Chapter 1: Awakening
[6 months earlier]
The world was a sea of green. Zack could make out rounded corners and fuzzy shapes, all with a peculiar greenish tint. Feeling filtered back in to his awareness as he realized he was in some kind of liquid. His training kicked in, and he controlled the adrenaline that wanted to throw his body into a panic.
Focus. Assess the situation. Then act decisively.
As he assessed the situation, however, the panic only increased. He couldn't act decisively because he couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was going to suffocate.
The heart rate monitor above Zack's mako tank began beeping rapidly, alerting Kyle to the fact that the specimen had awakened. He set down the pen he'd been using and pressed an intercom button on the wall.
"Hey, the dark one woke up. Send one of the orderlies with a gurney."
Kyle strolled over to the monitor and pressed a button, silencing the beeping. "Ok, buddy, just relax for a minute. I'm gonna get you out of there."
Zack forced himself to calm down slightly and reassess. He couldn't breathe, but he also didn't feel the need to breathe. He was upright in the liquid, not quite floating, but he wasn't leaning against the glass, either. Air bubbles streamed in front of his eyes, somehow keeping him suspended.
Kyle pressed a sequence of buttons in a sliding panel on the side of the tank. There was a hissing sound and the fluid began to swirl down the drain at Zack's feet. Kyle stood watching calmly. A large woman in a blue orderly uniform entered the room, pushing a noisy gurney.
Kyle nodded a greeting to her. "Yo, Wendy. He's done cooking. You ready for him?"
"Yep. Open her up," Wendy said.
The liquid had completely drained, but Zack was still frozen in his position. Kyle pressed a few more buttons and the door slid open. Instantly, his muscles softened. He fell forward as he gasped for air, and his body was easily caught by the woman in the blue scrubs.
The woman had badly dyed blonde hair, dark eyebrows, and was built like a linebacker. Zack was no lightweight, but she slung him on that gurney with little effort.
Zack tried to sit up and was promptly pushed back down by the burly woman. "Chill out, buddy," she said dully. "I'm just gonna take you to medical."
She kept her hand pressed on his chest as she pushed the gurney through the doorway and into a cold cement hallway. Zack didn't try to sit up again, but questions were flying in his head and tumbled out of his mouth in a rush. "Where am I? What am I doing here? What was in that tank back there?"
Wendy sighed heavily, as if unbearably burdened by his voice. "The doctor will answer all your questions after he looks you over, ok?"
The gurney clattered loudly as it rolled along the cement. It had one wobbly wheel, which shimmied horribly and squeaked every now and then. It added to the realism of the place. Zack concentrated on those sounds and the rough texture of the walls and ceiling, forcing his heart to slow down. The air moving over his wet skin chilled him, and he realized he was wearing some kind of hospital gown. It was soaked with whatever strange fluid had been in that tank.
The gurney stopped and he heard a quick blip-blip, and then he was pulled through another doorway. The walls and ceiling of this room were white plaster. This looked more like the civilization he was used to, and he relaxed another degree. He protested as Wendy picked him up and hefted him onto a much softer bed, this one with actual sheets and pillows.
"Wha-hey! I can do that myself, you know."
Wendy ignored his exclamation. "Sit up."
Zack pushed himself to a sitting position. He felt a little weak, but not terrible. Wendy yanked the string holding his wet gown together, untying the bow at his back. She pulled it forward over his shoulders, making no effort to be gentle.
"Damn, lady, I usually require at least dinner and a glass of wine before I give access to the goods." Zack flashed her his most charming smile, but Wendy just rolled her eyes.
"The doctor will be in shortly," she said drolly, tossing his wet gown into a bin in the corner. There was another blip-blip sound, and Wendy walked out the door.
"Wow, bedside manner, much?" Zack muttered. He was a little perturbed that she was so unaffected by him. He tried not to be too conceited, but he was well aware of the effect he usually had on women. And that woman was looking at some prime, naked SOLDIER ass and didn't even take a second glance.
He reached up to adjust his pillow, noticing then that the skin on his upper arms felt a little stiff. He turned an arm to examine the outside of his bicep.
"What the fuck?"
A one-inch-wide, three-inch-long strip was sewn into the skin of his arm between his shoulder and elbow. It looked almost metallic, but it was flexible, covered with a tightly woven grid. He sat up to look at the rest of his body. An identical strip was on the other arm, and similar but larger strips adorned the outsides of both legs.
He pulled at the edge of the strip on his right leg. The stitches held tight, and he didn't want to just rip it out without knowing what it was there for. He sighed and laid back on the bed, tucking his arms behind his head. He crossed his ankles and posed, hoping that when the doctor came, it would be a woman. His ego was in serious danger after that flatline with Wendy, and he needed to make sure he hadn't lost his mojo.
Blip-blip.
The door clicked open and a short, balding man in a white lab coat entered. He wore narrow rectangular glasses, so tiny that they had to be more for show than actual need. He took one look at Zack posing naked on the bed and gave a knowing smirk, understanding exactly what his patient had been attempting and had failed so spectacularly. Turning to open a cupboard behind the door, he pulled out a dry gown and tossed it to Zack.
"Uh, thanks," Zack said as he caught the gown. He was actually getting a little chilled, and the gown was a welcome accommodation, since there was obviously no female he could tempt into ogling him. "Your blue scrub lady just yanked off the wet one and left me sitting here naked."
The man gave him an apologetic smile as he approached. "I'm sorry. Wendy lacks a certain…warmth sometimes."
"That's an understatement," Zack muttered as he tied the gown behind his back. He sat at the edge of the bed, resting his feet on the cold floor.
The man in the white coat held out his hand. "My name is Dr. Hyde. I will be seeing to your recovery."
"Zack Fair," Zack replied, shaking his hand. He reached his arms up over his head and stretched, releasing some of the stiffness in his joints. He looked around the room curiously. "This doesn't look like Shinra HQ. Where am I? And what are these—" he poked at the strip on one of his arms, "—things stuck all over me?" They bothered him a bit, although he was used to weird additions courtesy of Shinra.
"Of course," the doctor said calmly as he pulled a tray of instruments from a cupboard above Zack's bed. The balding man strapped a blood pressure cuff onto his arm and pressed the automatic measurement button on the machine. Amazingly, the strip didn't seem to hinder the measurement of his blood pressure at all. It flexed and moved with his skin. "You are at a special facility on the western continent," Dr. Hyde explained. "The first phase of the treatment was that tank in which you awoke."
"Yeah, about that," Zack glowered. "I would have appreciated a warning. Do you know how freaky it is to wake up when you can't move or breathe?" He gave the doctor a vaguely annoyed look. "Besides, don't you need our consent for experimental treatments like that?"
Dr. Hyde looked unconcerned. "We certainly would have informed you beforehand, if that were possible, Zack. But you were wounded to an extent that rendered you incapable of understanding anything we would have told you." He gave a smug smile. "Regardless, you have already given your consent to any and all procedures as part of your contract with Shinra."
Zack blinked. He probably should have actually read that thing before he signed it.
"I need to listen to your lungs, Zack." Dr. Hyde touched a cold stethoscope to his back. "Take a deep breath." Zack took a long, deep breath and let it out. The doctor moved the stethoscope to a different place. "Again." Zack took another deep breath. The cold metal moved over another spot. "One more."
Satisfied, the doctor hung the stethoscope around his neck and reappeared in front of him. "Lie back."
Zack settled back on the bed. "So what's the deal with these flexi-things on my arms?"
"Those are special filters for the mako infusion chambers."
"The what now? Why don't they just give us mako the old fashioned way?" He'd received all of his treatments in SOLDIER through a needle.
"The mako infusion chambers are different." Dr. Hyde pressed on his abdomen as he spoke. "The fluid allows a much faster absorption of the mako. It is a proprietary blend that provides several things: oxygen, mako, and the muscle-locking solution, along with a few other nutrients." He paused. "Think of the filters like a fish's gills, pulling the nutrients from the fluid and passing them directly to the bloodstream."
"Yeah, ok, fascinating," Zack said distractedly. He wasn't really interested in the science behind it. "But why did you need to lock up my muscles anyway? It's really not cool to wake up like that."
"Partially to keep you immobile so that you don't flail around and harm yourselves when you awake, but also to freeze the muscles that control breathing. It prevents you from aspirating the solution. You may sit up now."
Zack sat up. "Just for future reference," he grumbled, "I'd much rather have a nose plug and a mouth guard."
"Duly noted," the doctor said absently.
The assault of new information to his senses had finally slowed, and Zack was gradually becoming aware of empty spaces in his memories. No, not so much empty as blurry. He scratched his head. "How did I get here, anyway? I can't even remember what mission I was on." He threw a sharp look at the doctor. "Where's my sword?" He was just beginning to realize how naked he felt without his weapon, and the Buster sword was the part of Angeal he swore to always carry with him.
The blood pressure machine beeped, indicating that it was done with his measurements. Dr. Hyde removed the cuff. "Don't worry, your sword will be kept safe for you." He picked up a tourniquet and tied it around the same arm, then picked up an empty syringe. "I'm just going to get some blood for the lab."
Zack couldn't have cared less what the doctor was doing to his body. The memories were starting to come back, piece by piece, clarifying like ripples in water.
Nibelheim.
The reactor.
The mansion.
Fire.
Sephiroth.
Sephiroth!
Cloud…face down on the metal stairs, the stream of blood trailing behind him like a grotesque water slide. Tifa…lying like a discarded doll at the base of the stairs.
"Oh. Oh Gaia," Zack whispered. He felt like his heart was being squeezed in his chest. He surged to his feet, completely unaware of the doctor stumbling backwards, or the most recent vial of blood shattering on the floor. His head buzzed with static. His arms and legs were getting numb. "Am I the only one?"
Blackness closed in around his vision, and he collapsed to the floor.
Zack snuggled into his pillow, reluctant to leave the warmth of a soft bed. He didn't want to open his eyes yet. He was chasing the tail of an elusive dream, and it was slipping through his fingers like sand. He only knew that Cloud was there. He heard his voice, calling out to him, but no matter where he looked, no matter where he followed the sound of his voice, it was always just out of his grasp.
"Zack? Zack. Open your eyes if you can hear me, Zack."
The intrusion of an incredibly bright light chased the last vestiges of sleep from his mind. Zack opened his eyes blearily to a bright penlight in his face. He turned his head and pushed the light away. "Do you have to do that, doc? That thing is really annoying."
Dr. Hyde clicked the button on the back of the pen and the light disappeared. "Sorry, Zack, just testing your responses to—"
"Yeah, I got it," Zack said irritably. "But I'm awake and talking, aren't I?"
Dr. Hyde looked annoyed to be questioned, but he tucked away the light. "Alright, but I need to do a full neurological exam. You fainted, Zackary, and after your injury there's a possibility of damage to your parietal lobe…"
His voice faded into a background drone. Zack had the feeling that the doctor was only subjecting him to the extensive exam because he had complained about the light anyway. He numbly went through the motions, pointing and touching and moving in response to Hyde's instructions. In his mind, he was flipping through a kaleidoscope of pictures, wondering if he would ever see any of those people again.
When he had finished the exam, Dr. Hyde stood back and looked at him. "Is everything ok, Zack? You seem withdrawn."
"Hm? Oh. No, I was just thinking…was anybody else brought in with me? Was I the only one who survived in Nibelheim?"
"Well, I'm really not privy to military operations, but you're my only patient at the moment," Dr. Hyde said.
"Oh."
So they're all gone. Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, and all of Nibelheim. That means I'm the only one who knows what happened there.
Dr. Hyde was packing away his tools in the overhead cupboards. He seemed to sense that Zack needed some space, though, because he shoved in the remaining items haphazardly. He walked toward the door, but hesitated as he gripped the handle. "Zack…I'm sure they're…" he trailed off, undoubtedly realizing that he could be sure of nothing. He bowed his head. "Lunch will be brought in for you shortly," he said as he left the room.
Zack slid back down on the bed. It didn't make any sense. The Shinra forces couldn't have completely collapsed with the loss of Sephiroth. Why wouldn't they be there debriefing one of their only remaining First Classes? He felt a brief flicker of hope. Maybe he wasn't the only one who had survived. Maybe Cloud was just fine. Zack's imagination protested, bringing up the image of the thick stream of blood trailing down the stairs.
He forcefully pushed the image away. Hadn't Cloud proven, time and again, that he was capable of so much more than anyone expected? He had stopped the most dangerous madman the world had ever known. As far as Zack was concerned, it was proof that he was fit for SOLDIER. He had saved countless innocents who could have been cut down by Sephiroth, and Shinra's reputation along the way. He should have been hailed as a hero.
But…they were all about politics there.
Zack's stomach sank. If Cloud had been the only one left alive, would they believe the word of an infantry soldier? Would they honestly think that Cloud alone would have been able to stop the general? Could they accept that an unenhanced grunt had taken down their perfect SOLDIER?
No. They didn't know Cloud the way he did. They wouldn't see past the baby face and the wide blue eyes. They couldn't see the steel inside.
On top of that, Sephiroth had left behind a sizable slice of destruction before he'd been stopped. Shinra wouldn't want to lose face with the public. They might just use Cloud as a scapegoat to hide the fact that their brilliant, highly publicized general had gone mad and torched a village. Either way, he couldn't see any kind of favorable outcome for his friend.
Zack sat up. He had to know for sure. If Cloud was alive, there was no telling what Shinra could be putting him through. If Cloud was alive, it was up to Zack to set the record straight. And if he was dead….well, at least he would know.
He swung his feet off the side of the bed and touched them to the cold floor. He stood up slowly, which was showing a lot of restraint for someone like Zack. When the world didn't tilt, he ran for the door and pulled on the handle. It didn't budge.
What? Locked?
Zack took a step back and looked more closely at the door. There were no visible locks or obvious card readers. How were people getting in and out? And why would they lock him in?
Blip-blip. The familiar beeping sounded from the other side, and a young man in blue scrubs pushed the door open.
"Whoa! What are you doing out of bed?" he asked, looking startled. "You're not supposed to be wandering around."
Zack tried to push past him. "Yeah, whatever. I need to talk to Director Lazard."
The orderly squeezed in the room and shut the door behind him, blocking the door with his body. "Ok, I'll check with the professor and see what I can do. But you need to get back into the bed. It's too soon after the mako tank to be running around."
Zack hesitated. He wasn't one for waiting on someone else to do something. He wanted results.
"Seriously, man," the orderly said. "You can't do anything right now, anyway. The professor won't be in until tomorrow morning, and I can't do anything without his go-ahead."
Finally, Zack sighed and trudged back to the bed. "Can't you call him? Where is my phone, anyway?"
Blip-blip. The man re-opened the door and pulled in the cart he'd abandoned when Zack had surprised him.
Aw, damn it! Zack mentally cursed himself. He had turned his back right when the guy was doing his secret handshake or whatever to unlock the door.
"It's safe with your other stuff. Don't worry about it." He rolled the tray over to the bed and swung it around so that the food was over Zack's lap. Reaching down to the side of the bed, he pressed a button on the side to raise the head.
Zack scowled and looked up at the orderly. His hair was dyed an interesting shade of orange, and he had marks that suggested a lot of piercings on his face, although there weren't any in at the moment. He had an identification badge pinned to his shirt with his picture and the name 'Jaxson.'
"Look, Jaxson—"
"Jax," he interrupted.
"What?"
"Call me Jax," the orderly said. He smiled, displaying a row of uneven teeth. The smile was genuine, and Zack thought he might have an ally if he played his cards right.
"Ok, Jax," Zack said, giving his most charming grin. "I need a favor from you. I need to find out what happened to a friend that was with me during my last mission. I'm afraid that if I wasn't there to explain how everything went down, he might be getting into trouble. Do you think maybe you could find a way to reach Director Lazard, today, and tell him that I need to speak with him urgently? I know it's asking a lot, but I would really appreciate it."
The smile slipped from the orderly's face. "I really don't have access to the director. I mean, he's way up there on the totem pole. I'm just an orderly. Practically an indentured servant."
A rare look of irritation passed over Zack's features. "You know, Jax, I'm not sure I believe you. How do I know this place is even owned by Shinra? No one came to debrief me, I'm locked in this room, and I can't talk to anyone in authority. How do I know you're not with some rival and you're using me as a hostage? This is—"
"Ok, alright, settle down, man," Jax said with an easy smile. He laid a comforting hand on Zack's shoulder. "I get it. You're in a strange hospital and freaked out. I'll see what I can do about getting you some answers, ok? In the meantime, it's my job to make sure you eat some real food and stay calm. So how about this: I'll go make some phone calls, and you eat this delicious hospital cuisine." He gave him a playfully stern look. "This food better be gone by the time I get back, or I'm not telling you shit. Deal?"
Zack relaxed against his pillows. "Ok. Fine. But hurry up, ok?"
He watched closely as Jax exited the room. The familiar blip-blip sounded, but Jax didn't seem to do anything with the name badge that Zack had assumed would open the lock. He frowned and picked up his fork, tasting the mashed potatoes experimentally. They weren't half bad.
Blip-blip.
Zack perked up and looked expectantly at the door. Several hours had passed. Jax hadn't come back to pick up his tray. It sat on the nightstand, bits of potato hardening on the plate. He had been shifting between wearing a trail on the linoleum and doing supersets of squats all afternoon. He was going crazy in this little room, waiting for news, unable to act. It went against every fiber of his being.
The door opened. It still wasn't Jax. It was Dr. Hyde, and he did not look happy.
"Zack," he said crisply. "You are not supposed to be up and walking around, much less exercising."
"Sorry, doc," Zack said, not sounding sorry at all. "But I really need to talk to Director Lazard."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Dr. Hyde said, guiding Zack back to the bed. "However—" he spoke over the top of Zack as he started to interrupt. "I will see if Professor Hojo is available to speak to you."
"Hojo?" Zack echoed faintly. "Dr. Hojo is here?" Finally, there was a name he could associate with Shinra. He had heard of Dr. Hojo, although he'd never personally met him. He was highly ranked within Shinra, and he should have clearance to the information Zack needed. Zack nodded and forced himself to sit back down on the bed.
Dr. Hyde picked up a phone on the wall and dialed. "It's Klaus. Our young spe—uh, patient is very insistent on speaking with you."
Zack couldn't hear the other end of the conversation. After a long stretch of silence from his side, Hyde said crisply, "Understood," and hung up the phone.
Dr. Hyde turned back to Zack. He looked at him over the top of his glasses sternly. "Very well. Dr. Hojo will see you now, but be warned. He has no tolerance for threats or chest-beating, so I suggest you mind your manners while you visit. Some orderlies will be in to escort you shortly." Hyde strode swiftly out of the room, tilting his hip to one side as he approached the door. Blip-blip.
As soon as the door had closed behind him, Zack hurried to the door and knelt down. There, slightly below waist height, was a small glass lens built into the wall. An access card reader! Zack thought triumphantly. They must wear them on their hips. Now that he knew how the lock mechanism worked, he would be able to escape if it proved necessary. But for now, he would see what to Dr. Hojo had to say.
Zack backed away from the door and started up on his squats again, waiting impatiently until he heard the familiar blip-blip. Wendy and another orderly he didn't recognize came through the door. They flanked Zack on both sides and led him from the room. "You know, guys, I'm starting to feel more like a prisoner than a patient here," he joked as they walked down the narrow cement hall. Neither of his escorts even cracked a smile. "Whew. Tough crowd," he muttered.
They climbed a set of stairs at the end of the hall and turned right. There was another set of stairs, and then a set of steel double doors. Blip-blip. These guys were awfully sneaky about unlocking the doors, but Zack was relatively sure that they were still using those hip-level sensors. They pushed open the doors and continued onward. The floor here changed to carpet, and the sheetrock walls had been painted. It even smelled different – more printer ink and less antiseptic.
After a left turn and another right, they finally arrived at an expensive-looking wooden door. A plaque at eye level proclaimed:
Horace J. Hojo
Chief Scientist, Bio Engineering
One of the orderlies rapped sharply at the door, followed by a brisk, "yes, yes" from the other side. The door slid smoothly to one side, receding into the wall, but neither of the orderlies stepped forward.
"Come in, I haven't got all day," the voice snapped. He had the most irritating voice Zack had ever heard – a high, reedy screech made even more obnoxious by the pompous attitude behind it.
Leaving his companions behind, Zack stepped boldly forward to meet the owner of the voice, a shrewd-looking man with wire-rimmed glasses and long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. He sat behind a large desk, covered in papers and folders. He waved dismissively at the orderlies and then the door slid closed behind Zack.
"Zack," Dr. Hojo said coolly. "I understand you wanted to see me."
Zack plopped down into a soft armchair in front of the desk. His lack of decorum seemed to get under the professor's skin, but Zack had no patience for pandering at the moment. "I'm looking for information regarding a fellow soldier that was with me on the Nibelheim mission."
"Ah," said Dr. Hojo, folding his hands in front of him on the desk. "I regret to inform you that General Sephiroth was KIA." His lips were pressed into a hard line.
"Er, no, I mean, I was aware of that. I was wondering about the infantry soldier. His name was Cloud Strife."
Hojo raised an eyebrow. "A fellow soldier? Come now, an infantry grunt can hardly be called your equal."
Zack sighed. He was so sick of the politics and the stupid ranks and titles. Not so long ago, making First Class had been the most important thing in his life, but it was all so meaningless now. He wanted to know about his friend.
"Whatever you want to call him," Zack said irritably. "Cloud Strife. He was there in the reactor. I need to make sure that Lazard has the whole story."
Hojo leaned back calmly in his chair. "I assure you, Director Lazard has all the information he needs."
Zack gripped the arms of the chair, fighting to control his temper. "Dr. Hojo, please." With an effort, he loosened his fingers. "I'm worried that he'll be blamed for the destruction of Nibelheim."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hojo said calmly. "But all of the reactors have closed circuit cameras, so again, the director already knows what he needs to know."
"Professor—" Zack threatened to interrupt, but Hojo spoke over the top of him.
"And the cadet is here at the lab."
The air whooshed out of Zack's lungs as the professor's words hit him. "He's…alive?" Zack had been focusing on controlling Cloud's fate, because it was something he could do, but buried underneath all that was the real fear that Cloud was beyond help.
"He's alive…for now," the professor confirmed, straightening stacks of paper on his desk.
"I want to see him," Zack blurted out, shooting to his feet.
"Impossible," Dr. Hojo said without batting an eye. "Now, I really don't have any more time to waste with this frivolity. We need to discuss your enhancement schedule."
"My what?"
"Your enhancement schedule," Hojo repeated as he puffed out his chest. "For you, Zackary, have been chosen as the next candidate for the greatest project in Shinra history. The bio-engineering in which you were engaged as part of SOLDIER is nothing in comparison to what you will become. I will make you a god among men!" His eyes glowed manically.
Zack sat back down, completely sidetracked by this bit of news. "But I…what if I don't want to?"
"It doesn't really matter," Hojo said, waving away his protests like a bothersome fly. "Your contract with Shinra already gave permission for any and all procedures."
Damn it! REALLY should have read that thing.
"Ok, so what about Cloud?"
"What about him?" Hojo sighed, looking irritated to have the subject brought back up.
"Well, is he part of this project too?"
Hojo looked thoughtful. "Indeed. His role will be…slightly different, but he will remain here at the lab with you." His beady eyes snapped back to Zack. "Now, you've already completed the first phase, which is the accelerated Mako treatment. This week we will be taking baseline measurements. Next week you will be started on the injections, and the following week we will be testing again. I will meet with you at least once each month to discuss your results and make any adjustments necessary. Any questions?"
"Wait, each month?" Zack asked. "How long are you planning on keeping me here?"
"It's hard to say. There are many factors to consider. Go on now," Hojo said dismissively. "I will see you next month."
The door slid open behind Zack, and Hojo immediately went back to his papers, as if he were already alone in his office.
Alrighty then. Guess that's my cue to leave.
The relief Zack had felt at hearing that Cloud was alive was chipped away over the next week as every request to see his friend was denied.
Otherwise, he couldn't complain about the treatment. He got three square meals a day. He had a flat screen TV above his bed and a nice bathroom with a shower in his room. He'd been undergoing a lot of tests to gather the baseline information, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. His phone had been returned to him, although as Dr. Hyde had explained, they were underground and no cellular signals could reach them. What appeared to be landline phones around the building turned out to be on a closed system. They couldn't make calls outside of the building, either. Apparently it was a top secret project. Even the lab techs lived on the site, and their activities were greatly restricted to reduce the risk of information leaks.
But at least he could play games on his phone. He had access to his pictures and his videos. At the moment, Zack was watching one of his favorites.
"Zack! I told you no more pictures! What are you doing? Are you recording?" a feminine voice squealed.
Zack's laugh sounded from off-screen. "I just want to remember what the prettiest girl on the planet looks like when I'm away."
The video stabilized and focused on a pretty girl in pink with an indulgent smile. "Really, Zack, are you telling me that you forget about me when you leave?"
"Never." Zack's arm appeared on the screen and wrapped around Aerith's waist, pulling her closer. "But my memory is never as good as the real thing."
Zack's face came onto the screen, nipping gently at her pink lips.
Aerith smiled and leaned her head back, out of reach of his seeking mouth. "Gods, you're such a sweet talker. Do you use that line on all the girls?"
Undeterred, Zack laid kisses across her neck. He held the phone out with his arm, giving a full view of the way her face flushed pink as his lips and tongue worked their way up to her ear.
"Yes," he murmured into her skin. "All the girls that sell flowers in the slums."
She let out a breathy moan. The basket she had been holding slipped from her fingers unnoticed as she brought her hand up and buried it in his hair. Her fingers moved, scraping her nails against his scalp. Gods, he loved the way she did that. It heightened every sense and electrified his skin.
The video tilted as he became too distracted to think about what he was trying to record, slipping down to show only their chins and lips and tongues and teeth, slipping and gliding and pressing until he could barely tell whose was whose.
From his hospital bed, live-Zack listened closely for the sound of the zipper that he knew he should be able to hear right then, and video-Zack inhaled sharply. Live-Zack slid down on the reclining bed and slipped his hand under the plain green scrubs they had given him to wear, and then inside the elastic waistband of his boxers. On the phone, video-Zack was lowering Aerith gently to the ground, pulling his lips away just long enough to ensure that his sword and the random pieces of armor she had pulled off hadn't fallen underneath her. The flowers never seemed to mind cushioning their caretaker. They never broke or crushed under her weight.
"Zack!" She giggled, glancing over at the phone still held in his extended hand. "You are not recording this!"
"I'm not!" video-Zack protested, dropping the phone.
The camera faced up into the rafters of the old church, where sunlight peeked between the beams to nourish her impossible flowers. But the sounds continued – heavy breathing and shaky moans, rhythmic friction and his name slipping past her lips as he brought her closer and closer to the edge, the blip-blip of the card reader…
"Shit!" Zack jerked upright in the reclining bed, dropping the phone on the floor in his haste to pull out his hand and straighten his clothes. It slid underneath the bed; the video played on as he scrambled to retrieve it, falling off the bed just as the door opened. He grabbed the phone and tapped frantically, desperately trying to stop the video, but several more seconds of audio played as Jax stood in the doorway with his rolling tray of food.
"Uh…" Jax looked at Zack sitting on the floor, trying to discreetly adjust himself. "Sorry to interrupt…"
Zack pushed the disheveled hair out of his face and tried to look casual. "No, it's fine. I was just….uh…I mean, I was playing a video game. And I dropped my phone."
Jax was trying hard not to smile. He pushed the tray just far enough into the room to clear the door. "Right. Well…I'm just going to leave this here for you for when you're uh…done with your game."
He backed out of the room and let the door close behind him, but it couldn't completely muffle the sound of Jax's laughter echoing in the hallway.
Zack let his head fall back against the side of the bed and laughed wryly. "Thanks, buddy. I'm pretty sure I'm done now."
It was the beginning of the second week. Zack had finished all of his baseline tests and measurements. He wasn't quite back to the level he was before the fight with Sephiroth, but he had done better than he expected. The mako tank had accelerated his healing, leaving only a small scar and a slightly tender area where his chest had been split open.
Still, there were too many hours in the day where he was left to his own devices, and he was starting to get obsessive about Cloud. What was his condition? Where were they keeping him? Why wouldn't they let him see his best friend?
Blip-blip.
Dr. Hyde entered the room, his hands in the pockets of his white lab coat. "Good morning, Zack. We're going to start your infusions today –"
"No." Zack said shortly.
"Excuse me?" Dr. Hyde's eyebrows shot to his hairline.
"I'm not going to do anything else for you until you let me see Cloud. Let me see for myself that he's ok, and then you can do whatever you want."
Dr. Hyde scowled angrily. He was clearly not used to having his orders questioned, and he was impatient to get started with the next phase of the treatment. "We need to do the infusion now. I'll see what I can do about visiting your friend this afternoon."
"No," Zack said louder, crossing his arms. "You've been putting me off all week. I need a guarantee that I can see him."
Dr. Hyde's eyes glinted. "You know we can do this the hard way, Zack. I really don't need your permission."
Zack laughed incredulously. "Really. You think you can overpower me?"
"Not with strength alone, no. But I have other tools at my disposal," Dr. Hyde said coldly.
Zack blinked, thrown by the dark streak he glimpsed in the doctor.
In the next moment, it was like a light bulb switched on in Dr. Hyde. His pleasant smile came back. "Ok, Zack. How about this? I will talk to Professor Hojo once we get the infusion started, and I'll do my best to make sure you get in to see your friend this afternoon."
Zack sat back warily. He was aware that Dr. Hyde still hadn't promised him anything, but it was clear that he wasn't going to convince the doctor to bring him to Cloud right then. He needed a plan. If Dr. Hyde came back with a negative response that afternoon, he would just have to apply a little more force to his request.
"Fine," he finally agreed. "But I'm counting on you, doc. I will be seeing Cloud this afternoon."
Dr. Hyde didn't comment. Instead, he got to work setting up an IV pole and a bag containing a viscous green fluid. "You need to lie back, Zack. This might make you a bit dizzy," he said.
Zack settled back against the pillows and made sure that his phone and the remote for the TV were within reach. Once he was comfortable, he gave the doctor access to his arm.
Hyde poked in the needle. Zack ignored him and used his other hand to flip through his pictures and videos on his phone. He found a video of Cloud from the academy and smiled. He started watching it, only peripherally aware of when the doctor left the room.
All he could see was a spiky blond head pointing at the camera, because the kid was bent forward with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "How are you…not even winded?" Cloud panted.
"Aww, come on. It was only 10 miles!" Zack said from off-screen.
"Yeah but…normal people…actually jog…when they're going…that far." His words were interspersed with harsh breaths.
"Normal? I thought you wanted to be SOLDIER, kid."
Cloud stood up and braced his arms behind his head. His face was bright red. His forest green shirt was glued to his chest with sweat. He wasn't quite as defined as Zack, and he was shorter, with a more compact build, but he looked pretty good for a kid of fifteen. "Don't call me kid," he said irritably.
Zack laughed. "Once you grow a few hairs on your chest, I'll stop."
Cloud sprawled out on the grass on his back. "Fuck off," he said, but there was no real heat to it.
Zack sat down next to him. "Ooh hoo hoo! Damn, boy, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"No, but your mother sure likes my mouth."
Zack squawked and Cloud laughed out loud. The video ended.
On his bed, Zack smiled. They hadn't known each other that well yet back then – Zack was more of a mentor. He'd never met someone so determined to become SOLDIER before. The kid was at a disadvantage with his height, but Zack had been the youngest person ever to reach First Class; norms didn't mean much to him. So he had started training Cloud. It was around the time Angeal has disappeared, so it was a nice distraction for Zack.
After Angeal's death, he had stopped answering Cloud's calls and texts. Their relationship was too similar to the one he'd just lost, and Zack was in too much pain, too angry with Angeal and himself to deal with Cloud.
But Cloud was persistent. After all of his messages had been ignored, he showed up at Zack's dorm. Having made First Class by that time, Zack had a private room, and he'd been pacing and brooding by himself for an over hour when the knock on his door interrupted his stewing.
He had stormed over to the door and jerked it open. "What?" he practically spat at Cloud.
Cloud recoiled, but he didn't back down. "I just…I haven't seen you for a while…and we were supposed to meet for sword training."
Zack glowered. "Fine. You want to train? Let's train." He stomped back into his room and grabbed his sword – not the buster sword, which he still couldn't bring himself to use, but his old faithful longsword – and stuck it on his back. Without another word, he walked quickly down to the training room, Cloud hurrying to keep up with his longer strides.
Once inside, they squared off. Zack wasn't in the mood to teach; he just wanted to hit something. But he couldn't take his frustrations out on the kid. He took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself a little before taking a fast but light swipe at him. Cloud blocked it easily. It seemed he'd been working on his own, or maybe with someone else, because he'd definitely improved. Zack swung a little harder. That, too, was easily blocked, and then Cloud started hitting back.
Zack picked up the pace a little more, invigorated by the outlet for his frustration. As he moved, the thoughts stirred in the back of his mind.
Damn you, Angeal.
Why did you make me do that?
You were too much of a coward to kill yourself. You forced my hand.
Do you think I will ever get that image out of my mind? How did you think I would feel, for the rest of my life, knowing what I had done?
The anger was brewing again, and Zack ground his teeth together.
You…selfish…asshole! You know what? FUCK YOU, Angeal!
He had a split second to register the widening of Cloud's blue eyes as he swung as hard as he could. Cloud flew across the room, hitting the wall with a resounding crack, bouncing off and falling forward onto the floor.
Zack dropped his sword. "Oh shit. Shit! Cloud. Cloud!" He ran toward the crumpled body on the floor. Sliding down next to him, he rolled Cloud over to see his face.
He was knocked out. The left side of his face was red and starting to swell already. Blood dripped from behind his ear. "Aww, shit, buddy. Let's get you to the infirmary."
He picked up his friend and started walking, outwardly calm, despite the fact that he now had a new reason to be torn up inside. Cloud groaned and opened his eyes, looking up at Zack's chin.
"Zack?" he said, sounding confused.
"I'm sorry, buddy. I…I lost control for a minute there." Zack's voice shook. He knew it was inadequate, but it was the best he had to offer.
Cloud was quiet. Zack looked down. Cloud's left eye was red with broken blood vessels – a vivid reminder to Zack for weeks afterwards. "Really. I'm really sorry," he said sincerely.
"It's ok," Cloud murmured. "Sometimes you just need to let it out." His eyes drifted closed again.
Other than a concussion and some colorful bruising, Cloud was fine. He never did get angry at Zack for trying to throw him through a wall, and Zack discovered that, contrary to his fears, mentoring Cloud was not at all like being mentored by Angeal. For one thing, Zack was not like Angeal. He wasn't nearly as serious, and Cloud learned more from fooling around with him than from structured lessons.
And besides that, he just plain liked the kid. His calming quiet was a counterbalance to Zack's occasionally overwhelming energy, but he had a dry wit that came out when Zack least expected it. While Zack reacted, Cloud thought through things. They were as opposite as their hair colors, and they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
Before long, the two had become inseparable. Someone had even once called Cloud his puppy, but a sharp look from the rest of the room and a smack from one of the guy's friends stopped it cold.
Zack had been so excited to find out that Cloud was going on the mission to Nibelheim with him. He was getting used to Sephiroth's stoic manner, but he spent most of his downtime on missions texting Cloud anyway. Now he would have someone there to laugh at his stupid jokes. He wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time talking to himself. Plus, he could secretly torment Cloud over the man crush he had on Sephiroth. Cloud would have been humiliated if Sephiroth had known, but really, Sephiroth was used to it by now.
It should have been great. The setup was perfect. But nothing went as planned.
Everything was fuzzy. Cloud tried to lift his hand to rub his eyes, but he couldn't move. Feeling nothing more than mild concern, he tried to blink, but his eyes wouldn't close, either. The grogginess cleared and he started to panic. Bubbles floated up in front of his eyes. What is…I'm underwater? What…how…shit! Despite this knowledge, his first instinct was to scream. Luckily, his lungs didn't comply. In his mind, he struggled madly, but his body refused to respond.
A strange gurgling sound came through the water. The level of the fluid started to drop, and Cloud became aware that he was inside some kind of glass tube. Under a mop of black hair, stark green eyes were watching him intently through the glass. Slowly, a young man's face came into focus, and then a white lab coat. The man's lips moved, but Cloud couldn't hear anything except the liquid draining at his feet.
When the last of the fluid was gone, the glass of the tube slid open. Cloud felt his muscles release as he fell forward, gasping in lungfuls of sweet oxygen. A large woman grabbed him before he could hit the floor, slinging him carelessly onto a gurney.
Still panicked, Cloud immediately pushed himself back up. The woman muscled him back down and pinned him to the gurney.
The stark green eyes came back into his field of vision. "Calm down, kid. You're just fine."
But the words meant nothing to Cloud. His muscles fought against the woman, granting him a few inches of freedom before being pushed down again. He screamed mindlessly, struggling with all his strength.
"Damn it, Kyle, get the sedative!" the woman grunted as she fought his panicked flailing.
A sharp prick on his arm prefaced the sudden slowing of his heart, the slackening of his muscles, and the darkening of his vision. Then he knew nothing more.
Zack looked down at the crumpled form of the doctor. He had probably been a bit overzealous, but damn the consequences. He had a bad feeling about Cloud, and the doctor had come back with his predictable negative response to his request to see him.
Well, it was done now. There was nowhere to go but forward. First, he needed to set the scene. Opening the cupboard above his bed, he dug until he found a suitable object – what turned out to be a small metal scale. Mentally apologizing to the doctor, he held it over his head and dropped it. The scale bounced off of the balding head, leaving a sizeable dent and a trickle of blood. Zack winced. He would have to count on the lack of oxygen clouding Dr. Hyde's memory. He carefully arranged the doctor's body on the floor, and then dug through his pockets. As he suspected, an employee ID badge was pinned inside of a small side pocket.
The picture was a rather unflattering shot of Dr. Hyde. To the right of the image were the words:
Dr. Klause Hyde
Bio Engineering
Fanta White Ltd.
It wasn't a Shinra badge, but Zack wasn't surprised. Shinra often used shell companies to hide their more questionable undertakings. He brought the badge back over to the door and waved it around in front of the small sensor. Blip-blip. Success!
Out in the hallway, he looked around. There were a series of doors, identical to his, stretching down the hallway in both directions. He set off to the right, waving the badge in front of the next door. It was a hospital suite, identical to his own, but completely empty.
He worked his way down the hall, checking each door as he went. After a few more empty hospital suites, he opened a door marked 'OR 1'.
This room was also empty, but markedly different. A starkly bright silver table was at the center of the room. Gutters ran along both sides of the table and drained through two large tubes into a basin at one end. A huge, moveable light lurked over the top of the table, and leather straps hung down from its sides. It was a surgical suite, he realized, although he wondered what use the leather straps could have. There were shelves and cupboards lining the room, stocked with gauze, dozens of labeled bottles, and various surgical tools. The room held a morbid fascination for him, but he pulled himself away. Cloud wasn't in there.
Zack continued along the hall, with only a cursory glance into 'OR 2' and 'OR 3'. He knew he was running out of time for his cover story to be viable. He turned the corner at a T-intersection, entering a new hallway with the cement walls and ceiling that he remembered from the day he'd woken up. The mako tanks were for accelerated healing; if Cloud was as injured as Zack remembered, he would likely be in one of those. He took off at a run down the hall. There were no doors along this hallway, only a large set of double doors at the end. He had almost reached the doors when they were smacked open by a rolling gurney.
He skidded to a stop as he reached the gurney and the startled young man pushing it. Even limp and wet, he would recognize those blond spikes anywhere.
Zack grabbed onto the side of the gurney and pulled it toward him, ignoring the sputtering of the man in the white lab coat. "Cloud! Buddy, I've been so–" He stopped mid-sentence, realizing that Cloud's eyes were closed, and he hadn't moved.
He looked up at the man. "What's wrong with him?" He was vaguely familiar, and Zack finally recognized the lab tech who had opened up his mako tank.
"It's just a sedative," Kyle blurted, looking scared. "He freaked out when he woke up in the mako tank."
"Well of course he did," Zack said angrily. "It's freaking terrifying to wake up like that."
Kyle stood taller, but his voice was still shaky. "What are you doing out in the hall by yourself?" he demanded. "You shouldn't be out of your room."
Zack remembered his cover story then. "Oh! I was out here looking for help. Something fell out of the cupboard and hit Dr. Hyde on the head. I think he's really hurt." Zack plastered a look of concern on his face.
Looking worried, Kyle walked back a few feet and pressed an intercom button mounted in the wall. "Code green in med suite B-6. Repeat: code green in med suite B-6."
Kyle returned to the gurney, where Zack had moved the sheet to find his friend's hand. Anger came over him in a flash.
"Why the hell do you have him strapped down?" Zack demanded.
Kyle held his hands up defensively. "It's for his own protection. I told you, he panicked when he woke up."
"And you think it's going to be better when he wakes up like this? What is wrong with you people?"
A pair of footsteps behind him alerted him to the presence of two orderlies. Sure enough, Zack turned around to see two burly men coming toward him. They had the walk and build of trained soldiers, innocuous green scrubs notwithstanding. He gave them a disarming smile. "Hey, fellas." He held his hands loosely at his sides, knowing that anything else would be seen as a sign of aggression. Honestly, a good old fashioned brawl would have felt damn good right then, but it wasn't the time.
The shorter man gestured back in the direction from which they had come. "Let's go, Zack. We need to get you back to your room."
Although his tone was courteous, Zack could see the leashed aggression in his eyes. "Wait, what about Cloud?"
"I'll be taking him to his room," Kyle said.
"But he'll just be panicked again," Zack stalled. "Bring him to my room so he can see me when he wakes up. Trust me, it will calm him down." Now that he had him in his sights, he didn't want to lose him again. He didn't even know if he was ok yet.
Kyle looked down at his patient. "I guess we can bring him there for now. I'll ask the doctor when we get there."
"There he is! Grab him!" Dr. Hyde was sitting up in a chair with an ice pack held against his head, and two orderlies in blue scrubs by his side. The burly men who had escorted Zack immediately grabbed his arms.
Zack didn't resist. "Doc! I'm so glad you're ok! I was kinda freaking out when you wouldn't wake up. That scale must be heavier than it looks."
The doctor eyed him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"
Zack pretended to look around, spotting the scale on the floor. It had been knocked under the bed at some point, but it was still speckled with his blood on the corner. "That scale right there," he said, pointing. "You were getting something out of that cupboard over my bed and that scale fell out. Knocked you right in the head. I gotta admit, I was thinking the worst, man. It looked bad."
The doctor eyed him suspiciously. "I don't recall that happening."
"Well yeah, that's not surprising," Zack said solemnly. "It all happened pretty fast. I didn't even see it. You just collapsed on the floor and I couldn't get you to wake up. If it wasn't for the blood, I probably wouldn't have even figured it out."
Dr. Hyde stared him down for a minute longer. Zack carefully schooled his expression into the proper combination of concern and relief. Finally, the doctor nodded to the two green-clad orderlies, who released Zack's arms. His eyes shifted to Kyle, standing in the doorway, holding on to Cloud's gurney.
"Kyle! What is he doing in here? You should be taking him to his own room."
"Um, yes, sir. I was on my way there, but then Zack found me and said you needed help."
Kyle had probably worded it in that way to cover his own ass, but it lent credence to Zack's version of the story. Dr. Hyde glared at Kyle. "Can I speak to you for a moment, outside?"
"Sure," Kyle said nervously.
Dr. Hyde walked in front of the sensor and pulled on the door handle. It didn't budge. He frowned and held out his hand to Zack.
"Oh, right," Zack said, handing him the badge.
Hyde scowled at him as he waved the badge in front of the sensor. Blip-blip. The two men exited. The guards-dressed-as-orderlies stood in front of the door with their arms crossed. Zack chose to ignore them and looked down at Cloud. He touched a finger to his friend's pale face. His own skin looked so dark in contrast to Cloud's, but that was nothing new. A memory came floating back.
"Dude, how can you stand to wear that helmet out here? Aren't you hot?"
Cloud pulled off the helmet that covered his eyes and most of his head. "Yeah, but I'll look like a tomato by the end of the day if I don't."
Zack looked over at the sweat plastering Cloud's blond spikes to his head. "You already look like a tomato," he pointed out.
Cloud scowled and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his arm. "That's just 'cause I'm hot. At least I can cool off later. If I burn I'll have to deal with it for a week."
They were walking through the jungle, Zack swiping idly at the flora with his sword as they walked. A trail of shredded leaves followed behind them like nature's bread crumbs. The heat was sweltering, but Zack was used to it. Being from the mountains, Cloud sweated through his uniform and burned any exposed skin within an hour of the sun.
Zack couldn't help laughing. "Put your helmet back on, kid. We'll get back to the hotel and have you back to pasty white in no time."
Cloud fanned his face with his hand. "You got any more water?"
Zack passed over his canteen. "Yours gone already? Oh, I see. You spilled it all over your uniform."
Cloud shot him a glare before he tipped back the water. Besides growing up with the heat of Gongaga, the mako in Zack's veins seemed to help regulate any extremes of temperature. "You know you—"
"Shut up," Zack blurted.
"What? I haven't even finished insulting you yet," Cloud grumbled.
"No, shut up! Listen."
They both stopped and listened. From the look on Cloud's face, he hadn't heard anything, but Zack's enhanced ears picked up a distant voice. He tilted his head, trying to pick up on the words, but he got nothing but garble. He motioned for them to continue forward, and they walked on, their steps stealthy and silent.
They might have made it through entirely unnoticed, if not for the rope vine that snapped taut around Zack's ankle, and the astonished yell that slipped out when he was hefted into the air by his leg. Before they knew it, they were surrounded by jungle natives speaking rapidly in a foreign tongue, pointing spears of sharpened bone at the two of them. They were barely covered with strips of material that looked completely organic, some of them not even covering the parts that would allow them into polite society.
"Oh shit oh shit oh shit," Zack mumbled. He had lost his sword when the world had been turned upside down, and the blood rushing to his head was making it hard to think.
Over the rapid stream of unintelligible words, Cloud's voice stood out. He was speaking more slowly than the natives, but they seemed to understand him. They slowly lowered their spears as Cloud pulled out his gun and held it up for them to see. He spoke several more words that Zack couldn't understand, and then aimed the gun straight at Zack.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, buddy. What are you doing? I know that thing's loaded," Zack stuttered.
Cloud didn't acknowledge him. He spoke some rapid fire gibberish and cocked the rifle, then lined up the scope.
"Whoa! Cloud! Come on, man, it's me! Don't even play with that thing! Gun safety 101! Cloud! That's not funny, Cloud!"
Cloud squeezed the trigger. Zack screamed.
The scream was cut short by his impact with the ground. An excited babble rose up from the natives, and they knelt down, their noses touching the dirt.
Cloud's face was absolutely stoic. He dropped down on one knee next to Zack and pulled a knife out of his boot. He sawed rapidly at the remaining vine around Zack's ankle and spoke under his breath. "Stand up slowly and keep your head down. Do not speak, and whatever you do, don't look anyone in the eye, especially me."
Cloud rose slowly to his feet and nodded cordially at the dark-skinned natives. They scooted aside to make a path for Cloud and Zack.
Zack followed Cloud's instructions to the letter and kept his eyes glued to the ground. He'd almost pissed his pants a few minutes ago, and he wasn't going to do anything to risk getting put back at the mercy of the natives.
He didn't say a word for the miles leading to their pick-up point. He stood there in silence until the truck arrived, afraid they might still be nearby. It was probably the longest stretch of silence ever to come from Zack voluntarily, and he was about ready to burst by the time they closed the doors of the truck behind them.
"What the hell did you say to those guys?" were the words that exploded from his mouth.
"Um, well, funny story," Cloud said, failing to hold back his grin. "Apparently they've only met one other person with blond hair before. He'd told them he was some kind of shaman, and that his hair had no color because he'd been purified by Holy or something. So I just went with it."
A laugh bubbled out of Zack. "You're making that up."
"Nope. And then I told them that my gun was my magic stick and that I would point it at something and the gods would break it if they were angry at the tribe."
"So you pointed it at me?!"
"I pointed it at the vine," Cloud corrected. "And the tree branch right behind it. Even if I missed, I'd probably hit the branch and they'd still believe me."
"Or you could have missed and hit me," Zack sputtered.
Cloud smiled serenely. "But I didn't miss. So what's the problem?"
Zack flopped down on the bed of the truck. "What's the problem?" he muttered. "No problem. No problem at all." Then he sat up. "Where did you learn that language anyway?"
"There's a tribe in the mountains of Nibelheim that have a similar dialect. It wasn't quite right, but the words sounded familiar so…" he shrugged. "I gave it a shot."
Zack laid back again and laughed. It was bordering on hysterical, releasing the tension of the last few hours. "You're something else, Cloud. Dinner's on me tonight, alright?"
Cloud snorted. "Dinner's on Shinra when we're on assignment. But nice try. I'll remember that next time I need to save your ass."
Zack grinned. "Ok, I'll buy you drinks tonight."
"Again, nice try," Cloud said, rolling his eyes. "Last time I checked, the legal age was still 18 in this part of the world."
"So what? I'm buying. No one will give you a second look if you're with me."
It was true. Zack was barely 18 himself, but no one ever questioned a man in a SOLDIER uniform. Several hours later, they were both sufficiently relaxed after the day's adventures, sprawled in a corner booth at the pub. Zack had never retrieved his sword, and Cloud had dropped his helmet, but they were both standard issue and could easily be replaced. As predicted, Cloud's pale skin had turned a painful shade of red without the helmet. The numbing effect of the booze was just an extra perk for him.
"So I get that they believed you were, like, some sort of holy person or whatever. But what did you tell them about me?"
"Oh." Cloud laughed, a short trill. Then he laughed harder. Within minutes, he was practically rolling on the floor with his thoughts.
"Dude! Are you gonna tell me what's so funny?"
Cloud got himself under control and downed a shot that Zack had placed in front of him a few minutes ago. "Heh. Heheh. I told them that you were my…uh…servant…brought along to…heh…service me."
"Wait, what?" Zack shot to his feet as Cloud collapsed in giggles again. "Are you serious?"
"Hah! Heheh. Yeah," Cloud managed to spit out. He wiped his streaming eyes and attempted to sit up straight. "Their holy people aren't allowed to marry or like, copulate, so sometimes they travel with servants to…heh…avoid temptation."
"What the fuck?!" Zack exclaimed, but even he was finding it funny at this point in the night. He plopped back down in the cushioned seat next to Cloud, unable to resist his contagious laughter. "I need a couple more shots before I'm ready to be your sex slave, buddy."
That had only been a few months ago. He couldn't imagine going back to life before Cloud anymore. Since he'd become First Class, he may have been abusing his status to bring Cloud along on more missions than most cadets would see during their whole term, but as long as they got the job done, Lazard seemed happy to look the other way. In Zack's mind, there was no doubt that Cloud would be promoted to SOLDIER that year, so the training he got on their missions wasn't being wasted.
Perhaps he relied on Cloud more than he realized, he reflected. He felt a million times better since he had seen him, knowing he would be there with him. Now if only he would open his eyes, Zack could let go of that last, lingering thread of anxiety.
Blip-blip.
The door opened from the outside. The two green-scrub orderlies stepped aside, allowing entrance to Dr. Hyde and a chastised Kyle. Dr. Hyde addressed Zack directly, while Kyle refused to make eye contact.
"We will be taking this boy to his own room now, Zack. I'm sure you will have the opportunity to see him again once he wakes."
Kyle grabbed the gurney at Cloud's feet and began pulling him out of the room. Zack resisted the urge to stop him. It would do no good to fight them now. He would just have to believe that they would keep their word.
Foolish.
