Zack woke up knowing he'd overslept. Damnit. Angeal was going to kill him. He vaulted from his cot to the ground, reaching for his sword—

—Except the ground was two feet too high and his sword wasn't where it was supposed to be. Zack's knees crashed against the wooden platform; the electric lantern tipped over and rolled. It was dark in the tent, but a sliver of light filtered in through the gap in the tent flaps, faintly illuminating unfamiliar surroundings…

Reality felt like an Ice spell to the face, piercing him through the chest and leaving him cold. Zack sat back on his ankles, the vigor draining from his limbs. He was in the General's tent…and Genesis and Angeal were gone. The images flickered back, monochrome and surreal—Genesis nearly dying…Genesis and Angeal walking away, boarding the chopper and disappearing into the night. An extra object hung from his belt; Zack clutched it with one hand—the small pouch Angeal had given to him—the medicine and mission Angeal had entrusted him with.

How had all of his dreams of SOLDIER shattered in the space of minutes? Angeal had been lecturing him as he counted out his squats, not exactly smiling, but those mako eyes had been warm with amusement and affection. You know, Zack, one of these days everything I'm trying to tell you will finally penetrate that thick skull of yours. Duty, honor, dreams. Someday you'll get it. If it takes a thousand squats—here, Angeal had almost smiled at him—well, we'd better get on with it. Right, Zack?

Then, that phone call…

Angeal. How could you just—? Zack rubbed one hand over his face. I don't know what the fuck is going on anymore.

Sephiroth wasn't in the tent. Judging by how tidy the General's bedroll and other effects were, he'd been up for a while.

Zack armored up for the day, the weight of his pauldrons and sword leaden against his shoulders and back. Usually, he was leaping headfirst into action, spoiling for his next mission. Not today. Brushing hair from his forehead with gloved fingers, he went outside into murky daylight. Gray and violet storm clouds were roiling overhead; a downpour looked imminent.

"Uh, good morning, sir!" The infantryman stationed at the tent's entrance quickly came to attention and saluted.

Zack returned the gesture. "Where's the General?"

"At the command trailer, sir. He left word for you to report to your troops."

Zack exhaled. "Got it."

He headed down a slight ridge into the main camp beneath the leafy, jungle canopy. For the first time, he was the object of furtive glances, quiet conversations hastily ended… The whole camp must've been talking about what happened last night. Their scrutiny tightened the muscles in his back and left a sour feeling in his stomach. The rain started—just fucking fantastic—and by the time he reached the clearing where his troops were waiting for him, he was drenched.

Two full companies were standing in formation—his troops and Angeal's. They were suited up in soaked blue uniforms, the red lights of their helmets piercing the incessant sheets of rain. The SOLDIERs came to attention in neat ranks when they saw him approach.

Private Strife was at the head of the columns and saluted. "Sir." He held out a data pad.

Zack took it, scanning its contents. There was a lump in his throat when he finished, clutching the rain-studded data pad in gloved fingers as he looked out over Angeal's men. Why aren't you here, Angeal? I shouldn't be the one doing this.

"I'm ordered to formally take command of Victor Company, for now," he said. The rain dripped from his hair, running down his face. Zack propped his left hand on his hip, addressing both units. "For November Company and Victor Company, orders are to break camp and move out. One hour." He paused, his mouth drawn into a line. "Dismissed."

The SOLDIERs scattered wordlessly, mud and rain splashing from their boots as they filed back into the jungle—all except Cloud. The young Private stayed with him; Zack could feel Cloud's gaze even through the glowing helmet.

He sighed as he turned, headed in the direction of the command trailer. "Even if I wanted to talk about it, I couldn't." He brushed rain droplets and wet hair from his face.

Cloud fell in with him, rifle slung against his back. "Wasn't gonna ask."

They walked in silence for a few seconds.

"…You OK?"

Zack stopped briefly, a thousand confused emotions pouring through him. I don't even know how to answer that question. So he didn't. They continued on.

-x-

Inside the command trailer, Zack grabbed a towel, soaking up as much water from his hair and uniform as he could. Sephiroth was annoyingly dry.

The General was standing in front of the wall of monitors, his pale, glowing gaze locked on the meteorological readouts. Sephiroth's hair flowed down his back like a sheet of liquid quicksilver. His ridiculous sword was at his side, taking up most of the room in the trailer.

Zack's hand brushed the pouch at his waist as he lowered the towel. We're not like you, Puppy, the words came to him in Genesis' voice. That vague statement aside, it leveled things a little in Zack's mind—the thought of Sephiroth medicating when he couldn't take it anymore. Zack, like many of the others, had a mastered Sleep materia he didn't talk about. He tried not to use it and it wasn't a particularly good idea in the field, but when things got bad enough…

For the first time, he caught a glimpse of the humanity underneath the godlike, heroic edifice that was the ShinRa army General. It was a rare privilege, not that Sephiroth had particularly entrusted him with it, rather, it'd been thrust upon them both circumstantially. The bitterness crept in. So, yeah, I can relate. I get it. But if you and Genesis hadn't been fucking yourselves up like that, Angeal would still be here.

"The storm is centered on Sangba Village," Sephiroth said, breaking the silence suddenly. "When it's taken care of, we'll be able to move on Fort Tamblin unhindered." His voice was its usual cool monotone. Last night with Genesis and Angeal had been the only time Zack had heard emotion in the man's voice, not to mention the only time he'd ever heard the normally dispassionate and tactful General drop an f-bomb.

Zack's eyes flicked to the map and back to the weather displays. "You're sure? Cause it wouldn't really make sense to position your primary defenses at a satellite location." He managed to keep his tone civil.

Sephiroth exhaled, not turning. "Zack, if you need to be reminded to review your dossier every morning, I'm not sure how you made First Class at all."

Zack raised his arms over his head and stretched a little, then settled with hands resting against the back of his head. "I skimmed it." His lips pursed; he fought the urge to glare at the General's back.

"There's a mako fountain at Sangba. A fairly recent discovery. For a spell of this size and duration, it's an ideal power source." Sephiroth's gloved fingers tapped a paper map that was spread out on the counter in front of the displays. "My troops will deal with it while yours press on towards the Fort."

Zack swung his arms as he debated for half a second, trying to decide who he'd rather piss off—Angeal or his commanding officer. "Well, that all sounds great, General. But you remember I have orders, too." To watch you. Kinda hard to do that if we're hundreds of kilometers apart.

The trailer went dead quiet, the chatter of half a dozen SOLDIERs on comms duty cutting off abruptly, the men and women freezing in place.

He knew this wasn't the best idea—pulling the lion's tail and kicking it, too. But, damnit, they wouldn't be in this situation if not for… Well, alright. Zack's hands curled at his sides. It wasn't like he could say how he'd react if he'd been the one ordered to bag up a bunch of dead kids' bodies.

They'd have this conversation now or later. Now was the operative time if the General was going to change his mind.

Sephiroth turned his head only slightly, so that his wintry gaze met Zack's via the reflection in one of those displays. When the man actually smiled, Zack felt all the blood drain from his face. "Genesis won't be replaced so easily, Zack. You can try if you want to, but you'd be wasting your time." The low cadence of those words carried an almost sexual purr.

Fuck. It was almost worse than being yelled at for insubordination. Zack's face heated as Sephiroth played him off as some hotshot, lower ranking officer who thought he was entitled to get some. Obviously, the General was well aware of the tawdry rumors going around about himself and Genesis. Goddamnit. Angeal, you didn't warn me he was going to be difficult.

The General's face smoothed, his eyes narrowing coldly in the reflection.

Zack folded his arms, getting the message. Sephiroth had no intention of making allowances for him to fulfill what Angeal had asked him to do. If he wanted to press the issue, he could, but it wouldn't be pretty. At the same time, though, Zack somehow got the impression Sephiroth was telling him he didn't have to be concerned. He didn't know what to think. But the General had deflected his insubordinate remarks, when the man could've just as easily thrown him out, had him court martialed. So you're not just trying to get rid of me. Zack's lips thinned into a line; he looked away.

The General straightened and the frigid mood cast over the room gradually began to thaw.

"…Sir?" One of the comm techs cleared her throat lightly. "As requested, I finished transferring your data to the new unit." She held up a shiny, brand new phone.

Resentment tensed the muscles in Zack's back and shoulders, climbing up his spine. It was one thing to be cut down a peg or two on the job. But this relationship Sephiroth had with Aerith, whatever the hell it was, was really getting on his nerves. Zack was used to being the object of jealousy, not the one who was jealous. It probably wouldn't be so bad if he and Aerith were sleeping together, but as things stood, knowing that the last time he'd seen her in person she'd just climbed out of Sephiroth's bed—even if nothing had happened as she'd claimed… It was pretty damned emasculating.

"Thank you." Sephiroth took the phone from the tech, infuriatingly calm and oblivious as always. The General flipped the phone open, checked a few things, and then slipped the device into his pocket. He turned back to the maps and displays. "Anything else, Zack? If not, I believe you're busy."

Zack's jaw tightened. "No, sir." He saluted crisply, spun on heel, and marched out into the rain.

-x-

Cloud drove the transport at the head of the column. Zack sat beside him in the air-conditioned cab, mostly staring forward at the wipers rhythmically arcing across the windshield, clearing mud and sheets of rain from the glass. The damp smell was pervasive. The armored transport bucked and bounced along the uneven terrain, throwing Zack against the shoulder straps of his harness whenever they caught a little air. He grunted as he dropped back into his seat after a particularly hard jolt.

"Sorry, sir," Cloud said, glancing over at him.

"It's fine." Zack waved him off. "Your motion sickness isn't bothering you today?"

Cloud shook his head, the red lights on his helmet flashing across the windshield. "Not when I'm driving. It helps if I have something to do. Something to concentrate on. Plus—" He gestured at the environmental controls. "We can keep it cold in here."

Zack nodded. He leaned back as much as the seat allowed, resting his hands behind his head, stretching his legs out, and sighed. "Private, you got any siblings?"

"Little sister," Cloud said. "She's, ah, fourteen now, I guess."

"You ever climb in bed with her? You know, just to cuddle?"

The private flinched back against his seat, the vehicle taking a good double-bounce as they launched off a ridge and reclaimed the ground. "Gaia, no."

"I know, right?" Zack used one hand to brush shards of slowly drying hair back from his face. "No one does that."

Cloud frowned, glancing between him and the road. "I didn't think you had any siblings, sir."

"I don't." Zack grabbed the handle on the ceiling as the vehicle rocked beneath them. "Only child. My dad said making sure I was an only child was the best decision he and mom ever made."

"Uhh…"

"My girl." Zack sighed again, staring through the windshield and imagining Aerith's smiling face framed by those soft chestnut waves of hair. "Things were going so great except that her mom died. That sucked and this isn't about that. But after that happened, she randomly got reunited with her brother who she apparently hadn't seen in like a decade—but they're not actually related—and she hopped in bed with him like it was the most normal thing in the world. She claims nothing happened and I kind of believe her, not because of what she said but because he seems, I don't know, asexual maybe. But it's still weird. And now they're texting like all the time. Basically I'm totally getting screwed here." He finally stopped to breathe, his words fading into the silence between them. When Cloud didn't say anything, Zack glared at him. "Damnit, man. I'm dying over here. Say something."

"Zack." Cloud shook his head. "For real, I caught like five percent of what you said. How many cups of coffee did you drink this morning?"

"Dick," Zack muttered and Cloud smiled a little.

"Look, you either trust her or you don't. She either loves you or she doesn't." Cloud shrugged. "If she's into him, you can't compete with that. …You might just have to let it go."

Zack exhaled. "Well you're just pissing rainbows over there, aren't you?"

Cloud glanced at him. "You asked… All I'm saying is, childhood stuff like that? It doesn't go away. It just, I don't know, festers or something."

Suspicious, Zack peered at his friend. "You sound like you know what you're talking about."

"What? No. I'm just, you know, hypothetically—"

"Bullshit." Zack grinned. "You got a crush on some girl you knew growing up. Back in…" He snapped his fingers a couple of times as he tried to recall— "Nibelheim."

The visible portion of Cloud's face reddened in the shadow of his helmet.

Zack's grin broadened. "What's her name?"

Cloud's head dipped forward. Even the back of his neck was flushed. "Wow, we are not talking about this."

Zack laughed. "You and me, man. Next time we're off duty, a few beers and you're gonna tell me everything."

Cloud sighed.

-x-

They caught up with Sephiroth's forces by nightfall, setting up camp for the evening on a bit of high ground, surrounded by thick underbrush, with only the barest necessities unpacked. Come first light, they'd be traveling again. (Not that night and day looked that much different beneath the storm.) At least the rain had let up for the time being.

Zack tore off a corner of his rations packet and started sucking it down as he wandered among the SOLDIERs, looking for Sephiroth. As long as they were traveling together, he could at least try to keep his promise to Angeal.

A dark-suited figure stopped him. "SOLDIER Fair, a word please," Tseng said.

Zack eyed the Turk warily, but followed out of the earshot of the rest of his men. "What do you need?"

Tseng didn't bat an eye at his tone. "SOLDIER Fair, you and the General were the last to have seen SOLDIERs Rhapsodos and Hewley. What do you know about their whereabouts?"

Zack swallowed another mouthful of cardboard-ish pulp and brushed the side of his mouth with his knuckles. "Genesis was med-evac'ed for an overdose. Weren't they headed back to Midgar?"

Tseng's lips pursed slightly. "The transport never arrived. Contact with the rotorcraft was lost after refuel at the Java-Midway Atoll. It never met the rendezvous for crossing. No debris has thus far been found."

He shrugged. "Well, the ocean's pretty big."

The Turk's eyes darkened. "Has anyone told you you're a horrible liar, SOLDIER Fair? If indeed your mentor's craft crashed, a slight bit of concern on your part would be warranted. You're not an emotionless robot like the General."

Zack lowered his ration packet, allowing his gaze to cool. "Tseng. If we're fighting a legit war, why is it we're running out of child-sized body bags?"

Tseng's response was immediate and calm. "When there aren't enough remains to put a body back together, there's no point wasting a full-sized bag."

Zack fought a shudder. Yeah, it wouldn't do to get on the Turks' bad side. These guys would make you disappear.

Tseng's phone rang. He gave Zack a pointed look before he turned away to answer it.

Zack took the opportunity to leave, resuming his search.

At length, he found the General's tent on the edge of camp. Nodding to the guards, he ducked inside with his bag of gear.

"Didn't you ever learn to ask before entering, Zack?" Sephiroth was sitting shirtless on his bedroll, the lantern dim at his side, his face and shards of silver hair illuminated by the soft light of the cell phone that had his attention.

"I always saw Genesis just—"

"Yes, and we've established you're not him, haven't we?"

Zack dropped his bag from his shoulder onto the wooden platform. "You know, if the rumors were true, I'd feel a little better."

Sephiroth arched one brow, not looking away from his phone. "Sorry."

Zack sighed and started unpacking, first kicking off his boots and then unrolling his bedroll on the vacant side of the tent. The lantern and Sephiroth's luggage sat between them. "The Turks are wandering around, huh?"

"I heard. Be careful, Zack. ShinRa has ways of adjusting and redeploying SOLDIERs who start asking questions."

Zack paused, a shiver running down his spine. No wonder Genesis had insisted… Unstrapping his sword and laying it aside, he sat down on the pile of blankets. "Has there been any—"

His words were cut off by Sephiroth's hand covering his mouth. He only had time to blink before he was falling backwards, crashing down onto his bedroll with the General leaning over him. Shock left him cold, immobile. Sephiroth's face was close, his eyes holding Zack's and then flicking pointedly towards the edge of the tent.

Zack got the hint. He met the General's gaze and nodded as best he could.

Sephiroth studied him for a moment longer, then released him and moved away. Zack sat up slowly, brushing hair out of his eyes. Gaia. He swallowed, gathering himself. So this is how the rumors start…

The General went back to dicking around on his phone.

Zack pulled his own phone out of his pocket—a black number similar to the one Sephiroth had, but not the executive model—and flicked it open. A picture of Aerith greeted him from his wallpaper—the most recent pic she'd sent him. It was a selfie she'd taken in her new nurse's assistant uniform, a collared white smock with a pale pink apron. He couldn't tell if the outfit had a skirt or pants with it. She was beaming proudly in the picture, smiling and looking happier than she had in months—since before her mom died—though the circles under her eyes were getting darker.

Aerith. He clicked on his message app, in case she'd sent him a note— "Ah, crap." He had zero bars. Aside from containing his pictures and previous messages, the thing was a glorified electronic paperweight out here. Zack closed the phone, glaring aside at Sephiroth's satellite-connected model. He would've thought Director Lazard would want all of the Firsts connected to the grid at all times, but maybe that was just Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal. Maybe he was the only special one (i.e. peon).

Zack flopped onto his bedroll, sighing and dropping the phone on his chest.

"She says you're not answering her texts," Sephiroth said.

Wow, rub it in. "I don't have service."

"Ah. That would do it. I'll let her know."

Zack closed his eyes, listening to the quiet beeps of Sephiroth tapping buttons on his phone. "Did it ever occur to you that I might not be cool with the two of you being all buddy-buddy like this?"

"Of course it did. Immediately," Sephiroth said. "As I tried to tell her before she fell asleep on me that night."

Thanks, I needed that mental picture, you giant alpha-hotel. Zack cleared his throat roughly, staring up at the ceiling of the tent. "And?"

There was a pause, even in the button tapping. "Aerith gets her way."

He exhaled raggedly. That she does. "You're sticking to your story that nothing happened?"

The soft beeps started up again. "Contrary to what you've heard, I do not 'get off' doing such things with my men sleeping less than fifty feet away."

Zack pressed his lips. "Are you gonna tell me you didn't have a single carnal thought all night while you were in bed with her?"

Sephiroth sighed. "That's not what you asked. I answered your question."

Zack gnawed on a chunk of his lower lip, reaching up and bracing his hands behind his head. "I'm asking this one now."

The phone snapped closed. "Natural, hormonal responses are to be expected in those sorts of situations. But that does not alleviate the person having them from the responsibility of controlling one's self, deciding whether to act upon them or not, and dealing with the consequences of that decision."

"Gaia." Zack slapped one hand against his forehead. "I don't need a dissertation, Professor. Just answer the question. Would you or not if she wanted to?"

"I can't believe we're actually discussing this." The General exhaled. "We're in the middle of a war, deployed in the field—"

Zack scrubbed his face with one hand. "That's a lot more words than 'yes' or 'no.'"

"Zack, I've never seriously thought about it. Do you really want me to start?"

"…No."

"Very well."

Zack curled on his side, his phone dropping to the blankets, facing the side of the tent with his back to the General. "What if I ask the same question about Genesis?"

"I would decline to answer on the grounds that it's none of your business."

He cocked a brow, turning his head to glance at Sephiroth.

The General was staring off into nothing with a cold look on his face, one elbow resting on one propped-up, leather-clad knee.

"But you just—"

Sephiroth fixed him with a frigid glare. "The only reason we're talking about Aerith is due to the odd situation the three of us find ourselves in. And because, though you obviously consider me incapable of this, I do feel a measure of guilt that our interaction upsets you. But I haven't done anything wrong." He frowned, looking away. "I do not steal other people's lovers, Zack. I'm not like that." His gaze darkened as if there were some history there maybe, but no further explanation was forthcoming.

Zack curled up again. "…Sorry." He sighed, hugging himself with his arms. "I'm just…" Jealous, the word echoed in his head. "She had this whole life with you that I know nothing about."

"There wasn't anything pleasant about growing up the way we did. But I will not talk about that. She can tell you if she wants to."

He blinked, staring at the tent fabric that shivered with a brush of wind. "Does it have to do with what Genesis said? About the three of you being different than the rest of us SOLDIERs?"

The lantern clicked off, engulfing them in darkness. Zack heard shifting about in the blankets as Sephiroth settled into his bedroll. The General didn't answer his inquiry. Guess that's none of my business either. Zack sighed and closed his eyes.

He woke up on time the next morning, early enough that Sephiroth was still there. While the General was getting dressed, Zack sat on his bedroll, scrolling through this morning's dossier on his data pad. SOLDIERs Hewley and Rhapsodos AWOL was splashed across the page in one section; the associated paragraph of text described the manhunt to be launched and requested information from anyone who knew anything. Damnit, Angeal, you better be OK. Doing the math in his head, they could've reached Midgar by now…

Zack pressed his lips and moved on to the next item. Sephiroth was right about there being a decent amount of information in here he needed to know—satellite photos of Fort Tamblin and Sangba, an analysis written by ShinRa mako experts on the storm's manifestation and sustainment, enemy comms they'd intercepted, troop movements they knew about. But there were an equal number of reports from the Turks that he skimmed and flicked by. There was no way to tell how much of that information was just outright lies. To think he'd always just naïvely listened and assumed…

"Zack."

He glanced up from the data pad. Sephiroth was pulling on his black coat and fastening the straps of his armor. The General's mako-green eyes were cool when their gazes met, but lacked the antagonism of the night prior.

"Can we agree on one thing? That ending this war is best for both sides and all of us."

By 'us,' Zack knew what he meant. You, me, Angeal, Genesis…and Aerith. Zack lowered the data pad, straightening. "Yeah."

The General didn't quite smile, but his voice and eyes were the warm side of tepid. "Then let's go get it done."

And go home. Zack grinned and leapt up—