It's been awhile guys, I made this chapter extra long!
Sephiroth had considered, hours ago, what he might be capable of if it meant he could keep Cloud safe. He now knew, instinctively, that the answer was 'anything'. Well, almost anything. He wouldn't die for Cloud - no, if he died then Cloud would be alone in the lab until Hojo made or obtained another specimen to continue his research. He might even be angry with Cloud, blaming him for the loss of an even more expensive subject - Sephiroth had heard the words 'priceless' and 'invaluable' when it pertained to himself. He couldn't die, not if it meant Cloud would suffer for it.
Cloud yelped as Sephiroth lunged to his feet, the little boy's head hitting the hard ground from where it had been resting on Sephiroth's knee. A mass of gold followed his leap, but back instead of forth. Wolf grabbed Cloud, her teeth sinking into his loose scrub top, and began dragging him backward. The little boy cried out and Sephiroth couldn't help but wince a little. As gentle as a giant Nibel wolf could be, it was probably not gentle enough to avoid injuring him at all. He wondered if he'd be punished for not thinking of asking for a medical kit - or perhaps he was actually meant to not have one and practice any field medicine with what he had on hand. He wouldn't know until they returned.
A strange feeling that had been rising in the back of Sephiroth's mind became a burning sort of static behind his eyes as they met those of the creature coming toward him. The monster that had appeared in the mouth of the cave didn't hesitate as it lunged towards him, its eyes glowing green and reflecting pinpoints of blue light from the crystals. He took in all that he could as he ducked beneath gnashing teeth to slash at the enormous wolf's throat, managing to only sheer off lengths of matted gray fur.
Like the golden Wolf, the monster had clearly been affected by its surroundings - yet this one had a much more normal, if it could be called normal, reaction to Mako poisoning. Huge, vicious, and mindlessly violent, its head was at the same height as his own - and even at his age he was nearly as tall as an adult.
The katana was heavier than his practice sword, and longer, making his swing too wide and leaving him open to the monster's next surge forward. It was gaunt, but strong, as its teeth snapped an inch from Sephiroth's hand - darting back to avoid the slash that Sephiroth twisted towards it a little more skillfully. For all its thin, rangy form, it was fast. Sephiroth leaped back, feet skidding on the sandy ground as pebbles shifted beneath him and nearly plunged him backward into the pool of Mako-laced water behind him. He managed to stumble to one side, furious with himself for forgetting to keep the landscape around him in mind - he needed to know where everything was! He hadn't taken the time to memorize it, so it would be his own fault if he got hurt. He wouldn't forgive himself if it cost himself any injury, let alone any kind of damage to Cloud.
The growl that seethed through the monster's teeth sounded broken and cracked, stuttering in its throat as it backed away and shuddered. It turned its head to the side, rolling its eyes towards him with a whine, but didn't hold the position for long. Sephiroth spun away from the next snap of teeth, feeling his sleeve catch and tear, drawing a soft growl from his own chest. How dare it attempt to harm him, how dare it look over his shoulder at Cloud - HIS CLOUD, it wasn't wort-, it was just a… he reeled back and shook his own head, trying to knock loose the thoughts spiraling through his mind and forcing himself to focus once more.
He brought his sword up, one hand gripping the hilt and the other palm against the flat of the blade as the wolf snapped at him, succeeding only in hurting its own mouth on the sharp steel. Bloody froth dripped from its jaws and the sound gurgling in its throat made the hair on Sephiroth's arms stand up. It sounded like it was trying to speak now, and he wondered what it would say if it could. Nothing sane or coherent, he was certain.
Behind him, Cloud shouted for him to be careful and Sephiroth bit back an exasperated sound as it inevitably gained the attention of the monster. It was a mistake he'd have to give the little boy a reprimand for. He didn't like doing it, but he also didn't like anyone else doing it in his place. He'd do it before they even left in the morning, so no one else would hear and maybe decide they needed to add their own dressing-down and punishment on top of his.
The monster's head came up and it gave another of those unearthly howling sounds Sephiroth had made him pull Cloud from the entrance earlier and it turned its attention to Cloud again. Sephiroth spared a look behind him and nodded as Wolf darted back towards Cloud - she had been sneaking up on the other monster's flank while Sephiroth had it distracted. Now she stood over Cloud protectively, keeping him half hidden beneath her belly. The growl she had emitted when Sephiroth had shown himself was nothing compared to the snarl she offered the monster. Her lips were skinned back from her teeth and the Mako glow of her eyes rivaled the light of the crystals around her.
Sephiroth used the distraction to bury his sword into the monster's throat, using his momentum to shove it onto its side and his own enhanced strength to bury several inches of the long sword into the ground beneath it. Its claws scrabbled at his legs, claws catching on the tops of the high leather boots and scraping his skin beneath his trousers, trying to find purchase even as it began to weaken. He stared down at the monster as it struggled to breathe around the blade and he swallowed hard as he noticed the collar around its throat and the device attached to it. Carefully, wondering if he could get away with pretending not to see it, he pulled the sword out at an angle and cut through the leather - the camera's lens was quickly soaked with blood but he couldn't take a chance that the microphone was operable.
Sephiroth watched the monster bleed out, looking down at the cat-slit eye glazing over and silver hair turning red. Hojo had said there were more dangers on the mountain. Sephiroth buried the sound that stuck in his throat that wanted to come out in a scream. He wanted to run his new sword into the monster again, no matter that it was already dead, over and over. He wanted to let out the seething fear and rage that he was constantly hiding behind a placid face, hiding behind the 'yes professor' and 'I understand professor' because he never wanted to say yes and he only understood half the time…
He spun away from the corpse and flicked his sword in just the way he'd practiced, Mako tinged blood flying off of the steel in an arc that was somehow satisfying. Red splashed across the space where Cloud had been laid out hours before and Sephiroth hoped that it wasn't the golden wolf's bed.
Slapping the sword onto his magnet harness, he forced himself to walk calmly back to where Wolf was nudging Cloud out from under her. His legs ached, but he thought maybe he wasn't bleeding too badly - the claw marks burned but not in a chemical sort of way that meant it might be venom of some kind. Sephiroth held up his hand as soon as Cloud looked up at him, then pointed to his ear and then tapped his lips. Cloud nodded, knowing their sign to be silent when someone was listening.
Away from the monster and its too-familiar eyes and blood soaked silver fur, away from the camera that could only hear and not see, Sephiroth dropped to his knees. He tugged at the ripped shoulder of the little boy's shirt, relieved to find only a line of deep purple bruises from Wolf's teeth rather than puncture wounds. He pulled Cloud into his arms, holding the shivering boy close, and hid his face in soft golden hair.
There were many things Sephiroth wanted to say.
He'd like to suggest that they run, certain that they could easily survive on the mountain for long enough to climb down the other side. But that wasn't possible when the professor likely had a half dozen other prototype monsters that could hunt them down. There were those infantrymen too, who had much more training in tracking and survival.
He wanted to say he would never let anything hurt Cloud ever again. But that would be a lie. Two days from now there would be more injections of Mako and whatever other painful procedures they decided were due. Soon enough Cloud would start learning to fight with weapons and with that came cuts and bruises and broken fingers. And Sephiroth might be the one inflicting them because already they were having him teach Cloud hand to hand when they decided it was 'more effective' for him to learn from Sephiroth rather than the instructor.
He wanted to say that he'd never leave Cloud behind, but that wasn't for him to decide. He'd thought that morning that they were being separated and he'd only felt bitterly resigned. There were so few options as they grew older, the only constant he knew being that one day he would join SOLDIER. Cloud… Cloud had to go with him. It didn't matter where they were sent, a base or a fort or a battlefield. He could protect Cloud, and Cloud was learning so quickly and so well to defend himself already - he kept insisting that one day he would be strong enough to protect Sephiroth as well.
He tried to think of what reprimand was appropriate for distracting him during the fight and his mind came up blank. He thought, only for a few seconds, that he didn't really need to do anything - but no, the camera had likely heard Cloud's indiscretion and a punishment would be due whether he wanted to administer it himself or not.
He wasn't just going to be Subject S now, if he understood the infantryman who had called him a 'presumptive' Third Class. When they arrived back he would do everything he could to keep them from taking him now or taking him without Cloud. So, he was responsible for Cloud - not just for his rescue during this exercise, but when he would become his commanding officer. He had to devise some sort of appropriate punishment.
The worst part was that after all of this, he hoped that Cloud understood why he was going to be harder on him from now on. Cloud had to be ready. He had to be smart, and strong, and learn everything Sephiroth knew at a much more brutal pace than he himself had ever suffered through. He couldn't let Cloud fall behind, Sephiroth needed him to be prepared to follow wherever he went, and so he had to be more stern with him and he desperately hoped Cloud would understand why.
Sephiroth composed himself as he looked up at Wolf over Cloud's head. He needed to get them far from the monster and its camera, somewhere at least marginally safer than here. Who knew if they would decide Sephiroth had dispatched the beast too quickly? What if they sent another, or several at a time? There could be more let loose already. He wasn't certain even how it had found them, but the most logical conclusion was that their clothing had tracking devices hidden somewhere… he refused to let himself think too deeply of the very real possibility that the devices were somewhere in their bodies.
"Is there another way out of here?" Sephiroth asked, as quietly as possible as he stood up with Cloud still held tightly in his arms, He barely breathed the words and hoped Wolf understood him. The creature was uncannily intelligent, and he would likely be punished himself for not securing such a valuable subject but he would accept whatever it was without complaint. Cloud wrapped his legs around Sephiroth's waist and his arms tightened around his neck. He let the little boy cling. He let himself cling back, turning his face to rest his cheek against the top of Cloud's head. It might be the last time they could hold each other like this. It might be the last time he'd be able to permit it.
Wolf licked the back of Cloud's head again, as she'd done when the boy had been paralyzed. Cloud huffed a tiny laugh, and buried his face in Sephiroth's shoulder. Wolf's exhalation was nearly the same as Cloud's small sigh. She was tall enough to swipe her tongue over Sephiroth's cheek as well, leaving an uncomfortable wet streak behind, before giving a very human-like nod. She turned to pace slowly ahead of them, deeper into the cave.
Sephiroth followed, the blue light of the crystals fading behind him until the only light he could was the Mako glow of Wolf's eyes when she turned to see if he was following. He nodded silently and she turned to continue down and down, through twists and turns. It was difficult, but not impossible, to impress each path into his memory in case he needed to get out on his own… or get back, if he thought he could visit again. There had been hints and insinuations that he would spend some time learning to camp with the proper tools and materials one day, hopefully alone or with Cloud.
He could see in the dark, enough to discern their surroundings, but he was grateful when shifting green light began to illuminate the end of the tunnel. He would never admit to being tired, never complain about the pain in his legs and the feeling of dried blood in his boots, but in his own mind he let himself think it.
Several crevices high in the wall of the small cave were open to the sky, showing the waves of green light outside. Wolf slipped behind to nose at his back, pushing him toward a pile of dry grasses and flourishing moss that had to have been brought here a bit at a time. His theory of how intelligent she might be rose exponentially. Wolves didn't have this kind of foresight and desire to be comfortable, she had chosen her den carefully. And she lay down only after he settled into a seated position himself. Wolf's head tilted up toward the night sky for a long moment, then she curled around them both.
A long pink tongue lapped at the blood drying over small pierced holes in his trousers, but he merely nudged the assistance away. They were probably almost healed, regardless, and he couldn't take his boots off and his pants, to look at them - it wasn't as though he had a medical kit or anything nearby to treat wounds naturally.
"I'm alright," he whispered, he had to be. He'd know in a few hours if infection set it, and if it did he'd deal with it the way he had during the test last year to show how his body reacted to such things and how long it took for the Mako to heal it and whether it worked better or faster six months after that. He'd be careful, and quiet, and not complain when they abraded the wounds.
He thought it was fine though, he'd felt bad faster last time.
Sephiroth let himself relax back against the warm body behind him, holding a now sleeping Cloud, and let himself rest. Not to sleep, not really, and he kept his sword in easy reach once more. The shivering lights outside were calming enough and Cloud was warm against his chest, and…
Sunlight slanted across Sephiroth's eyes, rousing him instantly from sleep, arms tightening instinctively around Cloud who bit off a small sound of pain.
"Sorry," he whispered, relaxing his hold and letting Cloud stand as he rose to his own feet. Frantically, he looked up, trying and failing to discern where the sun was in the sky. He had no idea what side of the mountain they were on - the sun set behind the mountain from the direction of the lab and rose above the town below, "we have to go!"
He couldn't believe he'd let himself sleep, how long had he been out? How much time did they have to make their way out of the cave system and back down the mountain? The way up had been treacherous for only himself, how much more dangerous would it be for Cloud?
"Wolf," Sephiroth knelt and carefully ran a hand over the golden fur along the beast's side, hoping its first reaction upon being woken wasn't to snap at him, "we have to get back."
Cloud twisted his hands in the hem of his shirt, adding, "We'll get in trouble!" Sephiroth automatically tapped Cloud's elbow, giving him a practiced look that had Cloud flushing and smoothing down the material he'd been mauling.
The wolf heaved up to its feet, shaking itself all over from nose to tail, and gave a disgruntled chuff. She darted around him and rushed through the entrance, clearly taking Sephiroth seriously. A word he wasn't supposed to say caught in his throat as he ran after her. They went a different direction than where they'd come from, more left turns than right, but just as continuously at a downward grade as the path to the den they'd spent the night in.
After several turns, he had to scoop Cloud up and rest him on his hip, keeping his sword hand free and the blade itself turned over to face the cutting edge away from Cloud's leg. The little boy had done excellently so far, not complaining even once as the rough ground ate through his socks and bit at his feet.
Bursting out into one more twist to find himself blinking violently as sunlight made his eyes water, he stared around himself in surprise. They were at the bottom of the mountain. He turned to find the entrance to the tunnel so well hidden he would never have known it was there. He hoped that no one else ever found it - if they were being tracked the location wouldn't be very precise from something small enough that he'd never noticed it. There was no way the professor could tell the difference between being on the mountain versus within.
He collected his thoughts and knelt down beside Cloud, resting his hands lightly on small shoulders, "You are C, and I am S, right? You can't forget."
Cloud nodded, hands smoothing down the bottom of his shirt when he clearly wanted to wind his fists into the fabric, "I'm C, you're S. I won't forget… promise."
"Good boy," Sephiroth pressed his forehead against Cloud's, letting out a shaky breath as Cloud leaned into him, "I never told you my name, and you never knew yours, alright? I don't know what they'd do if we slipped up. I shouldn't have told you, I'm sorry I did."
"If nobody is s'pose to know," Cloud asked, "why do you know yours."
"Supposed," he said, enunciating carefully and gently squeezing Cloud's shoulders when he corrected himself. "There was another professor from before you came, from before you were born. He told me my name, and he said it was a really old name from people who died a long time ago. He was strange, and I thought he was kind."
Cloud nodded, "They pretend to be, sometimes."
"Yes," Sephiroth said, "but he pretended for years. And then he left the project because I wasn't what he wanted. His experiments on me failed so he left, and Professor Hojo took over and changed the protocols to make me the strongest SOLDIER."
Sephiroth fought the urge to bite at the inside of his cheek. He'd liked Professor Gast, much more than anyone else he'd ever known. The man had been nice, as long as he was getting the results he expected. Sephiroth had done everything he could to be what Gast wanted. He was stronger than a normal child, and quicker, and more intelligent. But that had not been enough and the parameters of the experiment were much more mysterious and strange.
Whatever it was that the Professor was wanting from him had never fully been explained and not long before he left he'd brought a strange woman into the lab. She had pretended to be kind as well, but her smile was fake when she looked at him. Her cheeks had paled and her hands had been shaking when she shook her head and said 'He isn't.'
That was the last time he'd seen the woman or Professor Gast.
He looked up at Wolf, reaching up to gently stroke along her side, "We will never see you again," he said, "I hope. You have to leave, maybe to the other side of the mountain." He didn't know how much she could understand, but he doubted she could ever understand if he told her she had been seen on a camera and that the professor would be looking for her.
"People will hunt you," he said, staring into her glowing blue eyes as though that would somehow impart meaning, "thank you for helping us, I can not repay you by letting them catch you."
The wolf made a sad sound, a whine deep in her throat as she nuzzled into Cloud's hair and then pressed her nose against Sephiroth's shoulder. She backed up and stared at them both for a long moment, before turning and racing back the way they'd come.
"Don't cry," he told Cloud firmly, giving him a little shake. Cloud turned his face up to the sky and closed his eyes tightly until the urge passed.
"I'm sorry," Cloud pulled up the hem of his shirt and wiped his face on it, "what do we do now?"
Sephiroth thought for a moment, "We tell them that after we were attacked we searched for a more fortified position within the caves and then followed the sound of water to a place further down the mountain and came down that way. It is…" he looked up at the sky, tracing the space between the sun and the mountain to orient himself, "nearly noon. If we go in now, maybe we will be able to have most of the evening off after we've reported in."
Cloud nodded at Sephiroth's expectant look, "I understand, S."
"They'll separate us, C," Sephiroth said, breathing in through his nose and out slowly from his mouth, "they'll want to see if our reports match to catch us. So, where have we been?"
"In a fort…" Cloud searched for the word, "In a safe posi-tion in the cave with water you found. And came down a different way than you went up."
"Good, you don't have to say fortified," Sephiroth said, adding, "actually don't try because they'll know I told you that word and I don't know if they'd think I taught you that last night or if I told you what to say."
It was frustrating sometimes, trying to work out the lines between what they were expected to say and what would be taken as false or exaggerated. Sometimes it didn't matter if he was telling the truth, he was subjected to correction either way - especially when it was Ballard. He loved catching Sephiroth out on something especially…
"And Wolf was just a big Nibel Wolf, and because its color was so unusual and it was tame, we think it used to be someone's pet. People do that sometimes apparently, get animals to try and keep them but they end up too dangerous and need to be put down - and then just dump them somewhere because they're too cowardly to do so."
Cloud carefully repeated the lie back, his face almost perfectly smooth. He might cry again, later, but maybe they'd think it was just from being exhausted and without real food. Cloud almost never cried anymore, but these were extenuating circumstances - perhaps being too stoic would leave a bad impression. It was hard to tell, and depended strongly upon who was debriefing him.
He reached up and touched the hilt of his sword, hoping but not expecting to keep it, and began to lead the way around the foothills to the lab.
C sat very still as a needle was stuck into the inside of his elbow, trying to hide the quick breath he sucked in. He blinked curiously as blood ran from his arm, to the little tube, into a small vial. They didn't take much this time, not enough that it made him sleepy and need to lie down. Sometimes they took a lot, and put other stuff in like Mako that burned and the red stuff that felt kind of nice. Sometimes, like now, they just took a little bottle or two. Cloud had learned better than to ask things about it, and Seph… S said that it was good that he could learn it from him instead of through 'trial and error'.
He fought the urge to kick his feet, not just because it was a bad thing to do but because his feet hurt. Did S' feet hurt too? They probably did, even though S had worn shoes when he'd gone outside before he hadn't been out in a few weeks. The bottoms of his socks were worn all the way off, the little sticky spots on the bottom that kept him from slipping on the cement and tiled floors in the lab had been useless outside.
He didn't make a sound as his shirt was yanked up and over his head, lifting his arms without being told to, to make it easier. He did make a little noise, a tiny one that he didn't mean to, when the Professor poked at the greenish bruises on his shoulder from Wolf's teeth.
"Hm," Professor Hojo walked around the exam table and poked at the bruises on C's back the same as the front, "Clever, very clever… too clever really."
The man turned away from C and waved his hand towards a man C had never seen before. He was tall and his shoulders were really wide - or maybe they just looked like that since he was wearing the same kind of armor that S had worn on the mountain, and the same clothes - uniform, C reminded himself it was called, but in red instead of blue. His expression was grim, his dark brown face not quite frowning but really not smiling either - which C would prefer anything to a smile from someone in the lab except for S. Smiles were nasty things. Smiles meant he would have to work extra hard to be imp-ass-ive during the experiment that was being planned. Even smiles from S were saved up and given only shown sometimes, and almost only in private in their room, hiding beneath the blankets so the cameras couldn't see.
"It didn't break the skin," the strange man said, and he had to be a SOLDIER in those clothes, "and it jerked him back pretty hard from what little we have from the recording before they were out of sight… definitely smarter than a Nibel wolf has any right to be, but then it did den in a cave full of unpolluted Mako."
Hojo made a thinking sound, "Not as much research into creatures that know better than to be captured, more's the pity. They recognize traps and avoid them and any other way of hunting them results in too much damage to the specimen.
"The other boy thought it must have been someone's pet let loose when it got too big, and that sounds about right for around these parts, they might have tried training it like a guard dog," the stranger was much more gentle when he touched the bruises, using his fingertips to measure the distance between them, "damned thing was massive, eh kid?"
C swallowed, not answering since it wasn't a real question and if he vol-un-teered answers without a real question it was bad. S said it had to do with the lessons he was having in 'operation security' and he shouldn't answer anyone but the professor and the scientists. They didn't like 'chatter' and Dr. Ballard said C should be seen and not heard unless told to speak besides.
"Obviously," Hojo sneered, and the SOLDIER did a funny thing with his eyes, looking up and to the side and then twitching one side of his mouth up as he looked at C. He turned his face away, a little confused, and watched the weird look drop from the man's face as he did so.
"Anyway," the SOLDIER muttered, "I sent the infantry guys up to check it out, it'll keep 'em busy anyway instead of getting in your way at least."
"I will be glad to see the back of them," Hojo picked up C's shirt and pushed it against his chest, ordering, "free study the rest of the day."
C pulled his shirt back over his head and then had to pull it back off and flip it around properly. He jumped down from the table, then twitched himself back away from the stranger's hand as he reached out to try and grab him. He went very still, putting his hands carefully behind his back, and looked back up at Hojo for instructions. Was he not supposed to actually go? Why else would the man try to grab his arm?
Hojo waved him off, giving one of his rare and scary laughs - this time, at least, it wasn't pointed at C as he walked out of the examination room. "Regardless of what it looks like Krono, Subject C is nothing like a normal human child, no matter what he looks like - he doesn't need to be coddled like one."
The SOLDIER made a strange sound in his mouth, a sucking whistling noise through his teeth, "Ah, right, of course not."
"Get used to it," Hojo said as C turned down the hallway labeled 'Storage' - the place where things like their scrubs, linens and towels, surplus medical supplies, and C and S were kept.
C's face twisted up in pain, letting it show with no one to see and his back to the camera, as he pulled his socks off, sitting down on the floor to look at the bottom of his feet. Some of the threads stuck in his skin and had to be peeled out of the little grooves. He wondered if shoes helped keep your feet from hurting as bad when you went outside. S said that they would have to wear boots all the time when they were SOLDIERs but their feet would get stronger. It would be just like C's knuckles did, learning to hit things, and the calluses on S's palms and fingers when he started learning how to hold a sword right.
Scrambling up onto his bed, C hurriedly dragged the blankets and sheets into some kind of order. When they'd taken him out, they hadn't given him time to make it up the way it was s'pposed to be. He went to take out the book he had put under his pillow, and then bit his lip as he saw S had left his bed a mess as well.
He jumped down off of his own bed and quickly fixed S's too - just in case. Maybe no one had been in here since S had woken up and got given his new clothes and the armor and stuff. If someone did come now then they wouldn't have anything to correct them for.
The book he wrestled into his lap only claimed his attention for a few minutes as he kept glancing at the door and wondering where S was. Did he not get free reading time? Had they decided he hadn't done the experiment the right way? He tried to focus on the book of military trucks and machines that their teacher had given him when C had asked if he could know more about them. Usually he tried not to say anything unless he was told to, but sometimes he slipped up. This time, at least, his answer seemed to please the man and he'd been given the book from the library to keep as long as he liked… or at least as long as someone decided he should be finished with it and took it away.
He'd got to finishing the part about the difference between comb-bus-ti-ble engines and ones made to run on Mako, when the door opened again and S closed the door quietly and leaned against it for a moment.
S was still wearing the SOLDIER uniform and armor and he began trying to take it off with fingers that shook a little bit. C jumped down from the bed and began to help, ignoring S when he tried to brush him off. The older boy was paler than usual and covered in sweat.
"Let me get the back," C insisted, climbing back up on the bed so he could reach the straps on the shoulder pieces. S's hair was wet underneath, the scent of sweat worse as C pushed it away to see what he was doing.
"I can do it," S said, faintly, but didn't reach back to try and do it himself. Alarm filled C's chest as he worked the buckles open and tugged off first one and then the other piece too. The bracers on S's wrists dropped to the floor, his gloves falling on top of them as S sat down to begin taking off his boots. He didn't say anything else, not even when he peeled his red soaked socks off and watched as his heels started bleeding again.
C hopped down to the floor and ran to peek out into the hallway, listening to see if anyone might see him if he went out. There were people talking further down in the lab, but no one nearby. Taking the chance, he slipped out and into the medical storage room. He pulled out some gauze pads, tape, and disinfectant, then carefully rearranged everything so that it didn't look like anything was missing.
He closed their own door as quietly as possible, turning the knob to keep it from making even a tiny click.
S was sitting on his bed still, staring at the drops of blood on the floor and his breathing so deep and even he had to be doing a counting thing to calm himself down just the way he'd taught Cloud. He didn't react when Cloud took the bloody socks from where they hung from his fingers, and didn't make any sound when Cloud sprayed the disinfectant onto his feet and used the cleaner top part of S's ruined socks to wipe them before wrapping them in what he hoped was a way the bandages would stay on - even if S would heal in a couple of hours it would be bad if they kept slipping. C wondered if he could find a book on first aid or what S called 'field medicine' in the corner of the library they were permitted to get books from. He needed to know how to do better.
Carefully, glancing up at S's expressionless face, C unbuckled the canteen still strapped to S's thigh and shook it gently. It sloshed, just a little, and he opened the cap and put it right up into S's face. The other boy took it automatically and took a small sip, then drained the rest of it. C caught it before it too could fall on the floor.
"Do you want some new scrubs?" C asked as S moved again, unbuckling the wide belt around his waist and pulling it off over his head, straps and all.
S shook his head after another few moments, then stood to begin peeling off the rest of the uniform except for his shorts. He dropped everything on top of the boots, and murmured, "I'm dirty."
C bit his lip again. S hated being dirty, even when the disinfectant soap burned his skin after the Mako showers. That wasn't something he could fix, he couldn't sneak S into the shower.
"I'm sorry," C said, not knowing what else he could do to help, hands clenched into fists at his sides and then hidden being his back because he wasn't supposed to do that where someone could see and sometimes that meant S too because he wanted him to stop doing things that could get him into trouble.
S shook his head, staring down at the pile of clothing at his feet. He bent and picked up the armor pieces and put them at the bottom of the bed, gently kicking the clothes to lay in a heap behind where the door would open.
"It isn't your fault," Sephiroth slowly pulled back the blanket and sheet and got into his bed with a faint grimace, "it's my fault, I messed up, and… and if something happens tomorrow I'm the one who is sorry."
That meant it was C's fault after all but S had already paid for whatever C had done wrong but he still might get punished himself anyways. He hated when that happened, he tried so hard to be good and not make mistakes and it wasn't fair that S would get hurt when C messed up, but S always said it was his own fault because he hadn't taught C better.
The lights overhead went out, the background hum of the long fluorescent tubes fading and leaving a silence behind that made C's ears ring. He looked at the glowing numbers on the clock - four hours earlier than usual…
He climbed into his own bed, putting his book back beneath his pillow and pretty sure now that it would be gone by the next night. He wanted to know what he'd done wrong, but now he was afraid to ask.
C listened to S' breathing in the loud silence, not evened out to sleep but not the soft gasps of exertion from when he'd come in.
It wasn't a good time to ask anything, especially not this, but C needed to know. He pushed his own blanket back and tiptoed to S' bed. He whispered his question, lips nearly touching S' ear.
"Can I think it?" he asked, wanting to crawl into the bed beside S but knowing it would make him more upset if C got sweat on him and maybe got in trouble for that too.
In the dim light of the clock, S' eyebrows came together, "Think what?"
"Um," C hesitated, then blurted it out even quieter, "The C and S words."
There was a long few moments before S answered and Cloud shifted from one foot to the other on the cold cement floor.
"No."
C's shoulders slumped and he went back to his own bed. Disappointment made his stomach twist and he rolled to face the wall. Time passed slowly as he tried to fall asleep, turning twice to look at the numbers. It was when he'd nearly managed it that the mattress dipped and he felt S slip under his blanket.
"I'm sorry," S wrapped an arm around C and pulled him close, "I… I don't want you to forget and say it out loud. I just… if you think you can be good… then it's okay."
Cloud leaned into the hug, "I won't forget, I promise… I'll be good, "
Sephiroth held him a little tighter before going back to his own bed, "I know."
—
Turning his face into the pillow to muffle a sound of misery, Sephiroth woke with every inch of him aching and exhausted. The wounds on his ankles had healed but the skin felt tender against the rough sheets and he had to peel them away from the sweat that had dried on him. The thought of getting out of bed was… unpleasant. He'd mistakenly hoped that when they returned they'd be given time to rest, perhaps even a whole day to themselves for self study. He'd been rewarded with such things before, but he shouldn't have counted on it.
It was all his own fault, he'd known that it was his responsibility to make certain Cloud was taken to task for distracting him during the fight. They'd even given him the opportunity to lie, asking what he had done to punish Cloud and not if he had done so, but he couldn't do it. Falsehoods were difficult to keep track of, always building one atop the other. He'd already lied about where they had spent the night and how they had reached the bottom of the mountain. Had lied about Wolf leaving them after the fight.
Everything had gone too well, he knew, and if he didn't admit to some sort of mistake they might look harder at the other things. So he'd told the truth. He'd said that he had been tired and had simply forgotten. He hadn't apologized, that wasn't the correct response. He shouldn't have even tried to give an excuse but… he'd wanted to look a little less of a failure in front of the SOLDIER who had been there for his debriefing.
The man, Second Class SOLDIER Krono, had been given charge of Sephiroth's punishment and he had felt even more like a failure when he'd been given a relatively easy task to perform. Clearly the SOLDIER thought he couldn't handle anything else. Running on the treadmill was exhausting after the long two days, and he needed to clean the blood from the inside of his boots before they were taken away. Getting blood on his gear and not cleaning it was unthinkable. He ran a finger through his own hair, soaked in sweat, and wished he could take a shower now.
Sephiroth heaved himself up to a sitting position, then carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed to try and get ready for the day. The clock said it was early, nearly an hour before it would shriek to awaken them, but he wanted to make a good impression in the eyes of the SOLDIER who was taking over his combat and survival training. The man had seemed rather easy-going as compared to the unaffiliated instructor had been - that man, Vanget, had been nearly as unpleasant as Ballard and Sephiroth had been dreading the day when he would take over Cloud's training as well.
Pain was a good motivator, it helped you to learn quickly and thoroughly, but it had its time and place; and the time and place should not be dictated by whether or not your instructor was bleary from staying up too late overindulging in substances that Sephiroth couldn't dream of ever being interested in. Vanget had been sent away after the sixth infraction.
As silently as he was able, he tried the doorknob to see if they were locked in once more. He wasn't certain if the emotion that flooded into him was relief or disappointment. Relief that perhaps they wouldn't be punished further but frustration that their current instructions were incomplete. He couldn't be certain if he was meant to dress or to wait and finally get to bathe. If he dressed and had to shower and change again there might be trouble but the thought of clean clothing at least if he couldn't shower was very tempting.
Confusion added to the anxiety that was slowly building in his stomach as he slipped out into the hallway in his shorts, darting to the door of the supply closet and pulling it open. He stared at the familiar shelves and their now unfamiliar contents. The rows of scrubs were gone - no more neat stacks of pale blue shirts and tops and random colors of non-slip socks filled the shelves.
Instead, dark blue trousers and knit tops filled one shelf, black shorts and socks in boxes at the end of the row. The light blue clothing beneath it was different as well, not scrubs at all but another sort of uniform. He picked one piece up, the top, finding it very small indeed - clearly meant for Cloud. White socks and shorts finished off that row, along with a pair of very small boots, and he gathered what they would need for the day.
His eyes fell on one of the packets of wet wipes that were meant for cleaning surfaces rather than people - stacks of them piled beside the bottles of floor disinfectant and packages of hazmat materials. Hurriedly, he placed the armful of clothing on the floor and snatched a handful of wipes from the closest package. The faint smell of vitamin c supplements filled the air as he scrubbed himself down, then wedged the dirty wipes behind the shelf where he couldn't imagine they'd ever be found. The scent was mild enough that he thought no one would notice and he felt so much better being even marginally cleaner. His hair was another thing entirely but he would take what he could get, he still had the hair elastic from the day before after all.
Back in their room, slipping back in as quietly as he'd managed to leave it, he carefully tugged the blanket up over Cloud's face before flipping on the lights. He could afford to let him sleep a few more minutes, even as tired as Sephiroth felt he didn't want to be spiteful and ruin the little extra rest Cloud might be able to have today. Particularly since, based on the clothing he'd found in place of the toddler sized scrubs, he didn't think that today would be an easy one for either of them.
He worked to remember exactly how to put everything on. Soon enough he'd be able to do all of this in pitch darkness, and he would be certain to learn it before it was required of him to do so. It was easy to predict what he would need to learn sometimes and this was one of them - a SOLDIER might not have the luxury of even a kerosene lantern in a war-zone after all. The armor was more difficult - the infantryman had assisted him when he'd put it on and Cloud had insisted on helping him remove it.
He bit his tongue to keep in one of the words he knew but wasn't supposed to speak aloud, fingers fumbling at the buckles behind him before struggling out of the entire thing and trying to see if he could buckle them first and then put it on and finish up the front where it attached to his shoulders.
With a triumphant smile, Sephiroth settled the pauldrons in their places, pulled on the knee high boots, and tucked the gloves into one of his many trouser pockets. Unable to put it off any longer, even though the clock said they had a quarter of an hour before the alarm, he gently shook Cloud's shoulder and pulled back the cocoon of blankets wrapped around him and over his head.
"C, it's time to get up," he whispered, jostling the little boy's shoulder a little more roughly as Cloud tried to wriggle back down under the covers.
"It's not!" Cloud insisted, the second word drawn out into a yawn, "the alarm didn't say so."
"I know," Sephiroth pulled the edge of the blanket out of Cloud's grasping fingers and all the way off to the foot of the bed, "but there are new things."
Cloud rubbed at his eyes quickly as he sat up - new things were dangerous and he knew how even a little bit of hesitation could mean days of correction if the novel procedure was forgotten. Even a mistake could be seen as rebellion, and was just as likely to be seen as willful disobedience rather than genuinely forgetting about it.
"What is it?" Cloud leaned forward and grabbed for the blanket and sheet again, this time not to cover himself up but to set his bed to rights. The huge book full of pictures and diagrams of vehicles went back under Cloud's pillow, out of sight and hopefully out of mind of whoever inspected their room.
Sephiroth placed the new clothing on the neatly made bed once Cloud had finished, "We have uniforms now," he said, unable to keep the little scrap of excitement that was replacing the anxiety, "real ones, like SOLDIERS"."
He had to help Cloud with the button and zipper of the trousers and the line of buttons up the front of his shirt, then did everything and let Cloud struggle through the process of doing them all up himself. He remembered the first time he'd been given clothing that wasn't scrubs - no one had shown him how to do this himself, he'd had to figure it out and he'd embarrassingly missed some of the buttons and been reprimanded for it. Just another thing he could help Cloud avoid by example and like with most things Cloud figured it out on the first try by himself with a soft frown and his tongue bitten between his front teeth.
The belts and suspenders took a moment for both of them to work out exactly where they fit, but they were both kitted out before the alarm went off.
"The boots are going to hurt," he crouched down and helped Cloud into them, letting the little boy tie them himself, "for a few days, maybe a week or so, but you'll get used to them."
"They made you bleed," Cloud noted, pointing at the socks now covered in rusty brown stains and adding quietly, "I'll be a good boy, I won't cry."
"I know you will," Sephiroth murmured, tugging gently on Cloud's sleeve to stand in front of the door. Things were different, too different, too fast. Leaving the room, even appropriately attired, was unthinkable. They would wait until they were summoned, and be ready to do so.
He squared his shoulders, ignored the rub of leather against his still tender ankles, and hoped that his punishment the night before would be enough to keep Cloud from suffering today.
—
Joel stared up at the ceiling, the glaring light of the clock beside the narrow bed was more than enough to see by - with his enhanced vision he could have seen clearly with merely the light from beneath the door, one of the many cursed perks of being a SOLDIER. It was never quite dark enough for him now, although sleep eluded him for many more pressing reasons than too much illumination.
If it weren't for the fact he would definitely disappear, either into a body bag or one of the cages in the furthest reaches of this underground facility, he would have been tempted to walk away from this assignment. As it was, he was sorely tempted to see how many of these doctors and researchers he could take out before one of the troopers managed to get a lucky shot and put him down.
He'd managed to hide his rage after that one slip the night before, when the tiny little kid had flung himself off the metal table and landed with all the grace of Nibel wolf. The fact that he'd cringed away from Joel's hand when he'd instinctively reached to catch him was telling and he didn't think he liked the story it told.
If the littlest kid was unnerving, the older one was downright spooky. Silver hair and those same glowing Mako eyes that belonged more to a cuahl than a boy.
What the fuck was going on here?
His orders had said he was going to be a combat instructor for future SOLDIERs in a secret facility in the mountains. He'd expected young men, not children. Not a toddler and a ten year old boy who could terrifyingly pass for older - meaning they could get away with deploying him as soon as they got the OK from Joel that his training was complete.
He calculated in his head how long he might delay it, stretch out lessons and add as much as he could to what was expected of him. It wouldn't be much but dammit if he wouldn't try and keep this boy from the battlefield as long as he could. Years would be ideal, long enough for him to at least be the ordinary minimum for a cadet to sign up.
Joel wondered if the monster that the little boy, apparently only designated 'S' had fought was his first kill. He hoped so, but that sort of hope was probably wishful thinking. He'd had to keep a straight face as he'd watched the fight through the lurching camera attached to said monster, knowing that it had been sent after them on fucking purpose.
Measuring the width between the teeth of the wolf that had grabbed the one named 'C' had given him chills. The moment he'd seen it on the camera he'd felt his stomach lurch, thinking the worst that another monster had attacked from behind - but no, it had grabbed the toddler and taken him out of the way and kept him safe. He hoped it eluded the men sent up the mountain with heavy duty tranquilizers - it probably had been someone's guard animal at one point before it had gotten into the Mako runoff from the reactor and tripled in size.
He hadn't expected to be in charge of what he'd had to do the night before, the slimy scientist casually dressing the older boy down for not 'correcting' the little one for calling out and trying to be helpful even if he had dangerously distracted S. He'd softened it as much as he could, but hadn't been expecting S to have to run the laps he'd grudgingly assigned right then and there after having such a wretched two days.
S had then asked, very solemnly and seriously, if he could do more in exchange for C not being punished as well.
Joel had instantly agreed, giving that fucker Hojo a sidelong glance that challenged him to disagree. The scientist had rolled his eyes and waved S back to the treadmill. The kid was tough, he gave him that, and more - he never even showed how exhausted he must be when he was sent back to his room.
It was good that all the rooms down here were made of thick stone, as no one could have heard Joel punching the rough bricks in utter rage. He couldn't remember ever feeling so angry. Or so helpless. It was crystal clear why he was quartered down here in the lab rather than upstairs in the mansion where the doctors and scientists all slept - he couldn't expect to slip out of here unnoticed. Especially not with two young children who might have never seen the outside world until the previous day.
He couldn't kill everyone himself, he was only one man, and someone would inevitably escape to set Shinra on his tail if he managed to get them out without getting killed himself.
He felt a little sick. He honestly couldn't begin to unravel that - wondering just what the higher ups in the company knew about what was happening here. It wasn't as though he was loyal to the company. He didn't think anyone in SOLDIER or the rest of Public Security were the sort of loyal that warranted blind trust in their superiors beyond the men who actually served with them.
That sort of loyalty was something he respected in Wutaian Ninja, but couldn't relate to in the slightest.
He rolled out of the bed and began dressing quickly and efficiently, the actions so familiar he did them on auto-pilot. He'd given up on sleep hours ago, best to make himself presentable. He was meant to be a 'good influence' and he had a feeling that had nothing to do with morals and ethics - but damned if he wasn't going to do his best to instill them anyway. Clearly the older boy, 'S' he reminded himself with a twist of his lips, had a great deal of empathy for his little… brother, Joel decided that was the closest fit. He wasn't certain whether they were related by blood in any way. Although they shared physical characteristics, the cat-pupiled green eyes and the metallic sheen to their hair was starkly unnatural and must be caused by whatever fucked up shit was being done to them.
And that was another reason it would be difficult to try and kill everyone here and rescue them, they would be so recognizable that they would only manage to survive by completely shunning civilization. That also presupposed the boys would accept his help. He had to think of them as something close to… he'd heard of POWs during the Junon/Costa conflict decades back who had been captive so long that they didn't want to leave. They didn't remember how to survive without the structure that kept them prisoners, particularly in a world devolved into anarchy with both governments in shambles and infrastructure gone to hell.
S had been so calmly accepting of being punished for something he should never even have to contemplate that he probably thought it was normal. He might not want to run, or even know what to do if they did.
Joel rubbed his hands over his face and resisted the urge to punch the wall again, then squared his shoulders and stepped out into the dimmed corridors of the lab with the burning reek of Mako in his nose and a burning rage in his chest that he told himself he'd not let cool.
It was one thing for these kids to be so resigned to their fate that they were cold about it - Joel wouldn't let it happen to him. He would just tuck it away until it was useful, like every other resentment he had toward the company. Apparently he'd hidden it too well, since he'd been hand-picked for this.
He kept it locked away and didn't even grit his teeth when he set eyes on the boys standing at attention in the training room and wondered if anyone had even questioned why they needed an infantry cadet uniform for someone less than three feet tall.
Someday, Shinra was going to burn for this.