A/N: A slightly longer, sadder chapter. Oh and reviews make me writer faster -wink-.


Lights flickered on and off, buzzing unnaturally in the otherwise silent room. Two figures sat hunched together on the floor of the cell, trying to keep warm but still shivering uncontrollably. A man stood on the outside, eyes gleaming proudly and mouth twisted into a sick smile.

"Such lovely, well-behaved specimens," Hojo chuckled, his fingers flicking switches on the control panel which lay in front of him.

One of the hunched figures groaned, sagging lower and resting his head on the other's shoulder. His energy was draining more and more every second.

"Z-Zack?" the smaller one with blond hair looked down at his friend in worry. "You okay?"

"So... tired." Zack mumbled quietly past his lips.

"You've gotta stay awake," the blonde pushed Zack's head up, but the man winced and let it fall back against the wall of the cell. "Please, Zack."

"Everything hurts, Cloud," Zack moaned. "My head... my arms... my chest..."

His mouth kept moving but no sound came out and Cloud looked out at Hojo desperately, but the man wasn't watching them. He was far too engrossed in reading some data that had just come up on his computer screen.

Cloud turned back to Zack, wracking his brain for something he could do. He didn't even know what was happening! Why was Zack in pain and losing energy? Why was he himself feeling tired and sluggish? Had Hojo poisoned them?

Anything was possible, Cloud thought sadly. Since he and Zack had no idea how they had wound up back in the laboratory – they had escaped! Cloud had mako poisoning, yes, but Zack was strong enough to get them out and they were well away before suddenly they woke up on the cold floor again – there was a high chance Hojo had poisoned them in their sleep.

Zack suddenly let out a cry of pain and Cloud's eyes widened. "What's wrong?" The black-haired man ignored the question, his hands pressing against his chest as he hunched over. Breaths became choked and Cloud scrambled up on his feet, moving slowly to the side of the cell closest to Hojo. It was amazing he could move at all.

"Help!" Cloud yelled in desperation, glancing back to see Zack coughing and holding his head as if he had a migraine.

When Hojo finally looked up to see what was going on, he didn't look at all surprised. On the contrary, he nodded sadly before tapping a command into his computer. Cloud didn't understand the reaction and yelled again, eyes wide in frustration. Thankfully Hojo looked up again.

"What's happening?" Cloud screamed at him, exhausted but refusing to give up until he had an answer. Hojo folded his arms and shrugged.

"He's dying."

"C-Cloud..."

Too horrified at the information he had been told to speak, Cloud instead opted to glare angrily at the scientist as he moved back over to his friend. Zack's face was white and he was shaking more violently before, scaring Cloud.

With Hojo doing nothing to help and leaving soon after, they were alone. Zack continued to cough and choke, occasionally letting out worse screams of pain and clutching at a part of his chest or head. All Cloud could do was sit there and watch, murmuring meaningless words meant to comfort.

It went on for hours.

Finally, Zack relaxed. As soon as he did Cloud was on alert again, asking his friend questions and trying to keep him awake so that he wouldn't fall asleep to never wake up again.

"Cloud," Zack whispered. "We're clones. We have to be."

Cloud frowned, not understanding what his friend meant.

"I can... I can talk to the real Zack." A wistful smile came across Zack's face and he weakly turned his head to look up at his friend. "He took on a whole battalion of soldiers to save the real you. He became a hero."

"You're not making sense," Cloud said sadly, but Zack didn't seem to care and stared up at the ceiling again.

"You're gonna be okay," Zack said happily. "You're feeling better now, right?"

Regretfully, Cloud had to nod in agreement. He was feeling a lot better than before even though his limbs were still heavy, but he hadn't wanted to tell Zack since his friend obviously was not getting any better.

"I guess..." Zack paused to take a strained breath before continuing. "A clone's not meant to be a hero, is it? So it's okay that- that I'm going this way."

"You're not going to die." Cloud snapped, swallowing and turning his face away to hide the tears that fell from his eyes.

"I am, Cloud," Zack said softly. "But it's okay. Because you're gonna get out of here alive. I just know it."

Cloud didn't respond, not wanting to give in to what seemed inevitable now.

"My... I mean the real Zack's sacrifice," Zack said slowly. "Is worth it if you live."

"The real you is dying too?" Cloud asked dejectedly, his heart hurting so badly he wouldn't be surprised if it had literally been torn and was bleeding within his chest.

"Yeah," Zack laughed faintly, his voice a lot quieter than before as well. "He went and got himself shot."

They were silent for a while, enjoying each others company in the obvious last moments of Zack's life. It felt like time had frozen for Cloud, and he wanted to keep it that way with Zack still alive beside him.

The end came too soon with a sudden shriek from Zack as his eyes flew open wide and a scream followed from within Cloud's own mind.

"Zack?" Cloud grabbed his friends hand and held it tightly, watching as Zack gasped and his eyes wavered uncontrollably, no longer able to focus on one thing alone.

"He's gone-" Zack gasped out. "There's nothing- nothing to keep me here. Cloud," Another deep, wrenching gasp. "Cloud, live!"