"So why weren't we allowed to go with her again?" Axel inquired as Roxas considered throwing a pillow at him.

"Because I'm just a normal kid and you're not much better. Now hush, I'm trying to figure out who killed Mr. Clue." Axel glanced at the TV and saw he was watching the Mystery Network. Some kind of old show in a mansion with a lot of glittery chandeliers and a detective with a funny hat.

"The butler did it." Roxas growled and did pitch a pillow at his lover. Axel caught it with a laugh.

"Pretty soon it'll be me doing it, in the bedroom with a pillow. Now hush!" Axel grinned but hushed. He could tell Roxas was almost serious. He was really enjoying that old show.

Valeria had insisted on doing her raid alone. Well, sort of alone. Roxas and Axel had helped her cozen a drug dealer into fingering his supplier for a cut of the proceeds. Axel rather doubted either the drug dealer or the supplier would be surviving the night. Valeria's moral code was a bit alien and she saw no reason to keep a bargain with a traitor. But she hadn't wanted to take either of them for the violent part and her reasons had been good. Valeria was extremely hard to kill. Only decapitation or massive trauma to the vital organs could do it. Axel was harder to kill than most people but he was more vulnerable than that, and Roxas was completely normal. So they were chilling in a very crappy hotel room as they waited for Valeria to return.

She finally did at around four AM, grinning like a fool and carrying a large bag filled with gil. Although she did have some cautionary words.

"We might want to blow this Popsicle stand pretty quickly. He kept screaming about his boss before I killed him and I nailed that drug dealer too, but you never know. Someone might figure out who I am. So is this a lot of money?" Valeria asked as Axel whistled, looking at the coins. It was more gil than he'd ever seen in his life.

"Plenty. Hmm, if we're going to the far North we should buy some chocobos now but wait to get supplies until we hit…" Axel pulled out a map they'd picked up at a general store with the remains of Roxas' allowance. "Banora. Does that sound good?"

"Sounds great! Just one question." Axel and Roxas both looked at Valeria expectantly. She gave them a sunny smile. "What's a chocobo?" Axel blinked and Roxas grinned.

"Oh, just a riding animal. Not to worry, they're easy." Valeria looked very uneasy at that answer. Axel wondered why.

He found out the next day and almost laughed himself sick.

"It's not funny!" Valeria snarled as she tried with some difficulty to stay on the chocobo. It was rolling its eyes and prancing. "I'm descended from pack predators! This is a PREY animal! They can tell!"

"So what do you ride in your world? Other predators?" Roxas asked, genuinely interested. Valeria scowled and nodded.

"They're called Raado. Humans call them Great Dogs… by the Beast! I am going to eat you!" She snarled at the chocobo as it tried to buck. Axel grinned and decided not to point out that her threats would probably make it even more nervous if it could understand them.

Axel thought the problem was more than her predatory nature. He knew a bit about chocobos from a summer job he'd gotten mucking out stalls once and he'd seen people who naturally connected to the birds and people who didn't. Valeria didn't. Although she was naturally athletic enough to stay on no matter what the bird did she lacked any sense of what it wanted. Roxas was doing better and he'd only heard of chocobos until today. Axel was doing best, but then he was most familiar with the birds.

"When we reach Banora, we're getting separate rooms." Roxas said firmly, changing the topic. Valeria paused in her fight with the chocobo to grin at them.

"Feeling frisky? Well, why not?" She laughed. "I could just take a very long walk, you know!" Roxas blushed and shook his head. They were all sharing a tent now as they traveled through a remote wilderness trail to Banora. Axel and Roxas had both been horrified to see newcasts going out with their pictures so Valeria had bought the supplies and they had left the city as fast as they could. They'd taken the trail to stay out of sight as much as possible although they would need to reveal themselves a little in Banora to get supplies and all the equipment they'd need for the trek to the Arctic. Valeria was blissfully unconcerned and claimed that she could literally adapt herself to the sub-zero temperatures. She even claimed it was possible for her to assume a semi-aquatic form meant to live in cold water like a seal. Axel wanted to see that but it was really a terrible idea since the change would take a week in a coma.

"You know what's weird Roxy?" Roxas blinked as he came out of his thoughts, looking at Axel. The redhead was smiling as he handled his chocobo easily. "My ass hurts, I feel dirty and we're on the run from the law. But I'm really having fun."

"That's because you're a freak." Roxas couldn't help but smile though. Axel looked so alive and free, his red hair glowing and green eyes sparkling with life. Axel leaned over and tried to give him a kiss but almost fell off the chocobo. "Axel! Watch it."

"Whoops." Axel laughed and straightened again. The chocobo glanced back with a puzzled air as if to ask what this thing on his back thought it was doing. "Sorry. Man, we are going to need a private room when we get to Banora." It had been several days and Axel was keenly missing his private time with Roxas. Valeria was willing to take walks but it just wasn't the same. As they traveled he vaguely wondered what Banora would be like. He'd only seen a village once in his life and the villagers had been downright rude to his class. It should be interesting anyway.

Neither Valeria nor Axel had any gift for seeing the future. So they couldn't know that fate would be waiting for them there.

Genesis leaned on the edge of the balcony and looked over the city of Midgar. After a moment, he flexed his fingers. They were going numb again.

There was something wrong with him. He'd known that long before the red haired child began spouting off about dark energy. He'd been gradually losing the feeling in his fingers and toes for some time and Dr. Hollander had been unable to find a cause. He'd finally suggested it might be in his mind but Genesis rejected that hypothesis. He wasn't a hypochondriac. What he was feeling was real. Genesis had also noticed that his fingernails were turning slightly purple and seemed to be lengthening. Dr. Hollander claimed it was nothing to be worried about, that he could find no physical problems. But Genesis knew he was lying.

"No physical problems." Genesis examined his nails for a moment before opening his book and studying the words again. There were so many interpretations for LOVELESS. And so many things he hadn't known. Could the nanites be the gift of the Goddess? And could this alien woman be the Goddess? Or was she the gift? "To find the gift of the goddess…" Genesis mused and considered the facts. Rufus strongly suspected the children and the alien were heading for the sight of her crash landed craft. They'd never been able to remove it from the ice, although they'd tried. The technology was almost impenetrable anyway. All they'd gotten from it was alloy samples and there were metallurgists still trying to understand how they could have possibly been made. Sephiroth and Angeal had both been dispatched to the sight but not Genesis. Anger tightened his jaw for a moment. He knew that Rufus harbored doubts about his reliability and Dr. Hollander had no doubt reported the problems he was having. "But for now it will serve me well." He had no tasks. It would be easy to simply vanish away. He would be AWOL, of course, but Genesis found that he didn't care. He trusted his feelings. There were many routes to the North and one of them went directly through Banora.

He would wait for the children there.

"Finally. Some time alone." Roxas said with a groan as Axel explored his throat. They were in Banora and had gotten a room with a kind older couple on the outskirts of town. Valeria had a completely different room all to herself. They were paying quite a bit but that was just fine. It wasn't like the money had been theirs in the first place.

"You taste wonderful." Roxas shivered faintly at Axel's warm breath in his ear and ran his hands over Axel's body, exploring anything and everything. They kissed deeply, enjoying the contact and Axel began to unbutton his pants, pulling then down and –

"Hm. Awkward." The cool, collected voice stopped them both in their tracks. Utterly horrified, Roxas looked over Axel's shoulder to see Genesis standing in the doorway. He'd opened the door so silently that neither one of them had noticed and Roxas was just thankful Axel still had his pants on or the SOLDIER would be getting a great view of his ass. Genesis checked his watch for a moment. "When will you be done?"

"Oh my god you PERVERT! Get out of here!" Axel half-shrieked and tossed a pillow at the door. Genesis caught it easily with lifted eyebrows then shrugged and walked out. Roxas made a small whimpering sound.

"Axel, that just killed my mood more thoroughly than Valeria talking about how funny penises are." If he had to pick between Genesis or Valeria, he thought he'd pick the alien. At least she was trying to annoy them when Genesis had been dead serious. Axel groaned and pulled away.

"It's killed it for me too." He admitted as Roxas pulled his pants back up. "How in Hell did he find us?" Axel was panicking a little now… but then he heard Valeria's distinctive, upbeat tones outside his door followed by the lower murmur of Genesis' voice. They seemed to be talking, not fighting. Maybe they could work something out.

"YES Mary! We could use some TEA!" Valeria half-shouted and Axel grinned as Roxas winced. The little old lady putting them up was half-deaf and slightly blind. Which was great from their perspective since she couldn't hear the boys making out and couldn't see how weird Valeria looked. They both stepped out into the living room and saw Genesis regarding Mary tolerantly as she poured them some tea, beaming.

"Remember to say hello to your parents." She reminded Genesis whose smile faded for a moment. But he nodded before looking to Valeria as she picked up her tea and took a sip.

"So! Are we surrounded and you're here to offer us terms of surrender?" She said lightly but Axel didn't miss the tension under her voice. Neither did Genesis. He shook his head before picking up his own tea.

"Not at all." Genesis sipped his tea, buying himself a moment to think. "It is only a theory, but I think your nanites might be the gift of the goddess. Perhaps they can help me with my… problem." Genesis extended his left hand to her and Valeria set her cup down before taking it with a frown. She slowly tapped one of his fingernails and Axel saw with a queasy feeling that they were almost purple.

"You're referring to that old LOVELESS story. I've heard of it." Valeria shrugged. "I was never into that sort of thing but this looks like a mutation from the dark energy to me. I might be able to help. But tell me, how did you find us here?" She let go of his hand and tilted her head to one side. Axel and Roxas took a seat on the sofa and Valeria gave them a small, reassuring smile. Genesis shrugged.

"I knew you would be going North and one way to the Arctic is through Banora. I just knew you would come here. It was the will of the Goddess." Valeria suddenly bit her lip and gave Genesis a very sharp look. Genesis just stared back at her, a faint challenge on his face. Daring her to deny that it was the will of the Goddess.

"Yes. Yes, it would be." She murmured softly, almost inaudibly and Axel frowned. She seemed shocked and a bit afraid. It wasn't normal on Valeria. He'd thought of her as being afraid of nothing. She drew a deep breath and Axel frowned before butting in. He just had to ask.

"Why does the Goddess bother you?" Genesis blinked and turned to look at him and Roxas like he'd forgotten they were there. Valeria smiled faintly then laughed but her heart clearly wasn't in it.

"Oh, my people worship the Green Lady. It's said to be another name for Gaia or the Great Goddess of All." Valeria said lightly but Axel could tell she was still shaken. "The thing is, she very rarely touches an individual with her grace. We're just too small for her to notice. If the Goddess does notice you then something very interesting and likely appalling is about to take place." She paused then gave Genesis a half-smile. "The last time the situation was oddly similar." Genesis gave her a searching look but she didn't elaborate. "Well, I'll help you. But how are you going to help us?" She wanted to know what she'd get out of this symbiotic relationship.

"I'll help you against Sephiroth and Angeal." Genesis said easily as Valeria frowned and Axel and Roxas both stiffened. "They're waiting for you at the ship. It wasn't hard to guess where you'd be going. And you won't beat Sephiroth so easily a second time."

"Hmph. Well, I hope they brought a good tent or they're probably freezing their poor little toesies off." Axel laughed at Valeria's sardonic tone and even Genesis and Roxas managed to smile. "I know I won't. The only reason I got him so good the first time was because he totally underestimated me." Sephiroth had left himself wide open to her missiles but he wouldn't make that mistake again. And Valeria was basically unarmed. She should have had armor and weapons but they'd been stripped from her and god knows what Hojo had done with them. Not that they would work for anyone else so maybe he was using them as paperweights. Reverse engineering them would be almost impossible. "Well!" Valeria gulped the rest of her tea, making Genesis wince at the abuse of a fine beverage. "If I'm going to help you there's no time like the present. Besides, I bet Roxas and Axel would like to get back to their rudely interrupted make-out session." Roxas blushed as Axel coughed. "So come on. I need to molest you." Valeria grabbed a startled Genesis by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

"Excuse me?" Axel heard before she firmly shut the door. Roxas laughed and Axel looked at him questioningly.

"He totally deserves it." Roxas was a little bitter about the interrupted sex moment. Although… "Do you think we could get back in the mood?" He asked softly and Axel smiled, putting an arm around him.

"I think maybe I could." Axel found Roxas' lips again for a passionate kiss and they went back to the bedroom, hand in hand.

All was right with the world.

"That's good. Just stay still, this might sting a bit." Genesis was feeling jumpy as the alien slipped an arm around his chest and rested her chin on his shoulder.

She wasn't actually molesting him but the position was uncomfortably intimate, especially since she'd insisted they both get rid of their shirts. Apparently a good amount of skin on skin contact was needed for what she wanted to do. Valeria was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall and Genesis was in front of her, his back flat against her body.

"You see, it's the nanites." She murmured as he felt a tingling sensation down his spine. It wasn't painful, exactly, but it wasn't nice. "They need to get in but they've got to retain contact with my AI. Nanites without the AI are stooopid and would probably just kill you. The AI can make fine judgments and won't just attack the mutations wholesale like the nanites probably would." That was the real reason why Dolang had died and Sephiroth's blood had come apart when exposed to nanites. They were just too dumb to realize that they couldn't eradicate the disease that was Jenova and dark energy. Genesis relaxed as the tingling eased into numbness but that also worried him.

"The numbness. Are you causing that?" He'd been losing feeling in his fingers so any more loss was alarming. But Valeria nodded, her chin tapping his shoulder.

"Yes. I'm in your nervous system now. I could give you an instant hard on, want to see?" Her tone was impish and Genesis winced.

"Unless you intend to give me a hand job at the same time, I'll pass." He said firmly and smiled faintly at her clear, bell-like laugh.

"Bet you'd love that." She said teasingly and Genesis reflected that if only she had been human, perhaps he would have been interested. He'd never met a girl like her in his life. "So, given up on being the hero?" Genesis didn't think to question how she knew that. He was beginning to feel loose and floaty, almost like he was drugged.

"Yes. Let Sephiroth be the hero. I'll be the wanderer instead." But he couldn't help the bitterness in his voice. Why was Sephiroth always the hero? Why couldn't it be him? He was just as good. Valeria made a small sound 'hmm' sound in the back of her throat.

"This is going to take a very long time. You have a lot of DNA degradation and the alien cells aren't helping at all. So… let me tell you a story. This is a true story and the people involved are ones you would recognize, although they're also very different. One of them was much like you." Genesis tried to look at her but then just closed his eyes. It was easier just to listen as her voice took on a slow, almost hypnotic cadence. "There were three young men created at the dawn of the space age. Meant to be weapons and nothing else they did many great and horrible things. One of them was always recognized as both a hero and a monster. The other two were almost ignored. Hatred came between them and they fought many times."

"Then a darkness came from the stars. An alien race known to my people. They had killed billions of us but we could not stand against them because they possessed psionic abilities beyond anything we knew. The three united against the darkness and rallied the world behind them. Humanity found the way to steal the psionic powers of the enemy." Genesis listened, entranced, as the story unfolded. "One of the three fell in battle. One sacrificed the darkness within himself to end a great threat and lived as a normal man. The third found balance but only at great cost. That third was the hero to all the people and still is to this day."

"But who was the true hero?" Valeria whispered as she touched his cheek with one finger. "The man the people acknowledged? Or the man who sacrificed the darkness to feed the light? And later, he would be the man who held the Goddess and saved an entire sector as the third destroyed one of my people who had been twisted by darkness and hate. But his part was not obvious, not like a fight in the sky with lights blazing. So again, the third man would be the hero. But they both knew the truth and they were content." She trailed her finger down until it was poking his breastbone and Genesis felt a strangely intimate connection with this alien woman. He could almost imagine the three men she was talking about were Sephiroth, Angeal and himself. But that was ridiculous. Wasn't it? "So tell me Genesis. Is Sephiroth the hero because people call his name? Or are you and are the people merely blind?"

"I… don't know." Genesis whispered as his thoughts seemed to twist. He'd never considered her point, but she was right. Being acclaimed in public didn't make someone a hero, not really. "Are you the voice of the Goddess?" Genesis winced as the flat palm of her hand smacked his head.

"Blasphemy!" But there was good cheer in Valeria's voice. "If my mother heard you say that she'd beat you with something pointy."

"Then I won't say it around her." Genesis smiled faintly as he thought. "Perhaps you're right. Being acclaimed by the public means nothing. But I think I'm the wanderer, not the hero. I'm going to have to come with you aren't I?" There was a brief silence behind him before Valeria spoke.

"Yes. The nanites I have can only delay your deterioration. They can't remove the dark energy, and that's what's truly causing this damage to you. Well, it's better to be a wanderer anyway. You can wander into all kinds of parties and find new varieties of beer along the way." Genesis closed his eyes. He was beginning to feel sleepy.

"I prefer wine." He said softly and heard a snort behind him.

"Rotten fruit juice. Remind me to introduce you to Zerg, you'll love it." Her voice dropped to an intimate whisper, husky and sweet. "Sweet dreams Genesis." And he slipped into a doze, dreaming of apples and beer that actually tasted good.