INCOMPLETE.

[tremefy]

Who: Vincent Valentine (tremefy), Duke (el_legendaire).
What: SHOWDOWN FFFFFFFFFFF. No, we'll see. ):
Where: Uhh. Somewhere away from the general population of the town. Close to the library, I imagine.
When: Tonight-ish.

Comments

[tremefy]

Vincent looked up.

Dark eyes drifted away from his loaded gun, away from the glittering black steel that pressed heavily into his palm, until he was focusing on the man that had just stepped into view seconds before. There was a moment where Vincent's expression faltered completely, and any person that was paying complete attention to him would have noticed the surprise evident on pale features. It was like that for barely a second, though, before that look of indifferent calm was sliding back into place, and Vincent's chin tilted up as he regarded Duke indignantly.

It'd been a long time, then. Longer than Vincent had even imagined, and maybe that was when the thirty years finally sunk in, finally settled to a standstill at the back of his brain, until it meant something to him. He'd been gone for thirty years. Missing for thirty years. Locked away in some fucking coffin for thirty years, and no one had understood, no one had known, because.

Because Hojo was clever, wasn't he, and he'd destroyed any chance of that, and Vincent had just let him.

His fingers tightened instinctively over the hilt to Hydra as he slid the gun loosely over the knee that was propped up in front of him. He still didn't move, still didn't go to get up, because. Duke was far enough away that he wasn't a threat yet, wasn't something that Vincent needed to particularly worry about, and even if he had been, he still wasn't worth the energy, still wasn't worth the fucking time.

"Kaplan," was all he said, then, and his name came easier than one might have expected, fell from Vincent's lips like molten poison, like toxic honey that dripped nice and pretty on every letter and vowel.

And that was it. He didn't bat a lash at anything that Duke said, didn't bother to give him an answer, to correct him on the fact that, well, Tifa wasn't his goddamn girlfriend. It was stupid, pointless, and he wasn't going to bother with any of it. He hadn't come here to talk, after all, hadn't come here to listen to a goddamn word that Duke said, because Duke had already wasted enough of his time, and Duke had already pissed him off far too much for one fucking day.

So, he just watched him, silent and ready, with a red gaze that would have burned holes through any other normal man.

[el_legendaire]

Duke caught the look of momentary surprise, watching as closely as he was in case Vincent decided to get trigger happy, and all it did was piss him off. Maybe this would have been easier if he'd be confronting a Vincent that was his proper age, and not the ghost out of his memories. Maybe he would be more inclined to accept that Vincent had disappeared for those thirty years to live another life for his own reasons, and surely he had them, and could be dealt with as a stranger now and not someone who might have stepped out of Duke's more cutting dreams.

It put his back up. He didn't want to see any evidence that might confirm that Vincent was telling the truth. He just wanted to kill the bastard and be done with it, and not think about the ramifications of the words 'experimented on.'

Maybe Vincent hadn't come back for a reason. They said all the Firsts had turned traitor and gone the route of pretty much everything organic the Science Division had ever produced, which was batshit. Maybe Vincent didn't even know himself yet, and it would creep up on him, and explode one day.

Maybe Duke would be doing him a favor.

Except putting a bullet to him didn't seem like a smart move just yet. Duke would be patient. Self-defense was a wonderful loophole in any justice system. So he kept an eye on the gun Vincent was holding, and casually strolled closer.

"Valentine." He stopped, watching Vincent watch him, taking the time to note the extent of the other man's injuries.

"Maybe I didn't need to come at all. You're doing a good job of killing yourself all on your own."

[tremefy]

He'd been expecting him to move closer, but he jerked back against the tree all the same, and his shoulder brushed over the bark behind him as he leaned away, as he pressed back. Duke didn't move in too close, though, and Vincent didn't draw his gun up, either, kept it nice and steady on his knee while he focused solely on the other man staring back at him. For once, he wasn't in his suit and tie, as that'd been destroyed after his fight with Sephiroth, and Vincent hadn't yet bothered to find another one. He still looked remarkably put together for a man that was so clearly beaten down, however, and the black of sweater he had on not only concealed his wounds better than his suit had, but it offset the pale skin and the red eyes locked in a drawn face.

It might have been a nice picture, a fitting scene for any other man, for any other gentleman, but the cold metal of the gun in Vincent's hand and the steeled expression on his face would have told any person the main thing they needed to know about him, and that was: stay. the fuck. away. It wasn't a game to him, wasn't about who came out on top, or who ended up walking away. When it came down to it, Vincent couldn't have cared less, and if Duke wanted to kill him, that was all fine and good, as long as he fucking did it. As long as he gave Vincent something to work with. As long as he stopped fucking talking for half a second for long enough to draw out whatever weapon he'd brought with him.

Unless he was particularly keen on killing him without a weapon, and Vincent supposed he would have had to have given him credit for that, because that took a particular amount of balls that most Turks didn't have.

"Are you finished?" he asked coldly, ignoring everything that'd Duke said to him only moments before. Hydra shifted against his palm again, slid coolly over the inside of his wrist, and Vincent pulled the gun up to rub it lightly against the side of his neck. It hurt, for some reason. Burned, and stung, and the frozen metal against heated flesh felt nicer than it should have. "I thought you were here to kill me."

[el_legendaire]

"You know, I was." Vincent was going to be in for a disappointment if he wanted Duke to shut up and get on with things. Now that the initial burst of temper had cooled, Duke was 90% sure that a simple murder was both 1.) unadvisable because of all the publicity and 2.) too good for Vincent.

He should take his time. What an opportunity he was being presented with, after all.

"But oddly enough, a lot of people took issue with my doing so, including an assortment of lovely young ladies. So now I'm still debating." Duke tilted his head. "You can't even fight in that condition."

[tremefy]

One shoulder lifted in the barest hints of a shrug.

"I never said I wanted to fight."

Vincent didn't hesitate, then. Hydra slid over his palm again, and the nozzle of the gun brushed away from his neck as his arm drifted over his knee, as he leveled the gun in Duke's direction. From this angle, from where he was sitting, it was difficult to tell where the bullet would have landed, but from Vincent's field of view, it looked like it would have been a direct head shot, should he have actually fired the weapon.

"I just want to get rid of you," he finished, and his finger slipped over the tab as he cocked the gun. "And if you're not going to do shit but stand there and talk like it means something when it doesn't, I might as well get to it, huh?"

[el_legendaire]

Duke smiled. Removed his sunglasses, folded them and tucked them safely in a pocket.

"Might as well."

And, in removing his hand from that pocket, also withdrew something that was dull black metal and circular and fit neatly in his palm. He held it up innocently.

"Since you're one hundred percent sure of the range on this, should it be set off for any reason."

Duke wasn't standing that far away.

[tremefy]

Vincent supposed he should have seen that coming to some extent. He grit his teeth, and the gun wavered on its target, before his fingers went lax and the metal slipped right past his hand to clatter down onto the ground next to his foot.

"Then fucking do it already."

Long fingers dragged through the dirt beneath him as he flattened his palms onto the ground to push himself up into an unsteady, wobbly stand. Hydra was kicked aside, and the cool steel slid over the soil until it was hitting an upraised root of a nearby tree. Vincent ignored it, took a step forward, and red eyes flicked down, down past his face, past those eyes, to his wrist and hand and the little object he held there.

He was beyond tired at this point, beyond exhausted, beyond any sort of patience that usually steeled him into place. Duke was playing games with him, was fucking with his head when he was supposed to be doing his goddamn job, and Vincent was fucking tired of it, didn't want to humor him anymore.

Another step.

"I don't have time for this."

[el_legendaire]

Ah.

It was a small satisfaction to see Vincent's frustration. Somewhat small. Nothing very honorable about taunting a wounded man, but Duke had never really been very honorable in the first place. He hoped it pissed Vincent off to be confronted like this. He hoped it gnawed at Vincent's insides to be outmatched very simply, to be made useless.

He hoped it burned.

"Do I look like I'm taking you prisoner?" he asked irritably. "I didn't order you to throw down your weapon." Even so, the bomb went back into its pocket and Duke pretended not to care that Vincent was closing with him. Probably to punch him in the face or strangle him or something like that.

"And as I said, I'm still debating over whether now is a good time to kill you. Except I'm not anymore. Get your gun so we can go."

[tremefy]

He had balls.

And for a second or two, it had Vincent pausing, hesitating, as Duke's words sunk in. There was a flicker of disbelief present on his face for half a moment, before it was slipping away just as quick to be replaced with an even brighter flash of solid annoyance.

It didn't take much longer than that for Vincent to stride up to Duke as if he'd never been injured, as he was just fucking fine, and curl his fingers in against his palm right before his fist connected with the plane of the other's jaw. Already bruised knuckles stung from the hard impact, but he didn't hesitate, didn't pause to flatten his palms right against Duke's chest and shove hard.

"You've got a lot of goddamn nerve," he hissed, and his words were dripping venom, were cold and sharp around the edges. "But don't you ever fucking insult me like this again. I don't give a shit about what your agenda with me is, or how badly you want to kill me. You either fucking do it, or you don't waste my time by saying you will."

He drew back a step, then, and his shoulders heaved as he pointed in the direction that would have led Duke back to wherever the hell it was he came from.

"Now fuck off."

[el_legendaire]

He had to hand it to Vincent. All that slender fragility hid a punch like a goddamn brick wall. The shove set him back a step and he stayed there, working his jaw and wincing at the audible pop.

"Or you'll what?" The smirk was bloodied, he could taste it, but he was ignoring that. "Hit me until candy comes out? You'll be waiting a long time for that one, sunshine."

It wasn't a punch. Punching wasn't warranted. Just a hard, open-handed slap across one of the larger bloody wounds easily visible on Vincent's torso. A cheating move like ramming one's fist against the bullet hole. It was one of Duke's favorites.

"And watch your mouth." He straightened grimly, brushing off his suit before taking Vincent's arm in a bruising grip. "You're not fit to be out in public."

[tremefy]

And that actually hurt, and that had Vincent sucking in a sharp breath that only stung more. He barely noticed the hand as it closed around his arm, and he nearly dropped down to one knee right then and there, almost collapsed before he realized that Duke was still there, was still fucking standing there, and he was the goddamn bastard holding his arm. Pain fluttered, heated and thick and heavy, all along his chest, dripping down over his spine and legs, and it was numbing almost, was enough to clutter his brain with a breathless fog that just stuck.

Bastard.

"Fuck off," except it came out with less venom this time, was more pained than angry. Vincent managed to wrench his arm free, managed to stumble back another step as long fingers drifted down his front to press lightly against his chest.

[el_legendaire]

Duke wasn't about to let Vincent off that easy, noting with no small satisfaction the way his skin went white with pain, the sharp breath, the vulnerability.

It was wrong, of course. Wrong of him to do this to another Turk. Wrong of him to want to do this to another Turk. Went against his duty. Went against his whole justification, that he caused suffering in order to protect.

Well. Vincent had forfeited that right of protection. Vincent had turned his back on the Turks for ..whatever his incomprehensible reasons were. Not good ones. Nothing that Duke felt would excuse the results.

Vincent deserved whatever he got.

Vincent stumbled back and Duke didn't follow at first, frowning slightly at the way the other man clutched his chest. Odd that there wasn't a wound there, but it could have been something internal.

"Definitely not fit for public," he muttered. "Come on then. Let's get you back before you pass out in the street."

Duke went to retrieve Hydra first though, holstering it at his hip before returning to Vincent and, with a particularly stern look that Vincent probably totally ignored, slinging the injured Turk's arm over his shoulders. "And if you argue with me, I'm keeping your gun."