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elegantmadness · 2 years ago

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Seeds of Doubt, Chapter 1

Fandom(s): Final Fantasy VII (potential spoilers for Crisis Core, OG game, Remake, Intermission, Dirge of Cerberus, and/or Advent Children), Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy XIII. Please note, however, that this is not a cross-over; the characters I've brought in are considered to be from Gaia/FFVII's universe. Knowledge of FF 8 or 13 isn't necessary to understand.

Summary: President Shinra's sons have concocted a plan: bring the Seven, Shinra's First Class SOLDIERs, into the fold, and begin to dismantle the company from within.

But even with the aid of the Turks and peripheral support lent to Avalanche, all does not go according to plan.

Main/Major Characters: Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos, Angeal Hewley, Zack Fair, Cloud Strife, Lightning, Squall Leonhart

Please note: Cetra/Ancient!Squall Leonhart, and Odin-living-inside-Lightning-a-la-Chaos-in-Vincent.

Side/Secondary Characters: Lazard Deusericus, Rufus Shinra, Auron

Mentioned Characters (as of ch. 2): Hojo, Hollander, Seifer Almasy, Irvine Kinneas, Rinoa Heartilly, Gast Faremis, Ifalna, Jenova, Edea Kramer, Gillian Hewley, Jecht, Serah Farron

Rating: For this first chapter, it's T. The overall fic will be E.

Pairing/Relationships: Oof. The Seven will be swinging. Any combination you can imagine will likely be involved. Each chapter will have its pairing/poly specified, however. This opener has no explicit pairing.

AO3 Link

Sephiroth’s gaze drifted away from his slowly-dwindling stack of paperwork as he glanced towards the analogue clock on the wall, and once more considered the meeting that was set to begin in less than twenty minutes. Something was going on, though that much was obvious from the news that every first-class SOLDIER would be in attendance. Sephiroth couldn’t recall a single time they’d all been involved in the same mission, though such was to be expected unless there was a crisis on the horizon. Lazard hadn’t been forthcoming about the details when Sephiroth had asked the previous day, the man proving even more cagey than usual. It was possible Angeal might know more – he and Lazard seemed rather friendly, after all – but it was rare to see his friend at headquarters anymore.

No doubt Shinra was… concerned about the three of them being in close proximity, and while he’d argued at the time, he’d been soundly overruled. Genesis was now in charge of Zone Two, half a world away in a region of Gaia that included Wutai, and Angeal had been given Zone Five in the north, home to Modeoheim and the otherwise frigid region surrounding their reactor and the well-known Icicle Inn.

He had to shake the memory free from his thoughts or he’d never finish his work, however.

Or, at least, that had been Sephiroth’s intention. He hadn’t seen Genesis or Angeal in months, and the solitude had begun to wear on him. There was no shortage of people working for Shinra, but most seemed either afraid or in awe of him: an idol to be seen as more – and less – than human, and he hadn’t the patience to deal with such things.

“Knock knock! You ready for the meeting?”

There had only ever been one exception to this beyond Genesis and Angeal, and Sephiroth felt his lips curl up into a soft smile as he looked up over his computer console and met Zack’s gaze. “It doesn’t start for another ten minutes,” Sephiroth reminded him, not at all surprised when Zack dropped his hand from the door jamb and slipped inside, his nervous energy palpable as he wrung his hands together and quickly shifted his weight from one foot to the other multiple times.

“But I’m excited!” Zack replied with a grin, his blue eyes glimmering as he finally let himself drop into the chair on the other side of Sephiroth’s desk. “I haven’t seen Angeal in ages! And have you even met the other Firsts? I’ve only read Leonhart’s reports when Lazard lets me, and I didn’t even know Farron was a woman until Lazard mentioned it in passing yesterday!”

Sephiroth let out a low chuckle at that. “I have never met Leonhart, but Farron and I have exchanged messages in the past. Never in person, though,” Sephiroth added a little slyly, watching as Zack’s mouth parted and subsequently closed before he could even voice his question. “And Strife? You and he have been on assignment together lately, haven’t you?”

“Oh, he’s good. Still embarrassed whenever I mention you, but good,” Zack offered, a touch of mirth twisting his lips almost into a smirk.

Sephiroth let out a quiet sigh at the reminder. When Strife had been training to take his place as a First, Sephiroth had gone with Zack to observe just as Strife’s weight distribution shifted in the wrong direction and the sword he’d been holding fell out of his hands and clattered to the floor. He’d turned such a dark shade of red Sephiroth had even feared he’d cut himself inadvertently…

“You’ve told him he doesn’t need to be embarrassed, yes? None of us were born with sword skills,” Sephiroth reminded him, though Zack merely arched an eyebrow at him.

“You sure about that, Seph? ‘Cause if you ask around it sounds like you popped out of the womb with Masamune in your hand.”

“Now there’s an interesting image.” The pair turned towards the doorway, and Sephiroth’s brow smoothed as Zack all-but-leaped out of his seat and threw himself into Angeal’s arms. “I missed you too, Zack.” Angeal’s chuckles were quiet and warm as he returned the embrace a little more gently, Sephiroth standing in a seamless motion and approaching as Zack finally released his old mentor.

“It’s been too long,” Angeal greeted Sephiroth with a fond smile, though Sephiroth merely lifted an eyebrow at the hand being held out to him.

“Seriously? A handshake? You two have met before, right?” Zack teased Angeal readily, laughing at the exasperated roll of Angeal’s eye before offering Sephiroth a one-armed hug.

“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Genesis yet, you have?” Angeal wondered aloud, though Zack and Sephiroth exchanged a look before shaking their heads. His smile fell at that before he nodded and straightened just a little. “Well. I guess we’d better get down to the meeting, then. With any luck, he’s already there and waiting for us.”

–

The briefing room hadn’t changed at all, and Genesis wasn’t entirely sure if such a revelation annoyed him to no end or gave him comfort. He’d been out west for months now, gauging the Wutaians’ intentions and trying his best to maintain the ceasefire and negotiate for a reactor, but for every step forward he made, something else always seemed to impede his path and drive him three steps back.

The novelty of being away from Midgar had worn off quickly. He’d yearned to return for the art and culture he missed being in the middle of nowhere, not to mention the friendships he’d spent years cultivating. He trusted the men under his command, helped them train, saw them through the worst of the mako injections and wartime injuries, but comrades-in-arms simply weren’t the same as those on equal footing. Angeal had been his rock, Sephiroth his muse and constant drive to do better, and they’d been taken away as though he’d been a naughty child.

Genesis glanced up as the briefing room door slid open with a quiet hiss, and straightened himself when a pair of mostly-unfamiliar men strode inside. The blond was vaguely familiar, with a head of hair so spiky it could have given Zack a run for his money, but the other… his face bore a scar right across the brim of his nose. It was almost startling to see, considering how quickly SOLDIERs healed, and Genesis idly wondered if he’d received the scar before his mako treatments.

There was… something else, Genesis was noticing. The scarred brunet seemed almost… overwhelmed. If his arm brushed the blond’s he winced away and tried to hide his natural inclination to recoil, but he never actively drew away. Auburn eyebrows narrowed curiously just as the pair of them turned their gazes in his direction.

“You are… Zack’s friend, yes?” It wasn’t the most welcoming introduction, but the blond simply nodded before settling into one of the chairs at the briefing table.

“Cloud Strife. You’re Genesis, I take it?” Genesis didn’t even try to stop his lips from curling into a lazy smirk.

“What gave me away? The garishly-red coat, perhaps?”

“Among other things, sure,” Cloud replied with a shrug, not rising to the bait and leaving Genesis just a little disappointed. The brunet had yet to say a single word, and Genesis let his gaze wander to the other man just as the door slid open again.

“Welllllll! Looks like a party in here,” Zack announced, dropping a hand onto Cloud’s shoulder and squeezing before looking over at Squall curiously. “Nice to meet ya! I’m Zack. I understand you’ve been helping my buddy here on a few missions lately, yeah? Thanks!” He reached a hand out for Squall to shake, and Zack pointedly ignored the glowing redness on Cloud’s cheeks as Squall blinked at him owlishly before offering Zack the briefest shake of hands physically possible.

“Ah! Angeal! I’d nearly forgotten what you looked like.” Angeal’s eyes rolled at Genesis’ greeting, though he didn’t shy away from the embrace when it came. “And you,” Genesis turned his attention to Sephiroth after pulling back from the lulling warmth and breadth of Angeal’s chest. “You’d better be prepared to spar.” Sephiroth offered him a weak smile as he tried to contain his sigh.

“You never change, do you?”

“Of course I do. I’ll keep getting stronger until I finally best you.”

“Gentlemen.”

The conversations ground to a halt when Lazard stepped inside, though he was not alone. Rufus Shinra trailed after him, his suit and hairstyle immaculate as he looked over the assembled Firsts.

“I count six, Lazard,” Rufus spoke lazily, knowingly, his blue eyes glinting. “Where’s the last?”

“On her way. There was a storm north of Junon that delayed their helicopter,” Lazard explained before turning his attention to the Firsts. “First, allow me to thank you all for coming back to Midgar. I know a meeting of this magnitude is unprecedented.”

“Yeah, what’s going on, Lazard? Is there going to be another war or something?” Zack piped up, though Genesis crossed his arms over his chest as he slipped into one of the chairs.

“Hush now, Puppy. Let the director finish.” Zack bristled a little at the old nickname, though took a seat on Cloud’s unoccupied side before glancing back up at Lazard.

“There is something going on within Shinra itself that warrants a great deal of… scrutiny, perhaps even action,” Lazard continued, trying his best to sound diplomatic.

“We are all well aware of the ethical… concerns Shinra scientists combat, Director,” Sephiroth interrupted stoically, taking a seat next to Genesis and folding his hands on the table.

“Is that right?” Rufus answered knowingly, producing a golden coin seemingly out of thin air and letting it fall over his knuckles. “I fear even you are unfamiliar with just how deep the depravity runs, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth’s lips thinned at that, his hands tightening until what pigment they contained readily dissipated. Rufus Shinra had not been born in a lab, had not endured the physical and psychological torture–

He froze in place when a red-gloved hand settled over his, Genesis’ eyes glinting dangerously as his shoulders tensed. Was Genesis angry… on his behalf?

“Sorry I’m late.” More than half a dozen pairs of eyes snapped to Lightning immediately, though she simply straightened and looked ahead, seemingly uninterested.

“Not at all, Farron. Take a seat.”

“We can finally get this meeting started.” With that, Rufus pulled out his phone and pressed a single button, though if it had any sort of effect, no one noticed. “Lazard and I have been digging into the science team’s misadventures over the years, and came across several projects that involve…well, everyone in this room save for the director and myself.”

That particular bit of information had everyone suddenly quieting, the heaviness in the air reminiscent of a gravity spell a new cadet had misfired and caught them all inside.

“You’re really just going to… air Shinra’s dirty laundry?” Zack was the first to recover, his face contorted as though he smelled something particularly unpleasant. “To us? Now? Don’t you think it could get a little personal–”

“Oh, it will mister Fair, I assure you.” Lazard’s glasses glinted in the glow of the overheard monitor as he pushed them back up the brim of his nose. “No one here has been exempt from Shinra’s misdeeds. Perhaps we are overstepping our bounds, but I see no alternative if you all are truly to grasp the lengths Shinra will go to in order to obtain power or further their own scientific interests.”

“Hmph. Nice way of saying shut up, Director.” It was the first time Leonhart spoke, and the sarcasm in his tone was heavy, his eyes slipping shut as he leaned further back in his chair. Zack’s smile spilled over into a grin as he tried to contain his chuckles, and even Genesis and Sephiroth exchanged amused expressions.

“It seems you’ve volunteered first, Leonhart, which is just as well. Your particular circumstances are the most peculiar and mysterious.” It was Rufus who addressed him this time, though Squall did little but eye him warily. He knew better than to interrupt the vice president of Shinra even if he thought this entire meeting was pointless.

“So you’re just going to do this out in the open? With an unlocked door, glass windows, and recording devices watching us all?” Lightning spoke up this time, one of her gloved hands smoothing onto the table as she gave Rufus a rather demanding look. She’d taken the last, empty chair since stepping into the room: the one at the end by Leonhart, and leaned out far enough to see the pair of blonds glance at one another.

“She has a point, Director. If anyone were to see what we were doing, well, being fired would be the least of our troubles.” Angeal had settled between Zack and Genesis, and the tension in his form was noticeable to Genesis; no doubt Angeal was dreading to hear whatever these men had to tell them, but Genesis, for one, was curious to hear what they had to say.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rufus scoffed. “The Turks have dampened this room from security, and the room itself has been sealed and is currently projecting nothing more malicious than a briefing running long.”

Lightning seemed settled by that, though Angeal shifted in his seat only just – enough for Zack and Genesis both to notice. Zack even shot Genesis a tacit question with a raised eyebrow to which the redhead merely shrugged in return. Angeal had never liked secrets, had always preferred frank albeit hard conversations to hiding unpleasant truths.

“Now. If no one else has any objections…,” Lazard’s voice trailed off as he glanced around the room, waiting for several heartbeats before nodding to himself. “Very well.” The monitor came to life as he navigated to one of the files on the console, and Squall couldn’t quite help how his shoulders hunched and his jaw tightened as Lazard began to explain.

“Over twenty years ago, there was a scientist here at Shinra who was convinced that the way to procure the genetic material of an Ancient was to use Time Materia. This, of course, was before we made our discovery in the bowels of the Northern Crater.” The picture on the screen showed a slight woman, pale and dark-haired, and Squall’s jaw tightened even further. “Now, when I say Time Materia I refer not to that which we have now – these were not simple slow and stop spells she was attempting.”

“Wait wait. Ancients? Seriously? I thought they died out a long time ago,” Zack couldn’t stop himself from piping up, and Lazard inclined his head in Fair’s direction before answering.

“Precisely.”

“...She was attempting to use the Time Materia to travel to another time,” Sephiroth supplied for Lazard.

“We had no evidence of any remaining Ancients, so if Shinra wanted samples or specimens, returning to a time when they still lived undoubtedly seemed a logical step.” Genesis scoffed at that, though Angeal’s brows were furrowing. How did this relate to Leonhart…?

“So, what? You’re saying she succeeded?” Genesis offered mockingly, though the tense expression only grew on Lazard’s face.

“It’s impossible to say,” he finally offered. “The last of her logs were corrupted, though we suspect they were tampered with by Professor Gast.”

“Gast?” Sephiroth murmured softly, thoughtfully, a sliver of silver bangs falling against the long line of his nose. “Was he not the scientist who found Ifalna?”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you know about that,” Rufus remarked, leaning back in his chair as Lazard cleared his throat to regain attention.

“Gast claimed that Dr Kramer died from her own experiments, and that Leonhart wasn’t connected to her, but the timeline fits. When he returned from dealing with the remnants of Kramer’s research, he brought a young Leonhart with him. He claimed you were simply… suited for becoming a SOLDIER, but we have our suspicions. Your sensitivity to mako is of particular note, and your affinity for magic and materia is… substantial.” It was here Lazard paused, adjusting his glasses once more as Squall openly scoffed at his theory.

“So that makes me an Ancient, does it?” It little helped matters that he couldn’t recall anything before meeting Professor Gast, though that didn’t prove anything.

“This is ridiculous,” Lightning practically hissed in the Director’s direction. “If you don’t have anything worthwhile to tell us, then–”

“Sit down, Farron.” Lazard was rarely the type to raise his voice, and Lightning froze upon hearing it, her eyes gleaming menacingly before she clenched her jaw and sat back down.

“Lazard, please. You have to realize how ridiculous this all sounds. Everything you’ve shown us is circumstantial at best, even if the timeline does somehow fit.” Angeal was ever the voice of reason, though his protest was met only with a soft sigh from Lazard before the monitor on the wall changed.

“I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you how far Professors Hojo and Hollander are willing to go when in the midst of an experiment, though I think you’ll agree that Projects S and G are radical, even for them.” Rufus was silent as Lazard did his best to explain, his probing gaze assessing the room. Leonhart was, as ever, unreadable, though a muscle twitched in his jaw from how tightly he grit his teeth. Under different circumstances, Rufus might have teased the man about breaking his jaw if he weren’t careful, but now wasn’t the time for levity.

“The remains found in the Northern Crater were not, as first suspected, those of an Ancient, but rather, from an alien who crash-landed on the planet millennia ago.”

Lazard clicked once more before a picture of the alien’s remains appeared on the screen, and a foreboding sense of dread permeated the room. “Jenova, a powerful specimen whose genetic structure we still have yet to fully understand. Its cells have been used in research experiments for over two decades now, and one fact is undeniable: each host that comes into contact with its cells becomes immensely more powerful.”

“I don’t like where this is going…,” Zack muttered quietly under his breath, though everyone heard it and silently agreed.

“Project G, or Project Gillian as Professor Hollander dubbed it, exposed Jenova’s cells to a host, one Gillian Hewley–”

“What?!” Angeal’s eyes were as wide as saucers, disbelief coloring his tone. “You’re telling me my mother had something to do with Shinra and these so-called experiments?”

“Of course, but you were not the only subject, Angeal,” Lazard answered him gently, knowing this sort of revelation would be… difficult to digest for a multitude of reasons.

“Not the… only test subject?” Angeal furrowed his brows in confusion before he connected the dots and glanced at Genesis.

Lazard let out a heavy sigh before pressing on. “Gillian’s cells were exposed to Genesis Rhapsodos as an infant; however, once Hollander determined no meaningful difference, he considered that particular experiment a failure.”

Angeal winced at Lazard’s choice of words, though he knew something was amiss when Genesis’ shoulders began to quake. He fully expected an explosion of sorts, expected Genesis to lash out, but the man instead began to laugh, manically and loudly. “A failed experiment?!” Genesis demanded, slamming a fist onto the table, his laughter making way for the growl that spilled out of his mouth.

“Genesis…,” Angeal tried to placate him with a hand on his shoulder, though the redhead dislodged his hand forcefully, the tension in his body growing further.

“His assessment, not mine,” Lazard pointed out. “I cannot pretend to understand the nature of these experiments, but you have done nothing but exemplary work for SOLDIER, Genesis.”

The director’s words did little to quell Genesis’ growing fury. “Save you pity for someone else, director,” Genesis scoffed at Lazard’s meager attempts at pity or sympathy or whatever he thought he was providing.

Angeal had grown quiet at Genesis’ side, contemplative even, and his hands clenched together as he stared up at the overhead monitor, his insides twisting themselves into knots. “And? That isn’t all, is it?”

Lazard frowned at the tone of Angeal’s voice; no doubt he didn’t want the answer to his question, though now that he was being confronted with it, he couldn’t look away. Angeal was unflinching in that regard, and Lazard admired him for it even as he pitied him. “You, Angeal, were Hollander’s success. Being Gillian’s natural-born son enabled you to show results Hollander was looking for, but…”

His voice trailed off, and the image on the monitor changed again. “Professor Hojo’s experiment was ultimately deemed the more successful of the two, which is why he now heads Shinra’s science department instead of Hollander. Instead of infusing a host with cells and exposing those cells to specimens, Hojo cut out the middle man. He directly injected Jenova’s cells into his colleague’s unborn child, and his results are inarguable.”

“Project S?” Genesis sneered, narrowing his eyes over at Sephiroth. “Who else could be the pinnacle of Shinra’s research but the almighty Sephiroth?”

The man in question betrayed no emotion save for the subtle tightening of his fingers and the slight twitch at one of his temples.

“Holy shit!” Zack reacted for him, his expression a mixture of disbelief and disgust. “Who the fuck thinks it’s a good idea to inject alien cells into a baby? I mean, Seph’s okay, but for fuck’s sake! What is wrong with that asshole?”

“I don’t think we’d have enough time to discuss what’s wrong with Hojo if we were here all night,” Cloud piped up, his arms crossed and his gaze down, though there was an unmistakable smile tugging at his mouth.

His words made Angeal smile despite himself, and even Genesis snorted in amusement, the cloud of his anger finally beginning to dispel.

“All night? We would have insufficient time were we to remain all week,” Sephiroth added glibly, and even Lightning chuckled at that, Squall’s lips twitching despite himself.

“I know it’s a lot, and I apologize for dumping this on all of you, but there is, unfortunately, more to cover.” The room seemed to heave a collective sigh of exasperation, though no one offered any resistance to the idea. Angeal, however, did glance over at Sephiroth, concern furrowing his brows. Sephiroth inclined his head only once to indicate he was all right, though Angeal decided they’d have a talk about it later. A drink sounded like just what he needed right then, even if it was near-impossible to get drunk.

“I’m sure I don’t need to remind you all of the Nibelheim incident,” Lazard continued, the monitor’s image switching to a glimpse of the town and the reactor. Cloud tensed at the reminder, though Zack’s hand on his melted it away almost as easily as it had come. “Officially, there was an accident in the reactor, and one Cloud Strife and Zack Fair endured rather severe cases of mako poisoning. In all honesty, we weren’t sure you two would ever recover. Unofficially, however, Hojo engineered the accident to test another of his theories.”

“W-wait a sec,” Zack interrupted Lazard with a few, weak chuckles. “What exactly did he do to us? Because I don’t feel any different from before. Or, I don’t think so, anyway.”

“What does Hojo do best?” Rufus answered lazily, as though nothing in this meeting was of particular interest or importance to him. “Injects his test subjects with Jenova cells, of course, though in your case, S-cells from our dear General here.” Sephiroth flinched at the revelation, and Cloud merely shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“From what we can tell, Zack, you were resistant to them given your SOLDIER training and likely the mako infusions.” Zack breathed out a sigh of relief at that, though Cloud was holding his hands so tightly it was a wonder his bones hadn’t broken from the strain. “Cloud?” Zack whispered softly, laying a hand on his shoulder before the blond shrugged it off.

“I say we storm up to the science lab and torture the little bastard for a few days,” Genesis offered, settling back in his chair. No doubt he considered wheeling it back even further to rests his ankles on the table, but such was rather unseemly for a meeting.

“Because I’m sure Shinra would just love that,” Squall scoffed at the suggestion. No matter what horrors Hojo performed, all were things Shinra undoubtedly knew about and okayed before he set to work. After all, even a failed test subject could be a weapon against Shinra’s enemies.

“He’s right. If we touch Hojo you know they’d retaliate,” Lightning pointed out, much to Genesis’ annoyance.

“How, exactly? In case either of you have forgotten, we’re the best fighters Shinra has.”

“Did you forget the army of mechs they have in development? Or public security? Or all the SOLDIERs of second and third class they could throw at us?” Angeal snapped uncharacteristically, his lips thinning into a line.

“As pleased as I am to see that we’re on the same page, there’s still one more matter to discuss. Lazard?”

The spectacled man nodded as the image on the monitor shifted once more, though this time, it was a simple picture of a red sphere: summoning materia. “I’m sure you’re all aware that, while Shinra has been successful in replicating almost every type of materia, creating summoning materia remains out of our reach. Most have accepted as fact that it simply exists in nature, and there is no way to create it ourselves.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Genesis proffered when Lazard took a moment to gather his thoughts.

“It was believed that biologically engineering new summoning materia was a viable path, and so one of our scientists somehow managed to graft a summon’s consciousness onto a living being.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea,” Zack muttered, and Angeal could only nod wordlessly, the idea in conjunction with everything else making him almost sick to his stomach.

“As I’m sure you can imagine, this didn’t end well. The child was examined shortly after birth, and the experiment deemed another failure.”

“Until I lost control,” Lightning supplied, staring down at the table as numerous pairs of eyes landed on her. “I can take over from here, director. It’s my story, after all.” He nodded before Lightning swallowed and looked up with a renewed sense of determination. “The Turks watched me when I was kid, visited all the time, though I had no idea why. And then… the visions started, the dreams and nightmares. It was terrifying; some days I could barely tell if I was still awake or stuck in a nightmare. I could hear thoughts that weren’t mine, could recall things I’d never experienced; I almost felt stuck in someone else’s body, with access to someone else’s memories.” Her hand clenched suddenly, and her jaw trembled before she pressed on.

“I didn’t realize he wanted out so badly, or that I was the only obstacle in his way, but when he took over…I was just a puppet.”

“So what happened?” Cloud was the one to ask, neither judgment nor curiosity in his tone.

“The Turks weren’t enough to stop me, stop him, so they called in SOLDIER. If it weren’t for Auron, I’d’ve been locked up in Hojo’s lab after he’d subdued me. He’s the one who taught me control, who taught me how to look after myself, and Odin.” There was unmistakable shame in her downcast gaze; this was not a story she told often for obvious reasons. After hearing all the horrible things everyone else had gone through, though, she felt she deserved to be just as transparent.

“So, he’s still there? Odin?” Zack asked gently, trying not to pry or let his eagerness show.

“All the time,” Lightning answered, slightly bemused by his caution. “If I focus, I can hear what he’s saying, but he gave up talking constantly in my ear a long time ago.”

“Does he still take control?”

Lightning blinked at the question Sephiroth posed, her lips pursing. “I won’t say it’s not a struggle sometimes. He can be an opportunistic bastard when he wants to be, but for the most part, we’re in sync. If something happened to me, we’re not sure what would happen to him, so it’s in his best interest to help if I’m in danger.”

“Must come in handy, having a summon at your command like that,” Genesis wondered aloud, though Lightning simply shrugged in response.

“I’d prefer to be alone with my thoughts,” Lightning answered drily, earning a few chuckles for her trouble.

“So,” Squall began, looking back towards Rufus and Lazard. “Now that you’ve got all that in the open, what now?”

“Now? Now we let you all consider. And once you come to the inevitable conclusion that Shinra needs to go, we’ll give you more of an idea of our plans,” Rufus responded simply.

“And you’re just that confident we won’t expose you?” Squall asked pointedly, though Lazard and Rufus simply shared a look.

“After all that you’ve just heard? I sincerely doubt it, mister Leonhart. Even if you don’t necessarily believe everything right now, it must be enough to give you pause; your own experiences within the company have likely been enough for that. But for now? No one’s going to be assigned before the week’s end, so take some time and think it over. Dismissed.”

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