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Disclaimer: FFVII not mine.

Chapter XXXIV

Cloud hit his knees for probably the tenth time in five minutes. "He isn't even trying!" one of Hojo's assistants said in clear annoyance. He pushed the goon out of the way who was standing behind Cloud. He had been repeatedly pulling Cloud to his feet so the assistants could watch him attempt to strengthen his leg muscles through walking with the aid of two bars on either side of a platform. Cloud refused to cooperate. Each time the goon let go of him he would sink to his knees bonelessly. The one now irritated assistant reached down to grab his arm roughly. Before he had a chance to do anything else, Cloud hauled off and punched him, knocking his glasses from his face. It wasn't the hardest punch in the world, but it still sent the assistant falling back. Zack had been watching from across the room. He laughed openly at Cloud's act of defiance.

The assistant got to his feet hastily, fixing his glasses back on his face. He grabbed a clipboard from one of the other assistants and used it to smack the back of Cloud's head. There was a loud THWAP. Cloud hunched a little in response before grinning at the assistant smugly.

"That's it! I'm calling Hojo," the assistant declared.

Not good, Zack thought to himself then. It was the second day they had been brought to that room for physical rehabilitation and it was the second day Cloud refused to do what he was expected. Zack didn't really agree with Cloud's choice but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Cloud had made it clear that this is what he wanted so he went along with it. But with the assistant now dialing away on his cellphone, eager to express his frustrations with Hojo, he knew nothing good was going to come of Cloud's protest.

It was only mere minutes before Hojo stormed into the room. It was difficult to tell if he was angry because of Cloud or because he had been disturbed by his assistant but, whatever the reason, he flew in like he was about to rampage. "Decided to be non-compliant have we, C4?" he questioned irately. Clearly, he wasn't expecting an answer from Cloud because he didn't give him time for one. "Bring him to the bench," he ordered and the goon behind Cloud reached down to haul him up. He dragged him over to the flat bench nearby. "Lay him down," Hojo demanded then picked up a long bar. He held it over Cloud's torso a moment before letting it fall. Reflexively, Cloud raised his hands and caught the bar, pressing resistance into it so it wouldn't result in heavy chest bruising when it hit him. "Forty on each side, go," Hojo instructed his assistants who snapped into action, attaching weights to either side of the bar.

"HEY!" Zack exclaimed then, rising from the leg press where he was seated. Immediately, he was restrained by one of the other goons. "What the hell are you doing?" he questioned loudly but Hojo ignored him.

"Whatever you're trying to do," Cloud struggled to speak through the increasing weight bearing down on his chest "it won't work."

"It will if you want to keep breathing," Hojo shot back at him. Cloud hissed out what was meant to be a dry laugh.

"You think death scares me?" he retorted. Hojo stared down at him angrily. "You won't kill me, and you won't kill Zack. So what are you gonna do? Separate us again? Throw me in one of your dungeon cells? Rip off my fingernails? You got nothin' you pathetic piece of shit."

Zack watched Hojo intensely. He seemed to be trembling he was so furious. He took a few steps around the bench, stopping at Cloud's head. He reached down suddenly, clamping his hands around the bar over Cloud's chest and pressing his weight down on it. Cloud choked on the air in his lungs. He automatically began pressing up on the bar, trying to rid himself of the crushing pressure. He gasped as he tried to take in a breath.

"You seem to forget just who is in control here, C4," Hojo fumed then. "You also seem to have forgotten how capable I am of bringing you pain." He pressed down harder as he said that, drawing a short whine from Cloud. Cloud glared back at him, beads of sweat rolling from his brow. He was too determined to give in. "Believe me, C4, I know just way to motivate you." Hojo's tone changed then. It was soft and eerie. "You remember that special simulation I created for you and Z1?" he asked. Cloud knew exactly what he was talking about. He remembered that pain vividly. "I'm sure some of the guards wouldn't mind another encounter, perhaps outside the realm of simulation. It would be a shame for you if they should try to have their way with you while you're too weak to fight back…"

"You're sick." Cloud barely managed to get his words out. He felt his stomach twisting in dread and fear. Hojo chuckled.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get the results I want from you, C4."

With that said, he eased up on the bar over Cloud's chest and stepped back. He headed from the room, throwing Zack a self-satisfied glare. Zack tore out of the grip of the goon holding him and made his way over to Cloud just as he managed to push the weighted bar off of himself onto the floor. He coughed roughly.

"What did that son of a bitch say to you?" Zack asked with deep concern as he helped Cloud sit up.

He shook his head angrily. "It doesn't matter," he responded lowly. One of the assistants stepped up next to him.

"You gonna try now?" he questioned as he attempted to take Cloud's arm. Cloud jerked away from him fast.

"As long as you don't fucking touch me," he responded sharply.

Zack watched Cloud as he began to work his muscles. Clearly, Hojo had made one hell of a threat and he knew that no amount of his prodding was going to get Cloud to tell him what it was.

000

"Your chicken-flavoured water's getting cold, Spike," Zack spoke from where he was seated on his mattress in their shared cell. They had been returned there a little under an hour earlier.

"So?" Cloud questioned from where he lay on his own mattress. His voice was muffled from his pillow pressing into this face.

"So, aren't you gonna eat?"

"Too tired to eat," came his barely audible response.

"You're gonna get even skinnier if you don't eat and I'll just be able to kick your ass a lot easier," Zack taunted.

"You really think eating the poor excuse for food they give us is going to make a difference?" Cloud asked.

"You may have a point," Zack agreed as he set his own empty bowl down. There was silence for a moment before he spoke again. "You still mad about me not telling you I knew how long we were, ya know, out?"

Cloud inhaled sharply before turning his head in Zack's direction. "No. You were just doing what you thought was best," he said at last. "I hate it sometimes when you try to protect me, Zack. But I think sometimes I'd go crazy if I didn't have that."

Zack grinned. "Aw, Spikey, you're gonna make me blush!" he joked.

"Shuddup, I'm being serious," Cloud said as he tried to hold back grinning.

"Okay, okay, go ahead," Zack replied quick, neutralizing his expression and trying to keep a straight face.

"I've spent so much time trying to live up to you. But I don't think I ever could," Cloud spoke almost sadly.

"Look, Spike," Zack spoke seriously "you are an incredibly strong kid. You do not need to live up to anybody, especially me. You're a far better person than I'll ever be."

"You know you suck at being humble, Zack," Cloud teased.

"Yeah well, it's truth," Zack responded.

"I'm not a kid anymore, ya know," Cloud pointed out then.

"You'll always be one to me," Zack retorted. "Now eat your chicken water," he ordered. Cloud groaned in defiance before dragging himself up to do as he was told.

000

It was a few days more before Zack and Cloud could move around comfortably at their own wills. Their strength came back remarkably fast, which suggested the mako in their bodies had a hand in it. Hojo was intrigued of course, and ever eager to begin prodding at them. He came to the equipment room on their fifth day of physical rehab to observe their progress.

"Very nice," he mused as he clutched one of Zack's biceps, squeezing to feel the degree of firmness.

"Your not my type," Zack responded uncomfortably. Hojo paid him no attention as he turned to one of his assistants and nodded. The assistant moved next to Zack, wrapping a measuring tape around his one arm and dictating the inches to another of the assistants. He proceeded with his other arm before moving to his thigh. "You aren't gonna measure everything I hope. That could be a little awkward," he said lightly.

"Very funny, as always, Z1," Hojo spoke flatly. "Make a note, Joss, the specimens are lacking in body mass. That will need to be remedied." The assistant writing down Zack's measurements jotted down Hojo's note.

"You ever consider this new thing? It's called, uh FOOD?" Zack blurted. Hojo ignored him once again as he headed over to the rower where Cloud was.

"So nice to see you working toward your potential, C4," he spoke as he approached. Cloud clenched his jaw in instant loathing. "You're still far too weak however. You could take a few lessons from Z1," he continued. "I must say you're looking much better though since you were first brought here. No longer a pathetic child. A few more years here shall be good for you."

Cloud let go of the grips in his hands then and let the weights on the machine drop. They hit with a loud noise that echoed through the whole room. Hojo seemed a little surprised but also amused. He chuckled as he looked at Cloud's hate-filled expression. "I like to see you angry, C4, it's quite encouraging."

Cloud had to try not to attack the professor right then. He regretted it after Hojo had walked away. He had been so close to him. He could have really done some damage to him, maybe even killed him? Not likely, he thought critically. The friggin goons woulda been on me too fast. Still, he had to questions, what if?

Mere days later, he and Zack were being subjected to an all too familiar routine. They were undergoing fitness testing, battle testing, and now there were daily workouts in the equipment room. There had been no mako yet and they were thankful. Neither questioned it, not even to each other. They both hoped it to be a thing of the past. They were also being fed more frequently. The food could barely be considered solid food. Most of the time it was something resembling stew or mush. They took what they could get. Both of them engaged themselves as much as possible in whatever they were being forced to do at the time. They focused on bettering themselves physically because it was all they seemed free to do. Eventually something had to happen to bring them new grief. It was inevitable.

It happened one day in the equipment room when something came loose on the frame of some of the strength training equipment. Cloud had been in the way when the top piece of the frame came down. It should have crushed him, broken his back or at least a few ribs but it didn't. News of it got back to Hojo quickly and his curiosity had Cloud dragged down to the lab. He had him stand at the exam table where he waited nervously for what was supposed to happen.

"Word is you're rather indestructible, C4," Hojo spoke, his tone shrouded in skepticism. "Naturally, something like this requires exploring. "Your arm on the table please," he ordered. Cloud stood still. A lab assistant grabbed for his left arm then, pulling it onto the table. He tried to back away but the goon at his back prevented it. Another assistant handed Hojo a metal-headed mallet. Cloud struggled harder then. It took three of the assistants, along with the goon to keep him in place so Hojo could swing the mallet hard toward his forearm. Pain erupted instantly, drawing a loud cry from him. He barely had a chance to draw another breath before the mallet came down again. It was followed closely by a third hit, and then a forth. He was choking back sobs by then, squeezing his eyes shut and gasping for a good breath.

His eyes flew open as Hojo grabbed for his arm, gripping it tight, squeezing and twisting as he examined it. Some of his skin had split from the force of the hits and was now freely bleeding. He knew what Hojo was looking for. A break. There should have been one. But just like in the equipment room, he remained break-free.

"Very interesting," Hojo muttered in awe. "This will require more testing, bring him back to the cell. I need to think."

The goon at Cloud's back gripped his upper arm and pulled him away from the table toward the door. He stumbled a few times out of shock. He was in deep confusion over what had just happened. His bones weren't breaking. What did that mean? Zack jumped up upon seeing Cloud, his eyes drawn instantly to his bloody and quickly bruising arm.

"Cloud! What the hell happened?" he questioned fast.

"I—I don't…" Cloud started to try and explain but he couldn't come up with the words.

"'Kay, c'mon, sit down," Zack instructed. Cloud complied slowly. Zack disappeared for a moment, returning with a cloth from the bathroom. He wrapped up Cloud's forearm tightly before asking Cloud again to explain.

"Something weird's happening to me, Zack, and it's probably happening to you too," he spoke slowly.

"What are you talking about?" Zack asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Hojo was trying to break my arm."

"Why the hell was he trying to do that?"

"Because of what happened in the equipment room. Because I should have broken something and I didn't."

"That was just a fluke, Spike," Zack insisted. "You were lucky is all."

"It happened before, Zack, remember? In the combat room?"

Zack was silent. "He said he wanted to do more tests…I don't think he'll let this go," Cloud said sadly, his tone aching with dread.

Cloud was right. Hojo was immersed in interest over this unforeseen feature of his specimens. It didn't take a genius to figure out it had something to do with the mako infusions. Still, Hojo would not be satisfied until he had all the scientific details. The following morning, he had Zack and Cloud brought to the lab, though he didn't have them brought together. Zack was brought down first. Right away he noticed an odd addition to the lab's equipment. A C-frame press.

"Oh Jesus," he muttered when set eyes on the piece of machinery. He knew without a doubt, exactly what Hojo had brought it in for.

"Step right up, Z1," Hojo chimed as he clapped his hands together like some demented ringmaster.

"Fuck no!" Zack responded fast. "I ain't going near that thing."

"Let's just skip the whole song and dance, Z1. You and I both know I'm going to have my way so you might as well do as I say," Hojo rambled off in mild irritation. "Your resistance, I'm sure you know, will just lead to a more uncomfortable test for C4."

Always Cloud was Zack's undoing. He had expected the threat. He just didn't expect to give into it so easily. Cloud was going to be hurt anyway, so why didn't he resist? He knew it was because Hojo could make Hell a lot more agonizing for Cloud.

Soon enough, Zack found himself standing next to the press, his one arm being secured to the base plate. He hoped to God it would be a short procedure. He also hoped the pain wasn't too much to bear. Neither of his hopes would be fulfilled. It was a torturously slow procedure. The plunger on the press had been lowered until the upper plate rested against his arm, wedging it between plates. Then, a few millimeters at a time, the upper plate was lowered, applying pressure to his arm. The pressure rose steadily and the pain began. It was incredible. He couldn't even manage to separate his mind from his body long enough for a mild relief. As the bones in his arm began to bend under the extreme pressure, his silence was broken. A minute later he was crying out loudly.

The first real scream came just before the dull crunching sound of his bones finally giving into the pressure. He screamed once more, long and deep before breaking into choked-back sobs. The pressure was stopped but it was another minute before his arm was released as the assistants were taking down numbers. When the upper plate on the press was drawn up and his arm was released, he fell back on the floor, gripping his injured arm. He ground his teeth together trying to bear the intense throbbing and fire in his pain receptors. Sweat had broken out all over his body as he writhed slightly on the cold stone floor.

Cloud was brought into the lab then. His eyes went to Zack immediately. He was shocked to see him as he was. The look of agony rippling through him, his breaths coming in short gasps and hisses. It was bad timing really. If Zack had known Cloud was present, he would have made an effort to make himself calmer and more composed. One of the goons leaned down to grab him then, lifting him to his feet where he realized then that Cloud was in the room. A heartbreaking look of shame came over him. Cloud was too preoccupied watching him to resist what was going to be happening to himself in mere moments.

Soon it was Cloud's cries of pain echoing off the walls of the lab. Tears were trailing down Zack's face as he was forced to watch and re-live the torture again with his friend. Zack had a sudden attack of what-ifs right then. What if Cloud had just continued to resist physical rehab? The accident in the equipment room may not have happened and Hojo wouldn't have thought up this insane procedure. What if he hadn't requested Cloud's accompaniment to Nibelheim those few years ago? What if Zack had just left Cloud to himself when he met him? What if he had just never met him? He was starting to think that the worst thing that could ever have happened to Cloud, was meeting him.