Becoming SOLDIER

Cloud’s heavy breathing came in the form of pants as he continued his training. Tomorrow was the big day; he had to make sure he had everything covered. He went over all his stances and steps just to make sure he could perform everything as perfectly as possible. Initially he was worried that the training incident would effect his performance but other than a few sore muscles he was no worse for the wear.

Wiping the beading sweat gathering over his brow with the back of his hand Cloud took in a deep breath.

“A few laps than we’ll call it a night,” Cloud seemed to assure himself.

He shook his head with a tired grin as he realized he referred to himself, one person and the only person there, as ‘we’.

“Going crazy there Strife,” he questioned himself mockingly with a soft chuckle before starting his run.

Cloud wanted to relax and enjoy his run but he couldn’t help but be bothered by a previous conversation he had shared with Zack. Shortly after he had left the chow hall he had caught up with Zack and filled him in on the events that took place. Zack of course was none to happy that he wasn’t there in the first place but oddly enough that’s not what bothered Cloud. Cloud knew Zack would have a similar reaction; his friend was very protective of him so it was no surprise that Zack felt guilty for not being there to ‘protect’ him. No accumulation of words that Cloud jammed into Zack’s skull about not needing to be protected would ever truly sink in. That didn’t mean that Cloud accepted the fact and gave in to his over protective friend; quite the opposite really. He always made sure to give Zack a hard time about it. But as said this was not what was bothering Cloud. What was bothering him was the reaction he received from mentioning Duo and Heero. Zack had tensed and if Cloud didn’t know any better he would have thought Zack was angry. It confused the boy to no end; why would Zack be angry?

It bothered Cloud more so that Zack had seemed more irritated at the mention of Heero. Of course he didn’t tell Zack everything about Heero; especially not his conflicted thoughts involving the boy. Cloud flushed as he ran and grunted to himself; not conflicting thoughts just… different.

He just described the boy with the wrong words; and he wasn’t staring he was just… he was curious that’s it. Curiosity; Heero seemed quite mysterious and maybe that’s what intrigued Cloud about him. Last thing he wanted was Zack to misinterpret his thoughts about Heero and think he was…gay… He wasn’t gay; or at least he didn’t think he was. He had stared yeah but he wasn’t staring at Heero for that reason. Was there really a reason? Cloud scoffed at himself running a little harder speaking to himself in a harsh hushed tone, “You’re over thinking all of this Strife! Just listen to yourself, your being ridiculous…”

Just curiosity that’s all it was… Curiosity…

Letting out a rush of air from his lungs Cloud started a sprint to finish up his last lap around the track. The entire thing was just silly; thinking of it was even sillier. Why was he thinking about it anyway? He didn’t have anything to worry about; like previously mentioned Cloud Strife was NOT gay. Heero was a friend just like Zack… Cloud grunted as he finished his lap taking in a few large breaths of air. He had caught himself staring at Zack the same way… more than on one occasion in all honesty. His thoughts began to make himself feel uncomfortable. What if he really was attracted to his ‘friends’? Cloud made his way over to the bench snagging his water bottle and gulping down the cool liquid. He frowned as he grabbed his towel and buried his face into the fabric. Even if he was attracted to Heero and Zack; by some off chance; he wouldn’t say anything let alone act upon it. His mind reeled as he examined his relationship with Zack; they were just close friends and he was happy with that… wasn’t he? Of course he was happy! Zack was always there for him and vice versa. Sure they were a lot closer than most friends seemed to be but that didn’t mean anything right?

Cloud tensed as he heard the creak of the training room door whine as it slowly opened. He slowly moved the towel down far enough to peer his cool blue eyes scan the doorway. The sight only forced him to tense further. With a aggravated sigh he dropped the towel and calmly turned to the doorway. His voice low; he didn’t bother to hide his irritation, “You guys just don’t know when to give up do you…”

Cloud’s eyes widened considerably as his eyes focused on the large figure standing amongst the other individuals in the group. The group dwarfed next to the towering man; in size and stature. His voice passed through Cloud’s ears; the low sound causing any sense of calm to quickly diminish, “What’s wrong Cloud? I thought you’d be happy to see me.” Every muscle twitched in Cloud’s body as he shifted into a defensive posture.

This isn’t good… If it was just the usual group I would be able to fend them off… but… with him here…

Cloud’s fists clenched at his sides as he weighed his options. He could run; but the only exit was blocked. Most likely they would leave someone to guard the door.

He could fight them off one at a time… but loosing focus on any of the others would make him susceptible to attack from another member of the group.

Rushing at them would be suicide…

He had no choice but to wait for them to come to him; and assess the situation accordingly. The blonde took in a deep breath as he watched Ralph step forward moving away from the group.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again,” each step the man took towards him he involuntarily took a step back. It was as if his body acted on its own knowing the dangers the man possessed. It wasn’t until the young cadets back hit the matted wall that he silently cursed. Within a few short seconds Ralph had closed the gap between them; and to make matters worse three others were quickly closing in behind the larger man. The blonde’s breath held painfully still in his lungs as Ralph pressed his palms on either side of Cloud’s head against the wall, “I’m hurt Cloud; do you realize what I had to go through because of you?”

Cloud’s teeth ground before answering in a low defiant hiss, “You put yourself in that position and unless you want to end up in the same predicament than you’ll let me leave.”

Ralph offered a lop-sided smiled in mock hurt, “You can’t leave just yet; I just got here.”

Cloud quickly scanned the three now standing behind the man; two were at his left and one at the right. If he could momentarily cripple Ralph he could knock out the one on the right and make a break for the door. They left only one person at the door so he shouldn’t have too much of a problem getting him out of the way; the real problem was making sure he got out quick enough. If the two at Ralph’s left caught up with him it would be all over; he might be able to fend them off but not unless the one at the door was already incapacitated.

Cloud focused back in on the larger man standing in front of him. Cloud felt his body twitch while his mind constantly yelled for him to run, but he knew he had to wait till he could get the upper hand on Ralph. He was slow but powerful; and Cloud needed one very well placed punch or kick to make this work.

Ralph’s smile twisted, “It really was a shame we were interrupted last time,” Ralph snaked his fingers over Cloud’s cheek and than down his neck, “You looked so tempting in that shower room beautiful.”

The blonde’s eyes narrowed his teeth pressed tightly together; the feeling of this man touching his skin made him want to vomit. He fought the urge to mercilessly beat the man to death; though he wanted to he would in evidently be jumped by the other men in the room. Cloud quickly dismissed the ‘it would be worth it’ thought that popped up in the back of his skull.

Cloud was snapped from his thoughts as Ralph began to lean forward; his left hand cupping under his chin. Cloud couldn’t help but grin as Ralph closed his eyes for the intended; he was giving Cloud just what he wanted, an opening.

Before the gap was closed Cloud thrust his knee into the offenders stomach before jolting a well placed elbow in-between the man’s skull and neck. The man fumbled forward and fell straight into the wall as Cloud dashed to the man at the left. The stunned and wide eyed cadet didn’t have time to react to Cloud as the blonde sent a devastating punch straight into the man’s nose. The cracking sound and pop indicating that he must have in fact broke it; what confirmed it as Cloud’s feet pounded towards the door was the collapse and yell of the cadet screaming about his nose.

One more…!

He could hear the gasped yell from Ralph instructing the others to catch him; and hear the approaching foot steps coming up from behind him. But it was already to late he had reached the door. All he had to do was knock out this last one and he could get back to the barracks; he would be untouchable there. The cadet guarding the door went to grab him but Cloud tripped the over easily and ran through the doorway; he was safe! He was…

A strangled gasp left his lips as he was abruptly stopped by a hand clasped around his throat. The force knocked him to the ground on his back before he even knew what was happening. The blonde felt the hand leave his throat than tightly grip at his collar. He was pulled to his feet; his arms limp at his sides and his eyes squinted as he coughed trying to gather air. He was dragged back into the room and thrown to the mats; his escape route, the only door out of the room, was than shut.

“He put up quite a fight; you guys almost let him get away,” the voice of the man who stopped his escape.

They had someone outside the door… I should have known that it wasn’t going to be that easy…

Cloud pushed himself to his hands and knees before forcing himself to stand, “You say that like you’ve won the fight.”

It wasn’t wise to provoke them further but the blonde couldn’t help but feel enraged at the assumption that he was down for the count. He could handle this; he wasn’t weak. He wouldn’t let them walk all over him; two against one; five against one; a hundred against one; it didn’t matter he would prove he wasn’t weak.

“Oh but we will,” a tautening voice rang in his ears.

“That wasn’t very nice Cloud; I didn’t want to be rough,” Ralph made his way over to the blonde, “I was going to let you enjoy this, but now I don’t think I’ll be so generous.”

Cloud focused on Ralph while still keeping an eye on any movement around him; this wasn’t going to be easy. It was a losing battle for sure but he wouldn’t go without a fight. The blonde knew defending himself would only delay the inevitable; he had to make his stand and do it quickly.

I have to take out as many of them as possible; If I can knock out Ralph than the other’s will go down easily. He’s the only real problem.

“Bastard…,” Cloud hissed as he lunged forward at Ralph not wasting anytime to throw a fist towards the man’s face. Cloud winced as his fist was caught by the large man’s calloused hand; the hand enclosed around his own making his knuckles crack under the pressure. Grunting he quickly kicked his left foot aiming for the man’s gut only to be stopped by another pair of hands. Cloud quickly reacted with his left elbow to said man’s face. As the man fell backwards with a sharp intake of breath Cloud’s own eyes widened; Ralph twisted his wrist sideways causing the boy to groan in pain.

He could hear Ralph chuckle, “You did quite a number to my boys; their not to happy about that. You better be careful beautiful; I’m not the only one you have to worry about.”

Cloud shouted as he twisted his wrist in the opposite direction forcing Ralph to loose his grip; he tried to throw an uppercut but was caught by two others at his sides before he got the chance. He collapsed down to his knees as the boy’s twisted his arms behind his back.

He raised his eyes to level with Ralph’s, “Fuck you.”

Ralph chuckled, “Is that all you can say lovely,” he asked mockingly.

“Move Ralph; I owe the little shit,” a nasally voice called behind the large man. Ralph simply complied with a smirk as the man with the broken nose stepped forward, “Remember not the face.”

“Fine by me,” the man grunted as he kneeled down in front of the blonde. Cloud’s nose twitched at the coppery scent of blood now drying under the man’s nose. The man’s hand grabbed Cloud’s jaw forcefully forcing the boy to look directly into his eyes, “I want to see you scream you little prick.”

Cloud’s eyes narrowed but otherwise remained unresponsive; he wouldn’t let them win. He wouldn’t let them see fear; he wouldn’t cry out; even if they beat him to an inch of his life he wouldn’t give them that satisfaction. The man only grinned as if sensing his defiance, “Let’s just see how long you keep that look.”

The man threw a hard punch into Cloud’s gut causing the boy to cough violently gasping for air. The man seemed pleased with the reaction; Cloud had to wipe that smirk off his face. Cloud smiled through his coughing and gasps for air, “That was all… you could do…; I thought you said… you owed me.”

The man’s smirk did fall but that didn’t stop him from thrusting another hard jab into Cloud’s stomach once more. Cloud hunched forward as his eyes watered from the hit; the only way to hide the gasp of pain was to mask it with a sickening chuckle. It made even his own stomach turn. He saw the man’s face light up with anger as he lifted his fist to strike his face; Cloud kept his eyes open daring him to strike. Cloud was mentally relieved when Ralph placed a firm grip on the man’s shoulder, “Not the face. Move…”

The man grunted as he complied hesitantly moving away; Ralph ordered the men holding him down to grab a hold of Cloud’s hair and pull his head up. Cloud ground his teeth as his hair was yanked backwards.

“You’re going to break beautiful; I’ll see to that,” Cloud’s eyes narrowed to slits but the sound that soon filtered it’s way to his ears made them widen once more. The sound of a buckle; the sound of a zipper. Cloud closed his eyes and mentally screamed as Ralph’s low tone made him shiver, “Open your mouth.”

Cloud squeezed his eyes shut even more and remained tight lipped; he pushed his teeth together as hard as he could to keep his mouth shut. A couple of foot steps and he felt it. Cloud choked back a whimper as he felt the swollen organ’s head press against his lips; he tried to throw his head sideways but the firm hands gripping his hair restricted his movement. He caught himself before he gasped as he felt some hair tear loose from his scalp.

“Open,” he was instructed again as Ralph’s hand gripped his jaw and tried to force it open. Cloud’s brow pressed together at the pressure pushing in on his teeth; it was painful but he refused to give in. He tried to move his head to get away from the grip and the organ pressing against his mouth. He wouldn’t allow this; he couldn’t.

A snicker from the familiar sound of the man whose nose he smashed edged closer; he should have expected the kick that was planted into his stomach. But he would have never been able to stop the gasp as the air left his lungs; Ralph took the opportunity to shove his length into the blonde’s mouth. The blonde choked around the organ as his watering eyes tear against his will.

I won’t allow this!!

Cloud forced himself to bite down against the invading organ; it effectively retreated from his mouth as he hunched forward trying desperately to fill his lungs with air. Ralph’s screams and wails of pain slightly comforted the blonde, but it was short lived as he was yanked to his feet. With no hesitation the moment he was lifted he felt fists slam into his stomach and chest repeatedly. He wasn’t sure how many of the men were hitting him; the pain that coursed throughout his body nearly convinced him that a thousand punches will being rained upon his body all at once. The sudden beating seemed to last an eternity before he was finally allowed to slump to the floor; his head spun and his already sore muscles ached and cried against the fresh bruises and welts.

Ralph stormed back to the blonde and ripped at the young cadets pants in rage peeling and tearing the fabric from Cloud’s waist and legs, “Let’s see how you appreciate it you fucking bastard.”

Cloud struggled against the man; trying and failing miserably to keep the man from tearing the pants from his body. As soon as the cold air hit his lower body he whimpered trying to pull himself away from the man’s grip. He was too easily overpowered and soon a warm mouth descended over his limp organ. The warm mouth soon bore it’s teeth and bite down on him Cloud couldn’t do anything but scream. His screams were soon muffled by Ralph’s cock as he thrust it down the boy’s throat. Tears fell from Cloud’s eyes as Ralph grabbed the back of the boy’s head and shoved him further down his length forcing the blonde to swallow him whole. The cadets behind him switched positions; he felt the man on his right step away giving his arm to the one holding his left. The sound of another belt unbuckling alerted the blonde but all his struggling ended in vain. His legs and arms were pinned leaving him to do little more than wiggle and jerk against his restrainers.

The blonde choked and gagged as Ralph began to throw hard thrusts into Cloud’s mouth; the grip on the blonde’s head forcing him to bob back and forth. He felt his arms being held higher as another body knelt down behind him; his eyes grew impossibly wide when he felt something press against his entrance.

The cadet behind him spit into his hand and lathered himself quickly before grabbing the blondes’ hips and shoving the blonde backwards onto his own length. This forced Ralph to step forward and thrust himself even harder into Cloud’s mouth. The lack of oxygen and the searing pain made the edges of his vision become overwhelmed in a bright white. He felt his body try to coil as the pain ripped through his spine. He could hear the moans of the men and the sick comments of their pleasure; could still hear the snickers and leering of the other men all waiting for their turn but he could do nothing.

He heard Ralph moan loudly and thrust into his mouth once more before he felt a warm substance coat his throat and the inside of his mouth; the second he pulled out Cloud’s throat forced the fluid back up along with the contents of his stomach. His vision was fading fast as he felt his head being pulled back up and another hard organ enter his throat and the thrusts of the man behind him begin to rapidly pound at the tight virgin entrance. Everything was beginning to become distant; thankfully even the pain was becoming numb. The broken blonde soon fell into darkness.

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Heero sighed as he walked around the training area; he wasn’t sure why but he just couldn’t get the blonde from the chow hall out of his mind. Sleep evaded him; or rather was chased swiftly away by his dreams. Heero rubbed the back of his neck trying to release the tense muscle underneath. Cloud was undeniably attractive; Heero’s dreams let him indulge quite a bit on that aspect. But there was something else about the blonde; a determination and drive he had never witnessed before burned behind the beautiful blue and green orbs. Thus here he was making his way to the gym; he needed to release some of this frustration. Heero stopped short as he was about to round the corner to the gym; sounds of feet and a door shutting along with howls of laughter filled the empty hall.

What the hell is such a large group doing out after curfew like this?

Heero listened in trying to catch some of there conversation.

“Little shit put up a fight didn’t he?”

“Well he’s not putting up much of a fight anymore,” Heero heard them snickering.

“Blonde had it coming to him after that asshole made a fool outta us in the chow hall.”

Heero’s eyes widened momentarily before returning to their icy glare; the moment the others were out of sight he rushed to the door. Swinging the door open his lips pressed into a fine line at the sight before him. The young cadet that plagued his dreams lay stripped and bleeding on the floor lying on in his own blood and vomit. Heero moved over to the cadet and gently situated the blonde on his side pushing the sweat matted blonde bangs from his eyes. Heero scanned over the boy to make sure he didn’t have any wounds; other than the endless lumps of welt scattered across his frail form there didn’t seem to be any open wounds. Heero frowned wiping the blonde’s mouth freeing his lips from the sticky mixture of cum and blood.

Gathering the blonde in his arms he made his way to the showers; he needed to get the boy washed up and try to wake him up. The infirmary wasn’t going to be open to the cadets till morning so Heero needed to now from the blonde what the boy wished to do. It wasn’t like he was going to carry the poor boy from the gym in this condition anyway; Cloud, he knew, would never forgive him. There was a unspoken understanding that Heero had gathered from their meeting in the chow hall. He knew that Cloud wouldn’t want to be viewed as weak and helpless; and with the way the poor boy looked now that’s just what he would come across as. Undoubtedly that would lead him to be a target to more of these occurrences; and Heero wouldn’t allow himself to be responsible for either.

Carefully carrying the boy in the locker rooms he locked the door behind him before stepping into the shower area. Turning on the water he turned his attention back to the blonde to gently strip the remaining clothes from his limp form. Heero’s frown only deepened as he realized that there were old bruises mixed in with the new welts; How many times has this happened…?

He knew Cloud was no weakling; he was strong and fierce but strength was greater in numbers and obviously it would take a few men to do this to the boy. Heero sighed as he washed the boy; careful not to hurt his damaged skin. He heard a low whimper from Cloud and turned his attention to his face; the blonde’s eyes slowly blinked and opened half-lidded. The blonde realizing he wasn’t alone and was now in the shower rooms once again naked pushed away from Heero as his mind reeled back into reality, “S-Stay aw-…ay.” His throat burned as he spoke; his eyes clenched tightly together.

“Stay away,” he pleaded once more.

“Cloud…,” Heero spoke softly; the blonde opened his eyes in shock.

“He-Heero…,” The blonde lowered his gaze to the floor; he was propped into a sitting position by his arms. His lips were trembling and soon he realized of the situation; he pulled his legs to his chest and whimpered a pain ran through his spine once again.

Heero wordlessly walked over to Cloud and kneeled down gathering the shaken boy in his arms. Cloud grasped the boys shirt tightly in his hands as he buried his head into the nape of Heero’s neck, “P-Please… I don’t…I don’t want…”

Heero stroked the boy’s hair holding him close, “I won’t say anything; just tell me what you want me to do.”

Cloud gripped tighter against the boys uniform, “Please… just… don’t let go. Let me… let me stay like this…”

Heero nodded holding the frail boy in his arms; what ever Cloud wished he would comply.

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The next morning Zack bounced from his bunk, “Yoooooooooo! Cloudy today’s the day man,” Zack peered over to Cloud’s bunk to find it empty, “Cloud?”

“Geeez; to excited to wait for an old friend I guess,” Zack muttered before getting ready and heading down to the exam room. Once there he smile grew wide as he took sight of the missing blonde, “Yo Cloudy!!”

Zack ran up to the boy but stopped in his tracks as the blonde turned his head to glance over at him; the hollow look in Cloud’s eyes made Zack’s heart stop in his chest. He never saw such a vulnerable and painful look in his friends eyes before; but just as quickly as it flashed through the blue-green orbs it was gone.

“Zack,” Cloud forced a smile and called out for him in a all to merry tone; obviously forced.

Zack closed the gap between them and forced his own sheepish grin, “Oi; you alright Cloudy?”

Cloud smiled, “Of course; todays the day… We prove them all wrong,” Cloud offered up his forearm and Zack bumped it with his own with a weary smirk.

“Yeah… it sure is.”

“ALRIGHT EVERYONE PAY ATTENTION! The exam will begin in less than an hour!”

As they all listened to their instructor Zack couldn’t help but stare at his blonde friend beside him. The look he saw in Cloud’s eyes; his awkward stance and pained and tired expression. The way he seemed to force his smile…

What going on with you Cloud…