The Reason

Chapter 13

“I won’t say you’re not stable,” said Shelke from her position at her computer. “But I will warn you, this serum may allow transformation to occur.”

“So you mean Quietus could manifest herself?” Jexebel asked.

“It is possible, though I can’t say that you would have control.”

“But am I stable enough to go with them?”

“I will sign the form.” Shelke said. Jexebel let out the breath she had been holding and held the form out to Shelke. Shelke took it from Jexebel and with a hesitant hand scratched her signature. Below her signature she addressed a caution to Rufus.

“Her uniform as a Turk requires interchangeable material such as is used for Valentine’s, in case of transformation. I will build the uniform.”

“Do me a favor?” Jexebel asked, retrieving the form from Shelke. The woman nodded, hesitantly. “Don’t say anything to Vincent? He doesn’t know I’m doing this and he would be upset. I’ll tell him later, okay?” Shelke raised an eyebrow but nodded again. “Thank you.” Jexebel said as she walked out of the lab.


“I Jexebel Strange, do hereby pledge my loyalty, obedience, strength, and services to Rufus ShinRa, until I am release of said services or until death takes me.” Jexebel recited as she stood before Rufus and Tseng.

Rufus smiled and nodded through her oath, and when she finished he stood to shake her hand.

“We are glad to have you with us Miss Strange.” He said, “Report to Miss Sazo and she will inform you of standard procedure.”


The hissing sound of burning flesh was heard through the thick metal door; followed by a steady steam of curses. Reno turned to his partner and gave him a lopsided grin. “So,” he said casually “How mad do you think Valentine will be when he finds out?”

The two men were positioned outside Elena’s office to wards away Vincent if he came snooping before the women were finished. Elena had squealed in girlish ecstasy when Jexebel knocked on her door, quickly glancing around and then flashing the form with Elena’s orders for the blonde woman to see. That’s when Elena called for Reno and Rude.

Rude’s eyebrow arched, suggesting a slight smirk. “It’s not Valentine I’m worried about. It’s Galian.”

“What about the Galian?” came the deep baritone of Vincent’s voice.

Reno thanked all his years as a Turk for his quick response. “I just asked Rude which of your demons he thought was the coolest.” Vincent only smirked; that conversation completely probable coming from Reno, and stalked off down the hallway, continuing his search for his missing lover. Reno and Rude looked at eachother with relief.

“That was close.” Reno said, laughing quietly.

After a few moments Jexebel emerged from the room, rolling down her sleeve to cover a white gauze bandage. She sighed softly and turned to her new co-workers.

“Welcome to the family Jexebel.” Reno said. Jexebel only smiled and nodded, turning and walking in the same direction Vincent had only minutes before.

She made her way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Her left wrist stung slightly, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. When she opened the swinging door she immediately noticed Vincent standing in the corner of the room. She silently poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down by herself, determined to avoid being noticed. Her ploy did not work; Vincent spotted her, and quickly came to sit at her left.

“Where have you been?” He asked, softly. “I’ve been looking for you all-“ he reached out and gently took hold of her wrist, his voice cutting off when he felt the gauze bandage. She yanked her arm away from him. “-Morning… What’s wrong with your arm?” he asked, suspecting he knew the answer, but dearly hoping he was wrong.

“Nothing.” Jexebel answered innocently. “I was sparing with Yuffie and I accidentally cut my arm.”

Vincent glared at her. “Don’t you lie to me Jexebel Strange, I know for a fact you haven’t even seen Yuffie today. I talked to her when I was looking for you.” He grabbed her arm again, and this time held tightly. He rolled her sleeve back and saw the bandage. “What happened?” He repeated.

“Nothing.” Jexebel said again, her voice wavering just a bit. “I told you… I cut myself.”

Vincent gave her a hard look. “Well then you won’t mind if I check it for infection, will you?” He grasped the end of the gauze and slowly unraveled it from her wrist. Before the gauze was completely gone, his fears were vindicated. Just where her hand connected to her wrist, he could see the top of a burn mark. A brand. The brand of a Turk. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “Why did you do it?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Because I had to.” Jexebel answered quietly, her head turned away from him.

“Bullshit!” Vincent shouted.

At that point anyone else in the kitchen froze, staring at the couple. Jexebel stared at the table. She heard the scrapping and scuffling of chairs and feet as the others in the room left them alone. Vincent Valentine did not shout, and he did not curse. Apparently they needed some time alone.

“You didn’t have to do anything.” He all but snarled.

“Yes I did! To prove to you that I-“

“You don’t have to prove anything to me, I-“ He cut himself off before he let himself slip, taking a deep cleansing breath. Now was not the time to confess his love for her.

“You what? Jexebel said, standing up from the bench and placing her hands on her hips. “What?” She repeated when he didn’t answer.

He growled and threw his hands in the air, standing up from the bench and storming to the door. He turned around and pointed at her in a ‘ disappointed father’ kind of way.

“You have no idea what you’ve just done.” He said, haggard. With that he turned around and slipped out of the kitchen.

“You’re wrong.” She said to the swinging door. “You’re wrong.”


The day was long for Jexebel. She did not see Vincent again all day long. She knew he was avoiding her, and supposed he had every right to be upset. She DID agree not to join the Turks, after all. I a way, she lied to him. She spent the remainder of the day in the dojo, taking her frustration out on the training dummies.

It was late into the night when she returned to the room she and Vincent shared. She found him sitting on the desk next to the window, one leg outstretched and the other drawn in to his chest. He looked so lonely, and sad, just staring out into the night. She stood in the open doorway for a moment, just watching him. It was obvious that he hadn’t heard her come in.

He lifted his left wrist and pulled his sleeve back, revealing the pale, almost non-existent mark that was his own Turk brand. His death and prolonged exposure to condensed Mako during the experiment that gave him Chaos had all but erased the mark, and he found himself wishing that it had erased it. The current Turks would not have known that it was he had they not seen the mark.

Jexebel closed the door softly and silently walked over to stand behind Vincent. She rested her hand on his shoulder gently, happy that he did not pull away. He didn’t look at her, but he did speak.

“Don’t tell me that this was ‘what you had to do’.” He said. His voice was full of bitterness and fear. “I lost a woman once because of ‘what she had to do’.”

“I’m sorry.” Jexebel said.

“Sorry.” Vincent snorted. “Last night you led me to believe that you weren’t going to do this.” He finally turned to look at her, swinging his legs around and rising from the desk.

“Vincent, -”

“Don’t – say anything. Just let me talk, okay?” He waited for her to nod before he continued.

“Thirty years ago, I lost the first woman I ever loved because I was too naïve to see what was going on. I’m not that naïve child anymore, Jexebel. I let Lucrecia go because she said it was ‘something she had to do’. For her career, for her. I let her go and she died, Jexebel. I will not let that happen to you. I cannot let that happen to you. I…” He trailed off, looking down at the floor.

“Vincent…” Jexebel said, reaching out to rest her hand on his shoulder. He melted into her touch, looking up at her again. The warmth in her eyes gave his the courage to say what he needed to say.

“I love you.” He said, his voice hard and strong. “I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”

Why it shocked her the way it did was a mystery to Jexebel, because she had already known how Vincent felt about her. Hearing him say it, though, knocked the breath out of her. She let out a sob and dove into his arms.

“You regret it now, don’t you?” He said, concerned. She stiffened.

“No. I know you don’t want to hear that its ‘something I have to do’, but it is. But I swear to you, Vincent, I will not die on you. I will be alright. Have faith in me, Vincent. I need you to. Have faith in me in case I can’t. I need you to be my strength.” She pulled her left arm in front of him and very slowly removed the bandage, revealing the brand entirely. “Let this bind me to you, not just to our… profession.”

Vincent took her left hand in his, twining their fingers together. He looked at their hands for a long while, his scar old and faded, hers new and fiery red. “I trust you.” He said, finally. “And I swear, I will always be there to protect you. Even if you don’t need protection.” He added when she looked as though she were about to protest.

Jexebel smiled. “Okay.” She said.

“Change your clothes.” Vincent said. “Let’s get some sleep. They’ll want us in early tomorrow. Rufus is sending us back to Midgar. We have to get inside the old ShinRa building. Apparently, I missed some files when I was in there a few years ago. I’m going to insist that you come, too. It can be your ‘training mission’.” He finished, still sounding a little exasperated.

Jexebel did as she was told, crawling into bed and waiting for Vincent to join her after she slipped into a cami and shorts. Vincent joined her a few minutes later, pulling her into his arms and settling down for the night.

“I’m sorry I lied to you.” Jexebel said.

“You are forgiven.” Vincent answered, sounding drained. “Though I can’t say I understand your reasons for doing it, I will trust you, and give you my support. I have no choice, now, but to stand by your decision.”

“Thank you.” She whispered. “Your trust is all that I ever wanted. Your trust and your love.”

Vincent smiled and patted her on the head. “Well, you have both.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, smiling wider when she turned her head to kiss him properly.

“Goodnight, Vincent.” Jexebel sighed.

“Goodnight, my love.”



“You’re supposed to be helping me load the bikes, Doofus.” Cloud said, glaring at the redhead sitting on top of an army crate.

Reno ashed his cigarette and blew smoke in Cloud’s face. “Relax, Spikey. I was just taking a break.”

“Well stop ‘taking a break’ and help me. If Vincent gets here and the bikes aren’t loaded, he’ll shoot us both in the head. And NOT the one on our shoulders. He’s been really…well I don’t know …sensitive, lately.” Cloud added.

“Has he? I haven’t seen him sinse the meeting. Its probably because Jexebel signed on as a Turk when he told her not to.” Reno said, absently.

“She WHAT?!” Cloud exclaimed, nearly dropping the heavy motorcycle on himself.

“Oops. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that…” Reno said, scratching his head.

“Weren’t supposed to tell him what?” Jexebel said from behind Reno.

“Holy shit!” Reno shouted. He and Cloud jumped at the sound of her voice, and this time Cloud DID drop the bike onto his foot.

“GAH!” Cloud gasped. “Heavy! Heavy! Get it off!”

Jexebel and Reno rushed to Cloud’s aid, hefting the bike and loading it into the trailer. When Cloud could breathe without whining like a chocobo scout, he stomped over to stand before Jexebel with his finger pointing in her face.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you joined the Turks?” Cloud asked angrily.

“Reno!” Jexebel snarled, “You weren’t suppose to say anything!”

“Soooorrrrrryyyyyy!” Reno whined, “It’s not like it’s a matter of NATIONAL SECURITY!”

“Now I know why Tseng is always threatening you with bodily harm.” Jexebel said rubbing her forehead with her thumb and forefinger.

“I’m going to start threatening bodily harm if those bikes don’t get loaded.” Came Vincent’s voice. The three turned towards him.

“We’re working on it Vincent, there’s only one more bike.” Reno complained.

Poor Cloud was jumpy today. At hearing Vincent’s voice, Cloud wheeled backwards, dragging the last bike with him.

“Hhheeeeellllllllllppppppp!” screamed Cloud as the bike toppled over, not ONLY onto him, but then continued down the slope.

“I suppose we should help him,” Vincent sighed. “I’ll get the crane.”


“Please be careful, Jexebel.” Tifa said, embracing the smaller woman.

“I will.” Jexebel promised as she returned the hug.

“Miss Strange,” Shelke said, “I have given Tseng instruction to inject this serum before you enter Midgar.”

“Thank you Shelke, and please just call me Jexebel.” She requested.

“Ok, good luck and be mindful of the changes in your body… Jexebel.” Shelke replied.

“Ok people move out!” Tseng ordered, ushering Elena into the bunker ahead of him.

“Are you ready?” Vincent asked, placing his hand on Jexebel’s shoulder.

She let out a long, deep sigh and turned towards him. “Yeah. I’m ready. Let’s go.”

The group behind them again called out their goodbyes and best wishes as the bunker doors closed, throwing the assassins into the harsh florescent lights of the bunker.


(A.N. - This chapter is now finished.)