[Fic] Too Good To Be True - FFVII, Zack/Cloud, 18/21
Wow, this is an incredibly emotionally charged chapter, and the next one will be even worse. I'm finding it difficult to write these parts, not because it's not coming to me but just for the sheer emotional stress of it. That's not something I usually have a problem with. It's a damn good THING I only write happy endings, because this could potentially end in a real mess.
I need to make a new icon for the next parts, really... hell, I just need more FFVII icons, period.
Title: Too Good To Be True
Series: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Zack/Cloud, some Cloud/Tifa, mention of Zack/Aerith
Rating: R, NC-17 in other chapters
Warnings: violence, sex, yaoi, the usual.
Chapter Length: 5022
Total Length: 93,102
Author's Note: This takes place after AC, and is slightly AU in that Zack would not have been present with Aerith in the moments when Cloud touched the Lifestream. Or just tell yourself he was hallucinating Zack, if you like.
When things seem too good to be true it usually means there's a catch hidden somewhere. But hasn't Cloud earned his happy ending ten times over?
It took Cloud far too long to actually understand what he was looking at. In the dim, pre-dawn light, the trail of blood droplets and bloody footprints that led across their tiny common room looked black instead of red. It was only the too-familiar scent of it that let him identify it, but even though he knew what it was he still couldn't quite make sense of it.
His eyes tracked the trail from the entrance to the rest of the church until it reached Zack's door, where a larger puddle indicated that whoever had tracked the blood in had stood there for a moment. On the handle of the door itself was another smudged print, as if a bloody glove had rested there to open the door.
Bloody footprints, bloody gloves, and a trail of droplets that could only have been left by blood dripping off a naked sword blade... once Cloud finally managed to kick his brain into gear, it all added up to only one thing. Sephiroth had killed someone last night, probably several someones judging by the amount of blood, and he hadn't reverted to Zack until the moment the former SOLDIER had reached his own door.
Feeling sick, Cloud clapped a hand over his mouth as he gagged and stumbled out of the house they'd built for themselves. For once the quiet calm of the church only made him feel worse, as the trail of blood tracked through the flowers like a slashed path of desecration.
Until now the worst damage caused by the bastard had been to property, but now someone had died. And it was only going to get worse from here. Even Zack's formidable strength of will apparently couldn't last forever, and the more it eroded the more powerful Sephiroth would get. And the harder it would be to stop him.
Assuming they could stop him at all. Cloud still couldn't face the idea of having to fight and kill Zack to rid himself of Sephiroth this time. He couldn't do it, there was no way. Even if he succeeded, it would destroy him, and Sephiroth would only win the next round.
Kneeling beside the still waters of the crystal-clear pool, Cloud splashed his face and tried to clear his head. He needed to think, not panic. There had to be something he could do, there had to be. If Aerith had any ideas she wasn't speaking up; if ever he could have used her support and counsel it was at that moment, but he got no sense of her presence at all. Zack was probably still asleep, and likely to remain so for some time, since the brunet never got up this early unless he had to.
Rufus. He had to go to Rufus. He'd already decided that yesterday, but by the time their brainstorming session had broken up and Cid and Vincent had returned to the airship it had been far too late to head out to Healin that night. Cloud had been planning on going today, despite Zack's continued protests and grumbling that they couldn't possibly trust a Shinra.
Which, given what he now knew about how thin Zack's control was at this point, probably meant that going to Rufus was what he needed to do. Braced by the thought, able to calm himself a little now that he had a plan, Cloud drew a deep breath and stood.
And nearly staggered as another thought occurred to him. Who had been killed last night? Who would Sephiroth have gone after? The warning in Gongaga had been clear; those closest to Cloud and Zack would be killed, and killed horribly, just to torment them further. Zack's family was out of reach, and that left...
Without even finishing the thought, Cloud was bolting for his bike. Uncaring if he woke Zack, he kicked the engine over and tore out of the building, his heart in his mouth and chest clenched tight with panic. Tifa. The kids. If anything had happened to them, Cloud didn't know what he would do.
He didn't even bother to prop the bike up in its usual spot, letting it skid to a stop and fall as he launched himself off it and charged up to the building. He burst through the door, probably breaking the lock but not really caring, and ran wildly up the stairs. "Tifa!"
"What?" Never in his life had Cloud been so immensely grateful to hear her voice, full of irritation and concern as it was. She opened the door to her bedroom just before he reached it, standing there in a filmy nightgown and tugging her second fighting glove on as she looked around for him. "Cloud? What is it, what's happening? Is it Sephiroth?"
He laughed with sheer relief at the sight of her, utterly incongruous in her silky gown and leather gloves, hair rumpled from sleep but her eyes flashing with determination. There was not a doubt in his mind that she was perfectly prepared to go charging off dressed just like that, if that was what was needed. And she'd probably kick the crap out of just about anything, nightgown or not. Gods, but he loved this woman.
Catching her up in a tight hug, he buried his face in her hair and just let himself shake with relief and reaction. Maybe his feelings for her weren't quite what he'd thought they were, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have been devastated to lose her. If she wasn't the most important person in his life any more she was certainly in the top two.
On the floor above he could hear Marlene and Denzel calling questions and shouting, scrambling to get dressed and come down to see what was going on. They were okay. Sephiroth hadn't killed them, they were okay. Whoever was dead, it wasn't them, and Cloud couldn't even find it in himself to feel guilty for being so relieved that it was someone else who would be mourning loved ones today.
"Cloud!" Shocked to her core, Tifa hugged him back and lifted one hand to run her fingers through his spiky hair, trying to soothe him. She'd never seen him act this way... no, that wasn't true. After Aerith had died he'd been like this, his whole body shuddering with the horror of what had happened, of what he'd nearly done.
"I thought... I thought..." Cloud couldn't force the words out, couldn't even speak the idea aloud for fear that saying it would somehow make it true after all. Getting a grip on himself, he looked up and saw Marlene and Denzel's frightened faces staring at them from the stairwell, Denzel standing protectively in front of Marlene.
"It's okay," he told them hoarsely, letting go of Tifa with one hand and reaching out towards them, inviting them to come closer. "It's all right, I'm sorry I frightened you. I thought something bad had happened to all of you, and I was worried. But it's okay, you're okay, everything is fine." Maybe if he repeated it often enough, the sick feeling in his gut would start to subside as it sank in that it was true.
They came to him, and he and Tifa both put their arms around the kids, holding them close in a four-way hug. "I'm sorry," he said again to them, his heart finally beginning to resettle into its proper place in his chest. "I just... couldn't stand the thought that something might have happened to all of you."
"It's okay," Tifa assured him, though she was still bewildered why he'd have thought such a thing. He hadn't seemed worried about them when he and Zack had left late last night. Glancing out the window at the bare sliver of sun showing through the buildings at the horizon, she confirmed that it hadn't been more than a handful of hours since then. What could possibly have happened in the meantime to upset him so?
Speaking of whom... "Where's Zack? Is he okay?" she asked, aghast at the thought that something had happened to him. If Sephiroth had gotten Zack, gods, she wasn't sure Cloud would survive the blow. Especially if what she suspected about the change in relationship between the two men was true.
Her words made him stiffen, but he shook his head. "He's fine." Probably. He hadn't actually looked into the older man's room to check, and they'd both been so tired the night before they'd tumbled into their own beds without more than a last kiss. But he very much doubted that any of that blood had been Sephiroth's, and therefore wasn't Zack's.
"Go back and try to get some more sleep if you can," he told the kids. This wasn't a discussion they needed to be involved in, though he'd be surprised if they would be able to sleep again after all the fuss. Other kids their age might have been stubborn upon being ordered out of the adults' business, but Marlene and Denzel had both seen enough violence in their lives to know that sometimes the adults needed to be free to do things without having to worry about the vulnerable kids being in the way.
Once they were upstairs, Tifa held up a finger and ducked back into her room to change. She emerged again within the promised minute, dressed in shirt and shorts, with her hair tied back into a messy tail.
"Okay, now, what was that all about?" she demanded quietly as she led the way downstairs and into the kitchen. She set about making them both coffee, which Cloud was grateful for; despite the adrenalin still rushing through his system, he would welcome the stimulant.
"Sephiroth killed someone last night," he told her as she scooped fragrant ground beans into a filter. "Maybe a lot of people, certainly more than one. I don't know who, but I thought..."
"We would have been the obvious targets," Tifa nodded, her eyes softening as she reached out and rested a hand on his arm. No wonder he had been in such a panic. "How do you know? Did the Turks contact you? Where is Zack?"
Cloud's eyes darkened, and his jaw clenched as he looked away from her. "There was blood all over our main room this morning," he replied. "Footprints, and a trail of drops from a blade. Masamune."
"Oh, sweet Shiva," Tifa gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes went wide. "At your place? Why? What on earth is he trying to do? Why didn't he just attack you like he always has before?"
"Because Zack's strength of will is still too strong for that, I think," he said grimly. "Though for how much longer, I'm not sure." Quickly he explained his theory about the connection between Zack and Sephiroth, laying out all the facts as he knew them while she poured the coffee. By the time he was finished she looked as horrified as he'd felt when the realization had first struck him, standing there holding her still mostly full coffee mug as if she'd forgotten what to do with it.
"Oh, gods. Oh, dear gods," Tifa repeated herself, feeling like the words were far too inadequate but too stunned to come up with anything stronger. "Gods! Not Zack!" No wonder Cloud had been so deathly determined to find some way of stopping Sephiroth that didn't involve killing the carrier. No wonder he'd been so adamant about never leaving Zack's side for very long. How it must have been eating at him to carry the weight of this knowledge around all this time, she couldn't imagine.
"What are we going to do?" she asked, despondent. If it would ruin Cloud to lose Zack to Sephiroth, it would destroy him to have to kill Zack himself.
"I'm going to Rufus," Cloud answered her, his eyes flashing with mako and desperation. "I'll take Hojo's files, and I'll wring the answers out of him if it kills me." His hand tightened on his own untouched mug. "I don't have time to pussyfoot around with him."
"He may not be able to give you answers immediately, even if he wants to," Tifa pointed out reluctantly. "He'll have to give it to the scientists, and..."
"I don't care," Cloud growled, cutting her off. "I'll stand over him until he's got the answers, if I have to. One way or another, I'm not leaving until I get what I want from him."
"Cloud, there might not even be anything in Hojo's notes!" Tifa protested. Not that she had any better ideas about what to do, but Cloud seemed almost obsessed with it, and there wasn't any point in him beating his head against a brick wall if the notes weren't the answer. "It's not as if he'd have been plotting out possible ways to stop Sephiroth, he wanted things to go the way they did."
"Then I'll find another way!" Cloud shouted, his eyes flashing again as the mug shattered under the pressure of his hands. Blood from small cuts caused by the sharp ceramic mingled with the scalding liquid, but he hardly felt the pain of the minor injuries. "I love him! I am not giving up on him!"
There, it was out, he'd said it. The words hung between them for a long moment, echoing in the quiet morning air. Tifa swallowed and closed her eyes briefly, then nodded and looked up at him. "I know," she said softly. "I know you do. And he's important to me too. But you need to calm down and think, Cloud, not just react. If you go rushing off headlong after whatever thought pops into your mind, you might miss the real answer. Maybe we should call in the others..."
"No. Absolutely not," Cloud declared immediately. "Damn it, Tifa, the others don't care one bit about Zack. They don't even know him. They'd kill him without a second thought, just to be rid of Sephiroth. Just like you and I were willing to do, if we'd found the black clone we assumed had to be the carrier."
Unfortunately, Tifa had to concede that he was probably right. "Fine, but I still think we need to face the possibility that... that there might not be anything we can do quickly enough to..."
She'd only meant to say that they might have to consider locking Zack up somewhere, for his own protection as much as for everyone else's, but Cloud didn't let her finish the sentence. "No!" he half screamed the denial, making her back up an involuntary step at the anger and pain in his voice. "No, damn it! I lost him once and it nearly destroyed me. I will not lose him again!"
As he spoke the last words he turned and put his fist clear through the wall, expending some of his rage and fear the only way he could think to do so. Facing away from her, he stood there with his eyes closed, breathing hard and struggling to control himself. Everything was happening too fast; he was out of time and out of options, and terrified beyond belief. This was worse than his worst nightmare, and he didn't know what to do. He was floundering, alone, and he couldn't even count on his friends because he was the only one who wouldn't see killing Zack as the inevitable solution.
Staring at him, her heart pounding, Tifa tried to remember if she'd ever seen him so overwrought before. Possibly, but if so she couldn't recall it, couldn't think past the moment they were in right now. Still without facing her, though in a more normal tone of voice, he declared, "I'm going to Rufus. Take the kids and get the hell out of the city. Go to one of the others, somewhere you'll be safe. I want you out of the line of fire."
Then he was gone before she could say anything else, striding out of the kitchen. A moment later she heard the sound of his bike starting, and then he tore out of the yard, heading for the edge of the city. Sighing, she set her mug aside and grabbed a rag, kneeling to clean up the shards of ceramic and spilled coffee and blood.
He was right that she needed to get the kids somewhere safe, but if he thought she was going to go hide somewhere then he could damn well think again. She wasn't running from this fight any more than she'd run from the last ones, and maybe this time he would have it driven into his head that they were there to help him.
Standing, she dumped the mess into the dustbin, rag and all. A soft scuffling noise in the doorway reached her; the kids must have heard Cloud leaving and ventured downstairs again to find out what was going on. "You two need to go pack a bag," she started, turning towards the door.
Her words broke off in a startled gasp. In the doorway stood not the kids but Zack, his dark hair mussed and fists clenched at his sides, blood covering his gloves. Worst of all, the eyes that looked back at her from his face were not his friendly dark blue, but a bone-chilling green. Sephiroth's eyes.
With a curse Tifa turned and ran for the stairs, her only thought that she had to warn Marlene and Denzel to get out before she could turn and fight to hold him off long enough for them to get away.
Healin Lodge was just far enough out of the city that there was no sign of the blight caused by the reactors. It was surrounded by greenery, and had been a favoured retreat of the wealthy and elite of Midgar. As far as Cloud knew, it was now occupied solely by Rufus Shinra and his four remaining Turks.
He drove up the lane, gravel churning up in a wake from his tires and leaving an ugly rut in the road. He had neither the time nor the patience to be more careful, nor did he particularly care if he ruined the picturesque landscaping. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now, and that was all he cared about.
Once again he dumped the bike the moment he reached the stairs up to the door, running up them as fast as he could. For someone with as much mako enhancement as he had, that was very fast indeed.
Near the door, someone with light hair in a black suit had emerged to see what all the fuss was about. "Cloud?" Elena gasped, recognizing him. "What in Odin's name..."
"Where's Rufus?" he demanded, his voice emerging as little more than a snarl. Her eyes widened, and instead of answering she fled for the door, trying to slam it shut before he could get to it.
Cursing, he put on an extra burst of speed, but she still managed to close it just before he got there. He heard the sound of the lock shooting home along with her muffled shouts for help. Undaunted, he reared back and kicked at the door with his booted foot, the metal buckling under the force of the blow. Two more kicks and it had bent enough for him to be able to grab it and tear it right off its hinges, tossing it out of the way behind him. He didn't often show off his strength like this, which meant even those who should have known better often forgot he was capable of it.
His senses on edge, he heard the click of the safety on the gun before he actually saw her. Since he'd half expected something like that, he was easily able to sidestep the bullet and grab the gun, twisting it viciously out of her hand. In the same movement he smashed the butt of the pistol into her temple, dropping her like a sack of rocks. Only a soft groan as she hit the floor told him she was still alive. He was already focusing on the rest of the room, looking for the other Turks he knew had to be there. He had no idea why they were suddenly hostile and refusing to let him speak to Rufus, but he wasn't about to let them stop him.
"Stop right there!" Tseng's cultured voice ordered him. If Cloud hadn't known better he'd have said there was a trace of fear in the man's tone. He turned slowly to find the dark-haired Turk standing in the next doorway in a two-handed gun stance, his pistol aimed unwaveringly at Cloud's heart. "Don't move or I'll shoot."
Cloud snorted. Did Tseng actually think he could possibly hit someone as fast as a 1st Class before Cloud could reach him? Cloud had witnessed Zack literally dancing his way through a hail of bullets, and those had been fired by rifles and machine guns, not handheld pistols. In a contest between a Turk and a SOLDIER the Turk didn't stand a chance, and they both knew it. Cloud might not be a SOLDIER in name, but he certainly was one in body.
"Where's Rufus?" he demanded again, one hand clenched on the hilt of First Tsurugi though he made no move yet to draw it.
"Why?" Tseng countered, still sounding mostly calm but with a definite edge to his voice this time. "You come charging in here, break down the door and injure one of my Turks, and you think I'm going to let you anywhere near Rufus?"
"If she hadn't slammed the door in my face I wouldn't have needed to break it down, and if she hadn't fired on me I wouldn't have knocked her out," Cloud growled. "Now either get out of my way voluntarily, or I will go through you the same way I went through her. I don't have time for this!"
"Take one... step towards him... and I'll... shoot you," Elena rasped from somewhere near his ankle. Startled, he looked down and saw that she'd dragged herself up onto one elbow, blood streaming into her eye from a cut on her temple but her gun steady as she aimed it at him. Two guns weren't any more dangerous to him than one, but he was silently impressed that she'd recovered so quickly. He'd thought he'd struck her harder than that.
"Don't make me hit you again," he responded forbiddingly. "Next time I won't pull my punch."
"I'll ask you one more time, why do you want to see Rufus?" Tseng demanded, his finger tightening on the trigger. Cloud tensed at that, ready to dodge, but they were interrupted before either of them had a chance to act.
"Enough, Tseng," Rufus Shinra's smooth tenor reached them both, and a moment later the man himself limped into view behind his bodyguard. The end of the geostigma had freed the blond from his wheelchair, but he still needed a cane to move around and it was obvious that he would be a long time yet in recovering from the collapse of Shinra Tower. Despite his infirmity, he didn't look in the least bit worried or intimidated as he faced down Cloud.
"Ah, if it isn't the former SOLDIER Cloud," Rufus greeted him mockingly. Cloud suspected that Rufus had seen the Nibelheim files and had recognized him in their very first confrontation, and had known all along that Cloud wasn't the SOLDIER he claimed to be. He certainly took great pleasure in reminding the ex-trooper of it. "What brings you to my humble abode on this fine day?"
Cloud reached into his pocket, making both Tseng and Elena tense, and tossed a packet at Rufus that contained copies of the disks Reeve had cracked for him. The former Shinra president made no effort to catch them, allowing them to fall at his feet rather than fumbling for them with hands that still didn't work as well as they should have.
"Hojo's files," Cloud informed him bluntly. "From a secret lab he kept not far from Kalm. Everything on the Jenova project, in particular the files for Sephiroth, myself, and SOLDIER 1st Class Zack."
"Oh?" Rufus raised an eyebrow at him. "And why are you giving them to me?"
"Because just about every competent scientist left in the world seems to be working for you, and I need to know what's actually in there," Cloud told him. "I want to stop him once and for all, not just kill his carrier again." He didn't mention the part where the carrier was Zack; no way in hell was he giving Rufus that kind of power over him. If Rufus knew just how important this was to Cloud, he would have far too much leverage.
"Since that's something I'd rather like to see myself, I'm inclined to cooperate," Rufus replied dryly. "There was no need to destroy my property or hurt my Turks. It will take some time..."
Cloud took a step towards him, drawing his blade, and Tseng pushed himself back in front of Rufus to protect him. "I don't have time," Cloud snarled. "Sephiroth is killing people. We're out of time, and you will give me the answers I need, or so help me I will cut them out of your hide!"
The headache hit him all at once, the agonizing migraine that meant Sephiroth was active somewhere. But he'd left Zack behind in Midgar, there was no way the older man could have followed him out to Healin.
"Hmm?" The sound of Rufus' voice reached him distantly through the pain. "Now, that is interesting. I can certainly see why Elena slammed the door on you. Who exactly did you say is the carrier this time?"
"Zack," Cloud gasped, his vision swimming in shades of green as he fought off Sephiroth's power. It wasn't intended as an answer to Rufus' question, though it inadvertently was one. Rather it was an exclamation of realization, as Cloud kicked himself for a fool. He'd left Zack alone, unguarded, even though he'd known how thin his lover's control had become. If he was sensing Sephiroth this strongly even though they were miles apart, the bastard had to be in full control and he was probably killing someone.
Tifa...
There was a crackle of static, and Tseng lifted one hand from his gun to touch the receiver hooked over his ear. "Sir," he said a moment later, "Reno reports multiple bodies found in Edge, in what used to be Sector 7. There's panic in the streets, and he doesn't have an ID or body count yet. People are saying it was Sephiroth who did it."
"Damn it!" Cloud swore, and with a massive effort of will he shoved Sephiroth's presence away from him and sheathed his sword. As much as he wanted to stay here and force Rufus into producing a miracle for him, he needed to get back there and protect the city from Sephiroth. To protect Tifa from him. "We need those answers, and we need them now!" he snarled at Rufus. "I'll hold him off as long as I can!"
Turning, he bolted back through the ruined door, heading for his bike. He should have secured Zack somehow before leaving the church. He should have escorted Tifa and the kids safely out of the city before he'd left. He should have done something, should have thought like Tifa was telling him to, instead of tearing out of there the way he had. Instead he'd left her in danger, and there was no way she would be able to fight off Sephiroth by herself.
Praying to every god he could think of, Cloud drove back to Edge at the top speed of his bike. The closer he got, the more he could feel Sephiroth's power pushing at the edges of his mind again, and the more he panicked. Always before this, the headache and the sense of presence had faded after a few minutes. This time it was only getting stronger, and the thought of what that might mean was more than he could bear. What if Zack's control had finally snapped completely?
He lost time in the streets of Edge; Reno hadn't been kidding about the chaos in the streets, and trying to get the bike through the crowds of people milling about was a lost cause. At last he abandoned it and ran instead, shoving his way roughly past anyone who got in his way, uncaring if someone got hurt.
For the second time that morning he burst into the 7th Heaven, terrified of what he would find. As he entered the main room Sephiroth's power suddenly surged within him, leaving him blinded and reeling against the wall, clutching at his head. This time the fit seemed to last forever, and he struggled wildly to be free of it.
When it finally ebbed and his eyes cleared, he looked around in horror to find exactly what he'd been afraid of. Tables and chairs were scattered everywhere, most of them shattered past recognition. The signs of a fight were obvious, and there were smudges of blood on the walls and puddles of it on the floor. Near the middle of the room Tifa lay broken and bleeding, an ugly wound in her chest that could only have been caused by a sword being run through her.
Cloud knew the look of that wound, knew it far too well. He'd seen it on her once before, in the Nibelheim reactor, and he'd seen it on Aerith in the lost City of the Ancients. Hell, he'd seen it on himself, after Sephiroth had flung him off the masamune and tossed him carelessly to one side.
And just as he'd feared Zack was standing over her, his eyes glowing green and his hands bloody. Something inside Cloud died a little, and he knew the rest would follow shortly. Everything he feared most was coming to pass, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
I need to make a new icon for the next parts, really... hell, I just need more FFVII icons, period.
Title: Too Good To Be True
Series: Final Fantasy VII
Pairing: Zack/Cloud, some Cloud/Tifa, mention of Zack/Aerith
Rating: R, NC-17 in other chapters
Warnings: violence, sex, yaoi, the usual.
Chapter Length: 5022
Total Length: 93,102
Author's Note: This takes place after AC, and is slightly AU in that Zack would not have been present with Aerith in the moments when Cloud touched the Lifestream. Or just tell yourself he was hallucinating Zack, if you like.
When things seem too good to be true it usually means there's a catch hidden somewhere. But hasn't Cloud earned his happy ending ten times over?
It took Cloud far too long to actually understand what he was looking at. In the dim, pre-dawn light, the trail of blood droplets and bloody footprints that led across their tiny common room looked black instead of red. It was only the too-familiar scent of it that let him identify it, but even though he knew what it was he still couldn't quite make sense of it.
His eyes tracked the trail from the entrance to the rest of the church until it reached Zack's door, where a larger puddle indicated that whoever had tracked the blood in had stood there for a moment. On the handle of the door itself was another smudged print, as if a bloody glove had rested there to open the door.
Bloody footprints, bloody gloves, and a trail of droplets that could only have been left by blood dripping off a naked sword blade... once Cloud finally managed to kick his brain into gear, it all added up to only one thing. Sephiroth had killed someone last night, probably several someones judging by the amount of blood, and he hadn't reverted to Zack until the moment the former SOLDIER had reached his own door.
Feeling sick, Cloud clapped a hand over his mouth as he gagged and stumbled out of the house they'd built for themselves. For once the quiet calm of the church only made him feel worse, as the trail of blood tracked through the flowers like a slashed path of desecration.
Until now the worst damage caused by the bastard had been to property, but now someone had died. And it was only going to get worse from here. Even Zack's formidable strength of will apparently couldn't last forever, and the more it eroded the more powerful Sephiroth would get. And the harder it would be to stop him.
Assuming they could stop him at all. Cloud still couldn't face the idea of having to fight and kill Zack to rid himself of Sephiroth this time. He couldn't do it, there was no way. Even if he succeeded, it would destroy him, and Sephiroth would only win the next round.
Kneeling beside the still waters of the crystal-clear pool, Cloud splashed his face and tried to clear his head. He needed to think, not panic. There had to be something he could do, there had to be. If Aerith had any ideas she wasn't speaking up; if ever he could have used her support and counsel it was at that moment, but he got no sense of her presence at all. Zack was probably still asleep, and likely to remain so for some time, since the brunet never got up this early unless he had to.
Rufus. He had to go to Rufus. He'd already decided that yesterday, but by the time their brainstorming session had broken up and Cid and Vincent had returned to the airship it had been far too late to head out to Healin that night. Cloud had been planning on going today, despite Zack's continued protests and grumbling that they couldn't possibly trust a Shinra.
Which, given what he now knew about how thin Zack's control was at this point, probably meant that going to Rufus was what he needed to do. Braced by the thought, able to calm himself a little now that he had a plan, Cloud drew a deep breath and stood.
And nearly staggered as another thought occurred to him. Who had been killed last night? Who would Sephiroth have gone after? The warning in Gongaga had been clear; those closest to Cloud and Zack would be killed, and killed horribly, just to torment them further. Zack's family was out of reach, and that left...
Without even finishing the thought, Cloud was bolting for his bike. Uncaring if he woke Zack, he kicked the engine over and tore out of the building, his heart in his mouth and chest clenched tight with panic. Tifa. The kids. If anything had happened to them, Cloud didn't know what he would do.
He didn't even bother to prop the bike up in its usual spot, letting it skid to a stop and fall as he launched himself off it and charged up to the building. He burst through the door, probably breaking the lock but not really caring, and ran wildly up the stairs. "Tifa!"
"What?" Never in his life had Cloud been so immensely grateful to hear her voice, full of irritation and concern as it was. She opened the door to her bedroom just before he reached it, standing there in a filmy nightgown and tugging her second fighting glove on as she looked around for him. "Cloud? What is it, what's happening? Is it Sephiroth?"
He laughed with sheer relief at the sight of her, utterly incongruous in her silky gown and leather gloves, hair rumpled from sleep but her eyes flashing with determination. There was not a doubt in his mind that she was perfectly prepared to go charging off dressed just like that, if that was what was needed. And she'd probably kick the crap out of just about anything, nightgown or not. Gods, but he loved this woman.
Catching her up in a tight hug, he buried his face in her hair and just let himself shake with relief and reaction. Maybe his feelings for her weren't quite what he'd thought they were, but that didn't mean he wouldn't have been devastated to lose her. If she wasn't the most important person in his life any more she was certainly in the top two.
On the floor above he could hear Marlene and Denzel calling questions and shouting, scrambling to get dressed and come down to see what was going on. They were okay. Sephiroth hadn't killed them, they were okay. Whoever was dead, it wasn't them, and Cloud couldn't even find it in himself to feel guilty for being so relieved that it was someone else who would be mourning loved ones today.
"Cloud!" Shocked to her core, Tifa hugged him back and lifted one hand to run her fingers through his spiky hair, trying to soothe him. She'd never seen him act this way... no, that wasn't true. After Aerith had died he'd been like this, his whole body shuddering with the horror of what had happened, of what he'd nearly done.
"I thought... I thought..." Cloud couldn't force the words out, couldn't even speak the idea aloud for fear that saying it would somehow make it true after all. Getting a grip on himself, he looked up and saw Marlene and Denzel's frightened faces staring at them from the stairwell, Denzel standing protectively in front of Marlene.
"It's okay," he told them hoarsely, letting go of Tifa with one hand and reaching out towards them, inviting them to come closer. "It's all right, I'm sorry I frightened you. I thought something bad had happened to all of you, and I was worried. But it's okay, you're okay, everything is fine." Maybe if he repeated it often enough, the sick feeling in his gut would start to subside as it sank in that it was true.
They came to him, and he and Tifa both put their arms around the kids, holding them close in a four-way hug. "I'm sorry," he said again to them, his heart finally beginning to resettle into its proper place in his chest. "I just... couldn't stand the thought that something might have happened to all of you."
"It's okay," Tifa assured him, though she was still bewildered why he'd have thought such a thing. He hadn't seemed worried about them when he and Zack had left late last night. Glancing out the window at the bare sliver of sun showing through the buildings at the horizon, she confirmed that it hadn't been more than a handful of hours since then. What could possibly have happened in the meantime to upset him so?
Speaking of whom... "Where's Zack? Is he okay?" she asked, aghast at the thought that something had happened to him. If Sephiroth had gotten Zack, gods, she wasn't sure Cloud would survive the blow. Especially if what she suspected about the change in relationship between the two men was true.
Her words made him stiffen, but he shook his head. "He's fine." Probably. He hadn't actually looked into the older man's room to check, and they'd both been so tired the night before they'd tumbled into their own beds without more than a last kiss. But he very much doubted that any of that blood had been Sephiroth's, and therefore wasn't Zack's.
"Go back and try to get some more sleep if you can," he told the kids. This wasn't a discussion they needed to be involved in, though he'd be surprised if they would be able to sleep again after all the fuss. Other kids their age might have been stubborn upon being ordered out of the adults' business, but Marlene and Denzel had both seen enough violence in their lives to know that sometimes the adults needed to be free to do things without having to worry about the vulnerable kids being in the way.
Once they were upstairs, Tifa held up a finger and ducked back into her room to change. She emerged again within the promised minute, dressed in shirt and shorts, with her hair tied back into a messy tail.
"Okay, now, what was that all about?" she demanded quietly as she led the way downstairs and into the kitchen. She set about making them both coffee, which Cloud was grateful for; despite the adrenalin still rushing through his system, he would welcome the stimulant.
"Sephiroth killed someone last night," he told her as she scooped fragrant ground beans into a filter. "Maybe a lot of people, certainly more than one. I don't know who, but I thought..."
"We would have been the obvious targets," Tifa nodded, her eyes softening as she reached out and rested a hand on his arm. No wonder he had been in such a panic. "How do you know? Did the Turks contact you? Where is Zack?"
Cloud's eyes darkened, and his jaw clenched as he looked away from her. "There was blood all over our main room this morning," he replied. "Footprints, and a trail of drops from a blade. Masamune."
"Oh, sweet Shiva," Tifa gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes went wide. "At your place? Why? What on earth is he trying to do? Why didn't he just attack you like he always has before?"
"Because Zack's strength of will is still too strong for that, I think," he said grimly. "Though for how much longer, I'm not sure." Quickly he explained his theory about the connection between Zack and Sephiroth, laying out all the facts as he knew them while she poured the coffee. By the time he was finished she looked as horrified as he'd felt when the realization had first struck him, standing there holding her still mostly full coffee mug as if she'd forgotten what to do with it.
"Oh, gods. Oh, dear gods," Tifa repeated herself, feeling like the words were far too inadequate but too stunned to come up with anything stronger. "Gods! Not Zack!" No wonder Cloud had been so deathly determined to find some way of stopping Sephiroth that didn't involve killing the carrier. No wonder he'd been so adamant about never leaving Zack's side for very long. How it must have been eating at him to carry the weight of this knowledge around all this time, she couldn't imagine.
"What are we going to do?" she asked, despondent. If it would ruin Cloud to lose Zack to Sephiroth, it would destroy him to have to kill Zack himself.
"I'm going to Rufus," Cloud answered her, his eyes flashing with mako and desperation. "I'll take Hojo's files, and I'll wring the answers out of him if it kills me." His hand tightened on his own untouched mug. "I don't have time to pussyfoot around with him."
"He may not be able to give you answers immediately, even if he wants to," Tifa pointed out reluctantly. "He'll have to give it to the scientists, and..."
"I don't care," Cloud growled, cutting her off. "I'll stand over him until he's got the answers, if I have to. One way or another, I'm not leaving until I get what I want from him."
"Cloud, there might not even be anything in Hojo's notes!" Tifa protested. Not that she had any better ideas about what to do, but Cloud seemed almost obsessed with it, and there wasn't any point in him beating his head against a brick wall if the notes weren't the answer. "It's not as if he'd have been plotting out possible ways to stop Sephiroth, he wanted things to go the way they did."
"Then I'll find another way!" Cloud shouted, his eyes flashing again as the mug shattered under the pressure of his hands. Blood from small cuts caused by the sharp ceramic mingled with the scalding liquid, but he hardly felt the pain of the minor injuries. "I love him! I am not giving up on him!"
There, it was out, he'd said it. The words hung between them for a long moment, echoing in the quiet morning air. Tifa swallowed and closed her eyes briefly, then nodded and looked up at him. "I know," she said softly. "I know you do. And he's important to me too. But you need to calm down and think, Cloud, not just react. If you go rushing off headlong after whatever thought pops into your mind, you might miss the real answer. Maybe we should call in the others..."
"No. Absolutely not," Cloud declared immediately. "Damn it, Tifa, the others don't care one bit about Zack. They don't even know him. They'd kill him without a second thought, just to be rid of Sephiroth. Just like you and I were willing to do, if we'd found the black clone we assumed had to be the carrier."
Unfortunately, Tifa had to concede that he was probably right. "Fine, but I still think we need to face the possibility that... that there might not be anything we can do quickly enough to..."
She'd only meant to say that they might have to consider locking Zack up somewhere, for his own protection as much as for everyone else's, but Cloud didn't let her finish the sentence. "No!" he half screamed the denial, making her back up an involuntary step at the anger and pain in his voice. "No, damn it! I lost him once and it nearly destroyed me. I will not lose him again!"
As he spoke the last words he turned and put his fist clear through the wall, expending some of his rage and fear the only way he could think to do so. Facing away from her, he stood there with his eyes closed, breathing hard and struggling to control himself. Everything was happening too fast; he was out of time and out of options, and terrified beyond belief. This was worse than his worst nightmare, and he didn't know what to do. He was floundering, alone, and he couldn't even count on his friends because he was the only one who wouldn't see killing Zack as the inevitable solution.
Staring at him, her heart pounding, Tifa tried to remember if she'd ever seen him so overwrought before. Possibly, but if so she couldn't recall it, couldn't think past the moment they were in right now. Still without facing her, though in a more normal tone of voice, he declared, "I'm going to Rufus. Take the kids and get the hell out of the city. Go to one of the others, somewhere you'll be safe. I want you out of the line of fire."
Then he was gone before she could say anything else, striding out of the kitchen. A moment later she heard the sound of his bike starting, and then he tore out of the yard, heading for the edge of the city. Sighing, she set her mug aside and grabbed a rag, kneeling to clean up the shards of ceramic and spilled coffee and blood.
He was right that she needed to get the kids somewhere safe, but if he thought she was going to go hide somewhere then he could damn well think again. She wasn't running from this fight any more than she'd run from the last ones, and maybe this time he would have it driven into his head that they were there to help him.
Standing, she dumped the mess into the dustbin, rag and all. A soft scuffling noise in the doorway reached her; the kids must have heard Cloud leaving and ventured downstairs again to find out what was going on. "You two need to go pack a bag," she started, turning towards the door.
Her words broke off in a startled gasp. In the doorway stood not the kids but Zack, his dark hair mussed and fists clenched at his sides, blood covering his gloves. Worst of all, the eyes that looked back at her from his face were not his friendly dark blue, but a bone-chilling green. Sephiroth's eyes.
With a curse Tifa turned and ran for the stairs, her only thought that she had to warn Marlene and Denzel to get out before she could turn and fight to hold him off long enough for them to get away.
Healin Lodge was just far enough out of the city that there was no sign of the blight caused by the reactors. It was surrounded by greenery, and had been a favoured retreat of the wealthy and elite of Midgar. As far as Cloud knew, it was now occupied solely by Rufus Shinra and his four remaining Turks.
He drove up the lane, gravel churning up in a wake from his tires and leaving an ugly rut in the road. He had neither the time nor the patience to be more careful, nor did he particularly care if he ruined the picturesque landscaping. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now, and that was all he cared about.
Once again he dumped the bike the moment he reached the stairs up to the door, running up them as fast as he could. For someone with as much mako enhancement as he had, that was very fast indeed.
Near the door, someone with light hair in a black suit had emerged to see what all the fuss was about. "Cloud?" Elena gasped, recognizing him. "What in Odin's name..."
"Where's Rufus?" he demanded, his voice emerging as little more than a snarl. Her eyes widened, and instead of answering she fled for the door, trying to slam it shut before he could get to it.
Cursing, he put on an extra burst of speed, but she still managed to close it just before he got there. He heard the sound of the lock shooting home along with her muffled shouts for help. Undaunted, he reared back and kicked at the door with his booted foot, the metal buckling under the force of the blow. Two more kicks and it had bent enough for him to be able to grab it and tear it right off its hinges, tossing it out of the way behind him. He didn't often show off his strength like this, which meant even those who should have known better often forgot he was capable of it.
His senses on edge, he heard the click of the safety on the gun before he actually saw her. Since he'd half expected something like that, he was easily able to sidestep the bullet and grab the gun, twisting it viciously out of her hand. In the same movement he smashed the butt of the pistol into her temple, dropping her like a sack of rocks. Only a soft groan as she hit the floor told him she was still alive. He was already focusing on the rest of the room, looking for the other Turks he knew had to be there. He had no idea why they were suddenly hostile and refusing to let him speak to Rufus, but he wasn't about to let them stop him.
"Stop right there!" Tseng's cultured voice ordered him. If Cloud hadn't known better he'd have said there was a trace of fear in the man's tone. He turned slowly to find the dark-haired Turk standing in the next doorway in a two-handed gun stance, his pistol aimed unwaveringly at Cloud's heart. "Don't move or I'll shoot."
Cloud snorted. Did Tseng actually think he could possibly hit someone as fast as a 1st Class before Cloud could reach him? Cloud had witnessed Zack literally dancing his way through a hail of bullets, and those had been fired by rifles and machine guns, not handheld pistols. In a contest between a Turk and a SOLDIER the Turk didn't stand a chance, and they both knew it. Cloud might not be a SOLDIER in name, but he certainly was one in body.
"Where's Rufus?" he demanded again, one hand clenched on the hilt of First Tsurugi though he made no move yet to draw it.
"Why?" Tseng countered, still sounding mostly calm but with a definite edge to his voice this time. "You come charging in here, break down the door and injure one of my Turks, and you think I'm going to let you anywhere near Rufus?"
"If she hadn't slammed the door in my face I wouldn't have needed to break it down, and if she hadn't fired on me I wouldn't have knocked her out," Cloud growled. "Now either get out of my way voluntarily, or I will go through you the same way I went through her. I don't have time for this!"
"Take one... step towards him... and I'll... shoot you," Elena rasped from somewhere near his ankle. Startled, he looked down and saw that she'd dragged herself up onto one elbow, blood streaming into her eye from a cut on her temple but her gun steady as she aimed it at him. Two guns weren't any more dangerous to him than one, but he was silently impressed that she'd recovered so quickly. He'd thought he'd struck her harder than that.
"Don't make me hit you again," he responded forbiddingly. "Next time I won't pull my punch."
"I'll ask you one more time, why do you want to see Rufus?" Tseng demanded, his finger tightening on the trigger. Cloud tensed at that, ready to dodge, but they were interrupted before either of them had a chance to act.
"Enough, Tseng," Rufus Shinra's smooth tenor reached them both, and a moment later the man himself limped into view behind his bodyguard. The end of the geostigma had freed the blond from his wheelchair, but he still needed a cane to move around and it was obvious that he would be a long time yet in recovering from the collapse of Shinra Tower. Despite his infirmity, he didn't look in the least bit worried or intimidated as he faced down Cloud.
"Ah, if it isn't the former SOLDIER Cloud," Rufus greeted him mockingly. Cloud suspected that Rufus had seen the Nibelheim files and had recognized him in their very first confrontation, and had known all along that Cloud wasn't the SOLDIER he claimed to be. He certainly took great pleasure in reminding the ex-trooper of it. "What brings you to my humble abode on this fine day?"
Cloud reached into his pocket, making both Tseng and Elena tense, and tossed a packet at Rufus that contained copies of the disks Reeve had cracked for him. The former Shinra president made no effort to catch them, allowing them to fall at his feet rather than fumbling for them with hands that still didn't work as well as they should have.
"Hojo's files," Cloud informed him bluntly. "From a secret lab he kept not far from Kalm. Everything on the Jenova project, in particular the files for Sephiroth, myself, and SOLDIER 1st Class Zack."
"Oh?" Rufus raised an eyebrow at him. "And why are you giving them to me?"
"Because just about every competent scientist left in the world seems to be working for you, and I need to know what's actually in there," Cloud told him. "I want to stop him once and for all, not just kill his carrier again." He didn't mention the part where the carrier was Zack; no way in hell was he giving Rufus that kind of power over him. If Rufus knew just how important this was to Cloud, he would have far too much leverage.
"Since that's something I'd rather like to see myself, I'm inclined to cooperate," Rufus replied dryly. "There was no need to destroy my property or hurt my Turks. It will take some time..."
Cloud took a step towards him, drawing his blade, and Tseng pushed himself back in front of Rufus to protect him. "I don't have time," Cloud snarled. "Sephiroth is killing people. We're out of time, and you will give me the answers I need, or so help me I will cut them out of your hide!"
The headache hit him all at once, the agonizing migraine that meant Sephiroth was active somewhere. But he'd left Zack behind in Midgar, there was no way the older man could have followed him out to Healin.
"Hmm?" The sound of Rufus' voice reached him distantly through the pain. "Now, that is interesting. I can certainly see why Elena slammed the door on you. Who exactly did you say is the carrier this time?"
"Zack," Cloud gasped, his vision swimming in shades of green as he fought off Sephiroth's power. It wasn't intended as an answer to Rufus' question, though it inadvertently was one. Rather it was an exclamation of realization, as Cloud kicked himself for a fool. He'd left Zack alone, unguarded, even though he'd known how thin his lover's control had become. If he was sensing Sephiroth this strongly even though they were miles apart, the bastard had to be in full control and he was probably killing someone.
Tifa...
There was a crackle of static, and Tseng lifted one hand from his gun to touch the receiver hooked over his ear. "Sir," he said a moment later, "Reno reports multiple bodies found in Edge, in what used to be Sector 7. There's panic in the streets, and he doesn't have an ID or body count yet. People are saying it was Sephiroth who did it."
"Damn it!" Cloud swore, and with a massive effort of will he shoved Sephiroth's presence away from him and sheathed his sword. As much as he wanted to stay here and force Rufus into producing a miracle for him, he needed to get back there and protect the city from Sephiroth. To protect Tifa from him. "We need those answers, and we need them now!" he snarled at Rufus. "I'll hold him off as long as I can!"
Turning, he bolted back through the ruined door, heading for his bike. He should have secured Zack somehow before leaving the church. He should have escorted Tifa and the kids safely out of the city before he'd left. He should have done something, should have thought like Tifa was telling him to, instead of tearing out of there the way he had. Instead he'd left her in danger, and there was no way she would be able to fight off Sephiroth by herself.
Praying to every god he could think of, Cloud drove back to Edge at the top speed of his bike. The closer he got, the more he could feel Sephiroth's power pushing at the edges of his mind again, and the more he panicked. Always before this, the headache and the sense of presence had faded after a few minutes. This time it was only getting stronger, and the thought of what that might mean was more than he could bear. What if Zack's control had finally snapped completely?
He lost time in the streets of Edge; Reno hadn't been kidding about the chaos in the streets, and trying to get the bike through the crowds of people milling about was a lost cause. At last he abandoned it and ran instead, shoving his way roughly past anyone who got in his way, uncaring if someone got hurt.
For the second time that morning he burst into the 7th Heaven, terrified of what he would find. As he entered the main room Sephiroth's power suddenly surged within him, leaving him blinded and reeling against the wall, clutching at his head. This time the fit seemed to last forever, and he struggled wildly to be free of it.
When it finally ebbed and his eyes cleared, he looked around in horror to find exactly what he'd been afraid of. Tables and chairs were scattered everywhere, most of them shattered past recognition. The signs of a fight were obvious, and there were smudges of blood on the walls and puddles of it on the floor. Near the middle of the room Tifa lay broken and bleeding, an ugly wound in her chest that could only have been caused by a sword being run through her.
Cloud knew the look of that wound, knew it far too well. He'd seen it on her once before, in the Nibelheim reactor, and he'd seen it on Aerith in the lost City of the Ancients. Hell, he'd seen it on himself, after Sephiroth had flung him off the masamune and tossed him carelessly to one side.
And just as he'd feared Zack was standing over her, his eyes glowing green and his hands bloody. Something inside Cloud died a little, and he knew the rest would follow shortly. Everything he feared most was coming to pass, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.