Chapter 104 - Log #6003

[Log #6003 – Currently Playing.]

"Put your arm around me."

"Is there a need?"

"Yes, there is! We are in the open, and they will recognise us in a moment if they are who we think they are!"

"Ugh," Cloud put his arm around May's waist, looking down at his clothes. They were just casuals, so he didn't have a problem with that, but she suggested wearing shorts, which he found outrageous.

The two of them were in a suburb, where the girls he asked her to find were. The problem with the suburbs was that there weren't many places to hide if you wanted to be close to your target, so he didn't plan to hide.

He pulled his hand away, "Go on, hide."

"Hide?"

"Yeah," Cloud walked towards the playground where the kids were playing, adjusting the dark indigo and white check shirt he was wearing. He stopped at the park, looking over to trees and insect size creatures floating, twinkling. Though, his attention turned towards the kids, the two girls, one of about 7 or 8, the other, 3 or 4.

The two had been playing until now, but they had abruptly gone quiet as they watched the man who barged into their playground. He looked at them for a moment, their eyes met, and the little one waved her hands, but he looked away and sat down on the park bench.

"What are you going to do now?"

Cloud lay on his back, looking towards the sky, his hands crossed behind the back of his head. He looked at Zack, who was just as confused as him, 'No idea.'

"Just read their mind," Sephiroth leaned over the bench, looking towards the two girls, one with bluish hair dyed, the other blonde.

"They are children! No way!" Zack refused, and Sephiroth looked over to Cloud, "It's not you who decides that."

'They are children,' Cloud closed his eyes, 'But the one chaperoning them isn't.'

Most of the time, Zack's and Sephiroth's ideas and ways of doing things were extreme, and usually, the answer lay in choosing the middle ground in their suggestion. Suppose there was a middle ground in these cases. Here, it was simple.

Though his thoughts stopped when he opened his eyes, he felt a poke on his cheek and saw the little one curiously poking, her eyes met him, and she squealed, running back to her big sister, hiding behind her.

Cloud looked at the elder child looking at him cautiously, protecting her sister, and he awkwardly looked away, scratching his cheek. He hadn't thought out most things, but one thing he hadn't even dreamt of yet was, 'I am not good at talking to kids.'

He sat awkwardly when the elder one spoke, "Who are you? Never seen you in this neighbourhood."

Cloud looked up, observing his surroundings; the woman waiting just around the corner, listening in, "Never came to this neighbourhood."

"Are you going to live here too," The little one peeked from behind her elder sister, cutely asking, and Cloud mellowed down. He pressed his lips, "Not really…I am only here to see if this neighbourhood needs extra protection."

"You are not police…so you are a superhero?"

"Hm?" Cloud was caught off guard, but before he could correct her, a woman walked over, and the little one went running.

"Mom! Look! Look! A Superhero!"

Melina patted her daughter's head, smiling, "Oh, he even looks like a Superhero."

"Hehe."

"I-I am not," Cloud raised his voice a little, correcting them as he gave a slight glare.

Melina scanned him for a moment, apologising, "Sorry. Don't mind, children."

"Right," Cloud stood up, planning to walk away, when she stopped him, "Wait…you are new here?"

Cloud stopped, shaking his head. He searched his pockets, taking out a card from the back pocket, which he gave to Melina, "Cloud Strife. I am from Avalanche Inc. It's a Private Security Company, and we are looking to expand…so I am here to judge the neighbourhood and the crime rate, among other things. You'd see a few of our people here for the next week or so."

"Oh," Melina read the card, "I have heard of it…Genesis is from that company, right?"

"Yeah. One of our top employees," Cloud nodded.

"Hm," Melina was lost in the thought when her youngest ran over, gripping the young man's pants, pulling them. She was about to pull her back when he bent his knee, reaching the little one's eye level the best he could.

"Does that mean you are going to protect the people here?"

"I will."

"Then…are you…going to protect me?"

Cloud patted the head of the girl, "If you have money."

"I have, I have!" The little girl looked into her pockets, frantically searching, and took out a penny and put it in his pal, "Here!"

Melina covered her mouth, laughing, and she walked over, taking Yelena in her arms, "There is no way that's enough, sweety."

Cloud narrowed his eyes and put his hand in front of the other one, "Do you have a cent?"

"Huh? Yeah," She confusedly took out a bunch of coins from her pocket, wanting to put them all down, but Cloud only took a cent.

He put them in his pocket, waving his hand as he walked away, "If you are in trouble…I'll help you out."

Natasha curled her lips, but she didn't say anything seeing Yelena was so happy. She went home, thinking about how stupid that was. Even her mother muttered to herself, "There are no superheroes in real life…."

At the same time, Cloud met with Qiaolian May, who was maintaining her distance.

"That was stupid."

Cloud stopped, looking around the suburbs, with few people on the road, "We are going to survey this town. Arrange a team, hire someone to survey this area for known criminals and crimes, and see if our people could be used here."

"Do you want to expand?"

"I want eyes on them," Cloud stepped past her, "Don't make it obvious."

May raised her eyebrows, looking at his back as he walked away and pulled out a Nokia 1011, 'I guess that works. When did he come up with this plan?'

She called the ones she knew, and even a few Shield agents to fill in, and a few privates, ex-detectives they brought over, arranging everything. It took a few hours, and they sat far away, watching what this fake family was doing.

"Sir, everyone is ready. They are asking if they should start searching now?"

Cloud stood on the roof, his eyes zoomed through the distance, landing on the family, their lips, and as they hastily packed, ready to leave. He raised his hand, "No. Leave them be."

"Hm?" May picked up the binoculars, seeing in the distance, watching them leave in a car, "We have to follow them."

"I know," Cloud looked up at the sky, summoning Fenrir – Mode Quadjet. It was invisible, making it impossible for May to see it until it turned 180 degrees on command, opening the hatch. Echo fed the blueprints to him, though he was still trying to get that belief thing right.

"Since when has this been here?" May widened her eyes, only to see him get on it, "We are going to keep an eye on them."

May furrowed her brows; she followed, "Shouldn't we warn the authorities?"

"Why?"

"I told you. I put them under the microscope, they are likely to be spies, and now they are on the run; they must have gotten what they were here for."

"Or they got suspicious of me?"

"I doubt that," Qiaolian May shook her head. She sat down on the co-pilot's seat, watching turned the Quadjet invisible, and followed after that family.

She worriedly looked below, and she had hoped that the Agents she warned of this family would be there, but for some reason, no one was.

About half an hour later, they saw them take a plane, causing May to screw her eyebrows, "Must be some mission. To even have stored a Private Aircraft."

But soon, she leaned forward, watching the father in the family turn the dumpster over with one hand, "Is that?"

"Super Strength," Cloud looked over at the vehicles coming for the family, and his eyes focused on the children sitting in the place and the bullets all over the place. He focused his telekinetic powers on them, creating invisible shields in front of them to stop the bullets in case one of the bullets ricocheted.

He didn't have to read the mind of the one beside him since he knew full well that she was hoping these guys from SHIELD could stop them, but her wish didn't come through. They were able to get away, and impressively, it was Natasha who flew the plain since Melina got hit.

While he couldn't help her, he made sure that she didn't bleed too much, so there was a chance to save her.

"Are we going to follow them into international waters?"

"Yes," Cloud leaned back on the chair, closing his eyes, "Rest till then."