Forced Evolution:

Hard Day's Night

A dust cloud had settled on the far side of the Sector Four plate; a dense fog of minute debris and chemical discharge that blocked the artificial light of the industrial spotlights posted atop the buildings left standing in the wake the battle between Meteor and Holy. The air was acidic in taste, and thick with dust; making breathing a dangerous prospect an the moment.

"Who the fuck set off that charge?" A voice called in the aftermath, small and tinny to even those in close proximity to the one it had originated from.

Vincent did not answer, instead he looked over at the speaker with seeming disinterest, and waited for the coughing fit to begin. He was rewarded instantly, the sounds of protesting lungs forcing polluted air out violently was soon heard, accompanied by the wet, visceral sounds of retching. Somewhat taken aback by the increasing violence of the natural reaction he was witnessing at the moment, he assisted the figure beside him by covering the person's mouth and nose with his cloak, using his human hand to secure the edges.

Lazy and calm, the winds slowly carried their burden to the west, revealing once again the damaged buildings, and light from the spotlights posted to their exteriors slowly began to seep through, allowing shadows to run rampant. The figure beside him leaned on Vincent slightly, and he jumped inwardly, still unused to physical contact. He looked down at the tri colored head on his shoulder and fought the internal urge to move away.

"Sorry," the person coughed as they tried to straighten." I got knocked through the loop there."

He nodded curtly and took this as an invitation to move away, taking a step back, careful not to upset the other's balance.

"Karae! Vincent! We've got wounded!" A shadow called in the distance.

Karae coughed again, though nowhere near as violently as before, and waved him off with one hand, the other over her mouth.

Taking his cue Vincent made his way towards the distant voice.

------

"Is it set to the correct channel, Jeremy?"

The teen shrugged. "It was an minute ago."

Nanaki's fire tipped tail swung briskly in agitation. He suppressed the urge to growl as Jeremy reentered the com code once more, pressed the send button, and lowered it to Nanaki's face again.

This time, the responding PHS was finally picked up, and Nanaki gave the party at the other end no time before launching into his message. "Vincent, there's been-"

"I've got the rights today." a female alto informed him calmly.

"Karae, there's been a discovery in our area. One of my groups claim they have found some form of a basement below one of the buildings."

A derogatory snort on the other end was his response, followed by coughing and a rather loud clearing of the throat. " Your men prob'ly found a maintenance tunnel for the subway tracks, Nanaki. There's no way there could be a significant amount of empty space in the plates; the whole thing would collapse."

"Nevertheless, I think we should check it out, if only to allay their fears." He argued.

There was a long pause on the other end.

"Karae?"

"Give us a while; we've got wounded here."

Nanaki paused for a second, letting that sink in. This was a new occurrence for the Vincent and Karae's team, they both ran too tight of an operation for that. "What happened?"

" Someone fired an unplanned charge."

Translation: One of the more cocky bastards in the group had decided to play with the dynamite used to break up the heavy deposits of materia that Holy had created; and didn't have the foresight to tell anyone before hand.

Before Nanaki could formulate a response, Karae terminated the call.

-------

Even without his enhanced eyesight, Vincent would have found the man that had called for assistance-- and subsequently the sight of the accident-- simply by following his nose.

Though the most of the dust cloud had been carried off by the wind, the scent of smoke and chemicals still remained heavy in the air, growing progressively stronger as he neared. The man that had called for assistance now followed behind Vincent, apparently realizing that he could find it on his own.

"Where's Karae?" The man asked, seemingly concerned.

Vincent didn't answer at first, he knew the man's name and position --Risadal, Thomas; an explosives technician-- but that was it. The very reason that Karae was his co-leader in the field was, after all, due to the fact that he didn't care to get to know the men and women that worked with him. He was here to continue his penance, not to make friends or engage in small talk. "…..She is resting at the moment."

Thomas frowned. "Why? She hurt? Do I need to go back?" He turned back quickly and may have even took off if Vincent had not halted him with his words.

"She will be fine."

His frown deepened even further. "Yeah, well, I think I'll go check on her."

'And then, there was one,' Vincent thought as he rounded a corner, Thomas' footsteps slapping on the pavement as he ran.

There was still dust here; it intermingled with the smoke and chemical fumes, though it was nowhere near as dense as it had been following the explosion. It tickled Vincent's nose as he breathed, and in the distance he could hear others coughing and sneezing sporadically. The night seemed to be growing darker also, he noticed. Casting his eyes towards the high building, he spotted several spotlights that had been damaged, the protective glass that covered the bulbs shattered. Slivers of small glass tinkled down the side of the buildings, creating strange melodies as they fell towards the bodies of the injured.

A/N: Feedback is nice. It's very nice actually. Wonderful, even. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated. Flames are laughed at and shared with friends over coffee and biscotti at the university library, then summarily dismissed. Can't you feel the love?

A/N/N: Karae's an original character a friend created. I'm using her to balance out the male:female ratio amoung Avalanche. It's also nice to have a character that doesn't really have a set personality; it gives me something I can play around with. Special Note To Mel: Thanks for handing your creation over to me, but for the last time: No, I will not hook her up with Vincent; I don't care how much you whine. Give me a logical explanation and then I might consider it…. Just.. don't hold me to it, okay? J