Chapter 2: Turbulence

Back in Nibleheim, it was late. Marlene was asleep on the couch, and the rest of the group sat quietly around the table, none of them quite sure what do to.

Barret shook his head as he walked over to Marlene. "I hate them Shinra. Even after their gone, they still cause trouble." He picked Marlene up and carried her upstairs to tuck her in.

Tifa looked at Vincent. He sat at the table, staring off at nothing in deep thought. It was painfully obvious to everyone that he was thinking back to his days as a Turk – and to his days with Lucrecia. She wondered if she should talk to him, but dismissed the idea after another quick glance. Maybe later.

The others sat in uncomfortable silence. The only sounds came from Cloud as he flipped the pages of the journal every few minutes. Yuffie squirmed in her seat, Cid lazily puffed a cigarette, and Red sat on the floor with his eyes closed, but not yet asleep.

Vincent suddenly stood up. "Please excuse me," he said quietly. He turned away and walked upstairs.

When he was gone, Tifa shook her head. "I'm worried about him."

"He'll be okay," muttered Cid.

Tifa frowned. "Just so long as he doesn't lock himself away for another thirty years."

Cloud looked up at her. "Maybe someone should keep an eye on him tonight. He needs to pull himself together, and soon." He gestured towards the journal in his hands. "We need to look into this. If Vincent is right, it is possible there will be another Jenova clone. I'm not sure what for yet, but I can't imagine it's for anything good."

Red lifted his head up and opened his eyes. "I will stay by his door tonight."

Cloud nodded. "Thanks, Red."

"Okay, Strife. So how exactly are we going to 'look into this'? We have no idea where the book came from, no idea where any ex-Shinra people are…we have no where to start."

"Let me sleep on that. There's got to be a way," said Cloud.

…

Vincent walked into his room and shut the door behind him. Stepping over to the mirror over his dresser he stared into his haunted eyes.

He remembered that mission so clearly. He remembered the flight to Neiblheim with Gast, Hojo, and Lucrecia, the scientists sent to work on the Jenova project. He remembered how much trouble he had not staring at her – he forced himself to clean out his guns instead, and even then, his eyes still occasionally wandered to the woman sitting at the front of the plane.

Vincent shook his head and flipped off his light. All this thinking wasn't doing him much good. He stretched out on his bed and went to sleep.

…

He woke up and opened his eyes. It was morning, and the sun was streaming in through the window. He rolled over onto his side and smiled at the sleeping woman beside him.

"Are you awake?" he asked softly.

"…No," she said groggily. "What time is it?"

Vincent leaned up on his arm and looked at the clock on the nightstand. "8:36."

"Hmm…breakfast time, huh?"

He laughed. "Yes, I suppose so."

She rubbed her eyes and looked at him with a small smile. "So what are you making?"

"What?"

"Just kidding. I'll go make it. If I'm going to eat something, I want it to be edible," she said as she winked at him.

He watched as she slid out of bed and tied her robe.

He got out of bed and walked to her. "Wait."

"What's the matter?"

"…I'm not that hungry. Breakfast can wait." He stepped closer to her.

"You…are always hungry, my dear," she smiled at him.

He wrapped his arms around her and began to dance slowly. She stared up into his eyes.

"Vincent, what has gotten into you today?"

He laid his head on her shoulder and smiled. "Just happy."

…

Vincent sat up in bed. He looked around the room. It was still dark out. He glanced down at his bed. There was no one there. It was just a dream.

He scratched his head and sighed. This was going to be a long night.

…

Back in Midgar, the three Turks sat at a small table.

A young waitress came over. "You folks know what'chya want?"

Reno looked up at her and grinned. Elena elbowed him sharply before he had a chance to say anything.

"I'll have a chef's salad," said Elena sweetly.

The waitress looked at the two men.

"…Steak and beer," said Rude.

"And you?"

"…" Reno glared at Elena. "I'll just have a burger. And a beer."

The waitress nodded and walked off.

"Elena, you piss me off like no one else," said Reno.

"Reno. I'm hungry, and I don't want to be kicked out of here before I get my food."

"You don't even know what I was going to say to her," he protested.

"I know exactly what you planned on saying."

"Oh really?"

Rude coughed. Reno looked at his friend and sighed.

"Fine. Moving on."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly Elena sighed and leaned in closer. "Reno, we need to move, and soon."

Reno pulled an envelope from his breast pocket and laid it on the table. Elena picked it up and looked inside. There were three tickets to Nibleheim.

Elena looked up at Reno. "I don't care what it takes. I want my revenge. I am not dying until I get it."

Reno softened. "I know, Lena." Rude nodded in agreement.

"We'll be there tomorrow afternoon. I'll meet with Strife and we'll get this thing figured out," Reno said.

…

Vincent awoke and sat up in bed. After waking up the last time, he managed to fall into a fitful, but dreamless sleep.

The sun was still behind the mountains, and it was early in the morning. Vincent dressed quickly and opened the door to go downstairs. He found Red lying asleep at the entrance to his room.

He sighed as he stepped over the sleeping form. 'Lovely – they sent someone to keep an eye on me all night,' he though. He walked downstairs and sat on the couch.

…

Yuffie woke early, as she always did. As she was going through her stretches, she heard the floor squeak as someone walked by.

She opened her door quietly and peeked out into the hall. She saw Vincent going downstairs.

She shut the door and quickly threw on her usual attire and ran her fingers through her short hair in an attempt to tame it. It didn't really work, but then again, she didn't really care.

She began to run to the stairs but stopped herself. If she was going to knock some sense into Vincent, she didn't need everyone else in the house up and listening in.

She walked to the couch and sat next to Vincent.

"You're up early," she commented nonchalantly.

"...I was done sleeping."

Yuffie stared sideways at the man next to her. After a few minutes Vincent looked back at her. "What?" he said, somewhat annoyed.

"We're just worried, that's all."

"It's alright. We'll figure it all out."

"I meant worried about you."

"Please don't. The last thing I need is to cause more people grief."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. This was not easy.

"Vincent, remember a few months ago when you lent me your camera?"

"…Yes. I don't believe you ever returned it…"

Yuffie bit her lip. "That's because I kinda dropped it…"

Vincent sighed.

"I was trying to take a picture of Barret sleeping, 'cause he was in this really funny position on the couch, you know? Anyways, I ran up to my room to get it, right? I tried to pick it up by the strap, only it slipped out of my hand and BAM! Next thing I know it's laying on the ground, in, like, a billion pieces."

Vincent sighed again.

"I cried," added Yuffie.

"It's alright, Yuffie."

She looked right at him. This was working just as she hoped it would. "I'm really sorry, Vincent."

He shook his head. "It's okay."

"No, it's not okay, I wreaked your camera.  Go on, yell at me. I'll give you a free hit if you want." She stuck her face out and shut her eyes, looking as though she were bracing herself for an attack.

"Yuffie!" Vincent pushed her back gently. "It was just a camera. I forgive you."

She smiled. "See? It's not *too* tough, is it?"

Vincent went back to staring at nothing. "What's that?"

"I mean, if you can forgive me for all the crap I've put you through – and I know I've put you through a lot – you can forgive yourself, right?" Yuffie answered softly.

"Yuffie, please... " started Vincent.

"No, I don't care if you don't want to hear it, you need to."

Vincent looked away. "I thank you for your concern, but you do not know the whole story."

The two sat quietly for a bit longer.

"Fine. Mope all you want. I'm going outside."

Vincent closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch. He appreciated knowing that his friends cared about him, and wanted to help in any way they could, but it was better that he kept some of his demons to himself.

To be continued…

A/N: Thank you so much to those who reviewed my last chapter. Means a lot to me. Also, for some reason, the link to the FAQ I have been using didn't show up at the end of my last story, but you can find it at GameFAQS.com.

The story is starting to move along now. I love stories where everything is all tied together somehow, so that's what I'm attempting to do with this story.

Chapter 3, "Withdrawals": The Turks finally meet up with Avalanche, and Cloud discovers why they want to help take down Neo Shinra – and why Vincent is the way he is…

-Grand Spark, 23 July 2003