The third chapter! Woooo! Celebrations aside, I want to warn you that I in no way plan to make this like the normal Final Fantasy content you'd come to expect. Cloud isn't going to come swoop in to save the day on his motorbike; Tifa isn't going to kick major butt with her fists of doom; Aerith won't show up in a dream; this is not Final Fantasy VII. This is Viewing Pleasure's: Cold, so just for a warning, I warn you not to expect the usual FFVIIideals...however that doesn't mean that Vincent might not drop in to saya few words of advice . Also, this doesn't mean that the previously mentioned characters won't show up, they will, I just haven't found a place for them yet.

Cless and I had a hard time communicating in the past week, so that's why you readers haven't been presented with this chapter sooner. Finally we were online at the same time and he transferred it to me, so here you are! Reno survived! Whooo! But will he keep it up? (>> so cliche'd)

The Insanity of A Single Nightmare

Written by: Viewing Pleasure ; Edited by: Cless Alvein

"Barret! Take the bastards on the left! Cid! You get to take care of the ones on the right side! And lucky me…" I could see an overzealous grin appear on the ninja girl's face before she finished with great courage, "I get to party with the creatures in-between!"

"Come on, girlie, you don't expect me to settle with just the few measly kills on the right do you?"

"Call me girlie again and you'll join them."

They both laughed. This was something I had never seen before; the Ex-Soldier's friends had always shown themselves to be on the calm and collected side of things, to see them like this was almost jovial.

Unlike Rude and myself, the three friends seemed to move in coordination with each other; the creatures were overtaken before they could tell what was going on. I cheered our saviors silently in my mind; if they hadn't arrived when they did Shinra would have had to deal with four body-bags, and the problem of assembling a new group of Turks. Then I remembered, they'd only eliminated three of those body-bags, mine was still waiting for its turn to hold something decaying within its suffocating black exterior.

My thoughts returned back to my wounded partner on the ground, he was in no condition to battle anymore. Carefully lifting him with my arms, I carried him on my back as I turned towards the caravan. Five wraiths blocked my path, clawing threateningly at me with their hands.

The same weapon flew by again, easily taking out the creatures blocking the path, and it was followed by the familiar voice of the female Shinobi, "Hurry up! We better get a bonus on top of the pay Shinra promised us for saving your sorry butts!" I glanced at her momentarily, staring directly into her eyes, but I saw nothing; the friends of the Ex-Soldier hadn't changed, they were only pretending to be different if that was even possible. This wasn't true courage…

My feet started moving again and I soon arrived at the safety of the caravan; I took a moment to lay Rude down in the back seat. Sitting in the remaining seat beside Elena in the front of the vehicle, I noticed Tseng still messing around with the wires under the steering wheel. It was then my eyes noticed a wraith clear to charge the truck; Tseng would have to hurry up.

In my ear I could hear Elena's breathing, it was definitely erratic and faster than it should have been. For some reason this increased my own fear, and I too was soon breathing irregularly.

"Reno! Use this and help out our back-up!" Tseng tossed me a small pistol as he tried to continue his work on the steering wheel. How could something so simple take someone so long? Or was it just that time had slowed down and I was only imagining it?

I leaned out the window and tried to steady my aim, firing directly at the monster on a crash course for the caravan. It fell to its side, kicking violently into the air. Another wraith was on course for the Shinobi's unprotected back; it took me four bullets to take that one down. The pistol I held in my hands was only capable of arming seven bullets in all.

My help wouldn't last much longer and Tseng still hadn't fixed the truck yet.

"Come on you stupid…!" the man named Cid was trying to fend off a gang of the creatures which had decided to form a circle around him. I watched in horror as a claw went through his back and out his chest, sending a fountain of blood spewing from the open wound; after his body hit the ground it didn't appear to be moving any longer.

It was then I realized the fact that I had tried to help him by using the pistol, but it never fired; I had run out of ammo and hadn't even noticed. Tseng and Elena didn't see the guilt in my eyes, only I knew the pain I was feeling.

Then a nightmare came to life before my eyes. The Shinobi noticed her pal's demise and yelled with hysteria, "Cid, don't die on me! Barret, we have to help…!" But it was too late. Barret, the gruff man with the gun-arm, was already dead upon the ground; I hadn't even seen him go down. "No! Dear God…Cloud…Tifa…anyone!" For one last time, my eyes met hers and hers met mine; her body then lay huddled on the ground, the heart of the ninja girl was no longer beating.

"They're dead, yo!"

"We know Re…"

"They're dead and I couldn't save them!"

"Come on, Tseng, get this thing started already!" Elena's mood was no better than mine.

"I'm trying! If you think it's so easy, why don't you try it!"

No one moved to interrupt his work.

I pulled my legs up to my head and rocked back and forth, my mind trying and failing to cover up the wretched thoughts. How could three of the Ex-Soldier's friends go down so easily! They were supposed to be invincible! They faced Sephiroth; this should've been cake to them! And yet they were dead, dead as a rock; I clenched my eyes shut at the cruel metaphor.

Rude was now grabbing at his chest, a visible layer of sweat forming on his brow. He would soon end up just like our backup, as much as I hated the thought.

The creatures could've been moving in on us, but I was too busy freaking out to care. Images of the mutilated bodies crept up on me, causing even more fear to erupt within me.

Finally the sound of the motor met my ears. Tseng slammed his foot down on the gas pedal after putting the caravan into reverse.

I removed myself from my less than dignified position and stared directly at the carpeting of the truck we were escaping in. Ever so slowly I was also escaping the nightmare, but I could never really get rid of it. Nightmares met me around every corner. The crater, the bodies, my own death…

"Reno?"

There was no sign that I heard the voice at all; it was either Tseng or Elena, I didn't really care.

"Leave him alone, Elena, he's just been through a lot; we've all been through a lot."

So it had been Elena who had called my name.

The pistol that Tseng had given me, now completely useless, was still caught in my tight grip; I said my first words since the accident of only a few moments ago. "I let them die, yo…"

"What?" It was Tseng; I hadn't realized how weak my voice sounded.

"I let them die!" My words had gone from really quiet to extremely loud in mere seconds.

"Settle down, Reno, you did all you could!"

"No, Tseng, no I didn't…I should've been out there helping them instead of hiding behind this…this…!" I indicated the wretched pistol before tossing it at the carpeting which had captured my thoughts during part of the ride back to Shinra Inc, "This piece of junk! I was weak back there and I'm afraid…" No, I was lying through my teeth; I was scared of the wraiths more than anything else.

"We can't tell anyone about what happened; do you understand?"

My lips didn't move.

"I said do you understand!" Tseng's voice was probably harsher than he had meant it to be.

"I heard you, yo." My eyes returned back to the flooring which was now joined by the gun; if the pistol had eyes, it would've been probably been staring right back at me as if to question why I was blaming the problem on it.

Again I turned to check on Rude; his breathing was slowing down greatly. Today he had fixed his sleeves three times, would I ever get to see him do it again, or would his sleeves lay forever alone upon his death?

The next set of events was almost dreamlike. We arrived back at Shinra Inc. to see a group of medics waiting to take Rude away. I watched as my aching feet left the vehicle, it was as if they were moving on their own. A few people were asking Elena and Tseng questions; I opted for the opposite direction.

No one stared or questioned me about anything as I entered the building. They all went a long with their business as if nothing strange had occurred at all. It made me so furious inside that I felt as if I would lose my mind, if anything was left of it to lose that is. Desk workers were typing away on their keyboards, writing up memos and other nonsense for their bosses; a few executives were talking it up at the water cooler, laughing occasionally at jokes told by one another; and then, the worst of all, was Rufus' mocking smile as I approached.

"So, how went the mission?"

I stared with a vacant expression upon my face. He was about to reiterate, but I replied, sarcasm interweaving into my words, "How do you think it went, yo! Rude is nearly dead, there are millions of those God forsaken things out there, and the three friends of the Ex-Soldier are…!" It took everything I had to stop myself from finishing my sentence.

"They're what, Reno?"

"Nothing, next time you want something like that done do it yourself!" I stomped past him with my fists clenched tightly and entered the elevator. The way I hit the 'up' button nearly caused it to break under the extreme pressure.

A headache was slowly forming around my temples; another painful problem to add to my list.

There was only one place where I could be alone and try to return to some state of normalcy if it was even within my grasp anymore.

Elena and Tseng were still answering questions to the citizens of Midgar about the mission, making sure to leave out anything that could cause panic of any sort.

Stop lying to yourself…

Rufus was still smiling as I walked towards him in the hallway.

You can't go on trying to fool your memory…

The three friends of the Ex-Soldier were still alive.

No they aren't, and you're an idiot for thinking so. Accept it! They're dead, you killed them!

I nearly broke-down right there in the elevator, but I held it together until I reached the meeting room. This was my place of solitude…

The nagging conscience kept reminding me, telling me, demanding to me that I was wrong.It wanted me to be wrong about it all.

I hadn't killed the friends of the Ex-Soldier; the wraiths were the ones who had accomplished that task.

They wouldn't have died if you have been out there on the battlefield!

The headache grew with intensity and began to flow into more tender regions in my skull. Why couldn't I just let it go? Maybe they would've lived if I had been out there to help them, but how could I know that for sure? They might've died with me out there anyway.

A lie, no matter the size, will never make the guilt go away…

My conscience, or to be more precise my own self under extreme shame, was right. No matter what I might think I would never feel at peace.

I closed my eyes hoping to retreat into a peaceful sleep, but I was haunted with the cavern once again. Now, however, the creature that would usually reach out to me was now carving numbers into the bodies with extreme resemblance to the three friends of the Ex-Soldier. One, two, three…what could they possibly mean? The strange being then turned to face me, a frown visible upon its face, and I awoke in a cold sweat.

There was a note lying beside my arm on the table; someone had recently been in the room. What could it possibly say to make all my problems go away?

Rude is fine; he woke up just a few minutes ago.

--Elena

I desperately wanted to smile, wanted to be happy for my partner, but I just couldn't. My happiness was gone…and in its place now resided haunting memories. The three deaths I had witnessed played back slowly like a videotape in my mind. Barret, Cid, and…Christ I didn't even know her name! Guilt of their deaths returned; the invincible had become the fragile.

My feet shuffled by themselves for the doorway; I'd never felt so alone before.

This chapter was a little shorter than I had planned, but it was certainly crammed full of content which I hope you all enjoyed. Hopefully when I finish the next chapter Cless and I will be able to get it edited for you sooner next time. If anything is confusing, please feel free to ask me either via E-mail or a review; I'm always glad to answer questions. Please review even if you've already reviewed before.