Chapter Text
redamancy (/riːˈdæmənsi/) - the act of loving in return
Zack enjoyed the assignments he got below the plate.
He was in the minority in his pack, of course. None of his mates really wanted to go down there, but Zack could understand that—he was the only one of the group with a similar background to slum-dwellers.
So he understood their life, understood their hardships, a lot better than Angeal, Genesis or Sephiroth did. He always volunteered to take these jobs so that his mates wouldn’t have to.
Today, though, had been difficult, even for him. There had been a massive riot in one of the establishments in the Wall Market, and the streets were teeming with Don Corneo’s thugs, trying to find the escaped alphas and omegas.
Corneo had, of course, enlisted Shinra’s help, and that was the reason Zack was here today.
To hunt.
Needless to say, even he hadn’t wanted this assignment. It was already hard enough to help those they managed to find. Now, though? If Zack truly found his quarry, it would be really hard to pretend otherwise.
He had packed scent patches and pheromone dampers with him, just in case. If he were to find anyone, he would, hopefully, be able to point to their below plate contact.
Zack flipped open his PHS to check the image again. He was looking for an omega in his early twenties, with blond, messy hair and vacant, blue eyes. Just seeing the image made his blood boil. It was so obvious the omega had been commanded into submission, so if—when—Zack would find him…
He truly didn’t know if he should direct him to their contact. If the look on the omega’s face was anything to go by, whoever found him first wouldn’t have to fight at all to get him to do whatever they wanted.
Zack cursed quietly and resumed his search.
Thankfully, he was well-known in the slums by now, and almost everyone knew that he—along with his pack—helped alphas and omegas.
No one had seen the omega, though. Not at Wall Market or Sector 5, either.
Zack was getting increasingly worried as he combed through the slums the entire day. He did find several other omegas and alphas in hiding, and sent them to AVALANCHE. As soon as they were out of Midgar, they were safe.
Or, well, safer. Breeders were everywhere, after all.
Officially, owning alphas and omegas was forbidden by law, but Shinra, along with a lot of others, had found a way to skirt around it. It wasn’t ownership, per se, since there was always a contract involved.
Most contracts were made by coercion or threat, though. Not many signed these contracts willingly—only those who were truly desperate.
It was already late afternoon when Zack arrived in Sector 8 slums and he still hadn’t found the black omega anywhere. He was getting increasingly worried, too. If anyone found him first…
He jerked in surprise as his PHS started to ring, and he quickly fished it from his pocket.
“Any sign of the omega?” Sephiroth asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Zack said and sighed. “I might be too late already, Seph. The riot happened almost thirteen hours ago. Someone either found him already, or he’s dead.”
“Don’t give up hope,” Sephiroth told him, voice soft. “You’re the best tracker of all of us. If anyone can find him, it’s you.”
The praise did make Zack feel better. He blew out a breath. “O-Okay. I will.”
“Genesis was able to find out that the omega’s real name is Cloud Strife,” Sephiroth went on. “But there’s literally nothing else. How long he’s been out here, where he’s from.”
It was a miracle they even had his name. Alphas and omegas like this usually were given new names and eventually forgot their real ones. If Cloud was truly in the state Zack expected…
Fuck. Fuck, this was bad.
He ended the call with Sephiroth and resumed his search, growing more desperate by the minute.
“Where are you?” he muttered to himself.
By the time it was dark, Zack had to admit his defeat. It would be impossible to find Cloud at night, and it was more dangerous out here—fiends came out of their hiding places to prey on people still walking outside.
Zack swallowed his frustration and turned to return to Sector 7, where he could catch a train back up.
Then he smelled it.
He’d never in his life experienced a scent like that. It was full and heady, mixed with traces of moss, pine needles and fresh mountain air. How he could even recognize that was beyond him, but he was moving before he even made a conscious decision to move.
Zack followed the scent, infinitely glad it was out here and not closer to settlements.
It took him less than five minutes to find the source of the scent.
The omega was sprawled behind sheets of plywood and corrugated iron, dressed in something that once had been a translucent robe but was now tattered and dirty, hanging on by a few threads.
Zack’s heart jumped in his throat when he realized the omega had blond, dirty hair.
Thank you, Gaia, he thought to himself, approaching the omega closely and then crouching in front of him.
He had no way to prepare himself for what happened next.
“Hey,” he whispered, reaching out. “Are you—”
Cloud’s eyes snapped up, beautiful, bright blue, and then his nostrils flared. Zack opened his mouth to speak, but then Cloud jumped on him and sank his teeth into Zack’s shoulder.
Zack could tell immediately that the canines pierced the skin. Then it was followed by a violent burst of pheromones and pain as his scent gland burst.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck—
This was bad. This was really bad.
Zack was already mated. He had a pack bond with three different alphas. Now an unmated omega had claimed him, and he already smelled their pheromones mingling. It wouldn’t be a true mating bond—it would need Zack’s bite—but it didn’t seem to deter Cloud in the slightest.
“Let go,” Zack whispered. Then, louder, “Let go! You don’t want to do this!” He yelped with pain as he wrenched the omega’s teeth away from him, knowing he was bleeding all over his uniform now.
There was blood around Cloud’s mouth and he looked almost feral as he licked it away.
And then he moved to sit on his knees, hands prettily on his lap and head down.
In all of that time, he hadn’t said a word.
Zack’s shoulder was throbbing with insistent pain, which was made worse by the feelings he was now getting from Cloud.
Okay, it was worse. It was infinitely worse.
Zack hadn’t noticed it before, but with the bite, he could feel it.
Cloud had a mating fever.
It was different from the heats that omegas got three times a year. Mating fevers were serious, omega’s last-ditch efforts to mate, and it was the leading cause of death for omegas in captivity.
If Zack couldn’t get Cloud into safety as quickly as possible, he would die. And considering he’d bitten Zack, he would also be affected by Cloud’s death, and not in a good way.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Zack cursed. They had never considered that something like this would happen.
Cloud looked up, eyes full of adoration and anticipation, head tilted to the side to offer his shoulder.
“Wait for alpha for a moment, okay?” Zack said. “I need to make a call. I’ll be back to you, I promise.”
Cloud didn’t reply, but he stayed as he was, looking down into his hands. A picture of obedience.
This wasn’t going to be a pleasant phone call.
“What happened?” Angeal asked. “We all felt a tug in the bond—”
“Put me on speaker,” Zack said and gritted his teeth with pain. He hadn’t even taken a Cure with him today—he hadn’t expected he’d need it. Still, even if he could heal the wound, there was no way to purge the omega pheromones from his system.
“Okay, Zack, we’re all here,” Angeal said.
“I found Cloud,” Zack said. “And he claimed me.”
He could hear the silence between them.
“I’m sorry, he did what?” Genesis said. “Care to repeat that?”
“Don’t you dare lecture me, there was no way I could have anticipated that,” Zack said angrily. “He has a mating fever. I was the first alpha he came across.”
There was another stunned silence.
“Fuck,” Genesis whispered.
“I have to bring him there,” Zack said. He was really starting to feel the bite, the need to protect his omega, even though Cloud wasn’t his. “Can you get a car down here?”
“Of course,” Sephiroth said. “Where did you find him?”
“The outskirts of Sector 5. In the abandoned work site.”
“Turn on your location. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Sephiroth said, and then Zack heard him move in the apartment.
“The rest of you, prepare the guest room. We need a nest—as many comforting, soothing scents as possible. Zack’s pillow and blanket. He’s going to have to stay with Cloud for the time being, unless we want him to frenzy,” Sephiroth added, and then there was a slam of a door.
“I’ll wait with Cloud,” Zack whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize, Zack,” Angeal said gently. “We have everything ready by the time you come back.”
With that settled, they ended the call. Zack turned on his location and walked back to Cloud, who was still sitting in the same position.
The second he saw Zack, though, he rose to his knees and immediately started fumbling with Zack’s belts when he got close enough.
“No—Cloud, no,” Zack said firmly. He hated himself for using the command tone, but Cloud was so far gone that it would take a long while for him to unlearn it anyway. “I will get you somewhere safe, okay?”
Cloud seemed to understand, because he settled back on his knees.
Zack had a sneaking suspicion that something was more wrong than he thought. He asked, “How long have you been here?”
Cloud looked at him for a while with a blank expression.
“Here?” Zack tried again, pointing at the poor shelter Cloud had managed to find.
Cloud still didn’t say a word.
Zack crouched in front of him, praying and praying he was wrong. “Could you open your mouth for me?”
Cloud opened his mouth immediately, with a satisfied purr.
Thank fuck, he still had his tongue. Some enslaved alphas and omegas lost them, especially if they were too cheeky.
There were a lot of reasons why Cloud wouldn’t talk, and Zack wasn’t going to force the words out of him. Cloud had escaped from Don Corneo’s mansion, after all—and it was among the worst places for anyone to end up.
Cloud had probably been told to shut up enough times that he had just stopped talking altogether.
At least Cloud wasn’t trying to run. It made this all a lot easier. He huddled closer to Zack, seeking his warmth and rubbed his cheek against his arm. He was burning up, with hectic blotches of red on his cheeks, and there was a feverish glaze in his eyes.
Sephiroth arrived with the car fifteen minutes later.
“He might not survive the night,” Sephiroth said darkly the second he looked at Cloud.
“I know,” Zack said and grimaced. “We need to try, though. Otherwise, I’m gonna pay for it, too.”
Sephiroth opened the door to the backseat, and Zack turned to Cloud. “We’re going to get you to safety now, okay?”
He rose to his feet and Cloud followed without a word, but he did grab Zack’s hand with surprising strength.
Zack cast an apologetic look in Sephiroth’s direction. “I’m sorry, Seph. I didn’t mean this to happen.”
“I know,” Sephiroth said sadly. His glowing, green eyes were soft. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll find a solution.”
Zack pulled Cloud with him to the car, and once they had sat down comfortably, Cloud all but climbed on Zack’s lap.
This neediness was normal for omegas in mating fever, so Zack allowed it to happen. He even allowed Cloud to groom the bite, which soothed the pain somewhat.
Fuck, what a mess. Zack hadn’t planned his search to end up like this. Still, considering the state Cloud was in, putting him with AVALANCHE would’ve been out of the question, even if he hadn’t bitten Zack.
Sephiroth slipped back behind the wheel. “You good in there?” he asked.
“As good as we can,” Zack said quietly, carefully moving his arms around Cloud.
Cloud had started purring louder now, still dragging his tongue across the bite mark, and every movement sent zaps down Zack’s spine. And he knew his mates could feel it through their pack bond.
“You’ll be okay,” Zack whispered to the omega.
Cloud made a contented sigh and closed his eyes.