"Excuse me?" The silver haired 1st Class snarled out into the PHS as he paced up and down the front of a small hut in the humid jungles of Gongaga. His brow furrowed and fist clenched at his side, he gritted his teeth as he listened to the excuses that Shinra provided him for his delay in the hot countryside.
"I was due to return back O-Eight-hundred. Why am I being delayed?" He snapped again as the receptionist on the other line grimaced as her fingers dug into her wooden desk…it was times like these that she really hated being a secretary.
"Protection detail? For a country mayor? That's inexcusable, I was not made aware of this when I took on this mission with my men." His eyes narrowed at the next excuse. "Very well then, we'll stay for a day longer until AVALANCHE is confirmed to be out of the area. The moment its cleared a mode of transportation will be sent immediately into our vicinity, do I make myself clear?"
The phone was clicked shut before the secretary had been able to reply back and the 1st Class was striding over to where his two forms of backup were currently stationed. Both were guarding the entrance to the small town's limits to keep out any straggling monsters that dared to get near the town's inhabitants. Both looked turned to their leader…and friend, one with a smirk and the other with a concerned look on his face.
"What's the verdict?" The dark haired one asked as the ginger haired 2nd Class beside him snorted then gestured towards the silver haired 1st Class.
"What do you think, Angeal? I believe Shinra has us stationed here for another week-"
"Close enough." The cat eyed man smirked then sighed as his fingers itched to snatch up his katana and dash into the jungles to release his anger and frustration. "One more day, then we leave, until then we'll have to bear the brunt of this heat and…"
"And what, Sephiroth?" The flame haired man asked impatiently as Sephiroth chuckled with a shake of his head at the irony of it all.
"We've also been assigned to be the protection detail of the mayor."
"Oh goddess, no." Genesis groaned as his hand moved to cover his eyes earning snickers from Sephiroth and the condescending look from his childhood friend, Angeal.
"Its not that bad, Genesis." Angeal scolded as Genesis snorted once again and looked at him with an insane look in his eyes.
"Have you tasted the mayor's wife's cooking? It is not an experience to relive, Angeal."
"Then simply don't eat her food-"
"And what perhaps may I say when she kindly offers?"
"Politely decline. You of all people, know how to turn something down in a completely respectful and arrogant way." Angeal commented with a roll of his eyes as Sephiroth silently agreed with his friends, then looked over to said mayor's house.
"I suppose we ought to be heading over now."
"Oh must we?" Genesis grumbled but followed after Sephiroth nonetheless as Angeal shook his head at the ginger, wondering how on earth Sephiroth or Shinra for that matter could stand to put up with Genesis's whining. All three SOLDIERs headed towards the house they were being placed to guard, however, they weren't expecting such chaos to await them once they arrived. In a flurry of things the mayor's wife raced out of her home carrying her one year old child on her hip, hurrying towards the SOLDIERs that approached her home.
They weren't sure how…but somehow the mayor's infant child was thrust into the closest SOLDIER member's arms as the mother hurried over to the village a few miles off in an attempt to help with the delivery of another baby. All three men stared at the squirming infant currently residing in Angeal's arms, neither of them aware of when any of them had ever actually agreed to watch over the child, but never the less they accepted the small duty, after all how hard was it to watch over a 12 month old named…Zackary Quinton Fair.
"That was…interesting." Angeal murmured as Zackary continued to wiggle about in his arms, until Angeal placed him on the ground…only to fall flat on his face the second the supporting hands released him. But the baby didn't even cry or whimper out a whine, instead he moved into a crawling position and struggled to stand up again as the SOLDIERs watched him amusedly.
"So…we're babysitters now? This is not what I expected when I signed up for SOLDIER." Genesis said with a twist of his mouth as his eyes darted from the child and over to Sephiroth who was also curious as to how they had gotten into this predicament.
"No…we are not responsible for this child. Angeal-" Sephiroth said eyes narrowing at the big azure eyes that stared up at him after his 5th attempt at standing up "-return him to the mayor, from there we'll provide the protection we were assigned."
"I'll get right to it." Angeal murmured before picking up the dusty one-year-old and striding inside the mayor's home as Zackary pouted from being taken away from his endeavor leaving the two SOLDIERs in peace…for about ten minutes as Angeal re-emerged from the home with Zackary Fair still in his arms.
As things turned out the mayor of Gongaga, insisted that he couldn't watch over his own son, because he was taking care of very important paper work and while settling a dispute between two neighbors. No matter how feverently Angeal argued, the mayor said no and eventually they came to an impasse. The SOLDIERs would watch his son in exchange for staying inside the mayor's home and out of the suffocating heat, all the while the mayor would be staying in one singular room the entire evening therefore making their mission of protection detail much easier… and a bit more demeaning but easier none the less.
"Babysitters! We've been reduced to babysitters!" Genesis groaned with a shake of his head then leaned against the wall within the mayor's home as Sephiroth and Angeal settled themselves down on the chairs available, while Zackary was once again placed on the ground allowed to roam free within his home.
"I'm not pleased with this either, Genesis." Sephiroth grumbled as he crossed his arms and resorted to watching the only form of entertainment within the home and that so called entertainment was crawling towards the small furnace.
"This isn't as bad as it seems." Angeal said trying to be optimistic as he rose from his seat to grab the infant before he reached the furnace "Think of it as a vacation."
"If I were to vacation then I'd be in Costa del Sol now and relaxing among the palms, not here where I'll eventually be reduced into to a sweat induced coma." Genesis snapped as Angeal rolled his eyes while setting Zackary down once again closer to the table to keep a better eye on him.
"You have no room to be upset, Genesis. The weather isn't as terrible as you make it out to be, actually it almost reminds me of home-"
"My point exactly. I hated the summers in Banora."
"I do recall that you'd spend all day locked within your father's library."
"Why on Gaia would I want to be out in that sweltering heat?"
"Then why did you chose to join SOLDIER?" Sephiroth muttered not really caring to join the conversation, but felt it was necessary after all it was the social convention…or at least that's what Angeal had told him.
"I…Look, I don't mind the heat so much as the humidity. However I rather be on the frontlines in Wutai than watching that brat stick his foot in his mouth." Genesis snapped out pointing an accusing finger at Zack who was indeed trying to get his foot in mouth…and succeeded.
"Yes, well your complaining isn't helping the situation. We'll just make the best of it after all how hard could it be to watch the mayor's son?" Sephiroth retorted before glancing over to their little ward…to find that he, in those short few minutes, was gone.
Sephiroth's eyes narrowed as he glanced about the room "Where is he, Angeal?"
"He was here a moment ago."
"Oh, that brat couldn't have gone far. He can't even walk yet, for Goddess's sake!" Genesis said after pushing off the wall to walk around the room in search of the child…and came up empty.
"Where was he last?"
"Sitting near the…"
"Near the what, Genesis?" Angeal snapped his patience growing thin as his fear grew thicker.
"The door."
All three men scrambled from their places and raced out the door in search of the spiky haired boy. The bright Gongagan sun stung at their eyes as they adjusted from the dark room of the home to the outdoors.
"He'll be crawling meaning he couldn't have possibly gone too far."
"Introduce the heat factor and that he's wearing a one-piece outfit therefore delaying his pace."
"And the amount of time he's been missing, meaning he should be from 3 to 15 feet within the vicinity."
It was amazing how the men could complicate and bring in war tactics all to find one 12 month old boy. Sephiroth quickly moved around the outer limits of the possible distance Zack could have strayed, Angeal slowly walked around the mayor's yard trying to spot the most interesting place a kid wand off to while Genesis searched underneath the shade of the trees and out of the sun.
Angeal wandered around the mayor's home, his eyes darting back and forth in frantic search for blue eyed infant, behind every barrel, bucket, shed and eventually found the mayor's private garden, but no little boy. He frowned at the sight of the mismanaged garden and that the one year old was yet to be found when something caught his eye and certainly seemed out of place. A dark strand of hair seemed to be poking out from the bushes of the mulberry shrub, followed by scratching and the sound of scuffling. Angeal quickly moved closer to the shrub, pulling back the branches to see a dark spiky haired head digging in the dirt, perfectly hidden among the plants.
"Found him!" He called out as he snatched up the infant who was tightly clutching a perfect crystal orb. The 2nd Class's eyes narrowed at the object before he took it away from run away and tucked it into his pant pocket as the sound of his returning friends drew nearer and nearer.
"What on Gaia were you doing?" Angeal murmured as he looked over the dirt covered child who was still pouting about the loss of his stolen materia. The dark haired SOLDIER carefully dusted off the boy then looked over to the spot where he had found him, only to discover a large hole where the blue eyed Fair had sat and in that hole was several items such as jewelry, watches, forks, spoons, marbles, a pair of keys and lastly- Angeal blinked at the item then looked over to the squirming boy in his arms, before bending down to pick it up and return it to its owner.
"Glad you found the little brat." Genesis grumbled as he strode over to Angeal and Zack, neither of them very happy with the other.
"Among other things. I believe this belongs to you." Angeal replied back as he held out the single earring that Genesis wore, while said owner gaped at the item then shot a glare at the toddler who looked at him rather innocently.
"How on Gaia did that little-that little imp get a hold of it?" Genesis snarled out as his hand brushed against his ear to find that the earring that usually resided there was indeed gone and now sat in the palm of his hand.
"How should I know? But apparently it isn't his only plunder-" Angeal said as he revealed the hole filled with items to Genesis who wasn't at all amused with the situation.
"He buried them? What is with that?"
"Apparently he thought it'd keep them safe-"
"Like some dog?"
"More like a puppy."
Just something I slapped together. Why? For scien-I mean for fun! Hehehe! Points go to the people who can guess why I used Quinton as Zack's middle name!
Hint: It has something to do with the latest Star Trek Movie!
Reviews are very much wanted! Thanks and God Bless!