POWER IS OURS AND OURS ALONE

Chapter Two

It felt like he had been running for days, non-stop. His whole body ached and screamed for rest, but Rei couldn't stop, he wouldn't. He would run to the ends of the earth, as long as he was away from them. He had no idea as to where he was, he didn't care.

Trees and vegetation surrounded him. There was a river only so far in front of him, but as much as he pushed his weak body forward, he felt like the river was further away than before. His food and water was gone and for hours he'd gone without either. He managed to get to the river and bent down to take a long drink from it. Once he'd taken his fill he wet his face and neck. The night was hot, which was quite weird to say it was autumn. He propped himself up on the trunk of a nearby tree and closed his tired eyes, enjoying the light breeze that blew onto his face. He smiled to himself, glad to be in a place so natural to him. He loved the smell of the air at night, the smell of the grass about him, the sound of a twig snapping. He bolted upright and pricked his ears as best he could. Right now, he hated the sounds of the forest, he couldn't block it out. The sounds of the birds and the sounds of the trees swaying in the breeze were unfairly loud, although in reality they hardly moved at all. Leaves stirred about his feet, a bird rose into the air. Then all went deadly quiet; all he could hear was the ringing in his own ears. Then the undergrowth erupted.

Gunfire sounded around him, a constant rain of fire, which was trained near him and not directly at him. Instinctively he threw himself onto the floor and covered his ears with his hands. The gunfire stopped. Once the dust and dirt had settled he could make out the distinctive suits of the ShinRa workers, although he didn't know they worked for ShinRa.

"Fuck!" He cursed loudly, wishing more than anything they would miraculously disappear. God, he hated them. He turned and faced ShinRa's workers. They had been chasing him for months on end. ShinRa wanted him captured for experiments, and it would be a cold day in hell if they believed Rei would go without a fight.

Dam you ShinRa, Rei thought to himself. No way! Not now! If I can just reach a denser place, I could loose these guys, no problem. He slowly started to retreat backwards; the Turks shadowed his movements. Rei knew he couldn't fight them; he was weak and needed rest. He couldn't well turn and run, they all had guns and he would be shot. He couldn't keep this up he needed to do something and fast.

"Long time, no see." Rei said, surprised at the calmness in his voice. He decided he might as well try to keep them distracted until he thought of something. The Turks weren't rising to his game, they merely stepped closer, guns raised and ready to shoot at Rei, if need be.

"We have you now. Just give up and make it easier on yourself. There's no need to make this situation a bad one." A particular man with flame red hair spoke in an amused tone, which annoyed Rei to no end.

"Go to hell. There's no way I'd come with you." He replied, not hiding the disgust in his voice.

"Well it looks to me like you have no choice."

Rei knew he was right, but he couldn't let this happen. If they took him they would do god-knows-what to him, and he didn't want to have to put himself through that. He'd heard stories about people who were captured for experiments. He knew the patient had no control over anything they might do. They'd keep him sedated by putting drugs in his food, water, and wherever else they can go in, and he'd be too out of his head to stop it. Rei just couldn't handle that kind of weakness.

Rei studied the man. The most striking thing about him was undoubtedly his flame red hair, tied in a ponytail at the nape. On top of his head was a pair of CYX goggles. He had bright crystal blue eyes, pale skin, and was of slim build, but had a look about him that suggested you don't mess with him. Rei had to admit the guy was hot, but he wasn't his type. He had his love but unfortunately they had been separated. Rei's mind wandered back to him. Raven hair, seductive blood coloured eyes. No not now, no time for that Rei thought, pushing his thoughts aside.

They were only a few feet away now. Rei was panicking, his mind frantically searching for ideas. Maybe I could … but that would weaken me more … it's better than nothing and it's my only chance of escape. Rei closed his eyes and tilted his head back bracing himself for the pain. It hurt him but relaxed him at the same time. It was a familiar, almost welcoming, pain almost welcoming after the years of dealing with it. He silently prayed for the energy to do what he was about to do. He clenched his fists and brought them together at his chest in a prayer like manner. Calling on the energy he had he threw his arms to his sides.

A pair of black feathered wings erupted from his back, spreading to their fullest. He tested his strength by raising himself off the ground, with one powerful beat of his wings. It took a lot out of him keeping this low to the ground, but he had to try. He slowly began to work himself higher, making sure the Turks couldn't reach out and grab him; by forcing the wind to beat down on them. They were all struggling against the wind he was creating, trying their best to protect their eyes from the dirt that was rising into the air with each flap of his wings.

"Open fire!" Some one shouted. Rei's heart skipped a beat. He knew they wouldn't hurt him seriously, because he was needed for experiments. But they were expertly trained. They knew what would kill him and what wouldn't. a lot of their shots were off target but some strayed close.

The flame haired man slipped his CYX goggles over his eyes casually and took a gun from a workers pocket. You're not getting away this time he thought confidently. He took aim and fired.

Immense pain flared through Rei's body as a bullet penetrated his left wing. Instinctively he curled up into a ball and dropped to the ground. His vision was blurring. Sounds were dying around him. Confused he studied the scene. Turks were cautiously approaching, the red head in the lead strolling confidently, his laughter ringing in Rei's ears. Strong hands gripped him, and the pain intensified … his world turned black. In his state of confusion, his last thought was of his lover's voice telling him, as he had many months ago, "you're never going to be alone, I am here with you."

- - - - - - - - - -

Rei knew where he was; he was at Healin Lodge. The one place he feared above all else and he was trapped there for how long?

He didn't remember anything about being taken there; he only hoped it had its problems. Like he was too heavy and had to be passed around, or they somehow got lost. He amused himself with similar thoughts to pass time, but it bored him easily after a short while, and he bitterly welcomed reality.

Oh god, I'm here! … What's going to happen now? … What are they going to do? … I have to get out of here! … Oh god I don't believe this. … No one knows. They could keep me here for … forever and no one would know because no one knows I was even in this area. Not even him. Rei's throat constricted, cut as much as he tried to swallow it, it wouldn't go away. He cried for his lover, he cried because of the position he was in, and he cried for the things he might have to endure. They won't care for me. I'm just a creature to these people. Some freak of nature they want to destroy just so they can collect data they may never use. … No one ever looks at me like they do everyone else. I'm a social outcast, but god forbid should someone take pity and treat me normally. … I don't understand it. Growing up I made lots of friends and lost every single one of them when they found out what I was. They called me a freak and turned me away. I'm no different from the next person. I wish people could see past my obvious difference and notice me … for me; just the way I am. I'm human too. I have the same anatomy, well to an extent. I cry, I bleed, I have the same emotions, and I breathe the same air. But I guess none of that matters because I can make wings come out my back! … I mean when people were young, didn't they ever wish to fly? Didn't they ever wish for wings? I understand that people don't like what they don't understand, but does that immediately mean they have the rights to treat me badly? Chase me for months and months, with no regard to how I feel or what I want. Put me through tests until they're satisfied. … There's no point in even thinking about this Rei; things aren't going to change because you want them to. It's up to them to decide what they see. All you can do is try and hope.

A pain deep within him reminded him of his injury. He shifted his position to ease the pressure on his wound. He brought his hands up and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeves. It was then he realised he had been stripped of his clothing and belongings. Alternate to the black leather trousers and coat, he was wearing white cotton trousers and a thin white jumper.

His eyes felt taut so he scanned the room to relieve the feeling. The walls were pure white; there was a blinding light that was on at the moment, it might have been night, he had no idea. There was a hospital bed and chair in the left-hand corner of the room. What a lovely way to remind me of where I am Rei thought. There were no windows in his cell; his only view was through a prison type door. There was a small chest of drawers near the door, again it was white. It seemed like they had gone out of their way to make sure everything was white. The room smelt of antiseptic, he liked that smell but knew that as long as he was here he'd hate it.

He checked his body for marks and was relieved to find nothing dangerously wrong with himself. There was a huge bruise on his right side, from when he had fallen, and a couple of cuts, that had been cleaned and dressed while he was unconscious. He shuddered at the thought of one of ShinRa's workers examining him. He was a shy person at heart, despite his exterior. Not many people knew the real him. Only one person did and Rei had no idea where he was.

His door opened and a man came in carrying a clipboard. He was dressed in a doctor's coat, with white trousers and shoes. He was balding on top of the head. He wore thick glasses, with a horrible brown frame. He was perspiring heavily. He reached into one of his pockets and produced a handkerchief, which he used to dab his forehead.

"Ah yes" he murmured to himself, he adjusted his glasses and looked at his clipboard.

"Seems to be no information here. They should've filled it in straight away … ah well I can do it now, well what's obvious anyway … I'll be with you in a moment … well you're definitely a male … no apparent handicaps …look Japanese … current health? Ah yes, seems to be healthy at this moment. We'll get a better understanding later.

He looked up at Rei, who was staring back at him with complete confusion.

"Well-"he said, clapping his hands together, like he meant business. "-Lets get started shall we? My name is Dr Anderson; I'm here or the moment to gather information on you. This will help us with our studies. It's always useful to get as much information about someone before you run the tests. Last year one of our patients didn't get assessed and died from an allergy to paracetamol. It was such a shame. Now one thing you must understand boy is if you co-operate with us, and we get our research and results, the sooner you can go home, which I'm sure you want."

Rei knew the man was lying, feeding him false words of comfort so they could get more results from him. He wasn't going to make their jobs easier; he didn't want any of this, especially the tests.

"So, we'll start by asking a few simple questions. It's nothing hard, so there's no need to worry. Now it would be a great help if you told me your name." He peered through his glasses expectedly.

Rei didn't say a word, he hated this guy. He was talking to him like a child, or someone who had a mental incapability to understand, treating him like a head case. He put his poker face on a stared at Mr Anderson.

"Could you tell me your name please?" He asked in a more authorative tone.

" … … … "

Five minutes or more passes in complete silence, both looking at each other. It was more like a staring contest now. He reached into his pocket and dabbed his forehead again.

"Well okay … how about your age. How old are you?"

Rei still remained quiet. The longer it took for them to gather information, the later it would be on experimenting, or so he believed anyway. Impatience laced Dr Anderson's features. Rei wondered when the guy would crack; he wondered whether intimidating him would get rid of him.

Out of nowhere Rei saw Dr Anderson do a series of hand gestures. He knew it was sign language, but it really cracked him up. He burst out laughing; he found the whole thing so amusing. Dr Anderson coming in trying to get information, not getting what he wants, having a staring contest, trying again, and then whipping out the sign language. He was on his back now, sides aching from the laughter and his eyes watering in merriment. Dr Anderson did not like that. He strode to the door and tried to open it, even though there was no handle on the inside of the door. This only made Rei laugh harder. He banged on the door and shouted for the guard to let him out. The door open and Dr Anderson stood near the threshold. He turned to Rei suddenly, eyes ablaze, and face red. By now the novelty of the fantastic Dr Anderson was wearing off Rei and now he sat chuckling occasionally.

"You can fill this in yourself. We don't appreciate this kind of behaviour." He looked well and truly stressed out! He left the room slamming the door behind him.

- - - - - - - - - -

After several hours of pacing around his room, Rei looked at the form on the floor. I may as well take a look at it. There's nothing else to do. He picked it up and walked over to his bed. He lay on his stomach and looked at the first question:

Title: Well that's Mr isn't it? He put a tidy tick in the box and stated chewing on the end of his pen.

Surname: He said he didn't have one, but he did. He just hated going by that name. Rei Yoshida. It reminded him of home and he hated home.

Forename(s): Hmm should I give them my name? I guess I should because they're only going to hassle me if I don't. So he wrote Rei.

Gender: since this had already been filled in for him by Doctor Anderson he didn't look at it.

D.O.B: As much as Rei hated people knowing his age he wrote 29/12/85

Weight: How the hell am I supposed to know! You can't whip out the weighing scales in the middle of nowhere and I having been in a civilized place for months. Thanks to these.

Blood type: A

He turned the page of the form and scanned the questions. They were all about his relatives. He really hated his family. He felt no love for them. For all Rei cared they could die and he wouldn't even feel anything. They had literally condemned him anyway.

A/N Okay the next chapter begins with a reminisce and it's quite long, hence the reason I cut this one short! Hope you liked reading this as much as I hated writing it. I'm serious I hate this story but I like the storyline so I'm gonna keep to it.