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Title: Watch
Author: GW Katrina aka![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-userinfo.gif)
icedark_elf
Beta:skeren
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Claim: Zack Fair
Themeset/Prompt: Ten Set 04, 01-Watch for![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-community.gif)
story_arc
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2,210
Link to Archive Post: Interconnected
Strangely enough, Rufus usually enjoyed this portion of the day. The part where he got to look at the reports Tseng brought him, given to him by Reeve’s assistants, so he could see the details as the WRO slowly took apart everything that Hojo had put together.
Not Rufus’s father. Hojo.
The more he dug, the more Rufus realized that much of what he thought had been his father’s foolish ideas had made a sick, horrible sense when looked through a scientific viewpoint. Oh, his father had ordered many horrible things, which still haunted the Shinra name to this day, but it was clear to see Hojo’s guiding hand behind it for the last two decades or so. Even a bit further. Gast had been in charge of the science department, but Hojo had already been laying the grounds for when he would take over.
Not that Rufus wasn’t sure he’d have been a great deal worse. The chaos and destruction that would have happened if not for his near death would have surpassed his father in amazing amounts, and all of it would have been easy to lay at his feet. He did not let others control him as his father hand, and he was young enough to believe in his own immortality.
Amazing what having a WEAPON nearly kill you would do to a person’s perception of reality.
So now he helped pay for that luck that kept him alive, through everything that had happened, in many ways. Supporting the WRO was the main one, but he did have many other projects he donated to. Just because his company had been lost didn’t mean all his sources of income were gone, not to mention that he -had- owned the largest company in the world. That spoke of a substantial account.
But, at the moment, Rufus’s attention was not on the reports, each of them over yet another lab that had been found and destroyed. At this rate, it was going to be years, maybe decades, before all of them were found, but it wasn’t the lab that had Rufus distracted.
It was what had been found in said lab.
Rufus knew who Fair was. One of the few people who didn’t let the Shinra name keep him from that semi-torment the man called friendship. Rather like Reno, in a way.
Speaking of Reno....
The shrill sound of a ringtone broke the air, and both Rufus and Tseng turned to look at the redhead, who looked as startled as them. Blinking, he looked at the display. “What the hell? Why is Strife calling me?”
Good question, though Rufus almost smirked at the tone of Reno’s voice.
“Perhaps if you answer it....” The words trailed off, and Tseng lifted a brow as he looked at Reno.
The man rolled his eyes, but did answer, cutting off the ring in mid shrill. “Yo?” A pause, and then Reno pulled it away from his ear and looked at it. Then he looked to Rufus.
“For you, boss.”
Now wary, unsure on why Cloud Strife, of all people, would bother calling a man he was rather adamantly apathetic for, Rufus took the PHS and eyed it for a moment before finally just putting it against his ear.
“Hello?”
“Heya, blondie. So, you are alive. I was beginning to wonder.”
Rufus almost dropped the PHS. “Zack?”
“Who else? I mean, are there people mimicking my voice running around? I was declared dead, you know. Mimicking my voice would be rather...well...dumb.”
Oh, yes. Definitely Fair. Who was in the middle of a ‘wired and won’t shut up’ bout. “Why are you calling me?”
“Ah. Well, I stole Spike’s PHS, but not reaaaaaally had a chance to use it until now. Which I am. To call you, so you can send your Turks to come get me out of here. I mean, a hospital. That’s kinda stupid, right? I just got out of a lab. So, come be the big bad hero and save me?”
Zack’s tone was cheerful, and stubbornly irreverent as Rufus had ever heard it, but there was something under it. The SOLDIER could be serious. Rufus had heard it. More than once or twice, and he could hear it now, hidden beneath the joking tone. The hospital must have really been bothering him if he was calling Rufus to come get him out.
That said that Zack had already tried to get Strife to let him go, only to be denied. Or perhaps he hadn’t even asked. Zack was rather soft hearted when it came to Cloud. He had even died for the man. Cloud would be...distressed to realize that he was causing his friend stress.
Once, Rufus would have seen that as a weakness, something to be manipulated. Not any more. Still....
“If you haven’t broken out on your own, that probably means that you still need to be in the hospital.” Which was very true. Zack was awake, at least somewhat mobile, and had been left alone long enough to call Rufus. In most circumstances, you couldn’t keep any SOLDIER with those three qualities locked up for very long.
“I...please.” The tone was soft through the phone. “It reeks here, smells like the labs, and I can’t sleep. But I can’t tell the others. Cloud and Vincent both know what it was like in labs, and I don’t want to upset them.”
Rufus was quiet. Zack was definitely admitting weakness there.
“Tseng, arrange to...assist in Mr. Fair’s checkout from the hospital.”
He pretended he didn’t see that slight smile on his Turk’s face.
On the PHS, Zack chuckled. “Thanks, Rufus. I’ll see you soon, I take it?”
“Definitely.”
///
A bit more focused on his paperwork this time, Rufus finally noticed the person who was leaning in the door frame. Looking up, he paused, just studying him.
When the first reports of Zack’s death had come, he hadn’t believed it. Like Sephiroth, he had seemed too big to be killed, at least to one vice-president in training. Zack was one of the few people in his life who hadn’t cared that Rufus was training to take over the President job someday, who would be the one who was in charge of Zack’s job. That startled Rufus, who was willing to admit he might have been somewhat spoiled before.
It had taken a while for him to forgive Tseng for not -telling- him that Zack’s death had been exaggerated, that the SOLDIER was actually in a lab somewhere. Because that was when he had first started his idea that fear was the perfect way to rule.
Being nice did nothing but get one killed, after all.
Then had come the second report of Zack’s death, but by then, Rufus was well on his way to blinding himself to the truth. Something he had worked hard at fixing. Blind men were easily tricked.
“You’ve grown up.” Zack gave him a lazy grin, and Rufus just looked at him.
“I supposed one of us had to. Given that you show little sign of it, I suppose that I shall have to be the one to do so.”
Chuckling, Zack moved to go sit on the couch, and Rufus studied the man as he moved. It was obvious he had been leaning against the door frame because he had to. Zack was...thin. Far too thin. Here and there, like in the wrists, the bones stood out in start contrast, and he could see the fine tremors that ran up Zack’s arms. He really shouldn’t be out of the hospital, though the reports that Tseng had acquired said he was recovering rapidly. Too fast. Nobody knew what that sort of recovery time meant, as least in the doctor reports.
“It’s good to see you again.” Zack gave him a bright smile, and Rufus gave a small one back. It was good to see Zack as well. Rufus had never known what it was like to talk to someone who saw him for him, and not for the heir to the Shinra fortune. Even now, it was rare. It was something he missed, though he would never admit it out loud. Rufus had learned the consequences of lying to himself. Very well.
“So, what brings you to darken my doorway?” He watched the man, aware of Reno returning to his spot to the side of the door, and of Tseng slipping out once the redhead was in place. The older man was still recovering somewhat, and so primary bodyguard duty was on Reno and Rude.
“Can’t a guy come to visit?” Zack rolled a shoulder, and it was so odd to see him in anything besides a SOLDIER uniform. “Besides, I’m starting to get details from Spike over what has happened over the last few years, and I decided to come harass you to get some of the ones he doesn’t know.”
Good to see that he wasn’t stupid. For all that Zack gave off the air of “dumb little puppy”, SOLDIER First Classes were anything but stupid. Stubborn, willing to pretend they didn’t see certain things, outright denying others, yes. But they weren’t stupid.
“And what will Cloud think when he discovers your little vanishing act?”
That got a chuckle. “I left his phone on the end table. Along with a note saying I was being stolen by tall, pale, and lanky. That’ll let him know that I didn’t fade off into the lifestream or something.” A sigh, and Zack shifted. “Hopefully, he won’t take it too badly.”
“Hey.....” Reno scowled at Zack for the description.
“What? You are tall, pale, and lanky. Should I have put in that you dye your hair as well?”
And that set off a round of friendly-ish bickering between the two, and Rufus fought the urge to just hide his face in his hands and laugh. It was very tempting, but he did have a reputation to uphold, and having a set of giggles was probably not good for it.
The sudden shrill of Reno’s ringtone made them all blink, though Zack’s expression quickly shifted to understanding. Rufus was pretty sure the man had a good idea of who was on the other end of that call.
Then again, so did Rufus.
Muttering curses, Reno pulled out the PHS and looked at it. “Strife again.” He answered, and Rufus could hear Cloud’s voice even before Reno could say hello.
After a moment, the redhead snorted. “Can’t anyone call me today and actually talk to me?” He tossed the PHS to Zack, who fumbled a bit as he caught it.
That told Rufus that Zack was in worse shape than he thought, and he saw Reno note it as well.
Holding it away from his ear, Zack just waited patiently for the sound of Cloud’s ranting to stop. Which was pretty impressive. Rufus wasn’t sure if he had ever heard the man go on like that before. Cloud was the very definition of a silent, stoic hero at times. Reno looked almost impressed, and Zack was just patiently waiting.
“I’ve seen him go on before. This is nothing.” Zack was grinning, and then turned his attention to talking to Cloud.
“Yes, I am talking to someone besides Reno, who is apparently getting frustrating that all of us call him, but none of us want to talk to him.” He dropped his tone as if passing on a secret. “He’s rather unhappy over it, I think. Have you guys been ignoring him?”
A growl from Reno.
Grinning shamelessly, Zack chuckled. “I’m with Rufus, Spike.” A pause, and the PHS was pulled away again. “Okay, quieter, Spike. That hurt.”
It probably had. Even with his regular hearing, Rufus had heard Cloud yelp from where he was sitting.
“Yeah, I did say Rufus. Yes, Spike, as in Shinra. Why? Well, he did rescue me. It’s kinda my job now to chat with him. Obligations, you know?”
Oh, yes, that would go over so well with Strife. Rufus felt the urge to roll his eyes, and Reno was indulging in that.
“I’m kidding, Cloud. But, yeah. I called him to help me out.” A pause, and Zack’s expression...softened. “I meant what I said. It really did bother me.” Another pause, one broken by Zack’s chuckling. “No, Rufus doesn’t bother me.” Laughing eyes on Rufus, who just frowned slightly at him.
The pair talked on the PHS for a bit, then Zack closed it, and tossed it back to Reno.
“So, Spike says you guys have to bring me back in one piece.” Then he shifted, and gave Rufus a -look.-
“I’ve been hearing some interesting stories,” he said after a long moment of quiet. “Lots of interesting stories. Care to explain why you backslid into being the world’s biggest ass, Rufus?”
This, Rufus had been waiting for, and in a way, it made him smile.
It was good to have Zack back. The man never let anyone get away with anything. If there had been more people around like him, Rufus might not have lost his company.
Not to mention it would frustrate Cloud to know that the pair of them were friends.
Author: GW Katrina aka
icedark_elfBeta:
skerenFandom: Final Fantasy VII
Claim: Zack Fair
Themeset/Prompt: Ten Set 04, 01-Watch for
story_arcRating: PG-13
Wordcount: 2,210
Link to Archive Post: Interconnected
Strangely enough, Rufus usually enjoyed this portion of the day. The part where he got to look at the reports Tseng brought him, given to him by Reeve’s assistants, so he could see the details as the WRO slowly took apart everything that Hojo had put together.
Not Rufus’s father. Hojo.
The more he dug, the more Rufus realized that much of what he thought had been his father’s foolish ideas had made a sick, horrible sense when looked through a scientific viewpoint. Oh, his father had ordered many horrible things, which still haunted the Shinra name to this day, but it was clear to see Hojo’s guiding hand behind it for the last two decades or so. Even a bit further. Gast had been in charge of the science department, but Hojo had already been laying the grounds for when he would take over.
Not that Rufus wasn’t sure he’d have been a great deal worse. The chaos and destruction that would have happened if not for his near death would have surpassed his father in amazing amounts, and all of it would have been easy to lay at his feet. He did not let others control him as his father hand, and he was young enough to believe in his own immortality.
Amazing what having a WEAPON nearly kill you would do to a person’s perception of reality.
So now he helped pay for that luck that kept him alive, through everything that had happened, in many ways. Supporting the WRO was the main one, but he did have many other projects he donated to. Just because his company had been lost didn’t mean all his sources of income were gone, not to mention that he -had- owned the largest company in the world. That spoke of a substantial account.
But, at the moment, Rufus’s attention was not on the reports, each of them over yet another lab that had been found and destroyed. At this rate, it was going to be years, maybe decades, before all of them were found, but it wasn’t the lab that had Rufus distracted.
It was what had been found in said lab.
Rufus knew who Fair was. One of the few people who didn’t let the Shinra name keep him from that semi-torment the man called friendship. Rather like Reno, in a way.
Speaking of Reno....
The shrill sound of a ringtone broke the air, and both Rufus and Tseng turned to look at the redhead, who looked as startled as them. Blinking, he looked at the display. “What the hell? Why is Strife calling me?”
Good question, though Rufus almost smirked at the tone of Reno’s voice.
“Perhaps if you answer it....” The words trailed off, and Tseng lifted a brow as he looked at Reno.
The man rolled his eyes, but did answer, cutting off the ring in mid shrill. “Yo?” A pause, and then Reno pulled it away from his ear and looked at it. Then he looked to Rufus.
“For you, boss.”
Now wary, unsure on why Cloud Strife, of all people, would bother calling a man he was rather adamantly apathetic for, Rufus took the PHS and eyed it for a moment before finally just putting it against his ear.
“Hello?”
“Heya, blondie. So, you are alive. I was beginning to wonder.”
Rufus almost dropped the PHS. “Zack?”
“Who else? I mean, are there people mimicking my voice running around? I was declared dead, you know. Mimicking my voice would be rather...well...dumb.”
Oh, yes. Definitely Fair. Who was in the middle of a ‘wired and won’t shut up’ bout. “Why are you calling me?”
“Ah. Well, I stole Spike’s PHS, but not reaaaaaally had a chance to use it until now. Which I am. To call you, so you can send your Turks to come get me out of here. I mean, a hospital. That’s kinda stupid, right? I just got out of a lab. So, come be the big bad hero and save me?”
Zack’s tone was cheerful, and stubbornly irreverent as Rufus had ever heard it, but there was something under it. The SOLDIER could be serious. Rufus had heard it. More than once or twice, and he could hear it now, hidden beneath the joking tone. The hospital must have really been bothering him if he was calling Rufus to come get him out.
That said that Zack had already tried to get Strife to let him go, only to be denied. Or perhaps he hadn’t even asked. Zack was rather soft hearted when it came to Cloud. He had even died for the man. Cloud would be...distressed to realize that he was causing his friend stress.
Once, Rufus would have seen that as a weakness, something to be manipulated. Not any more. Still....
“If you haven’t broken out on your own, that probably means that you still need to be in the hospital.” Which was very true. Zack was awake, at least somewhat mobile, and had been left alone long enough to call Rufus. In most circumstances, you couldn’t keep any SOLDIER with those three qualities locked up for very long.
“I...please.” The tone was soft through the phone. “It reeks here, smells like the labs, and I can’t sleep. But I can’t tell the others. Cloud and Vincent both know what it was like in labs, and I don’t want to upset them.”
Rufus was quiet. Zack was definitely admitting weakness there.
“Tseng, arrange to...assist in Mr. Fair’s checkout from the hospital.”
He pretended he didn’t see that slight smile on his Turk’s face.
On the PHS, Zack chuckled. “Thanks, Rufus. I’ll see you soon, I take it?”
“Definitely.”
A bit more focused on his paperwork this time, Rufus finally noticed the person who was leaning in the door frame. Looking up, he paused, just studying him.
When the first reports of Zack’s death had come, he hadn’t believed it. Like Sephiroth, he had seemed too big to be killed, at least to one vice-president in training. Zack was one of the few people in his life who hadn’t cared that Rufus was training to take over the President job someday, who would be the one who was in charge of Zack’s job. That startled Rufus, who was willing to admit he might have been somewhat spoiled before.
It had taken a while for him to forgive Tseng for not -telling- him that Zack’s death had been exaggerated, that the SOLDIER was actually in a lab somewhere. Because that was when he had first started his idea that fear was the perfect way to rule.
Being nice did nothing but get one killed, after all.
Then had come the second report of Zack’s death, but by then, Rufus was well on his way to blinding himself to the truth. Something he had worked hard at fixing. Blind men were easily tricked.
“You’ve grown up.” Zack gave him a lazy grin, and Rufus just looked at him.
“I supposed one of us had to. Given that you show little sign of it, I suppose that I shall have to be the one to do so.”
Chuckling, Zack moved to go sit on the couch, and Rufus studied the man as he moved. It was obvious he had been leaning against the door frame because he had to. Zack was...thin. Far too thin. Here and there, like in the wrists, the bones stood out in start contrast, and he could see the fine tremors that ran up Zack’s arms. He really shouldn’t be out of the hospital, though the reports that Tseng had acquired said he was recovering rapidly. Too fast. Nobody knew what that sort of recovery time meant, as least in the doctor reports.
“It’s good to see you again.” Zack gave him a bright smile, and Rufus gave a small one back. It was good to see Zack as well. Rufus had never known what it was like to talk to someone who saw him for him, and not for the heir to the Shinra fortune. Even now, it was rare. It was something he missed, though he would never admit it out loud. Rufus had learned the consequences of lying to himself. Very well.
“So, what brings you to darken my doorway?” He watched the man, aware of Reno returning to his spot to the side of the door, and of Tseng slipping out once the redhead was in place. The older man was still recovering somewhat, and so primary bodyguard duty was on Reno and Rude.
“Can’t a guy come to visit?” Zack rolled a shoulder, and it was so odd to see him in anything besides a SOLDIER uniform. “Besides, I’m starting to get details from Spike over what has happened over the last few years, and I decided to come harass you to get some of the ones he doesn’t know.”
Good to see that he wasn’t stupid. For all that Zack gave off the air of “dumb little puppy”, SOLDIER First Classes were anything but stupid. Stubborn, willing to pretend they didn’t see certain things, outright denying others, yes. But they weren’t stupid.
“And what will Cloud think when he discovers your little vanishing act?”
That got a chuckle. “I left his phone on the end table. Along with a note saying I was being stolen by tall, pale, and lanky. That’ll let him know that I didn’t fade off into the lifestream or something.” A sigh, and Zack shifted. “Hopefully, he won’t take it too badly.”
“Hey.....” Reno scowled at Zack for the description.
“What? You are tall, pale, and lanky. Should I have put in that you dye your hair as well?”
And that set off a round of friendly-ish bickering between the two, and Rufus fought the urge to just hide his face in his hands and laugh. It was very tempting, but he did have a reputation to uphold, and having a set of giggles was probably not good for it.
The sudden shrill of Reno’s ringtone made them all blink, though Zack’s expression quickly shifted to understanding. Rufus was pretty sure the man had a good idea of who was on the other end of that call.
Then again, so did Rufus.
Muttering curses, Reno pulled out the PHS and looked at it. “Strife again.” He answered, and Rufus could hear Cloud’s voice even before Reno could say hello.
After a moment, the redhead snorted. “Can’t anyone call me today and actually talk to me?” He tossed the PHS to Zack, who fumbled a bit as he caught it.
That told Rufus that Zack was in worse shape than he thought, and he saw Reno note it as well.
Holding it away from his ear, Zack just waited patiently for the sound of Cloud’s ranting to stop. Which was pretty impressive. Rufus wasn’t sure if he had ever heard the man go on like that before. Cloud was the very definition of a silent, stoic hero at times. Reno looked almost impressed, and Zack was just patiently waiting.
“I’ve seen him go on before. This is nothing.” Zack was grinning, and then turned his attention to talking to Cloud.
“Yes, I am talking to someone besides Reno, who is apparently getting frustrating that all of us call him, but none of us want to talk to him.” He dropped his tone as if passing on a secret. “He’s rather unhappy over it, I think. Have you guys been ignoring him?”
A growl from Reno.
Grinning shamelessly, Zack chuckled. “I’m with Rufus, Spike.” A pause, and the PHS was pulled away again. “Okay, quieter, Spike. That hurt.”
It probably had. Even with his regular hearing, Rufus had heard Cloud yelp from where he was sitting.
“Yeah, I did say Rufus. Yes, Spike, as in Shinra. Why? Well, he did rescue me. It’s kinda my job now to chat with him. Obligations, you know?”
Oh, yes, that would go over so well with Strife. Rufus felt the urge to roll his eyes, and Reno was indulging in that.
“I’m kidding, Cloud. But, yeah. I called him to help me out.” A pause, and Zack’s expression...softened. “I meant what I said. It really did bother me.” Another pause, one broken by Zack’s chuckling. “No, Rufus doesn’t bother me.” Laughing eyes on Rufus, who just frowned slightly at him.
The pair talked on the PHS for a bit, then Zack closed it, and tossed it back to Reno.
“So, Spike says you guys have to bring me back in one piece.” Then he shifted, and gave Rufus a -look.-
“I’ve been hearing some interesting stories,” he said after a long moment of quiet. “Lots of interesting stories. Care to explain why you backslid into being the world’s biggest ass, Rufus?”
This, Rufus had been waiting for, and in a way, it made him smile.
It was good to have Zack back. The man never let anyone get away with anything. If there had been more people around like him, Rufus might not have lost his company.
Not to mention it would frustrate Cloud to know that the pair of them were friends.
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Zack hopes that one day he'll get Rufus to pull a prank with him. Going to have to sneak up on that idea.