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Zack grins to himself as he reads the mission debrief. After dealing with trafficking rings and Fang-worshiping cults, a clean-cut monster removal mission was as good as a blessing a SOLDIER could get. Not to mention he’d be tagging along with the other FIRST’s.
“The only reason we’re sending all of you is because the Behemoths are likely getting Materia enhancements, and if we can nip that trend in the bud, the better. Not to mention they’ve been breeding the damn things, so there’s far too many for us to just send some cadets,” Lazard explains when Genesis had bemoaned that he was going to miss his theatre reservations for this and “Why couldn’t they just send Angeal?”
The mentioned man only grunts as comment.
“You’re all to report to the train station at 0600 tomorrow morning, so rest up tonight. There’ll be a couple of Turks coming with you just to make sure that Materia enhancements aren’t becoming the norm, you all just have to deal with taking them out. Everything else is in the papers. Good luck; you’re dismissed.”
The four FIRSTs step out of the office, Sephiroth gently pushing Genesis towards the elevator and making promises to reserve them a trip to the theatre during a leave request.
Zack folds up the papers and slips them into the pocket of his pants, patting them gently for good measure.
“You gonna go off and tell your cadet ‘bout the mission?” Angeal huffs it out, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah. Just let him know I’ll be gone for a few days. Any messages to pass on?”
Angeal, for all the sticks up his ass, had been kind enough to start helping Cloud in the weight rooms after the poor boy failed the SOLDIER exams. “Collecting strays” Genesis calls it. So it’s no surprise when he says, “Just tell him if he begins to add pounds into his lifts I’m kicking him out of the gym.”
Zack laughs but heartily agrees.
The two men bid each other goodbye and Zack readily makes his way down to the shooting range, where he knows Cloud is likely stuck doing late drills with the rest of his squadron.
The sound of gunfire grows louder as he wanders through the halls. They cover up the faint shouting of the drill sergeant, and if Zack were a less enhanced SOLDIER, he’d likely be covering his ears as he walks through the door to the shooting range.
He gives the sergeant a curt nod and leans against the wall, scanning his eyes over the row of troopers for that particularly spikey head of blonde hair.
They’re all dressed in the training uniform, with standard-issue navy compression shirts, black cargo pants, and matching combat boots. He can see a few helmets strewn about, but it is likely all the cadets came from hand-to-hand combat training, which means none of them had patrols except for early in the morning.
It’s easy to spot Cloud, considering he’s the shortest of the bunch. The target counter above his head also happens to be the highest, but Zack decides to ignore the swell of pride in his chest at that and instead focus on the fact that, even with periphery-blocking panels and noise-canceling headsets, Cloud still knows exactly when Zack enters the room because he’s turned to look at him.
Zack gives a small wave and gestures for his friend to keep firing, happily obliged to wait as long as it takes considering he has nothing scheduled for the rest of the evening.
When the last round of dummies is taken out, the sergeant calls for the troops to put their rifles away and clean up their stations. Cloud, never one to directly oppose a superior officer, finishes his area the quickest; he grabs his gear and jogs over to the bottom of the steps where Zack is patiently waiting.
Zack grins, ruffling his cadet’s hair. “Hey baby, this your final bit for the day?”
“What’re you doing here?” Cloud huffs out, feigning annoyance as he often does when Zack comes to his training. The other troopers in his squad have gotten used to it by now, and his sergeant has neither the rank nor the balls to ask Zack to stop, but Cloud still acts as if Zack is nothing but a nuisance.
Zack, his hand still in Cloud’s hair, begins to play with the soft blonde strands. “Just lettin’ you know I’ll be gone for a few days.”
Cloud hums. “Mission?”
“Yeah, can’t say much more than that– whoops!” Zack maneuvers him and Cloud out of the way as the rest of the squadron starts to file up the stairs, likely toward the barracks. A few give the two of them awkward glances, but otherwise leave them be. “Like I was saying, nothing much I can tell you about, but it should be fine. Just some clean-up. Ang’s got a message for you though, said not to get carried away in the weight room or else he’s kicking you out.”
“I’ll be spending most of my time in the armory anyway. I’ve been put on inventory for a couple of days. Anything else?”
“And no partying. That one’s from me, though.”
Cloud grins. “Well shit, there goes my plans for the week.” He gently removes Zack’s hand from his hair, moving to fiddle with his fingers. “Bring me a rock back from wherever you are? Please?”
It was a loophole they had found pretty early on. Most of the time Zack was unable to tell Cloud where his missions took place– but if he happened to bring back a seashell and Cloud happened to realize it was from Costa Del Sol or somewhere the like, then that’s not their fault. Coming from a tiny town up in the mountains where you spent your entire childhood learning different fauna and geological data was a perk when it came to these things, in Cloud’s case at least.
Zack grins. “Course I will baby. Add it to your collection, yeah?” He links their pinkies together, swinging their hands back and forth. Cloud doesn’t answer, but his bashful smile and wayward eyes say enough; Zack has barely enough self-control to stop himself from knocking their foreheads together.
Despite how it may look to outsiders, Zack and Cloud aren’t in a romantic relationship. Not for lack of trying on Zack’s part, if his endearment is anything to go by, but Cloud –as smart and determined as he is– is about as dense as his rock collection, and most of Zack’s actions go right over his head. Plus, the friendship they have is pretty good, and it’s not like Zack is unaware of Cloud’s reciprocation; he just...hasn’t found the right time yet (at least, that’s what he tells Genesis and Angeal. The two of them give him a motivational speech at least once a week. Zack once tried going to Sephiroth for advice instead, but the Silver General had simply given him a flat and –dare Zack say– amused look before scoffing at him without saying anything at all.)
The two of them leave the shooting range and Zack gives Cloud’s hand one final squeeze as a goodbye before they part ways.
In hindsight, he had sort of wished he’d done a bit more.
————————————
The mission can be summed up as follows:
Day 1:
1. Zack meets the team at the train station promptly at 6 am (Genesis is five minutes late but has brought everyone pastries from the dining hall, so he is quickly forgiven).
2. At 8 am, they arrive at the airship dock and quickly board. The flight takes them another three hours.
3. At 11 am, they leave the airship and head into town. Sephiroth checks them all into the inn and they agree to meet in an hour to go over their plan once more.
4. From noon till late in the evening, Zack, Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth are out killing the innumerable amount of Behemoths while the two Turks investigate several leads within the town.
5. They all reconvene for dinner and plan to finish off the monsters the next day.
Day 2:
1. At 6 am, the four FIRSTs split into groups of two so that killing the Behemoths is easier.
2. At 11 am, Zack finds an interesting rock with natural colored lines on it; it reminds him of a tiger.
3. At 2 pm the Turks identify the breeders and where they’ve been getting the Materia and supplies from to enhance the Behemoths
4. At 8 pm, after dinner, the entire team gets an alert on their PHS’ that there’s been a class-3 emergency back at HQ and that every SOLDIER should report for search and rescue duty.
5. The team does not make it back to HQ until 1 am.
The fire is blazing; bright enough that you wouldn’t know it’s barely past midnight with the way the flames lick the stars.
Zack is fine– worried, but fine. This isn’t the most insane thing he’s seen happen at Shinra; to be frank, with the amount of gunpowder and flame Materia their inventory has, it’s no surprise the stuff bursts every now and then.
He and the generals split up, each moving to where they’re most needed. Many SOLDIERs are using frost Materia to take down the flames, while squadrons of troops are dowsing the many buildings with high-power hoses. Neither seems to have much effect, but the fire hasn’t spread beyond the armory or barracks, so at least it’s been contained.
“Has everyone been accounted for?” He asks one of the nearby sergeants. All he gets in response is a shaking head before the other man is off to a different area of the fire.
“Shit,” Zack mutters.
He starts running, calling out to the troops who aren’t helping douse the fire to round up their squad and make sure no men are missing. “If someone’s unaccounted for or they aren’t in your group, come tell me immediately!” His voice booms across the streets and cadets start gathering together, all of them counting heads.
By now the fire has mostly been put out, which is likely thanks to Genesis’ help and stronger Materia. Many of the buildings are nothing but crumbled stone and broken cement; search and rescue teams are being sent out to unchecked areas, but many of the more dangerous zones are being left alone.
It takes another good hour for all the squadron leaders to find Zack and tell them the status of their numbers. Most of the cadets were injured and taken to med-bay, but nearly the rest have been accounted for.
Nearly.
Zack can’t believe it’s taken him this long to realize it…but he hasn’t seen Cloud.
The thought stops him in his tracks and he turns his head to find Cloud’s squadron leader. The man is standing close to a crumbled building, likely one of the armories. The troopers are helping the injured out of a separate building, but– wasn’t Cloud going to be on inventory duty?
Zack runs up to the sergeant in a hurry. “Are all your men here?”
The man sighs. He looks weary, with bags under his eyes and soot across his hands. “Not all, can’t find Cadet Strife or Cadet Willems. Both were put in this building here for scheduled maintenance but…”
But the building had been marked as too unstable for search and rescue.
“Shit-!” Zack’s panic begins to set in. He needs to find Cloud, to make sure he’s safe. He makes a beeline for the ruined building, the tiger-striped rock weighing heavy in his pocket.
“Commander Fair! I’m sorry sir but that area is currently too dangerous–!” But Zack ignores the shouting behind him as he pushes his way through the broken cinderblocks. The only thing running through his mind is Cloud’s name and the terrifying notion that all he might find is a burnt crisp of his cadet.
He somehow makes it inside the building, where beams are leaning and the walls are charred to nearly nothing. Soot covers his hands from where he dug an entrance in, and there’s sweat on his brow from the residual heat. There’s smoke in the air, heavy and choking against his lungs, but Zack is a SOLDIER and Cloud is missing and none of this matters because his baby is missing–
“CLOUD!” he shouts, his voice echoing the endless concrete chambers. The walls have crumbled down, and cracks have formed in the floor. A few wooden beams that collapsed are still burning with faint embers, giving the entire space an eerie glow.
“CLOUD!” he shouts again, desperate; he continues to lift drywall panels and cement blocks to see if his baby is buried underneath. “Hold on for me Sunshine, I’m coming,” he mutters more for himself than anything else.
“ZACKERY!” That’s Sephiroth’s voice…what the hell is he doing here? “It’s too dangerous, you need to fall back!” The Silver General quickly catches up to Zack, who is standing at the bottom of a dilapidated stairwell. “Zack, you need to exit the building. This place is about to–” he stops talking when he sees the man’s face.
“Seph– Cloud is– I know he’s in here and I have to find him! I can’t– If I don’t–” His words are jumbling together and Zack is fairly sure that he’s crying, but his Sunshine is gone and he has to find him.
Sephiroth sighs and puts a hand on Zack’s shoulder. “Alright, I’ll help you look for him. Just…try not to wander too far, okay? We can’t lose you too.”
Zack only nods and goes back to overturning rubble.
It takes them another 15 minutes of scouring the piles of burnt inventory for Zack to finally find him.
There’s a faint groaning noise coming from beneath a few beams, and Zack dashes to it. “Cloud? Baby? Are you under there? Sephiroth! I found him!” He begins to pull away at the debris. “Come on baby, I got you, don’t worry. Just hang in there,” he’s not even sure what he’s saying at this point; nearly manic in his desire to make sure Cloud is okay.
Finally, after what feels like hours, he sees the telltale signs of a person. A hand is poking out, fingers grasping at the air weakly.
“Oh baby….Cloud, just- just hold on. We’re gonna get you out.”
Sephiroth comes over and starts to help by pushing away the rubble at Cloud’s legs and checking them for injury. Zack is finally able to stick his hand down and grab at his baby’s face.
Cloud is covered in soot and burn marks, his face ashen and there’s a disturbing rattle to his lungs as he tries to breathe. His eyes are open and glassy, tear streaks running down his cheeks from all the smoke.
Relief crashes into Zack with the force of a truck, and he can feel his own tears stinging his eyes. “Oh, my baby…Oh, thank Shiva you’re alright.” He bends down, pressing gentle kisses all over Cloud’s face; his cheeks and forehead, lips and nose. “You had me so worried, Sunshine.”
Sephiroth stands, then, telling them both that he’s going to go alert the medics that Cloud is injured. Zack barely pays any attention to him, too focused on Cloud and helping him sit up.
“You alright? What hurts? Is it anything major?” He moves to lean Cloud against him, one hand on his waist and the other in his hair, stroking it gently.
His cadet breaks into a fit of coughs before speaking. “My– lungs hurt, a bit. And I think that I– did something to my ankle…I’m…not sure.” His voice is weak from breathing in the smoke, but he’s lucid, and Zack is simply relieved to see him alive.
“Okay baby, it’s okay. I’m gonna take you to medbay, alright?” Cloud can only nod in response and it gains him another kiss on the forehead. “Sunshine…” It’s mumbled into the crown of his hair, soft and pained.
Cloud reaches up, soot-covered hands grasping at Zack’s face to get his attention. “ ‘M alright…tired, though.” His smile is small, but the way his eyes light up when Zack laughs is enough.
“I am never letting you out of my sight again, Sunshine. Got that?”
“Mm.” Cloud gives him a lopsided grin. “It’s nothin’ serious.”
“I know baby, I just can’t stand to see you hurt. ‘Specially not if I could’ve done something. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, Sunshine.” Zack grabs one of Cloud’s hands, interlocking their fingers and rubbing his thumb along the burnt knuckles.
“Nothing a couple Cures can’t fix.”
A tiny voice in Zack’s head tells him that it should be the other way around– that he should be comforting Cloud instead of Cloud comforting him. But he’s just so worried, even if Cloud says he’s okay.
“Just shush, alright? The medics will take a look at you, but I need to bring you to them first. Come on, try and sit up.” Zack moves into a crouch and moves his hands under Cloud’s thighs, opting to carry him more like a child. Cloud shifts a bit, grunting in pain when his ankles knock together, but after hooking his arms around Zack’s neck and resting his head on his shoulder, they’re good to go.
“Just watch your head, ‘kay baby?”
“Mk.”
“What’s wrong? Something hurt?”
Cloud shakes his head and hides his face in the bend of Zack’s neck. “No, just…realized you kissed me, is all.” His words are muffled into Zack’s skin, lips brushing gently against his pulse. “Didn’t think you felt the same…”
Zack can’t help himself– he grins. “Baby come on now, you think I treat just anyone like this?”
“Maybe Angeal likes bein’ carried this way; I don’t know.”
“Gosh, and here I was thinking you were smarter than this. ‘Course I feel the same, Sunshine. Have for a while.”
Cloud only nods, his energy sapping now that he’s not in immediate danger. His hold on Zack loosens considerably and his eyes are closed.
“Can’t sleep yet baby, gotta get you checked out. Don’t worry, we’re almost there.” Finally, he finds the entrance that he’d made. Climbing back out is a lot harder than sliding in, but he makes it work. Sephiroth and Genesis are standing off to the side, talking to a few emergency doctors. Angeal is nowhere to be seen, but Cloud’s squad members are all pacing nervously as they wait.
Genesis notices them first, and his face is nearly as red as his hair. “Zack you absolute–! Oh, gods, Cloud!” He immediately rushes over, and Zack stops to let the man fuss about the young cadet. If he takes notice of the way Zack is holding him or how there are dried tears on his cheeks, Genesis doesn’t say anything about it; he does, however, give Zack a very meaningful look.
Sephiroth comes to drag Genesis back, letting Zack carry Cloud to the medical tent set up nearby.
“Zack?”
“Mn? What is it, baby?”
“You weren’t just…I mean…It wasn’t spur of the moment, right?”
“You doubting me?”
Cloud shifts in his arms and is quick to defend himself. “No, I just meant– like, you weren’t just super panicked right?”
“Well, I was pretty panicked, Sunshine. But I’d been wanting to kiss you for a while now, just couldn’t find a good time to say anything.”
“Oh.”
“I’m gonna put you down now, but I’ll stay here while the doctors look you over, okay?”
Cloud nods. “Okay.”
————————————
“Did you see that? Did you see that!?” Genesis hisses, though there’s a wide grin on his face.
Sephiroth hums as they look out to where Zack is murmuring into Cloud’s ear. “Our puppy is a very protective man, Gen.”
“He is a whore for that cadet– Seph we have to tell Angeal. How could he just miss this?”
Sephiroth grins and looks at the other General. “Mmn. Just imagine how Zack will be now that he's won Cadet Strife's heart.”
Genesis’ eyes widen. “Oh fuck.”