****
Cid had a dream.
He dreamt that he was searching for Vincent all over the planet and could not find a trace of him anywhere. He ran on endlessly through valleys, over mountains, through the frozen snowy wastelands and through the burning deserts.
At last when he could run no more and he was utterly broken, he let out an ear shattering scream.
Cid woke up with a start, to find he actually had screamed.
He slowly calmed down and his heaving breaths returned to normal. He sighed and wiped the perspiration from his brow, sitting up in the hard narrow bed, hunched forward.
He took a look at the tiny barred window of his cell. He'd been imprisoned in Junon for about six days now... After Rufus had rescued them all from a grizzly fate by taking them away on the Highwind, he had then shown his true colours by throwing them all in the cells. Cid had no idea where any of the others were, for they had mostly been segregated from each other and placed in cells that were far apart.
Small meals were brought to Cid's cell twice a say, though it was hardly enough to feed a child. Whenever a guard came by to push the tray through a small gap in the bottom of the door, Cid would yell at him and demand what was going on and when he would be let out. The guard would merely tell him to shut up and walk away again.
Sometimes Cid would yell and shout and bang on the door, but it got him nowhere. So after a while he just sort of gave up and took to sleeping most of the time away. But he kept having these dreams... not all about Vincent. Some were just horrible nightmares of never getting out of this prison, of growing old and dying in this place. But most of all he dreamt about Vincent. They were strange dreams that didn't make any sense... the most recurring image was Vincent walking away from him at a beach; the sun setting and setting the sky alight with a crimson glow. He'd try to shout out to him, but his voice just wouldn't come, and he didn't know what he would say anyway. Then he'd wake up.
Cid lay back down on the bed again with a huff. It had been over a week since he'd spoken to Vincent... ever since they'd been told about Aeris' death.
This estrangement from Vincent... it was hitting him harder than he thought it would. He thought wistfully of the few days they'd had in Icicle Inn, that night they'd kissed in the dark...
He rolled onto his side, utterly miserable. Now it had all been ruined by him opening his big mouth about Vincent's difficulty with emotion. Just like in Gongaga.
But this time Cid hadn't got the chance to chase him and talk it over... and he felt now that there was a rift between them that he desperately needed to fill. Vincent was his best friend, and... he had these strong feelings that he couldn't quite describe. He felt so confused. He'd never had any of this crap before with women, he'd just dated them, liked them for a while, maybe some stuff happened and then they were gone. It was no big deal. But this thing with Vincent was so different... Cid wasn't even sure if it was a physical thing or not.
'Christ, I need to fuckin' talk to him...' He thought miserably as his thoughts swamped his mind.
"You in there!"
Cid sat up in a flash.
"You lettin' me the fuck outta here?" Cid yelled back to the door.
There was the sound of keys jangling and the locks being opened. The cell door opened properly for the first time in a week.
"You and the other prisoners are to assemble in front of the President. You are to be interrogated."
A plan to escape had hatched in Cid's mind even before he left the cell. As soon as they got into a place that was good and open with somewhere to run, Cid was going to drop the guard and make for the airport to steal back his precious Highwind.
His heartbeat was thumping with anticipation as the guard led him through various corridors and he waited patiently for his moment.
Junon's prisoner holding areas were not pleasant. They were greys and dull metal colours, concrete and dust. Cid heard numerous prisoners crying for help from their cells as he passed and he shuddered. At least he was getting out, for a while at least.
The guard didn't seem in the least bit suspicious of Cid as he led him on. This led Cid to wonder if this was because escape was impossible?
But then he grinned, checking himself. He was Cid Highwind; anything was possible.
The moment came. Cid paced himself before making a lightning fast lunge at the guard's legs, bringing him down with a thump before knocking him out cold with a blow to the head. Cid didn't notice the alarm button in the guard's hand, nor that he'd pressed it as Cid had brought him to the ground.
Alarms immediately started to go off!
"Fuck!!" Cid exclaimed, looking around desperately for cover. He sprinted along the yard and back through some corridors only to almost crash into a group of armed guards running at full speed towards him.
"Shi-!" Cid screeched to a halt and scrambled back to run the other way, all the way back across the yard.
He stopped dead in his tracks as another group of armed guards came running over to him from that direction too. He was trapped.
As the guards circled him, their guns pointed at him, his hands slowly raised as he realised there was no way out of this one.
"Well, that's your chance for a pardon well and truly gone... Shinra law states that prisoners attempting to escape are to be shot dead on sight..." The head guard smiled grimly under his Shinra soldier mask as he slowly squeezed the trigger.
Cid closed his eyes tight. This was the end...
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Cid held his eyes tight shut still. He had heard the gun go off, but why didn't he feel anything? He slowly opened his eyes and saw the guard that had fired the shots.
Cid stared in confusion... the head guard... he had shot all of the other guards stone dead!
Wait... that wasn't a Shinra gun...
"That is what Shinra law states... but, I no longer work for Shinra."
Cid gawped like an idiot as the head guard whipped off his mask, and long black hair tumbled down his back.
"Vince!!" Cid exclaimed, a huge grin spreading across his face.
Vincent dropped the mask and re-holstered his gun. "Who were you expecting?" He said coolly.
Cid ran over to him and threw his arms around him, gripping tight.
At first Vincent went rigid as he remembered their somewhat abrasive last encounter, but as usual his reserve melted in Cid's warmth. He folded his arms around Cid too and smiled.
"Christ, am I glad to see you..." Cid murmured. "How did you escape?"
"Well," Vincent started, still in the embrace. "I tried hiding under the bed when the guard came with the tray of food. When he thought I wasn't in there, he came in. It was the last mistake he was ever to make. I took his clothes and hid him under the bed. When I came out of the cell, I was just another guard."
Cid pulled back from Vincent's arms to smile at him unbelievingly. "You are fucking amazing. Why didn't I think of that?" Cid laughed.
"Well, I am an ex-Turk you know."
"Yeah, no fuckin' shit!" Cid grinned. "So, now we can execute my plan."
Vincent arched a brow. "Oh? And what would that be?"
"We storm the airport and take the Highwind!" Cid punched his palm with his fist to stress his point. "Then we can figure out how to bust everyone else out!"
Vincent smiled. "Sounds very exciting. But perhaps you should borrow a guard uniform so we can release the others first, then take the Highwind?"
Cid frowned. "Huh. Yeah, never thought of that. Well, good idea!" He looked down at the array of bodies. "Let's see now... Nope, too bloodstained..." Cid shivered as he examined the state of the uniforms of the dead guards. Most of them were far too bloodied to be worn and still pass as normal.
"We should hide these bodies, someone will see 'em and raise the alarm." Cid muttered as he found a relatively clean uniform on a guard that had been shot only in the head.
"Hmm. We should." Said Vincent as Cid started to change into the guard uniform.
Cid unbuckled his pants and dropped them, stepping out of the legs. Of course, Cid was wearing shorts underneath as he didn't believe in going commando. Vincent watched for a moment before he found himself going a little hot in the face and hastily turned the other way, trying to keep his cool demeanour.
Cid had pulled on the Shinra pants and had just removed his shirt when he realised Vincent had turned away. He was about to start wondering why when he realised it was because he was getting changed.
Thoughts that until recently were alien to him started to rear up in his mind, but he checked himself quickly. There was no time to be thinking anything along those lines, they were in danger!
But as he pulled on and fastened the Shinra jacket he couldn't help but wonder if Vincent was physically attracted to him as well as the emotional closeness that they shared. Was that why he turned away? Because he was embarrassed? Cid pulled on the Shinra boots and wondered what Vincent would look like under all those clothes he always wore... He stopped, finding his cheeks burning. The very fact that he was thinking these thoughts kind of scared him. He wasn't like that...
'But what about the night in Icicle Inn?' His mind asked him.
'Well, I was drunk,' he answered back.
'Ah, but you weren't in the morning, were you? When you got a bit excited downstairs just thinking about it? And surely you haven't forgotten all the kisses since then?'
'Well, no, but... what I mean is.. it's just Vincent. We're like that because we're such close friends.'
'I don't think close friends usually French-kiss one another unless they're more than just close friends.'
'Oh, will you just shut the fuck up?! I'm confused, okay?!'
Cid's mind shut up but with a smug air that just screamed "Okay, but I won.".
"Ready?" Vincent asked him.
"Yeah..." Said Cid, picking a mask from a soldier that hadn't been shot in the head. He had to shudder at the thought that Vincent could kill so easily and unemotionally, even though they were enemies. They were still people.
So with both their disguises complete, they hid the bodies of the dead guards under some crates in a far corner of the yard and went about their search for their incarcerated team-mates.
*
As it turned out, the members of AVALANCHE were arranged in a distinct pattern amongst the cell blocks. Cid had been in the third cell of Block C. Vincent had been in the fourth cell of Block D. They subsequently found Yuffie and the inanimate Cait Sith in Cell 2B, Red XIII was in E5.
They searched the entire structure from top to bottom, but could not locate Barret or Tifa anywhere...
Cid and Vincent went back to the cell containing Yuffie and Cait Sith. They had not yet released any of them, as there weren't any disguises for them and they thought it best to know where everyone was before they busted out and made for the airport.
"Hey, Shinra!" Cid hissed through the bars of the cell door.
Yuffie kicked Cit Sith repeatedly until he sprang to life. "Huh?! Who?! Where? Oh, sorry guys. I was takin' five while we're all stuck in here." He sighed melodramatically and scratched a tally on the crumbling cell wall with his claw before whipping out a harmonica from behind the Giant Moogle's ear and playing a bluesy tune.
"Cut it out!" Cid hissed impatiently. "Do you know where they're keepin' Barret and Tifa?" he asked the toy cat.
Cait Sith guiltily put away his harmonica. "Um, they're considered the leaders of AVALANCHE apart from Cloud, right? They'll be kept in the special high security cells up top near where the fat cats are. I'm sure of it!"
"Shit..." Cid murmured. "How are we gonna bust 'em out of that place?! This won't be easy."
Vincent gently moved Cid aside and peered through the bars of the cell door. "Cait, have you been to the high security area? Could you perhaps give me a rough guide of the building's plan? Maybe I can infiltrate it alone."
Cid shoved at Vincent's arm, frowning. "Hey! I ain't lettin' you go up there alone!! You know what they'll do to you if you get caught?!"
Vincent looked at him for a moment. "I'll be fine, Cid..." He protested.
"I don't care. You'll do as I say and take me as well, or I'll have to kick your ass back in gear. You got me?" Cid admonished.
Vincent smiled at him.
Yuffie sat on the bed in the back of the cell, watching this exchange with curious interest. Cid and Vincent had been really close lately, ever since they left Gongaga... they were acting like some kind of weird married couple, with Cid as the nagging wife figure. It was really weird. But funny, too.
'Something I don't quite understand yet is going on here...' She thought to herself.
"Wait, wait, you guys!" Cait Sith exclaimed. "Don't none of ya go up there, I got a plan!"
Cid quickly pressed his face against the bars. "I'm listenin'..."
"I heard from the President that news reporters and TV crews are gonna be here to film the exe- uh, whatever's goin on up there, so maybe me an' Yuffie could go up disguised as reporters? We can get the jump on 'em and rescue Tifa and Barret!"
Yuffie sat up straight. "WHAT? Why does it have to be ME that goes headfirst into danger?! I'm a LADY!"
"But we need a bimbo to pose as the female news reporter!" Cait Sith argued.
"WHAT?! The NERVE!!" She yelled and flew at the toy cat with her fists. After a few seconds of the ensuing slapstick chase around the cell, Cid told them to stop it in his most discreet way.
"STOP FUCKING AROUND, WILLYA?!"
Vincent sighed at the obscenity.
Yuffie gasped. "You vile old man! Stop swearing at me!"
"I will if you get your skinny female ass up there and pose as a reporter, like the cat says! It's the best plan we got so far!"
"Fine!" Yuffie agreed reluctantly. "But where are we gonna get the costumes?"
"Right here!" Exclaimed Cait Sith, and he reached down the back of his Moogle, unzipping it and producing two costumes from amidst the stuffing.
Cid batted the side of his own head with the heel of his hand a few times. "Just one word... HOW?!"
"Why?" Suggested Vincent.
Yuffie pulled on the reporter outfit over her own clothes and Cait Sith draped the huge overcoat around his Moogle putting on a hat and a false face ensemble with all-in-one glasses, fake nose and moustache.
"All set!" He said. "Now get us out of here!"
Vincent produced the keys he'd taken from the guard he'd originally stolen his uniform from and unlocked the cell with them.
"Right," Said Cait Sith when they were standing outside the cell. "You guys get Red and go up to the airport, wait for us there! We'll get Tifa and Barret out for sure!"
"Okay. Be careful, alright?" Cid warned.
Cait Sith and Yuffie sped on up the corridor, making their way to the high security area where Tifa and Barret were being held.
"What were you saying before?" She asked the cat as they ran. "About what was being filmed..?"
"Oh yeah, the execution." Cait Sith said nonchalantly.
"THE WHAT?!" Yuffie yelled.
"The execution! I couldn't tell Cid or Vincent that Barret and Tifa are gonna be executed live on TV, because they'd only get all heroic and rush on up there. This plan will work better, see."
Yuffie couldn't get over this news. "EXECUTED?! Live on TV?! Isn't that illegal?!"
"This is Shinra, and Shinra make the laws now..." Cait Sith said somewhat regretfully. "But doncha worry none! We'll save 'em!"
And with that, they hurried on to carry out their plan.
***
"Where the hell are they?" Cid muttered, pacing to and fro at the entrance to the airport, with the newly unconfined Red sitting at Vincent's feet.
Vincent was quiet. He wondered if Cait Sith really was on their side, after the incident at the Gold Saucer when he had given their keystone to the Shinra.
Cid was just about to declare he wouldn't wait much longer when an alarm started going off very loud, and red flashing lights went off everywhere. The three of them looked around in a panic, believing themselves discovered.
"Shit! They must have found the bodies of the dead guards!" Cid muttered.
"Or they found the prisoners are missing?" Red suggested, his fur bristling.
Vincent narrowed his eyes and looked across at the soldiers running about desperately below the airport. A panicked and confused voice was shouting orders over the intercom...
"Weapon." Vincent said simply.
He was right.
A Weapon was heading straight for Junon at ever-increasing speed, and the Shinra was truly in a state of panic perhaps for the first time in many, many years. Perhaps the first time ever.
"Come on. We'll make our way to the Highwind." Vincent said, and sprinted off to the upper level of the airport up the elevator, with Cid and Red in close pursuit.
The three of them clambered aboard and into the huge cockpit. Cid beamed as he ran his hands over the steering wheel. "Ahh, it's been a long time, baby!" He chuckled as he ran his fingers over the familiar levers. "Hey, what are those things there?" He said, pointing at a couple of levers he'd never seen before. "Damn Shinra, takin' my ship away and fuckin' remodellin' it without me knowin..." He muttered. But he was still generally very happy to have his ship back. He was determined that the Shinra would not lay their hands on it again.
The three of them went up to the large front window and peered out. Sure enough, Weapon was right outside Junon, blasting away at it's foremost metal structure. They witnessed the Junon Cannon charge up its final shot and take off Weapon's head in one clean blast!
After a moment of awed silence, Red stood up on all four paws and growled. "Look! Look! Someone is climbing out of the hole in the structure!" He pointed with his paw in the direction of a distant figure emerging from the tear in the metal that Weapon had burned into the structure before it had been decapitated. The figure was carefully climbing down the outer metal wall, down towards the cannon...
"It's Tifa!! Fuck!!" Cid shouted. "I'm taking the Highwind down there; she's gonna fall!!" Cid raced over to the wheel and was just booting up the flight system when shouts of "WAIT!!" started to come from the outside corridor of the ship, and the threesome of Cait Sith, Yuffie and now with Barret raced in, breathless.
"Yo! Wait for us! We can't take off yet, we gotta save Tifa, foo'!" Barret yelled at Cid.
Cid scowled at him. "The fuck you think I'm takin' off FOR, you moron? Don't piss yer pants!" He growled and yanked a lever, making the Highwind jolt up into the air. "Crap, I gotta get used to the controls again... gnh!" With a forceful yank, Cid pulled the wheel into place and they flew off towards the Junon cannon.
"Whoooooo -hoooooo!" Cid yelled, laughing as they swooped through the air like never before.
Barret grabbed up some rope from a rather junk-filled corner and ran out of the cockpit to the deck.
He saw Tifa having a cat-fight with Scarlet on the cannon - she was going to fall if she wasn't careful! He cupped his hand to his mouth and yelled into the wind. "Run!! Run to the end of the cannon!!"
To his amazement, Tifa heard him. She turned and started to sprint to the end of the cannon, and the Highwind shot upwards under Cid's careful control. Barret waved his arms to grab Tifa's attention before hurling one end of the secured rope down from the deck. Tifa made a desperate flying leap and just managed to grasp the end of the rope as she fell, and the Highwind carried all seven of its passengers away to safety.
*
~~~~~ Nearly finished Chapter 8, folks. I've nearly caught up to the second half now ^.^
But if I don't get it all up by next week, my updates might be sporadic until the new term because I only have net access at college⦠-_-;;
**
