Summary: Everyone gets up to date with everyone else… well, mostly.

xXx

Angeal sat at the cafeteria table in the SOLDIER dining room he and his fellow firsts tended to commandeer whenever they happened to be there. He'd told Zack to take their normal morning exercises off to make sure his ribs had healed completely (and was fully planning on finally casting a cure before they actually began their work together that day – he hoped the boy had learned his lesson by now) and currently sat alone, picking at his breakfast and staring into space.

He couldn't help but go over what he'd learned the previous night and was fully planning on giving Sephiroth and Genesis a run-down to see what their opinions were. Some of the things the game producers knew… And just what was an Ancient? And why would ShinRa need one? He'd need Genesis and Sephiroth's help to get to some of that information though. He'd never been particularly good at computers. Genesis was better, and Sephiroth the best of the three of them. Not to mention, Sephiroth had, more or less, an in to the Science department through his rather unwanted weekly sessions with Hojo. Hojo who seemed to be willing to humor Sephiroth more than any of the rest of them in any case… but how to bring it up to his friend?

Before he could contemplate that more, movement out of the corner of his eye had him turning to see the very subject of his thoughts come striding towards him, tray in hand.

"Angeal," the light-haired man said as he took his customary seat near the wall. Angeal gave him a nod and a smile.

"Morning," he said as cheerily as he could. "How did you sleep?"

A pause… "Well," Sephiroth said slowly.

Angeal frowned. "You… didn't sleep, did you."

"I was rather busy last night."

"With what?" Angeal asked.

Sephiroth regarded him for a couple of moments before taking out his PHS and handing it over to his friend. On the screen was a glitchy camera feed into one of ShinRa's cells. A rotund man in a garish, red, fur-lined overcoat sat curled up in one corner, rocking back and forth as he held his knees.

The dark-haired man blinked.

"Is that…?"

Sephiroth nodded and reached for his PHS again. "Don Corneo. I discovered him and his human trafficking ring last night." He pushed a few more buttons and handed it to Angeal again. "Here is my proof."

The General had been thorough if nothing else. He had pictures of half-naked girls cowering away from Corneo and his men. He had pictures of documents, shipment tracking, a list of several clients…

Angeal whistled. "You just uncovered all of this last night?"

Sephiroth nodded.

"How?"

The silver-haired man didn't answer for a couple of seconds. Then he said, "I may have… sneaked into his base."

Angeal's eyebrows rose. "You what?!"

He wasn't sure what surprised him the most, the fact that Sephiroth had done this (and through less-than-legal means) or the fact that the man could sneak at all. He tended to be a little on the… obvious side.

"If anyone asks, I was invited in."

"You showed up at the door and demanded entrance, didn't you."

That sounded far more like his friend.

"Perhaps."

Angeal snorted. "Well, while I'm a little worried at the power vacuum that creates, I'm also very impressed. Although you could have called me. I would have been happy to help. I hope you got the girls to their homes…"

Sephiroth's face darkened. "I did, but some of them… didn't have homes."

The dark-haired SOLDIER frowned. "So, what did you do?"

"I… got them jobs. When they're out of the infirmary, of course."

Angeal blinked. "Jobs? Infirmary?"

"Low level secretarial jobs, but it should help them until they can find something of their own. I also arranged for them to have some local housing. It's on the cheaper side, mostly single-room apartments, but… it's something. Paid through to the end of the year. When I informed some of them they… er… cried." He looked distinctly uncomfortable at that.

The dark-haired man was staring openly at his superior officer now.

"How did you get the money for that?" Angeal asked.

"I… paid for it myself."

Angeal's jaw dropped open.

"It isn't as if I have much else to spend my paycheck on," Sephiroth pointed out, still looking uncomfortable (which was a little surreal – Sephiroth never looked uncomfortable).

This… this was a side to Sephiroth that Angeal had never seen. He… kind of hoped he'd see more of it, actually. Actively working to make the city a better place and helping out victims simply because he could… just… wow.

"Sephiroth, I'm…" 'Impressed just didn't have the right depth to his feeling. "Why?" he finally asked instead.

The silver-haired man frowned. "They needed it."

Angeal just stared at his friend for several more seconds before he snorted softly and shook his head. "Not that I ever doubted you, but it's no wonder you're the SOLDIER the PR team focuses on." Talk about an 'inspiration'.

Sephiroth's puzzlement intensified as he cocked his head at his friend. "I… don't think I understand that statement."

Angeal just smiled and shook his head. "I'll explain it later. In the mean time, I… may have done a bit of investigating on my own last night."

"Oh?"

The dark-haired man nodded. "I took Zack on a training mission to Sector Five. I found—" before he could finish that, a loud bang had him jumping and curling his fists in preparation to fight, but once he saw Genesis with his hand on a folder (one he'd apparently just slammed onto the table), he relaxed.

"You need to see this," the redhead said, then slid the folder over to Sephiroth (who had gone back to looking unruffled of course). The General picked the folder up carefully, quirking an eyebrow at Genesis. He opened the folder, and his eyes widened. Then he looked back up at the red-head, who nodded. Then he looked back at the folder, beginning to turn through the papers inside. There weren't a lot of them.

Once he finished, he closed the folder, looked at it for several seconds, then handed it over to a very curious Angeal. Taking the folder, he opened the page to see the face of a youth staring back at him, a mass of spiky blond hair on his head that somehow resembled chocobo plumage. Below the picture, in bold letters, read the name: Cloud Strife.

For the second time that morning, his jaw fell open and he looked up at Genesis who nodded at him too. Neither name was all that usual.

"Cloud… Strife?"

Genesis sighed as he took his own seat (food nowhere in site, Angeal would have to make sure he ate later). "Age fourteen. He's a cadet aiming for the SOLDIER program."

Angeal began to look through the information on him.

"Nibelheim?" he asked. "Where is that?"

"I looked it up," Genesis said. "It's on the map in the back. Western Continent, mountain town, small… nothing but a reactor there, basically."

"And he came all the way here to join SOLDIER?" Angeal asked, a little impressed (that had been something that had drawn him to Zack initially as well).

Genesis nodded. "He did."

"Is he good enough to get into the SOLDIER program?" Sephiroth asked.

The red-head sighed. "I did go and watch him in his morning exercises. The boy is… small. Very small. He has fast reflexes and a decent amount of stamina for his size and body type, but it's obvious that he's taught himself anything he knows when it comes to fighting. There are a great many bad habits he'll have to break before he can even think about getting into SOLDIER. I don't think cadet training will give him the time or attention he needs to address anything, let alone help him overcome them. I'd have him pegged for an infantry man at best – and as the file says, he's going into said infantry in about two weeks. Maybe in a couple of years he could revisit the idea of becoming a SOLDIER third."

Silence all around as everyone digested that.

Then Genesis added on, "I also checked into his family. He has none other than his mother. Both she and his father are listed as only children, and Strife himself is an only child. No connections outside of his home town, as far as I can see."

"Why would the game developers target and choose a small boy from the middle of nowhere with no connections whatsoever to be the main character in their 'futuristic' game?" Angeal asked, voicing the question they were all thinking.

"Why would they make up some nonsense about a flaw in the Sector Five Reactor?" Genesis asked with a shrug.

Angeal was about to concede the point when Sephiroth spoke up.

"They didn't make that up."

More silence.

"What?!" Genesis practically hissed.

"Before I went to Wall Market last night, I—"

"Wait, Wall Market?" the red-head asked.

"He'll explain in a minute," Angeal said. "Let him finish."

Sephiroth nodded his thanks and continued on, ignoring Genesis' mutterings. "I stopped by the Sector Five reactor." He began to look through pictures on his PHS again before handing it over to Genesis, whose expression melted from one of annoyance into one of surprise as he thumbed through each picture. Then he looked up at Sephiroth, who nodded. There seemed to be a lot of that going on today.

Sitting back in his chair, Genesis gave a low whistle before handing the PHS over to Angeal. He felt he'd been rather patient in waiting for it.

On the screen he saw what was obviously a reactor and a pipe leading up to a grate in the wall. Then they were in front of the grate… then the grate was gone, leaving a large crawl space. More pictures and the crawl space opened up to a larger walkway… which led to some obviously not reactor areas…

Angeal's mouth dropped open again.

There were only so many shocks one could take in one day.

Eventually he closed the PHS, staring at it for several seconds, before handing the device back to its owner.

"Now, what is this about Wall Market?" Genesis asked.

Sighing, Sephiroth explained. Once he finished, Genesis just stared at him. "Legend shall speak, Of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface, Quietly, but surely. My friend your desire is the bringer of life! The gift of the Goddess!"

The other two stared at him.

"You're a saint. That is the only explanation." He said it with a completely deadpan expression.

Angeal snorted, trying to cover his laughter. That was probably the best anyone would get from Genesis. Angeal was thinking more 'Angel', but 'Saint' worked too.

Sephiroth looked as puzzled as ever. "I am not religious."

Genesis turned his pleading expression onto Angeal, who just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

"In any case," Angeal decided to change the subject back to his own findings. "I was just telling Sephiroth how I took Zack down to Sector Five last night for a training mission."

"How is that relevant to anything we've been discussing?" Genesis asked, a little put off.

The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow at him. "I found the Church."

The other two stared at him.

"And the flowers." More staring. "And the girl."

"You what?" Genesis practically hissed again, probably trying not to draw attention.

"She's significantly younger than I suspect the game makes her out to be – unsure of herself and very worried… and I need your word that this next piece of information goes no further than this table…"

The other two continued to stare at him before Sephiroth rose, half-finished tray in hand. "Perhaps we should retire to my room for a couple of minutes?"

The other two nodded and rose themselves. Several minutes later, they were on their way to Sephiroth's quarters. Once they arrived and had shut and locked the door, they all checked for bugs. They found a couple, and then Genesis took out what looked to be a jammer of some sort and set it on the table. Angeal stared at it for several seconds.

"You just carry that around with you?" he asked.

"Pride is lost, Wings stripped away, the end is nigh." Genesis shrugged. "I'm paranoid."

That… was news to Angeal. His friend had always been the one to put up a confident front. Maybe he'd found bugs in his apartment recently? Angeal had once before as a SOLDIER second, and it had not been a pleasant discovery.

"You were saying, Angeal?" Sephiroth cut in before Genesis could respond. Trust him to keep them on track.

The dark-haired SOLDIER sighed. "She's on the run, from Hojo."

More staring. He wondered if keeping a mental tally of how often that happened would be worth it.

"What?" Sephiroth asked this time.

"And the Turks are protecting her. Reno confronted us both when we left, Practically threatened us to not report anything about her."

"The Turks are protecting her… from Hojo," Genesis repeated slowly, as if he couldn't quite comprehend the idea. Angeal didn't blame him.

"Does that mean they're protecting her from the President too?" Angeal asked.

The three SOLDIERS looked at each other for several seconds.

Then Angeal decided that discretion was the better part of Valor. "No. It couldn't be."

"Of course not," Genesis agreed. "The Turks are so fanatically loyal to the President, they couldn't possibly be hiding something like this from him."

"Unless it's for his own good, and the good of the company," Sephiroth mused. That… really said a lot about the company they worked for. At least they all seemed to agree that turning a teen-aged girl over to Hojo's scruples would be unethical at best.

Angeal took a deep breath and continued his explanation. "There's one more thing. She said she found this in her mailbox." He took out the papers she'd given him the previous night and handed them to the nearest person, Genesis. "I asked her who could have possibly sent it. She didn't know, and I believe her. I don't think she could lie. Not well enough to fool me."

"Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul. That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep an eye on her," Genesis muttered as he looked the papers over. "There are familiar game controls here."

Angeal nodded. "And some areas outside of Midgar that have been mentioned."

"How did they – whoever they are – know to send it to her?" Genesis wondered.

"I don't know," Angeal said, sighing. "I picked that mission out at random and rather impulsively. I did not make any plans to be there."

They all shot uneasy looks at each other.

"So," Genesis finally spoke up, "the question of the century, then: What conclusions can we draw from this information and what can we do with it?"

Angeal appreciated him putting the question into words. He had a point. So he decided to clarify more. "Who would make a game, apparently about the future, that targets both a child from the middle of nowhere on another continent and a child who has escaped from Hojo's lab now living under the Plate in Midgar?"

"Who both seem very different from what I could tell," Genesis muttered.

"Explain," Sephiroth said, puzzled.

Genesis shrugged. "The boy, Cloud, is small and with the exception of his hair, doesn't really stand out in a crowd. The girl, on the other hand – at least from what I can tell from you, Angeal…"

Angeal frowned, thinking back on his encounter with the girl. "She looks rather normal, if a little cleaner than most slum-dwellers." And wasn't that a sad thought? "But she has… a presence." He could see it even through her shyness and fear. There had been something about her… but he couldn't put his finger on what. So he shook his head. "I can't explain it."

"The boy was born and raised in the mountains, a typical country child in so many ways," Genesis continued.

"Aerith is a city girl. She's quieter and seems far kinder than most I run across, but she knows where to go in the city, knows what to look out for and is very self aware of her surroundings," Angeal added on. As their conversation had continued the previous night, she'd almost blossomed before their eyes, even getting to a point where she'd been laughing and joking with the both of them by the end, albeit reluctantly.

"This same person who targeted them would have to have knowledge of our movements," Sephiroth pointed out, "If they knew where Angeal was going to give him that. Her receiving the note was a message in and of itself."

Genesis shook his head. "I'd say it was a group. It would have to be… although they would have had to start work on this production long before Strife showed up here."

"Before he'd even reached teenhood," Angeal muttered.

"But what is the connection?" Genesis asked. "As far as I can tell, no one of these 'characters' who somehow appear in real life has anything in common with each other."

"Except that they both play rolls in this… game," Sephiroth said.

That brought yet another long silence.

"Weren't we going to turn this over to the Turks?" Angeal asked after a moment. "I mean, we can put things together, sure, but we aren't trained for investigation like they are. And with how they know about about Aerith…"

"Why do you call her 'Aerith' and not 'Aeris'?" Sephiroth asked.

The dark-haired soldier shrugged. "It's what she called herself."

"Hmm."

More quiet. Angeal was really getting annoyed with these.

"Perhaps we should… finish the game," Sephiroth finally put forth sounding far more hesitant than Angeal though he'd ever heard the man. "It could provide more information to work with."

"I have work to do," the third in command said. "With Zack if nothing else. But I also didn't get a lot of paperwork done yesterday."

Genesis looked bummed. Well, for Genesis. Then he looked thoughtful and Angeal prepared himself. "This… is rather important. Or, it could be. Would it be so bad to take another day off to investigate something that may be a threat to the company?"

Angeal sighed and put a hand to the bridge of his nose. His best friend wasn't wrong per se, and he really did not want to go back to all that paperwork…

"Done," Sephiroth said, taking out his phs.

"What?!" both the other SOLDIERS asked, looking in shock at the General.

"We all have accumulated sick days. It won't be difficult to leave the office as it is for one more day."

"We aren't sick," Angeal, the responsible one among them, apparently, pointed out.

"Then treat it as a personal day," Sephiroth replied.

"Those are for recuperating from traumatizing incidents."

Sephiroth snorted softly. "We have all had traumatizing incidents according to the company definition."

"Won't it look a little strange?" Angeal asked, almost begging at this point. "Taking those days now instead of, you know, just after the incident?"

The General shrugged again. "We are going to report our findings anyway. We have a day to finish this before we must return to work, so I suggest we do so quickly."

This time, the largest of the three of them groaned and dropped his forehead into his hands. Then he looked at his watch. Barely after nine. He should call the puppy.

xXx

Zack couldn't believe it! The game was about him! Not Angeal! And he was just… epic!

And how cool was it that Angeal had let him have the morning off so he could play it! Not that there weren't some major fallacies, but the graphics were pretty cool. He'd seen better, but it wasn't bad either. He'd just gotten past the intro when his phs started ringing. Putting the game on pause, he picked up the call.

"Fair," he said.

"Zack," Angeal replied, "something has… come up. Take the whole day off."

Zack, who had been about to tell his mentor about the awesomeness that was this game, hesitated, mind immediately jumping to worry. Angeal never took days off. He sat up.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, not even wincing at the movement. He still felt a small ache from his ribs, but nothing he couldn't completely ignore. Especially compared to last night. If Angeal was doing this to baby him...

"It's fine, Zack. I just have a mission. A personal mission."

Oh. Well. That was okay. Still strange for Angeal, but SOLDIERS did get personal missions. Besides, he was giving Zack the day off… and he had said everything was fine.

"Um… okay. If you're sure."

"I'm sure. You heal up from yesterday."

"Yeah," he replied. Then he smiled. "I'll make sure to text Aerith too."

A sigh. "Zack, don't mention her name over the PHS. Or aloud… at all." Zack winced and looked around the otherwise empty room. Luxiere had gone already, so at least no one was there to overhear him.

"Right. Sorry."

"You need to be careful, Zack. Being aware of what you're saying and who you're putting in danger is a part of your honor."

"Yes, sir," he replied, a little down.

"I have to go, Zack. Rest well. Only contact me in case of an emergency, alright?"

The SOLDIER third nodded, then realized Angeal couldn't see him. "Yes, sir."

"Good. I'll hold you to that, Zack. Goodbye."

"Bye, 'Geal," he replied.

Another sigh and then he hung up. Zack looked down at his PHS, flipped it closed and then flopped back on his bed. He heard the game unpause as his elbow smacked it and grimaced. He wasn't in the middle of a fight, but still.

It was only then he realized he hadn't told Angeal anything about it and let out a loud cry. "NOOOO!"

Ah, well. He'd just have to tell him tomorrow.

xXx

AN: I already have Zack's timeline and reactions (mostly) figured out, but we won't likely see them or the fruition of them for... a while. It takes anywhere from 10 to 12 hours to play through Crisis Core if one is just going in for the story. By that time, the SOLDIERS get to Nibelheim in the game, and so that's going to be a bit. Even then, we're likely not going to get anything from him until well after Wutai and possibly as far in as the Temple of the Ancients as that's about how far they can get playing all day and all night as first-timers.

I'm trying to get some time together to stream drawings on discord. I'm hoping to get it up within the next couple of weeks. If you have any particular scenes you would like me to draw, you can recommend them here or on my discord: discord (period) gg (period) ezzFnGJ aka Obi's Den of Geek and Writerings. The community is still a little slow right now as I'm still getting used to running it, and my friend who helps me moderate tends to be a bit fixated on her own stories, but she's been a HUGE help when she didn't have to lift a finger (honestly, it likely wouldn't have happened at all without her), so I ask that anyone who goes there be patient with us. I am always open to questions and discussions for any of my stories there, though.

Also, it seems I got my timeline wrong. :/ Nibelheim didn't happen until 0002, almost four years after this. And it was late 0002 according to the Wikia. SO this is TECHNICALLY four years before the Nibelheim incident. Also, supposedly Sephiroth is 18, maybe 19 at the original starting point of this fic. So teenage rebellion still stands. Genesis and Angeal are supposedly all the same age, but I'm going to maintain that Genesis is the oldest, being born in early 1980, Angeal came next in early to mid 1980 and Sephiroth came last at the very end of 1980. I'll go back and change this. Zack is born in 1984, Aerith in 1985 and Cloud in 1986. Zack left for ShinRa in 1997 (I'm going to say Zack was born early in the year and left for ShinRa late 1997 when he was 13 almost 14 and entered before he actually turned 14, but only just so - likely with permission from his parents). So Zack enters ShinRa at end of 1997/beginning of 1998 and catches the eye of one Angeal Hewley, who takes him on as a protege pretty soon after that. This story happens at the end of 1999 and Crisis Core happens at the end of 0000 (the equivalent of 2000). Seriously, according to the wikia, taking Fort Tamblin occurs in October or the equivalent thereof. This story takes place sometime in November about a year before that. So yeah... I will go back and change that. Apologies.

Heh, this is definitely my favorite chapter so far, but there is one particular chapter I'm REALLY looking forward to in the future. :3

Lastly, one of my dear readers keeps sending me an anonymous review (well, one I can't respond to) asking me to write a story they've come up with the idea of. I'm sorry, hon, but I'm too busy with my own stories right now and I've had bad experiences with commissions in the past, I highly doubt it will happen. I hope it gets written (I'd like to encourage you to write it, actually), but it very likely won't be by me. I politely ask you to please stop asking. Thank you.

And thank you to everyone who has read this so far!