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: Brief mention of rape
Summary: Sephiroth and Cloud are coming to terms with the aftermath of their capture and torture by of AVALANCHE, including a slowly budding friendship (and perhaps more?).
Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and make no money from this work.

A/N: Mad props go to Aylah on LJ for giving me a less scary summary. Some people just can't summarize, okay? Also thank you to everyone for your reviews, they're fantastic!

XXX

Sephiroth stepped into the noise-filled room that stank of old sweat and wrinkled his nose, wondering if it would be worth it ask for a private gym that he wouldn't have to share with the rest of SOLDIER. He was making his way past the cardio equipment towards the weights when he noticed a familiar mess of blond spikes bobbing on one of the treadmills and came to a halt, staring. His mind raced to come up with a reason for Cloud to be using the SOLDIER gym and got nothing. He had to go, quickly, before… Cloud looked up and stared directly at him. Sweat was dripping off his brow and the white t-shirt he was wearing was plastered to his lean chest. Bright blue eyes blinked once as if trying to register what they were seeing and the young man stopped the treadmill and pulled the headphones out of his ears.

"General, sir," Cloud sounded a bit breathless, "I didn't expect you to be here, I'm sorry. I'm using Zack's pass and it's usually pretty dead around now. I know I'm not supposed to use this gym but it's hard being around the other army guys now that I can't keep up with them and Zack said it wouldn't be a problem."

Sephiroth held up his arms to try and stem the onslaught of excuses before the boy hyperventilated and passed out. "It's okay, Cloud. I'm not upset that you're here. Please continue." He turned and started back towards the exit.

"General," Cloud called out to him, "Please don't go. You came here to use the gym, didn't you?"

Sephiroth found himself saddened by the desperate tone in Cloud's voice. He didn't want to be the cause of that tone, so he stopped and turned back. "I did, but I don't wish for you to feel uncomfortable. I can come back another time."

"I'm not uncomfortable, sir. Please, can we talk? I know you don't want to but there's something else I need to say and then you can ignore me for the rest of our lives, if you want. I just need you to listen to me one more time. Please?"

The pleading voice stopped him from refusing right away and Sephiroth had to take care to keep the emotions running through him off his face. He didn't want to go with him, something would come out and Cloud would look at him like the monster he really was. He had spent all this time avoiding him for a reason. What if the boy wanted to ask more about why he had asked him to put on the show? What if someone overheard Cloud say that the General had been raped? He'd be humiliated; he'd lose the respect of his men. He couldn't do it. Sephiroth looked deep into the piercing blue eyes that were begging him with such earnest intensity. He couldn't refuse, as much as he wanted to. "Alright, but not here. Do you mind if we go somewhere else?"

Cloud hesitated momentarily before he nodded, "Where do you want to go?"

"Just somewhere so Shinra won't be eavesdropping on us. We could go to a coffee shop or something, if you'd be more comfortable in a public place."

"That would be good, thanks. Just let me go grab a quick shower and get changed, sir."

"Of course, I'll wait for you outside the locker rooms. I'm going to run back to my office for a moment, so if I'm not there when you come out, please wait."

"Yes, sir," Cloud nodded before hopping off his treadmill and heading to the lockers.

Sephiroth watched his retreating back for a few moments before realizing what he was doing. The boy was trusting him enough to be willing to speak to him alone again; leering at him wasn't going to encourage that! He left the gym and jogged back to his office where he grabbed the set of clothes he stored there. His civilian ensemble consisted of a pair of jeans, a plain t-shirt, regular combat boots as opposed to his thigh high ones, sunglasses and a hoodie. He quickly changed and pulled the hood up over his highly recognizable hair. He looked at his reflection in the office window and sighed. Why had he agreed to this? It was a huge mistake; he couldn't even stop himself from staring at the boy's ass as he walked away. What was he supposed to say over coffee? He let his head bang against the window. What was he thinking? He had to do this; he could do this. He had given his word that he'd be back.

The General pushed himself of the window and took a deep breath. It would work out, he just had to have a little faith in himself. He made it back to the locker rooms a couple minutes before Cloud exited, looking refreshed and carrying a gym bag over his left shoulder. His face broke into a grin when he saw Sephiroth.

"Wow, sir, I barely recognized you."

"It's a necessity, I'm afraid, if we don't want a legion of fangirls hanging on our every word," Sephiroth began leading the way through the halls towards the elevators. "And I'm going to have to ask you not to refer to me as 'sir' or 'general' either while we're out."

"But then, what should I call you?"

"Sephiroth will do just fine."

"But won't your fans recognize that?"

"Well, yes, but as long as you don't go shouting my name across the street or something that shouldn't be a problem. I simply prefer being called by my name when I'm not on duty."

"Oh, okay. I can do that."

Sephiroth swiped his keycard for the glass elevator and ushered Cloud in before stepping into it himself. He hit the button for the lobby as the doors shut. He glanced over at Cloud and noticed that he was pressed tightly against the wall and clinging to the rail with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He looked rather pale, too.

"Cloud, are you okay?" he inquired gently. The boy was probably panicking about being in an enclosed space alone with him. He should have known better, he berated himself.

"I'm fine, s- Sephiroth. It's just I don't like elevators; I get motion sickness and this one is kind of freaking me out what with the glass and the plummeting down really fast."

Oh, it wasn't because of him. An amused expression crossed his face as he pondered the fact that Cloud was afraid of heights and got motion sickness. Then it struck him, Cloud was afraid. He tentatively reached out a hand to touch Cloud's and was startled when the boy suddenly latched on to his arm.

"Sorry, s- Sephiroth. Zack teases me every time I have to go in an elevator; you can too, if you want."

His heart was pounding and Sephiroth wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do, but figured that anything would be better than standing there like a statue, although he didn't think teasing would be a good approach either. He placed the arm that wasn't otherwise occupied around Cloud's back and gave him a slight squeeze.

"It's okay, there's nothing to be frightened of," he hoped that he sounded comforting. "Just keep your eyes shut. I'm not moving, am I? The head pressed against his arm shook a slight 'no'. "Then we must not be moving." The elevator began slowing down so he added, "See, we're here already."

Cloud leapt back as though he had been burned; apparently the thought of getting caught clinging to the General was enough to override his fear of the elevator. He wondered if the boy knew the elevators were monitored. Probably not, he decided. The doors opened into the lobby and Cloud rushed out of them before spending a few moments composing himself. Sephiroth positioned himself to block the views of any overly curious secretaries as he listened to the blond take several deep, steadying breaths.

"Thanks, I'm good to go now, sir. I mean, Sephiroth! Sorry."

"Not a problem, I appreciate your efforts," the hooded man smiled warmly before leading him out into Sector Eight.

They went to a small coffee shop that was far enough from headquarters that most personnel tended to avoid it. It was still fairly crowded though; that would make Cloud feel more comfortable and lessen the chances of them being noticed or overheard. They ordered their drinks and after a small argument, Cloud allowed Sephiroth to pay. He took off his sunglasses and chose a table in the back corner, positioning himself so that he would be able to see the entire room. Cloud took the seat opposite him and stirred his mocha aimlessly while Sephiroth waited for him to begin talking. After what seemed like an eternity, the boy looked up at him.

"S- Sephiroth," Cloud began, "Aerith told me that you probably really need to hear this, so, I'm just going to say it. But, um, please don't run away again like you did last time."

Sephiroth felt hesitant, but agreed that he shouldn't be running away like a coward if a mere trooper was willing to stick around and talk about these things. "Okay, I'm listening. And I'll stay, I promise."

"I forgive you," Cloud's words were so rushed they almost merged together, but they were clear enough for Sephiroth. "I don't blame you for what happened, but I know that you're sorry. So I want you to know that you're forgiven."

The General couldn't believe the effect those simple words had on him. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't even realized he had been carrying such a burden until it was suddenly gone. Those blue eyes had stared straight into his own as Cloud spoke and Sephiroth knew he was being truthful. After several long moments of stunned silence, Sephiroth found his voice.

"Thank you," the words were barely more than a grateful whisper. Something came back to him then, Cloud's words from that day in the hospital. The trooper had said he was sorry too. He understood now, that just as Sephiroth had felt guilty for hurting Cloud, Cloud had felt that exact same guilt. And that he had the same power to relieve that guilt.

"I forgive you too, Cloud."

With that, the boy's face lit up in a brilliant smile, "Thanks, Sephiroth." The smile and words of gratitude made his heart beat a little faster. If he could make someone smile like that, maybe he wasn't such a monster after all. He knew he still had inappropriate feelings for Cloud, but he was well known for his self-restraint. He could simply choose not to act on them and Cloud would never know. He'd just have to avoid riding in elevators with him from now on.

"So what do we do now?" Cloud asked before taking a sip of his drink. Sephiroth noticed he used both hands to hold the cup. "I mean, are we friends? Zack wants us to be, I know that much. This whole thing has been pretty hard on him."

"Yes, I believe we could be friends. I've noticed Zack hasn't quite been himself lately, I'd like to help him, if I can."

Cloud nodded vigorously, "Me too. He's done so much for me."

"How are you healing, by the way?" Sephiroth hoped it wasn't inappropriate to ask such a thing.

"Pretty well," Cloud flapped his right hand around, perhaps to show that it didn't hurt. "They took the pins out a couple weeks ago and I started going to physiotherapy. That really sucks, but I have to go if I want to get better."

"Why does it suck? I've never been."

"Well, I lost a lot of 'range of motion'," Cloud make sarcastic little air quotes, "And so they try to stretch the muscles and tendons out. They attach these weird electrode things to my hand to stimulate the muscles; that hurts a lot, I don't like that part at all. And I have to spend like fifteen minutes dunking my hand in hot then cold water. Only the hot water's never hot and my hand feels like a Popsicle when the fifteen minutes are up."

"That does sound unpleasant." Sephiroth felt it probably wasn't the best idea to say what he really felt; that it sounded like a wonderful way to spend the day in comparison to Hojo's lab.

Cloud grinned, "Ah, it's not so bad, I guess. And I am getting better. They measure how much flexibility I've got every day so I can see the progress I'm making. And this morning they upgraded me to green putty!"

"Green putty?" Sephiroth was thoroughly confused. Was that supposed to be a good thing?

The trooper laughed and pulled a small plastic tub out of his bag. "Green putty!" he announced, holding it out proudly. "I'm supposed to squeeze it to work on getting the strength back. I started out with blue, but they upgraded me to green today, which is stiffer."

Sephiroth cautiously took the tub and poked at its contents. It was indeed some sort of putty-like substance that would be acceptable for squeezing. It seemed rather soft, but then, Cloud was unenhanced and injured. Perhaps it provided a challenge to him. He looked up and he felt himself smile at the excitement he saw in the boy.

"That's wonderful, I'm glad you're making such good progress."

"That reminds me," Cloud said as he put the tub back in his bag, "I wanted to thank you. You were the one who paid for me to be healed with materia, weren't you?"

Sephiroth blinked a few times, "What? I'm not sure I follow, I authorized materia to be used on you, but it didn't cost me anything. And if I hadn't authorized it, Zack would have. I was just there first, so I signed the forms."

"But then, who paid for it? Shinra doesn't pay for materia to be used on grunts. That's what they told us when we joined. Am I going to be getting a huge bill in the mail?" Cloud's face suddenly filled with horror at the thought.

"Oh, I understand now. No, you won't be getting a bill, don't worry," Sephiroth reassured the boy who appeared to be in the process of calculating his wages for the next several decades. "People join Shinra thinking that they'll be getting Cures for every bump and bruise, but that's not logistically possible, you see. So we tell the new recruits that materia's only for the higher ranks."

"So… it's not?" Cloud still looked mystified.

"No, if an injury's severe enough, materia will be used to heal it."

"So why did you need to authorize it?"

"Well, high-level materia is difficult to obtain, and doctors have to be trained to use it properly. So the authorization of the ranking officer is needed before it's used. Under normal circumstances, flesh wounds would be allowed to heal on their own as it helps people learn from their mistakes if they have to suffer for them. I told the doctor to heal everything in your case; your injuries weren't because of a mistake you made and there was nothing to be learned from them."

Cloud's cheeks tinted a faint pink at that. "Thank you, Sephiroth," he mumbled over the top of his mocha.

"You're welcome."

Silence fell over the small table, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Both men were simply digesting what had been said. A sudden blaring noise caused Sephiroth to jump and nearly spill his coffee. He grudgingly reached into his pocket for his PHS and gave it a dirty look before answering it. He noticed Cloud snickering slightly from behind his hand and quirked an eyebrow at him as he spoke to Lazard.

After a couple minutes he hung up and turned to Cloud again. "It startles me; Zack keeps changing the ringtone," he offered as an explanation.

Cloud just nodded and gave him a tiny smile, "I know, it was still a bit funny to see you jump like that. Makes you seem a bit more real."

"Hmph, I think you've gotten a little too comfortable with this friendship thing."

The boy suddenly recoiled, "I'm sorry, sir! I didn't mean to ov-"

"I was joking, Cloud. I know that it can come as a bit of a shock, but I do have a sense of humour. And believe me, I find the thought of the Demon of Wutai jumping when his PHS rings just as amusing as you do." Cloud visibly relaxed and Sephiroth continued, "I do have to get back to headquarters, however. Some important business has come up that I need to attend to right away."

"Okay, thanks for talking with me."

"Thank you for making me talk. I needed it." Sephiroth hesitated before asking, "Would you like to train together some time?"

"I- I'd l-love to," Cloud spluttered, "But you shouldn't waste-"

"If you say I shouldn't waste my time on you, I'm going to be very upset," Sephiroth warned.

Cloud ducked his head, "Then, I'd love to."

Sephiroth nodded his approval, "That's better. Will you walk with me back to headquarters?"

The walk back was a lot less uncomfortable than the walk there and Cloud was still smiling when they reached the Sector Eight fountain.

"Are you still staying with Zack?" Sephiroth asked.

"Uh huh, for a little while longer probably."

"Then I'll call to work out a time when we can start training."

"Thank you, I'd like that a lot. I'll talk to you later then," Cloud held out his right hand and Sephiroth shook it gently, not wanting to risk damaging it. He would have to find out from Zack just how to go about training with the boy and what his limits were.

"Yes, have a good evening."

Cloud looked extremely light on his feet as he practically skipped around down the street towards the military residences. This was going surprisingly well and Sephiroth began to wonder what exactly he had been running away from all this time. The time apart had probably done some good, though. It must have, he knew he hadn't been anywhere near prepared to start a friendship with Cloud right away. A smile crossed his face as he entered the building in front of him; he had a new friend.

XXX

"Zack! Zack! Guess what!" Cloud burst into the apartment shouting.

"Umm, the Great Silver General doesn't hate your guts and wants to be friends with you?"

Cloud ground to a halt and stared at the man lying sprawled on the lone couch in the living room. "How'd you know?" he asked accusingly.

"I'm a fantastic guesser," Zack sat up and thumped the cushion next to him. "Sit down, bud." Cloud sat, looking very suspicious. "An alternate explanation might be that I just got off the phone with him. He called and demanded to know what your schedule was and what type of training you can do while you're recovering."

Cloud grinned widely and nodded, "He offered to train me, Zack! Me!"

"Told you he didn't hate you," Zack playfully punched Cloud on the shoulder. "So you're cool with being friends with him?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Still got a crush on him?"

"Zack!" Cloud turned beet red and buried his face in his hands.

"What? It's important for the best friend to know these things! Well, whether you're living in denial or not, I'm glad you guys worked it out. Now I don't have to run interference anymore. So I gave him your schedule and he's going to shuffle his around so he can meet with you at least a couple times a week. He'll call when he gets it worked out."

"Okay, sounds good. I'm going to go make dinner, what're you in the mood for?" The blush was fading a little from Cloud's cheeks now that Zack seemed to have dropped the topic of his crush.

"I'll eat anything, you know that, Spiky. But there's something I want to ask you about first."

"Sure, what is it?" Cloud sat back down.

"You know that now that you've been promoted from Private, you can get a place on your own, right? You don't have to stay in the barracks."

"Yeah, I know that."

"So I just wondered if you had made any plans for your living arrangements?"

"Not really, the pay's not good enough to be able to afford a place."

"Then it's settled, you can live here. I like having a roomie who'll cook for me."

"What? Zack! I can't! I know this place isn't the greatest, but I doubt I can afford even half the rent!"

"That's why you have to keep cooking for me. Don't worry about the rent, we'll figure out what you can afford and you can pay that. You already do way more than your fair share of chores around here, so that can count towards the rest of the rent. Now, no protesting! Go make my dinner, boy!" Zack kicked Cloud in the butt as he got off the couch.

Cloud shrieked and laughed as he ran towards the kitchen. "Yes, sir! Right away!" He couldn't help the broad grin that swept across his face as he started hauling out pots; things were definitely looking up.

XXX

A/N: Yay! A breakthrough! That was a long time coming. Many thanks again to urplesquirrel for all her help.

This next part is totally skippable, but I wanted to share my "I learned something new" story. I was talking to some friends who had also been to physiotherapy, and the topic of those electrode things that no one seems to know the name of came up. Apparently, I'm a total freak because I was shocked to discover that normal people don't like them. I had absolutely no idea! That was my favourite part of physio! I loved them because if you turned them all the way up (and fiddled with the settings), the actual physio didn't hurt as much. You got the wonderful pain of electrocution instead. Which in my opinion, was way better than the pain of joints being bent in ways they don't want to bend. So yeah, I learned that they're not actually meant to be used as painkillers and they have an entirely different purpose.