Sephiroth had very little idea what to think about all of this. Genesis (and possibly Angeal) had been cured of some mysterious...autoimmune disorder, perhaps? Cured by a hypercompetent assailant who turned out to be a probably-illicitly-enhanced fourteen-year-old Infantryman whose miraculous healing potion was...water. This same Infantryman was apparently friends with Angeal's protégé, who himself was suddenly and incautiously displaying skills that he, by all rights, should have lacked.
Sephiroth was a good strategist, both on the battlefield and off. It was ingrained in him to consider all possible outcomes and to plan several steps in advance for even mundane scenarios. But this? He found it unnervingly difficult to plan in the face of so much unknown information. It was a combinatorial problem . Without knowing the probabilities of different outcomes —without knowing the possible outcomes—thinking even one or two steps out involved an incomprehensible number of scenarios.
He found that he didn't much like it.
Zack set Cloud down on the sofa, then perched by his head on the sofa's arm. Barely thirty seconds of fidgeting later he picked Cloud back up and sat down so that the blond was propped up against his chest. That was understandable, at least in a theoretical sense —Zack had thought his friend was dead and wanted physical contact to reassure himself he was alive and well.
"So, Zack," Genesis said conversationally, though the predatory slant of his eyes gave his true intentions away. He crossed one leg over the other and lounged back in the armchair like a king surveying his domain. "How did you and Cloud meet?"
Zack didn't look like he was fooled even a little bit, which was very interesting. If Angeal was to be believed, his protégé tended to be either oblivious or deliberately optimistic about other people's intentions, not suspicious. "I just...started talking to him. He looked like he needed a friend," he said.
Vague. Utterly useless as a clue, since Cloud's file had included several notes about his mild social isolation.
"Oh?" Genesis asked. "What made you think that?"
Zack just shrugged. "Dunno. What made you want to be friends with Sephiroth?"
Sephiroth blinked at the question, but Genesis barely paused. "Who else would I have been friends with?"
Well, that was a lie. Genesis had taken one look at Sephiroth and decided rival, all those years ago when they had first met in Wutai. It had only been by Angeal's unyielding patience that his teenaged ego had deflated enough to allow for a friendship to form. Though...Genesis did have something of a selective memory. He probably believed what he was saying.
"Who else would I have been friends with except Cloud?" Zack echoed archly.
Genesis rolled his eyes. "Quite literally everyone, Zackary. Your inherent friendliness isn't exactly a secret."
Zack looked like he was resisting the urge to stick his tongue out, holding Cloud a little closer to his chest. "I'm friendly with everyone, not friends with everyone. There's a difference."
"Well, what made Cloud different, then? Honestly, there is no need to be so defensive. It's a harmless question."
That one was definitely a lie. Sephiroth glanced at Genesis from the corner of his eye. The redhead was in quite a mood today. Sephiroth might even have felt sorry for Zack and Cloud, had Genesis's keen interest in them not meant a reprieve for basically the entire SOLDIER department.
"Nothing," Zack said. "He just looked lonely and I was there. That's all."
Lie. Sephiroth glanced down at the unconscious blond. Clearly, something had drawn them together —something Zack wasn't willing to admit. Perhaps...something he worried might get him or his little friend in trouble? Something like…
"Were you romantically involved?" Sephiroth asked bluntly.
Zack blanched immediately, a revolted expression crossing his face. "Were we —NO!" he made an exaggerated gagging noise, shielding Cloud from Sephiroth as if the man's words were a physical threat. "Gross, dude, he's like my little brother! And he's fourteen! Eew!"
Unequivocally not a lie, though that just raised the question of what Zack was withholding, if not romantic attraction. Sephiroth sat back in his chair, head cocking slightly. "I apologize. I did not mean to offend you."
Genesis hummed, amused, and immediately prodded at the bristling young SOLDIER. "No need to be shy, Zackary," he said in a tone just a hair shy of outright condescending. "A two-year age gap isn't exactly grounds for accusations of predatory behavior. And you do seem to like...touching him." He leered.
Zack looked blank for a split second, as if surprised by something in Genesis's statement, before his scowl deepened. "No. Just...no! I don't like him like that, he doesn't like me like that. No. He's my little brother, end of story."
"Alright, if you say so," Genesis said with obvious disbelief, splaying his hands in mock surrender.
In response to the continued needling, Zack hunkered down like a sulky child and muttered, "you Midgar people are the weird ones. No one in Gongaga would assume...things just because I'm hugging him."
So he did understand how his behavior was being perceived. He just didn't care, which did fit what Sephiroth knew of him. The brash student Angeal described certainly didn't seem like someone who would care what people thought of him. But that, as far as Sephiroth was concerned, just made his avoidance of Genesis's question all the more intriguing. Had there been something unique to Cloud even before he had vanished? Enough to draw Zack's attention and keep it?
"We're gonna go home for vacation and my mom is going to adopt him and then no one will ever be able to say that ever again," Zack continued griping, apparently to himself. Jarringly intense grief flashed across his face for a split second. His grip on Cloud tightened, enough that the blond shifted and grumbled in his sleep. "Shoot," he whispered, relaxing his arms, "sorry, bud."
Everyone was silent for a long moment. Genesis looked thoughtful, Zack looked subdued, and Sephiroth was busy trying to puzzle out what about Cloud might have caught Zack's attention in the first place —there was a very good chance it might also have been what had caught the Scientists' attention.
Then, Zack blinked, coming back to himself, and raised his head. "Hey wait a second, why are you even interested in Cloud at all? Seph ...iroth I can understand, because of —" he made a vague gesture to everything, which explained nothing — "you know, but why do you care about a random missing Infantry grunt?"
"He fixed my shoulder," said Genesis casually, which was so unexpected that it took Sephiroth a few seconds to process. He looked askance at his friend, turning half in his chair to face him. Why the hell was Genesis revealing something so personal so quickly? It wasn't like him at —oh. Genesis's gaze was intent on Zack's face, searching for even the slightest incriminating response. It was a tactic —a small sacrifice for what Genesis no doubt hoped was a greater gain.
Unfortunately for Genesis, Zack just looked blank, then confused. "...he what?"
"Fixed my shoulder. You know, that injury you noticed?"
Zack looked blank again, this time with incomprehension and a little disbelief. "How'd he manage that?"
Curious. Did that tone imply that Zack knew such a thing was very difficult? Or was it merely an assessment of Cloud's lack of medical knowledge?
"With water, evidently from a mysterious healer."
Again, nothing like recognition flashed through Zack's eyes. "...huh," he said at length, glancing between Genesis and Cloud. "I...guess that would do it?"
Genesis's lip curled at the odd but wholly unrevealing phrasing. "What do you mean you guess that would do it!" he said, exasperated.
"Well," said Zack, freeing one hand to scratch at the back of his head, "I mean, obviously materia wasn't working because you couldn't fix it yourself, so, you know, a mysterious healer would be the solution, right?"
Sephiroth stared. Genesis stared. Zack looked increasingly sheepish at his own logic.
"I give up," Genesis finally said, tossing his head back in defeat. "I shall just wait for Cloud's return to consciousness to get my answers."
"Hey," Zack said, frowning, "leave Cloud alone!"
"No," said Genesis.
"Yes," Zack countered, glaring, "he's already been through enough and I'm not going to let you torture him!"
"Goddess, must you be so dramatic?" (Said the pot to the kettle, Sephiroth thought privately.) "If I wanted to torture him I'd have left him in the infirmary, not allowed you to bathe him in my own home!"
Thankfully, their building argument was interrupted by Angeal's timely return as he came in through the front door with a duffle bag over one shoulder. He took in the scene, eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked mildly, coming over to toss the bag down by Cloud's feet.
"No," Zack said stiffly, maneuvering to sling the bag over his arm and lift Cloud at the same time. "Not at all. I'm going to get some clothes on him and then we're leaving."
"The hell you are!" Genesis snapped. "That boy owes me answers and I am not letting him out of my sight until I get them!"
"If he healed you then he doesn't owe you a thing, especially after what he's been through!" Zack snarled in response. "Just you try to use him, just try it, and I'll make you regret it! I don't care who you think you are!"
"Zackary Fair and Genesis Rhapsodos!" Angeal interjected, a thunderous disapproval in his voice that made both stop in their tracks. "Both of you stop arguing over that boy like he's some kind of bone and you're two starving dogs!" Zack flinched, but Genesis just puffed up like an offended bird. Angeal didn't give him a chance to respond, though, turning to his protege.
"Look, Zack," he said, "Cloud is KIA, officially. You can't just go waltzing around with him before we deal with this. That means that yes, he does have to stay close for a bit. However, Genesis —" he cast a severe look to his friend — "Cloud doesn't have to stay here. And since you both seem incapable of acting like civilized adults, I will be taking him until we get this sorted, got it?"
And again, Sephiroth noted with interest how Zack was watching his mentor with mild distrust and an odd sort of hurt to the set of his brows. Where was the shining admiration he'd heard so much about?
"Cloud doesn't need —" he started to argue, but Angeal cut him off.
"Zack, this is the best way to keep Science from getting their hands on him again."
The young SOLDIER opened his mouth and then shut it. Defeat and...shame? crossed his face. "Right," he said tiredly. "Okay. I'll just…"
"Use the guest bedroom," Genesis said, looking somewhat mollified at Zack's defeat. The intense, calculating curiosity had also returned to his eyes. He gestured with one hand. "That way."
Zack nodded silently and vanished into the guest room.
Sephiroth decided his involvement could end for now. Clearly, no answers would be forthcoming from Zack, and Cloud was due to sleep for many hours yet. Angeal had the situation well in hand, so he didn't have to worry about any (more) paperwork-worthy incidents in the immediate future. So he stood, nodding to both his friends and double-checking the vial in his pocket. "Inform me if anything happens," he said, and left.
The most straightforward way to test the 'water' would be to commandeer part of Hojo's labs. He had the necessary equipment, and Sephiroth had essentially unlimited access. Unfortunately, doing so would almost certainly attract the greasy man's attention, and that was not something Sephiroth particularly wanted to deal with.
Less straightforwardly, the Turks had their own forensics lab, and Tseng owed him a favor. Getting the Turks even peripherally involved wasn't ideal, but it was far more palatable than dealing with Hojo, especially if he had somehow been involved in Cloud's illicit enhancement. Sephiroth pulled out his PHS and dialed the Tseng's number.
Whatever there was to find, Sephiroth would find it. After all, there was no way it could just be water, right?
