Disclaimer: There. Disclaimed. I'm just not cool enough to claim them for myself, alright?!

Setting: before Sephi went nutty and stuff.when he was the highly respected general of ShinRa and the little SOLDIER dudes. When Rufie was 15 -16 I think?

________________________________________________________________________
Rufus Jeremiah Shinra hid in the corner of the science lab, behind a large wall of cages containing Makou-infested guinea pigs, rabbits and bats. He nursed a bloody nose and a throbbing eye. If he could stay hidden until his nose stopped bleeding and got some ice on his eye before it turned into a shiner, he could get away with it and no one would have to know. That's right, it was simple.

Rufus wadded up a pile of bloodied tissues and pushed them between two rabbit cages. He sniffed but instantly regretted it as a shock of pain thrust through his right nostril, up into his sinus cavities and rested in his forehead. He blinked away spots of light that flickered veraciously in front of his eyes.

He heard soft footsteps coming towards him, no - no, not towards him, towards the cages he was hiding behind, yes, that's right and coming to a stop a few steps to the left of him. He peeked through the cracks of the cages and saw a flow of silver hair. General Sephiroth?

Sephiroth opened a cage and took out a small rabbit. He stroked it for a few moments and then said softly to it, "That filthy Professor will use you the way he used me, and then he'll discard you, disregard your beauty, little one. You don't even have a name. Just a number. C-17-83.At least he gave me a name."

Rufus pressed his face against the cages, but pulled away as the pain ripped up his forehead again. Sephiroth seemed to put the rabbit back in the cage and latch the cage, then take some steps closer to him. He glimpsed a bare arm, a bandage on the inner arm near the elbow. Sephiroth brushed his fingers across the bars of the cages, then bent down and peeked between the two cages at Rufus, revealing one glowing-green catlike eye.

Rufus gasped and pulled back. Sephiroth rounded the outside of the cages and squeezed effortlessly between the gap between the cages a few rows down. Rufus felt the blood rush to his face.

"This may not be my place to ask this, but what is our young vice president doing behind the filthy cages of lab animals?" he asked, his voice quiet but powerful. Rufus did not meet his eyes. Instantly Sephiroth was at his side, pulling him into the light. Rufus pulled back, refusing to let himself be seen in the state he was in. Sephiroth touched his face lightly and tilted his head to one side.

"Who did this to you?" he asked gently. Rufus pressed his lips together, in a silent refusal. Sephiroth took him by the wrist and pulled him to his feet, leading him from behind the cages.

"No -," came Rufus' quiet reply, but he let Sephiroth lead him from his dirty hideaway. Sephiroth let Rufus sit into a white-vinyl chair and touched his face.

"Someone dares touch the vice president, and he refuses to reprimand his assailant? I am the General; I can have a hundred SOLDIER on him at once," Sephiroth's response came softly, but with an air of force into it. He began nurturing Rufus' wounds. His fingers were long and elegant, his hands here hard from the use of his swords, such as his Masamune, but they had the scent of lotion and a gentleness that seemed uncharacteristic of a warrior.

"I.I fell down the stairs. I was half asleep; I wanted to." Rufus trailed off, not able to lie to Sephiroth as easily as he was able to lie to the rest of the world.

"Ah. Yes. The stairs. They're always the bloody culprit. They were Scarlet's assailant as well, until she divorced that husband of hers," Sephiroth said, a subtle tone of sarcasm within it.

Rufus had forgotten Scarlet had been married once. She rarely talked about it; in fact, very few people knew about the marriage, because it had been so long ago, and it was almost taboo to speak of it if you knew about it. She had been married for three years, until her husband beat her so badly that she was in the hospital for three days. She had told him that she was pregnant, and he did not want the child. He insisted she was sleeping with other men, that the baby wasn't his. The baby did not survive.

"You shouldn't talk about it," Rufus said softly.

Sephiroth merely chuckled. He had a nice laugh.

"There. It should heal well, with slight bruises if any. You should get to bed."

Rufus met Sephiroth's intense green stare, and although he normally refused to be the first to cease eye contact, he found himself lower his gaze as Sephiroth continued to gaze intently.

"Yes..You're quite right," he said as he raised himself from the seat and began walking up the stairs. As he was parting, Sephiroth called after him, "If you remember that the stairs are innocent, tell me who the true reprobate is."

Rufus stopped for a moment, trying to decide if he should answer, but then quickly departed, before he replied in a way which he would regret it.
Please Review, I will post more chapters, and the more reviews I get the more chapters will be posted - there may be some Lemon-ish parts if you guys are enthusiastic!