"-days after what had been dubbed the 'Body Bomber.' The suspect is still unidentified at this time. The suspect drove a rigged car through the Shinra district and into the lobby of the headquarters. We have reports of two casualties."
The picture panned to the sight of the bombing, black smoke still bellowing from the gates of the garage.
"The head of Urban Development, Reeve Tuesti, assures us that the building's structural integrity is still sound and says that evacuation of the building and surrounding area is not expected at this time. The recent string of attacks has left the community doubting the efficacy of Shinra's current security system. With us now are experts in…."
VIII. Resuscitation
"President Shinra has decided to move out of the safe house and into the penthouse suite Rufus arranged," Tseng reported.
Rod, Gun, Rude, and Reno had crowded into a small conference room. All looked more haggard than ever, especially Reno who prematurely left the ward. He still had multiple bandages dotting his face and peeking out from under his unbuttoned shirt.
Gun grunted in acknowledgement at Tseng. It was technically insubordination to the Turks' second in command but that wasn't how Turks operated and Gun was too exhausted to care.
"Protection detail, I'm guessing?" Rod asked, looking the freshest of them all.
Tseng nodded. "Perimeter around the hotel. We will station sniper nests at two of the buildings overlooking the penthouse," he explained, glancing at Gun who nodded back. Guess she knows where she will be assigned. "Public security will handle ground level and access roads. Rod, you will be on shift inside the building."
"Sure thing, Tseng."
"Thanks again, Reeve," Cloud said, leaving borrowed clothes in a neatly folded and laundered pile on Reeve's couch.
Reeve, tired from multiple sleepless nights and long days, still smiled at Cloud. The boy helped Reeve out too.
There were two washed mugs by the kitchen sink and the entire place smelled of coffee and home cooking. On the couch, a colorful quilt draped over the other side. Reeve's empty condo for once feels like a home. And, it was nice being greeted by a hot meal when he returned from yet another emergency meeting.
"Pleasure's been mine," Reeve replied genuinely. Too soon, the boy's stay came to an end.
The building was slowly opening back up. His staff was working to restore the basement. Some departments were being moved. Thus, his team was hard at work figuring out how to relocate the more volatile departments to the basement levels.
It was a pity. Reeve had just gotten used to having another person share his space.
Briefly, his mind went back to the second bedroom Cloud temporarily took over, the variety of half-finished projects. Perhaps, it was time to get back into them. And well, if it provided a reason to work with a precocious young man like Cloud on some of them, Reeve wouldn't complain.
The next time the door opened, Zack was ready. He slammed into the guard, who grunted but otherwise did not budge even against Zack's enhanced strength.
Shit, Zack thought, Plan B! Plan B! Wait, what was plan B? Zack's brief moment of hesitance cost him a valuable opportunity when one meaty fist slammed into his side.
Zack went crashing into the wall of the hallway. He rolled quickly to avoid an incoming foot and rolled to his knees just in time to block a heavy blow from a muscled arm.
"Shit," Zack cried, deflecting another glancing blow before the two circled each other cautiously in the narrow corridor, "What the fuck are you?" The man-beast only bared sharp canines at him and growled out a gravelly laugh. Then he charged. Zack dodged at the last minute to avoid pure bone and muscle.
He needed a weapon. Anything.
The man came roaring again. Zack slammed a solid punch into the man's solar plexus. No use.
He responded by grabbing Zack by the hair with one hand while the other slammed into Zack's front. One of Zack's arms came up to guard himself but the force alone slammed Zack's back into the metal wall. The blow left Zack's vision hazy with pain and he collapsed in a heap at his assailant's feet. All the breath was forced out of him, leaving him gasping.
Think, Zack. Think!
Zack painfully dragged himself back up on his hands and knees, spitting out blood. His head wound was bleeding freely again and flowing into his eye, obscuring part of his vision. He looked at the rope still wound around his wrists, cut through and frayed.
If I could…
"Sir!" came a horrified cry from the door that was flapping uselessly on a squeaky hinge. Zack must have clipped it on his way out because there was a red smear of blood along the length.
Both Zack and his opponent spun at the noise, but this time Zack did not hesitate.
In one smooth motion, he grabbed the end of the rope used to tie him down and wrapped his arms over the beast's head. The synthetic fibers of the rope looped and then pulled taut against the beast's neck, which despite whatever had been done to enhance the man, was still vulnerable.
Zack held on with every last ounce of his strength as his captor growled and thrashed. It slammed and flailed his body and threw its head back against Zack. It reached clumsily back but its bulk got in the way. Then it rammed itself into the rough cave wall.
Zack gasped breathlessly in pain but didn't let go.
"Stay back," Zack gasped to the frightened trooper in between two body slams into the wall as the creatures swung from one side to the other. Having a trooper there wasn't gonna help. It was just gonna get the boy killed.
When it tried to throw Zack overhead, Zack locked his legs around the creature's waist as well, ignoring the sharp claws that dug into his calf. The creature threw its head back one last time to howl, but that came out as a whimper. Its movement slowed and eventually, it fell. Its bulk slammed into Zack one more time, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
Despite everything, Zack kept his grip on the rope for a few minutes more, making certain that their captor was down, permanently.
"Sir!" Zack felt the corpse being heaved aside with some difficulty and saw that the other troopers were trickling out. "You require medical attention."
Shit. The adrenaline was wearing off and Zack could feel the stabbing pain shoot up his legs.
Zack gingerly got on one knee, hand slick with blood and sweat bracing clumsily on the wall as he wobbled to his feet. He could feel his ribs shifting against each other and suspected that at least one was broken. He just hoped that it wasn't piercing anything vital. He was having trouble breathing, and one eye was completely useless from the blood that dripped into them. He wiped a hand across his face and looked down into the tunnels ahead.
No one had come to check the commotion. A small blessing.
"Who here can still fight?" What remained of his squad all came forward, but only two men were still in any decent shape. Zack nodded and then with a steadying hand to the wall, dragged himself up. "Ramirez and Dego, find an exit and get the others out. Torres, Jian- with me- we need to find weapons and whoever else we can. Mark the walls as you go. Move out!"
The men nodded as one and set about their orders as they were trained.
When they reached the end of the tunnel they were captive in, Zack realized why their commotion wasn't noticed. The tunnel opened up into a central cavern that was converted into some madman's science laboratory. The pièce de résistance was the three steel slab tables with bright operation lights. Groans of pain and agonizing screams filled the rooms.
Two men strapped to the table and still struggling were the missing Thomas and Lee.
Zack watched with dawning horror as he realized that a silent and heavily mutilated body was being removed from the operation table. Waiting in the wings the thoroughly knocked-out form of Anders was being strapped in as a replacement. To one side, another man was lying on a slab, his insides exposed and a multitude of machines strapped into him. Vials of glowing mako surrounded the station. A man in a lab coat with greasy dark hair stood over the body, closely examining something on the screen across from him.
Zack swallowed the bile rising in his throat. The single eyeball that sat on a pair of bloody forceps told Zack all he needed to know. Though severed, it was still glowing with mako.
The prone corpse was the body of the other Soldier. Ludbrok.
Breathing heavily, Zack forcibly turned his attention to the task at hand. He ducked back behind the stone pillar and turned to the two men who were watching the proceedings with anger in their eyes and clenching hands.
He shook his head at them. They needed to think right now, act wisely. Focus on the survivors. Focus on their equipment, lying haphazardly in a pile across the floor from where they were hidden.
"If you can get to them, free the survivors. Grab your weapons, and get out. I'll create a distraction."
"Sir- what about them," Torres hissed back, keeping his voice low.
"Let me worry about that," Zack ordered grimly, eyeing the two hulking guards circling the periphery of the room, seemingly inured to what was going on around them. They were as tall and broad as the guard Zack took down and looked to hover mostly in one area of the room. Likely the entrance. Distantly Zack hoped he hadn't sent his squad the wrong way to their deaths "I'm going to create a distraction. You grab whatever you can, free whoever you can. Don't stop for anything. If they -."
"You can't survive two of them, sir. You're wounded. Let us hel-"
"Hey," Zack grinned dangerously, nodding toward the confiscated gear, "I'm not going into this without a plan, 'kay? Just leave my bracer."
The men nodded reluctantly. Zack nodded.
"Go." Then he burst into motion, hoping that Plan A worked this time.
He rolled in the direction opposite of his men and crashed into one of the unsuspecting scientists, grunting as something in his chest shifted. Zack ignored the stabbing pain and smashed the man into a glass vat that shattered on contact. The resulting scream of agony told Zack that whatever they were pumping his squad full of, it burned inside and out.
Good for him, Zack thought, uncharacteristically vindictive, the good doctor gets a taste of his own medicine.
Zack's diversion worked. Both guards, one with a growth of fur around its face so heavy it resembled a coeurl and the other having tusks and a few limbs too many bulldozed across the lab. Tusks grabbed for Zack, but Zack sidestepped. Out of the corner of his eye, Zack saw that the two troopers managed to overwhelm the scientists and free Anders. Hartwig and Bree must be around somewhere.
He just had to hold on a little longer.
Where the two guards lacked brains, they certainly made up for brawn. Thankfully, these two ambling giants aren't built for maneuverability either.
"Make it quick!" Zack shouted to his men. He was running out of room to run and the two were pinning him against one corner.
The coerl-headed man flinched on its way to Zack. It turned around and Zack saw that a knife, thrown with impressive accuracy, was embedded in the creature's back. It got the heat off Zack, but now the troopers were in the hot spot.
Alarms suddenly started blaring inside the cave.
"Intruders detected. Intruders detected. Releasing highly volatile guard units. Please evacuate the premises until the situation is resolved. Intruders detected. Intruders…"
"Get out now!" Zack cried. Torres made a mad dash for the exit tunnel, Anders's dead weight in tow, while Jian took a guarded position. Seeing an opening, Zack grabbed the knife still sticking out of the creature's back when the two were preoccupied and twisted. An angry howl and at least one of them had their attention back on Zack's beaten form.
Good.
Not good!
Zack half jumped, half fell over his own feet dodging an angered swipe.
"Fair!" Someone called. Ah. They found Hartwig. The shout unfortunately also diverted the beasts' attention.
"Shit. Hey! Pick on someone your own size!"
While the coeurl continued to swipe at Zack, Tusks was clumsily wading through overturned desks and tables, chasing the newly freed troopers. In doing so, the guards smeared the glowing substance spilled by the broken vat all of themselves, unbothered by the caustic liquid.
Seeing his opening, Zack dove between the two and grabbed his bracer. Materia? Still slotted. Good.
Zack unleashed a fireball at the charging coeurl hybrid and then focused on dealing with Tusks. The liquid, likely at least partially mako, ignited. Zack rolled out of the way again as the cat-like creature, now ablaze, howled in pain, slamming into a cave wall, and then fell over with a thud. Tusk was flailing at the other end of the lab, knocking over flasks and setting fire to anything it touched before it also fell.
Zack heaved himself up, digging his broadsword into the ground.
"Well," he said lightly to himself, "Guess Angeal is right about needing some improvement on that footwork."
He ambled over to the operation tables. Thomas was dead. His table was knocked over and he was still strapped in, blood pooling onto the ground. Lee however was still breathing.
"Lee," Zack shook him, "Shit, wake up man." Slitted orange eyes opened and the man Zack knew only snarled at him, growling as he fought the restraints. Zack tugged at them but there was no give and no visible buckles of any kind to release them.
"Fuck, man," Zack jumped back, "Get a hold of yourself!" Lee howled in answer and Zack paled as more howls echoed back from the tunnels leading out. "You have got to be shitting me," Zack groaned in frustration.
He went back toward the tunnel he came from, taking shelter once again behind the natural pillar formation that hid him before, stepping gingerly around the body of the tusked man, still burning. All around the laboratory, the sound of glass exploding could be heard as the temperature of the room soared and an inferno began to engulf the "research."
Zack coughed as the smoke filled the room, consuming what oxygen there was. He had no Water or Ice to get himself out of this mess. He palmed the materia in his bracer. But Quake…
Zack looked up at the ceiling of the cavern. Sea caves. They can't be very far below ground. He hoped he had given his men enough time to evacuate because the entire cave was going to crash down on his head.
Then, he looked toward the incoming horde, a spell on his lips.
The first creatures to burst through caught fire immediately, but Zack was not so lucky with the second wave, who shook off the magic flames easily.
Zack held on as long as he could, waiting for as many as possible to enter his trap. Then he pumped as much of his remaining energy into the glowing orb. The spelled pulled on Zack painfully. He had already exhausted his mana reserves and now was hovering dangerously close to materia overdraw.
"QUAKE!" The shaking was instant, then boulders began to rain down on the howling beasts. To Zack's surprise, from the fissures in the ceiling, water began to pour in. Were they underwater?
He crawled toward the tunnel, already clouded vision hampered by the flooding of the cavern, the last of his strength was sapped by the spell and he simply watched tiredly as the rocks rained down, smashing into the once human forms that had been mutilated beyond recognition. There was no longer strength left in his body to flee. He knew nothing more after that.
Angeal growled in frustration. Clear skies the previous day turned abruptly into a storm blew in from the sea. Angeal strongarmed the navy to launch another helicopter in the inclement conditions to continue the search. They were on their last round and being pummeled by the wind.
To worsen the situation, the rain obscured everything, reducing visibility to almost nothing, and the waves of the storm crashing against the cliffs frustrated efforts to scour the beach for clues. In the distance, fog was rolling in along the coast following the rain. Once it settled in, visibility would drop to nothing and the search would be called off.
"Sir," the pilot suddenly called in astonishment, "Sinkhole formation below!"
Angeal twisted in his seat to look over the pilot's shoulder.
"That is no sinkhole," he barked, "What are you waiting for? Land!"
"Zack!" Someone was shaking him and a loud rumble sounded in the background. Ten more minutes, ma. Zack wanted to answer but had no energy to do so. He hurt all over. What happened? "Zack!"
That didn't sound like his ma. Waaay too masculine. Like Ma had a nasty flu. And his pa didn't sound much like that either.
"ZACK!" Zack jolted awake but realized that he was strapped down. In a moment of panic, he twisted. Then he froze, gasping out in agony.
"Shit," Angeal face hovered over him, brows wrinkled by familiar sternness, "Don't fucking move! You have broken ribs!" Zack meekly held still.
"Angeal?" He twisted his head to see a military helicopter behind Angeal, rotors spinning slowly as two men fiddled with a harness in the passenger compartment. A space meant for a stretcher, Zack distantly noted. The pulsing sound of the rotor reverberated through Zack's very bones. Lying back, Zack faced the sky, closing his eyes and allowing cool raindrops to gently patter on top of his eyelids and onto the tarp they covered the rest of his body with.
"It's raining," he murmured absently, breathing in the wind that was rapidly whipping around his frame. Zack tried to suppress the mounting panic, half hallucinating that he was strapped down in that lab, and instead focused on Angeal's deep voice softened with relief. Distantly, the sound of the blades hastened and there was a murmur of pilots completing their preflight checks.
"Thank go….
"…odness….
"…alive."
Then an oxygen mask was placed over his face and he was carried away. The last thing Zack heard was the thud of a sliding door.
The next time Zack woke up, Cloud was huddled on a metal folding chair in the most uncomfortable position Zack had ever seen, silently dozing. Zack wondered distantly why the kid was there. And also where Angeal was.
Looking around, Zack saw no lab coat in sight, and the hospital room was strangely colorful. Looking down, Zack realized that on top of the white hospital sheets was a raggedy quilt that had seen its fair share of years. It had faded patterns of embroidery that appeared to be telling a tale of some kind from panel to panel, though Zack could not piece together a coherent story. The colorful quilt and posters of Loveless of all things hanging from the walls, put up in a slightly crooked fashion.
The door to the room hissed open silently and Zack relaxed back into his pillow when the familiar face of Angeal was revealed. He smiled when he saw Zack wake.
"Finally, puppy," he said affectionately, seating himself on an empty chair across from Zack, "You've been out for a week. They put you in a coma for part of it. How do you feel?"
"Fine," Zack shrugged. Angeal raised an eyebrow but did not push him further. Instead, Zack cocked his head toward the visitor's chair and his napping guest.
"Cloud?"
"Here since last night," Angeal answered, "Came as soon as he found out you were injured. Poor kid's spent a lot of time visiting people in the infirmary lately."
"I guess the posters were Genesis's touch?" Zack smirked playfully. Angeal muffled his laugh so the conversing men wouldn't wake up the sleeping lab assistant, "Actually no. Cloud did that." Zack's eyebrows rose.
"Another fan." Angeal shook his head.
Zack gingerly rotated, then winced as his ribs protested. If a few cures didn't solve it, the injury must have been serious.
"A lot of things happened when you were out. What happened to you-"
"Not yet. Please." If Zack could turn away from Angeal, he would. He didn't want to talk about it. The monsters he saw in that lab. A partly dissected Third, one Zack cracked jokes with mere days before at Heidegger's expense, and Lee. The last time Zack saw Lee- Lee and not some horrifying facsimile of the man, his face was both frozen in terror and resigned to his fate.
Zack closed his eyes in pain and even then the images still haunted him.
"What's the casualty report?" Angeal sighed.
"Don't do this to yourself, Zack," a firm hand on Zack's shoulder forced Zack back into a horizontal position, and Angeal pressed the call button. "You saved as many as you could. They are all thankful-"
"They are alive?"
"Yes," Angeal answered, "And they all asked for your promotion-"
"I don't deserve it."
"-and what you did is a very honorable thing. I have already signed off on the papers."
"Zack," both men tensed and shared a look that they would talk about this later. On the chair, the blond blinked sleep out of his eyes. He looked between the two and frowned.
"Hey," Zack smiled grimly.
"Hey yourself," Cloud frowned in concern "How are you feeling?" His hands fluttered over the bandages that still bound Zack's chest, holding the bone in place, but he did not touch them. It was as if he wanted to be of help but didn't know where to start. Honestly, Zack didn't know if he could have let Cloud anyway.
"Fine." Angeal gave him the Look.
"Bull. You lost half your squad. The other squad didn't make it out. You are not 'fine'," Cloud said with astounding curtness. Zack blinked with surprise and was overwhelmed seconds later with grief at the casualties. Half of his team died. Men whose lives Zack was responsible for. Did any of them have families waiting at home?
Angeal frowned at Cloud's abruptness behind the blond's back. Zack likened it to ripping off a bandage and couldn't help but appreciate the gesture for what it was. Not too long ago, Cloud was stuttering when he saw Zack. And Zack was ashamed to say, he hadn't really kept up with Cloud's life other than the occasional "hi". Where did that shy kid go?
"Uh, you are Cloud, right?" Cloud gave him an affronted look. Zack struggled with his words. "You look like Cloud, you sound like Cloud…" Cloud tilted his head and gave him that helpless puzzled chocobo look again. Zack closed his mouth with a snap. Angeal chuckled.
"So he must be Cloud," Angeal stretched out more comfortably on the metal chair. "Though I must say something for Genesis's tenacity."
"Um…what?" Did Angeal just put Cloud and Genesis in the same sentence? Angeal simply chuckled again.
"Like I said, you missed a lot while you were out."
"Wanna catch me up, man? Don't leave me hanging like this," Zack whined theatrically, though everyone in the room seemed to know his heart wasn't in it. His bandaged body added to his pitiful image though, one that made both his visitors shift uncomfortably. Cloud caved first, perhaps not as immune to Zack's piteous looks as Angeal was.
"HQ was bombed while you were away," Cloud winded down to the last event Zack missed, doing a thorough job thus far with company gossip, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back into the chair, "Knocked the president flat. The Turks have their hands full relocating him, apparently."
"Oh shit," Zack groaned, "Out of the HQ?"
"That's classified," Angeal interrupted, "How did you even know?"
Cloud looked up at the older man, eyes wide. "Grapevine is faster than email, sir. I'm surprised it didn't get to you yet. People are speculating all over the building. They've narrowed it down to Honeybee Inn and the penthouse at the Palace Hotel, but most are saying Honeybee."
Angeal pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. Of course, the Shinra grapevine is more efficient than any other way of communication in this bureaucratic shithole and gossip is right on the money this time.
Angeal sighed and replied, "Well, I can't confirm or deny anything."
Zack grimaced. Angeal knew that look. That was the Angeal-just-confirmed-everything-and-I-don't-like-it look.
"Let's not worry about it then. I'm sure you guys can handle it," Zack quickly steered the topic away in an uncharacteristically tactful move, "Tell me about your life, little man!" He addressed Cloud, who wrinkled his brow but otherwise made no protest. Looks like Zack's acquainted enough with the blond to have been trying out nicknames.
"Nothing much," Cloud admitted, "Dr. Zalinka is the same old, same old. Still trying to make that hybrid materia I told you about. I think we might've made some progress, but it's too early to say."
Angeal frowned lightly. Cadets in training, especially ones in for a year who are getting rushed onto the battlefield soon, don't go looking for lab work. Did Cloud need the money? Cadets get a stipend, and working for Genesis should have offered a generous one.
"Genesis is also Genesis. I think he is personally affronted that he can't bypass the rules to get me higher level materia."
He let the chatter between the other two wash over him as he stewed in silence. The conversation topic soon digressed to less serious but equally tantalizing topics of cafeteria lunch, the latest scandal involving Palmer, tabloid news on Scarlet, and what Hojo might have got in his lab, which had his pupil in fits alternating between disgust and hilarity. Struggling internally with such a personal question, Angeal decided to just ask straight out.
"Cadet, are the stipends not enough? Why are you working in a lab?"
It was Zack, after howling in laughter at Angeal's question who answered. "What gave you the idea that Cloud is an infantryman? His bulging musculature? His inspiring height? His-" Zack was interrupted as his laughter was interrupted by coughing. Rather, he was laughing through his coughing. As Cloud mothered Zack back into a prone position on the bed and stood up to pour him some water, Angeal admitted that he made the grossly illogical assumption simply because Genesis made it.
Definite mistake.
Looking at the blond soldi- lab tech- Angeal wouldn't have known that Cloud held up startlingly well to sessions of Genesis's so-called training. More so, he was ashamed to realize a mistake that could have been quickly corrected with just a glance at the blond's personnel file.
After scowling Zack back into submission with an admittedly hilariously un-frightening face, Cloud turned to Angeal and awkwardly replied, "Zack is correct, sir. I was a mako sciences student. Commander Genesis just seemed so enthusiastic I did not want to disappoint him….sir."
Angeal shook his head in disbelief. "Enthusiastic" was not quite the word he was looking for. Genesis essentially conscripted the boy into being his student.
Zack's mirthful face turned thoughtful then serious. He lifted a hand to place on Cloud's arm.
"Hey, I need to say thank you," Zack said, still coughing lightly. Cloud just cocked his head in puzzlement. Angeal also leaned closure, curious.
"In the caves. Your recommendation…If I hadn't had the earth materia…"
Angeal suddenly remembered. The lab tech that let Zack have Quake in his arsenal of all things, a materia that wasn't typically the standard elementals. Angeal had feared for all the buildings in Midgar at the time. Now he was also swept by an intense feeling of gratefulness.
But where and why would-
Angeal's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a phone. Angeal flipped it open without even glancing at the caller's I.D. and was greeted by a curt voice on the other end. Angeal flipped the phone closed with a short acknowledgment and nodded at Zack.
"Sorry, puppy. It's time I left," he looked at the blond, "Cloud, a word please?"
Cloud nodded and walked with him out into the hallway as the door to Zack's recovery room hissed closed behind them.
"So are you just gonna let Genesis walk all over you? I can have a word with him," Angeal began to say, irritated.
"It's quite alright, sir," Cloud smiled. "I had thought of enlisting instead when I first came to Midgar. But, please. Keep it between us?"
"You have an ID and your position is a matter of Shinra record, Strife," Angeal warned, pausing at the nurse's desk and neatly recording the checkout time next to his name on the clipboard there.
"Yes, sir. But Commander Rhapsodos hadn't seen fit to check yet."
Angeal groaned. "Fine. I'll stay mum on the subject, but I'm not going to lie if Genesis asks."
Cloud nodded. "Yes, sir. Understood."
Angeal nodded at Cloud. Taking it as a clear sign that the conversation ended, Cloud turned around. Angeal couldn't hide his smirk when the door hissed open again and Cloud's greeting to Zack floated to his ears.
"So, puppy…"
"Oi!"
The grin didn't disappear until Angeal reached the door to the conference room.
The trip to the Soldier floor was fast. Checking his message again, Angeal knocked on Genesis's door.
Genesis nodded in acknowledgment to Angeal from his seat on the sofa.
"The president is en route to Palace del Monte."
"Ah, so it is happening. The last attack must have shaken him more than anyone thought."
Genesis shrugged and shifted on the couch, lifting his legs and placing his feet on the floor. Angeal took the invitation for what it was and sank into the red leather with a sigh. After Genesis started spending more time in his own office, he swiftly redecorated. It now screamed… Genesis. All comfortable for lounging but excessively...flashy.
"Have you heard from the Turks?"
"No," it was Sephiroth who answered, "The changes had them scrambling. They've called in anyone, not on an essential mission."
"What is Veld thinking?" Angeal muttered to himself, frowning, "They don't want to station Soldiers?"
Genesis shrugged. "Rufus Shinra's plans. Rufus Shinra's rules." And they all knew of the deep rift between Lazard and Rufus, rumored to be stepbrothers.
"They still have some military police manning a secondary decoy site," Sephiroth sighed, a hand rubbing his eyes in the first sign of stress before he propped his chin on his fist. "Heidegger is overseeing it."
Genesis meanwhile, snapped his book closed and tossed it to the floor with an audible thump. He wasn't rereading Loveless then, Angeal thought absently. Shrugging at the situation and apparently already deciding it wasn't worth his worry, Genesis turned to Angeal.
"So, the puppy is awake?"
"Yes, what can he tell us about the lab?" What equipment could be unearthed was unmistakably used in biological mako experiments. Many of them looked like they could be coming right out of the Shinra labs. But they all knew that Shinra scientists guarded their research jealously in their unending quest of scientific oneupmanship upon each other.
"Yes," Angeal answered, "He is. He isn't in the shape to tell us anything. Not more than the other survivors can at any rate."
Sephiroth looked briefly pained and Angeal was reminded that Sephiroth knew Lubrok, or at least Ludbrok's uncle, personally from his early Soldier days. Sephiroth pressed, "Any information he may have is important."
"He needs time," Angeal growled protectively. He calmed when Sephiroth visibly backpedaled, at least as much as the stoic man could, and sighed, "I know it's important. Please, just approach this with some tact." Sephiroth's brows furrowed.
"I have tact," he protested petulantly.
Kunsel came back from his mission on the plate and made for the infirmary as fast as his legs carried him. He had worried when there was radio silence from Zack but it wasn't uncommon for it to happen, especially when it comes to private comms on a mission. He never expected Zack would run into the amount of trouble he did.
The door slid open into the ward and behold, once again Kunsel had the dubious pleasure of running into Sephiroth. It wasn't that Kunsel had anything against someone who was technically his commanding officer's commanding officer (for all that it was Lazard who took care of the administration part), Kunsel just liked to keep under the man's radar if he could help it. Kunsel is as starstruck as any other Soldier in the man's presence but also intimidated. Call it animal instincts. Kunsel senses.
Well, running into was a generous way to put it. Rather, Sephiroth was faced away from Kunsel, some other poor creature pinned under his gaze. Curious, Kunsel stepped to the side a little and spotted golden blond hair styled in a way reminiscent of a 'bo's feathered crown. Ah. Zack's or rather Genesis's "chocobo chick."
Silence. Awkward awkward silence. Sephiroth was just staring. Awkwardly.
Cloud had started fidgeting where he stood.
"Um, sir."
"...Cloud," Sephiroth acknowledged. And that was it. Well, at least the man said the kid's name. Progress.
"..."
"..."
"Are you here to see Zack?" Silver hair fluttered under incandescent lights as Sephiorht's head turned to look at the door.
"I was."
"Hm," the blond hummed, "I think Zack might be asleep. You might want to come back later?" Sephiroth's head turned back to Cloud again.
"That is acceptable."
Well, that answered Kunsel's question. He backed out silently, but the hiss of the door betrayed him and both heads snapped to look at him. Drat.
"Uh, hey," Kunsel said lamely, hand coming up to scratch his suddenly itchy scalp- as cold sweat erupted all over - only for the hand to be blocked by the helmet he always kept on. Oh. Right. Cloud blinked at him.
"Are you here to see Zack too? Cause-"
"Asleep. Got it," Kunsel replied. Sephiroth's gaze had gone from slightly startled to slightly annoyed by Kunsel's estimation, but he was no Silver Elite whisperer by any means. "Not a problem, I can come back later. Just wanted to check on a friend."
As if on cue, all three headed for the exit out of the infirmary. As they walked, Sephiroth cast a dark shadow next to the blond. To Kunsel's shock, it was Sephiroth who struck up the conversation.
"You are Genesis's protege?" Cloud hummed in thought.
"I guess that's one way to put it," Cloud admitted.
"Where are you headed?"
For an instant, Kunsel thought Sephiroth was talking to him. But when he looked back, the poisonous green gaze was focused on the blond, who held a hand up to his chin, thinking as he followed Kunsel down the corridors.
"It's too early to report into Gen- uh, I mean Commander Rhapsodos. So -"
"What are you planni-"
"Yo!"
Steps from the entrance of the infirmary, a redhead slung an arm across Cloud's shoulders.
"Reno?" Cloud turned in the Turk's grasp and then said accusingly, "I heard you snuck out of the infirmary." Reno laughed.
"They can't keep me there if they tried," He glanced at the two other men and offered an irreverent wave. "General. Kunsel. Gonna borrow Cloudy here to get some grub." The two turned to face forward when an annoyed grunt from Kunsel's side made both halt to look for the source.
General Sephiroth looked more displeased than Kunsel ever saw, even in fights with the science department's latest monsters. The general closed the gap between him and Cloud in only a few strides then looked down at the blond, whose wide eyes stared back.
"...Cloud. Come with me to lunch.".
Kunsel looked at the two in shock. Surely…not?
"Um, sir?" The blond turned pale.
"I wish to better understand the nature of your relationship with Soldiers under my command." Oh. Ooooh? Kunsel was so confused. Was Sephiroth …jealous? …Suspicious? Also, what is Genesis going to say? He is going to have a hissy fit when he finds out Sephiroth is either being protective (?) of him or harassing his protege.
Seeing no way out, Cloud nodded resignedly, "Yes, sir."
He glanced at Reno and smiled. "I'll come to check on you later okay?"
Sephiroth almost herded Cloud off at that point leaving Kunsel staring at Reno, both speechless. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall for that lunch, Kunsel thought then shook his head. Better for his sanity to not know. Hopefully, he will be sent on a faraway mission when Genesis catches wind of it. Those two's battle will be legendary.