"SOLDIER on deck!" the sergeant barked. Cloud dropped the block he had thrown up against his drilling partner's blow and snapped to attention, saluting in unison with his classmates.

"At ease," Zack said with his quick smile. "I need to borrow Cadet Strife."

Despite his pleasure at seeing Zack, a cold finger of fear brushed his spine as he felt his classmates look at him, hate rising in their eyes. He set his jaw and walked out of the training room after Zack. As soon as the heavy door shut behind them he jabbed his friend hard in the side.

"I thought you weren't gonna do that anymore, you ass!"

Zack rubbed his side. "I wasn't going to, honest! But it's for an actual real work reason this time!" He frowned a bit. "I kinda miss the Cloudy who wouldn't dare call a SOLDIER First Class an ass."

"Only the ones who are asses!"

There was a dry chuckle nearby and a cool voice said, "He's right enough, Zackary." Cloud spun, caught sight of a tall man with delicate, almost feminine features, bright green eyes, and impossibly long silver hair, and promptly fainted.

"Aw, shit," Zack said, catching him. "You were supposed to wait around the corner so I could warn him, Seph! Look what you did! Oh man, he's gonna be so embarrassed. You're his hero."

General Sephiroth crouched beside the prone cadet and held an ammonia capsule under his nose. Cloud stirred, going white when he saw Sephiroth peering into his face with a concerned look in his eyes. He scrambled to his feet, accidentally catching Zack in the stomach with a flailing elbow.

"Ouch," the SOLDIER muttered, rubbing the spot. "Is it beat up Zack day today?"

"G-g-g-g-general Sephiroth, s-sir!" Cloud was stammering, giving a shaky salute. "I apologize for—I mean, please excu—"

"At ease, cadet," Sephiroth interrupted, and Cloud fell silent. "You needn't be so nervous."

"Remember when I told you about maybe taking you along on a mission a couple weeks ago?" Zack broke in. Cloud nodded.

"I've been watching you since then," Sephiroth told him. "And I agree with Commander Fair's judgment. Tomorrow, we are deploying to the Nibel mountains." He handed Cloud a thick file. "Read this. The information is highly classified, so I'm sure you know what will befall you should you share it with anyone."

Cloud took the file with a shaking hand. "Nibel mountains, sir?" he asked.

"That's correct. Why?"

"I…I'm from Nibelheim," Cloud replied, then felt silly. The general would have read his file; of course he knew where he was from.

"All the more reason for you to come," Sephiroth told him. "We'll need someone who knows the terrain and has the survival skills." He nodded to them both and swept away, leaving an openmouthed Cloud staring after him.

Zack grabbed his shoulders. "Don't hate me," he pleaded. "I told him to wait somewhere else so I could explain why I was pulling you out of class, but he's an ass sometimes!"

Cloud punched him on the shoulder, but it had very little force behind it. "I just can't believe I fainted," he groaned, covering his red face with his hands.

"Hey, at least you didn't puke all over his feet!" Zack reassured him. Cloud peeked through his fingers.

"Do you know someone who did that?"

Zack turned red himself. "Maybe?"

"Oh my god," Cloud said in a low voice. "You puked on the general? Why are you still alive?"

Zack laughed. "He's really not as scary as he seems. Well, in battle he is, but otherwise he's actually kinda shy."

"Speaking of battle, what was all that 'we' business about? Is he coming with us?"

Zack sobered. "Yeah. You'll understand more when you read the file, but long story short, we're after a branch of the Wutai crime syndicate who broke off and formed an ecoterrorist group. They're rumored to be hiding in the Nibel mountains."

"Is there any chance they could attack Nibelheim?" Cloud asked, his face tight with worry.

"There's always a chance. That's why sending a small, elite force, including the general, to wipe them out before they make any moves."

"What if I fuck something up?" Cloud asked, trembling slightly. "I shouldn't be along for something like this!"

"You're not gonna fuck up, Spiky. We don't have anyone in SOLDIER from Nibelheim—you're the only local, so we're gonna need you. I won't lie to you, it'll probably be dangerous, but you'll be fine. I'm gonna tell you this now, though." Zack paused, setting his hands on Cloud's shoulders and looking him in the eyes. "You have to promise me you'll obey everything I say, without question. Hesitation means dying in a situation like this. You're going to have to trust my judgment, and trust my experience. Understand?"

Cloud nodded. "Of course."

"Even if I tell you to leave me to die," Zack insisted. "Promise me."

Cloud looked down. It felt like a hand was squeezing his heart painfully. "Promise." This is part of what being a SOLDIER is about, he thought. Obeying orders.

Zack slapped him on the back in a friendly way. "Don't look so glum, Chocobo-head. I'm a tough cookie. It'll take a lot to bring me down, so don't worry too much."

Cloud read the mission file in Zack's quarters, away from any prying eyes in his own barracks. For the most part, it elaborated on what Zack had told him: part of Wutai's mafia had broken off and formed their own ecoterrorist group. There were photographs of the known members, and Cloud spent hours studying them, memorizing any physical attributes that stood out. One face in particular he spent longer on. Jian Tsai, the suspected leader, stared hatefully out from his picture, his eyes so cold that Cloud felt a chill race down his spine. He had black hair that was graying at the temples and a hard, lined face.

While he was reading, Zack was doing push-ups on the living room floor. Cloud kept glancing at his friend from the couch, the shifting of muscles in his arms and shoulders proving extremely distracting. He had to be on his two hundredth push-up by now, and the little gasps of exertion he kept making were going straight to Cloud's groin.

Uncomfortably, Cloud shifted a little, shaking his head violently to clear the dirty thoughts. He had gotten better at curbing his attraction toward the older man, but when he was distracted his body seemed to react on its own. At least I don't get hard when we spar anymore, he thought to himself ruefully. The first time that had happened Cloud had panicked so badly he'd felt nauseous and begged off continuing the session, telling Zack he felt sick. He'd rushed to the only place he ever had any privacy, the toilet, hard and aching as he spilled himself all over his hand after only two strokes, his mind filled with memory of Zack's hard-muscled body pressing against his back, one arm wrapped loosely around his neck to show him a headlock.

Cloud felt his face grow warm at the memory. In a barracks filled with teenage boys with raging hormones, it wasn't unusual to hear the telltale squeaking of bedsprings as someone stroked himself—everyone did it, even Cloud—but that was always at night, when everyone silently agreed to ignore any sounds of shifting, squeaking, or even quiet moaning. Cloud didn't even want to think of all the times he had jerked himself off thinking of Zack's pretty eyes, his soft-looking lips, and his tall, well-formed body. It made him ashamed just to admit to himself he fantasized about his older friend, especially when he knew Zack must have a girlfriend. No one as beautiful as Zack could be single for very long.

Thankfully, Zack's phone started to ring, jolting Cloud from his thoughts and halting Zack's distracting push-ups.

Zack pulled the device from his pocket, rolling over to sprawl on the ground. "Heya. Oh, hi Aerith. What's up?"

Cloud wondered if this was the elusive girlfriend he'd been thinking about not a minute before. The thought made his heart pound with jealousy, but he shoved the feeling down.

"I'm leaving in a couple days, actually. For a few weeks. Sorry, sweetheart. I can't say where. I doubt I'll have time to come visit before we leave, but I'll come by when I get back. Yep. See ya, doll."

He hung up, and Cloud looked over the file at him. "Girlfriend?"

Zack smiled fondly. "Nah, she's just a girl I met in the slums a couple years ago. We did date for a while, but there just wasn't a spark, I guess. She's sweet as hell and I love her to death, but we work out better as friends."

Stop that, Cloud told his heart as it leapt in joy.

Zack leaned back on his hands. "It's been forever since I've dated anyone," he continued, half to himself. "It's not like you get a ton of free time when you're at my rank."

"Could've fooled me," Cloud retorted. Zack leapt up and pounced on him, tickling him furiously.

"You calling me lazy, Chocobo-head?"

"Stop!" Cloud shrieked through a fit of giggles, shoving at Zack's sweaty chest. Relentlessly, Zack tickled him until he was squirming and gasping, and then all of a sudden, pulled away sharply and sat back on his heels.

"You should go get some rest. Meet me here tomorrow at 0700 and we'll go together, okay? I'll requisition the gear you'll need."

Cloud nodded, a bit put off by Zack's quick switch to work-mode, but his friend gave him a little smile that reassured him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Spiky."