A/N: I am not prone to do/say this. But I have this rated M for a REASON. This does fit in with the "Fighting for a Chance" stories, but not reading them won't get in the way of the rest of the stories. I am uncomfortable with some maturity levels reading this sort of thing. Yaoi implications and very invasive and uncomfortable situations are included in these for side fics. Please, I'm begging, don't read these if you are uncomfortable with those ideas. Bear in mind that this is AU, only following the game vaguely.

And in case anyone was wondering, Jenova speaks French and Reno's spell is a mix of Italian and Latin. Enjoy with an open mind guys.

Duet avec Chocobogoddess: Family Ties
Movement One

Everything seemed to have less of an impact now that Tifa was gone. Do this, kill that, it didn't matter. Maybe that is what made Reno ignore the hair standing up on his arms as he rushed to check on President ShinRa. He didn't flinch anymore with orders; he'd given up thinking them through. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Rufus wanted to use the chaos to make his father's death seem explainable. No better time to kill the man than the present.

Reno had been all too willing to shoot the man that was responsible for putting his daughter with Hojo for three days. He made it up the stairs without an issue, though the blood should have made him more conscious. He should have listened to that voice that screamed for him to run the other way. Reno, however, couldn't have cared less.

Sliding into the room, Reno stopped dead in his tracks. The feeling of thick-legged terror finally reached him. His hand resting on the butt of his gun inside his jacket, Reno stared at the desk of President ShinRa. Heedless of papers that fluttered to the floor like blood-spattered snowflakes, General Sephiroth crouched on the polished surface. His coat was still falling into place; Reno had come in just in time to see the last light die from the President's eyes. So the General had beaten him to his job? Fine. Reno was ready to slip right back out of the room. Something stopped him.

Ahh, there you are, little dirty one.

The general's silvery head turned in his direction, the wicked green of Mako in his eyes like a spotlight, searching out Reno's frozen form. "Well," he said, softly, in a tone that was completely at odds with the situation. The grating of steel on bone punctuated his word as he withdrew his sword from the President's body. Gracefully, deliberately, he turned on the desktop, boots sending more papers in a cascade to the carpet.

"What shall we do with you?" Sephiroth asked with a voice that was at once light and sinister. "...Turk?" He caressed the blade, one finger drawing through the blood, and then flicking it away. With a second similar motion, the sword flashed to the side, suddenly clean.

There were rumors that Masamune drank the blood of Sephiroth's enemies.

Reno's knees bent a tense reaction that was the exact opposite of what he felt would be wise. Wise would have been running as fast as his legs could carry him, not tensing for a fight. Regardless his lip curled up in a snarl, never had he felt such a strong emotion from someone else, he'd never wanted to see someone dead as badly as he wanted to see Sephiroth dead. There was something totally wrong with Sephiroth, this wasn't a man anymore.

He could hear her hissing like an invisible force on the General's mind, Jenova, even though she was still trapped, he could hear her piano chord voice. There was something wrong, something that was more then just a human and whatever had possessed Jenova. Reno had no idea what he could do now, he couldn't fight Sephiroth. A clone had been enough to teach him that the great General was far too powerful to take on alone.

Even for that, there was something in Reno that screamed the need to kill Jenova. There was something frightening and wrong about the person before him. Reno'd be the first to admit he'd have rather run; curiosity was not enough to make him any bolder. He was afraid.

It hears us, beloved, Jenova's voice came again, though Reno got the sense she was not addressing him. It is dirty, like the ones who destroyed us.

"I know," Sephiroth replied. He placed one, then the other, foot on the floor. His eyes never left Reno's as he stalked slowly forward. Grinning, he murmured, "So little time, little Turk," and behind his words, Jenova's voice echoed little enemy, we must kill it...

It was like watching a person with multiple personalities, only Reno could hear them both. As shaking as that was in and of itself it was enough of a mental shock that the fact they were discussing killing him was no where near as disturbing as the feeling of Jenova in the room. Once again it was like he was choking, being strangled by stale, heavy air.

The man paused. "Kill one like us?" he asked, wonderingly. Reno twitched, and the other's gaze snapped back to him once more. "Yes...or perhaps we should take him along?" Jenova's whispered disagreement seemed to amuse Sephiroth, who laughed aloud. "What does the Turk think? Shall we play?"

Reno fanned out his fingers, moving his hand from the gun to the mag rod. Guns, he figured, didn't stop Jenova and they wouldn't stop Sephiroth. Though, getting the man to talk to him and not the disembodied voice in his head was a start to perhaps safety. Reno rocked a bit before walking further into the room. Though he was trapping himself, he was putting distance between himself and Sephiroth. The man stunk like something darker then death, like old mako. "I don't feel like playing…"

"Mmm." Sephiroth's eyes narrowed the pupils mere vertical slits. "Mother says you are like me, but polluted. I wonder, will your blood be the same color as mine? Or will it be black, like the beast in the chair?" He laughed again, as if at a joke, though his own body was ready to fight. He circled around, forcing Reno further into the room and away from the door.

Kill him or leave him, Jenova ordered in her dry whisper, You do not have time for play.

Sephiroth looked annoyed, willful, even. "This will not take long," he stated, and lunged forward.

Masamune twirled toward Reno, but it was not the blade, but the general's gloved fist that caught him. Before he could hit the ground, the hand grasped the collar of his shirt and hauled him back up. Two strides, and Reno found himself flat on the desk. Sephiroth loomed above, nose-to-nose with him. "Do something, Turk," he said with a cruel smile and hooded eyes, "I dare you."

"I outgrew dares a long time ago." Reno spat up at the other man. "I would have thought that you'd have outgrown being a bully some time ago as well." Sephiroth wanted to play with him, have him tremble with fear it seemed. It didn't give Reno any remorse to disappoint the general, he was afraid, yes, but not to the point of being stupid.

Something in the other man's gaze changed, the smile got harder. "What a waste," he muttered, loosening his grip on Reno's collar to stroke a finger over Reno's cheek in an intimate fashion. "I thought you might be smarter than your friends. Such a pity."

The mag rod was across the side of Sephiroth's neck before Sephiroth could caress Reno's other cheek; the sparks from the voltage singed Reno's hair and coat along with Sephiroth. In the next moment Reno kicked back hard, casting his attacker to the floor. Scrambling off the desk, Reno rested his left hand against the bridge of his nose. "tomba di lux lucis." He muttered, bringing the hand to his right shoulder and down at his side.

Reno was sure he'd never seen a similar look on Sephiroth's face. That he'd even tried to trap the world's most famous general in a transparent pyramid should have been unthinkable, but then, Reno was past really thinking. Though it might be a great defense against, say, police officers and assorted few people he'd run across in his life, it wasn't going to be enough to hold Sephiroth. Not for long.

The general was banging angrily on the barrier, furious, when the keening started. Both men covered their ears out of reflex, though neither one would be able to block out the noise that went directly into their brains.

Dirty disgusting insignificant speck of a human! Jenova screeched. CASSEZ!

The pyramid shattered, burst outward as Sephiroth rose and started for Reno. Jenova's piercing command stopped him.

GO NOW!

"No, Mother, I must--"

NOW!

Taut with anger, Sephiroth glared at Reno as if his fury alone could kill. Then he spun and dashed for the window, hurling the desk at it with preternatural ease. He jumped out amid the rain of glass and disappeared.

Then, and only then, did the discordant voice fade.

The mag rod fell from suddenly weak hands. Reno sunk to his knees, gasping for air. Even the air that was tainted with the president's drying blood was cleaner then Sephiroth. One hand came up to his cheek, where the other man had touched him. Reno shuddered, forcing himself to his feet. He needed a shower, he needed to be with his friends. Without bothering to get his mag rod, Reno left the President's office as quickly as unsteady legs would allow.