Chapter Text
When it came to Shinra, there wasn’t much that Zack felt he personally needed to know about. He joined the “electric power company” because of the SOLDIER program, because he wanted to become a hero like the famous trio of Firsts, and specifically General Sephiroth. He didn’t question the needles when he got elevated to Second Class too much, either, especially when they were supposed to make his ability to absorb and harness mako that much easier.
Although, the headaches that had been bothering him recently weren’t exactly making sparring easier.
A longsword moved past his face, clipping a few wayward strands of black hair that flew away from the spiky mass on Zack’s head. The presence of the standard-issue Shinra weapon quickly snapped the headache into a dull, but ignorable static that buzzed at the back of his head as he leapt away from his mentor’s chosen weapon.
“Your mind is elsewhere again.” Zack’s mentor, also dark-haired and with that giant Buster sword against his back, shifted out of his ready stance and frowned in disapproval. “You should know better than that, Zack.”
Zack ran a hand along the side of his head to check for potential damage. Thankfully, there were no cuts or further loss of his signature hairstyle, but that was just a reminder that his mentor had noticed his distraction. “Sorry, Angeal. I’ve been getting these…weird headaches lately. I won’t let them distract me again, I promise.”
Angeal frowned at his spiky-haired student. Zack could feel his teacher’s gaze pressing against him, but it wasn’t as needling as the presence that had been at the back of his head. Angeal couldn’t get into Zack’s head. Not the way this feeling could.
“Have you talked to the medics about this?” Angeal frowned. “If these headaches give you trouble in missions—”
“They haven’t,” Zack assured quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, because Angeal was frowning even more now. “I swear, it – it’s just been happening since I got called up for more mako treatments. Maybe it’s because of that? Did you get headaches and stuff after getting treatments when you got promoted?”
“No.” Angeal was frowning, now. He looked like a puzzle had been suddenly set in front of him and he didn’t like the look of it.
If Angeal hadn’t gotten headaches, maybe mako reacted differently to everybody? But he didn’t get headaches when he got the initial treatments….
Angeal sighed and rested his hands on his hips. “Clearly, this is going to affect your training. I’m taking you to the medics to get some answers.”
The thought of cutting off his training shocked Zack out of his train of thought. “Angeal! I’m fine! I can keep going!”
The way Angeal was frowning at Zack clearly said he thought otherwise.
“Angeal, please. I’m okay, I promise. Can’t we just…finish the spar? Before you take me anywhere? Please? I think I almost had you this time!”
Angeal almost looked like he was going to whack Zack over the head and drag him off to the medics himself. Zack did his best to give Angeal his most pleading expression, wide eyes and everything.
As Zack hoped, Angeal sighed heavily and shook his head. “All right. But if you are distracted again, we are going to go and get some answers.”
“I won’t, don’t worry!”
They set back into the spar, all fists and standard-issue swords. Angeal wasn’t using the giant slab of metal on his back, but Zack assumed that was because he didn’t want to kill his apprentice. It looked like it could pack a wallop, even with the Second Class enhancements he’d been getting.
When it came to levels of mako exposure and who could be exposed to what, Shinra really didn’t mess around. It made Zack eager to rise to the class of First, even if that probably wasn’t going to be for a long while yet. He needed to prove himself to Angeal and everyone else further above him, too, like Director Lazard.
Maybe he’d get a chance to get into the war in Wutai?
The dull static at the back of his head increased slightly. Zack hid his wince in a rolling dodge to get away from the standard-issue sword Angeal was using. He fought back against the static, blocking it from his awareness as best he could as he lunged forward with his sword again.
The hope had been to catch Angeal off guard, but his mentor saw Zack coming and side-stepped his pupil without so much as a flinch.
“You are not making it easy.” Zack swung around on one foot and went in for another strike, but Angeal caught the blade with his own. The sting of metal against metal rang through the room.
“That is the idea. Your opponents are not going to ‘make it easy’ for you, especially if you’re a Second.” Angeal smiled slightly as Zack bounced back, then ran forward again.
They continued this for a while, with Angeal blocking Zack’s attacks and moving around the training room. He never gave Zack any openings, which was as frustrating as it was exciting. It just meant that Zack had to think on the fly, which was what training was for.
Maybe if I—
Unfortunately, right as Zack was swinging around from behind Angeal to hit him in the side, the dull static in his head spiked into a pain that felt like someone had jammed a sword into his skull.
Zack’s sword dropped from his hands as they shot up to his head. He barely noticed Angeal move towards him before his eyes screwed shut in response to the pain.
It felt like there was something trying to get in. What the hell?
Even the realization of that was difficult with the pain in his skull, but then the spike in his head felt more like there was something wriggling its way inside – something strong.
“Zack! Zack!”
Angeal’s voice was muffled, probably because Zack’s hands were over his ears, but also because the only thing running through his head right now was painpainpainpainpainpainpainpainpain—
And then, nothing.
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Angeal grabbed Zack around his waist as Zack collapsed to his knees, screaming and gripping his head. It looked like Zack was about to squeeze his own head like a grape.
“Zack! Zack!”
Zack kept screaming; he hadn’t heard him.
Angeal swore under his breath. The puppy was in pain and he couldn’t do anything except get the kid to the medics and pray to whatever goddess it was Genesis liked going on about for an answer. Or, at least, some hope that Zack was all right despite this.
“Hang on, Zack,” Angeal muttered. He reached forward to adjust his grip on the boy, only to freeze when Zack stopped screaming abruptly.
For a moment, Angeal thought the attack had passed, but when Zack went completely limp and Angeal had to adjust to his pupil’s full weight that he realized something else had happened.
“Well, this will make getting you to the medics easier,” Angeal muttered. “But to pass out from the pain….”
It wasn’t a good sign, if a SOLDIER could pass out from a headache. They were meant to be able to withstand more than a normal person, which came with its own myriad of problems. Apparently, for Zack, it was headaches.
They were going to need to find a way around this, if they were going to be able to do anything about training him beyond Second. Otherwise he would likely be demoted back to Third, and that would do nothing for Zack’s self-esteem.
Getting Zack on his back with the Buster Sword present was difficult, but not impossible. He’d had to carry SOLDIERs off the battlefield before, and while he wasn’t currently in danger of being cut down by an enemy, there was a sense of hurry to his step as he carried Zack out of the training hall and towards the medic station on the floor, in case of some injury that might occur while training.
The medics were very startled when Angeal of all people showed up.
“S-sir! What do you—”
“Zack collapsed during training,” Angeal said. “He was complaining of headaches before it happened.”
“Bring him over here!” One of the medics motioned towards one of the empty beds. Angeal obliged him, turning around so that Zack could slide off his back. He hadn’t been in a position to get accidentally cut by the Buster sword, thankfully, but there was still an expression of faint pain on the puppy’s face.
“You said he was complaining of headaches?” The medic checked his bracer before flicking it, summoning the magic of the two yellow spheres that rested there. Sense and Assess were as important on the field of battle as they were here. You could pick up any amount of information from the beings and areas that you focused on, so long as you had the magic aptitude for it, although some would consider using both at once overkill. Apparently, this medic thought using both was wise.
“It caused him trouble today during our spar, yes.” Angeal stood out of the way as the medic did his work. “He said they’ve been giving him trouble since he started receiving additional mako treatments.”
SOLDIERs were usually given mako only when they were promoted in rank. Zack had been a second for some time, so why was he being given more now?
“What’s his name again?” A young woman hovered near a computer terminal, looking between it and their newest patient.
“Zack Fair.”
The woman nodded and set to the terminal. “Let me see…has he complained of headaches before this?”
“Not that I’m aware of. This is also the first time he’s collapsed without taking any visible damage during a spar or training of any kind.”
Angeal had been expecting questions like this, considering that he was Zack’s mentor and the boy was technically under him in the chain of command.
“He seems to think they’re because of the enhancements,” Angeal added. “I find that doubtful, otherwise he wouldn’t have made it past Third if he reacted this way.”
“We would have had records of that before he started the treatments,” the medic with the materia agreed. The yellow magic had settled over his eyes and made him look like he was wearing a pair of strange, mismatched glasses. “There’s something centered on his head, but I can’t get a fix on what it is, exactly. It seems to be a build-up of energy, but I can’t tell what kind or what it could have resulted from.”
“I can’t access his medical records.” The woman at the terminal spoke up.
“What?” The other medic looked up as Angeal frowned.
“That shouldn’t be possible.” Angeal moved towards the terminal to have a look for himself. “He’s just a Second, he should be accessible for you.”
“It’s been blocked by someone higher in the science department.” The woman looked at him with a worried expression. “We can’t see anything about the enhancements he’s been receiving.”
“What?” Angeal looked between the terminal and his unconscious pupil, who still looked like he was in pain. The medic with the materia was still hovering over his head, looking more concerned with each passing second. “What reason would they have to do that?”
The only others who had most of their data locked away were the Firsts, but that was only because Sephiroth was Hojo’s pet science experiment – as loathe as they were to think about that – and they had a keen interest in making sure his friends stayed alive, for the sake of mental stability. Why would Zack get this treatment now?
Was it because Angeal had taken an interest in him and taken him on? When he, Genesis, and Sephiroth hadn’t taken an interest in potential pupils before?
“We’re as clueless as you are, sir,” the medic at the terminal spoke up. She frowned. “Maybe they did something different with his treatments from the other SOLDIERs?”
“If they did, I assume there would be sign of that,” Angeal replied. “And that he would have made someone aware of it. He has all the bouncy eagerness of a puppy, it would have been difficult for him to keep anything completely secret.”
His eyes narrowed as he considered the other option – that this had been done without Zack’s knowledge, much less his permission.
Angeal wouldn’t put it past the scientists to do something like that, but he wished they wouldn’t step all over his pupil in order to do it. The boy didn’t deserve that kind of attention from them. He liked Shinra and SOLDIER, to be sure, but being pulled into an experiment without his permission might change his mood drastically.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t. Zack put a lot of thought into his honor as a member of SOLDIER, mostly thanks to Angeal hammering it home. If a scientist had taken an interest in him, it’s far more likely they got his permission for what he assumed were extra enhancements, to get him closer to his dream.
“We’ll need to keep him here to keep an eye on him, and let the head of the science department know about what’s going on,” the medic with the materia said. He flicked his wrists, deactivating the Sense and Assess, and turned to his partner at the terminal. “Who is it that locked down his medical records?”
The woman was staring at the screen intensely enough that she didn’t answer. She jumped when Angeal cleared his throat. “H-huh?”
“Who locked down his records?” Angeal repeated the other medic’s question.
“O-oh! Um….” The woman looked back at the terminal, uncertain. “It was…Professor Hojo, sir.”
That just brought up even more questions that Angeal wasn’t sure he wanted the answers to. He remembered the way Sephiroth shut himself away or demanded a spar to take his mind off the things Hojo liked doing in his labs. Hojo liked working with Sephiroth far too much, and if he had his eye set on Zack now as well—
…something at the back of Angeal’s mind said that this did not bode well.
“Do what you can for him,” Angeal said.
“What do you think we are, rookies?” The man with the materia motioned for Angeal to leave the infirmary. “We’ll make sure you know if there’s any change, I promise you. We don’t need you to mother hen over him any more than you want to.”
A flicker of a smile passed over Angeal’s face for a moment, and then he was out of the infirmary with a final glance at Zack’s direction.
Zack didn’t move as Angeal stepped out of the room, but the echoes of pain were still on the young SOLDIER’s face. That alone was enough to make Angeal make up his mind.
Or, it would have made him make up his mind, had he not bumped into someone else in the hall.
“What is the rush, old friend?”
Angeal blinked for a moment, recognizing the red hair of his friend. “What are you doing here, Genesis?”
“’My friend, the fates are cruel.’ I was looking for Sephiroth, but it seems that I have stumbled across you instead. You haven’t seen him, have you?”
Angeal frowned. “I haven’t, and I was about to go looking for him myself.”
“Truly?” Genesis clicked his tongue in disapproval. “’Infinite in mystery’….whenever Sephiroth needs to be found he makes himself scarce! He wasn’t in his office, which I find quite odd.” He tilted his head. “What reason do you have for finding him, exactly?”
Angeal glanced at the infirmary for a moment, then sighed heavily and shook his head. “Something’s happened to Zack, and I have a feeling that Sephiroth might have more pull on getting answers than I will.”
“Did the puppy get hurt?”
“I think the scientists may have done something…more, in the additional enhancements that Zack has been given.”
Genesis frowned. “Angeal, I should hope you are not going to speak ill will of the very people who have granted us the abilities we have as SOLDIERs! Where would you be without the strength to lift your honor, hmm?”
Angeal didn’t need to ask what Genesis meant. “Hojo has blocked access to Zack’s medical records. As he just collapsed after complaining from headaches, I have reason to believe something happened involving Hojo.”
“Ah.”
Genesis’ tone of voice said exactly what he thought of that.
“What would that man want with your puppy, I wonder?” Genesis tapped his chin in thought. “It wouldn’t be his boundless energy and his eager pep, would it?”
“I doubt it. He would have gotten his attention when he was a Third if that’s the case.”
“Fair point. Perhaps it is a gift from the Goddess?”
Angeal gave Genesis a withering look, but Genesis didn’t seem bothered in the least by the glare. “I wouldn’t call it a gift if my pupil collapsed from the pain of a headache. I have a feeling that Sephiroth will have more clout with Hojo in order to get us answers, but we will need to find him if we are going to get any of the information that I am looking for.”
“Ah.” Now Genesis seemed to be getting what Angeal was so worried about. “And Hojo is keeping the medics from knowing, you say? That is quite cruel. Let us go search for Sephiroth together, then. Perhaps he is in the archives and is buried in books again. He may have returned there when I wasn’t looking.”
Angeal sighed heavily. “I hope you’re right.”
It didn’t take them long to go up from the SOLDIER floors to the archives, where the mayor of Midgar had been sequestered away in some back closet. President Shinra clearly didn’t think much of the man, considering that the company did more to run the city than he did, but that wasn’t something that Angeal or Genesis were interested in at the moment. They worked for Shinra, they didn’t really need to think about anything beyond the missions or themselves.
Or, in Angeal’s case, about his pupil.
“If he isn’t here, and he isn’t in the training simulator, it’s likely he is with Hojo, or hiding away somewhere,” Angeal muttered. “I am never going to get any answers at this rate.”
“’My friend, the fates are cruel.’” Genesis sighed.
Genesis’ choice of words made Angeal pause in front of one of the stacks and raise a brow at his friend. “Why are you looking for him anyway, Genesis? Don’t tell me you’re looking to spar with him again.”
Genesis paused at the question. “That…ah. No, no, hardly that.”
“Then why?”
“They’re intent on sending me off to Wutai. I was wondering if we could have a chance to…well, spend some time together, before I leave in a few days. You have always been far more easy to find, what with the puppy always at your heels. I had assumed that I would be able to find Sephiroth first, this time. Quite foolish of me, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Apparently.” Angeal’s expression darkened, Zack’s current condition settling back into his mind.
But then there was Genesis, as well. That last spar had been….
Genesis clapped Angeal on the shoulder, forcing him out of his thoughts. “Do not worry yourself. I have no doubt that ‘a gift from the goddess’ will solve the puppy’s problems soon enough, hm? Perhaps he will awaken from this and never have to worry about headaches of any sort ever again.”
Angeal knew Genesis was only trying to make him feel better, but he couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head in response. “I…I suppose.”
“Come! Let us go and find our friend, before he completely vanishes from the building! ‘My friend, do you fly away now?’”
“LOVELESS, Act 3?”
Angeal turned sharply at the voice, startled at the sudden intrusion into his and Genesis’ conversation. “Sephiroth!”
Sure enough, there was their silver-haired friend, walking towards them that usual calm air about him. The younger, less experienced SOLDIERs took his countenance as an intimidation factor, but that was more a result of his constant training than it was anything else.
Sephiroth had been raised by Shinra for the sake of the SOLDIER program, after all. It would make sense that he would walk around with the air of such an experienced warrior.
“’There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the goddess’!” Genesis threw his arms forward in delight. “Where did you fly to, my friend? We were just searching you out!”
“Apologies. I was…called away for another of Hojo’s experiments.” Sephiroth’s face twisted at the mention of the scientist, but the expression lasted for only a moment. He’d come to dislike the poking and prodding that Hojo was known for, Angeal knew, but it was something that he did not often confide in others about. “I was looking for some peace and quiet in order to recover from the ordeal.”
Angeal eyed his friend for a long moment. Sephiroth’s green, slit-pupil eyes seemed unfocused. It was an unnerving look to see on his face. Was he still thinking about Hojo?
“Of course, of course.” Genesis nodded. It seemed his want for some time spent together was going to have to wait, if Sephiroth needed time alone. “Nothing too pressing this time, I hope?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Sephiroth confirmed. He noticed Angeal staring and frowned. “Nor you, Angeal. I’m fine.”
Angeal blinked sharply at Sephiroth’s change in focus, and shook his head slightly. “R-right. Sorry.”
“He’s just worried because the puppy collapsed from a headache,” Genesis offered.
“He what?” Sephiroth frowned.
Angeal shook his head. “It’s not something that’s happened before, but Zack mentioned he’s been having headaches frequently after a round of mako treatments because of his promotion. This is the first time the headaches have become enough of a nuisance that they…interfered, with his training. Zack is currently unconscious in the infirmary, but his medical records seem to be locked by Hojo. The medics weren’t able to see if there were any recent changes.”
Sephiroth said nothing. Angeal and Genesis waited, both knowing that it would take Sephiroth a while to turn over the information in his mind and come to his own conclusions. It would take longer than normal because of Hojo’s recent experiments, no doubt.
“…I see,” Sephiroth said after a moment. “You haven’t thought to speak to Hojo yourself?”
“Do you really think he is going to be that intent on listening to us?” Genesis replied. “The man has a mind for data, not for people. He would make for a terrible producer, much less an actor.”
“…point taken.” Sephiroth sighed. A hand drifted to the side of his head and pressed against his temple with a slight wince.
“You are having headaches as well?” Angeal asked.
Sephiroth closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “A minor side-effect, and my reason for wanting some peace and quiet.” He let his hand drop from its position against his head. “If you two will excuse me.”
They let Sephiroth move past them and into some quiet corner of the archives. Considering that very few people ever really came here, much less made noise, it made sense that he would retreat here for a while.
“And off he flies,” Genesis muttered. “I suppose I shall have to wait for another day. Hopefully before I have to leave.” He huffed.
Angeal, however, stared after his friend with a slight frown on his face. “First Zack, now Sephiroth….”
“You don’t think they’re connected, do you?”
Angeal noticed the sly look that Genesis was giving him, but he didn’t give Genesis the benefit of turning to face him. “I don’t know for certain. But with Zack’s medical records locked and Sephiroth also apparently suffering from headaches…it feels at the very least like a coincidence.”
“If only we could find out more, hm?”
Now Angeal turned to look at him. “What are you planning, exactly? You know as well as I do that Hojo isn’t just going to talk about the details of whatever it is he’s doing.”
“Oh, I am more than aware, my friend. Why else do you think Sephiroth has been so tight-lipped about it?” Genesis smiled slyly. “I suggest we wait until your puppy wakes up and see what happens if we get the two of them in the same room. What do you think?”
“…I think Zack would die of an over-active heart attack at meeting Sephiroth.” He was hyper enough on his own; it would make sense that meeting Sephiroth would only make him more hyper.
Genesis clicked his tongue. “He’s been around long enough; I doubt he would have that sort of a reaction.” He waved a hand at Angeal. “Go on, shoo. Look after your puppy. I’ll find something else to do while we wait for Sephiroth to recover from whatever Hojo decided to pound into his head. Does that sound good to you? Or you can find something else to keep yourself busy, but that’s up to you.” He shrugged at Angeal, then turned and walked away.
Angeal could see Genesis pulling out that well-worn book of his and sighed. He shook his head, then turned and walked back towards the elevator.
Standing here worrying about Zack wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He was in good hands, as far as Angeal knew, but Genesis was right. He was going to have to keep himself busy until Zack woke up and recovered from…whatever it is that had just afflicted him.
Hopefully, it was nothing serious.