Tenacity

By: Strange and Intoxicating -rsa-

A/N: This story will contain Homosexual/Heterosexual pairings. I'm warning for them as we go through.

April 15th, 2020 Note: Please note that this is a very, very flawed copy of Tenacity. It's barely edited and contains a LOT of writing from when I was 15-18. I'm rewriting this story over on AO3, while leaving this up as a memorial to what Tenacity once was. Thank you.

Prologue: Pity

Mako smelled of death.

Blood pooling out of his chest, instruments of torture in the name of science... that blood congealed around his body, sticking to him, smearing across his skin.

Switched with mako—overpowering, cruel, lifeless.

Zack screamed in the beginning, but after a while he stopped.

Cloud didn't stop screaming until the end.

Were they alive—had they ever been alive? Could one die and come back? Could their very blood boil and burn?

"Keep walking," Zack muttered under his breath, pulling Cloud closer to his heaving chest. Three days of constant walking had taken its toll, but he refused to stop. The first two days were simple, "A piece of cake," he remembered saying when he dragged the limp man from the truck. That had been eons ago when spirits were high. Not to mention the mako- the overpowering stench—was faint and swept away by the winds. Now, closer to the city, the entire surroundings of Midgar smelled of death.

"This is... interesting." Zack ruffled Cloud's hair, the way he had when things had been so much simpler.

Cloud groaned in response.

Hojo snickered and folded his hands behind his back. Two experiments, one able to kill the great 'General'; oh, how interesting they were. He touched, he poked, he prodded. The results were so very, very interesting.

"Too much mako," he mumbled, or "not enough."

Those were always the worst experiments.

'Z' went quiet early. Before their escape, specimen 'C' went quiet, too.

Cloud's status hadn't changed. Then again, Zack hadn't expected the guy to be okay. He spent most of his time moaning or screaming if not stuck in a dream world, reaching for nothing and everything. There were stars in his eyes and Zack would only smile and talk, as if his friend understood. He didn't, but that was okay. It was all just a lie—

Such lies.

The tanks in Nibelheim's reactor weren't right. Filled with monsters and beasts—it was a flashback to Shinra Headquarters, where Hojo kept his most prized and valuable experiments. At night, when all of the SOLDIERs went to sleep and the building was quiet, the shrieking started. He grew used to the sounds by the end of his time with Hojo, but as a cadet he would curl in on himself and try to hide from the ghouls he knew existed just a few floors above.

No one took the Lab assignments by choice.

No one.

And still, Zack trekked through the barren wasteland towards Midgar. It was the city of rich fools set on world domination, their greedy fingertips stained with Gaia's blood. On the other hand it was the city of poor rich fools, convinced their government was saving the world. Those were the worst—they gladly slipping their coins into Shinra's till.

Midgar was the city of never-ending scam-artists and lies.

There was no better place in the world.

As though he could hear Zack, Cloud whined and gripped his fingers to Zack's uniform, Cloud's joints popping in protest.

"You okay?" Zack asked, mussing his hair. Groggy, shining eyes looked up with madness.

Holy... he still looked sixteen.

"Stop," Cloud gurgled and if anything, his grip tightened. There were holes beginning to unravel under his fingers, and it bit straight into Cloud's fingers. He was using all of his energy to cling on for something... anything.

Nothing at all.

"Specimen 'C' has been crying more as of late. I have injected him with several new strains of 'S', twenty-five milliliters in each dosage. No change. Tomorrow I shall be upping the dosage to fifty milliliters. Perhaps that will make the transformation begin."

Zack looked down again, his feet still trudging through bleak, dry dirt. The brown muck clung to his shoes and their skin and Zack wanted to stop. He wanted to lay down and just fucking die, but he couldn't.

No.

He wouldn't.

"No way I'm stopping." Zack smiled, his mouth pinching so hard it physically ached. His feet continued to plow through the rubble and caking dirt; the area around Midgar was a barren landscape before. but it was somehow worse. Scientists that Zack knew before his stint in Nibelheim said it was caused by the mako pollution in the air, but they had their doubts. Zack knew it was bullshit. Every place a mako reactor went the land died—it was like the grounds were tended with salt and fire, aching and so bright.

Cloud let go of the shirt. The black material slid smoothly down Zack's stomach as Cloud ran the pads of his fingers against the scar on Zack's face. It was gentle and innocent... yet probing and burning. He stroked the skin for a whisper of a moment before twisting his hand away, pointing up at the sky.

"Stop," he gurgled again.

This time Zack could head the undertones, the sound of another voice joining Cloud's.

"Wha—"

Zack turned his head sharply as he heard the crackle of an intercom and a speeding propeller. A few hundred feet away one of Shinra's sleek helicopters hovered in the air; the paint on the steel still looked wet.

They were going to be abducted again, weren't they? They wouldn't stop until both Cloud and Zack were dead... They would follow them to the ends of the Planet if it assured their destruction. They were a parasitic thing, and if they caught them... it would be over.

"Shit, Cloud," he whispered as he protectively wrapped his arms tighter. His glance darted around the area, analyzing the terrain. Zack swore again. The rocks weren't large enough to hide Cloud and there was no vegetation that he could stash him in for protection.

Zack twitched and looked back at the helicopter. What was he gunna do? What could he do?

Fuck putting Cloud in danger. He didn't do anything wrong... and Zack wasn't going to let someone drag him back to Shinra.

Never again. Never.

"Zack, stop!" the voice from on high yelled again, though Zack's ears perked up at the voice. He knew that voice—knew it well.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fucking fuck fuck

"Zack! Fucking A, stop—"

But Zack ignored it, taking off in a run, hoisting Cloud up to keep him from bouncing out of his hands.

No time, there was no time. No place to go.

No time.

The helicopter roared by their heads and Zack ducked, avoiding a spray of dirt and rocks. His own body could only shield Cloud from so much of the damage, and when he looked down through strained eyes he noticed that Cloud curled his face into his shirt to breathe.

They weren't going to last like this; it wasn't possible. Zack couldn't outrun a helicopter on the best of days. But like this, half-starved and dehydrated, barely even alive? And with Cloud...?

The wind continued to blow ferociously, howling like a mad Kalm Fang on a full moon. Zack couldn't look up for more than a few seconds at a time, though he sure as hell tried. His boots were suctioned to the ground and it took jolting himself to break its hold. The faster he tried, the less his legs cooperated until Zack had to stop and dig his heels into the sand. There was something approaching and the swirling of the dirt and debris began to die.

Blood red.

"Hey, the name's Reno, and me an' you seem to be stuck in a bit of a tiffy." The redhead swirled the vodka in his glass before lifting in to his lips. "It looks like the big boys upstairs want us ta be partners, and I ain't too happy 'bout that. My normal partner, Rude, managed to blow up some bullshit experiment of Hojo's, and now I ain't got no one to go with me for this damn assignment." He drained the glass and smacked it down to the table with a thud. "Anyway, we gotta go kidnap some guy off the plate. I gotta use you ta get in there. Some assassin from Wutai or some shit like that. You game?"

"Reno," Zack whispered, mouth filling with dirt and pain and memories.

Not Reno. Anyone but Reno.

He needed to get Cloud somewhere, somewhere where Reno wouldn't see, couldn't hurt him. Somewhere safe, because this was Reno, and Reno meant death. Reno...

Reno killed everything he touched.

Quickly, Zack hefted Cloud up on his shoulder before he took off toward the eye of the sandstorm, sitting Cloud down to rest near a pile of misshapen stones.

"You stay here," he whispered into Cloud's spikes. Cloud clung to his shirt again, but he pried his battered and broken fingers away. His nails had only barely started to grow back from the constant scratching on the glass, barely even nubs.

They couldn't go back.

Zack refused.

Zack brushed Cloud's hand against his cheek, trying to make sure the last thing his friend felt was warmth. "It's okay, it'll be okay. I promise. I've got this. It's all gunna be okay."

It has to be okay.

"Daw, ain't this a lovely scene."

Zack pulled his Buster Sword from the magnetic sheath, pointing it at the approaching Turk. "Don't move," Zack growled, voice dropping an octave. "I'll kill you. I swear it. I fucking swear—"

The Turk paid no mind and continued forward. The EMR was poised on his belt—a dangerous weapon. Zack could remember the smell of burning meat and charred flesh with that thing. When Reno went to grab for it, Zack brandished the weapon in an arching slash in front of him, as though the metal would somehow deflect the electricity.

Reno only quirked his eyebrow and tossed the thing to the ground at Zack's feet, hitting his boot before skidding to a halt in front of Cloud.

"I ain't gunna hurt ya," Reno said, but Zack couldn't do anything but stare at the other man. He remembered how Reno liked to play dirty—always had, always would.

Zack tightened his grip on the sword. The helicopter nearby was hovering just above the ground; how much force would it take to bring it down? How long would it take for Reno to grab Cloud if he ran for it?

How long would they be free?

"And why would I trust you?" Zack asked, his voice burning holes in his tongue. Not him, not Reno, never Reno.

Reno smirked. "I owe ya, remember?" There was false mirth in his eyes that Zack saw straight through, and it hurt. If Zack didn't know better, Reno looked like he'd been either sick or not eating right for a while, but it was still Reno. This was the Turk, this was the killer. His sense of duty and honor died the moment he put on that fucking suit. "What, you don't trust me?"

But Zack did know better. Reno mutilated and killed, then sat down on his couch to watch shitty Junon soap operas while eating Wutaian food with his fingers. He didn't even care that there was blood on his collar or shit on his shoes.

"You owe me more than that, doesn't mean shit. Not anymore."

Reno looked down like a child caught with his hand down his pants. He kicked at the dirt and put his hands in his pockets, languishingly leaning from side to side. "Well, I know that. But look at me, I'm harmless!" Demurely, Reno slumped his shoulders. There was a cat's grin across his mouth, though.

Zack knew better than to trust that mouth.

"Doesn't make me feel any better." Zack's grip tightened around the Buster Sword's pommel.

Reno shrugged one shoulder and looked to Cloud, before scratching his nose. "Look. I know you don't trust me, but I'm not gunna hand you over. I'm on my break. Really. Really really."

While something like that was typical of Reno, Zack couldn't help but take a step back. He dropped the Buster Sword into an offensive position, ready to strike if the Turk so much as sniffled.

Reno jokingly coughed, but Zack didn't move. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't.

This, at least, made Reno roll his eyes. "Fine, fine. So, you don't trust me. But the kid needs some fuckin' meds or he's gunna croak. They said you'd be traveling with some pipsqueak, but they didn't say he was sick or nuthin'. I ain't for killing people who can't put up a fight."

"That's not the Reno I remember."

Reno almost looked ashamed.

Almost.

"You... you got someone you can bring him to, yeah? Some kinda doctor?"

"Specimen 'C', I have deemed, is a complete failure. He has been unresponsive to the 'S' strain. I have decided that beginning tomorrow another set of experiments will occur, to see if 'G' cells may counterbalance the 'S'. Chances of reunion with 'G' cells could be limited, but I am curious as to whether they will cannibalize."

Hojo cackled.

"Experiment 'Z', on the other hand, is doing well with the 'S' cells, but is not fully taking to them. When the new regimen begins, I will be inserting more mako and more Jenova 'S' and 'A' cells. Perhaps there is hope to this experiment yet."

"Fuck doctors." Zack looked at Cloud, noting the way his fingers clawed at the air; the hoarse screams would begin soon.

They always did.

But... Reno was right.

"I'd kill you if he wasn't here," Zack scornfully added. "Fucking betrayer. Fucking coward."

If his words hit something, Reno didn't let on.

Reno never let on.

"That's not important right now. Just get the brat and let's go," Reno said, exaggerating his arm movements.

Zack was still skeptical, and looked down at Cloud. Everything in him wanted to pick up Cloud and run, run as fast as their feet could carry them, but...

"Look," Reno drawled, "I get it. Fuckin' bitch at me some other time or your buddy's gunna croak."

"I know that." Zack searched the Turk's face one more time. Reno looked bored, and was scratching at his palm with his fingernails, but he didn't look like he was lying. Zack knew Reno's liar face. This one seemed honest—as honest as a Turk could be.

And still...

Why?

"Before you go askin' for some ulterior motive, Tseng doesn't want me to kill ya. He was the one who suggested this, y'know."

Zack nibbled his lip, looking down at Cloud. "If anything happens, I swear to the fucking gods..." he trailed off.

Reno actually frowned, raising his hands in mock-surrender. But there was something there, in his eyes, that made Zack swallow.

"We ain't got nuthin' to worry 'bout." Then, a little more curious, Reno asked, "Who ya gunna bring the pipsqueak to, anyway? I didn't think there were any good healers that don't have some connections to Shin—oh. Right."

Reno looked down, then, and there it was—genuine shame.

"I guess... the planet thought I was worthy," the girl mused, running her fingers through her silky brown hair. "I'm gonna help save people with my powers. I've always been good with using the cure materia. Sometimes, when I get hurt or get scared, I don't even need it. It's weird, but if it helps, it must be a gift from the planet."

She bent down, grasping the clipping shears she abandoned moments before.

"So, are you going to help me cut these flowers or will I have to do it all on my lonesome?"

"You know who," Zack said as he swung his sword over his head and into its sheath. He looked away from Reno and down at Cloud before kneeling closer. He pressed his mouth to Cloud's temple, trying his best to ignore Reno's snort. He didn't need that now, not ever.

But the warmth of Zack's arms and his voice always quieted the screams.

"Come on, we're gunna go on a ride," he whispered in a low voice against Cloud's spikes as he lifted Cloud up.

Fuck. He weighed almost nothing.

"I still don't trust you."

"Wasn't asking you ta."

"No Hojo?"

Reno snorted. "Fuck no. That prick gives me the creeps."

Zack swallowed down the urge to remind Reno just who Hojo was—just what he was.

Just what Reno had left Zack and Cloud with in that shitty backwater town all those years ago.

"I hope you know," Zack finally said as they walked toward the helicopter, Cloud's weight the only comfort he allowed himself to take. Cloud needed this—and Zack needed Cloud to live. "I'm only doing this for—"

"Pipsqueak. Yeah, yeah. I know."

"I'm not gunna forgive you." Zack would have rather walked through an army than do that. "I'll never forgive you."

If the words hit anything in that dead, shriveled husk of a heart, Reno didn't let on. "Whatever. Now, are you gunna get in the fucking helicopter or am I gunna have to drag you and corpse boy on? The entire Shinra army's trying to find your ass and Tseng's always got some reason for what he does. You don't need to forgive me for anything—just get in and stop hounding my ass."

"I—"

"Nope, you made yourself loud and clear, SOLDIER boy."

They made it to the helicopter and Reno pulled out a cigarette. He held out the pack, bouncing it around in his palm, but Zack shook his head only once.

"No thanks." Zack pulled Cloud up through the open door, sliding between the two pilot seats, Cloud resting in his lap. He knew if Cloud was in his right mind, he would've been protesting. He hated being reminded that Zack was bigger than he was; Cloud had always managed his own, but after everything in the basement...

It was better to not think about any of it at all.

"You ain't smoking? That's a first." Reno looked down at the pack for a moment before shaking his head. "Your loss."

"What about big boy over there?" Zack roughly pointed his chin at Rude, who stared off into the distance.

Reno snickered. "Dude, we've both known Rude here for how long? Six or seven years? You know he's basically a fuckin' mute, so I wouldn't worry 'bout him." Reno jumped into the seat, strapping himself down. "Lookie there. We've got company."

Zack traced the horizon: hundreds of SOLDIERs and grunts, tanks and trucks stood against the smoggy line.

"I'd find this funny if they weren't trying to kill me," he snarled, his eyes glaring out at the hundreds of men. All of them, just for Zack.

"Shut the door!" Zack yelled, causing Reno to snap his head up and fumble. The helicopter was already beginning to take off, the wind whipping against Zack's face like a monsoon's breeze.

"Shit!" Reno yelled, knocking a box out of the helicopter. "Ah, double shit!" he yelled again, throwing his cigarette out of the helicopter. He snapped the helicopter door closed and sat back into his seat, kicking the metal-plated side.

Zack watched with muted fascination as the wind swirled the papers around. "What were those?"

"Tseng gave them to me to give to you." Reno pulled out the pack of cigarettes and took another out. "He said they were from that Ancient."

"I'll write you letters," Aeris giggled, spinning around in the flowers. "And I'll keep writing them, every week—no, day—until you answer them! I'll hide them in your apartment, in the slums, everywhere!" She laughed again, her eyes shining in amusement. "And you promise you'll answer them?"

He was pulled away from his thought when Cloud grunted and snuggled closer, reaching out for comfort.

"So, are ya pissed off at me now?" Reno asked, lighting his cigarette and taking a drag.

"No, I'm not," Zack answered, running his fingers through Cloud's dirty hair. "I'm not mad. I'm fucking furious." He didn't have enough energy in his body at that moment to let himself feel that anger; he was so tired. Three days of walking and barely a moment of rest... he wanted to lay down and just die, but he couldn't.

No.

He wouldn't.

He'd made a promise.

Zack looked down at his friend and tried to smile, but all the came was a grimace.

I'll keep you safe if it's the last thing I do, Cloud. I promise.

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