Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC characters, everything else belongs to Enix.

Chapter 4: Difficulties

Nibelheim Area- 20:15pm

"Shut up fugitive how would you know what's there!."

"Last I checked all three of us were fugitives, and I know because in Nibelheim I had a secret hiding spot if you must know!."

"Wow nice, nice you shouldn't have told me that one. You betray us that's the first place I will tell Shin-Ra to look.

"I don't hide in a spot twice idiot!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!."

Lightning was paying no attention to the two bickering beside her. The three had settled on going to Nibelheim since Xayne had mentioned something about a mansion that held a lot of information and probably even had a way to open Etro's Gate without throwing the world into a chaotic mess.

"If you two don't shut up I will round house kick the both of you in the head!." Lightning said as she stared up at the sky realizing the sun was setting and night was soon to follow. And like that the two shut up, still giving each other distasteful glares and punches to the arm though. "We rest here." Lightning said. Oraian looked around, familiar with the area they were in and suggested they kept moving. "Were pretty close to Nibelheim though, we get there and we can crash at the town inn."

Lightning shook her head and objected. "Are you forgetting, we are on the run. Going to an inn would just increase our chances of being caught."

He nodded knowing she was right and decided to stick to her plan. The three set up camp within the woodsy area. Oraian had found a spot near a river, claiming that it was his number one hiding spot because of the way the trees were positioned. They served as a canopy of sorts.

"You guys rest up, we've had a long day and I doubt tomorrow will be any better. I'll take watch." Lightning offered as she stood to her feet.

"No problem there, I'm tired anyway good night!." Oraian turned over and almost immediately he was fast asleep. Lightning huffed and rolled her eyes at the irresponsible idiot.

"Why don't you rest Lightning? Let me take watch." Xayne suggested as he walked to the woman's side. It had been a few hours since Lightning had allowed him to tag along and he hasn't done anything to impress her yet, if that was even possible. "I won't screw up I promise!."

Lightning seen the determination in his eyes but still turned him down. She wasn't much of the sleep type and would get bored easily. Doing anything that would require her full focus always kept her occupied.

"You can take the second shift." The glowing determination that gleamed within his jade eyes seemed too had washed away and he frowned. Lightning noticed and quickly turned her eyes elsewhere. It was odd. She raised a hand and placed it upon the male's shoulder. He slowly drew his eyes from the ground but didn't look the woman in the eyes. "Rest, three hours, and the watch shift is yours." She said then turned and began trekking through the woods.

Lightning came to a stop that wasn't very far from their camp area but deep enough in the woods to where there could be anyone lurking around. She pulled out Blaze Edge at her side and leaned her body against the tree, her mind began to wander, mostly about the strangeness of Xayne's behavior. Before her and Xayne were on good terms he had such a rebellious attitude and hated her. Now he's suddenly showing a soft yet desperate side of him. What the hell was up with that?

He was almost like a certain silver haired boy who use to fight along her side. Sad thing about it was she couldn't even remember his name. From his actions all the way to his emotions. He was just like that boy..

The sound of helicopters flying above drew her immediate attention to the sky. There were about six of them alongside some flying mechs. Lightning quickly ducked down behind a tree and waited for the area to be clear. Hiding was definitely something she wasn't proud of doing but it was keeping her alive nonetheless.

Actions like this solely reminded her of a scenario that was almost similar to this, trying so hard to duck her enemies. She thought that those days were over but apparently not. Shin-Ra was just as bad. When the loud sound of the helicopter's propellers died down she popped from the hiding spot. If anything they'd be back to search this area again and she wanted to be the one standing guard when they did.

The bushes behind her started rattling and she swiftly turned around, switching Blaze Edge in its gun mode. Cautiously she approached the rattling bush, finger pushed gently against the gun's trigger. Whoever it was, picked the wrong time to try and sneak her, when they jumped from that bush they'll be eating nothing but a steel bullet. "Come out!."

What transpired next could have been her death if she didn't have such flawless reflexes. Ripping and whistling through the air was a missile that exploded directly over the spot Lightning once stood, throwing dust and debris around.

"So they did see me huh." As the smoke from the previous failed attack upon her cleared up, Emerging from the bush, came a giant mech scorpion. Lightning held her position and stared up at the towering metallic being as it stalked over to her with heavy steps causing the ground to quake as it did so.

The scorpion swiftly did a one eighty turn and swept his tail towards the woman but instead of being hit, Lightning took hold of the things tail and swung herself into the air, aiming her weapon at the thing and releasing several bullets that clanked against the scorpion's steel exterior. She flipped back, wavering her hand she released the spell of Waterga which engulfed the mechanism in a large torrent of water and forcing it back against a tree.

Lightning landed back to the ground with ease. The scorpion was now in critical condition. Its circuits were frying slowly bits of tiny sparks were zapping through what was once a durable steel exterior. And look at that, the tail was detached from its body. With no further movements Lightning loaded her weapon and sighed. This was a letdown. One cast of a spell and these mechs were dead. No type of challenge whatsoever.

She began her walk through the woods again to make sure the other two where alright but suddenly stopped. No time to think, move or react at all, Lightning felt something hard and cold connect with the back of her head then a severe numbing pain surged throughout her entire body.

"AHHHHGHHH!"

It all happened within a second but it felt like a whole five minutes to Lightning. Her body bounced off a nearby tree and rolled back to the ground. Lightning slowly opened her eyes to see the looming threat hovering over her; the scorpion.

~xxxxx~

Xayne had drifted off three times and woke back up while waiting for Lightning's return. He glanced over to Oraian and he was still sound asleep. He scoffed. One would think that someone who had a warrant would be wide awake and alert but not this guy. It was like caution didn't apply to him.

"AHHHHGHHH!"

"What the hell!" He quickly stood to his feet as the scream bellowed through the woods. "Lightning.." He murmured. The brunet grabbed his sword that was leaning against a tree stump and dashed off through the dark woods.

Halfway, Xayne came to a sliding stop in front of what seemed to be around twenty soldiers and a war mech. The ex-soldier took hold of his sword's hilt and held it out in front of him, deep breaths followed for a few short seconds then he took off in his enemies direction. First he started by picking off the soldiers since they were the least of the little situation, but the mech was shooting at him at the same time.

'I can use this to my advantage...' He thought. Xayne stuck his sword in the ground and ran three hundred and sixty degrees around the mech as it was shooting. Programmed to destroy its target on the spot the mech would try by all means possible to kill Xayne and whatever was in the line of fire would get it too. After the death of the soldiers, Xayne casted forth Thundara to over run its circuits, then Watera to finish the job.

"Whoo-hoo how do you like me now!."

Xayne shouted in victory as he retrieved his sword and returned it to his back. "Now, back to-"

BOOM!

From the right came a bright orange red flash followed by large pieces of debris and the scorpion. Xayne tumbled to the side to avoid being hit as the scorpion slammed against the tree and exploded on impact. As the dust and smoke cleared, Xayne saw Lightning sitting next to a tree clutching her arm. "Lightning!." He called as he ran to her side. "You alright?"

"I thought I told you to stay at the camp, what are you doing here?"

"I heard you scream so I came to find you. On the way I bumped into some of Shin-Ra's lackies. I fought them off and now here I am."

"I didn't scream.." She lied. And stood to her feet, gnawing at the inside of her cheek to keep herself from letting out any pained scream, from when the scorpion shocked the hell out of her. "Look, I'm fine, just go back to camp and make sure that idiot is alright."

"No." He said firmly then grabbed her arm and in turn she flinched."Oraian is fine, if anything he slept through all that noise anyway. They may come back again, then you're hurt. Just sit down and take a breather for once. You run around in poor condition you're just asking for yourself to get killed."

"Fine..." Was all she could say.

Xayne looked at the arm she was clutching. It was bleeding out pretty bad and on top of that it looked like it hurt pretty badly. Yet this woman showed no signs of pain. Did she ever? The brunet grabbed the bottom edge of his shirt and ripped it away. He knelt down to the woman's side and took hold of her arm.

"What, what are you doing!" Lightning asked a little frantic that the male was invading her personal space. The brunet gave no response and just did his best to tend to her wound.

"There.." Xayne gently patted her arm where he tied the makeshift bandage. "It looked like it was hurting so I thought I'd take care of it for you.."

"Thank...you?"

Xayne smirked then stood back against the tree. There was a long awkward silence between the two. Lightning didn't seem to mind the quietness since she was so use to it. Xayne observed the woman closely then wondered just what was going through the distant soldier's mind. She spoke very little of herself. She was also very anti-social.

Back when they use the get paired off with each other to go on missions, which they both hated. Him more than her, she never said anything except the occasional lecture she would give when he would nearly screw things up.

But now they were on the same level as one another well almost. He wasn't giving her a hard time like he used to.

"So Lightning, what was your reason for joining SOLDIER?"

"I'm not a fan of small talk. So can we not?" She mumbled.

Xayne pushed on. "I'd just like to get to know my companion better."

Lightning huffed out of frustration. She hated talking about herself, mostly because she never trusted anyone to give out such detail. "What little you know about me now, is good enough..."

He sighed then looked off in another direction. "I tried."

"I don't know.." Lightning responded.

"Huh?"

"I don't know why I joined. It's foggy. All I remember is waking up in an all-white room then being sent on my first mission. I don't even remember signing up for this. Then again there are a lot of things I don't remember. "

"What about you?" She asked

"What about me?" He asked.

"Why did you enlist? Let me guess, you're another Sephiroth fan?"

"Far from it, I was actually on an espionage mission." He said. His words grabbed Lightning's full attention. She raised an eyebrow, a gesture to tell him to continue.

"Well, I'm originally from Wutai, lost my parents in the war against Shin-Ra when I was eight. After the war I spent my childhood years in the slums of Midgar. Since, I've been hell bent on making Shin-Ra pay for what they did so I enlisted into SOLDIER. My target was and still is the President. Made many attempts but l...was unsuccessful. As you can see, their company is still standing.." He said.

Lightning heard the trace of disappointment in his voice and it almost made her feel sorry for him….almost.

It seemed Shin-Ra had destroyed a lot of lives and left many scarred and full nothing but grief and hatred for them. It's no wonder they have such a high security, they're number one on everybody's hit list.

"Revenge isn't as great as you think it is Xayne. You get it then what?"

"Satisfactory." He said with a smug smirk.

"Tell me how that works out for you later."

"As if you understand!." He yelled, stomping his foot against the ground.

"You're right I don't but, you remind me of someone." Faint images of that silver haired boy appeared in her head. "He was just like you, fixed on getting revenge on the one that caused him so much pain. But in the end, it didn't go as he planned it to."

"What he died?" He asked.

"I...don't know.." She responded.

He scoffed and tucked his arms behind his head. "Nice fairytale Farron but I'm not throwing my revenge plot to the side no reason!."

"Fine." She stood to her feet despite her aching limbs screaming for her to stay put. But Xayne's stupidity was irritating the hell out of her. "Have it your way."

"That's it?"

"What, you want me to stop you?"

"No, but I thought you'd put up a bigger argument then that!."

"I said what I needed to say. Now it's up to you for the rest."

"Or your just mad because you lost the argument!." Her hand clenched into a fist at her side. She was almost tempted to turn around and give him a nice right hook to his jaw but didn't.

"Far from it. I'm going to check around and make sure there are not anymore soldiers lurking about. Think you can handle this area alone?"

"I was a soldier Lightning, if anything I'm good at being on watch." He said proudly, making the woman roll her eyes.

"Good, I'm counting on you."

~xxxxxx~

Ahhh, what a great sleep that was!." Oraian shouted with much enthusiasm as he stood to his feet and stretched his extremities. "Oh-ho-ho!." He looked at his two companions who appeared to be still very tired. Well, not Lightning. "Looking a little rough there Xayne. Were you too scared to sleep last night?"

"No you idiot. If you must know, while your ass was busy in dream land, Lightning and I were fighting off soldiers!."

"Soldiers? I didn't hear anything." He stated as he reached for his sword leaning against the tree stump.

"Cause you were sleep you pompous ass!."

"No time for arguing." Lightning said non-chalantly. "Terrorist, which direction are we going in.?"

"Would it hurt to use my name for once Lightning? I thought we were on better terms. Anyway, we are heading east, just two more miles and we will be in Nibelheim."

"It's times like this I wish we had a chocobo.." Xayne complained.

"Shut up your whining and let's get moving."

Nibelheim- Day 1: 9:10am

Lightning stepped into the small town and looked around. Unlike Midgar this place had a more country like feel too it. But at the same time, it gave off a gloomy feeling as well. One would think this town was deserted. There were no people outside, just a lone dog running from house to house barking.

"There!." Xayne pointed to the mansion just across the way. The trio made their way to the steel metal weathered gates that were covered in spider webs and rust then stopped. Lightning tilted her head slightly taking the time to look at the exterior. It looked old run down and ready to collapse any day now. Busted windows, hanging shingles, and wearing paint. It kind of gave off that haunted house feeling.

Lightning pushed open the gate which squeaked loudly as she did then the three stepped in and made their way into the large mansion.

The inside was definitely worse than the outside. The air was thick from years of not dusting. Objects and paper work were scattered about the floor. Lightning knelt down, picking up a piece of paper that was at her feet and started reading over it. "Project V. and the Protomateria experiment?" At the bottom written in red was the word successful. "What is this?" She asked turning the piece of paper to the two guys in front of her.

Xayne took the paper between his fingers then read over it. "Oh..." He passed the piece of paper back to Lightning and began to speak. "About thirty years ago this mansion was used as a study for professor Hojo, Lucretcia Crescent and Hollander when they first started the Jenova Project. That was when Hojo came up with the idea of injecting humans with the extraterrestrial's cells to give them super human powers like Jenova."

"He even did it to his unborn child that Lucretcia was carrying. Project V, Vincent who was in love with Lucretcia at the time and served as a Turk, objected and tried to stop Hojo but in the end he was shot. Hojo took Vincent's body and performed all kinds of experiments on it right in this mansion. Like it stated on that paper, it was successful.

To save his life and keep him from dying, Lucretcia impaled him with the protomateria. When Vincent awoke he found the project on Lucretcia was complete and she was no longer alive. Ashamed by his failure to protect her, Vincent sleeps in a coffin right in the basement of this very mansion allowing his dreams to haunt him as punishment for his failure."

He finished with a small sigh then walked to the dusty mansion stairs. "The basement is where we have to go to get to the study so let's go."

"There seems to be a story behind every damn thing around here I see." Lightning mumbled as she and Oraian followed in suit while Xayne lead the way down to the derelict basement and into the study.

There were shelves and shelves of dusty old books. Lightning reached up on one of the top shelves and pulled one down, opening it and reading through the text. It wasn't long before she tossed it to the side and pulled down another one, doing the same to that one, the next and the next.

"Oh boy this is going to take forever.." Oraian complained, walking over to a large capsule filled with Mako energy.

"You know, it would be nice if you lent us a hand.." Xayne said, pulling a total of six books off the shelf and placed them on the dusty desk behind him.

"And why would I do a thing like that?"

Lightning shut the book she was looking through then tossed it.

Clack!

"Ow!." Oraian cried out as the book connected with the side of his head then fell to the floor with a light thud. "Violence isn't the answer you know it will only cause me to be more rebellious towards you."

"Do you want it to be my gunblade next?" Oraian's eyes grew wide. That wouldn't be a pretty sight and by the way she was looking at him she wasn't joking. "Ugh, there is no way the three of us are going to cover this whole library of books. Did I tell you that reading isn't my favorite subject?" He dropped his head back and stared up at the very top shelf and the line of missed matched books on each of them. They went from colors ranging from red to green, orange, brown, and so on. There had to be at least ten books on each, and a total of five hundred in each case. They would be there for who knows how long searching for something that probably wasn't even in there.

This was all a big waste of time and energy for him. He could have been off somewhere wreaking havoc or planning his next attack but no, he was stuck with Soldier Animosity over there and her fucking lapdog. 'How did I get myself into this mess..' He thought to himself as he reached an arm up on a shelf and pulled down a book. This was going to take a while.

Nibelheim- Shin-Ra Mansion, Day 3: 4:57am

"Ooooooh..." Oraian groaned and tossed another book in the pile beside him. They had gone through a total of fifty shelves with ten more to go and still haven't found anything pertaining to what they were looking for. He stretched and let out a loud unnecessary yawn then looked around at his two companions.

Xayne had his head resting at the palm of his hand, nodding in and out of sleep every few seconds. Then there was Lightning, of course she was still going but the lack of brightness in her eyes and the dark circles present beneath them, proved she was just as tired as he and Xayne.

Oraian dropped his head against the book case, causing it to shake as he allowed his eyes to flutter shut.

clack!

"Shit! dammit Lightning what did I do now?" He shouted, rubbing the top of his head where the book had hit. Lightning sighed and turned her tired eyes up at the male who accused her of something she didn't even do. "What are you going on about now?"

"You threw a book at me!." He whined like a little child while holding out said book.

"No I didn't."

"Yea well whoever did it, that really hurt.." He glanced over at Xayne whose face was planted against the desk, snoring lightly. Oraian huffed then flipped the book over to its front. Unlike the other books he'd come across in the library, this one was different in color, much heavier and the text on it was also funny looking. "The hell..." He curled his fingers around the covers edge and tried to open it but that action was useless. It was like the pages were locked shut. "What a stubborn piece of literature!." He tossed the book against the stone wall and turned his back to continue reading.

Clink
Clink
Clin-clink

"Hmm.." He glanced over his shoulder to see the book he'd thrown earlier was now open on the floor with some kind of luminous glowing orb inside. He quickly scampered over the pile of books, reaching to grab the orb in the process. The orb had some strange text markings engraved into it, as well as some radiant blue symbol flickering in and out. "What is this...materia?" He looked down at the book to discover that it wasn't a book at all. "Hey uhm, Lightning," He called still examining the odd book.

"What is it now Terrorist..." Her words dragged.

"You may wanna take a look at this. I think I found something. Xayne, wake up and come over here!." He walked on the other side of the book case accompanied by a very tired Xayne. "I found this,"He pointed in the direction of the false book on the floor. "In that odd looking book over there." He said then passed it off to her. Lightning took the orb in her hands and looked at it. Whatever dullness was present in her eyes disappeared in a flash. "Good job Terrorist.." She mumbled as she ran her fingers across the embossed text on the cover.

"What the hell are those strange hieroglyphics, can you read it!" He asked flailing his arm up in the air.

"Looks like materia to me.." Xayne commented. "But what is it going to do for us."

Lightning shrugged and tucked the orb into the pouch strapped on her right thigh. "Don't know, but it's better than finding nothing. Let's head back to the AVALNCHE hideout, maybe the dog beast can help us."

"Yea...well it doesn't look like we'll be getting there anytime soon." Xayne commented, slowly raising his hands into the air.

"Dammit..." Lightning mumbled turning her eyes up to see the obstacle in their way. Two Turks and ten soldiers. If anything these guys were more dangerous than the soldiers. They must want their heads pretty bad. Lightning glared then reached behind her, in unison the soldiers raised their guns.

Xayne grabbed her hand and raised it into the air alongside his own. "We are outnumbered Lightning, resisting will only get us killed. Don't do it."

"Don't tell me what to do!." She spat the yanked her arm from his own and pulled BlazeEdge in gun mode. "Shoot her!." As the Bullet storm began, Lightning performed a summersault over the twelve lackies while Xayne and Oraian handled the rest as they escaped from the basement.

Finally reaching the first floor, the trio burst through the front door only to come to a stop under three helicopters overhead, shining there bright lights in their eyes, impairing the three's vision and a hefty amount of soldiers on every side of them.

"We are so fucked..." Xayne said.

"You are under arrest. Drop your weapons and put your hands behind your heads."

Both Xayne and Oraiain did as they were told and dropped their weapons, but Lightning hesitated.

"Lightning..." Xayne whispered through his teeth. "Drop it. We have no chance."

Lightning didn't listen. She refused. She rose her weapon to shoot, but Xayne slapped it from her hand and kicked it in the direction of the soldiers.

Shocked and angry at Xayne's action, Lightning went to lunge and attack him until something clashed with the back of her head. The pink haired soldier felt her consciences wavering as her body fell limp to the ground.

"Take them away..."

Was the last thing she heard before everything went black.

Midgar- Shin-Ra Headquarters, 7:03am

Lightning awoke to find she was leaning up against a cool metallic surface. Across from her was a makeshift bed that Oraian seemed to have claimed for himself. She went to raise her hand to her head when she realized that she couldn't move them. Securely tied together behind her back, were her hands. "This is nice.." She mumbled, drawing the attention of her two comrades.

"Ah, you're awake!." Oraian said as if he were surprised that she had waken up in the first place. "That was one nasty hit you took there!."

She nodded then looked over at Xayne who was quietly sitting in a corner off to the right of her. He looked pissed off.

"He hasn't said anything since we arrived here three hours ago.."

"Three hours ago.." She said in much surprise. "You'd think that by the way they were on us they'd gotten rid of us by now. Just what are they going to do to us..?"

"Well right now they are gathering up all our charges." He sat up and sprung off the bed to his feet. "And that's a lot, especially for myself. Depending on how serious our charges are will determine whether or not we get a quiet execution or public one."

"You're definitely calm about it.."

He smirked. "I'm calm about most things, helps me think better. Don't worry your pretty little head, we will get out. Just leave that to me." He finished with a wink then plopped down on the bed.

Lightning shook her head from side to side then chanced another glance at Xayne. Just before she blacked, she remembered the brunet knocking her weapon from her grasp. If anything he was mad at her for going against his word. She slid closer to him and parted her lips to speak. "Xayne listen-"

"You're a hypocrite you know that.." He said in a voice that Lightning never heard him use. Sounded like a mix between anger and something else...disappointment.

He pulled away from her and scooted further into the corner if that were even possible. "You call me reckless, but look what you go and do. What the hell were you thinking!."

She turned her head to the side and stared at the floor. One she was a little embarrassed, lectures weren't something that came her way often. Secondly, she couldn't think of what to say to him. "..."

"Tss, typical you to stay quiet. You could of gotten us all killed being so...stupid and you have nothing to say about that?"

Lightning was still quiet. Why? She couldn't even figure that out. She never got tongue tied so why now? "..."

Xayne carried on. "I tagged along with you hoping that by watching how you handle situations I could better myself. But I see I was wrong, you're just as bad as me, no worse."

"Ouch..." Oraian said adding more salt in the wound.

"Hmph..." Lightning turned her back to the brunet, clenching her fists together through the restraints keeping them held in place. "Well, if you don't like it, leave! It's not like I'm pointing a gun at your head and making you stay. I don't care what the hell you do. Go back to Shin-Ra for all I fucking care! You're just weighing me down and getting in my way. " She yelled out of anger and frustration alone.

Xayne grit his teeth and glared at the woman. One part of him was hurt by her words but another side didn't really care. "If that's how you feel I will. I don't need your help..."

With that being said the two remained silent for the rest of the time they were locked in that looked at both the two but said nothing, too afraid that if he did one of them would lash out at him.

Je sat up against the wall where he kicked one of his shoes off and something metal hit the floor, a pocket knife. He scooted towards the sharp object and scooped it up in his hands with ease. "Yes!" He whispered and began cutting his way out of the ropes binding his hands together.

"Alright guys," He said flinging the cut pieces of rope to the side as he moved to release Lightning. "Leave this one to me, I'll have us out of here in no time!." He said then cut the ropes from Xayne's wrist.

"And how do you expect to do that!" Xayne said standing to his feet and rubbing his wrist where the rope started chaffing.

"Just follow my lead!." He said then gave a wide tooth-grin.

"Tch, skip that!." Xayne mumbled.

The cell door slid open and in walked three soldiers, Xayne dropped to the floor and sweep kicked all three of them. He snatched the gun that one of them were holding and shot all three of them

"What the hell are you doing!" Oraian said, grabbing Xayne by the collar of his uniform and slamming him against the wall.

"Get off me!." Xayne spat then punched Oraian in the face and ran off out the cell. Just then the security alert went off and a red light flashed throughout the Shin-Ra building.

"Lightning we have to get out of here!." He grabbed her arm and exited the cell.

~xxxxxx~

CODE YELLOW!
PRISONER ESCAPE!
PRISIONER ESCAPE!

"There he is catch him!"

"Damn you guys are slow! And you call yourself soldiers? More like a sorry excuse for one. Haha!"

Xayne dashed across the base trying to find some sort of escape route so he could get the hell out of there. But first he had to find the president's office. "

The sound of gun shots snatched him from his thoughts and threw him back into reality. Xayne carefully maneuvered his body from right to left and even performed a few back flips to prevent from being hit by the oncoming bullets. "Oh? so now you guys wanna get serious!"

The brunet male pulled the gun he stole earlier in the cell over his shoulder and pointed it at on coming soldiers. "You guys are some sorry ass shooters ya know. " He came to a sliding stop then pivoted on his heel to face his enemies.

"Here, let me give ya a proper demonstration." The male pulled his index finger back against the trigger as the loud sound of his weapon bellowed throughout the entire base. As the bullets left the barrel of the gun, one by one the soldiers fell to the floor. "And that's how it's done!." Xayne bought the barrel to his lips and blew the excess smoke away that was emitting from it. He sighed and leaned up against the wall to catch his breath from all the running. Since there was no sign of any soldiers, it was safe to do so but only for a few minutes. It wouldn't be long before more reinforcements showed up.

"How'd I get in this mess..." He mumbled to himself as he rubbed his index and middle finger against his temple. He turned his eyes to the floor and recalled all the events that lead him up to this point. "Damn...Lightning.." That's right it was her fault everything that had happened all the way up to this point was her fault. Tagging along and trying to help her search for whatever it was she's searching for landed him in this predicament, and now it's hard for him to get out.

She's right maybe he should have stayed with Shin-Ra. At least he wouldn't have had to worry about being on the run constantly. But then again, it was only a matter of time before he would be running from the Shin-Ra. He was a Wutai soldier in disguise. How much longer would that have lasted? And here he was calling Oraian a terrorist when in fact he was himself.

"Hope your ready Mr. President, because I'm coming.." He said, walking towards the elevator that would lead him to the President's office. He pressed the elevator button and the doors slid open and a small ding was heard. Amazing how that noise was still able to be heard even over the wailing sounds of the security system. He stepped in and pressed the fifty fourth floor, and the door slid shut, closing out the annoying sound of the alarm system.

36
37
38
39...
Ding!

"What the..." The door slid open and in ran three soldiers. "Shoot, should of knew this would happen..

Meanwhile, Oraian & Lightning...

"Just s-so you kn-know this is not what I had in...in mind for our escape plan.." Oraian said as he ran alongside Lightning through the building's corridors. "If I knew Xayne was going to pull that shit I would have come up with something else."

"Who cares.." Lightning mumbled. "Let's just get the hell out of here!." They turned down the next corridor when something reached out and snatched them both into a corner. Lightning quickly reacted. She turned around and punched the one responsible square in the nose.

"Ah-ouch!."

"When she realized who it was she cringed a bit, feeling a little bad for her action. "Zack, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving you two!." The the ebony haired male groaned holding his nose that was now gushing blood all over his hands. "Dammit, that really hurt you know. Anyway, come on, Tifa and Yuffie are in there." He extended his arm and pointed to the vent. "That's where we came in from. We'll meet up with Cloud and the others on the roof. Let's go!."

He yanked her arm but she stayed still. Both Zack and Oraian looked at her with bewildered expressions. "I can't, I need to find Xayne. You two go I'll catch up with you later."

Oraian laughed. "Hate to tell ya Lightning but he's probably-"

"Dead? I doubt it. It's Xayne. Now go I'll meet up with you guys later.."

Xayne...

"Ahhgh Shit!." He fell against the wall of the elevator. Breathing heavy, with three gunshot wounds and a stab wound. One in each of his shoulders another right below his collar bone, and the stab wound on his left side. He looked around at all the soldier's corpses piled up beside him and couldn't help but to think that his body might be added to that pile.

Maybe Lightning was right. Revenge wasn't the way to go. Funny, that had to be the only thing he learned from her. But it took him to be close to his death bed to fully grasp it. "Oh well if I die here..so be it at least my death won't be in vain..."

49..
50..
51..
52..
53...
54...

Ding!

The door slid open and several dead soldiers fell in. He wobbled out of the elevator, stepping over the dead corpses and out into the open. It was obvious that someone was there before him but who? Could someone have gotten to the President before him? Everything was blurred and discombobulated in his eyes. The area was spinning and everything looked like it was clouding over. His heart was slowing down and his legs felt like they would give out.

He finally made it to the president's office but much to his dismay, no one was there. Not even the president. Just some lone figure killing off the last soldier and tossing his body out the window, the glass shattering loudly upon impact.

"You truly are an idiot you know that?" Xayne never thought he'd be happy to hear that voice again but he was. Ecstatic, actually. "Lightning...you.." He walked a few inches closer then fell forward but the pinkette caught him. Her first thought was to just let him fall against the floor and leave him to be caught by the soldiers for being so idiotic in the first place but, she couldn't do it. And from the looks of things, he seemed pretty banged up already. Leaving him behind would have only left her with a guilty conscious, something she was always bad at dealing with. "You're stupid.." she mumbled.

She picked the stubborn male up and hoisted him over her shoulder. Her eyes then shifted over to the shattered window.

'Risky..'

She thought. But it was the only way since the front door was out of the question. The woman walked over to the shattered window and peered down at how high the fall was.

'Fifty four floors up...'

Just then the door was kicked open and in walked a group of soldiers. "Freeze!."

'Time to go!.'

Lightning leapt out the window, holding Xayne tightly as they free fell towards the ground. She reached down in the pouch on her right thigh and pulled out the grav-con unit that she attached to her middle finger. It had been a long while since she used the device so she could only hope that it would work. She snapped her finger against the device twice but only a small spark of purple-ish blue energy emitted from it. "This...is not happening.."

They were getting closer and closer to ground's surface; it was only a matter of time before they actually hit it. Lightning panicked and tried again and again and again but kept receiving the same response the device. It was official, they were going to die. Fighting off those soldiers just to get to the entrance sounded like a good idea right now. But it was too late now.

The sound of a loud humming engine filled her ears. She frantically looked around until her eyes landed on a large grey and white ship that quickly zoomed by and caught both her and Xayne's falling form.

"Haha you look scared! Thought you were gonna splatter all over the ground?" Oraian said, grinning down at the soldier who was now scowling at him, though deep down she was glad she was saved.

"Shut up!." She said and stood up with Xayne in her arms. "Where'd you get a ship from?"

Oraian shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Not mine, it's Cid's. You haven't met him yet but you will." He explained.

"Everyone is waiting at the bridge so-" He looked down at Xayne who was still unconscious. His body was covered in blood and scratches, hair stuck to his forehead and his skin looked paler. "He gonna be alright?"

Lightning said nothing and just stared at the unconscious male. If only he'd taken her advice earlier, then this could have been avoided. But it was her fault as well, if she didn't lash out on him like she did then he probably wouldn't have ran out on his own. "I..don't know..."

"You know, only way you'll be able to finish your search is if we to take out Shin-Ra. I know that's not what you came here to do, but there are no other options. It seems that everywhere we turn, there they are. If we don't do something, you won't get anywhere. So, what do you say?" He said then turned to face the woman. He was unsure if she even heard a word he had said by her preoccupied expression. She looked troubled, worried. Something he'd never seen since he was dragged along with her. It was odd, and just..not Lightning. "Lightning...?"

"I'll think about it..." She uttered quietly then walked off towards the entrance of the ship.

~xxxxxx~

Xayne groaned a bit as he slowly started to wake up. His body felt stiff and numb then everything around him was dark except the afternoon light peeking through the small window to the right, the little bit through the cracked door on the far left. He could also hear light chatter and laughter. 'Where am I?'

He thought, looking down to realize bandages wrapped around his exposed chest and shoulders. He sat up only to fall back against the bed hissing and swearing from the pain that had shot through his body.

"You're awake..."

His head shot up in the direction the voice had come from to see Lightning sitting in a chair next to the window. She was observing that glowing orb of materia that they had found back in Nibelheim. "Lightning, where am I?"

She slipped the orb back into the pouch then rose from the chair and walked over to the bed where Xayne was laying, stopping just a few feet away from him. The brunet stiffened and gulped. Lightning looked angry, no pissed. In his mind see himself crawling under the bed to better avoid that icy gaze but what went on in his mind was different from what was going now, he couldn't even move.

"Have you any idea," She said lowly, but grinding her voice. He also noticed that her fist was tightening at her side. Oh yea...he knew what was coming next. "HOW STUPID YOU ARE!."

Next thing he saw was white. Lightning's fist connected with his face and he tumbled back on the floor. 'Damn she hits hard..' He thought. The room spun and it even felt like he would black out again. He kind of wished he did since now, it wasn't only his face hurting but the rest of his body as well. He reached one hand up onto the bed and pulled himself back up.

"YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD IF I DIDNT SHOW UP, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!" He suddenly wished he would have stayed on the floor when Lightning's fist said hello to his face for a second time. He grunted in pain as his back slammed up against the wall closest to the door.

All the noise disturbed the group on the outside but only one who was brave enough to step inside to see what was going down was Oraian.

"What the hell is going on in-woah Lightning what are you-!."

"OUT!." She yelled, storming over to appalled male and shoving him out.

SLAM!

Oraian ran back to the door and tried to pull it open but it was locked. "Lightning! Lightning stop it you are going to hurt him!."

Lightning could hear Oraian but she was ignoring him. She was too enraged. She looked over at Xayne who kept his eyes at the ground and hair covering his face. His breathing had grown ragged and uneven and both his arms were wrapped around his bandaged torso, the wounds underneath feeling like a thousand swords were stabbing him. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry.." He whispered then turned his eyes up at the angered pinkette. "I was not thinking...clearly...I was so mad...mad at you...for what you had said...to me...I acted..stupidly..."

Lightning wasn't sure whether or not to believe him. To her his words sounded empty. She raised her fist again and threw it in his direction but he caught it. Swiftly, she threw forth her other fist that she surprisingly caught. "But you're no better than me!." His eyes narrowed. "Before you go judging anyone you need to look at yourself!." He swept his left foot under hers to make her stumble up a bit then with his right foot, he connected it with her stomach.

The pinkette grunted as her form was sent catapulting back and slammed into a mirror behind her.

"Would you two just stop!." Oraian called, still banging on the other side of the door but the violence continued.

Just as she was getting up, trying to recover from the shock of being thrown, Xayne threw himself at her, tackling the woman back to the floor despite the shards of glass that were piercing both their skin as they rolled around. Lightning growled and placed her legs against the brunet's injured torso and kicked him off of her.

Both lay on the floor tired, out of breath and most of all sore. Xayne more than Lightning. " You're...not...be-..better than anyone else.." The brunet breathed, rolling on his side and clutching his torso that had slightly started to bleed out during their little brawl. "So stop..acting like it!."

Lightning reached over her shoulder, grabbing the male by surprise and throwing him over her shoulder once again. Xayne went to retaliate but in seconds, Lightning's body was hovering over his own and pinning both his arms down on either side of him. "I never said I was..."

Xayne snarled as he wriggled, bucked and to kick albeit, none of his actions were working, the solitary woman was not moving. He growled and gave up (for now) and turned his head in the direction of the door. He was able to see the shadow of Oraian's shoes. Said male could still be heard shouting for the two to stop. "You don't have to your actions show it..." Xayne commented, noticing the woman's grip loosen.

At that, he took full advantage and quickly rolled against the floor, to switch the the current position, leaving him on top and the pinkette on the bottom.

She threw a fist that was just seconds away from hitting him, but he caught it in the palm of his hand and pinned it over her head along with her other hand.

"Hah!." He said, feeling victorious at that moment.

Lightning hated this and wanted nothing more than to get him off her and beat the hell out of the male for invading her personal space. She would not stay still for any reason, causing the brunet to have to press his body against her own. Not something he wanted to do but was the last resort. "Pride isn't everything you know, you'll only get yourself hurt or maybe even worse one day..."

"A lecture!." She growled.

"No, advice." He said, smirking.

Breathe...
Stare...
Breathe...
Stare...

The male released her hands and quickly rose up and off of the woman. He even took a few steps back, thinking he may try and do something but she didn't. She just sat there looking in the direction of the window. "Lightning, I'm sorry..."

"..."

"It's just..."

Lightning silently stood up, ignoring the brunet as she made her way toward the door that Oraian was banging against.

"I don't want anything to happen to you Lightning. And when you run off into dangerous situations trying to play hero, I don't know what to think. You're the only friend I have if something happens to you, I don't know what I'll do."

Lightning sighed. Friend or not, why he worried so much about her she didn't understand and it was a little weird. She was never one to sit around and try to break down such a thing like that either since feelings and emotion wasn't her thing. But Xayne, he was-

She turned from the door to face the brunet but he wasn't there. In place of him was that...that silver haired boy that kept flashing across her mind. What was this..some fucked up illusion?

"Lightning...?" The boy called though his voice sounded like a cross of Xayne and someone else's. " Lightning..are you okay?"

"Who are you?" Like that crazy dream she had the other day, this was scaring her. She didn't know what to think. More like she couldn't think. She didn't feel like herself.

"What...?" Xayne was utterly confused and decided to keep still, not knowing what the woman was capable of doing in this state of delusion. There was also something different about her. Her eyes, they had...that glow. The same one that Oraian's had. "What the..."

As Xayne inched closer in her direction, the visual of the silver haired boy suddenly faded and the brunet was standing before her once again. Lightning shook her head gently then looked at Xayne who she noticed was staring at her strangely. "What's with-AHHGH!"

"Lightning!."

Said woman collapsed to the floor, coughing and clutching the center of her chest. Her heart was racing and her air way was constricting to the point she was gasping for air. Spasms of pain were shooting across her whole body and she started rolling around on the floor.

"Lightning! Someone come quick hurry!" Xayne yelled.

After the short episode, Lightning rolled over on her back and stared blankly at the ceiling. Her body twitched violently and her breathing was slow and weak. Her muscles felt like they were burning up and her head felt like it was going to explode. 'What's wrong…with…me..' She thought. Again, the silver haired boy made an appearance in front of her. He looked worried, scared, and he was screaming out her name. 'Who….are you?' She exhaled and her head dropped to the side, giving no type of response that she was alive or dead. Her eyes were slightly open and still had that Mako glow present within them.

A/N: Wow 8,680 words for this chapter! :D I'm actually quite impressed with myself. I'm only used to reach 4,000 words at the most. Anyhow, did you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed typing it? (I'm lying. This chapter game me an absolute headache!.) But I hope you did.

I love review so leave me some!. :D

Until the next chapter..later!.