Lean On Me (FF7)

27

~Reno's POV~

I yawn, bored, and flip through the notes Elena took on the way Sephiroth was controlling them, but they're not interesting and quite frankly, I think Avalanche is going through the same thing with Cloud. We kind of lost connection after the fight with the Remnants and Vincent got his shoulder disconnected by blade. That must've sucked. And then the Edge burned up, along with the Seventh Heaven, the bar Tifa runs and also where Marlene Wallace and Denzel stay. Honestly, I hope at least Denzel made it out. He's a cool kid, likes to talk but knows how to keep his mouth shut when he needs to.

"Where are they?" Rude says impatiently, looking down at his watch.

"I don't know and I don't care," I rest the back of my head on my hands.

"They should've been here an hour ago," He sighs.

"Not everyone's life is scheduled. Things happen," I defend.

"Fine."

"Fine what?" I smirk, looking down at my feet.

"Nothing," he shakes his head.

"Fine, be that way Rude. See if I care," I stick my nose up and close my eyes.

"I'm giving them five more minutes," he grumbles.

"I told you..."

"We're here," Tifa bursts into the room. "Sorry we're late," she adds.

"What happened?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Issues with the chocobos," Cloud shakes his head.

"You could've walked."

"Do you realize how far Wutai is from here? Far," Barret flops down in one if the chairs and crosses his arms. "Now wipe that cocky smile off yo face an tell us what you've got."

"Barret," Tifa scolds quietly. Is she always scolding people. I look over at Cloud who is frowning down at the wooden table. I absent mindedly run my fingers over the fading bruises at the base of my neck while Rude picks up the notes.

"To be honest it's basically the same thing you've got," I speak up.

"What do you mean?" Tifa frowns. I tug the papers away from Rude, who is about to hand them to her. He's got such a soft spot for her, it's pathetic. She flips through the pages and I continue.

"As in, some of Hojo's colleagues were injected with small amounts of Jenova cells for his experiments and now they get controlled by Sephiroth sometimes. Like him," I motion to Cloud, who clenches his jaw but remains silent.

"So... we came here for nothing?" Barret frowns.

"No, actually we do have something different," Rude speaks up when Tifa reaches the page the new info is on.

"Whoa," she says, breathless. All the photos are flipped through and the detailed notes are read.

"Apparently Kadaj can shape shift. I'd be careful with such a large party you have. By the way, the kids are on board right?" I ask.

"None of your business," Cloud grits, finally speaking.

"Ah, he has a voice!" I say in mock excitement.

"How do we know you're not Kadaj?" He looks me dead in the eyes. Um... Black. That's not good.

"Guys?" I say shakily.

"Cloud," Tifa touches his shoulder. He whips his head around to look at her and she gasps, falling backwards into Barret. I freeze, completely confused as to what is going on. We're in a conference room in the Shinra building, I could always call for backup. If I could get to the intercom that is, which is across the room.