Na: Ya, I know i was going to update every 5 days or so, but it was finished, and i just finished another chapter today... so i decided to upload chapter 5 today. Hope you enjoy. And review! I wanna know what yall think.

7-19

'Chaos is hiding something,' thought Yuffie. 'I knew I couldn't trust him, seems I was right.' What he said of Vincent, easing his pain instead of curing it? That would never work. He has been in this state too long. Already he has suffered so much, if she could not help him here, then he would simply go crazy in this place. They might be able to escape, but in the long run Vincent would be finished. But then why would he want that?

There was no time to think about that now. It would have to wait until after she dealt with whomever she met at this place. She looked forward and saw the dark passage she had been walking through become an ally-way. The air was dank, and the only light came from the streetlamps ahead. She quickly looked up to sky, but what she saw shocked her briefly. It was one of the plates that separated upper and lower Midgar… She had only been to Midgar once in her life, and that was during AVALANCHE's brief invasion to stop the cannon. But the place still scared the crap out of her. When they were here, Vincent seemed quite at home. He seemed to know the place quite well, which was a comfort to Yuffie. It never occurred to her that he might have lived there. Even though she knew he was a Turk… And that he had entered an orphanage here at age 7.

She continued walking, when she reached the end of the ally way she looked around for Vincent. To her left were some bums, scratching around the dumpsters for food. To her right were… some more bums.

"Took your sweet-!#$%& time…"

Yuffie felt like she jumped a mile high in the air after that unexpected comment. She looked down to her right to see a teenager, taller than she was, he was sitting directly next to her against a building. His hair was frosted white, he wore some well-worn and faded jeans, and a white T-shirt, too small but emphasizing his muscular physique. On top of that was a patterned button shirt that he left unbuttoned. He just stared up Yuffie, a smirk crossed about his face.

"Where did you come from?!" she screamed in fright.

"I've been here the entire time. Now what is it you've come here for?"

"I've come to learn about Vincent, about his regrets."

"Then you can go ahead and leave, I have no regrets." He replied dryly, standing up and walking away.

She could just stare after him. This is Vincent? What happened to the youth and happiness that the boy before this had shown? Where was he? This man's icy coldness, and defensiveness practically screamed Vincent Valentine, But-

"Wait!" she called after him. But he just quickened his pace, taking off around the corner. She could only chase after him, quickly closing the distance. As she rounded the corner, she crashed into him.

They both crashed to the ground. Vincent just jumped up and yelled "Dammit woman what do you want?"

"I just wanna talk."

"Then talk already."

"Well…" Yuffie stammered. "What happened after the younger Vincent… err.. You went to the orphanage? Oh ya? and why didn't you tell the police about what happened to your mother?"

The adolescent Vincent just stared at him for a moment. "He told you about that?"

"He wanted to."

"You're not the sharpest tool in the shed are you? I didn't tell them, because then whomever was trying to kill us would know I was still alive."

Her rolled her eyes back. "That makes sense."

"And after I entered the orphanage." He looked around for a second. "Its right over here, I'll show you." With that he grabbed her hand and ran down a couple blocks then through some alleyways, where they stopped in front of a stoop. Just in time to see an angry Vincent storm out of doors chased by several worried social workers.

"Vincent please! You're making a big deal out of nothing." yelled one of them, just as he passed the spot Yuffie, and her guide were standing.

"NOTHING!" he screamed back. "You're always telling me how lucky I am to be there. How lucky I am there are people who will care for me. Well I'm telling you, its nothing but bad luck that brought me here. If I were lucky, my parents would still be alive! If I were lucky none of this would ever have transpired! If I was lucky I wouldn't have had to watch my parents die!" This was followed by a brief silence. Then a steamy eyed Vincent ran back down the alleyway they had just emerged from.

"After my parents died I was a real fussy kid. Complained about everything. I just didn't want to be happy. So she scolded me about how ungrateful I was. Actually, beside yourself, she is the only other person who I told about how my parents died. Well maybe Chaos, but that doesn't really count. I regret what transpired there. She still thought I was an unwanted child. I'm sure it hurt her much more than me.

Yuffie just looked at him for a minute. "Is this what's been bothering you all this time?"

He just looked at her for a second. "HELL NO! This was nothing. Sure it was sad, but I wouldn't slowly kill my mind over it. Hey, you're the one who wanted to know about my past. I'm getting to the angst, give me a chance. Damn woman…"

Yuffie just looked away for a minute, slightly annoyed.

"So ya... After I left, I did the only thing a young man in my position could do... I joined one of the local gangs... Let me tell you something about the Midgarian gangs in that day, there was such hatred between them, you'd wonder how there could be anything left after 5 years of their constant battling. Predominantly there were 5 primary gangs: Red Skulls, The Sweepers, New Midgar Order, Red Storm and the Zero Types. I was a member of the Sweepers. After I left the orphanage, I went back to the bank and began carrying my PK again. I told you my father put me through a rigorous weapons, movement, and tactic training when I was younger? Being raised in Wutai, I was already very flexible, and agile. But my father unleashed the marksman in me. And that's what I've been since."

"Did you ever have to use your PK?" Yuffie asked, already knowing the answer.

"Allot sooner than you'd think. When I was walking down the street towards the Sweeper HQ, I was opened fire upon by some punks in a convertible. I managed to blow out two of their tires, before they got away. Some of the Sweepers saw this and invited me into their group. I gladly joined. They didn't ask where I came from, or how I was so good with a gun at such a young age. Everyone who is forced to join gangs like that had a tear-jerking-sob-story. I moved up in rank, and during one of the first assaults I was apart of I met her, my first love."

Yuffie looked puzzled, "I thought you loved Lucrecia?"

Vincent just scowled at her. "God damnit woman. That comes later. OK?"

"Fine, geez... don't get all bitchy at me."

"Whatever, anyways..." The two began walking side by side again down the street until they came to a large warehouse. "This was our target, a food and ammo storage unit used by the ZeroTypes." The lights gently faded. It was now the night cycle for lower Midgar (They don't get much real light so they dim and brighten the lights at certain times so the populace can sleep [Much like the SDF1].) As they approached the great sliding doors towards the front two smaller figures quickly approached the doors. One standing back a few feet watching for other people, while the other began picking the lock. After a few moments he pulled the chains of the door with a rattle, and slid the door open about a yard. They slipped in silently, and were quickly followed by 8 others, who emerged from the shadows. Each of them were lightly armed it seemed. Small pistols, and knives. As they entered the Facility, Yuffie watched as the 10 divided into smaller groups and spread about moving in the shadows in search of the unlucky souls that would be guarding this warehouse.

"There were only 6 people guarding the warehouse that day. 3 of them had their throats slit, 2 were shot when they came searching after the noise of their dead comrades, but one was left alive... Because I couldn't bare the thought of killing someone so beautiful." Vincent led Yuffie as they trailed a pair of men slowly stalking their way around the edge of the warehouse to a small storeroom where a light was on. As they approached a gentle humming noise filled the air. They slowly approached the room the door slightly ajar.

There sat a girl no more than 17 perhaps. Dirty blond hair cut short, blue eyes focused on the ceiling and occasionally on the TV monitors against the wall. Her feet were up on table. She wore a pair of tight jeans so you could tell she had legs to die for. Hours of boredom had taken their toll on the girl, she just sat on her chair staring up at the fan. Off and on glancing back and forth to the TV monitors on the table. They showed nothing. No sign of her comrades, no sign of the intruders, and no sign of a forced entry. Everything was just as it had been for the past half year, peaceful. She knew that if she missed something, the two other stations would surely have picked up on it. Presently her partner was on rounds, off to have a look about the warehouse. That was his job, that and to get her more coffee on his way back.

Just then she heard, two consecutive shots, from the sound, they were pretty far away. She immediately slammed her chair down and stared at the television screens. Nothing... Again three more shots, but closer. She got up off her chair and grabbed her SMG. She had to report this quickly, there was no telephone here but there was a terminal in the back she would try to get to. Opening the door, she had no idea what she was walking into. As the door opened, the butt of a knife slammed into her stomach a second person quickly stepped up behind her taking a grip of her gun arm, and in one fluid motion ejected her clip and squeezed the trigger releasing the chambered round into a nearby crate.

With the girl, passed out on the ground, and her weapon now in the hands of her enemies, Vincent (from the memories) and his companion began to debate her immediate future. His companion pointing his pistol towards her body, while Vincent pleaded for her life. Unknown to both of them, the young lady was still conscious, barely. And she was extremely frightened. Finally winning his partner over, they dragged her body back into the watch room and tied her to her chair.

Yuffie from her place was speechless, and sneered to Vincent, "I've never seen you beg anything from anyone before this."

He gave her an angry glare, "She was worth it, I didn't even know her at the time, but I knew she was worth it. So we left her there, tied to the chair."

After they tied her up, her companion began searching for vehicle keys, while Vincent inspected the various weapons stockpiled in the small room.

"Found it!" His partner exclaimed. "Keep looking, if you find something noteworthy, I'll be organizing the transportation in the center section with the others. But we'll be leaving in 10 minutes, so keep up or you'll be left here." With that he left, and Vincent resumed searching the smaller boxes in room.

The girl just looked up at him. "You're not going to find anything, all they keep in here is small arms, and ammo."

"I doubt there is anything noteworthy in this place. Some of the crates fell over near the entrance. This place seems more like a stockpile for a secondhand goods dealer than a gang's weapons-storage stockpile."

"I know what you mean, they keep all the fun stuff in the center area for quick transport."

Vincent flashed a smile at her. "You're hiding something... And I thought you liked me, after all I did save your life a while back." Looking around Vincent noticed a slightly discolored section on the plaster walls. Grabbing a chair in hand he smashed it into the wall that easily broke away.

The girl just looked down at her knees, slightly ashamed at how easily she was read. Inside the wall were two large duffle bags that had been deposited a few days earlier. She was one of the few people who knew about it, and she had given it away. Vincent pulled one of the bags out of the wall and inspected it. It was full to the brim with Gill. Large note bills suffocating in that rather large bag.

Vincent threw the bag over his shoulder. "Consider the second bag an apology for hitting a woman in the stomach. If you'll excuse me, I have to catch my ride."

She was shocked, "Wait!" she cried. "Why are you doing this?"

Vincent just looked at her, "I really have no idea." He began to smile and continued through the door.

She looked away for a second. "Meet me tomorrow. Section 2 Public Park. Its Red Skull territory, so you don't have to worry about an ambush."

Vincent stared back at her. "Alright, tomorrow at Section 2. I'll seeya there around noon."

She smiled. "You'd better get going, the next shift gets here in about 20 minutes."

And with that they parted. And the scene began grow darker, everything fading out.

Yuffie looked over to Vincent who was still visible. "Was that her? Your first love?"

"Yea."

Yuffie smiled, and laughed some. "Vincent you dog! Even after robbing the poor girl blind, you managed to bag the girl."

"Ya, I bagged her alright." Vincent sneered and looked into the darkness recalling her.

"..... Too much information. Anyways, what happened after that?"

"We became a couple, we never saw each other in battle, but we met as much as possible. After sometime, the aggression between our leaders grew, as did the intensity of our gang war. All 5 gangs were spiraling into disaster. Between the 5 to begin with, we were huge, with limited resources though. However four years of inner city guerilla warfare took their toll on our numbers. Everyone was growing increasingly tired of the gang wars, including the government. Midgar's government had probably profited the most from us. As we weakened, they were able to retake control of certain areas. They sold weapons to everyone at exaggerated prices, and they were slowly building a small army, to bring order to Midgar. As I saw it, there were three options; Die in the war, Die immediately after the war, or unite the gangs. Sera, her name was sera by the way." Yuffie nodded "She agreed with me. Long story short, we kidnapped our leaders, had them meet, then they met with the leaders of the other 3 gangs. Immediately afterwards a truce was called, until the gangs grew back in strength. It wasn't peace, but it was a start. However..."

"Isn't there always a 'However'?" Yuffie chimed in.

"The government had no intention of giving us that chance. So a new war broke out, between the remnants of the old gangs, and the government. But for a short time, we were happy. Ya... After my parents died that was the first time I believed things would work out for the best. Dear God how I loved her... It wasn't some animal passion... Well it was that, but there this mental connection between us. She was my world, when I woke she was with me. We did everything together. We took vows, they were our own, and we didn't need a church to recognize them. They were our vows, for our new life together... Everything together... except death." For a moment Vincent just stared into the darkness around them, then his head snapped up. "Except death."

"How did it happen?"

"It was fairly stupid." Vincent walked past Yuffie and it seemed as he passed a dimly illuminated skyline formed behind him. They were now on a roof staring below to a highway. "That was us. We were young, and obviously stupid"

She could see them now, a small red convertible speeding down the highway. Cutting off several cars as it switched lanes. Suddenly from behind a set of sirens began squealing, and multicolored lights flashed, as several lightly armored vehicles pulled up near them.

"We were so plastered we didn't notice them tailing us. This was 2 months into the war. We were winning, the government was beginning to collapse and we were taking its place." Tears began to form in Vincen't eyes. "Its strange... In a way, I'm directly responsible for the rise of the Shinra within Midgar. When the government realized they were losing, they licensed private organization to take direct and lethal action against any and all government enemies. Then the weapons companies moved into Midgar. Shinra, was primarily a weapons company back then. Mako didn't come around for years. Anyways, we're getting to the good part. I just blew out the tires on 2 of them, I was a great shot, even then. And here it comes.

All four occupants of the car were turned around, and watched as the police cars flipped behind them. They were now the only cars on the road, and they were putting great distance between themselves and the cop cars.

"Damn this car is da shit man. We're out cruising those Cruisers!"

"It shouldn't be that fast." The driver exclaimed twisting his head further to get a better look at the fading lights.

"Hand me your rifle scope. Maybe I'll be able to see what they are up to." Said Vincent. "It looks like they are exiting or something. They are still coming, but slowly."

"Speaking of exits." began Sera. The highway has become a city street, so maybe we should find out where we are and get home already. Sera and the driver turned to the front, but Vincent and the passenger kept staring behind them, expecting something to come.

Then suddenly in a shrill voice Sera screamed out. The driver exclaimed 'Holy SHIT!' as he turned the wheel and slammed on the breaks bringing the car to a screeching halt perpendicular to the Shaft of a tanks main cannon. For a moment, all any of them could do was stare. Then the reflexes of the driver kicked in as he slammed on the gas, and the car began to lurch forward, but not before a single tank round slammed into the trunk of the car, spinning the car around and flipping it once. From the rooftop, Yuffie could see it all and hear it all.

[The street was in a T shape, while the car was running straight across the top horizontal street they stopped in front of the tank, which was at the far corner. When they tried to take off, they were hit by the tank round flipped them and now they are down a ways on the vertical street.]

When the car flipped, Vincent and Sera had been thrown clear of the car. Landing a couple of feet behind it. (They weren't wearing the seatbelts.) The driver and the passenger however were still trapped inside the car, safely secured by their safety belts. Moreover, sirens were beginning to approach from the other direction.

"Sera! We have to get them loose and get the hell out of here, if that tank doesn't kill us those cops surely will!"

They both looked around for a moment. "The sewers! I can't lift the manhole covers, you do that, and I'll work on freeing these two." With that she began to fiddle with the doors, trying to work them open.

"SERA!" She twisted around. "Be careful."

Vincent ran about twenty feet down the street before he found a manhole, which he easily hefted. [he's buff]. But there was a rumbling sound in the distance, he looked back and the tank had begun moving. The treads ripping into the cement, and it slowly moved further into the intersection. Then it stopped and the tank's main gun slowly began to move in the direction of the car. Followed by several large clanks as the next shell was loaded into the gun.

As if it were nothing more than a thin plastic disc, Vincent launched the manhole cover through the air with freakish accuracy just as the cannon was fired. And the manhole intercepted the shell a few feet away from the tank. The explosion simply rocked the tank back and forth for a moment, then it was still. He looked back over at the car, Sera had managed to get the passenger out, and was now helping him drag the driver out of his side of the car, seems he was hurt pretty badly. Maybe they could make it out of here in one piece-

But Vincent's thoughts were cut off by the sound of machine gun fire. Looking over his shoulder he saw two policemen opening fire on his friends. Dropping down to his knee, Vincent brought the outsider to bear and killed both officers in a matter of seconds. But it was too late, all three were on the ground, bullet wounds. But he could see Sera, she was still struggling, fumbling with something in her hands. Just then Vincent turned to his left, the sounds of many sirens wailing from down the street in great number. And if that wasn't enough, there was a second sound to his right, the familiar clink of the tank's cannon loading again.

But how? He had hoped at the least that the explosion would have damaged the machine, but it just seemed to have slowed the occupants down some.

In a split second hundreds of thoughts fought their way through his attention seeking notice. There was nothing left, in half a minute the police would arrive, before then the tank would surely fire, and kill all his friends, if any remained. But Sera was still there. If he could get to her, everything would turn out fine, he could feel it.

Vincent brought himself up from one knee and thought to himself, 'If I can just get to her---'

Again his thoughts were cut off by the bang of a small sidearm, the bullet had caught him in the shoulder spinning him around. And a second shot hit him in the leg he had been putting his weight on. He fell headfirst almost directly into the manhole, jerking his head around the last thing he saw before he fell in was Sera, a few yards away the car, and mangled corpses of their friends with a smoking pistol in her hands.

Vincent fell into the manhole but managed to catch the ladder while upside down. And with a whisper like quality he heard her call out, "Vincent." And with all the remaining strength he could muster, he called her name, "Sera!" But his volume was quickly overwhelmed by blast from tank, destroying all hope. He lost his grip on the ladder and fell for what felt like forever before he crashed into the river of diverted floodwaters, being deposited at the edge of the city limits. He let the flow carry him; he had lost all hope.

Na: The whole thing about a car chase I completely stole from this other dude's story. I read his fic like a couple months after the game came out, which was like… I dunno however many years ago. Can't find it anywhere though, the site probably closed by now. No matter. Granted that after so much time, when you're doing something like this there are few things that are original. And if you wanted to cite everything that's been done before… then… well… You'd be screwed like a mutha fugga. But this is the only part that I look at and say: 'ya… I remember that story…'

please don't hate me.....

Have a nice day… Read and Review Please.