By: Mouse-chan

: K-chan

Standard Disclaimer: The characters used this fanfic are owned and copyright by Squaresoft. The characters are used without permission. This series is only made for entertainment use and does not make any profits of any kind. Any original characters are copyrighted to the authors. Changes in this fanfic can occur without any warning. Please bear in mind that the story contains yaoi, violence and adult language for that matter.

"-" conversations
{-} personal thoughts
italic flashbacks

[CHAPTER 3: A WALK IN THE DARK]

[PART 1: EYES THAT CANNOT SEE]

"What the -hell- was that?!" Cid repeated but this time with more feeling.

His blue eyes spared a glance at the panicked scene on the lower deck as his hands sought out a fresh cigar. Taking one out, Cid lit it without even thinking. It was almost like a reflex. Unfortunately before he could strike out a match, the ship tilted dangerously to one side.

Highwind sliced halfheartedly through the air before landing rather ungracefully onto a large stretch of land. Tree branches slapped against the airship as it bounced a little on the uneven land. A metallic moan filled the air when Highwind finally came to a complete stop. Dirt sprayed like water, crashing over the tops of the greenery. The deep gouge in the ground and the broken branches from the trees were an obvious sign that it was a crash landing.

A scowl decorated Cid's face as he muttered something rude about WEAPONs and what to do with them. He lifted an eye at the unexpected landing but apparently decided to say nothing about it. Balancing the brown thing between his lips, the blonde Highwind captain turned to one of the pilots that were standing nearby.

"Check if Highwind managed to sustain any damages! I want reports and I want em' now," Cid barked out orders with the authority that only the most experienced captains could own. The junior pilot immediately ran off to obey orders. Cid watched him go and then slammed his hands on the control panel. One clear screen flashed with the red colored words 'overheated engines' across the thick glass.

"What the heck was that?! Darn WEAPONs! Did they suddenly decide that it was mating season already?"

"Calm down old man. You don’t wanna die of a heart attack," Yuffie interrupted. The ninja girl still looked a little green in the face. Just then the ship gave a sickening launch forward. Yuffie stood unsurely for a moment before her hands flew over her mouth.

A split second later, she disappeared leaving only a tiny nauseated groan trailing after her.

Highwind let loose a mighty groan before it halted all movement. The smallest squeak from the abused metal filled the air whiles below, on the lowest depths of the ship, grinding engines were still hard at work.

Cloud raked his hands through his hair, gazing at the flashing screen. Absently he wondered what on earth were they supposed to do. As the group's leader, he was stuck on what should be done next. There was no clues left to follow. Each hint had only led them to a dead end. His mind pointed at the stack of reports that they found in Nibelhiem, still sitting patiently on his desk a few rooms away.

Inwardly he sighed and mentally shook his head. Papers can only tell you so much. They can only give you a barest impression on what's going on.

Besides, he thought, the more important ones were still with Reeve.

Thinking of the Shinra president, the sky blue eyes turned towards the far wall where the mog was sitting quietly in its corner. It was so silent that it was almost as if the batteries or whatever it ran on had been used up. The blonde ex-trooper found it odd since the mog was quite active before the WEAPON struck. Cloud walked up to it and gave it a nudge. Surprisingly there was no reaction from the limp little cat.

The blonde eyebrows came together, meeting in a frown.

"Reeve?" Cloud asked aloud, giving it another gentle push.

"Eh?" Barret blinked seeing the motionless Caith Sith. "Somethin' wrong with da' cat?"

Vincent came over, his face thoughtful as he examined the furry mog. Slender fingers meddled a little with the tiny thing sitting on top of the huge mog. His red eyes narrowed slightly.

"I think it's broken"

"Broken? How the hell did it get broken?" Cid questioned from the control panel. The Highwind captain's own fingers paused in their tapping on the metal panel. The evenly spaced beat ceased on the smooth cool surface. The only sound that entered the room was the steel rumble from the engines below them.

"Seems broken. Either that or something went wrong," Cloud shrugged. He fished out the PHS from one of his pockets. The machine beeped for a second before a click could be heard signaling someone had picked up the call. Cloud pressed the device closer to his ear, trying to shut out the sound of the engines. "Reeve? You there?"

"Yeah, I am here" Reeve's voice could just barely be heard above the static and the thundering steel.

"Cait Sith…."

"Yes, I am aware of that. I think there was a slight failure in the transmitter when the WEAPON attacked. Just give and take a few hours and Cait Sith should be up again. Some stuff with the controls. Minor detail anyway"

"That's good to hear," Cloud told him sincerely. The blonde ex-trooper exchanged a few more words before shutting off the communicating device.

The footsteps on the metal floor were hard to miss as an assistant pilot quickly made his way towards Cid who was currently fiddling with some knobs on the control panel. The assistant timidly tapped the blonde Highwind captain on the shoulder and proceeded to inform him of the situation. By the look on the assistant's face, Cloud could have thought that the poor man was about to face a long and painful death. The assistant pilot shrank away from the older man.

Cid immediately started raving after being told the news. His creative usage of 'colorful' words told Cloud that the news was bad. Bad but not bad enough since the blonde Highwind captain did not resolve to extreme violent behavior. Cursing could be considered one of the mildest ways Cid expressed himself if not, the only way Cid expressed himself.

The blonde ex-trooper gazed questioningly at the Highwind captain.

"Looks like we are stuck here for a while" Cid growled and took a drag out of his cigar. As he spoke, the hum of the metal slowly died down into a faint trickle "Damn engines are overheated. We need to rest it for the night before we can even think of getting back into the air again. Then there is the bloody damage parts that will definitely need to be replaced if we want to fly for more than five hours. In short; damn shit"

"Right, I will get Reeve through the PHS again to see if he can send someone with the spare parts for us. How far can we fly once we get the engines to cool?" Cloud asked.

"Right, I'll see what Reeve can cook up meanwhile," Cloud nodded, "There is more than enough rooms for everyone."

"A good time to rest" Red stated, getting up on his paws.

"Alright, I think I will go look around" Tifa told them, pulling the straps on her gloves tighter. "Don't worry, I won't go far. Just a little walk that's all"

The beast padded silently out of the room followed by Tifa. Vincent went off after saying something about sleep. Cid and Barret then noisily made their exit while hinting sentences of beer and alcohol. Cloud let out a quiet laugh and turned his attention to the screen. The 'overheated' sign still continued to flash over the glass. He dug up his PHS once more and managed to connect to the Shinra President. Quickly he explained the new problem.

Once Cloud received confirmation that Reeve would get back to him later, he turned off the device once more. With a small sigh, he dropped the PHS into his pockets.

"So we are to stay here for the rest of the night?" a quiet voice cut through the silence as easy as a knife slicing through butter.

Cloud jerked out of his thoughts and spun sharply around. Fiercely berating himself for being so oblivious to his surroundings, the blonde ex-trooper quickly searched out the silver haired man whom he found was sitting on a chair near the exit. He took a step backwards but winced when the edge of the control panel made contact with his hip. Cloud nodded hoping that the other man did not notice his awkwardness.

"I see.." Sephiroth murmured somewhat thoughtfully.

"You can go wander around the ship if you want as long as you don't get off the ship,"

"Not afraid that I will escape?"

There was no challenge in the silver haired man's voice, only a polite tone of inquiry.

"No" Cloud answered shortly. The silver haired man would not suddenly disappeared. Sephiroth had a lot of chances of leaving since the time they found him but he instead kept their company. Marking up all the facts, Cloud was quite sure that the man would not leave, not before he recovered his memories. Maybe after but not before.

"I want to ask you a few things about my past"

"What do you want to know?" the blonde ex-trooper gazed a little warily at the older man. His mind silently pleading that Sephiroth wouldn't ask something about the death of Rufus's father, the meteor or the dreaded question of Jenova. Not about how the silver haired man tried to become God anyway. Cloud was quite sure if the man asked that particular question, he would definitely be at lost on how to answer.

There was simply no step-by-step 1-2-3 book on how to become God. Not that he knew of.

If there was, he was sure that he hadn't read it before.

The blonde ex-trooper hid a rueful smile.

"Zack"

"Zack?" Cloud echoed, letting out a breath of relief.

"Yes. His history perhaps? Maybe how we met?" Sephiroth tilted his head to one side, his green eyes made Cloud felt a little uncomfortable.

"Well," the blonde ex-trooper frowned slightly, pulling his mind into the past for details. Little things started to trickle back into his brain. "Zack was from Gongoga. He left his parents because he wanted to join the SOLDIER. It was something that kids dreamt of doing those days. Anyway, I don't really know how you met him but it's most likely when you became partners"

"Partners?"

"First class SOLDIERs. Only both of you were good enough to get to that rank. I suppose it was quite natural that you gang up. The two of you made a very good team, so the rumors said," Cloud allowed his fingers to shift through his hair. Another unbreakable habit.

"Were Zack and I good friends?"

"Uh.." Cloud recollected every memory that ever crossed his mind. Tiny bits of conversations with Zack returned like a lost traveler coming back home. His mind allowed a little of the darkness to fade away. He let out a slight laugh. "Yes, you were pretty close. Best friends. I never could figure out how on earth did both of you get along so well. He was so different from you."

"Were we that different?" mako green eyes narrowed slightly as their owner tried to catch the flashing scenes.

"Never seen anyone so different in my life" Cloud couldn't help but laugh. The good times sprang out in brilliant colors. For once he welcomed them with open arms. "He was always bugging you for something. That was Zack, he never quit until he got his way."

"Tell me more" Sephiroth's lips hinted a smile.

The air between them suddenly wasn't filled with animosity anymore. Oddly enough, if one would simply glance at both of them without knowing their past, one would think they were close friends talking about the times they spent together.

"Besides the point that he spent most of his free time chasing every two legs that belong to a human."

"He did?" Sephiroth smiled, placing his chin on one hand.

"He dated everybody under the sun," Cloud answered. He remembered very clearly how his long gone friend once told him about the countless outings with women or men he had the previous night. The extremely explicit details about what happened directly after dinners that once made a very young blonde trooper's face burn.

"I thought he had some girlfriend right?" Sephiroth's voice puzzled signaling that he had remembered a few things himself.

His voice caused Cloud's thoughts to crack and scatter about in messy piles. Fortunately the memories did not melt away like sugar in the rain. Instead, they remained where Cloud could find them when he wanted to go back into the past. Slowly, the blonde ex-trooper collected them one by one, trying to fit in the newly discovered patches of his mind. He tried not to sigh in frustration as he realized that there were still huge fragments missing. The blonde ex-trooper glanced at Sephiroth who was still sitting in his corner. With a wryly smile, Cloud pulled his attention back onto the silver haired man.

The blind leading the blind, he thought.

"There was always a dried flower which he kept….." Sephiroth continued carefully.

"Damn you, don't you dare say her name!" Cloud immediately became hostile.

Warm companionship that hovered delicately between them snapped and dispersed. The blonde ex-trooper tightened his lips, pushing back the heated words that threatened to tear out of him.

Zack once had a girlfriend. A flower girl who lived in the slums. The very same girl who met her death on a particular silver haired man's sword. A girl that visited him so many times in his mind. Now she returned, the color of her pink dress strangely as sweet as the smile on her face. Her happy expression did not even dull at the face of death. It held while she slumped lifelessly onto the stone floor. The scene mercilessly repeated itself in Cloud's eyes.

Rage bubbled up as he fought to keep his voice from rising. He felt a prick of regret at losing his temper when he noted Sephiroth's confused expression but the anger was stronger than regret. Fingers twitched wanting revenge. Violence grabbed at him whispering how easy it would be to just draw out his sword. An alien voice murmured how sweet it would be to see blood dripping from the edge of the blade.

Cloud blinked startled.

He shook his head sharply. Impulsive but nevertheless he managed to control it. If he did strike Sephiroth, it would have been wrong.

Without another word, Cloud stomped off to his room leaving the other man alone in the room.

Outside the evening was quickly catching up with the sky. Most of the afternoon blueness had already left in favor of a reddish tinge. The door swung open then slammed closed once more. Footsteps entered, the hard rubber made no noise on the soft carpet. Gold light poured from the small window coloring the white bed sheets yellow.

Cloud leaned against the metal door. He tried to even out that his sudden tantrum was unavoidable but somehow he knew that it was wrong to blame it all on a person who can't even remember his own parents. Blue eyes widened in shock when Cloud realized that he was on the brink of actually forgiving Sephiroth for what he did. His mind highlighted the gentle way the silver haired man treated the little girl back in Mideel. Compared to the Sephiroth that burnt down Nibelhiem, this Sephiroth seemed completely different. As though they were not the same person.

Yet, the blonde ex-trooper thought, they are the same.

And yet, he still had not forgotten Aerith's death.

That would mean that he had not forgiven her murderer yet, has he?

Or was it sympathy towards the amnesia victim?

Did he now think that the victim and the murderer were two different people?

But why did he suddenly have the urge to strike?

He rubbed his nose ruefully feeling that he was reaching to the point where nothing made any sense anymore. He grimaced knowing that he was gladly face one of those trooper exams again than to have another talk with Sephiroth. Cloud sighed, making his way to the bed.

Suddenly a sharp pain laced its way up to his chest. It was so sudden that it almost made the blonde ex-trooper cry out. Cloud grabbed at his chest and tumbled onto the ground. He gritted his teeth at the onslaught. It wrenched its way around his fiercely beating heart and coiled tightly on working muscle. The pain entered a whole new stage where one's vision turned a flare of brilliant white.

Then as sudden as it came, it went away.

Cloud gasped, his breath ragged and uneven. His hands still at his chest as he struggled to get back onto his feet.

"What--?" he coughed out.

Stumbling a little, he dropped onto the soft surface of his bed. Metal springs made a tight sound as they adjusted to the new weight. Cloud pressed one hand on his forehead. He felt fine now; there was not a trace of pain left. It was rather odd. He lay motionlessly on the smooth surface. His heart gradually began to slow down to its normal speed. Wondering about it, he reached down to unbuckle his shoes. The blonde ex-trooper pushed off the heavy leather boots from his feet and decided that he was just rather stressed.

So stressed that I developed heart problems, he thought in a rather amused manner.

Knowing that heart problems were definitely not the reason why he suffered from the sudden pain, Cloud laid down on the bed satisfied that he was feeling okay. The ends of the remembered conversation with Zack drifted into his mind as he closed his eyes for a rare moment of rest. A grin framed with the familiar dark hair stole into his vision.

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Reeve tapped the pen impatiently on the paper. The thumping sound it made further agitated him for some sort of reason so he released the said pen onto the table. It clattered on the wooden surface and rolled to the edge of the desk. For a moment it tilted uncertainly before gravity made its choice. Reeve watched it fall onto the carpet.

Deciding not to pick it up, the Shinra president turned his attention to the paper that was currently in his hands. It was one of the documents the groups had taken from Nibelhiem. So far the scientists of Neo-Midgar had uncovered several interesting facts. One of them was the unmistakable sign that huge amounts of mako were being used. That alone was rather unsettling on Reeve's nerves. That and something to do with spare human parts. From the looks of the numberings, it seemed like organs. Reeve frowned harder.

The open glass doors that lead out to the large balcony allowed a gentle breeze to enter his office. Warm breeze battled with the cool air from the numerous air conditioners. Night had already regained its throne in the sky. Reeve's gaze did not wander off to appreciate the scenery that his office provided. Instead, it remained glued onto the paper in front of him, trying to unveil what clues it could give. He had a lot of work to do since there was a pile of papers to go through.

A gentle click from the door attracted his attention.

The Shinra president glanced up from the sheet of paper to see his assistant standing at the doorway. She wore a rather apologetic expression on her face.

"Sir, sorry to disturb you but there are some documents that you are required to sign. Should I bring them in?"

Reeve nodded, waving his hand vaguely.

"Yes, sir," she murmured politely before she left.

There was another click as the door closed leaving him alone. Reeve could find little fault in the security of the building. For one thing, anyone who wanted to get to his office needed to go through his assistant's room. But before that, the person would have to possess the password to get the lifts to work. Of course if they wanted to reach 30 floors by the stairs, they would face the problem of getting pass the laser sensors.

He blinked, realizing that he had allowed his attention to slip. Frowning, he resumed reading the document before a sudden flicker from the security screen caught his eye.

Reeve glanced at one of the screens that were placed on the left side of his room. The scenes were colored a monotonous black and white. All of them showed what was happening in the building. They told him that everything was normal, all but one. The Shinra president froze, the document falling silently from his hands. Wide eyes stared at the screen in disbelief.

The sound of blood pumped through his body roared in his ears.

In the black and white picture was a perfect image of a mutated monster. Tentacles swiped powerfully through the air as it swung the security guard against the wall. Blood splattered on the surface of the camera. Reeve felt horribly sick. The creature suddenly turned to the device. Intelligence shone in its eyes while a stomach-churning parody of a smile crossed its mutated face as it held out a red slippery organ in offering.

A heart, still moving in the monster's grip.

One tentacle, still wet with blood, covered the glass. Then the screen changed into a picture filled with gray static.

The chair clattered onto the floor as the sudden movement of it's resident jarred its balance.

Without a single sound of exclamation, the Shinra president ran out of the room. His footsteps sounded loud against his ears. There was only one image on his mind. The image that he had seen on the glass. It made his blood run cold.

"Sir?"

"Get the security! Now! Ground floor level" Reeve shot over his shoulder before punching a button.

The lift slid open and he hastily got in. A voice somewhat metallic rang out asking for his identification. Cursing, Reeve slapped his card against the scanner. The machine uttered a small sound. His fingers pressed the lowest digit before the lift began its rapid descent. It was faster this way than to use the stairs. Dark eyes watched anxiously as the numbers changed on the liquid background.

Finally the doors opened.

The Shinra president skidded to a stop just nearby the reception area. There was no one in the area. The lack of people was rather unusual since it was just barely past sunset. Reeve turned around, heading towards the stairs. There was a soft sound like thick liquid being compressed. His shoes stepped on something sticky. Looking down, Reeve covered his mouth with one hand for his lunch was threatening to make a spectacular exit out of his stomach.

His rubber sole had came into contact with a disgusting puddle of green slime. There was a slight tinge of crimson at its surface. Reeve's gaze followed the red trickle until it came to its source. The Shinra president took a while to realize that he was staring at the bloody remnants of a guard. Blood soaked the tatters of clothing while broken gray white bone sat in the middle of the crimson pool. Reeve could see pieces of brain tissue sliding wetly down the wall, evidence that the murder had just occurred.

A gruesome graffiti made from scrawls of blood.

Hidden away in a corner, one had to be just at the right angle to actually notice it. Just beside the splattered wall lay what could only be a crushed electronic device. His eyes looked upwards only to see the iron bar that kept the camera in place was ripped viciously out from the said wall. Wires hung despairingly over the bar, trying to reach out to its ruin comrade that lay in pieces on the floor.

Reeve, alert, traced the sickening trail of slime up the stairs. All the way up to the 37^th floor.

He passed the laser sensors, noticing the gadget was now degraded to a lump of charred metal. Panting, the Shinra president ran to the adjoining room.

The door to his office was ajar. His secretary was nowhere in sight. A cold hand pressed tightly around his neck. His heart picked up speed. Trembling, Reeve pushed the door open fearing what he might see. A lump formed in his throat making it hard for him to breath. His knees felt as though they would dissolve into water that very moment.

On his far right, a picture once hung on the wall. Reeve remembered clearly that it was a drawing Marlene, Barret's daughter, had done. The sweet little girl had experimented with crayons and developed what could only be called a mess. And the mess was given to him as a birthday present. Reeve had appreciated the gift and had it framed up. It made him smile whenever he took a look at it.

Right now, there was no framed crayon made picture hanging on the wall. Instead, a picture of flesh and blood dripped down the walls and onto the floor. The long nail that was supposed to support the weight of Marlene's present now pierced sharply into a human's neck. The sharp edge of the metal poked out of the tearing skin, coated with red. The side of the skull was badly crushed. Long crimson lines ran down the pale skin. A straight cut split the layers of flesh, allowing the insides to spill out like gruesome strands of worms. Thick red liquid dropped endlessly to mingle with the broken glass and shredded colored paper on the carpet.

Reeve froze.

If he had done something it would not be any use. His secretary now was just a corpse holding no life within it.

Someone came in here, the Shinra president thought, someone came in here for something.

His gaze snapped towards his desk. The papers the group had taken from Nibelhiem were gone. There was nothing left on the wooden surface except a trace of slime mixed with blood. It led all the way to the balcony. Reeve pushed his body to work even though he felt numbed all the way to his toes. His hands touched the steel railings. He glanced down, not noticing the slime under his fingers.

Far below, a figure embraced the ground with a sickening crack.

Reeve closed his eyes, not wanting to see any more deaths for the night. His mind unwittingly told him that if one fell from 37^th floors, one could not possibly survive. He felt sick. Forcing his eyes open, he looked down once more. Amazement filled his senses when he did not see anything lying on the street.

Alive, he thought shaking his head.

His stomach churned as he headed back to his office. His eyes looked decidedly away from the gruesome body that hung on the wall like some morbid picture. Reeve turned away feeling ill. His body was shaking uncontrollably. Probably in shock, he mused almost absently. A device on his table blinked.

"Sir, this is security" the telecom stirred to life. "Sir, we are now searching the compound around headquarters."

"Yes, you do that," Reeve could hear the slight tremble in his voice. He lifted up his hands to see the slime that hung in sickening strands between his fingertips. It felt cold against his skin. To make things even worse, the smell of blood wafted up his nostrils. Snatching up a bit of notepaper from one end of his desk, the Shinra president removed a majority of the slime and blood from his hands. The used paper was violently thrown to the other side of the large room.

There was a pause. "Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"Yes, I want the slime tested for anything unusual and……" Reeve glanced at the lifeless body. There was something stuck to his throat for he could not get the words out properly. "Get someone to dispose….my…secretary's body."

"Yes sir. Immediately sir."

The Shinra president watched motionlessly as the telecom beeped once and became silent. He then walked slowly to out of his office. Reeve did not know where he was going until his feet decided to stop moving. He knew that he was somewhat in the state of shock. Perhaps even in denial of what had just happened. Eyes gazed at the door that appeared in front of him while he pushed it open.

"Sir?" a slightly plump man asked. His short hair was messy but his uniform was quite orderly. His squinted gaze gave away the fact that he had been rudely awaken by the other man's appearance. The man stood up at once when his eyes flashed recognizing the Head of the Shinra Company. He attempted a salute but failed rather miserably. Lit screens all around him flickered.

"Do you have copies from surveillance cameras even if the camera is destroyed?" Reeve asked almost surprised at how calm he sounded. At the back of his mind, he reminded himself to fire the incompetent person who fell asleep during his work-shifts.

"Yes, indeed sir. All feedback is sent here. Every second that goes on in this building is videotaped into an original and an extra copy just in case anything gets lost."

"Good" Reeve nodded. "I want a copy of the tape from the surveillance camera on the ground floor. It's near the stairs."

"Yes, sir" the man quickly typed in a few buttons. He pulled out a black tape from one of the many cupboards that were stacked all the way up to the ceiling of the room. Reeve spared a glance at the impressive amount of videos that Shinra had managed to collect. Some of the surveillance tapes were pretty old since most of them were sent to Junon for safekeeping before the meteor destroyed Midgar. He made another note to check which tape was not valuable enough to keep so they can be thrown away. But that would have to wait.

"Do you have a transmitter here?" Reeve questioned.

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"NO!"

Cloud violently sat up from his bed. Wide eyes fleeted wildly around the room while sweat dripped down his forehead. The blonde ex-trooper glanced down at his fingers. A piece of gray cloth slipped past his grasp. Its torn edges implied that it was once a part of something. Cloud blinked, carefully noticing the odd feathery feeling against his arms. Another similar piece of cloth floated down onto the floor. He stared down.

The blanket lay around him in shredded rags.

Blue eyes searched out the luminous number that sat nearby the small bed. The clock stared back quietly at him. The dark surface seemed to sympathize at his plight. It was 1 in the morning.

"Wonderful," he murmured under his breath while brushing off the remains of the unfortunate blanket.

An electronic beep rang out from the corridor. Although it was slightly muffled by the metal door, Cloud's sensitive hearing heard it without any difficulty. Frowning, he moved out of the bed and headed outside. The beep was persistent, gradually getting louder as the blonde ex-trooper followed the sound to its source. Cloud took a few more steps before he entered the control room. Mako blue eyes centered down on a transmitter that was flashing angrily at him.

Someone was trying to contact them, he realized before he pushed the 'connect' button.

Static invaded the line for a moment then cleared away. Reeve's voice sounded clear in the depths of the night. The Shinra president gave a casual apology for calling so late. Cloud frowned; wondering why did his friend sounded so tense. There was an uneasy feeling rising steadily from his gut. The blonde ex-trooper worried his bottom lip.

"What's up, Reeve?" he asked

"Something attacked Neo-Midgar just a few seconds ago"

"What's that 'something'?"

"God knows. Probably a monster. It left slime all over the floor. I had the slime tested out, high mako infused in the cells. The thing has a tendency towards violence; it killed two people. And it is intelligent. It took the documents we got from Nebelhiem"

There was a long pause in the conversation.

"Do you by chance have some sort picture…?" Cloud muttered, his mind pounding out a million of unrealistic answers on why a monster would find a bunch of papers interesting.

"Yeah, surveillance cameras. Hold on a second. I am sending it over to you."

Cloud flipped on a switch that made one of the green lights on the panel turn yellow. The screen flickered and the words 'retrieving' worked their way across the thick glass. Little blue dots slowly appeared in the little box that was located just below the retrieving sign. There was a quiet click before a hologram appeared just a few meters away from the panel. The black and white image wavered unsurely then quickly; an invisible hand seemed to smooth over the wrinkles. The picture stilled allowing the viewer to make out what it actually was.

The blonde ex-trooper's first impression was that he was looking at some sort of mutated tentacle creature. It reminded him of one of those monsters in the old horror moves he used to watch with Zack. Both of them would either complain that the effects were too fake or pretend to scream like girls at every scene.

Cloud pulled his attention back onto the hologram. His trooper instincts took over, making automatic judgements on the image.

It was big, about a good two heads taller than he was. By the looks of those tentacles, it was strong. Cloud watched expressionlessly as the creature swung a security guard onto the wall as though the man was just a doll. Blue eyes hardened at the sight of the blood splattering on the glass. A frown emerged when the hologram paused at the precise moment the creature looked directly up at the camera. The hologram paused in the middle of offering the still intact organ.

There was something about that cynical smile.

He knew that he had seen a perfect imitation of that twisted expression somewhere before.

A dull squeak of rubber pressing against the steel floor warned him that he wasn't alone anymore. The blonde ex-trooper turned around to see his friends walking into the room. Most of them were in the process of rubbing sleep from their eyes. It was most likely the beeping and his conversation with Reeve had wakened them up.

"What the hell?" Cid exclaimed being the first one to notice the ugly hologram.

"Bug an' squid mutation?" Barret commented helpfully with disgust written all over his tanned face.

"Yeewwww" was all Yuffie could say after taking one look at the thing. The ninja girl gave the impression that she preferred to retire back to bed for some rest but decided that she would stay with the group to see what was churning up. Tifa leaned sleepily on the wall while Red's gold eyes frowned at the colorless image. The beast seemed to be trying to remember something. Sephiroth had also entered along with the group. His entrance was so silent that Barret had failed to notice that the silver haired man was with them.

Cloud quickly summarized to them what Reeve had informed him. His thumb jerked at the hologram, which was still flickering in the midair.

"Looks like that is our big clue"

There was a slight sound as Vincent entered the control room. Red eyes turned almost vicious as he took in the hologram. Hatred colored his crimson eyes while his mouth formed a silent snarl. His metal claw clenched together tightly. The silent man froze, the very thing in front of him pulled him back deep into the past. His lips opened to snarl out the name he cursed even in his sleep.

"Hojo"

Immediately, Red growled at the mere mention of the name. He threw a sharp glance at the hologram but this time his expression was not of confusion anymore. Recognition flashed in the beast's eyes.

Cloud's mind clicked, making a connection with the name and that all so familiar smile. Somewhere in his being, rage fought to come out. The blonde ex-trooper found himself wanting to just vent his sudden anger on something. His hands twitched longing to wrap themselves around someone's unsuspecting neck. To slowly squeeze life out turning the body into an empty shell…..

With a start, he blinked.

"What was I thinking?" Cloud murmured under his breath. Quickly he pushed away the disturbing thoughts and listened to what Reeve was saying.

"There is a bit of blood on the pavement where the thing landed. I will get a blood test and see if the blood matches Hojo's.."

"There is little doubt that it matches," Vincent quietly said. There was an undertone of fierceness under his calm voice. The dark haired man's body told of a sudden need to move. Perhaps even in a violent way in quell the rage that burnt under the carefully controlled facade.

"Just to make sure. Results will come in about 4 hours time" Reeve told him. "If it's Hojo then…."

"We are in major shit," Barret said in his usual matter a fact tone.

"Damn major shit," Cid uttered.

"Right, 4 hours," Cloud nodded pushing a few blonde bangs away from his face. "I want everyone to go back to their rooms and get back to sleep. I don't want any of you to get sloppy while fighting just because you didn't rest enough."

"Cait Sith should be up by then. The repair men with the ship replacement equipment will be waiting at Gold Saucer," Reeve told them before cutting off his line.

A sudden gasp made everyone turned around. Cloud's blue eyes widened when he saw Sephiroth clutching his head. The action was an uncanny imitation of himself whenever his brain decided to tear itself to bits just to annoy him. Cloud figured that it must have really hurt the silver haired man since Sephiroth actually staggered backwards. Barret had readied his gun but Cloud stopped him.

"You remembered something?" Red asked when Sephiroth removed his hands from his head. The beast's voice almost gentle as though he was speaking to a child. Thankfully Sephiroth was too preoccupied while trying to place back the snippets of memories back where they belong to take offense. Green eyes glanced up carrying more than a hint of confusion, which quickly dispelled in the glowing depths.

The rest of the group relaxed noting that the silver haired man was not a danger to them, yet.

"A little," the answer was halting and weary.

"Is that 'a little' enough for th' guy ta go craz-….," Barret stopped. His abrupt ending for his sentence along with the sudden flush on his dark face spoke in volumes.

Shaking her head, Tifa stepped out and pulled her friend out of the room. Red followed the suit. Cid waited for a moment before carefully taking Vincent towards their room. The Highwind's gestures were gentle, a startling contrast with the harsh way he expressed himself sometimes.

Once again, Cloud found himself standing alone with Sephiroth. The blonde ex-trooper internally winced. He debated on questioning what did the older man remembered but decided not to. Memories were a sacred thing. If the silver haired man wanted to share them with him, then he would do so at his own time. Until then, Cloud would just have to keep an eye on him making sure that a certain Sephiroth wouldn't go across the country to try become God again. He stopped his line of thought, laughing at himself. He was about to try taking care of someone else even though he did a lousy job at making sure his own life was running smoothly.

Heck, he didn't even know what was hiding in his own brain most of the time.

"It just comes in pieces" Sephiroth said so quietly that Cloud almost thought that the silver haired man was talking to himself.

"It's like that," he replied unwilling to add that he was still suffering from lost fragments from his own past. He hesitated for a heartbeat before filling up the silence. "Don't worry. It will come back eventually"

When does the eventually end, Cloud wondered.

"Eventually," Sepiroth echoed.

The blonde ex-trooper could not tell by the tone if the older man was agreeing with him or just saying the word aloud. It was hard to figure out since Sephiroth's back was facing him. Somehow placing a comforting hand on an arch-nemesis's shoulder seemed wrong and out of place. He racked his fingers through his hair again, trying to prompt in brain into saying something comforting.

Seeing that there was nothing else he could do, Cloud turned towards the door.

"Get some rest. See you in 4 hours" Cloud informed him before returning back to his own room.

No movement graced the room after the blonde ex-trooper exited the control room. Sephiroth stood a few meters away from the hologram as though he was made of stone. Glowing green eyes stared at the black and white image. Unnamed emotion flickered in the green depths. A small part of that emotion was recognition. The larger part resembled the hatred that flashed in a certain silent longhaired man's.

Lips moved to say the familiar yet alien name.

It sounded like a life sentence in the midst of the quiet.

"Hojo"

The end of Part 1 of Chapter 3

NOTE TO ALL READERS

Please be noted that the story takes place 6 months after the game. There is also a YAOI content. So to all readers who do not approve to such pairing or dislike the idea, do not proceed reading. The authors will not entertain any flames or complains concerning the yaoi pairing/pairings involved in the fanfic.

Thankyou