Faithless Memories

A Brother's Defense

Chapter 41

Zack was dead on his feet as he made his way from the transports back to his house. He and Angeal had gotten back around 08:00 that morning. They had slept in the truck, but it had been far from restful. They didn't have much time either. Sephiroth had scheduled a meeting for that afternoon to debrief them. Angeal had agreed to go with him. They were both sure that Kris would have breakfast, and there was no way either man would turn down her omelettes. It never occurred to Zack's tired mind that he had forgotten to call his sister when they started back to Midgar.

It wasn't until they were close to the house that either man noticed anything was wrong. Angeal had frozen, and it took Zack several moments to realize what his mentor was staring at. When he saw the shattered wood around the lock on his front door, he was instantly on high alert. Any tiredness he had felt was gone in a heartbeat.

Angeal was on his heels as he ran to his house. He tried to push the door open, and when it didn't budge, he didn't hesitate to kick it open. The door was further damaged, and he briefly noted that it hadn't opened because there had been a chair propped to hold it closed. The chair was shattered as well, but he didn't care. He started yelling. "Kris!"

He kept calling as he poked his head into the kitchen. It wasn't until after the third time that he called out that he finally heard a muffled response from her room. He felt relief wash over him as he went to throw her door open. It was at that point that he froze. His stillness only lasted a split second before a flurry of motion started in the doorway.

The noise of the spontaneous struggle caused Kris to finally sit up and look over. She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. Her attention was snagged when Genesis sat up as well. Her cheeks heated at the sight of his bare chest, but she didn't get long to admire it. Her attention was drawn back to the doorway when she heard Zack yelling. "Let me go! I'm going to kill him!"

Genesis was already on his feet and was sneering at her brother. Kris didn't think before she jumped up. She was barely awake, and her day already looked to be crazy. She pushed in front of Genesis and faced Zack. She barely noted that Angeal was behind her brother before she started yelling to be heard above his threats.

"Stop! Nothing is going on!" She wasn't sure if her words would get through to him, but he at least stopped yelling. Angeal hadn't let him go yet, so he was still struggling. Once he stopped making so much noise, Kris pinned him with a glare. "Zack, I appreciate that you feel the need to defend my honor, but Genesis stayed because I had a nightmare. Nothing happened, not that it's any of your business if it had."

Zack stilled at her words. Once he was no longer struggling, Angeal finally let him go. Her brother grabbed her in a hug and lowered his voice. "Are you alright?"

Kris felt herself relax in his familiar embrace. She had missed her brother, and it was good to see him after the rollercoaster the previous night had been. She nodded and let the hug go on for a moment before she pushed back. It was at that point that she realized three large men were standing in her bedroom, and she was there in her sleep shirt. She groaned and started pushing Zack backward. "Go wait in there! I'll be out in a minute."

Zack only allowed her to push him back a few steps before he stopped and glared at Genesis again. "He comes too."

Kris rolled her eyes and pushed again. "We'll be right out. Just go."

Zack looked like he was ready to murder his Commander but finally relented. Kris shut the door in his face as soon as he was far enough out of the room. Once it was closed, she turned and leaned against it with a sigh. She had her eyes shut, so she didn't see Genesis smirk at her next words. "Well, that was certainly an interesting wake-up call."