they really need to make it where you can add more than 2 characters to the listing but whatever. oh yea. i do not own ff7 or any of the characters, i just enjoy bending them to my will and making them do my bidding. dance puppets dance MWAHAHA

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The forest floor around him was covered in blood and bits of the slain creatures that were sacrificed for its meal. Vincent felt sick at the thought of the missing parts being inside of him. It wasn't technically his stomach, but the fact of the matter was he had to use his body.

He fell back against a blood-soaked tree, feeling that sudden drain that always came after the feeding. The hard bark scraped against his bare back (still tender from the transformation) as Vincent slid to the ground. His glowing red gaze fell from the pure sanctity of the clear blue sky back to the crimson reality around him, down to his own blood-soaked flesh.

His hands shook under his stare, the reality that always hit him afterwards, that he was the one to be covered with the death of these creatures in the end. Vincent hit the ground, which was anything but firm now, trying to find his sanctuary in the sky once more. He wanted to reach it, knowing he didn't have the strength. Sight was the only sense that could escape. The air was putrid with the smell of death. All around was an earsplitting silence, the feel of the earth and air so humid and sticky. Even that stagnant taste continued to push its way down his throat.

Chaos didn't seem to care anymore. It used to be that he'd at least clean up most of his kill. Sure there was still a mess, but it wasn't nearly like this. Now he just seemed to kill more and eat less. Leaving red in his wake and Vincent in the middle of it all. Those familiar thoughts began to creep their way back into his mind. Those same monstrous thoughts his lover had worked so hard to extinguish. Anyone would think, with him having to do this so much, he would be used to it. Though, it was probably something of a relief that he wasn't.

The corner of Vincent's eyes stung, his stomach beginning to churn. He had to get out of here. Not just for the sake of escaping, but he had to get back beforehe realized Vincent wasn't there. Grasping onto the crude bark, Vincent tried to pull himself up, always underestimating how much the process drained him. The poor thing hadn't even made it to his feet, when his knees gave way. He hit the ground heaving out a large portion of stuff he hadn't even eaten. Shaking hands wiped at his lips, a bit relieved that it seemed to drain his stomach. That mocking laughter echoed through his head, reminding him of how pathetic he was.

He didn't care anymore. No one was around and Chaos already knew. Vincent curled up against the tree, burying his face in his knees, and cried.

As expected, the demon's laughing only increased, soon joined by the others. Since it didn't happen too often, they savored the moments when they could finally force the gunman to break. Vincent tried to hold himself back from screaming, for he knew that would only make it worse. Instead, he clamped his hands over his ears. Out of habit only as it obviously wouldn't be enough to make them stop. His vision went black behind his clenched eyes and his head began to throb.

Out of nowhere the laughter seemed to stop. A bright light flooded his eyes. He didn't understand what had caused this. Why now did they suddenly decide to show mercy? That was when he realized the hand on the back of his head. He looked up, wondering 'who the hell would be here,' when a pair of strong arms drew him in, resting his head against their shoulder. Without even seeing his face, Vincent knew who this was. He knew all too well the feel of those arms around him. The strong smell of smoke on his clothes.

He pushed back, fighting to get out of the stubborn grip, not wanting to look at him. Vincent finally gave in, sighing from defeat, "What are you doing here, Cid?"

"I'm gonna take you home." Cid spoke softly, almost in a sob.

Vincent shuddered. Something about Cid often made him feel weak and fragile, more so when he felt like this. His head dipped lower, along with his timid voice, "How… how much did you … see?"

Cid sighed, moving his hands down to Vincent's arms, "Come on, let's go."

"How long?"

He moved his feet flat on the ground to try and pull him up, "After we get out of here."

That wasn't good enough. Vincent grabbed Cid's shirt, pulling him back down, finally looking up at him, tears threatening his eyes, "HOW LONG WERE YOU THERE, CID? HOW MUCH DID YOU SEE?"

Cid stayed quiet, but he didn't have to say anything. Vincent could see the answer in his eyes… Cid had been there from the start…

He had seen everything.

Vincent's hand shook as his tears fell, disrupting the blood smeared across his pearl white skin. He shoved Cid violently, screaming for him to 'go away.' Cid just sat, patiently watching for the fragile wolf to calm down. Vincent hated that he was still there, that he was watching him. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, especially Cid. He wanted to run, to get away from here, from him, from the gaze of those sympathetic blue eyes… but he couldn't. Finally Vincent just slammed his hands into the ground and screamed. His head hung down, clotted blood-drenched hair billowing over him, his tears falling to the ground in small red drops.

Cid waited a little longer before moving closer, on his knees, and wrapped his arms around his again.

"Let go." Vincent tried to push him away, "Just let me go. I don't need your sympathy, so just go away and leave me alone."

"NO!"

Cid grabbed his arms shaking him a little, "Vincent, I didn't come all the way out here just to leave you here."

He gently lifted Vincent's head in his hand, making sure to keep the other on his arm, "How many times do I have to tell you that you haven't done anything wrong?"

He lifted the end of his short, proceeding to wipe the blood from his face. It didn't do much good, a lot like smudging charcoal, but at least some was coming off. "Just because Chaos is infecting your body doesn't mean you need to punish yourself for his sins. You've already suffered enough for your own."

Cid was beginning to sound like a broken record. It seemed like he had to say this at least once on a weekly basis. "Besides," he brushed a tear away, "You haven't done anything yet that can scare me away."

"Yea… but-"

Cid abandoned his futile attempt with the shirt, gently raking his fingers down Vincent's face. That always seemed to shut him up. His hand went down and up the side of his cheek, brushing a thumb under his eye. He leaned in closer, breaking his voice into a whisper, "What do I have to do to prove that I'm never gonna leave you?"

Cid's head tilted for his lips to gently rest against Vincent's.

Vincent fell into it quite easily. He always did, and he hated that. After briefly wondering if Cid had remembered that he'd thrown up moments ago, he pulled back. His head fell again, "I wish you wouldn't so that. It just makes things harder."

Cid sighed, "Let's just get you home." He pulled Vincent's arm around his neck, pulling him to his feet. Vincent gasped as he was lifted from his feet and into Cid's arms. "What are you doing!? Put me down!"

"Oh quit yer whinin. It's not like you can walk, can ya?"

Vincent just groaned. He was too tired to really fight him, laying his head down on Cid's shoulder. His face flushed, not that it was noticeable, despite his protests.

Cid carried Vincent out of the forest to his chocobo, Kiwi, who was tied to the outer edge. She didn't much appreciate the smell of death as they boarded her, but Cid helped her get over it quickly. They took off, Kiwi just wanting to run, but Cid forced her down to a quick trot. Vincent wasn't even trying to fight anymore. He was too tired, soon falling asleep against Cid's chest.

xXx

They arrived at a small house on the outskirts of Midgar. Cid carried Vincent inside, laying him in bed to rest. He fell to his side, curling into a fetal position. A small whimper passed his lips as Cid pulled the blankets up to his shoulders. He brushed the hair from Vincent's face, letting out a mournful sigh. That was when Cid noticed that he himself was covered in blood. He rinsed off his clothes and headed outside where Kiwi was preoccupied with cleaning out her feathers. Cid slid a cigarette between his lips, lighting it. He left it in long enough to breathe it in deep and glanced over at the poor bird trying desperately to pull the red clots from her golden feathers.

Not being able to keep from laughing, the blonde pilot placed the cigarette back in his teeth and strolled over to untie her. "Go on, get outta here."

She warked gratefully, shuffling her feathers, and took off towards the surrounding water.

After extinguishing the cherry on his cigarette, Cid went back in to check on Vincent. Before entering, he slipped into the bathroom, wetting a small rag with warm water. Cid stared down at Vincent's sleeping form, sitting down gently next to him to try and not wake him. He began wiping the clotted blood gingerly from his face. The water more effectively cleaned blood than Cid himself had before. Vincent stirred at the touch, failing to awaken. Cid pulled down the covers, cleaning down on his neck. The gunman moaned softly, a hand coming to rest in top of Cid's. His eyes fluttered softly, gazing up at the man nearby, "Cid?"

Cid smiled, "Hey, Vince. How ya feelin?"

Vincent just stared at him, eyes struggling to focus. It was then that he noticed the rag, wiping at his shoulder. "What're you?"

Cid chuckled softly, "Can't let ya just lay around in the crap, can I? Didn't mean to wake you up though."

"That's ok." He was still very weak, proven by the tone in his voice. Cid became worried as the gunman gently closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh. The pilot brushed his hair from his face, placing a hand on his forehead. Vincent had a fever, which isn't that unnatural after a transformation, except that he wasn't this hot before. Also he'd never before been this tired.

Cid leaned closer, his hand still against the ex-turk's forehead, "Vincent?" He whispered softly, though loud enough to cause Vincent's eyes to flicker open. "Hmm?"

"You all right?"

He stirred. "Yes, why?"

Cid wasn't sure. He could feel something was offf, but Vincent didn't lie, so he wasn't sure what to think.

"You sure? You got a really high fever."

"I am. Honest."

Cid sighed, removing his hand, "Vince, I don't wanna pry but-"

"This better not be what it looks like, Highwind."

Both jumped at the sudden intrusion. Vincent shot up, forcing Cid back, trying to hide that the motion had made him dizzy. "Cloud!! You're home!"

"Yea." He looked Vincent over. "What happened?"

"Huh?… oh I-I'm ok… it's-not… mine." His face flushed a bit in shame.

Cloud eyed him skeptically, "Uh-huh." His gaze shifted to Cid. "What is he doing here?"

"I just brought him home."

"Oh, is that what you call it?"

Cid rose. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

Vincent could nearly see the sparks flying from their eyes. It was a bit unnerving to have your lover and best friend hate each other so much, and he couldn't take the tension much longer. Vincent slid out of bed, slowly rising. "I think I'll go clean up."

They watched him leave, waiting in complete silence until Vincent had closed the door behind him.

"All right, Highwind, answer the question. What are you doing here?"

"I already told you, I just brought him home."

"Then what were you doing?"

"I was just checking to make sure he was all right."

"BULLSHIT!!"

Cid was cut off, taken a back by the outburst.

"I know what you're trying to do! The same shit you always try to pull when you're with Vincent. Just get over it, Highwind, I won!!"

Cid flared, grabbing the spiky-haired blonde by the collar and yanking him off his feet, "JUST LISTEN YOU ARROGANT SELF-RIGHTEOUS SUNNUVA BITCH!! There is something seriously wrong with Vincent! You're his lover, dammit, do something useful!" He shoved him backwards into the dressor, "It's really sad that I notice something when you don't. You never deserved Vincent."

"And I suppose you do?"

"I do more than you."

"Is that so?"

"Yea, it is."

"Then why didn't you take him when you had the chance?"

"WHAT?! I… I don't want to own him."

"You already believe that you do. You think that just because you were the first to get Vincent to open up that you know him. That you understand him so much better than anyone else, but you don't! If anyone does, it's me, all right? I know how it feels to be on that table."

"This has nothing to do with that. Vincent doesn't need someone as fucked up as he is. I worked my ass off to finally get Vincent to trust me, when none of you would even give him a chance. You knew how I felt about him and you just snatched him out from under me. You took advantage of all the work I'd done!"

Cid bit his lip, but it was too late. He had said it, and Cloud had certainly heard, "Work?"

"Shut up. Don't you dare project your guilty conscience on me."

"What does that mean?"

"You know damn well what that means. I SAW YOU STRIFE!!" Cid breathed, his hands clenching, "I haven't told him yet, so you don't have to worry. I just figured I'd give you a chance not to fuck up the best thing you have. Besides… I just don't have the heart to tell Vincent that the man he, for some reason, loves so much is betraying him."

Cloud stood frozen for a moment. His knuckles turned white and his head looked like it was about to explode. "Get out of my house." He finally said, through clenched teeth.

Cid returned his glare. "Fine." He headed for the door, "But don't think I didn't see that bruise on his shoulder. If you dare take out your aggression on him, I swear it'll be the last thing you ever do." He slammed the door behind him, heading on out to fetch Kiwi.

Cloud just stared at the door in puzzlement. "What bruise?"

--

AN: alright, now that i got the first chapter up i would like to take this opportunity to fully explain the triangle going on between these 3... ok part of the triangle, Vincent's part will actually be explained in the story.

Cid: he's probably the simplest one (technically, Vincent's pretty straight forward, but i'm not explaining him yet) straight up, he's loved Vincent since before he even got together with Cloud. and so he pretty much hates Cloud for that, and as i indicated earlier, Cid doesn't believe that they're right together and is gently trying to coax Vincent away from him.

Cloud: he's pretty much a pain in the ass all around, but that may be a bit biased considering i don't like him. though truthfully, he really does care about Vincent, he wants to make sure to keep him safe and happy. only issue is, he's a bit oblivious, cuz Vincent doesn't tell him NEthing (duh, he's Vincent) so he doesn't actually pick up on his subtle signals like Cid can. plus, even though he doesn't realize he does it, he's a bit selfish and tends to put himself before Vincent, and that's mainly what pisses him off about Cid, is that he knows he wouldn't do that. so really Cloud's not THAT much of a jerk, he just always gets a bit possessive whenever Cid's around, because he is aware of the fact that if Vincent wasn't with him he would be with Cid and so he starts to think that he could lose Vincent to him. (told ya he's a pain in the ass (and of course he doesn't know that Cid's kissed him)) what he doesn't get is that Vincent wouldn't leave him, becuz he doesn't want to hurt him, (plus he doesn't wanna be alone) and really Cid is trying to show Vincent that he doesn't have to be with Cloud if he doesn't want to be. he's trying to strengthen him enough to show him that he doesn't need Cloud as much as he may think he does... damn soap opera drama! but there'll be action soon enough... ok maybe not THAT soon... but if you want, i can make Cid and Cloud get into a fist fight... that's always fun.