Darkening Abyss Ch 5

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"Zack?" Confusion. Utter confusion was written in black and white all across Cloud's face as he stared longingly at the man before him.

It seemed as if the Earth stood still for an eternity. All current viewers of this revealing were in awe of the one and only Zachary Fair standing right before their very eyes.

Was it a miracle?

"You've gotta be shitting me…" Reno wheezed out from his crumpled position on the far side of the compound. How many years had it been since he'd seen Zack in the alive flesh? Gods know how long Reno had laid in the dark, tears racing down his cheeks when Tseng told them that Zack was dead. Never in his many years as a Turk had Reno seen Tseng cry. It was unheard of. A weakness. But for that occasion, it was permitted.

"It can't be…" Tseng's eyes widened notably as he drank in Zack's toned body. The Turk's supposed stone cold heart ached when he realized that Zack was dead those years ago. He didn't want to admit it, but the black haired warrior etched a place within his heart. Everyday was a new day for Zack and with it he brought laughter and warmth. Tseng wanted so badly to rush into Hojo's lab and save the two but with Rupert Shinra as President, that want was put on hold. The Turk couldn't believe his eyes as the scene unfolded in front of him.

"Zack…" Though Rufus was never on friend basis with this man, the looks from two of his most loyal Turks when the news of Zack's death was reported made him feel terrible. How could one person, a SOILDER, affect his Turks like that? Zack must have been one hell of a man to make both Tseng and Reno depressed… Rufus then knew that while Zack was alive, he had made lasting impressions on each person he touched.

The moment of awe and remembrance was over as Zack lashed out at the dazed blonde. Swiping his sword from the left side, Cloud barely managed to jump out of harms way. The boy could hear the swoosh of the heavy sword splice the air and riffle Cloud's blonde locks.

"Zack!" Cloud furthered himself from his best friend. Why was this happening? Most importantly, how was this happening?

The lifestream just didn't spit people back out whenever it damn well felt like it. Sure, Cloud himself was an exception to that rule but… he wasn't really dead per say.

Something's wrong with the lifestream. Was Hojo in fact tampering with the lifestream and Jenova? Was there anything on Gaia that that monster hasn't touched and altered yet?

The Professor definitely lived up to his name as one of Shinra's best scientist. This man, though not one fit for battle, was to be feared by his conniving, devious and inhumane treatment of everyone and everything that landed on his examination table or caught his interests.

Vincent took this momentary opportunity to jump down from his perch onto Zack's back. This swift tackle caught the SOILDER off guard, making him fall to the ground and loosing his sword. Reno raced to his feet and aided Vincent in subduing the raging spiky, black haired male. "Shit he's strong for a dead guy!"

Vincent took the butt of his gun and slammed it across Zack's temporal lobe, effectively knocking him out.

-------

All Cloud did was sit by Zack's bedside and stare. To be honest, deep within Vincent's heart, the man felt a little jealous. Yes, he knew of their friendship… and possibly more… but it did ache a little seeing his blonde spend every waking moment by Zack's side.

Wait.

His?

Since when was Cloud his? Last time Vincent checked, he wasn't worthy for companionship nor did he expect it. So… why was this feeling slowly eating away at him?

Of all the things Hojo had taken away from Vincent, why hadn't the scientist removed his emotions… they're such a burden…

The gunslinger stood in the doorway watching over Cloud as the boy simply stared at the sleeping man before him. After Vincent knocked Zack out, they took him down into the medical area and strapped him down to the bed with reinforced straps that SOILDERS couldn't break. He could only imagine the state of mind Zack would be in when he awoke… strapped down to the bed…

That could be one reason why Cloud chose to await his friend's awakening, if he even did wake up that is.

Cloud had told him the story of his and Zack's escape from the labs. If it weren't for Zack, Cloud would not be here and the boy felt that it was his fault that his best friend died. 'If only I had been stronger' were Cloud's choice of words whenever they got onto that topic. Cloud had always grown distant when they brought up the past. His blue eyes glazing over with memories dancing across his mind made Vincent feel that his own past wasn't even worth mentioning. The boy had his idol turn against him and the world, his town decimated and his best friend ripped away from him.

After they saved the planet, Cloud returned to the city of Midgar which was changed to Edge as a symbol of rebirth. There he had lived with Tifa, Denzel and Marlene for quite some time till the remnants attacked. Vincent could still recall the sheer terror that grabbed at his heart when he saw Yazoo fire off a shot that penetrated Cloud's chest. When the building erupted, the dark haired male thought that Cloud had died. But that was when he first felt a tingling sensation deep within him. He could barely recall it but for some reason, that feeling was pointing him towards the church.

Vincent did not speak up on the sensation since he was unsure of what it meant and was saved by Tifa who ordered Cid to head towards the crumbling bulidng because that's where she had last seen Cloud. The black haired martial artists yelled at Cid to hurry towards the fallen building in hopes that Cloud was still there. Vincent finally decided to act upon the felling curling within him and ordered Cid to turn the ship around and head towards the church because they were heading in the wrong direction.

"The church?! What in t'hell do you all take me for? I ain't no taxi cab!" Cid snarled and swirled the wheel in the direction of the church.

Tifa saw red. "Vincent what the hell are you doing?! Cloud is there! He was shot there! We need to help him!"

"... You were going in the wrong direction. He'll return to us in the church." Vincent turned and started unflinchingly in to angered brown orbs of Tifa. Though the woman was normally calm, cool and collected, she had a nasty temper when provoked.

"And how do you know this?" Tifa crossed her arms and leaned against the vast main window, still staring at Vincent, waiting for a response.

"I... It is hard to explain..." Vincent's red gaze shifted downwards; he himself didn't know how to explain the slight pulling sensation forming within him. He just knew that Cloud was going to be there.

When Cloud awoke in the shallow water, eyes contacting with the gunners' own, Vincent watched the blonde's gaze shift from him towards the entrance of the church. Vincent's eyes followed slightly, not seeing what Cloud was smiling at... It wasn't until Vincent and Cloud were living together till the elder found out what-or in particular whom- made him smile like that. And again, the story of Zack Fair filled up the family room as Vincent listened to Cloud re-weave the tale.

The blonde was strong but, Vincent felt, that Cloud was standing in the shadow of a hero loved by all. In Vincent's eyes, Cloud was more so a hero than anyone else ever before him- even the legendary Sephiroth couldn't stand up to the mountain boy's sheer willpower and determination. Vincent had informed Cloud of such whenever the younger fell into his depressed states that were slowly fading over time, making the black haired male's heart swell with a bit of pride in his accomplishments in bringing back Cloud's smile.

Now that Zack was back...

Shaking his head, Vincent silently left the doorway and his charge.

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Tseng was healing well, as was Reno. The feisty red head would not stop talking about the boredom that came with hospitals as he and Tseng shared a recovery room. The black haired Wutai inwardly prayed that his healing would finish so he'd be released soon. He did not care about how Rufus did this and that to Reno.

He really did not need to know such intimate details about his boss.

The blush that slowly reddened Tseng's pale cheeks made the red headed, loud moth Turk snicker with delight. Reno didn't halt his explicit descriptions and Tseng's reactions prompted the younger Turk to go into further detail… if that was even possible.

Tseng was such a fun recovery buddy.

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Rufus sat at his desk, furiously typing away on his keyboard and staring intently at the illuminated screen before him. Since the return of Zachary Fair, this prompted the Shinra President to dig further into Hojo's experimental data and research. Yes the man was completely insane but his diagnostics were descriptive to the T. Everything he did was recorded with great care… as much care as a mad scientist would have that is.

His writing reflected his mood on the current test subject as well as the experiments that were preformed. Rufus cringed as he read through gruesome files, taking not as to when Hojo's reports began the descriptive details on the way his test subjects cried out and writhed furiously on the examination table: it was when the Professor was in a good mood.

It had to be done though.

Three hours passed by and Rufus had visited Tseng and Reno, allowing his head Turk to leave the Recovery room, much to Reno's disappointment. Tseng, informing the President that he was completely healed and asked what his orders were, knowing full well that Rufus had been working on the current dilemma.

"Sir, if you do not mind my asking, what have you found out about the current situation regarding Zachary Fair? Is he the missing experiment?" Tseng buttoned up his top and stared at the Shinra President. The thought of Zack being the mystery experiment kept gnawing away at his thoughts ever since the dark haired first returned like that. It had all been too sudden...

It was not in the blonde president's nature to simply sit back and wait, letting everything unfold itself before he acted. No, Rufus was the type to fully diagnose the current problem and tackle it head on after he holed himself up in his office, thoroughly analyzing details and formulating a bulletproof plan that he would soon relate to Tseng who would carry out his president's orders.

They had gone back to Rufus's office where the Shinra leader stated Tseng's mission.

"As I'm sure you are well aware of the return of Zachary Fair, I want to make sure that you know that he is not, in fact, our missing experiment 128-X. Hojo never stated in his reports that the test subject was Mr. Fair... So your concerns about him being the experiment should be sedated. Go to Nibelheim. According to Hojo's report here, he had another section of the lab cut off from the main part and located it in the deeper corridors of Nibelheim's reactor. The troops that had infiltrated this space came back with little information but, I know you will be able to find something."

"Rufus, Sir, Nibelheim's reactor was destroyed... how does this have to relate to experiment No. 128-X?" Tseng rarely questioned his orders but this was a one time allowance.

"Look at this Tseng." Rufus turned the computer around so that Tseng could read it. "Hojo had encrypted his writing. Following each ending sentence, you'll see that it has nothing to do with the one prior to it. This is true for two experiments."

Tseng nodded his head, seeing the non-existing relationship between the ending sentences, quickly following Rufus's theory. To someone not on their intellectual level, those sentences would seem to just be some type of opinion by Professor Hojo. He had to give Hojo credit for successfully hiding, or... not fully hiding, his work.

"These two experiments, one of which is experiment No. 128-X, were located in this branched off lab in Nibelheim." Rufus directed Tseng's attention towards a pulled up digital map on his computer, signaling the location with an red circle.

"Consequently, this lab was almost one hundred feet away from the reactor itself. In his recordings, Hojo actually found a way to harness a tiny portion of the lifestream and Jenova, infusing them together in his experiments. Experiment No. 127-X failed… No. 128-X however, was a success according to his reports. If we can find him, somehow, we may be able to pull further information on Hojo. You're mission is to head to Nibelheim's lab and dig up any fossilized information you find. You never know what precious jewels you can find remaining in a raided tomb."

Nodding his head, Tseng straitened and exited the room. "Understood Sir."

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Vincent stood atop the Shinra building by the helicopter pad, gazing out at the star filled sky. City lights trickled and dimmed as its patrons turned in one by one. The large corporation, however, lay lit up like a giant light bulb, illuminating a vast majority of the city surrounding the monstrosity of this business building. A cool breeze whipped across the upper sections of the building, making Vincent's black hair blow with the wind and settle back into place when the quick gust was over.

He should be happy for Cloud that his severely missed best friend was back. Well, hopefully Zack was back. Vincent didn't want to think about Zack slowly fading back into the lifesream as Cloud watched on. There was no telling what Hojo had done to the lifestream that had made the spiky black haired male return to the living world. The SOILDER hadn't awoken from his slumber since Vincent had knocked him out. Did he feel bad about it? No, not really. Zack was attacking Cloud after all. Vincent would do anything to protect Cloud.

Reminiscing about earlier events, Vincent couldn't help but inwardly cringe as he saw the happiness and shock that bubbled up within Cloud's eyes when he saw Zack.

It did make him jealous. Whenever Cloud smiled like that at Vincent back in their apartment, it made the other bury his head within his mantle if he was wearing it or turn his head away, allowing the long strands of black hair to successfully shield his face. This, in turn, made the younger blonde roar with laughter, saying that Vincent was like a turtle.

A turtle. He was most defiantly not some hard shelled reptilian. Or maybe he was. Whenever something different occurred that made the man blush or feel awkward, he hid beneath his cloak or long strands of black hair.

Vincent Valentine the Turtle...Vincent chuckled quietly at that thought.

Cloud's musings were rubbing off on him. It was weird… jokes were not written in the vampire's How To book. Vincent preferred to just watch but with Cloud's personality around him 24/7 since he moved in with the elder, he found himself actually 'lightening up'.

It… it felt good.

Moving crimson eyes from the sky, Vincent caught site of a figure standing near him.

"Vincent."

"Tseng."

"I thought that you'd be up here. How come you're not with Cloud?"

"He's too busy being Mother Hen." Vincent made a joke.

"You actually made a joke. Vincent Valentine never jokes." Tseng chuckled as he saw the other visibly tense. "Seems that since Cloud moved in with you, it has proven a positive influence on your personality."

"Hn."

Tseng smirked and began retreating towards the helicopter.

It wasn't like Vincent to question, or care, what a Turk was doing but… "Tseng, where are you going?"

"Nibelheim."

"Nibelheim?"

"Yes."

Ah… a Turk to the very end. The damn bastard kept beating around the bush.

"What for?"

"Care to join me?"

"…"

"Suit yourself."

Tseng turned once again and climbed up to the pilots' seat. Putting on the head radio set, he felt the helicopter jiggle a little as someone took a seat in the passengers' side.

The Turk leader grinned and stared up the metal bird.

TBC

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~ChaosGarden