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: Sorry for the long wait. I have finals next week, so I have been concentrating on studying. Hope that you like this chapter, soon enough, they will be out of the labs and the story will really take off, so stay tuned. Well, actually, before I broke the chapters up into smaller chapters, they got out in chapter 11 I think, so it will be around chapter 20 before they get out, but remember, there were 40 big chapters, now there are 80 smaller chapters.

Thanks to my super-busy beta SubZeroChimera!

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" –Robert Browning

Nexus

Chapter 6

Feeling utterly exhausted, in pain, and cold, Zack made his way over to Cloud's bed put his blanket on top of him and climbed under. The blond didn't protest because he knew that a heat source was now available. Putting his right arm under his head, he rolled on his side and scooted up to Cloud's back, threw his left arm over him and took a deep breath.

The next morning, they were so tired and finally getting some sleep, they didn't hear the door open and Davis spoke up, "Well I'm so glad you two made up, but then again the sex after a fight is always the best." Davis let out a disturbing laugh.

Zack rolled over to his back and Cloud turned his head and looked over his shoulder. Davis was standing there and Harper was behind him. "Hey look Cloud, its twiddle dee and twiddle dum," Zack said with a small amount of amusement. Cloud looked at Zack as they sat up.

"You're a real funny guy aren't you, you smartass! I grew up beating your type into the ground."

"Oh, and here I thought that all you beat was your dick," Zack smiled.

Davis just stood there staring at Zack as he got up and stretched, "Go ahead and try something Fair, I would love to kick your ass."

"Nah, I just don't feel like it today," He said dismissively.

"Whatever. We are here to take you down to the weight room," Harper was clearly annoyed at the conversation.

Zack perked up a little, finally something to do besides the small amount of exercises he could do in such a small space, "Don't get too happy, you haven't seen it yet," Davis said with a smirk.

"Okay…" Zack drawled out.

Down in the weight room Hojo and two assistants were already in there, "Oh, Z I am so happy to see that you got down here without incident." Zack did his best smirk.

"Put Z here on the weight bench and C there on the leg machine. Each for 50 reps per every weight increase, I want a total of 30 increments. As per our discussion earlier," Hojo ordered to the guards. Zack and Cloud stared at each other in disbelief. Davis snickered a little from behind them.

"Hojo! That's 1500 reps per machine! Are you completely out of your mind?" Zack yelled.

"I am well aware of the math, Z."

Zack was taken to the bench and laid down. Starting out at a pretty low weight but at every 50 reps, the assistant would add a little more weight.

Cloud went to the leg machine and he started his reps, the other assistant with him, periodically added more weight as well. About half way through, both of them were sweating badly and Zack almost dropped the bar on his face when the sweat on his hands made it slippery. Cloud would grunt out with every lift, and he had slowed his lifts significantly. Their muscles burned and threatened to fail, but they were able to continue. Cloud was utterly surprised the he was still able to lift anything.

Zack was losing control of the bar from the extra weight that the assistant just put on there. He had no spotter, so he was able to drop it above his head, surprisingly not dislocating his shoulders. The lab tech assigned to him started writing feverishly on his clip board. Oddly enough, he had done his required 1500 reps. Out of breath, his upper body burned from the activity. It had been too long since he really worked out.

Watching Cloud struggle to get the last handful of lifts all the way up, the veins in his neck and forehead stuck out at the strain. He was bearing his teeth and grunting one long continuous grunt, "Come on Cloud, you can do it buddy." At the sound of encouragement from is friend, he was able to finally get that last few reps done. His legs dropped and the sound of the weights hitting the bar resonated in the room. His assigned lab tech started writing just as feverishly as Zack's had.

After about 5 minutes rest, they switched positions. Cloud was noticeably concerned as he really never had very much upper body strength. Luckily though it started out at a weight he could handle. They proceeded to do their respective reps, but Cloud struggled a great deal and he was only about half way through. Zack watched closely, ready to jump up to grab the bar if Cloud needed help. He wasn't even paying attention to his own weight when the lab tech stopped him, he was done with his reps. However Cloud wasn't even close. He still had about 600 more to go, "You can do it! I know you can! I'm right here to help if you need it."

Zack's lab tech nodded to Harper, and he took Zack's arm and started leading him out of the gym, "Wait! NO! Cloud!" Zack yelled, "No! Let me go!" Harper held on to him firmly, he really couldn't put up much of a fight as his arms and legs felt like jelly and were just barely holding him upright. Harper dragged him out the door kicking and screaming. He got a hold of the door handle just as they passed it. Getting an elbow on the back of his neck, knocked him to the floor and Harper reached down and grabbed him under his arms and started dragging him. Zack stopped struggling and could see dark spots in front of his eyes but he was still conscious. His head lolled around on his neck at the rhythm of Harper's walking.

As Zack was involuntarily dragged out of the gym, Cloud had tears well up at the pain his arms, shoulders, back and chest. He wanted his friend there with him, to encourage him. When he saw Drake elbow him in the neck and he went down, a single tear fell and hit the bench under his head, "I c-can't… f-finish."

Several minutes later, his arms failed him and the bar came down hard on his chest. A sickening thud and all the air coming out of his lungs caught the attention of Davis, "Stupid fucking weakling," The guard said as he rushed over to lift the bar. By the time he got there, Cloud had lost consciousness. The bar slid off to the side and it left him pinned under one end. The lab tech grabbed the intercom and loudly requested Doctor Chase to the gym immediately.

Davis lifted the bar off of him with a grunt, 'damn, that is a hell of a lot heavier than I thought' and dropped it. Doctor Chase came running through the door and quickly started to assess his condition. Davis and the lab tech relayed to him what had happened. Chase checked his pulse, and was relieved to find it. Cloud was breathing, but they were very shallow, "Let's get him to the infirmary." Charles came in quickly with a stretcher and they placed him on it. Davis and Charles carried him out the door to the infirmary right next door to the gym.

Harper was strapping Zack to the table in the lab. Zack was still foggy until he heard a panicked announcement over the intercom.

"What the fuck! What happened?" Zack struggled, but Harper said nothing. After he was all strapped down, a female lab tech walked in and was busy with something. He didn't remember seeing her before, however she did look a little familiar.

"What the hell happened? Look at me! Answer me!"

"There was an incident in the gym as far as I know," She said without looking up from what she was doing.

"No shit! What type of incident? Is Cloud okay? Tell me something!"

She turned around and said, "I don't know, I just saw them taking him to the infirmary."

"What! Can you find out? I need to know if he is okay!"

She looked down at her feet and meekly said, "I'll try, but I'm not promising anything."

Zack looked at her and sincerely said, "Thank you."

She left and Harper and he were left in the room. Zack looked up at him and asked, "So, do you like your job? Torture, pain and horror, you know the usual," Harper glared at him. It seemed to him that Harper really didn't want to be there. Without any confirmation from the guard, Zack shrugged, "I don't blame you for not wanting to be here, I don't want to be here either."

The lab tech came back in and she headed back over to where she had been before and said nothing. She hung her head down as if she had just gotten a beating, "Well, did you find anything out?" She shook her head, "Damn it!" Zack cursed.

An agonizing 3 hours later, he was still strapped to the table and Harper stood guard next to him. Drake came in and relieved Harper. Zack asked curious but annoyed, "Shift change?" Drake looked down at him and made eye contact, "You don't talk much do you?" He looked like he wanted to say something, but he never said anything. His eyes looked sad and sunken in a little, as if he hadn't slept much.

The lab tech had since left, so he took a quick look around and noticed that a sturdy looking chair had been added to the furniture in the room. Just like the tables, it had straps for each wrist, ankle, the chest and hips. Getting bored quickly, he began to count the variety of medical books on the large bookcase opposite him, "157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162," The doors opened and Davis came in dragging an unconscious Cloud. Zack noticed a steady string of drool from his mouth and dripping to the floor. Getting him to the chair, Davis strapped him in, "Cloud!" The blond did nothing, "Spike!" he yelled louder. Cloud's head hung down and jerked a little, but his eyes remained half closed, "Hey buddy, how are ya? Come on, talk to me!" He still said nothing. Zack looked at Davis, "What happened?"

Davis looked around and saw Hojo wasn't in there, "Stupid kid dropped the bar on his chest."

In shock, Zack asked, "How much weight was on there?!"

He looked around again, "Not sure, it was a lot though. He didn't break any bones. How weird is that?"

Zack looked over at Cloud and the drool dripped from his relaxed lips to his lap, "The doctor dosed him with some drugs. Not really sure what it was, but it must be some good stuff! I guess he's not gonna put out tonight," Davis laughed.

Zack shot him a look, "Unlike you, I don't have to drug my dates to get them to put out."

Davis glared back. Suddenly he heard what sounded like a tiny giggle coming from none other than Drake, "Shut the fuck up Drake!" The silent man didn't utter another noise and dropped his head again.

Hojo walked through the door then, "Well let's get started." The two techs that came in with Hojo hurried over to the counter where they got the syringes of mako from.

"You can't be serious!"

"Oh I am perfectly serious. We have a schedule to keep. Z, you are just seeing the beginning, oh the things I have in store for you and C." The techs came over and the first shot went in followed closely by the second one.

Then he noticed the other two syringes coming at him, "What the fuck?" yelled Zack.

"We are running a little behind and we must make up for lost time," Hojo stated somewhat jovially. The third followed closely by the fourth needle added fuel to the fire and he felt like a wave of lava washed over him. Under normal circumstances, he was able to handle the pain that he knew was temporary, but four shots was three shots too many now. A built up scream came out in a burst of sound that made Hojo and the others jump. Drake covered his ears and Davis winced at the pain it was causing his ears.

Cloud opened his eyes a little and blankly glanced in Zack's direction and his head drooped again as he closed his eyes again. Zack pulled at the restraints as it waved. The restraint around his chest stretched as his back arched. His left wrist made a snap sound as the bone gave way under the pressure. Lifting his chin, the top of his head touched the table as he screamed through the pain.

They approached Cloud with his first injection and he didn't move at first as the mako went in his vein. About half way through the third injection, his body jolted straight and he gritted his teeth. His head went back just as Zack's had and his scream came as loudly as expected. Cloud yanked at his restraints and the chest strap began to stretch a little under the force of his convulsions. Three distinct snaps were heard as three of his ribs broke. As the initial pain fell, Cloud jerked and threw up.

"Specimen C," Hojo started, "Now just look at the mess you made. I am very disappointed in you!"

Zack mumbled, but he couldn't form words. His head jerked violently to the side. Zack let out a sharp cry of pain. Burton glanced over and blood ran from Zack's nose and a little from his mouth, "Professor, Z is bleeding."

Hojo looked up from his notes, "They will be fine; it is a known side effect." When he looked up, Cloud had blood coming from his nose and mouth also, "We will have the doctor check on them after he is done with his current assignment. Take them back to their cell for now," Hojo commanded.

They were completely at the mercy of the pain. There was no getting away from it.

As they were being taken back to their cell, Zack threw up on Davis. Heartlessly, the large guard dropped Zack to the floor and he fell in a lump and didn't move from the position he was in when he hit the ground. Unfortunately, he was still conscious, so every cell in his body could protest his very existence. Davis left and walked back to the lab.

Zack opened his eyes again and saw Drake pulling Cloud into the cell. Cloud was grunting and sobbing from the movement that caused the pain to continue to roll over again. As much as he wanted to escape, his body was at war with him. He didn't know how long he had actually been in the hallway, but Drake came and picked him up. Harper showed up and helped pull him up to his bed and laid him across it on his stomach in case he threw up again. Zack was facing Cloud and he was also on his stomach. Cloud and Zack were looking at each other from across the room, their eyes filled with torment. Zack closed his eyes and silently cried.

Doctor Chase entered the room with Charles, and the boys had not moved. If he hadn't been hung up in lab 1, he could have cared for their injuries quicker. As it was, it had been hours since their injections. He had a medical kit with him and went to assess Cloud first.

Taking his vitals, they rolled him over and removed his shirt. Cloud let out a weakened shriek from the sudden pain and then he just moaned and sobbed at the movement. A large bruise from the weight bar was more visible than it was before and the doctor knew that would happen. The other bruise was a little higher, right above the first one. He felt of his ribs and found the ones that were broken. The bar falling on him evidently weakened his ribs.

Charles held him up while Chase wrapped his chest. All Cloud could do was moan and sob through the process. Chase then moved his attention to the cuts on his wrists. He cleaned the wounds and wrapped them. Charles laid him back down on his side and Cloud again cried out in pain. The former soldier was able to focus his eyes by now and he looked over in his friend's direction. Zack was looking back at him; his eyes were a dull, full of pain and anger. Tears welled and fell over his lids, as did Cloud's.

The doctor went over to Zack and Charles turned him over and sat him up. At the movement, he sobbed and he squeezed his eyes shut. Just like with Cloud, Zack was just as limp. They removed his shirt and he checked his ribs and didn't find a break. He did have a good size bruise across his chest and hips from the restraints. His left wrist was obviously broken and needed to be set. Hojo refused to let them have any pain medicine because it could interfere with the mako injections, they didn't think it would help anyway with the mako levels as high as they were.

Chase gently lifted Zack's face up to look him in the eyes, "Zack, look at me… good… Your wrist is broken and I need to set it and wrap it. I Hojo won't allow me to give you anything for pain, so this is going to hurt. I'm going to immobilize it until I can get it in a cast." Zack just stared and more tears fell at the thought of more pain. His chin fell back to his chest. Charles laid him back down on his bed and prepared to hold him down. Chase got a hold of his wrist and counted to 3 and set it back into place. Zack screamed faintly. Much to Charles' surprise, he did not have to hold him at all. Dr. Chase rechecked their vitals and seemed satisfied that their side effects were just temporary. As they left, they covered them with their blankets. Zack and Cloud just stared at one another for a moment before they closed their eyes.