Chapter Text
Cloud Strife knew he was going to die.
It was his own fault, he’d pushed his luck too far, and as soon as the men ripping the alley apart found where he’d hidden himself they’d not hesitate to kill him. He huddled down, trying to make himself as small as possible, willing himself invisible whilst knowing discovery was inevitable. Trying not to cry, which would only cause him to be found sooner, he could only pray that they’d kill him quickly.
The sheet of metal he’d concealed himself behind was wrenched aside, and Cloud found himself face to face with one of Corneo’s thugs, whose face split into a grin that was anything but friendly as he clocked he’d found their quarry. Cloud shrank back instinctively as a rough grasp closed around his t-shirt and hauled him up by the scruff of his neck, at which he couldn’t help but emit a plaintive squeak of distress.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The roar from behind them shocked the goon so much that he dropped Cloud from the hold, who took immediate advantage of the stroke of luck to crawl into one of the numerous dead ends the alley sported, though this had a decent barrier of junk which meant that even if his Good Samaritan left the thugs after him might just give up and he’d be able to escape later. He couldn’t hear much of what was now going on, having managed to pick an alley with a particularly noisy fan venting into it, the cooking smells it disgorged into the air reminded him of how hungry he was. The same hunger that had got him into this mess in the first place.
He’d had a poor day begging, though he’d been advised that Wall Market had tourists with fatter pockets than most of the residents in other sectors. He’d been desperate at that point, not wanting to return to Leaf House and admit his failure to make something of himself, to stay with the other orphans and hope that someone would come to offer him the home he’d lost in Nibelheim.
He’d grown up with his mother in a small town miles from the metal hell in which he currently resided, his father conspicuous in his absence and his mother ostracised by the community for her unmarried status. She’d gotten sick shortly after his ninth birthday and died just before his tenth. The reaction of the townspeople had been to load him onto the truck taking the thirteen year olds off to find work and send him out into the world. When they’d finally reached Midgar Cloud had been relieved, he’d found no friends there, and could admit to a sense of relief that they went their separate ways. He’d been taken as far as the orphanage in Sector Five, where he’d been abandoned there by the truck driver, who no doubt had his own family to get back to. He’d lasted a month there before he’d run away, he couldn’t stand being paraded in front of prospective parents to be rejected as not meeting their exacting requirements.
The last six months he’d survived on whatever he could beg, or if he was especially desperate, steal from the people who lived in circumstances that were only slightly better than his own. As winter had set in his life was reduced to finding something to eat, before finding somewhere to sleep where he wouldn’t freeze to death. Cloud knew it had been a stupid mistake to try and pick the man’s pocket, but hunger had made him foolish enough to try. Just his luck that one of the thugs who worked for Corneo had spotted him, probably because they’d been fixing to mug his target. Cloud had acted on instinct and run, still clutching his prize close even as he’d heard the men take up pursuit. If he’d dropped the wallet they might have left him alone, or just been content to give him a kicking. Trying to keep it meant he might as well slit his throat.
The sound of the barrier that concealed him jarred him back to his predicament, though his instinct was to freeze, even as his brain screamed it shouldn’t have been possible for some of the pieces of metal he’d crawled under to be removed with several men, or lifting equipment. Whimpering softly as fresh terror took hold he cast his eyes about frantically looking for any possible avenue of escape that he might have overlooked. No such luck, the concrete wall his back was against towered high above his head, smooth with nothing he could use to climb up it. The buildings that formed the walls sat flush against the same concrete making an inescapable tomb. He could only watch as his only line of defence was dismantled piece by piece, the barrier between himself and whatever awaited growing thinner by the minute.
“You’re sure he went this way Veld?”
Whoever spoke, it was the voice that had initially roared at his tormentors and Cloud felt a brief flutter of hope, before fresh terror poisoned his thoughts. What if it was the man he’d stolen the wallet from conspiring with Corneo’s men to get him so that he could extract revenge? Once again Cloud found himself trying to make himself as small as possible. Maybe they’d still leave if he gave them the money? His stomach growled in protest at the thought, the hunger cramps now painful enough to bring tears to his eyes, he blinked a few times to try and clear them, only succeeding in making them roll down his cheeks.
The last piece of the barrier was removed, and Cloud caught sight of at least three distinctive silhouettes which blocked the mouth of the alley and made him consign his original plan to try and run past them, to the pile of useless plans he’d come up with today.
“Voila, one frightened pickpocket Sephiroth. Sort of reminds me how I met Tseng, though I believe I caught him whilst he was trying to pick my pocket, rather than after.”
As they spoke, two of the men advanced down the alley towards him, whilst the third hung back. Knowing escape was impossible and that capture was imminent Cloud closed his eyes and tried to protect as many vulnerable areas as possible, choking on a scream as he felt a leather gloved hand grasp his arm.
“But he’s just a child?”
The grip on his arm never tightened as he’d been expecting and Cloud risked opening an eye to look at whoever was holding him. Two inhuman, catlike eyes, green as glass, studied him with an expression of bemusement, as though the man couldn’t understand why a child would be out on the streets. The man behind him, who appeared significantly older, rolled his eyes at the silver haired man, before responding.
“Yes Sephiroth. He’s probably one of hundreds down here trying to eke out an existence. Not everyone gets to grow up in an ivory tower.”
Cloud noticed that flicker of annoyance make its way across Sephiroth’s face at the man’s condescending tone, whatever retort he had on his tongue he shook his head and gently lifted Cloud to his feet as he himself stood up.
“Believe what you want Veld, but without the choice to leave it was nothing more than a prison.”
After he’d spoken he crouched down again, before he lifted Cloud up in his arms. Cloud was so startled he almost dropped the wallet he still held, though he lost it a moment later when the man named Veld took it from his numb fingers. Cloud tried not to cry at the loss, his stomach choosing that moment to give another growl, even as Veld departed with his means of acquiring a meal to quiet it.
“Sephiroth? Why did you run off like that? Where was Veld headed looking so smug? What do you have…oh!”
As quickly as Veld had gone, another had materialised to take his place. This man was a redhead too, but seemed closer to Sephiroth’s age and was studying him with undisguised interest. Sephiroth transferred Cloud to a one armed hold before using the other to push the other man an arms distance away.
“A child Genesis. Corneo’s men were going to kill him. According to Veld I committed a major faux pas in intervening to stop them. I therefore infer that only applies to children the Turks don’t deem of interest to them, since he pretty much admitted he acquired Tseng in a similar manner.”
The redhead, Genesis, Cloud corrected, shook his head, a disgusted expression on his face. Then he turned and motioned at the third figure, still standing motionless some distance away to come over. Eventually after Genesis repeated the motion a couple of times they obviously got the message that ignoring the summons wasn’t an option, and Cloud caught a glimpse of a dark haired man who closed the distance between them quickly, before he caught sight of Cloud and quickly smoothed the irritation from his expression.
“Aw Angeal, isn’t he adorable? Can we keep him? If we leave him here he’ll probably freeze to death, or starve, or Corneo’s men will finish him off when we go.”
Though Genesis probably hadn’t meant it with any ill meaning, Cloud couldn’t say that he appreciated the reminders of his own mortality. Sephiroth too seemed exasperated at Genesis’s loose tongue, giving Angeal a pointed look as though he’d decided it was Angeal’s turn to reign their unruly companion in.
“Why don’t we go and find him something to wear? Sephiroth, the inn here should have facilities he can bathe in, ask nicely they might even be able to scrape him up something to line his stomach.”
Even as he spoke Angeal was moving to lead Genesis away, though after a few steps Genesis had taken the lead and seemed to dance ahead, Sephiroth waited for them to open up some distance before he turned and started to move towards the open end of the alley. Then he stopped suddenly, Cloud was worried he’d walked back into Corneo’s men. Looking up he found that there was another man present, this one wore a suit identical to Veld’s, though he was much younger, his features marked him out as being from Wutai, though there was something about his eyes, and his expression that reminded Cloud of the pictures his mother had shown him of Coeurl, he was pure predator and Cloud couldn’t help but shiver in terror as he was subjected to scrutiny.
“Veld sent me to tell you this trip is over. You’re expected to return to the tower immediately.”
Sephiroth snorted at the instruction before replying.
“What did Genesis say when you told him that Tseng?”
At last the man gave a visible reaction, the corners of his lips turning up in what could generously described as a smile, though perhaps smirk was a better description.
“It’s unrepeatable in front of a child. I wonder though, have you thought to ask him his name?”
Sephiroth adjusted his hold again and Cloud found himself looking into those strange green eyes again. Sensing a question was being asked, without being put into words, Cloud forced himself to answer.
“I’m Cloud. Cloud Strife. But the only other person who knew that died. So I don’t suppose it matters really?”
His time at Leaf House had taught him that those who wanted to adopt wouldn’t think twice about renaming their adoptee to whatever they decided would fit them better. Cloud hadn’t been able to cope with the loss of the last thing that he had from his mother.
“Cloud Strife…it suits you. So Cloud, would you like to come with us?”
Since his only other option would lead to an almost certain death, Cloud wondered whether he had any real choice in the matter. Still, Sephiroth seemed to be waiting for his response so Cloud nodded his agreement, hoping he’d not thrown himself from the frying pan into the fire. Tseng followed a few paces behind, silently shadowing them as the moved through the crowded market stalls. He caught a few glimpses of Corneo’s men, though none of them dared approach. Cloud still shut his eyes to block out the sight, only to open them as he felt the Sephiroth draw to a halt. He was just in time to notice the crier who stood outside the hotel open his mouth to say something, realise who was in front of him, before his eyes fixed on Tseng and the colour drained from his complexion, his jaw clamping shut again with an audible crack as his teeth ground together. The smile he plastered to his face was sickly, Tseng fixed him with an unblinking stare that sent him scuttling off, though Tseng watched his hasty departure with some interest.
“There’s a man with something to hide…worth looking into later.”
With that, Tseng pushed the door of the hotel open, holding it so that Sephiroth could follow.
Two hours later and Cloud was cleaner and warmer than he could remember being in far too long. The bathroom the hotel offered its guests was probably nothing to write home about to most people, but the plentiful hot water and the cheap toiletries had been heavenly to Cloud who’d been deprived of them. Tseng had given him some sort of bar to snack on, but had warned Sephiroth about giving him too much to eat initially, as it could literally kill Cloud with kindness.
Sephiroth had stayed in the room whilst he bathed, though his attention was fixed for most of the time on his phone, which intermittently chimed indicating that someone was texting him, Sephiroth seemed to fire off short response, before he evidently tired of it, dialling a number which rang unanswered until the voicemail kicked in.
“Damn it Genesis, I don’t need minute but minute updates on what you’ve found in the market or how annoyed you’re making Veld. He can, and probably will kill you in any one of one thousand different ways and make it look like an accident. Come by the hotel as soon as possible, I think Tseng took Cloud’s clothes outside to burn them.”
Cloud tried not to feel offended, he knew that what he’d worn was basically falling apart at the seams, but clothing was significantly harder to acquire than other amenities, the people of the slums kept their belongings close. Cloud had been forced into teaming up with a few of the other kids who lived on the streets to steal from one of the laundries that people took their washing to, that had also ended with him being chased through the streets. Though they’d given up on him when he hid. He’d avoided the area for two months after.
An indeterminate amount of time passed before a knock on the door startled Cloud from the game he’d been playing, moulding the bubbles in the bath into different shapes, and Sephiroth stood up to open the door enough to see who was there. He exchanged a few words with whoever was there, before accepting something that was passed to him, placing a bag on the floor and snagging one of the threadbare towels hanging on the door and holding it out for Cloud to take. Standing on decidedly shaky legs Cloud wrapped the fabric around himself, at which point Sephiroth lifted him out of the water and placed him onto another towel he’d spread on the floor as a mat. Since he got waved in the direction of the bag, Cloud figured he could look through the contents, though the first thing he pulled out, a dark hoodie with a Chocobo printed on the front, derailed his thoughts for long enough that Sephiroth, who’d been draining the water from the bath, finished and upended the bag so that the rest of the contents spilled onto the floor.
Even though there was no one else the clothing items could be for Cloud still found himself looking to Sephiroth for permission that they were his to take. Sephiroth nodded, and Cloud busied himself with putting on the underwear and socks, before slipping into jeans that, though new, still felt like they’d been worn to the point of comfort. Sephiroth had again averted his gaze, until Cloud pulled a t-shirt on. A towel was dropped on his head, and Sephiroth gently towelled his hair dry, following which he allowed Cloud to put the hoodie on, lifting him up so he could admire his reflection in the mirror.
He wasn’t happy to see his hair had fluffed up, Sephiroth chuckled as he tried to comb it back into shape with his fingers. He was placed back down again whilst Sephiroth gathered the towels they used and dumped them into a laundry hamper, before retrieving the bag he’d emptied and discarding that in the bin by the sink. Once that was done and he’d given the room a quick once over, Sephiroth picked him up again before opening the door and almost walking into Veld, who appeared distinctly unhappy. Cloud squeaked and hid his face from the angry glare he gave Sephiroth, who merely met the look with an unfazed air.
“I gave you an order to return home TWO hours ago Sephiroth. That was an order, not a request for you to decide when you wanted to obey!”
Sephiroth’s expression turned icy at the words.
“Did you? I wasn’t aware that you outranked me Veld, or that the Turks had been given the authority to order SOLDIERs to do anything. You ask, politely, and I will decide whether I wish to comply. Understood?”
With that he swept past the man without waiting, Cloud, peeking over his shoulder saw the look Veld shot at Sephiroth’s back, which caused him to shudder at the hatred he saw there. Though he knew that Veld would never dare to raise a hand against Sephiroth, Cloud saw that look transfer across to Tseng who flinched despite his attempt to mask his reaction. Cloud frantically tugged on Sephiroth’s arm, who, after looking down and seeing his distress, spun on his heel in time to catch Veld raising his hand to strike the dark haired man.
“Veld! You DARE punish Tseng for this and I will show you just how nasty I can be to people who bully their subordinates. He could no sooner have stopped me doing what I wanted than you can stop the President screwing around with the office staff.”
With that, without waiting for a further response, Sephiroth turned and strode off towards Angeal, who was leaning against the wall in silence, and Genesis who’d stuffed his fist into his mouth to smother his giggles.