Sephiroth dropped down to land with one boot resting between Cloud's shoulder blades, all of his weight bearing down as he kicked the smaller man's sword out of reach. Cloud, barely conscious, soaked in blood, with his clothing in tatters after Sephiroth's airborne barrage groaned faintly but lay unmoving. Crimson was splattered all around him, pooling and spilling and only ceasing to spread as Sephiroth raised his hand and magnanimously healed the wounds - not completely, not all of them, but enough that Cloud would live.

He used the tip of Masamune to flick away the hair hiding Cloud's pained expression and drank it in. Long eyelashes fluttered against his pale face, lips parted in gasps of misery as Sephiroth lowered himself to dig his knee into the small of Cloud's back and wind his fingers through sweaty blond strands. He jerked Cloud's head up, roughly forcing him awake.

"What," Cloud's voice was thin and breathy, "what do you want ?" he asked again, this time with a beautiful trace of despair. His eyes rolled up to look at Sephiroth before falling closed again.

"I think I want to make a deal with you," Sephiroth said, surprising himself as the idea floated temptingly at the forefront of his mind, "Come with me of your own free will. If you do everything I say without a struggle I won't summon Meteor to destroy this miserable planet. You know that it's useless to fight me regardless, you're going to bleed out if you're not careful. If I have to force you and drag you through these ruins, I'll break your body and make you watch as I take away everything you hold dear."

Sephiroth didn't truly want to ruin the man's body. His true intentions were to defile Cloud's mind and desecrate his soul. He longed to twist the man beneath him until he submitted to despair and begged to become his puppet again. And once he accepted his place at his master's feet, Cloud would willingly aid him in destroying everything Sephiroth would teach him to hate.

"Well, Cloud?" he drew the man's name out, caressing it, feeling the body beneath him shudder, "You have only a moment left before I cut your throat and watch the light leave your eyes. It is your choice. Submit and give yourself to me, or die and leave this world to suffer everything you know I'm capable of."

Cloud made a choked sound, writhing under him, reopening barely closed wounds. His breath came in pained gasps and his hands curled into fists before he huffed a whimpered breath and went limp beneath him. No words fell from his lips, but Sephiroth could feel him break, just a little.

"Good boy," Sephiroth praised as he dragged Cloud to his feet by the back of his ruined shirt. He lifted the slight body in both arms to cradle him against his chest as though Cloud were truly worth something. He looked up and out, watching the approaching airship with a small smile, and loosed his phantom limb. The black wing unfurled, then whipped forward to encircle him and his captive.

His own face ached with a vicious grin as Cloud shrieked in agony. The feathers stroked against all the flesh revealed by his tattered shirt and traced along his bare arms, shadows sinking deeply into his skin before vanishing. It truly had been a shame his Geostigma had been cured. For a few hours, at least.

Cloud woke slowly, darkness clinging to his mind and weighing him down. Everything… Everything hurt. He was laid out on something hard and cold, feeling as though he'd had every scrap of warmth leached out of him. He shivered, the tiny twitches of his muscles making the slashed cuts and piercing wounds sting. No warmth of blood trailed over his skin, the cold air around him made it quite obvious that he was stripped to the waist. His fingers and toes were numb and nearly unresponsive when he tried to make them move.

He wasn't certain what he had expected when he'd gone to face Kadaj, but it hadn't been this. He couldn't help but admit that maybe… he hadn't planned to come back. If things had gone right, if he'd been strong enough, if he wasn't a coward who gave up after just a little pain… He was a coward, a weak and pathetic coward - everyone knew it, he ran from everything these days. He'd had a minuscule glimpse of hope when he'd been healed, but now he felt the corruption as even colder shadows spread beneath his skin.

If he could find a way to escape, Cloud wasn't certain he would take the chance. He'd just be leading them back ho-. He'd be leading Sephiroth and the last two Remnants back to Edge where they would have a thousand hostages if they cared enough to use them against Cloud. Unless they gave up whatever plot they intended to use Cloud for, unless he was just as worthless as he felt… he knew he was. Then they would just kill everyone. And it was like Sephiroth had said. They'd make him watch.

He tried to swallow down the tiny noise of fear as hands came to rest on either side of his face, thumbs settling against his eyelids to keep him blind.

"Poor big brother," a lilting voice spoke above him, "are you comfortable? I can make it better if you promise to be a good boy for me." The epithet from those lips sounded strange from anyone other than Sephiroth. The dark purr was there, but it lacked the familiar hatred. It was always edged in hate, but something in Cloud had always responded to it.

He flinched at his own thoughts, shoving away the venomous desire to be praised by his one time hero and role-model. When was the last time someone told him he'd done something right? The thought rose from the back of his mind where he'd also pushed it away, the cold knowledge that he couldn't remember cut him like a knife.

"Well, brother?"

Cloud was dragged out of the spiral he'd fallen into, disturbingly grateful for the reprieve. He startled violently when he felt long strands of hair spill over his cheeks and Yazoo pressed their foreheads together. His laughter rolled through Cloud, spreading warmth into him for a brief moment and when it passed he felt even colder.

"Oh," Cloud felt the Remnant's breath ruffle his hair, "you do want to be good. For him, at least. He'll be so pleased I'm sure. Will you be good for me in his absence?"

Cloud's voice crackled in his throat as he spoke, "Where is he?"

"Don't worry," Yazoo's voice was strangely soothing, unthreatening regardless of the words that followed, "He said he promises he isn't killing anyone you care about."

Fear flickered through him. Cloud knew that Sephiroth had no incentive to keep his word, other than to manipulate his captive further. How would he even know if that agreement would be fulfilled? He couldn't know, he'd never know, he was trapped here - wherever here was. He'd wondered, back then, what might happen if he did give in. If he'd just let Sephiroth take him, would he have left everyone else alone?

Fear beat in time with the quickening rhythm of his heart as the idea spun out in his mind. He admitted to himself, in a dark place he'd kept hidden from the others at all costs, that the times when he'd been completely drowned in Sephiroth's influence had been the only time he had felt peace. He tried to shy away from the thought but it kept rising to the forefront of his mind… Maybe if he was good , if Cloud asked for it, he wouldn't have to think anymore. Nothing else would matter.

"Hmm," Yazoo made a soft sound of inquiry, "how very interesting. Ah well, for now brother you'll come and eat for us - we wouldn't want you wasting away. That wouldn't be any fun at all."

Cloud opened his eyes, finding himself resting on a table in the ruins of what had once been a home. The windows were boarded up but he could see the disturbed dust where valuable things had once been before looters had made their way into the shattered remains of Midgar. He could hear rain pounding down outside as he rose, and shivered, feeling the hair on the back of his arms rising and the skin pebbling in the cold air. He looked down at himself, surprised to see only thin silver scars decorating his chest and stomach where he'd been nearly cut to pieces.

He let out a relieved breath as he saw his pallid skin was unmarred by black streaks. He remembered the soul-sapping pain of the stigma, swore he'd felt it again before he'd lost consciousness, but he had no marks and the only pain he felt was muscle strain and fatigue.

A hand clasped around the back of his neck and began steering him away, "Stop dawdling brother," Cloud let himself be directed, not knowing what else to do. He stalled in the doorway, finding the last surviving Remnant sitting in a chair at a small table. The dining set looked far too small compared to Loz, his heavily muscled frame dwarfing the delicate chair and the hands resting on top of the table could easily snap it in half. A small pile of military rations were heaped in front of him. Each package had black bar with yellow triangles blazoned on the front and back indicating they were specifically intended for the metabolism of a SOLDIER.

Where they'd been dug out of he didn't know, but he wished he'd found them first. He couldn't explain to Tifa, when they both didn't make enough money to deal with it, that he was hungry all the time. His metabolism was inhuman, along with everything else about him, and he never quite had enough to eat. It had gotten worse with the Geostigma, sapping his strength as well as his appetite. He was used to being hungry at this point, but the smell of the chemical heating pouches was nostalgic from his days as a trooper and his mouth watered at the thought of anything vaguely warm and dense enough to make him feel satisfied for once. He went to sit on the chair across from Loz, only to find Yazoo's hand on his neck tightening.

Yazoo slipped onto the seat before Cloud could, the softness in his cat-slit eyes turning calculating as he looked at the floor beside him. His hand shifted to rest on his shoulder, pushing down with relentless pressure.

"There is no other way you'll get food, Cloud, you want to eat don't you?" Yazoo said as his other hand reached around and pressed flat against Cloud's stomach, the touch feeling far more intimate than it should have. "Look at this, you're pathetic, I can almost see your ribs, brother."

Cloud crumpled beneath the weight pushing him down, his knees hitting the linoleum and his hands grabbing onto the edge of the table. The weakness of his body that Yazoo had pointed out made his stomach ache as he once more wondered when he'd eaten last. The pain that he'd woken with redoubled and Cloud touched his middle to make sure his scars hadn't opened into newly bleeding wounds. The place where Yazoo's hand had rested was warmer than the rest of him and the contrast made him shiver again.

He ducked his head instinctively when fingers ran through his hair, the touch following as he tried to move away from it. Yazoo simply grabbed a handful of his hair to drag him back into his former position and then returned to stroking down from the crown of Cloud's head to the nape of his neck. He pulled Cloud back each time he tried to escape the pacifying touch until he stayed still and sat ramrod straight with his muscles taut and stiff, and let it happen.

He tried to avoid the man's searching gaze, the smile that he kept flicking over Cloud's shoulder at his brother. It was a knowing smile, but not an unkind one, and that made his stomach hurt again in a way that had nothing to do with starvation.

"Now you may have a little something," Yazoo released him and turned to the table, grabbing an MRE at random and tearing it open with his teeth. He dumped out the contents, sorting through the small packages and selecting one of the drab green plastic bags. Whatever it was, Cloud didn't particularly care. His mouth watered at the very thought of food, even the chemical scent of the ration heater made his hunger worse.

Yazoo looked down at him, a speculative glint in his eye that Cloud didn't like. He flicked his eyes away, then back when a sharp fingernail stroked down his cheek. The Remnant's voice was a taunting sing-song as he gave Cloud an order, "Put your hands behind your back and keep them there."

Cloud shook his head, his hands balling into fists against his thighs. But he couldn't keep from letting out a shuddering breath as the sound of steam rose from the ration heater and a savory smell made him swallow hard.

"You said you would do whatever Sephiroth asked," Yazoo reminded him, "and we convey his word to you. Now, put your hands behind your back and sit up straight while you're at it. Don't you have any table manners at all?

Cloud hadn't, in fact, said anything of the sort… but he'd agreed, hadn't he? He hadn't struggled and he had let Sephiroth take him. He'd finally given in to the weakness he couldn't ever seem to leave behind no matter how far he ran and how much he wanted to be strong.

Slowly, he clasped his hands together behind him. He knew what would come next and the pain in his stomach was matched by a knot in his throat. They were going to make him watch them eat. It's what Sephiroth would have done, and like Sephiroth they'd probably try to make him beg for food. He'd hold out, he told himself, as long as he could. He'd gone longer without food, long enough to know when the lack of it was getting dangerous. He could go a little longer.

"You really can't take care of yourself, can you?" Yazoo asked softly, and Cloud balked as a pale hand came to hover in front of his face with a piece of a ration bar held out. It was clear what Yazoo expected Cloud to do and he flushed crimson with indignation, and then with shame as his empty stomach cramped loudly in protest at the idea of refusing. Those slit eyes looked down into his, no trace of malice or mockery in his expression. He looked concerned , he looked pitying as he turned in his seat and grabbed the back of Cloud's head to hold him in place.

He pressed the morsel of food against Cloud's lips expectantly, "Open up brother, you need to eat to live and we have no intention of allowing you to die any time soon."

"Ever," a lower voice murmured and Yazoo tipped his chin up to glare at Loz across the table.

"One thing at a time," Yazoo retorted, turning back and stroking his thumb across Cloud's cheek. His voice was stern as he commanded, "open your mouth."

Humiliated, hungry, Cloud obeyed. He expected it to be shoved in, to have it forced down his throat. But no, Yazoo's fingers barely brushed his lower lip as the piece settled onto his tongue. Cloud frowned as he chewed slowly, knowing that if he bolted it down his empty stomach would make him regret it.

Yazoo gave another of those thoughtful hums and didn't look at Cloud as he offered another piece.

He couldn't have said what it tasted like, if anyone had bothered to ask. He didn't notice, too focused on his own confusion as the entire bar was offered a bit at a time with no further taunting. He didn't realize until it was finished that the hand cupping the back of his head had never moved.

His fingers twisted together behind him anxiously as he struggled with the desire to escape the unfamiliar touch. The back of his neck prickled with sweat that chilled as soon as it beaded up in the cool room. His breath trembled in his chest as he held it.

"Calm down," Yazoo let him go for only a second before he began to pet him again like a dog, fingernails scratching his scalp with each pass, "I haven't even hurt you."

The 'yet' didn't need to be spoken to be understood.

Yazoo twirled a paper straw between his fingers, watching from the corner of his eye as Cloud stared down at his lap. There was a line between his brows as he frowned and his lip slipped between his teeth for a brief second before he realized what he was doing. There was still the mark of teeth, little indents in the flesh that would have given it away even if he'd not been caught doing it.

He wondered if Cloud realized how badly he was shaking. Yazoo didn't need to see the little weakness he'd tried to hide when it was on full display, feeling the tension in every line of Cloud's body as he continued to pet him. Yazoo couldn't read Cloud's mind as easily Sephiroth could, but touching him gave Yazoo an intimate connection to his emotions.

Pressing their foreheads together in the other room had let him see deeper. Cloud was on the brink of giving up completely, just not in the sort of way Yazoo wanted him to. If Sephiroth had taken just a little more time, he'd have had Cloud shattered into pieces at his feet. It was good that it had been Kadaj who had reunited with him. He loved his brother, truly, they were forever a part of each other, but long term goals often warred with instant gratification for prominence in his plans.

Sephiroth had dumped Cloud nearly literally into Yazoo's lap, telling him only to keep his puppet alive and to have fun 'playing' with him so long as they didn't do permanent damage. Yazoo hoped that Kadaj would keep Sephiroth busy enough that he'd not come back before he and Loz had Cloud more or less in hand. Kadaj was easily distracted, however, so they would push things as far as they could until then.

They would do such a good job that Sephiroth would hopefully leave again, for a long time. He had work to do now, Mother's work, and potentially less and less time to turn his thoughts toward their big brother. There was a hole between Yazoo and Loz that needed to be filled, after all. A brother shaped hole. And Cloud would fit there nicely once he understood where he belonged.

Yazoo was waiting for the right moment to continue his plan and kept running his fingers through the blond strands until he heard a muffled sound in Cloud's throat and felt him relax slightly beneath his touch. Yazoo let his hand rest at the back of Cloud's neck, the skin against his palm damp with sweat.

Dropping the straw into a glass of water, Yazoo ripped open a bag of vitamin supplements and dumped it in, using the straw to mix it together. Cloud startled a little as it was offered to him, another bit of confusion washing over his face as he glanced from the straw up into Yazoo's face and then back down again. Cloud made the correct choice after a few seconds, letting the weight of Yazoo's hand guide him to lower his head and drink.

He nodded once to Loz who slid the cardboard tray of warmed food across the table. Yazoo wanted to see how far he could take this - he'd begun with something easier for Cloud to accept, given him a chance to see Yazoo wasn't planning to choke him. But if he refused this, the little he'd had would keep him going until he decided the humiliation of it was worth getting to eat.

Loz leaned to one side, just slightly, both of them watching Cloud's eyes widen slightly. The line between his brows deepened as he looked at what Yazoo was offering to him.

The bite of food steamed in the cool air of the room, and Cloud couldn't hide the way he shifted forward the slightest bit beneath the hand still resting gently on his neck. Yazoo rubbed his thumb up and down in a silent form of encouragement and comfort, watching closely for any changes in expression.

Nothing that came out of an MRE heating bag was going to be anything but messy to eat with your fingers, and this one was no exception. The bit of meat was covered in some kind of sauce, both a uniform brown color, but it still smelled savory and he watched emotions flicker across Cloud's face. What were the odds that Cloud would refuse? High, he suspected, but there was a chance he would be surprised.

Cloud's eyes followed the movement of a bit of liquid dripping from Yazoo's fingers onto his knee. His hands, still held tightly behind his back, clenched even harder.

Yazoo wondered which of them was more surprised when a brilliant crimson stain flushed across Cloud's face and down his neck as he opened his mouth. He could sense anger, humiliation, resentment, and strangely enough - relief as Yazoo fed it to him. Had Cloud expected him to pull it away before he could have some? The resignation he'd worn when obeying the order to put his hands behind him made a little more sense then - he'd expected to be forced to stay hungry and watch them eat.

He glanced at Loz and smirked, his brother frowning in as much confusion as Cloud. Yazoo shook his head and took another piece from the tray and, just as gently as before, put it into Cloud's mouth. Cloud's eyes were wide and beginning to fill with tears after that second mouthful, but the faint distance in his gaze began to grow more obvious the longer they went on. Yazoo switched from pressing each piece between Cloud's lips to see what he would do, holding it in his palm to force Cloud to lower his head further to take it.

There was another long moment of hesitation, Cloud letting out a shuddering breath in a subvocal whine as he accepted the change. Yazoo gave him more of a variety from the tray, vegetables and pieces of bread, all from the palm of his hand. Cloud's tears were hot where they spilled onto his wrist and fingers.

"Isn't this nice?" Yazoo murmured, nodding to Loz who spooned more food into his hand, "If you were so hungry Big Brother, why didn't anyone else notice how much you were suffering?" Yazoo truly did wonder how long it had been since Cloud had eaten. He hadn't been lying for effect about the state of Cloud's body. He was too thin, much too thin for a warrior, and his ribs were easily felt when Yazoo had stroked his hand across them earlier.

With a faint shake of his head Cloud came back to himself, dragged from the dazed state he'd been falling into. Awareness slid behind his eyes, and with it, shame.

Damn.

Cloud scrambled away from the table, from Yazoo, from the hand held out for him that was wet from his tongue. His back hit the wall and he couldn't suppress a wince and soft hiss of pain. They may have closed his wounds but they weren't healed . Which meant, since the Mako running thick in his veins hadn't taken care of them, that he'd either been near death or… he lowered his eyes to look at the smooth pale skin of his arms.

Was he imagining the darkness spreading beneath? Was it keeping him from recovering entirely? Was he finally losing it? He pressed a hand over his mouth at the thought. It was probably about time for that, really, long past time.

"You were doing so well," Yazoo said, slipping out of his chair to stalk forward and crouch next to Cloud. Regardless of his coaxing words, he exuded the unmistakable aura of a predator. How had Cloud forgotten so easily?

"What's wrong brother?" Yazoo reached out again and Cloud's eyes slid to the messy wet spot on his palm. He brought his own hands up, warding off the fingers reaching for his hair again.

Yazoo sighed, "You're still weak and dehydrated, you don't have the energy to be acting like this." He caught Cloud's wrists and gathered them together in one hand, pushing Cloud back against the wall and caging him in with his body, "Be a good boy and settle down."

Without the armor and all encompassing sweep of long hair, Cloud had somehow not realized that Yazoo was nearly as tall as Sephiroth. His hair drifted down to flutter against Cloud's cheeks as he touched his forehead against Cloud's like he had in the other room, but this time their eyes were locked together and Cloud blinked rapidly to clear the wetness that pooled beneath his lashes. Yazoo didn't blink, the familiar poisonous green filling his vision with only a thin slit of black pupil interrupting it.

"You're hyperventilating," Yazoo said conversationally, as though Cloud didn't know that. His breath was coming too short and too fast, shadows creeping in at the edges of his vision until glowing green really was the only thing he could see.

Yazoo's free hand came up to press against the pulse point in Cloud's throat, "You're going to pass out in a moment, and that's a shame. All you had to do is be good for me and I'd have fed you dessert, but you just had to let your humanity take over."

Cloud's hands fell down to his sides, feeling cold and numb, as Yazoo released the tight hold on his wrists. The dark haze around Cloud deepened to complete darkness, and he could only distantly make out the man's words before his sharp breaths and pounding heart decided to temporarily shut down his racing thoughts.

"Perhaps we should have let you sleep a bit more, brother. You'll feel much better after a nap."

The sound of heavy rain filtered in through the utter darkness, nearly drowning out the sound of soft breathing all around Cloud as he woke. His breath caught in his throat for a moment before he eased it, his foggy mind trying to put together where he was. He was warm, weighted down beneath heavy blankets that smelled faintly of mothballs and dust. Even more warmth pressed in on both sides of him. He was pulled close against a hard chest behind him and his forehead was nestled into someone's chest.

Hands held him gently, but he was bound in place by them all the same, with the addition of a leg hooked over his hip from behind and a knee slotted between his legs in front.

Cloud wanted to panic, wanted to escape, or maybe he wanted to want to escape… but it was warm and he had been cold for a very long time. He was still tired as well, he felt like he could sleep for days more… The decision of whether he should struggle or not was taken out of his hands as Yazoo tilted his head to the side and rubbed their cheeks together with a faint hum, and a flicker of golden materia preceded the command to go back to sleep.

Cloud didn't fight it.

Yazoo pulled Cloud closer, smiling against his brother's cheek as he unconsciously leaned into it. Touch starvation, along with physical starvation, leaving him more open than he'd already been to the cells they shared.

Loz shifted, holding Cloud even tighter between their bodies and tangling his hand in Yazoo's hair. Cloud made a soft sound, but it wasn't one of rejection - it would be that when he woke up again, he'd be afraid and angry once more, but if Yazoo's plans came to fruition that would be less and less every day until Cloud didn't want to leave anymore.

Already, the deep parts of their little big brother was weary of the constant fight against what he was - it must be exhausting convincing yourself that you're more than what you are. Cloud was more than what he thought he was, of course. He was more than human, he was so filled with Mother's cells, and Sephiroth's, that it wouldn't take much more to make him even more their brother - theirs completely. More than a member of their family, a true child of their unique species.

"They don't deserve him," Loz said sleepily, as Cloud's hand came up and curled into the straps over Yazoo's chest and he cuddled closer.

"Hm," Yazoo agreed, dropping a kiss on Cloud's cheek - he wouldn't remember this, when he woke, but his body would know he was safe with them. Little by little, they would convince Cloud that he was meant to be with them - meant to be their big brother… or little brother, perhaps. Cloud may be older and physically stronger in some ways, but he clearly needed someone to take him in hand and keep him from doing stupid self-destructive things.

He couldn't keep in the soft, pleased sound that he shared with Loz as Mother approved. Her voice was stronger now that they had found the hidden parts of her, Sephiroth and Kadaj were busily spreading her cells. Her power and influence was growing after only two days. She wanted to love Cloud too - she always had, although she wanted to punish him too… Yazoo could do that for her, and Cloud would apologize when her strength was full enough to embody herself again.