Chapter Seven
Vincent followed Reno up onto the airfield. The chopper was waiting there, and the other few men going along were there near it.
Upon seeing Vincent, Ericson broke away from the group and came over, extending his hand toward him. "Long time, no see."
Vincent forced a smile that he wasn't feeling as he accepted the handshake. "Yeah."
Kimo and Spencer also came over.
Recognizing the heavyset blond, Vincent nodded at him. "Kimo."
"Mr. Valentine, glad you could make it," he replied, hands on his hips.
Reno motioned toward Spencer. "Vincent, this is Spencer. He's been with us for a little while."
Vincent examined him for a moment. Spencer was blonde like Kimo, but that's where the similarities ended. He was fit, muscular-- clearly a man that spent a lot of time in the gym everyday. His dark eyes stared back at Vincent, not betraying much feeling. Vincent couldn't help but think that he looked familiar in a way. He almost smiled, This is what Quigley would look like if he actually got out of the lab and worked out on occasion.
"Good to meet you, Mr. Valentine," Spencer stated, not wanting Vincent to keep staring at him.
"You, too." Vincent turned to Reno. "Shall we?"
"Sure thing, let's get this thing over with." Reno turned from the group and went over to the chopper, signaling for everyone else to do the same.
Once everyone was onboard, Brad fired up the engines and lifted the elderly bird up into the darkening sky.
Reno sat next to Vincent after handing out mission packs to everyone. "So, Vinny, what's up?"
Vincent opted to disregard him for the moment, as he rummaged through the pack given to him by Reno. Inside, there was a radio headset, a box of rounds that were compatible with Vincent's gun, a few first aid items, and in the very bottom, was a chocolate bar. He grabbed this last thing and pulled it out. Vincent cocked an eyebrow at Reno as he held up the candy between them.
Reno smiled. "Come on, I didn't forget. You like that crap."
The fact that Reno had noticed his small propensity for chocolate Vincent found interesting. He went ahead and pulled the wrapper from the candy and got to eating it.
Satisfied that Vincent was content at least for the moment, Reno reached down into his own pack and put on his headset. The others in the helicopter soon did the same so they could hear him over the rotor's noise.
The ASRIO leader got up from his seat, and stood between all the men present. "Okay, here's the obligatory pep talk."
Everyone just stared at him. They all knew that he rarely had anything of significance to say during these in flight talks, and the wise ones among them were aware that he just did this because Tseng always had.
"Okay." He knelt down on the floor of the chopper. "I just want to say that it's cool all of you agreed to go on this mission. Every one of you volunteered without being asked. I know this is all a little more rushed than we're used to. I'm hoping that this won't be too bad. We've gone into some heavily guarded facilities and made it out just fine, and this small lab in Junon is nothing like the Midgar building. I wouldn't be surprised if they've gotten increased security there in light of the situation, but we ain't received any word of any heightened state there, so maybe we're gonna be lucky."
Those amassed were given a moment to digest all of this, as Reno thought out his next words.
"So, the lab is on the fifth floor in the building. We haven't infiltrated this building in three years, so there's a good chance that they're a little relaxed. We're going in on the roof. Ericson will crack the entry code to get the helipad elevator to open up and we'll just ride down to the lab. Being late, I'm thinking the normal workers will be gone, so there shouldn't be too much going on. Find Jaras, pull him out, get back to the roof, using either the stairs or elevator." Reno frowned for a moment. "Now, our plant told us that they were intending on injecting him with Jenova again. If they already have, he's not going to be the same Jaras that those of us who've met him know. Still, try to get him to come along, but if he resists, and you can't get him to submit to going, just leave him and get the hell out. I don't want to lose anyone over this if he's not our Jaras anymore. Understood?"
Vincent let the last bit of his candy bar fall to the floor-- he'd just lost his appetite. Abandoning Jaras, infected with Jenova or not, just wasn't an option. "I'm not leaving that lab without my son, Reno."
"Look," Reno sighed, and came back to Vincent's side, pulling off his headset so he and Vincent could talk without the other's hearing. "I know you want your boy back, but he might not be your Jaras anymore, Vinny."
"You didn't tell me that they intended to shoot him full of Jenova again!" Vincent's eyes were narrowed in anger.
"Look, telling you that before now woulda just upset you more." Reno felt a sweat break upon his skin, despite the fact the inside of the chopper wasn't particularly warm.
"You're damn right it would, but I think I had a right to know," he growled. "Is there anything else you might have forgotten to tell me that you found out?"
Reno closed his eyes and hung his head. "That they were starting the work on him immediately."
Vincent felt like he'd just been hit in the stomach. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah."
Shit, Vincent thought to himself, pulling out his heart pills yet again and taking one.
Reno watched this and knew what was up, even though Dr. Arlin hadn't said anything to him. This was the same thing that he'd gotten accustomed to his former boss doing. "Vinny, you got the fucked up heart, too?"
He didn't answer, just slipping his pill vial back into his pocket.
Reno leaned back in his seat. He wished he'd known this before. The ASRIO leader would have forbidden Vincent from going. After watching what had happened when Tseng had suffered a heart attack on a mission, he wasn't willing to see something similar happen to Vincent. "You're heart better not kill you on this trip, Vinny."
"I don't think my heart will be any problem." Vincent turned to look out of the small window in the side of the helicopter. He was done talking.
--------------------------
Although it was dinnertime and the boys needed to eat, Cid didn't want Tifa to have to cook, as he could tell she was feeling horrible. Whether it was just her stress over Vincent or not, he wasn't sure, but he was getting the feeling that she was actually getting sick. This didn't sit well with him in the least, as it started to make him fear that she was going to have a problem like Shera had.
He was sitting next to her on the couch, as the boys were off playing in Aaron's room. "Tiff?"
She turned her tired gaze to him. "Yeah?"
"Want me to go pick up something?" he offered.
Tifa shook her head. "No, everything's so far from here, I don't want you to have to do that."
"But what about dinner?" Cid himself was hungry.
"Let me go see." She pushed herself up from the couch and walked slowly into the kitchen.
Cid felt bad for her and followed, going and leaning against the kitchen counter as she began to search through the refrigerator. "Look, I don't want you to have to cook anything. You don't feel too good."
Tifa's shoulders slumped and she closed the fridge door. "No, I don't."
"Vincent?" he asked.
"Something's wrong, Cid. I can't say what it might be, but something's just…wrong."
Cid reached out and grabbed her hand, before leading her over to the kitchen table and having her sit. "Don't worry about it, Tifa."
She remained in her chair and watched as Cid went to the pantry and began to examine its contents. After a few minutes of contemplation, he pulled out a box of macaroni. Pleased with this find, he neared the stove and set it down, and got to the task of finding an appropriate pot and filling it with water.
Watching him cook, even with as simple a thing as he was making, forced Tifa to smile. This was a rare site. She knew good and well that Cid had, more or less, raised L.C. on pizza and burgers as the man hated working at the stove.
--------------------------
As Reno had said earlier, they encountered a rainstorm as they neared Junon. It was completely dark outside of the chopper as it was nearing midnight, but tiny beads of water were occasionally visible upon the small window that Vincent was sitting next to. When he felt the chopper bank and begin to descend, he realized that they were there.
Reno stood up and shouldered his pack, indicating that everyone needed to do so.
Brad lined up the chopper with the small helipad upon the roof to the Junon facility, and set it down quickly.
Feeling the machine come to a rest, Reno stepped forward and pulled the door on the side of the bird open, then jumping out onto the roof. Everyone went to follow him. Vincent had left his red cloak in the seat he'd been occupying. There was a note in the pocket that he hoped no one would have to read.
Once out of the helicopter, they made their way toward the elevator, and Brad took his chopper back into the air. Out in the open like they were, they could now realize exactly how much it was raining. Before they ever got to the small overhang before the elevator doors, they were all soaked.
Ericson pulled a small pass card from his pocket and slid it into a slot next to a keypad close to the elevator doors. An LED came on, and he typed in a code on the pad, and the little light went from red to green.
The elevator doors parted and they went in, making their way toward the fifth floor. Since the building was only seven stories tall, this wasn't a long ride. As the elevator descended, Vincent pulled out his gun and checked it, keeping it held before him in anticipation of there potentially being a problem when the elevator stopped.
And it did stop.
The doors parted, revealing an empty hallway.
Reno started forward, a gun in his hand as well. Although he still carried his electric night staff, he'd learned his lesson of not having a gun at hand during his last ventures into the field.
They stopped before the security doors to the lab, and again Ericson cracked the code and got them unlocked.
Vincent went forward first, pushing past Ericson and entering the lab, his weapon held out before him. Although he was hit with his deep phobia of being in a Shinra lab, his drive to save his son was far stronger. He examined the scene before him.
In the center of the room was a prison cell like structure. Although the lights in the rest of the lab were dimmed, within the cell it was brightly lit. There didn't appear to be anyone in the lab at the moment, other than whoever was lying in the bed in the cage.
Vincent went forward with the others, scanning his surroundings the entire time. He approached the side of the cell, and could see that it was Jaras lying beneath the sheet upon the bed. His voice barely audible, he whispered, "Jaras?"
Sephiroth's cat like eyes opened and he sat up. Looking over, he saw Vincent next to his cage. This was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. "Dad?"
"Are you all right?" Vincent asked, relieved to see that Jaras at least looked okay.
He got up from the bed, and came over to the bars. "Get me out."
"Just a second." Vincent turned to Reno. "How do we get him out of this thing?"
Reno pulled a key ring from his pocket, containing masters of various Shinra keys. "Got it." He went over to the door of the cage and began trying out keys.
"Did they do anything to you?" Vincent asked, moving along the cage bars toward the door, as Jaras walked over to it.
Sephiroth reached back and touched the knife he still had hidden beneath his shirt, behind his back. "Not yet."
"Good. Jeanine is back at the base waiting for you. She was really worried." Vincent stopped moving, now close to Reno.
Sephiroth cocked an eyebrow at the mention of the woman's name. Something within his heart ached for her, but it was overridden with his desire for escape. "I see."
Reno finally found the right key.
The response that Jaras had given upon hearing Jeanine mentioned was wrong, and Vincent knew it. Just as Reno started to pull open the door to the cell, Vincent reached over and slammed it back shut.
"What the fuck, Vinny?" Reno asked, turning to the other man.
Before Vincent had a chance to respond, Sephiroth reached through the bars and put his arm around Vincent's neck, pulling him back against the cage. In a flash, he had the knife produced and the blade resting up against his father's throat. He looked at Reno, restraining his prisoner. "Open that door."
"What the fuck you doing, Jaras? That's your old man!" Reno made no move to open the cell again, confused.
Vincent already knew the horrible truth. "Don't do it, Reno. He's not Jaras."
The ASRIO leader's eyes went wide, and he started to back away. "Oh shit."
Sephiroth grew furious. "If you don't want to see me kill him, you will open this cell at once!"
Before Reno moved forward and did something stupid, Vincent realized that he still had his gun in his hand. He put it behind him as best as possible under the circumstances, and pulled the trigger.
Sephiroth was hit by the bullet in the thigh. It wasn't a fatal injury by any means, but it was just enough for him to let go of Vincent, who scrambled a safe distance away.
--------------------------
In the private office off of the main lab room, Peirte and Toskin heard the gunshot. The scientist instantly hit an alarm button. He knew better than to go out and face a group of ASRIO agents with just the lone Turk, and remained where he was, deciding to emerge only when the guards came in.
Peirte went over and opened up the locker in the office, pulling forth an assault rifle. He held it out to Toskin. "Take this. It's far more effective than your side arm."
The Turk took the rifle and smiled.
--------------------------
With the alarm now blaring, Reno looked over at Spencer, Kimo, and Ericson. "Time to go!"
They began to head for the door, but before they got to it, a pair of Shinra guards ran in, submachine guns drawn and at the ready.
Kimo, with his gun already drawn, fired one well-placed round, taking out one of the guards at once.
The other guard began to fire, his gun pealing off a dozen shots within a matter of seconds. Spencer was hit by several of these rounds and fell to the ground, screaming.
"Spence!" Reno said, watching his man writhe in death throes on the ground.
Kimo took aim again, and killed the second guard, and by the time this other man hit the ground, Spencer's cries had ceased, as he was now dead as well.
Reno looked at Vincent, Ericson, and Kimo. "Run!"
The three of them complied, and made for the door. Vincent stopped one last time to look back at his son, standing in the cage with blood soaking the right leg of his pants. Sephiroth seemed unmoved by the scenario around him, just angry in the knowledge that his escape hadn't happened.
"Vinny, quit fucking around! Let's go!" Reno yelled back, the other two men already on the elevator.
Vincent turned and saw three more Shinra guards burst forth from the stairwell, between he and the elevators. His escape was, for the moment, cut off. Seeing that one of the guards was aiming at him, Vincent raised his gun and let off two shots.
The guard facing him was struck in the head by Vincent's bullets and went down. The other two guards began a gunfight with Ericson, Kimo, and Reno.
Reno, not having the benefit of the cover offered to the other two men by the elevator, ducked into a nearby doorframe, getting grazed in the right arm by one of the guards' bullets. His injury had caused him to lose his gun, and it clattered to the ground a short distance away.
Ericson and Kimo fired back from within the elevator, hitting and wounding the two other Shinra guards.
The lab doors opened again behind Vincent, and as he turned to see who was behind him, he was kicked forcefully by Toskin. He fell back and hit the ground hard, his Death Penalty being knocked from his grip, and sliding down the corridor for some distance.
Reno stepped out of the doorway, seeing Vincent hit the ground. He spotted the Death Penalty just a short way off and ran for it.
Toskin saw this movement, and trained his rifle on Vincent. "If anyone moves, I'll kill him."
Ericson, Kimo, and Reno all froze. The Turk was standing immediately before their companion, and they knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill Vincent.
Toskin gave another order. "You two in the elevator, throw down your weapons."
Not willing to risk Vincent's life, Ericson and Kimo did as ordered, dropping their guns to the floor outside the elevator's doors.
The lab doors opened again and Peirte Methius strolled out. He walked up to Toskin's side and looked down upon Vincent. He recognized the other man instantly. There were plenty of pictures of him amongst Hojo's notes. "Mr. Valentine… come for your son, have you? Get up."
Vincent slowly complied, rising from the floor. His side ached terribly from where Toskin had kicked him. He was backed up against the wall, Peirte standing directly before him, flanked by his Turk, who had his weapon trained upon him. With his own gun now lying down the hall close to Reno, he had no way to defend himself and he raised his hands in surrender.
Reno remained frozen in place, seeing Vincent being held at gunpoint. He knew that he should be running over to the others and getting out, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Vincent behind. He wished there were some way for him to get the Death Penalty lying at his feet over to his father-in-law, but didn't know how to go about it without costing both he and Vincent their lives.
Vincent glanced over at Reno, silently begging him to go ahead and escape while he was the center of attention. Angel had promised him to keep Reno from doing something stupid, but here he was, possibly blowing his only chance at freedom.
Peirte grinned at the situation. "So, the great Vincent Valentine that I've read so much about is giving up?"
Vincent didn't see that he had a choice, being cornered, unarmed, and at the end of a gun. "There's nothing I can do."
"Shoot him," Peirte said flatly to the guard beside him.
The Turk never took his eyes off of Vincent, but he didn't comply immediately. "But Sir, he's surrendering!"
"I said shoot him!" Peirte's voice was now angry.
Without another moment of hesitation, the Turk pulled the trigger, sending a burst of five rounds into Vincent.
Reno saw this and gasped. "Shit! Vincent!"
Vincent remained exactly where he was, backed against the wall. His eyes were wide, and his mouth dropped open. All five bullets had hit him in the center of the chest, ripping through his heart.
In movies, people that get shot like this just hit the floor instantly dead, but that isn't the way it really is. Vincent looked down at his injury. Blood gushed forth with each attempt his heart made to keep beating in its ruined state, doing no more than soaking his shirt. He tried to take a breath, but the effort was not rewarded at all. The pain was unimaginable, and he placed his hands over his chest, in some vain attempt to keep from dying.
Reno couldn't believe it. He realized that Vincent was done for.
Vincent started to slide down the wall, and he looked over at Reno one last time. His lips silently mouthed the order, Run.
Reno shook himself out of his shock and quickly swept up the gun before him. He fired off one round from the weapon, hitting the Turk that had just killed Vincent before turning and running after his teammates. The elevator doors shut, cutting off Reno and his men's view of the scene.
Toskin had been struck in the head and hit the ground.
Vincent was now sitting with his back against the wall, but as his strength faded, he fell to his side. He saw Peirte stoop down to look at him in his final moments. Vincent's ears started to ring, and his vision was growing blurry.
His destroyed heart continued to try beating in futility a few more times before stopping completely. It was strange in that moment. Vincent actually felt his heart quit trying. Silent images began to run through his mind as he started to slip from consciousness, and as his mind settled on one last image, his lips made out two last words, reflecting what he saw. Aaron… Tifa…
Then, he succumbed to death.
--------------------------
Tifa, unable to sleep, was sitting on the couch watching late night television with Cid. Suddenly, she felt a terrible pain in her chest and threw herself from the couch, clutching her hands to her chest.
Cid flew down to her side, and put his arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
Not feeling like she was able to catch her breath, Tifa felt tears sting her eyes. There wasn't anything wrong with her at all, but somehow, she felt like she'd been hit in the chest by something. "Oh God…"
Now Cid was terrified. He thought that she was having a heart attack like Vincent had. "Tiff? Talk to me!"
She turned her tear filled eyes to the pilot. "Something's happened…"
"What do you mean? Do you need to go to the hospital?" Cid pulled her to him tighter.
Tifa shook her head, and looked down to where she still had her hands clasped to her chest. "No… I just had this… vision…"
Cid got directly in front of her and took her face into his hands, making her look at him. "A vision of what?"
"Vincent…" she said, her voice choked by her tears, "dying."
Cid put his arms around her and pulled her to him. "You're just scared, Tifa. It's all right."
--------------------------
Reno, Ericson, and Kimo rode in the elevator toward the roof in silence, save for the few words that Reno spoke into the radio in order to alert Brad to get the chopper ready. The three men were all staring at one another, disbelieving how badly things had just gone. When the elevator came to a stop upon the roof, Reno, still wielding Vincent's gun, stepped out first, seeing that it was clear.
Brad, as always, was there and waiting. They ran the short distance to the helicopter and boarded. A single guard appeared on the roof as Reno prepared to close the door on the side of the bird, and without any expression at all, he raised Vincent's gun and got off a shot, killing their pursuer.
As they got back into the sky, Reno went up to Brad in the cockpit, and landed in the co-pilot's seat, before donning the chopper's spare headset.
Brad glanced over at Reno, familiar enough with the man to know that something was wrong. "Who didn't make it?"
"Spencer."
"And?"
Reno hung his head and his shoulders heaved. He damn near couldn't bring himself to say it. "Vinny."
The pilot's eyes went wide and he looked over at Reno again. "Oh fuck, man, that's bad."
"I know." Reno slumped into the seat, looking away and out the side window, not wanting Brad to see him cry. "We completely failed. I'm such a fucking idiot. I never should have let him come along. Spencer was a pro, he knew what was at stake, but Vinny… shit, Vinny has a wife and kid back home. Hell, he's got a new God damned baby on the way in a few weeks. I fucked up, Brad. Jaras…he's already been injected, so this was all just a waste of time."
Brad was quiet for a few minutes, not being very skilled in the area of comforting other people. "So, do you want us to go back to the base and drop off the guys and then have me take someone to go deliver the news to the widow?"
This was one last mission that Reno would take upon himself. "Let's just go toward Kalm now. Tifa deserves to know tonight, and she deserves to hear it from me."
Agreeing, Brad banked the helicopter back the other direction, pointing them toward Vincent's former home.
--------------------------
Quigley awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. He almost didn't answer, but realized that only someone with news would be calling him this late. "Huh?"
Reno had to speak loudly to be heard over the helicopter's engines. "Quiggers?"
"Yeah, Reno…" He flopped onto his back, the phone still held to his ear. "Where are you?"
"On the chopper."
"Duh, I guessed that much, I mean, where are you?" Quigley wasn't a fan of being roused from a good sleep.
"I got some really bad news, Quig." Reno's voice seemed strained.
The ASRIO researcher sat up. He'd been away from the base for a few weeks, having gone to a conference on cybernetics in Midgar, and had no knowledge of recent events or the mission. "What's that, Reno?"
"Shinra found Jaras, and took him to Junon. We went on a mission to try and get him, and we failed." Reno closed his eyes, shutting out the stares of the other men on the chopper. "There were casualties."
Quigley reached over and turned on the light. His little brother, Spencer, had started working on mission teams just two years ago. "Reno, please tell me Spence wasn't one of them."
"I'm sorry, guy." The ASRIO leader hung his head. "Spencer and Vincent."
Quigley just slammed down the phone. He didn't want to hear anymore.
--------------------------
At two in the morning, Tifa was still sitting on the couch with Cid. They had turned the television off some time ago, and had just been talking about things. Keeping her absorbed in conversation about things other than Vincent was the best Cid could do to keep her calm.
Cid heard the helicopter approaching long before Tifa, and he knit his brow. He could tell by the sound of the machine that it was an old military chopper, not a modern police helicopter or med-evac like he might otherwise expect to hear at this time of night. "Sounds like a huey."
Tifa felt a sweat break across her skin, and a tentative spark of hope ignited within her. "Maybe Vincent's come home…"
They got up and walked to the back door of the house, as they could hear the helicopter coming down in the field behind it. Cid reached out to open the door, but Tifa grabbed his hand.
She smiled weakly. "Let's just let him come to the door, first."
Cid couldn't understand this. Tifa had always been one to run out the door to greet people. Then he realized the truth. She didn't want to go out there, because if Vincent wasn't on that helicopter, it would delay the moment that she found out that he was gone for a few seconds longer. He let his hand fall back to his side, opting to let her have those moments.
Then, a knock came to the door.
Tifa closed her eyes and clasped her hands together before her for a brief second, and then forced a smile and opened the door.
There, standing in the rain, was Reno. In his hands held before him was Vincent's cloak, folded up, with his Death Penalty lying atop it. His eyes were red and even though his face was wet from the rain, it was obvious that he had been crying, and doing so for a long time. "Tifa…"
Seeing him there with those two lonely objects in his hands confirmed the worst. Tifa felt her knees go weak and had Cid not been beside her take her into his arms, she would have fallen. She couldn't pull her eyes from that cloak and gun. "No…Reno, no!"
The ASRIO leader didn't move to enter the house, and just stayed in the rain. Deciding that he needed to say something, he got out the only words he could. "It was fast, Tifa. He didn't suffer."
Finally, she turned in Cid's embrace and buried her face in his chest, crying with abandon. She'd known from the outset that it was going to end this way, and despite her pleas to Vincent not to go, he had anyway. Now, he was dead, and Aaron was without a father. "God no…"
Cid pulled her back from the door, and looked at Reno. "Get in here."
Reno hung his head and complied. He walked straight toward the kitchen and placed the items in his hands upon the center of the table, before collapsing back into a chair. He was more tired at that moment than he had been since the day Elena had been killed.
Cid brought Tifa in, and sat her down before pulling his own chair next to hers so he could keep holding her as she broke down. Now situated, the pilot looked into Reno's bloodshot eyes. "What happened?"
Reno drew in a jagged breath and leaned forward. "We dropped off on the roof, and went down to the lab. It was empty and we found Jaras there in a cage. Vincent went up and started talking to him, while I got to unlocking the door. Right before I let Jaras out, Vincent stopped me. He'd realized before the rest of us that Jaras… wasn't Jaras anymore."
To hear this just added one more level to Tifa's misery.
"Anyway, fucking Jaras then grabbed Vincent through the bars and got a knife to his throat, so Vinny reaches back with his gun and shoots him in the leg and manages to get way. The alarm goes off and we start to run away, realizin' that there's no point in the mission. One of my guys gets killed by a guard, then the rest of us start to run. Instead of keeping up with us, though, fucking Vinny stops and looks back at Jaras, and some guards show up. We have a little shoot out, but take out all of the fuckers. Just as Vinny starts to come toward us, some god damned Turk runs out of the lab and kicks Vinny to the ground, knocking his gun from his hand. The Turk had a rifle aimed right at him, and he ordered us to freeze. Some nut job then comes out of the lab and orders Vinny to get up, which he does. This guy and Vinny talk, and Vinny decides to surrender, knowing that there wasn't nothing he could do." Reno shook his head and fell silent.
"If he surrendered, then why's he dead?" Cid asked.
"The guy that'd come out of the lab ordered the Turk to shoot him." Reno wiped his eyes again. "Vinny had about a half dozen bullets pumped into the middle of his chest from the rifle."
Tifa pulled out of Cid's embrace and placed her hands upon the table. She met Reno's gaze with her own tear stained eyes. "They killed him even though he gave up?"
Reno just nodded.
Tifa closed her eyes, feeling Cid place his hand upon her back. Her body was literally starting to feel numb from all of this, and she didn't like the feeling. She now knew what the pain had been in her own chest earlier that evening, and realized that she had felt Vincent's death.
Cid knew what she was thinking, and felt a chill go over his skin. How she could have felt what she had earlier was beyond his realm of understanding. "Tifa, are you okay?"
Opening her eyes and turning toward him, she confessed. "No."
Although he hated to give this sort of news and then run off, Reno had other men in the chopper that wanted to go home. He rose from his seat. "I need to go."
Tifa and Cid also rose from their respective seats and followed him to the door.
Before Reno left, he turned and took Tifa into his arms. He whispered into her ear, "Tifa, are you gonna be okay?"
"I don't know right now," she replied in her wavering voice.
Reno kissed her cheek and stepped back. "I'm sorry, it's all my fucking fault, Tifa. I hope you can forgive me."
She shook her head. "It's not your fault, Reno. It's not anyone's. Besides, I think…I think it was they way he always figured he would go."
Reno flashed her an insincere smile. "Okay, well, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" He turned his eyes to Cid. "You can take care of her, right?"
The pilot nodded. He had no intention of letting Tifa out of his sight. "She's a tough girl, she'll be okay."
"Right. Bye." Reno turned and walked out, closing the door behind himself and returning to the chopper.
Tifa began to cry again, and Cid led her back to her bedroom. He had her lay down upon the bed, not thinking it a great idea for someone in her condition to be this upset. He lay down beside Tifa, on his side so he could face her. "Tifa?"
She just stared back at him, tears still running from her eyes.
Cid reached over and stroked her cheek. "Tell me what you're thinking."
Tifa reached up and grabbed his hand, taking it away from her face and clutching it to her chest. "I've got a young child, this baby on the way, my husband is dead, and I'm going to be alone."
Cid frowned and tensed his jaw. Silently, he cursed his own fate, but offered her the only thing he had to give. "You're not gonna be alone for a while."
"You've only got four months, Cid. Then what? What am I going to do? Three kids? What am I going to do?" Tifa gazed back into his blue eyes.
"No, only two kids, Tiff. I can't expect you to take L.C. now. That wouldn't be fair to you," Cid said quietly.
"Where else would he go, Cid?" Tifa could see the pain in the man's expression. "I know you don't have any family to leave him to. I'd still be glad to take him. He's good, and it might help Aaron through this to have him around. The two of them… will be able to relate to one another. Telling Aaron tomorrow morning is going to be hard."
The thought of the two boys being fatherless was miserable for the pilot. At least the child she was carrying now wouldn't know either Vincent or him, and wouldn't mourn their deaths. "I'll fight this as long as I can."
She appreciated his brave front toward his terminal illness, but she was a realist. The very same condition had claimed her grandfather long ago, and she knew what Cid was facing. "I know you will."
Although he knew how upset Tifa was, he could see her exhaustion written clearly upon her face. "Do you want me to go back to the guest room so you can try and get some sleep?"
She didn't let go of his hand. "No, stay with me. Sleep as in sleep, no mates to make jealous anymore… just stay."
Seeing that she was now tired enough to not be completely coherent, Cid smiled. He remembered all the times they had shared a bed seven years ago, and it was a memory he had kept close to his heart all this time. Falling back into that habit, even though he was the one that had originally put an end to it, was something that he was more than willing to do. A dying man shouldn't have to worry about his vices too much, he thought. "All right."
--------------------------
Rude was just starting back toward his apartment, since the bars had all finally closed for the night. As he sat in his car at a stoplight, his phone rang and he answered. "Yeah?"
"It's Dr. Methius."
Rude shuttered. The man gave him the willies. "What can I do for you, Doctor?"
"I need a new Turk."
"Why, may I ask?" Although the scientist hadn't gone through Turks at the same rate Hojo had, he was still up to his fifth one now.
"Toskin seems to have had a nasty run in with a bullet. ASRIO tried to free Sephiroth." Peirte leaned back at his desk, reaching out and tapping the side of a metal bowl that was upon it.
Rude pulled his car over to the side of the road. Driving slightly drunk was bad enough, but doing it while talking on the phone was worse. The fact that ASRIO hadn't succeeded was obvious from the scientist's tone, and Rude rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Who did they send in? Were there any other casualties?"
Peirte sighed. "If I'm not mistaken, it was Ericson, Spencer, Kimo, and get this, they actually brought Reno and Vincent Valentine."
Rude closed his eyes, bracing for any bad news. "And?"
"Well, we lost a few guards and Toskin. A shame, really. As for the intruders, Spencer was killed right off, and we corned Mr. Valentine, and I had him executed. Shot in the heart by Toskin before Reno killed him in turn. The other ASRIO men escaped." Peirte smiled as he craned his neck to look out the open door to his office. Vincent's body was presently lying on a dissection table. He then looked at the bloody mass lying in a stainless steel bowl upon his desk. "Mr. Valentine's heart was on the verge of failing him anyway, so to have it riddled with bullets as it was…well, no great loss."
The Turk fell quiet. The fact that Reno had made it out was good to hear, but he had gained a healthy respect for Vincent over the years, and was less than happy to know he was dead. Yet, he still had a job to do and cover to keep. "They didn't get Jar-- Sephiroth then, I assume."
The fact that Rude had just started to refer to Sephiroth as Jaras caught the scientist's attention, but he let it go after a moment. "No, but it would seem that Mr. Valentine shot my specimen in the leg. He will recover within hours though, thanks to the Jenova I infused him with earlier."
"Well, I'll put in a request for another Turk to be assigned for you. The ranks are a little thin right now, though, so it may take a while, Doctor," Rude said, wondering what poor soul was going to be sentenced to the scientist's side next.
"Well, would it just be easier if I made my own?" Peirte asked, his voice betraying the fact that he was probably joking.
"Make a couple of them while you're at it," Rude teased back, somewhat out of character, but he was tired of watching his fellow Turks being given suicidal assignments, "so you can have a spare."
Peirte outright laughed. "Very good, will do. I will speak with you later, Rude. Goodbye."
"Bye, Doctor." Rude tossed his phone over to the passenger seat and started driving again. The knowledge that Vincent was dead was bringing up what the Turk had felt when Tseng had died, and it wasn't a welcome feeling. "Damn it."
--------------------------
Aaron woke up early. He looked over at the small clock sitting on his dresser, and wondered if he was going to be sent to school today or not. He'd only just started kindergarten, but due to circumstances, he'd missed the last few days.
The boy sat up, and looked around. The sun was just coming up, brightening his room. L.C. was asleep on the floor beside his bed, oblivious.
Aaron decided that even though it was early, he was hungry and got out of bed, heading out to the kitchen in his pajamas. He came around the corner to the kitchen slowly, needing to see if anyone else was up and around at this hour. Once he saw that it was all clear, he went and pulled a bowl from the cabinet and filled it with cereal. After he poured milk into it, Aaron took up his breakfast and went over to the table.
Before he sat, his eyes were caught by the red cloak lying on the table. Seeing the gun there as well, Aaron set down his cereal and smiled. Dad came home, he thought to himself.
He ate his breakfast and then put the bowl into the sink and headed for his parents' room. Without knocking, he silently opened the door and stepped in. His mother's side of the bed was closest to him, and he could see the shape of a second person beneath the sheets with her. Aaron's smile returned and he crept over to his father's usual place.
The boy reached out and touched who he assumed was his father, in an effort to wake him.
Cid grunted and sat up, looking at the boy. "Aaron?"
Aaron's eyes went wide and his smile fell. "Where's my dad? What are you doing in here?"
Tifa heard this and sat up as well. She saw Aaron and Cid staring at one another, each at a loss for what to say.
Aaron now had tears in his eyes. This man was not supposed to be here, of that much he was certain. He failed to keep his voice down, and in an uncharacteristic moment, he actually yelled. "Where's my dad!"
Tifa got out of bed and went over, kneeling down before her son. "Aaron, your dad's not here."
He shook his head. "He must be, his stuff's in the kitchen!"
Tifa realized her mistake in not taking Vincent's belongings with her. The idea that she'd left his gun out there in the kitchen where the boys could have gotten to it struck her. She glanced over at Cid. "Go get the gun out of the kitchen, okay?"
The pilot nodded. He, too, had not given any thought to this either, and knew that it could have been bad.
Now alone with his mother, Aaron got angry. "Why was he in here, Mom? Tell me what's going on!"
Tifa quickly got tears in her eyes. "Aaron…your dad, he isn't coming back."
"What?" The boy hastily sat down on the floor. "Because you've decided to be with Cid? Then why is Dad's stuff here?"
She shook her head. "No, nothing happened between Cid and I last night, Aaron. He just stayed with me because I was sad."
"Mom, just tell me what's going on." Aaron narrowed his eyes, tears evident in his voice.
The kid sounded so much like Vincent, that it just pained her more. "Reno came by here last night with your dad's things. He told us that while your dad was trying to help your brother, he got hurt really badly, and he didn't make it."
Aaron had always hated the fact that adults said things to kids in these sorts of vague terms. While such talk might be easier for most children his age, Aaron wasn't most kids. Yet, this sugar coated way of telling him that his father had been killed got the message across. "Dad's dead?"
Tifa was only able to respond by nodding.
Like many children when they get such news, Aaron couldn't accept it. "No, he's not dead! Reno must be wrong! They need to go back and get him, Mom!"
She had wished that the same thing were true all night long. "I'm sorry, Aaron, but Reno saw him get shot."
Aaron got back up to his feet unsteadily. "I'm…I'm gonna be sick."
Tifa followed him as the boy went into the master bath and threw up. She knelt behind her son and stroked his back as he continued to cling to the toilet. She knew that when the boy was really upset, he tended to get sick to his stomach like this. He got that from his father. "Aaron?"
He gasped for breath, still feeling like he needed to vomit again. "Yeah?"
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.
The boy moved away from the toilet and sat on the bathroom floor. He wasn't willing to leave this room quite yet. He cocked an eyebrow and looked over at her. "My dad's dead, Mom. Do you think I'm going to be okay?"
Again, the fact he was Vincent's son was clear. Tifa sat before him, handing him a wash rag to wipe his face with. "I know it hurts a lot."
"What do you know about it?" Aaron threw the washrag down on the floor beside him once he was done with it.
Tifa wasn't about to reprimand him for talking to her like that at the moment. The boy was torn up. "My mom died when I was only fourteen, Aaron."
He'd always known his grandparents had all died long before he was born, but the fact that his mother had lost a parent at that young an age was something he wasn't aware of. Yet, there were differences. "Fourteen's a lot different than seven."
She nodded. "It is, but it still hurt, Aaron."
He closed his eyes for a moment. "So now what do we do?"
"Well, Cid and L.C. are going to stay here, and then when Cid passes away, you, L.C., the baby, and I will keep on living here together." Tifa said, hoping that this didn't sound as morbid to the boy as it did to her.
"And until Cid dies, are you going to going to try and replace Dad with him?" Aaron asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.
Tifa put her hands on her son's shoulders. "Aaron, Cid can never, ever, replace your dad, I know that. He and I are friends, Aaron."
He knew better. "I'm not stupid. I know about you two."
"Aaron, stop it!" Tifa was a little surprised that she'd finally raised her voice at the boy. She felt like he was intentionally pushing her buttons just like Vincent had tended to do. He had learned from him father too well. "I'm not going to get into my relationship with Cid with you, young man. I know that your father dying is hurting you, but don't you go turning that anger on me!"
Aaron blinked back at her, new tears appearing in his eyes. He didn't understand what he was feeling. "I'm… going to my room."
Tifa moved to embrace him, but Aaron moved away from her and ran to his room, slamming the door.
--------------------------
When the helicopter set back down at the ASRIO base, Reno hopped out and walked straight home. He didn't care that it was raining here, just as it had been near Junon.
He had his head hung and his hands shoved down into his pockets as he went. The images of Vincent being shot and then sliding down the wall replayed themselves in his mind time and again. Reno reached down into the lower pocket on his cargo pants and pulled out a flask, undoing the top and taking a large swig. Alcohol was his vice, too.
When he got home, he went in and shuffled down to Dana's room. After checking on his sleeping daughter and giving her a kiss, he gathered the last of his composure and went into the master bedroom where Angel was sleeping.
He silently shed his clothing and then slipped into the bed beside her. Reno draped an arm over her waist and whispered into her ear, "Babe?"
She stirred and turned over, looking up into his eyes. "You're back…"
His expression turned dark. "Yeah, I'm back."
Angel already suspected the worst from the way he hadn't just jumped into bed, instantly trying to get laid. "What happened?"
"We couldn't get your brother." Reno sat up and turned on the light next to the bed. "He was already infused with Jenova."
Angel sat up, too, and closed her eyes. "Poor Jaras…"
Reno scooted over and put an arm around her shoulders. "And there's something else."
She looked to him, fearing the news.
"Your daddy…" Reno swallowed hard. "Vinny didn't make it out alive."
Her expression was blank, completely blank. "He's dead? Are you sure?"
"Babe, I saw it happen. He was hit with a burst from an assault rifle, right in the center of the chest at point blank rage. When he slid down the wall… I could see the bullet holes in the wall where he'd been standing." Reno closed his eyes, trying to push the image from his mind. "There's just no way…"
Angel's initial moment of shock faded and she threw her arms around her husband, and cried. She had lost her father to death, and her brother to something possibly worse.