Title: Cold

Author: Tuliharja

Summary: AU. The Crimson Commander has never faced such a cruel enemy before: a common cold. Luckily his student, Cloud Strife, is there to help him out before Genesis' "nursing" himself goes too far… Few pairings implied. One-shot.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII/Crisis Core belongs to their respective owners. I'm merely writing fan fiction about it.

Author's note: Thank you Anime Foxx for betaing this.

.:Cold:.

SOLDIERs weren't supposed to get sick. They were above such ridiculous things as a flu, a cold or anything along those lines. So why on the name of Gaia did Genesis have a runny nose, puffy red eyes and what felt like sandpaper down his throat? The man couldn't fathom that at all as he took a new tissue, lamenting that he most likely would die of this damn cold he had somehow contracted.

But what made it worse for the First Class' condition was the fact he still had to get to work and do that evil paperwork. It seemed like ShinRa didn't know of such a thing as a 'sick First Class SOLDIER'. So here was Genesis, filling out his paperwork, hoping that the virus would spread from all the documents he handled, so the people who had ordered him to work would know exactly what it felt like to have a cold.

Sneezing loudly, Genesis let out an angry growl as some snot dropped on top of one of his papers. Glaring at the dirtied paper, Genesis wondered for a brief moment whether to use his fire materia to burn all the papers and leave early from work. It was then that his secretary decided now was best time to interrupt his silent fuming.

"Commander, your student is waiting for you in the lobby. Do you want me to send him away or…?" the woman asked as Genesis sneezed again. He waved his hand in a manner that told her to 'just send him in here'. The woman nodded briefly, turning on her heels, just to come back minutes later. By that time the Crimson Commander had already blown his nose at least 12 times. He wished he would either die from his sickness now or go home to die there.

Genesis lifted his head to look up at his student, Third Class Cloud Strife. He had taken the boy under his wing similar to how Angeal had taken Zack Fair under his wing when Zack and Cloud had been mere cadets. Expect Genesis had made Cloud his protege later than Angeal had taken Zack, merely because he had vowed never to take one. That promise had soon fallen apart when he had met Zack's cadet friend, but that was a story for different time. Currently Genesis felt as if snot was filling every part of his brain. He waved to his secretary to go as Cloud hesitantly approached Genesis' desk. The red haired man sighed, rubbing his temples slightly.

"How bad is it?" he asked, earning a blink from Cloud.

"Um…sir…" Cloud started which earned a glare from Genesis. He told Cloud many times to just call him Genesis, because they had known each other for a few years. Yet the Third would often go back to call him 'sir', especially when he had to talk about something touchy. Genesis' temper hadn't softened at all over the years, even though he himself called it 'passion'.

"Well…it's not that bad." Cloud offered, making Genesis slam his forehead against the papers he had filled, just to let out a groan of pain.

"But it's not that good either." Genesis muttered back, feeling a headache coming as he closed his eyes.

"W-well…" Cloud stammered, shuffling slightly. Genesis didn't actually need to open his eyes to know what Cloud was doing – his hearing was as strong as a bat's.

Waving his hand, Genesis opened his eyes slightly, giving Cloud a look which made the boy freeze.

"I won't teach you today Cloud…so…go find puppy and play with him or…something…" Genesis ordered as he lifted his head, and rubbed at his temples. Every sound had now become louder and sharper in his ears, making his brains throb behind his eyes. Even Cloud's breathing seemed to get louder.

"I can stay here and help you if you want." Cloud offered as Genesis rubbed his temples once again.

"Mmmm." was the only reply he let out as he then sneezed loudly, its power shaking his head and making him whimper in pain. "Fetch me my whiskey."

"Genesis?"

"Just do as I-!" clutching his head, Genesis lowered his head to lean once again against his papers. Shouting apparently wasn't a very wise thing to do as his snot started freely run over his already ruined paperwork. He would so get shouted at for that.

"Genesis." a soft voice murmured from his left side. The red headed man peeked up to see his student offering him a tissue and glass of whiskey.

The older man blinked his eyes slowly. He accepted the tissue first, blowing in it and then throwing it into an already full trashcan of tissues. He then snagged the glass from Cloud. He downed the drink in one gulp briefly wondering when the boy had gotten it. Letting out a satisfied sigh, Genesis felt the alcohol's burn slide against his throat. Thanks to the whiskey he would soon be in nice drunken state, which would drive away the cold, hopefully. At least his headache seemed to become duller as he snatched the bottle from Cloud and drunk it fully empty.

"Um, Genesis…I don't think drinking an alcohol will help your cold." Cloud spoke softly as Genesis shot him a dirty glare.

"Nonsense! This whiskey is strong stuff! After all I snatched it from Sephiroth's special hiding place…besides, if this stuff won't kill those nasty viruses then I'll die." he stated, making Cloud's eyes widen.

"But it's just a cold." he pointed out, slightly disturbed as Genesis stood up, walking up to his secret stash of alcohol. "Besides, I don't think it's good to drink during the middle of day like that, Genesis…and when you did steal Sephiroth's whiskey? I didn't even know he drank…"

"My friend, the fates are cruel/There are no dreams, no honor remains/The arrow has left, the bow of the goddess." Genesis quoted now to Cloud, basically saying he didn't care even if he got drunk in the middle of the day nor did he care that he had snatched Sephiroth's whiskey.

The blond shook his head, frowning a bit as his mentor started drinking the rest of his alcohol from the cabinet. But the older man barely paid attention as the alcohol started reacting with his mako filled system, burning nicely inside of him. As he continued this progress, he could hear Cloud sitting down on the couch, clearly giving him a disapproving look.

"Go find the puppy and play with him if you don't have anything better to do!" he snapped. Cloud huffed and crossed his arms, obviously not going to leave. This only angering the First Class SOLDIER.

Piercing, glowing eyes met almost equally glowing blue eyes as the two stared each other down, before Genesis turned away. Guilt and slight humiliation washed over Genesis and he walked back to his desk, but he soon brushed it away. It wasn't like he was the student and Cloud his mentor.

Shaking his head, Genesis allowed a small smirk to play on his lips as his head stopped throbbing and he no longer felt that huge urge to blow his brains out while sneezing.

Silence settled between them as Genesis decided to ignore Cloud for now. He attempted to once again work on his paperwork, only to realize after a half hour that the words started jumping around the page as he tried read them.

Eventually Genesis sighed, letting his hand brush between his locks as he looked at Cloud. Cloud continued to stare back. Sighing, the blond stood up, grabbed his mentor's arm, and started to pull him up.

"What you're doing?" Genesis barked. Cloud gave him a look.

"Genesis. You have a cold and now you're drunk. Not to mention you've been staring at that one spot on the paper for the last half hour." Cloud pointed out dryly. Reluctantly, Genesis finally allowed himself to be dragged out of the office, Cloud telling the secretary that Genesis was taking the rest of day off to train him.

The red haired man gave Cloud an amused look as the blond let the lie easily slip from his lips. Cloud guided them to Genesis' ShinRa apartment. Snatching Genesis' card from the man's back pants pocket, Genesis let out a purr.

"I think being naughty this time of the day isn't a good thing, Cloudy." Genesis teased in Cloud's ear whose eyebrow twitched at the nickname.

As soon as he managed to drag Genesis into the apartment, he pushed the older man down on the couch and threw a blanket over him.

"What? No kisses before-!" Genesis started as Cloud pressed him down.

"Now sleep while I make something stomach-friendly for you. You'll need it once you sober up and the cold hits you fully." Cloud ordered as Genesis let out a protesting whine. "Or maybe you won't have a cold once you're sober…But you need to sleep, okay?"

"Yes mother." Genesis merely said with a huff as he leaned against the pillow, hoping he indeed would be fine after he sobered up. The cold was just annoying and Cloud bossing him around was frustrating!

:: ::

"Open your mouth." Cloud told Genesis who turned his head away in a protesting manner.

"You're acting like an infant, Genesis." The silky, smooth voice of Sephiroth spoke from a nearby chair. Genesis threw a pillow at him. The silver-haired general easily caught it, the corner of his mouth twitching from amusement. Genesis only huffed.

"I can eat just fin-achoo!" he sneezed loudly. Cloud tilted his head to the side as Genesis sneezed.

"Bless you." The blonde stated, giving him a tissue. "Now…"

"I won't!" Genesis barked back, while sneezing. Cloud shot him an angry glare, his patience getting thin with his mentor.

"Genesis. Just enjoy Cloud nursing you." The silver-general suddenly spoke, making Genesis turn his eyes to him. "After all, if I was in your place I would gladly take all his treatments."

"Ge-General!" Cloud squeaked now, turning deep red as Genesis merely huffed.

"I like mine more dark and-" Genesis started as the door to his apartment opened and Angeal came inside, holding a bottle of some sort medicine, while Zack bounced behind him.

"You were saying?" Sephiroth asked as Genesis flushed now, throwing another pillow at Sephiroth's way who again caught it with ease. The silver-haired man merely shook his head in slight amusement as Genesis glared draggers at him, hissing: "I'll pay you back for this Sephiroth, once you get sick!"

"Challenge accepted." the general stated back, knowing that unlike Genesis he wouldn't ever get sick. If by chance he did, he would just monopolize Cloud as his personal nurse until he was fully healthy again.