Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, nor any of the characters in it. I do not make any money from this story.
Final Fantasy is the property of Square Enix.

WARNING: This story will contain violence, sexual situations (M/M, M/F).

Eternal Fall: part I: Eden

Footprints in the snow led him to the scene before him. People were moving around, trying to look busy as he approached. Not that he would do anything anyway. He wasn't an assassin today. Today he was just a supervisor. Someone they kept around in case something went wrong. But what could possibly go wrong when it came to pulling frozen corpses out of the snow? He slowly exhaled, watching his breath form before him like a curling dragon before it faded in to the air.

"Sir!" someone called to him. "Ready to proceed, sir! I was told to escort you to the site. If you'll follow me."

He nodded, and followed the young man to this supposedly important spot where he was to insure that nothing went wrong. He groaned inwardly, hating the cold. But he hated the fact that he had to be here even more. He tightened the hood of his black jacket and crossed his arms over his chest, trying to keep in whatever warmth he could. The young man led him to a small building, and then ran off to the "crash site." He walked into the building, and immediately felt the warmth hit his body.

"Well, well, well," said an older man softly. "I knew they couldn't help but send the Department of Administrative Research for this mission. They probably mean for you to shoot the witnesses after they help pull the body out."

The older man who addressed him wore a thick white sweater, and his dark hair and mustache looked as though they had tiny ice crystals forming. Sighing, the young man said nothing at first. He pulled off his black jacket and hung it on a rack. He turned to the older man who spoke, running his fingers through his stylish short black hair. He focused his deep red eyes on the man for a moment.

"As you probably already know I've been sent to be your new bodyguard, Dr. Gast," he said finally. "I'll be in charge of your security, as well as the security of Dr. Hojo."

Dr. Gast looked at the young man before him. Every time he saw someone from this young man's department, he found himself shocked. These so-called members of the Department of Administrative Research were actually ShinRa's special forces. In other words, highly skilled assassins. They called themselves the Turks, and this clean-cut, upright, handsome young man before him was probably the most deadly person in the area.

"Red eyes... the color of blood," Dr. Gast said, looking away from the young man and glancing back at the monitors he was previously looking at. "You must be Vincent Valentine."

"Yes."

"And I suppose you want to know why we need bodyguards for a mission as simple as digging up a body from the ground?"

"You read my mind."

Dr. Gast looked troubled for a moment, but Vincent kept his icy red eyes on him without moving a muscle.

"Well, do you want to look at the monitor or would you rather go freeze out there?" Dr. Gast asked, not looking away from his screen.

Without responding, Vincent walked over to the monitor and watched as the men outside worked the heavy equipment.

"All of this for one body?" Vincent muttered softly. "I was led to believe that we were recovering someone of great importance. But those men look like they are mining for something."

Dr. Gast didn't speak as they watched the machine bring up the body, which was frozen inside of some kind of shiny substance. It didn't look like ice, but it was transparent. Vincent narrowed his eyes at the screen. Something wasn't right with this picture. Whatever they were pulling from the ground was much to big to be a human body.

"I can see you're a quiet man, Vincent," Dr. Gast said, not looking at him. "The kind of man that can keep a secret."

Vincent didn't move his eyes from the screen. "Secret...?" He repeated softly.

"Yes," came a sly voice from behind him. "A secret. I hear the Turks are good with secrets. Who knows how many people you've assassinated, Mr. Valentine. You're probably better with secrets than anyone."

Vincent turned to see Dr. Hojo behind him. His long, dark hair was tied back in a ponytail. Unlike Dr. Gast, Hojo's eyes were positively dark and suspicious... even evil. Vincent knew those eyes. So many people in the Turks had those eyes. Vincent, on the other hand, was one of the few Turks who had the eyes of complete cold indifference. It made his victims truly question why they were dying. But they always knew who was killing them. People heard of Vincent Valentine, but they always assumed he was just another character in a story meant to scare youth out of committing crimes against the ShinRa government.

"Mr. Valentine," Dr. Hojo said slyly as he stepped forward. "I know you are a very loyal man. That is why you, specifically, were sent to us. If what you see here was to be noted elsewhere... anywhere... we would have to kill the person who even thought it wise to touch the subject. I would hate to see the color of your eyes mirrored anywhere else on that body of yours. Do you understand?"

"For goodness sakes, Hojo," Dr. Gast interrupted. "Stop threatening the man. You know Vincent is trustworthy. Besides, he'd kill you five times before you hit the ground."

Vincent only stood there, being one of few words. "I understand your request," he said to Hojo.

Hojo smiled at him slyly once more and nodded. "Good... good." He motioned to the door. "You should go to the crash site, Mr. Valentine. You should be honored to be present at the Early stages of the Jenova Project."

Vincent's eyes widened. "The... Jenova Project? I was led to believe it was just a--"

"It's more than just a rumor, Mr. Valentine," Hojo said, approaching the door. "We've found the body of one of the Cetra Ancients. They did indeed exist, and now we have the body of one. Imagine the power that will come from studying her."

Vincent blinked and followed Hojo outside. He ran his hand through his short dark hair again, wishing it were long so that he could block out the cold. They walked for a while in the snow before the reached a point were men scurried about here and there. A few men were throwing up not far from them.

"Some of these men have been digging in this area for too long," Hojo explained. "Jenova is encased in a mass of radioactive solid mako. Some of the men broke pieces of it and got careless when coming into contact with it."

Suddenly a scream erupted through the air.

"Back! Get back!" someone yelled. "Fall back!"

Vincent stood there as men whizzed past him, running from the center of the site.

"It's still alive!" one of the men screamed.

Another scream pierced the air, but this time it wasn't human. It rolled and wavered and rose and fell. It made them all freeze in fear. It sounded like a banshee being strangled slowly. Everyone covered their ears to block out the terrifying sound. Vincent looked up, his hands over his ears, and he watched as the block of Mako started to break. A disgusting hand rose slowly from it as if it wanted to grasp the sky.

And then the hand fell, and the scream ceased.

"It's not dead," Hojo said, taking his hands away from his ears. "We must work quickly to get it back for study. I want Jenova shipped to Nibelheim as quickly as possible."

Vincent stood there in disbelief, though his features remained icy. He found himself slowly approaching the block of ice-like Mako. He looked down at the hideous blood and vein-covered creature before him. He didn't even realize it when his hand raised to touch his gun, Quicksilver. He blinked suddenly and lowered his hand. He turned and walked away, realizing that something inside of him thought it best if Jenova never left this cold place alive.

Vincent stood in front of the ShinRa mansion in the little town of Nibelheim. He yawned softly, thinking it disappointing that nothing ever happened in the quiet little town. He straightened his tie and silently wished something more comfortable would magically replace his blue suit. He leaned against the gate and gently blew his hair away from his eyes.

"You don't look very alert," a woman's voice whispered in his ear from the other side of the gate. "Someone could easily sneak in here and try to kill us all."

Vincent smiled to himself and turned around to face Dr. Lucrecia Crescent. "Then let them come. They would not lay so much as a finger on you, but I cannot say I would be as attentive to everyone else's needs."

She smiled sweetly at him, her beautiful jade eyes sparkling and her long brown hair flowing in the wind. Vincent loved it when she actually let her hair down. Lucrecia was the reason he never complained about his duties here. She signed on to the Jenova Project not long after Jenova was found, and Vincent had to protect her as well as Dr. Gast and Dr. Hojo.

"Vincent," she said, leaning in close, only the bars of the gate keeping them apart. "Why don't you smile more?"

"You see me smile all the time."

"But only with me. You don't smile with anyone else."

"You've been spying on me," he smiled warmly. Then he thought about her question. "I have often wondered what it would be like to be able to be as optimistic as you are when it comes to life. I have little faith in the nature of humans, Lucrecia."

"Is that why you became a Turk...? To kill the unworthy?"

He looked at her for a while. "I hadn't thought of it like that," he said softly, leaning his forehead against the bars.

She tilted her head and let her eyes wander over his handsome face for a while. Vincent felt her eyes on him and met her gaze.

"Lucrecia, we haven't spoken about... the other night," he said, his gaze piercing her. "I am sorry if you found me... imposing but--"

She laughed suddenly at his words, though there was slight nervousness in it. "Imposing? Oh Vincent, only you could think of the word 'imposing' to describe it."

"I'm supposed to be protecting you," he said softly. "If anyone found out, I would be removed from this mission."

"No one will find out, Vincent. And I regret nothing." She rose her hand slowly and brushed her fingertips against his lips. "I'm glad you 'imposed' that night. No one has ever 'imposed' on me so fully." She lowered her voice, as if she thought the air might carry it to someone else's ears. "I never knew my body could feel that way. I never knew anyone could reach so deep into my body..."

Vincent stared at her for a moment, then a smile crossed his lips. "Why must you speak to me like that when the only thing I can do is stand here and play images over and over in my mind?"

"Good," she smiled. "At least I know you'll be thinking about me."

"Yes, and now I threaten to poke the eyes of small children out if they are level with my waist and manage to pass too close in front of me."

Lucrecia suddenly laughed at his dirty little joke, and he smiled as she held herself, nearly falling to the ground with giggles.

"Lucrecia," Dr. Gast called from the front door of the mansion. "Hojo would like a word with you."

Vincent immediately straightened and Lucrecia composed herself. She winked at him before heading from the mansion. Vincent looked up to the windows of the second floor, and to his surprise he saw Hojo, glaring at him with anger in his evil eyes.

"He's gone mad this time," Dr. Gast murmured to Lucrecia as they headed for the laboratory in the basement. "He wants to move on to human subjects before we've even begun to understand enough."

"Human subjects?!" she gasped. "Now? So soon?"

"Yes," he said, stopping on the steps for a moment as he rubbed his mustache. "And, Lucrecia..." he sighed deeply, searching for the words. "I don't think Jenova is a Cetra. We've got it all wrong. I don't know what the ShinRa government has us studying, but it isn't a Cetra."

"What would make you think that? She was in the location that we gathered so much evidence on."

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and continued walking down the steps. She blinked curiously and followed behind him.

"As I was saying," he continued, avoiding the subject, "Hojo wants to move on to human experiments. And you and I both know how he treats his subjects."

Lucrecia only nodded as the stepped into the laboratory. Dr. Gast nodded to Hojo, then made his way back up the stairs.

"Ah, Lucrecia," Hojo smirked. "I want to talk to you about our experiments. I think we should move things to a new level."

"Human subjects?" Lucrecia asked.

"Yes, I guessed he would tell you on the way here."

Lucrecia shifted from foot to foot. She didn't tell Dr. Gast, but the Jenova Project, even in its early stages, meant a lot to her. And she felt adoration for Hojo... as though she were a schoolgirl with a crush. Whenever she was with Vincent it would disappear and be forgotten, of course. But there were times when she truly wondered about her future working with Hojo.

"These will be willing test subjects, right?" she asked.

"But of course, my dear!" he said with a grin.

She looked at the floor, thinking. She had to admit that she had thought a great deal about human test subjects. She wondered what kinds of abilities one would gain from having Jenova cells implanted in them. From what the could tell, Jenova had a long life-span, and unimaginable strength.

"I would like you to see something," Hojo said lowly as he pointed to a monitor.

Lucrecia smiled and walked over to it, but her smile immediately left her when she saw what was on the screen. She was looking at several security camera images, and she could make out at least five snipers aimed at Vincent. She looked at Hojo with disbelieving eyes.

"If I ever see you so much as glancing at him improperly," Hojo said angrily, "l'll see that he is killed and that you are expelled from ever researching again. Is that understood?"

"How dare you!" she hissed at him. "How dare you try and control me like one of your experiments!"

"Oh my dear Lucrecia," he grinned. "I know how much your work means to you, and I know how much it would crush you to lose it. I also know that you would never be a scientist again if you were expelled from this project. And since you know too much, I know that you would be killed. And so would Mr. Valentine, just to be safe. And don't think I've forgotten about your research about the Omega Weapon and Chaos!"

Lucrecia looked at the cameras again, and watched as Vincent paced back and forth, not knowing of the danger that was right under his nose in this little town. If only he knew that his own colleagues, five Turks, were pointing guns at him.

A month later...
Vincent approached the entrance to the small town after seeing Dr. Gast off. Gast said he was heading off to meet someone close to him, and that was all. Vincent almost felt curious about it, but he shrugged it off. He slowly walked down the path and noticed two figures not far from him. Suddenly he realized it was Lucrecia and Hojo... in a more than passionate embrace.

Vincent was floored. He stood out of view with wide, red eyes and shook his head slightly. Just the other night he had been with her. How could this happen? He had never felt more love for anyone in his entire existence. The only one who could melt his icy exterior was in the arms of someone who froze him more than anyone. Vincent stepped back, as if it would erase the scene before him. He remembered her cheerful smiles and her soft embrace and her lips on his skin.

Her smile...

If she's happy... it's okay…. It's okay...

He backed into the shadows and stared at the ground, his heart not fully understanding how someone as cold as himself could feel this much pain. He never knew that Lucrecia's mind was on him the whole time as Hojo forced her into that embrace during one of her weakest moments….

"NO! Vincent stop!" Lucrecia yelled, trying to pull him back.

"Step away from me!" Vincent snapped, turning around to look at her. "Walk the other way Lucrecia! I accepted the fact that you became pregnant by him. But I will not stand here and watch while you inject yourself and your unborn child with Jenova cells. You are not some walking experiment that I can be indifferent about!" He grabbed Quicksilver and thrust it into her hands. "I will not kill him, only because I want to spare your feelings. But I must discuss this with him."

And then Vincent stormed down to the lab. Hojo didn't seem surprised when he burst inside.

"Mr. Valentine, what can I do for you?" he asked calmly.

"You will cease any talk about using Lucrecia as a test subject. I will not allow her to be another one of your disgusting experiments."

"Mr. Valentine, I think you are mistaken about what is happening here."

"I know everything, Hojo. Surely the ShinRa government wouldn't allow something like this to--"

"The ShinRa government authorized it behind closed doors!"

"Impossible!"

"It seems you have trouble with secrets after all, Mr. Valentine," Hojo said, moving over to his desk. "Oh, and about Lucrecia's child…. I restrained her there on that table... and fucked her raw while she screamed in torment."

Something snapped in Vincent and he reached for Quicksilver... but it was no longer there to protect him. Hojo reached into his desk quickly, and a shot rang out through the air, becoming muffled long before it made it upstairs to the rest of the mansion. Vincent looked down at his suit, which was now becoming drenched with his own blood. He slowly sank to the ground.

So this is what it's like? he thought. This is what I made people feel...

He felt his body growing cold, and he soon felt the hard lab floor beneath him.

Lucrecia...

Hojo was present in the operating room of the ShinRa headquarters private hospital. He saw to it that Lucrecia was given no drugs to lessen her pain. Her tears didn't phase him at all, and her screams had no affect. She wanted some tenderness from someone... anyone. Her mind wandered slowly to Vincent, and she could see his intense red eyes and his handsome features in her most pleasant thoughts. She knew that if he were there with her, he'd hold her hand and smile down at her. He would be so tender and sweet to her. He would show his love for her.

But he wasn't there. And deep down she knew he would never be there.

She pushed and pushed as the tears ran from her eyes. Hojo stood coldly in the background. After hours upon hours of labor, the child finally arrived. She heard the doctor smack the child's bottom, and she heard the clear cries.

"A boy," one of the doctors said.

Lucrecia rested her body for a moment as they cleaned the baby off. She just wanted to hold him in her arms and feel the warmth that had been denied to her. Hojo didn't love her, and Vincent was missing. If she said anything Hojo would kill the baby. But she wanted to see her baby boy. Deep down she hoped that he would look like Vincent... and she wished even more that it was Vincent's baby.

"Let me see him," she whispered softly. "Let me see him..."

Hojo approached her bed and looked down at her. "I'm sorry, my dear. But my son will be coming with me immediately. After all, his records do state that the mother wanted no affiliation with the child, and that she was nothing more than a willing test subject."

The doctors, obviously from the corrupt ShinRa government, finished cleaning the baby and took him from the room.

"No..." she cried, trying to sit up as tears spilled from her eyes. "No! My baby! That's my baby!" she screamed as her little boy was taken away. "Give him back to me! He's all I have left! GIVE ME BACK MY CHILD! I didn't even get to see him! PLEASE!"

She felt strong arms holding her down, and a needle was jammed into her arm.

"NO! No... no! No... my baby. Let me see him just once... Let me see my baby boy... Give him back to me... Give him... back..."

Everything became dark. The other doctors left, and Hojo smirked down at her as her eyes rolled back and closed.

"You were the garden of Eden for him, my dear. You were his paradise. But I'm sorry to inform you that your child will never know innocence. I have seen to it that his fall will begin now."

"What name shall we put on the baby's certificate?" asked one of the doctors behind him.

Hojo smirked to himself. He had already chosen a name for his child. The baby would be named after the cosmic and spiritual elements of a god in all his glory.

"Sephiroth. His name is Sephiroth..."

---To Be Continued---

(Hi guys! I'm rewriting this and reposting it from a site I had it on a LONG time ago. Bare with me!)