Usually, my LiveJournal stuff stays on LiveJournal. But the one-shot below turned into a series, and since this is where I put my series, it seemed only right to post it here as well. If there's interest, I'll continue and put the whole thing here. :)

Rated serious M for angst, yaoi, non-con, and copious amounts of mush later on.

I do not own FFVII or the characters below, and for their own sake, that's probably best.

LIKE A DANCE

Part One of the "Like A Dance" Series

Sometimes Lazard told himself he went along with this just so he could keep a watchful eye on Genesis. After all, Lazard was widely thought of as a kind and caring man, and it was only his influence and position of power that allowed him to get away with this. Genesis, on the other hand, was feared for his unpredictability and the violence he was capable of when he didn't get his way. This fear was the reason that the boys never told anyone. Lazard tried to believe that his reason for taking part was the same, but the truth was that he enjoyed it. He lived for it.

SOLDIERs were made, not born. Very few came out of the cadet corps. deadly and confident enough to fight back or defy a direct order. New SOLDIERs were typically boys in their late teens programmed to obey superiors, many of them still lacking the kind of strength and skill that the following few years would give them. They had a sort of vulnerability to them, especially the beautiful ones. It seemed almost fated that someone take advantage of that.

Lazard drummed his fingertips gently on the surface of his desk. After years of playing their immoral game, he and Genesis knew the steps like a dance between well-rehearsed partners. Lazard was so good at the set-up that he could do it in his sleep, though it was always different, and Genesis knew exactly when to come in. The executive director of SOLDIER glanced up at the ceiling. In the center there was a large trap door, invisible to the casual observer, that led up to the second floor and into his private apartment. Impractical, yes, but there was a very good reason for it. The method of transporting the victim to the scene of the crime contributed to the unreality of the event. Lazard was sure that many of them left, when it was over, and told themselves it was all a bad dream.

The office door chimed, and he swallowed the last bit of hesitation left his expression. "Enter."

The visitor was expected, and right on time, approaching the desk with a cheerful smile and a spring in his step. As expected. The sight of him slightly eased Lazard's nerves - risky conquest or no, he had never craved any of the others like this. A 3rd Class, full of potential, destined to go far already, even at the age of sixteen. Fairly small-framed, more skilled than strong, trusting and good-natured to the point of naiveté. Most importantly, beautiful, possessing in abundance the kind of prettiness you only see in boys of that age. The features were delicate without being feminine, the body toned and muscular but not yet that of an adult. The spiky black hair and sweet, pouty lips, the youthful energy and excitability, the eagerness of his friendly smile...the boy was utterly adorable. Most striking of all were the eyes, the palest, most translucent blue Lazard had ever seen.

Yes, he wanted this one as badly as Genesis, had to have him. Lazard cleared his throat and tried to look casual, meaning to not stare hungrily at the slender curve of the boy's hips.

"Would you lock the door, Zack? The mission information I have for you is of a sensitive nature."

"Yes, sir!" Zack did as he was asked and rushed back, never noticing the trap door above silently opening. "Uh, shouldn't Angeal be here too?"

"Not this time. He will not be with you for this assignment."

Fair's lovely eyes widened, and no wonder. He had never done a mission before without his mentor, and there indeed was what made Zack such a risky conquest for Lazard and Genesis. Commander Hewley's solitary and stoic nature was legendary in ShinRa, and yet he defied the laws of his own character in choosing any student, let alone one so unlike him in personality. Whatever his reasons, Angeal was undeniably and deeply fond of the boy, protective with an intensity that was both touching and puzzling. Well, maybe not puzzling, in light of what Genesis and Lazard were planning to do. If Zack told Angeal afterward...Lazard had no doubt that Angeal would murder them, lifelong friendship and company loyalty be damned.

"What kind of mission is it?" Zack asked, excitedly and nervously.

"A top-secret one."

"I can't even tell Angeal?"

"If you tell anyone, you'll be putting them in danger. A hero wouldn't do that, would he?"

Zack shook his head resolutely. "You can trust me, sir."

"I knew I could." The executive director rose from his seat and came around to the front of the desk. "First, I'll need you to remove your belts and shoulder pads."

The 3rd Class looked confused, but shrugged and followed orders. First the waist-belt that Items could be hooked onto, then the series of criss-crossed belts that held on the magnet sheath where his sword was usually kept, then the straps that secured the shoulder armor all SOLDIERs wear, to protect them from enemy weapons and hard landings. Lazard put out his hands expectantly and Zack handed these uniform accessories over.

"Am I going undercover or something? Does this involve Turks?"

"No Turks."

"Do I get to wear a wire, maybe?"

Lazard smiled. The boy's lack of suspicion was so cute. And unarmored, he looked less like a SOLDIER and more like a teenager wearing a short-sleeved black sweater and loose-fitting black SOLDIER-issue pants. He carefully kept Zack's attention on him as Genesis, black wing extended, descended soundlessly from the opening above.

"Perhaps. Zack, do you know what virtue we value more than all others SOLDIER?"

"Pride?" the 3rd guessed immediately.

Genesis rolled his eyes. The delectable creature in front of him being polluted by Angeal's moral superiority. And yet...the connection to his oldest friend made this quarry even more enticing.

"No," Lazard said with a strange smile. "Loyalty. You're loyal, aren't you? You would never do anything to hurt ShinRa, would you?"

"No, sir, of course not."

Zack felt a stirring of uneasiness in his gut as Lazard slowly came closer. Something about the executive director's behavior seemed strange, and if he didn't know better swear those eyes were looking him up and down. No, he must just be nervous about being here without Angeal. Zack looked up with innocent curiosity as Lazard stopped directly in front of him, and blinked, startled, as his chin was tilted up toward the taller man's gaze.

"You trust the company?"

"Yes," Zack said, hesitantly.

"You trust me?"

"...yes..."

Zack felt a few fingers idly brush through the back of his hair, and his SOLDIER reflexes whirled him around, though there wasn't much room to do so between two taller bodies. His mouth fell open just slightly. Genesis Rhapsodos, 1st Class. Hew knew this man only indirectly, as a feared SOLDIER, as Angeal's old friend, as someone his mentor had ordered him to stay away from. Angeal had not given a reason for this, but Zack wanted very much to obey, he didn't like the way those smirking dark eyes were drinking him in.

He backed away instinctively, but Lazard caught him. "It's all right, Zack," that pleasant voice murmured in his ear.

"I've been wanting to meet you," Genesis said. "Any puppy of Angeal's is a friend of mine."

Zack's growing fear overtook any indignation he might have felt about anyone but Angeal using that nickname. Even the enormous wing sprouting insanely from Genesis's back couldn't distract him from the hungry stare being directed at him. The 1st Class's cool fingers reached out and ran down the side of his face.

"I - I have to go," Zack stammered.

Genesis spread out his arms, blocking all means of escape. "I don't think so."

At this point, the boy did what they all had done - he turned around to face the executive director, hoping for help or at least an explanation. There was no time for either even if he had been willing to give them. Genesis seized Zack around the middle with one arm, pinning the 3rd's arms to his sides, and clapped the other hand tightly over his mouth. The hold was so tight that Zack could barely move at all to struggle, and he looked with terror into Lazard's sympathetic face.

"Don't be afraid, Zack," he said calmly. "I promise we're not going to hurt you. If you stop fighting and relax, it will be much nicer for you."

Lazard went to the door behind his desk, unlocked it and disappeared, going to his apartment by a more visible route. Zack watched him go with a pounding heart, and with a twist in his stomach realized that his feet were lifting off the ground, he was being carried upward through the air. Where they should have hit the ceiling they passed through it instead, as though through a gate between worlds - the one that made sense and one that definitely did not. Zack tried to scream, but even a person in an adjacent room would not have heard the muffled noise.

"Personally, little puppy," Genesis laughed softly, "I don't mind at all if you fight."

zglzg

Lazard took his time, as he always did, securing the door, removing his gloves, savoring the anticipation of the delicacy he was about to sample. They had planned ahead - Lazard was supposedly taking a personal day in the city, Genesis was allegedly meeting an informant in Junon, and anyone inquiring after Zack Fair would be told he was providing back-up security for a top-secret Turk mission. Lazard's quarters were as secure as the president's own, and soundproofed. Well-equipped, too, for activities such as these.

He heard Fair's yelling before he entered the bedroom. Genesis had wasted no time. The boy's shirt had been yanked off - all that smooth skin made Lazard drool, white with just a touch of honey - and his wrists were already handcuffed to the headboard posts. He was kicking Genesis furiously, but the 1st wasn't having much trouble catching his feet and pulling the boots off. If the kicking did get to be tiresome, Genesis had a trick to deal with it.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Get your hands off me!" Zack saw Lazard and looked at him with pleading, scared eyes. "Executive Director, please!"

"That's no way to talk to a superior officer," Genesis said idly, tearing the 3rd's pants from his legs and tossing them onto a chair.

The boy was completely nude now. Genesis caught his strong legs and looked down between them with a pleased and hungry expression. Zack recoiled as much as he could from the lustful stare and his eyes returned to Lazard, wet and pleading.

"Sir, whatever I did, I promise I won't do it again, just let me go, please - "

"Do you let Angeal see you like this?" Genesis interrupted, running his hand up and down a smooth, taut thigh. "Does he protect you for your own sake or for his own possessiveness?"

"You're sick," Zack hissed, aiming kicks that the 1st easily dodged. "Don't talk about Angeal!"

"But you would give this to him if he asked, wouldn't you? Poor Angeal is too timid to simply take." Genesis jabbed a pressure point that made his legs fall boneless and limp, and forced the boy's ankles up onto his shoulders. "But I'm not."

Lazard took a seat on the bed and began to smooth the soft black spikes of Zack's hair, smiling sadly when the 3rd Class continued to look at him plaintively, desperately. "Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you."

"I might, a little," Genesis said bluntly, as his fingers tried to coax the boy into hardness. "Especially if Angeal has been the coward I expect and no one's done this to you before. But you'll be nice and relaxed when Lazard gets his turn."

Genesis always went first, Lazard second, and it suited both of them. Genesis enjoyed the struggle, the inexperience, the unwilling surrender, while Lazard liked to take them while they were stunned and exhausted, and so still that he could pretend - when he needed to - that they had consented. He also liked soothing and comforting them at the beginning, playing the good cop to Genesis's bad. They both got off on the victims' innocence, but Genesis liked to rip it away, while Lazard preferred to tear it slowly, like a layer of clothing or skin.

He knew he was lucky to get any interaction at all with this one. Genesis had a dark and violent obsession with Angeal and Sephiroth and everything closely related to them, a need to demonstrate ownership of them in often sinister ways. He desired Zack physically as much as Lazard (and certainly many others) did, but it was more than that. Genesis was more excited than he could ever recall being before at the thought of defiling something his oldest friend was so determined to protect. He had wanted to videotape this encounter and show it to Angeal, and only Lazard's panicked reminder of the dangers of evidence (and Angeal himself) had made the 1st Class reluctantly abandon the idea.

"Everyone wants to fuck you, little puppy," Genesis was taunting Zack, still stroking him. "Angeal's no different. Remember that the next time he corrects your fighting stance or pins you. Remember that he'd rather be touching you as I am now."

Zack was trembling like an onset of hypothermia, though his soft skin was flushed and warm to the touch. He was hard, as much as he didn't want to be - he was young and a seething mass of hormones, and Genesis was skilled. His eyes were closed but still gushing tears, Lazard felt them when the boy's face instinctively turned into the palm cupping it.

"Ssh, it's all right, we'll make it good," Lazard cooed, a startling contrast to Genesis's harsher comments as he spread lubricant over his hand.

"Every time he blocks you from a dark spell, every time he puts his arm around you, remember, sweet little puppy. Remember Angeal would rather be having you in his bed or against the wall."

"Shut...up," Zack gasped, managing only those two words between his quiet sobs.

"I'm sure he'd make it nice for you. Lazard, blindfold him."

The executive director looked up in surprise. They hadn't discussed this at all, and he didn't want to be deprived of the sight of the boy's lovely eyes (though Zack was keeping them mostly closed). Genesis shot him a menacing glare, so with a sigh Lazard took a black blindfold from one of his secret drawers. Zack panicked even more when he tried to put it on, requiring Genesis to hold the boy's head still.

"Now you can pretend I'm your dear mentor. Let me show you what Angeal would do."

"No!"

"His hands are bigger than mine," Genesis said, thrusting three slick fingers inside at once, instead of the usual one. The gasping rhythm of Zack's breath increased first with pain, then something else. "Fuck, you're tight. Angeal would keep this all to himself."

"Genesis, be more gentle," Lazard cautioned.

"He can take it. Can't you, Puppy? But you're right...Angeal would be gentle. Can you feel him, little puppy? Is that better?"

The spearing fingers slowed their forceful motion, all concentrating together on just the right spot. Zack's head lolled from side to side, and his refusals were whimpers now.

"Haven't you ever noticed the way his eyes and hands linger on you?" Genesis went on. "You will from now on, won't you? I think you like the idea of Angeal doing this. He's such an attentive teacher, isn't he, and these are the lessons he really wants to give you."

"No," Zack gasped. Lazard tried to reach between his legs and was slapped away by Genesis.

"You should give him what he wants, Puppy, if you care about him. I think that would be a beautiful thing to watch, Angeal instructing you in this. Let's call this a rehearsal. I am Angeal. Tell me you want me inside."

"No!"

"You've never thought about it? Please, everyone's thought about it."

The boy was rock-hard and writhing. Genesis's fingers continued to thrust against their target, skillfully and mercilessly.

"I am Angeal, who never shows interest in anyone, and yet I chose you. I think and talk of nothing but you, I smile and laugh in your presence and yours alone, my eyes burn green with anger when anyone speaks of you with desire or follows your sweet little body with an eager stare. How much more obvious can I be? Did you think I picked you for potential or personality? No, my puppy, no." Genesis's voice was low, gentle, gruff but calm - a passable impression of Angeal's. "I want you for myself. I want to teach you everything. I want to fuck you."

Zack renewed his struggle against the handcuffs, rattling them wildly, but they and the headboard they were locked to were not going to give. Genesis only smiled and continued to probe the boy for half-repressed moans as he exhausted his remaining strength in this tantrum. Lazard tried to make Zack be still, rubbing his arms gently, petting his hair and saying "Ssh, it's all right. The sooner you relax, the sooner this will be over."

Genesis didn't look happy about his interference. After a few minutes, Zack's weakening struggles ceased altogether, and he slumped down, turned his head to one side and sniffled as his chest heaved with sobs. Lazard wet his fingertips and toyed sensually with the boy's nipples. The 3rd Class only tensed at this and continued to weep, but took in a sudden, sharp breath when the executive director blew cold air on them and made them puff slightly. A quiet moan followed as he took one into his mouth and slowly suckled it into softness with wetness and heat. Zack's muscles unwillingly began to relax as the same was done to the other erect nub. Lazard's lips went up to Zack's next and coaxed them apart, taking advantage of the boy's vulnerability and confusion to explore the pink rosebud mouth with his tongue. Oh, yes, the boy was a born submissive, responding so well to gentleness...and then he yelped loudly.

Genesis had lubricated the 3rd Class well, perhaps not as much as he should have but certainly all his patience would allow. He had begun to nudge the head of his length inside, forced by the tight passage to go at a speed that infuriated him. He knew just where to aim, soon the beautiful young one would be begging him for more. The sensitive little ukes were easy to predict, no matter how unwilling they pretended to be.

"Relax," Lazard murmured over the boy's cries, "keep your focus on me, Zack, and just let him in, don't make this hurt more than it has to."

"Yes, let me in, Puppy," Genesis said in the same voice as before, roughly stroking the smooth thighs he gripped. "It's time for your lesson, time to learn your proper place. Yes, right here, opening up for me like a good boy, like you were always meant to."

"Do you have to upset him?" Lazard whispered angrily, touching the paths of tears on Zack's flushed face.

"I would never upset him," Genesis moaned, pushing further. He slid against that special spot, and the boy emitted a strangled cry, half pleasure, half pain. "I take good care of my baby puppy. Fuck, he's tight as a fist."

"Let me..." Lazard said, reaching for Zack's neglected member, but Genesis slapped his hand away again.

"Not yet."

"But - "

"I'm his mentor," Genesis smirked. "I decide how he's taught."

The intense stimulation inside and the lack of it on the outside was clearly frustrating the young victim, as little as he understood how such a thing could happen in the midst of this horror. Zack's body was adjusting to the invader, the pain it awoke was being replaced more and more by pleasure. At the same time, he was vaguely conscious of the heat and pressure building between his legs, which had to be released, he couldn't even fathom the consequences of staying like this. Zack's whimpers took on a different tone, frightened still, but needy. Genesis savored them like a song as they grew louder and more urgent, as he plunged in and out of this delightful creature.

"Tell me what you need, Pup," the nightmarish Angeal-voice crooned to him, "and I'll give it to you. I can go a long time, but how much more can you take?"

Zack shook his head, finding the movement difficult through his trembling. Not Angeal, not the one he looked up to even more than Sephiroth, who had warmed to him and become his friend and mentor to the shock of everyone, not least Zack himself. He didn't know why Angeal cared so much, but it couldn't be this. Genesis had to be lying, Angeal couldn't really -

But it was hard not to think of Angeal when the voice and the nickname kept evoking him. Had Zack thought about it, as Genesis insisted he must have? Not consciously. But for all Angeal's sternness and gentle scolding, he was attentive and patient and affectionate in his reserved way, protective and physical in his instructing. Everything between them that had once seemed friendly and fraternal and pure was being brought into question by Genesis's poisoned-honey taunts, the possibility of their truth was passing into him like a shared germ.

It was becoming too much to bear. In Zack's mind, the face above him flickered back and forth between one he cared for and one he feared. It was easier to see Angeal's faint smile there, but this shouldn't be easy. Genesis's face wouldn't hold, though, everything was preparing to fly apart. He needed it to fly apart.

"Please," Zack heard himself whisper. "Please..."

"You need to come, Puppy?" It was a good imitation of Angeal's concern, strengthened by the hand brushing over his hair the way Angeal's sometimes did. Would it really be so bad if Angeal... "Tell me, Zack."

He wanted to curl up and disappear, to never look anyone in the eye again. Zack nodded, unable to force the words past the lump in his throat.

"Don't be embarrassed. Just ask for what you want and I'll give it to you."

The boy's eyes overflowed again, the blindfold was soaked. "Please...let me..."

"Come," Genesis prompted. "Ask me, use my name."

"Genesis - "

"There's no Genesis here. Ask me, Puppy. You know I can't say no to you."

Zack turned his head away and tried to swallow the sobs he felt coming. This was too cruel, it was too much, but the pressure -

"No? I could do this to you forever, keep you like this until you obey me," the voice groaned. "Why are you denying me, Puppy? It's only right that I should take this, who has a better claim to you? You're mine, no matter what happens now, you'll always remember you're mine."

"Please...I need..."

"Who do you need, Puppy?" the voice coaxed.

"Angeal, please - "

"Good boy."

As Zack screamed and arched nearly off the bed, Lazard ripped the blindfold away and was finally allowed the sight of those fascinating eyes. They flew open instinctively into the sudden light and rolled back, white displacing the pale blue. Then they shut tightly and Lazard watched the pretty lips instead, opening this time into a nearly soundless cry. The executive director dipped his hand into the milky whitish spray and tasted it. He coated his tongue with the sweet fluid and pushed it into Zack's mouth, swallowing the gasps the boy made as he came down. This was a moment of great anticipation for Lazard. It was nearly his turn, and he was so ready.

Genesis withdrew, sticky with smears of white and red (the colors reminded Lazard, absurdly, of the Wutaian flag) and gestured elegantly to the place he vacated. Lazard undressed himself (unlike Genesis, he preferred to be entirely nude for this) and knelt between Zack's knees. He took a piece of Restore materia from his discarded pants and aimed a Cure1. Curing without delay kept them tight, Lazard had made his argument to Genesis for doing it twice, but more honestly, Lazard didn't like winces of pain to mar the lovely, sleepy expression on the victim's face.

Now the only evidence of Zack's stolen innocence was the semen and blood that eased Lazard's way into him. The boy's eyes were closed, and the movement of his features suggested nothing worse than an unpleasant dream. He whimpered pitifully as the first gentle thrust drove home, but then his body relaxed, finding this at least easier to bear than the first assault. Genesis hadn't been kidding about the vise-like grip of the young SOLDIER's body. Lazard couldn't last near as long as he wanted to, coming undone finally by the sight of wet blue eyes opening to look at him drowsily, like those of a tired child ripped from sleep.

The executive director pulled himself dazedly together and slid out carefully. Zack had not come with him, but that was understandable. Lazard was sad the anticipated conquest was over, but what an experience it had been! He would cherish the memory always. Now the procedure was to clean the victim up, then another Cure, a few gentle threats, and -

Lazard had no sooner risen from the bed than Genesis was on it, erect and slick once more, lifting Zack's legs back up on his shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's my turn," the 1st Class answered with feigned surprise. "Don't I get a thank-you for going after you this time?"

"But you already - " Lazard stammered.

"Of course I didn't. That was Angeal, remember? He went first, that was only appropriate, but - " Genesis smiled coldly at the waking terror on Zack's face. "Now that the puppy is broken in, I want a taste of him myself."

"Genesis!"

"I wish you could've seen yourself," Genesis murmured to the boy, ignoring Lazard. "You were breathtaking. I should tell Angeal how lovely and willing you are, so he can finally enjoy this for himself."

Zack's face went white with horror. His hurt frown was a more experienced version of his usual childish pout, and when it opened his lips moved for a few moments, unable to translate the panic he was feeling into sound. Genesis brought his face lower and caught them in a forceful kiss, holding the 3rd's head still when he tried to turn away. When Genesis released him at last he continued to hover closely, brushing his mouth over the soft, tear-stained skin.

"What do you think, baby?" he murmured. "Should I tell him?"

"Please don't," Zack breathed out erratically, his voice timid and pleading. "Please."

"All right. You've been good for me, little puppy, so I'll make a deal with you. Be good for just a little longer, do what I tell you, and it will all be over and all this will stay between us. What do you say?"

Zack bit his lower lip adorably, wary but cornered. "O-Okay."

"Good boy. Don't look so frightened. Angeal's my friend, do you think I would harm something he loves?" Genesis caressed the boy's face with his fingers. "Lazard is going to release your hands. You're going to put your arms around my neck and relax, and I'll take care of the rest. Uh-uh, keep your eyes open. I want to look at them. Good puppy."

He gestured impatiently to Lazard, who knew Genesis well enough to know he had no choice but to unlock the handcuffs. The 1st was certainly bluffing. Angeal, if made aware of this, would see Zack as an innocent victim, but of course, the boy wasn't thinking clearly. His shame made him believe himself an accomplice, the pleasure they had forced on him would make him wonder if it had really been the rape it was. Lazard frowned. Genesis, for all his self-destructive impulsiveness, had to be bluffing. If this secret got out, it would not be a matter of investigation and company policy and imprisonment. Angeal would simply kill them both.

A stifled moan and a groan of pleasure startled Lazard from his anxious thoughts. The sight awaiting him was quite a lovely one, two beautiful bodies entwined in a parody of love, in a pretense of consent. Zack's arms were around Genesis, but they were stiff and shaking. Genesis moved slowly and gently, but to savor his power over the boy, this triumph over Angeal and his gall at caring for something purely, not to spare the young one further pain. It was arousing, though, to watch Genesis play at caring, hushing the whimpering boy, soothing him while he took what Zack had not wanted to give. At just the right moment, he took the 3rd Class in hand and they came together, one weeping, the other laughing with victorious delight.

Genesis always liked to take a few minutes afterward to savor the fruit he had plucked, to commit it all vividly to memory, so the clean-up was always left to his partner. Genesis drank in the sight of his boneless and drained conquest with his hands and eyes a bit longer, then settled on the loveseat beneath the window and stared dreamily into space. Lazard set to work, to the process he knew so well. It never quite made his hands clean, but then, that's what gloves and solid reputations are for, right?

Normally clean-up was accomplished with the aid of warmed moist towelettes, but Lazard decided to take Zack into the shower instead. The boy only blinked and winced with dazed confusion as he was half-carried to the bathroom, and he lay like a corpse against Lazard's chest as the hot spray of water came down and hands washed him with tender, massaging motions. The world began to come back into focus as he was dried off and dressed, and he looked dumbly down at his uniform, wondering if it had all really happened. There was soreness, stiffness, a stretched sort of pain, but then someone murmured a Cure spell and it all faded away.

Fingers gently tilted his face up. They were in a different room now, close to the apartment's main door, and he was looking into the kind eyes of Lazard, who was smiling at him paternally. Zack wanted to leave, he wanted Angeal...no, wait, did he? Was Angeal still the wall of safety he had been before? Even if he was, would he take one look at Zack and see the unspeakable things he had allowed to be done to him? Better to not take that chance. Zack wanted to be alone. He didn't even want to be with himself.

"This will be our secret," Lazard said softly. "As long as you keep it, everything will be all right. I'll make sure Angeal doesn't find out anything, and I won't let Genesis touch you again. All right?"

The beautiful eyes dropped, unable to look at him. "Thank you."

"You did very well. You're excused duties for the rest of the day, and if anyone asks where you were, tell them you became ill and the Turks sent you back early," Lazard said slowly and deliberately, letting his words sink in with the power of suggestion. "Go get some rest."

Zack nodded. Lazard opened the door for him and he stepped out, like a sleepwalker at first but regaining something close to a normal walk. Far from his usual bouncy stride, but that would return in time. Fair was strong and cheerful and had ties to SOLDIER through his friends and Angeal, he was not like the isolated boys they usually preferred, who sometimes faded into ghosts and left the program without giving a reason.

He went back to the bedroom to finish cleaning up, and found Genesis finished with his post-coital reverie. The 1st was, in fact, removing something from the four high corners of the room, and when Lazard approached his blood froze. Cameras. Genesis had videotaped the entire thing.

"Are you mad?!" Lazard nearly shouted. "If anyone - "

"No one will but us. I'll edit the best angles all together, and we'll have a memento of our most satisfying conquest. But first I think I'll view them all, one by one."

"You are mad. You're going to get us killed."

Genesis smirked. "Does that mean you don't want to join me?"

Lazard hesitated. He supposed he could finish tidying up later.

Should I put the other four parts up?