Warning: Rated M for violence, swearing and graphic M/M relationships in later chapters

Disclaimer: I do not own all of these lovely characters; I just borrow them once in a while.

Cloud couldn't move.

His entire body screamed at him to move some limb, to try and move out of the gaze of the man before him. He couldn't even scream if he wanted to, he was too shocked.

The man before him simply grinned; one of those grins that said 'Hey, glad you could make it to my backyard party'. Most of his face was covered by darkness, the light spilling in from the hallway having no effect on his appearance. Cloud wished he could see more of his face; he hated the fact that he wouldn't be able to see the man who would kill him.

"You should lock your door," was the first thing Zack said as he stepped farther into the room and closed it. "Nasty people could just walk in if they wanted to."

"What the fuck are you hear for?" Cloud asked quickly his voice cracking much like his brave exterior was cracking under the gaze of the man before him.

Zack sighed heavily and shook his head. "Do I really have to explain that, Cloud?" He grinned with Cloud visibly stiffened when he name was used. "What, most people call you Strife, right?"

When he didn't get a response he sighed again and slowly took his gun out. "People really shouldn't just ignore a question and not answer it. That's just plain rude."

That's when Cloud's body went into action. He suddenly dropped down on the floor and behind the couch, out of the view of Zack. Maybe he would survive for at least five more seconds before Zack walked around and shot him swiftly in the head.

"Okay, I have seen people try and get away, but never have I seen someone just drop to the ground like that!" Zack giggled slightly, and Cloud almost got back up to yell at him for acting like a child. He was an assassin god damn it, not a twelve year old.

Zack wandered over to the other side of the couch and frowned down at Cloud. "I am not going to kill you while you're down on the ground like that. You look pitiful. If you wanted I could like… shoot you up against a wall so you get the cool blood effect on the wall."

Cloud growled and stood up quickly, offended that this guy-he didn't even know his name- was sent to kill him!

"I don't plan on dying, thank you very much. Now I want you to tell me why you're fucking here so early," He hissed out, gaining a sudden bust of bravery.

Zack rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his head. "You do realize you made a deal with the Yakuza, and we don't deal with candies and puppies." As he said this he walked a little farther away and pointed the gun at Cloud. "I don't usually talk to people this long but as my fellow member was commenting on how cute you are, and I kind of have to agree. So, any last words before I finish this and go home?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

Cloud tapped his foot lightly and clenched and unclenched his hand as he looked around the room frantically. "Yea…FUCK!" He yelled quickly as he grabbed the vase on the table and threw it at Zack's head. He was not going down without a damn good fight, and a lot of yelling.

Zack almost didn't dodge the vase in time, and it smashed on the wall behind him, sprinkling sharp little shards in his hair and on his shoulders. There was a loud thump from upstairs and Zack swore quickly under his breath.

"Fuck, now you have drawn attention to this," He said quickly as he jammed his gun back into its holster on his side. He walked quickly to the door and opened it. "You're spunky and I like that, but don't count your luck just yet," He said before slamming the door closed and taking off and out of the apartment complex.

Cloud ran to the door and threw it open, watching Zack walk down the hallway. He was breathing heavily and shaking.

"Is everything all right?"

Cloud turned his head quickly to see his elderly neighbor out in the hallway, a nightgown wrapped tightly around her as he weather worn face gazed at him in a questioning way.

Cloud was tempted to tell her that-no nothing was alright and someone was trying to kill him and was going to continue to come and try and kill him till the job was done. But he then thought that maybe dragging an old woman into the problem (not matter how temping it was) wasn't the best idea.

He shook his head slowly and muttered something about 'lovers spat' to get her off his case.

He slammed the door closed and slid down it to rest his head between his knees. Tugging at his golden spikes absentmindedly, he tried to stop and just think things through. All the thoughts in his mind were whipping around him, preventing him from grounding himself and holding on to one, coherent thought.

But soon he grabbed on to a few thoughts and reality sunk in. He started to shake and wanted to scream. He was way in over his head and seeing that… that guy come in and try and kill him only to leave him panicked for longer? Cloud could feel what little contents he had in his stomach come up, and ran towards the bathroom. His entire body started to shake as he heaved above the clean, white bowl.

--XX—

Reno walked down the street and to the small, shabby apartment. Sauntering up the steps, he skipped the third knowing it would creak loudly. No one wanted to wake up the guys who lived in this apartment. The red head flicked his lighter open, and then closed it with another flick before he got to the door he wanted. He opened the door with a spare key he had and walked in to find a silver haired male peeking through a few drawers.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, yo!"

Kadaj looked up quickly, a piece of paper on his hand. "Fucking doing my job, what does it look like?"

Reno scowled and walked forward to rip the paper from Kadaj's hand. "I don't think stealing Zack's shit and looking through it constitutes as doing your job."

"Well right now it does, so fuck off! What the hell are you doing in Fair's apartment anyways?" He tried to grab the piece of paper back from Reno but the red head was too quick and dodged out of the way.

"'m always here, and besides I thought I would check things out and see how the hit went."

Kadaj stopped grabbing for the paper and looked Reno over. "So he went for it tonight? My uncle will be pleased."

Reno rolled his eyes and was tempted to stuff the piece of paper in Kadaj's mouth, but decided not to. "Yeah yeah, Sephiroth will be really pleased… hey, why is this subscription to Time magazine important?" He asked as he read over the slip of paper.

Kadaj shrugged and went to leave. "I was snooping and that happened to be in my hand at the time you walked in,"

Reno walked forward and slammed his arm in front of Kadaj as they went into the small hallway leading to the door. "What do you mean by 'snooping'? Why is Zack the target this time?"

Kadaj grinned and looked at Reno with one eye, his other covered by his silver bangs. "Because someone's losing the trust of everyone…"

Reno furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Kadaj. "What do you mean he's losing the trust of everyone?"

"Awe come on… tell me you haven't been questioning Zack lately? He's been going off on his own every once in a while, looking restless and talking about doing other things then working for the family. Uncle only gave him this hit to see if he would do it quickly and efficiently like he always used to. If he doesn't, something's definitely off." He winked. "Just like when you kept running off to see your mo-"

Reno grabbed Kadaj's shirt collar and slammed him against the wall hard. "How the fuck did you hear about that?" He got close to Kadaj and stared the silver haired teen down. "You have only been in the circle for a little while."

"Yeah and I grew up in the family, I fucking heard things, alright?" he pushed Reno back and grabbed at his neck, glaring at the red headed male before him.

Reno was tempted to punch Kadaj but figured things would just be worse if he did. "Get the fuck out of here, yo…"

Kadaj smirked and went to open the door. "Just remember the things I told you about Zack. I know you have been noticing it too; you just don't want to admit it because you love him. He can do no wrong in your books. Too bad he doesn't know how willing you would be to bend over for him."

Reno was going to rip the teen's throat out when Zack appeared in the doorway, his hair looking silver in the light.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked Kadaj, pushing him out of the way to storm into the apartment.

"I was just on my way out… and Reno, when you ask him how it went… just remember what I told you." Kadaj laughed slightly and left the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

Reno looked at the closed door for a moment before turning around carefully to look at Zack. Zack was shrugged his jacket off and threw it violently to the floor. "Fuck that was a waste of time."

Reno laughed nervously and walked back into the apartment. "Yo, what happened… did you kill him?"

Please say yes, please say yes!

"No, I couldn't," He shook his head and little glass shards came out, making Zack growl even more. "I tried to but he made so much noise people in the complex started to get up and they were going check on us."

Reno nodded and sat down on the bed, watching Zack unclip his gun holster. "That was it… like that's the only reason why you didn't take him out? Didn't have enough time or something, yo?"

Zack paused and looked at Reno and then at the floor. "Well… well I did. It was weird but I talked to him for a bit… like, I tried to make the situation better for him. I don't know why…" He shrugged and took the holster off and put it on his desk. "I think I'm just tired and I went into this a little too quickly."

Reno let out a shaky breath he wasn't aware he had been holding. "Yeah… maybe you're just tired…"

Authors Note: Chapter four is out for you all to enjoy, finally! I have good news and bad news. Good news is I am quitting my job so I have more time to write, bad news is I will be worried about money! –laughs nervously- But I have school that needs paying attention, and stories to write. Besides, I live at home and still get an allowance! –giggles- So, next chapter will be out in a little while! Thanks for all the reviews, watches, and hits guys! You all rock! And please, review!