Accidents occurred, injuries could be healed, but there are some injuries that cannot be fixed by medicine and materia alone.
Genesis learned that the hard way.
-o0o-
It's been a while, a long while.
Things got busy, and semester is starting up again soon, but ChaosBalance got me motivated again. It was an prompt inspired by emails, and so this chapter was finally written.
Disclaimer: The rights to the characters (besides Keith and my own version of Hojo) belong to their respective owners.
-o0o-
Mako, to an extent, could heal injuries that the common person couldn't recover from without side effects, and things that materia could not.
However, there were times that even Mako couldn't fix damage wrought on sensitive organs of the human body, enhanced or otherwise.
It was a well known fact that Genesis was quite adept with materia, and that skill spread over a vast majority of the various kinds of materia that had been catalogued over the years. By the time that Genesis was on his first rounds of mako injections, he had shown a great amount of control while adjusting to the changes Mako brought.
At this point in time, SHINRA hadn't gotten around to implementing cameras to observe the mako candidates to prevent injuries and had assigned 'watchers' to keep an eye on the fresh SOLDIER's and to prevent accidents from occuring. Unluckily for Genesis, he had been assigned a watcher who was more interested in their phone more than their job, and during one of Genesis' materia sessions, had left to answer a call.
Thus leaving Genesis unsupervised in a room of materia for him to play with.
So far Genesis hadn't suffered any horrific accident with materia before with the artificial materia SHINRA produced, and when he came across a materia he had never seen before, he had a tendency to act before he thought.
The materia that had him so interested was one that should not have been amongst a bunch of low leveled Fire and Ice materia (later on it would be found an intern who should have not been handling materia in the first place had fumbled up some boxes), and Genesis lit it up like a Christmas tree.
The materia promptly shattered in his grasp and exploded like a firework, shards scattering across the floor of the training room.
Genesis had been so dazed by the explosion that he barely noticed the piercing pains in his hands and knees when he hit the floor, nor the blood pouring out of one ear, as his mind was so filled with ringing that he could hear nothing else.
He certainly didn't hear the 'watcher' begin to swear when they returned to the room, and was quickly swept away by medical.
The only thing that was on his mind, was the fact that Hollander was going to be pissed when he caught wind of what had happened. The man did not like failure, and this would be the first mark on Project G's record.
-o0o-
Hollander had not been pleased.
The medics had done what they could, the small cuts and grazes healing over once the shards had been removed, but there was nothing that could be done for Genesis' ear.
The drum in Genesis' left ear had ruptured and several of the microscopic bones had been violently shifted out of alignment; there was no surgery or healing magic that could fix the displacement despite the fact the eardrum could be mended.
Angeal and Sephiroth were the ones to break the news to him, as Professor Hojo was currently talking with Hollander about what could be done, but from what he could hear in his perfectly functioning ear was a ton of yelling.
He could see Hollander scowling through the windows of the ward, Professor Hojo's shoulders were tense as he slammed the metal clipboard down onto a shelf, the conversation coming to an end when Hollander stormed out of the room.
Genesis could see the janitor that only Professor Hojo allowed into his lab at the door, looking from said Professor to Hollander who had shoved past the blonde, a worried expression on his face. Judging from what the Professor was telling the janitor, it wasn't good. Then said Janitor left the room at a run.
"The doctor's said you can be discharged, but we'll have to stop by tomorrow for a checkup. They're hoping there might be an improvement, but looking at how it is . . ." Angeal's voice was soft, full of hesitation and discomfort as Genesis came to the conclusion.
"It's permanent."
Genesis had always prided himself on his instincts, his hearing had been one of the reasons he had been so adept in combat. He and Angeal had spent hours in the orchards, listening to sounds and determining what insects or creatures made those sounds.
Genesis had always won, but now . . .
He would have to live with the fact he only had one functioning ear.
"How did it go?" Sephiroth's voice broke Genesis out of the down-spiral of thoughts his mind had gone to, seeing Professor Hojo entering the room with a deep frown on his face.
"There are times when I wonder why the President even hired that buffon." The Professor spoke in a disgruntled tone, the clipboard that held Genesis' chart tucked under his arm while the scientist began to write out a text on his PHS that had been pulled from the lab coat pocket.
"I have the Turks looking into how the experimental materia you used, which was supposed to be tested in a safe lab environment, got into the trainee boxes. I will not allow this sort of accident to happen to another young employee while I have the power to prevent it." The Professor was livid, sending off his text before inputting a number and dialling, holding the PHS up to his ear.
"Oh, by the way, I sent Keith to get the adoption papers from Legal. It looks like I now have two new nephews to care for."
It was said in such a nonchalant manner, that it took a few seconds for the words to compute with both Genesis and Angeal.
When it did, Genesis and Angeal both were staring in astonishment while letting out their own high pitched screeches, and Sephiroth was letting out a triumphant whooping sound, shooting out of his seat so fast that it clattered to the floor.
"YES, I MEAN YOU!" Hojo's shout made both boys jump and their screeching die in their throats, Sephiroth giving them both impromptu hugs before sprinting out the door, most likely on his way to the legal department given how he bleeted out Keith's name as he smacked into the wall in the hallway.
"Good gods that man! If the President wasn't so incompetent . . ."
The Professor's grumblings became incomprehensible as the head of the Science Department went to fetch a nurse, leaving Angeal and Genesis trying to get their heads around what had just happened.
"I'm so popular today, so many emails in such a short period . . ."
"Angeal, I'm not dreaming right? Pinch me? OWCH! I didn't mean literally!"
-o0o-
That; had been about five or six years ago.
It had taken a few weeks to get used to the deafness in one ear, and with his friends help (Uncle Omael had understood his need to keep his 'condition' under wraps), Genesis was able to continue his training and life like nothing had ever happened.
To compensate for his deafness; Genesis developed a reflex of striking anything that came in range that he couldn't immediately identify if it was on his deaf side.
He was known to be unpredictable in his moods because of this, and the lower ranks tended to be on their guard whenever he came into a room. While it was fun to see these reactions, Genesis felt a little put off as there were times he wanted to interact with a younger SOLDIER without them being terrified he was going to bite their heads off.
Then Keith introduced him to a little Trooper Cadet that was being bullied, despite being about 30 levels higher on the scale measurements then the entirety of his Cadet class. That said Cadet was from Keith's hometown was the only explanation really needed for the level difference.
Angeal's Puppy had been hesitant for Genesis to meet this Cadet, and Keith had to bribe the Puppy with snacks before Genesis could even be in the same room as the boy in question.
Genesis' first meeting with the Cadet went far differently than he expected.
The Cadet actually snuck up on him, on his left side, without Genesis even flinching. The Cadet actually managed to scare him into clinging onto the light fixture on the ceiling at the other end of the room, simply because he registered identically to Keith himself.
Keith had let out a bark of laughter, Uncle Omael let out an amused chuckle, while Angeal, Sephiroth and Zack all stared in shock.
"What the heck man! It took me a year before Genesis stopped flinching!" The Puppy wailed, looking to the Cadet who was just smirking with an innocent glint in his blue eyes.
It was like looking at a younger Keith who had a far greater vindictive streak than the janitor himself.
"I used to have ear infections all the time as a kid, the other kids were always throwing me into the river until I got strong enough to fight the lot off. I can mimic pretty well, and I can tell the Commander is deaf on his left side because I always ended up the same when I got sick."
"Shit, Keith, he's not like, your younger brother?" Genesis managed to blurt out as he tried to figure out how to get off the light fixture without breaking it in the process.
"Uh, nope. But he's like a younger brother."
That was all it took for Genesis to decide, he wanted to keep the Cadet for himself.
But . . . he would probably have to fight the Puppy for him.
He could do it though, he had like a 70% chance of beating the Puppy before Angeal intervened.
-o0o-
The first time Genesis had to inspect the newest crop of potential rookie Thirds, he was unaware of the little blonde shadow he had picked up.
The Cadets had been assigned as a cleaning crew in the same area of the parade grounds, and all of them were watching the inspection with their mouths hanging open.
Genesis hadn't registered that he was being handed the folders and other materials he had needed from his left side, until he turned to get a water bottle and came nose to hair spikes with his shadow.
Cocking an eyebrow, he looked down and waited.
"The others bet me I couldn't get near you, and your aid practically shoved these at me and ran when he caught sight of you. I just wanted to see if I could send you into the tree on the other side of the parade grounds again, like I did three weeks ago."
Genesis blinked for a second, looking at the blonde with the mega-watt grin.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
Screwing with the lower ranks had never been more fun.
-o0o-
It soon came about that Cloud ended up as Genesis' unofficial 'aide'.
The fact that there were several instances where he had managed to scare Genesis onto something or, in one memorable occasion, actually INTO to ceiling crawl-space via the ceiling cladding, was one of the major highlights of his 'record'.
So when it was announced that Hojo was testing a new SOLDIER enhancement method on the said cadet, as he was ineligible for the current method, it only made sense that the unofficial aide be promoted into an official capacity.
Zack was incensed, he had wanted to be Cloud's mentor.
The only consolation Zack had, was that Genesis had to hand Cloud over to Angeal for formal sword training. Since the Cadet had already designed his Sword, and had managed to collect nearly half the materials for it already, he needed to be trained in blades that were a lot bigger and a lot longer than Genesis' Rapier.
Although that didn't mean he couldn't sit in on those lessons and give tips where he could, causing the Puppy to grumble every time he spoke up from where he would usually be after his own lessons (sprawled out on training mats in the corner).
It became normal to see Cloud trailing after Genesis through the halls, and on the rare occasion he even managed to catch Genesis before the man flipped out from someone coming up around his left side.
And thus the number of Genesis' friends increased by one.
-o0o-
Omake
-o0o-
Quite a few people had overheard Cloud mentioning the 'tree incident'.
Naturally the rumour spread, and soon everyone was trying to find out if it was true or not.
Finally, there was a notice posted by Sephiroth on the company notice board.
A time and place, with a picture of Genesis sitting in a tree glaring down at a fairly familiar cackling blonde head of spikes.
Naturally everyone turned up.
-o0o-
The home-movie started in earnest showing Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack grinning in clear mischief at the camera, before Sephiroth reached out and took it.
"You know what to do, Cloudy?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me why you want to do this again? That way I know what exactly to do."
"Because it's entertaining?"
"I asked Seph, Zack, not you."
"Gen has managed to burn my leather uniform coat. It might be an easy fix, but hunting down Zoloms was not what I wanted to do with my day off."
"Okay. I got an idea. You still got that recording of a Zolom cry?"
"You know that is still my email notification, right?"
"Even better, give me your phone. 'Geal, mind sending a blank email to Seph when I signal?"
"Of course."
The next part of the film showed the small spikey haired blonde creeping up behind a clearly distracted Genesis, before holding out the PHS and waving at the dark haired Commander.
There was a faint noise, then Genesis seemed to disappear.
The ground moved over to the other side of what now was clearly identified as the Parade Grounds, where Genesis was blinking from where he was now sitting in the tree to the side.
Cloud began laughing hard, and there were snickers all around from the others, even as the Crimson Commander himself glared at the spiky haired blonde.
Before beginning to pout cutely, like a small child.
-o0o-
The spectators all blinked in confusion as the lights switched on, turning from the screen towards the door and the light switch.
They found Keith leaning in the door frame, an amused smile on his face as he folded his arms, the silence was driving them all insane.
"Genesis found out about this little . . . 'home-movie' session, and the content of said movie. I would say you've got . . ." He took a lazy glance at the watch on his wrist, pursing his lips as he studied the clock hands.
"Three minutes to clear out before he roasts all your asses."
They all turned to the three First Class SOLDIER's, who had already slipped out through the windows.
"Every man for himself." Cloud proclaimed with a grin before joining their three superior officers.
There was an enraged screech that only one auburn haired man in the building could produce, echoing through the halls and setting all their teeth on edge.
"Make that two minutes." Keith's voice was gleeful and the janitor was sauntering away from the door with a skip in his step.
Needless to say there was a mad scramble to exit the room.
-o0o-
Genesis left it up to the small group of slightly singed Third Class SOLDIER's to explain why one of the rec rooms had suffered extensive fire damage.
-o0o-
A/N: And that is another chapter done. ChaosBalance really helped me out with getting my writing back into gear, and I'll have to go look back through the prompts I have piled up, so hopefully another chapter for this fic, or another will be up and coming soon!
Well, that's all for now!
LiulfrLokison out! :3