So. Back with another chapter, this time more lengthy. And I just realized that I have forgotten somethhing important.

Disclaimer...god, I hate these things.

Alright, so I disclaim Vincent (regretfully), Lucrecia, Hojo (not regretfully), Grimoire, and anyone else that belongs to Square. All of the infos on Omega and Chaos that I've taken come directly from the game dialogue. Ok, from internet sites with the script posted. I still don't have my Dirge back. Blast. Now I don't have to recognize the internet sites, do I?

Well, moving on.

Concerning the sequel to Treading the Edge, I'm swaying between beginning the story in Shinra Manor, and between starting it a bit before the second attack on the WRO Headquarters. Any ideas, guys?

And thanks for the attempted link, Bjanik, but it didn't show up either. But at least the thought was there (smile).

Enjoy, and Cheers!

Kyyrin

Chapter Four

Vincent sat there stunned.

Not only had he lied to her, but now she hated him for it.

He felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces. It hurt.

But he wouldn't wallow in his misery for long. At least not now. He assumed Lucrecia would not come back, but that didn't change the fact that she wasn't allowed in her lab. He forced himself to sit on the edge of his bed. Now he had no choice but to pay Hojo a visit, convince him to give Lucrecia her lab privileges back, and go out on his morning guard duty.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw half of a power bar that he had started snacking on a few days earlier. Hungry or not, he grabbed it, wolfed it down (cringing as it slid down his sore throat), and hoped it would help keep away the dizziness.

He stood carefully, and made his way to the closet. Fishing out a freshly washed Turk suit, a pair of winter boots, a warm coat, a pair of leather gloves, and a woolen scarf, he cursed himself for not bringing a toque.

He proceeded to dress, all the while making sure he didn't make any sudden moves.

Moving to the bathroom, he washed his face, combed his hair, and drank a glass of water, silently thanking the Planet that his dizziness had lessened.

He shivered. Just the thought of going out into the cold made him feel uncomfortable. This time, he stuffed two handkerchiefs into his jacket pocket, and proceeded to stick his guns into their holsters.

Opening his bedroom door and locking it behind him, he walked down the hall swiftly. He made his way into the foyer, and decided he would take his patrolling shift first, and then talk to Hojo. Save the best for last, after all, he thought sarcastically. Perhaps if Hojo saw him patrolling the grounds, he would be more inclined to forgive Lucrecia and let her back into her lab.

Walking down the stairs, towards the front door, he stifled a few sneezes into his handkerchief. In the state he was in, he wondered if he could even deal with monsters, should the need arise.

He opened the door and nearly yelped as a blast of frozen air hit him full force. But he pulled himself together and stepped outside.

Halfway out the door, however, he heard a voice that made him freeze on the spot.

"Vincent Valentine, where on earth do you think you're going?"

He turned around carefully and stared.

Lucrecia?

She stood there, holding a tablet with a steaming bowl of something, a mug, a glass of orange juice, and two pills, not to mention looking at him as if he had gone insane.

He found no words. He simply stared at her. He'd expected she'd be furious with him for lying to her and getting her into trouble. But there she stood, looking at him admonishingly, and waiting for an answer.

It took him a while to formulate one. And when he had, it came out rather awkwardly.

"I……….thought you were……angry with me…….I thought….maybe if I went patrolling it would convince Hojo to give you back permission to work again", he stammered, unsure of what to say.

"Vincent……….oh dear……I'm not angry at you!" She set down the tablet on a nearby table, and walked over to him, still standing in the doorway in the biting cold.

She walked around him and pulled the door shut, to keep the freezing temperatures from making the man sicker than he already was.

Vincent's crimson eyes followed her as she placed herself in front of him. So close, they were almost touching.

"Vincent, you need to stop taking things so personally!", she reprimanded. "I mean look at you! Have you gone mad? A few minutes out in that blizzard and you would surely catch your death, if you haven't already! You look horrible! Haven't you noticed that yet? You need nothing more than loving care and bed rest to get well, and I'm willing to give those things to you!"

The speech left Vincent reeling. Loving care? Did she really care that deeply for him? He had never been loved unconditionally before, except by his parents. And they were long since dead.

But still, he had hurt her, and he deserved to pay the price for it.

Turning back towards the door with his hand poised over the doorknob, he muttered, "There's no need to worry, really………"

But she wouldn't have any of that.

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him to face her. And he did, with a very shocked expression on his face.

"I don't think so, Mr. Valentine", she said commandingly. "Not this time. I'm fed up with you playing the gentleman! You're coming upstairs and back to bed now, or else I'll knock you out and drag you there myself!" She glared at him fiercely, tightening her grip on his arm and pulling him farther into the entrance hall of the manor.

He tried to protest, but that only intensified her fierce gaze.

Seeing that this wasn't going anywhere, Lucrecia knew that she had to try a different approach. It was a bit below the belt, but Vincent meant too much to her for her to even care.

She grabbed Vincent's hand in both of hers, and knelt down on the floor in front of him.

"Please, Vincent", she begged, tears starting to form in her eyes. At this point, even she couldn't tell if they were real or not. She had meant for them to be fake, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Just go back to bed and get well! I'd never forgive myself if you died. Please! I'm begging you!" Tears began cascading down her face. And now, she knew they were real.

This had the exact result she had hoped for.

Vincent's expression changed from that shock, to one of horror.

Lucrecia knew from experience, and from her over time acquired ability to read Vincent like a book, that the one thing he hated seeing most were her tears, not to mention seeing her beg him for something on her knees.

He almost immediately responded.

"I-I didn't know my health meant so much to you. Forgive me for worrying you. I'll go back to bed."

Lucrecia let out a sigh of relief, and the tears slowly stopped flowing. She stood, grasping the hand Vincent offered to help her up. She brushed away the last of the wetness from her eyes, and smiled brightly at him.

"You go on ahead. I'll bring the tablet. Can you manage that?"

He gave a short nod and started up the stairs.

She took the tablet and followed him. Their pace was slow, because the exertion was now ultimately taking a toll on Vincent's body. He leaned onto the bedroom door, slouching as he fumbled for the keys. Finally managing to find the right one and locate the keyhole.

He unlocked the door, opened it and stumbled into the room, practically falling face first onto his bed.

Lucrecia giggled at the sight. The poor man was so helpless when he was ill.

All but collapsing on the bed, and felt soft material being thrown at him.

"Strip!", he heard Lucrecia command from across his room.

Vincent stared in her general direction, shocked and gaping. Had he just correctly understood that? Strip?? Right there in front of her???

Lucrecia started to giggle at the look on his face.

"I'll turn around of course," continued Lucrecia's amused voice. "I'm hoping you can at least get into your pajamas by yourself. Or do I have to change your clothes for you again?…….." Another giggle followed.

She glanced back at Vincent, who was still sitting there with his mouth hanging wide open.

"Come on! Are you just gonna sit there all day?", she inquired between giggles.

This comment seemed to snap Vincent out of his shocked trance and he blushed a shade of crimson nearly as red as his eyes. He realized that it had been Lucrecia who had changed him into his pajamas after she had dragged him back.

Lucrecia turned around while he changed, still chortling softly, hoping she hadn't embarrassed the man too much.

"I'm….finished", he murmured sleepily, as he crawled underneath the still warm covers.

She walked over to his bedside, bringing the tablet with her and settling it on her lap after she had pulled up a chair.

She laid a hand on Vincent's brow, frowning at the fact that his fever was still running high. How he had even managed to get out of bed in his condition was mind-boggling.

It showed that he was careless, yes, but also strong.

"Have enough strength to eat something?" she asked smiling.

Vincent stirred, and moved himself up against the headboard with her help.

He looked at the bowl.

"What is it?" He inquired, a hint of curiosity evident in his voice.

"Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon", she announced happily. "It'll go easy on your throat."

He looked at her skeptically.

"Oatmeal in the dead of night?"

"Dead of night? Vincent, it's six in the morning. It's practically breakfast time!"

She sighed and smiled.

"Now. Do I have to feed you, or can you eat it by yourself?"

Blushing another shade of crimson, Vincent clumsily took the bowl off the tablet, and proceeded to spoon the oatmeal into his mouth.

A bit of his appetite returned, and he started to realize just how hungry he was.

When he was done, Lucrecia pushed the mug into his hands.

"It's Chamomile tea with lemon and honey", she stated. "It'll help you feel better. I promise."

Vincent took the mug in his hands, sniffed it, raised an eyebrow and started to drink.

The oatmeal had done wonders for his dizziness. It was now nearly nonexistent. It began to dawn on him that maybe his dizzy spells had been due to the fact that he had eaten next to nothing in the last two and a half days.

Lastly, Lucrecia handed him the cup of orange juice and the two pills.

"Drink up. The pills are for the headache I'm sure you have, and for your fever. They'll also help you sleep better."

Vincent did as he was told, and then laid back down onto the pillows, lifting a hand to his face and rubbing his eyes.

"Thank you, Lucrecia……..but you shouldn't……", he trailed off softly, feeling more exhausted by the minute.

"Shhhhhh…….you're very welcome. Anytime…….Don't fight it now. Go to sleep and get better", was Lucrecia's soothing reply.

He was asleep before she finished the sentence.

She pulled the covers up under his chin, got up, and turned off the light.

Pausing before walking out the door, she turned back.

Walking over and planting a soft kiss on his hot cheek she whispered,

"Goodnight, Vincent."

Lucrecia softly closed the door behind her, and made her way to the spare bedroom next to Vincent's.

She was angry with Hojo, and had no intention of going anywhere near her room, seeing as it was too close to his. She had no pajamas, so sleeping in her long undershirt would have to suffice. As a bathrobe, she always had her lab coat.

As she walked into the room and started undressing, she giggled again at the thought of Vincent's sometimes childlike helplessness. Of course, this side of him wasn't shown often.

She blushed in spite of herself. Vincent was an extremely handsome man, and well built at that. She'd seen it when she had brought him back and undressed him. Luckily for her, he'd had boxer shorts on underneath his Turk uniform. Or perhaps that was unlucky……….she blushed an even deeper shade of red.

Besides that, he was one of the most polite, caring and selfless individuals she had ever met. Not at all like the other Turks she'd met in Midgar. No. He was different. Constantly the gentleman, he treated her with respect and dignity. Just like his father. A lump formed in her throat at the thought.

But what was she thinking? The girls in Midgar probably couldn't leave Vincent alone. He was bound to already have a special someone. Why would he be interested in a geeky bookworm like her? She didn't consider herself at all beautiful, but not the opposite either. She thought she was rather plain, and perhaps uninteresting.

Sighing, she undid the ribbons from her long, amber colored hair. It flowed down to the small of her back. She smiled. It was her pride and joy. The only thing she found beautiful about herself. And the only reminder she had of her mother, who had had the exact same amber mane. She bit back a sob. How she missed her parents. Both her father and her mother had been killed when a hoard of bloodthirsty monsters had invaded their small village. She had been fifteen years old. Sometimes she wondered if it would have been easier had she been younger. Maybe she wouldn't have remembered as much about that horrible day.

With nowhere else to go, she had moved to Midgar. It had pained her to live in the slums. She had always wanted to achieve goals in life. Science had interested her since she was a young child, not to mention she had been the brightest student in her class. So she written an application for a Shinra program called Young Aspiring Scientists, and, to her great joy, had been accepted. She had given it her all, partially because she had wanted to get somewhere in life, and also because science fascinated her. She passed the entrance exam with such honors, that she had been offered a dorm in the living quarters of the Shinra Power Company University in the upscale area of Midgar. There, she had begun to study, specializing in biotechnology. Due to her high level of intelligence and enthusiasm, she had quickly climbed the ranks, and had graduated at the top of her class, soon becoming a Class A scientist.

She had found particular interest in the Chronicles of Yore, written by the Ancients. There, it stated that once the Planet neared it's inevitable end, it would call forth Omega, "the end". This great creation would gather all life forms, and embark on a journey through the stars, leaving the former planet crumbling and useless, all forms of life known as of now being extinguished. The demon Chaos, Omega's squire, who resided sleeping, somewhere on the Planet, would be important to the process as well and she vowed to find him. This however, was held by all other scientists for a farce and a legend. But she was determined to prove them wrong. She'd written countless essays and an elaborate thesis, none of which anyone took seriously. So far-fetched were the propositions in her research, that her work on the subject was never even submitted to the Shinra Information Database.

Now being a full-fledged scientist, she had worked as an assitant to Vincent's father, Dr. Grimoire Valentine, who had been the only one to support her thesis and experiments. They had ultimately discovered the location of the dormant Chaos, and Vincent's father had also found materia that seemed to be a type of refined anti-matter that had formed within the grotto over the past several millennia. The both of them thought to be, perhaps, a means of controlling the destructive Chaos. Taking samples of what Grimoire believed were deposits of contaminated bioplasma that had overflown from the pure lifestream, she had over-confidently experimented with them in her lab.

She had been working one day, Grimoire looking over her shoulder, when suddenly the tube where she had been keeping her Chaos experiment in, exploded. To protect her from being hit by the potentially dangerous shadow-like tendrils, Grimoire had pushed her out of the way, and had been hit himself. She had thought he would be all right at first, but as it turned out, he had been mortally wounded.

He had returned to the Planet in her arms that day, begging her to tell his son that he was sorry.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks. It had been her fault. If she hadn't foolishly pushed forward so quickly with the experiments in her excitement, his death could have been prevented. If only she had been more careful……..

She had been more than a little shocked when Shinra sent Grimoire's son, Vincent to be her bodyguard on the Jenova Project. She had known it was his son even before he had said his name. It was his eyes that had given him away. The mixed crimson and deep, wine-red must run in the Valentine family, for he and his late father shared them almost down to the exact detail.

At first she had held back. Filled with shame every time she looked into his eyes, at the fact that his son was now here protecting her, not knowing what had happened to his father all those years ago. The guilt and remorse had practically eaten her up inside. She couldn't tell him. But now, she also couldn't get away from him.

To make matters worse, he was just as shy as she, but all the same respectful, caring and polite. She had fallen for him before she even knew what was happening. The guilt had seemed to ebb a bit, and she had come out of her shell, and he out of his. Throughout the months, they had become the best of friends, and she had become her old, enthusiastic self again. She still felt indescribable guilt about Grimoire, and she still hadn't told Vincent about it, but she had a different mindset now.

If she hadn't been able to protect Grimoire, she would make sure that she would give Vincent all the loving care that she could muster. It was ironic in a way. He was her bodyguard, yet she also pledged to protect him. She hoped she could one day work up the courage to tell him about what happened to his father, and that he wouldn't hate her for it.

She flopped unceremoniously onto the bed, wiping the last lone tear off her cheek. It was seldom that she had the time to reflect so thoroughly on her life. Working on this so-called Jenova project had been taking up all of her time. But she didn't mind. It was her passion, after all.

Realizing how tired she was, her eyes began to drop shut. Carrying Vincent back to the manor had not proved to be an easy task. He was by no means overweight, but he was muscular. Her arms ached just thinking about it.

So with the thought of Vincent's rare, quiet smile in her mind, she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Heh, sorry Kysic. It got a little complicated there, what with the entire explanation about Lucrecia's past. I hope to God I didn't screw up on it. I'm not going to beg for reviews, but I'd really like to know if I missed anything, or have made any mistakes. Thank you all and cheers!