A/N: I'm really nervous about this chapter, I can't tell if it was a hit or a miss. Regardless, thanks for all the feedback!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it.

Chapter 14

Hawke sat lazily against the curving Banora white tree. She always sat under this one, it was the most comfortable.

She was becoming very familiar with this corner of the fade. It no longer seemed odd that the air was green. The red earth seemed perfectly regular, even the trees that didn't know which way was up had a comfortable familiarity to them. The revelation that this was normal however was in fact very uncomfortable. So she chose not to think about it.

She fiddled with the phone she had been coerced into buying. Elmyra had insisted that it was a necessity, despite the fact that Hawke had no idea what she was supposed to do with it. She wasn't sure if the Fade representation of the device was accurate but it hardly mattered since she could barely use the thing anyway.

Genesis meanwhile, was pacing under the canopy provided by the trees. She had asked how the search into his cure was going and received a sigh and a recital for her trouble. No breakthroughs so far then, if she was interpreting 'Pride is lost, wings stripped away, the end is nigh' correctly. She was going to have that blighted poem memorized fairly quickly at this rate.

"What exactly do you do, Genesis?" she asked in the peaceful silence. It was probably a silly question but everyone said 'SOLDIER' like it meant something. There were so many things she was assumed to have understood that still made very little sense to her.

"I'm a SOLDIER." He said, giving her an odd look. "I thought you'd noticed."

"Yes but what does a SOLDIER do? It's not just a regular army is it? I've heard a lot about SOLDIER honour and being a hero but that's not terribly specific." she was pretty sure 'hero' wasn't actually a job title.

"We are the elite; we fight Shinra's wars for them. In peace time we protect people by keeping the monster populations in check."

"What is with all the monsters here? There are so many of them, and they're all so bizarre. Half of them seem almost unnatural."

"That's because they're not natural. Monsters are creatures corrupted by mako. They thrive wherever there are reactors or natural springs." He shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Just like SOLDIERs, they are strengthened and twisted by the mako flowing through them. We are monsters, created to kill other monsters."

Had she met him a few years ago she'd have told him he wasn't a monster. She would have insisted that what Shinra had done didn't change who he was. She was no longer so naïve. Painful as it was, he did have something monstrous growing inside of him and neither of them knew exactly how that was going to manifest itself. She hoped he wouldn't be overcome by whatever it was but she couldn't bring herself to believe it. This road was both foreign and yet far too familiar.

"SOLDIER sounds a lot like the Grey Wardens." she said, hoping for at least a slight deviation in subject.

"The order your brother joined?" he asked, looking contemplative.

"Yes. Infected with the blight, they're the only ones who can combat it. They give their lives to fight a threat the rest of us could never stand up against. Heroes, one and all." and she couldn't have been prouder.

"Doomed Heroes. My friend, the fates are cruel." he said, with a bitter smile.

"That's why they're heroes." she said simply. "There's nothing particularly heroic in fighting something that can't hurt you. That's just pest control."

"Shinra would disagree." he said with a laugh, "Haven't you heard? Shinra's greatest hero, the mighty General Sephiroth, is both untouchable and infallible."

"Shinra can go die of lyrium poisoning. Nobody is infallible."

"Clearly you're not from Gaia." he said dryly. "Speaking of Sephiroth, he and Angeal were highly intrigued by your limit break the other day."

"Ah. They saw that, huh?" she said nervously. She wouldn't have done it had she known they had an audience.

"They wanted to know how you do it."

"I just think about it really hard."

Genesis gave her an intent look.

"Without materia, mana is unstructured. How do you give it shape on your own?" he asked, clearly very curious.

"Bring your friends around some time and I'll be happy to explain it to them." she said leaning back against the tree. The exasperated look on his face had her smiling like the trouble maker she was.

"Did you want something Genesis?" she asked pleasantly.

He scowled at her. She smirked.

"Fine." he said petulantly. "Would you please show me how to cast without using materia, oh kind and gracious Hawke?" he asked in a biting tone.

"Well, since you asked so nicely." she said, getting to her feet. "So how long have you been trying to figure this out on your own?" she asked with a grin.

"How do you know I'm even capable of doing this?" he said, ignoring her question entirely.

"Because you're here. Though how it is that you're here, I honestly don't know."

"How am I dreaming?" he said slowly, clearly not understanding.

"Everyone dreams, but only mages enter the fade when we sleep because we're inherently connected to it. Materia, from what I gather at least, create an artificial connection to the fade so that anyone can wield it. You don't need materia because you're already connected. For all intents and purposes, you are the materia. Sort of."

"I see." he said, looking thoughtful. It hadn't taken her long to realise that people weren't exaggerating when they said he was a materia expert. And unlike her very instinctual magical knowledge, he was very well versed in the theory and was liable to give lectures if given half a chance.

"That still leaves the magic raw and unformed however." he said.

"That part is instinctive. It has to be felt; I don't know that words can quite encapsulate it."

"Then show me." he said plainly.

"Alright." she said, stretching her fingers as she thought of how to go about it. Aerith had already been throwing magic about, albeit subconsciously, when she met her so they had skipped this step. She began to unbuckling her gauntlet and pulling off her gloves, gesturing for him to do the same. She would show him how to form his raw mana just as her father had shown her.

"What element shall we start with?"

"Fire, obviously." he said, removing his gloves and tucking them into a pocket.

"Fire it is then. Because we're already in the fade it'll be far easier here than it would when you're awake. Though be warned, I don't have much control with fire here so I hope you pick this up quickly."

"And if I don't pick it up quickly?" he asked with a quirk of his brow.

"Then you'll probably end up on fire."

She approached and stood in front of him. She gestured for him to give her his hand. He complied, looking at her intently. She held his right hand in her own, both of their palms facing up. She looked into his eyes as her mana starting prodding at him, wondering what he would be capable of. This was something you could only do in the fade; with no physical barriers to impede it your mana could flitter about however you wanted.

"This isn't going to work if you keep your mana so tightly leashed." she said. Her energy poked at his, feeling it banked up but also locked down. That just wouldn't do.

She let her mana flow up over both of their hands, making it condense in his palm. She heard his sharp intake of breath at the feeling. Sensing someone else's mana usually meant you were under attack. It spoke volumes that he trusted her enough to let her do this.

With conscious effort she slowed down the process as she twisted the strands of energy into a flame. A small flickering ball of fire burst into life in their palms, the red light dancing across their faces. Still looking him in the eye she could feel his mana beginning to reach out and poke at the fire experimentally, his expression openly fascinated. It brought a smile to her face.

She let her own energy entwine with his as she built the up the little flare. The fire grew hotter and more intense as his own natural affinity for the element had him instinctively feeding the flames. He really did have a gift for this; she could feel the fire responding eagerly to his energy, growing into a consuming power that would leave nothing unscathed. If they weren't careful it would escape all control. The once tiny spark was now a furious little inferno pulsating with energy and craving more, always more, trying to draw them in and set the world alight. He wore an exhilarated smile that matched the gleam in his eyes. The air was taught with energy, she couldn't tell where hers ended and his started. The maelstrom of building mana had her hair standing on end and the wild and dangerous side of her wanting to conjure up lightning bolts. With a small push she sent the fireball rocketing up to explode in the canopy overhead.

Both staggered back in shock at the massive release of energy. Sparks and leaves rained down around them. The tension broken; her thoughts were left thoroughly unhinged. They were still staring at each other.

"And that is how you start a wildfire."

Hawke strolled through the slums on her way to the church. Aerith walked next to her, smiling brightly through the morning gloom. The novelty of carrying her own staff clearly hadn't worn off yet as she was swinging it around gleefully. Hawke wondered how many times the girl would have to trip herself up with it before she resorted to carrying it on her back. She was betting twice more at this rate.

They picked their way along the now very familiar route and Hawke found her mind recalling her last foray into the Fade. Her impromptu magic lesson with Genesis hadn't progressed much further than setting the trees on fire. After that she had been rather unfocused. She told herself it was the heat from the burning apple trees that had her flushed. Genesis had been equally distracted, occasionally glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. His eyes were a very striking blue; she wondered that she didn't notice it beforehand.

Afterwards, at his insistence she'd tried to teach him a simply healing spell but he had been hopeless at it. It seemed that materia made casting easier across the board, if less powerful in general. Casting from scratch required a lot more mana per spell as well as greater understanding of the techniques needed to shape each specific attack. He took the failure with a determined look that said this was by no means over.

Aerith on the other hand was flourishing. The addition of a staff made her healing practically unparalleled. While she still lacked stamina she had finally figured out how to build a simple shield spell without spending half the afternoon in concentration. It was a highly celebrated breakthrough. As a fade shaper, Aerith was slowly discovering her ability to enter the fade at will. Not a particularly useful skill under the circumstances, but something Hawke believed she ought to have control over nonetheless.

Hawke found herself feeling unusually scholarly. She wasn't used to people considering her some kind of magical expert. While she had always been able to dish out untold destruction and years of practise made her a mage to be reckoned with, she hardly considered herself an authority on the subject. Anders had always been the scholar, and Merrill was the one you went to for knowledge on forms of magic not taught in the circle. Hawke brought explosions, not understanding. It was almost surreal, having Aerith and Genesis, two clearly very powerful mages, coming to her for advice.

The church came into view; they could see Reno lounging lazily outside while having a smoke. Any pretence of professionalism on his part had long since been dropped.

They were climbing the stairs when a loud and obnoxious ringing noise blared out.

It took Hawke a good few seconds to realise it was coming from her. Her newest gadget was screaming out like the world was ending. Scrambling through her pockets she found the phone and flipped it open with a scornful glare at the offending device.

"What?" She said into it, recalling belatedly that there was probably some sort of protocol for answering a phone.

"Hawke? This is Genesis, I need your help." he sounded more anxious then she had ever heard him.

"What's going on? Where are you?" she said, hand instinctively reaching for her staff. That he so readily admitted to needing help meant it wasn't something trivial.

"I'm in Rocket town, Angeal's been wounded and I can't heal him." His voice took on the stern emotionless tone of a commander, falling back on military efficiency. "He's going to bleed out at this rate."

"Where do I go? What do you need me to do?" She had never heard of Rocket town, if it was close then maybe she could-

"It's on the next continent; I need you to heal him. There's very little time."

"How am I supposed to get to the next continent? Dammit, I don't think I can just up and leave, Genesis."

He swore, anxiety bleeding back into his voice.

"Are you leaving Hawke?" Aerith asked looking quite concerned.

"Wouldn't recommend that Babe." Reno said, the both of them clearly eavesdropping on at least her half of the conversation.

"Genesis, I can't leave Aerith on her own," she said, watching Reno nod in agreement, "According to Reno at least, it's not safe for her here."

"What does Reno have to do with it?" he asked, bafflement intruding on his frustration.

"We're under official surveillance." Hawke said, rubbing her forehead. She wanted to help Genesis' friend. Someone was dying and she could help him, but if she left and Aerith disappeared into Shinra's labs she would never forgive herself. There was a pause on the other side of the call.

"Give him the phone." Genesis said in a steely tone. It wasn't a question.

"Reno, it's for you." she said, handing it over. She had no idea what exactly he intended or what sort of office politics were coming into play, but the SOLDIER clearly wasn't just going to sit and watch his friend die. She could sympathise.

"Heya Rhapsodos, so you and Hawke-" started Reno in his casual drawl before being interrupted.

"…Hey I don't take orders from you, slick." he said, clearly not impressed with whatever Genesis was saying. "…try it, SOLDIER, see what happens-" he paused, his expression going from irritated to considering, "…how much?"

"…I'll do it for double. …Wow, you really are desperate, what's going on? …Pfft whatever. Yeah I can take the both of them. And you'd better talk to Tseng because I aint losing my job for you. …Fine, but you damn well owe me." He snapped the phone shut and threw it back to Hawke.

Both women looked at him, Hawke expectant and Aerith baffled.

"Who wants to ride in a helicopter and piss Shinra right the hell off?" Reno asked with a grin that didn't fit the situation.

"What's going on Hawke?" Aerith asked, both very concerned and completely lost.

"How do you think your mother will feel about us visiting Rocket town Aerith?"

A few hours earlier…

"I can't believe they sent us all the way out here for such pointless busywork." Genesis said in a long suffering tone. He and Angeal were in Rocket town for what he was convinced was just petty posturing on Shinra's part. A cursory look into the towns official projects and then photo opportunities, it was the PR department's fault no doubt. Then the locals had made mention of the dragons sighted in the foothills.

"You know what the higher ups are like." said Angeal, taking his friends whining in stride. "They'll never waste an opportunity to show us off. You're just lucky there's something for us to fight." The two of them were hunting the creatures down before they could become a problem to the little industrial town.

Currently half way up the mountain where the nesting spot was said to be, Genesis glanced back at his childhood friend.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to this? Dragons can be very dangerous, especially if they should be mutated."

Angeal looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Of course I'm feeling up to it. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You have spent a lot of time getting checked up by Hollander lately." he said in a carefully neutral tone. The degradation had probably only just kicked in, but neither had spoken of it. It hung over them awkwardly, defying either of them to bring it up.

"It's fine." Angeal said, in a voice that declared the subject dropped.

Deciding to take his word for it, Genesis changed the subject. Angeal was just as much an experienced First Class as himself, there was no reason to make it more of an issue then it had to be.

"How many dragons do you think will be at the nest?"

"A small pack, going by the reports. I hope you brought your ice materia."

"It's called a murder of dragons, Angeal." he said with a smile. Actually, wasn't this exactly what 'doctor' Hawke had been instructing him not to do? But then she had been joking so it was irrelevant. Not to mention, she didn't know just how much a SOLDIER First Class was capable of, let alone two of them. There was nothing to worry about.

They reached the nest. There were three dragons, two smaller females and a massive bull dragon.

Hawke hadn't been kidding when she said casting was easier in the fade. He might have nearly burned down an orchard there but here he could accomplish little more than a low level fire spell, which would be useless against dragons anyway. Compared to his mastered materia it didn't even register.

Not inclined to take visitors, the dragons attacked as soon as they noticed the two SOLDIERs. The giant lizards were not easy kills. It didn't take long for Angeal to draw his buster sword.

The smaller female dragon fell to one of Angeal's limit breaks. The second was a quick and lithe green dragon that had them dancing out of that way of its vicious claws, but Genesis ultimately cut it down. Both were focusing on Ice spells to combat the fire breathers, it wasn't his favourite way to fight but he was no less capable for it.

He looked up to see the bull swinging its powerful tail at them. They both dodged and got in position to corner it. At least, Genesis got in position, expecting Angeal to do the same. It was a formation they had used against many dragons over the years; he was confused when saw Angeal hanging back.

The bull shouldn't be a problem against the two of them, but now he could see Angeal was flagging. Had the degradation sapped so much of his strength already? This was too soon; it shouldn't have progressed so far so quickly!

Angeal leapt back, narrowly avoiding a torrent of flames. Shaking his head and muttering under his breath; he pulled out a glowing red materia.

"That might not be wise, Angeal." Genesis called out after dodging the dragon's claw. He jumped up and slashed at the nearest wing. Now that he knew there was no guarantee with Summons he was loath to use them. This fight was hardly lost, just a more of a trial then it should have been.

"I can't believe you lost this one, Genesis." Angeal called, apparently not having heard him. "You're lucky it was me that found it." The words registered and Genesis's head snapped around to face his friend. A dreadful suspicion filling him, but surely fate wasn't that cruel.

"Angeal-"

"Shiva!" Angeal called out. Genesis swore.

A swipe at the dragon's belly had it rearing up and taking to the skies. In the brief pause before it flew around again to rain fire upon them, familiar blue runes glowed around the upheld materia followed by a flash of light.

Shiva stood proudly in the late afternoon sun. Her blue skin glistened as did the silver spear she held. She was staring straight at Genesis, a vicious grin on her face.

"Hello little soldier."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review, I'm trying to improve my writing and all comments and critiques are appreciated :)

Next time: Murphy's Law