Hi there, I'm HellfireRaven and I'm a relatively new writer (at least to fan fiction anyway) and a friend recommended that I should start posting my stories on here, so, as you can imagine; here I am! This story will be a multi-chapter, how many I'm not sure as I'm still editing a hundred page word document filled with random tidbits, descriptions and one liners into a story with a discernible plot, so please bear with me!

If you don't like swearing and sexual references then you will probably loose interest in later chapters, I still haven't decided if this story will need an M rating later on but it's nothing graphic as of yet. So I'll say rated T for now. I'm open to suggestions so all reviews are welcome, except flaming!

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Final Fantasy or it's franchise. No profit is being made from this story.

Baiting The Beast - Chapter One

Yuffie sat alone in the plush surroundings of Seventh Heaven. She was nursing an untouched mug of cocoa and awaited the return of Tifa while she was upstairs preparing a room for their guest.

The ninja had offered to help her best friend but was politely rejected and told she was fine and someone needed to watch the bar, even though Tifa had practically shooed everyone out of her bar the moment that her boyfriend had called to say they had finally found their missing gunman and were on their way home to celebrate.

The only company she had was the noise of the fans whirling merrily above her.

She was so bored of waiting…

"Do you think Vincent will need a change of clothes?" Tifa asked as she finally stepped back into the bar from upstairs, having completed her task.

What a random question, Yuffie looked at her in surprise. "Do I look like Vince's Mom?"

Tifa giggled and folded her arms against her chest. "Well since you're practically in love with the man, I'd have thought you would know everything about him." She argued.

Yuffie made a face and sipped her cocoa.

"There's a fine line between love and being an obsessed stalker, Tifa." She tried to pass off her smile as being offended. "It's nice to know you hold me in such a high regard."

"Of course, only the highest."

The glare she was given could have burned a hole through her forehead and into the wall if she'd kept still long enough. She failed to notice her friend deliberating mutiny and made herself a coffee.

"I'll have a quick break and then I'm going upstairs to freshen up." Tifa decided, pulling a stool out from under the counter and setting her mug in front of her.

"Freshen up?" Yuffie was quick to forget her anger and grinned. "Are you hoping Cloud will come home and want to whisk you away for a brief romantic interlude in the back room or something?"

"'A brief romantic interlude in the back room'?" Tifa looked puzzled.

"I could have said dragging you into the kitchen and taking you against the fridge, but it didn't sound as poetic." Yuffie traced a finger over the chocolate film that had settled on top of her drink and popped the end of her finger into her mouth, grinning as the entire expanse of Tifa's face turned cherry pink.

"That's not what I'm planning at all!" she spluttered, hiding her embarrassment. "I only meant I wanted to look nice for Cloud when he returns."

"Tifa, you'd look gorgeous in a refuse sack." She prodded. "Please tell me you guys have at least, Y'know…" Yuffie waved a hand in the air as if it made some sort of physical demonstration of the word.

"…Y-Yes we have…" Tifa quickly scanned the room as though she were about to reveal a dirty secret. "But our sex life is none of your business, Yuffie!"

"Duh…I am your best friend Teef; we're supposed to share this kinda stuff." Yuffie waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"What kind of stuff?" Tifa narrowed her eyes.

"Y'know…tips and posit-."

"-I am not discussing that sort of thing with anyone but Cloud, thank you very much!"

Yuffie looked disappointed. "Aw man, you never have any juicy gossip." She sighed and placed her head in her hand lazily.

"If you want juicy gossip you should join the little old ladies club that meets here every Sunday. Some of the stuff they talk about would give even you a nose bleed." Tifa raised an eyebrow and smiled slyly.

"Meh, no thanks. Can't say I'd have much in common with little old Marge from down the street with a rare teapot collection and three evil cats."

XxxxxxxX

"I can't believe we're finally going home."

Vincent gazed into the failing light of sun, his crimson eyes were tired but fully alert as they darted back and forth, and making a futile attempt at catching the scenery as it rushed passed beneath them. The airship upon which he was traveling was widely regarded to be the fastest machine in the entirety of Gaia, matched only by its technological prowess and ability to glide through the air almost silently – after a few choice modifications had been seen to by its virtuoso captain.

Naturally, looking so frequently to watch the scenery below the ship was starting to make the silent man nauseated. Closing his eyes sharply, he turned away from the balcony and leaned back against the railings with his arms folded and legs crossed.

"Home…" he repeated his comrade's words to himself, letting a small note of his approval pass his lips before flashing his amused gaze towards the blond haired swordsman with Mako blue eyes stood off to his left.

Part of him was eager to push forwards and cross the threshold of the metaphorical doors that were being held open before him and yet another part of him entirely wanted nothing more than to return from where he had come and forget everything that had ever happened to him. He was at a complete loss.

It was a morose way to think about things; but Vincent Valentine had suddenly realized that he had no idea what he was going to do with himself. It was a terrifying and wonderful thing all at the same time, and thinking of answers to those sorts of questions was genuinely bewildering. Perhaps he would leave the pondering about his place in the universe alone for a few days; it was starting to give him a headache.

"You scared?" Cloud directed the question to with a smirk.

"Hmn?" Vincent didn't understand.

"Are you scared?" the other man repeated.

"What am I supposed to be scared of, exactly?" he raised a surprised eyebrow.

Cloud chuckled and leaned back against the side of the ship. "Y'know, being released of your sins, forgiving yourself and moving on…whatever you 'quiet and brooding' types call it nowadays."

Vincent recognized the joke against Cloud's own past.

"I'm terrified."

Cloud chuckled lightly and his mind wandered for a moment – he was missing Tifa and silently willing the ship to move faster so they could return and celebrate Vincent's return properly. Tifa would shut the bar early and there would only be friends there; they would drink to his success late into the early hours.

On the balcony floor, the shadows were growing longer as the sun finally set behind the mountains to the south of Midgar. The automatic light overhead flickered on and the men's thoughts were jarred by the loud hiss of the pneumatic doors opening that led back inside to the bridge. Vincent looked up and nodded. Cid Highwind stood in the opening.

The oldest of the three men momentarily ignored the two to reach into his pockets and grab a cigarette from its packet; he lit it quickly and took a long drag. Vincent looked over at Cloud and the two exchanged a look.

"How is Shera's 'no smoking' policy going then, Cid?" Vincent mused.

The pilot let out a long sigh and glared at him. "How does it fuckin' look like it's going?" he breathed out a cloud of acrid smoke. "Damn woman's got the whole fucking crew in on the act now, can't even go take a shit without one of them little runts jumpin' up on me!"

"But smoking will harm your wife and the baby, Cid."

"I'm not fuckin' smoking inside the house or around Shera and the brat!" Cid looked alarmed for a moment. "Woman said she'd smash me between the legs with a frying pan if I ever even thought about it…"

The man took one final drag and tossed the butt over the side of the ship. He then, much to their amusement, took out what they guessed was a bottle of aftershave and sprayed himself from head to toe with something that smelled like strong gasoline fumes mixed with hard liquor.

When he saw his friends looking strangely at him, he clarified his actions.

"Only thing I've found that hides the smoke." Cid grimaced. "Smells like shit but it gets the job done."

He moved towards the doors and they opened automatically, allowing him passage.

"Are you two comin' in or what? We're 'bout to make our final approach to land." And with that the doors shut behind him.

Vincent leaned into himself; a slight chill on the wind had prickled the hairs on the back of his neck, causing a shudder to travel down the length of his body. Another thing he had recently become aware of was his sudden sensitivity to things like warmth and cold, how his thoughts and what others said to him caused him to feel again. He was starting to feel less of a machine, manufactured to run efficiently and smoothly without tiring or feeling the strain like a normal person would and because of this lack of enhancement, he was beginning to feel distinctly more human.

"Not long now, Vincent." Cloud pushed away from the door and clasped a warm hand on his friends shoulder. "I'd better warn you first…the girls might jump on you." He chuckled at Vincent's worried expression. "Not to worry, I'm sure they won't hurt you."

Vincent shook his head. "Thanks for the advice." He stared out one last time into the darkness. Even without seeing it, he could feel the ruined city stretching out beyond the mountains, simultaneously merging with the daughter it had given birth too after its tragic demise as the bustling Edge expanded south south-west, not that the city hadn't seen its share of violence.

Almost two weeks had passed since Omega and Chaos had been returned to the planet. People had been surprisingly quick to recover and some were even starting to rebuild, eager to move on.

Vincent returned from his musings and the two men followed Cid back into the airship.

"Let's go."

XxxxxxxX

She sighed and checked the clock. It was almost an hour since the two women had received Cloud's call and the buxom barmaid had spent most of that time fluttering wildly around the place, tidying up what was already a spotless bar and home. Yuffie snickered at the thought.

Sighing heavily, she heard movement behind her and was about to pass a sarcastic comment to Tifa when she looked behind her and groaned. Reno.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, as he shut the front door behind him and sat down at the bar.

"I could ask you the same thing, honey." He grinned, obviously not expecting to see the ninja sat there. "I thought you of all people would be out helping search for Mr. Tall Dark and Freaky."

Yuffie cringed at his term of endearment and glared at him haughtily.

"You weren't invited and his name is Vincent." She jabbed him in the chest. "If you must know... and I don't know why the hell I'm bothering to tell you of all people…Tifa asked me to stay with her to help out at the bar while the others were out looking for Vince."

As if that was the end of the matter, she perched herself back on her stool with a huff and took a sip of her cocoa, trying to ignore him. It failed to work when she caught sight of him ogling her legs appreciatively as she crossed one knee over the other. Damn, did she wish she wasn't wearing pajama shorts…

"Well since I did help you guys beat Omega with my amazing skills, I at least thought I would have wangled an invite to your little shindig."

That one made her snort.

"Help? What help?" she swung round to see him smirk. "I didn't see you at all during any point of the Deepground missions and besides, The Turk's have nothing to do with the W.R.O."

"That's what you think, baby." Reno grinned.

Yuffie groaned again. She'd gotten used to Reno hitting on her, but it still didn't stop her wanting to take Conformer and ram it down his throat.

"You gonna be here long?" Yuffie snarked. "Only we were planning on enjoying ourselves tonight."

She inwardly grinned at herself for that one but was spared having to listen for a reply when Tifa eventually stepped into the bar. She was about to ask Yuffie how she looked when her face turned stony at the sight of their gatecrasher.

"Where did you come from?" Tifa folded her arms. "The sign outside says we're closed."

He had the cheek to look offended.

"That hurts, right here." He placed a hand over his chest. Tifa opened her mouth to politely tell the annoying man to get lost when she was beaten to the job by her best friend.

"Find someone who cares, this party is for Vincent and his friends, we didn't order a side order of Turkey to go with it, so scoot." Yuffie, fed up with him, grabbed him by the collar and almost threw him out of the door. She wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of his cologne.

"Burgh, did you empty the whole bottle of aftershave onto your face this morning or what?" She watched him land on his backside with a satisfying 'oof'.

"Only for you, babe." He grinned.

"You smell like my old man, and trust me, that isn't a good thing!" And with that she slammed the door in his face.

The moment she turned back to Tifa, Yuffie let out a relieved sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

"I honestly need to start locking that door more often…" Tifa sighed as the ninja returned to her perch at the bar.

"I'll speak to Reeve later about planting a tracking device on him. At least we'll be warned if he comes to close." Yuffie yawned quietly. "If he comes within a hundred miles, it'll zap him."

Tifa had no idea if the younger girl was joking or actually being serious but she smiled all the same.

"A hundred miles?" she giggled.

"Yep, anything less than that is waaaay too close."

"Isn't that a little mean?"

Yuffie raised her eyebrows at the barmaid.

"This is Reno. He's like a stray, mangy dog." Yuffie drained her cocoa. "You take pity on it and feed it; then you have a hard time getting rid of it and it leaves you with fleas."

XxxxxxxX

For someone who was not so easily stumped at making decisions, his hesitation to enter the bar earned him an annoyed grunt from the blonde pilot stood behind him and he was swiftly booted through the door; much to the amusement of its occupants.

He forced himself upright before gravity allowed him to fall over, the fans above his head were turning gently to cool the warm bar and his arrival had rung out a shout of "Vincent!" Though he wasn't sure who had spoken it. He became acutely aware that everyone was looking at him. The gunman didn't like being the center of attention at the best of times but this was definitely strange.

His sharp vision briefly identified six shapes within the room and the way they were staring at him in awe. He felt that at any moment they were going to break into a round of applause and give him some sort of prestigious award. A ghost of a smile crept to his lips as he imagined himself standing in a theater somewhere dressed in a ridiculous tuxedo and giving a speech.

"It's good to see you again. Welcome home, Vincent." Smiled one of the figures, Tifa, who looked as stunning as ever, though Vincent would have placed money that she'd probably spent the entire past hour on auto-pilot; cleaning everything in sight until it was gleaming spotlessly.

Her words brought him back from his bizarre imagination and he briefly glanced at the oldest woman of Avalanche.

"Thank you, it's good to be back."

Next to stand up and greet him was Reeve, who simply gave him a sideways smile and announced that they would talk later. Reeve was followed by the hulking great form of Barret, whose booming laughter rung out through the house as he picked up the startled Vincent and squeezed him to death. "T-Thanks…" Vincent wheezed and turned to the giant red fire-cat who was lying across one of the booths to the left of the room.

"Nanaki, I believe it has been a while." Once he had gotten his breath back, he went over to shake the creatures paw.

"Too long my friend, we have a lot to catch up on. But first we shall celebrate you're safe return."

After a brief greeting to Denzel and Marlene, who had pulled a startled looking Shelke into the room, Vincent finally turned to the most exuberant of their group.

In all honesty, he was bracing himself to be punched in the face but when the rest of their group parted to reveal the small ninja sat at the bar behind them, he was surprised to find her smiling and her posture relaxed.

As if she'd read his mind, or rather his body language, she noticed him silently releasing the breath he'd been holding.

"Don't look so worried Vince, I'm not gonna attack you, you big douche!" his eyes caught a brief glimpse of her tanned legs as she unfolded them and hopped down from her stool, crossing the short distance across the bar to meet him. "You sure know how to go out with a bang dontcha?"

He watched in mild amusement as Yuffie ducked and prodded around his body, looking for any sign of injury. She was somewhere behind him and underneath his cloak when she prodded him lightly in his left rib, making him squirm slightly.

More than a little annoyed, he turned and removed the younger woman from his person and stood her in front of him.

"I am fine, Yuffie." He clarified. "Not that I don't appreciate the effort but I would much prefer a more thorough medical examination by the appropriate person's rather than you jabbing me in the sides." He spoke in humour and watched her smile turn into a full on Yuffie grin.

He grunted as she threw her arms around his neck and became very aware of how her body was pressed against his. She was warm and soft and thankfully wasn't trying to strangle him, unlike their bulkiest friend.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely you alright…" he heard Yuffie whisper quietly into his ear before she nuzzled into the side of his neck. "Welcome home."

As they parted, he gasped as she grabbed him by the front of the collar and yanked him down to her level, pointing a finger at him and glaring at him with venom.

"You dare pull another stunt like that one again and I'll come find you myself and make damn well sure you never have the ability to reproduce…" she simpered dangerously.

He could tell from the look in her eyes that she meant every word. What was it with women and threatening to castrate men whenever they did something wrong?

"Right!" Tifa piped up suddenly to get the conversation moving again. "Everyone make yourselves at home, Yuffie, will you help me in the kitchen?"

Yuffie was vaguely aware that she was still holding Vincent in a death grip and she also became very aware that she could feel his warm breath against her cheek. The two of them locked eyes and Vincent saw mixed emotions toying away within hers. A small trace of pink found its way into her cheeks and his eyes dipped to watch her lick her lips.

"Y-yeah…I'll be right there, Teef."

She caught the way his eyes widened at her display and she smiled coyly at him.

"I'll be right back, Vince." She then waltzed off as though nothing had happened and waved a hand at him as she disappeared into the kitchen. "Don't you run off, ya hear?"

XxxxxxxX

"So are you planning on jumping Vincent before or after the party?" Tifa inquired as the two friends busied themselves in the kitchen. "If you don't mind I'd rather you do it after. I don't fancy answering the children as to why Auntie Yuffie and Uncle Vincent were 'wrestling' and trying to eat each other's faces off in the corner of my bar tomorrow morning over breakfast."

Yuffie shot the barmaid a scandalized look and whipped her head around to the kitchen door to make sure it was shut tightly.

"I thought you didn't want to discuss that sort of 'stuff' with me…"

"Oh I said I wouldn't be discussing my sex life with you, but yours on the other hand I find very interesting."

"Pervert." Yuffie mumbled. "For your information, I have a distinct lack of one at the moment."

"Ah, so that's why you're being so nosy..."

"I'm fed up of trying to seduce him the nice way. I have to take more drastic measures from now on."

Tifa giggled.

"What are you going to do? Jump into his lap and tell him exactly what you plan on doing with him?"

"I'll do that if my 'baiting' plan doesn't work and ONLY if…" Yuffie grinned.

His throat was dry and he was feeling a little hot under the collar. It had been years and by god he meant years since a woman had made him feel this way and to be frank he wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. It certainly felt good but was it really appropriate to be feeling like this around Yuffie of all people?

She was the youngest of their little band of misfits and even though she certainly wasn't a child any longer – no she definitely wasn't a child with those soft curves and toned legs that went on forever - before he had been shot, experimented on and locked in a coffin for over a quarter of a century; he had been passionate young man who could not easily resist being tempted by something. With Chaos inside him it had wiped out these human feelings and desires and now that the beast was gone, it felt like he had thirty years of making up to do.

He was feeling feverish and he excused himself from the room.

Cloud and the others watched him go but it seemed only Cid had grasped why the gunman had made such a swift exit.

"I've never seen a fella look more fucking frustrated in his life." The pilot barked. Cloud still looked confused for a moment before a look of comprehension dawned on his face.

"Language, Cid! What about the children?" Tifa hissed as she and Yuffie returned from the kitchen balancing several plates in their arms full of finger foods and snacks for them all to feast on.

"Who's frustrated?" Yuffie inquired innocently as she set her load down on the counter.

"I don't think I've seen Vincent move so quickly." Cloud mused.

Yuffie grinned to herself and secretly wondered if she'd scared him half to death. She wasn't one to use such sneaky tactics, but she'd been trying the subtle approach for almost a year and hadn't really gotten anywhere. Why the hell were men so damn clueless?

"I think I'll go and see if he's alright." Yuffie put on a convincing mask of concern. Well, it was enough to fool the men, anyway. Tifa wasn't fooled so easily. "Back in a sec!" she sung as she skipped off up the stairs. She assumed he'd fled to his prepared bedroom and so made for a right at the top of the stairs. She stopped outside of his door and listened for movement inside, creeping quietly so not to give away her presence.

A gentle clinking of metallic toed boots could be heard pacing across the floor. She smiled and raised a hand to knock on his door.

"Is everything okay Vincent?" she tried the door handle and to her happiness she found it unlocked. "Cloud said you disappeared while we were in the kitchen."

She struggled to contain a giggle as she heard a loud thud, followed by a quiet 'Damn it…' She heard a sigh and opened the door in time to watch Vincent sitting down on his bed, holding his knee.

"Did I make you jump, Vince?" she asked sweetly as she walked slowly into the room.

Vincent could see that her mood had changed from coy to innocent and he relaxed a little. It didn't stop the fire erupting within him at the thought of her close proximity to his bed and the fact the two of them were momentarily alone.

"Yes. I wasn't expecting anyone to follow me up here." He shot her a quick glance as she stretched her arms above her head sinuously as she yawned, elongating her body and emphasising the delicate curve of her back. The satisfied little mew that she left out as she stood in front of him did nothing to help the aching he felt at her being there.

If he didn't know better and if it had been anyone other than Yuffie, he might have questioned her motives at making such deliberate movements and noises like that. But she was surely too innocent to know what she was doing to him, wasn't she?

He almost laughed at the ludicrous idea of her trying to seduce him deliberately but got distracted again as she leaned over and raised a small soft hand to his head, seemingly innocent enough to a passer-by; but it gave him a delicious view down her top.

He groaned in frustration and passed it off as feeling a little under the weather.

"Aw, you don't feel so good, Vince." Much to the disappointment of the animalistic side of his brain, Yuffie returned to her normal height and cocked her hip to the side, resting her hand on her hip and placing a finger on her mouth with the other.

"Why don't you have a hot shower and change into something clean. It'll do you good to rejuvenate yourself after all you've been through."

Rather than scaring her off by explaining exactly his ideas of good ways at 'rejuvenating the body', he cleared his throat and nodded.

"A shower sounds good."

Deciding that it was enough of her coquettish teasing for now, she decided to leave him be.

"For now, of course…" she whispered to herself with her trademark grin.

"Okay, I'll see ya later then, Vince." She winked at him and flashed him her best smile before skipping off back downstairs to the others.

He groaned as his crimson eyes had traitorously travelled south as she went.

Yuffie waited until she got to the bottom of the stairs to let out a muffled fit of laughter into her hands.

"I was about to come looking for you two." She jumped slightly as Tifa's voice drifted through from the hallway to the kitchen. The barmaid was stood against the doorframe, arms folded and looking suspiciously at her younger friend.

"Why?" Yuffie provoked.

"To make sure you two weren't up to anything…obscene."

"Oh don't be such a sourpuss." She grinned evilly. "I don't chaperone when you and Cloud sneak off during the day to do the dirty..."

Tifa looked aghast.

"Besides…I bet poor Vincy thinks I'm just 'innocent little Yuffie' who doesn't have any idea what she's doing to him." The ninja placed her hands on her hips. "I want some fun with this before I plan on jumping him…"

fin.

Sorry, I tried to give it some meaning but meh, I'll let you guys be the judge. Next chapter should be up soon hopefully. Enjoy!