Chapter 39: Whispers

Zack's biceps strained as he pulled himself up into the vents of Shinra Headquarters, panting from the amount of stairs that he just climbed up to get to floor 63. He was here enough to know exactly what floors required a key card. He had been here enough to also know exactly what floors both Hojo and the president resided on. It hadn't been that long.

Just five years.

Five years of torture.

Five years of terror.

Five years of wasted time where he didn't have his mate—his husband.

He wouldn't waste anymore time. He refused. They had earned a break. Even if it came with stipulations, Rufus had offered them a way out. They could get away from these memories—from anyone that would do them harm.

Which was why he had to break a promise he made to his husband—his everything. Hojo would never stop hunting them, and he didn't deserve to live. Cloud had begged him not to, but it wasn't an option. Hojo would always find them. It was time to stop trying to cut off the heads of the hydra, and instead crush it altogether.

President Shinra would die.

Hojo would die.

And tonight he would fall asleep with his mate nestled into his arms on the boat towards their new life.

Zack crawled slowly through the claustrophobic nightmare of the venting system, trying to remember just how the schematics worked. Rufus had given him a map to study, but he was loath to admit he was rusty on getting a feel for missions. Five years of torture, he supposed, would do that to you.

It occurred to him that after this he didn't need to worry about memorizing schematics, murdering, or weapons training. Hell, they could do whatever occupation made them happy. Maybe in Mideel they wouldn't have the surf shop they had talked about, but they could find something. Maybe they could open up a bar even still? Maybe they could run the weapons store? Maybe he could spend the first months not even caring as he languished all day between Cloud's legs and in his heart?

That's what he wanted more than anything.

First and foremost, Cloud had been his friend. They had spent hours hanging out together. He knew everything about his beautiful omega. They studied together. Played video games. Watched movies. Zack couldn't wait to get home from missions so he could go find the tiny blond with the spiky hair who was too shy for his own good, yet with a rare determination to succeed that he always admired.

Not to say, however, that his feelings towards Cloud had ever been platonic. They may have been friends, but Zack wanted him from the moment he set eyes on him. He loved him not long after that. Fuck—he loved him so much. Zack even loved the parts of his mate that made him want to scream. They were going to make it. They were going to be happy.

Zack pictured his mate's face as he pushed open the vent grate, curling his body into a flip as he landed on his feet at the 68th floor. He couldn't go after the president first. The whole place would be locked down, and he'd never have a chance to make it here. Hojo liked to keep his experiments a secret, which was why the Shinras had given him two entire floors to spread out with his nightmares.

There were no cameras here. No one would know what he had done, but they would certainly find the body. Zack's face hardened as he pulled the sword off his back, taking care to keep silent until he could discern what sort of horrors lurked within Hojo's lab. He had always hated this place—even before Nibelheim. Zack associated this place with his every nightmare. This place had turned him into a monster…a thing led by his instincts and desires. It took away so very much of his life, even if in turn it had given him the biggest part of it.

He supposed he owed Hojo for that. Cloud would never be his if he wasn't an alpha. No matter how much that thought might pain him. Sephiroth would have killed Cloud, and Zack wouldn't have had the strength to send that bastard to hell. Let alone to bring Cloud back from the brink of death with his bite.

Zack crept along the wall, keeping out of sight as he headed further into the sanctum of the laboratory. What all had Hojo put Cloud through in this place? What had he done to all of his friends? He sneered, trying to center his focus as he couldn't let himself get distracted. He had to keep this quiet. Hojo may look like a slimeball, but Zack wasn't a fool to think this would be anything but treacherous.

He could hear the faint echoes of Hojo's voice coming from further in. Zack pressed his back up against a tank, peering around to try to get his eyes on him. He raised an eyebrow as he spotted the greasy scientist. The sadistic creep was sat in front of one of his specimen tanks, talking to what looked to be a…was that a…lion? No, not exactly a lion. It almost looked like a dog/lion? Whatever it was, Zack didn't want to get on its bad side.

"Such a rarity," Hojo mused. "I was impressed when they were able to catch you and bring you to me. I heard you were exploring around the area of Cosmo Canyon. No need to assume who you might belong to. It was a shame what happened to the rest of your species, but you needn't fear, I'll create a new specimen bred from your rarity."

Zack fought the urge to gag, setting his mouth into a frown at just the prospect of what Hojo was suggesting. His father-in-law truly was a monster. He glanced over to the tank he was leaning against, jaw dropping open as for the first time he read the name above the tank.

"Jenova…" No. He hadn't done that. He hadn't brought her here…

"Give me a moment," Hojo spoke to the creature as Zack continued to stare in shock. "I have to deal with a vermin infestation and get back what belongs to me." Zack couldn't drag his eyes away from the headless alien corpse bobbing within the stationary fluid. …Sephiroth had taken that head. "Zachary," Hojo greeted, and Zack knew he should be moving—knew he should be fighting, but he couldn't look away.

"You brought it here?" It didn't matter that he was caught. This was always going to end in a confrontation. "Sephiroth's mother?"

"Yes," Hojo agreed with the assessment. "He needs to know where to find her when he gets back."

The bottom dropped out of Zack's stomach as he spun to face the professor. "Sephiroth's dead. Don't tell me you're delusional as well as sadistic?"

"Do you think so?" Hojo asked, walking closer as he crossed his arms and examined him. "You're looking well, Zachary. Married life suits you."

"How did you—"

"Did you think I didn't know where he was?" Hojo cocked his head. "That he doesn't have multiple trackers inside of his body? I indulged his fantasy of a normal life, because I spoil him, no matter how much he disappoints me."

Cloud.

They knew where he was.

He was in danger.

"Just let him go. He's no good to you anymore." He didn't even understand why he was pleading with this man that he had every intention of killing. It was more like he had been powerless against him for so long that it was all he could do to beg.

Hojo chuckled, the cruel cackling shaking his entire body. "Is that what you think?" He grinned cruelly. "My son has not yet even begun to fulfill his purpose, though what he has already managed will shape the entire course of this world. He is so much more than this infatuation he has with you, but that's how it's always been, hasn't it? He only adores you when Sephiroth is no longer an option."

"He chose me," Zack argued, teeth cracking with how hard he was clenching his jaw.

Hojo cackled again, actually bending forward and holding his stomach. "Of course he didn't. Sephiroth will always be his choice."

"Sephiroth. Is. Dead," Zack repeated, every word a hard growl.

"Hmmm…" Hojo mused. "Cloud never told you, did he?"

Zack knew he shouldn't ask the baited question. He knew he should get this over with and out of this horrible place. But he couldn't—not with such insinuations. Not without knowing if they would ever be safe. "What didn't he tell me?"

"That Sephiroth's been with him the entire time."

"Liar!" Zack hissed, hating the mocking laugh as his insides soured.

"Didn't you ever see him talking to himself? See him acting just a little strange?" Hojo questioned. "Sephiroth has been with Cloud the entire time. They've been connected through the Lifestream that Sephiroth fell into when you attempted to end his life."

"Sephiroth's dead!" Zack repeated, hoping if he said it enough times it would eventually be true. He couldn't think about how the observations Hojo had made rang true. How many times had he found Cloud talking to himself?

"Why do you think he kept it from you?" Hojo continued to dig in the knife. "Do you think it was to spare you pain, or do you think it was because he liked it?"

"Shut up," Zack growled.

"Sephiroth kept him safe for all of those years—all of those years that you left him alone. He was with the alpha he chose. He was with the person who truly owns his soul."

"Cloud would have told me," Zack denied, shaking in anger as his knuckles turned white around his hilt.

"Of course he would," Hojo mocked. "That boy has never been one to keep anything from you—especially regarding Sephiroth."

Cold anger chilled his body, spreading down to his toes as he shut out all the raging insecurities screaming inside of him as he considered the possibility that Hojo could be telling the truth. That Cloud could have lied to him about Sephiroth—again. After vowing to be his. After promising that they were endgame.

No.

They were endgame.

"Sephiroth is dead," Zack repeated, trying to force as much conviction into his tone that he had when first entering, even if he didn't feel it. "Just like you will be. Perhaps you can find him in the Lifestream then, Professor," he spat, turning his sword as he poised to strike.

Hojo grinned, just stepping closer as the imminent danger didn't even seem to occur to him. "He isn't. Do you want proof?" Hojo stared him down while Zack hesitated, heart pounding in his chest as he tried to remember that this man lied. He lied all the time.

"You don't have it," Zack denied, not willing to fall into this trap. He just needed to surge forward. He just needed to end this. So why was it that he couldn't seem to get his legs to move?

Zack flinched as alarms started blaring on the entire floor, and Hojo barreled over in laughter, actually having to hold his stomach as he shook with it. Zack looked all around, trying to find the source of the alarm while Hojo pulled a remote out of his pocket, turning on the wall of screens to their right.

He didn't know what to expect when those monitors turned on, but the President of Shinra slumped over his desk with Sephiroth's sword sticking out of his back was probably at the bottom of the list. He took a step back, sword going limp in his hand as it clashed against the floor. Nausea rose up his throat as his mind tried to reconcile just what he was seeing as his eyes flickered from screen to screen. It didn't matter though—they were all showing the exact same picture.

"Sephiroth…" Zack managed, pressing a hand to his mouth to combat the revulsion turning his stomach. "He's dead." Even as he said it, he knew it was an irrational argument. Because Hojo had sounded so confident, so sure of himself when taunting Zack. It could all just be another trick, but he couldn't deny what he was seeing with his own eyes. "It's not possible."

"Certainly not probable," Hojo argued. "But possible? Sephiroth was built from Jenova's cells. If he wanted to crawl out of the Lifestream in order to fulfill his purpose—not even death could stop him."

The alarms continued to blare, and he was aware that escaping this place was going to be nearly impossible now with the security no doubt swarming. They would find him here. He would need to fight his way out of here and back to Cloud.

Cloud—oh fuck. How could he have left him? How could he have walked into this trap? What would he tell his mate about what had happened here? If Sephiroth was back, what would that mean to them both? Would they be running forever? He needed to get back to his omega. They needed to run far away from Midgar and Sephiroth.

Zack inhaled his determination, raising his weapon again as the alarm rattled his eardrums, and Sephiroth's carnage reflected just behind him. It didn't matter. They would figure it out later. He had come here for a purpose, and he would make sure at least one of the psychopaths in his husband's life never hurt him again.

"GRANDPA!" A voice called from the right of him, and Zack turned his head slowly to see a little boy run out with two hands pressed firmly to his ears. "GRANDPA, IT'S SO LOUD!" A little boy that looked to be around four years old. A little boy in baggy scrubs. A little boy with impossibly spiky silver hair. A little boy that had the exact eyes of his husband.

"Cal!" Hojo bit out, turning actual furious eyes towards the little boy. "You were supposed to stay put!"

"BUT IT'S LOUD!" The boy argued, hands plastered to his ears as he continued to try to yell over the alarm. "TOO LOUD!"

Hojo sighed, reaching into his lab coat for another remote as he shut off the alarms to the floor. "Better?"

The little boy nodded, rubbing at his ridiculous spikes and the world plummeted around Zack. Tears streamed down his face even before he could even form a thought process on what he was seeing. If he thought it, then what he was seeing would be real. If he processed it then he really would be staring down at…

"Your mate's child, obviously," Hojo spoke, decimating any plausible deniability left as Zack threw up on the spot. Hojo tsked, holding out his hand towards the toddler. "Come here. I told you it's not safe for you to just wander around."

"Sorry, Grandpa!" The toddler ran over, latching his tiny fingers around Hojo's hand. Impossibly blue eyes turned towards him, and Zack's insides grew soft at just seeing this child. Cloud's child. The child Sephiroth had taken from them.

Blue eyes watched him suspiciously, stepping back behind Hojo's leg as he peered around the dingy lab coat. "How come you got such a big sword, mister?"

Zack gagged at the question, bawling now as he turned incredulous eyes towards Hojo. Needing an explanation. Needing assurances that Cloud hadn't just spent five years mourning a child that was never really dead. No—it wasn't possible, because he had seen it. Sephiroth had stabbed him through his womb. There was no child. There was nothing left besides pain.

"Did you think I wouldn't be able to scrape out what I needed to salvage the harm Sephiroth had done?" Hojo asked, voice almost distastefully bored as he clutched Cal's little hand.

"Dad?" The boy asked, and Zack fought the urge to scream his lungs out on the spot.

"Yes, Cal—your Dad. He's coming to see you soon." Hojo pointed to the screen where the execution was still prominently being broadcast. "Do you see?"

Cal nodded, smiling shyly as he swung on Hojo's arm. "And Daddy soon?" He leaned against Hojo, smiling up at the vile man like he wasn't a monster.

"Yes," Hojo agreed. "I don't suppose your Dad would want to leave your Daddy behind."

Zack's psyche fundamentally broke in that moment. He screamed, the sound echoing his ultimate suffering at just the thought as he swung up his sword, sprinting forward without time for another rational thought as he impaled Hojo before the bastard had the chance to say another word. To do any more irreparable damage.

Steel slid through flesh, bone, and muscle as it stuck into the wall on the other side of the bastard. Zack's eyes were furious as they met the actual shocked look on Hojo's face as he looked down towards the gaping wound in his abdomen, choking as blood slid down his chin.

"GRANDPA!" Cal screamed in horror, little hands pressed to his mouth as he watched the carnage. "What did you do!?" He screamed furiously towards Zack, but the SOLDIER would never have a single regret about ending that bastard's life—not even in front of the kid.

Zack let go of the blade, stepping back as it was still embedded into the monster's spine. Hojo watched him, eyes foggy from the fading life inside him. "What have you done?" Was what the piece of shit muttered. "Don't…Don't…make him…angry…" Were the last words to escape that putrid throat before the lights faded entirely from behind too thick spectacles.

"You shouldn't have hurt him." Zack turned towards the little boy, finally starting to process what he had done in front of him.

"It's okay," Zack tried to calm him, holding his hands out in front of him. "It's going to be okay now."

"You shouldn't have hurt him!" Cal screamed, and Zack watched the way those blue eyes slitted like a cat. Slitted in the way Sephiroth's always had. "You're a bad man!" Cal stomped his foot, and power crackled through the air. "You're bad!" Zack's eyes went wide for only a moment, before power came crashing into him and he saw nothing but black.

Cloud sighed, staring at the window of Seventh Heaven as he waited for Zack to return. He hated this. Hated being here powerless while the love of his life risked everything for them. He hated the fact that Zack had gone to Shinra Headquarters. That place was cursed—tainted. So much evil had been done within those walls. Even if so many happy memories existed inside them as well.

That was where he had met Reno—where he met Zack. That was where he lived with Sephiroth before the truth came out and everything had turned into a nightmare. That was where he had gotten pregnant. It was where he was convinced they were going to start a family. It was where he had became convinced the feeling of loneliness he had all of his life would actually fade.

He was wrong about so many things. The loneliness never faded in that place, but he thought maybe it could now. With Zack. With their new home and new life. It could finally be okay to feel safe. But he didn't feel safe, and he couldn't stop worrying as he watched out the window for any sign that his mate might return to him.

A pit had formed in his stomach ever since Zack walked out the door. Cloud fiddled nervously with his wedding band as he eyed the paperwork to their new identities on the table. They were so close. So close to being happy that he could practically taste the mako in the air at their new home in Mideel. So why this rotten feeling? Why this nervous weighted hole inside of him when he thought of leaving everything behind?

When he thought of leaving Sephiroth behind…

Cloud shut his eyes as memories coursed over him, recalling every kiss, touch, and word that had made him fall deeper and deeper in love with his silver-haired mate. …His traitorous mate. It would be good to leave it all behind—to finally get the fresh start they deserved. He sighed at the aching hole inside him, unsurprised to see Sephiroth had appeared across the street in line with his vision.

A deep seeded need filled him at seeing the apparition. The Sephiroth inside his mind hadn't made an appearance since Cloud screamed at him in the truck by Kalm. A relief he didn't want to acknowledge consumed his chest as his head rose from his crossed arms, watching the way Sephiroth smiled at him from across the way. It may be selfish and deceitful to have kept this from Zack, but it would have only hurt his husband, and he had done enough of that already. This would be the last time Cloud conjured up this spirit from the depths of his consciousness—from his memories. His and Zack's relationship couldn't survive alongside ghosts. It was time to say good-bye once and for all.

Glancing back towards the bar to make sure Tifa was still upstairs watching the little girl that for some reason also lived at this bar, Cloud rose from the table. He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his spikes, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible as he carefully opened up the door. He had promised he wouldn't leave, but this would only take a moment. In the grand scheme of things, he was sure Zack would understand that he needed to put old demons to rest before they were able to start their life together.

Cloud kept his face down and hidden as he crossed the busy street of the Sector 7 slums, slinking along the alley way towards where the apparition had appeared. He glanced up towards the imposing figure of his first mate, mouth set in a hardline as he hated his brain's ability to conjure up such a realistic looking illusion. "I thought you were mad at me."

"Mad?" Sephiroth questioned, eyebrow cocked as he stared down at him. "Why would I be mad?"

"Because I told you to go away and never come back?" Cloud scoffed. "Figures you wouldn't listen."

Sephiroth hummed deep in his throat, reaching out as he grabbed onto Cloud's shoulder, tugging him close as he spun him to lean against his chest. Cloud sighed, not pulling away as he reveled in just how real those arms now sliding up around his waist felt. "You didn't want me to listen." Lips pressed down to his pulse, and Cloud felt his legs turn to jelly as he leaned his weight back into those arms.

"Maybe," Cloud conceded, not seeing any harm at this point in admitting his faults to his own imagination. "But we have to stop. I have to stop relying on you."

"When he couldn't take care of you do you mean?" Sephiroth asked against his throat, peppering it with kisses as large hands spanned underneath his hoodie and across his stomach. "When all you had was me in that horrible place?"

"I'll always be grateful." Cloud sighed, tilting his head to give Sephiroth more access as fingers skimmed at his waistband. "You'll never know how much, but I don't need you anymore."

"Really?" Sephiroth asked, voice beyond skeptical as he scratched at Cloud's lower belly. "Because you have Zack?" Cloud gasped as his neck was bit, mind somehow conjuring up real pain as Sephiroth didn't press his teeth hard enough to break skin. "Because you married him?"

"Because I chose him," Cloud argued, reaching back to grip long flowing hair while Sephiroth lapped at the bite. "Because you left me."

"I never left you," Sephiroth argued, sounding beyond annoyed. "Unlike him. I've always stuck by your side. I've always been with you."

Always…and never.

"We have to say good-bye. For real this time." Cloud forced himself to turn in those arms, reaching up to encircle Sephiroth's neck as he stared up into those cat-like eyes that spoke of nothing but insanity. "I need to say good-bye to you."

"Why?" Sephiroth asked, reaching down to cup Cloud's face from within the hood. "Why deny what you want?"

"And what do I want, Sephiroth?" Cloud asked, breathy and wanting as his fingers splayed inside Sephiroth's hair. "Tell me." Put him out of his own misery.

"You want us both," Sephiroth stated plainly. "You want to be given permission to have us both." Sephiroth's hand traveled to the back of his head, yanking as he fisted blond spikes, dragging their faces closer. "You love us both."

"Yes…" Cloud whispered, not able to deny it anymore. Not with his own consciousness. "I love you so much." Even now. Even after everything that had happened. Everything that Sephiroth had done. "I love you both so much." It was a selfish want that would never manifest beyond this moment. Beyond this confession to a ghost.

"There's only one problem with that, Precious…" Sephiroth leaned in, their lips so close he could feel the imaginary breath puff against his skin. "I don't want to share."

A wing ripped out from Sephiroth's back then, spanning over the both of them as feathers cascaded down all around them. Cloud watched in wonder, reaching out to catch a feather, while his other hand continued to stroke through Sephiroth's long locks. "You're so beautiful, Seph." Cloud glanced back up at him. "My beautiful monster." He shook his head. "I hate how it ended between us. I hate what you became."

"We're not done," Sephiroth argued, wing surrounding Cloud as he pulled him closer. "We're just beginning…you…me…and our child."

"Where?" Cloud asked, ignoring the stabbing pain at the mention of all their loss. "In hell? Is that where our family is waiting?"

"No, Precious…don't wish such things upon our little Calamity."

"Don't be cruel." Cloud laid his head upon Sephiroth's chest, mind going through a million possibilities of what would have been if their child had survived. If they had been the ones to get married and start a family.

It was a dangerous dream.

"You're the one trying to leave," Sephiroth argued. "You've always been the cruel one between us. But now it's time to go."

"Where?" Cloud managed, knowing he had to pull away soon and get back to the bar before someone noticed him in the street hugging onto air. This was a terrible way to draw attention.

"To our life together—to our son." Sephiroth's wing spanned out, and he wrapped his arm securely around Cloud's waist as the omega just continued to stare. This isn't how he imagined saying good-bye would go. He never wanted his mind to give him hope. A hope that could never ever exist.

"You killed him," Cloud reminded him. "You killed our future. You killed everything between us." He tried to take a step back, unsurprised when the hold around him didn't relent. "You did that, Sephiroth."

"An unforeseen error," Sephiroth mused. "I didn't realize the possibilities if the child had been allowed to grow. He is the one who will bring this planet to heel. He will heal this planet, and soon many others."

Cloud frowned at the assessment, having not heard such delusional tones in Sephiroth's voice since the reactor. "Let go. I don't want to do this anymore." He needed to get back. He had to finish packing before Zack returned. He needed to close the book on this part of his life for good.

"CLOUD!" Cloud startled at the screeched out scream of his name, turning back to the bar to see Tifa standing on the porch with Rude, both staring towards him with wide eyes. "Get away from him!"

Get away from who?

"What?" Cloud asked, glancing up towards Sephiroth, and then to the panic on Rude and Tifa's faces. It was almost like…they saw him.

"Get away from Sephiroth!" Tifa screamed out a panicked command, placing her hands over her mouth in horror.

She saw him?

She saw Sephiroth?

No—she couldn't.

She couldn't, because that meant…

That meant…

"You're real?" Cloud asked, expressing his horror as he looked up towards his mate, watching the way Sephiroth smirked at the realization. "You're real?" Cloud repeated, not bothering to move in the iron grip Sephiroth had on him—knowing he wouldn't be allowed to anyways.

"Yes," Sephiroth confirmed, agreeing with the assessment as he leaned down towards him. "Now let's go get our child." Were the last words spoken, before Sephiroth anchored down his knees, shooting up with him into the sky, and leaving Cloud's perfect future with Zack in the dust.

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

A.N- And that's a wrap! I know I know…I'm horrible for taking a year to complete this ending. I was actually shocked when I looked at the last time I updated. For some reason I had this all mapped out in my mind from the beginning, but putting it into words was so hard. This obviously leaves it open to a sequel that I have no doubts I'll need to write after the game drops at the end of the month. What did you guys think of their little Calamity? ….Cal might be slightly unstable like his father. Also if that wasn't clear, Hojo basically grew him from the cells like Sephiroth was grown. So sorry for ending the story on a cliffie, but that just means there's so many possibilities, right?

Please let me know what you think of the ending, and hopefully everyone wants to see a sequel in the future! Thank you so much for sticking by this story with all its ups and downs. Hope you enjoyed Omega Rising!