Disclaimer: Dun own – there short sweet and to the point

Toons – Of course he does! Who wouldn't!

Atsukikomi – Update for you!

1wngdng – He doesn't die, dun worry. He's just a sissy

Ashyx – Zak is his own special warning XD

KaoruKina – I don't think the rating is going to go up, sorry XD and I don't know if Seph will get anybody . . . but maybe

Aura of Twili – Zak is the weirdest character ever and he needed a diary to reflect that –nods sagely-

WhiteWolfCub – Of course continuation!

CheekyAmericangrl - XD erm . . . no . . . but how about an update

String-home of Tolea – No need to worry about him, he's too stupid to die

Aki – One has to weigh the good and the bad. Good Zak Bad Everything else. Does the god outweigh the bad? I think it does

Sabith – Here you go!

itachi1lover – I guess he doesn't have to reeeeeally, but why not

CheshireCat .O – XD I'm glad to know we keep attracting new readers! Yeah new readers!

SilverMau – Your welcome!

". . . Reno." Rude reached, carefully rolling the whimpering ball toward him.

"Huh? RUDE? RUDE!" said whimpering ball was now clinging to his neck and . . . was he . . . sobbing?

"Why are you lying in an alley?" the taller man wasn't quite sure how to handle this Reno and opted to keep his hands at his sides and stand there. The red head suddenly stiffened and grabbed his leg, falling back to the concrete with a thud.

"Rude, I'm . . . I'm . . ." he turned huge watery eyes toward the other man from the most pathetic position Rude had ever seen.

"You're what?" Rude had adopted the standard 'this chick I don't know ran up and started crying and I think if I touch her she will explode and get my shoes messy' stance.

"I'm gonna . . . die," the last word was a high-pitched sob.

". . . what?" You couldn't see it, but Rude blinked a couple times before speaking.

"I'm going to die! Don't you care?" Reno was absolutely hysterical now.

"Why are you going to die?"

"TSENG SHOT ME! I don't know how much longer I have," he sniffled, "So . . . before I . . . you know . . . I . . . I want to say . . . Rude, I . . . I l-"

"Reno, is this the shot you are talking about?" he had finally managed to peel the red head's hands from his leg despite the pained whimpers in between words that he continued to get.

"Yeah, but that's not important, I wanted to say-"

"Reno . . . this barely warrants stitches."

"I want to say . . . what?" Reno blinked and looked stupider than normal.

"It's deep for a cut I suppose, but for a bullet wound it's not bad at all. It just grazed the meat of your thigh. It's not even worth taking you to the hospital; they would ask too many questions anyway, we have that magicked goop they gave everyone in the Christmas gift basket."

"What are you saying?" Reno still looked blank.

"That you are going to be fine in probably less than twenty four hours," Rude explained.

" . . . I'm not gonna die?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

". . . oh," he blinked, frowning as his brain tried to catch up.

"Come on, I'll help you back to the apartment." Rude put the red head's arm around his neck and helped him limp away. He'd never admit it, but for just a bit, before he had seen the wound himself, he had felt his blood run cold at the very thought of Reno's death. Good thing the kid was just a drama queen.

Man, it was nice to have such a big, strong guy for a partner, Reno thought pleasantly as he lolled about in the passenger seat of Rude's fancy car, eyeing the darker man as he drove them to his apartment. A big, strong, handsome partner, so nice and... shiny...

"You're my shiny partner," Reno said in possibly the most jacked up voice he had ever spoken in, his voice slurring something horribly. "Shiny, pretty Rude."

Rude said something under his breath, something that sounded a lot like "shut the fuck up Reno". Reno thought that was rather rude. Rude was being rude. He laughed, slapping a bloody hand to his forehead. Hilarious!

"Jesus, Reno, you would think you've never been pumped full of tranquilizers before," Rude snarked quietly, making a sharp left and cutting off a semi-truck. It honked at him, the driver leaning out of the window to flip him the bird. Whatever. Beside him, Reno continued to giggle to himself. Seriously, if the kid hadn't been freaking out so bad from Tseng popping a few into him, Rude wouldn't have given him the shots, but as it was...

"Reno, stop touching my head," Rude gritted out, eye twitching.

Reno fingered Rude's ear, running his fingertip along the piercings there. "But it's so shiny," He said in an awed tone. Rude hoped he wasn't like, bleeding all over his leather seats. Dammit.

"You know what else is shiny, Reno? Your seatbelt."

Rude thanked the gods as they turned onto the street of the apartment.

"Hey," Reno said in an offended tone as Rude stopped the car. "I hope you know that the air tastes purple."

Rude didn't answer. Reno sighed and fingered the shiny seatbelt, clicking it open. Rude opened his door and pulled him out and then- ow, ow, OW. That was sobering.

"Fuck, dude, fuck," Reno blabbered, clenching Rude's arm. "I know I'm on some pretty crazy meds right now, and yes, the air still tastes purple, but that pain is leaking through, man."

Rude hefted him up, frowning. "We're almost there."

"I can't walk," Reno whimpered, stomach heaving. "I'm gonna be sick."

Zak stretched slowly around the blonde in his arms as he woke; he judged the time to be just after sundown.

"Cloudy," he whispered in the blonde's ear, "Spiike. Wake uup."

"Murmph," was the growled response. SO CUTE!

Chuckling, the dark-haired man bit the boy's earlobe lightly, then whispered again "Wake up, babe," low and breathy right in the kid's ear. There was a sudden tensing that let him know that his mission was a success. He could proceed back to base to receive his new orders. Thank you, captain, but I think I will stay out here awhile longer. I quite like the natives.

"This isn't a dream," Cloud sighed dejectedly, "Someone hates me."

"Quite possible, but at least you know it isn't me, babe!" he kissed the blonde's temple quickly and rolled over and out of bed before the boy could so much as squawk.

"Quit doing that!"

The taller man's reply was cut off by the door opening and Sephiroth striding in. Zak felt most of the humor drain out of him, not all of it of course because that was just silly, but most.

"Are you prepared?" green-eyes flicked quickly to the blonde then back to the other man.

"I really don't know about this, Seph," Zak glanced between his friend and Cloud, who was sitting on the bed looking lost and confused and generally making you want to snuggle him within an inch of his life.

"Can you think of anything better, Zakarie?" the other man asked in his of-course-you-can't-because-you-are-a-moron-and-I-am-the-brains-of-the-operation-so-shut-up-and-obey-me voice.

"Well . . . no . . . Can I at least stay with him?" It would be bad enough using Cloud they couldn't leave him alone!

Seph gave that small, almost a frown then nodded. "I don't see how that would hurt anything and it may help in the long run. Now come on, we are wasting moonlight." With a sharp turn the silver-haired man stalked from the room gracefully, leaving Zak to grab Cloud, protesting, off the bed and follow.

"Where are we going?" Cloud asked lowly, decided that walking in total silence for upwards of an hour to possibly his imminent death just wasn't working out for him. Sephiroth was treading before them through the woods, leaving Zak and Cloud to follow him, nervous and silent. Zak kept reaching over to pat Cloud or hold his hand. Cloud kept grabbing Zak because he was tripping on shrubs and shit.

"Well, Seph wants to take you somewhere... advantageous for us." Zak replied in a murmur, grasping at Cloud's shoulder and leading him around a tree stump he would have tripped over. He didn't remove his arm after. "There's this place, under the city. Used to be where Seph lived. Back in the day, you know?" Zak laughed. "Nothing but some crappy ruins right now, though."

Cloud made an uncomfortable noise. Great. Death under a city. That's what was awaiting him.

"You'll... you'll keep me safe, right?" Cloud said almost against his will- the numbness of the situation was wearing away a little, revealing more of the scared, normal teenager that he was. He didn't want to go to some ruins. He didn't want to be part of some psycho's plan. He didn't want any of this.

Zak tightened his grip on Cloud, making his breath hitch a little. Maybe he did want some tiny, tiny part of this.

Under a normal situation, the attention Zak was giving him would be welcome. He was funny, handsome... maybe not so smart, but...

But he was a vampire, and a vampire who was going to use Cloud in some evil scheme. Shit. He didn't win either way.

"I'll definitely keep you safe," Zak said, rubbing the back of Cloud's neck with his palm. "Don't worry, kid."

"Hurry up," Sephiroth called, breaking the mood. "It's almost dawn."

"Would you stop messing around and COME ON!" Kadaj nearly screeched at his brothers.

"We are coming," Yazoo said simply, primping in the mirror while Loz watched, fascinated.

"Not only will it be morning by the time you are finished it will be TOMORROW MORNING!"

"You are exaggerating," Yazoo rolled his eyes and turned away from the mirror.

"Are you ready now?" his younger brother hissed.

Yazoo merely nodded and Kadaj spun on his heel, leaving the warehouse with a huff and leaving his siblings to follow.

The walk to their splitting point took little time, and the youngest gladly bid his two brothers farewell, at the same time cursing that it was them going and not a clone of him. He would be lucky if they did within the same city of what he was told them to, but he didn't have much of a choice.

Rude watched as Reno lie on the couch, flipping through channels. When the sedatives had worn off Rude had been all for switching to extra-strength Tylenol in hopes of dealing with a more clear-headed Reno, but the red-head had insisted, almost to the point of flailing and crying, that he would just die without anything stronger.

"That's so SAD!" sudden blubbering from the couch drew the dark man's attention away from his thoughts.

Reno had buried his head in one of the throw pillows and was sobbing his heart out. A quick glance at the TV revealed the reason to be a discovery channel documentary. Something about a baby seal. With a long suffering sigh Rude switched the channel to some kids cartoon show.

"Why won't fluffy wake up, mommy?" some badly animated character was saying. The crying started with renewed fervor with the addition of mumbling.

"What are you saying?" he knew he was going to regret asking, but the kid was just bawling, what else was he supposed to do?

"I HAD A FLUFFY!" Reno raised his head from the pillow, "HE WAS A CACTUS! HE DIIIIIIIIIIIED!"

" . . . " Rude quickly flipped to the news.

"-in the park today. Police have been dispatched to the scene after a jogger scared two men away from what appears to be a bloodless body. Paul Carson has more. Paul?"

Reno blinked at the screen, his eyes gummy, "S'zat?"

Rude nodded, "Vamps." He stood quickly and went to his weapons closet.

"Rude, Rude, no way, buddy, no way," Reno protested, fumbling off of the couch and landing on the floor in a heap. Rude couldn't be thinking was Reno thought he was thinking! Not when Reno was on the freaking couch, drugged within an inch of his life.

Rude couldn't leave him.

He needed him.

What if he needed another dose of medication? What if he needed a bucket to puke in? What if... Rude was ignoring him stolidly, pulling a gun from his closet. Reno snarled and tried valiantly to stand up, his only thought being "KEEP RUDE HERE". By any means possible.

"Reno, you need to get off of my legs," Rude said calmly, kicking a bit to dislodge Reno's chokehold on his calves. "I need to investigate this lead."

"Not without me," Reno whined, hugging Rude's legs tighter. "We're a team- you can't go out without me. It's against the rules, code of ethic, blah blah." He looked up; his gaze met with a pair of black Armani shades. "Please? Tseng's out there, Rude. I need you to stay here."

A few minutes passed in silence, the only thing making any noise being the sounds of breathing and the television.

"Fine," Rude said, finally. "But get back on the couch. You tore the damn stitches and are bleeding on my carpet."

Reno smiled as best he could and tried his damndest to relocate himself from being wrapped around Rude's legs to being on the couch. But the thing was, he couldn't move. Damn medications. Damn them to hell! He wriggled a bit on the floor, helpless. "Rude, buddy, I can't exactly move. You know. My limbs."

Rude muttered something that sounded like 'elephant tranquilizers aren't meant for humans' and leaned down, frowning. Suddenly Reno found himself hoisted in the air by two strong arms, then tossed roughly to the cough in the next instant.

He tried not to smile like an idiot. Rude was such a pushover. Well, to him. Sort of.

"Scoot over," Rude demanded, pushing at Reno's legs and seating himself on the couch. He set his gun on the table with a sigh- he should really by doing his job, but at the same time... He didn't want to leave Reno. Something about his partner almost dying had kinda scared him- enough to not want to really let the redhead out of his sight.

Reno started to snore, dropping off to la-la land quickly.

Rude picked up the remote and started flipping.

"Brother," Loz whispered, creeping along the deep, dank line of an old, abandoned sewer, Yazoo close behind. "What are we supposed to be looking for?"

Yazoo placed his hand on Loz's back, pushing him gently. "Kadaj told us that we would know it when we saw it."

Loz stopped in his tracks and turned to Yazoo, eyebrows knitting. "Seriously? Is that it?"

With a nod, Yazoo smiled lightly. "Yes. We are trying to find an entrance of some sorts, and Kadaj seems to think it would be in a very old place," He waved around to their surrounding, which were very old indeed. Crumbling stone paved the walls while moss and dank puddles of stagnant matter lined the floors- it was creepy as hell, but a good start in their search. "But it's not so bad, Loz. We get some time to spend together, right?"

Loz blushed, much to Yazoo's amusement. "I guess," He said gruffly, plodding forward.

Yazoo sighed and followed him.

The park was bordered by the woods on one side and city streets on the other three. It was right on the edge of the park that the old sewers were most easily accessible. Before more complicated ideas of plumbing had come about, ever sewer in the city used to empty itself just beyond the area now called the park. It was here Sephiroth led them. The opening was hidden by years of growth, but was clear to see with vampire's eyes.

The blonde whimpered and clung to Zak, who was practically gushing about how he would protect him and everything would be alright. Everything could very well not be all right, Sephiroth frowned to himself, and didn't the boy deserve the truth in what could be the last day, or night rather, of his life? But he left taking care of the human to Zak and concentrated on his plan.

The idea was that, once under the city, they would split ways. Zak taking the kid to an area Sephiroth suspected the Lithen Monks would be able to feel and taking down his shields. The monks would investigate and see Cloud with him, this would cause them to pursue Zakarie. Sephiroth would also lower his shields, but he would be hoping to attract Kadaj's gang to the same locale. Once everyone was in place he and Zakarie could conveniently disappear for awhile, leaving the monks and other three vamps to fight it out, probably destroying each other.

There was some confusion on whether or not the human would come with them when they fled, from Zakarie of course, but once in the situation he was sure the other would come to his senses and leave the kid behind. Now they just had to get everything in place.

"I think this should do," though unused, the old sewers still held the remnants of water from numerous drips and assorted un-rerouted drain pipes. The water was shallow, though, sticking around the guttered sides of the routes, leaving the middle dry. Sephiroth had chosen a large eight way intersection; the low waters had turned the vast circular route into an arena under the city with access to everywhere. It was perfect.

"Where are we?" the blonde whispered, clinging to Zak's arm and attempting not to hyperventilate.

"It's just part of the old sewer system under the town," the dark-haired man reassured him, patting his hair.

"Why are we down here? What are you planning? What . . . what is that!" the last was yelped as the kid attempted to strangle Zak's arm and climb into them at the same time.

"It's a rat," the other observed brightly.

"A RAT? There are rats down here?" the hyperventilating began in earnest now, with the blonde still attempting to crawl into Zak's skin and hide. Not that the closeness wasn't nice, but it was preferable to have the other party want to be close for . . . other reasons than hiding from furry things that go meep in the night.

"Um, sewer rats. Yeah. They live in sewers," perhaps all of this was going to the poor kid's head.

"I know they live in the sewer! WE should not be in the sewer! With them! ALONE. They're going to kill us!" despite the slight hysteria in his voice, Zak couldn't help think that Cloud was just the most adorable thing ever. How was he not supposed to want to protect someone that was practically hanging from him at the thought of a small furry mammal with a mouth smaller than a quarter?

"Dun worry, babe," he whispered, hugging him close, "I won't let anything hurt you. Ever."

Cloud felt like he was going to puke. There were rats, there were vampires, and to top it all off, there were vampires leading him into a tunnel filled with rats. The only redeeming fact of the situation was that the rats were not vampire rats.

So he hoped, anyway.

"I can't see," Cloud noted to Zak, trying to keep his voice a little controlled. He figured that whining about everything really didn't help his situation, and Zak seemed pretty receptive to him, to say the least. He stumbled a bit, wincing as his toe was stubbed on something. Shit, that hurt.

"What?" Zak's voice came from right next to him, making Cloud jump a little, his nerves on end. "You can't- oh. Oh. You can't see in the dark." Cloud shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, I'll just have to carry you then," Zak said after a while, obviously having to think about the situation. Cloud opened his mouth to protest, but no sooner did me make a noise than did he find himself hoisted off of the ground and cushioned against a strong chest. He could practically see Zak's teeth glint in a smile. Cloud meeped pitifully.

They set off again with relatively no problem- Zak's arms were surprisingly comfortably, Cloud noted with some humiliation, settling down a bit. The older man's chest rumbled as he talked to Cloud about random things, like how he had managed to make a batch of cookies using only flour and his bare hands. Cloud was duly impressed.

After a bit Zak ran out of things to say about hand-make cookies, leaving only the sound of his walking and Cloud's breathing to echo off of the walls of the sewer. Cloud was surprised that he actually felt... comfortable. Zak was surprisingly soft and warm. Cloud tried not to snuggle into his pecs.

"So, Cloud." Zak said after a while, hopping over a puddle of god-knows-what. "What do you think about being a vampire?"

Cloud changed his mind instantly. Comfortable? Not any more. He squirmed, making Zak tighten his hold on him. "I don't think about it at all," Cloud managed- please don't kill me now, please don't kill me now..."Please don't kill me."

"Hey, hey stop that," Zak said quickly. Shit, he thought. Shouldn't have said anything. "I was just trying to make conversation."

"Yeah, well," Cloud muttered, wrapping his arms around himself, eyes wide in the total black of the sewer. "What... what are we trying to accomplish here?" There. Change of subject. He really hoped that Zak wasn't going to try to turn him into a vampire or something like that- Cloud would have made a horrible vampire- he couldn't even kill the ants in his house. He freckled. Who ever heard of a vampire with freckles? No one.

Zak adjusted Cloud in his arms, shifting him around a bit. He squeezed Cloud's butt a little, figuring he could get away with it in the process. He did. Hoho. "Well, as of now I am trying to emit as much 'I AM A VAMPIRE' aura out as I can. You know, so I can lure your red-headed buddy here, the one from your apartment."

Cloud took a second to think. "Wait. Reno?"

"Yeah, I guess," Zak replied, eyeing a particularly large rat from the corner of his eye. It hissed at him savagely. "I hope you're not too attached to him or anything..."

Kadaj crept around the wharfs, peering over the concrete mini-walls every once in awhile. He was searching for a way into the sewers. Yazoo and Loz were looking for the way that was supposed to be in the park to lure the monks through, he would need a different route to take Sephiroth in via, but so far he couldn't find anything.

It made sense to him that they would empty at least part of the sewage into the ocean, which meant there should be some kind of outlet, right? Well evidently not.

He snarled as he moved around the last bend. How was he supposed to complete his part of HIS OWN plan if he couldn't even find a way in? He kicked at a rock in a fit of temper, sending it bouncing over concrete and a lone manhole cover.

Imagine his shock when the ground beneath said manhole cover lit up like a metaphysical Fourth of July.

Rude waited until Reno had fallen asleep before he quietly went to retrieve his guns. There was no way he could just let an obvious lead like that go unchecked. Besides, if he ran into Tseng out there he could shoot him in the leg and legitimately claim he thought he was a vampire. Perhaps a little vindictive, but the man had shot Reno! There was no way he was just going to walk away with that.

He had just reached the door when a sudden thought made him scribble a note for the redhead in case he woke.

Checking out park.

Drugs on table.

Don't leave.

Rude

Short, sweet and to the point. Well, maybe not sweet . . . with an undetectable blush he quickly scrawled a heart symbol over his name and left as quickly as possible.

The drive to the park was uneventful, which was to be expected at just past midnight. He was glad to see the cops had given up the search by the time he arrived. There was no way he wanted to have to protect civilians from the supernatural, he just needed to get in there, kill the vamps, shoot Tseng, and get back before Reno even realized he was gone.

Unfortunately fate has a surprising, almost CHEAT-LIKE ability to role a 20 on a d-10. And poor rude only had his un-magical NOT-CHEATY d-6. The moral is don't let fate be dungeon master. Wait . . . no, that's not the point. Is it? Maybe . . . I lost myself. Switch authors and regroup.

This was probably the dumbest vampire Tseng had ever had the pleasure of stalking along a deserted sewer.

"And, well, then I tried to hide the hamster cage from Seph, but that didn't work too well." The vampire was saying in a retarded tone, coddling what appeared to be a frightened-as-hell teenage boy in his arms. "So I had to return them. The pet store never knew they were gone, actually..."

Tseng smiled and licked his lips in anticipation. This was almost too easy- he would just let this doofus lure him to wherever he was taking his victim and kill him there. If he was as strong as he was stupid Tseng might have been facing a problem- but he doubted it highly. This guy wasn't even bothering to mask his aura... he was probably a fresh vampire, a month old, if that.

"Too easy," Tseng whispered, fingering his gun. Too easy.

The first thing Reno noticed when he woke up was that he had fallen asleep while eating a cheeto. Ew. He swallowed muzzily, his face quinching up. That was a sick aftertaste. He blinked a few times, registering the dim light from the tv and the mix of dull pain and medication sifting through his system. Ugh, he felt like shit. He curled up in a ball- aw, Rude had covered him up. He grinned to himself, feeling like a retard.

Wait. Where was Rude? Wasn't he, like, right there when he drifted off?

"Rude?" Reno wavered, his voice doing a funny, I-just-hit-puberty pitchy thing. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Rude? Where are you?"

No one answered. Reno scrambled around, sitting up after a bit of effort. Maybe Rude was asleep...

Yeah, or maybe not. Reno frowned and reached for the note that was lying in plain view on the coffee table, his cheeto-covered fingers leaving little grease stains on it.

"Aw, he put a little heart around his name," Reno observed quietly before settling down to read the important bits of the note.

Four seconds later he was on his feet, seeing red. "That bastard," He hissed, grabbing around for his suit jacket. It was folded neatly on the back of the couch, looking pretty worse for the wear. Reno shrugged it on regardless, gritting his teeth. He half-thought about grabbing the medication- but no, his judgment needed to be clear, not impaired. He could take whatever pain he had to right now, regardless. Rude was being an idiot and Reno had to go make sure he didn't get himself killed. Reno made his way to the door, in a righteous fit.

He grabbed the medication as an afterthought.

A/N: Thank you all for your reviews/hit! We were thinking about doing something special for our ten thousandth hit (if we get one before we finish this story –sweat-) So here's hoping!