Title: Prisoners of War
Author: XpaperplaneX
Beta: urplesquirrel on LJ, aka Doom Squirrel on FF dot net
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: SephirothxCloud
Genre: hurt/comfort, romance, slash
Warnings: smut, mentions of rape/aftermath
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work.
Summary: Cloud and Sephiroth are taken prisoner by AVALANCHE. No one, least of all themselves, could have expected what it would set in motion.
Good news for all of you who have been anxiously waiting to see where this story's going. It's going somewhere! That's right, I have a plan. Written down and everything. Mostly. What? I'm not that good a planner.
Edited and updated as of 29 August 2010.
XXX
It turned out that the 'perfect place' was a dingy little hole in the wall Wutaian restaurant in the slums. After reluctantly parking his car, Sephiroth found himself wondering if he might be better off with the hospital food. At least the cafeteria there was bound to have seen a health inspector once or twice in the last fifty years. He was shocked the place even had a phone for taking orders. He tried not to touch anything or look too disgusted as he waded through the mass of tiny tables towards the counter where Zack was counting boxes.
"You're buying, right Seph?"
Sephiroth briefly wondered where Zack got off assuming that he would pay for all that food, but gave it up as a lost cause. "How much is it?" he asked the fat man standing behind the counter.
"Special deal for SOLDIERs," the man barked. "Only two hundred gil and you get a pharmacy coupon!"
"Thrilling," Sephiroth said in a flat monotone. He pulled out some cash and handed it over. The coupon he received in return was good for any one item at the pharmacy. Maybe he could get some digestives; he'd probably need them after eating. A load of food packages was dumped into his arms and he found himself being bustled back outside.
"Let's go, let's go!" Zack was bouncing as he waited for Sephiroth to unlock the doors to the car. "Spike's gonna starve if we don't hurry!"
"I highly doubt that," Sephiroth said dryly. Still, he decided that if ignoring a few traffic laws in order to get there faster would make Zack, and by extension, Cloud, happy, he would do it. But that feeling of hopeless fear had returned; it was even worse now that he was on his way to face the source of it.
XXX
The two men pulled into the hospital parking lot shortly after six. They walked through the lobby and Sephiroth found himself distracted by the gift shop.
"Should I bring him something?" Sephiroth asked. "Isn't that customary when visiting someone in the hospital?"
"You're bringing him food, that's good enough," Zack replied. "'Sides, I know you're just trying to procrastinate. You can get him something later if you really feel the need."
"I'm not procrastinating, Zack."
"Uh huh, I believe you, don't worry. It's the rest of the world you've got to convince." Zack hit the button for the elevator and held it open for Sephiroth to reluctantly follow him.
They got out on the third floor and Zack led the way through the corridors. Sephiroth hated the sterile white halls and smiling staff. The smell of disinfectant and medicine made him feel slightly nauseous. It was oppressive and reminded him far too much of his childhood. He suddenly felt even worse for landing Cloud in such a horrible place.
Zack stopped and knocked on a partially open door through which the sounds of laughter could be heard.
"Come in," Sephiroth barely recognised Cloud's voice when he sounded happy. He hung back as Zack entered the room.
"Hey, Cloud, Rick," Zack greeted them.
"Hi, Zack, I'm glad you're back," Sephiroth didn't recognise the voice but assumed it was probably Rick who had spoken. "I was just about to head out, Cloud cheats way too much."
"I do not!" came Cloud's protest. "You just suck at Old Maid!"
"Whatever, I know you were hiding the last Jack up your sleeve. I'll see you tomorrow, Cloud. Take care."
"Yep, see ya!"
A man in nurse's scrubs came out of the room and gave Sephiroth a rather odd look as he passed.
"So, Sephiroth couldn't come?" Had Cloud sounded disappointed when he asked that?
"What? No, he's here! For the love of Gaia, get in here, Seph!" Zack stuck his head back out the door and made threatening motions at him. Sephiroth cautiously stepped in. The room seemed to have lost some of its hospital-like qualities; there were books and magazines piled on the floor next to the bed, a vase of flowers by the window and a half-eaten box of chocolates next to them.
"Hello, Cloud. How are you feeling?" he asked the boy sitting up on a card-covered bed.
"Hello, sir. I'm doing okay. How about you?"
If Cloud was upset about seeing him, he didn't show it at all. Sephiroth was secretly glad; he wasn't sure if he would have been able to handle seeing the fear and disgust he knew Cloud must be feeling. He could almost pretend that he was visiting a friend this way. "We brought food." Sephiroth held up the boxes as proof.
"That's great, I'm starving!" Cloud was beaming. It was a beautiful smile and Sephiroth found himself wanting to see more of it. "Well, come in, you can put it down on that table then grab a chair and sit down." He pointed to the larger of the two tables in the room that Zack was dragging over to the bed.
Sephiroth put the food down but didn't sit. "Zack told me there was something you wanted to ask me about."
Cloud froze in the middle of directing Zack where to put the table. He suddenly looked very uncomfortable and Sephiroth wondered if he had said something wrong. Wasn't that why Cloud had asked him to come?
"We don't need to talk about that now," Zack admonished him. "Let's just eat."
Cloud pulled Zack closer to whisper in his ear, obviously forgetting about the enhanced hearing of SOLDIERs. "Does he not want to stay? It's okay if he doesn't. I'd understand." Sephiroth heard the inquiry loud and clear.
"It's fine, Spiky." Zack shot a glare at Sephiroth. "Seph's just being his awkward social self. And hospitals make him uncomfortable so he's extra awkward. You'll get used to it."
Sephiroth felt he should say something given the harshness of the glare being leveled at him. "This is a nice room," was his feeble offering. He sat down in hopes of putting Cloud more at ease.
"Yeah, it's not bad. By the way, Zack, did you think I wouldn't notice the card on the flowers that said 'Congratulations on your baby boy'?"
"There was a card?" Zack asked innocently as he doled out portions of food for everyone.
Sephiroth shook his head in mock shame, "Does this mean I have to buy replacement flowers for someone again?"
"Stop exaggerating! This is the first time I've stolen flowers from the secretaries!" Zack protested. "And you," he pointed at Cloud, "You appreciate my presents properly or I'll make you eat with chopsticks instead of the fork I so thoughtfully brought for you."
"I'll be good, sir, I promise!" Cloud was laughing and smiling again. Sephiroth mentally breathed a sigh of relief as the atmosphere of the room returned to its previous state; he hadn't wanted to make Cloud uncomfortable.
Dinner passed with a lot of joking and teasing. The meal had been surprisingly good, despite Sephiroth's dismal expectations. He couldn't help but notice the glances Cloud kept throwing his way whenever he thought he wasn't looking. The looks were intriguing, he had to admit. He wondered just what it was Cloud was thinking.
They finished dinner and Zack suddenly remembered something about a DVD player and took off shouting something about the Children's Ward having the best shit. Sephiroth and Cloud suddenly found themselves alone together and an uncomfortable silence fell.
"Umm, sir?" Cloud's hesitant voice eventually broke the silence. "I wanted to thank you."
Sephiroth was shocked. That was the last thing he had expected to hear from him. "What would you want to thank me for?"
"For… for helping me yesterday. And for being so kind even though you didn't have to be. I know it must have been a pain having to deal with someone like me, so I just wanted you to know that I really appreciated it." Cloud's words were rushed as he valiantly tried to explain to the confused man in front of him.
"But, there's something I wanted to ask you, if it's all right. You don't have to answer, if you don't want..." Cloud was no longer looking at him as he spoke.
"Ask whatever you'd like, Cloud. I don't mind," Sephiroth tried to reassure him.
"Okay, it's just, I was wondering about, you know, when you asked me to-" Sephiroth waited patiently as Cloud stumbled over his words. "To he- help you so we could escape."
"Yes, what about it?"
"Well, I was wondering wh- why you wanted me to do that," he was blushing and fiddling with the sheets. "I just, I didn't think, um… Did it actually help?"
"Oh, Gaia, I'm sorry, Cloud," Sephiroth started panicking. Was Cloud thinking that he had asked him to put on a show simply so he could get off on it? "Please understand, Cloud. I couldn't break the bonds without some sort of energy boost. Ejaculation momentarily provides such a boost. As for the moaning, I was hoping that if you sounded like you were enjoying it, it would also cause our captor to orgasm. It distracted him, you see, so there would be less chance of him being able to react quickly when I broke the bonds. Does that make sense?"
Cloud merely looked thoughtful so Sephiroth continued, "I wasn't trying to humiliate you even further, I promise. I was only trying to make it possible to escape."
"I understand, thank you for explaining, sir. You… you didn't really want to do it, did you?"
"No, Cloud, I didn't want to hurt you and I'm so sorry I had to allow that to happen." Sephiroth reached out his hand to Cloud before thinking better of it. He settled for resting his hand on the side of the bed.
"Then," Cloud paused as if unsure of how to continue, "I'm sorry too. Sir."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry. You didn't want it either, so that means… um, technically speaking, you know…" Cloud looked up hopefully at Sephiroth as if willing him to understand what he was trying to say. Sephiroth's face kept it confused look, however.
Cloud looked distressed that he was failing to understand and he wracked his brain trying to think of something Cloud might have done that he would feel the need to apologise for. He came up with nothing except for the fact that Cloud seemed to think that he had been some sort of burden. That didn't seem to be what he was talking about, but since he couldn't think of anything else, he decided to go with it.
"I didn't think you were a bother to me at all, Cloud. You held up admirably through the ordeal and-" Cloud was shaking his head so he cut himself off and waited for him to speak.
"That's not- I mean," Cloud stammered as he tried to explain. He took a deep breath and started again. "What I'm trying to say, sir is that I'm sorry for my part in what happened to you. Because tech-"
"Kids never saw me comin'!" Zack suddenly burst through the door carrying a load of electronics. "Come help me set this up, Seph."
Sephiroth looked at Cloud; it didn't appear that he was going to continue speaking with Zack in the room. He had never felt so confused in his life. He reluctantly turned away and began sorting the various wires. Zack had apparently found some sort of game system as well although Sephiroth wondered why he would give Cloud something that obviously required two hands to use.
Cloud had been quiet the entire time they were setting up the equipment and when Sephiroth turned around to check on him, he found that he had fallen asleep still sitting up. He smiled at the innocent picture the exhausted boy painted before nudging Zack who was still rummaging around behind the television.
"We should go," he whispered.
"What? Why?" Zack's voice seemed unnaturally loud now that Sephiroth was trying to be quiet.
"Cloud's fallen asleep, you can finish setting that up tomorrow."
"It's done," Zack stood and for some reason looked at Cloud's IV stand. He then started tidying up the small room. He tossed the takeout containers in the trash bin and gathered up the cards from the bed.
"Shouldn't you try to be a little quieter?" Sephiroth asked, feeling rather indignant at the lack of concern Zack was showing.
"Nah, he gave himself another dose of morphine. Between that and the long day he's had, kid's out like a light." With that, he lowered Cloud's bed back down and rearranged his blankets, tucking him in. "'Night Spiky," Zack ruffled his hair. "Okay, Boss, let's get outta here."
They exited the room and made their way towards the elevators. They ran into a group of giggling nurses on the way and Zack had to stop to say hello. Sephiroth waited impatiently as his friend complimented and gossiped with the women. He wanted to get home so he could think in peace. Meeting with Cloud hadn't been as bad as he thought it might have been, but he wanted to know what he had been trying to say. He silently cursed Zack for interrupting at the worst possible time. The overly friendly man made his excuses and they were finally allowed to leave.
"So did you talk with Spiky at all while I was gone?" Zack questioned as they made their way back to the parking lot.
"A little bit, it might have gone better had you not interrupted," Sephiroth replied tersely.
"Hey, I had to check up on you guys. Cloud's been having panic attacks all day; I didn't want him to have another while you were in there alone with him. Why? What did you guys talk about?"
"He thanked me, which I thought was strange. He seemed to think that I was bothered or upset because he required help after we escaped."
"Yeah, Spiky's got a bit of an inferiority complex," Zack explained. "He was bullied a lot when he was a kid and often doesn't get that not everyone thinks he's a burden."
"I see." Was that why Cloud had apologised? But he had protested when Sephiroth tried explaining that he wasn't a burden. No, it had been something else, he was sure of it. He had said he was sorry for his part in what had happened to Sephiroth. But he hadn't been injured; whatever spell had been cast had worn off without any harmful side effects and he hadn't been the one who was tortured. It made no sense.
He drove in silence for the remainder of the trip, trying to come up with some sort of explanation for Cloud's wording. Zack seemed to realize that he needed to think and remained quiet as well until they pulled into ShinRa's parking garage.
"What are you thinking of doing now, Seph?"
"I'm going to return to my apartment; Hojo's experiments were tiring and I'd like to get some rest," he said.
"All right, well, if you need anything or want to talk, you know how to find me," Zack waved his PHS in Sephiroth's face. "Do you want to come see Spiky with me tomorrow?"
"Yes, I think so." That would be a good idea; maybe Cloud would be willing to explain what he had meant.
"'Kay, have a good night, then, sir."
"Goodnight, Lieutenant."
Sephiroth made his way back to his apartment and shut the door behind him with a sigh. He hadn't been lying when he said he was tired. The experiments hadn't been that strenuous, but for some reason, he felt like he had spent the entire day training. He decided it wouldn't hurt to get ready for bed now, even though it was still early. He could always read for a while before going to sleep. As he changed into his sleep pants and brushed his teeth, Sephiroth found his mind wandering back to Cloud again and again. He recalled the way he had smiled brightly at the thought of non-hospital food and how he had blushed and toyed with the sheets. He knew he shouldn't be thinking of him like that, but he couldn't help it. There was just something about those bright blue eyes that drew him in. Sephiroth let himself flop down on the bed and barely got under the covers before sleep claimed him.
XXX
A small hand twined through long silver hair and made its way up, scratching gently across Sephiroth's scalp. His skin tingled as he felt warm breath next to his ear. He opened his eyes and met immediately with brilliant blue. He was lost momentarily as he fell into their depths before they blinked slowly and the spell was broken. Sephiroth raised his hand and stroked the face that the eyes belonged to. He caressed his cheek and trailed his thumb along the plump, pink lips that were smiling slightly. Those beautiful lips opened slightly and a tongue darted out, licking his thumb before disappearing once again. He wanted to taste that tongue so he gripped the boy's chin between his thumb and index finger and pulled it down towards him. He came willingly and Sephiroth caught his lips with his own.
Their kiss started out gently; Sephiroth didn't want to frighten away the mysterious nymph who had somehow made its way to his bedroom. It wasn't long before Sephiroth wanted more, however, and he nipped lightly at his lower lip before dragging his tongue across it, begging for entrance. He moaned as the lips parted once again and he delved into the warm orifice, tasting everything he could. The boy's small tongue wrapped around his own and flicked it, encouraging him to come in further. Sephiroth obliged and fully explored his mouth; he tasted delicious, like slightly sweetened vanilla with a hint of cinnamon. He let go of his chin and ran his hand through the blond locks atop his head before stroking down his neck and back. He brought his other hand up and, wrapping his arm around the delicate waist, smoothly rolled the boy onto his back.
Sephiroth finally broke the kiss and pulled back to look at the panting figure beneath him. He was convinced this creature was a nymph; his fey-like body was pale and flawless, the bright blond hair and blue eyes complemented his complexion perfectly. His face was flushed slightly and his chest was rising and falling rapidly. Sephiroth felt a smirk cross his face; he wanted this boy, he would have him crying out in ecstasy soon enough. He trailed his hands down his torso and his smirk widened as he gasped and squirmed into the touch. He traced along the hem of his shirt, tickling the sensitive skin there before sliding his left hand up and under the shirt. He felt the still developing muscles that weren't a six-pack yet and moved further up, past the slight bump of his ribcage before finding a hardening nipple. He rubbed the pads of his fingers across it and gently pinched the flesh. He was rewarded for his efforts with another surprised gasp.
Sephiroth's other hand found the boy's and grasped it. He placed it on his own bare chest, encouraging him to touch back. His hand moved shyly across the skin and it was quickly joined by a second; the exploring touches were feather-light and sent shivers down Sephiroth's spine. A brief brushing sensation across his nipples caused him to grind his hips down and groan with unrestrained desire. He found himself becoming impatient and grabbed the boy's shirt to pull it over his head. He took in the sight of the bare chest then lowered his mouth to one of the darkened circles of flesh. He licked a circle around the sensitive nub and flicked his tongue across it before capturing it between his teeth. The slight cry of pain mixed with pleasure encouraged him and he bit down a little bit harder several more times before easing off and rewarding the area with soft kisses. One of the boy's hands gripped his hair as he moved over to give the same treatment to the other nipple and he found that the gentle tugging was turning him on even more.
He ground his hips down again; making sure the boy could feel the hardened flesh between his legs. He could feel the boy's own erection pressing against him and found that his smirk was back. Without letting his mouth lose contact with his chest, he moved his hand downwards and cupped the boy's erection, giving it a small squeeze. He moaned and rocked his hips upwards; blunt nails scrabbled at his back and small hands grasped frantically at his arms. Sephiroth trailed his tongue up to his clavicle where he began to nip at his skin, leaving tiny bite marks as he went. The panting moans emanating from the boy under him were driving him insane with lust. He wanted to be inside him, now.
Sephiroth pushed the blond's pants down roughly and threw them aside before standing and pulling off his own. He stood still for a moment, taking in the breathtaking sight of the naked body lying on his bed. He noticed the slight trembling and tiny hint of fear in his eyes and smirked again.
"Are you afraid of me?" he asked.
The boy didn't reply in any way; maybe the nymph didn't understand or was incapable of communication. That was okay, he might be a bit nervous, but he clearly wanted Sephiroth. He nudged the boy's legs apart and settled himself between them rubbing their cocks together. The boy writhed and thrust his hips up; the friction was delicious. He slipped a finger inside the small, puckered hole and found it slid in easily. He paid that detail little heed and simply added another finger before beginning to stretch the boy. The blond was more vocal now; plaintive mewling seemed to be begging Sephiroth for more and he added a third finger and began curling them to reach the boy's prostate. He knew he had hit it when a scream echoed through the room.
Sephiroth couldn't wait any longer. He withdrew his fingers and lined up his cock with the boy's entrance. He plunged in with one swift movement and reveled in the tight heat.
"Cloud," he whispered in the boy's ear, "I want you." He pulled back and thrust in again with a shout.
A shout that woke him up.
Sephiroth jerked upright in bed. He was sweating and had somehow gotten his sleep pants pushed down around his ankles. He looked down at his raging hard-on and groaned in frustration. He felt filthy, like he had just waded through the corpse-filled battlefields of Wutai; he couldn't believe he had just had a sex dream about Cloud. As if he wasn't feeling bad enough already, now he was molesting the boy in his sleep. It was too much. What kind of monster would have dreams like that about the person they were forced to rape? He was as bad as the men who had captured them. He stared at his erection, willing it to go away on its own. He had no such luck, however, and decided a cold shower was his best option.
He walked into his large bathroom and turned on the shower before stripping completely and stepping into the cold spray. The icy water had an immediate effect on his erection, but did nothing to wash away the self-loathing he felt. Thinking back on how he had felt in the dream, Sephiroth felt his stomach churn and nearly lost its contents. He was repulsive, not even fit to be called a human being. He collapsed on the tiles and sat there for over an hour, wishing he could just drain away with the water.
XXX
A/N: Kudos goes to CNome for the evil wet dream idea. Thank you!