Chapter 11: Vastatio
Thanks goes to Bekas Strife for betaing this chapter and for giving me even more ideas that I think all the fans of this story would appreciate. In this chapter, I've decided to try something new. There will be multiple POV's so I made senseless little titles for each section to try to distinguish each section. I've tried my best to keep each section in character and unique, so please let me know if I did it well enough.
This chapter is dedicated to Lilith Lunatic; thank you for the kind review and all the wonderful PMs.
A new twist
Rage and worry bubbled up in my chest as I looked at the offending phone receiver. The long tone rang out loudly to me and I sighed heavily. My pale finger flicked on the intercom and I called up Rude. Something happened to Reno, and once again I needed to send him aid.
"Did I hear him call you 'big brother'?" chuckled a voice behind me.
I dropped the white receiver onto the cradle and sighed lightly. His cold hand rested lightly on my shoulder and I shook my head.
"Of course that bastard did."
"Sounds like something you would do. It's not hard to believe that you two are related."
"You're even worse than he is, Chaos," I said looking up to those piercing golden eyes, a familiar feeling bubbling up in my chest. "It's not hard to believe that you two are related," I shot right back at him.
"You're probably worse than me and him put together," he purred against my ear.
My eyelids slid close and I felt his warm breath tickle over my lips and I couldn't help the cruel smile that curled on them. My hand snaked up and tugged on his hair until our lips barely touched.
"I need you to get me some more information on that Nibelheim reactor. I need to know if…you-know-who are there."
With my other hand I pushed him away and looked into frustrated crimson eyes. I knew that I could be a pain in the ass, but if I wasn't, where would the fun be in life? Besides, it felt good to fight against the attraction, to show him that I still did have control.
"Them again? I haven't been able to find either of them before, so what makes you think that this time will be any different? They're…dead…"
"Vincent, I don't plan on ever stopping and you know that," I hissed dangerously.
The old man sighed heavily and looked away. He knew that I always got what I wanted and it was useless to try to convince me otherwise. Yes, Vincent and Chaos knew that well. The fact that he was still disagreeing with me on this pissed me off to no end. He knew better, but it seemed that he couldn't help but be the most pathetic pessimist that I knew.
"Sorry, I won't quit, Rufus."
"Don't worry, you'll be recompensed well enough tonight," I sighed, keeping any bitterness out of my voice. "On top of that, I have some information for you as well."
I threw a sealed envelope towards him.
"This is a letter from your father to Lucrecia. It's supposed to have some information on their research, but I left that for you to find out."
He took the envelope with slightly shaky hands and withdrew it into his cloak.
"I'll let you know what it says."
"I know."
Vincent easily slipped into the shadows behind the door as Rude came barging in. It's good to see that he already suspects that something was up with Reno.
"Rude, I need you to head to a Mideel jungle to check up on Reno. I was in communication with him less than ten minutes ago when it was cut off. Find him, and bring his sorry ass back here."
"Yes sir," my Turk replied calmly even though he was seething.
He didn't like that Reno was out and about any more than I did, and I could count on him to bring my half-brother back in one piece.
"Dismissed."
With that, the Costan man walked out cracking his knuckles. It looked like Reno was going to be in a lot of trouble when his partner reached him. That thought made me chuckle. I was an absolutely sadistic bastard, and I knew it. Why try to hide the fact now? It was far better to accept and live with it.
Once he was gone, Vincent came out of the shadows and walked back to the side of my desk. His scarred fingers stroked the collar of my white suit and I placed one of my hands on his gauntlet. The cold golden metal was covered in an assortment of nicks and scratches and I couldn't help but always be impressed with the dexterity that those fingers had.
"I'll leave for Nibelheim in a few days, Rufus. Before I go, I need to check on some of my information and I'll need to drop by and see how Cloud is doing."
"We're lucky that the pregnancy didn't set in," I mumbled still admiring his clawed hand.
"That would have been a problem," Vincent agreed sadly. "He couldn't have handled it."
"Well, you never know," I said smiling sadly at him. "One doesn't truly know what they can handle until they get into that situation."
I refused to let my tears fall once more, but Vincent didn't need to see them to know what I was thinking. No one truly understood how deeply the both of us were involved in this mess, and I would rather keep it that way. I could feel his pain just as clearly as I felt my own and we both knew that things had to be settled soon or one of us would break. On top of that, a now familiar aura of distress emanated from him, making me look away in annoyance. He was obviously thinking about Lucrecia again.
"Do you need anything else, Rufus?"
"Check up on the Leviathan for me. I just want to be sure that Logan is taking good care of them," I snapped in a reply.
"Of course."
"One more thing, lover," I found myself adding with a mischievous tone.
"Yes?"
"Bring some chocolate syrup with you tonight."
His unnatural eyes rolled in annoyance but he nodded. I held out the box of take-out food towards him and he snatched it as he made his way to the open window. That ragged cape that I've been trying to get him to throw away flapped in the breeze behind him, and I sighed once again. I was actually quite surprised that none of my Turks had figured out my relationship with the old ex-Turk yet. All of the hints I threw at them and they still didn't get it? Honestly, why would I order that much food, especially that detestable sweet and sour chicken? I preferred orange chicken myself. It was still fun for me to see how long it would take them to get a clue.
"Rufus?"
I looked up to see him crouching on the ledge of the window, almost looking like the vampire people mistook him for. The Styrofoam box of food kind of ruined the image, though.
"Yes?"
"I won't stop looking for him either. I couldn't."
The pain ate at my heart again, but I nodded in determination. I didn't believe his words at all, but there was no use in arguing with him again about that. With that, Vincent Valentine slipped away to once again scour the city. Fortunately, the both of us had formidable networks of information and when they were both combined, it was only a matter of time until we got what we wanted. Yes, Damon and Sheryl Franklin had better be scared.
The lover to die
The continuous beeping of the alarm clock dragged me out of my happy little dream world. You know, the place where Zack and Aerith were still with me, where Sephiroth was happy and sane, and most of all, where Reno wasn't such a dickhead. Yes, that is my never-to-come-true dream.
My consciousness finally removed itself from sleep and I braced myself for the usual barrage of senses. It seemed like I could hear every single noise from the city of Edge, I could smell things I'd rather not, and I could feel every fiber in the sheets around my body. With practiced ease, my mind began shutting out almost all of the sensations; instinctively, I filtered out the unnecessary stimulation until it was almost human. A sigh of relief brushed past my lips as I opened my heavy eyes.
My eyes were the only thing that I did not dull down, and by now I was used to the incredible perception. I snorted as I thought of the times Reno would drift out of reality just to stare at the beauty of something like wall plaster. I was like that once, but it was too long ago to really remember. He was like an old dog given the ability to see colors; it utterly overwhelmed him and that only made him cuter.
Part of my brain began the hard work of filtering out even more senses as I placed my feet on the cold floor. And yes, feeling the neighbors next door fuck in their kitchen was not a necessary feeling. The tiny vibrations I could feel in the floor were blocked as well as other vibrations that ranged from one of the kids showering down the hall to the spiders creeping along the attic floor.
Once I turned off my annoying alarm clock, I ran my fingers through my messy blond hair and walked down to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I was too lazy to put some clothes on, and I knew that Tifa wouldn't mind in the slightest. Let's just say that this is how I kept my room upstairs.
"Morning, Cloud!" Marlene chirped happily. She was standing on a stool next to Tifa, watching how she made pancakes.
"Ngh," I replied. Everyone knew that I was not a morning person.
"Cloud, you look like shit," Tifa complimented.
"Ngh."
"Wow, you're really talkative," Denzel added as he looked up from his card game with one of the other orphans.
I decided to only sigh as a reply. Grunting was getting tiresome. I sat down in the chair carefully and made sure that my morning erection was already gone. Thankfully it was, and I leaned back to wait for my hot breakfast. Having nothing better to do, my mind wandered off.
Lately, Reno had been acting really funny. It began to happen after the mess with the Franklin doctors, so I blamed it all on shock. Well, I did blame it on shock, but it had been too long for it to still be shock. He had been getting sick a terribly lot lately, and his mood swings were a lot more violent than usual. Shiva, sometimes I think that he acts just like a fucking pregnant woman. I didn't like kids, but I hated pregnant women even more. They were unreasonable and liked to take out their stupid anger issues out on me. It was like I had a damn sign over my head, just asking to be hit by pregnant women.
A headache worked its way to the front of my skull and I sighed heavily. I really did need to lighten up some. I knew I wasn't always easy to deal with, but at least I wasn't as bad as Reno. He needed attention constantly, was always hungry, would gut his own mother for some beer or a pack of cigarettes, and he…always made me happy…
Damn, I knew better than to get attached to people. Every single time I got to close, the person I cared for got killed. But who wouldn't get attached to that loud mouthed, bitchy, sexy, motherfucker?
As Tifa set the plate in front of me I couldn't help the cold feeling that settled in the pit of my stomach. I did it again, and I'll be damned if Reno got himself killed. It was time for our…relationship…to end. I didn't want to fall in love with someone only to see him die, and he was forcing that from me. His actions demanded that I do more than just have steamy sex with him, that I do more than occasionally eat out with him, but I just couldn't do it.
"Are you feeling all right, Cloud?" Tifa asked concernedly while she set the hot plate of food in front of me.
"I'm fine, Teef."
"You're just sleepy is all, right?" Denzel asked.
"Yeah," I lied easily. Tifa didn't look convinced, but she knew better than to ask me what was really wrong. She didn't want me to run off on another job yet again. I was already better than I had been before Sephiroth's rebirth, but I was still prone to running off every once in a while.
"Mr. Reno's been gone for a long time hasn't he?" Marlene asked innocently.
Tifa's head shot up and I felt like slapping my forehead. Tifa wasn't supposed to know that Reno and I were still keeping in touch so all the kids promised to keep silent. After all, that idiot taught the orphans the art of playing poker and black jack, and had made great friends with all of them while he stayed with me.
"Reno?"
"Oops," the little brunette said sheepishly.
"Cloud," the busty woman started in a warning tone.
Thankfully, my cell phone rang before she could begin to chew me out.
"Hold up, let me get that. It's an important call," I lied again. Well, it wasn't really a lie, since anything that saved me from Tifa was on my important list.
I ran upstairs and picked up my heavily decorated cell phone. Yeah, the kids and Reno got to it while I was out doing deliveries, and I haven't had the time to clean all the stickers and glitter off.
"Hello?"
"Cloud?" a deep voice asked. It had a sad and heavy-hearted tone to it that made my stomach churned.
"Yes?"
"It's me, Rude."
"…"
What was I supposed to say?
"Cloud, it's—it's Reno…"
My heart dropped and I felt all the color drain from my face.
Monster
The sights and sounds rushed past me in a constant blur that had become quite a comfort to me after many years. The cold man I was housed in was crouched on the roof of a shabby home in a place called Purgatory. His eyes were trained on the people inside, watching their heat signature courtesy of my demonic eyes.
"Let me do this round of spying," I snorted as he watched the mother give her child a warm hug.
"No," he replied simply.
"It's no fun staying back here all the time. You hardly let me out anymore."
"…"
Just like him to ignore a comment when he doesn't want to answer it.
"You're getting old and predictable, Valentine. Soon, even Rufus will get tired of playing with you."
"Shut your mouth, Chaos, you know that we don't have a choice in the matter," he hissed and I couldn't help but chuckle. All I had to do was mention his little love bunny and he would get all defensive on me.
"If you let me out more often, I wouldn't be such a prick. Ever think about that? Besides, this situation isn't my fault."
"I let you out often enough."
"Jerk."
"Ungrateful ancient demon."
I felt the tiny smile tug at his lips and I gave myself a pat on the back.
"Feel better?" I asked knowing how he felt about children and the whole situation with the Shinra prince.
"Thanks."
We scanned the area and even went through the surrounding areas to be sure that Reno's mother and child were still safe. That Shinra grunt had actually done a decent job in keeping a low profile, and even his neighbors were unaware of his guests. I guess that my son could sufficiently scare the shit out of people when he wanted to. That almost made me proud.
Once we finished up with that, Vinnie and I headed to check up on Cloud. After we finished checking up on him, we planned to head over to Neibelheim reactor. Thankfully, all of our checking up in Edge took a couple of days and we were able to head off earlier than anticipated. We did consider leaving tonight, but the promise of round three with a chocolate addicted Rufus was too tempting. Besides, I needed the strength to survive the long journey.
"Chaos? When we get to Nibelheim, you will be mostly in charge."
I nodded to myself and grinned.
"Let me guess, you think we're going to be needing Cerberus, right?"
"It doesn't hurt to be cautious. I just have a bad feeling."
"I'm not complaining. Besides, some of the other inhabitants in here would love to stretch out as well."
Hearing themselves being mentioned, the other demons stirred from their sleep and began to talk amongst themselves.
"Did he really say that we were going to get out?"
"No way, the King was just pulling our strings. Vincent hasn't really let us out since he got control of the King."
"I think he would do it!"
"Shut up, Galian freak."
"Bring it, Hellmasker!"
"Guys, our arguing isn't going to make the King let us out any faster you know…"
"Shut up Death Gigas. Just shut up."
"All of you need to shut up," Vincent stated, rubbing his temples.
The demons took the hint and went back to their resting. If I was any smarter I would sleep until I was called as well. Being awake was such a pain, and it only made me yearn for control more and more. However, I liked seeing things through Vincent's eyes, and being conscious has made us…dare I say, closer? We still didn't really understand each other, but we had become far more tolerant.
Finally, we reached the Seventh Heaven and both Vincent and I were surprised to see Cloud packing his bag furiously with Tifa fussing all over him. Vinnie perked up our hearing and we could tell that the spiky headed blond was extremely upset and wasn't answering Tifa's questions.
"Cloud, what's going on?! Please, talk to me!"
"I need to leave."
"But why? You're scaring all of us!"
"I'll be back later."
"Cloud! Quit running away! We all need you, every one of us! Marlene, and Denzel, even…"
"Tifa!" Cloud shouted turning on her with fiery eyes. "Leave me the fuck alone! I said I was going to be fucking back, so just leave me alone!"
Not only did he surprise all of us by actually having the balls to yell at Tifa, but what was even more shocking was that a few tears slipped down his cheeks. Cloud Strife, Mr. I-have-a-stick-larger-than-Midgar-shoved-up-my-ass, was slightly crying. Even Tifa was taken aback by this, and she let him brush past her to go to his Fenrir.
"This could be important, Vinnie-boy. Shall we follow up?"
"Yes," Vincent replied quickly. "Unfortunately, Rufus will have to wait for another time."
"Tch, you better let him know or he'll get revenge on us. Again…"
Insanity
"Damn you Reno!" I yelled once I slammed the door to my rental car. My sunglasses slid down my nose a little while I fired up the engine and made my way to the strip club on the outskirts of the village. First off, he runs off to Mideel without letting anyone know, and then I come to check up on him only to find him almost killed by some messed up beast, and now? Now that fucker's off getting himself into even more trouble!
My new leather gloves creaked as I clenched the steering wheel tightly. This entire affair with the mad scientists and who ever the heck June Argos was, was driving all of us insane, but I think it was taking a much heavier toll on my partner. Fuck, what man wouldn't be freaked out about carrying a baby?!
To be honest, I had actually been quite impressed with Reno's behavior up until now. When he discovered his pregnancy, there was no mental break-down, no depression, or bout of denial. After he stormed off that day, Reno came back focused and ready to deal with it. He quit smoking and drinking immediately, and he had been taking pretty good care of himself lately.
Then he just had to go and pull a stunt like this! An exasperated sigh slipped through my lips as I tried to figure out how to get into a fancy joint like the Pink Jaguar without having to show my ID. The only one I had on me was the Turk ID and that was the last thing I needed to be flashing around this place. I already aroused suspicion when I went searching for Reno early and I almost didn't get enough information to find out about Dino. No curse word seemed sufficient for the position I was in, so I settled for staying silent. I would definitely need to keep a cool head.
A few minutes later, I was parked in the near full parking lot and I made my way to the heavily decorated door. For some reason, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and all of my senses went on alert. I slowed down a bit as I made it to the door. Something was definitely wrong here, there was no doubt about it. Silently, I slipped out my pistol and I proceeded cautiously through the door. The only sounds that reached my ears were a dripping noise and heaving breathing from the main floor that was around the corner. I noticed a dark puddle in front of me and as I drew nearer I froze in shock.
The stench hit me full force and it solidified my fears. I eased around the corner, carefully controlling my urge to throw up. Seeing the bodies was even worse than the stench and it was difficult to keep my lunch down. My sharp eyes then caught the small shuddering figure and my breath caught. Although he was well-disguised, I could identify Reno immediately. Quickly glancing around to be sure we were alone, I ran over to his huddled framed.
"Reno! Good Shiva, what the-"
My words got caught in my throat as he turned to look at me. Even the drizzle of blood was not as horrifying as the sight I faced. His irises were red and even with the spray-on tan he was deathly pale. His wide eyes seemed to be empty, looking not at me, but past me. Blood ran over his entire body as if he was bathed in it, but what was even more shocking was the gaping gash in his throat. Before my very own eyes I saw the flesh healing until the wound was nothing more than an angry red streak.
"Ha ha ha, R-rude I can't die yet! Can you believe it?"
His words shocked me even more than the wound in his throat did. He had a cheery tone to his words that just didn't fit in this scene, it was almost as if he…oh Shiva don't tell me that he lost it!
"Oh, but don't worry, no, no, no! I only have so much blood you see, and the more that I lose, the longer it takes for me to heal. So, it will only take a few more tries and I'll be dead! Isn't that great?!"
"Reno, don't-"
"It's fucking important!" he screamed in anger. "Don't you get it?! It's me, I'm-"
More tears streaked down his face and he seemed to change moods again. He looked horrified, and dropped the large shard of glass. He looked around at the room and began to shake. His pale hands clutched my suit jacket and I held him to my chest.
"What's going on Reno?" I whispered.
"I'm…I did this, Rude," he replied in a shaky breath. "I couldn't control it, I should end this, me! B-but..."
His hands clutched at his stomach and I knew that he was thinking about the babies. He looked absolutely lost and his mouth gaped wordlessly. I kissed his forehead and lifted up his chin. His crimson irises began to pale, the gold melting into the red. Its glow became the regular green and his eyes were once again normal. Well, almost normal. They still looked blank, but his time he seemed to go slack in my grip.
"Reno?"
There was no response.
"Reno?!" I asked more urgently.
Only his erratic breathing answered back.
Fear thundered through my veins as I scooped him up into my arms. I needed to get him to a hospital immediately but I vaguely wondered if the damage was more physical or psychological. One thing was certain; I had to take him to another city's hospital. Since these people were already suspicious of us, they would blame me and Reno for this mess and throw us in jail, and there was no time for that.
Reno remained unresponsive during the car drive to my chopper, and the worry in me kept getting larger. In order to keep the blood off the seats, I wrapped him in a thick blanket, and I myself sat on a plastic rain coat. I left the car by the chopper and left some extra money on the inside, and then I was gone. On my way to the next city, I made a rash decision.
I knew that Reno really wanted his relationship with Cloud to work, and I also knew that he would die before telling that pokey-headed blond about the pregnancy. However, right now he needed help; he needed support from someone that he loved, and I wasn't going to be enough. I needed to tell Cloud what was going on and get his help. And if that damn ex-SOLDIER even thinks about dumping Reno and leaving him in this condition, I would take care of him when we got back to Midgar. I cracked my neck in agitation just thinking about that selfish son-of-a-bitch. One look at Reno's huddled form was all it took to get me to make that difficult call.