Shado: Sorry about the delay! My summer vacation has started out pretty hectic with some family trips and there was a little bit of a problem with my computer, but it's passed!

And I'd like a huge thank you for my beta-reader, this chapter needed it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Chapter 14 Demon's Blood

Wings beating frantically, Cloud flew in a desperate race to flee from Midgar. His eyes were once again their natural blues, his mind reeling to figure out why he was flying away at such speed. But he couldn't remember, and so he flew on.

The blonde continued his top speed even when his whole body began to ache, and his wings tired of carrying on such distance. Cloud did not know where he was, or which direction he was heading. By the time the sun was setting, Cloud's body shuddered violently from the cold air current he flew in.

Cloud folded his wings and decided now was the time to return to land. He dived down, straightening and tensing his body as he reached dangerous rates. Cloud's sharp blue eyes recognized mountains peaked with snow just below him. Quickly the blonde spread his wings outward while raising his body upwards with his feet kicking in hopes to slow him down even more.

In mere seconds Cloud's heartbeat raced as he twirled himself in circles to avoid the sharp edges of dark rocks. At some point he gained enough air lift for his wings to cooperate, and Cloud took his chance to stray away from the mountains and toward safer ground.

His feet met soft soil and nearly lost his balance. The bigger of the two wings flapped uneasily and Cloud managed to stand on weak legs. He stood there, shivering, wondering where he was. A wave of dizziness overtook him, and this time his wings were powerless to help balancing his weight and fell flat on his back.

Coughing, Cloud took his time for his body to recover. His shoulders hurt, right at the joint where wing met shoulder blade. His legs felt weak and heavy, as if they were made of lead. Cloud's lungs burned form the sudden change in altitude, increasing the amount of coughing in his chest.

Cloud closed his eyes, calming himself. Within moments his breathing had evened out, and his legs no longer felt so heavy. Five minutes longer and Cloud opened his eyes to observe where he was. The land seemed familiar. The mountains were surrounding him in a tiny little valley of hills.

'This…this was where I fell…' Cloud concluded as a vision of the same landscape but with endless fields of flowers around him entered his mind.

Slowly gathering his strength, the blonde managed to sit up, folding his wings closer to his body. Cloud was back where everything started. The only few differences was that there were no more flowers, and he was closer to a mountain than in the middle of these hills.

Taking a closer look at the dark rocks, Cloud had the sudden feeling he was being watched. With the last of the rays of the sun in the darkening sky, Cloud's eyes glowed a bright green to enhance his vision. It was then he caught the slight movement. Cloud turned to his left, but before he could grasp what he was seeing something pounced on him.

Cloud opened his mouth to scream, but the sound never came when a large claw swiped at his chest. The sharp nails didn't penetrate his skin, but the pad of the claw knocked the wind out of the blonde. Lying on the ground gasping for air, Cloud tried to take a look at his attacker. He felt his heartbeat race in another panic attack.

Round red eyes stared back, and another blow to Cloud's head and he blacked out.

Vincent felt shivers tickle up and down his spine. His shudder was barely noticeable to the naked eye. Even so Cissnei caught the slight movement from the corner of her eye. She turned her head to glance at the elder Turk, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

They had been making slow progress to Midgar, and now they were riding along in the desert on a pair of chocobos. They were just a few miles away from the outskirts of the city just when the sun was setting. After Cissnei turned her gaze away from him, Vincent felt it again. This time the feeling in his gut heightened the worry within his mind.

Unable to ignore it, Vincent urged the chocobo faster towards the city. Confused and alarmed, Cissnei hurried her own chocobo along to keep up. The female Turk wanted to ask why they were running full speed, but she knew he wouldn't answer until they reached their destination.

Vincent had kept himself mostly quiet during the trip, talking only when he needed to. Cissnei didn't mind so much of the silence between them. They hardly knew each other, and they were on a mission for the four angels become five. But something must have made Vincent feel uneasy to hurry the birds along.

When the chocobos reached the city they began to tire, and both Turks slowed them down. A chocobo handler wasn't too far away, and Vincent quickly handed his over. Cissnei did the same with a quick nod to the handler before trotting to catch up with Vincent. Despite his years of disappearance from the city Vincent knew which direction the train station was.

By now they were running full speed. On a sharp turn Vincent skidded to a stop with an arm to help stop Cissnei from running into someone else. The girls yelped at the almost collision, both almost fell from the shock. Vincent used both arms to help them find balance. When they were able to stand on their own feet the ex—Turk let them go.

"Oh! I'm sorry! We didn't mean to run into…you…" Cissnei's eyes widened when she realized who she was standing in front of.

"It's all right! I didn't see you coming." Aerith bit her lip nervously. She glanced up at Vincent, and tilted her head.

Feeling nervous, the ex—Turk took a tentative step back.

"You're an angel, aren't you?" Aerith straightened up, jumping up a little and clapped her hands with glee.

"How do you know?" Vincent raised an eyebrow, slightly hidden underneath the red scarf.

"I…I'm a friend of Cloud! You have to go to the Shinra building! Something has happened to Cloud, the Calamity took control of him! I tried to reach the inside but they wouldn't let me in…" Aerith frowned at her feet in sadness.

"The Calamity?" Cissnei echoed.

"J—Jenova…"

This confirmed the horrible feeling in his gut. Vincent turned to the female Turk.

"Call your boss."

Cissnei did as she was told, dialing Tseng's number.

"Do you want to talk to him?" she asked when her boss' cell rang.

Vincent nodded.

"Cissnei I can't—"

Said Turk handed the device to Vincent.

"What happened to Cloud?"

There was about a minute of silence on the other line. Tseng gathered his courage and managed to pull off a half smile. Not that the legendary Turk was able to see him anyway.

"Ah, you must be Vincent."

"And you must be Wutainese." Vincent said bluntly. He could tell by the other man's voice, but his name was the big give away.

Tseng cleared his throat. "Forgive me, but something went wrong with Private Strife's mind. He went berserk and started to attack everyone else. He took down Sephiroth and Genesis."

Vincent shivered. "When did this happen?"

"Around early afternoon."

Now the ex—Turk was confused. If the incident happened earlier, then why did he start having a bad feeling ten minutes ago? A feeling of dread flowed through his veins.

"…"

"Vincent?" Tseng spoke up, now truly worried.

"How far are you with the investigation?"

"As far as I could find out, Hojo added something else to Cloud's recovery. I can't tell you what it was. He claims it was mako to help ease Cloud's pain. After Cloud had fully recovered, he attacked Sephiroth, then went on to the lobby and killed off Thirds and Seconds. Genesis took him on and fell."

"And Cloud escaped." Vincent concluded.

"More like flew."

"Do you know where he would be?"

"I have Turks keeping an eye out throughout the North. The files say he came from Nibelheim." Tseng sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Well, it looks like a trip back to where he slept for about twenty years was in the near future. Vincent felt rather annoyed of the idea. Another feeling of dread flooded through him when he realized just who was taking care of Cloud during his recovery.

"Where is Hojo now?"

"He's locked up in the Turk's investigation room."

Vincent's lips twitched. "Keep him there. I may have a way to make him sing."

Before Tseng could ask how Vincent hung up.

"Is there a back way into the Turk building?" The ex—Turk asked as he handed the phone back to its original owner.

"Yes."

"Lead us there." Vincent turned to Aerith, who had been watching everything silently. "You may come with us."

He received an instant, sweet smile. "Thank you!"

Cissnei took the lead with a fast pace. She didn't want to run for Aerith's sake, she was wearing her usual dress and high heeled sandals on top of that. Even with her attire Aerith managed to keep up beside Vincent, whose pace was more of a walk with long strides.

The small group was led into an alley, fit for only one person at a time. Vincent allowed Aerith to go first. She gave him a small nod before following Cissnei, squeezing her shoulders closer to her tiny body. It was then Vincent realized that his broad shoulders wouldn't allow room unless he walked sideways.

With a small huff of a sigh, Vincent turned and casually slid through the alley. If the man had his hands up he would have felt very much like a crab crawling on the beach. When Cissnei stopped, she tensed her shoulders up so she could turn and face the door. The other two watched and waited as she struggled to take out her ID card from her back pocket.

The female Turk scanned her ID, and punched in a password. The red light above the door flashed green for clear. Cissnei tried to push the door. The old rusted thing wouldn't budge. Frowning, Cissnei pushed with her whole body weight and the door opened with a loud groan.

Cissnei slipped in, followed by Aerith. Together the two women pulled on the door to allow Vincent enough room to walk in. Once inside he pushed the door with one hand and closed it.

"You couldn't just push it when you were outside?" Cissnei held back a glare at him.

"You didn't ask." Vincent smirked, unseen behind his cloak.

Somehow Aerith knew he was smirking, for she pouted at his direction with a small stomp of her foot. Cissnei raised both eyebrows at the action, but Vincent shrugged the display off. Both women were shorter than him anyway.

Cissnei quickly lead the way to the investigation room. She stopped in the same hall when she saw her boss standing in front of the one way window. He gazed up when he saw movement and smiled at them. The three newcomers came closer, albeit for Aerith she was a little more cautious than the two Turks.

"Thought I would keep an eye on him while we waited for you." Tseng saw Aerith and raised an eyebrow at Cissnei.

"She saw Vincent…" was all she could say.

"Ah. Then would you mind taking her to the infirmary? I'm sure Zack would be more than happy to see another friend by his side." The Head Turk suggested after clearing his throat.

"But I want to—"

"All right." Cissnei nodded, gently pulling Aerith along, more worried for Tseng's choice of words. The Cetra wasn't the only female friend of Zack's.

"You didn't want her to see what I would do." Vincent said when they left, referring to Aerith.

"She's brave to make it up here. Normally she would never leave the slums. I wouldn't want to frighten her to flee and never come back." Tseng crossed his arms.

"She came up here earlier to see Cloud's friends. They sent her away." Vincent glared, suddenly feeling protective of her.

"I wasn't informed of this." Tseng frowned. "Anyway, she probably used the front entrance. Guards were placed everywhere at that area, she wouldn't have gotten in."

Vincent calmed himself. He wanted to save his anger for the madman. Speaking of whom, he glanced through the one way window. Hojo was sitting by the table, facing them. He couldn't see them, so his eyes were at the door, fingers twiddling. Vincent knew that posture. The madman was calculating how to escape from this situation.

"Since you sent the women away, you're granting me permission to go all out on him?"

Tseng visibly shuddered when he made eye contact with those flashing red eyes.

"Permission granted. Not that you'll need to be told." Tseng paused. "Just don't kill the man. Whatever he did to you, he could have done worse."

"Yes, yes he did. He took my son and raised him into the general of Shinra." Vincent opened the door and strolled in.

Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose. But he didn't feel any regrets, the scientist had it coming.

Aerith was literally glomped when she reached the infirmary. The moment Zack saw her he leaped like a bunny on steroids and nearly knocked her to the floor. Cissnei held Aerith up by gripping her tiny shoulders and her own body to be used as a wall.

For the second time today Aerith had to lean on someone to keep her balance. She blushed at the embarrassment.

"Zack…I can't breathe…" Aerith squeaked.

"Oops!" the excited puppy unwrapping his arms and stood back, grinning.

With Zack out of the way Aerith straightened herself and nodded in thanks to Cissnei.

"No need to thank me." Cissnei half smiled before turning her attention to Angeal.

"He hasn't been given any sugar has he?" she pointed to Zack, who was still grinning like a fool.

"Hey! I'm right here you know!"

"Really? I think you're disappearing." Cissnei looked around, avoiding the hyper man. "I can only hear your voice."

Zack opened his mouth to retaliate when Genesis spoke up.

"Leave it, puppy. Something's bothering her and you're making her feel uncomfortable."

Said soldier whirled around to demand what Genesis meant when Angeal planted a kiss on his cheek. Zack instantly blushed and smacked his love playfully on the shoulder. Distraction a clear success, Angeal smiled at the new additions.

"You must be Aerith. I've heard a lot about you." The big man reached out with his hand.

"And you must be Angeal. Glad to finally meet you." Aerith smiled, shaking his hand. She seemed amazed at how her tiny hand was engulfed around the soldier's.

"Ah, so this must be the fair maiden with flowers Zack keeps biting our ears off about." The red commander inclined his head, sitting up with a smirk.

Aerith peered around Angeal's side to see the owner of the strange voice. Her eyes blinked a few quick times when she saw Genesis. She clearly didn't imagine the Angel of the Phoenix to be so glamorous. Aerith was more surprised of the bright blue eyes that greeted her. She suddenly felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze.

"What's the general's status?" Cissnei spoke up, sensing Aerith's anxiety.

"He hasn't woken up yet." Genesis gazed at the sleeping man next to him.

"I've been awake for about an hour, actually." Sephiroth, opening his eyes to smile at his boyfriend.

If Genesis' eyes were uncomfortable, then Sephiroth's were a dangerous blaze of green Aerith had ever seen. She couldn't help but hide herself behind Angeal's body. Zack noticed his friend's strange behavior. He turned to tilt his head at Aerith with a calculating gaze.

"You're afraid of Sephiroth?" he asked.

"He looks…scary." It wasn't only that. The whispers in her head told her to be wary of him. But she didn't want to tell them that.

"Seph isn't scary. Well…yes in the battlefield he is but besides that he's just a big softie." Genesis' smile didn't help Aerith at all.

She shook her head, tensing her body and kept her feet completely still. Aerith made up her mind not to step closer to the injured men.

"She's not going to budge." Angeal informed them.

"Aw, maybe after a while she'll warm up. He really is a big softie." Genesis shrugged.

"What happened to Cloud?" Sephiroth asked Angeal.

"He…went berserk. As you can see he brought down Genesis, and then flew away. Tseng has Turks spread throughout the North keeping an eye out for him." Angeal elaborated.

"No one went after him?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"Genesis was unconscious. I just got back here with Zack a few hours ago with an emergency call. We didn't know what had happened until the nurses brought us up here with you two displayed like rag dolls on the bed." Angeal said crossly.

Aerith tensed, she didn't feel safe here anymore.

Search. Demon's blood. Help Nightmare. Demon's blood. Help Nightmare. The voices of her ancestors echoed within her mind.

Aerith bit her lip as she glanced around for a medical kit. She didn't know who the Nightmare was, but she had an idea where to find the demon's blood. Zack and Cissnei noticed the Cetra's nervousness. The soldier stepped closer with a hand on Aerith's shoulder.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Um…w—well, I…may I ask where the bathroom is?" Aerith thinned her lips. It was the only excuse that came to mind.

"Sure, I'll show the way." Cissnei offered before Zack could open his mouth to give her directions.

"Thank you." Aerith inclined her head, following the female Turk.

Once they were outside, the voices became more persistent.

Demon's blood. Now. Now. Now. Now. Aerith quickly turned and dashed away before Cissnei could realize what had happened.

"I'm sorry!" Aerith screamed as she turned a corner.

"Hey! Wait! Aerith!" Cissnei ran after the girl.

Zack immediately opened the door just in time to see the female Turk dash after the direction Aerith went. Still having sugar in his system, Zack ran like a cheetah after the fleeing Cetra. His mako induced hearing helped him with the twists and turns Aerith's feet dashed around the building.

A few times Zack caught sight of her, but she made a quick turn to get away. Growling at himself, Zack picked up the pace. Only to realize he was going full speed after a woman. A woman who wasn't even given mako shots. And Zack still had sugar in his system!

He realized that she was successful with quick turns. She ran down long hallways, but when he got too close she quickly turned and Zack had to slow down just enough so he won't bang his head at the corner.

And then, mysteriously, somehow, Aerith disappeared. He kept running and running, even taking sharp turns. But after five minutes he didn't see her, and once he stopped for a breather he realized he couldn't hear her feet either.

"Damn!" Zack slapped his knee.

Ow, that stung.

So, Zack did the next best thing. He waited. His breathing calmed, and his legs burned to run again. But instead he listened hard for her movement.

Then he heard the faint footsteps of her shoes. He turned around and jogged towards the sound. It was nearby, but when she came into view she ran. Zack was momentarily confused when he saw that she was carrying a medical kit.

"Wait! Aerith!" Zack yelled after her.

Then he heard another pair of footsteps. Heading straight to Aerith. Zack turned a few sharp turns, not bothering to slow down. He ran into a wall each time, but he didn't care at the moment. Then he heard her yelp in surprise. Zack took it as a cry of help.

He turned a corner with a yell and ran into a man with leather attire, and some red cape. Zack wasn't paying much attention because seconds after colliding to the strange man his face kissed the floor.

"Ow!"

"Hello puppy."

Zack recognized Tseng's distant voice.

"Why 'ello to you too." The young soldier grumbled to the floor.

"S—Sorry. I didn't mean to run off like that, I had to give these to Vincent…something about helping the Nightmare with his blood." Aerith wheezed out weakly. Noticing Tseng, she tilted her head.

"You…you were there when I first met Cloud."

"And we meet again, Miss Gainsborough. I would love to chat, but we need to give Sephiroth a dose of protection from this Jenova." Tseng nodded his head in greeting.

"Found the rifles. You, I will need your help to shoot at the general." Vincent appeared with three rifles, pointing one to Zack.

"I have a name you know." Zack coughed as he sat up, taking the rifle that was handed to him. "Whoa! Wait a minute! I've never handled one of these!"

"Too bad, it's either you or Aerith." Vincent said bluntly. "Now let's go."

Zack stood up and held the rifle he was given, one arm around Aerith for a little bit of support while Tseng dragged him along. When his legs were back into the running, Zack strode along with the currently nameless man with the red cape.

When they reached a hallway near the infirmary, they heard swords clashing. Confused, Zack slowed down with the others to peer over the corner. He nearly gasped at the sight of Sephiroth taking on Angeal and Genesis.

"Sephiroth is—"

"Shh, he doesn't need to know we're here." Tseng smacked the soldier hard enough to make him shut up.

Vincent took the medical kit, kneeling down and took out a needle.

"Demon's blood!" Aerith reminded in a low whisper.

Zack watched as those red eyes flashed into a yellow blaze. He was so shocked he couldn't yelp in fear if he wanted to. And it was a good thing because he would have blown their cover.

Chaos clenched his jaw when he injected the needle into a vein in his left arm, filling it up. He handed it over to Tseng, who loaded it into his rifle. The wingless demon was using his human's own body to take their shared blood.

'You'd better allow me a free day, Vincent. I'll make sure to smack that son of yours around.' Chaos growled at his human.

Vincent didn't reply, but in their shared mind he merely nodded. Typical. The man would face every monster on the planet, and he was dead afraid of needles. Chaos couldn't blame him. It was all because of Hojo he was stuck in a coward's body.

The demon handed the second needle to Zack, who clumsily loaded it. Chaos inhaled as the third one was injected. Really the number of needles pushed his limits. But he still managed to pull through it and loaded the sharp object. He turned to Tseng.

"You take the second shot, soldier boy will go first." Chaos smirked as Zack fumed but said nothing.

Aerith sent a prayer for Zack as he knelt down, barely peering from behind the corner. Keeping himself as calm as possible, Zack raised the rifle and took aim. Just to make sure he hit a vein, Zack aimed at the general's upper arm.

For a moment the soldier hesitated, he didn't know why they were giving Sephiroth blood from some stranger rather than tranquilizers. But considering the situation, Zack pushed away the questions that were bubbling up his throat and pulled the trigger.

Amazingly, the needle hit its target. And Sephiroth didn't notice a thing. He continued on attacking his commanders with his long katana. Zack scooted away to make room for Tseng, who remained standing as he took aim.

The Head Turk took only seconds before his shot penetrated the back of Sephiroth's left shoulder. The needle was mere inches away from the general's heart. This time Sephiroth felt this shot. He turned around, eyes practically burning with anger. Zack shuddered, scooting himself further away from the corner and standing up, hand over the hilt of his sword.

Tseng quickly stepped back and readied his handgun, using his body as a shield for Aerith. Meanwhile Chaos rolled to the center of where the two hallways met. He took only a second for his needle to hit its target, Sephiroth's right shoulder.

Sephiroth stumbled back a little, not expecting a third shot. He took out the needles, but the blood still made it inside him. Now they had to keep themselves from being injured from Sephiroth's sword just long enough until the blood took into effect in his system.

Chaos allowed Vincent full control, and yawned in their shared mind. Vincent almost yawned with him, but clenched his jaw tightly.

'I'll finish my nap. Have fun with him, Vinnie. Don't forget you owe me a free day.' Chaos reminded with a hiss, before promptly falling asleep.

Vincent ignored him. Instead he raised Cerberus and pulled the trigger two times. The long katana flew backwards like helicopter blades. With a shout, Angeal and Genesis ducked close to the floor to avoid the blade as it flew over their heads.

Sephiroth blinked a few times, realizing he was weaponless. Anger bubbled its way up his chest, his eyes sparkling with a mix of intense green and silver. He took a few steps forward to Vincent, but stopped and held a hand up to his forehead. The general suddenly felt dizzy, the female voice within his head was slowly fading.

'No! Not the demon! Kill him! Kill him! Kill…'

And then she vanished.

Sephiroth fell to his knees.

"What…what did you do to me?" he asked weakly as the gunman calmly stepped closer.

"With the mix of mine and Chaos' blood, you will become more resistant to Jenova. At least for a little while, just long enough to locate and destroy that witch." said a baritone voice. The voice was softly pulling Sephiroth into the promises of a peaceful sleep.

And Sephiroth closed his eyes and dreamt of Cloud.

Shado: Oh yea, some Vincent/Chaos vs Sephiroth action. I went there.

But what about our favorite blonde? Will he still be the precious Cloud Seph and Gen love oh so much? -sigh- So many questions, so little time.

For those who have some questions about the blood and shooting Sephiroth with it, do not worry! If you don't get it now, it shall be explained more thoroughly in the next chapter!

Now click the button thingy for the next chapter x3