disclaimer: guess what... I don't own FFVII:DoC

Fire Gemron: much thankies for the reviews each time! this one's for you! and Wolven Falls, for you too! I hope you're not annoyed at the pace my updates come... Gomen nasai, I'm really bad at disciplining myself O.o'

Chapter 6

While Nero was resting on his bed, Vincent did what he could do the best: thinking about the past.

If he wanted to let Nero stay, he'd rather know as much about him as possible. Even if he had witnessed a great deal of Nero's most tragic moments, he still had to settle them for himself, because he felt that he couldn't quite grasp every aspect of what had happened…

A fact: Nero had used his last remaining strength to stand up to his brother, and he had used his dark powers to infest Vice, so that Vincent would have an opening to destroy Omega.

Another fact: Vice had been the one who had killed him, by ramming his hand into his stomach, like a knife almost. Vincent wasn't sure why the fierce warrior had done such a thing, but since he couldn't be sure if it had been Hojo or Vice himself, he'd never come to a certain conclusion.

Nero confused Vincent to no end, even if he didn't show it. He was only a hundred percent sure about one thing, and that was that Nero was not an enemy anymore.

While the thoughts rumbled inside his head, Vincent observed the sleeping man.

In the ER, his body had caused a lot of trouble…the wings, the darkness oozing from his pores, his weird body suit. Vincent remembered now that he had seen Nero let it melt away into his skin…at that time, he had had some strange tattoos on his arms, too. When Vincent and Raira had examined him, they were gone. He hadn't noticed, probably because he was focused on other things.

Maybe an after-effect from getting rid of a part of his enormous amount of G-substance, who knew...he'd ask Shelke about it when he saw her again. Or maybe if Nero was up to it, he'd ask him himself. Vincent knew how awkward it was to have people ask you about your 'special' body. It was a personal thing after all…

After a while, he found himself stricken with an emotion he had rarely experienced for someone…

Pity.

Vincent, the one who had been trained to kill mercilessly, the one who had never received any pity from the ones who made him into what he was today, he felt sorry for Nero.

The frail man had been altered, forsaken by the world, and by his brother. Then he had been neglected, feared and shunned, only to get to the tragic end of his miserable life: having to choose between his love for his brother and the life of all living things in the world that had cast him off.

On one side: his own feelings, betrayed again and again, but still firm, loyal and pure; an undying devotion to his brother.

On the other side: the remorse of having left behind the world of the normal people, the responsibility of having enough power to destroy it all, and the hatred deep inside against the society that had wronged him.

And in the end, his caring for his brother had been forcefully shattered…Vincent had been there when Vice had ultimately forsaken his younger brother, along with the rest of the world…or rather, Hojo had.

Nero had to face the fact that his nii-san was long gone, lost in the web of deception and mind games of Hojo. And after Vice was defeated, Nero's spirit had sought him out…Vincent vividly remembered how Nero had driven Hojo away, and how he had embraced his older brother in a final goodbye hug before departing into the lifestream.

…only to be thrown out of it again, weak and with his body wrecked.

Yes, Vincent had to admit he pitied Nero.

He only knew the feeling because Lucrecia had shown it to him, and apart from her, he'd never accept it from anyone. The gunman had a lot of experience concerning vengeance, remorse and loneliness, but this one was new to him.

Vincent couldn't recall when he had started feeling this way…maybe from the first moment he had encountered the restrained suffering almost-human being. Or maybe from the day the world was finally safe again. He didn't know.

Now that he was thinking about it…he had felt a little voice inside his head that tried to stop him from defeating Nero in battle…But it didn't help much right after Nero had nearly killed Yuffie in his embrace of darkness. Vincent shuddered. …if he hadn't been in time, he could have lost the ninja forever.

But then, Nero had only been trying to protect his brother. In his attempt to stop Vincent and Yuffie from harming Vice, he had swallowed the kunoichi in his then extremely powerful dark haze. Vincent had rushed in, and he had shielded her from the darkness that had tried to eradicate her.

She had been scared stiff…strange to think how willing she was to let him into the ship…

Vincent shot out of his half sleep. That's not right! he thought. It's almost as if she doesn't remember what happened there…she looked at him as if she'd never really met him…

Vincent looked blankly into the darkness…something was off here. He hadn't felt anything coming from Nero, so he couldn't have modified her memory. Maybe something in the lifestream…? '…Yuffie…damn it…'

After this observation, Vincent started pacing around in the still dark room. He was angrily pounding himself up for why the hell he hadn't noticed before, and his boots clanked noisily over the iron floor. He was too withdrawn to notice two glowing orange dots slowly lighting up in the darkness.

They watched his every move for a long time.

'She didn't remember…' Nero's trembling voice hushed through the silence.

Vincent spun around.

'What?'

'She...that girl…she didn't seem to remember…that I…'

Vincent blinked in confusion.

'I was awake when you joined them…barely…' Nero said softly. He shivered.

Vincent took his chair and sat down on it next to the bed. He suppressed the urge to look away from those fiery, now intensely burning eyes, instead he settled himself and relaxed.

'How are you feeling?' he asked.

Nero took a deep, shaking breath. '…I believe I'm in no position to complain, but my shoulders are numb…and my arms hurt…'

'I guessed so. Do you want me to help you sit up?' Vincent asked, not at all offended by Nero's honesty.

'..that'd be kind…' Nero closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was still dazed.

Vincent sat up from his chair. He hesitantly tried to find a place to put his hands, and eventually he shoved both his normal hand and claw under Nero's back and heaved him up.

Almost instantly, Nero doubled over. His arms were paining him to no end, and his shoulders suddenly snapped out of their rigid stiffness with a dull snap. With a tormented 'Ah!', Nero went limp. Vincent held him up straight when he nearly slid out of the bed.

The injured man's breath was fast and shallow as he pulled himself together.

'…hhh…hhh…I'm…sorry…'

'What for?' Vincent asked calmly.

'For…causing you…trouble…' Nero blinked his eyes in the darkness, willing the pain to subside. He hadn't quite realised how bad the damage to his body was. Slowly, he regained control over his body. He tested his wings, careful not to touch Vincent, and he used them to hold himself more or less up straight. Vincent let go of him while he shakily found his balance.

'You're not more trouble to me than anyone else…' Vincent said. After a long silence, he added

'You know that you'll have to become independent again, do you?'

Nero watched him closely from the corners of his eyes. '…Yes, I understand that…if..'

'You can count on my support, but you must realize that you'll never be able to use your left arm again.'

Nero went silent again. Vincent hid the fact that he felt bad about having to say this as he waited for response. He'd rather go for the short pain then to keep Nero in the dark about what was happening to him.

'…I see…then I will live without it.' Nero stated calmly.

'You seem to take it rather well…'

Nero slowly turned his head to face Vincent, and he winced when he jarred his shoulder.

'I am supposed to be dead…I can't die again, so I'll have to deal with it…' his eyes flashed in the darkness filled with regret. Why didn't I just die…I don't want to be a bother again…

Vincent patted him on his good shoulder softly. 'Like I said before, you're not alone in this…as long as you don't harm my friends, I'm on your side.' Nero's eyes widened slightly.

'And I know you don't want to hurt them.'

'Vincent…thank you…'

Vincent's answer came out like a reflex.

"What for?"

Nero fell silent for a heartbeat. "Well…you know...for giving me your trust…I never thought anyone could…"

"Could look through that haze of yours? I have to admit people will have some trouble trusting you, but that why I'm here to back you up a bit. All beginnings are hard." Vincent said solemnly, remembering his own experiences.

Nero hung his head in contemplation. "A beginning…yes. I only hope I can… restrain myself…" somehow it sounded as if he was talking to himself, slowly sliding away into his despair again, fearing his powers and what they could do.

Vincent leaned forward and looked into Nero's eyes, a hint of well-hidden glee gleaming in his equally intimidating red eyes. Nero straightened up as he recoiled slowly. When he was paying full attention again, Vincent reminded him of a little detail.

"You do remember that the Lifestream has purged away a good deal of G-substance, yes? You don't have to worry about accidentally sucking anything into your Abyss anymore. It's still powerful, but nowhere near lethal. Just give yourself some time to heal, to get used to being alive again, and you'll soon have full control over the darkness." he soothed.

"I don't know…I'm afraid that it might come back… or…get worse, and maybe..." Nero half-stammered, not quite daring to hope for the best.

Vincent whispered a rather uncouth word that involved ox dung, and sharply turned his back to Nero. He contemplated for a moment in which Nero was at a loss for words, before he faced the bed again.

"I can help you, but you'll have to stop being such a pessimist. You'll never fit in like that, because you don't allow yourself to fit in. You'll have to be careful, with powers like yours accidents can happen, but assuming there's no point in worrying that you might absorb more G-substance." Half-closing his eyes and shifting his vision to his lower right, Nero listened, wincing under the reprimand. He knew it had been stupid to be worried, but still…

Vincent hoped he wouldn't have to explain this to his friends as well… especially Cloud was quick when it came to imagining worst-case scenarios, as far-fetched as they were improbable. "You were oversaturated… the substance was almost forced into you. Why would a wet towel become wetter in a dry environment? Especially if it was never supposed to be that wet?" Vincent rationalised to him, trying not to resort to a simple 'believe me, you'll be okay'.

Suddenly, an odd feeling rose in Nero's chest, and it bubbled all the way to his lungs and midriff. Before Vincent had really finished, Nero giggled softly.

The gunman had meant to stop anyway, but his brow wrinkled in confusion at the sound though. It was a soft, rapid giggle, somewhat unrythmic, but not all that unpleasant. Quietening down quickly after realising what he was doing, Nero blushed heavily, ashamed for being rude, in his opinion, by laughing at the person he clung to now. Vincent, of course, asked him what the matter was.

"You.. I… I never thought of myself as a wet towel…" there was that giggle again, shy, a bit nervous and held back with all the might Nero could muster right now. His ribs began to ache again.

Vincent replayed his speech in his mind, and found he had indeed picked a rather odd given as a comparison. Now that he gave it some thought, he found there were many more examples he could have given that sounded much more intelligent. When he saw the matter from Nero's point of view, he had to admit it was rather… funny.

o-o-o-o-...

When Cloud and Yuffie came into the hallway, dragging along a dishevelled and grumpy captain Cid, whom they had urgently woken up as soon as the sun had broken through the mountain ridges, they were greeted by a sound they had never heard before.

They stood in amazement as the three unlikely partners watched Nero giggling softly and earnestly on his bed, and Vincent chuckling amusedly along with him.

TBC for sure...might take a while though

R&R please, and please tell me what you think of my story, hints, critiques, suggestions, anything is welcome :-)