Disclaimer: I do not now or before and most likely not in the future, own Final Fantasy, Square Enix or any of the characters.

Thanks to my after-post beta SubZeroChimera and my before-post beta Queen of Jokers!

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." -Mark Twain

Chapter 15

Zack didn't know how long he had been in that same spot, the waiting and not knowing was killing him, he thought, 'What did Stringer mean when he said that they couldn't lose this one too? What happened to Sephiroth? Is whatever happened to Sephiroth happening to Cloud too?' He banged the back of his head against the door and all the questions that flipped around in his head were doing nothing but making him even more nervous, 'Damn it, why won't they come tell me something. I was just talking to Cloud and he was fine.'

Without realizing it, a fist constricted at the end of his arm, his fingernails planted firmly in his palm as his fist came down on the tile floor. The small splatter of blood on the floor caught his attention. Opening his hand, the four small gouges bled slowly, 'I can't even help myself so how am I supposed to help Cloud?' He hated himself, for letting Hojo take over their lives. 'If anything happens to Cloud, I don't know what I'd do. I promised him that I would get him out of here.'

Drake was always a little on the slow side. Being made fun of his whole life, he learned to just ignore it for the most part. He was a large man and his dirty blond hair always seemed to hang down in his face but he liked it that way though, he felt as though he was hiding and no one would see him. Drake's older brother, who worked in the main Shinra building, is the one who got him the job here at the labs with Professor Hojo. One of Drake's friends at the therapy center called his brother a "big wig" in the Shinra Company.

The large man didn't talk, and no one really knew why, not even he knew why he didn't ever talk, but his brother always seemed to know what he wanted or anything he needed. Back in Midgar, his older brother got him an apartment and helped any way that he could. The first job that he ever had was a job as an orderly at a local hospital and Drake really liked it. Inevitably with budget cuts he got laid off, so then his brother found him this job with Hojo. He didn't fully understand all of what was happening here; he figured since his brother got him the job, it didn't matter whether he understood or not.

Drake's brother told him that he was tired of his little brother getting picked on so he signed him up for hand to hand combat and self-defense classes when Drake was still a teenager. The tender-hearted man hated having to fight the men here, but he had to defend himself, that is what Drake had been told the classes were for anyway. He supposed that he fit well into this facility, no one bothered him, well except for Davis and he didn't like Davis.

It was time to feed the men that he escorted around the underground labs and Drake decided he wanted to bring the one with the long, pretty hair his food first. When he unlocked the door and brought the food in, he didn't see him, but he heard the shower going. Drake carefully placed the tray of food on the bed and started to leave and that is when he heard a soft sound that he had heard before and it was not a sound he liked. It meant bad things.

Hesitantly he moved toward the bathroom and with slow deliberate movements, he peered around the corner of the doorway.

The man with pretty hair was sitting up at the bottom of the shower stall. The hot water fell in a steady stream over his shoulder and side. His shoulder and head had slumped over and come to rest on the back wall. One of his legs was out straight and his other leg was bent and propped up against the wall that his head had settled on. His eyes were partly open and sometimes they would glow, but now there was no glimmer of light.

Blood swirled and blended with the water as the sickening mixture went around and down the drain. Drake delicately went over and nudged the bare foot that was out stretched, nothing happened. With a deep sense of urgency, Drake ran to get Charles because he would know what to do.

When Charles came into the cell and saw the man with pretty hair lying there, he told Drake to get a gurney quickly. He did as he was told and then he helped Charles get him onto the gurney. The man's skin was cool to the touch, despite the hot shower and his hair flowed over one side of the gurney and it dripped water droplets down to the floor. It reminded him of the waterfall that he and his big brother had camped close to once.

This had been a bad day for Drake and he was tired. It was almost time for Davis to show up and then Drake could go to his room and sleep.

There was a bustle of activity as Dr. Medlock got a flustered look when both patients were wheeled into the infirmary. Sephiroth was wheeled in first followed closely by Cloud. The former General was extremely pale and his blood pressure was next to nothing, Noah immediately barked out orders to the four lab assistants, "Get heart, oxygen and blood pressure monitors on both of them. Get vitals on Cloud and get an IV started. I need a central line kit for Sephiroth. Someone call Doctor Chase in here now!" Once he got the central line established for the older of the two, the doctor barked, "Start the transfusion for Sephiroth and push it."

Suddenly, from across the room, one of the assistants yelled, "Doctor! C's blood pressure is bottoming out!"

Before the assistant could finish telling of Cloud's distress, another assistant announced, "S is coding!"

"Damn! Get everything going on Cloud and bring the defibrillator over here," The doctor started on Sephiroth with a shot of adrenaline in his central line. Chase showed up as Medlock began shocking Sephiroth. "Doctor, could you help me out here." Chase got Sephiroth intubated and they shocked him five times before his heart started beating again. With the transfusion and fluid going, he was starting to stabilize, but he was still critical. "Okay, what is Cloud's vitals?" Medlock was looking over the monitors, his pressure was very low, but was slowly and steadily rising.

Chase addressed Burton, "Bring me the suture kit so I can go ahead and get started on S's cuts," He looked over his arms and in addition to the cuts he had received from Hojo; he had at least ten additional cuts, some deeper than others. Each doctor took an arm and began the long process of stitching the deep lacerations that ran vertically down his arms. When they were finally done they bandaged his arms and placed them back underneath the sheet. Medlock walked over and rechecked Cloud's vitals. They were in the normal range now and if he had been awake he would have sent him on his way.

Hojo came in quickly, "Doctor Chase, are the specimens ready for their injections?" Hojo inquired soullessly. Hojo's gaze went to Sephiroth and then back to the doctor.

Medlock stepped in front of Chase, "Professor, I'm the one that ran the code and with all due respect, no they aren't. Both of them almost died, well one actually did!" Medlock was beyond annoyed. He tossed the patient charts hard on his desk.

Hojo spit out, "Doctor Medlock, do not take that tone with me! This is my lab, my project and MY specimens!" Hojo's dark, abysmal eyes peered over his glasses and Medlock shivered at the black void that threatened to swallow him.

Both Doctors were taken aback by Hojo's tone and Medlock took a slow breath and answered calmly, "Right now, they are both stable, but Sephiroth… I mean S, is still in very serious condition." Medlock crossed his arms.

Chase interjected, "Professor, once they fully stabilize, we can better determine the full extent of the situation."

"Very well doctors, get them better quickly," Hojo turned and rushed out. Medlock looked at Chase in disbelief. As Hojo strolled down the hall, he realized something. The Professor looped around and went back into the infirmary. With one hand behind his back he brought his free hand up and touched a finger to his lips, "Doctor, was C bleeding out as well?"

Medlock sighed and didn't hide his annoyance, "No Professor, he wasn't."

Hojo looked pleased as he whirled back around and pushed his way out the door again.

A familiar clink at the door got Zack's attention and he jumped to his feet.

Barber and Stringer came in and looked at Zack, who was sweating in anxious anticipation and he looked as though at the slightest sound, he would jump right out of his skin, "Well? Is Cloud okay?"

Stringer stood out in the hall and looked around nervously. Barber spoke quietly, "Cloud and Sephiroth…" Zack's heart sank. "I don't know all the medical stuff but…"

Stringer put his hand on Barber's shoulder, "What Barber is trying to say, but isn't doing a very good job is, both of them are fine." Stringer finished, "Damn Barber, I hope you never have to give me any news. You suck at it."

Zack relaxed and let out a loud sigh, fully relieved, "Heh, yeah you do suck at that." He let out the breath that he had held and bent over and put his hands on his knees. Zack snapped his face up to them and asked, "Do you know what happened?"

"Nah, I don't understand all that medical mumbo jumbo," Stringer's stance changed and his tone hardened, "Now we need to take you down to the lab for your injections." Zack's eyes traveled down to the soldier's hand, the restraints hung down at his side.

The next day, when Cloud was finally allowed of come back to the cell after a day in the infirmary, Zack grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into a hug, "You scared the hell out of me Spiky!"

Zack had the bottom half of Cloud's face squished against his shoulder, "Thorry aboot thaat," He struggled a little from Zack's grasp and finally managed to get out of the tight hold.

"Oh! Sorry! I'm just glad you're okay!" Zack smiled a big smile. "What happened?"

Cloud sat on his bed and shook his head, "I just know that Sephiroth was in critical condition, but I don't know why though."

A couple of days later, when they got back from the gym and their shots, they were exhausted. Zack went to the bathroom and Cloud shivered himself under his blanket and closed his eyes. When he was out of the shower, the brunette threw his blanket on top of his dozing friend, "Scoot," He nudged with the back of his hand and once Cloud scooted over, Zack crawled under the blanket and draped his arm over the smaller boy's side.

Cloud stared at the cold white tile wall, "Zack?"

"Hmm? What's up?" Zack sounded so tired.

Cloud inhaled and held it, "Well, I've been thinking about something."

Zack let out a quiet sigh, "What's that?"

"The day your shoulder was dislocated. What really happened?" Cloud bit his lip gently, waiting for an answer.

"Spike, don't worry about it," The arm that Zack had draped over Cloud's side twitched, with a sigh he began to sound like he was getting angry.

"I just…thank you," Cloud said quietly.

Zack inhaled loudly and said as he exhaled, "No problem. Now shush already, I need my beauty sleep and so do you, you ugly son of a bitch." Cloud couldn't help but smile.

Cloud laid there for a little while thinking about things. He still wanted to tell Zack about his hallucinations or whatever they were. The soft snore against the back of his head let Cloud know that Zack had drifted off to sleep.

Squeezing his eyes closed, Cloud inhaled quietly and whispered softly, "I don't know what to do, I feel like I'm losing myself. I want to talk to you, but I don't want you to blame yourself if you can't help me." He stopped and listened to the steady rhythm of Zack's breaths and when he was satisfied that he was still asleep, the younger boy continued, "The hallucinations are always about the same thing and they seem so real." Cloud paused, "I'm scared Zack." He wiped clumsily at his face, he wanted to sleep, but he was afraid that Jenova was waiting for him.

Sephiroth finally woke up after several days. The groggy feeling clogged his head and his eyes were hazy. Blinking several times, he looked around and from what he could tell, he was in the infirmary.

Angry that he woke up at all, he reached to rub his eyes but he was restrained to the bed, "Well S, you gave us quite a scare, but everything is okay now. So, do you want to talk about what happened?" Chase looked at Sephiroth with indifference mixed with arrogance.

Sephiroth shot a scowl at the doctor as he lifted his head just a little off the flat pillow and slowly said in a deep tone, "Not with you." Sephiroth calmly lowered his head back to the bed.

Chase shrugged, sat down at his desk and picked up the phone, "Professor… S is awake… yes sir." When he hung up the phone he began going through some of the files that had been left on the desk by the techs. His pen moved rapidly as he wrote in some of his notes.

Hojo came in abruptly and approached Sephiroth with an angry frown on his face, "S, I have been very concerned about you." He raised his eyebrows, "I do not understand your willingness to die, but I am not going to allow it," Hojo's tone sounded like a parent scolding his child.

Sephiroth again lifted his head slowly, his eyes burned furiously and the glow emanated from deep beneath his once buried feelings, "I do not care whether you allow it or not." Sephiroth moved as if he were trying to sit up in a quick movement toward Hojo, causing the scientist to jump back in surprise. Sephiroth's normally calm demeanor was overshadowed by a debilitating depression. His eyes met Hojo's and in a low, calm tone he said, "You are deliberately killing us bit by bit. I just thought that I would speed up the process and deprive you of the satisfaction of my demise by your hand."

Hojo put his hand on the side of the bed, "That is not what I am wanting for you. You don't understand what you are a part of here." Tapping his finger on the sheet in a rhythm, he got lost in thought. He looked at Sephiroth then the doctor and back to Sephiroth, "Very well, we will put you in with Z and C for the time being. Maybe being in there with them will lift your spirits." Sephiroth lowered his head back to the bed. He studied the ceiling and his jaw clenched together and a clear tic of his jaw muscles could be seen. Hojo nodded to Davis, "Take him to Z and C's cell."

Davis walked Sephiroth down the hall to the shared cell. Quietly the guard opened the door and out of habit, he surveyed the room. There were two beds and only one was occupied with both of Hojo's other specimens, and they were asleep. Sephiroth lowered his head a little and walked silently over to the empty bed. He was glad that they were asleep, because he didn't think that he could talk right then. They would inevitably ask questions, especially Zack, he had only ever known one other person like him. To say that Zack was unique was a bit of an understatement. Cloud, he really didn't know him very well, but from what he could tell, he was a pretty quiet person. As he sat down, he glanced over at them before he lay down, Zack was friends with Cloud and if the young First liked him, Sephiroth guessed that he was a good person, because in his experience, good people befriended good people.

The silver haired man couldn't sleep; his mind hustled through everything, so he just stared at the ceiling. The night at the reactor popped into his head and he recognized Cloud's determination, pain and love. If a young boy that evidently failed the Soldier exams and was only an infantryman could best him, even after having a sword pierce his chest, it gave Sephiroth a newfound respect for the boy.

He lay there for a couple of hours, feeling the time tick by, when Zack woke up. When he rolled out of bed, the younger man startled at the sight of Sephiroth in their cell, "Sephiroth?"

Turning his head, he looked blankly at Zack and blandly stated the reason for his occupancy of the cell, "They put me in here with you so you two could keep an eye on me." Slowly, he turned his head back to look at the ceiling.

Confused, Zack rubbed the back of his neck, "Why would they want us to keep an eye on you?"

"They didn't tell you?" He maintained his gaze upward and in a subdued voice.

Zack raised his voice slightly, "Tell me what?" Without taking his eyes off of the ceiling, Sephiroth held his arms up. Zack looked but his arms and wrists were bandaged, "Seph, what is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"

Sephiroth's head ached; he felt like he was going crazy. Anger, sadness and turmoil racked his brain with guilt; he just wanted to stop living in his head, "I didn't know that it was going to affect him too." Sephiroth confessed.

"Seph, what the hell is wrong?" At the sound of Zack beginning to yell, Cloud turned over and sat up on the side of the bed.

"What's going on?" Cloud's puzzled look went from Sephiroth to Zack and then back again.

"Cloud, I am sorry, I didn't know," Sephiroth sat up and turned to look at him, "I thought it was just one way." Turning his gaze away, the older man stared at nothing on the floor between him and the youngest of the three.

Zack got to Sephiroth and grabbed him by the shoulders and brought him to his feet, "Tell me what happened."

Sephiroth's shoulders stayed in the tight grip, but he turned his head away from Zack's scrutiny, "I saw everything I never wanted to be looking back at me in the mirror," His heart skipped a beat as he recalled everything up to the point of sitting in the shower and he grew angry that he was there at that moment. This is exactly what he didn't want, the questions and hard looks that he was receiving. He didn't do well with other people and Shinra made damn sure of that. Pulling back from Zack's firm grasp, he tore the bandages off in a hurried fit of anger, "This! This is what happened!"

"What the hell? So that's what happened the other day?" Zack froze for a minute, "Seph… Sephiroth!" Zack shook his head and indicated his arms, "I can't believe a man such as the great Sephiroth is reduced to this!" A hard slap across the face was hard enough for the oldest man to slightly lose his balance. Sephiroth caught himself on the side of the bed and blinked, the glaze over his eyes lifted. "You're the great General Sephiroth!" Zack paused and studied Sephiroth's face as he stood upright, "Whatever happened has already happened! You can't change that, it's what you do about it now is what counts! I learned that from Angeal, my mentor and your friend and colleague!"

Sephiroth stared into Zack's strong willed eyes for a moment. If Angeal had been there right then, he would have gotten one of his famous lectures. Realizing something, he did want to be around people and he wanted friends, good friends, "You're right, I'm sorry."

Sephiroth thought that this could be an opportunity for him. He wanted a chance to have the life that he tried to start at one point in his life, before it had been savagely ripped from him in the most painful way imaginable. He could learn from Zack and Cloud what true friendship was and what it meant. He already had a head start by taking one for the group and hoped against all that was holy that Zack or Cloud would never find out. He turned his pleading eyes to Cloud, "Cloud please forgive me."

Cloud looked at him, stood up, walked over calmly and then punched the former General, drawing blood from his mouth.

"Spike!" Zack yelled.

Holding his hand up, Sephiroth calmed the brunette, "It is okay Zackary, I deserve it," He said as he lowered himself back to sitting on the bed.

After a silent and tense moment of clenched fists, Sephiroth noticed the fight in Cloud's face, the deep feelings that swirled his the young boy's passionate blue eyes. Sephiroth could feel his internal struggle, being in such close proximity, Cloud wanted to forgive him because that was the kind of person the boy is.

The devastation Cloud went through would be the only thing stopping him from forgiving. It was okay though. Sephiroth knew it would be difficult for Cloud because he himself had been through something devastating and it changed him forever, or so he thought. It had been so long since he had been close to anyone, but Sephiroth still wanted to reach out to them. Then to Sephiroth's surprise Cloud sat down beside him, "I forgive you. I realize that it wasn't really you."

Sephiroth was unable to withhold his surprise, but he still lowered his eyes from those of the blond, "Thank you Cloud." Sephiroth felt warmth suddenly grow inside his heart at the thought of this boy. Everything had been taken away from him at Sephiroth's hands and yet he still found it in him to forgive.

"Now, are you feeling better?" Zack slapped Sephiroth's shoulder.

Cloud nudged Sephiroth with his elbow, "I always wanted to meet you properly anyway."

Sephiroth's attention went to fidgeting with his bandages then he paused, "What do you mean properly?"

"Oh, uh… never mind," Cloud blushed and got up and walked back over to his bed, sitting with a plop he sighed with crossed arms.

Zack sat next to Sephiroth and helped him put his bandages back on while Sephiroth studied Cloud's face, "I swear I have seen you before; before all of this happened." Sephiroth paused and studied him harder, "Do you have a brother or sister that worked for Shinra?"

Cloud blushed brighter and dove face first into his mattress when Zack said, "No, he is an only child like me. We hung out a lot. Maybe you had seen us out together."

Sephiroth looked at Cloud. 'Why was Cloud hiding? Zackary being friends with Cloud and them hanging out together. Zackary was well known for doing some crazy stuff in the past.' His confusion disappeared and he was finally able to place the face. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Cloud, "Maria!"

Zack froze and looked over at Cloud with a smile. If Cloud could have crawled into the mattress, he would have. Zack blushed and started laughing. From the mattress they heard, "Isth noo thunny!"

The full realization hit Sephiroth, "Zack? Just to think that I, Oh, I…" He couldn't help it, he started laughing with Zack. "Well he definitely fooled me!" The laughter felt good to him as it entwined its way through his body. He hadn't laughed in so long; he had forgotten how wonderful it felt.

Zack stood up and pulled Sephiroth up to standing, "You know Seph, that smile looks good on you!" Sephiroth looked over at Cloud as he writhed in embarrassment and then the touch of Zack's hand on his back, he felt the despair lifting from his tarnished soul.

Right after Sephiroth had been put in their cell, Hojo added sit ups, push-ups, pull-ups and a treadmill into the rotation. Over the next few months, they got used to all the extra exercises. Sephiroth had shared the cell for several months and they were surprised that Hojo had allowed it for so long.

It was a typical day in the hell hole and they waited to be escorted to the gym. They had a full day of exercises, injections and pain. When Harper, Drake and Davis showed up, they did as they were instructed, turn around, on their knees, hands on top of their head. As usual, Davis put Cloud's restraints on him. Zack glared, and Davis just smirked at him. Waddling down to the gym, they took their places at the equipment.

Cloud was on the leg machine and Zack thought that the blond started to look kind of weird. That's when Cloud's head made a dive to the floor and his legs were caught in the machine.

"Spike!" Zack dropped off of the pull up bar and tried to pull him free but his leg was stuck between the bar and the seat. The techs stood there not knowing what to do. Harper came over but Sephiroth had already lifted the bar up and Zack pulled Cloud free.

Laying the unconscious teen on his back and one of the techs was checking his vitals. All three of the guards and the other techs were standing around him and waited. His eyes were closed and he was breathing, the techs just wrote it down and noted the time as one of the techs headed for the door to get Hojo.

It just looked like Cloud was simply sleeping until the scream erupted from him, startling everyone. His body went into one of those freaky arches and then the scream tapered off. His body relaxed again and he went into convulsions. Harper grabbed him as his head was headed toward the leg of the weight bench. Then as soon as it started, it stopped. His eyes opened and he looked around confused at first and embarrassed that everyone was staring at him.

Zack asked, "What the heck just happened?"

Cloud shrugged his shoulders and averted his eyes, "Don't know."

Bonnie's pregnancy had progressed to a point that she was showing quite a bit. In a short four months, her bump had grown a great deal and they estimated that she had approximately four more months to go. Harding and Hojo could already see the movement of the baby under her skin. "I believe that specimen B needs to be put into the tank for the remainder of the gestation."

Harding prepped the tank and then prepped Bonnie. After he put all her monitors on her, Harding wanted to cover her, if only a little bit. He had to leave her stomach visible, but he covered her chest with a shirt. He cut a small amount off of the bottom of it a put it on her before getting her into the tank. He anchored her to the bottom of the tank. All her tubes, IV and monitors were ready to go. As he filled the tank with the warm water, Hojo mused at his genius. Harding couldn't help but sigh in disgust.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reads, favorites, subscribes and/or reviews, I appreciate your time and I dedicate all of this to you. To quote another author, "Getting reviews makes me feel all warm and squishy."

Please send me your reviews if you want. It is really easy. Just click your arrow in the little box, write what you thought or felt about the chapter and then click right down there, just below the box. A little lower… a little to the right… yeah, right there! Click it! *grinning*