Author's Note:
1,400 hits... Wow. If this were a movie, and I had to make you pay to watch it, this would be my highest grossing film ever! But it's not a film and it's totally free! Lucky you. :D

Thanks to those who have reviewed, you are my energy!! I'm serious. You guys give me motivation to finish this terribly long fic with agonizingly short chapters with horrible horrible cliff-hangers.

Thanks to those who have put this fic on alert. This is officially my most alert-ed fic ever. You guys make my day too. :)

Disclaimer:
Once again, no I do not own them. But the plot is mine. Please don't rip it off, cause I will find out, hunt you down and... and... yeah.

Warning:
This chapter is the reason why this fic is M. If you are sensitive to such material, please skip over it quickly through the gaps between your fingers over your eyes. YEAH! MORE LONG SENTENCES!

It's not total lemon. So don't get your hopes up. I might come back again later to fill in the bits missing. But not for now.

Chapter Ten: Heat

The city had already begun to cast its icy grip on the exposed skin of his arms before he snapped out of his thoughts. It was dark, several pinpoints of light speckling the vast city before him. His dinner, laid out on the ground next to him some time ago, had long since cooled. He wasn't hungry anyway.

He stood up, stretched, brought the plate of untouched food into the fridge, walked up the stairs, turned into his room, pulled up the chair, sat himself next to the man on his bed, and stared.

He stared at the battle-rough hands, the well sculpted abdomen, the long thick scar running up his body, the gentle rise and fall of his chest, the two silver tags around his neck...

He's still wearing those?

Cloud leaned forward, tracing the slightly worn silver bands he had soldered himself on his first week in Shinra boot camp. His breath tickled the raven haired man's chest, stirring him slowly from his sleep. And the first thing his eyes met was a pair a bright blue ones staring right back at him.

A smile slipped across his face, pushing himself upright as the blonde moved back into his seat. The throbbing from his scar had subsided a great deal, though his veins felt like they were still on fire. He sent a grin in the general direction of the worried frown on Cloud's face.

"How are ya?"

"I should be the one asking you that."

Zack's grin lop-sided, his hand reaching to the back of his head for a good "that's-a-good-point" scratch. Cloud's eyes followed him cautiously as he got up from the bed, wobbling his way to the window for fresh air. Fresh air felt good.

"Tifa mentioned a few days ago she wanted to go to the fish market in the early morning. But in your condition, I don't think you should be going out."

"A little scrap like that won't kill me..." Zack began, not taking his face away from the open window. "Speaking of which, you have to be more alert than that to protect your girlfriend, you know? If I had fallen asleep-"

"She's not my girlfriend." Cloud interrupted loudly. Then added softly, "And I already know..."

The ex-SOLDIER raised an eyebrow at the blonde who had shifted in his seat, eyes trained on the closed door opposite his open one, barely a fraction of his face visible to the taller man.

"I already know I'm not strong enough. I was never strong enough. I couldn't protect her in Nibelheim, and I still can't protect her now. I should have been. I could have prevented all this from the start." Cloud whispered, his words pushing the sharp pins in his heart deeper. "But I couldn't."

A pair of hands rested on his shoulders. "Cloud... It's not your fault... You don't have to-"

"I see it sometimes." Cloud started again. "I see our town. In her eyes. It's the only part of my past I have left."

The pair of hands tightened their grip slightly on his shoulders.

"I owe it to her, to our village, to protect her."

"You don't owe anyone anything. It's about time you stop living for your past, and start living for you, for the present. Tifa wants more than-"

"I didn't do all this for her."

The hands suddenly loosened their grip. Cloud's gaze dropped to his thick boots, feeling like the floor was falling from beneath them as the words that were always at the tip of his tongue slipped out and into the thin space between them.

"In Shinra, I wanted to be SOLDIER for you. As a private, I trained to the best I could for you. When you were gone, I fought countless enemies for you. I lived the past 5 years, living your share. And every one of those times, I have loved you."

The last words from his lips hung in the awkward silence that had engulfed the room. He had waited so long to say those words to Zack, played this scene over and over again in his mind with a million scenarios.

But nothing had prepared him for the nothingness that greeted him now.

He wished Zack would say something. Anything. Was he angry? Disgusted? Why didn't he say anything? The seconds dragged on agonizingly, and Cloud had enough of it. He hadn't waited years to reach a blank at the end of the page.

He spun around and onto his feet in a blur. "Zack, I need-"

His angry sentence was silenced with a pair of lips crushing against his, a pair of arms circling tightly around his waist, and the feel of the older man's warmth sending a bright crimson to his face. The kiss was searing, full of questions, yet overflowing with answers. And when it ended, left Cloud in a spinning mess of vacant wordlessness.

"I hope that's your answer." Zack said breathily, not letting go of Cloud's waist. Cloud's eyes locked with the taller man, and for once, felt like the words he was sending through them were getting through. He leaned forward again, pressing another kiss against Zack's lips.

The kiss was nowhere near as forceful as Zack's, but burned with quickly unchained passion as he pushed against the ex-SOLDIER, lowering them slowly onto the bed behind them. His boots fell to the floor quickly as he hoisted himself onto the raven-haired man, hands roaming freely on his bare, scarred chest. Zack's hands in turn fumbled downwards towards the thick buckled belt.

Increasingly urgent kisses melted on heated skin, scintillating soft groans from the blonde on top of him.

On top? That's not right.

The ex-SOLDIER gave him a sneaky grin, flipping them both around, pinning Cloud to the bed.

Much better he thought, lowering his head to the stunned younger man below him. The younger man writhed under his touch, passion melting into thick desire. Soft moans escaped his lips, filling the hushed night air with illicit sounds.

Zack's lips trailed a fiery path down Cloud's chest as the blonde wriggled a slim hand down the tanned body and into loosely fitted pants. Zack drew a sharp breath as a warmth enveloped him. His heart pounded dangerously close to explosion as fingers slid cautiously across sensitive skin. He labored for breath, feeling the familiar burning begin to seep into his veins, pounding its way through his body. His vision blurred, bright green slipping into place...

"Zack. Look at me."

A gentle hand fell on his cheek, soft whispered words imploring him to come back. The brightness faded from his eyes, the fire in his blood dissipating into calm once again. His eyes refocused on the worried frown on Cloud's brow.

"Come back to me." he whispered as the slow smile returned to Zack's face. The raven haired man mumbled something into the younger man's ear, returning to nuzzling his neck.

"Now... Where was I..."

Zack smiled as he watched his boyfriend fall asleep on his shoulder, burying his face into the crook of his neck. The rain had begun to fall quietly outside, sending its refreshing scent seeping into the room, pervading the thick air. Slight goosebumps began springing up on Cloud's exposed back, prompting Zack to pull him closer, and the sheets around them.

Mine. That was a nice thought.

He kept the thought and stored it safely in a corner of his mind. The arm he had extended around the smaller frame reached up to stroke soft blonde hair. Cloud murmured an exhausted objection to any resemblance to chocobos, then giving himself to the first peaceful sleep in a long time.

I can live with this... Zack thought, tracing the contours of Cloud's back. His new lover's form seemed to be the last fitting piece in the gaping hole in his mind, making him wonder how he ever got by without being so complete.

"Zack?"

A soft voice from the doorway tore his attention away from the soft skin below his fingertips. Tifa stood in the doorway, her back towards the room. She seemed to be made from the darkness that surrounded her, her head bowed down, hands fiddling with the corner of her shirt.

"Zack, I need to talk to you. Could you meet me in the bar?"

She left after a chirp but whispered agreement. The tanned man gently extracted himself from the bed and the warmth of the man next to him, slipping the extra pillow into the gap in Cloud's arms. The blonde took quickly to the soft pillow that smelled so much like the older man, cuddling it sluggishly, nibbling at the edge.

Pulling on a shirt and pair of pants, Zack let out a quiet chuckle. "That looks utterly silly. Thank Gaia I don't do that."

Tifa was already in the bar, two stiff drinks set on the table, a chair drawn out for the man who entered and sat himself across from the brunette. He muffled his apprehension with a good dose of grins, tossing back one of the shots of burning alcohol with a muttered thanks. She didn't look up from the table she was staring at with a fierce intensity.

"Zack..." she began hesitantly, searching for the words. "I'm sorry."

Green eyes flicked from the shot glass to the stuttering girl in front of him. He set the glass down on the table, letting out a soft sigh. He was never too good at breaking hearts. He reached across the table for her icy cold hands, enveloping them in his larger warm ones.

"Tifa... I should be the one apologizing. Believe me, I didn't expect this to happen between Cloud and I. It... It just did. And I know how much you-"

Her eyes shot up to look him directly in the eye, hot tears already marring her vision. She wrenched her hands away from his. His very presence made her feel condemned. His gaze was burning a hole in her. His touch sapped what little energy she had left.

"You're going to die, Zack." She hated the words coming out from her.

Zack blinked. "The wound wasn't that bad, really. I'm al-"

"I called someone. I wasn't thinking I tried to stop it but..."

Zack withdrew his hands slowly, realization dawning upon him painfully. His gaze faltered, wandering towards the stairs.

"When is the hit."

"In an hour."

He got up silently and walked briskly out of the bar, into the rain soaked streets. He couldn't bring this back to Cloud. He wouldn't let him be in harm's way. He had to get as far from him as possible.

Zack started running, his heart withering with every step.

The first rays of the Tuesday sun glinted off the polished gun barrel. A gloved hand ran down the side of the weapon, setting it gently on the prepared position. A single target. A single shot. He wasn't going to drag this any longer than he needed to.

He hated shooting at people he knew. Tseng once told him it was like talking to the cow before eating its steak.

His phone rang again, but he didn't bother looking, instead snapping the battery out from the casing. He should have never gotten a phone.

Vincent crouched behind the jagged tops of the rebuilt Shinra monument. All roads led here, would bring his target here.

Ten more minutes.

He loaded a single bullet in the rifle's chamber and cocked the gun quietly with a steady thumb.

Eight more minutes.

The necessity of this far outweighed any personal emotions he had. He knew what his friend had become. He knew that a cure was equivalent to a lifetime in a laboratory. He knew that if he didn't do something, this... Monster... Would destroy everything it held dear. He almost half wished Zack wouldn't appear.

Three more minutes.

His eyes scanned the empty square. His target was approaching.

TBC

Please review! Next chapter is the second last.
thanks to everyone who has read this! (By the time I finished writing this chapter a couple of hours later, hits had jumped to 1600!)