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Calamity's Child	By : Divanora Category: Final Fantasy VII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1304 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of it's characters. I may no money off this story.

Chapter List
- 7
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A/N - Thank you to my lovely new beta HappyDragon :) Any remaining errors are mine.
And of course, I still own nothing

Rufus wheeled himself into the room, not quite believing what his Turks had told him. Reno tended to exaggerate after all. When he had sent his Turks to the Northern Crater, all he had hoped to find was a clue to a cure for Geostigma, and truthfully, he had doubted there would be anything but monsters and Mako. Finding a piece of Jenova was unexpected, but as it led to a cure, in a roundabout way, he would have been happy with simply that. But as he got inside, he realized the redhead had been telling the absolute truth. What they had dug up out of the Northern Crater was, indeed, Sephiroth, or at least one of his clones. The man was still encased in Mako, but what shocked the president was the nearly healed wound that could have only been caused by the Buster sword.
"Tseng?" He finally looked away from the comatose man to gauge his head Turk's reaction. The man remained impassive, even though he still showed some of the evidence of his time with the Remnants. Rufus was quite impressed with them; even after that experience, they had gone straight back to retrieve the former General. Thankfully Strife hadn't gone up to investigate himself; knowing the other blond, he would have made sure that Sephiroth was completely destroyed. That would have been the smarter option, but the thought of having the Silver General back was too big of an opportunity to pass up. They would just have to be extremely careful.
"The scientists are still working on it sir, but all evidence points to this being, for lack of a better description, the 'original' Sephiroth. That would mean that the sightings two years ago and the newest appearance last week would have to have been clones. Or something similar."
Rufus nodded, the possibilities running through his mind. It seemed to make sense. The General had been physically unable to do anything, so he sent clones instead. How he had managed that was what was worrying – was he still somehow conscious, even though his body looked to be comatose? How quickly would he be able to create more clones? Or was that ability lost with the remains of Jenova? Then of course there were the questions of if the General would wake up. If he did, would he be the SOLDIER he had once been, or still hell bent on destroying everything?
What would be the best for the slowly recuperating company would be if they could revive the former General and have him take up his previous post. Few outside of Shinra and the former AVALANCHE knew of Sephiroth's role in Meteor; he wouldn't be any more feared than he had been in the past. However, the blond was aware of the odds against that – not only did that depend on the man being sane, but also convincing him to join a company that he had clearly despised at the end. Violent rampage or not, the man rightly held a grudge against Shinra. It would all be dependent on if Rufus could convince Sephiroth that he was not the same as his father. In all his plans for what he wanted to do with Shinra once he had taken it from his father, human experimentation had not been on the list. Aside from the moral aspects of it, which he could easily ignore, there was the fact that those types of experiments had a very bloody history of turning on their tormentors. Still, it would be worth whatever concessions he'd have to make to get the man back on his side; he would simply have to be sure to have precautions in place just in case the man turned out to be a threat. It was also entirely likely that he had been controlling his clones, including the three Remnants, and would simply continue on his quest to destroy Gaia once he awoke.
"When he's awake again, let me know. Also, make sure that Rude is available to call Ms Lockhart in case things go badly. I'm sure that you will have any other precautions you feel necessary put in place."
Tseng's face remained impassive, giving the President no clue what the older man thought of the plan. "It should be within the week. I'll have you informed."

Cloud barely looked up as Rude and Reno entered the bar. Reno started flirting outrageously with Tifa as soon as he sat down, but Cloud ignored it as he knew it was all just a ruse to try and get Rude to do something. It was actually rather...cute...the way the stoic man refused to say anything to Tifa, even though everyone was aware of his crush on her. Everyone had ignored it at first, but lately Cloud had noticed that she would blush ever so slightly when the Turk actually spoke to her. It frankly relieved him, and regardless of their somewhat touchy past with the Turks, he knew Rude was a decent man; as decent as anyone associated with Shinra could be, anyway. Besides, Rude would have to be an idiot to ever do anything to hurt her – not only was she more than capable of defending herself, but if for whatever reason, she wasn't able to, he'd find the rest of AVALANCE out to get him.
The bigger surprise came when Tseng and Elena entered the bar after them. Tseng slapped the redhead after a particularly lewd comment, and he couldn't hold back a chuckle, which caused the Wutaian Turk to turn in his direction.
"Cloud. It is good to see you here. I had wanted to speak to you about something."
Cloud nodded and waved to the seat across from him, but Tseng shook his head. "It is something we should speak about in private."
With a sigh, Cloud stood up. It wouldn't be the first time Rufus had sent Tseng or one of the other Turks to try and recruit him back to Shinra; he really wished the President would get it through his thick skull that Cloud would never return to the company that had caused him so much pain. While it was true that Rufus truly was trying to change the way his company worked, it wasn't enough for him to get over his past and the horrors he had gone through. Tolerating the Turks was about as far as he was willing to go. Willingly walking back into the lion's den...no, he was more than happy with his delivery business.
They stepped into Cloud's small office, and the Turk closed the door behind him. Clearing his throat, Tseng started. "I am sure that the President mentioned this the last time you were at Healin, but just in case, I should let you know that Rufus requested the Turks watch the Northern Crater for any sort of activity. We have been doing this, periodically returning to make sure there are no further...disturbances. Both similar to what we saw last month or any further Weapons."
Cloud frowned, but nodded. He certainly couldn't blame Rufus for wanting to make sure no more Weapons came out; although he highly doubted they would, there simply wasn't a threat big enough for Gaia to call on them. They weren't exactly...discriminating in what they perceived as a threat, however. But he still wasn't sure whether the events with the Remnants were because Rufus had gotten his hands on Jenova's cells, or if it would have happened regardless. Shinra messing around up there could not be a good thing. Besides the fact that the other blond had originally claimed that he hadn't found anything, only to be blatantly caught in his lie. There was nothing stopping him from continuing to lie. As much as he didn't want to, Cloud grudgingly admitted he needed to go up there and see for himself what was there.
"Well, we hadn't found anything until this last trip. Before this, there was too great a risk of Mako poisoning to enter the crater itself, we just kept watch around it; mostly to make sure nothing emerged. The Mako levels had receded enough that Elena and I were actually able to go into the crater this time. You know we found part of Jenova, but that wasn't all we found, simply all that we could get out at that point. We also found...we found him. Sephiroth. The real one."
Stopping his automatic urge to go for his weapon, the blond forced himself to remain calm. Best to get all the news first, before rushing headfirst into whatever the situation was. "What do you mean the 'real one'? Has he attacked anyone yet? How much time do we have?"
Tseng shook his head. "No, nothing like that. He is either catatonic, or suffering from severe Mako poisoning; the scientists are still working on finding out which. His body was encased in Mako, and appeared to have been that way for quite some time. There was a wound, where his body was nearly cut in two. A wound made by the Buster sword."
"What...but we killed him. I know we killed him. His body dissolved!"
"I don't think you did Cloud. I think what we were dealing with were all clones, even the 'real' one you originally encountered in the crater. Or they were instances of Jenova taking Sephiroth's form, as she did the first time in Midgar. There were plenty of sightings we knew were clones, several that you yourself admitted changed into forms of Jenova, and you saw the body in the Northern Crater before the Weapons were released as well. That body was still there, just re-located with the Weapon's emergence. It is entirely likely that, should he wake up, he will be who he was before the Nibelheim incident."
Cloud groaned, already seeing where this was going. "You want him to join Shinra again. Do you really think, knowing what he does now, that he will? IF he's even sane and doesn't attempt to destroy the world again?"
Tseng smirked. "Of course not. Rufus thinks he can be convinced, but I'm not that optimistic. But as you said, I know what he's gone through, and if anyone deserves a second chance, it's him. Rufus' scientists can give that to him, and the second part...is where we need your help."
"MY help? What, you want me around to kill him if he is insane?" A part of him chose to wonder that the Turk was being so forthright about this, but then again, Tseng had been skewered by Masamune before. He clearly understood the need for caution, even if Rufus didn't. One would think nearly being blown up would have taught the man to have some caution.
"While that would be a good precaution to take, we were hoping for something along the lines of restraints. What I'd like is for you to help us find something than can hold someone that is enhanced as much as you or Sephiroth are. Given that you don't trust Shinra, we would of course do this in a way you're comfortable with, and with your friends present. We would only need to bind one limb; once we have something that can hold you we would simply need to duplicate it. Actually, only being held by one limb would be best – if you're unable to get out of it, then we can be fairly confident that Sephiroth will not be able to get out of them if we have his legs and arms all bound. We have some time; while he is still in the Mako cocoon, he will not wake up. The scientists and doctors are unwilling to try until they can determine if anything is still wrong with him physically; no point in bringing him back to consciousness just to have him in pain and dying."
Cloud thought about it, but already knew what his answer would be. He couldn't hate the other man; not knowing - both from the journals and from his own experiences – what he had gone through. It didn't make him less nervous about the situation though. It was impossible to know what to expect, and he had mixed feelings about the fact that Sephiroth was, essentially, Rune's father. Though apparently it had technically been a clone – he'd have to speak with Reeve about that. Just one more thing to worry about as Rune grew up. Still, he would help them; Rufus was ambitious enough to try to wake the General whether he was bound or not. Although he would do what Tseng said and make sure that he had enough backup there. Just in case. And then make sure, once they were no longer needed for Sephiroth, that he was in charge of getting rid of restraints that, while meant for the former General, could also hold him. Because regardless of the company's 'new leaf' Rufus was a Shinra and Tseng was a Turk.

You are a monster...
Mother...let's go to the Promised Land...
Jenova was confirmed to be an Ancient...
I am the chosen one...
Traitor!
Battle-honed instincts fought to bring him fully awake, but Sephiroth found himself struggling to get his body to cooperate. There were people around him; that much he could tell, but no voices sounded familiar. The smells, however, indicated he was either in a lab or an infirmary. That meant they were more of Hojo's ever-changing army of flunkies and goons then. He struggled to figure out what his last memory was. There was the mission – he was supposed to be going with Zack to Junon to check a reactor, but then...that was right, the mission got changed at the last minute and he got sent to some little town in the mountains. They had lost one of the troopers on the way, arrived at the town, gone to the reactor...
Genesis.
The redheaded First had shown up, blathering on about Loveless and being a monster. But...hadn't he been right? There had been those creatures in the tanks. Creatures that had, apparently, once been human – failed SOLDIERs. And the large tank in the room beyond that with the name 'Jenova' over the door. The name of his mother – he had wanted to look inside, but stopped himself. At least he thought he had. But he could not remember what happened after the reactor. Why couldn't he remember? He had a nearly photographic memory. It had to have been a head injury – a severe one if his body was reacting so slowly. It was probably something else he could blame on Genesis. He just hoped his memories returned quickly – it was not good to be in Hojo's sight with any sort of weakness showing. The Professor seemed to take that as a personal insult.
"I was told he was awake?"
Finally, a voice Sephiroth remembered, if only vaguely. Shinra's spoiled heir. He forced his eyes open; young the boy may be, but he was still a Shinra, and it was best to not show weakness in front of them, either.
Grimacing at the unwelcome but not unexpected sight of a lab, he sought out Rufus. Barely containing his surprise at seeing the boy looking a good deal older than what he remembered, and also in a wheelchair, he decided it was time to see if his voice still worked.
"Rufus."
A pleased smile lit on the man's face. "Ah, Sephiroth. I assume you have questions?"
He raised an eyebrow, but decided to play along for the time being. "Many, but I somehow doubt you will answer them all."
"You would be surprised. What would you like to know first?"
What would he like to know first? "Where am I? And what happened with the mission?"
"The first is an easy question to answer – you are at Healin Lodge. Or more specifically, you are under Healin Lodge. The second – well, I suppose I should ask you first, what do you recall of your most recent mission?"
Sephiroth frowned, wondering where the trap in that was. Still, he needed all the information he could get, and he wasn't about to trust his own memories quite yet. Besides, regardless of what Genesis had said to him, he wouldn't let Shinra know he was still alive. "Nothing, except that it was to check on a reactor with Fair."
"The mission...well, to say it went badly would be a gross understatement. From the notes that Zack wrote that we were able to salvage, and what the Turks gathered afterwards, Genesis showed up in the reactor, and afterwards, the entire town was burned to the ground. You were nearly killed, and First Class SOLDIER Fair and an infantryman named Cloud Strife were taken by Hojo as...specimens."
While Sephiroth was somewhat glad to know that his memory of seeing Genesis was not false, the rest of the story bothered him. It left far too much out. "How did the town burn? What nearly killed me, and where is Fair?" His mind was not eased when the Vice-President actually looked nervous.
"Sir...would you like me to explain?"
Sephiroth was pleasantly surprised to see Tseng coming through the door of the lab. "Yes, Tseng, thank you."
The Turk nodded, and took a seat next to the blond. Sephiroth noted his hands never strayed far from a weapon. Yet another oddity.
"Do you remember anything of what you read of Hojo's and Gast's research?" Sephiroth shook his head negatively; there was something niggling at the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite catch it. Tseng nodded, and the General was surprised to note a flicker of sadness in his eyes. "You are, of course, aware of some of the less...humane aspects of what Shinra is capable of?" The question was obviously rhetorical, and the Turk continued without pause. "There were research notes – an entire room full – about a creature that both Gast and Hojo erroneously thought was an Ancient. Gast found out differently and left the project; however Hojo and then Hollander took up the research. I have all of the information compiled for you to read later on, but the end of the story is that you, as well as Genesis and Angeal, were born as part of experiments to create humans with the power of the Ancients."
Project G – that he remembered. Genesis had been degrading – badly – and Angeal had considered himself a monster. The pain of their betrayal was still fresh. Project S. Memories – or at least Sephiroth thought they were memories – flickered through his head. Zack confronting him in the basement of the Shinra mansion; the town of Nibelheim in flames; himself in the reactor speaking to some inhuman dead thing as if it was his mother. He gasped, and when he went to move, realized belatedly that they had strapped him down securely. No wonder; they probably expected him to jump up and murder them as well.
Both men watching him breathed a nearly inaudible sigh of relief as his bonds held. "I destroyed Nibelheim. The infantryman was the one to nearly kill me." As impossible as that sounded. "I want to see Fair." Zack had been the only one left he could call a friend, aside from Tseng, and even they had to remain rather cool to each other due to their positions within Shinra. Tseng was, unfortunately, a Turk first and a friend second. His heart clenched at the look of hurt and betrayal he could remember seeing on the younger man's face. Before anything else, he had to apologize. He remembered attacking the other First Class but there was no way the wounds he had sustained had killed him. Mako would have seen to that.
Tseng cleared his throat and continued. "Yes, as I'm assuming you've remembered, you were the one to torch the town. You were presumed dead, as you had fallen into the Mako under the reactor. The other two were...reluctantly...given to Hojo. It has been seven years since the mission to Nibelheim."
Sephiroth gazed steadily at the Turk, after his eyes flickered to Rufus briefly. In his position, Tseng had often been forced to withhold information, but it was possible to read between the lines if you knew him. Unfortunately, Sephiroth did, and he knew from Tseng's omissions that Zack Fair was dead, and they apparently didn't want to tell him how. That had to mean it was either because of him, or because of Shinra. The quick flicker of his eyes to Rufus meant that it had been Shinra. He filed that information away to deal with later; now was not time to be grieving. He couldn't let himself show any sort of emotion until he knew where things stood.
"Seven years?"
This time Rufus took up the discussion, emboldened, apparently, by the fact that Sephiroth hadn't made any overt attempts to dismember them. Yet.
"Seven years. The world has changed quite a bit since then. You – or what we had assumed was you at the time – came back, killed my father and unleashed a powerful magic called Meteor which destroyed Midgar and nearly the entire planet. We have since revised our opinion that what came back were clones that Hojo had created, presumably controlled either by Hojo or the entity we knew as Jenova. As there was a recent sighting of a clone, we have to assume that somehow that creature is able to control them, as Hojo has been dead for the past two years. It has been two years since Midgar was destroyed, and I am working to rebuild Shinra. What we would like is if you will return to Shinra as its General."
"No."
The answer didn't take much to come by. He had been manipulated by Shinra enough – Sr. or Jr., he wasn't having it anymore. Sephiroth was fairly certain that he could break the restraints if he really needed to.
Rufus nodded, obviously expecting that answer. "I understand your hesitation, but the company is not as you remember it. There will be none of the experimentation my father allowed, and we are working with some of the remaining members of Avalanche and the WRO to find alternative energy sources instead of Mako. We would not be resurrecting SOLDIER either; the fighting force would instead be aiding Reeve in his goals of protecting Edge from monsters. Some of the creatures created in the aftermath of Meteorfall are too strong for a typical person to handle."
"My answer remains the same. I am not going to fight for Shinra anymore, whatever you want to call it."
"You won't be fighting for Shinra, so much as helping correct our mistakes of the past. Both the Mako reactors and Meteor released a lot of dangerous creatures. Your job would be to head the military team that would be in charge of dealing with any monster sightings or attacks. The WRO is the World Regenesis Organization, headed by Reeve Tuesti. You probably remember him?"
Sephiroth nodded; he could remember the man who was far too concerned about the 'common' man to have been liked as a Shinra executive. The former General remembered thinking on more than one occasion that the man had to be both insane and a genius to make it so far up the executive ladder with his morals still intact. "Fine then. I shall work for the WRO. Tell me where I can find Mr Tuesti."
Rufus frowned, and Tseng was hiding a grin.

Reeve kept glancing nervously at the door. He had been warned by an extremely annoyed Rufus that Sephiroth would be showing up to ask for – of all things – a job with the WRO. The executive had been warned by Cloud – as had everyone – about the General's return, though he had sincerely hoped that there would have been better precautions in place. He couldn't help but find it rather amusing however, that the bonds Cloud had helped Shinra create held – it had been the bolts, made from regular metal, that had given in. Someone would be losing at least their job with that oversight.
Rufus had, at least, been fairly certain the former SOLDIER didn't mean any harm – other than a few bruises to Turks and guards that got in his way, he hadn't actually hurt anyone. Still, Reeve had called Cloud, who was already on his way. Unfortunately, the blond had been lurking around Healin so he was still a distance away. Sephiroth, had, apparently, confiscated a helicopter, so he would be here a good deal faster than the blond, even with Cid on his way with the Shera.
He had already given the guards at his newly constructed headquarters orders to stand down. There was no point; there wasn't anyone who could stand up to the ex-General, and Reeve really, really didn't want to piss him off.
Still, even with the warning, he couldn't help twitching when his PA stammered that Sephiroth was there. Reeve was a bit surprised the other man didn't just barge in, but he definitely took that as a good sign.
"Thank you Janine, you can send him in." Reeve was very proud of the fact that his voice didn't shake at all. He stood up as the door opened a few seconds later, and the former General strode into the office. Even with as professional as Janine normally was, he still had to discretely clear his throat to stop her ogling and get her to close the door. Not that Reeve could really blame her in this case. Sephiroth still had his signature coat and pants, though the belt and straps were missing. Also missing, much to Reeve's relief, was the Masamune, not that he thought for a second that if Sephiroth wanted him dead that would be a hindrance.
"Please, have a seat." Reeve waved to the seats in front of his desk, wondering just how long he could keep his nervousness from showing. "What can I do for you?"
Sephiroth smirked slightly, but thankfully it was the same amused look that Reeve could remember from their days at Shinra. "As you don't seem overly surprised to see me, I can assume that Rufus has already alerted you to that. I wish to join the WRO."
Reeve nodded. "I won't deny that you would be a great asset to our forces; there are many Mako enhanced monsters that my men simply can't handle. But I'm also sure you can understand my hesitance."
"I can understand your worry. I remember my actions at Nibelheim, and I've been told of some of the things these clones have done. You only have my word that it was not actually me, and I have no wish to continue on with that creature's schemes. But, Reeve, let's be honest here – if I wanted to go on another rampage, I simply would. I have no need for subterfuge. However, whether it was actually me or not it still doesn't change the fact that I am the cause. I will gladly help dispose of monsters that your regular forces can't handle. However, what I'd prefer to do is help rebuild Midgar."
It had been over seven years since the last time Reeve had seen the real Sephiroth, if Shinra was to be believed, but he still remembered the younger man fairly well. There didn't seem to be any deceit in his eyes, and after a minute, the executive slowly nodded. "Very well. I'll set you up in the system as an official WRO employee. However, you should know that we're not actually rebuilding Midgar, but we've started a new city on the outskirts, Edge."
Sephiroth shrugged. "That is fine. I will head there shortly; as soon as I return the helicopter I...borrowed...and convince Shinra to release any and all back pay due to me."
Reeve tried to hide his smile. "That is fine. I'll head to Edge and show you around once I'm done here."
Inclining his head, Sephiroth stood. "It's appreciated. I imagine that I am not exactly going to be a welcome face."
"Actually, except for a handful of people outside of Shinra, no one knows the truth of what happened. There didn't seem to be a point. But there are people I need to inform of your...return. I'll do that as well."
The smirk returned as the two men headed for the door. "I do not think I envy you that task. Good luck." Sephiroth continued on out of the office, and Reeve couldn't help shaking his head bemusedly. Or perhaps it was just as close as he was willing to get to hysterical laughter. The meeting, after all, could have gone much worse. Although he was very sure that he would be hard-pressed to convince certain people - a dark haired martial artist sprung to mind – that Sephiroth was there to help. At least the only people liable to actually attack the former General were able to defend themselves. It was certainly going to be interesting in Edge for a while.
The smile dropped off his face as he realized just what Sephiroth's return meant for Cloud – and more importantly, Rune.
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Calamity's Child