Trioverse ficlets

The vibration of the cell phone in his pants pocket distracted Reno just enough to skew his aim. He watched in angry disbelief as the eight ball hit the pocket perfectly and the cue ball disappeared into the opposite corner. A bare hint of smirk and the rubbing of two fingers against a thumb was his opponent's satisfied reaction. Reno glared balefully at his partner and threw the gil and his cue on the table. He fished the phone from his pocket and, noting the caller's identity, flipped it open.

"You better be prepared to compensate me with unlimited sexual favors for the five hundred gil I just lost."

"Reno."

The worried tone of his lover's voice wiped the grin off Reno's face and had him squeezing the phone tightly. Zack *never* sounded like that.

"Oh shit, what?" Reno waved off Rude's questioning look.

"Cloud's unit just returned from the desert. They were sent to exterminate some monsters that were getting too close to the lab installation there."

"And?" Reno asked. What had happened? Zack wouldn't call unless it was something that involved their lover. "Is Cloud alright?"

"His C.O. told me he threw himself in between a monster and one of his troop mates. The other boy was unharmed, but...Cloud took a bad hit. The monster was poisonous. The medic healed the clawed arm, but the poison is still in his system."

"Where is he?"

"Infirmary. He's delirious and feverish."

"I'm on my way." Reno snapped his phone closed and turned to his partner. "Rude, I..."

"Go on. I'll cover for you," Rude said and briefly clasped the redhead's shoulder. "Call me later."

"Thanks, man."

Reno flew out the door, punched the elevator button and detoured for the stairs when the wait rattled his nerves further. He raced through the building, ignoring the raised eyebrows at his passage, and burst through the doors to the parking garage. Reno pushed his bike to the limit all the way to the military compound. Luckily for him, he was well known as a Turk and not stopped by any checkpoint guards. He didn't have to ask for Cloud. Zack was waiting for him outside the building, his very stillness and lack of expression betraying his worry.

"Zack?"

Zack placed a warning finger against his own lips and jerked his head towards an empty office. Reno followed impatiently and held his tongue until the door closed behind him.

"Damn it, Zack, what's going on?"

Zack enfolded Reno in his arms, stopping Reno's questions, and clutched him close. Reno returned the hug, needing the comfort himself. He could feel the tension in Zack's body. Both men had been injured in their respective jobs, but it was the first time their younger lover had been badly hurt. Reno gasped as a sharp pain pierced the area over his heart and buried his face in Zack's neck. His lovers had come to mean too much to him, and the sudden thought of possibly losing Cloud made Reno shake and cling to Zack.

"It's alright. He'll be alright. It's just going to take a few days for his body to fully expel the poison from his system," Zack said soothingly as the rubbed small circles on Reno's back. Reno backed off and searched Zack's eyes.

"Why did you pull me in here? You called me, Zack."

Zack's lips thinned and whitened. "Listen, Reno. You came flying through here like Shiva was on your ass. The doctor is a friend of mine, and he will keep our relationship secret for me, but we still have to be careful, discreet. You think Heiddeger wouldn't love to find out a SOLDIER, a barely legal cadet, and a Turk were involved? Not just him, either. There's too many people who would try to use it as leverage against any of us, and Cloud is the most vulnerable and the easiest target." Reno's eyes blazed with fury, and Zack kissed his angrily twisted lips. "Chill out. Cloud needs us, but in here we have to be more careful. Ben has agreed to run interference and give us some time alone. He'll be monitoring Cloud by telemetry as long as he stays stable and will keep everyone else out."

Although still worried and now thoroughly pissed, Reno regained his usual unruffled composure. His face smoothed and he cocked an eyebrow at Zack.

"How'd you manage to get a Shinra doctor on our side?"

"Hey," Zack smirked and ran a hand through his spiky hair. "I'm me. Who can resist my charm and charisma? You couldn't."

Reno started to retort something about just who had seduced who when Zack's phone chirped.

"That's our cue."

Zack let them out of the office down a little used corridor. Reno followed behind and found that their roundabout way detoured the busier areas of the wards. A tired looking blond in a rumpled, white coat stood before a door. Zack smiled at his friend gratefully, and they entered Cloud's room. As soon as the closed door insured their privacy, Reno quickly approached the young man tossing and moaning on the bed. Damn. Cloud looked really ill and very...young.

"Hey, kiddo. Just had to try and be a hero, didn't you?" Reno asked softly.

Cloud turned toward the familiar voice, relief in his eyes when he blearily focused on his two lovers. Pain twisted his features as a spasm racked his body. That poison was some seriously nasty shit, Reno thought.

"Painkillers?" he snapped.

"Ineffective for this," Zack answered.

"Well, fuck." Reno exchanged a helpless look with Zack and they both climbed on the narrow bed to cage Cloud's body between them. Reno winced at the burning hot feel of the boy's skin. "Hang on, babe. You can beat this. We're here." Reno stroked tangled hair from Cloud's face. "What did I tell you about learning to duck?"

Cloud only groaned pathetically then promptly threw up on Reno's chest. The bed shook as Zack tried unsuccessfully to stifle his laughter.

"Nice comeback."

"Shut up," Cloud mumbled and submitted to the indignity of being mopped up by the two men he loved and wanted to see him as their equals.

Reno tossed his soiled coat and shirt on a chair and cuddled the blond against him. He leaned his head into Zack's shoulder and bit his lip against saying anything to make Cloud upset, but Reno couldn't stop thinking about what Zack had said. Eventually someone was going to notice the relationship, and try to use it against them. Reno unconsciously pressed closer to his lovers. He wouldn't allow anything to happen to them. He'd fight and use subterfuge and violence if necessary. Reno didn't mind shedding a little blood to protect what was his.

It was what he did, after all.