R.D.D.G: Hello Peoples! Here's Chap. 10. So I'm in a very, very good mood. Okay now in this chap. There is at least one one-sided fluffiness here…you'll see why when it's one-sided when it gets there. As you will probably begin to tell, I like adding song lyrics in my fics. I'm trying to cut back on how many I put in the fic all together...(some of my other ones have like 5 or 6 in them)…I have to of course thank my reviewers. There is KiraLover44 and Lord Makura, You guys rock the socks ^-^.
The month of September passed on by for the gang. With the usual routine of going to school, surviving school, then going home to survive homework, then go to work. Vincent and Sephiroth going to the Shinra Company every weekend like they were supposed to. It was same old, same old. Though as a positive bonus, Rufus was able to convince Grimore to let Vincent go to BLT with them. though the man seemed upset that Vincent would miss one of his training sessions. Speaking of which…
Rufus narrowed his eyes at the dark ceiling as he lay on his back. Vincent sound asleep beside him. Grimore and him had just returned from the company, again with the younger teen in his arms dead asleep. Surely Vincent would have become used to the training routine by now that he wouldn't have been exhausted like that. Rufus sighed quietly as he turned on his side to face the young Valentine. The younger teen had been looking slightly ill for the last couple of weeks. It was always the few days after he came back from the company that he would be ill, then as the week progressed then he would begin to get better again, only for the weekend to hit.
Now getting a better look at Vincent, Rufus could see his, though usually pale, skin was slightly paler than usual. With his ebony locks falling over his faces like tiny waterfalls. Rufus smiled slightly as he gently moved some of the hair from the younger boy's face. He knew something was wrong with the Goth beside him, but he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what. Rufus lay there for a moment staring at the boy beside him. Silently promising to himself that he was going to get to the bottom of this. And being a Shinra, failure was not an option.
Movement beside him drew Rufus from his thoughts as he saw Vincent's brow furrow.
"Mom…" he murmured sadly, as he brows furrowed even more. "Why?…why did you take her?…what has she done?…"
Rufus frowned as he noticed tears begin to form at the corners of the Goth's eyes. Apparently he was having a nightmare about his mother's murder…but how could that be, unless he was… Rufus stared at the younger teen beside him. Hoping, praying that Vincent had not witnessed that sort of horror.
"Stop!" Vincent whimpered in fear. "Kill me instead but don't kill her……Mom!" The tears began to descend down pale cheeks, as Vincent began to tremble.
Cursing, Rufus pulled the younger teen to him and held him close. Apparently he had witnessed the murder. That would surely explain why this boy was so depressed. Though he was capable of hiding his emotions during the day, the night tells a different tale. Vincent continued to cry silently as he remained in the nightmarish hell that consumed him. Hoping to calm the boy down, Rufus began to stroke his head soothingly, the same his own mother did whenever he had nightmares when he was younger.
"It's okay Vincent." Rufus whispered into the Goth's ear, though he figured the boy couldn't hear him. "Shhh…it's okay…"
Remembering a song he had once heard that had, for some odd reason, soothed him when he was upset. Rufus tightened his grip on the teen in his arms slightly as he began to quietly sing.
"While I'm sitting here trying to think of things to say.
Someone lies bleeding in the fields somewhere.
So it would seem we've still got a
Long, long way to go.
I've seen all I want to see
Today…
While I'm sitting here trying to
Move you anyway I can
Someone, son lies dead
In a gutter somewhere…
And it would seem that we've still got
A long, long way to go…
And I can't take it anymore…"
Rufus began to feel the teen in his arms relax a bit as he sang. Apparently the song was doing its job of calming the boy. This made Rufus smile a bit as he continued.
"Turn it off if you want to…
Switch it off
It'll go away…
Turn it off if you want to…
Switch it off
Or look away…
While we're sitting
We talk and talk,
And we talk some more…
Someone's loved one's heart
Stops beating in a street somewhere
So it would seem that we still have a
Long, long way to go
I know…
I've heard all I want to hear
Today…
Turn it off if you want to…
Switch it off
It'll go away…
Turn it off if you want to…
Switch it off
Or look away!…"
The trembling stopped as the young freshman finally relaxed and his pale features finally became serene once more.
"Switch it off…"
Rufus felt a small smile appear on his face as he held the boy close. Glad now that the boy was no longer plagued by nightmares…for tonight anyways. He had a feeling that the nightmares were going to return regardless. At least he now had a way of calming the boy.
"Switch it off…"
Sighing in contentment, Rufus closed his eyes as he willed his own body to relax. It had tensed up once seeing Vincent trembling and crying. Crying…not once, before now, had Rufus seen the young Goth cry. He had seen sorrow in his eyes, but never had he seen those salty droplets fall from those beautiful crimson orbs. That was something, Rufus never wanted to see again.
"Switch it off…"
Still holding the young teen in his arms, Rufus began to fall asleep. The lull of the beating heart next to him, drifting him off into the open embrace of slumber. Before he finally fell asleep, he whispered one last thing in Vincent's ear.
"Turn it off." With that the two teens slept on through the night.
The eerie sound of "Children Praying Against Evil Spirits" sounded in the room, as it reached 4:30. Vincent groaned slightly as he made a move to shut off the alarm, but found that he couldn't. slowly opening his eyes, he saw that he was held against Rufus, whose arms were still wrapped around him almost protectively. Vincent blushed fiercely as he tried to untangle himself from the Junior's arms. failing miserably.
"Rufus." Vincent said shaking the older boy slightly. "Rufus. Wake up."
said boy stirred but did not awaken, much to Vincent's displeasure. "Shinra. Get up…" this time he continued to shake the young shinra until he saw those ocean blue orbs open. Glad now that his captor was awake Vincent raised an eyebrow to him. "mind letting me go sometime?" the blush still staining his pale cheeks. Automatically grateful that it was dark in the room so Rufus wouldn't have been able to see it.
Rufus nodded as he removed his arms from around Vincent who, the instant he was released, moved to shut off his alarm clock. Rufus raised an eyebrow when he finally heard the song that served as the Gothic boy's alarm clock. Shrugging it off, figuring that he was probably never going to get used to it. Rufus studied Vincent. "Morning Vincent. How well did you sleep?"
"same as always. You?"
"pretty good."
"humph…I bet." Vincent muttered as he got out of bed and walked over to his closet, grabbing his summer blues uniform.
Rufus cocked his head towards the younger teen. "what do you mean?"
"well you had a pretty good hold on me didn't you."
Rufus sighed. "you were having a nightmare, and you started to tremble. I didn't want that to escalate so I held you and tried to calm you down." Rufus explained, then added with a hint of sarcasm. "sorry, if I was just trying to help."
Vincent stared at Rufus, paying special attention to his eyes, in the event he was lying. He wasn't. turning away, he grabbed a plain white shirt and his black socks. "it's fine." He said finally after a moment. "I'm going to go get ready." With that he left for the bathroom.
Locking the door behind him and setting his uniform on a hook on the bathroom door, Vincent undressed himself and walked over to the shower, wrapping a towl around his waist in the process. Starting the shower, Vincent began to think. He remembered the dream that Rufus had mentioned clearly, but something confused him. during the worst part of the dream, there had been another voice. It wasn't the strange voices that had been haunting him before hand, but this one was tender. The voice had been singing to him and for some reason that made the nightmare go away entirely. Was that voice Rufus'? Vincent frowned, as he stepped into the shower tub. He could remember the song, as clearly as though he heard the song just a moment ago.
Sighing, Vincent chose to think upon the subject no longer as he closed his eyes and moved his head so that it was under the falling stream of cold water. After a moment, Vincent reached over and grabbed his "Ocean Breeze" shampoo from its spot on the rim of the tub. Rubbing it into his hair, Vincent began to hum the song he had heard. It was actually a nice song, slightly peaceful but at the same time it was a bit depressing…Vincent liked it.
After about ten minutes of showering Vincent shut off the cold water and stepped out of the tub. Grabbing the towl he had used ten minutes ago and wrapped it around his waist as he grabbed a crimson red towl and began to dry his hair. He was beginning to get another headache again, but he had come to expect that over the last couple of weeks, though that did not mean that he enjoyed them.
"Vincent…" Vincent snapped up from his bent over position as he looked around for the source of the voice. Did he just imagine it? the dim lighting in the bathroom didn't really help the situtation any either. Shaking his head, Vincent continued to dry his hair. Shrugging it off as paranoia.
After another ten minutes Vincent walked out of the bathroom fully dressed in his uniform with his hair put up to make it seem like he naturally had short hair. Rufus noticed him and smirked, before he too excited to the bathroom. Vincent blushed slightly at the smirk, still a bit embarrassed by the situation he woke up to that morning. Vincent sat on his bed and began to get his bag ready for the day. Now that he thought about it, Vincent didn't really mind Rufus holding… Vincent shook his head. He did not have feelings for the older teen.
Pulling out his black notebook, Vincent began to finish up the song he was currently working on. successfully taking his mind off of the issue he was contemplating before.
Vincent wrote non-stop for a few minutes, after finishing up the last verse, Vincent began to think up a name for the now completed song. Trying to come up with an idea, Vincent scanned through the song to try and find a good name within the words. One word caught his eye. Haunted. Smirking with contentment, he wrote the word at the top of the page thus naming the song "Haunted". (1)
"writing another one?" Vincent turned his head to see Rufus standing at the door to the bathroom, dressed in his service dress uniform. Vincent nodded as he closed his favorite notebook and placed it into his bag.
Vincent looked back down to the bed as Rufus sat down next to him so he could get his ROTC shoes on. Vincent felt bad for snapping at Rufus earlier…though granted due to circumstances he was still kind of wary of the older teen even holding him. "hey Rufus…" Rufus looked at him to show he was listening. "well…I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier…"
Rufus smirked, but shrugged as he finished tying his shoes. "it's all right." He said. "I kinda had that coming."
Vincent nodded slightly. Not really knowing what else to do.
One for the money
And the free rides
Two for the lie that
Ya denied
All right (all right)
Three for the calls
You've been making
Four for the times
You've been faking…
Rufus sighed as he pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. "this is Rufus." He answered.
"Rufus, this is cadet Kira." Rufus raised an eyebrow. Why the hell was Kira calling him?
"what is it Kira?" Rufus asked.
"you're going to be in charge of my class now, I'm taking over yours." Kira said. now this really raised questions.
"and why pray tell are we switching classes?" Rufus asked.
"eh heh, well long story short I can't deal with some of the NS-1s in my class. And I know you'd be able to whip them into shape." Was the reply.
Rufus sighed. "all right. Since I have no choice in the matter…what period?"
"Seventh." Kira answered.
Rufus thought about it for a moment, almost forgetting that Vincent was right beside him. "well, that means I get my Government class switched." He said thoughtfully. Getting that class switched would in turn get him away from his old friends. Bonus. "all right I'll see you at school."
"later Shinra." Rufus flipped his phone shut, and sighed.
Vincent cocked his head to the side. "what is it?"
"eh, nothing really. Just got my classes changed on me." Rufus answered. "one of the class leaders can't stand his class, so he's having me take over for it. and that just changes my schedule."
Vincent nodded in understanding before it fell silent again and they continued to get ready for another day at school.
After everything was packed, Vincent looked at his cell phone to see that it was 5:50, man time needed to hurry the fuck up. though Vincent didn't particularly like school but it got him away from this hell hole…
Creak! Vincent looked up towards the ceiling. Grimore was up…Vincent cursed. He was up earlier than usual…
Noticing the younger teen's discomfort, Rufus looked at him warily before looking up at the ceiling as well. "Rufus." Vincent said. "can we head for school now?" Rufus looked at Vincent with a confused expression.
"why?" Rufus inquired. "we would be there like what almost an hour early…"
"I feel like taking a long walk this morning." Vincent said quickly covering up the true reason. usually after the "training" sessions, Grimore would wake Vincent early in the morning while Rufus was still sleeping soundly, and Vincent was still sedated, and he would examine him. beat him to test him for his tolerance to pain…though with Vincent basically drugged, those tests did not much good for the scientist, but he continued if not for the chance to beat the young boy. His bruises and cuts from previous session haven't fully healed just yet either, and he was not in the mood to add more to that little collection, thank you.
Reluctantly Rufus nodded, and grabbed his bag, while Vincent grabbed his bag and cover and cellphone.
After turning off all of the lights and Vincent locking his door, the two teens walked up the stairs as quietly as possible.
As they walked into the main hallway Vincent watched the stairs that lead to Grimore's room warily, ready to bolt if Grimore showed up. quietly opening and closing the door behind them, Vincent and Rufus walked out of the house and down the walkway towards the dark, dimly lit streets of Midgar. Putting on their covers as they did so.
"Vincent…" Vincent stopped and turned around trying to find the source of the voice. Seeing no one but Rufus beside him, Vincent turned back around and continued to walk. Noticing the concerned glance the young Shinra sent his way, but at the same time not fully registering it.
who keeps calling my name? Vincent wondered as they walked.
"I am." Vincent stopped yet again, making Rufus stop beside him.
who are you? Vincent thought towards the strange voice. What do you want?
Rufus was starting to worry about the young teen beside him. something was wrong, he could see it in Vincent's eyes. the boy was freaked out about something…could it be that he is still remembering that fateful night? Rufus moved so he was standing right in front of the young Valentine and bent over so that he was looking straight into those entrancing crimson orbs.
"Vincent?" Vincent immediately snapped from his thoughts upon hearing his name. "are you okay?"
Vincent nodded, as he moved away from the young Shinra and continued to walk to School. "yes." Was the only reply. shrugging the mysterious voice off as paranoia, Vincent walked to school Rufus along side him.
They walked for about twenty minutes in silence. Neither of them knowing what to say and both were enjoying the cool breeze of the morning air. Vincent again looking at the moon, which happened to be a waxing crescent.
Coming up with an idea, Rufus smirked as he looked at the young valentine beside him. he was starting to get tired of the silence around them. hoping to get the young teen to sing along Rufus began to sing, "as I sit here, and slowly close my eyes. I take another deep breath…"
Vincent turned his crimson gaze to Rufus with a raised eyebrow and an expression that clearly said, 'what the hell are you doing?'
Cutting off from the song, Rufus shrugged and looked back towards the road in front of them. "just wanted to break the silence." Was the glance's reply.
Vincent quietly chuckled at the older teen beside him. for one thing, the song was compeletly random, and second of all…Vincent just wanted to calm his now full grown headache. He was enjoying the silence of the early morning, it helped soothe him, which helped him relax his muscles, which helped alliviate the pain throughtout his body. didn't stop it completely, but it did help minimize the pain a little.
"so…when are we heading off for BLT?" Vincent asked after a moment. deciding to be nice to Rufus and break the silence.
"should be this Wednesday." Rufus said after a moment. "we can go get our stuff today after school."
Vincent nodded, before his phone rang with the theme song from Jaws. Cursing, Vincent reached for his phone and answered. "yes, Grimore?" he asked, an uneasy feeling spreading into his gut.
"where are you and Rufus?"
"we are heading to the school." Vincent answered calmly, though he was nervous as hell inside.
"well, Vincent I'm going to need you to head back." Grimore said.
"why?"
"well, since you are going on that trip this weekend, and missing your weekly session. We are going to be adding a couple of extra days. I have already notified your school that you will not be there today and tomorrow." Grimore answered. " get home now." With that he hung up.
Vincent lowered the phone from his ear. Flipping it shut as he did so. Rufus, who was watching him as he talked with his guardian, noticed a worried and solemn look in the younger teen's eyes.
"what is it, Vincent?" Rufus asked after a minute. "what did Grimore want?"
"I've got to go back home." Vincent said turning around. "I'm not going to be in school today and tomorrow."
Rufus raised an eyebrow to the young Valentine as he followed the younger teen. "how come."
"well since I'm going to BLT this weekend, I'm going to miss one of my training sessions." Vincent explained. "Grimore wanted to add a couple of days to this one to make up for it."
"what about getting our stuff for BLT?" Rufus asked his shoulders sagging slightly. He was looking forward to that.
Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. "here. this is for my stuff. Ask Sephiroth or Cloud for my size clothes." Vincent said handing the young Shinra the money he had been saving for BLT."
Rufus nodded as he took the money and placed them in his pocket. "any color in particular?" he asked the young Valentine.
Vincent smirked. "black and red." He said. Rufus nodded in understanding.
"all right then I'll see you Tuesday night?"
Vincent nodded. "yeah. Thanks a lot Rufus." He said as he walked away.
"sure…no problem." Rufus said with a small smile on his face. before he called out towards the retreating boy. "Have fun!"
Vincent raised his hand in response to show the blonde behind him that he heard him. as good as the blonde's intentions were, and despite how little about these "training" sessions that Rufus actually knew; Vincent couldn't help but feel a little down-heartened by the statement. Vincent would have "fun" at those sessions the day pigs fly.
Almost as if to humor himself, Vincent looked up into the early morning sky. No sign of the flying pigs…looks like he's not going to have fun…what a shame. Sighing, Vincent pulled out his phone and dialed Cloud's number.
It rang two times before Cloud's tired voice answered. Vincent smirked, the poor blonde apparently had just gotten up and hadn't had his coffee. "cloud here…"
"cloud, it's vincent."
There was the sound of rustling on the other end, before Cloud answered, albeit a little bit more awake than he was a few moments before. "Vin? What's up?"
"I'm not going to be in school today or tomorrow."
There was a yawn. "how come?"
"Grimore's adding some extra days to this weekend's session…" Vincent answered unhappily.
"what?!" Vincent moved the phone away from his ear…yup cloud was now up. "why the hell is he adding more fucking days?!"
"I'm going to BLT this weekend with you guys, remember?" Vincent said. "since I'm going to be gone during the weekend, Grimore decided to get that session out of the way by adding two more days to this one."
"that's messed up!"
"yes." Vincent agreed. "hey cloud, could you do something for me?"
"sure thing vinny, what is it?"
"today, me and Rufus were going to go get our stuff for BLT, but since I'm going to be over at Shinra, Rufus said he could get my stuff…well I need you to tell him, my size clothes."
"why couldn't you tell him? you were just with him right?" Vincent stopped…that's true enough…damn it…
"beginning to wish I had thought of that." Vincent said after a moment.
"well if ya want I can give you his number." Cloud said. Vincent could tell his friend was shaking his head towards him on the other end.
Vincent raised an eyebrow. "may I inquire as to why you have his number?"
"well, since he's staying with you and all…and since he hasn't caused any trouble to us…he seems to be a part of the group now." Cloud said. "the rest of us got his number…I'm shocked you didn't get it either. He's staying with you."
"hence the reason I wouldn't need his number." Vincent said shaking his head towards the blonde.
"so is that a yes, or a no to the do you want his number question?" Cloud asked. "the way I see it, better be safe than sorry. ya never know what will happen."
Vincent sighed. He didn't particularly want Rufus' number, but Cloud did have a point. No one knew what was going to happen in the future. And if something happened with Grimore and he couldn't get a hold of the others…Rufus would be another good person to call…
"sure."
"I'll send ya a text with it." Cloud said with a smile clearly audible in his voice.
"okay."
"see ya Wednesday…and vinny…"
"yeah?"
"good luck." Vincent couldn't help but smile at that.
"thanks…I'll see you wednsday." With that the two hung up. Vincent knew that Cloud wanted to get his coffee so he was not going to keep the blonde from the morning brew.
Vincent continued to walk down the dimly-litted streets of Midgar, feeling slightly lonely now that he wasn't walking with anyone. Usually he never felt that much alone when walking on his own. He had done it for years…had he grown that accustomed to the young Shinra's presence over the course of the month?
Vincent sighed. It is apparent that he had…
Beep! Beep! Vincent checked his phone and saw that he had a text message from Cloud. Opening the message he saw the phone number and quickly saved it to his contacts. After sending Cloud a reply that said 'thx' Vincent went to his contacts and called Rufus.
"Shinra here."
"Rufus, this is Vincent."
"hey. How'd you get my number?"
"Cloud."
Vincent could hear Rufus chuckle slightly on the other end. "ah. I see, so what's up?"
"I had just realized that I could have told you my size while I was walking with you." Vincent said. "I wear size medium."
There was a moment of silence. "damn, you're small…" Rufus said with a note of humor.
"not as small as cloud…"
"no. you're right, you're smaller." Vincent could tell Rufus was enjoying this little converstaion and glared at the phone.
"you better be thankful I can't kill you through the phone shinra." Vincent said in an annoyed tone.
"hey you set me up for that one." Rufus said in his defense. "hey Vincent I'm going to have to let you go. Someone else is trying to call me."
"all right. See you Wednsday." With that Vincent closed his phone, and continued walking back to the house.
It took a good twenty minutes for Vincent to reach the house, opening the door he was greeted by Grimore standing at the stairwell. Apparently he had been waiting for him. "let's go." He said making a move towards the door.
"may I at least go change?" Vincent asked walking towards the stairs that led to his cave. He didn't want to go in his uniform. Cause if it got messed up, then he would have to pay for it.
Grimore glared at him, before kicking the boy in the back. he did not like to be talked back to, especially not from a freak such as the one who stumbled before him.
Unfortunately the teen wasn't able to catch his balance again, due to the force of the kick administered, and fell to the ground. Still glaring at the younger valentine, Grimore walked over and kicked the boy in the chest and stomach as he tried to get back to his feet. Vincent coughed as he felt all the air in his lungs leave as he was, yet again, kicked near the diaphram. "don't you dare talk back to me like that." Grimore snarled before he picked up vincent by the arm and forcibly dragged him towards the entrance towards the stairs that led to the teen's room. "you want to go get changed?" Grimore asked as he opened the door. "well then…go change." With that said he pushed, almost threw, Vincent down the stairs.
As Vincent rolled down the stairs Grimore closed the door before walking away. Vincent stopped at the bottom of the stairs, with his head banging against the door and wall. Vincent cursed as he struggled to stand up. he was sore all over and it didn't help that he now had a migrane. Why did he have to go open his big mouth? He thought as he pulled the key to his room out and unlocked the door and walked in. shutting and locking the door behind him.
Silently groaning in pain, Vincent leaned against the door til some of the pain shooting through his body subsided. Knowing that he had better hurry up, Vincent set about changing out of his uniform, and into his usually pair of black baggy pants, and a tee-shirt that had a picture of Count Dracula from one of his favorite movies, Van Helsing (A/N OMG I love that movie!) that said 'You can judge a man's character by the sound of his heart beat.' Then on the back, it said, as a pun, 'seems like you're fucked up then…' Slipping on his arm warmers, and putting on his boots, Vincent grabbed his key and left the room. Making sure to lock up his room and hid the key in a spot where Rufus was able to find it, since they came up with the hidding spot several weeks previously. Walking up the stairs, Vincent walked over to the front door where Grimore was waiting.
Glaring at the young teen, Grimore opened the door and walked out of the house towards his black car that waited patiently in the parking lot. Vincent sighed as he followed his abuser to the car, the door locked behind him. this was not going to be a fun couple of days. Vincent just knew it…and it only felt like it was going to get worse.
R.D.D.G: kk here's chap. 10. that's a whole lot of writing for one morning don't you agree? I'm sorry for taking too long to write chapter. I had so many road-blocks for this one. Now as I had stated after the first lab scene, I'm hoping to make this one a bit more graphic. Now for main question. What do you guys want me to do to our poor, poor victim…I…I…uh mean vinny while he is in the labs?
okay, I was listening to my all time favorite band, Disturbed and thought that the songs they sang for their new album Indestructible matched our little vinny, so I decided that the songs vinny writes are actually Disturbed songs from Indestructible…that and the fact that I can't songs worth shit. So I don't own those songs.
To give credit, the song Rufus sings to Vincent is "Long, Long Way to Go" by Phil Collins. The song that served as Kira's ringtone…well I have never been able to figure out the name or the artist for it…I think it was ALL…if anyone knows please tell me. And the song that Rufus tried to sing during their little walk is part of "Serenity" by Godsmack.
Please read and review and I hope you guys liked it. I shall see you in chap. 11 ^-^ ja ne.
