(slinks in sheepishly)

sorry about not updating this for a while, I've been RL's bitch for the past few weeks and unable to write much, however I am mostly back now, but my updates probably will be more sporadic unfortunately as I am starting back at Uni soon.

To all my reviewers who I haven't replied to, I apologise and thank you all.

KT: (bows) I never have a plan, that statement can be applied to every part of my life (which has often got me into some degree of trouble or other XD) It is also why I have so many unfinished stories hanging around my hard drive XD

Anyway, again my apologies for the delay and on with the show.

Sephiroth silently looked around as he stepped away from the helicopter; they were on a platform quite high up. He looked down and could see huge metal things lined up, from the look of them, they were very crude forms of airships and looked a lot smaller than them as well. He stared up as one flew right above them and it circled in to land.

"The hell?!" Zack exclaimed as he held Cloud tightly, looking around as well, "The hell kind of airships are these?"

"Aeroplanes," Vincent said as he walked past, "These are aeroplanes."

"Like airships?" Zack blinked.

"Somewhat," Vincent sighed, "Come on," he led them through to a lift and pressed the lowest level button. Zack stood in the furthest corner away from Sephiroth as he could; Cloud was tight in his arms.

Sephiroth gave a barely audible sigh noticing this and he let his eyes fall to the ground, staying silent as the lift took them down. Vincent stepped out first as the doors opened moments later and headed to the limo that was waiting.

"Welcome back Sir," the chauffer opened the doors, "Daniel called ahead and told me to wait for you and your," he glanced over to the three strange looking people behind, "Guests."

Vincent nodded and motioned for the others to get in, taking Cloud momentarily so Zack could slide in and handed the small figure back once Zack was settled; Vincent decided that it was safer for everyone if he sat between Zack and Sephiroth, the silver haired man got in last and the door was shut; a few silent minutes later the vehicle started moving.

Zack's eyes were intently on Cloud, looking for any sign of change, but there was nothing, "You will get better Spike," he said softly, "I promise I will help you."

Vincent watched Sephiroth silently, regarding the young man that he should have raised.

"You said you had dealings with Hojo," The silver haired man spoke softly, "In what way?"

Vincent sighed and closed his eyes a moment, "I got in his way," he answered after a few silent minutes.

"That it?" Zack spoke up curiously.

"It was more than enough; I saw the insides of that laboratory at least twenty years before you did," he replied a little sharper than he had originally intended. Zack frowned and looked away, falling silent.

"He…experimented on you as well?" Sephiroth asked and received the faintest nod in response, "What did he do?"

Vincent looked away silently glancing at his gloved arm momentarily, "That you need not know."

Sephiroth glanced to the covered arm then at Zack, and decided to remain silent on the matter for now.

"So," Zack broke the silence, hating the slowly raising tension that was building in such a confined space; he looked at Vincent, "You Wutaian?"

"Partially," Vincent replied.

Zack blinked and sighed at the one word answer, having a conversation with him was worse than Sephiroth, "Partially? So was dad from Wutai and mom somewhere else or something?"

Vincent gave a heavy sigh, he hated small talk with a passion, he always had, "My Mother was Wutaian my Father was from Kalm."

"Oh," Zack nodded, "So were you in Shinra?"

"A TURK."

"Explains a lot," Zack muttered under his breath as he continued to watch Vincent out the corner of his eye.

"You were in SOLDIER, correct?" Vincent looked at him after a moment, seeing Zack fidget, obviously wanting to talk more.

"Yeah," Zack nodded, "First Class, both of us," his eyes flickered to Sephiroth, who was staring out of the tinted window, "He was the best," Zack's voice became soft.

"I was created to be the perfect monster," They barely heard Sephiroth speak, "And I fulfilled that purpose…"

Vincent frowned and gently moved Sephiroth's head to face him, "Sephiroth," his voice was gentle yet firm, "I have known true monsters, and you are not one of them, "Hojo was the only monster."

"But all I've done…" Mako green eyes looked at him, lost, hurting, silently seeking comfort.

Vincent shook his head and held Sephiroth close, allowing a small sad smile to pass his lips as he felt the younger man relax into his arms, "You have paid for what you have done Sephiroth, being raised by Hojo was more than enough penance."

Zack muttered something inaudible under his breath, earning a sharp glare from Vincent and the limo stopped. Minutes later, the door was opened and Zack passed Cloud back to Vincent so he could get out and then took Cloud back allowing Vincent to slide out after Sephiroth.

"Wow, this place yours?" Zack stared over the huge mansion and its vast grounds, changing the mood entirely.

Vincent nodded, "Yes, it was left to me a few centuries ago," he said.

"Nice, bet you have a load of staff running the joint for you."

"No," The older man replied, "I may have one or two people who offer to come in on occasion when I am not home, but It is easy enough to maintain myself; I do not need to employ others for such things."

"Damn," Zack pouted, "So any hot guys or gals around?" he ignored the sharp look of jealousy that came from Sephiroth.

"No."

"Damn," he sighed, "So what should I do with Cloud?" he asked as he carried the blonde inside.

"You are able to deal with mako poisoning yourself?" Vincent regarded him.

Zack nodded, "Sure, trained for it in SOLDIER."

"Maybe I should…" Sephiroth started.

"No," Zack shook his head, "You stay away from him; you're the reason he is like this," He let Vincent take Cloud away, he would follow shortly, "I mean it Sephiroth, I don't want you anywhere near him after what you did…"

"Zack…I'm sorry…"

Zack slapped him hard, "Don't you dare apologise, saying sorry won't make it all better, it won't change what happened; we went through hell because of you. I will never forgive you for that," tears welled in his violet eyes, making them shine brightly, "I tried to help you and pull you away from your insane obsession…but you wouldn't let me help…why? After all we had been through, why wouldn't you let me help you that time?"

Sephiroth fell silent and he looked away, unable to look Zack in the eye, but he couldn't find an answer, everything that happened after entering Nibelheim was still an incoherent blur; he only clearly remembered waking up in the labs long after everything had happened…

"I don't know Sephiroth," Zack spoke softly, breaking his thoughts, "I don't know if I will ever be able to trust you again…you lost my love a long time ago."

"Yes, you have Cloud now, there was always someone else ready to warm your bed when you changed your mind," he couldn't help the hint of bitter jealousy in his voice, which earned him another harsh slap.

"How dare you," Zack hissed, glaring at him vehemently, "I have never hated anyone as much as I hate you," he kicked Sephiroth down, repeatedly kicking him, all over his body, allowing his mako enhanced strength to slip into the attacks, just to vent his anger.

"Zack," Vincent stepped back out and saw what was happening; he moved over to them and pulled the younger man off, "That's enough," his crimson eyes flared darkly as Chaos stirred within him.

Zack stared at him a moment, sensing something not quite human lurking beneath Vincent's visage, "Cloud?" he asked eventually when he found his voice.

"Through those doors, straight down to the double doors on the left through there, follow that corridor and you'll find him," Vincent spoke as he moved to Sephiroth, who lay unmoving, his face covered with blood; Zack stared at Sephiroth a moment before hurriedly running to find Cloud, the further away from Sephiroth at the moment, the better he would be.

Hope i havent disappointed too much as i am doing this gone 1am

Bye until next time