Never Tear Us Apart: Part I

by tir-synni

 

Chapter II: Escape

 

            Since he had been thrown in the tube, Cloud Strife had not moved.  He remained motionless against the glass.  His soft breath fogging the glass inches from his face was his only sign of life.

            Zack was getting scared.

            This had happened countless times before: Cloud would be returned to his prison, remain unconscious for a while, then awaken and smile weakly at Zack.

            The average two hours had passed long ago.  Cloud showed no signs of waking.

            "Baby, please, open your eyes for me?" Zack begged.  "Come on, baby, move, scream, just do something!  Please, baby!  Open your eyes!"

            Those faint breaths were Zack's only answer.

            Swallowing hard, Zack glanced towards the door.  In about fifteen minutes, the guard would come in with their trays.  Then Zack was planning on making his break for it.  Hojo wasn't here, and Zack was betting that he took some of his goons with him.  Raised his chances of a successful escape.  However, if Cloud didn't wake up, it would be hell carrying him out of the mansion without getting caught.

            Zack studied Cloud's pale face through the glass that separated them.  The dark hollows under his eyes and cheeks made his delicate features more pronounce, leaving him looking more vulnerable than usual.  Cloud's rosy lips were parted as he exhaled, and Zack was overcome by the desire to hear Cloud's laugh again.  Cloud had a lovely laugh.  For so long, the only sounds Zack had heard from his beloved were moans and screams.

            The thought made Zack's eyes harden.  "Don't worry, love.  I'll get you out of here.  I don't care if you're conscious or not, but I won't let you spend another hour in Hojo's lab."

            No reply.

            The low creak of the door opening interrupted Zack's feverish thoughts, and he quickly closed his eyes.  Relying on the SOLDIER training he had not needed for so long, Zack tracked the man's position.  His breathing was harsh against the smooth whirring of Zack's cylinder prison.  Zack's heartbeat seemed to slow to match the goon's uneven, heavy tread.  A clink as the food tray was set down, then the sluggish steps resumed.  One...two...right in front of Zack's cell.  Another clink, this time of the cell being unlocked.  Zack concentrated on the rasps, the wheezing that came from long years of smoking.  A deep wheeze, and then a whoosh of air as the door opened.

            Bam!!

            The rasping transformed to gurgling as Zack's fist collided with the source of the breathing.  The man's nose broke under the force of the blow.  Zack opened his eyes in time to see the other man's eyes roll.  The gurgling stopped before the goon hit the ground.

            "Motherfucker," Zack hissed, stepping over the man's dead body.  Then the corpse was forgotten as he turned his attention to Cloud.

            "Baby."  With nimble fingers, Zack jiggled with the lock to Cloud's prison.  The youth remained oblivious to both his efforts and the slight scuffle that had just taken place.  Cloud was still leaning away from him.  For the first time, Zack noticed Cloud was leaning towards the tube he had just recently occupied.  It warmed the dark-haired SOLDIER.  Cloud knew Zack was there.  Even unconscious, Cloud knew.

            The door opened with yet another familiar swoosh, and Cloud sagged forward.  He slipped away from the glass to collapse into Zack's strong arms.

            The young man laid like a ragdoll as Zack carefully eased him to the floor.  Cloud's blonde head tumbled against the crook of Zack's arm, the unruly spikes tickling him.  Zack tenderly brushed a stray spike away.

            "I'll be right back, love," Zack murmured.  "I have to go get some supplies."

            Cloud just laid there.  His eyes never twitched.

            "Right back," Zack repeated before running off.  All his clothes and weapons were stacked neatly in the corner of the small room, a tidy little pile.  Didn't want to separate the specimens from their toys, did you, Hojo? Zack thought bitterly.  Don't worry.  I'll make you regret it.

            Zack swiftly changed his clothes and slipped on his weapons.  If they were to get out of there, they had better be armed.  If he remembered correctly, Cloud's sword had been lost in the fight with Sephiroth.  So it was just one sword he had to carry.

            After slipping his sword onto his back, Zack an back to Cloud.  The youth lay still where Zack had left him.  The older man kneeled beside him and eased an arm behind his back, then another under his knees.  He scooped Cloud up gently.  Cloud's blond head lolled against Zack's shoulder, and the dark-haired man tightened his grip on him.

            "Hang on, love.  Just hang on."

            Usually, Hojo--or in this case, his assistants--avoided doing experiments on them until at least an hour after feeding.  It would be less messy that way, Zack supposed.  Blood wasn't that bad, but apparently food was.  Zack did not quite understand that, but the day he actually understood Hojo's reasoning, he would know that he had finally gone insane.

            Zack cradled Cloud tenderly in his arms as he darted a look down the hall.  He longed desperately to check on Cloud, to see if he was all right, but he did not dare.  He would check him out later.  Right then, Zack had to make sure they both escaped.

            Zack pulled Cloud closer to his chest as he heard one of Hojo's henchmen further down the hall.  He seemed to be walking in the opposite direction.  They were safe for the moment.

            Using skills five years dormant, Zack rushed down the hall and up the stairs.  Carefully, he held Cloud's limp head above the winding railing.  The youth did not notice his efforts.  His hand fell from its place on his chest to dangle lifelessly at his side.

            For a moment, Zack couldn't move, couldn't breathe.  He stood frozen on the stairs, staring at that limp hand.  No.  No.  Zack was getting them out of that hellhole.  They were going to be free.  Everything was going to be all right.  Cloud had to be all right.  After hanging on this long, Cloud couldn't give up now, not with freedom so close.

            Zack hoisted Cloud up in his arms and held him close.  Without a word, he sprinted up the rest of the stairs.  Cloud remained a lifeless bundle in his arms.

            The dark-haired man never slowed down.  He ran out of the room, down the other steps, and out the door.  Mako and adrenaline pumped through his bloodstream hard and fast as for the first time in five years, fresh air blasted his face.  It took every bit of willpower Zack had not to lose himself to the cool breeze, to stand there and relish the openness available.  They were still in danger.  He had to remember that.

            Zack jogged away from the mansion, Cloud still cradled lovingly in his arms.  Now Cloud's chin was resting against his shoulder as Zack's strong hand supported his back.  Cloud was leaning against his neck as if he was nuzzling the dark flesh.

            Five years....

            Several steps later, Zack found himself frozen again.  What he was seeing...this was impossible.  Nibelhelm...it had been destroyed.  Went up in a blaze.  Torched to the ground.

            Yet, there it stood.

            Citizens milled around small, sturdy homes.  They moved in familiar patterns, walking on used paths in the dusty town.  They went to the tiny shops and planted flowers under their windows.  It was a cozy scene, but there was something missing.

            They were interacting, Zack realized.  No one was speaking.  No laughter lightened the air, no children played in the street.  It was an inhabited ghost town.

            Chilled to the bone, Zack clutched Cloud to him and hurried through the shadows.  It didn't matter what they were doing, it only mattered what he and Cloud were doing.

            Heading for freedom.