The Aftermath
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic
By Susycreamcheese
The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft.
Rated R
Chapter One
It had been two years since the Lifestream had destroyed Meteor and Sephiroth and Shin-Ra had both disappeared from the face of the planet. Vincent presently stood outside the town of Nibelheim. He had searched the world over in vain for Lucrecia.
Of course, immediately following the disbanding of Avalanche, Vincent had journeyed back to the cavern beneath the waterfalls, where he had discovered Lucrecia previously when he had been with Cloud and company, but of course she was gone.
Despite all evidence to the contrary, he refused to accept that she was dead. He realized it might be denial, but he wasn't dead and look at all that he had been through. Why would she necessarily have died? He strongly believed that the Jenova in his ladyfriend would not only have kept her alive, but also fairly youthful appearing as it had him.
Vincent had constantly traveled the world over for the last two years, never staying in one spot longer than to earn enough money to move on. He had developed quite a repertoire of work experience; he had done everything inexplicably enough from short order cook to private body guard. It was one such job opportunity that he had just left.
It was two months ago to this very day that he had stood in the center of Dio's luxurious living room at Gold Saucer and was interviewed for the job by a filthy rich middle aged woman, who was Dio's minority partner in the enterprise. Despite being in her mid-forties, Vincent noticed the woman appeared extremely well preserved. Money can do that, he mused.
The lady in question had shoulder length blonde hair cut in a page boy that fit her oval face perfectly. She appeared to have sparkling blue eyes, but those can be purchased through the use of contacts and hardly anyone can tell the difference these days. Owning a pretty little mouth, the woman's figure promised a substantial bust line beneath her clothing, unless it was padded which Vincent greatly doubted after he noticed the natural jiggle she demonstrated that accompanied not wearing a bra.
"Have you done this before?" his prospective employer asked.
"Yes, many times," was the dark-haired man's laconic response.
"Can you give me an example?" the woman asked rather scornfully.
"Well, Mrs. Harrison," Vincent began.
"Please call me Jessica," the middle aged blonde requested.
"Ok, Jessica," the man with the red cape answered rather sarcastically. "I was body guard for President Reeve for third months last fall."
Dio excitedly broke into the conversation. "You were the mysterious man who saved Reeve's life so many times!"
If Vincent's face could be readily seen, it would have been noted that he was blushing somewhat, because he was always uncomfortable with compliments. Vincent just nodded in the affirmative.
"You're hired," Jessica spoke enthusiastically.
Dio went to stand up believing the morning's business had been concluded. He didn't know Vincent very well.
"Wait a minute," growled the dark souled man. "What's the job? I haven't said I would take it yet."
Jessica appeared stunned, while Dio broke out in a laugh. "A man after my own heart," he said boisterously. "Don't take crap from nobody."
Vincent glanced at the loud former strongman. It was all he could do not to sneer at the former Shin-Ra employee. If he hadn't needed the money so badly, he wouldn't have thought twice about turning them down.
Dio continued, "There's some members of the Midgar syndicate, who want Jessica to sell them her shares of Gold Saucer. They have made a number of attempts to purchase them and I believe the next thing they will try is to assassinate her."
"What do you care?" the man with the red cape callously demanded.
"If somebody gets to her, then I'll be next."
Vincent nodded thoughtfully. That sounded truthful, he thought.
"Okay, I'll take the job. Room and board, and two thousand gil a week," the dark-haired man demanded.
Jessica attempted a counter offer. "Room and board and a thousand gil a week."
"Fifteen hundred and pay it or I walk," Vincent replied harshly.
Dio exclaimed, "Deal!" so quickly, it left misgivings in Vincent's heart. Oh well, too late for that, he thought.
In the few weeks that Vincent worked there, he saved Jessica's life a number of times sending five would be assassins to an early grave via the barrel of Death Penalty. The dark-haired man had been able to save a good amount of money and would like to have remained there longer, but unfortunately the woman in question came to believe that her body guard should also share her bed.
Vincent, while finding the woman to be attractive, drew the line at being thought a gigolo and had to move on. He now found himself uselessly retracing his steps chasing an ultimately unreachable dream, but hadn't discovered anything else better to do with his life.
As he stepped into Nibelheim, he was aurally accosted by the discordant voice of Cid Highwind calling out, "Look who's here, everybody. It's Dracula!"