Warnings: Chaos/Zack dub-con

Chapter 26 : Help, I'm Alive

They jumped and their only awareness became stretching, bending, twisting pain. They weren't even in their bodies yet but Sephiroth could feel it as he blurred and spun and it hurt too much for it to be completely his imagination. He stretched, stretched and distorted until he felt like he was the size and shape of a small steel cable. He had no breath to spare for screaming; his lungs were far too thin to pull in air. Then SNAP! He had a body and breath and only the memory of pain. He wondered why it hadn't hurt so much to go into those mental constructs but then dismissed the thought as irrelevant.

He was awake.

He recognized the familiar musty canvas and army laundry soap smell that was the army tents he'd lived in for most of his life. He also recognized the rich but acidic smell of his own semen for nocturnal emissions had become as common to him in the past two years as they'd been during puberty. Hojo had tried to stop them, using drugs to sleep cycle control to forced ejaculations, but even he'd had to give way to the reality of wet dreams. Except this time it hadn't exactly been a dream since that same substance had him sticking to the slight figure that was all but on top of him.

Cloud was groaning and twitching. His eyes were still closed but the frown between his brows showed that he was coming closer to waking. Sephiroth decided to encourage him. "Cloud," he called, long fingers carded through bright strands of hair. "Cloud," he said a little louder, "Come back to me, Cloud." White feathers trembled. "Corporal!" Sephiroth finally ordered sharply. It worked. Cloud's eyes popped open, blue and disoriented, but awake and processing. "Cloud," Sephiroth said with relief, but it didn't last long as the blond hunched over himself in pain.

"Cloud?" he repeated anxiously.

"Loud," the blond whispered, his voice scratchy from disuse, "Really loud." He squinted as if the dim light filtering through the tent was the harshest of mid-day sunlight in the Corel desert

Sephiroth realized that Cloud was reacting like a SOLDIER Third Class injected with mako for the first time and having to adjust to the heightened senses. He was about to explain this to his lover when the blond's eyes shot open once again. "Zack!" He called, sounding panicked. His wings started to quiver from the sudden tension infusing his body. The corporal put his hand down on the bed and on Sephiroth's chest and pushed. It was obvious all he wanted to do was lift himself to his feet.

That's not what happened.

Like any new SOLDIER, Cloud underestimated his new strength. That, plus the edge worry had given him, meant his enhanced muscles sent him nearly through the top of the tent. His wings saved him. They made him less aerodynamic so he didn't gain enough momentum to break through the material. Instead, he only managed to brush the top with his hair; then they saved him again by fluttering strongly enough that he landed lightly on his feet instead of being slammed into the ground. Unfortunately, they continued moving and Cloud was too disoriented to compensate for the force they created. He stumbled off-balance and his wings beat even harder. They were trying to keep him upright but only managed to knock Cloud off his feet again. They were also throwing up whatever loose items were in the room. A large maelstrom in such a small area.

Sephiroth hadn't expected this. He shot out of the bed and over to the blond, grabbing his arms and stabilizing him. "Calm down, Cloud," he murmured softly, knowing the corporal would be able to hear him clearly. "Take a deep breath." He demonstrated and Cloud, eyes large in distress, instinctively matched the rhythm set by his general. His eyes lost their frantic edge, his wings relaxed and furled neatly along his back, the tension left his limbs… and he dropped to the floor.

"I'm sorry," he rasped, "I don't know what's wrong."

Sephiroth knelt in front of him. Only a small smile revealed how blindingly happy he was to see Cloud interacting with the real world again—however badly he was doing it. "From what Zack said, most of the enhancements were done to you while you were… drifting away. You wouldn't have had time to adjust to the changes."

"But," he hesitated, "but at my house–"

"Your house was your construct. Both it and you reacted and behaved exactly as you wished. You do not have that level of control in this world." He was stroking through silky blond strands, enjoying the feel of it.

"But Zack…" Cloud stopped. "I can't help you, can I?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "Not while you're like this." The corporal's eyes closed in failure and shame. Sephiroth lifted Cloud's chin, shaking it a little, "You will have to learn how to move your body and compensate for the changes while I'm gone."

"Yes, Sir." Cloud's eyes remained closed. A sharp swat on the cheek opened them.

"You haven't failed him, Corporal. You sensed he was in danger and alerted me. I will find Zack and bring him back. He will be very excited to see you again. He might even leave you an unbruised rib or two."

Cloud smiled at the picture in his head, "Probably not, Sir."

"You are supposed to call me 'Sephiroth', Cloud. Don't you remember?"

Cloud frowned, trying to pull the memory forward from his fragmented mind. It came, and his eyes widened, "Oh!" His pale skin turned a deep rose.

This time Sephiroth smiled fully, "I will let you get away with it this time but, if it happens again, I will have to punish you."

The corporal swallowed in combined nerves and arousal, "Understood… Sir."

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and his smile turned feral,. Oh yes, he was very glad to have his Cloud back. Too bad he couldn't do anything about it now. Even if Zack didn't need rescue, the Corporal was in no condition to fully appreciate the attention. "Later," he promised both of them.

"Later," Cloud agreed. "Now go save Zack."

He gave the blond a quick, fierce kiss before he raced to put on his uniform. He took a moment to clean the dried semen from his stomach—his long coat would have exposed the white flakes, but it was only heartbeats before he was ready to race out the door. He paused beside the Corporal, now on hands and knees, arms visibly trembling, wings slightly unfurled. "Shall I call in Kunsel to assist you?"

Cloud shook his head, "I'm good, Sir. I will get the hang of this." Pure mountain stubbornness coloured his voice.

There was a knock on the door, "General?" It was Kunsel's light voice. "Sorry to bother you, Sir, but something's happened."

A last look at his struggling lover—who was a fully competent adult and soldier, he reminded himself, and Sephiroth was out the door. "I'm aware of the situation," he told the Second, barely glancing at him as he moved through the outer room.

"You are?" the SOLDIER sounded amazed but not totally surprised. He lowered the envelope he was holding.

"Indeed. I shall return with Commander Fair momentarily. Have potions and food standing by," he ordered and then he was gone, outside, into the bright morning sun. He could feel Zack as if he were at the other end of a shiny cord. The First was afraid, excited, shamed... and aroused?

Sephiroth growled. What, in all Ifrit's hells, was going on with the dark-haired First?

His sense of the SOLDIER's whereabouts had him elevated, not on a mountain, but in the air. Running wouldn't be sufficient. To rescue Zack he would have to do something he hated. So be it. With a thought and a act of will, he brought his wings out, forcing them through skin and leather from wherever they stored themselves. And there were two, just like Zack had said there would be. He flapped them once, raising dust. He ignored the awed stares of passing soldiers, and started running.

Running, jumping... and flying.

Zack decided that, under different circumstances, this could've been fun.

After picking him up, Chaos had soared straight up, high as an airship, twisting and whirling like a ride at a carnival. Fucking exhilarating. Or it would've been if the bastard hadn't been feeling him up the whole time.

Then there was the evil, creepy teasing the shithead did. 'Do you think you will fall or fly?', he'd say, or 'How far can you run, little bat?' and crap like that, and he'd toss Zack out and away, tumbling and falling; and his wings would beat and bend and he'd try to get some control back. It was nearly the scariest thing he'd ever had happen to him, even if it was a fucking thrill-ride. What made it worse was that The-Thing-That-Had-Been-Vinny knew exactly how mixed his feelings were about it all.

He was outside, breathing real air, seeing real fucking trees and mountains; not stuck in a lab, not living vicariously through a VR helmet or phasing out in some mako tube. Fucking alive and free and feeling it all the way to his fingernails and he was fucking flying! How amazing was that? So when he swore at Chaos and told the creature what a fucking asshole he was being, the thing just laughed at him and complimented him on his 'feistiness'.

Despite the demon's cooed teasing, Zack could almost forget what he'd agreed to while he was flying-falling, but then Chaos would swoop down on him and gather him up, gather him close, close enough to feel his huge fucking erection, and he'd be reminded. It had hurt with Sephiroth, despite the preparation, because the silver-haired warrior was big—at least compared to most humans. Chaos wasn't human. He was nearly three meters tall and everything was proportional. Then there was the fact that Zack didn't want Chaos inside his body, no matter how aroused he got, so he'd be tense like he hadn't been with Seph.

This was going to go so beyond 'hurt'…

*Don't worry, my pretty little bat, I won't kill you. You are far too much fun.*

"You know, I liked you better when you were in your coffin."

*I didn't, but my host insisted on immolating himself. The best day of the last few centuries was when you forced us into the world again, * the creature responded. *You changed the hands of circumstance and I, for one, am grateful,* Chaos flipped Zack around so they were face to face. *Shall I show you how much?*

"What did you say?" His imminent danger was forgotten as his thoughts were snagged. He needed to pull that memory forward; a memory triggered by something Chaos had said, but what was it?

Chaos just rolled his eyes, *I said, I'm going to show you how much I appreciate you letting us out of the coffin.*

"No, that's not it," Zack swept that aside, following this other thread because he thought it was important and because it sure beat thinking about his upcoming rape. It had been something familiar, so that meant someone else had said it first. He had it! "You said something about 'the hands of circumstance'. I've heard that before. Raincloud said it–"

*You talk to cumulonimbus?* the demon's tone was mocking. Zack ignored him.

"You're Chaos." Again, the creature rolled his eyes but Zack continued before he could interrupt, "but the weapons were supposed to precede Chaos. Weapons, with a capital double-u. I don't think Raincloud lied to me but where the fuck are the Weapons?"

This time Chaos laughed out loud, twirling the two of them in the air. *They are here. All the planet's pretty jewels: sapphire and diamond, ultimate, ruby and emerald.* Images appeared in the SOLDIER's mind, pictures of the things that had crawled out of the Northern Caves, but these weren't static, still photos. These images moved... and they weren't at the Northern Caves either. Shit, the Weapons were on the move. He needed to tell Seph because there was no way that those things weren't going to affect the future of the planet.

*Soon I shall be free of my lovely immortalis. I will shed my bindings and lead Omega through the stars. It will be glorious. I will be glorious.* Chaos lifted Zack joyously in his arms.

"Oh fuck," Zack whispered, and prepared to be tossed once again.

*But that is for later. We should concern ourselves with now. I think, little bat, that's it's time to shed something a little more... material.* Chaos let Zack slide back down. Then he took one hand and placed it on Zack's neck, tight but not choking. His long blade-sharp talons just barely stopped at puncturing the skin. Chaos smiled, with teeth wa-ay too fucking pointy to be reassuring, Zack decided, and ran those talons under and through the thick cloth of his uniform top. The demon sliced through it like it was air. He spread his fingers out, shredding it the shirt and caressing Zack's chest at the same time.

Zack shuddered and closed his eyes. He could do this. He could do anything he needed to.

*So noble and self-sacrificing, little bat,* Chaos cooed, *Do you know how tired I am of nobility and self-sacrifice?* Talons pressed a little harder, sharp enough to hurt but not to puncture, as the creature continued down, slicing through the leather of the belly guard as easily as he'd cut up the cloth shirt. Zack's wing hands flexed in impotent rage and fear. Chaos' much larger wings beat lazily as if laughing at them. The Thing-That-Had-Been-Vinny hardly needed them to stay aloft—gravity meant nothing to it, which was pretty fucking amazing even if it did piss Zack off.

Chaos looked at the five thin red lines covering Zack's chest. He liked them. He decided to add another couple stripes in a lazy zig-zag pattern, starting at the collarbone and travelling over the upper chest, making sure to hit each nipple, connecting the scattering of bullet-hole scars and then down over the diaphragm and the bumps of the swordsman's stomach. Talons paused just above the waist of his pants, lightly dimpling Zack's skin. He stared at the hard nubs of the SOLDIERs nipples. *You liked that didn't you?*

"It's cold up here, that's all." Zack replied, happy that his statement was the absolute truth.

Chaos' eyes glowed gold in annoyance. He folded his wings and let them drop straight down, fast as a stone. He held Zack close until they could once again make out details of the ground below—trees, boulders, hard, rocky surface. Death, if they didn't slow down.

'Mother-fucking-rat-bastard,' Zack chanted and kept his gaze forward. Chaos wouldn't let them crash. This was just another game.

Zack was right but, instead of the gentle stop he'd vaguely envisioned, Chaos stopped abruptly and all at once. He didn't have a firm grip on Zack's body—only on his shirt, so that it was pulled off when the SOLDIER slid out of the creature's arms. The action stretched the SOLDIER's arms in muscle ripping ways as his sword harness was forced off as well. Worse, it tore at his wings and he instinctively made them disappear so they wouldn't be damaged. Now he had nothing to stop his fall.

"Evil mother-fucking-rat-bastard!" he shouted in defiance. Even now he knew that Chaos wouldn't let him be killed. The thing just wanted him scared and he refused to give in to fear.

Instead, he spread himself out like Angeal had taught him long ago when he was still a SOLDIER Second Class. He'd practiced jumping out of helicopters and planes, running endless scenarios in the VR room and even a few real-life missions. They'd all been a little closer to the ground... okay, a lot closer, but the basics were the same. And he wasn't a Second anymore. He was First… or more, so even if Chaos didn't swoop in to 'rescue' him he should still survive a jump like this as long as he landed right. Still, it had been three years since he did this for real.

He judged the distance, his speed, the angle, but mostly he counted the seconds and waited to be jerked to a stop by long, sharp-taloned hands.

He was right. Chaos grabbed him when he still had a dozen meters or so left to fall. He didn't grab him by his arms or torso, but by his calves, and it was soon apparent why. The demon dug his talons into the heavy cotton pants, pulling them out his tightly laced boots as he let Zack slip slowly through his hands, slicing the garment off as the SOLDIER slid through them. At this rate, Zack thought, he was going to be flapping in the breeze like a limp flag.

*Not quite as limp as you would hope, little bat,* and Chaos chuckled in his mind.

Zack didn't bother closing his eyes in shame. He'd gone through this before in the lab. He couldn't help what his body responded to. The male sex drive was a conscienceless nympho with only one, generally over-eager, response to just about every situation. Covered in mud? Get an erection. Watch a hot girl drink from a bottle? Get an erection. Receive direct physical stimulation after a heart-pounding fight? Get and erection and then some. Getting hard didn't change the fact that he didn't want this.

*You will, my pretty one. I'll make you scream for it,* the demon whispered as the remnants of Zack's pants went fluttering away.

He turned Zack so that he was facing out. The SOLDIER could see the camp buildings, small but distinct, in the distance. It reminded him of why he was doing this. There was the still crowded airfield... hopefully no one had a telescope trained on them. He couldn't pick out Sephiroth's tent which was as it should be. It would be really stupid to make the leader's tent stick out, after all. Still, he was pretty sure it would be somewhere around... there. He squinted trying to find a structure that matched the layout of the General's tent, or even the gaudy banner that hung outside the door.

He had a sudden vision of Sephiroth and Cloud racing out of the tent to his rescue, just as if he were a princess in a story. That would make Chaos the Big Bad Wolf. An idea so appropriate, given the size of the thing's teeth, that Zack couldn't help but smile.

One arm gripped him across his upper chest, locking his arms to his sides. Now, even if he wanted to strike out, he couldn't. The creature behind him stretched one long arm down his front, grazing lightly across his skin; moving lower and lower over more and more sensitive areas until Zack couldn't control his shivering, and even he couldn't deny that it wasn't all from fear. The back-side of one deadly talon traced his hip bone, getting closer and closer to his most delicate areas. His body reacted, uncaring as to the source of the stimulation. He could feel it filling and stretching; almost as if reaching for a firmer touch.

Stupid fucking penis.

Chaos didn't oblige the silent demand. Instead, the demon kept his touch light. He ran the backs of his claws—and the sharp tips, so softly over Zack's flesh that not even a hint of a mark was made. Zack wrapped both his hands around Chaos' gauntleted forearm. He was counting heartbeats to distract himself—his own heartbeat as Chaos didn't have one that he could detect. Talon tips moved in a threatening caress all along his length, over his tightening sac and along his inner thighs, tracing the path of his vulnerable femoral artery. His skin twitched, his blood thickened; Chaos was right—danger and sex matched each other too well.

He fell back on what he'd learned in the lab to deal with situations like this—think about something else. Unfortunately, he actually said the first thing that popped into his head.

"What're the Weapons built to do?"

Chaos' fingers barely paused, *You ask such a question at this time?*

"Uh, yeah. It's just the way my mind works."

*I see,* Chaos chuckled, entranced by the SOLDIERs randomness. *You are a flighty little bat. Very well. The Weapons protect Gaia and Gaia's lifeblood against catastrophe. They've come out now because some threat has activated them.* The demon dug his talons in a little harder, raising welts on Zack's soft inner thigh as he stroked upwards. It was a sign that Chaos had finished with the topic.

Zack swallowed, aware of the danger he was in but, well, he was curious. "So they'll be going after Hojo?" he asked hopefully.

*I neither know, nor care,* the creature's voice was flat and annoyed, *Their task is not mine.*

"What do you mean, 'you don't care'? Because, from what I heard, they have to do their thing before you can do yours." He winced as his skin was pierced. Warm liquid pooled at the surface.

*I see what it is you do, little bat. You don't fight me physically—a wise decision and therefore not one I expected from you–*

'Asshole,' Zack thought.

*Instead you use your mind to fight. You talk and use that to deny your reactions to my touch. You dismiss your body's responses as 'merely physical' and 'out of your control'." Zack didn't say anything because Chaos was right—at least mostly right, but he was also wrong. Zack's brain did just work this way. Ask Sephiroth. He opened his mouth to explain but before he could say anything Chaos growled angrily.

*That isn't nice of you.* Chaos was pissed. Zack could feel the emotion thrumming through the huge body behind him, and even though he wasn't speaking out loud, the demon's voice rumbled through Zack's mind like boulders in an avalanche, ripping and tearing through a forest. *Perhaps you need motivation…* The arm locking Zack to Chaos tightened, squeezing his torso and making it hard to breath. The creature's other hand latched onto his erection and squeezed it too. Painfully. Then beyond pain.

"Ahh, you motherfuck! I wanna kick your blackmailing ass so fucking hard!" Zack screamed in defiance. "You cock-sucking bastard!"

It was like a switch. One moment, Chaos was squeezing him to death like a baby zolom with its next meal, the next he's laughing and licking a trail along Zack's neck. Instead of squishing the SOLDIER's dick to a pulp, he was gently caressing and teasing it back to full hardness.

Chaos' silvery-pale face and glowing gold eyes appeared beside him. *Would you like me to suck your cock? It's not something I have much experience in, but I'm willing to try…* His voice trailed off and the demon grinned, showing off his mouth full of big, pointy teeth. Just the idea of letting those things near his delicate bits had Zack shrinking again and drawing his legs up protectively. In response, the demon roared with laughter and sent them spinning heedlessly through the sky.

This time when they came to rest, they were hovering only a body-length above the hillside, looking out over the wasteland created by the mako reactor. Zack's head was spinning and puking was looking like a distinct possibility. He focussed on the sparkly glow left by the reactor's destruction and his stomach settled. It was kind of pretty actually.

*My host is getting restless. Soon our time together will end, my pretty little bat, but first we will make memories.*

'Just get on with it,' the SOLDIER thought. The creature's erection was hot, hard, huge and pressed against his naked back, and Zack knew it wasn't going to hurt any less for all of Chaos' teasing. He took calming breaths, relaxed as much as he was able to, and prepared to be penetrated.

Chaos surprised him though. Instead of entering him right away, the demon enclosed his cock in his large hand and began stroking. It was a firm grip but not punishing. All it needed was a little twi–

"Ahhh," Zack called out, and not in pain.

–twist… just like that one. Chaos repeated the motion, adding a light scrape of talons through dark pubic hair. The touch was so slight it almost tickled but it was enough to make the dark-haired SOLDIER's groin muscles clench involuntarily. His toes curled inside his thick boots where Chaos couldn't see them and Zack could later deny it had ever happened. It didn't help though. The creature was too aware of Zack's reactions. He repeated the light brushing caress while keeping his grip nice and firm as he stroked up and over the tip.

The contrast was excruciatingly arousing; the threat of danger and pain combined with the promise of pleasure… His hips jerked. He moaned, keeping his lips shut but hearing it rumble in his chest and throat anyway. He couldn't help it, the rhythm, the strength, the stroke was perfect. Exactly how he'd do it to himself.

Zack's head fell back onto Chaos' shoulder as he finally surrendered to the sensations Chaos was giving him. Then the demon began to nibble, so very delicately, along the strong tendon joining neck to shoulder and Zack whimpered. He loved having his neck played with. It was part of the reason he'd kept his hair as long as it was. Of course it needed a trim now. After three years–

*Flighty little bat,* Chaos warned.

A slightly sharper nip brought Zack's mind back to where he was now; panting in Chaos' hold, arms stretched up and around the demon's neck, anchoring him so he wouldn't fall, holding tight so that he could stay close to the creature's touch. He wanted to urge the creature to stroke faster; he wanted to beg for it to be over. Despite everything, he wanted the physical release Chaos promised.

'Shit,' he cursed himself, but it didn't stop him from moaning in pleasure as sharp talon tips played along his rips and down the long muscle running to his groin.

He could feel his heartbeat pulsing heavily through his body. His ribs were heaving as he tried to draw enough air. Muscles tightened as he strained toward completion. It no longer mattered who, or what, was touching him; only that someone was. His toes curled tighter. His fingers dug in deeper. All he could hear was his own harsh breathing and Chaos' voice in his head, urging him on—urging him up, higher, tighter, closer... closer … and over. He called out as his body pulsed, clinging to the demon who'd forced this pleasure on him. Trusting Chaos to keep him stable as the orgasm played itself out.

It wasn't the mind-wiping climax he'd experienced with Seph, a function of his body like a biological lube job. He was relaxed but not satiated and certainly not feeling warm and fuzzy; not like he'd felt sharing an orgasm, or even just a bed, with the General and Cloud.

Thinking of the night he'd just spent with his friends, and comparing it to how he felt now, he couldn't help but be reminded of the way Sephiroth had described sex the first time the topic had come up between them. How cold and clinical the General had been when talking about orgasms: 'Orgasms are the goal of sexual stimulation. The point, if you will. Why bother indulging in sensual touching if you're not going to achieve the objective?' He'd sounded more like a scientist than a human being. Zack had been shocked and… and sad, that the General obviously hadn't experienced sex that would make him talk of stars and fireworks and all that other romantic shit.

'Why had he let them do that to him?' he'd thought. 'How could he do it without at least caring for the person he was with?' he'd wondered.

After three years in Hojo's lab hell, Zack no longer had to wonder how someone could separate themselves from their body during sex, or why. In fact, he'd gotten good at it. As soon as the spasms stopped it was done. His breathing was back to normal and he was able to think clearly. There was none of that post-coital lassitude to drag him into a comfy snuggle with his bed partner.

Chaos raised his cum-covered hand to his lips and licked his fingers clean. *You taste good, my pretty one. Your juices feel good in my body. Mine will feel as good inside yours.* Claws trailed down his spine, seeking his entrance.

Zack barely felt it.

Instead, now that his mind wasn't clouded by physical lust, his awareness was filled with the approach of one who'd been inside his soul. Which meant the General was charging to his rescue... just like in a movie. It was like a bright, shining cord and it was getting stronger. Cloud wasn't with him, and Zack spared a moment to worry about the young corporal, but mostly he felt relieved. Help was on the way. Except for Jenova, who was an evil, telepathic, space virus thing, he'd never seen Seph defeated. He'd be a match for Chaos.

Except that meant Seph, his best friend and an ultra-enhanced, genetically-altered, super warrior, was about to take on a three-meter tall legendary demon-creature that was somehow connected to the planet, vital to the future, and usually hung out in the body of the person who was most likely said best-friend's dad...

'Shit.' Zack began to struggle against the arms holding him, instinctively, uselessly, but he needed to do something to stop the confrontation. Even if Seph won against Chaos, he'd lose because there's no way he could damage Chaos without hurting Vincent as well.

Chaos, of course, enjoyed Zack's struggles. *Well, well, my little bat, you've finally become shy,* he chuckled and continued to caress lower, cupping long fingers around one of Zack's ass cheeks. *It becomes you.*

"Chaos, you gotta stop," Zack announced. The creature laughed. "Seriously, man, it's about to turn bad."

*I promised to look after you,* he purred, *and I have. Now, you will look aft–*

"LET HIM GO!" It was a roar worthy of Bahamut itself. Unfortunately, Chaos could roar even louder which he did... right over Zack's head. The volume was excruciating. The dark-haired SOLDIER brought his hands up to cover his ears but it didn't help much. What helped was being dropped the couple of meters to the ground as Chaos turned to face his challenger. Zack received the impression that Chaos didn't mind interrupting their sex for battle; either would be fun.

Sephiroth looked magnificent, like a vengeful ice-god with eyes of frozen fury. His hair floated around him, undulating as if alive. He stopped some distance away, Masamune in hand, ready to attack. "Are you well, Zachary?"

'Not even fucking close' is what he wanted to say. "Doing okay," is what he actually said. No point in making the situation worse.

A quick, laser-like glance showed the General that the dark-haired SOLDIER had no obvious injuries, as in he wasn't gushing blood, so he turned his attention to the one who'd dared to harm one who was his. "He is not yours to play with," he stated flatly. It wasn't even a challenge, just a statement of fact; blunt and incontrovertible.

Chaos sneered. *You. You reek of not-Gaia. The infestation that rots Gaia's bloodstream is thick in you.*

"If it helps me to defeat you, then I will accept the alien legacy Jenova gave me."

Chaos roared in laughter. *You will fight for my little bat; yet, if he had wanted to fight, he would have.* He taunted.

"Zachary wouldn't fight if, by sacrificing himself, he could protect others. That's what happened, isn't it?"

Gold eyes glowed, talons flexed, and that creepy black-red mist started to build around the demon. *No matter. I shall dispose of the infection you represent and then the pretty one and I will continue as we left off.* The voice in Zack's head was smug and certain. Considering Chaos had defeated a mini-behemoth by sticking his arm in its friggin' chest maybe he had a right to be smug.

'Fuck, this wasn't going to go well,' Zack thought. He stood up in panicked determination. He'd help Seph, protect his friend, even if it meant messing up the future. If bad things did happen weeks or months or years from now, then at least they would've had those weeks and months and years.

He wasn't armed with anything but his steel-toed combat boots, but he could still use them to kick Chaos' arrogant ass.

Then the demon jerked. His head twitched and his arms stretched out as if to grab something no one but him could see. Then his limbs drew back into his core and the creature folded into a foetal position. The mist spun around him, moving faster and faster and getting brighter.

*But... you are still damaged. You shouldn't be strong enough–*

Red-black light exploded from Chaos in a ball. It was without heat or sound or power. Or maybe it was just that it was all directed inward to whatever was happening at its center. The SOLDIERs backed away. Sephiroth assumed a position between the demon and his mostly-naked friend. A protective stance that was negated by Zack moving to the side so he could see what was going on.

The swirling mist resolved into a swirl of red fabric that floated to the ground in an elegant sweep. The twirling red cape settled to reveal Vincent, looking even paler than normal. His freaky red eyes were dull with pain. He stared at them. "I'm sorry," he rasped. Then he collapsed into an unconscious heap on the grassy slope.

Sephiroth waited, sword out, to see if this were some kind of trap. His wings beat slowly keeping him hovering protectively between the gunman and the dark-haired SOLDIER.

"It's alright, Seph. Chaos is back inside Vinny." Zack moved fully out from Sephiroth's protection. He stood, hands on hips, and stared as the wounds on Vincent closed up, wondering where the hells the skinny gunman kept something like that. Chaos was a bit more problematic than a set of wings.

"Hmm." The General wasn't quite reassured, but he allowed himself to settle to the ground and furl his mis-matched wings.

"Nice wings," Zack teased. Grin wide and easy now that the danger was past. He was aware of his nude state and of the cum rapidly drying on his stomach but, like most of the embarrassing situations in his life, he was determined to bull through it.

The General sheathed Masamune and gave Zack a thorough inspection. He noticed everything; nakedness, scratches, bruises and the drying semen. He also saw the tinge of shame that the dark-haired First was hiding under his usual bravado, so he chose his response with care. "Nice boots."

AN: Apologies for the incredibly long wait. RL kicked my butt for a while so, when I did get to sit at my computer, I was working on other projects. Then this chapter didn't want to come together until I let Zack kinda-sorta not enjoy it. Thanks to everyone for their reviews and their patience.