Two Letters and a Number

Glad you're enjoying it Malackai.

@@@

It was the polite knocking on the door that roused Cloud from the much more restful sleep he had slipped into. He frowned when he realized there were too many arms and legs in bed with him, and something was behind him, trapping him against Vincent’s familiar smell of leather and gunpowder. The knocking came again, and whatever was behind Cloud stirred and mumbled in a strange language as a pair of arms and legs disengaged from the tangled mass on the bed.

‘Daniel,’ he realized as the archaeologist stood up, and Cloud watched over Vincent’s shoulder as Daniel staggered over to the door. He bit back a snicker when he realized that Daniel had forgotten to put clothes on, and whomever was on the other side of the door was going to get an eyeful when Daniel opened it.

When Daniel jerked the door open, Cloud could see Tseng standing in the hallway with Elena behind him and off to one side. Tseng’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of Daniel standing there naked, but his emotionless mask returned a few heartbeats later.

“Is the world ending?” Daniel demanded, sounding like he was still mostly asleep, and Cloud felt Vincent tense at that question.

A confused look flickered over Tseng’s face even as Elena’s eyes grew wide and a blush stained her cheeks before she averted her gaze. “No....”

“Then don't come back unless you have coffee,” snarled Daniel before swinging the door closed as he turned to make his way back to the bed.

Cloud bit his lip to keep his laughter from spilling into the room as Daniel slid back into the bed behind him, but he was pretty sure the archaeologist was too asleep to notice his shoulders were shaking as Daniel curled up against his back. A soft snicker slipped out of Vincent as the door was politely pushed open by Tseng, and the gunman rolled to his feet, casually getting dressed as the two Turks entered the room. Cloud slipped out from under Daniel’s arm and moved towards his own clothes, uncaring about his nudity even as Elena looked everywhere but at him. “What do you want, Tseng?”

“We have discovered another lab of Hojo’s here in Nibelheim,” began the Head of the Turks when Cloud interrupted him.

“Have fun with that,” he stated, pulling on his pants as he turned his back on Tseng. He was not going to dance to their tune. Not after the other day. If they wanted his help, then they were going to have to pay his price to get it.

Digging into the pack for a fresh shirt, Coud pulled out the still-heavy bag of Gil and the remaining letters before tossing them at Tseng’s feet. “Your bastard can do his own work. I’m heading back to Edge. Dr. Jackson is welcome to come with me or he can catch a lift back with you. Whichever he chooses.”

“If you don’t mind, I think I’d rather head back with you, Cloud,” remarked Daniel, sounding a bit more awake, and Cloud glanced back over his shoulder to find Daniel sitting up in bed, scrubbing at his messy hair with a hand as he blinked around the room. Daniel frowned as he looked at Tseng with the bag and letters at his feet before looking back at Cloud. “What’s going on again?”

“The Turks have discovered another laboratory and have come seeking Cloud’s assistance again in securing the facility,” remarked Vincent, covered once more in tattered crimson and ebony leather. Vincent’s face was as emotionless as always, but Cloud could hear the faint tone in the gunman’s voice, the one that said he thought Tseng was a fool for even trying to ask Cloud.

Shaking his head, Daniel staggered to his feet and towards his pack. “There’s intelligent life on this planet, but I don’t think Shinra employs any,” he grumbled, pulling out his clothes, and a dark flush stole across Elena’s face as she clenched her fists.

Cloud strapped on the sword harness before sliding the main sword into it and scooping up his pack. “I’ll meet you downstairs in the common room,” he said, looking over at Daniel who was struggling into his pants. “We’ll leave after breakfast.”

“But you’re a hero! You’re suppose to help people!” protested Elena, and Cloud watched with a cold smile as she shrank back under Tseng’s glare. Apparently she had done enough damage the other day, and Tseng was trying to keep it to a minimum today.

“That just proves that you know nothing about me,” remarked Cloud, staring at her with cold eyes, and a part of him enjoyed the fact that she shrank back even farther under his glare than Tseng’s. He moved past both Turks and was almost at the door when Tseng finally spoke.

“We are willing to pay you for your time, Mr. Strife.”

Snorting, Cloud glanced back over his shoulder ti find that Tseng had turned to face him. “What makes you think I need the Gil?” he drawled in a mocking tone. “So unless you can find something more valuable to me, you’re just wasting my time.”

“What about the records you want?” bargained Elena, her blue eyes filed with desperation. “You’re so anxious to know what Hojo did....”

His mocking laughter cut her off, cold and harsh. “Wrong again. I want those records to keep them out of the hands of people who might use those procedures on other people. Now shut up unless you have something of value to contribute to this conversation.”

A humiliated flush rushed over her face, and she opened her mouth to say something else only to snap her lips shut at the cold glare from Tseng. The Wutaianese man returned his attention to Cloud even as he addressed Elena. “Wait for me downstairs, Elena.”

She mumbled a reluctant “Yes sir” before slipping out the doorway, her head bowed like a child being sent to the corner. The door closed quietly behind her, and Cloud tilted his head slightly as he listened to her footsteps fade in the distance. Only when he heard her descend the stairs did Cloud turn his attention back to Tseng, silently wondering what the Turk wanted now. He could understand sending Elena away. Loki cursed female didn’t have the sense to know just when to shut up right now.

“When Sephiroth destroyed Nibelheim, there were a few more people here than you knew about,” began Tseng, his dark eyes shadowed, and Cloud realized that he was talking about Turks. “Valerie and I were ordered to shadow Sephiroth by Hojo with Heidegger’s authorization. Hojo must have suspected something was going to happen, because he demanded that we call him when the chaos started.”

A cold hand gripped Cloud’s heart as he stared at Tseng, unable to believe what he was hearing. The Turks had been there, and they had just let Hojo walk off with him and Zack because of orders. What, did Tseng think that Hojo was going to just heal them out of the kindness of his heart before letting them wander back to Midgar and the Shinra military?

“I was hoping to intervene before you were grabbed by Hojo, but I misjudged the time of his arrival,” continued Tseng. “When I arrived at the reactor, Hojo was already there with troopers carting both you and Fair off. After that, both of you vanished until a request for Turk assistance to apprehend two escaped experiments crossed my desk. It wasn’t until Rude and Rachael reported back that I knew it was you and Fair.”

A wry smile crossed his lips. “Then, Fair managed to vanish off our radar completely, leaving us searching to find both of you. Unfortunately, we didn’t locate either of you again until after Fair had been killed, and you had slipped into Midgar to vanish in the Slums.”

“And I only have your word for any of this,” growled Cloud, gripping the strap of his pack to keep himself from doing anything he might regret, like seeing how well his fist fit in Tseng’s face. “It’s a wonderful story, but all you’re doing is wasting my time. I don’t care that there were Turks then that sat around on their asses and did nothing. Doesn’t change a damn thing. You want me to help you, I want compensation.”

He smiled, as cold as Gaia’s Cliff. “Tell that Loki spawned bastard that if he wants my help any time in the near future, then he’s going to pay and pay well for my services. After all, AVALANCHE was willing to meet my price not so long ago. If a bunch of ragtag terrorists can pay for the services of an ex-SOLDIER, Rufus Shinra shouldn’t have any trouble at all.”

“Very well, what is your asking price?” asked Tseng, his voice resigned. “Materia?”

Cloud snorted. “I have more than enough mastered materia, even with what the Remnants stole from me,” he said, dropping his bag to fold his arms across his chest. “My price is simple: Shinra and anyone associated with them will leave me alone for the rest of my life, with the exception of a Jenova-level problem that puts the planet in danger. Not just Shinra, but the planet Herself. If that should ever happen, I get *all* information about the problem up front to avoid another fiasco like with the Remnants. This will also be verified by an independent source of my choosing to prevent Shinra from crying ‘wolf’ when he is the only target.”

“I can see that as agreeable,” Tseng began only to stop when Cloud shook his head.
“I’m not done,” he stated, his voice firm. “I also will be granted the ability to request files at any given time, and they will be delivered to me, no matter what the clearance they originally had. It won’t matter if it’s Ragnarok Level, those files will be delivered to me, unmodified in any way. This will not be a one time thing either.”

He cocked his head as he met the dark eyes. “Should Shinra renege on this deal, then I will go straight to the public with what I know of Shinra and whatever skeletons I can pull out of their closets.”

“Agreed,” sighed Tseng, his shoulders slumping before jumping as Vincent spoke from his corner. “Witnessed.”

“Let’s grab a bite to eat, and then we’ll see about your lab.” With that, Cloud had scooped up his pack and walked out the door. He heard Daniel following him before Tseng started quietly speaking into his PHS, informing Rufus Shinra of the deal.

“What happens if Shinra decides you’re too big of a threat and kills you?” Daniel asked in a soft voice.

“Then the information is leaked to the public while my friends demand an investigation,” replied Cloud with a casual shrug.

“Not soon after, Rufus Shinra will be found dead by his own hand, a note confessing everything nearby,” purred Vincent, a delighted note in his voice, and it gave Cloud a warm feeling to know he had friends willing to go that far for him.

Breakfast was a quick affair, Tseng joining them halfway through their meal while Elena kept tossing them unsure glances, and after exchanging his pack for the rest of his swords, Cloud followed the Turks back down into the hidden basement of the Shinra mansion. Instead of entering Hojo’s office, Tseng double back under the crude stairs to reveal a doorway hidden in the rocky wall.

“Elena found this yesterday while searching for more records,” explained Tseng, drawing his gun. “It was opened far enough to verify that it was not a storage closet before being locked again.”

There was something vaguely familiar about the door, but Cloud shoved the feeling aside, not wanting to get caught in a memory surge if there was something other than equipment on the other side. Gripping his swords, Cloud glanced over his shoulder to find Vincent and Daniel both had drawn their guns and were waiting for his move. He nodded once before motioning for Tseng to open the door. The Turk shoved the door open and moved aside as Cloud edged closer to the darkened portal.

The light at their back was just enough for him to see equipment farther down the hallway, but it was the rustling of wings that informed him of the presence of bats. Twirling the small switchblade sword in his hand, Cloud sheathed it on his back before reaching out his free hand to feel for a light switch. Hojo had been impatient enough to want light as quickly as possible so he could begin his experiments. Cloud didn’t bother hiding the shudder or even question how he knew that fact as his fingers quickly found the switch.

Light flared into existence in the hallway, illuminating everything, and startling the mass of bats that had decided to take up residence in there into action. Screeching, they flew right at Cloud, and he sprang into action, a second sword appearing in his free hand. The blades flickered in the light as he killed the bats that attacked him, and the loud report of gunfire behind him indicated that the others were disposing of the ones that got by him.

He hissed as one of the bats managed to scrape his arm with sharp talons, drawing blood before his healing kicked in and closed the wounds. A quick whirl of a sword, and the bat fell to the floor, twitching slightly even as its head joined its body. The floor was littered with blood and bodies, making the footing hazardous, and Cloud cursed as his foot slid on a patch of blood even as he gripped his swords tighter.

Then, it was over, the last bat falling to a bullet with a pitiful squeak.

“Everyone all right?” called Cloud, his eyes scanning the hallway for any more surprise attacks. He couldn’t hear anything else moving except the four behind him and the faint tapping of blood dripping from his swords. The familiar green shimmer of the Lifestream spread among the bodies, and Daniel yelped in surprise. Cloud whirled around, swords coming up to fight whatever was attacking Daniel only to find that the archaeologist was staring at the disappearing bodies.

“Is that normal?” asked Daniel, his eyes large behind his glasses.

Cloud shrugged a shoulder, flicking the blood off his swords. “They’re returning to the Lifestream,” he stated, eyes flickering around as something rolled against his boot. Looking down, he discovered a green materia resting there, and he sheathed the small sword before scooping it up. A Barrier materia.

Chuckling softly, he tossed it to Vincent. “Something to use on Yuffie when she starts eyeing your materia again.”

The gunman caught it with a small smirk before the materia vanished into the crimson cloak. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Turning, Cloud drew his small sword again as he started down the hallway, picking his way past the blood that was smeared on the floor. It was only a half dozen feet before the hallway opened up into a room where two tanks were placed against a wall, surrounded by machinery, and the metal plating in front of both was warped where mako had spilled out of the tanks when the subjects inside were being extracted. The rest of the room was taken up by computer consuls and tables holding various pieces of equipment.

“Looks clear,” he announced, straightening up from his wary crouch and sheathing the switch blade sword as he kept the second sword in his hand. He turned his back on the two opened tanks, and he watched as the Turks entered the room, their faces blank with professional masks. Elena couldn’t hide the faint horror at the sight of the one tank, its insides bristling with long needles like a cactaur’s quills.

A small grumble from Daniel drew Cloud’s attention, and he watched as the Tau’ri fumbled with the lacings of the bracer before yanking the leather off, exposing red, irritated flesh. Daniel dropped the bracer on a clear space of table along with his gun before rubbing his wrist in a soothing manner. He stopped when he caught sight of the tanks, and he slowly walked over to them, eyes flickering between the tanks and the floor. “What happened to the floor?”

“Raw mako. It warps metal that isn’t specially treated,” explained Cloud with a small shake of his head. “If you fall into mako, you have a choice; strip before the metal fastenings on your clothes fuse together, or wait and hope to be cut out of your clothes later.”

“If there was metal against your skin, would it fuse to the skin?” asked Daniel, staring at the needle sporting tank. “And what was this used for?”

Cloud shrugged a shoulder. “Don’t know. Never heard of anyone stupid enough to hold a Gil before shoving their hand into a mako-filled tank.” He shivered at the sight of those needles, waiting for someone to step into their deadly embrace. “It’s Hojo’s. That’s enough to make it dangerous.”

“Why two tanks? Especially since one doesn’t have needles?” Daniel muttered, more to himself as he frowned at the tanks, but Cloud’s hearing caught the words. Gritting his teeth against the shivers that wanted to make them chatter, he deliberately turned to fully face the tanks and Daniel.

His vision wavered as a hidden memory surged forward, pushing reality back as it clamored for attention—

— “Yes, you will do nicely once you’ve gone through the full treatment,” purred an oily voice, the words barely registering through the green haze that hovered before his eyes. Pain lanced through every muscle he had and a few he never knew could hurt like this. He managed to pry open his eyelids, which felt like they had Bahamut hanging off of them, to find Hojo peering at him, the light flickering off his glasses giving him a demented look. “You and your friend will have to remain here until those silly Turks have been recalled. No sense in letting everyone know where my latest experiments are.”---

“Easy, Cloud, you’re safe,” soothed a familiar voice in his ear, and Cloud tightened his grip on the tattered velvet, letting the feel of the soft fabric ground him in the present.

“Hojo hid us here,” he croaked, looking up at Vincent from where they knelt on the floor. The fading ache in his knees indicated that he had fallen to the floor when the memory hit. “Didn’t want the Turks finding us. Didn’t trust ‘em not to tell others where we were.”

He curled farther into the other man’s arms, not caring how weak he looked, as he struggled to separate the memory from the present. He was willing to admit that it did lend weight to Tseng’s earlier explanation, but he needed time to poke at the memory to see how it fit in the gaping holes in his head.

There was a sudden squeak and a yelp from Daniel before the sound of something heavy hitting metal resonated. Cloud looked up just in time to see the door of the tank swing shut with a hydraulic hiss, locking Daniel inside.

Scrambling to his feet, Cloud heard the faint gurgling in pipes and started to swear. “Tseng, get this thing open *now*!” he snarled before returning his gaze to Daniel. “Take your clothes off!” he mimed undressing, and realization flickered in Daniel’s eyes before he bent over, attacking his boots with a vengeance.

Swears came from Tseng, and Cloud glanced over his shoulder, silently demanding an answer as the smell of mako started spreading through the air. “The program started the second the door closed,” reported the Turk, worry and concern mixed on his face. “It’s the last one used, meant to take an unaugmented person and turn them into a First.”

A cold fist gripped his gut. He had been the last person in this tank, and now Daniel was trapped in his nightmare. “Can you shut it down?”

“The passwords are changing every second,” replied Elena from another computer, the clattering of keys filling the air, and Cloud watched as the first streams of mako spilled into the bottom of the tank. “Once the SOLDIER process is started, it can’t be stopped, or he runs the risk of death.”

“Vincent, call Reeve and have him get a doc familiar with SOLDIERs here,” ordered Cloud, his hands going to his own clothes. “Also, have him bring Donahue and Chang. If Daniel has a bad reaction to the treatment, you’ll need them.” Donahue was a mountain of a man, built more like Thor with black hair, while Chang was a Wutainese, but both were Firsts. Not Zack’s caliber, but close enough to deal with an insane First if needed.

“What are you doing?” Elena’s voice cracked, and Cloud looked at her over his shoulder to find an embarrassed blush on her face as the last of his clothes fell to the floor.

“I’m not going to let him go through this alone,” he growled, blue eyes flashing even as his hands trembled with terror at the thought of *willingly* climbing into one of those tanks. “Vincent, make sure the doc also knows about mako poisoning.” He looked over at crimson eyes. “Just in case.”

Vincent nodded as Cloud took a steadying breath before he climbed into the second tank.

“What’s he doing? Is he *insane*?” Elena’s voice was bordering on hysterics, and Cloud closed his eyes as he heard the hydraulics start.

“He’s doing the same thing for Daniel that Zack did for him,” replied Vincent before the door hissed shut, locking him in. Cloud’s eyes flew open, he gritted his teeth against the scream that wanted to escape. He could do this for Daniel. He didn't deserve to be trapped alone in the other tank.

Mako splashed against his skin, causing it to tingle, and Cloud closed his eyes as he crouched down in the thick liquid. If he waited for the tank to slowly fill, he would probably panic and destroy something in an attempt to escape. He wasn’t exactly sure how this worked, but he knew the basic idea. Closing his eyes, Cloud mentally reached for the mako, feeling the swirling emotions trapped in the liquid, and he let himself sink into it, searching for the bright spot only a few feet away.

‘Zack, Aeris, please help me,’ he silently called, reaching out for the bright spot that was Daniel Jackson. Gently, Cloud pulled him into a strong embrace, shielding him from the voices that were starting to become audible, and he curled around Daniel even as he felt two pairs of arms curl around them.

Relaxing into the strength and comfort radiating from his allies, Cloud curled around Daniel and drifted in the sea of voices.

@@@