Disclaimer: SquareEnix Everything except Colonel Wyndham, I just brought everyone else out to play.
Thanks a bunch to Alexis4 for betaing the story!
000
"You're late," Hojo said icily as the silver haired general Sephiroth entered the lab.
"I had some mission reports to finish," Sephiroth answered simply as he began unbuckling the straps on his coat.
"You know very well that these tests are imperative to discovering new mako solutions for enhancement and healing." The chief scientist said, or at least that's what he told President ShinRa and the other scientists so they would not ask too many questions.
"I'm well aware of that," Sephiroth answered coldly. "Just get on with it, I 've got other things I need to get done today."
"We'll see," Hojo, said somewhat slyly. " Depends on how you are feeling when I am through."
Sephiroth took a deep breath as he lay down on the exam table. He willed himself to keep his breathing calm as the restraints came over his body. Effectively pinning down his arms and legs and across his chest. These were regrettable but necessary, in case mako side effects sent him into convulsions or seizures, or sometimes if the experiments went on long enough and the idea of being submissive got to him he would start having a panic attack. In the anxiety state if he were not restrained he could easily kill everyone in the room.
A sneer spread across Hojo's face as he gazed at the syringe in his hand. He stood there to relish the power trip he was having at being the only one in control of the man that everyone else feared. ShinRa's general of generals belonged to him.
However, before the chief Scientist could make the first injection, the door to the lab opened and none other than SOLDIER 1st Class Zackary Fair came in.
"Hold it," The young Lieutenant spoke up. "There's been a change in plan. Executive Director Lazard wants to see General Sephiroth right away, so you're going to have to postpone the experiment for a later date."
" I was told General Sephiroth was free for the entire day," Hojo said darkly.
Zack took a defiant stance that said he wasn't going anywhere without Sephiroth. "Yeah, well a plans changed."
" Doctor would kindly undo these restrains, the Exacutive Manager is not to be kept waiting," Sephiroth said simply, his voice calm those he was very eager to get out of the lab.
"Not until I have confirmation from the Executive Director, that—"
Hojo was interrupted by a loud click as Zack took it upon himself to flip the switch that unlocked the restraints around Sephiroth. "Like the general said, we can't keep Lazard waiting."
"This is inconceivable!" The Chief scientist grew more and more agitated as Sephiroth nonchalantly slid off the table and began putting on his coat.
"It is conceivable, military matters take precedent over yours. If my dealings with Lazard permit I will be back later today." Sephiroth said as he followed Zack out the door.
Hojo stood there just fuming for a few moments. No doubt all of this was complete bull, it wouldn't be the first time Lieutenant Fair had helped Sephiroth play hooky from a lab test.
The Chief scientist finally released his pent up rage by throwing the syringe at the control panel. It made a pleasing crash with glass and liquid fly everywhere. He pretended, with some satisfaction that the synringe was Zack, breaking apart and no longer standing between him and Sephiroth. Sephiroth belonged to him and no one else.
Since the little affair began between Project S and the young Lieutenant Hojo had been thinking up ways of ridding himself of the little pest known as Zackary Fair
He first considered having one of his scientists "accidentally" overdose Zack on one of his mako boosters, which every SOLDIER was required to have every few months. However, that would be too obvious. He knew Sephiroth would see right through it and mostly likely be angry enough to kill Hojo for his trouble. So the Chief scientist had to come up with a more subtle way to do it.
Hojo had tried voicing his concerns to Shin-Ra himself, however as far as the president was concerned, as long as Sephiroth and Zack continued to do their jobs well, there was no sense in rocking the proverbial company boat by exposing it's poster boy's illicit affair.
The Chief Scientist realized that the only way to separate Zack and Sephiroth was for Sephiroth himself to drive Zack away. But how…
Little did Hojo know His opportunity came two weeks later…
000
Two weeks later…
Sephiroth sighed heavily as the afternoon found him in director Lazard's office, for a mission briefing. Next to him was 1st Class SOLDIER Colonel Wyndham, A tall, broad shouldered man, about the same age as Sephiroth. His dark brown hair was cropped roman style, and he possessed a firm, but fair disposition.
Neither of the men looked too happy about the mission. They were being sent to take care of a threat in the Northern region. Someone had summoned some sort of beast and it was terrorizing the towns around there. So far none of the authorities and SOLDIERS that had been sent there were successful in quelling it.
"Director I still don't understand why I am required as well. I know Colonel Wyndham and his team are more than capable of dispatching this creature." Sephiroth said coolly.
"I gotta agree with the general, Director," Wyndham smirked. "It ain't like me n' my boys ain't never taken out a summon before."
"If it were just a summon I would agree, but…" Lazard said gravely, pacing around his desk. "But we have some reason to believe that Genesis might behind this, and the summon is just a decoy."
Both of the officers fell silent at the mention of the former 1st class SOLDIER now deserter.
"Even if it is not Genesis," Lazard stopped and stared at the two SOLDIERs. "We can't risk Genesis getting his hands on more of our SOLDIERs, much less Colonel Wyndham and his elites."
"If we weren't talkin' 'bout Genesis, I might be offended that y'all think we'd get our ass kicked so fast," Wyndham chuckled softly, but then turned serious. "but that guy's a tough nut to crack it'd be good to have someone who understands his mind along." He looked over at Sephiroth.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that though," Wyndham's smirk returned. "If it's just a summon, between you n' me and muh boys we'll take it out and be back before th' winter solstice."
"Well it's settled then," Lazard nodded. "I'll leave the strategy to you both. Dismissed."
The two officers nodded and exited the room.
"Your office or mine?" Wyndham asked in reference to the strategizing. "Or are we going to just come up with our own and compare notes later."
"It's your call. Your men, your mission, I'm just the extra muscle in case Genesis shows up." Sephiroth answered calmly.
"Thanks for the vote a confidence general," Wyndham chuckled. "Or you just sayin' that cause Shin-Ra's got you bogged down in paperwork."
"Guilty." Sephiroth admitted.
"Don't worry I got'cha covered, general," the colonel gave Sephiroth a friendly slap on the back, as he was one of the few who could get away with it. "So what y'all doin' for the Solistice? You gonna spend it all cooped up alone in your office again?"
"Probably…" Sephiroth shrugged. He normally spent the big holiday alone since he neither had a family nor real friends to share it with since Angeal's death and Genesis' desertion. Also, he assumed Zack would go back to Gongaga to spend the holiday with his parents.
"That's a shame." Wyndham shook his head; then suddenly he perked up and snapped his fingers. "I got an' idea. Why don't'cha come down and pay a visit to mah house, we always got room for one more at solstice eve dinner. I know mah kids would go crazy at seein' their big hero."
Sephiroth thought about it and found himself torn, part of him wanted to see what a real family was like, and what made this particular holiday so special compared to any other day. And, yet the general always dreaded social situations outside of formal socializing with other SOLDIERs. "That's a kind offer, but you know I tend too take things to seriously, I don't want to ruin joyous time with your family."
"General," The colonel leveled him with a mock teacher-to-student look. "I think 'joyous time with a family' is just what you need."
Sephiroth let out a soft snort of amusement. "I'll see if I can make it."
"We'll set a place for ya'" Wyndham slapped him on the back again, before heading off toward his office.
Sephiroth watched the colonel go still mulling over the idea of being part of a family for an evening. Then another more pressing thought occurred to him, how he was going to have to break it to Zack about the upcoming mission, of which the raven haired lieutenant would not be a part of. Zack was not going to be happy…
000
Sephiroth for once was relieved when a sharp knock came at his office door, breaking the monotony of his paperwork. He expected it to be Colonel Wyndham coming in with his new battle plan, instead the door opened to reveal Zack standing there, leaning rather suggestively against the doorframe.
"Well, well, Zackary Fair," Sephiroth smirked. "What brings you here?"
"Just passing by," Zack grinned then put on his best puppy dog eyes, which was not hard to do with those beautiful blues he had. "I just wanted to rub my nose against your door."
"Don't rub too hard, I have bad news." Sephiroth sighed.
The smile faded from Zack's face as he entered to office. "Why? What's wrong?"
"I've been assigned on a mission to take care of that beast in the northern region," Sephiroth sat back resignedly in his chair.
"Well that's not bad news," Zack beamed at him. "We'll go up there, take out that beast and be back before the solstice."
"There is no 'we' Zack," Sephiroth looked away, not wanting to see Zack look crestfallen. "I am accompanying Colonel Wyndham and his team and you have not been assigned to the mission. It is suspected that Genesis is involved and if so Lazard doesn't want to put all of his elite eggs in one basket, so you are to remain here."
Sure enough Zack's face fell like a rock. "Man…That sucks." Zack let out a frustrated sigh. "At least it's Wyndham and not some other asshole."
When Sephiroth finally turned his gaze back on Zack, the younger man was looking dejectedly down at the floor. The general shook his head and got up from his chair. He walked around his desk, placed comforting hands on Zack's shoulders and gently pressed his forehead to Zack's.
"Don't worry, I think Lazard is being overly paranoid, this is not like Genesis, so if it is just a summon, between me and Wyndham," He titled Zack's face up to his own and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll be back before the Solstice."
Much to the general's relief, the characteristic smile returned to the raven haired lieutenant's face. "You'd better be," he playfully punched Sephiroth's arm. "Or I'll come up there and drag you back."
"Good," Sephiroth chuckled softly as he planted a small kiss on Zack's lips, before returning to his desk to finish his paperwork.
"So… What yummies are these?" Zack casually sat down on the edge of the desk and pulled a bowl of sugary looking egg shaped sweets with a little dollop of chocolate on the top. If Zack didn't know any better he would have said they sort of looked like…
"Nipples of Venus." Sephiroth answered casually, not looking up from his paperwork at first, but after a moment ventured a glance up with a smirk at Zack's surprised expression. "They're roman chestnuts in brandied sugar."
"Yeah?" Zack raised a curious eyebrow at Sephiroth, hoping the general would break from his work to further explain the origin of the particular delicacy; however when Sephiroth turned his attention back to his work, Zack helped himself. "Damn these are good. You sure can pick them Seph."
Zack gulped down the first one with pleasure and immediately went for another. However when he went for a third one Sephiroth pulled the bowl away and gave Zack a warning glare. It was a well known, but never openly acknowledged, fact that the general had a sweet tooth that could rival that of any child. It was believed by some that it came from an internal need to hold on to something childish, particularly since the general had no childhood at all.
"These are not meant to be scarfed down like some cheap candy bar," Sephiroth grumbled, snatching the bowl away from Zack. "These are one of my favorite delicacies and they are only available this time of year so I'd rather not have them wasted on your rather unappreciative appetite."
"Oh come on Seph," Zack leaned on the desk and put on his best pouty face and puppy eyes. "Just one more?"
The general rolled his eyes and handed over another of his precious chestnuts to his raven haired Lieutenant. "I'm probably going to regret this."
As usual, the general was right, but not in the way he thought. This time Zack did indeed savour the chestnut, unfortunately a little too much. With full intention, at every small bite he took Zack let out a moan of pleasure, murmuring how delicious the chestnut was.
Sephiroth's eyebrow twitched, he knew exactly what Zack was doing. The lieutenant was attempting to sway the general away from his paperwork and into more exciting activities. And the sad thing was, the plan was working. It was an intoxicating sight seeing his favorite sweet being eaten rather sensually by his favorite sweetie.
"Get out." Sephiroth said firmly. "I have to get this finished before I leave."
"Exactly," Zack said slyly. "If you don't finish then you won't leave."
"That's it, I give up," Sephiroth got up from his desk and walked over to Zack, who seemed to smile in triumph.
The general took the younger lieutenant's arm and looked as if he would pull him into a kiss, however instead, Sephiroth dragged him over toward the door and shoved him out.
"Hey!" Zack snapped indignantly from his current position on the floor. "You're a jerk!"
"Always expect the unexpected Zack," Sephiroth called playfully as he slammed the office door shut, leaving a very miffed Zack outside…
000
Later that night as pm transitioned to am, Sephiroth woke with a start to the sharp tone of his cell phone ringing in his ears. He grumbled as he reached over for it, hoping it would be a short call.
"This better be important," the general answered his phone groggily. Though he could handle sleep deprivation well when the need called for it, that didn't mean he liked his sleep being disturbed in the middle of the night for no reason.
"Seph?" Zack's voice came over the phone.
Sephiroth's bad mood instantly changed at the softness of the lieutenant's voice. It sounded shaky and broken, as if Zack were about to cry. "Zack? Zack I can barely hear you,"
"Can I just see you, please," Zack whispered, sounding desperate.
"Alright, where are you?"
"Outside your front door."
Sephiroth sighed as he got out of bed and threw on a robe, he always wore some sort of pajama pants to bed just in case of an emergency like this when he had to hop out of bed at a moment's notice. All the time he wondered what could be flustering Zack so much, that the young man couldn't postpone it till the morning.
He opened the front door to his apartment to find Zack standing there, shiver despite wearing his regulation military pants and a zip-up fleece sweater pulled over a large T-shirt that was longer than the pullover. It was obvious the items had been put on in a hurry.
"You're okay," Zack rasped, immense relief washed over his face.
"Of course," Sephiroth murmured, with some annoyance that his sleep had been disturbed for this. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Suddenly Zack shook his head and scoffed, looking annoyed at himself. "I'm sorry Seph, I don't know what's with me. I just wanted to be sure you were okay. It was just a stupid dream. I'll let you get back to sleep."
The raven haired lieutenant turned to leave, but the general caught his arm. "Come in Zack."
Zack smiled a little at the invitation and nodded before entering the room and taking a seat on the couch. Sephiroth took a seat beside him. "Now tell me about this dream."
"Well, we were up in the northern region fighting this monster, and then you fell through the ice, and there was nothing I could do, I was frozen, I couldn't help you…" Zack said quietly, getting more and more agitated as he told it. "I tried everything, but I couldn't move…"
"I see…" Sephiroth murmured, gently rubbing Zack's back.
Zack shook his head and laughed hollowly. "It's just stupid, I don't know why I got so freaked out about a dream. It's just that…"
"Just that what…?" Sephiroth prompted gently.
"Just that thought what it would be like if something bad happened to you like that, and I never knew what it was like to…" Zack, swallowed hard, not sure of how to phrase his words.
"To?"
"Be with you…" Zack finished, his voice barely above a whisper.
A whisper of a smile appeared on Sephiroth's lips and he tenderly kissed Zack first on the forehead, then on the cheeks and then chastely on the lips. "You're with me right now aren't you?"
Zack only answered by kissing Sephiroth back, deeply this time, tracing every corner of the general's mouth with his tongue. Zack slipped his hands into Sephiroth's robe, letting them run over the smooth muscles of his chest.
Suddenly, Zack broke the kiss panting, looking like he was either bout to cry or punch something, whatever it was there was something building up behind Zack's eyes and it had to be let out.
"I want… I want you…" Zack whispered. "All the way…"
Sephiroth's face went blank. Zack looked down almost embarrassed. "I know we said we would take it slow, just to kind of feel things out, but dammit Seph I don't want something to happen and go through life thinking of the chance I didn't take. I want… I want to be closer to you than just skin…"
Sephiroth looked away staring distantly at the floor. He had been caught completely off guard by Zack's confession. Zack desired Sephiroth as much as Sephiroth desired him. However, Sephiroth was still hesitant, he was afraid of changing the relationship, that some how making it deeper, might scare Zack off. After being with the cheery lieutenant for so long, life without him seemed so empty.
However, to Zack, the longer Sephiroth remained silent, the more embarrassed he felt. "I think I get it." Zack said dejectedly. "I'm not the perfection you're looking for. I guess if Genesis wasn't good enough for you, then I wouldn't be."
Sephiroth looked back at him, looking almost hurt that Zack would even think that about him. "Don't say that. I want you too. But not like this. Not rushed because you are afraid of something. I don't want our first time, to be just some hurried job for mere satisfaction. That's how all of my other affairs have been, and your first time was that way too."
Zack swallowed hard and nodded. Suddenly the general smiled and titled Zack's face up to his own. "But I promise when I return from this mission, I will take you if you still want me to."
Zack's expression brightened up, and he even managed a tearful smirk. "Now I'm really going to miss you…"
000
Zack let out a bored sigh as he waited with his friend Kunsel and some of the other First Class SOLIDERs for Director Lazard to return to his office. They had been called there about ten minutes ago, but not told why which made the waiting even worse.
Finally the director entered the room, look as solemn as Zack had ever seen him. Behind him followed one of his assistants, carrying a long object wrapped in cloth. Lazard slowly walked around behind the desk and faced the officers as his assistant carefully set the object down on the desk.
"Gentlemen, I have some bad news," Lazard said gravely, and unwrapped the cloth revealing the object inside.
Zack felt his heart stop and his lungs seize up. He couldn't breathe. There on the desk lay the Masamune, the general's sword that was as famous as the Great General Sephiroth himself. The only way Sephiroth and Masamune could parted like this was if…
"General Sephiroth is missing in action," Lazard finally answered. "The brief message from Colonel Wyndham stated that during the fight with the summon, the ice under their feet cracked and the general was pulled under by the beast as it fell through. Wyndham and his team were unable to recover Sephiroth due to the danger of the damaged ice, and that a white-out level blizzard has come in. However, Colonel Wyndham, promises he will not return until he has recovered our general. Dead or alive he will be brought home."
A thick silence hung over the room as everyone stood speechless with shock, Sephiroth dead? It was impossible.
Lazard sighed wearily and stepped out in front of his desk. "In the meantime gentlemen I do wish for you to keep this event quiet until the general's condition has been confirmed, is that understood? I don't want to start a panic."
Slowly, everyone in the room nodded, still too catatonic to manage a formal salute.
"You are all dismissed," the director said with a nod back.
As the other's left Zack remained frozen to his spot, staring blankly at Masamune sitting lonely on the desk…
000
It seems Sephiroth and Zack have finally been parted, however see all know that Sephiroth is not an easy guy to keep down…
