Under Pressure

Do not own Final Fantasy

-o-o-

Cadet Cloud Strife was cute. It made a lot of guys want him, and a lot of guys tease him. He eventually caught the attention of a Second-Class SOLDIER. It took a while, but he managed to worm his way into the blond's affections.

Zack found out about this relationship through one of his men, and he was not pleased. He warned Cloud that the man was a nasty bastard and urged Cloud to leave him before he got caught up in it. Cloud refused and he stayed friends with Zack, although they were drifting apart.

"Babe, come on. I'm serious about you, and you're serious about me, aren't you?" Cloud's boyfriend, Samuel Davis, whispered, nipping Cloud's ear.

It was times like this he wished he had the backbone to leave his now-hurtful boyfriend. He endured the verbal abuse thrown at him for the few decent moments. He didn't love this man, but if he wasn't with him, he'd be all alone.

"I-I don't..." Cloud fell miserably silent. He wanted to tell Sam to back off because he was very fond of his virginity, and wasn't willing to give it up to this man.

"Fine," he snapped, brooding.

After a few more sessions like that, Sam backed off. They casually dated, and Cloud got nervous about all the special treatment he was recieving. He found out why two weeks later.

"Babe, I've got a really long mission coming up. I won't be seeing you for a while. So I was thinking," he said, placing his glass of cheap wine on the table. "I'd like some pictures of you to keep me company."

Cloud knew he didn't mean regular pictures, seeing as they had some already. "What kind of pictures?"

"I'm not going to lie, it's going to be uncomfortable. I'd like to... see all of you. As a reminder of what I'm coming home to."

"You want pictures of me naked," he said in a low voice.

"Well, yeah. "

Cloud protested, but his boyfriend didn't let it go. He eventually found a weak spot.

"Come on, babe. I took a chance loving you. No one even looks twice at me, and your special because you see me for who I am."

It was a low blow. They both knew of Cloud's past with his peers. Cloud felt guilty, and finally consented to the photoshoot.

The next day, Cloud arrived at Sam's apartment to find him playing with a camera and a box by his feet. "Heya, babe," he greeted smugly, stealing a kiss.

"W-" Cloud's voice died as he saw the box's contents. It was full of frilly outfits. He could plainly see a nurse and a maid costume on top.

"Only some of the pictures will be you naked, so don't worry," he said, then turned on the camera. "Strip," he ordered.

Suddenly he felt the comparison Zack once made was spot on. Cloud was the sweet, innocent virgin lamb, and Sam was the horrible, cunning bastard wolf. Cloud did as he was told meekly.

His boyfriend eyed him up and down, reveling in the fact that no one but him had saw Cloud like this. "Get down on your knees," he instructed the miserable cadet. "Hands behind your back." He took several pictures then cheerfully informed Cloud; "We're going to switch settings here. Bedroom."

Cloud obediantly followed the cruel man and was told to lay on the bed with his legs wide open. Cloud knew that he could overpower him if he so chose.

Sam didn't force himself on the blond, though his firm erection let him know he wanted to. He asked Cloud to do more humiliating things on the bed. The only thing Cloud refused to do was masterbate. When he refused to rub himself for the camera, Sam commanded that he finger himself.

"No," Cloud said, beginning to cry a little. He felt worse when he snapped pictures of him crying, naked, on his bed.

An hour of degrading commands later, he put away the camera. Then moved over to join the about-to-dress blond.

"Don't," he said when Cloud picked up his clothes. "We could have a lot of fun like this," he pressed himself against the boy and tried to pull his hips against his own groin. Cloud whirled and slapped him, gaining a bit of confidence.

He swiftly dressed and left, feeling dirty under a cold furious gaze.

-o-o-

He was wandering the halls later when he heard his boyfriend's voice. "Yeah, see?"

"Damn, you've got to give it to him, he has the finest ass Shinra has ever seen," a voice chuckled, preditorial. Cloud shrunk back.

"Mm. That bitch would do whatever I say."

"You get into his pants yet?"

"I plan on it tonight."

Cloud slipped away when he realized they were talking about him and the pictures he allowed Sam to take. He felt all alone because the only friend he had was pushed away by Sam's psychotic impulses to not let anyone near what he claimed as his.

He thought about going to General Sephiroth, Zack's lover, who had always been kind to Cloud, but he rejected it, knowing word would get back to Zack.

Next he considered the Turks. He had been unofficially adopted by every Turk, but he declined that idea because they would be disgusted with what he did.

As he was wallowing in his self-loathing, he drifted through Shinra's halls. At the end of his thought processed, he looked at his surroundings. He was outside Zack's office. He pulled himself in on himself, trying to make himself smaller. He needed help to get away from his emotionally abusive boyfriend. He took a breath and released it, then knocked.

"Come in," the cheery voice was gone from the man, replaced instead with one of annoyance. Cloud winced, knowing it was his fault. He pushed open the door and stepped in. Zack didn't look up at first. "Yes?"

"I'm so sorry, Zack," Cloud whispered. Zack looked up with a pained expression that he managed to smooth into indifference.

"Is there something you need?"

Cloud looked down, letting his hair shield his teary eyes and he realised he was only being more of a burden by coming back when he obviously shunned their friendship.

"Cadet... Cloud, what's wrong?" Zack's voice melted into one of concern. Cloud's shoulders began to shake and Zack made his way around his desk and to Cloud's side.

"I tried my best to be nice to him..." Cloud's voice was raw and broken. "But I'm tired of being hurt again and again in new ways each time."

Zack stood stunned. He wanted to tell his friend "I told you so" but he wanted to understand why he made the attempt at all. "Why did you stay with him if he hurt you?"

"He said he was like I was in my hometown. Shunned and..." he trailed off, not knowing how much to say, then settled for the whole truth. "Hurt emotionally and physically by people around him."

Zack realized he had been cruel to try and drag the boy away from someone he thought was hurting. "Cloud, what did he do to you?"

Cloud looked up at him, letting Zack see his broken expression and tearstained face. " He made me feel like I was worthless and made me do things I didn't want to do."

Cloud let Zack hug him and lead him to a sofa, only to hold him tighter when they sat. Cloud told him about everything Sam had done to him. When he was done pouring his heart out, Zack promised to take care of it and ordered the cadet to rest in his office.

Cloud huddled under the jacket Zack tucked around him. Zack gave one last concerned look at Cloud before leaving. His first destination wasn't that far away. His boyfriend's office door came into view and was thrown open. Seeing the almost empty office, he closed the door behind him and moved to Sephiroth's desk.

"We have a mission."

Sephiroth looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Spike's boyfriend is abusive, and we have to get him away from Cloud."

"I thought you and Cloud we're fighting?"

"Our life's a soap opera, it moves fast. You gotta keep up better than that, man. Cloud came to me and explained that he was being emotionally abused by this sick son of a bitch. Cloud honestly thought that if he left sooner, no one would love him."

"So what prompted him to come to you now?"

"The asshat knows Cloud has a reaaaally low self-esteem. He pressured him into something he didn't want to do. He made Cloud pose for naked pictures. Which is technically child porn, right there, considering Spike's underaged."

Sephiroth glared at his desk. It wasn't a secret that he was fond of the beautiful, doll-faced cadet.

"What's the plan?"

Zack smiled.

-o-o-

A little over an hour later, Zack stepped into his office, one hand holding a large envelope. Cloud looked up from his toying with a fake plant of the table. Judging by the color of his face, he had been crying.

"Aw, Spike. Don't worry, I got the pictures and everything else. Come sit down, he won't bother you, nor will his friends," Zack flopped down and tossed the folder of the table. He patted the seat next to him, and Cloud came like a trained puppy.

"Thank you, Zack. I was so horrible to you, and you still forgave me..."

Zack fixed his stern gaze on the blond cadet, who nervously licked his lips. "Cloud, you are a beautiful person with a beautiful soul. Don't think for one second that I won't back you if you think someone is in trouble or hurting. That dick took advantage of your caring side," Zack wrapped his arms around Cloud and pulled him close, hugging him tightly. "I beat him up, actually. It was fun. Especially since I got to hand him and his buddies over to the Turks for child porn charges."

"What?" Cloud asked, eyes wide and staring up at Zack's face, shocked.

"Your underaged, Cloudy. That means he's guilty of child pornography. Don't worry about the Turks, they just want justice for their favorite chocobo."

Cloud finally accepted that this wasn't a dream and he was free, so he curled up in Zack's loving embrace.

Zack felt like Cloud was well enough off to tease, so he tried it. "Hey, I bet I could get Sephiroth to come riding in on a white horse."

"Zack..." Cloud whined, sounding a bit more like his old self. He was never fond of being teased about his crush on Zack's boyfriend, but amazingly, it never came between them. Zack had feared that Cloud would think badly of him for falling for his crush, but Cloud had been supportive all along.

There was a sharp knock, and the door opened without waiting for an answer. In walked the subject of the conversation, General Sephiroth.

"Zackary," he smiled. Zack carefully let go of Cloud and jumped in his strong arms. Sephiroth swung his boyfriend around slowly, prompting Cloud to smile at his best friend's happiness.

Sephiroth slowly put him down after a long slow kiss. Zack looked at Cloud with worry in his pale eyes. Cloud was smiling, delighted to see Zack happy.

Zack had to give it to him, Cloud was the least malicious person he ever knew.

"Hello, Cloud," Sephiroth said softly, keeping an arm around Zack's slim waist.

"Good evening, sir," he piped up.

"I hear something interesting has been going on. Care to explain, Zack?" he asked for appearence sake.

When Cloud gave a hesitant nod, Zack retold the entire story to the now-sitting General for the second time that day.

"Did you check to make sure they were the right photos?"

Zack froze. "Uhh... no."

Sephiroth frowned and asked Cloud if he could check them over. Cloud said yes, but buried his face in Zack's coat in shame.

Sephiroth pulled it open and gazed at the contents. Zack looked over his shoulder. He licked his lips to see the boy he was in love with naked, but frowned at the sad, abused look on his face.

Sephiroth had to put the pictures back quickly, he was getting aroused at the beautiful body.

Cloud peeked up at them. They shared a look and Zack sat on the couch next to Cloud, drawing his friend close to him. Sephiroth positioned the office chair he was in directly in front of Cloud, who was confused and starting to panic.

They both hesitantly explain that they loved him very much and in the way that aroused them at the sight of Cloud in those positions.

Cloud was shocked, but pleased that he was the unknowing object of affection for the two men he cared the most for in the entire world.

"I- I love you both too..." he muttered, face a brillant scarlet color. His face was tilted up for a kiss from Zack. As they kissed, Sephiroth moved out of seat and knelt before them. He captured Cloud's very willing lips for a kiss of his own.

Zack's hands wandered to the button on the young boy's pants. Sephiroth caught his hands and gave him a stern stare, which he returned sheepishly.

"Cloud is a minor, Zackary. He is not old enough for sex."

Cloud whined lightly. He didn't want Sam to take him, but amazingly, he was fully ready for either of the men to take his virginity.

Sephiroth continued, his next words horrifying Zack and Cloud. "The age of consent is 18."

Cloud's mouth dropped open and Zack's did too. A brilliant idea made itself known. "No it's not!" he blurted out. "Not for me!"

"All children have to be 18. It's the legal age in Midgar," Sephiroth pointed out.

Cloud smiled. "But I'm not from Midgar! I'm a resident of Nibelhiem. The legal age there is 16, and that's only for formalities. There have been 50 plus year olds having sex kids as young as twelve!"

Zack made an "eww" face, and Sephiroth did in his own way. "You were not one of them..." Sephiroth trailed off, eyes narrowing in anger.

"Nu-uh. But my point is that in a few months, I'll be legal by Nibelhiem standards, and they are the only standards that apply to me." Cloud smiled hugely, Zack nuzzling into his unruly spikes.

Sephiroth sighed and gave up. "What do you plan to do with the pictures?"

Cloud considered this, then smiled again. His face was getting tired after so long of going without. "You two can keep them. I have no idea why you love me, but you do, and if they can keep your interest until I'm legal..."