TOMB OF LIFE

TOMB OF LIFE

CHAPTER 7

On her way to the science lab the following day, Lara ran into Zack. She was wearing a sleeveless, short cropped, black top that revealed a decent portion of her flat stomach, and long camouflage pants with her rugged soled boots. Zack, in his usual SOLDIER 1st attire of all black was all smiles when he saw her.

"Hey Lara," He grinned, they had been on a first name basis since the day of their track and field excursion. The cheerful young man wasn't much for formalities and Lara couldn't help feeling enthusiastic whenever she was around him.

"Can I talk to you for a minute Zack?" Lara asked.

"Anytime Lara," They ducked into an empty training room for some privacy.

"I met Vincent Valentine – officially this time. He was on the roof of the gym last night," Lara explained.

"I see," Zack said giving her a rueful look.

"What can you tell me about him? I'm assuming that his ability to change form is not something that is common among your people," Lara said.

"You're right it's not. Vincent is the result of several scientific experiments which have led to his current state.

"Experiments?" Lara echoed the concern on her face evident.

"I don't know all the details, but as I understand it they had to be performed in order to save his life," Zack explained.

"What is his link to ShinRa?"

"Well, Vincent was once a Turk – many years ago."

"I see, and the situation with Sephiroth – why do they hate each other?"

"I'm almost pretty sure Vincent doesn't hate Sephiroth," Zack replied.

"Can't have a rivalry if the hatred is only one sided. What aren't you telling me?" Lara wanted to know.

"It's actually a personal matter that I am not at liberty to discuss."

"I understand," Lara sighed. "I suppose that means I'll just have to find out on my own." She reached for the doorknob and opened it, "Thanks Zack." She then resumed her trek to the science lab.

Hollander was not in the lab when she arrived, but one of his assistants directed her to the portal device. She read some of the notes on what they had discovered so far which wasn't much. They hadn't been able to do anymore than she had done before – slight mist would appear only to evaporate shortly after without forming an actual portal.

"Where is Hollander now?" Lara asked, thinking that maybe she should go over the test chart with him so they could discuss the best path to move forward.

"He should be in the observation room," The assistant replied.

From Lara's previous tour of the ShinRa complex, she knew that the observation room was on the same floor as the science lab just three doors down. She thanked the assistant and left the room in search of Hollander. She made it there in short order and thought to knock, but noticed the door was slightly ajar. Curiosity got the better of her and she decided to slowly peer around the edge of the door, to sneak a peak at what the good doctor was up to.

Lara had to stifle a gasp at what she saw. The observation room consisted of mirror plates on every wall panel except the door and there were sparse furnishings with only a few pieces of computer and monitoring equipment. Hollander, stood behind the computer panel now, but it was the person who levitated in the center of the room that had caught Lara's attention. Sephiroth, shirtless, dressed in only his leather pants and boots floated in the center of the room, his hands lying at his sides. His eyes closed -- he seemed to be meditating. Her gaze was drawn to the long gray wing that extended out of his back on the right hand side.

Lara wasn't sure how long she stood there staring at him when his eyes suddenly opened and locked with hers in the reflection of the mirrors. "My apologies," Lara quickly muttered – after closing the door behind her she took off at a brisk pace down the hall. Her presence had been intrusive, not to mention rude – how would she ever face Sephiroth again. She didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Lara…"

She paused, and didn't have to turn around to know that it was Sephiroth who had called her name. It was the first time he had used her given name instead of referring to her studiously as 'Miss Croft,' she found that she liked the way her first name played across the deep timber of his voice. Once she found the courage to turn around and face him she was not surprised to see that he was still shirtless, but was quite baffled by the fact that his wing had now vanished. "I came to see Hollander I… didn't know you'd be there."

"That's okay, I was afraid I may have startled you – I simply wanted to explain," Sephiroth stated closing the distance between them.

"You don't need to explain, not if you don't want to." Although Lara was dying to hear what he had to say she didn't want him to feel pressured into it.

"I am one of three SOLDIER's, that contain S genes which among other things give us the wing appendage trait. It's something that ShinRa had been experimenting with for some time – a way to make faster and stronger SOLDIERS. The gene therapy does not work on everyone, nor do we administer it freely, and most importantly these tests were all completely consensual," Sephiroth explained.

"May I?" Lara asked as she slowly circled around him until she was standing directly behind him. He did not move as he gave her his consent. Lara stared at the white flesh of his back muscles, which was pretty much flawless except for a long, thin, white scar which had to be the exit point of the wing. Involuntarily her hand shot out and touched the scar gently – she was unaware of the effect her warm touch was having on Sephiroth but was more interested in her examination of the scar. "When you extract the wing, does it hurt?"

"Every time," Sephiroth replied.

The scar began to fade under her intense gaze and it dawned on her that the wing actually created a wound when it was extracted. "How are you able to heal so quickly?"

"It's part of the reason the S gene only works on so few, the ability to heal rapidly is uncommon among my people," Sephiroth explained.

Lara stood there behind him for how long she was unsure and watched mesmerized as the scar healed completely leaving not a trace behind. She hadn't realized she had been stroking his bare back until he slowly turned around to face her. The blazing heat that was just below the surface was clearly revealed in his jade eyes. She could not mistake the raw desire she saw there. Lara took a step back, suddenly realizing that she may be in over her head. "I should let you get back to Hollander."

Sephiroth's response was to grasp her hand and pull her closer to him. His face leaned in now, mere inches away from hers. Lara was fully expecting to be kissing him any second now, when suddenly the sound of someone clearing his throat behind them interrupted the moment. They drew apart quickly and turned to look at Tseng standing there, with his arms folded across his chest.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Tseng said knowing full well that he was.

"No of course not," Lara said quickly. "I just remembered I have some errands to run." She swiftly walked past Tseng, leaving the two men to their own devices.

Lara had been on pins on needles for most of the rest of the day, but she had expertly managed to avoid Sephiroth by heading into Midgar under the ruse of doing more shopping. In essence she just felt the need to stay away from the alluring General before she did something she'd regret. Actually, she pondered why she would regret it if she gave in and allowed herself to have a fling with the handsome, silver-haired man. Soon enough she would return to Earth and that would be the end of it – wouldn't it?

Lara didn't realize she was idly standing outside a fruit shop as her thoughts had her so preoccupied. She snapped out of it when a certain young man pulled up in front of her on a huge black motorcycle. She recognized him as the man who had given Sephiroth the evil eye when they were both at the market place the other day. He had spiky blond hair and once he removed his goggles, she noticed the deep blue eyes much like Zack's.

After the initial once over, he ignored her and began to unload some boxes from the motorcycle and then took them into the shop. Once he had made his delivery he returned to his motorcycle only to have a young girl run up to him apparently out of breath.

"Cloud, Cloud there are monsters attacking in the park!"

"Marlene go home, I'll take care of it," Cloud stated, before retracting Fenrir's side slots that held his weapons and grabbing his sword, he then headed off down the street in the direction to the park.

It was burrower slugs which found the moist area underneath the plate in the Midgar slums to be an ideal nesting place. Cloud decided to put a crimp in their plans. Drawing on Ultima Weapon, Cloud hacked, chopped and slashed the overgrown insects to pieces. Once they were all dead, he swiveled his sword above his head before placing it on his back. He was about to turn to leave when a gun shot rang out and another burrower which had been perched on top of one of the sleds fell over dead. He looked up to see a beautiful woman with auburn colored hair striding towards him. Her pistol was still smoking revealing she was responsible for sparing him the ambush of the dead burrower. He couldn't help but admire her shapely body clad in camouflage snug fitting pants and a short cropped sleeveless black shirt. He closed the distance between them and watched as she holstered her pistol that was one of two strapped to either thigh.

"Thank you," Cloud said when he was close enough to see the color of her eyes. They were a tawny gold – so beautiful.

"You're welcome," Lara replied giving him a half smile.

"You're Sephiroth's girl," Cloud stated.

"And what would give you that idea?" Lara was a little taken aback by the question.

"I saw you with him in the market the other day."

"And is every woman you see in his presence automatically his girl?" Lara wanted to know.

"So what are you to him then?" Cloud asked.

"Perhaps I should be asking you that same question. I witnessed your exchange. I can tell there is no love lost between either of you," Lara smirked.

"I'll gladly answer that. There is nothing between us, except the occasional desire to run each other through – your turn," Cloud replied, the corners of his lips twitching upward in an expression that was not exactly a smile but close.

"And here I thought I was a horrible conversationalist," Lara chuckled.

"Who are you?" Cloud was really intrigued by her now.

"Lara Croft and you are Cloud," She grinned then continued. "I overheard your conversation with Marlene before."

"Cloud Strife, at your service," He locked eyes with hers while fervently wishing that Sephiroth indeed had not laid any claims to her. "A word of advice, if you really aren't with Sephiroth then you should stay away from him. He's trouble."

"And I should take advice from a man who is a confirmed rival of Sephiroth?" Lara could not mask the humor in her tawny colored eyes.

"True, perhaps I am not the best person to be objective, but ask around – the General is not as well loved as he would like you to believe."

Lara let her gaze play over the young man, she liked his attire. A black zippered sweater that was sleeveless adorned his chest, he wore a single sleeve on his right arm which she thought was an interesting fashion statement. Loose-fitting black pants and rugged soled boots completed his attire. "Well Mr. Strife, it was a pleasure to meet you, but I'd best be going now."

"Please, call me Cloud." He said gazing directly into her hazel eyes. "I fully intend to call you, Lara." And he meant that quite literally as he flipped open his cell phone then asked for her number.

Lara was intrigued by him, so she swapped numbers with the blond even though she knew she was playing with fire due to his animosity with Sephiroth. However she wasn't about to let the silver-haired man dictate who she could or couldn't be friends with. "Perhaps I'll see you around Cloud."

"Count on it," Cloud replied as his lips curved into a true smile. He watched as she left the park, his eyes drawn to her shapely hips as she walked.

That evening, Lara realized she had several messages on her phone from Sephiroth, apparently he had been trying to reach her ever since their incident in the hallway. She had been given the phone on the first day of her acceptance among ShinRa and was pleased by the gesture, as it was a sign of her fitting in. However, it was also a way for them to keep tabs on her.

Lara wasn't sure if she was ready to face him yet as her emotions were still a bit frazzled over their 'almost kiss,' she still wasn't sure what she'd say once she saw him. One thing she was certain about was that she couldn't be alone with him again, and thought it best to postpone their world trip for the time being.

After changing into a suitable dinner dress – a pale blue concoction that outlined her hour glass figure perfectly, she decided to go watch the sunset on the gym roof before facing the dinner crowds in the ShinRa dinning hall. The dresses at least still came in handy for dinner time, and she didn't want them to go unused.

Once on the roof, she inhaled deeply breathing in the fresh air while watching the sun begin to dip below the horizon. She hadn't been there very long before Vincent appeared on the roof next to her. Lara glanced at him but he ignored her, instead his beautiful ruby eyes were focused on the sunset.

They stayed that way for a while in relative silence, and Lara wondered how long he would have remained silent if she hadn't decided to speak up. "I find your ability to shape shift fascinating, I'd love to hear all about it but you don't seem the type to be willing to share." Lara wasn't sure if he'd heard her as he continued to stare at the horizon of which the sun had now dipped beneath bathing the sky in a pink hue.

Eventually, he turned crimson eyes to her. "That would be correct," He simply replied.

"Hmm, well I am determined to learn all I can about you." Lara turned away from the edge of the roof only to find that her heel had been caught in an indentation which sent her sprawling sideways. Vincent expertly caught her before she fell onto the hard concrete. Her face was now mere inches from his, she could feel his warm breath on her neck and it sent chills down her spine. She wasn't sure how long they might have stayed that way if she hadn't heard the scream of rage that came from behind them. Vincent quickly righted Lara to her feet and turned to meet Sephiroth's onslaught.

The silver-haired man had been looking for Lara and had been told by one of the trainee's that he had seen her heading for the gym roof, so he came directly here hoping to have a chance to speak to her alone before they went to dinner. He certainly did not expect to find her in the arms of his father. Sephiroth saw red as he drew the Masamune and charged Valentine.

Vincent removed the Death Penalty and was able to block Sephiroth's attack with the gun blade before the force of the General's blow took them both over the edge of the building.

Lara screamed and watched helpless as they were locked in a freefall down the side of the building. She had a moments respite when she realized they made it to the ground safely but had immediately begun fighting again. Lara wished she had her grapple with her which was the only way other than taking the stairs to get down there quickly. She had to go with the latter and quickly flipped off her stilettos so they wouldn't hinder her from sailing down the stairs in a mad dash.

Before she made it out to the courtyard, she could hear gunfire and the click of metal against metal. She was horrified of what she would find as she rounded the side of the building. It seemed both men were still in one piece but they were now locked in a battle of strength – the Death Penalty clashed against the Masamune. Lara ran towards them determined to break up the fight. The sounds of the battle were also attracting other ShinRa personnel. Eventually the two combatants flung each other off which gave Lara the opportunity to come between them.

Lara was almost barreled over by Sephiroth in his blind rage. Through his angry haze Sephiroth could hear Lara calling his name and he allowed himself to return to reality. He glanced down to see Lara pressing her firm body against his – her hazel eyes pleading with him to stop. He lowered the Masamune and gently grasped her chin with his free hand. "Are you alright?" He asked, in that moment he only had eyes for her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Lara kept repeating it and held his hand against her face with one of her own, hoping to bring home the fact that she was real. He was holding her in his arms and she was safe and sound.

Vincent looked on in silence, he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it, Sephiroth had feelings for this woman. He glanced around to realize that Angeal and Zack plus a few other ShinRa grunts had made it on the scene.

Zack glanced at Vincent empathically before saying, "You should go."

Vincent turned to Zack then nodded. Vaulting into the air he transformed into a wave of red mist and sailed away. He could see the look of hatred Sephiroth turned his way before he was out of range and they were no more than a blur to him. It seemed he only managed to make the state of relations between him and his son a lot worst.

"Excitement is over, dinner is being served as we speak," Angeal spoke up, indicating that Zack and the other ShinRa grunts leave the couple alone.

Once they were alone, Lara finally broke Sephiroth's strong embrace and locked eyes with the taller man. "Sephiroth, what just happened?"

He knew exactly what she was referring too – he had lost it and for no good reason. His mind had deteriorated and all reasoning had fled when he saw Lara in Vincent's arms. "Why was he holding you?" He asked softly.

"My heels – told you they weren't my thing, I tripped and he caught me before I fell," Lara explained.

"And you're okay?" He asked glancing now at her bare feet that peeked out from underneath the hem of the blue dress.

"Yes, yes I'm fine," She smiled at him hoping it would help to reassure him. Was his outburst due to jealousy – or was it something else?

"What were you doing on the roof with him?" Sephiroth asked.

"Apparently we both find looking at the sunset to be a pleasant pastime." At the confused look on his face she continued. "I discovered a few days ago that Mr. Valentine likes to come to the gym roof to watch you spar, which is what I assumed was his reason for being there this evening, but he found me instead." The look of anguish that crossed his handsome features tore at her heart. "Sephiroth what is it?"

"How long have you been seeing…my father?" At the surprised look on Lara's face he realized he may have made a mistake in assuming she knew it all. "You didn't know." It was more a statement than a question.

"How would I know when no one would tell me what your special relationship was?" Lara looked at him incredulously. "He's your father? How is that even possible?" Vincent didn't look any older than Sephiroth, she simply found the fact that they were father and son too incredible to believe.

"What do you know of him?" Sephiroth asked as he turned and stared out and the manicured ShinRa lawns, the Lawn Lamps had now come alive with the light from the sun gone.

"Just that he was a former Turk and had been subject to several experiments," Lara said.

"Well one of those experiments gave him a nearly indestructible body, as a side affect he became ageless."

"Why did you tell me Professor Gast was your father?"

"Because he was my father, in every way that counted – we may not have been blood related but he was the one that raised me, while Vincent was off hibernating in a coffin for thirty years."

"Oh my god," Lara began, as her eyes locked with his once more. "I had no idea."

"So, Vincent finally comes into my life two years ago, only I have no idea who he really is. He joins with the eco – terrorist group Avalanche and we square off a few times. Then before Gast died, he found a letter from my mother detailing the fact that Vincent was my biological father. I didn't believe it, but Vincent I suppose he always knew there was a possibility." Sephiroth ran a hand through his silver tresses before continuing. "When the eco wars were over, we formed a tenuous truce that even led to us having a paternity test done. It was proven without a doubt that he was indeed my father, and I began to hate him even more. My mother died alone and unhappy, after she had done everything to save his miserable life. And he just vanished, never to be seen again for thirty years. Do you understand why I will never see him as my father?" Sephiroth asked her.

Lara was at a loss for words – she had a sense about people and didn't think Vincent was a bad man, but she didn't know what to think of his actions either. She felt that something was missing, there had to be a part of the puzzle that was not clicking. These men should not be at each other's throats, not when they were father and son. "Let's get you inside," Lara said, stroking his shoulder as she led him back inside the complex.