Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of FF7, but I do own your mom.

Author's Note: Once again, I apologize most profusely for the massive delay in getting this out there. I've been buried under homework and I'm involved with my school's musical, which means the majority of my weekends and afternoons are taken up with singing show tunes written in the 40's.

Anyway, this is the final chapter of Genetically Altered, and I hope you like it. There will be a sequel, but it might take a little while to get up.

Chapter 20

A Little Piece of Humanity

The Shinra building was unlike anything Cid Highwind had ever seen in his life. A man from very humble beginnings, he had always felt rather overwhelmed by any displays of wealth and power. But this…this was beyond wealth. This was beyond power. This was supreme monarchy, utter dictatorship.

This was the construct of a tyrant.

The moment you entered the front doors, two sheets of impossibly thick, bullet-proof glass, the feeling you didn't belong hit. And it hit everyone, from the lowliest office scrub to the highest officer of Soldier. No one belonged in the Shinra. It in itself was a living, breathing entity, a creature of untold size and brutality.

A creature Cid soon hoped would be writhing in pain.

The great marble entrance hall looked like it belonged in a palace rather than an office building. It was huge, echoing, and empty, except for the long reception desk at the opposite end. On the right wall was a row of elevators, tiny lights above them representing the phenomenal number of floors. Seven of these elevators were meant for public use, though the public didn't appear to be using them at the moment. The eighth elevator was slightly different. Sleeker, more high-tech looking. Cid supposed it was meant for the President and his cabinet.

"May I help you?"

The receptionist's voice rang out across the empty hall, the echoes giving it an eerie quality. A ghost calling out to them. "The building isn't open to the masses until four o'clock in the afternoon. You're six hours early."

Cid didn't know how to answer. In a fight with a man standing right in front of him, he was invaluable. In a job that required finesse, Cid was sadly lacking. He was saved, however, by the woman standing beside him.

"Do we look like the masses to you?" Lucrecia asked, her footsteps reverberating off the walls as she crossed the floor toward the desk.

The receptionist narrowed his eyes. He was a small, rather arrogant looking man with pinched features and a mop of curly red hair. His clothes, however, were the finest money could buy.

"No, you look like scum to me. Or at least—," the man glanced at Cid, "That one does."

Cid gave an angry twitch, but Lucrecia held up a hand. "We have a delivery for the science offices."

The receptionist glared at them for a few more moments, then turned to his computer and tapped a couple of keys. "Serial number?" he asked testily.

"6243—,"

"Luc…" Cid muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "What are you doing?"

"—456. Wait! That's not it, that was our last delivery!" Lucrecia made a big show of searching through her white uniform looking for something. "I seem to have misplaced it." She looked at Cid. "Do you have it, Joe?"

"Uh, I think I got it here somewhere…" Cid mumbled, finally catching on. All they had to do was buy Vincent time to attack the security booth on the thirtieth floor. The problem was this obnoxious receptionist. If he happened to glance at one of the monitors behind him, the one showing the thirtieth floor, there whole brilliant plan would explode into tiny pieces.

"Yeah, it's right here," Cid said, pulling out something and cupping it in his hand so the receptionist wouldn't notice it was a candy wrapper. "It's, 456." The receptionist tapped it into the computer. "And?"

"Huh?"

"Read the rest of it, Joe," Lucrecia said, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Oh, yeah. Uh, 34567—,"

Just then, the monitors behind the desk flickered.

"Shit," the receptionist cursed unceremoniously, turning and tapping one of the screens with his knuckles. Lucrecia turned her head a fraction of an inch. She winked. That was all the signal Cid needed.

"Sorry man," he said, striking a fast blow to the back of the receptionist's head. He crumpled on the spot, just as the security monitors went completely to static.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Lucrecia asked, only sounding mildly concerned.

"No," Cid answered, leading the way to the elevators. "He'll wake up wit' one hell of a headache. Which one'a these things do we wanna use?"

He gestured at the long row. There were only lights on above seven of them, adding their glow to the brilliantly Mako-lit lobby. It all made Cid feel slightly nauseous. The entire city reeked of that energy, the very life blood of the Planet, pumped out for the human race's own ends.

"We're traveling in style," Lucrecia told him, stepping up to the VIP elevator. Slipping a pale hand into her coat's pocket, she drew out a silver card. She slid it through the elevator's. "Lets just hope they haven't revoked my clearance."

"They do that to deserters?" Cid asked.

"That," she answered, "And kill them in some indescribably painful way." Cid couldn't tell if she was kidding or not.

The censor gave off a quiet beep, the little light turned green, and the gilded doors glided open with an electronic hiss. The interior was small and brightly lit. Mirrors covered the walls, bouncing their reflections back and forth infinitely. Cid took a moment to study himself in the glass. He looked so odd, standing there in his patched trousers and weather-bleached coat, beside a woman like Lucrecia. Her beauty was icy cold, but it was there nonetheless. At times she looked like a goddess of winter, silver hair and eyes hung with icicles. Cid wondered for about the eightieth time how Vincent could have ended up with a woman like her. That little bandit, Kai, she had seemed better suited for him. Shit, she had been in his age range, at least.

"What floor is it?" he asked her.

"Sixtieth."

He pressed the little gold button and the elevator began its long journey upwards, gliding effortlessly along the cables, pushed along by modern technology. It was incredible that this building had everything, air conditioning, electricity, and more power than it knew what to do with, while at the same time there were places on the Planet that didn't even have drinkable water.

It was disgusting.

"I hate this place," he commented, tapping his foot on the tiled floor of the elevator.

Lucrecia gave a humorless laugh. "I've worked for the Shinra for five years. I've felt nothing but loathing for them for the last three."

"Really. What happened to ya to make ya feel tha' way?"

"Nothing," Lucrecia answered, angling her body away from him. He could tell from her expression in the mirror that he had asked the wrong question.

"So…uh, what're we doing when we get up there?" he asked, trying to get her mind off what had just tumbled out of his mouth a moment ago.

"We're joining Vincent. He should be in there by now."

"Shit, I hope he hasn't done anythin' too hasty."

"Oh," Lucrecia said, smiling knowingly. "I'm sure he has."

Vincent waited until he saw the security camera's lights flicker and die. He was perched on the president's balcony, sixty stories above the street, his wings folded behind his back. He hadn't let them disappear completely, in case he needed to make a quick getaway. The reassuring weight of his gun was sitting in the pocket of his coat, ready for action, but he doubted he would need it. He now almost had complete control over his transformations. There would be nothing to stop him from ripping the president apart, if it came to that.

He really hoped it would.

He let himself in through a window. Once inside, he realized the president's office wasn't as much an office as it was a penthouse. He seemed to have emerged into the living room. Vincent opened one of the doors, which led into a purely white-carpeted hall. He wrinkled his nose. It all seemed a little too pure for the CEO of Shinra. A little too pure for him to walk on as well.

The penthouse was huge. Vincent spent a good part of five minutes wandering from room to room, with no particular idea where he was going. But he knew it when he had reached the main office of Shinra's president. A pair of double doors stood at the end of a long white hall that all other parts of the penthouse seemed to converge to.

Vincent took a deep breath, willing his wings to their largest form in order to make an impression. He was sure he would make even more of one if he walked in their in full demon mode, but he wasn't sure if his vocal cords worked when he was in that form. Taking a deep breath, he threw the doors open.

The office inside was big, much bigger than Hojo's back in the facility. It was clean and organized, too, with barely a piece of paper or writing utensil in sight. The huge shiny-topped desk seemed to be more meant to make an impression than serve as a workspace.

And behind that desk sat the leader of the Shinra Corporation.

He was nothing like Vincent had expected. When he'd imagined of the head of the company that had ripped his life asunder he had always visualized a tall, raven-haired man with a cape and squinty eyes. Maybe even a top hat. This man was middle-aged, fat, and looked less like a villain than Vincent himself.

"Welcome, Mr. Valentine," the man said.

Vincent blinked. "You know me?"

The president nodded, a demure smile on his face. "Of course I do. You've caused my company all kinds of grief. Not to mention all kinds of money. I was expecting you."

Vincent couldn't help himself. "How?" he asked.

The president indicated the little black phone sitting at his elbow. "I have my own personal, silent, alarm set up, not connected with the main security system. Whatever your accomplices may have done, I assure you, it has done no good. When you entered the building, this," he tapped the phone, "Lit up. Useful little gadget, wouldn't you say?"

Vincent didn't answer. He refused to be made fun of by this man, the man to whom everything could be attributed to.

"I'm here to kill you," he growled.

"I've no doubt," the president answered, resting his hands on his large belly. He didn't seem unduly worried. "I can only imagine that you hate me…"

"Sure as hell I do," Vincent answered, advancing on the desk. The President's eyes, he noticed, were on his wings, rising up behind him as his emotion heightened. "You killed my family and my friends, you turned me into a freak, and you're destroying the Planet-,"

"No, no, no, you don't understand, Vincent," the President interrupted, shaking his head in an almost fatherly way. "That doesn't concern me. My interest lies in the continuity of this corporation. And if that means making sacrifices, so be it."

Vincent fought harder than he ever had in his life to contain the rage that was flowing through him. "Kai-wasn't-a-sacrifice," he managed to gasp out, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"Ah yes, Kai. That little Mirad girl, am I right? I read that mission report. Erika killed her, did she not? Right in front of you? Most unfortunate."

"Go to hell!" Vincent screamed, his rage getting the better of him for a moment. He could feel the demon fighting to escape the restraints he had it under. Either the president was extremely brave, mocking him like this, or he was incredibly stupid.

"Why did you come here exactly?" the fat man asked, flicking at a speck of non-existent dirt on his suit jacket.

"To order you…" Vincent took a deep breath. "To order you to stop the experiments your doing on human beings! On people like Seph!"

"Seph?" The president furrowed his brow. "Ah, yes! Sephiroth! One of Dr. Hojo's great triumphs! Mores the pity he couldn't have triumphed in the same way with you."

Triumph? Vincent couldn't believe this man. Here he was, saying to his face that human life did not matter at all to him, that all that mattered was the prosperity of his cancer of a business.

With effort, he kept himself restrained. He couldn't think of anything to say. The president seemed to have forgotten he was there; he was currently sifting through a pile of files, the only things on the desk besides the alarm phone.

"Here we are," he said cavalierly, looking up again, fat chin wobbling. "One of the latest mission reports from Reno and Tseng, two gentlemen I'm sure you're well acquainted with." Vincent glared.

"Ahem. Yes. They spent a little time in Kalm Village last week…"

Vincent twitched. He didn't like to hear the name of that place.

"So tell me, Vincent," the president said, "Have you seen your mother lately?"

It was like the bottom had dropped out of his stomach, like there was ice spreading through his insides.

"You didn't…you….no."

The president's eyes told the rest of the story. "There was some trouble in that town. The Turks went out to deal with it. Unfortunately, your mother was one of the casualties."

The anger inside him was bubbling hot, and threatening to boil over. He knew if he let himself go, there would be no going back. He would kill this man, and probably everyone in the building.

But what did he care?

All at once, he gave into the rage coursing through his blood. There was a sort of explosion inside him, and suddenly Vincent was no longer standing in the president's office. He had been replaced with the demon, red eyes glowing, skin black as ink, teeth bared in a never-ending snarl. His human consciousness was slipping away, and he let it go.

It was at that moment Cid and Lucrecia burst their way into the office.

"Ah, shit!" Cid yelled. He had never witnessed his friend's fabled transformations before, and he watched in terrified fascination as Vincent began to change before his very eyes. His skin changed from an unhealthy pale to oil black and his human hand elongated into a claw to match his other. The great feathery wings that sprung from his back were growing even bigger, as Vincent's anger intensified.

The president looked dumbfounded, his eyes growing wide as coins. He seemed to be trying to make himself seem as small as possible, though that was no mean feat. Vincent bared his fangs, giving of a barking growl as he leered at the terrified man. He was planning to kill him; there was no doubt about that.

"Vincent, no!"

The demon stiffened. Lucrecia had stepped in front of Cid. Her face was flushed and though fear danced in her eyes, she held her ground as it turned to face her instead of the President.

"This isn't the way to do this!" she insisted, staring into the twin red orbs. "If you kill him, someone worse will take his place, you know that!"

Vincent sniffed. He knew it.

He just didn't care.

The wailing sound of the alarm shattered the tranquility of the residential sector of Midgar City. All up and down the road people leaned out of windows, gazing out across their impeccably trimmed front lawns to where the Shinra building thrust its way into the sky like a mountain of steel and glass. No one knew what the sound was, no one had ever heard it before. Shinra had never had an emergency worth its use.

But there was one solitary soul who did recognize the sound. He was at the time sitting on a balcony overlooking one of the city's sweeping parks. The grass was so green there and the trees were so huge that at times it was easy to forget that just fifty feet below thousands of people lived in squalor and filth. Dr. Hojo never let his mind stray to those people. They weren't any of his business.

But the wailing of the Shinra alarm certainly was. He knew them all by sound, and this was the one that spoke of the most dire of situation. Security had been overtaken. The building had been breached.

Though the Shinra headquarters was over five blocks away, Hojo thought he had a pretty decent idea of what had triggered it. A certain dark-haired, red-eyed, feathery-winged demon.

Lucrecia's prince.

Hojo leaned against the cast-iron railing, letting the sound of the alarm wash over him like cold water. It was in his job description as a Shinra employee to respond to any emergency as quickly as possible, but he had a burning desire to just sit back and watch events unfold. Given a few hours, it was a fair bet Vincent could have the place tumbling down around their ears. Those physical modifications were enough to lay anything to waste, provided Vincent allowed his emotions to get the best of him. And considering the minimal levels of control he'd displayed back at the lab, Hojo was sure it was only a matter of time.

He heaved a sigh. He would go in to pick up the pieces when the smoke cleared. That was the job of a scientist, wasn't it? Observing from the sidelines, doing what he could, but never putting himself in the line of fire. It was a good philosophy.

It's what had kept Hojo alive all these years.

The office was shrinking. Or maybe Vincent was growing larger. His presence seemed to be taking up all the air in the room, driving Lucrecia and Cid against the wall. The feathery mass that were his wings had unfurled, casting dancing shadows on the walls.

The president was still in his chair, not moving an inch. For some reason, he didn't seem unduly worried. This was odd, as he was sitting across a desk from a clawed, wild-eyed, pissed-off demon child. Vincent raised his metal arm, striking a blow that could have laid out an elephant. But a moment later his shriek of anger echoed through the office. The president was still perfectly alive, and smiling now. But Vincent's claws hadn't missed him. Indeed they had gone right through him and were now thrust into the upholstery of his high-backed chair.

The president grinned, staring down at the arm that was protruding from his chest.

"Yes, I imagined you'd become homicidal after I informed you of the late passing of your mother." He shook his head reprovingly. "Really, Mr. Valentine, you should know better. Why would the leader of the most prestigious company in the world put himself in harm's way? I use a hologram for every meeting."

Vincent just snarled. It wasn't fair. He couldn't reach the president, he couldn't kill him, couldn't make him pay for all the pain he'd caused him and the rest of the Planet.

It was at this point that he lost complete control of his mind and body. His consciousness seemed to be drifting away from that office in Midgar city, drifting away from the very Planet. He had become pure energy, flowing along toward…

"Wake up, you."

Vincent rolled over. A face swam into focus, looking down at him reprovingly. He rubbed his eyes, trying to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.

"Kai?"

The face smiled. "Honestly, I thought you were going to sleep all day."

Vincent sat up. He knew this place. It was the little cave in the Mithril Mines, the one he had first awoken to Kai in. But this didn't make any sense. He wasn't here, he was in the Shinra building in Midgar.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Kai shrugged, sitting down beside him on the bed. "We're in your head, stupid. Don't you know anything?"

Vincent smiled at the familiarity of her tone. "I guess I don't. But why are we in my head?"

"You're consciousness ran and hid from what's happening outside it," Kai answered. She reached out and brushed a hand through Vincent's hair. "You look nice."

Vincent snorted. "Yeah, four months in a research facility does a lot for your figure."

"I don't want to hear about it," Kai said, her smile suddenly drooping. "And you don't want to tell me about it."

"No, I don't," Vincent agreed, reaching out and taking her hand. "I want—,"

"I know what you want," Kai said. "I want it too." Slowly, she drew her hand away. "But this isn't the time for twisted fantasies." She winked. "Besides, I'm not even real. It'd be like screwing yourself."

"You sure sound like Kai," Vincent muttered, disappointed.

The Kai in his head grinned. "I know. But I'm not. I'm just here to tell you that you gotta be strong like I know you can be. Believe me, you're gonna need it when you get back out."

"Alright," Vincent said, "But can I at least kiss you?"

Kai stepped back, out of his reach. "Why torture yourself?" She was moving farther and farther out of his reach. All the color was beginning to drain from the cave walls, and from Kai herself. The last thing Vincent remembered seeing was one last wink from her now grey eyes.

He awoke on the cold, hard floor.

Every inch of his body ached like it had been run over by a tank. His torpid mind felt sick and hazy, unable to analyze the images his eyes sent it fast enough. One thing he did seem to comprehend was that he was a human again, and that he was bleeding. There was blood all over the white tiled floor, glistening in the brutal overhead lights. Vincent suddenly became aware of a piercing alarm that seemed to come from everywhere all at once. It made his headache even worse.

"Stand up, you useless piece of flesh."

Vincent winced. It wasn't the words, but the tone of the voice that said them. It dripped with every kind of disdain known to mankind, and it was the one voice Vincent was aware of that could send fear shooting through every inch of him.

Dr. Hojo squatted down beside him. Reaching out, he stroked his head with a heavy hand, making the pain in Vincent's head incredible.

"Get…off," he growled, trying to string the two words together.

"Why should I?" Hojo asked, his tone patient, as though dealing with an impudent youngster. "Are you going to kill me if I don't?"

"No." The word came out before Vincent stopped to consider it. If Hojo kept it up, he probably would kill him. Of course, he could barely move his big toe at the moment.

"No? What about the rest of the people in the building? You killed them."

The words slid into Vincent like winter. "W-Who?" he asked.

Hojo sat back on his haunches, pushing his hair out of his face. "Well, not the person you came to kill. The president's alive and well. I find it funny that someone as," he paused. "Advanced as you would fall for a trick like that. Still." He chuckled. "But you did kill a fair assortment of others. Scrubs, Janitors, office-workers, innocents." He spat it out like it was a swear word. "Innocents like her."

Vincent rolled over then, driving himself up into a sitting position. Suddenly, he realized the blood on the ground was not his own. It belonged to a woman, silver-haired and beautiful, even in death. A gaping wound scarred the pale skin of her stomach.

The only thing that was going through Vincent's head was, No, no, not again!

"Lucrecia!" he moaned, the words tearing from his throat. He made a move toward her, but Hojo restrained him, grasping him around the shoulders.

"Get off me!" he shrieked.

"No," Hojo said, so icily that Vincent stopped struggling. "Don't you think you've done enough?"

"No, no, no…" Vincent refused to believe it. It couldn't be possible. Not Lucrecia too. Everyone died, everyone who got near him died…and by his own hand. Slowly, he slumped to the ground, his body shaking with the strangled tears. It would have been a relief to transform, to lose all conscious thought, but the demon remained deep inside, chained by sorrow.

"You loved her, didn't you?" Hojo asked. His tone wasn't kindly, but neither was it the usual caustic drawl.

Vincent threw him the dirtiest look he could muster. "Yes. Didn't you?" He didn't know why he asked that last part, it just popped out of his mouth.

Hojo's eyes fell on the motionless form on the bloodstained tiles. "I make it a rule to never fall in love." He turned back to Vincent. "Look what it did to you." When he didn't answer, Hojo went on. "They're after you, you know that?"

"What?" Vincent asked, trying to shake himself out of the bottomless haze his mind seemed to have dropped into.

"You are a wanted man, or should I say, a wanted demon. The president recently told me that you were too dangerous to keep around, so he lured you here to destroy you and—,"

"Hold on!" Vincent yelled, "That's not true! Lucrecia and I decided to come here on our own!"

Hojo snorted, apparently amused by Vincent's insufficiency. "Oh really? You just randomly came up with the idea to storm the Shinra building? The most impenetrable fortress on the Planet?"

"Yes," Vincent answered, slightly embarrassed suddenly.

"No, you didn't," Hojo said firmly. "You remember the chip we put into your brain, the one that kept you calm while you were in the facility?"

Vincent nodded. He remembered it alright.

"Well, it doesn't work as well over long distances, but we are still able to send your brain suggestions through the chip. That's exactly what the president did."

Vincent was finally beginning to understand, and as the understanding sank in, he began to comprehend the brutal reality of what had happened. He had been conned, tricked. Hypnotized into making the most fatal mistake of his life. And Lucrecia had paid for it.

"You!" he shrieked, rounding on Hojo, "This is allyour fault then!"

"I had nothing to do with that decision," the scientist answered levelly. "It was the president, not me. I tried to talk him out of destroying you."

"Why? You hate me!"

But Hojo was shaking his head. "I don't hate you, Vincent. As I am incapable of love, I am also incapable of hate. I enhanced you genetically because I was ordered to, and I mocked you because that is the way I am.

"My wife adored you, and my son…" Hojo shook his head, hair flopping in his oil-black eyes. "I believe Sephiroth was in love with you, as well."

Vincent just sat there with his mouth slightly open, looking a bit like a slack-jawed idiot. "What?"

"You heard me. I believe Sephiroth was in love with you."

"You mean he was…" Vincent swallowed. "Gay?"

Hojo let out a harsh laugh. "Not everything is that simple, Valentine, least of all human emotion. You were the first person whoever showed my son anything resembling kindness. You were an ally and a friend to him. If you mean gay as in he, a man, cared for you, a man as well, very deeply, then yes. If you mean gay in that he wanted you physically…" Vincent felt his face burn. "Then no."

Vincent didn't know what to think. Sephiroth had loved him? Well, there was someone else he had betrayed. Seph was now much worse off than he was.

What the hell do I do now?

Hojo seemed to read his mind. "I assume you are wondering where to go from here. I have a suggestion for you."

Vincent made a face. "I don't give a fuck what you have to say."

"That's unfortunate, as I may have the only way out of your present situation."

Vincent was silent for a minute. "I'm listening," he said finally.

"There is a way for you to disappear, where no one from the Shinra will ever find you. It won't be pleasant, but maybe somehow you can find redemption."

"Redemption?"

"There is a darkness in you, Vincent. One I didn't put there," Hojo added as Vincent opened his mouth to protest. "It lives deep down in the farthest reaches of your soul. It is the part of you that allowed yourself to lose all control and kill almost everyone in this building.

"I brought that darkness out because I am a cruel and heartless man. But this can save you."

Vincent didn't answer right away. Instead he picked himself off the ground, crossing quietly to Lucrecia's splayed body. Her eyes were shut tight and her skin was paler than ever. There was nothing in her, nothing at all, no spark, no warmth.

Nothing.

"Alright. I'll take your offer."

He wasn't sure what Hojo did then, but the next thing he knew, darkness was closing in on him. As the world he knew faded from sight, something someone very wise had once said came floating across his mind.

Your consciousness ran and hid from what's happening outside it. I'm just here to tell you that you gotta be strong like I know you can be. Believe me, you're gonna need it when you get back out.

Epilogue

Hojo sighed. Delivering Vincent to the place he needed to be hadn't taken very long, and he was now back in the Shinra building, wading through the carnage that the demon had left. It only took him a few moments to reach the small office where Lucrecia's body still lay. He stared at it a few seconds, then leaned down and removed a thin gold chain from her neck. Her form rippled, and then suddenly changed, the long silver hair shortening and turning blond, the coat and skirt becoming an office suit.

Hojo left the dead man there. He had served his purpose; he had gotten Vincent to agree to the plan. Now he had to deal with the real, breathingLucrecia.

This story wasn't over. Not by a long-shot.

The End…for now

Look for the sequel some time next month, I believe.