Projected Trajectories
Genesis Rhapsodos was a very emotional man. He never bothered to hide it; when he was angry he didn't try to prevent people from noticing and when he was pleased everyone knew about it. It was part of what made him so popular and such an effective leader. However, emotionally open is not the same as emotionally honest: Genesis had a subtlety that Turks would envy when it suited him to employ it. His emotions were complex and layered which, coupled as it was with his taste for the theatrical, was part of what made him such a dangerous opponent both on and off the field of battle. He could baffle you with bullshit whilst pulling the rug away from under your feet, leaving you to wonder what exactly had happened as his glowing red sword whizzed through your neck.
However his emotional nature also held a severe weakness. Whenever someone managed to severely upset him -usually by setting off his well-hidden insecurities- Genesis flew right off the handle and did irrational, hurtful things to everyone unfortunate enough to be in the blast radius. He hadn't always been like that: as a child he'd run to the woman he believed to be his mother for support or hunted down his best friend Angeal. The physical comfort of being hugged, held and generally soothed had taken the edge off his pain, diffusing the outbursts and enabling him to respond rationally. Puberty however had interfered, and he had decided at thirteen that he was too old to be snuggled. Joining SOLDIER had only bolstered and reinforced the conviction: he was a hero, a role model and a leading man; he did not -could not- have weaknesses. Sadly, being 'too old' did not take away the innate need for comfort when severely shaken and being too proud to even seek it out made him cranky to the point of explosive.
Or at least it had until that fateful day when Vincent Valentine his dear, deceptive cousin reluctantly told him about Deepground. Genesis had been shattered by the information but physically unable to get out of bed and break things in order to blow off steam. Instead the Crimson General had resorted to attacking Vincent verbally with all the vehemence his fever-addled brain could muster, which had devolved into a temper tantrum when she did not react at all to his biting words. The former Turk had watched him howl and flail weakly for a short while, then leaned across the bed and physically restrained him.
Pinned down, helpless and staring up into red eyes filled to overflowing with pain and empathy, Genesis had done something he hadn't done in over a decade: he'd burst into tears. He had been tired, in pain, weak as a kitten and too miserable to care about the loss of control. Vincent had seemed nonplussed by the emotional rollercoaster but had shifted herself around until she was hugging her redheaded cousin rather than pinning him to the mattress. Receiving the physical comfort he'd been craving had made Genesis cry harder, but the former Turk had just settled herself amongst the blankets and stroked his hair and back until the barrage of sobs and howls subsided to the occasional hiccup. When Genesis had glanced up at her face he'd seen a familiar and bizarrely reassuring expression: Vincent had looked exactly like Sephiroth did when the Silver General was doing something he wasn't quite comfortable with and didn't really understand, yet nonetheless recognised as both important and necessary. Like when he was persuaded to do something social with the other two Generals on a Saturday evening. Comforted and rather feverish, Genesis had fallen asleep in his cousin's lap.
The Crimson General had been ashamed of his undignified outburst when he woke up again -especially when he realised that he was still lying across Vincent's legs- but his dear cousin had not let him get away with denying how much better it had made him feel. She'd told him outright that all human beings had needs and that denying himself would only weaken him in the long run. She'd also promised that, if he needed a shoulder to cry on and support while he ranted, she would make time for him.
"Sephiroth is my son, yes, but Angeal is my little brother and you are my cousin," Vincent had told him calmly. "I am still learning how to be a good parent, but I know you are and always will be family. Family members take care of eachother, especially when they are all the support they have. We only have eachother, Genesis; Please don't make this any harder than it is already."
It was this gentle plea and calm acceptance of his imperfections that got Genesis to agree back in May, so as soon as the Crimson General got away from Hollander after the disastrous spar against Sephiroth he sent a PHS message to the former Turk. The scientists slippery words and manipulative half-truths had utterly infuriated the Crimson General; Hollander wanted to use Genesis for his own purposes, taking advantage of a weakness that the man himself had created!
Doing his level best not to blow up where innocent bystanders could get hurt, the Crimson General signed out of the ShinRa building and stalked off to his apartment. Fortunately Sephiroth had taken the time to briefly explain how to hide his new wings, or the redhead would have attracted a lot of currently unwelcome attention.
On arriving home he carefully shut and locked his front door, then whirled around and violently knocked the little side table across the room. It bounced off the far wall, leaving yet another dent; his friends knew better than to give him easily broken items and the no longer flat walls of his apartment were a testament to how badly he could loose his temper. The table was rapidly followed by a brass statuette of Bahamut, a heavy candlestick and three large hardbacks before a red blur dropped through the skylight above him and pinned him to the carpet. Genesis struggled but it was like someone had dropped the Plate on him; no give at all. Vincent coolly divested the Crimson General of weapons and Materia then zipped across the room out of reach. The redhead swore a blue streak at the placid former Turk, throwing a few more books for good measure. She dodged them with little effort.
"What is upsetting you?"
Genesis snarled. "Hollander told me I was degrading, that I'd been lied to all my life and that if I helped him take down ShinRa he might, might be able to cure me."
"He wants to use you," Vincent deduced instantly.
"I'm not really degrading, am I?" Genesis couldn't stop the question and wished he hadn't sounded so desperate. Vincent's eyes flashed gold for a second.
"Nothing is wrong with you except exhaustion; your wounds are closed and healing cleanly and the virus within you is inert," the former Turk told him, voice patterns betraying that she was parroting the words of the WEAPON within her. Chaos was part of why Genesis always, always submitted to Vincent's arguments eventually. She was favoured by the Goddess, an avatar of the Planet. Who was he, a mere hero, to go against the Goddess' will?
At the assurance that he was indeed in perfect health Genesis let himself break down. He'd been so irrationally afraid when Hollander spoke to him and so angry that the scientist was attempting to coerce him with vain hopes and maybes.
"What are you going to do?" Vincent asked about an hour later when the two of them were snuggled up on the couch listening to the new LOVELESS opera on the radio and Genesis had explained what he knew of Hollander's scheme.
"I'm going to pretend to go along with him and gut Deepground instead," Genesis said. He'd been trying for two months to work out how to get his genetic siblings out of the secret underground facility and Hollander's plot offered the perfect opportunity. He could intercept one of Deepground's teams out hunting for new recruits and test subjects out in Wutai, infiltrate the facility and get out before they could but up a coherent defence. The new wings would help; any advantage would help.
His red-eyed cousin nodded thoughtfully. She had been a Turk, so she could appreciate a good strategy. "Let me know when you need my help," she told him eventually, "and don't go alone."
"I won't," Genesis promised. He would go along with Hollander's egotistical schemes until Rosso, Weiss and Nero were safe, then he would kill the professor for his part in Project G. The man deserved no less for his incompetence and greed.
Genesis reacts, plots and makes his own decisions. The board is set; the pieces are in motion...
An extra-big thank-you to all my lovely reviewers! Your encouragement keeps the muse on the ball!
