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: I have to say that the response that I am getting from this story is way more than I expected and I have to tell you that it really makes me so happy that you are enjoying it so much. My other stories I think are better writing, but the idea for this one I think is way more indepth.

Ryma: I'm glad that I was able to interest you in the romance between Seph and Annabelle. I feel that may have contributed to his cold demeanor in some respects, and yes after her death is when he became the most famous. He was famous before, mostly within the military and the few people who followed that kind of stuff (mostly kids who wanted to be Soldiers), but Shinra increased their advertising to the public with him in it, after he lost her. About Zack's damages, you'll just have to stay tuned to see what happens... (I say as I wring my hands and cackle manically...)

KuroOkami: I am so pleased that you consider this a good fic! Since this story is already written, I will post a chapter every week at the same time, early Saturday morning (central U.S. time). Some chapters are a little rougher than others, but I am constantly fixing the problems and my betas are working tirelessly at fixing my mistakes.

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

"Look within, for within is the wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing, if you cease not from digging." –Marcus Aurelius

Chapter 18

The cell door opened and Cloud jerked at the sound, "Hey there sweet thing. Are you ready for another round?" Davis licked his lips and held the restraints out toward Cloud, "I sure as hell am!" Zack very nearly threw up right then.

Cloud froze in place as Davis closed the door behind him and the blonde's eyes became deep blue saucers of panic and the sight of the guard coming toward him while unbuckling his pants sent Cloud into a tail spin. He went to the floor with his arms around his legs and Cloud had inadvertently gone back to the other day, "Please, not again," he whispered.

Once Davis was far enough in the room, Zack came out of the shadow of the corner behind the door, ran up behind him and said, "Hello sweet thing!" Just before he jabbed the pressure point on the back of the guard's neck, knocking him out. Zack went into action and got to work quickly, he didn't have much time before he would wake up so once he had him in the restraints, the former Soldier rolled him onto his back and started patting him on the cheek, "Hey! Wake up! You don't wanna sleep through the party!"

Davis shook his head a little to try and clear it. His eyes focused on Zack and they widened, "What the-?"

Zack stood over him and grabbed the front of Davis's shirt, pulling him up a little off the floor closer to his face, "Well I found out that you like a good fuck, so here I am! I haven't had any complaints so far, so why don't you try that shit with me?" Zack's voice was a weird mix of anger and his usual banter.

Davis began to panic, "Hey let me go. I need to get out of here!"

With an amused lilt in his voice, Zack smiled with a false sweetness, "Are you having a little performance anxiety?" Zack looked toward the bathroom door and called, "Hey Seph, he's nervous! He wants to leave."

Sephiroth leaned against the doorway to the bathroom with his arms crossed, "That is a shame. I would hate to see him go so soon." Sephiroth added, with a less than subtle hint of sarcasm.

From behind Sephiroth a voice of strength and determination that caused Zack to turn his head toward it, "Can I join the party too?" Cloud walked out from behind the former General.

"Are you sure?" Zack asked and Cloud nodded, "Well alright then," Zack stepped back.

Cloud walked over and looked down at his tormentor, lying on the floor, helpless. The boy said nothing, just stared, frozen with tight fists that hung at the ends of his arms.

Davis wiggled and spit out, "You little bitch! Don't think you can get away with this." He struggled against the restraints, "Just remember that I got you first and you will never be anything but a good fuck."

Then the dam broke. Cloud let out a scream and began punching and kicking the guard with a fury. Cloud pictured every slap, every humiliating act, every time he choked him, every punch, every thrust, and every time Davis smiled at him in his release. It all came out of Cloud's fists and feet. He let it out on Davis in a flurry of anger and retribution.

Once Davis was sufficiently bloody and beaten, Cloud collapsed on the floor exhausted. He sat on his feet with his hands on the floor in front of him. When Zack came up to him, Cloud looked up and Zack brought him up to standing.

With a stern look that surprised Cloud, Zack said nothing as he walked the blond over to Sephiroth, who pulled him into the bathroom. Incensed, Cloud shouted, "Why can't I be out there too?!"

Sephiroth scolded, "You should just stay in here with me for now."

Cloud tried to pass the former General but was stopped with a large hand on his chest, "But why?! Tell me why?"

Grabbing the blonde's shoulders, Sephiroth pulled Cloud close to his face and whispered in his ear, "Because Zackary does not want you to see him like this."

A look of confusion crossed Cloud's face and then he lowered his eyes and said, "Oh."

The realization hit him and it hit him hard, Davis was going to die at Zack's hands. Cloud had mixed feelings, he didn't want Zack to have to live with this decision for the rest of his life, not to mention that there would undoubtedly be a punishment. His heart beat with a hard thud under his ribs and he could swear that Sephiroth could hear it. Cloud had to stop Zack. The punishment was going to be bad enough for just beating Davis, but what would it be for killing him?

Zack got down to his face, "Look at me you piece of shit! I remember telling you that if you touched him again, that I was going to fuck you up. It looks like it wasn't me after all." With that said Zack sat him up and put his hand under his chin, the other on the back of his head. With one quick movement and a crack, it was over.

Before Cloud could say anything, Zack was talking and then there was a sickening crack and then a thud hitting the floor. Cloud closed his eyes and exhaled slowly as he whispered, "Zack, no."

Charles was the first one in the cell followed closely by Barber, Lawrence and Drake. Zack sat on his bed with his arms crossed and looking directly at him, "What's up chuckles?" Sephiroth was standing in the doorway to the bathroom and Cloud was standing next to Zack.

"What happened in here?!" Charles was shocked at the sight of Davis, dead on the floor. His face hardened and his teeth grit together. Rage burned in his eyes.

"Well, I'd tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya," Zack mused. Barber covered his mouth to stifle a nervous laugh.

Charles turned hard on the three that came in after him, "You helped, didn't you?" Charles's posture stiffened and his fists clenched just like his jaw.

"Well, you're the one that told him to come in here," Lawrence crossed his arms.

Charles's face dropped and then hardened again as Hojo came in, "What happened here? Z, what have you done this time?" Hojo took a closer look at Davis and then asked Zack coldly, "Why did you kill him?"

"Well, I just couldn't help myself."

"No, it was me!" Cloud stepped up. Sephiroth took Cloud's arm and pulled him back.

"Stop trying to take credit for my work," The brunette stated seriously.

Hojo turned to Charles, "Take them to the lab." He turned and stepped into the hall.

Charles went and jerked him up, "Let's go." Charles did everything he could to make it difficult for Zack to walk down to the lab. Harper and Drake came in and got Cloud and Sephiroth.

Once in the lab, Sephiroth and Cloud were put in chairs. Charles took Zack's shirt off and Hojo put restraints around his wrists in front of him. The Professor went to a control panel and a crane roared to life, it was a series of pulleys and chains attached to the ceiling that they used to move the heavier machinery and tubes around. Lowering it to the level of Zack's face, Charles raised Zack's restrained wrists and hooked it around the hook on the end of the cable. The crane rose until just the tips of his toes were touching the floor.

"No Hojo! Stop! It was me! Don't do this! Please!" Cloud begged.

Zack whistled to get Cloud's attention and very calmly said, "Spiky, it's okay."

"No it's not! I can't let you do this for me!" Cloud's pleas were getting desperate.

Handing Charles a whip, that had small slices of metal braided into the leather strips, Hojo ordered, "Give him 30 lashes."

"Cloud, close your eyes," Zack said just before the first lash hit his back. A groan escaped through gritted teeth.

Sephiroth lowered his head, he couldn't watch. Every lash and groan echoed in his head. He looked at Cloud and he had his head down and his eyes closed. Tears slowly streaked his cheeks as he silently cried. With every hit of the whip, he flinched. The punishment seemed to last forever. When it was over, Zack was limp and his back was a bloody mix of torn flesh.

Dragging him by his arms down the hall, Zack's head hung back and the heels of his feet left small trails of blood down the hall to the isolation cells.

After some mako injections, Cloud whispered to Sephiroth, "It's my fault."

Sephiroth asked, "What makes you say that?"

His dark blue eyes swirled in a pool of anger, "If I had been stronger, this would have never happened. Davis wouldn't have hurt me and Zack wouldn't have had to go through that."

"Cloud, a wise man once told me, 'What happened has happened, you can't change that, it's what you do now that matters.'"

Drake, two lab techs and another soldier named Abbot came and got them out of their chairs and walked them to the gym, which was closer to the isolation cells. One of the small cells was open and loud screams from his friend erupted from inside. Cloud froze in place as he caught a glimpse of Zack crawling quickly toward the wall of the cell. The brunette cradled his face in his hands as he cried out between quieting screams. Zack was soaked with ice water and ice chunks littered the floor around him. The lab tech, Burton, came out with a large empty bucket and shut the door.

Looking back at Sephiroth, Cloud stumbled forward and fell to his hands and knees and vomited.

Cloud had not felt as bad as he did right at that moment. He hated himself and hated everything. The helplessness was just a cover for his true feelings. He had always been at the mercy of other people and for once, just once, he wanted to be in control of himself and his surroundings. He just wanted to get them all out of there and go somewhere no one would hurt them anymore. Cloud looked up when Sephiroth told him, "There is nothing you can do right now. Just accept Zack's sacrifice." Sephiroth held out his hand and helped Cloud to his feet.

They tried to not think about what Zack might be going through. Cloud could tell that there was something that Sephiroth knew that he wasn't telling him. He wondered how Zack would be once he got out of isolation.

Barber and Lawrence were transferred somewhere else the day after Zack was put in isolation. Hojo kept him in isolation for what Dr. Medlock said was 60 days. When he finally got to come out, he was really thin and weak, but he was happy to be back with Cloud and Sephiroth. Zack seemed to force many smiles for a long time and it didn't go unnoticed by either Cloud or Sephiroth.

Cloud couldn't help but wonder what else had happened to his friend during his time in isolation. A week after Zack was taken out of isolation, they moved Sephiroth back to a cell by himself since he was not considered a danger to himself anymore.

Zack and Cloud were sleeping when they heard the door open and then close quietly. Zack flipped out of his bed and landed on the floor ready to fight. "Hey, guys. I uh…I am sorry. I am so sorry that you are going through this. I want to help you." Medlock stood there and seemed really nervous. He fidgeted and paced in front of Zack.

Zack looked at Cloud then back at doctor Medlock, "What? Why?"

"No one deserves what you are going through. That and I have seen some of what he has planned for you in the very near future." He leaned closer to Zack, "I've got to get you out of here. Are you ready?"

Cloud jumped up and stood next to Zack, "Hell yes! But, wait! What about Seph?"

"I'm going to get you to a certain point. I have to wait just a few minutes to get him. Let's go," Noah turned and opened the door slowly and peeked out. He motioned for them to follow and they all went down the hall.

They passed the labs and through the long cavern finally getting to the foot of the stairs, that was the time that things took an evil turn when Cloud heard a rifle fire. Everything then seemed to move in slow motion at that point.

Just as he looked in the direction of the sound, Noah fell at Zack's feet and Cloud screamed, "No!" Zack ran for the shooter, grabbed him and flung him against the wall.

Cloud bent down to Noah and put his hands to his chest. His blood flowed quickly through Cloud's fingers as Noah looked up at him and said in a weakening voice, "I'm sorry…I'm…" Noah's face paled and his body went limp.

As the life in his eyes diminished, Cloud looked at Zack and shook his head slowly. Zack let out a loud roar and rushed the dazed soldier again, ramming him into the wall and his head hit the wall with a thick thud, sliding sideways down the wall, Zack went down with him.

Zack flipped back to his feet and got his knee in his throat and choked him until the soldier's eyes bulged. The feral look in Zack's eyes sought out the man's face as he registered the panic of his impending death. The former Soldier's teeth bore with a low snarl as he pressed his knee deeper into his neck.

Behind them they heard running footsteps and Cloud turned to look. Harper and Charles dashed to them but before they got to them, Zack crushed the soldier's neck with a fleshy crunch, the soldier's body jerked and fell still.

A distracting yell from Harper as he screamed, "Abbot!" Got Cloud's attention.

Charles tackled a surprised Zack, down and elbowed him as his weight followed. The guard's elbow made hard contact with Zack's ribs and they both flew back and hit the wall. Zack got knocked out cold and Charles stunned himself and just laid there for a moment.

Harper grabbed Cloud and threw him face first to the floor, landing a knee in his back and restrained him. He helped Charles up and he slipped in Noah's blood and fell over onto Zack again. Harper held out a hand again and once Charles got his footing, he turned Zack over onto his stomach and restrained him.

Cloud laid there in shock at what had just happened. He turned his head to see Noah's face. He was so young, just out of medical school. His brown eyes stared blankly. Cloud returned his eyes to Zack. He lay there unconscious, his face looked tense. Would they be able to come back from all of this?

Charles hauled Zack up and dragged him back to the cell. He was not gentle about it as he dropped him down on the floor. Harper got Cloud to his feet and pushed him around and down the hall, back into the cell. They left their restraints on until they went to the lab the next day.

Once in the lab, Hojo lectured them about how Medlock did not see the good he was trying to do in his research. Hojo said that he felt that it wasn't their fault, that he saw it as Medlock trying to steal his project and take credit for it. Zack and Cloud just sat there. The punishment they received for the small amount of participation was doubling their mako injections. Zack and Cloud silently thanked and cursed Medlock for putting his life out there for them.

Weeks later, Zack jumped out of sleep at the screaming coming from right next to him. Cloud was screaming, his eyes were wide open and his body was completely straight, stiff and freezing. His eyes were a fiery bright green. Zack put his hands on his shoulders and shook him, "Spiky!" Then the convulsions started. Hojo had hired a new guard to replace Davis, his name was Ryan Price. He showed up with a gurney and took him to the lab. Zack was stuck in the cell, not knowing what was going on.

In the lab, Cloud's convulsions stopped and his screaming started again. He started clawing at his skin and they restrained him. Hojo hooked him up to an ECG to get a reading of his brainwaves. He checked his implants and the organic implant had seemed to disappear.

"Excellent!" Hojo exclaimed.

When Cloud stopped screaming and became quiet and unresponsive, they took him back to the cell with Zack.

Zack continued with his routine of exercise and injections, but he didn't see very much of Sephiroth. Cloud stayed that way for about two weeks this time.

Zack woke up to movement right next to him and he opened his eyes as Cloud was climbing out of the bed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Hey no problem, nice to see you awake again." Zack called after him as he went into the bathroom. It was all a routine that they had gotten used to and wished that they didn't have to.

Going to the gym, Sephiroth was in there. They hadn't been able to really see or talk to him since they moved him back to his cell, "Hey Seph! How you been doing?" Sephiroth held out his hand to shake hands and Zack grabbed him and hugged him.

While he was still in the hug that seemed to last forever, "Zackary, if you do not let go of me, I will be forced to hurt you." He had a tiny hint of a smile in the statement that Zack picked up on. When Zack released him, Sephiroth put a hand on Cloud's shoulder, "I missed you guys too."

Zack slapped Sephiroth's back with a chuckle.

They started their rotations and Hojo had increased their reps again. In fact, he doubled it. Now it was 300 reps per weight increase. It was still only 30 increments, thankfully. When they were almost done, Cloud was on the chin-up bar and Zack and Sephiroth were in a light conversation when a thud came from beside them. Cloud had fallen to the floor, unmoving. One of the lab techs went over and Ryan was on his way.

"Spike!" Zack got there first and turned him onto his back. His eyes were half open, they were still blue thankfully. Zack looked over his shoulder to say something to Ryan when the screaming started. The lab tech told Ryan to take him to the lab. Zack and Sephiroth just looked at each other.

"Continue your reps." The tech ordered. Taking their place back where they were before, they finished their reps in silence.

After finishing the rest of their reps, Price had returned and he and Drake put their restraints on them. They were taken to the lab for their injections.

When walking into the lab, Zack's eyes went immediately to a tank that had been moved back in there. Cloud was in there, restrained and unconscious, twitching slightly. Looking at his IV, it had saline and a bag of mako. The IV tube faintly glowed green as it went into his body.

"Hojo! What the hell is going on?" Drake had Sephiroth almost strapped in his chair. Hojo turned to look and he nodded to Ryan, who promptly took an electro-mag baton and put it to Zack's back. The shock went through his body as he momentarily straightened before falling. Ryan released the contact. Lying on the floor Zack asked through his gritted teeth, "I asked you a question, you fucking psycho!" Again Ryan hit him with another jolt. Zack laid on the floor at Ryan's feet, the last shock caused him to hit his head on the leg of the chair, he could feel a little blood trickle across his forehead. The anger and fear built up, he let a loud grunt of anguish out.

"Do you want to ask me another question Z?" Hojo smirked.

Zack raised his head a little to see Hojo's eyes, "Yes. Were you born a sick sadistic ass-?"

Another shock, Zack laid still and Hojo came over. Looking into Zack's face but talking to Ryan, "Put him in his chair."

Zack hated being in his cell without his friend. He missed talking to him, his stupid jokes and his painfully serious looks when Zack made him angry.

Watching his blond friend in the tank, sometimes Cloud would twitch; sometimes nothing and sometimes it looked like full on convulsions. One day he came into the lab and he was on the table. Hojo had done surgery on him, close to where that metal implant was put in. There were also two smaller incisions on his abdomen. Then the next time he was back in his tank.

The former Soldier had to work on an escape plan again. He had given up for a time, because of his own depression. His spirit was strengthened when he had a dream. Well, he thought it was a dream…

"You call yourself Soldier?" Angeal shifted his weight and adjusted his sword, looking sideways with his long white wing in his peripheral vision. As he turned to look at his student, the soft white feathers brushed against Zack's shoulder, "Where is the Zack I knew years ago?" Turning away, he slowly walked back into shadow and out of sight.

Zack reached out for him, "Angeal!"

Once his resolve had returned he just waited for the opportunity and he didn't have to wait very long.

The baby was growing quickly and she very soon outgrew the incubator. In just a few months she was the size of a three year old.

They closed down and sealed Lab 2 and moved Bonnie into that tank and put the baby in the tank in lab 4. Professor Hojo designated the baby, Subject D, but Harding nicknamed her Destiny. Her wings were growing larger, the white wing had a few black feathers mixed in and the black wing had white feathers mixed in. Harding could tell that she was from Z, C, and S because he could see the similarities in her. Her hair was raven black with silver streaks and eyes the same as Cloud.

The medical assistant wondered when Hojo was going to release her from the tank.

A couple of months later, D was developing very rapidly and over those months, she was almost fully mature. Her wings wrapped around her and all they could see was her face and her feet as she floated in the mako/water mixture in the tube. Her wings had started to grow silver feathers mixed with the black and white ones and her facial features had softened even more and she was mesmerizing even though her eyes remained closed. Hojo wanted to wait a little longer to release her from the tank until she was fully mature.

One day, Hojo was called out to the other lab and evidently he had forgotten that Harding was still in there.

Breaking the daze he was in, he took this very rare opportunity to get over to Hojo's computer. Searching the files, he found one of interest: "X-SOLDIERS"

Opening the file, it was everything about Destiny. Hojo was planning on using her as a beacon and a Soldier, but why? Shinra already had power pretty much over the entire world. Digging deeper, there were files about Z, C, and S and he was planning on using them as a defense force for Destiny and she would need them to complete her work.

The few things that Hojo had said about the subject were limited. All he knew could decipher was the basic world domination mission. Harding rolled his eyes at the 'world domination' thought.

Harding whispered to himself, "Typical. They all want world domination." Hojo's notes stated, however, that early on, Hojo was failing to get the results with them that he had anticipated. Specimen S had not given him the results that he hoped for when he was first recovered. Farther down in that file, there were more notes about C, who seemed to be the exception. C's results were beginning to form an unconscious bond with Destiny and S. Hojo had to run more tests to confirm his hypothesis, but he felt that he had formed a bond with Jenova as well. He still didn't know what Hojo's full military intentions were, but he could at least get this to his commander.

Harding hit the print button and exited out of the files. Folding the printouts, he folded them to put them in his pants pocket. It was too thick to fit so as he heard the button code being punched in he stuffed them down the back of his pants.

"Harding, I have excellent news! I just performed a sonogram of C's organic implant and it has shown that it has integrated into his body. Do you know what this means?" Harding shook his head. "It means he has fully accepted Jenova and he is moving us on to phase 3! We will need to ready some organic implants for Z and check on S's organic implants." Hojo walked over to his desk and shuffled around some papers, "We need to ready two more panels as well. In a couple of months everything should be ready to advance on the project."

The next day, in the lab and looking at Destiny, which Hojo started calling her too, Hojo decided to get her out. Harding went to work draining the tank and getting her on the table as he started to restrain her and Hojo stopped him, "You can leave now Mr. Harding."

"But sir…"

Hojo glared at him and Harding knew what that meant. He quickly left the lab and returned upstairs to his room. He had some business to attend to anyway.

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*