Angel looked at Dr. Hojo as she laid Kitty on an empty examination table. Dr. Hojo eyed the young girl's leg. "Yes, I can fix her without scarring her beautiful skin. It's so soft and testable!"

Angel glared, grabbing his wrist in a tight grip. "You touch her in any way and I won't think about killing you." She growled at him.

Dr. Hojo cackled. "Got it; strictly formal. No testing or anything without your permission, correct?" His tone was extremely sarcastic towards her.

Angel's grip tightened. If she didn't have such good self-control, she would've already broken his wrist. He stopped his cackling and stared at her. "If she comes back to me with anything missing or changed, I'm going to come after you."

Dr. Hojo nodded. "Nothing missing. Am I allowed to do a small Mako-injection on her?"

Angel's eyes narrowed. "What will Mako do to her?"

He rolled his eyes. "I watched your fight briefly. You are already stong enough and don't require it to join SOLDIER. This one is weaker and will do better with Mako running through her veins. Mako makes you stronger and faster. I don't think she needs the speed, but the strength and durability will help her in the long run. Unless, of course, you enjoy seeing her in pain and suffering."

Angel looked down at Kitty, who was wimpering at the slightest movement of her leg. "Fine. Inject her with your Mako. I'm serious about the missing limb thing, though. She misses anything and you'll be missing twice as many. Got it?"

Dr. Hojo rolled his eyes. "She'll be perfectly fine in my hands. Oh, Angeal! Are you here for your annual check-up?"

Angeal paled slightly. "No. I've still got a while. Let's go, Angel. I'll show you where you can stay until you get your own place."

Angel sighed. "Thanks. I'll just sleep on the couch. I'll even help you cook dinner."

Angeal chuckled, leading her to the elevator. "Don't worry about dinner. I've got some leftovers in the fridge. I hope you don't mind."

Angel shook her head. "No worries. I'm used to eating leftovers. That's what we'd have every other night for dinner. You think Hojo'll take care of her?"

"After that threat, I'm sure he won't experiment on her. If it'll make you feel better you can punish the Puppy."

"As nice as that sounds, I'll pass. I think he already feels bad enough. What's that?" Angeal leaned down and picked up the white cloth in front of his door. A staff fell from it. Angel picked it up. "This is Kitty's. Zack must've put it here."

Angeal nodded. "It looks like he washed her shawl, too. This note says, 'I'm sorry for stabbing Kitty. I washed the blood out of her shawl. I hope she forgives me. From, Zack.' And I've never once seen him do any form of cleaning."

Angel laughed lightly as Angeal unlocked the door to his apartment. They stepped inside and Angeal closed the door. Angel looked around curiously. The apartment was very nice. A simple kitchen, den, and three closed doors in a small hallway.

Angeal opened one door and set in sword in it. "You can put your weapons in here if you want. Here's the bathroom and the bedroom. Obviously, the kitchen and den. Genesis told me earlier he was coming over for a visit. If you don't mind."

Angel shook her head, setting her swords and Kitty's staff in the weapons closet. She eyed his sword and the new dent in it. "I don't mind. Sorry about your sword."

"I can get it fixed. You want something to eat?"

Before she could answer, there was a knock on the door before it opened. A red-haired male wearing a red coat walked in. Angeal sighed. "I've told you time and time again to let me open the door, Gen."

Genesis shrugged, settling himself on the couch. He held a light pink book in his hands. "So, Angeal, have you heard about those new Mako injections?"

Angel gave him a look. "What 'new' injections?"

He gave her a small smile. If it was intended to be flirtatious, she was immune to it. "I didn't know you had comany, Ang. You should've told me and I would've brought flowers or wine. My name is Genesis Rhapsodos. What is yours, fine lady?"

Angel smiled sweetly and placed her hand in his open one. She gripped his hand tightly. He writhed in his seat slightly. Angeal chuckled. "You shouldn't flirt with this one, Gen. I guessed you missed our fight earlier."

Genesis nodded as Angel let go of his hand. "No, I did not watch your battle. Anyway, Hojo and a few scientists created a new form of Mako. It supposedly adds animal-like extremeties."

Angel looked at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Do you not understand what extremeties are? It means the person injected with it will grow animal body parts."

Angel was out the door before either men could blink. She ignored the elevator, taking the stairs instead. She skipped stairs, stumbling slightly.

Not ten minutes later, she was pinning Dr. Hojo against a wall. "Where the hell is she?!"

He merely chuckled at her. "I don't know who you're talking about. Are you talking about that little specimen you left in my care?"

She growled at him, pushing a scapel against his neck. "Where. Is. She. Tell me before I cut your throat."

A drop of sweat ran down his cheek. "Fine, you bitch. She's in the room down the hall to the left. Third door down. Don't expect to see her breathing."

She growled lowly before letting him go. She took a step back before punching him. He went down, red on his right cheek. Angel ran down the hallway, shoving people out of her way. She wrenched open the door and saw two chairs in front of a window.

She looked through the glass and saw Kitty. She was laying down on a sterile white table with restraints on her arms and legs. She seemed to be sleeping.

Angel sighed in relief and sat down in a chair. She kept her eyes on Kitty, even when the door opened and Angeal sat beside her. "I see you found her. What did Hojo say?"

"He just told me where she was. I knocked him out afterwards."

Angeal chuckled. "That explains why he was out cold. She looks to be alright. For the time being, at least for the time being."

Angel nodded, but winced as Kitty started screaming. Angel pressed herself against the glass wall, willing it to disappear. Kitty writhed against her bonds and her scream rised several octaves as her scalp began to bleed profusely.

Not a single doctor came in to check on her as the blood dripped off the table. Angel began to throw herself against the glass. It simply shuddered, refusing to break.

Angeal stood and gripped her shoulders, leading her out the room. "Let's go somewhere quieter. She'll be okay for a few minutes. I can call Zack and tell him to keep watch over her."

Angel nodded. "Please."

Angeal took a few steps away and dialed Zack's number. He hung up after a moment and stood next to Angel. A few miutes later, Zack stepped out of the elevator. "What's the emergency, Ang?"

"I need you to watch over Kitty for a few minutes. We'll be on the roof if you need us."

Zack nodded, stepping inside the room. Angeal and Angel stepped inside the elevator and rode it up to the roof. They walked to the edge of the roof and sat down enjoying the sights of the city.

Angeal looked at Angel. "So, how exactly did you and Kitty meet? If you don't mind me asking."

Angel shrugged. "It's alright. I was a mercenary for a long time. Ever since I moved out of my hometown, I was one. My home was bombed. I learned quickly how to survive on my own. My father trained me how to fight using swords and guns. After the bombing, I moved to other towns and became a mercenary for hire.

"My fame grew in a short amount of time. I killed efficiently and silently. I would always have blood on me, giving me the name 'Bloodied Angel'. I made plenty of money and found myself owning a small apartment. The town was nice enough and didn't question how I earned my money.

"Rumors started spreading about a thief roaming around and stealing food and shiny things. I didn't worry about any thief coming by my place due to my reputation. One day while I was out, the thief decided to stop by my house. I caught her red-handed, but she escaped. I did get a glimpse at her eyes. They glowed in the dark like a cats' eyes.

"I followed her, even through the rain. She didn't hear me following her to her hide away. A coeurl lived with her in a small cave. The girl looked to be barely in her teens. I waited for her and the coeurl to fall asleep. I noticed the coeurl would wrap its tail around her like a mother.

"I quietly snuck in and reached to grab the girl. I only had a small dagger with me at the time. The coeurl growled in its sleep, but didn't wake up as I grabbed the girl. The second I had the girl in my grasp, it awoke and was ready to attack me.

"The girl struggled in my grip until I put the dagger to her neck. She stopped moving, but still shook like a leaf. I told her to return all the food and shiny objects, but she refused to. I pressed the dagger a little harder to her and coeurl was close to attacking, but something told me it wouldn't risk the girl.

"I told the girl to call off the coeurl, but she was too stubborn. The coeurl seemed to understand the situation and laid back down. The girl was nearly in tears as I began to back out of the cave and back to my home. Her pet followed at a slow rate and stayed a good twenty feet away.

"Once we got there, I tied the girl to a chair and questioned her. After a while, she finally gave in and told me her name. 'Katherine,' she said, 'but I go by Kitty.' I called her Kitty and she learned to trust me. I took her in and she helped me with my marks. She was good with computers and hacked into files to learn about my marks.

"I guess we got so good that we gained Shin-Ra's attention. We were told not to say anything, but they actually asked us to join. If I had known about these Mako-injections, I would've reconsindered."

Angel could still see Kitty's writhing form in her head. "Goddess, I wish I could help her with the pain."

Angeal nodded, patting her back softly. "I understand. I had to watch Zack go through the same thing. Only, his skull didn't reshape itself."

Angel let out a small chuckle. "Thanks for listening. I'm sure you've got better things to do than listen to me."

Angeal shook his head. "Just some paperwork. It's not going anywhere, though."

"True. It's getting late. I'm going to check on Kitty before going to bed."

"You want me to join you?"

"I'll be fine. Thank you for being nice even though we just met."

"It's fine. Just knock if you need me. My door's always open to friends."

The elevator dinged and Zack ran out. "Hey! Something's happening to Kitty!"