Zack felt tears in his eyes and it took all his will to hold them back. He grit his teeth and slashed at the dummy before him with the wooden practice sword. A loud crack sounded through the gym and he sighed as the sword split. In half. So did the dummy. This was why SOLDIERS weren't supposed to use some of the training equipment, but Zack didn't trust himself with anything else at the moment. He was just so… angry.

Angry at his superiors (how could they not see? How could they just dismiss everyone like that? Was this a result of the war, their lifestyle, the culture in general?), the board (those too-rich, wasteful, entitled oafs who couldn't see past their own bank accounts, and even then only in the immediate), ShinRa as a whole and…

And himself. For being so ridiculously stupid. Go to ShinRa and become a hero. What a joke. A heartless, cruel joke. He'd been a child, unable to see past the stupid propaganda and listen to his parents and…

He sniffed. Which just frustrated him more. He didn't want to cry right now, but he always had been an emotional crier. It was something he'd hoped he'd grown out of, but apparently not.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he picked up the remains of the sword and the dummy, putting them in the recycling bin in the corner of the room (there just for this purpose), and then grabbed a new one of each.

"Zack!"

His name had him dropping the dummy and turning around before his mind had caught up with him, throwing the sword straight at the voice. This was why you didn't sneak up on SOLDIERs.

"Whoa!" Kunsel said, barely dodging in time as the sword shattered against the wall behind him.

Zack's racing heart began to slow. It was just Kunsel. That was fine. Kunsel. Oh, shoot! Kunsel! He hadn't accidentally hurt his friend, had he?

"I'm so sorry, dude," he said, rushing forward to help his friend out. Even from what he could see of the man under the helmet, he'd scared the guy, who just stared up at where several shards of the wooden sword stuck in the wall, but he saw no injury. Zack took a deep breath to calm his racing heart, very glad it had been a fellow SOLDIER who had grabbed his attention instead of… well, anyone else. Few people would have the reflexes to dodge that. Maybe he could feel a bit of vindictive pity it hadn't been someone like Hojo… but no, he couldn't think like that. Not now. That had been Sephiroth's problem.

And that was part of what really stung his pride and that honor that Angeal so regularly touted.. Zack didn't want to agree with Sephiroth's current reasoning; didn't like the idea of hating someone so much he could just kill them like that, but after seeing what Hojo could do–had done…

Zack wasn't stupid. He just… wanted to believe there was good in everyone, like his parents had always said. Hojo, Hollander, and most of the ShinRa board seemed determined to prove him wrong. It was hard to not take it personally. Though that was probably more of a him problem… but still.

"What the…" Kunsel started, letting Zack help him up before realizing what was going on and pushing him away slightly. "What was that?!"

"You startled me."

The other SOLDIER snorted and folded his arms. "That wasn't an 'I startled Zack' reaction, that was an 'I startled one of the Firsts' reaction. Or a Turk."

Zack snorted. "Nah. A turk wouldn't have been so straight-forward."

Kunsel rubbed his chin. "Fair." Then he knelt down and began to pick up the wooden pieces while Zack pulled the rest out from the wall.

"So, you gonna tell me what's going on?"

Zack sighed. He wanted to. He really did, but… he couldn't bring Kunsel in like that.

Although, with what the General had said about Kunsel earlier…

"I… don't know if I can."

Kunsel remained silent for several seconds as Zack finished cleaning up, then they trekked down to the recycle bin and dumped the shards in there. A stray thought made Zack wonder if it really was recycled, or it was just gathered with the trash. Given what he now knew, he'd be more surprised if the company actually followed through.

Wow, he was in a bad mood. Go figure, but still…

"Instead of taking all your frustration out like this, why don't you come get a drink with me?" Kunsel finally asked.

Zack snorted. "SOLDIERs can't get drunk." His friend knew that. Every SOLDIER knew that.

That seemed to trouble his friend more. "The older SOLDIERS say the drink isn't for drinking so much as good company."

The new Second paused, 'cause, yeah, every SOLDIER knew that too, and that Kunsel had to pseudo-remind him also spoke of his mood. He was letting himself spiral, and that wouldn't end well… for anyone. Besides, there had been something in his voice, and the way Zack could see his forced smile under the helmet…

He made a deliberately impulsive decision. "Yeah. Sure. Why not?"

Kunsel's shoulders relaxed. "Great! I know a place, has some good dancers…" he elbowed Zack gently. The brunet frowned, but didn't say anything, just nodding.

Kunsel helped him finish cleaning up the gym before they left, turning the lights off as they walked out.

Five minutes later, they were riding a train down to the slums. Sector Seven? Zack wanted to flinch, but he didn't. That didn't stop the uneasiness in his stomach from growing. Sector Seven that had been destroyed. By ShinRa…

"Just wait until you see these girls. They're super cute," Kunsel was saying, doing a pretty good job of making it sound nonchalant.

"Yeah," was all Zack could bring himself to say. He double-checked his sword. It was an extra, and he'd only equipped it with some basics, so he had something, but it didn't feel like enough.

Oh, and he hadn't texted Angeal.

Did he want to?

His last 'indiscretion' had been too recent for him to not feel guilty about it otherwise, so he set his phone up to send a text in the morning, in case something happened. Then at least Angeal would know.

They ended up getting off the tracks in Sector Seven, and Kunsel was dragging him through the make-shift huts and businesses. Huh. Sector five looked a little more put together in his opinion. He wondered why.

He didn't see the name of the bar they walked into, but realized too late it was more of a club than anything. This early in the day even? The sun hadn't even completely set yet. He sighed. The loud, pounding music didn't do much for his headache, and apparently the 'cute girls' Kunsel had gone on about hadn't come out yet, but the other Second managed to get them a semi-decent table where it wasn't quite so bad.

Then Kunsel took out something Zack had only become recently familiar with.

"A… jammer?" he asked, blinking. It certainly didn't look as professional as the one Genesis had.

Kunsel shrugged and lifted his helmet off, revealing dark brown hair and almond-shaped eyes. Wutian? He didn't know Kunsel was Wutian… Was it sad that he'd never seen the face of the man he called a friend before? Probably.

Then again, that was probably the point. Anyone with Wutain heritage could be seriously looked down on in ShinRa right now. Zack didn't blame him for wanting to avoid that.

"I made that jammer myself. Probably won't go more than about two feet in either direction, but that's why I needed a table like this."

"Here?" Zack asked, gesturing out to the nearly empty dance floor.

"Harder to be overheard. Now, tell me what's wrong."

Zack sighed. "How much do you know about what General Sephiroth took from the Science Department?"

Kunsel froze, dark eyes watching Zack suspiciously, cautiously.

"I read it all."

Zack's shoulders felt both lighter and heavier at that comment.

"What do you know?" the other Second returned.

"Everything the Firsts do, more or less," Zack muttered, "maybe more, for a bit. Hopefully not for much longer."

Kunsel sat back. "Okay, that does warrant your response in the changing room." He ran a gloved hand down his face.

Before he could say anything, a pretty waitress displaying far too much skin came up to them with a grin and a notepad in hand. "So, what'll it be, boys?"

Instantly, Kunsel's expression morphed to something amused and teasing. "What would you recommend?"

The girl giggled. "Here's our drink menu, but I like the Wutian Sunrise."

"I'll have that, then. And a water. What about you, Zack?"

"Same," he muttered, not really caring. "You got any food?"

"Sure. But if we see it on the dance floor, you'll say hi to our bouncers." Zack wanted to snort. Like a bouncer could throw out a SOLDIER.

"Yeah. I'll take a basket of fries and a choco-burger, if you got that." She shrugged. "Sure."

"Oh, that sounds great. I'll have that too, but no pickled cucumbers for me," Kunsel said happily. He really was good.

"You want the drinks first or with the meal?" she asked.

"With the meal," Zack said.

She finished writing and winked at them. "Comin' right out, boys."

She flounced off, and Zack turned an eye on his friend. "A club cafe? Cafe club… whatever?"

The other man shrugged. "You'd be surprised the kinds of combinations you find under the plate here. They can't exactly be picky. What really annoys me is how anyone who actually sees me automatically assumes I like Wutian everything.

"Now, what are the Firsts going to do about… the situation?"

That just made Zack slump more. "Be complete idiots if someone isn't there to knock some sense into them."

Kunsel blinked. "What?"

Zack took a deep breath. "They found out about the General's… father, today."

Kunsel winced. "Oh."

"I had to yell at them to stop them from outright killing him."

The other Second's mouth dropped open. "In this political climate? Do they want to get SOLDIER shut down?"

"Thank you!" Zack said, throwing his hands out. "That's exactly what I said!"

Kunsel bit his lip uneasily. "But you had to talk them out of it…"

Zack sighed and nodded.

f

"Thats… Do you think their cells are starting to degrade?"

Both of them tensed.

"But… they're… they're fine," Zack said, almost desperately.

"That isn't like them, though," his friend pointed out.

"It's stress."

"Is it?"

Zack put a hand to his mouth, much like his mother used to when she was upset. "It can't be… it's too early…"

Kunsel frowned. "Where did it give a timeline? Unless Hollander or Hojo talked to them."

Oh, right. He didn't know about the games. Zack fumbled for a moment, then slumped. "It's… a long story, and I think we have more important things to discuss."

"Like what we're going to do… as SOLDIERS and as ShinRa employees?"

Zack froze, looking Kunsel in the eyes. How he'd said that… "You want to leave."

"Of course I want to leave after all of that!" Kunsel said. "Though I'm not leaving without taking down Deepground first."

The droning of the music behind them accentuated the silence between them. "Um… what?"

Kunsel frowned. "I thought you said you knew everything."

"I know everything they know."

"They should know everything I know."

A pause. "Oh. They… haven't looked at the information yet. There's another… source of information they have. That's why they wanted the stuff from the department in the first place. Confirmation.

"So what's Deepground?"

Kunsel ran his hand down his face again. "Basically SOLDIER, but secret and involuntary. Kids with special properties are kidnapped and put into it, usually against their will or their family's will… if their family even knows. It's… really bad, Zack."

Zack's gloves creaked as he squeezed his hands into fists. The fact that he could hear that over the music said a lot for either how much he was focusing on it, or how good SOLDIER hearing was.

He took a long, deep breath. "Look, Kunsel, about leaving, where would we go if we left?"

"I have a dozen places I'm looking at right now," he said, grinning.

"For all of us?"

Kunsel blinked. "All… of us? As in you, me, and the Firsts?"

Zack sighed again, running a hand through his hair. "Kunsel, if the Firsts leave, how many SOLDIERS do you think will follow them?"

For a moment, the two stared at each other before Kunsel sat back, blank-faced. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'. The SOLDIERS aren't like the Turks. They're loyal to the Firsts, not ShinRa."

"Oh," Kunsel muttered, dropping his head in his hands and muttering several words Zack chose not to comment on. His mother would have washed his mouth out if he said those, but now he heard them on a regular basis. At any other point it would have amused him, but just then, it barely registered. And what was more, he agreed with the sentiment.

"Yeah, the Firsts won't leave anyone behind. And even if they did, I won't."

"So what do you suggest, then?" Kunsel asked, frustrated.

Zack looked around. "We have to change things from the inside."

They stared at each other again. "You're too naive," the Wutian muttered.

"It's either that or go to war, and you know it," Zack returned. "And yeah, it'll be hard, but don't you think saving SOLDIER and Infantry lives is worth it?"

Kunsel just blinked at him before dropping his head on the greasy table. "Too bright."

"Huh?"

"You're too bright for this world," Kunsel muttered.

Zack fought back a blush. "I am not! I'm just a normal guy!"

Kunsel groaned. What? He was!

"Is there something wrong?" The voice of the waitress had Zack turning to the woman, who was watching them with a raised eyebrow.

"Just made some realizations," Kunsel said loudly. "And I'm an idiot."

The waitress giggled again. "Aren't we all. Well, here's your orders, and your drinks," she set some baskets and then some margarita glasses in front of them (a little mismatched, but he wasn't about to complain), filled with yellow liquid and topped with a cheesy, Wutian paper umbrella.

"Thank you so much, miss," Kunsel said, obviously flirting. She shot him another wink and left for another table trying to get her attention.

Once she was gone, Kunsel's smile fell. "Zack," he muttered, "what have we gotten ourselves into?"

Zack shook his head. "I'm still trying to figure it all out, personally. But… it's not something we can ignore. If we do… this is bad enough the world might end."

Kunsel frowned. "A little dramatic there, aren't you?"

"I wish I was," The new Second sighed and looked his friend in the eyes. He wondered what his friend saw, because Kunsel straightened worriedly. "I really, really wish I was."

xXx

Sephiroth sat behind the desk of his home-office (a strange thought as his home was inside the building he worked in, but it applied), his hands folded and resting in front of his mouth. Genesis sat in one of the two chairs they'd brought in, off to one side, and Angeal… paced. The largest SOLDIER looked somewhere between worried sick and utterly livid.

"I believe," Sephiroth said slowly, "we owe Zack an apology."

Genesis snorted, but more thoughtfully—more agreeably—than Sephiroth expected.

"Understatement," Angeal muttered, wiping his hand down his face.

"And that was just the report," Sephiroth pointed out, feeling a little sick himself.

"The cliff-notes version," Genesis said, nodding. "We need to see those… what did Zack call them? Cut scenes?"

"Yes," Sephiroth acknowledged.

"Also," the red-head turned to their pacing friend, suddenly, "stop it, Angeal."

Sephiroth frowned. Stop what, pacing? He had every right to pace. And it was obvious he was worried.

"Genesis," Angeal started.

"You are not a terrible mentor," Genesis cut in.

That drew the pacing commander up short. Sephiroth felt his eyebrows rise on his forehead. Oh. Sometimes it escaped him as to how well these two knew each other. It made him a little jealous… but at the same time, they were letting him in. Especially recently. Getting to know them that well would take time, and he understood that. So he could deal, for now.

He sat back, quietly watching the other two.

"How can you say that?" Angeal asked, voice soft… small. Sephiroth had never thought he'd ever associate the word 'small' with his large friend.

"There is obviously context we are missing," Genesis said, almost dismissively. How could he be so nonchalant?

"What context could make any of what he reported okay?" Angeal challenged. "I abandoned him. Twice. And then I had him kill me!"

"The report made it clear: there's obviously something physically and mentally off about us."

"But—" Angeal started. Once again, Genesis cut him off.

"Angeal, we were trusting Hollander."

Silence.

"Fair," Angeal said, sagging as if all the energy keeping him moving had just drained out of him. It rather reminded Sephiroth of a balloon suddenly losing air. He slumped onto the chair next to Genesis, hand over his eyes. "I see why they say SOLDIER is full of monsters."

Sephiroth frowned, feeling his own hackles raise, and he knew he had to step in. "If I am not a monster for who I was born to, born as, and what was done to me, than neither are either of you."

Both of his friends turned their attention to him, blinking wide eyes.

Then Genesis smirked, and Angeal chuckled wanly.

"It seems it is our turn to have the Sephiroth treatment," the red-head said grandly, spreading his arms, one almost smacking Angeal, who just looked fondly exasperated, but at least they were back to more normal territory, and Sephiroth smirked himself. "Reading about a game version of ourselves doing things we could never imagine ourselves doing."

His smile fell. "I find I am not looking forward to it, and find myself empathizing with you more than ever, my friend."

The sentiment was both welcome and not, because Sephiroth knew what Genesis had to give up—what walls he had to let down—to say that. And yet, it sounded so much like pity…

But he also found himself pitying them, and knew they wouldn't like that either.

They really were in a similar boat.

"As Zack would say," Angeal said, "'This sucks.'"

"So vulgar, and yet I completely agree with the sentiment," Genesis said thoughtfully. "Oh, what dire times we are in when I agree with the Puppy. There are no dreams, no honor remains."

"Loveless, Act IV," Sephiroth said, raising one eyebrow in amusement.

Genesis' smirk grew.

They all sat there for several seconds, feeling far better, before Angeal broke the mood yet again.

"So, what now?"

Sephiroth looked at the time. "Almost 2100 hours. We do still have some time… and," he swallowed the lump rising in his throat. His tongue tasted sour, suddenly. "We do have a game to finish."

Both of the others looked down, wanting to go back to that as much as he did… which is to say, not at all.

"The arrow has left the bow of the Goddess," Genesis said softly. "You are, indeed, correct. We need to finish."

"Without Zack?" Sephiroth asked slowly.

"He'll come back when he's ready," Angeal said, abruptly looking old and tired. "You're both right, though. We… should finish. I'll text him and let him know, just in case though."

"Very well," Sephiroth said, hating how those words felt wrong in his mouth. This was not in any way 'well'. "Shall we, gentlemen?"

Grimly, the other two nodded, and they stalked back out to the front room to face the game—the nightmare—they'd left going there.

xXx

On the way back to Sephiroth's living room, Angeal took out his PHS, staring at the screen while mentally composing a safe, bland message to send.

Finally, he began to type.

To: Zack_Fair (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

From Angeal 2107: Completed request, continuing previous objective. Rendezvous optional

It wasn't enough. But as the others settled, he found himself at a loss for words. There were simply too many that he wanted to say. He should probably leave it at the one message, but he couldn't. It took several more minutes to compose more, mainly because he kept deleting what he typed. Eventually, he sent:

From Angeal 2114: I would like to say something in-person, but on your terms.
From Angeal 2115: Take what time you need.

He contemplated sending the last thing he wanted to say, a summary of everything to prepare his protege, but they already had enough in the text that might flag in the Shinra systems. He could explain it away, but not getting noticed would be preferable. More importantly, it would defeat the purpose of telling him in person. So he just let the three words sit in the message field on his PHS as he slipped it back into his pocket.

I'm sorry, Zack.

xXx

AN: *Old flip-phones–the type Crisis Core shows they have around this time period–may not have been able to send delayed texts. Good thing this is Gaia and not Earth, right? . . . *ahem*

Beta Note: Fanfiction powers, engage! PHS's can now do a thing!

A: Also, I know a lot of people wanted to see their play-by-play reaction to Zack's report, but I really think it would take away from the fic. This is about FFVII, the original, and while this story will go beyond that, and will include other media (except for the remake and everything associate with that, most everything else should be/has been included). I want this story to focus mainly on that game. Thus the same will likely happen with all of the other games/movies/books in the series.

And no, this will not include the Remake.

B: Plus, we already get the play-by-play for them and their game.

A: Now, I do have a play-by-play for Zack and Crisis Core, but I don't know if I'll get around to posting it. It's in one of my notebooks… around here… somewhere. *ahem*

We hope that answers some questions everyone had.

xXxXx

AN2: Okay… *deep breath* So, this hasn't been updated in almost a year. This year has been… rough. Last November, my husband had a stroke. He's in his early 40's, and he had a stroke. A BLEEDING stroke. He wasn't paralyzed, but he may as well have been for a while there. He's had to re-learn how to swallow, eat, talk, sit up, grab anything, go to the bathroom, and walk. And he's still in a facility (nursing home, it's a nursing home) because of everything. Between figuring out insurance/payments, being there to support him, taking on roles that will help him once he DOES get home, getting my home appraised and trying to find the funds to get everything fixed up so he can come home in a couple of months, all while trying not to lose my house to bills because I can't get a job due to having to be with him due to his tracheotomy (look it up, but the facility won't let him leave to even go to a doctor's appointment without someone there to make sure he keeps breathing, and they're very short-staffed right now) and dealing with finding out exactly how much of my life runs off of anxiety… hard doesn't really scratch the surface.

I also felt like I reached a really hard spot in this fic that was difficult for me to write for and I couldn't do it anymore. I could still write, but other things that I didn't find so taxing–not that I don't love FFVII, but I want this fic to be high-quality, and letting that drop would have been worse on my mental health than not posting at all. So yeah.

I can't guarantee when I will be updating this, but I am going to try for once a month again. If I set a hard limit, it might make it worse though, so trying is all I can promise. Eat it, Yoda.

Sorry it's been so long. Thank you for your patience.

-On a brighter note, I PUBLISHED MY FIRST BOOK! :D If you go to Amazon and search 'The Thirteenth Element: Mage Call' by H. A. England, that's me! If you want to support me, please check that out. I can't link directly because of fanfiction/AO3 rules, and I'm gonna stick to 'em, but if you'd read the book and give honest feedback, I'd appreciate it. Thank you!

There's also a link to my book on the Discord under #Announcements!

Thank you to my tier three and four patr*ons, as well as my amazing beta readers, Imagination7413 and Quathis!

Discord: www. discord. gg/xDDz3gqWfy (no spaces)