Sephiroth sighed heavily as he passed through the doors of the medical wing. He'd come to see if Hojo had gotten the results from Siren's tests. It had been a week since her incident, and he figured that was plenty of time for the professor to finish the testing.
"Sephiroth, my boy, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Hojo asked, not even bothering to turn around and face the general.
"Do you have the results from Private Laurentis' tests?" Sephiroth asked, clenching his teeth at Hojo's ever-sarcastic demeanor.
"I do, actually…" the scientist said teasingly.
"And?" Sephiroth growled, growing more impatient by the second.
Hojo turned around to face the General slowly.
"They were inconclusive," he muttered.
Sephiroth raised a silver brow, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Inconclusive. So you don't know what happened to her that day?"
"I have a few theories, but none of them have been proven yet," Hojo said, brushing past Sephiroth and walking across the room.
Sephiroth growled lightly. "And what might those be?"
Hojo grabbed a folder full of paperwork and flipped through it quickly. He gave Sephiroth a quick smirk, before the papers were promptly snatched from his hands.
The general skimmed over the papers, looking at various charts and notes filled with Hojo's chicken scratch.
"And I suppose you intend to keep them to yourself?" Sephiroth asked, glaring at the scientist and throwing the folder back on the counter.
"For now, my boy, yes. I don't want any false hopes or rumors being started based off of a miscalculation on my part."
"Just answer me this. Is she in any sort of immediate danger?"
"Oh no," Hojo laughed. "In fact she is in very good health. If my suspicions are correct, she should be among one of the top soldiers we have…"
"In terms of?" Sephiroth asked.
"In terms of her magic use, speed, and stamina, she should be one of the best. Her physical strength is above average for a woman, but nothing spectacular. Even the mako treatments won't put her on the level of a male soldier. Her frame is simply too small to carry the same amount of strength as someone like you."
Sephiroth glared at the Professor with veiled curiosity and confusion.
"You have a gift in your hands, Sephiroth. I predict that she could end up being the next strongest soldier under you," Hojo said with an eerie look in his eyes.
Sephiroth snorted and smirked, but stopped when he thought about Siren's lack of materia usage.
"Something on your mind, boy?"
"Don't call me that," the general growled. "And no, I was just leaving."
"This is so stupid, why do I have to go to classes?" Siren whined, sitting on the couch.
"SOLDIER protocol. Me, Angeal, Genesis…even the great General Sephiroth himself attended these same classes," Zack laughed.
Siren smirked and grabbed the remote, flipping though channels.
"I couldn't imagine Sephiroth just sitting in a classroom listening to some meathead instructor drilling off info for an hour," she giggled.
"Nah, I could see that actually," Zack said around a mouthful of chips. "He's such a nerd who loves to read and study, so taking classes was probably right up his alley."
"Hmmm…that's true I guess. I still just do not feel like sitting in a damn classroom," Siren sighed.
"Well, who knows, you might meet a cute guy there," Zack mumbled.
Siren snorted. "I'm not exactly looking for a boyfriend."
"Oh, but lemme ask you this. If our favorite silver-haired general asked you out, what would you say?" Zack smirked.
Siren blushed heavily. "Will you knock it off? As if that would happen. And why do you keep asking me as if I like Sephiroth like that?"
"Because you do."
"Says who?" Siren asked, raising an eyebrow at Zack.
"Says you."
"Zack…"
"Haha, okay, okay! I'll leave the subject alone. Just know that I know that you're attracted to Sephiroth, and I'm gonna find my chance to play matchmaker between you two. Just you wait."
Siren scowled and grabbed the bowl of chips out of Zack's lap. She grabbed a handful and began shoving it into her mouth.
"That's very ladylike," Zack quipped.
"You know what, Zack—" Siren began, before a shrill alarm began blaring.
"INTRUDER! INTRUDER! ALL SHINRA SOLDIER FORCES PREPARE TO ENGAGE IN BATTLE! INTRUDER!"
"Shit…" Zack cursed, jumping up from the couch and grabbing his sword.
"Uh…what's happening?" Siren asked, placing the bowl on the table, and getting up cautiously.
"There's an intruder, silly. Can't you hear the announcement?"
"Well, yeah, but—"
"Grab your Sai and come on! There's a battle to be fought!" the brunet said, heading toward the door.
Siren grabbed her Sai off the table and set them in the holsters strapped to her thighs. The alarm continued blaring, and suddenly the door to the apartment opened. Zack flinched but instantly relaxed when he saw a familiar head of red hair pop through.
"Reno, what the hell?"
"I figured I'd find you in here, Spiky. AVALANCHE attack, and they've let loose a shitload of monsters throughout and around the building. That's why they made the announcement. Some of them are low-level, but some are pretty fucking tough," Reno said, leaning against the doorframe.
Zack sighed and headed toward the door, but Reno looked over his shoulder and stopped him.
"Who's the girl? She's hot, man," Reno whispered, leering at Siren.
Zack chuckled. "Not now, Red. I'll introduce you later. Duty calls. Siren, let's go!"
Reno stepped out of the way and let the two SOLDIERS exit the apartment. When Siren walked past, he quickly smacked her on the ass. Siren scowled and turned around, clocking Reno in the left eye.
"Ahhh shit lady! That's a helluva hook you've got!" he howled, grabbing his eye.
Zack rolled his eyes and grabbed Siren's wrist, pulling her along behind him before she could wail on Reno anymore.
"Third Class SOLDIERS! All of you stay here on the bottom three floors! The lowest level monsters are here! Do not go past Floor 3 unless otherwise instructed! We need to get this chaos under some kind of control! Understood?" Angeal commanded his group.
"Yes sir!" the group shouted.
Angeal pulled his phone out and quickly dialed a number.
"What's your status Lieutenant?"
"I've got the Second Class handling Floors 4-10. The monsters up here are chump change, but there's a shitload of them."
"Don't get cocky, Genesis, remember that a high leveler could be sneaking around the corner," Angeal chided with a warning tone.
"Thanks mom, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Genesis snapped, ending the call.
Angeal sighed and shook his head, heading into an elevator. He rode up to the 15th floor, and when the door opened, was instantly greeted with the face a Behemoth. Before he could reach up to grab the hilt of his sword, a Bolt3 spell hit the monster and it collapsed to the ground. Angeal stepped around the fiend to see Zack and Siren standing behind it.
"Hey Lieutenant Hewley," Siren called out.
"I give you my thanks Siren, since I know Zack could not have pulled off such an impressive move," Angeal smirked.
"Oh, cut me some slack here! I haven't even had a chance to fight anything, with Miss Shock-Happy over here!" Zack wailed.
Siren shrugged and smiled.
"Can't help it. I haven't had a chance to really fight in a while."
Angeal looked over Zack's shoulder and pointed.
"There you go, Zack. The perfect opponent."
Zack turned around and saw a Kalm Fang racing for them.
"Seriously?" he sighed.
When the wolf got within reach of his sword, the brunet simply swung once and sliced it in half. The innards and blood of the creature sprayed all over the wall.
"Sloppy," Siren said, giggling lightly.
"Well when you fight with an actual weapon, it tends to make a mess…" Zack said, laughing at the sour look that passed across Siren's face.
"Is this seriously it? All of these creatures could have been handled by the Third and Second Classes. Why the hell did they call everyone to action?" Angeal growled, pulling out his phone again.
Siren and Zack looked around and saw no threats nearby, so they leaned against a wall and relaxed.
"So who was that guy that I just punched in the eye?" Siren laughed.
"That was Reno of the Turks. He's one of my best friends, and he's a complete lecher. I promise he wouldn't take it any further than what he just did to you," Zack said, looking at Siren solemnly.
"It was still rude and inappropriate," Siren huffed lightly.
"Yeah, but that's how Reno is. I'm not trying to sound like a sick pervert, but he probably got a boner from you punching his eye out," Zack laughed.
"What a weirdo," Siren mumbled.
Angeal hung up his phone and came over to Zack and Siren.
"The threat's over. I just finished talking to the General, and he said it was less serious than originally made out to be. He's on the executive floor right now making heads roll for that unnecessary call."
"So does this happen often?" Siren asked.
"Intruder alerts? No, usually any intruders are dispatched of before an announcement can even be made," Angeal said, placing his phone in his pocket.
"Who or what is AVALANCHE? And why would they be attacking Shinra?" Siren asked.
Zack scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and shot Angeal a questioning look.
"You haven't heard of AVALANCHE, Siren?" Angeal asked softly.
Siren shrugged and shook her head.
"Don't forget that I can't really remember anything before the last couple of years, and I haven't been leading the most normal life where I could hear about it on TV or stuff. Plus, I've never heard anyone mention it before."
Angeal tapped his foot in thought, and then waved for the two to get up off the floor.
"How about Zack and I explain while we head to Sephiroth's office. We need to debrief to him. Even though this wasn't a mission, it's still protocol."
Siren and Zack followed Angeal through the hallways of the Shinra building, seeing various cleanup crews washing floors, walls, and removing dead monster carcasses.
"AVALANCHE is a terrorist group that has been trying to stop the Shinra company for years now. You know how Shinra makes and uses Mako Reactors, right?" Angeal asked.
Siren nodded, walking alongside the two SOLDIERs.
"Well, AVALANCHE's main motive for continuously attacking Shinra is to get the company to stop using the reactors because they think that it's harmful to the planet," Zack explained.
"That's just stupid!" Siren exclaimed.
Angeal and Zack both looked at the snow-haired girl with confusion.
"What do they think is possibly going happen with them attacking Shinra? Even if they killed President Shinra, then Rufus would take over, and if they killed Rufus, someone else would take over. No matter who they kill, there will always be someone willing to run the Shinra Company. Maybe some things would change with different leadership, and maybe another leader would find an alternative to Mako energy, but AVALANCHE launching attacks really does nothing but put innocent bystanders at risk. It's not like they're going to bring down the whole company or anything."
Zack shrugged.
"That's what some of the corporate officials have been trying to tell members of AVALANCHE for years. Nothing's ever stopped them, and I honestly don't think anything will. At least not in the near future."
"In Midgar, most especially the slums, there is a general anti-Shinra mentality amongst the people. Which, if you really think about it, can you blame them?" Angeal asked.
"Believe me, I've seen and lived with most of those people. I don't blame them at all," Siren said with a distant look in her eyes.
"It sounds kind of stupid that we can agree with an anti-Shinra mentality, yet we work for the company," Zack scoffed.
"Why did you guys join Shinra?" Siren asked.
"I just wanted to be in SOLDIER," Zack said. "No more, no less. I knew this was my destiny from the first day I'd heard about it. I just want to fight."
"And you, Angeal?"
"Pretty much the same reason," Angeal smiled.
Siren sighed. "I wish I knew what my destiny was…"
Angeal quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you two say you pretty much knew since you were young that this is what you were destined to do, and I've never really had that feeling before, you know?" Siren shrugged.
"It doesn't always come early in life, Siren. Some people don't realize their destinies until they're near the end of their lives. It might just hit you randomly. Fate is weird like that," Zack chuckled.
"Well, let's get in here and debrief to the General. This should take about…5 minutes," Angeal chuckled.
The three SOLDIERS headed into Sephiroth's office, closing the door behind them. After debriefing the mission, Sephiroth sat silently, looking between Zack and Angeal.
"Lieutenant Hewley, Lieutenant Fair, if you don't mind, I would like to speak to Private Laurentis alone please," the general said, using formal titles so everyone knew this was not a strictly personal matter and that his orders were to be followed.
"Yes sir," Angeal and Zack said quietly, exiting the office.
Siren took a seat in front of Sephiroth's desk, sitting up straight.
"Sir?" she asked.
"Private," he said quietly. "I went and spoke to Professor Hojo about your test results."
"And?"
"They were inconclusive. Basically he isn't sure yet what caused you to have that reaction. But that's not why I wanted to speak to you alone, Private. I want to ask you some questions about your past and your powers. I know you're hesitant to speak about them, and you have my word that what is said in this room will stay between us. But I need as much information as possible."
Shitty ending, I know. But I just wanted to get this chapter posted. I kinda can't believe it's been so long since I updated, but life really got in the way. I'm not even going to promise a quick update, because it most likely won't happen. But I'm not abandoning this fic (at least not now, again, I'm not promising anything.) Thanks to all of you who have been reading this far, and thanks to all of you new readers! Now press that little button down there and tell me what you think!