A/N: *First off, I'm going to start this off by saying that this fic was originally of...pretty poor quality. XD I'm currently in the process of re-writing all the currently posted chapters and then posting new material from there. As a result, the chapters that have previously been posted (one through nine) will have the same storyline as before, but with better writing and more stuff added in to make the story just more enjoyable all around.*

Okay, moving on to some important info: this fic takes place about a year or so after Dirge of Cerberus, and the main characters are my two original characters, Valeria and Vanessa, who are twin sisters and in about their early twenties. This story might end up being a little on the long side because of the plot I have in mind, but we'll see. It'll involve Genesis, and maybe Sephiroth coming back eventually (hopefully with his sanity restored, because I actually liked him in Crisis Core before he went all nutzo), and of course a big bad villain. There will definitely be Weiss at some point (probably not as axe-crazy as he was in DoC because I attribute a fair bit of that nastiness to Hojo taking control of him). There may or may not be any of Nero; I have a few ideas for what to do with him, but we'll see.

Anyway, I'm talking too much. XD. Enjoy the story.

Chapter 1

Valeria rode her motorcycle home from work, thinking the entire time of how to tell her sister the news.

It wasn't entirely bad news, but it was by no means goods news either.

"Vanessa," she called out, dismounting her bike and walking into their apartment. "I'm home."

"Welcome back," a voice called from the kitchen, before it was followed by its owner.

As usual, it was practically like staring into a mirror. Valeria and her twin sister Vanessa were almost identical. The only differences were height and eye color. Vanessa was two inches shorter, and had pale blue eyes, while Valeria's were bright green. Both girls were twenty-four years old, but their individual styles of dress didn't quite match those of their contemporaries. Or for that matter, even the style of one another; Valeria wore practical military-style clothing while Vanessa opted for more loose-fitting and elegant outfits.

"How was your day?" Vanessa asked, giving her sister a quick hug before pulling back to peer at her face intently. "Something must have gone wrong; you're frowning yet again."

Valeria sighed and gave a tired smile. "Reeve received some odd reports this morning, about people a couple towns away showing strange behavior and then disappearing."

Vanessa's eyes widened. "But nothing here in Edge, right?"

"Not yet," Valeria agreed, "no."

"But he wants you to investigate?"

Valeria shrugged. As a member of the WRO, she was often sent to look into anything that might lead to another threat to the Planet or its inhabitants. It was, after all, pretty much their mission statement. "He didn't order me to go anywhere. For now he just wants me to keep an eye out here in town, in case something happens."

"Why not ask Cloud or Vincent?" Vanessa asked, pursing her lips. "They're all heroic or whatever, saving the world. Repeatedly, I might add."

Valeria snorted. "This isn't a big enough deal for them in look into personally, Nessa. I'm sure if it turns into another emergency they'll help, but until then…"

"I'm calling Tifa," Vanessa complained. "She can get Cloud to investigate, or maybe one of their other friends. I'm tired of you getting sent all over the place all the time when there are plenty of people around who can do the same thing."

"Nessa!" Valeria grabbed her sister's wrist before she could grab the cordless phone. "Don't go asking for favors when you don't need to. Besides, it's almost five o'clock. Tifa's probably busy with customers."

Her twin made an aggravated sound and didn't stop her efforts to reach the phone. "It's just one little call."

"Vanessa," she said sternly. "Don't call. Cloud and the others already know what's going on. If you call them, it'll just make it seem like I can't do my job." And while she wasn't quite as amazing as the crew that had saved the world on at least two (or was it three?) separate occasions, she was more than capable of doing her job; any implication otherwise was vaguely insulting at best, which her twin well knew.

"…Fine." Vanessa reluctantly let her hand drop to her side. "But I relinquish my argument with great protest."

"So noted," Valeria said breezily, tacking on "What's for dinner?" as a means of effectively closing their previous topic of conversation.

And just as Valeria had intended, Vanessa grumbled some more about not liking her twin overworking herself and never being home at a decent hour, but returned to the kitchen.

An hour later, Vanessa and Valeria sat down to a joint-effort dinner consisting of over-boiled pasta and broccoli that was a little too crunchy to be fully steamed. It was still delicious, though, and kept them full, which was all the mattered in the end. And after some of the meals (or lack thereof) they'd had in the past, their fare of that night was a downright feast by comparison, so Valeria dug in with more enthusiasm than pasta and vegetables typically warranted.

Vanessa, meanwhile, was too worried to eat much of the food on her plate or engage in much conversation with her sister during the meal. The idea of another growing threat terrified her, though she did her best not to show it. Last year it had been Deepground her twin had fought against. Valeria had been one of the WRO soldiers to fight alongside Vincent in Calm, back when Deepground had first attacked him; Val had acquired a shrapnel wound from an exploding transport truck during that attack. And she'd also been at WRO Headquarters when Azul the Cerulean had come back from the dead while in their custody; the Tsviet had transformed into some sort of hideous beast and proceeded to decimate their forces. Valeria had later gone on to commanded a small group of WRO soldiers during the Deepground attack on HQ, and had been so effective at helping to repel the enemy forces (in spite of being shot once in the shoulder and twice in the leg) that she was now highly valued by Reeve.

Which only worried Vanessa more. It was all very well and good that Valeria was a valuable member of the organization now, but she was considered so impressive that she was often sent out on missions alone, or with only limited back-up. Which said a lot about her sister's skills, but all it did was terrify Vanessa. She was proud of her sister, of course, but…she was so scared that one day Valeria would leave on a mission to help protect the world and never come home again.

Of course, since she and Valeria weren't entirely human anymore, the odds of this happening had gone down significantly. But still, the worry nagged at her. So what if they had been part of some experiment that had imbued them with some sort of materia energy. So what if they healed faster for it and were stronger at magic because of it. It didn't make them invulnerable to harm. They could still be killed. Valeria could still die on a mission. And then Vanessa would be all on her own. Her absolute worst nightmare.

"You look troubled," Valeria observed, choosing not to mention the fact she'd asked her twin to pass the butter for the fifth time and had been ignored. Also for the fifth time.

"Huh? Oh." Vanessa flushed. "Just thinking."

"I noticed," the older twin said mildly. "And the thoughts you're thinking can't be very good. Your face has been falling farther every minute."

"Uh, I, uh….Oh, I just-"

"You worry too much," Valeria said, interrupting her sister's stammering. "You get the same brooding look every time I tell you about how work's going."

"How can I not?" the younger twin demanded, unable to keep her thoughts to herself any longer. "When every time Reeve sends you out on a mission you might not come home. When every time your phone rings I-"

Her tirade was cut short by, of all things, Valeria's phone. Picking it up off the table, Valeria couldn't help but notice her sister's what-did-I-tell-you look.

Feeling vindicated? she mouthed at her sister as she answered the phone, pausing only to glance at the caller ID. "Hey, Reeve."

Vanessa stabbed at her broccoli angrily. Very, she hissed back inaudibly.

"Valeria," Reeve said through the phone, "I'm glad I could get a hold of you."

"What's going on?" she asked him. "You interrupted dinner," she added.

"My apologies, but it is important."

Well, it was hardly her place to argue with the boss, especially if he said it was important. "Okay, go ahead."

"Remember those strange disappearances we were talking about earlier?"

"Yeah."

"Well, this could be entirely unrelated, but our sensors have picked up some sort of energy spike deeper in the city."

"Deeper?" she repeated, curious.

"Yes," he replied, "it seems to be coming from somewhere in an abandoned slum area."

"Are you sending someone to check it out?"

"That's where I was hoping you might come in," he answered. "I'd like for you to go have a look around."

"By myself?" she asked, ignoring her sister's over-dramatic face palming. She was used to working alone and honestly she tended to prefer it. It was incredibly stressful, working with a group of soldiers and being in charge of said group was even worse; it was a heavy responsibility and it limited her effectiveness just because she was constantly worried about keeping everyone under her command safe. So for her to be responsible for just her own welfare? It was a welcome relief.

But that was evidently not what Reeve had in mind. Because "No," he told her, "I'm sending Vincent and Shelke to accompany you."

"Why not Yuffie or Barret or someone? Even just my normal squad would be fine," she added, because if she had to go with others, she'd rather it be people she was accustomed to working with and vice versa. She had nothing but respect for Vincent Valentine and Shelke Rui, but being around them made her twitchy.

"Your squad's on a different assignment," Reeve informed her, "a last minute deployment out by Junon. But now that you mention it…Yuffie might be better suited to this task than Vincent. I'll have her meet you there instead."

"Okay," she replied. "I'll call you once we're done."

"Very well. I look forward to your report."

She hung up, and turned to her sister. "I have work to do," she said apologetically.

Her twin just glared at her. "I sorta figured that from the fact it was Reeve calling."

Valeria sighed. "Come on, Nessa, don't be mad. The work I do is important, you know that. I'm helping people."

Her twin tried to maintain her indignant expression, but relented. "I understand that," she said unhappily. "And I'm proud of the work you do. I just...I worry, is all."

Valeria smiled. "I know, but you don't need to. I'm more than strong enough to look after myself, and besides," she added lightly, "Yuffie'll be there too."

"Are you trying to give me an ulcer?" Vanessa demanded.

"Yuffie's a strong warrior," Valeria said. "She's the Wutai princess or whatever, remember?"

"Meh."

Valeria laughed. "You're such a brat, Nessa." She shook her head with a wry smile before heading for the door she'd come in through barely two hours before. "I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

Vanessa quickly rushed forward to hug her twin. "Please, please be careful."

"I'll do my best," Valeria promised. And then she was gone out the door.

Vanessa stayed inside and listened as the roar of her sister's motorcycle got farther and farther away, trying and failing to keep the angry tears from falling.

I'm so tired of being left all alone.

A/N: As you may have noticed, this chapter was all the twins. Well, and some Reeve. Next chapter though, stuff starts happening. Yuffie and Valeria go to the slums and find…..well, I can't tell you, that'd spoil the surprise. ;D. Anyway, how was it? Good, bad, so-so? Whatever you're thinking so far, drop me a review if you've got a second to spare; I love getting feedback, and since I'm re-writing these first few chapters I'd like to know if things are going okay so far or not.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!