Viral Love

Junon.

I hated this town. It gasped for air underneath a Shin-Ra port, suffocating from machinery and concrete when once it thrived as a small, healthy community of fishermen and trades-people. It reminded me too much of Wutai, especially since Shin-Ra had ruined that country in the same way. Building, occupying, conquering…

“Fuck,” I heard Valentine mutter. “Look above us.”

I paused in putting on my coat, eyes going to the rebuilt Sister-Ray canon. The place crawled with men on obvious but shoddy surveillance. They smoked, drank, waved their guns around and talked at top voice. We hadn’t heard them until coming much closer than the shoreline, because the sound of the tide concealed other noise.

“Take that damned coat off. It’s white and will draw their eyes,” my brooding companion insisted.

He had a point. I rolled up my coat and shoved it under a large rock. I hated to lose it, but I saw little alternative. “They must be on the lookout for us,” I mused, following Valentine into concealing shadows. He moved like a wraith out here. If not for his voice I’d barely know where he stood.

“They have reasons to want us out of circulation,” he agreed. “We need to get out of this town.”

“And go where?” I’d nurtured hopes of getting clean clothes and a hot meal tonight.

Valentine sighed heavily. “We need a blue chocobo. Actually, even a yellow one would serve to get us farther away from Heideggar’s favorite stomping ground.”

“Well, it won’t hurt my feelings to abandon Junon,” I whispered. “You and your friends almost killed me here.”

“I suppose you prefer Costa del Sol?” he asked archly. “That’s where we found you drinking rum and relaxing with beach bunnies.”

“Whores,” I corrected. “A man gets lonely.”

“I thought you liked men.” He pulled me farther back into a shadowy rock formation.

“Do I have to commit?” I couldn’t believe his gall. “So criticizes a man who could have had anyone and chose a married woman!”

“Don’t talk about her.” His voice became dangerous. “Just don’t, Hojo.”

“Fine.” I leaned my head on a rock and shut my eyes. “She really did think a lot about you, though, even before you two started carrying on. She really admired your father. Now there was a top-notch scientist, let me tell you.”

“My… father?” Valentine said softly. “I didn’t know him. He stayed at Shin-Ra while I…” He stopped talking abruptly. “We don’t have time for this. We need to get out of here, on foot if by no other means.”

“I’m game.” I stood straight. “If we go right from here we’ll pass through the slum village and pop out in the Junon Area Grasslands. I think we might catch a yellow chocobo somewhere out there.” I grabbed his arm, feeling him recoil in shock. “Don’t panic. My hand has grown back and I want my bracelet.” I felt naked without all that materia. “I have chocobo lure materia.”

“Give me my bandana, then.” Valentine sounded like he spoke through gritted teeth.

“It’s bloody,” I warned.

“Even your blood doesn’t bother me.”

We made the exchange. I released my gun holster and passed him my 454, too. “You’re probably the better shot, so take it,” I said. “It only has six rounds.”

Though I couldn’t see him, I felt his sudden discomfiture. Briefly, his fingers glided over mine in the taking of my gun, making me shiver. A small, small sound escaped his lips. “Is this the gun you shot me with, Hojo?” he asked.

“Heavens no. There wouldn’t have been anything left of your bowels if I’d used this gun.” True, that. “I’m not surprised you didn’t get a good look at the 357. The lab was quite dark and you looked more at my face than the weapon.”

He didn’t move or speak for a long time. Then, I heard him strapping on the gun. “We’ll need to find greens for the chocobo,” he muttered.

I followed him to the edge of town. We walked up past the inn, and I looked at the invitingly lit windows, knowing warmth and food lay just outside my reach. I’d never taken cold well, and I was still so damp from being in the ocean.

We managed to make it out of lower Junon safely. I started shivering and couldn’t stop. To keep my teeth from rattling and making noise, I clamped my lips firmly together. God, could I use that lab coat now. It afforded little protection, but I’d take that little bit in a heart beat.

“What’s wrong with you?” Valentine asked quietly. “You’re never quiet this long.” He hadn’t spoken either, not since we’d started following the snake-like border of an ocean inlet.

“S-s-s-o-o c-cold,” I managed to say.

“I can’t do anything about that.” He kept walking, and I knew he didn’t feel a bit concerned over my discomfort. I could hardly blame him.

We walked hours. I had plenty of stamina, but the stress of the day had me stretched thin. I’d been attacked, gassed, thrown into garbage, dumped in the ocean, been circled by sharks, and now Valentine seemed determined to test my mettle by gross physical exertion.

I found mimmet greens by accident when bending to re-tie my bootlace; I’d crushed some of them and released their peculiar, oregano-mint smell. Saying nothing, I tore up several bunches and used a bit more of my dwindling suture supply to bind them to my belt loop.

The sun came up. Finally, Valentine seemed satisfied we’d walked far enough. He pointed to a rocky place on the shoreline, his red eyes intent. “I remember this. The Little Bronco barely fit in the channel. There should be a very small cave.”

Pathetically grateful, I followed him at a stagger. My belly complained, now, and I wished I had that nasty, smashed sandwich I’d pitched while in the garbage heap. Granted, it would now be contaminated with ocean-water and bio-hazard soup, but I’d still eat it.

The cave appealed to me for many reasons, the first being it seemed fairly dry. The second reason? No one could spot it from the air. I barely made out the entrance from the ground.

Once inside, Valentine began kicking at a pile of driftwood. He revealed a ratty sleeping bag and a canteen. “No fire,” he ordered. “It won’t draw properly in here and it’ll attract attention.”

“You s-sound like y-you know from experience.” I grabbed the dirty cloth and wrapped it around me. “AVALANCHE stopped here?”

“Yes. That’s Cloud’s old bedroll you’ve wound around yourself.” He sat and gave me his typical, red-eyed stare. “It didn’t protect him, so he left it.”

“I’m grateful,” I answered, enjoying the small heat I’d managed to trap. “I take it we’re heading north?”

The smallest, ghostly smile moved Valentine’s lips. “Not much of an outdoorsman, are you?”

“Not at all.” I didn’t like his superior demeanor at all, but I felt too tired and cold to make an issue of it. However, he didn’t need to seem so smug. No, I couldn’t rub two sticks together to start a fire, but I doubted he could extract a septic appendix.

“Yes, we’re heading north. If we find our way blocked by Shin-Ra, we still have many options open.” He made himself comfortable in loose sand. “You can take your bullets out, now.”

“I’d forgotten,” I blurted. With nearly numb fingers, I managed to drag my knife from its holster. I’d sterilize it with my fire materia and get to work.

“You’re really just going to go digging around inside yourself with that pig-sticker,” Valentine said.

“What choice do I have?” I hit the knife with fire, then took off my shirt and started cutting. It really hurt, but not as much as I thought it might. I supposed I might be too tired to pay much attention to pain. That happened sometimes.

The first one, the one in my shoulder, came out easily. The second one took some real digging. Once finished, I cleaned the knife as best I could and stretched out. I’d quit bleeding in a few minutes, thankfully. “May I catch some sleep?” I asked Valentine.

“Asking me permission for something?” Valentine chuckled darkly. “Oh, how quickly tables can turn.”

“Spare me your sarcasm.” I turned to look at him. The phosphorescence of the moss in here made for fairly easy viewing, even of a man who made shadows his kith and kin. “I just want your consent to sleep. I’m very tired and I’ve had a busy few weeks. It takes a lot out of a man to be alert for assassins every moment of every day, and I haven’t slept well in more than two months.”

My speech actually got a small reaction from him. He lifted an eyebrow. “If you’d just stop working in that nest of zolom,” he began, but I cut him off.

“And fail to find a cure for X2Geostigma?” I wouldn’t drop my quest to conquer that disease, not for him or for anyone. “Do you not see how many people are sick or dying from this illness? What if it mutates further? It’s like cancer, Valentine, an overprotective response to fight the last lingering malignancy of Jenova. It could overrun us all in a matter of months or years.”

Worn out from my sudden explosion, I closed my eyes. “Shin-Ra has the gil and the equipment I need. And no, I’m not being all that altruistic; I have my own plans and experiments to pursue. Still, they’re all on hold until I can get a handle on this disease. I’ve worked on nothing else for months, ever since I realized the severity of the thing. Unfortunately, Scarlet and Heideggar don’t share my enthusiasm for beating Geostigma.”

“And, Rufus Shinra is gone,” Valentine added. “He was your only support, wasn’t he?”

“Yes.” Shiva, I felt I could just pass right out. “Baby Shinra supported the research. He’d come down with Geostigma in its first form, but mysteriously recovered.”

“Holy Rain of Great Gospel,” Valentine said quietly. “It’s why Cloud recovered, too. It was Aerith Gainsborough’s last limit break. She sent the holy rain to the planet when Cloud fought the Sephiroth clones.”

This stirred my interest despite being exhausted. “She’s dead, though.”

“She’s an ancient.” Valentine shrugged. “We don’t entirely know what a Cetra is capable of even in the afterlife.” He drew my gun and put it across his legs. “Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you at dusk.”

“Thank you.” I closed my eyes again and surrendered.