Disclaimer: I do not own any final fantasy material, be it names, weapons, characters, modes of transportation, etc.
Warning: This story contains homosexuality, sex (both consensual and non) and gore. Please do not read if you are offended by any of this. Also, I have not played crisis core and so there will be no references to that game in here.
Little Bird Chapter 3
By the time Sephiroth got there, his informant had been waiting for ten minutes. "You're late." The man said quietly, sitting on the second bottom step.
"You're early." Sephiroth retaliated. "Besides which, I had something to take care of." The man on the steps stood, looking regretful and nervous.
"You can't stay here much longer Sephiroth. We just got back from Rocket Town and we're coming back here once Tifa wakes up."
The silver haired man's eyebrows rose slightly and a tiny smile played about his mouth. "Then you'll just have to keep them out of the basement again, won't you?"
"I can't continue doing that!" snapped the other man, "I'm running out of excuses!"
"Come now Vincent," Sephiroth murmured. "You're a dark, angst ridden man, I'm sure you can come up with something." Vincent closed his eyes and massaged his temples. When he opened them again Sephiroth could see the fatigue and anxiety displayed there.
"Is Cloud alright? It's been so long since I heard from you, and you're shirtless, which doesn't bode well." Sephiroth laughed and put his arms in the air, stretching.
"He's fine. Unconscious at the moment, but fine nonetheless. Don't look at me like that. I haven't touched him like that yet, but I want to Vincent. It's hard to resist."
The red eyed man gave him a dark look. "Keep resisting. I swear to God Sephiroth, if you hurt him I'll lead the others right here and trust me, we WILL get Cloud back."
Vincent was slammed into the wall by his neck and held there while the general's eyes glittered with malice. "Don't threaten me Vincent. It isn't wise, and if I kill you here, it will only cause problems for both of us. Still, you should remember that you're expendable and that regardless of what you say, Cloud is mine and I'll do what I like with him. Are we clear?" When Vincent didn't respond, Sephiroth let him drop.
"Still," he continued, dropping down to eye level with his air deprived informant, "Today was the worst of all. The way he looked at me Vincent, I wanted to throw him down and take him right there." A shiver of delight ran up his spine and he touched the tip of his nose to Vincent's. "Do you have any idea the kind of restraint that takes?" He placed a kiss on the red eyed man's cheekbone, and when that garnered no response, he began stroking the other man's thigh. He would have continued, but a loaded pistol had been placed under his chin.
"Off. I don't care how much restraint it takes, I am not an outlet for your pent up frustration. I've told you our plans, what you do next is up to you."
As soon as Sephiroth had moved, Vincent was up and dusting himself off. The silver haired man watched him for a moment before asking. "Why are you helping me?" The red eyed man looked away and straightened his collar before heading up the stairs. Sephiroth glided after him, thoroughly amused. "Oh my, do you have a crush on me? No? Is it because we were both once dead and you feel a kinship? Could that be it? Or…" He stabbed the Masamune into the wall in front of Vincent, "Do you feel responsible for me because once upon a time, if you had managed to keep Lucrecia, you might have been my father?"
The exTurk turned slowly, and when he spoke, though it was soft his voice rang with spite. "Tell me Sephiroth, are you enamored with hate because you fear love?" The general removed his sword from the wall only to plunge it in again, this time so that the flat of the blade pressed next to the red eyed man's neck.
"That was uncalled for." Smiled Sephiroth, "Mine was a real question."
"Then allow me to answer it. I have never thought of myself as your father, nor do I wish that you were my son. I am helping you because I believe in your reasons for doing this, and because I trusted you when you explained it to me, but if you continue to antagonize me, I will take Cloud and go. I feel that you should know that your question was also uncalled for." With that, Vincent ducked under the blade and was gone up the steps.
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Cloud woke up with his head pounding and his throat dry. It had been a long time since he had been taken over like that and the shock of it still made him queasy. He opened his eyes and instantly regretted it, groaning in pain and clamping his hands over his face. Oh yes, this was the brain hangover he had always been able to look forward to whenever his mind was taken over.
The arm he knew to be Sephiroth's coiled around him and helped him into a sitting position against the table while pushing a glass of water to his lips. He drank greedily, ignoring the fact that this was the same man who had put him into this state. Eventually, the empty glass was taken from his mouth and the presence of the other man's body left briefly to extinguish the lamps.
He knew that he had been an idiot, mouthing off to his captor like that, but after remembering the man's actions in such vivid detail he had the crazy idea that Sephiroth didn't deserve common courtesy. 'Idiot, Idiot, Idiot!' He chanted in his mind, banging his head against the table until a gloved hand stopped him. "I've dimmed the lights. Open your eyes." And so Cloud did, glad to see that the only lights in the room were the two glowing patches of mako on Sephiroth's face.
The General lifted something off of Cloud and the boy was startled to see that it was his infamous trench coat. "Um?" Sephiroth looked down at him before sliding it back on and moving between various items on the floor.
"I thought it might make you more comfortable. You overtaxed yourself a little bit yesterday so I assumed that a blanket of some sort would help in the recovery process."
Cloud looked at him in disbelief before noticing what the silver haired was doing. "Are you… packing?"
Sephiroth froze for a moment before looking back at him with those luminescent eyes. "Yes. But only the essentials. I have decided that you and I are going to visit a friend of yours and that we won't ever come back to this place. Ever." Cloud had never seen the silver haired man more agitated and there seemed to be a manic gleam in his eye. The blonde stood and caught his superior by the sleeve.
"Why are we leaving? Why can't you just keep me locked up here? You're messing with my head again, aren't you?"
The general looked at him with a tight, anxious face. "I'll answer your questions when I feel that the time is right, but right now, that drug laced water is quite probably making you feel tired sweet one, so you should sit, or at least have the decency to pass out while I work."
Cloud felt the colour drain from his face as the weight of what Sephiroth said sunk in. He began to feel light headed, and just before he fell, he couldn't help thinking: 'That sneaky Fucker'.
Spacehasjustrealizedthatsomeonehasrecognizedherandisabsolutelyecstaticaboutitspacemustnowdothejoyousdanceofrecognitionyaywigglespacewiggle
Sephiroth snatched Cloud up in one deft movement before he fell, lowering him gently to the floor before sheathing the Masamune and grabbing the Buster sword from behind the bookcase. He was just strapping it to his back along with his pack of essentials when Vincent burst in, slamming the door behind him. "Vincent, what are-"
The ruby eyed man covered Sephiroth's mouth with both of this hands, speaking very softly and very swiftly. "You need to leave now. They're on their way down the stairs. Stab me in the shoulder and go. It needs to look like we struggled… I probably won't be able to warn you of their movements anymore… Wait… I can probably still meet you, but I must know where you are going."
Alarmed voices were drawing closer and closer to the room, causing both men to look towards the door, then back at each other. Vincent dropped his hands from Sephiroth's mouth, pulled out his gun and fired two rounds into the wall while the general leaned towards his ear and whispered three words before drawing his sword and driving it from the Chaos holder's right shoulder to the middle of his arm. When he reached the bicep, he drove it through the arm forcing Vincent to let out an animalistic shriek as his blood spattered out onto Sephiroth's sword.
The door burst open for the second time just as the general was picking up his captive. Tifa screamed when she saw him and started running towards her childhood friend, covered by Barret's machine gun fire. Sephiroth dodged the bullets, grabbing both her and Vincent by their necks and hurling them at the rest of the party. Holding Cloud close, he barreled through the small crowd and shot towards the staircase, feeling a bullet graze his leg as he did so. He concentrated his energy on the Jenova cells inside him and lifted off the ground toward the top of the staircase, glancing down only once to make eye contact with Vincent Valentine.
SpaceischangingbacktotheheroshappeningsnowbecauseitcantallbeaboutSephyandCloudnowcanitwellyesIsupposeitcanbutinthiscaseitreallyisnt
Vincent watched Sephiroth fly upwards, meeting his eyes just once. He blinked to show that he understood before directing his attention to his severely bleeding arm. Tifa, Yuffie and Red XIII bolted up the stairs after Sephiroth, but the ex Turk knew that any attempts at catching him right now were futile. This feeling seemed to be shared by Barret and Cid (Cait Sith had not yet returned from his search with the Turks) for instead of tearing after the man in the black cape they began to dress his wound.
"Yah think you're alright to walk?" The pilot asked.
Vincent nodded gently and held his arm gingerly so that it wouldn't jostle. "I am fine… Thank you for binding my arm."
Cid shrugged, "It won't hold up to much 'kay? So don't bump it 'round until we get back to the ship." The blonde indicated that Vincent should lead the trio with Barret close behind.
When they reached the outskirts of town, they saw Tifa's figure on her knees, sobbing and pounding the ground with her fists while Red XIII and Yuffie tried to comfort her. Vincent felt a stab of guilt run through him and he went to her with his clawed hand outstretched. The brunette smacked it away and looked up at him with a tearstained face. "You were there in the basement! Why didn't you call out?! We m..might have actually muh…managed to s..save him!" She dissolved into tears once more, putting her now gritty fist to her eyes and trying to rub them away. The ex Turk opened his mouth to say something but Cid laid his hand on Vincent's good shoulder and led him to the airship.
"She should calm down soon 'nuff. You want some tea?" Vincent nodded wordlessly looking at his arm and noticing that blood was already soaking the loose fitting bandage. Cid, noticing where his comrade's gaze was falling, winced a little by way of apology. "Sorry. I'll get ya bandaged up proper in a minute; I didn't have a hell of a lot to work with down in that fuggin' basement. Holler at me when the water's boiled." Vincent gave another small nod and the blonde man shuffled out of the room to locate the proper medical supplies.
The ruby eyed man looked out the window of the kitchen and saw his friends out on the grounds, still trying to console Tifa as she was practically bent double with her sobs. He looked away, glad that the glass blocked out her wailing. 'This must be especially difficult for her… She knows Cloud better than any of us, and has taken almost a maternal role in their relationship. Still, most of those tears are likely springing from exhaustion more than sadness. Lucrecia… am I do the right thing? Is it alright for me to trust in this way? When all is said and done… They will not forgive me, but perhaps it is better that way.' The whistling of the kettle jolted him out of his thoughts and he noticed that in his contemplation, he had raked four lines in the table with his claws.
Cid stumbled back into the room, grabbing the kettle's handle and hauling it off of the heating element. "Jesus, Vin! I said yell!" Vincent looked up quickly, wanting to point out that Cid had not, in fact said "yell" when something more pressing came to mind.
"Vin?" The chain smoker poured the steaming water into a teapot and glanced at Vincent.
"Huh?"
"You called me 'Vin'. I wondered why."
Cid shrugged and grinned, scratching the tip of his nose. "'S a nickname." He poured the tea into two sturdy cups while the red eyed man pressed.
"What is wrong with the name Vincent that it must be shortened?"
The pilot shrugged and passed a cup to the ex Turk. "Nuthin's really wrong with it. Just sounds a too formal, ya know, like you're a hunnerd year old vampire or somethin'."
Vincent snorted just before he took his first sip and had to set down his cup so that the tea wouldn't spill from his laughter. Cid, shocked at his acquaintance's swift change in mood, began to laugh as well, until both men were going so hard that they had to gasp for air. The ex Turk stopped first, wiping the corners of his eyes with his cloak and letting out a few last chuckles. "It has been a very long time since I laughed that hard." He snickered softly. "Vampire, indeed."
Cid was busy wiping the tears of mirth from his own eyes when he said. "I didn't even know you could laugh! That was great!" He set about the task of redressing Vincent's arm in a better binding, but stopped before he began. "Er… Vincent? I'm gonna need to stitch this thing up." The Chaos holder nodded, a small smile still on his lips. He sat through his wound being disinfected without a sound. The silence seemed to make Cid nervous, so he began to ramble a bit to put himself at ease.
"You know, Tifa's just blowin' out hot air right? We all know that you did what you could." The blonde man started sewing up Vincent's arm, trying to be as gentle with the needle as he could. "None of us is really a match for Sephiroth all by our lonesomes, you know? Nasty gash he gave ya though. Still, you should count yer blessings that he didn't do worse damage. Aaand, yep, there we go! Huh? You stopped smiling, did it hurt that much?" Vincent shook his head, the feeling of guilt back over his head like a dark cloud. "C'mon boy, smile! The world's not out to get you." The red eyed tried to smile again, but the tight lipped expression that came instead only vaguely resembled it.
"You can do better than that! Watch me." Cid got right up in Vincent's face and grinned while crossing his eyes and wiggling his ears. For the second time that day, the ex Turk laughed. Not as largely as the first time, but enough to count. "There ya go!" Grinned the pilot, ruffling the red eyed man's hair. "You should do that more often, it looks good on you." Then, as though he'd said something embarrassing, his cheeks went a little pinker and he busied himself with binding the other man's arm.
Cid quickly put all of his tools away and started to hurry out when a metal hand grabbed his arm, causing him to look back. Vincent was looking at him with the most open expression Cid had ever seen on him. "If you still want to call me Vin, I won't mind. As long as it's you who says it."
The pilot nodded and muttered; "I'll do that." Before leaving the room and his forgotten tea with it.
Vincent watched the blonde man's retreating back with the deepest shame. 'I am deceiving my friend.' With a start he thought about the events that had just transpired in the kitchen. 'He made me laugh. Twice. I can't even remember the last time I laughed and yet he brought it about without even trying. What an amazing person he must be.' He had never really taken much time to know any of the other crew members, preferring to keep to himself. Still, if this chain smoking pilot could bring his laugh back that easily, he might decide to spend a little more time with the others.
He felt his arm resentfully, as it was a reminder of the task he had to complete. 'I will come find you Sephiroth. In the City of the Ancients, The Lost City.'
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Sephiroth laid Cloud on the grass just before the sun was due to rise and made a small fire before sitting down himself. They had not covered nearly as much ground as he had wanted but for now it would have to do. He would not risk travelling during the day. Beside him, Cloud stirred, opening his eyes blearily before sitting up with a jolt.
"Cloud." All of Sephiroth's stress and anxiety melted away as he pulled the groggy blonde close and breathed in his scent. "Wuzzgoinon?" Was his only response from the young man he clutched possessively to him. He nibbled his captive's earlobe and spoke in a hushed whisper, stroking Cloud's back as he did so.
"Those people were trying to take you away, but they couldn't. They couldn't because you are mine and they didn't realize that nothing can take you from me. We ran away Cloud. We needed to, but that's alright because we're going to a better place. A much better place for training."
The blonde blinked blearily a few times, pushing his superior away and forcing himself to focus. "You drugged me! And now you're wearing my sword! Stop being creepy and tell me what the FUCK is going on!" Over the last little while, Sephiroth had become more lax on his "no swearing" policy and Cloud was taking advantage of it as much as he could.
Sephiroth unclasped the sword from his back and tossed it a few feet to the side. "If I hadn't drugged you, you might have escaped and gone back to those people who came for you."
Cloud looked up at him uncertainly. "What people?"
The general rolled his eyes towards the sky and said "You know what people. The woman with the grossly disproportional breasts, the man with the metal arm, the ninja, the pilot, the animal and the Chaos holder."
The young man's eyes widened comically. "They came for me? But then why are we… You didn't hurt them did you?!" He asked frantically, caught somewhere between joy and fear.
Sephiroth examined his nails, obviously bored by the conversation and growing too weary to continue it. "Not fatally, I sliced the Chaos holder's arm and threw a few people around. I can't remember who right now." The general yawned so widely that Cloud could hear the man's jaw crack. "But I think the time has come for me to get some rest. Come here, I'm going to chain you to me."
The blonde jumped back. "No thanks."
The silver haired man looked at cloud in annoyance and narrowed his eyes slightly. "I suppose I could always force you, but I usually prefer to give you a choice first."
Cloud looked at his superior pleadingly holding his hands up as though to protect himself. "Wait! I promise I won't run away, I swear it! I'll stay right here next to you okay? Just don't chain me up…"
Sephiroth scrutinized him for a minute before asking; "What do you swear by?" The spiky haired man ran through possible vows in his head. 'My sword? No, swords break too easily. My Mother's grave? Now there's a subject I don't want to bring up around him… hm…'
"Well?" Came the smooth voice of his captor.
"I… I swear by all the respect I once had for you that I won't run away."
Sephiroth gave him a soft, sad smile and kissed him on the forehead, murmuring; "I will not chain you today." Before curling up beside Cloud and falling into a deep sleep.
--
Whoo! Chapter three is done! I was going to upload it last night but I was too tired so instead, you all get it today! In the actual game, Sephiroth has no wings with which to fly, and I was pretty sure he'd slaughter me in my dreams if I said that he flew on the power of awesome. In the end it all comes back to Jenova cells. Gotta love them. To my reviewers:
kelle611:I'm going to have to agree with you on the life sucking front. Poor Cloud... Thanks for the review!
spopococ: Hee! You read Space! that makes me happy! Yeah, Tifa's kind of a noob, but if my bestie got kidnapped I'd be kind of at a loss as well.
amberblood: I'm glad you like the way I'm writing Sephiroth. I love him to pieces and the first time I ever saw him (saw the movie before the game but meh) I almost cried in awe of him. Love Sephiroth and his need for control.
Stoic-Genius: Cloud is insanely confused right now, probably because Sephiroth is sending out such mixed signals. Avalanche does have a knack for interrupting, don't they?