Two hours later the pair walked through the narrow entrance of the Nibel Cave. A dull ache began in Vincent's chest upon seeing the glowing crystal at the back of the small cave. It intensified as Aria walked directly up to it.
Despite her recent mood, she appeared humbled by the sight. She stared at Lucrecia for a long moment, while Vincent watched her. As if her violent impulses had all slipped away, she turned back to Vincent, her face notably softer. His breath caught. She looked as she had the night of the Cosmo Harvest.
Vincent gathered his thoughts quickly. "I'll speak with Rufus. Stay here. Try to rest."
Aria nodded and turned back to face Lucrecia. As he turned away he saw her shiver from the corner of his eye.
Vincent approached her from behind, unbuckling his heavy cloak. He pulled it off and almost wrapped it around her shoulders. Instead, he handed it to her.
"Thank you," she said quietly, wrapping it around her shoulders. It dragged the ground. She picked up the extra length and wrapped it tightly around her arms. "Does it look as good on me?" she asked jokingly.
He sighed. "Of course. I'll bring you something to eat when I return."
Before he could turn to leave, Aria wrapped her arms tightly around him. He returned the hug tentatively, despite the intense ache it caused.
Muffled slightly by his chest, she said softly, "She's beautiful."
The pain became unbearable. "She is," he replied, and pulled away. "I'll return as soon as possible."
Aria nodded, and moments later, the cave filled with the sound of her motorcycle driving away.
It was midnight before Vincent had returned to the hospital. He was escorted on the elevator by two unfamiliar Shinra employees who stayed in the elevator after he stepped out.
He slipped through the white curtain and stopped short. Rufus sat on the edge of his bed with his right eye exposed.
"I expect you have some news for me to be coming here in the middle of the night," the younger man said.
"No shit, man," Reno said, half-asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. Rude was absent at this hour.
Vincent nonchalantly took a step toward Reno's chair before speaking. "This is over."
"Good. Where is she?" Rufus replied.
"She's safe, so are you. She won't be near this area again."
Rufus sighed. "You're not handing her over, are you? She's in your head, manipulating you. I expected more from you, Valentine. Well, I'll just get everyone else back on her trail. The intel transfers will have to stop so the whole team-" Rufus said, more to Reno than Vincent.
"No. She'll leave you alone, you'll leave her."
"Mr. Valentine, have you forgotten our deal? You bring her in, or your friends become top priority. You're playing with fire, here."
"What are you willing to give up to get her?" Vincent asked threateningly. Reno sat up and watched Rufus closely at this turn in the conversation.
Rufus, on the other hand, scoffed. "Please, don't try that. There's nothing you can..."
In a single fluid motion, Vincent grabbed Reno from his chair and locked his metal arm around his neck; the silenced muzzle of his pistol pressed sharply to his temple.
"Holy shit!" Reno cried, helplessly clawing at Vincent's arm.
Rufus noticeably tensed. His breathing quickened. He shrugged, as if to say, 'Is that all you've got?' It wasn't.
Vincent lowered his gun. Reno sighed. "Oh thank god." Rufus did not move.
Vincent shot a bullet through the top of Reno's right foot. Reno cried out in agony and fear, as Rufus flinched, but did not change his position.
"You're going to leave her alone," Vincent growled through clenched teeth.
Rufus laughed. "You don't have the nerve," he said dismissively.
"Boss, please. She's not worth it," Reno pleaded.
Vincent adjusted his grip on Reno, sliding his claw under the smaller man's left arm, across his chest, and gripping his right shoulder. Rufus said nothing, but swallowed hard as he realized why Vincent had altered his grip.
Another silenced shot went through Reno's left foot. He howled and went limp in Vincent's arm, unable to stand.
"Your organization trained me to have the nerve," Vincent reminded Rufus.
"Rufus, please," Reno cried, his tone drastically more desperate.
Vincent saw Rufus's breath catch at Reno's cry.
"Your friends are safe, and will remain so," Rufus said quickly.
"Your reconstruction is safe, and will remain so," Vincent replied. He did not let Reno go. His negotiation was not over.
"I can't let Marx go, she's too dangerous," Rufus said over an obvious lump in his throat.
Vincent shook his head slightly. "Can you let him go?" he asked, lightly tapping his gun barrel against Reno's head.
Nobody spoke for several tense moments. Vincent's eyes glowed red. Reno moaned in pain.
"Vincent," Rufus began to plead, "Marx is not stable."
"I'm finished talking," Vincent warned, jerking Reno upright again. Rufus glared at the pair in disbelief. He remained silent.
Vincent sighed in frustration and dropped Reno to the floor. Rufus, supporting himself with a rail on the bedside, stood weakly and took a single step toward Reno.
"He'll be dead within five minutes if he's left here," Vincent explained.
"No, he won't," Rufus said, smirking, believing himself to be calling a bluff.
"Yes," Vincent responded, then pulled the trigger one last time. The shot went into Reno's side. "He will." Reno lost consciousness immediately.
"GODS, yes, Marx can go! Please, take him down!" Rufus cried in panic.
Vincent lifted Reno over his shoulder and carried him to the elevator. Rufus was left trembling on the bed, his head in his hands.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Vincent set Reno on the floor and cast a mastered Cure on him. Before the younger man regained consciousness, Vincent dug the thin tips of his clawed fingers into his feet and pulled the metal out. Reno's eyes opened and he violently jerked away from Vincent and into the opposite corner.
"Get the fuck away from me!" he cried.
"I'm sorry it came to that. Your...boss is quite stubborn. You're alright, though."
Reno patted himself down. "You tried to kill me."
Vincent shook his head. "If everything is where it should be, that shot went outside of your ascending colon. Any tears have healed themselves by now. It went straight through."
Reno was quiet a moment. "Would you have let me die?"
The doors opened on the main level and Vincent stepped out. "For some reason...No."
The crystal was cool against her hand. As Aria ran her fingertips across the shards protruding from the base, she felt an immense sorrow overcome her senses. Shinra has ruined so many lives, she thought, and pulled Vincent's cloak around herself tighter.
Despite recently waking from a dreamless sleep, her legs were tired, and she sat against a side wall of the cave. She dipped her head down into the burgundy fabric and inhaled the scent of her captor and savior. Her mind wandered back to the Harvest. She recalled touching his face, painting on him the face of Death. Guilt rushed over her as she considered the irony of her recent actions. She shook it off and closed her eyes. Once more she was touching him, grabbing handfuls of his hair, kissing him on the balcony. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, reminding Aria of her humanity. She fell so deep into her memory that she did not hear her own motorcycle approaching outside.
"Aria?"
Her head snapped up. At the sight of Vincent, she felt her cheeks burn with private embarrassment. "Hey," she greeted sleepily. "How'd it go?"
"Well," he began, handing her a small loaf of bread, "I don't believe you're a good influence on me."
She raised her eyebrows in curiosity. "Really? What happened?"
"It was more...violent than I'd hoped for," he said, wanting to respect Reno's privacy more than Rufus's reputation. "But you're free to go. For now, at least. Stay away from the entire Midgar area."
"Holy..." she trailed off in awe. "Thank you."
He nodded, and they went silent in reflection. She picked gingerly at the bread.
"It's not much, but I know a good cook nearby. We can go there for breakfast," he explained.
"That sounds nice."
He handed her a small bottle of water from his pocket, then sat down to her left and leaned against the cave wall.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked halfheartedly.
So began a long moment of silence, during which Vincent stared at his former love and let his mind wander to find an answer somewhere in her unmoving face. He recalled his dreams in the Forgotten City, and began mentally holding the two against one another. The scientist was fragile, physically and emotionally. Lucrecia had been cautious and tepid, calculated, reasonable. Her appearance matched: carefully styled hair that smoothly swept across her left cheek, inconsequential jewelry, a strong aversion to tattoos, flawless skin. She was nothing if not safe. Yet, ultimately, she had been helpless. His vision blurred as he switched focus. The woman next to him was clearly strong, as he had noticed more than once. She had independently survived Mako poisoning, and now permanently carried a metal plate across her back. Aria was obviously capable of mental clarity and precision- all Turks were- yet, she was innately wild and carnal, as he had witnessed during the Harvest. She proudly displayed her scars and tattoos like badges of honor. She was emotionally charged, and dangerously reactive. She was everything he had worked to suppress in himself.
"I don't know," he finally replied in a defeated tone.
His response elicited a quiet laugh. Aria took a final bite of bread and a long drink of water before unwrapping the cape from around her shoulders. She wordlessly offered it back to him. He declined just as quietly. As soon as he did, she slid closer to him and laid her head on his thigh, spreading the cape out as a blanket that managed to cover her upper body and most of his legs. Within moments she was asleep.
As she slept, he removed the ever-present leather glove on his right hand and ran his fingers through her dark hair. In the faint light of the cave he noticed fine red streaks running through the underside of her hair. The sight made him sigh, as he knew the artificial coloring was a result from her time in a Mako tank.
After minutes of enjoying the wild silk of Aria's hair, Vincent's eyes drifted back up to the crystal. He froze in anticipation, then relaxed against the cave wall and closed his eyes. There was no pain in his chest.
The sun crept timidly into the cave a few hours later. When Vincent opened his eyes, he was alone, again. This realization made him jump to his feet quickly, but his muscles relaxed when he saw Aria's jacket lying in the sun next to her boots. He stepped over them and out into the light of day.
Aria was lying on her back on the grassy bank, her black pants rolled up to her knees, the lower halves of her legs soaking in the crystal clear lake.
"The elders used to say this lake had healing powers," she remarked upon seeing him. He nodded, having once heard the same tale. "I have my doubts," she admitted, pulling her left leg from the water to show off a small gash in her shin. "Should I be drinking it?"
He shook his head in good humor and knelt beside her to inspect the wound. "What happened?" he asked, expecting this to be the result of some adventurous endeavor.
"I caught a shard of glass at the old Shinra building. It's not getting any smaller. There's probably still some in there," she said. "My exit wasn't as graceful as it could have been."
He stood. "That cook happens to be an excellent healer. I'm sure you can get fixed up there," he suggested, offering his hand. She grabbed it and pulled herself up. They looked, half-expectantly, at each other for a moment. He could not look away from the unearthly glow the sun caused in her artificially green eyes. Then she simply turned and walked back into the cave, leaving him briefly confounded.
Aria returned quickly, fully dressed, jacket zipped, and sunglasses back over her eyes. She handed him the red cloak, which he quickly buckled into place. They looked dangerous together. She grinned at their mutual appreciation for black, then felt her hunger rear its head.
"Let's go."
Author's Note: If you've come this far, then first of all, thank you. Secondly, I apologize for the format of this story. I have yet to find a way to prevent the site from completely destroying my format when I upload my chapters, but thank you for your continued patience. Finally, for those few who leave notes of encouragement, they've not gone unheard, and are greatly appreciated.
