Title: Prisoners of War
Author: XpaperplaneX
Beta: urplesquirrel on LJ, aka Doom Squirrel on FF dot net
Rating: PG
Pairing: SephirothxCloud
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Yaoi
Warnings: None
Summary: Sephiroth and Cloud are taken prisoner by AVALANCHE.
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work.

I apologise for not responding to people's reviews unless there's a specific question, life has been crazy busy lately. Months of procrastination has finally caught up to me. But please know that they are appreciated very much and I love hearing everyone's thoughts.

XXX

Zack had been unable to convince Sephiroth to talk about what had happened at the therapy session or during his capture again. He had retreated behind his General's mask and seemed content to stay there. As far as the man was concerned, life was the same as it had always been. The only real difference was that he was going out on more missions than usual, and he always went alone. Whenever Zack mentioned Cloud, Sephiroth would retreat into his shell and refuse to listen to even an update on the boy's condition. Nothing Zack tried would convince the General to see him again. It was like he was trying to forget that the young soldier had ever existed. Zack let his head drop onto his desk with a clunk. It was so frustrating!

He peeled his forehead off a sheet of paper and glanced up at the clock; Cloud was finally being released from the hospital this afternoon. Zack was going to pick him up and take him back to his place. There was no point in him going back to the barracks while he was still healing. The doctors had all agreed that Cloud's hand was healing nicely, they would be taking the pins out in a couple of weeks and then he could begin the rehabilitation process. Zack knew that Cloud was looking forward to getting out of the hospital, even if it had taken a lot of convincing to get the trooper to agree to stay with him. He had kept going on about not wanting to be an 'inconvenience'. The SOLDIER snorted at the thought. Spiky would probably have his apartment cleaner than it had been in years within a couple of days. Not that that was why he wanted him to stay, of course. Zack snickered to himself at the thought of Cloud in a maid outfit, cleaning his apartment to earn his keep.

He worked diligently for a couple more hours before deciding to hit the gym. It wasn't very busy at that time of day, but he spotted Kunsel in the far corner lifting weights. He jogged over to the Second Class and tossed his towel down on a nearby bench.

"Need a spotter?" he asked him.

"Hey, Zack. Sure, that'd be great, thanks." Kunsel grabbed the freeweights and settled back on the bench. "So how's your kid doing? He's getting out today, right?"

"He's not my kid and yeah, I'm picking him up in a little while."

"You act like he's your kid sometimes. I swear, between him and the General, you're going to go grey prematurely."

"Don't even talk to me about Seph," Zack threw up his hands in exasperation, "I've had enough of dealing with his little tantrums, thank you very much."

"And here I was thinking that was impossible!" Kunsel laughed. "I always thought you'd discovered some sort of General-calming catnip that you were keeping secret from everyone else. Probably so you could have a monopoly over his moods and lord your power over the rest of us. How else would you be able to call him 'Seph' and live?"

"What I wouldn't give for something like that…" Zack got a little lost in thought and stared into space for a few minutes until the sound of Kunsel loudly clearing his throat brought him back to reality.

"Hey, Spotter Boy, take these for me already!" Zack hastily grabbed the weights from his friend and set them back in the rack.

"Sorry, man. Want to switch?"

"Go for it," Kunsel sat up and wiped down the bench before taking Zack's place. "So I take it your miraculous powers aren't working so well? Because he seems fine to the rest of us."

Zack added a few more weights to the bar and lay down. "Trust me, Kunsel, he's not. He's barely keeping it together and the worst thing is, he doesn't have a clue how close he is to breaking. I just don't know what else I can do. He's absolutely refusing to talk about what happened."

"What did happen?" Kunsel's voice was curious. "Everyone's been so hush hush about the whole thing. They didn't even tell the Firsts who went to investigate what happened."

Zack made a noncommittal noise, "Can't talk about it, you know that."

"Well, you can't blame me for trying," Kunsel shrugged. "Anyways, don't be too hard on yourself about it. You're only human, remember."

"Yeah, I know. So how'd your last mission go? It was near Junon, wasn't it?"

The two friends chatted easily for the better part of an hour before Zack realized he was going to be late if he didn't get moving soon. He made plans to meet up with Kunsel next week for drinks then went to take a quick shower. Spiky was sick to death of being stuck in the hospital for so long and Zack didn't want to keep him waiting.

XXX

"So this is me, Spike," Zack opened the door to his apartment with a flourish. "Come on, I'll give you the grand tour."

"I've been in your apartment before Zack," Cloud said exasperatedly.

"But only ever as a guest," Zack's voice held all the patience of someone trying to explain addition to a cat with the belief that they'd succeed. "You haven't been here as a roommate before. It's a completely different tour!"

"Why, does the toilet move according to whether or not a person lives here?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous! Now pay attention. This is the coat closet," Zack pointed to the set of folding doors next to the entrance. "You can't hide things in there when guests come over because they always open it. Even if you tell them to just dump their coats on the couch." Zack led Cloud left from the entrance into the kitchen. "This is the fridge. If it starts making weird noises, you have to kick it on the bottom right side or it'll stop working. Trust me, that's not good."

"Okay, weird noises, kick the fridge. Got it."

"Good. Now this is the coffee maker. It's your friend. Never insult it or hurt its feelings in any way. It's a little temperamental, you see, so you have to treat it nicely."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Be nice to the inanimate objects, check. Anything else?"

"I don't thi- oh! There's a fire extinguisher under the sink. Just in case you decide to use the stove."

The blond gave him a look that had 'Are you an idiot?' written all over it.

"I'm serious! There's a thing with the pilot light, it's not my fault!"

"Uh huh. May I ask why you don't just fix these things?"

Zack shrugged apologetically. "I dunno, I just never bothered. Anyways, moving right along. This'll be your room; I cleared most of the junk out, but there's still some stuff in the closet. If you need the space, just toss it in my room and I'll do something with it." Zack opened the door on his small guest room. There was a double bed in one corner and a small dresser beside it. Two bookshelves with various knick-knacks stood against the far wall. Zack had brought Cloud's footlocker from his barracks and that was placed at the foot of the bed. "Make yourself at home."

"Thanks, Zack," Cloud flashed a smile at him. "I really appreciate this. I wasn't looking forward to going back to the barracks and having to watch everyone else training while I sat around like a lump with my hand in a splint."

"It's no problem, Spiky," Zack ruffled his hair. "You'll be able to get back to training before you know it. Now get settled while I order us some pizza and then we can watch a movie or something."

"Sounds good," Cloud grinned and nodded.

Several hours later, the two young men lay zoned out on the couch. Two large pizzas, several beers on Zack's part, and a marathon action movie session had drained them completely of the will to move. Zack finally mustered the energy to poke Cloud with his foot.

"Hey, Cloud," he mumbled. "You should go to bed."

"Hmm?" Cloud yawned widely. "Yeah, I guess." He rolled off the couch and stumbled towards his room. Zack thought it was a good thing the boy was already in his pyjamas, he'd probably end up sleeping in his clothes otherwise. He glanced at the mess in the living room and decided that shutting off the TV would suffice for now. He'd clean up in the morning. He stood up and rolled his shoulders, stretching them. It was kind of nice having a roommate. He hadn't lived with anyone since he was promoted to First Class and he found he missed having someone else in the house. He made his way down the hallway to his own bedroom and collapsed there. He fell asleep thinking that he'd need to find a way to get Seph and Cloud talking to each other again. It would suck if he couldn't hang out with his two best friends at the same time.

XXX

The sound of terrified screaming interrupted Zack's dreams. He sat bolt upright and looked around confusedly for the source. He was in his apartment, who would be screaming there? There didn't seem to be anything wrong. The recollection that Cloud was staying with him drifted across his foggy mind and he grasped at that thought. It was important. Suddenly his brain was fully awake as it dawned on him; Cloud was here, Cloud was scared, he was the one screaming. Zack flew out of his bed, nearly tripping over the sheets in the process and ran to Cloud's room.

"Cloud!" he burst into the room. "What's wrong!?"

Cloud was tangled in his blankets, thrashing around wildly and screaming at the top of his lungs. Zack rushed to his side and grabbed the boy by the shoulders.

"Cloud," he said while shaking him gently. "Cloud, it's okay. Wake up."

The screaming tapered off to be replaced by great, shuddering sobs. "Zack?" Cloud's voice was unsure.

"Yeah, it's me, buddy. You're okay, it was just a nightmare." Zack held the smaller boy tightly in his arms and stroked his hair. Cloud clung to him and shook for a good fifteen minutes.

"'M sorry, Zack. Didn' mean t'be such a pain," his words were muffled as he kept his face buried in Zack's shirt.

"You're not a pain, Spiky. Don't be an idiot."

"Am too. Should've taken the sleeping pills they gave me." Cloud pushed himself away from Zack and leaned back in his bed. "I was just so tired, I didn't think I'd need them and Dr. Tallion said not to take them too often."

"You," Zack poked him in the chest, "Are not a pain. Or a burden or anything else you might call yourself. You're my friend. Have you been having a lot of nightmares?"

Cloud nodded, "Every night unless I take the pills."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't want to bother you. I'll get over them eventually."

Zack sighed, "You really are an idiot, Spiky. I want to help you deal with this shit. Not telling me is what bothers me the most. Do you want me to get your pills for you?"

"I'll get them, they're just in my bag." Cloud shoved himself off the bed and started rummaging through the duffel he had brought from the hospital. Zack went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water.

"Here you go," Zack handed the glass over.

Cloud tossed a small white pill into his mouth and chased it down with the water. "Thanks, Zack."

"No problem, Spike. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, it'll just take a few minutes for it to start working. I'm fine now, though."

"Good, I'll just stay with you till you fall asleep again, okay?"

"You don't have to, I'm fine."

"I know that, idiot. But I'm still staying." Zack gave Cloud a playful shove so he lay back on the bed and started fixing the blankets. When Cloud was settled, Zack sat on the edge next to him and watched as sleep slowly drifted back over the young man. Long after his breathing had evened out and his tense body had relaxed Zack remained by his side, softly stroking his wild spikes. After more than an hour, Zack finally went back to his own room, exhausted.

XXX

"Zack! Your stove sucks!" Cloud shouted down the hall towards the room where the SOLDIER was getting changed. The young man was nervous; he was meeting Aerith for the first time tonight. He'd heard so much about her, but had yet to meet her. So Zack invited her over for dinner tonight and Cloud had volunteered to do the cooking. He wanted to make a good impression and had called his mother to ask for her recipes. He had been working all afternoon and now he was fighting with Zack's stove trying to get the broth to stay at a simmer.

"Stupid piece of shit," he grumbled at it.

"Are you insulting my appliances?" Zack appeared from around the corner looking surprisingly put-together.

"Never, Zack. Your stove isn't fit to be called an appliance."

Zack was about to start protesting when the doorbell rang. He hurried to the entrance to answer it and Cloud heard a cheerful woman's voice greeting him. He turned away from his battle with the stove and wiped his hands on his apron just as Zack came back leading his girlfriend. Aerith was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and big green eyes. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and smiled widely at him.

"Hi, Cloud. I'm Aerith." She held out a delicate hand to shake.

Taking her hand, Cloud smiled back. "Hi Aerith, nice to meet you." A clicking sound drew his attention back to the stove; it had gone out again. "Shit! I mean, darn! Sorry, Aerith. Zack, I need this thing to stay lit, on low heat, for fifteen minutes. That's all! Please?" Cloud turned to Zack hoping for some sort of miracle from the man.

Zack gave a long-suffering sigh, "Let me see what I can do."

"This looks delicious, Cloud," Aerith said. "What did you make?"

"Maultaschen. They're a specialty from my hometown. They were invented during a particularly cold winter to disguise the fact that the villagers were eating Nibel Wolf from Odin. Wolves are sacred to Odin, but they had to eat them or they'd starve. So they hid the meat inside the Maultaschen, hoping that Odin wouldn't notice. They're also called 'Herrgottsbscheißerle' which means 'Little Cheaters on God'." Cloud cringed as he noticed he was babbling about something Aerith probably didn't care about at all. She had just wanted to know what they would be eating, not the history of Nibelheim!

"So wait a sec," Zack interrupted his thoughts, "We're eating wolf?"

"Nah, you can't get good Nibel Wolf in Midgar so these are just made with ham and beef. Although I appreciate that you tried to disguise how disgusted you were."

Aerith giggled as Zack spluttered. "That's a cute story. Did Odin ever catch on?"

"We're pretty sure he did, but we think he gave us a pass for at least trying to be sneaky about it."

Zack had gotten the stove going and the broth was once again simmering, so Cloud crossed his fingers and starting placing the maultaschen in the pot. He left the SOLDIER in charge of maintaining the temperature and retrieved the potato salad he had made from the fridge. He found what could pass as a vase for Aerith's flowers and set them and the salad on the table.

"Where did you find flowers this nice in Midgar, Aerith?" he asked.

"I grow them. There's an abandoned church down in the slums where flowers can grow for some reason. Zack built a cart for me a few months ago and now I have a little business selling them."

"That's wonderful! I'll bet you make a fortune."

"Not really. It doesn't seem right making a lot of gil for something I don't really work for."

"Don't listen to her, Spiky," Zack called from the kitchen. "She's the one making the flowers grow. They wouldn't be anywhere near as nice if it wasn't for her."

Aerith blushed. "That's not true, I just talk to them. It's nothing special."

"Well, they look pretty special to me. You must be doing something right," Cloud grinned and went back to the kitchen where he started dishing out the food. "These are ready, you guys."

They gathered around the table began digging in. Aerith was nice to talk to, Cloud decided. She had an aura about her that made him feel safe and calm; it was no wonder Zack was so in love with her. The meal passed pleasantly, Zack and Aerith did most of the talking with Cloud content to sit and listen. When Zack began clearing the dishes away, Aerith turned to him.

"You should have Zack show you the way to my church sometime," she said. "It's a nice place to go if you're feeling troubled and I could always use a helper with my flowers."

Cloud blushed and wondered how much Zack had told her about what had happened to him. Before he could speak, Zack piped up, "That's a great idea, babe. There's no point in sitting here alone all day while I'm at work. What do you think, Spike? I could take you down there tomorrow if you want."

"That'd be really nice, as long as you don't mind me being there," Cloud smiled at the thought of spending more time with the girl. He didn't feel attracted to her in a romantic way; he had figured out that he was gay several years ago. But he had a feeling that just being around her would be good for him. And if he could make himself useful while his hand was healing, that would be even better. He hated being idle.

XXX

Zack took Cloud down to Sector 5 the next day, as promised. The church was amazing. It somehow managed to be crumbling and majestic at the same time. The hole in the roof that Zack claimed to have fallen through let some light in from above the plate and it cast the building with a golden yellow tinge. Broken pews littered the sides of the main room and several of the stained glass windows were broken. But in among the debris, flowers were growing from beneath the broken floorboards. A large section near the altar of the church had had the floor torn up entirely to make room for a breathtaking flower garden. Cloud immediately felt at peace upon entering the sacred space.

He spent the day there, helping Aerith prune the flowers and pick weeds. He also spent a good amount of time just staring off into space, thinking about nothing in particular. He hadn't been able to do that since he had joined Shinra and had forgotten how nice it could be to not be worrying about anything. He began going back every day and eventually he started talking to Aerith about what had happened. It was different talking to her than talking to Dr. Tallion. He liked the doctor, but sometimes it felt like the man was just trying to pick him apart. Aerith was different, however. She seemed to understand what he was trying to say even when he couldn't get the words out. And it never felt like she was judging him or trying to get him to talk out of pure curiosity on her part. It also helped that she had met Sephiroth on several occasions and knew what he could be like. She had a lot of insight into his thinking that had helped him in trying to understand why he had left so suddenly after their failed group therapy session.

The nightmares became less frequent as the weeks passed, although they never stopped altogether. But Zack was always there to calm him down when he did dream. It seemed like hardly any time at all before he was back in the hospital to get the pins taken out of his hand. The surgery to remove them was fairly simple and they used several Cures to fix up any remaining signs of the injury.

Zack was thrilled when the pins came out. He invited Aerith over again and the three of them had a small celebration. The SOLDIER splurged on champagne and fancy appetizers because he wouldn't let Cloud cook for his own party. Cloud wasn't entirely sure was they were celebrating for, exactly. His hand was still borderline useless, he had lost a lot of strength and the flexibility of his fingers was terrible. Still, he got into the spirit of things until late into the night when he and Zack were collapsed on the couch once again.

"You know this means you're going to have to stop being such a slacker, right?" Zack playfully jabbed him in the ribs as he spoke.

"I'm not slacking!" Cloud protested.

"I know that, but still, you've got a lot of work ahead of you if you still want to be a SOLDIER. Do you? Still want to be one, I mean."

Cloud's voice seemed far away when he answered, "Yeah, I do, more than anything. And I'm willing to work as hard as it takes to get there. It's just," Cloud paused, "Do you think Sephiroth will mind if I join? He doesn't seem to want anything to do with me."

"I'm glad you still want to join, I'll work with you to get you there. And don't worry about Seph; he'll come around eventually. Now let's get some sleep. It's past your bedtime, Spiky."