Merging Journeys

Author's Note: As everyone that's reading this should know, all these characters except for a few are of Squaresoft copyright. I hope you enjoy this story, which might end up being some sort of sequel novella to Final Fantasy VII. ^_^ Please E-Mail me and tell me what you think!

Started: January 25, 1998

Finished: March 3, 1998

The bright lights that decorated just about every inch of the Gold Saucer shone beautifully that one night, and then either burst altogether or blinked out. Reno's eyes narrowed as stopped in his tracks. "There they go again," he sighed, combing one hand through his red hair. He turned to his two companions, who had stopped when he had.

"I thought you would have been used to it by now," Elena remarked, blinking her brown eyes at the man. She was always in the shadow of her two comrades, but she had her share of excitement; that had been proven when the late Professor Hojo had taken control of the Sister Ray in Midgar.

Reno shook his head. "I'm the kind of guy that can't get used to anything," he replied, grinning. "It's something I've lived with my whole life."

"But you've made an exception with the booze," interjected Rude, who had remained silent up to now. The tallest of the three was bald, a pair of black shades covering his eyes as he surveyed the Gold Saucer, which had been flooded with darkness.

"True," began Reno, "but I've made it my business not to become somber at the bar." Rude nodded in understanding while Elena's face twisted in confusion.

"I don't understand. . .," she said, her voice trailing off.

The red haired man's humored laugh cut through the darkness sharply, and Elena felt the pair of kind, blue eyes on her. "It doesn't really matter, Elena," Reno chuckled. "C'mon, let's get going."

The three Turks walked off from the Wonder Square, the lights blinking back into existence as they exited.

"Vincent?"

The man on the second bed in the room did not awaken from his deep slumber.

"Vincent, wake up; it's morning."

Vincent Valentine opened one red eye, and then the other. His two opened eyes fell upon the young and beautiful Tifa Lockheart, who looked down upon him with a maternal smile on her face. With a sigh, the black haired man rose from the bed, pushing away the blanket that Tifa had given him the night before. But from there, he moved no further.

"Any pleasant dreams last night?" Tifa queried, sitting down on the bed at Vincent's feet. She wore an oversized white shirt and gray shorts; she still hadn't gotten out of her sleeping clothes.

"A few," replied the man, his voice dry and quiet. A frown replaced the stoic line that was his mouth, and he turned his head to Tifa. "I want to thank you for your hospitality."

Tifa shrugged. "It's nothing," she said breezily. "I enjoy anyone's company, especially if it's one of my former travelling companions." She smiled a little.

Vincent nodded, and fell back into silence. Only a month had passed since Meteor had crashed into Planet, and it seemed that side effects now rocked the once stable land. Tremors were apparent every now and then, and the area around Midgar could be considered something between a wasteland and nuclear war zone. The city itself, however, was another matter. About three days after Holy and the Planet had successfully stopped Meteor from destroying everything, a strange group of people came into Midgar, taking it upon themselves to rebuild Shinra Incorporated and rebuilding the city.

But as always, nothing good was ever to be found at the heart of Midgar. No sooner had Shinra been reborn, the company sent armed forces into Kalm. Even Choco Bill's little farm had been a target to Shinra, but Cid Highwind and Cloud Strife had taken the Chocos and chocobos and relocated them on the plains near the Gold Saucer. Presently, Cloud was in Midgar with Barret Wallace, Cid, and Reeve, while Barret's daughter, Marlene, stayed with Shera, Cid's new lover, and Elmyra, the foster mother of the late Aeris Gainsborough, in Rocket Town. As for the others, Red XIII, otherwise known as Nanaki, had gone back home to Cosmo Canyon, Yuffie had headed home to Wutai with a mastered All Materia, mastered Restore Materia, and a mastered HP Plus Materia in her possession, Vincent had wandered around the land alone, and Tifa and Cloud had ended up living together, although there was no relationship between them at all, much to Tifa's disappointment.

Silence had drifted into the room, but was cast out by Tifa's voice. "Are you going to leave today, Vincent?"

"Yes," replied the dark haired man.

"You don't have to, you know."

Vincent shook his head, getting off the bed and straightening his black bodysuit. "I've taken too much of an advantage out of your hospitality, Tifa. It's only proper that I leave." He still clearly remembered that he had taken shelter at Cloud and Tifa's villa in Costa Del Sol three days ago at their urging.

Tifa frowned, but did not go further down that road. Instead, she swerved a little. "Where will you be going, then?"

"I don't know," sighed the man, picking up his cape from the chair he had draped it upon the night before. "Perhaps nowhere. Perhaps everywhere. I'll go in the direction my fate points me in."

Tifa sighed. It was just like Vincent to give a mysterious, and yet satisfying, answer. "Will you at least stay for breakfast?" she asked, hoping to keep Vincent for a few more hours. She hated being alone in Costa Del Sol. Even though Costa Del Sol was probably the second most exciting city in the world, under the Gold Saucer, it was still drab when one had no friends about to do anything with.

Vincent turned towards her, a ghost of a smile on his face. "You're desperate, aren't you?"

Tifa blushed. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes, it is," chuckled Vincent. He nodded. "I'll stay for breakfast if it will make you happy, Tifa."

"Thank you so much!"

"Think nothing of it." Vincent watched as Tifa hurried out of the bedroom of the villa and into the kitchen. To his knowledge, he could not think of a time when an energetic young woman rushed to do something for him. Now, to find Tifa Lockheart, the powerful and beautiful heroine, begging him to stay, was amazing. It brought a smile to the man's face.

A groan escaped his lips as he opened his eyes. He groaned again when he found his eyelids aching too much for him to open his eyes. All that Tseng could feel were the sheets he was wrapped in and the warm sun caressing his face. That, and the excruciating pain in his chest. The Turk winced as he felt the burning feeling streak across his wounded body, and he felt hot tears claim his closed eyelids.

"Are you awake now?" came a worried, masculine voice.

Tseng slowly licked his cracked lips and opened his eyes. His blurry vision gained a little focus, but not yet enough to thoroughly see his surroundings. What he did see was the outline of a body looming over him.

"Where-- Where am I?" he inquired, surprised by the hoarseness of his voice. The very last thing that came to mind was his consciousness quickly fading away in the middle of the forest outside of the Temple of the Ancients, yet now he seemed to be within some house.

"You're in my home on the eastern coast of the second to the westernmost continent," replied the man. Just from the tone, Tseng was able to guess the man was at least thirty years of age. There was silence for only the briefest moment before the man continued on. "I found you in the forest near the ruins."

Tseng blinked in confusion. "R-- Ruins??"

The man that Tseng looked upon nodded in acknowledgment. "Yup." He paused for a moment, as if mulling over the thought of telling him anymore information on the subject. "I heard that Shinra said it was a demolition process. . . Hell of a clean demolition process, if you ask me. Not a trace left of the building that was there before."

'My God. . . Shinra covered up everything. . .' "Thank you for saving my life," he murmured, finding it strange to be saying the words. It had been quite a while since he had shown gratefulness towards anyone, let alone to a complete and utter stranger.

"Heh, it was nothing." The Turk heard the sound of footsteps, and he watched the blurry figure drop out of sight. Although he could no longer see the speaker, the voice was still close and strong. "Actually, it was Clucky who found ya."

"Wark!!" came a bird squawk that was relatively close.

'A chocobo?? It's been forever since I've heard a chocobo. . .' "What type of chocobo is yours?" he queried, shutting his eyes to let them rest.

He could hear the man chuckling. "Clucky here's a Gold Chocobo," he responded. "That Cloud Strife fellow gave him to me after Meteor fell. He said that he owed me one for telling him where the Keystone was."

'Cloud Strife? Meteor?!' "Cloud Strife is still alive??" gasped the black haired Turk, his eyes fluttering open again.

"Well, I'd better hope so; he and that AVALANCHE group were the ones that saved us all from Meteor."

'So, Cloud and AVALANCHE survived. . .' "And what of Sephiroth?"

"Sephiroth? You mean that insane god wanna be?" The man shrugged and scratched his head. "Miss Lockheart reported that he was killed on the Northern Crater."

A sigh of relief escaped Tseng's lips. "Thank the lord," he whispered. Just as the feeling came back to the man's fingertips, he felt the brush of feathers. Cocking his head slightly, the Turk noticed a gold colored chocobo nudging his hand playfully.

Tseng looked at the man quizzically. "You keep your chocobo inside your house?"

The man frowned. "I don't have a barn or stall for Clucky, so he stays inside." He grinned suddenly. "By the way, we haven't exchanged names yet. I'm Brenned."

"Tseng of the Turks," replied Tseng with a slight, painful nod.

"Turks, huh?" Brenned's brow shot up, and he fingered the topknot of brown hair on his head. "Formerly of Shinra, then?"

"Formerly of Shinra??"

Brenned stared at Tseng in surprise. "You must have been away from civilization for a *long* time if you don't know what happened to Shinra," he remarked. "Shinra's gone. Rufus Shinra was killed when that Diamond Weapon attacked Midgar."

"The president is . . . dead?" Tseng felt a sudden headache coming on with this new information.

"Yeah, Rufus is dead," confirmed Brenned. "I've heard, though, that a new organization's trying to rebuild Shinra Incorporated. . . I've also heard that they took over all the land up to the Mythral Mines."

"What!!?!" What Tseng had planned to be a shouted exclamation came out in a rugged moan, and he fell into a coughing fit as soon as the word had left his mouth. He felt concerned eyes on him as he coughed, and he groaned once he had stopped coughing.

"Sorry about being so abrupt," apologized Brenned. "I forgot that you needed time to take in the new information."

"That's okay." Tseng coughed once more, and then cleared his throat. "I have so many questions to ask you. . ."

"Go ahead and ask me, then," replied Brenned.

"All right, but this might take a while. . .

He sat with his head in his hands. It really bothered him that he had let Reeve leave. Even Barret had stopped and asked him if something was wrong with him. Cloud Strife sighed, recalling the events that had happened in the past hour. . .

Cloud could tell that something was up at the very moment that he saw Reeve's face. The usually calm and ready ex-Shinra executive looked distressed and unsure; the older man's brown eyes already told half the tale. Cloud could not recall a moment since they had met in person that Reeve had ever been so distraught, and he knew that anything that worried the man was indeed something to worry about.

"Something wrong, Reeve?" he queried, blinking his Mako blue eyes at his AVALANCHE comrade and friend.

Reeve's dark brown eyes penetrated his own. "I'm afraid there is, Cloud," he replied gravely.

After Barret Wallace and Cid Highwind had joined them in the new AVALANCHE headquarters in Sector 3, Reeve started to explain the problem. "We all know about this new organization that we're up against, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Barret muttered, looking up from polishing his gun-arm. "They're just copying what the Shinras did before 'em."

Reeve nodded, brushing his neat, black beard. "There's a lot more to that than you know, Barret. . ." He lowered his gaze from the other three, a frown creasing his face. "Shinra Incorporated wants all of its former executives back."

"So?" Cid took the ever-present cigarette out of his mouth. "You're not thinking about going back to those slimebags, are ya?" His scrutinizing gaze fell upon the black haired man.

"Actually . . . that's why I had to talk to you all," Reeve replied in a quiet voice. "I'm really thinking about going back to Shinra."

All three of the other men threw him bewildered looks. "What!?" Cloud sputtered in disbelief. "You can't be absolutely serious, Reeve! You know very well that Shinra Incoporated is a twisted and corrupt company; why in hell would you want to go back to *that*?"

This brought nods from the two other men, and before any of them could start belting out more reasons on why Reeve shouldn't go back, the former executive intervened. "I would never turn my back on AVALANCHE, and you all, out of everyone, should know that the best by now!" This was indeed true -- once they had all met Reeve face to face and gotten to know each other, they had all agreed that Reeve was a trustworthy man and had allowed him to join AVALANCHE. "I'll reactivate Cait Sith and keep him with you guys." It was strange that Cait Sith would even be considered a `him`, as Cait Sith was a robotic duo of a stuffed cat and giant moogle.

"I *still* don't like this. . ." Barret muttered, frowning dangerously. "I mean, what in the @&$*$% world gives you the idea that we'd let you go so @!#$ easily??"

Reeve finally brought his eyes, the calm atmosphere that was almost always around him returning with the motion. "Trust me, Barret," he said softly, "I'll be a lot more of a help if I'm in Shinra."

Cloud opened his eyes to the wide, main room of the AVALANCHE headquarters. Like all Midgar households, it was dirty and rather smelly, but he was used to the stench; in the dark corners of the world, it smelled like this all the time. A large TV was set up on a stand to the far side of the room in a corner, and boxes of junk and unused weaponry were scattered throughout the whole hideout. Along with all this junk, cigarette bunts and ash also littered the floor, thanks to Cid's smoking habit. With a sigh, Cloud shifted on the torn up couch, being careful to not sit on any of the jutting springs in the furniture. He wished Tifa was here. Tifa could always find a little bit of sunshine in the gloomiest of times, and he liked her smile. He could understand why she had decided to stay away from Midgar, but he still wished she was there with AVALANCHE. . . With him.

The silence of the headquarters was uncomfortable, at least for Cloud. Usually, Cid could be heard tinkering around with some of the equipment around the hideout, but it was apparent that Cid was out on a smoking break. As for Barret . . . Cloud didn't have any idea what the gruff leader of AVALANCHE did in his free time.

"Probably nothing fun," he muttered under his breath, getting up on to his feet. The only light in the room came from a ceiling lamp, and Cloud noted that it was still pretty dark. He'd have to look around for some lamps later. Knowing Cid, he'd probably put it at the bottom of a bunch kitchen appliances. Bored, Cloud picked up the remote control of the TV and turned on the TV, crossing his arms as he watched the first channel he came to. Just by taking one look at the man on the TV sceen, Cloud could tell that he was no ordinary man.

The man was very slender, with light violet hair that flowed down to his shoulder blades. His cool, azure eyes seemed to penetrate the TV screen, as if he was able to stare right at the watcher. "I, Vice President Andrew Veraldei, speak for the president of Shinra Incorporated," began the man, his voice smooth and icy at the same time. "We request for all former Shinra executives and workers to come back to work for the company."

Cloud snorted. "Fat chance." He remembered that he had been a soldier for Shinra before. "Not *everyone's* going to go back to that damn company."

Vice President Veraldei continued, brushing at his gray business suit, which looked rather expensive. "Our president has already promised to increase the average working salary by fifty percent. There will also be more guarantees made in the future, but that is if we can this plan off the ground."

As the camera slowed backed away from Veraldei, it showed the only person standing to the vice president's right side: Reeve. Cloud frowned. It seemed too soon for him to see one of his friends standing next to the enemy. He sighed, knowing he would have to get used to it very soon.

Reeve sighed as he strided down one of the many rebuilt Shinra corridors. It felt odd to be back in Shinra, especially after joining AVALANCHE and helping them set up a hideout in Sector 3. He reached into his pocket, feeling a little bit of comfort return when he felt the remote control, special sight lenses, and headset for his Cait Sith robot. As long as he was able to keep in touch with the others, things were going to be okay. . .

"Hey, hey! Look who's back!!" came a familiar voice from behind Reeve.

The dark haired man quickly wheeled around, blinking in surprise to see Palmer swiftly making his way towards him. Palmer hadn't changed at all since the last time Reeve had seen him; he still had a thin mat of gray hair and sparkling brown eyes that never seemed to lose their joyfulness. Palmer was as fat as ever, but he didn't seem to care as he reached him and shook his hand furiously.

"Hello, Palmer," Reeve greeted the older man, nodding in acknowledgment.

A warm smile spread over Palmer face, and he gestured for them to continue walking. "I haven't seen you for a while," noted Palmer, clasping his hands behind his back.

Reeve shrugged, knowing he couldn't give Palmer a straight answer. "I haven't seen you either," he replied. He paused for a moment to let his words sink in before going on. "So, how long have you been here?"

"Heh, heh, I just came in yesterday. I didn't expect you to be back, though; everyone knows how much you care for Midgar itself." Palmer cast a frown at Reeve. "Any reasons why you returned?"

"I feel safer knowing that city maintenance is being handled by someone trustworthy," Reeve answered, staring uneasily at Palmer's frown.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Reeve, but you might not be in charge of city maintenance and urban safety this time." Palmer lowered his gaze and continued to walk side by side with the taller man.

"Huh?" Reeve threw a confused look in Palmer's general direction.

Palmer looked back up at Reeve. "I heard that the president and vice president might be switching positions around since some the executives are missing or deceased. For all I know, you could find yourself seated in Scarlet's chair as head of weapon development."

The two men stopped talking as they entered the briefing room, and Reeve stopped short in shock. Seated next to the chair of public safety and city maintenance, in the chair for the head of weapon development, was Scarlet, sitting across from Heidegger.

Palmer leaned over towards Reeve. "Well . . . umm. . . Scratch that last comment, okay, Reeve?" he whispered.

Reeve could only nod dumbly.

Vincent nodded in acknowledgment to Choco Billy as he waved over at him, walking towards the chocobo stables where his Gold Chocobo, Shana, and Cloud's two Gold Chocobos, Green Chocobo, and Blue Chocobo were at. The black haired man stopped in front of Shana's stall and was about to open it when a young girl, Chole, approached him.

"Hi, Mr. Valentine," she greeted, "are you going away again?"

Vincent looked down at the girl. "Yes, I am, Chole," he replied. "Why do you ask now, of all the times I've left before?"

Chole bit her lip and then shrugged. "I don't know," she said honestly. She watched as Vincent opened the stall and took out his Gold Chocobo. "Why do you go away so often?"

Although the question was a little abrupt for a child to ask an adult, Vincent wasn't phased one bit. "Oh, I have my reasons." Brushing a strand of hair from his eyes, Vincent closed the stall door. "I don't have any one home, and so I wander the land."

". . . But you always end up coming back here," Chole pointed out.

"Yes . . . so I do." Vincent smiled out of the irony, and he mounted Shana. "I guess this continent is more my home than any other continent. Many of my friends live on this continent, and I guess I want to be near them as much as possible."

Chole nodded in understanding, waving a silent goodbye to Vincent as he rode out of the stables and off of the farm. "Home is where the heart is, Mr. Valentine. . ." she whispered, watching Vincent and his chocobo disappear as little specks over the ocean.

Barret stopped polishing his gun-arm when he saw Cait Sith, on his giant moogle, hop into the room. He frowned, stuffing his polishing cloth into his pocket and standing up. "Somthin' up, Cait?" he queried, crossing his arms.

The little cat straightened the crown on his head and nodded. "Yup," he started. "We've got more trouble."

"More?" Barret snorted. "Nothin' can be worst than another Shinra."

"That's what you think," Cait Sith said with an impish smile. ". . . Scarlet and Heidegger aren't dead."

"What?!?" Barret's eyes bugged out and he stared at the stuffed cat in shock.

Cait Sith fell into hysterical laughter. "I told you!" he giggled. "Anyway, yeah, Scarlet and Heidegger are still here. I don't have any idea how those two can still be alive, though, after what happened a while ago. . ."

Barret nodded. "Yeah, dat @!$%^* Proud Clod piece of $^!@. . ."

"Ooohhh, my ears have been polluted by your harsh language. . .," Cait Sith said, clearly mocking the black man.

"Ya know, if I didn't know dat destroying dat cat body of yours would totally piss off Reeve, I'd do it right now," Barret remarked, throwing a murderous glare at the robotic cat.

"Well, ain't I just the luckiest cat on the block," Cait Sith said happily, he and his moogle trotting out of the room. "I'm gonna go tell Cloud and Cid right now."

Nodding, Barret sat back down and went back to polishing his gun-arm, watching Cait Sith disappear from view. A few moments later, he heard Cid shout "SHIIIIT!!" from the other room.

Reeve took his place next to Scarlet, taking a quick glance at the woman before sitting down. She still looked lovely and exotic in her red dress, her face and eyes set on Vice President Veraldei, who sat at the head of the table. Across the table were Palmer and Heidegger, and just by looking at Palmer's face, Reeve could tell that the man was more than a little uneasy about sitting next to a man that had been rumored dead.

"Well, now that you are all here, are there any questions before we begin?" Veraldei asked, his blue eyes scanning over the four.

Scarlet immediately followed up with a nod. "Just one," she said. Veraldei urged her to continue, and the woman executive said, "Won't the president be attending the board meetings?"

"The president is a very busy man, Miss Scarlet," replied Andrew. "He'll probably attend future meetings, but he most likely won't be seen around the building for a while." Scarlet frowned at this, but Veraldei chose to ignore it. "Continuing on. . . The president and I have agreed that you shall stay in the positions you are in. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong about allowing you to keep your positions, as all four of you have been under the command of President Shinra in the past. Your knowledge in those areas will benefit Shinra Incorporated profusely in . . . many ways."

For some reason, Reeve didn't like that certain tone in Andrew's voice, and he secretly noted that he'd have to be listen for that tone in the future. . .

"It's been three days and you *still* haven't seen the president?" Cloud repeated, a little stunned by this. 'Geeze, I saw President Shinra only hours after I became a soldier. . . The new president must really be something, or a fake!'

Reeve/Cait Sith sighed. At the moment, Reeve was talking through the stuffed cat, and his voice had replaced that of the cat's. "Yeah. Personally, I haven't been past the sixty-eighth floor even once. I think they're hiding something up there."

"Do you think it's worth taking a shot at?" Cloud questioned, rising from the couch. "I mean, well, Barret, Cid, and I could go up there and see what's up there."

"I don't know. . ." Reeve trailed off for a moment. "I could go up there myself and find out; it'll be less risky."

"You could get caught, Reeve, then your cover'll be blown," Cloud reminded him. "If the three of us over here break in, we'll at least have a proper alibi. Are you following me?"

Reeve/Cait Sith frowned. "I'm not stupid, Cloud," he said dryly. The cat sighed in much the same way Cloud knew Reeve was. "Fine. . . You guys be careful, you hear? Veraldei just told us that they've tightened security in and around the building.

"I wonder why. . ." Cloud shook his head. He looked back at the Cait Sith robot. "By the way, Reeve, how are you holding out?"

"I'll live," Reeve/Cait Sith replied, resting on top of the moogle's head. "It's not too bad being back in Shinra, but Scarlet and Heidegger are giving me the creeps. They're more cryptic than annoying nowadays."

"Well, that's interesting to learn," Cloud commented. "Anything else?"

"Well . . . I don't know if it's anything to be worried about. . ." Cait Sith shut his eyes for a moment and then reopened them. "Shinra's gonna start funding their space program again."

". . . And that's supposed to be a bad thing?" Cloud queried, his brow rising.

Cait looked at him grimly. "You can't honestly tell me that you believe that their going to use the space program for good, now can you?" The little cat flicked at the cape on his back and returned his gaze to Cloud.

"I guess not," admitted the young man. "Now, back to business. Is there anyway that you can loosen the security around the area?"

"I think I'll be able to lure them to the lower floors," replied Reeve. "But then you'll have to get to the upper floors from somewhere else."

A wicked grin made its way to Cloud face. "Do you think they'd actually be guarding the fire exit?"

Reeve sucked in sharply, jutting up on the moogle. "Oh, no . . . I don't think Barret's going to be very happy with that. . ."

"Tough." Cloud's Mako blue eyes glinted, and he laughed.

"What the #$@! do you mean we're breaking into Shinra Inc.!?!" screeched Cid, yanking the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Reeve and I worked it out," a nonchalant Cloud replied, leaning against the wall of Barret's bedroom. "We're going to climb up the fire escape."

"What!?!" Barret growled, his dark brown eyes widening in shock. "Those #*@$%!$ stairs!? Cloud, you. . ." With that start, Barret went off into a long string of curses that lasted a good five minutes.

Cloud wasn't even phased by the cursing. "We're still going, Barret, whether you like it or not."

He was so cold. . . Why had those strange men made him wear this sleeveless black bodysuit? It just made the frigid air of the laboratory even more unbearable than it already was. As he huddled in the glass container that he sat alone in, he wondered why he was in the laboratory in the first place. He couldn't remember a thing about his past, even his own name. All he could remember was pain through what he knew of his life. Always pain, always suffering. One thing was for certain: he was very afraid of his surroundings. He could not recall the last time he had been outside of the laboratory, or out of the container, for that matter. Nobody seemed to pay attention to him unless they were preparing to do experiments on him. He shuddered at the thought of the experiments. A few of them, not all, hurt.

As his eyes closed, he thought back on some of the experiments they had done to him in the past. They had taken blood from him once; that wasn't too bad. It made him worry, though, about what the scientist that was always performing experiments on him was going to do with it in the future. Another thing they had done to him was inject him with an odd fluid that glowed green in color. It looked familiar; possibly something from his forgotten past. What truly burned in his memory about that injection, however, was the fact that it had *burned*. It had flowed through every one of his veins, the burning sensation following its passing. He couldn't understand what the experiment had been for, but it seemed to have made the scientist very happy to see that he had survived the injection. Had the green liquid been some sort of poison or something? Possibly, possibly not.

At the sound of footsteps, his eyes opened immediately. Another one of the experiments had left him with enhanced hearing and eyesight, which came in handy at times. He swallowed hard, his eyes following the man that slowly walked towards him, his hands clasped calmly behind his back. The man wore small spectacles and had a high forehead, oily black hair that normally would have cascaded down his shoulders tied back into a tight ponytail. One thing that he didn't like was the leer that was always present on the scientist's face whenever he looked at him; it made him feel like he was less than human, and he, the scientist, was taking every advantage possible.

"Well, how are you doing today, little specimen?" queried the man, his black eyes seemingly more wild than what he let on. The young man simply stared back, his eyes calm and set as they penetrated his very soul, or whatever lurked within that human shell. The scientist retorted with an impassive glare, and he sighed, the leer disappearing for a moment. "You always were the quiet one," he muttered under his breath, turning away from the glowing pair of eyes. The young man's eyes narrowed in curiosity, and he silently wondered if this odd man knew anything about his past.

"He still refuses to respond, Professor?" came a voice from the hallway behind the scientist. Two pairs of eyes went towards the speaker, their gazes falling upon a striking man with violet hair simultaneously. The young man in the container watched the violet haired man, who looked to be at least twenty-eight, intently, trying to remember what his name had been.

"Ah, hello, Vice President Veraldei," the scientist nodded in acknowledgement. Even though he could not see it, the specimen could tell that the scientist was sneering once again. "Yes, he still refuses to respond to any type of conversation." The scientist turned towards him again, the leer still intact on his gaunt face.

'Veraldei . . .yes, that's what his name was,' the specimen thought. He looked on in silence as Veraldei stepped to the professor's side, his icy smile sending chills down his spine. Veraldei turned to look at the professor. "It's still Andrew to you, Professor Hojo," he said calmly. Hojo nodded, his eyes not meeting the vice president's. Andrew Veraldei continued on. "I don't see what you're so disappointed about, Professor Hojo. At least this specimen is awake; Specimen B hasn't even awoken from its comatose state."

Hojo nodded slowly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "True," he hissed. "Hard to believe that Specimen B had such a powerful influence on everything that was around it. That specimen will have to be watched carefully."

"And how is Specimen C?" Andrew queried, clasping his hands behind his back. "Have you even started on the project?"

A sigh escaped the scientist's lips, and he shook his head. "No," he muttered. "Project Ultimatum has been at the back of my mind lately. But we will start the project soon, there is no doubt about it."

"That's good news to hear, with all that news of the revival of AVALANCHE going around." Vice President Veraldei stepped closer to the container, staring in at the lone occupant with a smug smile appearing on his face. "I've heard so much about you, little man," he said. "It's so hard to tell that you were once so grand and magnificent, only to fall to this level. . ." With his words still ringing through the specimen's head, Andrew turned away and strode out of the laboratory, the young man's eyes following him until he disappeared down the corridor.

'Revival of AVALANCHE. . .?' the young man thought. 'AVALANCHE?'

Barret grumbled something under his breath as Cloud, Cid, and himself walked down what had once been the railway of Midgar, before the Collapse, as present residents of Midgar had called the falling of Meteor. Live wires were strewn throughout the railway, dangling down from the ceiling like poisonous snakes that waited nearly noiselessly for their victims. He hated walking down the railway, and knowing that he would also have to climb up the fire escape of the Shinra Building just his mood worse. Cloud took a side glance at him, a small sneer appearing at the sight of Barret's frown. 'This is payback for all those `Spike` remarks, Barret,' he thought.

The three men continued to walk for another hour before reaching their destination. Cloud quietly sheathed his Ultima Weapon and started towards the ladder that led to the entrance of Shinra, cursing when he saw that the way had been blocked. Someone had apparently seen the open grate and had put it under lock and key. Cid noticed as well, gesturing Cloud to come down.

"This'll be a cinch," he murmured with a grin, raising the Venus Gospel up to the lock. With a simple flick of his spear, the whole lock came off, and he picked it off the top of his spear before allowing Cloud to go back up. Cloud cautiously led the other two onward, and before long, the three stood in front of the looming Shinra Building.

"Let's mosey," Cloud whispered, only to be cut off by Cid.

"Dammit, Cloud, how many times have I told you?" The older man frowned. "You've gotta say something more manly than `Let's mosey`."

Cloud sighed and nodded. "Okay, okay, have it your way, Cid," he mumbled. "Let's move out." The three quickly made their way to the side of the building and went in.

Barret growled at the sight of the fire escape and the seemingly endless flight of stairs. "Damn you, Cloud," he said directly to Cloud, "if I survive this, I'm gonna kill you." He clenched his one hand into a fist and raised it to his eye level.

The former mercenary only sneered in response before starting up the stairs. Cid shook his head and looked back at Barret. "Well, I can't say anything about this," he started, "because I've never had to climb these stairs before." With that, Cid followed Cloud up, leaving Barret for a few brief moments.

"Damn. . ." A sigh escaped Barret's lips, and he started to run up the stairs, trying to catch up with Cid and Cloud.

Tseng stared at the ceiling for the longest of time. For the last three days, he had been bedridden, thinking about the new information he had been given. What shocked him even more was that he had been comatose for a frightfully long time, at least to him. "Three months?" he repeated over and over again. "What about the others? Elena? Reno? Rude? What happened to them?"

Apparently, Brenned was still able to hear him from across the room. "Are you talking about those other Turks?" he queried, turning in his chair to look at him.

The man rose from the bed, wincing as the pain in his chest and back flared up again. "Have you heard anything about them?" Tseng asked, bringing one hand up to clutch his burning chest. "Are they still alive? Did Sephiroth get to them, too?"

"All I know is that they left Shinra after everything went crazy, with Hojo taking over the Sister Ray and all," Brenned replied. "Or, well, that's what Reeve announced before Shinra was rebuilt."

"Reeve's alive? Shinra was rebuilt??!" Tseng's eyes widened considerably. "You said that Shinra Incorporated was gone!"

"Yeah, it *was*," sighed Brenned. "Some new hotshots came into Midgar and started rebuilding Shinra. . . I even heard that AVALANCHE is back in Midgar again, watching Shinra. As for that thing about Reeve, yeah, he's alive." When Tseng opened his mouth to speak, Brenned waved it off. "I can't answer all of your answers. I only know so much, ya know."

"I-- I know. . ." Tseng whispered in understanding. "But . . . I need to see these things for myself. This is just too much to simply hear. . ." He sighed, shutting his eyes in a futile attempt to ease the strain that his heart was bearing.

"I can understand that, but your wound still seems to be bothering you; you're not leaving until you can move without being in immense pain." Brenned scratched his chin thoughtfully, his brow coming up. "By the way, how did you get cut up so badly in the first place?"

There was silence for a full moment before Tseng spoke. It pained him to remember those minutes before his meeting with the Masamune, and he shuddered as he thought about Sephiroth one more time. "I had an unpleasant encounter with Sephiroth," he said in a low voice, opening his eyes but keeping them downcast.

"You ran into Sephiroth and survived?" Brenned gasped in surprise. A grim smile appeared on his face. "You're very lucky. You can go on from here and go on living."

"Yeah, right," Tseng hissed, bringing a pair of hardened steel-colored eyes up to return Brenned's gaze. "With a new Shinra around, and AVALANCHE back in Midgar . . . I feel like I'm trapped in some sort of repeating nightmare."

On to Chapter 2.

Back to Merging Journeys.