"Zaaaaaaack!"

My voice broke halfway through the scream, erratic sobs shuddering through my chest. Zack cried out once, more of a low, choking gasp than anything else, and I watched in horror as the monster pulled Zack closer to him, his elongated fingernails ripping straight through the leather of his jacket, tearing at the dark strands of his hair. I was almost overwhelmed by the unstoppable urge to attack this horrible failed experiment- the way he was holding Zack against him, so possessively, like a lover; the triumphant grin I could see stretching the sides of his mouth, as he gulped harder, dark red blood dripping down to the ground beneath them, drops splashing onto Zack's half stunned, half horrified face. Not one thing about him or how he was treating Zack didn't make me want to murder him.

Zack barely started fighting before he fell limp, his eyes huge but oddly unfocused, distant. It hit me hard how little I'd seen of Zack acting like that; he was never the type to get lost in his thoughts, to gaze off into nothing. With him, everything was dragged into the present, in a startlingly sharp focus, and I never cast my thoughts to the past. Something about Zack affected me, forced me to push myself out of any kind of rut the past left me in. His energy was the thing that spurred me forwards, kept me out of the past and right next to him, right… right where I wanted to be. When that energy started to fade from him, the vigour just seemed to sap straight out of me, that weird surge of strength that kept me clinging to the pole next to me. It weakened me just to see Zack fading, almost looking like he was about to drift off to sleep-

But Zack never did that. If he slept at all, it was split seconds after bouncing around like an overly excitable, well, puppy, a tag he always had resented. A name everyone used behind his back, knowing that if they were caught Zack could always just laugh it off, or at his worst, maybe even challenge them to a squat drill; his idea of punishment, since it was one of his more ridiculous habits; despite the situation, I smiled to myself a little as it flicked across my mind how annoyed I'd always gotten when, halfway through a conversation, he'd just suddenly start squatting, exactly where he stood. His favourite time for that trick was during important mission briefs- he'd insist, to Lazard's barely concealed amusement, that he had a desperate need to stretch his legs. Worst excuse he'd ever cooked up, in my opinion, but for Zack it worked every time.

A choked off, throaty attempt at a cry brought me hurtling back into the present, staring back into Zack's eyes, which started to slide shut…

I hear it the second time, see his fingers attempt to grip at the monster on top of him. The movement fails, his hand only twitching violently, but his whisper to me is as clear as day, even over the horrible dripping and gulping noises filling the warehouse.

Run.

He wanted me to run, while the experiment was pre-occupied with him.

I couldn't leave Zack- I couldn't leave anyone behind! He knew that! How could he expect me to run, to leave him behind in the arms of that… that thing?!

His eyes, though unfocused, followed me as I stumbled to my feet, and a tiny smile threatened his lips. He thought I was going to run away, that I'd be safe. I'd never be safe, no matter how far I ran; so, betraying all reputation I'd gained during my time with SOLDIER, for once I refused to obey a superior rank. For once, I refused a direct order.

For once, I was unpredictable, and acted in completely the opposite way to what was expected of me, a Third Class, a nobody.

I threw myself at Zack's attacker.

For a moment, it looked shocked; tearing its face away from Zack's neck to glance at me as I lurched forwards. Nausea curled in my stomach at the sight of Zack's wound, at all the blood so close by, but I gritted my teeth and ignored it, only focused on the experiment-

And, just for a tiny second, it felt like I was going to catch it unawares, for the shock to be enough for me to kill it. That tiny second didn't last long enough, broken- along with possibly a rib or two- as a bloodstained arm shot out from nowhere, catching me hard enough to make the loud crack echo around the metal walls, to send me shooting backwards into one of the pipes lining the room. Agony ripped through my abdomen, all up my spine, as I slid the last few feet down to the ground, blinded by red- whether it was from the pain or the anger, I could no longer tell.

The monster dropped Zack to the ground, dark head bouncing on the strutted flooring in a way that told me his victim had fainted, and stood up, stalking toward me across the room.

"Aw, do you intend to ruin my fun? You were gonna be dessert, lapdog," it growled as it approached me, clawed hand reaching down, grasping at my chin. The sharp nails scratched at my skin, a low whimper escaping from my lips, as he pulled my face up to his, inches from the bloodied mouth…

"It's such a shame- you looked so appetising, but when I-" I cut off the words with a cry of pain as he slowly and deliberately dragged a nail across my cheek, and leant down, his tongue sliding along the bleeding gash he'd created.

"Mmm… Just like I thought. Not right," the tone was almost like a complaint, and I tried desperately to shrink back as he sank down, as good as sitting on top of me as he was going to get, what with my frantic attempts to pull away.

"Gah-" I gasped, first at the weight of the thing, but then at the steadily blossoming pain shooting out from the back of my skull, right through my head, right through my thoughts.

Bright lights pricked before my eyes as my vision blurred, changing; I thrashed around, unable to stop myself screaming as the burning hot acid shot through me, spreading down into my chest, my arms, even my legs, which were quickly freed as the experiment presumably moved away…

Back to Zack?! Was that where he was going?

My screams became his name as I writhed on the ground, suddenly boiling hot and freezing cold, all at the same time. I couldn't let it get to Zack again! If I did, Zack could die, he was helpless! As helpless as I was-

When that thought broke through into my mind, things turned unbearably crystal clear, and I found myself standing up, almost like some unseen force was dragging me to my feet. And my thoughts suddenly all became just one- I had to finish the mission.

They were right. I had to finish what I'd started- the reason I'd been asked to go after this monster wasn't just to follow it, it was to take it out!

I didn't need to think, I didn't even need to consciously move. I could fight, I could kill. That was all that mattered.

The perfect SOLDIER, I remembered them telling me, before the needle went in my arm. All the mutters as I drifted off to sleep, saying the same thing- except for one.

She had said perfect monster, the woman helping the scientist.

The thoughts disappeared again, replaced again by the sudden drive to kill the experiment; more than I'd felt even when he was assaulting Zack, when he was mocking us afterwards.

My fingers curled around the hilt of Zack's sword, discarded some feet from his collapsed form, and surged towards the monster, just like the energy surged through me. But it was too much, even after such a short time; it hurt more than I could have imagined, taking over everything, turning the world white…

When even the white was pulled into the blackness, I didn't fight back. I didn't even think of protesting. I fell along with it.