.

14. A Friend In Need

Zack sat up and was immediately aware of two things: he was alone and Alpha was growling. Neither was good. Both together added up to Something Very Wrong Here.

"Alpha?"

Get up.

Zack didn't argue. He rose fluidly and checked the exit points on instinct. Whenever he did this, he expected some subtle difference as his first indication that their security had been breached. In reality it was much more obvious: the front door was open.

"Shit!" he cursed.

Alpha was implacable. Follow.

Outside the world was cold, white and perfect. Fresh snow had fallen in the evening. Juxtaposed with the night sky, the ground looked like one of those fruitcakes they served after dinner at Shinra's snobbish Yule dinners. Fruit was rare, so of course only the elite had access to enough to make desserts. The cakes were sickly-rich and arrived when you were so stuffed the top button of your pants threatened to go into orbit if you took one more bite. During his last year of freedom, Zack had foregone Shinra in favour of dinner at Aerith's. It had been a much quieter affair and, to be honest, he had preferred it. Aerith's mom had been as wary of him as ever, but even she had welcomed him inside and marvelled at the mince pies he had smuggled out of the mess hall.

The snow had stopped now, allowing even an unenhanced human to see the single set of tracks leading away from the cabin. They were heavy, but not heavy enough to be those of someone carrying a body. Cloud had got out of the cabin under his own power.

"Shit! Shit!"

Cloud had shown signs of actual lucidity lately, but mostly remained in the same semi-catatonic state as when they arrived. Without checking on him, Zack had though more than once that his friend looked like a dead hermit on the cot. He never moved. That constancy had been a weird kind of comfort: no matter what happened, at least he could count on Cloud to be there when he came home.

A lone figure stood at the edge of the canyon. Zack stopped, horrified. Cloud's arms were outstretched, like a little kid grabbing for a balloon it had accidentally let go. One false move and he would be over the edge. Zack had seen enough carnage to know that a vamp could survive a fall like that, provided outcroppings didn't rip its head off on the way down, but it hurt them like hell and took a dragon's age to heal. Cloud's hair fluffed up in the sharp breeze.

"Cloud?" Zack said hesitantly.

Cloud turned. His face was just as slack as ever, though his skin seemed paler, if that was even possible. How did a corpse get paler? His eyes, however, were lucid and so full of anguish and pain that Zack almost took a step back. In the biting cold, the tears on Cloud's cheeks were already turning to ice.

"It … hurts," he said slowly, like the words were hard to form. He sounded like some punk who had been tasered. Zack's stomach twisted. "Zz … Zzaa …" Cloud swayed his head from side to side. "It huh … hurts … so much …"

"C'mon, Cloud." Zack advanced, but halted when Alpha barked into his mind.

Stop! Invisible teeth nipped Zack's shins. Danger!

"What?" Zack glanced around. Were they about to be attacked by some unknown threat? After Cloud's unbelievable childhood stories, who knew what weird creatures lived in these mountains.

Pack brother, Alpha replied.

"Cloud's in danger?" Zack eyed the cliff edge. How much was snow and how much actual ground? He had to get Cloud away from there, but Cloud was as uncoordinated as a drunkard outside the last bar in town.

Alpha snarled, Pack brother IS danger.

Zack was nonplussed. "What?" Cloud looked and sounded so pathetic, there was no way Zack could take him seriously as a credible threat. Vampire or not, he was still Cloud, and a weakened Cloud at that.

Look. Not see, LOOK! Alpha's growl echoed like distant thunder. Teeth!

"It huuuurts," Cloud said. He hugged his middle and crouched like he had bellyache. His body was in the kind of condition he had longed for before he was infected; every muscle was sculpted into the kind of perfection magazines needed computers to achieve. Each and every one of those muscles was now trembling. tendons stood out on his arms and neck. Cloud's fingers dug in, kneading his midriff. A whimper escaped him. "No," he moaned. "No, I won't … can't … no!" He shook his head. "Not that. Not even now. Never. Won't ever. No!"

A couple of times while visiting Aerith in the slums, Zack had come across addicts in the throes of withdrawal. A few had tried to mug him, desperation and fever blinding them to his insignia when he was in uniform and his physique when he wore civvies. The frantic hunger in their eyes was a perfect mirror for Cloud's now. Moonlight glinted off his elongated fangs.

"Shiiiit." Zack couldn't think what else to say. Even cursing wasn't enough. He was such an idiot!

They had been out here for weeks. Cloud had been barely functioning the whole time, which must have preserved energy. Zack had assumed the stupor was involuntary, but what if it hadn't been? What if Cloud had been deliberately shutting himself off – and his body down? Zack had to presume he must have been working off the nutrients infused into his body in the labs. Cloud had not fed even once since they escaped and now he had reached his limit. His picture-perfect body was consuming itself from the inside out.

Yet Zack had seen starving vamps before. They hadn't acted like this. There came a point in both man and vampire when hunger finally overcame everything else. Cloud was clearly at that point, but he was fighting his own survival instincts. Not only was his body self-destructing, what was left of his mind was too.

Alpha continued to growl. Cloud continued to whimper. Zack was momentarily paralysed as the full extent of the situation writhed its way into every crevice of his brain. How had he not considered this before? How had it not even occurred to him? What was he supposed to do now? The answer was nauseatingly obvious. His gorge rose at just the thought, but what else could he do. He couldn't leave Cloud like this. If only he had realised earlier. Pickings had been slim, but maybe if he had hunted more and not resorted to vegetation from under the snow –

Alpha's growl became a snarl. No!

Zack ignored him. He edged closer to Cloud. "C'mon, buddy. I'll take care of it. Just don't fall off that cliff there, okay? It's freezing out here and I don't want to spend all night picking your skinny ass off the rocks below."

Cloud's eyes wavered between focussed and unfocussed. It seemed to take great effort for him to concentrate on Zack. The fact that he tried said a lot for his mental strength. Likewise his self-restraint if he had been dying a second death from hunger and, instead of surrendering to the madness of a hungry vamp, he had fled the cabin and his sleeping, warm-blooded friend.

"Cloud, do you recognise me?" Zack asked.

Cloud blinked. And blinked again. "Zzaack," he enunciated slowly.

"Right." Zack forced a smile. He shoved away images of the way Cloud used to be. Those weren't helpful now. "I'm going to hold out my hand, okay? You take it and come back to the cabin with me."

Cloud shook his head. "Hurts … too much. Can't … c-can't … hurt …"

"I know it hurts, buddy, but –"

"No." Cloud shook his head and clamped both hands over his ears. "Hurt you. I'll … hurt … you."

If any doubts had lingered, they vanished at the stuttered statement. Cloud was stronger than Zack. Zack's throat tightened. More memories rose up but he pushed them down. Ifrit's balls, he couldn't get maudlin now. He gave a false little laugh. "Like you even could. When did you ever beat me in sparring, huh?"

"I don't … I can't … I-I don't want to hurt you, but … b-but I'm so … so …"

"Hungry?" Zack crouched to put himself on Cloud's eye-level. "I told you, I'll take care of it. I said I'd look out for you, didn't I? Friends look out for each other. We're still friends, right? That hasn't changed." When he didn't get a response, Zack added, "Right, Cloud?"

"I don't … want to … hurt you," Cloud said softly. The breeze caught his words and tossed them into the air, where they crystallised and thunked to earth between them, heavy and undeniable. Zack had promised to look after Cloud and right now Cloud was about to break unless Zack crossed a line he had sworn never to cross.

"Cloud," he said, just as softly. "Did you come out here to, um …" 'Kill yourself' didn't have the same meaning anymore. "Were you going to jump?"

Cloud nodded. "If I … had to." His voice trembled. "C-Can't control it. The hunger. So strong. Like knives in my head."

The twisting in Zack's stomach turned to a solid block of ice. There was practically no difference between his external and internal temperatures. He stuffed all his fear and revulsion in a box to deal with later. Right now, all that mattered was Cloud.

"If you jumped," Zack said, "and you were too far gone to heal, I don't know what I'd do. Tell me, what am supposed to do without you, Cloud?"

"Huh?"

"Don't you get it? I can't do this alone. You're the reason I keep going, Cloud. If you died –"

"But I AM dead!" Cloud yelled abruptly, jumping to his feet. He shoved Zack away like a little kid with a bully. "I'm already DEAD!"

What happened next was one of those moments where time telescopes, allowing seconds to last as long as hours and every detail tattoo itself onto your brain with impeccable clarity. You know only a few seconds are passing, but real time ceases to have any meaning.

Cloud's left foot skidded out from under him in the powdery snow. Zack automatically dived to grab his flailing arms. Alpha snapped to attention, surging forward in Zack's mind to help, no matter any negative feelings towards Cloud. Cloud's eyes bulged. Zack recognised the same fear he had seen in the Nibelheim reactor, when Sephiroth killed Cloud the first time and consigned him to this un-life.

Then the ground suddenly wasn't there under Zack's own feet. In truth he had just found a pitted part of the rock beneath the snow and tripped. All his SOLDIER training, all his battle experience, and he went and tripped over like a dumb rube just off the train! He ploughed face-first into the snow, slid and hit empty air. He had gone off the edge!

"Zack! No!"

Hands seized his shoulders. Someone with impossible strength yanked him back up – but too far! Cloud wasn't used to being vampire-strong. Zack flew over his head, scraping against the rocks to land several feet away. He slammed on his back, all the breath shooting from his lungs. It took a moment to flip back to his feet, but Cloud had already sprung away from the edge under his own power. With preternatural speed, Cloud pulled up in front of him. His blond hair swirled around his head like some monstrous halo.

"You can't die!" he said wildly. "I won't let you die! You have to stay alive! You …" His eyes faded for a moment. His pupils were slits, the iris around them jittery and red. He slammed back into reality, but the jitteriness remained. "You're all I have left!" His left eyelid twitched. One side of his mouth hung slack while the other was drawn into a terrified grimace. His entire being danced at the very edge of madness. Cloud clutched desperately at his skull. "No, no, I won't. Get out of my head … stop telling me what to do … just leave me alone. LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Alpha was still large in Zack's mind. Zack pushed past the wolf's presence and put his hands on Cloud's shoulders. He did it unhesitatingly, holding tight even when Cloud flinched and tried to pull away.

"It's okay," Zack panted. His back spasmed with pain where he had landed on the Buster Sword, but his entire focus remained on Cloud. Every choice he had ever made or would ever make balanced on this moment. Spectres of his parents, Gongaga, Sephiroth, Angeal, all the vampires he had ever killed, the ones that had gotten away, the people had had saved and the people he hadn't – every single one was in his memory and staring out like prisoners through ephemeral bars. Their disapproval and horror warred with his desire to save the only person who had suffered the same tortures as him and emerged on the other side too. Zack's beliefs had been compromised so much already; what was one more crack in the armour? "Cloud! It's okay."

"No, it's not –"

Before he could change his mind, Zack grasped Cloud's chin in his palm. Zack had been dealing with vampires too long not to know how to get one to open its mouth. One squeeze on the hinge of his jaw made Cloud's pop open. Generally this was a trick for stopping vamps biting you if they got in this close and you had no weapon. You immobilised them just long enough to get a stake off your belt and into their chest. Zack's purpose was quite different. Tipping Cloud's head back, Zack swiped the blood from his hand across his friend's tongue. It was a terrible thing to do, both for him and for Cloud.

I heal when I shapeshift, Zack thought desperately. He had considered the possibility several times since learning Alpha's true nature, but never had the cause or idiocy to put it to the test. Field tests were always the worst. My body always goes back to default mode when I change forms, and my default isn't infected. I'll shapeshift the virus out of my system.

If the situation had been different and less desperate, he would have seen how foolish the idea was. He had no guarantee it would work. True, he had shapeshifted himself out of a fever only yesterday, and had healed three broken toes the day before, but this was different. He pushed the thought away and concentrated on not betraying his friend again. Cloud needed to survive. Zack needed Cloud to survive.

He thought he actually saw the millisecond Cloud's self-control broke. The next thing Zack knew, Cloud was holding his hand and had sunk his teeth deep into the palm. It was not a preferred angle – vamps usually went for places where blood flowed most and closest to the surface of the skin. Those wishing to torment their prey first took sips from less filling places, but a half-starved vamp needed a lot of food fast.

Food. Zack's stomach rolled, and not just because of the strange sucking sensation making his arm prickle. He had never donated blood like regular people. The mako in his system made him an unsuitable donor to anyone but other SOLDIERs, but blood had been drawn from him numerous times for testing. It had never been more than a syringe, however, and this was so much more. Though he fought it, Zack's mind skittered back to his last night in Gongaga and the rogue Turk vampire who had nearly killed him. Cloud wouldn't do that. Cloud was his friend and had already shown he was mentally stronger than most vamps.

All the same, fear shot through Zack as he felt his strength leaving him. His knees turned watery. The prickling spread up to his shoulder and into his chest. He tried to pull away, but Cloud's grip tightened and the sensation of being drained increased.

"Cloud, stop!" Zack curled his fingers, jabbing the tips against Cloud's closed eyes.

They flew open, revealing the red glow beneath. Cloud wasn't in control anymore. What looked back at Zack was pure vampire.

Puppy! Alpha roared. New strength rushed down Zack's arm, driving away the encroaching numbness. It was like a runaway truck careening through his veins. Alpha's presence was like a physical force. Cloud's head ricocheted backward. As his fangs were still in Zack's hand, he took a chuck of palm with him.

Zack fell to his knees, cradling his injured hand. He could see bone through the ripped flesh. Panting, he stared up at Cloud. "B-Buddy …" Shock and blood loss made his head light and his vision swim.

He had to shift forms to heal his hand, but also to get the virus out of his system before it took hold. He staggered to his feet, hair already sprouting along the ridge of his spine. His nails extended, becoming black and hard His thundering heart swapped sides and then swapped back again as internal organs rerouted around it. Zack's ears were crawling into his hairline when Cloud – the real Cloud – reappeared.

Cloud spat the chunk of palm into the snow and stared in dismay his own bloody hands. Things moved behind his eyes, thoughts bumping against each other and connecting with memories that fought to subdue the vampire's bloodlust. He blinked rapidly, gave a sharp cry and lurched backward. He fell on his backside and scrabbled even further away, covering his head with both arms.

"No, no, no, no, no …" He rocked back and forth. "You can't be like this, not like me. I didn't want to do this to you. You're better than this! Better than me ... Zack, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry." His hands went around his head again, as if he was trying to twist it right off his neck. "I won't do as you say! Get out of my head! Stop telling me what … to … do!"

Zack wanted to reassure him, but his vocal chords would no longer allow it. Instead he let out a guttural noise and tipped forward onto four paws. He shook himself, flanks rippling with hard muscle overlaid by coarse fur. He had run out of the cabin in practically nothing but the sword and harness, relying on the hardiness of a SOLDIER who had been liberally drowned in mako to preserve him. Fur sure made the cold easier to handle, though. He eyed Cloud, wondering whether to approach like this or shift back to human. The idea of changing again so soon was exhausting. Synthesising new blood for the wolf body had sapped more of his strength. He had obviously been right in thinking this would not be the same as the other times he has shifted to heal himself. Those had been chores. This had been an ordeal.

Stay back, Alpha ordered. This time Zack didn't ignore the command.

Cloud eventually stilled, though he stayed in the same position. Zack and Alpha both watched for a long time, until Alpha was satisfied. Nuzzling Cloud's arm made it flop down to his side, his hand trailing in the snow like a ragdoll – or a fresh corpse. Cloud's eyes were back to staring at nothing. He had gone inside himself again. Zack wondered whether this time he would ever return.

Despair sliced through Zack. He threw back his head and released a howl so heart-rending, the entire wilderness sat up and listened. He howled out all his agony and frustration, giving voice to everything he had felt since the day he landed in Nibelheim – and even long before that, back to the beginning on a blood-soaked night in Gongaga.

Cloud didn't react. Convinced he was a monster who had consigned his only friend to the same fate, Cloud had retreated too far into his own mind to now be reached by mere sound. Cloud was sick, but not just with the virus. Their times in the labs had broken him inside. Zack howled for everything he had lost and everything Cloud had lost as well. It was a lonely, haunting sound, which echoed long after he had lowered his muzzle.

Home? Alpha's power was reassuring, if not actually helpful.

The cabin wasn't a home. It was just a scabby place where they slept and waited for the next step of their journey. Zack had thought it was Cloud's recovery. Now he wasn't so sure. He gave Alpha a weary yes and didn't put up a fight when the spirit took control. Alpha got behind Cloud and pushed him up. Cloud made it to his feet, but moved with the same robotic mindlessness as before. This wasn't Cloud; it was just a Cloud puppet Sephiroth had made and Hojo had finished.

After a little while, fresh snow started to fall. It quickly filled in their footprints and covered the splashes of red blood like nothing had ever happened there.

Zack hated these formal events. At least they hadn't made him wear a monkey suit this time. Putting him in dress uniform and standing him at the front was bad enough. He couldn't be any more on display if they mounted his head on a plaque and stuck it above President Shinra's seat.

President Shinra was a short stout man with thinning blond hair. As always, he was dressed in his ugly burgundy suit. It was tailored, but looked like he had bought it off the rack in a size too small. For the richest guy in the known universe, he was being outshone by everyone on his table.

Scarlett in particular shone like a beacon in the red light district. A dress in her customary namesake was slashed to her hip on one side and her impressive cleavage strained against the thin straps, though she tried to appear coquettish as she wafted the end of a silk scarf in front of her face. Her famous braying laugh echoed across the table as she tried to kiss as many asses as possibly before the main course. Beside her, half a dozen executives salivated and waited for those thin straps to give.

Lazard Deusericus, the head of SOLDIER, sat away from the Main table but close enough not to be part of the rabble who had actually bought their tickets. Rufus Shinra was away on some retreat that had required half a dozen bodyguards and several Turks to 'take care of the paperwork'. Euphemisms hung thick in the air around this place. Zack was learning that more and more, as well as the smell of secrets. There were two types of secret in Shinra: the ones everyone knew but pretended not to and the ones that got you killed. Zack wasn't sure where the matching eyes of Lazard, Rufus and the President fell between the two options.

It was foolish to underestimate President Shinra. The amount of power he wielded beggared belief. This was the man who literally owned most of the developed world, and had started a war to surreptitiously get hold of the rest. His shrewd eyes stared out over the other diners, taking everything in. his gaze ran over Zack more dismissively. He didn't think SOLDIERs were a threat; at least not in the same way his own underlings were. In the world of big business, verbal assassination was scarier than a man wearing a sword bigger than himself on his back.

Zack shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He was anxious to be gone from here. There was no reason for SOLDIERs to be on regular guard duty. The President was just flexing his muscles. Lazard had protested yanking a couple off their regular details, so of course the President had demanded double. It irked him that Sephiroth was away on a mission, but he had requested Zack by name instead. That was disconcerting all by itself. President Shinra's attention was a double edged sword.

Dessert rolled around. Zack figured he could literally roll half the fat cats from their seats by now. He stood straight-backed and proud, as Angeal had taught him when it was he who had to stand up front and Zack who had guarded the doors.

"Honour is worth protecting, even if the only protection you can give it is from your own big mouth," Angeal had said sagely.

Zack's spirit sank a little at the memory. There had been no sign of his mentor. To all intents and purposes, Angeal and Genesis had both simply disappeared. Even the information Cissnei fed him said they were either dead or in hiding somewhere remote. They were too well known to hide in urban areas and even her specialised magic was drawing a blank. Zack didn't pretend he understood all the weird goings-on with the Turks, but he knew that Cissnei's abilities were impressive. If she said she couldn't locate them, nobody could. It had left Zack adrift. Eventually he had made new connections, put down roots that had nothing to do with Angeal, and moved on with his life. He had regrets, but the mission to rid the world of vampires and their virus was a good distraction.

"You look lost in thought." Lazard ambled over. "Don't tell me your legs have fallen asleep with all that standing around you've been doing." He smiled easily and sipped his wine. Lazard was the kind of guy who looked natural with a glass in his hand. You'd never have guessed he started life as a slum kid.

Several people had broken away from the tables, presumably for bathroom breaks and touching up make-up. A show was scheduled for after dinner; a troupe of young hopefuls from one of Midgar's premiere dance academies. It made Zack marvel at the fickleness of fate, that girls here could twirl about in tutus and make themselves throw up to stay thin, while identical girls from the below the Plate would never have the same opportunities and threw up only from eating rotten food.

Lazard understood, but seemed to view the whole situation with wry humour. Or maybe that was just the expression he used on everything. He sipped again and eyed Zack curiously. "Bored?"

"It'd be disrespectful for me to reply honestly."

Lazard laughed. "I think you've earned enough kudos to give an honest opinion on these little shindigs. You should act more like Sephiroth: even when he's in town, he refuses to attend. It makes President Shinra mad as hell, but what can he do? There only one Sephiroth."

The corner of Zack's mouth quirked. "In that case, I'd rather go for a walk in the desert in my birthday suit than ever have to be at one of these things again."

"You're an honoured guest, First Class Zack Fair," Lazard said mockingly.

"I'm a trophy."

"That too." His eyes twinkled behind the tinted lenses of his glasses. "Would you be more amenable if your little girlfriend was here on your arm?"

Zack almost snorted. This wasn't Aerith's scene, even if she ever did agree to come. The stringent lighting, opulent decoration and boasted wealth would swamp her. Zack remembered their first date, when he had tried to take her out for a meal and they had ended up sharing a bag of doughnuts as they walked along the street instead. Aerith wasn't built for the high life, and that was one of the things he loved about her. She was no Scarlett. She wasn't even a Cissnei. Scarlet sat brashly at the top of a heap made from her competitors, while Cissnei could make herself seem so at home anywhere she went, you immediately forgot she was there. Aerith would stand out as a novelty for half a minute and then be crushed like one of her flowers trying to grow in concrete. The only time Zack had tried to convince her to come along to one of these functions, she had refused so vehemently he hadn't asked again.

"So," Lazard said conversationally, "I take it you're ready to abscond?"

Zack watched him warily.

"Leave," Lazard translated. "Depart. Vamoose. Sally forth."

"I know what it means. I'm just waiting for the catch." Zack hesitated. "Did you really just say 'sally forth'?"

Lazard leaned in close. "President Shinra's wife wants to dance with you."

The colour drained from Zack's face. President Shinra's wife was a corpulent woman who wore even smaller clothes than her husband and applied her make-up with a trowel. By all accounts she was the love of his life, but to President Shinra that translated to possessiveness and jealousy with a side order of vengeance against anyone who slighted or complimented her. This was especially damaging to those around them, because she had a wandering eye and very grabby hands. It was difficult to stay stone-faced in a slow dance when two-inch talons were digging into your backside and her mouth kept trying to latch onto your ear. If Zack was already on the President's radar, this kind of thing would do him no favours.

Lazard grinned at his expression. "It's just such a shame that a situation has developed outside Midgar that requires immediate SOLDIER attention. Reconnaissance only, but you can never be too sure, can you?"

Zack stared at him. "Thank you," he murmured after a moment.

"I don't make the rules," Lazard said blithely. "But I do dispatch my men when it's necessary, and right now?" He cast his eyes back at the President's table. "It's very necessary." A hint of bitterness coloured his tone. He smoothed it over as easily as he smoothed his hair. Lazard was an affable guy, but he played his cards so close to his chest his lungs were experts at poker. "There's a chopper waiting. Someone will meet you at the helipad with your mission brief. You can look things over as you travel."

"Where am I going?"

"A little place called Modeoheim. A research facility there is reporting strange goings-on just outside town. They think the vamps in the area may be getting organised and it has them worried. There are several delicate experiments in the facility – anti-viral experiments. You can see why they've requested someone to stand at the door and yell 'boo' at potential intruders."

Zack made his escape. The main exit meant crossing in front of the President's table, so he opted for a service entrance used by wait-staff. At the end was the door to the kitchens, but past that Zack knew there lay a narrow corridor that led to an outside wall. He knew because, for the safety of the guests under his care, he had checked all floor plans before his first stint at guard duty in this building. Ironically, it was called the 'Freedom Ballroom'.

He expected to have a clear run. What he found instead was a tryst; two bodies pressed up against the wall, one clambering over the other in a complicated silhouette. Zack stopped abruptly and cursed. He couldn't go back, but the way was well and truly blocked. He was caught for a moment in indecision, during which a familiar voice floated down the corridor.

"Oh, but you are such a naughty boy. Kya-ha-ha-ha!"

Zack almost groaned. Scarlett's distinctive laughter was like running your ears through a blender and then dousing them with battery acid. What she lacked in tunefulness, she made up for in volume. This proved that the rumours of her promiscuity were true. Zack had always known that – it was one of the worst kept secrets in Shinra – but seeing it first-hand was no high on his list of Things To See Before I Die.

Except that this time, apparently, her partner was less than enthused at her attentions.

"Please, ma'am," he said. "You said you wanted to show me something. I thought you meant a mouse or –"

"Silly, silly boy," Scarlett crooned. "Don't tell me you believed my little white lie."

"Ma'am, please, I don't … ma'am! MA'AM!"

Scarlett laughed again, but the sound cut off suddenly. Zack's sensitive hearing picked up heaving breathing, of the kind that came from sealing someone else's mouth with your own. Scarlett's partner was also breathing heavily, but the hammering of his heart was from panic, not desire.

"You kiss like you've never touched a girl before," Scarlett hummed. "A handsome boy like you? Surely not. I'll bet they were all fawning over you back in … well, wherever you're from."

"Ma'am, please, this is totally inappropriate and I have to get back to my post –"

"Oh, I'll show you inappropriate," Scarlett purred. She had drunk too much and was slurring her words a little. Her reputation for being a man-eater didn't usually extend to unwilling victims, at least as far as Zack knew. This could only end badly for everyone if he didn't step in.

He backed up a little, cleared his throat and pelted towards them, taking baby steps so he didn't reach them too fast. "Miss Scarlett?"

Scarlett cursed and hastily disengaged herself. "Who's there?"

"Miss Scarlett, thank goodness, I'm glad I found you. Mr. Deusericus has dispatched me to deal with a viral breach in Midgar."

"What?" She blinked at him, nowhere near able to see as well as he did in the dim light. "You're one of Lazard's little SOLDIER boys, aren't you?"

"Yes, miss," Zack answered smartly, sticking to the shadows so she couldn't easily identify him afterwards. He knew she preferred being called 'miss' rather than 'ma'am' since it made her feel younger and thus more disposed towards the speaker.

"Well why are you looking for me?" she asked, her voice a trifle less frosty.

"I need you to prep your team to outfit me for the mission, miss. Mr. Deusericus said I should go to the best, and that's you." Scarlett was head of weapons and development. Mostly the team got along fine without her, and she was a more formidable force in the boardroom than the laboratory, but stroking her ego was the best way to make her let her guard down.

Sure enough, she softened. "Yes. Well. I agree. Good choice, SOLDIER." She fumbled in her purse for a cell phone, flipping it open and jabbing a few buttons. "I'll have my team ready for you when you arrive at the outfitting station. I'm sure they have some new toys you can use."

"Thank you, miss. I was also asked to tell you that Mr. Deusericus would like to speak to you personally."

"That slum-born idiot? Right now?" Scarlett clicked her teeth with her tongue and cast a doleful look over her shoulder. "I suppose I'd better, or I'll never hear the end of it. If he doesn't get me, that windbag of a father will have my head…" She strutted away, still talking, apparently oblivious or too inebriated to realise she had freely revealed another of the worst kept secrets in Shinra.

Zack waited until she was gone before approaching her victim. "You okay there?"

The figure moved. He had been frozen while they talked. "You're … SOLDIER," he breathed reverently.

"Yeah, I am, but that's not important. Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

The figure scrambled into the light, revealing the uniform of a Shinra grunt. Zack cursed again, glad he had broken them apart. The kid really was a kid. Soft blond hair and piercing blue eyes did nothing to offset the barest hint of fluff on his chin. Either he had lied about his age to get a job here, or he was one of those guys cursed with a baby face. What that said about Scarlett's tastes, Zack didn't like to think.

"You're a squaddie," he said instead. "Let me guess; guard duty?"

"Yeah." The boy rubbed at the back of his neck self-consciously. "I was told not to leave my post, but Miss La Roux –"

"Say no more, kid. I doubt she'll be telling your superior she dragged you off to have her wicked way with you."

The kid flushed red from the tips of his ears to the tips of his fingers. Zack was slightly taken aback. There was blushing and then there was BLUSHING.

"I'm going to be peeling potatoes and scrubbing boots for a month," the kid said softly. "I shouldn't have left my post. I'm such an idiot."

Taking pity on him, Zack made a snap decision. "Hey, kid, do you want to come with me?"

The kid's head snapped up. "Me?"

"Sure." Zack shrugged. This wasn't a real mission. It was more likely Lazard had trumped up some vague sighting and used it as a bonus to help out his top-ranking SOLDIER while Sephiroth was absent. Zack could take the kid along, claim he had needed someone to carry the 'new toys' Scarlett's team was readying, and both of them could spend the rest of the evening away from this oppressive dump. He would get a slap on the wrist for it, but that was better than seeing the kid punished just because Scarlett turned into even more of a lech when she was drunk. "Of course, if you'd rather try sneaking back inside, you could –"

"No, no!" the kid said hastily. "I'd, um … wow. Wow. You're SOLDIER. Why would you want me along?"

"Do you want to join SOLDIER someday?"

That was why most recruits joined up. They did their tenure as squaddies with an eye to taking the SOLDIER exam and becoming what he was: a front-liner in the battle against the vamps. Zack was the exception in how he had joined. He looked at this kid and saw the path he might have taken had things turned out differently. Enthusiasm shone in the boy's eyes. He practically trembled at the thought of working with a real life SOLDIER – and he didn't even know Zack was First Class yet.

"Sure!" the kid squeaked. "But I never … I mean, I didn't think I'd ever –"

"Well shake a leg then," Zack interrupted, heading past him for the exit. "Speed is key when the call comes in. By the way, what's your name?"

"It's Cloud," said the boy, hurrying to keep up and smiling like a loon. "Cloud Strife.

To be Continued …

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