In his reflection, he saw not the crimson-caped vampire-construct Hojo had created, but a glimpse of his former self. Vincent's long, raven tresses which were usually held in check by a headband, were tied back neatly, leaving a few stands to blow across his face. He gasped as his crimson irises traveled downwards, scrutinizing his new attire with concern. For Vincent Valentine wore not the clothing he was accustomed to, but the black and white suit that only the members of a certain group were "privileged" to wear; he was attired in the duplicate of the uniform of the Turk's he had worn so long ago.

A thought quickly scraped his genetically-altered brain: "Remove these clothes, Vincent, for you are no longer one of them." His shock was amplified when a familiar voice answered his thoughts aloud.

"Not so, Vincent. You were once a part of our organization, and you are fated to rejoin our special forces. You owe us: your new, improved body and mind, your increased awareness, your telepathy," replied Tseng coolly as he entered the cell, then shut and locked the door behind him.

"I owe you and the Turks nothing save for a few shots to the head." With all his horror and rage at being forced to wear the uniform of a murderer, Vincent was able to measure his words carefully and infuse them with a calm that surprised his captor. "Where did you place Cid? If you or any one of the members of your organization have hurt him in any way, I shall wipe you all out tonight without a second thought. Even though you have taken my gun, the Death Penalty away from me, I am still far from helpless."

"Why not attempt to use your vast mental powers to strike me down right now!" Coaxed Tseng. "I guarantee, you'll be doing yourself a great disservice should you attempt such an assault. But what the Hell, go for it, Vincent! Hit me with all you've got!" Raising his index finger, Tseng beckoned cruelly for Vincent to attack.

That was it. A shadow crossed the vampire's face as his scarlet eyes grew brighter. "I'm going to make you suffer for what you and Reno have done to Cid," he thought angrily as he charged his psi-limit well beyond that of Chaos. Raising his arms high above his head, palms facing the sky, Vincent shut his eyes and whispered the command that Hojo had warned him would drain all of his limit, as well as result in a blast radius of about two miles in every direction. "Dead Scream Dragon!" He called out as the crackling energy flooded the room. A loud, feminine scream was heard as Vincent's body was enveloped by the shape of a crimson dragon power construct reared its head and made to bite Tseng's body into a neat half.

"Containment Uterus...Surround!" Came the opponent's response as a large sphere of blue materia power surrounded the dragon before imploding on itself. A loud, planet-shattering cry was shouted by Vincent as the "Dead Scream Dragon" fizzled away. The last thing his blood-red eyes caught sight of was Tseng's boot and the laughter that seemed to pour out of every single opening in the man's body. "You underestimate the power of materia-synthesis, Vincent Valentine," cackled the Turk as he hauled the vampire up to his feet before passionately kissing him on the lips.

"What...have...you...done...to...Cid?" Struggled Vincent's voice as it flew from his bruised body. "You...sick bastard."

"Perhaps I shall show you later tonight. For now, you and I have more important things to discuss."

"I've nothing to say to you, Tseng," said Vincent flatly as he spat in the Turk's face.

"Arigato," muttered Tseng as he wiped his face on his sleeve before licking Valentine's neck. The skin above the jugular vein quivered with a combination of anticipation and loathing; loathing for that Turk who dared to even attempt a kiss on the place only Cid's mouth was permitted to caress. And yet, the anticipation for something new and forbidden felt so right to Vincent, as if it was deprived of him for too long. Cid's smiling face quickly and discreetly vanished from the uppermost corner of the vampire's mind as he moaned with pleasure, and pain.

"Stop...no...anything but that..," moaned Vincent as his knees buckled, causing Tseng's arms to fly around him in support for the trembling frame before him. Just as he thought he would pass out from pleasure, the scarlet-eyed man was picked up easily by his former compatriot and placed gently on the bed.

Upon returning his burden to the bed, Tseng crawled up beside him and wrapped one of his muscular arms around Vincent's torso. Stretching the other one lower, he slipped it beneath his captive's waistband, and gently grasped the soft flesh that resided there, stroking it gently. "Come now, Vincent, you might as well pretend to enjoy this." Tseng's hand implored his prisoner's cock to full stand before commencing to rub it more encouragingly.

"Stop it, Tseng!" Cried Vincent as he had reached his pleasure threshold. "Only Cid...you were of the past! I've moved on!" His hips began to move involuntarily, meeting the rhythms of Tseng's long, soft strokes.

"You know what I want, Vincent. Give it to me!"

"Never!"

"Let me rephrase this: you will enjoy this, or else I shall have dear Mr. Highwind silenced in a rather tasteless manner. All I need do is wink at the hidden camera, and Elena pulls the trigger on her Mako Gun. And I can assure you that this time, it is not set to 'Sleepel'."

Vincent's moan was muffled in his windpipe, causing it to become a feline purr as his throbbing cock started to grow slightly wet with precum. Tseng's merciless finger traced the moistness endlessly about the flesh of the straining head. "Vincent, not even I could tolerate this type of stimulation for this long. It is just a matter of time before you release; or do you not remember that section of Level Black in the manual?" Tseng whispered, taunting the man he was enamored with..

"Tseng," Vincent breathed as he came at last; thoroughly dousing the Turk's hand with the outpourings of suppressed passions. "I'm not for you."

"Yes, dammit! You forget by you are bound to you buy your life-debt," Tseng smiled as he ran his dry hand through Vincent's long, shining midnight-colored hair. "Longer than I remember," he muttered.

"I owe you no such debt!"

"Who do you think saved you when you stumbled upon Hojo and Lucrecia when they were joined at the hips?!"

"No one! Hojo had slung me over his shoulder and carried me down to his laboratory himself!" He shouted with considerable force at his captor. "Besides, what would you know Tseng? Back then, I was head of the Turks and you were given extremely limited access because of your pathetic score on the aptitude test and all that broken materia, wasted by your avaricious tendencies! Not to mention all that intense jealousy bottled up in the small compartment that is your skull; why, if you even caught a glimpse of what Cid has between his legs you'd keel over in worry of how to make yourself compare." Vincent punctuated his sentence by spitting into Tseng's left eye. In response, he received a backhand from the Turk, who was now trying to straddle his neck.

"Oh do shut up, Mr. Valentine! You think you know everything of your own existence because you've experienced it firsthand? Let me tell you the truth so I die a happy, elderly man: you walked in on Hojo and Lucrecia while they were fucking the brains out of each other, but that was not for the sake of pleasure and lust. No. It was the only means for Hojo to upload Jenova's genetic information into her body, where it was transferred into yours when she was forced to rape you. Of course, you instantly found out about this, and you walked in on them in the middle of another uplink session. Hojo foresaw this and critically injured you with his weapon. Yet, little do you know, my vampiric friend, that I was able to dive in front of the coup de grace shot to spare your life," hissed Tseng as he slowly let up from his crushing position. "He may have made you, but it was I who had allowed him to do such things. I even got the directive from the president of Shin-Ra to make you the ultimate weapon. This means that your body essentially belonged to the Turks, or, specifically, to the leader of our faction. Me."

"No one owns me, you bastard," seethed Vincent as he brandished his claw before flicking the metallic wrist. His eyes widened as the expected five throw-blades refused to manifest."

"We've strip-searched you, Vincent. Everything that could be used as a weapon has been removed."

"I still have Chaos."

"Go ahead and try, though I guarantee what will happen will make you sick to your stomach," coaxed the Turk as he extended his middle finger, beckoning incessantly at his reclaimed property.

"I call upon the universal order to shatter," the vampire spoke in his quiet, almost soothing tone. But his vocal pitch was far from it, as it soon grew in volume, causing to ricochet with a violence upon the concrete walls of the cell. "And Chaos to come forth!"

As he uttered those last words, Vincent could instantly feel that something had disturbed the great cosmic death and rebirth he was initiating once more. His flesh was burning! Eating itself from the inside out as the Chaos demon sought to escape its confines of the cellular barrier. Screaming out, possibly for the excruciating agony to stop, possibly for Cid to be reunited with himself, Vincent eyes flooded with the pent-up violet aura of the Chaos avatar before flickering back to their crimson color and fading into mute unconsciousness.

Snaking his arms underneath the vampire's armpits, Tseng fork lifted the lightweight frame onto the bed before throwing a shred of a blanket over the man before leaving the cell and locking the thick, steel door. Glancing outside the barred window, Vincent forced himself to regain consciousness to make sure that the astral scar inflicted by the summon was hovering in the night's sky, slowly mending itself until it would be needed again. Satisfied that the large fissure was sealing itself in an orderly fashion, Vincent closed his eyes and felt his world grow dark; his body temperature drop below subzero as unconsciousness wracked his exhausted frame.

Gently easing his prey below the covers, Tseng pulled the rough linen over the trembling body before kissing it on the forehead and exiting the cell, making sure that the latch slid closed with a solid click behind him.

The chief officer of the Turks made his way down the metallic corridor before arriving at Hojo's former lab. Pressing a small button to open the pneumatic doors, Tseng entered the room and looked around.

"Good show, everyone. I can see you placed Mr. Highwind exactly where I wanted him to be," he remarked as his eyes fell on the naked form of Cid, whose body bobbed steadily in a stasis tank, defiant blue eyes shut tightly, as Elena's Sleepel spell was still active.

"Yes sir, Tseng. As you can clearly see, Cid is enjoying his 'bath' before we fill the chamber with our stasis gel for transport to the underwater Mako reactor. If I may be so bold, sir?"

"Permission granted."

"Cid is the perfect means to Vincent's heart. We can easily make him ours since we have the object he loves in our hands. And if he refuses to comply, wouldn't it be a shame if his love slave's tank wasn't filled with the gel, but instead with acids and set to 'slow burn'?"

"No!" Shouted Tseng suddenly. "Cid Highwind is not to be harmed in any way. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Elena?"

"Crystal," she mumbled in response. "What's his problem? I must not have jumped his bones correctly. Oh well, at least I got that promotion," Elena thought as she recalled bedding down the longhaired Turk in order to become second-in-command.

Tseng's boots made a small clicking sound as their steel-encapsuled heels met the ground when he approached the tank containing Cid's limp body. Rapping gently on the glass caused the steel-blue eyes of the weathered pilot to spring open with ferocity.

Pressing his nose up to the cold material, the Turk's breath momentarily fogged up the glass. Wiping it away, he produced a photo from his pocket, pointed at its subject matter, then pointed at himself; all the time while grinning wildly.

It was a picture of a shorthaired Vincent, clad in blue suit, aiming a small silver gun at the practice dummy, whose face held a plethora of holes all in close proximity to one another.

"Now Cid, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this hard way. It is in our best interest that Vincent rejoin our organization to continue his training with me in the sexual expertise manual. He's ours now, and as far as I'm concerned, his cooperation is ensured by the fact that we have you, my airborne friend."

The pilot swam forward and, despite the constrictions of his oxygen mask, was able to clearly shout three words: "Fuck you, Tseng!"

"That wasn't very nice, was it? I'll be sure to tell your vampire lover that it was your words which brought about his second...no... third rape since we reclaimed him," the Turk responded coldly. "Watch your mouth, pilot. Else Vincent Valentine needs to suffer even more."

Forced to keep his language in check, Cid resorted to the only thing he knew how to do. And, as Vincent had told him many times when they were driving on the roads to visit their friends in Midgar, he was the best person for this specific action. As if in a famous ballet, Highwind elegantly extended his fist, knuckles facing downwards, towards his captor's bemused expression. Chucking heavily within his mask, Cid calmly extended a finger, the middle one, and shoved it right in Tseng's face.

"I see. Rufus, I'll allow you to shut our guest up if you pull that gel-release lever on the southern wall there."

"Yezz, bozz," replied the lazy, sluggish Turk as he roused his substantial flesh from the swivel chair before reaching over with one of his meaty arms and pulling down harshly on the lever. A great, mechanical humming was heard beneath the stasis tank as the clear ooze was allowed passage into the waters. Cid began to bang on the reinforced glass as he felt his legs, and more and more of his body become paralyzed as the goo enveloped him like the embrace of an unwelcome lover. Irises wide with shock, panic, anger, sadness, and utter defeat, Cid Highwind's body became fully immobile as the stasis gel completed its task.

"Life signs are well within hibernation parameters, sir," chirped Elena merrily as her corrupt, brown irises ran over the printouts that came spewing out of the wall-to-wall computers inside the lab.

"Very well. Prepare to shut down the laboratory for tonight," said Tseng as he swiveled about on one heel and began to glide out of the large, tiled room. Glancing once over his shoulder, he snickered at the suspended form of Cid Highwind before uttering his final order. "I intend to bring our former head of operations here tomorrow morning. You are all excused from your duties tomorrow, as I want none of you present. If you are needed, you will be notified. Dismissed," he said, waving his hand to articulate his words with flourish.

"Look out, Mr. Valentine. You're about to get shifted to an entirely new level," Tseng thought gleefully as he made his way into the prisoner barracks before retrieving Vincent, who was now sleeping peacefully in his arms. "It's time we took back everything you've given to the planet, and staked our full claim on your body, mind, and soul."

The vampire mumbled something before edging closer to Tseng's chest, seeking only warmth from the cold that only his thin frame was capable of discerning. That was the very reason why he nearly always wore his cape; taking it off meant a sudden, uncomfortable internal climate change for Vincent, which always sapped all of his strength.

Tucking his prize comfortably into his large, heavily quilted bed, Tseng removed his clothes before sliding in beside his captive and locking his arms around Vincent in a hold that resembled an embrace, but was designed so that he could quickly overpower the vampire should he attempt to flee.

"Goodnight, my precious Vincent. I hope you have pleasant dreams; whatever those are." The Turk sighed with pleasure as he drifted into sleep; his captive exhaled silently as he was secured into his captor's body lock.

Several minutes passed since the lab was locked down and secured by two of Shin-Ra's elite guards. Although Cid remained locked in the position he had been suspended in, his mind was taking its own time to shut down.

"Thank you, Jack Daniels, for teaching me how to temper my mind to resist hangovers. I now know what Shera meant when she said I have impervious blood. Yep, Highwind, you still got it: immunity to the effects of any mind-dulling substance!" His slowing mind pondered gleefully as his nonfunctioning eyes panned the room, studying his confines carefully. "Lessee here, Cid. You only gotta wait until tomorrow until Vincent comes and rescues you in his alternate form." He felt safe now that the invulnerable form of the Chaos-construct would take him in his pitch-black arms and fly off into the night with powerful wings. Suddenly, everything in the room turned upside-down and seemed to be immersed within a fishbowl. Suddenly, Cid felt sick to his stomach because he knew Vincent was being tortured to a greater degree. And suddenly, everything was not going to be all right in the end. Accepting defeat, the pilot allowed the gel's affect to take hold of his mind, slowing its alcohol and tobacco powered processes to a dull grind. "Sorry, Vincent. It doesn't look like I'll be able to make it out of here this time to save you."

Ten hours later, Vincent awoke in Tseng's restrictive embrace. Twisting himself to face the Turk, he saw that the man was still locked in a deep sleep. Struggling to get away from his captor's horrible "morning breath", Vincent succeeded in rubbing his upper thigh against Tseng's growing erection. In the process, he also managed to rouse him from his sleep, an evil grin plastered on his face.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said happily as he clutched the struggling vampire tightly against him. "I trust you had a peaceful sleep." Leaning forward, Tseng impetuously kissed Vincent tightly on the lips and slowly slid the tip of his tongue into his mouth before withdrawing.

"Please let me go, Tseng," Vincent pleaded quietly, his crimson eyes full of despair. His soft voice was beaten down by the night of indignation; silent tears were the only thing he had left deep within the confines of Shin-Ra's headquarters. "I do not desire to return to the Turks, nor work for Shin-Ra. So...please release me, and I will be willing to forget if this ever happened."

Something deep inside Tseng welled up and burst out of its confines, momentarily causing the Turk's face to emote sympathy. "What is this feeling?" He thought as he stared into Vincent's scarlet eyes which had begun to well up with tears. "I am supposed to be immune to any emotional anguish, am I not?" Frowning, he stuffed his pity away and composed himself.

"Sorry, Vincent, I can't allow you to return home. Since you are property of the Turks, you can't leave unless you are irreparably damaged or replaced."

"What if I resist?"

"We have...insurance. You resistance is peanuts."

"What do you mean?"

"Lay still, my impatient pet." He kissed Vincent's unresponsive lips as before, yet he slid his tongue in and proceeded to probe the recesses of his prisoner's mouth. Getting up, Tseng walked over to the large closet on the wall and removed a blue suit that was standard uniform for the Turks. Sliding both his arms underneath the pale flesh of the vampire's back, he lifted him to his feet and proceeded to sensually attire Vincent in the best suit he could find. He then proceeded to slide his fingers through his captive's long, sweet-smelling hair before tying it loosely behind the nape of his neck. "Mmmm, Vincent...you're really going to love what you're about to see!"

Tseng gently guided Vincent out of the bedroom and down multiple sets of stairs before pushing the elevator's call button. As the two identically-clad men waited for their ride, the Turk began to paw his captive's smooth chest. Suddenly, the dark-haired man felt a slight bump on his back as Tseng pressed him up against the wall and began to kiss his neck, stroking the quivering flesh lightly with his lips. The raven haired man gave no resistance to the Turk's caress, yet refused to respond.

"Ah, Vincent, I want you so very badly right now!"

"Tseng...." The man was using level three seduction techniques by gently licking his jugular artery, causing him to tremble ever more violently. "Stop....I can't....anymore."

"Wait until you see what I have. I promise you that you shall change your mind once you see what is in my possession!" With that, the doors of the elevator slid open with a loud, cheerful "ding" and the two stepped into the waiting car. Pressing the button marked "genetics laboratory, sub-level 2", they descended into a white tiled area. Exiting the machine, Tseng proceeded to pull Vincent along towards the huge, double doors of the lab. At the sight of the two, ivory doors of foreboding, he started to pull back.

"No!" He shouted, removing his arm from the vice-like grip in which it was ensnared. Stepping back, he started gasping as he backed up against the wall before slumping down in shock. "Never again," he whispered. "I won't go back in there! That was....that was.... his lab!"

" His name is 'Hojo', and he is dead. Therefore, your fear and hesitance is unnecessary."

"You haven't gone through what I have at that man's hands!"

"I was the one, actually, responsible for specifying what was to be genetically altered. Now, enough of your reluctance! It is time to go in." Cruelly hauling Vincent up by grabbing onto his forearm, Tseng slid his card through the scanner and threw the vampire inside before shutting the doors behind him.

"Oh God...." The voice trailed off suddenly as Vincent hit the ground with a dull "thud". He had completely passed out from the shock of reentering the eugenics chamber where Hojo had torn him apart, then stitched what was left of the former Turk back together. As his eyes closed, he caught a glimpse of something steely-blue peering out at him. A snippet of blond hair flashed in front of that eye before the figure floated back, deeper into the fluid which held it in suspended animation.

Then, there was nothingness, except for the resounding clicks of the restraints on the experiment table to which Vincent's limp form was secured; the sound of a broken spirit and shattered will.