Cloud woke well before sunrise the next morning. He had spent the whole night tossing and turning; unable to sleep, though he wasn't able to identify why. With a sigh Cloud sat up, his blankets pooling around his waist as he looked around the dark room. It was still around 2 hours before the sun would be up and that meant that with the late night Cloud would have been lucky to have gotten an hours worth of sleep.

"Great..." Cloud mumbled softly, keeping his voice below a whisper. Pulling the blankets away and standing up Cloud quietly gathered his clothes for the next day and headed off to the showers, hoping that some warm water would help to relax him and wake him up for the day to come.

The shower room was empty, but that came as no surprise to the blond due to the hour, but he was also thankful for it and planned on utilising the time alone to fully relax. Quickly stripping down, Cloud soon had the water on and running hot, the water streaming over his tired body working to relax the stiff muscles from all the training. He had known that this would happen, and over all, he took it as I good sign that the small, but intensive, amounts of training he had been able to do were having an effect.

There is still so much to do... Cloud thought, this mind was neither bitter nor happy about the thought; but simply neutral. With a sigh Cloud lifted his face to allow the steamy water to block out everything, and also wash away his thoughts and leave him in peace for a short while.

Soon enough Cloud was dressed and ready for the day, even though the day was not due to start for a few more hours yet. Leaving the shower rooms Cloud made his way down the silent halls and after quietly placing his sleeping clothes away he made his way outside into the early morning chill. The grounds were still dark and cold as Cloud walked but he didn't mind, he had spent to long sleeping in areas of little warmth over the years to really mind the cold. Over all he wasn't sure why he wanted to come outside, but he figured that it gave him a chance to clear his head and think.

Cloud knew that he had to train to be ready for whatever he had to face, and after the death of the cadet the day before that was all the more clear, but he also knew that he had to start planning for what he would have to do to change things... even if some things had already been altered; once again the dead cadet being the prime thing, the next being that fact that he had already befriended Zack and also met Angeal as well.

The main thing that Cloud wanted to... no, had to stop from happening was Zack's death. He would not sit by helpless and powerless and watch his best friend die a second time. To do this he would have to stop a variety of things and just hope that nothing too unexpected happened as a result; he would have to stop the mission to Nibelheim, stop Sephiroth from going crazy and burning down his home town, he would have to get rid of Jenova as soon as he could figure out how... With a scowl Cloud realised that another person he would definitely be getting rid of would be Hojo; there was no way he would allow such a sick and twisted man to continue on and probably find other ways to endanger everything they worked for.

Cloud came out of his thoughts for a moment and looked around; he had wandered over to the outskirts of the training field and was standing just inside the line of trees that marked being close to the border of Shinra's territory in this particular direction. Cloud knew that the trees went back around another one to two hundred meters from here and his lips turned up in a humourless smirk as broken memories of hiding in these woods came to mind; of finding any small area he could fit in or even climbing up the trees in his attempts to hide from the bullies who had taken a liking to making his life hell. Well that was one thing that would not happen again, he would make sure of that.

Cloud made his way over to one of the closer trees and sat down making himself comfortable, the sky was only just starting to lighten up on the very edges of the horizon meaning that there was still a few hours before classes started.

Class. That was another thing that Cloud still needed to figure out, he already knew that these classes were pointless and that he was doing nothing but wasting time by attending them, but he also had to go to them to both avoid attracting to much unwanted attention and to gain entrance into the exams.

Cloud sat there thinking over the matter for a while before he finally came to a conclusion, even if it was a conclusion that could be risky as Cloud was unsure as to what reactions it would cause. It seemed that the only way that he might be able to access more than the average cadet training scheme would be to show that he was far above it, and that meant that from today onwards he would begin displaying an above average skill level that would hopefully catch the teachers attention, but he would also keep the skill level low enough that he would not raise too much suspicion.

"It's not often you see a cadet out this early, yo." The annoyingly familiar voice cut through the silence of the early morning like a knife, causing Cloud to instantly turn his gaze to the side and upwards where he was able to make out a well known figure in a tree not far away. Reno.

Cloud had heard that Reno had been an established Turk sometime before he had even become an infantryman, despite how young the red head was.

"Nice, not many know to look up, yo." Reno said as he jumped lightly from the tree and landed on the ground with a soft thud. "Name's Reno."

"Cloud." The blond stated his name without emotion, even though he wouldn't be surprised if Reno already knew his name. What he didn't know was why the Turk was even here right now, and more importantly, he wanted to know what the Turk wanted.

"Whatcha doin' all the way out here? It's early man."

"Nothing. Couldn't sleep." Cloud replied, hoping to satisfy the Turk's curiosity while keeping up the emotionless mask he had perfected so long ago. After Sephiroth had returned during the Geostigma threat the small group of Turks had more or less become allies and had remained that way, and had even become friends of a sort in the few years that followed and in the fight against the Darkness. However, Cloud knew that of all the people he would come to meet in this time period, Reno was probably the one he could trust the least as the red head was fiercely loyal to Rufus Shinra and Tsung, and at the moment that meant that Reno was fiercely loyal to who he had to consider an enemy in this time period.

Cloud actually found himself saddened by the thought, as the Turks are good allies when needed, and the Reno of the future would no doubt help the blond if he ever needed it, even though they all knew that Cloud would never ask anyway. It was a bit depressing to know that the thought was no longer there.

"Not much of a talker are you?" Reno commented, pointing out the obvious. Cloud just looked at the cocky young man and didn't verbally reply to the comment. To Cloud it seemed as though there was very little difference between the Reno he was used to and the Reno before him, except maybe the older Reno had seen much more in life and had made mistakes that were not yet made here. When Reno made no further comment for a while and proceeded to stare at Cloud, the blond decided that maybe silence would not help.

"What do you want?" Cloud asked at last, his voice cold and uncaring. He couldn't let anything slip in front of a Turk; it would bring nothing but trouble.

"Hey, I don't want nothin' yo!" Reno stated putting his hands up in front of him in a placating manner. "This is just where I usually hang, so I was just interested to see who else decided to come here."

Cloud thought it would probably be better if he just went with it, so he simply shrugged in response before getting up. He wasn't sure what it would mean for him and his task by already meeting Reno, but this was one thing that was more likely to go wrong than right.

"Well, thanks for the chat Cloud, see ya 'round, yo." Reno said as Cloud walked away, getting a small wave of the hand over the blonds shoulder in response.

Reno watched the quiet blond walk away with curiosity, there was something about the strange cadet that piqued the red-heads interest, perhaps it was the way the blond was able to completely hide his emotions in a way that Reno was more used to seeing when around people like Tsung, or maybe it was just the mysterious way the blond held himself as though there was a great weight on his shoulders that he had to tackle alone. Reno figured that it would be interesting to keep an eye on the young cadet...

XxXxX

Cloud spent the remainder of his time before class wandering around, mind mulling over all the complications he had to sort out or prevent. By the time class came around Cloud was glad for the distraction as he listened to the instructor talk about safety while using weapons, something that Cloud found almost amusing now that he knew the warnings and thorough speeches would do very little compared to experience that most of these kids would eventually gain... after some pain and a few mistakes.

The teacher drawled on about how whatever weapon the cadets chose would be the weapon that they would be using while taking the SOLDIER exams, and Cloud could see most of the cadets eyeing off the table of guns not to far away and could imagine the images of fame and strength going through the cadets' brains.

Once the teacher allowed the cadets to go and choose their weapons, Cloud made his way over to the sword table and began inspecting the blades there. None of the swords were even close to the quality and strength of First Sword, but eventually he settled on one of the training broad swords.

"Good choice." A voice said behind him. Cloud turned to see Razor standing there looking at the sword in Cloud's hand.

"Uh... thanks." Cloud replied, still unsure on how to act around the other cadet.

"Heh, it's not much compared to that sword of yours back in the room though." Razor commented casually, his obsidian eyes sweeping over the blade once more before focusing on the oceanic blue eyes before him. Cloud nodded in agreement before quietly moving over to stand away from the table.

Looking around it seemed like him and Razor were the only two to pick blades, the large majority of cadets choosing a gun of some kind while the remaining cadets chose from a selection of weapons, varying from EMR based designs that simply lacked the electric current for training purposes, to spear-blades that Cloud knew could be very effective in the right hands... Cid's being one of them, it was a shame that the grumpy pilot wasn't here.

Soon enough each Cadet held a weapon of some sort and stood before a small group of instructors that Cloud remembered to each be trained in different areas of combat and would begin training the students that chose the instructors specific weapon.

Soon enough they were all separated into groups and heading towards the assigned areas of the room for their training. In the end there were another two cadets who had chosen swords, one a pair of short swords and the other a simple katana, Razor held duel long swords and he gave Cloud the impression that he, at very least, had some idea on how to use them.

"It's hard to believe so few cadets choose a blade when it's the basis of SOLDIER training... It just makes it more difficult if they actually manage to pass the exams." The instructor mumbled to himself, Cloud only just catching the muttered words thanks to enhanced hearing.

"Right. You four chose a good weapon in my opinion." The instructor said, turning to face them once they reached their destination. "You will address me as either Sir or instructor Hans. Understood?" Cloud had the feeling that this instructor was either very good and knew it or was cocky and over confident.

"Sir!" All four cadets shouted as one, each one standing up straight and heels clicking together in an 'attention' stance.

"Good. Now, first of all you will be doing blocking and disarming your opponent. This is useful during tough battles and in tight spots when you are outnumbered. Each of you, in turn will work with me, attempting to block and disarm my attack. To do this you will..."

Cloud let his mind wander after that, leaving the technical techniques of the man to himself. Letting his eyes wander around Cloud saw the different groups each getting their own run down of the techniques the instructors wanted them to learn. His eyes then travelled to the door where we saw several men walking in; each dressed in the typical outfits of either third or second class SOLDIERs. This was no surprise to Cloud, as he was sure he could remember having SOLDIER audiences during his training, even if the training itself was more or less a fuzzy blur in his memory. What did surprise Cloud was a certain raven-haired man wandering in with the group, the eyes of his friend looking around quickly before spotting him, after which he began walking over as the rest of the SOLDIER group spread out to the groups they were interested in.

Cloud's attention was drawn back to his group as the instructor gave them a number each, his own being 4. There was little surprise after that when instructor Hans told them that they would be facing him in order of their numbers. One of the two cadets that Cloud didn't know was first, leaving the other cadet, Razor and himself to stand off to the side to watch, it was there that Zack came and stood with them a few minutes later.

"Hey Spikey!" Zack said cheerily as he came to stand by the blond.

"Hi Zack." Cloud replied softly, "How come you're here?" Cloud couldn't help but ask, his earliest memories of Zack coming to supervise or assist in any of the rookie trainings only happening after the mission to Modeoheim when Zack had agreed to train with the infantrymen, and the raven-haired man had already been a first class SOLDIER then.

"Well, I wasn't going to come down but then I heard that you would be here and I guess I just wanted to see you whoop their butts." Zack said with a grin, raising his hands up behind his head and placing one foot behind the other as though he was leaning on the air itself. Cloud shook his head with a small smirk, wondering if it was indeed the fact that Zack already knew him that had brought the man down here.

The two fell into a companionable silence after that, watching as the cadet struggled to block instructor Hans' attacks, let alone disarm him, until the instructor figured that it would be enough and called out the next number which happened to be Razor.

Cloud watched as the obsidian-eyed cadet readied himself and watched as he blocked the first attack with fair skill, proving Cloud's earlier thoughts correct. This round ended much quicker than the first, Razor being able to disarm the instructor after giving a clever feint that instructor Hans obviously hadn't been expecting from a cadet.

"Not too bad." Zack commented quietly as he watched, Cloud nodding in agreement.

The next cadet was little better than the first, simply trying to block the instructors attacks with all thoughts of disarming technique gone within seconds.

Not to long later it was Clouds turn and after a quick encouraging remark from Zack the blond cadet made his way to stand before instructor Hans, with the light weight broad sword held loosely in two hands with the tip facing the ground.

"You sure you can actually lift that in time for it to be any good kid?" Hans asked with a slight look of contempt disbelief in his eyes as they scanned the small cadet before him. The soft sound of Zack snorting in amusement was only heard by Cloud and the cadets near Zack.

"It's fine." Cloud said simply, watching the man before him and deciding that he would prove just how effective a broad sword could be, even if it was just a cheap rip-off like this one.

"Your funeral." Hans muttered, shrugging slightly before charging at Cloud with his own weapon, nothing more than an imitation sword with a dull edge that would hurt but not cut.

There was a thud seconds later as the fake sword landed a good fifteen meters away, Cloud having raised his blade quickly to connect with the practise sword near the tip before expertly sliding his blade downwards towards the hilt of the other blade, from there it was a simple twist and flick to send the sword away.

Silence fell over the small group and the trainer looked up in surprised while the cadets stood transfixed in awe, only Zack stood there completely at easy with how Cloud had moved, but soon the raven-haired man was trying to hold back his laughter, something that soon failed as the rich sound filled the air around them.

"H-How did you..?" Hans asked, still unable to believe what had just happened. Cloud shrugged slightly before moving to stand over by a still laughing Zack. There were a few other curious stares from some of the other SOLDIERs that had seen the occurrence, some of which were nodding their approval.

"You sure showed him Spikey!" Zack laughed leaving Cloud to shift uncomfortably with the weight of the stares on him as more turned to see what the noise was about.

This is going to be a long few months... Cloud thought with an internal sigh as he thought about the idea of having so much attention on him by, hopefully, excelling in all aspects of the cadet training. He just hoped that it was worth it to try and gain extra training rights.

XxXxX

Over the next few weeks Cloud's status among the cadets quickly rose. After the initial display of skill with instructor Hans, Cloud began working at rising his rank within the cadets and catching the higher-ups attention, though he was careful to keep his actions and skills to an advanced, but believable, level. With this he very quickly gained the attention and approval of teachers, instructors, and general infantrymen and personnel alike, it was through this that he managed to gain access to both better equipment and a more intense training regime. The only downside to it all in Cloud's opinion, was the audiences that seemed to gather when he trained to see the 'hopeful' cadet with a good chance of going far within Shinra, but thankfully Angeal had been able to send them all on their way a few times to give the blond some peace as he trained.

The new ritual of training with Zack and Angeal was going strong, the bond between the raven-haired man and the blond was getting stronger with everyday, something that never ceased to amaze Cloud, and Cloud had come to really respect and like Angeal as well; the tall first class SOLDIER was helpful and often gave good advise on a range of things. Angeal had also been able to show Cloud a few techniques that he had never had the chance to learn before, as he had never been very high in Shinra and after that it had been Zack's memories that shaped his fighting style.

"Aww man! What are we gona do for the holidays?" Zack whined, acting very much like the 'puppy' Angeal called him as he sat restlessly next to Cloud at the edge of the VR training room. It still amazed Cloud that even after the vigorous VR mission they had just done that Zack could still have the energy to continue moving as he was; mako or no mako, it was still a great feat of... Puppyness?

Angeal stood on the other side of the room, leaning comfortably against the wall with an amused smile on his face as he watched his student's antics. He had been impressed with both Zack and Cloud's latest run as they had, for lack of better description, taken down an entire army.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Cloud asked, deciding to humour his friend as he took a sip of water.

"I dunno! But it has to be fun..." Zack replied with a pout, Cloud couldn't help but chuckle at the behaviour.

"Ok then, but that doesn't help narrow down your options at all." Cloud pointed out, earning a playful glare in return.

"Oh? And where would you go Spikey?" The raven-haired man retorted.

Several things ran through Cloud's mind at the question, the first being the usual and popular holiday destinations like Costa Del Sol, but soon his thoughts turned homewards towards Nibelheim and his mother whom he hadn't seen for so long. Yet those same thoughts of actually meeting his mother again after everything, left a dull ache in his chest and he was unsure as to whether or not he would be able to actually go through with meeting her. It was enough to just know she was still alive.

"Not sure... I guess there are a few places I wouldn't mind going." Cloud admitted with a shrug and a sigh.

"What about you 'Geal?" Zack asked, looking over to his teacher and long time friend.

"Hmm, I've been thinking about perhaps going to Costa Del Sol..." Angeal said thoughtfully as he pondered the bright sunlight and the warm beaches.

"Costa?" Zack jumped up, an excited grin on his face, "Can we go too?"

Cloud chuckled and shook his head in wonder at his friends actions, it didn't matter how crazy they were, because Cloud loved each and every one and treasured them because for such a long time he had thought he would never see those antics again... Oh Gaia, He thought, I doubt I could handle loosing him again...

Once more his vision was swallowed with the images and sounds of the past; the ear-splitting discharge of guns, the soaking rain pelting down on the blood stained ground, the smell of blood mixed with mud. Crawling... He had to get to him... Had to get to Zack... There was so much blood...

Cloud finally snapped out of his thoughts to see Zack over by Angeal still nagging about the up coming holidays in a few weeks, thankfully neither of them had noticed Cloud's inner turmoil as they spoke. The blond's heart was racing and a cold sweat had broken out over his body. It was not the first time his own memories had haunted him and he was used to it by now, but it didn't matter how many times it happened, he could do nothing to lessen the effects it had on him.

Only over the past few weeks the memories that shadowed him during both his waking and sleeping hours had worked as reminders of what would happen if he didn't change things... If he wasn't strong enough once again to keep what is most dear to him alive and well.

"What about you Cloud?" The question caught the blond off guard and he looked up to see both Zack and Angeal looking at him questioningly.

"Uh... what was the question?" Cloud asked quietly, bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head as he silently berated himself for not listening.

"Angeal said he would take us to Costa!" Zack almost yelled, excitement clear in his voice, "You've gotta come Cloud."

Cloud looked up to his friend that now stood before him with a begging expression on his face and eyes shining with excitement. For that expression alone Cloud was tempted to go, but at the same time the holidays could prove to be better spent using the free time to go do some snooping around the Nibelheim reactor for Jenova and also perhaps looking into a few things within Shinra itself. Almost as if sensing Cloud's reluctance Zack closed the gap between them and grabbed the blond's shoulders.

"You have to come! No excuses will be accepted." Zack pressed, grinning widely at the almost shocked look on Cloud's face.

"But... Training..." Cloud muttered softly, realising that he was reaching for straws in a loosing battle.

"Oh there will be training done." Came Angeal's deep, amused voice. "There is no way I would be allowing Zack to laze off the entire time."

Finally Cloud sighed; it was just too hard to say no to Zack when he got like this, and he supposed that he could always find ways to do his 'investigating' at a later date.

"Fine... I'll go." Cloud relented with a small smile.

"Yes! It's going to be so much fun Spikey, you'll love it!" Zack exclaimed excitedly. Angeal smiled from where he stood as he watched the two young men, it was quite obvious that Zack basically had Cloud wrapped around his little finger despite Cloud's ability to always seem one step ahead of everything else. Angeal decided then that the holiday may be a good way to get to know more about the reserved cadet that could fight with uncanny ability and seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Cloud smiled softly as Zack continued talking about the holidays and all they were apparently going to be doing. There was around two weeks before the break, and for Cloud that also meant that there was only around a month or so until the SOLDIER exams; he was happy with the way he had progressed through his training for this as his body was now, at very least, at an acceptable level for him.

"Hey Cloud, how's about that pizza?" Zack asked suddenly, completely changing the topic without missing a heartbeat.

"Tonight?" Cloud asked, remembering when the raven-haired man had invited him for a pizza during his second night back on the Shinra base.

"Sure. I mean why not?" Zack replied, "It'll be fun."

"Ok then." Cloud said with a nod, deciding that it would indeed be fun. Once more Zack jumped up with a whoop obviously thrilled with all the good news of the afternoon.

"All right you two, that's a long enough break." Angeal said, deciding that if he waited any longer to get the two training again it would be an impossible task. Zack whined slightly but grabbed his sword and VR goggles none-the-less while Cloud stood up silently with sword in hand.

"Right, this time I'm going to give you a slightly harder challenge." Angeal said as he began keying things into his mobile that was currently linked into the Virtual Reality system. "We will see how you two fare with an infiltration mission since you both obviously excel in simple defence and offence missions."

With that both Cloud and Zack placed the goggles over their eyes and prepared themselves for the simulation that soon built itself around them, leaving them standing on the crest of a small hill looking over to a large, fortified base a few kilometres from when they stood. Both men quickly crouched to avoid detection as they scoped the area.

"Aww man, this looks like a real pain..." Zack muttered as his eyes scanned over the high walls at the patrols both outside and on top of those walls, he could only see one entry point and it seemed heavily guarded from all sides.

Cloud who had also been scanning the perimeter already had a plan in mind. He had once infiltrated a similarly fortified base with Vincent when that base had managed to get their hands on some important documents regarding experiments with Jenova cells. The two had gotten in and out quickly, dispatching any who got in the way and destroying all evidence of the documents.

"No, in the far left corner opposite from the entry gate the patrols are much thinner and less aware, that will be our attack point as they would likely be careless due to the high walls and being so far from the entrance." Cloud said softly as he analysed the situation further.

Zack looked over to the blond in mild surprise, a feeling that quickly left as he found himself not really being all that shocked in the end at the knowledge the blonde held.

Ten minutes later the two stood at the base of the wall where they had decided to infiltrate, none of the sentries had noticed them yet and for that Cloud was grateful; the biggest challenge of getting to the base had been the open, slightly raised terrain.

Cloud took the lead and, hoping that his timing was correct, jumped up with all the force he could manage and gripped onto the edge of the top of the wall. From there it was simple to lift himself and time his actions to climb up and efficiently and silently remove the single guard that was patrolling that area. Soon after Zack was up with him and they silently made their way down to the ground on the other side where the patrols were practically non-existent and over to one of the inner compound entryways.

The hallways were empty. This more than anything put Cloud on edge as they advanced; it was just too easy, no matter how well a compound is guarded from the outside, it was common practice to keep the inside just a well, if not better, guarded. He knew this from personal experience.

When they finally entered the centre of the compound and still had not encountered a single soul, Cloud began to really grow restless. Something was wrong, and it didn't seem like something that was usual for the VR. As if on time the 'communicators' that both he and Zack wore while in the simulation buzzed with an incoming transmission.

"Zack, Cloud, what's happening in there?" The crackled voice of Angeal broke through, static making it difficult to hear the man properly. Those words had Cloud's sense of suspicion rising through the roof; they all knew that Angeal would watch their progress every step of the way from monitors in the room adjoining the VR room itself.

"What do you mean 'Geal?" Zack replied, looking around in confusion.

"I lost all sight of both of you when you went into the compound. I think the machine is malfunctioning, it won't stop the program and this is the first time I have been able to get a vocal link to you." Angeal replied, voice still hard to make out over the communicator.

A chill ran down Cloud's spine at the words, for some reason he doubted that it was the machine malfunctioning...

"What does that mean?" Zack asked, "Are we stuck in here or something?"

While Zack spoke Cloud found himself looking around the dim room carefully, he could sense a danger somewhere and it felt all to familiar.

"The door into the room you are in is locked and won't open and none of the computers will respond properly. Zack, I want you and Cloud out now!" Even to Cloud, the concern in Angeal's voice was obvious.

"We're coming." Cloud cut in this time. He knew that they had to get out, and fast.

"Good, but be-" The communications abruptly stopped there leaving the two men to themselves.

"Zack, we need to leave. Now." Cloud said, scanning the room once again as the foreboding feeling intensified. Zack nodded his agreement and they both moved towards the door, only to find it blocked by a large man. The man was huge compared to the lean, lithe build of the two friends with bulging muscles rippling over the length of his body. The man had a large cloak on, the hood working to conceal all but his lower face and glowing red eyes that remained locked on Cloud.

Cloud understood then exactly what was happening; the darkness was making a move, and it was a smart one as well, completely isolating them in the reinforced room and further trapped in an artificial reality in which whatever pain they felt would feel very real. Although Cloud was sure that any wounds sustained by the darkness would prove to remain even after the simulation ended, something that was not suppose to happen.

"Who the hell?" Zack breathed softly, standing beside Cloud. Right now though the blond was more concerned with how they were going to get past the imposing figure than who he was.

The large man raised a hand that held one of the massive battle maces that would inflict serious damage, the weapon pointed straight at Cloud.

"You." Was the only word to leave the large man's lips coming out in a deep echoing voice that Cloud had heard before from the monsters he had faced that were under the Darkness' control.

Adapting a battle stance of his own Cloud held First Sword ready. This couldn't be good.

"Oi! If you want to even lay a finger on Spikey, you go through me!" Zack's voice was serious as he spoke, he moved to stand directly in front of the blond and Cloud couldn't help the spike of panic that raced through him; this was no simulation, and Zack was nowhere near ready to face such a foe.

Seeming to decide to take Zack's challenge to heart the large man moved at a speed that surprised the raven-haired man as he soon found the large battle mace swinging for his head. Cloud moved faster though as he quickly pulled Zack back out of harms way and behind him as he brought up his sword one handed and deflected the blow.

"Zack, just focus on getting to that damn door." Cloud growled, "We will only need one of us to get out to the courtyard for Angeal to be able to end the simulation."

"But-"

"Just do it!" Cloud growled, grunting as he blocked another heavy blow from the mace.

"Ok... Be careful." Zack said reluctantly as he edged around the fight and waited for there to be enough room between the door and the threat to escape through. Zack hated the idea of leaving Cloud there, but the way Cloud had spoken... It had warranted no arguments, and it had also radiated an inner power that Zack hadn't seen before.

Cloud drew the large man further into the room and breathed a silent breath of relief as he saw Zack slip out the door. Now he just had to stay alive and hope there was no other dangers out there. Looking up into the eyes of his attacker Cloud saw the crimson light grow brighter and Cloud was barely able to dodge an attack that splintered and cracked the floor where it struck, leaving a large crater in the middle of the room. Cloud wasn't surprised by the sudden power increase as it seemed to be a common trait in creatures under the influence of Darkness.

Deciding to go on the offensive Cloud quickly closed the distance and began swinging at the man with precision blows, but each and every one of them was deflected by a physical damage barrier around the man.

"Dammit!" Cloud cursed, knowing that before he could tack the man down, he would have to destroy his barrier first.

As he jumped back to gain some distance between him and the mace, he found himself hitting the wall and only realised this mistake to late to dodge the sweeping blow coming his way, bringing his sword around at a lighting pace he was only able to lessen the blow to his side slightly and was sent flying across the room. Pain had exploded up his side and he was sure that he had at least three broken ribs. He landed on his other side with his sword landing several meters away, he was given to respite as he soon found the large man standing over him and a huge hand closing around his throat.

Cloud soon found himself with his feet dangling off the floor and his air flow constricted to a painful minimum as the large man held him up and away from his body.

"You... Cannot escape." Came the same eerie voice as before...

Zack was running like his life depended on it, for reasons he couldn't explain he felt an ache in his chest as though he had already lost Cloud and was trying to prevent it from happening again. Finally he burst from the compound and out into the courtyard area of the base, where he noticed there were no longer any guards stationed. Almost straight away Angeal's voice came through the communicator.

"Zack! What's happening?" The deep voice sounded frustrated and concerned at the same time but this time at least, the voice was clear to make out.

"Shut it down Angeal! Now!" Zack yelled, the foreboding feeling within him only growing stronger by the second.

Tense seconds passed by while he waited with bated breath, but finally the area began dissolving into the usual blue squares.

Please be ok... Zack thought furiously.

Cloud was slowly loosing consciousness from lack of air, the pain in his side throbbed and only hastening the advancement of darkness on his vision. Somehow he knew that if he died in here, he would die in the real world as well.

It was then that the reality around them began dissolving and Cloud knew that Zack had made it out. The man began dissolving with the rest of the room, the red eyes blazing in anger as the hand holding Cloud's throat lost substantial matter, leaving Cloud to fall to the ground and watch as the man yelled in rage as he disappeared. Resting his head on the floor, Cloud worked to keep his breathing shallow and even to avoid hurting his ribs further. Slowly it registered that the VR room was completely back to normal and seconds later he felt the familiar presence of Zack as the raven-haired man gently pulled the goggles of his head.

"Cloud?" Zack asked tentatively, fear racing through his veins at seeing the blond laying as he was.

"I'm fine." Came the breathless reply and for a second relief flooded through him, but returned instantly when he saw a red blotch spreading through Cloud's clothes on his side. Moving quickly, Zack gently lifted the shirt to see several puncture wounds that matched the spikes on the mace that the strange man had been wielding in the simulation, the skin around the puncture wounds was already severely bruised and welted.

"Shit..." Zack muttered, "Angeal!"

Cloud had only vaguely felt Zack moving his top and heard the cry to Angeal, the blond only just realising how hard it was to keep his eyes open. As darkness once more encroached on his vision he was left to wonder if he had really been hurt that bad?...

Angeal had been in the computer room, feeling much better now that he had been able to end the malfunctioning simulation. When he saw Cloud fall to the floor in the adjoining room he had figured that the shock from the abrupt ending to the simulation had caused it, after all, the pain felt in the VR was also artificial, but when Zack's panicked voice had shouted he knew that something was wrong.

Entering the room quickly, Angeal went to his students side, only to be greeted with the horrible wound on Cloud's side and an upset Zack. Moving quickly Angeal inspected the wound, realising that the blond had at least one broken rib and severe lacerations. He wasted no time in quickly but gently lifting the blond up and holding him steady to reduce any pain as he left the room with Zack following close behind.

"What happened in there?" Angeal demanded firmly as they walked, heading towards the medical wing of the SOLDIER floor. He could tell that Zack was distressed at the situation and knew that the best way to handle it would be to keep him occupied.

"There was nothing inside... Cloud was on edge and then as we turned to leave there was guy there... a huge guy with a mace... He was fast, and that thing would have hit me, but Cloud stopped it. He stopped that thing with one hand Angeal!" Zack said, his voice shaky as he went off track.

"Zack. Concentrate." Angeal said sternly, trying to make sense of what his student was saying.

"Cloud told me I had to make it outside for the simulation to end... So I did, but he stayed to fight the guy..." Zack finished and lapsed into silence for a moment before another detail came to his mind, "The guy... He targeted Cloud from the start..." He muttered, "Even when I got in the way, he remained locked on Cloud."

This concerned Angeal a lot, but he had no time to ponder it as they reached the med station and he quickly called for the assistance he needed.

Both Angeal and Zack watched at the medical staff raced around as Cloud was placed on one of the medical beds and quickly wheeled away, muttering of 'Check for internal bleeding' and 'Crushed ribs' fading the further they got.

"He'll be fine Puppy." Angeal said softly as he rested an comforting hand on Zack's shoulder...

Well that is chapter four. I hope you all enjoyed and thank you to everyone who reviewed :)