Tease - COMPLETE

TEASE





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Warning

A Zack and Cloud and possibly others (not telling yet ) fic, can guess who they are… yaoi…if you don’t like that…don’t read.



Pre-Authors Note

I plan on having a lot of fun with this fic and bringing in some others into the mix. You can probably guess who they are by now…now it is just how will it all come together.



Thanks to ZiggyPasta for being my Beta…thanks and more thanks…



Sephiroth is such a stalker! He’s all serious in his information search here! He has some serious issues!



Tseng is actually Tseng this time.



Disclaimer

Don’t own, just using for my own amusement. Do not profit from this endeavour.





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SURVEILLANCE



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Sephiroth tapped his fingers on his desk. He didn’t know how long he had been doing it, but he had just become aware of the loud tapping noise he was creating. He lifted his hand from the desk and pulled at his hair, frustrated. He looked at the image on the screen that he zoomed in on and frowned.



He had started by observing some tapes of a recent AVALANCHE attack. That is what he started to do after lunch. The environmental terrorist group was getting desperate at the latest attempted attack at Reactor 5. They did not succeed with their raid.



AVALANCHE's attacks had become weaker now that they did not have strong leadership. They were now only a bunch of rabble-rousers that were now reduced to nothing more than a loud mouth standing on a soapbox. They were still trying to cause trouble for ShinRa and destroy the reactors, however.



He noted in the videos that he had been examining, that Cloud was one of the infantrymen that had been rounding up a few of the captured AVALANCHE members. He also noted that Zack had come across the scene shortly after. He had watched Zack talk to the captain of the troop, but noticed even with the grainy video, that his eyes were drawn towards Cloud. It was something that he would not have noticed if he did not know that the boy was his Second in Command's interest.



That was where he should have stopped watching. He wrote his report on the actions of the infantry and found them adequate. There was nothing more to add.



But he was curious.



He was very adept at getting around the ShinRa computer system. He knew how to get the system to do just what he wanted.



He followed Zack’s movement with the cameras.



Cleanup of the mess that AVALANCHE made was organized and the crews filled the area. Once Zack seemed satisfied with the actions of the crews, Zack left the area, walking down one of the corridors. Sephiroth switched cameras effortlessly and was able to watch Zack casually walking down the halls of ShinRa headquarters. At one point Zack stopped and talked with Kunsel. It looked like Zack was trying to take off his helmet before Kunsel scurried off. Zack was laughing at the exchange as he continued on his way.



Zack then talked and looked like he was flirting with a young woman. That was brief as he moved on to another hall. Zack stopped in the middle of the hall and looked around him and said something. The camera angle didn’t allow him to see where Zack was looking, but a large smile appeared on the dark-haired man’s face.



Zack was then approached by a man in an infantry uniform, who promptly violated Zack’s personal space.



They kissed for one minute and thirty-six seconds before they pulled apart. Zack stroked the man’s face as they talked to each other for another sixty-five seconds before they kissed again. It was a brief kiss before they walked beside each other at a more respectable distance.



He switched cameras to keep them in view.



They went to the Mess Hall. The man that had been kissing Zack turned out to be Cloud when he removed his helmet. They ate for a full hour with a bunch of other men that he did not recognize. Zack sat close to Cloud and seemed to take any and every opportunity to touch him.



They parted from the Mess Hall. He noted the time. He had the cameras follow Zack. Zack did nothing too thrilling after that. He talked to a few men, grabbed some groceries and sharpened his sword. Zack returned back to his quarters at a quarter to nine.



Sephiroth set the time back to where the two had left the Mess Hall so that he could follow Cloud’s movements. Cloud did nothing too thrilling after that, either. He went to the study hall with some of the other men and then returned to his bunk right at nine.



~did they kiss in the halls often? ~



It was a curious question.



He scoured the videos.



He knew Zack was mentoring an infantryman. He didn’t realize it was the same as his boyfriend until he watched the training room tapes. He went from the most recent tapes, where there was definitely heavy sexual tension, and it was obvious that every time that Zack pinned Cloud he wanted to do more than just hold the boy down.



As the tapes got older, he saw how clumsy Cloud was in the beginning and how much he had indeed improved.



Sephiroth was getting a time-line for when Zack started to show a sexual interest in Cloud. Cloud and Zack had been a couple for about a month.



~around the time that Zack brought home that black bag~



He became obsessed with finding glimpses of them in the videos. He found one from a return from a mission. He remembered Zack coming into his office after his late return, staring at his phone with a silly look on his face, muttering something about chocobos. He watched the video of their arrival. Cloud went with the other infantry men to their barracks. The men had lazed around in the lounge, some of them dozing, before it seemed a decision was made. There was a flurry of activity in the young men as they showered and changed into civilian clothing. The group was most likely getting ready to go out to a bar. Cloud was with a group of four other men. He traced Cloud’s movements and was quite alarmed when he saw Cloud talking to Reno.



~why was Reno talking to Zack’s boyfriend?~



It was a short conversation and after, Cloud pawed at Reno before he went on his way to catch a train to the slums with the other men.



Reno was with Legend. Sephiroth didn’t know that Legend had returned. The man had been away for quite awhile. He was aware of his connection with Reno.



He set the time back and watched as Zack gave a group of new SOLDIER wannabes a pep talk.



~what is Reno doing?~



He had to rewind and zoom in a couple of times to see that Reno was holding out his phone… to take a picture? Of Zack?



He furrowed his brow as he watched Reno take a couple of pictures before he seemed satisfied with what he took. Zack seemed to be aware that Reno was taking pictures of him and gave the pesky Turk a salute as he took the recruits back for their assessments.



~will have to take possession of Reno’s phone to see what pictures he has on there~



He then trailed Zack. He was pleased to see that he was actually doing his job. Even with his lightheartedness, Zack put the new recruits through their paces with as much vigour as he would have, but not with as much fear.



~I will have to take him more seriously if that is how he performs~



He watched the video as Zack dismissed the troops and promptly the self-assured persona crumbled. His normally square shoulders slumped as he leaned against a wall. He looked tired.



Sephiroth remembered their conversation they had over a bottle of rye, and felt that he had truly burden the young man with too much. He had pushed Zack to meet the newest members of ShinRa.



~even making sure that his uniform was freshly pressed~



He had just come back from a mission and he went and pushed him to perform yet another one of the duties that was supposed to be his.



~selfish again~



He watched as his Second in Command pulled out his phone and made a call. The call seemed to perk him up. After the five minute and ten second conversation, Zack’s spirits seemed to be regained. Zack walked out of the evaluation room looking more like his cheerful self, and went back to his quarters.



~will have to go through his phone records~



Sephiroth ran the tape fast forward, staring at the empty hallway to see that around midnight a swaying Cloud let himself into Zack’s apartment.



~rather bold~



Bold indeed. He looked back through the surveillance archives and saw that Cloud had taken quite a few liberties entering Zack’s apartment and sometimes when Zack was not present. He moved the time forward to see them both leave the room at six a.m. with a goofy look plastered across both of their faces. He followed to the elevator camera and saw them blatantly groping each other.



They were obviously getting along…swimmingly.



He scoured the tapes looking at the intimate glimpses of his Lieutenant's love life, and it bothered him. Small touches in the halls, sitting beside each other in the Mess Hall, private training sessions, and apparently, plenty of private sessions in Zack’s apartment.



He also found that Cloud was having quite a few conversations with the pesky redhead. Sephiroth found that Reno and Cloud would often see each other in the Mess Hall at noon. He was curious to see Reno lying on the floor while Cloud massaged his feet or knees.



~what. The. HELL?~



He could understand them talking, but an infantryman massaging a Turk’s feet, in full view of everyone, and no one even gave it a second glance. The look on Reno’s face while the young man massaged him told him that Reno was enjoying it way too much.



He watched the scene a few times to try to understand it. He watched it happen every time that Zack did not meet Cloud for lunch. It was some sort of touching, whether it be his legs or shoulders.



~was Cloud cheating on Zack?~



He didn’t find any other evidence in the tapes of that. It seemed that Cloud massaged quite a few men and no one said anything. He would have to ask Zack to explain why Cloud was touching his…



Sephiroth had stopped the tape and had taken a break at that point. It had been six in the evening by then, and the office was empty. He went down to the kitchen to see if there was coffee or something more enjoyable to drink. He had to settle for tea as he tried to push thoughts of the Turk out of his mind.



~you called him yours~



He went back to flitting through the video trail, now following Reno’s path for a bit. Reno spent two hours in boot camp in the morning, five hours in the Mess hall, two hours in his office and then he would return to his quarters. The days with the anomalies were… interesting.



The day that he had run into Reno in the elevator and caught him looking at him had been attention grabbing. He watched him eat lunch with Zack and Cloud in the Mess. It was rather strange to see Reno and Zack sitting with the smaller infantryman between them.



~almost as if they were fighting for his attention~



He wished he could hear the conversation. Once Reno left the Mess, Sephiroth presumed that Reno had been trying to go for a smoke. Sephiroth watched how he reacted to Reno in the elevator, remembering what the Turk had said to him.



~should take him up on his offer~



Sephiroth pushed the thought aside and used the cameras to follow Reno to the courtyard where he lit a cigarette even before exiting the building.



~deplorable~



The scene with Reno and Rufus that occurred he found… amusing. He watched as the Turk was pulled into Rufus' clutches. They both seemed to be enjoying themselves. He let out a laugh when Dark Nation threw Reno to the ground and looked like it threatened to eat him.



~I will have to buy the beast a treat~



It seemed that Rufus was as frustrated as Reno. Maybe the bastard would learn his lesson and leave his Turk alone.



He narrowed his eyes in frustration at his betraying thoughts.



~Reno is not my Turk~



~But you want him to be~



He rubbed his forehead to fight off the impending headache.



He went back to watching…



~stalking~



…Reno on another day. He wished he knew what happened in Tseng’s office, but could guess when he saw a smug Rufus leave with a confused-looking Tseng.



Rufus was up to his old tricks, that was most evident.



Then he recalled that was the day that he delivered the smokes to his office. He found a tape that showed Reno sitting at his desk and examining the pack. Reno seemed pleased.



Sephiroth felt himself smile.



He wondered what other interesting tidbits he could find, so he kept looking, but stumbled across something more interesting. He found Zack in the video trail the day that he brought home that black bag of goodies.



That was a couple of days before his supposed date with Cloud, if he remembered correctly. Sephiroth advanced the tape to the day where Cloud and Zack had the date at Monteno’s and had returned to Zack’s apartment. Nothing too much happened in the hall or elevator, even though there seemed to be a disagreement that resolved itself with a kiss in the lobby. The next day he watched Zack leave early in the morning in full uniform, and Cloud looking a little grumpy as he left shortly after.



~at least Cloud seemed to be more aware of his surroundings when he left this time~



Sephiroth remembered all too vividly being ignored by the blond that had been wearing Zack’s shirt walking down the hall. He rolled the clock back on that hall camera to that scene.



~utterly and completely ignored~



He moved the video back and forth, seeing when Zack left the apartment a couple of hours before the blond encountered him in the hall.



~when did Cloud arrive?~



He rolled the recording back to see Zack hauling a very drunk and passed out infantryman over his shoulder…



~and a hand in his back pocket!~



…and walking to his door. He watched as Zack opened his door, adjusting his hands…



~placing a hand on the blond’s butt~



…so that he could get his key out and let himself in. He followed the path of cameras to see Zack dealing with a drunken scene. The camera couldn’t get close enough to get all the detail of what was happening, but he got a good idea that the drunken Cloud, once placed on Zack’s shoulder, started to fondle Zack’s butt, and it looked like Zack slapped the infantryman’s.



It took a little bit more work to get the surveillance video from the train but he got it. He got a very close and detailed look of how Cloud nestled into the SOLDIER’s side, cuddling closer and… was he groping Zack on the train?



He paused the tape on this picture and looked at his clock. It was nearly midnight now. He had spent nearly twelve hours looking…



~stalking. Don’t delude yourself~



…surveillance videos. A low grade headache that had been threatening earlier was now pounding in his head. His finger had gone back to tapping loudly on the desk and he had to force himself to stop.



A month and a half. He believed this was around the time where Reno lost his bet to the infantryman, as well. Was this the night that Reno lost his bet?



Sephiroth knew the answer was yes.



He took one last look at the scene, trying to push past the jealousy of Zack obviously be so close to another, even if it was in a drunken stupor.



~you should have been more forceful~



Forceful. Zack had a little boy-toy all his own, and it did make the dark-haired man pathetically happy. Sephiroth had been happy when he had his own boy-toy to play with. Well, happier than he was now. Maybe he should take Zack’s advice and take up interest in one of the infantry or a lower class SOLDIER.



~since Zack is out of reach~



A new decision made, Sephiroth grinned as he shut down his computer. The only thing that kept him alone was his own self-imposed isolation.



~I think I will start with Reno~





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“Reno?”



“Wha?” Reno startled awake. He was having a comfortable snooze at his desk, leaning back in his leather chair, with his feet crossed on his desktop. The sounds of Tseng's voice nearly caused him to crash to the floor.



Reno looked up from his desk at the door. Tseng was standing there, looking a bit amused.



Reno had been doing a good job of avoiding him in the last couple of days…



~especially after that dream~



… and he would have liked it to last a little longer. He didn’t want to deal with this.



Rude was at his desk and looked up.



“A word,” Tseng said, nodding a simple acknowledgement to Rude, “Please, follow me.”



~please? Shit, was this another weird dream?~



“Where we goin’?” he asked, not rising from the chair.



“To my office,” Tseng said simply.



Reno hesitated. He had no reason to doubt that Tseng wanted to just talk to him, but after the amused tone he gave him when he returned his tie and being trapped in the office …



~and bedroom~



…made him hesitant.



“Can we talk here, Boss?” he asked quickly. He looked over at Rude, hoping that he wouldn’t leave. He really wanted his partner to stay. He knew that it was only a dream about Tseng hitting on him, but it had been so real.



Tseng blinked slowly. “It does not matter,” Tseng said and moved into the office. Reno was almost grateful to see that he was wearing his normal plain Turk suit, with a white shirt and a tie done up snugly at his throat. “I have changed your assignment, Reno.”



Reno felt his eyes grow wide and waited for Tseng to say more.



“You will no longer need to attend to the boot camp or the Mess. You will have tomorrow off, but you will be flying off to Icicle the next day to escort some troops. Your piloting skills are necessary. After that mission, Rude and yourself will be partnered together again,” Tseng said, matter-of-factly.



“Really?” Reno said with a large grin on his face, but that quickly faltered.



~what if it is a dream?~



“I can handle this part of my dream coming true, yo.” Reno decided to make sure that he wasn’t going to wake up in another mess. He pinched his arm, hard. He didn’t wake up so it must be real. He gave out a loud ‘whoop’ and grinned at his partner and Tseng.



Tseng raised an eyebrow and tried to suppress a confused look; it looked like he was going to ask what he was doing but changed his mind with a small shake of his head. Rude’s lips twitched and his brow furrowed a bit. He was going to have questions later.



“I am glad that you are pleased with this news,” Tseng said, turning to Rude. “Cissnei will be on a mission with Rod. I am sure she has already told you.”



Rude nodded.



Tseng's lip twitched slightly as he looked over at Rude. “I am sure you are rested enough to handle Reno again.”



“Hey! There is no need for that, yo,” Reno blurted and pretended to look hurt. It didn’t bother him that people thought of him as a bit of…



~well, supreme pain in the ass~



…troublemaker and sometimes difficult to handle. It was, after all, who he was.



Rude made a small noise and Tseng just shook his head.



“So, what is with this mission?” Reno asked as he popped a piece of gum in his mouth. There was another pack of smokes on his desk when he had arrived from the Mess. He didn’t even touch them or ask Rude where they came from.



He was determined to quit even if Sephiroth was going to keep tempting him with those damn sweet Gongaga smokes. He was sure it was Sephiroth that had left it on his desk again. He didn’t open them to see if there was a note in them or not. He was a little scared to.



~don’t know what he’s up to~



“Just transporting. You will get the details in your PHS before you leave,” Tseng said, noticing the smokes on the desk. “I thought you were quitting?”



“I am. Gotta return those,” Reno said simply. “You wan’ ‘em?”



Tseng shook his head, but picked up the smokes. “These are Gongagan. Don’t you whine to Zack about getting these for you?”



Reno shrugged. “Well, yeah, but I’m quitting.” He wasn’t going to explain that going out for a smoke was not just hazardous to his respiratory health. He still had bruises from Dark Nation’s teeth on his arm and didn’t want any more to join it. He blew a bubble with the gum and let it pop loudly to prove his point.



“You should save them for Legend. He would appreciate them.”



“Bastard is supposed to be quittin' too, yo. I bought him a whole crap load of this shitty gum, but I know he’s still smokin’.” Reno leaned back in his chair. “Cigs are goin' back ta the guy that got ’em for me.”



“And who got them for you?” Tseng asked placing the smokes back on his desk. Rude even looked interested in the answer.



He tried - and hoped he succeeded - in looking casual about it. “Secret admirer. Tryin’ to discourage him, yo.” It wasn’t far from the truth, so he wasn’t lying to them.



He heard Rude make a small sound and saw him adjust his glasses. Tseng rolled his eyes. “There are still some things we need to discuss, Reno,” Tseng said, straightening a cuff on his jacket. “We can discuss them after you return. Make sure that Mary-Beth is there before you enter my office.”



~no way I’m going to make that mistake twice~



“Sure thing, Boss. But I do have a question for ya.”



Tseng looked at him, waiting.



“I was balancin’ my bank account last night,” Reno said and looked Tseng in his dark eyes. “Saw that the amount docked was a little lower than I thought, ya. Is more still gonna get taken out, or am I good, ya?”



He watched something flash through his eyes. “The appropriate amount was removed from your pay.”



“Alrighty then,” Reno said. He knew how much every item cost. He had even phoned Lore’s to find out what had been returned. This just confirmed that Tseng had kept that rose-coloured shirt.



~I know how to pick out clothes~



It creeped him out a little at first. After all, it was just a dream that he had seen him wearing it in, but at the same time he was a little proud that he was able to buy something for his stick-in-the-mud boss. He knew that he was grinning like a cat and saw that Tseng was trying to keep a straight face.



“Make sure you are rested enough to fly,” Tseng said as he left.



“What's up with you?” Reno asked his partner as he looked over at the dark-skinned man. Rude had his head tilted and was giving him a curious look.



“Explain,” was his simple response.



“Ya don’t wanna know,” Reno said simply, blowing another bubble with his gum.



“I’m sure,” Rude said. “Am I going to encounter any… backlash?”



Reno chuckled. “Never know, yo.”





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Sephiroth crushed the smokes in his hand and gritted his teeth.



~doesn’t he know how much trouble it took to get these?~



He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to gather his thoughts over this development; over this new rejection.



He did not accept the note that accompanied the smokes.



'Quit. Don’t need them.'



He did not accept the rejection.



~again~



He would not be turned aside.



~again~



He would not be ignored.



~again~



He would not be forgotten… especially by a loud mouth Turk.





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Rabble-rousers: A leader or speaker who stirs up the passions of the masses; a demagogue.

Swimmingly: With great ease and success



Sephiroth really doesn’t like being ignored/rejected, does he? Of course, one of his best lines ever was, ‘I will never be a memory’ from Advent Children.

And look at that, I wrote Tseng in character this chapter.