Chapter Text
Sephiroth is sent to more extermination missions the following week. During those times he makes sure to pay attention to his surroundings but there isn't anyone following him.
He repeats this behaviour for weeks until a month has passed but just like the other times there's nobody following on him. Sephiroth goes to the slums, he finishes his missions the same way he always does and returns without any inconveniences.
Having his routine uninterrupted shouldn't bother him as much as it does but he can't help being disappointed.
The second month however, a meeting with someone new changes things.
His day starts the same as always.
Sephiroth is called to work during one of his training sessions. This time is team B who's taking him out to the slums and supervising his mission. Like the other times, their job consists on measuring his progress and comparing it to his previous data.
The mission however, is a little unusual. For the last two weeks the residents of the South area of Sector 5 had been forced to abandon their homes because of an infestation of ringmaw.
The extermination mission consists on inspecting the slums and eliminating any monsters nests he finds. He has to search the place and destroy the nests around the buildings, get the monsters out of the houses and also kill them with minimal property damage. Once he finishes he'll be taken back to the building as usual.
It won't be difficult but it will certainly take him time.
Two hours later, Sephiroth and the scientists arrive at the given location. And just like the other times, Sephiroth goes to investigate the area leaving the scientists behind.
He finds the first monsters and falls into the familial habit of getting rid of them. Sephiroth advances through the neighbourhoods taking care of the monsters until he's close to the Sector's outskirts.
He's finishing one of the last monsters when he feels it, someone's watching him. His body tenses, his vision sharpens, and his senses go into overdrive, unlike last time this opponent feels much more dangerous.
The silver haired child turns around and finds himself face to face with a brown haired man in a dark blue suit. A Turk, but different from before. This man is older, more experienced, with scars on his left cheek to show for it.
His serious demeanour and the stern look on his face sends shivers down his spine.
The SOLDIER child and the older Turk hold gazes for a while, analysing each other. Sephiroth can tell this man is dangerous and probably more knowledgeable in battle than he is.
So he stays in place and waits for the man to make the first move.
The Turk turns around and starts walking, and after a moment of hesitation Sephiroth follows. Who knows, maybe this man could have the answers he's been looking for.
He's guided away from the centre of the street to more isolated and destroyed buildings where the monsters used to stay. It makes him suspicious but his senses tell him they're the only ones in the area so he continues walking.
They enter one of the abandoned buildings, moving around until they reach the hallway. The older Turk enters the room at the end, with Sephiroth following behind.
Inside there's only a table and two chairs. The man stops and sits down resting his elbows on the table and his chin on his hands.
"Please sit down"
Finally meeting the boy and being face-to-face to him has Veld struggling to hide his emotions and intentions from his face.
It's certainly one of the most difficult tasks he's done in years.
The nose, the lips, the eyebrows, even the eye shape, the first time he caught sight of those features his heartbeat started rising. Even the posture and demeanour. The boy shares so many similarities to Vincent that it scares him. The probability scares him.
Could it really be true? Could he have been alive?
Did Vincent had a child before dying? Is that how the kid fell into the hands of the Science Department?
Because that's the only way this could have happened. Veld refuses to consider any other option. The idea that Vincent would have given away his son just like that is inconceivable. That isn't like the man Veld would have asked to be Felicia's Godfather.
His gaze focus on the child in front of him. Despite telling him to sit down the boy remains standing.
If it's true that he has only interacted with scientists all this time, well, Veld can't blame him for not trusting him yet.
The Turk sighs, it appears his best bet now will be to take things slow and try to gain the child's trust first. 'I hope I can manage to make the kid cooperate'.
Veld tries to keep an open expression and says in a reassuring voice "I'm not here to harm you kid, I just want to talk".
And it's the truth, weapon or not, Veld is not going to fight a kid. Because that's what this soldier is. Just a child.
A child that might be his friend's son.
If there was any doubt of Katana's words they would be gone by now. No matter what missions this boy may have accomplished, he's still nothing but a kid.
A young boy who can't be older than twelve. 'He barely looks older than Felicia' Veld realises.
The silver haired boy looks behind him back towards the door, his head not turning away completely. By the way he stands, the kid's body is on guard. It's clear he's paying attention to any noise inside and outside the building, besides keeping his attention on Veld.
The Turk isn't blind to his behaviour 'This kid is ready to bolt or attack at any sign of trouble'.
"Don't worry about your supervisors, my men are making sure to make distractions so we can have a moment to talk".
His words manage to catch the boy's attention. The kid mouth twitches and his body language shifts. For a moment it seems like he'll ask a question but in the end the kid just stays silent.
When nothing else happens Veld takes the initiative again, "My name is Verdot, I'm the director of the General Affairs Department, otherwise known as the Turks. You met one of my men two months ago".
Giving information is a good tactic to gain trust, the Turk knows that, but the boy's face is so blank that if it wasn't because of Katana's report Veld would have believed the boy doesn't care.
Seconds pass by and the kid just keeps looking at the Turk director without saying anything.
It makes Veld sigh again. 'This is getting us nowhere' his hand goes to lay around his breast pocket, he hesitates for a second before making a decision.
'If he's really Vincent's, if he knows about him then maybe...'
He reaches into his pocket and pulls a photo.
A nostalgic feeling consumes him while he looks at it, but he can't allow himself to linger on them, with a sigh he lays the photo on the table.
On it there's a man with short black hair facing the camera. He has red eyes, sharp features and a serious gaze. A look so neutral that it's impossible to guess what he could have been thinking the moment the photo was taken.
The man stands straight with his arms by his sides, his dark blue suit in perfect condition. The clear picture of a professional Turk.
The bottom the photo reads 'Vincent Valentine'
It doesn't take long for the kid to lower his gaze to the photo. The moment he realises what's on the picture his eyes widen. In the blink of an eye he's closer to the table, empty chair pushed to the side.
The kid's green eyes have a laser focus on the picture of the Turk. His eyes growing larger the more time he looks at it, clearly taking on every detail he can find.
The boy's small hands tremble while he gets closer, his intention to touch the photo clear. However, before he can even reach the table, the kid freezes.
Suddenly the kid's eyes snap to look at Veld's face and his hand quickly retracts. His face then goes completely blank, as if his previous reaction didn't happen or matter.
The entire scene raises alarm bells for the veteran Turk.
He knows that what he saw wasn't a common reaction for a kid. And that the level of fear in the boy's eyes wasn't normal for such a small reaction either.
It was as if he was afraid of the consequences of touching the picture. And at the same time, he looked terrified that if he showed he wanted it, Veld would take it away.
Imagining his own daughter in the boy's place makes the Turk's chest hurt. He wants to say something but he also knows that he shouldn't raise attention to what he saw, the kid doesn't trust him yet, now's not the time.
Taking a deep breath Veld tries to focus on the actual reason he's here and asks "Do you know who the man in the photo is?", and then he waits.
The kid stays silent, lips pressed in a thin line. Reluctant to even make a noise now.
But Veld won't stop trying, not after seeing the boy's reaction. He searches inside his pocket again and pulls out another photo.
This time there's two people in the picture. A young Vincent standing next to a younger Veld, both men smiling proudly with their arms on each other's shoulders.
The boy's eyes follow every movement from Veld. From the moment he touches his pocket to the moment his hand lays the new photo on the table.
It's somewhat unnerving to have the kid complete attention focused on him, the predatory glint of slitted green eyes sends shivers down his spine. And it's not until those eyes remain glued to the new photo that he's able to breath again. 'I didn't even realise that I was holding my breath'.
Now that he has caught the boy's interest Veld dares to try again, he points to the picture and declares "This photo was taken more than a decade ago, after my partner and I successfully finished our first mission together as a team".
The Turk can tell the kid is listening intently by the diminutive tilt of his head. It seems he made the right choice. Checking his pocket again he then proceeds to lay another photo on the table.
This time the photo only shows the black haired man sitting at a desk frowning at some papers. Veld pointedly avoids looking at the photo.
There's no point in letting his thoughts wander. He spend enough time the last years sitting in his office regretting his choices. There's was nothing he could do then, but now, now he might have the chance.
He lets the kid analyse the photo for some time before speaking. "This is the last photo that I have of my partner before he left for a mission and never returned"
The silence that follows is suffocating.
Veld eyes linger on the boy, the boy that reminds him so much of his friend. The kid who could be a small copy of Vincent if it wasn't for the silver hair and the cat-like green eyes.
'How did that even happened? Was he just born like that or is it Science's doing?'
Veld's thoughts suddenly come to a stop when he looks at the kid's face and he notices the shine of the boy's eyes.
'Are those...? Is he about to cry?!'
The kid's eyes had filled with tears while looking at the photos, but he's not crying yet. It looks like he's holding back his tears, his face twitching but not moving or showing any emotions.
'Who told you that you couldn't cry kid?' The Turk can't help but wonder with a heavy heart.
He debates saying something but in the end Veld just stays silent, looks to the side and lets the silver haired kid have a moment to himself.
The boy doesn't make any noise but when Veld dares to look back again he finds tears running down the boy's cheeks. He's also looking at Veld, waiting.
It seems he can finally starts making questions, the Turk decides to ask the same one again, "Do you know who this man is?"
The child gulps and looks down. Veld merely waits, it's clear to him that the kid is just taking a moment to think about what to say. And after all he's seen he believes the kid deserves a little patience.
It's painful to see how someone so young can have such an iron control over himself as to cry and yet not show any emotions. It breaks his heart.
Vincent's kid or not, this is still a child who is being used as a weapon by a group of people who cares about nothing but results. It's clear to him that for the scientists this boy's innocence and childlike nature were never a concern.
'What a cruel life you've been living boy'.
His focus goes back to the silver haired child when he sees him move.
Getting closer to the table and looking at him in the eyes the kid answers his question in a calm voice, "Yes, I know who he is".
Veld waits. And eventually, he's rewarded for it.
"The man in the photo... is Vincent Valentine". The boy softy adds.
There's something in the kid's voice that the Turk can't decipher. Mainly because he can't really concentrate. Not when his emotions are all over the place.
Under the table Veld's hands tightly grip the fabric of his pants, his mind running wild, 'How long has it been since I heard anyone say that name? Years? A decade?'.
Against his better judgement he dares to ask another question. "How do you know about him?".
'Please don't say, please don't say it. Please-'
"He's... he's my father". The boy whimpers.
There's a certain vulnerability in the kid's eyes that feels wrong to see. It makes him look so much younger 'Young as Felicia'.
Veld closes his eyes to avoid looking at the boy while he tries his best to keep his emotions hidden but his voice still catches when he asks "Your... father?"
There aren't enough words to describe all that he's feeling; anguish, despair, anger, the feeling that he failed both his partner and this child he just met.
He wants answers. No, he needs answers.
What happened to Vincent, what happened to this kid, who's the mother, what happened to her.
Before he can try to ask more questions, however, his phone vibrates.
It's a message from his Turks.
They've run out of time.
"Kid, you need to go back, your supervisors will be checking on you soon". As much as it pains him to say those words he can't put the kid and himself in danger. Nobody can know about their meeting, the risk is too high.
The boy, however, doesn't move, his eyes remain glued to the photos.
"Kid you need to go" Veld stands up ready to try to coarse the boy to leave when he speaks.
"Please" the kid's brittle voice is barely audible but it still manages to freeze the Turk. When the young boy sees that Veld isn't angry or about to reprimand him, he continues "Can I keep one photo?" The kid's lower lip trembles, "Please"
The director of the Turks knows he can't risk information regarding him or any other Turk falling into outsiders' hands, and yet before he can even consider telling the kid 'no'...
"Please"
The pain in that voice has him faltering.
'If the kid is telling the truth and he's really Vincent's...'
Veld sighs and looks to the table. Without giving himself time to change his mind he grabs the first photo and offers it to kid.
"Keep it hidden, don't let anybody see it" he orders.
He doesn't even get to see the boy's reaction to his words because by the moment he finishes his sentence the kid is already in front of him leaning on table.
Veld can't help it, he flinches. 'Right, inhuman speed, I can't forget that'.
The child looked so pitiful while begging that he couldn't stop himself from lowering his guard. He has to be careful not to repeat that mistake.
Veld looks down at his hand holding the photo of his partner. He's half expecting the kid to just rip the photo from his fingers but instead of doing that, the boy slowly reaches with his hands and gently grabs the photo.
Holding it close with such a reverence and care that if it wasn't for the earlier display he wouldn't have believed he was the so called weapon of SOLDIER.
"I'll find you another time and then we'll talk more, okay? I'll make sure we have more time next time. All I ask is that you don't speak about this meeting to anybody. If somebody asks you don't know me or anyone from the Turks, you never saw us, understood?"
The boy hesitates before quickly nodding.
Standing like this, face impassive but eyes full of emotion, Veld can't stop the thought that he looks just like Vincent did before he left. When he found him standing alone in the office and holding the deceased Dr. Grimoire Valentine's possessions.
Now having himself faced with the same picture again, he can't stop himself from wishing fate wasn't so cruel.
Shaking his head he looks to the silver haired child who unlike before, now seems completely unaware of his surroundings. The so called weapon just keeps gently running his fingers through the surface of photo, eyes soft.
Once kid chooses the pocket closer to his heart to keep the photo, Veld just closes his eyes painfully and lets out a breath.
His eyes open wide, however, when the kid speaks to him on his own volition for the first time since they met.
In a soft hoarse voice and with eyes full of gratitude, the kid gently says, "Thank you sir" and leaves so quickly that the Turk doesn't even have the time to answer him back.
Finding himself alone in the room Veld just stands still for a while before his legs start to fail and he needs to sit down.
Curling into himself, he lets his head fall into his hands and sighs.
In the solitude of the empty house the leader of the Turks weeps.
"Are you done boy?"
Sephiroth nods, he arrived just in time to avoid having the scientists' search for him.
"Let's go back, we'll check your progress at the lab". With another nod the silver haired boy follows behind the group.
In that moment if the scientists had cared enough to turn around and check on Sephiroth they would have seen him what at that point marked the start of their end.
The boy's genuine smile, the tears in his eyes and the small hand on his chest shaking, they showed his first change ever since coming to Midgar.
The hope Sephiroth had thought he lost, he had it back. Now, now Sephiroth had reasons to believe that his father could be helped.
And he would stop at nothing to save him.