DOGS of War

Moving sucks, but I love my new apartment. ^.^ Here's another chapter. This one and the next are full of Very Important Things so I wanted to take my time and make sure everything was perfect. :3 Enjoy!

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Strong hands grabbed him from behind, one slim-fingered appendage tangling in his hair and roughly jerking his head back. Long fingers grasped his throat, squeezing just enough to threaten and rendering him unable to scream.

'Someone's here.'

He struggled in vain against the powerful body holding him in place, his muscles seizing up in fear as sharp teeth grazed the delicate curve of his ear.

'Someone's here,' the voice growled more urgently. 'Wake up!'

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Haine's eyes snapped open, his arms reflexively tightening around Zack. He immediately shut his eyes again, feigning sleep as he focused intently on his surroundings. The boys were on the couch in Angeal's apartment, where they'd fallen asleep after dinner, waiting up for the large soldier to return with Genesis. Haine lay on his back, his head on a small pillow at one end of the sofa. Zack was laying on him, his head resting comfortably on the albino's chest.

Haine fought down the wave of inexplicable panic, listening for signs of what had startled him awake. Whatever it was hadn't roused Zack from his slumber and he began to relax, feeling secure with the weight of the soldier on top of him.

The warmth of security was shattered by the intense feeling of being watched. Haine instinctively tensed as small sounds of movement reached his ears and he felt someone drawing nearer.

"'Geal, let them sleep."

Haine smiled to himself at the familiar soft voice, the last wisps of tension fading away. Genesis was okay. He was here. He was safe. Everything was alright.

"They're both exhausted. Just grab your paperwork; you can do it while we eat at my place."

The weight on Haine's chest increased for a moment and he heard Zack make a soft humming sound in his sleep as Angeal gave him a gentle hug. There was a pause, and Haine felt the man's eyes on him for a moment before fingertips tentatively brushed against his face. Angeal's touch was much softer than he'd expected, the rough digits smoothing over his skin with the utmost care.

"I didn't bring any home. You were right, Gen. This is more important."

Angeal's fingers moved to Haine's hair, combing through the soft strands. The large man's presence was warm and comforting, and the albino let out a contented sight as he melted beneath the tender touch.

Angeal remained kneeling beside the couch, carefully petting the white haired boy until his breathing had evened out and he'd relaxed under Zack once more. As soon as he was sure that the youth had fallen back to sleep, Angeal carefully withdrew his hand.

Angeal knelt for a moment longer, studying the pair before him. Despite the slight ache he felt as he looked at them, he was happy to see Zack finding companionship in someone his own age. Deep down, he had always known the day would come that his student would no longer need him. But knowing didn't make it any easier, and now that Zack had Haine to look after; it seemed that day was fast approaching. He quickly buried his selfish thoughts. Every teacher's dream is to train his students well enough so that they can stand on their own. So why would the thought bring him pain when he should be feeling pride?

Stifling a sigh, Angeal stood, turning out all the lights in the room but the small table lamp before crossing to where Genesis was waiting by the door, watching him with a soft smile. He opened the door, motioning for Genesis to exit first before following the redhead out and letting it slide shut behind him. He knew he didn't need to worry about leaving the boys; Haine would tell Zack where they were. Right now, though, he had a neglected best friend to spend some time with.

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Genesis poked at his food, unhungry. It was a special meal. He'd spent most of the day working on it, and while he was happy to see that Haine was enjoying it, he couldn't have had less of an appetite. Yesterday had been such an emotional roller-coaster of a day and, although it had ended well, Genesis couldn't stay happy for long. Not with tomorrow looming over him.

"You don't have to do this."

Haine looked up from his food, confused by Genesis' sudden statement. "Huh?"

"Tomorrow," he answered, staring down at his untouched plate. "The cadet's entrance course run. If you aren't ready, we can wait. Or not. I don't want you to feel like you have to do it at all. I know Zack really wants you to join but-"

"Gen."

The redhead looked up.

"It'll be fine. If I can't handle it, then we'll know I'm not ready. If I can, we'll just... go from there."

The first nodded, feeling like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

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Genesis slammed a hand down on his alarm clock with a grunt, silencing it. He cracked an eye open, blearily glaring at the glowing digitized numbers. '3:30AM,' they gleefully blinked at him. Mocking him. Allegedly, the test was held at such an ungodly hour to prepare incoming cadets for being on-call and having to perform under any circumstances. Genesis always figured it was more because the instructors enjoyed laughing at the sleep-deprived cadets as they stumbled around. Currently, he had decided that it was because the gods hated him.

With a loud groan and a stretch that sounded like his spine was made of bubble wrap, Genesis dragged himself out of bed. He grabbed his clothes, sleepily rubbing his eyes as he stumbled to the bathroom to get ready for the day. He had to admit, one nice thing about wearing a uniform every day was that you never had to waste time worrying about what to wear. He slipped his clothes on with little enthusiasm and quickly brushed his teeth and hair before going to wake Haine up.

Once out in the hallway, Genesis stopped short. After peering into the study's open door and seeing no Haine inside, he turned, heading into the living room. The white haired boy was sitting on the couch, dressed and awake. "Hey," Genesis said quietly in greeting, moving to sit beside him. "I didn't expect you to be up yet. Did you sleep okay?"

"Didn't sleep. Figured it'd be easier to get up if I wasn't sleeping to begin with."

Genesis nodded silently, guilt washing over him as he took in the exhaustion behind Haine's determined eyes. He should have stayed up to make sure Haine was taken care of, but he had been so damned tired. He was always so tired... Genesis had almost assumed that Zack would have spent the night, but it seemed that Angeal was making good on his promise to make more time for him. Impeccable timing, as usual, 'Geal. He gently rubbed Haine's back. "Are you hungry? We have some time since you're already up; I can make you something."

Haine shook his head. "I ate a little bit ago. Wasn't really hungry, but I knew I should."

The conversation lapsed into silence for several minutes. Genesis slid the hand on Haine's back around his waist and leaned over to rest his head on the youth's shoulder. "Wake me up when it's time to go..." he mumbled, snuggling against Haine as though he were a large plush toy.

Haine smiled as he was held, but the smile quickly faded. "Gen?"

Genesis hmm'd in response, not moving from Haine's shoulder.

"I know you said that I'll get into the cadet program no problem, but after that, if I don't make it into SOLDIER... what happens to me?"

Genesis looked up, resting his chin on the albino's shoulder as Haine turned to look at him, their faces a mere few inches apart. "Well, that depends," he said softly. "Are you happy here?"

Haine nodded, the tip of his nose brushing against the redhead's. "Yea. I want to stay."

"Then you'll stay. No matter what happens," Genesis said decisively. "There are plenty of non-SOLDIER jobs here in the ShinRa complex, or down on the plate where you wouldn't have to go far." A devious grin spread across his face. "And if nothing else works out, you could always be my secretary."

Haine's eyes narrowed, a smirk of his own quirking up the corner of his mouth. "Would I have to wear a skirt?"

Genesis laughed. "Absolutely. Can't forget the librarian glasses, either. And some cute little strappy shoes..." He bumped his nose against Haine's playfully, happy to see the relief in crimson eyes. His eyes slid shut and his grin softened into a contented smile as he nestled back into Haine's shoulder. He could feel Haine's soft chuckle as Genesis squeezed his makeshift plushie and buried his face in the high leather collar of his sleeveless top, breathing in the boy's now-familiar scent. Shampoo and leather with the faintest hint of metal and something underneath it all that defied identification. Something undeniably Haine.

Though Genesis would never say it aloud, Haine had become an important part of his life and the thought of not having the albino youth around anymore was exceedingly painful. Hearing him say that he wanted to stay filled Genesis with a happiness and a hope that he'd thought was lost long ago.

A loud ringing reverberated through the room and Genesis leaned back, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He flipped it open, holding it to his ear. "Yea?" He looked to the clock beside the TV. "No, we aren't going to be late, Angeal." He rolled his eyes, smiling at Haine as the youth gave him an understanding look. "Yes, we're leaving right now. We'll see you in a few minutes. Mhm. Bye." He closed the phone, squeezing Haine with the arm still around his waist and kissing him on the side of the head as he slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Come on, we'd better get out there before Papa Bear sends the puppy after us."

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Zack bounced on the balls of his feet, looking expectantly at Angeal as he flipped his phone shut. "So? Are they coming? Are they on the way yet? Will they get here in time? Should I go get them?"

Angeal chuckled at his student's enthusiasm. "Patience, Zack. They're on their way."

Zack pouted at him, nearly wriggling in anticipation as he looked around, scanning the horizon for signs of their arrival. Seeing no one, he began doing squats to burn off excess energy as he waited.

"It is way too freaking early for anyone to have that much energy..."

Zack whipped around, grinning excitedly. "Cloud! You made it!"

The blond shuffled across the platform, slumping against him sleepily. "Isn't it enough that I had to do this once already?" he grumbled, though he was secretly just as excited.

Zack slung an arm around his shoulders, happily ruffling his hair. "Buck up, kiddo. Once you get into SOLDIER, you're gonna have to be used to these crazy hours."

"Zaaack," Cloud whined, slapping at the soldier's hands as he tried to pull away from the undesired noogie. "And where do you get off calling me 'kiddo,' anyway? You're only a year older than me!"

"Hey, it's about maturity," he said matter-of-factly as he corralled Cloud into a headlock, mussing up his golden spikes with glee.

"Yea, well, if that's true then you'll never get to call anyone kiddo," Cloud grumped as he broke free and hastily tried to smooth and rearrange the frazzled mass that Zack had made of his hair.

"Ouch, such an angry little chocobo," Zack said, snickering at the doom glare Cloud immediately shot him at the nickname. "Oh, you can finally meet Angeal!" He spun around to face his mentor. "Hey, Angea- where'd he go?" he asked to the empty space where the senior soldier had been only a moment ago.

"He's gone up to the observation deck to get an official time for the run," a smooth voice said from behind him.

"Sephiroth?" Zack asked, turning to the silver haired general. "What are you doing here?"

"I would say the same thing you are."

"You came to scream yourself hoarse as you cheer Haine on and squee like a loon when he kicks some serious ass on this course?"

Sephiroth chuckled deeply. "Indeed."

"Sweet," Zack grinned. "Oh! Sephiroth. This is my friend Cloud. He's a cadet, and a damn fine one, too."

"Mhm, we've met," Sephiroth said with a secretive smile to the petite cadet. His feline green eyes danced with amusement at the disheveled state of Cloud's hair and the adorable pout that the blond seemed to think would pass for a glare.

"Oh... um, okay..." Zack said, confused by the silent exchange between the two. Slim arms wrapped around his midsection from behind and Zack quickly looked over his shoulder, his glowing blue eyes meeting sharp crimson ones.

"G'mornin'," Haine mumbled into the back of Zack's shoulder.

"Morning," Zack said happily as he rested his arms over Haine's and leaned back to nuzzle against him. He was still unused to Haine reaching out to him and he thoroughly enjoyed it when he could. "Come on," he said, turning around and settling his arm around Haine's shoulders. "I'll walk you through the course and tell you what you need to do, then I'm gonna run it once so you can see how it's done, then it's your turn, okay?"

Genesis leaned back against the railing beside Sephiroth as the two teens headed off the platform and down onto the course.

"He seems to be doing well," Sephiroth said quietly, glancing sidelong at the redhead.

"Yea..." he said distractedly as he watched Zack leading Haine around the grounds. The course itself was fairly simplistic. It consisted mainly of various things to run across or jump over, things to climb and a few things that he would have to dodge. It was designed to be a vigorous workout for any civilian, but not impossible. Usually there was an entire flock of incoming cadets to run through and they were encouraged to help each other. Haine would be running it alone and Genesis hoped that it wouldn't pose a problem on some of the more difficult obstacles.

A few minutes later, Haine returned to the platform as Zack took his place at the start of the course. The raven sent a cheeky grin and salute their way before running toward the first obstacle. Zack's movements were both graceful and powerful as he moved over and through each of the obstacles on the grounds and Haine watched intently, his eyes glued to the young soldier.

As Haine stood against the railing, memorizing Zack's every move, Genesis studied him. All of the nervousness seemed long gone, replaced by anticipation. The redhead held in a chuckle as the muscles in Haine's bare arms twitched as he watched Zack climbing a rope. The look in his eyes was hungry, feral, and the redhead couldn't help the feelings that it stirred up within him. Genesis had thus far caught only glimpses of what Haine was capable of if he let himself go, and he wanted to see more. Silently he moved behind the youth, placing a hand on either side of his on the railing, boxing him in. He could practically feel the energy rolling off of him as he leaned in, pressing flush against him as he brought his lips the the teen's ear. Genesis could feel Haine shiver against him, the near-palpable thrumming of the boy's excitement momentarily distracting him as he realized how good it felt. Zack made it to the finish then and Haine began to pull away. Genesis hastily wrapped an arm around his abdomen, pulling him back and holding him tight as he whispered harshly in his ear, "Don't hold back." He felt Haine give a curt nod without looking back and he relinquished his hold, the teen hopping over the low railing and down to the dirt below.

Genesis was unsure of what to feel as Haine met a now panting Zack at the start. The two exchanged a quick hug before Zack got him in position, giving a thumbs-up to the tower where Angeal was watching. The redhead's apprehension and anticipation peaked as Zack gave one last word of encouragement before shouting for the test to begin.

Haine ran forward, planting both hands on the waist-height wooden hurdle that marked the start of the run and swinging his legs over it. Several more hurdles followed and he hopped over them just as easily. Up next was a narrow metal bar, situated a good height above his head. He jumped up, grabbing it and pulling himself up and over it before dropping back down to the dusty ground. After that there were a few ramps and stacks of logs to run up and down and he had no trouble with those, his footing sure and his balance true as he moved over them. Ahead was an enclosed tunnel where he'd been warned that he'd need to rely on his reflexes to get through. He ran into it with no hesitation.

A padded bar swung out, aimed at his midsection, and he dropped to the ground, rolling under it. The next was aimed low and he quickly pushed off the ground with his hands, arching his back over the bar as it slid under him and landing on his feet. The next few were a quick succession of vertical panels swinging out from the left and right and he avoided them easily, bouncing from wall to wall as he did so. Once out of the passage, he sprinted to the next section.

Time slowed and his surroundings blurred as Haine pushed himself to his limits. His lungs were already beginning to ache and his muscles burned from the exertion, but it was intoxicating. He stopped thinking and, with Genesis' words still in his ear, he allowed his instincts to fully take over.

He jumped, grabbing onto another bar over his head and pulling himself up to grab the second bar that was above that one and flipping himself over it. He ran then to a low wall, grasping the top and pulling himself up over it. Three more walls followed, each progressively taller and the last required him to run back, wall-jumping off the previous wall to gain the extra height needed to reach the top.

The rope climb was next and he ran to it, gripping the rope and pulling himself up as fast as he could without bothering to use his legs. At the top was a grid of wide beams and he traversed them with ease, crossing to the far side where a tall, A-frame ladder stood. He climbed to the top of that, unbothered by the dizzying height as he took hold of the handles of a pulley above his head and pushed off the platform, riding the zip-line to the bottom.

The next obstacle was another wall, but this one was much taller with several climbing ropes dangling down the side of it. I don't think so, he thought with a smirk.

Haine stopped running, sliding for several feet as he crouched down in preparation to leap before hurtling himself toward the apex of the structure. He brought a hand down on it, flipping himself easily over the top. As he landed solidly on the ground on the other side he could hear Zack cheering loudly and it spurred him on, prompting him to move even faster.

A wooden tower came into view, several platforms high. He ran up to the base of it, easily grabbing a hold of the lowest floor and hauling himself up on to it. The next level was a bit trickier since all of the floors were the same dimensions and they lined up flush. He jumped, grabbing onto the underside of the edge and using his momentum to swing and flip himself up to the next platform. He repeated the action for the rest of the levels, swiftly reaching the top. Secured to a post there was a rope line running down to another wooden construct and he grabbed it, hoisting himself up onto it and pulling his body down the line as he balanced on his stomach and leg the way Zack had only moments before.

At the end of the line, he flipped under it, swinging himself to the narrow beam that was the next obstacle. He ran over it with confidence, leaping from the end of it to grab onto a rope net wall that he quickly climbed. Once on the other side, he clung to the net and swung his weight, using his momentum to fling himself back and away from it as he dropped to the ground.

Haine was panting rapidly and his limbs trembled as he ran to the next obstacle, but he refused to give in to fatigue. It was an inclined structure of parallel horizontal bars and he jumped into it eagerly, sweat dripping from his face as he wove himself over and under the bars up to the top where yet another rope dangled, waiting for him. He grabbed onto it, swinging over the gap below him and landing on the round beam that served as a landing platform. From there was a narrow wooden plank that was suspended over a muddy puddle. The makeshift bridge was unstable, but hardly budged as Haine ran swiftly but lightly over it.

He dropped off the end, stumbling a bit as he struggled to get his feet back under him and keep running. The end was in sight and it gave him renewed vigor as he put in a fresh burst of speed, crossing the ground to the last obstacle. It looked like a giant ladder, the ten 'rungs' made of four-by-fours, the space between each increasing the higher it went. Haine would have to climb to the top and over it before descending again on the other side. He reached the bottom, jumping up onto the first rung and grabbing for the one above it. His grip was shaky and his arms were numb but he forced himself to keep going, ascending the vertical ladder with haste. At the top, he flopped over the last beam, bracing his feet against the rung below it for a moment before pushing away and flipping backwards off of the structure, too exhausted and impatient to climb down properly. He landed heavily, his knees protesting from the strain of absorbing the impact. Mustering the last of his strength, he stood, running the last several yards to the ending zone where he promptly collapsed.

Immediately, strong arms wrapped around Haine, hoisting him into the air. He laughed breathlessly as he was lifted, his limbs feeling numb and watery. Zack was shouting gleefully and squeezing him almost painfully tight, but he couldn't make out what he was saying; everything was a blur.

Genesis stood frozen in place as he watched Zack spin the hapless youth around a couple of times before the pair fell to the ground in a tangle. Haine was everything Genesis had hoped and feared he'd be and he was overrun with conflicting emotions. With elation and worry warring within him, he bit his lip, clutching the railing tightly. A hand gripped his shoulder and he turned, meeting Sephiroth's cool gaze.

"All they need to know is that he passed."

Genesis gave a small grateful smile to the taller man and placed a hand over the other's on his shoulder. As he curled his fingers around Sephiroth's hand, he saw a flicker of something in the man's eyes, but it was vanished in an instant. Before he could even open his mouth to ask, the silver haired general was gone. Genesis stood for a few seconds in confusion, watching the man descend the stairs off the platform and move to join the others before smothering any signs of his own concerns and following suit.

Cloud had already run over and joined the pile and three young faces looked up at Sephiroth as he walked over to them. "Squee," he said flatly, a grin spreading across his face to match the one Haine was giving him as the other two teens erupted into peals of laughter.

"So what do you think, General Sir?" Zack said cheekily. "I'll bet that was almost as fast as your first run!"

Before Sephiroth had a chance to reply, Genesis came up behind him, grinning. "Actually, Haine was faster."

Zack's mouth fell open and he looked to Sephiroth, expecting some sort of scathing retort or denial. Instead, the silver haired man simply nodded, his green eyes full of pride. Zack squealed loudly and squeezed the poor boy in his arms even more tightly, already babbling out plans to celebrate him and Cloud becoming SOLDIER - regardless of the fact that they both still had the entire cadet training program to get through before that happened.

Genesis studied Haine carefully, noticing that – despite the fact that he'd just run himself to the point of collapsing – he was now showing almost no signs of fatigue. He glanced at Sephiroth, the taller man giving him a nearly imperceptible nod to indicate that he, too, had noticed the teen's quick recovery. Fortunately, the others seemed oblivious to it and Genesis simply filed the observation away to sort through later if need be.

He had known that it would be foolish to believe that Haine could have remained unchanged by whatever had been done to him, but genesis had begun to hope nonetheless. Even now, Genesis dared to hold onto the tentative hope that what they had just witnessed would be the extent of the boy's enhancements. Any more would make him a prime target and that was a thought Genesis would rather not entertain. Tonight, he would talk to Haine about discretion, but for now...

"Okay. We'll definitely have to celebrate, but right now Angeal and I have some work to get done. Zack, go find your CO and see what's scheduled for you today. Haine, are you up for starting your classes right away?" The boy nodded and Genesis gave him a proud smile. "Alright. You and Cloud had better get moving then. Your first class of the day starts in a few minutes."

"I'll go with them to make sure there aren't any problems," Sephiroth offered.

With one final squeeze for Haine and Cloud, Zack departed with Cloud, Sephiroth, and Haine not far behind, leaving Genesis to wait for Angeal to finish up in the tower and come down.

Haine stopped and turned back, looking at Genesis with an expression that the redhead couldn't even begin to decipher. He seemed to have something to say, but Genesis gave a nod and a small wave of dismissal. It was okay; they would talk tonight.

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So, after hours of googling and watching youtube videos of people running through military obstacle courses, this is the one I came up with. The only obstacle I made up myself was the tunnel of dodging things... because I think the SOLDIER instructors would just have a field day with watching the newbies getting bonked around in there. >.> In any case, if you're curious about any of the obstacles described, just google "military obstacle course" and browse away. That's what I did. XD

For those who may not have seen the update on the first chapter: The beginning of this fic has been updated and improved and the new version (complete with pictures) can be found at my LiveJournal account. Link is in my profile.

Also, read the LJ version of this chapter for a "behind-the-scenes" look at the DoW writing process. ^.^