Hojo had just arrived in Junon and was waiting for the next train to Midgar, killing time in a bar near the waterfront. He liked the view over the ocean and the way the light bounced off it, like fire on the water, like shards of life itself. It was very distracting, and Hojo ignored much of what was going on around him.
“Excuse me, sir?” the waiter was asking when Hojo saw fit to pay attention.
“Yes?” he asked, turning to face the waiter. The young man flinched at Hojo’s grin.
“I was, um, that is, the customers are a little scared of you, sir?” he asked, making it a question by the time he got it all out.
Hojo smiled. He had expected as much reaction. “Terribly sorry, so terribly sorry. What can I do to help?”
“Well, it mostly seems to be your eyes that bother people, so could you, ah, put these on?” he stammered, handing Hojo a pair of dark sunglasses.
Hojo smiled. He’d expected the man would simply ask himto leave; this cleverness amused him. He took the proffered sunglasses and slid them onto his face, reflecting how much he missed the feeling of weight on his nose.
He wondered what Vincent and Lucrecia were doing right then.
“Valentine.”
“For fuck’s sake, Veld, where have you been? It’s cold up here! Shit!” Vincent couldn’t see very well, though his eyes were as adjusted to the dark as they were going to get. He’d been up here for what he guessed was several hours now.
“I’ve been doing some research,” Veld said as his silhouette disappeared from the doorway. The door clicked shut and the room was nearly pitch black again. He sat on the desk next to Vincent’s prone form.
“Research? I’ve had to piss for like an hour and you’re doing research? I thought we agreed not to mix business and pleasure!”
“Am I doing that?”
“Fuck yes! You wander off in the middle of pleasure to worry about business!” Vincent argued with a whiny tone that made Veld grit his teeth. “Now either finish me off or let me up.”
“No, Valentine, I’m afraid you misunderstood. This was always business.” Veld pulled out his handgun and aimed at his boss’s head. “I think it’s finally time for my promotion.”
“Veld? This isn’t funny, Veld, you know I don’t like playing with guns in bed.”
“Oh, it’s not supposed to be funny. I’m quite serious.”
“After everything we’ve done together?”
“I got tired of your kowtowing to your wife. In bed. In the office. Everything revolved around her and she hardly ever sees you! You’ll fuck up entire investigations for her, on her say-so.”
“Well, she’s my wife,” Vincent tried to shrug, but being tied down made it difficult. He had to do something about that. He set about working his ankles free, figuring Veld was less likely to notice. He was suddenly glad the man had left the lights off.
“I don’t care about your wife, Vincent. She’s a fucking criminal just like everybody else.”
“Like everybody?” Vincent asked.
Veld glared. “Don’t play the optimist with me, Valentine, you’ve seen at least as much shit on this job as I have. Nobody’s good in this company, just varying levels of evil, and our job is to make sure they don’t push it too far. But you’ve been letting her push you — and by extension, all of us — for too long. You’re not fit to be head of the Turks any more, Valentine, and you know Turks don’t retire.”
Vincent thought of how he’d had to take down Tally, the leader before him, and shuddered. “So that’s it? You’re going to tie me to a desk and shoot me? At least give me some fucking dignity about it.”
“Dignity? That woman sleeps all over on you! Sephiroth isn’t even yours! I’m not the one you have to worry about preserving your dignity.”
“… Sephiroth what?” Vincent demanded.
“He’s not yours, Vincent. I’ve been looking at the records. Lu never did a direct paternity test, but he’s got a couple genetic irregularities that only show up in Wutaian bloodlines.”
“Maybe she’s part Wutaian.”
“Does she look Wutaian, Vin? I always figured Sephiroth got his dark looks from you.”
“Maybe I’m part Wutaian.”
“I think you’d know if you were.”
Vincent let his head lay back against the desk. “I can’t believe that she– she swore to me, she did, she said it wasn’t possible that that bastard fathered him.”
“Which bastard? The one the two of you locked in the basement out in Nibelheim?”
“How did you find out– you fucker. You’re the one who broke into the apartment, aren’t you?”
Veld snickered. “Not me personally, no, but I helped keep you occupied.”
“Gods, and I had to put up with Lucrecia complaining all weekend because of you.”
“Well, you won’t have to listen to her any more now, will you?” Veld cocked the gun and held it next to Vincent’s head.
He hesitated. He did care for Vincent, underneath all the shit he pulled, and wondered if he could talk sense into the older man, get him to turn on his wife now that he knew about Sephiroth.
“Vincent, it doesn’t have to–” he started, but there was a feeling of sudden motion in the darkness. He pulled back instictively as Vincent kicked upward with his now-free legs, but Vincent twisted and brought his heels down on the back of Veld’s head. The gun went off next to Vincent’s ear and he felt his balance thrown off as the shot rang in his ear. He used his leverage to roll off the desk and pulled hard on the knot tying his wrists. It held.
“Fuck.”
“Very nice, Vincent,” Veld said, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s nice to see you haven’t forgotten everything.
Vincent held his arms up in front of him as well as he could manage. “Veld…”
“Oh, now you’re cowering? I thought you were worried about dignity. You make me sick.” Veld fired at Vincent’s face behind his hands, but he moved quickly, ducking his head out of the way. Veld pulled back on the trigger to fire again, but Vincent shot a foot out and knocked his legs out from under him.
The gun hit the floor and skidded away. Veld reached after it in the darkness, but his hand landed on something sticky and soft. He looked up and saw Vincent’s face in the dim light, only inches from his own, and Vincent’s hand on the gun.
“What?”
“You always, always let yourself get emotional, Veld. I goaded you and you did just what I wanted — you shot that stupid tie so I could get loose.”
“I thought you liked that tie.”
“Not tied around my wrists.” Vincent stood up, holding the gun in his right hand, the one that wasn’t bleeding from a large wound in the wrist. “Now take off your pants.”
“Vincent, this isn’t the time–”
“I’m going to wear them, Dragoon, because you stole mine, and because I suspect you have too much dignity to follow me in your tighty whities. If you think I’d fuck you again after that little display, you’re crazier than I am.” Veld did as he was told, and Vincent stepped awkwardly into the pants, one eye on the younger Turk and one finger on the trigger as he did so.
Veld made his move as Vincent was zipping the fly, diving at the older man, but Vincent ducked and fired, and Veld grunted as he hit the ground hard. Vincent waited to make sure he was still breathing, then left, hurrying down the hall. He hoped to get to the locker room and steal some real clothes and maybe a first aid kit before fleeing the building.
“Veld was right about one thing,” he muttered to himself as he rode the elevator. “It’s definitely time for me to retire.”
Inside the science department, Pepper’s first impression upon waking was that he was cold. His second was that he was naked, and his third was that he was practically in the lap of one of the young lab techs he’d hired the year before. She was dozing, but she snapped awake when Pepper jumped out of her lap and across the room, trying to retain his modesty with his hands.
She smiled. “Are those your clothes in the pile behind you?”
Pepper turned and looked down. They were the clothes he’d been wearing this morning. He shook them off and put them on, noting that there were a few long tears in a couple of the items, but they were otherwise intact.
“What happened, Irena?” Pepper asked.
“The Turks are gone. They couldn’t find you, so I told them you’d said you hadn’t been feeling well and you must have gone home.”
“They couldn’t find me?”
“Well, they could, but they didn’t realize that the cute blue fuzzy thing was you,” she smiled.
“Oh.” He looked down at the table where the empty needles still sat. “How did you know that I was…”
“Carbunkle?” Irena supplied.
“I was going to say ‘experimenting on myself’ but yes, that too.”
“I get stuck with all the shit jobs around here, including typing in requisitions. I knew that it had come in the lab and that you were the one who signed for it. When Bunky came bounding out of the back labs where I’d seen you last, it was kind of obvious.”
“‘Bunky’?”
“It’s a nickname. He seemed to like it.”
“Who, Carbunkle?”
“Yeah. He also likes tummy rubs and being scratched behind the ears,” she added.
“Oh, right.” Pepper could feel himself turning bright red. “Ah, did the Turks…?”
“I’m to tell you to call them as soon as I see you.” She paused. “So you should call them and tell them how you got sick yesterday and had to leave. They’ll probably ask if you saw Professor Lucrecia yesterday, and if you gave her anything.”
Pepper got very quiet.
“You should tell them the truth about that, if you did. They probably know already anyway. Turks are like that.”
“But Lucrecia was protecting me–”
Irena looked at him sadly. “Professor Lucrecia was setting you up, Pepper.”
“What?”
“When I was snooping, er, looking around in the computer for the information they wanted, I noticed someone had changed the requisition records. It said your access to the cold storage unit wasn’t authorized by anyone, and whatever Project it was listed under was gone, too. The only reason I knew it was changed was because I remembered typing it in.”
“Do you remember every form that goes through the office?” he asked her, surprised.
“Only the ones you sign,” Irena said, then blushed as she realized how she sounded.
“Well. Um.” Pepper looked around. “I suppose I have a phone call to make.” He picked up the phone and dialed.
“Hello. Please wait,” a quiet voice answered.
Not having much choice in the matter, Pepper did as he was told, hitting the button to put the call on speakerphone while he and Irena cleaned up the mess he had left in the lab.
“Fuck,” someone was clearly grumbling in the background. Pepper thought it sounded like Veld.
“Fuck, yeah, see where fucking gets ya?” someone else added. The red-haired Turk, maybe? What was his name…
“Just use the damn cure materia,” ordered Veld.
“I can’t,” a woman said calmly. “We have to get it out before we heal it.”
“So get it out,” that was Veld again, and he sounded like he was in pain.
“You’re pretty tore up.”
“Fine. We’ll go see the fucking experts. Somebody get me some pants.”
Pepper and Irena looked up at each other, hesitating, then both cracked up laughing.
“Hey! What the hell? Tseng, you forgot to put it on hold, yo! You have to hit this little button–” the sound cut off abruptly and was replaced by dull music.
“I think we’d better get a table ready for him,” Irena said to Pepper as she tried to stop laughing. “Somehow I doubt he’ll feel like going all the way to the hospital.”
When Veld stepped off the elevator with his Turks behind him, Pepper and Irena were waiting.
“How did you know we were coming?” he asked, blinking.
“At Shinra, there’s always somebody watching,” Irena said with a smile.
“What?” Veld demanded.
Pepper stepped in. “Sorry, sir. I was the one Tseng put on hold a few minutes ago.”
“Oh,” he answered, looking almost embarassed for a minute. “I got shot, boy. Fix it.”
Pepper nodded. “Yes, sir. Right this way.” He led Veld and his entourage of Tseng, Reno, and Anna back to an examination table he and Irena had already prepared. Veld removed the shirt he’d applied to the wound in the hope of stopping the bleeding and Pepper leaned in to examine it.
“This looks pretty bad. Your bone is shattered down here, near the elbow,” he said, straightening back up and pointing to his own arm as a display. “And the ligaments and tendons are badly torn as well. I can probably save your arm, but I doubt you’ll have much use of it.”
“You’re kidding,” Veld said. “It was just one bullet! I’ve been shot dozens of times before!”
Pepper shrugged. “Then whoever got you is either a damn good shot or has Hades’ luck, sir.”
“Or both,” Veld grumbled. “Just take it off, then.”
“What?” Pepper asked.
“Just take the arm off. I’m no good with a useless arm.” Behind him, Tseng and Anna were emotionless, but Reno’s mouth was hanging open. Anna turned to him and put her fingers under his chin, gently pushing it shut.
“With all due respect sir, are you sure you’ll be much better without any arm?” the scientist asked.
“I’ll be fine. I’ll get a prosthetic,” Veld snapped. “Now put me under and take it off before I lose my nerve.”
Irena looked at Pepper, who shrugged and turned back to Veld. “As you wish, sir. Irena, please get the anesthetic.”
Veld turned to the Turks. “Tseng, you’re in charge while I’m under. I want Lucrecia found now. Check their apartment first, then anywhere else you think she might go.”
“What about Valentine, sir?” Tseng asked.
“If you find him, you find him. Lucrecia’s the one we’re after right now.”
“Isn’t he more dangerous?”
Veld hesitated. “Lucrecia’s unstable. She was locking people up last week. As far as we know, all of Vincent’s sins are behind him. Understood?” The three of them nodded.
“Good. Now get going.”
Lucrecia, however, had no intention of returning to the apartment she shared with Vincent at the moment. She had gone instead to the SOLDIER barracks, where she used her keycard to slip inside and track down a certain unit of second class SOLDIERs.
“Dadjy, come to Mother,” she announced outside the room where his unit was drilling. He looked at his instructor, who looked at Lucrecia and shrugged.
“Dismissed, soldier.” Smiling, Dadjy ran over to his mother.
“We have a problem, Dadjy, honey. I need to talk to you seriously,” she pulled him aside into a small room and set her box on the table. “You’re a good boy, right? You do everything Mother tells you?”
“Of course,” he told her. “Is something wrong, Mother?”
“I’m going to give you a shot… to make sure you’re always a good boy. To make sure no one corrupts you.” She opened the box and began pulling out two needles and the little alcohol wipes to clean the skin.
“Corrupts me?” his eyes went wide. “Who could do that?”
“It’s already happened to your brother,” she said, a hint of bitterness in her voice, as she rolled up her sleeve. “Now I have to take the first shot, and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I want you to promise me you won’t go get help or call for anyone. Okay, Dadjy?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“That’s my good boy. My one good boy. Don’t worry, we’ll go fix your brother soon enough.” She slipped the needle into her vein and pushed, closing her eyes and bracing herself. She waited.
Nothing seemed to happen. She didn’t feel any different, at least. Strange. She didn’t have much time, however, so Lucrecia decided to go ahead and give Dadjy his shot as well. “Roll up your sleeve like a good boy.”
Dadjy did as he was told and offered his arm to Lucrecia. She administered his shot and watched him carefully for a reaction. His eyes rolled back and he started to go limp, but she caught him before he could fall.
“Wake up for Mother, Dadjy,” she said. His eyes snapped open. The pupils were catslit, she noticed, but wide and unfocused.
“Stand up.”
He did as he was told.
“Good boy. Let’s go get your brother.” Dadjy followed her, wordless, and Lucrecia smiled. She led him downplate to sector eight, to Gast’s house, where she guessed Sephiroth would be waiting.
When she knocked on the door, Aeris answered.
“I need to see Sephiroth. Is he here?”
“Nope! Bye!” Aeris said, starting to shut the door, but Lucrecia caught sight of Sephiroth walking into the kitchen behind her.
“Sephiroth!” she yelled shrilly, to get his attention.
“Mother?” Sephiroth asked as he came to the door. “Are you cold? Your lips are blue.” It was humid and cool that night in Midgar, but nothing unusual. He worried about her.
“Let me in, Sephiroth,” Lucrecia ordered.
“Where’s Zack?”
“He’s still in the lab. We can go get him soon enough, but first I need you to talk to Mother,” she said.
Aeris looked up at Sephiroth. “She can’t come in. She’s tainted. Don’t talk to her.”
“Little brat, stop meddling,” Lucrecia snapped.
“Aeris, she’s my mother, I can’t just ignore her.”
“Sure you can,” Aeris shrugged. “But you won’t. Whatever. It’s your life, Sephiroth, I’m just giving advice.” She turned and walked back into the house.
“But she’ll let Zack out!” he called after her. She didn’t turn.
“Jealous, Sephiroth?” Lucrecia said from the other side of the screen door. “Just think how Zack will feel when you go to help him and she’s not there.”
Sephiroth hesitated. She had a point. As much as he felt he should probably listen to Aeris… well, this was his mother. He stepped outside.
Dadjy slipped in behind him and grabbed him under the arms. Sephiroth tried to pull away but he was held tight.
“What the–? Dadjy? When’d you get so strong?”
“All of Mother’s boys grow up big and strong,” Lucrecia said. She pushed his shirtsleeve up out of the way and held his arm tight while she administered the Jenova shot.
“Mother? Mother! What are you doing?” Sephiroth shouted before he passed out. Dadjy held him up until he returned to himself.
Lucrecia smiled. “Feeling better, Sephiroth?” He opened his eyes. Like his younger brother, his had changed.
“Much better, Mother,” he answered, his voice dull.
“Good. Now come with me, we need to go back to the lab for more of this delightful specimen, so that Mother can make everyone behave the way they should.” Lucrecia turned toward the Shinra building and both young men followed.
From inside the house, Aeris watched them go.
“In retrospect, honey, there’s letting someone make their own mistakes and there’s tossing them to the wolves.”
“Is Mrs. Valentine a wolf now, Daddy?”
“You would know better than me. What does the planet tell you?”
Aeris scrunched up her face. “It tells me I screwed up. And she’s worse than a wolf.”
“Oh?”
“She’s a Crisis.”
Gast blinked. “But I had her buried.”
“I dunno. That’s what the planet’s telling me. If you want to argue, go out in the garden.”
“I was just surprised. Your mother — she said that I’d saved the planet from the Crisis. Not that I didn’t endanger the planet in the first place, of course, but she just had a gift for making me not feel useless.”
“Daddy,” Aeris said, looking up at him. “I need to go soon, okay?”
“Go?” he asked.
“I have to fix the thing I broke.”
“Oh.” He looked down. “If you have to.”
“It’s more than that too, but that’s part of it. I’ll come back, Daddy. Don’t worry so much.” She smiled at him, and she looked so much like her mother that he hugged her quickly and turned away before she could see him cry.
