Healing

Chapter 9

Around noon the same day the next member of AVALANCHE showed up. He was announced by a scratch on the door, followed by a few loud thumps. Those gathered so far rose from the table in the dining room where they were seated.

"Well, I wonder who that could be." Tifa said and smiled.

"Someone who hasn't learned to knock properly?" Rei replied.

"If I'm guessing right, it's Nanaki, and he might have a little troubble to do that."

"That was the lion, right?"

"We are not entirely sure what he is." Vincent said.

"He looked like a lion." The surgeon replied and shrugged.

It was Nanaki who sat outside the door. The large feline looked very cold. The flame on his tail was smaller than normal and he had ice on his whiskers.

"Oh good, you heard me. I was afraid that you wouldn't. I ended up tackling the door."

"We heard you alright. It sounded like you were going to knock the door down." Cloud teased.

"Please come in Nanaki. It is good to see you." Vincent said and stepped aside to let that large cat in.

"Likewise Vincent. Thank you."

Well inside, said cat suddenly hissed as his fur stood on end and the flame on his tail burned brighter. He had spotted Tseng.

"You?! What in Cetra's name are you doing here?"

The bodyguard remained quiet.

"I'm sorry for the surprise Nanaki." Reeve interfered. "He came as my bodyguard."

"Your what? How can he even be alive?"

"I was wondering that myself…" Cloud said and ran a hand through his spiky hair..

"I guess you are thinking of the episode at the temple of the ancients. We retrieved him shortly after you had gone in. And ShinRa had good medical care in store for it's top employees." Reeve explained.

"And only for those I suppose?" Tifa muttered.

"Yes, well… Now we're trying to treat everyone the same."

"I still do not like him being here."

For the first time since he and Reeve had arrived, Tseng spoke up.

"I think I can explain why. After all; I was the one who caught  Red XIII. On Hojo's orders of course."

The feline hissed again.

"It's Nanaki! Are you willing to do anything for orders?"

"Yes." the Turk calmly answered.

This time Nanaki growled low in his throat and his flame burned even brighter.

"Please calm down Nanaki." Vincent said.

"How can you be so calm about this?"

"Because I used to be the same as him once." The gunman said. " Please. Come with me for a moment. Perhaps I can make you understand."

Still glaring death at the Turk, Nanaki did as he was asked and followed Vincent up the stairs. When they were gone, Tifa sighed.

"This really isn't turning out so well. And Barret isn't even here yet." She turned towards Tseng and jabbed a finger in his chest. "You. The next time someone shows up, you will stay out of sight until we have a chance to explain the situation. Got it?"

The Turk stood his ground, as calm and collected as ever, with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Certainly." He said and nodded.

A few minutes later, Vincent and Nanaki came back. It had gone better than he had thought, to convince Nanaki that he shouldn't tear the Turks throat out. He did understand that the large cat disliked Tseng, especially after hearing the story about Nanaki's capture. Appearenly, the Turks had ambushed him, and Tseng had managed to jam a tranquilizer in his neck. But having had the same job once, and even the same position, Vincent was able to understand Tseng as well. If his guess was correct, the Turk wasn't to thrilled to be there either.

The cat in question walked up to said Turk.

"I understand that you have been offered a truce once already today. I am willing to do the same thing, only under stricter circumstances. You stay out of my way, and I wont bite your head off. I don not want to worry about another needle in my neck. Do we understand each other?"

"Very clearly."

Before anyone had a chance to say anything else, the front door bursted open, and Cid and Barret came barging in with big grins plastered on their faces. Those grins disappeared quickly however, as they noticed the Turk standing in front of a still irritated Nanaki.

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Tseng was not happy. Not one bit.

When he had first arrived with President Reeve, he had thought that perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all. The meeting with Rei had been a pleasant surprise, mostly since she didn't seem to hold a grudge against him. Not that they had ever met, but she was a friend of AVALANCHE after all.

And that Valentine had greeted him like an equal had put him more at ease.

And when it came to Strife and Lockheart, sure they had glared at him a bit but they had offered a truce.

But then came Red XIII. He knew that the cat had gotten much stronger since the time that he and the other Turks had managed to catch him. And since he was under orders not to hurt anyone of AVALANCHE, he wasn't so sure that he would be able to defend himself if the cat had attacked. Not unless he fought dirty, which most likely would have injured his adversary, so that was out of the question. Right before Valentine had calmed the beast down, he could imagine those large fangs sinking into his throat.

But as soon as one danger had been cleared, then came the next. Now Highwind and Wallace stood before him, and they looked like they had murder in their eyes. He cursed himself for not hearing the plane, the Highwind that they were supposed to arrive in.

Everyone seemed to have frozen.

//This is bad.//

A snarl from Barret Wallace broke the ice.

"ShinRa bastard!" He yelled before charging the Turk, throwing a punch at his face. Tseng dodged it, but nevertheless his face was met with the fist of Cid Highwind. The impact threw his head back and made him stagger a few feet back.

"What the fuck are you doin' here, you asshole?!" said pilot yelled.

Tseng didn't answer, which made the two more furious. They charged him again, and the Turk had to fight his instincts for fighting back as he dodged the punches and kicks that were directed at him. But as quickly as the attack had started, it stopped as the two men were restrained by Cloud and Tifa.

"Lemme go! I'm gonna kill him!" Barret snarled at Cloud who had locked him arms behind him back.

"No, you're not." Cloud said in a calm but strained voice as he struggled to hold the much larger man back.

Tseng straightened up and wiped a small trickle of blood from his nose that the pilot's fist had hit head on. It wasn't broken, but it still hurt like hell.

"Barret. Cid, please calm down. He's here with me." Reeve said.

"What the fuck?! Why the hell would you bring him?!" Cid cursed and tried to break loose.

The President of ShinRa sighed and started to explain again.

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Vincent rubbed his eyes and leaned against a wall. This was not turning out as expected, and to make things worse, he felt a headache creeping up at him. But then he heard a voice that made him feel infinitely better.

"Hey, what's goin' on here? What´s all the ruckus about?" Yuffie said, walking through the door with Shera, Elmyra and Marlene in tow.

Seeing her, Vincent felt like something cracked inside him, and like something clicked into place. He had really missed her during the three months that she had been gone.

He quickly pushed himself of the wall and approached her as she saw Tseng.

"Oh…I see…" She said, answering her own question.

"You are not going to attack him, are you Yuffie? I do not wish to have to hold you down."

She flashed a grin at him.

"If that's what it takes to get a hug from you Vinne, I'd be happy to."

Smiling himself, he stepped closer to the young ninja and wrapped his arms around her.

"It is good to see you again Yuffie."

A/N – Beware of virus.

I know, I should be shot on sight for not updating. But working eight hours per day without a real break tends to mess with my mind.

But right now I have a cold, so I'm not able to work. I'm not to happy about that, but I am happy to finally get this damned chapter out. I've really felt guilty about not getting it done sooner.