A/N: Sorry it took me! This one was kind of hard to write too. Reno and Zack weren't cooperating with me at all. Well, I guess this just means that I can mess with them next time! Take that! As always, thank you to my wonderful Koi for betaing and thank you guys for reading! Tell me what you think please and enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: Don't own a thing.
Chapter 10
The lab was quiet. Machines hummed, keys and mouses clicked, chairs creaked, pens scratched against paper. The lights in the room were dim, the blue glow from the monitors providing enough to see by and reflecting off the faces of those hunched before them. Technicians flicked their gazes from one screen to the next checking on the many decryption programs running. At this time of night, when most of the computers in the complex were shut down, the large processors could temporarily hijack the network they operated on thus speeding up the process. Not by much but a little extra speed was greatly appreciated especially when they only had about thirty percent of the files decoded. After a week and a half. Yeah, that computer screen looked just about the perfect size to ram his head through.
"Do it and it's coming out of your pay check," Tseng said, eyes not leaving the files in his hands.
"Can I break something later?" Tseng glanced over at the red head slumped in front of the computer terminal. His fingers were buried in his hair, eyes opened wide to keep them from slipping shut in boredom and every few seconds he'd swipe at his twitching nose.
"We'll see. Go get some sleep, Reno."
"Don't want to."
"Why?"
"'Bout to make a break through or somethin', yo."
"A break through?"
"Yeah."
Tseng just shook his head and settled a little more into his far too comfy chair. Well, now he knew what the techs spent a good portion of their allotted budget money on. He turned the page in the file he was reading, comparing the observational notes to the written ones Reno had handed him a few hours ago. He'd already read Reno's notes through twice and now as he looked between the printed out notes and Reno's he still didn't see what had the red headed Turk so excited. The man had nearly beaten his door down banging on it that morning, interrupting his usual morning routine and confusing the hell out of him. His usual lazy demeanor had been replaced with nearly bouncy excitement, well, bouncy for Reno anyway, and he had spent most of the morning on Tseng's couch with the notebook open on the coffee table explaining the "new development" he had discovered. Which had made very, very little sense.
"Remind me again why this is a development?" he said quietly. Reno rolled his eyes and stretched, cracking his back and neck.
"You know how Genesis is super overprotective of Cloud?"
"Yes. It's rather common for those sharing similar imprisonment conditions to become close over time."
"Yeah that's what Elena said," Reno said with a snort.
"And I assume you argued with her?"
"No, just said that they're way too close for it to just be that. I mean, if Genesis had the chance to get away then he'd take it. Someone as erratic as Cloud would be left behind since he's practically useless." Tseng nodded and motioned for Reno to continue when he glanced over to him. "So Elena mentioned that maybe the freak managed to find a way to control Genesis and that's why he's so overkill protective."
"And this is why you nearly tore the door off my apartment today."
"Pretty much." Tseng just shook his head again and went back to reading the papers in his hands. Honestly, why couldn't Reno be this diligent and enthusiastic about the rest of his work? Why did he only get excited like this when there was a person that he couldn't figure out?
Probably because he spent a good portion of his life in the slums learning to read people and doesn't like it when he can't figure them out, his mind supplied. Plausible and very true. And really he couldn't complain because it was that very skill that saved him sometimes on his assignments, the ability to read someone and figure them out in five sentences or less allowed the redhead to play to the person's weaknesses and got him to his goal. He hoped that it didn't take long for Reno to figure Genesis out. The man was already highly confusing and having someone that could tell what was going through his head would help them in figuring out what he wanted to say when he couldn't say it. They had enough problems decoding and deciphering the information in Langley's files and they didn't need Genesis adding to the problem. Not when they had another one waiting to break over their heads any minute.
Absently, Tseng noticed the change in Reno's position but took no real notice of it, assuming that the man had simply found another small detail that added to his current quest. That assumption was tossed to the wind, however, when Reno let out a choked sound of horror. Now, it was fairly common for Turks to make facial expressions whether they be disgust, anger, humor, sarcasm, mock sympathy, irritation, etc. but it was highly uncommon for them to make a noise of some sort let alone reveal true horror when there were non-Turks around that could see/hear them.
Reno was one of the best Turks at hiding behind a mask, laughing whenever something revolted or angered him and showing such things didn't work to his advantage. So when Tseng heard the noise and the sound of Reno's hand slapping over his mouth, he set his papers down quickly and looked at his fellow Turk. It took quite a lot to horrify a Turk and quite a bit more to get them to pale to that shade of white. So it was with great concern that Tseng stood from his chair and leaned over Reno's shoulder, the red head rewinding the tape to show the scene that had horrified him. The first five or so minutes were perfectly normal as far as Tseng was concerned.
Genesis was pacing the length of the room, seemingly highly agitated and jerking his hands through his hair. Though he couldn't see the man's lips, he was almost positive that he was muttering to himself. At almost five minutes exactly, he stopped at the end of his bed, hands buried in his hair and remained still for perhaps a minute or so before slowly moving to his knees. He leaned forward a little more, body hiding what he was doing though Tseng suspected that he was rummaging under the bed for something. Sure enough, Genesis pulled something from under the bed and after a long few moments of consideration he bent forward a little more and lifted a long, slim black square to the back of his neck. A magnet and a powerful one at that judging by how quickly the square attached itself to Genesis's neck.
Genesis gave a great lurch, his head snapping back and his back arching, mouth open in a soundless cry of pain. He fell onto his side, body twitching and contorting as the magnet continued to cling and short out whatever electrical item had been implanted into his neck. As the contortions continued, Genesis reached a shaky hand back to his neck, fingers sliding off the square the first two tries and finally wrapped around it the third.
"Third time's the charm," Reno muttered humorlessly. Tseng merely nodded and hid a wince as Genesis ripped the magnet from his neck. The video paused when Genesis fell to the floor of the cell. With a sigh, Tseng ran a hand over his face and retook his seat. For a few moments, while he processed this new speck of information, he heard Reno typing away at the key board, bringing up the observational notes for that day if they had been decoded.
Knowing Reno, he probably had all of the observational notes for most of the cells decoded so it wouldn't take long to bring up the data. What the hell could have been in Genesis's neck that could have caused him to do that? Had it been a chip of some sort? A tracking device? Controlling device? Honestly he wouldn't be surprised if it did both.
"Personality control device," Reno muttered softly. Tseng sat up again and looked over Reno's shoulder at the observational data he had pulled up.
"Subject appears to have discovered the purpose of the latest procedure and has taken steps to… remove… the receiver…." Silence fell on the pair. Reaching over, Tseng took the mouse from Reno and began saving and closing the windows.
"Hey! Boss--!"
"Go and get some sleep, Reno."
"But--!"
"You can't guard people when you're not fully conscious."
"Why do they even need a guard?"
"Because with Strife awake there's little doubt that the two of them will get bored in the apartment and I have severe doubts that all of SOLDIER has forgotten about Genesis's desertion."
"And?" Tseng paused and looked down. Reno's gaze was fixed on the screen, trying to absorb as much information as possible before Tseng closed all of them. He knew it wasn't a trick of the light, that glint he saw in Reno's eyes as he flicked back and forth from one screen to the other was as real as he was. Tseng just shook his head and closed out the last of the windows on the screen before moving to the other.
"And it's a good opportunity to observe them without them being suspicious as to your motives," he whispered. A quick grin passed across Reno's face before he heaved a loud (fake) sigh and hauled himself out of the chair.
"Fine, fine. Why do I always have to get babysitting duty?" he grumbled and grabbed his jacket form the back of the chair.
"Because you're lazy as hell and aren't suited for much else," Tseng returned. Reno just snorted and nudged his leg as he passed on the way to the door. Tseng caught the grateful look and nodded in return, turning back to the screen to finish saving the work and see where Reno had left off. When the door slid shut, Reno heaved a sigh of relief and quickly headed towards his apartment. Tseng was right, he wouldn't do any good at all tomorrow if he was dead on his feet. Another grin passed across his face at that thought. Observing the subject in person was really much better than video and written data. He could hardly wait.
~*~
"Fucking Sephiroth and his damn overly persistent—'Oh don't worry, Zack, my arm feels completely fine now. I can totally do an all day work out no problem.' My ass! He just wants to push himself so hard that he finally gives me a fuckin' heart attack or get so damn pissed that I actually start a damn fight and kick his ass! That god damn, fucking, mule headed, a—"
"Zack?" Zack nearly dropped the carton of eggs he was holding as he whirled around to face whoever stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Cloud stared at him, head cocked to the side in curious confusion and half hidden by the doorway. His hair was ruffled from sleep and he was still dressed in his sweats and t-shirt, probably woken by Zack's ranting and banging around the kitchen.
"Sorry, Spiky, did I wake you up?" he asked, setting the eggs on the counter behind him. Cloud shook his head and walked into the kitchen.
"No. I was already up."
"Oh. Well, want breakfast? I'm making pancakes." Cloud regarded him for a moment, eyes narrowing a little in consideration.
"With blue berries and chocolate chips." At that Cloud gave a sharp nod and a small smile and sat down at the table. Zack grinned and reached for the flour. For a while Cloud watched Zack work, the brunette humming to himself as he mixed ingredients and chopped up some fruit for a fruit salad. It was always a fun thing to watch, Zack moving as though something was on fire and he had no idea how to put it out when in actuality he had everything perfectly under control. His lips twitched into a small smile as he remembered the rare days off he had from training and when Zack didn't have that much to do. He'd wake him up early and drag him up to his apartment and stuff him so full of fluffy pancakes he thought his mother's prediction would come true and that he'd actually turn into one. The image of him turning into a huge, fluffy, Cloud shaped pancake made his smile stretch even further and the addition of Zack chasing him around the apartment trying to eat him startled an abrupt laugh out of him.
"You ok, Spiky?" he asked, pausing in mixing the batter for the chocolate chip pancakes. Cloud looked up at him and nodded, a wide smile on his face as he giggled.
"Just thinking."
"Of?"
"Of the times when you'd drag me out of the barracks and try to turn me into a pancake." Zack grinned and dumped the rest of the small bag of chocolate chips into the batter.
"You needed to gain a couple pounds! And the energy from them would help you in your training!"
"You were just trying to make me fat."
"That, too. Can you get some plates down please? They're in corner cabinet to my left." Cloud stood and kicked Zack lightly on the leg as he passed to get the plates. Zack laughed and began to pour the batter onto the sizzling pan. This was the perfect way to start the day. Cooking breakfast, Cloud awake to joke with and set the table. The only thing missing was Sephiroth coming in and demanding his morning cup of coffee like the bear he usually was on the rare mornings he didn't have to been in at some god awful hour.
"Cloud? What are you doing up, kitten?" Genesis coming in and latching onto Cloud was a very poor substitute. Cloud didn't even squeak as he usually would when someone came up and wrapped their arms around him from behind. He just continued to gather the dishes and set them on the counter before leaning back into Genesis and setting his hands on the red head's arms.
"I couldn't get back to sleep and I was hungry." He said. Genesis tightened his grip a little and placed a gentle kiss on Cloud's temple.
"You could have woken me up and I'd have gotten something for you."
"But Zack's making breakfast and I've been in bed for too long."
"You still should have woken me up." Cloud smiled softly and turned in his arms, giving him a brief hug before gathering the dishes and breaking from Genesis's loosened hold to set the table. Genesis watched him for a moment before turning to the coffee maker that Zack had started not too long ago, picking up one of the mugs he had set there by habit and poured himself a cup. Zack had to shake himself and force his attention back to making breakfast, the image of Sephiroth having nearly the exact same conversation with Cloud years ago so strong that his memory nearly tricked himself into thinking it was Sephiroth standing a few feet away from him instead of Genesis. The only difference between the two scenes was that Sephiroth wouldn't be content with just a hug, he'd sweep the blonde into a kiss so deep that Cloud would be dazed for almost two full minutes, allowing Sephiroth to hold onto him for a little bit longer before he shook himself and went to complete the same chore he was working on now.
"Your pancakes are going to burn," Genesis said, causing Zack to jump and turn towards the stove. Quickly removing the batch from the pan, Zack poured the last of the blueberry batch into the pan and turned to cutting up the rest of the fruit.
"Are they done yet?" Cloud asked. Zack snorted and barely glanced up from the strawberries he was cutting.
"The blueberry ones are almost done and I haven't cooked the chocolate ones yet so just wait." A knock sounded at the front door.
"And you can put the pancakes and fruit on the table while Genesis goes to answer the door." Genesis arched an eyebrow at him, coffee mug raised to his lips as he leaned back against the counter.
"Do I look like the door man?"
"Have you ever seen Cloud in a morning sugar fix?" The eyebrow arching higher gave him his answer and Zack had to repress the laugh trembling in the back of his throat. You really wouldn't know it if you looked at him but Cloud had a sweet tooth to rival his own and his was pretty bad. He could sit on the couch and eat an entire jumbo sized bag of sour candy in an hour. Cloud could do the same only it was two bags instead of one.
"I'm not that bad."
"You're worse than me."
"No I'm not."
"Yeah you are."
"You're all horrible people for not knowing how to answer a friggin door." Reno stood in the doorway to the kitchen looking like his usual rumpled self only slightly more grumpy. Zack quirked an eyebrow at him and tossed the last of the fruit into the bowl.
"What're you doing here?" he asked. Reno grinned and snagged a piece of fruit from the bowl Cloud set on the table as he flopped into a chair.
"Breakfast." Zack snorted.
"And?"
"And…. I'll tell you after I eat, yo. You know breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Zack just rolled his eyes and smacked Cloud's hands away from the plate of chocolate chip pancakes.
"Why do I get the feeling that you're here to tell us something that'll make one of us want to break something? Namely you?"
"No idea, yo." Shaking his head, Zack slid the last of the pancakes onto the plate and poured the large amount of scrambled eggs into the pan, stirring them around so they'd cook evenly.
"Make yourself useful then, red, and make sure Cloud doesn't eat all the pancakes." Cloud scowled and kicked Zack in the back of the leg as he made his way towards the fridge. Reno snorted and shook his head. Once the eggs were done and the food was set on the table, the group took their seats and began to fill their plates. Zack snorted in amusement as he saw Cloud's eyes narrow when Reno started reaching for the plate of chocolate chip pancakes.
"If you want to keep that arm, red, I'd let Cloud get the first of those," he said. Reno paused and glanced up at the brunette.
"Is he as bad as you are?"
"Worse. Ow! Spiky!" Cloud merely raised an eyebrow at him and piled six of the pancakes onto his plate, reaching for the chocolate syrup and nearly drenching them.
"You're going to go into a diabetic coma if you eat that much sugar at once, kitten," Genesis said, beginning to fill his own plate but making no move to take some of the sugar from Cloud's.
"Will not," said the blonde, taking the first bite of actual, home cooked food in… a very long time he realized. With a frown, he tried to think back to when he had last eaten something not served on a cold metal tray. Time had begun to blend together shortly after he had arrived in that place, hooked up to machines and lying in a bed, it had seemed like a hospital at first. At first…. A ringing began in his ears, low at first then louder as he tried to recall more of where ever that place was. All he could remember at the moment was white. Pure, untainted, empty, cold white. It seemed as if everything there had been white but he knew it wasn't. Why… why couldn't he….
Don't try and remember right now, a voice whispered close to his ear, a faint touch to his shoulder dispelling the white fog and ringing.
Just concentrate on the present. You don't need to remember right now. It's not important.
But….
Hush and eat. Your breakfast is getting cold. He gave a slow nod and began eating the other half of his breakfast, letting his mind register the sugar and invade his system in a pleasant buzz. A chuckle sounded next to him, the clumping of heavy boots accompanying it as they moved around the room.
And make sure Genesis actually eats. He's been so busy worrying himself sick that he hasn't been keeping up with that even though he knows it's bad for him.
I will.
"Will what?" With an almost violent start, Cloud looked up from his plate and glanced around the room, Reno to his left, Zack to his right, Genesis across from him. Genesis swallowed the food in his mouth and cocked his head to the side slightly, silently asking while Zack and Reno stared with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
"Will what, Spiky?" Zack asked, placing a hand on Cloud's wrist. Cloud stared at it for a moment before stabbing another piece of his breakfast and shook his head.
"Nothing." Zack quirked an eyebrow but shrugged and went back to eating and his conversation with Reno. Cloud hid a smile as he continued to eat, listening to the boot clumps as they moved around the room, from behind him to Zack, watching the boy with a certain fondness before turning to Genesis, the boot clumps moving to stand behind him and place light hands on his shoulders. Cloud followed the gaze from the top of Genesis's head down to his face and further to his empty plate. As the red head picked up his coffee mug and took a few sips from it, he made no move to get any more.
He'll get sick if he keeps this up. Wordlessly, Cloud reached for the plate of eggs near him and passed them to Genesis who blinked at him, took the plate, piled some on and reached for the bacon.
"So," Genesis said, when Zack stuffed a piece of toast his mouth. "What brings a Turk by so early in the morning? I thought you only went out at night."
"Common misconception," said Reno. The Turk leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head looking highly amused.
"It just so happens that my latest assignment needs me to be awake during the day light hours."
"I thought the brothels were only active at night." Reno pouted.
"That hurt, yo."
"You'll live. I'm not that hungry, Cloud." Cloud ignored him and slipped some more fruit onto his plate. Genesis just shook his head.
"So what is this exciting new assignment then?" Zack asked, prompting another grin from Reno.
"I am so glad that you asked, Zackey-boy—"
"You aren't blowing something up are you?"
"Nope."
"Protecting something?"
"Someone."
"….If it's Aerith I'm going to skin you alive."
"Course not, yo! Chris and Claire are heading out there now so Mary and Marshall can come back."
"Good. Who is it then?" Reno's grin nearly split his face in half this time.
"You're eatin' breakfast with 'em, yo." Silence fell on the group.
"We don't need a babysitter," Genesis said quietly. The look on his face nearly sent Reno under the table in fright but he held himself together, merely smirking at the man next to him.
"Not my decision, yo. Boss man told me a couple hours ago and here I am."
"Then you can go back and tell boss man that we don't need a babysitter."
"He's not going to listen."
"Then I'll tell him." Genesis growled, standing from his seat with a screech of his chair legs.
"Finish eating first." Cloud's voice made him pause and look at the blonde, meeting the blue eyes staring at him through blonde bangs. Blue eyes shining with a hint of green in the corners. With a sigh, Genesis shook his head and resigned himself to actually eating his fill, the look on Cloud's face telling him quite clearly that he really had no choice in the matter. As Zack and Reno resumed their conversation, each a little hesitant, Genesis raised his fork to his mouth and paused. A chill, as familiar to him as the feeling of his wings unfurling from his back in preparation for flight, rushed down his spine and pooled into an icy pit in his stomach. Something, he wasn't sure what, was moving. The very air around him shifted with it, anticipation beginning to crawl slowly across his skin.
Not yet, his mind whispered to him. Not today. Tomorrow. The storm will break tomorrow. Genesis was not afraid of storms. He had once landed on the shores of Wutai during a fierce hurricane, rain pelting him in stinging bullets, the waves tossing the boat so much that he and the SOLDIERs with him had to leap off the ship and fight the water to make it to land. Back home, he had always run out into the rain despite his mother's calls and Angeal's warning about lightening and played in it until someone dragged him inside. He loved thunder and the streaks of lightening, the loud crashes and bright flares making his heart race in his chest. Yes, he had never been afraid of storms. Except this one. This one caused the chill and ice to spread throughout his body, his heart to race and his skin to crawl.
Tomorrow, was whispered in his ear again. Yes. Tomorrow. The food in Genesis's mouth turned to ash, his throat closing to choke him with it as the tension grew in his spine. Hopefully the sun would explode before then.