A Project Called Angel

Chapter 3 ~A Crystal Tear~

Vincent had set Angel on the bed, allowing Marlene to crawl up next to her. Tifa looked over at Angel, a sad smile upon her face as she turned her gaze toward Vincent. "Hey Marlene?" she said, turning back toward the little girl that currently sat next to Angel.

"Hm?"

"Would you mind staying in here with Angel for a while? I need to talk to Vincent" Marlene nodded her head as she started playing with Angel's long hair. Some of the tension left the room as Tifa and Vincent left, leaving Angel a little more at ease.

"Hey Angel, why don't I braid your hair? Then it'll be like mine, see?" Marlene turned her head around, allowing Angel view of her braid, it caused her to smile and she nodded her head. "Really? Yay!" she squealed as she started trying to braid her hair, while Vincent and Tifa talked down stairs. A couple hours later, Vincent and Tifa came back upstairs, upon entering the room, it was silent. There, in the bed lay both Angel and Marlene, Marlene curled up next to her, hugging her as one of Angel's wings lay on top of them, both laying silently in a peaceful sleep.

"Aw…that's so cute…heh, it looks like Marlene is already getting attached to her…" Tifa smiled as she looked at the site before her, noticing the new braid that had been placed in Angel's hair, though the silver streak of hair lay beside her shoulder, loose from the rest. Vincent had already guessed how she had gotten it, it was most likely from the Jenova cells that Hojo had injected her with, though he was surprised at how small it was, but nonetheless, it was still there. Tifa silently walked towards the bed, pulling the covers up over the two of them, making her way back over to the door and exiting with Vincent. It really was something though, seeing how close Marlene and Angel had become in such a short amount of time, it made Tifa smile though, she was happy that Marlene had a new friend, and she was happy that Angel now had Marlene as a friend. **I wonder what Barret would say if he saw this** she thought to herself, allowing a small laugh to break through at the thought of it. She continued down the steps, making her way over to the bar and started cleaning up, Vincent following, and setting down on a stool as he began to think about things. Something on the floor caught Vincent's eye, the light shinned off it, causing Vincent to kneel down for further inspection. His eyes slightly wide now, as he looked upon it, it was a tiny crystal or rather pieces of one. He remembered a tear falling from Angel's eyes, when she stood in front of Cloud, her wings spread wide for him to see, he remembered it falling to the ground and…shattering. His eyes turned sad as he came to a realization, he couldn't even imagine everything that Hojo must have done to her for her tears to end up this way, though beautiful, they were still sad. "Huh? What's that Vincent?" Tifa asked, now standing beside him, the pieces in his hand.

"Pieces…of a crystal tear…" she gave a strange face, one of confusion as she looked at him.

"What do you mean 'crystal tear'…?" Vincent didn't look at her though as he spoke again, his eyes resting on the fragments in his open hand.

"…It's Angel's…" his hand closing tightly around the pieces, making his way back upstairs, opening his door and laying on his bed. Tifa just stood there, still thinking about what Vincent said, realizing some of it, but unsure if she wanted to believe it. Mean while, Vincent sat in his room, allowing what he had just found to completely sink in. he pulled the journal out, curiosity taking hold of him once again and opened it. Even though he didn't like what he read, he still felt the need to know more about her, how she was made, maybe why. The pictures that he had hidden in it, slipped from the pages and landed gently on his chest, he ignored them though for the time being, and concentrated on the pages within the tiny book.

~I hope that in making Angel, I will make the greatest SOLDIER yet, she will be a new generation of genetically engineered SOLDIER's. I have it all planned out, my hope is that she'll be equally just as strong as Sephiroth, if not stronger. After she's finished, I hope to have Sephiroth train her. Oh, the excitement is just too much, I just can't wait until she is finished.~

He flipped to a different page, reading what else Hojo had written.

~Her hair has grown quite long, I think that Ill cut some of it off, that way I can use it for other experiments. So far, the scanners reading well, her mind is growing stronger by the day. It's funny really…how she hasn't the slightest clue as to what she is, poor thing probably never will. If Lucrecia were still here, she would say that it's sad, that she doesn't have any memories to look back on. Oh well, she's been here her whole life, how can she have any, if she's never going to leave?~

Vincent's grip tightened on the book as he read this, Hojo really was a sick man. He closed the book, having had enough for one day and made his way into the other room to check up on Angel. Upon entering, he found himself surprised, Marlene was now awake with a worried look upon her face as she watched Angel toss and turn in her bed violently. "Vincent, she won't stop. Is she having a nightmare?" Marlene looked to Vincent for an answer.

"It would seem so" he walked over to the bed, gripping Angel's shoulders firmly, shacking her a little, trying to wake her. "Angel…Angel, wake up"

"Angel…? Vincent, why isn't she waking up?" Marlene was now starting to get worried, as was he. It was strange, something seemed to have a hold on her, and wasn't letting go either. "Vincent, can't you help her?" Marlene pleaded as she watched Angel 's face contort in pain.

"I can try…" he shook her a few more times, still not getting a response, he laid his right hand on her head, pulling it away quickly. **there's no way she can be that hot** he thought to himself. "Marlene, get Tifa, I want the two of you to fill the tub with ice…hurry" Marlene ran down the stairs, following Vincent's directions.

"Tifa! Tifa! Angel needs help!" he could hear the two of them running back up the stairs and into the room.

"Vincent, what's going on?" he looked toward her quickly.

"There is no time to explain..we need to fill the tub with ice…now" she looked over at Angel, seeing that she was in pain.

"Ok" With that, Tifa ran back downstairs, Marlene following behind her.

Vincent grabbed hold of Angel, picking up her burning body and walked into the bathroom, gently placing her in the tub as Tifa ran back upstairs holding two big bags of ice, Marlene holding a smaller one. "Marlene, go get Denzel, we can use all of the help that we can get" Tifa tossed him one of the bags, allowing him to tear it open with his claw, emptying the bag into the tub on top of her body. After about ten minutes, the tub was finally full, her body completely covered in ice, Vincent allowed himself to turn the shower to cold on full blast, cooling her red hot face and allowing her breathing to slow. He waited for a minute before leaning over to check her, her eyes flying open, her head flying forward, colliding with his own.

"Ah…" he groaned, holding his head in his hand, both Marlene and Tifa laughing at the site.

"Are you…ok…Vincent?" Tifa asked between laughs.

"No" he then watched as Angel lunged forward, grabbing her left arm in pain. **the mark** he grabbed her, pulling her into his arms and flew out the window, his cape swirling around his body as he sped towards the river in the Forgotten City. He could hear as she screamed in pain, her head on his chest as she cried those crystal tears of hers. She let out another scream as he landed, running toward the water, taking her with him as he went deeper. He pinched his nose closed and hers and went underneath the water. It seemed to put her in pain for a moment, the Jenova cells fighting for control as the life stream in the river swirled around her body, trying to sooth the pain, make it go away if possible. He looked into her eyes, watching as they both became that glowing mako green-blue color, though as fast as it came, it left, leaving her once again with two different colored eyes, one gold and the other, that mako color. She stared back the whole time, watching his eyes as well, those deep pools of red that graced his smooth pale face. He watched as Angel opened her mouth, air bubbles escaping signaling Vincent that she needed fresh air as he brought her back up to the surface. Angel allowed herself to breathe in the new air that was presented to her, taking it in eagerly, filling her lungs, cooling them with its touch. She clung to Vincent once her lungs were satisfied, wanting to be free from the water. As if sensing her request, he pulled her from the water, along with himself and sat on the shore, her still clinging to him, not wanting to let go. Though, he also noticed that she was shacking, obviously cold from being in the water and pulled her close to him as he stood up. "Let's get you back before you get sick" he pulled her up a bit more, before walking forward and slowly, but surely leaving the Forgotten City.