New story. U.U honestly, what am I thinking.
Le: You want to torture someone but you gave up on working on Ty's story.
Ty: (teary eyed boy) I'm a lab rat too.
Ah, Ty I love you. (hugs Ty) And that is why I torture you. Now do the disclaimer.
Ty: TT, k. Wind does not own Final Fantasy, but she does own us. (makes puppy dog eyes) Please save me. She's going to kill me!
Quiet you! Please Review People!!
Heavy breathing echoed hollowly around the normally dark basement. Blinding lights hung over a pale body of the panicking boy. The quick acting tranquilizer was leaving his system as fast as it had hit, leaving the child conscious for what he knew was coming as the shadow fall across his face. The boy bit his lip, causing a trickle of blood to run down his chin, praying that he could withhold.
Pain seared through every nerve as the knife fell upon the quivering body which lay strapped to a freezing steel table, cutting open sensitive flesh. Blood bloomed like a grotesque flower along the thin line. The coppery smell of blood mixed with the strong tinge of disinfectant and age which eternally clotted the air. Red began to color the steel as the blood flowed down porcelain white skin. Limbs began to strain against the leather straps in a futile attempt to escape the pain.
Finally, after excruciating minutes, it could no longer be contained. A scream filled the dank air as the boy on the table felt the cut skin and muscle being peeled back, allowing view of his insides. Long fingers began poking and prodding roughly at organs. After what felt like hours the screams could no longer form in his wiped and swollen throat. Tears fell, making tacks through the blood spatter on his pale face. An aged face framed by pulled back greasy hair, glasses gleaming.
"How does that feel?" the sound of an electric medical saw revving into life filled the dank basement.
Cloud shot up in bed, his luminous blue eyes wide, sweat plastering golden hair to his face. Groping blindly, white shaking hands found the little basket beside the bed just in time to catch the remains of dinner. It seemed to go on forever till finally there was nothing left; Cloud was left heaving the last of the sickness out. Once the dry heaves subsided, the man propped up against the headboard of his Highwind bed. Cloud closed his eyes as he took a few shaky breaths, attempting the remaining nausea. The stench of blood still lingered in the room, a phantom living in the blonde's boundless memories.
It was odd that the blond was in this room; normally Cloud would be in some inn in whatever town he had dropped into. It had been several months since Meteor had been adverted. The only reason he remained was because of clean up work, dealing with the destruction and battling the remains of Shinra. Many of the soldiers and executive powers which had escaped the destruction of Midgar were not ready to give up control of the world, fighting the changes tooth and nail. The fact that this annoyance was what kept him from being alone had Cloud rather pleased, now that the dreams were becoming more vivid.
'Thank god I have a private room.' Cloud thought as he drew his knees to his chest. The dreams had been becoming worse over time, ever since the second trip into the old Shinra Mansion. The basement which had been the only place he had known for five long years, where he lost what was left of his childhood. It was a place where he and Zack had been locked away for experimentation since that fateful day of Sephiroth's first demise. The dreams, no, memories were a better word for them, had grown more consistent since the suppressed memories had returned.
Memories of the hours of torture at the hands of Hojo, "in the name of science" as the scientist had been fond of saying, were hard to forget. The constant pain and the illness brought on by large amounts of Jenova cells pumped into his young body, along with enough mako to poison a ruby dragon. But it was the tests to see how the cells affected tissue regeneration and affects on anatomy that had been the worst. So many excruciating hours under saws and drills all ran together into a single, never ending chasm of pain. Never a drop of anesthetic accompanied these meetings; Hojo wanted his subjects conscious enough to tell him the affects of what he did to them.
Cloud shivered, hugging his knees closer as the image of Hojo looming over him returned. A sob was on the edge of escaping Cloud's lips as his eyes filled with moisture. Cloud bit his lip hard, attempting to hold back the sound; the taste of copper in his mouth overpowered the aftertaste of being sick. He had done the same many nights after Hojo's visits, unwilling to cause Zack any more trouble. The memory of Zack caused the tears to fall down Cloud's pale cheeks, regardless of their owners will.
"It shouldn't be this bad!' Cloud screamed in his head, rubbing away the tears. He is twenty one, he's not that sixteen year old child left traumatized by the destruction of the only home he had known, a child living in fear of the next visit from a sadistic bastard, fearing what those whispers in the back of his mind may have meant. He was not that comatose lump that Zack had dragged almost the entire way to Midgar. He was the leader of Avalanche, a hero, savior of the world. He defeated the greatest Soldier, the great Sephiroth damn it!
"Why am I shaking like a child over a bad dream!?" Cloud whispered savagely into his knees.
Cloud glanced at the clock beside his bed, 2:56. The blond let out a shaky breath as he banged his head lightly against the headboard. It was too early to leave the room without raising suspicion, but too late to get any real sleep. Not that he would be sleeping much now. Cloud rolled onto his side, still hugging himself beneath the covers, waiting with his nightmares.
A flash crossed over those horrible glasses as the demon bent forward, inches away from his face, "Hm, interesting."
"What the hell are you guys doing? Get to work!!" Cid yelled at the crew, throwing a loose punch which did not, and was not meant to connect with a lagging member of the airship's crew.
If anyone noticed the dark circles under Cloud's eyes, no one mentioned it to the man. On the contrary, it seemed that no one had noticed the young hero was acting odd at all. The crew of the Highwind went about their business without as much as a glance at the hero. No one noticed how skittish the blond seemed. Nor how Cloud was always looking for the cause of sudden noises and would jump whenever someone was behind him. Not even his own team seemed to wonder why Cloud would evade conversing but would not be left alone in a room.
It was hours before Vincent walked into the navigation room, cloak billowing behind him like a crimson cloud. The gunner took every detail in as he made his way across the room, an unconscious habit from his Turk days. Red eyes narrowed as he stopped short of the steps leading to his favorite spot below the top deck. Vincent had noticed what everyone else had missed, how haggard the blond looked that day. Changing directions, Vincent made his way toward the younger man stealthily.
"Cloud," Vincent said from behind the blond. An ebony eyebrow rose slightly as Vincent saw the swordsman physically jumped. Cloud whipped around so quickly Vincent was surprised the man had not pulled something in that haste.
"Oh," Cloud blushed faintly as he saw Vincent, "hey Vincent, what do you need?" Vincent watched Cloud pull himself together into a semi normal state. Still, the blond looked like a cornered rabbit.
Vincent did not bat an eye at Cloud's acting, "Something's wrong." The gunner said flatly. He may not have been the most talkative of the group, that position would always remain with Yuffie, but he had learned a great deal about people as a Turk. It was simple to understand when a person was spooked; it made the regular work of a Turk much simpler, allowing him to exploit a weakness. But how to reverse such a mood was something that was new for Vincent.
As Vincent expected it would, Cloud's face went blank, "What would that be Vincent?"
Red eyes glared into blue. There was no reason to state what they both knew was the issue. If it had been any other person among the group, they would have backed down under Cloud's stare. But Vincent was much older and much more experienced then the others and it was obvious in his look. Cloud looked away first, his eyes moving down to the floor like a naughty child. It did not last as Cloud looked up again with his jaw set stubbornly.
"There is nothing wrong, I am just fine." Cloud brushed the older man off. The blond walked out of the bridge angrily. Crew members jumped out of the swordsman's way, knowing from their experience with Cid to stay out of the way of angry blonds.
Vincent thought of following the blond until Cid laid an arm across red clad shoulders, "Vince, we got word of a Shinra uprising over near the Condor Reactor. Red and I are ready and willing to kick some ass."
Vincent sighed as he looked at the door. Removing the resistance of Shinra was their main goal now, along with keeping the people safe. This had to come first; Cloud would just have to wait.
Cloud watched the three leave the ship, sighing in relief. A pang of guilt hit the man as he stared at the closed door. He trusted Vincent, he really did, and the older man was like an older brother. Vincent was the only one who had spent a large amount of time with Hojo. Nanami had only been with the doctor for a month before Avalanche had arrived. And the gunner was the most likely to understand but Cloud did not want to cause anymore trouble for his friends. He had already asked too much, making them gallivant across the world looking for Sephiroth, the fact that Cloud had almost caused the destruction of the world. It was a wonder that they still hung around the blond after all of this.
'It will pass,' Cloud thought as he went to check his chocobo in the stable area. The gold chocobo crooned at the sight of her master.
"Hey girl," Cloud sat down against the bird's warm body. He stroked her feathers absentmindedly. "It really is not that bad," Cloud mumbled to his chocobo. "I mean, other people have had worse happen." Cloud's eyes began drooping as the world became black.
Cloud woke suddenly to a tapping on his container. He felt so sick he did not even look up, knowing who was outside, "Now what will we do today Specimen B?" Hojo purred, causing a shiver to pass through the boy.
"Leave him alone, you sick son of a bitch!" pounding came from the other pod next to Cloud's. Cloud lifted his head slightly to stare blankly at the black haired man floating inside.
"Honestly Specimen A, you will get your turn soon enough." Hojo smiled like a serpent waiting to devour the defenseless bird. "Remove Specimen B and strap it to the table."
A low curse from the Soldier was drowned out by the sound of the bone saw, followed by the screams of his young friend. Zack turned away from the grizzly sight of the boy, hands clenched into tight fists, powerless to do anything but listen.
Yeah, well that was the first chapter. Some will say this is OOC. Maybe, but the way I see it, Hojo is one sick son of a bitch. Do you really think it would be nothing but some shots and Mako? Look at all the blood on the floor during your first visit.