Summary: Set one year after DoC; A stranger appears in the woods not far from vincent's home, wounded and barely alive. What will the team do and what strange things will happen once she wakes? (Not a good Summary)

A/N: This was actually inspired when I replayed Dirge of Cerberus, Played some of Crisis Core and was reading far too many fan fictions… Also, taking part of an Rp one of my good friends pulled me into... Apparently I play a decent Vincent *Shrugs*. Anyhow, I had a crazy dream and decided to take on that and write it out for you. I know it's a pitiful summary and I'm not sure if you'll like it or my writing style, but I would like a Beta if anyone is interested… Please Read and Review, I can't very well judge its quality without you! Thank you!

Once Again

It was snowing… again… Well, perhaps still snowing would be more appropriate. A soft sigh followed this thought along with the dull thump of a coffee mug returning to its place on the table. Crimson eyes watched the snow fall outside the window as Vincent's thoughts wandered, as usual, to the past. How long since he had thought the best place for him was sealed away in a coffin of all things… And how now he almost wished he were still slumbering there. Dark eyes flicked to the steam curling from the hot tea in his coffee mug and a sigh followed. Cloud and the others had woken him, they had struggled and finally they had killed Sephiroth and something almost like peace descended. Then had come Geostigma and finally, two years later, the trio of Sephiroth clones; Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. With that, came another appearance from Sephiroth, somehow summoned through Kadaj by a piece of Jenova. Cloud had to kill him yet again. Then another year of rebuilding and peace Followed by the uncovering of Deepground. What followed then was his story he supposed, what with Omega and Chaos, the Tsviets and the protomateria… Now, a year after that, there was still a scar in the sky over what was once Midgar. Edge's boundaries were pushing further out away from the old metropolis and here he was, Vincent Valentine, in a house built for him just inside the edge of a forest south of Edge, drinking tea and watching snow fall. Needless to say, while solitary and comfortable, Vincent was beginning to wonder just how much the adventure lust of his friends had rubbed off on him as he realized he was bored.

'At least you are more confident that you even have friends, My dull host…' He heard Chaos' voice reverberate through his thoughts and he sighed. The Protomateria might have given him control over Chaos' form; however, it did not put any halt to the demonic WEAPON's thoughts… if anything, the beast's thoughts had increased. Vincent ignored Chaos and instead silently took a sip of his tea. He contemplated going outside and hunting down the Behemoth he had heard pass earlier, though he knew it wasn't much of a fight, it might be at least a little exercise if he left Cerberus Holstered. Red eyes were back on the snow and he sighed. Though he wouldn't feel the cold, he certainly did not feel like getting soaking wet from the snow melting. A mechanical chirping noise startled the Gunman and his eyes snapped to the offending item on his table. The small phone danced as it vibrated across the surface and he finally reached his gloved right hand down to pluck it from the table and flip it open.

New Message From Cloud:

Bringing Delivery, ETA 1 Hr.

A slender black brow raised as the phone was snapped shut and replaced on the table. Then Vincent remembered… Cloud had offered to bring supplies to Vincent, and the Gunman accepted… an elaborate excuse from both of them to spend some time in good company and yet away from Seventh Heaven. Cloud had been doing better, but he would never return Tifa's affections the way she wanted them… and she knew this as well. Vincent shook his head, smirking to himself. He had his own reasons for avoiding the bar. It had been bad enough with just Yuffie lusting after him, now she had Shelke doing the same… He shook his head and sighed, rising to his feet. His footsteps were almost silent aside from the sound of metal clinking ever so softly against the tile when he hit the kitchen and placed the now empty mug in the sink. He caught the faintest whisper of sound and snapped his eyes to the window over the sink and listened. Chaos perked up inside him and rumbled. 'And that would be the sound of a Behemoth fighting something…' Vincent agreed, 'Indeed, but what?' Chaos said nothing in return, only urging the Ex-Turk to go find out for the both of them. Passing through the living room to scoop up his phone, Vincent then vanished out the front door and into the swirling white.

XxXxX

The Behemoth reared up and slammed its front paws down, narrowly missing the slender figure that rolled away from it. The figure pushed to its feet and stumbled, shaking its head and turning golden eyes that were just now focusing to the beast. The Behemoth's right horn was covered in blood and the beast was bleeding freely from several deep gouges along its large body. The figure, a woman, realized several things at once. First, somehow, she had ended up in a forest draped in snow. Secondly, she had no recollection of arriving here, let alone getting caught in a fight with this Behemoth. Thirdly, her sword was now laying on the other side of this creature, thanks to her waking up in the middle of the battle and not knowing what in seven blue hells was going on.

"Aw… shit…" Her voice was soft but rough, strained from disuse, pain and the blood loss. There was a distinct hole in her abdomen where she had been impaled by the horn of the Behemoth. How was she supposed to get out of this now? Her vision was beginning to blur and there was a deep aching throb in her temples. Her mind was just too … fuzzy for her to calculate any sort of fight let alone against a full grown and clearly dangerous Behemoth.

"I'm very much going to die now I think…" She almost laughed at the irony of it all. The Behemoth's back legs twitched, as though it were about to charge when three rapid fire retorts rang loudly through the clearing. Uncomprehending, the woman's golden gaze watched as three new wounds blossomed along the Behemoths' neck, blood flowing from them almost in what seemed like slow motion. Then she noticed the beast's attention was switching from her to her far right. Her gaze lagged as she turned her head. Three more rapid gunshots sounded before she could focus her gaze on the tree line. As she staggered down to one knee, her vision blurred and refocused on a figure dressed in black leather and a brilliantly red but tattered cloak. As her vision blackened and she slumped down into the cold snow face first, she thought to herself one thing… What interesting red eyes…

XxXxX

Vincent was quick to dispatch the wounded Behemoth and once it had disintegrated into the lifestream, leaving behind only the reddened snow, he turned and headed for the downed woman. Carefully, after holstering his gun once more, he rolled her onto her back with his right hand and frowned. She was still breathing, although it was shallow, so for now she was alive. However, Chaos was silent and he was unsure of what to do… He activated a fully mastered curaga materia in the hilt of his gun and watched as the large wound in her abdomen slowly began to try and seal itself up… It wouldn't fully close the wound, that much he knew, as he slid his arm around her shoulders and slid his gauntlet under her knees and lifted her from the ground. She made a pained groan, and tucked her head against his chest. She wasn't heavy to him, but he could tell that she was solid muscle from her weight. Once he knew she wasn't going to flail or move, he took off in a swirl of black and red towards his home. Hopefully there, she would regain consciousness and he could figure out why she was here, alone and bleeding before she went on her way.

XxXxX

Vincent realized Cloud had just arrived before him as he heard the man walking about the house. He was thankful for the other's genetic enhancements as the front door opened before he had to figure out how to operate the doorknob with an unconscious person in his arms. Cloud's face usually held no emotions though now, surprise flashed across it. He stepped aside as Vincent entered and shut the door behind the Gunman. The blonde grabbed several towels out of the closet in the hall and followed Vincent into the Guest bedroom and placed the towels on the bed. Vincent didn't need to thank the man as he carefully laid the woman on the clean towels and turned to face him.

"She was in the woods, fighting a behemoth of all things..." His deep voice was without inflection although the other warrior thought he might have heard befuddlement lacing the words. Both men's eyes turned back to the woman on the bed, assessing her without speaking. There was a jagged puncture wound in the woman's abdomen, several gashes in her right bicep and left thigh and shin. Not to mention a cut along the side of her head. The woman was taller than Cloud's five feet seven inches and barely shorter than Vincent's six feet of height. Vincent guessed she would stand close to five foot ten or five foot eleven given the inch of sole on her boots. She had almost delicate facial features and very pale skin. What part of that was blood loss and what part of that was her natural skin tone, he had no idea but it was almost as pale as his own. She had full lips a few shades redder than her ivory skin and her hair … He blinked. Her hair was blue. Darker blue at the roots and almost an electrical blue at the tips and it looked as though it hung to maybe her mid back, though currently it was plastered to her by blood making some of it seem almost violet. She was dressed simply although her clothing was torn presumably from her fight with the behemoth. She wore a black tank top, ribbed like a man's undershirt and black fatigues, almost military style along with boots. With the tear in her left pant leg, it was obvious that those boots stopped just under her knee and were relatively unscathed. How has she been out in the snow wearing only that… his crimson gaze caught the Mako blue of Clouds and both men frowned, having come to the same question. Before either could speak however, Vincent's attention was turned inward and Cloud recognized the suddenly distracted look in the other man's eyes and kept his mouth shut.

'I would have assumed you could smell the Mako in her blood, my ignorant host… Surely you're not THAT stupid...' Chaos was apparently no longer in a good mood, as it growled at Vincent. Red eyes blinked and he lifted his gaze back to Cloud. "Mako in the blood…" Blonde eyebrows raised in response.

"Should I call the others?" Cloud's voice was soft but firm. Vincent shook his head; there was no need to involve the others even should this woman turn out to be an enemy. After all, Vincent had Chaos and they had killed Omega and the Tsviets. Not to mention Cloud had ended Sephiroth HOW many times now? No, they indeed could handle this themselves. Cloud simply nodded and turned his attention back to the partially healed hole in the blue haired woman's abdomen. He frowned and sighed, knowing with him here, Vincent would make him do anything medical… He cursed something in his thoughts about stupid sins as he gently pulled at the material at the edge of the wound.

"You know what I need." His words were almost a growl but Vincent was already moving to gather what the blonde needed.

XxXxX

A/N: Alright my lovelies… Please Review.