Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.
A/N: Just like with my other stories, I am not writing the word SOLDIER in all caps, instead, I am just capitalizing the first letter. Sorry for the late update, the next one should be soon.
I want to thank my fantastic beta SubZeroChimera!
"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." –Thomas Jefferson
Nexus
Chapter 4
They were still pretty cold, but their shared body heat helped to make it more bearable. Hearing something on the outside of the door just before it opened Zack jumped up. Realizing that it was just one of the large guards with a tray of food and another man followed him in with another tray. The first guy looked at both of them and his eyes stopped on Cloud. Shifting on the bed, Cloud tried to hide behind Zack as much as he could. The Soldier stepped between Cloud and the guy to break his line of sight. Zack took the trays and asked, "You got a problem there…Davis?"
"No, not at all," Davis stated as he turned around to leave, "Oh, before I forget, here are some clothes and a couple of blankets." The guard took some clothes from a cart outside the room and tossed them over in Cloud's direction.
"It's about damn time; we are near frozen in here!" Zack spit out.
As the guards left, Zack took some steps toward the door as it shut and Cloud was already going through the clothes to get his. Separating the underwear, black sweat pants and white t-shirts, he handed Zack the larger clothes. Putting the food down on the side of the bed and as he dressed, Zack's mind was in overdrive. Wrapping the blankets around themselves, they sat down to eat together. His friend was already in trouble and he would be damned if he was going to let that piece of shit around him. Cloud didn't show any other outward signs that it bothered him, but he knew that it did because it bothered him.
Zack and Cloud finished their dinner, if that's what you wanted to call it. Cloud got up and slowly made his way to the bathroom. Zack lay back on his bed, curled up in his blanket and with a belly full of slop, started to doze off. Coming out of the bathroom, he saw that Zack's eyes were closed and he quietly went to his bed and lay down. He tried to get comfortable and without a pillow it was difficult. He loved his pillow and missed snuggling up with it. Funny the things you miss. Eventually getting somewhat comfortable he closed his eyes, but sleep came at a price.
"Sephiroth!"
A shout that sounded like Zack yelling, woke Cloud from a sound sleep. An odd orange glow emanated from outside the room window. When Cloud came out of the Inn, the smell and heat of the fire was overwhelming.
Turning and seeing his house on fire sent chills of panic throughout his body and his legs began to tremble. Jerking himself out of the shock, he raced over to his house and called, "Mom," There was nothing in return.
"Mom!" Running into the house, it was blocked by the heat of the flames right in front of him. Then he saw her, her gentle face, he couldn't bear to look at the rest of her, but her face looked oddly beautiful and peaceful, just like she was only asleep, "MOM!" With legs turning into jelly, he dropped to his knees and screamed out with tears in his eyes. Unable to get to her, hold her, kiss her cheek like he always did, he cried out, "How could this happen?" Then he heard something from outside. Just as he was coming out of what was left of his house, he saw Zack running up to the trail that lead to the reactor. A decision had to be made; would he follow?
"Mom!" The word came out of nowhere shaking him awake. Looking in the direction it came from, Cloud, lying on his side, was shaking and his hands holding his drawn up legs. Anguish covered his face and tears dripped over his nose to the mattress.
"Mom!" The sound of the second scream startled him with a flinch of his eyes. Zack got up and walked over, the feeling of just wanting to pick him up and hold him so that he could grieve his mother. Tears began to well up into his own eyes and then he heard the anguished sound of a son losing all he had left in the world, "MOM!"
Swallowing down his tears, he tapped slowly on the pale arm, "Hey Spike, you okay?"
Waking up with a start, he looked up and saw Zack looking a little concerned, "Y…yeah, I guess. Why?" Cloud quickly wiped his face and hoped that Zack hadn't seen the tears.
"No reason, you just looked like you were having a bad dream is all," Wanting to comfort him, needing to know he was alright, he chose not to try right now. If Cloud was hiding his tears, he wasn't ready to talk just yet, but one day would be ready and when that time came, he would be there for him.
The next morning their door opened and Zack was on his feet before he was even awake. Cloud was already awake and just sat up on the edge of his bed.
"Are you going to go without a fight, or do we need to do this the hard way?" Davis asked with a hint of trepidation.
Zack looked at him and in pure Zack fashion he said, "Well what fun would that be if we cooperated? I've itched for a fight for a while now."
The other guard came in behind Davis, Zack looked at his name tag, "Drake…hmm. You want to join in the fun too?"
Drake said nothing and slightly looked down at his feet. A few strands of his dirty blond hair fell into his face. Davis shrugged his muscles at Zack and turned his attention to Cloud. As Davis started over toward Cloud, Zack stepped in front of him and Davis stated firmly, "Move or I'll move you."
"I sure would like to see you try," Zack stated harshly. Still feeling weak, he knew if it came down to it, he would probably lose the fight. Drake stepped around Davis and took Zack by the arm.
Zack wanted to make a move, but he decided that now was not the time, he would just have to let it go, this time. Shrugging his shoulders toward Davis, he just smirked at him like only Zack could. As Drake moved to pass Davis, Zack struck his toe on one of the posts that held the bed up, causing him to trip. The former Soldier's face hit the tile, splitting his lip open with his teeth. Moving swiftly, Davis crooned in Zack's ear, "That is how I like to see you, on your knees."
After laughing at Zack, Davis got a hold of Cloud's arm and pulled him up to his feet. Seeing how he looked at him before and now what he said to Zack, Cloud pulled back, but it didn't loosen the guard's grip. Getting closer to the blonde's face, a smile split the guard's face, "That isn't how it works around here," Cloud couldn't move; the small amount of time he did sleep was filled with nightmares and the fear of what was happening. The underlying threat in the guard's words got him afraid to try anything else.
Drake helped Zack to his feet and he saddened at the terror that filled his eyes. Was Cloud giving up? That was what he didn't sense, but deep down, he knew it was true because it was as though he was giving up too.
"Now, if you're ready, we can get you down to the professor," Davis said as he pulled Cloud hard by his arm up behind him, just enough that Cloud had trouble keeping his balance as they walked.
As they walked through the doors, Hojo was standing with his back to them, "You're late." Hojo sounded annoyed, turning to look at them, "Why are you late?"
Zack spit a mouth full of bloody saliva on the floor, "The guys here were just showing us how they liked to have fun."
The Soldier turned lab specimen looked around and this was different from the lab they were in while in the tanks. This one had two large metal tables on one side of the room and one of the mako tanks like what they woke up in on the other side. This room was bigger than the other room. What got Zack concerned was both tables had thick leather straps with metal buckles. Zack's thoughts raced, 'Oh shit… What are we in for?'
Besides the two gorillas that were holding him and Cloud, there was another steroid junkie there and Zack read his name tag, "Harper huh? What do you do for fun?" The new big guy's brown hair was messy, but in a styled sort of way. Obviously he cared about his appearance.
The two guys in white coats were busy doing something, but he couldn't see. Moving his gaze back to the doctor, he blinked at the look on the doctor's face as he watched both specimens, "Go ahead and put specimen Z on the table on the left and specimen C on the other."
Davis and Drake proceeded to take them over and started to strap them to the tables as instructed, a strap for each wrist, one around the hips, one for their chest and one for each ankle.
"I guess they want us to stick around for a while," Zack said smirking up at the silent man, "What is your name again?" Again, the silent guard said nothing. The Soldier then said to no one in particular, "I guess he likes to play hard to get," Zack raised his head and looked around and if he turned his head to the side, he could see Cloud. Davis smacked him in the back of his head, "Ouch! What was that for?!"
"We will start with the injections Dr. Chase," Hojo said without looking up from his notes.
After the Doctor got their vitals, he nodded his head to one of the lab techs.
The guys at the back turned around and Zack saw each guy had two syringes full of what looked like mako. Both men walked toward them. Zack had regular injections of mako from being in Soldier, but it was only one syringe, not two. Zack looked at the syringes and back up at the lab tech and back down at the syringes, "Oh hell no! Are you trying to kill us?" Zack broke out in a sweat, "Hojo, you twisted fucker!"
Tying the tourniquet, the tech found a vein and injected the mako. Keeping his eyes closed, Zack let a few tears fall down his cheeks as he grit his teeth, groaning loudly, he rode out the pain. Normally painful with just one injection, two was excruciating.
After Zack's injections, the doctor counted down to ten minutes and then twenty minutes. Both times he took vitals. Zack's head lolled to the side and his breathing was still rapid and small quiet grunts were all he heard from him then.
Seeing Zack's reaction to his first injection terrified Cloud. If Zack acted like that with the injections, then what was going to happen to him? Then he saw the two syringes meant for him. Beginning to struggle and plead to the tech to leave him alone. With the tourniquet around his arm, the tech thumped at his pale skin until he found a good vein. Slurring words from Zack helped to calm him, "Spike, just breathe through it."
Cloud tried to hold it together, but a scream still escaped. Zack was helpless to do anything to help him and for that reason, he blamed himself for Cloud being in this situation. After Cloud's spasms and screams subsided, Zack silently sobbed at his irresponsibility for getting Cloud into this situation.
After the third set of their vitals were taken, Zack spit out weakly and slurred, "Hojo, you are a sick fuck, you know that?" The sound of Cloud's painful reactions broke his heart, the first was always the worst anyway, and he wouldn't blame him if the blond hated him, he hated himself right about then.
Deposited back into their cell, Cloud writhed on his bed. It was the sort of pain that hurt worse if you didn't move, so there was no rest.
Being used to the injections, Zack just rode out the dizzying effects that sometimes got his stomach twisted in knots. The Soldier injections were smaller doses than what they were just given. Cloud's body twitched violently and then would relax again and he sobbed quietly. Feeling ashamed of himself, Cloud turned to face the wall.
"When does the pain stop?" Cloud asked in small airy breaths.
Zack still slurred a little, but it was easier for him to speak, "Well, if it were regular injections, it would be anytime now." Only able to comfort him a little, Zack felt as though he was failing miserably, "Spike, don't worry too much, everyone reacts this way at first."
Covering himself with his blanket, he tried to fall asleep hoping to sleep through most of the pain. That was when Davis came in with some food, "Well looks like the professor knocked the fight right out of you two."
Zack smiled weakly, "For you, I'll always be ready to fight."
Davis left with a smirk that spoke more than any words could.
After his test subjects first series of mako injections, he headed out of lab 3 and over to lab 1. The crystal shimmered in the mako bath it was in. The months that his subjects had been in the tanks, the hard surface started to break down. Once he was able to get it broken down enough, he could release its precious contents. Hoping that a perfect preserved body was intact in there, if he could get the body intact, he could start over.
Gently caressing the glass of the tank, Hojo spoke softly, "I got the blond one that killed you. I will make him your new clone. I will begin introducing Jenova cells and mako and then strengthening his body. If I can get it strong enough to hold your DNA, you will live again."
Many days later, and looking over the tank holding the crystal, notes in hand, Hojo had been running tests and simulations on his own for well over a week now. The Professor had banned everyone from the lab with the crystal and evidently found some interesting new data. The project was going to be taking a different direction. Deciding to share the new information, he picked up the phone, "Dr. Chase, come to lab 1 immediately." Hanging up, a glimmer flashed through his dark eyes when an actual smile crept across his thin lips. There was a little surprise for Doctor Chase, and his new idea was brilliant.
Just as he cackled to himself, Chase entered the lab and Hojo's good mood sounded in his voice, "Excellent!" Hojo said louder than expected, startling the Doctor.
"What do you need me for Professor?" Chase asked in a stern voice.
"How long have you been here in my labs?"
"Well I never really thought about it. Why?" Doctor Chase crossed his arms.
"The crystal has been suspended in the mako bath since its recovery. Simply saying, we are going to see how things are progressing."
"Sir, with all due respect, I am a medical doctor. I don't understand why I am in here in this lab."
"It is very simple doctor," Hojo stepped over to a panel on the side of the tank and flipped a switch. A sound came from a speaker that mounted to one side of the tank. It was a very distinct sound that the doctor knew well, a heartbeat.
A/N: Thanks to all of you who favorite, subscribed and/or reviewed, I appreciate your time. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."
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