colorofthesky | the day you slipped away

Entry tags:

*museboxing

the day you slipped away

Who: Zack and Tseng
Where: Somewhere good for hiding things!
When: Near the end of Crisis Core.
Rating: PG? PG-13 for language, maaaybe.
Summary: AU Good End -- Reno and Rude managed to pick up Zack and Cloud before the Shinra Army found them. Zack gets a visit from an old colleague.

[ He was too damn careless.

Zack jerks, his lips drawn back into a near snarl. His arms are shackled in heavy metal behind his back, his legs locked in place, and the chair he's in is bolted to the floor. The room itself is nondescript and not particularly threatening, but that doesn't mean a thing. He let himself get caught, and Cloud is nowhere to be seen.

Twisting again, he strains until it actually hurts. He can't stay here, he needs to get out, but nothing he does has any effect. It shouldn't surprise him (it's the Turks that picked him up), but it's disheartening. All that running, all that effort...for what? To be turned over to Shinra's Science Department, again? To live out his life as a lab rat?

Sagging against the back of the chair, he closes his eyes and concentrates on breathing. Panicking won't solve anything. He has to think and weigh his options.

At some point, opportunity will present itself. ]

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[It's taken a lot of work to get this point. Outrunning Shinra's army was a monumental task even by itself, and Tseng privately considers it a minor miracle that Reno and Rude had managed to come through in time. But bringing in Zack and Cloud is only the start. It's not easy to hide a former SOLDIER and someone suffering from what can only be called severe mako poisoning.

(Tseng has faith that he'll make a recovery, in time, but it's not going to be easy, and he's probably going to need to call in a favor or two to make sure that word of it doesn't manage to get back to Shinra.)

Of course, hiding them was only the first step. There had been trails to lay down, reports to make, and any of a number of other little details to take care of. Fortunately, no one had been willing to argue with the evidence that the subject had been found, but had been beyond rescue or salvation. All the same, it takes a while before Tseng makes his way to the out of the way locale they've taken the pair. There are people he trust there to keep an eye on things, but it's harder for him to get away then it is for anyone else.

In time, however, the door opens and a single person steps through. It's someone familiar too, although given that he's pretty effectively tied down, the fact that it's also a familiar face is... not likely to be particularly comfortable.]

Edited 2013-06-10 04:25 (UTC)

[ It's not particularly comfortable.

He's seen a lot of familiar faces over the last few weeks on the run. Most of them, he's either had to fight or watched die, without much gray area in-between. Of course, there was Cissnei, but he has no way of knowing if the favor she showed him and Cloud could be expected from her colleagues.

Mako-stained eyes slip open, and he fixes Tseng with a sharp stare. It's a look Tseng has probably only seen rarely -- generally speaking, Zack has always been a bubbly, upbeat person, but there's nothing of that evident right now. He's a fugitive "sample", and he has no reason to think anything good is about to happen. ]

Where's Cloud?

[ No, "hi, howdy do, it's been a while". He feels too on-edge to joke around. ]

Edited 2013-06-10 10:57 (UTC)

[Tseng doesn't bat an eye at the fact that Zack isn't being his usual upbeat self. It would no doubt take a far more relentlessly cheerful man to be so, after having been forcefully put to sleep by a pair of Turks only to awaken chained to a chair, and Tseng would apologize for it, had he thought it would make any sort of difference at the moment.

He could, of course, have explained earlier, or had Reno and Rude do so, but there'd barely been time to get everything squared away as things stood. So he simply weathers the obvious displeasure Zack is displaying. For now, there's nothing else really to do.]

He's here.

[Not in the same room, that much is already obvious, but Tseng hasn't been so cruel as to send one of the two back and keep the other. Of course, he's making no indication of where "here" happens to be, but it doesn't look like it's part of Shinra Tower at the very least.]

[ 'Here'. A very vague indicator that doesn't satisfy him at all. Of course, the fact that he feels like a cornered animal doesn't help much. He wonders if this is how Angeal and Genesis felt shortly after they deserted.

He jerks a bit, futilely, on his shackles. ]

So? What now?

[ He doesn't bother to keep the hostility from his voice. Even though this doesn't look like a lab or Shinra Tower, it's still a holding cell. They were comrades once, yes, but that doesn't mean much when the company is involved. ]

[It's meant to be vague, both for Zack's safety and their own. A safe location is only safe as long as only a handful of people know its location and this is no less true of this place. Still, there is good news on the horizon, even if Tseng doesn't make any move to free Zack.

He'd rather not have to go to the trouble of catching him once again, if he doesn't have to.]

That would largely be up to you. Official reports state that the escaped subjects were found to not be in a retrievable state upon recovery, although you'd have to ask Reno for the precise details.

[Depending on how well Zack can read between the lines, this might be all that he really needs to know. With the subjects being "unretrievable" the army shouldn't be looking for them any further, and given Reno's involvement in the story it likely means the official report is "quite thoroughly dead". How Tseng managed to get everyone to believe the story is another question entirely, but it does at least suggest that he's not going to be turning Zack over to the authorities.]

Edited 2013-06-11 01:59 (UTC)

[ 'Not retrievable'...?

Zack frowns a bit, absorbing that. He already knows he's officially "KIA" to the public as well as his fellow SOLDIERs...but that's not what Tseng is talking about.

He puzzles over it for a long moment, regarding the other with not so much outright hostility as....wariness. Can he trust Tseng? Can he dare to believe he hasn't been betrayed yet again? ]

Why?

[ If it's really true, that Tseng is covering for him, it could mean his head if anyone found out. ]

[It very much could mean his head. It's why he's been absolutely certain to make sure that only people he can trust know about this. They don't need loose lips make things worse than they already have been.

The actual question takes a moment longer. He has the last of Aeris' letters already neatly tucked away in a pocket - it's impractical to carry them all - but he has every intention of delivering them to their intended recipient. Honestly, he's only held on to them all these years because he'd thought that Zack was as dead as his file had stated, and he hadn't wanted to let Aeris down. So he'd gone on letting her believe he had a way to get in touch with Zack, or at least, a better guess of how to do so than she might have.]

For a... mutual friend.

[There's a flicker of consideration, and he steps forward to hold out the letter to Zack. The shackles holding his arms snap open a flicker of a second later, presumably so that he can actually read it.]

[ It's the last thing he expects.

He grunts when the shackles release, arms stiff from being held so long, but he doesn't even both to rub them. He has eyes only for that letter and the neat script scrawled on the outside. His name.

He takes it carefully, like he thinks it might burst into flame at any moment.

All he's wanted all this time is to see her again -- a simple yet seemingly impossible wish.

He doesn't open the letter, but it's clear he's moved. ]

...you have them?

[ The 88 he never received. ]

Yes.

[It's a simple answer, but it's all that he really needs. Aeris knows he knows Zack - or of Zack, perhaps - and so it had seemed reasonable enough that the letters come through him. That he's kept them is perhaps a surprise, but it's a good sign.

As is perhaps no surprise, the letter doesn't burst into flame. Instead, it simply sits there - a perfect promise, if Zack is willing to put up with Tseng being the go-between. After all, Zack is supposed to be dead, and he doesn't expect that Aeris would be willing to leave Midgar for long.

(He could be wrong of course, but right now he's taking things as they come.)]

[ There's so much weight in that one word. It's a promise, and though he recognizes it as such, he's still having trouble believing it. He's fought so hard for so long without anyone to lean on, it doesn't quite seem real.

His hands shake, a knot of emotion cluttering his throat. Even if he could think of something to say, it wouldn't come out now even if he tried. ]

[Tseng doesn't say anything. He can't think of anything that wouldn't somehow cheapen the moment, and so he holds his tongue. If Zack needs a moment, he can have it.

A moment later, another soft click echoes through the room - the sound of the bonds holding his legs being opened. Tseng doesn't think Zack is really likely to run off now.]

[ It's funny. Only minutes ago, he wanted to tear his way out of the shackles that had him bound and rip whatever this place was apart to find Cloud. Now, he can't even seem to find the wherewithal to get up. He's emotionally overwrought, and though he tries to hide it, it's clear he's on the verge of tears.

He swallows hard. ]

...Tseng.

[ You're the only one I can count on. That's what he said before Nibelheim.

It still holds true, and knowing that makes this all them more staggering. ]

I...

[ The 'thank you' is on the tip of his tongue. He just can't seem to get it out. ]

[It's all but abundantly clear, although to Tseng's credit, he doesn't address the fact. He can understand that this is something more than Zack might have ever expected and so the outbursts of emotion are only be to be expected.

Instead, he pays attention to what Zack is saying. Or rather, what Zack isn't saying. But he's always been pretty good at reading between the lines, and it's not really hard hear.]

You don't need to thank me.

[He means it too. Giving Zack this chance is honestly the least he can do to make up for the fact that he'd failed to notice Zack had managed to end up in Hojo's hands, after everything had been said and done.]

[ It's a great deal more than he ever expected. Ever since he broke out of the test tube in Nibelheim, he's had an ever-increasing sense that he was living on borrowed time. It's nearly impossible to escape from under Shinra's thumb and live to tell the tale, and he knows that very well.

But this? This is more than just disappearing into some unknown corner of Gaia and staying there. Tseng is sticking his own neck on the line to help him, and Aerith too. He's solid and hasn't changed, and after everything that's happened, it's a difficult thing to swallow.

He takes a quiet breath. ]

Yes, I do.

[ He can't properly express it, but the relief is almost visceral. He's tired, he's weary, and he's sick of shouldering things alone. ]

Edited 2013-06-11 16:37 (UTC)

[Tseng can't blame Zack for that. It's a hard thing, to be alone in the world and even if he doesn't know all the details, he knows that a life on the run is never easy. Not with nearly all of Shinra having been on the look out for him.

He doesn't argue the insistence either. On any other day, he might have been inclined to push the point a little harder, but it's no doubt been an exhausting day and what he's had to put Zack through probably hasn't helped any.]

Is there anything else I can do, at the moment?

[ A life on the run is hard enough when you have yourself to worry about and no one else. It's even worse when you have someone else you're responsible for who is entirely unresponsive.

He takes another breath, composing himself as best he can. He doesn't want to cry in front of the other man, as much as he thinks he probably needs to. It can wait until things are really settled, and he has the time and space to really absorb everything and accept it.

Right now, he's thinking of one thing. ]

...Can I see Cloud?

[ He has a one-track mind. ]

I can't promise he'll terribly responsive.

[Mako poisoning isn't really anyone's friend, even if Tseng has high hopes that he'll manage to pull through, now that he's not a test subject any more. It will take time, and work, but now he might actually have that time now.]

But if you'd still like to see him?

I know.

[ Zack carried Cloud quite a distance without receiving any kind of response, no matter how hard he tried. It doesn't matter; he just wants to see his friend. ]

I would.

[Tseng nods at the comment. He's not surprised to hear that's Zack's answer, but he'd figured it wouldn't hurt much to be absolutely sure about things first.]

If you'd come this way, then.

[Assuming Zack does so, Tseng leads the way through a series of non-descript hallways, before indicating one of a number of side rooms. Cloud still isn't doing a whole lot, but he isn't actively looking worse, which is probably a good sign.]

[ He follows Tseng out of the room, eying his surroundings as the other led the way. He still feels a little on edge (the non-descript hallways don't help much), but no one's shot at him yet so that's a good thing.

He stops when Tseng does, peering in before pushing the door open. He doesn't expect much (Cloud hasn't actually spoken to him in a long time), but his vitals look steady and his color's a little better.

Zack watches for a long time before, finally, giving Cloud's hand a squeeze. ]

Has anyone examined him yet?

[Tsengs shakes his head at the question. There are a few doctors he could rely on to not ferry things back to Shinra, but even just this much has taken time enough that Tseng hasn't really had the time to contact them.]

Not yet. We can tell what's most obviously wrong with him, but we'll need to call in a favor if you wanted anything more professional.

[ He looks at Tseng, then back to Cloud, his face crumpling a little. As much as he'd like to see Cloud properly cared for, he knows it's risky -- too risky, probably, for two fugitive samples.

He sighs. ]

I guess he can't get much worse.

[ He gives Cloud's hand another squeeze and lets go. ]

We'll wait.

[Tseng nods at Zack's decision. Even with trustworthy doctors, there's no real guarantee that someone won't notice sooner or later. The current course of action might be slower, of course, but it's safer, and that's worth a great deal, no doubt.]

Most of us do know the general symptoms of mako poisoning. It's not something that we often have to deal with, but we should be able to keep him relatively stable for now.

[ Fists clenched, he thinks back on the minutes and hours before they departed for Nibelheim -- how oblivious they all were to what they would really find. ]

He shouldn't have been exposed to it at all.

[ A hint of bitterness creeps into his tone. Most of the last four years is a blur in his memory, but to have such a severe case of mako poisoning...

He sighs. ]

You have anything else hidden out here that I should know about?

[No one knew what would happen at Nibelheim. All they'd been able to do was react in the aftermath of the destruction, and even that hadn't really sat well with Tseng.

Of course, there wasn't all that far arguing would have been able to get him, and so he hadn't. Better than Shinra not see him raising complaints about something that wasn't really something his department had been handling.]

Not really. This is mostly meant as a temporary safe place.

[ There are a lot of things that haven't sat well with Zack over the years. Besides the problems with Angeal and Genesis, the discoveries in Nibelheim have left him with a very sour taste in his mouth.

A company willing to throw its best operatives under the bus like so much canon fodder wasn't worth much good in his opinion. ]

How temporary?

[ He's grateful to Tseng for helping them, but surely, they can't stay here forever. It's not a life, and he'd sooner take his chances on his own than drag somebody else down with him. ]

[No, they can't. In fact, the longer they remain, the more likely it is that someone will notice that the place is inhabited and there quite simply aren't enough Turks to explain it being inhabited.]

Ideally, until Cloud wakes up. However, I expect it will be rather impractical to wait that long. We may have to pretend he's a cadaver in order to move him to somewhere more permanent.

[ He looks at Cloud (so much riding on whether his friend would wake up again), then back to Tseng. ]

Where?

[ Beggers can't be choosy, but honestly, he thinks hiding himself is going to be the biggest problem. A First Class SOLDIER, in uniform or not, tends to stick out. ]

At this point, the safest place for you both is most likely Wutai.

[Shinra has no further interest in it, and it's significantly easier to find anti-Shinra sentiment there as well. Some of the more obvious signs of having been in SOLDIER will be harder to hide, but he has faith that they'll be able to figure out something.]

Transport will take some amount of work, however.

Wutai?

[ He can't hide his surprise. He's been there before, on quite a few missions, in fact. (There was also that crazy girl who kept sending him emails, but he's not about to mention her.)

He frowns a little. ]

You really think that's the safest place?

Given your particular circumstances, yes. There are few people who would expect to find you there, and Shinra has a fairly minimal presence there at best.

[It may not be easy, staying there, but safer that than other options. Especially given what's likely to happen if Shinra finds out that he's still alive - or that Tseng had lied to save him.]

I'm not exactly a native.

[ The Fort Tamblin mission, though years ago now, was a deciding point in the war, and he took out everyone there pretty much by himself.

His Mako eyes too would make him stand out. ]

What would I do there?

[ Please don't say 'hide', Tseng. He's too antsy to be a hermit. ]

I'm aware.

[After all, he's never said that it would be easy. Simply that it would be the safest of the available options.]

As to what you would do there, I'd need to talk to my contacts. We haven't had a lot of time to arrange for more permanent locations for the two of you yet.

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the day you slipped away

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