Part four. Hopefully my explination makes sense.

Anyone have any theories as to how this is going to work out yet?

"What's wrong, Riku?" Sora rushed out as he approached the room. "If Cloud going to be okay?"

Riku forced a smile at his best friend as the younger man approached him. Even he knew how fake it was. "You'll never believe me."

Sora tilted his head in confusion. "What?"

Riku motioned with his head and re-entered the room Cloud had been staying in. Sora immediately followed. There was nothing in the room but the bed, the vital machine, the bed tray and a short cabinet. He ignored all these things and leaned against the far wall. He pressed his back upon it and rested his arms at his sides. "I… I need to tell you something that is going to sound totally insane."

Blue eyes settled on him with deep concern. "Considering some of the stuff we've already seen, it's got to be big."

"It's…"

"Whatever's wrong, we'll find a way to fix it. I'll do anything I can to help."

Riku chuckled humorlessly. "I'm not sure this is something you can really help with."

"Well, let me decide that." The younger man stated easily. "Whatever's wrong with Cloud, we'll find a solution."

The silvered male took a deep breath. "Wrong depends on how you look at it… Though I suppose the term applies on multiple levels."

"Riku."

It was best to just say it. "Cloud's pregnant."

Sora stared at him blankly. A long span of silence ensued before he blinked a few times and scrunched up his face. "What do you mean pregnant?"

"Exactly what I said."

"But… but…" Sora sputtered. "Guys don't get pregnant."

"Yeah, I was kinda aware of that already, Sor." Riku muttered in sarcasm. He sighed and slumped further. "I've felt it and seen the ultrasound. He's definitely pregnant."

"Is the baby yours?" Sora asked bluntly.

Aqua eyes narrowed. "Of course she is! What kind of question is that?"

"Hey! Given that Cloud being pregnant is impossible pretty much any way you look at it, it's a legit question." Sora shot back in mild harshness. "Something weird had to have happened so there's no reason to automatically assume you're the dad. Cloud could be having some strange clone of himself or gotten knocked up from a toilet seat for all I know."

Riku had to laugh. "We didn't think of the toilet seat one."

Sora grinned a little. "Well, it could happen."

"It makes as much sense as anything else."

The moment passed and both young men sobered up some. The seriousness of the situation was not lost but some of the tension had lifted slightly. Sora studied his friend carefully. "Is the baby going to be okay?"

Riku folded his arms before him and angled his face down. "We don't know yet. So far, everything looks okay but until we know how this happened, we don't really know anything."

Sora nodded slowly. He worried his lower lip and asked softly. "Do you want the baby?"

Riku didn't respond. That was what this all boiled down to, didn't it? He knew Cloud's feelings on the subject; his husband would be just fine aborting the pregnancy. Cloud was completely detached from all of this. He had no idea if Cloud even would be able to connect to the baby.

Knowing this, what did he want to see happen? At first the shock had gotten him also. This was… just such an impossible situation. Of every possible way he and Cloud had ever considered having children, this was not one of them. Yes, they had spoken of having kids before. It had been the main reason they had gotten the dogs, to see if they could handle being responsible for another life.

They had come to the mutual conclusion a few years ago that they were not ready for a child and the subject had not come up again. They were content being the godparents to Tifa's kids and assuming a mentor-role with several other kids in the community. Denzel still looked to Cloud as a father-figure. That was enough to satisfy any parental urgings.

…But now they had a real baby that was truly theirs and it did not matter to Riku how it happened. He would have been quite alright without a baby but now that he had one, Riku could not imagine giving it up for any reason. He did not understand how Cloud could even consider it. Granted, if there were going to be major complications or the doctors decided it was best for all involved if the pregnancy was terminated he would accept that but that was not the same as if they consciously decided to kill their child.

"Unless it's decided that it would be better for Cloud and the baby to not go through with this…" Riku spoke carefully. "I want our baby. I don't know how or why we've been given this chance but…"

Sora went to the end of the bed and sat on it. "What does Cloud want?"

"Cloud's detached from the whole thing and has withdrawn from me about it." An unpleasant weight settled in Riku's chest. "He doesn't want to keep it."

"That doesn't surprise me at all." Sora put his feet together and held his ankles. "Cloud doesn't deal with anything unless it's thrown directly in his face."

"He talked to Sephiroth… That hurt a lot."

"Sephiroth's opinions are rarely influenced by emotion. If you want an informed, unbiased opinion, he's the one to talk to."

"I know; still hurts though." As Riku talked, something crept up inside him and it slowly froze him. This paralyzing mix of fear and worry and apprehension consumed his entire being. He forced it back and focused on Sora.

"I bet." The brunet picked at a shoelace. "Man, I can't believe this is happening. I mean… I'm dying to know how this is even possible. And shouldn't you be the knocked up one?"

"I was going through a seme phase eight weeks ago."

"Ah." Sora tilted his head in thought. "So obviously whatever happened occurred at least that long ago. When was the time before that?"

"That I topped?" Riku had to think back. "About five months ago… It 's been a long time."

"So we need to figure out what happened between then and eight weeks ago."

Riku smiled at his surrogate brother. Sora had taken charge of the situation and was working on figuring out the mystery. He did not try to influence Riku's thoughts or decisions; he just listened and moved on. "Thanks, Sora."

"Hmm?" The younger looked confused.

Rather than explain, Riku pulled away from the wall. "If you're going to try to work things out, we should see if the others have put anything together."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Sora scrambled off the bed. "Where is Cloud anyway?"

The two headed for the door. "Getting a biopsy, it shouldn't be much longer."

Before reaching it, Riku stopped. He was again struck by that overpowering combination of emotion, freezing him. "Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really scared."

He felt Sora's hand on his arm and glanced over to meet confident blue eyes. "I know, Riku. It's going to be okay."

Sora's words calmed him and he nodded. He opened the door and the friends exited to the right. There were two consult rooms, one for surgical and the other for emergency services. They passed the emergency one and paused before the closed surgical one. Riku tapped on it once before Sora opened it and they went in.

"…that would be the most logical of the possibilities." Sephiroth was commenting.

"What would?" Sora asked, coming over and dropping on the floor near the winged man's feet.

"Greek gods are notorious for immaculate conception and virgin pregnancies." Merlin explained as Riku leaned on the arm of the loveseat his brother was sitting upon. "While I've never heard of them doing so on a male, it would not be impossible."

Sora gaped. "So your thinking Hades is behind this?"

"It's a possibility." Aerith was standing beside Merlin.

"I thought in those cases the gods would impregnate the person with their own child." Riku frowned. "That wouldn't explain how it's me and Cloud's baby."

"He could have modified the original spell." Merlin shrugged. "I can think of a few ways he could have that would have made this scenario possible."

"You really think that Hades could have been holding a grudge against Cloud for this long?" Sora did not sound at all convinced.

"When you're immortal, a decade isn't a very long time. There have been stories of gods waiting half a century to claim their revenge." The old, bearded man noted. "This spell could have been placed years ago and conception simply never occurred until now."

"So how do we verify any of this?" Aerith queried.

"The test and endoscopy will tell us a great deal." Sephiroth stood, his wings stretching out. "However, I often find it best to go directly to the source."

Sora looked up. "You're going to the Underworld?" When Sephiroth nodded, the brunet also got to his feet. "I'm coming with. Between the two of us, Hades will spill anything he knows really fast."

"Excellent idea!" Merlin exclaimed. "While you're doing that, I shall go through my library and locate anything I can on the subject."

Riku quietly watched as the others in the room put together a plan to get to the bottom of the cause for the situation he and Cloud found themselves in. With their support, they should have this figured out quickly. Given the effort they were putting in now and what Sephiroth, Sora and Aerith said earlier, Riku knew that at least the three of them would be there to help them through all of this.

The fear lifted some more.

Merlin bid them farewell and disappeared in a cluster of bubbles. In his wake, Aerith said, "I know that this has become Cameron and Chase's top priority. Between them and Merlin, we should be able to piece this together quickly."

"We'll have this figured out in no time." Sora concluded brightly. He turned to Riku. "And then we can start thinking of baby names."

Riku huffed off a dismissive breath. "I'd hold off on that one."

"He's gonna change his mind, Riku." Sora sounded completely confident. Then he suddenly frowned. "Unless the baby is gonna be a total mutant freak and not the cool X-men kind. Then there might be an issue."

"I highly doubt that will be a concern." Sephiroth smiled a touch. "Despite the unnatural circumstances allowing for it, this baby was conceived with love in the normal way."

Riku looked at his brother gratefully. While he did not believe for a moment that Sephiroth would view this child as some kind of abomination, they both knew how true monsters were created, it was a relief to hear that Sephiroth was of the belief that this was going to be a normal child. The question remaining was if Cloud would ever see it that way.

"Cloud just needs to get things settled in his own mind." Aerith added.

Riku only nodded.

Sephiroth regarded Riku. "Will you be all right with Sora and I gone?"

"I have Aerith and I think Cloud is starting to come around. Now that we have something to start working with, we can start really talking about this."

"Just don't push him." Sephiroth advised. "This is one of the few instances where I believe it would be best to let him proceed at his own pace."

"Yeah. I just hope he doesn't take too long." The younger silver-haired male flicked his bangs. "There's another life on the line."

"We should leave." Sephiroth glanced at Sora. The brunet simply took his arm and saluted Riku and Aerith with a little wave. Then the pair teleported out, leaving the other two to sit and wait.

--0—0—

Cameron came in an hour later to tell them that Cloud had been returned to his room and was doing well. She informed them that as soon as they had some results, they would inform them. She then went back toward the lab as Riku and Aerith went to the room.

Cloud was still asleep and Riku sat on the edge of the bed holding his hand. The blond had a thick gauze bandage on the back of his head near the base but otherwise appeared completely fine. After a short while, Aerith left saying she was going to see if there was anyone still waiting in the lobby for updates.

Cloud finally began stirring and Riku stroked his thumb along the back of his hand. His husband turned his head and made a faint noise before slowly opening his eyes. It took him a bit to focus them on Riku.

"Hey, love." Riku smiled. Cloud squeezed his hand and looked at him groggily. "Everything went fine."

"Good." Cloud's voice was dry. "They… say anything yet?"

"No, it's only been about an hour."

"Oh." Cloud coughed. "I need some water."

"Okay." The younger released his hand and slid off the small bed. "I'll be right back."

Riku walked out and Cloud shifted his body. He hated the feeling of waking up from any sort of sedation and was a bit nauseous again. This did not combine well with the floaty, not-quite-in-his-body feeling he had.

He pressed his hand to his belly. He had not meant to go for the site of his pregnancy but that was where his hand ended up and he glanced down at it. Almost to himself, he murmured. "Tell me, kid, are you worth all of this?"

A few minutes passed before Riku returned. He was not alone though; Aerith and Chase were with him. The two followed him in, Chase holding a clipboard and looking confused but enlightened. Aerith did not appear to know what he was about to say and Cloud had the impression that the three had simply run into each other in the hallway.

Riku handed him a large cup of water and as he took a sip from it, the young man turned toward the doctor. "You have something?"

"Cameron is still working with the tissue samples but we have discovered two major things." He flicked his eyes toward Aerith. "Aerith says that Sephiroth and Merlin are working on the how for this."

"Yeah." Riku confirmed. "Merlin is doing some research and Sephiroth and Sora went to confirm a lead."

"Sora knows about this?" Cloud's voice was tight.

Aqua eyes met angry blue. "Sephiroth told me to tell him because you won't talk to me about this. You're not the only one who has to deal with it; I'm part of this, too."

"Who else knows?"

"No one."

Cloud was still upset about another person knowing about his condition but he knew that Riku was right. He hadn't been in a position to really talk to Riku about this and Sora was practically Riku's brother. He huffed out a breath and closed his eyes briefly. He wasn't so much upset about telling Sora as he was that he had not been informed first.

Deciding to let it go, he replaced his attention on Dr. Chase. "What have you discovered?"

"We ran the analysis on your semen and…" The doctor made a disbelieving noise. "Well, you don't have sperm."

Cloud blinked and Riku started. Aerith tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow. Riku glanced at Cloud and saw the same question in his expression; If Cloud didn't have reproductive cells, how did the baby get his DNA?

Chase continued. "Just like your hormone levels switched to a female orientation, so have your reproductive cells."

"Wait." Riku interrupted. "So he has eggs instead of sperm?"

"Yes."

"Wow." Cloud exclaimed softly. "For some reason, I didn't expect that. I probably should have but…"

"Yeah." Riku agreed. This information explained how the embryo came to be; when he was topping, his sperm got combined with the eggs.

However, there was a major flaw with that. In gay male sex, the penis was inserted into the rectum and the ejaculate would remain in the colon until it died. The male reproductive organs where the eggs in Cloud's body would be were completely isolated from the large intestine. There was no way the two things could have been in the same location for fertilization to occur. Plus, there was the strange location of implantation.

"Did the scopy reveal anything?" Riku inquired.

"That's the second part." Chase stepped forward. He turned the clipboard so that the Strifes could see the images on it. Aerith also came over to look. "There were taken inside your lower colon. If you look here-" he pointed to a spot in one of the pictures. "-there's a sphincter that shouldn't exist."

There was indeed a sealed ring in one of the pockets of the large intestine. Riku narrowed his eyes as he considered the possibilities. "So, are you thinking that it opened and allowed the semen to enter the abdominal cavity?"

"Yes." The blond doctor flipped a few pages. "We also discovered that the space between the testicle and epidermis is wider than normal. Some ejaculate could easily escape there and end up in the abdominal cavity as well."

It was all making sense now, at least medically. The odds of all of this happening exactly as it did were horrendously against it but considering they were nearly positive there was magical influence, it was within the realm of possibility. Riku still had no clue what Hades' motivation for such a seemingly random form of revenge would be.

Cloud looked bewildered by everything and was trying to piece together what he was being told. "Okay, tell me if I have this right. Somehow, I have eggs instead of sperm and due to random holes in my body, Riku managed to impregnate me."

"Simply put, yes." Chase confirmed.

The spiky blond nodded slowly. While he had no clue as to how any of this was remotely possible, it fit together too well to not be true despite the insanity of it. "Riku?"

Something about his tone set Riku on alert. If Cloud was going to attempt to blame him for this… "Yeah?"

"You are never topping again."

There was a pause before Riku burst out laughing. He did not know why, it wasn't that funny, but tears were coming to his eyes and he had to put a hand on the bed to keep upright. Maybe it was just the emotion of the past several hours.

Cloud was smiling weakly, feeling calmer than he had in hours. The moment of brevity had bumped him out of the detachment he had settled into and he finally felt he could begin dealing with the situation he, and Riku, were in. He waited for his husband to settle down before speaking to Aerith. "What's Merlin's idea about this?"

"He thinks that Hades' is behind this." The woman answered. "The Greek gods have a way to induce virgin births and he thinks Hades modified one of the spells."

"And Sephiroth and Sora went to ask him directly." Cloud concluded, looking to Riku for confirmation.

"Yeah."

"Alright." He took another drink of his water. "Chase, figure out anything else you can. Aerith, could you give me and Riku and few minutes?"

"Sure." The Cetra worried her lower lip but gave Riku an encouraging smile. Chase stepped out and she followed, glancing back at the couple for a moment before leaving.

Alone again, Riku waited for Cloud to say what he needed to. He had wanted his lover to talk to him about what he was feeling but now that Cloud was ready, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it. What he already knew was painful and he didn't know if he could hear it directly from Cloud.

Cloud's voice was soft. "Look at me, Riku."

Riku did so, flicking his bangs because he knew that Cloud needed to see his eyes. Much of their communication was nonverbal, from looks and expressions and subtle movements. He doubted that was going to be enough this time.

"I know you want this baby, Riku."

"And I know you don't."

Cloud heard the anger and hurt in Riku's tone. It greatly pained him and he sighed. "It's not that exactly. I just… I really don't know how to explain how I feel about this."

"Do you feel anything?" The younger muttered bitterly.

"What?"

Riku felt something break inside him and nearly shouted. "You are completely detached from this pregnancy. You don't care at all that there's a living being growing inside you, completely dependent on you. If that's how you really feel about our child, then you should just abort it because I won't let my child grow up like I did. My child will be loved and supported and never question it!"

Cloud stared as tears rand down his husband's cheeks and his body slightly shook. Sephiroth had been correct about Riku's perspective on this and it had even sounded like Sephiroth was of the same mind. He found himself agreeing with it also. If he couldn't love and support his child like he should, should he even have the child in the first place?

His thoughts came to a screeching halt. His child? When had he even thought of this thing growing inside him as a real baby, let along his baby?

Reflexively, he ran his fingers along the solid mass in his belly. "That's not true, Riku. I'm not detached…at least not anymore."

Riku wasn't sure he believed him. He studied the older man carefully for several long moments, looking for every trace of emotion revealed by his expression and subtle movements. When he noticed the way Cloud touched his abdomen, he finally believed that Cloud was beginning to truly acknowledge their child's existence. That did not mean that he would decide to keep it but it was movement in the right direction.

"I don't know what to do, Riku." Cloud's voice cracked. "This is just… too big of a decision. I'm trying to think about what's best for all of us and I can't do it."

Riku came to the bed and Cloud moved to give him some room. The taller one settled in beside him and took Cloud into his arms. Kissing the head of soft, blond spikes, Riku placed his hand on top of Cloud's. Both hands rested on the spot where their impossible baby grew.

Neither one spoke for a long time.