Chapter One

Jaras was sitting behind the counter of his bookstore, waiting for closing time to come. It was only four-thirty, and he had another hour and a half to go before he could go home. He no longer lived in the small apartment above the store-- that was now rented out to the young man that had been working for him for several years. Instead, Jaras now lived in a small home on the edge of Mideel with his wife, Jeanine. They had gotten married two years before, after dating for four. Life was just about as good as it could get, as far as Jaras was concerned.

The phone rang, snapping Jaras out of his daydream. "Mideel Books, Jaras speaking."

"Jaras, how are you doing?" asked the voice from the other end.

He smiled widely upon hearing his father’s voice. "Hey, Dad. Everything’s great. How’s Tifa and Aaron?"

Vincent smiled, sitting down in a kitchen chair. "They’re doing fine. Aaron started kindergarten today."

"Wow, already? He’s six, right?" Jaras still wasn’t used to the fact that he had a baby brother nearly thirty-five years younger than him. "Seems like you guys just had him."

"I know, it’s weird, huh?" Vincent looked over as he heard someone walk into the kitchen behind him. It was Tifa.

"So, when’s the next one due?" Jaras asked.

Vincent continued to gaze over at his heavily pregnant wife. "She’s thirty-four weeks now, so about a month and a half."

"And you guys are still waiting for the birth to find out the gender?" Jaras tried to envision Tifa pregnant, as he hadn’t seen her since before she’d started showing.

"Yeah, that’s what she wants." Vincent stood up, going over and examining the contents of the grocery bag that Tifa had set on the counter. He saw some pudding cups inside and pulled one out. "She’s really excited."

"And what’s Aaron think about the whole situation?" Jaras could hear his father digging through a silverware drawer.

Finally retrieving a spoon, Vincent went and sat at the table again. "He’s excited. He’s pulling for a baby brother, but he says a sister would be all right as well."

"What do you want?" Jaras asked.

"I don’t know, it’d be nice to have a daughter I suppose. Then I’d have two of each." Vincent pulled the foil cover from his snack.

Jaras grinned at the thought of his sister Angel. He’d spoken with her just a few days before, her own little girl screaming and running around in the background. "Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough."

"Yeah," Vincent sighed. "Anyway, the reason I was calling is that Tifa really wants you and Jeanine to head on out after the baby’s born for a visit. She talked to Cid the other day and he was game to pick the two of you up and bring you here when the time comes."

Jaras nodded. "Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem. Mark can run the store for a few days. He’s done it plenty of times before. I know Jeanine would love to come out. She’s sort of getting baby fever, you know. Her clock’s ticking."

Vincent laughed. "Do you think you’ll have any?"

"I don’t know, Dad. I’m forty now. She’s still game, but…" His voice trailed off for a moment.

"Well, if Cid could handle raising a kid at that age, then I’m sure you could." Vincent said, his mouth full.

"And I’m sure his general mood and attitude is doing nothing but improving with age," Jaras laughed back. He hadn’t seen the pilot since he and Jeanine’s wedding, but knew that of all people, Cid would always be the same.

"And that would be a correct assumption." Vincent finished his small pudding cup and got up, going over and throwing the container in the garbage and tossing the spoon in the sink. "Anyway, I better go. Tifa wants me to go to her doctor’s appointment with her in a little while."

"Okay, I’ll talk to you later, Dad."

"Bye, Jaras." Vincent hung up the phone.

Jaras sat back and sighed. Going to go see his father and Tifa after the baby was born would be the first thing resembling a vacation that he and Jeanine had gotten in a while. When the door to his shop opened, he turned his attention to his potential customer. It wasn’t someone he recognized, and he figured it was a tourist. "Hello."

The young woman smiled at him and approached the counter. "Hi there."

"Can I help you with something?" he asked, seeing that she was studying him.

She narrowed her eyes, smiling. "You bear a striking resemblance to someone, you know."

Jaras felt his heart race. The fact that he could do little to conceal his identity was foremost on his mind. He opted to try and play stupid. "Do I?"

She saw his nervous reaction, despite his attempt to cover it. "Yes, you look like Sephiroth."

He managed a nervous laugh. "No."

When she saw his cat like green eyes dilate wide upon the mention of Sephiroth’s name, she knew she had him. "Well, in any event, I was wondering if you had any books on Materia?"

Relieved that the conversation had moved away from him, Jaras smiled and pointed to a nearby rack. "There’s several of them there. Is there a particular title you’re interested in?"

She strolled over where he’d indicated and examined the books there. "No, just something general, I suppose."

"That green one to your left is good. It has a lot of information," Jaras said.

The woman reached down and picked up the book. "All right, it should do, then."

Jaras rang her out for her purchase and smiled at her as she picked up the book and walked from the store. "Have a nice day, Miss."

"You as well," she replied, then leaving. The blond made it a short distance down the sidewalk before stopping and pulling out her cell phone. She dialed a number, and waited for someone to answer.

"Yes?" a man’s voice asked.

"Identity verified, mark is true. Code Jenova," she said quietly, before flipping her phone closed and disappearing down the street.

#

At the other end of the line, Rude closed his own phone and frowned for a moment. He didn’t want to relate this information to President Harwin, but he had no choice. The man was sitting right in front of him and saw his expression.

"What is it, Rude?" the corpulent man asked.

He knit his brow for a moment, pushing his sunglasses higher up his nose. "That was a check in from Deana."

Harwin smiled. He’d been waiting for news from that Turk for a while regarding the status of something in Mideel. "And?"

Rude hung his head, dreading what he had to say. "Code Jenova."

The fat man squealed with delight and leapt up from his seat, slamming his hands down upon his desk. "I’ll be damned! I want him caught now! Methius will be delighted!"

The Turk sighed heavily. Letting Peirte Methius get his hands on Jaras was the last thing he wanted. If Hojo had been insanely evil, then he and Doctor Peirte Methius must have been cut from the same cloth. The rumor that Sephiroth had been living in Mideel for years incognito had finally made its way to Shinra’s ears, and with that, they had sent Deana out to verify or refute this claim. Methius was eagerly awaiting verification of Sephiroth’s existence, wanting desperately to try his hand at revamping the former General into something greater than he had been before.

Rude had been working as a double agent for both Shinra and ASRIO now for six years. He’d given the heads up to Reno some time ago that the company was getting ready to look into Jaras’ identity, but the fact that it had now happened and he hadn’t spoken to Reno recently stung something within him. Rude had met Jaras briefly back at the time of Hojo’s death and at Tseng’s funeral, and didn’t relish the thought of the reformed man going back into the lab, Hojo’s or not. The Turk was aware that he had to get word to ASRIO immediately if they were to get Jaras to safety before Shinra got to him.

Rude considered the cell phone still clutched in his hand. "Mister President, I need to go make a personal call."

Harwin shook his head and wagged a finger at him. "Not until you give the order to the men in Mideel to move in and get Sephiroth. Your own personal business can wait."

Shit, Rude thought to himself. There was an ASRIO agent in Mideel and if he could just call ASRIO first, this impending tragedy for Jaras might be avoided. With the President of the company staring at him though, there was no way he could do that and not lose his own job and life. Reluctantly, he flipped his phone open and hit a speed dial button. He quickly hit the clear button and then chose another speed dial number instead. The fortitude in what he was about to do right in front of the most powerful man in the world made him uncharacteristically nervous.

"What?" someone immediately answered.

Rude closed his eyes behind his tinted lenses, suppressing his urge to smile at hearing Reno’s familiar voice. Hopefully the former Turk would understand what he was about to hear, since Rude couldn’t blow his cover. "C…Code Jenova. Move out and capture the mark."

Reno scowled as he tried to figure out what in the hell he’d just been told. "Rude, is that you?"

"Yes."

"What the fuck is going on?" Reno asked, not getting it.

A trained and waiting SOLDIER like the one he was supposed to be calling wouldn’t need to question this order and Rude found himself in the bad position of not being able to explain himself "I said Code Jenova, the mark has been identified."

Reno attempted to question Rude one more time, but found that he was quickly hung up on.

Rude slipped his phone back into his pocket and looked at the President. "Done."

Harwin fell back into his seat again, his self-satisfaction evident on his face. "Good, go make your call now."

Rude nodded curtly, not believing what he’d just gotten away with. He walked from the room and pulled his phone out again. Aware that the SOLDIERs in Mideel would log the time when they received his call, he knew he had to actually make the call to them immediately to prevent any glaring inconsistencies. He dialed the right number this time.

Someone answered on the first ring. "Sir?"

Rude frowned and repeated the phrase again. "Code Jenova. Move out and capture the mark."

The man on the other end became nervous and it reflected in his voice, not eager to face Sephiroth for his meager SOLDIER wage. "Yes, Sir."

Rude flipped the phone close one more time and went back into the President’s office.

#

Reno stood in a corridor of the ASRIO base staring at the phone in his hand. He knew that it had been Rude beyond question, but he wasn’t sure what was going on. Code Jenova? he thought, what’s that supposed to mean? It has to be important, I should know this! I was a Turk, damn it. Come on, Reno, think! Jenova…that was the thing that they took cells from and injected Sephiroth-- oh fuck!

Reno quickly dialed a number and felt his heart begin to race. This couldn’t be happening. Rude had said something in his usual cryptic way a few weeks ago about Shinra looking for Sephiroth, but in his typical manner, Reno had opted to be too cool about the whole thing. Now it was going to bite him in the ass. "Come on, answer you lazy bitch!"

"Hello?"

"Spanky, listen to me. Go get Jaras right now and get him hidden!" Reno said, his voice betraying his anxiety.

The ASRIO agent knew better than to question Reno when he was speaking in this tone. "Yes, Sir."

"Good. Call me after you get him!" Reno then hung up, wanting the agent to get to Jaras as soon as possible.

#

It was now closer to six, and Jaras was starting to count out his register and prepare his deposit to be dropped off at the bank on the way home, since it was Tuesday. He was a creature of habit, and his routines were generally set in stone. This, unfortunately, made him predictable.

At five forty-five, he put the day’s cash in the envelope for the bank and sealed it before placing it in his pack that he brought to work everyday. After that, he walked through the store, making sure that all the books were in their place, and that any bare spots on the shelves were filled with stock from the back.

At five till six, he turned the sign in the window to ‘Closed’, and turned off the lights in the back room. He went over by the registers again and flipped through the ledgers for a moment, seeing that he needed to make another order of those trashy romance novels again, as he did every Wednesday, before cutting out of the store three minutes early. With the lights off and the door locked, Jaras began to walk down the street, intending to put the week’s deposit in the bank’s night drop box on the way home.

He never suspected for a moment that his routine was about to be interrupted.

As he neared the bank, he veered off of the sidewalk and strolled through the parking lot. The night deposit box for the bank was on the side of the building, located in a spot not visible from the street. It wasn’t the safest set up they could have managed, but this was Mideel and nothing ever happened here.

He pulled his pack from his shoulder and reached inside, pulling out the envelope within. It was quickly then dropped into the slot and he flung his pack onto his back again and turned around. He froze in place.

There before him stood four Shinra SOLDIERs, with their assault rifles pointed at him. The one on the far right of the group spoke. "Sephiroth, put your hands up and get down on your knees!"

Jaras began to hyperventilate, having feared this moment for ages. They knew whom he was and they were going to take him away. Yet, those rifles pointing at him would tear him apart if they thought he was a threat and he didn’t know what else to do other than comply.

The four men came closer, keeping their weapons trained upon him. The man who’d spoken before did so again. "Lay down!"

Jaras, shaking badly, moved to get on his stomach. The asphalt was still warm from the day’s heat, and it didn’t help the fact that he was already sweating profusely in his anxiety. "Please, you guys have the wrong man! I’m not Sephiroth!"

One of the men lowered his gun and quickly got to Jaras’ side and knelt down, putting his knee painfully in the middle of Jaras’ back, pinning him to the ground. "We know who you are, don’t resist!"

Jaras felt his arms wrenched painfully behind his back as a pair of cuffs were placed on him. "What do you want?"

"We have orders to take you back to Shinra. You are their property and belong to the company," the man behind him said, rustling around with something that Jaras couldn’t see.

"Let me go! I’m not Sephiroth! My name’s Jaras Ross, I run a bookstore! Please!" he begged, the terror of the situation ripping through him.

"You are Sephiroth." The man pinning him down moved quickly, reaching around and placing something over Jaras’ mouth and nose.

He struggled for all he was worth and held his breath for several seconds, but his need to breathe got the better of him and he inhaled against the rag being held to his face and his world started to spin. Within a few moments, Jaras was unconscious.

#

At two minutes past six, Spanky got to the bookstore, finding that it was already shut up for the night and that Jaras was nowhere to be found. He cursed his luck and started running down the street, looking for the man he’d been ordered to find.

As he neared the bank, he had to jump back as a van pealed out of the parking lot, damn near running him over as he’d tried to cross the driveway. He shouted out at the driver and flipped him off before continuing on his way toward Jaras’ house, hoping to find him there.

He got to the house and knocked on the door. Something didn’t feel right and Spanky had a feeling that things weren’t going to turn out well.

Jeanine answered, smiling at the ASRIO agent that had been living in town to keep an eye on Jaras and herself for the last few years. Quickly, she saw that something was wrong. "Spanky? What’s going on?"

"Is Jaras home?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

She shook her head. "No, he’s due home anytime now, though. He always gets here at this time."

"I was just at the store and he was gone, and I ran the whole route he takes home to get here, Mrs. Ross. I didn’t see him anywhere." Spanky motioned back behind him. "Is there anywhere he might have gone after work today?"

She shook her head. "No, he always comes straight home on Tuesday after stopping at the bank to drop off the deposit. I make ravioli on Tuesdays and he’s never been late."

Spanky’s eyes went wide. "He… he stops at the bank on Tuesdays?"

"Every one of them." Jeanine started to feel nervous. "Why? What’s going on?"

He remembered almost being run over by the van near the bank and felt his heart jump into this throat. Immediately he knew he’d failed his mission. "Oh dear God…"

Jeanine was outright panicked now. "Spanky, what’s going on?"

"Reno called and said that I needed to get Jaras. Shinra figured it out and I was supposed to get to him before they did. I think… I think I was too late." He hung his head, disappointed in himself and fearing the call he was about to make.

She felt herself waver at this news, and grabbed a hold of the doorframe to steady herself. The thought that Jaras may have been kidnapped was more than she could bear. "Spanky, they can’t get a hold of him! You know what they’ll do to Jaras if they get him!"

"I’m all too aware of it, Mrs. Ross," he replied, pulling out his phone. He disregarded Jeanine as she proceeded to break down before him. After dialing Reno’s number, he held the phone to his ear.

Reno answered, already knowing who it was from his caller I.D. "Spanky, please tell me you’ve got the creepy bastard."

He hesitated. "I’m sorry, Reno. He’s gone."

In a rare moment, Reno was speechless and he fell back into the chair he was standing by. "Oh fuck…"

"I got to the store and he was gone for the night. On the way to his house, I almost got hit by a van pulling out of the bank’s parking lot. I’m pretty damned sure they had him in that van, Reno." Sparks turned away from Jeanine, not able to stand watching her cry.

Reno’s first thought was how Angel was going to react when she got this news. She loved her brother and they’d gotten close over the years. This would tear her apart. Then came the thought of how he would have to call Vincent and tell him. That would possibly prove to be even worse. Despite all the years that had elapsed and the fact that Vincent no longer was possessed by that demon, Reno was still scared of him.

Now ASRIO was going to have to find out where they were going to try and hide Jaras and get him back. "Okay… look, take Jeanine and get her here to the base so we know that she’s at least safe, all right? We’ll figure out what to do, Spanky."

The fact that Reno wasn’t going to just fly off the handle and have a major temper tantrum scared the agent. When Reno sounded nice, really nice, it meant that he was too freaked out to be his usual self. Spanky knew that things were about to get messy. "Okay. I’m with Mrs. Ross now. We’ll head to the base immediately."

"Good. I’ll see you when you get here. Make sure she stays safe. If we get Jaras back and anything’s happened to her, he’ll shit a brick." Reno turned his phone off and tossed it onto the coffee table before him.