Hey there! Welcome to my new fic, this time it´s some kind of... love triangle. And it´s a Cid/Yazoo/Reno triangle at that! Weird, I know, but I always wanted to write a Cid/Yazoo story (haven´t seen that yet) and I had some time during the holidays (well, actually I hadn´t, but anyway).

Just so you are warned: this fic is full of drama, and angst and tragedy and whatnot! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, nor its characters and I do not make any money from this.

I hope you enjoy it!


1

„What da fuck?!"

Cid Highwind looked up from his annoying paperwork, cig dangling from the corner of his mouth, eyebrows drawn together. Ears peeking up, he concentrated on the sound that he thought he´d heard, icy blue eyes piercing the darkness of his cramped office that was only lit by his dull desk lamp.

And there it was again, a faint sound of chinking glass.

Expression becoming increasingly pissed, the man stubbed his cig in the overflowing ashtray and stood up from his chair, grabbing for his spear leaning against the wall next to his desk and soundlessly opened the door.

Silently he made his way down the stairs, automatically avoiding the panels that liked to creak and went through the darkness to his store. The faint sounds weren´t coming from the garage so he kept to the left, his spear in hand and a grim look donned to his face. It wasn´t frightened or angry expression but an annoyed and a little disbelieving one.

Because honestly, who in his right mind tried to rob Cid Highwind?! There certainly wasn´t much to get out of him anyway, but the main reason why everyone, including the mafia, gangs or just deliquent kids, gave his shop a wide berth was because of his infamous temper and the well known fact that he made a short shift of uninvited guests! And very effectively so.

Spitting on the ground, Cid leaned with his back to the wall and peeked through the open backdoor into the shop. The dirty light of a street lamp outside cast long shadows through the room as it fell on the high, cramped shelves, stuffed with tools of every kind.

A strong smell of motoroil and cigarette smoke hung in the air, but Cid didn´t even notice it anymore. His scrutinizing gaze scanned the shadowed room until it fell upon a figure on the counter.

Shooting another look through the dark shop, Cid made certain that there was no accomplice and frowned again. Now this was rich. Either this 'robber' was extremely stupid to come here all by himself or extremely desperate.

Snorting, the blond man came out of his hiding spot and sneaked through the dikes, naturally hidden by the shadows.

His burglar was now with his back to the angry shopowner and bent over his (empty) checkcounter. Inwardly Cid shook his head at the obvious idiocy of his guest and unceremoniously pressed the tip of his very sharp spear against the masked man´s neck.

"Now watcha think ya doin pal, eh?"

The figure stiffened at the cynical question and stopped fumbling with the cash box, gloved fingers instead sneaking down to the pockets of his black trousers, but Cid only put more pressure on his spear, making the burglar hiss and move his head forward a little.

"Wouldn´t do dat if I was ya…" Cid remarked almost friendly and watched as the person in front of him lifted his arms in defeat. Roughly pulling open the guy´s pocket with one hand, Cid found a pocket knife and snorted in disbelieve, not knowing if he should start laughing at the burglar or smack him. He settled for a snide remark instead, throwing the thing over his shoulder so that it clattered to the ground "Whaddcha planned on doin with dat?! Poking me ta death?"

"It certainly would have been enough to cut out that annoying tongue of yours," came the instant, cold reply that startled Cid a bit, but made a smirk appear just shortly after.

He quickly searched the rest of his captives pockets, finding nothing but an identification card and at that, Cid laughed. What kind of burglar kept his passport with him?!

"Turn 'round," he ordered absent-mindedly, his spear moving with the robber´s movement until it pointed to his throat. With a smash on the small button, the lamp on the counter flickered to life and provided the badly shaved and tired mechanic with enough light to have a good look at the passport.

While the masked man leaned against the counter with his hands still held up, Cid put the cigarette from behind his ear between his lips, lightening it and blowing out a cloud of blue grey smoke while turning the little card in his hand.

"Yazoo, uh? What kinda shitty name da hell´s dat?!"

He was only met with stubborn silence and shaking his head and taking another drag, Cid turned the card again, looking at the photo and lifting an eyebrow "An honestly pal, if ya use a fake id dun take da one of ya sista…"

Pushing out another exasperated cloud of smoke from his lungs, the man grabbed for his captives black mask and pulled it over his head, still glancing at the photo of a stunningly gorgeous silver haired girl melancholically staring into the camera. When he looked up to finally come face to face with his intruder and the exact same face stared back at him, long silver hair a little disheveled, the man just slowly took out his cigarette from his mouth.

"Da fuck?!" This fella sure was the girliest guy he´d ever seen!

Clearing his throat, Cid decided to just… forget about it and go on.

"So, Ya-zoo," he drawled, glancing at the pass again and finally withdrawing his spear a little from the stiff figure, who instantly relaxed. "Care ta tell me whaddcha doin in ma shop? Ain´t for shoppin´if I may take a wild guess, eh?"

Ignoring the sarcastic undertone, Yazoo remained silent, only sticking out his bottom lip a little and haughtily glowering at the shop owner.

"Ya know, burglary´s a s´rious crime," Cid went on in a conversational tone. "Bedda call da authorities, hn?"

The young man´s eyes widened at this and he looked clearly uncomfortable now, if not afraid, and much younger than the twenty years his id claimed he was.

"Please, not the police!"

Inwardly groaning, Cid turned the fake id again, asking with his spear leaned against his shoulder "How old are ya, kiddo? An dun try ta lie ta me, ya id is the worst fake I´ve eva seen. An believe me, I´ve seen quite a lot."

The blond shot him a warning look, blue smoke crawling from his lips.

"Eighteen," the boy said coolly but hesitantly added as Cid reached for the phone on the desk "…next year."

Withdrawing his hand with an arched eyebrow, Cid pulled the cig from his mouth, inquiring almost disinterestedly "Da first time ya doin this?"

At the short, reluctant nod, the man spit to the side, remarking "Thought so. A regular ain´t doin as stupid as ya…"

Yazoo looked very inclined to make a biting comeback but, considering his situation, wisely refrained from doing so. He was at the man´s mercy and angering him surely wouldn´t add to his advantage.

They remained silent for a while, Cid looking thoughtful and Yazoo waiting for him to say something.

"So whaddcha gonna do ´bout ma window?" the man eventually asked, shooting the silver haired teen a side glance before looking back at his broken front door. "Dat´s quite expensive ta fix, y´know."

"If I had money to pay for your window, do you think I would be in need to rob your little rat-shop?" came the acrid reply.

Apparently it was out before Yazoo could think about his words, because he shut his mouth instantly, icily looking to the ground. Instead of being offended though, Cid only smirked, smashing his cig to the floor and trampling it out with his booted foot.

"Heh. Ya still hav ta compensate me."

The boy looked at him strangely, but before he could say something, the blond continued "Ya´ll work for it."

Ignoring the crestfallen look of his captive, Cid put the id in his own pocket, informing him "Ya get dat back when ya hav paid me."

With that he grabbed his spear and was about to march back to his office when he noticed the figure of Yazoo still leaning against the counter.

Clearly annoyed and impatient now, the blond stopped, growling "Ya hav a problem with dat? Can call da police any time if ya prefer dat."

"No, I´m fine with that!" Yazoo hurried to assure, pushing himself away from the counter.

"Great. See ya in five hours then," Cid said curtly and smashed the door to his home shut behind him.

So, that´s the first chapter...

Mind to tell me what you think? I would love to read it! :)