Author's Note: I had so much fun writing this fight scene so I hope you all like it!

Marken: I'm glad you were able to post your review! How strange that the chapter kept disappearing. If you ever have too much trouble, I also post this story on Archive of Our Own under the same title. I was wondering how long it would take before I got a comment about Cloud not being in the story. I have nothing against him but he just doesn't fit this version of events. More bonding time in this chapter so enjoy. ;)

I do not own FF7 or any of its characters. Talin, Unit 28, and some other side characters are mine.

Chapter 21

"Ok then, nineteen vs. one, let's go..."

The shocked looks and stunned silence were broken as the first brave soul charged. Michael, always willing to dive headfirst into a challenge, came at him with his favorite heavy sword. His headlong attack prompted the others to join in and before long, Talin was at the center of the wildest fight he'd ever been in.

All his strategic knowledge, defensive and offensive tactics, and every ounce of skill he'd gained till that point in his life were called upon. Dancing out of reach of spears, flipping over and sliding under swords and fists, blocking incoming projectiles. It was madness, and they were enjoying every moment of it.

Anders was the first to lose his weapon and quickly ran up to the second-floor balcony to watch the rest of the match. By the time Kyle and Nolton joined him, he had started to record the chaos below. It had become custom for someone in the group to videotape the more important training sessions and this one was definitely an important one. As more of Unit 28 were knocked down or disarmed, they took turns holding the phone to record while others cheered on those still battling below.

The fight was long. Nineteen to one had sounded better in his head and now Talin was starting to feel the burn of tired muscles and the dwindling reserves of Mako. Tired as he was, he pushed on knowing only five remained. Michael, Cody, Jaz, Dayton, and Callian continued to prove themselves as tough opponents.

With his Mako running low, Talin cut the flow as Michael and Cody rushed him together. The heavy sword Michael wielded came at him low while Cody jumped high, aiming to cut off Talin's escape from above. Since Cody was using knuckle guards, he was the lesser threat and Talin jumped to meet him in the air, avoiding Michael's slash. Metal knuckles rang against Talin's blade as he deflected the assault and twisted to kick Cody in the side, sending him to the ground. One down.

Muscles protesting the overuse, Talin stumbled as he landed and Jaz moved to punish the weakness with a flurry of knives. Blunted as they were, they still thudded into the ground where Talin had been as he dodged in a zig-zag to close the gap between them. In a last-ditch effort, Jaz threw four at once as he dashed backward but Talin slid under them and came up with his shoulder into Jaz's stomach. Before the other could even fully fall to the ground, Talin was rounding back towards the remaining combatants. Three more.

Michael's heavy boots pounded the ground as he charged, sword cocked back ready to swing. Praying his legs wouldn't give out, Talin jumped, believing from the angle that Michael was going for a mid-body swing, but he was wrong. The sword changed path, curving up to aim at his now airborne legs. Knowing he wouldn't make it without Mako, Talin pulled at the small amount left to throw himself backward and landed in a skidding crouch. His breathing was heavy and red hair was lying flat to his head with sweat. I need to end this, fast...

Michael didn't let up. Seeing the other teen on the run, he charged again. Talin was forced to roll away before taking a risk by ducking in under the big sword. Using the hooks on the top of his blades to disable the weapon, he kicked out and was able to loosen Michael's grip enough to pull the sword away. Two left.

As the sword clanged to the ground, the scuffing sound of running told Talin that he had company. Trusting that Michael was as much a wall as ever, he gently kicked off the other Cadet's chest to flip over the heads of Callian and Dayton. The duo was a dangerous team. Having come from the same town where they had been raised and trained together, their attacks were synchronized without having to communicate.

As Talin landed the two turned and took similar ready stances holding their basic practice swords at the ready. Unlike their exhausted Unit Leader, these two were still fresh and ready to fight. They had hung back, letting the others wear Talin down. Sure, they had jumped in from time to time, making a surprise attack or working in with another Cadet, but they had wanted to try taking him down together.

I'm at my limit... That last pull of Mako had run Talin dangerously close to the red. Anything more and he would collapse. With an effort, he controlled his breathing and raised his swords into a high-low stance. I have one shot. I miss either of their attacks and the other will nail me for it.

On some unspoken signal, all three dashed forwards. Swords met blades and sparks flew. He was pinned between the two in moments, blade to sword on each side. Dropping to his knees, Talin spun, hooking both swords with his cross guards, and twisted. Dayton lost his grip from the unexpected torque but Callian rotated with the spin and tried to kick Talin's arm but missed.

With one blade now free, Talin was able to catch Callian's wrist with the hook, twisting his arms as he rose and shoving Cal backward. Callian's balance was thrown and, on instinct, he tried to catch himself by stepping back with the motion. Talin was ready and swiped out with a foot, knocking his friend's leg out from under him, releasing his hold on Callian's sword in the same instant. The clatter and thud of Cal hitting the floor was overpowered by the roar of cheering and thunder of feet as those in the balcony came rushing down.

Talin was exhausted. Every inch of him was either shaking or burning from overuse and his Mako was only the dullest of whispers when he reached to check its level. Trying to control his breathing, he felt himself sway slightly before the mob of cadets descended. In the midst of congratulations and chatter about how each of them faired, Talin found himself practically held up by Nolton and Zale till he had enough energy to stay on his own.

Clean-up was quick and before long, U-28 was back in the barracks. After a short shower, Talin barely had the strength to climb up onto his bunk. A check of his phone showed that he had missed two messages during the intense fight. One was from Sephiroth asking for an update on his homework, and the other from Zack.

SMS Message from: Sephiroth

Sephiroth: I know that homework is usually turned in the next day, but I find myself curious about how training went with your Unit. How did you decide to fight them and how are you feeling now?

Talin: Nineteen vs. One sounded better in my head. I can't even get the Mako to respond when I reach for it, but I didn't collapse.

Sephiroth: How are you feeling being that depleted?

Talin: Is dead a feeling that a living thing can feel?

Sephiroth: Some people claim to have experienced death only to be brought back. They say it was peaceful and overall a pleasant feeling.

Talin: Well I'm definitely not that so how about as tired as if I spared with you for a whole day straight.

Sephiroth: That will have to be tested sometime then. Good night Talin.

Talin: Night Seph.

Talin could almost see the smile on his General's face at the dry humor. He wondered briefly if he went too far using Angeal and Genesis's nickname for him but it was sent already. Another message popped up before he could think too long.

Sephiroth: You are the only cadet I will let get away with that. Don't let it go to your head.

Talin: Sir, yes Sir!

He couldn't help the warm happy laugh that bubbled up the message and his response. Seeing his General's status change to 'inactive' Talin switched over to Zack's message.

SMS Message From: Zack

Zack: Thinkin of you Red. How was training?

Talin: Brutal as always. Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth used me as target practice in a pitch-black room. They say it was to teach me something, I think they just wanted an excuse to throw things.

Zack: LOL, sounds about right. I'm glad they all like you so much or I would be patching holes in your hide right now. On second thought, maybe you should make them angry. I'd love to play Doctor. πŸ’—

Talin: Not sure if I should be excited or worried. I'm sure you'll get your chance with the way they're pushing me.

Zack: If they're pushing you, it's because they care and want to see you do well.

Talin: I just hope I can keep up.

Zack: You will Red. Trust me. You're gonna be a force to be reckoned with in another year. Might even put me on my ass someday.

Talin: I could do that already but it wouldn't be in a fight. πŸ’—

Zack: oh? Well, you'll have to show me that sometime. Don't forget to dream of me Red.

Talin: Finally, homework I enjoy! Night Teach πŸ’—

Zack: Night πŸ’—

One last buzz of his phone showed that the video of their match had been messaged to everyone in the Unit and, as tempting as it was to watch it, he was way too tired at the moment. Unable to keep his eyes open any longer, Talin shoved his phone under the pillow and gave into his bodies' command for sleep.

…

All the next morning the fight video was reviewed during any free time. Some thought they had been close to winning against Talin, others knew that they hadn't stood a chance. Overall, it had been another bonding experience for the group. They'd had to fight one on one before, but working in pairs or, at one point a group of five, they had been pushed to use each other's skills to try and beat him as a team.

Thinking about this as he made his way up after lunch, Talin wondered if he should start putting them in groups for practice each night. They would need the knowledge of how each member of the group fought and what their strengths were for future missions.

Should have thought of that sooner since we have a mission in just a few days... Oh well, we can start as soon as we get back.

The elevator made a stop at a lower floor, not unusual for this time of day, but Talin broke out of his thoughts when he recognized the new passenger.

"Sergeant Sinclare," Talin gave the salute expected of a Cadet but couldn't help his laugh when, as soon as the doors closed, Varo shoved him out of his stiff posture.

"How's it goin' Talin? Heading up?"

"Yep, after lunch I train with Sephiroth and the other 1sts if they're free." Varo almost laughed at the slight puff of the Cadet's chest but resisted. He'd be proud too if he had such illustrious people willing to work with him daily. As it was, he had worked several times with Commander Hewley and only once with Commander Rhapsodos. That one time with the Red Commander had been more than enough. Running from Genesis' flaming attacks really shouldn't be called training but it had helped him learn to dodge and predict Materia attacks.

"Well, don't let them wear you out too much. Remember we have a mission in a few days." Before Talin could respond with a sarcastic remark, the doors opened onto Varo's floor. Had no one been there it would have been one thing, but there were several SOLDIERs milling about, so he held back. With a final wave from the Sergeant and loose salute from the Cadet, the doors again closed.

Reaching the training room without any more interruptions, Talin was happy to see the lights on but surprised to see all four 1st's waiting for him.

"Hey, Red!" Zack bound over, just like the puppy he was nicknamed for, and all but pounced on Talin. After a quick, but deep kiss, the spirited 1st dragged him along back to where the others were waiting. To the Cadet's surprise, Gen was holding the box of Materia that Angeal had gifted Talin.

"How? It was locked in my barracks!" He was torn between laughter and mild irritation at having his locker unlocked and his things gone through.

"Oh, I have my ways." Gen's smile was teasing as he handed the box over to the flustered teen. "Besides, you need them to work on your Materia skills."

Talin's frustration was wiped away at the thought of getting to practice magic again and he quickly forgot the minor invasion of privacy. In truth, Genesis had seen worse of him than a messy locker and the few items he kept in it. Pushing the thought away as Angeal came up to help him fit the gauntlet, Talin switched focus to the warnings the big SOLDIER was reiterating from last time.

They take a bit of time reviewing what they had gone over last time. Talin has no problem this time coaxing a flame on his first try and it only takes a few extra tries to light his dual blades on fire. The next fire skill they try is fireballs launched at targets on the far wall. Thank goodness the General's training room was also Materia proof since Talin missed... several times, before his aim improved enough to land them reliably on the targets.

Angeal, happy for now with his skills with fire, swaps the orb out for a lightning one. Zack about panics when Talin's first attempt with electricity sends a visible bolt down the Cadet's arm. Thankfully, the Materia is weak for just such an accident. Shaking off the bug crawling, tingling feeling, Talin tries again and the lightning hits the wall, however, it hit the opposite wall he'd been aiming for.

Seeing the mild irritation on his student's face, Sephiroth pushes off the wall and takes Angeal's place for this element.

"Think of lightning as fire's opposite," He says as he slowly circles his protΓ©gΓ©, "Where fire must be coaxed, lightning has to be forced. If you don't have strong enough fortitude, it won't listen to your commands." Talin flinched slightly when his General's hands covered his eyes from behind. The next words were whispered into his ear, his words not meant to be heard by the others, "You have the willpower to conquer your past, you can conquer lightning," the heat of Seph's breath tickled the hair at his temple, causing a slight shiver to run down his spine. His mentor stood back up to his full height but kept his hands over Talin's eyes.

"Be confident, it will fight you but you have to bend it to your will or it will bend you to its. Now draw your swords and command the lightning into them," With that order, he removed his hands from Talin's eyes and watched.

The crackle, zap, hiss of the electricity spreading over twin blades brought a proud smirk to Sephiroth's face. Quick orders to attack and release the wild lightning into the targets were followed and Talin was relieved to have avoided another painful shock. Unfortunately, that was as far as he got with lightning training. It was a difficult element to work with since the effects of a failed attempt could be felt for up to thirty minutes. Instead, they opted to move on to the Blizzard Materia.

It was easy to make basic snow, simple to melt that to water, and near effortless to re-freeze that water into a sheet of ice on the floor. When they moved from that to small ice spikes that should rise and pierce the test dummies, Talin ran into more problems. They would rise and were of good size, but he kept missing the targets. Genesis interrupts the increasingly frustrating practice.

"Personally, I prefer fire..." With a flourish, he offers the Fire Matera and swaps the orbs when the teen gladly holds up his gauntleted hand. Talin is relieved. He likes working with all of them but fire is so much easier for him.

With a flick of his wrist, a perfect sized flame spreads softly across his fingers and settles in his palm before he makes a fist, extinguish it. The flame came so easy to his hand and he briefly wondered if redheads were naturally better with fire. He knew it was Gen's preferred Materia as well...

"Why don't you experiment with that a bit. Show us that creative side of yours, Little Bird," Genesis ruffled his hair, laughing as his hand is batted away.

"Little Bird?" Talin huffs and pushes his hair back out of his eyes.

"Birds have talons, Talin," Gen chuckled to himself at the wordplay before dragging Angeal off to sit with Sephiroth and Zack well out of the way of any possible stray flame.

Watching him go, Talin wasn't sure what to do. Again, he flipped his hand open and a flame happily hissed to life, flickering and fluttering in response to the Cadet's uncertainty. Show us that creative side of yours, Little Bird.

The nickname gives Talin an idea, a stupid and maybe reckless one, but an idea no less. Gen said he should be creative...

Holding the flame in his outstretched hand, he began to visualize the size and shape he wanted. Half expecting it to explode in his face, Talin was presently surprised when the fire started to increase in size. The center of it took on the molten core of a fireball but was far larger than any he had yet made. Eyes half-closed in concentration; he starts to reshape the orb very slowly.

Angeal stood, about to tell Talin to stop, when Sephiroth caught his arm. "Let's see what he'll do. He can hardly cause any real damage with that no matter how big it is." Angeal didn't sit back down but stays in place watching the flaming form on Talin's outstretched hand. It's odd, like a teardrop of flames.

With his free hand, Talin worked the form into a longer shape till a slender arch is created from the top of the now oval fireball. Just as he finished that, a flicker of flame springs away from the creation, whipping along his wrist. The sting of the heat is warning enough to finish this for now.

Reviewing his work quickly, Talin suddenly threw his arms wide, and out springs wings of flame from the back of the blazing form. A firebird. It has a wingspread the same as Talin's arms and the body is about the size of his torso. It floats obediently in front of him but as the fire dances along the wings, he realizes that he has to let it go. It is too unstable to continue the attempt and, with an unspoken command, he launches it at the ceiling.

Genesis and Zack look at each other and start to grin like fools, and Angeal just looked from the scorch marked roof to his student who was down on one knee, panting. Sephiroth leans over to the perplexed 1st with a small smirk.

"I think he needs to practice that one again sometime. Imagine if he could master it..." Slit crystal green eyes met dark Mako blue and Angeal chuckles shaking his head.

The two excitable SOLDIERs hurried over to help Talin to his feet, applauding him on his first attempt at Materia manipulation.

"Ok, I can't say I'm not impressed. Especially without any kind of instruction on how to even try what you did, but," Angeal said as he approached the obviously exhausted Cadet, "I don't think I need to tell you that what you tried was dangerous. One overreach or push in the wrong direction and that could have blown up in your face." Talin felt thoroughly chastised. Sheepishly, he ducked his head down against the enveloping arms of Zack who was again holding him around the shoulders from behind.

"I kinda figured it was a bit out there but these Materia are intentionally weak so you can experiment right? Besides, you guys were right here with me if anything had happened."

Angeal couldn't deny the facts and decided to let him off easy. He did however extract a promise that Talin would never try manipulations without one of them with him. It was an easy promise to make after experiencing the electrical shock and small minor burn on his wrist.

"It's still early, but I think we're done for tonight. Let's head out and I'll order us some dinner." Sephiroth's offer is a welcome plan for all and the five left the slightly destroyed training room. Unlike the cadet's gyms, someone would come through tonight to clean up the soot and water.

Talin woke after a short nap when the food arrived. He was comfortable but quickly realized that he wasn't laying on his General's couch as he had been when he fell asleep.

He was laying on the couch, but he was against a warm body with legs alongside him on either side of his own. Assuming it was Zack holding him, he blinked his blurry vision away and saw that his feet were actually up on Zack's lap...

"Did you have a good nap, Little Bird?" The purr in his ear and the strong arms that encircled him belonged to the one, the only, Genesis. Memories flooded back to him as his brain scrambled to figure out what to do.

...

When they had entered Seph's apartment, The General had gone upstairs to change into more relaxed clothes while Angeal called for delivery. Zack had pulled Talin to the couch, snuggling and nuzzling him the whole way. Gen pulled off his gloves and signature red coat before joining them.

Having just settled next to Zack, Talin was startled when an arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him to lean half on Genesis's chest. Without the Commander's coat, he could feel the flex of muscle and warmth of skin against his neck.

"You look exhausted, Little Bird. Why don't you nap while we wait for food?" The redhead wanted to pull away and say he was fine but he was obviously wiped out from Materia training and they knew it.

Zack hauled Talin's legs up onto his lap, "Ya, Red. Just chill for a bit." He had a quiet and content smile on his face as he gently rubbed the cadet's calf. That reassuring smile, that everything was ok, calmed Talin's worry.

His first thought when Gen had grabbed him was that Zack would disapprove, but now he realized how stupid that was. How could a guy with four boyfriends be jealous? If any of them had jealousy issues, their relationship wouldn't have lasted as long as it had.

Genesis moved his arm just then and rested it around Talin's waist before the other hand came up into fire-red hair. Those hands moved so smoothly through his hair and along his side, like they were dancing along his skin. It felt good but also made him slightly self-conscious of his position between the two men and he blushed. Sitting like this with his lover and his lover's lover, both petting him, encouraging him to rest, was odd to say the least but the more he relaxed, the less reason he saw to protest. It was nice to be taken care of for once.

The hand working in his hair and the ones that had slipped under his pant legs to skin might as well have been magic. He was unable to fight the relaxation they worked into his tired body and he was asleep before Angeal and Sephiroth came back down.

…

The memory of such gentle attention allowed his heart to slow back to a normal rhythm before it sped up again. He was still held between Genesis' legs and against the SOLDIER's chest and couldn't ignore the intimacy of the position.

Food was an easy excuse to escape and try to calm his erratic heartbeat so Talin quickly moved to help Angeal sort out who's dinner was who's. When he returned to the couch, he put Zach between himself and the Commander. He wasn't hiding. He was just avoiding another spat of heart palpitations...

They talk about Talin's firebird creation, offering some advice on manipulation. Angeal promises to schedule some more training after his Unit comes back from their first mission. At the mention of the mission, Seph asks for the specifics.

They review the intel Talin had memorized and then went over some of the plans that Cal and he had worked out while they ate. It was partway through discussing which Cadet was in each group when Talin went to run a hand through his hair and found something odd.

Several braids had been woven on one side of his head that neatly kept the slightly too long hair from falling into his eyes. A glance at Genesis was answered by a wink.

"Go look in the mirror and tell me if you like it, Little Bird. If you do, I can show you how to do it yourself."

As it turned out, Talin did like it. It was like some of the warriors he had seen in pictures from Wutai. When he came back to the living room, Zack had been pulled to sit in front of Gen and was receiving a similar braid. The rest of the evening he split his focus between discussing 'what ifs' with Seph and Angeal for the mission and watching Genesis' demonstration.

Just before he left, Zack had moved to sit between Talin's feet on the floor and let him try the braid for himself. Some of his focus was distracted by the SOLDIER's hands rubbing up his calves, but he managed to adequately replicate the design.

The four 1sts remain when Talin heads back to his barracks for the evening and Angeal glances to where Zack was now snuggling Genesis after walking the teen out.

"What was all that, Gen? Trying to steal Zack's Cadet?" He asks as he settles himself similarly against Sephiroth.

"I can't help it. He is just such a fiery little bird. My imagination runs wild thinking what he would be like as a lover..." Genesis chuckles at the little pout that appears on Zack's face and the thoughtful one on Angeal's. "Oh, love, I wouldn't take him from you," He cooed in Zack's ear, pulling him tighter to his chest, "I just admit that he would be an intriguing pursuit. That's all."

"He had a hard enough time accepting Zack's affection. I think he might mentally shut down if he knew you also thought of him in such a way." Sephiroth said with a smirk but his eyes traveled between his three friends and saw each of their different expressions. Zack was happily smirking at the thought of poor Talin's possible reaction, Gen's look was downright devious, and Angeal was stoic as ever but his eyes gave away his interest.

It wasn't often that any of them were attracted to someone outside their group, and never had any of them been looking at the same person... This might get more interesting than any of us were expecting... Sephiroth kept his thoughts to himself and let the others ponder what they would about their favorite Cadet.