Chapter 31: My Pain

"SEPHIROTH!" Zack screamed again, the other seeming to ignore his existence, even after he had managed to decimate it. He couldn't breathe...couldn't think...couldn't hear passed the blood pounding in his ears. The blood that was thankfully still inside his body, unlike Cloud's that was quickly beginning to seep towards his boots.

Never in a million years had he imagined a situation where Sephiroth would have hurt Cloud in the way he had—he loved him. Hell, Sephiroth fucking adored the Omega. He had sacrificed everything for him. His career...his friendships...his sanity. He had done it all for Cloud, and then had proceeded to pierce a sword through their lives and more than likely the body of their child.

He couldn't lose him.

He wouldn't lose him.

Zack had told himself that he was doing the right thing...letting Cloud go. He had told himself that Sephiroth had nothing in his life. Nothing that mattered. Cloud mattered. ...Cloud had mattered to him, despite what may have happened. Zack had sacrificed his own happiness to give Sephiroth his. He hadn't tried to win Cloud back—not before the kiss at least. He had trusted Sephiroth, and what had the SOLDIER done in return for his kindness? He had taken everything from him.

"SEPHIROTH!" He screamed again, unsheathing the Buster Sword that had been given to him to protect. He could hardly see anything beyond the tears burning his eyes, watching that bastard place his hands on a glass container of death—or at least he hoped that whatever that thing was inside was dead. It looked dead. Sephiroth could join it soon since he seemed so attached.

Wiping his eyes on the back of his forearm, Zack made his way forward. He couldn't chance a glance back at Cloud. He knew that if he turned back he would never be able to leave him. He wouldn't be able to do exactly what he needed to do. Not only that—but he couldn't watch him die. Which is exactly what he knew was happening right now. He could feel his Omega slipping further and further away from him. How long would it be before he truly returned to the planet? Before he left him all alone?

Zack started to run then, sword poised behind his head as he launched at a leap, meaning to come down and slice Sephiroth in half. He grunted as the SOLDIER moved at inhuman speed, whipping the sword, still stained with the love of his life's blood, behind him. He blocked him without even looking, throwing him back onto the piping as he slowly turned around.

Sephiroth's eyes were glowing in his madness as they landed on him, smirking at his obvious misery. "Zachary Fair...Fair and noble until the very end."

"I'm going to kill you for what you did," Zack threatened, conviction burning on his lips as his hands shook while gripping the sword.

"Why?" Sephiroth questioned, actually having the gaul to sound confused. "I did this planet a favor."

"You murdered the only person I've ever loved!" Zack screamed back, fighting the sob threatening to leave his mouth. He pushed it down with the hate he could feel billowing below the surface. "You killed your own child!"

"That child would have inevitably brought ruin to the planet," Sephiroth spoke without sympathy. "It was the harbinger of doom. An abomination."

"He was your son!" Zack screamed, not knowing why he inherently knew it had been a boy, but then again it couldn't be all that surprising—he knew everything about his spiky haired brat.

"Inconsequential," Sephiroth murmured, and Zack saw no pity in his eyes as he didn't even so much as glance towards his mate currently bleeding out on the ground. "He would have caused the planet pain...suffering."

"What about my pain?" Zack shot back with, entire body trembling as hot tears poured angrily down his cheek. "My fingers are tingling. My mouth is burning. My eyes are dry." What was he going to do? How could he possibly live without the other half of his soul? Had Sephiroth even considered the ramifications? Had he even for once thought about what he could be giving up?

Had he thought about how much this would hurt him?

Sephiroth stared down at him without sympathy, eyes glowing a predatory color. "You'll get over it. Once you realize he wasn't special, you'll move on." The SOLDIER motioned to the door. "They grow more of them every day."

Biting back nausea at hearing Sephiroth describe what he had with Cloud as nothing more than fucking a body grown in a lab, Zack resolved himself to just what he had to do. "You never deserved him."

"He chose me," Sephiroth countered with.

"You never loved him!" Zack screamed instead, anger boiling over at the calm amusement on the other Alpha's face.

"He loved me." Cloud had loved him, hadn't he? Truth be told, Zack had no idea who Cloud inevitably loved more. Would he ever know? Would his Omega take this secret to his grave?

"Bastard!" He screamed, charging as the rage finally took over and sparks flew as metal clashed against metal. An all consuming rage filled him as they moved at lightning speed, bouncing around the room as their swords whipped back and forth so fast that all Zack could see through his blinding anger was sparks as they practically flew through the air.

Sephiroth slashed around, and Zack had to dive out of the way to prevent his legs from being taken off at his shins. He flipped backwards, one hand springing off the piping to propel himself up towards the top of the water filled chamber. Deadly aqua eyes turned up to him then, icy anger in them at the proximity he seemed to be to whatever was floating in this fucked up version of an aquarium.

Good.

He wanted him to hurt.

He wanted to take away everything he had ever held dear just for the fact that Sephiroth had done the same to him. "You took away everything I've ever loved." Zack stated, shifting his bangle as the materia began to glow and crystals of ice began to form on the tank. He saw the SOLDIER's eyes flash with fear as he realized the implication. Zack was straight lipped as he glared at the son of a—whatever ugly ass bitch was floating in this tank. "Fuck you," he managed to get out before the entire tank exploded with the Blizzaga magic as he was thrown back as well, not caring for his own wellbeing as he flew downwards into the darkness...hearing Sephiroth scream in agony in his wake.

Air whooshed around him as he flew through the darkness like a comet, trying to gain control of his momentum as he flipped himself over. He barely managed to turn rightside up and get a hand underneath him before he collided with the ground, creating a crater in his wake. Zack hardly had a chance to look around at the underground lab he had landed in, before he flipped his sword up, bracing a second hand on the blade as Sephiroth came down swinging at him. The crater widened with the blow as his knees threatened to buckle underneath him.

Zack used all his upper body strength to shove the monster back, managing to skirt backwards into the darkened room. The only light was coming from the reactor above them, and the cloying smell of mako down here was enough to gag a maggot. Luckily, whatever had been injected into him when becoming an Alpha gave him impeccable night vision.

Violet eyes were trained on Sephiroth, noticing with some disgust that he seemed to be holding on to a head, the liquid from the alien like corpse dripping down onto the stone. "Who is she?" What was it?

"My mother," Sephiroth answered, voice quivering in its insanity. "You. Hurt. Her."

"Think you're mistaken," Zack assured him. "That thing is very much dead."

Sephiroth gave a slight laugh, shaking his head back and forth as his shoulders shook and his hand tightened in the sopping wet hair. "Kill her? You really think a weakling like you could kill her?"

"Well she's missing her head…" Zack pointed out, knowing he shouldn't have to state something so obvious. "So yeah."

"You could never," Sephiroth practically whispered, and Zack noted that his eyes seemed to be glowing demonically in the darkness. "You can't seem to succeed at anything, can you Zachary? Not at keeping him—and you won't succeed at this." His head tilted to the side. "I'm going to kill you here. I'm going to destroy every inch of you so that you can't even return to the planet and see him again."

"That's fine," Zack spoke, tightening his grip on his sword as he glanced around the room to try to find any sort of advantage. "As long as you can't hurt him anymore."

"You misunderstand me entirely," Sephiroth spoke, leaning down to set the head he was holding carefully onto the ground. "I've assured he can never leave me. I will find him in the Lifestream. I will teach him to behave properly for his place in this world."

"His place?" Zack managed, teeth gritting as his eyes landed on the loose electrical cord.

"An Omega," the SOLDIER started. "A breeder...a slave."

"Your slave?" Zack asked, sickened.

"As if he could ever be anyone else's," Sephiroth mused. "You didn't ever really think it would be forever between you two, did you? You were always his second choice."

"So much his second choice that you had to force your bite on him over and over again to make him succumb? That you had to sneak around behind my back!? That you had to make him a science experiment to get him to stay with you!?"

A sneer covered the Alpha's face, flipping the Masamune around so that it was positioned by his head. "No matter. You'll be dead soon...and if I have to force him to submit again..well...as you said, it's nothing I haven't had to do before."

It was then Zack realized that Sephiroth was gone. Truly gone.

"It's like you're a completely different person," the SOLDIER spoke helplessly, staring in almost sadness at the man that used to be his friend. The man he would trust with the thing most precious to him in all the world. "What happened to you here?"

"My eyes were opened," Sephiroth replied. "It was liberating."

"It was defimating," Zack countered. "I feel sorry for you." He did. In the end, he truly did. Sephiroth had come here for Cloud. He had been forced into this trap because he would do anything for the Omega. One last cruelty perpetuated by Shinra to enact their goals.

Zack hung his head, sadness warring with anger as he thought about all the ways since leaving Gongaga that Shinra had hurt him...had used him. They used everyone. They changed everyone. Sephiroth most of all. This was all their plan. It always had been. They had only been allowed to think they had been given a choice. Cloud was always going to choose Sephiroth. Sephiroth was always going to find that thing in the tank.

They were always going to end up down here together.

"Are you going to take us to the Promised Land, then?" he questioned one of his best friends—his greatest enemy.

"Yes," Sephiroth spoke. "My mother and I will lead this planet to salvation—" His head tilted. "But not you Zachary...because you'll be dead."

It happened in an instant. Zack always tended to forget just how quick Sephiroth was. Not to say he hadn't been expecting it however, yet that didn't make the sword now piercing its way through his belly hurt any less. Blood dripped from his mouth as he was lifted with the blade. His feet left the floor, suspended in the air as he could only imagine the damage being done to his internal organs as the blade sliced its way up towards his rib cage.

Zack choked, the pain unimaginable as he struggled to remain conscious as he stared down at whatever creature had replaced his friend. He stretched up with one hand. "Tell Mommy I said hi…" Zack managed, before gripping the electrical wire sparking just above him, while at the same time grabbing the dagger out of his holster and throwing it as hard as he could forward so that it impaled itself in Sephiroth's carotid.

The reaction was almost instantaneous. Sephiroth screamed in pain as the shock went through him from where he was grounded. The pain lit up Zack's own spine with a jolt as everything went burnt, hot, and wet. He could smell himself cooking from the inside as the other Alpha was sent flying backwards and deeper into whatever chasm seemed to surround them, propelling Zack back off the sword to collapse onto the ground.

A coughing fit left his ruined throat and lungs as he struggled to breath through his sliced open diaphragm. He would die here. Every piece of him would perish down in this nightmare. He would die leaving Cloud to die alone...if he hadn't already.

He would die without becoming a hero.

Oh well...at least he had taken that bastard with him. He hoped Sephiroth had a nice crispy fried trip back to the planet he loved more than the spiky haired Omega who had caused all of this in the first place. He hoped that when he reached the Lifestream the madness lifted from him.

He hoped for peace for his friend—regardless of what he had done to earn his own fate.

Zack couldn't feel his legs anymore, and everything seemed to be getting so dark. Would it be enough? Would he get to stay with Cloud if he died with him...even if it were minutes apart? Would he finally get him?

No, he didn't want that. Cloud needed to live...his Spike needed to move on from all this darkness and pain. He needed to get up off that floor and finally be free of Shinra. Zack had healed him. He had somewhat closed the wound. His Omega was strong. He was resilient when he wanted to be. He would be fine. He would get out, and in 50 years or so perhaps he would finally be reunited with his soul's mate.

A gurgle left his throat as he reached up towards the last vestiges of light he was sure he would ever see, grasping at the air as if reaching for something intangible. ...Someone to be with him when he died.

He blinked when he felt a hand grab his own, trying to get the blackness to dissipate as he weakly looked above him. There was a face staring down at him surrounded by long black hair. He looked familiar. "Don't I know you?" Zack managed, barely hanging on even as he felt the palm gripping his own back hard, as if to help him cling to existence.

"Vincent Valentine," the man introduced. "You know me." He did. This was the man who they had met in Nibelheim the last time. The Turk. ...Sephiroth's father. "We have to get you up and out of here."

"Sephiroth?" Zack managed, not able to move a muscle as Vincent began to tug on him.

"Dead," Vincent spoke, voice pained. "Or so it seems. No one could have survived that fall...especially with his injuries."

Zack nodded, groaning in agony as he was yanked up off the ground and tossed like a sack of potatoes over the Turk's shoulder. "Cloud?" he managed a second question, squeezing out a bit more of the last of his energy reserves to learn the fate of his ex-lover.

"Alive. For now." Vincent spoke. "Quiet. You're using too much energy." Zack could only nod his agreement, feeling only a few seconds away from unconsciousness. Though he knew if he succumbed at this point that it would mean death. Not that he wasn't aware that that particular scenario wasn't inevitable at this point. Sephiroth had fileted his insides, and then Zack himself had dipped them in batter and deep fried the shit out of them.

Vincent glanced up towards where they had fallen, and the grip on Zack's hips tightened. "Prepare yourself. This is going to hurt." The SOLDIER could only nod, knowing that after the pain he had already endured today, that whatever Vincent was referring to couldn't make a difference at this point.

...He was so very incredibly wrong.

Zack screamed as Vincent began to leap back and forth against the walls as they climbed to the surface. Every jump jarred his injuries in an excruciating manner. As they neared the top he blacked out for a second, only coming to as he was thrown back down to the ground. His mind swam in pain and confusion from his rouse of consciousness, eyes darting around until they landed on blood soaked blond spikes.

Cloud. Vincent had brought him back to him. "Spike…" he managed, reaching out weakly to shake at the other's shoulder. He smiled in relief as blue eyes slowly cracked open. It was very clear the Omega was barely hanging on—but he was hanging on. "Hey baby."

"Yours are spikier," Cloud spoke, eyes sweeping over him. "You should have always been Spike...you know?"

Zack nodded to him, tears coming to his eyes in regret of the fact that this was probably the last time he would ever talk to him. "You can call me Spike if you want." Willing to always give him the world if he only were to ask for it.

"No," Cloud managed, voice a weak whisper. "I like it when you call me that. Always made me feel special."

"You are special," Zack assured him, shifting his body as he felt a heal spell be cast over him, starting to knit his abdomen back together. "You always have been."

"Because of what I am?" Cloud sounded so renowned, as if he had heard about just what made him special a thousand times before.

Zack shook his head, managing to pull himself over the other, bloody hands swiping through those golden spikes and staining them even more. "Has it ever been about what we are between us?" he questioned, needing to hear the words...needing to know that all of this hadn't just been about what he had been made into. ...Not with Cloud.

"No," Cloud assured him quietly. "It's always only been you. Not the rest of it…"

"I love you," Zack managed, feeling his heart break as he actively watched the Omega die.

"I love you," Cloud repeated. "Forever." He reached up for him, ice cold fingers swiping across the scar on his cheek. "Is Sephiroth alright?"

Violet eyes shut in pain at those words. It wasn't out of jealousy—though there was plenty of that. It wasn't out of guilt—he'd kill Sephiroth again if given the chance. It was out of exhaustion. It was because even now...at the end of things, it was Sephiroth's name still reigning on Cloud's bloody lips.

Zack nodded, not having it in him to be the one to tell the Omega that his mate was dead—or at least he fucking better be. "It's going to be fine. We just have to get you out of here."

Cloud knitted his eyebrows, free hand touching the bloody mess that was his stomach. "Is he okay?"

A whine of pain left Zack's throat, hiding his face as he buried it in Cloud's shoulder. "I don't think so, Spike," Zack sobbed, hating himself for being the one to tell Cloud the fate of his child. "It's going to be okay, Babe. I'm going to get you out of here," he repeated.

Dull blue eyes met his own, and Zack's heart clenched as all the life had all but gone out of them. "No it's not," Cloud managed. "It's never been okay. Not ever."

"We need to get out of here," Vincent interrupted from above them. Zack wondered just what he thought of the two near corpses bleeding out at his feet that had just taken his son away from him. "That other Omega and the SOLDIER just went to get your escape ride. We are meeting at a landing point down the hill."

Reno. Zack hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Cloud about that particular slip. ...Oh well, he supposed he'd take that sin to his grave. He wondered if the Turk would miss him...or if anyone would.

The SOLDIER let his hand snake out, entwining with Cloud's own and wincing as they almost squelched together with all the blood. "Hear that, Spike? We're going to get out of here."

They would never make it to the helicopter. Not in the state they were in. He didn't even know why Vincent was allowing himself to humor this delusion...to raise their hopes...Cloud's hopes.

Cloud nodded slowly, eyes sliding shut as he squeezed weakly at his hand. "Whatever you say, Zack."

The sound of the gun cocking was the first indication he had that they were no longer alone. The second was the sound of at least 30 other weapons doing the same.

Well…

Shit.

Zack glanced to the side, making sure to keep a good grip on Cloud's hand as he took in their surroundings. Shinra Troopers lined the walls, all with their weapons trained on them. A gun had been pointed at the back of Vincent's skull...several were pointing at Cloud and himself, as if there was even the semblance of hope that they may be able to move, let alone fight.

Were they going to shoot them right here? A mass execution for the idiots who had deemed it necessary to dispose of Shinra's greatest weapon—their war hero? If slaughtering thousands could make you a hero, that is.

"You've really made a mess of it this time, haven't you, Cloud?' Zack shut his eyes in dread as he recognized Hojo's voice, glancing up just in time to see black boots and the edges of a white jacket. "You've somehow managed to decimate all of my plans without even really trying that hard," Hojo spoke with disgust. "I'd actually be impressed if it weren't so infuriating."

"Ugh, what do you want now?" Zack questioned, stretching onto his back as he continued to cling to Cloud's hand so that he could see the scientist better. When he did he spat as hard as he could, staining the front of Hojo's jacket with blood. If he were going to die...he might as well do it while annoying him.

Hojo sneered down at him, taking out a handkerchief and wiping at the bloody spittle. "I see you haven't lost your charm," he spoke with disdain, glancing at the troopers. "Get them on the gurneys. We have to get them to the mansion if we're going to salvage any part at all of this project."

Zack grunted as he was lifted onto a stretcher, glaring as he was lifted in his pain. "Oh fuck off…"

"You should feel lucky I need you in order to repair him," Hojo spoke in irritation, not sparing Cloud a second glance as he was lifted onto a gurney. No, his eyes instead focused on Vincent who had been kind enough to try to help them—to save them. "As for you." The troopers surrounded him as Hojo walked over, grabbing for a lock of dark hair. "How does eternity in a box sound?"

Vincent didn't even struggle as he was pulled back and away, dragged through the doors of the reactor. Zack added that to the list of regrets he had that had all been labeled under the name Nibelheim. He struggled to reach out, managing to grab Cloud's hand so they were connected even while on separate gurneys. The blond had lost consciousness...or at least he hoped that was all.

Hojo's face appeared in front of him, distracting him from the Omega as he looked up. "Are you listening closely, Zachary?" Hojo spoke, nodding at the attentiveness. "Good, because I want you to hear this. The wrong Alpha died today...and I'm going to have so much fun making you wish it were you instead." He motioned to the troops. "Take them away. Now." As he was carried away, he frowned as his hand was ripped from the incapacitated Omega. He wondered what his sins would lead him to now...he wondered how it could possibly get worse.

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