Hi..... Sorry it's been so long for an update but life has been getting in the way of my stories i'm afraid. The next update may be quite some time in the works as well as i'm approaching my A level exams - my mocks begin next week then in a month or so it's the real deal.
So I apologise in advance for the slow updates and I will try and get the next chap up as soon as possible.#
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own FFVII or Square Enix.
Chapter 5
Jen struggled to suppress a yawn as the amphitheatre began to slowly fill with tired cadets. Rolling her eyes, she watched a group of several lads drunkenly clamber their way over to her, Kai managing to grab the seat next to her whilst the others either sat in front or behind her, as per their norm.
"Why do we have to get up early today? It's supposed to be our morning off." Kai's head slumped onto her shoulder, using it as a pillow.
"It's because they want to go through the finalized timetable for our last few months as cadets." She pushed his head off her shoulder with a finger before shrugging her shoulders. "If you'd paid any attention at dinner last night you wouldn't have had any of the sergeants breathing down your necks to get you out of bed this morning."
"Alright Miss Know-it-all, so we didn't hear last night, ok?" One of the lads behind her, Declan, gave her hair a slight ruffle, causing her to squeak and raise her arms to defend her head.
"Come to think about it – you're not usually there for dinner announcements. Your boyfriend not show?" She rolled her eyes as the lads in front, Gray and Jake, turned to face her.
"I told you his not my boyfriend – he's my cousin's." Gray and Jake shook their heads in sync before Kai took the initiative and wapped them both on the head.
"Hey, look who it is." The one beside Declan, Anton, was pointing down towards the corner of the stage where the sergeants were just getting everything finalized. "It's actually him! It's the General!" Anton starting bouncing in his seat, as giddy as a schoolboy, just from seeing the General.
"So that's Sephiroth, huh? Doesn't look that bad." Gray scratched just under his chin, a little nervously.
'Sephiroth?' Jen put a hand over her eyes, rubbing gentle circles around them as a painful throb began to resonate behind them. 'I know I've met him before somewhere – but where?' She knew she'd never seen him during her time as a cadet, in fact she'd made every attempt not to see him just as a precaution – Rimes had warned her that no one in the entirety of SOLDIER had better senses then the General.
"You ok?" Kai's tones were hushed – he was obviously attempting to not draw attention. He needn't have bothered though as Anton's excited whispers were now spreading throughout the whole group of cadets, as if no one had ever seen the General in the flesh before, even though he'd been present on their first day.
"I'll be fine – just a slight headache." This wasn't the type that the Planet gave it her when trying to call on her Cetra side, but an actual headache – it was quite a new experience for her as she'd never had one that hadn't been the work of the Planet.
"Are you sure though? You've gone quite pale."
"I'll go ask the infirmary for some aspirin after they've finished explaining what's gonna happen." That seemed to settle Kai's concerns but not her own. Tuning out to what was being said as Zack had already given her a basic outline to come and her father had actually given her all the preparations for it all, she focused on the headache, examining it as thoroughly as she could. Of course she couldn't predict the white mist that fell upon her, accompanied by a flash of light.
"Hey Jenny!!" She turned around, long hair whipping with the sudden movement, as she looked towards the one that had called her.
"What is it?" It was revealed to be a young boy, but still visibly older than herself – most probably a few years older – and definitely taller than she would be at his age.
"I thought you might like to go outside with me for a walk." She chewed her cheek as she glanced at the suited man behind him, her mind automatically recoiling at the Turk guard. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she watched as the man shifted nervously, one hand loosening his tie minutely whilst he looked around the room – everywhere except back at her. Satisfied with the Turk's reaction, she swung her attention back to the boy, a readily-formed answer waiting on her tongue.
"I'd like that!! I've been longing to go outside for a few days now." She smiled brightly, her head tilting slightly towards the right. "But can I just grab a coat?" He nodded and she half ran to her room. Upon entering it, she grabbed the first coat she came to and hurriedly swung it on, glancing at the small mountain of books that had formed on her small desk. Great – she had 'homework' to do.
Shaking her head, she left the room, her arms buried in the sleeves of the opposite arm as she realised that autumn had finally arrived – the chill of a freshly fallen rain was able to permeate even this far underground. She had to hide the small smile that was forming as she saw him waiting by the staircase, the Turk still trying not to look at her.
It didn't take them long to race up the spiral staircase yet they were forced to wait for the Turk to catch up when they reached the top – though they were smart, they still didn't know the code get out and into freedom. Finally he caught up and the code was quickly put in, his fingers seeming to fly over the keypad. It was too fast for her to follow and she had long since stopped trying to guess the code as it was inputted. Then it was a case of following the passages and down the staircase into the main entranceway with its heavy-set wooden doors. She paused, admiring the sweeping staircase; too busy imagining another life where a beautifully gowned woman would delicately step down each stair, finally reaching out a hand to her consort before going to greet their guests.
A slight tug on her arm pulled her out of the fantasy, back to the dull reality where neglect had ravished the magnificent building into a shade of time. She felt herself be pulled towards the rear of the mansion, her feet automatically moving until they reached a room where a grand piano was stood, worn and battered just like the rest of the building. That was when she snapped out of her delusional trance and focused out the large glassed double doors that were being hesitantly opened, as if the glass would suddenly shatter.
Then it was bliss- the occasional short spell of freedom usually was. Leaves had been painted fiery orange, burning red and bright gold, large clumps forming under each tree as several more fluttered down to rest gently on the top of the pile. She stood still for a moment taking it all in, before her age kicked in and she felt the urge to run around and kick the leaves back into the sky. However, she knew she wouldn't, not with the Turk standing behind them, an unwanted presence.
"You don't need to follow us all the way round you know. You can see us quite plainly from the doorway." Jen couldn't help the small glare that was forming, the clouds were slowly beginning to part and this was the only freedom she'd had in a while – she wanted to enjoy it without a bulky bodyguard following her around. A muffled laugh caused her to glance over to the boy, whose face held an expression that indicated amusement at her words. The Turk glanced between them, gradually nodding his head.
"Alright but if you get into trouble, don't hesitate to shout." He paused for a moment before continuing. "That goes extra for you Jennifer, especially if Sephiroth think s he can protect you from something he's not ready for yet." Then he was gone, heading towards the door where he could lounge against the rock as he relaxed, though his eyes would remain alert.
"You told him." Sephiroth gave a small smile just as the sun finally burst through, bathing everything in a golden glow. She couldn't help but stare at him from the corner of her eye; the silver hair, so similar to her own, had a golden glow whilst the cat-like slitted green eyes seemed to warm to a hue like her mother's apple-green eyes. The sunlight helped to highlight areas under his clothes where steadily forming muscles were beginning to show. She averted her eyes quickly before he could catch her, instead scanning the sky overhead as a small bird danced above them with its partner.
"I'll race you to the statue!" Sephiroth's eyes widened for a second then gleamed in challenge.
"You're on."
She struggled to open her eyes. Truthfully she couldn't remember shutting them but perhaps she had fallen asleep? At last her eyes were able to groggily glance around her surroundings and suddenly she found herself wishing she hadn't. She had never been a big fan of medical-type areas – too pristine for her liking, but it had to be said that she despised laboratories such as the one she was in, even more.
Attempting to sit up, she discovered something else – she was strapped onto the metal table and that wasn't the worst bit. A man with greasy tied-back hair and wearing a lab coat was looking over something on a counter nearby, muttering to himself as he did. But then he was turning around and coming across to her, pausing to check she was still securely strapped down.
She tried to keep bile down as he picked a needle from the counter right next to her, his glasses glinting dangerously as he did so. That was something she had a slight phobia of – needles and injections.
She couldn't hold in the squeak as the needle pierced the skin on her left arm, her body yearning for the joy of unconsciousness as fire began to spread along her limbs, the cause coursing through her veins. However the remedy came on swift wings as her vision began to cloud until she eventually blacked out.
Zack stood near the window of the single room that he had unconsciously taken when he came into the infirmary, his attention divided between the door and Jen's prone body that lay on the hospital bed.
Every so often there would be a slight twitch of her head or her eyes, but other than that she was completely still. It had almost been an hour since the doctor took a sample of her blood to run through a diagnostic and there was no sign of either a doctor or nurse to tell him just what was going on. She'd been perfectly healthy when he saw her earlier and for her to just suddenly collapse? Something wasn't right.
His musings suddenly went flying out of his mind as a commotion could be heard outside. A doctor opened the door slightly and motioned for him to come over, the confused face of the man puzzling him even further.
"What's up doc?"
"Lieutenant, you told me you brought a cadet in correct?" Zack leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest, a frown etched upon his face.
"Yeah; why does that matter?"
"The test results just came back – Lieutenant, were you aware that this cadet has high levels of Mako in their bloodstream?" The doctor had been flipping papers over on the clipboard he had, pausing to look over it at Zack.
"Is there anything else unusual or just that?" He made a mental note to talk to Jen when she woke up about this. But then again, maybe Sephiroth or Sergeant Rimes would be able to fill him better if they knew.
"Now you mention it there was another anomaly. It's only First Class who receive J Cells from the lab isn't it?" Zack nodded, knowing where this one was going already. "Laurett would also appear to have a large concentration of them. If I didn't know better, I would think that she was an almost perfect female version of the General himself based on the level of both of these." Zack sighed – when he'd willingly taken Jen on as a student, he hadn't expected this type of problems to arise. She'd even said that she wasn't keeping anything from him when he'd asked how she was so good at swordplay.
"Is it possible she doesn't know herself?" The doctor seemed to think on that one for a moment.
"I doubt that very much – how can someone not be aware of this?" The man frowned again, clearly thinking of something else. Zack sighed, frustrated as he watched this doctor. He made it seem that Jen was attempting to conceal all these enhancements from everyone, even though everything else pointed at the girl being open and honest about everything - except her gender that was.
"Amnesia." Zack could swear he just jumped a mile but he was certain it would've been higher for the doctor. Someone really needed to get some sort of alert system tied to the man so people would have some warning before he turned up abruptly.
"What?" Zack couldn't help but say it – Sephiroth had just popped out of nowhere, surprising him enough that he'd missed what the General had said.
"Laurett has amnesia."
"Ah… I never thought about memory problems. Yes, amnesia would be a viable reason for her not being able to inform you of this alteration." The doctor willingly handed over the file as a pale hand reached out for them, watching as Sephiroth did exactly as he'd done previously – flipping through the pages, reading each one thoroughly. But the General also did something he hadn't earlier – set the file on fire with the help of a Fire Materia.
"Any other files on her?" The doctor shook his head, in some shock after such a precious document was destroyed. "Good."
"You do realise that if she is ever brought here after today, we'll have to redo all those tests?"
"If she's ever brought here again, she'd have to be unconscious – she's afraid of medical areas." Zack couldn't prevent the smile that formed as he watched the doctor attempt to make Sephiroth feel a little guilty about what he had just done – but that would probably never happen, the General was on a mission of sorts and he thought he knew what it was. All medical files for personnel went online so they could easily be accessed by other ShinRa medical facilities if a person ever needed treatment in a different area to normal. There was one person in particular who read most people's files if he deemed them a possible 'specimen' for an experiment, even though SOLDIER was off limits thanks to the General but there was often the case of a missing cadet who 'failed' the Mako test.
"I'll just go check on Jen." A single nod was all he got to show that Sephiroth had heard him, the General focused on the man in front of him, who was still attempting to make sense of the General's lack of concern.
Slipping back inside the room quietly, he didn't expect to see that she'd moved. In fact she was no longer lying on the bed, but was sitting in the window, staring at the outside world. Silver hair fell in a curtain around her face, effectively shielding it from view, leaving him to guess what type of mood she would be in.
"You're upset with me."
"Well..." Zack scratched his neck; the statement was blunt, not to mention devoid of emotion, and not what he was used to from her. "You did promise that you weren't keeping anything hidden away."
"I know – I lied but the only thing was that I was female." He watched as her arms tightened around her waist, almost as if she was trying to make herself smaller.
"So what about the enhancements?" Zack dragged a hand down his face, keeping the rants locked inside – shouting and raving would probably have a negative effect at the moment.
"Enhancements?" The silver curtain was pushed back as she turned a questioning face to him. "I was told it was inherited." Violet eyes blinked as Zack tried to make sense of her words.
"Who told you that? Who would you have inherited it from?"
"My mother told me and it was... my father that I supposedly got it from." Tired oceanic eyes locked with his for a brief moment before moving to focus on something behind him. He knew that tactic – the one where if you couldn't look someone in the eye, you focused on something just behind them instead.
"So who was your father then?"
"My predecessor – Jetson Laurett." He heard Jen giggle gently into her hand as he was caught by surprise, yet again, by Sephiroth's unannounced arrival.
"Do you have to do that? One of these days you'll make my heart stop." To emphasise his point, Zack held one hand over his heart, not missing the smirk that was plastered on Sephiroth's face or the easy smile that seemed to brighten Jen's face.
"That might not be such a bad idea." Sephiroth's face suddenly slipped into an expression of seriousness and thoughtfulness as he mulled over Zack's words. Zack folded his arms over his chest, pulling a pout as he tried to look like a stroppy teen.
"Would you two stop?? Please!" The giggles from beforehand had finally turned into full hysterics, her arms cradling her chest as if it hurt – which it probably did due to all that laughing. Suddenly that hypnotic sound stopped as abruptly as it had begun, the curtain of silver hair loosening enough to fall forwards again.
"What's wrong?" Zack looked at the girl, who was holding herself as though she'd been cornered.
"I'm waiting for one of you to suddenly say 'pack your things and make yourself scarce by the morning.'" Zack felt his jaw drop as he listened to her, almost shouting that he would never do such a thing, but his tongue was silenced by the look of horror that had passed over Sephiroth's face. Watching the General fight against some hidden urge, Zack knew that Jen wouldn't be leaving SOLDIER for quite some time if Sephiroth had anything to do with it. "Well?" The woman in question was now facing them, a curious gleam in her eyes that seemed to call for an answer.
"If Zack ever told you that, I think he'd be having his head examined."
"Hey!!" Now Zack had shaken himself out of his daze, he could attempt to defend himself. "I wouldn't tell her to leave!" Problem was, he couldn't hold a glare for too long, especially not with two silver-heads looking so relieved, both for their own reasons. Zack nodded his head once as Jen's lips formed the words 'Thank you'.
