Final Fantasy VII 1. Worth Its Weight In Gold

Author's Note: Okay, this is my first Final Fantasy fanfiction. So let me go ahead and get all of the disclaimers out of the way. I don't own anything except the plot and Lynn. I'm not making any money off of this and I'm sure Square Enix has better things to do than attack penniless fanfic writers. So enjoy the story and review if the urge hits you!

Worth Its Weight In Gold

So far, it had not been a very good day at all for the Great General Sephiroth. Of course, it had not been a very good week, or even month to be honest. Hell, if one really wanted to get technical, he hadn't had a good day since he was born. And today was shaping up to be no different.

His faithful, loyal secretary had died. Old age had finally caught up to the formidable lady and she had passed away peacefully in her sleep three days ago. The funeral had been particularly lovely and Sephiroth had to admit he would miss the crotchety old woman with her steel gray bun and sensible shoes barking at him for eating so many jelly filled powdered sugar donuts even when it was her that brought them to him covertly. After all, it wouldn't do at all for the general public to know that the mighty General was a closet sugar fiend, would it? In Myrtle Worley he had found the closest thing to a family he had yet to find, and he would miss her, even if she did show a definite lack of deference to him. It was like having a grandmother, except she had never wiped his face before going to a meeting, though once she did try. Then again, if he had just let her wipe his face he wouldn't have had to make up some outlandish story to explain the white powder on his upper lip. ShinRa's top executives probably thought he had a cocaine habit. Well, better that than a craving for sweets. At least cocaine was somewhat manly.

However, with the passing of Myrtle into the afterlife, Sephiroth was left with a very disturbing problem. Work was piling up on his desk and he had no secretary to take care of it. Ohh, he'd had plenty of interviewees, mostly girls between 21 and 35 who wore skirts entirely too high, blouses entirely too low and heels that he could swear he had seen on the feet of the "ladies" in the Honeybee Inn. They were always giggling and flipping their hair and giving him looks like he was the next prize Chocobo up for auction and it creeped him out to be honest. It wasn't as if he had an aversion to the fairer sex; far from it, he enjoyed feminine company as much as any other man. It was just…well… uncomfortable when they looked at you like they were expecting you to rip their clothes off and ravish them right there on the desk. Or ravish you; after all, he was acquainted with Scarlet unfortunately and she wasn't the only raving nympho dominatrix in the world he was sure.

He sighed, tossing aside another underqualified resume. Why on earth did ShinRa insist on hiring from outside of the military for assistant staff for top executives? While he doubted he would have as much fun baiting them as he did with Myrtle, a nice, serious, libido-challenged young cadet (male preferably) would be far better than some hair twirling coquette intent on getting him in between the sheets. The last thing Sephiroth wanted was a mental breakdown and if one more girl giggled and batted their lashes at him, he would set fire to the whole damned building! Well, one more applicant. Then the day was over. The name on the resume was fairly ambiguous, Lynn Shaunessy. As he had known male and female Lynns, he had his fingers crossed. Well, Lynn's appointment was in ten minutes, better try to regroup before the arrival.

No sooner had he settled back in his chair and closed his eyes that the security intercom crackled. "General, there is a Lynn Shaunessy here to see you. Shall I send her up?" Ahh blessed Nera Irby! If only he could lure her away from her post at the front desk of the ShinRa office, he would be a happy man! Nera and Myrtle were members of the OBC, or Old Battleaxe Club as he called them, and if he couldn't have Myrtle back, he'd have jumped at the chance to get Nera. A towering white haired lady with such bad eyesight she had to wear glasses to see her fingernails, Nera was a legend around here. Terrorists intent on destroying ShinRa had quailed under her steely gaze and on more than one occasion she had not bothered waiting for security and had tossed out ruffians herself. One might laugh, but the sight of a nearly six foot tall grandmother dragging some street punk out by the ear was one sight Sephiroth would not give up for all the tea in Wutai.

"Yes please, thank you Nera." He said, sighing longingly for his lost relaxation time. Well, at least the mystery person was punctual. Ten minutes early was a good sign. Five minutes later there was a buzz at the door of his office. Impressive. Obviously the elevators weren't too crowded today. With an office on the fifty fifth floor, no one came by the stairs to visit him. Which was just as well, since the last thing he wanted was some health nut who came in smelling of sweat because they just ran up all those flights. He made his way to the door and glanced out to see who the new applicant was. He had to admit that whatever he was expecting, it hadn't been this.

It was not recognizable as a woman at first, the dark grey suit and blue tie threw him off at first. Then he noticed that the body had a slightly feminine look to it, and the person did in fact have breasts, though the suit coat and tie drew attention away from that. Her hair was brown and shaggy, not unkempt but not looking like something that she bothered with much. Her eyes, grey behind her wire rim glasses, were intelligent and appraising, but not in the would-be seductress manner he was accustomed to seeing. It was more of a sizing glance, looking him over to weigh and measure him in the same manner old soldiers did at first glance, not even realizing they did it. Whoever she was, obviously she had some sort of military or organized background. There was the faint, discreet bulge of a sidearm under her coat in a shoulder holster and he could only assume that she had passed security and had a license for it if she still had it with her up here on the floor.

She inclined her head politely. "General Sephiroth. Lynn Shaunessy. Very honored to meet you." She extended her hand to him to shake. He placed his leather glove clad hand into hers and was pleasantly surprised at the firm, friendly grip. Well, at least he knew she wasn't a prissy, simpering girl who expected him to kiss her hand and such. "Of course, likewise Miss Shaunessy. Thank you for arriving so promptly. Please come in and have a seat." It was the first time he had made the speech without an ounce of sarcasm in the words. She nodded and stepped forward and he watched her eyes move in a quick once over of the room. If he were to guess, he would think she was checking for exits, escape routes, defensible positions, everything a soldier would look for. There was a faint swell of relief in his chest as he dared to hope that she would be a suitable secretary.

"I assume my resume has met with your approval." She said as she sat in one of the wood and leather chairs in front of his desk as he took his seat behind it. "Is there anything I should clarify on it, or that you wish for me to explain in greater detail?" She was every inch the professional, and that made him exceedingly happy. Usually within moments of sitting down double entendres were flying his way and it was relaxing and refreshing to be able to not have to worry about that for once.

He picked up her resume from the top of the stack and allowed himself to glance over it once more. Impressive. Very impressive. Graduating from high school in Kalm top of her class, came to Midgar for university and graduated there with a bachelors in business administration and finance. Entered the ShinRa army as a commissioned officer and served a five year tour in the army. Served in Wutai and commanded a squad of regulars, discharged honorably as a lieutenant colonel, worked for two security companies and three temp agencies, mostly in an administrative assistant position, and very often with ShinRa. Had held positions on military bases in Kalm, Costa del Sol, and here in Midgar. She had C level security clearance after her time in the military and working in ShinRa, was certified in quite a few software applications, had a little programming background and had worked tech support briefly in university to make ends meet. Her references were very good as well, and quite a few of the names he recognized as lower level ShinRa management.

"Very impressive resume indeed. It says here that you served in the army during the Wutai campaign. Were you active duty or support specialist?" He had not remembered seeing her; of course, he had not had time to make the acquaintance of all the lower level officers in the vast ShinRa army. She nodded in response to his question and began to explain.

"I did serve active duty in Wutai. My squad was artillery, so we were usually pretty far from the infantry that you had direct command of, General. We worked more closely with your subordinates, sir." Well, that made sense. It was general policy to keep the heavy artillery away from the infantry, so that they didn't have to worry about friendly fire casualties. He made a note to call a few of the references and see what they had to say about her, but so far it all checked out fine. She had impressive education, good credentials, military background and hadn't tried to seduce him in the entire few minutes which he had been sitting here speaking with her. In short, she was exactly what he had been hoping for; a real gem of a find in light of recent applicants.

"Your resume is most impressive, Miss Shaunessy. Your credentials are above reproach, your training for the position is impeccable and I am confident in your ability to work well in this office. Based upon my review of your resume and general presentation of yourself, I would like to extend the offer of the position of my personal assistant. In light of your military background and service record I have full confidence in your capabilities to assist me in the field as well as the office." He smiled to himself, pleased at the day turning out like this. Not only had he managed to fill the irreplaceable Myrtle's position but he had managed to wrangle a secretary who would do more than take notes and type letters.

Lynn bowed her head in thanks and smiled, offering her hand to him once more to shake. "I accept the offer and thank you very much sir for the opportunity. When would you like for me to start?" Conversations about benefits and salary and such were not necessary; one didn't work with ShinRa as long as she did and not know already what was offered. ShinRa had the best benefit packages in the world, bar none. And working for someone as high in status as General Sephiroth, she was sure to hit the next pay tier.

Her smile was quite nice, open and friendly and Sephiroth found himself returning it, though quite a bit smaller and more reserved. "Today is Wednesday, and I prefer to have things start properly. You will report in Monday morning at 7 am so we can go over the basic run of the office. Your hours will be from 8 am to 5 pm and you'll have an hour lunch break at noon. Your attire is perfectly suitable for the position, so feel free to continue in the same vein. I look forward to seeing you Monday, Miss Shaunessy. Congratulations." He stood as she did, extending his hand to her across the desk. She took the proffered hand firmly and shook it, smiling slightly.

"Thank you very much, sir. I look forward to working with you." And with that, she inclined her head politely and turned, heading out of the door. After she left, Sephiroth sat back down at his desk and considered this. She was more than competent, she was formerly military, and she had not made a single pass at him. Of course, looking and dressing like she did, he was fairly certain she probably preferred the charms of her own gender to a man's anyway. Still, as long as she did the job, he couldn't care less where her preferences lay. Yes…this would be a most advantageous situation for everyone concerned.

He did so love it when things worked out smoothly.


	2. This Was NOT In The Job Description

Author's Note: Hello! Well, I've gotten one review so far! cheers Certainly nothing to sniff at. Hopefully there'll be more to come, after I post a few chapters. Well, as always, I own none of these characters except the original ones, i.e. the ones you don't recognize. FF7 and all characters, settings and plot devices are the property of Square Enix and I'm not making a red cent off of this. Otherwise I'd have my own apartment off campus with my fiancée already. Enjoy!

This Was NOT Part of the Job Description…

To say Aislinn Shaunessy was happy about the way things went at her interview was an understatement. Overjoyed was more like it, and she could barely contain her happiness until she made it back to her apartment in the not nearly so ostentatious portion of the upper plate. Her small, rent controlled apartment was the only place that she felt safe and secluded enough to loosen her tie, kick off her shoes, shrug off her suit coat, collapse onto her ragged second hand couch with the faded floral print and drum her heels on the cushions as she squealed in abject ecstasy. Personal assistant to the General! There was no telling what sort of doors this would open for her! If she did her job well enough and impressed him, his recommendation could skyrocket her to the upper echelon of ShinRa.

She felt vindicated in a way, as if all of her long years of paying dues and busting her ass to get where she was had finally paid off. Personal assistant to one of the most powerful men in the world, there was only one way to go and that was up. She refused to squander her intelligence, strength and cunning like her father did, working all those years in the ShinRa army, only to be sent out as cannon fodder with an infantry unit in Wutai and cut down by one of those damned slanty eyed bastards' blades. No, she would rise to power and prestige that he had never dreamed of in his monochromatic world. Pull his shift, come home, drink himself into oblivion, wake up and do it all over again, that was the pattern she watched from the time she was a little girl until she left for university. Her mother died before she was ten years old, victim of one of the many diseases that ran rampant in the slums. If her father had ever even noticed the woman who bore his child was gone, he never mentioned it.

All of that had only made her more determined that she would one day be more than her father ever dreamed of being, ever dreamed of her being. And the fastest way to do that was through ShinRa. So she had worked. She studied finance and business, she trained hard, honing what skills her father had managed to teach her while drifting in and out of a whiskey soaked haze and, while not being dishonest, being ruthlessly efficient. In fact, most of those in her military class were sure that she would have been recruited by the Turks. However, for whatever reasons she either wasn't recruited or turned them down, and as she wasn't telling, no one knew for sure. The truth of the matter was that the mention of her joining that particular organization was mentioned but her very polite, very cool and very non-negotiable refusal of that suggestion had closed that line of speculation and she had risen quickly in the ranks of the military. Lieutenant colonel, highly commended for acts of heroism during the Wutai affair and honorably discharged after her five year tour of duty, working with a couple of different companies and staffing agencies to build experience…all of it part of her plan. The Plan, as she referred to it. The Plan was her roadmap, her guideline, her Bible for attaining the heights of power and prestige and respect that she had dreamed of. And now, she had taken a huge leap in that direction.

It was not much of a leap to say Lynn was ambitious. Some less kind individuals had been slightly less kind and called her a ruthless, social climbing, power hungry bitch. Lynn preferred the term "upwardly mobile." More than anything else on earth, she wanted power. Sure it made her sound like a villain in a bad novel, but she didn't care particularly. People could say what they wanted about her but one day when she was pulling the strings and making the world dance to her tune, what would all those fine, nasty words be worth then? It would still be her who had control over their lives. That thought had sustained her through the years of university, through the rigors of the military, through pointless job after pointless job for fat, worthless, stupid men in the upper echelon of ShinRa management and military. But soon…so soon…it would be hers for the taking. She would use the General. She would use him to gain what she wanted, and she would have the pride of doing all this without having to resort to the typical means left to women of bartering her body for power. And one day, when she looked back on this from the pinnacle of her prestige and honor, she would laugh at the things she had been forced to endure to make it to this point. All the lowlife jobs to make ends meet, as a bouncer in a bar, a dockhand in Costa del Sol, a hired thug for the head of a criminal syndicate, all sorts of jobs she would never write on that resume she gave the General.

It had been a hard life, her father's paycheck barely enough to keep them fed and certainly not enough to give her the kind of life she longed for, a life where she didn't wonder where the next meal was coming from, or if her father would drink and whore all the money away before he remembered he had a scrawny daughter at home growing too fast to keep shoes and clothes to fit her. He forgot that while he sat in bars and drowned himself in whiskey, she was roaming the streets, using cunning and budding strength to earn enough money to feed herself another night. While he sat at home and stared blank eyed at a television screen, she was studying, trying to get high enough marks in school to assure herself entrance into the best universities, where she could travel with the best crowds and make the right sort of friends. And while he got himself killed in a pointless infantry charge on a bloodsoaked field in Wutai, she was commanding soldiers to fire heavy artillery to break the ranks of the shinobi who kept throwing wave after wave of themselves at the ShinRa soldiers. And while he was being buried in a forgotten churchyard in Kalm, she was being awarded a medal for honorable service and promoted to rank of lieutenant corporal. The taste of success was sweet on her tongue, and she wanted more. She was addicted to power as much as any crack addict or heroin fiend in the bowels of Sector Seven was to their drug of choice.

And now, as she woke up and got ready to head to her first day of work at ShinRa headquarters as personal assistant to the General himself, she found herself at the next level, ready to embark on the next step in her master plan. No, she wouldn't work for Sephiroth long. As powerful and prestigious as he was, she had higher ambitions. Working for Palmer, Heidegger, possibly Rufus, or even Shinra himself was her most direct way to the top. After all, wasn't the best way to take over the reins of power to make the proper friends in high places? And if she proved herself competent to the right people, proved that she was willing and able to do what she had to do to get the job done properly, people would be more likely to give her more responsibility and more power. And that was what she wanted. She wanted to wield power behind the scene, to be the hidden power. The problem with President Shinra and Rufus Shinra was simple; too many people knew their power, which limited their effectiveness considerably when it came to more stealthy gestures. Their lack of anonymity was their weakness, and one that she had every intention of exploiting.

She found herself on the fifty fifth floor of the Shinra Building at half past six, half an hour before she was supposed to be there, a state of affairs that she was rather accustomed to finding herself in. After all, the early bird did indeed catch the worm on more occasions than not, and never let it be said that Aislinn Mairead Shaunessy had ever let an opportunity pass her by. Today was the first day of her new life, and she had every intention of making a fabulous impression and secure a very good foothold for herself in the ShinRa hierarchy. As she made her way out of the elevator and towards the heavy steel door of the General's office, made to look like mahogany, she steeled herself for whatever eccentricities she might have to put up with. After all, she was in the homestretch of her plan. She could put up with anything at this point, if it got her closer to her ultimate goal.

However, she was not expecting there to be a light on under the door.

Curious, she opened the door slowly, peeking her head inside and looking around before she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. There were a lot of boxes in here now, boxes that had not been here when she had been here for her interview a scant five days ago. Now they were all over the office, labeled with letters and numbers. She picked her way past them, going to the door that led to the General's office and placing her hand on the doorknob, raising her fist and tapping lightly at the door. She heard the shuffle of papers and an irritated grunt commanding her to "Come in!" Bristling slightly at the curt command, she opened the door and stepped inside, immediately wishing that she had not.

It was obvious that he had not slept in several days from the disarray his silver hair was in and if his eyes were bloodshot from anything other than lack of sleep, she would go back to working as a dockhand in Costa del Sol right then. His uniform was rumpled, and his forehead was lined with creases of worry and stress. All in all, he looked like Hell frozen over and thawed. Had he been here all weekend working? It certainly would appear so. "Good morning sir. You asked me to come at 7. I am a bit early; is there anything I can get you?" Like a bed, a shower and a change of clothes, she thought to herself, inwardly cringing at the haggard look in those aqua green eyes as he raised his head from his papers.

"Coffee." The word was not spoken; it was growled before his gaze dropped back down to the papers he held in his hand. Immediately her temper flared as she turned on her heel, heading out to the main office and to the coffee maker, setting on a pot to brew. Well, someone was certainly grouchy today. But she had made her reputation by dealing with the hardest to handle bosses, and earning glowing references from the same men who made her wish to whatever deities were listening that she had access to nuclear weaponry most of the time. If she could handle idiots like that, she could handle a grumpy General.

Ohh how naïve she was…

This day had just gone from bad to worse. She had never gotten the tour of the office, and had to figure out most things for herself. The computer was an absolute mess, the files in utter disarray, not a single appointment written down and there were several that day, phone calls asking questions of the General that she didn't know the answer to and that the General in question was not answering. He was busy catching up on paperwork, mainly because ShinRa wanted an accurate account of all equipment the army currently had and wanted it three days ago, regardless of the fact that they had only dropped the request on him Friday. Naturally, he hadn't told her this; she'd managed to glean it from papers lying about. However, any sympathy she might have had for the man fled quickly in view of what he had put her through that day.

She arrived with his coffee; it was too weak. She went to remake it; it was too strong. After the sixth pot and three times of being reminded that she was certainly no Myrtle, she could make coffee right, and she would have known about this and a thousand other saintly attributes of the dearly departed woman, Lynn had had just about enough and was deeply wishing that she could beat the silver haired man to death with his dearly departed secretary's corpse if it would just shut him up for five damned minutes. The phone had rung off the hook, and everyone had to ask about her, if she was the new secretary, to wish her luck and offer their condolences. By the time she had fielded the tenth call, she knew why they were offering their condolences. The General was quite possibly the most difficult man to work with on the planet! Knowing that if she were to chuck that coffee pot at him, no matter how much she wanted to, would end up with her dead, impaled on that massive sword of his, which she was confident was just his way of compensating for a smaller sword elsewhere, certainly did nothing at all to improve her mood. To be honest, at that moment she had never been so close in her life to quitting a job and saying to hell with the entire situation.

Just when Lynn thought that the day couldn't get any worse, between her snappish boss and his coffee obsession, he walked in. He was something else entirely. SOLDIER First Class, as his badge had proclaimed, with a sword of absolutely ridiculous proportions strapped to his back, with hair that looked like his mother had partaken in an illicit affair with a black Chocobo and a thousand watt smile, he was the very sort of person that set Lynn's teeth on edge. That scene had been particularly interesting…

"Sir? I'm afraid the General is very busy and can't see you right now." She glanced up from her attempted reorganization of the files on the computer and the cleaning of the system; honest to God, was it part of the Old Woman's Code to download as many Mah Jong games as possible? The man, irritatingly enough, just smiled and leaned over on her desk, turning on what she was sure other people found to be "the charm". It made Lynn itch to punch him right in that smile, and knock a few of those blinding teeth right down his throat. Probably an uncharitable thought, considering she just met him but at the same time, her day til this point had been stressful enough as it was without this grinning ponce showing up and making her day any worse.

"Aww now doll…no need to be like that. Seph and I have a standing policy; I show up whenever I want and annoy the hell out of him, and he pretends to be angry with me. Don't you worry your cute little head about that. I'll just walk right in…" He started towards the door when Lynn stood up, folding her arms and stepping in front of him, barring his entrance into the room. The fact that she was unimpressed with his boyish charm was surprising enough; her being just half an inch shy of a full six feet and the air that she managed to project of "I've tossed tougher guys than you out of rougher places than this; please, give me a reason to pick you up by your pants and toss you out a window" made even his smile falter a bit. "Now now, no need to be like that, sweetheart. Just let me in to see Seph. I'm sure he'll explain everything; it must be your first day, you don't know any different yet..." The fact that her expression only got darker made him sigh. He wasn't feeling like fighting this battle today to see Sephiroth. "So…I'll just wait over here…" He went and took a seat, watching the woman as she made her way back to her desk. If he didn't know better, he'd wonder why Seph had tapped a Turk to be his secretary. Then he realized that the suit was black, not dark blue, and the tie was blood red, not the crimson that members of that particular organization preferred. Suddenly the spiky haired man missed Myrtle more than words could express.

Of course, once Sephiroth realized that she had made Zach sit and wait instead of sending him in, the man exploded. Unfortunately for him, she did not react quite the way most people did when he lost his temper. Mainly, she didn't collapse into a sobbing heap. What had happened was altogether quite different. The more he raged at her, the stiffer she became, her body becoming rigid and hard as steel, her eyes behind her glasses like chips of granite as he let loose his fury on her. "My subordinate officer is NOT to be sat outside like some disobedient puppy who had piddled on the carpet! If he's here, it's most likely something quite important!" he roared at her. Quietly he was impressed that she had not broken down into tears yet, and instead if the look of barely contained fury on her face was anything to go by, she was doing a remarkable job of not snapping back at him. However, his bad weekend had made him rather oblivious to the fact that he was being an utter ass, and even as Zach considered stepping in on the woman's behalf, what happened next was almost impossible to believe.

There was only so much that Lynn could take. There came a point where she could stand no more of this abuse. She was good at dealing with the most difficult people imaginable but never… NEVER had she had to deal with someone like this! She listened to his tirade as he lectured her about everything she had done wrong that day, from the way she made her coffee to the way she wrote down appointments, to the way she answered the phone. All of that she could take, all of that she could stand. But then…then he did something unforgivable.

"If you were a man I would punch you for abject stupidity! I can see now that I would have been better off with one of those simpering bimbos! At least they could have made a decent cup of coffee and I might have enjoyed having to see their face poking through the door every five minutes to ask me one idiotic question after another!" Even as he said it, he knew he had possibly overstepped the boundaries. And as he watched her face, he knew he had. Her eyes, once cold and hard as stone, flared to life with a burning hatred of him. Zach was on his feet, eyes wide in disbelief at what Sephiroth had just said and was coming to step between the two and apologize for what the stressed out man had said when it happened.

Never in her life had she been so angry. Never had she been so insulted. This man had brought her into work and dumped her into a situation that he had given her no preparation for and she had been nothing but patient for the last seven and a half hours. She had taken every insult, demand and irritation in stride and what had it given her? Her fists balled up and she drew back, feeling as though she were in slow motion. Surely he would stop her before she could actually connect but perhaps time was moving just as slowly for him as it was for her. There was the sudden burst of pain in her knuckles from the impact, the sickening crunch of bone under her fist and the wet feeling of blood begin to leak down across her fingers. Withdrawing her hand she looked up at him, his aqua eyes wide in disbelief as blood began to ooze from his broken nose, his mouth partially open in shock. Zach's expression was similar as she stepped back, schooling her features into a cold mask of disinterest. "I appreciate the job opportunity you offered me; however I must respectfully decline. I am sure you will have no problem finding someone with the _qualifications_ you express such a desire for." And with that she turned, gathered her briefcase and walked out the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

The two men stood in silence after the woman had left, both staring in disbelief, one dripping blood from his nose. The dark haired man glanced over at his silver haired companion and shook his head. "Obviously you've got no people skills at all. I'm surprised they ever made you a General." Zach frowned in disgust and headed towards Sephiroth's office. A moment later he came back, a wastepaper basket in hand, filled with the resumes the General had tossed out after hiring Lynn. "So, should we start going through the other applicants now or do you want to wait til everyone in Midgar finds out what a bastard you are to work for?" He smiled cheerfully. Sephiroth sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and just as quickly taking his hand away. He had to go get patched up, check over this paperwork and take care of the requisition requests that resulted from that paperwork.

And he had a secretary to rehire.

He hoped.


End file.
