He had never imagined it would end like this.

A red blade hovering over his neck, with bated breaths escaping his lips.

He had been so sure of himself the entire time, catching weak spots, seeing his opponent stagger and stumble. He was so sure of victory, a chance at fixing things.

But he had dropped his guard, just for a moment, after dealing a particularly hard blow. In those seconds of brief pity, his opponent took charge and recovered too fast, instantly turning the tables to gain the upper hand. And now, here he lay, sprawled out on his back against cold metal grating; Zack Fair, the puppy, defeated far before his time.

Like any man about to die, his thoughts raced, desperate to colour his mind with memories before he lost them to the lifestream. Visions of his home, his family, his friends, his job, his girlfriend – everything he treasured - rushed inside his head, competing for the attention of his consciousness.

The blade dipped closer, the tip scraping flesh with barely enough pressure to draw blood. Zack's eyes flicked towards his killer-to-be, matching the cold stare of Genesis Rhapsodos with his own. With his ragged clothes, dishevelled stance and sweat trickling down his forehead, the former SOLDIER 1st looked exhausted, but was filled with a chilling sense of dominance. Unfortunately, Zack realised, Genesis had him exactly where he wanted him – dead.

Seconds passed as the scene remained perfectly still. Genesis, although unsteady, remained standing, his sword pressed against the puppy's neck. By this point, Zack had closed his eyes, merely waiting for Genesis to end his agonising wait. It greatly saddened him that he would never see anyone again…not Aerith, not Angeal…not Kunsel, not Sephiroth…not even his family, back home in Gongaga…

But there was something holding Genesis back. His diseased mental state demanded that the boy before him be killed, for he was yet another road block on the way to his own healing. And…he hurt so very much. To be stopped from curing his horrendous ailment was abhorrent in his mind. But…somewhere inside, he lacked the strength…no, the heart, to kill him. His current bond with Angeal was tentative at best, but to do away with his student…his best pupil, his 'puppy'… even in his degraded state, he still managed to comprehend the wrongness.

But surely, if the roles were reversed, Zack would have killed him by now! In a fight to the death, leaving behind the loss of life seemed to defeat the entire purpose! He was a monster! Killing came naturally! It was his fate!

Zack felt his skin break as the blade edged in further. Any closer and Genesis would hit a major blood vessel. He could only wish that his death would not be drawn out much further...the anxiety was seriously starting to bother him.

Clang!

Zack's eyes shot open to see a crimson rapier clatter down beside him, safely away from causing injury. In the briefest of seconds, he thought he saw a flash of pained regret on Genesis' face. Then, in a rush of black feathers, Genesis had almost taken to all fours like some beast as he grasped and leapt over the railing, almost instantly disappearing from view. Instinctively Zack scrambled to his feet, throwing himself against the platform's edging to see where the rogue SOLDIER had gone. All that remained was a breezy current of air that sent a feather twisting past his head. Everything else below was shrouded darkness.

Zack was completely speechless.

He let me live.

A/N: I wonder who saw that coming. Everyone? No one? |D

To be honest, I've read previous takes on what would happen if Genesis won during the Modeoheim fight sequence, and all of them resulted in him killing Zack. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN THIS. I just don't think Genesis would have gone through with it, in the end. Others have written it in ways that show Genesis as being completely cold and thoughtless and beyond help…but I think there's some warmth, some goodness, hiding in him somewhere, buried underneath anger and degradation.

But that's just me. And this is how I think it would have played out.

I hope you enjoyed it, everyone! :D

~ Lioneh

Disclaimer: Genesis Rhapsodos, Zack Fair and Modeoheim all belong to Square Enix. All I own are Gen's socks.