Rat in a Maze

Zack slid his keycard through the door and was rewarded when it opened. Having Level 10 clearance really paid off at times.

He ventured into the lab, glancing around. The note he'd found on his desk said that Sephiroth had gone to the lab and that he'd be back later, but "later" wasn't good enough for Zack. He got an odd feeling every time Sephiroth left to go see Hojo, and he knew from experience that his odd feelings usually meant something was wrong.

He spotted his friend almost immediately. Sephiroth was lying on a metal table a few feet away, unconscious. Zack went over and found that he wasn't just lying to the table; he was strapped to the table. There were hard leather straps secured tightly around his wrists and ankles.

He looked around, warily, but Hojo was nowhere to be seen. He had obviously finished and just left Sephiroth there. He had even left an IV needle in his arm, though it wasn't attached to anything. With a noise of disgust, he pulled it out and threw it onto a nearby table.

He undid the straps and found bruises on the pale skin under them. Sephiroth had obviously fought hard against them.

"What the hell did you do, Hojo?" Zack muttered.

He shook Sephiroth gently. "Seph?"

Sephiroth's forehead wrinkled slightly.

"Come on, Seph. Wake up."

Sephiroth moaned softly.

Zack shook him again, and this time his eyes opened and he sat up very quickly. Obviously too quickly, as his hand went to his head and he started to fall back.

Zack caught him. "Whoa. Take it easy."

Sephiroth looked at him, a bewildered expression on his face. "Zack...?"

Zack smiled to hide his concern. Sephiroth was clearly disoriented and his concern probably would have just upset him.

Sephiroth pushed him away weakly and sat up much more slowly. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

"What did he do to you?" Zack said, not sure he really wanted to know.

"I...don't remember," Sephiroth said.

"Are you - "

"What are you doing here?" a cold voice demanded from behind him.

He whirled around see Hojo standing near one of the other doors.

"You are not allowed in here," Hojo said, and started toward them.

Zack stood his ground and glared challengingly at him. "Fuck you."

"I was not finished, either," Hojo said, ignoring him.

"Well, you are now," Zack said, in a tone that dared him to say any different.

"Isn't that cute?" Hojo said, leering at him. "He doesn't need to be protected by the likes of you. Now move. I have work to do."

"No." Sephiroth slid off the table and stood next to Zack. "I am leaving."

Without another word, Sephiroth pushed the sleeve of his uniform down and headed for the door.

"You can't leave," Hojo called after him. "I'm not finished."

"He can do whatever he damn well pleases," Zack said, and followed him out.

Zack followed him silently to the elevator and into it. He watched as Sephiroth pushed 49 and the doors slid closed.

"I don't know why you let him do that to you," Zack said, watching the numbers go down.

The only response he got was a barely audible grunt. He looked over at Sephiroth and noticed that he looked slightly ill.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. He walked with Sephiroth down the hall to the office, glancing over at him every few seconds with concern.

Sephiroth opened the door to the office and entered, going immediately to his desk and sitting down. Zack followed him and sat down on the edge of his desk, continuing to look at him concernedly.

"I'm fine," Sephiroth said, looking up at him.

"You look like you're gonna pass out any second," Zack said.

"Do your work, Zack," Sephiroth said. He picked up his pen and looked down at the stack of papers on his desk.

"You're just another rat in a maze to him, ya know," Zack said. "He doesn't give a shit about you."

Sephiroth looked back at him. "I know."

"Then why do you keep going there?" Zack said.

"You wouldn't understand."

Zack looked him straight in the eye. "You're afraid of him."

Sephiroth's eyes widened slightly before he looked back down at his desk. "You're more perceptive than I give you credit for, it seems."

"Seph," Zack said, laying a hand on his arm. "Don't go there anymore."

"I cannot just stop," Sephiroth said.

"Well, why the hell not?"

Sephiroth looked back at him. "He'll - "

"There's nothing he can do to you," Zack said, "Shinra'll do almost anything to keep you around."

"But - "

Zack squeezed his arm. "If you could've seen yourself when I got there, you wouldn't be arguing with me. He strapped you down! It left bruises on your arms, I saw them…"

Sephiroth frowned and pulled up his sleeve. He stared down at the line of deep purple that crossed it, as if he hadn't noticed it before.

"Damn him..." Sephiroth muttered.

"Seph, please..."

Sephiroth pushed his sleeve back down. "Never again," he said, "This ends today."

Zack almost breathed a sigh of relief. He had been prepared to stop Sephiroth from going there again any way he could, but it looked like he wouldn't have to. Sephiroth had finally come to his senses, just like Zack knew he would.