In the middle of the night, in the old mansion that apparently has nothing more interesting than dust, some bats and deteriorated furniture, the screams end and a childish cry is heard. At least so in the basement where the people -most of them- stand, wearing white coats, gloves and nerves on edge along with excitement.

Finally what they were waiting for happened.

"He's perfectly healthy."

"Of course he's perfectly healthy, that's how I did it."

He raises his lower lip a little, wondering what is the scientist's bad habit of making drama and minimizing everyone around him for whatever. They give their reports nothing else and he's already destroying them. He is thankful he is not the center of attention in that regard. He is in another, but not this one. He leans in slightly to see what's in the rectangular, clear box. It's a porcelain-skinned, calm-breathing baby. For a baby just born - exactly twenty minutes ago - it is very calm. He cried loudly for a couple of minutes and then suddenly calmed down.

Nevertheless, he is definitely tender. Totally chubby with a wrinkled face.

"Professor, Mrs. Lucretia-"

"The mother? Ah, the mother... Strife, get her out. She's in my way."

"Yes, professor."

Carefully he carries her in his arms, having well covered the lower part of the poor newborn woman who fainted after a few seconds. Although he was ordered only to take her out, he found himself unable to do so. Sense of humanity perhaps. He takes her to the Nibelheim inn, leaves her in a room and takes the road back to the ShinRa mansion.

He exhales the mountain air he is so used to. It's nice to be back after so long in the city. One that is productive in a strange way. He went to Midgar with the deluded intention of joining SOLDIER. It was not to be, couple of years training without it being enough until, during a kind of community service in the scientific department he caught Hojou's attention.

Not because he knows much, not at all. On the contrary. Science is terribly complicated for him and he declares himself inept at it. The thing is that he is good at mechanics and at the same time, he knows how to do big mathematics, logic for some chemistry and the perception of someone who has lived near a mountain full of monsters analyzing the behavior unconsciously. Hojou found him more useful in his department than as an infantryman.

When he doesn't want to call the armament department or a mechanic, he is there to fix what went wrong, to throw away whatever died, to say what he noticed in the new specimen, to say - even if he doesn't pay attention to it - what should be done for better collaboration of the experiment...

So here he is, being a hybrid between bodyguard, counselor, errand boy, behavior analyst and target of weird looks. He's not going to say Hojou has his eye on him like that. He doubts it. He figures he must be fixated on his own inventions with how little he appreciates humans. Yet there are times when he stares at it.

Without any explanation.

Just... He looks at him.

Every day without fail.

As if it were just another experiment.

He goes into the back of the basement, everyone picking up to leave a minimum of order while the baby sleeps. He doesn't have a name yet. He looks at it out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't noticed that he has a thin layer of blond hair? Maybe that's why he's so invisible. He turns to Hojou, taking his arm behind his back out of nervousness.

"Do you need anything else professor?" he asks for his own safety. If he doesn't it looks like he knows what to do and if he doesn't...

Well.

"Yes, keep an eye on the kid" He nods. "Any anomalies tell her. I'll go to sleep."

They all leave the room and he takes a seat in one of the old armchairs. He swings his legs and hums loudly. Maybe it's not what he wanted, but he can't say this job is bad. Even his mother likes it better. Surely because this way she is far away from danger and imminent death. You can tell she doesn't know anything about Hojou. On the other hand and in gift to his time in SOLDIER he has the strength of one next to the eyes. Having failed has its advantages and consolation prizes.

He quickly goes home for something to eat and returns to remain on guard. The baby won't do anything, that's for sure. He remains almost all the time humming the same thing, unaware that there is a little person watching. As he drinks his juice and leans into the incubator, he notices an oddity:

The child's hair is growing.

At first he thought he was hallucinating, but no, the baby's hair is growing. Silver strands, smooth to the touch. It should be impossible for them to do so at such a speed. To top it off, he's sure his body is bigger now. He looks older. He furrows his brow and puts a hand on the transparent material. How odd. I'm sure Hojou would throw up rainbows from excitement... Or else he'd go into crisis, which isn't bad at all.

The infant stirs and starts crying in despair.

"Oh nonono." He opens the incubator and carries it in his arms. He is not an expert in infants at all. He barely knows how to hold him. He goes all over the place not knowing what exactly to do. "Don't cry. Calm down. Cal- NONONONO."

He pushes him away from him a bit, being that he now has a nipple area full of drool. The baby tried to drink even with the cloth and the small fact that he's not going to be able to take anything from there for obvious reasons The normal thing maybe? He must be hungry.

In the lab so out of nowhere luckily there is something to feed him. They are not so stupid as to take the mother out without having to feed him. She probably won't leave this place for a long time. Even though he tries to feed him the baby doesn't want to and insists on clinging to his chest if anything were to come out of it. He is tempted to go to the inn to give the baby to Lucretia. Possibly he will earn a scolding, as Hojou doesn't want her around - she is a nuisance according to him - and having even the slightest dependency is going to make him go bald.

Since it's not really hunger but a desire to tease he lets him do whatever he wants. Nibble on his nipple and drool on the fabric of his shirt. He moans from time to time. To be about five hours old? From being born he's too heavy. It scares him that his hair is growing and so is he in general.

"What eyes." he hisses in awe. They are as green as the Mako. It's impressive. He's been carrying him around all morning and part of the morning.

He fell asleep with it on him Why didn't anyone come all day and all night? It's a mystery that will never be solved. The only thing certain is that the child barely ate anything -three drops at most-, but is still attached to his chest.

Strange things, but what did he expect? He is not even well informed about the project. He knows it's a baby made with a certain genetic modification. A future big super SOLDIER or something.

. . .

"Did he grow? Just like that?"

"Yes. You could even see his hair coming out. He hasn't wanted to eat anything at all because he's looking for his mother. He must have mistaken me for her considering he's been biting my breast instead of drinking from a bottle." he informs Hojou who has just arrived. The scientist walks around with his usual hump and sees the child stirring in the incubator. He has not gone back to sleep and must eat. It's been a long time, again, he doesn't allow it.

"How old do you estimate?"

"Four or five months."

"Interesting... Bring his mother to breastfeed. You go."

He nods and is released. Nice and charming. He went home to sleep without hearing anything about what was going on in the subway lab. Probably nothing interesting anyway. After the birth all that's left is to be sick watching the baby. The most critical part is over.

He only hopes that Lucrecia will not be kicked out once she has done her job. In itself it seems very silly to her

A baby needs its mother in this very dependent and weak period. Never mind that it grows at an accelerated pace. He hopes he won't always do so. If so it would have a very, very short life. He sleeps, eats, wanders around the house talking to his mother and comes back for his shift at work. He comes downstairs humming the same as during the early morning and contrary to the usual peace he finds shouting and chaos in the lab.

"STRIFE!"

"Y-yes sir."

"SHUT IT DOWN."

He enters in a panic like the rest and awkwardly carries the baby who is crying uncontrollably. No sooner does he do so than the child begins to calm down, his face losing color and breathing agitatedly. Everyone around drops down, sighing in relief and being thankful that he arrived. Cloud complaint about the bite on the chest.

"He's still not eating. At this rate he's going to starve to death." Complains one of Hojou's assistants.

The fear is palpable. More than a year in this process that could go to shit if the baby dies.

"No? But-"

"Because of Lucretia she started crying. We spent hours trying to get him to eat and he wouldn't have it." explains another. Cloud turns up a lip and gently rocks the child so it doesn't get upset again.

"At least he hasn't grown any bigger." he notes unsure of what to say in this situation, as he feels somewhere between small and oblivious to the whole picture even though he has the center of attention. Hojou scratches his chin looking at the blond.

"Lift up your shirt."

"Excu-"

"Lift your shirt."

He obeys with some slowness and grumbles at the direct bite to his nipple. The baby is determined to get something out of him and looks frustrated at not succeeding. Hojou approaches and gives one of his laughs. As creepy as ever, with his hands behind his back.

"Sephiroth seems to take you as his mother."

" Sephiroth "

An exaggerated name if he's allowed to opine.

"Blond-"

"Cloud."

"You'll take care of him... Inject him with hormones."

At first he refused, useless because they end up forcing him to do it. Female hormones that in the long run -as he assumes-, would make him look more feminine than he already is and have quite an important disaster in his body. Among them a little swelling of her breasts.

Mammary glands developing and to the surprise of the other scientists, they could work.

The first few weeks Sephiroth survived on IV. When the hormone treatment plus the infant's constant tugging took effect, Cloud began to lactate. Causing general amazement and celebration in the lab. He's not exactly amused by this, but it's not a dying evil to complain about either. At a month old looking like a six month old baby he was finally satisfied.

Examining him and keeping an eye on him is a pain, as he can barely stand Cloud out of his field of vision. As soon as he sees him, he stretches out his arms. He cries his eyes out if anyone else tries to feed him and in general seems totally programmed to accept only what the blond does with him.

Cloud by inertia keeps it with him. It's his job now. Grooming him, combing his hair, changing him, dressing him, everything! He's gotten laughs out of it, lots of them, and he can tell he's a lovely boy. Too bad Lucretia is not allowed to see him.

"Her fixation is illogical. It was only two days they were alone together." comments Gast, evidently disgruntled. Cloud is asleep in the distance with Sephiroth on his lap.

He knows Hojou did it on purpose to test what Cloud would do with the baby. How he would deal with it.

"I've looked into it" He states the scientist looking at samples under a microscope. "There's a great sympathy in his genetic material. It's compatible with his."

"How close?"

"He would possibly have been the only one capable of supporting Jenova's cells... For the moment" He gives a chilling laugh, adjusts his round glasses. "Plus the Mako in his veins makes him closer than Lucretia. It's... "Mother."

Gast doesn't comment on the matter. He finds the coincidence curious, on the other hand, he doesn't understand how that boy - barely fifteen years old -, could have so much Mako on him if he wasn't in SOLDIER proper. There is a nonsense here that he will not investigate for the sake of his own private "experiment". Gast withdraws, lying about what he will do. Hojou is left alone with the sleeping pair. He checks on Sephiroth, who merely sighs complacently at not sleeping in his "crib" and Hojou stares at Cloud.

Cute teenager. Obedient. Somewhat scatterbrained, but useful for what he was assigned to do. Not one to give merit, but certainly more useful to him in the lab than with other SOLDIERs who don't know the difference between a four and a six. Even more useful than anyone in the company knows.

It makes him tilt his head to the side. He notices a small wound at the base of the neck. Reddish almost purple in color. Of course Gast is going to wonder how an infantry SOLDIER has so much Mako on him and is that in first stay he had but a minimal amount. Almost non-existent. Just enough for his eyes to become typical of the program.

The answer is that: Such as now, that he steps away briefly, takes a syringe and fills it with the highly concentrated green liquid, injects Mako into Cloud in small doses which, as he has been observing, prove to be a success.

A success superior to stuffing them with hits in exuberant quantities.

Perhaps it's a very slow process, he won't deny it, nevertheless, he gets what he wants: A specimen that survives to keep doses of Mako in his system, adapt to it and take advantage of it. No man, no matter how many female hormones he is injected with, will lactate, and if he does, it will be over a longer period of time. Mako makes him more adaptable, versatile and stronger.

Who knows what else could be accomplished by turning this child into that cocktail.

It even makes him lose himself in his mind. A reverie of rational ability. Gast may have Ifalna - the very fool thinks he doesn't realize it - but he has two creations: Sephiroth, his big, perfect future super soldier, and Cloud, his private experiment to see how far he can stretch the limits of physical capability.

Together they could be "Experiment Jenova."

Although separately Sephiroth is "Experiment S."

And Cloud renamed "Mother."

Truth be told, the image in his mind is most sacred. Who broods and the offspring who will be capable of the impossible. Squeeze his crotch, Cloud shakes his head. The usual every time there is a dose. He is stunned and in another world. Hojou unzips his pants and starts rubbing his member, watching the pair rest. His great creations. He gasps and moans the more he rubs, leans back on the couch and continues. Excited by the mere fact of having them there, they are going to advance to be bigger.

As he cums he falls straight on the blond's face who opens his eyes. So dilated that it is obvious his few lights. He doesn't even know where he is. Sephiroth moans and sticks his head in to feed himself. Cloud squints towards him and Hojou does nothing but repeat. Pulling his phallus in sick fascination with something as banal as a child drinking milk.

He gasps and looks at his hand for a moment. Dirty. Then he returns to the scene. Cloud's head hangs and he wipes the remains on his face.

He doesn't touch them.

He doesn't interrupt.

He just looks at them.

Observing everything.

Because that's what he does the most without fail: observing, analyzing.

So he wouldn't miss even the smallest detail.

"Do you like it? It's a puppy."

Sephiroth gives a couple of gentle pats to the animal's head. Cloud sits on the floor holding the silver-haired, green-eyed baby. Minerva, Cloud's mother, watches him smiling, finding the image too adorable. The dog snoozes with Cloud and Sephiroth's petting.

"It's impressive how big he is."

"He grows too big." whines Cloud, letting him sit up so he can continue to play with the animal.

"Will leaving soon?" she asks despondently as he notices them taking away clothing and such. Nibelheim is bursting at the seams with SOLDIERs.

"Yes. In a week" he shrugs. "I'll be babysitting now. Not exactly what I expected." he admits with a hand on his waist. Minerva crouches down next to Sephiroth, who stares at her.

"It's a very nice job," she states tugging on the childish cheek. Sephiroth groans in disgust. "I just hope you visit me soon and not in another two years. I want to see you more often" she chides and Cloud gives a nervous laugh before twisting his gesture. "Lend Tifa a hand when she goes to Midgar. It'll sure do her good to have a friend."

"It's not like we are..."

"It's a start!" she exclaims encouragingly. "If you get a girlfriend she can be Sephiroth's mom."

His mother is unaware that he is the one feeding Sephiroth, who refuses to eat anything but Cloud's despite his current size. For obvious reasons he hasn't told her. It's better this way.

"Maybe. He's sure to get one over there at ShinRa. There are people for everything."

"That doesn't take away from the fact that it's you he's going to want" He nods. "Well, I'll go finish eating. You can come if you want. It's nice to eat with company."

One more week and goodbye Nibelheim again. He exhales in annoyance and picks Sephiroth up from the floor to carry him back. Gast agrees to let him take him out to at least get some sun, familiarize himself with the air, the environment, normal people, animals. Hojou would have him stuck in a tank all day if it were up to him. No one doubts that.

"Ah, hello... Can I help you?"

Lucretia looks pretty bad. She's haggard, barely combed and healthy enough for Cloud to be the least bit concerned. She licks her lips and looks inside, where Sephiroth is sitting. Banging on a couple of toys Cloud's mother got.

"L-let me... Let me carry him, please. T-they won't let me and... and... he's my son, please." she sobs and Cloud shrugs, letting her pass. There's no one in the lab but him. If he doesn't tell, it's going to be all right.

Hojou doesn't want Lucretia to see him for reasons? Cloud is indifferent and would prefer Sephiroth to feel attachment and need for his real mother. Not for him that hardly matters. Lucretia goes excitedly and takes him with trembling hands. Sephiroth stares at her for a while, not understanding why this woman is crying as she does. He lets himself be carried for a while, with her talking and giving her little kisses on the face every now and then.

"Like a small piece of dust, that floats in the air" Sephiroth turns his head, noticing Cloud humming along as usual at this early hour of the morning. "If the flying snow is me I could reach you faster..." He starts to whine, not getting Cloud's attention. "Snowflakes are falling. Getting farther away" He turns his head, frowning quizzically at Sephiroth crying. "I miss you." Sephiroth holds out his arms and Cloud has no choice but to carry him.

"He gets a little obnoxious. Maybe if- Lucretia?" his expression is strange and Cloud doesn't understand it.

He never did. She just sees them. The way her son rejects her and looks for someone else totally unrelated. She's gone. She disappeared they never saw her again and Cloud after a while stopped wondering what became of her. At the company she was presumed lost and dead for lack of information or anything reasonable from the scientist.

Notes:

Sorry if there have some typos or errors, i'm not that good with english, this more an experiment than something else