Vincent sprinted after Sephiroth, only able to keep up enough to see where he was going. "(Why was he so afraid of him? Has the reputation of a Turk really slipped this much?)" His muscles didn't seem to want to work right. They shouldn't be hurting so soon. But I guess chasing after this quick little punk was decent exercise.

Vincent skidded around a corner, nearly toppling over when he finally caught up to Sephiroth, at a dead end. Not fully dead, I guess. The hallway was completely blocked off by a large door. Sephiroth was trying frantically to get it open. He yelped, when Vincent fell to his knees in front of him, panting.

Vincent tried to catch his breath. He breathed in deep, to at least try and speak. "Sephiroth." He wheezed. "Please… you have to-to believe me. I'm not… I'm not gonna-hurt you." Vincent reached up, grasping Sephiroth's arms, and squeezed gently. "I just wanna help you."

"You seem tired, Vincent."

Vincent's blood ran cold from hearing that screeching voice. He stood, turning towards him.

"Is keeping up with a small child too much for you? I can take him off your hands, if you want." He grinned wickedly, holding a hand out to Sephiroth. "Come to me, Sephiroth. Enough of these games." The voice was calm and gentle, but it could freeze your very soul.

Vincent glanced down at Sephiroth. Obviously his fear for the Doctor was far greater than his fear for him. He clung to his pants, eying the crowd of men, terror reflected in his wide green eyes. Vincent grasped Sephiroth's shoulder, pushing him further behind him. "He's not going anywhere with you, Hojo."

Sephiroth glanced up at Vincent. He knew the doctor's name? Not even he knew his name. Hojo lowered his hand, not losing that grin. "Now now, Vincent. It's not good to kidnap children. Now, be a good little toy, and return my son to me." Sephiroth's head snapped back towards the doctor. Son? What did he mean by-

"NO, HOJO!" Vincent snapped, nearly growling. "He's my son!" Vincent's hands trembled against Sephiroth's shoulders. "And I won't let you hurt him anymore."

Sephiroth looked up at Vincent in astonishment. It was odd enough that he seemed to know the doctor, enough to know his name… but… son? Was Vincent really his father? It would explain so much.

Hojo shook his head. "I thought we'd been through this."

"I don't care what you've said. Even if you were telling the truth, genetics mean nothing to me. Sephiroth is my son, and there's nothing you can do or say to change that."

Hojo's smile faded, his cold eyes threatening. "You're pathetic." He started to walk closer. To Sephiroth's surprise, Vincent backed away. "The only reason you want to claim him for your own, is because of that woman. You want to hold onto some shred of evidence that she cared for you in any way. When in reality, you and I both know it was never true." Vincent had backed into the door, Sephiroth wedged behind him. "The truth is, you were a channel for her shame. One look at you, and she foolishly felt guilty for your father's death. All you were was a penance." Hojo was right up on him now, trying to reach around Vincent for Sephiroth. "But I'd say she was vindicated, don't you? After all, it is your fault Lucrecia is dead."

A black hand snapped around Hojo's throat, lifting him from the ground. All guns aimed at Vincent, but he didn't seem to notice. His golden eyes were flaring on the source of his hatred. A low growl slid from his throat.

Hojo just smiled at him. "There's my little monster. You truly are a beast, aren't you Vincent?"

The comment forced Vincent to drop him. Beast? Monster?

Hojo let out that nerve-wracking laugh, smartly moving back from the ex-Turk's reach. "Pathetic. Tell me, Vincent. Are you still hallucinating?"

"What?"

If it was even possible, Hojo's grinned turned more wicked. "You kept screaming about voices. Talking to them, as if they could actually hear you."

Vincent's brow furrowed. He didn't remember that. "If I have lost my mind, I thoroughly blame you."

"Oh please. Like you don't deserve it? Right?"

He motioned into the crowd, and a man with short cut blonde hair stepped out, aiming a gun straight at Vincent. "Perfectly worded, Professor."

Vincent's eyes widened a bit, on the new-comer. "T-Terry? What are you doing here?" His eyes narrowed in anger. "Why are you working for this monster?"

Terry shrugged. "He pays better."

"But, he betrayed one of your own."

"Wrong." Those green eyes narrowed on him, tripping the hammer on his gun. "I've walked in your shadow for too long, Valentine. I was thrilled to finally see you put in your place."

"What place?" He seemed a tad more at ease to see some of the other Turks in the crowd, murmuring among each other, seemingly unsure of the circumstances now. He didn't recognize all of them, but enough seemed to recognize him. "We worked together. We were a team."

"Save it. You always looked down on me. You say we were equals, but you never thought of us as such. Now, look how the tables have turned. I'm finally better, and you're reduced to nothing more than a trapped animal."

"You're nothing but a traitor." Vincent slid the gun from the front of his pants, and aimed it towards Terry. Not even realizing that Sephiroth had left him and was trying to get the door open.

Hojo laughed. "How do you intend to take on all of us?"

"I'll just have to improvise." He felt Sephiroth pull on his lab coat, coaxing him closer towards him. What was this kid up to?

"You're not that strong, Vincent."

"I don't have to be." He froze momentarily, feeling Sephiroth reach into the back of the lab coat, pulling at the gun. Uh oh. If he made any subtle movements to stop him, all the Turks in the crowd would be alerted If he made any sudden movements, everyone else would be. "What are you doing? Don't touch that." He whispered down to him, out of the corner of his mouth.

As if to give some sort of answer, Sephiroth mimicked Vincent's stance, and aimed the gun into the crowd. "Leave us alone." With no real expertise on shooting, the small child pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight into Hojo's stomach. He lurched back into the crowd, screaming. The mob of men shrunk in to assist him.

Vincent stared wide eyed, down at Sephiroth, who seemed both shocked and thrilled by his actions. "Is he dead?"

"Who knows?" Vincent knelt next to him. "Give me back the gun."

Sephiroth did as Vincent told him, and pointed back to the door. "Look."

Vincent followed his motions and saw that the door was opened ever so slightly, being held so… by a fork?

"It was hard to get open, and I don't know how long it'll hold."

"Then let's go." Vincent clamped onto Sephiroth's arm, beginning to drag him through as a barrage of bullets rained in at them.

Vincent pulled the fork out, and the door slammed closed. He fell against the door, holding Sephiroth to him. "Let's not touch the gun again, I don't care how effective it was."

"Ok."

From the other side of the door they heard Hojo shout with fury. "SEAL THE DOORS! And get to work on this one."

One by one, from the other side of the hall, steel doors began to slide into place, closing them in. Vincent picked up Sephiroth, and started to run down the corridor There was another hallway going from this one, a little over halfway down. If he could get to it, before it closed him in, then maybe they could get away.

Maybe he was imagining things, but they seemed to close faster, as he went through them. Vincent had to sprint, and jump through the opening before it sealed him in. Finally, a steal door, closed too fast for him to get through to the other side. "NO!" Vincent dropped Sephiroth to the ground and started banging on the door. "NONONONONO!" He tried to slip his fingers in the slits, and pry the door open, but it was no use. He wasn't strong enough, and didn't think he ever was to open this door. "DAMMIT!" Vincent pounded his fist into the door, falling to the ground. "We were so close." His head fell against the cold steel, pressing into the headache that was forming.

Sephiroth watched Vincent, feeling sadder, as he seemed to give up. He ran up to the door, and started pounding on it. Hoping, maybe, it would break.

Vincent glanced over at him, pushing back his own tears. He wiped his eyes, placing a hand on the child's arm. "Stop. It's not working."

"But, we can't just give up." He turned sharply to him. "You said, you'd get me out of here. And I believed you. You can't give up."

Vincent smiled sadly "I did say that, didn't I?" He pulled Sephiroth into him, until he was sitting on his lap. "I'm not giving up. I promise to protect you. I won't let anything happen to you."

Sephiroth wiped his nose. "I'm sorry, Vincent."

"For what?"

He looked up at him. "If I didn't run from you, we wouldn't have been caught."

Yea, probably. If he'd just stayed with him, there was a chance they may not've been caught, but who really knows.

"I should've known I could trust you. My real daddy would never hurt me."

Vincent's heart stopped. He felt like he was going to cry again… did Sephiroth really just call him his daddy? Daww. The gunner pulled the child into his arms, squeezing him tighter. "We're going to get out of here." Vincent sighed, starting to stand. "First, we have to get through these doors."

Sephiroth poked the back of his leg. "OWCH." That shouldn't have hurt that much.

Vincent glanced back at Sephiroth, who was looking at his fingers. "You're bleeding."

"I am?" His gaze fell down to the back of his leg. There was a steady trail of blood running down to his heel. "Well, I'll be damned."

Sephiroth knelt with him, to examine his leg. "What happened?"

"It looks like a bullet caught me." Vincent ripped off the bottom of his pants. Yep… that was a bullet hole.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not at the moment." Vincent wiped the blood off his leg. He pushed a small piece of the cloth into the hole, cringing a bit as he did so. He wrapped the rest around, and tied it off. "But it will." Vincent stood, ignoring the bruised ache that was starting to form. He tested the walls, trying to decipher how to get though. He could hear the noise of the crowd, beginning to break through the other doors.

Vincent banged on the door. He felt a slight give with his left hand, and diverted it into a punch. He shook the sting from his fist. There was a large dent in the steel.

Sephiroth's eyes widened. "Wow. How'd you do that?"

"I don't know." Vincent glanced down at his hand. Something just seemed to tell him to use his left hand. An odd voice, reciting how to harness the power in it. Vincent punched the door again, pushing the dent in more. He smiled. "We're getting out of here, Sephiroth."

Vincent took a stronger stance, pulling his fist back more. He failed to notice the violet aura radiating from it, and slammed his fist into the dent again. The shock wave from the impact, sent both of them, flying back into the opposite door. A large dent rested where Vincent's body hit the steel. They both stared in astonishment. A hole had been burned right through the thick door. But not just that one, on through the rest of the doors, down the hall.

Sephiroth turned to Vincent, jaw agape. "I suppose you don't know how you did that one, either, right?"

A half hysteric smile tweaked Vincent's lips, as he shook his head, laughing slightly.

"What are you?"

"Not… sure… let's go." He grasped Sephiroth's hand, pulling him through the gaping holes through the next two doors, and on down the opposite corridor In fact, this worked out perfectly. With all of them opened, there was no way for them to know which way they went. Vincent tried to hide the ironic grin. He knew that Hojo was the reason he was now able to do that, there was no doubt on the matter, but he would love to see the look at the deranged scientists face when he saw it.

##

AN: YES! Bullet for Hojo. FUCK YOU! In case you can't tell yet, I hate that man. Most likely because he is the bane of all my fav character's existance, but apparently I have an internal hatred for all his type. Hojo tops the list tho.

OMG the look on Vincent's face is priceless, i so wanna draw it now