Once More, With Feeling

by Illusor Meaneld

If you could start your life over, knowing how things could turn out, what would you do differently? Cloud is offered this chance, and tries to change the future, but he quickly discovers that fate and destiny play a high stakes game.

22. Covert Operations

Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 22: Covert Operations

Summary: This is Operation Weatherman…

Author: Illusor Meaneld

Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.

Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.

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Angeal strode calmly down the hallway, with Zack keeping pace at his side. The young SOLDER 2nd class was fidgeting nervously, his hands constantly smoothing his appearance. Angeal had told him an hour earlier that he would be attending a meeting with the SOLDIER 1st's and Tseng. This would be the first time Zack had ever attended an official function with the "Great General Sephiroth". It would also be the first time Zack Fair had met Lieutenant Genesis Rhapsodos, So Angeal could understand his anxiety. The trip to the SOLDIER conference room was relatively short. It was situated within the "SOLDIER Section" of the Shinra towers, and as such it was a short jaunt from Zack's Second-Class rooms to the meeting. Never-the-less, Angeal imagined it was an agonizing eternity to his young protégé, judging by the way the boy squirmed.

When they reached their destination, Angeal was the first to step forward, knocking on the door without hesitation. They waited no more than a moment before the door slid open, With Sephiroth standing on the other side. Angeal felt Zack straighten beside him. The 1st Class Lieutenant nodded to his superior, carefully hiding his smirk. He walked past the General leading Zack into the room. Unlike Shinra's main conference room, The SOLDIER meeting room was much smaller; it only had a dozen chairs around the main table. However, it was rare that they actually required even that many… and on the few occasions they DID need more space, they used the main Shinra Conference room.

As Zack glanced around the room, Angeal followed his gaze. They were the last to arrive, which had been intentional on Angeal's part. Sephiroth reclaimed his seat at the furthest end of the table; Genesis was two seats down on Sephiroth's left side, with Tseng directly across from the auburn-haired Lieutenant. Glancing at the arrangements Angeal couldn't resist the grin that spread across his face. He imagined that Genesis had chosen his spot because he was put-out with Sephiroth. Tseng would not have taken a seat next to the General, because that was not his place. The raven-haired SOLDIER 1st calmly seated himself between his two partners. Ignoring the dark looks Genesis was giving him, and motioned for Zack to take the seat across from him. Positioned between Sephiroth and Tseng the young boy shifted in place uncomfortably but was, for the moment remarkably quiet. Darting glances at the rest of the table, he obviously noticed he was the lowest ranking individual here. Angeal almost felt sorry for him. … Almost.

Once everyone was noticeably settled Sephiroth stood up. Clearing his throat gently to ensure he had everyone's attention.

"This meeting has been called to discuss and explain the details of the Operation known as 'Weatherman'." The General began, his voice was quiet but carrying, even though this room was 'sound-proof', Sephiroth was instinctively cautious. Zack blinked several times looking confused.

"Operation Weatherman?" The SOLDIER 2nd repeated.

Genesis snorted, "I thought you said the Mutt KNEW about this thing?"

"Zack has been a reliable informant, but he was not privy to details, no." Angeal interrupted quickly, noting the slight twitch of Sephiroth's eyebrows at the interruptions.

"I'm an informant??" Zack parroted again, Sephiroth sighed,

"AS I was saying…" The General glared around the table, Zack fell instantly silent, and the rest of them pointedly ignored Genesis' grumbling. "Operation Weatherman originally began as a pet-project of mine and Angeal's … but has since developed into a full-scale covert-operation."

"What IS Operation Weatherman?" Genesis growled, "Stop beating around!"

"In Operation Weatherman, our objectives are to observe and hopefully decode the secrets of Cloud Strife."

Zack gasped, "What?"

"Who the Heck is 'Cloud Strife'?" Genesis snapped at almost the same time,

"Cloud is my friend!" Zack immediately and somewhat defensively retorted,

"That means NOTHING to me." Genesis sneered back,

"Cloud is one of the SOLDIER Preparation Cadets." Angeal hastily explained,

"This is all about some Gaia forsaken CADET?" Genesis smacked one hand against the table irritably.

General Sephiroth growled, "No more side comments until we are done explaining." The Silver-haired SOLDIER 1st muttered dangerously, glaring in particular at Genesis. Once it was quiet again he snorted audibly before continuing. "I believe I was the first person to notice him." After a quick glance around the table to ensure there were no protests, he went on. "It was during the SOLDIER Prep. Initiation Speech, as I was giving the usual performance, I noticed a particular Cadet who seemed unusually aware of my presence. When I brought this to the attention of Lieutenant Angeal, he confirmed a portion of my suspicions."

Sephiroth paused when Genesis sighed and rolled his eyes pointedly, but when the red-cloaked SOLDIER did not speak Sephiroth cleared his throat again and proceeded. "Cadet Cloud Strife, unlike his peers, appears to possess warrior-like instincts. He reacts to being watched, and seems to be subconsciously aware of the presence of either myself or Angeal." Sephiroth hesitated again, but this time he motioned for Angeal to take the floor. The raven-haired SOLDIER 1st stood grabbing up the folder that sat in front of the General.

"When General Sephiroth brought Cloud Strife to my attention, we both did some further investigation into the possible reasons behind his unusual intuitive responses. What we found presented a whole new area of interest." Angeal opened the folder and spread out Cloud's "test results" on the table, making certain it was visible to all of the room's occupants.

Genesis frowned picking up one of the first pages, "So the boy sucks… so what?"

Zack glowered, "He does not! He's doing quite well!" frantically the younger SOLDIER scoured the piles, picking up one of the latest physical results page and thrusting it at Genesis, "See? He's been improving a lot!"

Sephiroth sighed, "Yes Zack, Cloud Strife has been progressing quite well… Unusually well in fact, in his physical classes."

Noting Genesis sullen expression Angeal hastily intervened, "Now take a look at his Academic scores." Boredly the second Lieutenant picked through the papers to find the results in question. As he gazed over the pages in his hands, Genesis eyes quickly widened, flicking through the papers more quickly he began to curse softly under his breath.

Zack watched the auburn-haired Lieutenant nervously, his eyes darting to the pages on the table, then to Angeal, and back to Genesis. "WHAT? What's wrong?" He suddenly whined, twitching in place with his anxiety,

With a final snarl Genesis tossed the papers at Zack, "Planet! That is complete nonsense!"

The SOLDIER 2nd hastily grabbed the discarded stack and scanned through it. Gaping at what he read, "Whoa! … Wow… he… CETRA!! … … is that? … I never even TOOK that class!" He commented aloud as he read. "My lil' Cloud's amazing!!"

Sephiroth snorted softly in amusement, before Angeal cleared his throat audibly to bring attention back to himself. "My theory was that Cloud is a Genius… He scored higher in many of those classes than any of us."

Zack was still gawking, mouth agape, "Higher than Sephiroth?" He half-whispered.

"Yes, higher even than me in some of his classes." Sephiroth muttered grudgingly.

"I'm so proud of Spiky." Zack beamed, "He's gonna be an awesome SOLDIER."

Genesis' mouth twisted into a sneer, "A regular little prodigy…"

"Judging by how quickly he 'passed' most of his classes." Sephiroth interrupted, glaring at Genesis again, "Angeal and I theorized he may have studied a great deal prior to entering the SOLDIER Preparation program."

"So what? So the brat read a lot of books. I still don't see what the big deal is. He's still just a Cadet." Genesis growled, Zack's fists slowly clenched as he scowled at the irate Lieutenant.

This time Tseng cleared his throat. "That, I believe, is where my theories come in."

Angeal and Sephiroth both nodded, quietly taking their seats while tossing warning glances at their third.

"While Angeal and Sephiroth were observing Cloud Strife during his classes, I happened one night to spot the same young Cadet secretly practicing alone in one of the training rooms."

"Cloud practices at night?" Zack gasped, when the stoic Turk's gaze leveled on him, the young SOLDIER squirmed, quickly falling silent.

"At first I simply dismissed the practice, it's not against regulations to practice at night, the boy was not doing anything except training himself. But I quickly realized the young Cadet was in the training room nearly every night."

Genesis sighed audibly again, "So the brat is a perfectionist freak."

After a long silent pause Tseng continued, "After observing Cloud Strife for several weeks, I happened to witness the boy using a number of martial styles that are not taught in Shinra, most notably Wutaian Ninjitsu."

Genesis froze, for the first time during the meeting his eyes snapped attentively to the speaker, "Wutaian Ninjitsu?" He repeated softly,

"Whoa! Cloud knows ninja moves? That's so cool!" Zack piped, once again he was quickly silenced by the annoyed expressions around the table.

"It was definitely Wutaian Ninjitsu." Tseng confirmed, "I had the chance to observe it several times after that first glimpse. In addition to that, Cloud Strife demonstrated a good number of martial forms, none of which I can find evidence of him ever learning in his young life."

The Auburn-haired SOLDIER paused, glancing over the pages spread on the table with sudden interest. Noting the direction of his gaze Angeal smirked,

Tseng's lip twitched slightly before he added, "According to his friends and family in Nibelheim, he was not a particularly studious boy either."

"Huh?" Zack frowned in confusion, "But… You guys just said he had to have studied a lot for all that stuff."

Sephiroth nodded, "Indeed, Angeal and I believe that his scores are indicative of prior knowledge. He could not have passed most of those classes that quickly without somehow knowing the information he would need ahead of time."

Zack scratched his head in puzzlement as he fought to make sense of the information.

While he was thus occupied Tseng coughed lightly before speaking again, "After watching Cloud Strife's inexplicable Martial proficiency, I took the liberty of installing listening devices inside the room in which he practiced. A few days later that I observed Cloud Strife engaging in a meditation practice."

"Meditation?" Zack repeated,

Tseng nodded, "He had meditated during other practice sessions I had observed, but without sound I paid little attention to the habit."

Genesis also nodded, no longer glowering his face had taken on a calculating expression. He gestured for Tseng to continue,

"Over the course of several nights I personally witnessed Cloud Strife speaking fluent Wutaian, in several different sub-dialects."

Sephiroth spoke up while the others were still digesting this information, "Once Tseng brought it to my attention, I took a few turns of my own observing the boy at night."

When Zack gawked, Genesis spat a curse. "So he speaks Wutaian and knows Ninjitsu? By the planet! How did he get past our background checks?"

"Huh?" Zack frowned again, "Background checks? Whaddya mean?"

"Cloud Strife is not from Wutai." Sephiroth interrupted, "His background checks are squeaky clean. … He comes from a small mountain town called 'Nibelheim'."

Tseng nodded, "I personally visited Nibelheim, his alibi is flawless."

Angeal grinned, "No records or any indications at all that any Wutaian ever came near the Nibel area, there's hardly anything out there."

"Nibelheim?" Zack repeated, "Isn't there a Mako Reactor there?"

Sephiroth nodded, "Yes, but it's not particularly high priority to Shinra."

"My Theory," Tseng continued, "Was that Cloud was a Wutaian spy."

"WHAT??" Zack leaped to his feet, "You think Spiky's a spy? You're not gonna arrest him are ya?"

Angeal sighed, while he knew Zack could be very clever when he put his mind to it, the boy was still young and impetuous, he had been expecting this kind of reaction. "Tseng's theory has very little proof." Angeal muttered,

Tseng nodded, "I can find no conclusive evidence for my theory."

Genesis slowly stood up, waiting until he was sure he had the other's attention, "So let me get this straight," The red-cloaked Lieutenant began, "We have a Cadet, a…" He paused to glance at the papers on the table, "fourteen year old boy, that according to all the evidence should be a hick from some mountain town in the middle of nowhere…" He glanced around as Sephiroth nodded in affirmation. "But this little kid for no apparent reason, has warrior instincts, knows Wutaian Ninjitsu and language, and seems to know everything about anything academically?" More nods, "Yet despite his amazing knowledge it took him months before he could swing a sword straight right?" When Sephiroth sighed Genesis smirked, "Well then… My theory is that Cloud Strife was an ordinary boy, but he had a brain-transplant!"

The rest of the table simply stared, Angeal blinked several times before coughing into his hand to hide his amusement, "A brain-transplant?" Angeal shook his head, "Why does that make any more sense?"

Genesis snorted, "He has the knowledge, no way to have attained it, and his body is too weak for him to have learned martial arts through normal means. So his brain must have been swapped."

Angeal couldn't resist the chuckle this time, "Gads, That's the craziest theory yet." He pointedly ignored Genesis' glare,

"None of you have any plausible theories apparently." The second Lieutenant growled,

Zack jumped up in his seat, raising his hand as if this were a classroom, "OH! I know! My theory is that Cloud is NOT a spy! He's just awesome like that!"

Angeal outright laughed, and Sephiroth snorted, "If that's your theory Zack," The general allowed a slight smirk to tug at his lips, "Do you have any evidence to support it?"

Zack glowered, "Yeah, I've got lots! He's an awesome friend! He's been nothing but nice to me! He gives great advice and he's totally cool."

Tseng sighed softly, "If Cloud were a spy, then it would be wise of him to be friendly to you Zack."

Zack frowned, "Yeah, but if Cloud were a spy, wouldn't he try to make friends with everyone? The other kids in his squad don't seem to be very friendly to him, and he tends to ignore most people. I had to bug him to get him to make friends with me!"

Angeal blinked twice, "Actually, that is a good point." He smiled at his 'Puppy' noting the younger boy's grin, "If Cloud Strife were truly a spy, one would assume he would try to blend in, but his tests are all exceedingly above-average. Certain to draw attention to him."

Tseng nodded thoughtfully, "It seems an endless circle of questions."

Genesis was glaring at the table again, fingering the papers spread out there, Zack watched him for a second before glancing back at Tseng, "Hey, if you think he's a spy… why haven't you arrested him or asked him or something? Isn't that a big deal?"

Angeal chuckled, but let the Turk answer the question, "Even if I knew for certain that Cloud Strife was a spy, I would not necessarily arrest him. I would rather watch him, and know what information he was trying to leak, than try to track down his successor."

"The spy you know about, is better than the spy you don't know about that replaces him." Angeal quoted with a grin.

"We could feed such a spy false information if we were aware of his position." Sephiroth added,

"Oh." Zack said softly, sinking back into his seat.

"So you've been keeping tabs on this Strife kid right?" Genesis muttered at Tseng,

The Turk nodded, "I have replaced his finished Academic classes with a Turk Internship, he is being monitored very closely."

Genesis' grin widened, "So how exactly is he getting into the training room at night?"

Angeal paused, Sephiroth blinked, and Tseng had the grace to look embarrassed.

"… I do not know." The Turk finally admitted.

"After Tseng mentioned it, we assumed he was borrowing a keycard from one of his instructors…" Sephiroth muttered,

After a moment's hesitation Tseng pulled a briefcase up from the floor, removing his laptop from the case. He typed away at the keyboard, frowning at the information he pulled up. "None of the instructors have filed a keycard borrowed or missing." He quickly explained.

Sephiroth shifted in place, "May I?" He gestured at the laptop. Tseng obligingly shifted it to sit before the General. After another minute of typing, Sephiroth's brow furrowed, "There are no records of anyone illegally accessing the room." He tapped the keys a few more times, "Actually, there are no records of the room being accessed at all after hours."

The room was suddenly silent, the stillness broken abruptly by Genesis' Chuckle, "So this kid can get in and out without a trace." Sephiroth and Tseng both stiffened, exchanging a quick glance. The Turk collected the laptop and quickly replaced it in his briefcase.

"I will conduct further investigations into this." Tseng murmured quietly,

Angeal frowned, not quite understanding the silent exchange between the two, but his gaze flitted quickly to Zack, who was looking rather disturbed. "Zack," Angeal began, smiling slightly when the boy's head snapped up, "I suggest you look for more proof on your theories as well."

Zack paused, then grinned abruptly, "Yeah! I'll find all the evidence we need to prove Spikey's innocent!"

Angeal chuckled, "Just remember, this is a covert operation… Cloud can't know we're watching him."

Zack nodded hastily, "You can count on me!" The teen enthusiastically assured them.

With an answering grin Angeal stood. "Good to hear, you're dismissed Zack, I want you to think carefully about what you learned here." The boy bounced up and nodded again solemnly before waving and jogging out the door.

"I won't let'cha down Angeal!" the SOLDIER 2nd called as he disappeared from the room.

Angeal waited until he was sure the boy wouldn't be ducking back in before he turned back to Sephiroth and Tseng. "Now what exactly was that significant look between you two?"

Genesis leaned forward in his seat, "I am also curious." He muttered, softly,

Sephiroth sighed, "Less than a week ago, we had a classified investigation involving someone 'getting in and out without a trace'."

"Classified?" One of Genesis' eyebrows raised, "How Classified?"

"Classifed even from the both of you." Sephiroth affirmed.

Genesis frowned, "So you suspect this Cloud Strife boy?"

Tseng shook his head, "I already checked, Cloud had a very solid alibi for that night." But his gaze narrowed as he stared at his briefcase, "However, it might Suffice to say, I am now very interested in finding out how he's getting into that room."

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