Faye: What's this? Another story? Damn! Ya'll have KitKatKarma to thank for this. Us and our crazy trades. Without her, I probably never would have gotten off my ass and written this. It's been brought to my attention that "In the Coffin" could really be a prequel of sorts to my story "TE: VV." That being said, this could be a chapter found somewhere in the middle of that fic. Leviathan, I need to get on that.
Yuffie: No kidding! Vincent's been mad at me forever! When are we gonna kiss and make up, huh?
Vincent: …Yuffie.
Yuffie: Eeep! I mean, uh, you know… great friendship and all… heh heh… GIVE ME YOUR SHIRT!
Vincent: No! (holds shirt protectively to his chest)
Faye and Yuffie: …
Faye: Anyway, Yuffie, you give the disclaimer this time. It's only fair.
Yuffie: Awwww, but ninja's are never fair!
Faye: (holds head) Just do it.
Yuffie: Fine. GAWD. Eh hem. Square-Enix owns FFVII and all its spin-offs. Faye makes no money off of this. No kidding, you should see where she has us living.
Faye: Hey!
Yuffie: Yipe! Enjoy! (runs off)
Normally, the Shinra Mansion was as quiet as death. Normally, the most vile, inhuman experiments were being put to the test in the nauseously sterile basement. Normally, joy was the furthest thing found from the bleak grounds.
However, this was not a normal night.
"Vincent, my boy, have I ever told you that you're my favorite gunslinger?" slurred a flushed Hojo. "Much more productive than all those bumbling idiots formally known as Turks. Even Lucrecia has warmed up to you. That is no small feat."
Vincent looked up at Hojo, a sly smile lying across his face. "I've warmed up to her as well. Also not a small feat. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have met you both," he added, the alcohol not making him inebriated enough to be too careless with his speech.
Hojo looked at him suspiciously, staring at Vincent with his beady black eyes. Then he broke out in a giddy laughter and took another swig of his drink. He looked up again as Lucrecia stumbled out onto the balcony, tripping over the air around her.
"It's chilly out here. Aren't you boys going to come inside? It's getting pretty late."
"Now Lucrecia, let the men have their time," replied Hojo, waving her off as she came to the table. "I'm just getting to know our Vinnie here."
"If you don't mind, Professor, my name is Vincent," said Vincent, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Ever since he was a small lad, he had hated that nickname. It was what his father had called him before he disappeared.
"Come now, my boy, please call me Hojo. We're all friends here, right?"
Just the thought of being the insane scientist's friend made Vincent's skin crawl. None-the-less, he nodded as Lucrecia put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She always had a way of making life in the mansion more bearable.
Vincent stood from his seat and sauntered to the door. At least, he would have sauntered if he were sober. In his current state, it was more like a wobble. "Lucrecia's right, Profe- Hojo. It's getting late. I should probably get going."
"Nonsense!" Lucrecia cried. "I've set up the guest bedroom for you. There is no way I'm sending you out like this. I don't care what President Shinra says. I'll show you to your room."
Hojo looked at his assistant one last time before shouting after them. "Don't you do anything I wouldn't approve of. Wouldn't want Vincent to be my next experimental subject, right?"
The two looked at one another with worried glances before laughing off the remark with Hojo. 'If he only knew…" thought Vincent as Lucrecia grabbed his hand and led him down the corridor. Hojo remained on the balcony; drinking his sake steadily while eyeballing his two companions.
Lucrecia half leaned on Vincent as they walked down the hall. Normally, Lucrecia was more discrete about the affair she was having, but the alcohol seemed to be working its way through her body thoroughly. Not that Vincent minded. He enjoyed her soft attentions and Hojo was the furthest thing from his mind at the current time.
She urged him into the room as she made to shut the door. He stayed her hand and left it open a crack, longing to be alone with her but knowing better of it. Together they sat on the edge of the bed and held each other.
"I wish we could stay like this forever," the Turk whispered to the intoxicated scientist on his shoulder. "We'd never have to worry about what other people thought or what Hojo would do or if we would lose our j-"
"I'm pregnant," Lucrecia blurted out. She was terrified to tell him, knowing his first thoughts would be of Hojo, and she wasn't sure how he would react to the thought of becoming a father. The alcohol gave her a false sense of bravery.
"Is it mine?"
Lucrecia sighed to herself. "I'm fairly certain. I haven't had relations with Hojo in a while. He's been so caught up in his experiments lately. Are you angry?"
Vincent replied with his soon to be trademark saying. "…"
Lucrecia turned away, not wanting him to see her tears. She wanted to console him, tell him it was alright, that she realized she was asking too much. Imagine her surprise when Vincent suddenly grabbed her and embraced her so tenderly that she actually did break down and begin to cry in his arms.
"I will love that child as long as there is breath in my lungs. Lucrecia, I love you and every part of you. If I can't be that child's father, I will be the best role model to him. Nothing could keep me away."
Hearing his deep, soothing voice made Lucrecia hate what it was she had to do. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then began. "You need to leave, Vincent. I can't do this anymore. I love Hojo. I want him to raise this child with me. You are a great friend Vincent and I treasure our relationship more than you know, but I can't do this anymore. Please understand."
"Does he know?"
His voice was so cold it made Lucrecia cringe. She couldn't lie to him anymore. "Yes and he thinks it's his. Please, Vincent. I'm so sorry."
"Run away with me. He won't care for the child. You kn-"
"She knows that I will look at things in a logical sense," interrupted Hojo. "Yes Lucrecia, I heard everything. It's alright. I know you were trying to send this vermin on his way."
"I will never leave Lucrecia with you. You don't care for her the way I do. AS long as I live, I will fight for her."
"We shall see," replied Hojo darkly. "Care to take this outside?"
"Gladly," replied Vincent, strapping on his holster. "Stay here Lucrecia."
"No! I won't le-"
"I agree with the monster," interjected Hojo. Vincent glared at the lanky scientist as he continued. "This is nothing for you to see. Wait in your bedroom."
That said, Hojo walked out of the room and down the stairs. Vincent turned to Lucrecia with a determined look. It softened as he saw her clutch her stomach. No, no one was going to hurt her or the child. No one would keep them apart.
As the resolved gunman turned down the steps, he was shot in the arm by what appeared to be a tranquilizer dart. He looked up to see Hojo's grinning face before everything went dark and he collapsed down the stairwell.
Two Hours Later:
"Where… where am I?" rasped out Vincent. His head was pounding, probably from all the alcohol, and when he tried to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he found his arms strapped to a table.
"Welcome, back to us Mr. Valentine," remarked Hojo. He was walking around the lab with a gun in his hand. He wobbled about, obviously still feeling the effects of the alcohol. I attached a silencing accessory and approached the trapped Turk.
"I've been waiting a long time to hear her confirm my suspicions of you." He was talking about Lucrecia. Vincent unwittingly clenched his jaw and balled his fists. "Had I known that a little alcohol had such an effective result on her, I would have tried it before she put me in such a position. I have no idea if that child is mine. Well, regardless, it will make an effective experimental subject."
"Don't you dare touch them Hojo!" screamed Vincent, rage seeping through his every being. He was so angry; he could have sworn his eyes were red.
"I'll do as I please!" answered Hojo, pistol whipping the gunman. "And if you don't mind, Valentine, call me Professor. Now you're going to help me with another little experiment I've always been curious about. Whether or not I have the power to bring back the dead. By any means necessary."
Before Vincent could say a word, Hojo shot him in the chest and watched the blood pour out of him. As the man fell into the longest sleep of his life, he heard Hojo's final words to him.
"It's your fault, Valentine."
Back to the Present:
"And that's my story," replied Vincent, obviously exhausted from retelling his tale.
Yuffie looked up at him, her eyes threatening to let her tears fall. How could someone live through all that? No wonder it was so hard to get him to open up to her. She suddenly realized how much closer the two of them became if he allowed her to know of his twisted past.
"I'm a monster. Don't look at me like that. I don't deserve your pity. It is my sin. It is my fau-"
Vincent was cut off as he felt Yuffie cling to his middle in as much of a bear hug as her smaller arms could provide. "You're not a monster. It is not your sin. It is NOT your fault."
Vincent sighed and returned the hug rather awkwardly. He appreciated the fact that she cared, even if she did understand his torment. It struck him as quite unlikely that the fierce and blusterous little ninja would become his closest friend and confidant in the ragtag group of heroes. And yet, here they were.
Yuffie buried her face in his shirt, feeling the ex-Turk's cape enclose around her. No, it wasn't his fault he was withdrawn. Wasn't his fault he was unable to trust. Wasn't his fault he was incapable of accepting and giving love. One thought ran through her mind as she tried to squeeze the pain out of him.
'I blame Lucrecia.'
Faye: Done! (falls back in chair)
Yuffie: Why are you tired? We're the ones that did all the work.
Vincent: We?
Yuffie: Okay, fine. Vinnie here did all the work.
Faye: But I had to write it.
Vincent: (scoff) Please, like you had any control over what we did. (plays with Cerberus)
Faye: (defeated) I know.
Yuffie: So all you people out there leave a review! Let Vince and me know how we did, ya know? Maybe we'll do the writing from now on.
Faye: Am I really that bad?
Vincent: …
Faye: (sigh)