A/N: Looky, I updated within...-counts- Two days! This is how fast I would normally be updating if I didn't have stuff to do. To those of you who did not get direct responses from me on your reviews (-cough-everyone-cough-) here ya go:

Jacen Starslayer- How could you forget Saan's name? ;-; Joking. Your Rufus comments amused me and you'll find that I gave you more of those interactions. And used 'your' quote. -wiggles eyebrows-

hyourin-kusabana- I have never seen so many exclamation points in the same message! Thank you! Peace in! (Or...something)

Rai-neko-dono- Teh Great Phoenix heard your prayers! Fear not; Tseng got better. The wonders of Cure. 8D And, yey! Now I have a Creepy-stalker-fan-girl-level-2! Saying that like, "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go," is hilarious.

Crystalfeathers: o.o. o3o.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, America's Funniest Home Videos, nor 'Amy'. I do however own this plot and a boss who is Asian. Coincidence? I think not.

Edited on 6 Oct 2010 for goofs and errors. Also, I don't have that boss no more. Poor Nghiem… We kind of abandoned him… -laughs guiltily-

Irony is a wonderful thing, no? That's what I thought as I stood with Rufus in the elevator as we descended. We hadn't uttered a word to one another since we left his father's office. My first official meeting with the President, and it was about what had happened in Junon. In other words, I'd nearly lost my job.

Tseng had spilled the beans about what occurred the day before. I didn't blame him for it. I felt proud of him. He was the only one of us doing his job. The only one of us noble enough to...

President Shin-Ra hadn't been all that happy with us Turks. Tseng had had it easy since he had told the truth and he was the one that kept us from killing one another. Ronnie didn't really get punished all that bad. It seemed Shin-Ra liked his desk-job boy; that or he just didn't want to bother with someone so low on the food chain. I, on the other hand. Well, with my record, I had almost gotten eaten alive. Rufus had saved me. That's where the irony came in.

The boy had been crafty. He'd shown my attempt to choke him as only a defensive maneuver I had made to try and save Ronnie (which it was) and mentioned the fact that I had saved his ass twice that day. So, in all, I'd done more help than harm. He also made a jab at me by saying I wasn't strong enough to injure a kitten. Rufus managed to save me, amuse his father, and piss me off all in one paragraph. The kid was just full of talent.

However, by amusing Shin-Ra, he had also put me on the President's radar. Starting that day I wasn't to be guarding Rufus anymore; I was to guard the President. Rufus loved the idea. Said that his father and I could both benefit from it. I knew what the truth was, though. The kid was just happy to get rid of me. I was one of the few people in Shin-Ra that would take none of his shit. With me gone, there would be no more thorn in the side of his ego.

More of the irony had to do with the fact that the President was flying to Junon that day, as well. So, I was off once again to the city with the giant canon. The place I so screwed up at. Haha, heehee, haha, ho.

As the elevator continued its decent, I pulled my pistol out of its holster and absentmindedly began to shine its barrel. I ignored Rufus' curious look. I couldn't, however, ignore his question.

"You never fired a shot when you went against AVALANCHE. Why is that?"

I frowned, "Because it wasn't loaded."

"You don't load your gun?" Rufus asked amusedly, "What good is it, then? May as well not carry it."

I put the gun back in my holster then turned my head to look at the boy, "I still use the Materia within it. If I'm careful, Thundara won't kill whoever I fire it at."

"You're afraid to kill people. An odd trait for a Turk," Rufus smiled.

"The people we're fighting," I said looking away and at the reflective elevator doors. "They have families. They have lives. Who am I to take them away from their loved ones? They don't leave their families thinking 'I'm going to die today.' If they did, they probably wouldn't leave. AVALANCHE is just like SOLDIER in that way. Just a bunch of young boys doing what they think is right."

"Hmph," Rufus grunted sceptically, "SOLDIERs are ready to die for Shin-Ra. They know what they're signing up for—"

"No," I interjected. "They're not. They're willing to lay down their lives for their family. Their friends. Not you; not your father; and definitely not Shin-Ra. But, they don't really think of dying. They're young. They think they're invincible."

Rufus looked at me and I looked back. He was frowning, "You're speaking from experience."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"A lifetime of experience," I replied. "Not all of it mine."

"How old are you?" Rufus asked.

I thought the question was odd, but I replied anyways, "Twenty-two."

"And yet you seem to speak with way more wisdom than even the President could ever hope to have. Why? What happened to make you like this?" Rufus asked.

I was a little surprised. He wasn't making fun of me. He was genuinely curious. Genuinely interested in what I had to say. It was a side of Rufus I hadn't seen before.

"It's hard to explain," I began. "I'm an empathetic person, Rufus. War is hell for me. It's hell for everyone, but for different reasons. Most people just hear a death toll and think, 'Damn. That's a lot.' But, they're really not that affected by it. I used to be that way. And, then, I started to think about the smaller picture. Each one of those men and women had a mother; a father; maybe a brother and sister. They had friends. They used to laugh, cry, and be angry. Now, they won't."

I trailed off. I hated to admit it, but my own speech was about to bring me to tears. Rufus remained silent for a little while.

"You weren't just a pilot."

I smirked, "I see someone's been reading through my file. And, no, I wasn't."

"Then what were you?" Rufus asked. His tone was becoming demanding.

I sighed. I was going to stop while I was ahead, or he'd figure out my big secret. No matter how much 'bonding' we had just accomplished within the past few minutes, I had no doubt he still would have no trouble strapping me to a table and dissecting me like the alien I was.

"Leave it, Rufus," I replied as I looked back at the doors. "There are some scars best left hidden."

Rufus was frowning again, "You're changing the subject."

"I am."

The boy glared at the doors. Luckily for me, we were close to the second floor by now. Then I could flee to the safety of my house before I had to come back later and escort the damn President to Junon... Rufus wouldn't be desperate enough to stalk me after I got back to find out about my past, would he? Nah. I hoped...

"Load your gun," Rufus spoke suddenly. I actually jumped.

"What?" I asked.

"Load your gun," Rufus said again. He was scarily serious.

"Why?"

"You never know what could happen, Saan," he continued. "Last time you got lucky. Dark Nation saved you when your Materia didn't work. Those rocks aren't always reliable. There are spells out there that can prevent you from using them. Then where does that leave you?"

I remained silent as Rufus cocked a brow at me. I hadn't heard of that before. He did have point. If my Thundara didn't work...

"That leaves you dead, Saan. I suggest you load your gun before you join the President later today. AVALANCHE might feel like giving it another go. You never know," Rufus trailed off.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. I couldn't tell if he was toying with me or giving me a hint, but I decided to listen to him anyway. Taking the magazine out of my pocket and the gun from my holster, I jammed the magazine into the butt of the gun and drew back the slide. I made sure to uncock the gun afterwards.

"Happy now?" I asked, looking at Rufus.

Rufus only smiled. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open with their familiar swish. I gave Rufus a look before exiting the elevator. When Rufus didn't follow me out, I looked back at him. The doors were already closing.

"Forgot something," he said with a smirk.

He was lying. That was obvious. As the doors shut on him, I couldn't help but think, 'Asshole.' He probably didn't have to come down with me in the first place; just decided to for the fun of it. Probably to get away from his father. Regardless, I smiled as I began to walk towards the stairs. Maybe my little speech would knock some sense into him. A little, tiny portion of some sense. One could only hope.

FFVII—

Ronnie wasn't home when I got there. He had probably gotten out of the President's 'debriefing' and went straight back to work. Technically, I was doing the same thing. If there was one thing the President of Shin-Ra was good at, it was scaring you shitless. He could probably make his own son think he was going to fire him if he wanted to. But, then again, Rufus was a smart boy. I wouldn't put it past him to see through anything his father came up with.

The first place I went to when I got home was the fridge. I hadn't eaten anything at all yet, and there was no way in hell I was going to fly all the way to Junon in a helicopter with President Shin-Ra staring at me as my stomach made weird noises as it ate itself. That would have been beyond awkward.

Upon opening the refrigerator, I noticed that we needed to do some major food shopping. And, by we, I meant Ronnie. We had set up this little system that one of us would go shopping, and then come next time the other would go. Well, it was Ronnie's turn. So, yeah...

I didn't spot anything I could eat that didn't need cooking, so I settled with grabbing a glass of milk. Babies got away with living off milk, why couldn't I? After I poured myself a glass, the phone rang. The house phone. The phone that was located over near the stairs more than six feet away. I frowned and put up the milk, grabbed my drink, and walked towards the phone. Those first three rings weren't going to kill whoever was on the other side of the line.

I picked up just before the fourth ring.

"Hello?" I asked before taking a drink of milk.

"Saan?" A deep voice asked, "This is Sephiroth."

"Pfft!" There went my milk... Some remained in my mouth, though. Ok, it was actually in my windpipe, but least it didn't wind up on the floor along with the rest.

". . ." The man on the other end of the line remained silent as I attempted to clear the liquid from my breathing tube.

"Wha-cough, cough-What?" I asked after almost a minute of coughing.

"Sephiroth," the man reiterated.

I had heard that name from the weird women in Sector 8 a while back. Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal, if I remembered correctly. Up until today I had only ever seen Angeal. And then, it was only once. Most of the SOLDIERs tended to stay on floor forty-nine.

"...Why are you calling? Aren't you, like, the General of SOLDIER, or something?" I asked.

Sephiroth was silent for another moment before replying, "Something like that. The President is about to leave. I'll be with you on your way to Junon. He's—"

"Too lazy to call me himself and tell me ya'll are about to leave?" I asked taking another drink of milk. Whatever was on the floor could wait. The mop was in the utility room. I was using a cord phone. Do the math.

"..."

I sighed, "I'm on my way."

I decided to spare Sephiroth anymore of my 'strange' antics and hung up first. I frowned at the puddle of milk that lay on the floor. Drinking the rest of my milk, I put the glass on the kitchen table and went back into the utility room. Well, at least I was going to have a SOLDIER on the trip with me. If AVALANCHE tried anything, I could just let Sephiroth handle it. Plus, with Sephiroth there, I wouldn't have to talk to the President...

FFVII—

When I got to the President's office, he and Sephiroth were standing near his desk talking about something. I don't think I took two steps into the office before I spotted Sephiroth. He was kind of hard to miss.

One, the guy had amazingly long hair. Two, his hair was silver; not platinum blond, not gray, but silver. Three, he was wearing one of the most bad ass leather outfits I had ever seen. Four, the odachi he was carrying was almost as long as he was tall, if not longer. Summary: Drool.

Both Shin-Ra and Sephiroth turned and looked at me causing me to resume my trek across the giant office. It might have been a little awkward for me just to stand there and stare. Even more so if they knew I was doing it.

"Ms. Darnell, this is Sephiroth," President Shin-Ra began. "He will be accompanying us to Junon."

"So, I heard," I muttered.

Sephiroth nodded in my direction. It was supposed to be his way of recognizing my existence, but I stuck my hand out for him to shake regardless. A fine, silver eyebrow rose in amusement, but he shook my hand anyway. I blinked as I pulled my hand from his. His eyes were cat eyes. Silver hair and cat eyes. It was like a bad anime cliché, only in real life. Something was obviously not human about him, and I was quite curious to find out what it was.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, it's time we left," Shin-Ra said. "I haven't got all day."

Sephiroth nodded and followed after the President. I followed after Sephiroth and glowered at the old man in front of him. I'd rather have been doing anything than guard the fat man that was Rufus' father. There was something about the way he held himself and the way he ordered people that disturbed me. I considered him a megalomaniac because of his power status within the company. But, I don't think I really understood the weight of that one word and how close Shin-Ra actually was to it.

When we got to the helicopter, President Shin-Ra was the first to enter the cabin. That was only natural considering he was the president and all. The man nearly took up two seats. I resisted the urge to shudder.

I climbed in after him and decided sitting across from the old man would be better than being squished up alongside him. As I slid into my seat, I smirked. Sephiroth was last. Imagining him fighting with that sword of his to get it to fit was pretty amusing. Kind of like when a kid does; running through the house with a broom only to clothesline themselves when they try to go through a door. America's Funniest Home Videos was such a bad influence.

Unfortunately, when Sephiroth entered, he easily slid into the seat beside me and placed his sword between the bench and the cabin doors. I frowned. I had wanted to see such a 'badass' dude make a fool out of himself.

Sephiroth was a quick little bugger and managed to catch the look I had given him.

"I can try it again, if you'd like," he said emotionlessly.

My eyes widened. Not only had he seen the look, but he had accurately read it, too. To-a-T read it...

"No, that's fine," I squeaked before turning my attention to President Shin-Ra.

Boy, why did I ever do that? His face was scrunched up in confusion, which, combined with his wrinkles, made him look. Well, fugly would have been a good term. How the hell the man ever produced Rufus was beyond me. Again, I resisted the urge to shudder.

"When we arrive in Junon," the President began as the helicopter blades started to hum above us, "you are not to leave my side for any reason. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," was Sephiroth's robotic response.

I blinked and couldn't help but ask, "What if I have to go to the bathroom, sir?"

President Shin-Ra gave me a blank look, "I don't much like jokes, Ms. Darnell."

"It's...an honest question...sir," I hesitated. Had to at least attempt to get on his good side.

"Then ask first," he replied grumpily. "Any more stupid questions, Ms. Darnell?"

My brow creased. What crawled up his ass?

"No, sir," I replied.

Shin-Ra seemed pleased with my answer and turned his attention outside the window. I cast Sephiroth a sideways look. He had his arms crossed and was staring at the floor with all his might. If he stared any harder, he probably could have borne a hole right through the metal. Once again, he sensed me looking at him. His eyes flicked towards me though his head stayed put.

"Yes, Saan?" He asked.

"That's a very interesting floor," I mused. I smirked as his eyes narrowed just a bit.

"I wouldn't tease him if I were you, Ms. Darnell," Shin-Ra interrupted. "That man has enough power in his hand to destroy my entire skyscraper." Shin-Ra nodded towards the shrinking Shin-Ra Building.

"You're exaggerating again, Mister President," Sephiroth replied, not a trace of emotion in his voice. It wasn't that the man was a robot. It was just... He seemed to me to be very, very bored.

"Am I?" Shin-Ra asked, casting a sideways glance at the General. "I think I know what my endeavours are worth, Sephiroth."

I frowned. Endeavour? As in, "I spent a lot of time and money on this thing?" The way he said that... It was as if he thought he owned Sephiroth. My frown quickly became a glare. I hated people like that. People who thought they owned anyone under them. I guess that meant I hated most of Shin-Ra. There were few people that I had ever really hated in my lifetime. Shin-Ra was well on his way to becoming one of them.

Sephiroth didn't respond. Just continued to stare at the President, his arms folded across his chest. I wiped the scowl off my face just as Shin-Ra looked at me. Somehow I managed to flash him a small smile. He grunted and looked back out the window.

I stared hard at the side of his face; picking it apart as I thought of many not-so-happy thoughts. It was going to be a long ride to Junon. I could tell that already. I wanted to vent. Vent to Sephiroth about the asshole we were guarding. But, naturally, I couldn't do that with the idiot in the helicopter with us. So, instead, I settled for staring absentmindedly at the floor. It worked for Sephiroth, it sure as hell could work for me.

FFVII—

When we arrived at Junon, I was the first one out of the helicopter. It was funny to see Shin-Ra's surprised face when I jumped out of my seat before him. I almost ruined my defiant action by tripping over Sephiroth's sword, though. Luckily, he moved it out my way just a bit. I think he knew what I was trying to do.

I slid open the cabin door and, as soon as my feet touched the ground, I stormed towards the building. President Shin-Ra was right on my heels.

"Ms. Darnell!" He shouted at me. I smirked and turned back around to face him.

"Yes, Mister President?" I asked innocently.

He was glaring at me, "What did I tell you?"

"To not leave your side for any reason—"

Shin-Ra opened his mouth to say something, but I continued.

"—unless I have to go to the bathroom."

I almost laughed. Shin-Ra had almost pouted at me. The fat man with the mustache almost pouted! Rufus frowned every once and a while, but he never pouted. For some reason, my foul mood evaporated in the blink of an eye. I was dealing with a moronic megalomaniac. The job was going to be a piece of cake.

"Sorry, sir," I smiled, "It's a real emergency."

Sephiroth strolled up behind the President, hair blowing loosely behind him as the helicopter began to take off. He looked like an over-sized guard dog. No, scratch that. Given his eyes, I'd say it was more like an over-sized guard cat. One that was very bored and carried a long, pointy stick.

I turned my eyes towards Sephiroth and gave him a smirk. I was trying to convey the point that I was toying with the President. I think he understood, but instead of getting a smile like I'd hoped, I only got a slightly shocked blink. A very slightly shocked blink.

"Fine," Shin-Ra barked, "but hurry it up. I have a speech to deliver soon."

Turning, I walked toward the doors again. I frowned. A speech? President Shin-Ra was in Junon to deliver a speech? My eyes widened as my step faltered. Oh, shit. That meant he was going to be out in the open. AVALANCHE was going to have an easy target if the President was going to be talking to the masses. I didn't give a damn how powerful Sephiroth was, even he couldn't handle the forces AVALANCHE would send to take out the old man.

That's where I came in. I was supposed to help. Help with what? I sucked! Sephiroth was the damn General of SOLDIER and they thought I could help him? No, I thought bitterly as I entered the Junon Building. Rufus thought I could help. I grit my teeth together as I stormed towards the bathroom. The little prick probably knew something would happen and gave his daddy the worst possible person to protect him.

Then it hit me. As I opened the door to the girl's restroom, I realized why Rufus had told me to load my gun. I paused and took my gun from its holster. It was a lot heavier with the full magazine in it. The Thunder Materia winked at me as I stared at it. If something happened, it wouldn't do me much good. The bullets would. I learned a long time ago that magic drained its user the more one cast in one go. The bullets would protect me from running out of energy.

I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, "Rufus, you better not try anything..."

I really didn't have to go to the bathroom; that was just something I'd cooked up. So, instead, I went into one of the stalls and dialed Ronnie's number. He answered after the second ring.

"Your assignment's over already?" He asked. He knew who was calling and didn't bother to say 'hello.'

"No, just beginning. I'm hiding out in the bathroom," I replied as I inspected my fingernails.

"Why?"

"Eh, I hate the President. He gives off bad vibes."

"Like, hasn't bathed in a week bad vibes, or kicks a kitten bad vibes?"

I frowned, "Kicks a kitten. I said bad vibes, not bad smells..."

"Well, it's either your job, or your morals. Both opinions affect the other. Really. How's it different than scooping Chocobo poop?" I could hear the grin in his voice.

"You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" I growled.

Ronnie laughed, "Yesh."

"Anyways, I gotta go. Talk to ya later."

"See ya, Saan."

I hung up and pocketed my phone. Once again, I stared down at my pistol. It came down to morals or your job, eh? Which did I value more? That one was easy: morals. But, Ronnie had been right. Both affected the other. If something happened to Shin-Ra, no matter how much I despised the man, I would feel guilty about it. Guilt is a very heavy feeling to carry. Right, then...

After holstering my gun, I stepped out into the hallway. And nearly got scared shitless...

"JEEZUS!" I exclaimed, barely dodging the pauldron on Sephiroth's left shoulder.

After overreacting and nearly stumbling into the wall, I turned and stared at Sephiroth, mouth agape. Once again, one of those silver brows were raised at my expense.

"The hell, man?" I asked.

He just continued to give me the same slightly amused stare, "The President decided it would be a good idea to use the restroom, as well."

"And so you decided to stand in front of the girl's bathroom door?" I asked.

Sephiroth turned his head away and resumed his staring contest with the floor, "I hadn't expected you to come out so soon."

"Oh, well, then," I said sarcastically. "Perhaps you should expect the unexpected."

Sephiroth's eyes flicked back towards me and narrowed. It was amazing how such a little gesture could seem so damn intimidating.

The men's bathroom door swung open with a loud smack as Shin-Ra stepped into the hallway. He was grumbling about something as he stormed past Sephiroth and me. Sephiroth pushed himself off the wall and stalked after the President like the giant, black cat that he was. I frowned.

"Mister President," I called after him firmly. Both he and Sephiroth stopped and looked at me.

I hesitated. I hadn't really thought of what I was going to say to warn him. What could I say? 'Yo, you're about to be shot. Just thought ya should know.' Yeah, no, I didn't think that would fly too well.

"Yes, Mr. Darnell?" Shin-Ra asked impatiently.

I took a deep breath, "I think AVANLANCHE is going to try to attack you."

"I'm quite well aware of that, Saan, that's why I brought Sephiroth. Now, will you stop your incessant worrying and come on? I have a speech to deliver and, if you prevent me from doing that, I'll do more than take it out of your paycheck."

Shin-Ra turned on his heels and stormed on down the hallway. I stared after him. That idiot was so full of himself, he couldn't even listen to reason. I glared at Sephiroth; he merely stared back. Resisting the urge to growl, I stormed past the silver-headed man, only to be pulled back by my arm. Furious, I snapped my head back to look at him.

"Where did you hear that?" He asked lowly.

I blinked. "Rufus. He mentioned something about it."

Sephiroth let go of my arm and looked away thoughtfully. "He knows more than he's letting on." He looked back at me, "If anything happens today, stay with the President. I'll take care of the rest."

FFVII—

I nervously looked around the crowd of people standing before the podium. I was never much one for big crowds; so, standing up in front of hundreds of people with cameras pointed at me made me somewhat anxious. Ok, so the cameras weren't pointed at me, per se, but close enough.

Shin-Ra, indeed, was delivering a message to the masses and there I was alongside him, standing as stiff as a board with my hands clasped behind my back. Junon was sweltering, again, and my suit did not help any whatsoever. The heat combined with my nervousness made me feel faint on more than one occasion. Luckily for me, Sephiroth was standing on the other side of the President; so, if I was to croak there'd still have been at least one person guarding the old man.

I didn't even pay attention to what the President was saying. I was too busy focusing on not passing out; that, and I was nervous. I was nervous about the cameras; nervous about the people; and, nervous by an attack by AVALANCHE. My eyes constantly darted from one face to another as they tried to pick out at least one person who looked suspicious. I didn't have much luck. Maybe that was a good thing.

Every once in a while, I'd glance sideways at Sephiroth. Only about half of those times did he look back at me, and then his eyes would focus back on the crowd and start scanning, as well.

Shin-Ra wound up talking for nearly thirty minutes. He had just begun wrapping up when I noticed something suspicious. I'm not sure I even noticed it, really. I just got that strange feeling people tended to get. My attention shifted to the back of the crowd. A few of the people had started moving closer to the front. I wouldn't have thought that much of it if they hadn't been so...pushy.

I saw Sephiroth suddenly move out of the corner of my eye. Then, there was a gunshot and something collided painfully with my shoulder. It almost knocked me backward. I didn't need a rocket scientist to tell me what had happened. I'd been shot.

Holding my injured arm close to my body, I shoved Shin-Ra with my left.

"Go!" I screamed.

I didn't know if he heard me over the other screams, but he took off for the safety of the building, anyways. I managed to take a few steps before a hail of gunfire erupted behind me. Gasping, I turned around to check on Sephiroth. My eyes widened in shock.

His hand was held out in front of him and before that was a translucent, hexagonal-shaped shield. I watched in awe as the bullets bounced harmlessly off it. Sephiroth soon noticed I was still there.

"Go!" He shouted at me, the same urgency in his voice that mine had when I shouted at the President.

I nodded once and ran towards the doors. Shin-Ra had already disappeared into the building, and he was probably long gone. Kicking open the door as it tried to shut on me, I fumbled with my gun holster. The asshole that shot me managed to get my good arm; and, drawing my gun with my left was proving a little difficult.

Eventually, I pulled the weapon out and cocked it. Shin-Ra was only a couple of yards in front of me. It was a good thing that he was overweight; it made him slower. Which, made it easier for me to catch up with the man.

"Wait!" I called out to him.

Surprisingly, he did. I never slowed as I raced towards him. Something shifted behind the President further down the hall. I gasped.

"Shin-Ra!" I screeched.

The old man turned and yelped. An AVALANCHE member had been hiding inside, it seemed, and now had the perfect opportunity to shoot the President.

My body moved of its own accord. Stepping in front of Shin-Ra, I aimed at the enemy's knee and fired.

Two gunshots reverberated off the walls.

The next shot I fired hit the man between the eyes. He didn't feel it.

Me, on the other hand.

I couldn't breathe.

And then came the pain. Such an excruciating pain that I hadn't felt since the time I broke my arm when I was six. I stumbled forward a little and fell to the floor. I had tried to brace my fall with my hands, but when my right hand hit the floor, my shoulder felt like it was on fire. It gave out and I hit face-first.

I didn't know what I wanted to do more: cough or gasp for air. My body decided for me. I coughed. It hurt like hell and, as I gasped for air, I saw the blood that splattered the floor underneath me. It wasn't coming from my shoulder.

My whole body shook as I brought my hand up to my ribs. When I pulled it away, it was covered in red. Well, that explained why I couldn't breathe.

I coughed again. I could feel another torrent of blood erupt from my mouth. It was a disgusting feeling; a disturbing feeling. Not to mention it was painful.

Hearing footsteps run by my head, I weakly turned my head just in time to see Shin-Ra disappearing around the corner of the hallway. I gritted my teeth together in anger.

"Bastard," I hissed. "Leave me behind!"

I barely managed to choke down a scream as my side spasmed. Talking only made the pain worse. Guess that meant I shouldn't have done it. Everything blurred and I noticed that the room was getting really cold.

No, the room's not getting cold, I realized, you're just dying.

I laid on the floor, gasping for air as blood leaked out of my body at a disturbing rate.

You're not going to live through this, that annoying part of my brain said. You're going to die. And for what?

Fear gripped me as everything in front of me started to fade to black.

I was just like those boys I had described to Rufus. I never thought I would die. Not even back when all of it started with the Comet.

I didn't want to die...

FFVII—

My side hurt. It hurt a lot. And I was cold. I could hear footsteps approaching me, but I was too tired to see who it was. Whoever was coming towards me was running.

Then, the footsteps stopped. I figured it was just an AVALANCHE member come to finish me off. But, suddenly, someone had put their arms under my shoulders and legs and was lifting me off the floor.

I tried to open my eyes but only managed to crack them just slightly. Silver and black. I smiled.

"Hello, Sephiroth," I croaked before closing my eyes again.

He didn't answer me. I didn't think he heard me. I had barely heard myself.

As quickly as he'd picked me up, he was placing me back down. I felt something solid behind my back. The wall. He'd taken the time to pick me up off the floor and set me up against the wall. That had been nice of him.

Then, I felt his hand on my side. A split second later there was a strange warmth spreading throughout my ribs and lung. Just as quickly, it was gone and so was Sephiroth.

Leaning my head against the wall, I barely managed to open my eyes again. The first thing I noticed through my blurred vision was the puddle of blood on the floor. I moaned and closed my eyes. It was better not to look at that.

FFVII—

Damn that incessant beeping. Wherever it was. It had this odd habit of staying in tune with my heartbeat.

...Oh.

When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing they fell to was the heart monitor directly across from me. I glared at it. I hated heart monitors. They reminded me of the hospital. I hated hospitals.

I pushed myself up on the bed and did a quick check. IV, heart monitor cables, no catheter. Thank God for that last part. Next thing on the list was to see if I was in one piece. I checked my shoulder first. When I pulled back the horrible hospital gown they had put me in, I was shocked to not see anything.

That was beyond strange. I knew I had been shot there, why was there no evidence of it? A little perturbed, I lifted up the gown and checked my ribs. Good, there was a scar there. A very, very tiny scar, but at least it was there. I was afraid that I was starting to go insane and just imagined nearly bleeding to death.

I tested my shoulder by rolling it around in its socket a little. It didn't hurt. When I moved around at my waist, my ribs didn't hurt, either. I was in top working condition. Good. Then I felt no guilt in unplugging that damn machine.

I crawled off the bed and walked over to the heart monitor. I frowned. I remembered all the times my great-grandmother had been in the hospital. Those things were booby-trapped. If someone yanked off the cables, it'd go off. If someone unplugged it from the wall it'd go off, too, because it had back-up batteries. Only by pressing the right button could I shut it up for good.

"Ah, screw it," I muttered before yanking the cord out of the wall. Next came the sticky pads stuck to various areas of my chest. The machine didn't like that too much.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!

"Shut up," I growled at it. "I. Am. Not. Dead."

"Sonya!"

"Aaah!" I screamed, ducking behind the hospital bed.

Number one rule: Do not sneak up on someone from behind when they are wearing a hospital gown. Especially if said someone is named Sonya. It was not my fault I grabbed the metal bed pan instead of going for the pillow. Ronnie barely slammed the door shut in time—the pan bouncing off the door with a loud clang~!

Growling, I ripped the IV out of my arm and stormed towards the door. I yanked it open and glared at the wide-eyed Ronnie.

"What? Oo-wah! What are you doing here?" I asked as I spotted Tseng standing a few feet away.

Tseng's look of surprise quickly vanished, "I was going to see how you were doing, but I don't think that's necessary anymore. I also have a message to deliver."

"Oh, do ya now?" I asked. I turned my attention back towards Ronnie. "And thank you for walking in on me."

"You're welcome," He replied, frowning a little, "Did you have to throw a bed pan at me?"

"Yes," I said, "Where are my clothes?"

"Do you really think—?"

"Where are my clothes?" I asked again. I didn't need his concern. I knew I was perfectly fine. I'd be even more fine the sooner I left the hospital room.

Ronnie sighed, but pulled the satchel that hung over his shoulder around in front of him and began digging through it. Out of it he pulled a wad of clothes. He handed it to me and I began to look through it. He had brought me a new Turk suit and some socks. The medical team that treated me had been kind enough to let me keep my underwear. There was just one thing missing...

"I didn't know which bra to get so I just grabbed the black one," Ronnie said.

I twitched. No, he didn't. Sure enough, when I slowly brought my eyes up from my pile of clothes to Ronnie's hand, there was my black bra—dangling between his fingers in all of its glory.

I made that tongue noise I usually did when irritated and cast a quick look at Tseng. He had suddenly become very interested in the corner of the wall away from us. However, I could still see the small smile threatening to show itself on his lips. I looked back at Ronnie and snatched the article of clothing away from him.

"Thank you, Ronnie," I replied sarcastically. "At least it matches my outfit."

"I know, right?" Ronnie grinned back. He was well aware of the fact he had just embarrassed the crap out of me and was loving every minute of it.

I narrowed my eyes at him threateningly before slamming the door. Shoving my face into my pile of clothes, I screamed—the sound mixing in with the whine of the heart monitor.

"Right," I said after releasing my pent up frustration, "where's my gun?"

Throwing my clothes on the bed, I sifted through them looking for my weapon. I didn't find the pistol, but Ronnie had been kind enough to put my Thunder Materia in the right, front pocket of my pants. Wonderful. Grasping the tiny, yellow rock, I strode over to the heart machine.

"Clear," I muttered.

A little bit of concentration and a bolt of electricity arched from the Materia and into the machine. It crackled and sputtered as it went crashing into the wall behind it. The lights in the room also flickered from the sudden surge of power; but, luckily, they didn't go off. The machine was now nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble. Much better.

A tiny knock sounded from the door.

"Saan?" Tseng's voice asked.

"Tseng," I replied as I moved over to the bed to get dressed, "if you come through that door the next thing I throw is going to be a lot bigger than a bed pan."

After I had finished getting dressed, I walked over to the door and swung it open, a big grin plastered on my face.

"Now, you can come in," I said cheerfully to the two men standing in the hallway.

They entered, albeit hesitantly, as I walked back over to the bed. When I began looking for a bandage for my arm (perhaps ripping out the IV was a bad idea), I noticed both Tseng's and Ronnie's eyes fall to the dead heart monitor.

"It wouldn't shut up," I mumbled. Ah-ha! Bandage!

"That's coming out of your paycheck, you know," Ronnie grumbled, "Like that ceiling came out of mine..."

"I don't care."

Tseng frowned then looked at me, "President Shin-Ra wants to see you."

I yanked the surgical tape a little too hard and wound up pulling off more than I needed. I suppressed a growl as I roughly ripped off the piece of tape anyway. I refused to answer Tseng. The President had left me to die. If I never had to see his ugly face again, I'd have been happy.

"Ronnie, how long have I been here?" I asked, ignoring Tseng.

"Uh," Ronnie stuttered, "about three days. They said you lost a lot of blood, and that if some dude hadn't—"

"You're not going?" Tseng asked suddenly. There was no craftily avoiding him, was there?

I stared hard at him before sighing, "Tseng. That man left me to die. I took two fucking bullets for him and he didn't so much as give me a thank you. He just ran right past me and never looked back. Forgive me if I feel a little resentment."

"He was shot," Tseng said.

"What?" I asked.

"The President was shot. Later. After what happened to you. He managed to get to the safe room, but AVALANCHE still got to him. He said you tried to warn him before the speech and that he didn't listen. That's why he wants to see you. He wants to thank you."

"Tch. Little late for that," I muttered as I put the medical tape away. "Tell you what, Tseng," I began, "I'll go see him. But I will never guard that man again. Verdot can be pissed off at me all he wants. But I will not guard that man."

I pushed my way past a stunned Tseng and left the room without another word; Ronnie followed right on my heels.

"Saan!" Tseng called after me, but I kept going.

Ronnie walked up beside me and gave me a worried look, "Don't ya think we should...? I have a feeling he wants to give you an award on TV or something. I can't imagine he'd want the public thinking he's a coward."

I rolled my eyes, "Ronnie, that man would never give anyone an award... Not unless it's Sephiroth. Then, maybe. He seems to like Sephiroth for some reason."

Ronnie leaned back and stroked his chin thoughtfully. I raised my brow. He was being way to comical today.

"Right... Well, consider the obverse. You get surveillance tapes. You give it to the news crew, along with your," he poked my shoulder, "obvious damages. How do you think Shin-Ra'd look then?"

I stopped walking and gave him a confused look, "What?"

He ran ahead of me and started walking backwards, "Yeah! Like...Maybe he thinks you're possibly thinking of going to AVALANCHE now. Shin-Ra runs everything. They've got a monopoly on Mako. If the public wanted to—Oof!"

I had to hide my snicker with my hand. It was too good. Ronnie had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the man who had just come around the corner. Sephiroth meet Ronnie.

Ronnie turned around to apologize, but when he saw the stare Sephiroth was giving him, he quickly shut his mouth and backed away. I smirked and walked over to the General.

"Hello, Sephiroth," I said, having a familiar sense of déjà vu.

Sephiroth's attention diverted from the cowering fool in front of him to me. I was shocked to see his eyes soften a bit.

"Saan," he greeted. "I see you're back on your feet."

"Yep," I replied. "I'm not entirely sure how, though."

"He's that dude," Ronnie stuttered as he inched his way behind me, "with the strong Cure Materia."

I looked over my shoulder at him. I knew Sephiroth looked intimidating, but Ronnie was totally overreacting. Plus, he was doing it right in front of the guy. Talk about rude.

"The huh?" I asked.

"It was like -zap!-," Ronnie began with a weird motion of his hands, "and you stopped bleeding. Like, instantly, the holes started to close."

"You weren't there..." I trailed off. "How would you know?"

Ronnie grinned triumphantly, "Hojo has some. I've seen him reach for it sometimes, when he's mixing really dangerous materials. It's... Pretty strong stuff. Remember that Potion you had? Imagine bathing in it."

I twitched as I remembered my hand healing itself from the inside out. The muscle and flesh reattaching itself. It was... Ew.

I shuddered, "I'd rather not, thank you."

"If you'll excuse me," Sephiroth interceded, "I have a meeting with the President."

He bowed his head a little, then turned on his heels and walked briskly away. I blinked as Ronnie and I stared after him. Wait a minute...

"Yo, wait up!" I called after him, my hand raised in the air.

He looked at me over his shoulder, one brow raised in question, as I jogged up beside him.

"I have to speak with him, too," I smiled. Even though, deep down, I imagined myself burning the fat bastard on a stick over a campfire.

Sephiroth frowned a little, "...fine."

"What about me?" Ronnie called out behind us.

"What about you?" I asked, "You didn't save the President!" I stuck my tongue out at him.

When I turned around my eyes widened. Sephiroth had already made it to the elevators and was pushing a button. What part of 'wait up' did that man not understand? I waved a hand at Ronnie and ran for the elevators. I barely managed to squeeze in before the doors shut on me.

"Thanks for holding the door," I mumbled.

"You're welcome," Sephiroth replied.

I blinked. Had he used sarcasm just then? It was hard to tell since he said it in the same tone he normally used, but it sure the hell seemed like sarcasm to me. I was shocked. He didn't seem like the type. In fact, Sephiroth reminded me a lot of Tseng. Just...stricter, if that made sense.

Silence enveloped the tiny elevator as it ascended. I hated silence. I looked over at Sephiroth. Once again, his arms were crossed in front of him and he was staring at the doors. He noticed my gaze and looked at me.

"Thank you, by the way," I blurted out.

His eyebrows rose, "For what?"

"For not letting me die," I looked back at the doors. "I was awake, you know. When you healed me. I don't think you knew that, though."

Silence passed between us for a few more seconds before he finally replied.

"You're welcome."

That time it wasn't sarcasm.

FFVII—

When Sephiroth and I arrived at the top floor, I made it a point to hide behind him at all costs. Not because I was afraid to see the President. No, I was afraid that if I did see him, I'd wind up throttling him. So, why not use the six foot plus guy to use as a big, black and silver curtain?

Shin-Ra was the only one in his office besides Sephiroth and myself. The General walked right up to his desk and wasted no time in getting to the point. I, on the other hand. I found myself occupied with the various objects spread out on a table nearby.

"You requested to see me, sir?" I heard Sephiroth ask.

"Yes, I have a few questions about that girl you ran into in Junon," Shin-Ra replied. "You said she was strong. How strong?"

"She's as strong as I am."

Oooh, I thought to myself as I prodded one of the bangles on the table. Someone as strong as Sephiroth. So scary. My eyes fell to a black armlet with a blue jewel in the middle of it. The only thing strange about it was it seemed to be hinged. Like it could be clamped onto an arm rather than be pushed. Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is about the guy.

Sephiroth and Shin-Ra continued talking about some elf girl as I picked up the armlet that had caught my eye. It wasn't as heavy as it looked. A neat little design ran along it that seemed to stem from the jewel and work its way around. I cocked my head to the side. What harm was there in putting it on?

I pushed up my right sleeve and placed the bangle on my arm. Ha, what do you know? If it closed it would actually fit.

Snap~!

I squealed as I realized the armlet had just attached itself to my arm. Then, realizing I had squealed loud enough for the other two men in the room to hear me, I spun around and made sure to keep the armlet'd arm behind me. Both of them had stopped talking and were giving me curious looks.

"Sorry," I whispered and walked quickly behind Sephiroth—keeping my head down the whole way.

Shin-Ra wasted no time in getting back to whatever it was they were talking about.

"AVALANCHE's attacks are getting far worse than what was predicted," he grumbled as he got out of his chair. "It would be a disaster for this company if they attacked this building here."

As he continued talking, I focused all my attention with prying the damn armlet off my arm. At first, I tried simply tugging on it. When that didn't work, I moved to yanking. When that didn't work, I moved to yanking, tugging, and clawing while silently praying that Shin-Ra didn't walk in my direction anytime soon.

For whatever reason he had decided to pace around the room. All I needed to make my life worse was for the idiot to catch me and think I was trying to steal something of his... When, in reality, the thing was trying to steal me. I was pretty damn sure of it.

"I see you found my newest toy."

I screamed. Like, high-pitched girly scream. My head whipped around so fast, the room spun. Subconsciously, I squeezed the armlet as I laid eyes on the strange scientist man who had mysteriously poofed behind me.

Everything happened in less than a second. A familiar noise reached my ears and I had just barely registered it as the sound all of Ronnie's gizmos made before I felt something crawl up my arm and spread to the rest of my body. Then that same something had wrapped itself around my head and eyes.

I yelped, grabbed a hold of the object on my head, and flung it. It barely missed the head of the man standing behind me and slammed onto the ground a few yards behind him. He merely blinked.

I gaped at the strange object on the ground. It looked an awful lot like a helmet. A black helmet with two pointy 'ears' sticking out of it. Shocked, I quickly looked down and noticed the same strange, black metal was covering my whole body, not leaving an inch exposed beneath my neck. I looked back up at the scientist in front of me.

"What the hell is this thing?" I screeched.

"That," he replied nonchalantly, his voice like fingernails on a chalkboard, "is my newest experiment. And since you're wearing it, that means you are, too."

A/N: -evil grin- CLIFFHANGAR! Sorta. Bwah hahaha. And, ohmygawdHojo. -shudder-

Some of you might recognize most of the events in this chapter. It is loosely based off what really happens in Before Crisis with President Shin-Ra. I say loosely because all I know of it are what I read and what I saw in Advent Children Complete. ACC just has a scene where he gets shot and goes, "I can not die yet. Call in Sephiroth!" ...Like Sephiroth can save him after he's already been shot. Ok, technically he could since he has Cure3 and Life2, but come on.

Edit: I enjoy reading my stories more when I do it slowly, pause at all the punctuation, and can't remember what I was trying to say so that I don't speed-read. And now I must get dressed before going to US History I. I took II before I…bass-ackwards, as always.