Disclaimer- I claim no rights to Final Fantasy VII

Chapter Eight - The Blood Fang

"You knew nothing about this, Angeal?" Zack's tone held the color of disbelief as he watched his Uncle leaf through the report with a pale face and tightened lips. "Nothing at all?"

"No." Angeal slammed the reports on the table, causing the loose leaf of papers to flutter to the ground. "I did not. I knew nothing of the experiments. I knew nothing of the mako and I certainly knew nothing of the grave robbing." a flicker of hurt crossed Angeal's face. "Do you not believe me?"

Zack's hard eyes softened at the uttered words. "Of course." he reassured, holding his hands up in a calming gesture. "Of course I believe you, Uncle, but the fact remains that this happened under my nose and I cannot let this stand."

"No, I should think not, but Sephiroth and Genesis aren't ones to be trifled with, Zack." Angeal looked conflicted, as if what he just said was ash in his mouth. "You must not make light of provoking them."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zack goaded lightly, the sincerity behind the question all but that. "You act as if Sephiroth and Genesis control this city and not I."

Angeal's lips thinned and Zack's blood ran cold. Did the man truly believe that? That his council members held more control than he did? "You've grown delusional, Uncle, and frankly, you're treading on thin ice." Zack leaned back against his chair, his face twisting into a deep scowl. "Midgar has belonged to the Fair Family for generations and will continue to do so until the Goddess deems otherwise, but it seems that Sephiroth and Genesis believe otherwise." Zack held up a gloved hand, inspecting the fine leather. "Tell me," he began softly, his tone dangerous and caused Angeal's shoulders to tense. "What have they been doing behind my back?"

"As the Council of Midgar, we are tasked in making decisions that our Lord cannot do in his stead." Angeal stated, as if it was recited thousands of times, as if this particular moment was dreaded and the knowledge of such of thing caused Zack's stomach to drop further to his feet. "Lord Sephiroth and Genesis have taken it upon themselves to do such a thing."

"Really?" Zack drawled, taking a shudder breath at the thought of the council-men and women whom he trusted-decided what was best for his city. The very city that was in his family for untold generations and would continue to be so if Zack had anything to do with it.

"Zack-"

"Be. Quiet." Zack ordered quietly. "The experimentation, the missing funds, the weapons cache beneath the manor." Zack smirked when Angeal paled at the last tidbit before pressing on, his tone taking on a lighter nature. "My people-the ones that are loyal-are good at sniffing out snakes and rats, but you're neither are you, Uncle?"

Angeal wisely kept his mouth shut, staring at his nephew as the man stood from his chair and turned to face the window and rather unwisely keeping his back to his Uncle, who could very well be a traitor. "What do you want me to do?"

"What I want you to do is something that your honor would not allow, dear Uncle." Zack kept his back turned, a smile pulling at his lips at the silence that met his statement. "Then again, you would probably do it considering that it is your honor that's on the line."

"I will not kill them-"

"I wasn't asking you to do my job." Zack remarked, feeling offended at having been stripped of such a duty. "I'm asking to continue on as if nothing has happened. Continue being their friend and watching as they strip control from hands. Granted, those hands would have been cold before that happens, no?"

"You cannot do this." Angeal warned swiftly, standing and knocking over the chair in the process. "You cannot put me in this position. They are my-"

"Friends?" Zack finished with a hint of bitter laugh. "What are friends that try to disturb the peace? What are friends that place you in such a position and leave you out of...plans? If that's what they're calling them. Tell me, Uncle, when push comes to shove who are you going to choose? Me or Them?"

"I won't do it." Angeal murmured. "I won't spy on them."

"You won't spy on them, but you're perfectly fine with spying on me?" Zack snorted, holding up a hand when Angeal protested. "Friends since childhood, growing up together underneath the same households for over twenty years and you're telling me you don't know anything about what they're up to? Excuse me for saving this, Uncle, but Minerva Above, you must think me fucking stupid."

"Zack-"

"I spy with my little eye, a rat among the fields, gnawing away at the roots like Leviathan wraps around Gaia and covers it in its warm embrace, depriving us of water and of freedom. Instead, it is you who deprives me of the respect that I worked hard to earn. Did I not heed your advice on matters of importance? Did I not respect you even when you thought of me as nothing but an errant pup running after my master's heels? And in return, you spit in my face? You sit in luxury because it is my will. You are fed, and kept warm in the midst of the harsh winters and you sit and disrespect me and treat my title and lands as if they're your fucking playground?"

"I-"

"The truth." Zack interrupted again. "I want the truth, Angeal and I want nothing more."

Angeal was silent for a long moment before sitting back down, his back bent and his head bowed. "...It was never intentional, our sins, but the more we did it, the more it made sense. We wanted Midgar to remain where it was-prosperous and peaceful-and we would remain as the city of glory, opportunity and dreams. It was the city where we born and we couldn't-wouldn't-let it fall to the wayside."

"So, the experiments?" Zack pressed, his heart heavy at the thought. "How did you think they felt? Being tossed away as if their dreams and lives didn't matter?"

"I pressed that thought to the back of my mind." Angeal confessed wildly. "If we were to succeed then we couldn't think of such things."

Zack stilled at the confession, bile rising to his throat before he forced it down. "You pressed it to the back of your mind? You ignored their screams and their pleads all for the greater good? Tell me, where is the honor in that, Uncle? Or, are you so power thirsty that honor no longer means anything to you?"

"Our actions are justified." Angeal pressed, avoiding the question entirely. "My actions are justified."

"Is that so?" Zack resumed his seat and steepled his fingers underneath his chin. "The ends justify the means? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes." Angeal scowled at Zack's scoff. "What do you want me to say, Zack? That night terrors keep me up daily? That I have a vial of poison in my possession and I have to force myself to stop using it everyday? That my victims screams haunt me even when I'm awake." Angeal stood from his chair, knocking it over in the process. "Tell me, what do you want me to say."

"Nothing." Zack responded dully. "I want you to say nothing, Angeal, but I want you to do something for me." Zack's lips pulled into a wicked smile. "We've discussed it before, no?"

"They are-" Angeal turned his head away, a flush to his cheeks that forced Zack to realize that Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis were more intimate than he realized, but none of that mattered now.

"All of you should have thought of this before you conducted these experiments." Zack shook his head sharply. "The people whom you stripped the life out of served as the main support for their families or had dreams of their own. You took that away and you expect me to feel sympathy for you? For Sephiroth and Genesis?"

"Zack-"

"Fair." Zack murmured, stopping the man cold and he was unmoved by the hurt look that was tossed his way. "You will refer to me as Lord Fair. You have lost the privilege of using my birth name, Lord Hewley."

"Zack."

"From this moment forward, you are to report Sephiroth and Genesis' actions and if you disobey this order, then you will join them on the executioners block. You have a week to bring me something plausible, understand?"

"Don't do this." Angeal begged, his blue eyes pleading but Zack was unmoved. "Lord Fair. Do not make me betray them."

"You have betrayed me." Zack whispered, unable to keep the hurt from his tone. "Do you know how humiliating it is for me for not to know about this? For my own council to play with lives as if they were nothing? The only one who feels betrayed is me and I'll have no more of it. You will do as I say and you will report to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Angeal's jaw clenched, and his eyes darkened with pain. How could it have this come to this? "I understand."

"Very well." Zack nodded towards the door, the dismissal clear. "Leave me, Lord Hewley."

Angeal stood, bowed stiffly, before turning on his heel and leaving the office, the door closing shut gently behind him, but the pain that both men felt, it might as well have a loud slam against the door, hinges breaking off and the wood splintering.

Zack huffed, burying his face into his hands and took in a shuddering breath. How could this have happened? All of those people and Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal taking away lives as if they had control over it? Goddess Minerva was going to strike them and this city down. He wished that he could beg for forgiveness, but did he deserve it? He let Cloud down and he let his people down. He didn't think he deserved forgiveness. He didn't deserve Cloud or his love and most of all, he didn't deserve the Omega's forgiveness, but he wanted it, craved it and he found himself rising from his seat and towards the door, where just outside the mansion and towards the lower quarters where the shops and inns resided. Where an Omega with blue eyes and a soft smile waited. The thought of it made Zack's chest rumble, but he forced the feelings back in.

He would be patient. After all, good things came to people who waited.

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"Are you still reading that letter, dear?" Ifalna's soft voice startled Cloud out of his thoughts and he turned to see his Mistress staring at him with a soft smile. "You must have worn it thin by now."

"Oh." Cloud cheeks flushed, and he placed the letter back into the draw next to him and rose to meet Ifalna near the stairs, smiling when she grasped his hands in her own. "I-the words are very sincere."

"I would expect no less from Zack." Ifalna rolled her eyes fondly at the thought before she sobered. "I trust there has been no news about your parents?"

"No." Cloud whispered, the fluttering of his heart gone at the thought. It had been weeks since Zack's last letter and while that hadn't exactly been bad thing, it wasn't exactly a good thing either, but he knew that Zack had other duties other than investigating the disappearance of his parent's bodies. It was simple to think that the lifestream took them, but not so quickly.

"I don't want to bother him about it." Cloud rushed to explain seeing the emotions flickering across the Beta's face. "I...didn't want to worry him, Mistress."

"He worries for you and the situation at hand and the fact that this has been happening in his city." Ifalna frowned, placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder in comfort. "I'm sure that Zack is working around the clock to solve-" Ifalna turned her head towards the door when the door creaked open, revealing a hooded figure. She tensed before pulling her lips into a tight smile.

"Welcome-" she began, stopping when the hood was pulled back to reveal a set of black locks. "Lord Zachary?"

"Zack." Cloud breathed, going down the stairs and into Zack arms that were quick to pull him into a warm, but cold embrace. "You're here."

"I am." Zack breathed, burying his face into Cloud's warm hair, inhaling the scent of cinnamon that the man was probably working with previously. "I apologize for being away for so long."

"It's alright." Cloud took a step back, suddenly remembering that it was inappropriate to touch an unbonded Alpha, let alone the High Alpha of Midgar. "Are you well?"

"Quite." Zack sobered, glancing up to meet Ifalna's eyes, feeling grateful when she nodded and moved towards the supply room and likely out of the store for the time being. He spotted Aerith on his way and it was most likely that mother and daughter had plans for the day. Good. He would need the time alone to explain the situation to the Omega. To comfort him in his grief and anger.

"Come." Zack urged quietly, leading the man back up the stairs, eerily aware of the worried look that Cloud tossed him. "We have much to discuss."