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

Reviews, critiques and flames are welcome. I absolutely love all reviews about the story as it gives me motivation, I use good constructive criticism to help my writing improve and I feed the flames to the fires of my imagination.

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

"People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy." –Oliver Goldsmith

Chapter 71

"Aerith, you just have to trust me. Reno said he had a plan, but we can't say anything to Zack," Tifa didn't know what the plan was exactly, but Reno said he would let her in on it a little later, but just for now, Zack couldn't know anything.

Aerith looked at her with glassy green eyes that showed understanding and wisdom beyond her years, "His plan might get them back? Really? What was it that Reno asked you?"

Tifa lowered her eyes, "It doesn't matter. It isn't part of the plan if that's what you're wondering."

Yuffie opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. She lay back on the bed and sighed loudly, "I just want to get them back, hopefully in one piece."

"In the morning, we're supposed to go with Reno back to Junon. He has a plan in place that will get us an airship that we can make it to wherever they are. We can get stocked up on supplies that we can't get here too." Tifa got up, circled around the bed and stepped into the bathroom, "When we get back, we're going after them." Her heart skipped when she shut the door, she inhaled quickly and she slowly bent over to the floor and picked up the undershirt that belonged to Cloud. Holding it close to her, she felt as though she could almost feel him.

A knock got Yuffie up to greet the red-caped gunman when she opened the door to the hotel room.

When Tifa opened the bathroom door with Cloud's shirt in her hand, she looked at it and placed it gently on top of her bag, "Vincent. What do you need?"

Stepping just inside the threshold of the room, Vincent spoke quietly, "Tifa, Reno and I-"

Interrupting everyone, Aerith jumped up and put her hands to her face, "…Zack?! We need to check on him, I left him alone for too long," Yuffie and Vincent followed Tifa and Aerith, Reno on their heels, back to the room with a sleeping Zack.

Aerith opened the door and Vincent took Aerith by her arm and pulled her back away from the door. Both men peered in the darkened room and didn't see anyone. Reno stepped in and noticed the light was on in the bathroom. He turned to Vincent and gently slapped the back of his hand on Vincent's chest, "He's just in the shitter."

Vincent paused and looked back at Aerith as her eyes welled with tears, "I don't think that is what is going on in there."

Reno pulled out his EMR, lowered his voice and stated sternly, "If he's sitting on the shitter, I'm gonna kick your ass."

Vincent turned the door knob slowly and didn't see anything until the door was open all the way. Zack was sitting on the floor with his arms wrapped around his pulled up knees. His eyes closed tightly and he trembled, drenched in sweat, "Zackary, can you hear me?" Zack slowly tilted his head and opened his eyes, when Vincent got a good look, he drew his gun and trained it on the former Soldier. The veins in his neck were strained and they stuck out as well as the veins in his forehead. Emanating a green glow that could almost light a darkened room, Zack's eyes became riveted on the gun and the man holding it.

Shaking almost uncontrollably, his black hair rippled with his tremors as they shook to cover his face. He stared at Vincent from below his eyebrows and the gently swinging spikes. Reno stepped from behind Vincent and Zack's eyes darted from Vincent to Reno, "Zack, are you in there?" The brunette's expression did not change, "Zack!" Reno snapped his fingers to his right and Zack's eyes followed his fingers and then back to his face.

Vincent put one hand on Reno's shoulder and pulled him back a little and spoke in his ear, "He is fighting it, I don't think that we can do anything but wait and see if he can resist the urge," Vincent kept his hand on Reno's shoulder and they slowly backed out of the bathroom and watched from the main part of the room. Zack's eyes never left them as the green would flash and then a gentle blue would pulse from underneath. Zack closed his eyes and a long grunt undulated in his throat. Vincent kept his gun on him and the girls stayed in the doorway. Aerith held her hands to her mouth, and her tears fell silently, Tifa put her arm around her and Yuffie held her shuriken as she stood in front of both of them.

As the sun rose a couple of hours later, Reno had fallen asleep as Vincent kept vigil over Zack as he remained on the bathroom floor. Aerith and Tifa sat on the ground just outside the open door. Yuffie sat on the other side and they all slept lightly.

Vincent nudged the bottom of Reno's shoe, "I think it is over," Vincent stepped forward and got a closer look at Zack. His shaking had stopped, but his neck and face still strained in effort. His eyelids squeezed shut and Vincent kept his gun pointed at him, "Zackary." Reno slipped into the bathroom on the other side of Vincent and his EMR was at the ready.

Zack's eyelids fluttered and opened and Reno sighed in relief when his violet colored eyes looked back at them. Zack jerked backward at the sight of Vincent's large gun and Reno's baton pointed at him. Zack put his hands up weakly, "It's me, I'm okay," Zack sat up, wiped his forehead and muttered, "For now."

Vincent holstered his gun, "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Zack couldn't voice what it was, how he felt. All he could say was, "Weird, just really weird and kinda painful." Splashing cool water on his face he could still feel the pull, yanking and the overall craving to go. Letting them know inevitably would lead to them distrusting him. It was bad enough that they saw his little episode there in the bathroom, but to tell them it was almost constant, he just didn't want to raise the alarm.

"You know, we have places to go and people to see. Get your ass dressed and let's get a move on," Reno threw a pair of jeans at him and promptly left the room.

Vincent stared at him and it unnerved Zack and it was exactly what he was afraid would happen. Zack slipped the jeans on over his boxers and asked Vincent, "So what are we up to?"

Vincent crossed his arms and simply said, "Junon. We need your help getting inside the base and to the airfield."

Zack's eyes couldn't stop looking at Vincent's hand close to his gun, "Do you not trust me or something?"

Vincent paused, was completely still and asked very matter-of-factly, "Would you?"

Zack pulled a shirt out and when his head popped through the top, crimson eyes stared at him from a closer stance, "Okay… point taken. I know what you're saying, but at least give me the benefit of the doubt. Don't shoot me until you see the green of my eyes, okay." Zack's attempt at lightening the mood was lost on Vincent so he dropped it.

Reno, Rude, Zack, Vincent and Tifa made up the group in the helicopter. The entire flight Zack averted the stares and questions. He never thought that he wouldn't want to talk, but the loss of his friends literally hurt him. They had no idea how much, it felt as though two/thirds of him was gone, just missing.

Eventually they made it to the area just outside of Junon and Reno dropped them off to sneak into the airbase on their own, "Now don't forget, you get caught, we don't know you. Meet you at the main airfield." Zack acknowledged what Reno said as he ran from the helicopter, and the Turk yelled out, "Remember, go straight to the airfield!"

"Sneaking inside will be the interesting part. Just follow me," Zack could feel Vincent's eyes on him as he led them to the elevator from the small town underneath the base. All it would take would be a little sweet talk and then it was a straight stretch from there, "Hey, how about letting us on the elevator?"

"Smooth Zack, real smooth," Tifa sighed.

The guard shook his head, "Nope. Nothin personal."

Tifa pulled Zack back and stepped in front of him, "Well since we can't go up, what is there to do around here. I mean we've been traveling and we're really thirsty," Reaching out, she ran her finger lightly up the guard's chest to his throat. Looking up with a wide smile, she winked. With a bit more of Tifa's 'distraction,' Zack circled around and knocked him out. Dragging him over close to a nearby house, they entered the elevator shaft.

Zack hadn't been told what they were here for exactly and he wondered why they didn't tell him. As much as it bothered him to admit that Vincent was right, he could see why they wouldn't tell him. It bothered him to think that there were people traipsing around in his brain. Recently, he did have a tendency to go stark raving mad.

Upon reaching the top, the doors opened and they stood at the ready, but there was no one there, "That's kind of odd. Vincent, you smell what I smell?"

Vincent's nod confirmed it, "Ambush."

"Ambush? What do you mean?!" Tifa busied herself adjusting her gloves and stretching a little, Tifa muttered, "I'm going to kill that red-headed son of a bitch. I knew we shouldn't have trusted him."

"Just keep alert," Zack elbowed her and singled her to the left, Vincent to the front and Zack took the right. Searching the hallway proved to be a boring attempt as he saw no one. Meeting Vincent and Tifa back at the entrance to the elevator, "I really don't like this."

Vincent nodded in agreement again, "Extreme precaution is necessary."

Moving slowly down the corridor that led to the air field, Zack inched the door open to see out to the tarmac. He still saw no one, but that didn't mean anything. Zack quietly singled for them to move back to the street entrance. The city smelled and looked the same as it always did. Nostalgia, all the times as Soldier he had been here for deployment. Sometimes he was here for a week or two; he even remembered where one girl lived, that is if she still lived there. He had a lot of fun here on more than one occasion and that thought made him smile.

Not far from where they stood, the elevator to the upper levels of the city stood. People on the street were too busy wrapped up in their own lives and personal issues that no one even noticed them. Blending in as much as they could, they made their way to the elevator. When the doors closed, the music softly played a piano piece that was nauseating in its cheerfulness. They looked at each other and rode in silence.

Normally, the quiet bothered Zack, but he still didn't want to divulge the constant torment he now suffered. He knew that they would ask, especially Tifa. Being so close to her drove him to just want to cry and never stop until all the hurt went away. The scars and pain were too much sometimes, but being witness to Cloud's and Sephiroth's torment and death made him just want to curl up and become invisible.

When the door opened and they quietly made their way around a corner, shocked at the turn out, "Hello. I'm so happy you dropped by." Rufus stood behind several soldiers and smiled a satisfied smirk, "I am going to need your help."

Zack's personality sometimes got him into trouble and now was no exception, "Help with what, wiping your ass?" The butt of a gun in his stomach was his reward for saying anything.

Rufus shook his head, "No, Zack. We need help in finding Hojo. You see he still has information that we need. Such as, the location of the promised land," The Turk standing next him stepped forward and grabbed Zack's arm. Zack yanked his arm and knocked the soldier on the other side of him to the ground, other soldiers grabbed Tifa and disarmed Vincent and restrained them, "Zack, you can find out where Hojo is just by talking to your criminal friends."

Getting knocked to the ground, the side of Zack's face was forced to the black top from the knee on the back of his neck. His arms were pulled behind him and restrained as he tried to talk Rufus out of his quest, "Rufus, you don't know what you're doing! You don't understand what you're asking of me!"

Tifa's yells soared over Zack's head, "Rufus. Don't do this! He can't help you, but we can!"

Zack whipped his head around to look at her. What was she thinking? She was going to end up getting herself killed, but before he could say anything, Rufus spoke, "How? He's the one with the connection."

Zack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tifa was bargaining with Rufus for control of him. Zack laid on the ground facing the small pebbles that littered the area, wrists restrained behind him and feeling helpless, just like every other time in the lab. The guards and Hojo taking turns controlling him like he was property, just something to be owned, used and abused.

Pain in his gut burned and crawled up. The hollow feeling he felt began to fill with something, he didn't know what, but the burn turned into a raging fire as he screamed out in an oddly comfortable and familiar pain. His body jerked to his side and the Turk took a swing at his head. With his Soldier speed, Zack found his way to his feet.

Tifa backed away toward Vincent and yelled, "Zack! NO! Fight it!"

Zack swung a kick up and into the chest of the Turk. Tifa broke loose of the soldier that held her and kicked out and knocked the stunned soldier back a few feet.

"Enough!" Rufus yelled and they all stopped and looked at him.

Zack squeezed his eyes shut and dropped to his knees as a groan of him fighting the inevitable filled his throat. Tifa had told him to fight it, but did he want to fight it anymore? He took deep breaths, he fought it, just like in the bathroom and the fight was torturous. The task was only made harder as they walked to what he could only imagine were jail cells. These cells were smaller, but more comfortable than the ones in the lab. Tifa in the cell right next to him whispered, "Zack. Are you okay?"

Zack curled up on his mattress and tried to rest a little, he'd been busy fighting off the urge to accept Jade's offer, not to mention trying to stay sane, "I don't know." Thinking about it, when he was asleep, he was especially susceptible to their calls so maybe he didn't want to sleep.

Besides that, he had the little issue of being caught in an ambush and trapped in this little box. What the hell happened with Reno? Had he laid a trap for them? Well, no one knew that they were there except for Reno and possibly Rude. That thought didn't exactly make him feel any better.

Vincent's voice came from the cell on the other side of him, "We probably will not be in here much longer."

"What do you mean?" Tifa's innocent voice draped over Zack and the thought of what she wasn't expecting entered his mind.

Lying on his back, his arm blocked the light as it covered his face. In a flat and in an uncharacteristic flat tone, Zack answered, "Information extraction."

A small fight to hide her fear from sounding in her voice, Tifa asked, "Do I really want to know?"

"Probably not," Zack rolled to his side and waited for the torture to begin. Tifa's silence meant one thing; she was pacing and trying to think of a plan to get out. He must have drifted off because next thing he knew, he was getting dragged to another room. The sound of Tifa's protests followed him. Unlike her, he didn't fear what was going to happen.

Entering a different area of the complex, they got to a small room that was brightly lit and chilly. Seeing as the room was empty except for one plain folding chair and a small table with a white cloth covering something. Zack's voice didn't betray his feelings of displeasure, "You know, maybe a couple of paintings, a nice couch and maybe a few potted plants, this could be a livable place." When the guard pushed him, his face quickly approached the concrete floor and he was able to turn his face just in time to keep his nose from getting broken. The interrogator pulled a chair up in front of him as the other guards chained him to the metal loops cemented in the floor.

"It says here in your file that you are a former Soldier," The man whose dark brown hair was neatly combed back, eyed him.

Zack looked at him and sneered, "That's Soldier First class to you. We all can't be shit smelling monkey fuckers like you, ya know."

The file slapped shut when he closed his hand around it, "Well then, this should be interesting." The smile the man held sent a quick shiver down the former Soldier's spine.

Dirty blond hair blew lightly in the breeze. As the sun set, he watched in awe as the bright yellow broke up into smaller beams of red. The clouds looked as if the sun had set them ablaze and the glow lit his face and warmed it on an otherwise cool evening.

When he had seen the blond one with the pretty eyes at the diner, he'd felt so bad for him. Not wanting to talk and leaving without even eating anything had him booking the next train out of there. Maybe if he got away from that area, he would feel better. Drake knew that he could always go to his brother's place in Midgar, but he wasn't sure. When the train had dropped him off at Casa Del Sol, the plane ride over made him think about going ahead and showing up at his brother's door.

His brother wouldn't mind, he had always told him that his door was always open for him. As he waited for the next plane to Midgar in the morning, he wanted to enjoy the famous Junon sunset.

Hands that were going numb from the cold, he shoved in his pockets where it was warm and inviting. Slowly walking back to his hotel room for the night, he enjoyed the sound of people talking and the bustle around him. Getting knocked in the shoulder, he turned around. A tall black-haired man didn't look back at him, but a man in red apologized for his rudeness and they continued on their way. He recognized the dark-haired man as the one with the pretty smile back in the labs, and he wondered where he was going in such a rush. Deciding to follow them, he took the emergency stairs two at a time after they'd boarded the elevator. Reaching the top, he peered over the solid railing and watched as they got captured.

He knew where they were taking them, after all, he had worked as a janitor in this base for a little while.

A/N 2: 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."

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Guest Review with my response:

"Repetitive and boring so far. I see No Action or Sex."

And yet, you keep reading it...