Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Running out of Time ❯ Secrets, Secrets ( Chapter 2 )

Thank you to all you reviewers!

 

Verycrazygirl- Thanks! I made an effort to make chapter two a little longer.

 

Chaxra-san- Here's your update!!!

 

Lord Makura- Actually… I haven't decided yet if he's going to die. You'll just have to wait and see. I'm thinking Vincent's fate may depend largely on you reviewers. Right now I'm swinging towards a tragic end; if you read my other fics, you'll see why. Tragedy is what I do. HOWEVER, if people beg me prettily enough, I JUST might decide to make it a happy ending. I'm just so fickle like that n_~.

 

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Disclaimer: Me no own. FFVII definitely is NOT mine. Just the idea for this fic.

 

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Running out of Time, Chapter two.

 

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Vincent staggered backwards and half fell, half sat beneath the window by the 7th Heaven's front door. His diaphragm spasmed and another wave of vicious coughing tore through him. Not good. Definitely very NOT good.

 

 

Trembling with sudden exhaustion, Vincent cursed vehemently as the spell subsided. Thank Alexander this hadn't happened before he'd escaped the brightly lit bar. But the sudden attack was worrisome. He seriously doubted he'd caught a bug; the mako in his blood acted as a kind of buffer to his immune system. It was pretty much impossible for either Cloud or himself to GET sick. That was why he had immediately caught Cloud's attention. The others wouldn't really be familiar enough with the peculiarities of an enhanced body; it took many years of personal experience to begin to notice little things like that. It simply wouldn't occur to someone who hasn't lived with enhancements for several years.

 

 

But Cloud would notice. Vincent shouldn't be sick. It just didn't happen. It was that simple.

 

 

Groaning, Vincent rubbed his aching chest before shakily standing. It was cold outside, something he'd never really noticed before. The cold was making his left arm ache.

 

Wait.

 

That shouldn't be happening, either. It had been years since the prosthesis had bothered him; perhaps his body was finally rejecting the artificial attachment…? Vincent rubbed irritably at the line where skin met cold metal. He flexed the fingers experimentally, only to find that the motion was painful. He sighed. Today was really turning out to be dreadful.

 

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Nobody really glanced up as Vincent walked back into the bar; his friends were all used to his behavior. Tifa had closed the bar for the day so that they could use it as the meeting place. Vincent sighed. Doubtless they'd want to hear about what he'd been doing for the past year; really, this get-together was just so they could all catch up on each other's lives.

 

He tried to walk unnoticed to a back corner, but Yuffie saw him and bounced over.

 

“Vince! How's it goin? C'mon over and talk with us! You STILL haven't told us what you've been up to!” Yuffie grinned, exuberant as ever. She reached over to grasp his claw and yank him towards the group. Vincent couldn't hold back his gasp of pain; Yuffie squeaked an apology as he glowered miserably at her.

 

“Oops! Sorry `bout that. Come on!” She proceeded to get behind him and literally shove him towards the group. Across the room, Cloud had glanced up sharply at the exchange and was now staring intently at Vincent. The gunman briefly met his gaze, and Cloud raised an eyebrow in a silent “what's wrong?” But Vincent shifted his eyes down and away, unable and unwilling to look Cloud in the eye. He gave a small shake of his head, and Cloud scowled before shooting Vincent a “Fine; see if I care” kind of look. Vincent sighed. He really shouldn't be antagonizing his friends; he had so few. But this was something he simply could not discuss with them.

 

Yuffie succeeded in forcing Vincent into the little group that consisted of Cid, Cait, Nanaki, and Barret. Cid gave him a withering stare as Vincent shifted uncomfortably. Finally, the chain smoker was unable to resist asking the inevitable “Well?”

 

Cid planted his hands on his hips and continued, “You gonna tell us what you've been doing that was so important you didn't contact any of us for a goddamn YEAR? And if you tell me you've been sleepin' in that damn coffin again, I swear to Holy, you are in deep shit, Valentine. There ain't NOTHING your fault, y'hear?” Finished, he glared at Vincent, waiting for a response, ignoring Yuffie's stamping on his foot.

 

Vincent closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation. “I haven't even been to ShinRa manor since the Deepground incident, Cid. I've moved on.”

 

Cid gaped in surprise. “Oh… well… that's great! So what HAVE you been doing?” The others murmured in mutual curiosity. Finally, Cait spoke up.

 

“Yeah, I think we'd all like to hear that, Vincent!”

 

Vincent sighed in resignation. “Well… I haven't really been doing much of anything, lately. I… for a while, I was searching for any other files we hadn't yet uncovered on the Chaos project…”

 

Barret groaned in annoyance. “Dammit, Vince! I thought you were over that! Don't tell me you're STILL diggin' around in that crap with Hojo and Lucrecia?” But to everyone's surprise, Vincent shook his head in contradiction.

 

“No, you're right. I'm done with that. You've mistaken my motive- I was looking for any files that might contain information about the long-term effects of the experimentation and treatments my body was subjected to during my time in the lab,” he explained, eliciting the intrigued nods of the rest of the group. Cloud and Tifa walked over to listen in, and Shelke turned towards the group to listen silently as Vincent gave his account.

 

“I know that the… modifications Hojo made to my body were to make me into the ideal host for Chaos. And, because of the infusion of Chaos with my body, Hojo had made me virtually indestructible,” he trailed off for a moment, recalling a troubling memory.

 

He shook his head and continued, “Chaos and the other demons also served as a safety mechanism that kept me from sustaining any mortal injuries… Chaos was originally fused with me for the purpose of saving my life, but Hojo took over with the intention of turning me into a weapon, among other things… In the end, Hojo actually did his job well.” The others gave him looks of varying states of incredulity. Vincent raised his eyebrows.

 

“Well, look at me. I haven't aged in thirty years. I can recover in a day from injuries that should kill a man in minutes or leave him crippled or comatose for life. What I want to know is…” He paused. Cloud had been frowning all the while Vincent was describing his body's peculiarities. Vincent could tell that Cloud was beginning to suspect something alarmingly close to the truth Vincent wanted to hide. Cid cleared his throat and Vincent gave him a startled frown. He finished the sentence.

 

“When is it going to end? Immortality is something I have never desired,” he stated flatly; “and another thing… with Chaos gone, I was hoping to find something in the research notes that may tell me what will happen to me. Chaos was the crucial factor in the process of reviving me… I want to know what's going to happen to my body without Chaos to empower it. Perhaps my body will begin to function normally, but I want to know with absolute certainty,” he finished. The others nodded in agreement and understanding; Cloud looked troubled. Shelke just gave an odd little half-smile. It seems that all of her friends had some problem or another to worry about… but Vincent would be okay. He always was.

 

Nanaki raised his head, giving Vincent a curious look. “And what did you find?”

 

This time, Vincent sighed in defeat and frustration. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Only information that just confirms what we already know. Which is precisely NOTHING concerning the current circumstances.” He sighed again before continuing. “I finally stopped searching five months ago. I had already read through all the files at the ShinRa manor several years ago. I scoured what remains of the labs in Midgar, and there aren't any other known labs that were being used by Hojo during the time he was working on the Chaos project.”

 

Barret shook his head before asking, “So… what HAVE you been doing between then an' now?”

 

Vincent shrugged. “Not much. Travelling around. Killing monsters for Gil… Nothing worth talking about. And, despite what you may think you know, I HAVE been keeping tabs on all of you. I wanted to know if anything were to happen to any of you, because it may or may not be something that concerned myself. Like another clone or Deepground incident. But that is all.” Cloud smirked at that.

 

Tifa smiled and laughed. “You still haven't changed, Vincent. Sometimes I think that someday, when we're all old and tired, I'm going to look up and you'll be standing there, looking just the way you are now.” She shook her head in an almost wistful way and the others broke into laughter. Nobody heard Cloud's whisper.

 

“But you have changed… Vincent… what's happening to you?”

 

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Vincent backed out of the group to take his customary position leaning against the back wall. He didn't even blink as Cloud walked over to join him. But Cloud's next words caught him by surprise.

 

“Meet me tonight in the church. We need to talk. I WILL get some answers out of you, but not here. I know half the reason you won't talk to me is `cause you don't want everyone to overhear, right?” Vincent grunted, refusing to look Cloud in the eye. Cloud growled in frustration. “Look, maybe I can help. The others won't understand; they don't know what it's like when your blood is half mako.”

 

Vincent gave a grudging nod. “They haven't even noticed… I want to keep it that way, Cloud.”

 

Cloud rolled his eyes but finally nodded in agreement. “Yeah… I know most everyone else'll overreact, anyway… but they don't notice anything WRONG, because they don't know what normal IS for somebody who's had mako enhancements.” Without warning, Cloud reached down with both hands to grasp Vincent's claw. Vincent froze as Cloud slowly lifted it until he held it before him.

 

Cloud drew a finger across the back of the metal “hand” before gently taking the fingers and closing them into a fist. Vincent flinched and hissed in pain, but Cloud held his gaze. “That hurts, doesn't it? A lot more than you're showing,” and at this Cloud traced up the gold arm to gently touch the place where it attached to Vincent's flesh before letting go. Cloud opened his mouth to speak when Vincent suddenly gasped and fell trembling back against the wall with an audible thud. With his flesh hand, he gripped the metal prosthesis in agony as he sank to the floor. Cloud crouched down, bending towards Vincent in alarm. To his fright, the cause for Vincent's pain was acutely obvious.

 

“Dammit!” Vincent whispered savagely. Cloud stared in mute horror at the black fabric that disappeared beneath the metal cuff covering the elbow joint of the claw. It wasn't black anymore.

 

It was red.

 

Blood had begun to seep slowly up the fabric from the metal ring where the claw attached to Vincent's arm. About an inch or so of the fabric above the metal was soaked and shining dully in the fluorescent lighting of the bar.

 

Cloud's mind raced. How could he get Vincent out without alerting the others to the situation? Maybe…

 

“Vincent!” He called loud enough for the others to hear. “Why didn't you tell me you were out of potions? That monster bite looks nasty. Come on, I have some I keep upstairs.” Cloud bent down and, with a single arm, lifted Vincent to his feet. Vincent shot him a grateful look before resting a hand on Cloud's shoulder briefly for support. Cloud led Vincent up the stairs, ignoring the curious eyes boring into his back. When they got to the bedroom, Cloud shut and locked the door behind them. Vincent sank gratefully onto the edge of the closer of the two beds. Cloud turned to face him, arms crossed and expression dark.

 

“Now… what the HELL is happening to you, Vincent? You're not leaving this room until you answer me. Screw the plans for tonight; I want answers NOW.”

 

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End chapter two. I suggest you read my replies to the reviews at the top and R&R if you want to know what Vincent's fate shall be. *cackles*