Disclaimer: Sadly not mine
AN: Please excuse any typos in this chapter. It is being written in China, and I do not have access to an English spellcheck, though I do have a tempermental spacebar. I hope you like the update, even though it is quite short. I am not very good at fight scenes. In case anyone is concerned, I am having a great time in China, though I do miss you all!
Pairing: Still not here yet, future Sephiroth/Vincent
Warnings: Violence, including violence against children.
Vincent sat up, groaning in pain as the movement sent fresh bursts of agony running through his spine. He stretched slightly, muscles aching from the cramped conditions. He watched as the long-haired boy walked back to the scientist. The boy was trembling. Not visibly, Hojo would punish him for any such weakness,but on the inside. He felt almost certain that the boy would cry himself to sleep tonight, like he did so many nights when he had no one to look after him. Vincent could feel his heart melting with pity. No matter how bad his life was, he had once been normal, once had friends and had felt love. This boy had nothing but his unnatural strength, and the experiments and fights which filled his life.
Hojo nodded, pleased with the boy's obedience. Though the child was technically his son, he did not often think of him as such. Only when the President praised him, which wasn't often, did he acknowledge his relationship with the child. Sephiroth was not aware of it. He tutted slightly at the mess the boy was in. He'd hesitated in the last fight, and it had led to him getting injured. No hesitation this time. He set up a video camera to ensure that neither of them cheated, he wanted this to be a proper fight, something he could show to the others and explain how well his prodigy was developing into a mindless killer. He picked up a silver blade, pressed it painfully into Sephiroth's hand, nodding as his fingers closed around it.
"Valentine, you are not to transform." He chuckled slightly as the injured man in the coffin managed a slight nod. "The fight will stop when one or other of you gives up and collapses."
Sephiroth listened in horror. He didn't want this fight, especially not when he had such an unfair advantage over the other. He didn't step forwards when Hojo told him to.
"You stupid boy!" Hojo snarled, hitting the child and smirking as tears shone in those emerald eyes. Maybe this way he would learn how to obey and stop being so troublesome and obstinate.
A shiver ran down Vincent's spine. He didn't mind Hojo hurting him, it was a daily occurence, but not the child. He knew Hojo got worse if he didn't get what he wanted, and so carefully he climbed out of the coffin, stretching his stiff and aching joints. He turned to stare at the child with pleading eyes. 'Just do it, I don't want you hurt.' Sephiroth gave the slightest of nods. 'I understand, thankyou.' He twisted his grip so he held the handle of the blade, and ran forwards across the wide laboratory, skidding to a halt a hair's breadth from Vincent when Hojo spoke. When Hojo spoke, you stopped what you were doing and you listened and you obeyed.
"I want both of you to fight properly or else." The laughter that followed the speech echoed off the walls, and Sephiroth's earlier tears threatened to reappear as he wrapped his arms slightly around himself. It wasn't fair that he had to hurt Vincent, Vincent was kind to him and he smiled properly, not the predatory gaze Hojo often fixed him with. "Sephiroth you will go back to fighting the monsters, and this time BOTH of your hands will be tied behind your back, and Vincent we will see how you react to being immersed in hydrochloric acid." The scientist almost hoped he would have a reason to punish them.
Sephiroth shook visibly for a second, fear overcoming affection. He leapt onto Vincent, and yelped as Vincent moved away and he was thrown onto the floor, crying out in pain as he felt a handful of ribs snap. He would have to keep fighting regardless.
Vincent shuddered, feeling horrible. He had never meant to hurt the boy, it had been a reflex for self-defence he had picked up while in the Turks. Hojo at least was enjoying the fight. Vincent knew he had to end the fight quickly, and he would have to lose to spare Sephiroth worse pain. Hojo liked to design forfits for the loser, as though the pain from the fight wasn't enough. He ran over, lying across the boy, hiding the hand with the blade from the other man's view. From where Hojo and the video camera were located, he would be trying to pin him.
Sephiroth looked up nervously into those strange eyes. They looked like they should belong to a monster, but Vincent was the only person here who wasn't a monster. 'What are you doing?' He gasped slightly as Vincent's hand closed around his, and the red glow of Vincent's eyes reassured him. 'Trust me.' The eyes didn't move away as their hands lifted, the point of the blade pressing through Vincent's shirt and into his ribs. 'Stab me.'
Sephiroth flinched as though he were the wounded one as he plunged the knife as deep as it would go, aiming at a gap between his friend's ribs. Vincent screamed out in agony, leaping away automatically, but just for a second smiled slightly at Sephiroth. 'You did well.'
Sephiroth looked down, his whole body shaking. His face was pale, aside from the fresh crimson blood across his hands and skin. He had stabbed his friend. He had hurt him badly, and it had happened so he wasn't hurt. He felt guilty and his young mind was filled with remorse. For a second he was the six year old he should have been allowed to be, and he started sobbing. Vincent tried to calm him, but it was impossible under Hojo's scrutiny.
"STOP!" Hojo shouted, smirking as both of the other's relaxed. They should have known better by now. He turned away from them, rummaging in the box from which he removed Sephiroth's blade, and picked out a smaller but sharper knife. Perfect. He smirked, grabbing Valentine's left hand and pushing the blade through the muscle, enjoying the way Vincent gasped out and trembled in fear and pain. "You are to cut Sephiroth's shoulder to even the odds."
Vincent nodded, shaking worse. The boy was ambidextrous, so it didn't matter which arm it was that was damaged. He pulled the knife out of his own hand, slicing into the boy's flesh. He made the movement quick, and the cut as shallow as Hojo would allow, which was still far too deep. He held Sephiroth upright as he whimpered in pain, more tears running down his face. Once the child had gained enough control to stand, Vincent walked away.
Sephiroth understood. By turning his back, Vincent had presented him with a large target, and a way to end the fight. Swapping the knife into the uninjured hand, he threw it, smiling in grim satisfaction as it hit the mark, sliding between two of the other man's ribs. Vincent collapsed to the floor before him, previous complicity gone as he tried to remove he blade. Sephiroth walked forwards, trying to remind himself that Vincent had wanted this. He pushed Vincent over, pressing his forehead down against the ground, and removed the knife, shuddering at the fresh burst of glistening blood and the moan of pain his action caused. Vincent coughed weakly, staining the ground before his mouth with the same red ink. Sephiroth pressed the edge of the knife to his throat, praying that it would stop soon so he could help his friend. He looked up at Hojo in hope.
"Go on." Hojo tutted slightly. The fight had been so short, and Vincent could have still got up. It wouldn't finish until he was totally broken with agony, unable to continue fighting. The boy obediently pressed the knife deeper, causing droplets which quickly became a river to fall to the ground. The older fighter gasped as he struggled to breath, clutching at his throat. Hojo watched in silence, considering the aesthetic value of the scene. "Stop." He continued with his notes, nodding as he saw Sephiroth pull the knife away. Without the support, Vincent fell forwards helplessly onto the floor. The scientist stopped the camera and smiled, an oddly calm smile for what he had just witnessed. "Next time you will be unarmed so that the fight lasts longer." With that, he left to rewatch the tape and finish his latest reports on his subjects' development, pausing only to roll a Cure materia across the floor towards his anxiously waiting son. No point in the boy dying when he was developing so well.
Sephiroth seized the life-giving orb, knowing that his and his friend's chance of surviving another day relied upon it. One-armed, he clumsily bandaged his wounds, then crawled over to the unconscious man, his own body growing weak from pain. He pushed Vincent so he was lying down, and laid with him, using the Cure on them both.
