Whispers In The Dark

This is a chapter clipped from a longer work of mine. It goes against Dirge/FF7 canon in one major way. I do not believe any woman in her right mind would have willing sex with Hojo, period. Or any woman with an ounce of brain NOT in her right mind for that matter. It also goes against Dirge canon more than just a bit. Guess who's Sephiroth's daddy? That's what they get for giving Hojo that awful voice. But enough prattle. Onward!


Whispers In The Dark


Cloud lay on his back and gazed up at the sea of stars. The night air was cool and gently ruffled his hair and that of his companion. The wisps of black hair gently tickled the young blondes chest, teased his erect nipples. He squirmed as he felt droplets of cool liquid as they suddenly struck his navel. They were followed by the gentle pressure of a warm, suckling lips and tongue.

Cloud closed his eyes, and shifted slightly as he began to feel his arousal. The scent of the spilled liquor was redolent of apricots and honeyed almonds. The tongue finished teasing , and moved lower, leaving traces of apricot scented breath in its wake. How long had it been since.... Gaia, it had been years. The fierce arousal that had lain almost dormant for so long responded to the gentle sensations and worked towards becoming a storm. Cloud let out a small gasp as two fingers entered his narrower passage, then a low guttural sound as lips enclosed him. They brought him just to taught hardness, and then there was a change of sensation as the warm left momentarily. A slight cooling sensation from the dribbling of a bit more liquor, and the tongue resumed work. As he neared the edge of deep arousal it stopped and Cloud felt his legs being pushed open and back against his chest. He felt himself begin to dribble as he was penetrated.

“Nnnnn......ghh.....ahhh....” Cloud felt a tear slip from the corner of his eye as he arched his back to meet the hardness that was driving him nearly mad. Memories flashed behind his closed eyes in seconds. It felt good, so damn good, if this is chaos then let it never end. He felt himself raised in the air so that he might be deeply penetrated, resting the palms of his hands on the ground beneath.

As the hard shaft pressed itself as deep as the tight passage would allow he exploded, spilling onto himself and also the grass beneath. A few seconds more and he felt the flow of seed deep inside himself, and then the soft withdrawal as he was lowered back to the ground.

A soft, almost purr-like growl caused Cloud to open his eyes. He gazed into the familiar red eyes, knowing they did not intend him harm. “Gods, that was.....amazing. I'd almost forgotten what that was like!”. Vincent just growled again and pulled him into a soft embrace. “ We've got the rest of the night ahead of us, and it's one all. And I'm afraid that I must insist on a tie-breaker.”

All of a sudden, there was a loud banging noise. Cloud sat up in the darkness and sighed in extreme annoyance. He raked his hand across his eyes, brushing his hair back. Someone was pounding on the door. “ Oh, fuck this!” Cloud expectorated, resigning himself to the fact that he had awoken from a dream he wanted to finish. He hauled himself upwards and rubbed his eyes. The bedside lamp was not a particularly bright one; but the light made him squint nevertheless. The clock radio showed the time as just after 2. a.m.


The knocking resumed, more insistent this time. “Hold on, I'm coming!” Cloud threw a tee shirt on over his underwear and half stalked, half-staggered to the door. The peephole in the door reflected an familiar face, one he'd wanted to see in person for a rather long time. Vincent Valentine stood in front of the transom, backpack on and satchel in hand. Cloud opened the door as quickly as he could.

Vincent stepped inside the door and Cloud shut and locked it again. There was a moment where the dark haired man deposited his belongings on the floor and the light was turned off. Then Cloud found himself caught up in a fierce embrace, followed by a kiss so hard it made him gasp for breath. “Vincent!,” Cloud managed when the two came up for air, “Where the hell have you been?!”

“Shhh, beloved.” Vincent pressed hid fingers to Clouds lips. “ I'd like you to hold me for a while, if that's o.k. I need to remember what it feels like to be real.” Vincent moved the two of them backwards toward the bed. Cloud sat down and arranged the pillows as Vincent removed his boots and cloak. Something serious was about to happen, he was certain.

Vincent had been missing for just over three months. When he left Cloud just before the battle with Omega, he had sworn he would come back. He had. But less than a week later, he vanished. Yuffie had telephoned in a panic when he failed to show up at her place to visit Shelke. The text message he left behind for Cloud was all too short- “Spikey- I must go. There are some things better left unsaid for now. I'll be back soon. I know I'm not there to ask- Just promise me in your mind and heart that you will listen. Valentine”.

Vincent removed his outer armor, removed his scarf. His long ebony hair fell past his shoulders in uneven strands. Cloud could see the red halos of his eyes flash as he moved next to him. As he brought his head to rest, the strands of hair against the skin caused Cloud to absently stroke it. They lay together like this for some time. The only sound in the room, apart from their breathing, came from a pounding heart.

Vincent broke the silence by kissing Cloud a second time. This kiss was softer, and longer. When they broke apart the second time both could feel a certain heaviness that increased a little when Vincent broke the silence.

“Spikey, do remember the night when you came to me because of all that you carried, and were alone?” “Of course, I remember. I'll always be grateful for your keeping confidence.” “ I need you to do the same for me now. Remember what I wrote? There are some things you need to know. Things it may hurt you to hear.” “ I know, Val.” Of all people, Cloud was one of the very few who could use this name without getting hurt.

“I've been to the crystal cavern. I had to see her. Lucrecia. But not just there. I've been to many places. To put it simply, I had to find some evidence for myself. Did I ever tell you about my father, Grimoire Valentine?”

“No Val, I don't think you have.”

“Then I'll start at the very beginning. My father, Grimoire Valentine, was one of the scientists who worked on the top secret Soldier projects. My father discovered what he believed to be a stone tablet carved by the Cetra. This was some time before the stratum that contained Jenova was discovered. The tablet contained a verse that is eerily reminiscent of Loveless:

Soul wrought of terra corrupt
Quelling impurity
Purging the life stream
To beckon forth an ultimate fate
Behold Mighty Chaos
Omega's squire to the lofty heavens.

My father believed the tablet to be over 2,000 years old. He originally postulated that Omega was a location and Chaos a specific person. He later changed this after discovering that the planet had elaborate defense mechanisms in place to prolong both life and security. After months of waiting, he was finally assigned a research assistant.
Her name was Lucrecia Crescent, and she was in the top five percentile of her class. She proved to be as ardent about the project as he. Her theories had been laughed at by the executive brass, and she was eager to prove herself, and them, as valid.

What I, and everyone else didn't know until just a while ago was that my father and Lucrecia were having an affair. It's not clear exactly when they began falling in love, but they did. And that sick bastard Hojo, he..... had his eyes on her. Practically from the time she arrived at the academy too, I'd bet my life on it. It was he who finally approved the departmental paper work. He who undermined my father while secretly grooming her to be both his assistant and hidden mistress. That sick bastard found a way.

There was an accident at the cave where the tablet was discovered. Part of the ceiling gave way because of instability, it was said. My father was killed instantly, Lucrecia was only just injured. I re-examined the area and took some samples to Reeve for testing. There were traces of highly classified Shinra silent explosives both in the dirt and on the stalactite fragments. Underneath a pile of chips, I found a few strands of hair. They tested positive for that of Hojo. This evidence points to unknown fact number one- that Hojo murdered my father.

It did not have the effect that he desired. Lucrecia truly loved my father and his work. I was assigned to protect her after his death. I don't think Lucrecia knew of my existence. But Hojo most certainly did. I think that both future experiments and torments were on his mind. I now believe that he wanted us to fall in love, simply to give him the pleasure of destroying it. And myself in particular, because I was the son of the rival who stole his intended.


“You...worked for Shinra?!” Cloud said in disbelief. “At that time, yes. When I showed a flair for marksmanship as a boy, my father figured my talent would benefit from a Shinra education. But that isn't important at the moment. What does matter is that I met this beautiful, intelligent, warm woman- who was as out of place within her own skin-the same way that I am in mine, sometimes. I quickly came to realize that she tolerated working for Hojo because it allowed her access to materials and information to further her own research.”

“Did you fall in love with her?” Cloud asked. “ I think that I was in love the first time I saw her. Remember that I was hardly more than a boy then. And I knew nothing of her relationship with my father. When Hojo and Lucrecia were sent to Nibelheim to begin the experiments that would produce....Sephiroth... and the other angels...” Vincent's voice trailed off.

“Val? Are you all right?” Cloud sat up and pulled Vincent closer. In the moonlight, a single tear stream fell from his left eye, and fell in droplets between them. He did not look at Cloud. When he resumed speaking, his voice shook. Cloud continued to hold him close.

“There was a tree, outside the village in the middle of the meadow. I used to go there and daydream by myself when I had the chance. Somehow Doctor Crescent discovered this and joined me there. It was innocent, at first. We were like children, playing at flirting with each other. For me, being young and sexually inexperienced, at the time it was like a fire. I wanted her, but not just for her body. I loved her for her mind.

A day came where we both could no longer deny what we felt. We made love, or at least I did. This was just after Lucrecia accepted what was to be her role in the Jenova project. She hadn't told me yet, I would find out in the coming days. When the few details I was allowed came out- Gaia- I could not believe....” Vincent choked, and his shoulders began to shake violently. Cloud pulled him into a tight hug and allowed the man to cry, his lips resting gently against his forehead.

“I went to the Shinra mansion. Reeve and the WRO have managed to retrieve massive amounts of Hojos data and other evidence. Among them were recordings and private journals that were little more than extended details of his sexual conquests. Hojo managed for me to be away at a specific training class for a week. He claimed that I was overstepping my boundaries as a turk.

When I returned, Lucrecia had changed. She was completely cold to me and behaved as if I were beneath her. As if my feelings didn't matter. Then she and Hojo informed me that her unborn child was the subject of the experiment. When I dared to try and question why she would she would do this, Hojo stated they were scientists and it was not my place to question anything. He threatened to have me fired.

What I didn't know, and Lucrecia never told me, was that while I was gone Hojo raped her. He threatened to expose her relationship with my father. He also accused her of using Grimoire to further her own research. But the worst....the hardest because I didn't stop...her.... is....” Vincent shuddered and stopped again. The tears were coming hard now and Cloud gently rocked him, eyes closed, attempting to let his own fear slide away.

“You know about the angel projects, right Spikey?” “Yes, but I don't think Zack told me everything. I'm not sure that he knew everything. But right now I am more concerned about you. Whatever it is, I'm here. I swear that I won't run away.” Cloud stroked the hair of his friend as it came to lay against his shoulder.

“Before she was raped, Lucrecia was already pregnant. She was the woman who was used in......project S.” Vincent breathed deeply, eyes closed, and waited for Cloud to react. It hurt him terribly to say it, but the terrible truth was finally out. “Project S, you mean the...oh...my...gods.......” Cloud was silent.

“Yes, it's true. My sin is far worse than yours. Sephiroth was wrong. Jenova wasn't his mother, not in the physical birth sense. But that is common knowledge now. And she wasn't Gillian either, the one whose genes helped create Genesis or Angeal, as he thought. Lucrecia was Sephiroth's real mother. I'm so sorry, Cloud. I know you loved Sephiroth, but I'm not sure you should love or have ever loved me. Because from what it looks like, all the genetic manipulation and abuse he suffered from Hojo aside.... Even if he never realized it......I am Sephiroth's real father.”

Vincent's voice broke then, and all he could do was cry. Cloud found himself shaking and crying too, but he could not find the right words to say. Things had changed, but the two of them were still the same. Cloud also knew that he didn't want to lose Vincent, least of all as a friend. The two of them had come through too much together. Had it not been for the verbal ass-kicking Vincent had given him after the battle at the forbidden grove...Cloud preferred not to think about it.

Somehow, some way, Cloud's lips found Vincent's. Vincent whimpered then, and returned the kiss fiercely. The two remained locked together, shaking, until their emotions began to subside.

“Do you hate me, Spikey? I warn you, the story isn't over yet.” “No, Val. I don't hate you,” Cloud said. “ But before you continue, I do have something to say. I think that before you blame yourself any more, you should remember Lucrecia never told you she was pregnant. You discovered that posthumously. Remember that Hojos evil affected many people in different ways. All of us- you, me, Zack, Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal-even Aerith, suffered at the hands of that maniac. Forgive me, Val. What I don't understand is how what you said is possible given your age. Until just now I'd swear you were no older than 27.”

Vincent wiped his eyes on his cloak. “I was just getting to that. Hojo took Sephiroth away from Lucrecia almost as soon as he was born. She was absolutely devastated by that. He refused to let her see him and when she became too hysterical he used what he knew as leverage to keep her silence. When I finally confronted him with his own cruelty, Hojo accused me of trying to sabotage his projects and shot me in cold blood.

I came to in one of the tubes. For a long time I was unable to do more than stare. Hojo had Lucrecia within his power and he used that with impunity. He would banish everyone but himself and Lucrecia from the laboratory and the grounds at least once a week. Lucrecia would spend all night helping him enact his deepest and most depraved sexual fantasies with me as the silent voyeur.

After a few weeks he tired of this, and the experiments and surgical changes on me began. I thought that she was using me as a puppet to prove her research. And slowly part of me began to hate her. After a while she would stand and cry in front of the tube and say how sorry she was every so often. By that time I just ignored her. My plan, which formulated as I slowly regained my senses, was to get the hell out of there as soon as the opportunity presented itself. And then, once she had completely re-worked and restored me as Chaos with the protomateria she....... arranged for an accident to free me from the lab, after she had killed herself.

Discovery of what I am, and my agony at having done nothing to stop these events was tearing apart my soul. With no one to guide me about my new form and my mind in tatters, I found myself in the Shinra mansion basement. In the room where you first found me years ago, was a coffin. I resolved to go to sleep and remain so forever, or as long as I could.

Again, I was wrong. Lucrecias experiments were the only way that she could save my life. It was that or let Hojo have me, and she wasn't about to let him. In my present state of being I could rip the man apart easily. Which is why he had to cheat me even in death.
It seems everywhere I have turned since escaping that day, I've found evidence of his work. Including you, Cloud.

In a way Hojo was right. You are a failure. Didn't wind up a twisted monstrous product the way you were supposed to be. Fought to cling to the barest shreds of your humanity and managed to survive. If you look at the situation directly, whether he knew it or not, the man was creating the flies in his own ointment.”

“And you're not a monster!” Cloud replied. “ If you hadn't verbally kicked my ass that day at the forbidden city, it might have been different. It was hard, learning to let go. But Aeris is still here with us. I think of her every time it rains! It took a long time for me to realize that forgiving myself for not being able to save her was what I was unable to do. And I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not at your calling me a failure!” Cloud risked a small laugh, sensing the worst was pretty much over.

“There is more, Spikey, but I'd like to let it wait for some other time. My coming here in this manner was intentional. You remember what I said the after the last time we... that night out under the stars? I'd like a rematch very much, if you're up for it.” Vincent seemed almost timid, as if he were expecting the possibility of rejection.

“I can't say finding out about Sephiroth makes me happy, Val. But when it came down to the end, Seph did make a choice. And I loved him as much as I love you, or loved Zack, or anyone else. I can't hate you if you are his real father, because that means he's part of you and the woman you loved. Sephiroth died believing he'd been abandoned, I think. And the madness brought by the Jenova cells within his system demanded that he submit to her. Before either of us jump to any more conclusions I suggest that we ask Reeve and the WRO to help prove conclusively whether it is true or not.”

“You didn't answer my question.” Vincent moved away a little. Cloud thought for a moment. “Yes, Val. Personally, I'd like to...” he leaned forward and whispered in the offered ear. Vincent raised both eyebrows and grinned wickedly. “I'm already packed, what about you?” Cloud reached over to the night stand for his cell phone. “Give me 10 minutes so I can bullshit Tifa and close the delivery service, and I'll meet you downstairs. Don't worry, Fenrir is nearby. I'll grab my gear and it's into the great wide open for a while.” He gave Vincent a sweet but firm kiss. “See you downstairs!”


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