Title: Oh Gracious Twist of Fate
Author: GW Katrina aka Icedarkelf on IJ
Betas:Skeren
Fandom/Pairing: Final Fantasy Seven, and will eventually contain my OT4 of shiny. Aka: Sephiroth/Cloud/Aeris/Zack
Notes: This is a massive AU, deviating from canon before the game even starts. As FL puts it, it rapes the canon storyline to hell and back. Basic idea: What if Hojo, seeing how close Sephiroth and Cloud had gotten, had the blond kidnapped before the incident at Mt. Nibel?

Chapters-present time

Interludes-past time

Special mention of Bardlinn, who got me into the damn fandom. huggles Linn, but attempts to strangle her at the same time Thanks, Linn.

I don't own FFVII, though I wish I did. Sadly, I only own crack plot bunnies.

OGToF: Chapter One

August 27, 1994

So long. Too long.

For over two years, they had been searching. Two long years of stealthily seeking answers, and hiding the fact that they knew the truth, that they knew they had been lied to. Two years of pretending to be suspicious, but unsure where to start.

They had hidden their knowledge. Hidden the fact that working with the person who had taken their friend away disgusted them to no end. All of their designs were carefully hidden away so that they could find the information they needed. The information that brought them here, and would hopefully save the person they cared for.

Now was their chance.

There was going to be Hell to pay if their friend was damaged in any way.

They all agreed on that.

He knows they are coming.

Trapped in here, this little place of white and sterile pain and hurting comfort, he can see them coming for him, though he can't reach them. He's in his tube, hands and legs and skin all pressed against cold, cold glass, and thinking about those who are coming oh so near, who burn and hurt and feel so right and safe. They feel different, all intent and focused and burning through his head like fire. Green, green fire that hurts and heals and makes all the voices go mad, all of them screaming in his head. Except the one that holds him and tries to keep the others quiet, and he can't do it, but he tries and that makes it a little easier to hide from the pain.

They are so close. The one who is so similar to him, who burns with power and Mother and green fire, and tastes of everything and nothing and soft kisses and silver hair. He is there, burning with Mother's power, and hurting, hurting, hunting and hurting. Hurting because of Mother, hurting because he is in the tube, and greensilver can't touch him, and hunting to find him.

It's so hard to separate them, and he knows he can't, all he knows is that they are there, and it burns him in his head, but it's a pain that makes him gasp for air because it feels so good. It's not the pain of needles or white, white, white pain of the voices when they become so loud they burn away everything, all color and feeling.

The one who stays with him, who protects him from Mother and the screaming voices that rest below him, flowing in a green river of everything, is here. He can feel him, all soothing and golden, covering everything in a thick coating of something else. The sheer joy of having someone reach back makes it feel better, and he clings to the voice like a child to a father. The voice lets him, protecting him with wings of blood and golden claws.

And the much fainter one, who is laughter and softness and comfort. Who fights and is worried but hides it with anger. He feels of Mother's touch, but there is more than enough of the screaming river of voices to drown her out of his head. He wonders if that is why the faint touch does not hear her, why he is free to do as he wishes without having to hear the screams and cries and soft, soft whispers that frighten more than anything.

And her. She's more like him than the faint one, but less than the one that taste like Mother. She's power as well, all green as well, but soft green, not the hard, aching kind. She knows he's there, she reaches for him though it hurts both of them, burning, burning through their blood, but he's grateful because it hurts even more when none of them reach back when he touches them.

He feels her fingers touched bloody wings, and the voice that comforts him is gone, and he's screaming because the voices are so loud that he can't seeheartasteknow anything besides those voices pushing their way inside, tearing him apart as they try to take him away from himself. But her voice comes back, soft, so soft he doesn't know why he can hear her over the screams and shouts and cries, but he can, and he feels the fingers of the other voices pry themselves loose, leaving only echoing silence and bleeding, bleeding holes in him that he doesn't know how to fix.

Shush, she says in a silent way, soft and comforting as a fluffy blanket on a chill night, but cool as well, flowing over him and making the holes stop spilling blood. He shudders, cold and empty, and she smiles and takes his hand.

We are coming, she says without saying anything. We are going to take you away from this madness, you can rest.

Sleep, Cloud. We are coming.

A quick flick of the wrist, and Masamune's blade easily took care of the last of the men with guns. Zack had already dealt with the two idiots who had attempted to go against them with swords. Really, Sephiroth thought as he flicked the blade again, this time to remove blood, what kind of idiots did Shinra hire here anyway? He knew that the Nibelheim lab was out of the way, and not officially here, but still. To come at two SOLDIERs with swords?

Not that the shooters had done any better.

As the blood hit the floor, Sephiroth heard Aeris slide in behind them. She wasn't part of the frontal assault, so she was willing to let him and Zack lead the way while she kept a lookout behind him, but her job today was just as important. While the two men fought their way through whatever might be in the lab, Aeris was going to be grabbing as much information as possible. Sephiroth knew from experience that Hojo was not one to let an experiment go idle. He had held Cloud for two years now, and who knew what had been done to the blond in that time.

"Hidden door, to the left," Zack called, his eyes continuing to skim the room. Looking, the now former General of the Shinra military saw the tiny cracks of light that were just enough for his enhanced eyesight to pick out.

Now former General of Shinra. The corner of Sephiroth's lips quirked up. Yes, this was going to be a fine request of resignation. Complete and utter destruction of a lab, and, if he got a hold of the good doctor, killing one of the highest people in the company, official or not.

"I'll go first, you next," he said to Zack's unspoken question. "Aeris, as soon as we've cleared it, I want you to get those files. I'm not sure if they will be on a computer or not, but Hojo always likes to have hard copies around. Look for anything..." A pause, then he continued, his voice soft. "Anything marked Specimen C. Hojo finds it funny to mark his human experiments with their first initial."

Just like his own file, which he had never gotten a chance to read. But he had seen it, that file marked "Specimen S." If he had nightmares, he was sure those words were in them.

But now was not the time. They were on a mission, one that he would not let them fail.

"Let's go," he said, moving for the door.

The child had been so hurt that Vincent couldn't help but reach out again, trying to soothe the only person who had spoken to him in who knew how long. Not physically, though. Somehow that boy had reached inside Vincent's mind and pulled the slumbering man out of dreams. Though still trapped in the coffin, he had become aware once more.

Ever since that first contact, they had comforted each other. The boy, who said his name was Cloud, was Hojo's latest plaything. Tested on and tortured until his head was full of voices. One of them belonged to Vincent, though neither of them knew what was going on. He talked to the boy, to Cloud, who would whimper a sigh of relief whenever they would come together. It was almost awe inspiring that he was the one the child would turn to when the voices became too loud, and Vincent did what he could to ease the boy's suffering.

He couldn't hear them, though when he protected Cloud he could hear a dull roar, like a distant crowd, almost moving, always making noise. But Cloud would flinch and hiss and scream, hands tearing at sides of his head in this dark place that they found themselves in every time, overwhelmed by things Vincent simply could not hear.

It was easy to block them out, though. All he had to do, it seemed, was to wrap Cloud in his mantle and hold him. Almost like a parent with a child who's afraid of the storm. Once, Cloud had even asked if Vincent would be his family, that Mother was hurting him with her words and demands and silent, stinging whispers. And Vincent, who had lost his own child and lover to Hojo so long ago, had said yes.

Cloud wasn't so afraid of whoever Mother was after that.

And he had continued to protect the blond child. Until today, when the girl whose eyes burned with soft green fire had reached out and wrapped her arms around Cloud. As she did, Cloud had leaned slightly into her touch, and Vincent had heard his adopted child sigh.

Then the woman's fingers touched his, and he was forced back. Back into his body, away from Cloud.

Something was happening. Something big. For a moment, as he laid there, readjusting to his unmoving form, he wondered if that was the one Cloud called Mother.

No. Mother seemed to frighten Cloud. This girl had not. Cloud had shown no fear of the girl with the green eyes.

He couldn't initiate contact with Cloud, no matter how hard he tried. So Vincent waited, impatiently, hoping that he would find out soon if Cloud was going to be all right.

It was something they had practiced together more than once. Ever since Zack had become Sephiroth's second in command in everything but name, they had practiced these types of maneuvers, creeping after one another, watching for danger and each others' signs as they traveled through hazardous territory.

And if any territory was hazardous, it was one of Hojo's labs.

Zack had never liked the man, and it was pretty easy to see that the feeling was mutual, but it hadn't stopped either of them from working with one another. Hojo was in charge of the Mako shots for SOLDIERs, and that was exactly what Zack was. Luckily, he only had to deal with the man for that once a year, and could usually avoid him otherwise.

But what he and Seph walked into was exactly what Zack had expected. Mad scientist decor gone wrong.

Oh, the place was clean to the point of being sterile. No cobwebs or dingy, dark surfaces like in the movies. But the things inside the lab itself... Zack had seen a lot of bad things, but this was going to be in his head for a long, long time. From the way Seph had stopped a few steps into the room, it was going to bother him as well.

Green. That was the first thought that Zack had as he crept up to stand next to Seph, his ears keeping track of Aeris's soft footsteps behind them. Everything in the lab had a soft green glow to it. A familiar green glow. The same shade as Seph's eyes, the same shade as that horribly painful liquid Hojo put into their veins, the same glow that earned Shinra its money.

The glow came from the tubes. They lined the walls, their contents glowing faintly. Some were full, the things inside twisted and still, and he could only hope they were dead, and not suffering whatever had made them change. A few were still recognizable as animals, plants, or even a mix of the two.

In the center of the room, in the main tank, was a figure different from all the others, one guaranteed to give him nightmares for a long, long time.

Floating in the tank, eyes opened but seeing nothing, was their target.

Wearing only the mask strapped to his face, Cloud Strife stared into the distance, not reacting at all to the new people in the room. It twisted at Zack's heart to see his friend like this. This... quiet, still thing. Rarely loud, Cloud was the fidgety one, rarely staying still for too long. To see him not even look their way made Zack want to kill Hojo even more. And he hadn't thought that was even possible.

"Spike," he whispered, the word coming out harsh as his throat closed. Beside him, Seph seemed to break free at the sound of Zack's voice, and moved forward, already looking around for the controls that would free Cloud. Zack looked around, looking to see if there were any dangers that he needed to deal with, or any alternate routes of escape or entry. He saw what looked like a door, it had a keypad next to it, but no knob. Well, maybe they'd take it down later, but first they had to get Spike free.

Hojo, the dark haired man thought silently, you'd better hope Seph gets a hold of you first. It'll be over quick then. If I do... A feral smile crossed Zack's face. Oh, if he got a hold of Hojo first, there was going to be fun had.

Even as Sephiroth moved for the console by the tank, and Zack scanned the room, Aeris was going her own way.

The room felt odd. In the back of her mind, where she usually heard the Lifestream, she heard a soft voice, echoed by darkness. That same darkness floated all through this place, clinging the walls and floor like sticky slime, tainting the very air with it. Partly, it was the Mako. When Aeris had first started spending time with Zack, and then Sephiroth, she had been forced to get used to that darkness. It was only the tiniest shadow on them, though. Here, in this lab that sang of fear and pain and despair, the darkness was thick, almost thick enough to taste, to feel.

The same darkness clung to Cloud, who whispered in the back of her mind, whispered that he knew they were there, he couldn't touch them, though.

Cloudvoice sounded odd, sounded lost and echoed. She had already touched him once, when she had reached out, wondering where another of her kind had come from. But it was all wrong. Cloud wasn't one of her people, she would have sensed it long before now, after all the time they had spent together.

The brunette had the sinking feeling that this was Hojo's doing.

But now was not the time for this. Her job was to find the records, the true records. Sephiroth had warned her that the scientist liked to leave false records out, just so he could cause confusion if someone tried to steal his work. The silver haired man had already noticed her knack of finding things, of knowing truth from false. So he had asked her to do this, so that they might have some idea of what had been done to Cloud for the last two years.

Had it really been so long? Aeris thought as she let her instincts guide her. Had it really been so long since they had lost Cloud to the scientific insanity that was Hojo's mind? It didn't seem like it. A look at Cloud, as he floated in his tank, was enough to make everything seem off. He still looked so young, like he had the last time she had seen him, just days before he had vanished.

Not now, not now, not now. She had to find those records. She had to find the files for "Specimen C." When she had been told what to look for, Sephiroth had tensed, saying Hojo's practice of taking his victims first initial as the specimen label was more disturbing than simply giving them a number.

As she walked around the room, Aeris froze. Here, whispered the wall, its shadows tainted more heavily by the darkness. Here is where he hides his secrets.

"Here" was an ordinary filing cabinet, similar to all the others that lined this wall. It was locked, sealed away from casual view, but still no different from its fellows. But Aeris trusted her instincts. With a sharp twist of her wrist, her staff battered away the lock, and she pulled the first drawer open.

Specimen C was one of the first files she found, first and the second thickest. It was full of papers and several discs, gleaming in the green Mako light. She didn't waste time, shoving the file into her bag. As she made to rise, the Cloudvoice whispered for her to look again. She did, and two other folders caught her eye. They were far larger than any of the other folders. Survivors whispered the voice.

Specimen S/JENOVA Project and Specimen V/CHAOS Project.

Those were the labels. Instinct prompted her again, and Aeris also shoved those files into the bag. She had no clue who V was, but she had a sinking suspicion on who Specimen S would turn out to be. Still, if it was him, he had a right to know.

A quick walk around, and she felt no more tugs of that nature. When she neared a door with a keypad, she felt... something. She wasn't sure what, only that there was something behind that door, something familiar.

Then the whoosh of Mako draining and Zack's hiss of triumph caught her attention, and Aeris returned to her friends side.

It only took a few moments for the Mako to clear the tube, and she wasn't the only one who winced as the mask around Cloud's face held for just a moment before loosening, sending the blond to the floor of the tube with a crash. Seconds later, the tube was cleansed of Mako and opened, and Cloud was being cradled in Sephiroth's arms as soon as the door opened enough for the larger man to slide in. Aeris was sure that was the fastest she had ever seen the man move.

Sephiroth hissed, and she could see why. The blond's bones were sharp against his skin, seeming ready to push their way out any moment. "I'm going to kill that man," the man growled softly as he eased his way from the tube. Outside, Zack nodded, reaching out to brush back the blond hair, a look of fearful hope in his eyes. Seeing the still unresponsive man shiver, Aeris dug out the extra clothing they had brought, one of Zack's old SOLDIER uniforms.

"Hey, Spike, it's okay. We're going to get you out of here," whispered Zack, his fingers glowing the tiniest bit as the Mako caught in Cloud's hair absorbed into them. He traded worried glances with Sephiroth, who looked every bit as tired as he felt. It had been a long day, and all three of them knew it was going to be an even longer night.

Then everything happened at once.

mychildmysoncometomecometomeandruleoverthosewhohurtyoursoverthosewhohurtyou

She hissed, pleased with the reaction her eldest son had to her voice. He had stiffened, but not rejected her, not twisted away like his younger brother, the man who even now rested in his arms.

What? Who are you?

IamyourmothermychildmysoftsoftchildiamtheonecalledJENOVA

Oh, yesssss, turn towards me, she thought as her child shivered. She could taste his desire for a family, not the one he had formed around himself, but a real family, with a mother and father, ones who cared for him.

cometomeandweshallleaveallofthisbehindandyoushallruleoverallofthemforyouareshouldbewillbetheirgod

She had him. She could feel him turning, feel him reaching out.

Then there was brilliant light, bright and golden and green at the same time. Eyes glared at her, eyes the same as her treacherous child's. You can't have him!

heismineandiwilldoasipleasefaultychildstupidchildunfaithfulchild

The blond stood there, his eyes bright with her own power and other as well, power she had given to him but was unable to take back, because she would have taken it all from this stupid, stupid son of hers, who did not listen to his betters.

iwilldestroyyoufoolishchildandformanewonefromyourbones

And she reached out, her mind more than strong enough to deal with this upstart, this feckless child who would stand between she and what was hers. She reached out, and felt him gasp, even as his new strength lashed out at her. Not that he would do him any good, his untrained nature was too weak, too frail to withstand her.

She felt the sweet taste of ownership as she felt his heart flutter under her grasp. To own a thing's life is to own it. She clamped down, and felt that heart skip a beat.

NO!

Her eldest was not the only one who screamed this. That filthy girlchild was there as well, and the thing with bloody wings. There was even the faintest echo of her power there, and it was also crying out as her second child's heart skipped again, trying desperately to keep itself alive, even under her tight grip.

Then there was sharp pain, and she screamed, hurt for the first time in many, many years. Since she was sealed away by that bright shining sword. And it was that sword, or a version of it, that cut her now, separating her from her dying child.

No, I will never join you. You are everything I feared to be, and I will never become that if I have any choice. Bright, strong words spoken by her eldest. It was backed by sharp pain as both the girlchild and the wearer of bloody wings struck out. The shadow held the child she had tried to destroy, protecting him with the best of its abilities.

She would not win this fight. Not now.

JENOVA was wise. She would withdraw for now. Later, when she had time to assess the situation, she would come to collect her children again.

For now, she fled.

It had startled them all as Sephiroth had stiffened, eyes going blank, but Aeris and Zack had exchanged terrified looks when Cloud has suddenly arched in the long haired man's hands, blood and something else, something thick and black, streaming from his nose. A choked, gurgling sound escaped him, and the two who were watching were forced to grab onto the blond to keep him from flinging himself to the floor.

Only to find themselves in this dark place, with Sephiroth and Cloud facing a darkness that none of them could see, only that it had one tendril wrapped tight around Cloud's chest, his skin paling even more as he choked.

"Grab Cloud," Aeris had ordered Zack, who found he could not move as well as he wished to in the dark place. As he reached from his friend, Sephiroth finally struck, attacking the tendril at the same time as Aeris and a man he had never seen before. But Zack ignored them, his attention on Cloud.

Wrapping the frail(when had he gotten so frail, Cloud was almost as big as he was), man in his arms, Zack held tight. "Damn it, Spike, don't you dare give up now. We did not spend this long looking for you just so you could die on us now. Or I swear I will find your mother in town and make her give me embarrassing baby photos I can show Seph."

He was sure it wasn't actually the words that worked, but he still filed the threat away as Cloud took a deep breath, the choking noises fading.

"Z..Zack?"

Zack looked hurt. "I hope you didn't forget my incredibly lovely face. Because I will be very disappointed in you if you did."

A gasp-filled burst of laughter. "Oh, gods, you're real. I..." Cloud stopped, his back arching. Wide blue eyes stared at Zack. "She's leaving, we can't stay."

"Who's leaving? And I don't..."

"Behind the door. Bloody wings. Help him out." Cloud gasped again, and Zack noticed everything growing bright as the dark place around them started to fade. "He kept me alive, Zack. Help him..."

And then they were back in the real world, and Zack once again was looking at vacant blue eyes as Cloud was held in Seph's arms.

He desperately wanted to know what had happened. What was that place, and how they had gotten there and back. But he wasn't going to ask. They didn't have time.

Though he did have time for one last thing.

Vincent didn't expect the top to ever come off this coffin. He expected to be here for the rest of eternity or until even Hojo's mad experiments gave up the ghost and he was finally allowed to die.

He definitely didn't expect the grinning man with wild black hair to shove off the top and say "Morning, sweetheart. All good vamps are out and about."

But that didn't stop him from following the man out of the room, twitching as he remembered how to use his body after so long a sleep. Then they entered the main lab, and he saw the boy, face smeared with blood and black ichor, being held by a man with long silver hair that looked so familiar it hurt that he couldn't place any memory to the face. Beside them was the girl who had knocked him away from the boy earlier. She smiled at him.

"You are the one who helped keep Cloud safe. Thank you."

He blinked at her, and was startled when the man holding the boy... Cloud, gave a sharp nod. "If you were able to defend him from danger, you have my thanks as well."

The man with the wild hair grinned, though Vincent could tell it was a tired grin, more relief and sheer stubbornness than truly amused relaxation. "Hey, I don't know who you are, but if Spike and my girl okays you, that's enough for me." A jerk of his head towards the other three. "Want to help us piss off Hojo a bit more by getting away with this and leaving his lab a wreck?"

A smile, so faint that Vincent doubted anyone else saw it, tugged at his lips. "Anything that would cause Hojo distress already has my approval. And I am called Vincent."

This time the grin on the man's face was fully felt. "Well, Vincent, I figure that if driving Hojo mad makes you happy, then you are definitely all right. My name is Zack. Well now, ladies and gent, since Spike is the only one with decent short hair, I suggest we make our exit now."

"I'll show you lady," the silver haired man growled, but he didn't actually do anything, already moving for the door. "Zack, you take the lead. Aeris, behind me. Vincent...?"

Vincent knew the question before it was even asked. "I will take rear." He settled into line even as they started back up the stairs.

He was going to be free again. After who knew how many years, he would be free.