His vision blurred as he crumpled backward and hit the ground, his head banging rather hard. When his fuzzy vision came into focus, it was Genesis bending over him and thumbing open his eyelids. But then Vincent was there too, eyes narrowed as he checked Cloud's pulse.

Cloud heard Genesis' voice but couldn't make out the words, as the roaring in his ears hadn't quite died down. He did, at least, catch the end of Vincent's reply.

"—disappeared and I had no problems with a barrier."

"The same goes for me in regards to the barrier," Tseng said from somewhere he couldn't see.

Cloud blinked rapidly, breathing a bit stilted.

Oddly enough, Genesis pulled one of his own gloves off and pressed his hand to Cloud's forehead. Then he said, "He's not running a fever. Perhaps whatever the Goddess did was relatively taxing."

"Goddess?" Vincent repeated. "We saw no one in the cavern with the both of you."

Genesis stared at the gunman a moment before saying, "Perhaps the Goddess thought you weren't ready for her appearance."

Cloud jerked a little, trying to make himself move, and emitted a breathless grunt at the echoing ache it sent through him. At least he had the others' attention again.

Jaw aching, he managed to grind out, "That was worse than the pedestal."

Genesis appeared momentarily shocked, but the expression quickly disappeared. Tseng and Nanaki were out of sight but the barest of smiles flit over Vincent's face.

Vincent said, "I assume something similar to what happened at the entrance to this room happened when you approached the statue."

Cloud tried to nod but his neck muscles only spasmed in response. "I think Minerva drugged me."

Genesis' eyebrows lifted, but the question came from Nanaki, who seemed to be standing somewhere near Tseng out of sight. "Would the scent of intoxicant not linger in the air? I smell nothing here now."

"But at the end there," Cloud said a bit more smoothly, as the ability to move properly began returning to his limbs, "everything started turning bizarre colors and I was thinking about how Minerva was the sky, the moon, and the sun all at once. The air turned green and everything was glowing."

Cloud tried to sit up, but couldn't quite manage on his own. Vincent slipped an arm beneath his shoulders and helped him up.

"Though I can't comment on your thoughts regarding a person I never saw," Vincent said, hints of amusement coloring his tone, "certain things did turn strange colors."

"Was the air really green?" Cloud asked, one hand on his forehead, massaging it in small circles.

"No," Genesis said, "but you turned an interesting shade of golden bronze."

Cloud's gaze whipped sideways to stare at the former Shinra commander incredulously. The man seemed torn between amusement and confusion.

"Might I add," Nanaki began.

Cloud twisted to find Tseng and Nanaki only a few feet behind him.

"Your hair turned an interesting shade of pale green."

Cloud's eyes widened.

Nanaki nodded and continued, "It gave off a noticeable glow here in the dimly lit cavern, but I suspect in direct sunlight it would have been white."

"Like Sephiroth's?" Cloud asked dumbly.

It was Tseng who said, "The general's hair is silver, or gray if you prefer, and not white." The Turk paused. "And I can honestly admit I've never seen his hair glow."

Vincent said, "The luminescence reminded me of a much dimmer version of the mako trees in the forest around the Cetra capital."

Genesis narrowed his eyes and, apparently, decided it was time to change the subject. "Are you going to share with me what the Goddess told you when you were making faces at her?"

"My hair was glowing," Cloud said flatly.

"Might I remind you," Vincent said, "that your skin was a rather bright gold."

Cloud groaned, burying his face in his hands. "If Zack ever sees something like that, I'll never hear the end of the chocobo jokes."

"What did the Goddess tell you?" Genesis asked again.

Cloud didn't fully lift his head but stared sideways at Genesis. The former commander managed to hide his emotions well behind that mask of a sneering smirk, but this close, Cloud could see the worry lines. He had the rather untimely thought that Genesis might not take kindly to being told he was wrinkling.

Cloud could tell, though, what Genesis really wanted to be asking instead of his vague questions. But Genesis probably wouldn't outright ask for the sake of his personal pride.

With a pang of empathy, Cloud resolved to hold as little back from Genesis in certain respects as possible. Cloud had hated it when people left him in the dark and he imagined Genesis was no different.

"I have no idea how I'm supposed to do it," Cloud said, "but she told me that I could heal you myself and I'd learn how before it was time to cure your degradation."

Hope flared in Genesis' eyes, only to be quickly replaced successively by anger then suspicion. Genesis pushed smoothly to his feet. "My friend, the fates are cruel. Would you have me beg for your favor then?"

Cloud scowled and shook Vincent's steadying hand off to climb to his feet. Glaring hard at Genesis, Cloud actually went so far as to jab an angry finger at the man's chest. "I'll cure you as soon as I figure out how, Genesis."

Surprise flashed over the former commander's face before he flattened his expression.

Cloud added, "I won't make you jump through unreasonable hoops to stay alive." Cloud turned away from the main and headed for the exit, brushing past Nanaki and a confused looking Tseng. With every step he took, the ache in his bones faded slightly. He heard his comrades' footsteps behind him, and a little further back, Genesis'.

No one said anything on the climb back out of the caves. Cloud thought it was just as well. He had a difficult enough time accepting what Minerva told him and what she'd done to him and didn't fancy divulging it all when he'd really rather take a nap. He was just relieved that not a single monster attacked on the trek upward. Perhaps they'd all realized with their animalistic little brains that messing with Cloud would be the last thing they did.

Fortunately, on reaching the surface, he could further put off talking to anyone as Dio had left three emails for him. The first, telling Cloud about Shinra interrogating him several days earlier and Dio having to admit that Cloud's activities must not be illegal because there were no arrests. The second to say he'd reached Wutai that morning. And the third to say that Lord Godo Kisaragi was open to the proposition and was willing to begin negotiations but refused to agree completely until all business partners could be introduced.

Cloud sighed and rolled his shoulders. He couldn't procrastinate beginning things with Avalanche. But he needed to move quickly on things in Wutai as well. He really needed a larger party than just the four of them, one of which couldn't be entirely trusted to run errands on his own. Vincent could certainly handle solo missions but wouldn't be able to do what Cloud needed at the moment for the sole reason of his not so subtle appearance.

Cloud scrolled through his contacts and called Dio. It only rang twice before the man picked up. "Where have you been, boy? I've tried calling."

Cloud turned his back on the others so he could focus on the call. "I was in a meeting. And don't complain, Dio, you've only been trying to get a hold of me since this morning."

Dio huffed on the other end of the line. "Lord Kisaragi is a patient man but it's insulting that both of us aren't here."

Cloud ran a hand back through his hair. "I can make it out one week from today."

"A week? These people of Wutai are a ceremonial lot. Do you really want to make them wait like that?"

"It'll take that long to reach an agreement right? I'll be there at the end for the contract. I trust you won't make a deal unprofitable for either of us. Besides, I'm on the wrong continent to come quickly. And I have to make another stop before I can come."

Dio laughed, his mirth booming through the PHS at near deafening volume. "You've got your fingers in more than one pie, haven't you, boy."

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"I can stall Lord Kisaragi until then. I can start sending hiring representatives out to get construction workers. You wouldn't have a hand in that would you?"

"Not exactly," Cloud said, but it did present an opportunity to have Dio take care of one of his problems. "But I do have another odd request."

"Weirder than that weapon maker?"

"I want you to hire the whole town of Gongaga."

"Why?" Dio sounded more incredulous than anything else.

"It's very important, Dio. I don't care what you have to pay them. Get even the old and retired people out of there. Hire them as door greeters or as table monitors to make sure people don't take more than their fair share of juice. Buy their houses and get them out to Wutai."

"You wouldn't happen to know if anything was going to happen to the Gongaga reactor would you?" Dio asked flatly.

"It's…damaged," Cloud said cautiously. "Shinra Company doesn't want to repair it because they think it's an acceptable flaw." Cloud had absolutely no idea if that was true. For all he knew, the company didn't realize anything was wrong until the reactor blew up and killed half the town's populace. "It's on my tab anyway," Cloud continued. "The southern part of Wutai is hot and the Gongaga people are more used to that than people pulled from Nibelheim. Everyone in Costa del Sol already works for the tourist industry. We don't need entertainers until there's a place to entertain in. Everyone in Rocket Town is working on the twenty-six rocket. You could pull from Kalm but they're already doing reconstruction there."

"Midgar and Junon both have a sizable work force, boy," Dio said, humor back in his voice.

"And I'm sure the entire populace of Gongaga isn't enough for the construction team. Just get them first."

Cloud heard Dio sigh on the other end. "Fine, Cloud. I'll hire the entire town. But you'd better be here in a week. Were there any other odd requests?"

"Give Yuffie Kisaragi my PHS number."

"The Wutai princess?"

"Yes."

"Why would you give that little brat the ability to call you whenever she wants, boy?"

"Just give it to her." Satisfied they'd finished the conversation, Cloud hung up and replaced the PHS in a pocket.

"Cloud," Vincent asked, "why were you using your Enemy Skill materia down in that cavern?"

Cloud turned back to find his three traveling companions and Genesis watching him. Figuring now was as good a time as any, he popped the yellow materia out of his bangle. "Nanaki," he said, tossing the piece to have the giant cat catch it in his mouth. Nanaki held up a leg and the materia disappeared into an empty slot.

Concentrating, Cloud tried to replicate the feeling he'd had when Minerva had been doing whatever she'd been doing. He held out a hand for focus, aiming at the charred remains of a dumbapple tree. It was easier than he expected to call out the flames that flew over the ground to impact his target.

"That was Flame Thrower," Tseng pointed out, disbelief tainting his voice.

Cloud nodded. "When those spells were firing off, it wasn't channeling through the materia. It seems I am an Enemy Skill materia." He sighed. "I need to talk to Aerith about Minerva."

"Are we returning to Midgar?" Nanaki asked, subtly directing the conversation away from Cloud's newfound enemy skill absorption properties.

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "Yes. And I need to do something about Avalanche sooner. I shouldn't be putting off dealing with them. I've been thinking about it and I don't expect they'll attack Junon. I've messed with enough of their plans that they've got something new in the works. When I was an infantryman, there were a lot more Avalanche attacks than we've been hearing about. And they haven't even gone after Aerith. Besides, all I need is to get close enough to that girl leading them that I can get the Zirconiade piece. We don't have to know where any of the others are if we just get that one."

Vincent nodded. "And that one missing piece saves the entirety of sector 8 and leaves the Turk organization intact."

"Wait," Genesis said, jumping into their conversation as he tried to evenly distribute his glare. "Are you part of Shinra Company or aren't you? It doesn't take a genius to realize you're the ones that have been blowing up and pillaging Shinra facilities."

Cloud's eyes narrowed.

Genesis asked, "If you're the terrorists then why are you intentionally saving the Turks and not assaulting Midgar? If this Zirconiade you speak of can destroy an entire sector then why not use it yourself?"

Cloud's expression hardened. "I'm trying to remove the corrupt from power, not murder innocent people."

A strange look passed over Genesis' face. In a voice entirely lacking accusation, Genesis quoted, "My friend, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I?"

Cloud scowled. "I hope you're not implying some rubbish about not saving people who wouldn't accept someone with a few experimental mutations."

If the slight tilting of Vincent's head was any indication, the gunman seemed to be enjoying the exchange. Tseng's expression was flat, so he was probably confused. Nanaki had sat some time ago and his gaze flicked between the two men like he was watching some sort of gaming match.

A smirk crept onto Genesis' lips. "All that awaits you is a somber morrow, no matter where the winds may blow."

"That's the biggest load of chocobo shit I've ever heard," Cloud said, distinctly unamused.

Genesis' eyes widened.

Cloud said, "If you tried even just a little, I'm sure you could have found allies. Sephiroth at least would have listened. Instead, you just ran off with a chunk of the army. If you invade with a bunch of your brain dead copies and start attacking everyone in sight, of course they're going to sic the Soldiers and Turks on you. What exactly were you planning to do with all those attacks anyway?"

Seeming to compose himself, Genesis said, "I was seeking retribution against the graceless fools who wronged me. And in case you were unaware, Sephiroth is more of a monster than I am." Genesis' eyes narrowed. "Though I suspect he may be more human than you."

"Mock me all you want," Cloud said. Genesis' insults didn't hold a candle to Sephiroth's anyway. "But I have to ask what you planned to do after you got your so-called revenge. It's not like it would keep you from degrading. Not even Jenova could have stopped that."

"But I'll never know that for sure," Genesis said quickly. "You deprived me of that experiment quite efficiently." The smile that crept over the former general's face seemed as strained as it did condescending. "It's also a pity you deprived Sephiroth of meeting his mother. I'm sure he would have liked to know where he came from."

Vincent quirked a brow and Nanaki's tail whipped through the charred dirt behind him.

Cloud scoffed, the sound wiping the smug expression right of Genesis' face. "Jenova is no more Sephiroth's mother than Gillian Hewley was yours."

Genesis' face darkened thunderously as he smoothly intoned, "Don't you dare cast aspersions at my origins."

"Then don't cast aspersions at Sephiroth's," Cloud's mouth twisted around the ridiculous word. Who said aspersions anyway? "Sephiroth isn't that alien parasite's child any more than you are. And just for your information, I told Sephiroth his real mother's name the last time I saw him." Gaia, he was defending Sephiroth now. The world must be coming to an end.

That strange look passed over Genesis' face again. Cloud clenched his teeth and turned away. He didn't see a need to remain. His companions would follow without asking.

"The Goddess told me to listen to you, Cloud Strife" Genesis said, his voice easily picked up by Cloud's ears despite the growing distance and lack of increasing volume.

Keeping his voice level, without turning back or slowing, Cloud said, "Then get rid of all the Genesis copies too brain dead to think for themselves even if they were cured of their degradation." He scowled. "Don't tell anyone who I am. And bring me Hollander."

Genesis didn't follow Cloud or the others out of the ruined town.

"Nothing in Dio's behavior indicates he's doing anything but negotiating for land," Cissnei said, obviously nearing the end of her report. "We've pulled the team for lack of anything else to observe in Wutai and a disinclination for making Lord Kisaragi suspicious."

Zack watched the Turk woman retake her seat. She must have kicked Reno under the table because the other Turk suddenly straightened and appeared to be paying attention.

Reno said, "The spies in Wutai will watch 'im for any lies. Looks like Zack's buddy is just gettin' into some kind of investment work after all."

Zack was both relieved and confused. Cloud could hardly attack Shinra by going into entertainment investing, but that still left the fact that Cloud was going into entertainment investing. Mentally, Zack brushed it off, but made a note to himself to ask Cloud for free passes for whatever it was he and Dio were up to. No point in having a friend with access to something like that if he didn't at least ask. And it wasn't like he would want to play without Cloud's presence, too. Zack would talk Cloud into throwing a party at the earliest opportunity.

"We also have additional information on Nibelheim," Vice President Shinra said. He tapped a closed file on the table in front of him.

Zack shot a glance at Sephiroth. The general's expression had tightened in a predictable manner. "What might that be?"

Zack held his breath, silently praying that the others haven't discovered what he, Sephiroth, and Tuesti were doing. As it was, the Head of Urban Development didn't so much as blink.

The Vice President said, "We don't wish to cause any alarm, but we believe that a woman named Jenova was being stored in Nibelheim."

Sephiroth's chin lifted slightly.

Zack asked, "Stored? Like a dead body?" Bewildered, he couldn't understand why they might have been keeping gooey tonberry corpses in either the reactor or the manor.

"It would be wise," Vice President Shinra said to Zack, with a pointed look at Sephiroth, "to speak with a little more decorum as Jenova was the general's mother."

Zack stiffened.

With a bit of aloof chill, Sephiroth said, "So I have always been told."

Even more confused, Zack tried to simply keep his expression flat. Either the vice president and the others didn't know the gooey tonberry might not be Sephiroth's mother or they were feeding Sephiroth the same lies the president and Hojo would.

"So you have been told?" Shinra asked, curiosity obvious in his tone.

Without missing a beat, Sephiroth said, "It's difficult to ascribe a matronly role to a name I've ever only heard in passing." He paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "I might also remind you that Hojo is the one who supplied my file with data on my origins."

"Of course," the vice president said, resuming his pleasantly diplomatic mantle, curiosity sliding away. "I see you've outraced me in sharing that conclusion. We've already begun compiling data provided by the professor and are planning an extensive fact checking project to sort out his fiction from our fact."

Sephiroth had no reply for the vice president, and it sort of seemed to put Shinra out. The vice president slid the file across the table. "We've been able to glean some information on how Jenova was being stored based on mechanical schematics. Might you be interested in seeing how she was housed?"

Without reply, Sephiroth pulled the file closer. Zack leaned toward the general so he could read while Sephiroth did. Most of it was technical jargon he didn't much comprehend, way far above the basics he was familiar with. But the schematics bits, those Zack recognized.

"It looks kinda like they built a Jenova shrine in the reactor," Zack said, faint creases marring his brow.

"Look here," Sephiroth said, pointing, "and here. The corpse was integrated into the machinery. The hydraulics looped through the body and inner workings of the female facsimile then circulated down into the reactor."

"They were processing her?" Zack asked.

Sephiroth nodded. "This apparatus in its stomach forced highly concentrated and toxic mako into her and withdrew it once saturated with the corpse's genetic material." Sephiroth gestured airily at the open file. "The genetically saturated toxic mako is distributed to more than a dozen different refinement stations and modified for various unspecified purposes. Each modification apparatus is numbered with alphanumerics but no purposes are listed."

"That sounds," Zack paused, "scary." He found himself imagining Cloud being on the receiving end of a dozen different kinds of mako injections responsible for spontaneous growth, memory loss, and encapsulating unwitting donors' memories.

Zack's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed as the world took on a faintly blue tinge when the mako in his eyes brightened.

If Cloud, who was only a teenager, had been put through who knew what kinds of experiments, and he had something in common with Sephiroth, then Zack didn't even want to know what Sephiroth had been put through, as the general was a good deal older than Cloud.

"Zack," Sephiroth said, voice barely a whisper, "calm down."

Zack took a deep, shuddering breath. He forced his clenched fists to relax, spreading fingers out to lie flat on the table. As the blue receded from his vision, he circumspectly eyed the other briefing room occupants. The vice president stared at him levelly while Tuesti looked worried and the Turks appeared nervous. Even Rude didn't look completely calm. Of course it was hard to tell what Kunsel might be thinking beneath his helmet and Sephiroth just seemed to be waiting to see what Zack would do.

"Might you care to explain your stress, Fair?" Shinra asked.

"If Hojo says Jenova is Sephiroth's mom," Zack said, voice flat, "then he probably injected the general with some of that shit." He started to tense up again as he tried to stare a hole through the schematics laid out in front of Sephiroth. "Because of the possible connections, that means Cloud's probably been shot full of this shit, too."

"Zack," Sephiroth said again.

It was enough reminder for Zack to bring his emotions under better control.

"Damn," Reno said, eying Zack, "I forget how much of a big, badass, angry First Class Soldier you can be."

"All my First Class Soldiers are quite capable," Sephiroth stated, condescension tainting his voice.

"Yeah," Reno protested, "but Zack is like a big, fluffy puppy most of the time and it's easy to forget he has a brain for anything besides play."

The words stung, more so than Zack would have expected. Reno probably didn't mean it the way the words came out, but still.

"Optimism and energy is not incompetence and superficiality," Sephiroth said, eyes narrowed slightly with a hint of a smirk tilting his mouth.

Zack couldn't help sporting his own, tempered smirk at the compliment. He was still upset about the implications in the file, but Sephiroth understanding Zack's reaction and even backing him up in front of the Turks and the vice president was quite heartening.

"This was all in the Nibelheim reactor at the time of destruction?" Sephiroth asked.

Zack tried to focus on the discussion rather than what might have happened to Cloud and Sephiroth.

"Yep," Reno said. "Hadn't been moved in years before that asshole blew it up."

Zack couldn't help but think that CS Delivery would be amused to know the Turk had given him an expletive for a nickname.

"And the manor?" Sephiroth asked.

"Lab facilities squirreled away in a hidden basement," Reno said.

Vice President Shinra said, "It's reasonable to assume experiments involving the different batches of Jenova suffused mako were used there. We haven't discovered schematics as of yet but supply requisitions list containers used for Soldier treatments, but they were sent long before Shinra Company began infusing Soldiers with mako."

Zack's eyes widened. No wonder CS Delivery wanted to blow all that shit up. "So there might be those different kinds of mako floating around in all of us Soldiers?"

"It would explain rather peculiar things," Sephiroth said, frowning.

"Such as?" Shinra prompted.

"It would mean all Soldiers have something in common besides mako." Sephiroth arched one brow. "I'm not the only one who could call Jenova mother."

"Gross," Zack blurted, utterly disgusted, feeling as though he wanted to puke just to try and make himself feel better. The gooey tonberry might be floating around inside him, too.

Ignoring Zack's outburst, Sephiroth said, "It would also indicate that CS Delivery has a great deal of this Jenova riddled mako in him as well. As he is keeping his identity secret, he could be one of the early experiments, someone that escaped. The red clad gunman has clearly been experimented on as well."

"Why is it clear that CS Delivery is a recipient of Jenova mako?" Tuesti asked.

"When he came for his visit, all the Soldiers felt his presence," Sephiroth said. "No one else felt a thing. I highly doubt he has some kind of electronic transmitter capable of producing paranoia in those possessing Jenova mako. People who've undergone extensive experiments have developed rather unique talents. Take the Subject P missions the Soldier department gets. Those are psychically located energy spots. If CS Delivery has as high of levels of mako enhancements as I suspect, any sort of latent psychic abilities could be channeled into activating a link with anyone else genetically attuned to him."

"Wouldn't that mean he'd be able to feel Fair's young friend?" Tuesti asked.

"Yes," the general said. "Considering the level of mako enhancements Cloud Strife has, there's no way he wouldn't react to activating the Jenova mako. I've interviewed most of my Soldiers and the higher ranked Soldiers felt CS Delivery's presence more keenly. Zack is the only one whose experience parallels my own. There were few differences between what he felt and what I felt. I imagine Strife's experience would be identical to mine if subjected to whatever CS Delivery did." Sephiroth paused. "It also means that Strife probably has the mako levels required to activate this link."

"Is this something you would be willing to test?" Shinra asked.

Zack's frown matched Kunsel's and Sephiroth's.

"How do you mean?" Sephiroth asked.

"If Strife has the necessary levels, do you not think you would as well?" Shinra clasped his hands together and tilted his head slightly. "If you could replicate the, shall we call it a declaration of presence, then would it not lead to you being able to block him? I can't imagine paranoia to be something useful to be distracted by during an unpleasant altercation."

Surprise flashed across Sephiroth's face before a smooth mask of professionalism covered it. "I think that would be extremely unwise, Vice President."

Zack eyebrows slowly climbed. The general had certainly switched over to his professional army leader mode.

"Really?" Shinra asked, slight confusion and vague curiosity in his tone. "I'm surprised to hear that."

"I don't think I should be attempting something like this without training and I can hardly ask Hojo's department for telepathy lessons without exciting comment." Mouth curling in distaste, Sephiroth said, "Hojo would no doubt refuse the Science Department's help unless given an in-depth explanation and it would draw the president's attention if you tried to overrule Hojo's demands. Aside from the political ramifications, I can imagine how badly scenarios might go should I attempt to experiment on my own. If something went wrong, what if I was unable to turn off that sense of paranoia in someone else? What if the prickling in the skin is an actual sensation instead of psychosomatic? I could do serious damage if I don't immediately stumble on the proper control."

The surprise on the vice president's face lasted too long for Zack to believe it genuine. It was like he wanted all of them to see he hadn't thought about it before.

"In that case," the vice president said, "do you think it possible to ever try replicating what CS Delivery did?"

Expression betraying nothing, Sephiroth said, "I will study what CS Delivery is doing when he next uses the ability. I believe it gives him a sense of location as well. He stopped making his presence known when I exited the Shinra building."

Reno's eyes lit up. "Is that how that asshole is avoidin' Soldier patrols when he's in Midgar? He feels the Soldiers comin'?"

Sephiroth nodded. "In all likelihood."

Zack smiled. If CS Delivery knew when Soldiers were coming, Zack would just have to do everything in his power to sneak up on Cloud and get an unsurprised reaction. Not only would he get to scare his friend as often as possible, it might help prove Cloud's innocence.

"What's with the shit eatin' grin?" Reno demanded, making every gaze fall on Zack.

Zack said, "I've got a plan."

AN: Any and all random author's comments, disclaimers, and notes are on my profile page. If I get asked a question enough times, its answer is there too.