Chapter 33: Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me

Cloud's head tilted as he stared at his own reflection in confusion. It's not as if didn't recognize his own appearance. Things in his life had shifted, but not so much that he didn't know himself. He reached out to his bicep, poking at the fresh muscles he found there, never having been able to put on any before no matter how much lifting he did. He supposed that had to do with being bred to be a broodmare. His features were the same, if not sharper, more defined...less soft. His eyes were still blue, but they shined with the glow of mako. A glow he had never experienced because he wasn't a SOLDIER...and he never would be.

He was dressed in black sweatpants and a grey shirt, tight on his muscles as he drew up the fabric, staring into the mirror at cut abs that still did nothing to cover the vertical scar on his abdomen that stretched from his belly button to his sternum. He blinked at the sight of it. A child had once been there. His child. Sephiroth's child. His mate had ripped it out of him without a single care in the world.

He hadn't even hesitated.

Sephiroth had been so excited for a family. It had been the only thing he had ever wanted for in his entire life, and he had stabbed their child through its undeveloped, fragile body. The knowledge of what he was—what they would make together, was enough to turn him insane. There weren't words for what had happened to him. It shouldn't surprise him at this point. It was just one more prong on the infinite line that was the tragedy of his life. Yet, for a moment, he had let himself believe he could be happy.

Ghost like arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him backwards against a strong chest as he looked up towards the mirror, seeing Sephiroth standing behind him as a face buried itself in his neck. "Were we not happy?"

"It wasn't real," Cloud spoke to the illusion, and if he pretended enough, he could actually feel those arms wrapped around him. "You bit me over and over...you manufactured my compliance."

Cloud shut his eyes in pleasure as whisper-like touches traced up along his stomach, a mouth tracing along his neck. "Did it feel manufactured?"

No.

It never had.

"You destroyed us," Cloud whispered, eyes still shut as if that would block the fact that he could still feel Sephiroth with him wherever he went. As if that would block out the need, the love, and the hate that filled him as those lips pressed upon the mating mark that was barely now the whisper of a scar.

"I love you, Cloud Strife," Sephiroth murmured against his neck, and when Cloud opened his eyes again the illusion was gone. It happened sometimes. He had told Hojo about it, and the scientist had told him it was a side effect of the mako treatments. They could cause hallucinations. However, it felt so much more than a hallucination. It felt like Sephiroth wasn't really gone...that he was still buried deep inside him. That his arms were always wrapped around him, even in this horrible place. The thought of that monster constantly being inside of his head was worse than any of the mako treatments he had been put through. ...An entire year of torture to help him recover from the worst decision he had ever made.

A year since he had woken up to see Zack's mouth covered in blood and realized just what he had lost. There were no treatments today. He had been handling the mako remarkably. Hojo praised him for his improvements, whatever that meant. It was his birthday. His request had been to be allowed to see him. ...To just know he was okay. ...To ask him about the mark that sometimes burned hot on his neck.

Hojo had complied after weeks of begging. He supposed it was the least the scientist could do after Cloud's compliance with the testing. Why would he fight? What purpose did he ever serve besides being an experiment? It took 17 years to learn his place, but he finally had learned it. He looked around the room that used to be his home—he supposed was his home again...everything did come around again, didn't it?

Cloud leaned over, grabbing the basket he had requested from Hojo as he made his way out the door and towards the other side of the laboratory. His heart was pounding at just the thought of seeing him—of having to apologize for ruining his life.

He glanced up towards the stairs, knowing they were locked and heavily guarded as he headed towards the locked cells. Cloud stood outside the door, inhaling deep before taking out the keycard Hojo had given him. Glowing blue eyes shut as he held his breath, only opening when it actually worked and the doors sprung open.

The smell was the first thing that hit him. That scent of fresh cut grass and gun oil...of his Alpha. "Zack," he managed, seeing the SOLDIER lying on a cot in the corner. He could see the exhaustion from whatever tests Hojo had put him through written all over his body. He could see the scars all along his arms as those fingers twitched back into consciousness. Everything he had put the man through...how did he ever think it would be a good idea to come see him? Was it just a new form of torture? A new self deprecation to hear the hate poor from his lips rather than just assuming it would?

He almost ran seven times in the few seconds it took for violet eyes to flutter open, and another few as Zack looked over at his name and his eyes widened as they caught sight of him. Cloud's heart was pounding so hard it was making him dizzy, reaching out to grip the doorway as Zack sat up on the bed.

"Spike?" Zack questioned, voice shaky as if not trusting his own eyes.

Cloud bit his lip, shifting from foot to foot as he felt like throwing up...that...or running forward into his arms and begging his forgiveness. "Hey…" It was impossibly lame, but given the fact that he had just gotten him tortured for a year—it seemed like the only thing he could do at the time.

"Hey?" Zack questioned, standing up on the cot as he came over, not hesitating in grabbing him and yanking him close into an embrace.

Cloud's entire body released the tension he didn't know he was holding, relaxing into the embrace as he wrapped his arms around the other, inhaling the scent of his Alpha and instantly feeling a warm sense of calm. "Are you okay?" Zack asked into his ear, squeezing him tighter as Cloud shut his eyes and pretended like this could last forever. "I've been so worried about you. They wouldn't let me see you. That bastard just kept saying that you were fine...that you were going through treatments."

"I was...am…" Cloud tried to explain. "He just let me see you for today...I don't know about after." His fingers clenched into the tank top Zack wore, pulling back to look him in the eyes as the guilt was almost too much to bear. "I…" He stopped, not knowing if he even had the words to describe his culpability. "I will get you out of here. I'll save you."

Zack nodded at the words, both worry and relief filling his features. "We'll both get out. I just needed to make sure you were alright before I began to try."

Cloud shook his head. "No. I'm poison to you. I'll only continue to hurt you." He was the worst thing that had ever happened to Zack. "You need to get out. They won't chase you as hard as they would chase me."

The SOLDIER snorted. "Well now someone's ego is getting the best of him."

"Zack, I'm serious!" The Alpha laughed at that, brilliant smile breaking across his face, and Cloud was taken aback by how beautiful he was...how he had begun to forget his face.

"Spike...this is the first time I've seen you in like a year. Please allow me to enjoy it for at least an hour before you go martyring yourself again." His hands carded through Cloud's spikes, grin splitting further across his face. "I can't believe you're here...there's so much we have to talk about...I never thought I'd get the chance."

Cloud blinked, eyes becoming watery as even now Zack was positive. "Where should we start?" The year of torture? The murdered child? The cheating? The lying?

"What about this?" Zack questioned, fingers coming to the mark on Cloud's neck as he shivered. "Will you let me explain this?"

Cloud's eyes fell to the floor, not able to handle Zack's sincerity when it came to that mark. "Hojo told me you did it to save me." He had blocked out a lot from those first few weeks. "I understood why."

"You understood…" Zack murmured, stepping back as Cloud almost whined at the loss of contact. "You understood that I bit you and took away your choice for a partner while you were unconscious? No questions on it...you just understood?" Zack shook his head, pressing his fingers to his temple as he swore. "Cloud...you shouldn't have understood. It was wrong."

Blue eyes looked up at that, searching Zack's own as he tried to understand where this was coming from. "Did you not want to?" That he understood. He had ruined Zack's life, and now he was tied to him forever. Not only that, but Cloud would never be able to give him children...he may not even be able to please him. "I'm sorry that choice was taken away from you because you felt you had to save me. It was wrong."

Zack exhaled forcefully at that, hands coming to the top of his spikes as he yanked on them, walking around the cell in frustration. "There's wrong...and then there's wrong...and then there's this." The Alpha breathed. "Spike, I didn't want you to apologize to me. You were the one mated against your will. You were the one who lost your child…"

Cloud's fist clenched around the basket, pain lancing through him like a stab as his belly burned. "Do you feel guilty cause you bit me?" Violet eyes glanced over to him, frustrated silence causing Zack's nostrils to flare. "Because you said you wouldn't? ...On the steps of the reactor when you kissed me..you swore you wouldn't."

"No," Zack argued. "I said I wouldn't continue to bite you. I never said I wouldn't mate you." He shook his head. "It doesn't make what I did while you were unconscious right though."

"Do you think it matters?" Cloud questioned. "Mating ties me to you either way...biting once or biting a thousand times. Sephiroth knew that. What happened afterwards was just the cherry on top."

"Do you feel controlled by me?" Zack questioned, brows knitted as he watched him.

Cloud shook his head, because it was what Zack wanted him to do, letting him off the hook for what happened. "I don't blame you for what happened." He blamed himself. He always had. "I'm sorry you're stuck with a defective Omega. I'm sorry that you're bound to my broken soul because you once again had to be the better person."

Zack laughed shakily, seemingly the only thing he could do to hide his obvious pain. "It's a fatal flaw, that and my attraction to blondes with a martyr complex."

He smiled despite himself, setting the basket down as he wrapped his arms over his chest. "Lucky me you have that flaw." His nails dug into his arms. "Zack. I have to tell you something."

"Do you?" Zack questioned sarcastically. "Because normally that statement doesn't end well."

Cloud smiled thinly, arms tightening around himself. "I suppose it can wait. Are you hungry?" He motioned to the basket on the floor. "I brought you dinner."

"Oh?" Zack questioned, eyebrows shooting up towards his spikes. "A date? The scientist who experiments on me daily should have warned me...I would have tried to clean up."

The Omega laughed at that, rubbing the back of his spikes as he shifted. "I don't know...you look pretty okay to me. Your hair's longer though...shaggy."

"Yeah…" Zack agreed. "It's been a few weeks since I've been able to get to the beautician."

"Oh?" Cloud questioned. "You must have gotten the standard experimentation suite. In my suite I have weekly hair appointments complete with a massage and facial." Cloud patted his cheek. "It keeps my skin soft and gives that subtle glow to my eyes."

"Mako facials…" Zack murmured, walking closer. "What will they think of next?" He grabbed for the basket, opening it up and staring shocked down at the contents. "What's the date today?"

Cloud's eyes darted back and forth, nervously shifting his weight. "August 11th."

Zack laughed, obviously realizing the significance. "So your father does have a heart?"

"Maybe," Cloud mused. "It's probably mostly monster parts."

Zack kneeled down to the floor, setting the basket down and opening it as he began to pull out the contents. Cloud sank down as well to his knees, keeping his arms crossed tight around him as he stared down in nervous anticipation. The Alpha first pulled out some red wine, followed by cheap plastic glasses. "Couldn't splurge for stemware?"

Cloud smiled tightly. "Probably didn't want us to slit our own throats with it...if I had to imagine. I'd guess there's probably mostly finger foods in the basket."

"That's alright...we'll make due." Zack continued to dig, pulling out a container of various meats and cheeses, a container of cherries, and one of small finger sandwiches. "Hojo has gotten very fancy. Small finger sandwiches...we might as well be having afternoon tea."

"It's better though, there's alcohol." Cloud pointed out, motioning to the wine before wrapping his arms once more protectively around himself.

"Ah," Zack started. "You have clearly never been to a good afternoon tea." He poured them both glasses, handing one over to him as Cloud managed to draw his arms away from himself long enough to take it. "I dated this girl once—one of those rich fancy types, you know? Her parents owned three vacation homes with more bathrooms than humans who lived in Gongaga." Zack took a drink. "Every day they would have this tea….tiny sandwiches...fancy things in the shape of a swan...and booze...very fancy booze. It made the constant insults from her father a lot easier to stomach."

"He insulted you?" Cloud questioned, curiosity overweighing his anxiety as he took a sip of his own wine.

"Oh yeah," Zack waved his free hand. "Huge asshole! Said I would never amount to anything, I was born a country hick, and I would die a country hick."

"How dare he," Cloud murmured with mock offense. "What ever happened with her?"

"Oh…" Zack took a long drink. "She broke up with me cause she also thought I'd die a hick, and I wouldn't be able to buy her a vacation home. That was actually one of the driving motivators that brought me to Midgar. I wanted to become a hero and prove them wrong."

"And look at him now," Cloud stiffened, glass clenching in his hand as Sephiroth's lips pressed against his ear. "He's going to die a lowly rat in a cell...and all because he met you." A faint feeling of wetness traced along his cheek as Sephiroth licked him, holding up his own glass of wine. "To Cloud Strife, the slayer of hero's dreams."

Cloud grabbed for his head as pain lashed through it, shaking it to dispel the hallucination. "I'm sorry," he apologized before even looking up at Zack, feeling the worry radiating through their bond for the first time. "It's just the treatments...I get headaches sometimes."

When he chanced a look back up Zack was watching him with nervous worry, clearly not knowing how to react with everything between them. "How are they going? Ready to become a First Class?"

"Don't think I'm quite there yet," Cloud joked, reaching for a piece of cheese as he took a bite. "Maybe Second Class."

Zack whistled. "So fancy. Soon you'll be kicking my ass."

Cloud laughed, grabbing for another piece of cheese. "Nah, you definitely earned your rank. I just got there from nepotism, steroids, and sleeping my way to the top." He looked up, smiling shyly at his own dark joke, tossing a cherry towards Zack that the Alpha caught in his mouth, grinning right back at him.

The fruit crunched as Zack bit into it, spitting out the pit before grabbing for another. Cloud curled his nose at the crudeness, picking up his own cherry as he examined it. "You know...it doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?" Zack questioned, grabbing for a piece of prosciutto.

"Cherries." The Omega studied the one in his hand. "They're able to design monsters...design humans...literally make a male give birth, but they can't create a cherry without a pit?"

Plopping another in his mouth, Zack pulled out the stem. "There's just no money in pitless cherries."

"A true tragedy," Cloud agreed with a smile, pouring more wine as he felt his cheeks begin to heat with warmth.

Reaching into the basket, Zack pulled out two vanilla cupcakes, licking his fingers as he placed them down in front of them both. "He couldn't have splurged for chocolate?"

Cloud shrugged. "Decadence was never his thing...besides, I like vanilla."

"Well it is your birthday after all," Zack conceded. "Seems only fit you get your choice on pastries." He held up the cupcake, as if to cheers. "Happy birthday, baby." His face turned serious, sadness etched across his perfect features. "I'm sorry it's in a place like this."

"It's alright," Cloud assured him, biting into the cake. "Most of my birthdays were spent in places like this." He motioned down to the spread. "Hojo brought me this basket every year...I've never had anyone to share it with before."

Zack's eyes did that thing they did when he was clearly feeling sorry for him, but didn't want to spoil the mood. Cloud didn't blame him. He was a walking ball of fun sucking depression. "We'll change that, okay?" he said softly, sincerity in his tone as his Alpha still believed things could get better. "You at least have to make a wish."

Cloud stared at the half eaten cupcake, raising an eyebrow at the SOLDIER. "There aren't any candles."

"What's the matter, Spike? Don't you have any imagination?" Zack set down his drink, crawling over so that he was behind Cloud. He covered his eyes with his hands, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Sorry...I just...really wanted to kiss you."

"It's okay...:" Cloud swallowed nervously, making himself relax as he shifted off his knees and leaned back against the warm body behind him, sighing as Zack buried his face in his hair, inhaling his scent as the arms around him tightened. "So what am I supposed to be imagining?" Cloud asked with amusement.

"Sorry…" Zack apologized, not sounding sorry at all as he pulled back slightly. "You're very distracting."

"My smell?" Cloud questioned, body slowly relaxing against Zack's. "You haven't been around an Omega in awhile...it must be overwhelming."

"I haven't been around you in awhile," Zack corrected. "The Omega part has nothing to do with it. Well…" He corrected himself. "It mostly has nothing to do with it." He shook his head, kissing the top of Cloud's spikes. "Anyways, back to this fantasy."

"Oh?" Cloud asked, amused. "It's a fantasy now?"

"Yes," Zack replied. "All good bouts of imagination lead to fantasies. This one about birthday wishes is no exception. So. We're back in Gongaga…"

"Your home?" Cloud question, eyebrows raised.

Zack hummed his agreement. "We have a cottage in the village...just up on the hill overlooking the park. We're trying to get the meal ready, but the dog keeps barking and trying to steal all the food."

"We have a dog!?" Cloud asked excitedly, not able to stop the grin that spread across his face.

"Oh yeah. You wanted a cat...but I insisted...so we got one of both, because I'm a pushover when it comes to you," he informed him.

"As if I didn't know that…" Cloud teased. "So our dog...a big dog...lots of fur...he's trying to eat our food."

"He's the worst, never minds me, and you're too busy in the kitchen trying to impress my parents…" Zack had a tedious mockery in his tone.

"Your parents came to my birthday?" Cloud questioned, surprise lighting up his tone.

"Of course they did...they love you. Ever since our wedding when my mom relented and gave you my grandpa's pocket watch as a wedding gift." Cloud's heart swelled at even hearing the fantasy of their wedding.

"Was it a fancy pocket watch?" Cloud questioned, a little breathless as he could picture all of it in his mind.

"Oh the fanciest," Zack assured him. "Killed her to give it cause she didn't know if we would last, but then on our wedding day she saw the way I looked at you—like you were my stars and planet and universe all rolled into one, and her heart melted."

Cloud inhaled shakily, not believing he had been lucky enough to find a person like Zack, and yet had cast him aside...had chosen someone else. "Were they the only ones that came?"

Zack sighed, feigning exhaustion. "No no...Reno came to your party. He was shitfaced of course.."

"Of course.." Cloud agreed. "He'd never let a celebration go by without at least a few mind altering substances."

"More than a few, but that's okay cause he managed to get the birthday boy drunk, and he's always easier to get into bed that way."

Cloud gave a fake inhale. "How shameful of me!"

Zack nodded his agreement against his shoulder. "You were making quite the scene...karaoke was involved...I'll save you the embarrassment and not go into it. Needless to say, Genesis was doing plenty of mocking."

"Awwww…" Cloud cooed. "Genesis came to my birthday!"

"Only cause Kadaj dragged him...at least that's what he says." He leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Don't tell him I told you this, but he's been super whipped since they got together."

Cloud shrugged. "It was inevitable."

"So it finally comes time to bring out the cake, and it's covered in 17 burning bright candles. Your family and friends are all around you and it comes time to make a wish on your tall three layered vanilla cake...what do you wish for, baby?"

For his child to still be alive.

For Sephiroth to have not gone crazy.

For his childhood to have not been a sham.

For freedom for him and Zack.

For a future like the one his mate had dreamed for them.

"I don't need anything," Cloud pulled away from those hands, turning around slowly to face the other. "You gave me the perfect birthday." Before he could think too much on it, Cloud leaned forward, hands coming to each side of Zack's face as he met his lips gently with his own.

Zack's mouth moved along with his own, obviously allowing Cloud to lead as he held his hips as he crawled on top of him, opening up for him as a tongue pressed against his own. Cloud moaned at the taste, need coursing through as he deepened the kiss, straddling the Alpha completely as Zack's hands came to press against his ass.

Cloud was hard already as he grinded up against the other, having been deprived so long of his instincts...of the man he had mated with and then had been kept from for over a year. His hands reached around Zack, pulling at the tank top his Alpha was wearing in an attempt to get to more flesh. The SOLDIER lifted his arms, allowing Cloud to throw it to the side, not hesitating in drawing the Omega's own shirt over blond spikes.

Kissing his cheek, Zack inhaled shakily as he gripped his hips. "Are you sure this is okay, because I'm going to need you to tell me to stop if it's not." Cloud saw the violet sclera stretched across Zack's eyes as he panted out the control the Omega wasn't sure how he was possessing. "Tasting you...smelling your arousal...Spike is this okay?"

Nodding nervously, Cloud surged forward to kiss him again and give his consent. He moaned into that mouth, hands splaying over every available bit of bare skin he could find. First traveling down strong biceps, only to end at taut abs that led to pants blocking his way. He growled his frustration as his fingers couldn't open the clasp, standing up altogether as he glowered down at his prize.

Zack grinned stupidly up at him, leaning back so that he could pop open the button and slide them down past his hips. "You could have just asked for help."

"It's not my strong suit," Cloud reminded him, hands coming to his own waistband and pushing them down before stepping out of them and sinking back onto Zack's lap. He didn't hesitate in once more connecting their mouths, hand reaching between them to grab onto the Alpha's hardness, pumping him in time with the way he moved his hips.

His body thrummed with pleasure, thumb swirling over the tip of Zack's cock as it felt good...it felt amazing...it just didn't feel right. Cloud pulled away, in a state of panic as he shifted atop the other, a frustrated whine filling the air.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked, lust ladened concern in his tone as he shook his head, obviously trying to clear his senses enough to focus. "Cloud?" He cupped both of his cheeks as Cloud shook his head, frustration filling him as he stared down at her traitorous body.

"I'm not…" Cloud began, blush blooming across both of his cheeks as he looked away in shame. "I'm not getting wet."

Zack knitted his eyebrows, obviously trying to consider the statement and Cloud's current distress. "That's fine...I don't care."

"You should care!" Cloud yelled, beginning to panic as his stomach heaved. "I wanted it to be good...I wanted to prove that I could still please you even if I was broken. I wanted your sacrifice to be worth it!"

"Oh Spike…" Zack managed, giving him that same pitying look again that Cloud couldn't bring himself to argue against, because he was pathetic. He was broken. He was a failure to his mate. "I can get you wet...believe it or not there's an old fashioned way they used to use before the invention of Omegas."

Zack shifted up to his knees, lifting up Cloud's body, only to lay him back amongst the containers of food, reaching out to shove it away. Cloud was stiff, stomach still heaving as he felt like such a failure, self-conscious as those burnt out sclera came into his view, Zack leaning down to kiss him gently as his hands spread both of his thighs. He kissed him until he stopped trembling, moving down then to kiss his way down his chest, lips pausing at the scar. Zack pressed one kiss against it, before moving lower and not hesitating in taking his hard cock all the way down into his mouth.

Cloud cried out at the sensation, hands coming to grip his own spikes as Zack bobbed up and down along his length. A tongue pressed into his slit, sucking hard before pulling up and off him, blowing slightly where his mouth had just been as he watched him. Cloud met his eyes, fierce need reflected in them as he grabbed for Zack's messy spikes, trying to push him back to where he had been, only to be met with resistance as the Alpha smirked at him.

"Don't worry," Zack breathed, blowing once against the sensitive tip. "I'm not going to leave you hanging...Relax, okay?" He grinned at him, before dropping down between his legs, spreading his cheeks as a tongue pressed between them to lick at his entrance.

"Zack!" Cloud screamed, pleasure overwhelming him as the wet appendage pressed inside him...as his Alpha pressed inside of him for the first time since mating...for the first time since the time Cloud had bitten him in Nibelheim.

He clenched his hands into those spikes, feeling like he must be ripping at the Alpha's scalp, but he never protested, never made a nose other than to moan as he lapped his way inside of him. Cloud cried out, arching up his back as two fingers pressed in with the tongue, spreading to give him a better opening as Cloud's cock dripped readily onto his belly.

"Zack, I'm going to cum…" He tried to pull him back, not wanting to give in this early and disappoint him. The Alpha didn't relent, swirling his tongue as he pressed his fingers in deeper, pumping hard in and out as Cloud's stomach heaved with his pleasure. "Zack." Alpha. Mate. "Zack!" He screamed, explosion rocketing through his body as he came hard against his chest, his body starting to convulse as his entrance pulsed in and out, and wetness poured down his legs and into Zack's mouth as the hands on his thighs tightened to crushing levels. Relief and pleasure filled Cloud as he struggled to comprehend anything else beyond his orgasm and the need to be filled by his Alpha.

When the other pulled back from between his legs, his eyes were bright glowing pools, and his teeth were sharp and jagged as he panted. "Cloud…" Zack managed, voice a husky growl as he surged forward, knocking the other back as he claimed his mouth, hands pressing his legs apart almost painfully as he buried himself inside that wetness with a singular thrust.

Cloud clenched around the other, crying out in the pleasure of being filled as Zack did not give him time to adjust before pulling out and thrusting all over again, fucking him hard against the concrete floor as he clung hard to his back and begged for more.

His head slammed back against the hard floor, mouth open in a drooling pant as his back slid with the force of the thrusts. Pleasure overwhelmed him and needwantlovesexbreed filled his senses as he couldn't think of anything beyond this moment...of his mate...of how perfect it was that they were finally together.

His cock had once more hardened, pressing up against his belly as Zack kissed everywhere he could along his neck and clavicle, mouthing along his shoulder as he came up to his neck. "Fuck…" The Alpha panted, sounding pained as his hips continued to thrust. "Cloud I...I can't…" Zack suddenly brought his own arm up and around, leaning down and sinking his fangs down into his own arm while a knot pressed up and inside him as he bit.

Cloud screamed, cumming hard the moment Zack began to release inside him, whiting out as pleasure overwhelmed his body, milking the knot inside him as he looked down to see Zack still biting his own arm hard as his eyes were clenched shut as he came.

Pawing for his mate, Cloud drew his head up and away from his arm, seeing a very clear bloody bite mark that Zack had avoided giving to him. "Come here…" He managed, as Zack continued to empty inside him, the knot stretching him to bursting as he met that bloody mouth with his own, clinging to him as they messily kissed.

After a while, Zack sluggishly lifted his body, pulling out of him and Cloud clenched to prevent any of the seed warming his belly from spilling out. The Alpha pulled back to look at him, stroking sweaty blond spikes away from his forehead. "I love you so much."

Cloud pulled Zack down to his lips to give him his reply, arms entwining around his neck as he poured loveneedaffectiondesire through their bond, hoping Zack would be able to feel just what he thought about him.

He flinched as a knock pounded at the door, clinging tighter to Zack as he knew exactly what it meant. "I have to go…" The growling that reverberated across the room told him all he needed to know about just what his mate thought about that statement. "I'm sorry...I don't want him to come in here and ruin things." Even if Hojo had watched the entire thing on the cameras...even if he knew exactly what was happening, at least they could pretend that they had been alone.

Zack looked up, glowering at the door as the growling hadn't stopped. "I will find a way to make him pay for all of this...to make him suffer."

"I know you will." Cloud did. Zack's hatred of Hojo was thrumming through their bond. "But I have to go now." He kissed him one last time, sliding out from underneath him as he pulled his clothes back on as Zack watched him. "Don't look at me like that...I can't stay."

"When do I get to see you again?" The Alpha questioned. "If you say another year I'll break down that door right now and crush those glasses into his eyeballs."

Cloud shrugged, feeling a desperate pang at the thought of leaving him. "I don't know...I'm sorry…" His chest was heaving as another round of pounding echoed through the room. He leaned down, cupping Zack's face as he kissed him with desperation. "Don't give up on me," he begged against his lips, not being able to bear to spare his mate another glance as he pounded his fist against the door in answer, watching it slide open as he stepped through to meet Hojo's smirking face.

"Progress I see," The scientist surmised, causing Cloud's cheeks to heat in shame as he glared at him. "Do you have the sample still inside you?"

"I don't have a womb, why does it matter?" Cloud bit out, hating the man beyond measure.

"Well you never know," Hojo murmured. "Sometimes the best of scientific breakthroughs are born through failures. Nevertheless, we'll let it sit inside you for a few hours before extracting." Hojo motioned Cloud back towards the hallway and towards his own holding facility. "Oh and Cloud?" Hojo stopped him, Cloud glancing back at him with spite. "Happy birthday."

"Yes," Sephiroth whispered in his ear, feather light whispers of fingers tracing up his belly. "Happy birthday, darling." He shut his eyes, allowing himself just a moment to lean back into the hallucination before it disappeared entirely as he was escorted back to his room to let this waking nightmare continue.

,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.

A/N- Look at me I wrote fluff! Well...I wrote something sweet and resembling fluff if you squint really hard at it. Hope you enjoyed it...Zack is the world's most perfect human and I missed writing them together!