What's In A Name?

By: Footnote

Act I:

The Turk Named Valentine

Part V:

A Ray of Hope

"Hey, birthday boy!" Shad Davidson called to his companion.  Many months had passed since the early summer deal between Dante and Vincent.  Now it was just starting to get a little nippy outside at this time night after the sun disappeared early on these autumn days, and Mr. Davidson was starting to appreciate that President ShinRa made them wear blue suits.  Vincent, however, was less than pleased that his birthday was on the files at ShinRa since Shad was making such a big deal about it.

"Stop it, Shad," Vincent glared at his superior, not appreciating the unwanted attention he was getting.  Shad, however, was totally enjoying himself.

"Aw, c'mon, sourpuss, you gotta have some fun on your birthday, despite the fact that it's Friday the Thirteenth!  All you ever do is mope around, and you really need to lighten up a little."  The Turk leader had the biggest, goofiest smile on his face that Vincent had ever seen on him.

"Listen to yourself!  You're the leader of the infamous Turks, ShinRa's mafia, and you're telling your subordinate to lighten up.  Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron?" Vincent tried to change the subject and get Shad's mind off of this birthday thing.  All he could do was pray that he hadn't planned a surprise party.

"Even a leader has to have time off, Vince.  I can't always seem like the super-cool guy that I am," Shad grinned at his fellow Turk who in turn rolled his eyes.

"Shad, you're acting like a little kid.  Worse yet, you're acting like an annoying little sister," Vincent yawned and inwardly dreaded any more attention than he was already getting.

"Oh, take a joke, will you?  I swear, if you get any gloomier, ShinRa will have me demoted and make you the Turk leader…" Shad grew up by about ten years in the span of ten seconds.  "Just tryin' to cheer ya up on your birthday is all."  The blonde man ran a hand through his hair and sighed, unhappy that his one and only real friend was so down all the time.  He knew of all people that being a Turk could get you miserable; that was just something that came with the job.  But Vincent's dejectedness was more than his profession, as he knew. 

Women, he inwardly sighed while giving Vincent a knowing look.  Why do they play with us so?  Even when they don't mean to, they can be so confusing!

While Shad ranted inwardly about the opposite sex, Vincent set his mind adrift and it beached itself on Dante's Island.  They had become pretty close.  To the point where Lucrecia seemed to think that Vincent had someone else to worry over, but in the way they acted around each other, there was enough doubt to shove that thought away.  Usually Dante would explain to the Turk what was going on in the basement lab.  She carefully left out any parts with Lucrecia experimenting on herself, but the trials had significantly slowed since they had first begun.  It was never anything horrific, what Ms. D'Angelo did, but it was enough that Vincent didn't like it.  He was scared to death that she'd get Mako poisoning, but she never returned from the basement with glowing eyes, so he assumed that she was handling the experimentation fairly well despite the obvious health strain and risk it caused.

Other times, Dante would give him a vague shove in the right direction.  She never openly said anything, but rather hinted at it.  She also warned him not to think of what she told him too much or else he'd get paranoid.  "And you're paranoid enough as it is!" she always said.  He had kept his end of the bargain easily.  She had trusted him enough with her secret and he trusted her enough to guide him.  Miss Sinamruki had helped him through some hard times so far, and he trusted her.  Maybe not with his all, but he at least trusted her with his life, which according to ShinRa, wasn't that much.

"I'm getting hungry," Shad said suddenly and glanced at a watch hidden beneath his sleeve.  "It's almost eight o'clock.  Wanna stop by the diner before we head back?" 

Vincent shook his head away from his thoughts and heard his stomach growl at the though of food.  Shad barked out a laugh and quirked an eyebrow at his friend's I-didn't-mean-to-do-that face.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

"Um…yeah," the raven-haired Turk agreed with his stomach that it was high time to grab a bite to eat.

The pair made their way to the tiny restaurant on the edge of town.  It wasn't very big, but it was the only real café around.  The Turks knew that because of that, the tiny business would undoubtedly thrive.  Vincent frowned just before he went through the door.  Something wasn't right.  He didn't know what, but he knew something was up with this little restaurant.  His thoughts were suddenly devastated.

"Happy birthday, Mr. Gloom-n-Doom," Dante was there.  She smiled at him and suddenly snapped a little cone hat on his head. 

Vincent felt his stomach tie in a knot and sink surprisingly deep into the gully of his abdomen.  This was not good.  He miserably plucked the hat from his crown and looked at it.  The stupid thing was a Halloween party hat and little bats, black cats, and spiders were crawling around a big R.I.P. tombstone.  His stomach sank so low he felt himself become nauseated.  This was really not good.  The dark Turk looked pleadingly up at Dante, asking her with his eyes why she was publicly humiliating him like this.

Ms. Sinamruki shook her head and winked at him as she whispered, "It was Shad's idea."  Vincent shot a murderous glare to one Shad Davidson, who happened to look up at his pal at that moment.  The man shrugged and motioned to a table where Dr. Gast sat next to another woman.

When Vincent saw the vision sitting next to the good doctor, everything stopped.  Lucrecia, whom he had not seen in almost months now, seven weeks and three days to be exact, sat timidly next to the wall in the booth.  She looked tired and worn but somehow pleased and nervous at the same time.  Vincent felt his heart swell and sink all at once at the realization that she was worried about his reaction.  Ms. D'Angelo glanced him, her shyness overwhelming her for a moment.  The fear showed in her eyes as well as fatigue and her hair was darker than the Turk remembered from lack of sun exposure.  When her eyes finally connected with his own, Vincent took a breath after what seemed like years and blinked out of his reverie.  Finding his eyes, feet, and voice, he whispered a thank you to Dante, who merely nodded in understanding, and kept his eyes glued to Lucrecia as he walked towards the table.  She was so much more beautiful than he remembered.

Dante Sinamruki slid into her seat, across from Lucrecia and Shad came up beside her as everyone looked expectantly at Vincent.

"What?" he asked the group, unsure and not having a place to sit.

"Pull up a chair, Mr. Valentine.  You are, after all, the guest of honor," Dr. Gast motioned to a nearby table with a few too many chairs.  Vincent obediently dragged one over and parked his corpse in it.  The dark-haired Turk placed the little cone hat on the table and glared at like it was a road kill rat. 

"Well, Vince, what do ya want for your birthday?" Shad playfully punched Vincent's arm from where he sat.

"First of all, I want you to stop punching me," the other Turk returned the blow.  Dante rolled her eyes.

"Do boys ever really grow up?" the Oracle asked Lucrecia across the table.  The other woman truly smiled and cheered herself slightly while watching Vincent and Shad quarrel like they were brothers.  Ms. D'Angelo sniggered to herself at how young Shad acted for his age.  He was actually a few months younger than Vincent, which was his excuse for everything.

"Come now, Vince, there's gotta be something I can do for you," Shad insisted to his fellow assassin.

     "Honestly, no.  I can't really think of anything I would want," Vincent shrugged and placed his hands on his thighs underneath the table.

"Well, think of something you do want.  Not something you would want," Dante spoke directly to him, her face serious and somewhat concerned. 

Vincent thought for a moment, trying to come up with something he would actually like.  "I suppose a book would be nice.  Something not too frivolous, but something worth the time to read like a classic novel I haven't heard about."  The Turk continued to ponder something material that he actually desired.  Honestly, all he wanted was to be right with Lucrecia again.  If he could achieve that, then he would never wish for something on his birthday ever again.  With a glance at Shad he added silently, or not wish for something, depending on how you see it.

"Well, I have a small library of just about everything," Lucrecia mentioned suddenly and slowly.  "I'll let you take any book you want."

Vincent nodded thoughtfully, grateful that Lucrecia had spoken as well as opened this opportunity, "That would be nice.  What kinds of things do you have?"

"I have everything from children's series to poetry, classical, biographies, everything.  My tastes vary widely," the woman smiled at him and brought a little of the warm summer to the cool autumn night.

Vincent was truly surprised when she mentioned the selections.  He imagined that he wouldn't be too interested in the children's books, but the poetry sounded okay and the classical didn't sound too back either.  Bless you, Lucrecia, he silently thanked her and just as silently loved her.  The Turk ticked a quick glance over to Dante, who, upon catching his gaze, winked when no one was looking.  He had an overwhelming sense of Fate suddenly and felt that nothing was actually in his hands.  Vincent mentally shrugged off the thought, knowing that, with everything happening with the experiments and Dante herself, it was most likely that nothing was in his hands to begin with.

Snapping out of his daze that in reality only lasted for approximately thirty seconds, Vincent inclined his head towards the woman who sat opposite the Oracle in gratitude, "Thank you, Ms. D'Angelo.  It is much appreciated."

All at once, Dr. Gast, Shad, and Dante all smiled, all knowing what this opened for the pair.  Luckily, neither Vincent nor Lucrecia noticed the contented and eager faces around them.  Ms. D'Angelo studied her plate, trying to avoid Vincent's intense gaze as much as she possibly could considering it was like his eyes were somehow magnetically stuck to hers.  Lucrecia felt like a squirming amoeba beneath a microscope's lens, but Vincent was looking at her like a goddess ascended from the heavens that he had forgotten or sinned against and wanted to atone for it.  She knew that she had to speak to him, let him know that she forgave him.  For what she wasn't sure, but she would let him know that no wrongs had been made.

What has happened to us?  He called me 'Ms. D'Angelo' like we'd never met before!  Lucrecia already knew the answer to her unspoken question.  The JENOVA Project.  It hadn't happened, it was still happening but she knew that she had no time for anything else.  That was one of the reasons why she had her "library" up for grabs at the moment.  She knew she wouldn't have time to read an extra page other than some gene therapy notes she wrote down two weeks ago.

"Well, who's hungry?" Dr. Gast asked the general public.

"Don't mention food around Vincent when he's hungry," Shad advised knowingly to the doctor opposite of him.  The discussed Turk watched his comrade with a cold expression, wary that Shad was planning something.

"Why's that?" Dr. Gast played along.

"Because his stomach will crawl up his gizzard and bite your hands off."

"Shut up, Shad," Vincent snapped, getting annoyed at Shad's sense of humor tonight.  "Enough with the birthday jokes."

"Alright, alright.  Don't go pulling an Uzi on me from under the table or something," Shad held his hands up in surrender as Dante giggled and Lucrecia smiled. 

~*~*~

Okay, I get it, no one likes this fic.  I know it sucks, stop rubbing it in!  If you do like it be a dear and let me know.  If you don't, be a dear and tell me how to make it better.  Thank you for reading this far.  Yes, it's bad, I know, but I wrote this before my writing skills started working right and I got out of writer's block.  So.  There's my excuse.

Disclaimer: I didn't do it, don't sue me.  The people from FF7 aren't mine.  Shad and Dante are.  You get the idea.  Happy Holidays people and thanks for reading this, again!  ~Footy