A.N: Eep! So it's been more than a week since I updated this story- not too bad though for me hehe! I realise the story is moving a little slowly friends, but I just wanted to take another chapter to cement the ideas introduced in the last chapter. Okay, now I'd just like to thank Anonymous Potato for the beautiful reviews *hearts*- you keep me posting HAHAHA! And hehe... Dr. Sykes- you know who you are ;) Thank you Bunny for texting me about how much you enjoy these chapters! I really grin like a mad woman when I receive your praise! Becca... I love how I wrote your character to much- she's so complex BUAHAHAHAHA! I really hope the awkward interactions with Reno don't make you hit me the next time you see me! *hugs* :D
Enjoy the chapter all! :)
Chapter Three: Training the Rookies
Location: Level 49- SOLDIER Training Room
Rebecca found herself frowning as her eyes burned and the insides of her nostrils seemed to dry up. The slight whirring sounds coming from the air-conditioning vent also began to promise her one heck of a head ache. The tall blonde turned to Reno, who was leaning against the metallic wall with an apathetic expression fixed on his sharp facial features. The red head caught Rebecca's glance and smirked at her.
"Is there something on my face? Or are you just admiring my dashing good looks?" He quipped. Rebecca merely tilted her head in inquiry.
"Your dialect… it keeps changing. Why?" She questioned. Reno's face broke out into a grin as he pushed himself off the wall. Walking towards the suit-clad woman, he gestured to himself dramatically.
"I'm not the 'Ace' for nothin', ya know?" Rebecca narrowed her eyes in slight annoyance as he walked past her, into the empty space of the Training Room. It had been only her and Reno in the Training Room for over half an hour now and she was getting slightly antsy. When she'd woken up in a tube full of breathable green liquid, she's bashed on the inside of her glass tube until Dr. Gemma Sykes had quickly let her out.
Rebecca found herself grinning as she remember the exasperated sigh the purple haired scientist had heaved as she'd passed Rebecca her copy of the complete Employee Medical Report. She didn't even have to speak to annoy the woman-. Rebecca's brows furrowed though as she continued to think about the good doctor- her knowledgeable countenance was strangely familiar and comforting…
Shrugging her shoulders, Rebecca turned to approach the eccentric red-head loitering around behind her. As she turned, she was surprised to find Reno on the ground, doing push-ups with practiced ease. Walking forward, she nudged his surprisingly elegant looking hands with the toe of her sneakers.
"When do you think the others will leave their test tubes?" Rebecca scowled when Reno let himself drop to the floor as he let out a boisterous laugh. Rolling on the floor so that he was now face up, Reno casually shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't really know babe, I ain't no scientist. So don't go asking me anything about that mako shit, cos' I'd probably just piss you off with my half-assed answers," Reno pulled himself up from his position on the floor so that he was seated upright. He began to perform some routine stretches, letting a look of relaxed satisfaction take over his features. Rebecca raised an eyebrow at the Senior Turk's behaviour.
"Okay… so what can I do while I wait for Ilona and Sean to finish… fermenting?" Reno looked up from his stretching as Rebecca trailed off, an uncertain tone to her voice. She was obviously outside her comfort zone. Reno sighed as he nimbly hauled himself off the ground before grabbing Rebecca's forearm and dragging her towards the exit. Rebecca spluttered in shocked protest before Reno sharply tugged her, causing her to collide with his side. "What the hell, Reno?" she protested loudly. Reno rolled his eyes and gesture at the electro-mag rod hanging off his wrist strap.
"Since we're not doin' anything, I reckon we should go get you equipped," Rebecca's eyes widened in realisation as she nodded dumbly. Reno chuckled at this, resuming his tugging, although he was being gentle this time. "Plus, I can't have you worrying about 'Lona an' Sean- you'll tire yourself out before the training even starts. Can't have that happening, or else you won't be able to go on the Turk's traditional Sector 8 Patrol." Reno glanced at Rebecca just as they entered the hallway, walking past SOLDIERs as they continued their friendly banter. "That's always a treat, yo!" He grinned at the woman beside him, who was a few centimetres shy of being his own height, and threw her a humoured wink.
"Get over yourself." Rebecca deadpanned, the inklings of a growing grin on her lips.
Location: Level 68- ShinRa Labs
Sean coughed and spluttered unnecessarily as the tank was drained of the green liquid he was submerged in previously. Ilona shot the older man an unimpressed look before turning towards the eccentric looking doctor who was currently singing cheerily to herself.
"They don't know what we do best
It's between me and you, our little secret
But I wanna tell 'em~!"*
Ilona raised her eyebrows at the familiar sounding lyrics, but immediately shook her head. One Direction… couldn't possibly exist in Gaia. That would just be ludicrous! Ilona was sure that this world had their own sensationalised boy bands, judging by some of the music she had heard as she passed the reception desk on her way to the labs.
A quiet cough brought her out of her reverie, causing her head to swivel towards the origin of the sound. Her dark eyes widened as she spotted Sephiroth sitting on an uncomfortable looking plastic chair with his arms crossed as he stared right at her. Meekly waving at the scary General, Ilona lightly wrapped on the glass to get the doctor's attention.
"Oh," Gemma jumped, her off-tune singing interrupted as she turned towards Ilona. The short, purple-haired doctor grinned up at the tubed young woman as she ambled up to the glass. "You're awake! I'm so glad! I thought that it might take longer, but Mr. Genius here said that you were showing preliminary signs of 'crystallisation' or something so I had to drain you." Gemma threw Sephiroth a withering look as the man merely replied with a roll of his green, feline eyes. Ilona cocked her head to the side, thoroughly confused.
"Um, aren't you supposed to be the expert? You have done this before, right?" Ilona questioned nervously. It was then that she had noticed all of the beeping and flashing metallic machinery in the room. The small brunette gulped as she stood in surprisingly dry in her Turk uniform, staring at the clearly eccentric doctor before her. Ilona began to question if the woman standing before her was even a doctor.
A nervous shiver ran down the young woman's spine.
Rebecca was also nowhere in sight. Ilona began to show visible signs of panic.
"She's with Reno," a smooth baritone resonated in the whirring and beeping room. Ilona's head whipped towards the direction of the voice, her eyes widening in acknowledgement. Sephiroth nodded at the small Turk before casting his gaze down to his hands. Following his gaze, Ilona realised that he was holding a light blue uniform and a familiar looking helmet. They'd seen the same uniformed people wearing the helmets on the SOLDIER Floor.
"Is that Sean's uniform?" Ilona inquired, her curiosity piqued. Sephiroth grunted his affirmation, taking a quick look at the slowly draining tube of SOLDIER Third Class Sean. He looked like he was in much better condition after being submerged in mako, which was a relief. That would mean that the young man could join Zack Fair and himself in their search for both Angeal and Genesis. Tseng hadn't mentioned much to him, but Sephiroth knew that finding both of his good friends was key to 'preventing future chaos' and 'saving priceless lives'.
The Silver General disliked being kept out of the loop, but Tseng was a trusted ally- even if he worked for the Turks- and he would trust the man with his life. As such, he personally approved the Turks' covert operations, sending his SOLDIERs out after surprisingly brief conferences with SOLDIER Director Lazard Deusericus.
Sephiroth frowned. It was almost as if even Lazard knew what was going on…
The pondering man was abruptly wrenched out of his thoughts as Sean stumbled out of his tube, a bewildered look on his face.
"I feel… great!" Ilona smiled at her missing friend's older brother, feeling genuinely happy that he wasn't unwell. Sephiroth let out a humourless chuckle as he stood up and threw the uniform at an unprepared Sean, who managed to dangerously fumble with the pile of clothes and accessories before bringing them safely to his chest. Standing ram-rod straight, Sean lifted an arm to salute his superior. "Thank you sir! I will go get changed sir!" Sephiroth sighed and looked away from his subordinate.
"We will be working closely in the near future, so you have permission to address me as Sephiroth." Sean's eyes widened at his General's statement.
"For real?" Sean asked, amazement in his eyes. Sephiroth nodded mutely before sparing a blank glance at Ilona, who merely shrugged at Sean's obvious hero-worship. Quickly realising he was stalling, for reasons unknown to him, Sephiroth cleared his throat and quietly excused himself.
"I'll be in the SOLDIER Training Room. I expect you both to be there in a thirty minutes. Be prompt." And with that said, the intimidating General swept out of the room, his long silver hair and coat drifting elegantly behind him.
Sean nudged Ilona, who looked up at him with her eyebrows raised.
"Yes?" Ilona inquired, her tone slightly exasperated.
"Did you see him? Wow." Sean dramatically stated, his eyes wide and sparkling with enthusiasm. After a few more moments of staring at the space Sephiroth previously occupied before he quickly turned to the smirking 'doctor' in the lab.
"Where can I change, Gem?" The purple-haired woman grinned and pointed at what looked like a specimen containment unit and shrugged when Sean levelled her with a confused look.
"Hey, it might stink like boogers but it will ensure your privacy," Gemma stated. Sean shrugged at this and quickly scurried into the containment unit, sliding the door shut as he got ready to change out of his jeans and graphic t-shirt. Ilona turned to Gemma, a frown on her face as she studied the short woman dressed in a perfectly fit and done up lab coat.
"I'm sorry, I think… I know you from somewhere—" Ilona tried to address Gemma, but was cut off by the strange doctor.
"Written in these walls are the stories that I can't explain
I leave my heart open but it stays right here empty for days,"**
Gemma grinned- although the mirth on her lips didn't seem to quite reach her eyes- and winked at Ilona before flouncing off, her immaculate white lab coat drifting after her. The brunette Turk watched the dodgy doctor leave, feeling somewhat cheated and slightly violated. She quickly brought herself out of her disturbing, strange thoughts and made her way to the chair Sephiroth had previously occupied.
As she waited for Sean to finish changing (he was taking an awfully long time to do so), her thoughts went back to Gemma and the sad glint she'd caught in the woman's eyes just before she'd left. She seemed to strange, yet so familiar at the same time. Ilona shrugged to herself, dispelling the thought of the strange doctor. At least she wasn't sprouting extra limbs of chucking up her breakfast- not that she'd actually had much to eat. Ilona pouted at the thought of her less-than-stellar breakfast of dry toast and half a glass of water. She was starving!
Ilona found herself salivating at the thought of hot chips slathered in tomato sauce just as Sean emerged from the containment cubicle. Dressed in his new uniform, Sean smirked at Ilona.
"Did the General get bored?" Ilona shrugged.
"I don't really know… let's just head to the Training Room," Ilona shot Sean a bashful look. "You… know how to get there, yeah?" Sean rolled his eyes good naturedly, increasing his pace so that he was now in front of Ilona, leading the way out of Dr. Gemma Syke's lab.
"It's like you have the memory of a gold fish," Sean began, drawing a look of contempt from Ilona which he conveniently didn't see. "How did you and Michelle navigate through locations when you guys hung out?" Ilona giggled at this, a little embarrassed as she remembered that Michelle also had a penchant for losing herself in unfamiliar environments.
"Not too sure… but she never let her spatially-challenged mind stop her from looking for that over-sized rubber duck in the harbour back home, remember?" Ilona quipped, mirth filled in her airy voice. Sean chuckled at the memory, recalling how Michelle had arrived home that evening after a disappointing day at Darling Harbour, trying to unsuccessfully summon the huge, 'adorable' duck. Sean grimaced slightly as he thought of the duck. In his opinion, the damn thing was just plain creepy.
"Oh yeah, she went on about the 'crippling disappointment' for days. God, she was annoying." Sean smiled fondly. Ilona frowned in worry as she followed the SOLDIER Third Class in front of her. She wondered where her friend was now. Was she lost? Was she scared? Was she… even alive?
Ilona took a deep breath and clenched her fists as she continued walking, willing the morbid thoughts out of her head.
If there was anyone capable of coming out on top, against all odds- it would have to be Michelle. Somehow, she always managed to find a way to struggle back to the top after being knocked off. Ilona nodded firmly as she renewed her belief in Michelle's resilience and mental strength. Looking up at the back of Sean's head, she allowed herself to smile.
"Hey Sean," the man in front of her stopped, his shoulders tense as he turned around. Face marred with worry, Sean looked nothing like the carefree guy she used to greet briefly when she'd hang out at Michelle's place along with Rebecca. Stepping forward, Ilona placed a comforting hand on his pauldron and grinned up optimistically. "She'll be okay. She's Moosh! Plus, I bet she's more worried about us than herself. So, try to cheer up- okay?" Sean stared down at Ilona before heaving a tired sigh.
"Yeah, yeah… someone's got to look after you little turds. I can't afford to be off my game." Ilona frowned at the 'endearment' but kept quiet as she offered the man in front of her another comforting pat on his upper arm before pushing him forward, silently requesting him to continue leading the way.
Location: Level 49- SOLDIER Floor
Tseng spotted Ilona and Sean walking towards the SOLDIER Training Room approximately fifteen minutes before training was to commence. Nodding to himself in silent approval of his new Turk's idea of punctuality, he moved to intercept her before she reached her destination. Raising his hand in a silent greeting to Sean, he turned to address Ilona.
"Ilona, a word please?" He requested politely. Ilona jumped slightly, not having noticed Tseng's presence as she was too busy watching Sean's feet stomp all over the shiny linoleum tiles.
"Ah, yes sir!" Tseng made brief eye contact with Ilona before silently gesturing over his shoulder. She was to follow him. Gulping nervously, Ilona wondered whether she had already done something wrong. With a slight pout on her lips, she came to a stand-still, her hands and feet crossed as she leaned upright against a nearby wall.
Tseng stepped closer to Ilona, clearly ignoring her need for personal space as he began to speak in low tones.
"While SOLDIER and the Turks are working collaboratively for this long-term assignment, there are few people outside the Turks who know about the 'time-travel' aspect. This short briefing session serves the purpose of providing you with the identities of those who have been in contact with Minerva in the distant future." Tseng bore his gaze down on Ilona, who nodded slightly, looking anywhere but at the man's intimidating eyes.
"Yes sir," she stated, hoping she sounded calm. She was getting slightly nervous, worried that she might screw something up.
"As you know, few others- along with myself-have been sent back nine years from a bleak future," Tseng took in a slight breath before continuing, "to make things right." Ilona couldn't help but look up at her superior's face, noticing a pained look on his expression. Tseng caught her gaze and continued to speak. "The people you may speak freely to about delicate matters pertaining to this assignment are Aerith Gainsborough, Rufus Shinra, Lazard Deusericus, Cloud Strife and Reeve Tuesti. No one else can know of the additional information we have about the future," Tseng sighed, sounding tired. "Rebecca and Reno have already been notified of this."
"Sir, do any of the SOLDIERs- besides Sean- know about any of this? I mean, what if they start asking questions?" Ilona worried. Tseng levelled her with a hard stare, moving impossibly closer, so that she could feel his breath on her forehead. Ilona felt tears prickling at her eyes from frustration. She wanted nothing but to shove the strong, imposing man away from her and tell him to get lost- but she was helpless.
It was at this point that she came to the realisation that the people she 'worked' with could turn around and slaughter her without her even having the time to bat an eyelid.
Ilona shivered as she forced herself to make eye-contact with her intimidating superior.
"Lie to them." He deadpanned before promptly stepping away and walking off to greet Rebecca and Reno- the former carrying a chain-whip and a large silver case in her hands. Judging by the grin on her face, Ilona guessed that Rebecca had a good time with Reno.
Ilona was slightly miffed at that idea, but quickly shook her head and jogged towards them.
Hateful thoughts about her incompatibility with her 'work-mates' could come later. For now, she had a training session to get through.
Location: Level 49- SOLDIER Training Room
Rebecca grinned expectantly at Ilona as the smaller woman fiddled with her new, titanium-reinforced twin pistols. Branded with the ShinRa logo on each opposing barrel, the mousy young woman was starting to look like a true Turk. Rebecca, herself, gripped the golden handle of her linked-chain whip with her right hand, examining the sharp metal hook at the tip of the chain with interest.
"I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that thing," a cheery, male voice stated. Dropping the small blade, Rebecca lifted her head as she let her gaze drift over the youthful features of what appeared to be a man dressed in a SOLDIER Second Class uniform. As the cheery man moseyed into the Training Room, Sean grabbed his newly acquired hand bombs- making sure the remote detonator was placed securely in a zip-up pocket- before making his way to his superior.
"Hey Zack, I wasn't expecting you to be here." Sean spoke from behind his helmet. Zack grinned as he recognised the voice from the infirmary.
"Sean, you're okay! That's really great man," Zack leaned forward excitedly before catching sight of Sephiroth and immediately relaxing his position into one more 'dignified' and less puppy-like. "I'm actually here to… mentor you. So get used to seeing this handsome mug!" Zack finished, with a flourished gesture towards his face.
Sephiroth scoffed from where he was leaning against the Training Room wall. Pulling himself to his full height, the Silver General did a quick head-count. Tseng stood to the side, his arms folded across his chest and his suit as immaculate as always. A few meters away, Reno insistently tugged at a frowning Ilona's hair as she unsuccessfully tried to load her pistols. Sephiroth found himself shaking his head at the unprofessional sight. He spotted Rebecca standing close to the door, resuming her thorough inspection of her chosen weapon. Sean and Zack seemed to be getting along well, with Zack already running Sean through some warm-up drills.
Sephiroth nodded in approval. The puppy did have a sense of responsibility after all.
"Alright, this training session is a joint operations between the Turks and SOLDIER. The focus of this session is to cultivate our teamwork, increase competence in new weaponry and most importantly- to exercise proper measures of stealth and discretion. Any questions?" Sephiroth let his gaze linger on the newcomers for a few moments, finding that their faces had become somewhat dazed.
Sephiroth shot Tseng a wary look, who in turn, merely shook his head dismissively before turning to his team. Sephiroth let out an exasperated sigh and turned on his hell to make his way to the two SOLDIERs in his charge.
This promised to be very interesting.
Rebecca grimaced as she crouched down behind lush, green foliage. Swatting away some pesky insects, she observed Zack as he expertly hacked and slashed at the enemies generated by their virtual-reality goggles. Rebecca found herself shivering as she watched blood spray over the dirt Zack stood on, warily eying the cheery man as he enthusiastically moved on to the next one.
It was all very disturbing- especially when the man's smile hadn't let up the whole time he fought.
Feeling a sharp elbow dig into her ribs, the tall woman turned her head sharply and glared at the red-head beside her. Somehow, Reno and Rebecca had ended up separated from Tseng and Ilona while they tried to apprehend the one of the targets before Zack swooped in a slashed the virtual man's head off. Tseng signalled them to retreat, and so, Reno had promptly grasped Rebecca's hand in his own and ran for his life- dragging an indignant and spluttering Rebecca with him. From what Rebecca could gather from her last moments gazing at the Turks' second-in-command, Ilona and Tseng has headed into the abandoned warehouse undetected.
Rebecca growled at the unfairness of the situation. Sephiroth, Zack and Sean were super soldiers apparently, while the Turks were slightly enhanced human beings. Zack- being the mischievous man-puppy he was- decided that it would be a good idea to draw attention to the Turks' operations just as they were about to succeed. Doing this, the man then spirited away with his super-soldier powers.
He was like a real-life internet troll and Rebecca was not impressed in the slightest.
Reno nudged her again, and it took most of her fading self-control to bite the inside of her lip to stop an onslaught of curses from escaping. Smirking apologetically, Reno nodded at the back entrance of the warehouse. It was slightly ajar, and if Rebecca squinted, she could see a now-familiar warm brown glow.
Rebecca smirked to herself. So, Ilona managed to find a way to sneak the rest of the Turks in. Sweet!
Turning to Reno, Rebecca raised her eyebrows in inquiry. Reno tilted his head to Zack, who was still happily hacking away at what seemed to be a dead corpse. The young woman shuddered at the sight and gestured towards the back entrance.
"So, while he's still occupied, we make a run for it?" Rebecca whispered. Reno nodded back in turn.
"You got it, Becca! When I say go, just run- I'll be right behind you." Rebecca nodded, grateful for the cover as she got ready to sprint towards her best friend. Reno quickly glanced at surrounding area, noticing a stray Bandersnatch ambling unwittingly onto the dirt pathway to the warehouse. The red-head grinned as he switched his electro-mad rod on and got ready to bounce out from the bushes. Sparing a final glance at a nervous looking Rebecca, he reached out to pat her clammy hand- which caused her to flinch slightly at the contact- before he gave the okay to move.
"Go." He commanded in a low tone. Rebecca sprinted out of the foliage, her chain-whip clutched in her hand, coiled up around her arm at the ready. Reno took off not a second afterwards, heading towards the pale wolf-like creature with a predatory scowl on his sharp features. Raising his electro-mag rod across his body, he brought it down immediately- catching the creature right on the head with the electrical energy and high inertia. With a whimper, the Bandersnatch stumbled backwards before growling and launching itself at Reno. Reno smirked and swung at the creature again, this time burning some of the creature's hide with the high voltage shock he delivered to it. The Bandersnatch convulsed momentarily before stumbling back onto its hind legs. Letting out a low growl, the creature pounced onto Reno with a large amount of force, resulting in Reno falling onto his back with a loud curse. Teeth punctured flesh and a pained yelp escaped Reno's mouth as he forcefully rammed his EMR into the creature's side.
"Fuck you," Reno spat at the snarling monster, as he was forced fully onto his back due to the sheer weight of the creature pinning him down. Just as Reno closed his eyes, anticipating the final bite that would incapacitate him for weeks, the jingling sound of the hurled chain met his ears. Eyes widening in both relief and fear, Reno hoped that Rebecca had good aim.
A pained, guttural whimper coming from the monster that had just collapsed on him proved that Rebecca had great aim.
With a tired grunt, Reno hauled the dead weight off himself and sat up, somewhat dazed. Rebecca stared at Reno momentarily, a flicker of fear passing through her stormy eyes before they became hard again. She offered him a hand, which he gratefully took. Pulling him up, Rebecca dragged him unceremoniously towards the warehouse's back entrance where it seemed Tseng had placed his hands on Ilona's shoulders to stop her from running out to aid Rebecca.
Shooting them all a bashful grin, Reno painfully shrugged his shoulders.
"And that… is what a typical rookie mistake looks like. Don't forget it, yo." Reno offered with a wince. Rebecca merely rolled her eyes, not realising that she was still grasping onto the annoying man's hand. Ilona's eyes trailed towards their joined hands, letting a small smile grace her lips before she shrugged Tseng's loose hands off her shoulders and tilted her head towards a bunch of crates piled on top of each other in the middle of the dirty room.
"I think I saw Sean lurking around there earlier… we've got to watch him since he's the one with the bombs," Tseng nodded quietly. Ilona frowned at the taller man, wondering why he wasn't doing anything to help. It was almost like he was testing and observing them…
Suddenly, the environment started to disintegrate before their eyes and soon, they'd returned back to the metallic insides of the SOLDIER Training Room. Rebecca immediately wrenched off the virtual reality goggles and spun around to face the Silver General, who calmly logged off from training interface using his PHS (or phone- Rebecca still had a little trouble getting used to the strange lingo in Gaia).
"What was that for?" She protested. Ilona stepped up next to Rebecca, goggle-free and frowning.
"We were actually getting somewhere!" Sephiroth nodded in acknowledgement. Tseng and Reno ambled up towards Rebecca and Ilona, staring expectantly at Sephiroth. Sean and Zack jogged towards the group, Zack sweating and grinning while Sean wore a strangely satisfied expression on his face. Rebecca growled at him, causing his grin to fall from his face.
"I saw your quick improvement and I am very impressed. I'm sure Tseng is happy with what he observed today," turning to Tseng, he acknowledged the older man's nod of affirmation before turning back to the two girls. "However, Sean had successfully riddled the warehouse with explosives and with five seconds left for detonation, I could not risk causing you any injury that would incapacitate you." Sephiroth threw Reno a weary look, realising belatedly that the flirty Turk looked quite beaten up.
Noticing this, Reno winked at Sephiroth.
"Even the monsters what a slice of Reno," he drawled. Rebecca scoffed, crossing her arms as she regarded the injured man before her.
"More like you have a bit of a 'hero-complex'," Rebecca retorted. Reno gasped, feigning hurt.
"Oh, that wounds me." Rebecca rolled her eyes, but silently thanked him in her mind for looking out for her.
Seeing the conflicted look on her best friend's face, Ilona giggled, catching the attention of the General, who merely levelled her with a black stare. Feeling embarrassed, Ilona opted to stare at the toes of her black leather shoes as she listened to Sephiroth's smooth baritone continue addressing the group.
"I have also been notified that both Genesis and Angeal have been sighted in Banora… and that Professor Hojo is… missing," Sephiroth trailed off, suddenly sounding uncertain. Sean raised his eyebrows at this as he stepped forward to address the group.
"Wasn't he just here… he'd just given me an injection a few hours ago!" Sean exclaimed. Sephiroth nodded, a confused look on his face. So much was happening, and there was no time to think about it all! It was frustrating for the usually-knowledgeable General.
"That is why only his… next of kin has been notified," Sephiroth stated shortly. Tseng remained aloof at this news, as did Reno and Sean. However, Zack, Ilona and Rebecca all gasped as the shock revelation finally registered with them. Zack stepped up to Sephiroth, his sky-blue eyes wide in amazement and shock.
"Hojo's… your dad?" Zack asked incredulously.
Rebecca and Ilona waited with bated breath for the Silver General's answer.
The proud man merely turned his gaze from the group and swept towards the exit, shoulders hunched in defeat.
Tseng frowned, but remained quiet as the girls and Zack turned to him with wide, curious eyes.
Things were going downhill very fast.
Note: *Lyrics to 1D's They Don't Know About Us, ** Lyrics to 1D's Story of My Life
I hope you appreciate my researching for appropriate song lyrics pertaining to your favourite band Dr. Sykes xD Oh yes, the duck story is real- just in case any silent readers are wondering :) IT WAS SOOO DISAPPOINTING :( Reviews make me grin for days :D