~*Disclaimer*~
Don’t own the FF7 characters, duh.
In the Night
Prologue
The whispers surrounded him, wave
after wave crashing down on him as he covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut
as all logic and reason were droned out. They hated him, he knew it, they hated
him for what he was, who he was, his very existence was spat and cursed upon.
The whispers were accusing, forming and shifting into shadows, dark and
accusing, frightening. The inky blackness surrounded him, and over the accusing
shadowy whispers was a vague mournful sound. Was someone mourning him? Was he
already gone? Its high shrill notes were impossible to determine, what was it
saying? Was it even human? The whispers once again tore at him, and despite his
tolerance to pain, he cried out in pain. He was sinking, diving deeply into the
deeps of hatred, lost, under the sea of fury, the waves churning, the whispers
tearing at his mind, threatening to take him. And all while that mournful cry
was in the background, never ending, forever there. Low and mournful.
He jolted up, gasping, his covers
pooling at his feet as he panted for ragged breath, air filling his lungs as
his blood stained eyes looked desperately around, a ring of red incasing the
blood he had shed, the blood that had spilled and tainted his soul. He gave a
slight relieved sigh, slipping out of the safe warm grasp of the worn bed and
sitting on the cool window seat, looking up at the sickle moon, beams of
sincerity bathing him, making his already pale appearance something hauntingly
handsome. Ghostly. He sighed, brushing his sweat matted hair away from his
soaking forehead, long raven strands falling to his shoulders, midnight threads
of black silk. He sighed, pausing as he pressed his forehead against the
window, the cold rushing to his mind, stilling the turmoil somewhat within.
These nightmares... they had haunted him for too
long. Lucercia... His ivory fingertips
brushed gently across the window, looking out, almost longingly, his expression
mournful. It had been his fault, his sin. He was tainted, stained because of
his love for her. She was eternal, pale and beautiful like the moon, her eyes
capturing the stars. Maybe that was why he loved to gaze at the stars late at
night, forever enraptured, forever cursed and tainted. He gave a slight sigh,
the window misting, blocking the view of the moon, his Lucercia, turning away,
though the streams of moonlight gently poured into the room, like her purity
had lightened up his darkness. Without the light, dark wouldn’t exist.
He padded softly out of his room, the planks
creaking and groaning their displeasure, moonlight pouring spilling after him
into the hallway, like a ghost. He sighed, walking into his spotless kitchen,
hardly ever used, opening the refrigerator as cold seeped into his skin.
Without a word, he fumbled around in the practically empty frozen box, one that
mirrored his soul, and pulled out some vodka stored for these nights. He gave a
light sigh, watching the liquid slosh around in its bottle. Suddenly, the phone
rang, shaking him out of his thoughts, and he blinked, giving a slight sigh as
he picked up the phone.
“Valentine.” Was the cold, detached
answer to the obnoxious ring, his voice sounding icy even to him. Though he was
used to it. His interest was more in whoever was calling. This had to be of
significant importance to contact him at eleven thirty.
“Heya Vinnie! Hope I didn’t wake ya!”
Vincent instantly flinched at his nickname, though said nothing, his silence
speaking loudly for him. He was a man of few words, and everyone he worked with
knew that. He had always been that way. So, without waiting for a word, his
employer quickly went into business, his tone drastically changing. “We finally
got a lead in that f***ing Shinra case. Apparently they work underground, and
they anonymous tipster was kind enough to give us directions. S***, probably a
rat in the system. Anyway, we need your god d*** expertise in this, Vinnie.”
Vincent gave a light sigh, saying nothing for a moment, letting this settle in.
Expertise… huh, his expertise was that of a murderer, a man who was stained,
but then again, it was his job as a police officer to do his duty whenever
called upon. His repentance for his sins.
“Give me fifteen minutes.” Vincent
said, settling the phone back in its cradle, looking back down at his bottle of
vodka. With a trembling hand, he picked it up and put it back in the
refrigerator. Save it for another day.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Yes, slow I know, but some background on this whole thing before I get
this story. Don’t you feel so sorry for Vinnie? *sniffles* Well, hehe, this
story kinda came to me and wouldn’t let me sleep. Ugh. Well, anyway, next
chapter is still kinda a prologue too, and do not fear. I couldn’t put two long
chapters together, ne? Well, anyway, please read and review.
Prologue Revisited
She sighed softly, her elegant long
strands of chocolate silk cascading to her waist, a ring of red encasing the
luxurious wine, though flecks of red still dotted them. Blood, the liquid had
been spilt because of her, before her, blood surrounded her, but that was life,
or rather the life she was supposed to lead. All because she had fallen in love
with impossible blue eyes, a boyish face that was too innocent. After all, it
was said people wore a mask, and he was a perfect example of it. Cloud Shinra,
how was she supposed to know he was the twin brother of one of the most wanted
criminals on the planet? Cloud had never mentioned that, until she was too
blinded by his heroism, until she was too entangled in the web of deception and
lies to escape. So, she had joined, to be by his side, even if he didn’t pay
any attention to her now. She had a feeling what he had called ‘love’ was
nothing more than lust, and he had lost interest in her soon after she kept telling
him after they got married. He didn’t seem to want to be committed to just one
woman yet, no matter how beautiful or gorgeous. Instead, she was caught up in
the terrorist group named ‘Shinra’, and she couldn’t get out. To get out was to
be dead, and to kill meant to live, or to be by a founder’s side as his
‘woman’. So, she was entrapped in a snare of love, lies, of murder, as she sat
around here, waiting and praying for her ‘love’ to come back to her, to come
back at all. It was a dangerous game they were playing, dancing right beneath
the police officer’s noses, and she had a feeling that Cloud couldn’t protect
her forever.
She had no where else to go, her
mother had died from a horrible disease, no relatives that would take in the
‘poor cousin’ and her father had been murdered, and she had a feeling it was
probably by one of Shinra’s most valuable assassins.
Sephiroth. The very name sent chills
of fear down her spine. Even though she wasn’t one of those women who worried
about breaking a nail, since she had, after all, taken martial arts to defend
herself, since she hadn’t lived in the safest region of town, Sephiroth could
probably best her anyway. He wasn’t called the ‘One winged Angel’ for nothing,
since somewhere in the depths of the corruption, it was rumored he was so
talented because he was the fallen angel himself, another Devil sent down to
h***, but landing on the planet instead.
She sighed, shrugging her shoulders,
her straps of her wine colored dress slipping off of her delicate shoulders as
she looked back up at the door. She wanted freedom, she didn’t want to kill.
She was kind and optimistic by nature, so she wanted to believe that her and
Cloud would be able to get away from this place, that they would live happily
ever after, though it seemed her dreams weren’t meant to be, fading away in the
vague recesses of the past. What a lie that promise had been.
“Ms. Lockheart?” Tifa turned her gaze
back to the door, eyes away from the vanity that she had been blankly staring
at for the last fifteen minutes. A servant bit her lip nervously, wringing her
hands on her dress in distress, obviously uneasy about being in a gangster’s
woman’s quarters. It seemed that everyone was afraid of her, her status and her
ability to defend herself that had attracted the ‘unattainable’ Cloud Shinra in
the first place. Tifa gave a reassuring smile, making the girl breathe a sigh
of relief as her hands stopped fiddling nervously, her face relaxing. “Mistress
Aeris requests your presence.” Tifa nodded, the girl giving another smile
before disappearing back out the door, and Tifa tilted her head to the side,
standing up slowly, her look thoughtful.
Aeris was also another ‘gangster’s
woman’, and had often complained of how she hated this place, how she wanted to
get free. Aeris hated violence as much as she did, and was especially squeamish
at the very sight of drawn blood. When she had meet Tifa, both had struck it
up, becoming fast friends since both understood the other’s situation better
than anyone else could. The only problem it seemed Aeris liked to flirt too
much for her own good, and namely with Cloud. It was rumored that the Shinra’s
had a third brother, Zack, though he had disappeared, or probably had been
smart and leaving behind everything dear to him, even his beloved fiancée
Aeris, who was only kept around because both Cloud and Rufus both had looked up
to their beloved brother, and since he was gone, having Zack’s woman still
around seemed to be somewhat of a comfort. Cloud had also told her that Zack
and he were twins, born on the same day, and the only feature that separated
them was Zack’s hair had been a thick raven black, while Cloud’s was the purest
of gold. It seemed Aeris confused that too sometimes, her longings for her old
boyfriend sometimes getting the better of her. Since Cloud wasn’t here, Tifa
supposed it’d be okay if she visited with Aeris for a while. She had nothing
better to do, and besides, it seems that Cloud had his hands full trying to
find out who the ‘rat’ was.
There seemed to be a mole in their
delicate fabric of the gang, and the police had become increasing closer to
busting into their hideout, and Cloud had taken it upon himself to eliminate
anyone who tried to ruin his company, his families company that was waiting to
rise from the depths and take the world back over.
With Tifa by his side, of course,
though Tifa wasn’t so sure about this. Lots of things could happen, but maybe
her dream would come true. Maybe she and Cloud would be able to finally get
away from this place, and start life. Without the blood bathing them.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Yes, brief, boring, informative bit about Tifa. More about this whole
action stuff in the next chapter. *sighs* I just had to write something! Sorry
if she seems a bit OOC, but I guess watching people kill other people takes a
toll on ya, ne? Well, anyway, please read and review, and constructive
criticism is always welcome. Yea.
Chapter 1
It was silent, dark and haunting, ill
intentions grasping at the place with its icy claws, eyes glinting in the
darkness, so that he had the feeling he was being watched. He said nothing,
silently prowling restlessly through the dim corridors that were alien to him,
unknown territory where anything and everything could happen in a fleeting
instant if he wasn’t careful. His eyes narrowed, gun drawn and held in an
action ready poise, his eyes scanning the halls. The distant sound of the rest
of the squad was behind him, and like a pack of dark shadows, they crept along
silently. Their padded footsteps made almost no sound as Vincent continued to
inch along the wall, his ears alert, ready, his commander making a small motion
with his hand, indicating that they should stop. The commander’s blue eyes
locked on Vincent’s, and with a slight nod of his head, Vincent strode forward
cautiously, stepping lightly and nimbly to assure safety. His breathing was
quickening, his pulse rising, knowing that any small error on his part would
cause instant chaos. He’d have to be careful.
Suddenly, a green eyed woman walked around the
corner, humming a merry tune to herself, a small smile playing on her lips.
Vincent sprang out, going to grab the woman, though
she had seen him, and that surprised him, and she had turned to him, her green
eyes wide and frightened. She let out a high pitched scream, ear shattering,
just before Vincent clamped a hand over her mouth, and she struggled, still
screaming and trying to claw at him. Great.
His commander shot him a disapproving look, before
motioning for the rest of the squad to try and handle the situation. However,
as fate would ironically deem it, it was too late.
“Did you hear that?”
“It came from over there!”
“Let’s go!”
Vincent inwardly cursed, hearing sirens ringing
throughout the whole domain, blasting in his ears. Where had all the control
and caution gone? The rest of his squad had disappeared, dispersing to the four
winds, and he was left with a struggling woman who had started it. He had half
a mind to knock her out, but instead, just let her go. What more harm could she
do? The girl took off, looking absolutely shaken, though Vincent’s main concern
right now was finding the rest of his team or getting out. He decided to find
his squad, since after all, it was his fault they were in this situation.
Guilt, how he hated that emotion.
His boots thudded loudly against the floor, almost
drowning out the shrieking of the god forsaken sirens, and he skidded across
the floor, thinking he had spotted his commander, but instead, was meet with an
empty corridor.
Suddenly, he felt the whoosh of the wind next to his
ear, having narrowly dodged an attack aimed for his head, no doubt. The
attacker, to his surprise, was female, and looked almost as surprised to see he
had avoided her, but surprise in those wine colored eyes quickly turned into
determination.
With another twist of her body, she sent her slim
leg arched toward his face, though he caught that easily, shoving her backward
as she fought for balance. Seeing his opportunity, he went for her knees,
though she jumped back, him missing entirely.
Their eyes locked for what seemed like eternity, and
Vincent’s eyes narrowed, his breathing a bit ragged. A woman here, fighting?
Yes, he had heard of female gangsters, but they were mostly used for show, were
they not? Perhaps he had been mistaken.
With another cry, she lunged forward, her fist aimed
for his face, though he caught that too, easily, kicking at her ankles this
time and sending her sprawling, though she took him with her. Vincent thanked
whoever was watching him that no one was around to see the position they were
in, and the girl just glared at him like it was his fault. Great. She struggled
a bit more, before Vincent heard his commander barking orders. With a small
sigh of relief, he turned to the girl wondering what he should do.
The fire in her eyes stated clearly that if he let
her go, he was a dead man. Well, at least, if she was conscious. With that
thought, he knocked her out, her figure slumping immediately, and thinking of
her as a possible a knowledgeable source, her quickly cuffed her, flung her
over his shoulder, and turned, quickly following after his commander.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Vinnie! You sly fox you! Who knew
you’d pick up ladies on a mission no less!”
Vincent said nothing back, calmly
setting the woman comfortably on a metal folding chair. Well, as comfortable as
one could get on one of those god forsaken chairs, which seemed to be chilled
just for the victim’s displeasure. She was there for nothing more than a brief
interrogation, nothing more, nothing less, though
The woman gave a slight groan,
fidgeting uncomfortably as she unconsciously tried the cuffs that bound her,
frowning her displeasure. Vincent stiffened while
Instantly she jolted up, struggling a
bit as
“What in the-?” The woman bit her lip,
her eyes resting on
“He’s the one who’ll be questioning
you. Have fun.”
Her eyes meet his, and Vincent said
nothing, silently pulling up another one of the cursed metal chairs, the bottom
scraping against the floor loudly, like finger nails on a chalkboard. The woman
flinched, her gaze returning to the table as Vincent sat down.
“What is your name?” The question was
bland, hanging onto the air with a slight desperate tone to it, as if trying to
stop the incoming silence. However, all was for naught, since the silence
reigned for what seemed like an eternity, however, time liked to confuse
everyone, crawling by when it wanted, or disappearing in the blink of the eye.
Finally, as if she was going mad by the silence, she bit her lip, turning to
him, her eyes locking with his.
“Tifa Lockheart. Though it’s no use
for you, is it?” Vincent said nothing, and she sighed, giving an annoyed roll
of her eyes. “You’ll get nothing out of me, so torture me all you want.” Tifa
said again, while a slight knock on the door sounded, and both heads jerked up,
just as
“Valentine.” Vincent turned around,
slightly surprised at his employer’s serious voice. Cid Highwind, with his ever
present cigarette, was eyeing Vincent almost curiously. After a small moment of
silence, Cid sighed, letting his cigarette roll to the corner of his mouth. “We
can get some useful s*** out of that girl. I dunno about you, but I ain’t
trusting
Cid averted his gaze, no one being
able to stand his gaze for long enough, no one he had met.
“Listen Vinnie, I don’t like this much
either, but I figure if someone can get information about the whole Shinra
stuff outta her, I figure it’d be you.” Cid said gruffly, and Vincent said
nothing for a moment, his lips pulled into a grim line. He was not a baby
sitter. He had his own sins to deal with, why be tainted with hers also? But,
instead, he agreed. It was his job to do what his boss asked of him, and he
supposed he’d be able to squeeze enough information about her out by next week.
Tops.
When he opened the door again, Tifa
looked up at him, startled, as if she had decided he wasn’t going to come back.
He sent her a warning glance as he kneeled down next to her, saying nothing as
the cuffs slipped from her delicate wrists to his open palm. She stared at him
wide eyed, as if she was having an internal conflict about attacking him or
not.
He gave a slight glance over his
shoulder to send the message to follow him, and he walked out the door, and
somewhat dumbly she did, glancing around nervously as the place was bustling
with police officers. She wouldn’t be able to do anything in the Police
Headquarters, since she seemed to have more wits about her than some people
Vincent was ashamed to know.
With a somewhat tired sigh, he slid
into the driver’s side of his car, watching Tifa in interest as she uneasily
slid in the passenger’s side, and to his amusement, she even buckled her seat
belt, biting her lower lip nervously as she glanced at her hands, clasped
firmly on her lap.
“Where are we going?” She asked a bit
nervously, her voice shaking, though she tried to appear calm, which also
amused Vincent. She had more audacity or will if she tried to keep up a strong
front with him.
“To my apartment.” Was all he said,
ignoring her terrified look as he started the car toward the direction of his
apartment.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Sucky, yes, but it does the deed, I think. Well, anyway, I think it was
bad, but whatever. At least they interacted or something. I know Vincent’s
probably a bit OOC. But it’s AU! Yea, that’s about it. Well, read and review.
Chapter 2
Vincent tossed the keys of his
apartment onto the sparkling clean, brushing past Tifa who was staring around
uncomfortably. It was so dark in here, damp, like it hadn’t been lived in for a
long time. It made her feel uneasy, though she supposed that was because she
was in a new place, with a male police officer, no less.
Cloud would undoubtedly be angry with
her that she hadn’t tried to escape during that car ride, but those blood red
eyes made her feel scared, or maybe something else. But she brushed that off,
looking after the dark haired man that was supposed to squeeze information out
of her, that was the only thing she was sure.
Why else would he bring her here, since she was sure it had nothing to
do with attraction.
“I told you, I wouldn’t tell you
anything. What is the use of bringing me here?” Tifa asked, shifting from one
foot to the other. She felt his gaze on her, making her even more uneasy. His
eyes made her feel like he could see right through her, and she didn’t like
that at all. Cloud couldn’t even do that, and she was supposed to be in love
with him
She jolted back a bit, as if trying to
recoil from her thoughts Supposed to? She was! Though somehow the line of
affection and love seemed to be blurring awful quickly.
Vincent watched her in barely
concealed amusement, though it was quickly masked again as he opened his
refrigerator, glaring into it as if it had been betrayed him. It was
practically empty except for a bar of butter and his vodka bottle. He sighed.
He’d have to go grocery shopping, and that was never pleasant.
Tifa bit her lip to keep from
commenting on about how empty the fridge was, though blurted a bit
absentmindedly, “Are you on a diet?” Vincent just glared at her, and she gave a
slight sigh, tilting her head to the side. Even though Cloud was brilliant and
knew how to take care of himself, he still couldn’t keep a fridge stocked
properly. Somehow, that small trait linked the two men, and it made the one in
front of her seem more human, less… intimidating.
She flashed him a slight smile, her
tension easing a bit, though her guard was still up. Well, typical working men.
“Grocery shopping, who needs it
right?” Tifa asked a bit teasingly, though Vincent nothing, just staring up at
her, not sure if he should be annoyed or confused. He opted for stony silence
instead, earning a slight sigh from her, shaking her head as she straightened
up, closing the door in something close to disgust. With a grin over her
shoulder, she raised an eyebrow. “Are you coming? You can’t really survive on
butter alone.” Tifa joked, while Vincent just watched her in confusion. She was
joking with him, even teasing, something that had taken
“Sure.” With a slight nod, he followed
her out the door, choosing to ignore the stares his neighbors were giving him.
Everyone knew Vincent Valentine never came home with company, and let alone an
attractive woman. There would be talk, but Vincent was used to it. Let them
babble about what they had no clue about.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cid Highwind took a long drag of his
addicting cigarette. Ah, he felt better already. That raid had gone
unsuccessfully, but at least that girl could spill some information. Too bad
they hadn’t caught the mole instead. She obviously wasn’t going to speak, but a
day or two with Vincent oughta fix that. After all, not even he liked to spend
more time than he needed with the moody cop. It was rumored that his former
lover had gotten mixed up in one of the cases that Valentine had been working
on at the time, and she gotten killed in a shoot out.
But that’s what everyone said, and of course,
people, even police officers in the building, tended to get their facts messed
up.
Cid snorted, rolling his eyes as he continued to
smoke in peace, since people had long since stopped telling him that it was bad
for him. Well, Valentine did his work and didn’t b**** and moan about it like
some people did.
“Hey boss!” Speak of the f***ing devil. The red
haired man stuck his head in the office, grinning widely, ready to cause Cid to
lose ten more years of his life. He should just fire
“What the h*** do you want
“Listen boss, I know you sent that
girl over there for the case’s best interest, but I can’t help but feel something’s
going to happen.”
“The day that Valentine f***ing gets
over his moody s*** is the day I quit smokin’.” Cid said with a smirk, knowing
that would be the day. Valentine seemed to have been in his lifeless coma for
at least ten years, and plenty of beautiful women had eyed him and failed.
“With all due respect sir, everyone
has their limits. Besides, did you see her body?”
“Listen jacka**, Valentine ain’t as
horny as you, so sit your a** back in that chair and do your paperwork!” Cid
roared, already furious that
Reno gave a mock salute, turning and
walking out of the office with a ‘hut two three four’ and shut the door behind
him, and Cid just sighed, smashing what was left of his cigarette into his
overflowing ashtray, making a mental note to assign more paperwork to that guy
more often. Lighting another and letting the nicotine flow through his veins,
Cid propped his feet on his chair, staring at the ceiling, his blue eyes
narrowing a bit. There were limits to everyone, and Cid hoped that Valentine
knew what the f*** he was doing. Getting involved with a girl from Shinra was a
f***ing insane idea.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Must… sleep…*yawns* I can’t really see the screen, so um… just tell me
what you think. I know Cid was kinda OOC in this, but c’mon! I think
Chapter 3
“Oh stop looking at me like I’m
sucking all the life out of you.” Tifa said with a sigh, after twenty minutes
of ignoring Vincent’s stare on her back, or glare. It seemed his blood red eyes
were set in an eternal glare, as if everything and everyone were forbidden to
delve into their depths, but then again, it made him more alluring.
Of course, Vincent did not reply,
continuing to watch her actions in interest. He had not started his
interrogation yet, and she had not offered anything, instead offering to fill
his stomach up instead. Vincent had no quarrels with that, not having a decent
home cooked meal since… he averted his gaze from Tifa, who was humming at her
task, a small smile lighting her face as if she truly enjoyed this, as if she
didn’t mind feeding him. Maybe she was putting food poisoning in it, however,
Vincent had been eyeing what she put in the shopping cart like a hawk, and
nothing had slipped past his gaze unaffected. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to be in
Shinra to begin with, and was happy to be free.
“Ta da!” Tifa said cheerily, setting a
dish in front of him, making his mouth water, though he stared down at it
curiously. If it was as delicious as it smelled, Vincent was all too eager to
consume it, though looked up at Tifa first, who was smiling eagerly at him.
She bit her lip nervously after a while,
and then she sighed, shaking her head.
“Oh, I see. I have to taste it first,
right?” Without another word, she bit into the food, chewing and glaring at him
as if to say ‘there!’. The meal continued in an uncomfortable silence, and
finally Tifa sighed, pursing her lips. “If I told you everything about Shinra,
what would you do?” She asked, tilting her head to the side, pointing her fork
at him, as he eyed her with a slight bemused expression.
“It depends on your role in Shinra.”
Vincent said calmly, and Tifa laughed softly, a low tinkling sound that
trickled in the air and invaded his senses, sending a slight shiver through
him.
“My role in Shinra? I guess I could
tell you that.” Tifa said, crossing her legs, arching an eyebrow as she poked
disinterestedly at her food for a moment with a slight sigh. “I am Cloud
Strife’s ‘woman’ and I am basically there for him if he has some tension to put
it lightly.” She tilted her head to the side to catch his expression, which was
as unreadable as always, but she just smirked, rolling her eyes.
“I see.” Vincent said after a moment,
getting the idea, with a slight twitch of his eyebrow. Tifa gave a slight
smile, looking at him with an amused expression on her face.
“So what about you? Why does a man
like you work for the police?” Tifa asked curiously, and Vincent visibly
tensed, though he supposed that piece of information wouldn’t matter so much,
so with a slight shrug, he spoke.
“It is something close to a family
business. Everyone in my family has always been someone of the law.” Vincent
said, almost a bit bitterly. He had not liked the idea of being a lawyer, which
required heated discussion, something Vincent despised, and he had tried his
hand at undercover, and while he excelled at it… Lucercia…
“Are you okay?” Tifa’s worried voice
pierced through his thoughts and he glanced up, seeing genuine concern etched
on her face, and he felt somewhat confused. Why would she care about his well
being when she barely knew him, and he was the cause of her being torn from her
beloved Cloud Shinra. Or maybe Cloud was a thing of the past, for she had
addressed him with a bored tone in her voice.
He said nothing in reply, simply
getting up and turning to her, a slight nod of his thanks was all he gave her,
before pausing a moment, an almost thoughtful expression as he glanced at her.
“You can use my room.” He said, before
turning and walking off, Tifa’s eyes following him, before she shook herself
out of her daze. Yes, he had been ‘civil’ to her, but he was still the enemy,
wasn’t he?
She sighed, collecting the
dishes off the table. Sometimes, it seemed, the lines blurred for her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What do you mean she was kidnapped?”
Cloud asked in a deadly calm voice, though his eyes were filled with mako fire
as Aeris bowed her head, trying hard to keep her lips from quivering.
“I mean, some police officers raided
the place and one caught Tifa.” Aeris whispered again, bracing herself for
Cloud’s eruption of anger. But it never came, instead she heard a short, harsh
chuckle.
“Oh, I see.” His cold, piercing gaze
turned back to Aeris, who gave a slight whimper. She had always feared Cloud
and Rufus, and she supposed she was lucky that Zack had loved her.
Zack… tears threatened to well up into
her wide green eyes again, but she suppressed it, instead glancing down at her
hands which were clasped tightly on her pink dress.
Did Cloud really think she’d let her
friend, and only friend here, be captured on purpose? If she had known
something had was going to happen to Tifa, oh Holy, she would have silenced
herself right then. She was the one who should have been kidnapped away, not
poor Tifa. She alone deserved the fate that had ironically fallen onto Tifa’s
shoulders.
She let out a long, suffering sigh,
wishing she could take back what she had done, she wished she didn’t feel so
guilty. She didn’t know why Cloud held it against her, however. He was the one
who was supposed to protect his ‘woman’ he was the one who should have saved
Tifa.
She felt a wave of anger take a hold
of her, biting her lip to keep silent, almost until it bled. It wasn’t her
fault Cloud was always so distant, maybe it was better that Tifa was gone.
Maybe this would finally be the chance that Cloud could see what he had, and
finally realize how much Tifa actually cared for the seemingly emotionless man.
“And where were you when she was
kidnapped, if you don’t mind my asking.” Aeris snapped, a bit more accusing
than she was used to. Instantly she blushed, lowering her gaze as she mentally
scolded herself for her outburst, though Cloud only laughed.
“Trying to figure out who betrayed us,
Aeris.” She felt his cold blue eyes, like icy sheets of rain belting down on
her, and she shivered. “So that this wouldn’t happen again. That was better
than being here, don’t you agree?” Aeris didn’t reply, and Cloud didn’t force
her to, instead, turning and striding out of the room, closing the door shut as
Aeris felt the guilt take her once more. The mole… oh, how horrible her fate
would be now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tifa’s eyes fluttered open, her
eyelashes dancing on her skin for a moment, as she vaguely surveyed her
surroundings. Where was she? She jolted up, eyes wide as she glanced around the
room, almost frantic. This certainly wasn’t hers, so where could she be?
Instantly everything came flooding
back to her, and she sighed, flopping back down on the bed. Vincent’s bed.
Instantly she jolted out of bed, glimpsing around the room, her ears perked.
The sound of a hushed conversation
reached her ears, and quietly, she slipped into the hallway, listening silently
to Vincent talk on the phone. Or more ever, someone else talk to Vincent, since
he seemed to be mostly quiet.
‘Did you get any…?’
‘What did you find…?’
‘Shinra is moving…’
‘Be careful…’
She could only catch bits and pieces
of the conversation, and she nearly jumped when Vincent set the phone down with
a slight sigh, turning his gaze to the place where she had been eavesdropping.
“Anything else you would like to add
to your earlier comments?” He asked, his voice once again cold, and Tifa gave a
slight nervous laugh, coming out from the doorway, rubbing the back of her head
nervously.
“Wow, you really are good if you heard
me.” Vincent said nothing, instead turning his back to her as he settled
himself once again on the table, shuffling through manila folders scattered
across the wooden table.
Tifa blinked, pulling up a chair as
she sat across from him, watching him slightly in interest as he poured over
the reports. Raven black strands dripped into his face, much more different
than Cloud’s golden blonde, his red eyes roving across the paper almost
appreciatively, like Cloud’s blue eyes had once gazed upon her.
Instantly she slapped herself
mentally, chiding at herself. Why was she comparing them anyway? She frowned,
tilting her head to the side, unconsciously letting her eyes rest on Vincent.
Yes, Cloud had stopped showing his
affection, but that didn’t mean to run into the arms of the first available
man, not to mention the one who had kidnapped her from Cloud in the first
place. She pursed her lips, strangling a sigh in her throat. Then she blinked,
looking at Vincent curiously.
“You never said what you planned to do
with me after I told you about Shinra.” Tifa blurted, chiding herself again as
Vincent’s red gaze flickered up to hers, and if she didn’t know better, she was
sure that there was amusement in his eyes.
“We would let you free, I suppose. You
have nothing marring your record I would hope.” Vincent said flatly, turning
back to his work, and Tifa blinked, turning her gaze out the window.
Nothing marring her record… that was a
laugh. How hilarious. Wouldn’t helping criminals be something counted against
her? Would she really deny any relationship she had with Cloud just for a
chance for a real life? One with no strings attached?
She bit her lip, shaking her head
slightly. She was in love with Cloud, and that was all there was to it. Saying
she had nothing wrong on her record would be like betraying Cloud, and that was
something she could never do. It would be like betraying herself.
“I’ve helped criminals, isn’t that an
offense?” Tifa asked softly, tilting her gaze back to Vincent, giving him a
small smile as if the subject they were on was the most hilarious thing in the
whole world, and only she and him knew about it.
He raised an eyebrow and looked at her
with a slight expression on his face, though Tifa barely noticed or didn’t
catch it at all.
“I suppose, but if it is not so
severe…” Vincent let the sentence hang, and Tifa gave a slight laugh, shaking
her head, getting up as she looked down at Vincent.
“I’ve seen some things.” Tifa said, a
bit mysteriously while she turned and walked off, the corner’s of Vincent’s
mouth twitching upward. He had seen and done some things that should be on a
criminal record. She was an intriguing creature, though she seemed genuinely
kind. He hadn’t had many people, friends or ex-foes that would cook him a
dinner and try to make small talk and could withstand his unfaltering gaze.
He gave a slight shake of himself,
rousing himself from his thoughts. It was dangerous to go down that road, and
Vincent knew that more than anyone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Please!
Spare me!” Was the loud, high pitched squeal of the annoying insect in front of
him. He didn’t deserve to be called human, for he had already betrayed them,
the mole that had cost them their cozy position hidden deep in the shadows. He
had no sympathy for spineless bugs that played dangerous games and expected to
rise above unharmed as if God. The thought made him smirk even more. God, what
a laugh. The very word made him sick. Where was God now, he wondered.
Ignoring the helpless pleading, he
raised his long sword above his head, a small smirk crossing his features
malevolently, his green eyes flashing with flames of that from h***.
With a strip of moonlight from the
generous full moon, the man was stabbed clean through, eyes wide as he
sputtered, blood spewing from the wound and from his mouth as he slid from the
long blade of the sword.
Sephiroth ignored the corpse, looking
up into the elegant light of the moon, shining down on his blood splattered
face, pale and almost noble. His green eyes no longer held the evil look in it,
however, calm, almost guilty.
“Sephiroth.” He turned around to see
Cloud Shinra, looking down at the twisted bleeding corpse of the man he had
slain without a second thought. He said nothing, his cold eyes roving over the
man’s face, not one to be disturbed right after killing. Everyone knew that,
and few had the courage to face him, especially right after he had slain
someone.
He had no love for the ‘people’ at
Shinra. He only stayed for the pay was good, and it held the answers he
desperately wanted. He wanted to know where he came from, and his parents, and
for that, he would play little puppet for a while longer, though his patience
was quickly wearing thin, as was Shinra’s use to him.
“What do you want, Shinra. I have no
time for this.” Sephiroth said icily, his eyes taking a dangerous glint as he
gave a flick of his sword, all the blood being swiped up into the wind,
splattering sickeningly against the pavement as he sheathed his sword, his smirk
growing a bit as he saw Cloud’s disgusted face.
“I have a favor to ask of you.” Cloud
said, turning his blue eyes back up to his own, cold and calculating, just like
his elder brother’s. Their similarities were something that made Sephiroth
chuckle, for they both were fools.
“I do not do favors Shinra, you know
that. Get to the point.” Sephiroth snapped, not in the mood for pleasantries,
and Cloud turned his gaze back to the corpse, a small fond smile on his face as
he watched the man bleed.
“Get Tifa back for me.” Sephiroth
paused, well aware of the girl being kidnapped. What would he be if he were ill
informed? Knowledge was, after all, power, and Sephiroth had plenty of that.
“Get to it Shinra. Where is she?”
Sephiroth said coolly, hoping this would be a challenge, as he hadn’t had one
since the last time he and the spiky haired blonde had fought.
“She’s being held at a residence
belonging to Vincent Valentine. Heard of him?” It was more of a statement than
question, since everyone knew of Vincent Valentine. He had used to work for
them, until he left for the police, after Shinra had of course, killed his
lover. Of course, it could be a lie, like everything else in Shinra seemed to
be. It was so hard to get reliable information out of babbling idiots.
“Yes.” Sephiroth stated, his eyes
flickering back to his sword, a kind of pleased smile spreading slowly across
his face. Finally, a challenge worthy of his time. Vincent Valentine, was it?
“I want you to leave-.” Shinra
started, but Sephiroth looked up coldly, a small smirk on his face as he
fingered his prized sword, the Masamune.
“I will take my leave now.” And just
like that, he was swept up into the wind, disappearing into the threads of
moonlight that had beamed down into the alleyway.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ A bit dark, I think, but then again, that’s just me. Hehe! That was a
long sucker, so be happy for a while, m’kay? Makes my job easier. And yea!
Sephiroth made his appearance. You didn’t think nothing would happen during the
whole story, did you? This may come as a surprise to you, but this story has an
actual plot. *gasp shock horror* Yup. Well, anyway, please read and review.
Chapter 4
“What do you mean?” Vincent growled, his
red eyes resting lazily on the window sill, focusing on the moonlight pouring
into the dark kitchen, as if trying desperately to lift the cloak of darkness
that surrounded him.
He wasn’t in the best of moods right
now, especially since it seemed that his thoughts had been betraying him, and
that he hadn’t had the time to sit around to pour himself a drink to soothe his
nerves. Now he had a crazed assassin after his blood, all because he housed
Tifa.
He had half a mind to tell Cid to take
her and keep her in the police station, but she had been growing on him, and he
cursed that.
Sephiroth. He remembered the name
whispered in the depths of destruction and despair, the one winged angel of
death and terror, the supposed man who had tried to climb up to the status of
‘God’ and had fallen. He had heard about his extraordinary skills with the
sword, the sword itself, the Masamune, was a legend, and the wielder itself was
just as legendary.
Vincent let out a small curse, his
annoyance growing as he heard Cid’s barking laughter ring out loud and clear
through the telephone. His eye twitched in annoyance, as he tilted his head to
the side, seeing Tifa out of the corner of his eye, looking at him worriedly.
He turned away from her, waiting for
Cid to finish his laughter, till it only became a small mumble about ‘Vinnie’ not
‘pissin’ in his drawers’. Sometimes Vincent wondered how he could work for this
man, but Cid had a blunt way of doing things, and by doing such never lied.
“Like I said Vinnie, Sephiroth is
apparently after ya. And we haven’t heard from the mole in a while. I think
maybe they got ta him. Oh well.” Cid said, with a heavy sigh, and Vincent could
picture his boss leaning back in his chair chain smoking with enough smoke in
his office to set off the fire detector.
“Any idea when he might drop by?”
Vincent asked, sitting down, noticing Tifa was wringing her hands out in
distress, still wearing that wine colored dress he had found her in. He really
needed to get her a change of clothes or something.
“Why not ask the girl in front of ya?”
Vincent said nothing for a moment, glancing at Tifa as she looked up at him
startled, as if she sensed something was wrong. He quickly glanced away, trying
to hide his scowl that was forming.
His silence spoke louder than words
for him, and he heard Cid give another heavy sigh.
“Listen Valentine, we don’t have
anything definite. The warning we received was in some weird coded language.
Tseng’s working on it right now, but I doubt he’ll get anything done in time.
Just watch your back, okay Vincent?” There was another long period of silence
before Cid gave another curse, breaking it. “Listen Vinnie, gotta run. Just be
careful, okay?” Without waiting for his response, Cid hung up the phone,
leaving Vincent with the dial tone. With another curse, Vincent let the phone
drop back to its cradle.
“What’s going on?” Tifa asked,
twisting the cloth in her hands nervously, while Vincent avoided her gaze,
while she sighed, shaking her head. “It’s Sephiroth, isn’t it? He’s going to
come here.” Tifa said, and Vincent turned to look back at her, his eyes
narrowing a bit.
“Do you-?” He started, though she cut
him off with a slight sunny smile, as if the whole thing were a joke.
“Know when he’s coming? The next full
moon, he always hunts in its light.” She looked at him, a slight smile lingering
on her face, and he felt something tug on the back of his mind. Attraction was
fatal.
She tilted her gaze back to him, a
slight sigh lingering on her lips.
“Listen, you don’t stay in Shinra most
of your life and not pick up some weird habits of the inhabitants. Some thing I
know would make your blood curl, I’m sure even yours.” Tifa added, and Vincent
raised an eyebrow. Was that supposed to impress him? Noticing the way her gaze
was somewhat bored, it seemed not. This woman was a walking enigma, but then
again, so was he. To quote what Cid had said once, ‘chocobos of a feather flock
together’.
He checked his calendar, noting that
he was several months behind, his brows furrowing somewhat.
“The next full moon is two nights from
now.” Vincent reported, and Tifa looked back up at him, a small sigh escaping
her lips, and she shook her head slightly, standing up.
“If I were you, I’d get ready.” Tifa
stated, though Vincent said nothing, his gaze still on the calendar as if to
burn a hole through it with his stare. She shrugged her shoulders, turning to
brush past him, though his voice stopped her.
“You are not me, so never assume. I am
always ready.” The door shut behind her as she walked into the room, Vincent
sighing as he leaned his head against the doorway, his face hidden in the
shadows.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tifa sighed, tilting her head to the
side as she sat around, pursing her lips as she glanced around Vincent’s room.
She felt somewhat guilty, occupying his room and doing nothing for it, like she
had felt during her time in Shinra. It seemed she hadn’t been able to do
anything, and when that alarm starting blaring…
She gave a slight groan, flipping onto
her back as she stared at the ceiling, almost accusingly. She had been stupid,
rushing in without a plan, without the slightest hint of what she was doing.
She had never been that irrational at any one time, except for maybe that day
she had accepted Cloud’s offer to ‘join his world’. How was she supposed to
know that it had meant join his gang, his mob that was currently striking
terror in everyone’s hearts? The police were barely any help since Rufus feared
nothing. Rather, people were supposed to fear him.
She didn’t fear Rufus, rather could
understand. She had lost her mother at a young age, but she didn’t try and
wreck havoc on the world. It just didn’t seem right, but somehow… she didn’t
feel like turning on Cloud just because Vincent had ‘promised’ to help her.
Well, that’s how she interpreted things.
She paused, her eyes lingering on
Vincent’s nightstand, her eyes narrowing as she scooted next to it, picking up
a picture frame with a somewhat tattered picture inside, as if it had been
folded and re-folded many times over.
Vincent was smiling, to her surprise,
his eyes twinkling with merriment as he stared down affectionately to a lovely
brown haired woman, her green eyes shinning as she grinned up at the camera,
her cheeks flushed with happiness. It was a heart warming picture, and Tifa
felt her lips curve slightly into a small smile, and toting the picture, she
went into the living room, tip toeing quietly.
To her surprise, Vincent was asleep,
his form sprawled on the couch, his face twisted in something close to pain.
She blinked, padding over to him quietly, tilting her head to the side as she
looked around for something to cover him with. Even though the heat was on, it
was still chilly it seemed.
Finding a blanket in a nearby closet,
she draped it over him gently, turning to leave though was surprised when she
felt his slender fingers latch onto her wrist, and she whirled around to face
him, only seeing him blinking his eyes sleepily.
“Lucercia, I’m sorry.” He managed to
croak, obviously barely conscious, quickly falling back into a deep slumber,
while Tifa’s eyes softened, her gaze sweeping over his features, which seemed
more at peace now, his breathing deep and even.
She watched him silently for a moment,
before she tucked the blanket more comfortably over him, giving a slight smile
when she straightened, tilting her head to the side, sighing as she eyed the
picture.
It didn’t take very much intelligence
to put two and two together and figure out Lucercia was probably the girl in
the picture. Maybe she had something to do with why Vincent was the way he was
right now. Stony and unfeeling, or maybe, in that short glimpse she had seen
his apologetic appearance, that was what he wanted people to think. She sighed,
making a face as she settled the picture next to him mindlessly, tilting her head
to the side, grinning slightly.
“Good night Vincent.” She said softly,
pressing her lips softly against his forehead, blushing softly when she
realized what she had done, turning and instantly making her way back to
Vincent’s room. She didn’t know what had possessed her to do that. Pity, yes
that was it. She didn’t feel anything for him at all except for pity. She loved
Cloud, and there was no question about it.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ I think a relatively crappy chapter. Yes, I think my creative juices
have been spent. Ugh, my head hurts. Hehe, well, anyway, I want more action, so
maybe that’s why this chapter is so choppy. Battle scene baby! Yes, even though
I suck at them, me like them, lots. Well, read and review, and I’ll see you
around.
Chapter 5
Tifa’s eyes snapped open, and
instantly she jolted up, her eyes wide as she turned her fearsome gaze to the
window, where wisps of moonlight strung into the room, as if a ghost was trying
desperately to reach her, long pale fingertips outstretched, the gaping shadows
creating a sort of horrific picture. She blinked, trying to shake the thought
from her mind, though her gaze trailed up to the moon, whose pale oval face
stared mournfully back at her, as if it knew something would happen tonight
just by it being here.
Tifa’s head jolted up to glance at the
ceiling when she heard a slight thud, her wine eyes widening.
Sephiroth. He was here already? She
quickly stumbled out of bed, the covers tumbling off in her rush as she dashed
to the living room, Vincent’s name dying in her throat. The couch was empty,
looking as if it hadn’t been slept in at all. Oh, how could she not have
noticed Vincent looking like he was to stay up all night? How could she fall
asleep in a time like this?
Another thud was heard on the roof,
and she bit her lip, sprinting out the door, and picking the nearest staircase,
bound up the steps until she opened the door to the roof, her breathing coming
out in ragged gasps.
Moonlight strung into the makeshift
battle field, and everything was deadly quiet, Sephiroth bathed in moonlight
while Vincent was cloaked in darkness. Both seemed to be sizing the other up,
and for once Tifa was glad this roof was flat. Maybe it would give Vincent some
advantage, and it was spacious too.
“Sephiroth.” Tifa whispered, though
both men didn’t even glance her way, their eyes narrowed, and Sephiroth made
the first move, dashing forward and slashing out, Vincent side stepping and
going to deliver a blow with his gun to Sephiroth’s temple, though the silver
haired demon swooped to the right, his black cape fluttering like a bird’s
wings as he dodged.
Sephiroth slashed upward, Vincent
jolting back and firing a quick succession of shots, Sephiroth deflecting them
easily with his sword. They stopped, their gazes locked as Tifa let lose a
breath that she didn’t know she was holding. Sephiroth meant she could come
back to Cloud, but that would mean that Vincent would die, and she didn’t want
that. Why did she care so much anyway? She wasn’t heartless per say, but she had
stood by and watched countless people get murdered, so why would Vincent be any
different?
Sephiroth took another lunge, his
sword poised as he took a stab, though Vincent swerved to the left, Sephiroth already
anticipating the move and swinging his sword sideways, catching Vincent in the
stomach as he gasped, blood spurting from his wounds as he fell, clutching his
stomach, trying to conceal the pain from his face.
“Vincent!” Tifa cried, going for him,
though she stopped when Sephiroth’s legendary Masamune lifted, pausing
threateningly in front of her throat. She glared at him, turning to look back
at Vincent, whose blood was rapidly spilling from his body.
“Shinra sends for you.” Sephiroth
paused to glance distastefully back at Vincent. “Pity, I thought he would be
more of a challenge.” Tifa’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and without thinking,
she turned and round house kicked him hard in the back of his head. He didn’t
do anything, just whirled around and glared at her, though her eyes were pits
of fire.
“Tell Cloud I won’t come back unless
he comes here himself.” Tifa snapped, and Sephiroth glared at her, though his
face was one of composure, though she knew he was debating whether or not to
kill her. With a slight shrug, he turned and disappeared into the night, and
Tifa let out a shaky breath. Sephiroth scared her more than she let on.
Instantly she whirled around,
crouching down by Vincent, pressing her hands against his wounds. Great, he had
lost a lot of blood, and if he lost anymore… she didn’t want to think about it.
Adrenaline surging through her veins, she somehow managed to drag him back to
the apartment, a bloody trail a ghostly reminder at how much life was leaking
away through him.
Settling him on the couch, she quickly
searched through the medicine cabinet, finding some bandages and such, rushing
back to his side as she put a cool hand to his forehead.
“Vincent, you need to stay awake!”
Tifa cried softly, seeing as how his eyes were growing distant, his breaths
coming out ragged and shallow. She quickly pitched off his shirt, since there
was no time for decency, and quickly disinfected the wound, wrapping bandages
tightly around his wound, though she was no doctor. He had lost a lot of blood,
and she couldn’t very well drive him to a hospital.
“Call…” Vincent’s ragged breath came
out short as he slipped off, and her eyes instantly widened, rushing to the
telephone. She could get the medics, but then what would she tell them? Best to
call someone she, well, Vincent trusted.
She jabbed in the first number on his
list, glancing at Vincent worried. He had lost so much blood…
“Hello?” A groggy voice mumbled, and
Tifa inwardly cursed her luck. Great, just great. Could this night get any
worse?
“Um…” She desperately searched for his
name in the corner of her mind, finally fishing it out after a moment. “
“Listen, stay calm and I’ll be there
in five minutes tops. Keep Vampy alive till then.” He hung up quickly, and Tifa
felt some of the weight come off her shoulders. At least he knew what he was
doing, not a medic, but just as good, she assured herself. How could you be a
police for several years and not pick up something?
About seven minutes later, a
disheveled
“D***mit woman, why didn’t you get him
a medic or something? This s***’s deep!”
She had told Sephiroth she wouldn’t
return until Cloud came for her himself, but would he? She tilted her head to
the side, sighing slightly. She should have gone back, since after all, Shinra
was where she belonged, certainly not with a stony police officer with a jaded
past.
“Well, he looks like he’s going to be
all right. Lucky son of a b****, but then again, that’s Vampy.” Reno said after
a moment, and Tifa nodded, watching the red head flop back onto a plush
loveseat in exhaustion, and Tifa got up, stretching a bit as she looked back
down at Vincent, tucking the comforters gently to his neck as his breathing was
now deep and even.
“Going to tuck me in too? I worked
hard if you catch my drift.”
“How about no, because I know your
type. I don’t appreciate having someone pull moves on me when a friend is
wounded.” Tifa said with a slight snap, while
“I like aggressive women. Can you give
me a growl?”
“Oh bite me.” Tifa said, turning her
back, while
“Just lead the way and I’m there.”
She tossed the items to
“Ah, babe, I should’ve known you
wanted to me to stay here with you. Lonely?”
“Listen, tell me when he wakes up,
okay? And
Cloud would be angry with her, but for
some reason she couldn’t find a reason to care except she was supposed to love
him. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed at the thought. ‘Supposed’? That
wasn’t right. She knew that she had risked limb and neck for Cloud countless
times, for love, not ‘supposed’ love. She sighed, rolling onto a side as she
glanced at the door, her expression turning to one of worry.
Right now, she couldn’t think of Cloud
or the consequences of getting on the bad side of the most feared assassins in
Shinra. Right now all she was worried about was how Vincent was.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Relatively crappy battle scene, but c’mon! I liked
Chapter 6
Tifa yawned, stretching a bit as she
padded softly out of Vincent’s room, peeking her head out into the living room.
Reno was sprawled across the loveseat, the blanket draped over half of him,
while his pillow had disappeared somewhere, his mouth wide open and he snored,
not so loud, but loud enough to be noticed.
Tifa shook her head slightly, a small
smile on her lips as she softly walked over to Vincent and looked him over. He
seemed to be doing better, his face no longer scrunched up in pain. She knelt
down beside him a pressed a slender hand to his forehead, sighing in relief.
His fever had gone down, it seemed, which was one less thing for her to worry
about.
With a slight smile on her lips, she
turned to go back to the kitchen, humming softly as she started to prepare soup
for breakfast, though stopped cold when she felt the hairs on the back of her
neck prickle up. Curious to see what her intuition was telling her, she twirled
around, only to see Vincent, panting as he held onto his side leaning against
the doorframe, and her eyes instantly widened.
“What are you doing out of bed? Ugh!
You are so pigheaded sometimes!” Tifa scolded, slipping his arm across her slim
shoulders, ignoring his weak protests, helping him as he tried to drag his feet
slowly across the floor, occasionally wincing in pain. Geez, he should still be
asleep. Tifa mentally chided herself for not noticing Vincent stirring when she
had headed to the kitchen. Obviously being sleep logged didn’t help her
observations powers at all.
She spared a glance to
“Why did you fight him anyway? You
should have just let me go with him.” Tifa muttered to herself, something close
to worry tinged within her voice, not meaning to say it out loud, let alone get
a response, so she practically jumped when Vincent answered.
“You haven’t told me everything I need
to know.” Vincent murmured tiredly, slowly dragging his feet across the padded
floor for what seemed eternity. His whole body felt like it was lead, though
his side was burning with fire, and he fought back the reaction to gasp in
pain, instead, gritting his teeth.
Tifa shot him a glance, pursing her
lips to keep back a smart comment, knowing she shouldn’t aggravate him in this
stage, especially since she was supposed to help him.
Opening the door to his room, she laid
him down gently on the bed, sighing softly as he protested, tucking the sheets
around him.
“Feeling better?” She asked, and he
didn’t say anything, his unfaltering gaze turned to her, unnerving her a bit,
though she straightened her back, just staring back, her eyes narrowed. It
seemed like the seconds ticked by meticulously slow, as if to taunt her because
she stood her ground and didn’t look away, instead lost in the blood pooled
irises of a man, or maybe a monster? She had never seen anyone with blood red
eyes, with the flicker of the shadows flitting nervously across his face.
“Thank you.” She blinked, startled out
of her reverie, looking at Vincent in a new light, though his face hadn’t
changed, but maybe his features had softened, but it was probably her eyes
playing tricks on her. She was probably still a bit sleepy.
Vincent shifted uncomfortably, though
his gaze still held on her face, which was looking at him curiously, with a mix
of confusion. He hadn’t know what had possessed him to utter his gratitude, but
maybe he shouldn’t have spoken. He felt uneasy, being under her scrutiny for
such a long period of time, and he wondered why she hadn’t averted her gaze
like she usually did, like people usually did. Could it be because he had
‘saved’ her, she felt like she should force herself into his presence until he
recovered?
“You’re welcome, I’m sure you wouldn’t
done the same for me.” Tifa said, smiling slightly though she didn’t feel so
cheerful. Seeing Vincent drowning in a puddle of his own blood was too much for
her, but it was burned in the back of her eyelids, and had been with her all
night. She felt guilty, and she hated feeling guilty. “And besides, it was
mostly because of me you got hurt.” Tifa added silently, and Vincent raised an
eyebrow at her. He knew better than to comment, last times results were less
than desired.
Abruptly Tifa tore her gaze away
hastily turning for the exit.
“I’ll get you something to eat.” She
offered as she quickly, turning and walking down the hall, her face turned
toward the floor, burning. Why did she hold his gaze so long? What she wouldn’t
have given to know what he had been thinking. Probably why she was so stupid,
saying things like that. Or maybe why she didn’t go back to Shinra, back to
Cloud. Yes, that’s probably what he was thinking.
“How’s Vampy?” Tifa jerked, turning to
face
“He’s… fine.” Tifa mumbled after a
moment, and
“Fine eh? Well, with you as a nurse I
have no doubt of that.”
“How you keep your job is a wonder.”
Tifa called over her shoulder, hearing only a snicker, and then the creak of
the loveseat, signifying that
She didn’t know what she’d do. Maybe
give him a taste of her fist, that’s for sure.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“What do you mean she won’t come
back?” Cloud snapped impatiently, though the silver haired man was just as
impatient, his lips pursed in a thin line.
“Like I said Shinra, you have to go
yourself.” Sephiroth said coolly, though felt like strangling the man and
shaking him until sense entered his thick, spiky haired covered skull. He
couldn’t see why a woman like Lockheart could fall for someone as dense as
Shinra. Sometimes he wondered how Rufus and Cloud could be related, Rufus far
more observant than his brother.
Cloud fumed, his blue eyes drawn in
anger, and then he turned to Sephiroth, his face pinched tightly in barely
concealed fury. Sephiroth knew that Shinra would probably spew something
angrily about his incompetence to retrieve one single girl, and didn’t want to
listen to it right now. He had been up late at night, denied his sleep, and the
girl had given him one b**** of a headache with that roundhouse kick. All in
all, Sephiroth was pissed enough to kill. And probably would kill Shinra if he
didn’t watch it. He doubted that his brother would even bat an eyelash, even
Rufus knowing that Sephiroth wasn’t one to be messed with. But obviously Cloud
didn’t know that little useful piece of information yet.
“And what of Valentine? You have disposed of him,
right?” Cloud pressed, and Sephiroth tilted his head to the side, growing weary
of Shinra’s questions. He didn’t know if he had disposed of Valentine, and
quite frankly, didn’t care. The wound he had given Valentine was deep, but he
wondered if he had missed his mark, though it had been hard to tell at the time
with all the blood matting the place and an angered martial artist. Shinra had
failed to mention that little detail.
“He was heavily wounded, and I doubt your woman
knows any medical procedures other than applying a band aid, so perhaps, yes.”
Sephiroth said somewhat sarcastically, watching in amusement as Shinra
instantly flamed, not taking the bashing of his ‘woman’ very lightly.
“Listen Sephiroth-.” Cloud started to hiss, though
was interrupted by a cool voice behind him.
“Cloud, what are you doing out here? I thought I
told you to investigate the mole.” Rufus Shinra’s cold blue eyes swept over the
pair, and even Sephiroth gave a slight nod of his head. He could tolerate Rufus
more than Cloud, and even respected him to a certain degree, as he was young
but had accomplished much, and didn’t rely on petty interactions with the
opposite gender as much as his brother.
“I did.” Cloud said in irritation,
completely ignoring the fact that Sephiroth glowered at him, “And he’s been
disposed of. I’m currently setting my sights on something more pressing.” Cloud
said snappishly, and Rufus ignored him, knowing quite well what was eating at
his brother.
Tifa had been taken, not that he cared
for it personally, but he would try and get her back if it meant his brother
wouldn’t be such a pain. As much as he cared for his sibling, sometimes his
faults glared him in the face.
“She’s with Vincent Valentine correct?
Why don’t you send an assassin?” Rufus asked tightly, his brother glaring up at
him, as if he was annoyed with the fact that Rufus hadn’t taken into
consideration that he already had done something like that.
“I sent Sephiroth, but he didn’t
follow through.” Rufus raised an eyebrow, turning his gaze to Sephiroth, who
gave a slight shrug, and he smirked, flipping a strand of blonde hair from his
face. So, the great Sephiroth hadn’t come through with his mission. How
interesting. Maybe this Vincent Valentine was worth a deal of investigation.
“Well then brother dear, why don’t you
do it yourself?” Sarcasm dripped off every word, and Cloud scowled,
straightening as he sent an icy stare to his brother.
“I’ll send another assassin after them
before I decide to go myself. I have other matters also.” Cloud said, and Rufus
gave another superior smirk, not bothering to point out his brother had
switched perspectives all over again. First Tifa was top priority, and now she
was pushed aside. How quickly Cloud’s moods changed.
With a slight shrug, Rufus turned back
to Sephiroth, his lips set in a grim line.
“I have another assignment for you. I
want you to dispose of someone.” Rufus waited, seeing Sephiroth’s calm gaze on
him, and he smirked once more, absently flicking another lock of hair from his
face. “I want you to take care of Cid Highwind, show him we are not ones to
take lightly. I want you to kidnap a woman by the name of Shera Highwind. Can
you do that for me?” Rufus asked, and Sephiroth paused after a moment, his gaze
drawn to his sword, and then he nodded, Rufus’s lips curving into feral smile.
Perfect.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Uh… yea. A lot of mindless junk going on, especially with the Vincent,
Chapter 7
Shera Highwind hummed softly to
herself as she folded yet another of her beloved ‘Captain’s’ t-shirts,
straightening it as she let it drop back into the laundry basket, getting up.
Placing it on a curved hip, still humming, she made her way slowly to their
bedroom.
It was funny, how that thought still
sent a shiver of happiness down her spine at the simple thought of ‘their’
room. It had taken Cid Highwind a long time to admit he harbored feelings for
her, even longer to express how he really felt for her, and a year or two till
he finally proposed.
She smiled happily, thinking about the
proposal, his face nervous, his blue eyes avoiding hers, though when they meet,
they had been crystal clear. It was funny, and the memory left her feeling the
tingles of happiness coursing through her veins. Cid had the strangest way of
showing his love for someone, usually barking out and cursing at her, though
she didn’t mind really. She knew he didn’t mean it at all, his eyes betraying
his affection for her. She grinned again, pushing the door open as she set the
basket down, humming as she tucked the comforters on the bed more comfortably
around the bed.
Intent on her task, she didn’t notice
the shadows draping suspiciously all over the house, as if to choke it and
silence it before the house could warn its faithful owner we kept it sparkling
clean.
Suddenly the piercing doorbell rang,
slicing the silence effectively, and Shera looked up, startled from her reverie
and task. With a slight shrug, she walked out the door, descending the wooden
stairs silently, tucking a few strands of her brown hair behind her ear.
Who could it be? Cid wasn’t expected
home until late at night, having already called her to inform her so she
wouldn’t worry, which she did anyway, and she had already dropped off their
neighbor’s son safely back home, finding it no trouble to care for the boy when
she desperately wanted her own. But then again, she wondered if Cid would be
the father type.
She giggled slightly at the though,
unbolting the door with a slight shake of her head. She just hoped her child
wasn’t born with a cigarette in their mouth, if she ever convinced Cid they
should have ‘a little urchin’.
“Yes?” Shera said, peeking her head
out the doorway, smiling politely, spying an intimidating looking man with long
silver hair, his cat like green eyes flickering over her face with a glance
that made her shiver, only making her push her glasses back up the bridge of
her nose nervously.
“Shera Highwind?” He asked coolly, his
gaze flickering across her appearance, and she blinked, tilting her head to the
side. Who was he? He certainly didn’t look familiar. Maybe he was one of Cid’s
co-workers or something of the sort.
“Yes?” She asked again, and a slight
smirk curved the man’s lips, sending a chill down her spine.
“Good.” Was all he said, and with a
sudden flick of his wrist, Shera fell forward into the inky darkness that
surrounded her, oblivious to the silver haired man gathering her up and
turning, his boots thudding against the floor, back to a sleek looking car, but
not before tacking a note to the doorway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cid Highwind yawned, stretching his
long limbs, glad to be out of this stupid h***hole that was his office. No more
little idiots running around whining and crying and pissing all over
themselves. Well, until tomorrow anyway. With a somewhat happy grin on his face
at the prospect of going home after the long boring hours, Cid picked up his
jacket, slipping it over his arms as he strolled out the office, nodding occasionally
to people who wished him a good night.
Huh, all he wanted was to prop his
aching feet up and sleep. Or a cup of tea. That sounded good too, after a long
day of hollering at the people who worked for him. His lips curved up with a
slight smirk as he walked out to his car, digging into his pocket for his keys,
fumbling for them before sliding into his car, making the boring, not at all
scenic drive to his home a few blocks down from his office complex.
He hummed a tune that Shera often did,
grinning at the thought of her, an affectionate look over taking him. Shera was
the reason he got up every morning, not to go to work. Sure, he loved his job,
but sometimes there were some people, who will go unnamed (
With a slight sigh, he parked his car
in the garage, shoving his hands roughly into his pockets and hopping up the
front steps, only to pause at the note, and with a yank, brought it closer to
his face, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
Then, with a loud growl, he tore it
up, quickly searching the whole house but coming up with nothing. F***. Less
than two minutes later, he was on the phone, his eyes narrowed.
“Hello?” He blinked, raising an
eyebrow. What the h*** was
“Let me talk to Valentine.” The tone
in his voice left no argument, and he heard the soft click and footsteps of
“Hello.” He heard Vincent’s calm
voice, and Cid instantly felt his eye start to twitch, though his mouth
twitched into a slight smile. If there was one thing to count on, it was
Valentine’s inability to get angry or lose his cool. Sometimes he wondered what
it would take to get a rise out of him, but for the sake of keeping him
pleasant, he humored him.
“Valentine, I need to know if you
found out anything about Shinra.” Cid said briskly, all business, and he heard
Vincent pause on the other line, and Cid switched tactics. “Shera’s been
kidnapped by those d*** Shinra b******s, so tell me anything Valentine. If
anything happens to her...” He let the sentence hang, his voice heavy with
worry, because he didn’t want to think about it. But, if anything happened to
her, then they might as well shoot a bullet through his skull too.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Vincent remained passive for a moment,
looking down at Tifa, who was humming as she stared out the window, her eyes
distant. Shera had been kidnapped by Shinra, and he hadn’t gotten one single
tidbit about Shinra except the weird fact about Sephiroth hunting in the full
moon, and he had a suspicion that Cid wouldn’t be the least bit interested
about that.
Just the thought of Sephiroth sent
another burn in his side, and he winced a bit, drawing Tifa’s attention. She
blinked and looked at him, moving to come forward, though he shook his head.
“Valentine?” He heard Cid bark
impatiently, and he sighed, glancing back at Tifa, who had paused and was now
looking at him in concern.
“Hold on.” Without any further
warning, Vincent turned his piercing gaze to Tifa, who froze, her eyes
instantly widening like a deer caught in the headlights. As much as he hated to
resort to this tactic with her, he would have too. It meant the difference
between a life or death situation. Who knew what Shinra wanted with Shera.
“Tell me everything about Shinra. Now.” His voice left no questions, just
answers, and Tifa flinched, looking up at
She shivered, and Vincent must have
noticed for his gaze became a little softer, and he tilted his head to the side
to look at her.
“It’s for a woman I know. Shera
Highwind. They kidnapped her and her husband is frantic.” Tifa paused, her eyes
flitting back to the window. She should tell anyway, Cloud wouldn’t come after
her, instead had kidnapped an innocent person. Or maybe it had been someone
else, but who? Rufus? Sephiroth? She wasn’t so sure. But she knew that the
police had been a thorn in Shinra’s side for a long time, and even she had
heard about Cid Highwind being the head honcho, but she had never heard about
his wife, Shera.
“They probably kidnapped her because
they want to get rid of Cid Highwind. It’s probably a trap, so that the rest of
the police force will know not to tangle with Shinra’s affairs.” Tifa paused,
her gaze resting on her clenched hands, and she sighed, shaking her head as she
tilted her gaze so it rose to meet Vincent’s, his look attentive.
“Do you know where they might hide
her? What they might do to her? What do they normally do to people they
kidnap?”
“T-T-They rough them up. Usually they
are kept in the dungeon at the bottom part of Shinra, though only high
executives can get there.” Tifa said reluctantly. One step away from Cloud, one
leap away from Shinra, one tiny step toward freedom. But was betraying Cloud
worth freedom? She laughed silently to herself. She obviously wasn’t worth
enough to come after himself, so why bother with him anymore. It was strange,
Vincent had been more ‘kind’ to her than Cloud ever was.
“What kind of high executives?”
“Why, the head honchos and their women
of course.”
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Yea, kinda strange chapter. Yup, that’s about it. Sorry if this chapter
was kinda weird, but I was watching the T.V. during this, so yea. The T.V. is
evil! Hehe, well, yes, poor Shera was tangled up in this whole mess. Well,
anyway, please read and review, and I would love constructive criticism for
this… uh… chapter.
Chapter 8
“Are you sure you want to go through
with this?” Tifa blinked, looking up as she tied her long strands back into a
ponytail, raising her wine colored eyes to meet those crimson ones she had come
to accept.
“I guess so.” Tifa said, looking at
her appearance in the mirror and deeming herself worthy before turning her
questioning gaze back to Vincent. “What about you? Does your wound still hurt?”
Tifa asked, Vincent shifting from one foot to the other, as if he was nervous,
and that thought brought a smile to her face. Vincent Valentine, nervous?
She supposed she could understand. He was still
wounded, though he was willing to help his friends, which was more than Cloud
had ever done for her. She sighed, shaking her head sadly.
When Cloud was wounded, she was supposed to fawn and
coo over him, and mostly the injuries he sustained were less than what Vincent
had received, certainly a lot less than the great Sephiroth dealt. She found it
noble that Vincent was actually going out when he should be in bed, just to
help his friend. That spoke volumes to her, and she guessed it was unfair to
compare Vincent to Cloud, but their differences were blaring in her face, and
she felt as if she had just taken a look at the real Cloud Shinra, the one who
didn’t really care about her safety at all.
She had decided that Cloud Shinra was
no longer worth it. She had stuck out her neck for six long years, being
everything he wished of her, waiting patiently for him to make a move, to ask
her what she had always wanted. She had always wanted a family, a nice house,
heck, she’d even settle for an apartment or something, just as long as she
could raise a family. It seemed it was every girl’s dream to raise a family
someday, and surly she should be able to do that with the man she loved. Was
that too much to ask?
She pursed her lips, shaking her head.
No, not after all she had done for him. Taken care of him when he was sick,
risking her life to help him in his ‘noble’ cause. She had lived her life out
for him, and now… she was just tired of it. She wanted to stop having to look
over her shoulder to watch her back, she was sick of worrying about Cloud who
obviously didn’t give a d*** about her, not even trying to come and save her
himself. He wasn’t her knight in shining armor, and he definitely didn’t love
her.
And that was all she needed to know.
Sure, it hurt, to think that she had wasted some of the best years of her life
on him, but right now, she didn’t really care. She would help Cid because she
knew how it felt to lose a loved one, to worry about them, and feeling the
guilt crush down against you, suffocating until you thought you couldn’t even
scream. She shuddered, shaking those thoughts out of her mind.
She would stop Shinra, she would free
the poor people entangled in its web like she had, and she would even try to
help Aeris, who had been nothing but a friend to her. She tilted her head to
the side, an almost thoughtful look on her face. She felt kinda sorry for the
high executives of Shinra, since they had no clue what was going on.
“Hey, ya guys ready? Cid’s waiting
outside, and not in a peachy mood lemme warn ya.”
“Yea, sorry. I guess I’m nervous.”
Tifa said somewhat truthfully, wringing her hands on her dress, sighing as she
tried to clear her mind and focus on what was ahead. Cloud had already betrayed
her, and she had to meet a jaded police officer to realize that. Fate was such
a weird mistress.
With a small smile lighting up her
face, she walked out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“This is it, huh? Anyone got any fancy
words to say in case we die?”
“Oh, stop being so pessimistic
“Hey, I’m a realist, not a pessimist.”
“Let’s get this over with.” Vincent
suggested from the shadows, and Cid gave a slight growl from the back of his
throat, storming off to the building itself, though Tifa grabbed his sleeve,
pointing away from the front entrance to the side, which was blanketed in
darkness.
“There is a passageway inside. Only
top executives use it.” Tifa said instead, giving a slight smile at Cid’s curt
nod, striding forward without another word.
“Are you all right?” Tifa blinked,
looking up to see Vincent’s enigmatic stare on her, his eyebrow somewhat
arched, and she had the right mind to tell him off for a stupid question like
that, but held her tongue. She knew he was only concerned, which was a change from
his usual emotionless façade, and she knew better than to snap at him now.
Her nerves were just on edge, the very
sight of this wretched building uprooting the deep seeded fear that she had.
Her pain and her memories, and the thought of Cloud being in there. And
Sephiroth. All of the blood that had been spilt was embodied in this cold grey
building that stared at her ruthlessly, and it wouldn’t be fair to Vincent if
she just snapped at him just for being concerned. She couldn’t remember the
last time someone had asked her how she felt.
“I’m fine.” Tifa said, pasting a smile
on her face. It wouldn’t do to get him worried. Vincent just gave her another
mysterious look before nodding, deciding not to press it as he followed the red
head in front of him into the shadows to where his employer had disappeared.
How fitting, if this was truly the
end. However it seemed that it had always ended here, at the Shinra building.
Things had gotten complicated, his sins had become larger burdens for him to
bare, and the shadows reached for him, with their wretched claws and gaping
mouths, they bemoaned him, the haunted him.
Lucercia… it seemed her name had once flowed in his
mind forever, always part of him, and yet, her name had started to fade, had
been swept away into the depths of his past, and that had frightened him. He
had always been able to find some bittersweet comfort in her memory, so she had
always been on top of the raging waters that churned from the demons inside
him, her innocence preserved, even if only in his mind.
And it was because of him she had become tainted,
because of him her blood had dripped with painfully clarity to the ground,
while most of it seeped deep within him, staining his soul blood red, his eyes
tinged the same color. He was a demon, and didn’t deserve forgiveness, and the
thought of forgetting Lucercia, the only bringer of light into his darkness,
made him feel a bit uneasy.
When had this change begun? When had he started
drifting away from the comfort and pain of Lucercia’s memory back into the
present? It was suddenly brought to his attention that the bottle of vodka in
his refrigerator was still sitting there, a silent reminder of what life had
been like before… before what?
“The dungeon is just up ahead. Be careful okay? And
let me do all the talking.” Tifa whispered, and Vincent snapped out of his
reverie, his eyes narrowing slightly. When had they made it into Shinra? Had he
really been that deep into his past to notice? As if sensing his sudden jolt
back to reality, Tifa looked at him with a somewhat mischievous smile on her
face, her wine eyes twinkling like stars as she winked, before turning her gaze
forward, her lips set in a determined line.
Suddenly it struck him, like a rabid run away
chocobo that had been waiting to collide with his thick skull for quite some
time, knocking the wind out of him, but bringing a starling revelation.
Tifa Lockheart… was she the cause of this? Was she
the reason that he had felt Lucercia slip away into the background and he had
not noticed it?
The last thought was like a slap to the face, as if
he had been splashed with cold water.
What if… Tifa could replace Lucercia?
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Hehe, pure evil throughout this chapter. Yes, I know I did too much
thinking in here and not enough action, but I promise the next chapter will
make up for that. Promise. Well, hopefully anyway. I just want to improve my
battle scenes! Well, anyway, please read and review.
Chapter 9
“Ah s***!” Cid cursed vulgarly, his
thick boots slamming against the concrete building, squinting his eyes to try
and block off some of the artificial light that pierced into his blue eyes,
which were flashing with anger. D*** Shinra b******s thought that they could
kidnap Shera and get away with it without a fight? He didn’t f***ing think so!
Thanks to Tifa, he had been able to
find out where they were hiding Shera, and for that, he’d be grateful, but
after Shera was rescued. Vinnie,
So, with his boots thudding heavily on
the floor, he sprinted his way down the building.
Rounding a corner, he skidded to a
halt, a loud curse on his breath as he stumbled back behind the protective
wall, panting softly. His cigarettes must be catching up with him, since it
seemed he wasn’t able to run as far as he used to.
Something far more interesting than
that little tidbit was that there were guards on the other side. Three of them.
Great, was everything going wrong today? He peeked his head out from around the
corner, sighing as he drew his head back, shaking it slightly. They were still
there, and thank god they weren’t paying attention, one of them seeming to be
asleep. Ah,
Snapping himself out of his reverie,
he prepared himself. They were three, minimally trained soldiers who were
probably cockier than they should be, and probably having next to no battle
experience, though Cid knew not to take everything so lightly. Three on one
could easily turn deadly, and he wasn’t about to croak until he knew Shera was
safe.
With a deep inhale of breath, he
popped out from his hiding place, a slight grin on his face as he dashed
forward, elbowing a man in the face as he yelped out in surprise, the two
comrades by him instantly jolting awake, looking around stupidly. Cid just
grinned sheepishly, grabbing both their guns before their shaking fingers
could, hitting them with the butt of them quickly, shaking his head making a
slight tsk, tsk noise when they hit the ground.
D***ed under trained idiots making him
waste his time! Without another word, he turned and dashed down the hallway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Ack! Someone tipped the alarm!” Tifa
snapped, turning her wide eyes to the side, her face pinched tightly with worry
as she whirled around, surveying her surroundings, which were quickly filling
with soldiers with guns. Tifa knew their training regiment, had sometimes
stopped to watch while Cloud taught them some of the basics, and she knew it
could get ugly if they weren’t taken care of quickly.
“Tipped the alarm?”
“I suggest we retreat.” Vincent
offered coolly, while Tifa blinked turning to him with her lips pursed.
“What about Cid?” She demanded, while
Vincent grabbed her arm, dragging her along as she tried to dig her feet into
the cement, though her boots only skidded along the cement, so she was forced
to move her legs or break something. It was against her morals to leave someone
behind, especially a friend. Maybe she was wrong about Vincent Valentine, maybe
he really didn’t care.
“Don’t worry about the old fart. He
can take care of himself.”
“Yes, but those soldiers…” Tifa
trailed off, the silence looming over them, silent and foreboding, warning them
to turn around, though Tifa knew that wouldn’t be a great idea. Sometimes she
had stopped by to watch Cloud teach some of the new recruits the basics, and
she knew how hard they trained. All of them wanted to be like the mighty
Sephiroth.
She shivered slightly, glancing at
Vincent from the corner in her eye, admiring him somewhat for his bravery. He
still had a deep wound in his stomach, and yet he was still able to run and
drag her along too. At the thought of being extra baggage, Tifa broke away from
Vincent’s grip, pointing ahead.
“Up there, there’s an exit. You sure
Cid will be-.” Tifa started, though Vincent cut her off with a nod, and she
fell silent. It was strange, the last time she had been taken out of this
building, but this time she was actually leaving of her own free will.
Suddenly
“Hello Tifa.” a familiar grinning face
said to her, looking over Vincent’s shoulder, who had moved purposely in front
of her as if to defend her, and Rufus smirked, tilting his head to the side.
“You always were good at capturing people’s hearts. Good job.” Rufus said with
a sly smirk, and
Tifa, however, knew somewhat well how
Rufus’s mind worked, and instantly turned to Vincent, who had suddenly gone
rigid.
“It’s not like that and you know it!”
Tifa snapped angrily, feeling her cheeks rise with her embarrassment and anger.
Rufus Shinra would not use her for a stupid ploy. She wasn’t one of his tools
that he had wrapped around his finger with fear.
“A good actress, don’t you agree Mr.
Valentine?” Rufus smirked, turning his gaze to Vincent, whose face remained
impassive, frozen and stiffer than Tifa had ever known it to be. “Capture
them.” Rufus said without a second though, turning and disappearing behind his
lackeys.
“Vincent…” She tried, though he didn’t
even spare her a glance, pulling out his gun while
“Let’s kick some a**!” He stated,
getting into a battle stance, Tifa following his lead, giving Vincent a look
out of the corner of her eye. Great, just great.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ M’kay, so maybe Cid’s little battle was about all the action in here,
but hopefully in the next chapter there will be. I’m aching for a good fight,
and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want this to drag on and on. Well,
please read and review!
Chapter 10
“What do you mean she’s in the
building?” Cloud snapped, slamming a palm on the desk, causing the very office
to rumble, though Rufus just gave a slight superior smirk, flicking some loose
strands of hair behind his ear. His younger brother was so easy to manipulate
sometimes it was just a shame to take advantage of him.
“Like I said. She was being held
captive by those two police men. I have to admit they put up quite a fight.
Took out five of your units before being captured.” Rufus added with a slightly
thoughtful tone in his voice, though Cloud said nothing, emitting something
that sounded an awful lot like an enraged growl.
“Where is she?” Cloud snapped,
obviously still stuck on the fact that Tifa was still back with ‘him’. In
truth, the woman had screamed and kicked all the way to Cloud’s room, and it
was obvious she wanted nothing to do with Cloud, making a sour face every time
someone mentioned him. Something had obviously made her change from the head
over heels in love with Cloud to can’t even stand his name Tifa. But what?
He remembered how she had turned to
Valentine to deny what he had been saying. Could it be that the stony cop and
ex-Shinra gangster had actually broken through to her? Rufus dismissed that
thought immediately, rolling his eyes with a slight smirk, turning his gaze
back to his brother. It would be amusing to see what would happen once Cloud
stepped into a room with a furious Tifa.
“In your room of course. She is
waiting.” Rufus said with a slight jerk in the direction of the door with his
head, and instantly Cloud had stormed out, and with an amused look on his face,
Rufus turned to Sephiroth, who was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed
over his chest and his eyes shut tight, as if he were sleeping, relaxed and
somewhat peaceful.
As if sensing Rufus’s gaze on him,
Sephiroth opened his eyes, raising an eyebrow as he turned to look at Rufus.
“And of the two police officers?”
Sephiroth asked, though there was no need, for he already knew the answer. He
knew how Rufus operated, and he respected the order in it, even though he hated
the gang, he held a bit of respect for Rufus, which was more than he had for
anyone else.
“Dispose of them. I have no use of
them.” Rufus said with a sly look on his face, and Sephiroth nodded, turning
his gaze out the window with a sly look on his face. The next full moon would
be soon, and when that time came, well… the fun would begin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Everything was tense in this room,
suffocating as if it were a prison. How was she expected to sit still and wait
when she knew what was coming? Death. She knew it without a doubt. How ironic,
it seemed to her. The man she was willing to die for would ultimately kill her.
The door swung open and he stormed
right in, grabbing her by the shoulders and giving her a hard shake.
“What the heck did you think you were
doing?” Cloud snapped, and she just stared at him, a slightly entertained look
on her face. No ‘how are you’ or ‘are you okay’? She shook her head lightly.
How strange, she had always found him kind and caring, and yet, when it
mattered the most, it seemed he didn’t care at all. Maybe that’s why this was
so hilarious to her.
“I was rescuing and innocent person
Cloud.” Tifa said softly, turning her gaze away from him. The very though of
him was making her blood boil again. Stop acting like you care… you don’t fool
me anymore.
“What are you talking about? Did they
brain wash you?” Cloud asked, giving her another shake, stirring the fury
boiling within her. It was always her fault, wasn’t it? Cloud never seemed to
like responsibility.
“No they didn’t Cloud. They were nicer
to me than you ever where!” Tifa snapped, and Cloud jerked back, as if he had been
hit, but then his eyes narrowed.
“Tifa, what did they do to you?” Cloud
asked, and Tifa glared at him angrily.
“They did nothing Cloud Shinra, it was
you!” Tifa retorted, inching as far away from him as possible. She was in no
mood for Cloud’s stubborn and thick headed self to even think clearly. She was
too worried over Vincent and
Cloud said nothing, just looking hurt
like a little lost boy, and instead of making her feel sorry for him, she only
felt even angrier.
“Get over yourself Cloud Shinra! Just
get out!” Tifa snapped, literally kicking him out of the room and slamming the
door in his gaping face. With a frustrated sound escaping her throat, she
plopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She had to get out of here,
and quick.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Pain. Flames licking mercilessly at
his torn and battered body, blood pouring out of his reopened wound. It stung
and hurt, though he would not cry out in pain. It only would encourage his
tormentors more. He was worried… if Tifa was killed, he would be forced to bare
another burden. It was strange. How could he worry about her when he was the
one to die? When was the last time he had ever thought about his sins, his need
to atone? Could it be that Lucercia was slipping quietly away from him?
“He’s no fun! He don’t even yell or
scream or nothing!” One of his tormentors complained, a low murmur rising up in
the crowds, though Vincent didn’t really care. He just wanted to get out,
needed to get out. He had almost forgotten what pain was, even Sephiroth’s
wound had been somewhat dull because she had been there for him. She could have
easily left him to die, and she hadn’t. He hadn’t been able to thank her.
“We should just leave him for
Sephiroth. Maybe he’ll scream then.” Another laughed, and the three left,
throwing down the latest torture item they had used to try and make him scream.
No, he wouldn’t fall to them.
Moving his arm sent a large shearing
fire of agony through his whole body, but he grit his teeth sharply, slowly
pausing to pant for breath as his battered and bloodied hand painfully made its
way to his bandana, which they had let him keep. With a loud intake of breath
at the pain shooting through his back, he hissed, meticulously working strands
of hair out of the way and grasped the lock pick as firmly as he could in his
numb fingers. For once he was glad to have long hair, and let himself rest,
breathing painfully.
Letting the darkness claim him, he
closed his eyes and let the blood seep from his left hand as it went limp by
his gushing side.
~*Author’s
Note*~ Poor… Vincent. *sniffles* I’m so evil! I’m really sorry that there was
no action in this one, but it had to be done. At least I think so. Anyway, I
was going to do a fight between Cloud and Tifa, but I couldn’t find out a
reason why she should hit him, I mean, even if she can’t stand the guy I don’t
think she’d beat him up over it. Anyway, please read and review.
Chapter 11
“Stupid vent.”
Right now his main concern was to find
Vampy, or maybe Tifa, though Vampy was probably in worst condition. Knowing
Vampy, he had probably pissed off the local residents already. Ah well, that
was Vampy and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Creaking and twisting along the vent,
Suddenly, a loud creak, the vent gave
way and with a loud yelp,
Gawking at him, were some of the
uniformed rookies that he had fought before he was captured, and they didn’t
look very pleased that he fact that he had just crashed through their ceiling.
Great, he had no weapon and he was going to die. Most likely, but at least he’d
go down fighting!
He instantly hopped up from the floor,
positioning himself into a battle stance, surveying them calmly. There were ten
of them tops, and all of them had some form of weapon, though thankfully none
of them had guns, or else he’d probably have been dead a long time ago.
With a slight smirk on his face,
Brandishing another wooden pole, Reno
guessed that it was someone’s birthday and that they had been getting ready to
hit piñatas, another man came running, yelling angrily about Reno being able to
take out his buddy so easily. With a smirk on his lips,
Obviously intimidated by how quickly
he had dispatched of their comrades, they quickly formed a tight circle around
him, which
Catching a clumsy awkward blow with
ease,
“You’re pretty good.” The last man
standing said, shaking in his boots as his lip visibly quivered, though he
tried to pull on the brave front which
“Yup, don’t you forget it. Now,
c’mon!”
Grinning at the complete terror in the
guy’s eyes,
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Tifa!” Tifa’s head snapped up, a
positively startled look on her face. When how she fallen asleep? How had she
fallen asleep? Especially at a time like this? Embarrassed and slightly angry
at herself, Tifa pulled herself out of bed and swayed almost drunkenly to the
door. She felt somewhat drained because of her fury at Cloud. Since when had
she ever been so angry at anyone or Cloud for that matter? Rubbing her temples
to ease the her headache that was pounding in her head in union with whoever
was banging on the door, Tifa pulled the door open, ready to yell at whoever was
disturbing her, when she stopped cold.
“Aeris?” She asked in disbelief,
though Aeris put a finger to her lips, her green eyes wide with worry. Suddenly
Aeris flung her arms around Tifa, who was startled at the sudden gesture,
stumbled back a bit, while her friend gave a loud wail.
“I was so worried! Are you okay? Are
you hurt?” Aeris inquired, and for once Tifa was glad that there was someone
here who actually cared for her, even if it wasn’t Cloud, though it didn’t
matter to her much anymore.
“Fine Aeris, but what about Vincent?
Or
“Oh them! The red head escaped, the
whole building’s on the look out for him, the black haired one is being held in
the torture room. Funny, I didn’t hear any screams or anything, and I know for
a fact he was being beaten.” Tifa’s eyes instantly widened, and she grabbed her
friend by the shoulder, shaking Aeris until she looked a tinge green and a
little dizzy.
“Take me to him!” Tifa cried almost in
a panic, while Aeris, still confused just looked at her blankly.
“Tifa, I can’t. We don’t even know
where the red head is!” Aeris said, still a bit shaken from Tifa’s outburst,
rubbing her temples to try and sooth her nerves. Since when had her friend cared
for cops anyway?
“Not
“We’ll need these.” Was all she
offered as she grabbed Tifa’s wrist, a mischievous smile lingering on her full
red lips. “Your friend was hurt pretty badly.” Aeris continued, dragging Tifa
down the hall, keeping their heads low so no one might recognize them or listen
in on their conversation. “Besides Tifa, I wish I had your luck! Finding a guy
and getting over Cloud!” Aeris squealed in a high pitched whisper, barely able
to keep her excitement in check, while Tifa just looked at her friend with a
puzzled expression on her face. Then suddenly it hit her over the head, and her
wine colored eyes widened as she started stuttering.
“N-N-No, you got it all wrong Aeris!
It’s nothing like that!” Tifa said, trying to convince her friend otherwise,
though it all fell on death ears, as Aeris was no looking dreamily into space.
“I wish I could have told Zack that I
loved him before he left.” Aeris said a bit wistfully, and Tifa blinked,
feeling the strange urge to comfort her friend overwhelm her, though she
decided to listen to her friend’s wisdom, hidden deeply in the mask of
cheerfulness and innocence Aeris managed to uphold. “I would give anything to
tell him now. I guess regrets aren’t good and all, but still…” Aeris snapped
out of it, skidding to a halt, and Tifa was just about to ask her what was
wrong, though she peeked over her shoulder, her eyes widening.
A soldier was staring at them, or more
particularly, Tifa, and it unnerved both women. After what seemed an eternity
of silence between the two, the soldier grinned, tipped his helmet to both
ladies, and Tifa gave a light gasp.
“
“Whoa! Slow it down! Anyway, I escaped
through a vent, which needs a coach I might add, and Vincent’s cell is down
this corridor. You wouldn’t believe how helpful the ladies are here. I think
they’re nicer than the ones in the police station.”
“The redhead?” Aeris asked, though it
was obvious who he was, though Tifa supposed it was better she asked instead of
jumping to conclusions. How do you think rumors started so easily?
“Yes, Aeris, this is
“Relax, Vampy is this way.”
She let out a horrified gasp as she
spotted Vincent’s form, lying sprawled out on the hard cobblestone floor
covered like a blanket in filth, blood seeping from his reopened wound. It was
like seeing him after Sephiroth’s battle again, and the very site of him like
this made her want to scream.
“Vampy’s though, he can take more than
a few cheap shots.”
“This wound doesn’t look knew, in fact,
reopened. It looks like it was made thin and clean, with a sword. Sephiroth’s
sword, right?” Aeris asked, quickly getting to work as she started cleaning out
the wound, taking out a needle and thread from her purse also. Tifa only nodded
dumbly while
“What are you, a lady doctor?” He
asked, looking quite impressed while Aeris just smiled grimly, shrugging her
shoulders as if it were nothing, tending to Vincent’s injuries while Tifa
settled herself by Vincent.
“No, but I might as well be. Almost
finished my schooling until my brother came to me for help.” Aeris stated
calmly, having finished her neat tiny stitches on Vincent’s side and wrapping
bandages around it tightly, moving onto the bruises all over his body. “Oh
holy, he looks like he’s been run over by a car.” Aeris commented briefly,
working on the still unconscious cop, while Tifa just stared at Aeris in
disbelief.
“Brother? You never mentioned a
brother. Where is he?” Tifa stated, while Aeris gave a slight smile, shaking
her head as she finished her tidy work, cleaning off her hands with hand
sanitizer that she had produced from her bag.
“That’s because you’ve never asked.
Besides, I thought it would be obvious that me and Sephiroth were related.”
Aeris said with a casual shrug, and Tifa’s eyes widened instantly, and she took
a step back, opening her mouth to say something, though
“That physco is your brother?”
“Of course, can’t you see the family
resemblance?” Aeris teased, and she blinked, looking up, her eyes widening. For
there, standing with a menacing glint in his eyes, was none other than the one
winged angel himself, a small smirk plastered on his lips.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Mwhahaha! The plot keeps getting thicker and thicker! Y’know, I’ve
always thought that Sephiroth and Aeris looked alike, glowing green eyes, same
build, same face shape, two bangs framing their face, blah, blah, blah. Well,
anyway, hopefully
Chapter 12
Sephiroth said nothing, just eyed them
coldly, turning his uninterested gaze to Vincent, whom Tifa instantly shielded
unconsciously, and he gave a slight smirk, turning his gaze back to Aeris.
“Sister?” He asked softly, as if the
word was foreign to him, and Aeris blinked, slowly rising up, meeting his jaded
green gaze with her own innocent one.
“Yes.” Aeris said just as softly, her
voice lifting and graceful, just as Sephiroth’s was deep and secretive, and
Tifa shivered lightly, glancing from sibling to sibling. Suddenly Sephiroth
tore his gaze away, looking directly at Tifa, who wrapped her arms protectively
around Vincent, though she had no idea why. It just seemed like his gaze was
predatory, like he might hurt them both, and Vincent had already suffered so
much.
‘Lucercia, I’m sorry.’ He had said,
his voice full of anguish, his face contorted in pain. Seeing him like this
either didn’t help, and it squeezed something inside of her painfully.
“Come.” Was all he said, his eyes
lingering on Tifa for a moment, then turned to Aeris, his green eyes softening
a moment. “My sister.” He said softly, as if testing the words, and Aeris
smiled slightly, giving his hand a tight squeeze, her eyes sparkling softly.
It was strange, to see a man so
physically strong and seemingly emotionless look like he was about to burst
into tears, but his mask slipped back into place, and with a slight nod, he
turned his booted heel and turned and strode out the door.
“He’s… helping us?”
“Of course! My brother has a kind
heart, he’s just a bit jaded.” Aeris said, while
“A bit jaded? That’s an
understatement.”
“I heard that.” Sephiroth said coolly,
and
“We should get Vincent to a hospital,
right?” Tifa piped up, never one for deafening silences, and Aeris nodded,
“Déjà vu.”
“This way.” Sephiroth said icily, his
tone one of leadership, someone he knew what to do in these types of
situations. Without another word, he turned and strode to a wall, punching in a
few random buttons on a screen that had seemingly magically appeared. Without
another word, the wall gave way, and with a metallic shriek, it was pulled
upward, and with a glance over his shoulder, Sephiroth turned and strode in.
“Geez, seems like Shinra has been
keeping more from us than we thought.” Aeris said lightly, looking at Tifa, who
looked a bit stricken, though she said nothing for a moment, then shaking her
head as if to clear her thoughts. They needed to get Vincent to a hospital, and
fast. Leave Cloud behind.
“Let’s move it.”
Sephiroth had stopped, and Aeris in
the back piped up.
“What’s wrong?” The distant sound of
the alarm blaring could be heard, loud and low pitch a dull roar in the walls,
the light gleaming on everyone and everything, almost as if it was trying to
shield them from something. Aeris was getting a bad vibe from being in this
place, but what could it be?
Suddenly the ground trembled, a loud
roar echoing through the corridor, and Sephiroth looked up, his eyes narrowing
dangerously.
“What the f***?”
“A behemoth. I can’t believe Shinra
would go this far.” Sephiroth muttered darkly, and Aeris’s eyes widened with
terror.
“Behemoth? Surely you don’t mean the
creature Hojo was creating?” Aeris cried, her eyes widening, while Sephiroth
only nodded, turning back to
“Aeris watch over Valentine. He and
you would only be a burden in this fight.” Sephiroth said coolly, and Aeris
made a snorting noise, though gingerly tuck Vincent from Tifa and
Suddenly, a snarling vicious head
appeared around the corner, sniffling and snorting, foam dripping from it’s
bared fangs, glistening like Sephiroth’s hair in the florescent light, it’s
purple skin furred, it’s head shaped somewhere between a bear and a lion, a
bristled mane trailing down it’s back. Its huge spiked tail slid also into view
as it flicked it against the wall, almost sending the team onto their knees, its
beady black eyes suddenly focusing on Tifa, who readied herself, her jaw set in
determination.
So this was one of Hojo’s monsters. She
shouldn’t have expected any less, for he was known as the insane scientist
around here, and this creature certainly did prove it, with its claws flexing,
resembling that of a bear’s.
With another thunderous roar that
almost made Tifa’s ears bleed, the monster charged, the ground rumbling beneath
its tremendous weight, aiming straight for Reno, who was brandishing a wooden
pole, smacking the creature on the left of the snout, then whirling around to
deliver another blow to it’s other side, though the demon simply roared in
irritation, swatting away Reno like he was a fly with his huge tail, and with a
loud smacking sound, Reno flew backward, hitting the wall with a loud hiss.
The wooden rod tumbled from his hand
and by Aeris, whose green eyes had widened, and she picked up the staff and
clutched it tightly, hauling Reno next to Vincent before dashing next to
Sephiroth, who had jumped high into the air, his hair fanning around him as he
slammed his blade into the beast’s back.
“What are you doing?” Tifa asked, her
eyes widening as she saw her friend charging almost in a suicidal way at the
beast. Sephiroth seeing his sister lunging at the beast with a wooden rod,
swerved, trying to behead the beast or cut it open before it could swipe at his
sibling, but the beast, paid him no head. Instead, it turned its enraged eye to
Aeris, roared tremendously, as if to welcome the new challenger.
Shaking its tremendous form, it swung
its bulky tail catching Sephiroth at the temple, sending him flying to the
ground with a large thud. It then charged at Aeris, who gripped her weapon
tightly, gritting her teeth in determination. Preparing herself, Aeris locked
her eyes on the behemoth, summoning the courage and will to stay planted where
she was. It was stupid to do this, but she just had to try…
The beast roared again, and she could
almost feel its breath on her face, and she leapt up, her rod raised above her
head, though the monster had already figured she would do as much, brought a
huge paw into her face, and Aeris’s eyes widened with terror. She hadn’t
expected, she hadn’t thought.
The brute suddenly averted his gaze, a
snarled growl dying at his throat, for standing beside him, wielding
Sephiroth’s fallen blade, was Tifa, her face covered in sweat and the beast’s
blood, driving it deeper into the side of the howling behemoth. With a loud
snarl it fell, snapping its jaws, though its movements were becoming slack
until the beast’s eyes rolled into the back of its head, lying motionless for
quite some time, the only sound was Tifa’s ragged breath and the soft sound
Aeris made when she landed on her feet.
“We should go. C’mon!” Tifa said after
a minute, giving Aeris a light push, as she brushed past her and helped up the
groaning
“No, I think not Ms. Lockheart.” Was
the cold sneering face of Rufus Shinra, and suddenly all went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Cid!” Was the only thing Shera
exclaimed, her brown eyes widening with happiness as she flung her arms around
him, her muffled sobs coming out from his shoulder, and he only managed a small
smile, hugging her back.
“Ya didn’t think I was gonna leave ya
here?” Cid asked, and Shera just smiled slightly, and for some strange reason,
a small bird fluttered in his stomach, though Cid was far too used to it to
have it any other way.
Glad to see Shera was okay, and that
they had indeed done nothing to her, he rubbed the back of his neck, looking
down at her.
“We gotta get out of this joint. Seems
like Vinnie and his little buddies are creating a distraction.” Cid said,
grabbing Shera’s hand as he dashed out of the holding cell, sprinting quickly
down the hall, which was bathed in blaring red lights, the sounds of sirens
shrieking into their ears.
“Do you think they know we’re
escaping?” Shera yelled over the noise, and Cid shrugged, turning back to her
with a roguish grin that she had come to know and love. That was her Cid,
always craving for adventure, and all those times she had longed to join him in
one promptly sat in front of her face. Oh what she wouldn’t give to be home
just making a cup of tea instead of on one of these kidnapping businesses.
Thank god that Cid had come to rescue her, though she supposed she didn’t have
any doubt.
“Of course! That’s half the fun!” Cid
whooped, still running down the hall, as Shera labored to keep up. She hadn’t
gone through all the training that Cid had and it showed how out of shape she
had become while being a housewife. After all, she didn’t go to the gym three
times a week like Cid liked to do.
“What about Mr. Valentine and his
friends?” Shera asked somewhat worriedly, allowing her husband to drag her
along, while Cid just shrugged, glad that no one was noticing them in all the
chaos, probably thinking that they only were fleeing the scene to save
themselves like most of the crowd seemed to be doing. It’s not like Cid
actually cared, it just made things easier for them. With a slight smirk on his
face, he flung open the front door to the building, turning back to his wife.
“Don’t worry. I got a plan.”
~*Author’s
Notes*~ So shoot me! Sorry the battle scene was all mismatched and everything,
but I’m working on it! Yea, um, right. Anyway, I think this fic is nearing its
end. *cheers* Sorry, it seems like dead weight, so I just want to get it over
to focus on some other things, y’know? Well, anyway, please read and review!
Chapter 13
“All of you are charged with treason.”
Rufus Shinra’s cold gaze flickered among the crowd, resting on Sephiroth, whom
meet his gaze without flinching, before Rufus’s eyes moved on. “Are you not
aware of the damage and mayhem you’ve caused?” He paused, staring at Aeris, who
had bowed her head down, as if she was ashamed, though Tifa could tell she was
tired, and didn’t want to take this. “Perhaps not. Well then, let me explain it
to you. Our secret corridors are exposed, costing us our employee’s trust. You
destroyed Hojo’s behemoth, an experiment that wasted thousands of dollars in
funding. You’ve destroyed various parts of the building and have injured
countless of soldiers. Anything to say in your defense?” Rufus almost mocked,
and it was all Tifa could do to bite her tongue, as not to anger the ‘judge’
any further.
She knew how these ‘trials’ worked,
and they would be convicted anyway. Rufus would see to that, and would kill any
one who opposed him along with them. She twisted against the metal handcuffs
that chained her to the chair, holding her painfully to the seat. She craned
her neck to see how Vincent was doing, still a tad unconscious on the seat
chained also, though she knew he was probably alert enough to know what was
going on.
“This isn’t a trial at all you sicko!
Lemme out of here!” This, of course, was from
“What will happen to us?” Aeris
whispered softly to Sephiroth, who gave a slight shrug, turning his green eyes
to a vacant space on the ceiling, as if it held the answers.
“He will execute us. Most likely
publicly to raise the moral of all in Shinra, to show he is not incompetent.”
Sephiroth said logically, and Tifa groaned. Count it on Sephiroth not to know
how to break it gently to people, but at least he wasn’t beating around the
bush. She still felt bad for Aeris, who had paled, but only nodded.
“Any wise plans?”
“In the room they’re taking us, there
will be no vent, no window, and the doors are powered by electricity. It will
take a miracle to get us out.” Sephiroth concluded, while Tifa sighed.
“We might be able to make it. What
about your commander? Was he able to make it out?” Aeris said hopefully, and
while Aeris’s optimism comforted Tifa to a certain extent, it didn’t help one
bit.
“Cid will come through. He is not our
commander for nothing.” Vincent said stonily, and Tifa almost jumped in hearing
his soft voice, having not heard it in a while. There was a small flitter of
hope, seemingly just because Vincent seemed to think so, and as
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tifa sighed, her head resting against
the cold hard wall of the cell, trying desperately to devise some plan that
could get them out of the situation they were in. It seemed so hopeless. How
could they get out of here? How?
Think Tifa think! She mentally urged
herself, rubbing her temples vigorously as though to work the gears in her
mind, though it only seemed to cause her more aggravation. Sighing in defeat,
she looked around the cold dusty cell that would probably be the last place
she’d be in before they executed her. The thought was depressing, but she
guessed it would take a miracle to get them out of this mess.
The sudden opening of the door drew
Tifa’s attention away from the window, and startled, she only found Cloud, who
was grinning at her with that boyish grin that used to make her heart flutter,
but now it only served to make her even angrier. How could someone smile like
that at a time like this?
“It seems you’ve gotten tangled up in
the wrong type of crowd Tifa.” Cloud started easily, and Tifa bit her lip to
keep herself from retorting back ‘starting with you!’. She knew making Cloud
angry would probably kill the one single thread that could save her, so a bit
intrigued, she listened slightly, her hair forming a veil around her as if she
was blocking him out. “But I can save you Tifa, just like your knight in
shining armor. Don’t you remember telling me that?” Cloud asked, the grin
lighting up his blue eyes, though somehow they still seemed cold, distant. Was
Cloud really trying to save her or himself? She had heard about how unhappy
Rufus was with Cloud about the fact that someone could just walk into their
base and steal someone’s woman. And when Rufus was unhappy with Cloud, it meant
that someone might die.
“Just get to the point Cloud.” Tifa
said tiredly, already worn out by the day’s events. Nothing was worse than
listening to Cloud ramble on and on about something when she couldn’t stand the
site of him now. How funny, to think that a couple of days ago she had yearned
to be by him.
“If you promise me never to do
anything like this again, I’ll save you.” Cloud said with an irresistible smile
on his face, and the thought stopped Tifa cold. Save yourself… who needs the
others anyway? Sephiroth probably killed your father, Aeris always flirted with
Cloud,
“If I go with you, will you promise to
let everyone else go?” Tifa asked instead, not looking forward to the prospect
of spending the rest of her life with Cloud. It was strange how some things
changed when you thought it impossible that it would. She would save them
because they were her friends, as mismatched and strange as they were, she
would try. That was the least she could do for them.
“Rufus wants blood,” Cloud said with a
frown, as though he were distressed over the fact, though was too used to it to
really care, “and he won’t allow even me to take that away from him. We’d have
to execute someone.” Cloud said, and Tifa blinked, making a face that Cloud
couldn’t see because of her makeshift veil. Of course… Rufus had always liked
things to go out with style, or at least bloody. Maybe it was a sadistic thing,
but it seemed he had been fascinated by blood.
“Take me then,” Tifa heard herself
saying, “and let the others go.” She heard Cloud give a slight snort of
disappointment, and without another word turned and walked out the door. So
much for love…
Suddenly the thought struck her of the
choice she had just made. She would die, and the others would live. Had she
been selfish to be the martyr? She closed her eyes, leaning her head against
the wall, sighing softly. She had wanted a miracle, and Cloud helping her was
by no means short of it, but she supposed… she had wanted… she just wished that
she could live.
“Forgive me, it’s the only way I can think
of out of this mess.” She closed her eyes and all she could see were haunting
blood red eyes, staring back at her almost mournfully. “Forgive me…”
~*Author’s
Notes*~ … Juice?
Chapter 14
“You’re free to go.” Vincent, even
though his mind was clogged and fuzzy, still could register those words.
Freedom always came at a price, but what? Had Rufus changed his mind? Vincent
snorted, pushing that thought from his mind instantly. Rufus, from what he had
heard and briefly seen of him, didn’t seem like the type that would give up
easily.
The guard allowed Sephiroth and Reno
to slip his arms over their shoulders, effectively dragging him along, much
more smooth of a ride than he had been in the cell and when it had been Tifa
and Reno dragging him, though he felt uncomfortable, like baggage.
He didn’t like this anymore than the
silver haired man, it seemed. Maybe there was some things he had in common with
him, though he didn’t think he’d forgive him easily for the wound on his side.
It still hurt like a demon gnawing at it, the burning fangs of pain digging in
deeply. He wasn’t too happy about having all these injuries, and he most likely
would be a hindrance if any battle or anything was to occur.
Just like the last time something like
this had happened…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Lucercia?”
Vincent called into the darkness, the once blindingly illuminated halls of the
Shinra headquarters was cloaked in shadows, and Vincent, wounded heavily,
inched painfully along the corridor, leaning feebly on the wall for support.
His breath rattled against his sore throat, sounding almost like wind blowing
roughly. It hurt to call out her name, but it also worried him beyond all logic
of where she might be.
He hadn’t meant to get mixed up in Shinra in the first
place, but they offered a good place to stay, a roof over his head with three
square meals a day. The only catch, which Vincent was soon learning rather
painfully, was that you had to obey them. Everything you did was for the ‘good’
of Shinra and the ‘good’ for all. Where was that motto now?
He dragged his foot along, stopping as he pressed his hand
back against his side, trying hard to regulate his breathing. His makeshift bandages
from his fallen comrade’s shirt weren’t the most ideal material, and it did nothing
for his bleeding temple. Multiple hues of purple and black sported his arms and
torso, signs of a struggle and a fight. With another pant, he forced himself to
call for her again.
“Lucercia!” His voiced echoed down the corridor, and he
paused, listening intently for anything, but all that greeted him was the
silence of ill intentions, of surprise, of fear and death.
He had first become interested in joining the police force
when he had meet Cid Highwind, a rookie police officer with dreams sky high,
literally. He had wanted to become a pilot, but he had said that his
girlfriend, Shera, didn’t want him flying those contraptions without him taking
any schooling. So, he had settled on his second choice, and was happy about it.
Cid was a man that Vincent could respect, blunt, not full of deceit and lies,
and he also was motivated. And he loved Shera like Vincent did Lucercia, so it
was hard to find much fault with the man.
So, due to Cid’s loud encouragement, Vincent soon became a
double agent, leaking information to Cid who told his superior, the two
becoming quite a team. But, he had been found out, and like all traitors in
Shinra, he would be tortured, broken mentally, then physically. They had
succeeded in physically injuring him, but he didn’t care if they broke all of
his limbs as long as Lucercia was safe.
They had captured her as their way of getting back at him,
and he was too worried about Lucercia to care much of his wounds, though she
figured she would scold him for being so stupid in pushing himself on like
this. Lucercia didn’t approve of him being in Shinra, but she supported him in
mostly anything he did. Except for killing.
Suddenly the lights flickered on, the power resounding with
a buzz, and Vincent squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the glare and
burst of light that had momentarily blinded him. Blinking and trying to figure
out why the light had suddenly been brought back to life, Vincent rounded the
corner tediously slow, and stopped short.
Lying, wide eyed and staring at him in horror, was
Lucercia, in a pool of her own blood, and in that blood, ‘love hurts’ had been
scrawled in.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“The place seems awfully loud. I think
it’s coming from the main hall.” Aeris said softly, tilting her head to the
side as she looked up from redressing Vincent’s wounds. It would be better to
check up on them before anything happened, and she didn’t want her patient to
get an infection or anything worse. What kind of doctor/nurse would she be?
“Thank you.” Vincent said softly,
while Aeris only nodded, giving him a warm smile before turning to Sephiroth,
who seemed deep in thought, staring in the general direction of the main hall.
It seemed it bothered him much more than it did her, that Shinra had released
them so easily, so readily. Aeris figured they had seen the error of their
ways, but Sephiroth knew that Rufus wanted something bloody for them all to pay.
All the respect he had for the elder
brother Shinra, all the ‘people’ in Shinra had long ago been erased, and only
cold hard anger remained there. They had used him as a tool, and he had just
now been able to finally see that. Aeris had known all along that they had been
related, and she probably had been forced into secrecy so she could stay here,
the only place where she could remember Zack.
“It seems kinda fishy, y’know? I think
we should check it out.”
“How? We couldn’t very well sneak in!”
Aeris whispered, her face flushed a bit with nervousness, her hands twisting
her skirt, and she had no real desire to be captured again. The very thought of
going back to that horrible cell sent chills down her spine.
“Why not? Y’know those vents are
pretty nifty.”
“I’ll handle this.” Aeris suggested,
while Sephiroth gave her a slight look, while she just smiled reassuringly at
him. Who knew that the one winged angel Sephiroth could be such a worry wart?
With a small flirtatious smile on her
face, Aeris sauntered over to the two guards, who looked semi-nervous, glancing
over at each other while Aeris stationed herself in front of the two.
“I’m really sorry about this.” Aeris
said, giving a slight bow of apology, while the two men just stared at her
dumbly, and with a quick flick of her delicate wrist, the two men crumpled,
suffering a slight blow to their necks.
“Nifty trick you learned there,
sunshine.” Reno commented dryly, while Aeris only blushed, tucking a stray
strand of hair behind her ear, tilting her gaze to Vincent, who had somehow
gotten himself to stand. She clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
That man would be the death of himself and whoever grew attached to him, and
she had an unfortunate feeling that one of those people might be Tifa, though
she wouldn’t say anything until everyone was safe.
“Tifa taught it to me. Let’s go find
out what all this ruckus is about.”
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Okies, the thing in the middle, the little thing about Lucercia? That
was a flashback, y’know how that stuff goes. I still don’t know how to get
italics or bold on FF.net, so any tips would be appreciated. Well, anyway, I
wanted to end this chapter much more differently, but I guess it’s okay. Please
read and review, and thanks so much for all who do!
Chapter 15
“Well, isn’t this lovely. Keep the
line moving sweetie!”
Aeris said nothing, continuing to
crawl along the dusty vent, occasionally letting out a soft sneeze or sigh at
“How much longer do you think it is?”
A loud cheer erupted throughout the vent, and a sudden horrible feeling washed
over her. “Guys, do you think they have Tifa? Do you think she’s the one they
took?” Suddenly everyone glanced to the back, where Vincent was panting behind
them, his blood red eyes half closed.
“She’s not here.” Vincent said
quietly, and suddenly Aeris paled, turning and quickly shimming down the vent
as if something foul nipped at her heels, though it wasn’t against anything to
say that something might have been
“We should hurry. It sounds like the
crowd is getting wild.” Sephiroth said softly from behind
Aeris paused, glancing down through
the slits in the vent, squinting down at the blurred crowd that gave another
booming cheer. She felt fear, sick to the pit of her stomach with it. It could
be Tifa down there, in danger. Who knew what could be happening to her?
“Do you see her?” She heard Vincent
ask from the back, and she squinted, looking past the thick crowd of blurred
faces, toward the stage in the front. There, tied to a wooden cross as if being
crucified, battered and bruised, was Tifa, obviously unconscious. Rufus and
Cloud sat behind her, Cloud’s face unreadable, and Rufus’s face one of sick
enjoyment.
She gave a loud gasp, covering her
face with the palms of her hands.
“There! It’s Tifa! And we have to get
down there, now!” Aeris’s tone of voice startled all the men, springing them
suddenly into action. “We have to get down there now, and I mean now!”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
She could dimly hear the droning roar
of the crowd, through her veil of torturous pain. She was surprised she hadn’t
crumbled into ashes, every part of her body ached and screamed whenever she
shifted the tiniest bit. And Cloud was behind her, and she knew Rufus was
laughing, a laugh so cold and chilling it struck her to the bone, numbing and
ringing to the core. She felt sick, though she didn’t want to show anymore
signs of weakness. She had brought this upon herself, but it was for a good
cause. She’d rather be a martyr and help her friends than to be a sacrifice for
someone’s sick twisted amusement. But, she supposed she was both today.
She twisted slightly, giving a slight
groan in pain, the bounds biting painfully into her wrists and ankles, and she
felt the slices of the small dagger giving way and opening a bit more widely.
It stung, and tears managed to pour themselves down her face.
“You could have chosen me, Tifa. You
wouldn’t have to feel this pain.” It was strange, that voice had been strangely
comforting up until this point. Now all she felt was boiling rage. She eyed him
with her most ferocious glare she could muster, though Cloud only smirked a
very Rufus like smirk, and it scared her. She had always thought she knew Cloud
the best, but it only occurred to her how much she didn’t know.
“I would rather die.” Tifa spat, while
Cloud only gave her a triumphant grin, which she had thought had been quite
dashing on his boyish face, though that was past tense. It only curdled her
blood now.
“Yes, like this, right? Feeling every
inch of pain and suffering.” Cloud said with a slight smirk, turning his heel
to leave, though gave a slight startled yelp as the whole stage shook. Tifa
winced, feeling even the slightest movement as the ground rumbled.
“What the-?” She could vaguely hear
Rufus snarl, barking in a loud tone for everyone to ready themselves for
battle, thought Tifa smirked, tilting her head to the side, forgetting her
pain, if only just a moment. They came back for her. They had actually come
back…
“Tifa!” None other than Vincent
Valentine cried out to her, and she smiled slightly, wishing she could wave.
The expression on his face, an actual expression blessed his face, was one of
someone worried and highly enraged.
Next to him, standing ready for battle
stood Sephiroth, Aeris, and
“Kill them!” Rufus screamed, the
sudden sound of a thousand rifles clicking from safety sounding in the suddenly
silent hall, and Tifa held her breath. She was sure everyone else held it also,
for a pin could have dropped, and be heard from a mile away. Time slowed for a
moment, and desperately she prayed throughout that single moment of blurry
emotions and happenings that they would live, even if it meant she would die.
She had been willing to die for her friends since the beginning, and it still
stayed that way. She would feel guilty for the rest of eternity if they died
trying to reach her. It would take a miracle, even with the One Winged Angel
with them, to survive this horrendous massacre.
And in the next minute, a miracle did
occur, bearing the name of Cid Highwind.
A few hours later, a shell shocked
Rufus would be mumbling to himself that they had oozed from everywhere,
bursting from every single place imaginable, and that’s how it was.
Police officers, and even a SWAT team
burst through the doors around the whole building, guns raised and poised, all
of them aiming at the mass, all wearing masks. Cid had taken no chances, and
even ordered out some gas if needed.
“Put down your godd**** weapons before
we f***ing shoot! We have the place surrounded dip s***s!” Cid barked into the
megaphone, and seemingly scaring the crap out of everyone, the soldier’s guns
quickly dropped to the floor, and all thousand of them were kicked toward to
the officers. Outside, the sounds of more booted feet echoed, and every single
person in the room drew a breath.
Flickering his ice blue eyes to Rufus,
who stood frozen on the stage, Cid snorted, jerking his gun toward him.
“Arrest the sucker. Get everyone in
here to the station now!” Cid snapped, instantly the police flying into action,
and in what seemed the blink of an eye, Rufus and Cloud and the head honchos
were being carted away, the rest being given a nasty glare, and surprisingly
being very obedient and following orders given to them. They had been taking
orders for their whole lives, so why shouldn’t they now? Rufus Shinra had only
been power, and since Cid had ‘overthrown’ him, he was the new power. What
difference did it make to the poor brainwashed people of Shinra?
Blinking, Tifa looked down to realize
with a start that Vincent had produced a pocket knife and cut her free, swiftly
putting an arm under her knees and shoulder, and even though heavily wounded,
refused to let anyone else carry her off, even though Tifa had weakly protested
she was fine.
“But are you sure? You’re more wounded
than me!” Tifa said, a tinge of worry grazing her voice, as she glanced up at
his bandaged chest, though he only gave a slight shrug, still limping a bit as
he walked out of the Shinra building, Aeris, Sephiroth, and
He had known Vincent for a long time,
and had only been so stubborn when it had came to Lucercia.
With a slight smirk on his face,
“I guess that makes that the last pack
of cigarettes you’ll ever smoke Cid.”
He wanted to be there when the two
lovebirds confessed their undying love for each other. He could already see an
emotional Valentine. He snickered, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting
up the engine.
The sound of a car screeching away
from the already empty and defeated building of Shinra was the only thing heard
over the sounds of police cars and barely concealed voices. Shinra had fallen.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ Okies, so maybe the rescue wasn’t as original as I wanted it to be, but
hey! I tried, really I did. So sorry it was a tinge crappy, but be happy!
*oblivious to rhyme* This is the next chapter of ‘In the Night’. *sniffles*
I’ll still feel sad though. That’s basically how I am when I end a story. Oh
well, thanks to everyone who stuck with this story and please read and review!
Epilogue
“In other news, the infamous gang
Shinra was apprehended today, thanks to the work of police officer Cid Highwind
and his officers. The notorious leaders of the gang, Cloud and Rufus Shinra are
currently behind bars awaiting trial. The gang is charged for various crimes
from theft to murder. I’m sure everyone will sleep better tonight. Now to the
weather, Scott?”
The T.V. clicked off while Cid,
holding the remote, puffed contentedly on a cigarette. Shera sat behind him,
looking quite relieved and if a bit happy, snuggled next to her husband.
“Well, the least they could have done
was interview me.”
It was a bit odd to think that Shera
would forgive Sephiroth so easily, but knowing Shera, she probably had an
alternate motive. Like making him do household chores alongside his sister.
“I was never one for publicity anyway.”
Tifa said from beside Shera, who gave her newfound friend a veiled concerned
look. Tifa had only been released from the hospital a day ago, and despite the
doctor said, she still had a flash of pain shoot through her body every now and
then.
“I would second that.” Vincent said
from his place leaning against the wall, his eyes flickering over the scene,
Sephiroth not too far beside him, with Aeris at his feet, her long lashes
fluttering over her green orbs as she tried to keep awake.
“You people are no fun! Where’s the
excitement, the adventure?”
“I’ve had about enough adventure for a
lifetime. Mrs. Shera do you need help making dinner?” Aeris asked politely,
while Shera sighed, but nodded her head. She had tried in vain to get Aeris to
stop calling her ‘Mrs. Shera’ claiming it made her feel old. Both women got up,
Tifa following reluctantly, feeling like the odd one out.
“Just set the table. Everything else
should be done by now.” Shera stated, handing Tifa a stack of plates while she
gave Shera an uneasy smile. It was strange, that this woman had also offered
Tifa to stay with them, though Vincent had said calmly that she could stay with
him. Even though
“Okay.” Tifa said, balancing the
plates on one hand, walking over to the fairly big sized wooden dinning table,
Aeris placing down the silverware, arranging them delicately like she had been
taught to do when she was with Shinra. Old habits die hard.
“Hey Tifa.” Tifa blinked, looking up,
only to see
“Yes
“Look, I think it’s nice to see Vampy
not moody anymore, but if something happens to you, it’ll break him. So what
I’m trying to say I guess is be careful, okay? For both your sakes.”
“I can defend myself y’know, but
thanks
“So what did Mr. Reno want?” Aeris
asked, the wheels in her matchmaking head already whirling a devious plan to
set both of them up, though Tifa shook her head, breaking Aeris’s constructed
daydream.
“He basically said to take care of the
both of us.” Tifa said distantly, staring after
“Dinner’s ready!” Shera’s cheerful
voice rang out, and like a gong had been sounded, everyone was at the table,
Cid and
Tifa pulled up a chair, giving Vincent
a slight smile, who nodded in return, the exchange not going unnoticed by
Aeris, who had salvaged her plan to match make already, scheming about romance.
Dinner was a peaceful event, well, as
peaceful as it could be with
The grin widened as her and Vincent
headed to the door, Reno hanging back to help, though Tifa had a suspicion it
had something to do with the green eyed vixen still there, though she didn’t
voice her thoughts. She slid in the passenger seat next to Vincent, and to his
amusement, still buckled her seatbelt and scolded him to do the same. Some
things never changed.
“Ready?” He asked softly, and she
tilted her head to the side. Ready to leave Cloud and everything behind?
Definitely. She gave him a slight nod and smile, and the car screeched off into
the night.
~*Author’s
Notes*~ J I feel the love! Sorry it wasn’t all romantic and everything, but I
tried to balance out action and romance, and toward the end I really didn’t
feel like a mushy ending. It just didn’t seem right. I loved the last sentence
anyway. I really hope you enjoyed this, since Vin/Tifa rules! *grins* Ignore
me. Anyway, thank you so much to all of you who read and reviewed this junk and
loved it all the same. Read and review please, and thanks again!