DISCLAIMER: Everyone except for Lt. Anton Tempest, Lt. General Colt Winchester, Sargeant Ozzie Hendrix, and Dr. Brett Harley, Dr. Sanjay Sushutra and Dr. Jarrod Raker, belong to Square Enix. I just brought them out to play.
Eye To Eye
Zack hefted the last box of his old room into his arms and took one last look around. This would be the last time he would see this room as an occupant – except the occasion when he would come over to visit Kunsel – and hopefully the last time he would look upon it as a third class SOLDIER.
He hadn't fully realized just how much stuff he had accumulated over the years since joining soldier until he saw it all in boxes, and knew he was going to need help carrying it all. Luckily Kunsel was available to help. As a bonus he would get to see the inside of the second class tower.
In truth the cluster wasn't much bigger than the third class ones, but he was sharing the space (and the bathroom) with a lot less people.
"So how are things going with you and General Hewley?" Kunsel asked.
"Nothing much really," Zack answered with a sigh. "I haven't had time, plus I want to wait till I'm actually a second class soldier."
"How come?" Kunsel quirked an eyebrow
"Well, if I get through this program, it'll prove I can stand on my own two feet." Zack looked away, but there was a determined air about him. "I'll be a higher rank, so if Angeal feels anything for me, he won't have any other excuses."
"What do you mean 'if'? You two made out with each other didn't ya'?" Kunsel gave him a little shove and looked at him as if he were the biggest idiot in the world.
"Yeah, when we were both plastered and had no idea what were doing," Zack shoved him back.
"No matter what, you're still a lucky man," came a cheerful voice from around the corner inside the sleeping area.
Both Zack and Kunsel froze. They had thought the cluster was empty, and their little squabble had dulled their attention to potential eavesdroppers.
Sure enough Ozzie appeared from around the corner with a sly grin on his face. "Even I didn't lock lips with a first class till after I was through the AP program. And even then it wasn't one of the trinity."
Jax came out from behind and rolled his eyes. "You only wish that First was Genesis."
Ozzie's smirked disappeared and was replaced by the look of a kicked puppy. "Gah! Why must you torture me?"
"You make it so easy," Jax said kissing him on the cheek. "And you look very cute with the puppy face." Without missing a beat Jax turned to Zack. "Zack do you want the bed by the window or the one against the wall?"
"I, uh… Window?" Zack stammered, caught a little off guard by the conversation suddenly shifting to him. He glanced at Kunsel who just shrugged in response.
"Good, the wall has more outlets for me," Jax nodded and then nudged Ozzie. "Oz, quit sulking and help me, I still have a few more things to get, including my cello."
"Um, Ozzie, Jax," Zack began nervously. "About what you heard before…"
"Mum's the word," Jax said calmly, making the "zipped lips" sign.
"What's said in the dorm stays in the dorm." Ozzie said, then quickly added with a cheeky grin. "Unless it pisses me off and then you'll have your butts in a sling."
"So just don't say anything negative about Genesis, Anton or me, or any of Ozzie's clothes out of uniform – no matter how peculiar they are – and you'll be fine," Jax elaborated.
"My clothing ain't peculiar, it's artistic," Ozzie said indignantly, but then grimaced. "Aw man… I miss him already, without the Red Angel how the hell am I gonna know what to wear for the SOLDIER solstice shindig?" Ozzie moaned.
"Come on," Jax urged him along with a tug of the arm. "You'll figure something out – you always do. And who knows, Genesis may return in time to soothe your fashion woes."
Zack squashed a grin as he put the last box in his room, next to his bed, which was now austere and bereft of sheets and color. He opened the box which contained a treasure trove of Gongagan souvenirs and a couple of stuffed animals. That would soon change…
"Hey Zack," Kunsel came in and set his box down beside him. "The program starts the day after tomorrow doesn't it?"
"Yup!" Zack replied, feeling his adrenaline already beginning to pump.
"Aren't ya nervous? Even just a bit?" Kunsel quirked an eyebrow.
"Come on! Look what I've been through already: Angeal's private training regimens, deployment to Wutai, and taking down an Ifirit. How hard could some new courses be?"
000
Zack collapsed on his bed and had no intention of moving until his alarm clock sang the next morning, and even then it was questionable.
When their new sergeant made his speech before the first round of advanced training and said that they would be ground into the dust before they would be built back up again, he wasn't kidding. Zack pictured that in a few more days of this, his body would quite literally shatter.
Everything that they had done in SOLDIER basic training had been taken up 10 notches and there was no sign that the intensity would go down; in fact, it looked like it would only go up.
The sergeant even said that there wasn't even a question if they would all break; it was only a matter of when. And he said, even more importantly, how the trainee would respond to being broken. Would he quit, or would he keep pressing on and demand even more punishment to make him strong?
In fact many did quit. The only other way you could be removed from the program was a court martial or a medical problem such as an undiscovered heart defect. Where the medical problem was concerned if the young SOLDIER could get it fixed and had enough points to sustain him for the time missed, he could return and complete the program on schedule.
At the end of the program you were graded on the points you acquired, and if you got enough, you would pass on to second class. The trainees could earn points by grades in classes, physical achievements in the training exercises, completing missions both virtual and real successfully, and generally showing that extra effort appreciated in SOLDIERS.
One of the major sections of the program where a trainee could rack a lot of points was a section called the "The Crucible". That was where the trainees were put through every physical rigor imaginable and pushed to the very limits of their stamina and beyond. In fact, the crucible lasted until there was only one trainee left standing with every other one passing out or unable to go on. If the Crucible mission was complete and there were still more than one trainee left, they would be marched back to the compound and made to do physical tasks until one of them dropped.
Quitting the crucible didn't mean you quit the program entirely, but you did lose out on garnishing a lot of points. And you would lose your chance to be the last one standing, which earned you a special prize. Said prize was kept secret, but everyone knew it was something prestigious. One year it was one training session with Sephiroth himself. Another it was a picture on the cover of SOLDIER monthly with one of the trinity.
But Zack did not care about any prize, he wanted to be the last one standing; he wanted to be the best, so he could fulfill his dream of being a hero, and so Angeal would look on him with pride as a fellow SOLDIER rather than just a puppy student.
He was jolted out of his reverie at the sound of another groan and another plop on the bed across from his. He cracked an eye open to confirm that it was indeed Jax before closing them again.
"Survive?" Zack croaked out.
"Yes," came the mumbled reply and no more.
"To think tomorrow we'll have to do this and homework." Zack grumbled.
Jax only mumbled something incoherent and rolled over to bury his face in his pillow.
There was a moment of peaceful silence before the piercing ring of Zack's cell phone shattered it and made both boys groan.
"Hello?" Zack mumbled groggily into the phone, and was quite surprised to hear Angeal on the other side.
"Where are you?"
"Getting' some shut eye. Where else would I be after Sergeant Stryker's introductory course?" Zack grumbled too tired to remember that Angeal was his commanding officer.
"Down here with me for your VR session," Angeal answered, not sounding one bit sympathetic.
Zack froze, feeling a lump in the pit of his stomach. "I—I thought that was tomorrow… "
"Nope. It started 15 minutes ago and you'd better get your bottom down here. Now."
Zack winced at the edge in Angeal's voice. Now he knew what Angeal meant when he said he might not want to continue with his training until after the program was over.
"But…" Zack hesitated, the comfy call of his bed dulling his logic for a moment. Honestly, when he had looked at his schedule showing the intensive training course followed immediately by a session with Angeal, he thought they couldn't be so crazy as to have those two back to back, particularly on the first day!
"Zack, if you are not going to take this seriously then I am not going to waste my time. You've got five minutes," Angeal barked before hanging up the phone.
Zack moaned and slowly got to his feet, wincing. His muscles protested angrily at his brain for making them move. On top of the physical pain, he felt his heart sink a little. Angeal hadn't been that stern and cold with him since when he had first taken Zack on as a trainee.
His friend was reverting back to mentor and student stage. Logically, in his head, Zack knew Angeal was doing it for his own good, so that he could push him to the limits with no hesitance and make Zack into the best he could be. But in the heart it still sucked. It meant no playfulness or trying to pursue Angeal romantically. He felt like a brick wall had been dropped right in between him and Angeal and would not be lifted until the program was over.
Until it was over.
Zack steeled himself and stood up a little straighter, ignoring the grumbles from his spine at doing that. Moping around was neither going to get him through the program, nor would it win Angeal's heart. He would have to earn both by staying focused and pushing through the blood and the sweat and the tears. No matter what.
He just hoped it would be worth it.
000
Sephiroth dashed down what seemed like an endless hallway, the length yawning out before him with no end in sight.
But he had to find it. Genesis was there and in terrible danger he could feel it. In his head he could hear his songbird crying out for him. Sephiroth growled inwardly. Whoever would dare do this to Genesis would soon feel the sting of Masamune's blade.
He'd been running so long that he almost stumbled when the hallway came to an abrupt end. Almost.
He had come to an enormous room, with three levels of stairs that led up to a heavy metal door with a name that Sephiroth could not read inscribed upon it. On each level there were tanks filled with mako. He felt a chill run down his spine – the same chill he always felt when he was about to enter the labs for an appointment with Hojo.
His survey of the room was cut short when his eye fell upon a figure clad in red lying at the top of the stairs just in front of the door.
Genesis.
He quickly closed the distance between him and the stairs. Immediately he could see something wasn't right about Genesis. His brilliant red coat was dulled by an ashen gray that carried over to his porcelain skin that now looked cracked like a dropped tea cup. But the thing that made Sephiroth's heart skipped a few beats in fear and astonishment, was the big black wing jutting out from his beloved's back.
"Genesis?" Sephiroth whispered, gently turning his lover over, careful not to touch any of the cracks. However, his shoulder armor roughly brushed against the wing eliciting a pained moan from Genesis.
The red angel slowly opened his eyes and Sephiroth felt his heart sink a little more. Whatever sickness had stricken his songbird had dulled the glow in his beautiful eyes. This frightened Sephiroth more than anything. No matter how wounded Genesis was, even when he had been on death's doorstep a couple of times, there was always the lively spark, that warm fire that always drew Sephiroth right into his arms, but now they were cold and empty like a doll, a puppet with no strings.
"Genesis?" Sephiroth repeated giving his lover a gentle shake.
Genesis's eyes shifted to him. And his expression changed from a blank face to a wicked smirk.
At first Sephiroth was relieved to see some life back in Genesis, but his relief turned to apprehension when he realized there was something off about his lover's expression. Again there was something wrong with the eyes. When Genesis usually smirked there was always something sultry or mischievous or playful in them, but now there was something terribly cruel behind them.
"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess: we seek it thus and take to the sky," Genesis recited, raising a shaky hand to the door in front of them.
Sephiroth automatically followed his lover's gaze, but the door was still sealed tight, and despite being right in front of the door, he still couldn't read the name inscribed above it.
He shook his head and looked back down at Genesis. "I don't understand. Please just tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."
Genesis slowly got up and stepped back from his lover's embrace, the cold smirk still playing on his features. "We are..." he motioned to his wing now fully unfurled, "…monsters."
"What? What happened, Genesis? What did they do to you?" he let the "they" hang ambiguously for this could be the work of the ShinRa science department as well as the enemy.
Genesis remained silent at that, looking at his wing with loathing in his eyes.
Sephiroth stepped forward and reached for him to comfort him; to tell him that the wing made no difference and that his feelings of love were the same as they always were.
Genesis turned his cruel eyes back to face him and once again stepped away out of his reach. He continued backing away towards the door. All the while Loveless poured from his lips. "Dreams of the morrow hath shattered my soul: my pride is lost, my wings stripped away."
Finally his back was against the door, and then as if sensing he was there, it opened, revealing a black void behind him
Sephiroth's heart was pounding. This wasn't right; something terrible was about to happen. He tried to move, tried to run to pull Genesis away from whatever danger lay in the blackness of the open door. But he was frozen to his spot. His brain and body were disconnected. He couldn't even lift Masamune.
Then from the blackness behind Genesis came a troop of Wutai soldiers, their lances raised at Genesis. But the auburn haired angel made no move to stop them, or even to run. He only spoke with a crooked smile on his face.
"My end is nigh..."
The lances came down.
"GENESIS!"
Sephiroth woke bolt upright in bed.
He heart was pounding against his chest, and he felt as if he had had the wind knocked out of him.
Damn Nightmares. Genesis hadn't been gone but two weeks and already the nightmares were starting again.
"Genesis, Genesis, Genesis…" He repeated his lover's name over and over as if hoping Genesis would come sweeping into the bedroom at any moment.
But he didn't. The Red General was still stuck a world away from him. All he wanted was just to know that his lover was okay.
He picked up his cellphone, but before he pressed the auto dial for Genesis's number, he thought he could only be a disturbance to Genesis if he was in the middle of a meeting or negotiations.
But there was no way he could calm down until he knew his Songbird was all right. Not that he couldn't go without sleep for awhile, he could. He just hated the way his thoughts were all jumbled with worry.
He decided to take the middle road and sent a text message.
"Are you well?"
He lay back down on his bed, his phone still in hand and waited. To help him calm a bit he flipped through pictures stored on his phone. He paused at one from their Golden Saucer pictures.
The two of them were sitting lazily on the couch eating their frozen treats, Sephiroth with a mountain of various ice cream flavors and topping and Genesis with his simple Banora white sorbet. Angeal had taken the picture.
That had been such a good day, just sitting there watching the television; they were watching the chocobo races which Angeal had bet on. Genesis was there quietly in his arms, and they kissed and caressed, while he dozed in and out to shake off the rest of his hangover.
Suddenly his phone beeped a response. His tense body instantly relaxed when he found the reply to his message was indeed from Genesis.
"I'm fine. Terribly bored, these negotiators like to hear themselves talk more than I do. Now shouldn't you be sleeping?"
Sephiroth smiled as he typed the response. He wanted to be truthful but at the same time he didn't want to worry Genesis, he had enough on his shoulders. "Bad dream that's all."
"You want to talk about it."
"Not particularly, I just need your words to soothe me."
"Do you need to hear my voice for real?"
"No, this has been enough. I am calm."
"Good, but don't hesitate to call for personal matters like this. And remember my bed is always open to you, even if I am not there."
"Thank you."
"Ugh. Duty calls."
"Do it well. I will call later."
"Sleep well Moonbeam."
Sephiroth closed his phone and set it back on the nightstand. He frowned, even though his fears had been put to rest, he still felt jittery. He was not looking forward to attempting to sleep in an empty bed. It was not uncommon for him to have more than one nightmare a night.
Then he remember Genesis' offer. It was worth a try. Perhaps just his mere scent and environment might trick his mind to thinking Genesis was there.
He slipped out of bed and grabbed his uniform and alarm clock, and made his way out of his apartment, through their common room and into Genesis' place. He did not need to turn on a light to find the bedroom. The minute he walked into the Red Angel's sanctuary, the scent of his lover filled his nose and he felt most of his worries leave his body as he breathed out.
He lay down and enfolded himself in the burgundy sheets and comforter. He buried his face into one of the pillows and shut his eyes. And a peaceful sleep claimed him almost immediately.