Rufus's palms were sweating and he felt feverish, but he fought against it, struggling to sit up and witness what was happening, confront the visitor that had arrived out of nowhere. He hadn't even heard them come in, but when a familiar deep voice rang out, he knew exactly what had happened; Reeve had betrayed him. And in his weakened state, with no security or advisors to save him, he was a sitting duck. He was as good as dead.

"*Dammit*, Reeve!" He bellowed weakly, panting and not tearing his vision from Vincent's own red eyes. "You goddamned bastard. I oughta have you shot. I should have known you would pull something like this."

Reeve whirled and gave the President a desperate look. "It's not how it seems, Mr President, he's here to help. He's the only one of AVALANCHE who we can really trust. Right, Vincent?" He turned and gave a pleading look to his friend, who had not flinched a muscle since Rufus's sudden appearance, and was staring fixedly at the invalid. Namely, at his eyes.

"What happened?" Vincent asked. "How did he get-"

"Vincent!" Reeve cut him off sharply, glancing over at Rufus, who had gone considerably pale. His ashen face was stonily glaring at the two of them, but his shoulders shook with the exertion of breathing normally. Reeve turned his back to him and whispered confidentially into Vincent's ear, "He doesn't know about that yet. I ... God, Vince, I don't know what to do..."

"That's why I was summoned, then?" Vincent didn't attempt to whisper, and never broke eye contact with Rufus. The boy bristled, suspecting the AVALANCHE's intentions were as dark as his glowering countenance. "I understand. Why haven't you told the others?"

"Think about it." Reeve tapped the side of his head frustratedly, one hand fisted on his hip. "What would happen if Barret or Cloud caught a whiff of the fact that he was alive? The only reason they're consoled about the whole Shinra thing is because they believe he's dead. To them, he *is* dead. I don't want them to-"

Rufus interrupted with an indignant snort. "I'm in the room, Reeve, there's no need to speak as though I can't hear you." He was back to his old form, posture stiff and voice haughty, eyes brimming with fire. And Mako. "What do you mean they think I'm dead? What the hell happened to my company?"

"Sir..." Reeve moved forwards and fumbled nervously with his sleeve, staring at the floor. "I'm afraid Shinra is no longer. Midgar was destroyed by Meteor, as was the Shinra building, Heidegger, Scarlet, and Hojo are all dead, and popular belief is that you died in that blast from Weapon."

"So?"

"So... I believe your best move would be to forget Shin-Ra, Incorporated. The public blames them for the death and destruction caused, and the heirarchy is non-existant. The only executives alive are Palmer and I, and I'm not willing to work for Shinra any longer. And Palmer-" Reeve scoffed, his feelings for the bumbling department head written clearly on his face. "Forget it. Sir, please..."

"Midgar can be rebuilt. There must be more then that still alive. Didn't anyone escape?"

"The secretaries and the low-class execs only, sir. But not even many of those. The two people that brought you here said that most of them were staying at their stations until the end. And... Sir, please..."

"How do they expect to get power, then?" Rufus pushed back a few stray strands of hair with shaking fingers, his breathing shallow and dry. "If the Mako reactors-"

"Sir, Mako is not an option," Reeve interrupted softly.

Rufus felt the rage boil within himself, and scowled angrily. "I'll decide that for myself, Reeve!" he hissed, throwing back the bedclothes. "And I'll decide what are and what aren't my options regarding..." He broke off, wheezing for breath, and slowly swung his legs over until he was sitting on the edge of his bed. "... Regarding the future of Shin-Ra. And watch yourself or you won't be a part of it."

"Sir, I quit." Reeve turned away and began stroking his goatee again, glancing at Vincent's dark form, which had retreated to the corner of the room nearest to the stairs. "I didn't agree with Shin-Ra's actions in a lot of ways, you know. I never have. You caused a lot of death and destruction."

The words seemed to hit Rufus like a stab to the heart, ringing eerily familiar and like a death-knoll in his ears. Rufus Shinra... The death and destruction you and your company...

He shook his head and got shakily to his feet, leaning with one hand on the bedpost, his face marked with contempt and bitterness. "So. I see. Which is why you brought the vampire, so you could have me murdered. Excellent work, Reeve, I couldn't have done better myself." He tried desperately to ignore the screaming in his head, the dizziness and the sensation that he was going to be sick all at once, but he was unable to control the shaking in his voice. "So that's how it is."

"I'm not here to murder you," Vincent interjected lowly, eyes gleaming from beneath his bandanna. "And I am not a vampire."

"Of course not. Which is why you wear a cape and can fly." Rufus's wavering couldn't conceal the bitter sarcasm etched onto his face, or the anger in his eyes. "Bottom line, I don't believe you, and I don't trust you. And you're taking advantage of the fact that I'm weak and defenseless to-"

"Sir!" Reeve grabbed hold of his shoulders and effectively shut him up. Rufus was outraged, but closed his mouth and bit his lower lip, his hold on his body slipping. "Sir, no one's here to murder you. I'm a human being as well, and Shinra or no, I don't want to see anyone get hurt."

"The Turks," Rufus spat through clenched teeth. "I'll get the Turks."

"I don't give a damn." Reeve's tone was as biting as Rufus's, except he was the one who could stand up on his own. "Get all the Turks you want. They'll agree."

"Not if I pay them enough."

"With what?"

Rufus stammered and swam, his knees nearly buckling. "I-... Well, of course, with-"

"The money from your non-existant company. Exactly, sir. Now sit down before you kill yourself." Reeve tried to force Rufus to a sitting position, but the red-haired young man would have none of it. With a cry of rage, he shoved Reeve weakly and twisted away, somehow managing to wriggle out of his grasp. Then he was heading for the door, for out of the room, where he wouldn't have to listen to this bastard tell him what to do, where he could reclaim this goddamned world and find people who didn't have their heads up their asses, who weren't out to kill him, who-

His escape was abruptly ended by a huge metal arm swinging down inches from his face. "You're not leaving, Mr President." Vincent's cold voice was like a scream in its steel, his eyes glimmering menacingly. "That would be very unwise."

There was a stunned silence from the boy. Vincent realized dimly that Rufus wasn't even listening, completely ignoring him, all the strength seeming to whoosh out of his body at once. He grabbed onto Vincent's arm and clung to it, nearly toppling the ex-Turk with the sudden weight attached to the brass appendage. But Rufus didn't even seem to realize this, he was too paralyzed with shock and fear to release his hold on the metal surface.

Reeve realized too late what Rufus was staring at - his reflection in Vincent's brass arm. "... Sir..."

"Oh, God..."

"Sir, if you could just..."

"Oh my god... My... My eyes..."

He crumpled to the ground, with Reeve, Vincent, and Cait Sith rushing to help him, but had barely hit the floor before he was scrambling backwards on his hands and feet, eyes filled with horror. "God... What have you done... to my eyes...!?!"

"Sir..." Reeve reached his side first, putting his hands on his shoulders and looking straight at him. "Sir, relax, come on, you'll hurt yourself, get back in bed..."

Rufus shrugged him off and grabbed a hold onto the end of the bed, slowly pulling himself to his feet. He felt a searing pain in his lungs, his breath coming in ragged gasps, the weakness that had plagued him returning threefold. "God ... damn... I'm... How did it...?"

He thought he heard screaming, but he couldn't be sure. Instead, he felt all strength leaving his body, and he collapsed to the floor, staring straight up at the ceiling with his glowing blue eyes.

How is it... possible? What happened to me? The Lifestream... Mako... How could it have gotten into me? Is... Oh, God, does this mean the Lifestream's in my blood? The Lifestream... From when I was...

From when I was dead.

I couldn't have died. I'm still alive. I'm in Kalm. I'm ... I'm going to restart Shinra. I don't give a damn about Reeve. He's a spy for AVALANCHE, anyway, a minion to those... terrorists. I know that. That cat of his. I should have seen it all along. I can't trust him. As soon as I am able, I will return to Midgar... No, Midgar's been destroyed. I'll return to Junon. And rebuild from there. Junon hasn't been destroyed. We can... Perhaps we can build another Sister Ray. Scarlet will be thrilled, she'll probably... No... She's dead... And Heidegger... And Father... And... And me...

So what do I do? I can't... I can't run Shinra... Shinra doesn't exist. Everything I've hoped for... I was born so that my father would have someone to pass on his company to... I was raised and trained to do that. I owned the world... Perhaps I could try again from Junon...

Poor dear. Poor, poor dear. You've come such a long way.

But... Everyone thinks I'm dead... Mako is not an option... How is it not an option? It's...

It drains the Planet of its Lifestream. It slowly, surely, murders the Planet. It murders every soul that exists within the Lifestream. It murders the Lifestream.

No... But it brings power to Midgar, it's the only way they can survive...

Oh, no... They're all dead... Midgar was destroyed...

And I'm all alone... With the Lifestream... inside of me...

... Am I... alive?

His dreams brought him to Midgar again, staring down at the ruins of the city, the winds whistling harshly amongst the wasteland of the once-proud empire, the elements finally claiming the land that was once their own. Twisted metal and broken rubble lay strewn everywhere, the barrel of the huge Sister Ray bent and lying buried deep within what used to be the plate to Sector 7. It had been destroyed, though Rufus didn't know how. What had Reeve said? Was it Meteor? Or was it just...

He closed his eyes and rested his head in his hands, sitting in one of the broken streets, his normally starch-white suit torn and muddy, his long trenchcoat wrapped around him his only protection against the cold. The night sky above him was starless, the deep pollution and dust from the ruined city blocking off all sight of the sky. It was a wasteland everywhere he looked, stretching out for miles, land that would no longer grow vegitation, that was barren for all time. Hundreds of years would pass, and the birth of new life would be long in coming, if it ever happened at all. Shinra, the superpower, the savior to everyone in Midgar, had doomed this area to be nothing but... But a pile of twisted metal, basking in the glow of the moon.

His red hair hung over his face, and he opened his eyes to stare at the ground below him. This was where countless citizens had walked, every day, people who continued on with their daily lives in this city, the people Rufus had controlled and counted upon. All wiped out in a single blow, because of Jenova, Sephiroth, some power too far away and vague to blame. They all blamed Shinra, instead. Shinra. Rufus Shinra. Shinra. They were all dead. Midgar, the dreams of his company, his father, his father's father... Wiped out. And Rufus didn't know how. He had arrived only in the aftermath.

He squeezed his eyes shut and felt a warm prickling at his eyes, the tears sliding between his eyelids and onto his cheeks, sliding down his fair skin. They had always regarded him as stone. Rufus, the unshakable, the unbreakable. He would rather die than be weak. He had stared down his own death, defied his fate, and perhaps he'd won. Foolish and arrogant enough to control the world, to doom himself even further. The essence of power in every word, the strength in every feature. He could stare down his executives with one baleful look from his sparkling blue eyes, wow the public with the effortless way he flicked back his hair, with his devastatingly aristocratic features. He was the highest of high society, he owned the world. The world which now lay broken under his feet, traversed by the wind alone, destroyed by a force too large to overcome.

He wiped a tear and looked at it; it was glowing. Like Lifestream.

He lept to his feet and ran to a piece of broken glass that was in the street. He stared straight into it, heart pounding, legs weak. A pair of swirling blue eyes glowed steadily back at him, mirroring his anxiety, his horror. Mako eyes. Something had happened to him, something... He didn't even know what. Something was wrong. There had to be a reason...

He fell to his knees and bowed his head, feeling the Lifestream searing his eyes in his tears, the blood of the Planet trickling down his face, the battle scars of a once-proud empire beneath him. He was dizzy, he was sick, he was... He didn't know anything anymore. It was all lost, it was all gone. Everything he had lived for, died for...

He felt a hand on his shoulder, a calm voice in his ear. "Rufus... Son..."

His father ran a hand through Rufus's red hair, an affectionate smile on his face. "You always did look like your mother, you know. You didn't take after me. You never even listened."

Rufus lept to his feet and whirled around, but there was no one there, only the whistling of the wind around him, the dirty streets of Midgar surrounding him. Closing him in. Such a huge empire... crushed under some giant heel, like an an insect...

Rufus Shinra... You will have to atone for your sins...

"How?" He pressed his fists to his closed eyes, staggering backwards and ducking his head. "Please... I don't want to do this..."

There must be some way out, he thought desperately. There must be. There has to be. There is never a road without a turn, there is never a wall without a break. There had to be a way out for him. There always had been. There always would be. There had to. Please.

The winds over Midgar screamed in reply, drowning out all his cries for help. And then it all faded to black.

He moaned, tossing and turning in his sleep, his breathing labored and rough, his face set in a grimace of pain. Vincent regarded the former President of Shinra from his perch across the room, his observant vision taking in the small details about him. His once fair skin was now marked with burns, especially on the left side of his face. He would soon be developing a few nasty scars on his forehead, as evidenced by the red, puckered blotches. His red hair was shorter, some of the ends singed off, and it lay disheveled on the pillow, a few loose strands falling sorrowfully over his eyes. His trenchcoat was lying on a chair in the corner, with several holes in it and a large assortment of bloodstains, and the boy was now in just his white pants and black turtleneck shirt. He was thinner than Vincent remembered, his cheeks looking somewhat gaunt, but he assumed that was from the boy's lack of food. Reeve had been at his wits end for two weeks, ever since the boy had shown up at his door carried by two former Shinra secretaries, the day after Meteor hit Midgar. And somehow he had managed to survive the blast from Weapon. He had managed to survive through everything. It was almost supernatural.

Vincent returned his vision to his gun when Rufus began to stir again, his blue hazy eyes opening to blink at the sunlight streaming in through the window. He yawned widely and smacked loudly, rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand like a child. Then he realized he wasn't alone.

"Vampire." His voice was taught and, though he remained lying on his back in bed, superior. "What the hell are you doing."

"Cleaning my gun," Vincent answered simply, holding the weapon so that the sunlight glinted off of it. He stole a glance and saw that Rufus's eyes were nervous, the lines on his forehead drawn into an anxious frown. But then his face smoothed, and cleared, and he was in control again. "What time is it?"

"About six in the morning. Reeve's asleep." Rufus turned and regarded the form of the executive curled up in the next bed, the plush moogle playing sentinel next to him. Cait Sith sat on the toy's head, licking the back of his paw to clean his ear. "You've been asleep for about six hours."

"I'm hungry. Do you have any food?" He knew he probably couldn't stomach anything, but he didn't know how long he had been asleep. And he was seriously famished. "And, no, I don't suck blood."

Vincent cocked the hammer of his gun. Rufus simply stared at him.

"Watch yourself, Shinra," the ex-Turk stated, but he pointed to Rufus's bedside table, were a tray sat with a full breakfast on it, complete with hot tea and coffee. They must have been expecting him to be hungry. Damned second-guessers.

Rufus glared at it suspiciously. "You didn't poison it, did you?"

"You're acting childish," Vincent snapped. "Of course it's not poisoned."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because you're hungry." The dark man shook his head and pulled the trigger of the Death Penalty. Rufus winced expectantly, but all he heard was a dull click. It hadn't been loaded.

He diverted his attention to the breakfast, sitting up weakly and shakily taking a plate. Unfortunately, none of it seemed particularly appetizing, being all mostly bland and tasteless-looking. He was hungry enough to finish off an entire bakery, but one glance up at Vincent told him he didn't want to push it. So he settled for a rather dry piece of toast and slowly poured himself some tea.

He took a bite and made a face. "Oh, lord."

"Is it cold? I ordered it about an hour ago. I anticipated that you would wake up sooner than you did." Vincent wasn't looking at him, but Rufus knew he was paying attention. It was like being in jail, for cripe's sake. He was being guarded by some kind of demon.

"It's fine, Vamp," he sneered, and took another bite just to prove it. "I hope you're not fattening me up just to eat me."

"Rufus, please. You're stooping to name-calling. As former president of a huge company, you can probably act more dignified than that." He's acting like Yuffie, Vincent remarked inwardly. "It's getting tiresome."

Rufus scowled down at his breakfast, suddenly feeling not quite so hungry anymore. "I hate when you're right. Fine. I apologize profusely."

Vincent understood the bitter notes in his voice, and looked at him. He tried to appear sympathetic, to somehow appease the boy, but he was not good at feigning emotion, considering he didn't feel any. "I have no quarrel with you, so it serves no purpose to be hostile."

Rufus scoffed. "You're a part of AVALANCHE, aren't you?"

Cait Sith's small voice mewed from the next bed, startling Rufus. He hadn't even known the thing had been turned on. "He's not the kind of guy to blindly follow, y'know. It doesn't mean much."

"I hold no grudge against you and I see no reason why I should. In your present state, you pose no threats. Reeve requested my assistance, and that is all."

"Oh." Rufus stared down at his hands and took a sip of the bitter tea, letting it soothe his parched throat. They sat without speaking for a long time, the only sounds the noise of Reeve snoring softly and Rufus taking dainty sips of his tea. Vincent was even silent in the cleaning of his gun. And Cait had finished bathing himself, and was now glaring around him with his almond eyes wide.

Eyes. "What... What happened to me?" Rufus asked softly, to no one in particular. "How did my eyes get like that?"

"I don't know," Vincent answered, and explained no more. Rufus glanced at him, but he didn't appear to be lying. He didn't even seem to notice that he had just answered a question. The youth sighed and leaned back on his pillow, wishing he were strong enough to stand up and get out of this room. But the tingling in his legs told him that the truth was otherwise. He was lucky to be sitting up.

Suddenly, Vincent's head snapped up, and his hands on the gun ceased their movements, every muscle in his body becoming perfectly still. Rufus started at him intently, but he was listening to something, something far off in the distance, something that only he could hear. It made him very very nervous.

Cait cocked his head and looked at his comrade, confused. "What is it?" Vincent's voice was soft but insistent. "Shut up."

The two were silent, listening to Reeve's snoring and watching Vincent slowly get to his feet and steal to the head of the stairs, peering down with a stony expression on his face. Rufus tensed and once again felt his palms grow sweaty, felt the surge of weakness through him. He covered his eyes with his hands and gasped dimly, blowing his breath out slowly and shakily.

Suddenly, Vincent straightened and darted down the stairs, putting a finger to his lips. "He's asleep. Come back later when he wakes up."

Rufus lay back and felt his heart pound, but snapped his head up and watched Vincent. He wasn't speaking to anyone in the room, his attentions were diverted to someone down the stairs.

So, he cursed inwardly. Damn.

"What are you guys doing up there?" a shrill female voice asked. "Everyone else is outside waiting for you."

"Reeve's going to stay here," Vincent replied in his low voice. "I will leave on my own. Continue without us."

"God, Vincent I'm leaving in about half an hour for Wutai, I'm not going to see either of you ever again, so I don't care how tired you are. We're all mad at you two for leaving us at the bar last night, anyway. I had to pay for your drink!" The voice came floating into Rufus's ears, but the roaring in his head almost drowned her out. It was one of the AVALANCHE, one of those...

"Yuffie, please..." Vincent held out a hand to stop her, but the teenager was too quick for even him, and darted past his crimson form, throwing phantom punches at the back of his head. He whirled to face her, shooting his hand out in front of her face, but she was too quick again, ducking beneath it and running up to the cat sitting on Reeve's bed.

"Hey, Cait, bud, what's up?" She sat next to him, poking the snorting Reeve on the shoulder blade. "Tell your guy that he's a lazy ass. I'm leaving soon, and I don't wanna-"

Rufus simply watched her, scarcely daring to move, hoping perhaps she wouldn't even notice him, but his hopes were all dashed when he heard Cait's muffled curse, and the girl's voice broke off so suddenly like that. He knew it. AVALANCHE had found him. He turned his head to gaze at her with his clear blue eyes, too dizzy to even push the hair out of his face, too weak to muster even a scowl. She was gaping at him, her jaw slack, hands balled into fists.

Reeve suddenly snorted and shot up in bed, looking around him in a wild panic. "Huh? What? God! I-" He shook his head and ran a hand through his mussed hair, yawning loudly. "God, Vincent, why didn't you..."

"Reeve." Vincent's voice was calm, but the tone underneath quickly snapped the executive to attention. He turned his head and beheld Rufus and Yuffie staring silently at each other, Yuffie too aghast to say a word, and Rufus too proud to reply. Vincent stood at the head of the stairs, invisibly tense and ready for anything that came next, glaring balefully at the young Ninja, whose mouth hung open in a wide O.

"Yuffie..." Reeve finally ventured softly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Yuffie, I can explain..."

"Oh my Gawd," was all she said. "Oh my Gawd." And then she turned and dashed for the stairs.

Vincent grabbed Yuffie by the back of the neck and held on tight, barely seeming to notice the kicks and blows that she rained down onto his shins and arms. Her mouth was open and she was squealing in terror and rage, arms flying with punch after punch at Vincent. "Let... me... go!!!"

"Yuffie, calm down." Reeve moved forwards and ducked a stray fist. "Calm down. He's not going to hurt you."

"Shut up, traitor!" She wriggled and fought, gasping for air, fear in her eyes. "You're a goddamned triple agent is what you are! Pretending you're on our side after we found out you were a spy... Bull shit!" She glared at him, hatred welling up inside her. "Bull *shit*, Reeve."

"Look, I'm not a part of Shinra anymore. And neither is he." Reeve guestured weakly to the red-haired youth, who was still lying down in bed but had his eyes closed, his face ashen. "Shinra's over. I'm treating him like a human being now. Is that so wrong?" He paused and scratched the back of his head, waiting for Yuffie to stop struggling. "And, besides, though most of my loyalty lies with AVALANCHE, I still owe Shinra, you know. Enough to save a man's life, anyway."

"TRAITOR!!!" She lashed down and managed to send a well-aimed kick at Reeve, catching him squarely on the knee. He buckled and fell to the ground with a cry of pain. She wasted no time in turning to Vincent and giving another scream of rage. "Ice!"

He grunted painfully as a sudden blast of cold seared his skin, and he loosened his hold on her. She immediately gave him a punch to the back of the head before dashing down the stairs, screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs, Cait Sith close at her heels. Vincent cursed audibly, fumbling in his pocket for a curative materia, but, of course, Yuffie had all of it. Things were looking bad.

"You... okay?" Reeve wheezed, getting to his feet with a wince. Damned girl had gotten him right in the bum knee. "Shit. We're in deep."

"You can level with them," Vincent said slowly, looking at Rufus. He had his eyes open now, and was staring blankly at the cieling, pale and bedraggled. "If what you were doing was dishonest, I would have had the same reaction."

Reeve shook his head and sat down at the end of the bed with a sigh. "Shit. They'll probably leave you alone, but... Oh, shit. I really didn't want this to happen."

Vincent closed his eyes and bowed his head, then started rummaging in his pockets again, searching for something. He checked his bracelet and then folded his arms over his chest, waiting. Reeve watched him curiously.

"What are you doing? ... Man, I hate to say this, but shouldn't we get outta here?"

"I do not need to hide," Vincent said simply, his dark hair covering his face. "To do so would only arouse their suspicion. If you confront them and explain the situation, then you would have the best chance of preventing any... any violence."

"You're not the one about to get murdered," Reeve muttered darkly, turning away.

Rufus didn't flinch a muscle except to turn his face towards Reeve. "No, Reeve. I am."

They stared at each other unblinkingly, before Rufus let out a labored sigh and laid his head back again, closing his eyes. "They're here."

A loud banging was heard coming up the stairs, and with a roar Barret was standing in their midst, eyes flashing and gun-armed raised and aimed.

"Where is he?"