Chapter 2
Hello
Her eyes where open suddenly, the world seeming to move in slow motion, all at once her senses clearer for those short few seconds was free fall and during this time she noted several things at once. First, was the shocked faces of the six people on the roof of the building whose edge was gradually falling away. The second was the slightly grief in Cloud' sky blue eyes. Third and the least important, Amelia was not sure why she noticed this, was the strange self satisfied smile on Yuffie's face; Almost as if the Wutain was happy to see the red head about to die. But the last, the most important and the one that stuck into her mind as the world turned black, was the man with the lovely ruby eyes reaching out to her; His perfectly shaped lips forming her name.
Vincent, for the first time in many years, shouted, leaning dangerously over the edge of the roof and capturing the falling girl's hand. The ebony haired man grit his teeth, feeling the distinct pain shoot up his arm that indicated he had dislocated it, something he had done many times. Ignoring the throbbing ache, he hoisted the red head, who was surprisingly light, back onto the roof and into his waiting arms. The gunner crouched there several minutes, holding the girl protectively in his lap, his arms a tight cage around her lilthe form was he waited to see if she might react badly again. But it did not take to long, after the adrenaline rush had faded, that he was sure she was out cold and would pose no more danger to herself or anyone else.
As carefully and gently as he could, the dark gunner stood, picking the girl up in a fluid motion no normal person possessed. He carried her bridal style, wordlessly, past the others; Refusing to even acknowledge Reno, or for that matter, Yuffie's protests. "Vincent! Where are you going? She's obviously mentally disturbed, she should be taken to a hospital or something!" Yuffie pleaded, coming up beside him, glaring jealously at the girl in his arms, though he did not notice this. "Come on man! We gotta take her to the boss, just pass her to us and all this can just go under the rug, yo." Reno said, Rude grunted in agreement behind him as they followed the tall gun man, Cloud and Tifa follow behind; Cloud looked both relieved and worried for his friend.
True the blonde had not really known he long or spent much time with her, but he had always felt a sort of connection with her, he thought of her a bit like a sister. He had more than a little shocked to see the familiar red head come over the edge of the bar's roof and land on him, looking obviously distressed and in need of help, but when he had tried to approach her she had shunned away. He wondered if she even remembered him or if she was to far in the recess of her fear fogged mind to, he chalked it up to the later, still he wanted to help her and appeared that the only way to do that was to help Vincent. Cloud set his jaw and pushed both Reno and Rude aside, grabbing Yuffie's arm to stop her to, "Vincent…?" The gunner slowed to a stop and glanced back at him, raising a brow, "Call me when she wakes up…" The garnet eyed man nodded, before continuing on his way, leaving the bar all together to go to, most likely, his home in the forest on the outskirts of Edge. Reno sneered and turned to Cloud then, "What the hell, yo? Boss'll kill us if we don't come back with that chick!" Cloud cut the red headed Turk a side long glare, which shut up any farther protests, before making his way back up the stairs to his own room, finding he suddenly had a splitting head ache.
It took less than an hour for Vincent to reach his home, using his less than human speed to propel himself there much faster. Not once during this time did his guest stir from her slumber, the exhaustion and adrenaline having left her all but dead to the outside world. Though the dark haired man was glad to see her resting, he feared how she might react when she woke again, he was not sure what would be worse, he panicking again or closing herself up inside her mind; Something he had down once, gone so far as to lock himself in a coffin for 20-odd years. He knew it was not healthy and he wondered just how well she was in the head, or even in the body, she was dreadfully pale and far to skinny for a woman of her height and age. Vincent heaved a sigh, wondering why he was doing this, getting involved. But he had decided, the moment her reached out to her his fate was sealed, he would stay at her side until he uncovered the cause of her distress and either healed it or ended her misery some how.
The gunner stopped outside his home, once the lavish home of a high class official in Shin-Ra, the house had fallen into disrepair before Vincent had run across it on one of his long mid-night walks. The house looked Victorian in style, painted a deep shade of crimson and trimmed in black, the former Turk had worked the better half of the past two years repairing and improving the house till it felt like home to him. He walked up the few steps onto the wrap around porch, approaching the door and, careful to not job the girl in his arms, he pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it open and wandering inside. He didn't need the lights to see, due to the many experiments preformed on his vision rivaled that of an animal, his red iris's glowing eerily in the dark and allowing him to see perfectly. Vincent made his way up to the second floor, taking a right down the hall that lead to the bedrooms in the large house and selecting the one next to his own. This room was decorated in a colored theme, as all the bedrooms were, its theme happen to be red, everything was either red silk or cherry wood, trimmed in white or black in places to keep the room looking stylish without drowning visitors in the color.
The ebony gunner layed the red headed girl onto the bed, removing her boots and coat without jostling her too much, he pulled the silk sheets down and made her more comfortable, pulling the blankets up and tucking her in with care. It was unusual, he mused to himself, that he should care so much so suddenly for a single person. But then again, he thought to himself, this is just the sort of tender care he had wished selfishly for a long time ago, but had never gotten; It warmed his cold heart to know he could give to another at least. And he hoped dearly he could help this girl, save her from the misery he himself had nearly been lost too.
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She felt as if she were floating, no sounds met her ears, but her body felt comfortably warm; Occasionally being jostled as if she was being carried. 'Your still so strung up on me? Tsk, tsk…My poor little 'Reaper' you need to let it go…' A voice met her ears suddenly, soft and warm, familiar in an almost painful way. She frowned opening her mouth to speak, but no sounds left her lips, not even a rasp of breath. In front of her appeared a light, which gradually formed a familiar figure, tall and lean, his long silvery hair cascading around him with god-like elegance. He was smiling softly at her, his eyes lite with both love and sadness, not the cold vision of devilish hatred it had been before his death, but the gentle, kind and compassionate man she had loved during the war. She reached out to him, fingers out stretched as she strained to reach him, to grasp him. But he shook his head, closing those glimmering cat eyes, he turned from her, slowly fading from sight, 'You must wake up my dear…You do not belong in the place I reside.'
Amelia woke with a gasp, sucking in mouth full's of air as if she had not breathed at all till that moment, acidic green eyes wide and suddenly alert. She went very still, realizing she was not in her little room in her little home in the canyons near Midgar, she did not recognize this room at all in fact. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, she lifted herself up and looked around the strange and surprisingly elegant room. It was lavish, more lavish than she was used too, even back in her First Class days. She tried to remember how she had gotten there and all at once she recalled the night before, at least bits and pieces and the most frightening was the realization she had run into Shin-Ra dogs, worse yet she was not sure if she had been captured by them some how, somewhere in the jumbled mess of vague memories she recalled seeing Cloud and a strangely satisfied Yuffie…and…Vincent Valentine? But again fear was clouding her common sense, skewing and distorting the memory of him saving her from her near death. No her mind was rationalizing that Cloud and the others had handed her over to Shin-Ra, no one fought Shin-Ra and its dogs, those who did often ended up dead or worse. The red heads frame began to tremble, her heart racing as she wondered wildly how long it would be before she was handed over to Hojo and his men, how long before the experiments would be starting anew.
Frantically she threw the sheets from herself, bare feet hitting the floor with nary a sound, the only thought in her mind was she had to prevent them from using her at all costs. Amelia darted for the door, flinging it open with a soft swish, she glanced wildly up and down the dim hall; Not seeing anyone. The 'Red Reaper' darted out in the deserted hallway and ran, not caring where she was going, just wanting to get there quickly and before long she found stairs, taking them she tried the first door in front of her; Relived to find it was unlocked, but the relief was short lived, her enhanced hearing picking up the sounds of movement in the house. She glanced over her shoulder with a panicked gasp, before flinging herself out the door and running as fast as her bare feet would carry her. The air was cold, a bitter December breeze biting at her skin, going right through her clothes and chilling her to the bone. The read head ran into the line of trees in front of her, not even noticing the sharp twigs and branches that snagged at her cloths and hair, ripping the cloth in places and cutting up her cold numbed skin.
The red head ran until her lungs were burning for air, until her legs gave out and she stumbled, crashing painfully to the forest floor. It was only then that sound finally escaped her, a soft, broken sob, forcing its way past her lips. The once great warrior curling in on herself, burying her fingers in her tangled red hair as she squeezed her eyes shut against the bitter tears. All she wanted was to be left alone, why could Shin-Ra leave her be? They had already taken everything she had ever held dear. She wondered, if Sephiroth had lived, if he had not lost his mind to the thing, if maybe she could have lived with all the things those scientists had done to her. It was thought that often plagued her, 'if only he had lived'. If he had lived would she be this pathetic? Would she still be afraid of Shin-Ra? Or would she have joined him in his quest to garner revenge? The idea was appealing, but the way he had gone about it, she knew, was wrong. Though she would not protest if she were ever given the chance to slice Hojo's slimy ass up with her beloved scythe.
Amelia was not sure how long she layed, too exhausted to move, but it was not long enough. Before long she heard the distinct sounds of footsteps headed in her direction, she tried to remain still, tried not to panic again for fear of being found by Shin-Ra's dogs. But it was not the Turks who next came into her line of vision, in fact the figure who appeared before her could be compared to a god or a dark angel, someone she knew, though she didn't know why, that she could trust.
Next chapter up tomorrow. Please R&R?
Song: Hello by Evanescence
