We met belowdecks with the others after dark just as we'd planned. By then, the rest of the crew was in their quarters aside from the night watch up on deck, so we had the cargo bay all to ourselves. Dinner had been a little while ago, and thanks to our disguises, we'd all been able to grab something from the galley without anyone catching on. Now that we were alone, we could finally unwind a bit.
"Whew!" Jessie said as she took off her helmet. "So glad to get this thing off. I don't know how soldiers can stand them."
I shrugged as I did the same. "Training. You get used to it."
She glanced curiously at me. "I thought you said you'd never worn one of these until today, Cloud. That right?"
"Yeah..." I said, rubbing my head where it hurt.
"You okay?" Tifa asked as she removed her own helmet.
I nodded. "I'm fine, Tif. Just tired, I guess."
"It has been a busy day, hasn't it?" Aerith agreed, taking hers off as well and unwinding her braid. "We all oughta get some rest soon. We'll need plenty of it to keep up the act tomorrow."
"How we gonna do that?" Barret wondered. "This place ain't really got no beds. An' all the crew quarters are full."
I pointed to a stack of crates nearby. "There's some camping gear in there—sleeping bags, pillows, that sort of thing. Even a few hammocks. Noticed it when Jessie I went through here earlier. It's all military issue, probably for the troops to use when they're in the field overnight. But I think we can use them in here easily enough."
Jessie giggled. "Good thinking, merc! And I know the perfect place for you and me to snuggle. It'll be great!"
"Wait, what?" I gaped at her.
"You'll see," she smirked. "I'll show ya in a bit."
I blinked. "I, uh... alright."
"Awesome!" Jessie winked, pumping her fist. Then she looked over at the others. "So anyway, we have some idea of what Shinra's gonna be doing next. Cloud and I did a little eavesdropping on the Turks back in Junon just before we came aboard. Plus we got a few tips from a friend of his, the trooper from the Shinra Building."
"I remember him," Tifa said. "He recognized Cloud. I didn't realize he'd been transferred to Junon, though. But I'm glad he helped you two out. So he had some information for us?"
I nodded. "Yeah, from Kunsel. Rufus intends to attack us from the inside soon. Through a spy. My friend didn't know who it was, though, only that we haven't met him yet. Or her."
"Then we better watch close for anyone who's actin' jus' a little too friendly," Barret grunted. "Gotta keep our eyes open."
"I doubt it'll be that easy," Aerith said.
Yuffie, looking little better now though still not happy about being on the ship, glanced at Jessie. "Speaking of inside info, any word yet on Hiroshi? I know it's a pretty long shot, but..."
Jessie sighed. "Not too much, I'm afraid. But I only just got word to Kunsel to start looking for him while we were still at Fort Condor, so it hasn't been very long yet. Don't give up."
"I won't," she promised. "What's he found?"
"A strange gap in Shinra's military personnel files," Jessie explained. "As if one of them had been deleted. Kunsel's working on recovering it, but he's gotten enough so far to see the entry was forged. He messaged me while we were still in Junon, but I couldn't check it until just about an hour ago what with all that's happened."
Yuffie's eyes widened. "Then that might mean..."
"Hiroshi disguised himself as a soldier," Jessie finished for her. "It's not a whole lot to go on, Yuffie, but it's a start."
"Thanks, Jessie," she breathed.
"So then, what's Rufus an' Mr. Warmonger plannin' to do in Costa Del Sol?" Barret wondered. "Not a vacation, I take it."
I shook my head. "Doubtful. Their objective's probably somewhere else. Costa Del Sol's just their starting point. Rufus did say he intended to pay a visit to the Highwind's original captain."
"But we don't know where that is," Jessie pointed out. "At least, not yet. Maybe we should see what we can find out while we're in town, do a little snooping and see if we can't find us a good lead, either on Rufus or Sephiroth. Then we can go from there."
"Good idea," I agreed.
Aerith giggled. "And maybe take a little break while we're at it! We could really use it, you know. And Costa Del Sol's supposed to be a big resort town. Bright sun, cool surf, nice beaches..."
Tifa smiled. "That might not be a bad idea, Aerith."
"For sure!" Jessie added, then smirked at me. "Always wanted to go there, you know. Marissa told me about it years ago. Sounds fun... and romantic! We have to stay the night, merc. Just one! Because you and I are gonna take long walk alone together on the beach."
"A walk?" I blinked. "Okay, I guess..."
She clapped her hands together. "Thanks! I can't wait!"
Aerith laughed. "Aw, how sweet! Have fun, you two! I think we can all relax and gather the information we need at the same time. I haven't ever gone swimming, though. No place to really do that in the slums. It might be nice to try and learn how, though."
"I can help you with that," Tifa offered. "I swam a lot when I was a kid. We had a few decent-sized ponds near our village, and my parents used to take me there to swim when I was little."
"Looking forward to it!" she said.
Tifa looked at me. "What about you, Cloud?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Mom used take me, too. I don't remember ever seeing you out there, though, Tifa. But maybe we just never went at the same time. It's possible. But anyway, yeah, I can swim."
Jessie grinned. "Oh, you can teach me, then, merc! I never learned, either. Like Aerith said, not many pools in the slums. And I was pretty busy with other things when I was still on the plate, as you know. Still, I'd just love to have you as my hunky swim teacher."
I couldn't quite avoid blushing a little. "I... alright. But there's a lot more to it than you can learn in just one day."
"Oh, I'm willing to put in the time if you are," she winked.
"We're on a quest here, you know," I reminded her.
Jessie pointed her finger and winked. "Of course, Cloud, but there's always afterward! This is gonna be great!"
"You guys..." Aerith giggled.
Red yawned. "Well, if that's settled, may we rest? I've been trying to pass myself off as one of you two-legs all day, and it can get quite tiring after a while. I don't know how you all do it."
"We manage," Barret chuckled.
Then we took whatever we needed from the crates to get settled in for the night. While Barret got himself set up with a hammock over in the corner and Red curled up nearby, Aerith and Tifa picked out some sleeping bags and laid down as Yuffie did the same. Jessie took a pair of pillows and a blanket, thrust them into my arms, and motioned for me to follow her, smirking as she did. What was she up to now? Something about knowing the perfect place for us to sleep, wherever that was. But I didn't have any idea what it could be.
I found out a moment later when Jessie led me to her father's car. It was still parked on the other side of the cargo bay, a large black luxury sedan and limo. Not one of those stretch ones, but it still had plenty of space. More than enough for us. I wondered how we'd get in, though. I was sure it was locked. But Jessie didn't seem worried, and once we got to the car, she took out her tablet, switched it on, and quickly tapped in a few commands. Then there was a soft click as the sedan unlocked. As she put her tablet away, she smiled in satisfaction.
"All set!" she laughed.
I nodded. "Not bad. How'd you do it?"
Jessie opened the back door with a flourish. "Wasn't hard. The car's got one of those remote locking systems where you can open it up and even get it started from afar—good for when it's really cold outside—so all I had to do was hack in, activate it, and disable the alarm. And now we have a nice, cozy little place to cuddle in!"
"Sounds good," I said.
It did look pretty comfortable, with its large cushioned seats made of some soft, dark fabric. I went in first, and I was still in the middle of setting up the blanket and pillows when Jessie followed after me with a giggle, closing and locking the door behind her. Then she scooted over to me, dropping herself in my lap before I knew what was happening. I didn't mind, really, it just took me by surprise. And as I held her, Jessie slid her arms around me and covered my mouth with hers, the soft and sweet taste of her lips heating my blood.
"You know, Cloud..." she breathed when we came up for air. "This car's got tinted windows. Soundproof, too. So nobody'll see or hear us. Pretty nifty, huh? We'll have plenty of privacy."
"Uh, that's great..." I said, not getting what she was after.
Jessie plucked at my uniform, her eyes gazing hungrily at me. "Sure is. So... how about we get more comfortable?"
I blinked. "You mean... in here?"
"Probably won't get many chances after Costa Del Sol, at least for a while," she said. "So we should enjoy each other while we can. And... I really wanna do this tonight. It's... personal."
"I can see that," I replied. Then I gave her a faint smirk of my own, a little one just for her. "Doing it in the back of your father's car... not a bad idea. I think I can get behind that, Jessie."
"And me," she winked suggestively. "Thanks, Cloud."
I answered with my lips, and we got to work. It didn't take long for us to get each other undressed, though we didn't rush it—Jessie loved it when I drew things out, especially when she didn't have much left on. I admit, it got me hot as well, both doing that for her and when she'd do the same for me. Got us both ready for what followed.
We went at it a few times that night, trying out different positions, until finally we lay together on the seat in each other's arms exhausted, sweaty, and panting for breath. The ship rocked gently beneath us, and although we couldn't hear the waves from where we were, we could feel them. Jessie's head rested on my shoulder as I pulled the blanket a little higher up so it covered us a bit more, and our clothes lay scattered over the floor next to us. The divider between the car's back section and the front, where the driver would sit, was closed.
"Finally worn out?" I asked.
Jessie looked up and smiled. "For now, merc. But we've got another day or two left on this trip, so you'd better get some rest while you can. Because we'll doing this again tomorrow night."
I'd figured as much. "You too. Think you can keep up?"
"Watch me," she teased.
Although I still couldn't quite put into words what I felt for Jessie, I was glad she was part of my journey this time. I doubt I'd have opened up nearly as much as I had otherwise. Most of the other times that this mess with Shinra and Sephiroth had played out, Jessie died, so she was never there to nudge me out of my tough shell like she'd done here, and it probably would've taken me quite a bit longer to get to where I was at this point than it did. She really made a difference.
And if Jessie could survive in this timeline, reality, or whatever the hell it is, then maybe she did in a few others as well. I hope so. It's what I've come to believe over the years. Maybe she and I even grew close in some of those places like we have here. There's no way to know, I guess, but I'd like to think we did, that this wasn't the only time. Anyway, I've gotten a little off track, so let's get back to it.
As Jessie and I lay together in the back of her father's car, I absently caressed her bare back and thought about how far we'd come and what was still ahead of us. Our journey was still only beginning, and we had no way to know where it was gonna take us. All I did know was that I'd do all I could to protect her. I'd nearly lost her once when Sector 7 had come down. I wasn't gonna let it happen again.
— — — — — — —
The next two days passed uneventfully as we made our way across the ocean, even if it was in Shinra's uniforms. We helped the crew with the work as much as we could to blend in and avoid drawing attention to ourselves, and as far as we were aware, no one suspected anything. It was actually kinda fun in a way. And at night, while the others slept in a quiet corner of the cargo bay, Cloud and I laid together in the back of my father's car and made sweet, passionate love.
It was wonderful, being with my sweet soldier. A dream come true. Cloud still didn't remember out real first meeting so long ago, but that was alright. I was sure he would sooner or later. And although I'd slept with him before quite a few times, him wearing that uniform again just brought it all back to me, that day five years ago when we had run into each other in the Shinra Building and met for the first time. Neither of us had known how intertwined our lives would become. But even then, I'd fallen for him. Even then, I'd loved him.
I was on the lookout platform with Tifa early on the last day of our journey when it happened. We were only an hour or so away from our destination, and I couldn't wait to relax and have some great fun in the sun when we reached Costa Del Sol. It'd be good to have a break in our journey before moving on again. While we stood together and watched the crew, the ship, and the vast ocean ahead of us, Tifa and I talked and made plans for our little mini-vacation.
"I think I might work on my tan," she decided. "Just lay out on the beach for a while under the sun and relax."
I grinned. "Oh, sounds nice! Maybe I'll join you."
Tifa nodded. "I'd like that, Jessie. I think I'll ask Aerith if she wants to as well. I promised I'd teach her how to swim, too. Or at least get her started. Cloud could show you at the same time."
"A double lesson?" I laughed. "Count me in, Tifa!"
She gave me a thumbs up. "Will do. And you know, maybe we can find a volleyball net, get a game going."
I thought that was a great idea. "Awesome! I'm sure I can sweet talk Cloud into playing, too. It'll do him good to kick back and unwind for a while. He could really use it after all he's—"
Before I could finish, I winced as a bolt of pain suddenly struck me in the head. And as I tried to shake it off, I felt a familiar shadow in my mind, a dark presence that I remembered all too well. After a moment, the pain subsided, but my uneasiness remained.
"Jessie?" Tifa asked. "What is it?"
I shivered. "He's here... on the ship. Somewhere..."
Her eyes widened. "You mean...?"
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Then we've gotta find Cloud, and fast," Tifa replied, hurrying over to the ladder at once. "Come on, Jessie!"
I followed her. "Right. But... I think he already knows."
— — — — — — —
I was on my way to the deck when I found Aerith. We were both in the cargo bay, pretending to do inventory while a few sailors worked at the other end near the stern. Once they were finished, they made their way back in our direction toward the stairs. When they passed by, they glanced at us for a moment. We nodded, hoping it would be enough to keep them from getting suspicious, and after doing the same in return, they went on, heading upstairs to the deck.
"Whew!" Aerith breathed. "That was close..."
I shrugged. "Wasn't bad. Could've been worse. Anyway, how's your walk? Been practicing like I showed you?"
She giggled and took a few steps. "How's that?"
"Better," I told her.
While we'd been aboard, I'd shown her, Jessie, and Tifa how to walk like a guy. Although there were a few women in Shinra's military, most soldiers were still men, and I'd figured they'd attract less attention if the rest of the crew thought that was what they were. The uniforms hid the girls' appearance well enough but couldn't do anything about how they walked. Which was unmistakably feminine. Of course, I hadn't missed the irony of the whole thing for a second.
Aerith smiled. "Thanks! Brings back some fond memories, doesn't it? Me showing you how to walk like a girl in Wall Market? Who knew you'd get to return the favor someday?"
"Fond memories?" I raised an eyebrow. "For you, maybe."
She laughed. "It was fun, though, wasn't it?"
I nodded reluctantly and sighed. "Making Don Corneo squirm was definitely satisfying, I'll give you that."
"For sure!" Aerith agreed.
"Anyway, we should probably head up on deck ourselves," I added. "Even Red's up there today, I think."
She nodded. "Yeah, I saw him earlier. I'm kinda surprised nobody's caught on yet. The tail, you know. But he's done a great job hiding it so far, always finding a place to stand where he can keep it out of sight. At least we won't have to do this much longer."
"Right," I said. "Getting a bit tired of it myself."
Aerith looked worriedly at me as we headed upstairs. "Speaking of which, have you seen Barret at all today?"
I shook my head. "Not since this morning."
"I was afraid of that," she sighed. "You know how he is, Cloud. And with both Rufus and Heidegger on board, that can only mean trouble. I just hope he's not doing anything stupid."
She definitely had a point. "Same. I'll go find him."
Aerith patted my shoulder. "Good. I'll check on Yuffie, then. She'll be at the rail, if I know her at all. Poor thing..."
Despite the tranquilizers Jessie and I had given her, Yuffie had still struggled with being seasick for the whole trip. We saw her standing by the starboard rail, her face noticeably green underneath her sailor's hat. While Aerith went to comfort her, I headed forward to look for Barret. I had a pretty good idea of where he'd be.
Sure enough, I found him hiding outside the bridge behind one of the lifeboats as he tried to listen in on Rufus and Heidegger. Both were inside along with Reno, Rude, and the ship's captain. Making sure that no one saw me, I snuck quickly over to join Barret, feeling my blood go hot at the sight of Jessie's father less than fifty feet away. Although she'd talked about trying to reach him, I didn't think it would work, and all I could see when I looked at him was how hurt and broken she'd been in the Sector 7 ruins when we'd finally found her.
"Anything?" I asked quietly.
Barret shook his head. "Nah, merc. Can't hear a thing through that glass. Them windows are too thick. Jus' look at 'em, though. Rufus ain't smilin', of course, but Mr. Warmonger seems pretty damn pleased with himself. Guess they still don't know we here."
I nodded. "Seems that way."
"We this close an' can't do a thing to 'em," he muttered. "Though I'd sure as hell like to. How can he go laughin' like that? After what he did to Jessie back in Midgar? She nearly died 'cause of him! Biggs, too. An' Wedge wouldn't have made it out either if it wasn't for you an' the girls. Lotsa people didn't. An' he... he jus' stands there like it's nothin'! I can't believe the guy! Shit, got my blood boilin' now!"
"Barret—" I started, but he wasn't even close to listening.
Then he brought up his gun-arm, his dark eyes blazing. "Hell with it! I know he's Jessie's old man an' she's got a bone to pick with him, but I can't hold back. I'm gonna settle things right here!"
I grabbed him at once. "No! I get how you feel, but—"
Suddenly an alarm sounded, blaring loudly out across the ship. We both looked up at once, the same thought coming to each of us at once. Had one of the others been noticed? Before we could say anything, the captain's voice came on over the speaker.
"All hands, this is an emergency alert!" he announced. "There may be an intruder aboard! We've just gotten word about suspicious activity belowdecks. Everyone not on duty, search the ship and report when he is found. I repeat, we have an intruder aboard!"
Barret lowered his arm. "Damn! Did they find us?"
"Not you and I, we're here," I said, shaking my head. "The alert was about something going on down below."
"Jessie an' the others, then?" he wondered.
Before I could answer, pain suddenly shot through my head, and I clutched my right temple and grimaced as something dark and familiar touched my mind. Then it was gone, almost as soon as it had appeared, but as I straightened up again, I knew exactly what—and who—it was. I turned to Barret, who was frowning at me.
"No," I said. "It's him."
"Then get offa your spiky ass an' let's go!" Barret growled, hurrying away from the bridge. "We gotta move!"
We hurried back across the deck toward the stern, and on the way, Red fell in beside us, loping along on all four legs now that most of the crew had gone below to search for the intruder. We were about halfway there when we spotted Jessie and Tifa hurrying down from the lookout post to meet us. And on our left, Aerith and Yuffie raced over from the starboard rail. They were all as worried as we were.
"Everyone okay?" Tifa asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, you?"
She glanced anxiously around, still in her disguise just like the rest of us. "Same. Everyone's here, aren't they?"
"Looks like it, yeah," Jessie answered. "All seven of us."
"It ain't us, then," Barret said. "So that means..."
Aerith finished for him. "Sephiroth!"
"Huh!?" Yuffie gulped. "He's here? On board?"
"Gotta be," I frowned as that familiar rage rose up inside me. "I felt him in my mind right when the alarm went off."
Jessie looked at me. "So did I, at almost the same time."
"You did?" I gazed worriedly at her.
"Yeah," she sighed. "Scared the hell outta me."
Barret grunted. "So what do we do?"
"We find him," I decided. "The captain said he was belowdecks, so we'll look there. But we don't know exactly where he is, so we'll have to split up. Two groups oughta be enough."
"A logical plan," Red agreed. "Who's going where?"
Aerith glanced at me and Jessie. "Can you guys tell where he is? He touched your minds, so maybe you can do the same to him, you know? Could you use that connection to find him?"
I concentrated for a moment but couldn't feel him in my thoughts. "No, sorry. I don't think it works that way."
"Same here, I'm afraid," Jessie apologized after trying as well.
"It's okay," Aerith said. "It was just an idea."
Yuffie gulped nervously. "I really don't like this Sephiroth guy. And besides, I'm, uh... I'm not feeling so good..."
Her face went green again and she covered her mouth, still dealing with her seasickness. I wasn't upset with her, though. Somehow, I knew what she was dealing with as if I'd been through it myself even though I'd never had to deal with it before, not that I could remember. I looked at her and nodded, knowing then what to do.
"You, Barret, and Tifa search the crew quarters," I told her. "I doubt you'll be able to get into very many of them—most are probably locked up tight—but there may be a few places where he could be hiding. The rest of us'll take the cargo bay and the engine room."
I had a hunch Sephiroth would be hiding in the deepest part of the ship, but the crew quarters still had to be checked just to be sure, and I figured that Yuffie would be more comfortable doing that. Apparently, she thought the same thing, because she relaxed a bit and nodded. Tifa gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"It'll be alright, Yuffie," she said. "C'mon, let's go."
While the two of them headed belowdecks with Barret, Red shifted uncomfortably in his disguise. "I think I'll shed this once we get to the cargo bay. These clothes are too tight on me."
I led him, Jessie, and Aerith downstairs. "Good idea. We'd all better grab our gear and change once we get there."
As soon as we entered the cargo bay, I knew something was wrong. An eerie silence lay over it that hadn't been there before, and the lights flickered fitfully, leaving much of the area shrouded in gloom. At first, I didn't know why it was so quiet. Jessie did, though. Before I went very far, she grabbed my arm as she gazed uneasily at our surroundings, her glowing mako eyes bright in the dimness.
"Cloud!" she whispered. "The engines are off..."
I blinked, realizing she was right. "It's gotta be him. Just like in the Shinra Building when we rescued Aerith."
Jessie glanced at me. "What do you mean?"
"While we were all stuck in those cells on the 67th floor, the power went out and a lot of other stuff went haywire," Aerith explained. "That was when Sephiroth showed up and freed Jenova."
Red nodded. "Their presence seems to have a disruptive influence upon any nearby technology. We must be cautious."
I motioned to him and the others. "Right. Let's go."
Our eyes alert, we made our way cautiously through the darkened cargo bay toward the stacks of crates where we'd hidden our gear. Once we found it, we quickly got changed, the girls going behind them to do that. I was just smoothing out my sleeveless top and putting my gloves on when Jessie came back out, all ready to go in her phoenix gear with her weapons holstered on her thighs.
Aerith followed her a moment later, back in her pink dress and red jacket, bladed staff in hand. "Ready, guys?"
"Yeah," I nodded, Buster and Force Stealer in hand.
Red looked much more comfortable out of uniform. "Quite ready, actually. And I admit, I feel much better now."
Jessie patted him fondly. "I don't doubt it. Now let's move."
"I'll take the lead," he said, hurrying away.
We followed him away from our hiding spot past stacks of crates as we headed forward again. Red led us further left, away from the stairs, and when we found the entrance to the engine room, we stopped short almost at once, chilled but not surprised by the sight that waited for us just outside the closed, thick metal door.
The bodies of about half a dozen soldiers and sailors lay in front of it, brutally slashed. Most of them were dead, but then I saw that one of the soldiers was still breathing, if only a little. He had a gloved hand on his stomach where he'd been cut, and he sat weakly with his back to the wall as his head drooped over his chest.
"Aerith, Jessie..." I said. "See what you can do for him."
They hurried over, knelt on either side of the wounded soldier, and quickly got to work. While Jessie concentrated on her Restore materia, Aerith touched his chest, bowed her head for a moment, and used one of her healing winds to tend to him. As a light, refreshing breeze swept over him amidst the blue sparkles of curative magic from Jessie's spell, the soldier stirred and looked up at us.
"Huh? Wait, you're... not part of the crew," he said. "But I suppose I... have you to thank... for being alive."
"You're gonna be alright," Aerith assured him.
Jessie nodded. "Just hang in there, okay?"
"Thanks..." he said.
"What happened here?" I asked.
The soldier grimaced, no doubt still in pain. "We came here to try and find the stowaway... and we did. Only... it wasn't human. No way. Didn't even... have a head. I thought I was... seeing things. Then, that thing was gone... and he... was in its place."
"Who?" Aerith wondered.
"Sephiroth..." the soldier shivered. "He... or it, whatever the hell it was... cut us down with barely an effort. We didn't even have time... to scream. Then he went... into the engine room."
I glared darkly at the closed door. "And so are we."
Motioning to the others, I moved forward and touched a panel on the nearby wall. The door slid open with a soft hiss, and for a moment, we all just stood there, gazing into the gloom of the dimly lit interior. It was as dark in there as it was out here, and we didn't like it one bit. But we had to go on. Sephiroth was in there, waiting.
Weapons ready, I led the others inside.