Archive of Our Own

The Turk is gone the following morning, sheets firmly in place and scoured with the trace of magic hanging in the air.

Cloud's jaw worked, he sucked on his teeth briefly and smiled as he walked over to Head Nurse Kunsel's desk. "Did the Turk—?"

"Sign himself without asking you and against medical advice? Yes, yes he did. Sic 'em," she bared all of her teeth with the return smile.

"Oh goody," Cloud purred, shifted his Medic armband up and to the right and stalked out of the Med Bay on a mission.

The rumored Turk bullpen gave Cloud line of sight to his wayward patient and he deliberately loomed over Tseng with crossed arms.

"Eh-HERM," he tapped his booted foot in the rhythm of the heartbeat he could still see thanks to the tag.

"... Medic Strife, I believe you find yourself in the wrong part of ShinRa at the wrong time. I also believe your shift started approximate—Urk!"

"You left without a goodbye and you're going to fuck up my Curaga sitting like that, Turk," he murmured as he held Tseng in a fireman's carry. "Trauma is more than physical, oh ferocious Turk,"

"Put. Me. Down," the threat which exuded from the clipped sentences slammed into Cloud's field of fucks.

Which—had the Turk bothered to look—was bereft of fucks left to give. "Sure, in a bed,"

"Sir, put down the Assistant Director," a decidedly tall Turk rumbled.

Sunglasses.

Inside.

Rude.

Cloud rolled his eyes and commented carefully, "He was stabbed seven times yesterday and my Libra tag says it isn't done yet because I put it on a delayed healing process. If I went full hog, it would scar the wrong way because none of the Turks are more than mildly enhanced by the definition of 'enhanced.' Do you want more scarring so you can't function properly, sir," the last bit was directed at his wayward patient. "or are we going to be a good Turk and lay at a slight incline for at least another 24 hours? Hmm?"

Tseng's shoulder lifted in a heavy sigh, "Sit at an incline and get some work done?"

"... I might have a tablet you can borrow," Cloud allowed easily. "And I suppose you can sit up with some support."

"... Sir?"

"Much as it galls me to say, Medic Strife is correct. So I will heal appropriately and then get back to dismantling the rest of my mission,"

"Could finish it for you," he muttered, gently adjusting his sling load and beginning to walk.

"... Not subtle enough,"

"You're shishkebabing people, how hard can it be?" He fired back as his pace set into what Nibel locals like to call the wolf lope. They could keep at it for hours at this pace, days if necessary.

"Has to be certain, uhn, people," he grunted back as Cloud gently set him down on the freshly made bed. "And we've little time,"

"Give me pictures or send another Turk," Cloud snorted.

Brown caught glowing blue, "... you're serious,"

"As a heartattack,"

"... I do have another Turk on the inside, no need," came the sigh, "I will keep your offer in mind,"

The way Tseng sank into the pillows spoke volumes about the pain he'd been hiding quite admirably.

"Stay, be a good Turk and you can have the nice packaged flan from the kitchen stash," Cloud followed with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Hmm," the appreciative hum made Cloud smile as he turned to leave.

As promised, Tseng stayed put unless he needed the bathroom, used the call button and was generally a non-fussy patient, former self removal aside.

"Glad to see you resting comfortably," he murmured as he set Tseng back into bed. "Next time I have to fetch you, I'm sending my Puppy,"

"... the Puppy? General Hewley's—"

"ShinRa's very own Commander Fair, yes,"

"... No thank you."

"He's gentle!" Cloud protested with mirth dancing in his eyes.

"No."

Cloud threw his head back and cackled.

"If Turks are going to make it a habit to drop blood all over my Ward, would you at least do it on the easy-to-clean bits?" Cloud chided very tiredly at the end of his four day shift.

The Turk shuffled into the light and gingerly sat on the crinkle paper.

The Libra snapped up, a wash of yellow taking in her condition in seconds.

"Hm, do Turks take knives without being stabbed or is that a specialty resevered for SOLDIERs?" he grumbled, knocking back the last of his coffee and reaching for the Curaga.

"I left it in so you could heal it nicely," she fired back, bright blue eyes fierce in her own reprimand before her tone turned saccharine with, "Would you rather I pulled it out?"

"Oh gods, you're all like that," Cloud rolled his eyes and layered careful Paralyze, Esuna and Stop over the wound. "I take it back, I'm glad you left the nice, pretty cleaver where it was, Miss Turk,"

"Elena, for the people who take out the pretty cleaver so I can return the favor, if you catch me," she teased.

"Roger that," he replied absently as he Cured as he slowly pulled out the blade, healing in stages and then braced it with another Esuna as he saw the length of the blade was rusted. "Don't suppose you might trade a favor for the joy of stabbing this motherfucker myself? Repeatedly mind, so I can heal the rust into his bloodstream."

Elena apparently choked on her next breath as she actually heard his words, wheezing out, "You'd have made a great Turk,"

"Nah, not my cup of coffee," he muttered as he very carefully peeled back only the necessary clothing in order to bandage the wound.

"... wait, wait did you say heal the rust into his bloodstream?!"

"Mmph, needs to feel it,"

"The Puppy has a Tonberry for a lover," she snorted back, "he must not know,"

Cloud smiled at that, "Puppy knows," he cocked his head to the side as familiar boots echoed down the hallway and the smile grew more genuine.

"Puppy likes the Tonberry," came Zack's smooth reply even as he wrapped around Cloud from behind.

Elena jolted at the silent arrival of his beloved Puppy but stayed where she was.

Good to know that Turks had learned not to move.

"Huh, no judgement, it totally works," Elena waved an absent hand at them both as she poked at the bandage.

"Stop that, you little menace," Cloud grumbled, swatting her fingers aside.

"But it's healed—!"

"Oh yeah? Stand up," he challenged with a raised brow.

She stood up, grinned and then hissed in a breath between her teeth. "What the—"

"You are not enhanced," he patiently explained, "not yet, and are therefore a squishy normal human being, Ms. Turk. That means that things like Cure, Esuna and even the Paralyze in order for me to repair your blood vessels is on a delayed kick because if I just healed it as is, you would have a mass of scar tissue the size of my Puppy's fist." He explained slowly, shaking his head. "It's one of the first things us SOLDIER Medics learn; people don't heal like SOLDIERs do."

"Oh my gods,"

"Starting to realize why some of the Turks have trouble stretching the right way and have to compensate for it?" He continued easily. "Don't worry, I can fix it but I'll have to pounce on the bastards,"

"I can bring them," she offered with a lift at the end of her tone so it read more question that statement.

"Awww spoil the fun of Tackle the Turk!" Zack pouted but didn't actually pull out the full Puppy Pout ™.

"... need to bottle that and Weaponize it," Elena muttered under her breath.

"If I could, I would," Zack teased and her eyes went wide, "Ah, still in training, Turkling? SOLDIERs can hear the barest whisper,"

Cloud watched her mouth 'Turkling' as though it were a swear word instead of an endearment.

"... maybe you can tackle a few," Elena allowed with a cheeky grin of her own, matching her energy to Zack's.

Maybe the baby Turks would be better about being healed properly.

Tackle the Turk was cancelled, sadly, as Tseng ordered all of the Turks with scarring to report the following week after Elena got better.

The red-headed Turk they came across on a monster killing mission in the Slums made Cloud inhale deeply, hold it for half a second and then blow all of it out with a put upon sigh.

"Hello, Turk," He shook his head and rolled up his sleeves before he prodded at the dusty hand and heard a groan in reply, "Sir—"

"Already on it, Cloud," Angeal grunted as he lifted the construction vehicle from where it was crushing the man's knee and Cloud did cast a fully powered Stop in this case.

The Turk hissed out a long breath and grinned wildly, "Name's Reno, pretty SOLDIER,"

"Not interested," Cloud fired back absently as he worked out a Paralyze, two delayed Esunas and a third full strength since this... Reno appeared to be a little more enhanced than the others. "Drink out Mako pools as a kiddie?"

"Used to get dared—fucker!—by the other kiddos," he allowed. "Whoever got the shiniest drop and didn't collapse won so,"

"You sought them out?" Color Cloud impressed that the younger Reno could deduce that a smaller rate at a similar volume would up the tolerance.

"'S easy when you know where to look, yo!"

"Obnoxious Turk, I am triaging," he replied quietly and felt rather than heard the middle finger. "Would you like me to shove that up your ass?"

"...How th' hells? You're worse than my Ma—"

"Naughty Turks get knocked out with Sleep," Cloud snapped out the spell at just under MAX power and rose a brow in surprise when Reno fought it for a good 15 seconds longer than anyone else would.

"Sir, I need to monitor, would you mind clearing the way?" Cloud hefted Reno up and into a piggy back hold.

"Perhaps the back way we already cleared? Since he's not in the best condition?" Angeal offered with an assessing look at Reno himself.

"Mn, that would be best," something told Cloud that if Reno was seen, it would end badly for any operation currently going; especially since the Turk had been made and punished for it.

He absolutely slapped a cast on the leg, raising a single brow when Reno went straight to cussing a blue streak.

"Do you want your partner to carry you everywhere for the next thr—no, you'd be two—" Cloud prodded the Libra and made a reassessment. "Hmm, might even have you on a month and a half,"

"Huh?"

"You're more enhanced than a general Turk, but below your Assistant Director, so I'm trying to figure out how hard I can heal without hurting you more," he replied absently, brow furrowed as he looked at the Mako level hovering at his right peripheral.

"... could be half?" Reno offered quietly as he flexed his toes slowly.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, did on the fly calculations and then grumbled, "You've done this before,"

"Yeah, well,"

"Bullies or your own?" He prodded dryly.

"... Not gonna give you that, Mr. Medic,"

"Medic Strife, if you must but," here he shrugged, "Therapist needs it more than I do anyway,"

Reno cackled as Cloud set his Curaga at half power, "Therapist is gonna need a therapist, yo!"

"Mn, probably, but that is what they're for,"

A red brow rose to touch the goggles on his forehead.

"Scary,"

"Am I? Would've thought that title belonged to the Elite Three there," he scoffed, flicking the bag to check the fluid level.

"... No, pretty sure you're scarier, yo,"

"Reno!?"

"Rude, I was found by the scary Medic!" Cloud swatted the uninjured thigh on habit and chuckled when all he got was a raspberry. "You have no idea, do you?"

"Of what?" Cloud inquired as he made his notes on his chart.

"You picked up our Assistant Director like he was a toy and not only did he listen, he made the rest of us fall in line, yo," Reno filled in bluntly. "Scary."

"I was following protocol from Head Kunsel," Cloud huffed as he walked past what seemed to be Reno's Turk partner. "That's all,"

"Scarier than you?!"

Cloud shrugged as he left, monitoring Reno's vitals.

Reno's healing was an easy month of monitoring and no chasing.

Cloud almost missed the Turk bullpen at this point but he was just glad the Turks were following protocol.

"Gil for your thoughts, pretty Wolf?" A Turk, one also red-haired, prodded from Reno's doorway.

"... Pretty Wolf?" He echoed, feeling the Title it held.

"Well, Zack's a Puppy, so you must be the Nibel Wolf looking behind him," she teased.

"Haven't seen you,"

She chuckled, "Been too busy picking up after Boss Man, wily Fox and little Lion Cub,"

"Huh, so you're the other Turk,"

"Thanks," Cloud cocked his head to the side in consideration, "they won't say it but it needs to be said,"

"Then you are...?"

"You'll see, pretty Wolf,"

Cloud looked up from the intake desk to see a slightly sheepish Reno tugging along the recalcitrant sunglasses Turk.

"So uh, no knives or crushed limbs, yo,"

"Mn, I hear a very large but in that sentence, Reno," he replied with a raised brow.

"We fought this Hell House and uh,"

"... Got burnt," came the blunt assertion from Sunglasses. "Bad?"

"Let me take a look in an exam room," he agreed easily, "you cool if Reno's in?"

"... Yeah,"

The material of the Turk suit sleeves shredded as they walked into the exam room and Cloud hissed at that.

"Arms up, huh? You a brawler?" Cloud absently inquired as he readied his Libra and Cura. "Martial artist?"

"... bit of both,"

"Mm, thought so," he examined the burn and clucked his tongue.

It was severe enough to warrant medical attention but the Turk suit material had blocked a great deal more fire than he expected.

"Thank whoever makes your suits when you get out of my Med Bay, huh? The material took a good majority of the hit."

"It did?!" Reno exclaimed and Sunglasses rolled his eyes behind the shield of them. The motion was so familiar he doubted either of them noticed it.

"Mn," he let the Cura wash slowly after a swift combination to clear the worst of the debris away. "Watch your arms, I'm gonna get you prescribed some antibiotics—unless you're allergic?" The minute flinch had Cloud nodding, "Steroids it is, ey?"

"... you're not going to insist?"

Look, personally, I want you well and if you're allergic to antibiotics, that's not going to make your already irritated system do you any favors," he responded as he dug around in his inventory for the prescription sheets. "Ah-ha, okay I'll be right back with this signed and you can go pick up up at your chosen pharmacy and I want you to take the entire thing before you come see me for a recheck."

"... Name's Rude Oerba,"

"Thank you," he filled in the name portion with an easy click of his pen and bustled over to Dr. Jakobs. "Can you sigh this for the Turk in my exam room please?"

"Steroids? Allergic then?"

"Mn, something tells me his other doc didn't listen and neither did his Medic," Cloud grumbled while Jakobs signed after she gave a proper dosage for his patient.

"A little on the tall side? Give him a little more but not too much, hmm?"

"Will do, ma'am,"

About two weeks after seeing Rude and Reno, there was a platter of cookies on the Medic station addressed to him with a tiny drawing of a pair of sunglasses on the note.

Cloud took three of the delicious looking chocolate chip cookies and left the rest for the other Medics on staff that day.

"Pretty Wolf, don't intend to be a bother," the slumped over figure of the other red-headed Turk murmured as she slowly slid down the light blue wall and left a nasty streak of red with it.

"Ahhh, but you are, pretty Fang," he replied softly, kneeling as the Libra snapped into position above her head. "Monster?"

"Monster, though not my favorite of Corneo's games,"

"Do you need me to kill him for you?" He blurted, having heard of Corneo through multiple grapevines.

She gave a brief, pained chuckle before she slumped in his arms.

Cloud sighed before he gently lifted her up and into his station.

He had work to do.

The Assistant Director hovering in the doorway was someone he could've done without but he sensed that Tseng was keeping an eye on the Turk currently in his care.

"She's fine, sleeping off a monster attack courtesy of Corneo," he filled the unasked and certainly not verbalized question.

"... I see."

"Pretty Fang is in my care, she's safe, you can go and terrorize him," Cloud huffed out as he bustled around her room, glancing at her vitals every so often.

"... I cannot,"

Translation: It is Forbidden for the Turks.

"Ah," Cloud grinned, "Wanna take me up on my offer with you?"

"What of—" Tseng paused mid-word and the smile which crossed his face would have terrified anyone else. "Yes, I think I will be doing just that,"

The wash of the Medical Privacy Field startled Tseng for only a moment. This was as private as ShinRa ever got.

"So I'm thinking kneecapping and then healing them full force. I have to ask, is he enhanced?"

"... no, no he is not," came the mirthful response.

Cloud replied with his own rictus grin, "Wonderful,"

"Corneeeeeeeoooooo..." Cloud called with a sing-song tone.

"I have guards!"

Cloud cackled.

Guards that had taken very little convincing indeed to leave the monster lairing in crimson and gold at the promise of pain.

"I have money!"

That made him laugh louder, quite frankly. Zack made a Gongagan rooster cry from the vents.

Turned out, Zack knew the pretty Fang, had been her friend for a while before he'd met Cloud and was more than happy to help Cloud on his own personal mission.

It meant that neither of them could ever come back to Wall Market but it was worth it, in Cloud's opinion.

"I... I have power!"

"Do you now?" Cloud questioned as he slid from the shadows of the man's nasty room. "How much power?"

"I control everything in Sector Six!"

"That all?"

"I have the ear of the Turk—"

"I'm not a Turk. Matter of fact, you hurt one of my beloved's favorite Turks with your games,"

"Now I ha—gghk!—"

The thin kunai which appeared courtesy of Zack was counteracted with—

"Fire the gun, give me the pleasure of peeling strips off your hide if you injure my «liebster»,"

"Who are you?!"

"Just some Medic,"

"You... you have that oath!?"

"What oath?" Cloud said with a smile as he plunged the first blade into the kneecap and twisted hard to the right.

"Do-AHHH!—no-no HARM!" The gun had slipped from his hand and there was no way for him to reach out without getting stabbed.

"Oh, but I'm not," he replied with complete certainty as he pulled the blade back out, "Curaga Level MAX,"

The scream cracked in the middle, the man soiling himself in the interim.

"I'm only healing you, sir,"

The second knee he pulled much, much slower and the way Corneo whimpered made Cloud chuckle.

"So very sorry, I meant to do this sooner," he cleaned the blade instantly with a cross cast and then coated it in ice and plunged it back in, twisting it to the left and then swiftly removed it.

"Curaga Level MAX,"

The agonized keening sound that left the man's thin lips had Cloud humming softly.

"Let me clean up the mess you've made, Corneo," Cloud vigorously cross-casted all of the blood, viscera and even the soiling away. "There there, all better,"

Corneo passed out from what Cloud knew was an immense amount of pain.

Zack whistled, long and low. "Remind me to never piss you off, Spike,"

"That's not ever for you, «Liebling»," Cloud reassured instantly. "I would say it's reserved for those who hurt those under my charge...why are you making that face, Puppy?"

"Oh, nothing ~" the wicked grin was something Zack rarely showed and Cloud narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Nothing bad, just a fun thought,"

Down to the hour of the announcement of the Director's death—and Tseng's unfortunate and subsequent promotion—Cloud was blindfolded, picked up by what certainly felt like Rude's arms and set down in front of someone who smelled severely injured.

"You do realize I need to see to tend to my patient, right?" Cloud snarked at what he was quite certain were all of his Turk patients.

"Sorry Pretty Wolf," Cissnei offered as she tugged down the blindfold with care.

Director Veld.

Missing part of his arm.

"Props to whoever gave him a solid tourniquet," he finally managed.

"That would be me," Tseng murmured.

"Well done," he replied even as he snapped out his full diagnostic range and kicked his Libra to MAX. "Sorry sir, I'm good but growing back an arm is out of my reach,"

"... you... know someone who can?"

"You all do," he snorted as he got to work, half powered everything he could throw at the arm in question. The Director was enhanced enough to handle it, much like Reno.

"Would she...?"

"You've never asked, I have and I know better than to ask that of her now,"

"Ah,"

"Can't betray your President for the Promised Land but you're killing as it lies. None of my business though," he chided as he worked steadily and wrapped the limb in a manner his Ma had taught him promoted blood flow in the proper places.

"Strife, explain yourself," Tseng grumbled, brows furrowed as he watch Cloud work.

"She's the solution but keeping her in Midgar is killing her,"

"How?"

"Because of the extremely fun facilty underground full of Professor Creepy's new 'friends,'" he snorted as he finished with a slow-acting Esuna and Curaga.

"Thank you, Medic Strife, as I am currently... mnn, temporarily deceased, I can go digging but—" here the former Director held up his remaining hand, "I will be getting a prosthetic before I go chasing danger,"

"What does he mean by that, sir?"

"There were plans... didn't think he'd manage the funding again after Sephiroth's debut," Veld offered quietly.

Cloud set another delayed set of healing for the former Director, froze mid-powered swipe and then smiled.

The smile he saved for Death.

"Zack gave me an... idea, sir,"

"... What you did to—"

"He'll be meat confetti; I thought my Libra was lying to me when I pulled it on Sephiroth," he managed coldly.

"I'm a little lost, Tseng," Veld mentioned in sotto.

"Medic Strife broke Corneo's knees for Cissnei,"

"And healed them at full power," Cloud finished with a tone that wouldn't melt butter.

"...Ah."

"Give me, oh, roughly a week?" He offered as he wiped his hands on the towel Elena handed to him to wipe off the blood.

"Granted, gives me time to find that prosthetic," Veld agreed with a sharp nod.

"Wonderful," Cloud hummed with mirth sparkling in his glowing eyes. "Show of hands, who's taking me back to my Puppy?"

The collective groan made him laugh for real.