My Hero

Two

A hard lump formed in Cloud's throat, as he continued to stare. The child - Barret's daughter, Marlene, was here. She'd been in Hojo's laboratory, for how long? What had he done to her? Why was she here??

The answer came to him immediately, because he wasn't an idiot. He knew full well that the purpose of her presence was to keep him in line. Cloud was terrible with children. Marlene had literally fled from him upon their first meeting, and he didn't even have to say a word for it. Yet now, there she was, clinging to him like a life line. He left things like this to Tifa. Or really anyone else that wasn't him.

Tentatively, he knelt, so he was level with her. Nothing he could say would make her feel any better, so he just let her cry, wrapping her arms around his neck and trembling like a leaf in a storm.

From there, the SOLDIER raised his eyes directly to Hojo. If looks could kill, he was sure the man would have been disintegrated right then and there. The few infantryman present grew nervous, raising their guns to point at him, though he didn't waver in the slightest.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I've done not a thing to the girl. She's just been kept in here while we were out looking for you. You did take quite a long time to come along." The Professor didn't miss the flash of anger behind those eyes, soon averted and closed.

That was suggestive, as if Hojo meant to tell him that Marlene suffered, and it was because of him.

"Cw..Clo-oud..M-Mister Cloud.." All at once, the tension in his body vanished, and the blond waited patiently, feeling Marlene's grip loosen until she slowly released him, sniffling and covering her eyes.

"I'll protect you."

There was not a second of hesitation  from him. His tone was calm, and quiet. It might have even been soothing to her. The girl sniffled again and moved her hands to look at him. SOLDIERs.. They were scary people who liked to fight and hurt people. At least, that's what her father had told her. Looking at Cloud now though, she wasn't as scared of him as she'd been.

A light chuckle from the Professor broke the seemingly calm atmosphere, and tension returned to the blonde.

"You'll protect her? From what? There's nothing that'll get her in here." Well, the other less successful experiments might. "I supposed the two of you can share a chamber. That girl has been wailing nonstop since she got here, and I must say it's been grating on my nerves."

It was unbelievable, how this man thought it okay to kidnap a child and keep her there against her will. Of course she was going to cry.

Without saying anything, the Ex-SOLDIER stood, glancing down briefly to Marlene, before stepping away from her and approaching the open chamber. The sight of it made him feel cold, like he wanted to run and hide. But, he wouldn't give in to that temptation, not in front of the Professor, and not while Marlene was there. He knew if he broke down it would only make things worse for her. She followed him to the chamber, still latched onto his uniform and hiding her face from everyone in the room.

After the two of them stepped inside, the chamber door slid shut, sealing them within.

It's awful, that he kept her in this place.

Cloud took in a deep breath, holding it for five seconds before letting it go.  Worrying wasn't going to change anything. He rested his back against the glass, slowly sliding down to sit, one leg bent and the other laying flat. He didn't say anything when Marlene crawled to sit beside him, nor did he look at her. He might have actually forgotten briefly that she was there.

He was missing an entire five years of his life, a result of the experimentation he was put through when he was sixteen. He didn't remember anything from before then either really, nothing with any substance. He remembered Tifa, and their home in Nibelheim. The rest only came to him in very painful bits and pieces. He wasn't really expecting to ever recover those memories. The present wouldn't change just because he gained some information, so it was best to let it be.