A/N: This story has officially hit the 1000 view mark, leaving me one happy author! I don't think any of my stories has gotten that many views before, so this is just fantastic! Thank you to everyone - whether you went through and read the whole thing or you just peeked at the first chapter - it's your awesomeness that made this happen! :D

That Third Class SOLDIER

Chapter Seven: Of Dark Elves and Demotions

Written By: Okami of Shinobi Saru Corp

I sighed in contented bliss. The warm covers, the soothing way my bare feet rubbed the sheets, the quiet – it all contributed to my body's unusual ease at falling asleep that night. Perhaps these extra training sessions wouldn't be so bad after all. If anything, it was like taking a sleeping pill; the extra exercise exhausted my body so much that my hurting stomach didn't have time to keep my mind awake. And to make it even better, Quincy and Yu stayed back in their newly created torture chamber, meaning that no one else bothered to enter the bunk room.

I was alone. Well, aside from Jun, who was currently sleeping - or rather, who I assumed was sleeping - in the bed above me. But since he's got about as much presence as an ant, he really doesn't count.

Snuggling down deeper into the mattress I drifted off into sweet slumber. My eyes rejoiced and my muscles sang, relaxing into that soothing feeling one gets when they lay down after running for a long period of time.

That was, until the door slammed into the wall, the usual sign that my other squad members decided to barge their way into my domain. They were wholly uninvited of course, but that little fact didn't seem to bother them.

"Yo, yo, yo sleepy heads!" I groaned at Yoshi's sad interpretation of a street thug. As if people on the streets really spoke like that. "Guess what I got!"

The boy's only response was silence. Jun certainly wasn't going to reply and I was too busy conjuring up a way to kill the brat to care. But as usual, the kid just kept on talking.

"I've got a music player! Wahoo!" I could literally hear the fanfare in the background as the boy most assuredly struck a pose. "I forgot to pack it when I came here, but my mom sent it in a package today. I'm so excited! Wanna hear my favorite song? I wonder if I can remember all the words? Oh, you know, now I can torture people with this. Oh, but that would be really mean. But it'd be really fun. But mean. But fun. But mean, fun?"

I groaned. Why wouldn't this kid just shut up?

"I'm not making any sense am I?" The kid laughed. "Oh well. Here, lemme see if it'll work…"

The soft clicking of a few buttons reached my ears through the pillow I had pressed up against them, when suddenly, a loud blast of music shattered my ear drums. In pain I grabbed my ears as my body lurched forward with the shock. With perfect synchronization Yoshi and I screamed; me because I had hit my head against the bunk above me and Yoshi because he had apparently forgotten how high the volume on his music player was.

Yoshi quickly turned the obnoxious noise down, but before I could fall back on my bunk, a voice called out, "Hey, who has the music playin'?"

I peeped out from under my pillow to see white hair poking through the doorway, accompanied by the entrance of Quincy and Yu. Inwardly I groaned. More people, just what my sanity needs right now.

"Hey, Daiki, Yu, Quincy! Wassup?" Yoshi greeted loudly.

From my barely open eyes I could see Daiki kick back and lean against the door frame. "The music is what's up. Where did ya get it?"

"My mom."

Letting out a loud laugh, the white-haired teen shook his head. "You're such a child Yoshi! Lemme guess, a nice little letter accompanied that music player, right?"

Hm. Leave it to Daiki to bash people's joys and pleasures.

"Hey!" Yu spoke up. Predictably, he was defending Yoshi. "It's perfectly cool to get letters from your mom!"

Daiki sighed while a mattress creaked to my right. From the patterns of the movement that trailed the noise, Quincy was probably laying down on his bunk.

"Yu, you're laying the optimism on a bit too thick. It's sickening," the soul-searcher all but gagged, that is, if a soul-searcher could gag. Technically, it would be more in his character to describe it as a disgusting, gargling sort of noise. As if his own blood was bubbling up in the back of his mouth, with fangs ready and glare set to burn all he set eyes upon. Yes, that was far more accurate.

In his usual, over reactive sort of way, Yoshi covered Yu's ears and gasped. "How dare you, you sick, evil, villain! We must destroy him Yu, before his evilness mutates our brains and makes it melt out of our ears!"

Shoving Yoshi's hands off of his head, Yu made a face. "That's just weird."

"Yo! What's goin' on in 'ere?" I cringed. Why does every guy here feel the need to sound like someone who ate a dictionary and then threw it up, leaving only half of the words behind? Is it really that hard to speak the words in our language?

"Who 'as the music?"

Seriously, if I have to listen to this conversation for one more second then I fear all my intelligence will escape out my nostrils. And I wouldn't blame it. I too would like to run away from the tremendous level of stupidity in this room, but the gentle, warm aura of my bed has chained me in my place, making movement a highly undesirable course of action at the moment.

Returning to the situation at hand, this perpetrator of the blessed language was Lance, who like everyone else felt that it was his right to walk right on into my bunk room. Well, my shared bunk room, but for simplicity's sake let's just refer to it as mine.

"I do!" Yoshi triumphantly exclaimed, and I peeked out from under my covers to witness the blonde throw his hands, and nearly his music player, into the air.

"He got it from his mum," Daiki informed, obviously expecting a laugh from the newcomer, yet Lance merely smiled and walked over to the bipolar kid.

"Haven't seen one of those since I got here. It yours back home or it a gift?"

"It was mine." Yoshi's voice took on that longing tone which almost always precedes the telling of some long, drawn out backstory. Inwardly I cringed. Please spare me the trauma of hearing about this kid's past; I don't think my mind could handle it.

"I's mine. My mom must have sent it once she noticed I had forgotten it," Yoshi abruptly summarized.

I smiled. Order must be returning to the world; summaries are overtaking backstories.

Chuckling, Lance stated, "I feel like I'm back home in my room, window down and music blasting out my ear drums!"

Groaning at this display of rich kid homesickness, I unwillingly continued to listen until Quincy perfectly vocalized my thoughts. "You speak as if you've been here for years. I dare to think what would happen if you actually lasted that long."

"Gaia, aren't you the sing-songy one?" Daiki pouted.

"I'm honored. Now if you're going to listen to that sad excuse for music then I'd suggest you do so elsewhere," Quincy flatly explained in an abnormal combination of apathy and menace.

Knowing what's best, Yu motioned for the outsiders to leave. "You heard the guy. Now out you go!"

Whining like a sick puppy, Daiki retorted, "Why is it that Quincy always calls the shots, eh?"

"Yeah!" Yoshi added. "Why is it always him?"

Thoughtfully, Yu placed a hand upon his chin. "I don't know. That's a good question which shall be answered another day! Now shoo!"

A bit uncomfortable at Yu's childish behavior, I flipped the sheets back over my head.

"Oh! You mean 'shoo' as in, like, a bug?" Yoshi asked while walking out the door. "What sound do bugs make anyways?"

"I don't associate with bugs." That was the white-haired prima donna. The amount of whining in the voice gave away the speaker.

"But you hang out with him." And that was Lance. He was probably referring to Yoshi, the blonde who acts like a two-year old on a sugar high.

"That's just cruel!" Yoshi exclaimed. "You big meanie head!"

And thus is a prime example of my previously stated point. I absolutely love it when humanity proves me right.

As the voices faded down the hallway, I plopped my face on the rather flat pillow. To my right, the creaking of the bunk's frame indicated Quincy's and Yu's movements. Yu obviously got into bed while Quincy got out, his feet shuffling against the concrete ground. Two soft clicks reached my ears – one that was obviously the light switch and the other the closing of the door.

Because my relief was so great, I almost involuntarily whispered a nice word of thanks, when I suddenly caught myself. There was no way I was going to give the soul-searcher such kind words, especially not after the extra training he had put me through. I would rather marry Mr. Crimson!

After the shuffling of more feet and the zipping open of a bag, the sound of Quincy brushing his hair filled the room as he performed his evening ritual. I refer to it as such because he does it every night – before bed he releases his hair from its tie and brushes it for a good five minutes straight. Of course, the brushing of one's hair is not uncommon, nor is it particularly strange, but five minutes is quite excessive.

Perhaps the soul-search was like one of those guys in the fairytales whose powers are kept in their hair. It would explain a lot, actually. From the far too noticeable split-ends, Quincy obviously didn't cut his hair often (or he just has really bad hair, but with the way he pampered it the former was more likely than the latter), and it would give reason to his unnatural ability to be perceptively terrifying.

I peeped out from under the sheets and watched the teen brush his long locks. Dark eyes watched his hand's every movement as it stroked his hair with the brush. His level of focus was intense; I even felt a shiver run down my spine as his thin face bobbed from side to side in time with his hand. In the dim light the soul-searcher looked like a deranged elf, brooding over some evil scheme. After all, Quincy did have pointy ears and a very thin face, a perfect fit to the elven title.

My blue eyes met black – suddenly, without warning – sending me back under my covers and causing my eyelids to shield my eyes from that piercing glare. Definitely a dark elf. A soul-searching, evil, dark elf with strange powers with strangely long hair that he strangely brushed every night for five, long, creepy minutes.

It summed him up perfectly.

Once he had finished, Quincy put away his brush, got into his bunk, and exhaled loudly.

"Hm." Eyes still closed, my eyebrows rose. So even the great Quincy gets exhausted at times, eh?

"Tsch."

I re-opened my eyes. Was that Quincy? What, was he trying to respond to my grunt or something?

I scoffed, snuggling deeper under the sheets.

"Heh."

Flipping over in my bed, I glared at Quincy's back from across the room. What was his problem?

I frowned. "Hmph."

"Mhm."

"Hrrgg."

"Hah."

"Hermp."

"Eh?" Quincy rolled over to face me – or at least that's what it sounded like he did. The sheets on his bed crinkled and his mattress squeaked, both indicating that the teen had moved in some form or fashion.

"What?" I softly snapped.

"What kind of utterance do you call that?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"Hey," Yu called out from his top bunk. "What are you two trying to do?"

That... was a good question. What had I been trying to do? Have some sort of demented conversation with the soul-searcher? Now there was a thought.

Quincy and I moaned our reply in close unison. It was as if the realization of our sudden burst of stupidity had struck us at the same moment, bringing us as close to an agreement as we were probably ever going to get.

I rubbed my head, that heavy feeling in my legs returning and reminding me of my exhaustion. The things one does when they are tired beyond belief. It truly is frightening.

The morning's training went as I had expected it to, and by that I mean it went horribly. The buildup of exhaustion from my collective training and lack of sleep drowned me in agony the moment my eyes had opened that morning. Though, breaking my near, life-long streak of horrid luck and wretchedness, Mr. Crimson had left our morning session and training ended early. As in, fifteen minutes early. It was nothing short from a miracle. I could care less why the Loveless freak had abandoned us prematurely; my relief was too great for my mind to analyze the situation, especially since I had been two push-ups away from puking.

Sitting down at one of the mess hall's tables, I took a sip of my water, cringing as that strong pain in my stomach increased the moment the cool liquid ran down my throat. Guess my stomach wasn't even in a good enough mood to take something as essential as water.

Apparently noticing my discomfort, Quincy asked, "Not feeling well?"

I shook my head, when suddenly I noticed who had spoken. How long had the soul-searcher been sitting there? Had I really been that focused on my stomach ache to pay attention to his approach, or was Quincy now a ninja?

I shuttered. Why couldn't I figure this prick out?

"Well, if you call having a never-ceasing pain in your gut and a pounding headache feeling well, then yeah, I'm feeling fantastic," I finally replied, to which Quincy merely pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Yu, however, frowned in pure concern. "Your stomach has been hurting this whole time?"

I nodded as I glanced over at the soul-searcher to try and read his expression. Useless - I should have known better than to try and read such an emotionless freak. He could be teetering on the brink of tears and I wouldn't know with the stoic mask that so deceptively covered his face.

"Have you had any previous experience with such consistent pain?"

I grimaced. First my gender, then my running, and now my stomach pains – something didn't seem right with this guy. For all his superiority and horrifying complexity, he was strangely interested in my life.

Yet, I still replied. "No. Aside from the usual childhood stomach bug, I never had any permanent issues with my stomach."

"Maybe it's something in the cafeteria food?" Yu asked aloud, looking down and scrunching his nose at the mess heaped up on his plate that ShinRa apparently thought was food.

Smoothly the purple-haired teen rested his chin upon his slender fingertips, his eyes narrowing in that usual, penetrative, observant stare of his. "When did this pain start?"

I thought for a moment before replying. "When I arrived in Midgar. It was that night – when I first arrived, that is – when the pain started."

"I don't understand," Yu commented, glancing over at Quincy for an explanation. "What does Midgar have to do with stomach aches."

"The air…" Quincy's voice eerily trailed off into the background murmur that encased room. It was the first time I had ever heard him think out loud like that; and more so, it was the first time I had seen him look so deep in thought. There was a sudden spark of emotion in his eyes that, when compared to most people, could hardly be thought of as anything. It was so subtle, yet for him it was so drastic.

Uncomfortable at the sudden change in the young man before me, I readjusted myself in my seat. Before, reading the teen had been like catching a bar of soap - he was hard to grasp and even harder to hold on to - but now I was allowed to look through a crack into Quincy's head. And in those short moments, what my mind deciphered made fear settle deep down in my soul.

Quincy was confused.

There were so many questions, so many things to I wanted to ask the soul-searcher, but time had other ideas. Inconveniently, the clock resting on the mess hall's front wall reminded us that we had five minutes to get to our next session. My questions had to wait, but for the first time in ages, I was determined to get them answered.

The world rushed by as the young SOLDIER's hand threw aside papers and chairs and people and whatever just so happened to be in his way. For once in his life he could have cared less about what others thought of him. Now, only one thing sat in the forefront of his mind - his ever increasing desire for answers.

How dare they? How could they have done this? How could they have brought his hopes up and then no more than two days later dash them to pieces? He had worked so hard – so agonizingly hard – to obtain such a promotion. Because, unlike some silver-haired twit, he actually had to try in order to succeed.

And oh had he tried. If people thought Sephiroth's glare was intense then they would have fainted underneath Genesis's insane level of determination. Every moment of every day he had spent training. There was the extra martial arts lessons, the lectures from the gracious Firsts who had taken time out of their busy schedules to go into intensive detail on battle strategies and formations, the time spent working on his mental strength and ability to push through any sort of pain, the studying on how corporations and military politics worked, the conditioning, the work on his skill with the sword, the analysis of Materia and its uses, the extra assignments, helping others with extra assignments, the overtime, the reports, the reports of the reports – the list was never-ending. He had spent so long doing so much, and for all his hard work to result in this. It burned his heart.

The door in front of him flew off its hinges, hitting the far wall of the room before crashing to the ground. Flames danced in his eyes and the most infuriated rage dripped off his every word.

"W-why…" He took in a deep breath to steady his voice. Sephiroth had told him that this would happen - taunting and teasing him that his position as a First Commander was only temporary - but he hadn't dared believe it until now.

"Why did this happen?"

Sitting at his desk, Genesis's mentor let out a deep, rather irritated sigh, completely ignoring the fact that his doorway was now doorless.

"I'm sorry, Genesis."

The teen tried to contain himself, but his left eye started to water a bit. "So after all that, I am to receive nothing?!"

"Hey, it could've been worse!" a lady announced from the other side of the office. "At least you've stayed alive long enough to become a Second, eh?"

Genesis balled his hand up into a tight fist while his mentor let out another, long sigh. "Lucy, a bit of tact might be appropriate right about now."

The rather blunt secretary spun her pen around her fingers. "Oh, come on Mr. Daughtry! It's just a temporary demotion, it's not like the world has ended. I mean, Genesis really didn't get officially promoted in the first place, so I don't think you could even call this a demotion–"

Clearing his throat, Mike motioned his head towards the door. Taking the cue, Lucy swiftly headed out of the room. As she brushed past the dejected teen, she kindly placed a hand on his shoulder. "If it's worth anything, I think you deserve to be a First. I mean honestly," she playfully lowered her voice so that her boss couldn't hear, "At least you actually do your paperwork, eh?"

After a reassuring smile, Lucy exited the room, leaving the two young men by themselves.

"Well," Mike began, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head, "I'd tell you to close the door, but it seems you had other ideas."

No response. The young SOLDIER merely remained standing as if he were made of stone. Mike even began to wonder if the teen was still alive; no indication of life was left in the red-head's features and there was no visible sign that the teen was breathing.

The SOLDIER's 'teenage mood swing' alarm kicked into action, red flags quickly rising into the air. This was a precarious situation he was dealing with. Utmost caution would be needed if he was to save himself from the trauma of listening to one of his pupil's rants.

"Sit down."

Involuntarily, the teen obeyed his mentor's orders and took a seat on the other side of the desk.

"The least I can do is offer you an explanation. That is, if you are willing to hear it."

Mike took the slight lifting of his pupil's head as a nod in the affirmative.

"Well, to start with, your time as a First class Commander was merely a trial run. Of course, knowing you, you probably thought you could impress the socks off of Lazard and thus keep that position permanently."

Genesis scoffed at his mentor's statement. "It could have happened."

Mike shot the teen a knowing look. "Yes, it could have. Though the probability of it actually occurring was practically nonexistent."

For the first time since Mike had met the red-head, Genesis was too involved in his own, selfish pity party to spout off a smart response. Taking this into account, he continued, "How old are you, Genesis?"

The teen's eyes remained fixated on the floor. "Almost eighteen."

"Strange age," Mike laughed, "Now guess how old I am. And don't be coy about it!"

"I don't care."

Mike rolled his eyes. He was used to the teen's antics, but this was just obnoxious. "And there's reason number thirty why you got your demotion…"

Eyes flashing, the teen stood up from his chair and pounded his fists against the desk. "The last thing I need is for you to list off my failures! I know full well what I need work on – for Gaia's sake I've spent the last year analyzing how short I fall of the mark–"

"You mean Sephiroth."

Genesis's face fell. "What?"

"You said you've spent the last year of your young life looking over how much of a failure you are. This indicates that you have set some standard up in that little head of yours of what you need to be like. From your attitude and actions, that standard is Sephiroth."

The teen didn't see the need to grace that comment with a reply.

"Come on now," Mike leaned forward on his desk, his voice taking on a more serious, even kind tone. "As of now, it is every young SOLDIER's dream to make it to Sephiroth's level. No one has yet to achieve that goal–"

"But I will."

Genesis's mentor sighed as he closed his eyes. "Why?"

Cocking his head in his confusion, the red-head replied, "Because I will try harder than–"

"No, that's not what I mean." Mike paused for a moment. "Let me rephrase my question. Why do you want to reach Sephiroth's level?"

"Hero of the dawn, healer of the worlds... Sephiroth is the best, and that is what I want to be."

"A hero?"

Genesis smiled slightly. "You think I am childish to pursue such a goal?"

"No," Mike smirked. "It's not childish to dream. You, however, are just a bit crazy."

"As I'm told daily," Genesis drawled.

The SOLDIER smiled, glancing down at the mass of papers on his desk as the soft, rhythmic ticking of the old-fashioned wall clock filled his office during the conversation's short intermission.

"Be careful, Rhapsodos."

The teen's head perked up at the use of his last name. Unlike many Commanders, Mike enjoyed having a sense of informality with his pupils. Thus, right from the get-go, he had used the red-head's first name when speaking to and about him. It was only when the SOLDIER was explaining something life threatening or excessively serious that he would resort to last name formalities. With this in mind, Genesis relented and gave his mentor a rare moment of silence and respect.

"There was a time when I thought like you did." The Commander's brow wrinkled at the recollection, his faint smile dimly lighting his worn face. "His name was Jade Knightwalker."

"Who?" Genesis asked.

"A SOLDIER – the first man to obtain the First class title actually. And Gaia, was he good. He was one of those people who made everything look effortless. The two of us – Jade and I – were among some of SOLDIER's original members. You know, the old people, as you crazy teens call us."

Mike winked after his last comment, causing Genesis to cough.

"I've never called you old!"

"Hm, maybe not…" Mike mused as he searched through his memory. "But you've definitely thought it."

Scoffing, the teen motioned for his Commander to continue. "So what happened to Jade? Last I checked there's no one by that name in SOLDIER."

"And you're right, Jade is no longer with us." Mike fumbled with his fingers under his desk as he continued. "I was desperately jealous of Jade, so much so that I began to despise just hearing his blasted name on the tips of everyone's tongues. A hero, they called him, and you know what they called me?"

"Nothing…" The red-head looked up from the ground, giving his Commander a knowing look. "They called you nothing, as to them, you were nonexistent in his shadow."

Mike nodded. "Fate, she is cruel. The more I hated Jade the more missions I was assigned with him. With these missions came the press; everyone wanted a picture of Jade for their newspaper or article or whatever propaganda nonsense they were promoting. Somehow, I always ended up on the background of these pictures. I was Jade's shadow, and I hated it. I hated Jade. I hated SOLDIER. I even at times hated myself, until…" Mike's voice trailed off, fading along with the carefree aura that always seemed to follow him.

"Until what?" the red-head asked, his previously, anger-ridden eyes giving way to the light of curiosity.

Mike glanced down at his pupil, bright eyes narrowing as he replied, "Until he died, because of me."

"What happened?"

Taking in a deep breath, Mike slowly explained, "It was a stupid mistake, one that I shouldn't have made. I was trying to show-off and went against General orders in the process. That led to a fatal mistake which ended up costing Jade his life."

Genesis nearly spat in disgust. "And so he dies a hero? Is that it?! Are you trying to tell me that no matter how hard I try Sephiroth will always be the hero?!"

"No," Mike's voice firmly interjected. "My actions cost Jade his life, but in the process he took the blame."

The teen's face scruntched up in his confusion. "I don't understand."

"Because of how the situation appeared, it looked like Jade was the one who had made the mistake instead of me. He died a traitor while I was hailed the hero."

Genesis bit his tongue.

"That is why I've decided that I will never be a hero, and it's that realization right there that has made me as close as I'll ever come to being great."

"So," Genesis finally began. "What are you trying to tell me? That it's hopeless?"

"I'm telling you to give some thought to what it means to be a hero. And to give some thought to Sephiroth."

The teen scoffed and turned his head away. Like that was ever going to happen. He'd rather trash his copy of Loveless!

"No, I'm serious," Mike interjected, knowing all too well what his pupil was thinking. "Jade was essentially friendless, and while SOLDIER isn't a social institution, it's hard to make it through without anyone to watch your back."

"So what am I to do, about this demotion I mean?"

Mike's chair scooted back, the broad-shouldered man standing up and walking over to his pupil. With a reassuring pat on the teen's shoulder, he replied, "You're going to take it like the young man you are and grow from it."

Genesis rolled his eyes. "You sound like a cliché motivational speaker."

"Thank you, I'll take that comment into consideration during our next training session."

The teen laughed a bit, causing Mike's smile to widen. "Try looking at it this way: you've been a Second for hardly a year and yet SOLDIER was willing to let you to fill in for me while I was gone. And, may I remind you, the jump from Second class to First is a lot bigger from Third class to Second, much more the jump from Second class to First Commander. Yes, you are back to being a true Second, but you will still be leading my group of newbies for me."

The teen's head perked up. "Why?" the teen shook his head before he restarted his sentence. "I mean, I am glad that I will still get to do a Commander's work, but why aren't you fully taking back your duties?"

Abruptly, Mike turned to face his desk, his hands shuffling around paperwork to make it look like he was doing something purposeful. "Oh, you know me. Too lazy, too tired, and too unhappy at my short-lived vacation to fully get back into things."

Genesis's mentor collected himself and gave his pupil a playful wink. "Anyways, I figured that you'd like to boss people around for a little while longer."

Momentarily believing his mentor's reassuring words, Genesis smirked, "I thought you said that I already did that on a regular basis?"

"And so I did, but now it's actually your job to do it."

Knuckles rapping against the office wall brought the twosome's attention towards the doorways. "Sorry to intrude on your bonding time," Lucy interrupted, "But Mr. Daughtry, we really need to talk."

Genesis made a face. "You say that like we're dating or something."

Promptly, Mike grabbed his pupil's hair and shoved the teen's face into the desk. "I thought you filled me in on everything last night?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "I did, but you fell asleep right during the middle of it!"

"Oh," Mike sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't notice."

Groaning, his secretary motioned her thumb out the door. "Sorry Genesis, but you're gonna have to leave. Your diligent boss has to redo some of his homework."

After wiggling his way out from under Mike's overly large hand, Genesis pouted, "You always refer to me by my last name. You're a secretary, aren't you supposed to call to me as Mr. Rhapsodos?"

"Oh, you want me to give you a respectful title, eh?" Lucy smirked evilly. "Well, sorry, but try g–"

"Eh-hem," Mike coughed, "That's quite enough Lucy."

Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from mouthing off, Lucy murmured a soft "Fine" before sitting down at her desk. Mike motioned for his pupil to leave.

"Time for you to go."

"Are we going to train tonight?" Genesis asked, his eyes lighting up with eager anticipation as he awaited his mentor's response.

Sighing, Mike Nodded his head in the affirmative, causing his pupil to smile madly.

Pride and joy restored, Genesis strutted out of the office, but before he exited the doorway the teen turned and said a word that, in the long year he had taught the boy, Mike had not once heard him utter:

"Thanks."

A/N: And thus it is once again proved that Gavin's squad contains a lot of immature idiots who really need to learn how to knock. And Mike is back! Didn't think he'd play a large part in this story but things are turning out quite differently, so I hope you like him as he might be sticking around for awhile ;) I'll admit, not much happens in this chapter as its main focus is on character development and Mike's return. But lucky for you, I already have chapter eight written (in which stuff does happen), so hopefully I can get that uploaded for you all soon!

Thanks for taking the time to read! :D