Title: Stalemate

Author: DMitchell1985

Beta: ArloArleh

Summary: When driving into a blatant trap, fighting losing battles, and taking a continued stroll down memory lane don't work, Cloud opts to amuse himself instead.

Rating: PG-15

Disclaimer: No, I don't own these two. That honor goes to gothatheartholo Square Enix, those lucky punks.

Warnings: Language, some spoilers for the game (Like, one.) and Advent Children, SHM torture, and a small bit of mindgames. AU to a point. It sticks to canon, mostly, but I had to get Cloud to Kadaj some kind of way.

Pairing: Cloud Strife/Mini Sephiroth #1 Kadaj

Word Count:

Author's Notes: This was written for my own Drabble Request post on LiveJournal for gothatheartholo. It was beta'd by the talented ArloArleh. Thanks, darlin'. The theme is: god. If you want to read the unedited version of this fic, check my profile for a link to my LiveJournal. And yes, my summary is on crack. : D

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There was nothing quite like the feeling of forgetting their two years of hard fighting and killing in the relaxing peace of the Forgotten City while laying still on a comfortable thatch of grass. The red cloak of a bat had snatched their two leads for Mother's return away from them before they were finished entertaining themselves.

Oh, how he loathed the man he was certain was not even human. Kadaj could pinpoint that much about the man from their brief encounters, as one always knew their own.

He had enjoyed listening to the blonde one scream in agony as he twisted her wrists until they reached their breaking point. He had positively relished the way Yazoo casually slid the edge of a tapered blade beneath her skin to sever its bonds to the muscle beneath.

He had looked on in utter delight as Loz finally managed to break the dark-haired one's refusal to cry out at any provocation they had dealt out thus far. As they lay bleeding and gasping for air, he had dug out their identification cards from the inside pockets of their jackets and slipped them into the confines of his leathers. He knew that he would most assuredly need them later, if the pair did not tell him what he wanted to know.

Kadaj had considered making use of Loz's method of acquiring information, screw the captives first and perhaps ask a question later, but he quickly discarded the notion. That would only be a waste of valuable time, no matter how well Loz claimed that it worked.

Kadaj turned away from the moaning heaps of flesh to start on their next plan. The children Yazoo would soon gather would lead them to Mother, but it would not hurt to approach their captives' boss as well. If the grunts could not tell them much, the President surely would in an effort to save their pathetic lives, even if he was unaware of the fact that Kadaj and his brother no longer held that particular advantage.

As Kadaj thought over his intended approach for the following afternoon when he would pay a second visit to Rufus Shinra, he allowed his eyes to drift close and the warm night air to blow across his exposed skin. Moments such as these were much more rare than he would have liked them to be.

Before he could fully open his eyes and turn to locate the disturbance, the sounds of snapped twigs and the crush of dry leaves underfoot reached Kadaj's ears. His arms flew from beneath his head as he moved to roll onto his side. However, the biting metal of a well-sharpened sword stopped him mid-roll.

"I'm surprised that you let your guard down so easily," Cloud murmured. "I could do almost anything to you, and no one would ever know until it was too late. Of course, you should be familiar with this ploy, as you and your brothers like to prey on people who are by themselves or too weak to understand what's going to happen to them."

Cloud shifted the angle of his sword so that it rested fully against Kadaj's throat, instead of merely having the end bear down on his skin.

"You're nothing more than a coward," Cloud snarled.

"I'm a coward? I'm a coward! I simply know how to take advantage of a situation as Mother instructs me. It must be by Her good graces that you have returned so that I can finish what Yazoo and Loz started," Kadaj choked out over the blade that pressed heavier and heavier upon his larynx.

"Her good graces? You sound like an obsessed maniac. Like Sephiroth. Is that who you'd like to be? Sephiroth, the great hero of the world? The same man who betrayed the very people he pledged to protect?" Cloud gave a bitter chuckle at the memory of Sephiroth and his feigned greatness. He bit down on his urge to spit on the ground out of disgust.

Kadaj's eyes narrowed and a small growl escaped his throat. "Do not speak that name to me!" he shouted furiously. "He is nothing! I am everything to Mother. It is I who will realize Her plans for this Planet. It is I who will fulfill our destiny for the Reunion. That is something your Sephiroth could never accomplish, but I will do it, because Mother wishes it of me. I will make Her happy. Seph- Seph-"

Kadaj stopped then as he choked on his anger and resentment. He was here now and Sephiroth wasn't. He would do what the revered General was not able to. Then, Mother would truly see him for the untarnished son that he was. He would be the one favored in Her cold heart, not Sephiroth, that wretched son of Shin-Ra. Forget Sephiroth.

"Hit a nerve, have I? I think you know you will never be as good as Sephiroth, that you'll never be anything more than a shadow of who he was and what he could accomplish," Cloud taunted. Let Kadaj and his brothers attack him, it didn't mean that he, or either of them, would never be held accountable for their actions.

Kadaj squirmed under the weight of the sword as his anger receded slightly and was immediately replaced with a fear that Big Brother was right. What if Mother did choose Sephiroth after he did everything She asked of him? That did not mean that he couldn't still try, did it? He brushed the fear away easily. Of course Mother would love him and reward him for his unfailing loyalty. She was Mother, his God and Goddess. His beginning and ending of all things, and he wasn't going to let his traitorous brother convince him otherwise. Their older brother was clearly jealous of the bond he shared with Mother.

"You wish that you could hit a nerve! All I hear are the bitter protests of one who has been eaten away by their jealousy. You're envious of the fact that Mother has chosen me to do Her noble work, while you merely chase stale memories around in your head." Kadaj raised a silver eyebrow and smirked at the expression of hurt and dismay upon Cloud's face.

Kadaj used the blonde's moment of hesitation to push at the flat side of the sword and roll away into a defensive crouch. Let the traitor come after him, he would have hell to pay for daring to do so.

Cloud snapped back to himself and raised his sword to strike at Kadaj. The silver-haired man deftly avoided the arc of his blade and drew out Souba from behind his back. The clash of metal meeting in mid-air rung in Cloud's ears, shaking loose the remains of his previous line of thought. He would not be distracted by the words of yet another maniacal killer. He had had enough of that when Sephiroth controlled his thoughts and body as though he were a God holding the strings of a marionette, dealing out forced will onto his creation.

Cloud spun to the right, avoiding Kadaj's slash that would have cleaved his chest clean into two. He brought his sword down and cut into Kadaj's left calf, drawing a cry of pain and frustration, along with a small trickle of blood. Cloud slammed his elbow into Kadaj's chin, sending him sprawling backward onto the green of the forest floor. Before Kadaj could move away or get to his feet, Cloud was upon him, knocking Souba away and gripping Kadaj's wrists in his hands.

"Like I said, I could do almost anything to you here, and no one would be the wiser. But I have to wonder just how much you would enjoy it. You look like the type to let that big oaf screw you until you can't move and are bleeding where it counts." Cloud chuckled low in his throat and forced his hips between Kadaj's flailing legs that were attempting to gain any means of purchase on the ground. He pressed his hips downward and chuckled again.

"I could do that, but I am certain someone like you would only enjoy it."

Kadaj stopped struggling for a moment to listen to the man holding him down. What was he saying about enjoying 'it'? He had missed nearly every word that Big Brother had said in his bid for freedom, but the roll of his brother's hips was unmistakable. His cock twitched in response, but he ignored the impulse. He had to get away from this strange, taunting Big Brother.

He pushed against the traitor's hands in hopes of loosening his grip. When that too failed, Kadaj laid still for moment and glared up at the blonde lying on top of him. "Get. Off. Of. Me."

"I'd like to see you make me do just that? What, Mommy can't come save you?" Cloud smiled down into Kadaj's flushed face. He had to admit that he was enjoying this more than he had planned to.

Kadaj sputtered for a moment before he could form whole words. "Do not speak of Mother that way! Get off of me if you know what is good for you! I will cut you into slivers and feed you to my creepers," Kadaj declared, his voice wavering as apparent desperation crept into his tone.

Cloud merely laughed and pressed a knee upward. "Do you really want me to let you go, or are you afraid of what you really want from me?" Cloud considered crushing his lips to Kadaj's, but he reasoned that he would only have his tongue bitten in return. Instead, he trailed his lips down Kadaj's throat and chuckled into the juncture of his neck and throat.

Hearing the crash of two bodies moving through the forest behind them, Cloud released his hold on Kadaj's wrists and rolled away. He scooped up his discarded sword and sheathed it in its leather confine before melting into the trees.

Kadaj was still laying spread eagled on the grass when Loz and Yazoo reached him. He gasped for air and stared up at his brothers, both thankful and angry that they had come. He could take care of himself, after all. He might have even liked what Big Brother was offering. Hell, he was already hard from simply having a knee rubbed against him.

"Kadaj! We heard fighting! Are you okay?" Loz asked warily, searching the trees for any signs of his brother's attacker.

"Was it that fool in the red cloak again? I suggest that we hunt him down now and put an end to his interferences once and for all," Yazoo added.

Kadaj shook his head and sat up. "No, let him go," he said, deliberately allowing his brothers to continue believing that the man of bullets and pale skin had returned once again. "We will deal with him later. We need to get the bikes ready. Rufus Shinra will welcome us in Healin tomorrow."

Loz chuckled and glanced over at Yazoo. They all knew what their visitors' welcome included, their favorite of which were the splatters of blood they left behind. Yazoo nodded in agreement and extended a hand to help their brother up.

"Are you certain that you are okay, brother? You are bleeding," Yazoo pressed, eager to be assured of his brother's well being.

Taking Yazoo's hand, Kadaj pulled himself to his feet. "Yes, I am mostly unharmed. It's is nothing more than a scratch. Go, gather your things, we leave tonight."

With that, Kadaj retrieved Souba from the grass and sheathed the weapon. He discreetly adjusted himself and turned to follow in his brothers' wake. As he reached the far end of the tree line, he was certain that he could hear the sharp snap of twigs and crushed leaves behind him.

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The End