Keeper of Cerberus

Morning broke far earlier than she would have liked. Her body was tired and particularly sore, but her mind stirred her awake. Warm arms were circled around her waist, holding her tightly to the bare chest of a certain crimson eyed gunman. She reveled in the way his body fit against hers and just how right it felt. She was still for a moment, letting her body come fully around as her mind had so rudely decided it was time to move. When she shifted onto her back to look over at the man next to her she felt him adjust his hold on her.
She gave a faint smile and held down a yawn that made one eye twitch closed slightly. His long onyx hair spilled in a half-hazard way across his sleeping features, and over the pillow. She resisted the strong urge to reach up and push it away from his face. Instead she just let her eyes sweep over his face. She traced the light scars that ran along his chest and over his flat abs. She twisted around and easily slipped from his grasp, replacing her form in his arms with her pillow. He did not wake, only shifted a little and pulled the pillow towards him. She went down stairs and set out her new cleaning kit and began dismantling the gun she had taken from the holster which was slung over the chair in the bed room.
When Vincent finally woke he was surprised to find that Faye had replaced herself with a pillow, opting to not wake him up while she ventured about her morning routine. Vaguely in the back of his mind he wondered how she managed to do that without waking him up. Shrugging it off he pulled his pants on and took note that Cerberus was no longer in its holster over the back of the chair. Down stairs not only did he smell breakfast cooking but he could hear Faye singing loudly to herself. He marveled at the fact that she was real for a moment before muttering a quiet thanks to whatever gods were looking out for him.

A few weeks passed and she was now back at Seventh Heaven. A few blocks down from it rather. Herself, Tifa and Yuffie had decided to help Cid with some repairs to his airship. The hot headed man had refused at first when Tifa offered. He rattled on in a sexist manner about how it was mans work and the like. He resigned when Faye offered to assist him as well. However unsure he was about the others, Faye would do it whether he accepted her offer or not so there was no point in trying to argue.
“ Cid I need that wrench!” She yelled, holding a sheet of heavy metal with ease to the curve of the ship. She was thankful for her quick reaction as the tool came flying at her head. With ease she moved her hover board over to tighten the bolts down.
“ Your lucky we need you here Cid,” She threatened in a good natured way as she lowered herself to look at her work.
“I heard that!” Cid called from somewhere below the belly of the airship.
“What are you going to do about it?” She asked back.
“I’ll kick yer skinny ass!” He ranted.
“I am using that sweet hover board you made me,” she stuck her tongue out in his general direction, “you couldn’t catch me if you wanted to.”

To her right standing on a platform Tifa laughed. Faye wiped her hands on a rag she had tucked into her back pocket as she directed the board to the floor. She threw the rag at Cids head earning a few sharp cuss words. Yuffie came out from under the airship covered in black. Faye shook her head at the Wutai Ninja.
“Let’s go eat,” she said to them as she tipped her toe forward on the curved end of the board causing it to flip up into her waiting hand.
“Alright, let’s go relieve Amaya and Neneki of their babysitting,” Tifa smiled. Faye shrugged at the ninja who gave her a quizzical look before following the martial artist out the door.

When they arrived at Seventh Heaven Faye took notice that the guys still weren’t back. She shrugged and went into the kitchen to find something to eat. She came back with a bag of chips and a soda. She flopped down into Vincents corner and sipped her drink. Neneki came to lay next to her and she mindlessly combed her fingers through his mane like she used to. When a bead brushed against her knuckle she twisted it gently between her fingers. He purred contently. Shortly after the others joined her as well. They chattered softly about everything for a while and the atmosphere was calm. Faye however was completely distracted from their conversation. She wasn’t sure when her senses had become so acutely aware of the energy, but she could tell it didn’t belong to anyone in the bar. It actually rocked her slightly with its force as it washed over her. She stood up quickly a sweeping dread filling her suddenly, “I need to go.” She raced out the door and jumped on her board.

“Beret!” Cloud called. A small army had ambushed the group of three. However much he wished it weren’t true, he couldn’t find the bulky man anywhere. Cloud twisted around and lashed his buster sword out at the nearest group. It cut clean through the first to before lodging in the thirds spine. Three gun shots sounded from his right as he shook the body free of his blade.
Vincent had thrown himself into the battle with the usual effort. The adrenaline coursing through him made his heart race as he shot down one after another. There were a few times Cloud lost concentration and nearly fell to a stray blade. He acted quickly to keep his comrade from being hit. To keep himself calm he made calculated shots. They were out numbered, and their chances were looking slim as a few of the soldiers that had been mowed down got back to their feet like puppets on a string.

The heart raced in her ears. Sickness washed over her as she stomped down a little harder on the peddle under her foot. The board rocketed forward as she raced along the ground. Faye came face to face with a small brigade of blue armored men. At the heart of the scuffle a red cape flashed in a complicated dace around the gleam of a familiar buster blade.
Fear sprang to life inside her and she powered forward. At the line that was the outer edge of the fighters she tossed a few explosive caps. The explosive cap scattered the enemy for a moment. She leapt from her board and hit the ground running. Faye’s hand closed tightly around the grip of her pistol and she lashed it out against the nearest exposed skull. It bounced slightly when the metal cracked against bone and the man collapsed. As she passed another she fired into another’s chest. A summon leapt up in front of her and matched her for a while. Nearing the others she felt her heart leap. They were ok. She knew that the moment the thought passed her mind it was a mistake. She saw the man leap head long at Vincent, who had turned to block and attack on Cloud who was struggling to free himself from something. The name forming on her lips didn’t even have time to fall from her lips it simply died on her tongue as she watched it happen.

Vincent saw familiar blonde hair appear at the edge of the skirmish. She made her way toward them slashing and shooting wildly. She never missed a shot, even though her head swiveled about to single out her next target from the rest. The bark of her pistol brought a spit of flame from the muzzle. He was momentarily distracted by the breeze of a sword sweeping a little too close to his shoulder. Vincent retaliated, turning abruptly and firing Cerberus as he swiveled around. He put a bullet between a soldiers eyes.
“Vincent!” Cloud called in slight urgency, “Cover me.”
Vincent easily fell into place, his cape flashing around Cloud as he fired at those who came too close. He glanced at Cloud who was hurriedly trying to unclasp his sword holster where a sticky green liquid was eating away the material.
When it finally fell away Cloud regained his composure… only to have a huge hole torn in it. Vincent gave an audible groan of slight shock and following was a grunt of pain. Cloud’s gaze came up to see Vincent blocking a sword from crashing into the blonde with the side of his three barreled pistol. A wave of sickness washed through Cloud when he noticed a good four inches of crimson dripping sword protruding from the gunmans back.