Chapter 5

Rufus woke up to the feeling of being stabbed with something, he tried to quickly push away, but was held in place with a steady hand. Opening his eyes the rest of the way, Rufus found himself staring at Professor Hojo. After relaxing himself a bit, he gazed about the room, quickly remembering his rescue. He was in the Infirmary at Shinra Headquarters, Tseng must have brought him here after he passed out. But why not the hospital in Junon? Feeling a little dizzy he laid back down and stared at Hojo opening his mouth to ask, but was intercepted.

"Two days..." he tossed the needle away and took Rufus by the chin, staring into his eyes.

He opened his mouth to speak once more.

"The President didn't want to broadcast your foolish mistakes, so you were brought to me. The reason you feel dizzy is because I gave you a heavy dose of Jenova cells to help speed up recovery, No, you cannot see Tseng because he is currently busy with more important matters and you must stay in bed under my supervision for another week. Now shut up and let me work." Hojo continued looking over him.

Rufus clamped his mouth shut glaring at Hojo, wondering if he, on top of being a genius and an asshole, was also a mind reader. Then decided against wanting to test the theory stayed quiet. After processing everything that Hojo just said he finally was able to speak, "Jenova...Cells?"

Hojo continued his work now completely ignoring Rufus. Any other person in the world would be better than being stuck in a room with him, Rufus sighed and laid back into the pillows letting Hojo poke and prod him till his heart was content. No use trying to stop him, it was going to happen regardless of what anyone thought. His eyes drifted to the window as he tried to recall what all happened to him, but was bringing up nothing but a blur. He would have to talk to Tseng later; his thoughts were quickly interrupted by a movement in the corner. He gazed over there and to his surprise seen someone he hadn't seen in almost forever, not that he really wanted to see him again.

"Sephiroth?" his voice came out like a squeak.

Sephiroth shifted his gaze from Hojo to Rufus, "Yes?"

Even speaking normally, Rufus was for reasons unknown to him very intimidated by him clearing his throat he tried talking again, "May I ask what you are doing here?"

Sephiroth motioned toward Hojo, "I've got business with the Professor, and I figured that I'd pay you a visit and decided to wait for Hojo to be done."

Rufus relaxed back into the pillows again still watching Sephiroth. He never figured that he actually cared about anyone, then again, maybe he was just doing this to gain favor. He shook his head, that didn't sound like something Sephiroth would do. Rufus closed his eyes and sighed, he worried to much for his age. At this rate, he'd have gray hair by his twentieth birthday. Feeling as though he was being watched, he opened his eyes again. Hojo was looking at him, only this time he didn't have a cranky look on his face. He pulled the blanket up a little around Rufus and backed up watching him again.

"You need to stop worrying so much and rest," he began gathering up his equipment and turned to leave, "I'll check on you again in another hour."

"Since when have you cared about anyone's well being?" Rufus narrowed his eyes curiously.

Hojo merely grunted as he walked out the door. He felt a hand rest carefully on his arm and turned to look Sephiroth directly in the eyes.

"You know he's right, worry about your future later and rest."

"But, I was injected with...Jenova cells. Is that really a healthy thing? Will I be alright?"

"Well according to reports it's alright. I've got some in myself and I'm fine, besides it was never Hojo's intent to inject you. It was your fathers. You'll feel a little weak for a while, but after a week you should be fine. So take this time to rest and relax from your duties."

Rufus, finally giving in, nodded as he was laid back and tucked in the rest of the way. Sephiroth smiled and silently walked out of the room shutting the door with an even quieter snick. He laid their staring at the ceiling pondering what he was going to say to his father once he got out of the infirmary. Eventually, sleep took over him and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

The week went by with relative quickness, and Rufus was glad to finally be released from Hojo's care. He walked around the building slowly watching over everyone, but no one really seemed to notice him. Eventually he made his way to the roof and looked up at the sky. It figured that no one even seemed to notice that he was gone, he really didn't expect them to notice. He sat on the very edge of the building and looked down at the ground, watching the people enter and leave the building. Well, not people but dots, from way up here anyways.

"You know Tseng would have a heart attack if he seen you sitting there."

Rufus quickly turned around to see Sephiroth sit down next to him quietly. He turned his impassive face back toward the city. They sat in silence watching over the city, finding the quiet atmosphere a little awkward Rufus looked over at Sephiroth. The wind was running through wisps of his hair gently and the sun beamed off of him making him seem, radiant, almost unhuman. He was...cool, and Rufus admired him; he was able to put up with all the crap everyone put him through, everyday, even his father. Rufus propped up one knee leaning his chin on it he returned his gaze back to Midgar.

"How do you do it?"

Sephiroth looked at him, "Do what?"

"Put up with all the crap Shinra puts you through. Surely a weaker man would have cracked by now."

Sephiroth sat quietly for a moment his face becoming very serious, almost depressed, "I wasn't always like this it takes a lot of time, patience, resistance...I was a lot like yourself when I was younger."

"Meaning?" he looked back at him.

"I think you know what I mean. I was brought up by Hojo, he is by no means a patient man."

"Oh, I see. So then what stops you from killing him everyday?"

Sephiroth smiled, "Not much."

Rufus smiled half heartedly and watched as Sephiroth got up, "Duty calls?"

He nodded dusting himself off, "Yeah I was asked by Tseng to go check on you and I was just about to go on duty," he started to walk away but stopped and turned his head, "Oh yeah. I almost forgot to tell you happy birthday I'll have to get you a present later. Extra special I promise."

As he walked off he nodded to Tseng as he made his way to Rufus, who had quickly moved away from the edge. Rufus had forgotten that his birthday was today. Tseng stopped in front of Rufus smiling, he sat a hand on his head and looked around.

"Everything alright?"

Rufus looked at him suspiciously, "To the point, Tseng."

"Feeling a little feisty today? Comes with old age, come on I got something I wanna show you something." he started walking off.

Rufus followed slowly wondering what he had planned. They made it toward one of the lower floors and stopped in front of a rarely used room. Tseng slowly opened the door revealing Rhett and Randy and an extremely delicious looking cake. Rufus looked at them and smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Rufus." Tseng smiled.

"You know you guys really didn't have to do this.." he eyed the cake.

"Who deserves this more than you. You've gone through a lot." Rhett grinned.

"We've got something for you." Randy walked over to him.

Rufus looked at the moving object in Randy's arm unsure if he really wanted to take it. He looked at the guys then at the small creature, he slowly took it.

"This is a..."

"A Guard Hound...we found him wandering alone and figured he'd be perfect for you." Tseng looked at Rufus.

"Little bastard bit me about a hundred times." Rhett held his bandaged hand.

Rufus looked over him, he was about the same size as his arm. He was a brilliant dark blue, he looked up at Rufus innocently.

"Dark Nation..."

"Dark Nation?" Tseng looked at Rufus.

"Yes. I think that it suits him." Rufus looked up at Tseng.

"He's yours make sure you take good care of him." Randy smiled.

Rufus, for once, smiled genuinely, today was, not so bad of a day. In fact, he had a wonderful day and he would make the most of it. He spent the rest of the time doing something he hadn't done in a while, being a normal kid. Just a normal twelve year old stuffing his face with junk food, spending time with friends, and worrying about nothing. Afterwards, he sat in his room still at headquarters, holding his stomach and moving as little as possible. Dark Nation sat by his head attacking and chewing on any hair that moved. Today was special, it was a turning point, from this day on there would be no more shedding tears.

Afternote: So what do y'all think? This chapter came out fairly easy I hope that everyone likes it. Considering that March 8th is/was my birthday I figured I'd give out Rufus' as well. Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter is gonna introduce two more people into the story...Original to the game people...mind you. Hope that I get them right. -crosses fingers-