Chapter 23

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm still good, Zack."

Cloud smiled in fond exasperation. Zack had been pestering him with variations of that question all the way to the upper plate. He kept hovering over him like an overprotective chocobo hen with her first chick, refusing to let Cloud stray too far from his side and constantly nagging at him. It was…rather nice.

Cloud couldn't remember the last time someone was so openly concerned about him. He knew his friends and family cared and worried about him, but they also knew he could handle himself. Those times he couldn't, well their version of care was rarely what anyone would call nice. Zack didn't know that side of him, not really. He knew that Cloud was strong and capable, but he had no idea of what he could endure if he had to, or how dirty his hands could become. Zack's view of strength and endurance was still too idealistic for him to grasp Cloud's determination to see his goal succeed. He was okay with that.

Besides, Cloud loved basking in Zack's attention. It warmed a part of his soul that had been cold for far too long.

"Just making sure Spike."

"Believe it or not but this is not the worst thing that's ever happened to me." Cloud said with just enough sarcasm to lighten it up.

"I know, I know." Zack sighed awkwardly as they approached the Shinra tower. "I just…what you said in Nibelheim and the lab and what Vincent said…"

"I get it. I do. It's a lot to take in and you didn't ask for any of it."

"That's not- "

"And I promise I'm not going to drive you off."

"I know that!"

"Good, now stop worrying and pay attention. Someone's coming." Cloud nodded towards the entrance as someone jogged straight towards them. Zack turned to see who he was talking about and relaxed as he obviously recognized him.

"Zack! There you are!" The young man in a Soldier Second's uniform said. "Why haven't you been answering you PHS?"

"I left it in my room. What's going on Kunsel?"

Cloud shifted cautiously. The only Soldiers he'd ever met, with the sole exception of Zack, have all tried to kill him. He'd been back for almost two months now but other than the 'field testing' mission he'd spent all that time in Hojo's labs where even Soldiers feared to go. All he could see around him were potential enemies. Cloud took a slow breath, forcing his posture to relax. He would have to do something about that and quick or he would end up killing a bunch of innocent people.

"There's a lot of activity going on in medical. Several researchers including Professor Hojo all rushed up there. I'm not sure but I think it has something to do with Angeal."

"Angeal…" Zack whispered looking both hopeful and despairing. "Thanks, Kunsel. C'mon Cloud!"

Zack slapped his arm lightly and started jogging for the nearest elevator. Cloud turned to follow his friend only to be stopped with a light touch.

"I don't know you." Kunsel said, acknowledging him for the first time.

"Should you?" Cloud asked over his shoulder at the Second. The boy was trying to look relaxed but was failing miserably at it.

"Maybe, maybe not." Kunsel said with a shrug. "Just don't hurt Zack."

"Whatever." Cloud said dryly as he started over to Zack who was waiting impatiently for the doors to open.

"I mean it." Kunsel said with some bite in it, and Cloud was once again reminded of foxes and wolves. He knew that Kunsel was no threat to him and he suspected Kunsel knew that too, but it wasn't stopping him from trying to protect his friend.

"Kunsel, the only person here I wouldn't hurt is Zack."

He didn't stick around this time. It was a good thing too as the doors opened just as he reached Zack. Cloud followed Zack in, glaring at a couple of people who wanted in as well. He waited for Zack to enter the floor number then swiped his card to lock the elevator so it would head there directly. The executive card was one of the few things Hojo had given him that he truly appreciated, and it was luck that it was in one of his pockets when Zack brought him his clothes.

"Do you think Angeal woke up?" Zack asked excitedly, bouncing on his toes.

"That would be my guess. I haven't exactly been aware of everything that's been happening, but Vincent filled me in on what he could when I was, and everything I heard on it said he was improving."

"I'm sorry Cloud, I didn't think-" Zack started saying.

"Don't worry about that." Cloud cut him off.

Before Cloud could say anything else the doors opened and Zack shot past him. Cloud's shoulders twitched sharply but he fought the instinctive reaction down. He really should caution Zack from moving to quickly around him like that, but he didn't want to give his friend another reason to fear him. He'd already given him more than enough reasons to avoid him, no need to add to the collection. So far he'd been able to control himself anyways. Maybe he could become accustomed to it.

Cloud followed Zack down the corridor that led to Angeal's room, ignoring everyone they passed by. The noise levels and excitement were growing louder as they drew closer to the First's room. The chatter seemed to energize Zack to higher levels of excitement and trepidation as they continued on.

But when they rounded the last corner Cloud froze. Sephiroth was there, leaning casually against the wall in front of Angeal's door, watching it like Rufus' pet Dark Nation with the way he kept cocking his head to listen though the walls. Zack didn't even hesitate going up to him.

"What's happening Sephiroth?" Zack asked anxiously.

"Angeal's awake." Sephiroth told him in that slow drawl of his. "You can go in if you like, just try not to get in anyone's way."

"Thanks! Coming Cloud?" Zack asked distractedly.

"I'll wait here…give you two a moment." Cloud told him with an encouraging nod.

"Okay."

Zack hesitated clearly steeling himself for what he might find on the other side, then struck the keypad to let him in. He stepped into the chaos behind the door, every inch a proud Soldier. Cloud's respect for him climbed impossibly higher. Zack would never think of running from his problems, not like him. Cloud couldn't stop running.

As soon as the door closed Cloud felt a sharp jab in his mind. Not like the jerk of a tether he'd felt so many times before, but more like a stick prodding at him. Testing him. Regardless, Cloud couldn't fully suppress twitching at it. An instinctive reaction to fight against a pull that didn't come.

"So, you feel it too."

Cloud turned to fully face Sephiroth, leaning against the wall opposite of the man, facing him directly. He may be a cowered in many aspects of his life, but Sephiroth was never one of them.

"Yes."

"What is this?" Sephiroth asked, lightly twinging the link again.

"I'm not entirely sure." Cloud answered as truthfully as he could. "I'm sure the Doc has some theories though."

Sephiroth sneered mildly at that and Cloud echoed it. The momentary solidarity leaves Cloud with a surreal double memory for a passing second. A remaining shade of when he thought he was Zack and Sephiroth was once his friend. He also felt it when he first met him after Genesis' attack on Shinra. Cloud knew that if he allowed himself, he would genuinely come to like him. He hated himself a little more for that.

"Do you trust his theories?" Sephiroth asked silkily.

"I have complete faith in his work." Cloud sidestepped. The lie tasting bitter on his tongue.

"Do you?"

"Just look at me." Cloud recklessly challenged.

"I am." Sephiroth left his spot against to invade Cloud's space. At the same time, he pressed hard into the connection, forcing Cloud to gasp at the pressure.

"How?" Cloud struggled to push back against that all encompassing presence even as everything in him begged to surrender to it.

"You tell me." Sephiroth hissed into his ear. Watching as Cloud fought against the weight of his mind while he struggled to keep his body from showing the assault he was under. His eyes locked to Sephiroth's in a battle of wills Cloud had never won. Yet even as he fought, Cloud noticed that the agony that normally accompanied these attacks was missing. The pressure to bow to Sephiroth's will was stronger than ever, but the pain wasn't there. Sephiroth wasn't hurting him, and that made him want to give in to it all the more.

Suddenly Sephiroth pulled back completely, stepping back to lean against his place on the wall as if nothing happened. Cloud was grateful for his own wall to lean on as the emptiness made him light headed and dizzy. The reason Sephiroth suddenly backed off came around the corner in the form of Tseng. He forced himself to relax as the Turk came closer.

"Sephiroth, Strife, I'm not surprised to see either of you here." Tseng said dryly.

Sephiroth nodded in greeting as Cloud forced a small smirk, the best he could do at the moment.

"Zack's inside." Cloud nodded to the door.

"That surprises me less." Tseng stated. "Though I am a little surprised you're both out here and not in there."

"I would only be a distraction." Sephiroth answered the unasked question with a wave of his hand.

"Same." Cloud added with a shrug. It was a good enough excuse.

"In that case, come with me Strife." Tseng ordered, turning back the way he came.

Cloud stepped forward eager to be away when a sharp tug halted him in place. He turned back to glare at the other man.

"I am not your puppet to toy with!" Cloud hissed at him.

"But you are mine." Sephiroth growled back. "You feel it too."

"Strife! Now!" Tseng snapped, giving Cloud an excuse to hurry away before he did something stupid. Cloud sped to then past Tseng. Every drop of blood in him quivering in longing and rage at Sephiroth's words. Building up his agitation into a near incontrollable need to lash out and fight. He allowed Tseng to lead him through the maze of Shinra's tower as he tried to bring himself back down to an acceptable level of aggression.

When they reached whatever destination Tseng was leading him to Cloud mostly had his rage back under control, though he was still full of pent up energy. But that would keep until he could burn it off.

"What do you need?" Cloud asked roughly as he studied the office Tseng led them to. It was a small, plain space with barely more than a basic desk and two chairs. Tseng took one of the chairs while Cloud ignored the other to pace the confined space.

"What was that about?" Tseng asked instead. "Why does he think you belong to him?"

Cloud wanted to curse up a storm over the fact that Tseng heard that.

"Don't ask." Cloud told him. "I'm serious Tseng. Don't ask."

The Turk studied him for a moment before nodding in acceptance. "As you wish." Tseng replied, "I have a job for you."

"What's the job?" Cloud asked.

"Next week Rufus is traveling to Wutai to assure the continued peace between us. I'm sending you in as his personal bodyguard for this trip."

"Bodyguard?" Now that Cloud was focusing on something other than himself he started noticing just how stressed out Tseng really was about this. The signs were small enough to be practically invisible, but he caught them all the same in the tension of his posture, the strand of hair just out of place and the wrinkle in his suit jacket. Tseng was extremely worried about something.

"I cannot go myself for obvious reason and while both Reno and Rude are very skilled at what they do, they are no match to a Soldier's strength. I also cannot send any official Soldiers as that could be considered an act of war." Tseng stated matter-of-factly, his fingers laced together to show Cloud a picture of calm practicality. "You have all the necessary skills to protect him, you speak the language, and most importantly you're not connected to Soldier."

The last part was more telling than Cloud thinks Tseng was aware of. The emphasis on him not being Solder spoke more of an internal threat than an external one. The Turks preferred Rufus Shinra, while Soldiers and the regular army leaned more towards his father. When Rufus betrayed his father by funding Avalanche, it left a lot of people with bad blood towards him.

"How serious is the threat?" Cloud asked seriously, finally settling into the second chair.

"Right now, you're an insurance policy. If everything goes well, you'll have very little to do. If it doesn't…"

"I'll take care of it."

"Exactly." Tseng hesitated in a rare show of internal conflict. "I don't have to express to you just how important this mission is, do I."

"I know exactly what Rufus means to the Turks." Cloud said with a grim smile. "This isn't the first time you've used me, and I doubt it'll be the last. It doesn't bother me anymore."

Tseng clearly didn't know what to do with that and so like all good Turks Cloud was sure he filed it away to be dissected later.

"Have you spoken with Hojo about this yet?" Cloud asked ignoring the foul taste in his mouth at having said that.

"…No." Tseng said after a pause. "I didn't realize he had that much control over you."

"It's less control and more of an unsteady partnership. But on the surface, he does need to appear he has total control over me." Cloud sighed heavily "I can only move freely within the company if everyone believes I'm moving on his orders. Everyone is too afraid of crossing him. But that only works if he knows what I'm doing."

"I understand."

Cloud hesitated for a second, "While I'm gone you may want to boost security on Aerith."

"Why?" Tseng demanded sharply, instantly on alert.

Cloud bit back his own sharp retort as he remembered that Tseng had been in love with the girl for a long time. It didn't stop him from doing his duty, but Cloud also knew it haunted the Turk years afterward.

"Avalanche showed up trying to 'recruit' her at the church. They found me and Zack instead. There was a confrontation. Elfé tried to kill Zack. I…might have killed Fuhito."

"Might Have?!"

Cloud shrugged.

"He touched me…I panicked."

"You panicked…"

Cloud shrugged again.

"What happened to Elfé?"

"She was unconscious but still alive." Cloud answered, "Why?"

"Elfé is the daughter of Veld Verdot."

"The Avalanche leader is the offspring of the Turks' leader. Great." Cloud snarked, "Who else knows?"

"Myself, Reno, and now you."

It didn't surprise Cloud at all that Reno knew. Nothing happened below the plates that the former slum rat didn't know of. That man could dig up dirt on anything or anyone all the while looking like the laziest son-of-a-bitch to ever exist. It was no wonder he became Tseng's second.

"Cloud, Veld doesn't know she's alive and Elfé doesn't know she's his daughter." Tseng said slowly, "I would like to keep it that way."

"What's going on Tseng?" Cloud asked softly, alarmed. Infighting among the Turks was almost unheard of.

"It's an internal matter and I would like to keep it that way for now. Just focus on keeping the heir safe."

"We'll play it your way for now Tseng, so long as it doesn't interfere with my purpose." Cloud told him. "But if you need me, call me before it becomes too late."

This thing with Verdot had Cloud worried. Tseng didn't speak of the old Turk leader often but when he did he always held a deep respect for him. But there was clearly more going on behind the scenes than what Tseng had once indicated. A Turks loyalty could never be questioned. Even Vincent still protected Turk secrets as well as the remaining Turks that were left after Meteor.

"Is there anything else I should be aware of for the mission?" Cloud asked, focusing on the situation in front of him.

"Possibly." Tseng answered. "Sephiroth will be going as well. That won't be a problem will it?"

"I thought Wutai didn't want Soldiers."

"They'll make an exception for him."

"Naturally."

…

Zack paused just inside the door taking in everything. The half dozen scientists moving about in the room and the various machines beeping and whirling away providing stats and whatnot, but the only thing that truly caught his attention was the man sitting on the edge of the hospital be. Zack walked slowly around the room, absentmindedly stepping out of people's way until he could face the man he still thought of as a hero.

"You're awake." Zack choked out.

Angeal stared at him, looking as good as he ever did before he fell to degradation. His hair was back to its chocolaty brown and his face no longer washed out but full of color. Even sitting there in the hospital gown after being comatose for a month he looked strong.

"I am." Angeal answered with the barest hint of a smile on his stoic face. "Though I half expected you to have been sitting at my bedside when I did."

"Sorry, been busy." Zack shrugged awkwardly.

"Good, that's good." Angeal nodded, looking just as uncomfortable as Zack felt.

"As riveting as this is, you need to stay out of my way." Professor Hojo stepped forward and all but pushed Zack into a chair near enough for him to continue talking with Angeal while being out of the scientists' way before heading back to the monitor he was studying.

"I wasn't…" Zack started protesting before trailing off as he realized the professor wasn't paying him any attention.

Now that Angeal was awake and Zack was here with him, finally able to talk with his mentor, he had nothing to say. Not that he didn't have nothing to talk about, he always had something to talk about. But as he sat there staring at his mentor it felt like all of the confidence he grew over the last month just vanished. He felt like he was just a trainee again and not the Soldier First he now was. Zack silently wished Cloud had followed him in. He may not know the time-traveling blond well, but being with Cloud always made him feel powerful, like he could do anything, and he really wanted to feel like that right now.

"So, what have I missed." Angeal said softly.

"Um…" Zack scratched at his hair as he tried to think of what he could say that would be relevant to him. "Hollander has been captured and Genesis is still in the wind. Strife was successful in giving him a cannister of the cure he gave you so it's a wait and see if he'll take it willingly and come in, or if we'll have to hunt him down again. Other than that, nothing major has happened."

"Strife?"

"Do you remember an angry blond in Modeoheim?"

"Vaguely."

"That's him. I'm sure you'll meet him under less violent circumstances soon enough." Zack shifted into a more relaxed position as if the mere act of mentioning Cloud could boost Zack's confidence.

"I'm sure I will."

After that it was like the floodgates opened up and Zack started filling Angeal in on all of the office gossip he'd heard throughout the month. Zack deliberately kept it light as he chattered away while Hojo and his squad worked their science. Even as he talked, Zack kept a careful eye on everything the professor did to Angeal. After all, he now knew just what the head scientist was capable of when it came to his experiments.

Eventually, the scientists ran every test they could run outside of a lab and packed up to leave. Angeal would unfortunately be stuck there for at least a few more days as Hojo wanted to make sure he was safe. Zack suspected it was more about other people's safety than Angeal's, but the order still stood. He could see Angeal grit his teeth a little at it but accepted the decision well enough.

"You should head out too." Angeal said as the last of the scientists finally left.

"Are you sure? I can stay longer." Zack asked even as he felt himself tensing again.

"I'm sure." Angeal replied, shifting until he could stretch out on the bed. "I haven't been alone since I woke up. I would kind of like a moment or two to myself."

"I get it." Zack stood up and stretched. "I'll see you tomorrow, maybe?"

"I'm counting on it." Angeal gave him a more natural looking smile. "Bring your blond with you if you can."

"Can do!"

Zack gave him a cheery salute and pranced out of the hospital room to Angeal's soft chuckles. The second the door closed behind him in the now empty corridor Zack's smile dropped and he fell back against the wall breathing heavily into his hands until gravity pulled him to the floor. He didn't know how long he sat there breathing heavily into his arms when Cloud came around the corner. His friend didn't say anything to him, he just sat next to him outside of Angeal's room in that empty corridor and listened to him breathe.