AN: Normally I put these at the end, but I wanted to 1. apologize for the delay in updates, 2. apologize for the shortness of this chapter. This story has not been discontinued, please know that I am working on it, but looking at the next few days I knew I wouldn't be able to complete the chapter in a reasonable time, so I decided to cut it into smaller ones. I will post a meatier chapter soon, I promise, but I didn't want this to lay stagnant too long (as I fear it already has) so here's a brief, but hopefully enjoyable, update! THANK YOU everyone still reading!

Splintered Dreams

"Beneath the Layers"

Chapter 39

The remainder of the lab was searched quickly, efficiently and in silence. A veil of tension had settled over the team and Zack felt guilty. It was stupid, he knew that, but he couldn't help but feel somehow responsible for the tension in Tifa, the tightness of Barret's lips or the sadness in Aerith's eyes.

He sighed, shoving himself to his feet from his crouch and ran a hand through his hair.

"Anything?"

He turned his head. "No."

Tifa reached out and ran one hand along his arm, up to squeeze his shoulder. She had been doing that off and on since they'd delved into the basement, and Zack found himself warmed by her silent comfort and support. He knew she had questions—could practically see them in her eyes and spinning in her head—but she kept them to herself.

Equally silent, he placed his own hand over hers, and held on. There was so much he wanted to say to her, so many things...but not here. Not in this place where the stale scent of death and Mako clung to the air.

He could almost, almost, feel the green liquid slipping along his skin, seeping into his pores. Invading. Taking.

"Zack?" Whisper soft, Tifa spoke his name, touched his face.

"Guys, over here." Their attention was snagged by Yuffie who stood across the lab, a satisfied grin on her face. "Lookie what I found," she pointed to a lever, hidden behind a rack of...instruments.

Approaching, Zack didn't let his gaze linger on the sharp tools. He'd seen them—countless times, up close and personal.

"Well?" Barret demanded when all they did was stand there. "Pull it."

"You pull it," Yuffie huffed. "I'm not. Who the hell knows what it releases." She looked at Zack. "Do you know?"

"No."

"See? You pull it," she pointed at Barret. "Mister big-shot."

"Och, for the love of Shiva. I'll pull the damn thing." Cait said, clambering up the rack. He grabbed the handled lever and threw himself down.

The sound of whirring gears and clanking metal was heard and then to their left the wall shifted, slid back and to the side.

"A hidden room?" Aerith asked, stepping toward the opening.

Zack placed his hand on her arm, halting her. He and Barret exchanged glances and Nanaki shifted in front of Aerith. Protect. It was instinct for them. They moved into the small room, prepared for anything, but what they found was simply a small desk and a wall of monitors.

Zack peered up them and recognized a few. Vital signs: respiration, heart-rate, brain activity. And some he had no idea what they were for. He looked at the desk and frowned. So this was where Hojo disappeared to when he was finished torturing them.

The room was out of line of sight from the Mako Chambers and when strapped to the table, he hardly was in the observation mood—usually too busy trying not to scream as skin was pulled, prodded, peeled.

"What's this?" Yuffie—snoop that she was—picked up a disk that was laying on the desk.

"Does it look like any of us have a fuckin' clue?" Barret grumbled.

"Well, geesh, just asking."

"Perhaps we can use that," Nanaki gestured towards a computer.

"Cait," Zack picked the small robot off the floor. "Can you hack that?"

"Sure." The small feline grinned. "Gimme just a sec."

The group watched as Cait booted up the machine and then started typing—ridiculously quick—before the monitor blinked, bleeped and showed a scrolling series of numbers.

Tifa leaned one hand on the desk, the light from the monitor casting her face in blue shadows. "What is all that?"

"Not a clue," Cait admitted. "Here." He turned, gestured to his collar. "Plug me in." Then with a teasing grin, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to say that to you."

Tifa rolled her eyes and reached for the doll.

"Reeve," Zack warned.

Cait's eyes blinked. "Not me."

"Uh-huh."

The collar slid off with a click and beneath it was an end to a small port-cord. Tifa pulled the end out.

"Oh, yeah, baby." Cait shuddered, then laughed.

"Pervert." Yuffie scrunched her face.

"Just do what you're doing and stop hitting on my girl," Zack said, but there was a hint of humor in his voice.

"Worried she'll like it?" Cait asked as he plugged his cable into the computer.

"Petrified."

Any response Cait made was garbled as his eyes began to twitch.

"Cait?"

He winced, shook his head. "Bypassing security..." His little body shuddered, then he lifted his head. "Ouch. Hate that." He grimaced, tensed. "In."

Tifa made a sound, rubbed his ear behind his crown. "Thank you."

Cait nodded. "Looks like files...financial reports...lots of money being funneled to Hojo. Project G...Project S."

Zack flinched. "Details?"

"Not much, but I'm downloading what's here."

"You know what he's babbling about?" Barret asked.

"Somewhat," Zack nodded. "Apparently Shin-Ra was trying to make super SOLDIERS, using Jenova somehow. And Sephiroth. And Genesis."

"Genesis? As in missing SOLDIER First Genesis?" Cait asked, and Zack knew it was Reeve talking.

"Yeah."

"It was believed Genesis died," Cait replied.

"He did." Zack rubbed the bridge of his nose and the gesture was tired. "They all died." It still hurt. It hurt so damn much. Everything he'd aspired to, dreamt of being, a twisted godsdamn lie.

"Funding for containment pods..." Cait continued, eyebrows up. "Tranquilizers. Medical transport. Body parts."

"Containment? What...what were they doing?" Aerith asked, eyes wide.

"Making monsters," Zack responded, his voice tight.

"Here." Yuffie handed Cait the disc. "What's this?" She seemed eager to see if her discovery would be important.

Obligingly, Cait took the disc and slid it into the computer. The icon on screen spun and then the screen flickered. An image of the lab appeared, and in the corner of the screen the date. Zack grit his teeth.

"Turn it off," he said abruptly.

Too late.

Hojo was suddenly on-screen, moving quickly towards the now open doors and the stretchers being pushed inside.

Look away. Tifa, look away. The words were in Zack's head but never made it past the tightness in his chest.

The bodies on screen were bloody messes, both still wearing their uniforms. Hojo approached Cloud first, leaned over him, prodded his wounds.

"New specimen retrieved from the Nibleheim reactor." He continued to survey Cloud's injuries. "Stabbed through the stomach." He fished a penlight from his pocket, lifted Cloud's eyelids. "No sign of Mako treatment. By all accounts specimen should be dead." Hojo pocketed the light. "Why do you fight so hard, boy?"

Cloud twitched.

"Are you trying to talk? Interesting." Hojo leaned lower. "What is it?"

"Ti..."

No.

"Tifa..."

As soon as the footage started, Tifa had known something bad was going to play out in front of her. She thought that she had schooled herself enough to be prepared. After all, hadn't they just overturned a lab where Zack had been brutally tortured. Hadn't she witnessed his pallor and taken stock of all the bladed tools lining the walls.

She could handle this.

She had to, because Zack needed her to.

So, she watched the video. Prepared for something horrible, but confident she could handle it.

But then she saw him.

Blond hair, streaked red, and hands limp on his abdomen. He was death pale and so still.

But then... "Tifa..."

Tifa grabbed her chest with both hands, the sudden twisting pain in her heart making her dizzy. She couldn't breathe. It hurt to breathe. Each beat if her frantic pulse hurt. Gods, she hurt, she ached, she couldn't breathe... Cloud. Oh, Gods, Cloud, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry.

"Breathe, Tifa." Strong hands on her shoulders, steady voice in her ear. "You have to breathe."

Wheezing, she turned and buried her face in Zack's chest, trying to get a grip on herself. She felt him shift, leaning over to turn off the recording and then his arms were around her, hand on the back of her head as he made soft sounds into her hair.

When Zack lifted his head he caught Barret's eye, and the simmering rage he found in the bigger man's gaze was unsettling, because unlike his normal outbursts, this was quiet but just as intense. Barret jerked his head towards the wall. Zack looked and bit back a vulgar curse. There were dozens upon dozens of discs, lined up and labeled by day on the shelves.

Well, four years was a lot of days, he thought. But he didn't want Tifa to see, so he kept her face against him as he turned to the door.

"Got what you need?" Barret asked Cait. The small robot nodded and unplugged. "Good. Let's go," Barret ordered. "We're done in here."

Zack wasn't arguing.

"Anywhere else...that we need to look?" Aerith asked as they stepped from the room, wiping her eyes. Her expression clearly read that she hoped not, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"There's a library down the hall," Zack said. "When Sephiroth first went batshit, that's where he was holed up. He was there for days. Nanaki, take Tifa up—"

"No." She pushed away from him, her eyes grief stricken but dry. "No. I'm here."

"Tifa—"

"No!" She shook her head. "Not after..." she swallowed hard, but met his eyes. "Zack, I'm staying."

Zack sighed, knew she wouldn't budge. "All right."