It's time for their evening drink, but Dr. Hyde hasn't shown up. Professor Hojo is still sitting at his desk, writing endlessly. Doubtless he has many brilliant thoughts to share. I'm thankful that I'll never have to read that drivel.

Finally, Dr. Hyde's familiar knock pattern sounds, and Hojo presses the button under his desk. The door slides open soundlessly, and Hyde enters with several sheets of paper in his hands.

"Good evening, Professor," Hyde says calmly, but his eyes are swirling with his thoughts.

"About time, Hyde," Hojo snaps, setting down his pen, although his reprimand lacks the bite it once held.

"Yes," the doctor said distractedly. "Interesting results from the specimens' most recent blood work." Hojo stands and moves to pour himself a drink while Hyde sits in his usual chair, his eyes flickering over the paper in front of him. "The S-cells are bonding exceptionally well for subject S-16, but S-15 seems to be rejecting them." Now that he has started his own research, Dr. Hyde has begun addressing them by their numbers, much to Hojo's delight. I suppose it's to distance himself from them, now that he's truly seeing them as specimens, not difficult patients in his care.

"Really?" Hojo says, his interest piqued. "Why is that, I wonder?"

"I suspect it's because 15 has been through the mako treatments as part of the SOLDIER program. His cells are already mutated. The S-cells were designed to bond with normal human cells, were they not?" It's clearly a rhetorical question. Hyde knows Hojo's research inside and out.

"Yes," Hojo says thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "But I had still expected the S-cells to mutate them further. That's an unexpected development."

"How would you like to proceed?" Hyde asks, handing the papers over to Hojo.

"You used the mako fortified solution on 16 today, did you not?" Hojo scanned over the paper in his hand.

"Yes. I'll check his blood again tomorrow and see how it bonded," Hyde says.

"Good. Start 15 on it as well. We may need an even higher concentration of mako to affect him, but let's start with this."

Dr. Hyde nods and taps some keys on a small device that he pulls from his pocket. I've seen him use it before. I think it's just notes to himself, but I'm surprised that the professor allows it at all, considering how tightly protected he keeps all the information on the experiment. He could easily be sending that information outside the facility. It's just another sign of his unusual trust in the doctor.

Professor Hojo sips at his drink and looks at Hyde appraisingly. "And how have your psychological experiments been going?" he asks lightly.

Hyde's eyes light up. He sits up in his chair, getting visibly excited. "Oh, it's fascinating, Horace. I've already watched the footage. I was able to get 15 to force 16 to take in the fortified mako solution."

A smile quirks the corner of Hojo's mouth. "Did 16 react as painfully as the others?"

"Indeed, maybe even moreso," Hyde says excitedly. I can't tell if he's starting to enjoy inflicting pain, or if he's just happy because of what it says about Zack's reaction to the experiment.

"And still 15 made him do it?" Hojo sits back with a satisfied smirk. "Maybe their bond is not as strong as you believed, Hyde. Or maybe 15 has a sadistic streak in him."

Dr. Hyde chuckled. "Unfortunately, no. I convinced him that 16 had a psychological condition and that it had to be done to help him get better. I think it was almost as torturous for 15 to watch."

The professor's smile widened. "My, my, you are even more of a twisted genius than I thought, Horace." Dr. Hyde beams in return.

I've already made a second copy of the footage spanning that time frame. I know the sick bastard will want to watch it. He collects pain like porn.


Chapter 5: Loyalty

Zack stood over Cloud for several minutes, making sure he was actually asleep. He couldn't see any way to hook the IV cord out of Cloud's reach, and he didn't want to let it go until he was sure that he wasn't faking.

The thought hurt him. Why would Cloud do something like that? Was he looking for attention? If so, from whom? That didn't seem right. Maybe being stuck in this room was causing some kind of psychosis. Cloud didn't have enough authority to turn down missions, but Zack did. Maybe he could order them out of this experimental treatment, if it was really causing mental issues for the cadet.

Of course, Cloud's mental status would cause some problems for his future with SOLDIER, if Zack used that as a reason to get him out of there. Even if he didn't, Dr. Hyde might report it back to the academy. Either way, things weren't looking good for Cloud's career.

Zack finally released the IV line and returned to sit on his own bed, dropping his head into his hands. He still felt sick from the memory of Cloud's screaming and begging. It was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, not giving in to his friend. He was certain of one thing, though: Cloud was not acting. The kicking and thrashing and palpable anguish weren't fake. Cloud honestly believed he was in that much pain, which was just as bad as real pain, wasn't it?

He wondered if Cloud would ever forgive him. Maybe someday he would be able to understand why Zack had to do it, but the betrayal in Cloud's eyes had stabbed him to the core. Zack stretched out on the bed and stared at his roommate. His wrists were already turning purple from struggling against the handcuffs. It made him think of that damn purple ankle that Cloud had tried so hard to hide.

It was the middle of the night, but they were both awake – Zack because of his relentless appetite, and Cloud because Zack had yelled at him about hiding his ankle. So they had cold pizza together. For some reason, cold pizza always tasted better in the middle of the night, and that particular night, Zack could've sworn it was better than when it was fresh and hot.

He had almost forgotten about Cloud's drunken chase in the hallway, but his friend's awkward reaction to the comment about Sephiroth gave him an idea. It was incorporated into the Get-Cloud-to-stay-another-term plan that he'd already been cooking up. But just to make sure he was right, Zack decided to drop his name a few more times to gauge his reaction.

He took a drink of his beer – because what goes better with middle-of-the-night pizza than middle-of-the-night beer? – and leaned back on his hands. "So, I've been thinking, maybe next term Seph can join our sword training sessions."

Cloud's blue eyes got wide, but then he looked away. "Zack, there isn't going to be another term."

Zack pretended not to hear. "You're getting pretty good already, and that way he can help me out, too. I'm not really making any progress anymore, you know, because there's no one good enough to teach me..." Zack flashed a smile at his friend's unimpressed snort. "Except maybe Sephiroth. He might know one or two things that I don't."

Cloud gaped at him. "Are you kidding? I bet you couldn't even hold the Mesamune, Zack. It's taller than you are."

Zack frowned. "Are you sure? It's only like 6 feet."

"It's 7 feet, 3 inches, but it only measures 6 feet, 6 inches tall because of the curve."

Smiling slyly, Zack decided to push it a little further. "Whatever. It's probably easier to wield than the Buster Sword. He's not that good."

Cloud's pizza made a loud slapping sound as he dropped it back on the box. He looked at Zack like he'd just announced his intention to shave his head and take a vow of celibacy. "Not that good? Are you crazy? Haven't you heard about all the stuff he did in the Wutai war? There were like entire armies that he took out single-handedly! He sliced up 50 tanks before anyone managed to get a single shot off! He doesn't even bother blocking bullets because he—why are you smiling like that?" Cloud demanded.

"Just…uh…no reason," Zack said, cramming pizza into his mouth to hide his grin.

Cloud sighed and dropped back against the couch. "Doesn't matter. I'm sure he's too busy to train with guys like us, anyway."

Zack scoffed. "I think you forget who I am, kid."

"Uh huh. Zackary Fair, youngest SOLDIER ever to be made First Class," Cloud recited in a bored voice.

"Right! Well, since they set up the program, anyway. Seph and Angeal and Genesis don't really count, because they were there at the beginning. They didn't have to work their way up like I did."

Cloud laughed out loud. "Oh, excuse me. Youngest SOLDIER ever to be made First Class, except for all the guys who were there at the beginning of the program, and that guy from 3b, and that foreign kid with the funky hair, and Debra from accounting and –" He had to stop there because he was getting pelted with pillows and the beer was in danger. He picked up his beer to shelter it and cackled madly, but it was abruptly cut off when he lifted his leg to block a flying pillow. Pain shot up from his ankle and he hissed through his teeth.

"Ooh! Shit. Are you ok?" Zack sat up on his knees, feeling instantly guilty for forgetting about his friend's injury.

Cloud laughed it off, lowering it gently back onto the arm of the couch. "Yeah. It's fine. You win that round, but only because I forfeit."

The party wound down pretty quickly after that. A fresh bag of ice was fetched and they both went back to sleep, but Zack woke up a few hours later to implement the next part of his plan. He snuck out into the living room and checked to make sure his friend was still out. Cloud was snuggled into the couch, his artfully arranged spikes mashed into the corner. Time to go get Sephiroth.

Zack looked over at the spikes mashed around his friend's face now. It seemed like he'd aged so much since then. The metal encircling his wrists really marred the image, too. Zack frowned as he looked closer. Something was different about Cloud's hair. It almost looked wet. He picked up his phone and turned on the flashlight, trying to get a better look at him in the dim room. A thick sheen of sweat glinted off the light. The sheet underneath him was darker all the way around his body.

"What the…?" He rolled onto his feet and took the few steps across to the other bed, reaching out to touch pale white skin.

Whiter than usual, and hot. Zack could see the drops of sweat sliding down Cloud's arms and sides before soaking into the sheet. Zack was no expert, but it didn't seem to him like a person should ever be that hot.

He looked up at the camera and waved his arm. "Hey! Hey, send the doc down here! There's something wrong with Cloud!"

"Cloud, wake up!" Zack said, turning back to his friend and shaking his shoulder. For some reason, it seemed really important at that moment that Cloud be conscious. "Hey!" he yelled louder. "Wake up!" Cloud's head rolled to the side and jiggled with Zack's shaking. With a feeling of panic welling up in his chest, Zack slid one hand behind Cloud's head and lifted it slightly. It was soaked, and even the sweat that was supposed to be cooling him was unbearably hot. Zack glanced up at the camera again. He had no way of knowing if anyone was on their way and the kid was frying.

There was no way Cloud could fake this. Zack's eyes traced the plastic tube from his arm up to the bag. Now that he thought about it, the fluid did look an awful lot like the mako infusions. That had to be the problem. He had to stop the poison they were pumping in to him. He felt a flash of guilt, remembering Cloud's words. He'd been trying to tell him that the fluid wasn't what Hyde had said, and Zack had been the one to force it on him.

Zack grabbed the plastic line and gave one hard yank, removing the tape and pulling out the needle all at once. Cloud remained pale and motionless. Zack raked his brain frantically for something else he could do. He had to find a way to get his temperature down. A childhood memory tugged at him. He'd had a really high fever once. His mom had put him into the bathtub to cool him down.

The door still wasn't opening and Zack was tired of waiting, but there was still the problem of the handcuffs. He grabbed the cuff around Cloud's left wrist with one hand, the one around the bar with the other, and pulled as hard as he could.

It was no good. He couldn't get enough leverage and the chain was surprisingly strong. Zack let go and stood back. There had to be a weak point somewhere. His eyes landed on the bar holding the other link of the handcuffs. It was about as thick as his thumb, welded in place at the top and the bottom, but he tapped against the bar itself, confirming that it was hollow. He should be able to break it. Bracing his feet against the outside of the railing, he wrapped both hands around the bar and yanked with all his might.

It was probably a bit of overkill. He had been afraid that it would just bend if he didn't pull hard enough, but it snapped at both the top and bottom. He fell on the floor with the loose bar now in his hands. Unfortunately, the handcuff was still on the bar, so he also gave Cloud a good, hard jolt on his arms. Zack winced and got quickly to his feet, dropping the detached bar and pulling the bed away from the wall. With access to that railing, he repeated the process, except he pulled at just the top this time instead of the whole bar. The top snapped off of the railing easily, and he slid the cuff over the top of it.

"Ok, buddy. Here we go," Zack said. He always felt better saying things aloud, whether there was anyone there to hear him or not. Maybe it was a habit from radio communication on missions. Some dispatchers complained that he talked too much, but others appreciated the play-by-play. The recordings made it easier to write up the report later.

He slid an arm under Cloud's knees and one under his arms and picked him up. The heat was coming off in waves through his scrubs. Getting more worried by the second, Zack ran to the bathroom and set him in the bathtub, then plugged the drain and turned the shower on cold.

Cloud didn't react at all to the water hitting him in the face. Unsure what else he could do, Zack paced back and forth in the small bathroom. The guilt was nagging at his conscience, and he was avoiding having to look at Cloud. It was human nature to avoid pain, but he had to be better than that. He had no right to avoid feeling bad for his actions. He forced himself to look at the pale, motionless form, then dropped down to his knees next to the tub.

"Come on, man, wake up. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I'm sorry I forced that on you. I was just trying to help, but I fucked up. Again." Zack grimaced and looked away. "I swore I wouldn't hurt you again, but I…" He dropped his head, feeling useless and helpless.

Finally, the door clicked open and Dr. Hyde strode casually in. "About time!" Zack yelled, jumping to his feet. "Can't you get here any faster? There's something seriously wrong with him!"

Dr. Hyde didn't seem to notice Zack's tone. He continued his leisurely pace across the room to the bathroom. Zack backed up to the vanity to let the doctor pass. An irritated frown marring his face, Dr. Hyde turned off the shower. He pulled an electronic thermometer from the pocket of his lab coat and inserted the plastic end into Cloud's ear while Zack gripped the porcelain of the sink almost hard enough to crack it.

The thermometer beeped, and Dr. Hyde peered at the electronic display. "It's barely 105, Zack. He's fine."

Zack laughed incredulously. "Fine? That's not fine! Besides that, it's probably gone down since I put him in here."

Dr. Hyde stood to his full height and looked Zack in the eye. Zack had to give him credit for not faltering under his gaze. He was quite a bit taller than the doctor and could be damn intimidating if he wanted to be.

"Zack," he began sternly. "Are you a doctor?"

"No but I—"

"Do you know anything about the body?"

"Not really, but—"

"Then let me do my job. The boy needs nutrients. The fever is just his body's reaction to the food after being starved for so long."

Zack was skeptical about that statement, but as Hyde had pointed out, he was not a doctor. "But…isn't that dangerous?"

"A slight fever is nothing to be afraid of," Dr. Hyde said dismissively.

"Slight? That's not—"

"Zackary!" Dr. Hyde took on a commanding tone that he clearly expected to be obeyed. "You will stand down immediately. I'm going to call Wendy, and then we're going to have to put the IV back in. We'll probably need to start it over again because the formula is time-released."

Zack's lips pressed into a hard line. Even without the medical knowledge to back him up, he had a bad feeling about this. That IV had put Cloud into this state, and no matter the reason, it wasn't safe for him to have a fever that high. Something wasn't right. Not with Hyde, not with Hojo, not with this entire place. "No," he said quietly. "I swear, if you try to put him back on that shit, I'll—"

"You'll what?" Hyde interrupted.

Zack lifted his chin, looking down at Dr. Hyde. "Try it, and you'll find out," he said coldly.

Hyde held his eye for a few more seconds before shaking his head and pushing past Zack. "I don't have time for this nonsense." He walked back out to the wall phone in the room and picked up the receiver.

Zack went back by the tub and put his hand on Cloud's arm. It was still alarmingly hot, but it did seem better than before. "Don't worry, buddy. I'm not letting anyone else in this room," he said firmly. He shut the bathroom door and leaned against it.

If the doctor was really only calling Wendy, Zack could probably handle her. But the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that Hyde would be calling his green-scrub cronies – the security guards disguised as orderlies. Those guys were another thing that made this place smell funny. He should have realized it long ago. Either way, he didn't really want to hurt anyone for no reason. It would be more effective to just keep them out.

The bathroom was very small, and the distance between the wall vanity and the door almost perfectly fit the length of Zack's legs. He sat down with his back against the door and braced his feet against the vanity, locking his knees in place. He'd had to hold himself up in worse positions than this. It would be simple to keep them from getting the door open.

Within minutes, he heard the clattering of several pairs of feet against the linoleum. Zack listened closely: it sounded like there were 4 people in addition to Dr. Hyde, whose footsteps were distinct by the way he dragged one foot, just a tiny bit. The other four were heavy people – maybe Wendy, the two green-scrub guys, and someone else.

The heavy footsteps all tromped toward the bathroom door. There was some murmured conversation before one of them decided to just try knocking. Tap, tap, tap.

Zack adopted a falsetto voice. "Occupied!"

There was a bit of confused rustling among the feet outside the door, and then someone knocked again.

"Buuuusyyyyyyy!" he sang in a distinctly feminine voice.

"It's him, you idiots!" Dr. Hyde said loudly. "Just go in!"

The handle turned and Zack felt a slight pressure against his back. It turned again and slightly more pressure was applied. "It's stuck," a deep voice said.

"Oh for Ifrit's sake!" Hyde said in exasperation. "Move!" The handle turned again and Dr. Hyde's shoulder slammed against the door. It didn't budge, and his pained cursing could be heard moving away from the door.

"My, my, such language to use around a lady!" Zack said in the same high voice, adding a touch of scandal to his tone.

"Uh…Dr. Hyde? Are you sure…?" A male voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Of course I'm sure it's him!" Hyde raged. "Just bust the door down!"

Zack had to use a little more focus to keep his legs locked when the larger bodies started slamming against the door, but it didn't matter. They would wear out long before he would.

"Somebody call the police!" Zack cried dramatically. "Some rowdy boys are trying to assault me!" By then, he was just having too much fun tormenting them. Every time the "woman" said something, the brutes on the other side of the door paused and had to be kicked back into action.

He faintly heard the blip-blip of the door to the room unlocking and more footsteps approaching. "What are you imbeciles doing to that door?" It was the obnoxiously reedy voice of Professor Hojo. Zack wondered if he should feel honored that the prof himself had come down from his throne.

Dr. Hyde attempted to regain some control over the situation. "The specimens have locked themselves in the bathroom. They're refusing to continue the infusions."

Professor Hojo's response was smug. "Still think we should treat them as patients, Klaus? Stop this charade now. They have to come out eventually, and then we do it my way." The footsteps retreated and the faint blip-blip could be heard again.

There was an awkward silence. No one on the other side of the bathroom door seemed to know what to say. "Well, you heard him," Hyde snapped. "Get back to your regular duties."

Four sets of heavy footfalls pounded back across the room and exited through the door. Zack let out a sigh of relief and slouched against the door. Just when he thought they were alone, a pleading voice trickled through the wood. "Zack, don't do this. If you don't come out right now, it will be much worse for both of you."

"Worse?" Zack sputtered in his normal tone. "You were gonna kill him, Hyde!"

"He probably wouldn't have died, Zack…"

"Probably?!"

"I mean, he definitely wouldn't have died. There may have been some slight brain damage, but…"

Zack was pissed. He stood up and yanked the door open. Dr. Hyde almost fell in on top of him, and Zack shoved him roughly backwards. "Are you fucking kidding, Hyde? Is that supposed to be acceptable?"

Dr. Hyde regained his balance and stood tall, locking his eyes on the SOLDIER. "You have no idea what you're messing with, Zack. You're being foolish."

Zack clenched his jaw and breathed evenly through his nose. He wasn't sure if his authority to refuse missions extended to this experimental treatment, but he was damn sure going to try. "I am a first class SOLDIER, and I am refusing this mission. I am also pulling Cadet Strife for health reasons. We are both to be discharged immediately."

The doctor laughed, shaking his head sadly. "Oh, Zack, such delusions. You think you're still a SOLDIER?" His eyes narrowed on Zack's glowing irises and his voice lowered. "The only reason you're still alive is because Hojo decided you were the closest living thing to Sephiroth. The only reason he is still alive is to keep you sane! The more you resist, the less useful you become. Right now, you are nothing and he—" he pointed at Cloud in the tub "—he is less than nothing! Do you understand? If he is a distraction to you and the project, his life is worthless! He—"

Zack clenched his fist and popped Hyde in the nose. It was nowhere near as hard as it could have been, but the doctor stumbled backwards, his eyes squeezing shut and his hands held over his nose. "Hey, how was that, man?" Zack said loudly to Cloud. "No telegraphing that time, right?"

Dr. Hyde glared at Zack with fury in his eyes – fury and something else. Pity? Disappointment? Zack didn't know, but Hyde shook his head sadly. "You shouldn't have done that," he said softly. "I can't help you now."

With a flare of his lab coat, Dr. Hyde spun on his heel and stalked out of the room dramatically, his hand doing little to stem the flow of blood from his nose. Zack glanced up at the camera in the corner of the room. He was definitely not going to get away with it this time. He'd called for the doctor to help Cloud; the last thing he'd expected was for Hyde to put him back on the IV.

He grimaced and closed the bathroom door, returning to crouch by Cloud's side. He reached over to feel his friend's face. It might have been slightly better, but it was hard to tell. He still felt like he was burning. Zack scooped up some water in his hands and tilted them so the cool liquid trickled down to Cloud's forehead and cheeks. He poured some more over his limp spikes, rinsing away the sweat. "I think I messed up, man. Damn, I wish you were awake! I know you would have a plan." Zack flexed his fists open and closed, just reaffirming his decision that it was time to take action. Hyde's comment clinched it. They were already toying with Cloud when they thought he was worth keeping alive. What would happen if they decided he was more trouble than he was worth? Zack set his jaw. "We have to get out of here. This place isn't what we thought."

He pulled the drain plug and stood up, looking around the room for something to use as a weapon. His eyes landed on the towel bar. It looked metallic but flimsy. He ripped it from the wall anyway; it would have to do until he found something better. He shoved the end of it into the side of his scrub pants and then leaned down to pick up his sopping wet roommate. He threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. It wasn't the nicest way to be carried, but Zack needed speed and mobility.

He hurried out to the main room and deposited Cloud on the bed. Setting his eyes on the camera in the corner, Zack pulled out the metal rod and wound up. With one hard swing, the camera broke off the wall mount, ripping away from the wires and smashing against the wall at the far side of the room.

Breaking the camera should attract some guards and eliminate any visual advantage they would've had. Zack would have to hope that his softball punch to Hyde would make them underestimate how much of a threat he was. If there were more than a few guards, it could get difficult. If he'd had a sword in his hand, he could take out entire platoons; taking on a small squad with a weak metal bar and a burden on his shoulder might be a challenge.

Zack analyzed every angle from the doorway, finding a place that would be out of the line of sight of the person who entered, but still allow enough space to swing his crappy weapon. There wasn't a good defensive position; he would need a distraction to draw their attention elsewhere. He scanned the room, looking for anything that could be rigged to create movement and noise. Unfortunately, since they had removed anything extra from the room, Zack's options were severely limited.

His eyes landed on Cloud. Cloud was the only thing to reliably draw their attention. He hated to use him as bait, but the guards wouldn't get near him. Zack picked up his friend's limp, burning body and put him on the floor, sprawled out awkwardly, face-down. It wasn't much, but it would hold their attention for a few seconds. That was all Zack needed.

Blip-blip.

They were faster than he expected, considering their response time when he actually needed something. Zack dashed silently to his place next to the door, just out of sight of anyone until they cleared the threshold. The door opened carelessly, giving Zack a burst of confidence. They were amateurs. There was a gasp as the person caught sight of Cloud, and then their shadow rushed forward. Zack swung straight for the face, not holding anything back this time. The bar broke in half and his opponent went down in the doorway. Zack leapt forward, brandishing the remaining half of the bar toward the other guards.

Except there were no other guards. The hallway was entirely empty except for the unconscious body at his feet. Had they really just sent one?

Zack looked down at the body. It was right in the doorway, conveniently holding the door open. He felt a flash of guilt seeing Wendy sprawled out on the ground, two towels and two clean sets of scrubs scattered in front of her, blood pooling around her head. But just like any other mission, he was able to push the guilt away, tucked into a little pocket until he had time to deal with it. He had a job to do.

Zack rolled Wendy's body over and searched through her pockets. He barely glanced at the ID badge before jumping over her to get back into the room. He picked Cloud up from the floor and threw him over his shoulder again.

Just before leaving, his eyes landed on the discarded bar from the sides of Cloud's bed. They had been weak at the places they were welded to the railing, but the metal seemed solid enough. He snatched up the loose bar, holding it tightly in his right hand, Cloud draped over his left shoulder. He stepped over Wendy's body again, trying to get his bearings in the identical corridors. He knew which way went to the office area, so he turned in the opposite direction. They had to be closer to an exit this way.

He took off at a run. Cloud's stomach bounced on Zack's shoulder, sending grunts of air from his mouth. "Sorry, for the bumpy ride, man," he apologized to Cloud. "I couldn't afford first class tickets." He skidded in his socks at the first t-intersection, taking a sharp right turn. He had nothing more than a vague idea of the layout of the place, and he was just avoiding the places they'd been. It was a flimsy escape plan, but Zack was good at thinking on his feet. He could get them out of there. He had to, because his mission planner was passed out over his shoulder.

They reached the first set of barrier doors two hallways later. Zack pulled out Wendy's ID badge and waved it in front of the sensors he knew should be there. Nothing happened. No blip-blip, no click, no release. He turned the knob and pushed against it anyway, but it was solidly locked. He looked at the corridor behind him. There was still no one pursuing them. He set Cloud down against the wall, then took a step back and kicked the doorway. The sound was deafening in the silent hallway, but the door only dented. He was well trained in breaking down doors, but of course Hojo would have known that. The doors were reinforced. Zack gritted his teeth and kicked again, and again, the dent growing slowly larger, but he wasn't getting through fast enough. Swearing under his breath, he picked up Cloud and threw him back over his shoulder. They had wasted far too much time trying to get through the door, and the noise had almost certainly given away their position.

He ran back in the direction from which they had come, turning at the next unexplored hallway. Skidding around the corner, Zack nearly fell over trying to stop. In front of the next set of barrier doors was a pair of green scrub thugs. They stood there with their arms folded, each with one blue hand, looking smug. They seemed awfully confident for men without weapons in their hands. Zack spun around, looking for another hallway. Before he could get anywhere, he was jerked back by the weight on his shoulder. One of the orderlies had grabbed Cloud's arm and pulled him back. Zack held on tighter, resulting in a brief tug-of-war with Cloud's body. He released him, hoping the sudden weight would knock them over, but they weren't close enough. Cloud hit the floor hard, the man holding onto his arm doing nothing to break his fall.

Zack spun around and brandished his sad weapon, taking stock of his opposition. Two men, well built and maybe slightly enhanced, but nowhere near SOLDIER levels. The orderly holding Cloud's arm dragged him closer and picked him up under the armpits. "Aww, you brought the pretty one for me! How thoughtful," he drawled.

Zack's protective instincts kicked up, but he held himself still. The guy was just trying to get under his skin. He couldn't let him. "How 'bout you set him down gently and I won't bash your head in?"

The two men seemed to think this was hilarious. They looked at each other and burst into laughter. Zack took the opportunity for a hard swing at the thug holding Cloud. He had warned him, and Zack wasn't going to give him a chance to use Cloud as leverage. The orderly saw it at the last second, dropping Cloud and ducking, but Zack was too fast. The hollow bar cracked against the man's skull, bending sharply at the point of impact. He went down like lead, and before the other orderly had even stopped laughing, Zack spun around and swung upward. The mangled bar caught the bearded man underneath the jaw. He let out a howl and fell back against the door. Zack ducked down and looped an arm around Cloud, dragging him awkwardly away, glancing over his shoulder once he had reached a safe distance.

The bearded man was on his radio. Zack turned back, running and jumping to kick the guard on the side of the head. Between his foot and the hard metal door, the guard's skull made a loud clanging sound before he slumped down to the floor. He would probably survive. Assuming they were truly Shinra employees, Zack planned to keep the body count as low as possible. SOLDIERs were precision instruments, trained to cut through at the enemy's weakest points and head straight for the heart. Although they were terrifyingly capable of mass destruction if ordered, Shinra had an image to protect. Their most public warriors were protectors of the innocent, not mindless murderers.

The radio blared out from the guard's limp hand. "Hello? Come again, K2488? Did you find them?"

Zack plucked the radio from his hand and depressed the button. "Yeah, we got 'em," he said, trying to imitate the guard's voice. "I'll bring them back to their room." He released the button and started searching the guards for better weapons.

A squeaky male voice came over the radio again. "No, man, weren't you listening? Hojo wants them put in solitary when they're captured."

"I know that, jackass! That's the room I'm talking about!" Zack patted his hands down the legs and bodies of both guards, finding nothing except the stupid billy clubs hooked to their belts. They were practically toys. Were they honestly expecting to stop Zack Fair with a damn baton?

It was better than the mangled bed rail though, so he took both batons and then smashed the radio to the ground. He scooped up Cloud and took off in the opposite direction. Zack raced around several more corners, down identical looking corridors. As long as they kept moving to the southwest, they would eventually have to reach an exit, or at least an exterior window.

But the place was a maze. He tried Wendy's badge at several doors – both barriers and regular room doors – but it unlocked nothing. It was useless. They must have found her and deactivated it already. Shifting Cloud's weight on his shoulder, he plunged on, ducking around the next corner and skidding to a stop five feet before a row of soldiers blocking the hallway.

They weren't even bothering to pretend they were orderlies anymore. These were fully uniformed guards with semi-automatic weapons aimed at the boys. A sound from behind them told Zack that they were closing in from behind as well.

His mind raced through his options. The wimpy wooden batons wouldn't be able to block bullets, but he knew from experience that he could take quite a few hits before he would even slow down. There were only 6 of them in front of him; it didn't matter how many were behind because he just had to break this line. He tightened his grip on the baton. Even with Cloud's weight on the one side, he could easily bust through these greenhorns. He bent his knees, ready to spring.

"Don't be foolish, Zackary. I know what you're thinking." Dr. Hyde's voice came suddenly over the speaker. "I know you think you can take a lot of bullets…but he can't."

Zack froze. How could he have forgotten that? Cloud didn't have SOLDIER enhancements. A single, well-placed bullet could snap the delicate thread of his life and Zack wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it. He spun around, looking at the row of soldiers closing in from behind. There was no way he could dodge that many without risking one of them hitting Cloud.

"I—I want to negotiate, Hyde," Zack said loudly. "We'll come back peacefully, but I need to know that we won't be harmed."

The silence from the intercom speaker stretched on. Finally, the doctor responded softly, "You've made promises before, Zack. I seem to recall a promise in exchange for having your friend share a room."

Zack winced. He'd forgotten about his promise to be a cooperative patient and go along with whatever they asked of him. "The circumstances changed, Hyde. Can we talk in person, please? I don't negotiate with electronics."

Dr. Hyde chuckled. He knew he had the upper hand again. "Let these boys bring you back to your room in cuffs and…we'll talk."


"Tifa?" Cloud rubbed his eyes, blinking at the figure approaching through the grey mist.

His childhood neighbor smiled shyly. "Hi, Cloud."

She looked different. Her hair was cut short and a shade too light, but it was undoubtedly the girl he'd seen in so many fantasies. She was even wearing the silly cowgirl getup she had worn to the reactor. It had seemed childish, but unbelievably sexy on the girl who wasn't really a girl anymore. If Cloud hadn't already been too embarrassed to show his face, he definitely would have made a fool of himself when she was wearing that.

"What are you…how are you here?" he stuttered.

"I don't know, exactly," Tifa said thoughtfully. "Someone – she said she was your guardian angel? – she said she could bring me to you."

Cloud looked up above his head. Mother?

He felt a glowing warmth that he recognized as her version of a hug. He smiled. Mother had brought Tifa to him. A troubling thought occurred to him and he focused on Tifa again. "Were you in the lifestream?"

Tifa nodded. "I think I still am. I'm just…visiting."

How long do we have, Mother?

He had learned that he didn't really need to use his voice to communicate with her in this place. She could hear his thoughts as plain as day.

'Long enough. Enjoy your time with her, Love.'

"Cloud? Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" He was startled to realize that they had moved. They were sitting on the invisible floor, facing each other, their knees almost touching. "I'm sorry, I was thinking. What did you say?"

Tifa giggled, that girlish sound that always made his stomach flutter. "I asked you to tell me about your life over the past few years. What was it like in Midgear?"

"Midgar?" Cloud corrected absently. "It was amazing, Tifa. You would have loved it. It was so huge! There were cars everywhere, but even if you didn't own a car, there were these guys with cars that you could pay to take you anywhere in the city."

Tifa wrinkled her nose. "That doesn't sound very safe. You just got in a car with a stranger and trusted him to take you where you wanted to go?"

Cloud laughed. He remembered how he had felt in his first days in the technological city. Teef was still a small-town girl. "I know, everything seems crazy at first. A lot of the buildings are too tall for stairs, so they have these moving cars that just go up and down to bring you to different floors. They have machines that do almost everything for you, as long as you've got money for it. And the whole thing sits on this giant plate in the air!"

Tifa oohed and aahed and clapped at all the right places. It was exactly the way he'd imagined it would be when he came back famous. He would have all these stories about the brave things he had done and the places he had seen. She would be so impressed that she would fall head over heels for him. And ok, he didn't have a bunch of stories about his brave exploits, but Tifa didn't seem to care. She seemed just as excited to hear about the missions where he'd played backup to Zack, or even an interesting night on guard duty.

He felt invincible. Nothing he said was wrong. Even when he blurted out something stupid, Tifa just agreed or else laughed like he was the funniest person she'd ever met. Is this the way it would have been? If he had just been brave enough to take off his stupid helmet and let her know he was there, could they have had this for real? If they had been together, could he have stopped her from running off to the reactor on her own?

"What is it, Love?" Tifa asked. "Why did you get so sad all of the sudden?" Her hand was on his knee, and she moved closer. Distractingly close.

Cloud swallowed and leaned back. "I was just realizing that this can never be real. You're gone." His voice cracked on the last word.

Tifa tilted her head to the side. "So?" She closed the distance between them, brushing her lips softly against his. "At least we have this."

Cloud had been accused of being oblivious to girls that were into him at the Academy, but he was pretty sure that was a 'kiss me now' signal.

He hesitated for only a moment before tentatively kissing her. She responded enthusiastically, her warm mouth opening to his, pulling herself closer. It felt different than he expected somehow. Maybe because he'd imagined it so many times. Maybe because his expectations were unrealistic, expecting some kind of mind-blowing fireworks. But it was just…a kiss.

She felt wrong. She tasted wrong. Cloud pushed those thoughts out of his head. He really had no idea how she tasted or felt; his imagination couldn't possibly know that. It was just different.

Time's up, Love.

Disappointment flowed through him. He ended the kiss, pulling back gently, resting his forehead against hers. His fingers played with the soft strands at the back of her head. "I have to leave now. Will you come see me again?"

"I'll try," she said with a shy smile. "If Mother brings me."

Her face dissolved, but there was no watery green to replace it this time. It was the stark white of the ceiling. He had seen Mother and he wasn't even in the tank. This realization was followed by the return of the pain. Cloud gasped at the first shock, then gritted his teeth against it.

"Cloud? You awake?" Zack's voice came from the other bed.

"Yes," Cloud gritted out. "Please, Zack, take it out. I don't know what he told you, but it's not true. It hurts! Please…please believe me…"

"I believe you," Zack said softly.

"Then help me!" Cloud said, struggling to hold back the tears that threatened again.

"I…I can't."

"What?" Cloud attempted to sit up, but the harsh pull of the handcuffs stopped him. He turned his head to look at his roommate instead. "Zack! I don't understand…what's going on?" Zack now had his own IV stand, complete with the murky green fluid flowing into his elbow. He also had his own set of shackles, although his were embedded in the wall behind him. The plaster had been cut away to reveal solid cement.

Zack was shaking and sweating, although he didn't appear to be in as much pain as his friend. The mako in his blood must have dulled it. "I um…" His hand moved toward the back of his neck, a move as familiar to his friend as his spiky black hair, but was stopped abruptly by his chains. He took a shaky breath. "I tried to escape, Cloud. It didn't work, but I learned something important."

Cloud tried hard to focus on Zack's words, but the pain made it hard to think about anything else.

"We're not patients here, Cloud. We're prisoners."