Pairings: Irvine/Squall, Reno/Vincent, Seifer/Zell? Kiros/Laguna, Cloud/Zell/Sephiroth? Reno/Irvine? Cid/Vincent, etc

Warnings: yaoi, AU, slight moments of nose bleed, possibly major angst in later chapters, emotional stress, attitude, crossovers, possibly major flirtation action, stuff even I don't know about

Author's comments: It's finished! After several long months, I finally finished chapter 9!

Comments: (changes made): "old McDonald" lyrics or well, singing (quotations and italics)

My god, I wanna fuck him. what the character is thinking (italics only)

FF Banding Together 9

"Cloud…."

Cloud turned around at the sound of his name but he felt himself frozen to the spot, his eyes lifting up to rest on the man whom not too long ago he'd slept with. He felt his face heating up as he thought about it. Sephiroth didn't seem too bothered, wearing a blue sweater as he was heading towards him. A smile started to lift Cloud's lips but it fell as he saw the look on Sephiroth's face. "Sephiro-"

"I've been disqualified," Sephiroth said calmly, though his eyes betrayed him. He was furious, beyond all else.

"Disqualified!" Cloud's eyes widened in shock at that. How could this be! How could Sephiroth, of all people, get disqualified! There's no way such a thing could be possible!

This can't be!

"How!" Cloud clenched both his hands in Sephiroth's shirt, holding on tightly as he stared up at him. "How could they disqualify you! You haven't done anything wrong!"

"They found out about us," Sephiroth said as he reached down taking both of Cloud's hands and pulling them away, giving him a sad little smile. "I won't be able to stay here any longer."

"You…you're leaving?" Cloud stared in shock, feeling numbness coming over him as he watched Sephiroth drop his hands, the lingering warmth already disappearing.

"It's for the best," Sephiroth said taking a step back. "If I interfere in your life anymore than this, the consequences could be bad."

"I don't care about the consequences!" Cloud started to reach out to grab Sephiroth's hand but the other was faster and stepped back from him again. "None of this makes sense! Even if you've been disqualified, it's still no reason for you to leave!"

"This is the way it has to be," Sephiroth whispered as he turned his back to Cloud. "There's a lot at stake right now that I'd rather not see destroyed."

"Like what!" Cloud felt himself heating up not, getting angry himself. He finally had his life going smoothly, thought he'd found a man that wouldn't crush him only to have that man run away. Why was this happening to him! "What are you so afraid of seeing destroyed! Why aren't you answering me!"

"…." Sephiroth opened his mouth, looking desperately like he wanted to say something but instead he turned and walked away not saying a word.

H-he's really going to leave!

"Sephiroth!" Cloud reached out a hand, wanting to stop him but the other just kept moving, kept walking leaving him standing there in the middle of the hallway.

T-this is just like last time! Cloud heard himself laughing and had to cover his mouth with his hands, feeling the tears stinging at the corners of his eyes. Just like so many times before…it's just another one time thing…why did I fall for it again! H-He never meant to stay with me! He just wanted to use me!

"Snap out of it!" Cloud suddenly felt a hard slap across his cheek that made his whole head turn. There was another slap and another until he finally came to his senses realizing that someone was hitting him. He reached up a hand blocking the next blow from reaching his cheek as he looked up seeing Reno standing in front of him. He didn't look so great, his face all bruised up and his clothes torn and bloody here and there. "This isn't the time to be panicking! I need you to play tomorrow so we can win, you got that!"

"I don't care…." Cloud turned to walked off but Reno caught his shoulder and turned him around quickly, glaring into his eyes.

"We're going to win this competition, you got that! There's no way we're going to lose!"

Cloud pulled away roughly, snarling at the man as he sent his own glare. "Fuck you! You're not going to make me do shit just because YOU want it done!"

"Whether you agree with me or not isn't an issue! You've signed a contract saying that you would stay in this band until either the manager or I decide to let you go! This mean you listen to my orders and you play! And if you try to screw this up, I swear I'll kick your ass!"

"I doubt you could even get close to my ass," Cloud said darkly, glaring up at the man. "Just because Vincent follows your every word doesn't mean that I will." He turned and started walking away leaving the man behind.

"You fucking bast-" Reno started to follow but a pain in his side told him that bothering with the blond wouldn't do him any good in this shape. "You're lucky this time." Reno sneered and turned walking off in another direction.

"Well…?"

"I quit just like you told me to," Sephiroth said standing in front of the man, his hands clenched at his sides. "So if you hurt him, I swear I'll kill you."

"As if I haven't heard that enough," Tseng said smirking at Sephiroth looking far too calm. "Once they've lost then you can go back to your little boy toy all you want. But for now, we're playing things my way."

"Why do you want to do this to him?" Sephiroth asked, turning his head away so that he wouldn't lash out at those calm eyes.

"Why shouldn't I? They have something I want and I mean to get it no matter what the means." Elena stopped beside him holding a glass of water and he turned, taking it from her. "Besides, he's better off losing than finding out how his dear friend really died."

Sephiroth's eyes widened at that but the man looked as if he didn't care as he calmly sipped some of the water. "You…wouldn't…"

Tseng looked over the rim of the glass, causing a panic to rise in Sephiroth as he pulled it away. "I would and you know it." Tseng handed the glass back to Elena. "But if you just keep on staying out of the way, then I promise I won't harm him."

Sephiroth just stared at him a moment before he sighed and closed his eyes, defeated. "Fine…as long as you don't do anything to him or tell him about what really happened to Zack, I won't interfere."

"Now you've got the picture," Tseng said, smiling as he reached up patting Sephiroth on the head like a puppy before he turned to the girl beside him. "Elena, I think it's time I went to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day…for both of us."

"Yes sir," Elena said quickly, saluting him before she went off ahead to go fix up the room. Tseng turned to follow her but before he went into his room he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at Sephiroth. "If you so much as reveal a single thing to him, I'll kill him." Sephiroth just stood there, his head hung in defeat at the initial problem that he would be facing in the near future. With how he'd left Cloud, there would be no way the other would ever want him back.

But if he found out about Zack….

Sephiroth shook his head from his thoughts and looked up at Tseng. "I won't interfere."

"I'm glad we're in agreement. I wouldn't want to have to retrain such a perfect pet as you." He went into the room, the door closing behind him. Sephiroth turned around to leave but suddenly found himself facing the young pretty boy Rufus who was staring at him and frowning.

He…looks just like his father….

Rufus frowned staring at the back of Sephiroth, having just missed what had happened. He had wanted to ask the man if he was ok but when the other turned around, and their eyes met it was like something clicked inside of him. In a flash he saw a small seven-year-old version of himself peeking between the crack of a door seeing a man hanging from the ceiling by his wrist. The man had been looking down at the time but at the slight gasp the little Rufus had made, he had looked up and their eyes had met. It had only been a brief second before the door was pushed closed and Rufus had looked up to find his father glaring down at him.

"You're," Rufus started but Sephiroth interrupted him before he could finish.

"You're the Shinra boy," Sephiroth said suddenly, the look on his face saying he recognized him.

Rufus frowned a moment before he nodded his head. Everyone knew he was the son of Shinra, but this man…somehow he felt different than the others. "You're the man from the basement, aren't you?" He was stating it as a fact.

"I think you're confused with someone else," Sephiroth said before he started to walk past him.

"No, I know it's you…your eyes say so. They're…different…like they burn with ice and fire at the same time." Sephiroth faltered in his moves and glanced back at Rufus before he turned and kept going, apparently deciding to ignore the whole thing.

"H-hey, wait!" Rufus followed him, staying hot on his heels as he rained questions down on him. "Who are you? You said you were a judge but I think you're just covering it up for something. What are you really here for? Is it true you were with Cloud last night? I saw you two! I swear if you hurt him-"

"You could do nothing." Sephiroth said suddenly, breaking through Rufus's talking.

"Wh…what did you just say?"

"You are incapable of stopping anything that happens, no matter who your father is. All of this is out of your limits."

"I…."Rufus fought with his mind to come up with something, anything to use against the man but when it all came up blank he growled and turned away angrily walking away. So what! Everyone had a weakness, even this man!

I just have to find out what it is and use that to get answers out of him!

"Ah…man this is hard…" Laguna stood in front of Squall's door, rubbing at his head slightly as he tried to figure out how to go about doing this. What else could he say really? 'Hey, how ya doing? By the way, I think I might be your father.'

Yeah that's a real good way to make me look like a psycho.

"Why are you making this harder than it seems?" Kiros said standing beside Laguna. "It's not too hard to knock on the door and talk to him."

"He doesn't exactly seem like the talking type," Laguna said giving Kiros a little smile though it was obviously out of nervousness. What would Squall think of him? Would he blame him for leaving his mother? Would he want to kill him, never see him again?

I guess I would be the blame for her death.

"Just don't think about it," Kiros said resting a hand on Laguna's shoulder and giving him a smile. "Act natural. That always works."

"Y-yeah! You're right! I'll just act like myself!" He rested his hands on his waist, nodding his head quickly before he punched at one of his hands. "I'll just prove to him that I'm a good person and-wait! Where are you going!" Kiros looked at him from where he was further down the hallway. "I wouldn't want to interfere with a father/son moment. Besides, you really need to catch up with him."

"But wait! What if I do something wrong!"

"You'll be fine. You're a very unique and loving person…I'm sure he'll love you either way." He turned opening a door and left going down the steps, leaving Laguna to face his problems alone.

Laguna's mouth gaped open before he realized it and closed it, narrowing his eyes in determination. "Right! I can do this! No problem!" He raised his hand up knocking on the door then waited. There was no reply and he knocked again, thinking maybe Squall was sleep or in the shower. Again there was no answer causing Laguna to sigh and look at his watch. "7' o clock already? They must be at dinner then." Laguna grabbed his stomach as he felt his tummy starting to rumble.

Ah, I'm feeling hungry myself. I can do this later!

He started to turn and walk away but suddenly felt himself grabbed from behind, a hand with a cloth coming up to cover his mouth. He managed to struggle for maybe three seconds before suddenly he lost all sense of anything, falling into unconsciousness.

Squall sat at the dinner table, Rinoa sitting beside him chattering quietly though he was only partially listening, his mind somewhere else. He took note to Zell sitting across from him, eating a couple of hot dogs and French fries, but said nothing to him. His mind was somewhere else; somewhere he'd rather it not be.

I'm thinking about him again….

There was really no help for it. Especially since the man he was thinking about hadn't even shown up for dinner yet.

Where could he be?

He was starting to get frustrated now. Irvine would normally be here by now, but for some reason Irvine was absent today. It was bothering Squall to no end. In fact, the only think he could do was let his imagination run wild, wondering what Irvine could be up to that would cause him to be late.

But why do I even care!

Squall slammed a fist against the table causing Rinoa to stop talking and to look at him. Zell stopped eating, his mouth poked out from the hot dog he'd just bitten from, and looked over at Squall, frowning slightly with worry though it looked funny with the food in his mouth. "You ok?" He asked around a mouth filled with food though surprisingly nothing fell out.

"I'm fine…" Squall said quietly, refusing to look at either one of them. The last thing he needed was more questions. Why couldn't he keep his feelings contained better? Why was he getting so emotional over Irvine? Either way, Irvine must have known someone was thinking about him because the next thing Squall knew, he was coming through the door. It was enough to make Squall's face light up…until he saw a girl with her arm hooked around Irvine's as she was being escorted in. Even worse, she was wearing his hat, despite her weird hairstyle that managed to defy gravity even worse than his.

Who the hell is she!

Squall said nothing, keeping his eyes on the table even as Irvine was making his way to the table. "Geez, you guys couldn't even wait on me to start eating, could you?" Irvine asked as he pulled out a chair for Selphie before he took a seat himself, sitting beside Zell. "Whoa!" He yelled out looking at Zell's face. "They're not gonna run away! Slow down!"

Zell glared at him for a moment then swallowed before he blinked, just realizing the girl sitting beside Irvine. "Who's that?" He asked pointing the hotdog in his hand in the girl's direction.

"Hm? Oh! Remember that hot date I mentioned earlier? Well she's the girl from last night! Her name's Selphie Trepe."

The named girl giggled slightly and held out a hand shaking Zell's hand when hers was grabbed. "Nice to meet you."

"Same to you," Zell said giving a smile. Squall just continued to stay quiet, frowning as he looked at the table. Irvine hadn't looked his way yet, at least not that he knew of. But at that moment he didn't care. Why did Irvine bring this…this female here!

Why does it feel like I'm going to break into a million pieces?

He felt a presence looming over him and looked up to see the girl smiling at him, hand outstretched. "Hi. I'm Selphie. Nice to meet you." Squall looked at the hand then glared at it reaching up his own hand. But instead of grabbing it he smacked the hand away from him.

"What the hell kind of a greeting was that!" Irvine said slamming both his hands onto the table and glaring at Squall, baring his teeth. "She just said hi. That's no reason to go treating her that way, no matter how much of an asshole you are!"

"Shut up," Squall said pushing his chair back and standing up glaring at Irvine now and yet feeling an ache he couldn't seem to explain. "Just because you want to be friendly and sleep with every female you find on the street doesn't mean the rest of us have to like it."

"Whether you like it or not isn't the problem! You can't go running around treating guests like trash! Especially my guests!"

"What difference would it make!" Squall said loudly, feeling as though this was the loudest he'd ever been yet finding it hard for him to stay quiet, the ache growing even more. "Whether you found her on the streets or she's been in your bed, it still equals out to trash! In fact sleeping with you has made her even worse than trash!"

"Don't insult her by calling her trash!" Irvine was really heating up now, his hands clenched in the tablecloth. There were others in the room, though now with their conversation being the loudest in the room, everyone was looking at them. But again, Squall didn't care! The only thing he could see right now was Irvine and that thing he called a woman!

"Should I call her something else then?" Squall said scowling as he leaned in closer, glaring heatedly into Irvine's eyes.

Irvine leaned in closer too, though his anger was still registered on his face. "Don't even think about it!" he said.

"Maybe I should go," Selphie said quietly from beside Irvine. Though her words were soft, it was enough to make Squall's attention turn to her.

"No need," he said, almost regaining his composure…almost. "I'll leave."

"Squall!" Zell yelled out seeing how serious this situation had gotten. Squall ignored the call of his name and turned away, the chair he'd sat in flipping over to land on the ground roughly. He didn't look back but kept walking, feeling as if his whole body was shaking. He thought he heard Irvine say something about the two of them getting out of there but he tried to tune that out, not wanting to think about it. Still his mind was in a storm. So much was waving around inside and confusing him. Why did he act like that? Why was he so upset and angry? He was acting like a jealous girlfriend! Not that Irvine was his to claim anyway.

Why would I want him anyway!

Squall's eyes suddenly blurred over and he realized with a sort of surprise that they were tears. Had he actually been reduced to tears over something so meaningless? Over someone he didn't even want or care about?

"I'm not crying," he said softly to himself even though the evidence was right there in front of him. He was shedding tears…and he didn't even know why. But whatever the reason, it was all Irvine's fault, all of it!

"Wow, he sounds like a pretty jealous guy!" Selphie said walking beside Irvine, her hands behind her back.

"More like an asshole to me," Irvine murmured, his long legs taking him as far away from Squall as they would. "I can't believe he said all of that to you! What an asshole!"

"I think he likes you," Selphie said stopping to push up the hat that'd fallen over her eyes before she continued to walk beside Irvine.

"Heh?" Irvine questioned looking down at her. "What makes you say something like that?"

She giggled slightly and stood up on her tiptoes to poke him on the nose. "Silly! How often would a person get so emotional over something unless they really cared?"

"Well…I guess that's true…but I don't think he does it cause he likes me." Irvine frowned at that, though for some reason the idea that Squall might actually like him made his heart pump faster.

Oh my god…I think I'm turning gay!

"That guy's hated my guts ever since we met."

"I think you should talk to him." Selphie said as she stopped walking again and looked up at him.

"Are you insane!" He stopped walking too though it was more out of shock than the fact that Selphie had stopped. "He's in his mood! It's like he's pmsing or something! Messing with him would be dangerous not to mention there's nothing to talk about!"

Selphie's lips poked out in a pout as she grabbed hold of Irvine's arm, giving it a tug. "Pleeeease? Talk to him for me?" She gave him the puppy dog eyes and Irvine sighed, finding himself unable to resist.

Why'd I tell her about that fetish.

"Alright, alright." He ran a finger through his bangs as he blew air out from his mouth. "I'll do it. I'll talk to him after the concert."
"No!" Selphie said suddenly. "You have to talk to him before! If he's still upset then he won't play as good, right?"

"Eh…right," Irvine said frowning slightly. Normally when Squall was really upset or angry about something, it came out through his music if not through his actions and words. So if Squall was this angry, he was going to be a real pain tomorrow…and would probably cause them to lose to that jerk face Reno. Yet…how the heck did Selphie know about that?

Hell, I only know because of the fact that I'm in the band with him.

"I read about it on a fan site," Selphie said as if reading his mind then smiled at him. "Information on your band is all over the web."

"Guess we are popular." Irvine chuckled slightly then hooked an arm around Selphie's as he started walking again. "So let's go have some fun before I have to talk to cranky!"

Zell sighed shaking his head back and forth as he looked down at his half-eaten hot dog. For some reason, with all this hostility floating around, it made him lose his appetite. "Geez, those two. This is the worst I've ever seen them." Zell glanced over at Rinoa then frowned seeing the sad look on her face as she looked in the direction that Squall had went. Probably by now she was seeing the truth too. Squall was growing feelings for Irvine despite how he acted.

More like she's just realizing that Squall likes Irvine.

That had to be a horrible feeling. Or maybe she knew before this…was always fighting with Irvine because she knew he was a threat to her relationship with Squall. And Irvine…well he still seemed to be playing the straight card though it was becoming more and more obvious that he was falling for Squall. Zell could tell just by the way he looked at Squall and even the sound of his voice when he spoke to him. So how was it that things turned so foul so quickly?

Because Irvine decided to be an idiot again.

Zell sighed again. Well at least everyone in the room wasn't paying attention to them now though there was bound to be some gossip about this later...and probably some rumors on the net too. Irvine…of all the stupid moves to do…. "You ok?" Zell said giving Rinoa a smile. Rinoa seemed to blink herself out of a daze then returned the smile to Zell though it was half-hearted.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think…I should go check on him. And…tell him that everything will be ok." She stood up from the table, brushing at her clothes before she started off in the direction Squall went. Before she left the room, she turned looking at Zell. "Everything will be ok…right?"

Zell blinked at the question then quickly nodded his head giving her the most confident smile he could muster. Well…at the most things could be worst. "I'm sure everything will be fine. Don't worry about it. Everyone's just stressing out over this competition tomorrow!"

"Well you seem pretty calm yourself," she said smiling before she turned to leave.

"Yeah…" Zell said quietly to the air before he pushed up from the table himself.

Might as well get some rest too before the big day.

He stretched his arms over his head yawning slightly before he noticed eyes on him. Glancing over to the side he noticed that Seifer was sitting at a table looking at him, his band mates sitting at the table with him. He noticed the action drew the attention of the other band mates and swallowed slightly as he took a step back from the table. Yeah sure, he did enjoy the other night with Seifer who was actually pretty damn good in bed. But he was still given the threat about telling anyone about what they'd done. He wandered if Seifer told his companions anything then swallowed slightly. There wasn't a chance of that happening in hell, not when Seifer was already freaking out and bugging Zell every second he managed to find him about whether he told anyone…before he started to neck him.

The sex is good, I admit but…well…is that all there is?

Frowning slightly, Zell turned and headed for the door, deciding to get away while the opportunity was still opened to him. This was going into a territory he didn't want to think about, especially with someone he'd not too long ago called an asshole. What if Seifer really was only after the sex? He wasn't all that big on snuggling after sex, in fact not even a minute after they finished, Zell found himself dressed and pushed from the room as if nothing had happened.

Well what'd I expect from that guy? A gently kiss and I love you? There was no way Seifer would ever say something like that! So just…give up and except things as they are.

Zell sighed quietly going into his room, his mind completely oblivious to the pair eyes that followed him.

"Is everything ok?" Cid said standing at the open door and looking out at Vincent who was standing there. When Vincent suddenly started to fall forward quickly, Cid was quick to respond, cussing as he caught Vincent in his arms. Because of Vincent's pale complexion, bruises could be seen appearing on the skin. There were also a few cuts on his arms as well as the slight residue of blood on his lips from an open wound. "Fuck, what the hell happened to you!"

"I…" Vincent looked at Cid for a moment before he closed his eyes tiredly. "I don't remember…."

He said nothing else and Cid panicked for a moment before he noticed the light rising of Vincent's chest realizing he'd only passed out. This wasn't good…this wasn't fucking good at all!

Did that Reno bastard do this!

Cid picked Vincent up carefully in his arms then headed for the bed, kicking the door closed behind him as he went. He was going to have to wash him down and hope for the best. At the least, he just wouldn't be able to dance tomorrow…that wasn't a crime. Somehow though, Cid had a feeling things weren't going to go as planned. "Sure, beat the crap out of him then expect him to dance like a professional," Cid said muttering softly to himself. He went to the bathroom then came back, starting to clean Vincent's cuts with a rag and water before bandaging him up.

Can I really believe that he doesn't remember a fuckin thing at all!

He doubted it. Reno could be a prude bastard when he wanted to be. So there was always the chance that he threatened Vincent not to speak. And Vincent being who he was and following Reno's every word, would do just that. Cid was curious though. The fact that Vincent came to him though did make him feel special. He was most likely the only person Vincent could trust…and that made him feel good though he wished Vincent would be more open with the others too.

Ah screw it. They can't even take care of their own problems.

He glanced down at Vincent lying quietly on the bed in sleep then sighed as he lay on the other side of the bed. "I guess you'll be sleeping with me tonight, pal." Not that he regretted the idea. Tomorrow was the day…hopefully everyone was ready for that…even Vincent whom he was sure was going to dance no matter what.

Damn it, stop thinking about this crap and go to sleep!

TBC….

Yes! Finally, I'm updated! I have to think the reviewers to which um….really….went ahead and pushed me to finish working on this story even though I've been working on this chapter since whenever the last got updated. I just got a little lazy, really! I'll try to keep it up! It's getting really close to the end and I don't want to leave it hanging! Not to mention the Irvine/Squall fun really keeps me going. Well…so does Vincent/Irvine….and Sephy/Cloud angst….hehe and Laguna/Kiros teasing….and Zell/Seifer torture…..and...etc…