"I had another blackout today. The gaps between them have been growing closer."

Jayla's eyes watered. She hopelessly flailed her limbs in the bluish-greenish liquid. The fight to push through the ocean of mako was fruitless. It felt as if her body was filled with iron; pulling her down slowly.

"I don't want to admit it, but it's terrifying, being stripped of all sense of control like that."

A gasp escaped her mouth. Bubbles rushed out; running towards their freedom. Her eyes widened as she choked down mako. She felt it in her lungs as it burned down her throat. Dark spots appeared in the corners of her eyes before they covered her vision.

"They happen without warning. I was on the train, getting ready for a big job that Cloud accepted, before I was yanked out of reality."

Her body floated lifelessly. Small sparks of mako wrapped around her. Her mouth hung open slightly.

"If it wasn't for Biggs, I don't know how long it'd take to snap out of it."

She felt a pair of hands grab her, pulling her forward. Oh god, she thought, not yet, not now, please. She wanted to stay where it was safe. She couldn't leave yet. Please, please, please.

A cacophony of unrecognizable sounds filled the space in her head. Everything grew louder and louder and everything in her body resonated with sharp pain until it was unbearable.

She lifted her head. Her sight was gifted back to her. The sea of green was replaced with buildings that blurred as the train passed them. The door she was leaning against shook as the train moved in time to the pounding in her head. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder and flinched. But when she looked at the culprit with tan skin, light brown eyes, and black hair, she realized it was Biggs and relaxed.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, "we seemed to lose you for a second there."

"Oh, yeah," she said slowly, "it's just a headache. I get them all the time."

Biggs nodded, "well, make sure you take care of yourself," he smiled, "wouldn't want you to get hurt before the main event."

She mirrored his smile, "right."

"And, before I forget," he handed her a small leather-bound book, "is this yours? You dropped it earlier."

She snatched it, and started to hastily flip through the pages. After that, she fastened it shut and placed it in her pocket. "Yeah, it's mine. Thanks."

"I didn't look through it, if that's what you're worried about. Being nosy is Jessie's job."

Jessie looked down at the two from the top of the train car. Her brown bangs were swinging in front of her face. "Did someone say my name?"

"Speak of the devil," Biggs muttered. Before the conversation could go any further, sparks flew out from underneath the train, and it screeched to a halt. "Looks like it's show time."

He crawled on top of the train car to join Jessie. Jayla peeked her head out from behind the train car. There were two security guards beside the train, just like they had discussed before. One of them signaled something to the other while muttering under his breath. The two guard's split paths with their backs facing each other. One guard was walking towards the train car that she resided next to. She slowed her breathing and slid out from behind the train car.

Her movements were swift, as if she was a blown-out flame in the wind. Jayla slapped her hand on the guard's mouth in order to stifle his shouts. For a split second, he wiggled out of her grasp, giving him enough time to let out a loud grunt. Her hands flew to the gun on her waist. She hit the guard on the head to silence him. When he stopped moving, she threw him to the side.

When Jessie and Biggs were finished taking care of the other guard, they ran towards Barrett, waiting for orders. Jayla passed Barrett and looked at the top of the train to find Cloud. Barrett gestured for Cloud to get off with a grunt.

"Get down here, merc."

In response, Cloud flipped off of the train, and then landed crouched down with one hand on the ground and the other wielding his sword. He stood and slashed his sword in front of his body before placing it on his back. Jayle gave a small, closed lipped smile.

"What's so funny?" Cloud asked.

"Nothing," Jayla remarked.

"Enough chit-chat," Barrett ordered, "you two have a job to do. Better be done right."

Jayla curtly nodded. The three of them took a step forward and were confronted with two more guards. "Halt! Who goes there?" One of them yelled as they ran forward.

"You're up," Barrett said, walking past the guards as if they weren't even there in the first place.

"You're coming with us!" The guard commanded.

"I don't think so," Cloud retorted. Jayla pointed her gun at the guard, placed the hand on the trigger, and started to fire in rapid succession. Cloud focused on the other guard, and the pair made quick work of them. 

The two ran into the doorway on their left, up the stairs, and were stopped by two more guards. The avalanche members peeled their backs from against the walls and slipped through the gates. Jessie gave them a two handed salute and a wink before running away. It was the same song and dance that they had just dealt with. After they were cleared to jump over the gate, another wave of guards met them. And another. Until they were able to meet up with Avalanche. Jessie and Biggs were trying to unlock a black door while Wedge and Barrett kept watch.

Wedge gave the two mercenaries a thumbs up. Jayla just nodded. Cloud, however, must have heard whatever Jessie and Biggs were talking about, because he responded.

"This is a one time gig. After it's done, we're done."

Wedge frowned at that answer, he turned to Jayla, "what about you?"

"She's a part of the "we"," Cloud retorted.

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Wedge went back to looking for any potential dangers. Jayla walked towards Jessie and Biggs while Cloud went to talk with Barrett.

"So, is he like your boyfriend or something?" Jessie didn't look up from what she was working on.

"No, we're just work partners," Jayla answered.

"Makes sense," Biggs said, "don't want a relationship getting in the way of a job." 

"You got to admit that he's nice on the eyes," Jessie quipped.

"More of a pain in the ass."

"Yeah," Jayla agreed. 

"Real joy to look at..." Jessie muttered.

"No, I meant that he's a pain in the ass."

"But, looks are what people notice first..."

"Give it a rest, Jessie," Biggs reprimanded.

"Yeah, yeah," the device in Jessie's hand beeped as the door started to slowly open. "Gotcha." The six of them ran through the gate. The cold night air brushed against Jayla's legs as they ran towards the mako reactor. The others climbed through a hole of a wired fence while Jayla and Cloud dealt with more guards. After that was through, Jayla placed a hand on the fence and ducked under it. They met the others on a bridge, the clangs of boots on metal floors mixed with shouts. Jayla stopped short of the steps to the inside of the reactor and looked up.

It wasn't the first time she had seen a mako reactor, and it certainly would not be her last. But, still, she couldn't help but be left in a terrified sense of awe at the sheer looming industrialism of it. A "01" was printed on the front in large, glowing letters. Streams of mako energy escaped from the top, curling in a vain attempt to reach for the sky before disappearing.

Cloud stopped at the steps and looked over his shoulder. "You coming?"

Jayla nodded, "Sorry." The pink haired woman ran up to his side to match his stride. At the sight of the mako reactor,  her legs began to ache. She squeezed the handle of her gun tightly in a desperate attempt to divert the pain to somewhere else. The worst pain seemed to wash through her body at the worst possible times.

A cold gust of air met them as they entered the building. It smelt of steel and gas residue, but they're was a hint of an earthy smell, probably from nearby traces of mako.

"Soldiers may attack on command," Barrett remarked as the two walked pass him. The two stopped at the sudden retort, Cloud still facing forward while Jayla turned towards Barrett. "But I heard they make good guard dogs too. Bet y'all seen your fair share of reactors. So, let me ask you this, how do we get to the bridge above mako storage?"

Jayla winced, "it has been a year or two."

"You conveniently left that out," Barrett walked towards her, "unless you two are holding out on me. Scamps scared to bite the hand that feeds? Or are ya just loyal little doggies!"

Cloud groaned and grabbed his head. Jayla shot a nervous look at his condition. She stood in front of him, facing Barrett with her hands up in surrender. "I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"We can do this with you or we can do this without you, mutts!"

Cloud spoke from behind her, "different reactors, different layouts," Jayla nodded along with him, "depends when it was built ." He then turned to Jayla, "never seen one like this."

The woman began to pace back and forth, with her head down and jaw clenched, "this is mako reactor one..." she began to mutter to herself, "come on, think, think," she then whipped her head up, just in time for the door in front of them to open thanks to Biggs.

Cloud began to fight the guards as she talked to Biggs, "This is one of the first migar reactors, meaning that it's less complicated than it's Midgar counter parts and more complicated than the one's outside of Midgar..." shs squeezed her eyes shut, turning to summon the digrams from manuals she used to flip through. "I think..."

"You think?" Barrett asked as the two ran forward. "Fat lotta good thinking is gonna do!"

She huffed, "I think I'm right, though," without another word, she ran to the front of the group, with was in-between Jessie and Cloud.

They continued to make the way through the mako reactor. The earthy smell was continuing to get stronger and stronger, which Jayla took as a good sign. Eventually, the group splintered into two, with Biggs and Wedge defecting from the main group, which consisted of Cloud, Jayla, Jessie and Barrett.

A quick reprieve was offered to them when they entered an elevator. Barrett took the opportunity to rant about mako reactors. Cloud turned to Jessie, who shrugged. While the two were trying to ignore him, Jayla nodded along eagerly.

"–and what do you think will happen to the planet when all the mako's gone? Answer me!"

"The planet will die," Jayla responded softly.

"Exactly! Are you just gonna stand there and pretend that you can't hear the planet crying out in pain?" He began to point at the others, starting at Jessie and ending at Cloud. "I know you can!"

"You really hear that?" Cloud asked with a furrowed brow.

"Damn straight I do!"

The blonde huffed and crossed his arms, "get help."

Jayla swatted him on the shoulder, "Cloud!"

Barrett stepped close to Cloud, getting up in his face, "say that again." He seethed.

The door of the elevator opened behind him, a gust of hot air entered, contrasting to the cold air inside. It interrupted all prospects of an argument as all four of them towards to the door.

"I'd worry less about the planet and more about the next five seconds," Cloud retorted. At his statement, Jayla retrieved the gun at her hip. "Save the screaming for later."

The fighting was more of the same, except instead of human infantry men, the guards were placed by robots. Jayla and Jessie hand to snake through lasers, and eventually were able to shut them off for Barrett and Cloud. The whole way, Barrett and Cloud exchanged quips, Jayla scrunched up her nose as they did so, trying to figure out if it was malicious or not. Normally, she might have giggled at the interaction, but she was on high alert, and the constant talking did nothing to help.

After defeating a sweeper with magic and a few well timed gunshots and sword swings, they finally reached the room with the reactor core. The earthy smell of the mako was so potent, it left little room for Jayla's other four senses. 

"Goddamn..." Barret muttered as Jayla slid down a ladder, "I can practically taste the mako in here..." Jayla silently agreed with his statement, before he said anything, she was too focused on the smell to notice that her mouth tasted like if was full of dirt and rocks.

"So..." Barret continued to talk. Must be a nervous habit, Jayla thought as they crossed a ridge. "You twenty-something?"

"First," Cloud answered. A metal sheet that was connected to the bridge wobbled as Jayla stood on it. "Doesn't go into twenties."

"I met your age! Not your goddamn rank." Cloud stayed silent, "unless a soldier's age is his rank, guess that'd make you one year old, huh?"

Jayla narrowed her eyes. She was the first one to descend down the final ladder. Jessie stayed on the platform, announcing that she was going to leave this part to the other three. Jayla stopped as the other two continued to walk towards the core. Her hands grabbed onto the rail and she looked down at the green glow beneath her.

The mako was so close and every aspect of it was filling her senses. She fought the urge to throw herself over the railing and plunge into it's depths. If she could, Jayla would float in a fetal position, completely blanketed by the substance. She wondered how long it would take for the pumps to suck her back up.

"Get over here, merc!" Barret's yelling snapped Jayla out of her thoughts. She ran towards the reactor core, where Cloud was holding the bomb that they were going to use.

As soon as Jayla reached the pair, Cloud clutched his head in pain. Then, his eyes drifted to the ground, as if he was watching something fall. He blinked and looked at Jayla. "You see that?"

Jayla furrowed her brows, "see what?"

Cloud shook his head and turned back to the bomb, "never mind. It's nothing. I'm fine."

With a scrunched up nose, Jayla followed Cloud's line of sight to the bomb. She watched as he set the time.

"Twenty minutes... isn't going to be enough," Jayla spoke slowly.

"Yes, it will," Cloud replied, "that's plenty of time for us to get out."

Jayla shook her head and simply stated, "too many variables."

"It'll be fine," He insisted. Jayla huffed and nodded her head. Barrett looked over her shoulder at the timer, which proudly showed the twenty minute time limit.

"Pretty cocky, ain't ya?"

Cloud's finger leaned over the button. Pain surged through Jayla's legs and she fought to keep her knees from buckling under her. A second passed. And, then she heard it. A crash from beneath them. 

Jayla reacted first, running forward with her hand reaching for her the rifle on her back. Cloud stepped in front of her with a hand on his sword. Barrett yelled something Jayla couldn't hear-she was too busy trying to pinpoint the enemy-but, it obviously was hostile, as he had his arm gun pointed at Cloud.

"Above you!" Jayla warned.

"Heads up!" Cloud yelled out at the same time.

ryne ★the author

Word Count: 2,577

Not the my best work so far. I'll admit, I was struggling with pacing and how to end this chapter, because I didn't want it to be too long. I'll probably come back to edit it later. Regardless, I still hope you enjoyed it!