Disclaimer: The author is a poor, haggard student and makes no claim for the Final Fantasy franchise

A/N: I live. I opened this file daily with no decent progress, but I seem to have broken through for now. It's just the near future that looks hard. I have later shit all worked out and can't wait to start that. For those of you that care. Canada was beautiful to me. I have a lovely vacation and passed my classes with B's. I feel successful. I have decided to visit Ontario, British Columbia, Ottowa, Montreal, and Vancouver someday. I'd love to go back. Just the thought of it fills my hearts with rainbows.

This chapter is told from a point of view just outside of the action. If you aren't 100% with the plot of CC you might want to refresh your memory.

Cass thought long and hard about her next move. What she knew about Angeal told her that he would go to his mother. He cared about her deeply.

She also knew that wherever Angeal went, Genesis would follow and vice versa. That made the homecoming move potentially dangerous. She knew Genesis still habored a hatred for his parents, and, after looking them up a couple times, she couldn't really blame him either. They weren't the best of people. Whatever was happening to Genesis, it probably wasn't doing great things to his sanity.

To throw that into the mix, there was the foreign elements within Angeal and Genesis's blood. A relation to Angeal. Cass only knew of one living relation to Angeal.

It all went back to their parents. Cass couldn't come up with a valid excuse to contact the Rhapsodos estate, but perhaps Gillian Hewley...she had once worked for ShinRa it seemed.

Cass sighed and decided to take the risk. She dialed Angeal's emergency contact number. It picked up quickly.

"Oh hello," Cass said cheerfully, "Is this the Hewley residence?" There was a long pause.

"You're one of them aren't you?" a female voice said.

"One of who?" Cass asked.

"Those cover-up people," she said. Cass bit her lip.

"I am," Cass said, "but I'm not calling you acting like one."

"Tell me this," Gillian Hewley said, "I don't care if you lie, tell me you're that woman Angeal tells me about, the one that fixes everything." Cass closed her eyes.

"I am," she said.

"Can you fix this?" Gillian asked.

"I'm trying to," Cass said, "I don't even know what the problem is."

"...I do," Gillian said. Cass was glad she used the secure line after that because Gillian told her everything. Then she hung up. Cass called back over a dozen times and left messages each time, but Gillian never picked up. Cass went with her gut on this. Gillian wasn't planning on living much longer.

"Don't do it," Cass said on her final message, "pick up the phone and talk to me. Don't fucking kill yourself." After that, the line wouldn't connect anymore.

Sephiroth was breathing heavily by the time he finally escaped to his apartment. Twice along the way he nearly vomited. He couldn't make himself remember his last conversation so he chose not to think about it.

Why couldn't he catch his breath?

Then there was pounding on his door. He watched it for a few seconds before he realized there was words in there too.

"-iroth! Open this fucking door or I swear upon all that his holy that I will break it down! Sephiroth!" He swallowed as he did what the voice said. Cass stood fuming on the other side. He waited for it.

"Well," she said, "Are you going to explain to me why Tseng, who has third degree burns by the way, is telling me that you delegated a mission to Zack Fair to have him talk to Angeal and Genesis?" Sephiroth felt nauseous again. Cass pushed her way in, dragging him by his shirt collar.

"They wouldn't want to see me," Sephiroth started to explain. He was pushed into a chair.

"This was my fault," Sephiroth continued. Suddenly he was drenched in cold water. He blinked rapidly and looked up.

"Feel better?" Cass asked sweetly. He nodded on instinct.

"Good," Cass said. She pulled a chair over to face him as she sat. "Now, I am going to explain to you exactly why their defection was not your fault in very vivid and exact detail," Cass continued, "when I finish you are going to explain what you are going to do with this new information. Can we handle this?"

"Yes Mom," Sephiroth said. She nodded and started talking. She talked about strange cells from an unearthly creature, about experiments on children not yet born, about half-assed science projects and their defects showing up now. She talked about how Genesis and Angeal had every right to defect from the people who had done it to them, but didn't need to talk about the danger of the act.

"Hollander is no better than Hojo," Cass said, "the only difference was that he didn't have his test subjects at hand. But he does now." Sephiroth nodded.

"Cut off the snake's head," Sephiroth said.

"A good idea, but we don't know what the snake is up to or how much bullshit he's been putting into their heads," Cass said, "I'd say a lot. He likes the sound of his own voice."

"Infiltration then," Sephiroth said, "the Turk standby." Cass rolled her eyes, but nodded.

"Who can infiltrate though?" Cass asked, "They won't believe you or me and losing another SOLDIER is reckless. I'm not going to trust the other Turks with this. I can't ask them to double cross at a time like this." She sighed heavily.

"You need to rest," Sephiroth said.

"I'll rest when I'm dead," Cass said, "You need to apologize to Zack." Sephiroth paused.

"That kid fuckin' adores Angeal," Cass said, "He shouldn't have had to face what he did today." Sephiroth nodded.

"I can do that," he said, "set up a meeting with Lazard, promote him to first, Zack...he could be an ally."

"Wait a minute," Cass said, "Lazard!"

Cass called again. The fact that the line kept ringing was a sign that Angeal hadn't thrown his lifeline away. Cass didn't know what to say when it picked up. She waited.

"Are we even human?" Angeal's voice asked.

"I'm not sure what human even is," Cass said, "Life sucks either way." There was a pause before the line disconnected.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Cass said to the dial tone.

Cass sighed and resigned herself to dragging Rufus back into his room by the back of his shirt.

"Let it go," Rufus said.

"No," Cass said, "If case you haven't notice the building is under attack and we're low on manpower."

"I can take care of myself!" Rufus argued. Cass pushed him inside and give him a sad look.

"I know you can," Cass said, "but I've watching your ass for so long it would be a pity to let you get hurt now." Rufus realized what the ploy was as soon as the door swung shut. She did this once when he was eleven and he fell for it. He ran for the door before she could lock in on him.

"Goddammit!" he said, "Cass open it up or you're fired!"

"Was that a threat?" Cass asked, "I've been waiting years for you to say that." Rufus kicked at the door and let out an angered scream.

"Calm down crazy," Cass said, "I'll have Tseng let you out when he gets out of recovery." He yelled a Wutaiian curse word Tseng had taught him. He could hear Cass's cackle echoing down the hall.

Cass was in the elevator when he PHS starting ringing.

"Lazard agreed to your proposal," Sephiroth's voice said in her ear, "he needs time to make the proper preparations."

"And your apology?" Cass asked.

"...I'm working on it," Sephiroth said. Cass rolled her eyes.

"Repeat after me," Cass said, "I am an asshole. I am sorry."

"I don't think he'd believe me if I said that," Sephiroth said.

"Being silent isn't helping either," Cass pointed out. Sephiroth was silent.

"Where are you going?" Cass asked.

"Sector Five Reactor," Sephiroth replied, "Angeal was spotted there."

"Invite Zack along," Cass said, "I've gotta go make sure the little ones are doing okay on their own, then I'll be there to distract the Turk reinforcements."

Sephiroth waited as he retold the accident in the V.R. Room, but Zack seemed more contemplative than accusatory. He bit his tongue before continuing.

"I also want to apologize for making you go to Banora in my stead," Sephiroth said, "It wasn't one of my best decisions." Zack looked up, wide-eyed. Sephiroth waited, then realized Zack stopped breathing. For being so full of fire earlier this certainly took the air out of him.

"It's alright," Zack exhaled, "sounds like Genesis would have pulled you into a fight had you gone."

"...Probably," Sephiroth agreed.

Cass kept behind Zack as he followed Hollander. She kept her pistol drawn, just in case. She could hear voices, but it wasn't Hollander she was hearing. She heard the crack and ran for it. Angeal stared down at the hole he had made a little in shock. Cass kept the gun pointed at him as she checked it. About twenty-five stories. Survivable for a SOLDIER. Zack could walk it off.

"If you're going to shoot just do it," Angeal said already getting into a defensive position. Cass looked back up at him.

"No," she said, "I just want to talk." She took out the magazine and put it in her back pocket. She ejected the bullet in the chamber and let it fall to the floor. She set the gun down and toed it away, keeping her hands up.

"Stay away from me," Angeal said.

"Alright," Cass said, "but you have to promise you'll listen." Angeal said nothing. Cass looked over the white appendage sticking out from Angeal's back.

"Hollander is a liar," Cass said.

"Oh," Angeal said, "he lied about me having fucking monster DNA inside of me?"

"Your mother told you that," Cass said, "not Hollander. Hollander said he would help Genesis so long as Genesis helped him. That's a lie. Hollander can't do shit." Angeal blinked.

"Hollander is the reason Genesis is the way he is," Cass said, "the same with you." Angeal held his head.

"It aches all the time now," he said.

"And you're sore," Cass said. He nodded.

"Do you think you could get Genesis to come to me peacefully?" Cass asked.

"No," Angeal said, "He goes back and forth between being in love with you and wanting to kill you." Cass sighed.

"I know the last thing you want is to be a science experiment again," Cass said, "but I think I have a way to help you."

"And if I say no?" Angeal asked.

"By all means, fly away," Cass said picking up her handgun and holstering it. How many secrets was she going to have to keep away from Sephiroth?

"...That's it?"

"I hope so. It's just mako with your own cells. If you focus on making more of those...does that even make sense?"

"Actually it does...I...I can feel the difference."

"That's a good sign. Do they feel bad?"

"No. So this can reverse it?"

"There is no reversing it."

"But you said-"

"I said help not cure. To cure you I'd have to go in and take out each of those cells one by one. This just makes you stop reproducing them."

"What was the point of this then?"

"Don't yell at me. You're falling apart faster than Genesis did and that's because you're giving up. The point of this is to make you fucking fight it. Those monster cells as you call them are trying to tear you and Genesis apart. If you keep this up, they become dormant again. Maybe your body will realize how malevolent they are and get rid of them itself."

"So I'm stuck as this evil-"

"Evil comes with intent. You have a wing, not an urge to destroy the world."

"Yet."

"Did you ever have dreams about flying away when you were young?"

"What?"

"When you slept did you have dreams about flying away. Sephiroth did."

"...He has one too?"

"Almost, it looked like it would appear, then it went away at eighteen months. I assume he has some control over it. Maybe you could too if you would stop being all woe is me. Calm the fuck down, do as I suggest, and get a hold of yourself."

"...I...I...I'm sorry."

"You should be. I was about to dump a bucket of water on you."

"Alright. But what about Genesis?"

"Genesis is trapped in the state he's in. Until I find out how the hell those cells are making him degrade there's no going back."

"But for me?"

"If it stops now you can heal."

"He's going to attack SOLDIER tonight. He wants Sephiroth. Hollander said he could have him if Genesis killed Hojo."

"I'm half tempted to say let Genesis go nuts, but it would be more prudent to stop him now."

"Is Zack alright?"

"He was pretty shaken after Banora. I made Sephiroth apologize to him. He'll be alright."

"You've been keeping an eye on him."

"Not that he needs it, but yeah. Sephiroth has been bringing him up to speed on what he needs to know. I must say that dropping him was overkill."

"He can walk that off."

"I know, otherwise I would have ignored you and gone for him."

"Does he know about this?"

"No one knows about what I've been doing. I'm not even sure about what I'm doing."

"If I helped him now, do you think Zack would forgive me?"

"If I slapped you across the face would you stop being such fucking drama queen?"

"I think...I know which side I'm on now."

"That's good. Which side? Hollander or ShinRa?"

"Your side."