DISCLAIMER: Nope, not mine. If it was, Seph's attire would be simpler!


With the time difference, they arrived in the late afternoon, landing on the outskirts of the village to avoid a scene. They had determined ahead of time that the mission - clearing out some monster nests, primarily the local dragons - would wait until they had settled into the manor and found out if things would work out to suit the Professor's needs. So it was that Cloud led the group around the edges of the village to the looming, dark majesty of ShinRa Manor. "Welcome to Nibelheim's spook house."

"'Spook house'?" Sephiroth arched a brow, curious.

"Ooh, is it haunted?" Zack grinned, good humor either restored from the change of pace, or his friend's presence.

"Some people think so." Cloud shrugged. "But then, isn't that what people generally think of abandoned old mansions?"

"If there is such a phenomena as a 'ghost' I would not be surprised to find one in Hojo's old laboratory." Rayleigh muttered as Tseng let them through the gate, locking it behind them. "However, I don't believe such a thing exists."

"We'll soon find out." The Turk noted, heading up the pathway to the manor.

"It-ikkshuu!" Zack sniffled, rubbing his nose with a grimace as he looked around the main room, starting to sound a little congested. "It's dusty!"

"It's been abandoned for decades. I would expect nothing less." Rayleigh swiped a finger over the staircase, grimacing at the dust. "In any case... we need to go upstairs to get to the lab."

"The lab is in the basement, yo." Reno piped up.

"And unless you want to go through the sewers, you have to access it from the second floor passage." Rayleigh explained patiently. "You're free to do so, Turk, but I intend to stay dry."

"Second floor!" Genesis and Zack called out, the 'puppy' bounding up the first few stairs before realizing he didn't know where he was going. "Eh... ladies first?"

A wry smile said she wasn't at all fooled by his 'gallant' behavior, but she nodded and started up the stairs, the men following at a slow pace to keep even with her.

There was a general, companionable silence amongst the group as they made their way upstairs, taking a right and heading to the bedroom which also held the passage to the basement. Carefully making their way down, they paused to adjust to the automatic lighting. "I am surprised it still works..."

"Yeah... kinda weird." Zack agreed, looking about curiously as they continued down further.

At the bottom, it was basically a cavern, which surprised some of them; Hojo had such pristine labs in Midgar, it was hard to believe he'd started his most prized project here in the bowels of Nibelheim. "The lab is here?"

"Further down. There's a storage room, library and laboratory." Rayleigh gestured to the left, and Genesis and Angeal exchanged looks.

"Storage for what, precisely?" Sephiroth asked blandly, narrowed green eyes saying he had caught their idea, and wasn't thrilled with the idea of what experiments might be lurking.

"I wouldn't know, I've not been here before." She shrugged, sighing when the General diverted to the storage room, Masamune in hand, and pushed the door open. "Is this necessary?"

"Yes." He needed to know everything was safe before he could allow them to settle in. That meant exploring every room.

Opening the door, he stared at the confines of the room with distaste. Behind him, he heard Genesis ask impatiently. "Well? What's in there?"

"Coffins." He muttered, loud enough for the other SOLDIERs to hear, half turning when he heard Angeal protest and almost smiling to find Zack peeking past him. "Yes?"

"Is that where Professor Creepy hides the bodies?" Fair asked, and for the life of him, Sephiroth couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

"Zack, I doubt Professor Hojo has been hiding bodies in coffins under ShinRa Manor." Angeal shook his head, sighing at the younger First's imagination.

"Oh yeah? Well then why are they locked if he's not hiding something in them?" Zack demanded of his mentor, and Sephiroth did a double take, green eyes narrowing as he strode into the room, gloved hand palming the lock on the center coffin. Attempting to give it a simple twist to break, he was stunned to realize that it was made of some metal that wouldn't give under his normal pressure - which was enough to break most locks. Squeezing it harder, then progressively harder after that, he frowned as it refused to crumble.

"Unbelievable. The mighty Sephiroth... bested by a lock?" Genesis snickered from where he leaned in the doorway, watching him.

"It is... stubborn." The General frowned, refusing to give in to the faint tingle on his cheeks that hinted at a blush, and pulled on the lock.

Nothing.

Narrowing his eyes in irritation, he stepped back and observed the lock, then the room. Then, with a flick of his wrist, proceeded to slice the lock open with the tip of his blade. Behind him, he heard Genesis snort, and couldn't resist a faint smirk. "Now, Zack, we shall investigate why there is such a difficult lock on the..."

He trailed off, having pushed the thick lid off, surprisingly weighty, but no issue. The issue was the perfectly preserved male lying inside, still and pale as death, swathed in red, with raven black hair. "Ho-ly -"

"Dear Goddess, he was hiding bodies." Genesis muttered.

"I wonder who he was..." Angeal voiced, glancing at Tseng and the wide-eyed Reno. "Any idea? Or is this classified?"

"I -"

"Shiiiiit, he's alive, yo!" Reno hissed, cutting Tseng off with a gesture as crimson eyes snapped open in the confines of the coffin.

"Who has disturbed my slumber?" The man's voice was deep and raspy from disuse, red eyes looking up at the person closest - Sephiroth - and blinking, as if startled. "Who are you?"

"Who hasn't heard of the mighty General Sephiroth?" Genesis wanted to know, intrigued.

"Sephiroth?" The man sat up stiffly, causing the General to back up a bit to give him space, narrowing his eyes as he looked him over. "How... how old are you?"

"Twenty-three." Green eyes narrowed similarly. "You know of me."

"Yes." The raven head lowered slightly, a mix of emotions flashing through his eyes.

"Tell me your name." To say Sephiroth was asking stretched the term a bit, but the formerly imprisoned man seemed not to mind it. In fact, much to the silver General's dismay, he was being ignored - though not maliciously. It seemed he was lost in thought.

"Twenty-three years..." The vibrant eyes closed, husky voice a mere whisper. "Has it been so long...?"

"You have been his captive since I was born?" Sephiroth questioned, holding up a hand when someone - likely Rayleigh - scoffed at the idea.

"Yes." He sighed the word, looking at the General suddenly, wine colored eyes alight. "Your mother... what of Lucrecia?"

"I have never met her." He confessed, and felt an unnamed emotion well in his chest as the light died in the other man's eyes. He'd looked so... hopeful... at the thought of news of his mother... "You knew her."

"I thought I had." He drew one knee to his chest and rested his arm on it, something gold catching the light. Luckily, the man didn't notice the brief looks at it, a clawed metal gauntlet of sorts covering his left forearm. "You look so much like her."

Sephiroth felt his chest tighten at the words, startled to hear, for a second time that day, that he looked like someone. No one, including Hojo, had claimed he looked like Jenova... but... apparently, he looked enough like Lucrecia that even this stranger could see her in him. For a moment, it was on the tip of his tongue to ask about her, but he couldn't bring himself to do so in front of the others.

But, that simply made up his mind. "You will come with us."

Red eyes widened in shock at the commanding tone, but he would not be so easily ordered. "Why?"

"I wish to talk to you further, but as we will be making use of the laboratory down the hall, it will be easier to have you come with us." Not entirely truthful, but it wasn't a lie.

A fine black brow arched incredulously. "You think to persuade me to willingly re-enter that madman's lair?"

"ShinRa Manor, including these areas below, has been abandoned for decades." Sephiroth informed him. "Hojo moved his operations to Midgar."

"I see." There was a slight tensing, barely discernible to the SOLDIER General, and then the man was airborn, flipping backwards in the air and landing, soundlessly, at the head of the coffin. "I suppose, it is better to be free and wandering, then locked up here, where there is always the chance he will return for me."

There was a long moment of silence, before Zack gave a crow of delight. "That was awesome!"

"If a little dramatic." Genesis muttered, flustering at the raised brows given to him by the other three Firsts. "What?"

"You, Genesis, have no right to call anyone dramatic." Angeal retorted, crossing his arms.

Crimson eyes blinked at Genesis and Angeal, apparently deducing that something was amiss - not that it wasn't obvious, from their paleness, whitening hair, and Genesis' dry, cracking skin. Then, he looked at Zack, realizing he, too, was not in the best of conditions, obviously ill.

A dark brow rose. "General. May I ask why you were sent on a mission with ill subordinates?"

"All will be explained in time." Sephiroth assured him, idly flicking his sword at the other nearby lock and checking that the casket was empty, before moving back to the first and checking it. Also empty. "We may move on now."

"To the lab?" Rayleigh asked, all ready turning to go.

"Yes. I will take point. Genesis, if you would take up rear guard...?" At the nod from the auburn haired man, he gestured to their newest companion. "You are with me. Come."

With unexpected docility, or perhaps out of sheer curiosity, the man followed the General further into the basement facility, through the double door passage at the end of the cavern. Any expression he may have had, though, disappeared into stony silence as they entered the small, but still intact lab, his eyes following Rayleigh as she walked around, checking the equipment with a thoughtful look.

"Will it do?" Sephiroth asked softly.

"It should." She gestured to the table, glancing at Genesis. "I assume you can sit still for the procedure?"

"What, exactly, is the 'procedure'?" He asked warily, sitting down and crossing his arms, somewhat comforted at having Angeal, Sephiroth, and even the Puppy, at his back.

"I'm going to draw blood first, and you're going to tell me when you started degrading." She instructed, gesturing for Cloud to bring her supplies over; somehow, the young infantry had gotten tasked with carrying them, likely because, if a monster attacked, it was better that the SOLDIERs were able to defend the others.

Genesis frowned, absently rubbing his shoulder. "There was an... incident in August."

"Incident?" She prodded, raising a brow. "Take off your coat, please. I need to access your arm."

"Yes, incident." He removed his crimson duster, sighing at the memory. "Sephiroth, Angeal and I have a habit of sparring together, at times, in one of the VR rooms. Normally, it's fine fun. This time, I suppose things got a little out of hand..."

"A little?" Angeal scoffed, and Genesis arched a brow, retorting venomously.

"At least nobody was killed."

"That was low, Genesis." The burly First growled, putting an arm around Zack's shoulders when the teen took a step back, eyes wide.

"My apologies." The crimson Commander murmured, frowning. While he had meant to needle Angeal about it, he hadn't meant to traumatize Zack further. "Zack... I don't blame you for defending yourself against Angeal, even that far. He can be stubborn when he wants something."

"You… don't?" Zack found himself gaping a little. Genesis, supposedly Angeal's best friend, didn't blame him?

"Nor do I." Sephiroth was, actually, glad this had come up - it wouldn't have occurred to him that Fair blamed himself for something Angeal forced on him. In fact, it was something he himself had forced upon the youth by sending him to Modeoheim instead of pushing to go himself. He should have dealt with Angeal and Genesis - something he'd known all along - but, he couldn't help but wonder if he had actually saved them by sending Zack. "Whatever you did, is invalid. You brought him - them - back in the end."

"Ow." Angeal's startled tone interrupted Zack's shock and anything else Sephiroth might've said, one of his hands clasped over the inside of his other arm as Rayleigh drew back with a syringe and a vial of his blood. "I thought you were doing Genesis first?"

"I realized it would be best to compare you. And perhaps the General and SOLDIER Fair." She explained, sticking a label onto the vial and setting it aside before moving to Zack, who offered his arm willingly, blinking in confusion at her. "I wish to compare the three of them, to determine why the individuals involved in Project G degraded but not Project S, and you, Zack, will be the baseline we compare the other Firsts to."

"It may be simply the difference that Hollander used dead Jenova Cells, while living ones were used on Sephiroth." The temporarily forgotten addition to their group spoke up softly from his position flanking the door. Once all eyes were on him, though, he seemed to lose any inclination to say more.

"I did not realize you were knowledgeable of the Jenova Projects themselves, Valentine." Tseng noted mildly.

"Valentine?" Reno's eyes widened, along with his jaw. "You mean -"

"Vincent Valentine." Sephiroth stared, unable to help himself. This man... could he really be the one Veld had spoken of, his former partner, and lover to Lucrecia Crescent? His potential father?

"You've heard of me." It was a question and a comment all in one, and the General couldn't help but note it mirrored his own speech patterns.

"Veld told me of you, yes." He nodded, a faint smile touching the corners of his lips at the way his red eyed gaze sharpened, yet he said nothing. "He is the Director of the Turks."

"I see." He squared his shoulders, and remarked softly, if pointedly. "You have me at a disadvantage, knowing my name."

"You know who I am." Sephiroth retorted, a faint smirk playing about his lips, for some reason, enjoying hedging on the topic of providing his companion's names. Perhaps because Vincent had not willingly given his own.

Wine red eyes narrowed slightly, and though his mouth was hidden by the collar of his mantle, one could imagine he was scowling due to the draw of his finely arched brows. Debating whether to give in or simply stare him down, Sephiroth half turned at Genesis' gasp. "By the Goddess, did you see that glare?"

"Genesis." Angeal and Sephiroth echoed each other, annoyed and exasperated with the dramatic First.

"Seriously, it was like Sephiroth version two." Zack agreed, dumbfounded. "Do it again! Angeal, watch."

"Zack!" Sephiroth growled, turning to loom over the younger swordsman. "SOLDIER First Class Fair, I do not need you encouraging Genesis' behavior."

"Ho-ly..." Reno whistled, amazed. "Looks just like 'im!"

"I do not suggest continuing to try to achieve such a glare, Reno." Tseng advised softly. "You seem to have forgotten, we are either dealing with a Former Turk, who has likely been... enhanced... or a SOLDIER General, who has unquestionablybeen enhanced."

"Ain' no such thing as a 'former'Turk, yo."

"Do you imply you wish to... reintegrate me?" Vincent asked, voice deathly soft. "Or perhaps you wish to dispose of me."

"There will be none of that." Sephiroth interrupted curtly, narrowing his eyes at Tseng, then, once the Wutain nodded, turning a stern look to Vincent. "You will stay with us, and no report will be issued unless by my hand."

Vincent stared at him, curiosity eating away at his ire. "You play a dangerous game. You do not know me, what has been done to me, and you consider hiding my release from the President."

"Not consider." The General smiled coolly, then shrugged, turning his attention back to Rayleigh. "My friends are dying. The President would do nothing but finish the job. Really, why should I care about reporting to him?"

"Seriously, y-" Reno clamped his mouth shut, deciding it was best not to add his agreement, if the General was going to glare at him that way.

"Sephiroth..." Angeal rested a hand on his friend's shoulder, attempting to calm him.

"If you are so concerned about your friends, I suggest removing your coat and letting me get my final blood sample so we can get working." Rayleigh interrupted, coming over with a prepped syringe and vial.

Wide green eyes blinked down at her, and he sighed, reaching to unbuckle the single buckle at his waist that held his leather coat together, loosening a buckle hidden under the collar of his duster to detach his pauldron from his harness before slipping his right arm out of the sleeve and offering it to the lady professor. "Here. Take what you need."

Rayleigh finished taking his blood, labelled the vial, and returned to the workstation she and Cloud had set up. The others watched, with varying degrees of interest, as she used various means to examine the blood, making notes onto a notepad beside her. She made a small sound of surprise, looking between Genesis and Angeal. "I will need a full account of the circumstances causing your degradation."

"Is it not enough to know we are?" Genesis demanded. "What do you need to know that for?"

"Something is different." She shook her head, lips pursed. "You both are degraded. You are degrading. However, Angeal stopped."

"Wait, what?" Zack approached the researcher, blue eyes warily hopeful. "Angeal's not degrading anymore?"

"No, and if we can figure out the difference in the causes of Angeal's degradation and Genesis' -"

"Then we can stop Genesis from degrading!" The teen grinned, overjoyed, and turned to share his glee with his mentor - who was frowning uneasily. "Angeal?"

"Zack..." He frowned, wondering how to word this... delicately. "There's one very clear difference between the... incidents... that led to my and Genesis' current states."

Watching the four SOLDIERs grow somber, Rayleigh tapped her foot impatiently. "Well? What was it?"

"I died."