Title: Surprise
Fandom: Final Fantasy: Advent Children
Characters: Cloud, SG-1
Prompt: 025 - Strangers
Word Count: 2264
Date finished: 07/24/2006
Rating: PG
Summary: Cloud defeats a monster and meets people from another planet.
Author's Notes: This is not ended. I mean, the whole story isn't there - because I have no idea where to take it. It was just... something that crossed my mind.
Please... someone tell me if this sucks.
Disclaimer: Characters are owned by Square Enix and Sony Pictures as far as I know.

It was hard to say who was more surprised, the four who stepped out of the Stargate under the monster's nose, or the monster itself, who already had one pest to worry about. When they did nothing but stare, the monster contented itself with dealing with the small thing that would NOT sit down and be a snack - because, after all, that was all it was good for. Those four, however, would make a nice meal. After the snack.

The snack had no intention of being eaten. In fact, his mind was more on getting back to his bike and back on his route than anything else, but this was a nice bit of exercise. It wasn't a lot of thinking, which was so much the better, unlike his trips around on Fenrir. He wondered sometimes if becoming a delivery boy had been a good idea; it left him far too much time to think. The monster swiped at him, and he danced back before lunging in again, striking at the head.

"He's playing." There was awe in the voice.

The black man stared up at the monster - at least two stories tall, as far as he could tell - and wondered how the young man up there had gotten on its shoulder.

And then the beast he fought shrugged him off. He landed gracefully on his feet, crouched, and jumped….

Flew. Soared, black material flapping around his left arm and leg like wings.

He landed on the monster's head again, driving the sword he carried deep into its brain. It groaned and toppled. The young man flipped off, landed perfectly balanced nearly on one knee, then straightened and watched it fall.

And then they noticed that the sword he carried was almost as tall as he was, and nearly as wide.

"How does he lift that thing?" the man in charge asked.

Apparently effortlessly, because he set it easily on his shoulder and walked toward them.

It gave them a chance to study him. He was shorter than they, with blonde hair that, it seemed, wouldn't lay down, even with the wind that had not stopped blowing since they'd stepped from the Stargate. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt and black pants, and a piece of black material covered his left arm. Another draped from his waist to his left ankle. His right arm was muscled, although not muscle bound. His shirt was open at the collar. He looked far too young to be carrying a sword like that. As he got closer, they noticed his eyes were an impossible color of blue they could see from pretty far away.

He, on the other hand, took them in as avidly as they studied him. Three men, one woman, all taller than he was - but he was used to that, most of the people he knew were taller than he was, had always been - and dressed in black shirts with beige pants. The guy with glasses seemed harmless, but he knew better than to take anyone at face value. The guy with the cap and the woman carried guns of a type he didn't recognize. The large black man sported a gold oval on his forehead, and a staff that he carried in a way that bespoke weapon, not walking stick. He slowed and brought his Tsurugi from his shoulder, just in case they were not as friendly as they looked.

"Hello!" The greeting came from the guy in the cap, who seemed to be the leader of the group.

The blonde stopped at a fair distance from them. "Hello," he responded.

"Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, and Teal'c. What happened here?" He gestured vaguely at his companions, then at the destruction around them.

"Cloud Strife. And it's a long story." He sounded weary.

"I can imagine," the man with glasses - Daniel Jackson? - murmured.

"I don't wish to offend," said the woman - Sam, he'd said her name was; what a strange name for a woman - "but are your eyes naturally that color?"

Cloud stared at them, the sword point dropping again. "Where are you from?" he asked flatly. "Not from Midgar, or Edge."

"We call it Earth," O'Neill said.

"It's an effect of Mako poisoning," he said. "I was… an experiment." He hesitated, obviously deciding not to say more. Then he looked up at them. "Where is Earth?"

Sam hesitated, then pointed skyward. "It's a different planet."

In a swift move that surprised them all, his sword point came up again, pointed at them, and he dropped into a crouch, ready to attack if he needed to. "Why are you here?" There was barely hidden fear in his voice, and crushing guilt.

0'Neill and Sam took their hands from their weapons, raising them to shoulder level, trying to appear harmless. "To learn more about your people, to perhaps exchange ideas," Daniel said in a voice that was meant to be soothing.

"The last thing that fell from the sky caused this," Cloud said, gesturing at the rubble, and there was even more guilt in that statement. "Do you know Jenova?"

They exchanged glances, obviously confused, and he relaxed a little. "No," Daniel said.

"It took her over 2,000 years, but she did, and she aimed for the whole planet."

"We didn't fall from the sky," Sam said gently, and gestured carefully behind her. "We came through the Stargate. And we don't intend to destroy anything."

He straightened, slowly, and the sword point dropped again.

"I can understand why you'd be on guard," O'Neill said. "Looks like it took some time to get rid of this thing."

Cloud nodded, then the last of the tension bled out of him. "Let's get out of the sun," he said. "My place isn't far." He slid the sword into the harness on his back and led the way down the street.

He stopped before a church, pushed the door open, and went in. To their surprise, the back half of the church was gone, and about halfway down the nave was a flower garden. Off to one side was a bed roll, rolled up, next to a wooden chest. A lantern rested on top. Closer to the garden was a knee-high silver case.

The blonde stumbled suddenly and quit walking, gripping his upper left arm.

"Is something wrong?" Sam asked as she came to a stop next to him.

"The monsters are not easy to defeat," he said softly.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked, reaching already to tend to a wound he did not have.

"No, thanks. I was not injured." Now how to explain that?

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Daniel asked, before Sam could question him. Cloud hesitated, then shook his head. "You said you were an experiment."

"Yes." He moved again, stiffly, walking to the bed roll and chest. He pulled his sword out, retrieved cloths and a vial from the chest, and sat down on it.

"What… kind?"

"Failed."

They all stared at him. "Failed?" Sam asked.

He gave them a small smile. "I did not do exactly what Hojo expected…" He hesitated, then with a twist, began to disassemble his Tsurugi. "I proved one of his theories correct," he said, "but I did not become what he wanted to make of me." Carefully, he set the six blades around him, then started with the main blade and began to clean it.

"And what did he want you to be?" O'Neill asked.

The odd note in his voice made Cloud look up. They all stared at him - or, more to the point, the Tsurugi. "He wanted me to be a… clone for his son." Finished cleaning it, he began to oil it.

"You speak in the past tense," Teal'c said.

Cloud looked up. "We killed him."

They stared at him. "Killed?" Sam asked delicately.

"Yes. It was the only way to stop him," Cloud said. "I don't know the exact number of people he experimented on, and only a general idea of how many people he put into comas so Sephiroth could control them." His voice shook a little. "I was supposed to be one of those. He'd been experimenting on people for over 30 years."

O'Neill held up a hand, and whatever Daniel had been about to ask went unvoiced. "We need to speak to whoever is in charge."

Cloud blinked. "No one is," he said. "Not really. Not any more. We don't even have a mayor." He paused. "You could talk to Reeve, I guess, at the WRO in Kalm. He's trying to undo what the Shinra Electric Power Company did, trying to help the world recover."

O'Neill nodded. "How far is Kalm?"

"Some distance," Cloud told them. "I'm going in the morning. I'll see if I can find you a ride, if you don't mind staying here tonight."

The four exchanged glances. "That will be fine," O'Neill said. "I'd like to go back to where you met us, if that's okay."

Cloud had moved on to one of his serrated blades, but now he stopped. "Sure. I need to pick up Fenrir anyway."

He quickly reassembled the Tsurugi, as the others decided who would stay and who would go - O'Neill finally told them they would all stay, and they could discuss what questions they wanted to ask among themselves. They glared at him as he turned and gestured for Cloud to lead the way.

They walked in silence. It wasn't a long walk, and Cloud was glad of the silence. He hadn't spent time with that many people in a while, and already he was regretting his offer. But he was not going back out.

They'd stopped near the monster, and O'Neill cast about for something, spotting what he was looking for right near the monster's nose. "I guess it's dead?" he asked.

"Yes," Cloud said shortly. "I'll be right back.

O'Neill was in the middle of his report when he heard the roar of a motorcycle. A moment later, Cloud pulled up near him and turned the cycle off. His sword was gone. O'Neill paused in the middle of his sentence, then wrenched his mind back to what he was saying. "So, if you could send through a tent and some sleeping bags, that'd be great. It sounds like we'll be doing some traveling to find our contact."

"Very well. We'll send it through in half an hour. Hammond out."

O'Neill turned to Cloud and whistled appreciatively. "That is a beaut," he said, and then noticed something. "Where's your sword?"

Cloud's hand twitched on the grip, and the front of the bike split to reveal the six blades, each it its own holder. O'Neill whistled again. "Sweet," he said. "Do that yourself?"

"Yes."

They were deep in conversation about motorcycles, changes, upgrades, and swords - somewhat to O'Neill's surprise - when the Stargate activated again. "How long will you be gone?" Hammond's voice crackled out of the radio.

"Not sure," O'Neill said. "We'll try to make it short."

"It's a three hour ride," Cloud mentioned.

"It'll be a couple of days," O'Neill said. "We'll be in touch by then."

Four packs came flying through the Stargate, then with a final farewell, the 'Gate shut off again. O'Neill pursed his lips. "I don't suppose we can get back with all of these on Fenrir?"

Cloud didn't smile, but with some rope and a bit of a balancing act, they got the packs and themselves on the bike, and headed back to the church.

When they got back, Sam sat on the edge of the flower garden; Daniel and Teal'c were talking quietly on one of the pews. O'Neill walked in with two packs in hand, and Cloud brought in the other two. He retreated back to his space, resuming the cleaning of his sword, as the other four sorted out their things. He mostly ignored them, wrapped up in who he was going to call to get them to Kalm.

"How long a walk is it?" Daniel asked.

Cloud looked up, startled and a little embarrassed. How had he snuck up on him?

"It'd take all day, but you'd get there, probably about mid-afternoon." He hesitated. "I… could call Reeve. He'd probably send something for you."

"No, that's okay," Daniel said quickly. "Thanks." He got up and returned to his friends - unit? - and they talked a little more.

He finished cleaning the blade, assembling the master blade with ease of long practice, and slipping it into the harness on his back. "I'll be back in a bit," he said, stopped long enough at the garden to gather a few of the flowers, and left again.

The bluff was deserted except for the sword that stood sentinel; Cloud set the flowers at the base of it, but he didn't stay like he might usually, although he did pause to look out over Edge, and wonder how Tifa was doing. He missed her, more than he wanted to admit, and that was why he'd just needed to get out, away from the closeness of the strangers he'd invited into the church. He'd been part of that closeness once, and it hurt to see it, sometimes.

They'd set up their own sleeping bags by the time he returned, had their own lights. He rolled out his bag, and in the darkness away from them, checked his arm. It looked worse in the darkness, and he covered it up again.

The others called good night to each other; Cloud lay still, and was soon asleep.

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