Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to Square-Enix, save two which are mine.
A/N: This is unedited, blah, blah, blah, hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 4
Meeting the Nightmare
The girl could feel the pipes jammed into her body, pumping something alien into her. She felt the strange substance spread throughout her like poison, tingling at her fingertips. No breath escaped her, though she was not dead. Faintly, her mind still worked.
Her thoughts were not sluggish. She knew that she had been drugged, so instead of being sluggish they became distant, like a radio with the volume turned down until the commentators buzzed incoherently. Sometimes, for a little while, they would surface and scream at her to do something, anything, to get out of this greenish hell. She preferred it when the thoughts were not there. At least then, she would feel a sense of peace.
Through the green waters, she could see, but her vision was distorted. Many times each day, she would watch, impassive, as the professor- Hojo- walked by her. Sometimes he would stop to examine a little computer on the side of her tank, and mutter to himself.
'Why isn't it working… the solution should be perfect! Why is her body rejecting the cells so fast…? Could it be because she is still a child? Yes, that is it… her dosage is too high…'
She no longer had any feeling left for Hojo. She had given up hoping he would release her long ago. But sometimes, the red-eyed bodyguard would walk past, the female scientist walking next to him. And once, just once, he turned and looked her in the eye.
'I'm sorry.'
Then her thoughts crashed in on her, and her mouth opened to scream for help, only to fill with water. The machine next to her shrieked with a power overload. For a minute, she remembered what it was like to be human, and jerked herself around to face her mother floating next to her, dead.
This time, Yuki forced herself awake. She did not want to remember anymore. Looking at the clock, she realised it was six pm, almost time for her to start working. She jumped out of bed, pulling on whatever clothes she could find, only stopping as her mobile rang.
'Hello?' she said innocently.
'You know who it is. Don't act so dumb.' Yuki grinned. Of course, it was Lee. She had been in Edge for two weeks now, and had not bothered to 'visit' any of the targets he had given her.
'Oh, come on Lee,' she teased. 'I got a job at a bar. You know, it's hard to keep both of my bosses happy.'
'Dammit, Yuki,' he snapped. 'Do at least one job by tomorrow evening, or it's going to somebody else and you're being handed over to the cops.'
'You're a hard taskmaster,'
'Do it, or you're gone.' He hung up.
She listened to the predictable beats of the phone for a moment, calming down. She knew Lee would not really hand her over, but there was no point in making him madder. She shrugged, putting the phone away, before locking the door and walking to the bar.
As she walked inside Seventh Heaven, she stopped in surprise. Instead of the usual crowds, Tifa was by herself, wiping the benches down.
'What's going on?' Yuki asked. Tifa glanced up, and smiled.
'You've been working here for a week without breaks, so I thought I'd close for the night,' she explained, sounding sincere. 'And, aside from Yuffie, you haven't met any of my friends yet, so I thought it was time I introduced you.'
'Yo! Tifa! We're here!' A voice called. Yuki turned and saw a muscular black man banging on the door. Her eyes travelled down his arm to rest on the amazing gun that was his hand. A wave of admiration flew over her.
After a puzzled glance at the frozen Yuki, Tifa walked to the door and pulled it open.
'Barret, this is Yuki.' She said. For a moment more, Yuki was unable to move. Then she relaxed, and smiled.
'Sorry, I was looking at that amazing arm of yours,' she said. Barret laughed and held it up so it caught the light and gleamed an expensive silver.
'Pretty, ain't it.'
Then Yuffie darted inside. A few minutes of pandemonium occurred, until she was restrained enough to begin talking properly.
'Let me introduce the others!' she demanded. 'OK, this is Cloud…'
Yuki looked back at the door, where a spiky-haired man was calmly coming in. He looked back at her, and she noted, from somewhere very far away, that his eyes were even bluer than Denzel's was. A strange feeling bloomed weakly inside her, a pain that started to grow. She began to say hello, in a strangled voice- and stopped.
Behind Cloud, somebody else was coming in. His face was shrouded in a cape, but she would never forget those eerie red eyes.
In an instant, she had flown from the middle of the room, past Cloud's surprised face, to grab the man she had known as Vincent and slam him against the wall of the bar. One hand ripped the cape off his face, and she stared, recognising him so well. Suddenly, she found her voice.
'You bastard!' she screamed, slamming a fist into his face while her other hand held him against the wall by his neck. She could feel people tugging uselessly against her clothing.
'Let her hurt me,' Vincent choked, gazing past her towards his friends. 'I deserve it. I never forgave myself for any of my sins…' He was cut off as Yuki pressed his throat tighter and tighter against the wall. She knew she could not kill him. He had apologised to her.
'You are so damn lucky…' she hissed, her voice shaking. 'If you hadn't said sorry, I would kill you. If you hadn't let me go the first time, I would kill you. If you hadn't protested against Hojo, weak as it was…' For a moment, his air supply was cut off, and then she released a little of the pressure. Her other hand travelled to his face.
'I'm going to scratch those eyes out instead.' She whispered. Vincent looked at her, straight in the eyes, and nodded.
'It's my…punishment,' he murmured.
A gloved hand encircled the wrist that was heading for Vincent's face, and she looked up in surprise. Her dark eyes met another pair: clear, blue. For a long minute, they stared. Then Cloud spoke.
'Please don't do it,' he whispered, his voice cracked in pain. 'Vincent has suffered enough.'
Shame engulfed her. For a moment, she felt horror at her life, bent on revenging her own suffering, never dreaming that others might suffer more damage then they had inflicted. She looked back at Vincent, her hand loosing.
'No.' Vincent muttered, audible only to her. 'It's my fault… Cloud doesn't know…'
Yuki shook her head. She knew that she could not hurt Vincent again. She could not forgive him either. She looked at the floor, awkward and ashamed. These people had been nice to her. Yuffie had been a friend, Tifa had given her a job. She would not apologise to Vincent but she could apologise to them.
'I—'
'It's my fault.' Vincent said. He did not say anything else, but the others seemed to understand.
'We'll get you a room, Yuki.' Tifa said understandingly. 'You need to rest.'
'But…but I—'
'It can wait until morning.'
The sun streamed in across the bed, to brush against Yuki's closed eyelids. Softly, they opened. She sat up.
'I didn't dream.' She whispered in wonder. She rose out of bed, changed into some of Tifa's old clothes laid out for her, and padded quietly downstairs.
Tifa was at the bar, but it was shut on a Sunday, so there was nobody around. 'Good, you're awake,' she said brightly. 'Want a drink? Some breakfast?'
Yuki shook her head, feeling weak, tired and small.
'Why did you help me?' she asked wearily. 'I tried to kill your friend.'
'That's what we do.' Tifa said simply. 'We help people.'
'Great, now I feel like I need a counsellor.' Yuki muttered. Tifa sighed.
'Every single one of our friends has a history they'd rather forget,' she said. 'You wouldn't have killed Vincent. I'm sure you don't want to talk about it now, but you might, later on. Besides, Yuffie and Denzel really like you. They'd be sorry if you left.' After an awkward pause, she added. 'I know it doesn't seem like it, but I like you too. I'm glad I hired you, Yuki.'
'Well, no need to get all sentimental about it.' Yuki muttered. 'As long as you don't go hugging me, or anything like that.'
Tifa laughed. 'You'd like Cid,' she said. 'We haven't introduced him to you yet, but you'll meet him soon, I'm sure. It's AVALANCHE'S birthday, so you can see him there.'
'AVALANCHE?'
'That's the group we belong to. A rebel group, dedicated to the preservation of the Lifestream.'
'I gotta go.' Yuki said suddenly.
'OK… but why?' Tifa asked, confused. Yuki had already gone.
She flew through the downtown streets of Edge, sticking close to the man she had seen walk by the bar. It seemed her target had come to her.
He turned into a back alley, and she ducked down behind a huge bin, watching. Another man came, and the two men bent their heads close together, muttering about something. Cash changed hands. Yuki waited until the other man had gone. Then, fast and silent, she touched the Ice materia embedded in Smoke's pommel and whispered a command.
Her target's blood froze in his body, and she bent over him, collecting the wad of cash he had just received with a quiet thank-you.
Her mind in turmoil, she walked ponderously back to Seventh Heaven.
Help? Maybe they should help themselves first. I'll never forgive that bastard.
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Thanks for reading, hope this chapter was a little more interesting, tell me what you think.