Let Freedom Ring
a post-FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus fanfiction by Tripleguess
Third in the Radiance collection
Possible mild spoilers for DoC
Genre: Action/Character
Rated PG-13 lite for action violence
September 11, 2006

Summary: Phones are nothing but trouble!

He groaned as his phone went off, fumbling for a pillow with which to muffle the insistent beeping. He was an early riser when he felt like it, but four in the morning was pushing it.

The heavy down pillow did a fine job of muting the sound. He glared at the nightstand which currently held both the noisy problem and its short-term solution. He was now faced with two equally unwelcome alternatives.

Alternative One: It was Reeve, and he needed Vincent for yet another challenging WRO assignment. In which case, if Vincent didn't call back within the next hour or so, Reeve would send Yuffie to find out why.

Alternative Two: It was Yuffie, and she wanted to drag Vincent along on her latest WRO assignment so she'd have an ear to yak deaf. In which case, if Vincent didn't respond within five minutes, she'd get his whereabouts from Reeve and beat down the door.

He kicked off the blankets reluctantly and reached for his boots. The bit of spring sky framed in his inn room window was overcast, and it would probably rain soon. In other words, it was a perfect day for doing nothing. Sometimes he really regretted buying that phone.

Somewhere beneath the pillow, the bothersome device chirped. Someone had left him a message. He reached for the phone with an air of weary martyrdom. One way or another, his day was shot.

X X X

His resentment evaporated at the WRO office door. Reeve was conferring with a grim-faced Yuffie. She looked up hopefully as Vincent entered.

Vincent shook the rain from his cloak and joined them, sensing that there would be no small talk. "What's wrong?"

Reeve looked no less troubled than Yuffie. "Two of Wutai's outlying villages were hit by slave raids yesterday."

Vincent looked at Yuffie. Her face and clothes were mudstained from travel. She must have been on a chocobo all night. He wondered why she hadn't called Cid, then remembered that Reeve's message had said the Shera was tied up on another mission.

"And I'll hang them all from the Pagoda once they're caught." Yuffie nodded, her mouth a hard line. "But we gotta catch them first."

Reeve got up to activate a projection screen and called up a map. "Three towns outside of Wutai were also hit, just across the border." He traced an arc of red dots across the area map. "They took mostly children. Yuffie was able to track one of the raiding parties here." He zoomed in on their current location, a seafaring town called Rus. "We believe they plan to ship the children from the city port and sell them overseas."

"It happened all the time during the Shinra war," Yuffie interjected. "With the able-bodied off fighting, the villagers left behind were easy prey."

Children. Vincent studied the map. "That makes sense," he agreed. "How do you plan to stop them?"

Reeve tapped the city's waterfront area, and the map zoomed in again. "My feline friend is already checking the warehouses here... and he saw a truck full of starberry packing crates being unloaded here." He tapped a blinking building.

"So?" Yuffie drummed her fingers against her cheek. She looked tired.

"Rus is famous for its coastal starberries -- but they don't ripen for six months yet," Reeve explained. "The crates are a disguise for the real shipment."

"The kids." Yuffie clenched her fists. "We've got to stop them."

"We will," Reeve assured her. "Here's the plan."

X X X

Vincent leaned around his stack of pallets and peered into the gloom. The same conditions that'd made the day perfect for doing nothing had also brought twilight early, creating ideal conditions for their mission. Unfortunately, the advantage worked both ways; the slavers would undoubtedly welcome the concealment of early darkness.

Shreds of fog were drifting in from the sea, hazing his view of the warehouse. For some reason, that made him nervous. He pulled out his radio. "How you doing?"

Her reply sounded strained. Reeve had made her take a nap before they set off, but it probably hadn't made up for all her lost sleep. "Vincent, so help me -- if you make me blow my cover, I will take your scarf away and strangle you with it."

He chuckled. Being wedged inside a crawl-sized ventilation duct for six hours had not improved Yuffie's normally cheerful disposition. "Reeve thinks they'll show up any minute now. I had to make sure you were still conscious."

"Just because I'm sleepy and can hardly breathe doesn't mean I'm gonna pass out," she hissed. "Hang on. I think I hear something."

Her transmission clicked off. Vincent studied the dimly lit streets beyond the warehouse. The area was pretty much deserted, but two sets of headlights were approaching through the haze. Two trucks... up to four men, more if they had guards in back with the children.

He waited until both vehicles had vanished inside the warehouse, weighed his options, and made a decision.

"Two trucks," he told Yuffie. "Cait Sith was right -- this is the place. I'm going in now."

"Okay. Be careful."

"See, lassie! Vincent has confidence in me! Don't you worry now. All will be well."

"Shh, Sith!"

He slid the radio onto his belt. Any further transmissions really might give her position away. And he wanted to keep his scarf.

He kept to the shadows, moving from one stack of pallets to another until he was at the building's seaward doors. There he paused, a lick of crimson hardly visible amidst the twilight.

Inside, flashlights danced across the warehouse interior, revealing only glimpses of kerchiefed men in black until one of them turned on a single overhead light. In the flickering glare of fluorescent bulbs, he watched as they began forklifting starberry crates from one of the building's several towering storage shelves. The gaudily painted crates looked out of place in these grimy industrial surroundings.

He could hear occasional mutters now, spoken in the hushed tones of those whose work depends on secrecy.

"Faster. The boat will be here soon."

"You want faster, you pay more, hey?"

Vincent slipped inside, crouched behind a shelf and produced his scanner, then pulled himself half onto the dusty chest-high shelf, risking some altitude for a better look at the trucks.

Several infrared silhouettes, most of them small, huddled on the floors of both trucks. The children were here, all right. The slavers undoubtedly meant to load them into the disguising crates and then truck them out to the pier, where they could use a crane to lift the starberry containers onto the waiting ship in plain sight -- without attracting undue attention from the harbor patrol. It was not unusual for ships to load and depart at night in order to take advantage of the tides.

He unholstered his sidearm, which now sported a silencer on the end of its already threatening barrel, took careful aim, and blew out the light.

"What the..." The speaker didn't sound alarmed, only displeased. "Hey, guys -- I think the light just burned out or something."

"We can see that, genius."

"Lousy timing."

"Hurry up and turn on another one."

"I can't find my flashlight -- put it down somewhere over here -- hey, who took it?"

"No one. You just lost it. Here, use mine..."

A muffled grunt, then another. Vincent's radio hissed. "I'm ready, lassie."

Yuffie's voice, now calm and alert. "Me too."

Vincent nodded to himself and traded his scanner for night vision goggles. "Hit it. I'll clean up."

"Georgie? Uruko? Yo, you two sleepin' on the job or what?"

The trucks roared to life, drowning out angry shouts from the startled slavers as the vehicles suddenly surged forward, careening around crates and forklifts as their new drivers made a break for the door. Vincent made sure he wasn't anywhere near their path and hoped the kids would be okay. Yuffie could drive, but he wasn't so sure about Cait Sith.

A rattle of gunfire, swiftly truncated almost before the bullets had finished sparking off the back of one truck. "You idiot! Hold your fire! Those kids are worth an easy six thousand gil each!"

"But they're gettin' away!"

The trucks shot through the door.

"Clear! We're clear!" He could imagine Yuffie pumping one fist in the air. Sure enough, the left truck swerved a bit. Come on, Yuffie, hang on to the wheel... " Go, Vince!"

He flew into action, sighting in on his first target. He would have been more than happy to use regular bullets, but Reeve had insisted on tranquilizer darts so he could get an idea of the slaving ring's extent from the slavers themselves.

The shot sang off and one slaver collapsed, clutching his shoulder. Vincent ducked behind a forklift, lifted his firearm, and downed a second man before anyone realized what was happening.

"Roy? Hey, Roy, you there?"

He dropped a third man. His radio crackled.

"Vince, I'm in trouble! There's another --"

Static.

He grabbed the radio. "What happened? Yuffie? Yuffie!"

Nothing. "Cait, what's going on?"

"I dinna know, lad!" The automaton sounded frantic. "The lassie were right behind me, and then I saw somethin' flash and she stopped transmitting. I'm thinking mebbe she ran into more o' those criminals!"

Vincent hissed. "Get those kids to Reeve. I'll help Yuffie."

"Aye, lad, good call."

He was sighting in on the fourth man when he heard a shout. "Boss! Boss, Kilroy's got the second truck! He --"

"There's somebody here, you idiot! Shut up before he sees you!"

Vincent tracked the countershout, seeing in his night vision goggles one man kneeling over another. The remaining thug, setting a record for tactical stupidity, came running at his comrade's shout. Vincent got them both within seconds.

He holstered his firearm and started running. The unconscious criminals were irrelevant right now. Cait Sith and Yuffie had been following the waterfront when Yuffie's transmission cut out.

X X X

Yuffie hadn't gotten far. He could see the smoking cab from half a block away. His heart nearly stopped.

"Let go of me, you slimey misbegotten creep --!"

The little ninja was cornered on the end of a wharf, wrestling desperately with one assailant while three more closed in on her. Somehow, she must have gotten clear in time. A fifth slaver, still clutching his rocket launcher, lay silent on the asphalt. A large loading crane stood over all like a silent referee, its load of wooden pallets dangling like one of the scales of justice.

Vincent dropped one of the assailants with a snap shot, causing the others to pause. Yuffie took advantage of the distraction to hammer her wrestling partner on the chin, stunning him briefly. As he staggered back, she unleashed her Conformer.

At first Vincent thought she was throwing wildly, for the huge shuriken arced upward -- into the crane rigging above her, slicing through several ropes. The stricken lines parted with a snap, then hissed rapidly through the pulleys as the pallets began to descend on the group below.

"Yuffie!" He ran, knowing even as he shouted that he wouldn't get there in time. "Get out of there!"

She caught his gaze briefly, and to his surprise she was grinning -- the broad grin of someone who reveled in defying the odds. The Conformer flew into her outstretched hand and she went to her knees, driving one point into the wharf with all her might. Then she dropped flat.

The pallets crashed into her erstwhile opponents as they tried to run, except for one who was quick enough to dive off the wharf and into the dark waters below. Vincent flinched as the impact threw splinters and dust into his face.

He passed a hand over his eyes as the dust cleared. "Yuffie..."

He'd been standing there for what seemed hours when an incoherent groan finally caught his attention, but the still dissipating dust said only seconds had passed.

"Nggghhhh..." A set of slender fingers curled into sight, round the edge of the bottom-most pallet in the smashed-up jumble.

He was there in two steps, crouching to tug on the fumbling hand as his mind finally caught up. "Yuffie? Yuffie, are you all right?"

"I'm kinda squished," she wheezed, "and my ears are ringing, but otherwise I think I'm okay."

Vincent grabbed her other hand and pulled while Yuffie squirmed and emptied her lungs until he was able to drag her free and set her on her feet. She steadied herself with a hand on his shoulder and looked mournfully at the mess of wood concealing her giant Shuriken. The bottommost pallet, Vincent realized, must have caught on the Conformer's crossbar, creating the crawlspace that spared her life.

"It's totally buried. Guess I better kiss it goodbye, huh?" She smacked her fingers and waved at the mess. "Good-bye, my sweet Conformer. I'll never forget you. I'll compose haiku in your honor. I'll write you every day --"

Vincent sighed and kicked into the pile, splintering wood with his bronze boots until they struck metal. He had to use both arms to wrench the shuriken free of the wharf. "Here. Save the eulogy."

She clutched the weapon eagerly. "Conformer, you're back! Oh, I missed you so much!"

Vincent dragged a hand over his face. The impact probably rattled her brains... She did look a little dazed.

"Come on." He hauled her off by the wrist. "We need to check on those kids."

X X X

Yuffie's truck was a write-off, but the kids, though frightened and bruised, were otherwise unhurt. Several were Wutaian and reacted to Yuffie with unabashed tears of joy. After that, the others were quick to trust their rescuers.

They decided to walk the children to the Rus WRO center rather than traumatize them by putting them in another truck. Vincent carried the smallest child on his shoulders while Yuffie let another ride piggyback.

Cait Sith was bedding the first truckload of children down when they arrived, while Reeve was juggling three phones to make arrangements to return them all home in the morning. Other WRO agents had picked up the slavers from the warehouse and wharf. Yuffie scrounged enough bedding for the second truckload while Vincent tried to detach his young friend, without success; the child had decided that she was safe where she was and refused to let go until Yuffie lured her down with a bedtime story. Vincent left the two engrossed in a vaguely familiar-sounding tale of evil mansions and dangerous monsters and made his report to Reeve.

When he came back, Yuffie was curled up on the kid's cot, and the little girl's arms were fastened firmly around the ninja's neck. He decided against disturbing them, found an extra blanket instead, and draped it over them both.

"Thanks," Yuffie murmured sleepily.

"You're welcome."

-The End

No flames, please. Don't like, don't read. That aside, I do appreciate hearing reader reactions. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last one! I never intended to write this many, so this third chapter and any that follow owe their existence partly to you. (Yes -- what were you thinking?)

Disclaimer: This story not created, acknowledged or endorsed by Square-Enix, to whom all relevant characters and trademarks belong. Let Freedom Ring itself is fan domain and may be freely recopied and archived.