Characters: Cloud, Sephiroth, Rufus

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Sexual themes, language

Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII or its characters. I do not make any money from this fiction.

Summary: Act like you want it, and you just might get it.

The bank was crowded, and Sephiroth was going to strangle Cloud for waiting until 4:45 on a Friday evening before realizing he needed cash. The bank couldn't have been opened on weekends like the ones in Midgar, could they? And the fucking ATMs were all broken, and only three tellers were working.

Just his bloody, fucking luck.

It didn't help that Cloud was being insufferable since he was bored and taking it out on Sephiroth's psyche. And there was no way the general was going to admit that he found is somewhat cute in an annoying way.

"So, how many people have you had sex with?" Cloud asked, then pulled his gum out of his mouth in a long string before sticking it back in.

Sephiroth smacked Cloud's arm and glared at all the people in line who turned to stare at them. The gawkers turned around at the severe frown, but it was obvious they were still listening as no-one tried to restart their conversations.

"That's none of your fucking business," Sephiroth finally laughed at the little blond.

"So, either it's so many you can't count, or so few you'd feel like a tool if you said it out loud."

"What part of it's none of your fucking business didn't you understand?" Sephiroth said, but the bite was eased with a small smile.

Cloud grinned before leaning into the general rather suggestively. "Oh, I don't know…" the blond said sultrily. "I guess I don't understand it at all. Why don't you educate me?" Cloud fiddled with the collar of Sephiroth's coat and slid one of legs between long, strong thighs. "I have a school-girl outfit and a ruler and I could call you teacher…or professor if you want."

Sephiroth smiled, looking into Cloud's beautiful, bright blue eyes that held humor and warmth and what the general hoped was the slightest bit of something more. He was about to tell Cloud off when the loud, ringing roar of a gun being fired made him pause in surprise.

Sephiroth was never surprised. Not by something like…like…

His head snapped around, searching for-there. A man standing in the doorway, handgun still raised. The shooter's face was covered in a ski mask, but Sephiroth could see the stretching of the fabric as the man smiled before bolting out of the doorway.

"Seph…" Cloud gasped weakly.

The silver haired man looked down at the blond standing in front of him. Cloud stared at the general with eyes wide as people started screaming and either trying to flee or falling to the floor. The blond blinked once, very slowly, before his eyes closed and he fell forward. Sephiroth caught the small body and lowered it to the floor.

Sephiroth's breath caught as he realized his hands were warm and wet, the front of his coat was sprayed with scarlet, and the floor beneath Cloud was stained with a pool of red that was slowly spreading.

Oh, Gaia. He needed to chase after the bastard with the gun but…

Cloud's breathing stuttered before stopping altogether.

Sephiroth's brain fizzled to a halt before starting up again double time. Materia. He had materia. He always had materia.

The green flash hadn't even faded away before Cloud took a deep, rasping breath and Sephiroth bolted out of the bank and down the street.

It didn't matter how fast the bastard ran or how far out of sight he was. Sephiroth was faster, and the asshole smelled of gun-smoke.

It wouldn't take him long to find him.

*********************

"There's only the one victim, and everyone else seems to be ok. There was no attempt at a robbery, and no-one can tell me what the shooter looked like-" the policeman was interrupted by a body falling at his feet.

Sephiroth stood silently, staring at the police coolly. He looked like the grim reaper after a particularly fruitful day.

"Gen-gen-general Sephiroth, sir," the officer nodded in greeting. "What can we-"

"This man is the shooter," Sephiroth said as he violently kicked the man's side. The suspect groaned and rolled over but stayed unconscious. "I was here when it happened. I chased him down and notified the Turks. The unit stationed here should arrive shortly to collect him."

"T-Turks?" the officer stuttered. "W-why would the Turks need to be involved?"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe any of you have the kind of clearance needed to hear the answer to that question. Keep the suspect contained until they get here."

A nod. "Yes, sir. No problem, sir." The nervous officer leaned down and cuffed the comatose man although it was hardly necessary.

"Where is Cloud?" Sephiroth asked.

"Cloud?"

"The blond. He was injured, shot."

"Oh!" the policeman said, shaking his head. "He was taken by ambulance to the hospital."

Sephiroth frowned. "I Healed him before I left. He should be fine."

It was obvious the officer didn't want to piss off the general, who looked like he was ready and willing to kill anything at the moment. However, he figured the truth would be best so said, "The healing job wasn't thorough. I'm sorry sir, but the boy started to bleed out again. Luckily, there was a nurse and an EMT here that managed to stabilize him enough so he survived until the ambulance got here. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was in cardiac arrest. I don't know if he lived…they haven't called us from the hospital yet."

If Sephiroth's face wasn't already so pale, someone would have said he went white. As it was, the silver haired man felt the blood drain from his face, and he almost became dizzy.

What had he been thinking? It was a rule, an important one you learned early in SOLDIER training. Make sure the Heal worked before moving on. Only simple wounds could be healed by one hit with materia. He knew that. He knew that.

He knew that.

"Which hospital?" he asked, not recognizing his own voice.

"Mercy Central. It's only a few blocks from here."

"Where? Tell me where!" He was frantic and didn't know who cared.

The officer gave the directions as fast as his fearful stuttering would allow, and Sephiroth was off in a sudden sharp burst of speed.

Cloud.

*************************

Sephiroth stormed into the hospital, promising death and wrath and…he needed to see Cloud. Most of the nurses at the front desk of the emergency ward cringed at the scary man charging up to them.

"Cloud Strife. Where. Is. He?"

One of the nurses raised an eyebrow and continued her routine, hardly phased by the infamous Demon of Wutai breathing down her neck.

She'd been through worse.

"Are you family?" she asked, staring blandly.

"No, but-"

"I'm sorry, but family only."

"He has no family."

"Sorry, hospital policy."

Sephiroth slammed his hand down on the counter, crushing the Formica with the force of his anger. "I don't give a flying fuck about hospital policy."

The nurse looked at the broken counter and reached out to pluck a sheet out from under Sephiroth's clenched fist. She shook the dust off and smoothed it slightly out before putting it in a stack. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

The enraged man swiped everything off the counter in one violent move and pointed an accusing finger at the woman. "I can make your life very, very miserable until you tell me where he is."

"You're the General, right?" the nurse asked, rolling her eyes.

"What the fuck does-"

"I can tell you whatever you want if you give me military clearance. You're probably investigating the case, right?"

Sephiroth's breath caught, and he pulled his wallet out of the pocket of his coat. He quickly pulled his military id out and slammed it on the already dented counter.

"Let me see Cloud."

The nurse took the id and handed it to one of the trembling CNAs with an order to copy it. "I can tell you what's going on, but you can't see him right now. He's in surgery, and the last thing the surgeons need is to screw something up because you're making them anxious. You need to take a deep breath and sit down," she pointed toward the waiting area, which was largely uninhabited. The few people scattered on the worn, plastic chairs were staring at Sephiroth with eyes full of both fear and awe. It was The Silver General. How could they not be in awe?

"I need to see him," Sephiroth said, voice wavering much more than he had hoped for.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," the nurse said, true regret in her voice. "But I'm sure the last thing you want is for the surgery to go wrong. I can give you a quiet place to wait, if that helps."

Sephiroth surveyed at the gawking civilians and nodded.

"This way, then," the woman gestured.

The silver haired man followed as she came around the counter and walked down a short hallway to an empty exam room. "You're lucky," she said. "We're slow tonight. You can stay here, and I'll bring you any news I get."

"Is it going well? The surgery?"

The woman shrugged. "They haven't told me anything. No news is good news at this point. I'll bring your id back once I have some copies. Can I get you anything while you wait?"

"No, thank you."

The woman nodded and closed the door behind her as she left.

Sephiroth fell into the single chair in the room and buried his head in his hands. Everything hurt, like after a mako infusion. His whole body was screaming with an agony that was similar to, yet nothing like anything he'd ever felt. And it felt like something in his chest dropped twenty feet down and kept pulling, leaving an aching and excruciating void inside of him.

He'd failed.

Never in his life had he failed. He'd won every battle he'd ever fought, every spar, every fight, every everything.

But he'd failed in one stupid, simple mission.

All of Sephiroth's self recrimination stopped as his PHS rang. It took a few rings for Sephiroth to realize what the noise was, and another couple as he fumbled through his coat for the device.

"Sephiroth," he rumbled after he flipped the phone open.

"How hard was it, really?" came the smooth voice on the other line.

Sephiroth swallowed and clenched his eyes shut. Rufus.

"Was there…an army of Wutain ninjas? Several Bahamuts?"

"No."

"Then why," Rufus went on, voice starting to rise, "did I get a call from Mercy Central Hospital about a young, blond man by the name of Cloud Strife who was shot and had my number on his PHS as his emergency contact?"

"I don't know," Sephiroth said. He was closer to tears than he had ever been in his life.

"You don't know," Rufus snipped out. "You don't fucking know?! I had to approve emergency surgery! I had to fork over my insurance! I had to sit here, thousands of miles away, as a doctor told me they might not be able to help him. How did you fuck this up?! How was this even possible?!"

"I was distracted."

"You were distracted," Rufus repeated in a deadly quiet voice.

"Rufus," Sephiroth said, voice rife with enough emotion that it made the executive pause. "I assure you that I never, ever wanted anything to hurt Cloud."

"Then how could you have let this happen?"

Sephiroth squeezed his eyes shut and breathed a deep, shaky breath. "I don't know."

"And we're back to that," Rufus snarled maliciously. "I can't believe this. It wasn't even a real fucking mission!"

"What?"

"It was a fucking set-up," Rufus swore. "A bunch of amateurs you should have been able to take care of with both hands and your feet tied behind your back. The whole point was to get you alone with Cloud so he could fuck you and loosen up your fucking attitude."

Sephiroth's heart plummeted. Everything…everything had just been…a job?

"Cloud was just here to…"

"To be a hot, tight ass for you to fuck. And you managed to get him shot."

Sephiroth hung up and turned off his phone when it started ringing again. He put his head in his hands and stared at the floor until the nurse came in.

"Cloud's in recovery. Would you like to see him?"

Sephiroth was quiet for a long time, and the woman contemplated leaving when the big man stood up. She handed him his ID back and waved for him to follow her.

She lead him through a maze of corridors before shoving open one of the large, double doors. The room inside was large and sectioned off with multiple curtains. She walked up to one curtained off area and pulled the drape aside to let Sephiroth in.

"One of the doctors should be here after a bit to let you know what's going on. Don't be surprised if he stays unconscious. The anesthesia will take awhile to work its way out of his system." She nodded once at the silent man before sliding the drape back and leaving Sephiroth alone with Cloud.

Had it all been…a lie?

Everything…was it just the world's best seduction?

According to Rufus, it was. And…Cloud was one of the world's best whores, after all. This was what he did. Seduction, sex…it was all in a day's work.

Sephiroth finally looked at the boy on the hospital bed. Cloud looked…so small. There were no bandages over the exposed piece of chest Sephiroth could see peeking out of the blankets, but he could see the edge of a fresh, red scar.

He reached out and took a hold of the blankets and pulled them down enough to see what had to of been the exit wound. It looked like it had been meticulously pieced together before it was healed to minimize scarring. He touched the raised welts, and startled as Cloud shifted.

Blue eyes fluttered open. They stared forward dimly before finally starting to search the room. When he saw Sephiroth leaning over him, he started struggling to say something, to move, to throw himself at the larger man.

"Don't. You'll hurt yourself," Sephiroth said, voice caught in his throat. He should leave. Cloud didn't…Cloud was just…he was nothing to the blond besides a job.

The smaller man stopped struggling, but it was obvious he was trying to say something. The breathing tube in his throat didn't allow for any words to be formed, and those…those…those eyes begged Sephiroth to listen to what he couldn't say.

Swallowing the ache in his throat, the silver haired man glanced around the room. A small stand held a pad of hospital stationary and a pen, along with other sundries. He picked it up and put the pen in Cloud's right hand. The blond blinked and waved with his left.

Cloud was a lefty.

Sephiroth took the pen, resituated it, and put the paper underneath. The blond squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then started scribbling.

The handwriting was hard to read, skewed by angle, drugs, and lingering pain, but it only took Sephiroth a moment to decipher the chicken-scratch.

I love you.

Cloud's hand weakly dropped the pen and flopped back to the bed, IV tubes rattling against the plastic side-guard. He blinked up at Sephiroth, eyes trying to convey what his voice and face could not due to the breathing apparatus covering most of it. His hand made a grabbing motion, still too weak to be lifted up again. Sephiroth, as if in a trance, reached down to grasp Cloud's hand. That small appendage squeezed as much as it could, and Sephiroth saw a tear make its way out of Cloud's eye.

I love you.

"I talked to Rufus," Sephiroth managed to rumble out despite the ache in his throat. "He told me…why we're here. The real reason."

Cloud clenched his eyes closed and more tears poured down his cheeks. That tiny hand clenched around Sephiroth's in a hold that begged him to not let go, never let go.

"Is that what everything was," Sephiroth croaked out. "Was it all a job?"

Cloud shook his head as much as he could. He tried to speak again and gagged himself in the process. Sephiroth heard the rapid beeping of the monitors as Cloud's heartbeat and blood pressure went up.

The beeping brought one of the doctors, still in his surgical scrubs. He pulled a syringe out of one of the multiple carts in the sectioned off area and injected it into one of the IVs running into Cloud. The blond's eyes drooped moments later as the heart rate also slowed. In short order the blond was unconscious again.

"I can't believe he's awake already," the surgeon muttered. "This kid just keeps throwing me curveballs."

"Are you the surgeon?" the general asked, clearing his throat and rapidly blinking his eyes. He wasn't going to cry, no matter how much he wanted to.

The doctor turned to regard the other man. "Yes. I'm Doctor Winchester. I did Cloud's surgery."

"Thank you," Sephiroth said gratefully.

"It's what I love to do. No thanks needed…I don't believe we've been introduced, but I can probably take a wild guess as to who you are," the doctor said wryly.

"General Sephiroth," the silver haired man said in acknowledgement. "And I still say thank you."

"Again, none needed but appreciated, General."

"What happened?" Sephiroth whispered, still holding the blond's hand.

"He was technically dead twice. Once in the hands of the paramedics, and again when he got here. He lost…a lot of blood. Honestly, he should have been dead. I don't know how he managed to hold on so long." The doctor sighed and pushed a button on the vital-stats machine to silence the steady beeping.

The sudden silence worried Sephiroth more than the noise had annoyed him. The comforting beeps that assured him Cloud's heart was still going steadily. His fingers slipped to hold Cloud's wrist and press to a delicate pulse point. The thready throb under his fingertips was a reassurance Sephiroth desperately needed at the moment.

"His workup showed massive amounts of mako in his system. Is he a SOLDIER?" the doctor asked curiously. "We couldn't find anything on him that would indicate he was, but-"

"No," Sephiroth shook his head. "He's not a SOLDIER."

"Well, the mako is probably what saved him. That, and…did you cast a Cure on him?"

Sephiroth nodded, still feeling guilty that he hadn't done enough…that he hadn't stayed to check…that he hadn't…

"It's a good thing you only did a superficial cure," the doctor said, startling Sephiroth into almost dropping Cloud's hand. "There were bullet fragments lodged…everywhere. If you had done a Full Cure…you would have sealed all those fragments into his lungs, his heart…even his liver. We would have had to rip him open all over again to retrieve them. As it was, we were able to go in through entrance and exit wounds, remove the fragments, and Heal him up completely. I take it you're…the significant other?" the doctor asked delicately.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "He's not a SOLDIER, yet he has a huge amount of mako in his system. You're here, looking like someone just shot your…well…boyfriend. It was just a logical step."

"Is he going to be alright?" Sephiroth avoided the issue with a question.

The doctor raised an eyebrow but answered anyway. "We're worried about his lung. Even with surgery and Cures, there was not a lot of tissue to work with which makes it very delicate at the moment. He'll need to stay here several days until we're sure he's stable. I'm going to consult with a mako-specialist in a few minutes, but I'm assuming he'll also need a mako-transfusion before he crashes. Which, that could be soon after what he just went through."

Mako. It can heal wounds, make someone stronger, faster. Once stabilized, mako levels tended to stay that way…until a traumatic event. Then, it was used up faster than it could balance itself. That in and of itself could cause major damage to the body.

"I can donate, if he needs it," Sephiroth offered, reaching up to pull Cloud's blankets higher on the delicate chest.

"Thank you," the doctor nodded. "I was wondering how we'd get something here in such short notice. Even the nearest SOLDIER unit was farther away than I wanted to contemplate. I'll get a filtering machine up here as soon as possible. We'll start filtering your blood immediately. It shouldn't be long before the specialist knows how much mako Cloud will need to be stabilized." The doctor checked vitals again before nodding to Sephiroth and leaving.

Sephiroth stared down at the small body in the bed. He was so confused. Did Cloud mean it? Was it just a show? How could he know what was real and what wasn't?

I love you.

************************

Sephiroth sat quietly next to Cloud's bed as he was hooked up to what looked like a rarely-if ever used mako-filtering machine. It was something found in all SOLDIER MASH tents and most hospitals. When mako couldn't be flown in or found in its easily injectable form, the quickest way to save a dying comrade was to give them some of your own mako. Hospitals like this had little use for such a machine, but usually had one around 'just in case.'

Sephiroth had never been more grateful for 'just in case.'

The specialist seemed highly nervous as he placed needles where they needed to be, plugged in tubes and punched buttons. It wasn't long before Sephiroth felt the pull of blood from his body and into the machine only to reappear in a separate tube hooked up to his other arm. The whir of the machine was rather quiet, compared to the tense chattering of the specialist. The silver haired man's patented glare made the stuttering man leave quickly after assuring the machine was working properly.

Sephiroth settled back into his chair and watched as Cloud continued to sleep. He hadn't awoken again, and the doctor was hoping to keep him that way. The more relaxed the blond was, the faster he would heal. The more he struggled and tried to talk, the more likely he was to damage his lung.

There was so much going through his mind. The topmost was the screaming thought that he'd been played. The second was that he didn't care. The third was that Cloud loved him.

But did he really?

Was it just a way to ensure Sephiroth would do what it took to keep him alive? Or was it the scared mind of a boy who thought he was dying, and didn't want the one he loved to never know how he felt?

He was going to have to wait until Cloud was awake and able to talk.

Until then…

Sephiroth watched as his blood moved down the tube and into the machine. He had to make sure Cloud healed enough to have that talk.

********************

Rufus stormed through the sliding doors of the hospital. It had been a long, frustrating plane ride to Icicle. There was nothing he could do. He'd thrown money at every doctor and specialist that had anything to do with Cloud's recovery. Although, no matter how much money he offered them, they all told him the same thing.

Cloud was going to have to heal on his own.

He shrugged off his expensive, designer coat and handed it to one of his assistants. The hospital administrator met him at the door, immediately thanking him for the large donation and kissing his ass.

Rufus wanted none of it. "Where is Cloud?"

Practically groveling and reassuring that 'Mr. Strife' was getting the best care possible, the administrator showed Rufus up the elevator, down several halls, and into a darkened private room. Rufus dismissed everyone except Tseng and entered the room.

Sephiroth sat slumped in the bedside chair. Rufus had never seen the regal and pulled-together man look like…

Utter crap.

Green, mako eyes glanced up and blinked solemnly.

Rufus dragged his gaze reluctantly to the bed.

Cloud was still hooked up to the ventilator and multiple IV lines. He looked so pale and…delicate.

Rufus came forward as Tseng hung back by the entrance to the room. He pulled up to the side of the bed and reached forward to touch Cloud's cheek. Cloud was usually warm and pliant and soft beneath his fingertips. Now, he was cold. The skin was tacky and stiff with dried tears and sweat.

"Why did I send you here?" he whispered. "What did I do to you?" He looked up at Sephiroth, rage in his eyes. "What did you do to him? You were supposed to protect him."

"I know," the silver haired man breathed.

"Why didn't you?" Rufus demanded.

"Because…I love him," Sephiroth said quietly.

Rufus' mouth worked for a full minute before he finally managed to gasp out, "And how does that mean you let him get shot?"

"I wasn't paying attention," the general murmured. "I was…we were…flirting. He was so beautiful that all I could see was him."

"You were distracted," Rufus said, echoing the words from their first conversation.

The other man nodded and reached out to touch Cloud's hand.

Rufus looked down at the small blond. The boy he'd kept for almost two years now. He was rather attached to him. He definitely wasn't in love with Cloud, but he most definitely held affection for him.

"You know that this was just an elaborate plan to get you laid, right?"

Sephiroth nodded. "I heard you the first time."

"Did you know before I told you?"

"No."

"I hate to ask this but…how do you know you love Cloud if-"

"I know I love him. I know that he loves me, too."

"How?"

Sephiroth reached with his free hand to rifle in his pocket. He pulled out a piece of paper and carefully unfolded it. He handed it to Rufus over Cloud's bed. Despite the odd quality to it, he recognized Cloud's handwriting when he saw it.

I love you.

"When?"

"He woke up after the surgery."

Rufus looked at the writing, stunned. "Did you tell him that you knew?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I asked him if it was all a lie."

"What did he say?"

"He couldn't say anything, due to the breathing tube. But…he made it clear that he wasn't lying."

Rufus didn't say anything, but handed the paper back to Sephiroth. "Don't think I'm going to forgive you," Rufus said coldly.

"I'm not going to forgive myself."

The sandy-blond couldn't argue with that. Rufus cleared his throat. "How long are they going to keep him out?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Until they feel his lung has healed enough. The process seems to be going faster since they gave him my mako."

"You donated your mako? Is that safe?"

"It wasn't any safer to make him wait until enough units of injectable mako were flown in."

"But…your mako? That seems…beyond dangerous."

"He hasn't gotten sick yet, and it's been several hours. If he was going to have a reaction, he'd have done so by now. If anything, he seems to be getting better."

Rufus nodded and pulled up a chair. "I hope," he said as he made himself comfortable, "That you don't mind if I join you."

Sephiroth shook his head and tightened his grip on Cloud's hand. "I think Cloud would like to have you here."

"Cloud would probably like to have a threesome with us," Rufus snorted. "He's a horny little bastard."

Sephiroth couldn't help but smile.

**********************

When they finally allowed Cloud to wake up, the first thing he saw was green, cat-slitted eyes set in a patrician face filled with worry.

"You look like shit," Cloud croaked out, trying to smile around his chapped lips.

Sephiroth laughed, but it came out as more of a repressed sob. "So do you, you little bitch."

"Am I going to be ok?" the blond whispered and worked his mouth trying work up some moisture.

"Yes," Sephiroth said and reached to the bedside to pick up a cup. He fished out one of the ice chips and fed it to Cloud's thirsty mouth. "You're healing faster than expected."

"Mmm," Cloud mumbled, closing his eyes tiredly. "I feel…"

"Like you got shot?" Sephiroth asked with a smile.

"Ya. Kind a like that." His mouth opened in a silent demand for more ice. Sephiroth complied and after feeding the blond another chip, traced his finger over cracked lips.

"Did I tell you that I loved you?" Cloud whispered, opening his eyes again.

Sephiroth's breath hitched. "Yes."

"Good," Cloud said. "I thought it might have been a dream. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't."

"I let you get hurt," Sephiroth quietly mourned. "You could have died."

"I did die," the blond said simply.

Sephiroth sucked in several short breaths. "You're alive. You didn't die. They saved you," he managed to strangle out.

"I've been in the Lifestream before," Cloud said dreamily. "When I was fighting the mako poisoning. I was in and out, floating…I went there again."

"Don't. Just…don't. You aren't dead."

"Not anymore," Cloud agreed. "I do love you. I didn't fake that. I couldn't."

"I love you, too," Sephiroth said, leaning down to gently caress Cloud's chapped lips with his own.

"You're both adorable in a traumatic, make my brain bleed kind of way," Rufus said from the doorway. The general and blond made no move to cease their kiss. The executive rolled his eyes and moved into the room. "You can stop any time."

The silver haired man finally pulled back, smiling at the small body on the bed. Cloud smiled back as much as he could.

"You know, this means you're going to have to find me something cute, small, and male to warm my bed and spend my money."

"I think I know someone you'll enjoy," Cloud croaked. "I'll get right on that when we get back to Midgar."

Rufus leaned over the bed and pressed a kiss to Cloud's forehead. "I'm glad you're ok."

"Thank you, for everything," Cloud said gratefully, then he smiled as deviously as he possibly could. "Didn't I tell you that you'd regret it?"

Rufus smiled. "Ya, you did." He cleared his throat and kissed Cloud one more time. "I have to get back to Midgar, now that I know you're going to be ok." He turned to Sephiroth and regarded him very seriously. "I'm leaving him in your hands. Don't get him shot this time," Rufus said, eyebrows raised.

Sephiroth nodded, "Promise."

Rufus turned and swept out of the room, silent Turks trailing behind.

"When do I get to leave?" Cloud asked, pulling on Sephiroth's hand to bring him closer.

The general lowered the side-guards and very carefully and gingerly, got into the narrow bed with the smaller man. Tubes were moved out of the way, Cloud was shifted over, and Sephiroth brought that little body into the curve of his own. "I couple more days, just to make sure. I'll stay with you."

"Mmm," Cloud rested his head on Sephiroth's chest. "I might not be able to keep my hands off of you that long."

"Well," Sephiroth said, stroking Cloud's soft hair, "when we get you out of here, we'll have all the sex you want."

"Nothing kinky," the blond sighed. "Just straight up vanilla monkey sex."

"How is monkey sex vanilla?"

"Believe me, it's vanilla."

Sephiroth smiled, it was filled with severe relief, disbelief, and…happiness.

"You're going to have to move in with me, and you'll hate my apartment."

"You're going to have to put up with me."

"You're going to hate my job."

"You're going to be broke."

"You're going to drive me insane," Sephiroth murmured, kissing Cloud's lips.

Cloud kissed back, feeling safe and warm and loved. "You act like you want it."

Sephiroth smiled, dragging his lips up to Cloud's ear and breathed. "Because I do."

END

Stay tuned for sequel…Straight Vanilla