AN: *Cowers in fear of the upset reviewers* I'm sorry!!! *cry* forgive me
please.. I've been kinda out of it for a while.. don't know why...
::Missing::
**
Katachi sat at his desk, glowering at the computer screen and at the email he'd received... "How the hell... am I supposed to create clones of the damn man if he's walking around?!" he seethed, lacing his fingers together and putting them against his handsome lips. "Unless I kill him again.. but there's no guarantee that he'd stay dead and not beat the shit out of me for killing him.." The doctor slowly got to his feet, pressing his hands against the cold top of his desk, the heat from them making fog appear on the hard surface. "Maybe..." he chewed on his lip, looking at the keyboard absently. A soft laugh escaped him. "of course.." he murmured. "What's better than a clone? The original!"
Seating himself once more, he pulled the keyboard towards him, beginning to type up his report for those who were paying him.
**
Lola Gibson slowly leaned back in her chair, her blonde hair falling over her delicate shoulders in waves, her red painted lips pulling downwards slightly. As the head of the company for the last five years, she'd enjoyed a cushy life-style, though to all appearances she didn't get paid much. The position she was in was more voluntary than an actual job.. but it had it's perks.. Such as access to a well padded bank account belonging to a man who'd supposedly died long.. LONG ago.
THAT was the current problem. She was missing two-hundred thousand Gil. Gone! Disappeared! It wasn't like there wasn't eighty million already there, but she hadn't touched the account in a month and it said there'd been a withdrawal within the week. Lola tapped her finger on the arm of her chair in agitation. Two-hundred thousand .. just disappearing! Maybe she was obsessive, but this WAS her retirement, and she wanted to go out in style.
With a sigh, she closed the online bank account information and pulled up her email, watching in boredom as emails began pouring in. One subject caught her eye and she sat forward, clicking it casually. Katachi's report on the project. Her eyes scanned down the useless garbage about how wonderful she was to give him the job, finally finding the meat.
Her eyes widened, she jumped back from the computer as if it would kill her. "NOO!!" she screamed, diving forward to close the email program. She didn't want to see it! No.. if she didn't believe it.. it wasn't true! "Oh gods.. no.... PAY? PAY him?!" she sat once again, trembling in fear.
**
Sephiroth sat in the middle of the floor of the apartment room he'd claimed for himself.. out of his entire building.. It wasn't the best place in the world to live, but it was good... it was his. The darkness surrounded him like a blanket, but did nothing to damp out the light of Sephiroth's eyes. He pulled his knees against his chest, wrapping his arms around them.
The darkness.. how many times had he sat like this in his cell? Sephiroth shook those thoughts away. He wasn't there anymore. The world was different and Hojo was definitely DEAD. He got to his feet, pacing silently with his bare feet over to the light switch and turning on the overhead light to dispel the darkness though the old yellow bulb did nothing to illuminate that which lurked in his heart. It couldn't banish the evil memories of his past. Nothing could, he just ignored them.
Early evening had fallen outside and Sephiroth was feeling slightly restless. He wanted to train, but none of the rooms in his apartment were big enough for that sort of thing. It'd have to be fixed, for now though, the roof would work. Opening the sliding door that led out onto a balcony that looked over the street from three stories up, Sephiroth looked down, then upwards at the two remaining stories to go before reaching the roof. Would it be easier to take the stairs? .. nah. More exercise if he just climbed from here.
Taking hold of the railing, Sephiroth carefully got his feet on the shaky metal, grabbing hold of the wall once he'd gotten his balance. Using the cracks in the walls, he scaled up to the roof of the building, which was flat and covered with gravel. That was fine, he only planned to do katas. Stilling himself, Sephiroth slowly took deep breaths in, then out.
Across the street, seated in the window with a telescope, was a young woman.. who had previously been trying to see the stars, but her attention was caught by the man who simply climbed the wall to the roof. She pushed her hair back from her face squinting into the telescope to get a good look at the man's face. Yes.. just what she'd thought.. gorgeous.
"What're you looking at?" her mother asked, pacing over to the fifteen year old who remained curled up on the couch. The woman reached out to pet her daughter's brown hair, gazing out the window. "There are no stars in the city.."
"No.. but there's handsome men," she replied with a grin.
The woman blushed, her brown eyes narrowing, "Are you peeking in people's windows?" she asked, reaching out and taking the telescope from her daughter.
Shaking her head, the daughter turned around on the couch, looking up at her mother with sparkling brown eyes much like her parent. "No, he's on the roof. It's not like he's doing anything private, just.. well.. look!" she pointed and curiously, the older woman crouched on the couch, peeking through the telescope.
"oh my.." she murmured, blinking slowly and moving the telescope to watch the man move gracefully across the roof of the apartment building across the street, his long silver hair fluttering about him in the slight wind and hands carefully describing the precise movements of a martial arts kata. "He.. is handsome."
**
Katachi still couldn't sleep, so he sat in his living room, curled up on the couch, a cup of tea in one hand. The thought suddenly occurred to him and he sat up straight. "HOW did he get past those media people.. the shades couldn't have thrown them off.. or are they stupider than I thought?" he frowned deeply staring at his cup of tea. He sighed and supposed he'd have to ask Kita or Paul tomorrow if they could find Sephiroth.
Even though he fired them...
**
Kita really couldn't believe this... she'd been fired only the day before and now she was hired again with a raise. ..and Katachi had admitted that he was an ass. Or come close enough to it to count in her opinion. Katachi paced back and forth in his office in which Kita and Paul stood, watching his agitation with slight amusement. "In any case, Sephiroth is alive and the only way to save our asses is by getting him to work for us." The blonde man stopped, looking at his two underlings. What he'd meant to say was 'save HIS ass'. "The original project was to clone him," he stated eyes meeting those of his underlings levelly, coming clean about the entire thing.. finally, "But since he's alive, we don't need to. In fact, it's probably better this way because we have his expertise in weapons and training. But we need to convince him to work for us.. or with us at any rate."
Slowly, Paul shook his head, "So you want us to go out and find him while you hold off the media."
"And what should we tell him if we DO find him?" Kita asked, resisting the urge to fold her arms and shift her weight to one side. Katachi had always asked the impossible of them.. or gave them tasks that any first year student could do.
Katachi swallowed, shaking his head slightly, "Tell him we'll pay him... or something."
"He really doesn't need much money, sir," Paul spoke up, "that bank card is still active. He's got eighty mil."
The blue-eyed scientist staggered back, thumping against his desk and sitting on the edge. "W- wh- how do you know this!?" Katachi swallowed brushing his hair back from his face and staring at Paul, not quite believing, but.. he hadn't believed when they said the body was moving itself.
"I checked."
Glancing away, Katachi stared at the wall for a moment before nodding slightly. "Right.. well.." he turned and sat down at his computer, checking his email. There was nothing new, but at least he had a reply from Ms. Gibson, head of Kora-Shira INC. She had acknowledged that she would be willing to pay Sephiroth, but would prefer that he worked for free. Katachi looked up from his computer. "Tell him.." he took a breath, "Tell him he can have whatever he wants."
Kita frowned slightly but nodded, turning, they both left, heading down to the first floor and heading out. "Now, the question is.. how do we go about finding him?"
Paul shrugged, looking up at the cloudy sky above the city. "I've really got no idea. At least we've got our jobs back.. and have a raise too." Kita sighed, running a hand along her neck.
**
::Missing::
**
Katachi sat at his desk, glowering at the computer screen and at the email he'd received... "How the hell... am I supposed to create clones of the damn man if he's walking around?!" he seethed, lacing his fingers together and putting them against his handsome lips. "Unless I kill him again.. but there's no guarantee that he'd stay dead and not beat the shit out of me for killing him.." The doctor slowly got to his feet, pressing his hands against the cold top of his desk, the heat from them making fog appear on the hard surface. "Maybe..." he chewed on his lip, looking at the keyboard absently. A soft laugh escaped him. "of course.." he murmured. "What's better than a clone? The original!"
Seating himself once more, he pulled the keyboard towards him, beginning to type up his report for those who were paying him.
**
Lola Gibson slowly leaned back in her chair, her blonde hair falling over her delicate shoulders in waves, her red painted lips pulling downwards slightly. As the head of the company for the last five years, she'd enjoyed a cushy life-style, though to all appearances she didn't get paid much. The position she was in was more voluntary than an actual job.. but it had it's perks.. Such as access to a well padded bank account belonging to a man who'd supposedly died long.. LONG ago.
THAT was the current problem. She was missing two-hundred thousand Gil. Gone! Disappeared! It wasn't like there wasn't eighty million already there, but she hadn't touched the account in a month and it said there'd been a withdrawal within the week. Lola tapped her finger on the arm of her chair in agitation. Two-hundred thousand .. just disappearing! Maybe she was obsessive, but this WAS her retirement, and she wanted to go out in style.
With a sigh, she closed the online bank account information and pulled up her email, watching in boredom as emails began pouring in. One subject caught her eye and she sat forward, clicking it casually. Katachi's report on the project. Her eyes scanned down the useless garbage about how wonderful she was to give him the job, finally finding the meat.
Her eyes widened, she jumped back from the computer as if it would kill her. "NOO!!" she screamed, diving forward to close the email program. She didn't want to see it! No.. if she didn't believe it.. it wasn't true! "Oh gods.. no.... PAY? PAY him?!" she sat once again, trembling in fear.
**
Sephiroth sat in the middle of the floor of the apartment room he'd claimed for himself.. out of his entire building.. It wasn't the best place in the world to live, but it was good... it was his. The darkness surrounded him like a blanket, but did nothing to damp out the light of Sephiroth's eyes. He pulled his knees against his chest, wrapping his arms around them.
The darkness.. how many times had he sat like this in his cell? Sephiroth shook those thoughts away. He wasn't there anymore. The world was different and Hojo was definitely DEAD. He got to his feet, pacing silently with his bare feet over to the light switch and turning on the overhead light to dispel the darkness though the old yellow bulb did nothing to illuminate that which lurked in his heart. It couldn't banish the evil memories of his past. Nothing could, he just ignored them.
Early evening had fallen outside and Sephiroth was feeling slightly restless. He wanted to train, but none of the rooms in his apartment were big enough for that sort of thing. It'd have to be fixed, for now though, the roof would work. Opening the sliding door that led out onto a balcony that looked over the street from three stories up, Sephiroth looked down, then upwards at the two remaining stories to go before reaching the roof. Would it be easier to take the stairs? .. nah. More exercise if he just climbed from here.
Taking hold of the railing, Sephiroth carefully got his feet on the shaky metal, grabbing hold of the wall once he'd gotten his balance. Using the cracks in the walls, he scaled up to the roof of the building, which was flat and covered with gravel. That was fine, he only planned to do katas. Stilling himself, Sephiroth slowly took deep breaths in, then out.
Across the street, seated in the window with a telescope, was a young woman.. who had previously been trying to see the stars, but her attention was caught by the man who simply climbed the wall to the roof. She pushed her hair back from her face squinting into the telescope to get a good look at the man's face. Yes.. just what she'd thought.. gorgeous.
"What're you looking at?" her mother asked, pacing over to the fifteen year old who remained curled up on the couch. The woman reached out to pet her daughter's brown hair, gazing out the window. "There are no stars in the city.."
"No.. but there's handsome men," she replied with a grin.
The woman blushed, her brown eyes narrowing, "Are you peeking in people's windows?" she asked, reaching out and taking the telescope from her daughter.
Shaking her head, the daughter turned around on the couch, looking up at her mother with sparkling brown eyes much like her parent. "No, he's on the roof. It's not like he's doing anything private, just.. well.. look!" she pointed and curiously, the older woman crouched on the couch, peeking through the telescope.
"oh my.." she murmured, blinking slowly and moving the telescope to watch the man move gracefully across the roof of the apartment building across the street, his long silver hair fluttering about him in the slight wind and hands carefully describing the precise movements of a martial arts kata. "He.. is handsome."
**
Katachi still couldn't sleep, so he sat in his living room, curled up on the couch, a cup of tea in one hand. The thought suddenly occurred to him and he sat up straight. "HOW did he get past those media people.. the shades couldn't have thrown them off.. or are they stupider than I thought?" he frowned deeply staring at his cup of tea. He sighed and supposed he'd have to ask Kita or Paul tomorrow if they could find Sephiroth.
Even though he fired them...
**
Kita really couldn't believe this... she'd been fired only the day before and now she was hired again with a raise. ..and Katachi had admitted that he was an ass. Or come close enough to it to count in her opinion. Katachi paced back and forth in his office in which Kita and Paul stood, watching his agitation with slight amusement. "In any case, Sephiroth is alive and the only way to save our asses is by getting him to work for us." The blonde man stopped, looking at his two underlings. What he'd meant to say was 'save HIS ass'. "The original project was to clone him," he stated eyes meeting those of his underlings levelly, coming clean about the entire thing.. finally, "But since he's alive, we don't need to. In fact, it's probably better this way because we have his expertise in weapons and training. But we need to convince him to work for us.. or with us at any rate."
Slowly, Paul shook his head, "So you want us to go out and find him while you hold off the media."
"And what should we tell him if we DO find him?" Kita asked, resisting the urge to fold her arms and shift her weight to one side. Katachi had always asked the impossible of them.. or gave them tasks that any first year student could do.
Katachi swallowed, shaking his head slightly, "Tell him we'll pay him... or something."
"He really doesn't need much money, sir," Paul spoke up, "that bank card is still active. He's got eighty mil."
The blue-eyed scientist staggered back, thumping against his desk and sitting on the edge. "W- wh- how do you know this!?" Katachi swallowed brushing his hair back from his face and staring at Paul, not quite believing, but.. he hadn't believed when they said the body was moving itself.
"I checked."
Glancing away, Katachi stared at the wall for a moment before nodding slightly. "Right.. well.." he turned and sat down at his computer, checking his email. There was nothing new, but at least he had a reply from Ms. Gibson, head of Kora-Shira INC. She had acknowledged that she would be willing to pay Sephiroth, but would prefer that he worked for free. Katachi looked up from his computer. "Tell him.." he took a breath, "Tell him he can have whatever he wants."
Kita frowned slightly but nodded, turning, they both left, heading down to the first floor and heading out. "Now, the question is.. how do we go about finding him?"
Paul shrugged, looking up at the cloudy sky above the city. "I've really got no idea. At least we've got our jobs back.. and have a raise too." Kita sighed, running a hand along her neck.
**