Chapter 10: The Ride to Hell
Cloud vomited into a bucket, having been crouched into the corner of the truck for the last several hours. They were on a truck disguised as a supply run, heading to his hometown, and he didn't know what was making him more sick, the car, or the fact that Sephiroth and Zack were sitting side by side on the bench of the truck.
He hadn't been feeling well since he had woken up in the morning with the realization that he was going to have to go discover some hard truths with both men whom he was currently sleeping with. His nerves were beyond frayed as he threw up yet again, ignoring the looks he was getting from the two men. Zack, one of pity and worry, whereas Sephiroth's was definitely disgust.
"Spike," Zack cojolled, and Cloud shuttered as he felt a hand pressed to his lower back. "You just have to relax."
Cloud reacted without thinking, slapping the hand away from him as he stood up in the truck, chest heaving as sickness and anxiety overwhelmed him. "Don't," he snapped, rubbing his hand through his hair as he had discarded his helmet hours ago when he had started vomiting.
He had agreed to come because Sephiroth had asked him, a fact that he would try to break down when he wasn't so panicked. However, he knew he shouldn't be going. He was breaking the rules. Hojo had given him specific instructions. He wasn't supposed to leave. He wasn't supposed to go to that place. His mind flashed to a white room. To a tank full of mako. To choking on that liquid as a tube was pulled from his throat.
"We should turn around," Cloud pleaded, face pale and clammy as he couldn't bring himself to look at either of them in his panicked state. "He's going to find out." He would know. "He'll punish...He'll…"
Cloud sobbed as he was pulled into Zack's arms, letting those arms wrap around him as he fought the urge to push him away. He inhaled deep, filling his lungs with the alpha's scent as his pupils dilated.
"Spike," Zack spoke softly. "Do you mean Hojo?" Those strong arms continued to hold him as he shook like a leaf, not pressuring him for an answer as sickness roiled in his belly.
"It stinks in here," Sephiroth commented, and Cloud watched as he got up to speak with the driver. "Pull over. Give the cadet a break."
Cloud shut his eyes, leaning against Zack as gratefulness swept through him. He inhaled in and out, not sure why the touch of Zack's fingers along his spine made his skin crawl. He loved him. He loved him more than anything. So why? Another wave of nausea swept through him as he grabbed for his belly, moaning in misery as he allowed himself to be walked back to the bench as Sephiroth jumped out to empty the bucket of sick.
Zack maneuvered them upon sitting so that Cloud was laying on his lap, and he sighed in pleasure as fingers carded through his sweaty hair. "He must like you," Zack teased, and Cloud breathed in relief as his stomach stopped roiling. "Never thought I'd see him empty out vomit."
Tears rolled silently down Cloud's eyes as those fingers never left his hair, and he knew for a fact that he didn't deserve Zack after what he had done to him. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me," he spoke softly.
The SOLDIER gave a hearty laugh, leaning down to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry so much. I'm pretty strong. You'll find I don't hurt that easily."
But he would hurt him. As soon as he found out he had slept with someone else, Zack would be irreparably hurt. It wasn't just that though. He was disobeying the scientist's orders. When he found out, what would he do to teach him a lesson?
Cloud turned bleary blue eyes up to Zack, seeing those worried violet eyes watching him. "I don't deserve you. I'm not what you think I am." What was he exactly? "I'm going to disappoint you."
The SOLDIER rolled his eyes, leaning down to press lips to his clammy forehead. "You could never," he assured him, looking up as Sephiroth climbed back into the truck. "Think we can give him a few more minutes?"
Steeling his nerves, Cloud hazarded a glance up to Sephiroth, flinching at the cold anger etched onto his features. It wasn't just Zack he was hurting then. Of course it wasn't. A new wave of guilt washed through him, but he felt too ill still to raise his head.
"We've already risked being seen by stopping once," Sephiroth spoke, frigid anger in his tone. "He is a trooper of Shinra. He needs to learn to ride in a car."
"You know it isn't just that," Zack argued, annoyance in his tone. "Hojo did something to him."
"Yes," Sephiroth agreed icily. "I imagine he did a lot of things to him. Suck it up Cloud. Genesis is only going to be able to distract Hojo for so long."
Cloud pushed himself off Zack's lap, eyes locked with Sephiroth's as anxiety swelled throughout him. He had displeased the alpha. He had upset him. He shook his head to clear the thought. "We can go," he managed, trying to imagine just what Genesis had come up with to keep Professor Hojo busy while they snuck out of the city.
"Spike, we don't have to," Zack assured him, glancing back up towards Sephiroth. "What exactly does Genesis plan to do to keep the creepy professor distracted?"
Sephiroth scoffed, rolling his eyes as he motioned to the driver to start up again. "He told me he was going to tell the professor he suspects he might be pregnant."
Cloud's stomach rolled again at that as the turned back onto the road, and he grabbed for the freshly emptied bucket to empty out the contents of his stomach once again.
When the car came to a stop the second time, Cloud had managed to work himself back into a bit of a state. He stared at the truck doors, willing them never to open and reveal his hometown. He hadn't wanted to come back here so soon. He hadn't wanted to come back still a failure.
Yet, the door opened regardless, revealing the town entrance. It sparked something in his memory. It just didn't spark enough. He knew he had been here. He knew this was where he was raised. Yet, he couldn't remember anything about it. Who were his friends? What house did he live in? Why couldn't he remember his mother's face? Her voice?
He curled his knees up to his chest as the other two rose in the van. He gripped at his spikes in anxiety, turning to look up at them. "I'm scared," he admitted, having nothing more in his stomach to throw up due to nerves.
"Cloud," Sephiroth bit out in frustration. "I'm not staying on this vomit infested truck for one more second. This is your hometown. We are here getting answers for you. Stop being a petulant brat."
"Sephiroth!" Zack hissed, and Cloud saw anger cover his face. "Don't speak to him like that."
"I can speak to him however I want to," Sephiroth assured him, looming over Zack. "He's meant to obey us. You know that, right? Hojo may be trying to make him into something else, but that's not why he came to be."
"You don't know anything about him beyond your tests," Zack bit back. "What do his results have to do with what he's gone through? You don't know what happened to him here!"
"I doubt he does either," Sephiroth motioned to him. "He's an experiment, you realize? For us?"
It felt like he had been slapped, and he didn't know what had set Sephiroth off in such a way. This had all been his idea. He had been the one to ask both him and Zack to come. A few days ago he had been kissing him awake in his bed, and now he could hardly stand to look at him.
"For us?" Zack questioned softly. "What do you mean for us?" Cloud froze as he realized what Zack was inferring, and dread filled his stomach.
Sephiroth rose an eyebrow, obviously realizing his slip. "Just because you're the one fucking him, do you imagine that the rest of us can't smell him?"
A growl broke out from Zack's chest, and Cloud whined at the reaction it caused in his own body. "Careful."
"Do you think you're the only one to look at him and want him?" Cloud squirmed where he stood as the growling increased.
"Stop," he tried, but both alphas were ignoring him as they stared each other down. "He's just saying what everyone knows, Zack," he tried, reaching out to grab at that stiff shoulder. "You know what it was like when I was in heat." He rubbed up Zack's spine, leaning into his ear. "Can we just get this over with?"
Zack looked back at him incredulously, shrugging the hand off him. "He's not talking about your heat," angered violet eyes turned up towards the General of Shinra, slitted and dangerous. "Are you?"
Sephiroth hummed in his throat, looking back and forth between them. "No, Zackary," he started. "I'm not just talking about his heat."
Cloud felt like ice water had been poured down his spine, gritting his teeth as he turned betrayed eyes towards Sephiroth, who simply rose a challenging eyebrow in reply. "It doesn't matter. We have limited time, and I'd very much like to get this over with."
He pushed passed Sephiroth out into the fresh air, inhaling shakily as he couldn't bring himself to glance back at the two growling alphas. He had messed up. He had ruined things between all of them, and he would repent for that later. He would repent for it after he had his answers from this god forsaken town.
It wasn't a surprise to smell Zack's scent come behind him first, but he didn't dread it any less as a possessive arm wrapped around his waist. His SOLDIER was trembling with anger, nails digging into his hip as Cloud couldn't take his eyes off the town sign at the entrance. If he looked back into those eyes he would confess everything. If he saw the hurt and anger on that face he would ruin everything for sure.
"Cloud?" Zack questioned kissing his cheek as he held him close. "Before...before back in Wutai you said 'one of you' I asked you who you meant. You said there was no one else."
Cloud allowed himself to lean back into those arms, taking an inhale of his scent before turning to face him. "I love you." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sephiroth frowning at him from the truck. "Always...we'll get through this."
Zack looked like he had been slapped, eyes widening as Cloud all but had confirmed that something had happened between them. He couldn't lie to him anymore. Zack was his alpha. He knew he had wronged him.
He knew he was going to hurt him.
"Zack…" The alpha pushed passed him, but not before he was able to see the pain etched on his face.
Cloud cursed, covering his mouth to stop the sob as he turned angry eyes up to Sephiroth as he came over. "You did that on purpose," he growled under his breath, bleary accusing eyes fixed on the general.
"Yes," Sephiroth confirmed. "I was sick of beating around the bush with him. Try watching the one you want snuggled up on someone else's lap for 8 hours, and see how rational you can be." There was no humor in his voice as he reached out and dragged Cloud's head to the side. Cloud shoved at his chest, but he didn't budge as he smelled him. "Your scent has changed." He dragged those eyes back up to his. "You're sick, and your scent has changed. If he had any sense he'd be fully aware what that meant, but he rejects the Alpha side of him. He does not allow himself to realize what it means to be with you."
"And what does it mean to be with me?" Cloud questioned, not understanding what Sephiroth meant about his scent.
"The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. Your other half." Sephiroth gritted his teeth, as if debating something. "You shouldn't be with him. You were meant for me."
"Why?" Cloud bit out. "Because you said so? Because you took it upon yourself to implode my relationship?" Even though he was fully aware he had done beyond enough to decimate it himself. He wasn't innocent.
"Do you not see all the pieces lining up?" Sephiroth questioned. "Do you not feel what I feel?"
"I feel sick," Cloud replied with, ripping his face away from the alpha and heading into the town, doing everything possible to avoid vomiting into the bushes as he did.
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