War of the Hearts

Title: War of the Hearts

Author: Dragonchild

Beta: Tieo

Warning: Strong Language, Violence, Character Death, and More

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7, or any of its characters. All of that belongs to its owners Square-Enix.
Chapter Four

Author Notes: Welcome to chapter 4 finally we get to see some action ;)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Since the room change, Cloud knew that Zack was displeased with him. He didn't really think that there was a reason for him to act the way he was though. After all he was the one that had drove Cloud out that night anyway. Sharing with the Turk wasn't so bad either; at least he provided some entertainment. Yet nothing that any of them did would ease the boredom of the small room, the prison they didn't know they had been sentenced to. Cloud found himself wishing more and more often that he was sitting in class or in basic training with the rest of the cadets. Currently he was stretched out across one of the couches absently wondering if all this time away from his classes would affect his chances in the SOLDIER exams. Tonight was Rudes turn to cook, something to look forward to. They had taken to exchanging chores, everyday they would do something else. Even though their choices of what to cook were very limited they still rotated the schedule. The toilet was scrubbed every day, each day by a new pair of hands. All of them took turns fluffing pillows, dusting shelves, hell they would have vacuumed the floor had they the means for it. It was something they had originally implemented to break up the monotony. So far it wasn't working.

As Cloud laid there he could feel Zacks angry stare. He still hadn't forgiven Cloud for the room exchange. Honestly he had tried his best to ignore the glares sent his way but they really were starting to get under his skin. He wouldn't confront him about it though, no never. Zack was just acting like an immature baby, and Rude was too stoic to provide a conversation deep enough to aid Cloud with his ignoring plan. So he gave up counting ceiling tiles, sat up gave Zack one cursory glance just to confirm that he was still giving Cloud a dirty look. Which without a doubt he was. Without a word, since Zack hadn't spoken to Cloud willingly for three days, and Cloud wasn't trying any harder to do the opposite, he left the room and retreated instead to the bedroom.

Reno was already inside; he had taken to avoiding the SOLDIER since time alone with Zack usually resulted in physical pain. He was stretched out on the bed flipping through the only magazine in the little suite. It was well worn, dog-eared, and read by every one of them multiple times to try and ease the boredom. “Hey” Cloud greeted as he closed the door behind him and took a seat on the bed as well.

“What 'cha doing in here?” Reno asked not looking up from the magazine. “Don't you think crazy SOLDIER man might try and beat us up.”

“He's not that bad Reno.” Cloud pointed out.

Reno looked over his shoulder at the cadet. “You don't know him like I do.”

“And you don't know him like I do. Remember I already had my turn sharing with him. He's upset but not violent.”

“Yeah but that was before the kiss.”

Cloud froze, how had Reno found out about that?

“What kiss?” He tried lamely.

Reno sat up and smiled knowingly at Cloud. “That's easy.” He started with another Cheshire grin. “This kiss.”

Cloud sat frozen, that had not been the answer he had been expecting. Naturally his mind didn't catch up to what his body was doing until he was on his back under Reno's weight. Returning the kiss with much enthusiasm. Once his mind had caught up, quite out of breath and very irritated by the situation, everything came to a grinding halt. Aided by the fact that Cloud had thrown Reno off of him and off of the bed entirely.

“What are you doing?!” Cloud insisted.

“What do you think?”

“You can't just do that.” Cloud argued. He could just imagine the hell that would break out if Zack did find out about that.

“Why not? I see something I want and I take it.” Reno said trying to regain as much dignity as he could while remaining on the floor.

“You can't.” Cloud hissed out. He dearly wanted to yell and scream at the Turk. He wanted to turn furniture over and take out a lot of bottled up frustration on his victim, but he knew that would attract Zacks attention to the problem.

“Why not?” Reno paused to thinking about this while Cloud did his best to rage in silence. “...You're not screwing around with the SOLDIER are you? I mean that would explain why he-”

“No!” Cloud said before Reno could express anymore of his theory.

“I think you're lying.”

“I'm not.”

They were interrupted by a rap on the door. “Dinner's ready.” Rude said from the other side.

Cloud was relieved for the excuse to run from the Turk.

“Be there in a sec.” Reno replied. “We're not done talking about this.” He informed Cloud.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

That night was an awkward one. Not between the Cadet and the Turk, nor between the other two in the opposite room. What was awkward was the battle going on inside of Clouds head. He had made a very specific point of sitting next to Rude at dinner and of avoiding the two hot heads the entire night. He would have suggested another room switch, but he didn't want to leave the two alone together all night. His mind was not filled with thoughts of the two killing each other in the night, or of taking their sexual frustrations out on each other, or so he tried to convince himself. It was filled with thoughts of what was wrong with him though. In the past weeks he had found himself transformed from a cadet with not much promise fighting his classmates in the hallways to a prisoner underground kissing everyone willy-nilly. His first kiss had been stolen, much as he reminded himself these days. Not only had he been groped by a man and had secretly liked it, just a little, but now a second had kissed him. Why was this happening to him? He should have just stayed back home and become a tour guide through the mountains.

He rolled over tired of staring at the ceiling and examined the contours of Renos face. He was fast asleep and completely unaware of the debate within Cloud. He knew what his problem was. His mind was the problem; it was never there when he wanted it. Whenever his mind seemed to catch up to him it's already too late to be able to push them away without seeming like he was crazy. He wondered absently if he would have the same problem pushing these males away if there were a few more girls in the company. If any girls would be interested in someone so short and scrawny like Cloud. He sighed in frustration his eyes still roaming over Renos still form. Maybe his real problem wasn't that his mind was distracted but that he actually enjoyed it. After all Zack and Reno weren't necessarily hard on the eyes. He scowled when he caught what he had just thought and rolled over again this time with his back to his roommate.

Did he hate what they did to him? No, he remembered the feeling of Zacks hands moving over his chest and he would have actually liked to be back in that situation. Would it feel the same if Reno was the one doing it? He risked a look over his shoulder at the Turk, still sleeping soundly. What if he actually wanted to be kissed?

He sat up in the near dark, the only light source being a dim night light behind him somewhere. He figured from that vantage point he gets a better look at the Turk, and maybe a clearer thought in his head. The only thing he was sure about was that he wanted to try this, and this time he wanted to be sure about what was going on. So he threw caution to the wind and leaned over the sleeping Turk. Softly he placed a kiss on the still lips and drew back quickly. Reno never moved, Cloud sat holding his breath frightened that he would be caught, nothing happened however. He wasn't sure why but he felt a little disappointed. What could he expect from the sleeping form?

Cloud quickly decided that for this experiment to be a success he would need Reno awake. He leaned close again to try and wake the Turk. “Reno.” He started quietly, whispering in the dark. No response. He tried again louder this time, still no response. He started to feel a little irritated so he took the red-head by shoulders and shook him gently. This time one tired eye cracked open.

“What is it Cloud?” He said his voice thick with sleep.

“Um...” He didn't really know what to say.

“Did something happen?” Reno sat up a bit, resting his weight on his elbows.

Obviously Cloud hadn't thought this through all the way. Wake Reno up kiss him then what? That could wait for later he guessed after all he woke Reno up for a reason so he may as well get it over with. So without answering any of Renos groggy questions he leaned forward and pressed his lips to the Turks for the second time that night. Reno seemed surprised at first but didn't hesitate to return the kiss. Cloud noted that his shoulders were held in place by Reno, probably so that he wouldn't be able to push him away again. Alarms were going off in the back of his head. His mind was with him this time. Warning him that he shouldn't be doing this, that it was wrong. 'What about Tifa?' It asked 'What would your mother think?' Cloud chose to ignore it and pushed on.

He wrapped his arms around the Turks neck and allowed him access to his mouth, relenting to the tongue that was brushing softly against his lips. He was about as eager to explore Renos mouth as much as the Turk was demonstrating. Cloud who didn't have much experience with this sort of thing copied the movements that the Turk made. Somewhere in the back of his mind he made a note that this wasn't so bad, at least Reno knew what he was doing. What surprised Cloud wasn't when Reno pushed him backwards, or even when he made a valiant effort in removing Clouds shirt. What surprised him was when he suddenly pulled away.

“What is it? Did I do something wrong?” Cloud asked concerned that he may have offended his bed mate.

“No. I-I just... What exactly brought this about?”

“Oh...” He didn't really want to voice his thought about experimenting. “I couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about earlier.”

“So you're not going to yell at me if I keep kissing you?” Reno asked cautiously.

Cloud shook his head in a negative, knowing that the Turk would be able to make the movement out in the dim light. He sat up a bit and brought their mouths together in another heated kiss. He resolved that he didn't want to let Reno take complete control. Even though he didn't exactly know what he was doing he still did it. He let his hands roam the others body, making small circles up the Turks back while continuing to kiss him. He played with the hem of his shirt contemplating removing the article for the Turk. He enjoyed the feeling of the others silky skin caressing it intimately.

He had no clue what part of his brain had thought that this would be a good idea, but he didn't want to stop it, he wanted to push on. But where was he pushing to? He pulled up all the courage he could muster to pull the Turks night shirt off. Their mouths were disconnected as the article passed over the Turks head but as soon as it was gone they were back at it. Cloud gasped as Renos hands moved from his shoulder blades to his ass. He wasn't sure why his mind had stopped arguing perhaps it had given up. He could remember hearing somewhere sometime someone telling him the urges of the flesh were greater then any other force on earth. He remembered an old story of wars fought in distant times because of mans pursuit of the fairer sex. This wasn't like that though; Cloud hadn't even been in the presence of a female in probably two months.

It no longer seemed strange that Reno was touching him this way, nor that he could feel his erection pressing against his own. As much as Cloud tried to convince himself that he was in control he wasn't quite sure if he was or not. After all normally he'd never do something like this, he would never let anyone else remove his belt or pull his pants down like that. He didn't remember this part being in his original plan. He was fighting it, and yet at the same time not. That problem the very same problem his mind was wandering and over-analyzing instead of keeping up with what was going on. Otherwise he wouldn't have been surprised when he noticed that Reno had removed his pants as well, and that the two of them were stark naked. This was definitely not in the parameters of the experiment.

“R-Reno?”

“Mmmm” Reno responded from the crook of Clouds neck.

“I'm not sure about this.”

Reno pulled back and ran one finger along Clouds cheek. “What do you mean?”

“I-I've never done this before.” Cloud felt his face grow warm and he knew that he was blushing.

“Awww it's nothing to worry about. Everyone’s got to be there sometime.” Reno threw his arm around Clouds shoulder in what Cloud thought was supposed to be a friendly gesture but seeing as neither of them was clothed it seemed kind of strange. “If you want to stop I'll be fine with that.”

Cloud looked down in an attempt to think but upon noticing both of their obvious arousal his line of thought was lost completely. He shook his head. “No... I don't think you'd be fine with it.”

“Well I'd have to be if you don't want to.”

“No, I can't do that. Not after I-” Guilt started to swell in Cloud, he had woken Reno up for this, well not this but he had woken him up.

“Don't worry I understand.” Reno said as he started to get up from the bed.” Moving a little awkwardly from his bum leg.

What happened next Cloud couldn't rationally explain, after all he had never ever done or thought anything like it before. “Wait! No! Please Reno I-I want you to... fuck me.”

Reno smiled and climbed back onto the bed. “Well if you put it that way.”

Cloud didn't resist when Reno pushed him onto his back and crouched over top of him. He brought his mouth to Clouds neck and started to gently suck. Cloud couldn't suppress the laugh that rose out of him, it tickled damn it.

“Please Reno.” Cloud pleaded. “Don't it tickles.”

“Mmm? What if I like doing it?” Reno teased before returning to his ministrations.

“No please I beg of you.” Reno had moved on to easing his hands up and down Clouds bare sides, purposely trying to get Cloud to laugh out loud. “I mean it, stop.”

“Awww you're no fun.” A mischievous light came to his eyes. “How about I do something that even more fun.”

“Wait- what are you?” Cloud was cut off when Reno reached down and began to stroke Clouds erection.

Cloud gasped at the unexpected contact, fisting the sheets in his hands and arching into the Turks hand. If someone had told him earlier that morning that he'd be doing this later in the day. He would have told them they were insane, but yet here he was. Reno leaned forward quickly as to swallow the moan that escaped Clouds mouth. Cloud ran his hands over Reno's chest trying to send him the message to continue. Hey played with the Turks nipples pleased with the way he groaned into Clouds mouth. Reno pulled back and gave a Cheshire grin.

“I never thought you'd be such a tease.”

“I guess I'm full of surprises.”

“That's true. Never thought you'd wake me up in the middle of the night for sex either.” Reno teased giving Clouds cock another pump.

“That's not what I woke you up for.” Cloud said a little breathless as Reno continued on.

“Mmm? No?”

“I- I- don't know what I woke you up for now.”

That much was true, it seemed the more Reno worked at him and the closer he got to the edge of an orgasm the more he seemed to forget. What it was they were doing here, what he had woken Reno for, where they were. He was caught up in the here and now and the feeling of Reno moving against him.

The rhythm that Reno had been working at suddenly increased and Reno seemed to be working with a goal in mind. Cloud could have sworn that the room had suddenly started moving then.

“Please Reno. I'm going to I-I'm gonna...”

“Gonna what? Come?”

Cloud couldn't get the words to come out they seem to be stuck somewhere in his throat. The only thing he could manage was a slight nod. When Reno suddenly pulled back leaving Cloud feeling cold, exposed, and severely un-satisfied. “What?!” Was all Cloud could manage.

“Well you don't expect that you're the only one going to have some fun do you.” Reno said sounding slightly amused. “I have something else in mind.”

Reno assisted Cloud in rolling over exposing his backside to the Turk. Reno moved very close to the cadet, so close that Cloud could feel the others penis press against his butt cheek. He wrapped his hand back around Clouds dick, which reminded Cloud how close he was to coming. The Turks other hand moved to areas that had never before been explored. Plunging one finger deep into Clouds anus without any warning. Cloud cried out, partially in surprised and partially in pain at the unexpected intrusion.

“Shh, just relax.” Reno tried to reassure.

“What are you doing?” Cloud demanded looking over his shoulder at the Turk.

“How the hell do you expect to have sex without some prep?”

“It hurts.” Cloud insisted.

The finger was removed, and Reno leaned even closer. “In my pants there's a potion, grab it.”

Confused by the request, he reached forward and snatched the article of clothing from where it lay nearby on the floor, fishing into the pockets and found the small blue vial of the potion. “What do you need that for?”

From what he could remember from class, potions were valuable on the battlefield so therefore it didn't seem strange that a Turk would keep one on him at all times. He just didn't see what he would need the curative potion for right now. He handed over the potion, without getting an answer to his question. He heard Reno uncork the bottle behind him and he could smell the medicinal qualities to the item.

“Reno what are you doing with that?” He asked again, hoping for an answer.

“Hush.”

He felt the finger return to his rear again, but this time it was cooler and slid in with much less effort. Then he understood, Reno had coated his fingers in the potion. The item did indeed help, lubricating the way and easing the burn of those areas getting stretched. A second finger joined the first and Cloud could feel some excitement start to build in his belly. After a third finger was inserted the Turk started to move them in a rhythm similar to the one he had been using on Clouds cock earlier. Cloud panted into his pillow willing himself not to make too much noise. The last thing he wanted right now was to wake the others in the room across the hall.

“Gee grunt you sure are eager aren’t you.” Reno said into Cloud ear.

“Don't- don't call me grunt.” Cloud managed to grit out.

“Well if you want to be like that then.”

Reno removed his fingers and repositioned himself at Clouds rear, leaning over his back to whisper into Clouds ear.

“Just so you know. I always get what I want.”

Cloud hadn't expected that, and he hadn't expected the swift invasion of something more substantial then a finger. He gasped at the sudden friction, it burned, it was uncomfortable, and he didn't want to continue.

“R-Reno, it hurts.” He started.

Reno responded quickly, leaning over Clouds back forcing himself further into the cadet. “Relax; trust me it won't hurt after awhile.”

Cloud winced but nodded trying his best to will his muscles to slack. Reno started to thrust gentle as he could in a slow rhythm. Cloud willed himself to adjust to Renos presence. Forcing his muscles to relax as much as he could, supporting his weight and Renos on his knees. He could feel the burn lessen, Renos words were true. He did notice though that even though he had complained about the sensation that Reno hadn't slowed, hadn't stopped, he had just pushed on continuing to thrust in and out of him. Cloud shifted his weight onto one hand and brought the other to his dick, stroking in time with each of Renos advances. It distracted from the pain and he moaned lightly and began to move his hips in time with Reno, meeting each thrust.

“Nnnn.” Cloud moaned out trying to keep as quiet as possible.

The rhythm began to increase and Cloud could hear the bed springs creak softly with every movement they made. Their bodies grew slick with sweat, and Reno pressed one hand over Clouds mouth to muffle the sounds he was making.

“Shh, you don't want to wake the others do you?” He chided softly.

“I-I'm sorry.” Cloud managed to choke out.

“Though, I'm really not opposed to your cute little noises.”

“I wasn't aware that I was-” Reno cut him off by putting his hand over his mouth again.

Cloud arched his back enjoying the sensation, he wasn't sure when he had gotten over the discomfort and had started to respond this way. He didn't know when the pressure had started to build, he wasn't sure of very much. He was aware though when Reno moved an arm around Clouds chest and lifted him up, changing the angle Reno plunged in at. Brushing against Clouds prostate now. That was when Cloud saw stars when he really couldn't control the volume of his passion; Reno did his best to muffle any noise Cloud made.

“Fuck, kid you're really into this aren’t you.”

Cloud couldn't form words anymore; he nodded abstractly not even sure what he was agreeing to. He could feel the pressure building, a tight coil in his belly, He knew he was close to the edge, and by the rate of Reno's breathing he could guess that the Turk was close too.

He released, sparks passing over his vision briefly. The Turk followed closely after him, he could feel the warmth inside of him. He couldn't support his weight any longer and collapsed on the bed Reno falling along with him. Cloud laid there willing his heart to slow and his breath to grow even again. He hadn't realised that, that would be so exerting. He felt warm and content next to the Turk and his eyelids grew heavy.

“Get dressed.” Reno murmured into the quiet that surrounded them suddenly.

“Why?”

“'Cause we're underground you'll get cold.” He warned.

“I don't wanna.”

“Fine whatever you say.” Reno shrugged as he pulled on his own pants.

Cloud didn't think he could find the energy to get out of bed and search for them; instead he closed his eyes and curled up into the covers.

During the night he woke up to get his clothes finding that even under the blanket he was shivering. Damn Reno for being right. XX

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next morning was dark, same as every other morning. The bed was empty which lead Cloud to believe that he was probably the last person to wake that day. He sat up, wincing in discomfort at the pain in his rear. This didn't looking like it was going to be a very good day. He shrugged knowing that it was to late now to do anything about it and just adjusted his uniform top, wished that in the least they had a window, but knew that they were too far underground for one. He ran his hands through his hair attempting to rid himself of his permanent case of bed head.

He felt guilty about the night before and really didn't want to face Zack. Just the thought of what Zack would think of him if he knew. He couldn't dwell on that right now, not with all of them living so closely together. Everything had to stay as normal as possible.

Cloud looked about the dark room, still only lit by the little night light. He missed seeing the sunlight in the morning. Nothing he could do about it, while they were still locked in the basement. He didn't even think that Wutei would do anything about them anyway. It had been so long already.

The sound of someone moving about in the other room reminded Cloud that he still wasn't alone in this prison and that someone out there was most likely cooking some breakfast for them all. So he gathered up all his bravery and exited the bedroom. He could see both Turks sitting on a sofa and the smell of cooked bacon entered his senses. That meant Zack was cooking. He gingerly left the safety of the hallway and greeted everyone.

“Good morning.”

“Morning sleepy.” Zack said and he stirred up some scrambled eggs. “You sure slept in today.”

“I guess.” Cloud responded non-commitally.

“Not much else to do around here.” Rude mentioned.

Cloud sat on the second sofa feeling boredom start to seep in already. He watched Zack putter around in the kitchen and half listened to the conversation that Rude and Reno were having. Despite the events of the night before, nothing had changed, nothing was different, and they were all still locked up. It was monotonous day in and day out. Cloud had thought that things might change that things might stir up a bit, even though moments before he was wishing that nothing would change he suddenly realised that maybe last night, maybe he had done that on purpose. Perhaps subconsciously he had wanted to stir up trouble. Create some drama and mix things up a bit so that maybe just maybe tomorrow wouldn't be the same as yesterday.

He sighed as he stretched out along the couch. Maybe that was what he was wanting or maybe he was just being paranoid. He could even have gone insane by now and just not realised it, which could be what that banging was. That metallic ring that seemed so distant but so near at the same time. No one else seemed to be reacting to it. He must be the only one hearing it.

He was wrong. “Do you hear that?” Reno asked suddenly.

Rude was watching the door closely now.

“Hmm?” Zack responded. “Hear what? I don't hear anything but the-” He paused mid sentence. It was louder now.

“What is that?” Cloud wondered out loud.

It was definitely a metallic ring, metal hitting metal reverberating down the hallway, getting closer every second. There were other noises as well, voices yelling, gun shots. Something was going on out there and they had no way of finding out what it was.

Zack abandoned his station in the kitchen and moved closer to the doorway. Both Turks had moved to their feet and looked ready for a fight. Cloud remained on the couch unsure of the sudden danger outside of their door. A monstrous voice raised above the rest of the commotion, a roar, a battle cry, definitely human. It sounded angry, like someone ready to kill. Naturally Cloud was afraid; he had never heard something like that before. A cry of bloodlust of someone who had spent their lives slaughtering others. Then the noise faded away. Not simply that they had passed and moved on but more as if they had stopped paused in the trek down the Shinra hallway. There was a bang on their door, that same metallic clang they had heard before this time louder and closer then ever before. Another bang and a noticeable dint. The Turks and the Soldier readied themselves for a fight. Cloud, he wished that he was doing the same but instead he seemed to be frozen to the spot unsure of what it was he should be doing. He clutched the seat cushions and felt exactly like a frightened child torn from their mother, he barely was anything more anyway.

The pounding continued and the door took more and more noticeable damage. Whoever was out there was intent on breaking the door down and they seemed to be doing a fine job of it.

“Cloud, get close to me.” Zack said motioning for Cloud.

He couldn't move he felt like he had been glued to the spot. Whatever was on that other side of that door must be huge.

The pounding paused only to be replaced by another deafening roar. The door flew into the room and landed with a crash. Dust filled the air and debris flew. Cloud could make out a handful of figures in the broken doorway. His heart stopped for a moment as soon as he recognized the Wutanese insignia on their chest. The figure front and center in the doorway was a massive being tall with bright orange hair, and an equally large metal arm. Cloud could see it glint in the light back in the hall from the shoulder down completed with a metal fist. That explained the clanging echo from before. It was obvious that the giant with his arm was the ram that had knocked the door in.

No one moved, no one dared to speak. Cloud saw the Turks were both still tense and ready for a fight. A smaller figure moved around the giant to the front of the other soldiers and looked around the room and over its occupants. He said something in the Wutanese dialect and turned leaving them all. The giant nodded his understanding and moved forward toward Zack, who visibly moved back.

“This isn't it either.” A female voice said with an accent.

Cloud tore his eyes away from the giant to the person who had spoken. A slight Wutanese woman entered the room looking at the Turks. She vocalised the observation. “Looks like we found us some Turks though.”

“Damn right you have Wutei bitch.” Reno snapped at her.

“Now now watch your language Turk.” She warned. “Don't forget I've got Bardo on my side.”

The giant snorted as if letting everyone know that he was the one she was talking about.

“I suggest that you behave yourselves and come with us without a fuss you may just wake up tomorrow with out a head ache.” She continued.

“You may have the big guy but we've got two Turks and a SOLDIER on our side.” Reno challenged.

“Shut up you idiot.” Zack hissed under his breath.

“The SOLDIER's right, you are without any weaponry.” Several Wutei soldiers came into the room as if on cue and cocked and aimed their guns. “You will be accompanying us; hopefully you'll be valuable enough to Shinra to perhaps strike a bargain.”

Zack stood down, Cloud felt lost and hope less still sitting on the couch. First last night now this. Life was really going down the shitter, boring class looked really good right now. How could this get any worse.

“Hey who's the kid?” One of the Wutei soldiers asked not lowering his gun in the slightest.

“You don't need to worry about him.” Zack said.

“He's nothing.” The woman said looking Cloud over. “He's nothing but a common Shinra grunt. Dispose of him please.”

“No!” Cloud found his voice, just in time to protest his death.

The soldiers stiffened a bit, Cloud could hear their fingers tighten on their triggers. He didn't want to die here now like this. Though admittedly it would be better then starving to death lost in the forest, or crashing and burning up to a crisp in the helicopter, or even of just plain old boredom. He was meant to do more with his life though surely he was meant for more then just this. To be shot down in his own turf. Where the hell were all of the SOLDIERs anyway? Shouldn't Shinra be fighting back?

Another Wutei soldier entered the room in a rush stumbling a bit trying to stop in time before he crashed into Bardo the giant. He said some words quickly in the Wutei dialect. The woman nodded and gave some orders before turning on her heal and exiting the room.

Bardo the giant moved forward grabbed Zack and forced him to follow along. The Turks and Cloud were held at gun point and forced to march out of the room. Cloud was glad that he hadn't been shot and left to die, he wasn't much happier about having to go along though. He was grateful to see something other then that basement room. The cold metal halls and poor lighting a welcome sight to his tired eyes. Though all of it was in worse shape then they had been last time they made this trek down. Sharp cuts into the metal walls revealed that the walls were much thicker then Cloud had imagined. Many areas of the walls showed a clear patina from fire. Dark areas were common from where the lights had been shot out. They stepped over bodies all of them Shinra personell. Scientists and soldiers scattered the floor their blood staining everything. In all of the chaos he only saw one fallen Wutei soldier. They left him behind, Cloud saw no sign of anyone attempting to bring the body back with them.

They didn't go back up to the surface; they were lead down hallways and stairways unrecognized to Cloud and to a massive hole in the wall. It looked like an explosion had torn everything apart. They went through the hole and into a metal tunnel. It looked like it had been drilled through, weeks possibly months of work to get the perfectly round tunnel into the Shinra basement. Ahead of Cloud and the Turks, the giant walked, Cloud could hear Zacks curses. It was in vain though; even though he was a first class SOLDIER he stood no chance against the giant.

The air was thick and smelled foul. Cloud wondered how far down they were. They were heading further down a slight incline and it curved around gently. Were they walking through the foundations of the Shinra building like rats? What kind of technology allowed them to do this? How was it that no one knew that they were doing this? Surely it must have taken a lot of time and planning to do this. What were they accomplishing? Their goal couldn't have been to kidnap them, there hadn't been enough time.

There was nothing Cloud nor anyone else could do though. With the threat of these Wutei spies so near at hand, they had no choice but to go along for the ride. He could see the Turks seething at their inability to fight back. Their footsteps echoed in the dark tunnel, as well as the voices of the Wutei soldiers holding them at gun point. Cloud had spotted the Materia equipped in each weapon, as was familiar with the danger that the orbs held. He had been warned in class of the Wutanese craftiness, their abilities with Materia were unmatched. Shinras goal was to strip them of the orbs and create a monopoly of the gems. So far they hadn't had any luck. They were extremely versatile fighters, who were able to very quickly build a defensive line on a battlefield. Not to mention their camps which seemed to pop up out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly leaving no trace of their existence. That made tracking their whereabouts extremely difficult. Whenever they were threatened they would simply seem to vanish and reappear in a safer more defendable position. Cloud was very uncomfortable to be led by these clansmen.

He was hoping that they air would improve by the time the reached they end of the bored out tunnel. He was disappointed, they were deposited somewhere in the slums. Cloud had never been down here, but he had heard plenty of stories about it from his classmates. He had never imagined it would be this bad though. It was dark, that much he knew, since they had no access to natural light. The air was stale, the buildings derelict, and the odd person he could see here and there all looked sickly and unnaturally pale. It was the people that bothered him the most. This particular area didn't have too many occupants and all of them seemed to ignore all of them piling out of this hole, only some what disguised by the rubbish that was piled around it. A few looked at them in confusion but quickly looked away. Obviously not too many Turks or SOLDIERs made it to this part of the slums. Some the children out right stared at Zack, who had finally stopped protesting.

No one spoke, they were just pushed on at a hurried pace. Cloud stumbled his way across the uneven ground trying his best to not trip on the littered floor. They paused only once, not for long but it did give Cloud a chance to get a better look at his surroundings. The only lighting was artificial, old yellow lights hung everywhere possible. On the sides of buildings, on pillars, on haphazard posts, wires strung between them all. The roads were all dirt though they did show signs that once they probably had been paved. He jumped when he saw something move in the corner of his eye.

One of the Wutei soldier saw his reaction and chuckled to himself a bit, before leaning closer to Cloud and surprisingly tried to comfort the blonde. “Don't worry too much about those things, lots of creatures roam around freely down here. The locals keep them in control.” He said with a thick accent.

Cloud had never wished for his crappy little practise sword more in his life.

It wasn't long before a rattling could be heard in the distance. A wooden cart pulled by two of the saddest looking chocobo's Cloud had ever seen came around the corner rocking violently over every bump and dip in the make shift road. He felt bad for the poor birds, they looked old and sick. Probably old racing birds discarded for newer younger birds. He was pushed forward, someone behind him urging him forward and into the cart. They all piled into the Cart, all but for Bardo the giant; he walked along behind having no problems keeping pace.

“What sector are we in?” Rude asked suddenly. A question out of the blue.

He didn't get a response. The female Wutei soldier had moved up to the front of the cart and was talking the old man. A scraggily looking drifter who probably had a rough life, at least that's what he looked like from his outer appearance. Though there was hardly any doubt if he had spent his life down in the slums. Cloud wondered what she was all about; she seemed to hold some sort of authority over the others. It didn't look like she was armed, though he knew better, even their women were supposed to be vicious on the battlefield. Who was she?

Cloud sat back and tried his best to look like he wasn't just the last minute straggler who had been sentenced to death. This was not the way he wanted to die; he needed to become a hero first. It wasn't a very comfortable ride; thankfully it wasn't a very long one. From what he could see outside the covered cart was that they were still obviously in the slums. There were a few more people around though, instead of the few scattered occupants of the previous sector. He knew he was on very thin ice with these people; after all he was worthless to Shinra and therefore worthless to the Wutei. He was lucky to still be alive.

When they finally arrived at their destination, a run down shack in yet another sector. The female instructed them out of the cart and led them at gunpoint into the shack. They were chained up to a thick metal pipe that came up out of the floor of the shack. They were in the back room of the tiny two room apartment.

“They can't do this to us.” Zack muttered under his breath.

“Yeah at least Shinra gave us our own room.” Reno agreed.

“They can't keep us here like this forever; we're too much of a threat to keep us close for long.” Rude said, almost like he was thinking out loud. “They'll try to strike a bargain for us. Whatever they went there for they didn't find.”

Cloud sat on the rough wooden floor, his arms held in an awkward angle thanks to the chains that had been looped around his wrists. “Do people actually live like this?” He wondered out loud. Surely people couldn't be expected to live in such quarters. Everything he saw in the slums was terrible; he had expected something closer to home, maybe just darker. Little houses full of happy families, with yards with white picket fences...

“Well we are kinda being held against our will here Cloud.” Zack pointed out.

“No I mean everyone. All those people out there... There's garbage everywhere, there's no sunlight, how do these people live?”

“Have you never been down here before?” Reno asked, looking over his shoulder where he was forced into the same treatment as the rest of them.

“No, I've just heard about it.” He felt silly now, no not silly stupid.

The rickety door was pulled open before anyone could say anything else and a couple soldiers walked into the room, followed by the giant and the woman. A few fast paced words were exchanged, none of which Cloud could follow. The woman seemed to be angry and no one seemed to want to cross her path, least they bring Bardos fury down upon them. She huffed her way out of the room the giant following suit and left two of the soldiers behind, probably to watch over their prisoners.

“Geeze, what's her problem?” Reno muttered

One of the soldiers looked at the Turk from his spot near the door. “Don't mind Nikola, she's always like that. Part of being a Generals daughter.” He said with a slight accent.

Zacks head snapped up, like he had been struck with a sudden thought. “How much are you allowed to tell us?”

“What the hell are you doing Zack?” Reno countered, obviously thinking that the SOLDIER had cracked.

“What were you doing trying to break into Shinra headquarters with so few people? Why push for the basement? Why bother with us?” Zack questioned.

The soldier shook his head in a negative. Obviously these were questions he could not answer. Cloud thought they were good questions though, and now started to wonder about them. How exactly had they got into this situation?

“You're all spies.” Cloud pointed out. He had thought of them as spies all along but he had never vocalised the possibility.

The soldier nodded his head in an affirmative.

“That would explain why you hadn't been caught before. You don't have much time left. Shinra isn't going to let what you did pass lightly. They'll track you down before you know it and all of you will have to pay the price.” Zack spat out, anger laced in his words.

“They won't find us here.” The same soldier spoke again, Cloud wondered if his companion knew English as well as his friend. “We're hiding in plain sight. People in the slums hate Shinra as much as the rest of us.”

“Nonsense, Shinra is the one providing them with shelter, food, electricity. Shinra give these people jobs. Without Shinra they wouldn't have anything.” Zack argued back.

“Shinra took everything away from them. Before Midgar existed each sector was a town, they had health, families, lives. Now they're forced to do everything they can to survive. They are surviving not living.” The soldier said one last time before he turned away, ending the conversation.

The silence hung thick in the air. Cloud couldn't help but agree with the Wutanese man. If everything he said had been true. If Midgar really had been built overtop of these people's homes. They were suffering it didn't take much to see that. These people were far different from the ones living atop the plates. Those people had everything compared to the slums. Had Shinra really stolen their lives?

He must have drifted off, overcome by sleep because he couldn't remember anything between that conversation, the heavy silence, and the sudden presence of Bardo in the room. It seemed like Clouds luck had run out. Bardo made a beeline straight for him, snapped the chains holding him in place like threads and carried Cloud out of the room, screaming in terror the whole way. Before the door closed Cloud had a look at his fellow prisoners. Zack and Reno both looked panicked at Clouds abduction.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

He was passed off to another soldier, and taken up a rusty metal ladder. Bardo could not follow his weight would have torn the item off of the wall. It looked to be the only way up to the further reaches of the building. He was tossed into another room, part of the same shack only a few floors further up. He was surprised to see computers sitting along one wall two or three fairly new units, all flashing symbols of the Wutei language. A television set sat in one corner, getting poor reception despite it's location in the upper floors of the shack. A desk that looked to be constructed of used plywood sat at the far end of the room. Nikola sat behind it. She had glasses sitting delicately on her nose and was sorting through a few papers. He watched her pick up a worn PHS and issued a few commands into the radio set.

Once she had completed the few tasks before her she turned her attention to Cloud, and smiled. He was surprised to find that the smile was gentle, and almost welcoming. He looked back to the PHS and to the rest of the technology in the room. Compared to the rest of it the PHS stood out... it was so old.

“We find that the analog technology works far better down here compared to the new digital ones.” She explained, as if reading Clouds mind.

“W-why? Why are you keeping us here?” He asked.

Her smile never vanished. “Because all of you might be able to help us accomplish our goals. I hope that you'll be sympathetic to our cause.”

Cloud shook his head. No these were spies of the Wutei government. They wanted to overthrow Shinra and everything they had done for the world. They wanted the power of the mako reactors to themselves; throw the world back into the dark ages. The reactors meant the future of the world; they provided jobs and convenient power for everyone.

“You must at least hear me out. After all of the people in the slums have agreed to help us.” She said not taking her eyes off of Cloud.

He shook his head again. He didn't want to hear it, the lies they must have told these people to get them to work against the ones providing them with their means of survival. He looked to the floor, refusing to look up at the Wutei woman.

He heard her sigh. “Tell me about your friends then. What were you doing there with them?”

He paused shocked, if she didn't know... they hadn't been their goal. “We were being protected.”

“I would hardly call that protection. Looked to me like they were trying to keep you all out of their way. What's your name?”

“Cloud Strife Ma'am.”

He heard her chair move, its legs scratching against the worn floorboards. Her footsteps coming closer. Her feet came into his view. “Cloud Strife... I am Nikola I would like to be your friend.”

“No you wouldn't.” She was lying, they always lied.

“Of course I do.” She knelt down and forced him to look at her. “Why would you say something like that?”

What was she trying to do? He had no power; he had no influence in Shinra. Befriending him would accomplish nothing. “No one wants to be my friend.” It was true. Even back home he was distant from everyone else, even now all the time he had spent with the Turks and the SOLDIER... they weren't really his friends, he just happened to have been lumped together with them in that room, on that mission.

“Now, now... why wouldn't anyone want to be friends with such a handsome young man? What about the others downstairs?”

“I don't mean anything to them. It was by chance I was in that room. Shinra won't give you anything to get me back... I'm worthless to you.” He didn't know why he was telling her all of this. “I don't want to die.”

“Aww, you won't die. Please just tell me who those men downstairs are. We know they are from the Turks and the one is a SOLDIER.” She continued. So this is what she wanted with him.

“Reno and Rude... they're just Turks, they're all the same. Zack... Major General Fair I guess would be his proper title.” Cloud answered.

“Major General hey? Why would they have someone like that locked up in the basement?” She asked leaning back on her heals, feigning deep thought when she knew Cloud would answer her.

“For his protection... our protection.” Hadn't they already talked about this?

“Protection from what?”

“You.”

“Well obviously didn't work.” She stood back up, and Cloud let his gaze follow her. “Why did you need protection? If you hadn't of been there this would have never happened to you.”

Cloud felt tears well up in his eyes, truth be told he didn't know why they were there; he didn't know what they needed protection from. Nothing made sense anymore. “I don't know, I don't understand any of it. I wish I was in class again. I wish I was being picked on by bullies again. I don't want to be here any more.”

“We can send you home; you won't have to worry about Shinra anymore. We'll send you back to where your family is. All you have to do is cooperate with us.” Her voice sounded warm, but it held the promise of danger. She would not fulfill her promise.

“No! I can't... I can't go back until I'm a hero.”

“Well isn't that sweet.” She grabbed onto his chin lifting it up violently, making him look at her. Her nails digging into his skin painfully. “You want to be just like him, just like that murderer don't you? Just another Shinra grunt suffering from a case of hero-worship. None of you know what a real hero is! That man, that General of yours is nothing but a murderer!”

Cloud was shocked at her words, the sudden vicisouness in her voice. She hated the General; he didn't even have to wonder about it. “He will lead Shinra to victory.”

She spun around turning her back to Cloud, and spat out orders to a nearby Wutei soldier. He nodded before grabbing Cloud by an elbow and dragging him out of the room and back down to the lowest floor chained with the others once again. As the chains bit into his wrists he wondered if he had made a mistake, following the General with blind faith. Sephiroth was a terrifying man; he could understand why she would call him a murderer. He brought down so many of the Wutei people. He had made a promise though, at the top of that water tower under those stars. He promised Tifa he would become a hero and that one day he'd come back and save her. He couldn't turn his back on that now. What would that make him? Hardly worth anything, useless in the eyes of everyone had who looked at him. If only he hadn't been this way, why couldn't he have been born a different child? Why was he doomed to be Cloud Strife?

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo


“Hey Spike you okay?”

Cloud continued to ignore Zack. One by one they had all been interrogated, Reno hadn't been happy with Cloud once he found out that Cloud had given them all their names. Ever since he had come back Cloud had felt empty, like there was no real reason for him to be here. If someone else had been chosen to go to bone village instead of him, they would be here in his place. He would probably still be on track in class.

“Stop ignoring me Cloud.”

He still didn't answer. It could have been anyone in his place. He was Cloud Strife though the unluckiest kid on the planet apparently. What did anyone want with huge materia anyway? Useless rock was all it really was.

“Damn it Cloud. Talk to me.”

“Would you just say something to get him to shut the hell up.” Reno added. After all Zack had probably been trying to get Clouds attention for close to half an hour now.

“I don't want to talk to anyone.” Was all Cloud said.

He had been given a bit more slack on his chains this time, it gave him just enough room to slump onto the floor, and for that he was grateful. It allowed him to curl up a bit, keep himself a little warm and separated from the others just a bit. If he was back home in Nibelhiem right now he'd run to his hiding spot by the Shinra mansion. It was just a little clearing behind some old rose bushes. No one disturbed him there though, not like here. Obviously he wasn't a danger to them; everyone else had been put back the same way they had originally been strung up. Only Cloud was given any sort of slack on his restraints, though it did little to cheer him. Honestly all of this was getting ridiculous, how could all of them been handed this situation after situation without any of being set up. He missed Kalm.

“I hear someone coming.” Rude announced quietly.

Naturally he was right, footsteps approached the door and it swung open into the room. Nikola entered alone, she smiled at Cloud pure venom, and she had a plan. Cloud was released from his restraints yet again and Nikola was met with no opposition from any of them. Everyone probably assumed that they were going to press him with more questions, to see what else the cadet might spill. Cloud was surprised when he was lead outside and was met with a casually dressed Wutei spy. A package was thrust into his arms.

He looked at it, plain brown packaging but whatever was inside felt soft and pliable. “Put that on.”
Nikola demanded of him. He opened it up and saw clothing, regular run of the mill clothing. “We can't have you going in wearing a Shinra uniform.”

“Going where?” Cloud asked as he pulled the material out.

“You'll be going into Wallmarket.” She looked at him sharply, a warning. “Don't think that you'll be able to pull anything. You will be accompanied and if you try anything don't think that we won't be afraid to hurt your little friends.”

Cloud swallowed a quick retort and nodded his understanding. If he screwed up, the others would pay for it he had to be careful and follow orders. He climbed into the back of the wooden cart again, while the other Wutei spy sat up front with the driver, he guessed that was where he was supposed to change.

So he was going to Wallmarket. He had heard a lot about that place, it was in sector six. A lot of cadets went down there during their free time; they always came back with stories all sorts of stories. This was probably going to be an eventful trip, he thought as the cart took off going over the same bumps as before. Definitely interesting.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: Gee it took me a long time to get that chapter out. I sure hope that it was worth the wait. Life got a little crazy and a little out of hand for a bit there... anyway drop me a line and let me know what you think. :)