Introduction
This story takes place in the same universe as my other two stories. The events here happen a year after the regular timeline of Ghost of the Past, Shadows of the Future. I highly recommend you to read my others stories before starting with this one. Anyway, if you're too lazy to read them, all you need to know is this: Vincent and Lilah met after he defeated Omega, they eventually fell in love and now they have a baby girl. I know, it sounds crappy, but it's totally different if you actually read the other stories. There were a lot of things going on before everything ended up like this. However, this time the story revolves around Vincent and Reno, and Lilah is just a secondary character now, that's why I don't consider it as sequel. I hope you enjoy it!
DISCLAIMER: As you already know, I only own Lilah, Riley and other OC's that will eventually appear. Square Enix owns the rest. I hate them.
From Red Hair to Crimsom Eyes
Switch!
"Awww… How cute!"
"Look at that!"
"Is that Vincent Valentine?"
Vincent tried to pretend he didn't hear the comments, but it was getting on his nerves. He loved his daughter, but she definitely called too much attention on the street. Riley just giggled every time someone wanted to take a look at Vincent Valentine's baby. People would usually recognize him on the street. Well, he had saved the world a couple of years before! He'd preferred to stay at home or abroad on some missions instead of walking down the street during the day carrying his little girl. He was about to pick his gun to make his way through the crowd when he realized he was already a few feet from his destination.
The WRO headquarters were by far the best place for training, but as it was located outside the city and it was getting expensive to send vehicles for the trainees everyday, Reeve had decided to arrange a warehouse for this purpose in Edge. The place didn't look too flashy. Its walls were plain grey and it had a medium sized board outside that read 'WRO Training Facility' under an iron gate. There were also two WRO soldiers standing next to the door, a man and a woman.
"Mr. Vincent Valentine. Welcome." One of the soldiers said once Vincent had reached the main entrance.
"Is Lilah available?" Vincent asked while preventing her six-month old daughter from taking one of the small buckles of his cloak to her mouth. The female soldier contained her laugh.
"Miss Phoenix is about to end a training session. You can wait for her in the hall way." The soldier answered. Vincent shot the young girl an angry look and entered the building.
"Phoenix." Vincent muttered.
It's been almost a year since the day she was not longer harboring the guardian force, and she hated being called that since then. Even though they were not married, she had started to call herself Lilah Valentine. He didn't mind. It was sort of awkward at the beginning, but he got used to it. However, some people still called her by her old last name.
Riley looked at him with her blue eyes wide opened.
"What?" He said. She just giggled once again.
He walked down the hallway until he reached another iron door. As usual, he heard the sound of swords clashing to each other. He was waiting for Lilah's class to finish when his cell phone rang. He held Riley with his left arm and picked his mobile. The name 'Reeve Tuesti' could be read in the screen.
"Reeve, what's the matter?" Vincent said after pushing the answer button.
"Is Reno there yet?"
"No… Why should he be here?"
"… Don't worry. He'll brief you about the situation. Good luck."
Vincent hoped this new mission Reeve had given him was to be done only by him and not by Reno too. He preferred to work alone.
In the moment he was putting his phone away, some trainees came out of the room next to him. Then, Lilah walked out too.
"What are you two doing here?" She said, smiling brightly. Riley immediately stretched her little arms towards her mother. Vincent handed Lilah the baby, and she gave him a quick peck on his lips.
"Reeve called me this morning. He wants me to check on the mako reactor in Fort Condor."
"Really? What happened? It's been inactive for years, as far as I know!"
"Reeve told me people has been acting in an unusual way in the area. They suspect is because of the reactor."
"Wow! That's creepy. You'll be careful, right?" Lilah said, looking concerned. Since Vincent had almost died fighting Murdoch a year before, she was extremely worried every time he was out in a mission.
"Of course." He whispered.
"Oh! By the way, Reno was looking for you. He's acting funny… Maybe he's drunk again."
"I think Reeve wants Reno in the mission too."
"That'll be interesting!" Lilah said, laughing.
"Hmph… Where is he?"
"He said something about hiding in a truck. I think I saw a WRO truck parked in the back alley. He must be there."
"…Right."
They were still talking when another group of trainees entered the building.
"So… When are you coming back?" Lilah asked Vincent.
"Tonight, I think."
"Ok, I have to go now. I wonder how I will handle the baby during the training… I'll figure out something!"
"See you then." Vincent said and started to walk out of the building.
"You're forgetting something!" Lilah said. Vincent turned around and looked at her. "I want a kiss." She said, smiling.
He went back to her side and kissed her on her lips.
"Promise me you'll take care." She said looking at him seriously.
"I will." He said and left the place.
Reno was lying in the backseat of the WRO truck. The stereo was playing music out loud and he was moving his head to the rhythm. He jumped nervously when he heard the door was being open.
"Valentine! You scared the hell outta me! You didn't see any scary guys around, did you?" He said after Vincent jumped inside the truck.
"No. What are you doing here?"
Reno sighed in relief.
"We'll be partners, just for now. Don't get used to it."
"I won't." Vincent said and sighed.
"So… Ready for some ol' Turks style action?
"…Whatever."
"Joe! Come on, we're ready!" Reno yelled.
"My name's Mike!" Someone said from the driver's side.
"Yeah, you… Let's go." Reno said, laughing nervously as the truck started moving.
The WRO truck left them outside Edge, where one of ex Shinra choppers was waiting for them. Two hours after that, they were arriving at Fort Condor.
The area had sure changed in the last few years. What used to be almost a military camp was now a peaceful village where humans lived in harmony with nature. However, something seemed odd in the small town. The streets were empty and only a few men were in the main entrance of the village to welcome the WRO staff.
"So, What's the problem here, yo? Where's everyone?" Reno asked the man who approached to them as soon as the got off from the helicopter.
"Hum… The villagers prefer to wait for you to solve the situation in the reactor before coming out of their houses… Strange things have been going on up there." The man explained.
"Strange things?" Vincent asked.
"Yes. Whoever goes up there comes back acting weird."
"You can leave that to us, we have experience handling weird stuff." Reno said and started walking up the hill towards the reactor.
Nothing seemed out of order in the old mako reactor. There were some fiends, as usual, but nothing out of the ordinary. That was only until they saw the huge jelly like creature coming out of the reactor itself. Bullet's wouldn't hurt it, Vincent found out that the hard way. But that was not going to make them give up. Reno hit it with his rod and discovered it was vulnerable to light element. Once they'd found out about that, the creature was doomed.
"Do you think that was the problem?" Reno asked Vincent, as he kneeled next to the dead fiend.
"… I don't know." Vincent said.
"Hey! Look at that!" Reno pointed out. The just defeated monster seemed to be shrinking to at least half of its size. Both Vincent and Reno could notice a blue shiny materia inside of it.
"It seems that it was the problem after all."
"Yeah!" Reno picked up a broken pipe from the floor and started to pick at the corpse with it.
"What are you doing?"
"I want the freakin' materia."
"We don't need it."
"I just want it." Reno picked at it a bit harder and caused it to burst leaving both of them covered in a thick greenish substance.
"Eeww…" Reno exclaimed, but he didn't mind being all dirty after he took the materia in his hands. Vincent just looked at him, quite upset.
"There you have your materia. Let's go before you blow the whole reactor." Vincent said. He unsuccessfully tried to remove some of the disgusting stuff from his hair and clothes as he made his way to the reactor's entrance.
The few people in the streets of the village ran in fear as soon as they saw them covered in that filthy substance. They silently returned to the chopper and left the area.
"So, where are you going now?" Reno asked Vincent when they arrived to the same spot where they had taken off in Edge a few hours earlier that day.
"Home."
"I'm going to Tifa's… I need a drink!"
"I need a shower."
Reno laughed. Vincent looked at him, still impassive.
"Ok… See you 'round, then."
"Hmph…"
Vincent made is way to the city and Reno got on the WRO truck that was waiting for them to arrive.
"To the Seventh Heaven, Nick!"
"You know, I'm not your driver… And the name's Mike."
"Oh man! There're some weird guys after me, y'know. Come on, give me a ride." Reno said while cleaning himself with a piece of cloth he found inside the vehicle. He knew Tifa wouldn't allow him in her bar looking like that.
Three hours after that, Reno was lying against the wall outside the Seventh Heaven, completely drunk.
It was almost midnight when Vincent finally arrived to his apartment. Most of the lights in it were off, so he supposed Lilah was already sleeping. The first thing he did was to take a hot shower. After that, he wrapped a towel around his waist and entered the bedroom. To his surprise, Lilah was not there and the bed was intact. He put his pajama pants on and checked on the baby's room. Riley was sleeping in her crib and Lilah was sitting in a small armchair next to it. She was sleeping too. He arranged the small blanket over his daughter and then turned to Lilah. She jumped from her seat because of his touch.
"Oh! I fell asleep here…" She said and yawned. "I'm glad you're back."
"Come on, let's go to bed."
Vincent closed his eyes and breathed the sweet scent of the woman lying next to him. After more than thirty years, he considered himself a happy man. Lilah placed her head against his chest and immediately fell asleep. He was more than surprised when he woke up the morning after lying in the floor. He was not even in his apartment, even the black suit he was wearing was not his. Vincent managed to get up, but it was hard because he felt completely dizzy. He laid against the wall and casually looked at his reflection in the window's glass next to him. The red hair and green eyes he was staring at were definitely not his.
A/N: ... And this is only the first chapter. Things will get really messy for my two handsome leading men.
BTW, I wanna thank Live4Dance88 for betareading this and to RenzokukenZ for giving me some great ideas for the title of this story. I'm too dumb to make one up by myself XD
Did you like it? Did you hate it? Reviews are always welcomed!
