Summary: Sometimes acting on that homicidal impulse is the right thing to do. Pre-crazy Sephiroth.
Disclaimer: I waive whatever rights I'm supposed to be waiving here
A/N: I think there was some concern regarding the clones, whether Cloud might be among a Hojo clone project at this point. Not to launch into a whole Cloud/clone discussion, but at this pre-burning of Nibelheim time a young version of Cloud should be running around loose somewhere, failing in his bid to join SOLDIER. I need him to do something for me later, and I'm kind of missing him, so he may be making an appearance soon.
"What's with you Seph? Your mind doesn't wander off like this. Well, unless you're thinking about killing something."
Sephiroth scowled at Zack. They'd been working on a mission plan for an hour and were back at square one again.
"You're not, are you? Thinking about it?" Zack moved forward on his seat and edged towards the door. Occasionally he grossly underestimated how badly he was annoying his commander.
"No."
Zack eased back into his chair. For almost two years he had been on a campaign to socialize and humanize the icy commander. It required shouldering an inhuman amount of verbal (and sometimes physical) abuse, but he was wildly successful, in a slow and steady sort of way. Sephiroth now had at least some sort of connection to his troops, he trained with them regularly and actually explained things rather than just thrashing them about from time to time and letting them sort it out on their own. He ate out with Zack at least once a week. He (sometimes) added normal social niceties to his speech, such as 'please' and 'thank-you'. He tolerated Zack in his apartments, although he had yet to visit Zack in his. (Zack suspected the man was pathologically afraid of untidiness and avoided Zack's office for the same reason). He'd gotten him to watch TV on at least two separate occasions.
But it was nothing compared to the last two weeks. Since Sephiroth had killed Hojo he'd seen more cracks in the facade than the entire last two years combined. Zack had the distinct feeling that Sephiroth was boiling under his skin and emotions, good and bad, leaking out on his face. He probably looked like his normal stoic self to everyone else, but everyone else hadn't spent two years making a study of the man. Something had been freed when he killed Hojo, and Zack was more than a little worried about how Sephiroth was handling it.
Zack leaned forward towards his general.
"What is it Seph? Talk to me."
Sephirtoth sighed.
"I had to make an unpleasant decision in the lab a few days ago. It's been... weighing on my mind lately." In truth the vision of the silver haired children floating in their green tubes invaded his thoughts day and night. And he knew why. He considered telling Zack everything, but then shook the thoughts away. He had no idea how to explain it so Zack would understand.
"I need to go down there and confirm that it's been done."
"Well," Zack said, popping up out of his chair, "That's easily fixed. Let's get it over with. I'll go with you."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not afraid of the lab."
"I'm not afraid of the lab, Zachary."
"Yeah yeah, c'mon, up, let's go."
Sephiroth rolled his eyes and got up. He'd learned that there was nothing he could say or do that would deter Zack when he was in this mode. And he had tried almost everything, short of Lightning Bolt. And for that one he had been sorely tempted on more than one occasion. In the end was usually less painful to give in. The man's easy-going manner hid a shocking degree of stubbornness.
As they neared the lab entrance Zack motioned Sephiroth off to the side.
"Lounge first," he said, "That's where the snacks are."
They approached an open door that was emitting laughter, and music of all things. Never in his life could Sephiroth remember music from anywhere in the basement. He stepped into the lounge to find no fewer than three of his Soldiers grooving away to a popular song. Two pretty female techs wove in between them. They were familiar but he never thought them to be pretty before. The male intern he recognized. Glenn something. He had always liked the irreverent young man, probably because he annoyed Hojo. But now he seemed completely liberated, his light brown hair unkempt and sticking out at every angle, singing in a falsetto, lab coat billowing away from him as he spun, his arms swishing in the air.
It took a moment for the Soldiers to notice their commander.
The motion in the room stopped rather abruptly, leaving the music playing ridiculously on its own, like a man who continues to jabber on the phone without realizing the call has been dropped.
"Is break over?" Glenn asked looked up the two new arrivals, his dark rimmed hazel eyes relaxed and happy.
None of the Soldiers looked up at Sephiroth; they had unconsciously moved themselves into a line and stared at the floor. Sephiroth frowned at Zack, who managed with some effort to clear the mirth from his features.
"Soldiers, back upstairs," Zack said, and the three slunk gratefully away, careful not to let any of their body parts brush up against the General as they passed him. The lab techs decided it was also time to go back to work, all three smiling directly at Sephiroth as they passed. This had never happened to him before. What did they think he was? Didn't they know what he did to their previous boss? Then it occurred to him. It was because of what he did to their previous boss.
Zack went immediately over to the fridge, flicking the radio off on his way. He came out with several Tessa Bars in his hands.
"Jackpot," he said and tossed one to Sephiroth.
When they entered Lab 1 they found Tessa Romera busily moving from station to station, only slightly hindered by bright red haired leach following her every move.
"I don't think so Reno," her voice was still polite, but it was starting to get an edge on it.
"Oh, c'mon sweet cheeks, you don't know when another beastie is going to pop right though a wall, do you?"
She sighed. "No, and thank-you again, you're very handy."
He put those hands on the bench on either side of her and leaned over her suggestively, until his mouth was almost touching her ear.
"Who's your hero, honey?"
And then he was in the air. Tessa turned to find the space he had been occupying refreshingly empty and Reno fifteen feet away, on his bum, placed neatly on the floor between two lab benches. Then a wall of silver and black stepped between them.
"Hey General." Reno popped up like a jack in the box, grinning like he was expecting the both the man and the treatment. "Always nice to fly the friendly skies at the hands of one of you mako laden mutants."
"Out, Reno."
Reno opened his mouth only to have it clamped shut from behind, both his knees kicked out from under him. He knew who had him, where Sephiroth was Zack was never far. He communicated his disgust the best he could by rolling his eyes and let Zack drag him out the door into the hallway.
Tessa watched the whole scene mouth agape.
"What is he doing down here?" Sephiroth asked. She and her whole staff were still staring out the door where the other two men had disappeared.
"Remember when you told me to get a Turk to open the sealed parts of the lab?" she finally turned slowly to look at Sephiroth. "That's what they gave me."
"Tseng assigned Reno?" Was he out of his mind, sending that gremlin down into a sensitive area like the lab?
"I'm sorry," he said. "With any luck he'll get himself blown up by a booby trap."
"It doesn't look likely," she said, a tired smile on her face, "He's done four already and not a scratch on him."
Sephiroth frowned, remembering the scene when he came in. "What was he saying, something about beasties popping out of the wall?"
"Oh. Dismantling some of Hojo's old systems is releasing some bad mako, some entities, sometimes the animated dead," she shuddered. "Your guys deal with them, when they're around. Reno took care of two last night after everyone else had gone."
"You shouldn't be down here alone. You certainly shouldn't be down here with Reno alone. What time do you get in?"
"Around five."
He raised his eyebrows at her. Not at the early hour, he himself was an early riser. But he remembered some of her emails coming in with absurdly late timestamps on them.
"And when do you leave?"
She screwed up her face, softly biting her lower lip.
"Tessa?"
"Ten? Eleven?"
Sephiroth sighed.
"Elimination of mako entities and other... things is soldier work. I'll have a man here at five AM. The last Soldier will leave at six PM. You and your staff will leave with him."
"You know I thought I was in charge of this lab," she said, frowning.
"And I'd like to keep it that way. Who knows what Rufus will replace you with should you get eaten by a monster."
She looked at him, a hint of a pout on her face. He found his eyes tracing her lips again. Her lips were currently the most problematic distraction. He was grateful he couldn't see much else of her under her labcoat, and then had to bring his mind to heel as it raced off in an alarming direction.
"Please, at least until the area is clean." He said.
"OK, deal. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself though. It's not as though I've developed a social life since the move. And I can't sleep." She looked around the lab, and he now noticed how tired she seemed. "Every nook, every log entry, behind every sealed up door is a new horror. It gives me nightmares."
"Me too," he said.
"That's why I've been on such a tear to gut this place," she said, "I want it over with."
He nodded. She wrapped her arms around herself, looking suddenly frail and cold in this huge room. An angry flame erupted inside of Sephiroth. Hojo was still managing to victimize from beyond the grave. He hoped the planet held his soul in some separate dark place where pain was the medium for existence. Maybe he should have kidnapped him instead and kept him alive for torture. He took a moment imagine such a scene in gruesome detail. The flame was mollified for the moment.
Sephiroth brought his hands up and laid one on each of Tessa's folded arms, rubbing up and down in small motions. "You have to sleep. And as for the evenings... at least come eat dinner with me tonight."
"Thank-you." She smiled at him and nodded. He looked down at her for a long moment, wondering what the hell he had just done. Asked her to dinner? What was he thinking? He looked down into her eyes, momentarily fascinated by their shape. They were almost completely round. If only those damn contacts weren't keeping him from reading them.
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"What are they talking about? I have to drag every word from him and I've been working at it for two years."
Zack and Reno had situated themselves outside the lab door where they could sneak glances in. But even Zack's ears couldn't hear through the heavy glass. Reno was still rubbing his jaw where Zack had grabbed him in that death grip of his. Just for that he wasn't going to tell Zack he could read lips.
"Well she is prettier than you. But not by much, yo. You are damn cute."
Zack grunted at the redhead but didn't take his eyes off the pair in the lab.
"Hey, Shiva fuck me, he touched her! He touched her arms! I've never seen him touch anyone."
"Really?"
"Well, not… nice."
"Looks like he likes her," Reno said.
"Maybe, maybe…" a slow smile was taking hold of Zacks face.
"So, does the general go for girls or boys?"
Zack shrugged.
"You don't know which way he swings?" Reno looked at Zack, genuinely astonished.
"I've tried to fix him up with both. He didn't respond well either way." Zack remembered a particularly bad result where Sephiroth had smacked up side the head with a training manual. Who knew a paperback manual could leave such a welt? "But I'd say from the looks of things, it's girls."
"Well that is a pity then." Reno was looking rather lovingly at Sephiroth's back.
"Reno?"
"Yo, Zackman."
"Get your guttermind off the General please."
Reno grinned at him. "What's the matter my love, jealous?"
Zack leaned away from Reno and rolled his eyes. And people told Zack he was hard to take.
