Hi, this is my first story ever! Thank you to xxxKinaMariexxx for writing this with me, I've had fun so far and will continue to have fun producing this with you. I understand that there are many, many other stories out there like this (Thanks KM for warning me lol), so I'd just like to reassure everyone that this was purely just from random imagination, as I read some other fics after writing this one^^

I do not own any of the characters; they belong to Square Enix (waah)

Here's the first chapter of:

Mentor's Pet

Angeal Hewley sighed as he walked into General Sephiroth's office. Upon entering he gave a curt nod in greeting as Sephiroth glanced up at him, meeting his eyes briefly before holding out a sheet of pale yellow paper.

"This is for you" Angeal took it, stifling a yawn. "Did you not sleep last night?" Sephiroth asked him, getting to his feet and making his way across the room towards the cabinets behind Genesis' desk.

"Hn? No, Hojo wanted to see me as soon as I got off of teaching. Something about wanting a personal SOLDIER guard…or something equally as ridiculous. Anyway I ended up receiving Mako shots somewhere along the line and…well you know how Hojo is" Sephiroth shook his head with a sigh, pulling out a file and holding it out in his general direction.

"All he's looking for is a private human guinea pig with SOLDIER attributes. However, we have something much more important at hand" Angeal stared down at the sheet in his hand and then the file being held out to him.

"New mission?" He asked, taking the file from the General.

"You could view it like that" Sephiroth told him, fighting the urge to smile. Angeal grunted softly as he opened the file and scanned the letter. Sephiroth tapped his pen patiently on the desk, watching his colleague whilst he read.

"I- Sephiroth…what is this?" Angeal looked up at his friend with his lips parted, grey-blue eyes widening in uncharacteristic panic. Sephiroth remained quiet for a few seconds before leaning forward.

"That-" He gestured to the file with his pen. "Is the student you will be mentoring from here on out. New recruit. Cadet Zackary Fair. He's shown some promising sign's" Sephiroth informed him.

"Promising sign's?" Angeal repeated, flipping through the pages at an alarming speed. "Sephiroth-'expelled from combat class, disqualified from physics , reprimanded for sliding down the hall's after floor's had been newly waxed, reprimanded for speaking during classes, reprimanded six times for talking back to a Commanding Officer-' I mean, 'Promising Sign's? Are we reading the same thing here?"

It was a rare thing to see 1st Class SOLDIER Angeal Hewley look so shocked and speechless and the General was losing the battle to refrain from laughing.

"Angeal if anyone can straighten this boy out it's you. His actual performance is astounding, he just has some behavioral issues, and nothing you can't handle I'm sure"

Angeal looked back to his new 'students' profile with a hardened expression. "I'm guessing the reason he hasn't been sent back home is because-"

"Of what he can offer ShinRa, yes. The boy has already exceeded the overall level in his classes and so-"

"Then why not just move him onto third class?" Angeal asked, genuinely curious. Sephiroth leant back in his chair with a sigh.

"That was what I had planned, but once we do that he'll be hard to keep an eye on…Angeal, we are entering a time of…desperate measure's shall we say. ShinRa will not hesitate to put these young SOLDIER's on frontline. If Fair's a special case- which I am convinced he is- then we may well lose him before he can prove himself"

"Better safe than sorry" Angeal agreed, planting the file safely in one of his desk drawers. "Right, I'd better round him up"

"I'll leave you to it Angeal. Genesis should be out there somewhere; Shiva knows what he's up to. I fear he's cornered some poor cadet's, reciting Loveless until they're hypnotized, or worse- suicidal" Angeal chuckled, pausing before he exited the office.

"I'll send him your way if I come across him" Sephiroth's head snapped up, a rare look of horror on his pale face.

"Angeal, I beg of you not to joke like that. When you come across him, I would appreciate it if you sent him in the complete opposite direction of this building"

"I'm not involved!" Angeal paused and turned towards the loud voice and raised his eyebrows. There was his to-be-student, red-faced, violet eyed and raven spikes everywhere, standing up to a Lieutenant. Angeal sighed heavily.

"You were there, the others saw you-"

"Just because I happened to walk past doesn't mean I had anything to do with it! You always listen to them and you never even ask me what happened!" Zack shouted, balling his fists tightly. Angeal saw where this was going and broke in before the young teen could even think about doing anything.

"Cadet! That is no way to talk to a Superior!" Angeal startled them both visibly, and he noticed how his appearance had a different effect on both cadet and Officer.

Zack's expression went from furious, to fearful and finally settled with looking completely besotted with grief as he quickly stood to attention.

"Thank Shiva, Commander Hewley I have a class to get back to and this student is causing me great distress," Zack did not speak, but Angeal could see how badly he wanted to.

"What did he do?" Zack's heart sank completely as he listened to how he 'supposedly' was caught 'punching another cadet' and according to those 'there' he started it whilst the others tried to stop him. Angeal's eyes darkened as he took it all in.

"I'm sorry, my class needs me." He turned to Zack who, for all the world, looked like he was going to start spitting. "Zack-"

"I'm sorry Sir! I'll accept whatever punishment is given Sir! I promise not to take out my anger on others Sir!' Angeal's frown deepened as he decided to ignore the mocking tone. He focused more on the fact that the cadet before him was shaking slightly as his gaze burned straight through the wall opposite. The Lieutenant stared at him before sighing.

"I'll leave this to you, Commander Hewley," Zack scowled and his gaze lowered to the floor. He even dropped his salute in a huff. None went un-noticed, and Angeal couldn't hide his concern as well as he would have liked. "Zack, I will have to remove you from the class if you fall any more behind."

"But-" Zack stopped himself and bowed his head, his teeth sinking into his lip with more force than he had judged. He tasted blood but paid it no attention. "Yes Sir."

"Very well then Lieutenant Harley. I'll see that he is dealt with accordingly." Zack listened as the footsteps disappeared and remained silent.

"Ah!" Zack cried out as he crashed into the tarmac of the track. He weakly pulled himself from the rough ground, his body shaking uncontrollably. He'd lost count on how many laps he'd run at lap fifty three, and now his legs were not only jelly, but numb too.

Commander Hewley had told him to run as many laps as he could in the time it took him to return from writing the incident into his report. Zack, from the beginning, had run as fast as he could. Angeal had observed from his office window in surprise as the Cadet put his all into his punishment as though he knew he was being watched.

Zack panted, holding a hand to his chest as his vision blurred. He felt the world pitch sideways violently and clamped his hands to his head, forcing himself to remain in a straight line. With a deep breath he pushed himself forward.

As he ran, Zack found himself thinking of how far off his ideas of ShinRa had been to when he first joined. Somewhere along the line the other cadets who joined alongside him started to hold him at arm's length. Now that he really thought about it, it was ever since their first physical training class.

Zack knew he could handle himself and he knew he was good, but Zack had no idea that he was the best. The other students however, caught onto his performance quicker than a hawk to its prey. From then on, Zack found that he was ignored during all his encounters with those in his year. It didn't bother Zack nowadays, unless he went through a serious bout of loneliness. After a while, you start to throw away the 'why's' and focus more onto 'how' to go about things alone.

Soon after, Zack had found himself getting accused of things he hadn't done. This would not have bothered him either, if his Superior's would at least hear him out, however they never had. For some reason his fellow class mates pinned everything they could on him. Perhaps the problem was that there was never 'one witness' to any of the incidents he was accused of being a part of, or more accurately, the cause of.

For a year and half, Zack fought against it.

Today, the first time a First Class ever got involved; it was as though he'd given up. Zack blinked rapidly as he willed himself onwards. What was the point in defending yourself if not even those at the top would hear you out?

Zack grit his teeth as the pain in his chest increased. The answer was simple enough.

There was no point.

"Cadet!" Zack gasped, startled by the unfamiliar voice and overly stern tone. He lost his footing, finding himself once again at one with the hard tarmac. He swallowed loudly, holding back an annoyed comment as he looked down to his trembling hands. Sucking in a breath he pushed himself upright, nearly collapsing. He settled into a sloppy salute, not even able to acknowledge if he was the 'cadet' being called, who the caller was or in which direction they were facing. His vision was completely distorted no matter how hard he blinked.

"Straighten yourself up! That is no way to greet a Superior Officer! Where's your discipline!" The owner of the voice was before him, yanking him upright and shouting in his face. Hastily, Zack did as he was told.

"S-sorry Sir! I-I-"

"Speak properly Cadet! What are you doing out here at this time? Trying to catch up on exercises you should have been doing last night are we?" Zack's head snapped up and he glared at the man he now recognized as his Fitness Officer, Lieutenant Raft.

"No, I was-" He was cut off as he suddenly felt a force send him hurtling sideways. He gasped, holding his cheek as the Officer glared down at him from where he lay sprawled out.

"You do not answer me back! On your feet, now!" Zack could not hide his anger as he scrambled up. "Think you can do as you please, do you?" Zack shook his head, willing himself to remain in control of the urge to fight back.

"I'm not! I don't! I swear sir-" Another hit, another cry, another thud.

"How many times till you learn to keep your fucking mouth shut?" Zack let out a shaky breath as he was ordered to his feet. "Gym. Now." Zack wiped his eyes and shook his head defiantly.

"I can't Sir, I'm under orders from Com-"

Hit, cry, thud.

"That was an order Cadet!" Zack stared at his Superior with a pleading look.

Hit, cry, thud.

"I'm not able to take orders from you, Sir!" Zack shouted, cradling his bruising cheek as the first of his tears escaped. More anger flashed in the Officers eyes and Zack's eyes rivaled the threat behind them.

Thank you for reading and please, let me know what you think =D

KM: I will!