Hello all. This is my first fic, but be as brutal as you deem necessary. I accept all criticism, but try to keep it helpful. This is a complete and total AU that is pre-game if you couldn't tell from the summary.
I don't own any of the characters here, except for some minor filler and the OC. The rest belong to Square Enix.
Enjoy.
It was well known throughout ShinRa, not just the Science Department, that Hojo was a tyrant to rival the old man at the top. He always got want he wanted, one way or another and goddess help the person who stood in his way. So it was always with great anxiety and trepidation that his assistants and technicians would inform the greasy hunchback that his prodigy was acting out.
In all honesty, they were terrified of the five-year-old and were reluctant to force him to do anything. It was only after being cowed by a furious Hojo that they would drag him off for whatever testing Hojo had planned for. The pitied and feared the kid, but fear outweighed the pity every time.
Except once.
Sephiroth felt rain for the first time when he was three. It fascinated him. Clean, fresh water that fell from the sky. He couldn't explain it. He'd asked once, but Hojo told him it wasn't important. He would have asked Professor Gast, but he just hadn't gotten the chance yet. Hojo didn't like Gast being around Sephiroth so much.
Without fail, whenever he found out it was raining he would go outside to see it again. It was a miracle to him and he had to be there to witness it every time. Hojo hated it and that was an added bonus. Made it worth getting wet and cold.
So a five-year-old Sephiroth laid down on the roof in a downpour and waited for the poor soul who would be sent to get him down. He'd chosen the roof because it was especially hard to get on and off of. It would give him more time, even if it was an obvious place to hide.
Hojo became predictably furious and fumed at the ceiling for a good five minutes before a victim came in. Hojo noted that she was uncharacteristically happy for working as a lab technician, before barking out his demand.
"Get Sephiroth off the roof," he said. She paused. No yes professor, no right away. She just stopped.
"I don't work for you," she said carefully. Hojo stared daggers at her, but she hardly even reacted. "I'm Professor Gast's new assistant. I work for him. He said to get the microscopes from the main laboratory and here they are." Hojo was ready to commit murder, again admittedly. "But, I don't really know the ranking system here and I could use some brownie points," she said, "Who's Sephiroth and where shall I fetch him at?" That was better.
"He's on the roof," Hojo said, "Get him now."
"Patience my dear professor," she said as she left, "It's a good thing to have in this profession." As soon as she was gone, Hojo made a mental note to berate Gast for his choice of assistants. She'd learn eventually, he figured, and let the incident go for now.
Sephiroth heard the door open. Someone started climbing the ladder up to where he was hiding. He didn't move. They took longer when he didn't react. They expected him to lash and fight a little. This one stopped and did nothing for a long time. Longer than usual. Unable to help himself, he looked up. He hadn't seen this one before. She didn't look afraid of him. She looked up at the sky which still wringing out a deluge.
Then she laid down right next to him.
Sephiroth fought the urge to spring up. This never happened. What did she think she was doing? Very carefully, so as not to catch her notice. Sephiroth peered over at his new companion. She laid on the cement roof, in the middle of a puddle, with her hands behind her head and her eyes closed as if she were lounging in the sun. The rain continued.
"What are you doing?" Sephiroth asked at last. She cracked open an eye to look at him.
"Same as you," she said, "Wondering why rain falls." She couldn't possibly know that.
"I know why rain falls," Sephiroth said.
"Could you tell me then," she said, "I never got a decent explanation." Sephiroth scrambled to save his lie.
"Everything falls," he said. She propped herself up on one elbow.
"You're right," she said, "Do you why though?"
"Gravity," Sephiroth said. She'd shut up and drag him back now. Her face did something strange then. She smiled as if that had been the nicest thing she'd heard all day.
"You know about gravity?" she said.
"Yes," Sephiroth said.
"Huh," she said, "good to know. Thanks for clearing that up." She laid back down. Sephiroth sat up completely. What was wrong with this one? What did she want?
"What are you doing?" Sephiroth asked again.
"I'm trying to guess where the next drop will fall," she said, "I'm terrible at it." He watched her for a moment.
"Why?" he asked.
"Well, now that I know why it falls, and how it falls, and how fast it falls, I want to know where it will fall," she said, "but it's really impossible to know before it happens so I have to guess." Sephiroth felt a small amount of excitement bubbling in him. She'd said the magic words. She knew how rain worked. Someone had solved they mystery and they thought it was important. It might be his only chance.
"You know how the rain works," he said.
"Mmm-hmmm," she said.
"How?" he asked. She sat up.
"Why don't we go back inside and I'll tell you along the way," she said.
"I don't want to go back yet," Sephiroth said.
"I didn't say we had to be quick about it," she said. The arch in her brow said something that resonated with Sephiroth's knack to irritate Hojo. He liked it, but couldn't explain why. He was only five after all. He nodded and stood up.
"Hojo, she's been here maybe two hours," Gast said, "she hardly knows the layout, much less who you are. Cut her some slack, she'll learn."
"Just make sure you hire better technicians in the future," Hojo snapped.
"I am," Gast said, "she's one of the best in her field. That's why she's here."
"Not from what I can see," Hojo said. Gast sighed. He really hated this man. It was only a matter of time before one of them was gone. Gast had a feeling it would be him.
"She's eccentric, I'll allow you that," Gast said, "but aren't you the one that said great steps in Science requires a separation from the rest of society?" Hojo didn't reply. Gast gave up on it and turned around. He stopped in his tracks.
Sephiroth was leading a dripping Cass back to the main laboratory. Sephiroth was leading Cass. As in coming back of his own volition. That never happened. Gast had carried Sephiroth back once or twice, but never had convinced him to come back on his own.
"...and then it falls back to the ground, with this gravity you told me about, as your everyday liquid water," she said, "Make sense?" Sephiroth glanced back and nodded. His five-year-old epiphany was well worth the effort. Sephiroth approached Hojo with his blank stare back in place. Cass started to walk out, but stopped.
"Microscopes," she told herself. She turned back and scooped up a pair.
"Hey, Professor Gast," she said, "Sorry for the delay. I took a break, then got lost. See ya later Sephiroth." She walked out. Sephiroth watched the door close behind her, Gast noticed. Hojo remained oblivious to the entire encounter and merely focused on his soaked Sephiroth.
"Pleased with your efforts?" Hojo jeered. Gast felt proud when Sephiroth said yes.
Sephiroth only expected to meet the strange lady in passing. She was Gast's assistant and would have very little to do with Hojo, unless it was directly asked of her. Sephiroth didn't really want to wish that on her. Professor Gast told him her name was Cassiopia Durmont and that she was very smart, but did things differently than other people. Hojo wouldn't like that, but Gast did and liked the results she got with it.
"Her brain just works differently," Gast said, "She sees things in a different perspective and that's a really good thing for me." That would explain why she wasn't afraid of him and why she was happy being in the lab. She saw it differently. She greeted everyone in the hall, including Hojo, who never really paid attention and ignored her. Sephiroth never replied either, but she didn't seem to mind.
Hojo never got an assistant like her. His remained terrified and useless as ever. The current one was having immense trouble getting a blood sample and Sephiroth had had enough. As soon as the needle was clear he jerked his arm away. The assistant cursed and threatened to get Hojo.
"Whoa dude, what did you do to his arm?" Sephiroth looked over to see Cassiopia Durmont looking uncharacteristically concerned.
"Do you even know how to get a decent blood sample?" she asked, "Because in all honesty it looks like you're just stabbing him. Do you need me to show you?"
"I just can't get it in the vein," the tech hissed. She nodded, cool as ever.
"It happens," she said, "usually we try switching arms after the second or third try."
"What's going on here?" Hojo said, "You aren't supposed to be here."
"This is the main lab," Cassiopia said, "Anyone could be here and it happens to be where you keep...the microscopes. So...yeah, I guess I can be here. Imagine that. Oh, and thumbs here can't nick a vein to save his life." Sephiroth watched in amazement as Hojo's wrath switched from the composed assistant to the useless technician. It was very smooth and Sephiroh wanted to know how it was done.
"And to think I came here to request a larger sample," Hojo finished.
"Might I propose a solution?" she asked. Hojo glared over at her.
"I'm sick of bending over microscopes and he's abusing your sample," she said, "why not just switch?"
"You are Gast's assistant," Hojo reminded her.
"Very true," she said, "but I'm ahead with all of my work. I've been trying to pick up everybody else's slack. Regardless of what you pick, I shall be doing your bidding." Hojo glared at her.
"Ten milliliter test tubes," he said. He turned to the tech. "You, out!" The tech ran out and Hojo stole a glare behind him as he exited. She sat down. She looked over at Sephiroth. He hid his arm defensively. She wouldn't get it no matter how nice she was.
"Can I see your arm?" she asked. Sephiroth shook his head with a glare of his own. She wasn't affected by it. "Not speaking today eh?" she said. She got off her chair and got down on her knees. She rested her arms on the edge of Sephiroth's seat and looked up at him.
"I'm not going to stick you with a needle," she said. She held up her hands. "Look, see? Nothing. I just want to look at it." He blinked once. She blinked back. He cocked his head at her and in doing so, loosened his grip on his arm.
"I won't hurt," she said, "I just want to see." He stretched it out tentatively. She stood back up and inspected it. She only touched his wrist and that was to turn his arm a little.
"You heal fast," she said, "That's good. Do you want a bandage anyway?" Sephiroth hesitated and nodded. Her hands were soft. She reached back and pulled some out.
"Should we play it up, make you look like a wounded hero, or do you just want the one?" she asked.
"Just the one," Sephiroth said. She cleaned him off quickly and stuck one on.
"There," she said, "can I see your other one?" Sephiroth shook his head and hid it behind his back.
"I'm not gonna stick you," she said holding up her hands again, "I just want to make sure that I can get blood from that arm. Just touching. I promise." She hadn't lied before. He didn't see a needle anywhere. He brought it back up front. She took it and felt gently at the crook of his arm.
"Bad news," she said screwing up her nose, "I totally can." She let him go. He didn't hide. He waited for the needle. Instead she sat back down.
"I don't take blood from people I don't know," she said, "I'll talk rain, but needles and fluids are kind of an intimate thing. I know that your name is Sephiroth."
"I know who you are," Sephiroth said.
"Oh," she said, "I don't remember introducing myself."
"Professor Gast told me," Sephiroth said.
"Aha," she said, "I knew he was talking about me behind my back. What did Professor Gast tell you?"
"He said your name was Cassiopia Durmont," Sephiroth said. She nodded.
"I make everybody call me Cass," she said, "because Cassiopia is a stupid name. What else?"
"He said you were very smart," Sephiroth said, "you see things differently and that's good."
"That's true," she said, "I'm kinda weird, but I like to think I'm a good kind of weird." She rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. "Is that it?" she asked. Sephiroth nodded.
"You wanna know something else?" she asked. Sephiroth hesitated and nodded. "I am one of the best blood sample takers in the world." Sephiroth blinked at her.
"It's true," she said, "Before I came here, I had people lining up for me to take a sample for testing. They told me I was good, could be the best with more practice, but I had other things in mind and here I am. Ask anyone. I'm fast and I don't hurt one little bit." Sephiroth blinked at her again.
"How about this?" she said, "You let me take the sample and if I hurt you worse than a bee sting, then I will show you the best hiding place in the entire building. It will take hours for anyone to find you. I won't even tell either." Sephiroth blinked one more time, then nodded. He held out his arm. She got out a needle and the tubes and started getting ready.
"Wanna know a secret in case you don't get the hiding spot?" she whispered. Sephiroth nodded again.
"I think Professor Hojo is an idiot," she whispered. Sephiroth barely felt the needle sliding in. She was quick. She changed tubes without even twitching the needle. He was done in a few minutes.
"That so bad?" she asked sitting back. Sephiroth inspected his new bandage and the neat tape job she had done with it.
"No," he said. The wonder is his voice made a smile creep onto her face.