Taming the Fates Amidst Chaos

'Internal thought'

'CHAOS SPEAKING'

~ (Time and/or story focus shift)

Chapter 11

"Ooooh Viiiinnnyyyy!"

The raven haired gunman cringed as a very drunk and very loud Yuffie stumbled over to him. When he had finally arrived at Seventh Heaven, the celebration had been well underway. Laughter and smoke filled the air as stories were shared among the team. Cait Sith entertained Marlene and Denzel with his singing and dancing. Vincent had maintained his stoic silence, even as he felt the urge to smile at a few of the memories. Now as a certain brown haired ninja invaded his privacy, the ex Turk realized it would be best to make his exit soon.

"Soo Vinny, whats it take to get youuu out of that damned cloak?" Yuffie slurred, a drunken grin plastered to her face.

"Yuffie..." Vincent began to growl out a warning but was interrupted.

"Hey, Yuffs! I think Cid mentioned something about a drinking contest. Winner gets the materia of their choice from one of the losers." Cloud smirked as the young ninja immediately dashed to the other side of the bar. Vincent remained silent but nodded his thanks to the blond leader. The swordsman sat on a nearby stool, seeming to gather his thoughts. "Aeris told me."

A dark eyebrow rose questioningly, "About?"

"Yazoo and Loz."

"Ah." Vincent fell back into silence. He knew that the blond had more to say, patience was needed here.

Cloud fidgeted with his drink for a moment before nodding to himself and finally setting it on the bar. There was an intense seriousness in the bright blue gaze that studied the silent gunman. "Vincent, I know that you hide it but you care about us don't you? All of us?" Silence was the only response he got, but he was sure he had seen a flicker of emotion in those scarlet eyes. "I suppose we are the closest thing you have left to family now. I just want you to know that the feeling is mutual. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to let us know ok?"

"Your concern is appreciated Cloud, but this is my battle. If I am ever to find my own atonement, it will have to be on my own."

"I can't say that I like that those two are still alive. They tried to bring him back, reawaken the nightmare. If that happens again, I don't know that I..."

"You won't have to deal with it again. If it comes down to it, I will kill them myself before they have a chance to start that madness."

Suddenly, the door to Seventh Heaven opened with a loud crash. Tifa began to call out automatically, "Sorry but we're clos..."

"You started the party without ME, yo?"

"RENO?!" Several pairs of eyes turned toward the doorway, while Vincent shook his head, repressing a groan of irritation. 'Of all the times for the man to be early for once...'

Weapons were quickly made ready as Barrett bellowed, "What the hell are you doing here, you Shinra lackey bastard?"

Reno flashed his trademark grin at everyone while running a hand through spiked red hair. He appeared confident and relaxed despite the dangerous atmosphere but the members of AVALANCHE were well aware of his speed with the EMR in his sleeve. "No need for the hostilities, yo. I'm just here to drive Valentine to his meeting with the boss man."

"Reno..." Vincent growled irritably as everyone's shocked gazes now turned toward him, "Wait for me in the car."

The red headed Turk hesitated for a moment, sure that the scene was about to get very interesting. However, the glare the gunman was giving him made him gulp nervously and hurry out of the doorway. 'I didn't think it was possible but I swear he's better at that shit than Tseng. Sure hope the boss man don't pick up any pointers from the creepy fucker.'

Back at the bar, Vincent was doing his best to keep his cool despite the questions and accusations that were being thrown at him. What right did they have to question him? It didn't help matters any that Chaos had decided to join the fun.

Tifa paced, cursing and muttering about the stupidities of men. 'SLICE HER PRETTY LITTLE THROAT AND WATCH THE BLOOD STAIN HER BODY!'

'That's enough Chaos.' Vincent fought against the anger building inside him.

"How can you Vinny? They'll just use you..." 'CUT OFF HER THIEVING HANDS AND SHOVE THEM DOWN HER THROAT! THAT'LL SHUT UP HER WHINY VOICE!'

'Shut up!' The gunman vaguely noticed Cloud trying to get him and calm everyone down in the process.

"Fuckin' bastards. After all this shit Vince, why'd you even give 'em the time of..." 'PUT OUR HIS PRECIOUS CIGARETTES IN HIS EYES AND SKEWER HIM ON HIS OWN STAFF!'

'Shut UP!!' Cait Sith was on the bar, frantically trying to distract everyone, jumping and waving his arms.

"Vampy, you got some talkin' to do and do it fast!" 'I WONDER HOW HE WOULD LOOK WITH THAT ARM OF HIS SHOVED RIGHT UP HIS...'

"SHUT THE FUCK UP ALL OF YOU! Unless, of course, you have a death wish."

A stunned silence prevailed as everyone, save Vincent, turned their attention to the normally calm Nanaki. The fire wolf had somehow placed himself between the gunman and themselves, hackles raised and teeth bared, "If you are through with your childish actions, I recommend you take several steps back while I try to keep your ungrateful hides intact."

It was then that the agitated human members of the team became full aware of Vincent's battle. The gunman was visibly trembling with his eyes squeezed shut, his human hand clenched at his side. The golden clawed one had broken through the table and the torn wooden chunk turned to dust in his grasp. Nanaki waited for everyone to gather at the other side of the bar before he relaxed his posture and turned toward his friend. He spoke softly, taking a more submissive but guarded stance, "Vincent? You need to calm down. You don't want to hurt anyone here. We're your friends."

Vincent was vaguely aware of the calm voice as it came to him through the storm of emotions. He had to fight this, he couldn't allow Chaos to win. He could feel himself weakening with each passing second, "I can't...Nanaki, take everyone and run."

"No, Vincent. You can beat him, I know it." The fire wolf paused, worry evident on his face. He was running out of ideas. A though struck him, perhaps it was a stretch but he had to try. "Remember Vincent, you have an obligation to Aeris. They still need your help. You've already gotten Yazoo to open up to you a little, right?"

The gunman froze at the name, the memory of blue-green cat eyes filled with acceptance, understanding, and compassion bringing a strange calm to both him and Chaos. Vincent felt a small smile form on his face as the memory of Yazoo's voice flowed through him, softly humming Lucrecia's lullaby. The last of the rage began to subside and he slowly opened his eyes.

The gazes he met were not of fear as he expected. Instead, there was an air of awe and disbelief. "Vincent? You're actually smiling?"

Tifa's shocked question caused the gunman to realize his cloak had slipped. He quickly pushed it back into place and tightened the buckles. He stood and made his way out of the bar, pausing in the doorway, "I apologize for my lack of control. However," Vincent's deep voice hardened in warning, "My business is my own, you would do well to remember that."

As the doorway closed behind the gunman, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Nanaki turned his gaze to Cid, "I believe this would be a good time to take my leave. I need to get back to the house and check on them."

The pilot nodded and opened his PHS, dialing the number for the airship's second in command. "Hey, get the old girl ready, we need to...what? What do you mean the gear is shredded?"

The group listened in silence as Cid paced the room, cursing at the other man, "Wasn't anyone fucking guarding it? Monster hell! Monsters don't just appear out of nowhere."

The pilot finally snapped the phone shut and looked as though he was about to throw it when Nanaki spoke up, "Cid? What happened?"

"Fucking monster appeared out of damn nowhere and tore the landing gear to shreds. Sorry 'Naki, it appears the old bird won't be flying for at least another two days."

"It is alright, it isn't something you could have foreseen." Nanaki however couldn't help but feel that something was out of place here. "If you don't mind though, I would like to go and look around, see if I can figure out exactly what happened."

"I'll go too. Seems I need to teach those idiots what it means to guard a fucking ship."

~

Vincent ignored the constant idle chatter coming from Reno, his mind replaying the scene at the bar. Why did Yazoo's face and voice come to him again? It had happened before, when they had first brought the Remnants to his house. As Chaos had reluctantly returned inside Vincent, a flash of the younger man's pale face had appeared, quieting his turbulent emotions then as it had done less than thirty minutes ago. Why?

No answers had appeared by the time Reno pulled into an empty car garage. The ex Turk felt himself tense up as the car was brought to the top floor of the garage, where Tseng was leaning against a matching vehicle. 'A private spot, not easily accessible by spies. Also not easily escapable.' Vincent automatically rested his hand on Death Penalty's holster as he stepped out of the car. "I assure you, Mr. Valentine, that will be quite unnecessary."

"Article three, paragraph two. When meeting with possible hostile persons, maintain awareness of escape and available weaponry."

A small smirk flickered across the Turk leader's face, "Ah, so you do remember the guidelines. Of course, you did help to write some of them so I suppose you would. That will make this easier. Do you also recall the requirements for a Turk's dismissal?"

Vincent shifted, growing uneasy with the direction of this conversation. He remained silent and glared at Tseng as the man smirked again. "Ah well perhaps you have forgotten. Reno, do you know the requirements for a Turk's dismissal?"

"Sure thing, yo." The red head grinned, "A Turk holds their position for life, the only grounds for dismissal is death or betrayal to his fellow Turks."

"Correct," Tseng nodded and turned amber eyes back toward the raven haired gunman, "Mr. Valentine, your files simply state you as MIA and seeing as you are no longer missing, Rufus has decided to call you back to duty."

Scarlet eyes glared over the collar of his cloak, "No."

The Turk leader sighed in disappointment, "I am sorry Mr. Valentine, but we have been ordered to bring you in. With or without your consent."

Vincent cried out as a sharp pain erupted in the side of his neck. His human hand reached up, removing a dart from his flesh. A wave of dizziness began to disorient him as he tried to pull out Death Penalty. Tseng seemed unconcerned by his movements and turned his attention to the redhead, "Reno, get the helicopter ready for take off. Rude, go with him and gather the bindings."

The gunman fell to his knees and found his eyes closing against his will. He knew that he collapsed to the ground only because the sound reached his ears. It seemed his hearing was the only thing unaffected by the chemicals in his system. Two sets of footsteps moved away while another came closer to his side. Tseng waited there for several moments until the other two Turks had long left. "Mr. Valentine, I altered the chemicals in the darts so you and I could have this conversation. I want you to know first and foremost that I respect you and your will to survive all that has been done to you. I have seen the files made by Hojo on the experiments that were done to you and any lesser man would have broken irrevocably. Also know that as Turk leader, I have to give an example to my subordinates and cannot allow my personal feelings to get in the way of orders. However, there is something else I have learned in my years as a Turk. Orders have strict guidelines and often have many places where they will bend."

Vincent wondered what Tseng meant by this when he felt a needle enter his arm and finally his mind fell fully into the unconscious his body had taken.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Kuragari 2008-02-26 id # 3000020677
*grabs chocolate covered Vincent* MINE!!!!! anyway, love it!!! really starting to develop. curious as to how vincent's going to handle his... 'encounter' I feel is coming with the turks and Rufus. And what's up with the 'help him'? is that Yazoo she means? Well, I guess I'll just have to keep reading to find out huh? ;) loving it, of course and can't wait for a new chapter!!! later!
Frizz: Noooo! MINE MINE MINE! Hee hee! But you can borrow him I suppose. As far as what Aeris meant, you will have to wait and see.

Anonymous Sister of the Author 2008-02-26 id # 3000020679
ohmygodiloveyousomuchrightnow!!!!!!!!!!!!! *munches happily* i'm OBSESSED with chocolate!!! i feel sad for yazoo becuase of the choice he's having to make...and when aeris says him, does that mean that loz can't be helped anymore??? and i think it's really awesome that they can make sephiroth appear!!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND UPDATE SOON PLEASE!!!!

ASOTA
Frizz: Love you too hun! Chocolate is awesome! Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much, I had alot of fun with it.