The Conspiracy (ff_press ignore)
Jan. 14th, 2009 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crankyoldmanFandom: FFVII:BC (AU)
Characters/Pairings: Vincent/Veld/Ifalna (ha ha.... yeah)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Now that Ifalna is alive, she wonders who has to die now, Veld worries, and Vincent is crazy.
Notes: Ha ha... yeah, that "Must Be Dreaming" AU from Iffy's POV is still alive, I'm just lazy. Had this half done for a while. Kind of a weird snippet in time, going to have more fun when Aeris is grown up, let me tell you. I'm worse than mainstream comics, but hell, FFVII is like a big clusterfuck anyway.
"Oh, and he might seem a little... off."
Euphemisms and understatements. Ifalna knew to let Veld go first, because what that really meant was 'he's completely insane'. They were in that place again, though Ifalna was shocked to hear that it had been largely abandoned once she and the Professor had run off like they did. Hojo had moved onto bigger and better and shinier facilities, so she supposed it made sense.
She really didn't expect that the first time seeing Vincent in years would involve him dancing around in a red cape. Dancing.
"Take that ridiculous thing off," Veld snapped, without thinking. Vincent looked at him amusedly from behind it, his arm drawn up in such a way as to make it look like a large draping sleeve.
"Make me." Veld rolled his eyes, proving that things rarely did change completely. Ifalna hadn't asked where the medical supplies had come from that were used to get her moving again. She knew better than to ask such things, really. When she let go of that naggling idea that everyone and everything was so weighed down by their interconnections... she had to admit that she had a lot of fun.
"I brought Ifalna with me." He had a hand on her arm. Clearly their forms of near-death had made him paranoid. She was tickled by the concern, she had to admit. Veld that was wouldn't have bothered with such a gesture. Or maybe he wouldn't have tried.
What was she waiting for?
"I'm glad to see you well." Her natural instinct was to assume Vincent was lying, because, she had to admit, there had been an unspoken rivalry for a while, but she had never seen Vincent Valentine dancing around in a cape like a seven year old before, so she was willing to take some things differently.
Veld, as if the director in some cosmic play had cued him, placed his free hand on his hip in an displeased manner.
"It was a close call with the both of you, and no, I do not want to talk about it."
"Dying isn't as hard as you'd think, Veld."
"Valentine, you were crazy before, but I do believe you are completely insane now."
"Now all you have to do is die and come back and we'll all be a set," Vincent deadpanned.
Ifalna couldn't help but laugh at that, because Veld would take something like that seriously.
---
This room was less creepy, and had only a couple years of dust. Well, more than a couple. Ifalna hadn't realized just how long she'd been in the labs. Of course, Aeris was... well, she didn't want to think of her now, not while playing co-conspirator with a couple of slightly and not so slightly sociopathic professionals.
"I guess the matter at hand is... exactly what to do next."
Veld sat like he normally did, ramrod straight and almost as if something as leisurely as sitting offended him. Ifalna was at his side, making sure to make as much contact as humanly possible without slouching too bad.
Vincent, for his part, was hanging upside down.
"I say the hell with the rest of them."
"You forget that I am still a Turk."
"So?"
And Veld paused.
Ifalna could feel a lot in that gap of time. She wondered if Aeris was behaving, but she wasn't worried so much about that. No, the earth had shifted, because for an absolute certainty, Ifalna knew that she was supposed to die. That her beliefs, her faith, all the things she had truly believed in culminated in sacrifice. Not that noble kind that soldiers sometimes thought themselves capable of, but the kind for a real greater cause.
She should have felt guilty.
"I at least have to make my death believable if I'm going to retire." And it hit her then, that Veld really hadn't known what had happened to either of them. She'd been aware of Vincent the whole time, not the exact nature, but really that his frequency had changed. She'd tried to call Veld, let him know that he wasn't dead but something had stopped her.
She would have to ask him later how he'd stumbled upon Vincent, because that had obviously been the catalyst. Ifalna wasn't disappointed, strangely, that he hadn't come for her first. But then, he was a stubborn man that would rather forget the things that hurt him instead of trying to find ways to fix it. The type to put the bandage on but forget to disinfect the wound.
"We can still keep an eye on things... but I have to say I agree with Vincent a little."
She remembered when she'd first met the man, and she knew that he defined himself by that suit and tie, that he made a family out of it. But then, he'd also made another family once, so he was no stranger to divided loyalties.
"We have to think of the children. We can't forget them."
But she had to wonder, since no one had really died yet, if they were doing them any favors when it all came down to it.
Characters/Pairings: Vincent/Veld/Ifalna (ha ha.... yeah)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Now that Ifalna is alive, she wonders who has to die now, Veld worries, and Vincent is crazy.
Notes: Ha ha... yeah, that "Must Be Dreaming" AU from Iffy's POV is still alive, I'm just lazy. Had this half done for a while. Kind of a weird snippet in time, going to have more fun when Aeris is grown up, let me tell you. I'm worse than mainstream comics, but hell, FFVII is like a big clusterfuck anyway.
"Oh, and he might seem a little... off."
Euphemisms and understatements. Ifalna knew to let Veld go first, because what that really meant was 'he's completely insane'. They were in that place again, though Ifalna was shocked to hear that it had been largely abandoned once she and the Professor had run off like they did. Hojo had moved onto bigger and better and shinier facilities, so she supposed it made sense.
She really didn't expect that the first time seeing Vincent in years would involve him dancing around in a red cape. Dancing.
"Take that ridiculous thing off," Veld snapped, without thinking. Vincent looked at him amusedly from behind it, his arm drawn up in such a way as to make it look like a large draping sleeve.
"Make me." Veld rolled his eyes, proving that things rarely did change completely. Ifalna hadn't asked where the medical supplies had come from that were used to get her moving again. She knew better than to ask such things, really. When she let go of that naggling idea that everyone and everything was so weighed down by their interconnections... she had to admit that she had a lot of fun.
"I brought Ifalna with me." He had a hand on her arm. Clearly their forms of near-death had made him paranoid. She was tickled by the concern, she had to admit. Veld that was wouldn't have bothered with such a gesture. Or maybe he wouldn't have tried.
What was she waiting for?
"I'm glad to see you well." Her natural instinct was to assume Vincent was lying, because, she had to admit, there had been an unspoken rivalry for a while, but she had never seen Vincent Valentine dancing around in a cape like a seven year old before, so she was willing to take some things differently.
Veld, as if the director in some cosmic play had cued him, placed his free hand on his hip in an displeased manner.
"It was a close call with the both of you, and no, I do not want to talk about it."
"Dying isn't as hard as you'd think, Veld."
"Valentine, you were crazy before, but I do believe you are completely insane now."
"Now all you have to do is die and come back and we'll all be a set," Vincent deadpanned.
Ifalna couldn't help but laugh at that, because Veld would take something like that seriously.
---
This room was less creepy, and had only a couple years of dust. Well, more than a couple. Ifalna hadn't realized just how long she'd been in the labs. Of course, Aeris was... well, she didn't want to think of her now, not while playing co-conspirator with a couple of slightly and not so slightly sociopathic professionals.
"I guess the matter at hand is... exactly what to do next."
Veld sat like he normally did, ramrod straight and almost as if something as leisurely as sitting offended him. Ifalna was at his side, making sure to make as much contact as humanly possible without slouching too bad.
Vincent, for his part, was hanging upside down.
"I say the hell with the rest of them."
"You forget that I am still a Turk."
"So?"
And Veld paused.
Ifalna could feel a lot in that gap of time. She wondered if Aeris was behaving, but she wasn't worried so much about that. No, the earth had shifted, because for an absolute certainty, Ifalna knew that she was supposed to die. That her beliefs, her faith, all the things she had truly believed in culminated in sacrifice. Not that noble kind that soldiers sometimes thought themselves capable of, but the kind for a real greater cause.
She should have felt guilty.
"I at least have to make my death believable if I'm going to retire." And it hit her then, that Veld really hadn't known what had happened to either of them. She'd been aware of Vincent the whole time, not the exact nature, but really that his frequency had changed. She'd tried to call Veld, let him know that he wasn't dead but something had stopped her.
She would have to ask him later how he'd stumbled upon Vincent, because that had obviously been the catalyst. Ifalna wasn't disappointed, strangely, that he hadn't come for her first. But then, he was a stubborn man that would rather forget the things that hurt him instead of trying to find ways to fix it. The type to put the bandage on but forget to disinfect the wound.
"We can still keep an eye on things... but I have to say I agree with Vincent a little."
She remembered when she'd first met the man, and she knew that he defined himself by that suit and tie, that he made a family out of it. But then, he'd also made another family once, so he was no stranger to divided loyalties.
"We have to think of the children. We can't forget them."
But she had to wonder, since no one had really died yet, if they were doing them any favors when it all came down to it.