Contains: canon-typical violence; language, M/M, M/F, (pairings in flux while I write)

Author's Note: It's hardly surprising that playing the remake inspired me to write another Final Fantasy 7 fix-it, but it's been a long time since I watched the movie or played any of the other games. In other words, be prepared for a lot of deviation from canon, some accidental, some deliberate.

One deliberate change is their ages. At the start of this story (the end of Crisis Core) Zack is 26, Aerith – 24, Cloud – 23. I completely believe Shinra would create child soldiers (which Cloud and Zack would've been) but I wanted everyone to be older.

There is a playlist on Spotify that I listen to while I write. I add or delete songs constantly, so it's not a soundtrack. Look for me there as etrixan.

One more thing: It shouldn't need to be said, but please don't post copies of my story on Goodreads, or anywhere else. If you want to share my story, send them here or to Archive Of Our Own. Thanks.


Chapter 1: Luck Warks In

Cloud waited for the army to leave before heading to the cliff edge.

He'd been on his way back from the Chocobo Farm (one great yellow dropped off for breeding, one truss of kurie greens picked up for delivery), when he'd heard the explosions and recognized them as mortar fire and grenades. Deza, his green chocobo, had perked up, and that had made Wex, the pack 'bo, jump and sidle.

Once he had the idiot yellow settled, Cloud thought about the battle he could hear.

His first thought was that it was Avalanche or some other quasi-army attacking Midgar – something that happened fairly often – but as far as Cloud knew, the core of Avalanche had been defeated a couple years ago at Corel. And Wutai rebels didn't do army attacks but precision hits and sabotage, so what else would bring Shinra's army out in force this close to Midgar?

A monster large or dangerous enough to threaten the city, that's what.

Something like a dragon or a mutated Marlboro, or maybe even a zolom that had drifted in from the plains.

That thought led him to slow his green chocobo's canter to a soft trot.

If it was a big monster, and Shinra didn't blow it up completely, the body could take hours to dissolve. That meant there might be scales or teeth or other things Cloud could salvage and sell for big gil in Midgar.

It was a matter of timing – arrive too early and get arrested just for being there. Arrive too late, and there would be nothing left worth money.

When he was close enough to hear gunfire – lots of gunfire – between the mortar and the grenades, Cloud slowed from a trot to a walk.

What the hells were they fighting that it was taking them so long?

Whatever it was, given the fire power it was absorbing, Cloud was more than happy to let the army take care of it. He'd been joking when he'd thought dragon or zolom, but damn! It could actually be one of those things.

Over the ridges of rock, Cloud could see the black smoke from weapons mingling with the brownish dust of the mesa. There was a lot of it, and there wasn't enough of a breeze to blow it very far. That was good. He'd be harder to spot through the smoke. He could get a little closer to the fight.

When Cloud could hear the shouts of the army, distorted by the ridgelines but distinct, he pulled off the track. Any closer and he'd be in the middle of the fight.

He manoeuvred behind one of the higher crests and dismounted. A stroke down Deza's beak told the bird to keep quiet. The green shook his feathers but didn't make a sound otherwise. The yellow pack chocobo opened its beak to warble. Deza hissed softly and the yellow stayed quiet. Cloud murmured praise, and then he waited.

And waited.

The distinctive green motes of dissolving bodies sparkled through the smoke, trailing up into the sky, but the gunfire and shouting continued so Shinra hadn't killed the creature yet. That meant the dead bodies belonged to the infantry men and women. As usual, Shinra was putting them up against something that seriously outclassed them. Letting them die rather than admitting defeat.

Cloud was so glad he'd gotten out...

While he waited, sparing a sympathetic thought for all the dying, Cloud tried to figure out what they were up against. It wasn't a zolom (unfortunately) because zoloms were tall, taller than any of the rock formations on the top of the cliffs. Cloud would've been able to see its scaley head. Same with a behemoth. A dragon would've flown, so sadly, that was out as well.

It could be a giant mutated Marlboro. He'd heard people in Kalm talking about some new breed travellers had run into.

It could also be one of Shinra's mechanical weapons on a rampage and not responding to shut down commands. If that was the case, then Cloud was wasting his time waiting. Shinra would gather up all the parts and haul it back to Weapons Development for analysis.

Cloud looked up. It was still early afternoon. There were only a few clouds, so rain was unlikely. Technically, no one should be expecting him until tomorrow, because that's when his delivery was due. He could afford to wait a while longer.

The green motes rising into the air thinned, but they didn't stop. The shadows cast by the rock crest stretched as the sun moved in the sky.

Cloud decided the monster had to be an escaped experiment rather than anything natural. Whatever they were fighting was stronger than normal to have made it this far and lasted this long. He'd been a Shinra trooper for just over a year, and they'd dealt with two break outs from the Science Department.

It was during one of those breakouts that Cloud figured his fate at Shinra had been sealed. He'd been spit on by one once. A disgusting glowing green goo that had been mostly mako. He'd survived, and the Science department had wondered why…

Cloud shook himself out of the past. He couldn't afford to wait much longer – even with his skill, it wasn't safe to be in the open when night fell. And if it was an escaped experiment, the army would probably have orders to gather up the body and take it back to Midgar when they left, so there'd be nothing to salvage anyway.

He'd finally talked himself into leaving, so of course, the battle stopped. Mortar fire slowed, gunfire stopped, and the voices quieted. Cloud could hear the moans of the wounded. A couple final gun shots – probably the coup de grâce - then all sounds were drowned out by the engines of many, many large vehicles.

Finally, they were leaving.

Cloud waited until the engines sounded like dim background noise.

It started to rain.

Swallowing a sigh, Cloud led the chocobos out onto the road.

Cloud jumped back up on his chocobo and trotted them to where he knew the fight had to have taken place. He traveled this trail a lot, and there was only one place along this stretch where there was a big enough clearing.

As he drew closer, the copper smell of fresh blood was heavy in the air. It was layered over the dirt and rain. It surrounded him and brought back memories, unwelcome ones, of his own time in Shinra. Neither of the chocobos liked it, making soft, unhappy kwehs, but he spoke softly to them, reassuring and calm. The battle was over. They had nothing to fear.

Around one final outcropping, and Cloud finally saw the damage

He was going to have to relearn the trail's landmarks.

Where there had once been a layered stone ridge, solid and steep, there were now only a few random boulders sticking up like teeth. Deep holes pitted the ground where mortars had landed, and there wasn't any piece of dirt that didn't have blood or bullet casings on it for thirty metres in any direction.

Cloud looked, but there wasn't any monster remains. There was just a single body.

One man. Lying unmoving in the middle of all the destruction.

Cloud ground-tied Deza at the edge of the killing field and carefully moved forward. The body was dressed in black fatigues that looked kind of like the uniform Cloud used to wear. It supported Cloud's escaped experiment theory. But…

He'd expected mutations.

Admittedly, Cloud hadn't seen many of Shinra's experiments, but the ones he had helped hunt down had always been twisted in some way. Not this time, though. The guy just looked… normal.

Aside from having as many bullet holes in his body as in his ma's crocheted doilies, that was. Still… normal..

And then the body moved.

No. Not moved – breathed.

"Goat balls," Cloud muttered as he put it together. The long fight, the black uniform, and someone who should've been dead but wasn't. The guy was SOLDIER First Class. and Shinra had tried to kill him.

Maybe the SOLDIER had gone crazy, like Sephiroth…

The body on the ground shuddered a painful breath. "Wings… "

Cloud made up his mind. He had no love of Shinra, not anymore, so anything they wanted to kill he'd help live until common sense said otherwise.

He only had low-level materia on him – the road between Healin and Midgar was pretty settled and most monsters were low-level themselves. It was a great place to work with new materia, build up its strength. Which was why he only had a basic Healing materia on him, when he needed the mastered healing he'd sold to Shears just last week.

Shiva! The guy'd been fighting for hours.

Cloud cursed his own greed, but then he forgave himself, because how could he have predicted he'd have to heal a guy who'd fought a whole army?

He'd use what he had and hope it was enough. He tried to push the materia to Cura, but it was still too new. So he cast Cure twice. Too fast. He needed a breather.

"Heya." He lifted the guy's eyelids to check pupil response and revealed bright, glowing blue irises. Confirmation that this guy was, or had been, SOLDIER. No wonder an army hadn't quite killed him.

"You with me?"

Nothing.

Cloud took a breath, letting his panic go, and tried for Cura again, willing the materia to heal more strongly than it had the pathways for. It seemed to work, because the power passed through Cloud smoother, quicker than the times before.

It was always strange using materia, like a tingle running from his feet to his brain and out his hands. The green glow circled the injured man then dove in. Cloud took another breath, gathering his will, and cast it again. The blood stopped pouring out at least. And maybe the face had lost some of its sickly white tone? A closer look…

This close the SOLDIER looked a little familiar, but Cloud shoved the thought away. More important things to worry about. Like the amount of blood still leaking out of him.

Cloud could cast Cura a couple more times before it became a strain, but maybe he should make sure the guy wasn't going to die on him anyways before he wasted the MP. He gave the guy's cheek a light slap. "Hey."

Nothing.

"Hell-lloo," Cloud sing‑songed in the most annoying tone he could manage.

Surprisingly, it worked.

The guy opened his eyes. "Mom?"

"Not even close," Cloud replied. "Gonna cast Cura a couple more times. Should heal you enough to be moved. Dunno how you pissed Shinra off, but don't wanna wait up here and find out it's contagious."

Cloud concentrated on the materia in his bracer. This time, when the green energy dropped into the SOLDIER, several bullets popped out, flying up a couple centimetres before falling to the ground.

"Okay," Cloud muttered fascinated. "Never seen that happen before."

He forced his eyes away from watching the guy's shredded skin seal itself back together and looked at the guy's face instead. It was a handsome face under the blood. Though it was maybe too thin, and there were stress lines around the eyes, and a long, cross-shaped scar on the left cheek.

"…flowers?" the guy muttered.

Cloud couldn't help his snort. Wild plant life around Midgar was rare, and if there'd been any flowers on the ridge, they'd been blown to Ifrit's hell.

He took out his water bag. He knew SOLDIERs healed fast but replacing all that lost blood would take a lot of liquid. Cloud lifted the guy's head and carefully tipped water into his mouth. He swallowed it with his eyes closed.

"Stay awake for me, yah?"

"But, 'Geal, 'm tired." His voice was weak, but that was still a whine.

"Rest, but don't sleep. Okay?"

"'kay."

It was enough.

Cloud stood up to call the chocobos over – no way he could carry the SOLDIER to them – and saw the sword. Considering it was a huge slice of metal faintly shining despite the overcast sky, it was kinda embarrassing that he hadn't noticed it before.

On the other hand, he had been focused on the mostly-dead guy and how to save his life, so Cloud forgave himself.

Closer to the weapon, Cloud recognized it.

When he'd been young and stupid, and willing to believe everything was better in Shinra, Cloud had read the magazines, every article he could find on the elite SOLDIERs of Shinra. He'd collected pictures of the three original Firsts: Sephiroth with his long silver hair; Genesis in red leather; and the last one all in black. The only one who didn't look like they'd used an image consultant.

In all the pictures, Commander Angeal Hewley had worn a standard uniform and kept his hair at a moderate length. And he'd carried a huge buster sword with geometric fullers carved into, and two materia slots.

This was that sword.

Commander Hewley had had an apprentice – the last First ever created. One who'd been beginning to get a following to match those of the original three First, when he'd been killed "in a reactor accident" in Nibelheim.

The guy on the ground had called out "Geal", but Cloud bet he'd meant Angeal. Which meant the mostly-dead guy was SOLDIER First Zack Fair.

Holy Odin's mighty sword!

Cloud took another look at Fair. The guy's body was shredded from toe to top. There was even a messy hole on the side of his head. They had definitely meant for him to die.

The bullets had also shredded everything he was wearing, except the boots. Shirt, pants – rags. The leather armour and harness rig would never hold a sword ever again. Which meant Cloud would have to carry the buster down the cliffs some other way.

Cloud wasn't weak – far from it – but he wasn't SOLDIER either and that looked like 150 kilos of metal. He considered leaving it behind, but if he'd inherited it from his mentor, Fair would want it when he woke up.

There was room on Wex, Cloud decided. The yellow was carrying barely half what he was capable of.

He gave a soft whistle and called Deza to him. The yellow followed meekly behind, his herd instinct making him stay close to the other, more dominant, chocobo. When they were close enough, and Cloud had them settled as much as possible, Cloud looked down at the sword lying in a pool of red-tinged water.

Right, he thought to himself. Time to put all of Jules' training to work.

Cloud bent at the knees, just like he would if he were doing weights in the gym. Then he braced… and lifted.

And nearly tumbled over onto his ass.

The sword wasn't nearly as heavy as he'd thought. More like 50 kilos than 150, which was still heavy but not ridiculous. Cloud gave it a slow swing. It was surprisingly well-balanced, considering. But three swings later and he decided only a SOLDIER would be able to fight with it. Only a SOLDIER had the strength and stamina needed to wield the thing for more than a minute, let alone the length of a full-out battle.

"Looks okay," he told the injured SOLDIER, who was just laying there breathing, but no longer bleeding. "Couple bullet nicks. Nothing a good polish won't fix."

He threaded the wide blade behind the ropes keeping the canvas tight to Sam's order of kurie greens. Despite the rain, he thought the ropes were tight enough that the blade wouldn't slip onto the ground as they travelled.

When he thought he had the weapon balanced okay, considering, Cloud grabbed some extra rope and wrapped the sword a little more securely. If the sword slipped it could break the preservation spells on the cargo, and if there was any spoilage, Sam would deduct money from his payment. Cloud had plans for that money.

Once he had it tied six ways to someday, Cloud pulled on the buster, testing his knots. They held.

He did a final check on Wex, pulling the chocobo's head down, looking for signs of distress at the extra weight or the slightly unbalanced load.

To Cloud's relief, the yellow just shook the water out of his feathers, and then proceeded to groom Cloud's hair.

"You're fine," he murmured, giving the sturdy idiot a final pat.

Finally, he turned to SOLDIER Zack Fair. "You, on the other hand…" The rain had expanded the red-tainted puddle around him.

Cloud felt steady enough to cast another Cura, hoping it would give Fair some mobility. However, the green energy flowed into Fair's wounds, and he didn't jump up or otherwise show himself capable of climbing onto Deza's back.

"Lovely," Cloud murmured.

Unlike the sword, he didn't think the SOLDIER would miraculously weigh half of what he looked like – especially not with the water soaking into his clothes.

Cloud looked at the ruined belly armour. He'd worn one as an infantryman and it hadn't been light.

"Not doing you any good anymore," Cloud murmured.

Harnesses were meant to be easy to get on and off, so that there was little time between the call for action and being ready to fight. However, they weren't designed to survive being hit by a million and one bullets. Cloud finally gave up on the buckles and just cut the damn thing off. A shower of bullets fell through the holes in the First's uniform.

Goat's balls! All of those had been in Fair not that long ago. A battalion's worth of bullets and then some.

It made Cloud wonder why Shinra had sent the army after Fair. Why they'd been willing to lose a thousand troopers to kill their own SOLDIER.

It wasn't that Cloud didn't believe that Shinra wouldn't kill one of their own – he absolutely did. And it wasn't the fact that they had sent an army against a SOLDIER – although Turks would've made more sense. But why this particular one? What had the guy done aside from not be dead?

Well, he wouldn't find out until Fair recovered. Even then, the guy might not want to talk about it.

Cloud sat Fair up and then kind of folded the guy over his shoulder. Lifting with his legs (thanking Jules again for all the weight training), Cloud didn't stagger hardly at all. More of the bullets dripped out of the SOLDIER's ruined uniform.

Cloud signaled Deza to crouch, and then carefully manoeuvred the First into a slow fall over the saddle. Another piece of rope secured the guy so he wouldn't fall off (hopefully). It wasn't ideal considering all the guy's injuries, but they were going to be going down a steep track. Just like the blade, it would be bad for everyone if the SOLDIER slid off halfway down.

Cloud did a final visual of the area, making sure he wasn't missing anything important. Just as he turned his head, he saw a glow on the far side of the battlefield where the rock hadn't been blown flat. He strode over to it, hopeful but ready to be disappointed.

He wasn't disappointed.

It was a tiny new orb of blue materia.

It happened sometimes – rarely, and only when a very, very large creature died. Some of the energy got trapped here or something, and it would form into balls of raw materia. It was one of the things Cloud had hoped for back when he thought Shinra was fighting a monster.

Cloud supposed the energy released in the deaths of a thousand infantry probably matched that of a zolom.

He rolled it in his bare left hand. It was so new Cloud couldn't tell what it was. He thought it might be HP or MP Absorption. Not truly rare, but he'd found it, so anything he could sell it for would be profit. Though, maybe it belonged to the SOLDIER. After all, it was the attempt to kill him that caused it to form….

Question for later, he decided, and put the new materia in his bracer. A couple small battles and he'd know what it was. Maybe it would even level up a little.

He walked back to the chocobos and gathered Deza's reins. "Time to go," Cloud said. "Before Shinra sends the Turks to clean up."

They'd have to use the main road for a bit which was a risk, but it was the only way to access the shortcut to the lower level. The rain kept up as he jogged the chocobos up the trail. It meant the road stayed empty, and no helicopters flew overhead, but Cloud was still relieved when he reached the turn-off. The only marker for it was a heart and arrow painted on the rocks.

The path down started on jut of rock that sloped down nearly twenty degrees. Cloud tested the surface. It was a little slick from the rain, but it was more stone than mud. Deza would have no problems with it of course, but they'd have to keep it slow for Wex. The yellow was used to flatter surfaces.

He eased the birds onto the path, keeping an eye on the yellow. Wex looked unhappy, but not like he was going to panic. Good.

A sound came from the body slung over Deza's saddle, and Cloud found himself telling the unconscious SOLDIER about the path they were taking. There wasn't any scientific proof that unconscious people heard what was said to them, but Cloud thought they did – thought he had.

Before Shinra raised Midgar up on massive plates, he said, the valley had been home to several small towns. Cloud had talked to older residents could still remember when there had been farms and ranches and open fields. The goat-track they were on was a remnant of that. Centuries of goatherds rotating their livestock from the valley floor to the cliff top had worn a decent sized path on the side of it. Bridges had been built over a couple deep crevices, and there'd even been lights at some point long ago.

The SOLDIER gave short gasp. Probably from a bump, and not as a response to Cloud's story.

Cloud explained that the track wasn't as wide as it had been before Shinra, and fewer people used it because automobiles were so common now, but it was still maintained. Mostly by the smugglers going in and out of Midgar.

Cloud assured the guy that they were unlikely to run into any smugglers at this time of day and in this kind of weather, but that the general rule was to ignore each other when on the track. "You don't see them; they don't see you," Cloud explained.

Cloud cast another healing spell. He tried for Cura but the focus just wasn't in him. He hadn't brought any ether potions. Usually his MP recovery was pretty good, but he'd cast a lot of spells in a short time. They'd both have to have patience.

When they crossed the first bridge, Cloud dropped the bullet-shredded harness. Not even the Turks would be able to find it in the deep crevice, and with the rain washing their presence from the battlefield, it would be as if the SOLDIER's body had dissolved into the lifestream. Just as it should've.

At the second bridge, Cloud dropped the guy's PHS. Only a fool believed Shinra didn't put tracking chips in them. "Just need new clothes and sunglasses, and you can hide from Shinra easy."

It was an exaggeration. There were too many Shinra people under the plate – employees who commuted to work every day and spies paid by one or other of Shinra's departments. But that was a problem for another day.

As they dropped down into Midgar's valley, the rain stopped reaching them. The path went from wet and a bit slick, to dry and a little slippery. Deza ruffled his feathers to get rid of the water, and Fair groaned at the movement.

"Nearly at the bottom," Cloud told him.

A couple hedgehog pies were squatting on the path. It was too narrow to get by them, and of course they attacked. Elsewhere on the continent, creatures this small would run away from larger animals, but not next to Midgar. Cloud dropped Deza's rein, stopping the bird in place, and drew his sword.

Iron Blade was much smaller that the SOLDIER's buster, but it was enough for Cloud. It had been made special for him. Paid for with his first winnings from a coliseum fight. He skewered one and knocked another off the path to the valley below. He had to dodge the last one, after realizing that he didn't have enough MP for even a tiny Fire spell, but soon enough all three of the pests were taken care off.

The violence didn't make Wex happy, but at least he didn't bolt like he'd done the first time a monster had jumped out at them. It had taken them four days to get to the Chocobo Farm. It would take them five days to get back. By the time Wex was returned to Sam's stable, he'd be a veteran. Nothing on the roads between the sectors would phase him.

Maybe Cloud could negotiate a training bonus from Sam…. He snorted. There wasn't a chance of it.

It took the rest of the afternoon to reach the bottom, the sun already low beneath the plate. No way they'd reach the outskirts before it was full dark.

It was one thing to encounter smugglers on the cliff during the day; Cloud didn't want to meet up with them at night. Also, there were too many mutated creatures surrounding Midgar, both created by and attracted to the mako in the reactors. They'd have to camp at the bottom and hope the monsters stuck closer to the sectors.

As soon as the path leveled out at the bottom, he jogged around the base of the cliffs for about half an hour, until he reached a particular stone. Cloud had found it on one of his scavenger hunts and marked it as a good emergency shelter. The rock had sheared off from the cliff above in one long, flat slab. It hadn't shattered on impact. Instead, it leaned against the cliff face at an angle, leaving a decent sized gap under it.

Cloud ground-tied Deza and went to clean any creatures out of the hole. Thankfully, it smelled of dirt and old cobwebs and nothing more.

"Gonna set up camp before I take you down," he told the SOLDIER. "That way you won't havta lie on the ground."

Deza warked a demand.

"Yah. Feed you too," he replied with a smile.

He took the saddle off Deza, but poor Wex had to keep his cargo on. Cloud could probably get it off, but he wouldn't be able to get it back on in the morning. Wex groomed his hair, happy to be part of Cloud's herd, and Cloud sighed.

"Next time, I'll tell 'em to wrap the greens in smaller bundles." He'd said the same thing to the yellow every night since leaving the farm. He hadn't paid attention as they'd loaded the poor thing. As an apology, Cloud gave Wex some of the gysahl greens he'd bought for Deza.

And then he had to give some to Deza, of course, to be fair.

He hadn't even made it back to Midgar, and he was halfway through what he'd ordered for his own use.

On the other hand, there were always deliveries to Chocobo Farm. He could get more of the fancy greens then.

Lots of practice meant it didn't take long for Cloud to have the camp set up. He started a small fire for cooking and warmth, and laid out the bedroll. Then he unloaded the First, putting him near the fire in the hopes the guy would dry out more.

Cloud started some canned stew heating and took out a towel to soak the water from his clothes. It was a familiar routine, and even the noise of distant monsters emerging in to the night didn't stop his enjoyment.

On the bedroll, Fair was frowning and twitching. If he was dreaming it didn't look like happy. He backed up and gave Fair a poke with Iron Blade's sheath. "Heya. Wake up."

Nothing.

"Hell-llooo," Cloud tried. It had worked before, so why not.

It worked again. Glowing blue eyes popped open. "Don't!"

Cloud raised empty hands. "Not gonna do anything," he said gently. "Just looked like a bad dream."

"Dream…" The guy blinked. "Hold on… to your dreams."

As the guy's eyelids drooped, Cloud cleared his throat. Those blue eyes popped open again. "Think you can drink a potion?" There was no verbal response, but Fair didn't close his eyes again so that was good enough.

Cloud pulled out his emergency hi-potion. He approached slowly. Blue eyes watched his progress without fear. Cloud angled the SOLDIER up a little, and then he poured the expensive potion in bit by bit until it was all gone.

The guy licked his lips.

He really was good looking.

It was an instinctive thought. One that Cloud didn't even notice until he realized he was staring at the guy's lips.

When Cloud had become an infantryman in the regular army, he'd heard the rumour that SOLDIERs were all having sex with each other. Some of his squad mates had been upset at the idea, but it had actually increased Cloud's desire to get into SOLDIER.

There hadn't been nice words for homosexuality in Nibelheim. There hadn't even been clinical words. It was like being a homosexual just didn't happen in the mountains. It wasn't until Cloud reached Costa del Sol that he learned there were normal words to describe a man who was attracted to other men, and that it was possible to be equally attracted to both sexes. Cloud's whole body had gone "oh!" and he'd looked at the swim-suited vacationers a little differently.

So, no. The idea of SOLDIERs being queer hadn't stopped Cloud from wanting in.

When Fair was better, when he was safe, if he was interested…

Cloud capped the empty and put it back in his saddlebag, watched the whole time by those bright mako-eyes. "There's a deposit on the bottle," he explained. "No need for it to go to waste."

"Who are you?" The guy's voice was surprisingly light, but ragged, as if from screaming.

"Name's Cloud Strife."

He gave the canned stew a stir. It was nearly ready. He'd added some scrounged roots to it for added flavour and substance. Didn't taste bad.

"Why… Why?"

"Why'm I doing this?" Cloud looked at him for confirmation of the question. The guy gave a slight nod.

Cloud tapped his spoon on the side of the pot and thought. He could try to make himself sound noble, heroic. Or he could be honest, and hope that the guy would be the same in return.

"Wasn't expecting you when I walked onto that battlefield." He looked at the SOLDIER who watched him unblinking. "Waited for the army to leave, thinking they'd been fighting a creature whose parts I could harvest and sell."

"Could still do that," Fair said softly. Cloud snorted. He probably could sell the body of a SOLDIER First to a couple alchemists he knew under the plate, or even back to Shinra.

"You were alive though, yah? Not by much, maybe, but breathing," he said. "May not be a hero, but I refuse to be a villain. Think you can sit up to eat?"

Fair blinked. He put one hand down and pushed. The angle of his torso increased, but he didn't get any further off the ground.

"Hey, woah! Hada lotta bullets in you not that long ago. Don't want those holes to open again." Cloud tucked an arm around the guy. "On three. One… Two… " It was enough to let the SOLDIER sit upright.

"Ow."

Cloud kept his hand out until he was sure the guy wouldn't fall over. "Been mostly-dead all day."

The guy frowned. "I know that line."

"It's a classic." Cloud smiled. "Don't worry about it now. Concentrate on not spilling food over my stuff."

The guy looked down. He seemed surprised to find himself on a bed roll.

Not trusting Fair's control, Cloud took a small spoonful of the doctored stew, blew on it a little, then held it up to be eaten.

Again, the guy frowned, but he obediently opened his mouth. He chewed slowly, almost as if he didn't remember how. Cloud took a spoonful for himself.

It was only partially awful, but it was filling and hot, and the evening temperature was already cool dropping to cold.

"Dunno why the wastes around Midgar are always colder than under the plate, or even topside. Midgar people wear shorts day or night, winter or summer," Cloud said as he fed the guy another bite. "Out here, temperature drops to only slightly warmer than Shiva's heart. Won't be good for you."

"No clouds."

Cloud turned to the SOLDIER. "What?"

The guy tipped his chin upwards. "Clouds retain heat. No clouds, no heat."

Cloud leaned out of the hole. He lifted his hand to block the lights of Midgar. He could see the brighter stars and the moon. There were no clouds. "Huh."

The guy shook his head and nearly tipped over. Cloud shot out a hand to catch him. Fair was a big guy, heavy with muscle, and it took just about everything Cloud had to keep him from falling over.

"Woah, head spins," Fair muttered.

"Yah, well. Again, mostly dead all day." Cloud braced the guy until he was steady then he went back to divvying up the stew spoonful by spoonful.

"I'm Zack," the guy said around another mouthful.

Cloud looked at him. "Niceta meet ya, Zack."

"You're Cloud."

Cloud nodded.

"Like in the sky, but you're not in the sky."

Cloud smiled softly. "No. Prefer having my feet on the ground these days. Less chance of crashing."

"If I had wings, I could fly." The words were sad, lonely, yearning.

Shinra would just shoot you out of the sky, Cloud thought. And then he thought that maybe they'd already tried.

"C'mon. One more bite then we're done." He coaxed the SOLDIER into taking the last of the stew. "Do you need to pee or anything?" he asked, careful to keep his tone matter of fact.

Zack tipped his head. "Nah. 'm good."

Thank Ramuh, Cloud thought. He'd helped others go to the bathroom before, but those had been lovers or squad mates, not some recently met super soldier who'd fought an army and seemed to be a little out of it.

"Need help lying back down?"

Blue eyes blinked at him. The glow was very noticeable in the growing dark. Fair slowly lowered himself, one bit at a time and wincing noticeably. He reached fingers into the holes in the side of his shirt and pulled out a bullet half flat from impact with a bone or something. Then another one. And another. It was like a sick magic show with bullets instead of gil.

The poor guy looked bewildered by all the metal he found.

"As you heal more come out," Cloud explained.

Those eyes turned in his direction. "Hurts." Fair's fingers plucked uselessly at the material and he arched his back, grimacing.

Right, Cloud realized. Some of the bullets had probably pooled at the waistline.

"Right," he repeated out loud but mostly to himself. "Not gonna fix it by pulling them out one at a time." He stood and moved over to Zack. He held out his hand. "On your feet, yah?"

Slowly, as if he'd never seen an outstretched hand before, Fair reached out and grabbed onto Cloud. Cloud braced himself and pulled. The SOLDIER helped as much as he was able, and it wasn't long until Zack was on his feet. He was a little taller than their roof was high, but since his healing body wouldn't let him stand straight, it wasn't much of a problem. Fair leaned on the rock while Cloud considered things.

"Your shirt's wrecked," he said.

Zack wove his fingers into the shredded material. "Got nothing else."

Cloud nodded. ""Figured. Gotta tank top, sleeveless. Might fit."

Zack gave a slow nod, so Cloud grabbed the grubby shirt he used for physical labour. He also brought out his knife. "Gonna cut this off you. Shouldn't take long." It was a joke, but the SOLDIER didn't smile.

It only took a couple slices for the pieces of shirt to fall away, freeing dozens of bullets from their cloth home. They dropped to the ground with soft phuts. The falling shirt made no sound.

Maybe it was the uncertain light of the fire, but Zack was skinnier than Cloud had thought – those were ribs showing – and Cloud could see where the bullets had gone in because each entry point was the centre of a multi-coloured bruise. And Zack was bruised from hip to collarbone.

"Scaley dragon tits,' Cloud whispered. "Why'd they do this?" He looked at Zack, wanting an answer, but Zack was staring at the ground, at the pooled remains of his uniform.

"Does this mean I'm not SOLDIER anymore?"

Cloud started to say the army that had tried to kill Zack was probably a good indicator that Zack was no longer SOLDIER, but Cloud held in the words. He knew the kind of dedication it took to become SOLDIER, even just a Third, and Zack Fair had been a SOLDIER First. That meant years of practice and being an experiment. It would be cruel to make light of losing that.

He put his hand on Zack's bare shoulder. "Means you're free to choose."

It didn't seem to make the guy happy.

Cloud sighed. There wasn't much reassurance he could give. Shinra was shit, and if it had taken Zack until now to realize it, there wasn't much Cloud could do. Instead, he knelt and tapped Zack's boot. "Need to empty your pant legs too," he said.

Zack didn't try to help. Or rather, he leaned his weight against the rock and didn't fall over, and that was help enough. The boot tops were oddly wrapped, but close enough to what Cloud remembered from his army days that it wasn't long until he had one untied. As soon at the pant leg was loose, a dozen or more bullets fell to the ground.

To be thorough, Cloud took the boot off as well. He winced at the smell. "Long time since you had clean socks?" He shook a loose bullet out of Zack's boot and tossed the sock outside so it wouldn't stink up their sleeping area.

"Stole some in…" Zack's voice trailed off. "Huh. Fort Condor, maybe?"

It made Cloud wonder how long the SOLDIER had been running. "Do you know what day it is?"

Zack blinked down at him. Cloud left him to his thinking and removed the other boot. This sock smelled as bad as the other. "Got clean socks in my bag." He didn't wait for Zack's agreement, but he did make sure the First was securely braced and wouldn't fall while he got the socks.

"Last date I remember clearly is 18 December oh-6," Zack said. "Year six," he muttered. "Fuuuuck."

"Nearly a year ago," Cloud pointed out. It was a surprisingly long time for someone to survive being hunted by Shinra. Unless they just had him on a long, long leash…

"Seems longer."

Cloud snorted. "Fear'll do that." He put his socks on Zack, and then the boots. He wrapped the pant legs as best he could. "C'mon. Sleep time."

Zack didn't protest, so Cloud helped him back to the bed roll. Getting down turned out to be as slow as getting up, but they made it. "Be joining you under the blanket," Cloud warned. Zack just flapped a hand and breathed.

Cloud walked out around the rock to empty his bladder. Usually he'd take the time to brush his teeth and tidy up his campsite, but right now it was enough that he'd cleaned the dishes.

He grabbed Iron Blade and set it down next to the bedroll. Then, as he lay down next to Zack, he cast a low Barrier around the campsite. It was a trick he'd learned from a grizzled sergeant, back when he'd been an infantryman. It wasn't as good as having an active watch, but it should wake Cloud if something big crossed the line.

Like Zack he took a moment to just breathe. This was not what he'd planned to do today at all.

In the distance, a plains wolf howled to its pack, and soon there were several voices howling into the night. Wex gave a soft kweh and Deza warked back. Beside him Zack tensed.

"Don't worry," Cloud said softly. "Wolves are far away." He let his eyes drift shut, used to the sounds of the wild.

Zack didn't relax. "I probably trained some of the people I killed today," he said.

Cloud's eyes snapped open. "So?"

"So nothing." Zack gave an unhappy laugh. "It's just… At one point, I'd've died to protect them."

Cloud snorted. "If they didn't recognize you, or if they did and didn't try to stop it, then you're not responsible for their deaths," he said. "You have a right to defend yourself."

"What about defending my honour as SOLDIER?" he asked. "Where does that come in?"

"Somewhere after the point they used mortars on you." There was a soft huff of laughter to his side, and Cloud took that as a win. "Nobody but a SOLDIER could've survived what you did today. Would've made your mentor proud."

There was dead silence from Zack's side of the bedroll.

"Sleep, Zack," Cloud ordered. "Demons enough tomorrow."

"Cheerful shit, ain't ya." But the words were slurred and soon enough the First's breathing evened out and his body relaxed into bonelessness.

Cloud's last thought was that he'd bet 10 gil that Zack had stolen all the covers by morning.

... to be continued


End Note: A truss is a real (though obsolete) measurement. It was used for a long time for shipments of hay or straw and there were laws saying how much it should weigh. I've completely ignored all that.