Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 because I didn't get the job... sigh

Author's Note:Welcome to Crimson Bullet, the sequal of Dark Love ! I, ChinaDollBaBy123, have decided to make a sequal to my first fanfic! (sweet) Except, there is less sexual content and more violence!(okay, probably more of both) WEEE! But still romance between Lockheart and Valentine. HEH! Please enjoy. More on the FF7 AC side, so yeah.

P.S.- If you havn't read Dark Love, then I suggest that you do or you may not understand this story. Dark Love is pretty short, so it won't kill ya to read it.

Chapter 1: A New Round

---

A dark figure dressed in a long black robe with long black sleeves and shoulderguards on each shoulder, a dark grey vest over the torso with a collar and zipped down to show some of the chest, a silver belt with a serpent on the buckle, black boots, and a necklace with a snake charm dangling from it walked into a lab-like room.

"What's the status?" a female voice said, interrupting the five men dressed in a similar fashion. One had wild red hair, one was bald, and the other three had silver hair.

The redhead walked up to the figure and saluted her, "Serpent; the one you told us to find was located on the south side of the city." he said, handing her a brown folder filled with papers.

"Cute nickname, Reno." she said, smiling at him. He returned her smile with one of his own and continued as her fingers slid into the crease and opened it, revealing a picture of a raven-haired man.

"His name is Vincent Valentine, an ex-turk and an extremely good shot." he added. Her maroon eyes trailed up from the picture to Reno's face, startling him when she asked, "You know him?"

"Um.. Ye- Yes, ma'am. A former companion until-" he looked up at the huge green tube behind him. A figure with long silver hair was dorment inside, a small round hole in his heart where a bullet used to be.

"I see." she said, looking back at the picture. 'Valentine... Hmm... Now why does that sound so familiar?' she asked herself. She shut the portfolio and tucked it under her arm.

Spinning on her heel, she strode away, "I'm going to investigate on this Vincent a bit more, make sure everything goes well, won't you Reno?" she asked.

Reno saluted her and watched her chocolate hair fall to her mid-back as she let it out of the bun it was in. "Very well, Commander Lockheart."

---

Yuffie sighed and watched a moth flutter in the window. She leaned forwards and picked it up by the wings with her thumb and forefinger. It soon escaped, leaving a shiny powder.

"I wonder if this is what they make eyeshadow out of?" she asked aloud. She meant to direct it to Cloud, but he was too busy watching T.V. beside her.

"Hey Cloud?" Yuffie asked, turning to him. "Hmm?" he hummed, directing his blue orbs to look at her. "You never told me how Tifa-" his hand was cupped over her mouth before she could finish.

"Yuffie!" Cloud hissed, looking over his shoulder, "I told you, I'll tell you later!" Yuffie pulled away and made a face, "You said that two months ago!" she yelped.

The blonde scratched his head and nervously laughed, "Yeah well..." his tone went into a whisper and Yuffie had to lean closer to hear him, "I'm scared that Vincent might hear."

"Hear what?" a deep voice said behind them, causing them to jump from startlment. There he was, appearing to have heard their conversation. Long black hair in a red bandana, wearing a red cloak that was tattered at the bottom ends that mostly covered the golden boots he silently walked in.

"Vin- Vincent!" Cloud squeaked. "Um... how long have you been listening?" Vincent furrowed his eyebrows and sighed sharply through his nose.

"Long enough to notice that you dumb-asses don't know what your talking about." and with that last statement, he went outside to lean on the porch, staring blankly at nothing and lost in thought.

Then a figure on a black motorcycle, much like Cloud's Fenrir, pulled up in front of the house. The ex-turk streightened his figure and crossed his arms, walking over to the person dismounting the vehicle.

They took off their helmet and shook out their hair. Vincent's jaw dropped as he stared into the familiar eyes of his lost love.

Tifa.

Tifa stared back at him, a look of caution and uneasyness appearing on her face. "Tifa?" he finally asked, breaking the disturbing silence.

This was the man she was supposed to kill? But... for some reason she didn't think she could. She let out a breath she was holding and smiled.

"Uh-" she held out her hand and he shook it hesitantly. "Hello..." she murmured, a wave of strange emotions filling back within her. His touch brought everything back: The feelings, the memories... everything.

She suddenly felt the strong urge to leave.

His crimson eyes glanced down at the necklace and frowned. Yuffie emerged from the house, "Hey! Tifa's here!" and sprinted to her, almost knocking her over by the embrace.

Cloud shot up from the couch and looked through the doorway with a slight smile when he saw her patting Yuffie on the back.

Tifa blinked as Yuffie removed herself and went to get Cid, Barret, and Red. Cloud walked over to her and smiled wider than he had been.

"Hey Teef. Long time no see." he gushed, staring at her new wardrobe. But the funny thing was...

How did she survive?

Tifa nodded and noticed Vincent shifting under his cloak to cross his arms, "So what brings you back here?" he asked.

Her eyes met his once again and blinked, "Well..." she leaned on the motorcycle and stared at the ground, "Do you two remember that 'mission' we had been hired for half a year ago?"

Their eyes widened but they nodded slowly. She tossed her hair before continuing, "Well, they wanted to re-open it back up since we never finished it. It kinda just led to a dead end, ya know?"

Come to think of it, Vincent did begin to recall that they never did feed that much more into it after that ball.

"And um..." she added with a slight blush, "I was wondering if I could stay here in my old room again, since this is the sector which they are taking place the most."

Vincent looked at Cloud, knowing that it was technically his decision since it was his house, well, his, Yuffie's, Barret's, and Cid's.

And maybe his own too, but he never really did much, and he knew that having Tifa back into the house again... into his life again... would be difficult since she probably didn't remember him all too well.

Yuffie returned with the other two roomies to greet Tifa, just in time to break the silence of Cloud's thinking.

"Well, if you need a place to stay..." Cloud began. 'Oh no, please don't' Vincent silently pleaded. And it was as if the blonde could read his thoughts as his blue eyes looked to Vincent, "I suppose you can stay."

'Damnit...' he thought, and went inside while the others were distracted with Tifa's belongings finding their way to her old room again.

He was just going to have to keep it cool.

---

Tifa flopped down on her bed with a sort of happy sigh. She was half glad to be back, but also half upset about it.

The young martial artist rolled on her side and traced her fingers over the matress. She just wanted to sleep it away.

Tifa stood once again and walked over to sit on the windowcill and stare blankly at nothing, kinda like Vincent would do... well, used to do.

She had missed him so much, his touch, his smell, the way he'd used to tease her and make her laugh then get all close to her and kiss her until she was as red as a tomato.

But it hurt to think about it. 'He had shot me... that's not love.' her hand found her side and she dug her nails into her shirt.

"I just..." she wanted him to burst in there right then and hold her. Finding her way to the bathroom, she noticed that the razorblade was still in the medicine cabnet.

He was the reason she had stopped cutting, but she had such a strong urge to start again. The cold blade was placed back on it's shelf and the cabnet was closed, her eyes being cought in her reflection.

'I at least need to talk to him' she finally thought, retreating from her room to find his.

He was moping, as usual, with many thoughts on his mind. Tifa must've heated up the building or somthing, because it got so hot for him that he had to take his cloak off.

He heard a knock at the door, which was weird since he didn't sence a presence first, and brought his eyes up to the figure peeking through the doorway.

"Hey, Vin." she said, staring at the floor, "Can... Can I come in?" hoping that he would let her.

He nodded and watched her enter. Her beauty was so strong it made him want to cry. And when she sat next to him, his heart wanted to jump out of his chest to love her all over again.

But how could he when she barely even remembered him?

Tifa stared at his hands, especially the one that once had a golden gauntlet on it, was now a regular hand. The gauntlet... the beautiful thing he always wore that made him look stronger than he usually was... that shone in the moonlight as it stroked her bare back.

Her face went red and she took her attention from it, "It's been a long time..." she finally said, twiddleing her fingers together but trying not to seem nervous.

"It has." Vincent agreed, staring at her occupied hands, the ones he used to hold, and then trailed down her lap, to those legs that used to wrap around his waist...

Holy crap. He stopped thinking about it before he embarrassed himself. "What have you been up to these days?" she asked again.

'Thinking about you' Vincent stared at somthing other than Tifa, "Nothing much." and noticed that she sighed disappointed-like.

His muscles tenced when she placed a hand on his, "So... are you okay with me staying here?" she asked. His eyes were brought to the floor, "I... I don't know."

She pretended not to hear the comment. "I feel weird about you... I think I've forgotten something about you... about us...because,"

Tifa paused for a moment and then continued, "I felt like kissing you today..." Vincent's gaze snapped back twards her. She was staring at him, admiring him, the curve of his lips, his cheekbones, the way his wild hair fell in front of his face and made him look so mysterious.

"Tifa..." he slowly began to lean into her and she closed her eyes. Their lips were 1/1000 of a centimeter apart before she added, "But I can't."

She opened her eyes to see her disappointed comrad sit back in his orginial place. "I need to figure something out first," she sighed and placed her hands in her lap, "Not to mention I'm your commanding officer in this mission."

'Commanding officer?' Vincent thought, it was usually Cloud that he labeled as the "leader". Well, sorta. He would be fit for the job too.

Tifa shook her head and stood, walking out of his room and closing the door behind her. When the lock clicked behind her, she leaned agenst it and chewed on her fingernail in thought.

Yuffie appeared around the corner and smiled at Tifa, "Hey!" Tifa's eyes met Yuffie's. "Cloud wants to see you."

Tifa nodded and followed Yuffie to Cloud's room, which was oddly on the lower floor of this boarding house-like, well, house.

The blonde was waiting outside of his room with his hands shoved into his pockets. "Hey Tifa." he beamed, walking to her and dragging her back into his room with him.

He shut and locked the door as Tifa wandered over to his desk filled with papers and started rummaging through them.

And when she removed another pile of documents, he saw a ripped-and-tapped-back-again picture of him and Aeris.

She picked it up and tried to blink back tears of pity for him. "Oh, that..." Cloud's voice interrupted her thoughts. "She left three weeks ago, saying that she wanted to see what else is out there."

His strong arms wrapped around her and made her blush as he took the picture. "She sounds like a slut now." Tifa said. Cloud laughed that eventually went into a sigh.

"You don't know how much I miss her though..." his eyes became misty. Tifa frowned and hugged him, "I'm sorry." Her muscles tensed when he returned her embrace.

"Don't be." he assured her.

Cloud released Tifa, staring at the picture then throwing it back down on the desk, "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about though..." Tifa's attention was cought like a hungry fish on a hook.

"I researched on it a bit more and it said that the head vampire has the most control over the species." He started, "But it said that this generation," there was a pause, and Tifa leaned forward to listen as he finished in a whisper, "Two vampires are fighting for dominance."

Tifa smirked, "Don't tell anyone, but," Cloud stared at her, wondering what she was about to say, "I'm experimenting on one of those vampires."

His blue eyes went wide, "Oh really? That may help us out then." he sent her a smile, which she returned with one of her own, until he stepped closer to her.

"Whoever you were so committed to something that made you seem so smart?" he asked teasingly. Tifa was backed agenst the desk now, leaning back on her palms as he hovered over her, "Um... a new habit I picked up I guess..." she stammered.

"It's hott..." he said, smiling. Tifa began blushing wildly and broke from him, "I'll see you later!" she called back, rushing out the door.

---

The next day went a bit smoother. Tifa came down in a white tunic and blue jean capris with white heel sandals.

"Yo Tifa!" Cid called from downstairs. He was smoking a cigarette outside, a new rule he must follow she supposed.

Tifa waved her hand and walked out the door, followed by his head, "Where ya goin?" Tifa turned to face Cid, a confused expression on his face.

"I'm, uh... going for a walk." and with that she spun on her heel and quickly walked away. She didn't stop power-walking until she got to the end of the block where nobody could see her, and leaned agenst the fence.

She didn't know why but lately she had been wanting to be alone. Her feet had just carried her wherever they wanted, and she just hung her head to watch them.

Feet thinking for her, Tifa decided just to go around the block. Then her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered, turning the corner back to the house. "Tifa! Hey, how's it goin? Did you find him yet?"

"...Yes..."

"Did you kill him?"

There was a long pause, and Tifa's feet decided to stop before she could answer. "No, Reno, I havn't."

"Why Not?!" the redhead complained, almost breaking her eardrum, "It isn't like you to hesitate about these things."

Tifa leaned to one side and rested her shoulder on teh fence beside her, wighing into the receiver, "I know..."

"He's getting worse, Serpent." Reno finally said, "I think he's dieing." her eyes grew wide at his words, and just hung up the phone a little while after another silence begun.

'Dieing?' Her feet started up again, the word re-playing in her mind until she got to the front door.

Cloud was waiting for her.

"Where'd you go?" he asked, following her into the kitchen like a puppydog begging for an answer. "I went to go find you, but you wern't in your room." he shoved his thumbs in his jean pockets under his white T-shirt.

"Sorry..." she replied quietly, "I went for a walk. I can't remember where the library is anymore."The solider smiled widely and said, "Come with me." and took her by the hand.

After dragging Tifa to a door she hadn't remembered, Cloud eagerly opened the door and flipped the light switch.

Tifa covered her mouth in amazement at the mini-library with four computers in a room with crimson paint and dark wooden floors.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. "I built it on a few days after I needed to study more about the mission since no other information had shown up at the library."

The chocolate-haired girl walked around, admiring the bookshelves filled with novels and then the computers that were neatly polished.

"Do you ever come in here?" she asked, tapping a few of the letters on the keyboard. Cloud shrugged, "A little."

Tifa then noticed two recliners in front of a fireplace. "This is so cool, Cloud." she said, "I think I should be alone to concentrate though."

Cloud nodded and pushed his shoulder from the doorway and closed the door. Tifa heard his footsteps fade and sat down in one of the recliners with a sigh.

She saw a glimpse of Barret and Cid outside with a couple of beers, playing 'keep away' with Yuffie's shoe, and she couldn't help but giggle.

She stood again and fingered through the books for awhile, then sighed and shook her head, "If I start now I'll be up all night trying to find what I'm looking for."

Tifa left the room and turned to close the door. When she turned back around, she ran into something and it held her up to prevent her from falling.

"Sorry..." she muttered, then looked up to see Vincent's blood red eyes staring back at her, the bits of gold in them shimmering faintly.

"It was an accident." he assured her, smirking. "Yeah... I guess..." she sighed faintly. They stared at eachother for a long time.

Tifa's jumped and tensed when Vincent started stroking her arm he was grabbing onto. "I uh..." she pushed away from him.

"Just don't trip." he interrupted. He walked away, leaving Tifa's jaw open. 'Well, that was Vincent- like.' she growled after him mentally. She sighed and touched her arm he was stroking, for some odd reason his touch was still there.

Tifa spun on her heel and walked the opposite direction, her pager beeping in her pocket. She took it out and glanced at it.

Reno's number appeared on the screen and she sighed again. "I suppose it's about that meeting tomorrow."

Tifa went to her room and rummaged through her clothes, taking out a black tubetop that ended around her hips, a tan skirt that went three inches above her knees, and black high heels.

The girl was a bit tired. Okay, really tired. It was only 6:30 and she wanted to go to sleep. She'd have to be there by eight the next morning, so she just kicked off her socks and flopped down on the bed.

Once her head and pillow made contact, her 1000 pound eyelids snapped shut and she quickly fell asleep.