll be there waiting for you"

You hugged him one last time before you were violently pulled away by Ryan who forced you into the truck, you could hear Zack yelling at him to treat you more carefully. As the truck sped out of Niebleheim you watched until you could not longer see Zack as he and Cloud sped of eastbound.

(Cloud)

You felt a hand on your shoulder and your first reaction was to punch whoever was touching

"ah fuck"

"And you call yourself a SOLDIER first class"

Groggy, you woke up to see Zack holding his now bleeding nose and Jace laughing at his pain.

"What are you guys doing here?" You asked in confusion, "You're not suppose to be in the infantry barracks anymore" you added.

"Eh it will be fine," Zack said nonchalantly

"besides we have Angeal and Genesis watching to door," Jace added, "Now get up, get dressed, we have things to do"

"I have to train" You told him.

"You always have to train" Zack whined as he threw himself on your bunk, disturbing the guy who has the bunk above you.

"Maybe because I'm the only one whose not First class" You nearly snapped.

Zack rolled over and frowned, you didn't mean it like that, you were frustrated with yourself, it had nothing to do with Zack and Jace. Hell Zack was about to become First class when you met him, and Jace, well Jace is just a better you. The two of you started together in the infantry, went through basic training together, and you even got your first few assignments together. He came from a small town just like Neiblehiem, was a small but scrappy kid, but the difference between you and him, he had a happy childhood, a pretty girlfriend who loves that knucklehead and never needed to prove himself, no one ever called him weak. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that" you apologized.

"We'll forgive you if you get dressed and come with us today" Jace told you, Zack was back to his usual happy self eagerly nodding next to Jace.

And so you got dressed and as the three of you exited the barracks Jace was put into a headlock by Angeal- you had recognized him as Zack's mentor, but Jace has known him as his girlfriend's uncle.

"So runt, what took so long you said two minutes" Angeal said, Jace didn't even struggle in the headlock, apparently he's come to expect this.

"It took a bit of guilting to get Cloud to come" Jace replied.

Angeal released him as Genesis turned to you, "Hey kid, I know its tough but you'll get there one day, I guarantee you're more disciplined than these two knuckleheads.

You nodded, "Thank you sir" you said. The two elder first class SOLDIERS, nodded to you and each punched Jace and Zack as they left.

Wandering around Midgar's upper plate was a luxury, you'd only been out here a few times, usually just when you're leaving for a mission and coming back. You looked at your two friends, they seemed to know their way around really well. The three of you grabbed breakfast at a hole in the wall deli, it looked really run down but Zack swore that they make the best bacon, egg and cheese on a roll. You and Jace were making your coffees, Zack got the largest hot chocolate you've ever seen.

"Its funny, I like my coffee almost black, maybe a little milk" Jace started. Here we go again. "But Autumn needs to have her coffee sweet, milk till its light then three sugars."

"You need new stories man, I could make Autumn's coffee with how much you tell us that one" Zack laughed. He was right, you'll never forget it at this point.

"I can't help it, she's all I think about" Jace admitted.

"I mean Autumn, is pretty wonderful" Zack agreed.

"Am I ever going to meet her?" you asked.

"Yeah if you ever take your leave time, come on next time you have leave, we're going to my hometown. Mom will would love having two more sons around." Jace said.

"Isn't your mom mad at me?" Zack asked.

"I mean, yeah, but we'll bring her flowers, it will be fine" Jace said as the three of you stepped back out into the streets of Midgar.

"What did you do this time?" You asked, Zack seems to get into trouble everywhere he goes.

"I convinced a bunch of us to go skinny dipping" Zack replied shrugging his shoulder.

He was about to go into more detail, but you stopped him, "Not interested."

"Good call" Jace agreed.

The three of you continued to walk, you got distracted by how big the city is. You didn't even really care about the city, you preferred the country but theirs so many people and so many buildings, it was nothing like Neibleheim. "where are we going away?" you asked.

"Right here" Jace said as he walked into a store, You and Zack followed him in, you were surprised to find yourself in a jewelry store. You were about to question why you were here, when Jace ran off to greet an elderly salesman.

"Ah Jace back again, I can't hold it much longer" The man said almost as if he was scolding him.

"I know, I finally have the down payment" Jace replied. You and Zack stood with him.

The elderly man took a ring box out from a small safe behind the counter, "is it still to your liking?" he asked.

Jace smiled, "Autumn will love it."

"You're going to ask you girlfriend to marry you?" You asked curiously.

Jace nodded, "Just as soon as I can afford this ring." Then he turned back to the elderly man, paid for the downpayment and went over the payment plan.

As the three of you left the jewelry store, you listened as Jace rambled. "only a few more months, I'm gonna ask Autumn to marry me, I'll quit being a SOLDIER…"

"What do you mean quit?" you asked, this was the first you're hearing about this.

"Our time there is limited, somethings not right" Zack said suddenly serious. It weirded you out Zack was almost never serious. "Did you hear Sephiroth went missing last week and theirs been more Turks around."

"And Doctor Hojo, I think his name is, I don't like that guy, gives me the creeps" Jace added.

"We're all getting out, a few more months," Zack said.

"Where will we go?" you asked.

"Probably here, we'll start a business, we'll be mercs, or handimen" Jace added.

"Hero's for hire, Mercs for money" Zack laughed.

"I don't care what we are, I'll be a delivery boy if it means I get to be with Autumn and hangout with my two best friends" Jace said. You had to agree with them, maybe you didn't need to prove yourself, maybe you'll just never go home and avoid that shame all together.

You rolled over, you had a splitting headache, theirs no way you're getting back to sleep now. You sat up and stretched your back, the couch was bad, but not as bad as the church's floor. You sighed remembering your dream. "Why did I have to remember that now" you mumbled to yourself, then glanced at Autumn, or where Autumn was suppose to be, she wasn't there. Acting entirely on instinct you jumped up and quickly searched the room, sure she wasn't here or the bathroom you left in search of Autumn.

You were in such a rush you didn't even put shoes on, you didn't even realize until you felt the cold tile beneath your feet as you entered the hallway. It was the middle of the night but the hall was lit like any other medical clinic, that eerie amber glow, but their was a strange light at the end of the hall, you followed it and found that it lead to a screened in balcony, where you found Autumn looking out into the forest.

As you stepped into the room you were almost startled to hear the sound of Rufus' voice. "Ah I see you weren't lying, he really does come to your rescue every time"

Autumn turned around and looked at you as you turned to the Shina heir. "Rufus" You said, not in greeting but in annoyance.

"You do always come to my rescue" Autumn said with a smile.

You shot a glare at Rufus who said, "I just wanted to get some air and I found Autumn all by herself, thought she could use some company".

"Not from you" Autumn mumbled.

"Charming" Rufus said sarcastically, then continued. "I still find you as ravishing as ever"

"Rufus" You said in a warning tone knowing that his presence makes Autumn uncomfortable.

"I didn't think you were the jealous type" Rufus said as he tried to stand up, nearly stumbling, he was becoming so weak, you could see the splotches of geostigma on is face and neck.

"I'm not.." you began.

"You're many things but a liar is not one Strife" Rufus said as he walked past you and out of the room.

"Rufus" Autumn said suddenly, which surprised you and caused Rufus to poke his head back into the room. "I gave Elena some instructions for the ointment, you should use it at least twice a day, it should help with the pain and slow the spread." She said.

"Thank you Autumn, do try to get some rest" Rufus said before he left the room again.

You looked at Autumn curiously, as she turned back to look outside she sighed, she seemed so tired. You moved to stand with her. "Why are you out here?" you asked.

With a troubled look on her face as she said, "I remembered more about our time in the Shinra mansion." You nodded thoughtfully. "It was the last time I saw Zack" you added.

Unsure what to do or say to comfort her, you stopped thinking and wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders. Autumn leaned into you.

"You don't talk much, but you always know exactly what I need" Autumn told you.

Your lips twitched into a genuine smile as you glanced at Autumn. Out of all the mistakes you've made in your life, you must have done something right to be here now with Autumn.