Dreaded footsteps echoed down the hallway and Cloud, having being trained to be on guard even in sleep, slowly lifted his head. He scowled at the man who entered. He didn't know this man, and he had a feeling that he didn't want to. The guy was taller than him—Everyone is, Cloud mused in irritation—with the same coloured hair and eyes as Sephiroth. The blond would have snorted if he weren't so impassive. "What's life like in that cell o' yours?" the man snickered.
"It lacks décor," Cloud muttered with sarcasm dripping off of each word. The man grunted in annoyance and moved to open the cell. The blond prepared to attack and escape, but his plans were ruined when Zack entered the room.
"Careful, Loz!" he warned with his everlasting grin of overbearing jovial happiness. "This little guy's good." He explained.
"I'm not little." Cloud muttered in annoyance. Zack chuckled and leant against the wall near the cell, facing the blond.
"You're right," the raven man agreed. "You're tiny!" the blue-eyed boy felt irate fury well up inside of him but hastily diminished it and glared at the man instead of incapacitating him like he wanted to.
"Whatever," Loz said. "Sephiroth-sama gave me orders to bring you to the experimentation lab. We're gonna have lots of fun with you, blondie." He smirked evilly. Cloud narrowed his eyes but didn't stand. The cell doors flew open. He was prepared to stand when something slammed against his wrists. He didn't scream when he suddenly felt a painful shock erupt within him; he didn't want to give them pleasure. He just grunted and narrowed his eyes further. "Let's go, little boy." Loz smirked, shoving Cloud forward. The blond stumbled slightly, but soon regained his composure.
"Strife," an elegant and gallantly brooding voice rang through Cloud's ears. The blond mentally sighed, but made no recollection on the outside. "How was your stay in the dungeons last night? Unlike your usual standards, I'm sure." Sephiroth drawled.
"It was much better, actually. Thank you for such wonderful accommodations." The adolescent grumbled darkly. The silver-haired man scowled in disapproval and calmly snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Cloud was yanked up onto a random burly man's shoulder and he dumped him on a cold metal table. He narrowed my eyes to protect them from the artificial light from a lamp above his head. His wrists and ankles were suddenly locked against the table.
"Don't try to be funny, boy." Sephiroth muttered in annoyance. When is he not annoyed? Cloud mused with vague amusement.
"I'm not trying," he replied in a nonchalant tone. "I'm stating facts." he said in a blasé manner. His head lolled to the side when a slap echoed throughout the room.
"Don't be so naïve, boy," the silver-haired man hissed tonelessly as he pulled on latex gloves. "You know you will get punished." He explained.
"I'll get 'punished' anyway. Why bore myself to death?" the blond enquired sarcastically. His bottle-green eyes narrowed and he didn't bother to reply. He approached the blond casual manner. Cloud noticed that he was holding pills. He glared at him stiffly. Sephiroth grabbed his chin.
"Open your mouth." He grunted. Cloud didn't oblige; he wasn't unintelligent. Sephiroth's glare became icy and he squeezed Cloud's chin painfully, but the blond didn't pull away. "Strife, we know everything about you. If you do not cooperate, we will hunt down all of your friends and bring them here in your place." The blond boy's eyes widened. Hesitantly, he opened his mouth slightly. Smirking triumphantly, Sephiroth shoved the pills in. "That will be all."
"Am I just here as a test subject?" Cloud muttered.
"What else would you be here for?" the silver-haired man retorted. "We're using your body to discover how much people can take before the human body shuts down. We'll test different methods on you." He murmured. "If you try to escape…" his bottle-green eyes flashed when he met Cloud's azure ones. "We will get your friends for your insolence."
"So you've said," the blond retorted, but his eyes swam with rue. Suddenly, a burly man grabbed his arm and yanked him off the steel table. Cloud didn't wince. The man threw him over his shoulder, jostling him. The blond felt a wave of nausea hit him and grimaced. He was thrown back into his damp cell. The hefty man locked the cell and stomped away. Cloud sat up and rubbed his head, cursing when he felt a bump.
Suddenly feeling weary, Cloud leant against the cold, damp wall and fell into a restless slumber.
O—o—O—o
"Come on, Cloud! Let's fly!" Tifa beamed and extended her arm to grasp his hand. The blond boy didn't falter and immediately gave her his hand in acquiescence silently. Her jovial brown eyes brightened as they dashed along the bright green fields. Stunning flowers were randomly scattered around the lime-green grassy field. Sunflowers, marigolds, roses, daises and tonnes of other marvellous flowers were everywhere.
Suddenly Tifa emitted a gasp of surprise. "What's wrong?" Cloud asked in a small voice. The brunette girl smiled brightly at him and knelt down, dragging him down with her.
"Look, Cloud," she whispered softly. Sea-blue eyes drifted downwards subserviently and soon widened. A snow-white rabbit was hugging her new born babies. The mother was around her little ones in a circular form, serving as protection and the little one's noses twitched as they bounced on their mother. "Aren't they adorable?" Tifa beamed happily. "I love animals."
Cloud felt prone to agree. They were cute. Exceedingly slowly, Tifa extended a hand to stroke the rabbits. "Tifa!" Cloud said in concern. The girl just smiled. The mother rabbit bit her finger but the brunette just smiled and whispered words of comfort.
"It's okay, sweetie," she said soothingly. "I won't hurt your or your babies. I just want to stroke you. I'm not a threat." She whispered placidly. Hesitantly, the mother withdrew her little teeth from her finger and licked it, looking apologetic. Tifa smiled at her and giggled. "Go on, Cloud," she urged. "Speak with them."
"Um…" he began reluctantly. "H—hello, rabbit-san," he said. Tifa giggled next to him.
"Why so formal?" the brunette enquired.
"I—it's impolite otherwise," Cloud argued defensively. He turned back to the rabbits. "Don't tell anyone I admitted this, but you are all really cute." He said. Tifa beamed joyfully.
"Cloud," the girl said softly but seriously. "Let's be friends forever, okay?" she smiled. The blond nodded.
"Yes," he replied, taking her hand. "Friends forever."
He felt only the slightest of pressure on his shoulder but hastily stood and got into a defensive stance. He felt sudden burst of pain in his stomach but ignored it. Zack blinked in confusion. He shrugged and proceeded, unfazed. "I brought you some food," he said with a grin. At the mere sight of the provisions, the blond boy felt like throwing up. He just covered his nose and mouth with his hand, disliking the smell.
"I'm not hungry," he mumbled. The taller man frowned in bewilderment.
"Do you feel ill?" he asked bluntly. Cloud shot him a glare but regretted it when his head spun. When he'd regained his composure, he shot a weak scowl at Zack.
"No, I'm great." He muttered.
"Like hell you are," Zack grunted. He put down the trey of food and placed a hand on Cloud's forehead, retracting it hastily after. "You're burning up." He said. The blond boy frowned. But I feel so cold…
Cloud smacked Zack's hand away in irritation. "I'm fine," he assured him bluntly. The taller man scowled slightly.
"No, you're not," he argued again. "It must be a reaction to whatever Seph gave you…" he frowned before throwing Cloud over his shoulder in one fluent motion. He faltered when he heard a barely suppressed moan of discomfort coming from the smaller man. "Sorry, did I hurt you?" he grinned sheepishly.
"I don't need to be carried and I don't need help," the blond boy muttered as he kicked Zack. Surprisingly, despite his nausea, he had a strong kick.
"Yowch!" Zack yelped. "Wow! You have some kick!" he awed. Shaking his head, he said, "Seriously, though, we need to inform Sephiroth of your reaction. I think—"
"I am not letting you tell that bastard anything," Cloud interrupted and smacked Zack's hands and stepped away as he glared furiously. "Anyway, he wouldn't do anything to help. I'm just a test subject." He muttered. The raven-haired male's frown deepened.
"Cloud, you have a high fever. Of course he'll help. He isn't that cold." He said as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Have you met him?" the blond muttered sarcastically. "He is that cold." He mumbled, narrowing his eyes. Zack blinked in surprise but soon calmed down and appeared defeated. He lowered his hand from scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Cloud started slightly and tensed when he saw the carefree man's expression of composed but seemingly depressed nostalgia.
"He didn't used to be," the man responded quietly. He looked down at Cloud and smiled poignantly. "It isn't his fault that he's like this. His life hasn't been the best of them and…"
"You think I care?" Cloud whispered. Zack's eyes widened and he looked at the blond again but his long bangs were covering his eyes. The smaller man's fists trembled with barely contained rage. "He's not the only person in this world whose life isn't exactly up to standards." He muttered tonelessly. Dark blue eyes followed the blond man's shaking shoulders and he sighed, dropping the subject.
"Are you cold?" he asked more gently, beaming his usual moronic grin. Cloud turned away, obviously trying not to show any weakness.
"No." He answered at once. Zack stared at him silently. This cell's temperature was freezing; even if that substance that Sephiroth injected the boy didn't make him sick, the cold temperature would. He was brought back from his thoughts when the blond before him swayed slightly.
"Whoa!" he said, jutting his arms out to catch the boy if he fell. Cloud hastily regained himself and got into a defensive stance. "You're dizzy, right?" he asked. The other male didn't respond but it was palpable that he was ill. "Damn…" Zack frowned. "That injection stuff works fast, huh?" he asked, mostly talking to himself. "I'm gonna try and move you so you don't remain cold, okay, kid?" he smiled.
"Don't…" the blond raised his head to glare blurrily at him. "Call me… a kid…" he managed to hiss before he collapsed.
O—o—O—o—O
When he heard an irritatingly familiar voice shout his name, he closed his sea-green eyes and prepared for the oncoming headache that was certain to follow. He didn't bother turning around to face the other man as he knew that he would always catch up. He was just aggravating like that. "Hey, Seph! I'm talking to you here!" another yell sounded from behind. The silver-haired man didn't pause in his brisk walk to his room of documents.
Upon his arrival at the room, Zack had finally caught up. The raven-haired man was rather athletic, so he wasn't out of breath. Even when carrying a certain blond shortie. "Should I even enquire as to why you are carrying that… thing?" he raised a perfect silver brow.
"He's sick," Zack's jovial face darkened. "I think it was the stuff you injected him with added to the wintry temperature in the cell you insisted he stayed in." The man glared accusingly at Sephiroth, who scowled back.
"What is your point, Zackary?" the man inquired with an irritated sigh.
"Oi, it's 'Zack,' not 'Zackary,' okay?" the raven replied automatically. "My point is; he'll die beforehand if we don't take proper care of him. We at least need to supply him with the necessities and…" Zack looked down at the blond boy's peaceful sleeping face and his own features softened. "Maybe he doesn't have to die. We can train him! He can help us fight Les Soldats Noirs." He looked up hopefully.
Sephiroth surveyed the man momentarily before heaving an annoyed sigh. "I will think about it Zackary," he said, ignoring the irritated 'It's 'Zack'!' that followed. "I'm uncertain as to whether he'd be good enough. Also… we need test subjects." He added as an afterthought. Zack's face marred into slight fury.
"I hate when you do this," he complained. "You used to be a 'test subject'! You didn't like it either—" he was cut off by a loud slap. His eyes widened as he turned to face his friend, cringing when he saw the untamed rage in his green eyes.
"Never speak of that." Sephiroth hissed bitterly. Before the raven-haired man could apologise, the silver-haired man spun on his heel and entered the document room. Zack stood in the hallway, still in shock. He was brought back out of his surprise when he felt Cloud shift in his arms.
"You can stay with me for now." He beamed as he skipped joyfully to his room, carrying the small blond with him.
Clack—Clack—Clack
Gosangoku: Sorry for the long wait! I hope this is okay. I'm sorry that it's rather short, but I've been kinda busy lately. My apologies! —Bows— Plus the fact that I've been reading Katekyo Hitman Reborn! for ages… —clears throat— anyway, I don't own FFVII, Square Enix does.
Cloud: No one owns me.
Zack: Is that so? —Grins—
Cloud: —Blushes and death glares— Shut up, Zack.
Sephiroth: You two fight like an old married couple. —Scowls—
Cloud: —Flushes crimson—
Zack: Hehe!