Darkening Abyss Ch 8
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Tseng and Vincent, where art Thou?
The helicopter ride was as eventful as a bag of bricks. The occupants made as much noise as them too. The whirring of the helicopter's blades echoed loudly as Tseng brought the large metal bird down on the outskirts of Nibelheim. It had taken quite a while to get from Edge to Nibelheim since they met some bad turbulence with a storm and resorted to landing for a while till the gale passed.
During that time, not one of them spoke. Turks. Communication with their own even is un-heard of. Well, save for Reno. That guy didn't know how to keep his yap shut.
With the pelting rain on the helicopter's armored body and winds moving the large machine side to side as they were grounded, Vincent sat in his chair in a meditative state as Tseng tried radioing back to Shinra, informing them of their untimely stop. Having no avail, the Wutai turned off the radio and just sat there. The storm came out of nowhere; darkening clouds rolled in quickly as lightning and rain soon trailed in right behind them. Tseng thought that they would be able to still push through the watery onslaught but as soon as the wind picked up, it began tossing the helicopter around like a rag doll. The sensible thing to do was to land and wait for the storm to pass. This, however, pushed their mission back.
Vincent reflected on his time in the Turks and what had happened to him when he was ordered to protect the scientists… Lucrecia… Hojo had destroyed his life all those years ago and now that very man was trying to do it again. It seemed that anyone who was linked to Hojo would never fully escape the man's clutches unless they themselves passed on. Funny, the only freedom in this world seemed to revolve around death. Vincent opened his eyes slightly at the thought of Cloud dying. No, Vincent would never again allow someone he loved to to die.
Wait. Loved? Since when did Vincent say he loved Cloud?
When was he thinking about Cloud?
Obviously now he was. He was thinking of the blonde's spiky hair that greeted him in the morning, the smile on his face when Vincent rounded the corner from his bedroom to the kitchen, seeing Cloud with a fresh pot of coffee… Vincent never drank coffee, but when he found himself with a new housemate, that smell every morning was wonderful to wake up to and it tasted marvelous.
One could say that this was a new addiction. An addiction he'd been missing for a couple days now. The coffee provided by Shinra failed in comparison to Cloud's homemade brew.
Then his mind went to Zack. The look on Cloud's face when he saw Zack's identity revealed was enough for the dark haired gunner to know that the returning man meant something to the smaller warrior. His best friend… once lover… that last thought made Vincent's eye twitch. Cloud was living with him now so that meant that he had the upper edge on claiming the blonde.
…
Why am I thinking of such things?
Vincent sighed. There was no more hiding it. He had to be honest with himself. The black haired gunslinger was jealous over the fact that Cloud was paying more attention to his returned best friend than to him.
He had feelings for Cloud. Always had… Ever since Cloud's party found Vincent in his coffin and the gunman joined the rag tag team on their quest, he had watched the young boy grow and develop into a mighty fine warrior, carrying out his duty to save Gaia. Vincent took his role as a protector, the silent guardian, to Cloud's heroism.
The ex Turk wanted to go back to Edge now and see Cloud. Was he eating properly whilst waiting for his best friend to recover? He knew Cloud sometimes forgot about his own well being if he was fretting over one of his friends. Vincent remembered the time when he himself was attacked with a poison stinger from a random enemy encounter. He thought nothing of it at the time, not feeling anything different in his system. A few more gunshots later, oddly enough, the gunner began feeling dizzy and found himself face first on the ground trying to focus his ragged breathing as the poison quickly raced through his blood stream. Cloud was the first to notice the lack of gun shots being fired from the back and hastily raced to Vincent's side as the others finished off the clutter of wild stingers. The boy worried like a mother hen over Vincent's still form. Who would have thought that Cloud's voice could be so loud?
Vincent smirked as he recalled the relief that filtered through Cloud's face when Tifa hastily administered an antidote.
Vincent sat by the campfire, acting as the night time watch. He should have been the one resting, recuperating from the poison sting earlier but he refused to allow the others to feel sorry for him. That was a momentary weakness that Vincent would never allow to happen again. Vincent looked up at the stars filling the sky, wondering why he had chosen to follow the blonde on his journey. Was it for redemption? Gaze shifting back down towards the fire as the logs crackled and split, Vincent sighed. Maybe it was simply because he was lonely and Cloud, along with the others, made Vincent feel better... sort of.
Cloud had woken up and found Vincent sitting there by the dancing flames, idly rubbing a hand over his side where the stinger was once lodged in his body. The blonde walked over and asked if Vincent was alright.
"Cloud you needn't have worried for my well being." Crimson orbs were bright with the reflection of the flames licking the air.
"Well… I got worried there for a second. Those things are pretty nasty and it looked like it hurt…" He took a seat next to the stoic male, pulling up his knees so that they touched his chest and hugged them. It wasn't that cold out but the absence of the warm sun definitely was missed by the younger.
Cloud was worried for him? Typical human behavior, he should think nothing of it. "Go back to sleep Cloud. We move out in the morning."
"I can't sleep." Lies. Vincent could see the web of sleep that clouded the boy's blue eyes. Why was the buster wielder so adamant about not sleeping when it was obvious that his body needed it? They had been trudging through the forest for the entire day and finally decided to make camp before they all collapsed with exhaustion.
"Why are you doing this Cloud?" Vincent shook his head at the blondes stubbornness and looked towards his travel companion.
Cool blue orbs met burning crimson. "Why am I doing what?"
"Fighting for this world."
"I have to. My idol is being controlled by Jenova and Hojo's mind manipulation. I despise him for destroying Nibelheim, for ruining everyone's lives, and for that, I am the only one who can save him from himself. The others loathe him for who he is since they never knew the other side to Sephiroth. Well, maybe Tifa, but she never truly knew him like we did. I can save him and this world. I have to." Cloud yawned widely and rubbed at his eyes, trying to combat sleep that wished to claim him.
"I believe that you can accomplish this task, Cloud." Vincent's gaze shifted to the stars hanging above once again, satisfied with Cloud's answer. The boy was very determined. It made Vincent feel that he had a purpose in this entire fight besides acting as a great long ranged fighter: he was to protect the boy and ensure his success. He could do that, protect Cloud that is.
"Mn… I hope I can do it… it's hard…" The young Nibelheimer, shifted to lay down on the ground, head on Vincent's left thigh. A couple seconds later and Vincent found himself with a sleeping night watch partner. Taking off his red cloak, Vincent draped it over the sleeping warrior and shifted his gaze back towards the crackling fire.
"The storm has passed." Tseng's cool informative voice broke Vincent's inner thoughts as the sound of the engines roaring to life signified their continuation of the mission.
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As soon as they landed at Nibelheim, Vincent's phone buzzed in his pocket. He gave a slight smirk when he saw that the text message was from Cloud:
Where are you?
He replied and then closed his phone. Looking up, Vincent saw Tseng standing at the entrance to Nibelheim and was giving the vampric male a knowing grin. "I must say Valentine, what good deeds will you return to me for generously giving you a place for you and Cloud to copulate?"
Brimming with embarrassment, Vincent steeled himself and bristly walked past the Turk into the decayed town. He had no reply to Tseng's comment which made the head Turk smile all the more. It was good to see the almighty Vincent Valentine finally allowing his emotions to interlace with his being. After all, the world needed more smiling faces rather than down turned lips. Zack had taught him that making people smile and laugh was better for their well being. The first's word's proved true since Tesng saw Vincent's attitude change for the better over time while living with Cloud.
They traveled to the location that was strangely enough left uncovered by the large boulders that littered the site. But wait… hadn't Shinra decimated the place prior to Vincent and Tseng's arrival? Something was not right and Vincent felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand.
"Tseng…"
"Yes, I feel it too. Something's not right with this situation." Tseng pulled out his hand gun as Vincent took out Cerberus. The Wutai Turk walked towards the large metal door and gave a sharp look to Vincent who nodded in return. Tseng opened the door as Vincent rushed inside, gun raised and ready to shoot anything that decided that it wanted some lunch. Crimson eyes scanned the dark room that the morning light didn't breach. Signaling that all was clear, Vincent motioned for Tseng to enter.
The two began moving further into the unlit cavern which lead to the lab. Senses on high alert, Vincent could feel his skin crawling the closer they got to the abandoned- or was it?- lab. Confirming his suspicions to the lab not being abandoned, small over head light bulbs illuminated the clammy tunnel. There's no way those were on during the dismemberment of the lab.
Coming to a byway, the two split up. Vincent took the left shaft while Tseng the right. As Tseng walked further into the dimly lit tunnel, he heard small noises penetrating the solid rock walls surrounding him. Noticing an entryway further a head, the Turk walked more cautiously towards it. Gazing through the small window located on the door, Tseng was in complete shock as he absorbed just who was in the room. He was so focused on the entryway that he failed to notice a figure creeping up behind him. As the assailant neared, it made a small trip up on the stone which caused Tseng to whip his attention to the darker parts of the tunnel.
The creature was nearly five feet from the Turk.
Turks never let their guard down; doing so is imminent death.
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Vincent walked down his path calmly; his enhancements proving beneficial, allowed him to see pretty clearly in the weak lights that twinkled over head. The path curved sharply to the left and came to a dead end. The black haired gunner blinked, seeing nothing that seemed to be of any use, and turned back around.
Three rapid fire shots rang out through the cave which made Vincent's eyes widen as he dashed off to find Tseng. He reached the byway where they parted, took off down Tseng's path and came across a bullet hole in the rock, signifying that Tseng was nearby. A small wolf-like creature with two curling horns lay in a dead heap near a pile of fallen rocks, its body was slowly dispersing into the air as two bullet holes were seen embedded in the wolf's skull. The beast closely resembled Cloud's wolf description.
Scanning the area, Vincent found Tseng laying off to the side, unconscious with two puncture wounds similar to Cloud's. In fact, they looked just like the wounds the Cloud had. Vincent fell to the ground next to the fallen Turk and ripped open the other's shirt. The two wounds weren't very deep but they looked mighty painful.
"Tseng!" Vincent took Tseng's ripped shirt and began trying to staunch the blood that was flowing freely from the wound. The Turk groaned and tried to move but Vincent kept him down.
"What… ngh…" Tseng's vision became clearer as his eyes focused on Vincent's kneeling form, wrapping makeshift bandages around the Turk's middle. He was kicking himself on the inside about letting his guard down for a mere second; it was a rookie mistake and look at what happened because of it.
"It appears that your wounds aren't deep but the hit you took when colliding with the wall…"
"Yes, yes, I'm… fine… the beast came at me when I was at the door. It's…it's someone from Shinra Vincent. He was wearing one of our lab coats." Tseng pulled himself up against the wall he collided with when the wolf rammed him. He coughed and winced as the wounds sent spears of pain up his middle. "He's… he's not human Vincent."
"What do you mean?"
"He's part… machine. I couldn't see his face, he kept his back turned towards the door. I know it was one of our people Valentine... And now he probably escaped thanks to my poor judgment." Tseng closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain. "Go in there and get information. It's not like I'm going anywhere."
Vincent didn't want to leave the wounded man there but he knew that he had to get into the lab. There was definitely something going on. An assured nod from the downed Turk gave Vincent motive to enter. The door whipped open, metal clanging against rock, as Vincent entered the lab. It was obviously abandoned in a quick haste. Computer monitors were still running, the test tubes bubbling with life… no one was locked in there thankfully. However, one test tube located in the far back was streaming with a different liquid or gas. Its look mirrored that of the lifestream, its pale green swirls moving upwards, trying to find an escape.
Lights went of in Vincent's head like fireworks. Hojo was tampering with the lifestream and Jenova. Wait... if the Professor was fiddling with the lifestream, was that the reason why Zack came back? Vincent turned as small crackling noises were heard from a few of the monitors; each blinking crazily then promptly exploding, effectively erasing information on them. Papers littered the floor and tables; Vincent began picking each and every one up. As he was bent over collecting, the ex Turk noticed a different crack weaving its way underneath one of the fallen tables.
Making his way over there, he examined the box shape on the belly of the wooden table and removed it. Dust puffed out as well as two folders that looked to be many years old. Opening one, Vincent gasped as he came face to face with Dr. Mikami. The doctor hadn't changed in the years he'd been captured… in fact, he didn't seem to age at all. Remembering the doctor's face from earlier, Vincent looked once again at the image in the file. Hojo stated that Hisao Mikami was 27 when he became a subject... Just what was going on? Was this doctor helping Hojo?
A beeping noise erupted within the lab making Vincent turn to one of the still running computers and saw a countdown… that could only mean one thing. Grabbing the files and other papers he held in his hands, Vincent burst out of the room and quickly gathered Tseng up in his arms, much to the head Turks dislike.
"V-Vincent what the hell?!" Tseng never used foul language but this situation called for it. Being man handled like that was very odd and slightly uncomfortable.
"We need to vacate the area immediately. Hold these." Carrying Tseng bridal style, the crimson eyed warrior shot off into the tunnels, tracing their steps in to locate the exit.
Just as his feet touched the earth highlighted by the sun, the lab blew up sending the two sprawling across the ground, Vincent protecting Tseng's wounded form as the other clutched the documents tightly to his chest.
TBC
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~ChaosGarden