General Content Warning: Chapters in this story may contain upsetting or triggering content including but possibly not limited to violence, consensual and non-consensual sexual references and descriptions, drug and alcohol use and abuse, references to or descriptions of mental illness, self-harm or self-injurious behaviour, and references to or discussions of suicide.

~Twenty-Eight~

It felt sort of surreal for Cloud when he was standing with an envelope in his hands outside the law office in Junon. Inside were the legal documents confirming that he was the owner of all of the shares that Shinra had at one point sold off to investors to be able to fund the experimentation on him. He'd been nervous when he'd met with Rand's lawyer. He'd barely slept the night before. He'd worried about what it would be like meeting someone who probably knew the details surrounding the project and the shares, someone who'd been closely connected to Rand and was trusted enough by him to keep the shares safe. He'd also worried about Rand showing up at the office. That didn't happen.

The whole process was quicker and easier than he'd imagined. About as quick as signing away his life had been back in Gongaga when he'd been forced to sign documents confirming a fabricated series of events the company had developed to explain away his and Zack's imprisonment and torture while in Hojo's custody. The lawyer had been friendly. He hadn't seemed upset that he'd been pulled away from his vacation to attend to business.

The man also didn't ask him any personal questions or try to get him to talk about anything pertaining to the shares or his past, or connection to Rand. Just as Rand had indicated in his recording he'd left for him, all he was asked for was identification to prove he was who he said he was. He had to submit finger prints as part of that identification process but it didn't bother him too much. After everything he'd been through in the past, it hardly felt like an invasion of privacy. He and the lawyer both signed the documentation that would see the shares transferred to him and it was also signed by a witness. A copy of the documents were kept at the law office and he was given the originals which he found himself standing with outside the office just over thirty minutes later.

He'd spent so much time questioning how important those shares really were and how much they actually mattered. He'd gone back and forth in his own head telling himself they meant nothing but once he was holding onto the envelope of pages that identified him as the legal owner of those pieces of himself that had been given away by Shinra he felt so much relief that he could have cried. He was grateful and he knew that while it didn't change anything that had happened, it was Rand that he owed that gratitude right then too. Not that he would tell him that. But…he was thankful.

With the documents in hand he headed straight from the law office to the mail office where he paid to have the package couriered out immediately to Midgar to Zack's address. He tried calling Zack to let him know but his friend didn't answer right away. When he did it was through text. He seemed relieved as well that the share transfer had gone smoothly, though it was difficult to read what he was feeling through text message. He asked when Cloud was going to be leaving Junon and he told him he'd stay one more night to get some rest and leave the following morning.

He slept like the dead that night. He was exhausted, not having had much sleep the night before. He felt well-rested when he woke up the next morning, having made it through without nightmares or panic attacks. He packed his things up and had breakfast before hitting the road. He felt hopeful with Junon disappearing from view behind him. A short-lived sensation. Anything good always was.

000

Back in Midgar, Zack tried to do his best to act like he wasn't really falling apart inside over the fact Aerith was going to be leaving him and the city that morning. It didn't seem real, not until he heard the sound of a larger vehicle engine getting near, followed by the whine of breaks. At the sound of a horn beeping then he got up from the small kitchen table and parted the blinds over the nearby window to look out to the parking lot below. He could see a small bus idling outside with some painted lettering on the side. It looked to be the ride Aerith was waiting on. She appeared from the bedroom then with the handle of a small suitcase in her one hand that she was rolling behind her. She paused just outside the bedroom and looked at him. He forced a bit of a tight smile as he put his hands in his pockets.

"You got everything you need?" he asked her.

Aerith just looked back at him before shaking her head a little and then lowering her eyes. She looked like she was ready to cry. He hated that. Without saying anything he approached her and hugged her. She let go of the handle of her suitcase to hug him back tightly.

"I'm scared I'm making a mistake," she said against his chest.

He sighed a little as he looked over her head into the bedroom that looked fifty times larger and more empty and Aerith hadn't even fully left the apartment yet.

"You know, if you're looking for me to tell you to go, it's not going to happen," he told her through another weak smile.

"No, I know," she said to that and pulled back from him a little, dropping her arms from where she'd been gripping his back.

"This is what you want right?" he said, more as a reminder than an actual question. She nodded a little.

"I think so," she confirmed with her eyes down. She looked up at him then as she asked, "Will you be okay?"

He scoffed a little, like the answer was obvious. "Sure," he said.

There was another two horn beeps from outside from the bus waiting on her.

"Okay," she said then and Zack reached for her suitcase to carry it outside for her but she stopped him. "I can't stand the thought of seeing you standing outside as we're driving away," she told him.

Reluctantly, Zack gave in to her wishes. He held the apartment door open for her and tried to contain his emotions while watching her go.

"I love you," she told him when she was outside. She had building tears in her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile and told her he loved her too and when she turned her back to him he shut the apartment door gently.

He resisted the urge to watch from the window as the bus left. He could hear it though when it drove out of the parking lot and the moment he could no longer hear it was the moment he finally let his emotions spill out. He regretted immediately letting her leave like that. Regretted not fighting to keep her from going. He'd given in and listened to his head telling him it was the right thing to do to let her do what she needed to do. Just like he'd given in and let Cloud go do the same. In his heart and gut it all felt wrong.

000

Cloud had been on the road for nearly four hours and had pulled over for some food, fuel and a bathroom break when he got an unexpected call coming in from the number Tseng had given him. He jumped to answer it, for some reason feeling sure it was because something had finally been found pertaining to Angeal, Genesis or Sephiroth and the helicopter explosion in Gongaga.

"Cloud, it's Tseng," the man told him when he answered.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I was hoping you might have some time to spare so that I might talk to you about something rather important. Would I be able to meet you somewhere?" the Turk asked and he shook his head a little to himself.

"Uh, I'm on the road actually. I'm not in Midgar," he informed the man as he stood next to his bike at the road stop he'd pulled into ten minutes earlier.

"Are you near?" was Tseng's next question.

"Not at all," Cloud replied. "I'm about four hours south of Junon."

"I see," was the man's flat response.

"What's this about?" Cloud asked him curiously. "Something to do with the helicopter and Gongaga?" he guessed, wanting that to be the reason the man was calling.

"No," Tseng denied. "It's, uh…it's a sensitive subject. I'd rather speak in person. Are you back in Midgar soon?"

A sensitive subject? Cloud questioned in his own mind. The man sounded apprehensive. "Not for a couple more weeks I don't think," he told the Turk. "You can just tell me," he assured him, more than just a little curious now. He felt whatever it was it had to be big and it had him feeling instantly nervous. "Is it something to do with Hojo?" he asked. The professor, as far as he knew, was still in hiding somewhere, his whereabouts unknown.

"Partly," Tseng said. That one word in confirmation had Cloud's stomach feeling tight.

"Okay," he said in return when Tseng offered up nothing else right away. "So you know where he is, or…"

"No, unfortunately," Tseng replied somewhat sadly. "Well, are you sitting somewhere at least?" the man questioned.

"Yeah," he confirmed, though he wasn't. "What is it?" he asked.

The man cleared his throat a little. He launched gently into his revelation then. "Last year during some investigations into Hojo's expenses, I discovered he'd been paying for the services of a fertility clinic, for years as it turns out."

"For…himself?" Cloud questioned slowly with confusion. Did Hojo want children? Did he even have any to begin with? For as much as Cloud felt he knew about the professor, suddenly he felt like he knew nothing about him.

"No. Not that I'm aware of anyway. It wasn't for him personally," Tseng said. "He'd been secretly contracting the clinic for some of his projects. He'd been using their surrogacy service. Sending them samples from some of his subjects and commissioning the fertilization of embryos that would be carried by the surrogates," the man explained. "Currently, we're unsure how many past commissions resulted in any children birthed successfully."

"Um, samples, like…" Cloud struggled to understand and respond. He felt his heart beating suddenly harder and a feeling like pins and needles in his limbs.

"As I understand it, he obtained a sample from you while you were in Gongaga," Tseng said and Cloud found himself taking some steps backward to where there was a guardrail nearby that he sat himself down on slowly.

There'd been a lot of samples taken from him in Gongaga on a daily basis, but those weren't the kinds of samples Tseng was talking about, they both knew that. It was one particular sample...one which he'd been forced to provide under the threat of Rand getting it from him if he didn't give it up willingly. He'd tried to put it out of his mind completely after that day. He didn't know why Hojo had wanted it but the only reason that had seemed to make logical sense was that he'd wanted to test it for mako or other chemical levels. He didn't know. He never thought it could end up being used for what Tseng was suggesting. He couldn't believe it.

"Are you—what are you saying?" he asked regardless of how obvious it seemed.

"There's been confirmation that your sample, at least part of it, was sent to the clinic and used in one of the projects," Tseng told him. "The project involved the participation of three women, one of which I've been told had a successful pregnancy and carried a child to term," he revealed.

The words seemed to steal the breath from him. He wasn't even fully sure he was making sound when he spoke then. "From my sample—from me? There's a kid that I…" He had his eyes closed as he spoke. He didn't know how to finish the sentence out loud.

"I'm quite certain you were the biological father. I wanted to be sure before I informed you—" Tseng explained.

"W-were?" Cloud cut him off as he opened his eyes again. "Why were? Did something happen?"

The man took a deep breath before answering. "For some time the mother of child was unreachable and both her and the child's whereabouts unknown. Very recently contact was finally made through the clinic with the mother. She informed them that the child became sick. They suspect it was a viral infection. She sought medical treatment but…he didn't make it through,"

"He?" Cloud said, his voice weak.

"Yes," Tseng replied.

"He's gone?" Cloud asked as he looked out across the parking lot of the road stop, over to where some motorists were pumping fuel into their vehicles. The whole world felt like it was shrinking suddenly.

"He didn't survive the illness," the man said. "I'm sorry."

Cloud struggled to respond. "Where? When?"

"I'm not certain of the details. I'm trying to get in contact with the mother directly. The clinic has been reluctant about providing her personal information."

Cloud felt a surge of emotion then suddenly. He was getting angry then. "Well, what about Hojo? Did what happen have something to do with him? Were they in contact with him, or—"

"I don't know," Tseng said. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I wish I had more information. I was hoping to have more details when I spoke with you but it's taken a long time to learn what I do know and I felt it was unfair to keep what details I do have from you any longer," he explained.

"Oh my god," Cloud uttered aloud while turning his head to look up at the sky. Just as quickly as he'd felt the anger come on, he also felt the sadness rushing up behind it.

"I'm very sorry, Cloud," Tseng said to him sincerely. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Like what?" Cloud snapped back before shaking his head and forcing himself to take a breath that seemed to get caught in his throat. "No, sorry, I…no," he spoke more softly again. "How could he get away with this?" he said of Hojo. "The company had to know what he was doing."

"I've searched and I don't believe the company did know," Tseng told him though he wasn't sure he believed it. "It is impossible to question the president about it now that he's passed away but for certain Rufus had no knowledge of it."

"What about Galen?" Cloud asked. Hojo's lead lab assistant had seemed to know most of what went on in the lab or whatever was going on with Hojo's projects.

"I'm convinced after speaking with him that he was unaware as well," Tseng said. "It appears that Hojo acted alone and chose to keep that side project to himself. He will absolutely be questioned about it whenever he's located," the man assured him.

"I can't believe this," Cloud said, fighting back tears.

"I know it's going to be difficult to come to grips with this, I wish that I could do more," the man told him.

"It's fine," Cloud said, though it didn't feel fine. Nothing felt fine. "Thanks for, uh, telling me, I guess," he said as he leaned forward and rested his forehead in his other hand.

"I'd still like to see you when you're back in the city," the Turk said.

"Sure, fine. I have to go now though, I'm in the middle of nowhere right now," he replied.

"I'll be in touch," Tseng told him.

Cloud shook his head at the words. "Yep, bye," was all he said before ending their call.

He sat for a minute unmoving, feeling like he was going to be sick. A baby. A baby boy. He'd had a son he hadn't known about. Had had no choice about his involvement in the conception. It was worse than anything he'd known Hojo capable of. He was furious, not only with Hojo but with himself for having been so blind as to what could be done with that sample he gave up to him. He'd only been thinking of himself, of trying to save himself from some humiliation. He'd submitted to something to allow Hojo to carry out more of his maniacal projects, involving more innocent people.

There was no way Hojo had acted alone. Someone had to at least know about his projects with the fertility clinic and he was pretty sure he knew who that was. He pulled himself together the best he could, used his anger as the motivation he needed to keep from breaking down right then and headed off back the way he'd come, back to Junon.