Loser of The Year

Zack waited in front of the 'Goblin's Bar' for Kunsel and Knox to show up. He was early, but still he couldn't stop thinking about that letter.

'Eyes of the land and sea?' Mako eyes perhaps? But if that were that he would probably never find this person. Once you became SOLDIER you got mako treatments, and when that happened everyone's eyes became pretty much the same, his own violet eyes being only partially blue, and only under extreme cases. How would he find this person Aerith spoke of?

"Unless they aren't SOLDIER." Zack mumbled to himself. But how could he find them then That would be even more impossible. "Wish she had a bigger hint for me."

"Zack!" Zack looked up at the call, seeing two helmet clad SOLDIER's walking up to him. Kunsel was the one that called his name, his hand waving at him. "Sorry we're late. Diva here wasn't satisfied till he used almost a bottle of shampoo." Kunsel grinned before looking to his friend. Another question, how did Knox get a letter from Aerith?

"Kunsel. Do you have any idea what is in monster goo?"

"No-"

"Then you don't understand the importance of sterilizing my hair. What if I started growing mushrooms from my head? What then? I'd be sent to the labs as some sort of experiment and never heard from again. Then who would brighten your day hm? Exactly. So drop the subject, Kunsel. You won't win." Knox crossed his arms, looking away from his friend with a pout. Zack just laughed at the two.

"Don't encourage him Zack." Kunsel sighed, before moving to enter the bar. Zack and Knox followed after.

The bar was surprisingly lit up, and rather sparse of customers this evening. There were a couple of older men at the bar talking rather loudly in their drunken states, a couple in a corner booth sharing shots, and a few singles here and there. Kunsel led the other two to a small booth in the farthest corner, it was lit up with candles on the center of the table and a few dim wall lights. Kunsel took an end seat with Knox in the middle and Zack on the other end. A nearby waitress headed over, a sly smile on her red painted lips.

"Hey Knox! Kunsel! Haven't seen you two here in a while. A special occasion perhaps?" She smiled as she looked at the two helmed men. Kunsel smiled and jabbed his thumb in Knox's direction.

"Knox has a birthday today, so we're here to celebrate." The girl giggled and flipped her almost neon pink hair over her shoulder.

"A couple of shots then? I'll be right back." She gave a wink to Knox before sauntering away.

"That's not her natural hair color is it?" Zack found himself asking. If it was, poor girl; that's all he could say.

"No, she dye's it almost as much as Knox conditions his hair." Kunsel said, laughing as Knox looked at him, clearly un-amused if his frown said anything.

"You know Kunsel, I'm starting to think you hate me."

"I could never hate you Knox! You always pay for my drinks!" Kunsel laughed as he nudged his friend. Knox just shook his head.

"Sometimes I believe that's the only reason you hang with me. I always thought it was my witty remarks and dashingly good looks."

"Like you take your helmet off long enough for someone to enjoy your looks, Knox. How do you ever date?"

"Simple. You make them wait. Give it up too soon and they lose interest, you know?" Knox laughed as Kunsel shook his head disbelievingly.

"I think you drug them." Zack laughed at the two's antics, shaking his head. Kunsel saw someone enter the bar and looked to the two accompanying him. "I'll be back, got to go see Luxiere real quick." He was gone from his seat and walking over to the other second class as he said this. Zack sighed and looked to the other second class next to him.

"We haven't officially met. I'm Zack Fair." Zack smiled and held out his hand. Knox smiled and grabbed the offered hand.

"Adrian Knox. You can call me Adrian if you want." Adrian replied, a soft smile on his lips as he shook Zack's hand.

"If you don't mind me asking, how'd you get that letter?" Zack asked, his voice holding a withheld sadness to it.

"From your ex?" A painful nod. "I was in Sector 5 disbanding some monsters with Kunsel today, a mission, and she was out wandering around. Asked me to give it to her ex-boyfriend. 'He's in SOLDIER' she said. Confused me, you know how many people are in SOLDIER? A lot. And I wasn't going to go around asking everyone if they had recently broken up with a flower girl who lives in the slums. But when she described you I remembered seeing you on the elevator this morning so I thought 'Why not?'. You obviously live on the same floor as me, so I was bound to run into you again." Zack nodded as he listened, yet not really knowing why he was so worried as to how his new friend, if that's what he was, had gotten it. Adrian seemed to know what he was thinking. "Whoa, I wasn't, like, flirting with her or anything! Girls aren't exactly my forte, if you know what I mean!" Adrian said, holding his hand up in front of him in defense. Zack felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"T-that's not what I was implying! I was just wondering is all!" Zack laughed nervously. Adrian seemed to accept that as he easily smiled and moved on to looking over at Kunsel and Luxiere, who were sitting at a table near the door, talking rather quietly about…well whatever they were talking about. Then to the neon pink haired waitress still getting their shots.

"Well, since your single now…"Zack felt his face heat up again, embarrassment welling inside him at the look he felt Adrian give him.

Is he really going to ask me that? After he knows Aerith and I broke up?

"…why don't you ask Ruby out? She has a weird fetish for hair color's, but she's a nice girl."

As Adrian's words registered in his head Zack couldn't help but feel stupid. Of course his new friend wasn't going to ask him out! He just broke up with his girlfriend for Minerva's sake! And it was obvious he liked woman, so his friend, who was a guy, wouldn't ask out his friend, also a guy!

Zack stopped to think. His friend did say he wasn't inclined to woman, so he was obviously gay. And he supposed, since he broke up with his girlfriend, he was straight, and Adrian would obviously not ask him out for that reason.

'But now that I think about it…I don't really see anything wrong with being with other guys too. Does that mean I'm Bi? Why am I thinking about this now? Adrian's waiting for my answer on going out with Ruby…not that I would. I'm clearly meant for someone else, or so the planet thinks…'

"She, uh, seems nice and all…but I think I'm going to wait for a while till I jump into another relationship." Zack answered. Adrian nodded, then looked over to where Kunsel and Luxiere were still talking.

"To be honest, I think those two have something going on, if you know what I mean." Zack looked from the weird smile on Adrian's face, to the other two helmed SOLDIER's still talking at the table by the door. They did seem a little…close, proximity wise. But Kunsel and Luxiere? Really? "Thing is every time I bring it up I get brushed off. That only makes me wonder more, ya'know?" Adrian sighed and looked around for their drinks, seeing Ruby finally making her way over with a tray full of shots. Lots of shots…

"And here you are birthday boy and friends!...Where's Kunsel?" Adrian smiled and pointed towards the door. Ruby turned.

"Oh, he dumped you for Luxiere again?"

"Again?" Zack questioned, looking between the two.

"Every time Kunsel and I come here, and Luxiere shows up, I get dumped and am left to drink alone. One of the many reasons I believe the two are seeing each other. Guy's only dump their friends when the person they're getting action from shows up. Unless they're gaming, that's a totally different story." Adrian picked up one of the shots and smelled. "Raspberry?"

"It's new, but I thought since you love raspberries so much you might like it! Careful though, they're really strong!"

"So you gave us a whole tray?" Adrian asked, looking up at her.

'Probably doing the quirky eyebrow Angeal always does to me.'

"I took into consideration that there was going to be 3 full grown, mako enhanced men partaking in the festivities. Don't get snippy with me Adrian, I know where you live."

"Yeah, in the ShinRa building, with the other SOLDIER's, on a restricted key card protected floor some 49 stories high. I feel real scared." Adrian joked with Ruby like they were old time friends, a smile gracing his features. Zack smiled as he watched the two. He could definitely see him and Adrian being friends.

"You say that now, but just you wait. You'll wake up one day with no hair, and then you'll know just how awesome I am!" Ruby walked away, a huge grin on her face. Adrian shook his head and went back to inspecting the 'new' drink Ruby had brought them.

"You know, I think Ruby might be interested in you." Zack found himself saying, looking to his new friend. Adrian nodded, a frown flitting over his lips.

"She is, and she knows why I won't go out with her, but she still tries. I don't like to disappoint people, but dating her is something I simply can't do. I can only hope she'll understand someday." Zack nodded in understanding before grabbing one of the shot glasses. They did smell remarkably of raspberries. Zack threw his head back with the liquid burning down his throat, more than normal, if he thought about it.

'Strange aftertaste too.'

"A strange flavor, but not too bad. What do you think Zack?" Zack looked over, seeing Adrian had downed one as well.

"Strange aftertaste, but I've had worse." Zack smiled as he sat the shot glass back down. He looked over to Kunsel who was getting up from the table he had temporarily sat at with Luxiere, seemingly saying goodbye. A strange noise caught his attention and he turned to look at Adrian.

"You ok man?" Zack asked worriedly as he scooted closer to the other 2nd class. He started gasping, holding onto his throat. He suddenly stood up, sending the table over onto the floor, the shots spilling on the floor, the glass breaking. Zack stood up with him, eyes wide as he tried to grab his friend who started coughing, blood splattering onto the black glove that had risen to cover his mouth. His gasping got worse before he collapsed, Zack barely catching him as he fell. The whole bar was suddenly silent as the other patrons watched in horror as one of ShinRa's SOLDIER's fell. Kunsel and Luxiere, who were saying farewell by the door, rushed over, Luxiere pulling out his PHS and calling someone.

"Zack! What happened!" Kunsel asked, panicked as he kneeled next to Zack who had carefully lain Adrian on the ground.

"I don't know! We got the shots and everything was fine! Then he started choking and coughing up blood!" Kunsel put his head down near Adrian's head, listening to his breathing before looking up to Luxiere.

"Medic's are coming." He responded, looking to Adrian.

"Do you think someone poisoned the drinks?" Zack asked, hushed. Kunsel shrugged before looking to the door. ShinRa medic's rushed in followed by a worried Angeal. He spotted Zack and walked right over to him, casting a worried glance at Adrian. The medic's were already trying to move him onto a stretcher to take him back to HQ.

"Zack! Are you ok? What happened?" Angeal took hold of Zack's upper arm, pulling him slightly to the side. Zack shook his head, a lost look on his face.

"I don't know Angeal. We were having some shots for his birthday and he started choking and-" Angeal cut him off.

"It's ok Zack. Calm down. He'll be taken back to HQ and the doctor's will look at him. You'll need to give a statement to the TURKS though. There's no doubt that this was probably an attack on ShinRa. What waitress served you?"

"But the waitress. She's friends with Adrian and Kunsel. She wouldn't do that to him Angeal." Zack said, looking to his mentor. Angeal sighed.

"We don't know what's going on. Everyone has to be checked out. You know this Zack." Angeal answered. Zack nodded, and looked to Kunsel and Luxiere.

"What do you wish for us to do Commander?" Kunsel asked, looking to Angeal.

"We should all head back to HQ and wait for the TURKS." Angeal stated before turning towards the door. The three seconds followed after, each casting secretive, hooded looks around the bar. Ruby stood by the bar, a worried look on her face. Zack felt his breath catch in his throat, before she was obscured by the door closing behind him.

In her hand, she held a strange vial. It glowed slightly in the low illumination of the bar.

Adrian had had many strange dreams before, everyone did. But he often wondered, did other people dream of despair? That feeling, clenching your very heart, making you gasp out, to plead for an end? Did they dream of endless war? Of blood stained snow? Fallen comrades all around you, knowing you were the one that made them fall?

…Did they dream of an ending world? An ash filled sky? A blood red moon, sending piercing echo's into your brain? A meteor, crashing towards all you held dear?

No. That was simple to answer. They didn't dream of those horrible things. Adrian knew this.

Did they dream of an endless pool of mako? Of the burning in your lungs if you got too close? Of the acidic touch the planet's blood had? The pain, as the needle injected that acid into your very vein's? The almost ice like feeling as you felt it circulate through your body, through your heart, through your brain?

Every SOLDIER had that dream. They all felt those acidic touches. That agonizing pain. However they also had the feeling of divine power, given by the planet's lifeblood. The surge of power, making the SOLDIER's worthy of ShinRa.

'Why did I never feel that power?'

'Why did I just feel weaker? After every injection?'

'Almost like, it was a reverse to what everyone else got…'

'They got stronger…while I got weaker…'

'Why?'

'Am I really so different?'

'Am I really…that monster…?'

Adrian opened his eyes slowly, looking around the lighted room of the lab he was so accustomed to seeing.

'Another weird dream…'

Sitting up, Adrian looked around, looking for the professor he knew so well. He was in the immediate vicinity, but he heard shuffling in an attached miniature library. Looking down he saw he was still in his 2nd class uniform, though his shoulder armor was removed. There was an I.V. in his right arm with fluids, and one in his left with blood.

'What's going on?'

"Ah. You're up. I was getting worried, you've been out for a while." Adrian looked up and smiled. The tall, slim figure of Dr. Dresin came from the side library. He wore the white lab coat of the science department, but the white-blonde of his hair stood out against even that. His ice blue eyes looked up to Adrian, a smile making them shine.

"Hey Dr. Dresin. What's going on? Did I get hurt or something?" Adrian asked, motioning to the I.V.'s in his arms.

"You don't remember?" Dresin asked, looking worriedly to the purple haired teen on the table. Adrian shook his head. "Someone slipped something in a shot you drank at the Goblin's Bar on Loveless Avenue. You were there with two friends celebrating your birthday. Remember now?" Dresin looked over the readings on a nearby machine, perhaps keeping his vitals stable or something? Adrian wasn't a doctor, that could be for heating the room for all he knew.

"I feel like I remember going somewhere with Kunsel, that might be it. I don't really remember though."

"I wouldn't worry about it. Your vitals are all good, and as soon as your I.V.'s are finished you can go. The slight amnesia is probably temporary."

"Why do I need one for blood though?" Adrian asked. That little fact had bothered him, why did he need blood?

"Oh that? You had coughed some up on your way here. I figured it would do you some good." Dresin said, shrugging his shoulders. He gave a slight smile before walking away, about to leave.

"Thanks for taking care of me Dresin! What would I do without you!" Adrian laughed as he saw his friend/doctor leave. He didn't see the devilish smirk on Dresin's face as he replied.

"Anything for you Adrian."

Genesis looked at the three 2nd's sitting sullenly in the briefing room. Angeal had said he saw medic's rushing to the Goblin's Bar and had decided to follow them. He stated how his beast of an apprentice had been on the floor, surrounded by glass and overturned alcohol, gasping for breath and choking on blood. He'd told Genesis how his apprentice had been taken down to Dr. Dresin, the only scientist that had ever taken any care in Adrian, even his mako shots. And Genesis, tried to do the right thing by going down and seeing his apprentice. After all he hadn't even had his first training session with the boy and already he was injured, and outside of combat no less. And what had they told him?

He didn't have the authority to enter that section of the labs. They turned him away, ignored him even.

And Genesis didn't know whether to be humiliated, or suspicious.

After all, why take him to the labs, instead of the infirmary, if he had potentially been poisoned? It just didn't seem right.

"Angeal. Does anything about this situation feel wrong to you?" Genesis murmured to the other 1st. Angeal was standing not far from him, also looking in at the worried 2nd's.

"It does seem strange. Who would poison a SOLDIER? And in such a public place no less? Do you think it's AVALANCHE?" Angeal asked, looking to the red haired man beside him. Genesis frowned. That did come into his mind at one point, but his gut told him that wasn't the right answer.

"After you told me, I went to the labs to check on him. I'm his mentor now, after all. I need to take care of him, right, Angeal? Even if the little beast gets on my nerves." Genesis paused momentarily, crossing his arms. "I was told I hadn't the authority to enter the part of the labs he was being kept in. They wouldn't let me see him, or tell me anything about his condition." Angeal hummed in thought, looking to Zack through the glass. Tseng had come down to get their statements on what had happened at the bar. The trio hadn't made to move out the room yet, even though Tseng had left some minuet's ago.

"Angeal, what is so special about Adrian, that he would have one of ShinRa's best scientist's exclusively as his own doctor? What are they doing?"