Chapter nine

A/N: When I was originally drafting this out I didn't intend for Tseng to be there for the initial meeting. He just kind of tagged along. My research into their connection shows that Tseng joined the Turks after Vincent fell to Hojo, so he might not even know who Vincent is unless Veld told him stories of his old partner (possible, Turks love to gossip). Even then, Turks use code names, not their real ones. So if his reaction is less than expected, that is why. I'll try to make it up to you later-after all Veld is still around at this point of the story…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

….

Cloud sat drained on the dirt covered ground resting his back against Vincent's coffin. He laid there curled up with both arms wrapped around his ribs as if trying to ward off the cold and yet, he was relaxed and calm. For the first time in a long time he was in some form of peace. His storm had blown over; the cathartic release left him almost numb. It would probably be gone by the time he left the room but for now he would enjoy the calm.

Vincent was crouched above him on the coffin's lid watching the warrior like an overprotective mother raptor. His torn red cloak falling over the edge of his perch and half covering Cloud. The crimson cloth acting as a shield to keep the outside world away for as long as possible. A subtle shift from the demon had it covering Cloud even more. He wasn't the first person to use Vincent's cloak as a security blanket to hide away and he hoped he wouldn't be the last. The kids all loved using Vincent to hide from the 'monsters'. Cloud always thought that Vincent secretly loved it too.

"Were you able to complete your task?" Cloud finally broke the silence. "How long have you been back?"

"A week after you left. I unhooked Jenova from the mako plant. She is no longer poisoning the Lifestream."

It was all they could do at this point. The planet's safety needed to be secured before they risked battle.

Cloud nodded slightly "Good. Then we have no further need for Nibelheim until it's time."

"The labs."

"I'll take care of it." Cloud said darkly.

Vincent didn't question it. He left the coffin lid, his movements as graceful and liquid as ever. Cloud envied that fluidity Vincent possessed, he always felt like a gangly chocobo chick next to the former Turk. He didn't know if it was the result of his training or the monsters that shared Vincent's body or simply his own natural talent but there was no denying that his every moment was a dance that was both eerie and beautiful to witness.

His friend turned on a step and offered his hand to pull Cloud to his feet. Cloud accepted it and allowed him to pull him up. He couldn't hide the slight wince as he got to his feet as his side twinged painfully. Vincent stared down at him and as Cloud caught his gaze and wanted to wince again. Cloud tried to tug his hand free from his friend's grip but it was no use, Vincent refused to let go and Cloud wasn't willing to use force. Vincent knew him too well, better than most now or before. He knew he wasn't getting out of it but pride made him try.

"It's nothing" Cloud tried to wave him off.

Vincent's stare became hard. Before Cloud could think to defend the area, Vincent struck out with his golden gauntlet and hit him none too gently on his left side. Cloud hissed in a pained breath. It hurt…a lot. Vincent's way of showing concern was abrupt, to the point, and as often as not, painful for the recipient. Which seems to be mostly him or so Cloud liked to think. After all, he never saw him abuse any of the other members of their family well… maybe Yuffie. But Yuffie was special.

Vincent finally released him and crossed his arms as he moved to block the doorway. Cloud glared at him as he got himself back under control. He just stared Cloud down. Their standoff lasted for all of two seconds before Cloud sighed. He knew he wasn't gelling out of it. Vincent's mothering skills could put a brooding dragon's to shame when the mood hit him.

"The helicopter to Modeoheim…crashed. There's a small piece of shrapnel stuck just below my ribcage. I haven't had the time to deal with it."

Vincent looked around the empty room "Take it out now."

Cloud carefully unzipped his vest and moved part of it aside. The skin covering his ribs and upper waist was black and misshaped. The metal was clearly visible through the flesh; however, his body had healed over the wound.

"I…could cut it out but there are people just outside the door. If I can't keep silent they'll break it down."

Cloud watched Vincent analyze the wound and their surroundings. He could almost see the multitude of possibilities that were thought up and rejected by the former Turk as he went through the scenarios. Finally, Vincent slowly nodded and stepped aside as Cloud zipped back up. Vincent was clearly not happy with the situation but he had to concede that this was neither the time nor the place to cut into Cloud.

"I'll take care of it when we get to Midgar." He promised.

Cloud went to open the door when a thought made him pause. He cursed himself for not thinking about it earlier.

"Tseng is out there; will he recognize you?" Cloud asked.

Vincent thought for a moment "Doubtful." He told him "Tseng is after my time. I looked different then, and Turks all use a pseudonym."

"Are you certain?"

"He never recognized me before."

Cloud should know better. They were back to follow a very set script and falling off page would only lead to disaster. Zack wasn't supposed to come and Tseng wasn't supposed to be down here. Damn his feelings for getting in his way! He had a job to do and people were only distractions from that!

Cloud nodded once to get his head back in the game and opened the door. The tunnel was empty. Cloud walked into it and looked around confused. Vincent silently followed right behind.

"Where did they go?" Cloud wondered out loud.

They wouldn't leave and Cloud should have heard if they were in trouble. The door wasn't that thick. Cloud strained his ears trying to catch any sound from them.

Vincent pointed to further into the tunnel "Perhaps there."

Cloud followed his hand to the laboratory entrance imbedded at the end of the tunnel. The door was cracked open.

,..,

Zack poked around the various boxes that littered the tunnel. Most were empty but a few had stuff in them. It was mostly junk and what looked to be medical waste. Tseng had given him a lot to think about only; he didn't really want to think about it. He was already worried about Angeal and he didn't want to question his new friend too. He still had a hard time wrapping around what Angeal tried to do. Angeal tried to kill himself using Zack as the murder weapon. Even after Zack told him about the cure he still wouldn't listen. If it wasn't for Cloud…

Zack kicked another skull down the tunnel in frustration wishing it was another monster. Instead of the crunch sound of bone on rock, there was a dull thud. Curiosity drove Zack to investigate the new sound. It was probably just another box of trash but anything was better than the thoughts that kept circling back to Angeal.

He found another door.

"Hey Tseng! Take a look at this." Zack called out softly to the Turk.

Tseng carefully stepped around the debris to see what Zack was pointing at. "Where do you think it leads to?" Zack asked.

"I don't know." He answered. Zack watched as Tseng examined the new door. It was definitely newer than the one Strife entered and with a higher grade digital lock on it. He wondered what it was doing down here in the middle of nowhere. Tseng thought for a second then entered his access pin into the lock. The door opened.

"Ah…hey wait! Cloud said not to touch anything."

"I don't take orders from infantrymen, or experiments." Tseng entered the new room. Zack paced before the door torn then followed the Turk.

Inside was the setting for a horror film. The first thing he saw to the left were three bookcases jutting into the room creating an alcove with shelf after shelf filled with jars of various creatures and body parts in a liquid. On the right was an entire wall of books and papers that went to the ceiling and spilled onto the floor. In the middle of the room was a lab table that had scientific equipment covering it. Behind the table were several giant tubes. They looked big enough to hold a grown man. The back wall had more jars with more dead things in them. Zack was a little scared to see some of the jars glow with mako. The entire room screamed of death and pain and Zack knew nothing good ever happened here.

Tseng walked carefully down a crowded hallway to a smaller side room. It was more like an office or library than the main horror chamber. Zack watch as he thumbed through some of the papers.

"Jenova…Ancients…theory and experiments. This is Professor Gast's research before he left. This can't be right. What about…" Tseng muttered.

"Jenova? Isn't that the name of Sephiroth's mother?" Zack asked distractedly. He wanted out of this place.

"So we've been told, but this states the Jenova was a fossil Gast excavated. It couldn't be his mother, and it couldn't be the only known Ancient."

Tseng was tearing through more papers. If he were anyone else Zack would think he was frantic as he shifted from one folder to another. Zack himself was rooted in place.

"So either he lied to everyone, or was lied to."

Tseng nodded distractedly as he picked up a new file. Whatever he was reading shook the Turk. It didn't show on his features, but he had turned very pale. Zack has had enough of this horror show. Whatever was going on here he wanted nothing to do with it. He should have just waited in the tunnel for Cloud.

"Tseng, let's get out of here." Zack commanded.

Zack turned and ran straight into a demon from hell. The monster was tall and gaunt with long unkempt black hair and devil-red eyes. Black buckled body armor under a torn and ragged blood-red cloak. He had a gold claw and gold boots with a spike where his toes should had been. He had been standing right behind him for who knew how long and Zack never sensed a thing. It was like it-he just appeared out of thin air. Did they summon him when they entered his layer?

Tseng heard his startled yelp and looked up. The Turk couldn't do more than put his hand on his pistol before a blur of black and blond moved pass them and disarmed Tseng completely. Zack reached for his sword only to have the demon grab him by the harness and pull the Buster Sword off him. He pushed Zack onto the desk next to Tseng and Zack got his first good look that the second person. It was Cloud. His friend was in league with the demon? The monster leaned his sword against the far bookcase and glided to stand near Cloud.

Cloud sighed and put his hands on his hips. "I thought I said not to touch anything down here?" He spoke as if he were scolding misbehaving children. It somehow made him appear even more dangerous. Cloud was very much in control of the situation and they all knew it. For the first time he was afraid of the smaller blond. Zack had no doubt that he could kill them and they couldn't do anything to stop him.

"What do you think you're doing corporal? Who is that?" Zack had to give props to Tseng for trying to take back control of the situation. He didn't think it would work though if Cloud's cocked eyebrow was any indication.

"'This' is Project Chaos." Cloud nodded to the demon who tilted his head at Cloud. He just shrugged back.

The two stared at each other in a silent conversation. Zack watched them closely for an opportunity to either get his sword or get out. Tseng's gun was still in Cloud's hands and Zack kept catching glimpses of a rifle of some sort hidden under the demon's cloak. He could possibly use Soldier speed to get out of the room but that would leave Tseng trapped here and Turks were not bullet proof.

Neither were Soldiers for that matter.

"Spike, I don't understand. Talk to me man." Zack pleaded as he ran the figures through his head. He could try for the Buster Sword.

"You know; I really didn't plan on having to do this so early. Certainly not here." Cloud turned his back to them and paced a few steps away.

There were nine rounds in Tseng's pistol and given what little he saw of the rifle, it probably needed to be reloaded after two rounds. That was eleven bullets.

He could survive eleven bullets.

"Then let's not. Let's go back and we can talk it over some good Gongagan stir-fry."

Zack eyed his sword and calculated how much speed he would need to reach it. The demon shifted and caught his eye. He shook his head at him and moved his cloak aside slightly. The demon caught his gaze again and smirked. His ruby glare flared brightly with a sickly yellow glow.

Tseng next to him tensed with shock at the sight of the weapon. Did he recognize it?

"Who are you?" Tseng whispered.

The demon didn't bother looking at the Turk. He kept his glare focused solely on Zack. He had no idea what he did to cause such animosity that he felt coming from the monster before him, but he repented whole heartedly before the Gods to forgive him of whatever sin he committed.

"It can't be helped" Cloud said to himself his back still to them. He turned around and Zack saw a green materia in his hand. "Zack, do you still want to know my secrets?"

"Spike…"

"It'll be better if you don't remember this part."

"Please."

"Trust me."

Before Zack could say or do anything, Cloud cast sleep on them.