DISCLAIMER: I didn't create 'em. I ain't gettin' paid.
WARNING: non-consentual sexual activity between adults, contains a post- child-abuse scene.

PAIRING: Cloud/Sephiroth
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-Prologue-
The silver-haired boy wanted to vomit. Laying on the dirty floor in the storage room of Shinra's Lab, the frightened ten-year-old could still taste what the man had done a little less than half an hour ago. The smell of old dust clung to his nostrils, but he barely noticed it. Another thing he failed to notice was the lack of sound, save for the occasional gurgle from the sink in the corner.

~You're bad.~ the man's voice rang throughout his mind. Sephiroth curled up and covered his ears, trying to block the inevitable. ~Worthless. You'll always be worthless.~

It was probably true, the boy decided. People must have gone by this storage room a dozen times at least. So far, no one had tried to stop the man from hurting him. Not in all the times he'd endured ...

Tears of shame marred the young face as he finally fell asleep. He caught sight of his reflection; too pale, too ghostly, in the drainpipe below the sink where the building custodians rinsed out their mops.

"Worthless," he whispered, in disgust and hate, at his reflection as he lay there, staring at it.

The boy barely noticed as the door opened and a hand flipped off the storage room light, plunging the room into darkness. In the center, at floor-level, two glowing aquamarine orbs could be seen brimming with tears that would never be shed.

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-Chapter 1--

"The mission is as follows," General Sephiroth told his regiment, as they sat at the corner table in the cafe in Rocket Town. studying each man with stern, proud eyes. He'd trained them to be the best. So far, they hadn't disappointed him. "We have been instructed to quell the new anti-Shinra resistance in using any means neccessary. It is rumored they are hiding in the sacred mountains near Wutai. We have a half-hour journey to Wutai. Once we're there, we'll pick up supplies and split up into two parties." he placed a map on the table and pointed at the mountains in question. "One party will take the upper mountain trail, here; the other party will take the lower trail, here," he said, pointing at the places in question for both 'heres.' "Now let me stress that 'by any means neccessary' means we do not kill them unless is just that, neccessary. Everybody got it?"

The SOLDIERs under his commanded all nodded their affirmatives, even the blond, spiky-haired new recruit seemed to get it.

Satisfied that it was no longer needed for the moment, Sephiroth folded the map and returned it to his field kit just in time for the waiter to return with the meals they'd ordered earlier.

*****


Sephiroth, entered Wutai after an uneventful journey which was only only delayed long enough for two members of his regiment to visit the nearest forest. ~Mental note: In the future, do not let troops order seafood in Rocket Town.~

"I'm going to get the hotel rooms set up." he told the others as he paused on the path to the hotel. "The rest of you head out to the shops, get whatever you need. Cloud Strife, since you're still new I suggest you stock up on healing potions and similar materia."

"Yes, sir." Cloud smiled as he saluted.

"Meet me at the hotel in one hour or less." Sephiroth ordered. "Dismissed." he saluted, then turned and disappeared into the front door of the hotel.

*****


Sephiroth rang the service bell and waited.

"Just one minute," the hotel's owner said, from behind the counter. He stood up. "Yes," he began, "how can I help you?" If he recognized Sephiroth, he gave no indication of it.

Sephiroth stared at the man, his heart pounding in sudden and irrational fear as images, smells and tastes bombarded him from out of his buried past; the thrusting hips too close to his eyes, the powerful hands with their grip on his hair, the taste of sweat and skin and seed.

"My regiment and I need a room for one night, " he explained. It was all that he could do at that point. If he didn't request the room, the others would ask why.

The hotel owner showed Sephiroth a room on the second floor. "This will do," Sephiroth decided, after a brief inspection. Now if only the bastard would just put the keys down and leave him alone. All hope of this happening vanished as he heard the door close behind him. He turned to find the man unzipping his pants, leering at him, and as the man's organ sprang into view, the last remnants of his strength seemed to abandon him and he had to clutch the table to stop himself from falling.

"I missed you," the man smiled as he stroked himself. "Why don't you come over here and take care of me like you did so long ago."

Sephiroth didn't know why; perhaps it was the trauma of seeing this man again, or the old memories it retriggered. Whatever the reason was, Sephiroth dropped to his knees before the man, not wanting this, but compelled to act. He took the man's erection into his mouth, tears trickling down his face as the man began to thrust into his mouth. All time times he'd endured this in the past overlapped each other. Scattered memories, painful and humiliating, assaulted him becoming clearer and clearer with each thrust of the man's erection into his mouth.

Suddenly, at least in his mind, Sephiroth was back at Shinra Lab, a helpless, frightened little boy unable to escape a nightmare no person, young or old, should ever have to endure. The feel of the man's hands once again entangled in his hair only reinforced this.

"Yes, that's right. You just keep still and I'll do all the work," the man was speaking the same words he had so long ago. As if he had relived the memory of his perverse crime each night, using it for his own twisted pleasure.

**** Cloud walked into the hotel. Unable to find the owner, he hurried upstairs to speak to Sephiroth. The rooms were all open except for one. He looked into each open room, but there was no sign of the group's belongings in any of them. He walked to the the closed room and tested the door. Finding it unlocked, he opened it and was greeted by a scene that his mind simply could not cope with.

A man, Cloud guessed him to be the hotel owner, from the keyring clipped to hls belt-loop, was standing there, thrusting into General Sephiroth, the proud General trembling and whimpering, as if the man had broken him.

"General Sephiroth?!"

Sephiroth's mind snapped back to the present, as the man's erection spurted, once again, into his mouth. Anger and hate flared in his eyes. Glaring up at the man who had shamed him so many times in the past, at the man who had dared to shame again today, Sephiroth leaped up, grabbed his sword. His scream of rage mingled with the rapist's scream of agony as the Masamune sliced off the rapist's organ, blood splattering everywhere as the sword cut through the engorged flesh; onto the floor... onto the walls... onto Sephiroth...

Retrieving his severed organ, the hotel owner raced out of here as fast as he could..

"Sir," Cloud asked, trying not to vomit, "what happened."

"Mind your own business," Sephiroth glared, warningly at Cloud. "And not a word of what you just saw to the others. Is that clear?"

Cloud didn't want to mind his own business. He wanted to find out what had happened. General Sephiroth, the man who took no crap from anyone, man or monster, had been simply kneeling there while this creep ...

~ I just walked in on General Sephiroth being raped.~ Cloud realized, his face ashen with horror.


SERIES: Final Fantasy 7
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-Chapter 2--

Sephiroth glared down at the blood he covered in. He normally didn't mind getting a little blood on him. You couldn't be a SOLDIER and be squeamish about a little blood. But this blood had come from a man who had used him more times than he cared to count. Its presence there, on his body, in his hair, was like one last attempt of the man's to touch him; one final violation. It was, also, the last straw. Holding his stomach, Sephiroth rushed into the bathroom, and slammed the door closed. Cloud heard the lock click into place, followed by the sound of Sephiroth vomitting. Cloud didn't blame the man for that. He wondered how Sephiroth could retain as much composure as he was after what had just happened.. Was the General in shock? Cloud heard the shower running and the sound of the great man sobbing as the reality of what happened finally hit home.

Sephiroth could hear the door open in the main part of the hotel room. He felt his humiliation grow, knowing that whoever came in would probably hear him sobbing. He coudn't stop the tears, however. Nor could he stop the waves of memories that came rushing back to drown him in their terrible flood.

The sound of loud music filled the air, drowning out his sobs, and he realized that this was exactly what it was meant to do. ~Thank you, Cloud.~ he thought to himself.

"General Sephiroth," the SOLDIER who had entered the room hollered at the top of his lungs. He was annoyed that he had to shout over the din of Cloud's music. His hair was similar to Cloud's though it was longer and jet black instead of blond.

"He's taking a shower, Zack," Cloud informed his fellow SOLDIER, doing all he could to conceal his rage at what he'd walked in on.

"The blood..." Zack muttered, looking all around.

"There was a monster in the room." Cloud didn't lie. The man who had been with Sephiroth was, indeed a monster. One who, to Cloud's way of thinking, was more vile than any of those they'd battled in the past.

A dark fantasy formed in his mind. He saw himself telling Zack what had happened; teaming up with Zack and go after the man who had dishonored General Sephiroth. They found the man, in this dark daydream, and Cloud ordered Zack to hold the creep down while Cloud stuck the man's severed organ into the rapist's mouth and hacked him to pieces. How *dare* that man do such a thing to General Sephiroth.

Unmindful of Cloud's dream of avenging General Sephiroth, or of anything the reason for such a dream, Zack nodded at Cloud's answer, but frowned in annoyance. He'd planned to make his report, then take a long shower to get all the battle-gunk off of himself. Now he would have to wait for a man who was not only his commanding officer, but also happened to be the man with the longest hair in the whole regiment. There was nothing for it, but to wait.

After several minutes, Cloud noticed that Sephiroth's sobs seemed to have abated. Instead of relief, however, this caused the level of his concern to skyrocket. He peeked into the bathroom and his eyes went wide with shock. "That takes some nerve," Zack whistled, unaware of what Cloud had just seen.

"Find a doctor and bring him back here doublequick," Cloud ordered, turning off the music and taking immediate charge of the situation. "I think General Sephiroth is sick."

"That's crazy," Zack protested, in disbelief. "General Sephiroth has never been sick in his life."

"Well he's sick now, dammit," Cloud argued, closing the bathroom door and crossing the room to where the cots were. "Go fetch the doctor and I'll get him to bed." He got a blanket from the cot he was sleeping in and rushed into the bathroom where Sephiroth lay, unconscious on the floor.The lack of cuts and pill-bottles, and the fact that he hadn't drown ruled out a suicide attempt. Cloud was glad that the man hadn't tried to kill himself because of that bastard who has mistreated him earlier. He had promised to keep it a secret, to spare the General's pride. But the General's life took precedent over Cloud's promise.

~I'll keep my promise for as long as I can, my beloved General.~ he thought to himself, as he wrapped the blanket around Sephiroth. ~But if you try to kill yourself, I will do everything I have to, even break my promise, to stop you.~

Cloud somehow managed to carry the General over to the bed. He lay him down on the mattreess, covering the shivering man as a parent might cover a child. Kissing Sephiroth's forehead, trying to reassure the man, he noticed that the General was feverish.

"He *is* sick," Zack's eyes widened in pure disbelief at what he was seeing.

"I told you to get a doctor, dammit," Cloud shouted at him.

Zack didn't question Cloud's taking command, there was no time to in a crisis like this. He just ran out the door and raced to the find a doctor

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-Chapter 3--

Cloud looked for a chair, but could find none. Settling for the edge of the bed, Cloud sat there and held Sephiroth's hand. "Sir," he said, trying to take Sephiroth's mind off what had happened to him, "please get better soon. We need you." He didn't know how to take care of Sephiroth. Normally fevers were to be cooled down. Sephiroth also had chills, however. Cloud was certain, too, that bathing the General would only cause greater humiliation and make Sephiroth even sicker.

~Zack,~ he thought to himself, ~hurry up and find that doctor.~

*****


Walking into the town restaurant, Zack went up to the woman tending the grill. "Where's the local doctor?" he asked. "we have an emergency that requires his assistance. I haven't been able to locate him, however since I am unfamiliar with the town."

"You gonna order something?" the grill-tender asked.

"Yeah, a burger and that information I just asked for."

"A burger'll cost ya ten gil, the info's free." the waitress handed Zack the burger. "the doctor lives two doors down on the right from here."

"Is he home?"

"Yes, but ..." she let the rest of the sentence die in her throat. Zack was already gone.

*****


Sephiroth was tossing and turning, trapped in some fever-driven nightmare. The powerful Shinra General, whimpered, pitifully, while Cloud sat by him. Cloud was unable to do anything other than guard him and wipe the sweat from his brow with a cool, damp facecloth and this broke his heart.

*****


Zack raised his hand to knock on the doctor's door, then stopped. Something he was seeing had surprised him. He paused, assessed everything; normal door, normal steps, normal doorknocker, the kind with the name engraved...

The name, Zack realized. "That's what caught me off guard." he smiled.

Written across the engraving panel of the doctor's door knocker was the name:

Masamune.

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-Chapter 4--


Zack was about to knock when the door swung open . A middle-aged man stood there, polishing his spectacles. "May I help you?"

"Are you Dr. Masamune?"

The man shook his head. "I'm Mr. Masamune," he explained. "Dr. Masamune is my wife. I'll tell her you're here. May I ask what your symptoms are?"

"A friend is ill," Zack explained. "We're staying at the hotel. He's come down with a fever. Another friend is watching him at the moment."

The man nodded. "Wait here," he said, leaving the room. He returned a short while later with a woman who looked like she was in her mid forties.

Unlike her husband, the woman wore no spectacles. Her greying hair was pulled up into a severe bun, held in place by a thin-web hairnet.

"I'm Dr. Katanako Masamune," she shook Zack's hand briefly, then got to business. "Take me to your friend." ***** "Please, don't leave me," Cloud was on his knees by the bed now, clasping Sephiroth's hand in both of his own. "Please, gods, don't take him away from me." he looked up as the door opened and saw Zack and the woman he'd brought with him.

The woman smiled as she recognized Sephiroth's sword.

"So, there is a connection." Zack muttered.

"My grandfather made that sword," the woman told them. "Our family has been creating swords for generations."

"So, why did you become a doctor?" Zack asked.

"Well, someone had to with all those swords all over the place," the doctor shrugged and smiled as she got her medical kit ready.. "How can she smile when he's sick like that," Cloud muttered. "That's why I'm smiling," Dr. Masamune replied. "Let me explain before you get the wrong idea. A smiling doctor brings smiles to everyone in the room: the friends, the family, and, most importantly, the patient. Patients with a positive outlook recover more quickly and more fully. So I want both of you to keep a positive attitude until your..." the doctor blinked. "Is that..." she asked as recognition finally hit.

Cloud nodded. "Yes, " he confirmed, "it's General Sephiroth."

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-Chapter 5--

"Please keep out of my way while I examine him," Dr. Masamune told Cloud as the blond SOLDIER hovered nearby. "Its very honorable that you wish to protect your commanding officer, but you needn't fear. I will not hurt him." Cloud would only move as far as the next cot, however. He never once took his eyes off the doctor as she went about her business with an efficient but gentle bedside manner.

"I have to bring him to the hospital," she told Cloud, after finding that General Sephiroth's temperature was dangerously high.

"No," Cloud couldn't let that happen. There was too great a chance that they'd find out what had been done to his commanding officer.

"Sir," Dr. Masamune told him in that calm urgency that only doctors are capable of, "if we don't get him to the hospital, he will die."

Cloud nodded in resignation. "I'll carry him." "This way," Dr. Masamune ordered as she gathered up her medical supplies, stuffed them into her kit, and walked out the door. Cloud followed, carrying his precious General in his arms. "I'm sorry," Cloud whispered into Sephiroth's ear as the silver-haired man's head rested against his shoulder, "The doctor says I have to bring you to the hospital or you'll die. I did my best to hide your secret."

He carried Sephiroth into the hospital. A team of doctors rushed up and tried to take the General from his arms, but Cloud would have none of that.

One of them was about to call for a sedative for Cloud when Dr. Masamune intervened.

"Just let him carry him," she told them. Lowering her voice, she explained, "he's very protective of his commanding officer. I think its a SOLDIER thing." With this little matter resolved, Dr. Masamune motioned for Cloud to follow her, leading him into the Intensive Care Unit. Pulling back the blankets on one bed, she tossed a hospital gown to Cloud. "Put this on him and get him into bed," she instructed as she turned her attention to filling out forms.

Cloud looked up. from his task of putting the hospital gown on Sephiroth. "No one must know he was here," he told her, his eyes imploring her not to fill out the forms.

"The General is a proud man and would not want anyone to know that he'd been ill," Dr. Masamune nodded in agreement. "I understand. We'll treat this as a Richard Roe case, then?"

Cloud relaxed visibly. "Thank you."