Butterfly Effect: Chapter 24
Feb. 10th, 2007 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bard_linnAuthors: Bard Linn and Kiraya
Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: That would be telling!
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: "I suggest you quickly settle whatever issue is bothering you and get back to training seriously."
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 24
Cloud did his best to conceal his disappointment as he returned to the ShinRa military compound, but it was really hard. It surprised him how much Aeris’s rejection had affected him, but… what could he do about it, really? None of his teachers — not even Zack — had taught him how to control his heart. The blond smiled sardonically at that thought. The black-haired SOLDIER would be the only one able to give him any advice on the subject, all things considered. From the little Cloud had learned about Vincent’s personal life he wouldn’t have much advice as far as women were concerned, and Sephiroth…
Well, to put it bluntly, Cloud couldn’t imagine Sephiroth ever dating someone. Who could keep up with the General? Besides Zack, anyway, who did seem to do a good job of it…
“Cloud!” The SOLDIER cadet glanced over to see the very man he’d just been thinking of, though a part of him wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to see Zack at the moment. “Hey, want to go out for a bit?”
Cloud actually toyed with the idea for a moment before discarding it. He doubted he could find the answers he needed at the bottom of a bottle, despite Reno’s claims to the contrary. “Not tonight, Zack.”
“Hey, kiddo. What’s wrong?” Zack asked, concern writ plainly upon his face. “You look like you just got dumped by your one true love or something.”
Cloud flinched; it wasn’t much, but it was enough for Zack to notice, and to know in that way he always knew. “Oh, hellfires. You come with me.” Zack grabbed Cloud’s shoulder and turned him towards the SOLDIER quarters. “We’ll talk about this in private.”
The pair traveled in silence. Zack managed to quickly open the door and usher Cloud inside, moving to the kitchen as soon as the blond was seated. In a matter of moments the SOLDIER First had his kettle on the small stove, boiling water. “Wait till I make some tea, then we can get started.” He pulled out a pair of plain blue mugs. “Mom always swore tea makes everything better. Let’s see if she’s right.”
“My mother always used cocoa,” Cloud murmured, staring off into space as he remembered the times his mother had made the hot drink for him on cold nights.
“Well, coffee doesn’t work, let me tell you that.” Zack gave Cloud a bright grin. “I think its magical power is completely used up in keeping office workers awake.” Cloud rolled his eyes. Smiling at his reaction, Zack brought the cups over. The pair fixed the tea to their liking, and finally Zack asked, “So, what happened?”
Cloud took a sip of the hot liquid before answering. “I asked someone out, and… well, she said no.”
“First rejection, huh?” His friend sighed. “That’s rough. I remember the first time that happened to me…” He shook his head. “So, what went wrong? I mean, you’re perfect material. Polite, good-looking, steady job, soon to be a SOLDIER — what’s not to like? If I were a girl I’d be half in love with you already,” Zack lightly teased.
“The job, apparently.” Cloud sighed and fiddled with his cup. “She’s… got problems with the company.”
Zack raised his eyebrows. Cloud glanced about the room, as if looking for something. Zack blinked for a moment and then got the message. He retreated to his bedroom and returned doing something with an odd-looking little device — Cloud recognized it as the jammer Vincent had constructed to interfere with ShinRa’s low-tech surveillance so they could talk about Hojo and other sensitive topics without fear of being observed. “All right, we’re clear,” Zack said after a moment.
The blond sighed. “Apparently the company is after her for some reason, and as I go up in rank, it’s more likely she’d get caught if we were seeing each other.”
“Ah.” That sounds familiar. Zack could definitely understand the feeling. He gave Cloud a sympathetic look and turned the jammer off.
“Between her issues with ShinRa and the fact she’s waiting for someone else…” Cloud stopped to take a large swallow of tea to get rid of the lump in his throat. “She told me she’s in love with a guy who’s pretty important to the company, but apparently had to break up with him because of his job.”
Okay, this is just too much of a coincidence. Zack barely thought to turn the jammer on again before bursting out, “You can’t… you’re not talking about Aeris Gainsborough, are you?” Hope warred with fear in his chest. What she’d told Cloud… could she still be waiting for him?
“Yeah— wait—” Cloud’s mind froze as the pieces abruptly fell into place. A high-ranked man in the company. Zack’s moodiness around that time after the exams — hadn’t he said he’d just had a bad breakup? And the two of them recognizing each other the night Cloud had first met Aeris… “You… you’re the one… the one she was talking about…” The one Aeris loved, the one she was waiting for.
“I had no idea you’d even seen her again! How is she?” Zack beamed as he looked intently at his student, eyes bright with something more than Mako.
Cloud stood abruptly, unable to deal with the SOLDIER’s hope in the face of his own sadness. “I… I’m sorry, Zack.” He turned and fled, leaving Zack with only a mug half full of tea.
“Dammit,” Zack growled, shutting the jammer off again before slumping back in his seat with a defeated sigh. He couldn’t help feeling conflicted. He desperately wanted to know how Aeris was doing, was thrilled that she was actually still waiting for him, but at the same time he felt awful about Cloud’s rejection. “How in Odin’s name am I going to be able to fix this?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud had been thinking — admit it, Strife, brooding — about Aeris and Zack for almost four days now. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was so upset. There was no rule that said Aeris had to like him (though by her actions he’d been so sure she really did), nor was it really Zack’s fault he was the one Aeris liked. It wasn’t even Zack’s fault that he hadn’t told Cloud about her. The blond hadn’t exactly told his mentor he’d been meeting with Aeris, after all…
This is so stupid. Cloud resisted the urge to bang his head on something. He really shouldn’t be worrying about it so much. He needed to just let it go, but his mind insisted on just going in circles like a dog chasing its own tail.
Resolutely, the SOLDIER cadet tried to dismiss those thoughts and focus on his movements. Up, down, left, back to center, strike—
It would have been so much easier if she wasn’t so nice. Cloud nearly hit his head with the practice sword, muttering a curse as he realized where his thoughts had strayed yet again.
“Strife.” Cloud stopped at Sephiroth’s voice, guilt washing over him as he detected the barest undertone of irritation in it. The General stood with his arms crossed, his own blade set aside. “I do not know what is wrong with you; I do not know what is wrong with Sinclair. What I do know is that both of you are wasting precious time with your current behaviors.” He leveled a long stare at Cloud, who did his best not to squirm. “I suggest you quickly settle whatever issue is bothering you and get back to training seriously. In case you have forgotten, the exams are less than a month away.” With that, the General turned and strode briskly from the gym, long before their normal lesson time was up.
For a moment, Cloud just stood there in stunned silence, feeling as if Sephiroth had kicked him upside the head. The exams! How could he have forgotten? It was almost October! “Damn tunnel vision again,” Cloud growled. He put his equipment away and left for the showers, trying to think rationally.
Point one: he was an emotional mess over this whole Aeris thing. This was negatively affecting his ability to concentrate and practice, resulting in his truly pathetic effort today. He wasn’t just wasting his own time, but General Sephiroth’s as well.
Cloud winced.
Point two: Cloud’s unhappiness was affecting Zack, and apparently he was performing badly as well, further irritating the General, which was never a good thing.
Okay. Let’s look at this objectively. Cloud tried to picture Zack with Aeris. They looked good together, he had to admit. And as well as he knew them, it was clear their personalities would really mesh well. Actually, Cloud couldn’t think of anyone he knew who suited Aeris better.
Then… He sighed. It’s okay that Aeris is Zack’s girl. He’ll treat her well. Cloud could think of a lot of other SOLDIERs he would never trust with Aeris, but he knew Zack would do right by her. Of course, if he ever did hurt her, Cloud was going to take it out of his hide… which he wouldn’t be able to really do unless he got into SOLDIER.
And if he never got into SOLDIER, he could kiss his most secret dream goodbye. What Cloud really wanted, more than anything else, was to be able to stand on a level with Zack and even Vincent someday. Matching Sephiroth was utterly impossible, he knew now; even thinking of doing it was absurd, but… Cloud wanted to be able to go up against Vincent in an even match, maybe even beat him at least once. And it would be really nice to be able to trounce Zack every once and a while…
Okay. Plan for the immediate future: Make up with Zack. Put this whole mess of an incident behind us. Think about Aeris as little as possible, and train till I drop. That should do it. As long as he kept his mind on the exams, he should be able to ignore the thing with Aeris. There was nothing like an urgent upcoming event to keep him focused… and it’d be nice being able to use his tunnel vision to his advantage, for once.
The blond finished towel-drying his hair and wandered off to look for Zack. The sooner they got this mess squared away, the better… for both of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud found Zack in his room, surprisingly enough. The SOLDIER looked a little shocked to see Cloud at his door, which was only natural considering the cadet had been avoiding him as much as possible… though admittedly, Cloud had seen him more often than he would’ve liked in the past few of days. It was one of the hazards of having him as a mentor.
“Cloud, I—”
“Can we talk?” he interrupted.
“…Sure. Come in.” Zack stepped aside.
“I’m sorry.”
The pair stared at each other, surprised at the simultaneous admission. Cloud’s lips twitched. “I’m sorry I ran out of here like that. It was pretty stupid of me.”
“Yeah, well, she seems to be pretty good at inciting that kind of stupidity in a guy,” Zack replied, carefully avoiding use of Aeris’s name. “You remember what I was like when we first started training…”
Cloud noded. “Yeah.”
Zack sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry for pushing you about her. I should have remembered what it’s like getting turned down, considering… what happened between us. I would have warned you about her situation—”
“But I didn’t tell you I was seeing her, so it’s hardly your fault,” Cloud finished. “I’m just being overly sensitive.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Zack disagreed. “I’d say you’re just emotionally stunted.” He ruffled Cloud’s hair, much to the blond’s annoyance. “Sometimes I think you’re too much like Seph. Vincent too, from the little I know about ‘im. Getting rejected the first time is a big deal. Someone once told me first love is a true kind of love, even if it isn’t necessarily an enduring one.”
Cloud blinked. “Meaning…?”
“Meaning what you’re feeling is completely natural,” Zack elaborated. “You shouldn’t feel stupid. It’s something most people go through at some point in their lives.”
“That still doesn’t give me an excuse to act like an idiot, though,” Cloud muttered under his breath.
“Of course it does,” Zack countered, his enhanced hearing picking up the comment. “Love makes all of us act like idiots sometimes, though there is a point where it gets to be too much.” He clapped Cloud on the back. “I told you, don’t worry about it so much. Just focus on moving on for now. Time does help.”
“Truth in clichés?” the cadet asked dryly.
Zack smiled. “More than you think. If nothing else, well… things might someday change so that some of her objections are no longer a problem, you know?” The SOLDIER gave his student a significant look. If whoever was interested in Aeris — and he wouldn’t be surprised if it were Hojo — either left the company or ‘disappeared,’ it would be safe for them to see her again.
“You have a point there.” Cloud agreed, his mind racing with the possibilities.
“And if she ever gets over that bit,” the SOLDIER continued, his eyes taking on that mischievous twinkle, “we can have a contest to see who gets to court her first. You know, like the knights of old.”
Cloud rolled his eyes. “She’ll kill you if you try to pull something that.”
“I don’t see why you’re complaining. You’d win if that happens,” Zack retorted. “Seriously, though. I mean, what lovely lady wouldn’t want one of us?” He smiled slyly. “Though she might actually have done you a favor, being as Tifa is your fiancée and all…”
“She is not!” Cloud grabbed a cushion off of the couch and hurled it at Zack, who caught it effortlessly, an evil grin on his face.
“Attempted assault on a commanding officer? Oh, this means war!” And with that he pounced.
It was probably a good thing for both of them that Sephiroth didn’t come looking for his aide until after the pillow fight had subsided.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud finished up his stretches carefully, making sure not to pull a muscle. He couldn’t screw up now, not with the exams starting a week from today. He did feel much better about them than he had been, though. Zack had been indulgent and allowed Cloud to focus mostly on what he’d be tested on as opposed to his normal social conditioning, even if the SOLDIER First teased his student constantly about ‘cramming’ for the exams.
Right now, though, Zack was tied up in the office. As the exams had approached, the amount of paperwork and meetings he and the General had to handle had at least doubled, if not tripled. Cloud had grown used to this by now, however, and took it in stride. He just had more solitary practices and lessons with Vincent, though his free time also increased. Even he didn’t spend all of his time training, despite Zack’s complaints to the contrary. First of all, it wasn’t humanly possible. Second of all, he had a little project of his own he was working on…
Cloud made his way back to the barracks and poked his head inside. As he had expected, no one else was there — the cadet schedule had endurance runs planned for this time slot. Having gotten permission to do his own first thing in the morning, Cloud now he had the room to himself… meaning no one would see what he was doing.
The blond slid over to the computer console in the lounge. A similar machine was available in most of the common rooms, since not everyone had their own PHS. Computer messages were the main way to send information within the company. Officially, these public computers were only for sending messages to other departments, including one’s superiors. The computer was protected to the point that doing anything else was theoretically impossible.
Vincent had taught him how to get around those blocks in his second week of hacking training.
It only took a few minutes to slip into the main network. It took a bit longer to get into Hojo’s files, though Cloud made certain to use a different route from the previous time. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught in here.
Making sure he wasn’t leaving any telltale signs of his presence, Cloud carefully poked around the folders he could access, looking for any mention of Aeris. Even if they did succeed in gathering enough concrete evidence to remove Hojo from his position — and Gaea knew Vincent was trying — it wouldn’t be enough if there were others in the company who were interested in Aeris.
Of course, this was all assuming Hojo really was involved with why ShinRa wanted her. There was a chance he wasn’t, but Cloud rather doubted that. From what he’d been able to discover, through Vincent and his own research, Hojo either was or wanted to be part of everything the company dealt with. He seemed like more than a bit of a control freak.
Not for the first time, Cloud wished they could simply kill him and be done with it… but that just wasn’t a possibility at the moment. Besides the obvious problems with getting their hands on Hojo without getting caught, they also had to keep in mind who would replace him. For now they were more or less just stuck gathering information (though ‘they’ meant Vincent, really) to try to create a case for Hojo’s dismissal, while at the same time trying to identify likely successors and how they’d handle the department. Once they had a solid case and Hojo was dismissed, no longer protected by ShinRa, it would be simple for Vincent to kill him. Hopefully they’d then be able to influence the board’s decision on his replacement.
Rather, they had to hope Sephiroth would be able to influence the decision, since he would be the one eventually presenting the report. Chances were good that anyone else just might conveniently disappear without any other action being taken, but there was no way ShinRa would eliminate Sephiroth just to keep Hojo. The man had failed in every last one of his attempts to create another super-SOLDIER, and until he succeeded, Sephiroth was protected by his one-of-a-kind status and martial skill.
Until they had a solid case, though, there really wasn’t anything they could do.
Cloud kept a close eye on the clock as he browsed. He never stayed in Hojo’s files longer than half a hour, simply as a safety measure. It was frustrating, because he got very little done, but he really didn’t want to risk getting caught by staying longer.
He had about ten minutes left when he came across an interesting file. It wasn’t about Aeris, but the more he skimmed it, the more angry Cloud became. He grabbed a piece of paper and quickly jotted some information down, careful to copy the specifics exactly, before erasing all traces of his presence, logging out, and leaving to find Zack.
They had to do something about this.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zack had figured out soon enough from Cloud’s hints that his student wanted to discuss Hojo, and had easily fabricated a reason for the cadet to accompany him to Sephiroth’s quarters. Cloud wasn’t exactly sure why Zack carted so much paperwork to and from the place, but he certainly wasn’t going to question it when it was working in their favor.
Inside the nearly soundproof and thoroughly debugged apartment, Cloud felt more than a little uneasy with Vincent and Sephiroth’s questioning eyes on him, but took a deep breath and began, “Hojo’s got a person locked up in the lab.”
The three other adults exchanged glances. Contrary to rumor, Hojo was not allowed to just lock anyone up in ShinRa facilities. All human subjects were supposed to sign a waiver for experimental procedures. No one doubted that Hojo broke that rule all the time, of course, but it was generally assumed he’d never do it in the labs in ShinRa Tower, where anyone could call him out on it.
Sephiroth looked intrigued. “This might be just what we needed…”
“I’m more interested in knowing how you found this out, Cloud.” Vincent leveled a look at his apprentice. “You shouldn’t be able to get into Hojo’s files.”
“And you shouldn’t leave your pass codes for them out where anyone can see them,” Cloud countered, feeling bold.
Vincent’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. When had he…? “That doesn’t mean—”
::He does have a point,:: Chaos noted, amused.
Shut up. The former Turk stared sternly at his student. “Just what were you doing poking around in there, anyway?”
Cloud wilted visibly under Vincent’s harsh tone, well aware he had seriously annoyed his mentor. No wonder, really; he had likely assumed Cloud had been going after Sephiroth’s or Vincent’s file. The blond threw a pleading glance at Zack, and the SOLDIER, remembering what he and Cloud had discussed almost two weeks ago, suddenly understood. “You were looking for her file, weren’t you?”
“Her?” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
“A… mutual friend of ours. Apparently Hojo — or at least someone in the company, considering she’s had Turks after her — wants her for something.” Zack glanced at Cloud. “That’s why, isn’t it?”
The blond nodded. “Getting rid of Hojo alone won’t mean she’s safe if there are other people who want her. Especially if they’re other scientists.”
“But you have no idea what project she is involved in, and thus have to look at almost everything,” Vincent finished. “I see.”
“I can’t get into much, actually. Mostly some of the oldest files, less important folders or just general information files.” Cloud shrugged. “If anything on her is highly classified, I probably won’t find it.”
“A minor problem.” Vincent frowned. “If you tell me her name, I will look as well.”
Zack and Cloud exchanged glances; Zack nodded. “Aeris Gainsborough,” Cloud said.
“Very well; I’ll see what I can find.” He shifted slightly in his seat. “Now, in the meantime we’d best examine what we know about this person Hojo has locked up. What did you see, Cloud?”
“Mostly intelligence scores, physical records, that sort of thing.” Cloud handed his mentor his notes. “Red XIII — that’s what Hojo calls him — seems to be really agile, fast and strong for a human. Probably while he’s being studied.”
Vincent nodded. “Quite likely. Was this all of his records?”
Cloud shook his head. “No. That was just the tail end. After Hojo concluded some preliminary experiments, he apparently allowed the other scientists in the department limited access to him for samples and stuff.”
“There should be more, then.” Vincent walked over to Sephiroth’s computer console and began to type as fast as his one good hand would let him. It was far more advanced than the simple series of commands Cloud had copied, and soon enough he had located the file. With skill Cloud couldn’t help envying, he slipped through the protections on it. “Approximately forty-five years of age. A bit old for one of Hojo’s subjects; he usually prefers younger ones. Captured out by Cosmo Canyon—” He clicked on the lab photo.
“…It’s not human.”
Typically, Zack was the one to voice their thoughts. Everyone turned to look at Cloud.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” he protested. “Look at the data, though! It’s clear he’s got a personality. He’s intelligent, he can communicate — not being human doesn’t mean you’re not a person.” Cloud shot Vincent a glance.
Vincent bristled slightly. ::So quick to jump to conclusions, aren’t we?:: Chaos said mockingly. ::Did it never occur to you that he meant not you, but one of us? Possibly even yours truly?::
He’s never met— Vincent stopped, remembering how Hellmasker and Chaos had behaved when Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud had come to Nibelheim.
::Yes, he has. Perhaps not in the flesh, but close enough.:: Chaos chuckled. ::Seems your child has better manners than you do, human. He remembers I exist without the constant conversational reminders.::
He’s not my child.
::You practically raised the boy; doesn’t that make you a father to him?:: The demon sniffed. ::I’ll never understand why you humans are always so concerned about blood relations.::
“…isn’t a person as we think of it,” Cloud continued, unaware of Vincent’s divided attention, “he’s obviously aware enough to understand what Hojo’s doing to him. It just doesn’t seem fair to keep him there.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Zack said. “You want us to break into the tower’s high-tech, heavily guarded science labs, steal a giant cat right out from under Hojo’s nose, and not get caught?”
“Well… more or less,” Cloud mumbled, embarrassed. It did seem monumentally stupid when phrased that way, but still…
Zack glanced over at Sephiroth, who merely raised an eyebrow. “Aw, why not? Might as well take a look. If we can manage it, I say go for it.” He grinned suddenly, winking. “If nothing else, it would severely piss Hojo off.”
The four of them clustered around Sephiroth’s monitor. Luck, it seemed, was on their side. Red XIII wasn’t in the main lab at this point in time, but on a lower level commonly used for sample storage, one that would be easier to break into. Vincent, Sephiroth, and Zack debated strategies; Cloud mostly stayed quiet, feeling very much out of his depth. Finally, they hammered the last of the details concerning getting Red XIII out of the building, but things snagged on the question of what to do with him afterwards. “We cannot assume he will be in any condition to travel across the continent and return home, even if we could get him out of the city,” Sephiroth pointed out.
Cloud thought for a moment, and then grinned despite the pang at his thoughts. She did say I could ask for help… “I know a place Red XIII might be able to stay within the city where they might not find him. I’ll have to check first, though.”
“Very well. Do that as quickly as possible, then.” Sephiroth frowned thoughtfully. “Even once our preparations are complete, however, we’d best wait to put this plan into action until we’ve secured a place for him and Hojo is suitably occupied elsewhere.”
“There’s the monthly board meeting, if nothing else,” Zack reminded his superior. “Just let us know how things go, Cloud, and we’ll take it from there.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aeris looked up from her work to see a face she had both been missing and dreading to see again. “Cloud!” It was clear he was still a little hurt, but he seemed better than he had been.
“Hi, Aeris.” Cloud walked up to her, stopping uncertainly at her side.
“It’s been a while,” Aeris commented, trying to dispel the tension between them.
“Yeah,” Cloud agreed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I asked you that — I didn’t know you and Zack—”
“You know Zack?” Aeris’ eyes widened in surprise. “I had no idea…”
“You saw him the night we met, remember?” Cloud looked at her in confusion. “Zack had dragged me out to eat.”
Aeris flushed slightly but did not reply, unwilling to tell Cloud she had blotted out most of that memory in an attempt to forget the heart-wrenching look in Zack’s eyes at the time. “Any reason in particular you’re down here?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“Actually… yes.” Cloud glanced around, doing his best to determine if anyone was listening in, and then in the softest voice he could manage, described what they had discovered about Red XIII, emphasizing his intelligence, youth, and personality over his more animal traits.
“That’s awful!” Aeris cried.
Cloud nodded. “That’s why we’re planning to get him out—”
“No, Cloud.” Aeris shook her head vehemently, placing her hands on Cloud’s shoulders. “You and Zack can’t take on Hojo. If you get caught he’ll lock you up and… do things to you…” She shuddered. “I couldn’t bear that. Please, promise me you won’t do it.”
“I can’t do that,” Cloud replied. “And… it’s not just us. Sephiroth is helping, too.”
Aeris’ eyebrows shot up. “General Sephiroth?”
Cloud nodded. “He doesn’t approve of what Hojo’s doing either, and trust me, he’ll kill Hojo if anything happens to Zack.” He just needed an excuse, really. Sephiroth hated Hojo as much as Vincent did, and definitely seemed attached to his aide. Why else would he put up with Zack’s nonsense so much?
Aeris looked unconvinced. “Still—”
“Trust me, not even Hojo is more important than Sephiroth. Red XIII isn’t even in the main lab anymore. He got moved down to one of the lower levels a while back.” Cloud took a deep breath. “The real problem is we can’t get him out of Midgar. He’s not human, or else we might’ve been able to slip him in a military convoy in disguise. He’s probably not going to be in good enough condition to leave the city on his own, either. We need to find a place where he can stay until he recovers, someplace inside the city but outside of ShinRa grounds.”
Aeris paused for a long moment. “No way. You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“Cloud, you don’t understand. If Hojo catches me—” Aeris shook her head. “I couldn’t bear it. We— I barely escaped once…”
I guess that answers the ‘is Hojo after Aeris?’ question. Cloud looked helplessly at her, unsure what to do. What would Zack do? he asked himself, something that usually helped him in his dealings with other people… though Aeris having been Zack’s girlfriend made things a little awkward. Cautiously placing an arm around her shoulders, he tried to comfort her. “Aeris, we won’t let him get you. We won’t. We’re trying to find a way to get rid of him for good.”
“But—”
“And even if Hojo did capture you,” Cloud continued, “don’t you know we’d do everything in our power to get you out? He won’t know Red XIII is even still in the city, I promise. We’re going to make it look like he just vanished into thin air. All that’s missing is someplace safe for him to stay.” He tightened his hold on her and continued, “I know you wouldn’t want to leave anyone at Hojo’s mercy…”
“More than you could know,” Aeris whispered, her hands white-knuckled in her lap, “but… my mom…”
“I’m not asking her; I’m asking you,” Cloud said firmly. “Please, Aeris…”
She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe deeply to calm herself so she could hear what the Voices had to say, if anything. She frowned when she didn’t get any definite words, only a strong sense of this is important.
Why? she asked silently, but she received no answer… though by now the decision had all but made itself. I’m my own woman; I can’t let Mom spend the rest of her life trying to protect me from whatever may come our way. “All right, Cloud,” she finally said, looking at him. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
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Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: That would be telling!
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Summary: "I suggest you quickly settle whatever issue is bothering you and get back to training seriously."
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 24
Cloud did his best to conceal his disappointment as he returned to the ShinRa military compound, but it was really hard. It surprised him how much Aeris’s rejection had affected him, but… what could he do about it, really? None of his teachers — not even Zack — had taught him how to control his heart. The blond smiled sardonically at that thought. The black-haired SOLDIER would be the only one able to give him any advice on the subject, all things considered. From the little Cloud had learned about Vincent’s personal life he wouldn’t have much advice as far as women were concerned, and Sephiroth…
Well, to put it bluntly, Cloud couldn’t imagine Sephiroth ever dating someone. Who could keep up with the General? Besides Zack, anyway, who did seem to do a good job of it…
“Cloud!” The SOLDIER cadet glanced over to see the very man he’d just been thinking of, though a part of him wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to see Zack at the moment. “Hey, want to go out for a bit?”
Cloud actually toyed with the idea for a moment before discarding it. He doubted he could find the answers he needed at the bottom of a bottle, despite Reno’s claims to the contrary. “Not tonight, Zack.”
“Hey, kiddo. What’s wrong?” Zack asked, concern writ plainly upon his face. “You look like you just got dumped by your one true love or something.”
Cloud flinched; it wasn’t much, but it was enough for Zack to notice, and to know in that way he always knew. “Oh, hellfires. You come with me.” Zack grabbed Cloud’s shoulder and turned him towards the SOLDIER quarters. “We’ll talk about this in private.”
The pair traveled in silence. Zack managed to quickly open the door and usher Cloud inside, moving to the kitchen as soon as the blond was seated. In a matter of moments the SOLDIER First had his kettle on the small stove, boiling water. “Wait till I make some tea, then we can get started.” He pulled out a pair of plain blue mugs. “Mom always swore tea makes everything better. Let’s see if she’s right.”
“My mother always used cocoa,” Cloud murmured, staring off into space as he remembered the times his mother had made the hot drink for him on cold nights.
“Well, coffee doesn’t work, let me tell you that.” Zack gave Cloud a bright grin. “I think its magical power is completely used up in keeping office workers awake.” Cloud rolled his eyes. Smiling at his reaction, Zack brought the cups over. The pair fixed the tea to their liking, and finally Zack asked, “So, what happened?”
Cloud took a sip of the hot liquid before answering. “I asked someone out, and… well, she said no.”
“First rejection, huh?” His friend sighed. “That’s rough. I remember the first time that happened to me…” He shook his head. “So, what went wrong? I mean, you’re perfect material. Polite, good-looking, steady job, soon to be a SOLDIER — what’s not to like? If I were a girl I’d be half in love with you already,” Zack lightly teased.
“The job, apparently.” Cloud sighed and fiddled with his cup. “She’s… got problems with the company.”
Zack raised his eyebrows. Cloud glanced about the room, as if looking for something. Zack blinked for a moment and then got the message. He retreated to his bedroom and returned doing something with an odd-looking little device — Cloud recognized it as the jammer Vincent had constructed to interfere with ShinRa’s low-tech surveillance so they could talk about Hojo and other sensitive topics without fear of being observed. “All right, we’re clear,” Zack said after a moment.
The blond sighed. “Apparently the company is after her for some reason, and as I go up in rank, it’s more likely she’d get caught if we were seeing each other.”
“Ah.” That sounds familiar. Zack could definitely understand the feeling. He gave Cloud a sympathetic look and turned the jammer off.
“Between her issues with ShinRa and the fact she’s waiting for someone else…” Cloud stopped to take a large swallow of tea to get rid of the lump in his throat. “She told me she’s in love with a guy who’s pretty important to the company, but apparently had to break up with him because of his job.”
Okay, this is just too much of a coincidence. Zack barely thought to turn the jammer on again before bursting out, “You can’t… you’re not talking about Aeris Gainsborough, are you?” Hope warred with fear in his chest. What she’d told Cloud… could she still be waiting for him?
“Yeah— wait—” Cloud’s mind froze as the pieces abruptly fell into place. A high-ranked man in the company. Zack’s moodiness around that time after the exams — hadn’t he said he’d just had a bad breakup? And the two of them recognizing each other the night Cloud had first met Aeris… “You… you’re the one… the one she was talking about…” The one Aeris loved, the one she was waiting for.
“I had no idea you’d even seen her again! How is she?” Zack beamed as he looked intently at his student, eyes bright with something more than Mako.
Cloud stood abruptly, unable to deal with the SOLDIER’s hope in the face of his own sadness. “I… I’m sorry, Zack.” He turned and fled, leaving Zack with only a mug half full of tea.
“Dammit,” Zack growled, shutting the jammer off again before slumping back in his seat with a defeated sigh. He couldn’t help feeling conflicted. He desperately wanted to know how Aeris was doing, was thrilled that she was actually still waiting for him, but at the same time he felt awful about Cloud’s rejection. “How in Odin’s name am I going to be able to fix this?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud had been thinking — admit it, Strife, brooding — about Aeris and Zack for almost four days now. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was so upset. There was no rule that said Aeris had to like him (though by her actions he’d been so sure she really did), nor was it really Zack’s fault he was the one Aeris liked. It wasn’t even Zack’s fault that he hadn’t told Cloud about her. The blond hadn’t exactly told his mentor he’d been meeting with Aeris, after all…
This is so stupid. Cloud resisted the urge to bang his head on something. He really shouldn’t be worrying about it so much. He needed to just let it go, but his mind insisted on just going in circles like a dog chasing its own tail.
Resolutely, the SOLDIER cadet tried to dismiss those thoughts and focus on his movements. Up, down, left, back to center, strike—
It would have been so much easier if she wasn’t so nice. Cloud nearly hit his head with the practice sword, muttering a curse as he realized where his thoughts had strayed yet again.
“Strife.” Cloud stopped at Sephiroth’s voice, guilt washing over him as he detected the barest undertone of irritation in it. The General stood with his arms crossed, his own blade set aside. “I do not know what is wrong with you; I do not know what is wrong with Sinclair. What I do know is that both of you are wasting precious time with your current behaviors.” He leveled a long stare at Cloud, who did his best not to squirm. “I suggest you quickly settle whatever issue is bothering you and get back to training seriously. In case you have forgotten, the exams are less than a month away.” With that, the General turned and strode briskly from the gym, long before their normal lesson time was up.
For a moment, Cloud just stood there in stunned silence, feeling as if Sephiroth had kicked him upside the head. The exams! How could he have forgotten? It was almost October! “Damn tunnel vision again,” Cloud growled. He put his equipment away and left for the showers, trying to think rationally.
Point one: he was an emotional mess over this whole Aeris thing. This was negatively affecting his ability to concentrate and practice, resulting in his truly pathetic effort today. He wasn’t just wasting his own time, but General Sephiroth’s as well.
Cloud winced.
Point two: Cloud’s unhappiness was affecting Zack, and apparently he was performing badly as well, further irritating the General, which was never a good thing.
Okay. Let’s look at this objectively. Cloud tried to picture Zack with Aeris. They looked good together, he had to admit. And as well as he knew them, it was clear their personalities would really mesh well. Actually, Cloud couldn’t think of anyone he knew who suited Aeris better.
Then… He sighed. It’s okay that Aeris is Zack’s girl. He’ll treat her well. Cloud could think of a lot of other SOLDIERs he would never trust with Aeris, but he knew Zack would do right by her. Of course, if he ever did hurt her, Cloud was going to take it out of his hide… which he wouldn’t be able to really do unless he got into SOLDIER.
And if he never got into SOLDIER, he could kiss his most secret dream goodbye. What Cloud really wanted, more than anything else, was to be able to stand on a level with Zack and even Vincent someday. Matching Sephiroth was utterly impossible, he knew now; even thinking of doing it was absurd, but… Cloud wanted to be able to go up against Vincent in an even match, maybe even beat him at least once. And it would be really nice to be able to trounce Zack every once and a while…
Okay. Plan for the immediate future: Make up with Zack. Put this whole mess of an incident behind us. Think about Aeris as little as possible, and train till I drop. That should do it. As long as he kept his mind on the exams, he should be able to ignore the thing with Aeris. There was nothing like an urgent upcoming event to keep him focused… and it’d be nice being able to use his tunnel vision to his advantage, for once.
The blond finished towel-drying his hair and wandered off to look for Zack. The sooner they got this mess squared away, the better… for both of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud found Zack in his room, surprisingly enough. The SOLDIER looked a little shocked to see Cloud at his door, which was only natural considering the cadet had been avoiding him as much as possible… though admittedly, Cloud had seen him more often than he would’ve liked in the past few of days. It was one of the hazards of having him as a mentor.
“Cloud, I—”
“Can we talk?” he interrupted.
“…Sure. Come in.” Zack stepped aside.
“I’m sorry.”
The pair stared at each other, surprised at the simultaneous admission. Cloud’s lips twitched. “I’m sorry I ran out of here like that. It was pretty stupid of me.”
“Yeah, well, she seems to be pretty good at inciting that kind of stupidity in a guy,” Zack replied, carefully avoiding use of Aeris’s name. “You remember what I was like when we first started training…”
Cloud noded. “Yeah.”
Zack sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry for pushing you about her. I should have remembered what it’s like getting turned down, considering… what happened between us. I would have warned you about her situation—”
“But I didn’t tell you I was seeing her, so it’s hardly your fault,” Cloud finished. “I’m just being overly sensitive.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Zack disagreed. “I’d say you’re just emotionally stunted.” He ruffled Cloud’s hair, much to the blond’s annoyance. “Sometimes I think you’re too much like Seph. Vincent too, from the little I know about ‘im. Getting rejected the first time is a big deal. Someone once told me first love is a true kind of love, even if it isn’t necessarily an enduring one.”
Cloud blinked. “Meaning…?”
“Meaning what you’re feeling is completely natural,” Zack elaborated. “You shouldn’t feel stupid. It’s something most people go through at some point in their lives.”
“That still doesn’t give me an excuse to act like an idiot, though,” Cloud muttered under his breath.
“Of course it does,” Zack countered, his enhanced hearing picking up the comment. “Love makes all of us act like idiots sometimes, though there is a point where it gets to be too much.” He clapped Cloud on the back. “I told you, don’t worry about it so much. Just focus on moving on for now. Time does help.”
“Truth in clichés?” the cadet asked dryly.
Zack smiled. “More than you think. If nothing else, well… things might someday change so that some of her objections are no longer a problem, you know?” The SOLDIER gave his student a significant look. If whoever was interested in Aeris — and he wouldn’t be surprised if it were Hojo — either left the company or ‘disappeared,’ it would be safe for them to see her again.
“You have a point there.” Cloud agreed, his mind racing with the possibilities.
“And if she ever gets over that bit,” the SOLDIER continued, his eyes taking on that mischievous twinkle, “we can have a contest to see who gets to court her first. You know, like the knights of old.”
Cloud rolled his eyes. “She’ll kill you if you try to pull something that.”
“I don’t see why you’re complaining. You’d win if that happens,” Zack retorted. “Seriously, though. I mean, what lovely lady wouldn’t want one of us?” He smiled slyly. “Though she might actually have done you a favor, being as Tifa is your fiancée and all…”
“She is not!” Cloud grabbed a cushion off of the couch and hurled it at Zack, who caught it effortlessly, an evil grin on his face.
“Attempted assault on a commanding officer? Oh, this means war!” And with that he pounced.
It was probably a good thing for both of them that Sephiroth didn’t come looking for his aide until after the pillow fight had subsided.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cloud finished up his stretches carefully, making sure not to pull a muscle. He couldn’t screw up now, not with the exams starting a week from today. He did feel much better about them than he had been, though. Zack had been indulgent and allowed Cloud to focus mostly on what he’d be tested on as opposed to his normal social conditioning, even if the SOLDIER First teased his student constantly about ‘cramming’ for the exams.
Right now, though, Zack was tied up in the office. As the exams had approached, the amount of paperwork and meetings he and the General had to handle had at least doubled, if not tripled. Cloud had grown used to this by now, however, and took it in stride. He just had more solitary practices and lessons with Vincent, though his free time also increased. Even he didn’t spend all of his time training, despite Zack’s complaints to the contrary. First of all, it wasn’t humanly possible. Second of all, he had a little project of his own he was working on…
Cloud made his way back to the barracks and poked his head inside. As he had expected, no one else was there — the cadet schedule had endurance runs planned for this time slot. Having gotten permission to do his own first thing in the morning, Cloud now he had the room to himself… meaning no one would see what he was doing.
The blond slid over to the computer console in the lounge. A similar machine was available in most of the common rooms, since not everyone had their own PHS. Computer messages were the main way to send information within the company. Officially, these public computers were only for sending messages to other departments, including one’s superiors. The computer was protected to the point that doing anything else was theoretically impossible.
Vincent had taught him how to get around those blocks in his second week of hacking training.
It only took a few minutes to slip into the main network. It took a bit longer to get into Hojo’s files, though Cloud made certain to use a different route from the previous time. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught in here.
Making sure he wasn’t leaving any telltale signs of his presence, Cloud carefully poked around the folders he could access, looking for any mention of Aeris. Even if they did succeed in gathering enough concrete evidence to remove Hojo from his position — and Gaea knew Vincent was trying — it wouldn’t be enough if there were others in the company who were interested in Aeris.
Of course, this was all assuming Hojo really was involved with why ShinRa wanted her. There was a chance he wasn’t, but Cloud rather doubted that. From what he’d been able to discover, through Vincent and his own research, Hojo either was or wanted to be part of everything the company dealt with. He seemed like more than a bit of a control freak.
Not for the first time, Cloud wished they could simply kill him and be done with it… but that just wasn’t a possibility at the moment. Besides the obvious problems with getting their hands on Hojo without getting caught, they also had to keep in mind who would replace him. For now they were more or less just stuck gathering information (though ‘they’ meant Vincent, really) to try to create a case for Hojo’s dismissal, while at the same time trying to identify likely successors and how they’d handle the department. Once they had a solid case and Hojo was dismissed, no longer protected by ShinRa, it would be simple for Vincent to kill him. Hopefully they’d then be able to influence the board’s decision on his replacement.
Rather, they had to hope Sephiroth would be able to influence the decision, since he would be the one eventually presenting the report. Chances were good that anyone else just might conveniently disappear without any other action being taken, but there was no way ShinRa would eliminate Sephiroth just to keep Hojo. The man had failed in every last one of his attempts to create another super-SOLDIER, and until he succeeded, Sephiroth was protected by his one-of-a-kind status and martial skill.
Until they had a solid case, though, there really wasn’t anything they could do.
Cloud kept a close eye on the clock as he browsed. He never stayed in Hojo’s files longer than half a hour, simply as a safety measure. It was frustrating, because he got very little done, but he really didn’t want to risk getting caught by staying longer.
He had about ten minutes left when he came across an interesting file. It wasn’t about Aeris, but the more he skimmed it, the more angry Cloud became. He grabbed a piece of paper and quickly jotted some information down, careful to copy the specifics exactly, before erasing all traces of his presence, logging out, and leaving to find Zack.
They had to do something about this.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Zack had figured out soon enough from Cloud’s hints that his student wanted to discuss Hojo, and had easily fabricated a reason for the cadet to accompany him to Sephiroth’s quarters. Cloud wasn’t exactly sure why Zack carted so much paperwork to and from the place, but he certainly wasn’t going to question it when it was working in their favor.
Inside the nearly soundproof and thoroughly debugged apartment, Cloud felt more than a little uneasy with Vincent and Sephiroth’s questioning eyes on him, but took a deep breath and began, “Hojo’s got a person locked up in the lab.”
The three other adults exchanged glances. Contrary to rumor, Hojo was not allowed to just lock anyone up in ShinRa facilities. All human subjects were supposed to sign a waiver for experimental procedures. No one doubted that Hojo broke that rule all the time, of course, but it was generally assumed he’d never do it in the labs in ShinRa Tower, where anyone could call him out on it.
Sephiroth looked intrigued. “This might be just what we needed…”
“I’m more interested in knowing how you found this out, Cloud.” Vincent leveled a look at his apprentice. “You shouldn’t be able to get into Hojo’s files.”
“And you shouldn’t leave your pass codes for them out where anyone can see them,” Cloud countered, feeling bold.
Vincent’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly. When had he…? “That doesn’t mean—”
::He does have a point,:: Chaos noted, amused.
Shut up. The former Turk stared sternly at his student. “Just what were you doing poking around in there, anyway?”
Cloud wilted visibly under Vincent’s harsh tone, well aware he had seriously annoyed his mentor. No wonder, really; he had likely assumed Cloud had been going after Sephiroth’s or Vincent’s file. The blond threw a pleading glance at Zack, and the SOLDIER, remembering what he and Cloud had discussed almost two weeks ago, suddenly understood. “You were looking for her file, weren’t you?”
“Her?” Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
“A… mutual friend of ours. Apparently Hojo — or at least someone in the company, considering she’s had Turks after her — wants her for something.” Zack glanced at Cloud. “That’s why, isn’t it?”
The blond nodded. “Getting rid of Hojo alone won’t mean she’s safe if there are other people who want her. Especially if they’re other scientists.”
“But you have no idea what project she is involved in, and thus have to look at almost everything,” Vincent finished. “I see.”
“I can’t get into much, actually. Mostly some of the oldest files, less important folders or just general information files.” Cloud shrugged. “If anything on her is highly classified, I probably won’t find it.”
“A minor problem.” Vincent frowned. “If you tell me her name, I will look as well.”
Zack and Cloud exchanged glances; Zack nodded. “Aeris Gainsborough,” Cloud said.
“Very well; I’ll see what I can find.” He shifted slightly in his seat. “Now, in the meantime we’d best examine what we know about this person Hojo has locked up. What did you see, Cloud?”
“Mostly intelligence scores, physical records, that sort of thing.” Cloud handed his mentor his notes. “Red XIII — that’s what Hojo calls him — seems to be really agile, fast and strong for a human. Probably while he’s being studied.”
Vincent nodded. “Quite likely. Was this all of his records?”
Cloud shook his head. “No. That was just the tail end. After Hojo concluded some preliminary experiments, he apparently allowed the other scientists in the department limited access to him for samples and stuff.”
“There should be more, then.” Vincent walked over to Sephiroth’s computer console and began to type as fast as his one good hand would let him. It was far more advanced than the simple series of commands Cloud had copied, and soon enough he had located the file. With skill Cloud couldn’t help envying, he slipped through the protections on it. “Approximately forty-five years of age. A bit old for one of Hojo’s subjects; he usually prefers younger ones. Captured out by Cosmo Canyon—” He clicked on the lab photo.
“…It’s not human.”
Typically, Zack was the one to voice their thoughts. Everyone turned to look at Cloud.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” he protested. “Look at the data, though! It’s clear he’s got a personality. He’s intelligent, he can communicate — not being human doesn’t mean you’re not a person.” Cloud shot Vincent a glance.
Vincent bristled slightly. ::So quick to jump to conclusions, aren’t we?:: Chaos said mockingly. ::Did it never occur to you that he meant not you, but one of us? Possibly even yours truly?::
He’s never met— Vincent stopped, remembering how Hellmasker and Chaos had behaved when Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud had come to Nibelheim.
::Yes, he has. Perhaps not in the flesh, but close enough.:: Chaos chuckled. ::Seems your child has better manners than you do, human. He remembers I exist without the constant conversational reminders.::
He’s not my child.
::You practically raised the boy; doesn’t that make you a father to him?:: The demon sniffed. ::I’ll never understand why you humans are always so concerned about blood relations.::
“…isn’t a person as we think of it,” Cloud continued, unaware of Vincent’s divided attention, “he’s obviously aware enough to understand what Hojo’s doing to him. It just doesn’t seem fair to keep him there.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Zack said. “You want us to break into the tower’s high-tech, heavily guarded science labs, steal a giant cat right out from under Hojo’s nose, and not get caught?”
“Well… more or less,” Cloud mumbled, embarrassed. It did seem monumentally stupid when phrased that way, but still…
Zack glanced over at Sephiroth, who merely raised an eyebrow. “Aw, why not? Might as well take a look. If we can manage it, I say go for it.” He grinned suddenly, winking. “If nothing else, it would severely piss Hojo off.”
The four of them clustered around Sephiroth’s monitor. Luck, it seemed, was on their side. Red XIII wasn’t in the main lab at this point in time, but on a lower level commonly used for sample storage, one that would be easier to break into. Vincent, Sephiroth, and Zack debated strategies; Cloud mostly stayed quiet, feeling very much out of his depth. Finally, they hammered the last of the details concerning getting Red XIII out of the building, but things snagged on the question of what to do with him afterwards. “We cannot assume he will be in any condition to travel across the continent and return home, even if we could get him out of the city,” Sephiroth pointed out.
Cloud thought for a moment, and then grinned despite the pang at his thoughts. She did say I could ask for help… “I know a place Red XIII might be able to stay within the city where they might not find him. I’ll have to check first, though.”
“Very well. Do that as quickly as possible, then.” Sephiroth frowned thoughtfully. “Even once our preparations are complete, however, we’d best wait to put this plan into action until we’ve secured a place for him and Hojo is suitably occupied elsewhere.”
“There’s the monthly board meeting, if nothing else,” Zack reminded his superior. “Just let us know how things go, Cloud, and we’ll take it from there.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aeris looked up from her work to see a face she had both been missing and dreading to see again. “Cloud!” It was clear he was still a little hurt, but he seemed better than he had been.
“Hi, Aeris.” Cloud walked up to her, stopping uncertainly at her side.
“It’s been a while,” Aeris commented, trying to dispel the tension between them.
“Yeah,” Cloud agreed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I asked you that — I didn’t know you and Zack—”
“You know Zack?” Aeris’ eyes widened in surprise. “I had no idea…”
“You saw him the night we met, remember?” Cloud looked at her in confusion. “Zack had dragged me out to eat.”
Aeris flushed slightly but did not reply, unwilling to tell Cloud she had blotted out most of that memory in an attempt to forget the heart-wrenching look in Zack’s eyes at the time. “Any reason in particular you’re down here?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“Actually… yes.” Cloud glanced around, doing his best to determine if anyone was listening in, and then in the softest voice he could manage, described what they had discovered about Red XIII, emphasizing his intelligence, youth, and personality over his more animal traits.
“That’s awful!” Aeris cried.
Cloud nodded. “That’s why we’re planning to get him out—”
“No, Cloud.” Aeris shook her head vehemently, placing her hands on Cloud’s shoulders. “You and Zack can’t take on Hojo. If you get caught he’ll lock you up and… do things to you…” She shuddered. “I couldn’t bear that. Please, promise me you won’t do it.”
“I can’t do that,” Cloud replied. “And… it’s not just us. Sephiroth is helping, too.”
Aeris’ eyebrows shot up. “General Sephiroth?”
Cloud nodded. “He doesn’t approve of what Hojo’s doing either, and trust me, he’ll kill Hojo if anything happens to Zack.” He just needed an excuse, really. Sephiroth hated Hojo as much as Vincent did, and definitely seemed attached to his aide. Why else would he put up with Zack’s nonsense so much?
Aeris looked unconvinced. “Still—”
“Trust me, not even Hojo is more important than Sephiroth. Red XIII isn’t even in the main lab anymore. He got moved down to one of the lower levels a while back.” Cloud took a deep breath. “The real problem is we can’t get him out of Midgar. He’s not human, or else we might’ve been able to slip him in a military convoy in disguise. He’s probably not going to be in good enough condition to leave the city on his own, either. We need to find a place where he can stay until he recovers, someplace inside the city but outside of ShinRa grounds.”
Aeris paused for a long moment. “No way. You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“Cloud, you don’t understand. If Hojo catches me—” Aeris shook her head. “I couldn’t bear it. We— I barely escaped once…”
I guess that answers the ‘is Hojo after Aeris?’ question. Cloud looked helplessly at her, unsure what to do. What would Zack do? he asked himself, something that usually helped him in his dealings with other people… though Aeris having been Zack’s girlfriend made things a little awkward. Cautiously placing an arm around her shoulders, he tried to comfort her. “Aeris, we won’t let him get you. We won’t. We’re trying to find a way to get rid of him for good.”
“But—”
“And even if Hojo did capture you,” Cloud continued, “don’t you know we’d do everything in our power to get you out? He won’t know Red XIII is even still in the city, I promise. We’re going to make it look like he just vanished into thin air. All that’s missing is someplace safe for him to stay.” He tightened his hold on her and continued, “I know you wouldn’t want to leave anyone at Hojo’s mercy…”
“More than you could know,” Aeris whispered, her hands white-knuckled in her lap, “but… my mom…”
“I’m not asking her; I’m asking you,” Cloud said firmly. “Please, Aeris…”
She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe deeply to calm herself so she could hear what the Voices had to say, if anything. She frowned when she didn’t get any definite words, only a strong sense of this is important.
Why? she asked silently, but she received no answer… though by now the decision had all but made itself. I’m my own woman; I can’t let Mom spend the rest of her life trying to protect me from whatever may come our way. “All right, Cloud,” she finally said, looking at him. “Tell me what you need me to do.”
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