A/N: Fwoo.

Edits Completed: June 6, 2017

Final Fantasy VII – Remembrance

Chapter 10 – Escape

Tifa grimaced as the air inside Scarlet's gas chamber hit her. The air was dank and musty, but at the same time it was uncomfortably sterile. It had a lingering 'wrongness' to it, likely from trace amounts of the gas Scarlet used during the executions. There was also a strong scent of the chemical cleaners used to clean up afterwards. All these elements had lay stagnating during the period of disuse between each execution causing Tifa to now gag and cough. The dim lighting gave the pipes protruding from the walls sharp features while obscuring the walls themselves. In the corner of this tiny chamber, there was a single unimpressive chair bolted to the floor. Tifa guessed it could double as an electric chair if Scarlet so willed it. She was unceremoniously shoved into that uncomfortably cold, steel chair. Tifa grunted as her head hit the back of the chair. The soldier that had accompanied them into the room began to tighten and lock her shackles without even glancing at her.

"Stupid bimbo, this won't work you know?" Tifa spat.

Scarlet scowled at the defiant girl and slapped her had across the face.

"Stuck up bitch!" The blonde snarled back. "Your blind desire to 'save the Planet' led to this!"

Scarlet turned away in anger.

"I'd ask you to die with some dignity," she said with a sneer in her voice. "But you clearly don't have a shred of that."

Tifa strained against her bonds, wishing she could lash out. Her heart was now racing as her execution was imminent. The woman turned her focus to a monitor inside the chamber, priming the system for activation. While the concentration and duration would be set remotely, there was a secondary confirmation that needed to be made. It was tedious and unnecessary, but it was a check Reeve had forced through several years ago in an attempt to dissuade the use of the gas chamber, something the man had been secretly proud of pushing through. It was during this forced digital paperwork that something strange happened. Tifa felt a light pinch on her arm. At first she thought the soldier was trying to feel her up before her execution. She glared up angrily only to lock eyes with the soldier. It lasted only half a second. The man's eye color was a warm crimson. Tifa stiffened in realization.

"Well, come on. Wouldn't want to get caught up in this place," Scarlet drawled as she finished signing the appropriate forms.

The soldier's movements flowed like water. As soon as Scarlet placed a handle on the door, a small golden key fell from the soldier's hand. It dropped soundlessly onto the soldier's boot, which he tipped gently onto the floor in front of Tifa just as the door opened. This allowed the light clink of the key to be muffled by the hiss of hydraulics as Scarlet left the room. The soldier followed the blonde out and the door was quickly sealed again. Tifa stared at the key as the shock of what had happened wore off. Then the gas flow started, kicking her brain into high gear. She began to reach for the key.

…

Air hissed as the execution chamber was hermetically sealed. A few button presses later, the gas release was started. Scarlet stood facing the awaiting media, ready to give her performance.

"Ma'am, I'll need to return to my rounds," the soldier said quietly.

Scarlet waved a hand dismissively and the soldier left the makeshift interview room. On his way out, he collided roughly with Barret, stuffing a small key into the gunman's hand.

"Outta the way, scum," the man growled harshly.

Barret hid his shock well and soon the soldier had vanished from view. Scarlet cleared her throat as she picked up a microphone and the faint mutterings of reporters speaking into recorders faded. With a sinister smile, she threw out one of her hands, directing attention to the monitors that would be transmitting a live feed of the gas chamber. As they flickered to life, they displayed the busty brunette, shackled to the chair in a room slowly filling with gas. However, one of her hands appeared to be free of her cuffs and she was already working on unlocking her other hand. The reporters muttered in confusion and one soldier even tried to speak up. Unfortunately, Scarlet was so caught up in her performance that she disregarded the noises of discontent and pushed forward with her speech.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for!" She announced to the watching public. "I give you, the terrorist's exec…"

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by the sudden blare of klaxons. Several reporters visibly jumped as the loud noise startled the people in the room. The piercing screech reverberated off the steel walls of the small room, echoing through the halls of the military base of Upper Junon.

"Red Alert! WEAPON is approaching! All trained personnel are to prepare for defense. Civilians are to evacuate the streets and take shelter in the buildings. Defensive shields will be deployed in five minutes. I repeat, WEAPON IS APPROACHING!"

There was a flurry of movement and a storm of cursing as the journalists and reporters packed their things and fled the room, disregarding the fact that they were probably in a relatively safe location already. Only one reporter remained along with Scarlet, Barret, and the two soldiers flanking him. Barret remained calm though, fidgeting surreptitiously with the lock of his cuffs. The reporter that had badgered Scarlet for information earlier approached her again. She appeared amused at this.

"Looks like someone has the balls to stay with the story! Such dedication! I love it!"

The man hobbled up to her again in an odd bouncing motion.

"Looks like your little show's a failure," the main chirped cheerfully. "How does it feel, Scarlet?"

The woman was taken aback. She glared angrily at the reporter.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Then she noticed the execution chamber feed for the first time. She stepped forward angrily.

"What is the meaning of this – !"

She found a small container shoved into her face and, before she could move out of the way, a fine mist enveloped her face.

"You… ugh…"

Scarlet collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

"Crazy broad, I never liked your way of doing things," the voice that came through the reporter's mouth was deeper and sounded as if it were slightly obscured by static.

"Stop right there!" One of the soldiers said as he raised his weapon to aim at the reporter.

Barret, who had managed to remove his cuffs, dropped them noisily and called out to the reporter.

"Hey! Jus' what that hell is goin' on here?!"

The reporter tore off his disguise with a flourish revealing a familiar white mog with a small black cat on top.

"Ta-da!" Cait Sith declared. "It's me! I'm here to help!"

"It's a breakout!" The other guard screamed in panic before charging at the two.

"Here!" The cat shouted as he threw Barret some spare ammo.

The man loaded his weapon with a feral grin and attacked the guards. Due to a complete lack of experience, the two soldiers fell quickly. Cait Sith bounced nervously as he surveyed the room.

"That was a close one! Good thing Scarlet didn't see Tifa or this might've gone way worse!"

Barret turned to the android.

"Wanna explain what's goin' on? Who the hell was that guy?" He growled angrily.

The cat sighed.

"It was Vincent, you big lummox," he responded in a teasing voice. "This entire operation depended on him getting here with the keys! He's really good at infiltration though. I couldn't even tell until he bumped into you."

Barret scratched his head, trying to make sense of things.

"So yer sayin' that vampire snuck in, disguised as a soldier helping Scarlet, and got the keys to free us?"

"Yup!" came the cheerful reply.

"Then what the hell was your job? Sounds like he did everythin' by himself!" The black man snorted.

The cat stuck out his tongue.

"I was running interference of course. Duh!" He said before redirecting the conversation. "Anyway! We don't have much time. WEAPON was definitely not part of this plan, but this is a great time to get out of here!"

Barret started at this information.

"Tifa!"

He saw her standing around the execution chamber through the video feed. With a sigh of relief, he ran over to the steel door that led to the gas chamber.

"You alright in there?" He called as he pounded on the door.

A faint voice replied from inside.

"I'm fine! I turned off the gas, but I can't seem to open the door from in here!"

"Hold on! I'll get you out of there!" Barret called back.

He took as step back and fired at the door. Unsurprisingly, bullets ricocheted off the unyielding steel, pinging off random objects in the room. It was a miracle that Barret didn't get hit. However, several bullets did find themselves embedded in the body of the Mog robot.

"Cut that out, you idiot!" Cait Sith scolded. "We gotta get moving! Cid's getting the ship for our escape. We'll figure out a way to rescue her once we secure that escape route."

Barret growled in frustration but relented.

"Tifa! Stay put, we'll come back for you!" He instructed through the door.

There was a faint 'okay' as he dashed out of the antechamber. Cait Sith filled him in on the rest of the operation as they ran through the halls of the military base. Outside, civilians were running around in a panic, trying to take shelter before WEAPON arrived. Crowds pushed desperately at the doorways of buildings and only the slightly more level-headed people went looking for alternative shelter. Off to the side, one particularly brave cameraman was following a reporter around, taking in the chaos. As the two pair approached, the reporter said something to the cameraman causing him to run off to the side, grabbing a few final shots of the oncoming WEAPON before ducking into a nearby store for cover.

"Hey!" The reporter ran up to Barret and Cait Sith.

"Get out of here!" Barret shouted in annoyance. "We ain't got no time for yer stupid questions!"

The reporter stomped one foot in frustration as she threw down her microphone.

"It's me!" Yuffie shouted back as she took off her disguise. "Come on! The way is clear!"

Barret noticed that the girl looked distinctly different than the last time he saw her. Her eyes were still slightly bloodshot and sunken from a lack of sleep. Her face was still extremely pale. Barret glanced over at Cait Sith with a questioning look, but the cat merely shook his head. There was no time for questions and Yuffie didn't appear to be in the mood to talk, so the three of them simply took off towards the airport where Cid was waiting with their transport.

…

Vincent walked as fast as he dared without attracting attention. Soldiers were running around the entire base, so he didn't look too out of place as he strode purposefully towards the airport. The hardest part had been completed without a hitch and now the only part that remained was for him to rendezvous with Cid and Nanaki on the Highwind. Unfortunately, even with all the intricate maneuvering complete, he still felt tense and uneasy about the entire Meteor situation.

If he were being honest, he felt like his body had been acting completely on autopilot for the last few days. Everything had spiraled so far out of his control that he could only follow the plan Cait Sith had come up with. From what it seemed, the framework was similar to what he recalled, but his role had definitely been changed. As he initially infiltrated the base, he had wondered just when the team had begun to trust him so much. Reeve was completely willing to bet the success of the entire mission on his abilities, which was both flattering and a bit worrisome.

He ran a hand over the scar Sephiroth had left in his side. The largely healed wound still throbbed a bit if he moved too aggressively. He had spent most of the week simultaneously recovering and worrying about the General's words in North Crater. Jenova wasn't stupid, he knew that. It seemed that the alien life form had pieced together some kind of conclusion about his threat potential and had subsequently marked him as dangerous towards her plans. He would need to keep a careful eye on them in the future. If Sephiroth continued to come after him, there was a good chance more people than just Cloud would get hurt.

However, before the man could dwell on this further, the klaxons sounded. Vincent looked around in alarm, his ears ringing from the loud wail. He knew what was going on, but before he could move any further, several soldiers burst out from a room several feet ahead of him. One soldier grabbed his arm, his uniform barely on and an urgent look in his eyes

"What are you doing, man?!" The man shouted as he struggled to put on his helmet. "Come on! We gotta keep that thing at bay until the cannon is ready!"

For a brief moment, Vincent considered simply running to the Highwind, but two thoughts stopped him. One was that his own gear was still stashed away and the other was that something else might go wrong if they didn't attempt to hinder WEAPON. With a nod, he followed the other soldiers to the armory where a standard issue submachine gun was shoved into his hands. Vincent and twenty other soldiers were directed up towards one of Junon's ramparts to join a group already firing on WEAPON with longer range artillery. The klaxons continued to blare as Vincent watched the monstrous form of WEAPON draw closer into the range of standard weaponry. So far the long rang weapons only seemed to annoy it, but the moment the shorter ranged weapons fired, it let out a howl of pain and its advance faltered momentarily.

But it kept coming. After several minutes of an endless assault, the building beneath their feet shook. Vincent watched as metal plates shifted into place in front of every building facing the sea. The soldiers stationed on top of buildings stood their ground. WEAPON gave an echoing groan and surged forward once again. All around Vincent, soldiers continued to fire blindly at the massive creature. Their increasing panic only served to send their bullets bouncing off the monster's armored body. The man let out a low growl at the general incompetence of the Shinra soldiers. They still needed to stall the creature for a bit longer as the main cannon was only partially warmed up.

"Aim for the joints!" He roared out over the gunfire.

The soldiers nearby gave him a funny look, wondering why a fellow soldier was acting like he was in charge. Fortunately, commanders nearby got the hint and relayed the message to the other squads scattered across the rooftops. The soldiers redoubled their attacks, making sure to take careful aim at the creature's joints and only firing in short bursts. For a few heart-stopping moments, that tactic appeared to be ineffective. Then WEAPON groaned again and thrashed up out of the water, letting out a ghastly scream.

"IT'S WORKING!" One commanded shouted. "HOLD FAST! THE CANNON'S ALMOST READY!"

Vincent had to hand it to them; they were brave if nothing else. None of the soldiers wavered even as WEAPON towered over them. It was moving very slowly now, fighting through the pain of the soldiers' constant attacks. However, it was well within striking range now. It reared back, one large claw raised for a direct attack. Vincent aimed his shoddy machine gun and let off a quick burst directly at the large eyes glaring down at them. WEAPON let out a fresh howl, stumbling backwards a few steps as pain began to overwhelm its fury. In a maddened frenzy, it let loose a concentrated blast of water that carved an ugly gash through a majority of Junon.

Seeing its attack fail to penetrate past the steel plates protecting the buildings, WEAPON began gathering energy for another attack. It was at that moment when the main canon exploded. The heavy shell collided with WEAPON at point blank and the resulting shockwave sent many soldiers to their knees. Smoke blew past them as everyone stared up in apprehension at the now unmoving WEAPON. The cannon groaned loudly from its usage, but it had served its purpose. Where there once was an armored hear, there was now only a mangled crater.

"These things may have been created to protect the Planet, but we had no other choice but to stop them," Vincent thought grimly.

Slowly and silently, WEAPON teetered backwards and collapsed back into the ocean. A massive wave of seawater doused much of Junon, but it was clear that the WEAPON had been defeated. While the soldiers were cheering at their success, Vincent quietly slipped away and made his way towards the Highwind.

…

Tifa paced around restlessly inside the gas chamber. While she was decidedly nervous, she took comfort in the fact that she had escaped her immediate fate and that Barret had escaped with the others. Time passed slowly. While she could hear gunfire, it was faint and muffled due to the heavy door. But even those muted sounds echoed lightly in the enclosed chamber, making it hard to pinpoint where the sounds originated. She hoped the others would find some way to rescue her from the room, since the door itself seemed to be impenetrable. Earlier, she had given the cold steel several well placed kicks and, while the door dented slightly, it didn't shift at all. Now she could only fidget anxiously while awaiting her rescue.

"Come on, guys… hurry up…" she muttered as she resumed her pacing.

No sooner had she spoken those words when an explosion threw her against the far wall of the gas chamber. Coughing violently from the dust and debris floating in the air, she blinked blearily at the sudden influx of light. Looking up, she found a massive gash in the wall letting the sunlight pour in. While she sat there still slightly stunned, she heard a light groan from the other side of the door.

"Ugh… what the hell was that…?"

Tifa frowned. Scarlet appeared to have regained consciousness on the other side of the metal door. The fighter shook her head and tried to ignore the ringing as she got to her feet. For a brief moment, she wondered if she should stay in the gas chamber and wait for her friends. However, with Scarlet awake, there was no telling whether or not she would try to restart the gas flow. Then a muted boom sounded nearby, shaking the tiny room. Moments later, the gunfire outside seemed to have stopped. Worrying about the others, Tifa decided to peek outside before making a decision.

"Hey! What's going on in there?!" A high pitched voice demanded.

Scarlet pounded futilely on the steel door, her voice slightly muted. Tifa ignored her and began using the fallen metal to climb towards the opening.

"Hey! What are you doing in there?! Open this door!" Scarlet demanded.

Tifa barely paused despite the strange statement.

"First you lock me in this place and now you want me to come out? Make up your damn mind you dumb blonde…" she muttered to herself as she poked her head outside.

Staring down, she realized just how far above the sea she was.

"Wow… that's a drop…"

She noticed she was on a bit of a slope, which would allow her to climb down if she was careful. However, the door to the gas chamber began to hiss, leaving her with only one option. Taking a deep breath, she planted one boot on the rusty metal outside and began to slowly scale down the outside of the building. Her boots had just enough grip that she wasn't sliding down, allowing her some semblance of safety. She could hear Scarlet screaming from the room above, but she tuned out the woman and focused on the task at hand.

"AIEEEE!"

A scream shattered her concentration. Looking up quickly, she watched a soldier plummet downwards, disappearing into the ocean below. Clearly the metal surface was not as easy to scale as she was making it look. Shuddering, she pressed herself closer to the building, her hands tightening on what meager ledges she could find in the wall of the building. Her body trembled from a mix of fear and adrenaline. She slowly took another step down the sloping side of the building. Quickly checking her position, she noticed she was about to hit the edge of the sloping surface. Past that she assumed it would be a vertical drop with hopefully additional ledges she could grab onto. She slowed further as she reached the end of her path. Peering over the edge, she saw several small ledges where the metal panels were bolted together and a large platform further below. She reached out with one foot, catching a ledge below. Keeping her center of gravity towards the building, she began to lower her other foot. Once she positioned herself on one ledge, she began lowering herself towards the next.

"I can do this…" she muttered to herself. "This isn't so b…"

Just as she was gaining confidence, her left foot slipped on a puddle of seawater that had accumulated from the ocean mist. Tifa let out a short scream as her weight was suddenly entrusted to uncertain fingers. She struggled briefly as her legs flailed in an attempt to find the ledge. But her fingers gave out and she unwittingly let go. She flailed her arms, grabbing uselessly at the wall which inched further and further away in those few seconds. Failing, she plummeted downwards.

"Oof!"

Tifa collided hard with the platform below. Stunned, she groaned as her body screamed out in protest. Blinking the stars out of her eyes, she looked up and was surprised to find no one following her. Against her better judgment, she lay there on the cool metal for a minute or two as she tried to catch her breath. There was a soft thud nearby and she opened her eyes again to find that Scarlet and her soldiers had dropped ropes and started rappelling down to where she lay. Adrenaline kicked in again as she forced herself to her feet. Looking around, she tried to find a way to escape. The only thing in sight was a large metal plate that read "Sister Ray" along with text that was too small to make out. Pointing out towards the ocean was what appeared to be the barrel of a massive cannon, so Tifa turned and ran in the only direction available.

…

Vincent ducked into a familiar room. It was a standard ten soldier room with individual lockers pressed against the far wall. Barring the door behind him with a chair, he made his way over to one of the lockers and opened it to reveal an unconscious soldier inside. The overpowered Sleep spell he had used earlier ensured the man would be knocked out for several hours so long as he was undisturbed. Keeping the soldier in the locker effectively hid him and prevented any unwanted contact from waking him. He quickly stripped off the stuffy soldier's uniform and put his own clothes back on, holstering his pistol as he finished. Leaving the soldier slumped in the locker, he opened the door, checked to make sure no one was coming his way, before running out towards the airport. He passed several confused soldiers, but before they could process why a wanted man was running through their halls, he had already disappeared from sight.

He reached the loading dock leading up to the landing platform where several Gelnika-class cargo ships were parked. They needed to take off and rescue Tifa. He knew that door wouldn't open, even if it could, they risked much more trying to fight through the soldiers that would undoubtedly be summoned by Scarlet. By some twist of fate, the stray shot from WEAPON had opened up Tifa's prison allowing her to escape, which Vincent was confident she would do. This left the hardest task, picking Tifa up. Any number of things could go wrong while Tifa was on that cannon, worst of which might be the military deciding to fire again, which would undoubtedly kill the female fighter. From the events leading up to this moment, Vincent knew there was only one real certainty.

Deviations would always occur.

With that grim thought in mind, he leapt up a flight of stairs and continued towards the Highwind. He practically flew towards the ship in the distance, feeling more confident as he saw the ship's propellers already running. The others had already taken the ship and he was likely the last one left. Vincent mentally thanked Cid as he leapt aboard.

"Be ready for takeoff. We won't have a minute to waste once they realize what's going on," Vincent had said to Cid prior to the start of their rescue mission.

With the memory of the ship's interior ingrained in his mind, he easily made it up to the control deck.

"Is everyone here?" He asked as he tried to catch his breath.

A quick glance told him all he needed to know. Cid waved at him from his position near the windows.

"Everything alright, Vince?" He called out.

Vincent nodded once.

"Let's take off," Vincent commanded. "We need to get to the side of the cannon. WEAPON broke Tifa out and that's the only place she can escape to."

Cid gave Vincent a curious glance, but complied anyway due to the urgency of the matter at hand.

"You hear the man!" He called out to the head pilot. "Lift off! Now!"

The metal fortress that was the Highwind lurched shakily into motion. It reached the end of the runway and jettisoned off the edge. Everyone aboard winced as the massive ship dropped a few feet before obtaining lift. The pilot seemed to struggle slightly in his efforts to turn the ship, but eventually they began to loop around towards the tip of the cannon. Down below, they could see several figures on the barrel of the cannon. The one in red, Scarlet, stood out the most. Two soldiers stood further back, awaiting her orders. She seemed preoccupied in some kind of slapping match with Tifa. Tifa appeared to be winning by punching rather than slapping. Scarlet was knocked back, barely avoiding falling off the cannon as the soldiers grabbed onto the screaming woman's arms. As they hoisted her up to safety, the people on the ship could see Scarlet yelling something. The soldiers responded by readying their weapons. By this time, Vincent and Barret had made their way onto outer deck of the Highwind.

"TIFA!" The black man roared out.

He took a length of rope that Vincent had tied to the railing and threw it down to her. At the same time, he and Vincent fired at the soldiers, causing them to duck for cover. Unfortunately, the Highwind couldn't get any closer for fear of blowing Tifa off the cannon. The rest of AVALANCHE watched as Tifa turned and caught sight of the rope. She began running towards it, leaping off the edge in a moment of blind faith. Vincent's insides clenched painfully. Even if he had seen it succeed many times before, he couldn't fight the surge of panic that flooded his body as the first section of rope slipped through her hands. Tifa flailed briefly before her hand touched the last several feet of rope. Her hand clamped down immediately, fear and adrenaline preventing her hands from letting go. The soldiers fired at her as the Highwind quickly rose up and sailed off into the sky. Breathing a small sigh of relief, Vincent pulled Tifa up onto the outer deck. He was a bit shocked when she flung her arms around him in a tight squeeze.

"Oh, that scared the hell out of me!" Tifa shouted.

Barret cocked an eyebrow at her actions but didn't say anything. While her voice seemed jovial, Vincent noticed that the rest of her body was still shaking in fear. He gently lowered her to the deck, where she remained, unable to stand. Her cheeks appeared a bit red as she tried to calm herself down.

"Are you injured?" Vincent asked, crouching next to her.

She shook her head, still gasping for air.

"Just a little sore," she responded after a small pause.

By this time, the others had made their way out onto the deck as well. Cait Sith jumped over and hugged the girl.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" He chirped. "I don't know what Rufus thought he would accomplish by pulled that stunt, but it gave us the chance to get you two out.

Tifa patted the cat's head as she looked over to Cid.

"What's with the ship?" She asked.

The older man puffed his chest out proudly.

"The Highwind is now ours to use! My old crew was maintaining the old girl and agreed to help us out! We can discuss more inside, it's freezing out here!"

Cait Sith and Cid headed back inside. Barret stared at Tifa for a moment longer, noting Vincent's continued presence by her side.

"Glad yer safe, Teef," he grunted. "One hell of thing they tried to pull back there…"

With that he also went back inside the ship. Yuffie alone remained on the outer deck with Vincent and Tifa. The fighter looked at the young girl, making eye contact. What she saw almost broke her heart. Yuffie's eyes seemed so empty as she forced a smile.

"I'm glad you're safe," the girl said before falling silent.

Tifa cast a worried look at Vincent, who shook his head slightly.

"Let's talk inside, Tifa. Can you stand?" He asked instead.

On unsteady legs, Tifa slowly stood before following Vincent inside the ship. Yuffie trailed in after them, her silence unnerving the older woman. They met the others on the bridge of the airship. Tifa glanced around and grimaced when she realized Cloud was nowhere to be found. Piecing together what she could remember from North Crater with Yuffie's current state of mind, she came to her own conclusions.

"So… Cloud is… gone?" She asked slowly.

Cait Sith said nothing, but the small cat drooped a bit on top of his mog. Barret averted his eyes while Nanaki let out a low growl. Cid stepped forward.

"We're not sure, Tifa. I barely remember what happened in North Crater, things happened so quickly. He disappeared as the place was coming apart, he might be dead for all we know."

There was a quiet sniffle from Yuffie.

"We need to carry on," Nanaki said softly. "With or without Cloud."

"He'd want us to stop Sephiroth," Barret sighed.

"He's not dead!" Yuffie suddenly burst out angrily. "Stop treating him like he is!"

"Look, kid, I know you're sad, but you gotta understand…" Barret began.

"I believe he's still alive."

Vincent's interruption caused everyone to stop and stare at him. Tifa gave him a measured look, silently demanding more.

"How can you be so sure?" Nanaki asked curiously.

Vincent hesitated as he considered his response. He decided on an ambiguous, yet believable, answer for the group.

"Part of Hojo's experiments allowed me to… sense… beings I've had prolonged contact with. It may have been a side effect of one of the creatures sealed inside me. I first noticed it a bit after Rocket Town, sort of an awareness of your presence. Cloud's has faded a bit, but I can still feel him out there."

He swallowed, waiting to see how the rest of the team would receive his excuse. Nanaki seemed to tense up at Hojo's name, but did not question him further. Barret and Cait Sith seemed to simply accept his answer. Cid, on the other hand, frowned ever so slightly, digesting these words but saying nothing. He felt a light tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he found Yuffie's hand gripping his shirt with trembling hands. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"You're sure?" She asked quietly.

Vincent prayed to whoever was listening that things hadn't been derailed so badly that Cloud was actually dead.

"Yes," was all he said.

Yuffie nodded and released his shirt. Finally, Tifa spoke up, interrupting the tense silence.

"Guy's I'm exhausted. Can we set a course so I can turn in?"

Cid nodded and looked at Vincent.

"So? Where to?" He asked.

Vincent frowned at the undecipherable tone in his voice.

"Southeast… maybe around Mideel?" Vincent suggested.

Cid merely nodded and turned to speak with the main pilot.

"Get some rest, Tifa. You'll need your energy when we get there," Barret said. "Vincent can show you to the rooms."

Tifa nodded before turning to the group.

"Thanks for breaking me and Barret out," she told them.

Cid, still with a neutral look on his face, nodded and waved at Vincent to get moving. The two left the bridge and made their way down to the small individual rooms of the Highwind. As they reached the catwalk outside, Tifa turned to Vincent.

"Is he really alive?" She asked softly.

Vincent glanced back to make sure no one was following them.

"Let's talk in your room," he replied just as quietly.

The two made their way to the sleeping quarters and into one of the empty rooms. Tifa sat down on the bed as he took a seat in a nearby chair.

"Here," Vincent spoke while reaching into the confines of his cloak.

He pulled out a familiar notebook.

"We grabbed all of our confiscated bags when we broke out," he explained. "Couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands."

Tifa nodded as she accepted the book. Vincent cleared his throat.

"I believe Cloud is very sick in Mideel. There's always the chance that things have gone very wrong and he's actually dead, but I'm hoping that's not the case," he said in response to her earlier question.

Tifa looked up.

"What… what can we do?" She asked.

"I… I'm unsure. Rufus may try to gather Huge Materia from various Mako Reactors in an attempt to stop Meteor. Whatever the case may be, we need to see if Cloud survived. His presence is more vital to stopping Sephiroth than I had previously thought."

The fighter nodded again as she stared down at the notebook. She looked a bit anxious to read it. Vincent let out a soft sigh.

"You can read that later. You need to rest. You may have lingering traces of that gas in your system."

With that, he got up to leave. As he reached for the door handle, Tifa spoke again.

"What happened to Yuffie? Is it because of Cloud?" She asked. "She seems to have taken what happened in North Crater very badly."

Vincent let his hand fall from the handle. He replied while facing the door.

"I believe she blames herself for Meteor," he answered.

Tifa's head lowered sadly as she gripped the journal a bit tighter.

"Will… will she be alright?"

Vincent closed his eyes in a pained expression.

"I don't know."

…

Thousands of miles away, a certain silver haired General paced the icy halls of North Crater. He closed his eyes as he mentally felt for traces of Jenova. There were a few notable points, but he was interested in only one. Finding it, he smiled bitterly.

"It appears that the Puppet has reemerged… though he may have been better off dead," he said aloud. "It's a shame I can't finish him off myself."

An invisible presence filled the space around him, wrapping ephemeral arms around him in a possessive embrace.

'The boy will trouble us no longer,' a silky voice replied. 'His mind is no longer with us.'

The General frowned, continuing his apparent conversation with the air.

"But the Monster has proven to be an interesting challenge, has he not?" He speculated. "He seems to predict our movements."

The presence shifted uneasily.

'Yes. It is rather… unfortunate. I believe the Cetra may be involved, they always have their meddling fingers in everything.'

There was a short pause before it continued.

'I shall create another clone for you. We shall rid ourselves of this… nuisance.'

The general gave a smirk. Chuckling, he walked deeper into the depths of the crater.

"As you wish, Mother."

…

A/N: There we go. Nice and shiny… I think.

…

Omake 10:

Soldier A and Soldier B stared worriedly at their boss. Several feet in front of them, she was screaming about something or other while slapping the escaped criminal repeatedly.

"Should… should we do something?" Soldier B asked. "Like… shoot the escaped criminal or something?"

Soldier A looked at his partner like he was crazy.

"What are you crazy? You never get in the middle of a catfight," he replied sagely.

"Is this like the time you told me that women are always right even when they're not?" Soldier B asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"Exactly," Soldier A said confidently.

Then the busty criminal began to punch their boss.

"Uh… should we shoot now?" Soldier B tried again.

"Hell no," Soldier A replied. "Scarlet needs to be taken down a notch or two. Shoot if the criminal looks like she's going to kill Miss Scarlet, but not before."

Soldier B gave Soldier A a highly doubtful look.

"If you say so…"