Disclaimer: I don't own any of the FF7 characters…yeah…or your mom…Square Enix owns both of them…

Author's Note: Okay, I am writing this chapter as my family is driving down to North Carolina. It is a four hour trip, so I hope to get a lot of it done. Cool. Okay. Here we go.

Be prepared, this chapter is interesting…

Chapter 12

Transformations and Temptations

Lucrecia was sitting alone in her private room, holding a mug of coffee and attempting to relax. It was a rather small living area, with only the barest of necessity: a wooden table with one chair, a rather moldy-looking couch, and what could pass as a kitchenette in the corner. A door on the back wall led to her bedroom, which was no more well appointed than the living room.

She had lived here for the past four years. In all that time she had never had anything to think about besides Shinra's current projects, and the best ways to avoid Dr. Hojo, but now she was sitting there, worrying. It was completely illogical; he was going through a completely normal procedure, but still she couldn't help herself. Shinra had been known to use the basic Materia procedure as a way to perform other experiments on a body. Hojo had told the boy he was being used as an agent and not as a test subject, but there was no way of knowing if that was true.

Vincent could come out of the surgery completely different than he had been going in. And, having spoken with him a couple times, it would be a shame. A nicer guy you couldn't hope to meet.

And even worse, Lucrecia wasn't sure if something hadn't already been done to him. When he had been brought in, they had given him an arm; a serious procedure it was true, but not one that necessitated a month of stasis. What had been happening to his body while he had been in that tank? She shuddered. She liked to avoid thinking about that room, it was too painful.

Fortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by a pounding on the door. She set her mug on the table and rose to her feet. Dialing the keypad that unlocked the door, she opened it. She gasped in horror at what she saw.

A silver-haired boy of about eighteen stood before her. He was breathing heavily and bleeding out of a thin gash across his forehead. Before she could say anything, he pushed into the room and slammed the door behind them.

"Miss Lucrecia!" he gasped, "You have to help me!"

Lucrecia couldn't bring herself to answer. His body had aged almost two years since she had last seen him, and his eyes were even brighter. He looked sick, and with the amount of Mako that had been pumped into him, he should barely have been able to move, but Sephiroth had always gone beyond Shinra's wildest dreams. His body took unbelievably well to all the experiments. But his mind never had.

"Did you escape again?" she asked him.

"Yes," he nodded, "I killed two guards and ran."

Lucrecia squeezed her eyes shut. "Sephiroth, no…"

Seph hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "But I had to…You don't know what they're doing to me." There was a wild, almost animal-like look on his face. "There's things I think about doing, bad things. I want to kill people, Miss Lucrecia, and it's there fault, they're doing this to me! Don't you understand?" He grabbed her wrist. His grip was stronger than anything Lucrecia had ever felt before, and she yelled.

The door banged open. Standing on the threshold was Dr. Hojo, along with three Soldier guards, all armed with stun rods. Two of them grabbed Seph around the arms. He struggled and managed to throw one to the ground, but the other touched the tip of the rod to his shoulder, and he collapsed, hit by volts of raw electricity. The other Soldier joined the first two in dragging Seph from the room.

Lucrecia put a hand over her mouth, holding back a sob. She sank onto her only chair. This was why she hated living here. But what other choice did she have? She knew everything about Shinra's projects, so she could never leave, once a Shinra employee, always a Shinra employee. Her only other option was death, and that wasn't one she wanted to consider.

Hojo was still watching her from the threshold. His gaze just made her feel worse. She turned away from him, but then she felt his hand on the back of her head. She flinched, but he didn't remove it.

"I know this is difficult for you, my dear," he said, stroking her head, "But allowances must be made. It hurts me to see you like this."

Lucrecia snorted. "Yes, because you care about me so damn much."

"I do," Hojo answered, and for a moment, she almost believed him. But looking up, she saw those lightless, dead eyes and knew this man couldn't care about anything in the world.

Vincent shook his head groggily, back and forth. He had the strong impression that there were two lead weights on his eyelids, dragging them downwards. He wanted to get up, but he couldn't get his legs to move. This was the first time he had ever experienced the strange effects of anesthesia. He had gone into the surgery to have his body outfitted for Materia that morning, and he was just beginning to wake up. The procedure had been part of the deal he and Hojo had struck. Any agent of the Shinra corporation had to use Materia, Hojo had insisted.

"Why?" Vincent had asked. He didn't want anything to do with the stuff.

"Because," Hojo had answered, "Someone like you can't even hope to compete with some of the other candidates without Materia."

So, grudgingly, Vincent had agreed to the procedure. Every part of the idea of working for the Shinra made him physically sick, but he wouldn't rest until Erika was dead, and if becoming a Turk was the only way to achieve that, then so be it. Hojo had promised he would help.

Of course though, there had to be a catch. Vincent wasn't stupid, he could tell there was more to the deal than met the eye. The obvious terms were this: Vincent would undergo agent training and all the surgery required to become a Turk, while Hojo and his team took some scientific 'readings'. Vincent didn't know what that meant, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. In return, Hojo would turn a blind eye to the murdering of one of Shinra's employees by another.

It was a bloodthirsty and desperate deal, but Vincent didn't care. He just hoped there wasn't any fine print he had missed.

"I see you're recuperating," someone said.

Vincent struggled against the swirling darkness that still hovered on his consciousness and turned his head. The person who had spoken was probably the most unwelcome he could imagine. Whenever his thoughts turned to her, she always seemed to pop up.

"Erika, go the hell away."

She smirked. Somehow, she had managed to get into the lab. No one but the doctors involved in his operation were supposed to be admitted in there, Hojo had told him so. But thinking about it, Vincent was sure Erika would have no trouble gaining entry. He wished fervently that he was in a better condition. He wasn't exactly pleased to be lying defenseless on a table in a room alone with the leader of the Turks.

For many different reasons.

He flinched as she approached. He didn't exactly know what he expected her to do, but he knew none of it would be good. But she stopped before she had reached the table, and gave him a thoughtful look.

"I know why you're doing all of this, Vinny," she told him, her voice unusually serious, "It's 'cause you think you'll get a chance to avenge the bandit." Her eyes narrowed. "Well, think again. You have no chance, so take my advice. Get out while you still can. You stay, and you have no idea what they'll do to you."

Vincent rolled onto his other side, facing the wall. He didn't want to hear it. If she had come to psych him out, it wouldn't work. He was going to kill her, and that was that.

"Ooh, the strong and silent type," Erika said coolly.

"Fuck off."

She laughed unkindly. "Fine, whatever you want." Striding to the door, she paused, her hand on the knob. "You just wait, Vinny, things are gonna get pretty interesting around here."

It was a large, round room with white furniture and a white carpet. It didn't suit Shinra at all. Lucrecia hardly ever went into the employee's lounge. It was usually loud and crowded, and most of the people who hung out there were people she…disagreed with, to put it lightly. Today she did come in, taking a seat in a corner. After what had happened that morning, she didn't want to just sit in her room.

The lounge was mercifully empty that day, just two women sitting there, eating lunch. Dr. Hojo's secretary, Janet, and Scarlet, the newest addition to the Turks.

No sooner had Lucrecia settled down, pulling out the lab procedures she was currently writing up, when someone else entered the room. Janet glanced up from her lunch.

"Hey, Erika," she called, "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," Erika answered, flopping onto one of the couches. Scarlet immediately scooted over to give her more room.

Lucrecia cursed inwardly. The one day she decides to come to the lounge, Erika has to come prancing in. People like the two of them barely ever could relax and enjoy Shinra's facilities; they knew what was happening underneath it all. Lucrecia was willing to bet that Janet thought that the disease research facility was the only project the Shinra put there money into. So what was Erika doing here, sitting with people she barely knew? Lucrecia considered getting up and leaving, but if she did, she knew Erika would see her and start taunting her about Hojo. Here, hidden as he was behind the back of the couch, she was safe.

"Ma'am, you look pleased about something," Scarlet commented.

Erika looked around. She did have a rather disgusting, self-satisfied smile on her face. "Yeah, I probably do, Scar," she answered.

"Why?" Janet asked, "I've heard that all you've been doing lately is harassing one of the new recruits."

Lucrecia looked up. Were they talking about who she thought they were talking about?

Erika shrugged. "That kid kind of pisses me off," she mused, "You know he followed me across two continents to get revenge for me killing his father?"

Janet raised an eyebrow. "What'd you do?"

Erika leaned back, her hands behind her head. "I killed his girlfriend and cut off his arm. Hojo wanted him, or I would have killed him."

Janet chuckled, looking impressed. Maybe Lucrecia was wrong, maybe Janet was one of the people on the inside, or maybe she was an outsider who didn't give a damn how many innocent people the Shinra killed.

Scarlet's expression was hard to read, but Lucrecia didn't think she looked too pleased with where the conversation was going. She was watching Erika with both respect and dislike.

"I'm glad you didn't kill the kid," Janet said, crinkling up a paper bag and lobbing it into the trash bin, "He's definitely easy on the eyes."

Erika moved her eyebrows in a way that suggested she agreed. Lucrecia didn't join in the conversation, but she had to admit she knew what they meant. Vincent may have been young, but he was attractive in a way.

"Yeah," Erika laughed, "He's definitely sexy, in a naïve, I'm a little mommy's boy kind of way." The other women laughed

Lucrecia felt a bubble of anger. They had a lot of nerve; them making fun of Vincent, with no one there to defend him. Of course, she could defend him, but there's no way she would have enough courage to do that, and she knew it. So she stayed silent.

'I'm definitely thinking that kid needs some fun," Erika went on.

"And are you the one who's gonna give it to him?"

Erika winked. "I wouldn't say I'd mind."

"Forget it," Janet said, crossing her legs and leaning back no the couch, her died blond hair looking exceedingly fake in the fluorescent lights, "Do you think he'd actually go for that? After you-what was it-? 'Killed his dad, killed his girlfriend, and cut off his arm?"

Erika shrugged. "Hey, it's stupid to hold grudges. Besides, I'm the best he's gonna find around here."

Lucrecia grimaced. That woman was so full of herself! Yeah, she was gorgeous, but did that mean she expected all the guys she met to want her? Lucrecia didn't know Vincent very well, but she was sure he would have more pride than to sleep with the person who had apparently killed his father. No matter how lonely he got.

At one point, it would be interesting to hear his story. She wouldn't ask him now, with the wounds probably so fresh, but eventually…she would like to know what hid behind those sad, gentle eyes of his.

In the meantime though, she would just sit here and listen to Erika run her mouth.

"You don't think I could get him if I wanted him?" she was demanding of Janet.

"Yeah, I don't think you could," the secretary answered, crossing her arms,

"You're good, but you're not that good."

"Screw that," Erika said, injured pride in her tone, "I'd bet you any money I could."

Scarlet eyes were flicking back and forth from Erika to Janet, as though she was watching a tennis match. She seemed faintly disgusted.

Lucrecia didn't blame her.

After a few more minutes of this, she had had enough. She had remained just long enough to watch Janet and Erika to agree on a 500 Gil bet that the leader of the Turks could "get" Vincent by the end of the month. Lucrecia couldn't help thinking that she was going to lose her money. There was no way Vincent was going to let that happen.

She let herself out of the lounge, ignoring Erika's cry of, "Hey, Luc! Didn't see you there. How's Hojo felt recently?" That was enough excitement for one day. She started off in the direction of her room, when she met someone in the corridor, which was rare this time of day.

Well, speak of the devil, she thought.

It was Vincent. He must have just gotten up from his surgery; he looked a little unsteady, Lucrecia was surprised the doctors had let him walk back to his room on his own. His eyes were tired, and his shirt was on backward, as though he had been half asleep when he dressed.

"Hey, Lucrecia," he said, smiling slightly.

"Hey," she answered. The very thought of this boy doing anything with Erika, the ruthless bitch, was simply ludicrous. He seemed like such a nice guy; he definitely didn't belong with the Shinra.

"How did your procedure go?" she asked.

"Alright," Vincent said, a little gruffly, scratching at the back of his neck. Materia was connected directly with the vertebrae, and therefore the surgery left a mark on the upper back. "Dr. Hojo says I can begin equipping different types in a month."

"That's great," Lucrecia smiled, though he didn't look to pleased with it himself.

"So, how was your day?" he asked.

Lucrecia shrugged. "Alright, I guess. We're working on some sort of camouflage technology in the lab. It's this thing that gives you a complete glamour of another person, and it just looks like a gold necklace."

"Cool," Vincent said, "Well, I guess, I better…" He pointed down the hall.

"Hey, hold on. Do you want to eat dinner with me tonight?"

Vincent looked confused for a moment, but then he broke into a grin. "Sure, anything's better than that crap they've been bringing me for the past few days."

So, for the next two weeks, (or maybe it was longer, all the days seemed to blend together at the Shinra labs) Vincent's life fell into a sort of schedule. Wake up, go to one of the labs to where a doctor would check to make sure he was recovering from his surgery correctly. Then he would either wander the halls of the labs, getting yelled at occasionally, or work out in what passed for a gym in the recreation part of the facility. Vincent had never worked on his physical condition before; he had always had strenuous work to do at home. Lifting weights and doing pull ups felt strange for awhile, but eventually he got used to it. And besides, Hojo had assured him that it would make his agent training all the more easy.

Then, every night he would have dinner with Lucrecia. It was never anything special, and true he had had to drag a chair from his room through the corridors so he would have somewhere to sit, but he found it enjoyable nonetheless. They quickly found they had a lot to talk about.

Shinra; the declining condition of the Planet; Costa del Sol; other continents neither of them had ever been to but had always wanted to go. At the end of the first week, he told her his story. She had been a good audience; at the end she hadn't offered sympathy, just sat in silence. Then in return, she had told him her own life story, though he was sure some of it had been invented. He could believe that she had grown up in the freezing north with six brothers and sisters, but the idea that her parents were retired pirates was a little more out there. He didn't mind, though, it was amusing.

There were even points along the two weeks when he actually forgot that he was in a Shinra facility. They only lasted for a moment, though.

The main source of annoyance in his life became Erika. No matter how hard he tried to avoid her, she always seemed to pop up. She usually wouldn't say anything, but when she did it was always something like, "lookin' good, Vinny," or "Hey, babe." It just wasn't something he was used to, and it got on his nerves. Kai had talked like this a bit, but he hadn't minded when it came from her.

And on top of everything, there was the ever persisting nagging of the little voice in his head that was constantly chanting, Kill Erika, kill Erika.

But all in all, things were pretty dull at the Shinra labs, until about a month after had come to, or rather, forced to, live there.

Vincent was sitting alone in his room. It was around dinner time, and normally he would be eating with Lucrecia, but tonight she apparently had to dine with Hojo. As much as Vincent wanted to know if there was anything going on between them, she had offered no explanation, so he hadn't pressed the matter.

He was just wondering what he was going to do with himself that night, when there came a knock at the door. Before he could even go answer it, the visitor let themself in. Vincent blinked.

It was Lucrecia.

"I thought you were eating dinner with Hojo…" Vincent said confusedly, standing up from where he had been sitting on his bed.

Lucrecia didn't answer, just closed the door behind her. There was something abnormal about her manner, though Vincent couldn't really place it. He was probably just being stupid, this was without a doubt the same woman he had been spending time with over the last few weeks.

"Hey," she said. She crossed the room and slid into the single other piece of furniture in the room, an old-looking, overstuffed chair with the stuffing beginning to escape the lining.

"Hey…" Vincent answered slowly. She definitely was acting a little weird. Her eyes were narrowed slightly; she seemed to be studying his face. She pulled off her lab coat without standing up and tossed it onto the floor. Underneath it was a short blue skirt and white blouse. The clothes of a professional woman.

"It's kind of hot in here," she commented.

"Yeah…" Vincent agreed, though he was actually a bit chilly, "Listen, why are you..?"

Suddenly, without warning, Lucrecia had stood up again and kissed him.

Vincent's legs almost gave out in shock. Whatever reason he had thought Lucrecia had for being there, this definitely wasn't it. It had been such an abrupt move, that for a moment he was too stunned to react. But Lucrecia's lips were warm and she smelled slightly of vanilla, and suddenly he realized he had wrapped his arms around her and was pulling her close. He would have been contented to just stay like this, but it seemed Lucrecia had other plans.

She broke away from him, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. He was half expecting her to apologize and stammer that she didn't know what had come over her. Instead, she shoved him roughly. He tripped over backwards, landing sprawled on his bed. He didn't even have time to catch his breath, before Lucrecia had swooped down and kissed him again. She had always struck him as a gentle person, but her kisses were rough and hungry.

"Lucrecia," he managed to gasp out, "What are you..?"

"Don't worry," she crooned, moving her lips to his neck, "Just let me..."

Every nerve in Vincent's body was on fire. His muscles had all tensed up and the thoughts going through his head were both frightening and incredible. What was going to happen next? Lucrecia's fingers were wrapped around his jacket's zipper. He shivered as she pulled it down, her cool fingers caressing his pale skin. This was definitely a far cry from kissing someone on the beach.

He never would have had enough courage to make the first move himself, but now that Lucrecia had, he was suddenly able to admit to himself how much he wanted this. He could feel his muscles slowly beginning to lose their tenseness under her hands. He lay back. Lucrecia smiled.

"That's right, Vinny, just relax," she murmured, burying her fingers into his shaggy hair, "Relax..."

Vinny?

Vincent froze. The tenseness had come back. He looked into Lucrecia's face. She was wearing an expression of brutal triumph. It didn't fit her, but it was horribly familiar. It was only then that he noticed the necklace she was wearing. It was a single gold chain.

He sat up. His fist closed over the necklace. He gave it wrench; it wasn't hard to break. Lucrecia looked down at her neck, at the chain in his hand, and back again. Her body rippled, as though it were on a badly adjusted screen. A moment later she was gone.

Instead, Erika was sitting on top of him.

Vincent's stomach began to boil. "You!"

Erika remained motionless for a moment, but then she split into a grin. "Like either of us cares," she sneered, leaning over and running her tongue over the hollow of his throat. For a second, Vincent didn't move. He was forced to admit; it still felt amazing. She seemed to take this as motivation, because she began unbuttoning her blouse. That made sense take over again.

With a harsh cry he threw her off of him, kicking her stomach with enough force to send her flying across the room. She crashed into the wall and slumped to the ground, but she wasn't down long. In less than a moment she was back on her feet. Erika wasn't the leader of the Turks for nothing.

"Very perceptive of you, Vinny," she said, her voice tinged with laughter, "You might be uptight, but you taste good."

"Shut up," Vincent spat, "And get the hell out."

Erika didn't pay any attention, just set about straightening her hair. She looked strange in the skirt and blouse (half the buttons hanging open) so used was he to seeing her in leather.

"I have to admit," she went on, "I didn't think it would work that well. I didn't count on the fact that you want Lucrecia so bad. It's a pity you had to realize I wasn't her. It could've been hot." She took a step towards him. "It still can be."

"Get out!" He yelled it this time. Erika laughed, and then she left.

Vincent closed and locked the door behind her, zipping his shirt back up. He collapsed on his bed. He couldn't believe what Erika had just tried to pull. Sure, she had come onto him a couple of times, but he always had thought she was just doing it to bother him. He had never thought she would have gone to all the trouble of stealing one of those chains just to trick him into sleeping with her.

What disgusted him more than anything else was this: he hadn't hated it.

You didn't have to toss her out, a voice in his head whispered, You could have just...

"No," Vincent said aloud, as though trying to convince himself, "She fucking killed Kai. Just thinking about her makes me want to throw up"

Yeah, said the voice in his head, But you do want Lucrecia. She could just have put the chain back on…

He stopped himself before he could consider the possibility. It was more than he wanted to think about at the moment. He sat back on his bed in that dark windowless room, feeling suddenly very alone.