~Fang's POV~

The next three days are relatively quiet with me frequently visiting my bed ridden lovey and watching everyone in our house. Vincent pointed out that the gun shot was most likely his very own Cerberus, considering it fired three times in a row and he would just know. He didn't even have it on when we went out with Frill, which was strange for him. I guess he forgot it when he ran out to the beach and then didn't remember again until when he said so.

"Hey Vince," I say, closing the door behind me. "Feeling any better?" It's become like a morning routine to ask him and he always answers the same way.

"A little."

"Good. Is Chaos helping yet?"

"I'm not sure."

"Hmph. Tell him to get off his lazy butt and give you hand. Or claw, whatever."

"Perhaps I will."

I laugh and sit in my usual spot beside him. He turns his head to stare at me for a second before brushing his lips against my cheek.

"Fang, it's not safe for you here."

"This is my home, I'm not hiding away from some idiot because he wants to scare me out."

"It would be the wise choice to get away for awhile," he says firmly.

"I'm not going without you," I frown. "What if they're after you too?"

"I'll go as soon as Turner will let me."

"What is with you all of a sudden," I shake my head. "I come in here to keep you company, and now you're all like 'Let's run away into the sunset together'." He gives me an unamused look and puts his bookmark in the book I've seen hin read a dozen times.

"You're life is in danger. I have a good idea of who it is that would like you dead, and they're very... Nearby to where you are."

"Fine," I huff. "There's a cave three miles east of Oerba that we can stay in until you think I'll be safe." He nods and closes his eyes. "How do you know who it is?"

"I've been watching them at night."

"Hmm," I hum. "Guess I'll go tonight then?"

"I'll be there eventually," he nods.

~|~|~|~|~

"I still don't get why I have to leave," I grumble to myself in annoyance, stomping through the woods in the dark. What good is running and hiding? Is Vincent going after the person without me? How soon is he coming? "Makes no frikin sense."

It's a three mile walk to the cave, and I've only just managed to slip out, now that Frill's asleep. What kind of old lady goes to bed at ten? I wonder who it is that's after me. What could anyone possibly have against me? And isn't talking about it much more logical than threatening to kill me? Idiots these days...

I read the cave in twenty five minutes, tossing my bag of 'scarves' and weapon upgrading materials into the dark corner.

"Might as well start a fire," I grumble, grabbing a stack of branches from outside and struggling to ignite a portion of them. I suck at this... That takes another fifteen minutes before I can coax a flame into burning the wood. "Wonder how long Vamp's gonna be," I mutter, looking at the fire in front of me. With a sigh, I stand and grab my spear, heading out to kill some monsters. I hear a snap from behind me in the cave, but when I turn, there's nothing. That's when I feel to arms gently curl around my waist, a head nuzzling into my neck.

"Vince, I thought you were going to be longer," I laugh. Something doesn't feel right. Maybe it's just that he's acting so strangely, kissing up the side of my face playfully, or that he doesn't seem as tall as before. He doesn't smell like wood, leather, and blood, and he most definitely doesn't make my heart flutter and my cheeks burn. I catch a glint in the hands clasped in front of my waist. But it's too late. The blade buries deep into my stomach, giving me one of the most painful feelings in the world as blood splatters the hand pushing the knife in deeper inside me. I let out a groan as they pull out it out, but then cry out as they stab me again, right beside the cut made before. My eyes are wide, my mouth hanging open as I painfully inhale. After a menacing twist that makes me dry out again, they pull it out and shove me forward. Not Vincent. I clutch my hands over my deep wound and force my eyes open to see one of my best friends smirking at me long, blood dripping blade in hand.

"Alec... Why?"

"For Eva," he spots bitterly. With that he throws the knife so that it clatters into the stone beside me and then leaves. Now I'm going to die here alone... No. Call for him. At least let him know what happened to you in case he never finds the cave. I take in a deep, painful breath and squeeze my eyes shut before screaming as loud as I possibly can. Vincent... It only lasts a few seconds before my conscious fades completely. Please...

~Vincent's POV~

Laying here all day is getting on my nerves. I'm getting restless, sometimes pacing the room until my chest burns so much I have to lay back down again. I've read this same book a dozen times and a dozen times I've hated it. The hero, the lover, the stupid happy ending, everything. Too unrealistic. So tonight I open the window and stand by the sill, letting the cool night air blow into my face. So much better.

You were just let out a few days ago. You nearly killed Fang in the process.

hungry,

I already have.

I hope Fang is already settled in her cave, hiding away from the man after her. I've never liked him, always had my suspicions. And it's no question of the love challenge who was once with us but now is in his grave. I swear it wasn't me who shot him though. Despite how much in hated Lokir and how he looked at my Fang, I wouldn't kill him without a true reason to.

"Wonderful night, isn't it?" A voice interrupts my thoughts.

"I guess," I shrug, a bit disturbed by the how alike my nemesis and this man look.

"I love these fall evenings out here. They're always the best." I don't reply, only staring out to where Fang supposedly went. "You're such a quiet man."

"Perhaps I do not wish to speak."

"I see, well.." A piercing scream ripples through the air, a mere echo of it's original sound. I tense, eyes widening.

"Fang," I whisper. Turner frowns at me, but I've already jumped through the window. Then I'm sprinting, wildly running in the direction the sound came from. I'm too late, too slow.

"

If you promise not to shred her.

The demon takes over, spreading his wings and launching into the air, the fire from the cave clearly visible from here. Then he speeds off, flying so fast I can't even hear the wind around him. Then he's dicing toward the ground. The second his feet touch the ground, I'm me again and I'm sprinting toward the curled up figure lying in a large pool of blood. No. I slide the last few feet on my knees stopping just in front of her to lift her onto my lap.

"Fang?" No reply. A wild panic tries to drive its way into me, but I push it down and press my ear to her chest. "Fang!" A very faint beat is all I can hear, the slow pumping of her heart. No! "Fang!" It's not working. I spot her bag in the corner and rip it open, a spare piece of her silky blue 'scarf' falling out. I press it over her wound and panic when I put my ear back to her chest. Nothing. I quickly get to work at restarting her heart, one that I selfishly need in my life. After pushing against her chest multiple times in a steady rhythm before listening again. Nothing.

"Come on..." I grit before pinching her nose shut and breathing into her lungs. Time seems to drag by before she finally takes in a shaky breath on her own, my own heart done pounding once she does so. But it's not over yet. Good thing I have my Time materia... "Stop," I mutter, the materia instantly freezing everything except for her breathing and heartbeat. No bleeding, no moving. But I have to move fast, it only lasts so long.

I groan and push my hair out of my face. I completely forgot; this world is so massive that he could disappear forever if he wanted to. Giving Fang one last look, hoping it won't be my last time seeing her alive, I allow Chaos to take over once again, flying away at a speed I never knew he had. Vengeance is one of his many favorite things. And there he is, running through the woods. Chaos snarls and dives down toward him. Alec's eyes widen and he runs faster, stumbling over branches and leaves, his injured leg slowing him down.

"No, wait!" Alec cries as Chaos lands right in front of him. "It wasn't my idea! Frill made me do it! She wanted the old way of life back and when she found me spying on her..."

"Lies," Chaos hisses.

"Listen! She found me spying on her when she was poisoning the food, and so she made me help her so that she always knew where I was or what I was doing! I swear!"

"You're scared," the demon laughs darkly. "Of an old woman? I find that hard to believe."

"Have you seen what she can do?!" He yells. "I'd be dead in an instant!"

"So you fear more for your life than for your friend. How pleasant. But I don't have time for this."

"Neither do I," he narrows his eyes at me. Then he takes a taunting step forward. "So who's gonna leave alive? You, or me?"

"You're not even armed," Chaos smirks. I can't stop him from launching toward the man, nor can I stop him from demonically screeching loudly when a bullet flies straight through his bloodthirsty stomach. And another into his chest, making him fall.

"Really?" Alec sneers, holstering the hand gun he took the demon down with. "Oh, and don't think you're getting out of this alive. That poison you ate for Fang destroyed your regenerating abilities." Chaos is gone just like that, only me left, blood soaking through my shirt and my glove. And off he goes. With a small amount of strength I manage to lift the gun and fire it, hitting him straight through the back of his head. I don't care what his reasons were. He's dying for what he did to Fang. I bite past the pain and blood loss and force myself to run, hurrying back in the direction of Fang. My Fang. I won't let her die... I can't...

There's another person in the cave when I get there. Tall, thin, dark hair. Sonyeh. She was always with Alec... Surely she knew. Surely she's working for him... But I don't have the energy to stop her, and it appears that she's healing Fang anyway. My legs soon fail me as I get to the shelter in the darkness, the fire dying, and I fall. Down, down, down until I hit the ground. Fang...

~Fang's POV~

My head hurts so badly when I wake up, I have to squint against the light. Where the heck am I?

"She's awake!" Someone squeals.

"Hey, get off her, Vanille," I hear someone say in a playful voice. Snow?

"We're here!" Tifa.

"Gods, Vincent took such a beating for her."

"I say he deserved it." Cloud and Lightning.

"I'm hungry!" Since when does Hope eat anything?

"Shut up," I manage to grumble.

"It talked!"

"Vanille!" Snow scolds in a hushed tone.

"Whoops!"

"Excuse me, could you all be quiet?" A soft voice says. Merida. So I'm in the office...

"Cmon Hope, we're getting breakfast," Lightning says flatly. I'm positive Cloud's following her like a lost puppy.

"Close the blinds," I murmur.

"Gotcha," Snow replies happily, the room darkening finally. I force my heavy eyelids open and see Vanille, Snow, and Tifa standing in front of me with excited looks on their faces. Where's Vincent?

"You're finally awake!" Vanille grins.

"How long was I..."

"A whole week!"

"Hmph. And how exactly am I alive?"

"That's weird, because a scary looking kid was healing you when we found you two," Snow frowns. "I think her name was Sony or something like that."

"Sonyeh," I correct.

"Oh right," he nods.

"So where's Vince?" I stretch, cringing when it makes the cuts in my stomach hurt.

"He died," Vanille blurts. My heart drops.

"What?"

"You should've seen your face!" Snow bursts out laughing and Tifa rolls her eyes.

"He sleeping over there," she nods to her right. I look over to see him curled up on a tiny couch against the wall, definitely meant more for sitting than sleeping on, especially for someone his height.

"How is he still sleeping?" I raise an eyebrow.

"He's tired," Tifa shakes her head. "He was awake for days straight just waiting on for you to wake up. Then we came in last night to see him passed out beside your bed, so we put him on the couch."

"He was shot!" Vanille adds. I sigh and look up at the ceiling.

"So now I'm waiting for him to wake up."

"Pretty much," Snow nods. "Hey, did Lightning mention food? I'm starving. Cmon guys." He drags Tifa and Vanille out of the room, closing the door behind him. Alone again.

~|~|~|~|~

It seems like it takes forever for Vincent wake up, but he's finally opening his eyes.

"Thought I'd have to wait until the next fal'cei went crazy," I tease. He jumps and turns around, tired eyes lighting up when he notices that I've finally awoken.

"Do you have any idea," he yawns. "How long I thought I had to wait?" I laugh lightly to avoid hurting my wounds again and shake my head.

"Probably a long time."

"If eternity counts."

"You're so dramatic."

"You were dead!"

"Yeah, and?"

He rolls his eyes and stumbles over toward me, tripping over his own feet and catching himself on the edge of my mattress.

"Well aren't you graceful." He gives me an unamused look before kissing me gently. I eventually pull away, kinda wishing I didn't ever have to, and smirk at him. "You have been brushing your teeth, right?"

"Of course," he grimaces. "Unfortunately, I'm not that guy."

"Don't love me enough yet?" I tease. He smiles slightly.

"Not quite. But I still have no intention of letting you go."

"Aw, how sweet. Over protective and controlling. Sounds like my kind of man." Again, with the flat look that makes me laugh. "Don't be so pouty. You always look like you're pouting anyway."

"The ladies love it," he replies boredly, sitting on the uncomfortable looking couch.

"Hey, you're mine," I stick my tongue out at him.

"Over protective and controlling," he grins.

"You have nice teeth," I mutter, staring at the ceiling. Vincent merely blinks at my random sentence choice.

"Okay."

"And I like your pout," I give him a taunting smile. "And your hair. And your eyes too. They're pretty cool."

"That's nice to know."

"You're no fun."

"My apologies."

"I love you, you know that?" I laugh.

"Yes." He gives me a sly smile. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. "But I do hope you realize that I love you more."

"Eh, I accept that."

"Good."