A/N: Important: This is not turning into a Weiss OC story, I promise! The purpose of Nero and Weiss being here will be understood when we get further down the road, I promise! This chapter has several different things happen within it. So it's kind of a filler that is all over the place
I also realize I may have my timeline in this story messed up a bit. Hm. So, I need to clarify ages right now. Currently, Cassie is about 22, Genesis and Angeal are 23, and Sephiroth is around 24 or 25. I have made Zack about 14 (which should be correct, based on my research). Ah geez, I need a beta for my stuff. Just never happy with what I produce anymore ;n;
Weeks later
"Bless Minerva, we're finally home..." Genesis groaned as they stepped off of the helicopter. Cassie hopped out, rubbing her shoulder.
"You smell bad."
He whipped around and glared at her halfheartedly. He knew he didn't smell pleasant, so he certainly did not need her to tell him that!
"You smell pretty bad too, Cass." Angeal chuckled as he hopped off, ruffling her hair and laughing as she tried to playfully hit him.
"You smell the worst out of all of us, Angeal!"
"Hey, that's not very nice." He gave her a stern look, before he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, laughing wholeheartedly as she beat her fists against his back lightly.
"Hey, put me down!" She squeaked, kicking her legs around. "Gah, Angeal! You reek!" Cassie whined, covering her nose up. "Blech! Genesis, save me!"
"Hold on brat, I'm coming." He playfully tried to get Cassie away from Angeal, the two side stepping each other continuously. "Unhand her, you behemoth!"
"Never!"
Sephiroth watched the three in mild amusement, a single silver brow arched up. Cassie yelled, cursing the two. She was tired, hungry, and felt distgusting.
"Please, put me down!" She flailed, laughing. "Genesis, you are a terrible hero right now!"
"Cut me some slack, I am doing my best!" he growled while Angeal laughed and dodged him.
"Well do it faster!"
"Have you no patience!? By the planet, would you hold still, Angeal!?"
He only stilled when Cassie accidentally kneed him in the gut, dropping to one knee and wheezing while Genesis grabbed Cassie and took off with her, the female shouting apologies to Angeal and a goodbye to Sephiroth. She laughed when they slowed their pace down, looking up at her savior. "Thanks, Gen."
He nodded, smiling at her. "So, do you have any plans for this evening, perhaps?"
"Actually..." oh great. "Weiss is taking me out to dinner tonight."
Weiss. Oh, how he despised the man that was constantly whisking their Cassiopeia away on dates and cooking for her when he came to her apartment. He'd seen him in passing before. There wasn't really anything very impressive about him, so he didn't really see what Cassie saw in him. He seemed loud and obnoxious, as well as abrasive from what Ryouta had told him when Genesis had asked him to spy on the two.
He did not like him.
"Why do you ask?"
"No reason." He shook his head. "I'm going to my apartment. I'll see you later."
And then he was gone, leaving her standing there in the middle of the hallway by herself. Her phone began to ring, so she dug into her pocket and fished it out as she headed to her own apartment. "Nyello?"
'Hey. Are you back yet?' It was Weiss.
She hummed, pulling her key out and unlocking her door. "Yeah, I'm walking into my apartment right now, actua-" She was cut off when someone hugged her from behind, causing her to squeak and nearly drop her phone. "Holy Shiva!"
Weiss laughed, setting her down so she could turn around and look up at him. "Hiya."
"H-Hi." She smiled, blushing as he reached up and tucked some hair behind her ear.
"Gaia, you're pretty today..."She raised a brow. Pretty? She, who smelled awful and was covered in mud, pretty? "Let's go in."
She nodded, walking into her apartment with him and watching him go to the couch. Something seemed...different.
"Weiss?"
"Go shower. I'll make you something to eat." He was suddenly up and in the kitchen, rummaging through her fridge for ingredients.
"But, I thought-"
"Change of plans, 'kay?"
Something was wrong.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Nero had gone missing for a few days before he resurfaced. Right now, he was deathly sick.
Weiss had his head in Cassie's lap, and she was allowing her fingers to run through his white tresses as he explained the story of how Nero had only gone in for a routine physical exam with Hojo.
"He came back to the room, and he collapsed. He was feverish, and then he started to vomit..."
That had been three weeks ago. While Nero had recovered for the most part, it was rather shady. Had he been injected with more mako? She knew of some cases of people becoming rather ill if subjected to extraneous amounts of mako treatment. Hojo was a sick being, and he was constantly seeking new specimens.
"Did he smell like Mako?"
Weiss frowned, looking at her. "Actually...he kinda did. But like, it didn't smell like Mako at the same time..."
'Odd.' Perhaps...perhaps something had gone wrong and the company was keeping it under wraps by order of the President. Whatever it was, it was unsettling. She bit her lower lip and worried at it with her teeth. Something was off about this whole thing.
"Both of you were given a mako bath before you settled in, right?" He nodded, and she frowned. "If what he was exposed to was mako, his body wouldn't be acting the way it has then. Once you become accustomed to Mako, your body accepts it without any issue. I mean, at least that's what I think. I'm no scientist."
"Maybe something was wrong with the mako?" Weiss suggested, sitting up slowly. "Tainted, maybe?"
"Seems unlikely. Mako energy comes from the Lifestream, so unless the Lifestream has somehow been tainted..." She paused, looking at him. "Other people that are being exposed to it would be showing the same signs as Nero. So it's sort of unlikely..."
Unless it was being covered up.
She leaned into him when he hugged her, sighing softly. "What is that man up to...?"
"Whatever it is, I don't like it." Weiss looked at her. "He's creepy."
Cassie laughed at that. "Yeah...he is..."
She watched him get up and stretch, leaning back into the couch and looking at the ceiling. This whole situation seemed super fishy. The question she really wanted to get an answer for was whether Nero was the only one that had been given an exam and had come back so ill. She noticed Weiss was talking, but she was too caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear him.
"Oi!"
She snapped to attention when he touched a sore spot on her shoulder.
"Ouch."
"Sorry."
Her body was sore, especially her head. Most of her cuts had closed up and healed already. She had a thin, visible scar on the left side of her collarbone that had been kindly given to her by the soldier that had tried slashing her front open.
"What was it like...?" he asked suddenly, directing her attention away from the topic of Hojo.
She looked at him, her eyes showing signs of exhaustion. She hadn't been sleeping well, plagued with nightmares of war. "Hm?"
"Out there." Weiss said, looking her directly in the eye. He took note of how she seemed to pale, watching her turn away to look at the wall.
"Why?"
"Nero...he won't talk about it. I know he saw some pretty bad shit..."
"I saw death. Blood. Body parts..." She choked out the last part, feeling nauseated suddenly. Sucking in a breath, she leaned over, clutching her stomach gently. "He's young. Being sent out there and seeing something like that probably traumatized him. Death does that to you..." She whispered, remembering when Wutai had invaded the Shinra building nearly six years ago. The soldier that she had killed in self defense, and the blood. For months, she was plagued with memories of that man...and his blood all over her.
Six years. This war had been going for six years.
"When you go out on that field, and you kill for the first time," she paused, shaking her head and tilting it back to look at the ceiling. "You change. Your perspective on life changes..." She sighed softly. "Everything changes."
A knock on her door startled her slightly. "It's open!" she called, watching as it slowly opened up to reveal Sephiroth
"Cassie."
He looked calm and collected like usual. She turned her head and watched Weiss shoot up, standing at attention and saluting.
"Sir!"
Sephiroth looked him over for a moment before nodding. "At ease." Weiss visibly seemed to relax, watching as Cassie stood and walked over to the general. She gave Sephiroth a small smile, one he politely returned. They exchanged words quietly, and Cassie turned to Weiss, giving him a smile.
"I gotta go. Sorry. Oh, and good luck on your mission tomorrow." She smiled again, handing him the ring that he had given her. "Do try to come back in one piece."
He shook his head and smiled brightly. "Nah, it's cool. I'll call you when I get back." He smiled again and kissed her lightly, causing her to blush.
"Okay." She smiled, seeing him out of her apartment, watching him go down the hallway till he was out of her line of vision.
Days later
Lazard promoted myself, Angeal, and Genesis. The two made it to Lieutenant General, and I was bumped up to Captain. As soon as we were fully recovered from our most recent trip to Wutai, we would be shipped back out.
I wasn't looking forward to it.
I closed my eyes as I listened to Genesis once again recite that damned book.
"My friend, do you fly away now?
To a world that abhors you and I?
All that awaits you is a somber morrow
No matter where the winds may blow
My friend, your desire
Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess
Even if the morrow is barren of promises
Nothing shall forestall my return..." He sighed, closing the book and leaning his head back.
I rolled my eyes. "Genesis, is that the only book you read?"
He looked over at me and shook his head. "Of course not. It's the only one I really like."
We had been left behind together today. Sephiroth, as leader of the army, took it upon himself to go to the fallen troops houses to relay the information of their death to their families. I understood why he did it. He had better control of his emotions than either of us, but I knew some families cursed him when he would come to their doors to tell them that their family member was one of the many casualties that had occurred on the battlefield. I could see how Sephiroth could handle it in such stride though. It may sound cruel, but Sephiroth had no family. No mother, or father.
I had asked him once.
"My mother...her name was Jenova. My father..." He chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "My mother was beautiful. And she was kind." He had told me, a fondness in his eyes. "She died during childbirth. I was raised here in Shinra afterwards. I don't know a thing about my father though."
Angeal had gone with him today. I guess as moral support.
I sighed softly, flopping down onto my back and looking up at the ceiling, glancing at Genesis. He had his arm propped up on the couch, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. His sky blue eyes looked tired. He probably hadn't been getting much sleep either. I don't think any of us had. Perhaps Sephiroth. He never really looked tired. I rolled over onto my stomach and groaned. We were being given a physical exam today. By Hojo.
Maybe that's why Angeal decided to go with Sephiroth. Bah. Always talking about honor this, honor that. How you should be punctual, blah blah.
Yet he wasn't here for his damn physical exam.
How ironic.
Genesis went in first.
I fell asleep waiting on him, so I have no idea how long he had been in there when he finally came out. He woke me up, and something seemed...off about him, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. I got up and made my way inside, trying not to grimace when Hojo gave me what I assumed to be a smile.
"Ah, Miss Mason. Sit in the chair, please." He shuffled over to a table, and grabbed what appeared to be several vaccinations. "I heard you received quite the bump on your head over in Wutai." He shook his head, looking for a vein in my arm and disinfecting the area before injecting me with whatever he had in that shot. "Careless as ever."
I wondered if this man knew I could snap his neck in an instant.
I looked around, sighing as I let him do what he needed to. I noticed several files here and there, but one particular stack stuck out to me. I frowned, noticing a slip of paper sticking out. There was something written down on it.
AL
Deepground Project
Huh. Wonder what that was.
"You can go. I'm finished, so please leave."
Didn't have to tell me twice. I was gone in a heartbeat.
Eight months later
Genesis yawned as Angeal cooked, listening as Cassie talked to her mother on the phone. The three had the day off, and Sephiroth would soon be joining them for their dinner/movie night that they tried to have once a month, but with the war going on they had all mostly been stuck on the battlefield. Within the six months that had passed, Cassie and Weiss had started to date, she became an aunt, both Weiss and Nero had made it to second class...AVALANCHE went off the grid as well, which Cassie found suspicious. They were probably planning something big. No matter, it wasn't her job to handle them anyway. Sephiroth was usually asked to handle them at certain times, but it was mostly the Turk's job to deal with them.
'Little Aaron is adorable. When will you be able to come visit?'
She sighed, leaning against the wall. "I dunno. Not very soon though, I'm afraid."
Cassie could hear the pout in her mothers voice. 'They work you far too hard, you know?'
She scoffed. That was an understatement. "It's a time of war, ma."
Her poor mother. She wasn't in the best of health lately, according to her sisters. Always tired, and couldn't do much for very long. Easily tired herself out. It was worrisome, but her mother insisted she not worry. The next time she had a week off, she would be sure to go see her family.
Cassie glanced over when the door open, and watched as Sephiroth walked over. He seemed...annoyed. Frowning, she quickly told her mother goodbye and walked over. "What's wrong?"
"Someone is leaking information from inside the company."
The room became silent, even Angeal stopped moving around in the kitchen. Genesis frowned, muting the TV, and Cassie simply stared at him in surprise. She remembered the conversation she'd had with Genesis a while back, and how he mentioned that maybe someone on the inside was giving information to AVALANCHE.
He'd been right.
"I knew it." Genesis said quietly as Cassie sat next to him. "Any ideas who is behind it?"
"No."
"This is very unsettling." Genesis sighed while Cassie flopped over into his lap, opening her phone to check for any messages from Weiss. How annoying, he thought, rolling his eyes before he looked up at Sephiroth. "Do we have any orders?"
Sephiroth shook his head, sitting down and sighing quietly. "As of now, no. We wait."
How frustrating, Genesis thought as he listened to the clicks of Cassie's fingers against the buttons of her phone. She was always talking to that boy, and it infuriated him to no end.
Angeal teased him about it. Sephiroth was amused with it.
Cassie was clueless to it.
"You should just tell her how you feel instead of hiding it." Angeal had told him.
He told him he was cowardly too.
Her phone rang. She got an excited gleam in her eyes and she hopped up and answered it. "Weiss!"
Her face paled though. Her smile fell, and she looked like she was going to be sick. Angeal was next to her in an instance, his arm around her shoulders.
"Cassie, what's wrong? Hey, look at me..." She was shaking so hard, she dropped her phone and she began to hyperventilate.
"Cassie...?"
Weiss and Nero had been killed in action.
She didn't attend the ceremony to commemorate those that had fallen that day.
She remained in bed, and stayed put, wanting to be left alone. Sephiroth and Angeal had requested her wishes, while Genesis however did not. He went to her apartment, and unlocked it with the spare key she had given him a while back when she went on month long mission. She had asked him to water the plants she had.
The TV had been left on. He shook his head. How wasteful, he thought. It was a good thing they didn't have to pay electric bills around here. There were a bunch of discarded clothes laying around, and he picked them all up, throwing them into the laundry basket that was outside of her bedroom before he poked his head in.
"Go away." She wasn't even looking up, hidden under several blankets and pillows. Her voice was hoarse and very soft. She'd probably been crying.
"Get up. Let's go train." He easily sidestepped the pillow that was chocked his way, looking down at it before he picked it up, striding over to the bed and hitting her with it.
"Up. Now."
"No."
He hit her with the pillow again, and his face nearly met her fist, his arm reaching out and grabbing her wrist, stopping her midway. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were flushed.
"I do not mean to sound rude, but you look like shit." He simply put it, staring her in the eye as she weakly glared.
"Leave me alone..."
"You can't stay here and lay around like there is nothing else in the world going on. We're at war with Wutai, AVALANCHE continuously wreaks havoc, and there is a traitor amongst us in this damned company, so do not think you can have a moments peace while the rest of us work our asses off."
He was harsh. Perhaps too harsh, though he couldn't take any of what he said back right now.
"I'm in mourning, can you not see that!?" She moved away from him, near the doorway of her room, just so she could get away from him.
"For who? Weiss?" He asked, leaping back as she swung at him viciously with her katana, rage in her eyes.
"Just leave me alone, Genesis!"
"Fight. Now."
"No."
"Fight." He told her more sternly.
"No!" She all but screamed, lifting her blade up as he charged at her.
He was angry. Angry that she was weeping over a boy that had suddenly come into her life and that she barely knew for a year. A boy who had taken up all the free time she had, time that he had wanted to spend with her. Perhaps he was selfish. Most people would probably agree. He hated the feelings he had, feelings he couldn't understand.
"He's dead."
It hurt. He could tell it did, with the way her emotions gleamed within her sky blue orbs. She swung at him again, but she missed terribly. So she did it again. And again, and again...
Her katana fell from her hands and she found her knees giving out on her. He caught her as she started to go down, holding her up by her arms.
"He was good...he and his brother both..." she whispered. "They were good people..." She laughed sadly, letting him move them over to the bed. "Like him..."
"Who?"
"Noah..."
He laid her down in the bed, crawling in with her and looking at her seriously. "Cassiopeia. Noah is dead. He's been dead for years now...I know you loved him, but you can never replace someone with him. I feel like that's what you did with Weiss..." She had done exactly that. She had not loved Weiss, but she had liked him very much. Enough to date him, and had they dated longer than they had, she may have fallen in love with him. "Weiss is dead, Cassie. Don't stay stuck on him forever. It's not healthy."
"Why do you care...?" She asked quietly, and he tensed slightly.
He could tell her. She was asking. He'd had...almost a whole year to decide how he felt, and right now was a good opportunity.
No. It was a bad idea. If anything, he'd upset her even more. He'd wait. For now, he would let her mourn. It was best she do it now then hold it all in and do it later. She would recover. It would be hard, but he'd be there for her.
So would the others. They would all be there for her.
They'd be her crutch.
A/N: I honestly don't know what I am doing anymore. Just a few more chapters till we reach the Crisis core plot! Stay tuned and review pls ;u;
