Aeris Kills Cloud (Maybe)

"Take it easy with that." She warned, referring to the beer. "Because now that you're actually a decent human being you may want to meet the kids that'll carry on your name."

Cloud shook his head.
"Nah, I don't want to see them...ever."

Tifa sighed, but she nodded.
"Okay. Well, keep on living and I'll see you next week." She told Cloud, heading out.

Two years later.

Sora was four, and starting an early kindergarten program. Aeris had found a private academy that accepted him at a reduced tuition cost because of his intelligence. He already knew his addition and multiplication tables, could spell and write his own name. Aeris was an intern at a high profile design company, they loved her work. She waited tables, her smile, tattoos, and piercings earning her nice tips. It wasn't nearly enough, but she didn't let the stress show through to Sora. She took him to the park on her nights off, catching fireflies and playing on the playground equipment. He was used to his bedtime routine, brushing his teeth next to her while she did the same, crossing her eyes at him in the mirror. She did her best to raise him to be "normal", given his parents.

Tifa contacted her shortly after she and Amon arrived in Iraq. She enlisted Aeris to help navigate and track the terrorist's line of communication, offering her pay and benefits after the end of twelve months. Aeris accepted, and she and Sora were set to fly out that night. She was escorted to the airport, Sora holding her hand. She stopped almost dead in her tracks when she saw Cloud with his own two bodyguards, mentally cursing Tifa.

"We board in five." The guard told the adults.
Sora didn't like strangers, and he hid behind Aeris's leg, one blue eye looking up at Cloud.

Cloud didn't understand why he had to come on this trip. He had nothing to do with the military, nothing to do with the cops, it seemed like a waste of his time, and the governments time to bring him on. He stayed away from the others, glancing around at the crowd when he saw Aeris, and behind her, Sora. He immediately looked away from them. No. Fucking. Way.

Aeris lifted Sora into her arms and stepped behind two of the guards. She put as much distance between her family and Cloud as she possibly could. The plane was a small jet, but even so, she sat on the far side. Sora was smart, and he looked like Cloud. Aeris worried he would make the connection, but then she had listed a good friend as his father on his birth certificate, and the blue eyes could be from her. She had told him his father had died. When they landed, Tifa was there to greet them, and brief them on the situation at hand.
"Hey. Thanks for coming, Aeris." She said to the blonde, and Aeris frowned.
"Thanks for giving me all of the details." She said, just a hint of anger in her voice.

Cloud kept to himself on the plane, not looking at the two of them. He moved out of the plane and glared at Tifa.
"Yeah, thanks for the details, Lockhart." he grumbled moving away from them.

Tifa rolled her eyes, used to the sassy treatment because she had been with Sanders all week.
"Listen, who you're working with isn't important. You just need to trust each other, get in, get the intel, and get out." She said.
"Are you fuc-are you crazy?" Aeris hissed, Sora hiding behind her leg once more. "Trust him? You have to be kidding."

"Yeah I wouldn't even trust me." Cloud said, smirking slightly. He shook his head, wondering what the hell Tifa was doing.

"Look, best hit-man, best hacker. I need you to get into their systems while Cloud infiltrates their ventilation system." She called over the sound of helicopters taking off and landing. They were on a large military base, Tifa headed into a side building. It was air conditioned and comfortable, two living-rooms, four bedrooms, and a kitchen. Tifa had been staying at it with Amon while they worked out how they would get into the main building of Khan's. She moved to the table in the center of the room and unrolled a large blue schematic. "There are movement triggered lasers here..." She circled the spots, explaining the various traps and cameras. "You hack into the system, allow him access to the vents, and he does everything else. Sanders is staying here." She said after a moment. "He'll watch Sora."
Sora frowned, Aeris lifting him up onto the table. He was a beautiful little boy, looking up at her with big blue eyes. "Did you pack my cards?" He asked his mother.
"Yep, I sure did." She said, handing him the deck after digging in the backpack for a moment. He was heavily into doing magic tricks lately.
"Alright." Aeris said softly to Tifa. "As long as the settlement is still the same that we agreed upon."

Cloud made his way inside the building, watching Tifa explain what they had to do. He rolled his eyes and made his way into one of the bedrooms, dropping his bags and closing the door behind him. Out of everyone in the world, why did it have to be him here with her?

Aeris took a room on the other side of the house, to be as far away from Cloud as possible. The moment she saw him she wanted to kill him. Not with a gun, like he had tried with her, but personally. But maybe by shoving something up his ass. She ran her hands over her face, trying to relax.

Sora had followed his mother and unpacked some things, but he was feeling bored. He wondered through the house until he saw Cloud in his room, looking up at him.
"Want to see a magic trick?" He asked him, holding the fan of cards up.

Cloud staid in his room most of the time, messing around on his phone. He heard the door and saw Sora, raising his eyebrows at the kid.
"I'm sure your mom doesn't want you in here, kid." he mumbled.

"She knows I'll behave." He smiled slightly, holding up the cards once more. "She said she had to call my dad, so I left the room." He explained. "Pick one."

Cloud frowned slightly, tempted to tell the kid to fuck off, but he humored him.
"Alright, kid..." he said picking a card. It was a seven of hearts. "Alright, now what?"

Sora smiled slightly before he spoke.
"It's a seven of hearts." He told the man. He reached out and took the card back, moving his right hand over top of it. When he lifted his little palm, a sparrow chirped from it, bouncing as it perched on his thumb.

Cloud raised his eyebrows and he smirked. He clapped his hands for him.
"Not bad, kid." he said. "How'd you do that, huh?"

Sora smiled, happy that Cloud seemed impressed.
"A magician can never reveal his secret." He told Cloud, smirking. It was almost like looking into a mirror of a young Cloud. "Sorry I bugged you." He told Cloud, taking the bird and leaving his room.

In the morning, Aeris was in a black tank-top, her hair tied back prettily but simply. She wore black shorts and black converse, a wire hooked up from her belt to her ear. She heard Cloud and looked up momentarily before sliding a walkie talkie over to him.
"Tifa's going to radio when she's ready." She said, no longer looking at him.

Cloud made his way out and looked over to Aeris. He took the walkie and put the ear piece in and leaned against the table.
"You got a good kid there, you know." he said. "Kind of a dork though, but it's cute."

Aeris's head snapped up as her fingers twitched, almost tempted to pull the gun right there and then. She could easily blow his head off, imagined the satisfying warm spray of his blood on her skin.
"Stay away from him." She told Cloud, her voice low and unamused. "The only thing keeping me from blowing your fucking head off right now is this job. Don't tempt me."

Cloud tilted his head and folded his arms across his chest.
"I mean, I wouldn't mind if you blew my head...off." he laughed unable to help himself.

Aeris's face twisted with disgust. She loved Sora, more than anything, but that didn't mean she hadn't thought about not having him. She had almost done it, looked a nice suburban family that had a swingset and a pool. Because his father was a mentally ill rapist and murderer, and what if Sora became that? Every time she looked at him, she saw Cloud. No matter how hard she tried not to, she did. She had signed onto the job because of the money. She'd be able to get them a decent house, set up a college fund, take care of him. And facing her rapist was just something she'd have to do for the betterment of Sora.
"I'm sure you can find a ton of unwilling eighteen year olds back home, old man." She sneered.

Cloud looked Aeris up and down and he smirked.
"How about a twenty-two year old." he said gripping her arm. "Come on, blue eyes...you know you had fun."

Aeris was stunned. His fingers sank into her skin, her eyes wide. Was he really going to try that? Tifa had told her that he had changed, gotten out of prison and gotten onto medication, and so Aeris had reluctantly agreed to let him have an envelope of Sora's pictures. But he hadn't changed at all. He was still a disgusting pig.
"You raped me." She whispered. "You're the only one that had any enjoyment out of that."

Cloud pushed Aeris against the table. He hadn't actually taken any of his medication, flushed most of them, took the ones to prove he had "reformed." Although, a part of him did regret what he did, but...why change things now?
"Let me get some enjoyment now." he mumbled.