Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was the box that drew his attention, he later figured, bright purple Banoran dumbapples standing out on the side of it when compared to the rest of the drab Junon seaport.

"Hey mithter!" The child couldn't have been more than eight or nine, holding the box up to Rude's face as she stood on a three-legged stool. Rude catalogued that the lisp was caused by the child missing both of her front teeth. "You wanna kitty?" A small grey puffball with blue-grey eyes, covered in grime, blinked up at him from the recesses of the box. "Lath one."

Rude had finished with his covert assignment and was about to head for ShinRa's HQ here in Junon but...

"They're gonna eat her if ya don't." Soft brown eyes looked up and pleaded the case of the puffball.

He hummed softly and asked, "What do I have to pay?"

"Nuffin. Free."

Rude rose a brow from behind his sunglasses and the child shoved the box into his hands when he didn't respond, running off into the maze that was Junon. "Well then," he looked down into the box as the kitten opened it's mouth to meow, revealing its tiny white fangs.

"Eeeeeeeee-ew!"

Rude blinked as he scooped up the kitten and dropped the box with a careless thump.

"Rrrreeeee!" The kitten lunged for his thumb and ended up with a mouthful of leather glove, not that it mattered to the pinprick teeth.

Ah.

Truly a Turk in all but name, it seemed; dirty, scruffy and still full of fight.

The kitten curled up in his palm and slept all the way to HQ.

Perhaps he'd give it to the receptionist. She'd been talking about adopting an animal that would greet her when she came home.

So when Rude arrived, he walked up to the desk and presented the grey puffball to her.

"I was... given this kitten. I heard you were looking for a companion?" He carefully chose his words and the receptionist made a noise that didn't entirely qualify as human.

"What an adorable baby," she cooed before reaching out for it, fingers poised to scoop it up when the little puffball showed its fangs again and hissed this time. The tiny arched back and fluffy tail weren't much of a threat but the receptionist pulled back all the same with, "Oh. Oh dear. I don't think this kitten wants to be with me."

That was a problem.

Rude frowned at the kitten, who was now licking its paw and cleaning it's dirty face.

"My apologies," he murmured as he walked away. Rude got onto the elevator, allowing the doors to close before he stopped the elevator to lift the little hellion to eye level. "I am not a cat person."

The blue-grey eyes looked unphased as they blinked before the kitten turned in a circle to hug his thumb between it's tiny paws. Actually... No.

No, it wasn't cute.

He'd find it a more suitable home than his empty, cavernous apartment in filthy Midgar.

He offered it to his partner next.

Reno took one glance at the hellion and barked out a laugh. "Is that dinner or are we keepin' it? Cause if we're keepin' it, it needs a bath, yo. Fuckin' reeks!"

"Reno, we have three hours to get rid of it before transport arrives." He chided. "I can't take it to Midgar."

Rude recieved a single raised brow in reply and Reno shook his head as he held out his hand expectantly. "I can scrub this thing in the sink. Gimme." Rude frowned and cradled it closer to him. The red headed Turk groaned softly, "Seriously, partner? Didja get attached, yo?"

"... Maybe."

"Ruuude?" At Reno's drawl, he admitted defeat. "Ya love it already, then?"

"Yes."

"Then scrub it and do somethin' to show its yours, I guess. 'Sides, Junon's even more of a shithole to leave the little thing in than Midgar." Reno muttered. "That little shit's gonna be so spoiled my man. At least it's probably self sufficient."

"Since when did you know about cats?" Rude prodded as he peeled off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves one-by-one, and took off his gloves to wash the filthy little kitten. The water was lukewarm of course, according to the kitten-washing video he'd pulled up from Moogle. net.

The kitten was incredibly dirty and had lightened three shades before Rude figured it was clean. It squeaked and squealed the entire time until it was in the hotel towel where it fell silent. "Since forever. Ma had three of 'em."

"... I see." Rude gently scrubbed it dry and then searched how to gender a cat.

Dark Nation started sniffing at Rude the second he got off the transport.

"Do you have a toy for him?" Rufus Jr. questioned dryly.

"No, sir. She's–" The kitten popped up from his breast pocket and hissed at the black-furred beast, "my kitten." He finished lamely.

Dark Nation barked at that, black gums peeling back to reveal ivory teeth.

Rude cradled her close to his chest and then almost passed out from worry when she jumped out of his arms. She hit the tarmac and bounced right up to Dark Nation, her silver tail a tiny point of contrast to the enormous animal.

"Kitten-!"

"Dark Nation!"

The kitten pawed at Dark Nation's nose and Rude traded a worried glance with Rufus Jr. Both of them were breathing with shallow breaths to not disturb the scene before them out of sheer fear, with Rude's heart practically in his throat.

Rude's kitten batted again and then made an impatient squeal when Dark Nation only nosed her aside.

"I swear to Bahamut..." The kitten paused and squeaked as she toddled back to Rude's outstretched fingers. "Is that your name?" He looked down at her, no response. "Bahamut." She squeaked again in the cradle of his hands. "Sir, do you have a vet for Dark Nation?"

"I do but I wouldn't recommend it for yours, Rude." Rufus mentioned. "Better to ask your partner or your fellow Turks."

"Yes, sir." He agreed. "Thank you, sir."

"Whatever." Rufus waved him away as he took Dark Nation's face in hand and started sweet-talking the enormous beast. "Who is the best guard beast? Who is it? It's you, yes it is..."

Rude left, glad his glasses hid most of his expression of disbelief.

Bahamut, as her name suggested, was fearless.

Her vet had pronounced her healthy but too young for anything more than a spay and age-appropriate vaccines.

She chewed on fingers, toes, ties and, quite memorably, once brought back a strand of silver hair that was long enough to belong to exactly one person in ShinRa. He'd quietly given her extra treats that night, praising her in the Mideelian tongue of his younger days.

Rude spoiled her rotten, putting up shelves for her to loftily view her new territory. A few fluffy and crinkly mice toys, strings on sticks, feathers, and two small towers later her collection was complete. One of the towers was by his bed and the other was perched near the disgustingly dirty window that had a spot of weak sun, tinted green like everything else.

She wandered a lot but was always present when he opened the door, fluffy tail swiping along his Turk suit and scattering silver where pristine black should be; Rude never minded and no one really looked at his feet anyway. Unless they were on the ground. Passed out.

It was when she was gone for more than three days of wandering that Rude worried, searching all of her favorite floors and then absolutely resigned to the fact that he'd lost her somehow.

In two incredibly short months, she'd stolen his heart and broken it in less than a week.

Rude suffered in silence until Reno made MISSING CAT signs and pestered Rude into providing his favorite photo of Bahamut.

"It's not going to help, Reno. She's gone." He murmured as the printer whirred to produce yet more fliers.

"Partner, she's cute. Maybe someone found her an' took her home. Ya never know, yo." Reno huffed in reply as he mashed the button to print more fliers. "Let's just hope they aren't assholes like us. They might want to keep her, ya know?"

Reno, as a Turk partner, was loud and obnoxious and everyone thought he was the exact opposite of what a Turk should be; they were very wrong.

His red-haired best friend may have presented a sloppy and stupid front but Rude knew better than anyone how fake it was. After all, people told you more if you were stupid and pretty than if you were sly.

A month after the fliers went up, he got a call from an unknown number.

"Rude Oerba, Department of Administrative Research speaking." He went into business mode by default.

"General Sephiroth. I found your cat." Rude was incredibly glad he'd answered that way all of a sudden.

The Silver General had his cat. Would wonders never cease?

"... I see." he hummed, trying to will his heart into calming down.

"She's healthy and has had shots," Sephiroth paused and Rude swore that the great General sounded rather sheepish on his end, "I named her Bahamut."

Rude laughed at that, unable to help himself. Of course his cat had re-earned her name in record time. "You made one hell of a guess because that's what I named her. Should I pick her up or do you want to drop her off and say goodbye first?"

"I would like to drop her off." Sephiroth sound like he'd rather be facing Hojo than give up Bahamut which Rude completely understood.

"After formation, then, General?" He prodded gently, not wanting to piss off the strongest SOLDIER.

"Ah, yes. 1900hrs. Text me your address please." General Sephiroth ordered.

"Of course, sir." Rude expected the hang-up.

He sat in his chair and laughed himself sick, his sides aching as he thought about Bahamut and the mischief she must have caused for the General.

"You sound pretty happy," Elena commented.

"The Silver General has my cat." He wheezed out and and Elena chuckled on her way out.

Reno slid past Elena and mimed cleaning out his ear. "Did I hear right, yo? The damn General has ya cat?"

"He just called to tell me that." Rude replied before he groaned. "Fuck me, he probably spoiled her more than I did."

"She'll get used to your brand again, yo. But... does our fuzzy Turk mascot have him wrapped 'round her paw?" Reno commented with a wink and a grin.

"Sounds like it," he admitted with a shrug.

The great Silver General was late with his cat.

Where had the legendary punctuality gone?

The answer arrived in the form of a knock on his door. Rude certainly didn't expect three soot-scorched Generals, SOLDIER Second Class Fair and Bahamut to be staring at him at the nearly obscene hour of 2200.

"Hi, so long story short? Gen set Hojo on fire, Hojo blamed Hollander and it got outta hand real quick. So, uh, sorry about holding onto your cat for like three extra hours?" Second Class Fair blurted before any of them could start talking.

Rude could excuse the lateness of his cat for that, Reno's barrage of texts suddenly making horrible sense.

"I brought some of her things with as well." The General offered quietly as he held Bahamut in the crook of his arm.

"Come in," He opened his door all the way and watched as the General gently set Bahamut down. She nudged against the General's hand and he absently petted her as he took in Rude's apartment with quick, studious glances.

General Sephiroth looked Bahamut in the eyes, slitted green to slitted green, and whispered, "Good luck, little one. Try not to get lost again, okay?"

"Mrrr!" Bahamut butted her face against his cheek and purred.

He petted her one last time and nodded briefly to Rude, the incredibly broad shoulders so stiff that Rude almost pitied the man.

General Hewley did burst into tears, though, and the pictures General Rhapsodos sent him were blackmail gold.

Chapter Text

The first time General Sephiroth appeared at his doorstep, Rude nearly spit out his mouthful of beer. He'd been expecting Cessnei or Tseng with the firm but soft knock so to see the General was a surprise.

The man had the infamous silver hair in a messy bun and was in what Rude guessed was the man's pjs, the white shirt and pants loose and very soft-looking. Black silk house slippers completed the outfit and the General cleared his throat. "Ah, may I come in?"

Rude swallowed his mouthful and nodded, not surprised when Bahamut perked up from her perch and zoomed straight for General Sephiroth's arms. She purred loudly and didn't move when Rude went into the kitchen to offer the General a shitty slum beer.

"Would you like a beer, sir?"

"Sephiroth, please, and that sounds nice. I've... never had beer." Sephiroth murmured as he sat on the couch, feet crossed at the ankles as he cooed gently in a tongue Rude didn't recognize but he knew the tone well enough.

The Silver-Sephiroth-clearly loved Bahamut and it was mutual.

"Here you go," Rude refused to be moved from his night-time routine and it made the tiniest smile appear on Sephiroth's face. "So, shitty movie or ShinRaTex at it's finest?"

Sephiroth took a pull from the beer, rose a brow at the bottle and shrugged. "Do I have to pay attention to the screen?"

"It's white noise mostly." Rude admitted.

"Hmm. Shitty movie," Sephiroth decided as Bahamut sprawled over his arm. "if you don't mind." The long fingers scratched under Bahamut's chin and two sets of lazy green eyes watched Blugunado with increasing amusement in the human set. "... This is incredibly stupid. I don't know why Gen likes this."

"Gen?"

"General Rhapsodos to you and Gen or Genesis to his friends." Sephiroth clarified.

"Oh."

"Mmm. I should probably go." Sephiroth sighed, the softest look Rude'd ever seen on the man's face directed at his cat. "I have a morning routine to keep up after all."

"You're the General." Rude blurted before he remembered who it was he was really talking to, "Take a day off."

General Sephiroth didn't take days off.

For Shiva's sake, it'd taken Rude's own cat to get him to see that he man was just that; a man and an exhausted one at that.

Sephiroth chuckled briefly, his eyes glowing in the dim light of the next shitty movie that queued. "You sound like Zack."

He must've been talking about Fair. "He's right, sir."

"You both are but I am required at meetings that do not even need my input because I am the image of the company that employs us both." Sephiroth huffed with a sneer. "I have them memorized at this point. The only thing that changes are the profit margins. My thanks for allowing me into your home."

Sephiroth levered himself off the couch and set Bahamut down in his warm spot, clearly remembering her preference for heat. She squeaked and then laid there before falling asleep.

Rude kept vague track of the General after that. He didn't, however, expect to see Sephiroth sitting in on a meeting between department heads. The poker face could put a Turk's to shame as Sephiroth coldly stared down everyone in the room when they tried to involve him in the discussion.

When Bahamut hopped up on the table and padded across all of the papers strewn across it, Rude struggled to stay where he was and guard the Vice President.

"Bahamut." He hissed it as lowly as possible but she ignored him in favor of sitting in front of Sephiroth and meowing. The entire conference held its collective breath, even the Vice, but Rude knew she was perfectly safe.

Green met green and Sephiroth frowned at her before he scooped her up and petted her in long strokes that left her purring.

Almost the entire room gaped as Sephiroth scritched under Bahamut's chin and got her to purr even louder. The Silver General rose a judgemental eyebrow and all of them went back to bickering about funding. Bahamut jumped up onto those famous silver pauldrons and started grooming herself like this was perfectly normal.

"Isn't that your cat, Oerba?" Rufus asked dryly.

"We share custody, sir. At least I know where she's at if she's not with me." He replied easily.

"Huh. Good to know." Rufus pulled out a little blue notebook and wrote quite a bit. Rude didn't ask what it was and Rufus didn't share but it was mutually and silently agreed that Sephiroth was better with a cat than without.

The Silver Elite went nuts over Bahamut, even 'gifting' Sephiroth cat toys and towers. The General donated the items to shelters since Bahamut was plenty spoiled already.

"What the fuck, partner? I go away for a mission and come back to find that the General stole your cat, yo?" Reno scoffed. "Apparently she's the spitting image of him as a cat. Silver Elite are fuckin' crazy."

"We share her. She goes where she pleases and at least we know where she's at if she's not with one of us."

"You're not mad?"

"No. She's home at the end of the day for me so I don't really care what she gets up to so long as she's not hurt." Rude shrugged as he finished typing his report up.

"So, uh, a trooper I know is petting her and allowing her cuddles while on duty isn't enough to make ya jealous?" Reno prodded.

"Bahamut's a smart cat and she's picky so he must meet her standards." Rude muttered as he dug into his new report. Bahamut hopped into his lap and he rose a brow at Reno. "See?"

The bright green ribbon around her neck was new though and the note tucked into it was written in a surprisingly neat hand.

'Thanks for letting me pet your cat.' - Specialist C. Strife

Bahamut wasn't bothered by the ribbon and took the note between her teeth.

"Must've been meant for the General, yo."

"I'll write a note to the General too." Rude hummed.

'Bahamut's got another person she likes. Don't be too surprised if she's not with either of us.' -R. Oerba

Bahamut hopped down after he tucked the notes back into the ribbon.

Specialist Strife, it turned out, was one hell of a leader—especially since he was carrying Tseng across his sturdy Western shoulders.

A mission that was just supposed to be a joint exercise had turned deadly when they'd stumbled on a nest of Levikrons.

"Monsters on our ten and twelve! Take care of them!" The blond barked with both Turks and troopers obeying the command. "Oerba, how far are we from Kalm?"

"Less than two minutes-" Rude responded and dodged when Strife cast Firaga straight at him. The Levikron behind him screeched and screamed as it burned to ash.

"Sorry, it was right on top of us. Is he still out?" Strife motioned with his face towards Tseng.

"Yes."

"Does he have a PHS that we can use to call for reinforcements?"

"It's locked."

"Fenrir damn it all." Strife snarled. "Take him and watch my back for about five minutes. Regroup on injured!"

They circled to protect Tseng and Strife pulled out a deep purple Summon. It lit up the second the trooper's fingers closed around it, the glow almost obnoxiously bright.

The flare of green was expected but the Summon... Rude counted himself lucky that he wasn't Strife's enemy.

The massive wolf's earth-shaking howl had all of the Levikron's shrieking.

"Fenrir, Fass!" Strife growled. Fenrir took care of the remaining monsters with disturbing ease. The Summon trotted back over to them and lolled its tongue. "Danke."

Fenrir licked Strife and disappeared in a puff of white snow. "Before you ask, he's a blood-related Summons. Only people born in Nibelheim can use him and he only follows Nibel commands."

Chapter Text

After Strife got off the transport, he sat heavily on a bench. Bahamut swiped along Rude's pants and chirruped before she hopped up into Strife's lap.

"Hello again," Strife hoarsely murmured. Bahamut kneaded Strife's leg, bunting his hand when he petted her softly. "Did she swipe you, Oerba?"

"She's my cat. I should think so." He murmured dryly.

"... Your cat?" Strife paled.

Rude only chuckled. "I share her with the General. She liked to wander and got lost; the General found her and she's fond of him as well. Bahamut's... picky about who she likes and who she doesn't."

Strife barked an exhausted laugh as Bahamut started rubbing her face against his. "Bahamut, huh? Should've known you'd be a Summon."

"She's got a nest of collected things; that green ribbon you gave her, a blanket that she stole from the Silver Elite... She steals the General's hair ties. We share a drink and watch shitty movies. He's... alright for a military commander." Rude replied.

"Oh."

"Mmm. Are you sure you don't want to be a Turk?" He prodded, curious to hear the answer.

"Nah. Fenrir's too flashy a Summon and he's not always cooperative. I'd take the SOLDIER Exam again but after the fifth time, the Instructors just groan when they see me." Strife offered wryly. "Plus my hair's not exactly subtle."

"You know, flashy can be distracting." Rude wheedled quietly.

"Oh no you don't," Strife sighed. "That's how the troopers got me, the bastards."

"Well shit."

"Yeah, well, you tried."

"... You should take the Exam again. I could put in a word with the Generals to look out for you?" Rude suggested.

Strife almost, almost did a double take but continued to pet a demanding Bahamut. "Thank you but no. I want to get into SOLDIER on my own merit."

"Bahamut's a pretty solid recommendation all by herself. She's a good judge of character." Rude pointed out.

"Thanks. You're alright, Oerba... for a Turk."

"You're alright yourself, Strife... for a ShinRa trooper."

Sephiroth made it through the door and the second it closed, the General pinned him with familiar slitted green. "What do you know about Specialist Strife?"

"... He's a capable commander under stress, can take over if his leader is down and has a temperamental blood-related Summon at his disposal, though he uses it very rarely." Rude answered as he handed Sephiroth his cup of green tea and sat down with his own beer. "Why?"

"A mentorship slot opened in the SOLDIER Program since Commander Fair graduated from General Hewley. I would like to take Strife under my wing. He shows... promise but it is tempered by his physical performance." Sephiroth replied absently as he wrapped his arm around Bahamut, her body lankier than ever, her tail curling over Sephiroth's forearm seemingly out of habit.

"Ah. He's been promoted, actually, to Sargeant. You might want to snatch him up before the Infantry realizes what they have in their hands." Rude offered. "He's already told me no on the Turks and it's a shame to see talent like that go to waste."

Sephiroth grimaced as he murmured, "Certainly wasted on Palmer, seeing as the man wouldn't know SOLDIER from Infantry if we didn't wear different uniforms. I'll... see what I can do."

Sargeant Strife was on guard duty with Sephiroth, the assignment random and unchangeable. Rude watched as Bahamut looked at both of her favorite people before she sprawled between them.

Strife ignored her playing with his boot laces for all of a minute before he glanced down and chided softly, "Bahamut, please, I'm on duty."

"That's never stopped her from approaching me in funding meetings." Sephiroth dryly supplied. "I doubt it'll stop her now."

"... Does she, sir?" Strife paused mid-way in lifting his boot to play with Bahamut.

"I've got cat fur in my pauldrons as proof." Sephiroth plucked out a small pinch of silver fur from under his pauldron, the glimmer visible between black-clad fingers. "Tell me, Sgt. Strife, how does one go about asking for help?"

"I, uh, I usually ask Commander Fair, sir, or Oerba." Strife said in answer. "Does—Is Bahamut really Oerba's? Sir?"

"Bahamut goes where she wants, when she wants, but yes, for all intents and purposes, she's Oerba's cat." Sephiroth chuckled at that, shaking his head as Bahamut launches herself up into Strife's arms. Strife swung his rifle into a ready position that would allow him to cradle the cat but still guard the entrance. "Strife, would you mind if I mentored you?"

Strife's jaw worked under the Infantry helmet. "Is this a joke, sir?"

"No, though I am well aware that you are an efficient leader and you are wasted on the likes of Palmer. As I'm sure Oerba told you, Bahamut is a ringing endorsement on her own. Rare is the person she likes and rarer still is one she'll do this with; you are one of four individuals she allows herself to interact with on a daily basis." came the reply. "Why do you think my offer is made in jest?"

"... I've had SOLDIERs make that same offer before, sir, only they didn't mean it. They saw my record-number of attempts and thought it was a great idea to add insult to injury, sir." Strife allowed even as he pressed a kiss to Bahamut's forehead. Rude could hear her purring from where he stood in the hallway, guarding another door.

"I see." Sephiroth said after a long pause. "Would you name them? Those are not honorable SOLDIERs and I would remove them from the Corps if possible. We are... judged by how we treat those under our command and under our protection. I am aware of your many attempts but that only means you have perseverance in the face of mockery. It is an offer I do not lightly give."

Strife mulled it over, fingers scritching under Bahamut's chin as she licked his cheek. "May I have some time to think it over, sir?"

"Certainly, Strife."

Rude heard through the ShinRa grapevine that two SOLDIERs had been decommissioned and that the Infantry had been quietly celebrating the loss of those two SOLDIERs in particular.

Strife was inducted into SOLDIER as Sephiroth's mentee and made sweeping strides forward as a result of training with the number one SOLDIER in all of ShinRa.

Rude now had two guests in his shitty ShinRa apartment, all three of them squished onto the ratty couch with a growing cat sprawled across the entirety of the couch.

Strife, it turned out, had a wicked sense of humor that matched Reno's sarcasm and he used it to great effect on Rude's partner.

None of the Turks liked Hojo or Hollander but this increased the longer one spent time around them in any capacity, though there were two Turks per scientist.

Rude had asked only once why the double partner detail, sometime before he'd found Bahamut.

Veld's hatred of Hojo was evident even by Turk standards when all he said in reply was, "My partner went missing after guarding the greasy bastard and I wasn't there to protect him."

So Rude kept his attention to guarding and ignored the way the scientist would glance between him and Reno.

Bahamut swept around the corner, tail arched as she bunted Rude's leg.

Hojo zeroed in on her and Rude's hands clenched into fists as the scientist bent down to grab her.

What followed was the only time Bahamut lived up to her name in full.

She arched her back, hissed and lunged before any of the assistants, techs or Turks could do anything about it.

Hojo screamed as she toppled him, her claws raking the man's throat and face as he gripped her ribs. She let loose a squall that sent chills down Rude's spine as she fought like the Summon she claimed to be.

It was only after she was done that she sat on the man's still-heaving chest and looked up at him with a long, sweet maow.

"Bahamut, down." She obliged and sat next to his feet as the techs rushed to help the scientist up.

"That...urk... beast... is banned..." Hojo managed to gurgle out.

"Good luck with that, sir." Rude offered dryly as Bahamut began to clean herself.