The room was barely twice the size of a janitors closet. Except for a couple of iron-folding chairs, it was empty. The only illumination came from a single flourescent light in the ceiling. In the far corner, sat a small boy with his shirt pulled over his face. The light never went away, even at night. It made it hard to sleep sometimes when they left him there over night. Maybe they forgot about him or maybe they just wanted to make him suffer. He'd broken the bulb once before on purpose. They came running into the room, yelled at him and hit him at least twice on each cheek. It wasn't so bad until Professor Hojo found out. The caretakers had only made his face red. Hojo drew blood. It was one of the few times he'd seen his own blood not sitting in a test tube on a rack somewhere.

The boy drew his knees up against his chest and wrapped his arms around them. His caretakers were nice just as long as he didn't speak out of turn or disobey them in any kind of way. The slightest display of disrespect only resulted in pain. He couldn't cry to his mommy because she was dead. At least that was what he was told. He'd never met his daddy so their was no point in calling out to him either.

As far as he could tell, he was the only kid in the building. There used to be a couple of others, but they weren't allowed to talk to each other. He hadn't seen them in a while. They disappeared. Maybe he would too someday. It was hard to tell. The people in white coats stuck needles in his arm all the time. Sometimes he felt funny afterwards. Sometimes he threw up. Other times he went to sleep and didn't wake up for days. Once he even broke out in hives and got a horrible rash on his arms and legs.

He heard the sound of a keypad beeping outside the heavy metal door. He lifted his head as it opened. Instead of his caretakers coming in, it was a little girl with short brown hair. A grown-up hand appeared and gave her a hard shove inside. The girl turned to complain but the door slammed shut in her face.

The boy watched her kick it in frustration. She looked a little younger than him. Probably eight years old or something. She wore a pair of blue overalls over a pink shirt with an embodied flower in the center. She grabbed the handle on the door and pulled.

"It's locked."

The little girl gasped and spun around quickly. She breathed a sigh of relief after she saw him and turned to study the keypad on the wall.

"How do we get out of here then?"

"We don't. Not till they let us out."

She pressed a few random buttons and the machine beeped at her. Didn't she hear what he said?

She stopped and looked around the room and spotted a large vent near the ceiling in the wall.

"I don't know about you," she said pulling a chair under it. "But I'm not gonna be here that long."

The boy watched her climb onto it and pull at the grate. When the tips of her fingers started to get red and sore, she stopped and hit the metal with her fist. Sighing heavily, she sat down and let her feet dangle over the edge of the chair. There was few uneasy moments of silence before she finally turned to him.

"Who are you?"

"Sephiroth."

"My name is Aeris." She said politely. "How long are they going to keep us in here?"

That was a pretty name. "Dunno."

She pulled the chair closer to him. "What are you in for?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I'm just here."

"How long have you been in here?" She asked innocently.

Why was she so curious about him?

"My whole life I suppose."

Aeris' eyes grew wide. "Really? That long? Have you ever been outside? What about your parents? Where are they?"

This was getting a little too personal. His caretakers never talked to him like this. They usually avoided conversation with him when they could. Sephiroth sighed and looked away. Aeris understood.

She looked down. "I'm sorry. My parents are dead too."

He turned back to her. "What happened?"

"My mother was kept here for a long time. They did horrible things to her everyday. After she gave birth to me, my daddy helped her escape and we went into hiding for a few years. Shinra found us and killed daddy and hurt mommy, but we escaped and stowed away on a boat. When we reached the shore, mommy couldn't go no further and fell down. She told me to run to the city and hide before she died."

Sephiroth listened with interest. Aeris started to cry. He remembered when he used to do that. He gave up on crying. He only did it sometimes nowadays but never in front of other people.

"Sorry to hear that," he said. "My parents are dead. Well, at least my mother is. I'm not sure of my father."

Aeris wiped her face clear and stared at the round window on the metal door absently. " They're gonna hurt me aren't they?"

Sephiroth didn't know what to tell her. " Maybe."

She sighed.

" Well, if you're good and don't do nothing bad they leave you alone." He said. "But watch out for Professor Hojo. He's a really mean man. He runs something called 'bile' or 'chemekal' research in this building. He's also my caretaker."

"Caretaker?" She asked.

"Yeah. They look after you, take you to the labs, do things to you, and feed you- if they're in a good mood."

"How terrible."

The keypad outside beeped again. The two kids looked up as the door opened. A young blonde woman in a white lab coat entered the room. Her eyes fell on the little girl.

"Aeris?" she said.

Aeris nodded, half frightened and curious.

"My name is Allison," the woman said with a smile. She held out her hand. "Come with me and I'll show you around."

Aeris studied the woman for a moment and then stood up. She turned back to Sephiroth.

"Bye."

Aeris took Allison's hand and followed her out. The door shut softly behind them, locking instantly.

Suddenly, Sephiroth felt alone again. That girl made him feel different for a moment. He hadn't felt that way since his old caretaker took off a long time ago. Professor Gast had promised that he'd never leave him. Hojo knew something but he wasn't telling. Whenever he was angry or excited about something he mumbled to himself and didn't like when people asked about it. At least he didn't like it when Sephiroth asked.

The little boy buried his face in his shirt again and went to sleep.

Aeris followed Allison through a few halls until they stopped at a elevator. Allison pushed the button and the elevator came. They stepped in. Allison pressed another button and the doors slid shut. Aeris looked at the view from th opposite wall. The wall was a thick clear glass that viewed a few sectors of Midgar. The elevator hummed and slowly went down. It soon came to rest at a lower floor. The doors slid opened. They stepped out and entered a long hall with doors on each side. They passed by a woman sitting at a desk and continued down the hall.

They turned another corner and stopped at door marked: Specimen B, Code A, Cetra/Aeris Gainsborough Rm. 34.

Allison pulled out a ring of keys. She unlocked the door and opened it. Aeris stepped inside and looked around in awe at the large room. There was a full sized bed and a dresser with mountains of stuffed toys on it. At the foot of the bed there was large chest. Aeris was sure it was filled with toys. There was a t.v. in the far corner attached to the ceiling. There were no windows nor any other exits that she could see.

"This is your room, Aeris. You can play in here as much as you like." Allison said.

Aeris turned to her. "I can? I thought we couldn't do anything like that."

"Whatever gave you an idea like that?"

"That's what the little boy in the room told me," she said. "He said that you're gonna beat me if I don't do what you tell me to."

Allison sighed. "You mean Sephiroth? Oh, don't listen to him. He likes to make up stories to scare you, that's all. I'd never do anything to hurt you Aeris."

Aeris quietly studied the blonde woman's face silently. It looked like she was telling the truth.

"I bet you're hungry. Do you like fish-sticks?"

The girl nodded.

"I'll be right back." Allison said and left.

Aeris sat on the bed and looked around. Was the little boy really a liar? Her mother had always taught her that Shinra was an evil place and to always run whenever they came close to her. The only "Shinra" she'd seen were the bad men in blue who killed her father just over a week ago. The building was "Shinra." The blonde woman was "Shinra." Even her new room was "Shinra." Her mind drifted back to the little boy. He was the only thing that seemed out of place. He wasn't one of them, at least as far as she could tell. He said the caretakers were mean, but Allison didn't seem all that bad. Could he have been lying. Somehow Aeris doubted that but she felt it would be best to keep her feelings to herself.

Professor Hojo, followed by two Shinra troopers, made their way to the holding cell. He punched in a code and the metal door opened with a beep. He stepped in and looked at the silver-haired boy sitting in the corner with his head down.

Hojo stepped inside the room and turned to the silver-haired little boy laying face down on his bed. "Come along Sephiroth."

The boy looked up, eyes hazy from sleeping. He got to his feet and walked out of the door and waited by the troopers. Hojo exited and shut the door. They followed the scientist into the elevator and went up. Sephiroth didn't try to run nor escape. Not only was it impossible, it would be stupid and futile to try. He could tell the troopers were itching for him to mess up so they could do him harm. It was best to stay quiet and do as he was told

Hojo led Sephiroth into a lab and made the others wait outside in the hall.

The young boy climbed onto the examining table, rolled up his sleeve and waited. He stared blankly at the floor in thought while Hojo fiddled with his instruments sitting on the adjacent counter. He tried to concentrate on something better than the needle that would soon pierce his skin. Aeris seemed to be the only thing that came to mind. She had been the only one nice to him since Gast, not to mention the only child he'd seen in a long time. He wished she hadn't been taken away so soon. He kind of liked having her around.

Sephiroth didn't realize it, but he was smiling.

Hojo turned to him with a needle in hand and stopped. "What are you so happy about?"

Sephiroth dropped his smile instantly and shook his head. "Nothing."

Hojo narrowed his eyes. "You never smile during injections. What were you thinking about?"

Sephiroth shrugged and turned his green eyes away. "Nuttin'."

Hojo slapped him with his free hand. "Tell me!"

"Aeris." He fought back tears.

The scientist set the needle down for a moment, interested. "How do you know Aeris?"

Sephiroth rubbed his cheek. "I met her in the holding chamber."

"Is that all? You could have saved me a lot of trouble. You must like getting hit," he said.

Hojo raised his arm to strike Sephiroth again.

Sephiroth shut his eyes and prepared for the blow. He braced himself and gripped the edge of the table. He waited but nothing happened. He opened his eyes to the sound the professor laughing to himself. Hojo turned his back and started to mumble to himself. Sephiroth couldn't understand any of it.

Finally, Hojo attached several devices to Sephiroth's chest and arms. He swabbed his shoulder with alcohol and injected the glowing green fluid into his flesh. Sephiroth winced at the pain. Hojo tossed needle into a medical waste basket and sat down at a nearby desk with a monitor. Within a few minutes, Sephiroth started to shake and sweat. He clench his fist till his knuckles turned white and his breathing increased rapidly. Hojo watched him and scribbled something on his note pad.

After ten minutes, Sephiroth began to calm down. Hojo gestured him to go the treadmill in the corner. He jotted down some more notes and pressed a few bottons on the machine.

"Run."

Sephiroth did as he was told and Hojo left. There was no point in stopping to check the desk or to try and sneak out. The last time he did that, he was beaten and left without food for two days because he "wasted" Hojo's time. Sephiroth focused his mind on concluding his duties for the day.

Hojo went to his office and briefly stopped to talked to his secretary sitting outside the door.

"Illana, call Allison up here. I want speak with her." He said.

"Yes Professor," Illana nodded and picked up the phone.

Hojo walked into his office and sat down at his desk to go over his notes. The results from this week and last week were the same, but Sephiroth's strength did seem to be improving. His stamina was holding up as well for a boy his age. When it was time for him to go into training, he'd be the strongest out of his whole group. The Mako and Jenova injections were proving to be highly effefctive.

Illana's voice came over the intercom. "Sir, Allison is here.". Hojo put his notes away and pressed a button on his phone. "Send her in." Allison entered slowly and shut the door behind her.

"Sit."

Allison obeyed and sat in the chair across from his desk. She fidgeted under his gaze.

"You are the Cetra's caretaker. Tell me, what is she like? What interests her?"

"She's a very sweet little girl. It's a little hard for her trust people considering what's happened to her in the past. But I think she'll come around eventually."

"Is that so? Has she been attracted to a male?"

Allison raised her eyebrows. What was the hell was he thinking? "Professor, I don't think she's up to that age yet."

Hojo actually looked disappointed. "When do you think that she will be ready?"

Allison fought back a frown. What exactly was on this man's mind? Aeris was still a little girl. Hojo really was a sick puppy.

"Sir, these things take time. You can't just rush into them. It will probably take at least six years from now for her to be interested," she explained. "And even longer for her to actually want to start dating."

"Damn!" Hojo muttered. He sighed heavily. His project would have to wait. "I want her brought to me in twenty minutes. You may leave."

Allison got up and walked out of Hojo's office. She was distracted by her thoughts throughout the entire elevator ride. Hojo was nothing but a psychopath obsessed with his work. He never stopped, even when it came to children. He only married his late-wife just to make a specimen out of his own flesh and blood and nothing more. Other co-workers used to talk about it. But nowadays it was hush-hush.

Allison didn't want to leave Aeris alone with him. She didn't trust Hojo alone with the little girl, not one bit. He was bound to find some sort of experiment to conduct on the young Cetra sooner or later. However, it was all-inevitable. Hojo was head of the Bio and Chemical Research Department and one of the President's favorites. Not only that, but he was standing between her and her precious . . .

Allison went back to Aeris room. She found her sitting on her bed playing with a stuffed toy and nibbling at what was left of her French fries.

Aeris looked up. "I've been meaning to ask you, are there any other kids around here other than Sephiroth and me?"

"Yes, but you won't be able to meet them," Allison went on. "Let me show you something."

Allison sat on the bed next to Aeris. She pulled out her wallet and pulled out a photo from in between the folds and showed it to Aeris.

"This is my son, Cloud."

Aeris studied the picture. It was a small but healthy baby that looked no more than one year of age. He had blonde curls and bright blue eyes.

"Where is he?" She asked.

"Far away. You'll probably meet him one day."

"Don't you miss him?"

"Yes, all the time. He's my little angel."

"Why don't you see him?"

"I wish I could, but I have to stay here and protect you."

"Don't let me stop you. Go and see your son. You deserve a rest. I can take care of my self for a couple of days."

Allison laughed. "Brave little one aren't you?"

Aeris smiled.

"I have to leave for a second. I'll be right back," Allison said and left.

Allison shut the door and walked to the elevator. She pressed a button and entered. The elevator hummed and slowly made its way to the selected floor. Allison leaned back against the back wall and lowered her head. She looked at the picture of Cloud in her hand. Tears trickled down her face. She would love to see Cloud again but she knew that would be impossible . . .

*Flashback*

It was night. The house was quiet and dark, except for the crackle of the fireplace and the light tapping of rain outside. Allison sat back on the couch with her baby boy asleep in her arms. Her husband, Nick came in and sat next to her. He put a comforting arm around her and smiled. They stayed that way and watched the fire.

Cars screeched up the driveway outside. Allison jumped with a start. Nick rose from his seat and walked to the window. The door burst open suddenly and men in Shinra soldiers rushed inside. Nick moved in front of Allison protectively. Cloud started to cry.

"Hey, what the f**k are you doing? You can't just bust in here like you own it!" Nick yelled.

An officer struck him in his stomach with the end of his gun. The air knocked out of him, Nick went down. The soldiers circled around them.

"Nick!" Allison cried and started over to him.

She stopped in her tracks as a man in a while coat entered the house. Lightening crackled outside. Cloud was still crying. The man glared at her through his gold rimmed glasses. Allison recognized him immediately.

"Hojo!" she gasped. She stood up. "What do you want?"

Hojo snickered. "Your son of course."

Allison held Cloud tighter. "Never! Your not taking him!."

She backed up slowly toward another room. Hojo smiled and nodded to the officers. The Shinra soldiers started to advance toward her. Nick grabbed Hojo's ankles and pulled him to the floor. He crawled onto of him and started beating him with everything he had. The soldiers heard Hojo cry for help and turned around. Allison used the distraction to escape out the back door.

As soon as she reached the door she heard two gunshots and then silence. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"No," she gasped.

Cloud cried louder.

"Go get her!" She heard Hojo scream.

Allison ran out the door with Cloud in her arms. She slipped out of the side gate and ran into the street cold and barefoot. She could hear the guards running behind her. They dropped to their knees and started to shoot. Bullets whizzed by her. Allison ducked and shielded Cloud with her body.

"Don't shoot her idiots! She has the baby! Get her! Get her!" Hojo cried.

Allison turned the corner. She had to find some place to hide. She remembered a school nearby that had a hole cut into the back gate. If she could just make it there and find some place to hide, she might have a chance. She covered Clouds face with the blanket he was wrapped in and kept going. The rain soaked her dress, making it heavy and clung to her legs as she ran. Her was now sopping wet stuck to her neck and face. It didn't matter though. All she wanted to do was to save her baby's life.

Cars skidded around the corner behind her. Allison saw an empty field coming up next to a row of houses. The school was right around the corner. She managed to get there just as the cars pulled up behind her. They tried to drive into the field but the mud was too soft. Allison hopped toward the fence, her feet sinking into the ground just above her ankle. She made it though the hole in the gate and right into a puddle of water. She looked back briefly and saw the soldiers getting out of the cars.

Allison started to cry and pressed harder. She bolted across the grass to where the opposite corner where she knew another hole in the fence was. Once there, she could get to the other street and find some place to hide. The footsteps behind her came closer. Allison suddenly felt like she wasn't going to make it.

She got to the fence and stopped. Cars on the street came to a screeching halt outside of the gate. Shinra soldiers ran out and headed straight for her. She backed away from the fence and stopped, looking behind her. The other soldiers were too close to find another escape route.

Cloud didn't like being wet and started to cry more. Allison tried to calm him. Once again, they surrounded her.

The rain stopped.

Hojo stepped into the circle and laughed.

"Nice try little one," he said. "Now, were going to try this again. Hand over the baby."

Allison looked at her surroundings. There was no way out of this one. She looked at the baby in her arms. He stopped cry and stared up at her. Tears mixed with water fell from her face. She kissed Cloud's forehead and hugged him.

Hojo stepped up and Allison slowly handed her baby to him. Hojo snatched Cloud and walked away. Allison slowly sank to the ground and covered her face to cry. A soldier came up behind her and hit her head with the butt of his gun and knocked her unconscious. He then cocked his gun and aimed.

"No, don't kill her!" Hojo shouted.

The soldier lowered his gun.

"Put her in the car." Hojo ordered.

Allison woke up tied to a chair. She was dizzy and had a splitting headache. The room looked like a storage room of some sort. It seemed like it hadn't been used in ages. The door across the room opened and Hojo stepped in.

"You're finally awake," he said.

"Where's my son?" Allison demanded.

"Safe, for now."

Allison gritted her teeth. "What do you want with him?"

"That's none of your concern. You should be concerned about how long you have to live."

"You would have already killed me if you wanted me dead."

"Smart girl. I'm going to give you a chance to live. I've pulled up your files and found out you have majored in Mako science and studied the Cetra's history," he said. "Work for Shinra under my management and you can live. That also means you'll have to eat, sleep, and live here as well."

"I will never work for you!"

"Well, its either that or die. Personally, I'd hate to see such talent go to waste."

Allison was silent. "Will I get to see my son?"

"..maybe."

"Please, let me see him?"

"I said you MIGHT get to see him. I didn't say when."

Tears dripped from her eyes. "Okay, I'll do it. But only for Cloud."

"Good girl. You say a word to anyone and you won't live long enough to see Cloud again."

*End of Flashback.*