Cloud was alive. This fact was the only thing keeping Zack going. It was the only thing keeping him from trying to kill himself, or any of the hundreds of Shinra personnel that grabbed, poked, prodded, dragged or otherwise annoyed him throughout the day.
Cloud was alive, and Zack hadn't seen him since he watched Reno torture the boy through the glass wall. He asked where he was at every given opportunity, but it had apparently become policy not to speak to the SOLDIER unless it was to ask him questions about symptoms he may or may not be having. Zack made it his policy not to answer any of them.
He wasn't sure how many days it had been since he had seen Cloud. He was sure that the screams emitted by the boy would haunt him for the rest of his days, however many he had left. As tired as all of the drugs pumped into his system left him, as much as the pain of the tests drained him, he couldn't find sleep with those horrible sounds reverberating around his skull. When he did find rest, he often woke up screaming himself. Conveniently enough, Reno always seemed to be around when this happened. He had woken up in this manner after a particularly painful drug injection, and was unsurprised to see Reno standing outside the bars that contained him.
"Something eating at you, pretty boy?" the Turk asked. Zack rolled over on the mat he was given to sleep on, so that his back was to Reno.
"What the fuck is it to you?" he asked. Reno scoffed, tapping his electro-mag rod against the cell bars.
"Because it's keeping me awake, too." At this admission, Zack pushed himself slowly and painfully into a seated position. He stared at the Turk, mako-infused eyes meeting green from across the room. "He doesn't really stop screaming, yanno? Whether it's from pain or asking about you, or begging to be let go, he just never shuts up." If Zack had been strong enough, he would have strangled Reno between the bars.
"Go the fuck away, Reno."
"Really not fond of needles, that one. You'd think with as many as they've come at him with, he'd be over it by now. But, every time, it's like he's seeing one for the first time. They have to sedate him every time. And they came to that solution after they figured out that beating the shit out of him didn't really work. Resilient, really. Especially for as small as he is." Reno squatted down, getting on Zack's level, waiting for a response. Zack's chest felt tight. He felt as though the air was being sucked out of the room. His eyes stung with tears that he was determined to keep from falling, and he clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly at his sides.
Zack, the SOLDIER first class, one of the most elite members of an already elite group, the man who had taken on Sephiroth with no hesitation, was having a panic attack over the thought of Cloud Strife, an infantryman who failed to qualify as a SOLDIER, a man who should've carried very little weight in his world.
"He's a fucking kid, Reno. Let him go," he spoke quietly. His chest hurt when he thought about the boy being tortured, his heart broke at the thought of him thinking Zack wasn't coming to his rescue this time.
What exactly was making him feel this way?
Reno shook his head softly.
"No can do, pretty boy. Even if I wanted to, you think Hojo would hesitate to kill me if he thought I was the reason one of his precious experiments got away? Ho, ho, no. Not a chance."
Hojo. Zack knew who he was, knew they were being held on his authority. He had heard the scientists talk about him quietly in the treatment rooms, but he had yet to see the man in person.
"Why the fuck are you here, Reno? Just to tell me how tortured he is? You're sick. And you know, if there weren't bars between us, if it was just you and me in an open room, I'd kill you. I'd fucking kill you. No matter how much poison I'd just have pumped into my body, no matter what tests they put me through. If it came down to me versus you, I'd win. No contest." Reno laughed quietly.
"Never was good at getting my actual point across, I guess. Listen, he won't stop screaming for you. It's all he ever says, sedated or not. It's like he's forgotten every other word he's ever known. They're starting to wonder if… if he's already broken. They don't know what to do with him. The Professor knows you were his commanding officer, so he wants to know if you know of anything that might calm him down." It was Zack's turn to laugh, a sad, shaky sound.
"Hojo can fuck off." Reno stared at him, something like concern playing across his features.
"That isn't going to help him, Zack."
"Neither are you, Reno. Neither is anyone in this whole damn laboratory. He's slow to trust to begin with. Then he was betrayed by Sephiroth, now the organization he gave his life to? You're all fucking crazy." he turned his back to the Turk again, this time leaning into the wall for support. His chest felt like it was going to collapse in on itself, and Zack had to count his breath to keep from losing it right then and there.
"You love him?" Reno asked quietly.
"Fuck off, Reno."
"Yeah," the Turk whispered. Thought so." he stood up and walked away from the cell, leaving Zack on his own. He continued to count his breaths as tears streamed down his face.
He wasn't sure how long he sat against the wall crying. He wasn't even really sure he would ever stop. He faded in and out of sleep, always waking to the sound of Cloud screaming. The last time he woke the screams were louder, more overwhelming than they had been since he had heard them in person. He pressed his hands to his ears, rocking his whole body back and forth.
He missed the sound of his cell opening, but quickly jumped to his feet when he heard something hit the floor near the door. He turned toward the sound as quickly as his injured body would allow, and saw Reno locking the door from the outside, face blank. His eyes shot up to meet Zack's once again as he turned the final key.
"Don't say I never did anything for you." he turned and walked down the dark hallway. Zack's heartbeat was so fast it was painful as he looked down to the floor. He dropped to his knees and thought he might throw up as he looked over the body that had been deposited in his cell.
Cloud Strife lay in front of him. He was broken and bruised, but still breathing.
Zack gathered the boy in his arms and held him against his chest, sobbing.
