A/N: So I've had about half of this chapter finished for like 5 months, but I was completely stuck on a certain conversation. Finally managed to plow through the rest. Still mostly focusing on my other fic NR, but I figured I'd throw an update out here since it's been wayyyy too long!

Also, CAN ANYONE SAY FFVII REMAKE?! SOMETHING TELLS ME I'LL BE WRITING THIS STORY A LOT MORE IN THE FUTURE

Until then... enjoy! 8D

With the impending mission looming over my head, I resolved to get done what I could before the big day. Cloud, of course, never replied to my little message—but it did say 'read' in the messenger. He knew where to find me, and we did have two days to spare before Shinra wanted us to move in. I gave him his space; we'd be spending plenty of time together once the mission started. I had a feeling it would be quite a learning experience.

"Well. Long time, no see."

I looked up from the shopping list I had been writing, a smile automatically forming on my face.

"Angeal! Welcome back. That was a long mission," I commented.

He frowned, nodding in agreement. "A flight to Modeoheim, and in bad weather to boot… I ended up having to travel halfway across the northern continent on foot."

"Modeoheim?" I wrinkled my nose, but inside I was very interested. "People still go there?"

My reaction got a chuckle out of him. "No, it's completely abandoned—though Shinra did once have a small base of operations there. Dr. Hollander requested for me to retrieve some of his old research." The humor in his expression faded when he mentioned Hollander's name.

I tilted my head, watching Angeal carefully. Hollander. I had almost forgotten about him. I still thought of Hojo as the real threat, but Hollander could be a problem too. Had Genesis even told Angeal about their origins? Because if he found out the hard way…

Hmm. I was going to have to talk to Genesis about that.

"I see you've made Second," Angeal said, smoothly changing the subject and smiling once more. "Congratulations. To be honest, I can't say I'm entirely surprised. Genesis has been calling you his 'pet project' for a while."

"Of course he has," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "Well, I guess he could be calling me worse things."

"Ah, that reminds me… I've been wanting to thank you." Some of his humor returned, though there was a note of something else mixed in. "Genesis was in a bad place when you first joined SOLDIER. I'm not sure what was wrong at the time, but somehow you've been good for him. Lately he's been more his old self than ever."

Hearing that made me feel… happy. I clung to that source of comfort; it was the one solid thing I had right now. I had helped Genesis. No matter what happened, I always had to remember that; even if it was insignificant in the big scheme of things, it was still so very, very important.

"We argue, but he's been a good friend to me," I said warmly. "He's one of the most loyal people I know."

"Almost to a fault," Angeal added, and it was clear from the look in his eyes that he understood.

Then his phone vibrated in his pocket; he pulled it out, giving it a quick glance.

"Ah. Duty calls; I'd better go deliver that report." With a wave of farewell, he turned and began walking away. "…Look after Genesis for me."

"Will do," I replied, watching him leave. There it was again, the sense that something was off… Angeal appeared to have a lot on his mind. Did it have something to do with Hollander?

Yeah, I'd definitely be having a talk with Genesis soon…

Late evening. The Seconds were finally gone, and now was my chance. The technicians had been in here doing some tinkering earlier and I wanted to try out the new terrain, which actually turned out to be a vast landscape in the snow-covered Nibel Range.

I had finally improved with my Lightning materia; it was time to see how sim-Sephiroth liked a face full of Bolt 2! … I doubted I'd get to pull that off, but it was nice to have dreams.

Standing at the training room controls, I punched in a few commands and locked in the mountainous landscape before stepping through the door into the main chamber.

My surroundings changed immediately. Threatening rocky crags loomed over my head and the wind howled, whipping my hair back and pelting snow into my face. The snow at my feet was a foot deep, but as I walked forward I ended up postholing a few times in deeper snow drifts. Well, this was going to be interesting.

At least it wasn't terribly cold. I had grown up in an area infamous for its horrible winters—this was a bit chilly, but nowhere near as cold as I imagined it was in real life. Yet another reason why I loved VR.

The wind, thankfully, began to die down; I drew my sword, beginning a trek through what appeared to be a mountain pass. None of it looked familiar—I had never been on any missions in this area, anyway—but I couldn't help but wonder if it was modeled after an actual location.

Now I froze—there. I had been hit by enough surprise attacks by now to recognize the feeling of being watched. He was about to strike, but where was he coming from this time…?

Behind!

I swung around just in time to throw up my sword and block the attack; the impact pushed me back, my feet sliding too easily on the slick ice beneath the snow.

Sparks issued from our blades as my opponent applied pressure, smirking as I resisted.

"So persistent."

That was a new line. So they'd updated his dialogue recently, too—great, just great. Make him more threatening. Thanks, guys.

I grimaced and redoubled my efforts, only to be thrown back with ease. My feet sunk into one of the deep drifts and I almost slipped; it took a calculated leap to get myself out of that one. I utilized every second, charging up my Lightning materia in midair.

Time to see how well this worked. I flung a rapid series of weaker Bolt spells at the swordsman to prevent him from starting his usual deadly string of attacks; he knocked each burst of magic out of the air with his blade, barely even trying, still smirking all the while.

My initial leap carried me over his head. While he was still parrying those first few attacks, I landed ten feet behind him and cast Bolt 2 at his back, calling upon the last of my magic reserves to make it as concentrated as possible.

The lightning cut through the air with a powerful crack, and the attack never even came close to connecting. A flash of silver to my left was the only warning I had before I was hit with a progression of attacks that was too fast for my eyes to follow. Almost completely blindsided, I was barely able to keep up. Shit, shit—!

I clashed swords with him once more, fighting and failing to hold my ground. What the hell was going on?! He was leagues stronger than before! Had those bastards updated his program before I even had a chance to beat the most recent version?

"Why the hell are you so much faster?" I growled, straining with the effort of holding him off.

"Oh?" A wicked smile graced his lips. "My apologies. You seem so fond of my simulated counterpart; I thought you'd be up to the challenge."

WHAT?

His amusement only grew when my mouth dropped open. My stomach sank and it felt like the snow had seeped into my veins; his words processed, and shock and horror hit me all at once.

Suddenly I had a lot of sympathy for Cloud and what he must've felt in those awful moments before I aborted the mission. But this time… this time I couldn't back out, it was him, oh god.

For the next few minutes I was lost. There was no time to think, there was barely enough time to breathe; Sephiroth kept the attacks coming and all I could hear was Kerberos ringing out as it took the brutal force of every hit. If it hadn't been a Cruxis blade, I had a feeling it would've broken very early on.

He left me no time to counterattack. If I moved my sword to do anything but parry, he'd finish me. I was faster than many of my fellow SOLDIERs, fast enough to keep up with even Genesis now, but my pace looked sluggish next to Sephiroth.

And—and the worst thing was, he wasn't even serious. He was holding back, toying with me.

With every parry I had to step back, losing ground, always having to watch my footing so I wouldn't stumble. It was too hard to split my concentration between the two when I could barely register where Masamune was in time to parry; there came a moment where Sephiroth smirked and with a flick of the wrist, sent Kerberos flying into a deep snow drift.

Our eyes met. I felt the cold metal of his blade press lightly against the side of my neck; he had won.

There was a split second where that small, intensely frightened part of me wondered if he was going to kill me here and now.

Then I reached into my pocket and pushed the button on my PHS to end the simulation. The landscape dissolved around us; the wind vanished, the snow faded, and then it was just Sephiroth and I standing in an empty room. My worst nightmare.

"Hm." After a pause he sheathed his blade. "If your aim was to entertain me, you've succeeded. But you have a long way to go if you ever intend to provide a challenge."

"You almost gave me a heart attack," I hissed, too freaked out to call back that icy disposition I'd initially used with him.

"Yes—that was the entertaining part," he clarified.

"Oh, lovely, I'm glad you had such a good time." I walked over to pick up my sword, sheathing it and then turning back to him. "How did you know I've been training with your simulation?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "I did tell you that I would be watching you… and you've made no large secret of it."

He had a point there. I was starting to wish I had kept it more on the DL; how could I have known the real thing would find it funny to pop in for a battle? Other than the occasional SOLDIER shaking his head at me as I selected the simulation from the menu, few people really seemed to take notice of how I spent my time in the training room.

"It's the most challenging simulation. I'm just staying on my toes," I explained, feeling the need to justify myself—otherwise my constant training regimen against the Sephiroth sim seemed a bit obsessive.

…Well. Okay. It kind of was.

"Ever vigilant. How admirable," he remarked, wearing a mocking smile. Goading me.

This was too much. He had caught me off guard and I couldn't regain that hard-to-maintain stoic composure—even if I pulled it off, at this point he would know it was just a front.

My heart was still pounding with fear and adrenaline but at the same time I was just agitated now; I minded my own business and stayed away from him, so why couldn't he just leave well enough alone?

"What about you, then?" I countered. "Doesn't the great Sephiroth have better things to do than butt in on other people's training?"

His smile twitched. "'The great Sephiroth?' Genesis is rubbing off on you."

My face fell at that; he had me there. I realized belatedly that the scornful tone I had adopted was nearly the same one a certain redhead always used when he was sulking. Biting sarcasm, a one-sided rivalry with Sephiroth, the habit of relentlessly pestering my student… god, next I'd be reciting poetry.

"To answer your question, I do have better things to do—which his why 'butting in' isn't the only reason I'm here."

"…Ah," I managed, blinking. Dread settled in my stomach like a rock as I attempted to pull together some sort of escape plan, glancing past the First in the direction of the door.

"So skittish. I haven't seen or spoken to you in months; surely you can tolerate my presence for a short while." A cocked eyebrow. "Though I do have to wonder how I've missed you every single time I've returned to HQ. It's almost as if you're actively avoiding me." He said this last bit with some relish, eyes narrowing in a clear challenge.

A chill ran through me. Of course he'd notice, when I associated freely with everyone else in SOLDIER.

What could I say to that? It was the truth. For a moment I debated telling him I had a raging crush on him since that would be a guaranteed method of keeping him away, but then I decided I didn't have the guts to do that.

Stop showing weakness. Don't let him intimidate you into submission.

I shifted my weight to one foot, placing a hand on my hip and trying to force some ice into my expression.

"I've been mentoring a new recruit," I explained. "Between that, new assignments and Genesis devising new ways to make me jump through hoops in the meantime, I've been pretty busy."

"Hmm. My apologies if I'm causing you to miss your next appointment." Oh… there was Genesis' sarcasm. It was obvious the two had spent plenty of time around each other.

The common ground of a mutual friend, strangely enough, made me relax the slightest bit—though I was still very much on high alert. Sephiroth was impossible to read, but my answer must have been satisfactory because he didn't press the issue.

"Well, this was allotted training time until you ruined it," I quipped, and then mentally smacked my forehead—no filter, as usual. "So I guess I'm free. What can I do for you, sir?"

His lips twitched very slightly at my remark, which was probably a good thing, because maybe that meant I wasn't in trouble for being a wiseass to my superior. But then his face went back to the usual cool mask, and he turned to face the door.

His back to me, he said, "Not here. Come."

My stomach dropped. Sephiroth was already walking, leaving no room for protest. I numbly placed one foot in front of the other and began to follow. Though I knew there was no way I could've anticipated this, I found myself fiercely regretting my decision to come here and train tonight.

We left the training room behind and I fell nearly in step with Sephiroth, silently hoping my anxiety wasn't visible on my face. Being stuck alone with him like this reminded me of a time years ago when I had followed Kratos through a desolate city, unable to escape and firmly convinced that he was leading me to my death.

Of course, in the end Kratos had actually been saving my life, but that was another story for another time. I was pretty sure Sephiroth didn't intend to do me any favors here. At least I didn't think he wanted to kill me—yet, anyway.

We moved past the main briefing rooms and down a few hallways I didn't often frequent. After a few minutes of walking in silence, he stopped at a single door marked with his name.

The entire reason why I never came down this way was because of this room—this was where Sephiroth's office was located. He didn't make use of the office very often, but I had seen no point in taking unnecessary risks.

The First opened the door and stepped aside to let me through. I walked in, pausing in the center of the room and looking around with a slight frown. My first glimpse of the area was dominated by a pair of large windows on the back wall, offering a nice view of the city and what looked like Sector 2 in the distance.

There wasn't much to speak of in the way of furnishings other than a few black leather chairs nestled in the corner. Sephiroth's desk was located to my right; it was made of a sleek, dark wood that looked like ebony, and it was piled high with books and papers. A space on one side was cleared just enough to fit a computer monitor.

Strangely enough, the desk looked meticulously organized despite the ridiculous volume of materials piled atop it. Sephiroth was literally buried in paperwork, but I got the sense that the books and papers over there were organized by subject or something equally crazy.

"It was worse when I first returned from Wutai."

The dry remark very nearly caused me to jump; I hadn't heard him shut the door and step into the room.

Caught off guard, I felt my lips turn up in an almost-smile in response to the humorous image. The fact that he didn't seem entirely hostile towards me made me relax very slightly again; I had to fight hard not to let myself hope that maybe this entire encounter wouldn't turn out to be utter torture.

"That's insane. You should take a spa day or something," I mumbled, blinking. Then my brain caught up and I wanted to bash my head against the wall. A spa day? Really, Brittany?

An arched eyebrow. "…Noted. Though if you're that worried, perhaps you could help me put some of my concerns to rest."

He gestured to the closed door. "We're unlikely to have unwelcome company here. It would be helpful if we could have a candid discussion."

I suddenly felt squeamish. "What about, exactly?"

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed a bit. "The things that transpired in Junon prior to your recruitment, and the string of unusual events that have occurred since."

"Unusual events?" I felt cold, but tried to keep my expression neutral.

The First shook his head. "We'll start with Junon. About a month prior to his assignment there, Genesis sustained an injury to the shoulder that even his mako-enhanced body couldn't heal. He refused to speak of it after the first week, but I could see he often favored his other arm during training and he was going to see Dr. Hollander regularly."

He paused his story, locking gazes with me. "That is, until you arrived. Since his return from Junon, he's been more his old self than ever—and he's almost entirely cut contact with Hollander. Coincidentally, the two of you have been getting along surprisingly well."

I wasn't going to give him anything, dammit. But it was hard not to squirm. "And?"

Sephiroth's eyes were blue fire; I felt like I was burning in them.

"Tell me how you healed Genesis."

I forced myself not to look away. "Healed him? I ran into him, sure, but—you're just guessing based on loosely connected events."

"Genesis would not have cleared your name if he wasn't indebted to you in some way. I know that for a fact."

My frown deepened and we stared each other down for a few seconds; I attempted to ignore my increasingly loud heartbeat. Finally Sephiroth exhaled, crossing his arms.

"Let me make myself clear, SOLDIER. You do not want to antagonize me."

I was nervous as all hell, so I reacted to that sentence in the worst possible way. I smiled.

"You're the one who barged in on my training and dragged me in for an interrogation, sir."

"Consider yourself lucky it wasn't a Turk. Your shady background story puts you in a difficult position, and Genesis alone won't be enough to protect you. Allow me to confirm that you are not a threat."

Not a threat. I got a chill; in many ways, I was.

Still, though, it was quickly becoming clear that Sephiroth wasn't going to let me leave without some kind of an answer. And to be honest… though I didn't want to really associate with him, I also didn't want someone with his power actively working against me.

"Fine!" I huffed, crossing my arms to mirror his pose. "I did heal him. I had a powerful magical artifact on me, and the thing shattered after I used it. But look, everything after that is Genesis' business and it's not my story to tell. You'll have to take it up with him. You guys are friends, aren't you?"

His eyes clouded, growing faintly troubled—and surprisingly, he was the first to avert his gaze. "…One would think."

He seemed to catch himself quickly, though, and looked up at me again. "A magical artifact that broke after its use seems a bit convenient."

"It's the truth," I said firmly. "You were theorizing that I had access to some high-level healing magic—well, technically you weren't wrong."

"And why use such a thing on someone you'd only just met?"

Now I looked down, rubbing the back of my neck. "I barreled right into him when I was running from those infantry grunts. I must've hit that wound of his pretty hard, because the blow practically incapacitated him. Seeing a SOLDIER First brought down like that was—well, I knew something was very wrong. So I did something about it."

"…I see."

I could feel his stare, and the moment of silence that followed those words was suffocating. After a second or two I mustered the courage to look him in the eye again, but I couldn't read his expression.

"If that were all, I might be inclined to let it go," he finally said. "However… even a prodigy cannot defeat a Midgar Zolom without enhancements. The average human body is weak. Fragile. Some battles cannot be won with blind luck alone."

"Maybe I'm the next Sephiroth," I said, raising my eyebrows.

He ignored me. "Add that to the fact that you requested not to be subjected to extensive examinations—specifically requested that Professor Hojo be kept out of the picture—and it paints an interesting picture."

"So I've got a few secrets that I'd rather Shinra not know," I admitted, trying to ignore the chill that ran down my spine. "The Turks suggested something unfortunate might happen to me if I refused to join SOLDIER, so I set some conditions to cover my ass before agreeing. Is that unreasonable?"

"Not entirely," he conceded after a moment. "But the fact remains that a troubling number of unknowns surround you."

"What kind of a threat do I pose?" I challenged. "So Shinra wants one hundred percent transparency from me—fine. Let them investigate all they want. But what about you? Do you really need that? Or is Genesis the one you're actually worried about?"

"You presume quite a bit," he pointed out, a bit icily. "…But you aren't entirely wrong. Very well; you healed an old friend, and we'll leave it at that for now. Keep in mind that that is the only reason I'm cutting you slack."

"…Understood," I said.

"One last thing. I'd like to meet that Third of yours—Strife, was it?"

My eyebrows flew up. "Cloud? Why?"

He picked a paper up from his desk and handed it over to me. It was a company incident report, dated a few weeks ago. The location set me on edge—Nibelheim.

Trying to hide my sudden interest, I read through the report rapidly. There had been… what? Someone had broken into the Nibel reactor?

Did he kill Jenova?!

The question hit me hard and I continued to read, searching for any useful bit of information. But the report stated nothing more than that there had been a break in, though it wasn't evident that anything had been damaged or stolen. It was suspected that it may have been a terrorist organization attempting to learn the layout of the plant—either that or someone hoping to steal company secrets.

After a minute I looked back up at Sephiroth, trying to look incredulous.

"You don't think he had something to do with it, do you? He's just a kid."

"Nibelheim is his hometown," Sephiroth said, "and the incident occurred shortly before he left. Perhaps it's merely a coincidence… but he may be connected, however loosely."

"Why do you concern yourself with this stuff? I mean, honestly—Shinra's problems aren't your problems, not unless they're battle-related."

The First smiled, though there was no humor in it. "It's possible I have a few secrets of my own. Regardless, Strife has proven about as elusive as his mentor. If you could arrange a meeting, I would be much obliged."

I stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he might be thinking, and came up with nothing. Finally I sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

"You have my thanks," he said, taking the report back. "Dismissed."

I nodded and turned to leave, my legs feeling heavy. Hearing the door to the office closing behind me was an enormous relief. I walked back out into the hallway, leaving Sephiroth behind… for now.

There was no way I could go back and finish my training now. I made my way towards my room to wind down for the night, intent on trying to digest and process the conversation I'd just had.

"Oh, c'mon, Cloud."

"No."

"Don't be like that! It's for the mission."

"No."

"I'm your superior, and it's an order!"

"Is ordering me to cross dress legal?"

"Do I look like a lawyer? Let me do your hair."

At long last, Cloud let out a sigh that sounded more like a half-groan. "This isn't what I imagined when I set out to join SOLDIER."

We were in the Sector 6 slums relatively close to Wall Market, and I was going through the (admittedly enjoyable) process of convincing Cloud to relive a certain embarrassing chapter of his life. I could see the dress shop from here.

"Don't hate me, hate whoever assigned this mission," I said, grinning. "C'mon, Wall Market is a disgusting place and I'd love the chance to rip Don Corneo a new one. You've only gotta dress up for a second, okay?"

He gave me a flat look that suggested he knew that was too much to hope for.

"Let's just get this over with."

"Right! Let's have you try on that dress. Hope you don't mind, but I picked purple—I think it'll really bring out your eyes."

"What would I do if you weren't looking out for me," he muttered tonelessly, staring straight ahead.

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing, my precious daughter," I said, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

Grunting, he shrugged it off.

Maybe I was feeling a bit cocky, but I had a feeling today was going to be a great day.

A/N: I KNOW. I didn't really get into the Corneo mission. I figured I'd save the bulk of it for next time, since I really wanted to get that Sephiroth conversation out of the way (speaking of which, he is fun to write but JESUS IT'S HARD TO WRITE HIM.

SO. That's all for now! I'll proofread this again later, so apologies in advance if you saw any spelling/grammar errors.

Reviews, as always, are much appreciated!

Next time: Bonding time with Miss Cloud!