Vincent stared down at the small child below him. It couldn't be. He looked so much like her, there could be no other explanation. He remembered hearing his dear Lucrecia crying near him. Telling him about her son, and how she was never allowed near him. Could this really be Sephiroth? Lucrecia's child? Could he possibly be this old already? How long was he down here?
The awareness that everything seemed to be caught in a green haze slowly began to dawn on him. The gunman's body felt light… lighter than he'd felt it in years. What was he in?
Vincent's eyes darted around the green liquid, becoming aware of the mask and monitors. Where was he?
The dumbstruck child realized his struggle and gasped. "H-hold on." He ran over to the computers, examining the controls. "I'll get you out." Sephiroth quickly skimmed it, trying to find out how to open the chamber. He hit a few keys, with which he was vaguely aware of. The green liquid began to drain from the tube.
Vincent's body suddenly felt heavy. When the weight hit his legs, he collapsed to his knees. Finding his breathing was more restricted, Vincent tore away the face mask, beginning to pant as the tube lifted up into the mechanisms above him.
What the hell was going on? In a fit of rage, and a growl that was little less than human, he tore off the suction cups for the wires attached to his head, realizing all too late the needles that were pierced through each one, holding them in place.
Sephiroth wrung his hands, watching him with fascination. What was he?
Vincent finally managed to pull the last needle out. He continued to pant, hardly able to catch his breath. Soon golden eyes turned up towards the small child, swirling in a dominance of red. "Are you Sephiroth?" He managed to wheeze between breaths.
Sephiroth's heart stopped at the sound of his voice. It was the same as his dream. Slowly he nodded, speechless – disbelief at what was happening.
Vincent's body shook with force as he tried to stand. Before he realized he'd moved, Sephiroth ran up the small staircase, and tried to help him up. His skin was pale as ice, but he felt so warm. Despite this fact… the older man was shivering. Course, the fact that he was naked, and slightly wet could've had something to do with it.
A pair of gleaming red eyes fell on Sephiroth. Vincent let the child help him down from the ledge, and into a chair. Vincent glanced around the small room, then down at Sephiroth. "Where are we?"
"The labs." He answered simply, not aware that there was indeed more information required.
A timid smile found Vincent's lips, touched with a hint of sadness He tried to rub a chill from his arm. When his fingers traced his left forearm, he glanced down at the blackened skin, almost not believing it was his own. Vincent's eyes closed gently, trying to hold back his tears. He couldn't cry for himself. Not when this child before him was hurting too. "Sephiroth?" Vincent looked up, shocked to see he wasn't standing in front of him anymore. He pushed himself up, looking around. "Sephiroth? Where are you?"
"I'm right here." Sephiroth came from behind an open storage unit, carrying a pile of cloths. Vincent settled back into the chair, as he held them out to him. Sephiroth's face touched with red as he did so. "The Doctor usually keeps spare cloths in his labs. These should warm you up."
The gunman took the pile, eying the small face. His gaze fell down on the arm closest to him. The white cloth had fallen back, exposing past his elbow. Vincent's eyes widened and he fell to his knees, throwing the cloths into the chair. Seph pulled back, a bit unsure. Vincent pushed up the sleeve, revealing track marks along the child's arm. Small scars crossed the pale skin. Vincent followed the scars along the slim neck, and on down his chest and stomach (Which had what looked like really old bandages wrapped around him.). This was horrible. This small child had just as many scars as he did, now. When he looked up at the frightened face, there were tears streaking from his glowing red eyes.
Before Sephiroth could react, Vincent had pulled the fragile body into his arms, holding him tightly against him. Sephiroth froze, considering fighting back. He was usually terrified to have a grown up so close to him. It usually ended up hurting. But no one else had ever held him so warmly. None of them had ever cried before. Which was really strange… grown ups didn't cry.
"I'm so sorry, Sephiroth."
Huh? Sephiroth glanced up at him. "Sorry? For what?"
Vincent traced a hand along the child's smooth face. "If I had only spoke up, when I had the chance… if I had done something, you'd never have to suffer so."
The distant sounds of an on-coming rush could be heard bounding down the stairs. There was a commotion on the other side, followed by a heavy pounding.
"Open this door, Sephiroth." Bellowed the Doctor's voice through the heavy steel. "If you come out now, I promise your punishment will be minimal."
Sephiroth hadn't even realized he'd whimpered, from the underlining venom dripping from the voice, until Vincent had pulled him in tight against him again. Gleaming green eyes turned up to see his face, those red eyes burning darker, as they seemed to bore straight through the door. Vincent squeezed Sephiroth's arms whispering in a low growl. "I'm going to do something this time."
The sounds of fire and metal scraping metal could be heard from the other side of the door.
Vincent held Sephiroth out at arms length, turning back to him. "Is there another way out of this room?"
Sephiroth shook his head. "I'm not sure." He turned back to the door. "I broke the lock on that one, but I've never been down here before."
Vincent sighed. "Ok." He stood, quickly pulling the pants from the chair, and sliding them on. He really didn't see much point in the other cloths, but he was kinda cold, so slid the lab coat around his shoulders. "Let's go." Vincent grabbed Sephiroth's wrist, leading him towards the other side of the lab. "These labs tend to have another door somewhere. Just in case of emergencies."
A loud clunk, turned both eyes back to the door. It sounded as if the door had fallen to the ground, but it was still up. Maybe they got half of it down.
Vincent pushed Sephiroth behind the storage unit, pushing him down close to the floor. "Stay right here."
The gunman continued to search the room. The switch for the trap door was typically in a drawer, or hidden under a counter or something. It looked as if they were in one of the older laboratories, so it couldn't have changed too much. Not many people outside of the scientists knew of these things, but that was one of the secrets Dr. Crescent had taught him. After all, if he was assigned to protect them, he'd have to know these things.
"Aha." The switch was located along the crease above the inside of one of the drawers, and a small door slid open. Sephiroth's eyes went wide. Even he didn't know that about the labs.
With another quick glance at the door, Vincent grabbed Sephiroth's arm again, and pulled him through the smaller door. The door closed behind them, having a motion sensor. Vincent crouched, silently clinging to the small child, listening as they busted through the main door. His breath hitched, hearing that all-too-familiar voice calling for Sephiroth. He could've sworn he heard his own name as well.
Vincent scooped Sephiroth up into his arms and ran down the corridor, they had just come into. No doubt those men knew where they had gone, so it wouldn't do them any good to stay still until he was sure they were safe.
Sephiroth wasn't quite sure what to think about the whole situation. He'd just met this man, and already he was trying to protect him. It didn't make any sense. Why did he care? Course it did feel kinda neat. He'd never been carried before. Course he probably would have preferred to run on his own, but for some reason, he didn't seem to mind being in Vincent's arms. Instead, he clung to the dark-haired man's neck, almost afraid to let go.
Vincent cut down the hall, hearing voices after them. He approached another large steel door. With Sephiroth clinging to his neck, he was able to get a hand out to grasp the handle and try to open it. It barely budged. Vincent glanced back down the hall, as they got closer. He rammed his shoulder into the heavy door, until it gave way, toppling them both through.
Still having an arm free, Vincent was able to catch himself from crushing the child, and kicked the door closed. After a quick breath, he stood again and took off down the hall. His legs stung as he continued to run. Vincent really didn't know how long he'd been down there, but last thing he knew Sephiroth had just been born. So it was a safe bet to say maybe four to five years. Damn… time flies when you're cryogenic-ally suspended in a vile of goop.
The gunman was willing to bet that he'd been moved throughout his sleep. None of these halls seemed familiar to him. And why hadn't he run into any guards?
Were they seriously all dumb enough to follow him through the door?
Vincent started to turn down a corner, when Sephiroth gasped. "No… not that way."
"Huh?" Vincent stopped, eying the child in his arms. "Why not? What's down there?"
Sephiroth just shook his head. "Just don't go that way."
Vincent quirked an eyebrow. "OK." He decided on a separate hallway. Not two seconds after he'd taken the alternate route he heard voices echoing from the other corridor Exclaiming that they'd heard something and followed after them. Wow. Vincent glanced down at Sephiroth. This kid's intuition was top-notch.
"Do you know the way out of here?"
Sephiroth shook his head, adjusting his grip around the gunman's neck. "I've never been out of the labs."
"Never?"
"Yep… never."
"Yikes… Ok."
The guards sounded as if they were getting closer. He must be weak… he wasn't running nearly as fast as he knew he could.
They would've gotten to the hall they were in, by the time he reached the end. So Vincent decided to take a detour into one of the rooms, lining the side of the halls. Once inside, he finally put Sephiroth on the floor, still keeping a hand on his shoulder. The gunman peered out the door, leaving it open a mere crack to see. As the two men grew closer, the hand left Sephiroth, grasping both to the handle.
Vincent lunged the door open, trapping one of the men behind it, and straight into the connecting wall. He then spun around, contacting a foot with the other guard's head, knocking him out against the opposite wall before he could call for back-up.
Sephiroth watched him, impressed. He hadn't met a grown-up yet that could fight like that.
Vincent grabbed both of the unconscious men, dragging them into the room. It was only then that he got to look around. A chill ran down his spine. It was a lab. How ironic, that when trying to escape one, he ended up taking refuge in another. Vincent dragged the two men over to the table, strapping one hand each into one of the metal restraints and locked them.
Sephiroth just watched him dig through the men's cloths. He pulled the guns from both of their holsters, and proceeded to check for bullets. The green eyes fell on the blackened arm. This man was strong, deformed, scarred… what could've caused all this? "Are you one of the Doctor's projects?"
Vincent's eyes widened from the comment. He glanced over at Sephiroth, then proceeded to fish through the uniform. He sighed. "Unfortunately."
There was a glint of an angry sorrow in his eyes that made Sephiroth unsure if he should ask more.
"Aha." Vincent held up a small radar looking thing. "Knew they had one." He started messing with the dials.
Sephiroth scooted in for a closer look. "What is it?"
"Lower class ShinRa officers typically have tracking devices, which show maps of the whole facility… whoa." He stopped to look at the blipping screen. "It seems we're underneath ShinRa." He continued to mess with the dials. "Good… I may not know where we are, but I know how to get out." Vincent slid the radar back in the guard's uniform. After pocketing his newly acquired artillery, (slipping one gun down the front of his pants, the other in back) he grasped Sephiroth's wrist, running back down the hall.
Sephiroth glanced back at the room, a bit confused. "Why don't you take the map with you?"
"I told you. It has a tracking device on it. Besides, I got it all memorized. I know the way out now."
Sephiroth turned back to Vincent. "You seem to know a lot about this place. How do you know so much?"
"Most of this is just basics you learn as a Turk."
Sephiroth gasped. He stopped, jerking his hand from Vincent's grip.
Vincent stopped, turning back to him. "What's wrong?"
The child took a step back from him. For the first time truly scared. "Y-you're a Turk?"
Vincent eyed him a bit skeptically. "Well, yea. I mean, not anymore I guess."
Sephiroth drew his arms into himself, crumpling away from Vincent.
"Seph, what's wrong?"
"Y-you're one of them. You help the doctor. You help him hurt me."
"What are you talking about, Sephiroth? I'm trying to help you." He took a step closer, only causing Sephiroth to jump back further. "No… you're a Turk. You're working for the Doctor. You're trying to trick me."
Vincent's jaw tightened, trying not to snap at the illogical child. How could he even think he worked for that monster? "Sephiroth, listen to me." He knelt in front of him. "I would never work for that man. He took someone very special from me. He's tortured me, and experimented on my body since before you were born. The only reasoning behind it was because he hated me. That or some kind of research. All I want to do now is help you get away from him. So you don't have to hurt anymore." Vincent reached a hand timidly towards Sephiroth. "I'm not going to hurt you… I promise."
Sephiroth stared from the hand, back to Vincent's face. He seemed sincere enough… but the child had learned early on - that told you nothing. "No." He shook his head, backing away again. "No, Turks lie." They were too good at it.
Vincent withdrew his hand a bit. "What? Sephiroth, I'm not-"
Sephiroth closed his eyes against him. "No… Turks lie, Turks lie… you can't trust them." It almost seemed like an agonized chant. Like he was trying to force himself to believe it. It didn't make any sense for Vincent to be tricking him, form the position he found him in, but Sephiroth hated Turks. How could he believe this one would be different? "TURKS LIE!" Sephiroth turned away from Vincent, running down the hall in the opposite direction.
Vincent jumped to his feet. He resisted the urge to call for him, and ran after the frightened child.
##
AN: :cries: no Sephy don't run away... come baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack
yay now that UC is done, i can focus on this one :w00t: