"Well, that shirt's ruined," I say. Vincent is on his feet, but there are three parallel slash marks across his chest and stomach. They aren't bleeding anymore, which is the only reason I'm not panicked.
"And I liked this one." He shrugs. There are no body parts lying around, which means everything went to the Lifestream, unlike the poor sod upstairs.
"What was that about Cloud again? I was not myself at that point."
"He needs me to fix the electricity. I guess it didn't just go off. So, Gigas?"
"Hellmasker. Our opponents were a combination of various elementals. I couldn't take the chance of healing them."
"I know how much you hate that one; I'm sorry it came to that. Do you need me to heal you?"
"How's your MP?"
"Full," I say.
"Then yes, I could use the boost." The fact that he lets me heal him, speaks louder than the haggard look on their faces.
We avoid as much of the fighting as we can, but get drawn into skirmishes all the way along. Vincent insists that I take his Long Range Materia and stick to the back row to act as healer for the party, but I get some licks in anyway. In exchange, he takes my Revive since I only have two slots. It's strange not needing it anymore.
"Cloud, come in," I radio ahead.
"Go for Cloud."
"We are in serious need of healing, buddy. I'm down to my last hundred MP and we're fading. Any ideas?"
"Where are you now?"
"We're heading your way, but we're still on the other side of the hub."
"I'm on it. Just keep moving this way. Tseng come in."
I clip the walkie-talkie back to my belt, but we can still hear the conversation.
"This is Tseng."
"What's your status there?"
"We're still in the air vents. There's been no new movement to speak of since we lasted reported in."
"Ok, then I need you to move into Wonder Square. There's a claw machine game in the arcade full of potions and we're in desperate need of them."
"Roger that; we're getting nowhere fast here anyway."
We stop into the Ghost Square Shop on our way into the hotel and Vincent throws twenty Gil on the counter for payment and takes a black t-shirt with the Gold Saucer logo on it. He changes in the store while Nanaki and I watch for more encounters with monsters.
We're down to our last few HP/MP points; Nanaki can barely stand, he's so drained, and when I look out the display window I see three Tonberry's lurching our way.
"Hurry, hide," I whisper and shove Vincent back toward a door behind the register; I don't have time to see if Nanaki has found cover as I push Vincent inside our hiding place and close the door as quietly as I can.
The closet is pitch black until I snap open my cell phone and look around us for weapons. We have maybe one square foot of space for each of us and as I move the phone in a slow, sweeping arc, black plastic eyes stare back at us from a cache of stuffed animals.
"Fuck," I sigh. Vincent is ridged and his hand clenches at my wrist, squeezing tighter and tighter.
"It's ok, baby, we only have to stay here until it leaves. We aren't trapped, we're hiding, we can open the door anytime we want," I say, quietly into his ear. "A little less pressure, ok? You're breaking my wrist."
He breathes loudly through his nose, but releases his grip on me. I change positions and thread my fingers though his. "It's ok," I tell him. "We take up less space when we fuck, right?"
He snorts and for a second I think I've got him passed the worst of this completely warranted fear of enclosed spaces. Something bangs against the door; it rattles but holds. I close the phone and the light dies. In the tight space, he swings me around so that he is between me and the door and then he covers our heads with his arms.
The door buckles, but does not budge as a second assault comes from the outside. My vision start to adjust, and now his eyes are so lost in the panic, he doesn't see anything but the nightmares of his past.
"Yeah, baby," I say into his ear, mindful not to raise my voice. "When we're all naked and sweaty and you're inside me, we're all close like this. And I moan for you –"
"No you don't," he replies in a similar whisper.
"You're right," I say, bumping my groin against him and I growl into his hair, "I scream for you, demanding that you fuck me harder and faster."
"You have such a dirty mouth," he chides.
"I do, and you love it, I can tell," I leer, drawing my hand down the front of his pants. "Wanna fuck while we wait?"
"As charming as that invitation sounds…," he chuckles.
"Guys, hey, guys," Nanaki snuffles from the other side of the door, "they're gone, let's get going!"
The thought of the stairs leading up to the hotel turns my already uneasy stomach, so I turn my back on them for a moment and watch the things gaining on us.
"If only I had enough MP/HP I'd fight the battle just so I could walk slowly up the stairs," I sigh. Vincent looks at me, then lowers his center of gravity and throws me over his shoulder so that my right ribcage is next to his head and he runs. It's not the most dignified way I've ever gotten somewhere, but rarely does anyone think of Reno and dignified in the same sentence.
Tseng's party gets there ahead of us, so no one looks as bad as we do when we get there. Cloud shoves two bottles at me and I swig them both; I feel better almost immediately. I take the empties to the recycling bin and something shiny across the lobby catches my eye. Vincent is drinking bottle after bottle of potion, but I walk to the display cabinet as if I'm being pulled on an invisible line.
"Reno?" Cloud asks. I should be walking down the hall and into the sub-basement, I should be repairing the power, but I can't take my eyes off of it.
The little placard on the top of the display says: From the Private Collection of Jack Shin-ra. I grin and put my hand flat against the glass, my forehead rests on the edge of the collection case.
"Reno?"
There's a small lock at the bottom of the case; I sink to my knees and pull the survival knife from my pocket. I unfold one tool, twist it into the lock, and slide the glass panel open.
It's on the back of the first shelf, behind an early Shin-ra cadet cap. I can't even see anything else but it, and when my hand closes on the grip I moan. Dammit, yes, I moan like some sorta whore, but I don't actually care. The grip is so different from the leather binding of the Electro-Mag Rod; this is somehow more perfect. My fingers dig into the cushy material, and it conforms to my hand. A giggle spills out of my mouth.
Vincent puts a hand on my shoulder; I know it's him because he's done the same thing a thousand times in our relationship. It's a gesture of support, not admonition, so I take comfort that he's here with me in this Holy strange moment. I wobble to my feet and he's there with a hand on my right elbow.
I slip my left hand through the leather strap and flick my wrist, it telescopes smoothly, without all the gratuitous sounds I'd expected from such an old metal weapon. I adjust my grip as the balance changes and again the grip molds flawlessly to my hand. I shiver, but manage to suppress the giggle waiting to escape my mouth. There's a button built into the hilt and as I depress it, the shaft glows green. I touch my fingertips to it and receive a nasty little shock.
"What was it like when you found Death Penalty?" My voice sounds far away. I regret mentioning the weapon he'd lost for good as soon as the words leave my tongue.
"It was… profound," he replies. "Is this your Ultimate Weapon? What's its name?"
"Truncheon, and I think so. I've been waiting for this my entire life." I realize my mouth is open in an undignified way and I'm drooling a little, but I don't give a shit. I use the shoulder of my shirt to wipe my mouth.
"Welcome to the club," Cloud says, impatiently. "Now, can you please go look at the junction box and see if you can do anything about it?
"What? Oh yeah! Sorry about that. I'd figured after all that had happened to me, that I'd never get the chance to have my Ultimate Weapon, or ever find out what my next Limit Break was. This is really surprising." He stares at me and Vincent nudges me softly.
"Yes, I'll get going now. Can I have Tifa and Jade?"
"What for?"
"An extra set of eyes to watch my back," I say, pointing to Tifa, then I turn to Jade, "and an extra set of hands." Cloud nods, and the ladies head toward the basement. I'm still moving like I'm underwater, but seeing them hurry, I pick up the pace.
"Wait," Vincent says. "Take this." He hands me my Revive Materia which I'd given him in exchange for his Long-Range. I pop out his Materia and pop mine back in.
"It's nice not to need that to live, but I'll feel better with it back in place," I say. I hand him the other orb, but he shakes his head.
"Keep it for now." The curve of his lips says he's amused and proud all at the same time. I equip Truncheon for the first time and I'm awed by what it does for my stats. I shake my head; I don't have time for this. Vincent, Nanaki, and Cloud take up a place in the lobby, blocking the hallway, as the next wave of monsters swells into the hotel.
Tifa leads the way down into the hotel kitchen and through a door marked: Electrical Access. We take a staircase down and I use Truncheons' glowing green light as a flashlight in the gloomy, tight space.
"If you don't mind watching our backs, Tifa." I gesture at the door. "Jade, I'm going to need you to hold this up for my light. The button is in the grip." As I pass the weapon over it goes dark and it takes her a few seconds to find it again. Without it in my hand, I feel a panic rise in my throat and I want nothing more than to take it back from her. How does Vincent do it? How does he live without Death Penalty; how was he so casual the first time he let me fire Cerberus?
The light comes back on as she finds the button, and I open the panel. This isn't just some malfunction, the wires have been purposefully cut. Most people would have cut them right down the middle, but whoever did this understood what he was doing. The wires are all cut comically close to the terminus so that the little bit of wire left on the one side is almost impossible to work with.
"Can you do anything?" Tifa asks after I've stared at the problem for close to forty seconds.
"Of course I can, Momma," I say, and smirk at her. I pull out the survival knife for a second time tonight so that I can strip the wires.