Sleeping with her Enemy
Suspensions
How can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home
It had been so long since he had seen her and he wondered what she would look like now that the long lonely years had passed between them.
She would be beautiful of that he had no doubt; she had always been beautiful to him but not only on the outside but on the inside where it counted, it was a rare trait within people one that she had undoubtedly possessed.
Looking over to where the others were huddled Sephiroth felt like an outsider, unwelcome by one the others bar two weary of him, Yuffie and Aeris seemed to be in his corner and maybe he thought Red XIII was but he wasn't really sure due to his quiet and thoughtful nature.
Vincent hadn't really voiced an opinion on him as of yet, out of all the people in the group he could probably relate to the brooding man more, they had both suffered at the hands of Shinra and they both still bore the scars.
He already knew what Cloud's opinion of him would be and he didn't blame the blonde for being angry as well as apprehensive of him, in the past he had only ever been concerned about protecting his own precious ass.
But things were different now, years of being fed a constant diet of unknown drugs, and the tortures of his body and his mind had forced him to grow up in ways he had never really realised he'd needed to.
Well as far as Cloud was concerned, he didn't know what it was but the younger man had always seemed to bring out the competitor in him not to mention the cockiness; he wondered now if it was because Cloud had possessed something back then that he had never had.
Excitement, naivety, innocence, awe, and much much more.
He'd never really had the chance to idolise anybody and he had been so very much a young man himself that he had been unable to handle the borage of questions the young spiky blonde had bombarded him with.
So he'd made it his personal mission to make sure the other boy had not wanted to be anything like him.
But a part of him was trying to be cruel to be kind, with youth came impressionability and a part of him wondered if Cloud knew just what Sephiroth had had to endure to become as good as he was if the blonde would want something similar done to himself.
So it was easier for his comrade to see him as a miserable, cocky, self centred bastard than as a enhanced experiment he could be just like.
But that was in the past now, he didn't need the trust of this group to do what needed to be done, he wasn't here for any of them and he didn't owe them a thing.
He caught Barret eyeing him and lifted his head proudly.
He was here for Tifa and that was something that nobody could make him ashamed of.
Cloud was still coming to terms with the fact that Sephiroth was here, but he found that he was viewing the older man in a slightly less hostile way and it was beginning to bother him, if he had his anger to hold onto then that would be fine.
Loving Tifa as Cloud did then he could appreciate what Sephiroth was feeling because he shared it.
His earlier revelation the day before was still having a shocking impact on him, but even though he was loath to admit it Cloud knew that he had not been lying when he'd discussed the depth of his feelings for Tifa.
But it didn't make the pain any easier.
Did Tifa truly love Sephiroth? Would Red really lie to him about something that he knew would destroy Cloud's heart? Had Sephiroth looked him in the eye and lied about everything he said he had felt?
He knew the answer was a definite no to all bar one.
So why had Tifa hidden it from him? She was supposed to be his friend and yet she hadn't told him the truth...but even he had to admit silently that he knew the answer and it caused a pain to clench his heart.
Tifa had known that Cloud was in love with her even if she didn't want to acknowledge the fact; she hadn't wanted to hurt him.
But he also knew that Tifa hadn't wanted to hurt herself.
If she spoke of Sephiroth and she truly did love him then thinking about him leaving her would have been painful to retell and she hadn't wanted or needed the pain of it.
Thinking about it the way he was now it felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders that had been the reason why she had been so aloof from the group, it was the reason why she had held him at a distance.
She had been pining for something she had lost.
He felt his previous anger melt away under the force of his new revelation, and for once his heart felt as though it were at peace, he loved Tifa and there was nothing he could do to change that, but he knew that he loved her enough to let her go.
Turning he assessed Sephiroth silently, the other man had indeed changed from the man he Cloud had once known him as, and he could silently admit that he seemed so broken up over what had happened, that he had to love Tifa as much as he said he did.
Now he saw just what it was his friend had seen in him and a small smile crossed his lips.
"I'm so sorry I never understood till now Tifa" he whispered to the wind.
"But I'll tell you how happy I am for you in person... I'd rather you be happy without me than miserable with me" however he decided he it would be best if he never admitted that she had been miserable anyway.
Allowing her eyes to open it took her a few moments to realize where she was, the blurry overhead lights hurt her eyes and she had to blink in rapid succession in order for her vision to focus properly.
Then realization hit her like a rock, she gasped slightly alerting the man sat by her side.
"Ah so sleeping beauty finally decided to grace us with her company then" rasped the voice that she had come to loath and she turned and faced the man who was responsible for her agony and who she hated with an intensity that almost scared her.
"Hojo" she hissed at the dark haired scientist sat in the chair near her bed.
His jet black hair was scraped back from his face in a ponytail that reached just between his shoulder blades, his skin was quite sallow looking yet he could not be classed as unattractive…he wore his years well, his glasses sat on the bridge of his nose and his shrewd eyes studied and assessed her.
"You know you took a very big risk attacking Zack like that" he stated curtly she laughed mockingly, she would not cower in front of this man, he had taken everything from her so in theory she had nothing left to loose.
"I didn't like the way he spoke to me and I certainly didn't like the way he was touching me, nobody and I mean nobody but the man I love is allowed to touch me like that Hojo" she stated in a voice that matched his.
But inside she was quivering with rage, how dared he class Zack as the injured party and she was certainly not going to feel sorry for him the pompous bastard.
Lifting her head she looked Hojo dead in the eye, if he was going to poison her with his presence then she was going to get some answers, and if he had a problem with the way in which she asked them then that was his touch luck, a man like him deserved no courtesy or respect.
"What the hell am I doing here? You domineering dictator" Hojo laughed at her daring.
"You have Spirit Miss Lockheart I'll give you that, you'll make a perfect specimen for my new experiment, my old one seems to have temporarily escaped my grasp..."
"You mean Sephiroth?" she cut in sharply causing Hojo to jerk to attention, his eyes narrowed to sinister slits and something dark and almost deadly seemed to flicker within his gaze.
"Who told you that" he ground out and Tifa cursed her runaway mouth.
"I erm I heard the rumour of it" she backtracked hastily holding in a sigh of relief when Hojo's look went back to normal as he accepted that, Sephiroth was a much talked about man obviously there had more than likely been tales about his feats.
"Well yes I did have Sephiroth within my building; he came all too eagerly when we raided Niebleham" she didn't like the sudden tone in his voice or the way in which he was looking at her, it were as though he knew something that she was trying to hide.
"I wonder why that was Miss Lockheart" he asked slowly.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" she said indignant, she was the one being held here against her will, she wasn't going to give him any answers nor was she going to make it easy for him to get them from her, they couldn't make her talk and she was not going to.
"Oh I think you do" he said a smile spreading over his face making him look menacing and suddenly despite all the torture and beatings she'd been through Tifa was very afraid.
"Look we've got to agree on this" Sephiroth cut in after Barret dismissed his idea for the seventh time in about ten minutes, his head was pounding and if he didn't get some co-operation soon he was more than likely going to start knocking heads together.
He would not loose Tifa because of someone else's stubbornness.
"Hey who the hell died and made you leader?" Barret asked huffily crossing his arms and giving off an air of someone who was annoyed at being ordered around by a person he considered his enemy.
"I did" a voice echoed from behind them and they all turned to face Cloud.
Ignoring his comrades Cloud walked up to Sephiroth, his eyes roved over his face as though searching for something and moistening his lips he began to speak.
"I don't like you" he stated matter of factly; his tone was what one might use when discussing the weather.
"I think that you have everything Sephiroth and you don't even seem bothered by it all... but I also wanted to say that I believe that you really did make Tifa truly happy for her to be like she was and for that I want…I want to thank you" he said slowly as the others gave what could only be described as looks of pure bewilderment.
"So what say we work together to rescue the woman we love?" he held out his hand and although Sephiroth was dazed with shock he took Cloud's hand in his shaking it in his firm grip.
He wanted to tell the other man that he was sorry for the way things turned out; he wanted to tell him that he was sorry for dashing his dreams when he should have helped him fulfil them.
So many things that he wanted to say yet he could not get the words to form.
He doubted that Cloud had forgiven him, he honestly didn't know if the other man was capable of such a feat given their past but he wanted to try, if he made amends then maybe he could begin to heal.
"I'm sorry" he whispered.
Cloud looked at him for a moment as though he did not understand what he had said; his face registered a subtle hint of shock before it was once again as impassive as it had been previously.
"What for" he finally managed to ask, for some reason Sephiroth was sure he heard a hint of hope colour the blonde's voice.
"I never meant to disillusion you so callously, back then I guess I was rebelling against the mould I felt I had been forced into, I was brash and cocky and mean but that doesn't excuse the way I treated you"
He let his gaze drop to the ground as he contemplated his next words.
"I can't fully explain to you why I acted the way that I did, maybe one day I will but I can't now but I just wanted you to know that I didn't mean to be how I was with you, and I was humbled that somebody had chosen me to look up to even if I couldn't see it at the time"
He let the silence linger for a while then turned and made his way towards where Yuffie was standing, he'd only taken two steps when Clouds hushed response echoed out softly against the wind.
"Thank you"
It was so cold the coldness seeped through her thin garments and onto her skin like a grimy blanket that she couldn't cast off.
Even if her hands hadn't been hurtfully bound by her sides.
The smell of disinfectant invaded her nostrils and they flared, bile rose in her throat and she desperately wanted to be sick, it reminded her of being in a hospital and she had never really been much of a fan of them
The table she was strapped to had been cleaned and it was still damp, the dampness made her feel uncomfortable and the idea that she could ever be comfy on this monstrosity they called a table was laughable.
But she couldn't laugh she couldn't do anything, the only thing she wanted to do at the moment was to weep but she wouldn't give Shinra the satisfaction of seeing her do so.
She heard the door to the lab open and turned her head then wished she hadn't because Zack had just entered the room and he was alone.
"So Tifa it isn't every day that a man has an extremely attractive woman at his mercy I think I'm finding this very arousing" he stated although she could see that for her self.
Revulsion filled her and she turned her head.
He walked over and trailed his fingers over her body skimming her breast and heading down to rest on the apex of her thighs then stroking the satiny pantyhose oh display.
His eyes roamed over her filled with hunger and a savage desire.
"Don't touch me you louse" she said through clenched teeth, his touch felt like ice upon her and her skin felt like it wanted to crawl from her body, once again she resisted the urge to vomit.
"Or you'll do what honey" he said silkily trailing his fingers around the inside of her thigh.
"Fucking get off me you sick bastard," she screamed at him, her response only made him smile all the more, god she wanted to punch that stupid smile from his face and she struggled against the straps that held her.
"It's quite invigorating having you trussed up like this... you see I know that I can touch you and you can't stop me" to press home his point he started to unbutton the flimsy garment that Lucrecia had been forced to dress her in, buttons ran all the way down the front, his fingers moved slowly his breathing becoming more laboured as her body unfolded to his gaze.
Even the signs of her suffering could not diminish her peachy beauty.
Tifa pulled at the straps trying with all her strength to break her restraints, the result was a sharp stinging slap to her face.
She reeled but only for a second before struggling again.
"Keep still bitch" Zack breathed against her mouth and Tifa sank her teeth into his lower lip when his lips touched hers, she tasted blood and saw with satisfaction that it ran down his chin.
"You fucking whore" he screamed at her she spit in his face
"Whore means I'm anybodies Zack and I swear with my last breath I will never be yours" but instead of the anger and the retaliation she had expected Zack merely laughed at her remark.
"Look around you Tifa there are no cameras here, no Soldier members standing by.
You're all tied up and I could take you now" he climbed on top of her body ripping off her pantyhose to reveal her womanhood then her bra to bare her lush breasts to his gaze casting the unwanted satin away.
"What would you do Tifa?" he asked fiddling with his buckle, she closed her eyes preying that this was all just a nightmare, that she wasn't here, that she was asleep within the safe recesses of Sephiroth's arms.
"Who would know?" he whispered she heard the rasp of his zip and when she opened her eyes she saw that he had undone his pants.
Oh god she inwardly screamed, please save me she closed her eyes again just as he was about to thrust into her.
Beeeeeeeep the door to the lab sounded causing Zack to quickly clamber off her and refasten his pants and belt in lightning time, she had never been so glad to hear a sound in all her life, even if it did sound the arrival of someone else she loathed
Lucrecia entered the room followed closely by Hojo.
"Ah she is ready" I see Hojo said not commenting on Tifa's missing underwear.
"Place the needle in her arm" Hojo instructed and Tifa gasped as the pain entered her body, of all the pains she had endured this was by far the most horrifying and worst one.
"What are you doing" she stammered out.
"We have the ability to connect you to the person you love, now I will be able to see if I was indeed right" he mused.
Another pain spread throughout her like white fire searing her insides.
Sephiroth was listening intently to what Vincent was saying when he was hit by an enormous bolt of pain.
Oh no his mind screamed when realization of what was happening hit him, they were using what he'd feared them using the most, Hojo had to have figured out that he was in love with Tifa and he was now showing him exactly what he was putting her through.
He gasped and fell to his knees, the group seemed to rush to his side, even Barret who up until now had looked at him with distain suddenly seemed worried about his sudden collapse.
He pulled his body into the foetal position wanting desperately for the pain to go away, it was as though he could feel her through this sudden link and though he could sense her presence there the price for such a connection was too high.
"Oh god" he ground out as another wave him with all the force of a freight train, his muscles began to spasm under its onslaught.
"Sephiroth what the hell is wrong" Cloud asked reaching out to touch him, this only made it worse and he cried out in pain as soon as the other mans fingers touched his over sensitised flesh.
"They know, oh god they know" he managed to get out his breathing becoming more laborious as the flow of pain increased.
He hadn't dreamed that Hojo would find out so soon, and he certainly hadn't even thought that he was mad enough to use the machine he had created, as far as he was aware Hojo had not even tested it yet.
His heart ached at the thought of Tifa being the test subject.
He wasn't sure exactly how it worked, all he knew was that Hojo had found a way to connect you to your hearts desires, in other words to the person you loved above all else.
"Sephiroth, stay with us man" he heard Cloud shouting as though from very far away, his vision was beginning to blur and darken round the edges, he wondered if he was going to pass out.
It was like every ounce of pain he had ever endured was being forced upon him and his body was having trouble coping with it, he felt his very essence draining with each new wave that attacked him.
He wondered if Hojo was trying to kill him, or if this really was a punishment to him for defying him once again, his stamp of authority to show him just who it was in charge.
His eyes watered at the thought of Tifa in this much pain then suddenly it stopped. Why had it stopped so suddenly?
He couldn't feel her anymore, oh god his mind cried out what's happened to her.
He closed his eyes against a pain of another kind when he realised what could have caused the pain to stop as abruptly as it had, he pulled himself to his knees his eyes shining with unshed tears.
Cloud looked at him for a moment not understanding what was written on his face.
"Sephiroth, what's the matter? What happened" he finally asked, he tried to form the words to respond but he didn't want to say them, didn't want them to be true, Cloud was shaking him demanding an answer from him.
He wasn't aware that he had spoken until he saw Clouds eyes echo the sorrow he knew would be written within his own.
Back in the Shinra headquarters Hojo was horrified while Zack was just plain shocked.
Nobody saw the gleam in Lucrecia's eyes and the smile that hovered on her lips as though she was hiding something, or how her eyes swiftly looked up to register the time shown on the clock sitting on the opposite wall.
They were all to busy staring at Tifa's lifeless body for it was obvious to anyone that dared to look that the glazed eyes and unmoving chest signified that Tifa Lockheart was in fact dead.
frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead
all this time I can't believe I couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more
bring me to life
Lyrics taken from 'Bring me to life' by Evanescence
Hope that you enjoyed that one and I'm sorry for the wait, I'll have more up soon but I'll just have to leave you with the cliff-hanger for now, thank you for the reviews.
Angel-Wings XxXxXxX
