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Chapter 2
A Maze around Them


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It could have been the next day or a few hours later – there wasn't much in the way of keeping time down in the tunnels like that. There weren't any windows for the painting of sunrise or the darkness of night, just endless halls of test chambers and their pale yellow light. The only gauge of time was the continual rumbling of her stomach, leaving her to believe that it was already after supper, and she had in fact not made it home in time for dinner. A thought she dreaded was knowing that she had made plans to stop by Boaz's office for some expert help on working all of the extra programs that were on her comms. unit. Instead she would have to settle for ninja vanishing from whatever punishment he saw fit to berate her with for missing the training, again, but this time really was an accident.

Yuffie shoved a hand in the pouch suspended on her right hip. A little fumbling around and she tugged a shiny blue parcel from the pack. It was small, but still might do something in the battle against hunger, so she shredded the paper tossing it like she had the manila folder over her shoulder and shoved the chocolaty treat into her mouth. A few blissful chews later she rubbed her stomach, inwardly laughing at the thought of a Deepground soldier chasing after her because she didn't toss the wrapper in a trash can.

Deepground. The name made far too much sense now that she was so far below the surface and still hadn't managed to get inside. She tugged the comms. unit free and checked the location of the flashing gold symbol.

Finally, she was close.

Maybe it was the proximity or maybe it was the chocolate, but suddenly she found a renewed energy and was plowing her way through the tunnels, shoes sending little echoes throughout the empty hallways. And then she was there.

Slamming her feet to a stop she skidded a small distance on the metallic floor. Ahead of her two WRO soldiers scrambling to get to their feet and ready their weapons. When they realized she wasn't a hoard of Deepground soldiers or a crazed Tuesti fan, they lowered their weapons and she began to approach, slowly at first, then when one called out all surprised, "Miss Kisaragi!" she dashed the final few yards.

"At ease boys." Yuffie waved flippantly, as she stared up at the large bulkhead doors. Of course the doors would be so large and powerful, with people like Azul and Nero running around behind them, even Shinra would want to keep them locked inside. "Anyone come through?"

Both soldiers shook their heads. She dug through the little pouch on her belt and handed one of the soldiers the card key produced in the envelope the officer had given her upstairs. One proceeded over to a control panel built right into the wall. He tapped a few codes into the screen and swiped the card. Several beeps of different pitches followed and then silence. She'd already planned a sarcastic comment about the intelligence of the WRO despite the fact she does most of the intelligence gathering, when there's a deep moan. Her eyes were like saucers as the sound deepened and she swore it was coming from all around her as the doors finally began to surge apart.

The young ninja waited until the doors were fully pressed away into their respective walls before she crossed into Deepground. No more than a few feet into the new area, she spied a body along the wall several yards away. Quickly she closed the distance, squatting beside the Deepground soldier. "How did this happen?" With all her thoughts rounding within her skull she hadn't heard the two soldiers follow behind her. His question maked her pause and then she lifted her fudge brown eyes to his and shrugged. "You mean you guys didn't do this?"

"No one's come through here." The soldier said turning to the other dressed in WRO gear that was approaching. "Did you hear anything over here?"

The man's eyes were locked on the fresh body, but he managed to shake his head when he finally came to a stop beside them.

It was all too odd. Yuffie couldn't quite decide what to make of the whole sorry mess, and as she struggled for a solution that didn't involve the man slipping on a banana peel, the doors she had come through began to close.

"Hey, did either of you guys…." She started and raised a finger to point dumbly at the scene behind them. Neither soldier answered, both choosing to bolt towards the door.

She watched the two closely, believing at first they would make it even until the doors slowed to a shut. Both hunched with their hands on their knees and panted to catch their breath. There was silence other than the heavy breathing of the soldiers and then one walked over to a panel like the one on the other side and input a code. It squawked back at him. Yuffie had heard that sound before, but the man tried vainly again. The panel squawked its answer back at him, and then he attempted again. When the answer remained the same, he did something very Yuffie like, and slammed the butt of his weapon into the panel.

Yuffie was startled by his reaction, jumping slightly to see the man's anger ring out. The corridor passed quickly around her when she moved towards the two, and placed a hand hesitantly on the back of the man still panting. "What's your name?"

"Grimm," He managed between wheezing breathes. "The name's Grimm."

When her eyes moved to the other soldier he bit his lip and thrust the gun against the panel half heartedly. He didn't immediately respond so she gave him a pointed look holding her hand forward and wiggled her fingers as though waiting for him to fork over some gil. He stared at her for a moment then sighed, "Colt."

"Alright, Grimm, Colt, here's the plan." It surprised even her to hear how calm and experienced her voice sounded as she laid it out for them. "I've got to make it to N21 and since it's obvious we're not going back the way we came, then you'll just have to go with me until Reeve can get someone down here to open those doors." Conveniently she left out the part where she could use the radio to call Reeve, the idea of being alone again in those empty halls with something lurking through them wasn't all too appealing.

Despite their watching eyes waiting for more of an explanation she freed the comm. unit and flipped it on. It began to download a new target, the little bar at the top flickering across the screen as it received new coordinates. When it finished the screen rushed through a series of long passageways that ended in a hallway that looked no different than the ones before it, then it switched to an alternate view and her stomach tightened. It was several floors below them.

"Come on," she waved and began to unhook the Conformer from her back, "We're going to be walking for awhile, best stay on your guard." And she led them down the hall passed the body with its vacant stare all the while amazed at how adult she sounded, and vowed to kick Reeve in the shins for making her grow up.

Awhile doesn't quite sum up the time they walked. She lost track of how many halls they move through and she knew they've been on at least two lifts, but the silence was the worst. She might as well have still been alone as both the men behind her hadn't said more than a few sentences since they had started out. When they reached yet another outcropping connecting the pillar like structures she couldn't take it anymore and envisioned throwing herself over the edge and how it would probably feel like flying, and what Reeve would say after they scraped her remains from the cold floor below, or worse, what her father would say, after he fell into fits of laughter.

"What's your favorite book Colt?" She said after glancing every now and again over her shoulder towards him. "Surely, you seem the scholarly type." And it was too difficult to keep the sarcasm from her voice.

"Excuse me?" He said stopping in midstride.

His expression nearly caused her to walk into the rail, sending a quick image of her falling over and flying to a jolting rest below with all of the images she had imagined returning. She suddenly grew sick to her stomach, and when she rubbed her fingers across her stomach, they're oddly cool. "You know books?"

He seemed to register the question this time and rushed to catch up with them. "My Darling, My Turk."

"A classic." She'd never enjoyed reading, and it was far too easy to let the sarcasm worm into her words.

"You've read it?"

"Hell no!" Yuffie spat back and tossed him a rolled eye over her shoulder. "It's sentimental crap."

He surprised her by smiling, broad and slow. "You should try it sometime."

Grimm spoke up for the first time in what she thought might be an hour. "What about you?"

"Me?" This stopped her, froze her entirely as she tried unsuccessfully to blend into the scenery. Knowing she'd failed, as she did from the start, she shrugged. "Can't read, had my eyes bludgeoned by a wild adamantaimai when I was eight." And then she pulled her comms unit out and began to read the distance as easily as if it were a cookie wrapper.

The men exchanged glances unsure whether she's serious.

"Come on, we're getting close." She called and moved to the end of the bridge, trying her best not to look down. Ninjas weren't exactly allowed to be afraid of heights, but the sight of the sprawling set of lights leading down gave her a brief stutter in her breath. How far did the towers drop until the ground gave way into the Lifestream? It dropped until they faded away in an almost misty cloud of darkness as though they never even existed. It was unsettling in even her stomach, so she shuffled off the bridge and paused just outside what she believed to be yet another elevator landing, and waited for them to catch up.

Somewhere between the next elevator and the maze of unending silver hallways time slipped away from her, this time however it is filled with an uneasy chatter, the sort formed by a military camaraderie to maintain the semblance of calm with "I like cheese" and "When was the last time you had a snow cone" Anything really to focus, keep the mind from allowing too many stray thoughts, but Yuffie knew well enough that stray thoughts came to her like stray cats, and she had long ago admitted she had far too many of those.

The thoughts were returning to her as they moved into yet another hall. To their left the wall was glass and what appeared to be some form of office area was on the other side.

"But you know how they are …" Grimm laughed with his weapon slung over his shoulder.

The hall creaked.

Everyone froze midstride. Silence crackled around them, electric in the hallway. Closing her eyes, Yuffie cocked her head like a puppy and listened breathless in the hallway.

The floor creaked again, closer this time.

lShe hoisted the Conformer to her shoulder, tightening her grip and shifting her weight in nervous wait. It was too easy to feel confident when the soldiers flanked either side of her. Both men dropped to a knee, readying their weapons. Allowing her gaze to waver to them, she felt herself fill with pride for Reeve's soldiers. They were unflinching in their gaze, and Yuffie felt herself feeding off their energy so that her confidence bolstered.

Yuffie lit the hallway and rounded the corner, only to let out a startled gasp at what she found. She stumbled to a stop, barely managing with her reflexes to keep balance. With exceptional grace she managed to retain her grip on the oversized shuriken, sweeping it in a wide arc and switching hands to aide in slowing the weight.

"Vincent!"

A flash of excitement lit her soft features as she slapped the gunslinger's shoulder with the back of her free hand. "I could have killed you!"

Vincent watched her wearily for a moment, and then shifted his gaze behind her where both Colt and Grimm were slinging their weapons back over their shoulders. "I apologize for not making my presence known."

"Gawds Vincent, you trying to give me a heart attack?" She laughed nervously, realizing he had Cerberus gripped tightly in his good hand. If she would have been a second slower. If she would have been a hair louder in the hallway, he would have shot her. Vincent could have placed a hole between her eyes and she would have been gone before she hit the floor with aim like his. And it nearly broke her to imagine her father hearing this, because in a rage he would have come for him, and Godo wouldn't have stood a chance against the man in front of her. Though the thought of her father waving his own shuriken at Vincent for revenge almost made her hoot with laughter. Dads were such softies.

"That was not my intention." Vincent said dryly, holstering his gun.

It suddenly occurred to her that Vincent had been coming in their direction. It had been quite awhile since they had come to a fork in the road. "I take it the door isn't down there?"

"It doesn't seem so."

Quickly she tugged out the comms. unit, having grown tired of its little screen with its gold flashing destination. The little emblem nearly caused her to fall over. With her best winning smile she looked at group of men beside her. "It's just around that corner." Yuffie tossed the unit in the air, not bothering to hang around to watch Vincent swoop unnaturally fast to scoop the device up just inches from the floor.

When the others caught up to her, she was bent over her knees sucking in air. "It's not here…"

"The map leads here."

"But there's no door here!" She stomped over, snatching the unit back from the dark haired man, and glared menacingly at the screen. If the device had been a person it would have been backing its way out of the room. Nose scrunching up, Yuffie was the picture of short tempered rage.

There weren't any telltale signs of a hidden door, not even a mere suggestion. The hall was as similar to the last as that one was to the one before it. It was one giant maze of identical hallways, and if it weren't for the device she would have believed they were moving in place. There was nothing different around them.

Anxiously switching her gaze between the unit in her hand and the men around her, Yuffie struggled to maintain a sense of authority, straitening her shoulders despite the fact that all her power had been sapped from her the moment they had encountered Vincent. Valentine always commanded authority. Across the hallway the dark man was running his hands along the crevices.

It had to be here. She set her jaw and approached the wall. The door had to be there somewhere.

Tucking the device away, she joined the man in probing the wall, slender fingers pushing and shoving their way deftly into the grooves. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was partially aware of Colt and Grimm doing the same to the wall behind her.

Something clicked like broken glass.

Yuffie stiffened at the sound, displaying her hands for all to see, more than a little concerned that she'd be blamed for breaking the wall. She couldn't hide the embarrassed laugh that forced its way from her lips when the realization hit her. One couldn't break a wall with their fingers.

There was the scrape of boots on the metallic floor, then the feeling of an arm against hers as someone brushed by. When she turned she didn't immediately notice the computer terminal. Grimm and Colt were flanking Vincent, mirroring each other's stances, while Vincent pressed his hands in a typing motion against the wall.

He'd been in Deepground too long she concluded, completely lost his bearings. Then she noticed the panel no larger than her radio flipped forward out of the wall. The buttons were unlabeled.

"I don't suppose any of you boys know how to work that, do you?" She drawled with both hands on her hips, and the Conformer pressing uncomfortably into her thigh. The men turned to her with blank expressions. They were a bit too predictable for her taste, so it was all for show when she crossed her arms and looked away. "Yeah, didn't think so."

Grimm didn't appear rattled by her remarks. Instead, he motioned to the panel and gave a belch like laugh. "There isn't even any identification on the keys."

When she joined them it took her stretching to the very tips of her toes to see over a shoulder. There wasn't anything of recognition other than the one word flashing on the tiny monitor. "Ready." It was only slightly comforting to at least know that wherever the door was, it was still functional. Yes, very helpful. She thought facetiously.

"Rather clever, really…" Colt spoke up while hesitantly trying a few buttons. A rather obnoxious beep replied to his attempt from the terminal. "No one can get in if they have no idea what they're even entering."

"But not completely fool proof." Grimm agreed making his own attempt. Again and again they received the obnoxious denial sound.

If the terminal wasn't so important to getting themselves through, Yuffie decided, then she would have bash its little laughing screen in with her shuriken. Sighing, she leaned against the wall and slid herself down to sit on the floor with one leg pulled up beneath her. It unnerved her to show her weakness in front of them, but her feet were beginning to ache from all the distance she had covered. It probably wasn't the best day to choose to wear one less pair of socks. What was worse was that it rattled her even more to not have any idea of how long she'd actually been wandering beneath the city.

"Any suggestions?" Vincent asked above her.

This surprised her and she let out the best belly laugh she'd had in days. The absurdity of asking her about technology wasn't lost in the halls like they were. Finally after several good laughs with Vincent staring stone faced back at her, she was able to choke back the laughter. She tucked a dark chocolate strand of hair behind her ear and felt herself on the verge of laughing again. "We could always kick it."

There was only a quirk of a dark eyebrow in return making her wonder if the light was playing tricks with her eyes, not that she expected him to laugh at the joke, because Vincent never laughed but sometimes she could earn a twist, rather a slant in his lips. He turned back to the panel as though she hadn't even spoken. It must have been the location.

She quit counting the attempts they made and focused on the hallway, a long silver tube miles below the surface. It struck her as odd that with no windows to look outside that it would have been a dreary place to have lived. She had always preferred the outdoors, running and escaping up the side of DaChao when she was four, after all those dreams of it coming to life and eating her had ended, and would have hated being cooped up in a tube with nowhere to run and jump or roll in clover beds. There wouldn't have been any puddles to stomp and splash her way through, because Leviathan forbid there was no rain down there. It was a very dreary thought place indeed.

Another loud denial pulled a tired laugh from her. "Just kick the stupid thing…."

Although she didn't dare meet their eyes for fear of breaking into another fit of laughter, she felt the three sets of eyes rolling at her. She could feel the hesitation off one of the men like waves of depression, and then the hesitation gave way to a sharp kick against the wall.

"My man!" The words choked in her throat when the machine popped and hummed like a fire.

It couldn't really be happening.

The entire wall opposite the terminal began to rise into the ceiling, though no one was really watching it unfold the area behind it. The men held her pinned with the heat of their gaze. Colt was the first to find his voice within the short awkward silence. "There had to be a short."

Yuffie beamed while climbing to her feet. "What can I say?" She purred practically shining with haughtiness. "Technology and I just understand one another."

That slant worked its way across Vincent's lips. "I'm certain Boaz would disagree."

"Vin-cent!" She moaned embarrassed again, nearly dropping the Conformer as he glided passed her with that smirking pair behind him. Of course Valentine would choose Deepground or some equally depressing place to begin developing a sense of humor. Men never had any tact.

Maybe it was the pinkish light or the uneven feel to the floor, but the section of the grid that would have been N21 was not a pleasant place. There was even something odd about the air, off, almost tangible since they had passed through the hidden door.

"The air's not as stale here." Colt finished her thought, pausing long enough to retie one of his shoelaces.

That was it. The air was fresh. Someone was down there in the pit beneath Shinra. She could feel it churning up icky darkness within her stomach.

Glancing back at his partner, Grimm lowered his rifle only for a moment. "You think someone else made it this far? Who else would have business down here?"

"Someone already here." It was Vincent that voiced the thought they were all dreading. He kept his dark eyes locked on the area ahead of them as though he expected someone or something to leap from the shadows.

"Wait just a minute." Grimm reached out as though to stop Vincent, then thought better of it and dropped his hand. The beaten appearance to the area around them didn't go unnoticed. "You're suggesting that someone's been living down here with Deepground?"

Nervously Yuffie switched the shuriken between her hands. "As far as Reeve knows, we're the first to come in here since Shinra," It wasn't a comforting thought, but she knew it needed to be mentioned, so she bit her lip and sent a yearning glance back the way they had come. "But that's the only way we can explain that body we found."

That did stop Vincent, so that his crimson carried onward before slapping against his back. "A body?"

The surprise evident in his normally stoic voice strangled the small hope that he had disposed of the soldier. She had known it wasn't by his doing, but still had allowed herself to harbor a small bit of hope. He continued to surprise her by drawing Cerberus, not because he was worried enough to now arm himself, but because she was expecting him to be carrying the Death Penalty. The sudden thought caused her to lower her gaze to her own weapon. Should she need it now she wished she had a Shuriken of Doom or Throwing Stars of the Apocalypse. Even Meteor fall was a more intimidating a name than the Conformer.

"But it looks like it's only running on reserve power."

Realizing she'd fallen behind in the conversation she chided herself for being childish and forced herself to focus on their words. Miles below the surface with someone or something in the tunnels with them wasn't exactly the time for her to allow her mind to wander. Colt was the one speaking when she'd cleared her thoughts again. The short man with his long jaw and booming voice was waving his hands animatedly. "Whatever came-"

The hall groaned.

The sound startled the group, each pulling their weapons to the ready, none expecting to see the heavy bulkhead door begin to lower back into place. This time however neither of the soldiers attempted to escape, and Yuffie decided it was probably because they must know that they're safer with her and Vincent.

The tall dark frame that was Vincent turned back towards the hall before them, garnet eyes staring into the tunnel that was the hallway. "It seems we're expected."

Behind them Colt laughed humorlessly. "That doesn't really have the same effect the second time 'round." Although uncertainty and something akin to fear was evident in his cinnamon colored eyes. Silently, Yuffie agreed.

With Vincent taking the point and Yuffie at tail the group moved through the yawning hallways that continued for what she was sure must reach from Midgar to Kalm. When her feet felt too large for her boots the hall opened into a black room that felt expansive even in the dark. Only the light just outside the room showed life, though it flickered and mocked their progress, so that the room swept into a thick inky blackness. They poured into it anyways.

Immediately upon entering there was the distinct feeling of being watched. Yuffie whirled back to double check behind them. Satisfied nothing was lumbering out of the sickening pink light she turned and moved into the blackness. Squinting into the darkness, she strained to pick shape from its formless mass. When nothing came to her she stepped forward colliding with something solid. She grunted and immediately began probing the soft object with her free hand.

"Yuffie." Vincent said uncomfortably.

Even the roots of her hair had to be red. Blushing furiously she was suddenly thankful the darkness was there to cover her burning cheeks, because she wasn't exactly certain of what she may have touched. When she finally found her voice, it was still shaky from the verge of nervous laughter. "Can you see anything?"

"There's a panel over here." And then she heard the unmistakable sound of his footsteps as he moved around her.

By the sound of their growling voices Colt and Grimm were having an equally troublesome time maneuvering in the darkened room. Their clamoring was interrupted by Vincent's voice cutting through the darkness somewhere to her left. "Just a minute."

It felt as though someone were standing beside her. She could feel the heat emanating from her side. An unsteady breath split her lips as she stumbled backwards swinging the Conformer into the depth of the darkness, but feeling it connect with empty air.

There was a clicking sound echoing loudly in the room and then the light above her came on. The area around her was empty. No monsters were lying in a puddle of blood where she had been and there was no man standing beside her. She squinted and raised a hand shielding her eyes while they refocused in the light. Another echoing click and a light further into the room brilliantly sliced away the darkness, illuminating Vincent a few feet away behind a tall counter with his hand still resting on what she guessed to be some sort of computer station. A third light clicked on and the others between them appeared both jumping away from the other pretending to fuss over their weapons.

In a ripple the rest of the lights began to come on across the room, showing just how large it really was. There across the distance in the last ring of darkness were two glowing yellow eyes. Quickly swallowing back the initial wave of fear that came with the thought that their owner had been beside her, she felt her stomach drop. Yuffie hoisted the Conformer and charged into the darkness.

Vincent couldn't react fast enough to stop her.

Metal cracked against metal before anyone could cross the distance. As the last light came on it illuminated the Wutaiian rubbing her forehead in disgust. When she noticed the others, she spun holding the oversized shuriken behind her like a child caught with matches, chagrin written everywhere.

"Well I don't think it's going to get up after that." Colt laughed openly.

Grimm turned his back out respect, though his shoulders bobbed clearly showing he wasn't succeeding in muffling his laughter.

Behind her a large metallic board was littered with large test tubes each filled with a pale bluish liquid. What appeared to be very small pieces of materia were placed in pairs within the arm sized tubes. A shiny yellow pair floated within a tube now adorning a large scratch across the front.

"It looked like eyes." She whimpers pathetically, tiny voice barely audible in the spanning room.

Something in Vincent's eyes soften and he nods. "That's understandable."

The blond soldier began into another fit of laughter. Yuffie glares at him and turns to the test tubes behind her, hoping that whatever was in the darkness beside her would return and drag her away. At least then she wouldn't have to worry about their laughing eyes or Vincent's pitying gaze. She squinted into the liquid at the two honey yellow objects that caused the whole sorry mess. "Is that materia?"

Vincent touched the glass. "It would seem so."

"Awfully small," Grimm said running a hand through his ginger hair as he stepped up to examine the tubes. "Even by materia standards."

"Why would Shinra be using small materia?" Along the wall to the right, Colt is examining a set of support materia.

The other soldier gives a derisive click of his tongue. "Why did Shinra do anything? They were evil."

Yuffie nodded, only half listening. Of course she agreed entirely about the corporation, but there was something odd about the materia. Tube after silvery tube lined the hall each with a matching pair of tiny materia no larger than a set of marbles floated within them. The thought was odd, but what use would the materia be so far below the surface? Was this how Shinra had achieved the technology that Reeve was interested in?

"I found something."

Grimm was poking at a globe shaped vial the size of a person's head on a counter. Each time he would press the side of the glass the green liquid within it would swirl where his finger touched. Yuffie leaned over, nearly pressing her face to the globe, and promptly flicked it with a finger. When the liquid stirred and swirled around the spot she had touched she pulled her head back.

"You don't think it's alive?" Grimm asked running a finger in a line across the globe so that the swirling center chased after it.

Bunching her lips together she sent a rather tired look his way. "No way!"

"Notice anything?" She hadn't heard Colt approach, when she bobbed her shoulders he continued. "There's not any materia in this one."

Yuffie lifted herself back to her full height and dropped her gaze to the floor while she thought. Before she even had a chance to put words to the thought she was forming Vincent was already speaking. "That is materia."

"Please." She huffed and waved her hand as though she was talking to some of the village children about rope escape lessons. "Everyone knows that materia is condensed mako."

"No," he says, "Look at the color. That's what materia looks like before it's condensed."

"You mean the Lifestream?"

"No," He sighed and surprised her by poking the globe himself. "This is somewhere between those stages."

All the information bubbled up in her brain like a math overload. She shook her head several times to remove the bubbles in her thought and tried again. "Then how's it doing that?"

"I don't know." He admitted.

The four of them stood there staring at the globe of liquid materia. If it really was liquid materia, then wasn't it the Lifestream? She was looking at a small portion of the Lifestream, and if the planet was alive and the Lifestream was its blood then wasn't the liquid in that jar alive? Growing up in Wutai had led her to have different beliefs than those on the other continents, and she had always believed that in death Leviathan would be forced to weigh out her honor, or at least until Bugenhagen had blown it to hell with all that nonsense about the Lifestream and returning to the planet. She didn't want to become a tree. If she was going to return to the planet and become something else, then she'd want to be a briar or a holly, something prickly and equally annoying.

Poking the globe one last time and watching its contents swirl, Yuffie turned to Vincent. "Why would anyone want liquid materia? You couldn't carry it anywhere."

The two stared at each other for a moment, both filling with more questions than answers, and when Vincent turned to move along the table she followed doggedly. Many other oddities were strewn about the room, but nothing quite as interesting as the globe on the table, until they found the computer station near to the tubes. The screen was rolling, and only a few of the buttons appeared to be lit, but it was definitely something.

Yuffie threw herself into the chair behind it and plunged a hand into her pouch for the disk that Reeve had sent her. "There's got to be something here." Once she loaded the disk the screen began flashing through commands. Pulling her hands back in surprise she glanced up at Vincent. "I didn't do that."

"It's a retrieval program." He said and pointed to a corner of the screen so that when the image aligned briefly she could read the commands that were automatically ensuing.

When the screen rolled again she growled. Apparently Reeve hadn't forgotten the incident with Boaz either. Part of her felt like a scolded puppy, not having had the chance to remove the information herself. Reeve hadn't trusted her to come alone, nor had he trusted her enough to use the computers. She was going to have an earful for the Commissioner when she finally made it out of this place.

Once the program had finished running, the disk ejected itself. She pulled it from the machine and tucked it back into the pouch smiling triumphantly. "Okay, now we get outta here."

"You're forgetting there's only one direction we can go." Colt called from a doorway on the far side of the room. His rifle was at the ready as he peered out into what she hoped wasn't another hallway.

Something about his demeanor seemed to sink in. Men with those sort of broken expressions weren't something she wanted to see while miles below the surface locked in an area where apparently someone was waiting. The more dejected his face became the faster she moved across the room. When she reached the door, she grabbed the side of the frame with one hand and practically swinging around the corner. What awaited her caused her hopes of ever getting out to fall through the floor. A hallway lead strait away from them breaking into smaller intersections as it continued down into the distance, however it also split to the left and to the right just outside the room they were in, and when Yuffie squinted in both directions each way led to a fork.

"You were saying?" The blond sighed, shoving her brotherly with his shoulder.

As unfazed as ever Vincent pushed his between them. "We should split up."

"No freaking way Vincent!" Yuffie knew she was being irrational but the sudden thought of being alone in the corridors with that presence she had felt earlier sent a chill along her spine. "This place is huge. If we separate, we'll never find each other."

"We'll never find a way out if we don't."

She was running her eyes about the maze of hallways skeptically, trying to decide if any of them appeared to have been used recently. "Fine." Hastily she adds, "But, if anyone finds something then they should radio the others."

It was decided. Colt and Grimm headed to the left, Vincent opting to take the middle hall with its many small corridors, leaving Yuffie to the right. She stood for a moment just outside the door with the globe and watched Vincent walk into the hazy light, lean frame echoed by his cape while his long strides covered the area much quicker than she would have liked.

With a deep breath to steel her, Yuffie clutched the Conformer tightly in her right hand and walked purposely to the end of the hallway. Pressing herself to the wall, she slowly leaned into the intersection checking left then right. When she was sure it was empty she stepped out and moved along up the right hand hallway, already beginning to feel her heart drumming out a cadence in her chest. "Deep breaths girl."

She made a few more turns, cutting through a small office space, or at least it appeared that way at first. It was when she reached the center of the room that she noticed the blood stains. Dried blood was trailing across the floor as though a body had been dragged through the room, but when she turned to her right she hopped a few steps away. Atop one of the desks were several sets of syringes and needles. It was then she realized it wasn't a desk, but a table. The needles. The table. This was where experiments had taken place. Reeve had been right. Shinra had no end to its secrets.

Ready to be free of the uncomfortable room she moved out the other door and surveyed the hall. The blood trail led down to a corridor that broke off to the right. The light above the area wasn't working, causing her to take more careful and precise steps the closer she came. If she chose she could be entirely silent, but something about the presence she had felt earlier and the way it had disappeared so quickly gave her the impression that it would know she approached no matter how hard she tried.

As she neared the darkened area she took several deep breaths. Giving the unlit hall a wide berth she kept herself pressed against the wall opposite it and held the Conformer between herself and the blackness. Even when she was across Yuffie kept herself pressed to the wall, dark eyes locked on the hallway, scanning for even the slightest fluctuation in the shadows.

Nothing was coming out of the shadows. She was on the verge of nervous laughter, so she turned and pressed on, rounding a corner and coming to a stop in a brightly lit corridor. Her heart pounded in the back of her throat, and she bent hands on her knees. At least she couldn't see the blood trail.

Raising back to her full height her senses tingled, and the hairs on the back of her neck began to lift. Something was behind her. She could feel a presence in the hall with her. Unsure if it was the same from earlier, she tensed, slowly twisting to stare wide eyed over her shoulder.

The hall was empty.

Something was watching her. She tried to tell herself she was being skittish, entirely too paranoid for a ninja, but there was an unmistakable pang within her that clawed at her mind, screaming at her to run. But she couldn't move. She tried, but her feet just wouldn't obey.

Behind her the floor creaked, and like a snapped rubber band she was free, plowing through the hallways. Her shoes squeaked with each step, taking the corners at full speed so that she had to reach up and use her free hand to stabilize herself against the wall. This was silly. In the center of a cross section she skidded to a halt. The whole idea of her running from anything was ridiculous. She had never backed away from anything before. Planting her feet and falling into a defensive position she waited with shuriken raised. Several minutes passed though nothing emerged from the hall she had fled.

Something whispered in the hall to the left.

She ducked into the one across from it and peered around the corner. "Vincent?"

Silence full and still called back to her.

"Vincent?"

Further along the hall she was standing in something whispered from within it. She leapt back into the cross section, voice losing strength as she tried again. "I know you're there."

There isn't an answer, not that she expected one.

Her hands were surprisingly steady as she fumbled to retrieve her radio. The button clicked the channel open and she grasped it tightly with both hands. "Vincent." Dark eyes continuously wavered between the radio and the hallways. "Vincent."

When there was no answer she almost growled into the speaker. "Somebody answer me."

Someone needed to know of the situation. As far as she was aware no one had contacted Reeve since they had entered Deepground, and that had been quite some time ago. Her cell seemed tiny compared to the radio, though the familiarity and trust in the small device supplied no comfort in her panic riddled mind. She flipped it open, praying for a signal.

One signal bar wavered on the screen.

There was a whisper along the first hallway.

She ignored it and scrolled through the list of names, hitting send immediately when she found Reeve's. The line began to ring.

Footsteps echoed up the hallway, and she knew they were not Vincent's.

"Yuffie?" Reeve's anxious voice filled the line. "We've been trying to contact you for the last hour."

The footsteps began again, this time closer. She didn't turn immediately simply straitened, body entirely rigid and began to lower the phone. There was the unmistakable feeling of that presence behind her, and she knew as she turned that this time she would see something.

Yuffie's eyes widened as the phone slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.

.

.


This chapter was too much fun to write. I love writing Yuffie and Vincent in the same scene because their differences make them fun to play off one another. Anyways, thanks for reading and constructive criticism is always welcome.