Guilt’s Cost: Part X

Breaking Point

Tifa was lead by her escort back to the conference room. Upon entering, she saw Vincent across the room with a raven-haired woman in his arms. At once, a spike of jealousy boiled up within her. Her mind immediately thought the worst, Oh my God, is that Tseng’s secret? That some lover of Vincent’s is still alive? If it’s that Lucretia chick, I swear I’ll kill all of them!

Vincent felt Tifa’s returned presence and stepped away from Angel. He at once walked over to Tifa, clearly excited. "Tifa, you would not believe what has happened."

Tifa bristled, dreading the answer. "Try me."

He was slightly caught off guard by her tone, and quickly came to realize why. "Tifa, this is my daughter."

Her jaw dropped. "Your daughter? What? But how?"

Tseng couldn’t help but interject. "Hojo produced her in his lab a few years ago, using Vincent’s genetic material, thus she is his daughter."

Tifa, still in shock walked up to Angel. "Hojo created you?"

She nodded. "Yes, I am Angel."

Vincent, seeing that Tifa was horribly confused, hurried to her side and quickly ran down all that Tseng had just told him. After hearing the whole story, she nodded shallowly in acceptance.

Tseng approached the group. "If you would like, you all may go to the commissary to get something to eat and discuss things further."

Tifa and Vincent readily agreed, starved after their day of travel. After getting to the cafeteria, they sat with their food before them. Tifa and Vincent took up one side of the table, with Angel sitting opposite them.

Angel leaned forward, smiling at the two. "So, tell me about Tifa."

Vincent took a moment to respond, as the meat he had been served wasn’t particularly tender. "Certainly my brother told you about AVALANCHE and their work at the time of Meteor?"

She nodded. "Yes, indeed he did. It was they that woke you from stasis under the Shin Ra mansion, where you had been left by Hojo."

"Correct." Vincent was pleased at her knowledge of that time. "Well, Tifa was a very important part of that group, and as I fought along side her, we became friends."

Tifa smiled, remembering how cold Vincent had been to everyone but her back then. "I was very lucky that Vincent chose me as a friend. He hadn’t managed to make very many in that group."

Vincent glanced over at Tifa, disbelieving that she could have ever seen anything in him back then making her want to be his friend. "Yes, you were very kind to me, and I never could figure out why. After Sephiroth’s defeat, I went my own way from everyone else. As the years passed, I couldn’t get Tifa out of my mind, and eventually I had to go back and find her."

Angel furrowed her brow. "Pardon me if I’m not mistaken, but I thought Tifa was the member of the group that eventually married Cloud Strife?"

Tifa hung her head. "That is me."

Angel was confused. "So you went to find her despite the fact that she was married to perhaps the greatest warrior to come along since Sephiroth? Father, you are very brave."

Vincent couldn’t believe that someone was calling him ‘father’. "I had to find her, I had no choice. I wouldn’t have been able to go on without doing so."

Tifa smiled weakly. "My marriage to Cloud was not one of love. He had simply married me because he couldn’t think of anyone else to live with. He had been suffering from terrible depression ever since Aeris had been killed."

"Aeris? That was the ancient, right?" Angel asked.

Tifa was also pleased that Angel was well versed on the events that happened before her creation. "Yes, she was. Aeris was a wonderful girl and I don’t blame Cloud for falling in love with her, but after her death, he was never able to live life in the same way. Once there were no more battles to be fought, he couldn’t shake his sadness, and shortly after Vincent came into town, Cloud took his own life."

Angel was shocked. "Cloud Strife is dead? We haven’t gotten any news reports to that effect…"

Tifa leaned forward. "He rarely came out of the house. There is a good possibility that no one has even missed him yet. I should call someone to make sure he doesn’t lie in that house any longer. I didn’t even think of that."

Vincent placed his arm around Tifa, seeing that she was admonishing herself for not seeing to Cloud’s final arrangements. "It’s all right, Tifa. We’ll get it taken care of.."

Angel reached across the table and grasped Tifa’s hand. "I will have someone sent there to tend to those matters immediately."

Tifa was touched by Angel’s concerned tone. "Thank you. I would appreciate that."

"Think nothing of it. It’s the lest I can do for the woman that has been such an inspiration to my father." Angle let Tifa’s hand go.

"Anyway," Tifa continued before the tears welled up for Cloud, "I have been with Vincent since then. I know it hasn’t been that long since we were reunited, but it seems like we were never apart. He understands me like Cloud never did, and I know he cares for me unlike anyone else ever has."

Vincent held her just a little tighter. "Had I not found Tifa, I may never have ended up here."

Angel donned a grateful grin. "Then it would seem that I owe Tifa my gratitude for your arrival as well."

A silence fell as they finished their meals. Vincent watched both Tifa and Angel, pleased that the two of them were taking a liking to one another. Even though he sensed sadness emanating from Angel, he liked the fact that she was in touch with what she felt. Had she been a cold person like he had been her life would have been headed down a difficult path. She was pleasant, and seemed to be someone who wouldn’t be as socially uncomfortable as he had always been.

He wondered who her mother might have been. Certainly she was just an anonymous egg donor, lost somewhere in the labyrinth of the Shin Ra Corporation’s file system. Someone who, for whatever reason, had allowed herself to be used by Hojo. Why there were such people, Vincent couldn’t understand, but Hojo had never seemed short of subjects. Vincent also knew that not all of Hojo’s subjects had been volunteers. There was a chance that Angel’s mother had been someone taken against their will as he had been.

Vincent shuddered as he speculated over what may have happened to his daughter at the scientist’s hands. Knowing only the terrors that had befallen him there, he flared with anger to think that she may have been treated the same way. He ached to ask her, so that he could hunt down Hojo and torture him in the same ways. He knew that if he ever got the chance to kill Hojo that he would, but that it would not be quick. Hojo would suffer; Vincent had spent a countless number of hours on contemplating how he would do it. He would be cruel, tearing Hojo apart one small bit at a time. He had often dreamed of that day when Hojo would beg him for mercy, and Vincent knew he would just smile and carry on. With the very claw that Hojo had fused to Vincent’s body he would tear the flesh away from his bones. Vincent had regretted not getting to do these things to the scientist the last time they had met, but now knowing that he was alive his darkest fantasy had taken new life. This time when Vincent killed Hojo, it would be done right.

Later that evening, Tifa and Vincent were relaxing in their room. The accommodations they had been given at the ASRIO base were somewhat Spartan, but still livable. They sat together on the couch watching the evening news. Vincent was on the verge of nodding off when a knock came at the door.

Vincent slowly got up and made his way to seeing who was visiting. He opened the door wide expecting Tseng or Angel. When Vincent froze as he laid eyes on who was there, Tifa sprung to her feet and made her way to his side knowing something was wrong.

Once she was closer, she filled with terror at what she saw. The man at the door was holding a gun aimed directly at Vincent’s head. She quickly recognized the gunman by the orange shock of hair pinned down under the sunglasses on top of his head.

"Reno?" She gasped.

He gave her little regard, concentrating on maintaining his aim at Vincent. "Tifa."

Vincent just remained motionless, waiting for Reno to waver in his aim.

Reno’s face was expressionless. "I was sent here to give you something, Mr. Valentine."

"What?" Vincent asked flatly.

Reno tossed the gun into the air, grabbing it by the muzzle. He held the grip out toward Vincent. "Your gun."

Shocked and a bit confused, Vincent reached out and swiped the gun from Reno’s hand. He examined it briefly. "My Death Penalty?"

Reno pushed his way past Vincent walking toward Tifa. "Yeah. Tseng knew that you would want that back after forgetting it in Rocket, so he had me get it for you."

Vincent kept the gun in his hand, having too much adrenaline in his system to put it down yet. "You’re with ASRIO now?"

"Yeah, and you’re welcome, you prick." Reno looked back over his shoulder at Vincent. "I had to crawl around a muddy God Damned river bed to get that for you, would it kill you to say thanks?"

Tifa knew she needed to break the tension between the two men. "So, Reno, what made you join Tseng’s men? Did he recruit you since he worked with you as a Turk?"

Reno smiled as he ogled Tifa. "Tseng’s a right fine guy and all, but the fact that he and I were friends didn’t get me here."

She didn’t want him to continue undressing her with his eyes, so she moved to Vincent’s side. "What was it, then?"

Reno casually sat down on the couch Tifa and Vincent had vacated. "After the Turks disbanded, Elena and I decided that we wanted something more from life, and we settled down and started a private security company. But after that fucker Harwin recreated the Turks and we refused to join, life really started to suck. We were constantly harassed until Elena was taken into custody. They hoped by holding her I would rejoin, but when I refused, they tried her for treason and executed her. That was when Tseng offered this job to me. I couldn’t refuse after they had killed her."

To Vincent and Tifa’s disbelief, Reno had to wipe a tear from his eye. Not wanting to show any emotion to his former enemies, Reno donned an angry posture. "Until everyone involved with her death is wasted, I won’t stop kicking Shin Ra ass."

Vincent’s curiosity got the better of him. "What about Rude? I know he and you were pretty close."

Reno slapped the cushion next to him out of anger. "That mother fucker rejoined, despite what they did to Elena. He gave me some bullshit story about how we had an obligation to Shin Ra for taking care of us over the years. Son of a bitch was too scared to not go back."

Tifa couldn’t help but feel for Reno and she went and sat next to him. "You’ve been through a lot over the last seven years."

Reno saw this as an opportunity and rested his head on her shoulder. He lazily put his arms around her, allowing his one hand to slide a little too close to one of her breasts. "Thank you, Tifa."

Vincent flared to see him so obviously try to grope Tifa. "Get your hands off her, Reno."

He stood up quickly, afraid that Vincent might do something rash. "Sorry dude. I didn’t know you two were a thing." He faced back to Tifa. "You really serious? Vincent for a boyfriend? Damn Tifa, did something whack you in the head or what?"

She took offense at his words and rose from her seat. Tifa made her way to Vincent’s side and slid an arm around his waist. "I am very serious. Vincent is a wonderful man, and it would do you well to realize that."

Reno felt the force behind her words and put his hands up in defense. "Don’t get all pissy on me. Jesus, if you want to hang out with fucking Marilyn Manson, that’s your business."

Vincent still had to suppress the urge to raise his gun and cut short Reno’s impudence. "Is that all you came for?"

Reno turned his back to the two and crossed his arms. "Maybe, maybe not. I’m starting to think you don’t like me so much, Vincent."

"My sentiments toward you have been out on the table for a long time. You are a rat, and everyone knows it. And although you may have done an honorable thing on behalf of Elena’s memory by joining my brother, you are still Reno and therefore not someone I plan on showering with during the early hours of the morning." Vincent said, nudging Tifa slightly as he did.

Reno slowly turned around, his eyes wide. "The fuck? Did you just make a joke? Keep that shit up an’ people are gonna’ lose respect for you. Tseng did have me come here for something else, although I don’t know if you’ll be interested."

Tifa cocked her head. "What is it, Reno?"

"Well, if you’re going to twist my arm." Reno fell back onto the couch. "The old man wanted me to ask you guys if you would be interested in going along on a raid to the lab tomorrow."

Vincent narrowed his eyes. "Will Hojo be there?"

"No," Reno snapped back, "your boyfriend is off at an auxiliary lab in Kalm, leaving the lab at Midgar free for the taking."

"What is the objective?" Vincent’s interest was piqued.

"Oh, let’s see." Reno thought for a minute. "Aside from the usual ass kicking and experiment disruptions, we’re going there to nab a sample of some virus he’s been working on so we can come up with a vaccine for it. Hojo’s starting to branch of into bio-warfare, and we want to nip it in the butt."

"The expression is ‘nip it in the bud’." Vincent corrected; not really sure why he even cared to do so.

Reno’s sarcastic smile fell. "Let me guess, you have a long hidden desire to be an English teacher, right?"

Vincent decided to get the conversation back on track. "So why can’t Tseng just have one of his inside men steal the sample for him. Seems like it would be a lot less trouble."

Reno rolled his eyes at Vincent’s lack of insight. "Where’s the fun in that? Besides, we don’t want to risk compromising our insider’s status in the lab. If he got caught, we would be set back quite a ways. He has become very trusted by Hojo, and has managed to attain a level of security clearance none of our previous agents has been able to touch. And since he will be with Hojo tomorrow, he won’t be suspected at all."

"I see." Vincent said under his breath. He looked down at Tifa, still clinging to him. "What do you think?"

She smiled up at him. "It’s been a long time since I’ve been in that kind of action. It might just be worth while."

Vincent nodded. "All right then. Tell Tseng that we’re in."

Reno got to his feet, and made his way toward them. "Good."

Vincent watched in shock as Reno pulled Tifa away from him and kissed her full on the mouth. Tifa writhed in his arms, but was simply being overpowered. Rage boiling up within him, Vincent’s cybernetic claw whirred to life and grasped Reno’s neck in its talons. Tifa managed to wriggle away as Reno’s arms latched onto Vincent’s claw, supporting his weight so his neck wouldn’t snap.

Vincent held Reno up just enough so he could no longer touch the ground. Reno attempted to breathe but found it impossible from the pressure on his throat; his face growing dark as he strangled.

Tifa caught her breath and turned seeing Reno in desperate danger of being killed. "Vincent, put him down!"

Vincent gave her little regard as the prospect of killing began to give him a rush. He tightened his grip just a bit more.

Reno’s struggle became frantic, and he started kicking wildly, coming no where near striking Vincent.

Tifa ran over and pulled on Vincent’s outstretched arm. "You’re killing him, stop it!"

Had Vincent not caught a glimpse of Tifa’s terrified expression at that moment, Reno would have lost his life. Seeing her brought him back to reality and he quickly opened his talons, causing Reno to fall into a heap on the floor.

Vincent turned away and opened the door to the room. He then made his way back to Reno and grabbed his arm. Reno offered little resistance as he was dragged out and cast into the hall. Vincent slammed the door and locked it before turning back to Tifa.

She stood trembling, "Vincent?"

He instantly filled with shame for having scared her, but felt no remorse for almost having killed Reno. "Tifa, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you."

Her fear at once changed to anger. "You’re sorry for scaring me? What about Reno? You could have just thrown him out. You didn’t have to try and murder him over that!"

The anger in her words struck him painfully. "Seeing him do that to you just made me crazy."

"Drop the chivalry bullshit, Vincent." Tifa turned her back to him. "Reno’s a jerk, we have always known that, but he didn’t mean any harm."

The sound of Vincent’s arm powering down was all that was heard in the brief silence that followed. He admonished himself for losing control but was not surprised that he had. Ever since being freed from stasis, his ability to contain his rage had been lacking. It was related to the Chaos demon that had been morphed into him, and he hated it. This was what had caused him to do so many things that he later regretted, including assaulting Yuffie seven years before.

Out of character, Vincent hung his head and drew in a shaking breath. He was going to cry, and he didn’t like it.

Tifa, upon hearing Vincent lose his composure turned back to face him. She at once felt wretched, knowing that he was now hurting himself more than any of her words ever could. "Vincent, it’s all right."

He turned away from her and faced the door, allowing his head to rest on its surface. "I told you that I couldn’t trust myself…"

She went to his side and tried to embrace him, but he gently pushed her back. "Vincent, please!"

"Go away…" He blocked the side of his face visible to Tifa with his cybernetic hand. "I should never have come back…"

Now Tifa grew genuinely scared. "Vincent, don’t say that!"

"I can’t be trusted." His voice was almost inaudible. "I can only hurt people and kill. How could I ever think that I could love someone?"

She again tried to reach out to him, but recoiled when he spun to face her. His expression was blank, but clearly covering some horrible feeling. Tifa’s blood ran cold, not able to understand what was going on inside him.

He put his face just inches from her own, tears still visible on his face. "I can not be trusted. Why are you with me? What will stop me from ripping you apart someday? What will stop me, Tifa?"

The color drained from her face. She knew the person facing her was not Vincent, at least, she didn’t think it was. "Leave him alone!" Tifa pushed him away with all her strength, somehow hoping to excise this demon from her lover.

Vincent barely flinched from her shove and leaned even closer to her. "Why should I? I was created to kill, that is all that was ever intended of me. That is all I will ever do."

Tifa now knew that she had to help Vincent get back in control, but didn’t know how. "Vincent, come back, please!"

He shoved her back, sending her reeling to the couch. "I told you to get away from me, bitch."

She sobbed loudly in fear as she sat on the couch. Her mind raced to find a way to calm him. "Vincent, make this stop!" She begged.

"Keep it up, Tifa." Vincent snarled. "Keep it up and see what happens. Make me come out, so I can use my own teeth to crush your head…"

Tifa watched helplessly as the Chaos wings ripped out from beneath Vincent’s shirt. They folded themselves neatly behind his back. This was the first step in the Chaos transformation, and she knew it wouldn’t be long until the rest of Vincent’s humanity began to fade.

"How can you love this?" Vincent asked her, allowing his wings to open slightly. "You want a life with this? Do you want little winged lizard babies? Is that it?"

She cried as his words struck her where it hurt most. "This isn’t you, Vincent! You don’t fool me, Chaos. Leave him alone!"

He started to smile. "Maybe I’ll just wait for a better time to kill you. It would be even more satisfying to come back and finish you that next time your perverted little mind decides that would want to fuck this monster."

Tifa leapt up and threw herself into his arms. Even if it meant that she would be killed, she needed to try reaching Vincent. "I love Vincent, not you. And if you can hear me, Vincent, please try to come back to me…"

Vincent struggled within himself, trying to wrangle the demon back into submission. He felt his metal arm preparing to tear into Tifa as she embraced him and just as it reached her back, Vincent managed to pull himself back into control. Instead of slicing into her skin, it slid behind her back, holding her tightly to him.

As his tears started anew, a wave of relief came over Tifa, as she knew that her beloved Vincent was coming back to her. "I was so scared, Vincent."

He rested his cheek against hers, shaking in her arms. "Tifa… help me… God, please help me…"

She opened her eyes to see that his wings were no longer present and she reached up and stroked his hair. "It’s okay now. It’s over."

He sank to his knees, burying his face in his hands. Sobs wracked his body as his mind raced through what his demon had almost done to her. "I don’t think you’re safe anymore…"

Tifa knelt down beside him, again placing her arms around his thin frame. "Yes I am. You just proved it. You fought against Chaos and won."

"Each time I turn, it’s harder to come back. Next time I might never…" His words broke off as his tears choked him.

She rocked him gently, wishing to restore his composure. "As long as I love you, you won’t hurt me."

He could say no more, and in his exhaustion laid down on the floor. His tears were starting to abate, and his eyes felt heavy. Tifa laid down beside him, and spooned up against his back. Her right arm cinched down over his waist, holding him to her.

As she felt him finally give in to sleep, she closed her own eyes. The image of him standing before her with his wings unfurled sent a chill up her spine. She knew that Vincent would never hurt her, but Chaos was not Vincent. The demon knew no love, and did not feel what Vincent did. She knew she needed to talk to Tseng to see if there was anything his men could do to get the monster out of Vincent.