By: Miracle Shining

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Final Fantasy VII/VIII characters are property of SQUARE software and their subsidaries. Please don't sue me, I have no money. I'm just a poor college kid who drools over video game bisien. Any references to sexual expertise manual or color levels is expanded upon and inspired by an original idea of Seiya Kou. If you haven't read "The Reclaimation" yet, well what are you waiting for? Arigato, Seiya-kun!!!! THE EPILOGUE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS LEVEL BLACK IN THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE KEEP SCROLLING AFTER THE END OF LEVEL BLACK, PRETTY PLEASE?!! ^_^

LEVEL BLACK:

"What?!" came Cid's loud exclamation. He was busily redoing his vest, while his wife Shera was pulling together her blouse.

"I don't know how to explain it, Professor Highwind, but I know that Vincent is in trouble. It's a feeling in my gut."

Cid threw a worried glance at Shera. She began to pace around the room, fidgeting as she always did when she was nervous.

"Dear, you have to find Vincent. There's no telling what Seifer may do to him. You know how unstable he is."

Cid nodded at his wife. He looked at Squall and could see the amount of fear and angst in his eyes.

"Squall, are you sure it was Seifer?"

"Yes! Who else would try to take Vincent from me?"

"Squall, this is a very serious question. Are you in love with Vincent?"

Squall felt a lump form in his throat. Tears that seemed to come out of nowhere began to slide down his cheeks. It became difficult for him to articulate words.

"Y-y-yes, Professor Highwind, I-I-I am." Squall stuttered out through some soft sobs. "I didn't mean to, it's just..."

Cid walked over to Squall and placed a comforting hand on the young soldier's shoulders.

"It's all right, Squall. Vincent needs someone like you. I wasn't the one to fit the bill." Cid turned and smiled at Shera, who nodded quietly. "I just wanted to make sure that you were not going to let Vincent go."

"I can't. He's too much part of me."

"Then, there's only one thing for us to do."

Cid walked over to an old wooden mantle. Over the top, there was a long spear that looked like it could cut through anything. He picked up his hat from the hat rack next to it. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Cid! You told me you quit!"

"Well, Shera, sometimes you just gotta' have some #@$% nicotine." Cid pulled one of the cigarettes out with his mouth. He dropped the pack on the floor and walked to his desk. Opening the drawer, he pulled out a lighter and lit the long cigarette. He inhaled deeply and stood there thoughtfully.

"Now, if I was Seifer, where would I take a man like Vincent?"

________________________________________________________________________

Vincent could feel the throb in his head. He had tried to force open his eyes once, but to no avail. He tried again, and slowly, he managed to get them far enough open to see he was not in front of Squall's barrack's room door.

Wincing some, he finally began to focus his crimson eyes to his whereabouts. The room was very dark and smelled musty. Vincent could make out slowly that there seemed to be a number of poles in the room. They looked very much like structural support beams. In front of him were some small crates and to the left was a pile of old furniture and larger crates.

"I must be in a storage room or a basement or something." he quietly thought to himself.

He tried to put together how he had ended up here. He had left Squall's room this morning, turned to walk down the hall, and someone had knocked him out. But, who? He hadn't seen his assailant. The attack had happened too fast.

Somewhat awkwardly, Vincent tried to move his arms forward. To his suprise, he couldn't. Pulling forward again, he ascertained that something was binding his arms. He tried to stand, but found that he couldn't do that. He turned to his head to look over his shoulder. The process had a dizzying effect and he had to hold his breath until the slight vertigo passed. Upon refocusing his vision, he saw that he was chained to one of the support beams. The long metal links wrapped around his arms, chest, and waist about five times. The binding was tight and the more Vincent tried to move, the more uncomfortable he became. His head continued to throb and he began to drift off again until he heard a voice that made his whole being chill.

"Good evening, Mr. Valentine. I see you've awakened."

The owner of the voice came wandering out of the shadows. His long white trench coat brushed the ground softly and he drug his modified gunblade behind him. He sauntered slowly over to Vincent and crouched down so that they were face to face.

"Seifer! Why are you doing this?" Vincent's words lacked conviction due to his head hurting so bad.

"Why? Perhaps you should ask for whom am I doing this? You see, vampire, as long as Squall is with you, I'll never have my chance at him. With you missing, he'll have to give up finding you sooner or later. When they do that, the only person he'll be able to pair with for Level Black is me."

"You're sick. Squall wouldn't do that for anything."

Seifer grabbed Vincent's chin roughly. He forced the black haired man to look him in the eyes.

"Oh, he wouldn't, would he? Squall only cares about one thing. Staying at the top of his class. He'll be more worried about not making Level Black then about having a cheap fling with some genetic freak."

"That's a lie!" Vincent's voice rang through the place, echoing into the distance.

"Scream all you want, vampire. No one will hear you. I'll take good care of your Squall when you're finally gone. I'll teach him the finer points of obeying your elders."

"Bastard."

Seifer silenced Vincent with a violent kiss. Vincent felt himself struggle, yet couldn't pull away from the lock. He felt terrified, even with his Chaos abilities. Everything in the room began to spin. Vincent felt his eyes darken, Seifer still pressed against his mouth.

"Squall, help me..." Vincent's thoughts slowly faded and he passed out again.

________________________________________________________________________

Squall, Cid, and Shera had been up and down the corridors of GARDEN for the last two hours. They had stopped to pick up Squall's Gunblade. Cid reminded him that he may not know the time that he would need it. Noone had seen Vincent or had heard from him since last night. Squall was becoming discouraged and was quickly losing patience.

"Why can't we find him, damn it?" Squall growled.

Cid threw Squall a glance that immediately calmed him down. Cid paced the main hallway for what seemed an eternity. Shera watched her husband nervously.

"Seifer wants to keep Vincent somewhere that no one would suspect. We've checked all the main buildings and the barracks, where would he run with him? Squall, do you have any clues to where he might have taken Vincent?"

Squall shook his head miserably. He felt completely helpless that he couldn't even find his lover when Vincent needed him.

"All he ever did was insult Vincent. He continually called him a vampire."

Almost as a key had been turned, Cid's whole face lit up.

"Did you say he always called Vincent a vampire?"

"Yes."

"Seifer sees Vincent as a vampire. Vampires need the dark. What's the darkest place in all of GARDEN?"

"The basement levels!" Shera exclaimed.

"That's right! I'm almost guessing that if we hunt through the basement levels, we'll find Vincent and Seifer. They're the only places we haven't checked."

Squall looked anxiously at Cid. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

The trio ran down the main hallway and down a couple flight of stairs. The door to Basement Level one was locked. Cid fumbled with his passcard, but managed to get the door open.

"Squall, take Shera's passcard. The code number's on the back. Check Level Two and Four. Shera and I will check One and Three. If you find Vincent or Seifer, do what you can until we find you."

Squall nodded and took Shera's passcard. He ran down another two flights of stairs and unlocked Basement Level Two. He carefully patroled the area for any sign of Vincent or Seifer. He felt his stomach twist when he realized that neither one were present. He found himself questioning his own integrity. If he couldn't find Vincent, he never would be able to forgive himself.

He left Level Two and looked down to Level Three. Cid and Shera weren't there yet. He debated about checking out Level Three himself, but decided against it. If Cid and Shera found Vincent, they'd take care of him until he reached them. Running down another two flights of stairs, he ran Shera's passcard through the door lock. The door slowly came open. The scent of must and age came wafting into Squall's face. Almost immediately, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time...fear.

________________________________________________________________________

Squall entered the room quietly. His Gunblade was positioned in front of him. He was poised for attack. A loud squeal came out of nowhere. He instinctively turned around and slashed at the target. His blade barely missed a pipe that had sprung a steam leak. He swallowed hard, feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"Focus, Squall, dammit, focus!" he reprimanded himself.

He turned around slowly and began to adjust his eyesight to the room. It was dark, but in least he could make out general shapes. It seemed to be the storeroom for all the outdated things that GARDEN no longer used. He walked lightly on his feet, his Gunblade once again repositioned and ready to strike. Turning a corner, he heard a voice speaking softly. He immediately pressed himself against the wall and peaked very carefully around the corner. What he saw made his blood boil.

Seifer was crouched in front of Vincent. He had his fingers laced roughly through the pale man's hair. His mouth was locked against Vincent's and even in the dim light, Squall could see that Vincent was struggling to get away.

Squall pulled his stare away from the situation. He couldn't attack head on. Seifer had the advantage of having Vincent as a hostage. Squall couldn't make out the details, but Vincent was being bound by something. All Seifer would have to do would be to take his weapon and ram it into Vincent's chest.

"Think, Squall, think! What can you use against Seifer?"

Seifer had had all the same training as Squall did. Trying to get him with a suprise attack would be next to impossible. He had to think of something that would completely catch Seifer off guard. Squall felt his stomach grow ill as he came to realize what he would need to do. Taking a deep breath, he stepped around the corner. He clicked the tip of his Gunblade on the concrete floor. Seifer broke his kiss from Vincent. He stared at Squall and then narrowed his eyes.

"Well, well, look who's come to join our little party. If it isn't the 'teacher's pet' himself."

Vincent lifted his aching head to see Squall approaching Seifer. He was dragging his Gunblade in a very uncommitted manner. Vincent wanted to tell Squall to run, to get away, but words seemed to difficult to form. All he could do was watch with his ruby eyes.

Squall stood in front of Seifer. Seifer arose from the ground, picking up his modified gunblade. They stood chest to chest with one another. Seifer moved his weapon so that the tip rested under Squall's chin. He pressed in a little and a drop of blood came out of Squall's skin. Squall made the motion to retaliate. He remained calm, almost lazy about his stance.

"I haven't come to fight you, Seifer." Squall finally stated.

"Oh? Well, if you want to get the vampire back, you're going to have to."

"I didn't say I came for the vampire, did I?"

Vincent felt himself go paler than before. What was his young lover saying? He stared dumbly up at Squall. Squall glanced down at Vincent with unattached eyes. Vincent could feel his heart begin to break. He quietly wished that Seifer would kill him now so he wouldn't have to see Squall's distant eyes.

"So, what are you here for, then?"

"Maybe I'm looking for something more in my line."

"You're line?"

"Yeah, I think you know what I'm talking about." Squall pressed his body against Seifer's very briefly. He could feel Seifer suck in his breath slightly. Squall pulled back and relaxed his weight on his Gunblade.

Seifer looked suspiciously at Squall. "You're up to something, Leonhart, I can smell it."

"Are you sure that's what you smell?" Squall again leaned forward, this time tilting his head to the side. Seifer found himself being pulled down to Squall's neck. He breathed in the warm scent of Squall's skin. He could almost feel himself begin to salivate.

This was too much for Vincent. He tried to close his eyes to the images that were burning into his mind. His beloved had turned on him as if they had never been in love. The bitter taste of bile raised up in his throat. He wanted to stop watching, but his eyes rebelled, and he was forced to look up again.

Squall was leaning his head back while Seifer slid his lips against his neck. His face was laced with pure ectasy. Vincent felt tears begin to slide down his cheeks. Seifer pulled Squall closer to him. The young soldier didn't rebel, but allowed himself to be pressed against Seifer's hard frame.

"I don't know what you're up to, Leonhart, but it's too..." Seifer's words were silenced by Squall's mouth. The kiss was long and erotic. He ground his hips against Seifer's, causing the man to moan. Seifer pulled back from Squall's lips, breathing harder than he had before.

"Isn't this what you want, Seifer? Isn't it?" Squall's voice was barely a whisper against Seifer's lips. He took hold of Seifer's trenchcoat and began to pull him away from Vincent. He led the man to a wall and let himself rest his back against it. Seifer pressed his weight against Squall's slim frame. Squall slid his free hand down to where Seifer was clenching his modified gunblade.

"Do you really need this?" came Squall's soft plea.

Seifer almost dumbly released the weapon. He didn't think about asking Squall to let go of his Gunblade. Seifer immersed himself in Squall's slender neck. He pulled on the flesh roughly and Squall could feel Seifer's teeth bruising his throat.

"Don't waste your energy on my neck, Seifer. There are plenty of other places that could use your mouth."

Squall used his free hand and pressed Seifer down until he was resting on his knees. Seifer stared at Squall's pants, in pure disbelief. He could feel his own erection surging against his pants. He found himself trembling as he reached for the top button of Squall's slim black pants.

Vincent stared at Squall. He couldn't speak, couldn't think. But, something that Squall did then made everything change. He looked Vincent straight in the eyes and mouthed the words, "Forgive me."

"Level Black seduction techniques." Vincent realized then. Squall was seducing Seifer to save him. Vincent felt a surge of shame shoot through him for doubting Squall.

Squall continued to writhe with Seifer's touch. The performance was convincing Seifer and he continued to work on Squall's pants. He pulled down the zipper, readying himself for taking Squall into his mouth. Very suddenly, he felt pressure on his throat. Squall forced Seifer back with his free hand.

"Suprise, hormone boy! Never think you'll get anything from me."

Squall threw Seifer onto his back. He raised up his Gunblade and focused his energy. Seifer immediatlely kicked into soldier mode and rolled to grab his weapon. Squall slashed at Seifer, but missed. Seifer sprang to his feet and struck at Squall. The tip of the blade barely skimmed Squall's bomber jacket, cutting a small hole into the sleeve.

"You'll pay for that!"

"Not likely!" Seifer hissed.

Seifer spun around and struck for Squall again. Squall sprang up out of the way. He thrust out his Gunblade at Seifer. The tip ran into Seifer's chest, tearing a hole into the soldier's shirt and drawing a small amount of blood. Seifer stared down at the wound. His eyes blazed up suddenly.

"That's the second and last time you'll ever cut me!"

Seifer ran at Squall and swung his weapon. He missed barely again, and got the upper part stuck in the crates. He began to curse as he tried to pull it out. Squall took the opportunity to run over to Vincent and try to pull off his restraints.

"It's no use Squall. You need to worry about Seifer. I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry for deceiving you." Squall whispered.

"You've been studying Level Black, haven't you?"

Before Squall could respond, Seifer had pulled his weapon free and had spun around. Squall immediately moved in front of Seifer, blocking a downward blow. Their blades clanked together loudly, sending a resonating echo through the basement level. They continued to press together, the blades grinding and sending sparks everywhere.

"Give up, Leonhart, and I might let you and the vampire live."

"Never, and his name is Vincent!" Squall screamed. Seifer increased the pressure on his modified gunblade. Squall could hear something begin to crack. Before he realized it, his bone in his lower arm snapped. Squall let out a scream on agony and fell back onto the ground. His blade went flying out of his hand and he clutched his broken appendage.

Vincent was furious. He began to pull on his bindings. The metal began to slowly bend and one of the chains broke. Almost instinctively, Seifer turned his attention to Vincent. He smiled maniacally and pressed his weapon into Squall's chest.

"You do anything stupid, and I turn soldier boy into shishkabob."

Vincent immediatly stopped struggling. He stared helplessly at Squall who was groaning in pain. Seifer kicked Squall in the side, to add to his injury.

"I can't do anything, I can't help him..."

"Mr. Almasy! What the #$@%^ are you doing?" came a thunderous voice.

Seifer and Vincent both shot their gaze to the voice. Cid stood with his spear, ready to strike. Shera stood behind him, fear etched into her face.

"Well, if it isn't the professor from hell. As soon as I'm done with Squall, I'm going to repay you for that little mark you gave me on my face."

Cid approached Seifer, ready to strike at him with all the power contained in the spear. But, the moment he got close, Seifer jabbed his weapon into Squall again. Squall let out another shriek of pain.

"What's it going to be professor? Squall or me? Huh?" Seifer stared wildly at the older man.

Cid had no options. He didn't know what to do. He backed away slowly and joined Shera again.

"We can talk this out, Seifer." Cid hoped his voice sounded reasonable, but doubted it.

"No, I think we've done enough talking. I think it's time for someone to pay. But, I'll start with the lesser first. Mr. Valentine, I think it's time for you to see the dark side for real."

Seifer pulled his weapon away from Squall. He approached Vincent with the tip ready to slice through his jugular. Squall swallowed back the pain and focused his energy.

"For you, Vincent." he vaguely thought.

Squall kicked out his legs, tripping Seifer. Seifer went tumbling forward, his weapon landing in front of Vincent's feet. Seifer barely managed to turn around to see that Squall had retrieved his Gunblade. He had ahold of it with both hands, as if his arm hadn't even been broken. An orange like flame began to encircle him. Squall lifted his Gunblade to rest against his forehead. He released a scream and jumped into the air. He came down and he slashed what seemed every direction. To Cid, Shera, and Vincent, it looked as though he was on every side of Seifer at once. The fury of the attack was unmatched, even compared to Vincent's Chaos form. When the attack was finished, Seifer was still on the ground trembling. He looked blankly at himself, seeing that he wasn't even bleeding. Suddenly, all of his clothes came off in shreds. Seifer sat on the ground completely buck naked.

"And now, for the finale." Squall growled.

He took two giant steps and hauled Seifer to his feet. He then released him just long enough to throw one of the hardest punches that even Cid himself had ever seen. Seifer's nose broke this time and the man hit the concrete floor like a pile of bricks. Squall stared numbly at Seifer's unconcious form and then promptly collapsed.

"Squall!" Vincent screamed.

He struggled to get out of his bindings. Cid went to his friend's aid and began to use the tip of his spear to pick through the lock. Shera was tending to Squall, who was still concious, but was clutching his wounded arm. Finally, the lock came undone, and Cid pulled the chains from Vincent. He crawled quickly over to Squall, who looked up at him with loving eyes.

"Hi, Vincent, you look like hell."

Vincent shook his head, the tears coming down his cheeks. He leaned down and pressed his lips gently against Squall's. Squall released a pleased sigh and slipped into unconciousness.

"Will he be all right, Shera?"

"Yes, he's just in shock. We'll get him to the infirmarary. Alena can treat him there. Cid, what about Seifer?"

"I'm way ahead of you, dear." Cid picked up Seifer's limp form and threw him over his shoulder. He grabbed Seifer's modified gunblade with his other hand. "I think I'll be putting this young man under permanent barrack's arrest and notifying his father."

"Can you get Squall, Vincent?" Shera asked quietly.

Vincent nodded and lifted Squall's limp form, keeping in mind of his broken arm. Shera retrieved Squall's Gunblade and carried it with her. The group exited the basement door.

"I have no idea how I'm going to explain this one to the board." Cid exclaimed.

"How about temporary insanity?" Vincent quipped.

"That's not funny, Vince."

"Some things just don't change, do they?" Shera sighed.

END OF LEVEL BLACK

________________________________________________________

EPILOGUE:

"Squall! Hey, Squall! Where are you going so fast?"

Squall turned to see Zell running up the corridor. He winced from turning too quickly, still feeling the ache from his battle with Seifer.

"I was just heading to the atrium, Zell."

"Oh, I was just going to tell...hey, what happened to your arm?!" Zell gestured to Squall's arm resting in the cloth sling.

"This? I fell down a flight of stairs."

"You? You never stumble. You're the most graceful one here."

"Well, we all have our weak moments." Squall laughed quietly to himself, knowing the real reason for his injury. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to tell me? I'm in a bit of a hurry."

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Did you hear that Seifer's on permanent barrack's arrest?"

"Really?"

"Yup. Seems he got too rough with Darin. Darin ended up in the infirmary after they passed Level Blue."

"He's not the only one." Squall thought to himself.

"That's too bad for Darin."

"Hey, congrats. You're the only one who made it to Level Black. All Guren and I reached was Level Blue."

"Thank you, Zell. If you'd excuse me, I have to get to the atrium."

"Okay, sorry to keep you waiting. Oh, and Squall, did you know that Mr. Valentine is a permanent employee now? He'll be teaching specialized gun training courses. I guess you'll get to see him a lot more now."

"I guess so." Squall said with a mischievious smile.

Squall then left Zell, who was confused by the small smile on Squall's face.

"That's weird. He never smiles."

________________________________________________________________________

Squall entered the atrium, instantly being struck by the smell of fresh flowers. He quietly walked down the path. Turning a corner, he found what he was looking for.

A raven haired man in a black suit with red tie was quietly reading on one of the atrium benches. He raised his head from his book and looked at Squall. A warm smile appeared on his face. Squall walked over to the bench and sat down beside the man.

"How's your arm?" Vincent asked quietly.

"It hurts, but I'll live."

"That's good."

There was a silence between them for a moment. They just stared at each other, enjoying one another's company.

"Squall?"

"Yes?"

"Was it all worth it? All the training? Even when I doubted your love?"

Squall looked at Vincent and smiled.

"If it wasn't, would I be here?"

Vincent nodded and then very gently leaned over and kissed Squall's lips. He had meant it to only be a kiss, but the next thing he knew, he was pulling Squall off the bench and laying him onto the atrium grass. Squall made no objections. Vincent was careful with Squall's broken limb. There was silence for another moment.

"Vincent! Where did you learn that?" came Squall's sudden outburst.

"I didn't include everything that I knew in the manual." came Vincent's seductive reply.

"Vincent, I...oh my...never mind...mmmmm..."