Disclaimer: Characters and setting are property of Square Enix

Rating: NC-17

Paring: Sephiroth/Genesis

Warnings: Boy's kissing, language

AN: Thank you to the readers, and those of you who favored and/or alerted this story. A special thank you to all of the awesome reviewers. I do love reviews though I don't ask for them. I just figure that you will tell me if you hated or loved a chapter.

AN2: If you feel Sephiroth was too fluffy, or Genesis is being too whiny this chapter, please tell me. Sometimes I get carried away with romance, especially with these two, because in my perfect world, they would be together all the time and forever happy. I've often joked with people that I want Sephiroth to carry Genesis away to "Happily Ever After." So, feel free to let me know if either of the boys are OOC, or are being too cute and fluffy.

Thank you to my wonderful beta's, Nephilim Rising, and gothicdragon 752. Not only are these two great writers, and have some of the most wonderful Seph/Gen stories around, check out "Pride of a General" by Nephilim, or "Hole in the Sky," by Gothic, but they are great editors. Now, even with two beta's there might still be errors in my chapters, but that's totally my fault. I will add, or change something once the chapters been beta'ed, or I will write and complete a chapter when neither of my beta's are on, and I don't have the patience to wait for them before posting. So, I am completely to blame.

&%$ CBV %&

Death is not a thing for the young. Death is for the old. It is reserved for those who know and understand the world they live in. The icy, cold fingers of the grave are usually hidden from youth; boney digits pried away by the old who wish to protect those who are just starting life. They are shielded from the Harvester of Souls by their innocence and the belief in immortality. This is not a bad, it is the natural order of things. Death is usually blind to youth.

There are however, some children who aren't as fortunate as the rest. They are introduced to Death early, be it through the loss of a loved one or someone close to them. Or maybe they themselves are the ones wrapped in the cold embrace of eternal slumber. These young ones were not protected, and Death, whether purposeful or not, found them.

Among the children who have seen the skeletal visage of the Grim Reaper work his magic, there are a select few – the ones who have yet to learn what it means to be alive – who hold the hand of Death and willingly guide him to others. Wherever they will lead, he will follow, claiming whom ever they point to. These young ones, their eyes burn brighter than the sun. They have peered into the face of Death and walked away, knowledge of his mysteries forever branded onto their hearts.

Behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.

Fear has loosened its chains on those in the final group. They are blessed. They are damned. And they know no ending.

Genesis, who's birthright by name was the beginning, was destined to have no end. The beginning must have an end, but the beginning itself does not end. The beginning is always there to start over. The first is a harbinger of Death but it does not die because the beginning has no end.

These philosophies, they were deep, pointless and trivial, insane, and ultimately...useless.

Genesis rolled over on Sephiroth's bed, trying to force himself to stop connecting his name with beginnings and death. He wondered if the murder he'd just committed had driven him mad. His stomach turned, feeling sour, and he groaned.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," he clutched his belly, curling into a tight ball.

"You have vomited twice already, Genesis. I don't believe you have anything left to expel." Sephiroth was always the voice of rational.

Death had also infiltrated Sephiroth's mind. The murder, the killing; death was a constant companion of his. Sephiroth and Death were intimate. They were friends. Death followed in Sephiroth's wake, bowed down to his every desire, even when he wasn't the one taking a life. Lovers they were, feared by all.

Ones very fist kill altered a person, seeped into their essence, twisted the very fibers of their being. If that person is as youthful and vibrant as Genesis, a mark is left, tainting their soul. Genesis – within the span of one momentary lapse of reason – joined Sephiroth in his damnation. He was no longer Death's servant, but its master.

While Genesis was allowing his first murder to change him, as terrible, horrifying and glorious as it was, his silver savior, Death's whore, was formulating a plot that resulted in Genesis not being hanged. His mind, already fractured in half, young verses old, was splitting yet again. It had become a kaleidoscope of thoughts, a whirlwind of angles, each focusing on a different aspect of the problem, trying to reach a rapid fire solution. The godly portion of himself, the one who had torn through time, could handle such a way of thinking. However, the part of him that was still a fifteen year old boy couldn't digest so many thoughts at one time. He needed structure, order, a sequence.

The younger part, by the very need of a pattern, blocked many of the answers the older part of himself could conjure, and focused of each facet of the problem one at a time. The first and foremost dilemma was finding a way to hide the fact Genesis committed a crime. Though he strongly approved of the redhead's method of dealing with the issue, bringing Death down upon one who dared to try to steal his integrity, he was positive the higher-ups wouldn't see it that way. They would never be able to see the world through his, and now Genesis', perspectives. They, the stuffy and sometimes moral lot that they were, would ask questions. They would inquire as to why Genesis didn't feel the need to report the situation to a superior, never once realizing the auburn angel's dignity was at stake here.

Then they, and 'they' should be clarified as The President, Director Lazard and other member's of Shin-Ra's bored, would ask why Genesis went with Sergeant Blakemore, if he knew what the man was after.

This second question was plaguing the War God greatly. He, better than anyone, knew the lengths Genesis would go to to reach his goals. When it came to the auburn angel getting what he wanted, anything that resembled ethics or morality was pushed the the wayside. Banora, after Gen learned he was sick, was a perfect example. Over one hundred men, women and children, including Genesis' own adoptive parents were slaughtered in cold blood. The redhead was unpredictable when it came to accomplishing his goals, and that unpredictability made his as dangerous as Sephiroth.

The question ate away at Sephiroth's intestines. If he had not shown up when he did, would Genesis had gone through with the repulsive act? Would his soon-to-be lover really have blown the Sergeant just to get his paper signed? Seph wanted to believe the answer was no, but there was that lingering shred of doubt. He also wondered if Gen had done it the first time around. The time he wasn't there to intervene.

Green eyes narrowed as he looked at the curled-up boy on his bed. He felt his jealousy start to surface. What would he have done if he walked in and found Genesis' perfectly shaped lips around the Sergeant's cock? Pain seized his heart when he pictured Genesis touching another person intimately. Sephiroth already knew the outcome would have been. His very long katana, which he found he could summon at will, would have drank deeply of Blakemore's blood as he took the man's head. But even worse was the fact that his tiny lover wouldn't have been spared. Sephiroth would not have stopped with Blakemore. Genesis would have also felt the bite of Sephiroth wielding his precious steel. He wouldn't have killed Genesis, he loved him far too greatly for that, but he would have hurt him. He would have branded Genesis, scaring him, letting the boy know he was owned, claimed by a monster. Beloved of a god.

Spurred on by the visions of Genesis going down on the big, black man, moving as fast as the Mako coursing through his veins would allow, Sephiroth suddenly grabbed a hold of Genesis' wrist and jerked him off the bed. A split second later, he had the copper-haired teen pinned to the wall behind them. Glaring down at him, pupils tightening to a point they became lost in a glowing green inferno, Sephiroth hissed, "Would you have done it? If I wouldn't have showed up, would you have sucked that man's dick for the mere change at getting a mission?"

A small squeak of surprise was emitted from Genesis as he hit the far wall. He was completely unprepared for Sephiroth's unexpected, violent action. He trembled slightly when Sephiroth's weight crushed against him, keeping him firmly in place. With their faces only inches apart, he had no choice but to swallow down the hot breath Sephiroth hissed at him. Already pale from the stress of the day's events, he felt the rest of the color drain from his body, leaving him a ghastly shade of white. His and his friend's skin became perfectly matched in hue and tone.

Not comprehending what was happening, the question of why slammed around in his brain. Sephiroth had promised to protect him, had said he would make everything alright, so where was this sudden, hostile behavior coming from? Genesis wanted to ask, but the words weren't forming. The question seemed not to matter when his eyes, slowly becoming glacier-blue and blazing with Mako of their own, locked with Sephiroth's. He was losing himself in that arctic rage that was unique to Sephiroth's essence. He was allowing that frozen fire to invoke his own passions.

Exhausted from the fear that had held him an emotional captive all day, the auburn angel strengthened his resolve and drew from his wellspring of courage. Holding his head high and straightening his back to compensate for the height difference, Genesis pushed his chest against Sephiroth's, refusing to be intimated by his superior.

First instinct being to answer Sephiroth's furious inquiry with a "no," the Third Class ignored the feeling and bit his tongue. Mouth set in a grimace, copper brows furrowed, and blue eyes narrowed, Genesis held his silence. Since killing the man, he had asked himself the same question. Would he really have preformed what the Sergeant wanted him to do? He hadn't been sure at the time. He had felt trapped with no way to escape, and he had been afraid. This wasn't something he could tell Sephiroth, not now when the teens anger was rolling off him in tangible waves. This Sephiroth, a side of Seph Gen had never seen before, wasn't looking for an excuse, he only wanted an answer. And though Gen was portraying bravado, inside he was just as scared as he had been with Blakemore cornering him.

Yet, there was something more to this fear, another emotion injected into it, threatening to drown the fear. It was pervasive, causing Genesis' body to tingle. It was Sephiroth's fury fueling the redhead's inner flame. It caused him to forget consequence and answer in friend in the most sarcastic way he could; a crooked smile twisting his lips.

"So what if I would have?"

Sephiroth bared his teeth and grabbed Genesis' upper arms. In a single motion he pulled Genesis away from the wall before slamming him back against it, driving the boy deeper into the surface. He heard plaster crack but he was far from caring.

"Dammit Genesis, you...are...mine."

He was loosing a part of himself to his temper. His younger half had retreated deep into the recesses of his mind, not wanting to be a part of anything that might happen. Sephiroth, in his euphoria of being in Genesis' presence had all but forgotten that while the auburn angel made him the happiest man alive, he also wielded the power to bring out Sephiroth's darkest, most violent tendencies imaginable. There was no 'what if's' given to Genesis; there was only Sephiroth.

Standing in shock, jaws hanging open, Gen could only stare at his friend. Though he'd never been driven into a wall before – his back kinda hurt from that – that wasn't what stunned him. He was doubting his hearing. Did Sephiroth...just claim him? Did the man he was in love with, really openly announce that he belonged to him? Over the last few months of knowing him, Genesis had come to expect many things from Sephiroth, had learned how to predict him. However, nothing on Gaia could prepare Gen for hearing those three words. 'You are mine,' the phrase replayed itself in his mind. The silver Second had spat it with such anger, such conviction, that the redhead was left little choice but to believe him. He was elated and he wanted more.

Pushing himself forward, standing once again in the face of Sephiroth's wrath, no longer fearing him, Genesis did the same thing to his friend that his friend had done to him yesterday. He pressed his lips against Seph's. He was beginning to believe that when their mouth's met, it was a show of dominance, or a tool of control. The silver warrior's lips were hot with rage, opposing his usually cool demeanor. The satin skin left him with the impression of vanilla, and as he started to speak, forcing Seph's lips to move in time, his heart skipped a beat, his breath caught for a bare second, and his cheeks flushed scarlet.

"What would you have done?" Genesis challenged.

Unwilling to give into the redheaded vixen who decided to turn his proclamation into a game, Sephiroth used his words as a barrier to keep from outright kissing the teen. If he were to do so now, Genesis wouldn't understand the gravity of the situation. Already the auburn angel was skirting dangerously close to unraveling his mind, to stealing his self-control. And then Genesis would know what it meant to be loved and owned by the warlord. He would be broken and used and still Sephiroth wouldn't stop until Genesis understood that his place was to be always and forever at Sephiroth's side.

"I would have killed you," Seph's lie floated into Gen's parted lips.

Genesis shiver against him, growing hotter with each passing moment. Here, right now, Sephiroth was coming unglued. His wall of ice was crumbling. Something hot – jealousy, Genesis realized – was melting his core, and Gen was taking full advantage of it.

Calling Seph on the falsehood, Genesis dared press his mouth harder against the soft lips touching his. "Liar." He pronounced the word seductively, making Sephiroth's flesh conform to the word as well.

The mistake had been in the way Genesis talked, the accent he carried. The "L" in liar caused his tongue to accidentally graze the Second Class' thin upper lip. The taste of livid skin dancing on his tongue sent a volt of electricity charging down his spine, paralyzing him. He was about to pull away, knowing he had just breached the tenuous, unspoken contract the two had formed when they first met, when he felt one of Sephiroth's hands leave his arm, and twist in the hair at the nape of his neck. His head was prevented from moving, as Sephiroth's moan rumbled against his own chest, and the taller teen's wet muscle slid between his already open lips. Angeal's earlier word's rang clearly in his ears, 'have you tried kissing him?'

What was left of Sephiroth's self control was forgotten when Genesis' let his tongue slip across his lips. Apples, cinnamon, and strawberries came to mind. Everything about the red, SOLDIER Third was sweet. Genesis was intoxicating, enchanting, and Sephiroth knew right then that he had lost the battle he'd been waging since he'd put his soon-to-be lover against the wall. The power the redhead had over him was as strong as it had been during his previous life. His willpower, which he usually had an abundance of, failed him. As if its own volition, his hand snaked in Genesis' hair and halted his actions.

When one thinks of Sephiroth, they imagine a pillar of strength, a tower of undominable will. That he should allow Genesis to have such control over him was unthinkable. However, that was the case. Genesis initiated the kiss, and the silver warrior was powerless against it. Without so much as a second though, dismissing all the rules he'd placed on himself when it came to his auburn angel, he let his tongue roam free.

The wet appendage barreled its way to the inside of the redhead's teeth, and he soaked up the flavor he found inside. All musky spice with an underlying hint of sugar. But it wasn't the taste Sephiroth craved, it was the feeling. He massaged his friend's tongue with his own, coaxing it into activity. When Genesis joined the dance timidly, Sephiroth knew he had lost.

Admitting his obsession, his love and desire, that was easy. However, when Genesis tossed away all his inhibitions, surrendering himself and started kissing Sephiroth in return, that's when all self-control fled. What the War God lost was his resolve. Without even knowing it, the copper-haired boy had wrapped Seph around his little finger. In their first real kiss, a kiss Sephiroth never recollected ever being so intense, Genesis made himself undeniable. In that sliver of space and time, the redhead could have asked for the world, and the warlord would have abandoned all his plans and began working to fulfill his lover's request.

Genesis' arms wrapped around Sephiroth's waist and they started breathing as one entity. Separate, each was lacking, always knowing they were incomplete. Together, they were whole; one being sharing two bodies. Both were reluctant to release the other, so their kiss deepened and continued. The pull on Genesis' hair grew stronger, their mouth's continuing to move.

Lips opening and closing, tongues twisting and spiraling, teeth colliding, and muscles tensing, neither SOLDIER required oxygen, for when one inhaled the other exhaled. It didn't matter that Sephiroth was from a different place, Genesis still knew him, nor did it matter that Sephiroth hadn't kissed Genesis in years, he had memorized the pattern.

Their bodies grew fevered, longing and passion overrode sense. Their forms melded together, each adjusting slightly to conform to the other. If asked right then, both would have claimed being content to exist in that moment forever. Genesis' hands slid down to cup Sephiroth's ass to pull him closer, while Sephiroth fingers bit into the back of his lover's scalp to hold him in check.

How long they embraced, lips and tongues becoming acquainted, was hard to say. Their kiss ran beyond physical pleasure, it was deeper than mere touch; it was spiritual.

Sephiroth regained rational first, and that was only because he had work to do. Genesis' life could be in danger, and he had yet to figure out a way to fix the situation. Their kiss trailed off on its own. Ever so slowly, loathing to leave the others arms, the boys parted.

Dropping his head so that his silver bangs hid his face, the younger part of Sephiroth crept back to the surface. He became embarrassed and he blushed. 'We are not blushing,' his older self scolded. 'He's our lover, We can kiss him when we want to.' The younger half argued, 'No. He used to be YOUR lover, in a time different from this one. He's not MY lover yet, so if I want to blush after MY first kiss, than that's what I will do. Besides, while you might remember him, I would like a change to get to know him, so if you don't mind, go away.' Sephiroth couldn't believe he was arguing with himself after such an important event. It also came as a shock to realize he was thinking in terms of "we," he was still one person after all, and his mind wasn't that fractured...was it? 'Fine, you deal with this,' he snapped at his younger self. 'I'd planned on it,' he answered in his usual sarcastic fashion.

"Gen, are you alright?" He asked once his heart had stopped pounding. Red was still coloring his cheeks, but he had put the redhead into the wall and he needed to be sure Genesis wasn't injured.

'Oh dear goddess! I kissed him! He kissed me! What if I didn't do it right? What if he thinks I'm too pushy or demanding? What if I have bad breath?' The auburn SOLDIER had turned the same shade as his hair, and butterflies were still fluttering in his stomach. He bit his bottom, kiss-swollen lip, and looked everywhere except at Sephiroth. He couldn't look at his friend right now, he was afraid of seeing judgment in those emerald eyes.

Brushing off Sephiroth's question, because he was just fine, he replied with a question of his own. "Did you mean it?"

The Second Class raised his head. He noticed that the redhead wasn't looking at him. Due to his social ineptitude, he misunderstood the reason Genesis didn't even grace his with a glance. He knew he had pushed things too far. He had let his jealousy and rage get the better of him and he had taken it out on his friend. He needed to explain.

"Gen, I'm sorry about what just happened. I didn't mean to. I let my emotions get out of control. It will not happen again."

Genesis' heart plummeted. He had been under the impression that the kiss had meant something. He thought for sure that Sephiroth liked him and had kissed him to prove it. He had also mistakenly believed that the kiss was done in part to comfort him, to take away the visions of the dead Sergeant. Was he just doomed to make nothing but wrong decisions today?

"Oh...I-I see," Genesis sounded crestfallen. He hurt all over inside. "No I don't." He retracted his previous statement. "I don't see. I don't understand. First you tell me you're going to fix what happened, and I was fine with that because I believed you, and you made it not so scary." He ducked passed the silver SOLDIER, so he was no longer trapped between him and the wall. "I still see his face, Seph."

"Genesis, the death occurred less than an hour ago, I expect..." Sephiroth stopped when Genesis held his hand up indicating for him to do so.

"But then you didn't care that I was feeling sick. I killed a man, Sephiroth. I think I have a right to be sick."

Sephiroth nodded, staring stone-faced at the ranting redhead.

"And then, for no reason at all, you dragged me off the bed, and threw me into the wall. There is a dent there, Seph. You dented your wall using me. If you were so angry about what I'd done, then why didn't you just take me to Lazard? Why did you tell me you would fix everything?"

The one winged angel took a deep breath. "Genesis, I have apologized for that. However, what's done is done. I can not undo it."

Genesis, who was pacing Sephiroth's floor, flipped his hand in a flamboyant, dismissing manor. "I'm not hurt. Confused, but not hurt. What did hurt Seph," the Third Class fell on the side of Seph's bed, knees spread, hands between, grasping on to the edge, 'is...is that you just said you were sorry for kissing me." A new batch of tears caused the teen's eyes to shimmer. "Am I really so bad to kiss? Don't you like me?"

Sephiroth's expression, the cold, black look, didn't change. He was replaying what he'd said that could have upset Genesis so much. Yes, he said he was sorry, but that was for throwing Gen into the wall. He hadn't meant it to be about the kiss. He had enjoyed the kiss thoroughly. He'd been so enraptured with his friend's lips that he'd forgotten momentarily about the murdered Sergeant Blakemore. He was at a lose for words. He had meant what he said, but Genesis was obviously taking it the wrong way.

'Are you enjoying getting to know our young Genesis Rhapsodos?' The elder couldn't help but taunt his younger self. 'We are supposed to be working together on this, what do I do?' The younger half sounded desperate. 'What we always do when Gen gets like this. First tell him that he's right. Then go kiss away his tears, and finally explain what you were really apologizing for. Oh, and then tell him we meant what we said about him being ours.' 'That will work?' The younger inquired. 'We have to handle Genesis with care. But it has worked in the past.' The younger self mentally nodded and took a few steps toward his friend.

"Genesis," Sephiroth bent at his knees so he was eye level with the redhead, "You're right. I..should have explained better." Taking the advice of his older half, he leaned forward and placed his lips softly against the auburn warriors eyelids. Salt and saline wet his mouth. It was the taste of pain; a taste he could become addicted to. "When I said I was sorry, it wasn't for kissing you. I meant that I didn't mean to hurt you. I am not sorry that we kissed. I..." the silver teen found himself blushing again, "loved kissing you."

Genesis opened his eyes. The touch of Seph's lips against them made him tingle. But it was Sephiroth's words that brightened him. "For real? You did like kissing me?"

"For real." The hint of a smile crept to Sephiroth's face. "And Genesis, what I said earlier, about you being mine, that part I did mean."

Now giddy, the copper-haired teen wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Sephiroth," there was light laughter in Genesis' voice, "do you want me to be your boyfriend?"

"Yes!"

Genesis jumped back on the bed. He could have sworn he heard two voices coming out of Sephiroth's mouth, and the sound was a bit frightening. "Okay," he agreed, deciding that his emotional state was reason enough for him to hear things.

"Now that we have that settled," Sephiroth rose. "Give me a few a little while to come up with a solution to our problem."

In a much happier state, Genesis only smiled and laid back on Seph's bed. If the mighty Sephiroth said he would fix it, then Gen was just going to have to trust him.

&%$ CBV $%&

Looking at the situation from all angles, Sephiroth began working on a solution. It was hard when all the physical evidence pointed to him as being the killer.

The first problem was that he had visited Lazard this very morning, and Blakemore's name had come up. Sephiroth had practically told the director he was going to force the Sergeant to sign off on Gen's sheet so the boy could start receiving missions.

The second incriminating factor was that he had torn the storage-room door off its hinges, a sure indication that something had transpired there, therefore he needed to return to the crime scene. If luck was on his side, no one else had gone into Sergeant Blakemore's classroom yet. But someone would go in eventually, which meant whatever Sephiroth was planning to do, he had to act soon.

The SOLDIER Second was toying with the idea of having Blakemore being pronounced KIA, but to do that he would have to get an already dead officer to sign up for a mission – a mission he would never go on. And someone was bound to report that the Sergeant never even arrived at the transport leaving for the mission that he'd "signed on to."

Never one who liked to react to a given situation – he'd much rather be on the offensive – the teen warlord growled. Sephiroth was one who usually knew every step he was going to take before taking it. This instance didn't leave him that option. Quelling the urge to crawl on the bed beside Genesis and just hold him, Sephiroth dropped his head into his hands. What was he going to do?

The answer hit him like a bolt of lighting. He was Shin-Ra's favored SOLDIER. He was their hero; the company's silver-haired poster boy, the reason that more and more teens were flocking to the company to join the military ranks. Though he had yet to make it to First Class, he was already beloved by the press and the public alike. The other SOLDIER's had whispered that when it came to Sephiroth, he could get away with murder. It was time to see if that was true.

"Genesis, stay here...please," he didn't want it to sound like a command, "I'll be back in an hour, maybe a little longer. I would like it if you were here when I returned."

The redhead sat up, eyes meeting with his...boyfriend's. It felt wonderful to refer to Seph as his boyfriend. "Where are you going?"

A smirk upturned the corners of Sephiroth's lips. "I'm going to go tell Lazard that I killed Sergeant Blakemore, of course. By holding back SOLDIERs, he was endangering the entire program. It is my responsibility to take care of my comrades.

Worry crossed Genesis delicate features. "Do you really think you wont get in trouble?"

Sephiroth threw his head back and chuckled, "No, Gen, I don't think that. I know it."

The other teen's lips twisted in a frown, and he pushed a lock of copper hair behind his ear, "Seph, do you think any less of me because of this? Do you think I can't accept responsibility for my own actions."

Sitting beside his lover, Seph traced a gloved hand down Genesis' finely sculpted cheek, "If I thought that Gen, I would have turned you in."

Genesis took hold of the hand and held it, "Promise you are coming back?"

Sephiroth nodded, "Trust me."

&%$ CBV $%&

As Sephiroth stood straight-backed in Director Lazard's office, waiting for him to return with a decision, the blond director was in another room watching the storage-room surveillance tapes. Little did anyone know that there was a camera in every room in the Shin-Ra building. There was nothing that went unseen.

Lazard turned his head and raised a golden eyebrow at the young Wutaian Turk standing next to him. "Tell me, Tseng, do you have an opinion?"

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Tseng shrugged, "He's a good liar. I find it intriguing that he never once mentioned SOLDIER Rhapsodos' name. There could be something going on between them."

The Director bobbed his head in agreement. "I will check the tapes from the camera's in both Genesis' and Sephiroth's rooms later. I do hope something is going on between them."

It was Tseng's turn to lift his brows. "And why is that, Director?"

"Because if there is something between them, that gives us quite the advantage if either of them becomes...unruly."

Tseng could see the wisdom behind that, even though he thought it was devious and underhanded. However, he himself was devious and underhanded, and that was one of Lazard's qualities he respected so much. "So, what do you plan on doing?"

The executive removed his glassed, cleaned them, then adjusted them back on his nose. "I'm going to tell Sephiroth I believe he was acting in the best interest of SOLDIER. However, The Board agrees his actions were a bit too extreme, so we have decided to suspend him from active duty for a month without pay. And tomorrow, Genesis will receive his first official mission."

The dark-haired man stifled his laughter behind his hand. "Since when did you and I become The Board, Lazard?"

Lazard chuckled, "Since right now."

"Don't you think the punishment is too lenient?"

"Not at all. I want Sephiroth lulled into a false since of security. The more Sephiroth believes he can get away with, the easier it will be for us to direct his actions."

Tseng's head tilted and a questioning look crossed his features, "I'm not sure I follow the logic."

"I'll explain it to you later."

The Turk had to hand it to Lazard, even if he didn't fully understand, the blond was brilliant.

"Tseng, can you make Sergeant Blakemore disappear? Make it so he never existed?"

"That's a tall order, Lazard. I would only be willing to do that for the president."

Lazard sighed, "Alright, how about making it so he was never here at Shin-Ra?"

"That I can do, but you will owe me."

"I expected no less."

&%$ CBY $%&

True to his word, an hour later saw the silver teen back in his room. He could handle a month suspension. Hell, to him it was a vacation.

A real smile set on his lips when he found Genesis asleep on his bed. His little love had been though so much today. Sephiroth's heart went out to him. Yes, he wanted Genesis stronger, but he didn't want him beaten down, becoming cold and distant. He wanted Gen to retain his passion for life. Sephiroth didn't think he'd be able to handle a fireless Genesis.

Pulling off his boots, pauldrons, and sleeveless, purple-knit sweater, Sephiroth eased his way into the bed beside Gen. Gently wrapping an arm around the boy's waist, he allowed his body to conform against Gen's back.

Closing his eyes, he began one of the most important conversations of his life. 'What can you teach me?' His older self was quite for a moment, but then replied, 'about being a SOLDIER or about being a god?' The younger thought about that, 'Both.' Sephiroth mentally rolled his eyes, 'Then the first thing you...I..need to realize is that there is no we, there is only I. I am not two separate beings. I am one person, yet there is a part of me, a younger part, that has yet to experience all that I experienced once before. And I also need to realize things are completely different this time around. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but it is, and I need to be prepared for each new situation.' And with that, Sephiroth began to put himself back together.