A/N: I don't own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. This is a nonprofit fic.

Setting: ~ After DoC~, I took and will take some liberties with naming geographical areas of the world since I am not super –in touch-- with the Final Fantasy world. I have watched Advent Children numerous times and I have played DoC but not FF7.

Rating: M. Most likely will contain some adult themes including but not limited to: Sex, violence, language. Its rated M just in case. This is intended to be an action/romance/drama fic.

Reviews: Please be kind! This is my first online published fic. I am welcome to any and all reviews tho. Thanks!

As they approached the city, Vincent grew ever more intense. His hold on Chaos was hanging by a thread. Barrett could feel the tension rising off of Vincent. It was almost tangible. The city gates were about three kilometers ahead when Vincent ordered Barrett to stop. Barrett looked confused but kept quiet and stopped the vehicle.

"Something isn't right." Vincent said at last. He exited the vehicle, his gaze intent on the surroundings and the ground. "Barrett, keep look out. I'm going the rest of the way on my own. Be ready."

"But…" the door shut behind Vincent as he walked away from the vehicle, inspecting the ground. "…were not even to the city yet…" Barrett continued to no one.

The smell of the salty sea and noxious fumes permeated the air. It hung heavy with moisture and there was hardly any breeze. The majority of the pollution that wrought havoc on the area was put to an end after Shinra collapsed. However, there were a few factories running still. Vegetation on the ground was sparse, but strangely it had almost a pattern to how it grew in this area.

His cell phone beeped. He pulled it out and read that he had one text message. It was from Cloud, "IF SHE'S IN GOOD CONDITION, BRING YUFFIE HERE AFTER YOU'VE FOUND HER. TIFA AND I HAVE A GUEST ROOM READY FOR HER. YOU ARE WELCOME TO STAY TOO. GOOD LUCK." He shut the phone and put it into his pocket. He wasn't going to need luck. He had Chaos instead.

At that moment, he let go of his hold on Chaos and transformed. He jumped into the air, his tattered wings counteracting gravity as he rose to a height of 300 feet. His glowing orange eyes judged distance and his trajectory perfectly. He plummeted back to the ground, charging glowing materia in his pistol. The pistol shot forth when he was half way down. It exploded on the large square shaped patch of grass and created a massive crater. With wings back, he continued to plummet through the large dust cloud. He mentally made a note of how long it would take him to reach the opening and continued to plummet through that area and extended his wings, reversing his fall as he landed on the aft hull of the airship that lay below.

The cell was dank, gray and cold. They didn't even bother to bring her a blanket. Time was starting to wear her thin. An opportunity for escape had not presented itself yet and she was growing ancy. She was sure she had the strength to knock the cell door down. However, being able to fight an unknown amount of people on her own and without a weapon was not an attractive thought. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. This was not going to be easy, she thought.

Within seconds, Yuffie heard a large crash. An eery silence ensued as the vibrations from the crash radiated throughout the airship. Yuffie stood up, alarmed. More crashes and bangs could not only be heard but felt. This had to be her chance. Something definitely was happening. After a few minutes, Zavery came running into the brig.

"I think this is our chance to get you out of here. Someone is attacking the ship. How they found us, I don't know." she said quickly. "I don't have the combination though…" Another large crash and bang. The shouts of the crew members could be heard as well as gunshots.

"Not to worry! Stand back!" Yuffie ran and put both legs into her kick. The door jarred and then swung open. Yuffie caught herself on the floor neatly. "Alright!" she said as she pumped a fist into the air. Zavery looked somewhat shocked. "uh…how come you didn't do that before?"

"Well, all I needed was a distraction. Now that I have one, this is the perfect opportunity." Yuffie looked down at her bare hands and grimaced at her dress. "Know where I can find a weapon?"

"Mmmhmm. Follow me!" Zavery led the way out the brig and into the walkway. They ran down the hall and into a lift. The lift carried them up a floor and into another hallway. After running down that hallway, Zavery opened a door with a keycode. The door swung open and dim lights revealed a room full of weapons.

"Wow…" Yuffie said bright eyed.

"Yeah. This is some of the things we heist on occasion." Zavery responded. Yuffie looked around and found a wakizashi and katana. Her weapon was nowhere to be found. "Damn…don't happen to know where my large shuriken went, do you?"

"Uh…no we didn't recover any weapons when you were found."

Yuffie responded with a sigh. "This will have to do then."

She pulled a wakizashi out and started to cut a slit down the thigh of her long red dess. Zavery watched her, stunned. As Yuffie started to cut another slit, she said, "This damn thing will get in my way." The last part she cut was the material that hung in between the slits. It was cut off to her mid thigh. Zavery didn't think Yuffie looked half bad in her modified outfit. "Not half bad," she said, inspecting the blade, "looks like its Wutai." Her gaze shifted to the door and she sighed, getting herself ready for the fight to come. "Now, time to run. Are you coming with me?"

The young medic froze. "I …I can't."

Yuffie paused and turned to Zavery with a confused look, "Huh? Why not? You're telling me you really want to stay here?"

More crashes and booms sounded and shook the ship. Stumbling, they both managed to brace against the wall without falling.

"It's a really long story, I just…I just can't."

"Zavery!" Yuffie yelled in frustration. "I can't help you if you don't let me!"

"The captain is the only one who knows where my sister is. If I leave now, I'll never be able to find her. He sold her into slavery…" The young girl broke into tears and sunk to the floor.

Yuffie grabbed her by the collar and yanked her up. "This is no time to get weepy." Zavery righted herself and wiped her tears and sniffled. "Look, Zavery, the most important thing right now is to get to safety. There are other ways of finding your sister. It's very obvious these people here hurt you. It's not worth the pain and trouble. I'm sure your sister would want more for you."

Zavery looked to Yuffie with a mixture of hope and doubt in her eyes. "Trust me," she extended her hand to the girl. Zavery hesitantly took it. Yuffie beamed, "Now, let's go!" She rushed out of the weapons room to the dimly lit hallway. The lights flickered as another shockwave rumbled throughout the airship. Yuffie's brow creased. "Which way? Do you know a way out?"

"Yeah, but it involves the area where the fighting is currently happening. The only escape hatch is in the aft section."

"Well, we'll have to make due. Lead the way. It's bound to get tricky when we get closer."

The young medic grabbed firmly onto Yuffie's hand and jogged to the lift. Small vibrations could be felt through the metal beneath their feet. As they reached the lift, they were sure they'd have to use the emergency access tubes because it was non operational at first. The doors barely opened and they had to squeeze through. The keypad responded and soon they were moving upwards to the next floor. They ran through another series of hallways until Zavery announced, "It's up ahead. Just around the next corner."

Yuffie stopped and yanked her back, "Zavery, slow down!" Zavery came to a halt as Yuffie dragged her behind her and against the wall. "Let me go first and assess the situation. We don't know who or what is attacking the ship."

Zavery nodded her head. "Okay."

"Stay here and I'll be back shortly." Yuffie ran off down the corridor and was rounding the corner just as a huge explosion blew through the cargo bay door. She jumped back and flattened herself to the wall. When the smoke cleared she could hear footsteps kicking through the charred mess. She peered around the corner. Flames licked the walls, charred debris lie blackened in heaps and the form of Chaos came into view as he approached a slumped figure on the floor. Chaos walked up to the figure as the person leveled a gun with a shaky hand. "Hmph," Chaos breathed in amusement as he emptied a round in the figure's head. The figure slumped over with a thud. Yuffie pulled herself out of sight around the corner in panic. Holy crap! Her fear was taking over. Her hand started to shake and her breaths came short and ragged. The footsteps continued towards her end of the hall. Within seconds, she was flatted against the wall with a hand around her neck, orange glowing eyes staring back at her. Her grip on the wakizashi loosened and it clinked on the ground below her.

"Vin….cent…." She managed to choke out, almost inaudible. An orange eye narrowed on her.

"Yuffie…." He rumbled as he pressed himself into her more. She could feel every inch of his rock-hard body against her. His breath ragged and warm as it dusted across her cheek. An evil, fanged smile graced his lips. Yuffie was about to pass out. Whether from fright, shock, lack of food, air or a combination of those things, she wasn't sure. Abruptly, his mood changed and his grip upon her neck loosened as he staggered backwards. Within an instant, energy began to dissipate from around Chaos; only to leave Vincent standing there. Yuffie visibly relaxed against the wall and timidly reached forward to steady Vincent. His eyes darted to her with the contact. Something incomprehensible flashed across his features and then disappeared as quick as it came. His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, taking in her figure before he averted his eyes. She gave him a small smile, letting him know she was okay. Her fingers squeezed his shoulder reassuredly. "Yuffie… I… Chaos…" He was cut off.

She whispered, "Not now, Vincent. Later." She let her hand drop from his shoulder and threw her arms around him as he let his head drop and rest against her shoulder. An arm tentatively wrapped around her slender form. "Thanks for coming for me," she pulled back from the embrace and kissed his cheek. She smiled, "I can always count on you."

He pulled back, "Yuffie, are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Good. We should go before anyone else arrives," he said while trying not to look directly at her low cut neckline.

"Uh…well…about that. Someone might be tagging along." She turned, looking for Zavery. "Hey, Zave, it's safe to come out. This guy's a friend!"

In all of the commotion she had lost track of Zavery. Wasn't she just right behind her? Maybe she ran off when she saw Chaos. No response came to her call. She bent down to grab the fallen sword. Vincent glanced at her backside momentarily.

"Zave?" She started down the corridor, back the way they came, with the intent of checking the nearest corner in sight. Vincent's armored gauntlet grabbed her arm gently. In that instant, Captain Swift and Machen stepped from around the corner that was Yuffie's destination. Zavery was nowhere in sight.

"I'm afraid our dear Zavery is a bit….incapacitated at the moment. You don't actually think you'll escape here? Not even your friend here can save you." Captain Swift smiled darkly. The medals on his jacket clinked as he got into a fighting stance, a very sharp katana glinting in the dim light of the corridor. Machen brushed his duster behind him, resting his hand on his holstered gunblade.

Yuffie's brow furrowed. She could only guess that nothing good could be surmised about Zavery's condition. Her grip on the wakizashi tightened.

"You obviously have no clue who we are." Vincent replied smoothly. His cloak brushed aside revealing Cerberus.

She let out a deep breath and glanced sideways at Vincent with a smirk. "I call that one," indicating Machen. "He's got it coming. As for Captain Loudmouth, I think his bark is more dangerous than his bite."

She saw Vincent nod out of the corner of her eye. "Let's go." They sprung into action.

A/N: Sorry guys! School is kicking my butt and I hardly have time for writing. Tho this chapter is short, I plan on writing very long ones for the next few. After December 12th, I should be posting more regularly. Thanks to everyone for the great reviews!