Thanks to those of you who have reviewed! ^_^ Now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Final Fantasy VII. I do own Mayla though. ;D
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Mayla came back to a few minutes later, shivering and covered in sweat. Her wings were still twitching behind her, but not as strongly as before. Ugh, I hate when I have these episodes. I'd better get back into bed. She attempted to move, but found that she was too weak to get very far. Ah crap, this isn't good. The world started to spin again and she closed her eyes with a small groan. Damn Hojo…
She peeped her eyes open once more when she heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching her room. Oh right. Security camera. Me lying on the floor here can't look too good. Her door was unlocked and in came several people in white coats whom she guessed to be doctors. She grew mildly annoyed as they began checking her vitals and making sure that she hadn't suffered any injuries in her fall. "I'm fine," Mayla said weakly as they started moving her. Just lay me on my bed and I'll get over it in a few hours. Honestly, I've endured enough poking and prodding to last me a lifetime. … Go away! Despite her irritation, she didn't have the strength at the moment to voice her thoughts. Even if she did though it most likely wouldn't make a difference seeing the condition she was currently in. … Well, on the bright side at least this didn't happen during dinner…
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The next morning Reeve called the group together to prepare for another tank opening. "Does this one still seem human?" Cloud asked as they headed towards the chamber room.
"More human than the last, yes," Reeve replied. "And also fairly young looking. Let's just hope he's not dangerous."
When they arrived the WRO troops were already in place and ready to go. They looked rather weary, but that was understandable considering how many of the specimens they had unleashed thus far had tried to kill them. Reeve took his place at the computer while the others all got ready as well. "Ok, I'm going to bring him to now."
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The boy in the tank slowly opened his eyes, but apart from that made no other movements. "I'm going to let you out now, alright?" Reeve said to the boy. He made no response and Reeve entered in another command to the tank that caused it to begin draining of fluid. The boy slumped to the bottom of the tank as the liquid disappeared and made no effort to right himself. The soldiers kept their guns aimed at the boy as Reeve approached, followed by Cloud and the others. "Are you alright?"
Now that they were closer and the tank doors were open, the group could get a better look at the boy. He appeared to be about 14 at the most with bright blue chin-length hair and deep blue eyes. His hands and feet were clawed and on his back were two pair of translucent wings. Actually, only one pair was on his back. The other pair were on either side of his waist and much thinner than the pair on his back, resembling fins more than wings. The wings themselves were dual toned- clear on the half closest to his body and a transparent royal blue on the outer halves. His ears were shaped like fins and stretched back a few inches, and on each side of his body he had three large gill slits. All he wore was a pair of cut-off jeans, the alterations to his upper body not much allowing for a shirt.
"Can you understand me?" Reeve asked slowly, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder. The fish boy's blue eyes slowly made their way over to Reeve, but didn't really look like they were seeing him. He seemed to be nearly catatonic. Reeve turned back to the soldiers and signaled for them to leave. "Someone go get a doctor for this kid."
"Is he going to be alright?" Tifa asked with concern, stepping in closer to the tank.
"Can't say," Reeve replied. "He looks pretty bad off. I suppose only time will tell."
Barret balled his hand into a fist. "Shinra bastards," he said through clenched teeth. "What the hell did they do to all of these people? It's not humane!"
Nanaki padded up closer to the boy, giving him a gentle nudge with his nose. His eyes slowly trailed off of Reeve down to the big cat in front of him. It seemed he was ever so slowly coming around. "At least he's slightly responsive," Nanaki said, trying to be a little positive.
About a minute later a few doctors arrived and wheeled to boy off to the infirmary on one of their stretchers. "Well, I guess you guys can go on ahead to breakfast. I'll let you know when we're ready to do another tank." The main group went on ahead, but Vincent stayed behind with Reeve.
"Shall I have the key again?" he asked casually. After escorting Mayla to her room last night Vincent had sought out Reeve and returned her room key to him. As he suspected, Reeve had been busy working on paperwork and had forgotten about dinner.
The executive let out a sigh. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary at the moment," he replied to his friend's question. "Mayla's currently in the infirmary. She collapsed in her room last night after you brought her back and hasn't been doing all too well."
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
I hate doctors… Mayla was currently lying in a hospital bed with an IV in her arm and several monitors hooked up to her. She would have resisted if she could, but at the time she was too weak to fight them off. She had been ill most of the night, but now she was finally recovering some of her strength. …. **** this! She was just about to rip the IV out of her arm when she heard footsteps approaching. Familiar footsteps. Oh God, don't let him see me like this! She settled for throwing the blanket over her head and trying to make herself as small as possible.
The footsteps came to a halt next to her bed, and a rustle of leather let her know that their owner had sat down in the chair next to her. She would have pretended to be asleep, but the sound of her racing heart on the monitor was a dead giveaway. Damn *** piece of equipment. Why must everything work against me?
"I heard you were ill," a deep voice said from beside her with the slightest hint of amusement. Mayla gave up and lowered the covers off of her head to see Vincent there with a faint smile on his face. His eyes betrayed his worry though. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," she said nonchalantly, sitting back up. "Just a little dizzy spell is all."
"That's not what I heard."
"Well then, you've been misinformed," Mayla replied back casually. She really didn't want anyone worrying over her, but especially not Vincent. It was just something she would have to live with as a cost for her wings.
Vincent paused for a second and studied her face. "May, I saw the security video." He reached out and gently ran a finger down the edge of one of her wings. "They hurt." It wasn't a question.
Although his touch felt good, she retracted her wings ever so slightly at his words. "It's fine. It was just a muscle cramp." She didn't look at him as she said this, but she was well aware of his penetrating gaze on her. Why do I have to be such a bad liar?
Vincent was about to speak again when a nurse came by. "Ah, you can sit up now! I take it that you are feeling better then, dear?"
Mayla flushed ever so slightly out of annoyance and embarrassment. "Yes, thank you," she replied, not looking at Vincent. Great, here I am trying to convince the guy that I was fine and this idiot has to make it sound like I was an invalid! Well, I suppose I was temporarily, but still!
"Excellent. I'll have the doctor come check you over once more then you can go with this fine young man here."
Mayla had to bite back a snort at that one. Neither of them was exactly young.
"I'll step out while the doctor checks on you," Vincent said, both his voice and expression unreadable. "Let me know the verdict."
oooooooooooooooooooooo
While waiting for Mayla, Vincent decided to go check on the fish boy that they had released earlier. When he got there he found Reeve already at the bedside. "He was locked up for 37 years," Reeve said quietly as Vincent approached. "So if he's aged anything like Mayla then he was probably only ten at the time. The doctors say that physically he's perfectly in shape, but mentally… Well, let's just say that it'll be a while before he recovers. If at all."
Said boy was currently propped into a sitting position in his bed, eyes completely glazed over and staring straight ahead. "I'm not sure what all was done to him, but in all honesty I don't think I want to know."
Vincent stayed silent and walked over to the other side of the bed. When he ran a finger down one of the boy's wings as he had done with Mayla, the wing twitched slightly and the boy's gaze slid over to the caped man. "He's not totally unresponsive," Vincent replied, studying the boy's face and gaze. "Give him time. He'll come around." He walked back around the bed and the deep blue eyes trailed his movement. "Reeve," Vincent started slowly, "How many more are there?"
Reeve was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "At least a hundred."
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
True to his word, Vincent was back as soon as Mayla had gotten the ok from the doctor to leave. "Great timing," Mayla said jokingly when she spotted him. "So, shall we go get breakfast? Or have you already eaten?" Vincent shook his head. "Alright, let's go then. Do you think the others will be there?"
"I doubt it," Vincent replied as they walked out of the infirmary. "They went to breakfast a little while ago. We might catch them later."
"Ah, I see," she responded casually, walking slightly ahead of Vincent. As they walked through the floor, Mayla looked over the edge of the railing down at the first floor below. "Rather than taking the elevator, perhaps it would be faster if we just jumped," she said with a smirk on her face, wings fluttering excitedly behind her. "I bet you wouldn't get injured."
"Most likely not," he replied, walking past her. "I'm not jumping though."
"Aw, you're no fun," Mayla teased jokingly, making haste to catch up with the former Turk. He could walk quickly when he wanted to.
A few minutes later the two were down in the cafeteria with their food. "So, Vincent, why exactly are you guys all here right now anyway?" Mayla asked, cutting her egg with a fork. "You never really said."
"We're helping Reeve unload the Shinra experiments they discovered."
"Ah, right. I think he mentioned something to that effect once," she replied, remembering back when Reeve had said that not all of the others were so "tame" as her. "How much help could they need though? I remember plenty of armed men when I was revived." She blushed slightly once more at the memory of it.
"You'd be surprised," Vincent replied, looking up from his food and noticing the color in her cheeks. "Why the blush?"
Her face reddened a little further. "Ah, it's nothing. Just suffered a little, um, embarrassment, at the time."
Vincent arched an eyebrow at this. "Care to expand upon that?"
Before she could respond Reeve arrived at the table with a tray of his own. "Mind if I join you guys?" Both Vincent and Mayla shook their heads, and Mayla's face grew yet redder. She decided to look down at her plate rather than at Reeve. "Did I interrupt something here?"
Vincent shook his head. "How's the boy?" he asked. Mayla glanced up curiously.
"Slightly more responsive since you were there, but still basically catatonic." Reeve chewed thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. "We're opening another one later today. We've got a lot to get through, so it's best to speed things up when possible."
Vincent nodded in understanding. "Take advantage of the injury-less morning."
"Exactly."
Mayla had resumed looking at her plate as she ate, but she had been hanging on to their every word. So, there are many others. Why do I foresee trouble in the near future?
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R&R!
