The Rise Of The Phoenix
DISCLAIMER: I wish I owned Final Fantasy VII, especially Vincent Valentine, but I don't, Square-Enix does. I only own my OC's: Lilah Phoenix, Ives von Gorge, Murdoch and Dr. Gavin.
This story takes place a few months after the events of Dirge of Cerberus.
Enjoy!
A New Deal
Once again, she was walking through those dark tunnels. She knew the way by heart and didn't need a map to get through. She had walked that road a thousand times. The young woman had long, black, waved hair and blue eyes. She was slim, 5'5 tall and seemed to be in her mid twenties.
At the end of the road she found herself in front of an iron door, which seemed to be out of place next to the rocky walls. She used a cardkey to open it and entered in a quite crowded room. Immediately, a large blonde man who was playing cards with some other guys stood up and walked towards her. She didn't know his true name, but everyone called him Murdoch.
"Ives called me this morning. He said he had a job for me." She said. "Lilah… I wasn't expecting to see you again. Last time you said you were quitting." He said, as he stand in front of her.
"You know, some extra cash is always welcomed. I know only a few people in Edge and it has been hard for me to find a job… It seems to me that this is the only thing that I can do well. Anyway, do you know what is this all about?"
"I only know you'll be working all by yourself."
"Good… I hate sharing money with you."
He laughed and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Ives is in the office… I think he is waiting for you."
She didn't like the job at all. Most of the missions consisted of criminal acts. She worked for Ives von Gorge, but she knew he wasn't the head of the organization. She needn't to know more, it would put her life in danger. Once someone told her that they used to work for Shinra, but even after the Jenova War they were still active. Anyway, the paid was good and she was one of the best mercenaries Ives had. Lilah had the skills needed.
She entered the office without knocking the door and the man behind the desk was quite surprised.
"Lilah. I was expecting you."
She sat in front of him and looked directly at his eyes. Ives was a brown-haired man and he was about forty.
"Murdoch told me you want me to work alone."
"Yes. This mission is… special."
"Special?"
"You see, I've been making some plans and… Oh, but I won't bother you with details. All you need to know is that I need a spy in the WRO."
"What! Are you crazy?" Lilah asked, concerned.
"They've been working with ex Shinras. I know it won't be hard for you to infiltrate and gain their trust. Thus, no one knows you in Edge. You're just perfect for the job. The only thing you have do is inform me about their activities."
"That's all?"
"That's all you need to know now. I'll let you know about any change in the plans. I know you are creative, you'll come out with a good way to get close to them. We'll force some situations for you to show them your moves."
"How about the money?"
"As usual."
"This is too dangerous. There's now way I'm doing this for just 5000 gil."
"I'll pay you weekly… 5000 gil per week." Lilah didn't say a thing. That was a lot of money! "So… what do you say?" He asked, crossing his hands over the desk.
"It's a deal." She said, quite decided.
"That's my girl!"
"But, you know… This is the last job I'll do for you. When it's finished, I'm out of this."
"You can do whatever you want after this. I don't care."
They shook hands and sealed the deal. Lilah was about to get out of the room when Ives stopped her.
"This is… An advance." He said and left some cash over the table. It was about 2000 gil. Lilah looked at him and then took the money. When she came out of the office she found herself in front of Murdoch.
"And… When do you start?" He asked.
"I'm already into the job." She answered, winked at him, and left the place.
Lilah decided to start with her new task as soon as possible. She came back to Edge and walked straight to the Seventh Heaven, place where drinks, coffee and snacks were sold, and also where the ex AVALANCHE members used to meet. Getting close to them was a good way to get to Reeve Tuesti and his World Regenesis Organization. The bar was also the place where Cloud Strife, one of the heroes of the Jenova War and friend of Tuesti ran a delivery service. In other words, it was the perfect place to contact them.
She felt a little bit confused, because she had actually never seen them in person, but she entered the bar anyway. It was about 7pm and there were just a few customers drinking coffee at a table, and a large, man with dark skin sitting at the bar. He was talking with a nice young woman, who wore her black hair loose. She seemed to be attending the bar. Lilah sat at the bar, one stool away from the man.
"Wait a sec, Barret… we have a customer." The woman said. "Hi!, welcome to the Seventh Heaven…Do you want something to drink?"
"Oh… Hi, a cup of black coffee, please." Lilah said, trying to seem confiden.
"A cup of black coffee coming." She turned around, pushed a couple of buttons on the coffee machine and put it in front of Lilah. "There you go."
"Thanks." Lilah started drinking and realized that the man next to her had a mechanic hand. Maybe he was Barret Wallace, ex AVALANCHE member.
"Hey, Tiff, you were tellin' me somethin' bout Yuffie, right?"
The young woman, started to laugh.
"She said she was going shopping today." She said.
"And what's the funny part?"
"She was going shopping… with Vincent!"
"What?" Barret exclaimed, concerned.
"What you heard!" She assured, quite amussed.
"But… why?... Vincent is quite strange these days."
"I think he is trying to have a normal life, now that he got rid of his… 'Chaotic problem'. He even bought an apartment."
"He could stay here if he wanted to."
"Vincent's Vincent. I think Denzel and Marlene are too much for him."
Lilah couldn't believe it. She was very lucky. There were Barret Wallace and Tifa Lockhart, former members of AVALANCHE. And they were even talking about two of their friends: Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine.
"Hey, guys, you just have to see this!" Shouted a girl from the main door. She was about twenty, thin and wore her short black hair straight. She seemed very optimistic about something and made every soul in the place to turn their faces to see her, even Lilah.
"Yuffie!" Barret said .
"C'mon, Vince, let Tifa and Barret see your new look!", said Yuffie, but no one showed up. Lilah heard a deep male voice tell something to the girl. She could only understand the words 'kill' and 'brat'.
"Oh! Show yourself, Vince!" Said Yuffie in a bossy way and started to pull someone in.
"Stop it, Yuffie... I knew this wasn't a good idea..." He said and entered the bar. He was tall and pale. His hair was raven black and long. He wore it pulled in a low ponytail, though some bangs fell over his face and ears. He was wearing a brown long sleeved shirt and black trousers. His friends were quite surprised to see him dressing like that. It must have been the new look Yuffie was talking about.
"So, this is the famous Vincent Valentine." Lilah thought. The man had such presence that she couldn't take her eyes off him.
"Who are you and what did you do with our Vincent?" Barret said, joking.
"Wow, Vincent, you look great." Tifa said, surprised.
"Alright… can you all stop looking at me like that? Thank you." Vincent said. He didn't enjoy being the center of attention.
"And, guess what!... This is Vincent's old outfit. I bet he only had this one 'cause it stinks!" Yuffie said showing her friends a bag. "I'm going to put it in the trash!"
"Give me that." Vincent said in an intimidating way and took his stuff from Yuffie.
"But, Vince, you have a lot of new clothes now, you don't need that nasty cloak anymore.
"Stop calling me Vince… You are going to drive me mad." He said and sat between Barret and Lilah.
"Congratulations for your new look, Vincent… Wanna drink something? It's on the house." Tifa said, smiling.
"You know what I like." He said. Tifa took a bottle down from the bar, put a lot of ice in a glass and poured some green liquid on it. In that moment, the phone rang.
"It must be a delivery for Cloud. Care to answer, Yuffie? You know what to do." Tifa said.
"Sure!" Yuffie aswered and jumped into the house through a door in the back.
Vincent held the glass and smelled the liquid. He seemed to like it. Then, he left the glass on the bar again and took his cell phone out. He checked it. Everything seemed to be in order.
Lilah realized she was staring at him. She couldn't help it, he was very handsome. Vincent noticed she was looking at him and shot her a inexpressive look.
"Oh… Excuse me… what's that?" She asked, pointing at his glass, just to say something.
"This?" He said, picking the glass up.
"Yeah." She said and felt chills all over her body when she realized his eyes were bright red.
"Malboro Rum."
"…Never heard of it."
"It is not legal." He said and drank some.
Lilah didn't say anything else. Both of them remained drinking in silence. When she was finished, she paid the bill and left.
A/N: Please review!!