Archive of Our Own ^beta

AVALANCHE was a household name; children learned about it in school, college students wrote dissertations about it and late night history channels called it a conspiracy.

Dr. Wallace's How An AVALANCHE Saved The Planet wasn't required reading in any school but as students got older, it was recommended if they wanted to study history.

In interview transcripts earmarked with ink in museum displays, Dr. Wallace asserted that AVALANCHE hadn't intended to be heroes. They'd lived through extraordinary circumstances and the battles had been taken on by exceptionally ordinary people.

People who'd held grudges, got into petty fights over the last waffle at breakfast and trooped into the bar only to get yelled at for dripping motorcycle grease onto freshly mopped floors. People she'd known all her life.

Dr. Wallace didn't understand why history painted them as something they weren't; flawless heroes.

The back page of her book, if shined under UV light, held exactly four PHS numbers.

Numbers that belonged to the remaining members of AVALANCHE.

After Sephiroth, AVALANCHE migrated into something that could tentatvely be called a routine. This was an attempt to get back into a life without ShinRa looming giant in the background.

Nanaki, Yuffie, and Cid all returned home, citing their need to be there for their people.

Cloud and Tifa settled in the edges of Midgar's ruins, making it work, watching over Barret's little one. Barret was scouting out alternative sources of energy in the wake of ShinRa's mostly collapsed infrastructure.

Cait Sith returned to his maker, one Reeve Tuesti, and what was left of ShinRa scraped itself together.

Scraped being the operative word here since ShinRa was a cloaked figure surrounded by only four senior Turks.

Vincent was left to his own devices in a world he'd slept through. He wandered, bouncing between the far-flung members of AVALANCHE, checking in and bringing news to each of them.

He visited Cid last.

While none of AVALANCHE judged him for his demons, Vincent knew he made some of them uncomfortable with his lack of control.

Cid had taken the room with him at Icicle, because Gil had been tight with AVALANCHE at the time. That he'd trusted Vincent not to turn on him was nothing short of astonishing. They'd known each other less than three weeks in total when the arrangement had been suggested.

He learned that things rarely ruffled Cid's feathers when it came to people.

Optimistic nihilism, he'd called it once; stuck as they'd been on watch duty, having drawn the shortest twigs of the group.

When Vincent asked why he wasn't bothered, Cid had replied, "It's not like you asked for them. Whoever put them in you did so without your consent. Ah can't judge a man by his past, only his present."

He glided over the permafrosted ground, making his way to Cid's house. Vincent's appearance, crimson and gold amongst the browns, blues and greys that made up Rocket Town, caught the attention of nearly every resident.

Not in a rush and in an attempt to look as non-threatening as possible, he meandered and lingered at the general store. He bought Cid a box of tea out of habit.

Vincent rapped smartly at the steel-riveted door, surprised to find Shera on the other side.

"... Excuse me, I'm looking for-"

"Cid? Come in, come in, it's cold enough out there. I'll go get him. Please, have a seat." She ushered him in, Vincent gingerly sitting down on one of the few paper-free surfaces.

He unconsciously cracked a small smile behind the collar of his cloak as he heard Cid before he saw him.

"Who th' hell is visiting me in the dead of winter? They gotta have balls the size of Huge Materia to be travellin' in weather like th—Vince!" Cid's grumpy expression did a 180 as he lit up, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he grinned around his cigarette butt. "Thought I wouldn't see ya until th' world ended again."

"I've... been visiting the others."

"Anyone told you yet that we have PHS?"

"PHS?" Vincent echoed, his confusion running full circle with the demons too.

"This thing," Cid fished a flat rectangle out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Th' acronym stands for Personal Handheld System. They used ta be a ShinRa exclusive until someone committed company sabotage and leaked the plans out to other places."

"Is it anything like a phone?" He inquired carefully.

"Huh. Ah suppose you could call it that; it's just smaller and meant to fit in your pocket rather than on a landline."

"... I see." Vincent wanted to ask more but felt that he might be intruding.

"You got time, Vince?"

"Yes." He answered.

Time he would have in spades, he knew, and the enhancement to blame.

"Good. Ah'm gonna get you up t' speed on the tech you missed out on by takin' a thirty-year dirt nap." Cid pointed out.

"Why?"

"If Ah don't, who th' in the Hels will? Probably never crossed their minds that you need a bit of a guide. World's a lot different than it was; Ah didn't even think about it until just now." Cid huffed as he carded his hands through already grease-streaked blond. His goggles dangled about his neck, the half-crushed pack strapped in with battered elastic.

"We were a bit preoccupied." Vincent murmured wryly. "What did it matter when I was willing to join the cause to kill a man?"

"True. You want some tea? This'll take a while."

Vincent procured the tea he'd bought, presenting the box in his right hand.

Cid rose an eyebrow at him and he switched it to the gauntlet. They'd had a long talk about reclaiming his arm while sharing watch duties, particularly because he was ambidextrous and it spited whomever had altered him.

"You brought me local?" Cid prodded.

"There should be some silver needle from Yuffie in my inventory."

"How's she holdin' up in Wutai?" His companion asked as he shook his head at the offer from Vincent.

"Rebuilding and establishing her presence as the next ruler of Wutai." He murmured as Cid scooped up a pile of papers and tucked them away, clearing space until the table was clutter-free.

"Barret?"

"... Searching for alternatives to Mako energy, last I saw. Something about returning to oil." He replied as he retrieved tea mugs from where Cid pointed. "Cloud and Tifa are cohabiting at the bar. They're... watching Barret's little one."

"Which leaves Nanaki 'n th' robot."

"Nanaki patrols the borders of the Canyon. I... spent a few months with him. Cait Sith returned to his maker."

"Which leaves us, I guess. You got a job?"

"... I'd have a thirty year gap in my résumé and I don't feel like explaining why." He countered.

Cid barked a laugh at that, his cig clinging to his lip through sheer stubbornness. "Yeah, that'd do it. So, let's get you all caught up."

Turks were nothing short of a one-person army.

Vincent knew this; knew it down to his bones even after he'd died and came back with four demons.

The fact that they were so close to dying spoke of how strong this new enemy could be, if given a chance.

He doesn't remember much after shooting at all three of them, nor how he collected two of the remaining Turks.

Vincent tended to their wounds, carefully healing them in slow intervals. Any faster and their already weakened states would've collapsed from the strain.

The dark-haired one awoke first.

"Who...?"

"Valentine, AVALANCHE. I despise senseless slaughter and thought you could use a hand." He informed him succinctly. "Callsign?"

"Tseng. How do you... know about... Turk callsigns?"

"Hnn. Let me reintroduce myself then, Tseng: Sharpshooter." The man wheezed at that and Vincent placed a gentle but rather firm hand on the man's chest, Libra scan activated. "Do not undo my hard work. Yes, once upon a time, I was a Turk. One of the best. My Turk honor would allow me to do nothing less than heal you both."

The blonde stirred as well but her hand closed down on her cot's stabilizer first.

A fighter down to her last breath, that one.

"Elena, easy. It's AVALANCHE. We're in the hands of a..."

"Forcibly retired Turk." Vincent filled in dryly.

"...oh."

"Hojo," he offered in answer to the unasked question brewing in both gazes. "My own Quicksilver, point blank."

The grimace they shared said they understood perfectly.

"Stay here. I have to gather more Materia chips." He stood, his left hand flexing out of habit. "Rest. I will know if you have not."

A look at the hovering Libra diagnostics that floated above their bodies said it all.

A wry chuckle worked its way out of him.

Father would be proud; the Valentine Parental Glare was alive and well in Vincent.

He knew he'd have to get this information to Cloud. Vincent reminisced about the conversation he'd had with Cid nearly a year prior.

Wrapping the Materia chips in gauze and then wrapping it against the worst of the wounds gave him time to mull it over some more.

"Do either of you... still have a working PHS?" Vincent inquired solemnly.

".... Smashed by..."

"I see. I cannot leave you in the state you are in nor can I fail to get this information to Cloud. You will be incredibly uncomfortable and I do apologize."

"What are you going to do?"

"Call upon my demons."

He set them down onto beds in Corel, checked thier wounds and gave them a Turk nod. "I cannot physically hold you down if you wish to return to ShinRa. I would suggest resting for another day."

"What about you, Sharpshooter?" Elena prodded as she slowly settled into her pillow nest.

"I am... needed elsewhere." He cocked his head to the side as he listened to the grumbling of one of the louder presences in his head. "Try not to die."

"No promises, of course," Tseng added dryly.

The only thing he could think of—as he collected Cloud and Wallace's little one—was that Cid had been right; he needed a PHS but by the gods he was not calling it that.

A phone was a phone, damn it.

He rounded up a Chocobo, the sleek black creature taking to his hand with some amount of ease. It took him a moment to reach Cid but Shera collected the reins and motioned him to the already running airship.

"About damn time you showed up, Vince!"

"... Cloud was facing those larvae alone."

"So you helped, did ya?"

"I... attempted to. Any aid I offer is payment for my sins."

"What'd Ah say about that kinda talk?" Cid chided sharply as he steered the Shera out of Rocket Town.

"Cloud's going to see if his are forgiven." He continued, slowly leaning on the hand railing next to the airship's steering wheel.

"Whatcha gonna do about yours if they are?" Cid asked pragmatically.

"... I suppose that mine might be forgiven also."

"Vince..." Cid paused and at that, Vincent turned to face his companion. "Ah don't know th' full story but Ah got th' feeling that yours ain't so bad as you make 'em out to be."

"Bad enough, Captain, that they linger years after they were committed." He managed, the brass handrail saved as he clenched his gauntlet in the air. "Things that are so intertwined with my past that they wreak havoc upon my present."

"Shit. You mean Professor Creepy, dontcha?" Cid questioned.

Vincent thought of a night seven years ago, when the commotion grew strong enough to awaken him from his self-inflicted punishment. He thought of the screams of the dying, of anger and protest from the Reactor. Of a girl sobbing over her dying Father and being dragged away by an equally sorrowful Sensei.

Of a familiar voice, rage-laced and grieving—

He shook his head, his right hand clenching the fabric over his heart. "Some relate to him, yes."

"Alright." Vincent rose a brow at the acceptance in Cid's tone. "Look, it ain't all gonna come out at once with a guy like you. You measure three times before ya say damn near anything and you're not exactly talkative t' begin with. So, Ah'm giving you space. You an' Cloud, for that matter. ShinRa done fucked up almost all of AVALANCHE; Cait Sith escaped by virtue of being a damn ShinRa AI."

He mulled Cid's words over and replied, "Your patience... is appreciated."

"Good to know, Vince, good to know." Cid dug for another cigarette, fished around in the crushed pack and cursed until the air was blue with it. "Fuckin' Shera, sneakin' my cigs. You think you could find me a damn toothpick?"

Vincent pulled one out of his inventory, long for the stirring of tea on nights by himself. "Will this do?"

Cid sighed, looked mournfully at his stub of a filter and flicked it into the trash container on the lower deck. "Fuck it. It'll do for now. Ah'm this close t' beating something with Venus Gospel. Ah hope there's a fight."

"Where can I buy a phone?" He asked Tifa as he landed in Edge's city center.

""Who are they?""

""They're our friends.""

The Remnants Summoned Bahamut SIN, the little thieves, having stolen it from Cloud's immense collection.

Cloud could defeat it easily, though he needed their help to reach the massive Summon.

"Fly!" He told his friend, glowing blue locked with glowing crimson for a fraction of a second, both of them giving a nod of acknowledgement.

Vincent landed next to Cid after the commotion, checking their pilot through sight and then with a Libra Max Scan; he stopped short of actually touching the man.

"You done yet, Vince?"

"... You're the first on my list."

"Ah guess you're checkin' on us cause we're squishy non-enchanced." Cid dryly offered as Vincet checked on the rest of AVALANCHE in much the same manner.

"Had you attempted what Cloud did, yes, you would be a very squishy non-enchanced. As it is, I do not enjoy the sight of... my friends... being hurt, enhanced or not." He offered in the spirit of fairness.

Vincent looked at Cid and thought privately, I would gladly kill for all of AVALANCHE. Once a Turk, always a Turk; loyal unto death and beyond it.

"Vince?"

"I would do much for my friends, Captain." He murmured in reply to the absent inquiry.

It was Nanaki who looked him over one morning during patrol and said, "Have you thought about talking to those that rest within you?"

"... Talking?"

"You have no memory of them, question whether or not you hurt someone upon their release and the disbelief that they do not attack AVALANCHE lingers long after they return to you." Nanaki pointed out, only sincere sympathy coming from him. "You and I, we will outlive most of AVALANCHE. Better now to have peace both inside and out than to face them in the centuries to come."

Vincent turned the words over as they patrolled, poking at them as he ate out of habit with AVALANCHE—not that he actually needed it with the demon-provided nourishment.

He found Nanaki as the heavens touched the earth, stars sparkling in the distance with a painful clarity on his part as the sun set on the ocean.

"... Do you think it's possible? This talk."

"Bugenhagen says that here, not only is it possible, it's a good course of action. You know what mediation is, yes?" Nanaki answered with another question but Vincent thought he knew where might this lead.

"My Kaa-San and I used to do it for hours, learning the feel of the world beneath our feet." He replied, the memory a fond one for how far back it went. "Should I start there?"

"Here, with me. More a guided mediation, if you will, to attempt communication." Nanaki hummed as he sat next to Vincent.

The quiet heat that spilled from the bristled fur made him relax, shoulder-to-shoulder with a friend.

"Would you like to begin?"

"Yes."

"Close your eyes, settle your breath and imagine a room."

"... Any room?"

"One you find comfort in, one that doesn't contain stress."

Vincent thought briefly of the parlor in the ShinRa Mansion—

"Not that one, I think. Try another."

His breathing was ragged in his own ears; he couldn't disagree with Nanaki on that one.

Icicle Inn, the room packed with two full beds and painted a cheerful green with purple, white and cream flowers he'd come to know as Chocobo withers, Nibelweiss and maiden's palms, respectively. The room he'd shared with Cid almost two years ago.

"That sounds like a good room. You're purring."

"Not stressful." He murmured, still leaning on Nanaki. "What now?"

"Is there a door in this room?"

"The main one and the closet."

"Hmm. Do you know the names of your demons?"

"No." Part of him writhed self-consciously at not knowing a part of himself.

"There are four; Galian Beast, Hellmasker, Death Gigas and... Chaos. Which would you like to speak with first?"

Vincent settled onto one of the full beds in the room, facing the closet door. "I can ... stop at any time?"

"Of course. Tap my shoulder three times when you desire to do so. Which of the four...?" Nanaki reassured.

"Chaos."

"Have you chosen your door?"

"The closet."

"Good door. Sturdy. Open it for me?"

Vincent's right hand closed over the handle, his left raised in a defensive stance. The handle didn't jiggle but the presence behind the door was unmistakeable a demon. He inhaled, braced himself and opened the door in a quick move.

What appeared was almost a mirror image, save that the cloak he wore was twisted into a waist wrap and the hair spiked with chunks of crimson, one golden eye peering out from under the crimson headwrap.

Good evening, Host. I see you have taken it upon yourself to meet with us at long last.

"A... friend thought it might be better than silence. He thinks that he and I, we will..."

Outlast your rag-tag pack? Certainly. Chaos took the other bed, sitting down after he closed the closet door. What did you want to know, Host?

"Vincent." He murmured, thinking that he ought to at least give an attempt at manners.

Hmm?

"My name is Vincent, Vincent Valentine."

Victory Sweetheart; an appropriate name for a man capable of such breadth of feeling.

"... I don't understand."

That is what your name means, does it not?

"How do you know that?"

I was... not always trapped within you. I am the cause of your extended lifespan. Chaos looked almost guilty at that, the golden claws flexing and unflexing the way Vincent's used to before his unscheduled 'nap.'

"I suppose I owe you my life. I was... dying, I think." He confessed quietly, right hand over his scarred heart. "The sort of dying that you don't come back from, not even with a Life or a Regen Materia."

You were closer to the LifeStream than my captor cared to admit to. Chaos allowed.

"Captor? You know who-" Vincent choked on his own words, fury and sorrow and want all wrapped around his throat like a Zolom that squeezed too tight.

Lucrecia Crescent. I am aware that you knew her before your untimely... accident.

Something broke in Vincent just then, caught between the inexorable pull of Chaos and his own memories.

"Why?"

She saved you, yes, but handed you over to Hojo after she failed to 'revive' you with my presence. He broke many things, broke them gleefully, but she put you back together and did her own... research. It was equally as unpleasant. Chaos replied kindly, carefully guiding Vincent to one of the mediation room beds. I regret many things but awakening you before you had adjusted to me would have killed you.

"How long?"

A decade.

A decade of recovery from hanging a heartstring away from death.

"... That's not so bad then."

No, I suppose not, my Host. May I ask you something?

"Certainly."

The flyer.... the pilot... He is often in your thoughts, well before the others. Why? Golden eyes flicked to his gauntlet and back to his face.

"Cid doesn't judge." Vincent murmured, wondering briefly how much of the conversation Nanaki could hear. "He said it wasn't my fault that I had demons."

Hmm. Wiser than most, this pilot; he taught you the way of the world as it stands.

"Cid may be crass sometimes but he means well."

Indeed.

Somehow, with Deepground dealt with, Vincent was closer than ever with AVALANCHE.

A tightly woven familial unit, all of them tied by events that would make history in the future.

However, engine grease wasn't allowed at the table. At all.

"Highwind, boots off and wash your hands." Vincent grumbled as he flicked the last waffle onto the steaming pile of them.

"Cloud, don't even think about walking all over these nice floors with those filthy boots." Tifa pointed out with a saccharine voice. "Or you're mopping them again."

"What-"

"Shit."

Marlene giggled as she teased with a singsong tone, "No grease means food at the table~"

"Language around Marlene, you two." Barret shook his mechanical finger at both blonds.

"Ah c'n say what Ah damn well want in mah house—" Vincent rose his brow, spatula in his gauntlet as he pointed it at Cid's boots.

"Off."

The two of them bickered companionably in the mud room but came out with clean hands and socked feet. Cid plunked himself next to Vincent, pressed shoulder-to-shoulder as Nanaki sat on his other side.

Cloud stole the last waffle with a shit-eating grin as he rolled it up and stuffed it in his mouth.

Vincent snorted when Tifa pouted at Cloud and he swallowed it with a painful grimace. "I'll make you another one?"

«Those were Vincent's special waffles and I called dibs on it, you sorry sack of dragon dung.» She hissed in Nibel, her smile more teeth than true smile. «You owe me.»

Cloud flushed bright red at her words, Vincent raising an eyebrow when Cloud muttered back in the same language, «Anything you want, Teef.»

Tifa softened as she took Cloud's hand. «Only if you want to, Cloud.»

Hmm, there went the AVALANCHE bet.

«When did that happen?» Vincent drawled, both Cloud and Tifa's heads snapping up at the sound of Nibel coming from him.

«You speak-»

«I learned it out of sheer self-defense back in '73. My question, if you please.» he replied.

«Since before Deepground.» Cloud muttered.

"Someone wanna clue th' rest of us sorry saps what it is you're talkin' about?"

"... My apologies, Cid, but it appears everyone but myself has lost the AVALANCHE running bet."

"Since when?" Barret pinned the Nibel natives with a narrowed gaze as Marlene excused herself from the table to go hang out with Denzel.

"Before the Deepground fracas, I do believe. Scent doesn't lie." Nanaki filled in for him, shaking his leonine head. "Had you waited a little longer, Cid would've won."

"You were betting that we'd...?" Tifa huffed, "What did you win?"

"Bragging rights and..." Vincent chuckled softly.

"His choice in visits that we can't complain about in case he swings by without tellin' us first." Cid finished with a roll of his eyes as he pulled a cigarette from his pack. "Lemme smoke first an' then Ah'll get t' th' dishes."

He took great pleasure in dropping in on Cid most of all, enjoying the smoky scent of his friend as he cursed a blue streak at Vincent where he was rested on the engine.

"Ah still can't believe you won that bet, you sly Fang." Cid said after he finished his cussing.

"They were almost ready before the Reunion but they both had to work through a few things first."

"What about you? You got anyone special?"

"Lucrecia no longer holds sway over my heart, true," he allowed and then paused with a heavy sigh. "but I cannot see myself with anyone who doesn't know what I have within me." Cid made a soft noise of understanding. "My history is not the easiest to express and while I look young, I am not."

"Ya thought of a dating profile?"

"... Dating... profile?"

"Oh, now this Ah gotta see. Alright, c'mon, let me show you the wonder that is Moogle. net."

Two hours later and Vincent was staring at a photo of himself that Cid had "artfully" taken and helped him put into the profile.

"So, let's see... Oh. Shit. Didn't know that was an option on these things. You prefer guys or gals?"

Vincent blinked at that, carefully combed over his relationships and frowned. "Is that even allowed? You won't get arrested?"

"Arrest—Oh yeah, that was a thing back then, wasn't it? Folks tend to be lighter in stuff like that these days, Vince." Cid reassured. "Though people might think you're Bluguing them if you put your real age."

"'Bluguing?'"

"Lyin' to 'em over Moogle. net." Cid filled in as he clicked the tab for 'Both.' "Is that okay with you?"

"... Yes."

He put in the effort to look nice for his many dates.

What he didn't expect was to see AVALANCHE bunched into equally well-dressed groups at this bar.

"... Is this going to happen every time?" He dryly inquired under his breath at Cloud.

"No, just this one, I think." Cloud hummed.

The date went without a hitch.

"You said you had a prosthetic?" He asked softly.

Vincent lifted his gauntlet, twisting it briefly in the candlelight before he hid it beneath the table again. "Yes, I did."

"You're—" His eyes lit up in something akin to hero worship.

Sweet merciful Bahamut, he was a fan of AVALANCHE. The sort Vincent had managed to avoid up until right this moment.

"I would rather not have that blurted out."

"What? That you're AVALANCHE?" The man hissed it quietly but Vincent heard Cloud relay the information subtly to their group.

"... Yes."

"Oh. You don't want that."

"A quiet life is an ideal one, I think." He murmured.

"I... Yeah, this isn't going to work. Being out is not a quiet life."

Vincent heard more underneath the words; liking both was likely to garner more attention than he currently desired. "... I see."

"Vince, you sly son-of-a-gun!" Cid's rough voice made Vincent internally rejoice. "Oh, shit, that's your date?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short." He told his date, looking at Cid with a shake of his head and a small smile. "Cid is... rather intense. Thank you for the evening."

"I... Uh. You're welcome."

Vincent paid for the meal with his hunting funds and joined AVALANCHE's huddle. "I think I'm done."

"With datin'? Really?"

"I think I need to give the events of Deepground time to settle. Perhaps I'll try once the memory of us isn't..." He trailed off but Cid understood.

"Ah got it. When we're not quite so memorable."

Shopping for Yule was always exhausting, no matter the decade, Vincent decided as he avoided most of the hustling, bustling crowd through use of his enhancements. Nanaki drifted behind him, bags clenched between his teeth.

Vincent made his way to a free niche in what was left of Wall Market, relieving Nanaki of his bags.

"I think... perhaps you should go first."

"People part after me but not you. I understand. Who else do we have left amongst our gifts?"

"Tifa, I think. I've got Cid covered."

"Really?"

"I refurbished his old toolkit. The one he set aside as it was too rusted to do anything with... What?"

"Of all the friendships I didn't expect, yours and Cid's ranks fairly high." Nanaki's bright blue eyes crinkled at the corners in a smile unique to Firewolves.

"Polar opposites and yet we get along incredibly well." Vincent offered as they set off again, Nanaki in the lead. "He... doesn't press me for my past or for my sins."

"Cid is indifferent to it?"

"... No. It's more... acceptance of me, even if it takes me a decade to reveal myself." Vincent mulled as they both spotted the perfect gift for Tifa. "That one."

"Handwraps and ah. Perfect."

"She'll have far too much fun with it but yes, just the thing for our hand-to-hand expert." He chuckled.

Yule found AVALANCHE at Seventh Heaven, the bar closed for the evening.

"Okay, who got me the hand wraps and the grease mittens?"

"We did." Nanaki and Vincent answered together, each of them bent over their own thoughtful gifts.

He had no idea how Cid had done it but this was his old gun maintenance kit, his Turk callsign burnt into the seasoned Wutainese cedar.

"Ah still can't believe you fixed mah kit."

"How did you manage to find this?" He asked, cradling the box close in disbelief. "This... This is my old Turk box."

"Might've harangued the remainin' Turks to find your stuff in their old hidey holes. Ah thought you might want somethin' special this Yule." Cid beamed at him around the edge of the toothpick he chewed on around AVALANCHE and the kids.

The ember of affection for Cid that sat in his chest exploded into a raging wildfire.

This wasn't like Lucrecia's eroding river that worked its way through his heart once upon a time but somehow it cut a similar path.

"Thank you." He breathed out carefully, wrapping his feelings in gunmetal wire and trapping them close to his chest.

Oh how he tired of his graceless heart, caught between the past and present, both people achingly beautiful and painful in their own ways.

"You're welcome, Vince."

Yet another sin plagued him, this one far more besetting and damning than the demons and his inaction; harboring feelings for his best friend.

Vincent didn't allow it to interfere with his visits.

That he visited Cid more than most of AVALANCHE save for Cloud and Nanaki... Well, that he kept to himself.

"Hey Vince, would get that wrench for me?" Cid's muffled question had Vincent huffing in amusement as he handed over the correct wrench for this particular project of his. "Weren't you here last week, Vince, or am Ah going crazy?"

"... Would you like—" the rest of the sentence caught in his throat.

Cid had noticed the pattern.

"No, Ah don't wantcha t' leave. What th' Hels gave you that idea?"

The relief he could've done without, especially when his demons echoed it. "Merely... insecurities."

They had a soft spot for Cid that Vincent couldn't seem to shake after his own realization.

Cid rolled out from underneath his project and looked up at him, sky blue catching chagrined crimson. "Insecurities, huh?"

"Lucrecia, mostly."

"Y'know it's a good thing she's encased in fucking crystal or Ah'd be giving her a piece of mah mind." Cid's accent broadened when he was frustrated but Vincent savored it.

It meant that Cid cared about him.

"She could hear me. I... suppose she could here you as well, if you wanted to really do it." He volunteered absently. The silence that permeated the shop made him blink. "Cid?"

Cid's cigarette had fallen off of his lip and had nearly touched the floor before Vincent rescued it. He put it out as delicately as possible.

The pilot he'd known for five years was looking at him differently, as though Vincent had finally done something to shock him.

He'd offered-Oh.

Vincent set the cig on a non-flammable surface.

He had to go, now, before Cid used that sharp mind of his to connect the unintentional dots.

Vincent wrestled with himself, choosing to stay and face whatever Cid decided.

Cid picked up the cig, getting in Vincent's personal space and looked up at him with a soft smile.

"If ya want, Ah will, but first you and Ah gotta talk."

"... We do?" Vincent wanted to curl around Cid, wanted...

No.

Want was what had gotten him in a coffin three decades ago.

He needed to pay attention to Cid's signs.

"Stuff like that ain't offered lightly from a man like you, Vince." Cid prodded.

"Nor is something that was buried in the Turk Archives." He shot back, ducking into his collar briefly before he challenged Cid with a stare of his own.

Cid did chuckle at that one, the flash of his teeth pinning the cig as Vincent lit it with a flicker of a Fira. "Pot meet kettle, hmm?"

"... Indeed."

"Ah gotta ask, Vincent, love or lust?"

Vincent swallowed sharply, his left hand flexing beneath the gauntlet.

"Vince? You don't-"

"Love." He confessed softly, the ache in his chest only confirming it. "Love because I cannot do anything by halves when it comes to my friends or those who've built themselves a home amidst my wreckage of a heart."

Cid whistled lowly at that, invading Vincent's space even more and seemingly delighted when Vincent allowed it. "You sweet talk all of your lovers like that?"

"You are the only one I've..."

"She didn't appreciate it."

"... No."

Cid smiled, slow and sweet even as he ground his cig into the concrete of the garage.

"Then that's a godsdamned shame an' her loss. You got anywhere to be after this?"

"Are you really asking me out on a date?" Vincent huffed out with a disbelieving laugh.

"After five years of pinin'? No, this is gettin' dinner in Corel and askin' how your progress is with your demons. No datin' required." Cid snorted. "Although... Ah wouldn't mind a kiss or some flowers or... Hmm."

Vincent cradled Cid's face in his hands, choosing to express himself the best way he knew how.

It started chaste, it started like their friendship had and grew into something that left both of them panting as they broke away.

"Damn Vince, you shoulda just started with that." Cid rumbled against his chest and Vincent stole another one, just to hear the hitch in Cid's breath.

"Perhaps," he purred, wrapping himself around Cid and enjoying it immensely.

Dinner meant that Cid had him snickering into his collar at the various scarcastic remarks under his breath about the people around them.

"'Ah'm Mr. High-n-Mighty in a coal town. Clearly you're here for the free drinks an' mah grubby hands.'"

Vincent snickered before he started in a falsetto that did nothing for his voice, "'Of course I am, where else could I con someone into getting me dinner and a show?'"

Cid choked on his whiskey neat at that. "Vincent!"

"You're the one who drank before hearing the impression." He pointed out with his broccoli-covered fork. "Now eat your greens, Captain."

"If Ah knew that doin' that a year ago would've gotten you t' talk like that, Ah'd have done it sooner. You're fucking hilarious." Cid replied.

"... Did you really...?"

"Pffft. Ah've been carryin' that particular torch since we met, Vince."

That was certainly news to him.

"Am I so oblivious?"

"Nah, just busy self-flagellatin'. Hels, with your past, Ah figured it'd take me a lot longer than five years t' get so much as a smile." Cid discreetly squeezed his gauntlet under the booth table and went back to eating with a happy hum.

Vincent noticed many things as a Turk and he put all of his considerable talents to use seated in the restaurant booth. The ratio of couples was nearly equal; male/male, female/female and more traditional couples grouped in clusters.

"... How long have you been taking us here with the expectation that I might notice the ratio?"

"Not long after Ah gotcha that box. Ah was hoping t' ease you into th' subject when you beat me to it." Cid admitted sheepishly. "We c'n keep it as quiet as you like, Vince."

"You remembered," he said softly, trailing his clawtips along Cid's hidden forearm, "but I don't want to hide; not with you."

"Damn, no wonder Crescent fell under your wiles. Ya keep sweet talking me like this and Ah might kiss you in public." Cid murmured around a mouthful of food.

"You're... welcome to it."

Cid swallowed hard at that. "You're gonna be the death of me yet, Vince."

"What a way to go, Captain."

It was but half a whispered breath, really, that sealed Vincent's fate; Cid's blood-choked breath that warned him, "Zolom."

Vincent caught Cid and the Venus Gospel with a single jump, higher than the Midgar Zolom would be able to follow, killing it with a single shot of Death Penalty.

Cid groaned softly as Vincent settled his love into his lap and pulled out his Mastered Cure All on top of a spire.

He used it at full power, severely draining his MP but still Cid was coughing up blood.

"A-Ain't comin' back from-gk!-tha' one... Nothin' doin'."

Too far gone for Life or Regen Materia, he'd once told Chaos on a windy bluff of Cosmo Canyon.

A decade for being a heart string away from death.

"There is another possibility."

Cid's eyes said what his labored breath couldn't. Explain.

"You haven't long so I cannot mince words. You are dying beyond what Life or Regen can help. Chaos pulled me back from the brink once."

"Him? In... Me?" Cid croaked.

"There isn't much time. I don't know if it will work." Vincent admitted. "But I would try it."

"Permission." Cid understood, even as he gripped the Gospel tight. "Gi-given."

"Chaos. Please."

A demon you must gift to him.

"Which?"

That is up to you, Host.

"Cid?"

"Hell... mask..."

"Hellmasker." One of the ones he hadn't spoken long with.

Coalition Leader called?

"My Mate—"

Crèche Cid, yes. Dying. Why call me?

"Because he chose to Host you." Vincent managed as Cid's blood stained his gauntlet. "Please."

Cid's sky blue closed as his breath shuddered out of him.

Vincent held his own, hoping that Hellmasker had left him for Cid.

The ragged inhale had him sobbing, Hellmasker's formidable presence gone from his mind and body.

"Hellmasker?"

""Crèche Cid clings to life with claws dug deep, defies the LifeStream for you, for us. He will sleep... five years. Enhanced."" Hellmasker rasped with an echo of Cid's voice.

"How?!" Vincent sent a low leveled Cura through Cid and listened as Cid's breathing became easier.

""Unintentional."" Hellmasker snickered. ""Mating and Mako transfer one and the same. Compatibility high.""

Vincent choked back his tears with a watery laugh.

Alive.

Cid was alive thanks to sheer impatience and overwhelming desire.

Someone had caught wind of Vincent's sitting vigil.

The polite, yet pointed, knock on the cabin door had him raising his brow at the door.

"Sharpshooter, it's Tseng."

"I'm well aware of whom is at my door. You're not welcome." He countered flatly.

"Not even if we come bearin' gifts, yo?"

"ShinRa knows nothing of this place. It is... a Turk matter." Tseng replied after a thwack and an indignant yelp from Reno.

"You may enter." Vincent reluctantly allowed.

"Oh, so that's where your blondie went." Vincent rumbled once in warning when Reno attempted to get close. "Got it, got it, Captain's off limits, yo."

"AVALANCHE is a tight circle but even tighter when two of its members go missing from Turk sight. We had to swear... a great deal to one Cloud Strife that no harm would come to pass and that ShinRa never discover your location. To this end, Reno and I have taken a vehicle without ShinRa tracking, removed our bio scanners and used burner phones." Tseng illustrated as he kept Reno out of Vincent's considerable reach.

"What brings you here?" He inquired.

"Officially? Status update. ShinRa gets nervous when ecoterrorists disappear. Unofficially, we are here to congratulate the Captain on his Turk acquisition and to help in any way possible." came the simple reply.

"We know you don't like med stuff so we went for the, err, magical approach." Reno set down the packages as Vincent shifted Cid to lay back down on the soft bed. He investigated it with a singular sniff and a Libra Max.

Gifts indeed; Turk-inspired and plenty of them from the remaining and renewed crew.

"We... owe you a great debt, Sharpshooter."

"Once a Turk, always a Turk, yo. You're still part of the club."

"... Noted."

Hellmasker gave weekly updates, Vincent hunting in longer and longer loops.

Cloud met him on one such loop, Fenrir idling at the edge of it.

"Marlene says hello."

"Cid says the same, though Hellmasker assures me they're getting along fine."

"Sounds good. You, uh, you doing anything for Yule?"

"We will be at 7th Heaven as always. Hellmasker has begun to learn Cid's body as well as his own." Vincent admitted. "It will be... disconcerting. I have grown used to it."

"So, same shit, different voice?" Cloud wryly filled in.

"An... accurate summation."

"And the smoking?"

"He says that with lungs made of space-grade steel, he can... 'Smoke as much as I damn well please.' Hellmasker does nothing to discourage the habit." He snorted. "For Denzel and Marlene."

Vincent pressed a soft pair of packages into Cloud's hands.

"Belated birthday gifts?"

"Mm."

"See you at the bar. Bye!"

"Goodbye, Cloud."

Humming softly on his way back to the cabin, he knew that AVALANCHE would outlast a great many of his friendships—even if there were only memories left.

With a ring of brilliant orange around the edge of his eyes, Cid limped into 7th Heaven, only to be hugged by three separate people.

""Watch it, Ah'm still not steady."" Hellmasker warned with Cid's voice.

"Even after sleeping?" Denzel asked quietly.

""Especially after sleeping, wily Bandersnatch."" He teased. Denzel braced Cid and Marlene supported his other side as Yuffie let go.

"You're okay, though, right?" Marlene questioned.

""Ah will be, it's just gonna take some time."" Cid huffed as he was settled into the softest chair and Vincent took his perch on the arm rest. ""That doesn't mean Ah forgot your Yule presents.""

Both teenagers blinked at that. "We don't care about those."

"... That is reassuring." Vincent replied.

"Umm, is now the time to tell you that I got accepted into Junon University's extra credit program?" Marlene blurted, twisting her longer hair in her hands.

She looked a great deal like Aerith, pink ribbon in her hair and a slightly darker pink dress on. Her jacket, thankfully, was black with pink ribbon instead of belts.

"Marlene! That's great, honey." Barret was the first to envelope her in a hug, mechanical and flesh arms holding her close. "That mean you're leavin' your old man 'n Denzel behind?"

"No," she corrected with a laugh, "it just means I'll be spending more time on my homework and graduating my equivalency tests."

"That's good. Maybe you can get Denzel to accept his trade school invite." Cloud murmured as he padded through the door, a big bag over his shoulder. "Dinner's just about done. Teef's setting up the final touches. I hope you don't mind if its mostly Nibel fare."

""Considerin' how cold it is, it better be Nibel.""

"Hey, Vince?"

Vincent finished cleaning his Quicksilver at lightning speed, hearing his beloved's voice free of Hellmasker's.

"Cid?"

"He said Ah was fully healed and that Ah let him out for a while so he's tired. Just us for now." Cid was making bedroom eyes at him, the sky blue eyes scorching their way down his body.

Vincent welcomed the up-and-down with a purr and a blatant invitation to seek more.

Cid whooped, straddling Vincent with a grin. "Missed you."

"As I missed you."

Lazily tracing his gauntlet tips over quickly healing skin, Vincent took Cid in as he lay against his heavily scarred chest, the ProtoMateria lighting up every few seconds.

"What are you thinkin' about?"

"I have you now, for longer than I'd dared to hope for, and I'm afraid you've officially stolen my heart with no intention of returning it." He confessed against Cid's temple.

"You remember th' night we met?"

"Of course."

"Ah thought you were the prettiest person Ah'd ever laid eyes on. My Mama made me swear to give her a call when Ah met th' one Ah wanted to marry."

Vincent chuckled softly before he asked, "Did you call her?"

"Damn right Ah did. Right after the night we spent stuck in that room at the Inn."

"You were freezing that night."

"Damned Inn didn't account for folks with low cold tolerance. Ah was just glad you didn't shoot me when Ah asked to share." Cid snickered. "Ah think Galian spent th' night with me."

Vincent asked, briefly, and got a happy warble in response. "Galian says yes. The first of my demons to hold you."

"Hellmasker was just embarassin'."

"... Falling off of a ravine was embarrassing?"

"Not when you put it that way... Cid drew him in for another kiss, soft and slow, Vincent playfully nipping at his love. "You're insatiable."

"Says the man who lit the flame." Vincent nipped his way down Cid's scruffy neck and then laved at the spot he'd accidentally bitten their third time together. The tattoo that spiraled from it garnered surprised looks when Cid worked on his engines but he was fiercely protective of it if someone thought to carelessly touch it.

"Vince?"

"Hmm?"

"Stop nibblin', this is important shit." Cid grumbled. "Stay right there an' close your eyes." Vincent reluctantly pulled back but buried his face against Cid's hip instead. "Hels, as good a spot as any."

The quiet click of the drawer and the skiff of rough fingers on soft fabric had Vincent sitting up so fast he saw white for a moment.

A small, simple box sat in the palm of Cid's right hand.

"Vincent Grimoire Valentine, will you do me one Hel of an honor an' marry me?"

Vincent felt his entire face go red and then he couldn't seem to say it fast enough.

"I'm afraid the honor is all mine if I marry you, Cid Pellego Highwind."

"Ah gotta ask though, b'fore I put this on. Which temple are we doin' this at?"

"Valentines are married in the Temple of the Winged Beast, Bahamut. Did you never wonder why my left hip remains undamaged?" He stated before he asked Cid.

"... Ah was curious but Ah figured you'd let me know in due time. Guessin' it's due?" Cid murmured as he pressed his knee to Vincent's.

"Barrier, Uncast." He waved his gauntlet over his hip, revealing the rich burgundy wing of his family's patron. "The Wing, bestowed upon his most loyal—You have one, do you not?"

"Barrier, Uncast." Cid shuffled and showed off a similar wing in a glowing shade of blue on his right side. "Thought Ah was gonna have to fight for my patron. Turns out Ah'm marryin' even better than Ah thought."

The rings weren't like normal ones and this one fit over Vincent's gauntlet with ease.

"How did you manage this?"

"You aren't the only talented metalworker in this house, Valentine."

"That's Valentine-Highwind to you, sir." He teased before both of them broke into laughter.

A most fortuitous marriage would lay ahead.

Tifa crowed from her spot at the bar, «AH-HA! I fucking knew it. Never bet against enhanced senses, dumbasses.»

«They bet against you and Cloud this time or against Nanaki?» he inquired absently in the same tongue.

«Both,» she snickered, «'There's no way they're gay.'»

Vincent shook his head and leaned on the bar, «I like both but Cid has one of my demons. I would classify that as very much taken.»

Tifa agreed with a nod that paused mid-way before she remembered and then shrugged. «Not all of us have demons to give.»

«The unfortunate payoff of that is being here longer than the building's foundations.» He pointed out dryly. «Even without one of them.»

"Enough with that," she waved it away with ease as she looked at the almost splintered black band of metal that wrapped around that piece of the gauntlet. "Are we invited?"

"Like you had to ask," Cid huffed as he sat next to Vincent. "won't be our weddin' without AVALANCHE."

"Dr. Wallace, Dr. Wallace!" Marlene practically shined under the attention given to her, answering questions and neatly fielding those that didn't matter to her.

Vincent sat at the bar, legs crossed as he watched her work the entire room into discussion before slipping away.

"Shouldn't you be hunting, Uncle Vincent?"

"Hunting can wait." He countered even as he slid over a finger of whiskey. She'd picked it up from years of living at the bar and helping Tifa on her downtime to take a break from writing her dissertation. "We're here."

"All of you?"

"AVALANCHE doesn't miss out when it comes to family." Vincent lifted an arm and purred softly when she ducked under it like she was seven again, hiding underneath a cape that had stayed home. "So, Dr. Wallace, what did you end up writing about?"

"You guys, actually. Dealing with the trauma of Meteor and Holy and the aftermath of it, supported by statistics and first hand stories." She admitted frankly. "They couldn't put my dissertation down without their spouses picking it up and reading past them."

"I take it you want to make it more cohesive?"

"If you wouldn't mind. I might try for a book, actually."

"I've... an old friend who would love to share about ShinRa before it was ShinRa; back when it was a company and ideals were just ideals, not facts and fear and chasing the Promised Land. I can get you his number." Vincent offered as two of her fellows approached.

"Marlene! Who's this?"

"My Uncle Vincent." She grinned when her associates made the connection.

"... I thought you were joking about him being..."

"... essentially the prettiest person ever? No. No, I was not." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"Your Uncle Cid tells me that every other day." He chuckled as he pressed his cheek to hers. "Do you want me to scare them off or do we like them?"

"They're okay. Dinner, right?"

"Of course."

She walked off with her friends, Vincent chuckling as he heard the conversation.

""Holy Shiva, he's...""

""Married. Don't even think about it, Brie.""

""Of course he is; unfairly hot with an equally hot spouse.""

""Husband,"" Marlene corrected absently, "" who is also unfairly scruffy and sweet under like eight layers of grease. He's got six engineering degrees but you wouldn't know it by the way he talks.""

""Six?!""

""Two are doctorates because he got bored.""

""Mar, honey, your family's a little crazy.""

""I know.""

AVALANCHE celebrated their fiftieth anniversary then their seventieth.

They never made it to a hundred.

Cloud didn't age and it became clear that there would be four of them.

Four against the ravages of time, four to see if it was them or the clock that broke first.

Ironically, the dying started with Rufus ShinRa as it did many years ago.

He's ninety-four and his body like whipcord gone wrong, stretched too thin.

Enhancements only take one so far after all.

The Turks hold on a bit longer if only by sheer stubborn force.

Vincent gets used to wearing black suits again, if only to be at the funerals. Tseng and Elena are buried together. Reno and Rude are spaced only a hairsbreadth apart, Reno's hair still as bright red as the day Vincent met him. His natural blond had never suited him.

Reeve was first, peacefully tinkering with Cait Sith one last time. AI and human were buried together, as they'd been separated in life.

Nanaki grieved for the loss of Cait, surprising even Vincent with his tears.

Barret was the second to go, body bent from a hundred and fifteen years of living and surrounded by many, many adopted grandchildren, quite a few Strife-Wallace's amongst them—courtesy of Marlene and Denzel's ongoing marriage.

Tifa held on for Marlene and Cloud, as fierce as she'd been and still full of fight. Vincent held a hatred for white coats and doctors but this one told them that Tifa's body was shutting down without her say-so. Her spirit was still there but her body was fading.

She called them all in, all four of them and Yuffie.

Yuffie, now an Empress in her own right, hauled ass and was perched on the back of Tifa's visiting couch as though she'd intended to be there all along.

"My heart's giving out." Tifa grumbled as Cloud still held her, pressing delicate kisses to thin skin. "You," she turned to a mournful Cloud, "don't you dare think this is your fault. We're not Cid and Vincent. Your enhancements were meant for you, not some wolf-resistant country bumpkin like me. I lasted a lot longer than I thought I would."

She sighed, looked at Yuffie and snorted. "You dropped every single appointment you had today, didn't you?"

"It's about time my cousin picked up his slack for the White Rose." Yuffie shot back and for a moment, only a moment, it seemed like AVALANCHE was reunited. "Like Hels would I drop it for anyone else."

"Just for AVALANCHE." Tifa chuckled, only for it to turn into a wracking cough. "You four better watch out for Cloud. I'll be watching with our flower girl so don't fuck it up."

"Understood."

"Of course, Teef."

"It will be my most pleasant duty yet."

"Pfft, of course I'm watching out for your Blondie. No offense Cloud."

"None taken," he huffed. «Tifa, say hello to everyone for me?»

«I know your Ma's gonna want all of it.»

Cloud flushed, «Maybe not everything.»

Tifa gave a faint laugh as she agreed. «Maybe not everything.»

It poured the day Tifa was buried, all of them in their gear and not in funeral attire. No ties in sight for her, per her request; it was by unanimous, unspoken vote that their gear was the only appropriate thing to send her off in style with.

There was a wisp of green that made all five of them smile, two of them springing up in the wake of the funeral.

"Aerith, Tifa." Vincent greeted them with a fond smile tugging at his lips, even in his grief. "Where's Barret and-Ah."

I can't say when or how but... You'll see us again. Aerith informed him. All four of you, though Yuffie's going to be with you for quite a few more decades yet. Marlene too.

"... That is welcome news." He murmured. "Why are you telling me?"

Cloud's not ready. Cid's comforting Nanaki. You're the only one that lingered and the one that needs to hear it the most right now.

Vincent acknowledged that, right hand pressed over his scarred heart. "It was... better knowing you than to have never met at all. I will, no we will, see you again."

The move to Wutai wasn't planned but all of them wanted to keep an eye on Yuffie.

Cloud set up a 7th Heaven bar in the heart of Wutai's capital city, a place that translated into Heaven's Harbinger Protects the Sleeping Beast.

He knew every nook and cranny of the bar, built it specifically to creak in the same ways. Cid mixed the drinks because Cloud wouldn't touch the bar afterwards with a ten foot pole and preferred to kick people out who got rough.

Word got around quickly that women were respected at the bar and that men willing to try dirty tricks would be out on their ass in less than ten seconds.

Vincent took up life as a Palace Guard, specifically as Yuffie's taste-tester. Nanaki became her beloved walking companion, picking up Imperial Wutainese at a rate that left the Court flabbergasted.

Yuffie enjoyed the scandal it caused because it was a way to shake up the Palace without leaving it.

When she left for the 7th Heaven look-a-like, the Palace, or so Vincent heard, had been in an absolute flurry.

People almost fled at the sight of the Empress but she stomped up to the bar, sat down on a stool and rose a brow at Cid.

"Whiskey, old man, and make it ugly."

"One ugly whiskey comin' right up, you old fogey."

«He is so—»

«Disrespectful? They're old friends. He's not her subject.» Vincent pointed out, his voice drier than the desert outside of the Golden Saucer.

«How would a Guard know all of this?» came the suspicious question.

«Because that's my husband.»

«You cannot be serious. That means you're well over a-»

«A hundred and twenty, precisely.»

«Demon.»

«One who protects the Empress with his unworthy life.» Vincent lazily added, gesturing to his uniform. He honestly saw it as a compliment. The bar patron blinked at that. «Her Imperial Majesty is 90. Did you think she had younger friends?»

«Actually...»

Vincent did laugh at the implication. «Concubines, hmm? We've known Her Imperial Majesty since she was a teenager. I think not.»

The man spluttered magnificently. Vincent's amusement was cut short by Yuffie making sad eyes at him. "Join me for a drink, Vinnie!"

"Just the one. You know your doctors said you can't have more."

Yuffie blew a raspberry at that. "Bah, Godo lived to be a hundred and five. I'll outlive him out of sheer spite if I have to, pickled in alcohol, plums and preserved by salted meat."

"I suppose, with that logic, you can have three."

"Yup. Poison free too."

They talked long into the night, Cid swinging by to add into the conversation as Cloud bounced out anti-imperial forces with absolute glee written on his face.

It was the start to something new and it worried the Court to wits end. Vincent had to school his face more than once listening to the nobility complain.

«Her Imperial Majesty cannot continue to cavort with such a common... entourage! It is unbecoming of her to lust after Western men.»

«They're not hers.» he told them flatly. «Her entourage, should one bother to pay attention, is full of intelligent, bright Wutainese men who love her to death. The Western men are her friends, nothing more.»

«You are but-»

«I am her most loyal Guard. Why would I lie?» Vincent countered with a raised brow, his gauntlet reaching up to adjust his armor minutely.

An unspoken, if somewhat crass, threat laid behind his serene words.

"Vinnie, I need to talk to you~" Yuffie sing-songed with bared teeth at the nobles. She guided him into a separate room, tapped the doorway for Silence and Libra and then hugged him. He enfolded her tiny frame and purred subsonically to comfort her. "Thank you. They've been getting on my case about Cloud especially."

"Hnn. You're most welcome, Yuffie."

When Vincent resigned after Yuffie's death, the head of the household asked him why.

«The last of my ties lay in Her Imperial Majesty. I mourn more deeply than I care to express.» he explained as he shook the dust out of his cloak, flicking it to settle over his shoulders. «I cannot stay here.»

«You loved Her Imperial Majesty.»

«Like a daughter,» he said, «I will see her again.»

However he dearly wished it to be so, time hadn't stopped after the death of Yuffie.

As if desperate to catch up, it sprinted past all four of them in a blur.

They split up on the ten year mark.

Vincent needed the time to process the multitude of loss, somehow finding himself pacing before Lucrecia's crystal, the snap of his tattered crimson cloak not lost upon him in the ripple of silence.

He settled on the same rock he had nearly a century ago, chin cradled in his gauntlet as he looked at her.

Sephiroth had looked, perhaps, too much like his true mother. The bangs, the bow of the lip and the searing assurance that everything was just fine, just fine—until it wasn't.

They'd snapped in similar ways, decades apart; two sides of the same self-destructive coin, each with their own price.

A Reunion triggered too soon, for Lucrecia carried the last and largest piece of JENOVA aside from her blood son.

The papers she'd buried in a lock-box adjacent to the Mansion showed a great deal of foresight on her part, the prophetic dreams she'd had while pregnant with her son chilling in their own right.

He'd wrestled with the information and then took it apart down to the last measurement.

Vincent learned to live with the idea that Lucrecia hadn't been the woman he'd left on a pedestal.

That she was only mortal and human and affected by the loss of her son more than she ever let on.

Post-partum depression, Cloud had told him once, still dug deep into finding the cure for Geostigma.

Ten years to fix the scars on his heart.

He wondered what the others were up to...

Cloud was found Chocobo racing at the Golden Saucer. A youth with eyes too old for his face—which came at the word of veteran riders—but he rode as if he was one with the birds.

An apt if somewhat tumultuous description when it came to the leader of what was left of AVALANCHE.

«Find any good Chocobos lately?» Vincent drawled in Nibel as he leaned on the stall's doorway.

«... I think I might steal this one. She's got Golden in her somewhere, the way she runs.» Cloud chuckled as he patted his mount. «Thought I wouldn't see you for another decade at least, Vincent.»

«Despite being encased in crystal, Lucrecia makes it clear when I've overstayed my welcome.» he informed Cloud with a wry chuckle. «So, where's Fenrir?»

«Hiding under a dust cover in a storage unit in Corel.» came the lazy response as Cloud cared for his mount.

«Time to test our reflexes.» Vincent challenged, Galian particularly pleased when Vincent taunted his old friend. «Finish up your bird and meet me there. I don't care if you steal the bird or not but make sure to erase your presence. They've been upping video survellience again.»

«I can hear your old Turk mentality; a Turk caught on tape is a dead one. Rest assured, I've been blocking the cameras with a subtle Barrier Cast. Tech still doesn't like too much magic.» Cloud snorted. «People notice when you don't age. Tifa's makeup tips have been good in that regard.»

That was news to Vincent. He hadn't realized he could do that. «Hnn. I'm not sure if they make a shade that matches my tone.»

«They don't,» came the amused rejoinder. «I have to mix mine with stage makeup.»

Cloud met him with the Chocobo tied to the motorcycle with a hitch lead, long enough that the bird could keep speed or fall back.

"I decided that her owners wouldn't miss her, seeing as she didn't 'win' her last race."

"Thinking about breeding them again?" Vincent asked wryly as he checked Cerberus and Cloud did the same with Tsurugi.

"Mm-hmm. I already have a match for her in a sturdy mountain blue. At least one of them will be a Golden."

"Smart. Are you ready?"

"Already stretched. Let's mosey."

Both of them smiled at the old phrase but set out at a hundred paces and then turned, engaged like they hadn't been in well over fifty years.

The boom and clash of their weapons drew monsters that quickly fled at the presence of Vincent's demons.

Shoot-parry-kick-dodge—a whirlwind that kicked up dust and brought joy with it.

They were both panting by session's end, having worked up a decent amount of sweat.

"We're getting lazy," Cloud grumbled.

"No, we're out of practice." Vincent countered as they sank down beside Fenrir to keep out of the sun.

"Says you."

"Says this match."

Both of them burst out laughing at that, drawing the Chocobo to them.

She settled next to Cloud with a happy wark, her massive head pillowed on Cloud's dusty thigh. "You're probably right."

"... Usually I am but to what regard?"

"We're out of practice. What if He shows up again?" Cloud meant exactly one person when he spoke like that.

"Then I suppose we'll have to sharpen our skills again. Keep on top of them instead of letting them slide." Vincent murmured. "Find Cid and Nanaki too."

"They blend better than we do." Cloud huffed as he parted the soft head feathers of his new Chocobo. "But yeah, it'd be nice to catch up."

"Check on ShinRa, perhaps."

"Gotta be careful about that one. They've got new Turks these days."

"Hopefully not as good as the ones we remember."

"Yeah right, like anyone is going to match those four."

"Scraped ShinRa from the ashes, once; I wouldn't put it above the new ones to do the same." Vincent offered dryly. "Training first and then our friends."

"Agreed."

Vincent rode the Chocobo, Cloud Fenrir, training when they stopped. Both of them grumbled at having to get a permit for the bird but not the bike.

"You two haven't done this before, have you?"

"... Used to flying," Vincent managed. "Airships have stalls."

"Airships? Yeah, those are being phased out for airplanes. A lot less space but Hels of a lot faster."

"Would be, if they didn't overload the cabins like fish in a tin." Cloud snorted.

"You two aren't... like, hipsters?"

"Hunters." Vincent replied. "We're used to doing things a bit more... old-fashioned."

"Hel no, we're not hipsters." Cloud said, shaking his head at the derogatory label. "Just prefer different methods than most."

"Unliscensed too, the way you two stand. You'll have to register—Or maybe not."

Vincent pinned the man with a glare. "Registration is... unwise."

"Doesn't have to be our real names," Cloud elbowed him, an AVALANCHE sign that said his eyes were a bit too inhuman. "now does it?"

"Yes! Umm, yeah, pseudonyms are perfectly acceptable."

"Hnn." Vincent went to go check on the bird and the man continued out of normal hearing range.

""Is your partner okay, man? He's really...""

"Intense? He's not a people person, that one. Great friend, Hel of a shot but not one for company."

""Got it. Leave the scary man in a cape alone.""

"Yeah." Cloud drawled, barely hiding his amusement as he made his way over. "No wonder you kept to yourself."

"Are we forgotten so soon?" He questioned, digging around for his PHS and slowly typing AVALANCHE in the search bar of Moogle. net.

Three results were articles. Articles that said they were made up by ShinRa to get better press. Articles refuting that they were a hoax of ShinRa's and cited Marlene's book.

An article about a movie being made from the history that was left.

He chuckled as he saw the top result was Marlene's response to all of them and the fact that she had a book signing in Edge that week.

Vincent immediately called Marlene, wincing as he noticed the time difference. ""Dr. Wallace speaking, may I ask who is calling at such an hour?""

"My apologies, Marlene, but-"

""Now that's the most pleasant surprise I've woken up to in about a decade or so,"" she chuckled even as she apparently pinned the phone between shoulder and neck to shake Denzel awake. ""Wake up dummy, it's Uncle Vincent.""

""Vincent? Our Vincent? Does he have Cloud with him?"" Denzel sounded younger when he mentioned Cloud, though both of them were well into their 90s.

"... Cloud's here too. We were wondering if you minded us attending your book signing, Marlene."

""Just you and Cloud?"" She questioned.

"I'll be calling Cid and we'll be landing at Cosmo, we can pick up Nanaki as we go."

""Don't worry if you can't make it. It's only history die-hards that show up at these anyway. You'll likely be mistaken for cosplayers.""

"... Marlene, I'm feeling every one of my years when I ask this but what the fuck is a cosplayer?" He groaned as he petted the Chocobo while Cloud fed her greens.

""Costume play which is shortened into that acronym. You make for very popular costumes in the college circuit."" Marlene laughed. ""I'll send you the address. This is still your number, right?""

"Yes, it is."

""Goodnight and I hope to see you at the signing.""

"Goodnight, Denzel, Marlene."

Cloud laughed at him, shaking his head and murmuring, "Why do you think I put Fen in storage? I've had at least five people comment that it looks an awful like the original model that's 'sitting' in the Edge Museum."

"... Did you steal Fenrir out of the museum?"

"Nah. I made a functional replica for display. I just told them I had a mechanic friend who shared my love of the bike." Cloud mentioned as he leaned on the boat's railing. "My memory's shot to Hel but the first time I did this, I was hurling over the side of the ferry."

"The first time I did this, my Nibel Range guide deliberately drove to Corel. It took judicious application of my considerable skill with my Quicksilver to convince them to get to Nibelheim." he replied as they watched the waves slap against the sides. "I should've stayed in Corel."

"Hindsight's always 20/20." came the wry response.

Vincent's boot had been on Cosmo soil for less than a minute before the crowd at the dock parted to reveal an amused Nanaki and Cid.

"Ah thought Ah saw my absentee husband an' my friend." Cid's pointed quip had Vincent grinning behind his collar. He swept Cid up in an embrace, kissing his husband so hard that Cid broke their kiss with a gasp. "Forgot ya kissed like that, Vince."

"Rest assured, beloved, you'll tire of me if I'm underfoot." He said as he set Cid down, running his gauntlet over Cid's cheek with an infinite tenderness behind his action.

"Did you sort it out?" Cid asked as he took the Chocobo's lead from Vincent as they walked.

"... Ten years is enough to grieve. I look forward to what the world has to offer us now. No more dwelling in the past." He answered Cid's unspoken question without having to be prompted.

"In that case, y'wanna renew our vows?"

"Nothing would please me more."

All four of them made a predetermined detour before Marlene's book signing.

The church was guarded and had been preserved from the elements with Barriers that allowed in water and sunlight.

"Look, we get enough cosplayers trying to shoot here, fellas—Oh. Oh. right this way, sirs." Aerith, glowing green and with a raised brow, had the guard scrambling to release the Barrier door. "Ah, are you...?"

"The real members of AVALANCHE?" Nanaki filled in as he padded past the awed guard. "Yes."

"What's left of it, anyway." Cloud added dryly. "Thank you for letting us in."

They sat around the pool, a hand or a paw dipped into the slightly glowing water.

How is everyone? Aerith asked even as she sat on the surface of the water.

"Well enough, considering our final member passed on." Vincent replied. "We're meeting with Marlene in a few hours."

"It'll be nice to see her again," Cloud murmured as he swirled the water absently.

"Firewolves are apparently extinct." Nanaki chuckled after he poked at Cid's new phone with the stylus pen in his mouth. "I'm going to scare them."

"How are the cubs?" Vincent prodded.

"Kiloi and Jakaur guard the Canyon now, accompanied by thier mother." came the proud reply, Nanaki's familiar gaze almost closed with his obvious joy. "How are the others?"

Well enough. Yuffie's adjusting but Tifa's bar is apparently a sticking point for a majority of souls, especially those of AVALANCHE. Tifa says good job, by the way, for being able to replicate Seventh Heaven so well, Cloud. Aerith conveyed, shuffling the way she sat so that her legs curled on the other side of her. The guard will be coming to tell you that it's time to leave soon. Have fun at Marlene's book signing! Tell her I said hi, okay?

Cloud groaned as she disappeared with a teasing laugh. "Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be fending off college-aged kids with our actual weapons?"

"Umm, sirs?"

"Yeah, yeah, Ah know; you need us to go because this was a favor for Aerith." Cid huffed, hefting Vincent to his feet with one tug. "Besides, we got somewhere to be anyways."

"It wouldn't happen to be Dr. Wallace's signing, would it?" The man blurted and Vincent gave a long-suffering sigh. "It's just-I could show you a way to work around the crowd that inevitably shows up?"

"If you're lying... You wouldn't make it out of whatever facility you'd be leading us to," Vincent promised serenely, casually examining his gauntlet tips.

"You know, uh, you sound a lot like a... Turk?"

"Indeed."

"Oh."

Vincent chuckled softly even as Cid deliberately reached for his gauntlet.

The guard made good on his promise, much to Gigas' eternal disappointment.

The bookstore employee rolled her eyes at them showing up a full hour and a half before-hand. "Look, I know you want to meet Doctor Wallace but-"

"I'm sure she'll be pleased to hear from us." Nanaki countered, claws digging into the counter as he used it to talk to the employee. Cloud snickered as her jaw worked and she stared at Nanaki in aghast surprise. "And no, I'm not a robot cleverly disguised as a Firewolf, as someone asked me not even five minutes ago."

"Nanaki, stop scaring the poor girl and help me stack books." Marlene chided, her hair heavily streaked with grey and in a no-nonsense ponytail. "Uncles, if you wouldn't mind?"

Vincent hugged her first, breathing in her scent and absently licking at her hair out of old habit. She chuckled and gently shoved his face to the side which he allowed due to her more fragile skin.

"I'm glad you're here," He rumbled softly, "though if I never hear the word 'cosplay' again in my life, I'd be glad of it."

"Oh dear. All of you?" Cloud grimaced and Cid followed, his teeth clamped around a cigarette that was nearly done but put out due to Denzel and Marlene's health.

"Vincent, is that-?" Cloud practically scooped Denzel up, the way he held the man who'd been his surrogate son that of a parent who'd missed their child for too long. "Hey Cloud."

"... Missed you and Mar. It sucks to keep moving." Cloud grumbled against Denzel's neck.

"But move we gotta or get stuck in a facility that has no idea what it's messing with in the future." Cid countered as he hugged Marlene after Vincent stepped back.

"That would... not end well." Vincent admitted flatly as he helped stack books.

"No it wouldn't, though I'd pity the fool stupid enough to touch even one of you." Marlene snorted wryly as she set up all of her pens, paused and then asked, "Would you sign books too?"

"It's not a bad idea-" Denzel mentioned, trying to lift a box that Cloud took from him with a subtle Look. "Alright I'll stop trying to pick those up."

"We will if you don't mind explaining that we're the real AVALANCHE," Vincent replied as he wove around Cid and Nanaki both to set up more signing desks.

"You're nearly a hundred and not enhanced. Please stop trying to kill me via heartattacks, Den." Cloud pressed a kiss to Denzel's forehead but let him pick up a smaller box with less books. "You have to be careful."

"Careful?! I'm only ninety-two!"

"Dr. Wallace and Mr. Strife-Wallace have invited special guests for today's signing only. Please await Dr. Wallace's words on her and her husband's guests."

"Come on out," Marlene asked, sending them out one by one and then sitting down after she had. "I invited the remaining members of AVALANCHE here tonight because I haven't seen them for a very long time and they were close enough to accept. Before you ask, no, they are not insanely talented cosplayers but the very real people that you've read about in my book. Introduce yourselves?"

"Guess Ah gotta go first huh?" Cid teased them but stood, waved and then did exactly as asked, "My name's Cid Highwind, I'm a hell of a pilot and married to that delightfully red-caped individual over there."

Vincent rolled his eyes, stood and spoke, "... My name is Vincent Valentine, I'm a former Turk and marksman and I'm married to that still smoking fool."

"Aww, Vince, didn't know you loved me that much!" Cid teased.

"Test me again, husband mine, and I'll do the thing that you like but never admit to liking." Vincent murmured low enough for the enhanced to hear and Cid flushed. Cloud cleared his throat and Nanaki laughed.

"I'm Cloud Strife, my son is Mr. Strife-Wallace. I'm a widower and no, not up for dating." Cloud said stiffly, resuming his seat next to Denzel and fussing over his son. Denzel shoved at him with a roll of his eyes.

"I am Nanaki, a Firewolf from Cosmo Canyon and no, we're not extinct, just very private. We live far longer than most humans and therefore tend to forge connections deeply and fully." Nanaki spoke finally and the entire first row jumped, much to AVALANCHE's amusement. "Please do not ask if I am the AI; Cait Sith has been buried with Director Tuesti for near a century now."

"Umm, excuse me, Mr. Strife? How is Mr. Strife-Wallace your son? You never, umm, had..."

Cloud blinked at that, huffed and said, "Denzel lost his parents to the Meteor when it struck Midgar through the center. I picked him up and never put him back down. Family isn't always blood."

At their leader's matter-of-fact statement about Meteor, a hand shot up into the air.

"... Your question?" Vincent inquired.

"How did Meteor miss Deepground?"

Vincent pulled a Barrier Materia out of his inventory. "Barrier MAX. It's natural magic that blends with Holy since they're from the same source. The entire facility was chambered and equipped with several. An... oversized Materia bracer, if you will."

With that, the crowd appeared to be through testing them as the real deal and started asking questions about life a century ago, about AVALANCHE and about their weaponry they'd tucked away into their inventories.

Vincent enjoyed it but wouldn't be willing to do it again quite so soon. He was, as Marlene had put it once, 'peopled out.'

He fled to the rafters, listening with half-an-ear as the bookstore assistant mentioned his absense. ""Where'd Mr. Valentine go?""

"He'll be down when he's ready. He's... well, peopled out."

""Oh. An introvert, I see.""

Vincent blinked at his ancient model of phone when it went off, flicking it open and answering it with, "Valentine, may I ask who's calling?"

""I did tell you that you'd see us again."" The laughing voice that came through the speaker made him sit down on his porch swing. ""Oh, sorry, did I get the wrong number?""

"No, you've the correct one... Aerith." He managed.

Cid popped up from behind his engine and Cloud followed.

Nanaki stirred from his sofa space.

""You know where to go?"" She giggled.

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

""Home, of course.""