Connections

Chapter Two.

Cloud gritted his teeth as he sat at his desk, pen poised over the report that was already a week overdue. In the ten years he had been working in Shardsvale as a member of Deliverance he had never seen anything like the scene in the Lee's household and he was having a hard time even starting the report without letting his emotions color is writing.

Cloud had seen the aftermath of Axel's beating at the hands of his father, and he had also been present during the interview in the jail dungeon where the guards held Reno. The tall thin man had displayed no remorse for the almost-murder of his son and was currently swearing ceaselessly at anyone within hearing range. The only thing that seemed to be coloring his emotions was his lack of cigarettes.

Clenching his fists until his nails drew blood Cloud scrawled an end to his report and threw it at his outbox. Even as the report flew through the air Cloud was on his feet and out the door towards the training room behind the main office. Deliverance knew that its members had to deal with the most brutal aspects of society and that no one could walk amongst such pain for long without being affected. As most of its officers were ex-soldiers, the controllers of Deliverance had deemed it necessary to provide a physical outlet for the frustrations and emotions of those charged with keeping the city's peace.

Brushing past his fellow officers without missing a step, Cloud burst into the training room. He swept his busterblade off of the wall where it hung and in the same movement slammed his fist onto the button that started his own personal training program. Shaking his head to clear the horrible images of Axel's beaten body and Reno's emotionless face, the blonde fighter shifted his feet into a practiced battle stance.

Scant seconds after the button was pushed, the room disappeared into darkness and the shadows reformed into new shapes - a dimly lit large warehouse. Echoes in the darkness hinted at large creatures moving around, but for a full ten seconds Cloud was left untouched straining his ears for any whisper of attacking motion. A slight smile tugged at the edges of Cloud's mouth, his program had been upgraded to elite and as unpredictable as possible.

Out of nowhere a distorted shape flew out from behind him a slashed a short dagger across Cloud's leg. Biting his lip Cloud ignored the pain and inwardly blessed the reality of his personal training set. Even though the whole environment simulated, the swords were still sharp and the wounds still bled. Ignoring the fact that he could be attacked at any second Cloud spared a charitable thought for Squall Leonhart who designed the training technology specifically for Deliverance.

A slight rustle to his left banished all conscious thought from his mind and Cloud whipped his sword around and blocked the slim blade that would have skewered him through the stomach. In a glance Cloud took the strange form of creature that stood before him and he realized he had fought a beast like this before. Trying to push his personal feelings about the original encounter aside, Cloud pushed his golden spikes of hair out of his face and started to advance on the shadow wolf-man that was his opponent.

Acting like the part-beast it was, the wolfman rushed straight in slashing powerfully at him. Cloud knew not to stay at the edge of the ferocious chopping motions as the wolfman had a long reach and  no trouble maneuvering a blade in a duel. Lifting his busterblade faster than should have been possible Cloud blocked his opponents blade and stepped in close within the hulking form's reach.

Using touch alone Cloud separated the thinnest sword of the 6 interlocking swords behind his back and flicked it down to his side. Warily the wolfman circled as his pray now carried two weapons. This time instead of reacting to an attack, Cloud took the offensive and dived toward his adversary. Surprised by the aggressiveness of the move, the wolfman stepped back allowing Cloud the extra room he needed to swing both swords across his enemy's throat almost decapitating the creature with the power of the swing.

Breathing only a little harder than at the beginning of his session, Cloud rejoined his sword together and then uncoupled the two even weighted swords each made of three components. Now that the first assault was over, there would be a huge increase in the numbers of attacking creatures thrown at him. Wiping away a grin, Cloud knew that this next lot would be a lot less humanoid than the original assailants. Apparently the program had taken into account the events of his day at the Lee's residence and calculated that non-human foes would be better than recognizable humans.

Cloud had barely lowered into his battle stance when he heard the scuttle of sharpened claws. This attack had no direction as every way he turned he could see a type of creature he had not yet come across before. These animals if they could even be called animals stood tall on four insectile legs underneath an almost human torso. But only the shape of the torso could be called even vaguely human. The face of the new creature was like a distorted combination of a dog and a bird but melted together. Protruding from its face the thing had short razor sharp spines that grew longer and thicker, turning to a mane at the back of the head. On each side of the human-like torso were two thick arms that would have disgraced a strongman and they held weapons so twisted and bizarre that one could only tell they were meant to inflict pain.

The largest of the attacking group attacked without even so much as a hint that it was about to move. One second the fiend was staring at Cloud through mesmerizingly smokey red orbs, and they next second it had bulled into Cloud knocking him from his feet and knocking one of his swords out of reach. Flat on his back Cloud frantically blocked three, five, more stabbing attacks from smaller creatures like the bigger one. Parrying the creatures' stabs in a blinding display of swordsmanship Cloud hooked his foot around a rock and dragged himself violently out of the melee.

Unfortunately the 'rock' that Cloud had used as a lever turned out to be the razor-edged leg of the largest insect creature. The only thing that saved Cloud from the furious slash of the animal's leg was his inhuman speed and agility. He threw himself into a backwards roll and pushed hard with his hands vaulting to his feet. Tightening his grip around the one sword he still had hold of Cloud silently charged his enemy.

Cloud's first blow was brushed aside like a feather and the creature flicked out its own twisted blade, slicing deep into his calf and spraying blood widely. Swearing explosively Cloud wiped the blood out his eyes and spun on his uninjured foot sending both his swords whistling through the air. The massive creature had thought its prey was downed and moved right into the path of Cloud's attack.

There was no respite however as the smaller creatures that followed the larger monster swarmed together and all attacked at once. Slipping in his own blood Cloud leaped high above the horde of monsters slamming his sword into the wall for a handhold and called up all his remaining energy to unleash Meteo-rain in a hail of burning death. As he heard the screams of the last creature fading, Cloud hung limp from his sword. This program had been exceptionally draining and he couldn't wait to sheath his sword once more.

As he dropped gingerly to the ground Cloud made sure he put no weight on his injured leg. Tearing a strip off his white t-shirt He wrapped it tightly around his leg just under the knee so he wouldn't lose too much blood before seeing a healer. Something however was not right. By now Cloud thought, the warehouse surrounding him should have dissolved into the nondescript interim room that the programs materialized in. Instead, the shadows remained dark and he could hear another set of footsteps making their way towards him.

***

Dull blue eyes had been watching Cloud's battle from the darkest shadow. The watcher had taken in every nuance of his fighting and every detail of his body from his disheveled blonde spikes of hair to the sheen of sweat that coated his tautly muscled arms. The gaze of the watcher was not so much a stare as a caress that followed the warrior, and now that the monsters were all dead it was time to approach Cloud himself.

Glancing down to make sure that the makeshift bandage around his leg would hold, Cloud did not see the figure swiftly closing in on him. Even in the split second he took to check on his leg Cloud found himself arched backwards with a blade pressed hard against his throat. Not daring to move his head Cloud could see nothing of his assailant except a human looking hand and arm that closed like a vice across his chest.

Silent for a few seconds after the initial flurry of activity Cloud twitched as a voice sounded from right next to his ear. He couldn't place the rough whisper as being anyone he knew from Deliverance.

'Need to focus more Strife.' The voice hissed. 'Wouldn't last a second out of the sim world.' With the last words a hot breath blew across his earlobe. 'At least you know enough not to struggle against me. Wouldn't do you any good. Not right now.'

Letting his own breath out in a hiss of annoyance Cloud tensed back to throw his unknown attacker backward. Immediately the sword at his throat tightened against his jugular drawing a thin line of blood. Cloud stopped struggling and went limp trying to judge the moment that would come when he could break free.

Humming in satisfaction at Cloud's current surrender the figure behind him made an unexpected move in contrast to his soft voice and threw Cloud bodily to the floor. Without time to throw up his hands for the impact, Cloud grunted as his face connected to the floor knocking him dizzy for a second. By the time he was thinking clearly again Cloud could feel the hard cold concrete against his back and the strong legs of the other straddling him firmly.

Cloud's eyes were first looking at the wall behind him when he shook the dizziness from his head but the second the situation came back to him he locked eyes with the man straddling him and let out a groan of utter bewilderment. The man who had obviously been watching Cloud's flight in the simulator and was now holding him down was none other than Squall Leonhart the director of Cloud's section of Deliverance.

Cloud's shocked, luminescent blue eyes locked onto Squall's shadowed face. Too stunned even to struggle he blurted out, 'Squall! What... What is this?'

A sardonic smile spread over Squall's fine features and he released one of Cloud's arms to brush his dark brown hair back from his forehead. Involuntarily Cloud moved to free himself but was slammed back into the concrete with Squall's strong fingers now gripping his throat. Leaning down so his face was right in front of Cloud Squall growled in the back of his throat and started to squeeze.

Thoughts raced through Cloud's head without sense or reason. His superior officer had broken into his training program and was now strangling him. Suddenly with the seriousness of his situation splashing over him like a bucket of water, Cloud bucked his body violently and grabbed Squall's jacket to try and throw the heavier man off.

Realizing that he was losing his grip on the blonde's neck Squall drew back his fist and hammered a punch into Cloud's temple. As the blonde fell back limp and dazed Squall felt a strange impulse take hold of him. Kneeling next to Cloud he straddled him once again but this time instead of reaching down in violence, he ran his fingers through the blonde's bedraggled hair with surprising gentleness.

Cloud slowly drifted back into consciousness but didn't open his eyes straight away. He was bleeding and battered and so very confused he almost felt like just letting reality slip away. It was just as this thought bloomed however that he felt Squall's lips meet his own in a kiss so gentle that it felt like a whisper. His eyes flew open and he found himself staring straight into Squall's eyes. But they weren't the stormy gray that he knew. Squall deepened the kiss and stared back with eyes glowing golden.

Unable to resist in his weakened state Cloud lay under Squall as the dark fighter kissed him. He didn't even notice his own hand moving up to cup the other's cheek. Humming into the kiss Squall let his body settle onto Cloud and reveled in the feeling of their lean muscled bodies against each other.

Moaning into Squall's mouth Cloud lifted his hand further and let it trace the scar that tracked across the other man's face. As Squall's hand drifted over his shoulders and onto his chest Cloud's eyes slipped closed at the pure pleasure of his touch. Squall's hand ghosted lightly across the taut planes of Cloud's chest crawling up once again to his neck. Cloud tensed at this but all Squall did was use one hand to tilt Cloud's head to the side so he could move his kisses to the bruises on Cloud's throat.

Lost in confusion and not a little lust Cloud let out a groan and clenched his fingers in Squall's hair. Even though the brunette was being as gentle as possible Cloud still cringed involuntarily as a rib scraped in his chest, arching his whole body against Squall's. And in that moment blackness engulfed Cloud and seemingly seconds later he was back in the interim training room, alone.

Disoriented and hurting Cloud staggered to his feet and lurched to the medical bay next to the training ward. His head was spinning, his wounds were aching and staring to bleed again and he could still feel Squall's hands on his face. Slumping onto a bed Cloud heard the nurses bustling towards him and once more let go his grip on the world. The last thing he saw before he fell into unconsciousness was Squall's beautiful face made alien with the golden eyes.