~Cloud's POV~

A pillow hits me across the back of the head hard. Still, I pretend not to feel the thirty seventh item thrown at my skull in the past fifteen minutes. Yes, I've been counting, and whoever keeps calling me must be pretty desperate. Maybe you should answer then, hm? I sit up just in time to get a boot chucked straight at my nose. Hope bursts out laughing and Lightning looks like she's trying to hide her inner horror at her mistake. Glaring at her sharply as I hold my hand to my nose to keep the blood from dripping everywhere, I flip my phone open and hold it to my ear.

"Hello?" My answer is more of an agitated snap than a greeting. What else did they expect at two thirty in the morning?

"Yo! This is Reno speakin'!"

"... Reno, how did you get my number? No, why are you calling at freaking two in the morning?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, yo. But, uh, one of your buddies went missing earlier and I just now got the chance to call everyone."

"What happened?" I yawn.

"I dunno, but that Fang chick is missin', yo. The hot girl?" I roll my eyes at his description. Typical Reno.

"So I'm guessing Vince called?"

"Yeah man. Sounded pretty freaked out, even though you could tell he was tryin' to hide it."

"I'll make sure to let them know then," I sigh. Great. Fang's missing. What could've happened to her, I wonder?

"Goodbye yo," he says boredly into his phone before hanging up.

"So why did some idiot decide to call you his early?" Lightning asks as I set my phone aside.

"That idiot was Reno, and he called to tell us that Fang's missing."

"What?!" She and Hope exclaim at the same time. The surprise and worry in the boy's eyes are the complete opposite of the anger and bitterness behind Light's. It's she who speaks first.

"What do you mean, missing?! I'm going to freaking murder Valentine if she's hurt."

"He'll probably murder himself," I murmur.

"When was she last seen?" Hope asks, playing detective.

"I dunno," I shrug. "But the Turks are on it, and not much gets by them."

"Seems like everything would get past the red headed moron," Light mutters. I shake my head.

"As much as I hate to admit this, that guy is probably smarter than all of us put together, not to mention one of the best Turks Shinra has had in awhile, if only he would be just a bit neater and drink a bit less."

"I'll believe it when he proves it," she waves me off. Then her eyes flicker down to the trail of blood dripping down my arm. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you in the face."

"I'm fine," I nod, wincing as I put my hand away from my face momentarily, only to get the steady red stream all over my leg. "Crap."

"No, that's blood," she smirks. I give her a flat look before hurrying to the bathroom and holding some toilet paper to my face. Then I get to work washing the blood off my arm, hand, chin and around my aching nose. That's a lot of blood. Her shoe must be pretty dang hard.

"Want me to cure it?" A voice makes me jump. I look up to see Lightning standing tiredly in the doorway. Normally, is luck refuse, as to show pain is to show weakness. But my face is throbbing and blood is already dripping through the tissue, so I shrug. She rolls her blue eyes and casts a simple cure spell two or three times before the pain finally subsides, and the blood stops running.

"Thanks," I give her a grateful look, washing the rest of my face off.

"No problem," she says stiffly before heading to bed. I roll my eyes. Multifaced. Flirting one minute, cold the next. One moment laughing, the next wanting to put her Blazefire Saber to my throat. With the last thought in mind, I don't know if sleep will come easy tonight.

~Vinnie Boy's POV~

The cold air would normally bite at one's skin, but due to Hojo, I can hardly feel it. I wasn't lying to Fang when I told her I had a dream to think about, but it wasn't the full truth. I don't want to think about any dreams I've ever had, and I really just need to clear my head. A walk will do that just fine. I'm not used to having so much crammed inside my brain. Fang certainly is a handful, but I can't say I don't enjoy it.

Walk through the outer limits of the city, looking up at the mountains as I go. Would Choco Sage still be alive? Shaking another thought away, I trudge back to the town. My stomach growls, but I ignore it as usual. Eating isn't exactly my favorite thing in the world, if you haven't noticed by my appearance. Several children take one look at me and run, whispering things about vampires and daylight. With a sigh, I turn toward the inn. I wonder where Fang went...

Why must you annoy me?

Chaos sneers. I roll my eyes and try to block him out. It seems to work until I'm in our inn room, staring at Fang's bed in a daze. It was almost as if her presence warded off the bad dreams.

Chaos bursts out suddenly.

What is it?

Blinking, I stand and hurry outside. What could possibly be wrong? I remember the building on the edge of town from the time Cloud went exploring this place. Inside were video files on Aeris and her parents, the Cetra, and Weapon. Not far from the house, a large pool of blood sits on the ground, the snow around it disturbed and kicked up as if there was a fight. I follow the prints back to the metal building and try the door. Stuck.

Chaos retorts.

Scowling, I settle for ramming my body into the door until it opens. It takes nearly five tries, but the metal creaks open soon enough. Great, now my arm hurts. Inside, the smell of blood reaches my sensitive nose and I blink at the sight of a man laying on the floor, gun shot wounds in his stomach and chest.

If he was alive, I mentally retort. Taking out my Revive materia, I lay it against his chest wound, a method taught to me by Veld all those years ago. I hope this works. And it does. The man gasps awake, sitting up right away. He cringes when his sudden movements make his wounds open more. Then his gray eyes lock on me and he freezes. It might be because he's surprised, but it could also be that fact that I have a gun trained on his forehead.

"Where is Fang," I demand. His eyes drop and he shakes his head.

"Hojo has her..." My eyes narrow and I ignore the pang of worry that floods through me.

"Where?"

"I don't know." He looks utterly terrified once I have him pinned to the wall by his neck with my clawed gauntlet.

"I will not ask again."

"N-Nibelheim," he stutters. I drop him and head toward the door. "Wait!" I turn quickly in agitation to see him giving me a pleading look. "Tell her Raines is sorry." Cid Raines..

"You're the one who betrayed her the first time," my eyes narrow on him.

"I know," he looks down. His gaze goes to my gun, to me, then back to the gun. He's begging.

Respecting his wishes and understanding that feeling of wishing the guilt and pain could just go awake, I put the poor man out of his misery. Shiva bless you, Raines. ~|~|~|~|~

"Nibelheim?" Reeve frowns. "He must've gone back to his old lab."

"How soon are we getting someone out there?" Cloud frowns.

"As soon as we can," the goateed man answers confidently, much to my relief. "I'm sending you, Vincent, Reno and Rude out."

"Yeah!" Reno fist pumps. "Let's go rescue us that hottie, yo!" That earns him a death glare from me.

"Rude will be stationed at the entrance," Reeve continues. "In case Hojo tries to escape. Reno hacked into the system Hojo set up at the Mansion and found out all the security codes. Vincent, I'm sure your main focus is to save Fang, so.."

"Obviously," Reno scoffs. "He's obsessed with the woman."

"I am also obsessed with putting bullets through skulls," I shoot back. He keeps his mouth shut after that. The four of us climb into a Turk helicopter and Reno takes off. Rude makes a good back seat companion, seeing as neither of us talk very much. Cloud silently watches the land pass by underneath us as Reno tries to make conversation.

"How long until we get there?" The blonde finally asks.

"It's a two hour flight, yo," Reno rolls his eyes. "We're talking about crossing the ocean and another continent here."

I sigh and close my eyes. Immediately images of Fang strapped to a cold metal table fill my mind. Hojo will have knocked her out, hanging over her with a scalpel. She probably be covered in... Stop! Hellmasker cackles in the back of my mind until Chaos silences him. Thank you.

~|~|~|~|~

As soon as we pass the creaky old iron gate of Shinra Mansion, I know something is wrong. Reno claps his partner on the back and mutters something about keeping his guard up before giving me and Cloud a cheeky grin.

"Shall we get going?"

We ignore him and push past the door. This isn't right.

What is it?

Chaos?

Just as he says that, an earsplitting scream echoes through the mansion.

"Fang!"