A new depression took hold of Cloud after the incident at his old bunk room. While Zack had slowly gotten him to eat two meals a day, he was back to the one or none at all. In the day all Cloud wanted to do was curl up underneath his blanket and refused to do anything else.

At night however was when the fury took hold of his heart. Zack would wake up Sephiroth and together they joined Cloud in the living room. For these nights all it took to calm Cloud were talks with Sephiroth. There was no need to escalate to move to the training floor.

A few more nights of this and Cloud braved entering Sephiroth's bedroom. The general was a light sleeper, thus awoke soon as his door opened. Cloud silently snuggled up to him and that was all he did.

A few times Cloud would silently cry. One time he was shaking uncontrollably. When Sephiroth realized this he wrapped an arm around the smaller figure for the first time. Cloud calmed and fell into a fitful sleep. After that Sephiroth took to holding the blond whenever he snuck his way into his room.

Despite all of this support there was still the problem in getting him to eat. When Sephiroth had the time between his schedules, he even attempted to encourage Cloud to try something. The most the blond would manage were a few bites. This increasingly grew frustrating for both First Class SOLDIERs.

"Am I worthy?" Cloud asked one evening. They were all on the couch with the blond in the middle. On either side of him was his mentor and their superior.

"Of course you are, Spike." Zack assured, running a hand through blond spikes.

"That's why you have us." Sephiroth added for good measure.

"I don't feel like it." There was a sense of defeat in Cloud's voice.

"Don't say that, Spike." Zack frowned. "You're stronger than that."

"Am I?" Cloud had his doubts.

"Have you forgotten our spar? I can assure you that no one has come that close to besting me. That includes Genesis or Angeal." Sephiroth admits wholeheartedly.

"Not even together?" Cloud glanced at him. Although the surprise was in his voice, his eyes were still dead inside.

"They haven't tried that yet." Sephiroth would say that it would be close. However, there was the issue Genesis didn't like to share the glory. If he ever saw Angeal as a threat then he would easily turn on him just so he could claim that he was the only one to best Sephiroth.

Every night after that first question popped up Cloud would ask them again. Each time Zack and Sephiroth assured him that he indeed was worthy. He would even change it up a bit and ask one but not the other, to which both of them kept their answers the same.

As if this wasn't disheartening enough Lazard began to call Zack and Sephiroth away for missions. He understood the situation at hand. However the work was putting a huge strain on Angeal and Genesis. He did assure them all that he won't send Zack outside of the city in case of an emergency where he needed to come back swiftly.

The same will be for Sephiroth when his experience was ever needed. However Lazard will do what he can to ensure both of them weren't scheduled on a mission at the same time. The first few times Sephiroth was called out for missions. During these times there were no changes with Cloud's recovery.

"What's got you brooding?" Angeal inquired as they met up at the rendezvous point.

"Surely you've heard." Sephiroth wasn't going to say it out loud.

"Oh yes, I've heard all of the rumors. However, barely anything from you or Zack. Which is surprising. One of you tend to at least keep me in the loop." The commander chuckles.

"Zack has his hands full." He informed with a sigh.

"By the sound of it, you too." Nothing escapes Angeal.

"I'm not exactly in my field of expertise." Sephiroth admits.

"All the more to talk to me about it." Angeal insisted. At the sharp look sent his way he raised his hands. "I'm not asking for details. I'm merely concerned for my friends. If there's anything I can do to help then just say the word."

"...He's asking without fail every night if he's worthy." Sephiroth finally relents.

"And what do you and Zack say?"

"We tell him he is, of course. But I don't think he believes us."

"Have either of you tried showing him that he is worthy?"

"And how exactly are we supposed to pull that off?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone is different. Do you know what makes him happy?" Angeal was digging around for any suggestions.

"I've only known him since the worst night of his life. Zack would be the better person to ask that."

"Hmm." Angeal was stumped for once. "Have you ever seen him not sad?"

"Only when he wants to maim or torture the waste of air individual that hurt him. His words, not mine."

"That's...a bit extreme." The commander comments.

"You should have seen him when we fought." Sephiroth chuckled at the memory.

"Hold up. You two fought? Swords and all?" Angeal hadn't heard of this. The general found this surprising when he did kick out a Second Class SOLDIER from the training room.

"I believe that was the first time I've seen him smile."

"And? How did he fare?" The commander couldn't help himself. Very few among Shinra can stake that claim that they crossed swords with the real general. Thus far Angeal and Genesis were the only ones to take that claim.

"He was predictable, pushed his body beyond his capabilities and allowed his anger to control him."

"So he got his ass handed to him." Angeal concluded.

"At the very end of the fight, yes."

"Wait, are you serious? He pushed you around?" Now the commander was in total disbelief.

"I downplayed my strength."

"By how much?"

"Enough for a Second Class SOLDIER to fight me on even ground."

"And he's only Third Class? Has he had any injections yet?"

"Nope." Sephiroth felt a tug of a smirk as he watched his friend process this.

"Damn. Zack picked a diamond in the rough." Angeal felt a sense of pride for his former pupil.

"I will admit I am a little jealous he found him first."

"Now this is the day. Never thought I would hear you above all people jealous over finding someone to mentor. And you're jealous of my puppy to boot." Angeal was having too much fun with this.

"Only a little." Sephiroth gestured with his fingers the tiniest distance between them. This earned a chuckle from Angeal.

The pair caught up with the Second Class SOLDIERs that were part of this mission. This was a scouting mission for AVALANCHE under the plate. Sephiroth paid them all no mind, that was until he noticed one SOLDIER from the corner of his eye.

Buzzed dark hair. Mako green eyes. Four inches taller than Cloud. Ever so slowly Sephiroth turned to study this man. Most of the men squirmed away, catching onto the change within their superior. Except for the man in question. His sense of pride made him believe that there was something special about him to be noticed by the general.

Angeal noticed this, of course. He took over to briefing the men on the mission. When he was done he split them all into groups of two. As they all dispersed he turned to his friend and noticed with growing dread that his eyes were still trained on one SOLDIER in particular.

"Don't kill the man." Angeal sighed, knowing it was pointless to stop him.

Sephiroth didn't reply. Instead he followed his chosen target from a distance. He knew Angeal trailed him, however he didn't find it within himself to care. All that mattered to him was making this man pay for hurting Cloud.

He bided his time. It was as if the general was on the hunt. As the pair ventured further and further away from the rendezvous point, Sephiroth waited until the opportune moment. Then at one point he managed to cut them off from continuing further.

"General? Sir?" The two men addressed with confusion. This wasn't where Sephiroth was supposed to be.

"Brandt, is it?" His voice was cold. Eyes bright with the promise of pain.

"Yes, Sir?" The target gulped.

With all the confirmation he needed Sephiroth lunged forward. The men couldn't react. Their superior was a blur of black and silver. Suddenly Brandt was kicked back several feet. He skids in the mud with a cry. Sephiroth advanced again, slower this time and Brandt got back on his feet.

"He wanted it! That bitch whore wanted it!" The Second Class yelled.

"Keep talking." His words only fueled the fire within Sephiroth.

Brandt took a stance and lunged forward for a strike with his sword. The general dodged with ease. With a swift movement of his arms he disarmed the lower ranking SOLDIER. With a wild cry Brandt converted to hand to hand combat. His arms were fast, but Sephiroth was faster as he blocked each strike with ease.

"The fuck you doing? Why aren't you helping!?" Brandt addressed his mission partner.

"You're a waste of air." The other SOLDIER puffed, enjoying the free show. Sephiroth realized then that the other man was the same one he kicked out of the training room.

"Keep this secret?" Sephiroth slightly turned to address him.

"My lips are sealed, Sir." The spectator didn't even hesitate.

At this point the general was done playing. He unleashed his fury upon Brandt. All he saw was red. At some point strong thick arms grabbed hold of him and pulled him away. Sephiroth wasn't done, however. Sensing this Angeal repositioned his arms so as to keep his friend in a lock.

"That's enough, Seph. You've done enough damage. Calm yourself." Angeal whispered into his ear.

"It won't ever be enough." Sephiroth hissed.

"SOLDIER?" Angeal addressed the one bystander.

"Yes, Sir?" The young man slowly advanced, wary of the general if he manages to escape the hold Commander Hewley had him in.

"Grab my phone. Look through my contacts for 'Puppy' and call." Angeal had his hands tied. He knew if he tried to grab his phone then Sephiroth will take the opportunity to escape.

"Yes, Sir." The young man fished out the device. He scrolled through the contacts and found the one he was instructed to and called. "It's calling, Sir."

"Put it on speaker and hold it close to me." Angeal instructed. The young man did as he was told and the phone was raised up close to the commander as it rang.

"Hello? Angeal?" Zack sleepily answered on the fifth ring.

"Puppy. Get Cloud on the phone."

"Huh? He's asleep. What's going on?"

"Now! Zack!" Angeal snapped. He could feel Sephiroth resisting. Now Angeal was strong in his own right. He can safely say he could hold his own against Sephiroth. However, that changes soon as the man was mad with the intent to kill. His whole body was straining to hold the general in place.

There was a rustling. They could hear Zack rousing Cloud. It took a few long precious seconds. But eventually the blond was somewhat coherent enough to place the phone in his hands.

"Hello?" A small voice was shaking, unsure on what was going on.

"This is Cloud?" Angeal didn't recognize the voice.

"Yes?" The boy replied with a yawn.

"This is Commander Hewley. My apologies for waking you up, but I need you to talk Sephiroth down."

"What? What happened?" Cloud was fully awake and alert. "Is he hurt?"

"Trust me, it will take me and Genesis combined to even do some damage to him. He's fine." Angeal chuckled a little. However his laughter was cut short when his arms loosened the tiniest bit from the humor. Sephiroth struggled to rip himself free. Angeal was quick to regain his composure and the general snarled.

"Listen. He's on a rampage. He wants to hurt someone. He already has, but the young man is unconscious. I need your help to calm him down. Talk him down, Cloud. Can you do that for me?"

"What? Why me? Aren't you his best friend?"

"I already tried. He won't see reason." Angeal grunted as Sephiroth tried once again to free himself. When the general huffed that his attempt was unsuccessful Angeal spoke again.

"Listen to me. I've known him for long enough to understand him. He never allows his temper to get the best of him. Do you know what this means?"

"No, Sir?" Cloud was confused.

"You're very important to him. He sought justice with his own hands for you. I've allowed it to happen with the hopes he would leave the young man alone once it's out of his system. But he won't stop, Cloud. I can't reach through to him to snap out of it. Can you at least give it a try?" Angeal was hoping beyond hope that this will work. This had to work.

If it didn't, he feared that the other Second Class SOLDIER will become a casualty. And Angeal wouldn't care how injured he became, but he couldn't fathom how far he would have to push himself in his fight against Sephiroth until he came to his senses. He wasn't sure if he could even pull it off.

"Okay. I'll try." Cloud gulped. Angeal motioned with his head for the Second Class SOLDIER to move the phone closer to the general. The young man almost crapped his pants, but he did so anyway.

"Talk to him Cloud." Angeal insisted.

"General? Sir? Can you hear me?"

"Cloud?" Sephiroth halfway relaxed. However he was still not calm enough for Angeal to let go.

"Sir? Please don't hurt him anymore. I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Please. At worst they will slap my wrist and bury this incident under the rug." Sephiroth's laughter wasn't one of mirth. It sent chills to everyone awake and listening in.

"That doesn't mean you have to kill him!" Cloud berated, and Angeal felt admiration rising in his chest for the boy. Not many can get away with that.

"Isn't that what you want? For him to rot? Didn't you say you wanted him to rot a few nights ago?"

"I was having a moment of rage! I didn't think you would go out of your way to hurt him!"

"Then what do you want?" Sephiroth was close to coming to his senses. Angeal couldn't believe it. His on the spot idea was working.

"I... I want him to suffer for the rest of his life. I want him to suffer without friends, without family. No career as a SOLDIER. I want him alone and forever be reminded of his mistake." Cloud's voice was trembling. His own fury was building within himself. However he was pushing it down in order to help the general.

"That's not enough for me." Sephiroth felt his anger surge again. Angeal grunted as his friend struggled once more. The poor Second Class SOLDIER backed up a few steps, however he still did his best to keep the phone relatively close to his superiors.

"It is for me! Please, can you accept that? For me? Sephiroth?"

At the sound of his name the general fully relaxed. Angeal opened his eyes. He studied his friend from his position. He couldn't see Sephiroth's face, only the back of his head. He was dumbfounded. That was all it took? The sound of his name from Cloud?

"Is that what you really wish?" Sephiroth asked, his voice no longer tainted with madness.

"Yes. Sephiroth. Let the hand of justice come from the investigation."

"...Very well."

"Do I have your word that you won't hurt him again?" Cloud was smart, Angeal had to give him that.

"You have my word I won't raise a hand against Brandt ever again." Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder to address his friend. "You can let go of me now, Angeal."

Slowly the commander removed his arms. With tentative steps Angeal moved stand face to face with the general. He grabbed the phone from the shaking bystander as he did.

"Thank you, Cloud. I'll coordinate with Zack to finally meet you some other time." Honestly Angeal was very curious to meet this one individual who was by all means stealing Sephiroth's heart.

"Okay, Sir." Cloud sounded sheepish and shy at the idea.

"He doesn't bite, Cloud. Really, I rather you meet Angeal first over Genesis." Sephiroth allowed the corner of his lips to curl into a smirk.

"That will be an interesting day." Angeal could only imagine that meeting go two very different ways. He made a mental note that he should be there when they do meet.