Their mission was over, their usefulness at an end. Cid set the Highwind down near Wutai due to Yuffie's nagging. She had managed to bribe or steal away everyone's materia and she was anxious to get home. Everyone's materia but Vincent's.

The group exited the ship and mulled around, not certain of what they were all going to do. Certainly when they made their way back to civilization they would be welcomed as heroes, but tonight they were too tired for that. The battle had taken a considerable toll on all of them and so camping here in the countryside for just this one night seemed like the right thing to do. Everyone knew that they would never all be together again like this, and for Vincent, it was just as well.

The sun was setting, and Vincent left the others as they bantered around the campfire of things he did not need to relive. He crested a small hill and stood staring out toward the ocean, his mind for the moment completely devoid of anything.

There was a rustling behind him and almost on instinct, he drew his Death Penalty and spun. It was Yuffie, and he lowered his weapon after a brief moment of hesitation. She was very possibly the most irritating creature on this earth, and he knew that shooting her would have done the world a great service.

She smiled weakly, her eyes trained on his gun. "Sorry."

He reholstered his gun, and crossed his arms. "What do you want?"

"Ummm." She was still giddy despite today's battle. "I was wondering if -"

He cut her off, "You could have my materia?"

"Yeah." Yuffie kicked at the dirt. "I don't figure that you'll need it now, so can I?"

He turned away from her. "Go away."

She walked around him, not giving up so easily. Yuffie was willing to do whatever it took to add more materia to her collection. "Vince! Come on!"

"My name is Vincent." He narrowed his eyes. "Go away."

She took a step closer to him, and laid a hand upon his chest. "What will it take?"

He recoiled from her touch, no longer accustomed to human contact. She was truly starting to piss him off. "GO AWAY!"

"Vincent, I will do whatever you want." She tugged at the hem of her shorts.

A cruel smile briefly graced his lips. This bitch had driven him insane for the past several weeks. It would be nice to see her come to regret her stupidity. "You have no idea what you have just gotten yourself into."

She was pleased with herself. Yuffie knew that no man could resist that sort of offer. "See? I knew you weren't so bad."

Vincent remained perfectly still as she again touched him. He allowed her to loosen his belt and to undo his pants. As she slipped her hand inside, her face twisted into a look of confusion. "What the Hell?"

She looked down to see what she had unleashed. Very little of Vincent's body hadn't been violated in one way or another, and she found herself looking upon one of the greatest symbols of that physical desecration.

Unspeakable alterations of mechanism had taken place, leaving his anatomy a grim combination of human flesh and cybernetic technology. More metal was now visible than skin. Hojo's jealousy for Vincent had spurned him to grant the former Turk the greatest punishment of all. Vincent was still arousable, still sensitive to the touch, yet the monstrosity that he now was would have rendered sexual intercourse impossible. No woman would ever be willing to be with him. The tangle of wiring and tubing, the razor sharp angles of the metal that enveloped him made his cock more of a weapon than anything else.

Yuffie's eyes went wide with fear, and she attempted a step back but Vincent grabbed her shoulders.

"You said you would do anything, Yuffie." Vincent's voice was flat. "I intend to hold you to that promise."

He pushed her down to her knees, and took hold of her short hair. Yuffie struggled futily as he drove his way into her mouth. Vincent held her there, shoved into her throat far enough to make breathing impossible. He retracted just slightly every few seconds to allow her to gasp for air. Vincent clamped his eyes shut as his genetically damaged seed was let into her mouth.

That done, he pushed her away. Yuffie landed on all fours, and vomited at once. She turned back to look at him, her eyes flaring with anger. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth as a thousand lacerations inside began to bleed.

He got his clothing back in order and reached into a pocket. Vincent tossed his few shining pieces of materia onto the ground beside her. "There is what you asked for."

"You son of a bitch!" She spat the blood from her mouth, and then picked up the materia.

He looked down upon her, feeling no pride in what he had done. "It could have been a lot worse, Yuffie. Next time you decide to bother someone, you better think it out a little more."

She got to her feet, more blood still running down her chin. "Bastard."

Vincent, in a move that even surprised himself, took a step closer to her and drew her to him. He pulled her hair again, forcing her to look up and then he licked the blood from her face. Immediately afterward he released her. "Go home Yuffie."

She stood there still shaken as he walked back toward the campsite. Well, I still won, she thought before turning to go home. Yuffie was unable to grasp the significance of what had actually transpired, and she had no idea just how close she had come to dying.

Vincent stopped halfway back to the camp and looked over his shoulder, seeing that Yuffie had disappeared. A brief smile crossed his lips but quickly faded as he failed to find any reason to be doing so. He hadn't enjoyed what he had done, and it was something he never would have done in any other situation. But he had done it, and now it was destined to become yet another torturous memory he would have to live with.

He finished his trek back to camp finding everyone still engrossed in their conversations. Tifa was the only one who noticed his return. "Did you see Yuffie off?"

He diverted his gaze away from Tifa. "She is gone, yes."

Tifa, ever empathetic, knew that something wasn't quite right. "You didn't go and kill her or anything, right?"

Vincent shifted uncomfortably. "She isn't dead."

She narrowed her eyes, wondering what was going on. Eventually she just assumed it was something related to Lucretia as everyone tended to do when it came to his oddness. "I'll take your word for it."

He looked back over the group for a moment. "I'm leaving now."

Tifa's eyes grew wide. "You aren't going to stay with us, at least for tonight?"

He gave a slight shake of his head. "No. I need to go now."

In honesty, he feared that if he stayed near the others he might end up hurting someone else. Vincent had started to both distrust and fear what he was turning out to be.

Tifa looked to be on the verge of tears, and she stepped forward to embrace Vincent. "Well, I guess this is good bye then. I'll miss you."

Vincent allowed himself to enjoy her closeness for a moment. "I will miss you, too."

She stepped back from him and walked toward the others. "Everyone, Vincent's leaving."

Cloud looked a little confused. "Uh, Tifa, he's already gone."

She spun around to find that he was no where to be found. In her confusion she stepped back to where she had just held him. Not able to believe he had just vanished like that she searched the hills around her, but he was indeed gone.

Her heart filled with pity for the man, knowing that he was never going to find peace as long as he let the past eat at him. She had genuinely come to like Vincent, something none of the others could appreciate, always being to busy ridiculing him for his quirks. Although she knew he wasn't one to keep up contacts with those he knew she had a feeling that someday, she would see him again and that when he came back, it would be an omen for another difficult time.

"Good bye, Vincent." She whispered toward the sunset, wishing that she could have held on to him just a little longer.