Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the final fantasy universe.

Please let me know what you think of the changes and/or anything you'd like to see.

I'm going to try to be more consistent again.

*edit: I failed as a human being and a writer.

*double edit: I'm still a failure as a writer :,(

"There you go my boy, this is the last one." Hojo told the comatose man.

Hojo removed the final two IV's from Cloud's arm. The rest of the tubes had all been removed last night. These last ones were required to filter out as much mako in his bloodstream as possible. As it was, the blonde's levels were almost triple what they were before and far beyond what he'd previously believed a human could endure. It was fascinating just what this specimen's body can tolerate. No wonder his other self chose him to duplicate Sephiroth. Even if his other self was a short-sighted imbecile.

"It will be quite interesting to see what changes will occur as a result of the increased mako." Hojo mused.

"He is not an object for you to experiment on." The home-wrecking former Turk snuck up behind him.

"Believe it or not Valentine, but what I'm doing here could very well save his life." Hojo sneered.

Valentine glared at him but Hojo ignored the freak. He didn't matter anymore. He was only a means to an end. Tolerated if only to keep Strife in check. All that mattered was Sephiroth.

Sephiroth and now this boy here.

It was child's play for him to see what was done to Strife. Most especially after he acquired Strife's records before the change. The boy had truly been useless before his other self got a hold of him. Why he'd thought the weakling was worthy of Sephiroth's greatness he didn't know, but he couldn't argue the results. The levels of augmentation Strife underwent were astounding. Hojo still couldn't figure out how Strife was able to become so saturated with Jenova-infected mako without mutating. Did it have something to do with being so close to the source most his life? It was an unlikely scenario as he'd experimented with other specimens before that habituated near mako reactors with poor results.

Regardless, it was obvious what he had been trying to do and why it went wrong. One couldn't destroy a complete soul and imprint a new one into the empty vessel, the body would fade into the lifestream. Any fool knew that. One also couldn't imprint a complete soul onto another soul without destroying both.

Or creating a bond.

Records showed that Sephiroth had been sneaking down here every night to stay by Strife's side. An astounding act in itself for Sephiroth would never venture into Hojo's territory willingly before. It was a phenomenon that Hojo would have to watch closely. He couldn't let this connection harm his son in any way. If need be, he would have to cut the ties between them completely.

Hojo sighed softly as he stared at the boy. He couldn't understand why his alternate self thought it was a viable process to perform a simple copy and paste. The mistakes and misjudgments were all glaringly obvious to him now. Jenova made him more of an idiot than he realized. He could now see all of the invisible scars his alternative's blind hacking had caused this boy. If Hojo were capable, he you pity the boy.

Regardless, Strife would become very useful in the future.

Very useful indeed.

Tifa groaned as she hit the mat hard knocking the breath out of her. She carefully got to her knees and knew without checking that she would have a new bruise to add to her growing collection. She couldn't complain though, it was her big mouth's fault after all. She was the one to boast about her prowess where Turks could hear it and accept a challenge only to get her ego handed back to her. It was also her fault to keep coming back again and again for some unofficial training.

But it was a good distraction from what Cloud's been going through.

"Giving up already?" the strawberry blonde Turk challenged.

Tifa just grinned at the woman and wiped the spittle off with the back of her glove. She jumped back to her feet and got into a basic fighting pose. Her hands once more up and ready.

"Atta girl." The woman crooned.

The Turk also took her position. Tifa studied her opponent carefully as she waited for her to make the first move. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again. It's only been a couple of weeks but since coming to Midgar, Tifa has had to eat more than a few slices of humble pie. Needless to say, it wasn't her favorite flavor. She was one of the best fighters in Nibelheim despite her Father's attempts to control her, but now she realized that what she knew was nothing compared to fighting in the real world.

It was okay though. Every time one of them knocked her down she learned. Her master always preached that lessons came from defeats not from victories. Tifa took that to heart. She was learning all about them and how they fight. In learning how they fight, she's learning how to beat them.

For instance with this one, never make the first move and never strike high. Instead block and counter with a blow to the kidneys. Also, she liked to lead with a high kick.

Tifa smirked and flipped her fingers in the universal signal to come at her. The Turk sped forward pivoting at the last second to kick at her head. Tifa grabbed her ankle and ducked under spinning herself to elbow the woman in the small of her back.

The Turk dropped into a forward roll breaking Tifa's grip and tried to kick her legs out from under her. Tifa back flipped over her and put some space between them. The Turk flipped to her feet and lunged at her diaphragm. Tifa managed to side-step that one only to have her legs swept under her unexpectedly. She turned the fall into a roll and got to her feet in time to dodge the next blow.

She didn't quite have the rhythm down yet, but she was getting there. Once she had it, she would be able to help Cloud on whatever it was that he got himself involved in.

It was the least she could do for him.

"Hey Boss! Got some grub Yo!"

Reno unlocked and pushed open the door without waiting for an invitation. Ever since the President's son got caught trying to fund Avalanche to destroy his dad's company, the teenager has been on house arrest under Turk supervision. As far as punishments go, it could be worse. In Reno's opinion, the kid's been taking it rather well. Then again, when your 'room' was basically a palace complete with Turk wait-staff, it wasn't too much of a hardship.

"I'm in here Reno." A voice called from the office.

Reno carried the serving tray with the teenager's breakfast…brunch…whatever it's called, into the side room that acted as an office. Everything was pristine and white and, in Reno's opinion, boring. Reno preferred the grime of the slums. The grit of the lower city seemed more honest than all these clean precise lines, probably because it was. Full of filth and color and neon lights that made it all appear alive. The only items out of place of their rigid structure were the folders scattered across the desk and even those were organized to a degree.

The files were all on restricted intel Reno noticed. Even though he was privately disgraced, Rufus managed to keep up on all the dirt that he could dig up on the company. It was a trait that Reno as a Turk could respect. Hence why he was here instead one of the underlings. It was also a good idea to keep an eye on what dirt young Rufus was digging up. There were some secrets not even the President's 'legitimate' son could walk away from.

Reno dropped the tray on top of a bunch of folders scattering them even more. Rufus slumped back in an exasperated huff.

"Don't be like that Your Highn'ss" Reno snarked "I even brought you something extra juicy Yo."

"Juicy huh? It better be well seasoned."

Rufus leaned forward and removed the lid setting it carelessly on a particular set of files. The rich scent of fresh scrambled eggs mixed with peppers, mushrooms and real chocobo sausage filled the room. It wasn't the fancy brunches the Pres. liked to throw, but was what Rufus preferred when given a choice and it sure made Reno's mouth water. He watched as Rufus took his first bite of golden fluffy perfection.

"Needs salt."

"Com'on Yo!" Reno whined as he fell into one of the guest chairs. Rufus smirked at him and continue eating.

Cheeky brat.

Reno kept watch as Rufus carefully devoured his meal. There was always someone with the Prince of Shinra whenever he dined. More than once someone tried to slip poison to the kid through his food and the Turks took is personally, Reno more than most. Tseng was probably the only one who took the brat's care more seriously than he did.

Not that he would let anyone know he cared. He had a reputation to maintain after all.

"Anything interesting going on out there?" Rufus asked as he neared the end of his meal.

Reno hesitated for a moment. On one hand Rufus was on lock down for selling secrets and funding terrorists. On the other he was the future leader of the company. Reno like to think of himself as a forward thinking kind of guy. And a boss was a boss.

"Little of this, little of that."

"Any word on Veld?" Rufus asked.

"You know I can't talk about anything connected to Avalanche or the Turks." Reno scolded lightly.

"Okay, what's interesting that you can talk about?" Rufus pressed "There must be something."

"Well…" Reno drawled.

"Well what?"

"Hojo's got himself a new pet."

Rufus scoffed "What's so special about that? The Professor always has some specimen that he's experimenting on."

"This one's different."

"How so?"

"Well for one, he nabbed a trooper."

Rufus stared at him for a moment. "I thought he wasn't allowed to pull from the regular infantry." he finally said.

"Apparently he got permission after the fact."

"How?"

"Unknown. The kid bunked down with his squad one night. Was gone missing next morning. Turned up couple of weeks later lookin' and actin' like some badass First Yo." Reno told him seriously.

"Oh. Bet that went over well."

"Yeah. Leads to the second thing. Kid's now got the chops to back it up."

"Mako glow?" Rufus asked taking the conversation more seriously himself.

"As strong as Sephiroth's eyes, even shifted to match a few times."

Rufus abandoned his meal completely in favor of Reno's news. To receive enough mako to create the signature glow that quickly should have killed or mutated the infantryman. It was no secret to anyone that mako was an incredibly dangerous substance.

"And you're sure he had no signs of mako exposure before Hojo got him?"

If what Reno was saying was true, it could mean a major breakthrough for the Soldier program. Or it could very well be the ruin of it. He would need to contact his sources in and out of the company to find out just what Hojo was up to. If the results could be duplicated and it got to…say Avalanche…then there might be a chance of bringing his father down sooner than anticipated.

The Raven project was progressing steadily from the last report from Fuhito with the first batch ready to go, but like the Soldier program it took time to build Ravens to a strength that could match his father's Soldiers. If what Reno said was true and Hojo found a way to safely speed up the process, what once took. Months and years could happen in weeks.

"From what I've gathered, he's just a reg corporal. Never crossed paths with Hojo once. Did meet a Professor Rayleigh when he was a guard. Saved her life which led to his promotion."

"That is interesting. What's he been doing since you returned?"

Reno slouched back again. Of all the Turks Rufus knew, Reno was his favorite.

"Donno, he disappeared into Hojo's pit the moment we got back from Nibelheim."

Before Rufus could ask anything else Reno's jacket started ringing. The Turk pulled it out and answered it.

"Yo!"

Rufus watched him nod silently to the caller. He's spent thwart last few years building a familiarity with various Turks as he never knew if he would need an assassin at his back and so far it proved to be worth his while. The Turks have foiled more than one assassination attempt by one or more of his 'brothers' over the years. He would further need their support when he took over the company from his father.

"Got it." Reno hung up and returned the PHS to his pocket.

"Well boss, it looks like I'm needed elsewhere."

Reno stood up with a lazy stretch and headed for the door.

"Reno" Rufus call out just before he exited "If you see Lazard, could you ask him to stop by and see me when he has a free moment. I still need to keep up the pretense of family bonding."

Reno looked over his shoulder with his signature smirk.

"Got it boss."

Rufus smiled "I'll see you next time then."

Vincent watched over the comatose Cloud from his chosen perch. The wounds caused by Hojo's extraction were all closed and the toxic slime was finally free of his skin. Cloud's eyes however have not returned to normal. They were once more green and cat-slit like Sephiroth's. Vincent was unsure if they would return to normal this time. He hoped they would for Cloud's sake.

'He'll wake up soon'

Vincent ignored the faint stirrings of excitement. For whatever reason his passenger favored the young man. It was one of the very few reasons he could trust himself around his friend. If he lost control Chaos would fight to protect Cloud rather than harm him. He tried asking why once, but the reply was incomprehensible. He hasn't bother since. It was enough to know that Chaos was protective of him and where Chaos led the others followed.

Just as Chaos predicted, Cloud's eyes suddenly snapped open. The unfocused green gaze stared sightlessly ahead. The next second he started seizing violently on the table. Vincent dropped to the floor and started to move forward.

'Wait!'

Every muscle in his body froze at the silent command. It was not a moment too soon even as Vincent fought the other's hold.

Tendrils of the lifestream came out of nowhere and surrounded Cloud. Vincent watched helplessly as the light consumed the man and disintegrated before him.