~Fang's POV~

After I destroy Vincent's perfectly messy hair and the struggles to get it back, I doze off with my blanket wrapped tightly around my shivering body. Frill tries to force another bowl of that soup down my throat, but I refuse both she and Vincent before they finally let me just sleep. Not too long after that I lose the soup I ate earlier and hide under my pillows and blankets.

"Fang?" I hear Frill's old voice from under fortress of warmth that makes me cold, but I ignore her. Go away. "Poor dear," she sighs, patting my back and walking away. She comes back moments later and pulls away the blanket. "Let me take your temperature."

I groan and let her shove the thing under my tongue, grimacing when she pushes too hard like all older people do. With a cluck of her tongue, she shakes her head.

"One hundred and four. You've got quite the bug, Fang."

"Whatever," I sigh, cracking my eyes open. "Where's Vince?" She smiles.

"Funny. You didn't ask about anyone else." At my flat expression she sighs. "I told him to get some rest, he was trying to help me with things all night."

"Sounds like him," I shake my head. "So he's asleep."

"No," she smirks. "He's awake, I'm pretty sure." I roll my eyes and hide under my fortress again. "Do you need anything?"

"No, and don't try to force that gross soup on me again."

"Oh Fang." I imagine her shaking her head and walking away. I groan and fall asleep again.

When I wake up I feel way better, better enough to stand up and stretch. Everyone except for Vincent is sitting on the floor and eating dinner, which makes me realize how hungry I actually am.

"Well look who's feeling better," Alec grins at me. I roll my eyes at him and sit beside him, which just so happens to be practically on top of Vinnie's pointy shoes. I look down at them with a skeptical frown.

"Are those things used for kicking people or something?"

"... I've never tried."

"Hmm. You sure? You've never kicked something to death?"

"... No."

"Have you?" Alec tilts his head. I shrug.

"Yeah. I was in some street gang when I was a teenager. We jumped people all the time."

"Well then," he blinks.

"I didn't say I was spread of it," I shrug again. "Killed some kid named Eva. My friends got put in prison, but they never turned me in."

"So are you saying we should arrest you?"

"I'd like to see you try."

He grins and pushes me over, me yelping and trying to push him off. He chuckles and wrestles me onto my back, using his superior weight in place of the muscle he lacks in compared to me. Finally he manages to be sitting on me, hands pinning my wrists to the ground.

"Get off me!" I growl.

"I think I win."

"Alec!"

"Hmm... What to do when Fang is so vulnerable."

"I ain't vulnerable! Get off me!"

"You sure?" I struggle to kick him off, but his butt doesn't even move. Jerk! "What if I were to..." He bends down closer and slowly drags his tongue up my cheek.

"Alec! You're disgusting!" I shriek, wiggling around to get away. Something has to work. He pulls away with an evil smirk and taps the tip of my nose.

"I know." I take my now free hand and slap him across the face, shoving him off in his moment of shock. He chuckles to himself softly, boredly noticing the reddened mark on his cheek as I scrub my face with my 'scarf' in disgust.

"Vincent, can you stab him with your shoes or something? He's annoying."

"Aw, that's not nice," Alec pouts teasingly. I grab a handful of rice off his plate and throw it at him.

"Aw, you're getting married!" Ayana coos.

"Ew, no! He'd be dead before the wedding," I crinkle my nose.

"True story," Alec nods. Vincent rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. A knock on the open doorway makes me jump and I look up to see Lokir standing there with an eyebrow raised.

"May I borrow you?" He looks at me. I nod and stand, purposely 'tripping' over Alec's knee as we pass. He yelps and frowns at me as I turn back and wink at him before following Lokir out. Lokir sighs and shakes his head.

"I can't stand that Valentine guy."

"Why?"

"He just acts too possessive, like you're an object or something."

"Says you." I scoff.

"I know, I know. I just can't help but dislike him."

"Don't worry, he hates you back."

"I know," he chuckles. "Would probably spit on my guts if he could."

"Nah, he's too polite to do that. I think he would probably just claw you."

"Which is totally better," he replies sarcastically, kicking at the sandstone pavement at the center of town.

"Why did you need me to come with you?" He opens his mouth to reply when a loud crack rings through my ears and I watch in horror as Lokir falls backward, grunting in pain when his back hits the pavement. His hand clutches the front of his blood soaked shirt, and a pool of red puddles on his chest.

"LOKIR!" I scream, quickly falling to my knees to assess his bullet wound.

"Fang," he wheezes out. I shake my head firmly. "She's... After you..."

"Shh," I hush him, fumbling with the small buttons on his shirt. People rush into their homes, and I can see Sonyeh sprinting over with Alec hurrying on crutches not far behind.

"Fang, please..."

"No," I shake my head firmly. "You're gonna be alright." He coughs weakly and presses his face into my hand when I brush his hair from his face.

"It... Got me good," he winces when I live my hand away to move the once gray fabric away from the injury.

"You'll be okay," I bite my lip. No he won't.

"Don't lie to me," he looks up at me with already dying eyes. "That was too... Close to my heart..."

"Lokir!" Alec pants, face split when he sees the blood everywhere.

"Don't let... Her get hurt... Protect... She and... The man..." Lokir says to Alec, breathing heavily.

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows. Alec ignores me and sinks to the ground, clasping both of his hands around one of Lokir's.

"I promise I will."

"Good," Lokir forces a smile. "Fang... Forgive him."

"Who?" I frown. His eyes slowly close as he exhales for the last time. "Lokir?!?!" I shake his shoulders, trying anything to wake him up, grabbing his wrist and checking his pulse. Gone. "No no no no no no," I chant, falling back onto my butt and gripping my hair. "Please no."

"Vince! Do you have that Revive?!" Alec yells. The sound of metallic shoes clacking against the pavement forces my hurt down and surfaces my rage. Only one person around here uses a gun that would shoot him.

"You!" I yell, storming toward Vincent. His eyes widen, but I'm on him before I know it, punching, kicking, yelling, accusing. He makes weak attempts to control me, but they don't do a thing. "You killed him!"

"Fang!" Alec cries, grabbing me from behind and pulling me off of the filthy demon. Vincent quickly gets to his feet and wipes at the blood dripping from his nose, a long scratch along his cheek and most likely a bloody injury from me slamming his head back into the stone.

"Let me go!" I scream. "I'm gonna kill him!"

"Fang!" Alec shakes me in an attempt to snap me out of it.

"I'm gonna stab until he can't fix it will his stupid materia! I'll shoot him! I'll...!" I'm cut short by a sharp poke in my arm and the world going black.

When I awaken, my head is pounding and my throat is raw. I'm all alone in the house, or so I think, until I see Frill silently knitting in the corner.

"How long was I out?" I croak.

"A day and a half," she says stiffly without even looking up. "The tranquilizer they used was a little more powerful than they thought." It all comes flooding back to me. The sound of a gun, Lokir's death, my attack on Vincent...

"Where's.."

"Vincent? He tried to leave. Probably wanted to go hide off somewhere, but Alec insisted that he stay because you didn't mean anything, you were just angry."

"I guess," I sigh. He only ever aims for the head if he can help it. Something I remember him saying about a quick death even for those who don't deserve it. "Where is he?"

"I'll go get him to take care of you. You're going to be a little... Disoriented for awhile."

"Why?"

"The drugs. I told you they gave you too much."

"Oh."

She nods and leaves the house, leaving her half knitted whatever on the chair she was in. I shut my eyes and try not to look at the scene of Lokir lying on the ground in his blood that lays behind my lids. I can hear slow, hesitant steps heading toward me before the chair creaks slightly, signifying that it's holding a lot of weight. Trust me, for as skinny as he is, Vince is heavy. It's gotta be the demons. Or maybe he's big boned... Why do I care? I open one eyes to see him look away from me and down at his lap.

"Sorry," I mutter. His observant eyes dart up to mine, never blinking as they practically stare into my soul.

"For what?" His tone is flat, holding no emotion.

"Trying to gouge your eyeballs out."

"I see."

"That's it? No 'Fang I absolutely hate you for blaming some person's murder on me'?"

"... It would not be true." I sigh and drop my head back onto my pillow. I just want him to show something. I don't care what. Anger, hurt, I wouldn't even care if he hated me,I just hate this wall he puts up around everyone. It never used to be there around me; now it is.

"How's your head?"

"Why are you concerned about me?"

"Because I care, Vince, whether you believe it or not," I snap, sitting up. "I don't frikin care if you hate me or anyone else, just quit hating yourself! Just because Lucrecia didn't love you doesn't mean no one else can!" He sighs and his red eyes looked sad. Lonely. Depressed. What am I doing wrong?

"Perhaps... Some of us don't need love."

"Oh shut up," I scoff, crossing my arms.

"I was not talking about you." I glare at him before speaking up again.

"So if you weren't the one who shot him, who did?"

"How am I to know?" Before I can reply, two people walk in through the door, Alec narrowing his eyes and Sonyeh hurrying over to Vincent. She holds out a hand, the other on her hip. Vince raises an eyebrow.

"Can we see your gun for a second?" Alec demands more than asks. Vince blinks before pulling it out of his holster, handing it to Alec distrustfully. Alec fiddles with it before revealing a bullet from the weapon. "I told you she was right, Sonyeh. It matches the one in Lokir."

Something inside me awakens that isn't... Me. Before I know it, I've got my thumbs pressing deeply into Vincent's throat. I can hear someone yelling and another person pulling at my arm but that thing inside me, well, now it's outside, it pushes down everything that's Fang and goes ballistic, squeezing harder, wishing for the pained life inside in thise crimson eyes to disappear. Stop! But it doesn't listen. I'm not exactly sure what it is. Maybe it's the vengeful side of me that wants to kill everything. Maybe I'm just insane. Or it could be the fact that I hate Vincent. No, that's a lie. I hate things about him. I can't stand the way he hates things or can kill mercilessly without a thought. I hate how he loves me still even after everything I've put him through. I hate his dang wall and his blank face and the way he refuses to let me touch his gauntlet so that he doesn't accidentally cut me. So why can't I hate him?

They're fading, the lights behind the red. They're also pleading, for death or for life I have no idea. Knock it off! Again, it won't listen, it just seems so unreal. Is this a dream? This has got to be the second time I try to squeeze the life out of him. That's right, that animal... It's Ragnarock, isn't it? The remaining cells of a vengeful beast.

"Stop it!" This time my voice pushes through clenched teeth as I finally gain control. My hands instantly leave his throat, making me stumble backwards on top of whoever was pulling on me. Vincent coughs and gasps for air, drops of red from his mouth disappearing into the fabric of his glove as he watches me grip my hair, trying so hard to force it down. Leave me alone!

"Fang, what is wrong with you!?" Alec yells, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

"I don't..." I start, my voice stopping as a wave of pain shoots through my head. I try to block it out, pushing my hands against my temples to relieve the pressure, but it doesn't work.

"Fang! What is your..."

"Let to of her," Vincent forces. Alec freezes to turn and frown at him.

"She just tried to strangle you, man!"

"Let go."

He huffs and releases me, not that I really notice, I'm focused on trying to make it go away. What is wrong with me..? I feel the couch sink next to me and a two hands gently pry mine away from my head. I turn to see those eyes... The ones that fill me with warmth and guilt at the same time. Even after practically killing him, he still cares enough to make sure I'm alright. He must be crazy. That or he has a death wish.

"Fang." I tear my eyes away from the two deep, dark bruises at the base of his throat, something that Chaos should heal soon. Why me? "Fang." His voice makes me blink my torturous thoughts away and look him in those eyes, the ones that had nearly lost their life minutes ago. I'm losing it. I'm not really sure of anything at the moment. I think I'm apologizing repeatedly with my arms tightly wrapped around him, praying that if those crimson eyes ever stop glowing, I'm not the one to cause it. I think he's trying to comfort me, holding me like I knew he would because I always knew he loved me. There is one thing I do know.

I've been lying to everyone for a long time. Nothing's changed. I still love you, Vampy.