A Matter of Association

by Amarissia

Angeal forces Zack to confront his worst fear, and is made to face his own. Rated M, Zangeal with a guest.

Oldie but goodie. Don't own, only play. Nomura is God.

A MATTER OF ASSOCIATION

"Where are we going again?"

Angeal groaned. "Your mind is like a sieve. Information spills out of it like water and all that's left is chunks of rock."

"But you loooove me!"

"Against my better judgment. Against all my judgment, in fact."

Zack had a slight bounce to his step as he walked beside his mentor out of the afternoon sunshine and into the ShinRa Building. He was cheerful as a rule, and though many people found this part of Zack to be annoying, he knew Angeal secretly enjoyed it.

The floor of the main lobby was marble, patterned with a design of intersecting lines to look both artistic and modern. Zack's attention wandered down to these lines and he tried to follow one of them, one foot carefully in front of the other and holding his arms out like a tightrope walker. Angeal noticed the 3rd Class had fallen behind, and with a roll of his eyes doubled back and grabbed Zack by the ear.

"Hey! What's that for?"

"This is what happens to puppies who don't pay attention."

"Well, in that case...excuse me, miss, can you call the nearest animal shelter?" Zack said to the young woman at the front desk. "I need to make a complaint."

She only smiled and hid a giggle behind her hand. Everyone at ShinRa was used to the antics of Commander Hewley and his student. They were like a romantic comedy that never came to an end, emphasis on the comedy part.

Zack dug his heels in as they approached the elevator, requiring Angeal to grab him around the waist and haul him inside.

"Zack, you know you need to keep confronting this fear until you have mastered it."

"As soon as I find out something you're afraid of, remind me to shove it in your face," Zack grumbled as he clung to the sides of the door and kept it from closing.

"You already do, every time we're out in the field and you do something reckless. Now, be reasonable."

"Won't!"

Angeal got hold of the 3rd Class's wrists and yanked him free, dragging him fully into the elevator and letting the doors close. Zack made a very puppy-like whimpering noise and hid his face against Angeal's shirt, and Angeal sadly put his arms around the boy and reminded himself that this was necessary, for Zack's sake.

"You can do this, Puppy. It's only ten floors down."

"Down underground," a voice said through the muffling of his uniform. "In a box held by a string. I can't breathe."

"That's because there isn't a supply of oxygen hidden in my clothes." Zack turned his head to the side, eyes squeezed shut. "That's better. Now take a deep breath."

"Where're we going again?"

"To the labs."

"Because..."

"Because if we don't tell Sephiroth he's needed up here for something important, he'll be stuck there for the next hour enduring Dr. Blake's painfully obvious flirting. Because Sephiroth and Hojo between them have frightened off most of the qualified lab assistants on the continent and it would be unfortunate if Sephiroth kills this one."

"Do you really need me for this?"

"I always need you, Puppy," Angeal said tenderly, placing a kiss on Zack's spiky black hair.

"You suck. Okay, okay."

Angeal tapped the button labeled 'B10', and with a faint lurch, the elevator began to descend. Though a fair size for an elevator, able to hold six people in relative comfort, it must have seemed locker-sized to Zack, with his intense fear of small, enclosed spaces. It didn't help that the elevator, though sleek and modern, traveled very slowly, probably because of the unstable chemicals that the labs occasionally brought in or out.

Zack rose up on the balls of his feet to press his face into Angeal's neck. The 1st Class smiled to feel the younger's lips on his skin, but quickly forced his features to become stern again.

"Zack, this is neither the time nor the place."

"Ha, that's rich coming from you, the Quickie King," Zack murmured, grasping Angeal's shoulders for better leverage. "You're the one who carries lube and moist towelettes everywhere you go."

"That's because my student is seventeen and nearing his sexual prime. I must always be prepared."

"Actually, I'm the one who needs to be prepared," Zack whispered, as close as he could get to Angeal's ear; they were about a head's length apart in height. "Unless you want to hurt me?"

"Frequently," Angeal lied, tightening his grip around the boy and trying to remember the reasons (any reason) why the lab staff should not be subjected to the sight of the respected Commander Hewley copulating with his young apprentice. He couldn't think of any at the moment, but there must be some. Something about image, pride, courtesy, privacy? Zack, of course, wasn't overly concerned about these things and thus felt no qualms about pressing up against him in that seductive way.

Angeal felt his hands descending lower and quickly (and regretfully) brought them up. "Puppy, are you intending to put on a show for your general?"

"He wouldn't mind."

"All the more reason not to," Angeal grumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

Angeal tilted the boy's face up for a kiss not long enough to satisfy either of them, drawing back as the elevator came to a halt with a cheerful 'ding!' He gathered Zack to his side with one muscled arm and squeezed him as the doors slid open. Zack's entire body seemed to deflate of tension as they stepped into the front room of the ShinRa science laboratories.

"See, you did fine."

"Only 'cause I was hoping for sex," Zack said with a pout.

"Let's rescue Sephiroth first, then we'll go upstairs and I'll give you anything you want, okay?"

"I always want the same thing." Zack giggled. "Rescue Sephiroth. Who would ever believe it?"

"No one, because this is one of those things that you don't talk to the other 3rds about."

"Like the handcuffs, and the spanking?"

"Exactly."

Angeal grabbed his hand, which always made Zack shut up and smile, and tugged him gently along into the next room. Dr. Blake, an eager and handsome man in his thirties, was standing with SOLDIER's famous general, excitedly going on and on about something or other and apparently not noticing that Sephiroth's eyes were glowing brighter with each passing second. Angeal knew that look on his old friend's face and silently congratulated him for not having Masamune drawn already.

The fingers of his left hand visibly twitched, forming the shape of a sword hilt. They had come just in time.

"Seph!" Angeal called. "Commander Alden would like to see you."

The green light in Sephiroth's eyes began to dim. "Very well. If you will excuse me, Doctor."

"Oh, right, of course. Commander Hewley, good afternoon. I'm afraid we don't allow pets in the lab, though," Blake said with a laugh, glancing at Zack.

"Very amusing, Doctor," Angeal said, with no change of expression or tone.

"Especially the first fifty times," Zack grumbled. Angeal slapped him lightly on the head. "Ow!"

"It'll be rolled-up newspaper next time. Done here, Seph?"

"Quite."

The general walked to the elevator as quickly as he could. No one had ever seen him run, either because he considered such haste beneath him or he was simply too fast. Zack and Angeal got in behind him, and Zack immediately took up his former hiding place, squeezing as tightly against his mentor as he could. Angeal held him and looked up at Sephiroth, who was watching this with interest.

"What was it today? Water-skiing, long walk on the beach?"

Sephiroth pressed the buttons for Angeal's floor and his own (the 23rd and the 29th, respectively) and turned back, wearing an expression of extreme distaste.

"Dancing," he said, pronouncing the word with difficulty. "I have to kill this one. A mind that can conceive of such things will only be detrimental to the company."

"The company. Right."

"Yes, Angeal, I know how you prize honesty. Commander Alden wants to see me, you said? He's been posted to Wutai for nearly a year now."

"All the more reason he'd like to see you, I'm sure. It's been a long time."

Sephiroth's eyes flickered back to Zack, and Angeal instinctively tightened his hold. "Still working on desensitizing him to that phobia, I see."

"It's important. He needs to deal with it."

"I agree. You know, Fair, they're said to be as safe as houses. Of course, there are so many disasters that can bring ruin to any structure, so really, how safe are houses?"

Zack whimpered and burrowed deeper into the larger body, and not for the reasons he usually did. Angeal glared at Sephiroth, one of the few who ever dared to do so in warning.

"You are not helping."

"Forgive me, old friend, you know the trouble I have with interpersonal human communications. I learn so much from observing the two of you together. Have I ever told you that?"

"Yes," Angeal said slowly.

The faint smile on Sephiroth's face was making him a bit nervous; it was the closest he ever came to elevator lurched slightly and came to an abrupt halt. The computer display that indicated floor number flashed '17' and showed two indecisive red lines. The back-up generator activated, made a faint effort to resume the elevator's ascension, and failed. Two red lights overhead switched on, and a faint alarm was heard to sound from somewhere without.

Angeal and Sephiroth, experienced 1st Classes, took all these facts in in only a few seconds, so practiced were they in observing a situation and making a plan to deal with it. Sephiroth then pressed the intercom button and tried dialing on his cell phone, getting no response from either. Angeal's full attention was given to the boy beginning to tremble in his arms, and hushing the terrified noises his puppy was making.

"We're stuck, aren't we? Oh no, no, no, this can't be happening, Angeal wake me up, please wake me up..."

"It's all right, Pup, I'm sure it's just a minor malfunction. The alarm will alert the maintenance staff and they'll fix whatever's wrong."

"H-how long?"

"I would say no more than an hour," Sephiroth answered. His eyes swept several times over every inch of their limited space, but always returned to the young 3rd Class.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

"You won't," Angeal said firmly. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Zack's breathing continued to speed up, his chest heaving against Angeal's. The elder had never seen him this panicked, not even on missions where they faced dangerous enemies, and he was becoming alarmed.

"Puppy?" he murmured, but Zack only continued to gasp and heave, not seeming to hear him.

"Angeal," Sephiroth began, "he must be made to calm down."

"Brilliant assessment, General," Angeal snapped, and his loss of reserve showed just how worried he was for his student.

"You know as well as I do the dangers of adrenaline in a body not yet adapted to mako. The two combine to create a rage that is very useful in battle. Very bad when there are no enemies to vent it on."

Fuck, Angeal thought, knowing Sephiroth was right. If this panic continued to build, the mako inside Zack would channel it into aggressive behavior and strength beyond the normal capabilities of a 3rd Class. He or Sephiroth could easily take Zack on and defend themselves, but in such a small space, with Zack needing to attack something...he would end up hurting himself.

"What do you suggest?" he asked over Zack's quiet wailing.

"What do you always do that relaxes and exausts him? Surely you know how best to drain him of this abundance of energy," Sephiroth said with a faint, suggestive smile.

Angeal stared at him. "You don't mean - "

"If you have a better idea, Commander, I would like to hear it."

"In front of you? Just like that?"

"I doubt either of you possess anything I have not seen before," Sephiroth said dryly. "Alternatively, I could slam his head into the wall, though that may not knock him out. Haven't you said he has a very hard head?"

"Seph..." Whatever Angeal had been about to say, if anything, was cut off by the noise Zack made, still mostly a whimper but with a slight growl to it.

"Out of time, Commander. Do it now or give him to me."

Zack was the one losing control, but it was Angeal's eyes that briefly flashed green. "You wouldn't."

"I take care of my men," Sephiroth said coolly. "I take my responsibility to them seriously. You know this."

Angeal scowled at him, having no better response. Sephiroth answered with a strange smile.

"Puppy." Reaching in his pocket for the tube of lubricant (thankful now that he kept it on him), Angeal whispered the nickname in Zack's ear, in the soft tone that the boy had come to associate with intimate touching. "Do you still want to play?"

Another low growl, but full of need this time. He still would not lift his face, so Angeal went for his neck instead, beginning just below the left ear and working his way downward. Angeal's lips on his skin seemed to bring Zack back to himself, and the terrified whimpers and panicked breathing began again. He clung as Angeal tried to move him, only understanding and loosening his grip as his pants were tugged down and fingers started to tease him open.

Angeal much preferred having Zack face him, but the amount of space they had to work with would have made that awkward. Far easier to press his student against the wall, holding him around the middle with one arm and continuing to stretch him in preparation. Zack writhed against the wall in a way reminiscent of a cat stretching, and this would have amused Angeal in a less urgent situation.

Zack rested his forehad against the cool metal, moving his hands restlessly over the wall in a search for something to grip. "Angeal..."

"Soon, soon, almost there..."

Zack was no virgin, certainly, but Angeal was careful, maybe overly careful, in preparing him, never wanting to cause him pain. It was difficult not to let desire overpower him and simply enter the boy immediately, always, especially when Zack pushed back and begged him with needy moans, as he was doing now.

"Do it, just do it, I'm fine..." At last, Angeal penetrated him, slowly, and Zack's head fell against the elevator wall with a bang that made his mentor flinch. "Oh yeah... please...move..."

Rather than let him adjust as he usually did, Angeal willingly enough began to thrust, gently. He hoped this would be enough, that Zack wouldn't ask him to do it hard as he sometimes did. Angeal understood that his student was young and heedless and didn't care if some pain was mixed in with the pleasure, wanted it even, but it was not like training. Angeal knew Zack would be hurt in his duties as a SOLDIER and would learn and grow stronger each time that happened.

Not so in the bedroom. Angeal couldn't see anything redeeming in hurting Zack sexually, not when he could satisfy him so well with pleasure alone. He knew it was foolish, but Angeal couldn't forget a single instant of their first time together, especially the moment he'd entered after a hasty preparation and Zack's face had gone white and his eyes widened. It passed quickly and all was fine afterward (spectacular, actually), but Angeal had known then that Zack had lied, that he had not done this before.

"Faster...please..."

"Ssh, Pup, don't I always take care of you?"

The moans that followed seemed to indicate an affirmative answer. Much as he was enjoying this himself, Angeal could feel Sephiroth's eyes on them, and turned his head to glare at him.

"Why not give him what he wants, Angeal? You're supposed to be exhausting him. You'll have to be more forceful than that."

"Some of us prize skill and stamina over brute force," the commander said through clenched teeth.

"But there is something to be said for brute force. I think Fair would agree with me." Sephiroth lowered his head, silver hair framing that near smirk. "Besides, you won't draw it out as long as you can, not with him on the edge. Soft-hearted Angeal."

Defiantly, Angeal put Sephiroth's taunting voice out of his mind and focused completely on Zack, on maintaining the rhythm that kept him oblivious to all other things. When his hand automatically began to descend from Zack's stomach, Angeal held it still again, knowing he could hold back himself for a while longer. Zack knew right away what he was doing and the whimpering began, the noise that went as well with his nickname as his playfulness and energy did.

"Angeeeal..."

"Trust me, Puppy, trust me." Zack made a confused but vaguely affirmative sound and Angeal smiled, sensing Sephiroth roll his eyes.

Zack bit his lower lip and tried to ease back from the climax he wanted to race to. He was young (and a bit spoiled in this area) and knew he couldn't do this for long. For Angeal, he'd make the attempt, but why was Angeal prolonging it? Drawing out sex was a bedroom thing, not usual at all for quickies, and though Zack wasn't sure where they were, it was definitely not a bed.

"Angeal," he said at last, trying not to whine, trying to be quiet because he had the weird sense that someone was watching, and that was not usual either. Angeal was a private guy, rarely going further than kissing in public.

Zack smiled through his moaning. Angeal kissed him in public, held him, loved him enough to not care who saw it and what they thought, when other people were lucky to get a friendly word or a genuine smile out of stoic Commander Hewley. Gaia, he loved Angeal. He wanted to obey, but the rush was building, and he couldn't dam it this time.

"Angeal...I...can't..."

"It's okay," he whispered, plunging his hand at last into Zack's pants. His hand knew this part of Zack like it knew its own fingers, and it was firm and quick and over, and so good.

Usually Angeal clapped a hand over the boy's mouth at this point, because quickies were done in secluded or deserted places, not necessarily private. But this time nothing hindered Zack's cry, and even Angeal's was much less restrained than on previous occasions. They must be somewhere fairly private. Curiosity began to overcome the feeling of blind, tired contentment Zack was feeling, and as Angeal squeezed and kissed him, he began to remember.

"Oh no," the 3rd Class whispered. "Here. Oh no..."

"Ssh," Angeal hushed him, getting out his moist towelettes, clean freak that he was. "It's all right."

Damn, Angeal thought as Zack began to panic again, albeit with less strength than before. They couldn't be stuck here much longer, especially not if it was known that Sephiroth was with them. Hojo himself would melt the whole building with corrosive chemicals to get his prized subject back, if that's what it took. But Zack didn't appear able to wait, and Angeal didn't think he could go again yet, or with sufficient force to do what needed to be done.

"Puppy," he said softly, but Zack only shook his head, his shoulders trembling.

Movement from his left side, and Angeal found himself against the right wall, looking back to watch dumbly as Sephiroth took the place he had just been ejected from. Sephiroth undid his pants with one deft hand and put out the other toward Angeal, fingers curling expectantly.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What you can't. Lubricant, please."

"General or no, friend or no, try it and I will stop you," Angeal said lowly.

"Think logically for a moment, Commander. You can't finish this yourself. The two remaining options are to let him descend into rage and restrain him, which will no doubt cause him injury, perhaps even damage his mind, or to watch me help him in a manner that is much more pleasant for all involved." Sephiroth observed Angeal's anguish, and made his voice sympathetic. "I am not trying to take him from you."

"Like hell, I've seen how you look at him!"

"Perhaps this is all I want and I will withdraw afterwards."

"I can't give you permission to do this."

"It's a good thing, then, that I don't require it. Now, unless you would prefer I enter him dry..."

Angeal looked at Zack, gasping panicked breaths into the wall, squirming with slowly increasing strength and violence, though Sephiroth's arm around his waist might as well have been a bar of adamantine. Zack's pale eyes were closed, but they were no doubt filling with mako green, with a fury that good-natured Zack shouldn't have to suffer. He didn't seem to be very aware of what was happening...he was struggling against the emotion threatening to overwhelm him, not the body holding him. Would he understand, afterward? Angeal knew that he would, that he was only feeling his own jealousy and possessiveness, feelings he had never known before Zack.

Hardly realizing what he was doing, Angeal put the lubricant into the waiting hand. Sephiroth wasted no time, applying a coat of it (Angeal wondered how long he'd been erect) and plunging inside, grabbing Zack's arms and holding them to his body. The boy let out a strangled sort of cry, with shock and pain and pleasure and relief all jumbled together in it. It was hard to tell if he was submitting or still trying to fight; the general was not allowing him enough movement for a genuine struggle.

Sephiroth didn't give him enough time to adjust either, merely began thrusting forcefully , not trying to inflict pain but going much harder and faster than Zack was used to. He gave the boy no chance to distinguish the pleasure of one thrust from another, no chance to come down a little between them.

Zack was panting as though breathing alone took all the strength he had, and his head lolled forward against the wall. He was dizzy and overwhelmed, but that was what the general wanted. Sephiroth's expression was more reserved than one would expect of a person in his present position, but he was obviously enjoying this greatly. That Gaia-damned near-smirk of his returned when Zack's knees buckled, but he made no other sign he'd noticed, and continued to hold him upright and pound away at him.

Angeal watched with numbness and a growing, horrified amazement as it went on and on, with Sephiroth showing no sign of exertion and not slowing down even a bit. Zack's whimpers became softer and softer and at length he made no noise at all but labored breathing. His head lay against the wall, and he looked almost like an inanimate object, a mannequin or large doll that Sephiroth was jostling and could make no movement of its own. Half an hour passed this way at least, and Angeal was unsure how much longer he could keep from screaming or attacking his dearest friend, when without warning Sephiroth shoved his hand between Zack's legs and jerked him almost brutally.

Zack gave out a satisfied, exhausted groan, which turned into one last moan of discomfort as the general thrust into him a few more times, even harder than before. The only gentleness he showed was in pulling out carefully, holding Zack's body under his arms as it dangled over the floor. He was unconscious, dead weight, but Sephiroth held him out toward Angeal as easily as he would pass a toddler to its mother. Angeal snatched his student back with a hateful glare and brought the boy to rest against his chest, unconsciously feeling the bones and muscles beneath his skin for other injuries.

Sephiroth, already composed as if he'd been doing nothing but standing, laughed quietly. "He's fine. Is that any way to look at me? I may have saved your pet's life."

"Yes, how selfless of you. And I suppose you got nothing out of it yourself?"

"I certainly did, but then, he enjoyed it too, you can't deny that. A Cure1 should be sufficient to fix him." Sephiroth's eyes swept down Zack's body, then back up. "The bleeding will stop soon."

"You did help him," Angeal said in a soft, deadly voice. "I won't forget that. But remember this. Touch him again, look at him again the way you have been these past few weeks, and ShinRa will require a new poster-boy."

Sephiroth smiled. "Fear is, you know, only a matter of association. Now Fair will be able to associate enclosed spaces with a pleasant memory. Whatever association you have that prevents you from taking him as hard and fast as he likes, I suggest you get over it. I would not take something he loves from my old friend, but there are others who have no such qualms."

"You don't know the first thing about love," Angeal said coldly.

"And yet here I am, giving you advice."

With the soft sound of a machine returning to life, the elevator began to resume its ascent. The red emergency lights blinked off. Angeal quickly tugged up and refastened Zack's pants, reminding himself where in his apartment he kept the Restore materia and the Potions. He hadn't begun to figure out what he would say when Zack woke up. When the elevator stopped on Floor 23 and the doors swished open with a 'ding', he lifted Zack into his arms and swept out, turning back to glare darkly.

"Don't call for me or assign me anywhere with you for at least a week, unless you want Bahamut summoned in your office."

"You reveal your own weaknesses better than any Sense materia, Angeal. How fortunate that I am not your enemy."

Angeal turned away and headed down the hallway without a backward glance. Sephiroth's eyes were shining with amusement as the door closed over them. He would have to remember to tip that intimidated maintenance worker for a job well done.

THE END