No, still don't own ffvii.This is NOT a Cloud bashing fic. I actually like him, but this idea was floating around in my head and I couldn't not use it.

Stairs

Cloud knew breaking into the Shinra building would not be easy, but he had never realized just how high the building was. He set out in a confident sprint, but by the eleventh floor, he found himself flagging. Thankfully, Barrett and Tifa mistook his silence as his normal SOLDIER stoicness. In fact, he was trying to use as little breath as possible, speaking only when he had to.

He'd thought Barret would get tired first. The man was big and had to carry around that huge metal arm. But although he kept up a constant litany of complaints, he kept going, and he always had the breath to complain.

And Tifa...She was the lightest of the three, and because of her fighting style also the most athletic. She was tired, but not as near collapse as him or Barret.

Gradually, he found himself being worn down. Then he was forced to simply concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. Then he started wondering what they'd do if the door at the top of the stairs was locked, and they had to go all the way back down. And similar thoughts. Shinra had shown his genius once again. If anybody ever attacked the Shinra building, and the lifts were shut down, they would collapse from exhaustion climbing the stairs. Even if a handful of fit and dedicated soldiers reached the top of the stairs, they would be in no condition to fight anybody.

Then, just as he was on the verge of collapse, he was saved. Some kindly soul- no, some angel, had left an elixir on the landing of the stairs, next to a placard saying "Having fun?" Drinking it down, he used the burst of energy to (barely) survive to the top of the stairs. Tifa was very impressed, and he could go on looking like the indomitable hero she thought he was.