A/n: Apologies for lack of progress. I've had a lot of stuff to deal with. Suffice to say I'll be getting them up quicker. Thanks for staying with it peeps!

Chapter Ten

Tension

Within days the small blond would have been running circles around Sephiroth, that is, if he were the type to be running around. The morning that he woke to find he could move them, and even put his weight on them, he was so overjoyed that the old Cloud almost seemed to whirl away like water through a plug hole. He would never take advantage of these things again. The muscular freedom, the walking; he knew know how important they could be and now he had a second chance to appreciate it, not many people would ever receive that chance.

"Remarkable." Sephiroth mused as he watched him stand on his feet, staring in disbelief at himself. "It seems that your healing processes are accelerated by mako..." Though the idea was astounding, given that large doses were supposed to drown the body's senses and abilities, it seemed that Cloud genuinely needed the mako to heal and work properly. No wonder Hojo had wanted to study him so badly. Sephiroth began to wonder if it wasn't something to do with the other experiment, the one they had started a full twenty years ago and hadn't quite managed to finish. Perhaps, with the boy's help, they could get it underway again.

"...Thank you... you gave me that mako and saved them! You saved my legs, sir!"

"Indeed I did, now you can start earning your keep for me." Sephiroth demanded. There was no hint in his voice of even considering the word "no" and Cloud released that. He nodded slowly indicating that he was willing to do anything to pay back the man who had saved him from that wretched Hojo and prevented him from living the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He would be eternally grateful to his tall, silver haired hero even if he still wanted to go back to the mako pool.

"Yes, what should I do?" Cloud nodded. "Should I deliver messages? Or...be your training partner? I don't know how to fight yet but whatever I need to do to repay you for the things you have done I will."

"No. Nothing like fighting. At least not for the moment." Said Sephiroth leaning over to open the cupboard, he pulled out a cardboard box and handed it to Cloud. "The first thing I want you to do is to take a parcel to the Turk's on floor XX. Hand it directly to Tseng and do NOT let Reno get his grubby paws on it. Go now." He let out a short breath of a laugh at the boy's reasoning but chose to ignore it. Whether or not Sephiroth had saved his legs or his life or his dignity from Hojo, Cloud would be doing what he was told. He was now Sephiroth's property. And that which belonged to him, did as he told them.

Cloud nodded and took the sealed cardboard box in his arms. It was heavy and tied with duct tape and string but he could carry it for a little while, perhaps a good few minutes to the lift and rest until he reached his floor and then some. He heard a clink as he took the box. The contents seemed to be bottles or vials of liquid which explained the heaviness of the box. Already straining under the weight, but determined nonetheless, Cloud had already decided he would complete this task.

"Yes, I'll do it now." He scampered to the door but before he could open it, Sephiroth tripped him up, grabbing the bulky parcel back effortlessly as the boy rolled into the door. Cloud looked up at him worried and a little dazed.

"Aren't you missing something?"

"M-missing something?" Cloud asked and stared up at Sephiroth. He was glaring at him in a way that made Cloud want to hide under the bed.

"Missing something." Sephiroth clarified. Cloud's continuing blank stare only infuriated him further. "I thought I warned you to refer to me as SIR, or GENERAL."

Cloud squeaked at his raised tone. He hadn't even realised he'd omitted the word.

"I'm sorry, really sorry, I forgot, it won't happen again!" Cloud assured him but Sephiroth had already grabbed him by the arm and wrenched him to his feet with it. He continued to twist his wrist back.

"Of course it won't happen again, from now on, it's MASTER to you" Sephiroth hissed over Cloud's wails pulling the boys face closer to his so he could growl into it, "AND FOR THE LOVE OF GAIA TOUGHEN UP WILL YOU! What are you, a little girl? Only a girl would whimper in a manner so pathetic."

Cloud nodded frantically his arm going limp, he would agree to anything so long as it stopped the larger man from snapping his arm off. Sephiroth's flaring anger only intensified as the kid attempted to curl up in defence. His introverted reaction was the opposite of the larger man's intention. He grabbed the boy's throat, hoping to draw out a reaction. Cloud did, flailing around his arms randomly to biff him back. The larger male grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back pressing him to the wall. Cloud squealed, Sephiroth's sudden outburst at him was unprovoked and Cloud couldn't figure out how to stop it.

"I'll get you the fighting lessons too then." The silver haired one decided, calming slightly. "If you're to be my assistant then you will need to accompany me on missions at some point..."

Cloud tried to be enthusiastic about that despite his cheek being pressed into the wall. Sephiroth loosened his grip a little but Cloud didn't try to move for fear of another uncalled-for assault. The blond felt a warm feeling on his neck followed by warm skin. He froze again; rigid against the wall as he felt what could only be Sephiroth biting against his neck. He gasped for three reasons; fear, pain, and something else. The something else reminded him of the time Hojo had touched him; it reminded him of the two soldiers who had grabbed him in the changing rooms. It scared him and he shook violently.

"Please...d-don't..." he whimpered, his breaking voice muffling into the hard, coldness of the wall.

"Don't WHAT?" Sephiroth growled at his neck before continuing to nip and pull at the boy's tender neck leaving the boy feeling more vulnerable than ever. Neither of them had any idea why he was doing it and even why he hadn't stopped once he realised he was but it would drum the lesson into the boy's brain faster than his erratic heartbeat jutting into his ribcage. His firm tongue dragged across the quickly growing bruise.

"D-Don't, Master!" Cloud squeaked, his nails digging at unyielding wall and Sephiroth chuckled. With a slow, calculated step backward he let go of the smaller blond, but not before he had left his mark. He let the boy peel himself from the wall in his own time and shoved the slightly heavy box back into his shaking arms.

"Tseng, now."

Cloud nodded.

"Yes, Master." He ran out of door and straight into the empty lift as though it was about to leave without him.

What had Sephiroth tried to do to him? He was scared. Why did everyone keep trying to touch him? Why was his neck hurting now? He pressed a hesitant hand to it and wiped the wet saliva from him. Though he couldn't see the bruising, he could certainly feel it.

With his heartbeat only letting up a little he pressed the correct buttons for the floor he wanted and tried to avoid the sparks from the speaker at the side of the elevator. It had been damaged and he warily thought how dangerous it could be, not that he actually knew what it was.

The slow ride down was relaxing despite the lack of "elevator music" and when he reached the desired floor a particularly mischievous red-head grinned down at him. Cloud grimaced.

"HEY THERE SPIKEY!" Reno said in his usual quiet calm voice which made Cloud want to be there so much. "What you got there?"

"A present for Tseng..." Cloud mumbled. He didn't want Reno to know it wasn't for him.

"I'll take it to him kiddo, just hand it over."

Cloud shook his head. It was more than his life was worth.

"Come on yo, don't you trust me?"

Cloud shook his head again. Of course he didn't! This was Reno.

"Hey! After everything I've done for you? Come on, give it over, I won't open it! I'm heading there anyway, so I won't be going out of my way."

Cloud considered. It would get good points from his Master if he could finish his delivery in record time. He stared down at the box. It couldn't be that precious. He wouldn't be the one taking it to Tseng if it was worth that much. As he was thinking about possibly maybe considering thinking about giving Reno the box he was tackled to the ground and the box wrestled from his hands. Everyone in the large hallway continued doing what they were doing. Some days it was best to just ignore Reno, today was one of those days.

"NO! Sephiroth said you weren't to get it!" Cloud screamed from his position on the floor. The words were out before he even realised it and Reno's grin widened.

"Fantastic, yo! Tell him thanks!" the redhead called straight off to his room to open it. "By the way, I love what Sephy-baby's done to your neck, it's very...interesting!" He waved and ran off with the box leaving Cloud heartbroken on the floor on the verge of tears. Sephiroth would kill him... if he wasn't happy with Cloud forgetting to call him "sir" what would he do if he lost his box of whatever it was for Tseng. Pulling himself together he scraped himself from the floor and returned to the "Sephy-baby's" room.

"That was quick. Reno must have been waiting for you."

Cloud's eyes widened in fear at those words, Sephiroth walked him coldly from the windowsill.

"How did you-?"

"Do you honestly think that there are things in this building that I do not know about? More to the point, I gave that box to you with the intention that the bothersome creature should end up with it. If I had been important, I would have delivered it myself. I am not stupid enough to entrust a mere child with any life threatening objects in the absence of medical, physical or communications training. Sending you on an important mission with Reno running around is like sending a kitten with a rabbit in its mouth to go play with a Rottweiler!" He chuckled returning his gaze to the window. It would serve the redhead right.

The words wounded Cloud though he tried not to show it.

"Master..." he tried, "D-does that mean I finished my task or not?"

Sephiroth looked around at him and thought about it. He wasn't sure. Though Sephiroth had intended on the boy getting the parcel to Reno he had told him to give it to Tseng. This meant his task was incomplete but technically it was.

"I'll say for sake of argument, that you completed your task...I'm in a good mood, do you want some mako as a reward?"

Cloud's eyes danced and his mouth gaped in delight. He nodded, speechless.

Sephiroth pulled a set of keys from his leathers and used one to unlock the cabinet beneath the long windowsill. From his position, Cloud could see that it had been fully stocked with copious amounts of the swirling aquamarine mist.

"Come on then, unless you don't want it boy?"

Cloud nearly dived at Sephiroth's knees, tilting his head forward so the larger man could reach his neck but, confused, he felt himself lifted up into Sephiroth's lap before the man even pierced the silver foil with the syringe.

He could smell the mako already. It was fresh, fresher than previous doses. These had probably been very recently collected and Cloud thought they were possibly just as concentrated as the naturally produced kind. He inhaled the scent deeply, his eyes closing in bliss as it caught in his throat.

He gripped Sephiroth's arm in anticipation as the other hand was grasped and his sleeve pushed back. He took a quick, deep breath and the long silver proboscis punctured the skin with an inaudible pop. The liquid flowed into him and he clung to the general, moaning deeply. Sephiroth smirked. The dosage of the mako in the gym was nothing compared to what he was hoarding. This stuff was stronger than half of the regular grunts in the entire Shinra army. The strength was enough to make Sephiroth wrinkle his nose when he tried to inhale it. But Cloud was shuddering and gripping at him while "under the influence".

He took the boy's hand in his and unhooked each finger from his arm but the boy sunk and he had to catch him before he fell.

"Sephiroth..." the boy drooled, clinging to his neck, "thank you."

"Master." He corrected and dared himself to look at the boy's neck. The mark he'd left was ripe and already slightly bruised. At least the Soldiers who'd dared to touch his property would know that if they touched him again they would suffer. He ran his finger over the mark, Cloud jolted. The long smirk on the General's face widened.

"M...asst...er," Cloud burbled but it was nothing more than unconscious echolalia. The finger pressed down against the love bite for a second time and Cloud's head lolled back. There was another soft moan.

"I'm guess you're hypersensitive when you have Mako in your veins boy?" Sephiroth said calmly, his grin uncurled into a straight face and he pushed the boy from his knee. Cloud slid down into a heap as his Master stood to relock the cabinet. The jingling keys returned inside his leather outfit. Cloud remained on the floor, his eyes rolling back and giggling slightly.

"I'll leave you to enjoy the ride, I have to go visit Reno." The grin returned and he laughed harshly.