Chapter Twenty

Amy had accompanied Peirte to his dinner meeting, which is to say that she'd spent the last three and a half hours standing in the corner of a restaurant, while the doctor and some Shinra brass ate and shot the breeze. Once that was done, Dr. Methius had asked her to bring him back to the lab to sit by while he worked, in case he needed any assistance.

For a long while, he'd been flitting about the lab amassing various things together, placing them onto trays and tables that surrounded where Vincent was still restrained. Peirte had gone about this in almost complete silence, since he hadn't wanted to wake Vincent, as he was clearly unconscious.

Now, however, he was ready to get down to business. He motioned for Amy to come and sit in a nearby chair, so she would be close in case there were trouble. With her located satisfactorily, he went to the side of Vincent's table and leaned down close to his face. "Mr. Valentine?"

Vincent didn't respond at all.

Dr. Methius reached out and placed his hands on the sides of Vincent' face, shaking him slightly. "Mr. Valentine?"

Startled out of his sleep, Vincent gasped and opened up his eyes, finding himself face to face with Peirte. His body still longed for ferium, but the worst of his withdrawal was over. Now, the pain of his wounds was all the remained, and as long as he was perfectly still that was bearable. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"Patience, Mr. Valentine." Peirte picked up a syringe from one of the trays. "You'll get what you want, but it won't be quick."

Vincent saw the syringe, with its uncapped needle and held his breath.

Dr. Methius saw this reaction from him and smiled. "Honestly, with all you've been through, this little thing scares you? Hojo mentioned that you had medical phobias, but honestly!"

Vincent closed his eyes. "Why don't you just kill me?"

"What fun would that be?" Peirte reached down with his free hand, running his index finger down the partially healed incision on Vincent's chest. "Besides, having you gives me a unique opportunity. You see, I have a number of drugs and chemicals that I've wanted to see the effects of on the human body, but many of them just cause instant death due to cardiac failure. In you, I have the solution to this, since your heart is presently the most durable part of your body. Ergo, I can use these drugs on you without that one small side effect, meaning that I can see what other things they can do."

It probably won't be as bad as being cut open, Vincent. Chaos came to attention after several hours of silence.

Vincent replied to his demon verbally, not quite in control of himself yet. "I know."

"You know what, Mr. Valentine?" Dr. Methius leaned closer to him again.

"That it's better," in his fear his mind, still profoundly damaged by the ferium, betrayed him and made him express his thoughts, "than being cut open."

Peirte laughed. "Oh, if you survive the injections, Mr. Valentine, I plan to dissect you to see what the results within your body were, and I hate getting my tissue samples from dead subjects. Fresh is best."

Vincent had heard that very phrase from Hojo during one of the most humiliating moments he'd been subjected to in the lab. His anxiety spiked, and Vincent's body began to shake.

One in the same, aren't they? the demon growled. You shouldn't have come back here, I guess.

Vincent just couldn't manage an inner dialogue, and again he answered Chaos aloud. "You told me to come back here, you wanted his help."

"What's that?" Dr. Methius began to walk around Vincent slowly. "I'm afraid you're not making a whole lot of sense."

Tell him to fuck off, Vincent, Chaos said, almost amused with the situation for the time being.

"Why don't you tell him to fuck off? I don't think I should be going out of my way to piss him off." Vincent opened his eyes and looked over at Peirte.

Peirte narrowed his eyes. "What ever is going on within your mind, Mr. Valentine? Has the ferium truly shattered you mentally that much?"

"It's not the ferium." Vincent saw that damn syringe in the madman's hands.

"Then why do you seem to be talking to someone else?" He was honestly curious. Part of Dr. Methius wondered if Vincent had already snapped.

Go ahead and tell him. I'm sure he'd just love to know what's going on in here.

"Leave me alone. I'm sick of your bullshit." Vincent closed his eyes again.

"And was that directed at me or your imaginary friend?" Peirte asked.

Vincent opened his eyes, and locked gazes with the doctor. "What difference does it make? Maybe it applies to both of you."

"I see." Dr. Methius stopped moving. "No matter, let's get to work shall we? This first drug I developed to combat the damage caused by burns. In theory, it should help stabilize some of the proteins that are damaged by heat, however, as stated before, I never got to test it really, since everyone I've given it to died within minutes of being dosed."

I hope you were paying attention, Vincent. He just said he's going to burn you.

Vincent struggled against his restraints, suddenly losing the last of his composure. His attempts were pointless, but he kept at it until he was physically exhausted.

Peirte rolled his eyes, finding Vincent's apparent cowardice reprehensible. He reached down and picked up the I.V. line that was going into Vincent, which he had placed in the man's arm when he was first pulled out of the cage and strapped to the table. Dr. Methius drove the needle of the syringe into the injection port on the line, and pushed the drug in.

Vincent stopped moving and panted for breath as his strength failed him. A deep burn began to travel up his right arm, as the chemical rushed up his vein and into his bloodstream. He immediately felt nauseous, but with his stomach completely empty, nothing much happened. If he'd possessed a human heart, it would already have stopped from the chemical that had been dispensed into him, but his mechanical heart just kept faithfully pumping away.

Dr. Methius watched with his arms crossed over his chest, observing Vincent for any change. He saw that his prisoner dry heaved a few times, but otherwise he seemed to fair the injection well. "Very good, Mr. Valentine. Congratulations on being the first person in history to survive a dose of that."

This was of little consolation to Vincent. It may not have physically been that bad on him, but the beginnings of his psychological unraveling had been put in place. After all the mental baggage that Hojo had hefted upon him so many years before, Vincent's sanity's breaking point was a lot closer than anyone ever would have imagined. It was a race against time now for him.

-----------------------

Angel felt Jaras and Tifa's eyes upon her. She slipped the phone back in her pocket, knowing that they saw her present state of mind. "That was Rude."

Tifa's eyes went wide. From the end of the conversation she and Jaras had heard, they knew nothing. "What did he just say?"

"That my father is in the Junon lab, and alive." Angel wiped the tears away from her eyes. "But not for long."

Tifa gasped. "Oh God…"

Angel turned to her brother. "Apparently, when Dad saw that you had prevented him from giving the information to Shinra, he said that he was proud of you."

Jaras understood the significance of this. "He didn't really want to go through with it, then…"

"No, I guess he didn't." Angel felt her hands trembling. "Jaras, what are we going to do? We can't let him die!"

Tifa felt a little left out, as the bond between the brother and sister before her kept her to the side. Still, she had to say something. "Please, Angel, if there's anything that ASRIO can do to help him…"

She turned to Tifa. "I'm going to do what I can."

"I'm going to go get him." Jaras crossed his arms over his chest, suddenly looking a lot more like Sephiroth again. "I am the one responsible for all of this, and I am going to be the one that fixes this mess."

Angel shook her head. "No, I'll send in my men. Kimo, Ericson, and Spanky can do this, Jaras. We don't need to risk you."

Jaras cocked an eyebrow. "There is no way I'm leaving the rescue of my father in the hands of someone named Spanky."

"You have a pregnant wife, Jaras." Angel put her hands on her hips. "The last time ASRIO let a man with a baby on the way go on a mission, look at what happened."

"Well, Cid isn't here to sleep with my wife, and I have absolutely no intention of dying on this mission. I will go into that lab, and I will come out with my father." Jaras looked dead serious.

Tifa couldn't believe that Jaras had just thrown out Cid's name, and she realized that he, and apparently Angel as well, knew of her affair. She hung her head in shame and sighed.

Jaras glanced over at his stepmother, but for the moment, his mind was set on action, and his emotions were being driven to the background. Still, he made a halfhearted attempt at an apology. "Tifa, I didn't mean to upset you."

She just shrugged in response. "You're stressed right now, it's okay."

He turned to his sister again. "We need to get on our way now."

"All right. Go up to the conference room." Angel ran and hand down her face. "I'll get in contact with the others and we'll all meet in there in a few minutes and come up with a plan."

Jaras gave her a curt nod and strode out.

Angel looked over at Tifa. "You know he didn't mean to slight you with that comment, right?"

Tifa forced an insincere smile. "I know. It's just that I'm used to him being sort of sweet and endearing, not cold and blunt like that. Sometimes, he runs hot or cold."

Angel realized that her brother now seemed to have the ability to turn his 'Sephirothness' on or off as the situation dictated. She knew that until Vincent was home and safe, Jaras wouldn't be Jaras. "That's just how he is, I guess."

"Like his father." Tifa laughed quietly to herself.

Angel nodded in agreement. "Just like his father."

-----------------------

Whether she was supposed to be an iron stomached Turk or not, Amy had run out of the lab and was standing outside the doors of it, covering her ears with her hands, and fighting the urge to vomit any more than she had. She'd endured watching Vincent being injected with the drug without too much trouble, but when Peirte had produced a blowtorch and started to intentionally burn Vincent's right arm with it, that had been the last straw. Vincent's screams carried out here to the hall where she was, and even with her hands pressed over her ears and her humming loudly, she could still hear his pitiful cries.

When she'd run out, Peirte had looked up from his task momentarily, laughing at her inability to watch what was going on. Within just a few seconds of having the flame of the torch upon Vincent's forearm, it had become obvious that the drug wasn't doing a damn thing to prevent him from being burned. However, Peirte hadn't stopped. He'd now been cooking Vincent alive for a solid five minutes, and he had torched completely down to the bone.

Vincent had been throwing all of his weight against his restraints in agony, but it did nothing but amuse Dr. Methius. His voice was hoarse from his screams, and he began slamming his head back into the table he was strapped to in a weak effort to knock himself out.

Chaos couldn't stand it anymore, and he realized that he needed to give Vincent a reprieve from the pain for at least a moment. He reared up and threw Vincent into a seizure, driving the pain maddened man from consciousness for a while.

Upon seeing that Vincent was convulsing and no longer honestly suffering from the burn, Peirte flicked off the torch and set it down. He leaned closer to Vincent's arm, and blew away the smoke that still drifted up from the horrendous wound he'd just created. The air of the room was sickeningly heavy with the stench of burnt flesh, but to Peirte, it was almost like an aphrodisiac.

He shook his head and straightened up. "Well, I guess we can rack that drug up as a failure. Your contributions to science have begun."

Vincent didn't hear a word of it as Chaos opted to keep him from feeling the pain in his arm for just a little while longer.

Dr. Methius walked over to the lab doors and looked out into the hall. He spotted his Turk standing close by, bent over with her hands over her ears, and a puddle of vomit on the ground before her. "Abran?"

Amy didn't hear him as she kept humming in an attempt to shut out the rest of the world.

Peirte got annoyed. "Abran!"

This time she heard him and she stood up quickly. "Doctor, what can I do for you?"

Dr. Methius gave a false smile. "You didn't hold out very long. We have a lot to do to our charge in there, and I will need you to be a little tougher. You are supposedly a Turk, it's time you began acting like it."

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I just wasn't feeling well before I came back," she lied, knowing that it came off incredibly flimsy. Amy took a few steps closer to him.

Peirte smiled down at her. Although his Turk may have been slightly overweight, she wasn't unattractive at all. Already aroused from his torturing, Dr. Methius found himself staring down into her eyes.

Amy caught her breath as she saw the small change in his demeanor. She examined Peirte closely for the first time, since before now she'd been afraid to gaze at him for more than a few fleeting seconds. His short, dark hair had been slicked back today, and his slate colored eyes stared back at her from behind his glasses. The man tended to generally carry on with an annoyed expression, but that, for the moment, was absent. His thin lips were almost hinting at a smile. Evil or not, on some level, the ASRIO plant found this middle aged madman not to be physically repulsive.

Dr. Methius noticed the way she seemed to be studying him. "Is something on your mind, Abran?"

Embarrassed, she turned away hastily. "No, Doctor."

"You know, as my Turk, you're supposed to do whatever I ask."

Amy felt a chill go down her spine, but she was well versed enough in the rules of Shinra to be able to reply. "However, the company forbids Turks from becoming involved with their charges."

"I suppose they do." He took another step toward her. "But that rule has never stopped anyone before."

Closing her eyes, Amy tried to steel herself from running. The mere thought of this man touching her made her nausea return. "Shouldn't you be getting back to work on Mr. Valentine?"

"He's not going anywhere." Peirte reached out and placed a hand upon her shoulder as she continued to face away from him. "Abran, if you plan to survive this assignment, you will humor me in my requests."

Death didn't seem that much worse an option for the young woman. Her heart began pounding as she feared what might happen. She wanted to run away more than anything but in doing so, her cover would be blown, and she knew it. Amy realized that she was possibly the only thing linking Vincent to ASRIO, and the thought of abandoning her assignment here and leaving him alone with Dr. Methius threw her into the worst internal conflict of her life. She didn't know what to do, and she began shaking.

Peirte felt the sudden anxiety from her and he smiled. The doctor took one step closer to his Turk, and pressed his body against her back. He put his lips next to her ear and whispered, "You have nothing to fear as long as you do what I want."

With him against her as he was, Amy felt a stiffness being pressed against her lower back, and she knew what it was. "Doctor, please…the rules…"

"Fuck the rules, Abran. I haven't had a female Turk assigned to me in over eight years." He extended an arm over her shoulder, and pointed to the wall directly before her. "This is what happens to people that anger me, Abran."

She looked to where he was pointing, seeing a cluster of five bullet holes in the wall. A bloody trail had forever embedded itself in the paint, dragged downward from the marks. Someone had been shot here, and from the looks of the bloodstains all around, they had probably been killed. She had three options-- run and fail her mission thus abandoning Vincent to his fate, staying but refusing and probably being killed, or submitting. There was no way for her to win.

"Do what I wish and I won't harm Mr. Valentine any more tonight," he said quietly, his hot breath dancing across the back of her neck. "You obviously seem to be…unfavorable toward watching his suffering."

This isn't happening, she hoped in vain. I just want to go home. I never asked to be a plant, I'm just a handler, for God's sake! I'm just a handler…

"We can stand here and play this little game as long as you want, Abran." Peirte put his arms around her midsection, pulling her back to him so he could cause more of that pleasant friction between their bodies.

Amy snapped and lost her composure. Tears came to her eyes and she hung her head. Whatever she was about to be put through would be better than what Vincent would continue to endure at the scientist's hands if she didn't distract him for the time being. "Fine…whatever you want, Doctor."

Peirte made her turn around and face him. His eyes narrowed as he placed his hands upon the sides of her face. He leaned forward until their lips met, not put off in the least by the fact she'd just thrown up a few minutes before.

Amy submitted to the kiss, feeling him part her lips with his tongue, which he then let graze against hers. She had never been kissed like this and despite the situation, she moaned faintly.

Peirte pulled away from the kiss, his gaze burning right into her. "Would you like something to help you become…a little more relaxed first?"

Amy felt that there was no way on Earth that she would survive this as it was. The idea of being given alcohol or some sort of sedative first was something she caved to. The woman closed her eyes and nodded slightly.

"All right." His voice was now laced with an almost venomous kindness. He put an arm around her shoulders and led her back into the lab. Peirte brought her into his office and sat her down before his desk. Seeing the tears in her eyes made him frown. "What are you so very scared of? I know at your age that certainly you've done this before. What are you, twenty-seven?"

She blurted out the truth. "No…I haven't. I'm twenty-eight"

"Really?" Peirte was further impassioned at the thought of having a virgin. "Is that so?"

Amy just covered her face with her hands and cried. Maybe running away would have been a better option. She was too confused and terrified to think now.

Dr. Methius opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small amber vial and a syringe. He drew up a small amount of the drug and then knelt at her side. "Take off your suit coat."

She reluctantly did as ordered. Amy couldn't bring herself to look at the syringe in his hands.

Peirte held the syringe in his lips for a moment while he reached out and pushed the sleeve of her shirt up toward her shoulder. He put his left hand around her upper arm, holding it in place and then took the syringe with his other hand and gave her the shot quickly in the muscle.

The sting of the drug was intense, and Amy immediately pulled her arm away and began to rub the injection sight. Through her tears, her voice wavered, "What did you just give me?"

Peirte tossed the empty syringe onto his desk. "Just a little something to help you relax, that's all. Maybe that way, you can enjoy this."

That seemed impossible at the moment. She looked over at the vial that he'd placed on the desk next to her-- Flunitrazepam. Amy had no idea what that was and she didn't really care.

Peirte saw her glance at the vial, and he picked it up and dropped it back into the drawer he'd gotten it from. "It's just a mild sedative and with a little luck, you won't remember a thing."

God, please don't let me remember any of this, she begged in her mind. Within a few minutes, she started to feel drunk and she slumped forward in the chair.

Not wanting her to fall to the floor, Peirte caught her in his arms. The drug was having its intended effect. He carried her out of his office and out to the main part of the lab and into the cage. He placed her down upon the bed within, and then went out and covered the security cameras. That done, he locked the lab door from the inside to make certain that no one could get in.

As Dr. Methius made his way back toward his intended victim, he glanced one more time back at Vincent, seeing that he was apparently conscious again. "Mr. Valentine, I'm pleased to report that you will be getting a reprieve from anymore experimentation tonight. My Turk has graciously volunteered to…take my mind off of you for a while, if you would."

Vincent managed to lift his head just enough to see Peirte as he stepped into the cage and knelt beside the mattress within. He saw the doctor begin to undress the female Turk as she weakly seemed to try fighting him off.

"Don't…" Amy protested as best she could. Her entire body felt as if it was in slow motion, and her thoughts jumbled. Still, Amy knew what Peirte was up to, and she was aware that she wanted him to stop.

Vincent's blood began to boil as he realized that the doctor was getting set to rape the woman. His anger over the situation blazed through his physical pain, charging every part of his being. He could tell that the Turk was crying, as she continued to try to get away from Peirte. Dr. Methius was carrying on anyway, and he had now stripped away her pants.

"Leave her alone!" Vincent shouted out, as he tried once more to get loose from his restraints.

"Just lay there and enjoy the show, Mr. Valentine," Peirte shot back, as he sat up and began to undo his belt.

Vincent began to draw his breaths in faster, knowing that there was no way he could bear to watch him violate the woman. I've got to do something.

I think it's time, Vincent. Chaos could feel something different in Vincent's anger-- something that he hadn't felt in over six years.

Vincent growled, and put absolutely all of his strength into jerking his left arm from its restraints. To his surprise, the buckle on the leather strap snapped, and his arm raised up. He reached over and unlatched the restraint around his damaged right arm, and soon had it loose as well.

Peirte didn't take notice of Vincent's success at breaking loose. He had his pants undone and he was kneeling between Amy's legs, stimulating himself for a moment as he watched her continue her pathetic attempts to get away. Not able to hold back any longer, he lowered himself and tried to force his way into her, but before he found his mark, he felt someone's hands grab onto his lab coat and pull him back.

Vincent threw Peirte a good distance from the Turk. The scientist hit the cage bars with a resounding thud, and sat where he'd landed in shock for a moment. His glasses had been knocked away, and he struggled to focus on the figure at Amy's side. "Mr. Valentine?"

Vincent was standing next to the mattress, glaring over at Peirte. His anger over the situation was continuing to build. Vincent's eye narrowed in his fury and he took a few slow strides over toward the scientist.

"Don't take another step toward me!" Peirte said, his fear coming to the surface. He scrambled up to his feet, hastily pulling his pants back up. At the very least, he didn't want to die half clothed.

Amy, in the meanwhile, began to slowly crawl out of the cage, dragging her clothes with her. Her only objective was to get as far away as possible.

Vincent closed the distance between the doctor and himself. He grabbed the collar of Peirte's lab coat and literally picked him up against the bars by it.

Dr. Methius looked down into Vincent's angry expression, and saw that the other man's eyes were no longer the dark coffee color they had been earlier.

They were red.

"Mr. Valentine, put me down!" Peirte demanded as he kicked futilely trying to free himself.

"You want down?" Vincent hurled the doctor to the other side of the cage. "There, you're down."

Peirte was dazed from this second impact for a moment, but he was with it enough to reach beneath his lab coat and pulled out his gun that he'd reclaimed from Vincent shortly after his arrival. He held the weapon up before him. "Stop right there, Mr. Valentine!"

"I told you before, I don't care if you kill me." Vincent's posture bent forward slightly, and he continued to advance. "Besides, I've been shot plenty of times."

Peirte scowled and pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped through Vincent's left side, but it struck nothing vital. Without his glasses on, his aim was lousy.

Vincent looked down at the injury for a moment, and then resolved to submit to the feeling within him completely. This time, there would be no seizure.

The doctor managed back up to his feet again, while Vincent seemed to momentarily hesitate in his advance. He began side stepping toward the cage door, his eyes wide as he watched Vincent begin to change.

Chaos took over, feeling Vincent's body complete the transformation. The demon's wings erupted and unfurled easily, as Vincent had no shirt on. His skin darkened and his whole form became that of the beast that dwelt within him.

Dr. Methius couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Knowing that he was no match for such a being, he made a mad dash for the door of the cage, aware that he had to get out before it was too late.

Chaos saw him try to flee and took pursuit, lunging for the cage door. Peirte managed to slip out, and he turned to slam the door. The door locked, trapping Chaos inside, but Peirte had made one small mistake in not getting back far enough and the demon reached out and grabbed the madman's right arm.

Peirte shrieked as he attempted to free himself of the beast's grip. Chaos was not about to let go, and pulled for all he was worth. Dr. Methius' arm was pulled from the socket-- a sickening pop emanating from his shoulder. "Let me go!"

This was just too much fun for the demon. He braced himself against the bars and pulled harder.

With his body now forced against the cage door, Peirte wondered if the monster was going to kill him by simply pulling him through the narrow bars. He found it almost impossible to breathe, thanks to all of the pressure being exuded upon him as Chaos continued to mercilessly disjoint his arm.

Chaos growled in his ecstasy over finally being able to have some revenge upon the scientist. With one last show of force, he ripped Peirte's arm off completely.

Finally freed of the demon's hold, Peirte fell backward and away, screaming in his profound pain. He put his remaining hand over his torn shoulder, and rolled onto his back as his consciousness spun in his agony.

Chaos looked down at the severed arm in his taloned hands. His ability to hold onto Vincent's body began to fade. For the time, he was satisfied with what he'd done. Peirte's screams were the sweetest sound he'd ever heard. Vincent fell to the floor of the cage, his body taking back its own form.

Amy was sitting some distance off, trying in her drugged state to get her clothes back on. She managed to get dressed somewhat, and she pulled herself over to the lab doors. Amy struggled to get them unlocked, but after several minutes she got them open.

The would-be Turk tumbled out into the hall outside of the lab doors, just as a janitor was coming off of the elevator.

He hurried over to her side. "Are you okay?"

Relieved to be out of the lab and away from whatever was taking place within, she looked up into the old man's eyes. "No…"

When he heard Dr. Methius' screams emanating from the lab, he pulled his small radio from his belt and called security.

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Jaras waited in the conference room for nearly fifteen minutes before the others began to arrive. First to show up was Kimo, and shortly thereafter came Ericson, Spanky, Porter, and Angel.

They all sat around the table, and Angel took her new place in the chair that had previously belonged to Reno. Being in his place was not what she had ever wanted, but now was not a time for sadness. She looked around the room for a moment, seeing that everyone was waiting for her to speak.

Angel took a deep breath. "All right. Vincent Valentine is alive, and he's in the Junon lab again. Dr. Methius apparently plans to kill him, and I can't let that happen."

Aside from she and Jaras, no one in the room knew that Vincent had shown any remorse for his actions against ASRIO, and the four other men shot glances between each other.

Porter was the only one that dared to say what they were thinking. "All right, Mr. Valentine may have been my friend at one time, but in light of his turning against ASRIO… I know he's your father, Angel, but…"

"He was suffering from ferium addiction, Porter, you know that. His mind had been manipulated by Shinra. He didn't just turn traitor of his own volition, and we've learned that when all was said and done, he was actually happy that he'd ultimately failed his mission. Even if he were untrustworthy, I would rather he be here living out his life in one of our prison cells than to be tortured to death in that lab. Porter, you worked in a Shinra lab at Hojo's side for a long time. You know what it means to be held like that." She kept locked into his green eyes, wanting him to know how important this was to her.

Porter wasn't instantly convinced. "I doubt that Dr. Methius could be as bad as Hojo."

"Maybe or maybe not. We've heard plenty of rumors about him over the years, Port." Kimo crossed his arms over his chest. He'd had the displeasure of meeting Dr. Methius in the flesh before leaving Shinra.

"I know, it's that just in light of how bad things are right now, I'm not sure we should be risking anyone else's life by rushing into the lab in an attempt to rescue someone that might not want to be rescued." Porter leaned back in his chair. He wasn't intentionally trying to be argumentative.

"No one has to go on this mission that doesn't want to." Angel dropped her gaze to the table's surface. "You once said though, Porter, that if Vincent ever needed anything that you would be right there to help him, in light of all he did for you in the past."

Porter knit his brow and sighed. Angel was right.

"Besides, I'm not actually asking you to go into the lab itself, in light of your continued physical disability," Angel said quietly.

Porter looked over at her again. The fact that he had never recovered from what he'd gone through years before had never once bothered him until that moment. Being called on it like he'd just been was emasculating. "Then why am I here?"

"Because you're second in command now, Porter." Angel met his gaze again. "You're involved, like it or not."

The former Turk hadn't given any thought to this at all. Having this promotion thrown into his lap like this was not what he'd expected. "You're…you're making me second?"

Angel offered him a weak smile. "You're the best one for the job, Porter."

Never having been in a position of any real authority before, he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do. The notion that someday he might be in charge should something happen to Angel was overwhelming. He never would have thought he could possibly someday head ASRIO.

Seeing that Porter was, for the moment, no longer going to protest, Angel decided to go on. "In any event, as I said, I want to get Vincent out of that lab, and if anyone doesn't want to be involved, they should leave right now."

No one moved.

"All right." Angel looked at those gathered. "Any ideas?"

"Well, Brad's not going to be back to the base until around ten," Ericson said, having called the pilot earlier when he'd noticed that afternoon that the chopper was gone.

"All right. He'll need an hour or two after returning to refuel, and run his usual checks on the helicopter." Angel looked thoughtful. "So let's say we leave at midnight."

Everyone nodded.

"How do we get in? I know if Reno was here he'd just say drop off on the roof, run down there, grab him and run back up and leave, but as we all know, we were pushing it with that being overdone as it was." Angel smiled to herself.

Kimo thought about the layout of the Junon building, since he'd spent a lot of time there as a Turk. "Let's land on the building across the street and then just walk in."

All those gazed over at him.

Kimo acknowledged them and went on. "I don't know…sneaking in didn't work too well before. If we could have them expecting us somehow, or if there were someone in the building that worked for us who could get away with escorting us to the lab…"

"Amy, Derek's handler is presently in the building under the guise of being a Turk. She should be able to get us in." Angel said, half to herself. It wouldn't matter if Amy's cover was blown at that time, as they could just take her back with them.

Spanky leaned forward onto the table. "Wait, Amy's acting as a Turk? How'd that happen?"

"I needed a plant after we found out that Derek was dead, since I had to have a way to get word of whether or not Vincent was going to show up there." Angel smiled. "Rude got her in."

Porter shook his head. "We can't use her, then."

Angel looked at him.

"If we blow her cover, and she was put into that building by Rude, they might look at him and find out what he's been doing." Porter shrugged. "He's our best person in Shinra, we can't risk compromising him like that."

Angel hung her head and sighed. She wasn't used to coming up with these sorts of plans, and hadn't thought about that small detail. Instantly she knew that making Porter her second in command had been the right thing to do. "You're right."

"The lab is on the fifth floor, right?" Ericson asked.

"Yes." Angel turned her eyes to him.

He thought for a moment. The Junon building was of an older architecture style. The exterior of the building was ornate stonework and glass, with ledges between all the floors. It would be easy to climb. "Let's land on the roof across the street, climb over, and then scale down the outside of the building until we get to the lab level, go in a window and get Vincent. Maybe that way we can avoid tripping the alarms right off the bat."

"But if Vincent isn't in any sort of shape to make it out the window, we would have to get out another way." Angel sank into her seat.

"It's only two floors up to the roof from there." Kimo steepled his fingers before him. "We can use the elevator to get to the roof where Brad can then pick us up-- an homage to Reno's usual way of doing things."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Angel stood up. "Then that's the plan. Be on the airfield at midnight. I want my dad."

Jaras got up, too. "As do I."

-----------------------

Angel went to go see Reno. She'd sent someone to the house earlier to get his video game and when she got to the infirmary, the ASRIO leader saw that he was presently playing it, being propped up my a large pile of pillows.

"Hey Reno," she greeted him.

He ignored her for a moment, being too rapt up in his game.

She sat at his bedside, knowing that he would pay her attention when he was good and ready.

"God damn it! That little bastard beat me again!" Reno let the game fall to his side.

"What little bastard would that be?" Angel asked, grinning. His game had a wireless feature allowing him to go at it with others that had the same system.

Reno looked at her. "Mini Vinny."

Angel outright laughed, remembering that Jaras had bought the boy a video game earlier that day. Apparently Aaron was awake and playing. "So you picked up on his signal?"

"Yeah, I can get him from here. He sent me a text message when he picked me up, telling me that he and Tifa were here and in the prison block." Reno picked his game up again. "We started playin' and he's been kicking my ass."

Seeing Reno humbled at his precious game by her little brother made Angel proud. "Serves you right for what you call him."

"What, Mini Vinny? That's his name, Babe." Reno began fidgeting with the buttons as Aaron challenged him yet again.

"No, his name is Aaron." She shook her head. "I'm sending in a team to go get my father out of the Junon lab. He showed back up there, and Peirte plans to kill him."

Reno paused the game and let it fall to his side again. "Oh really?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't bother to say a damn thing about any of this to me until now because why?" Reno crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because it isn't your concern anymore." Angel stood up and went directly to his bedside, sitting on the bed. "Your only concern right now is getting better."

He suddenly looked hurt. "I see."

"I had to get things rolling on it quickly, Reno." She reached out and touched his cheek. "Don't take it personally."

"And what are you gonna do with him once he's here? I don't know if you noticed or anything, Babe, but he sorta shot me in the fucking face." Reno pointed to the bandages still covering where his eye once had been.

"He was under the influence of ferium. Shinra was using him. We have to help him. I know you'll never forgive my father for what's happened to you, but I can't let him just be killed." Angel felt tears in her eyes at the complexity of it all.

"So we put him down there in a cell with Mini Vinny? Great, you're whole damn family's hogging up my prison block." Reno closed his eye and sighed.

"Our prison block." She gave him a smile. "I know this is all hard on you, Reno. All I can say is that I love you."

"Yeah, I know." He frowned.

"Reno?" Angel suddenly looked concerned.

He just opened his eye and glared at her.

"Aren't you going to say it?"

"No, not anymore. The ladies sure as hell ain't gonna love me now. Not like this." Reno looked away from her.

Now he was just in a bad mood and pouting. Angel rolled her eyes. "All right, be that way. Can I get you anything?"

He put his right hand gently against the side of his head for a moment, but the words once more failed him. "I can't say it, Babe."

Angel reached over to the nightstand and picked up the notepad and paper, giving them over to her husband.

Still upset with his mental glitch, Reno scribbled down something hastily.

Angel took the paper back and read it, her eyes going wide. "Reno!"

His angry expression faded away and he smiled in his new, lopsided way. "Come on, Babe. I just had a brush with death. I think I deserve it."

"Oh dear God! You get shot in the face and you think you need a blow job before you even leave the infirmary?" Angel tried to feign disgust, but it didn't come off as sincere.

Reno just looked at her and cocked his one eyebrow. "So? You gonna?"

Angel stood up and pulled close the privacy curtain around the bed before getting back to his side. There was no one else in here for the time being. "You're a nuisance, you know that, right?"

Seeing that she was going to do as he wished, he settled back into his pillows and pulled the sheets away from his midsection. "Yeah, get to it."

Angel sat on the edge of his bed. "Fine, have it your way."

"At least I'm still in charge of something." Reno's smile widened as he felt her moving toward him. "I guess I can live with that."

She giggled as she reached out and pulled down the waist to his boxers, seeing that he was already excited about the situation. Angel had always felt completely ridiculous about this particular act, but Reno seemed to live for it.

He closed his eye and groaned as she got to the task. Reno let his hands go downward and get tangled into her raven tresses as he guided her along. The fact that they were doing this somewhere other than in their bedroom got to him, and Reno lost control after only about five minutes. "Oh fuck…"

Angel obligatorily took down everything that he gave her, before giggling once more and sitting back up. "There, happy?"

He gave her a lazy smirk. "Yeah. Thanks, Babe."

"Is there anything else you want that isn't obscene?" she asked, pulling his boxers back up and throwing the sheets over him once more.

"Naw, I'm just kinda tired now. I think I'll sleep for a while." Reno reached out and took one of her hands.

"Of course." Angel gave him a smile. He never remained awake for more than a few minutes after any sort of sexual activity.

"Think you could just lay down with me until I fall asleep, though?" he requested sweetly.

Angel nodded, already moving to lay down with him. "You bet. I love you."

"Yeah, I know. As long as you do." Reno closed his eye and drifted off.