Vincent and Yuffie had gone on a scouting mission while at the Gongaga reactor, Yuffie had spotted Titan materia hidden under the rubble, and went to get it. Being the dangerous place that it was, Vincent obliged himself to keep watch in case anything had happened. They had been here before though, and all the monsters they had run into were defeated quite easily. However there were sightings of more powerful monsters roaming about.
Just after Yuffie had snatched the red orb, she was attacked by a monster. It looked like a green triceratops, with the threads of a tank instead of legs. It started charging at Yuffie. Vincent, however, was faster than the monster and rushed in between it and Yuffie. He raised his golden claw out with all his strength and stopped the monster in its tracks.
Vincent took out his pistol and fired into the monster, killing it dead. The noise and clangs of bullets hitting metal were deafening, and the painful screams from the monster blocked the rest of the noise out. It fell with a thud to the ground, causing dust to cover Vincent's pointy golden boots. He holstered his gun, and turned around to face Yuffie.
She was lying on the ground, blood was pouring from her shoulder. The monster has pierced her with one of its massive horns. She was whimpering in pain and tears were flowing from her chestnut brown eyes.
"V….Vinnie…" she said, her voice straining, "I g…guess I won't get any experience p…points…..", she laughed, but spluttered and coughed up blood.
Vincent had seen plenty of injuries, but this was the first time he ever felt scared, they had ran out of phoenix downs and potions while in Rocket Town, and Vincent forgot to stock any restoration materia before they left.
"Yuffie" began Vincent, "I can't heal you…", his voice was shaking. He wasn't going to let Yuffie down. She was so young and didn't deserve to go like this.
Yuffie tried to get up, but her wound was too great and she fell back. Vincent quickly knelt down beside her and her head slipped into his arms. Her face was all dusty and blood was trickling from the edge of her mouth.
"At….least….we….got….materia" Yuffie said, struggling to smile, she whimpered, "owie". Vincent looked ghostly pale, even more than he usually looked. He had to focus, he didn't want to lose Yuffie this way. He didn't want to lose her at all.
Gongaga was three miles from here but there was nothing but dusty path between them and the village. Monsters could jump out at any second.
No, Vincent wasn't going to let another death be on his conscience. He tore a strip from his sanguine cape and fashioned it into a bandage and wrapped it around Yuffie's wound to try and stop the bleeding. From there he picked her up in his arms and ran. He ran as fast as he could from the mako reactor and up the path towards Gongaga.
Yuffie couldn't remember anything after that, except a soothing "bump, bump, bump" sound that lulled her away. She couldn't feel pain anymore, and it was just like falling asleep. She kept a tight grip on his arm.
Vincent never stopped running, it was just starting to get dark when he reached Gongaga Village and clouds were forming overhead causing it to rain. Vincent ran through the village, nearly slipping over muddy brown puddles. He made it to a small building shaped like a hut. There was a glowing red cross outside and he knew it as the doctors office. He had stopped here before to pick up supplies.
Vincent burst straight through the doors of the doctor's office. The blood had soaked through the makeshift bandage Yuffie was wearing and Vincent's clothes were covered in blood. Yuffie had turned very pale. She was limp and she wasn't breathing. Her grip on Vincents arm was gone.
The doctor jumped with a start, he was a man in his fifties with slicked back grey hair, slightly tanned with handsome features and soft grey eyes. He was wearing a white doctor's coat with a name tag that read "Dr. Kefka Koltz".
"Please help me!" Vincent said in desperation. His breathing was heavy, but he didn't feel tired. The adrenaline rush was what carried him so far, and was going to make sure Yuffie made it through.
The doctor rushed towards Vincent, he was preparing a stretcher, "what happened to the girl?" he asked.
Vincent unravelled the blood soaked cape strand. The wound was big, and Vincent was afraid it had gotten an organ. "She was stabbed by a monster at the reactor" he explained, "a Heavy Tank".
The doctor gave a very worried look. Yuffie was lying on her back on the stretcher. "Normally a phoenix down would have cured her, but if you leave it too long, the poison from the horn will stop healing potions from working" he explained, "I'm going to have to extract the poison, if there's still time". He wheeled Yuffie towards the operating room.
"What can I do?" Vincent said, a sense of panic in his voice, "I need to save her!"
The doctor stopped, "Look, you've been through a lot. I can handle this, I'll make sure she…."
"Yuffie", said Vincent.
"I beg your pardon?" Dr. Kefka asked.
"Her name is Yuffie Kisaragi" explained Vincent.
"Very well, I'll make sure Yuffie sees this through", the doctor nodded and smiled what was supposed to be reassuring to Vincent.
Vincent nodded an understanding, but those words weren't comforting enough. Dr. Koltz wheeled Yuffie into the operating room and closed the door behind him. Vincent caught a glimpse of operating tools and big lights and surgical masks. It gave him memories of the lab in Nibelheim where Professor Hojo experimented on his body.
Vincent made his way to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. His face and hands were covered in dirt and blotches of Yuffies blood, and…..he was crying. He actually had tears in his eyes dribbling down his cheeks.
He removed his cape and splashed icy cold water onto his face. It perked him up a little, however he still felt anxious and scared. He promised himself that he would never let anyone down. Lucrecia had haunted his nightmares for so long and he thought that maybe if he could protect someone without fucking up this time, he would be redeemed.
He left the bathroom and paced the waiting room for what seemed like hours, before eventually collapsing into an extremely uncomfortable chair. Vincent couldn't care less though, he was extremely tired and could barely keep his eyes open.
"Mr Valentine"
Vincent woke immediately; the doctor had tapped on his shoulder causing him to jolt awake.
"Y….yeah", Vincent said trying to adjust himself, "is Yuffie okay?"
Dr. Koltz face looked grim, he took off his glasses.
"I'm afraid…you were too late. The poison spread too fast and I couldn't help but watch her die", he explained, smiling, and then, laughing,
Vincent looked up, Dr. Koltz was no longer there. Hojo was standing over him holding Yuffies head under his harm, and a needle filled with green liquid in the other. Vincent tried to move but he realised he was restrained to the chair. Hojo jammed the needle into Vincent's neck.
Vincent woke up in a cold sweat; he was in Kalm, in his own apartment overlooking the town. His vision adjusted and he found the bottle of whiskey on the side table. He poured a shot and knocked it back, hoping it would send him back to sleep.
He had this nightmare every night, and it never got any easier. He would never forgive himself for not being able to save her…