Chapter 2—Rude Awakening
Chaos' eyes snapped open when the girl screamed. Anessa started wailing when the Galian Beast roared. He knew without asking that something was wrong.
Cradling the nine-month-old to his chest, he climbed out of bed and moved to the window. Looking out into the street, he saw one of the neighbor children being manhandled by a man in a grey and blue suit that was too severely tailored to be anything but a uniform.
"Who would dare try kidnapping outside this house?"
Nessa's cries intensified at the sound of a gunshot, and Chaos turned part of his attention to quieting the baby while he watched events play out on the street.
The man in the uniform flinched back from the shot, but he didn't let go of the girl. A second gunshot rang out and the girl screamed again. Chaos ducked away from the window as he spotted a sniper on the roof of the house across the street.
As he stepped out of view, a bullet shattered the window of his room, and the entire street filled with the sounds of gunfire.
"Who are these people?" The demon clutched Vincent's daughter to his chest and sprinted out the bedroom door. His first thought was to protect his stepdaughter; he would worry about Yuffie and their neighbors after the baby was safe.
As he moved down the stairway and into the center of the house, he heard the distinctive report of Death Penalty firing and Yuffie cursing. Chaos' heart lurched at the thought of his mate injuring her unborn child in combat.
He set Anessa in the hall, then quickly dragged her playpen out of her room. With a few comforting words and a kiss to her forehead, he dropped the still screaming baby inside, then ran for the front door.
Yuffie was crouched in the doorway, taking carefully aimed shots at the large group of uniformed men and women who had appeared in the street. Reeve Tuesti stood over her, shooting—a little less precisely—with his handgun. Through the door, he could see the Galian Beast standing over the girl he'd seen earlier, tearing at any of the enemy troops who came too close.
"What's going on?" He asked, approaching the door cautiously.
Yuffie squeezed off another shot, eliminating one of the rooftop snipers before replying. "The goons in grey just showed up out of nowhere and started grabbing people out of their houses. Beast went and rescued Kylia, but now they're stuck out there."
"We've called Cloud and the Turks for backup," Reeve added. "But there's no telling when they'll get here."
"Vincent and Highwind?"
"Haven't heard," Yuffie said. "We've gotta get Kylia out of the street before she gets hurt."
"Cover me." Chaos stepped into the doorway.
"Be careful."
Rather than waste time assuring Yuffie that he would be all right, Chaos simply sprinted out the door toward Galian Beast and Kylia.
Bullets sang through the air as he ran across the relatively short distance. He hissed as on grazed his shoulder, but didn't falter in his run. Moments later, he had reached his target and was scooping the girl up in his arms.
Kylia screamed again when he swept her off the street, but it was more from confusion than real fear—the neighborhood children were quite familiar with the Valentine household, much to the chagrin of some of their parents. She flung her arms around his neck as he ran the rest of the way across the street and into the broken doorway of their neighbor's house. Galian Beast was hot on his heels as more enemy fire whistled through the air and splintered pavement behind them.
Chaos moved into the living room and crouched behind the dubious shelter of a sofa, knowing that the enemy wouldn't be far behind if they wanted this girl badly enough. Really, he would only have a matter of moments to get back outside and clear out the troops.
"I want Mommy," Kylia wailed into his chest, tightening her hold around his neck.
Wishing he could do more to comfort her, he wrapped his arms around the girl and held her close. "I'm sorry, little one. Your mommy isn't here. I don't know where to find her."
Chaos winced as Kylia's cries grew louder, almost drowning out the repeated gunshots from outside. "Shh…Kylia, if you don't quiet down, the men who tried to take you will find you again."
He knew that the soldiers outside knew exactly where they were hiding, but his words had the desired effect on the child. Kylia stopped wailing almost immediately, though some hitching sobs slipped out. Chaos was glad she was quick witted; he would have had the patience or knowledge to deal with a child who didn't understand what was going on.
"Now, Kylia, I need for you to be brave and hide here with Galian Beast while I go scare off those soldiers." The demon gently pulled the girl's arms from around his neck. "Can you do that for me?"
Kylia looked at him with watery eyes and a quivering lip, but she nodded.
"Good girl. Beast will keep you safe while I'm gone. We'll find your mommy after I get back, I promise."
Kylia nodded again, and Chaos stood back up. He didn't need to tell the Galian Beast to stay with the girl; he was too smart and too protective of the neighborhood children for that.
Carefully, he moved to the doorway, trying to ignore the way his wingtips brushed the furniture in the smaller house and the trickle of blood from his shoulder wound. He surveyed the street, trying to find any additional non-combatants and to determine the location of any additional snipers.
The last thing he needed was to be picked off from behind during a rescue.
"This is not possible," he heard a heavily accented voice say behind him as the Galian Beast started growling.
He caught a glimpse of crimson as he turned to look, then his world exploded in pain.
A/N: apparently I believed in starting this one off with a bang, much like DOC did in-game. Meh, whatever. Don't worry—it won't be all action sequences. That would be no fun at all. Anyway, this isn't going to come out quickly, but it shouldn't take two years to finish like sunrise did.
And yes, I think that children would like—and even trust--Chaos because he looks scary but isn't really. And I think that their parents would hate that. The neighborhood has a kind of love/hate relationship with the Valentine household, which will be reflected in later chapters.