Limit break

The small crew arrived at Junon in the middle of the night. An escort of troopers assigned to the city lead them to the hotel to rest up a little before going on the cliffs to check on the suspected Mako leaks. Cloud was wasted, and two troopers had to support him all the way to his room, his legs had given out under him the moment he touched the solid ground. The Innkeeper had reserved two adjacent rooms for them. Yummel offered himself to bunk with Cloud, but Sephiroth refused and told him to go with Zack. The blond was already in the small bathroom, soaking a washcloth in cold water. He came back staggering and flopped on the nearest bed. The General closed the door and shrugged off his trenchcoat. He would take a hot shower, and then go to sleep. He stopped at the doorframe, the ragged breathing of his roommate coming to his ears.

- I will go shower, will you be alright?

Eyes mostly covered by the damp washcloth, Sephiroth could tell the boy wasn't paying attention to him, and he guessed that he needed complete calm to recover from his sickness. He started to wonder how he could help him… Zack had said that Cloud could get sick even after the ride, so with him being in the bathroom… He won't be able to reach the toilet if he's going to be sick, this must be hard for him, he thought, He doesn't seem to be comfortable, either. Sephiroth looked around and spotted the trash can in a corner. He brought it near the bed, turning off the lights in the way. Gently, he put a hand on Cloud's shoulder, and guiding his right arm to the trash can, Sephiroth murmured:

- If you feel that bad, don't hold back anything.

Cloud nodded timidly, scanning with his hand the small container. He didn't move at all after that, and for a moment Sephiroth thought he was falling asleep. He silently made his way to the bathroom and shut himself in.

The shower started. The sound of water was soothing to Cloud. He managed to kick off his boots and shoulder pads off the bed and listened to his surroundings. Slowly, he felt everything come back to normal and the last thing he did was to remove the washcloth from his face before falling into oblivion. Few minutes later, the General got out of the bathroom. Quickly he noticed the change; Cloud was turned on his side and was sleeping soundly in his uniform. Sephiroth carefully removed the trooper's jacket and covered him with the quilt. The boy didn't even noticed the change of position, all he did was a tiny moan of displeasure, but he rolled over and muffled himself in the warm covers. The General smiled and did the same already enjoying the fact that he had someone near him. I think it's going to do me good, I needed change, anyway. His thoughts floated an instant and he closed his eyes.

********

The green liquid was hurting… That's all he could tell. Every time Hojo pricked him with the green liquid, it hurt. His head was spinning, the walls didn't stop moving, his eyes burned, and all he could do was sobbing. Nothing could stop the pain, nothing or nobody… Nobody but… An hard slap across his torso made him scream, and he could see a man with red eyes and a small boy with a dot on his forehead trapped behind a thick glass wall trying to reach him. On the experimentation table, Sephiroth's eyes widened in fear as he saw Hojo coming toward him with a scalpel…

********

Cloud woke up at the sound of a terror scream and he bolted off the bed. He quickly scanned his surroundings and quickly, he noticed nothing was disturbed, the door and the window were closed. However on the next bed, the General was tossing restlessly in his sleep, trapped in a nightmare. He was occasionally whimpering, and Cloud hurried up to wake up his superior.

- Sir! Sir! Wake up!

He shook Sephiroth lightly, and jade eye's snapped open. The General startled when he saw Cloud, yelping as he fell off his bed with a dull thud. The blond timidly made his way to the other side of the bed.

- Sir? A-are you all right?

Something like a sleepy growl answered him. Sephiroth picked himself up and climbed back onto the mattress, hands of his face. Recently, he had a lot of those nasty dreams he suspected to be bits of memories.

- Sir?

The General looked up at those concerned blue eyes and sighed.

- What time is it, soldier?

- 4:00 in the morning, sir… With all due respect, sir, you don't look good, maybe you should get some more sleep before the mission. I could stay up and wake you up if you're dreaming again.

His mind was crying out to shove him off, that he was being weak, but deep inside, he felt he could trust Cloud. He was his student after all, and he was very tired… But only one thing bothered him; why did he cared? How? Was he a friend like Zack or he wanted to humiliate him?

- Why?, he whispered, why would you do such a thing?

- Sir, you did take care of me, it's just normal I return the favour., he answered, And, I-I won't tell a soul, sir, I swear. I know how it is… In my village, well, when the other kids noticed I was different, I was picked on and beaten often. I left the town because of that, I wasn't strong enough to retaliate… and I thought that if I become as strong as you, nobody would pick on me when I'll go back. Sir, you can rely on me, I won't tell a soul about this.

Sephiroth stared with wide eyes at the boy now sitting beside him and what Zack said to him about Cloud being like him resurfaced. He was different, special… like him. He nodded slightly to Cloud, and he heard the blond walk to his bed, the sound of leather straps being adjusted… He was putting back his uniform. Sephiroth slid under the covers and closed his eyes once more. Cloud sat cross-legged in front of the bed, cocking his rifle in his lap and guarded his superior until dawn came.

They were quickly awoken and briefed on the details of the mission before Sephiroth lead them to the cliffs. A Mako pipe was alimenting the upper city and recently a drop in the intensity had been noticed, as well as monster appearance. Once they found the leak, Sephiroth ordered to Zack and Yummel to fix it while he and Cloud were searching the area for the monster. The Commander and Green started right away, preparing the material. Cloud followed the General as he went deeper in the caverns nearby. The tunnel was leading to a small clearing. Someone had been there not long ago, the rest of a fire still fuming was proving it. And the blood soaking the ground, the scattered remains of human bodies… Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and he turned to Cloud, who was pale, but impassive before the horrid spectacle.

- Go back and tell Zack to be very careful. That beast is very dangerous.

Cloud wasn't told two times and scampered away. The General ventured further, looking for traces or clues that could tell him where it was heading… when suddenly he heard a small moan. He hurried and discovered, under a heap of rock, a dark-haired man in a blue suit. A Turk. Sephiroth moved the heavy rocks that were trapping him and dragged him a few meters away. He was injured severely so the General cast a cure spell to heal the man. Few seconds later he woke up, and jade widened in recognition when he noticed the dot on his forehead.

- Ugh… Se… Sephiroth?

- Tseng? You're a Turk? What are you doing here? What happened?

Tseng sat up slowly and looked at his friend.

- Woa… Slow down… Yeah, I'm a Turk… I was with my boss to eliminate the terrorists who'd broken down the pipe, but… when we found them, the monsters had already devoured them. We settled down for the night, but in the early morning we were attacked and Arak…

- You mean that there's more than one???

- Yeah…

- Do you have a weapon?

Tseng nodded and got his gun ready. Sephiroth put him on his feet and turned back, hoping to reach Zack and the two troopers on time. If the monsters find them… Zack doesn't stand a chance!

********

- YUMMEL!!!!

The boy didn't have the chance to react. The monster's jaws clawed around his waist, his scream resonated in the air as the blood flooded and the beast killed him. Cloud clutched his rifle and continued to cast 'barrier' and 'haste' on them, while Zack tried to defeat the thing. The Commander leaped and slashed, trying to cut through the thick armoured leather, only succeeding in pissing the beast even more. It lashed it's tail toward the dark-haired man who couldn't avoid the blow, and he went hurtling into a rock face. The buster sword slid off his hands and he collapsed limply on the ground.

- ZACK!!! ZACK WAKE UP!!!

Cloud dropped his rifle and ran to the fallen Commander, grabbing the hilt of the Buster sword. After casting 'wall' on Zack, he prepared himself to face the huge Behemoth.

*******

Sephiroth and Tseng both heard the sharp desperate scream through the rocky walls of the cavern. The General accelerated, fearing that Zack or Cloud… An loud roar followed, and a crashing noise, the silver-haired man felt the rush of adrenaline course through his veins and he ran even faster.

- ZACK!!! ZACK WAKE UP!!!

His legs pushed him to an inhuman speed and he arrived just in time to see Cloud, covered by gashes and bruised all over, reach his limit. The familiar red light surrounded him, his eyes opened and turned purple. He was holding Zack's sword, and to see the Behemoth as bloodied as the blond, he could tell the boy was an excellent swordsman, although he lacked a lot of experience. Cloud crouched to avoid a clawed paws and then he ran toward the beast, sword high in the air and he leaped.

- Braver!

The sword went down at an incredible speed, slicing the Behemoth's head in two. It fell lifelessly on the ground. Cloud was trembling all over, and didn't noticed the second Behemoth until it was too late. Sephiroth's pupils narrowed to slits and he jumped into action as a clawed slash sent the Buster sword fly in the air. He grabbed the trooper and pulled him back and cast a 'wall' on him before letting his limit explode.

- Dark moon!

Masamune swirling, Sephiroth made a large circle around the Behemoth, slicing him as dark magic finished the beast. Tseng joined him afterward, and rushed to Zack, but luckily he had only a concussion. The Wutaian turned him on his side and ripped a part of his suit to stop the bleeding. The General was looking worriedly over the blond boy. Shaking like a leaf, he couldn't do anything else than babble senseless words. He was bleeding a lot, the cure spell of the General couldn't heal his arm, the wound was too complex. Tseng was now with him and when he saw the boy, he removed his jacket and wrapped Cloud's injured hand in it.

- Sephiroth, he's going into shock! Talk to him, calm him down, I'll call the chopper. Those two need medical attention.

Sephiroth nodded, unbuckling his trenchcoat and took off the leather straps that were attached to his belt, strapping the injured limb in a makeshift sling.

- Cloud? Cloud? Do you hear me?

- A-aargh… ugh… S-sir?

- Good. Be strong, trooper, your injury is serious. You have to calm down…

- Aaa… Zack?

- He's going to be fine. It's just a concussion. Can't you stop trembling?

- Ugh… C-old…

The General carefully cradled Cloud in his arms and lay him near Zack, covering them with his treanchcoat. He could make abstraction of the cold for himself. Two of his better men were seriously hurt and needed warmth more than him. Tseng smiled and checked on their pulse, when he heard the General ask where he was all those years.

- Remember when Hojo caught us playing together? Well if you think you had a terrible punishment, and I guess in a way you had it, you don't know what happened to me… He sent me into the Turk program. He was sure I'll get myself killed. Sephiroth, if you went to the war at 15, I did my first kill at 7. I was used as a secret weapon to kill under the cover of innocence… And recently, do you know what is my assignment? Hell, you'll laugh. I'm in charge of watching you after Hojo's tests.

- And what I am doing after the tests?, asked curiously Sephiroth.

- You know, I must be at least credible, you shove away Zack, go to sleep, collapse on the floor, throwing up … you see. The bastard will never know that Zack is close to you. I saw you break down, and I wanted to tell you that you still have a friend. You don't have to act as if you were watched, I do look over you from a distance, but I don't squeal on everything you do. You can have a private life, Hojo will never know.

- Thank you, Tseng…

They were interrupted by the sound of the chopper landing nearby. Quickly a medical crew was joining them and they were out for the Junon's hospital.

End

Author's note

Ever wondered why Cloud is wearing his bangle on his left arm? Well, now you'll know! Prepare for a big turn in the story, the next chapter is called 'First kiss', I wonder what does that mean… =^_^=