SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE! I HOPE THIS CHAPTER IS FUN AND INTERESTING!
Even though all the reviewers probably can't remember anymore what they said (TT sorry) heres your responses:
Michiko Gatanami: I'm glad we are broadening your horizons in a good way and I'm really glad you like it!
kirallie: Sadly, none of your questions are answered in this chapter, but we did introduce more!
darkmoon1202: Thanks! I hope we continue such a spectacular tradition, here's hoping!
JaimeyKay: My bet is a whole pack of prozac.
Jenniyah: Then read on!
Isle of Pens: Making people laugh is the entire reason for Zak's existence, that and the fact that I am absolutely in love with him, but mostly entertainment.
Aki: Indeed he did, but Seph doesn't know that –tee hee-
guess: WOOT! Brownies now!
Toons: Thanks for reading! Continue to enjoy!
OShayO: I would defiantly have to agree with you there –is a major vampire geek-
WhiteWolfCub: I still feel so bad about this being so late . . . hopefully people will still remember!
HotIceRed: Major agreement from me about the threesome, if this was only my fic there would be SOOOO much of that. Hence the reason I have voodoodoll! It would be PWP without her, only T rated PWP which is no fun at all.
The Sinner of Anger: I would TOTALLY buy a doujinshi with these guys as vampires! In an INSTANT.
kazuhiko: It would indeed help Cloud's safety, but Zak has the intellect of a goldfish so we run into a dilemma XD I totally made up the word Lithen, my spell check hates me –shrug-
arelente2: Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: I own my imagination (no one else would claim is XP) but not the characters, sadness –tear-
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Cloud had a feeling that things weren't going in his direction- the silver-haired man was going on about how he should die and why- and Cloud's case wasn't looking too good. For one, this weird, psycho kidnapper man was obviously losing the argument in favor of Cloud's life, and for two- he wasn't even trying, really, to argue for Cloud! For Pete's sake, he was molesting his belly button while he was talking!
Cloud scowled and tried valiantly to do a cool duck-and-roll off of the bed- maybe he could escape, maybe (even though his mind said 'or maybe you can't and they will kill you because they might just really be not human'). The crazy Zak man just grabbed onto him tighter, eyes not focused on him.
"I'm not going to let you kill him, Seph," Zak's voice swept past Cloud's ear in the most crazily dominant tone Cloud had ever heard. It was bone-liquefying, like putting jello in an oven. Cloud slumped in Zak's arms and batted once, feeble, at the hands pinching his hip bones. Yay. Maybe he wasn't going to die. He wiggled, a last ditch effort maybe to escape- but alas, he was jello-Cloud.
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Oh YES! BUT NO! NO NO NO. Distraction not good at a time like this. Zak forcibly pulled his mind away from the feeling of Cloud wiggling on his lap.
Sephiroth raised a single elegant eyebrow, "I don't see how you could stop me, Zakarie. Besides, you must see the truth of what I am telling you. There are simply too many cons and not enough, in fact none that I can see, pros."
"Then you're not looking hard enough! Look at him! He's so cute and defenseless!"
"That is not in any way relevant to this conversation."
"Seph . . . Sephiroth, I know it doesn't make much, heck, any sense, but I just can't let him go, ya know? You don't know why and I don't know why, but I can't," every ounce of humor had drained from Zak's face, leaving him deadly serious and oh so sincere. Sephiroth sighed.
"Zak, there are Lithen Monks after him," the silver-haired man rubbed his temples with one long fingered hand.
"I know, Seph. Really I do, I just . . . can't."
"I hope, for both of our sakes that you can, Zak, because I don't know what else we can do."
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Reno sat quietly as Rude drove, eyes absorbing the city lights as they flew past the windshield. He had absolutely no clue how his partner managed to pull off ninety per hour in such a congested area- but he wasn't complaining. His eyes rolled over to watch the way the streetlights bounced off of his partner's shiny head.
"Rude. Do you know where we are going?"
Rude answered without hesitation. "That is disclosed information."
"Bullshit, man." Reno drawled, tapping his knuckled on the window. "I'm same rank as you. Disclosed my ass." He paused. "My damn fine ass."
Rude shrugged. "Some warehouse, Reno. You know just as well as I do."
Reno shrugged. "Yeah." He had just hoped that for once Tseng would have given them a real address this once, not the game of tag they had to play to find the man. They would know- they would feel- when they were close, but until then it was going to be a long drive. What an inefficient system. Cloud could have been a corpse long ago.
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There were rows and rows of warehouses along the edges of the industrial section of town. Far too many for two men to search in a single night. It was a good thing that they didn't have to search them all then.
Rude felt the slight tingle of power as they neared one of the large collections of warehouses and turned to parallel them. Reno could have pointed out which one they needed from the distance they were at, but he was probably still moping. It had only been about twenty five minutes and Reno usually moped for a thirty. It payed to know your partner, not that it helped a lot in this particular case.
Luckily, the tingle changed to almost a burn outside one of the large metal buildings and Rude parked in front. There was no mistaking something that Tseng wanted you to find, it was just the kind of man he was, and the kind of power he wielded.
The power rolled along the dark man's skin as he stepped from the car. Tseng had come from somewhere across the ocean, Reno had money on somewhere in Russia where the sun never shown and everyone was a humorless prick. Rude couldn't care less, the point was that Tseng was from one of the original Lithen covenants and had the power to prove it. Power that might be able to find a single boy hidden under two powerful vampire shields.
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Reno shuffled a little bit as they stood in front of the warehouse, looking very, very nervous. "Uh. Um. I'll wait outside. If this is the place."
Rude looked at him. Reno wished he didn't always wear sunglasses, because he couldn't tell if it was a good look or bad look. Wait, why would Rude be giving him a 'good' look in the middle of the night in front of an abandoned warehouse? Kinky. Sorta. Only...Reno had never thought of Rude looking at him like that. In fact-
"Reno. Stop staring at me. You're going in." And with that, Rude walked stealthily (well, as stealthily as he could) towards the large building. Ah, that was it! Reno didn't want to go in because Tseng was scary! Aha! But... Rude was already at the door, and to be fair... the empty street was pretty scary, too. Not as scary as Tseng, but at least Rude could protect him with his bulk or something if he stuck with him.
Rude hesitantly tried at the handle of the small, aluminum door of the warehouse- surprisingly, it opened, and the two walked in slowly.
"Fuck, I wish I would have brought a flashlight," Reno whispered, catching his hand on what could have been a spider web in the dark. The door closed behind them as they advanced into the totally dark building, just like in a scary movie. Fucking Tseng! Freaking warehouse!
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The warehouse was empty inside, that in itself was strange, what use is an empty warehouse? Rude understood some of Reno's apprehension, not that he agreed the red-head was handling the situation in the right way, but he had come to expect him to over react and would actually start being afraid if he didn't.
Tseng was standing in the middle of the floor, he couldn't have chosen a more ominous position if he had hired Hollywood directors to carefully test and retest each location for the most ominous-ness. Reno must be loving this.
"Tseng." Rude stopped a couple yards from the other man and waited.
"Rude, Reno," the named party cringed and moved another half step closer, which, for all of you who dropped out of kindergarten math, means he was a whole step closer than before. See, word problems can be fun! "I trust this is a very interesting case for you to have called me in. I will be most disappointed if you have wasted my time."
"Understandably, sir. This is a most unusual case, I am sure you will understand our reasons for calling you in," Rude said flatly. Tseng was not the type of man you kept waiting, even an extra second in answering could be all the difference.
"I hope so." That was "Tell me about your case and how it is abnormal" in Tseng speech.
Rude wasted no time in outlining the events with Cloud and what little they knew of his vampiric kidnapper.
Tseng frowned, a display of emotion which would not go well on Reno's nerves, the red-head was far to sensitive to be unaffected by the way someone as strong as Tseng's power shifted with their emotions, and it had to be quite the emotion for it to show on Tseng's face.
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"This is quite the problem," Tseng said finally, bringing a hand to smooth back his hair. "You were right in calling me."
Rude nodded, face firm. Reno just stared at him in the same freaked-out way he usually did. Tseng really didn't know what the red-head's problem was with him, but it probably had to do with the man's heightened sense of empathy. Eh, whatever. Tseng had bigger things to worry about, really.
"Please, give me a minute," Tseng said flatly after a moment of silence, slipping a slim, sleek object from his pocket- a cell phone, amazingly thin and stylishly designed. He nodded at the pair standing before him before proceeding to snap his fingers-
And then he was on the roof. Ah, sweet privacy. He could just imagine the look on Reno's face after that stunt- relatively easy magic, but light-years above the bumbling red-head's level. Now, Rude... ah, but that was a topic for another time. He dialed a number deftly, the sequence all but memorized by his fingers. He watched a crow peck around on the gravelly roof as he waited for an answer. Beep. Beep.
"Mmnrg."
Tseng smiled. That was a good enough of a hello, he supposed. "Good morning, sunshine," he said in a deadpan, frowning as the crow started to peck annoyingly close to where he was standing. Hello? Mr. Bird? Ever hear of a private call? Tseng kicked a pebble at it. It flew away with a squawk. He returned to his call, which hadn't really proceeded at all beyond a muffled yawn on the other line. "It turns out Reno and Rude aren't as incompetent as we believed."
A second of silence. "...explain yourself, Tseng." If the voice hadn't had been so sleepy, it would have been threatening. Tseng almost smiled.
"Well," Tseng said, running a hand through his ponytail, "It seems that some very strong vampiric beings are active and working in very public settings- according to Rude they have already taken a student at the local college."
"That is serious," The voice on the other line didn't sound too worried- in fact, it almost sounded smug. "I trust that you can take care of this nuisance, Tseng, before any higher authorities than I find out. You are my best man, after all..."
"I won't disappoint, sir." Tseng said, his smirk emanating into his tone. "I'll be back before you wake up from your nap, even."
Tseng smiled as a voice sighed into his ear, sounding much put-upon. "If you'll ever let me get back to one. Goodbye, Tseng. Good luck."
Like he needed it. Tseng cocked his head, cracking his neck. "Sweet dreams, Rufus." A chuckle was all that he was met with, then a dial tone. Tseng shrugged as he was hung up on and slid his phone back into his pocket, feeling a little bored with the whole ordeal. Mere vampires were usually not something he condescended to deal with, but the faster he dealt with this the faster he could go home. He sighed and snapped again, more for show than anything, and was met a split-second later with the sight of Reno gaping at him like he was Houdini. How did the kid get this job, again?
Tseng folded his hands in a diplomatic manner, regarding the two before him. "I have talked to my superior," He stated, "And it has been decided that action should be taken now, and not any later."
Reno and Rude nodded in unison, waiting for his next command. Seriously, these guys were like puppies.
"And," Tseng smirked. "I won't need your help. Goodnight." He snapped again, simply because he really liked the grandeur of the action, and disappeared back out on the street, near his car.
This would be easy.
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The night was quiet for the most part, then a low sobbing started behind him.
"Would you PLEASE SHUT UP!" he hissed back at his oldest brother. More sobbing was his response.
"There, there, don't let him get to you," the middle brother patted his sobbing sibling's back.
"This is not happening," the youngest rubbed his temples, turning to face the night once more. The section of warehouses they now stood near reeked of Lithen power, old, but not too.
"Oh leave him alone," the middle child said again, dragging his older brother along to where the youngest stood, "What do you think?"
"He was right," even though he absolutely DETESTED admitting it. The sobbing slowed and ended with a slight sniffle, "Either there is a conclave here or just one of large power, either way it's a good find." His sibling had gone from sobbing to beaming with the complement.
"What do you intend to do about it?"
"I don't know yet," he turned and strode away from the stench, "If it's a conclave that isn't very active we may not find them again until they need to renew whatever spell they have wrought tonight, and that could be a very long time indeed."
"If it's a single person?"
"Then they have not finished whatever task they set out to do and we will find them with the moon."
"Why do you say that?" the middle brother rubbed his oldest siblings back absent-mindedly as he spoke.
"There is no reason for there to be this much fear in the air without the scent of death if it was one powerful person. A powerful person does not need to feat their power, and anyone with them who would be afraid would likely end up a casualty. If it is person, we will know quite soon," the moonlight glimmered on his silver hair as Kadaj smiled down at the warehouses, "Quite soon indeed."
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After their conversation Sephiroth had left, leaving Zak and Cloud alone.
Again.
"Can I get off your lap?" Cloud asked quietly, uber-aware of how the other man was breathing down his neck. Okay, so maybe these guys were... not... normal. He would just have to choose a better time to get away from this place, and he was pretty sure he couldn't do it under the watch of Zak. Especially when said man was stretched around him like an overprotective octopus. So for now- nice and quiet. Like a mouse around a mouse trap.
Zak chuckled, the action reverberating through Cloud's back. Cloud gulped down a large mouthful of breath at that, cheeks going red. "I'm not ready to let you go just yet," Zak responded airily, squeezing at Cloud. A chin made its presence known on Cloud's shoulder, making him squirm. Seriously, all the weird, butterfly feelings? Just fear. Its okay, Cloud, You are totally not being turned on by some strange man molesting you. Especially after he kidnapped you, dude.
Cloud coughed, feeling more awkward than he had ever felt in his short life. "Could you, you know, stay above the belt, then?"
The finger that had slipped into the waist of Cloud's pants retreated obediently. Cloud let out a sigh of relief.
A few minutes went by and Cloud slowly relaxed into the firm, squeezy embrace he was ensconced in- okay, this was bad, but it could be worse, right? Instead of a snuggly kidnapper he could have been stolen by a... kill-y one. He nodded to himself, stretching out his legs. He felt strangely calm, almost too calm, for being in such a situation. And a little bit sleepy, now that he thought about it...
"Tired?" Zak rumbled, hoisting Cloud off of his lap Cloud slumped against the soft bed, all jelly, no bones. Little did he know that Zak had pulled a few strings and magicked him all sleepy-like, but that was only because he didn't want Cloud running out on him before they had any fun. And not just the sexy fun, either. Really. A hand brushed against Cloud's forehead. Cloud mumbled something incoherent. Really, things...could be worse.
Then he fell asleep.
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A/N: SORRY AGAIN FOR HOW LATE LATE LATE THIS IS! ((blame voodoodoll –shifty eyes-)) ANYWAY! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR STILL READING AND REVIEWING AND BEING SUPER FANTASTIC! I got yelled at for being too easy to persuade -sweatdrop- but I can't help it! All you great reviews make me wanna write more and more! Ack, I'm blabbering now . . . THANKS AGAIN