A/N: Just to point out from a guest review I received, the characters are meant to be out of character due to the stuff that's going on. Okay? Okay. I want to thank JessicaJ for the reviews she left me, I certainly wasn't expecting such nice words from one of my FanFiction favourites! In response to your question, it will be answered here! Oh, and italics are used to represent thoughts and dreams. Please bear in mind that the dream dialogue isn't the same as it's in the game as I can't remember it, whatsoever, so I'm making my own version, but trying to keep it as accurate as I can with the main storyline as possible. Anyway, here is the forth chapter! -AtrophysFinest.

Some Kind Of Monster

Chapter Four

A loud hammering could be heard on the front door of the Edge Materia Shop. A brunette woman with soft green eyes and wearing a pale pink dressing gown walked down the stairs of the living quarters above the shop and unlocked and opened the front door, seeing a man wearing a battered, old pilot's jacket and who stunk of tobacco. A lit cigarette was perched between his lips.

The woman angrily eyed the man who was beating down her door. "Do you know what time it is? I'm trying to sleep!" Cid snarled at the woman. "Is HE with you?" The woman narrowed her eyes at the pilot. "Is WHO with me? I live alone!"

Cid noticed a sleek, jet-black motorcycle parked right outside the shop and turned his attention back to the woman. "Right, let's cut the bullshit and get down to business. Bring that motherfucker out here. Now."

The woman sighed and closed the door in Cid's face. Raised voices could be heard from inside the shop and Cid tapped his boot on the ground angrily, immediately lighting another cigarette after finishing his previous one.

A few minutes passed before a silhouette appeared on the other side of the glass. The door opened and Cid was face-to-face with the former Shin-Ra infantryman, Cloud Strife. Cid glared at the man who had the same blank expression from before.

"Can I help you, Cid?" Cid grabbed Cloud's collar and took a step forward, slamming the former trooper against the door frame. "CAN YOU HELP ME!? WHAT THE FUCK, STRIFE!? WHY THE FUCK DID YOU CHEAT ON TIFA!?"

Cloud grabbed the pilot's wrist and glared at him. "That isn't any of your business, Cid. Let go of my collar, now." Cid did the complete opposite and tightened his grip. "I'M FUCKING MAKING IT MY BUSINESS, MOTHERFUCKER! ANSWER ME, NOW!"

The blonde swordsman tightened his own grip on Cid's wrist and snarled as he was raised a few feet from the ground. "Let go and... I'll talk..." Cid growled and released his hold, cursing as he let Cloud's boots clunk onto the floor. "Fuck it."

Cloud raised a hand to his neck to massage his throat before coughing a few times. He looked at Cid and shot him a pained look. "Cid, we're friends, we have been since before Meteorfall. Can't we sort this out?"

Cid retained his venomous glare at the swordsman. "Fuck no! We stopped being fucking friends the moment you fucking betrayed her! She's a wonderful fucking woman, the whole of AVALANCHE would fuckin' agree with me!"

Cloud drew an arrogant smirk in the pilot's direction. Cid knew he had said too much but his expression didn't waver. "You're in love with her, aren't you, Cid? You love Tifa. No wonder you're here, shouting your mouth off at me. I wonder what Shera would say if she found out..."

Cid kept his death glare locked on the delivery rider. "Don't you breathe a fuckin' word to her, Strife, I swear to fuckin' God..." Cloud grinned evilly at Cid, his true colours showing clear as the night sky. "If you leave now and go back to that shit-hole of a town, I give you my SOLDIER honour that I won't spill the beans to your wife."

Cid growled and then sighed, knowing when he'd been defeated. "Your fuckin' 'SOLDIER honour' don't mean shit. Zack was in SOLDIER, not you." Cloud crossed his arms triumphantly. "I know, you just don't know whether I'll tell her, or maybe I'll tell Tifa... Anyway, get out of my sight before you really piss me off."

Cid hung his head, lit another cigarette and left the Materia Shop, heading for the helicopter which he used for personal transport, which rested silently in the dormant town square.

7th Heaven, The City of Edge, Midgar Outskirts

Back inside the bar, Vincent was tossing and turning on the sofa-bed, struggling to settle down into a state of natural sleep. His mind was plagued with flashbacks during his time in AVALANCHE, mainly his moments with Tifa.

Cid's voice could be heard aboard the Highwind, the pilot having noticed something on the airship's radar. "Look, I don't give a fuck what ya all say, but there's fuckin' Shin-Ra forces movin' north toward North Corel!"

Barret growled loudly. "North Corel!? The Huge Materia in the Corel Reactor!" Cid laid in a course and the Trainee Pilot flew the gigantic airship toward the former coal mining town. While this happened, Vincent had remained silent.

The gunslinging ex-Turk was missing a certain party member like a human bereft of oxygen. Vincent had no idea of the high-spec microphone that was attached just underneath the CCTV camera's lens.

Vincent had a pen and notepad in his hands, a makeshift diary, noting down his thoughts on the paper, his voice was a soft rumble as he wrote every word in beautiful, cursive handwriting. "Tifa, this past week without you has been hellish for myself. I don't mean to be selfish, I know you have your reasons for staying with Cloud, and in a number of ways, I wish it could be me in that wheelchair so I could spend alone time with you. I don't know how to tell you in person because I know you'll walk away and never want to speak to me again. How can someone as broken as I ever deserve to be loved, even by such perfection as yourself? Cloud doesn't deserve you. From what I've studied of the former SOLDIER, the man is but a child. I'm running out of paper. Tifa, I...

Vincent woke up, his voice but a whisper. "I... Love you..." He groaned quietly as his back strained, the springs in the sofa-bed dug into his spine. He stood up and walked over to the basin and grabbed a glass from the drainer, his throat parched.

After filling the glass and bringing it up to his lips, he nearly dropped it when he heard the bedroom door creaking open. Praying it wasn't Tifa seeing him in his current dishevelled state, he was glad but also concerned when he saw a young girl walk out of the adjoining room, rubbing her eyes with small hands.

The girl looked up at Vincent and her eyes widened. "Uncle Vincent?" Vincent turned to look at the girl and nodded. "Go back to sleep, Marlene. You have school tomorrow." Marlene shook her head. "I heard noises... Tifa and Cloud were shouting again... Where is he?"

Vincent sighed, not wanting to tell her too much, knowing it wasn't his place. "Cloud has gone off to make some deliveries, he may be gone some time. Tifa will be cross if you wake up late in the morning."

Marlene walked up to the ex-Turk and clung to his thigh in a tight hug. "I'm glad you're here and... So is Tifa." Vincent awkwardly patted the girl's head and pointed to Marlene's room. "Can you keep a secret?" Marlene nodded excitedly. "Sure!" Vincent smiled, glad that the dark in the room hid his face. "So am I, Marlene. Go to bed."

Marlene returned the smile (even though she couldn't see Vincent's!) and left the main living area, walking into her bedroom and quietly closing the door behind her. Vincent sighed, shook his head and finished his glass of water before turning to the basin to clean it.

After he placed it on the drainer, Vincent walked back over to the sofa-bed and laid down, promptly falling to sleep.

End Of Chapter Four