Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"There's a truck broken down about a kilometer out," Cloud heard Tifa call as she dropped off his lunch on the counter. "Bet you can make a few gil off them. It's Shinra, so charge 'em for every gear you poke."

Cloud chuckled as stood and stretched - his Hardy Daytona motorcycle was in perfect condition, but he tinkered anyway on slow summer afternoons when no one else needed any work done. He was the only mechanic in Nibelheim, after all. If there was work, it'd arrive at his door-- or he'd tow it in.

"Want to ride along?" he asked as he circled around his bike, strolled through the shop and grabbed the keys for the tow-truck off the counter. He couldn't afford an assistant but sometimes Tifa hung out in the garage when she wasn't at her own job.

"Nope. Gotta start prep for dinner," Tifa replied. "Want me to toss this in fridge?"

"I'll eat it on the way," Cloud said. He gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and let her do the same before he headed out to the yard. They'd long ago discovered they weren't romantically compatible, but they were good friends, even after everything. When she got hurt. When he got hurt just before he planned to leave for Midgar. When...

It didn't matter, he supposed, as he climbed into the orange tow-truck he'd inherited from the last owner of the garage when he'd sold the business to Cloud and retired to Mideel. Cloud had most everything he wanted. His mother understood that he wasn't ever going to bring a nice older girl home to take care of him.

Tifa dated someone different every few months and still trained constantly.

Every now and then, the village council threatened to raze the old Shinra place. Maybe that's why Shinra folks had come out to Nibelheim. There had been some fuss at the mako reactor at one point, but it had quieted down. Then were were all sorts of bombings in Midgar and Cloud supposed he was better off in sleepy Nibelheim fixing trucks and whatever else people brought him.

Either Tifa had been incorrect about the distance or the Shinra folks had gotten themselves fixed, Cloud thought as he shoved a second sandwich into his mouth. Tifa had packed well - all things he could eat one-handed and while driving, though he could drive the truck with his knees if he really needed to.

He'd popped a final deviled egg into his mouth and was still chewing when he finally saw the truck. More like five kilos, really, and they were definitely still broken down. Apparently, one of the group thought himself mechanically inclined and had the hood of the truck open. While there wasn't smoke in the air, there was a lingering stench that something had gone wrong with a hose and burned. Cloud never had the windows up on the truck if he could help it - the immediate scent of a broken vehicle was always a good diagnostic tool.

Slowing as he approached, Cloud finally stopped just as one of the Shinra men - a SOLDIER by the looks of his uniform - with unruly black hair came bounding over towards him.

"You've got good timing," the man said with a wide grin. "Unless you're on your way to pick up some other unlucky bunch."

"Got a report my services were needed," Cloud replied. He liked this guy already.

"Blew, like, every hose on the damned thing," the black-haired man added. "Probably more than any of us knew it had."

"Zack--"

Cloud hadn't even really paid attention to the man who'd been leaning over the engine, apparently seeing if there was any way to magic the truck back into running. Despite taking a few correspondence courses on potentially using materia in machinery, Cloud knew it wouldn't work in this particular situation.

He also knew the voice he'd just heard. He'd seen it on television time and time again. Radio broadcasts. He... was fairly glad he hadn't slid out of his seat yet or he'd likely have stumbled.

With his silver hair tied back and wearing something other than his familiar black leather, Shinra's General Sephiroth didn't look quite like the hero Cloud had grown up idolizing. But this was definitely him. His voice hit Cloud deep in his core and Cloud had to shake it off to get his door all the way open and jump down.

"What? Seph, it's not going anywhere without a tow," Zack countered. "And look, this is a guy with a tow truck who is here to tow our truck."

Cloud couldn't help chuckling. "It doesn't smell like you're going anywhere," he added.

"I suppose." Sephiroth looked at him coolly, obviously appraising. While Sephiroth still looked commanding in dark pants and a button-down dress shirt, Cloud knew he looked... like a tow-truck driver. A mechanic. Studs in his ears. Tattoos on his arms, which were visible under the rolled sleeves of his stained t-shirt.

"I'll get hooked up -- there's just two of you?" Cloud asked as he looked at the Shinra truck and decided how he wanted to pull it. He knew the model well - how the drive system and engine worked and likely what had gone wrong.

"Just two," Sephiroth affirmed.

"You'll fit in my cab then," Cloud noted. "Safer that way."

"Need a hand?" Zack questioned. Cloud really liked this guy. But he kept looking at Sephiroth.

"I'm fine. Done this a hundred times," Cloud replied as he gestured for them to move away while he climbed back into the truck. Maybe not a hundred, but close.

"I'm Zack," Zack called. "Zack Fair. This is Sephiroth--"

"Cloud Strife," Cloud replied. He hadn't turned the tow-truck off and quickly maneuvered to hook up. Both Zack and Sephiroth seemed to approve of his speed, at least. He slid back to put their truck in neutral and then gestured that they'd better all climb into his cab.

"I'll sit in the middle," Zack volunteered with a shrug as he opened the passenger door.

Cloud just nodded and quickly hopped in to stash the remains of his lunch packaging under his seat. A minute later, with Zack pressed tight to his side and Sephiroth looking disdainfully out the open window, they were on their way back to Nibelheim.

"We'll have to report on this," Sephiroth commented halfway between where they'd broken down and Cloud's garage. "How long will it take to fix the truck?"

"Don't know til I see exactly what you did," Cloud replied. "Depends if I have parts or have to order them. I might be able to get them off a junk truck in town. It's a common model."

"I just want to do our job and leave," Sephiroth added. "I did not volunteer for this... ridiculous assignment."

"Is something the matter out here?" Cloud questioned. He wasn't sure he'd get a reply. He still couldn't quite believe he was talking to Sephiroth. Because he had Sephiroth in his tow-truck. Oh, Tifa would never believe it, except she was probably going to see it.

"Nah," Zack answered. "Seph's just grumpy because this really is a crappy assignment. Apparently there's some unpaid taxes or something on something Shinra owns and it's become a big deal and some idiot thought it'd be a good idea to send the biggest gun possible to squabble with the village council."

"I was supposed to come out here years ago," Sephiroth added. "Both of us. But..."

"Yeah, whatever happened with that?" Zack questioned. "That was like five or six years ago, something with the reactor?"

"I don't know," Sephiroth admitted. "Might be when the terrorists got Professor Hojo. That was around the same time. But the assignment changed. Assignments change."

Zack nodded.

They pulled into town slowly.

"Do you want to come to the garage or get dropped at the inn?" Cloud asked. "Or there's a great little pub my friend works at..."

"Garage," Zack said quickly.

"Inn," Sephiroth countered.

"How far between?" Zack asked as Cloud turned towards the inn.

"Few blocks," Cloud answered.

"I'll ride in and then bring our stuff," Zack offered. Sephiroth simply nodded.

Only then did Cloud wonder about what he thought should have been obvious - they seemed almost like a couple. Maybe they'd just worked together for a long time. He didn't know...

Cloud dropped Sephiroth off at the inn with little fanfare. It was a little discouraging, really. That was Sephiroth - the idol of his teenage years. He'd probably see him again to pay the repair bill and then Sephiroth would promptly forget him.

"He doesn't usually have that big of a stick up his ass," Zack commented as Cloud started towards his garage. Without Sephiroth wedged in the cab, Zack slid over and stretched his arms up and settled them behind his head.

"It's okay," Cloud replied. "Sounds like you two got the short sticks, actually."

"Eh, not so bad. It's nice to have an easy job now and then." Zack glanced out the window. "You grew up here?"

"Yeah."

"I'm from a small town, too," Zack said. "Seph doesn't get that, sometimes. He doesn't know how to slow down."

"He's General Sephiroth. He..." Cloud wasn't sure quite how he wanted to defend Sephiroth, but he was fairly sure if his hero wanted to be frustrated about being stuck in Nibelheim, that was okay.

Zack chuckled. "You grew up with an eye on him, huh? Wanted to be a hero, too?"

"Maybe," Cloud muttered.

"Well, you just saved our dumb asses with your neon orange tow truck, Cloud Strife. And I bet we're not the first dumbasses you've rescued, so guess what... we're all on pretty even ground."

Cloud didn't know what to say. Instead he just pulled into the garage's yard.

"I'll get started on the truck right away," he finally said. Zack didn't waste time getting duffels out of the back once Cloud had it unchained and flat on the ground.

"I'll be back later for our weapons and whatnot," Zack added. "Don't need to be dragging all that through town in the middle of the day."

Cloud nodded, half-listening. He'd need to see what he had in fluids, hoses, and if anything else had been damaged...

It would be a long day. A good day, but a long one.

~*~

The only reason Cloud looked in the back of the truck was because he needed to jack up the front end and wanted to make sure nothing was going to shift too much and get damaged. Everything looked fairly secure - strapped down with black bungee cords to hooks on the floor. Smart, Cloud thought. He wasn't sure what all Zack and General Sephiroth would have brought with them, but they seemed well prepared.

And then he remembered what Zack had said - weapons. Sure enough, two cases fit the relative sizes for a SOLDIER's Buster-type sword and Sephiroth's famed Masamune blade. He almost reached but restrained himself. Not his business. He just had to fix the truck.

"What are you doing?"

Somehow, Sephiroth had the worst timing ever. Of course.

"Making sure nothing is going to shift if I jack up the front end," Cloud replied as he hopped down. "I don't remember anything moving when I was towing it, but then Zack got your bags and might have unhooked things."

He stood his ground against Sephiroth's cool gaze, stunning aqua-green with pupils unlike anything Cloud had ever seen - articles had commented that it was heritage from a people who'd inhabited the world long ago. Now, held in Sephiroth's gaze, it didn't really matter why.

"How's the truck?"

"It'll live," Cloud deadpanned. "That's the good news. I've got one last hose to put on it tonight--"

Somehow, it was already evening and twilight was started to threaten at the foot of the mountains.

"Bad news?" Sephiroth questioned.

"It's not the last hose in general. You had a pulley bolt break that shattered the pulley which took out the hoses and a couple of belts. Even getting used parts off a couple of junk trucks sitting out back, I still had to order a belt and hose," Cloud explained. "I tried calling over to the inn, but they said you were out."

Sephiroth nodded. "Taking care of business. How long on the parts?"

Cloud shrugged. "Couple of days. If you need something around town, I have a couple of cars that'll work as loaners."

A series of expressions crossed Sephiroth's face. "Okay," he finally said. "I may need one. Business has not yet been taken care of and apparently nothing in this town gets done quickly."

Chuckling, Cloud nodded. "Sounds about right. There's usually not much hurry for things. Though I did want to get your truck done."

"Your efforts are commendable. I shouldn't be keeping you from working..."

"It's fine," Cloud said without really thinking. He'd spent plenty of evenings working while Tifa sat and chatted. This would be no different, aside from it being Sephiroth. "Find something you can sit on and make yourself at home."

Honestly, he didn't expect Sephiroth to accept but after circling Cloud and the truck, he grabbed a stool and settled, long hair trailing behind him almost artfully. Cloud had let himself get pretty shaggy, but a single hairband kept his blond mess back in a ponytail that his mother trimmed up now and again.

In silence, Cloud slid his floor-jack under the truck and got to work. What he needed was a hoist large enough for these sorts of trucks, but that was a ways away, financially. Usually he just kept himself stocked with parts and tools and lunches from Tifa. The last hose just needed to be connected and he hadn't been able to reach it from above.

The whole job would take less than five minutes.

"I apologize for my tone earlier," Sephiroth said after Cloud had wheeled himself underneath the truck on his creeper. Cloud nearly dropped the hose clamp he'd been about to put in place.

"Don't worry about it," he said quickly.

"I was frustrated - I still am, mind you - and certainly, I didn't need to take it out on you."

Had Sephiroth come to apologize all along? He was terrible at it. Of course, he probably didn't need to do it often. The one time Sephiroth showed a bit of an imperfect side and it was to him. Cloud wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He slid the hose clamp on and tightened it.

"Really, don't worry about it. I think I see the worst of people when they need my services," Cloud said as he rolled back into the bare-bulb glow of the garage. He pushed himself to his feet and nudged the creeper away before reaching to let the truck back down.

This time, Sephiroth chuckled. "You probably do. Doesn't excuse it, though. And was that it? I could have done that. I do have some basic automotive repair skills..."

"I did all the hard stuff before you got here. Used some amazing combinations of words my mother wishes I didn't know, too," Cloud explained. Sephiroth would look good with a few grease smudges, Cloud thought, but that was a dream that would never be realized.

"So now we wait?" Sephiroth questioned.

"Nah. Now we turn off the lights, lock the doors, and get dinner. If you're hungry..."

"Mm?"

Cloud froze. He'd nearly invited Sephiroth home. To have dinner with his mother.

"I mean, I'm just going home. My mother will have dinner ready and she normally makes extra anyway..."

Now he just needed to make it sound like a terrible idea on the off chance that Sephiroth would accept.

"I need to learn a bit more about the town and how to best achieve my objectives," Sephiroth stated as he stood. "Has your mother lived here her whole life? I wouldn't mind talking to her."

Dumbly, Cloud nodded. Sephiroth trailed behind him as he turned off the lights, locked the doors, and started towards home. No need to run the Daytona the few blocks. Not when it was a nice night and he had Sephiroth walking close enough they could almost bump shoulders.

"Where's Zack?" Cloud questioned.

"Gathering intelligence at the pub. Hopefully. He may just be gathering a tab for me to cover," Sephiroth replied. Cloud smiled.

"What's your problem with the council?"

"They want to demolish that big house at the end of town. It's owned by Shinra and Shinra wants to keep it as-is. Which means no repairs. But the council won't accept that and are threatening to give Shinra a time-frame for repairs or it goes whether the back-taxes are paid or not," Sephiroth explained.

Cloud swallowed hard as Sephiroth's sleeve brushed his arm. Hopefully he hadn't gotten it dirty. He'd not done more than wipe his hands on a rag on the way out, which he knew his mother would have words for. Every time he came home dirty, she commented on it. And he always came home dirty.

"I have no idea what's so important about a dilapidated old house," Sephiroth continued. "Do you know anything?"

"It's haunted." Cloud shrugged. "Or the floors are just rotten and while everyone dares one another to go in there, no one ever does."

"Have you ever been in there?"

As they passed under a streetlamp, Cloud pulled up the hem of his shirt. White scars streaked across his abdomen and chest. He'd been goaded into proving he was brave enough to go join SOLDIER by a group of boys and he'd proved it. A month in the hospital had put him out of the running forever, but in a way, he became a legend.

Sephiroth swore low under his breath and nearly reached to touch those streaks of white but his fingertips stopped millimeters away.

"Floors are rotten," Cloud said with a little sigh tucked onto the end. "There have been relatively few attempts after I had to go get patched up."

He pulled his shirt down and kept walking. Sephrioth didn't even have to double-step to keep up.

"Why am I trying so hard to save it?" Sephiroth questioned. Cloud didn't know. He just kept walking. They'd be at his home soon enough and he had to figure out how to explain to his mother that he'd brought one of the most famous people in the world home with him. Sort of by accident.

"Here," Cloud said as he stopped in front of the house. He pulled open the door and stepped in.

"Mom, I'm home. I've brought company--"

"Is it Tifa? She's not company..." Cloud's mother began, looking from the kitchen to where Sephiroth was wiping his boots just inside the door.

Cloud shook his head and sort pantomimed that it was a long story to tell once he'd changed.

"Go change and I'll get dinner on the table," his mother said quickly, obviously reading his mind. He didn't really want his mother reading his mind, but it happened.

"Ah, General Sephiroth, sir, this is my mother--" Cloud added before running for his room. He had to get his grubby, greasy clothes off and into something relatively nice and clean before his mother said anything entirely stupid. It was not going to be easy. Not when most of what he owned had stains or holes. Finally he settled on his only pair of decent jeans and a red t-shirt with a faded slogan for a brand of soda he rarely drank.

By the time he got to the table, Sephiroth was already seated and his mother was making up plates.

"Sephiroth was explaining that he was sent to see to the old Shinra Mansion," his mother said as he sat. "And that his truck broke down and you're fixing it."

Cloud nodded. "Had to order parts, gonna be a couple of days. You don't have to cook for him the whole time, though."

His mother laughed. "That's the least of my concerns. I just worry if anyone's going to be wandering around in that old house. Right before Cloud was going to leave for Midgar, he went adventuring and..."

"Mom--"

"Midgar?" Sephiroth questioned.

"To try to join SOLDIER," Cloud half-mumbled. He looked at the plate his mother put in front of him. At least it was one of her better recipes. Thankfully Sephiroth had not arrived on any night that ended with '-casserole'.

"I'm sure you would have made a fine SOLDIER." Sephiroth gave him a strange little smile that made Cloud sort of want to melt under the table. It was an empty compliment and he knew it.

"When I was young, sometimes someone would come and go," Cloud's mother said after a long moment. "Don't know who he was, but he never stayed around long. Place was in better shape then. But it's been decades since anyone actually lived there. About time it was finally torn down. I'd half-hoped lightning would strike it and save everyone the trouble."

"Actually, Mrs. Strife, I'm supposed to be saving it," Sephiroth corrected with a wince. Cloud hoped it was the conversation and not the potatoes.

"Whatever for?" Cloud's mother questioned. "There can't be anything in there that's important! The Shinra would have gotten it by now."

Sephiroth nodded. "Honestly, that's how I feel. I had understood the situation to be merely tax-related and didn't understand why I was being sent to pay off a cranky village council. Being sent to convince them to save a building that should be torn down is frustrating, to say the least."

"It certainly is," Cloud's mother agreed. "What are you going to do?"

"Investigate," Sephiroth answered between bites. "Carefully, of course. Cloud showed me his scars. I don't want to see anything like that happen again, but I can't imagine the house could be repaired without considerable cost. So I'll just have to figure out what's making it so valuable in the condition it's in."

Cloud's mother was quiet for a moment, looking thoughtfully at Sephiroth.

"Cloud could go with you. He's one of the last people who's been in there... Go in the daytime..."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I have a companion with me who's gathering information elsewhere," he explained. "I have no desire to put your son at risk."

"I could go if you need me to," Cloud added softly. Not that he really wanted to go in there. But he liked Zack. And he liked Sephiroth. He did not want to see either of them get hurt.

Sephiroth continued asking questions until they'd finished eating, at which point he excused himself back to the inn.

Cloud was off to his room before his mother could really say anything. After an hour of looking through repair manuals, he walked back through the house and past his mother, who had settled to watch the news.

"Going to see Tifa," he told her as he passed. "Won't be out too late."

"Bring Sephiroth home whenever you'd like," his mother replied. She smiled.

Once Cloud was out the door, he realized that of course she knew. Of course she knew... He'd never really kept his hero worship a secret and combined with...

Neither Zack nor Sephiroth were in the pub when he arrived. The place had mostly cleared out and Cloud slid up onto a stool at the bar without a second glance from any of the regulars lingering in the corners.

"If I have a usual, I want that," Cloud said when Tifa leaned in his direction.

She laughed and got him a mug of beer.

"On the house if you tell me what's going on."

"I don't really know," Cloud admitted before recounting everything from the broken truck on through dinner.

Tifa just listened, nodding when Cloud mentioned Zack.

"He was in here, trying to pump me for information," she said when Cloud had finished. "Cute, but hard to tell if he's serious."

"What did you tell him?"

Tifa shrugged. "That the house needs to be torn down, of course. Same thing anyone would tell him. But now I'm curious. If I was younger and dumber, I'd say we should go check it out once I lock up."

"But we're both going home and to bed," Cloud noted. "At least I am and I hope you are."

"We're older and smarter?" Tifa questioned.

They circled the house once, with a flashlight Tifa borrowed from the bar. The windows were too dirty to really see in, but Cloud felt like he'd done his duty.

Chapter Text

Cloud's PHS rang early in the morning and after a moment of grumbling and digging around on his bed for it, he answered as politely as he could. Technically, as the owner of the only tow-truck in town, he was always on-call.

"Morning," the voice on the other end replied cheerfully.

"Possibly," Cloud said as he rolled to peer out the window. Sure enough, the first hues of pink and gold were cracking the pale purple of pre-dawn.

"This is Zack, by the way. I need to get into the truck. Seph was supposed to get our stuff last night but apparently he ended up imposing on your family..."

"It was fine," Cloud said quickly. Absolutely surreal because yeah, Sephiroth had eaten dinner with him. And his mother. A perfectly life-defining moment gone sort of sideways, really. Or at least made awkward. Not that Cloud thought he would have done any better with Sephiroth on his own. He really wouldn't have.

"Anyway, can you meet me at your shop? I came out to get the number, mostly. Didn't think you'd be here yet."

"Give me about ten minutes." Cloud got to his feet and shoved off his pajamas while looking around for something that at least made it look like he hadn't been dead asleep. His hair was going to be the giveaway, though. Always was.

"I'll be here."

Cloud turned off the PHS and jammed it into a pair of nearly-clean work pants once he'd pulled them on. The first black t-shirt he found didn't have too many holes and while he was now probably wearing too much black, he absolutely didn't care. Socks and boots took care of the rest and after combing his fingers through his hair, Cloud jogged out the door.

Zack was sitting on a bench out front of the garage, petting one of the town's many stray cats, when Cloud got there.

"Hey," he called. "That was fast - weren't you asleep?"

"A little." Cloud chuckled as he unlocked the front door. "But don't worry about it. It's part of the job. At least it's not 2am, hailing, and you've broken down on a side-road..."

"Eh, and you gave up SOLDIER for this?" Zack circled around Cloud and headed for the Shinra truck.

"How did you--?"

"Seph told me. That and we're waiting on parts," Zack explained quickly. "I'm not concerned. Might as well make a vacation of it. This is better than half the stuff we could be doing."

Cloud followed along, not bothering to turn on any of the shop's lights as they moved back through shelves of parts and bottles of fluids. Zack seemed to be able to see in the dim morning glow, thankfully. Cloud was just used to his own shop. He could walk through it blindfolded, if he had to.

"Are you fixing anything else today?" Zack asked after he'd hopped up into the truck in one fluid motion that Cloud was a little envious of. While he was strong, he still wasn't very tall and that jump wouldn't have been as easy for him. When he'd been checking out the contents of the back the night before, he'd more hoisted himself up than anything.

"Not that I know of," Cloud replied with a shrug that he knew Zack couldn't see. "Could change at any time. Why?"

"Because we're gonna check out that mansion, of course. And you're invited as the last known person to have gone inside."

Cloud sighed. "I'm sure other people have gone in. At least a few feet - it's probably still a popular dare despite what happened to me. But... I made it all the way upstairs."

"We'll take what we can get," Zack replied as he hopped back down with both weapon cases and another bag. "And since someone mentioned that it might have unfriendly wildlife, we're going in armed. Do you have anything?"

"Couple of handguns, rifle, nothing as exciting as..." Cloud gestured at the cases.

"Bring whatever you're best with," Zack said. "And hey, come to breakfast with us. "

"Are you sure?" Cloud questioned as he followed behind Zack back out into the front of the shop and to the front door. Despite the narrow passageways and Zack's burden, he hadn't bumped a single thing.

"Sure. Go over our plans and all that. Might even be asking so you'll help me carry something."

There was a pause and then they both laughed. While Cloud had hoped he'd be handed the long, thin case, he was handed the one for what had to be Zack's sword instead. That was fine, Cloud told himself. This was still more than he'd ever expected.

Cloud wasn't sure it was fair, though - that he was getting a little taste of what he could have had when he was otherwise so content with his life and how it was turning out. Why now?

"You can borrow a car..."

"Everything seems to be no more than five blocks," Zack interjected. "I can't imagine having a car in a town this small. Maybe to go cross-country..."

"I have my bike for that."

"The Hardy Daytona in the last bay?" Zack grinned, his eyes sparkling in the orange-pinks of the sunrise. "That's yours?"

Cloud nodded. "Not much need to drive it around town, but it's faster than the tow-truck if I just need to take something somewhere or meet my usual courier midway."

"Will you have to head out later--?"

"No. I explained the situation and I'll take delivery here." Cloud shrugged and tried not to smile. "You're the one footing the bill, so it doesn't really matter to me."

That caused Zack to laugh. "Yeah, not me personally and I don't care if you milk Shinra for whatever they're worth. It's just better to be on their good side, if you know what I mean. Keeps us loyal, I suppose, when you know the consequences for doing anything else."

Cloud blinked. Here was a SOLDIER, First Class, talking about Shinra like a common villager. And implying what everyone else did. Possibly, that meant it was all true.

Then why did someone like Sephiroth...?

They were back at the inn before Cloud could think of anything to say and silently, he followed Zack in and up to the inn's lone room where Sephiroth was flipping through a pile of papers.

He barely acknowledged Zack but almost smiled at Cloud.

"Ah, good morning," Cloud said before instantly regretting it. With someone like Sephiroth, he was pretty sure it was better to wait to be spoken to. Tifa had told him that, maybe. Or perhaps that was if he ever met a king or queen, if those still existed. He didn't think they did. Not with Shinra around.

"Hopefully," Sephiroth replied as he shuffled the papers again. "Has Zack explained our plans for the day?"

"Try not to need stitches?"

"And we get to break in, because no one has any idea where the keys are," Zack added.

Cloud shook his head. "It's not locked. And enough of the windows are broken that even if it was, we could get in that way."

"So whatever we might be here to protect could have just walked out at any time?" Sephiroth questioned.

"Maybe. I... haven't had much to do with the place since..." Cloud shook his head. No point in elaborating on that. Sephiroth already knew.

"It's a wonder that none of this was dealt with back when there was all that work done on the reactor," Zack added. "Would have made sense."

Sephiroth nodded and put the papers into a single pile.

"Let's get breakfast."

Cloud didn't miss the way Sephiroth's gaze lingered on him, those green eyes catching his own and holding for long enough to make Cloud's stomach feel a little funny.

He didn't each much for breakfast.

~*~

Later, mid-morning, after he'd circled back and posted a note that for any emergencies to call his PHS, Cloud grabbed one of his handguns and a couple of clips of ammunition. Breakfast had been fairly normal. He'd sat squeezed beside Zack in a small booth in the little cafe that served breakfast and lunch for the locals.

He'd memorized how Sephiroth took his coffee.

Zack mostly talked about their trip from Midgar - Junon, Costa del Sol, how incredibly boring the truck was and maybe Cloud could look at the shocks on it too...

There was barely enough room under the table for all of their legs and every now and then Cloud would bump against what he'd thought was the center pole of the table but instead was often Sephiroth's leg or foot.

Nothing in Nibelheim was far from anything else. While his garage was about as far from the Shinra mansion as it could be and still be within town limits, it only took Cloud ten minutes to walk the distance and that was at a rambling pace. He was nervous for every single reason he could think of. Sephiroth. Confronting what had happened. Sephiroth. His own failures...

Mostly, he just kept thinking of Sephiroth.

He was not expecting to see Sephiroth in what had been dubbed his uniform, of sorts. Zack looked normal in a SOLDIER's rig, but Sephiroth was in leather and it looked amazing. Cloud swallowed hard and looked away. Not only was he downright inadequate in every single way, but now he was fairly sure it'd be obvious by anyone glancing downward.

Zack waved and Sephiroth lifted a hand as Cloud forced himself to double-step the last little bit. He'd kept them waiting...

"You're early," Sephiroth noted. "So are we. One of the council had offered to supervise but then backed out just before we left. You're armed?"

Cloud carefully, safely presented his handgun, which Sephiroth took and inspected like he might to any of his soldiers. Finally, he nodded and handed it back to Cloud.

"Stay behind us and fire only if we're in mortal danger," he instructed. "Do you have any materia or know how to use it?"

"No," Cloud admitted, shaking his head. "I'm sorry... I've read about it, but never..."

"I'll teach you later," Zack offered quickly. "Don't worry about it for now. We're fine. You're mostly going to be a guide, after all. We'll protect you."

Sephiroth nodded and Cloud forced himself to step forward. This should be his dream and it still kept trying to be his nightmare.

~*~

In the bright sunlight of mid-morning, the inside of the mansion looked forgotten and dilapidated, but not terrifying, as Cloud remembered it from the night he'd snuck in to explore and prove that he was brave.

He didn't even remember where he'd fallen at. Somewhere, there would be a lot of his blood. And then... Someone had pulled him out. Then there was a doctor, who'd been part of a Shinra group checking on the reactor. He hadn't died, but he'd been in so much pain, in the town's tiny hospital for more than a month. A lot of it was a blur, but by the time he was released, he had a much stronger friendship with Tifa.

She'd told him it was okay to stay. He knew he'd have to anyway. It had all been okay.

The mansion opened into a large, open space with staircases and not much else. Bits of forgotten furniture. Peeling wallpaper. Warped floorboards. Dust specks floating whenever Cloud looked towards a light source.

"Must have been impressive when it was in use," Sephiroth commented. "Cloud, do you recall how the floors are holding up on the ground level?"

"Snow gets in the broken windows during the winter," Cloud replied as he watched Sephiroth start to veer off to the left. Gone was the hair-tie. Sephiroth's hair hung loose, flowing against the leather of his uniform in slightly obscene ways. "But I think the centers of the rooms should be fine."

"We'll start this way," Sephiroth instructed. He pushed into the next room and that was when they were attacked.

Before Cloud could even reach for his gun - which he did more as a reflex than anything - Sephiroth had already dispatched the creature who'd been calling the space its own. What Cloud had nearly missed was enough to make him stumble on a loose floorboard - Sephiroth hadn't had Masamune on him. But he'd seen it. He'd seen that long thin blade flash through the air. Then it was gone again-- a form of magic that Cloud didn't even know existed?

"Careful-" Sephiroth reached out to steady Cloud. "I think there was only the one in here, however..."

Cloud blinked, looking to where Sephiroth's gloved hand was firm on his shoulder. But it was only there a second - Sephiroth was right back to work, checking drawers and looking around in general. Zack poked at the other side of the room but didn't find anything other than a set of keys that didn't look too important. Most of them were labeled, but a few weren't.

Zack tossed them to Cloud, who continued to look at them. Most of them had descriptions that didn't mean anything to him - 'Office', 'Car', 'Black'...

Carefully, they searched the rest of the downstairs, stepping over debris and fighting whatever creatures appeared. Cloud didn't get tired of watching Sephiroth. He didn't think he could.

"Seph, I'm hungry," Zack commented as they dragged themselves back to the center area after yet another bit of fruitless searching.

"Are you hungry, Cloud?" Sephiroth questioned.

Cloud nodded. His stomach had been growling for the last half-hour but he'd disguised it by making the floorboards squeak or offering random commentary on the town and mansion. What he'd heard, what he could remember.

"We'll get lunch," Sephiroth decided. "And then after, we can head upstairs. There isn't anything up there that won't still be up there in an hour."

Cloud glanced at the stairs, his empty stomach threatening to drop a bit further. And then he saw what looked like a few pages of paper blown down and into a corner.

He raced over and grabbed them, presenting them to Sephiroth before thinking that he should have looked at them first. They could say anything. Might be old spelling tests or worse. But he--

Sephiroth flipped the page over and frowned before folding it all up and tucking it in his pocket.

"Now I'm not so sure how I feel about lunch," he said. "I wouldn't mind exploring more. Cloud, do you know anything about a basement in this house."

Cloud shook his head. "I suppose it has one, but I don't remember seeing the stairs. There aren't any outside, either. I've been around this place a hundred times."

He didn't add that the last time had been the evening before. That didn't feel right.

Sephiroth was quiet for a moment, then nodded.

"Where do you suggest for lunch?"

~*~

Tifa looked surprised to see them. Or, at least, looked surprised to see Cloud trailing along behind Sephiroth and Zack. The pub wasn't officially open yet, but Cloud knew Tifa would feed them. They'd been stared at enough at the little cafe during breakfast. This place was nice and quiet. And dark.

"Hi," she said as she looked at the trio. "Have a seat. I'm guessing you want the spectator-free special?"

"It's appreciated," Sephiroth admitted.

"You don't have to go out in public with me - I know people stare," Zack added before laughing at his own joke.

Cloud just sat. He wasn't sure if they'd get menus or if Tifa would just make them whatever she felt like making.

"I'll see what I have ready in the back," Tifa said as she set three glasses of water on the table. "I doubt you--"

She blinked, looking straight at Cloud and then at Zack and Sephiroth.

"What is it?" Sephiroth questioned.

"Nothing," Tifa replied with a quick headshake. "Sorry... I was... you were all in the mansion already?"

"And going back." Sephiroth looked at her firmly and Cloud thought he saw her shake. "Have you been in there, Miss--?"

"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart," Tifa said. "Forgive my manners. I met Zack last night...And yeah, once... before Cloud was hurt. Only went in... a handful of steps and got spooked."

"Have you ever heard reference to there being a basement? We didn't see steps."

Tifa shook her head. "I could ask around, but I don't remember ever hearing about one. There are old mining caverns around, though..."

"We'll investigate," Sephiroth commented in a tone that Cloud knew was supposed to be casual. The subject of a basement had only come up because of whatever those papers he'd found said. But he couldn't ask now. Not when...

"I'll get you something to keep you going," Tifa said quickly before looking one more time at Cloud and then rushing to the back.

"Girlfriend?" Zack asked after a beat.

"No." Cloud shook his head and reached for his water. Once he started drinking, he drank the whole thing almost too quickly. "Well, once, but... turns out I'm-- we're-- She's a good friend."

Zack laughed. "I have one of those. Real spitfire. I hope she's doing well, wherever she is."

"Zack..." Sephiroth's tone was low and warning.

"Yeah, yeah... I know." Zack downed his water and slammed his glass like he would an empty beer mug. "Let's find a better topic."

Cloud was just watching at this point. Whatever was happening seemed to be so much bigger. What was Shinra really doing? He slid from his chair to fill a pitcher of water behind the bar. Tifa wouldn't get too upset. The owner probably wouldn't show up til later in the day... It wasn't like he was going to get into the booze.

He didn't want to get into the booze - it didn't do anything anyway, most of the time. The beer he'd had the night before mostly just tasted bad. Anything harder was a crapshoot.

"Thanks," Zack said as Cloud poured him more water. "All that dust. I feel a bit like that wallpaper."

"The native creature population seems high for being so close to a populated area," Sephiroth added. "I was expecting a few things, but not what we've found."

Cloud took a deep breath. "Was there something on that paper about a basement?" he asked quickly.

"Yes," Sephiroth replied. "Unfortunately the paper seems quite old and suggests that we may find some unpleasant things when we locate whatever space is being referred to as a basement."

"Oh..."

"Yeah, great thing to say before lunch." Zack sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Like, take a wastebasket with me unpleasant?"

"Possibly."

Cloud felt his stomach flip-flop a bit. All the water he'd drank wasn't helping.

"You don't have to come along," Sephiroth quickly added as he reached over to put a hand on Cloud's shoulder again. "Find us the basement, but don't go with us."

"I should go," Cloud mumbled. He looked at Sephiroth and wondered why he suddenly felt so comfortable being touched by his hero. Maybe because his hero was just a man, too. A normal guy, despite everything. Cool, calm, and eating lunch with him. "I feel connected to that place."

Sephiroth nodded and drew back just in time for Tifa to reappear with sandwiches and what looked like a few casserole dishes of leftovers.

"Sorry this isn't much," she said as she starting setting dishes down. "If you need more, I can round it up."

"This will be fine," Sephiroth replied. "Figure out a fair bill and Shinra will cover it."

Tifa laughed. "And here it was going to be on the house."

She grabbed a chair from the next table and pulled it over, sitting backwards on it and resting her head on her hands across the back.

"We haven't found anything interesting yet," Cloud told her. "But we haven't been upstairs yet. Maybe we'll find where I--"

Cloud frowned. He couldn't remember where he'd fallen through but they also hadn't found any rooms with holes in the ceiling big enough for him. Certainly not any blood.

"I think we must have missed a room somewhere," Cloud said quickly. "Where I fell. There should be blood... I was told that I lost a lot of blood."

Tifa nodded. "I remember that. I remember that-- Cloud, I don't know who found you. Or if you somehow made it out on your own. I don't remember."

Cloud shook his head. "It's okay. I don't remember falling."

"We'll take another look," Sephiroth said half-absently. His look was faraway and finally, Zack was the one who spoke.

"We can always find it upstairs and then figure out where it should be downstairs," he said. "Big old houses can be weird with hidden rooms or trick architecture. And this one is old Shinra, so it's probably worse."

Tifa smiled. "Bigger on the inside than the outside and the stairs count a different number upstairs and down?"

"Something like that."

Sephiroth just shook his head.

"Why--" Cloud heard him ask mostly to the sandwich he'd chosen, "Why are we here?"

~*~

"That is a skill I didn't know you had. And I was pretty sure I had made a proper catalog of all of your skills," Zack said as he leaned over Sephiroth's shoulder to watch him spin the dial on a small safe they'd discovered.

Cloud lingered near the doorway. The floors seemed sound and he'd not seen more than a small hole or two where animals had made their homes. Something just wasn't right.

"How proper a catalog?" Sephiroth questioned as the safe's dial stopped and with a soft click, opened.

"Completely improper," Zack answered with a chuckle. "And damn, I still wasn't expecting that to work. Even though you're you."

"It's a key. And a piece of materia." Sephiroth pulled both out, looking longer at the materia than the key until he flipped it to see what the faded tag attached said.

"Materia?" Zack reached for it.

"It's the key to the basement," Sephiroth said as he dropped the materia into Zack's hands and then held the lone key up to the light. "Wherever - whatever the basement is."

"Valuable enough to keep in a safe with a very rare treat," Zack noted. He quickly slotted the materia into his armor and then grinned. "I know I don't get to keep it, but it looks fun..."

"This is the last room?" Cloud asked as he finally crossed to look at the key Sephiroth was holding. "Then where did I fall?"

"Are you sure you fell?" Zack asked, frowning.

Cloud nodded and pulled his shirt up. He'd been in the mansion, something had happened, then he'd been in the hospital with a Shinra doctor patching him up and telling him he'd fallen through the floor. That had really started the crusade to get the place demolished. So...

Sephiroth echoed Zack's frown.

"We must be missing something."

"We'll go back through," Zack said with a shrug as Cloud pulled his shirt down.

"Not today," Sephiroth said with a headshake that made his hair sway behind him. "It'll be dark before we know it and the electricity doesn't work. Tomorrow, we can try again."

"There's a chance my courier might arrive tomorrow," Cloud said softly. "But I'll... if you want..."

Sephiroth nodded. "I'm not worried about the truck. This will obviously take more than another day to unravel. Starting with your scars, Cloud."

Zack tilted his head and poked at the safe's door.

"Would you mind if I invited myself over for dinner again?"

"Zack too?" Cloud didn't want to leave Zack to his own devices, even if those devices wouldn't be casserole of some sort.

"I'm good with home cooking."

"I'll tell my mother I'm bringing home company," Cloud said with a nod.

He turned, not at all expecting the beast on the other side of the doorway. Stumbling, falling to the floor, he somehow got to his gun and started shooting as Zack ran forward and Sephiroth began to cast something from his personal materia.

One clip gone, Cloud reloaded, pushing himself back on a loose rug and firing until he was out of bullets. Then it was just Sephiroth and Zack. Finally, the beast crashed back, retreating until it stumbled over and through the railing of the balcony and down into the entryway below.

"What was that?" Zack's eyes were wide. He ran out of the room and looked down at the creature. "It's dead now, whatever it was..."

"I think," Sephiroth said as he reached down and offered Cloud a hand that Cloud shakily took, "it's an answer."

There, on the floor where the rug had been, was an old bloodstain. Someone had hidden it from view. Someone...

"I didn't fall?" Cloud asked as he was pulled to his feet. He clung to Sephiroth, shaking as Sephiroth took his gun from him. "I didn't fall?"

"I don't think you fell," Zack said as he looked back at them. "I don't even know how that thing fit in here. Where was it hiding? We would have had to walk right past it."

"We need to find that basement." Sephiroth was firm. He kept an arm around Cloud until they were downstairs and past the still beast. "We need to find that basement tomorrow and hope no one gets near this place until then."

Once outside, Cloud gulped in fresh air and then, realizing he still had both his hands dug tight into Sephiroth's leather, he let go and sprung back.

"Sorry," he managed. "I just..."

"You had good reflexes," Sephiroth said. "I might suggest another clip for tomorrow, though, just in case. And some rest. I'll walk you home and we'll see about dinner. I still want to hear what your mother was told about your injuries, since we barely touched on it last night. Honestly, in light of what just happened, I'm even more interested since the story you've believed is an obvious fabrication."

Cloud nodded.

Yeah, time to bring Sephiroth home for dinner again.

Chapter Text

At least by the time Sephiroth and Zack arrived to eat, they were both dressed far more casually than they had been during the day. No weapons. No leather. Cloud had changed as well and gone by the garage, but aside from a flyer reminding him about an upcoming street festival, there was no mail or sign that anyone had needed his services. His PHS was still in his pocket, too, and he didn't have any missed calls.

He'd told his mother a little about what had happened. He'd said he'd found where he fell and left the rest vague. No mentions of the invisible basement, not yet. And she'd been busy making a casserole and then asking if he had any idea what sorts of vegetables Sephiroth liked. As if Cloud had asked. That was... well, that was something that would interest a mother and that was about it. Cloud didn't care if Sephiroth ate his vegetables or not.

Cloud was not ever going to mention the monster, if he could help it. He could barely think about it. Yet he'd reacted quickly and correctly. Cloud didn't even know he could do that sort of thing. Mostly he'd shot bottles, cans, creatures hit by vehicles that couldn't be saved... Never anything like what he'd seen.

Poking at his casserole, Cloud waited for the questions to begin. Sephiroth was strangely quiet and Zack seemed to keep looking from Cloud to his mother and back to Sephiroth without finding words.

"This is really good," he finally said. "Reminds me of the sort of things my mother used to make for me."

Cloud's mother smiled. "Thank you. And you, Sir?"

Sephiroth looked up at her and shook his head. "I didn't know my mother. I didn't get a lot of home-cooked meals, either. But this is good. Thank you for having us."

"Eat all you want. Cloud told me you were in the mansion today."

Sephiroth nodded and then cleared his throat. "I've been trying not to bombard you with questions while we're eating, but our exploration hasn't answered much of anything."

"Oh?"

"We just have more questions," Zack added. "More, since we stopped in our room and found out the top brass expected us to be in and out, not poking around dusty closets."

"I'm just glad you all came back out safely," Cloud's mother said. "I have to admit that I was a bit worried, even with you along, General."

"We were fine, Mom," Cloud said as he looked more at his plate than his mother. He didn't like lying to her. But this seemed like a time where he really needed to make sure he watched what he said. "Though... do you remember who found me in the mansion?"

Cloud's mother frowned, obviously thinking. Finally, she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. There was just so much going on and I was panicked. That was right around when that first group came to look at the reactor, wasn't it? One of them might have seen you go in?"

"First group?" Zack asked. Cloud wasn't sure he was talking to because he didn't seem to be looking at anyone in particular. "We-- we should have come to look at the reactor at one point, but we didn't. But that would have been about a year later. I don't remember hearing about another mission."

"I really feel like we only have half a story and the reactor is the other half," Sephiroth commented. "Or at least another quarter of it. I want to stay longer but we've already been asked if everything is taken care of and we're on our way back."

He shook his head.

"Well, a little more searching and whatever you need to say to the council will probably take as long as I need to get your truck going," Cloud added. In between getting changed, he'd gotten a message to expect parts the next evening. That was fast, even for his usual courier. But the paycheck was going to be worth it.

Zack nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"Mrs. Strife, this may sound odd, but do many of the homes here have basements?"

~*~

Once dinner was over and Zack and Sephiroth had been sent back to the inn, Cloud quickly messaged Tifa and told her that he was actually going to bed at a reasonable hour. He was exhausted and if Sephiroth or Zack was going to come by to pick him up at the crack of dawn again, he really needed to get a bit of sleep.

He didn't see Tifa's reply until a little after 2AM when he was grabbing for his boots and the keys for the tow-truck. A car had stalled out on a side-road and wouldn't start again.

Three hours later, he'd been thanked a hundred times, paid, and sent the motorist on her way.

And then Cloud flopped back onto the sofa in his modest waiting area and immediately fell asleep.

It wasn't his PHS that woke him up. Instead, it was soft knocking on the door frame and the smell of fresh coffee.

"Late night?" Sephiroth's voice questioned.

Cloud blinked and sat up, embarrassed but also thankful.

"Early morning," he mumbled - he'd sat up too quickly and everything was spinning just a bit. Sephiroth set the coffee down in between a couple of stacks of months-old magazines on an old crate that served as a table and then plunked down a carryout container beside it.

"You didn't have to--"

"I wanted to," Sephiroth said. He looked from Cloud to the sofa and back. "Do you mind if I--?"

"Oh, sorry." Cloud slid over just a bit and then reached for the coffee. He wasn't expecting Sephiroth to sit down right beside him even when there was enough room that they could have had a few inches between him. Cloud didn't move. Not when he was touching Sephiroth. Years ago, this would be the beginning of a fantasy. Now, it was... Cloud didn't know what it was. Maybe it was something, maybe it wasn't. He'd realized he wasn't good at figuring that sort of thing out. And besides, this was Sephiroth.

"Zack is still willing to give you lessons on materia use."

Right. Zack. Cloud had caught Zack giving him a few more odd little glances and not known what to make of them. But then again, Tifa had looked at him so oddly, too. Everything seemed strange. Maybe it was just because of Sephiroth.

"I sort of want to know how you do that-- that thing with your sword," Cloud replied as he opened up the carryout box and looked at the heaping piles of pancakes, eggs and bacon within. "Also, you must think I'm half-starved."

Sephiroth chuckled. "You seem to have a pretty high metabolism. I've been eating with you for a couple of days now."

Cloud ducked his head. Yeah, that was true. The last... five, if this counted, meals had all been with Sephiroth. And he'd been shoving lunch into his mouth on the way to meet him.

"As for... Special materia. Very rare and possibly one of those things you should really forget you saw." Sephiroth's voice was firm and Cloud focused on his food. There was a pause before Sephiroth added, his tone warmer, "That's not a threat or anything. Just... It's easier, okay?"

"Yes," Cloud said. He half-heard, half-felt Sephiroth sigh. Again, Cloud had to remind himself that this was real. This was Sephiroth beside him, against him, warm in the morning sun after bringing him breakfast.

"Do you sleep out here often?"

"Often enough," Cloud said. "Sometimes I think I should just clean up a corner and move out here. I worry about waking Mom up at night. And then if I want to sleep during the day... well, no matter what, the phone rings when the phone rings, I guess."

"Aren't there any apartments or boarding houses?"

Cloud shoved most of a pancake in his mouth, chewed and swallowed before replying. "There aren't many people our age... A lot of people go to Midgar or Costa del Sol and don't come back. That's what I was going to do. Tifa made it as far as Costa del Sol once and... I don't know exactly what happened. But she came back."

"Do you ever still want to go?" Sephiroth questioned. "You're not too old. You'd be a strong candidate."

Cloud blinked. Maybe he was still dreaming. But no, Sephiroth had been praising him for the last couple of days.

"Me? A SOLDIER?" Cloud shook his head. "I'm honored, and I... I can't put it in words, but I'm supposed to be here, with my tow-truck."

He poked at a piece of bacon and then looked over at Sephiroth. "It's nothing personal. You're... you still are my hero."

"If you ever change your mind, Cloud, let me know. I need skilled people I can trust."

Cloud swallowed hard and then reached for the coffee to wash down his thoughts. Things were obviously more tangled than even Sephiroth and Zack were letting on.

Cloud ate the rest of his breakfast in silence, his arm brushing against Sephiroth, the fabric of his pants touching Sephiroth's leg and every now and then distracting him... And in his fantasies, the ones he'd almost forgotten, Sephiroth would make his move.

But breakfast wasn't involved. A grungy repair shop wasn't involved. Weird old mansions weren't involved. And Sephiroth wouldn't have just told him far too much about far too little.

~*~

Showered, changed-- it was almost lunch time when Cloud met Sephiroth and Zack in front of the Shinra Mansion. The dead monster in the entryway looked deflated. Something had torn chunks from it and Cloud had to quickly dart to the other side of the room and not look at it.

"We should have taken care of that last night," Sephiroth said flatly. "Another day or two and we'll never be able to hide the stench."

"I'm not sure how we're going to get it out," Zack said. "Maybe out the front, if we try, but then..."

"I've got an old trailer at the back of the yard," Cloud volunteered. Hopefully he could get one of the old cars to pull it. They wouldn't have to take it far - just out of town far enough that it wouldn't be their problem. It wasn't like wild monsters never turned up. Large ones, even.

"Then today we find the basement," Sephiroth declared.

"Are you sure we need to?" Zack asked as he eyed the dead monster. "I mean, are we sure it exists?"

"No. But if it does, we need to find it. If we don't find it today, it doesn't exist and I'll make one more bid for the council to put off demolishing this wreck even though it should be condemned. Whatever happens, our job is done and we go home," Sephiroth said. Cloud didn't miss Sephiroth looking his way. Maybe his refusal had been more personal than he'd intended. But it wasn't like--

"We should stick together, in case there's more," Zack said quickly when Sephiroth started off towards the rooms past where Cloud was loitering. Sticking together wouldn't give Cloud a chance to ask the question he'd realized he needed to ask, but that was okay.

He still had time.

Aside from another round of small creatures that had reinhabited where they'd already checked, nothing turned up in their search of the downstairs. Zack took the lead once they'd headed up, heading into rooms and poking towards windows and declaring the floor to be questionable, especially a crumbling section that looked the back side of a chimney.

"No basement," he declared as they returned to the entryway.

"Let's walk around outside," Sephiroth suggested. "Just in case."

"After that, we'll call it?"

Even Cloud gave Zack a little glance, questioning where his enthusiasm had gone. Was the job that boring? For a SOLDIER, First Class, yes, probably. For both of them...

The first they found outside the mansion was Tifa, who came running up the path just as Zack was closing the door behind himself.

"The power is out," she said as she leaned over to catch her breath. "Everywhere... The reactor..."

Cloud looked up towards the mountains and nodded.

Zack looked nervous. Sephiroth looked... almost amused.

"Shall we?" he questioned as he followed Cloud's gaze upwards. "I actually do have some experience with mako technology and Cloud, I'm sure you can offer a few suggestions."

"I've been up there several times," Tifa added firmly. "I'll lead the way."

"Tifa--" Cloud started, only to pause and nod. "Tifa, I need to run back to the shop and grab some tools we might need."

"Zack, go along and help," Sephiroth said. "I'll have Miss Lockhart brief me on the route."

Zack nodded feebly and then followed along Cloud as he headed for the garage.

"You don't seem thrilled," Cloud said once they'd passed the first block.

"Odd timing," Zack said. "In Midgar, there are terrorist groups who keep bombing the reactors."

"We'd know if it was bombed." Screwdrivers. Wrenches. Basic electrical stuff. Cloud didn't think they'd need too much. He didn't want to drag bags of tools up the mountain. "Maybe a creature. Maybe a monster... Maybe a rat chewed a wire."

Zack sighed.

"I thought you liked small town life."

"I do," Zack said quickly. "I like this place, but this mission is... just weird, y'know? Unexpected. You're cool, though. So is Tifa. And your mother, for the record."

Cloud chuckled. "Thanks, I think. You're a good guy, too. And Seph-- General Sephiroth..."

"Well, yeah. We're both pretty awesome."

Taking a deep breath, Cloud made sure they were the only ones around before asking his next question.

"Are you two--?"

"Not a couple, don't worry," Zack said quickly before dropping a step. "Wait, that was what you were going to ask, right?"

"Yeah..." Cloud blinked. "How did you know?"

Zack shrugged. "Seph and I have been teamed up so many times that we... we get each other, I guess. Best partner I've ever had and I trust him with my life. But no, it's.. not like that. Apparently we don't make that too obvious, though, because someone always asks."

"Oh..."

"Any other personal questions you have to ask straight to Seph," Zack continued. "And you know, we're not going to get lunch and that's going to ruin your streak of eating together."

"It's not really..."

"C'mon... I'm just teasing."

Cloud nodded and forced a smile. It was just hero worship. Lingering affections of youth. Sephiroth was handsome and personable, surprisingly human underneath everything, with just enough mystery lingering that Cloud wanted to know more and everything.

What did he really want? Was he too old for his fantasies?

Screwdrivers. Wrenches. Probably a hammer, just in case. He had an old backpack he could put everything in. The hike wasn't too far. Tifa knew shortcuts.

Tifa knew how he'd felt.

~*~

Half the town had turned up by the time they were ready to start their expedition up to the reactor. Someone even took a photo, which Cloud half-suspected was because of Sephiroth and not because anything interesting was happening. The path was straightforward, at first, even with its turns. Steep, but nothing like the part with the bridge. Cloud hated the bridge. He hated how it moved and made him queasy if he was on it too long.

"When's the last time any work was done on the reactor?" Sephiroth asked as walked. The path was wide enough for the four of them to keep in a relative line across, though Cloud knew that would change. He knew there were other paths that were easier, but they were all from the other side of the mountain and that was how the reactor had been originally built. But they were in Nibelheim, not on the other side of the mountains.

"Someone comes every year," Tifa offered. "I guide them up. But it's usually less than an hour and I don't go in. The last major work was... what, five or six years ago? And then a year or so before that."

"When I got hurt," Cloud added. "That's what Mom came up with last night."

"That... sounds right. Makes sense... So I guess that's the answer. That's the last time it was off - the night Cloud was hurt."

"I didn't know that." Cloud frowned and thought back. He couldn't remember any outages, though. The Mt. Nibel reactor had always been completely reliable.

Zack had a weird feeling about it all. Maybe he was just the sort of guy who didn't believe in coincidences.

Sephiroth's hand brushed against him and Cloud wasn't sure if he needed to put some space between them or not. It felt too good to want it to end.

"Yearly maintenance, sounds about right..." Zack shrugged. "That's about how often the one in Gongaga gets looked at. Because every year I get a letter asking why I didn't come with the group..."

Sephiroth chuckled. "You do get vacation time, you know."

"Yeah, but I dunno..."

"You're from Gongaga?" Tifa asked, turning and walking backwards a few steps over to Zack. "That's not even that far."

"From Midgar, it is," Zack replied. He shook his head. "Besides, Seph is useless without me."

"That should be the other way around," Sephiroth noted before giving Cloud a little nudge with his elbow. "You want to trade off with the tools?"

"They're not that bad," Cloud replied. "Might regret saying that tomorrow, but I'm okay for now."

"I was going to volunteer Zack."

Tifa grinned and bounced back over to the other side of Cloud. "We've still got plenty of up to go."

No sooner had she said that then they came to the rope bridge.

Pausing, Cloud was fairly sure he knew what Zack and Sephiroth were thinking. Single-file, carefully, and don't look down.

"Zack, bring up the rear," Sephiroth said after a moment. "Tifa, the lead if you will. Cloud, stay between Zack and myself."

"I can go last," Cloud offered. "I... I'm not that great with this."

"Why don't you take the end spot, Seph?" Zack asked.

"Fine."

Cloud was not expecting the hand on his shoulder, but he appreciated it.

"Don't worry," Sephiroth said almost too low for Cloud to hear him. Cloud nodded, trying not to look at Sephiroth's chest or lower. "Breathe, just keep an eye on the idiot in front of you and remember I've got your back."

Still, that was easier said than done. No sooner had they all gotten out onto the bridge than it started to sway. Cloud grabbed for the ropes tightly, closing his eyes and hoping his stomach wasn't going to go out on him.

"I'm right here. Keep going."

"I know," Cloud replied. Just a few steps. A few. When had he gotten so afraid? He could do this. The sooner he was off the bridge, the better. He needed not to let it get to him.

A moment later, there was a loud crack ahead of them.

Cloud's eyes went wide.

"Back!" he cried at the same time Tifa turned and gestured for them to run.

"Run!" she managed as there was another straining, cracking noise.

Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's hand and tugged him back off the bridge in fewer steps than Cloud remembered taking to get that far. Zack and Tifa were on solid ground just in time for one of the bridge's supports to snap.

"Okay, that was..." Zack shook his head, watching half the bridge flop and dangle.

"That's weird," Tifa said as she echoed Zack's headshake. "I've been across that bridge hundreds of times with larger groups. Nothing like that..."

"How old is that bridge?" Sephiroth questioned.

"It came down in a storm a couple of years ago. But we had a hard winter," Tifa explained. "And don't worry - we're not out of luck. There's another path, it just takes longer and has... wildlife, sometimes."

Cloud didn't have his gun. He hadn't gotten his Materia lessons. Tifa was strong, though, and Zack and Sephiroth had their swords. If he really needed to hit something, he'd packed a fairly impressive pipe wrench.

"Lead the way." Sephiroth gave Cloud's hand one last squeeze before letting go. Had he been clinging to Sephiroth's hand the whole time? But Sephiroth had probably saved him. He was off-balance with all the tools on his back.

"This might be the better route," Tifa added. "Wildlife aside. There's... Well, you'll see."

As they wound their way into a nearly-hidden passage, the group formed into a single-file line again. Sephiroth kept close behind Cloud, who wanted to reach back and make sure everything was still real. He knew this route.

There was...

"There," Tifa said, proudly pointing at blue-green blooming up deep from within the planet. A natural mako fountain. They clustered around it, admiring, though Zack kept looking like he wanted to say something.

"It's breathtaking," Sephiroth said. "I didn't expect to see something like this."

"It's not really on the tourist map." Tifa leaned in close enough that she nearly touched the spectral flow.

"A good decision, or else it might be exploited..."

"Made into materia or sent through a reactor," Zack said with a little headshake. "Though some materia does occur naturally."

"It's magic," Sephiroth added. "The power of the Planet and the Land. A people existed in the past who were far wiser than we are... all their knowledge became this--" He gestured at the mako fountain and smiled an almost eerie smile.

"And when it becomes materia, it lets us use magic," Tifa concluded. "Though... that's heavy stuff for most people. It's still strenuous, because it's not natural. I've tried before..."

"I'm going to teach Cloud later, I hope," Zack said with a grin. "You could get a free lesson."

"Zack..."

"Seph, it's fine. I'm not gonna wear myself out with basic casting. Besides, I bet these two have some serious skills."

Zack and Sephiroth were still bickering when they left the cavern. Cloud did not miss either of them dipping their fingers through the glow even though he was fairly sure it was a bad idea to do that and that they should have known better.

"Cloud."

"Coming, Tifa." Cloud took one last look at the sparkling blue-green. It was the exact same shade as Sephiroth's eyes.

Chapter Text

"You look like you're expecting something."

"I am," Zack complained as he glanced around the reactor again, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "This looks way too normal. Nothing has been normal for the last couple of days. Why is this normal?"

"Is this what a normal mako reactor looks like?" Tifa questioned. "This is the first time I've been inside. It's all new equipment - it was... oh, what's that word-- 'retrofitted', I think, the last time there was a group here. Because it was really old and this way it's..."

"Just like all the others," Sephiroth and Zack said in near-perfect unison.

"I just want you guys to get the lights on." Tifa bounced once. She was holding an electric lantern that made everything look shadowed and a little creepy. But normal, Cloud thought, according to Zack and Sephiroth. "I'm guessing I'm the only one who can't see in the dark?"

"It's a SOLDIER thing," Sephiroth explained flatly as he started opening panels. "Mako injections. The short-term effects are dizziness, nausea, and general misery. The long-term effects are apparently boosts to strength and stamina and definitely, strangely, a certain change to vision that allows natural night-vision."

"And a tiny bit of a glow," Zack added.

"Like Cloud's," Tifa finished.

Cloud blinked. Like his? But he very definitely wasn't a SOLDIER. And he didn't think he'd ever been injected with mako. But his eyes did seem a little odd and he'd gotten comments on them from time to time. He could see in the dark pretty well - he was able to follow what Sephiroth was doing without any trouble.

"Like mine," he said. "Since the accident. It was a Shinra doctor. Maybe he gave me something thinking it would help me after the--"

He caught himself from saying 'monster' because dammit, Tifa didn't need to know about that. "--accident."

"Unusual," Sephiroth murmured as he pried off another panel and ducked down to look at something. "Also, Cloud, crescent wrench?"

Cloud knelt down to dig in his backpack, which he'd set down immediately upon getting near the control area. He found the wrench and tossed it to Sephiroth, who caught it effortlessly. A few seconds later, during which Sephiroth had half his body up inside a seemingly black space, the lights flickered back on.

The reactor was even less exciting once it wasn't lit by lantern.

"That was it?" Zack asked. "This is--"

He looked around again, walking up onto a catwalk and looking a little perplexed.

"A pretty thorough retrofit," Sephiroth noted. "Complete with that sensor connection that likes to vibrate loose and shut the whole thing down."

"I'm sure the whole place vibrates a bit when the wind blows down through here," Tifa said as she turned the lantern off and set it down. "This is pretty disappointing, though. I was hoping we'd have a more exciting story to tell."

"We're still on the mountain," Zack called before jumping back down to land beside Sephiroth. "Who knows what will happen?"

Sephiroth straightened and combed his hair out with his fingers before tossing the wrench back to Cloud. So much for needing an entire bag of tools.

"I do admit that today has been a lot of... excitement without conclusion," Sephiroth said as he walked over to check a couple of screens on a monitor. "I suppose it happens."

"I'll be glad to get back to town anyway." Tifa reached a hand down for Cloud, who took it and let her pull him up. He slung the tools back onto his back and then let her clip the lantern onto the outside. "We'll be back by dinner."

"What are we doing for dinner, anyway?" Zack questioned. "I'm going to be ready to eat one of everything."

"I'm sort of grateful for the large breakfast. Especially after last night," Cloud added. "I was up fixing a faulty starter half the night."

"Everything looks good here." Sephiroth gave a thumbs up. "We can talk about food the entire way back."

Cloud's phone rang and he nearly startled.

"Must be someone glad the lights are on," he said before answering. "Hello?"

It wasn't his mother, who he'd expected to be on the other end of the line. Instead, it was his delivery, waiting outside the garage.

"I'll be there in a bit. I'm up at the reactor."

He didn't hear the response - there was too much static in the connection. But he couldn't do anything about it.

"Be there soon. Get something to eat if you want, I'll cover it."

He clicked the connection closed and then smiled at Sephiroth. "Your parts are here. I'll get to work after dinner."

"That was fast," Tifa said as she led the way out of the reactor. "You better offer a free tune-up for that kind of speed."

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but held off. Cloud knew why. He just nodded.

No sooner had Sephiroth closed up the reactor's main door than they were attacked.

This monster was big - bigger than the one that had been lurking in the mansion. Cloud cursed himself for not bringing a weapon. Sephiroth started casting spells and Zack had his sword drawn in a split second. Even though Cloud knew that Tifa was an accomplished hand-to-hand fighter, this thing wasn't going to fall to fists.

"Cloud!" she cried, letting him get between her and the beast.

"I'll protect you," he said even though he was pretty sure he meant that Sephiroth and Zack would protect them both.

Cloud almost relaxed when he saw Sephiroth draw Masamune. The flash of the blade was calming. He was safe. Tifa was safe.

Eventually, the monster staggered and fell, careening to the side and down an embankment. Sephiroth cast one last spell before stopping. The thing was dead. He made sure it was dead.

"Native to the area?" Zack asked as he dug the tip of his sword into the dirt path and leaned against it. "Damn..."

"What was that?" Tifa asked as marched over to stare down at it. "I've never seen anything that big and I come up here all the time. Maybe not all the time. But... I've never seen anything like that. I..."

"It's okay," Cloud said. Sephiroth nodded from beside him.

"It's okay," Sephiroth echoed. "Let's get back down before anything else decides to way-lay us."

"Yeah..." Zack heaved his sword up onto his back. Cloud was a little disappointed that he'd missed Masamune vanishing back into nothingness. Tifa, possibly, hadn't even noticed that stunt. Or she hadn't processed it. It didn't matter...

They didn't talk much as they made their way down the mountain. The mako fountain seemed oddly dull with the reactor back on. Cloud just kept his eyes forward, trying not to think too hard. He couldn't keep thinking about Sephiroth. He had a truck to fix. Then this would be over.

Fix the truck, everything would be over.

Fix the truck, Sephiroth would leave.

Fix the truck, Sephiroth had asked him to leave too.

Fix the truck, fix the truck.

The crowd had vanished and dusk was falling quickly when they arrived back in town.

There was a lone motorcycle parked just off the path - similar model to Cloud's - its rider leaning against the bike and looking off at the town. Her hair was in its usual ponytail - her helmet dangled from one handlebar - and her pink riding suit was washed red by the sunset. Still, Cloud would know her anyway. She was the fastest courier he'd found and she rode surprisingly like he did.

"Aerith," he called, running a couple steps despite the bag of tools crashing against his back.

She turned, smiling wide and then peeking around him at the rest of the group. Cloud had taken Aerith to eat at the pub plenty of times - Tifa and Aerith knew each other well. But Sephiroth and Zack... Cloud supposed anyone would recognize Sephiroth.

"Cloud! I dropped your parts at the garage - did you know I still have a key?"

"I did," Cloud said as she hugged him. "Good to see you. Sorry you had to wait."

"It's okay," she said quickly. "Some things just happen how they happen."

She looked to Tifa, then Sephiroth and Zack who... Cloud was surprised how surprised they looked. Maybe it was the motorcycle.

"Aerith?" Cloud heard Zack ask.

"Zack! Big Brother!"

Cloud was glad he wasn't holding anything. The world felt a little fuzzy. But there was Aerith, the motorcycle courier he'd befriended back when he'd taken over the garage, hugging and kissing the cheeks of both Zack and Sephiroth, lingering in their arms and looking altogether too happy.

"Everyone knows everyone?" Tifa surmised as she ducked over to Cloud.

"It's a surprise to me," Cloud replied.

"This is amazing," Aerith said as she looked over her shoulder at Cloud and Tifa. "You all have to tell me how this happened. Like, every single word."

"Truck broke down," Zack said as he slipped an arm around Aerith. Cloud was surprised how natural they looked together. "I could fill you in on the rest over a romantic dinner at the pub?"

"I'm not sure how romantic it'll be," Aerith replied as she twisted back out of his reach. "Not with such a big group."

"Actually, if I can get takeout, I'll get back to the truck?" Cloud wasn't sure what to do. There was some obvious history going on here and he felt kind of uncomfortable.

"I should probably get to work," Tifa added, edging off. "Aerith, I'll see you, okay? You can stay with me tonight."

"Okay!" Aerith waved and then grinned.

"I'll help with the truck," Sephiroth quickly volunteered. "I'll put in an order, change into something a little more practical for crawling around on the floor, and bring it over."

"That leaves us," Zack finished as he looked at Aerith. "So... it's been how many years?"

"There's been so much to do," she replied. "And... better if I'm not seen with you?"

"Come on," Sephiroth said quickly. "Let's let those two have their moment, no matter how strange it might be. And no, before you ask, she's not really my younger sister."

Cloud nodded and let himself be guided away. Sephiroth split off at the inn and Cloud walked back to the garage on his own, looking up at every streetlight he passed. What a strange day. And it wasn't anywhere near over yet. Possibly, that was the strangest part. He felt like a lifetime had passed.

Sephiroth arrived not long after he'd put away all the tools he'd taken up the mountain and then spread out everything Aerith had delivered and checked it over. Perfect. She'd even left a pink invoice attached to the top, which Cloud planned to add at least one zero onto before passing it on to Shinra. Honestly, Aerith needed to ask more for her services - she worked miracles, most of the time.

"I'm still surprised this is where Aerith settled," Sephiroth said as he made his way to the back of the garage. He had a couple of bags in his hands and set everything down on a clear space on Cloud's workbench.

"I think she covers most of the continent," Cloud replied. "I just know if I need something fast, she's the one to do it. But... you..."

"It's okay. I'm willing to explain to you." Sephiroth unpacked the bags quickly and Cloud nearly grabbed for one of the containers. He was apparently half-starved but hadn't realized it til the smell of the food hit him.

"You don't have to. But I guess she and Zack had a thing?"

"That is a bit of an understatement," Sephiroth replied as he settled onto the lone stool with his own meal. Cloud tossed a couple of rags onto an old oil drum and hopped up onto it from a crate. "She... Aerith is a little different, I suppose."

"She rides like a demon," Cloud added. "I'm not sure if I keep up with her or she keeps up with me."

"That Daytona is yours, then?"

Cloud nodded. "But I can't go cross-country... Gotta drive the tow-truck." He paused. "Why does she call you 'Big Brother'?"

"Zack thinks we look alike. Or did, at a specific moment. Aerith... Aerith got into a bad situation years ago. Somehow, Zack found out about it and it... It was something I couldn't ignore. There were a lot of things I couldn't ignore when I found out about them, but Aerith..."

Sephiroth shook his head.

"Anyway, she needed rescuing and while it was Shinra holding her, Zack and I... We took a few liberties in getting her somewhere safe. She and Zack connected. Zack..."

"I won't tell," Cloud said quickly. "I won't." He was barely eating. Sephiroth had... He was implying a lot of heavy things. Heavier than Cloud wanted to think about. Thinking about his hero killing people in battle was one thing. Killing otherwise... but it had been to save Aerith. They'd been bad guys.

He trusted Sephiroth to know the difference.

"It took a bit of time, but we managed to get Aerith out of Midgar with enough money for her to go anywhere and do anything she needed to. We've run into her a couple of times, but never through such a chain of coincidences," Sephiroth finished.

"You do look a bit alike," Cloud replied after a long moment. He didn't know what else to say. Aerith was a good friend to both him and Tifa, who lacked for women her age to talk to.

Sephiroth smiled.

"You have everything you need to fix the truck?"

"You're ready to head back to Midgar?"

Sephiroth nodded. "I had another half-dozen messages waiting. At this point, Shinra is ready to bring in their own special demolition crew and handle it. No one seems happy that I wasn't successful, but I'm a soldier, not a lawyer. Or whatever they want me to be."

"You can't win 'em all."

"I didn't particularly want to win this one. And while I hate to say this while eating, we still have that carcass in the mansion to deal with once it gets a little later. Depending on the lovebirds, we might not get their help."

"If we're careful, we can handle it. I can loan you some coveralls, too. I have a few pairs, I just don't wear them once the snow is gone," Cloud said.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes.

"I didn't know about the mako," Cloud finally said. It was weird to think about and he only thought about it because he'd been looking at Sephiroth. Those eyes... Even if it was such a little thing, it was sort of pleasant to have something in common with Sephiroth. "You said it makes you sick..."

"You said you were sick for awhile afterward. Not just healing, but sick."

"Yeah. But I was pretty out of it. If Tifa hadn't been there, visiting every day after school, it'd be a total blur. I think I kept days by her coming and going."

Cloud looked at his container - he'd sort of inhaled it, apparently. Even with the topics they were covering, he was still shoving his food into his face with exceeding skill.

"I can help you with the truck."

"I still bill by the hour."

Sephiroth nearly choked. "That was not what I was expecting you to say."

Cloud laughed and jumped down from his perch. He tossed the empty container into the nearly-overflowing trash can by the door and headed over to the truck.

"I don't need the help but I will take the company," Cloud said. "I've had everything ready - I just need to put it on. Then we can deal with our monster and go to bed."

"Still charging by the hour for that?"

"I'm sure I charge for trailer rental," Cloud replied with a wink. He grabbed the first hose and shifted it into position. Honestly, he'd had everything ready and did just need to put it on. Sephiroth seemed impressed when, about a half-hour later, Cloud started up the truck and let it run til it sounded clean.

"Now you're my hero," Sephiroth said as he walked over to stand beside Cloud.

"Heroes get the monster guts." Cloud rolled his eyes and climbed up into the truck's cab to turn it off. Once he'd slid back out, he let Sephiroth follow him out the garage's back door and through the maze of parts-cars and other miscellanea he'd gathered. There was the trailer, pushed to the edge, and nearby was a fairly sturdy station wagon that Cloud hoped would do the trick. He didn't want either the Shinra truck or his tow-truck to be seen near the mansion. They were far too recognizable.

Cloud wasn't sure which amused him more - Sephiroth wedged into a pair of coveralls or Sephiroth folding himself into the passenger seat of the wagon. At least the town had quieted down - the lights were off at the pub and there were few lit windows altogether. If it wasn't for the streetlights, Cloud might've thought the power was out again. He left the car's lights off, driving using his own vision. The Shinra mansion wasn't in direct view of too many houses. They'd just have to be quick...

"You're going to end up with blood on the trailer, I'm afraid."

"I can clean it," Cloud replied. "I'm not worried. I can explain away a monster most anywhere else - it's the mansion that's the problem."

"That's true." Sephiroth glanced around as Cloud backed as close to the mansion doors as he could. Hopefully no one would notice the tire marks.

No, it wasn't the car or the trailer or the monster or the Shinra Mansion. Just all of them together. Whatever else was going on.

"We never found the basement."

"We should look one last time," Sephiroth said. "We didn't walk around the outside."

"In the morning," Cloud offered. "I'm not sure I have another adventure in me."

Sephiroth nodded. They walked into the mansion together and the handful of small critters gnawing on the monster's remains scattered for darker shadows.

It stunk. It stunk like it was starting to rot and stunk like dried blood and like it had been lightly cooked - and considering that Sephiroth seemed to favor his lightning materia, it probably had - but it held together enough for them to half-carry, half-drag it out to the trailer.

Quickly they closed up and no sooner was Sephiroth back in the passenger seat than Cloud was flooring it out of town. He drove a half-hour straight in the darkness, out across roads he'd only traveled in the daytime until finally, Cloud pulled off the road.

"Where are we?" Sephiroth asked. "Aside from a direction I hope no one goes."

"Probably not far enough. But far enough," Cloud replied. "Now we ditch this thing, go home, and go to bed."

"Zack didn't show up," Sephiroth mused as they both got out of the car. Cloud hadn't bothered turning it off. Neither one closed their door.

"We didn't really give him a chance. I wonder if Aerith made it back to Tifa's."

"If not, I may have to borrow your sofa for the night..."

"I can't let you sleep on the garage sofa," Cloud protested as he grabbed for the monster. Sephiroth grabbed as well and together they heaved it off down a sloping embankment. It took a minute, but slowly it skidded into some brush and out of sight.

"It can't be that miserable if you sleep on it."

"You can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the sofa at home."

"I don't even know what Zack is doing--"

"I--"

Cloud paused. Here he was in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, near-playfully arguing with General Sephiroth about sleeping arrangements.

"We should get back and then figure it out. Or figure it out in the car," Cloud said quickly.

Sephiroth nodded. "Nibelheim needs an inn with more than one room."

"Probably. You should come home with me anyway and wash up, or wash up at the garage. There's a little shower..."

They both got in the car and Cloud carefully turned the car around to head back.

"Cloud?"

"Thanks for treating all of this like it's normal," Sephiroth said softly. "This hasn't been terribly normal. People don't usually treat me... normally."

"You seem pretty normal," Cloud replied. "You get frustrated when your car breaks down, you like home-cooked meals, you're handy when it matters and good in a fight. Just the type I'd take home--

"I mean-- you know... the type..." Cloud winced. He was obviously more tired than he thought. Maybe he'd end up sleeping in the garage and just give Sephiroth the keys to his mother's house.

"I know what you meant," Sephiroth said. "Perhaps that's one of the few blessings to not knowing my parents - no one asking me when I'm going to settle down and start a family of my own. Shinra had intentions for me to--"

Quiet for a long moment, Cloud finally looked over to Sephiroth. "Ah... Sephiroth, sir?"

"It's been suggested that I might be descended from the people who were one with the Planet, the Ancients," Sephiroth said quietly. "I don't know if it's true. Aerith-- Aerith is the same, though she... I believe her to truly be one of those people. Shinra thought... Scientists thought..."

Cloud didn't know what to say. He dug his fingers into the steering wheel.

"Cloud, there are some things that will never be okay. I could handle what they did to me because I thought it was making the world better. But Aerith... the first time I saw her and was told we'd be saving a race from extinction? I saw the look on her face and I... I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"I won't ever tell," Cloud replied. He reached over and carefully touched Sephiroth's shoulder the same way Sephiroth kept touching him. "I swear. I promise."

"That was why we had to get her away from there. When the scientists started hunting her again... It was easy enough to pin everything on terrorists because they'd just started attacking the reactors and other Shinra branches."

Carefully, Sephiroth reached up and put his hand over Cloud's. Slowly, he guided Cloud's hand down til they were just holding hands, carefully, across the middle of the bench seat.

Somewhere in the back of Cloud's mind, a little voice was reminding him that this was what he'd always wanted. But not like this. Not like this.

"We'll keep her safe," Cloud said after a minute.

Neither one of them said anything else til after they'd pulled back into the garage's yard.

Chapter Text

Cloud opened his eyes to the noises coming from the kitchen and groggily played back why he was sleeping on his mother's sofa. Then he remembered - Aerith and fixing the Shinra truck and going with Sephiroth to get rid of the monster's body in the middle of the night.

"Mom?" he called.

"Good morning, Cloud," she replied from kitchen. "You brought home a guest?"

At least this wasn't the first time he'd let someone stay over. Once he'd brought an entire family back to stay while he worked on their van. But this wasn't the same. Even though nothing had happened after they'd gotten back to the garage and he'd let go of Sephiroth's hand, Cloud wasn't going to forget what had happened.

It meant something, and Cloud was a little afraid of that. He didn't really know what to do next - this was the part he'd never really figured out. With Tifa, it was easy because they were awkward together, fairly sure they liked each other and could figure out the details in the dark and laugh about everything that went wrong. But Sephiroth wasn't Tifa, and he wasn't any of the other women or men he'd spent a quick night with while trying to figure out where his preferences really fell.

Cloud had no idea where Sephiroth's preferences fell, either, and worried this might be something new for him and...

"Cloud?"

"Yeah, sorry, Mom." He yawned and rolled off the sofa, dragging himself upright from his knees. He'd left the coveralls out at the garage and had slept in just jeans and a t-shirt. Though apparently he'd gotten into a fight with the t-shirt overnight and it was tossed on the floor. He grabbed for it and after a quick whiff, tossed it back. Apparently he had good sense when he was asleep.

He felt groggy, still, as he dragged himself to the kitchen.

"A new friend, I'm guessing, based on the boots by the door. I saw Miss Aerith earlier too..." His mother was making breakfast and already had three plates out.

"General Sephiroth," Cloud confirmed. "Aerith was the one who brought the parts to fix their truck, so I was out late doing that. Sephiroth was, ah, supervising, I suppose. It got pretty late, so it seemed like a better idea to come back here."

Apparently that was enough of an explanation for his mother. She was fairly smart, though - she could connect the dots if she had a fair idea of what the picture was going to be. His mother nodded.

"You should wake him up in a few minutes and find yourself a shirt. There should be clean clothing by the washer... Sephiroth might appreciate something as well."

"Probably. Yesterday was a long day."

"You were out early and out til late," she noted. "If you get a chance, you should come back and get more sleep."

"I'm fine." He yawned again. "I'll be fine once I have breakfast and coffee."

"Does the General--?"

"Yeah, I know how he likes it."

Cloud's mother gave him a bit of an odd look, but it didn't matter. He knew he'd memorized how Sephiroth took his coffee for a reason and apparently this was it. He told her, smiled, and then went off to hunt for clean clothing.

Sephiroth was not asleep when Cloud first knocked then stepped into his bedroom. Tangled in one of Cloud's blankets, Sephiroth was half-sprawled on the bed, reading. His hair was loose, which was somehow a surprise because he knew Tifa put hers up at night so it wouldn't tangle.

Sephiroth was also shirtless, that much was obvious, and as he navigated with the too-large-for-him shirt he'd picked out that seemed to be just Sephiroth's size, Cloud realized he was stepping over Sephiroth's pants as well.

"Good morning," Cloud said quickly. "Mom's making breakfast and I brought you a clean shirt. If you want one."

"That would be nice. I'm looking forward to a shower as well," Sephiroth added as he stretched. "Also, this is interesting but not necessarily practical."

He held up the book he'd been reading - one of the ones about materia use with vehicles.

"Also, I thought you didn't have any experience with materia."

"I've never tried anything in there," Cloud said. He hung the shirt on the back of the folding chair he'd had in his room for as long as he could remember and then tried not to stare at Sephiroth's body. Here was Sephiroth, mostly naked, in his bed. At his mother's house, which shouldn't be sexy at all.

"There are some interesting ideas, though," Sephiroth continued as he set the book aside.

"I might have to see about acquiring a copy for my own reference."

Cloud nodded, unsure if he wanted to offer his own books. He'd probably never read them again. He could do his job just fine without magic.

"You could..."

He lost his words as Sephiroth stood, pale skin revealed from pooling blue sheets. Cloud looked away quickly, only to realize he still had pictures and articles about Sephiroth pinned to his wall. Oh, how ridiculous and embarrassing.

Sephiroth chuckled. "I am wearing underwear, don't worry. And I smell coffee coming from elsewhere in the house."

"Yeah." Cloud glanced back, not exactly sure how to get out of his room. He didn't exactly want to hang out and watch Sephiroth get dressed except he totally did so he wasn't sure what to do. The latter certainly wasn't polite and...

"Cloud?"

Cloud blinked - he'd been staring.

"Sorry--"

"Don't be," Sephiroth replied. He leaned a bit, reaching for Cloud, and Cloud stepped to him. This wasn't at all like his fantasies, not ever, but that was okay. This was...

"Cloud! Your friends are here!"

Sephiroth's lips had almost brushed his, but they both jumped back. Sephiroth chuckled and Cloud just stumbled backwards.

"I'll go see," Cloud stammered as he ran from the room. Of course his mother would ruin the moment. So would...

Zack was sitting at the kitchen table while Aerith was at the stove, helping Cloud's mother crack eggs.

"Good morning," Zack said with a grin.

"Where were you last night?" Cloud questioned. "We, ah... were looking for you to let you know the truck is fixed."

"We lost track of time," Aerith replied. "Catching up and all."

She turned and smiled at him. "Big Brother slept here with you?"

"We argued over the sofa, but eventually I gave up and took the bed."

Cloud turned to see Sephiroth, only slightly-rumpled and not looking too ridiculous in a faded black t-shirt. It was tight, showing muscle, which Cloud was pretty sure they all took a moment to appreciate.

"I may have to have you open a few jars for me before you go back to Midgar," Cloud's mom said with a giggle.

"Mom!"

Cloud flopped onto a chair. There weren't going to be enough for all of them, he realized, and immediately got up and fled back to his bedroom to grab the folding chair. The table would still be crowded, but that would be sort of nice. Maybe he could get close to Sephiroth. They'd almost kissed...

They'd almost kissed. And he couldn't really ever tell anyone, because it would just sound silly.

By the time he got back to the kitchen, Zack and Aerith had flanked Sephiroth. Cloud sat down on his own folding chair and sighed.

As they all started eating, the only sound aside from forks and mugs was the tinny radio up on the kitchen window ledge.

Cloud wasn't really paying attention to it. Not when he could at least glance across the table at Sephiroth. He felt ridiculous, like a teenager or worse. This was a stupid crush and one he hadn't even thought he still had. Or it was a new one, a real one, instead of a lingering idolization for the perfect hero. Because Sephiroth both was and wasn't the image tacked on his wall over and over again. There was so much more to him. It was nice, really. It made him feel real, too.

"Turn that up," Zack suddenly said before pushing his chair back and lunging for the radio.

"Mm?" Cloud's mother glanced back at him. "Is it time for the news?"

"...repeat, we are saddened to pass along the news of the death of President Shinra from, at this report, undetermined natural causes. A day of mourning has been declared and..."

"Dead?" Sephiroth questioned. He blinked and looked between Aerith and Zack.

"Oh! That's... I wasn't really a big fan," Aerith admitted.

"Neither was I," Cloud's mother said. "Shame, still, that he was so young. I wonder if that boy of his will take over. I remember seeing pictures of him now and then. Has to be about the same age as all of you."

"Rufus," Zack said calmly. "Yeah. I don't actually know how that's going to go."

"I think he'll be fine," Aerith replied firmly, just to Zack. Cloud could feel an almost tangible energy between them, which was sort of a surprise.

"I'll have to call in and see if our mission parameters are changing," Sephiroth added. There was a flatness in his tone that made Cloud wonder if any of them were involved with the death. Being on another continent was a good alibi. And if it was the 'terrorists', real or fictional, Cloud was pretty sure the radio wouldn't be touting 'natural causes'. Tifa liked to point out that the Shinra-owned news was just propaganda most of the time. And it was always quick to blame terrorists.

And here was Sephiroth and Zack, two of Shinra's supposed-finest, working from within to change things and eliminate unsavory elements.

"I hope you aren't stuck here waiting," Cloud's mom added before glancing at Cloud. "I mean, we like having you, but I'm sure you want to get back."

"It's not so bad here," Sephiroth told her. He drank a bit more of his coffee. "I wouldn't mind getting a proper tour of the mountains from Tifa. And now that our truck is running, we could take a drive to Rocket Town."

"That would be good, I think," Aerith said. "I could go with you. Cloud and I could. We could race." She gave him a little elbow in the ribs.

"It'd be nice to be seen with something that isn't orange," Cloud replied. He could handle all of that. Though he was a little curious how much longer Sephiroth might be in Nibelheim. Long enough for a kiss to mean something?

It wasn't like they'd be able to have an actual relationship. Did he really want a one night stand with Sephiroth, of all people? Would that be fair to either of them? Maybe that was all Sephiroth was interested in. Maybe...

~*~

After an hour of sitting at the inn and waiting for an update from Midgar, Sephiroth looked over at his companions.

Cloud was sitting on the floor, legs stretched in front of him, mostly watching the small television in the inn's lobby.

"Zack, Aerith - if you don't mind -, stay here and handle whatever orders we receive. Cloud, let's go finish walking around the mansion."

"Wouldn't it be better if you stayed?" Zack questioned quickly. "Aerith and I can go?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I want to see for myself. Unless you have a problem with that?"

"Can I go with you?" Aerith asked hopefully. Sephiroth shook his head.

"I know you can take care of yourself, but I'd still worry. And worrying about Cloud... who can also take care of himself..."

Cloud didn't miss the glance that passed between Zack and Aerith, or the way she reached over to take his hand.

"We'll be fine," he said as he stood. "Just a loop outside. It's the middle of the day, after all."

"Fine," Zack replied after a moment.

Taking that as his cue to follow Sephiroth, Cloud gave a little wave and headed towards the door.

"That was a little strange," Sephiroth said once they were outside and on their way to the mansion. "Don't you think?"

"Everything has been strange," Cloud replied. "Up to and including... everything."

Sephiroth chuckled. "I suppose you're right. And it might get stranger before Zack and I make our way back to Midgar. Even if you're staying here, I think you're officially a part of anything that happens from now on."

"That's fine," Cloud said. This wasn't SOLDIER, but he'd accept orders from Sephiroth. This was the version of his dream that he was going to get and it was close enough.

One thing Cloud had worried about the night before, once he'd flopped on the sofa, was whether or not they'd left tire-marks while loading the monster. Between what was apparently a quick rainstorm that he'd slept clear through and all of their other poking around, there was just mud and mud was mud. Any blood they'd brought along was washed away and Cloud knew that meant his trailer would be in good shape too. He needed to get back to that.

"I didn't even hear the rain," Sephiroth said as they started off to the side of the mansion.

"Me neither. But it's good..." The sky still had a greyish tint, Cloud realized. It might still rain more. Better today than yesterday, at least. A rainstorm while they'd been up at the reactor would have been miserable.

"Usually basements have windows," Sephiroth said as he kicked at the stone base of the house. "Even a crawl-space would be vented. But I haven't seen anything."

They passed around the stone chimney and Cloud paused. It didn't really seem like a chimney. Not like he thought there should be.

"Seph--Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth glanced back at him, curious. Somewhere between everything, Sephiroth had managed a shower and to change back into his leather. And here he was tramping around in muddy weeds.

"This," Cloud said as he pushed at the stone. "It's a strange chimney."

Sephiroth looked up and stared at it for a long moment. "It is," he agreed. "I remember seeing it upstairs, and downstairs as well. I wonder if it's connected in the attic at all."

"I think it's older than the house," Cloud added. The stone felt old. Something about it felt like it didn't belong. "Maybe there was a house here before. I... I guess I don't know much about the town's history."

"It could be from an older house," Sephiroth agreed. "We can always look into records if we can't figure it out. But it's solid out here."

"Yeah..."

They kept walking, looking at broken windows and the remains of a small rose garden. Finally, once they arrived back at the front, they looked at each other and nodded.

Cloud still didn't have a weapon, which frustrated him. He should have just borrowed Zack's sword or something. He didn't want to just carry his gun around everywhere but maybe he needed to start. And he hadn't kept Zack tied down for long enough to get in any materia lessons, not that he had any materia of his own anyway.

The house was nicer without the large monster carcass spread in the entryway. A few pieces of it remained, Cloud realized, though the blood was already discoloring to a dull brown. Given time, if the house wasn't razed, it would probably just look like water damage or something else uninteresting.

"This way," Sephiroth directed as he gestured for Cloud to follow him. It was easy enough to find the curving stone and despite a thorough examination, it just didn't seem to be anything. Not an old oven, not a secret hiding spot, not anything. Stone.

"Might as well look upstairs," Cloud suggested. For some reason, the creature content of the house was exceedingly low. Either they'd killed everything or whatever had been left had gotten the memo. Cloud thought he heard skittering in the distance, but it was beyond his vision.

Sephiroth followed him up the stairs, pleasantly close. Cloud also didn't want his first kiss -- well, any kiss -- from Sephiroth to be in such a miserable location. But he wasn't going to say no, was he? He had to decide what he wanted.

He'd decided so many times that he thought he'd already made all the decisions he'd needed to make. Sephiroth arriving had just reset everything.

Together, they poked at the curving stone again and nothing. At first, Cloud kept watching his step. Zack had said the floor seemed unstable. Every time they'd gotten to that room, Zack had warned them back.

Cloud kept catching himself wondering if this was where he'd fallen. He had to remind himself that he hadn't fallen. He'd never fallen because the floors were better than he thought. He'd never fallen because he'd been attacked. He'd been attacked in another room and those scars were from the monster he'd dumped down a into a ravine with Sephiroth the night before.

"Cloud?"

Sephiroth looked a little worried.

"I keep having to remind myself that I didn't fall. I can't be afraid of falling," Cloud explained. "I have to rewrite something I've believed for so long and I have to be okay with it. I know that sounds silly and strange..."

"It doesn't. I think I can understand." They were both on their knees, poking at the lower stones. Sephiroth reached for Cloud's shoulder and...

Can't be afraid of falling.

They both leaned in and Cloud absently reached for the wall to steady himself. There was a strange click and the stone suddenly swung.

Blinking, they scrambled back, the moment lost as they both peered down into a spiraling abyss.

The strangest part was that there was a light at the bottom.

"There must be another power source," Cloud muttered.

"This is not what I was expecting by 'basement'," Sephiroth added.

Slowly, they crept down the stairs. More than once, Cloud got a little dizzy and had to reach for Sephiroth to steady himself.

At the bottom, the path stretched ahead. Here, there were creatures bordering on monstrous. Sephiroth dispatched them with ease as they navigated.

"A door?" Cloud ran over to it, not at all surprised that it was locked.

"We'll check it once we see what's down this way," Sephiroth suggested as he pointed further along their current path.

The farther they got, the more bones there were. Some were strange, possibly monster. Some were human and Sephiroth swore as they passed them. Some seemed like a mix and Cloud honestly had to look away. All were old... hopefully old.

At the end, rooms branched out into a space Cloud would never have imagined.

"I don't even know if we're still under the house," Sephiroth said as he touched the first wall of books. "I don't know where we are."

"I don't like this." Everything about the rooms made Cloud uneasy. There were bones in the library, and things that looked medical. Even beyond... it just got worse and worse.

Sephiroth grabbed for a book resting on the desk in the center. He opened it and flipped a couple of pages and froze.

"My name is in here," he said.

Cloud looked back to him from where he was peering off further into the maze. Maybe these were old mining tunnels. This had to be what Shinra was protecting...

"Is there anything I can do?" Cloud asked. He had no idea what to do. He was mostly just wide-eyed with awe. He'd perhaps imagined a dank basement, not...

The horror set in a moment later. The more he looked, the more he saw broken glass, signs of struggle...

"Get Zack," Sephiroth said. "Get him and the key to that locked room. I'll be right here. If Shinra finally decides to tell me..."

Sephiroth looked up from the book and sighed.

"You know what... just get Zack."

Cloud nodded and ran for the stairs. Focused on his task, they weren't as difficult going up as they had been going down. From the mansion, the inn wasn't too far. He wasn't even entirely out of breath by the time he got to Zack and Aerith.

"We found the basement," he said quickly before gulping in air.

Zack and Aerith looked at each other.

"You left Sephiroth in the basement of the Shinra Mansion?" Aerith questioned.

"He was reading, but I need that key..."

"You left Sephiroth reading in the basement of the Shinra Mansion?" Zack reiterated.

Cloud was confused. Why would it be a problem? He nodded.

Both Zack and Aerith were on their feet a second later, turning him around and grabbing hands.

"Come on," Zack said. "Run. We need to get back there."

"But it's... there are... Aerith shouldn't..."

"I'll be fine," Aerith cried as she took the lead.

Once they were inside the mansion, Zack let go and pulled Aerith back.

"This way," Cloud explained as he pointed at the stairs. "The entrance to the basement is upstairs. That weird stone section where the floor looked bad."

Zack nodded dumbly and Aerith just went for the stairs. Cloud ended up in the lead anyway, racing down the hall and hitting the spiral stairs with such force he nearly fell. But he didn't and even Aerith followed him down without trouble.

"Sephiroth?" Aerith called as she hit the ground, edging back into the lead.

"That way." Cloud pointed.

"It's only been a few minutes, right?" Zack asked. "Hey-- Seph?"

Together, they raced into the room with the desk. Sephiroth had pulled a few more books from piles and had them spread around him. There was an odd look on his face and, based on the way Zack and Aerith were acting, Cloud was a little afraid.

"There's more in here," Sephiroth said as he looked at Aerith. "About me. About how I was born. What I am..."

"What are you?" Aerith questioned as she circled around. She didn't hesitate to lean over Sephiroth's shoulder and hug him. "I think you're my big brother."

"They... I... think I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster, Seph," Zack said quickly as he stepped over a handful of bones to sit on the edge of the desk. "Though you did find the creepiest place I've ever seen."

"That legend you told me, Aerith..."

"From the sky," Aerith replied. She hadn't let go.

"These reports make me wonder if..."

"You're whoever you choose to be," Zack said. "You always have been."

Cloud stepped forward and reached across the desk to put his hands over Sephiroth's.

"It's hard to rewrite what you've believed for so long and accept it right away," he said. "But you can't be afraid of it."

"Cloud?"

Cloud drew a hand back and used it to hitch up his shirt. There were his scars, the scars that had changed him, the scars that he hadn't even known the true cause of.

Rewrite.

"I want to keep reading," Sephiroth said after a moment. "Not down here. But... if we take what we can and use our channels..."

Zack nodded. Aerith heaved a sigh of relief and straightened.

"I don't want to lose you," she said as she gave a bit of Sephiroth's hair a little tug. "Zack doesn't want to and Cloud doesn't want to, right Cloud?"

"Er... yeah." Cloud looked at Sephiroth, who seemed to be genuinely smiling. "You're you."

"So pick some books and we can get out of bone-land," Zack added. "This just isn't cool."

"The key!" Sephiroth cried. "There was a note that said someone was trapped down here, but... we probably stepped over their remains. But the key..."

Aerith nodded. "Cloud had asked for it. We should see if... what's in that room."

Even Sephiroth joined the group as they headed back down the tunnel. Cloud almost didn't notice Aerith reaching for Zack's hand. But she did.

There were coffins in the room, along with more remains. Cloud started backing right up, but Sephiroth was there and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Zack will check them."

"I will," Aerith said as she went to the first one. Bones. More bones. As she stepped to the last coffin, she closed her eyes and pulled it open.

The body inside was alive.

Cloud swore. They all pushed in close as Aerith reached to brush back shaggy black bangs. Eyes an even brighter red than Tifa's opened.

"Leave me be," the body -- the man -- said flatly. "I..."

He blinked and looked at their faces.

"Sephiroth?" he questioned.

"How do you know me?" Sephiroth asked as he leaned over the coffin.

"I knew your mother."

Rewrite. Don't be afraid.

Aerith leaned back against Zack and smiled.

Cloud just watched.

Chapter Text

The man was named Vincent and he had been in that coffin for longer than Cloud had been alive. While Cloud didn't think that made any sense, nothing had really made sense. At least Sephiroth got explanations for some of the documentation they were finding amongst the notes and books in the basement library.

Vincent had volunteered to help Sephiroth choose what to take. He'd been there, after all.

Zack had excused himself and Aerith to go back to the inn and check on the situation in Midgar. Cloud was left feeling a little displaced, but finally he was handed a stack of books and sent upstairs.

He trudged up the steps and out into the room, unsure where to put the books. He supposed he could just set them down and then see if there were more?

"...that was close." Zack's voice echoed down the hall. "I can't believe how close that was. Everything was going so well and then I thought we were going to have to reset it all."

"There are things we apparently can't do anything about," Aerith replied. "Not that I... They always meet, Zack. Doesn't matter if it's in Midgar or here. Who would have expected him to drive a tow-truck this time around?"

"But you knew about it."

"Of course! I've kept an eye on everyone. I found the perfect way to do it."

Cloud edged closer to the doorway. What were they talking about?

"You could have called."

"You could have called, too. Especially when you couldn't work a way out of the mission."

"I thought it'd be simple, take a day, maybe catch a glimpse of Cloud out of the corner of my eye," Zack said sharply. "Get Sephiroth in, out, maybe get this place torn down before any of the stuff in the basement turned up."

"And let me get Vincent out. I couldn't leave him. Never," Aerith insisted. "I'm so glad he's okay."

Cloud felt his blood run cold. Aerith knew about Vincent being trapped in the basement? But that was impossible. Absolutely impossible.

"We're still not through the critical part. And I've made too many mistakes because it's Cloud... I get too comfortable with him and I forget... Well, you're ready to reset if you have to?" Zack asked. There was nervousness in his voice that made Cloud feel even worse.

"No," Aerith replied. Cloud suddenly heard footsteps and wasn't sure if he should dive for the stairs or try to hide elsewhere. "Zack, last night... I meant to tell you but I just... There are no more resets. This is it. Our last try. The Lifestream can't keep supporting us. It's got maybe ten years left in it and we're going to need it to get rid of the reactors."

"But the Lifestream..."

"Has used itself exponentially with each loop," Aerith finished. "Do you even remember how long we've been doing this? How many hundreds of years...?"

"If we fail this time... we can go back to the Lifestream and wait. Scientists monitor the mako - they must know. Once the Lifestream recovers, we can... You're tired, aren't you?"

"Aren't you?" Aerith asked.

Cloud dove for the stairs, taking them three at a time and nearly tumbling at the bottom as he ran for the library.

What had he just heard? What were Zack and Aerith, really? Something was terribly wrong. Something with everything. They'd specifically mentioned him. Tow-truck. Midgar.

And Vincent, they'd known about Vincent.

They'd latched on to Sephiroth being down here reading. They'd seemed so panicked. They knew just how to calm him...

Zack had done his best to divert them from finding the entrance to the library. He'd made sure to take the basement key.

'They always meet, Zack.'

Him. And Sephiroth.

Cloud paused, tried to find his composure, and stepped back into the library.

He wasn't sure who he wanted to talk to first, but he knew he wasn't going to get a chance to do it unless he made the opportunity himself.

~*~

Fall. Rewrite. Repeat.

Cloud just listened, rapt, as Vincent told Sephiroth everything he knew. About Sephiroth's very normal, human mother. About his father, told with much less affection. About terribly experiments...

...that Sephiroth confirmed continued throughout his life.

Too much, too much... Every now and then, Sephiroth would get a strange look in his eye and then shake it off. For a few minutes, he had Cloud's hand in his, squeezing.

'They always meet, Zack.'

Cloud couldn't think about that, though. Not when another story was being told.

"Hojo is dead," Zack interjected at one point, mid-narrative when he wandered through with a couple of messages from the inn. Cloud still wasn't sure if they were being left with the front desk or if Sephiroth just left his phone in the room. It wasn't really like he had anywhere to put one. Not in an outfit that consisted solely of skin-hugging leather.

"Good," Vincent said flatly. "I owe someone a drink, for that. I probably should have done it myself, but I..."

He clenched the fingers of the shimmering golden hand half-hidden under a raggedy cloak.

"I deserve this anyway. But you..." He looked to Sephiroth. "And your mother..."

"You deserve your life," Aerith said as she slipped over to stand by the wall Vincent was leaning against. They had, at least, relocated upstairs and pushed a few pieces of furniture in front of the entrance to the basement. There was nothing to return there for.

"Trust me," Aerith continued. "I know a lot about these things."

"Because you're Cetra."

"Something like that." Aerith smiled her usual, everything-is-okay smile and even Cloud felt better. Cetra. An Ancient. Of course she'd be able to do things that other people couldn't. Though...

She'd be the one to ask.

~*~

Just getting to dinner was an exercise in frustration. Sephiroth and Zack had to return to the inn to deal with their messages, which were mostly to stay where they were until new orders could be issued unless the situation was more important than they'd let on.

It was, of course, but they weren't going to say that. They'd simply said the house was in worse shape than anticipated, there was nothing to be salvaged, and either Shinra experts or the town should be free to demolish it.

Vincent was another twist, if only because he had to stay somewhere. He'd volunteered to go back to the mansion, which had been vetoed.

Finally, Cloud suggested the garage, which had basic amenities and some measure of privacy without being in too busy a location. Surprisingly, Vincent agreed.

"Aerith, I still owe you a tune-up," Cloud added. She nodded and then the conversation continued on. Hopefully...

Dinner mostly involved watching the news. Almost every channel was showing nothing but tributes to President Shinra, which was enough to make them all focus heavily on their food.

"Eventually, someone will notice I'm not there," Sephiroth finally said. "I almost feel like I should be, for the sake of appearances."

"Except you're stuck here with no orders," Vincent replied. "Fitting, in a way."

"Maybe they'll just forget to get back to you and you can retire out here," Aerith added.

"I don't think I'd mind retiring out here as long as I had something to do," Zack said.

"I can't take on any assistants til there are a few more cars in town to work on," Cloud noted. He thought he was doing a good job of playing everything cool. Hopefully.

"Big Brother can open a car lot!" Aerith laughed and soon, everyone was smiling.

~*~

Gathered in the back of the garage in the spot formerly occupied by the Shinra truck, the six of them were quiet for a long moment. Cloud knew that Tifa was a bit of a surprise inclusion, but she also wasn't a fan of the Shinra - and she deserved to know what was going on.

"We have two angles to work, in different directions," Zack finally said. "We have the human experimentation, far beyond anything previously uncovered and 'condemned' publicly. Going back farther than previously admitted. And we have the state of the Planet, which is not good, because of the mako reactors, and notes on the hard science to back it up."

"I know a few people," Tifa said softly. Everybody looked at her. "I... I follow a few private newsletters."

Aerith nodded. "I know people in other towns, too. I can get information to Costa del Sol quickly. And if some of the other people we've worked with have done their parts, Rufus Shinra will do his best to get the world running on something that isn't mako. He won't loosen his grip on the world, but he'll do what he needs to in order to ensure his control for a very long time."

"How long have you been setting this up?" Vincent asked, obviously surprised. "This is... detailed."

Zack chuckled. "A few years," he said. "Since Aerith and I met for the first time. It was good timing, too. Sephiroth was already getting tired. Wutai would do that to anyone..."

Sephiroth sighed. "If I am ever truly free, that is the first apology I'll make."

"You will be," Cloud said quickly. "Ah... what's my part in all of this?"

"Stay here, live your life," Zack told him. "Help Tifa if she needs it, and Aerith. Make sure nobody ever gets near that basement."

"We should cave in the entrance, once we're sure we have all the data we need."

"Not the most fitting burial for everyone down there," Aerith said softly. She closed her eyes for a long moment. "They're all already gone. It will be okay."

They talked and planned for hours, until finally there was more yawning than talking. Vincent retired to the sofa in the front of the shop. And somehow, Cloud lucked out and Aerith - and her bike - remained.

Her motorcycle was parked beside his and aside from aside from being a bit newer and having more painted details, they were practically twin machines.

"How's it been running?" Cloud asked as nonchalantly as he could. Suddenly, he was nervous. But he had to know... If Aerith had been resetting the world again and again just to keep him and Sephiroth apart... He had to know why.

"Fine," Aerith replied. "Probably needs the fluids topped off, like always."

She yawned.

"Today has been way too long," she muttered. "Feels like an entire week since this morning."

Cloud nodded.

"Aerith?" he asked. "I need to ask a question and I'm sorry, but... the way you and Zack reacted this morning, when I came to get the mansion keys..."

Aerith froze. "Well, ah, the basement was going to be creepy. And it was. No one should be down there alone."

"What happened the last time Sephiroth was down there? No... what happened the first time?" Cloud asked, then immediately exhaled. There is was. Either she'd fib her way out, pretend not to understand what he was asking, or...

"I overheard you talking with Zack," he added. "I don't really understand, but..."

Aerith put a hand back on her motorcycle and, after a moment, she smiled. "I'm sort of glad," she said. "All these years... about five hundred, I think, of... not-quite-lying to you. And Sephiroth and everybody else. All these resets to save the world even though it's taken such a toll on the Planet. And yet the Lifestream has always insisted we keep trying. Because we love...

"We love everyone. And we want them to be happy. Cloud, I want you to be happy. When I first met you, when I last saw you..."

She sighed.

"The first time, Sephiroth didn't understand. A lot of people died and you... You and Zack got the worst of it," Aerith explained. "Everything just kept getting worse and when we met... Maybe it was always about you and Sephiroth. You're tied to each other, somehow. You always meet, you always get attached, and..."

"That triggers the end of the world?" Cloud suggested.

Aerith shook her head. "It's not actually that bad. It's... it's bad. I mean, Zack dies, I die, Sephiroth dies, you... get pretty close. And you and Sephiroth are still tied together... The Planet...

"This was our last try. It was going really well, actually. Midgar is better off for it, there has been a lot of research into alternative power sources already, some people who really needed to be removed from play have been removed... which sounds horrible but again, you need to trust me on this..."

Fall.

Rewrite.

Repeat.

"You made it into SOLDIER a couple of times, by the way," Aerith said with a little smile. "This is absolutely your first time as a mechanic."

Cloud managed a chuckle. "Sephiroth insists I'd make it into SOLDIER now. He asked me to go back with him. But I'm... I don't want to leave my life here. I want to go, because I was asked by Sephiroth to go with him. Even five years ago, nothing would have stopped me."

"You two have..."

Cloud shook his head. "Haven't even kissed," he said. Well, that was embarrassing. "Almost, but not quite. And I didn't want anything to feel meaningless. What would one night with Sephiroth be?"

Aerith shrugged. "Pretty amazing, really."

Cloud eyed her.

"Just because it didn't happen this time around doesn't mean it never happened," she said with a little handwave. "Zack knows, he was there."

"Too much information." Cloud circled and stared at his own motorcycle. "Can I ever kiss him?"

"I think so, yes," Aerith said slowly. "Not now, but... once the reactors are going to be shut down. Once the Planet is strong and he's strong again. He's putting on a brave face, but he's doing what you said-- having to face that what he always thought was true isn't true at all."

"Rewriting and accepting. Yeah."

They talked for a bit longer, until Cloud was yawning, too. At least he'd gotten Aerith's bike maintenance done. Then he'd walked Aerith back to Tifa's and gone home to sleep in sheets that smelled like Sephiroth.

~*~

Their new orders arrived first thing the next morning - leave the worthless house to the town to deal with and come back to Midgar.

The last thing Sephiroth did was drop every explosive he could find down the stairway to the basement. Cloud had offered up a few chemicals from the garage to help it along and, as some of the stones of the wall started caving in, they both felt pretty confident that it would help the case for demolition and keep anything beneath from being too actively retrieved.

Half the information they'd retrieved went with Aerith, who left in a blur of pink and not without kissing all of them.

She'd apologized to Cloud again. But Cloud was sort of numb. What else was he supposed to be? He was pretty sure that whatever happened the first time - Aerith had never fully told him and after enough of her hesitations he'd actually decided it might be far safer not to push it. Already he had enough on his mind.

Vincent took the rest and settled into the back of the truck for the trip. Tifa seemed upset to see him go, but she had her own work to do.

Cloud just had the house to keep an eye on.

~*~

"I guess this is it," Zack said as he started up the truck and leaned out. "C'mon, Seph. We should be able to make good time. This thing is purring."

Cloud almost regretting seeing them off.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider?" Sephiroth asked one last time. He ached to say that he'd considered it a thousand times in the last hour but apparently kissing him wouldn't do anyone any favors. Cloud wasn't going to be selfish.

"I can't," Cloud finally said. Sephiroth reached to touch his cheek and Cloud just looked away. "Seph-- I'm sorry. Maybe in the future once..."

He wasn't sure what the rest of the requirements were. There might not be any - he didn't know. But what he did know was that if--

Sephiroth kissed him and, surprised, Cloud didn't pull away. He knew he should, but... The world was probably already doomed. He kissed Sephiroth back softly, near-chastely at first until Sephiroth's tongue pressed at his lips. This... was right. How could this not be right?

A sharp honk of the truck's horn caused them to jump apart. Cloud looked away - had that really just happened?

"I'll come back," Sephiroth said as he turned to reach for the truck's door-handle.

Cloud just reached up to touch his lips.

He didn't know what to do, so he decided to just hope for the best.

He watched the truck as it left town until he couldn't see it anymore. And then he went back to his garage to tinker with his Hardy Daytona until evening. Then, in the cool crisp evening air, he drove.

Despite one or two thoughts that he might still be able to catch them if he went fast enough far enough, Cloud still kept turning back towards Nibelheim.

And then, despite his mother's questions and soft little mentions of how things were going from Tifa, Cloud fell back into his life.

A few days later, there was Sephiroth on television, returned from an important mission and standing with Rufus Shinra. Zack was in the background, looking pleased.

A month later, lengthy reports on Shinra's background in human experiments was leaked to various anti-Shinra agencies and the story exploded. Rufus Shinra spun it perfectly, according to Tifa. Even though names weren't mentioned, Cloud could tell that one of the subjects often mentioned was Sephiroth. Rufus happily disowned the crimes of his father and ordered full audits of the entire science division. There were firings and arrests and Tifa seemed gleeful but Cloud just watched to possibly spot Sephiroth in the background of any given report.

Half a year later, the big story was about how quickly the Planet's natural mako supply was being depleted. Exponentially. A crisis in less than a decade. Mako reactors had to be shut down and changed to process any other natural, renewable energy sources. Everyone seemed to have a hand in it, but Shinra promised only the best.

Rufus got to increase his power. Sephiroth sometimes showed up in the background. But there were no wars - there wasn't much left to conquer and Rufus didn't seem like much of war-monger anyway.

A house close to the garage finally came up for sale and after a week of figuring out how he might possibly afford it - including selling the Daytona, which he tinkered with more than he ever rode it - he put an offer in on it. He didn't really mind living with his mother, who he knew would gladly let him live at home forever. The same with Tifa and her father, though they were both feeling the pangs of needing their own space.

Nearly eight months passed before Aerith turned up again. Parts came via other means, other couriers. She looked good, though.

The house had sold to someone from the other continent who wanted it for retirement in a couple of years. Cloud had been completely outbid. He wasn't entirely disappointed - it had been more of a dream than anything. In case everyone came back and they needed somewhere to stay. The inn still had only one room, after all. Cloud didn't mind sleeping in his childhood bedroom with his dirty work clothes and the pictures of Sephiroth that had been tacked on his wall for nearly a decade.

"Zack said you kissed," Aerith finally said on her second day in town. Cloud hadn't put it together at first, but aside from delivering parts for him, she'd been making stops all over the town to deliver various things. Including the papers on the house. But she didn't comment on that - she was discreet, at least.

"Right before he left," Cloud acknowledged. "I think it was okay, though. I keep watching the news."

"I don't know why I thought we could ever keep you apart," Aerith replied. They were sitting on the sofa in the garage - he'd already done the invoices for the day and was now just lingering because Aerith was there. She leaned against him.

"If the reactors are shut down in the next five years, I think I can handle whatever comes next."

"You're not going to reset everything?"

"Sometimes I don't know if I ever should have," Aerith admitted. "Cloud, I don't know if I'm any better than he was back then."

"Aerith, you love the world," he replied as he reached for her hand.

"You're right," she said softly as the first flakes of snow started to fall outside. Cloud was hoping the snow would keep her in town, but she was gone again in the morning.

A week later, he was offered a job checking in on the house he hadn't been able to buy. Just make sure the pipes didn't freeze, that the windows were secure... It was close enough to the garage that he passed it twice a day and despite a bit of initial longing, Cloud was willing to take the extra handful of gil every month and walk through the house every evening on his way home.

It would have been nice, really. Two bedrooms - room for him and Tifa. Another smaller room that could probably be a tiny guest room with a little creativity. A large enough living room for a couple of sofas. Aerith would probably get his bed, unless she just shared with Tifa.

Would have been perfect... Things could have been perfect...

~*~

The Shinra Mansion was torn down a year later, after a part of the back started falling in. The basement stairs were classified as an old well and a definite hazard and were filled in with debris and concrete without further question. A steel cap was then fitted over the opening and a couple of weeks later, a bird bath was placed on top. The lot grew in as weeds at first, but by the first chills of fall, it was being celebrated as the neatly-trimmed Shinra Park.

In the winter, Aerith always made fat moogle snowmen and never explained why.

The seasons changed. Cloud watched the news for mentions of Sephiroth, mentions of the Planet, of things changing for the better. His role had finished - he was done. Life was back to normal for him, even though he wasn't entirely sure his life could ever be truly normal. Most days he forgot about the truth, though. He was living his truth. Fall, rewrite, repeat. He'd chosen the path he was on based on everything that had happened to him. Aerith and Zack meddling didn't mean as much as it should have.

Still, he thought of Midgar often and every now and then he'd receive a blank postcard from somewhere he didn't know Sephiroth was visiting.

It was enough. He knew what could have been and how wrong it had gone. Aerith shouldn't have made that decision for him, but if it was literally keeping every other person on the planet safe, he could live with it.

The seasons changed.

Chapter Text

"I hear our reactor is next to be converted," Tifa told him the next spring. "Isn't that great? They've already done the one at Gongaga and are starting work on all of Midgar's, too."

The science wasn't Cloud's strong suit. If one converted reactor gave the Planet another decade, how did another give it five times that much? How did it all end up making infinity? He always meant to ask Aerith but her visits were often brief, noisy, and difficult to get a word in edgewise. She'd hinted that she'd been back to Midgar to visit her mother.

She had once said that she hoped to repay the five hundred years she'd taken.

"I don't know why I'm still here," she admitted later in the spring. "I should be done."

"What'll happen to you?" Cloud questioned. Whatever happened to her would happen to Zack. Zack at least wrote things on his postcards, even if they were incredibly stupid things and never managed more of an address than 'Cloud Strife, Nibelheim'. The cards arrived anyway, often with cranky notes from the letter couriers.

"I don't know," she said. "I've never lived this long before. This... Cloud, I think we made it, but I don't know what happens next."

A month later, when spring had gotten warm enough to almost pass for the first days of summer, Aerith and her motorcycle came tearing up to the garage. Cloud had just finished his last scheduled job for the day - oil changes for the village's few public works vehicles - and was working on an invoice.

"There's a truck broken down a few miles out of town," she said quickly after pulling her helmet off. She looked radiant - definitely alive. Cloud had started to wonder if she'd disappear slowly, going back into the Lifestream in wisps. So far, so good.

"Grab the tow truck," she continued. "I'll ride out with you."

Cloud nodded and grabbed for the keys. Even a year ago, he would have hoped beyond hope that it might be the familiar Shinra truck but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Besides, in the years that had passed, that stretch of road had chewed up and spit out another dozen trucks all with different problems. It brought out the worst in any given vehicle, except, perhaps, Aerith's bike.

He followed along behind Aerith, watching her ponytail whip in the wind beneath her pink helmet. She wasn't in town for him, he knew. Maybe she had other deliveries. Maybe she had a pick-up. Or maybe she was just stopping in on her way back from Rocket Town or further west. She'd have interesting news, at least, once he managed to get her somewhere quiet.

The last postcard he'd gotten from Sephiroth had been blank and just had a mural from a building in Midgar. Maybe he was there for the time being. Maybe the building meant something. The art was just a city scene. He thought about asking Tifa, but he doubted she'd have any idea.

Finally, the truck came into view. It had pulled off in a wooded area, shadowy, and while Cloud couldn't see the occupants, the hood on the truck was propped open and oh, there were two figures leaning over the engine. Cloud almost wanted to chuckle, because he'd seen the same scene again and again.

The road did him a good business, sometimes.

Aerith looped around the far side was Cloud pulled the tow truck up close. Only then, as he looked at it for any obvious signed of damage, did he realize that it was a Shinra truck.

He put the tow truck in park and climbed out. Aerith already had her helmet off, watching.

One of the figures from the engine-viewing turned around.

"Hi," Zack said with a little wave.

Cloud smiled. He definitely hadn't been expecting to see Zack. But did that mean...?

"We're the advance party for the reactor conversion," Zack explained with a wide grin. "The whole team is coming in about a week to turn Shinra Park into a tent city for the summer. Because of the location and the conversion involving both wind and solar receptors, it'll be a long one. But it'll be worth it. For a lot of reasons.

"Our main job is to make nice with the town, I think," Zack continued. "Explain what we'll be doing, don't let it be overwhelming that all these strangers are running around. It'll be good for the economy, at least. And I'm sure we'll be needing a good mechanic."

"I charge by the hour," Cloud reminded him.

Zack beamed.

"We know you do."

Sephiroth looked good. Relaxed. His hair was bound loosely behind his shoulders and looked to have gotten even longer since the last time Cloud had seen him on television. How he kept it so nice was beyond him. Cloud had gone back to spikes just for ease of care, though they tended to get shaggy no matter what he did. Maybe it was the mako that made his hair grow fast.

"Also, the truck is fine."

Cloud chuckled. "I suspected, once I saw Zack. But give it time. This road has been a menace to everything but my account book."

Somehow, Zack still hugged him first.

"Isn't this great?" Zack asked. "We'll be here for months."

Sephiroth. For months. Yes, this was more than Cloud thought possible, if...

"Aerith?" Cloud questioned.

"Go on," she said. "And don't worry, he knows."

"I kind of figured it out," Sephiroth admitted as he pulled Cloud into his arms. Cloud inhaled, breathing in the scent he hadn't been able to completely forget. He'd kept the sheets that Sephiroth had slept on covering his bed for as long as he could til his mother washed them one day without thinking. He hadn't complained, because he knew he was being ridiculous, but still...

All the blank postcards were tacked up on his walls at the garage, making a mosaic of locations that always drew the gaze of customers. They'd point out places they'd been, places they'd like to see. If they asked who sent them, Cloud simply said a friend.

"It gets complicated after so many go-rounds," Zack complained. "Which, yeah... we're done. And... we're somehow still here. You two might be stuck with us."

"I think that might be okay, unless I have to feed you or something," Cloud commented. Sephiroth hadn't let him go but hadn't moved to do anything else yet, either. Even if they were clear of destroying the world, it was still a little awkward.

"We'll volunteer Tifa to feed them," Sephiroth said. "You and I will keep doing what we've been doing - that thing you told me. About how you were going about your life..."

"Fall, rewrite, repeat," Cloud said with a nod against Sephiroth's chest. "I think it's from something Tifa told me. Just... when you fail, because you will fail -- when you fail, figure out why and make changes. Then try again. If you find out something you thought you knew is wrong, make sure you know the truth and then remind yourself of it going forward because it's important."

Finally, Sephiroth kissed him, and Cloud forgot about everything else he was going to say. There was just Sephiroth, kissing him deeply and nearly willing him to respond.

They kissed until Aerith cleared her throat.

"Get a room," she said as she nudged Sephiroth with her elbow. "Honestly."

"Ride back with me?" Cloud asked. Sephiroth nodded and, not letting go of each other's hands until they had to part to walk around the truck, they settled in for the short drive back to Nibelheim. Aerith went first and once Zack got the hood closed on the transport truck, he followed behind her.

"Where are you staying?" Cloud questioned. Sure, there'd be a small tent city, and he supposed Sephiroth had spent a lot of time sleeping in tents over the years, but...

"Not the inn," Sephiroth replied. "Too small, unless there's suddenly more than one room."

"Still one room," Cloud confirmed.

"Here, I suppose," Sephiroth said as he pulled a keychain out of one of the pockets of his pants. Cloud frowned - the key looked oddly familiar. Just like one he had on the tow-truck's keychain, actually.

He batted down for the keyfob, trying not to take his eyes off the road for more than a second.

"You didn't--"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Surprise? I, ah, didn't find out til much later that you'd put in an offer for it too. I had a lot of back-pay just gathering interest and I decided it was time I think about my future."

"You bought the house by the garage. And I've been practically house-sitting for you all this time?"

"Once the reactor conversions are finished, I'm going to see about leaving Shinra. Or at least the military-industrial arm. Might sell a few Shinra cars if Nibelheim needs a car lot or something," Sephiroth explained.

Cloud chuckled and reached over for Sephiroth's hand.

"If you want to, you can move in."

"Eventually?" Cloud replied softly. "I... still don't want to rush."

"I know. And we don't have to get it right the first time."

"No," Cloud said with a little smile. "No, we don't. We can always try again."