Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Unknown Ally ❯ Chapter 2: New Assignment ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: New Assignment

 

Vincent walked through a cavern filled with glowing blue crystals, his crimson eyes roving the vicinity for any sign of danger. His hand occasionally strayed to the shotgun sitting on his hip, an old habit from years of hunting and killing his enemies. He frowned slightly: there was no danger in sight. So why had he been brought here?

 

A bright rose light filled the cavern and he had to shield his eyes from the blinding glow. As it faded, he lowered his arm and stared as a veiled woman glided towards him, clad in a gown of flowing sapphire silk. Her long, black, wavy hair flowed down to her waist and her eyes were the green of a clear river in a winter dawn. The former Turk stared as she approached him. He tensed, flexing his claw slightly.

 

`It's nice to know you're still on your toes,' said the woman. She stood before him and laid a soft hand on his face, her slender fingers running across his cheekbone. He knew that voice.

 

`I didn't think you would come,' she said. The crimson-clad gunman reached out his hand and gently pushed back the veil to reveal the beautiful visage of a warrior. He stared, unable to believe he would see that familiar face again.

 

`Vincent….'

~*~

A loud and incessant ring shattered his dream and he sprang to wakefulness at the sound, sitting bolt upright. He turned to see his phone sliding across the table beside his bed, the vibration of the ring causing it to shift from its usual spot. He grabbed the phone and flipped it open, raising it to his ear.

 

`Yeah.'

 

`Sorry if I woke you, Vincent. I know it's early.'

 

Recognising the voice in spite of the distortion, he resisted the urge to growl. `Yuffie, I thought I told you-`

 

`I got the message about your phone,' said Yuffie. `But this is important. You have to get to the nearest spaceport as soon as you can. Cid wants to talk to you. Says he's got information.'

 

Detecting the tone of urgency, he sighed and nodded. `I'll be there.' He ended the call and rose from the bed, throwing on his cloak and holstering his shotgun on the way out.

~*~

 

The Shera was waiting for him when he arrived at the spaceport. A slender Asian woman and an athletic blond man he knew well and deeply cared for greeted him. Tifa smiled and waved as the gunman approached.

 

`Good to see you, Vincent,' she said.

 

`It's good to see you too, Tifa,' Vincent replied. Cloud smiled and laughed.

 

`I see you've been keeping busy,' remarked the ex-SOLDIER. `How is everyone going down there?'

 

`Repairs to the walls are finished, but there are still a few families whose homes are being rebuilt,' said the gunman.

 

`So, still a lot of work to be done,' said Cloud. Vincent nodded. Tifa looked like she had something else to say, but she kept her silence. They led Vincent to the bridge where Cid and Reeve were talking about the results of a previous mission they'd undertaken. The proud captain of The Shera looked up and grinned as Vincent walked in.

 

`Hey, Vincent! Long time!'

 

Vincent nodded, resisting the urge to smile at Cid's exuberant welcome. He approached the pair and nodded to Reeve who smiled and nodded in return.

 

`Yuffie told me you have information for me,' he said.

 

`Yeah.' Cid was suddenly all business. `I was just talking to Reeve and he's told me that WRO has a hidden source of information for our missions. He wasn't able to track who it was, due to the fact that they wouldn't divulge any personal info to the Organisation. We suspect that this informant doesn't want to be known to the members of Deep Ground, but we need to have an idea who our allies are if we're going to smoke the bastards out.'

 

Vincent nodded. It made sense to him. `What do you have?'

 

`Well the sources we were able to procure seem to indicate that there is someone within ShinRa whose funnelling information to WRO. We need to find out who that is and why they're so willing to help us.'

 

Vincent suddenly caught on to where this was going and a feeling of unease he hadn't felt in a long time crept into his veins. `You want me to infiltrate the ShinRa corporation.'

 

Reeve shook his head. `Infiltrating the corporation won't give us nearly enough information. We need you to go undercover…..as a Turk security agent.'

 

The gunman thought his heart had stopped when he heard this. Reeve must have sensed the unease in Vincent and he continued.

 

`I know you have history concerning ShinRa's……projects, but you're the only person who intimately knows how the corporation works. I wouldn't normally ask you to do this, but we must know. Every time we've tried to uncover information, we've been attacked. It's clear that someone doesn't want us to know who our secret ally is, but we have to know if we're going to succeed in overthrowing Deep Ground once and for all.'

 

Vincent didn't reply straight away. It had been thirty years since he'd had anything to do with ShinRa and the corporation. He still bore the scars of those encounters. And painful memories. The image of Lucrecia in her mako crystal prison surfaced in his mind and he roughly pushed it aside. He'd once sworn to himself that he would do whatever it took to end ShinRa's corrupt legacy…..to exact vengeance for what the late president's scientist Hojo did to him….and to Lucrecia. They needed information about this unknown ally. And that meant the ShinRa corporation. Vincent turned to Reeve and Cid who were waiting for his answer.

 

`What do you want me to do?'

 

~*~

Vincent sat on his bed in deep thought. He couldn't believe he was going to go through with this. He was returning to the same company who, under a different leader, had turned him into what he was and destroyed the former love of his life. He'd sworn he'd never ally himself with ShinRa again, and now he was returning to work for them. He didn't know whether to feel angry or scared. For as much as he tried to deny it, he felt uneasy about returning to work for the company whose scientists had tortured him.

 

The door opened and Tifa walked in. Vincent looked up at her and she looked at him.

 

`I heard you're going to ShinRa.'

 

Vincent nodded. `I've been assigned to find out who's been helping WRO in their research and their efforts to stop Deep Ground.'

 

She shut the door and looked at him. `But don't you think you're cutting it a little close? You know what they did to you. You remember how we found you.'

 

The memory of the team finding him encased in that coffin in the ShinRa mansion surfaced in his mind and he lowered his head, staring at his clawed hand.

 

`I remember it every day, Tifa. But I'll do what I must.' From the finality in his statement, she knew that he wasn't going to speak anymore on the subject. Tifa approached him and sat on the bed.

 

`I was going to tell you earlier. Hellfire called.'

 

Vincent whirled round to face her. `When?'

 

`About a few months ago,' replied the young woman. `She didn't know your number so she was calling to see if I had it on me, and I gave it to her. I didn't think you'd mind.'

 

Vincent hoped his pain didn't show. `Did she say anything else?'

 

`Only that she'd spent the last year or so tracking down and destroying Deep Ground camps,' said Tifa. `She wants to make sure that they never have the chance to attack innocents again.'

 

Vincent nodded. So Axel had been telling the truth about his encounter. Tifa read the expression on his face and smiled sadly, laying a hand on his shoulder.

 

`You miss her, don't you?'

 

Vincent looked away from his friend. `Every day.'

 

`It must be hard for you, for her to be away for so long.'

 

The soon-to-be-reborn Turk turned to her. `I….I saw her last night. At least, I thought I did. It was in a dream, but I know it was her, Tifa. I remember her voice.'

 

Tifa looked at him. `Did she say anything?'

 

`Only my name. I was woken up by Yuffie calling me.' He asked the question he'd been dreading. `I can't help but wonder if she's dead.'

 

Tifa draped her arm around his shoulder. `Maybe….maybe she's trying to visit you in your dreams. You know, like a mind meeting.'

 

Vincent looked at her. `Do you think so?'

 

Tifa smiled. `Vincent, I saw her turn into a winged goddess. If she has that kind of power in her, then it's the only possibility I can think of.'

 

Vincent smiled, laughing slightly. Tifa patted his shoulder.

 

`Now, get some sleep. Yuffie expects you to be alert when she does your hair tomorrow.'

 

`I can hardly wait.' Vincent's voice was lightly sarcastic and Tifa laughed. His expression was soft when he looked at her.

 

`Thank you for listening, Tifa.'

 

Tifa smiled. `That's what I'm here for.' With that parting shot, she left the room.