A/N: HOLY SHIT IT'S BEEN SO LONG. I wish this chapter could have been longer but honestly I've delayed posting this for long enough. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, guys :D

It was one in the morning, and Shinra Headquarters was dark.

Save for security guards working the graveyard shift and a few serious workaholics way behind on schedule, everyone had either gone home or returned to their respective barracks. Most of the building was in the lulled state that came with working very late, when the noise from traffic outside had quieted and there was little movement in the halls.

Of course, I couldn't afford to drop my guard. There were SOLDIERs asleep in their barracks that would be ready for battle at the drop of a hat. Not only that, there were surveillance cameras everywhere. In many ways this was nothing like the times I had infiltrated Desian ranches. The security mainframe here was far too sophisticated for us to just hack in and disable all the cameras—and even if we could, that'd basically be like sending out an invitation to draw out every combat-ready person in the building.

No, in most ways it wasn't quite the same. But in some ways it was.

A slight humorless smile tugged at my lips as I walked down the hall, wearing the infantry uniform and carrying a rifle I had no idea how to use. The goal here was stealth—to infiltrate, take the Exsphere, and get the hell out. So Genesis had used a sleep spell on a few guards, and I had snuck in and stolen this uniform and the necessary props from the infantry barracks, where there would be no cameras.

There would almost certainly be a ruckus tomorrow, but nobody would recognize my face with this helmet on. I had wrapped bandages around my upper torso to flatten my chest (not difficult for someone decidedly lacking in that department anyway), and found a uniform that fit pretty well. The infantry was composed of enough boys in their early teens that my slender frame wasn't all that uncommon.

Now I was making my way for the elevator, navigating the hallways while pretending to be nothing more than a soldier on patrol. Any time I heard another person coming, I would duck around a corner and pretend to check my phone or something in my bag, waiting for them to pass before continuing on.

Three nights ago, Genesis and I had laid this plan out step-by-step and worked out all the holes. We were operating on a strict time schedule and if anything went wrong, it meant immediately aborting the mission. Any electronic communications could be intercepted, giving away our identities—it was safest this way. So we had rehearsed the plan over and over until the two of us had it memorized.

Genesis had picked up a mission in Kalm two days ago, using his authority as a First to drag me along with him—nobody would think twice about that, as Angeal was known to do that with his own student specifically for training purposes. We had returned early in secret, but the idea was to be back in Kalm before sunrise. We were scheduled to return by tomorrow evening, and that was when we would allow ourselves to be seen again. It was important to have a good alibi if we were going to be attempting something this risky.

Returning in secret had been easier than expected—the security above-plate wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be; it was probably because the war was over, and in this timeline Genesis hadn't deserted and attacked Shinra a bunch of times. But sneaking into HQ had involved the dreaded Endless Staircase, and that had not been fun at all.

In approximately four minutes I was going to get on the elevator and press the button for the sixty-seventh floor. Genesis and I had split up—he was coming from a different floor on the other end of the building, working on putting the guards in the Science Department's security control room to sleep.

Normally it wouldn't be so easy—I had noticed that many guards in higher security areas carried gear that prevented status effects—but Genesis' materia was of a caliber that was almost unmatched. I was pretty sure most of it was mastered, and a lot of protective charms were meant only for the average magic user. And the best part about a sleep spell was that it left no evidence behind—for all anyone knew, the guards had fallen asleep on their own.

Another minute ticked past on my phone's clock. It was go time. I checked the hall to make sure no one was coming, and then crossed over to press the call button on the elevator. The doors opened—no Turks were waiting for me on the other side. So far, so good.

The ride to the sixty-seventh floor seemed like it took an eternity. My heart was pounding; I hated having to stand still. The only way I was going to get through this was by not thinking about all the ways it could go wrong. My past infiltrations had been with a decent-sized group of people. I wasn't used to working with a single partner, and having to do my part alone like this was nerve wracking.

At last the elevator came to a halt. Normally this was where the console on the wall would light up and ask for ID, but instead the doors simply slid open. The corners of my lips quirked up involuntarily; that was Genesis at work.

I moved out into the hall, looking around. The lights were dimmed, a clear indicator that the last of the personnel here had gone home for the night. There could still be a few stragglers, though; I couldn't afford to make any assumptions and drop my guard. This was completely unfamiliar territory for me.

The only place I knew how to get to from here was the lab I had reported to for my mako treatments. Genesis, however, had come here frequently while he was dealing with degradation. He had informed me that there were two labs in particular that were favored by Hojo and Hollander, respectively. They were both in the same general vicinity of each other, so I made a beeline for Hojo's lab. Hojo was the one who had been there the day Jace died; I had zero doubts that my Exsphere would be in his possession.

As I made my way down the hall, my surroundings grew increasingly familiar. I frowned, turning a corner—and there it was.

The general layout of Hojo's lab was very close to what I remembered from the game. I spotted the place where he would eventually imprison Nanaki and Aerith, and had to pause for a second. No…no, I wouldn't let it come to pass, so this wasn't even worth a moment's thought. But I couldn't help myself; seeing this place in real life was a harsh reminder of how completely fucked up Hojo was.

Just as I was about to shake my head and move on, I heard a loud thump. The noise made me jump and swing around, eyes wide. Nothing stood behind me.

Suddenly I was acutely aware of the fact that the only weapon I had on me was a dagger strapped to my hip; my sword would've stood out too much. And even if I did know how to use it, the rifle wasn't even loaded.

Shit. I had to investigate the source of that noise before moving on. Couldn't afford any surprises right now.

The noise had come from the direction of a connecting hallway. I walked down the hall, feeling myself tense as I slowly began to recognize it. Those were the holding cells…this was where Cloud and the others would be imprisoned just prior to Sephiroth going on a murderous rampage and killing the President.

Ugh. That wasn't exactly what I wanted to be thinking about right now.

Thump.

I jumped again, just barely stopping myself from gasping. There…it was coming from the cell to my left. I cautiously approached it, standing on my tiptoes to see through the small window on the door.

My mouth dropped open.

Inside the cell was an Exbelua. Its flesh was slightly darker than Jace's had been but the similarities were all there…long limbs run through with thick veins, deadly claws, and a single eye…

The eye wasn't glowing blue this time. The victim had not been SOLDIER—of course, they couldn't easily pick off SOLDIERs without arousing a lot of suspicion.

My fists clenched and I felt rage building in my stomach, both at those monsters for doing this and at myself for waiting long enough for it to happen. If only I had gotten here sooner…

Thump.

I flinched. The Exbelua had hit its head against the wall, and hard. When I saw the large smears of blood on that wall, I felt nauseous. The creature's head was dripping with the stuff.

It swayed in place for a moment before lunging forward once more. Thump. A new smear colored the wall.

A new thought occurred to me. Was it trying to kill itself?

My breathing hitched, and I felt my hands beginning to shake. This was—this was horrifying. Being kept alive in that state and experimented on…what had they done to this person? It took some pretty traumatizing events to bring forth any sort of self-awareness in an Exbelua, and if this person was that desperate to end their own life…

I stepped away from the door and walked slowly down the hall, visiting the other cells. Only three others were occupied, and they all contained Exbeluas.

One of the Exbeluas was immobile on the floor. Another had three long gashes across its face, the work of its own claws. Its eye was cut open, oozing fluid on to its face. The third paced its cell restlessly.

Inexcusable. Inhumane.

A feeling of numbness washed over me. I walked up to the first cell and pounded on the button to open the door, hard enough to crack the plastic. The door slid open.

The creature looked slowly up as I walked into the cell, its eye focused on me. Though in my head I was sobbing, apologizing for everything, and wishing I could undo it all, my eyes were dry and my lips wouldn't move. I lifted the dagger and the Exbelua made no move to resist as I plunged the blade into their forehead.

I killed the other three as well, leaving the bodies behind in their cells and feeling absolutely sick to my stomach. Only one of them had fought back—but these people hadn't been mako enhanced, so they were no match.

There was no cure. If I hadn't done it, those people would've continued to live a damned existence, being tortured day in and day out until they lost their usefulness. I had made a hard choice, but a necessary one. That was what I kept telling myself.

It didn't make me feel any less awful. It had been years since I had taken a human life—and it had never gotten any easier.

What had I expected to find upon coming here? Anything but this. But there was no time to digest any of it; I was on a strict time limit and I had already deviated from the plan too much.

The clock on my phone read 1:35. If I didn't find the Exsphere and board the elevator within the next fifteen minutes, Genesis was going to assume something was wrong.

Now I walked back out into the lab, walking past the containment tank. Ah…this was where Jenova would be moved to after the Nibelheim incident. A chill ran down my spine.

The wall to my right was covered in different consoles and computer monitors; I ignored those, as I doubted I would be able to fiddle around with anything without being discovered. Instead I moved continued deeper in until I encountered a wall covered in glass cylinders.

Multiple different monster parts were suspended in the cylinders—for testing, presumably. There was a brain in one of them; my stomach churned. I wasn't exactly a biology buff, but it looked big enough to belong to a human. Back home I would've just assumed it was from an organ donor, but here…

There was a set of operating tables nearby. Both were clean, but one was dented with a long scratch in the metal. I walked past, not wanting to dwell on just how that had happened.

Finally, a long table against one wall. It was littered with hundreds of pieces of paper, scattered all over the surface. An abandoned cup of coffee sat to one side. I walked up and stared down at the papers, trying to understand Hojo's chicken scratch, but it was nearly impossible. Even the stuff I could decipher was still ridiculously complicated jargon.

After a minute of hurried scanning I saw a few phrases that stood out.

Object is parasitic, causes mutations when removed from subjects…increases in strength observed…

…stabilizer needed to utilize potential…

…Specimen 303C reacts negatively to mako exposure...further testing necessary…

I didn't need to see much more to understand that all of this was about the Exsphere.

Six minutes left. I looked around the general area, huffing with frustration when all I could find were more papers detailing research I was already aware of.

Then, all of a sudden, I saw it. It was sitting in a small case on one corner of the desk, hidden behind a pile of papers. I hurriedly pried open the case and yanked it out, holding the tiny sphere up to the dim light.

Oh, yeah…this was definitely it. I could never forget it—this thing had carried me through so many hardships. It was hard to believe I'd ever managed to lose it.

I closed my fingers, clenching it lightly in my fist. Four minutes. I was starting to feel the pressure.

That was when I noticed that the cup of coffee on the desk was half full—and still steaming.

"I see you have every desire to become my next specimen."

There was a prick on the back of my neck and I jumped, swinging around to push someone out of the way. The man stumbled backwards before straightening to readjust his glasses, a slow smile forming on his face.

Something fell to the floor and shattered—a syringe. My eyes widened and I felt my heartbeat pick up, and I realized with an immediate sense of dread that my alarm was only circulating whatever it was through my system even faster.

Hojo had discovered me. His smile remained completely static even as I began to panic at how quickly things had changed. He was standing right there—but there was no time. It would be so easy to finish him, but what then? No time. Needed to go. It was already getting hard to think.

I shoved past him and sprinted in the direction I knew the elevator would be in. Even as I ran, I felt my head growing woozy, the response from my limbs growing more and more sluggish.

"It's useless, you cretin. Return what's mine."

The mad scientist's voice was nothing more than an echo in the back of my head. I hit the call button on the elevator and threw myself in. My mind wouldn't respond fast enough—I couldn't remember where I was supposed to go next, what the plan was. I shoved the Exsphere in my pocket and hit the button I thought went to the SOLDIER floor. My breathing was growing labored. It was getting harder to keep my eyes open.

There was a heavy thump as the elevator jolted. Slumping to the floor, I looked up feebly and hoped that Shinra hadn't somehow unleashed one of Scarlet's creations on me.

The small maintenance door on the ceiling of the elevator was pried open, and a man clad in all black dropped in. He was wearing a cloak that rendered him nearly unrecognizable, but I saw red hair under the hood for a brief moment and had to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Come," he hissed and scooped me up. "You fool."

He pulled me out of the elevator and on to another floor. I vaguely registered flashing red lights and yelling coming from somewhere. Then there was heat and shattering glass and we were hundreds of feet in the air and I was burying my face in his shoulder, feeling my stomach lurch.

I anticipated the feeling of falling, but it only lasted for half a second. Then we were soaring. My head fell back and my body grew limp and it all faded away.

Soft sunlight…a gentle breeze…

Slowly I became aware of the blankets covering me, the soft bed beneath me. It was nice…I just wanted to lay here forever. Maybe I was home again…I could get up and go for my morning run, and Dad and I could go out to breakfast like we always did.

I see you have every desire to become my next specimen.

I jolted awake at the memory, sitting up and having to brace myself when my head spun. Hojo—Hojo had—where was I? Where—

"So you're awake."

The voice caused me to jump a little, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was just Genesis, sitting at a nearby desk. We were in a cozy little room; there were enough generic furnishings to indicate that we were probably at an inn. I glanced out the window and recognized the Medieval looking buildings immediately. Kalm.

"Good…morning?" I managed to croak, looking back over at him.

He smiled slightly. "Not quite. It's one in the afternoon."

"Oh…" I paused for a moment to let that sink in. My eyes slowly widened. "What the hell happened back there?"

The smile dropped from his face. "We were compromised. You're lucky I was watching you from the security cameras. I'm not sure I could have rescued you otherwise. Did he see your face?"

"N…No," I replied, shaking my head. "I was wearing the helmet the whole time."

"Did you say anything to him?"

"No," I said. That would've ruined the disguise.

Genesis sat back in the chair. "…Good."

"What did he inject me with?" I asked, though I had a feeling I already knew.

"A powerful sedative," the First answered. "A normal person would have been unconscious for days." He gestured impatiently. "Get up."

I shot him annoyed look, but obeyed nonetheless. My body responded a bit sluggishly; for the most part, though, I felt fine. The blankets fell away and I was on my feet, stretching. Then I noticed something.

"Oh, you creep."

He quirked an eyebrow. "How strange would it have looked for a First to be carrying an infantryman through the streets of Kalm? Of course I had to strip you."

When I continued to glare, he smirked. "Enough melodrama. You were wearing a base layer beneath it all." To prove his point, he gestured to what I was wearing now.

"Don't even talk about melodrama to me, Genesis Rhapsodos." I rolled my eyes, walking past him towards where he had set my bag. "Whatever. Get out, I want to change." Also, the bandages binding my boobs were actually getting really uncomfortable, but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"Hmph." He stood, walking over to the door. "I'll be waiting in the lobby. There are still a few things we need to do before returning to Midgar."

"Got it," I said.

As he reached for the doorknob, though, something else came to mind and I abruptly turned in his direction. "Hold on."

Genesis paused, letting his hand fall and looking at me.

"When you rescued me…" Heat and glass shattering…that was what I remembered. Then soaring. "Did you jump out a window? We were like sixty floors up…"

He closed his eyes. Turned away. Then he slowly shrugged off his red coat, just enough for me to see the black shirt beneath. The shirt was slit on one side, and I could see pale skin through the fabric.

Something shifted—a muscle that I couldn't put a name to. Out of nowhere, an enormous black wing unfurled and stretched, leaving me breathless. The First held one hand out, palm-up, gesturing to the appendage.

"This," he said, "is the byproduct of the condition you cured…a gruesome reminder of all that I am—a failed experiment."

"'All that you are'?" I murmured, walking slowly up to him. "You're more than that. Maybe not to them—but to me, at the very least. And Angeal…and Sephiroth, too, I bet. Shinra can't define you. I mean, they'll certainly try like hell, because that's what control is all about, but ultimately you're the one who decides who and what you are."

Genesis grew still for a moment. He slowly looked over his shoulder, a slight smirk visible on his face.

"Wings of light and dark spread afar

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting."

"I should've known. You managed to get through almost an entire conversation without quoting LOVELESS, then you had to blow it." I let out an exaggerated sigh. "…Can I touch it? I'm touching it."

"You have the attention span of a small child," he scoffed, but there was mirth in his eyes. "Ridiculous. I reveal a mutant appendage and your first reaction is to preen my feathers."

"You're not a mutant," I shot back, still brushing my fingers over the black feathers.

"Oh? What am I, if not a monster?"

There was genuine interest in his voice, but I heard the bitter undertone. I was treading into a sensitive area here. And that was when I realized that Genesis had left himself vulnerable, showed me something that he had not revealed even to his two closest friends.

"You're you. It's that simple," I replied, lowering my hand and remembering the words Lloyd had said so many times.

When I heard Genesis snort lightly, not satisfied with that, I breathed a sigh.

"I'm serious. Look, you've got friends that care about you, all right? It shouldn't matter if Shinra injects you with weird chemicals or makes you grow wings or anything. At your core, you're still going to be Genesis."

"…I see."

His wing retracted, folding easily into his back like it had never existed in the first place. He turned to face me.

"Sentimental…but an interesting reply nonetheless." A thin smile. "Had you told me this back in Junon, I would have called you a fool. A dying man has no time for sentiment."

"And now?" His eyes were impossible to read.

The smile widened into a full-fledged smirk. "Time makes all the difference. Perhaps I am not in fact a monster—though I will gladly play the part for those who did this to me. But I'm no longer in any hurry. There's no need for me to force things when the catalyst is standing right in front of me."

My eyebrows flew up. "What?"

He was already turning, pulling his coat back around his shoulders and opening the door. "I'll be downstairs. Don't dawdle—we have things to do."

The door clicked shut and I was left listening to the sound of his footsteps fading down the hall. Then I leaned back against the wall, breathing a heavy sigh. Catalyst, huh? Maybe that was true…maybe it had all started when I met him. Things certainly were taking an unexpected turn, that was for sure.

As I dug through my bag to pull out my uniform, I mulled over the events of the previous night. So much had happened…I was surprised I had made it out in one piece. We weren't quite out of the woods yet, since we still had to go back to HQ, but from Genesis' general demeanor I had a feeling he was confident we were in the clear. I couldn't believe we had actually broken into the Science Department…

Though I was glad we had. Part of me wondered, though, if that was going to be the first of many stealth missions I undertook. After all, it wasn't going to end with killing Hojo or dismantling his research or stopping Sephiroth and Jenova…there was still Shinra to contend with, and the only way to ruin the company was to destroy it from the inside out.

The very thought of the task I had taken on was exhausting. It was easier just to focus on saving Zack, but knowing that guy, he'd die fighting any one of those threats even if I saved him initially.

Fully clothed in my SOLDIER uniform now, I hoisted my bag and slung my sword over one shoulder. Now that the Exsphere was recovered…it was time to face the rest of my problems head-on.

You're not alone. Everything's going to be okay.

Not for the first time, I wished I knew just what Aerith meant by that.

A/N: Genesiiiiis :D

Sorry if there were any spelling errors/grammatical mistakes, those will get fixed in the morning when I have time to proofread this about a thousand times.

Reviews keep me going (and thanks so much to everyone that's reviewed so far!)

Next time: Life in SOLDIER. Promotion. The new recruit.