Out of my curiosity to see which of you that have stuck with me and are now reading this tale, please just leave a review, if you haven't, so I can see who's around! I've gotten attached to some of you over the years, and I'm curious to see where all of the hits I'm getting on this one are coming from J

Your diligent author,

Kristen Gupton-Williams

Chapter Nineteen

Janice sat at her desk, staring at an envelope. She knew what was inside, and she was afraid to look. It was the report on the sample that Dr. Arlin had sent to the lab from Spencer's body. Normally, such a report would have taken longer to get, but Janice had asked for a rush to be put on it, and since the people in the lab knew her, they had gone above and beyond.

After about fifteen minutes of delaying, the doctor finally picked up the envelope and tore it open, pulling out the report sheet within. She placed the paper upon the surface of her desk, pushed her glasses up, and then began to read.

Patient: Spencer Kenneth Sharday

Gender: Male

Age: 26 years, 3 months

The samples received for one Spencer K. Sharday have been processed, with the following results:

Cause of death: Massive Ferium Overdose

Pathologist: Tenna Merian

Janice took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Vincent had killed him. Everything that they had feared was true.

As if on cue, Angel walked in, having gotten off of Reno's bed. She saw that the doctor looked distressed. "Janice? Is something wrong?"

The older woman frowned. "Sit down."

Angel quickly complied. "What's going on?"

"I know we're already aware that Vincent shot Reno, but we now know that he killed Spencer, too." She handed over the lab report.

Angel's eyes were wide as she scanned the paper. "Damn it."

Janice took the paper back and placed it within Spencer's medical record. "You and I are probably the only two people that need to know this, I think."

The newly appointed ASRIO leader understood. "I agree, this would just make Quigley that much more miserable."

"Speaking of which, did you notice if he was awake before you came in here?" Janice asked.

"Yes, he's out there talking with Porter." Angel got up from her seat.

"Good, I was going to let him leave the infirmary if he felt up to it." Janice rose as well.

"Actually, I came in to ask you something." She locked gazes with the doctor.

"What's that?"

"In the entire time that Reno's been here, I know he hasn't been conscious much, but in the few times that he has, I've noticed something." Angel suddenly looked depressed.

"What has he been doing?" Dr. Arlin crossed her arms, thinking about everything that Reno had done.

Angel had a hard time even saying it. "It's just that when he moves, it's only his right arm that he uses. I haven't seen anything happen with his left arm at all. And when he smiles…"

Janice knew. "Only the left side of his mouth pulls up."

Angel hung her head. "So, it's real."

"For now, he seems to have lost the motor control that he had from the right frontal lobe of his brain, yes. One of the bullet fragments is lodged there." Janice came around her desk. "But it's only been a short time, he could get better."

"I know, and he seems to be willing to beat the odds." Angel forced herself to smile. "I just know that if he ended up half paralyzed, that it would really mess with him."

"Well, of course it would, Angel. It would be hard on anyone, but again, let's not jump to conclusions just yet. It hasn't been long enough." The doctor placed a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Just give him some time."

"Okay." Angel knew that it was premature to be panicking about this, but he'd already come so far that she might have been expecting too much.

"If you want to try and help him, next time he's awake, ask him if he can feel his left side at all, and if so, where. Touch him and try to get him to move." Janice shrugged. "If there's still no sign of improvement in a day or two, I'll have the physical therapist come down and begin working with him."

Having been reassured, Angel smiled faintly. "All right, thanks Janice."

------------------------------

Tifa had returned to the prison area, finding Jaras sitting on the floor of Aaron's cell, against the back wall, with the boy sleeping at his side. The fact that Jaras had taken off his shirt and given it to Aaron touched her and she gave him a wide smile, but remained silent, not wanting to wake her son. Yet, she wondered how he'd gotten into the cell and if there was any chance of him being in danger.

Jaras in the meanwhile remained perfectly still, not minding staying where he was since he knew that Aaron was happier with him here.

Eventually, the boy woke up and saw that his mother was in the other cell again. He looked at his older brother for a moment, before getting up and going over toward her. "Mom?"

She gave her son a smile. "What's up?"

"Is that guy okay?" Aaron wondered.

Tifa nodded. "Yes, he's going to be all right."

"Good." He motioned toward his bed. "I want to go to sleep there, so you need to get away from the bars, okay?"

"Okay, Sweetie." Tifa got up from the bed on her side of the bars and moved away a safe distance, realizing that it would make Aaron feel better.

Seeing that she was out of reach, Aaron went ahead and lay down upon his bed, pulling the blanket up over him. The transformation into his inner demon today had absolutely drained him.

Jaras got up and went to his brother's side. He looked down upon Aaron. "Are you all right if I go now?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling better. I just want to sleep." Aaron gave him a smile.

"You do that. I'll be back to check on you." He reached down and patted the top of the boy's head. "I'll see you later, little brother."

"Okay."

With that, Jaras turned and went to the cell door, pulling out the key, unlocking it, and letting himself out. As he started to leave, Tifa came to his side, Charlotte sleeping in her arms. "Jaras?"

"Yes?" He looked down into her eyes, with his usual intense expression.

"How did you get the key to go in there?" she asked, more than a little curious.

"I asked Angel if I could have it and she let me."

"But why would she do that? I mean, why wasn't she worried about you getting hurt?" Tifa found it strange that he'd been given access.

"Because she's well aware that he cannot harm me, Tifa." He smiled at her faintly.

"He could attack anyone, though. You should have seen what happened this morning," she said quietly, not wanting her son to overhear.

"I'm not just anyone, and you know that." He sighed heavily.

"What are you saying, Jaras? After your immersion in the Lifestream, you became normal." Tifa felt a little silly pointing out the obvious, besides, the Jaras she'd come to know over the years was relatively timid and shouldn't have asked to go in the cell to begin with.

Jaras reached out and placed his hands upon her shoulders. "I suppose you are just going to have to take my word for it. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get back to Jeanine."

Tifa didn't really understand what had just transpired between them, but she was grateful that he'd seemingly gotten through to her son somehow. "Well, thanks for helping Aaron."

He shrugged. "I would do anything for my little brother." Jaras pointed to the infant in her arms. "That goes for my baby sister there, too."

She couldn't help but smile. Jaras always had been, and always would be a little weird.

He turned away from her and made his way back to his room. On the way, he stopped into the infirmary to give Angel the key back. He found her sitting at Reno's bedside.

Angel reached out and took the key as he held it toward her. "Thanks, Seph."

He knit his brow and narrowed his eyes. "Actually, just call me Jaras."

"But I thought…" She let her words trail off, seeing that there was a lot on his mind.

"So did I, but I'm beginning to realize that I'm not really two people, but rather just one that sometimes has been overpowered by Jenova, but beneath it all, I've been just…me." He offered her a small grin.

Somehow, this comforted Angel, and she smiled back at him. "So, you've come to some sort of epiphany, then?"

Jaras nodded. "Thanks to our little brother, I have."

"And were you able to help him in return?" Angel asked.

"I think I might have." He laughed to himself.

"Well, I think you should go see your wife." She looked away from him as she put the key back into her pocket.

"Why? Is something wrong?" Jaras became concerned.

"Just go see her, Jaras." Angel glanced at him and gave him a smile.

"All right. I'll see you later." Jaras turned and walked out, going quickly to his room.

Upon entering, he found Jeanine sitting on the couch, and she looked nervous. He went over to her side and sat down. "Is something wrong?"

"Jaras, I need to talk to you about something, and I don't want you to freak out." She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

His heart started pounding and he picked up one of her hands. "What's going on?"

"I went to go see Janice to see about getting back on something. I wanted to do it the day after we had that last talk, but she was too busy until now." She took a deep breath. "Before she'd give me a new prescription for birth control, I had to take a test."

He stopped breathing, his eyes dilating wide. "Jeanine…"

"I'm sorry, Jaras, but I'm pregnant." Inside, she was thrilled, but knowing how upset he'd become the other day, she feared his reaction.

Jaras got up from the couch and took a few steps away. He ran his hands down his face, trying to get a grip on the feeling within him.

Jeanine felt herself begin to tremble. Part of her suddenly became terrified about her husband finally snapping.

After taking a deep breath, Jaras turned around and faced her, his eyes narrowed as he studied her.

She felt the color drain from her cheeks as he stared at her. Jeanine wondered if she had been foolish in telling him at all.

He cocked his head to the side and knit his brow. "Jeanine, what's wrong?"

This was not what she was thinking he would say, and it caught her off guard. "Huh?"

Jaras came back over and knelt before her, picking up one of her hands. "You don't seem happy."

"I thought you were going to go ballistic." Jeanine couldn't understand what his reaction meant.

Shaking his head, he almost laughed. "No, it's okay. What's done is done, and we're just along for the ride now, right? Besides, I know how much you wanted this. It's…it's okay."

Jeanine leaned closer to him. "Are you sure?"

"If you're happy, then so am I." Jaras took her into his arms and kissed her.

Honestly, Jeanine had never been happier in her life than at that moment.

------------------------------

After her short reprieve, Amy was heading back to the Shinra building, obeying Peirte's order to be back by seven. She parked her car and got out of it, and as the makeshift Turk neared the building doors, her phone rang. Amy stopped walking and answered. "Hello?"

It was rude. "I assume you got into the building without any trouble last night?"

"Yes, Sir."

"All right. I don't care where you are or who you're close to. I'm going ask you some questions, and you will just answer either yes or no. Do you understand?" Rude was presently standing outside of the President's office.

"Yes," Amy replied simply.

"Good." Rude tensed his jaw. "Okay, has Mr. Valentine shown up?"

"Yes."

"And did Dr. Methius kill him?" Rude closed his eyes, dreading the answer.

"No."

"Is Dr. Methius…unhappy with him?" He couldn't imagine why Vincent hadn't been killed outright after failing his supposed mission.

"Yes." Amy wanted desperately to spill the whole story, but she knew she had to restrain herself.

"Do you believe that Dr. Methius will kill him?"

"Yes." She emphasized the word as much as she could.

"Will it be soon?"

Again, she put her emotion into her reply. She wondered if Vincent may have even died while she'd been gone for a few hours. "Yes. Rude, Mr. Valentine said something when he got here, and I need to know if it's true."

He scowled at her blatant disregard for his order to say yes or no. Then again, she'd just been put in the most dangerous position of damn near any plant in the company, and he owed her. "What's that?"

"Mr. Valentine said that he killed Reno…" her throat tightened up at the thought.

"Reno's still alive, but he's hurt severely." Rude had a feeling that he knew what she was wondering.

She had heard some of the conversation through the office door the night before, and Amy was well aware that Vincent had come to Shinra with the intent of selling out ASRIO. This, coupled with the fact that he had shot Reno made her question why she was here. "If Mr. Valentine did that, and if he came here with the intent of giving Dr. Methius ASRIO information, why is ASRIO interested in if he's alive or not? I'd think we'd want him dead."

"Traitor or not, he's Angel's father. I would imagine that she still loves him."

This bit of information was not something Amy had ever been made aware of. Most of those who had come to work for ASRIO over the last few years were simply not told. "Her father?"

"Yes." Rude gave little thought to whether or not Angel would have wanted this information passed on.

"I see." Amy looked up at the building that loomed before her. "Is there anything else, Sir?"

"No, that's good enough. Thank you." Rude simply hung up.

She slipped her phone into her pocket and went inside. Amy wondered if ASRIO was going to retrieve Vincent. Traitor or not, she didn't want to watch his further torture.

Once in the lab, she noticed that it was quiet, very quiet. She looked over at the cage, seeing that the door to it was open and that the bed within was vacant. For a moment, she thought that Vincent had probably died.

"Abran, thank you for being on time. That was the one area that Toskin had trouble with." Peirte was standing next to an exam table, and Amy quickly saw that Vincent was strapped to it, and still alive.

She walked over, trying to get an appreciation for Vincent's condition without blatantly staring. "Dr. Methius, may I ask what you're doing?"

He motioned at the bound man before him. "Mr. Valentine here, seems to be determined to survive his withdrawal."

Feeling that she'd been given his permission to look, she turned her gaze down to Vincent and studied him. His bruises had darkened over the hours, and his color was now ashy as his ferium withdrawal had drained absolutely all of the energy from him. He seemed to be conscious, but just barely. His dark eyes were only half-open and glassy, and he was staring into nothingness.

Amy swallowed hard-- he looked horrible. "And if he does survive this, then what? I know a man like you must surely have a plan."

Peirte smiled. "I didn't honestly expect him to last this long. But, this man here has proven to be a most interesting test subject in the past. Hojo literally cut him to pieces, and he survived. Mr. Valentine is a hard man to kill, although I guess I know that five bullets to the heart will do it." He actually laughed.

Amy couldn't see the humor in that particular thought, and just nodded.

"Of course, the heart he's using now is one I built, and it should prove durable. In fact, I would theorize that's why he's managed to survive his withdrawal. His old heart surely would have given out by now. Even people with healthy ones die of cardiac arrest during withdrawal. That's not an issue for him. Knowing this, I think it would almost be amusing, if you will, to see just how much he can tolerate before some other part of his body fails him fatally." Peirte smiled, his last words had almost been seductive to himself.

"You're going to torture him to death?" Amy asked, managing not to sound as disgusted as she felt.

"I won't just torture him for the sheer pleasure of doing it, I will record everything, for the pursuit of science, of course." He reached down and placed his hand upon Vincent's chest. "Tearing this man apart will just make me that much more like the person I most admire. An homage to Hojo, if you will. After all, Vincent here was his most beloved project, his unfinished work. Hojo came to believe that this man was almost impossible the break. Well, I want to find that breaking point." Peirte's sickest perversion was starting to rear-- the one that had honestly gained him his reputation. Like Hojo, he found intentionally causing pain alluring, entirely irresistible. In a word, he was a sadist.

Amy had to hide the fact that she now physically felt sick. "And when do you intend to start this…project?"

"As soon as we return from our little outing. Speaking of which, we should probably get going." Perite turned away from Vincent and walked off.

She hesitated, gazing back down at Vincent for a moment. Amy realized that she didn't know all of the story, and even if Vincent had shot Reno, she was sure that he didn't honestly deserve what he was about to suffer. Before turning to walk away, she whispered to him, "I'm sorry."

------------------------------

Reno came back to consciousness. "Babe?"

Angel, who was still dutifully sitting at his bedside immediately stood up and appeared in his line of sight. "You're awake."

He tried to shift his position in the bed, but the pain that instantly ran through his head when he did so forced him to stop. "Damn it, I'm really hurtin'."

"Do you want me to have Janice give you something?" she asked, not wanting to watch him suffer.

The thought of having his mind clouded with more drugs didn't really appeal to him at the moment. He felt like he'd been asleep far too much, and he was sick of it. "I wanna get up and go home, to tell you the truth."

"Reno, you haven't moved the left side of your body since you woke up." Angel figured that just laying it out on the line frankly was the best option when it came to her husband.

"That's because…" Reno stopped. At first he'd intended to say that he was tied down to the bed, but he realized that such a thing didn't really make much sense.

Angel reached down and picked up his left hand. "Can you feel anything?"

"Yeah, I can feel you holding me." Reno put all of his effort into it, and his fingers curled around her hand weakly. He was immediately proud of himself. "See, I can move, I guess I just hadn't tried to. I am right handed, Babe."

Angel had to laugh at him. He had a point and she suddenly felt a little silly. "God, I was worried that you were half paralyzed. You hadn't moved your left side at all since getting here, and only the left side of your mouth moves when you smile."

"That's because the whole right fuckin' side of my face hurts like hell." Reno, not having any understanding of the human nervous system scoffed. "That would be really stupid about my body, though. Why would my left side be fucked up when I was shot in the right side of the head?"

She sighed, "Reno, the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body below the neck."

"Really?" He honestly had never heard of such a thing. Reno had been truant during most of his high school biology courses. Now, he almost regretted it. "That seems a little ridiculous."

"Hey, I didn't come up with the system." Angel was starting to wonder if he was honestly going to suffer any long-term mental affects of his trauma. So far, everything seemed to be going well.

"Still, I want out of here." Reno once more gave sitting up an effort, and managed to pull it off.

Angel was flat out shocked. The man had just had a fourth of his face blown off and he seemed determined to leave the infirmary already. Medically, she wondered how safe this move was on his part. "Reno, I don't think you should be getting up like that."

He quickly agreed as the room started to spin wildly. "Oh…"

She helped him lay back down. "Don't try that again for a while."

Reno had no intention of reattempting that maneuver. "Yeah, I felt like I was gonna puke."

"Your equilibrium is probably going to be off for a while, Reno." Angel stroked his left cheek. "You aren't just going to hop out of this bed and start walking right away."

"Babe, I ain't got a choice! I've got an organization to run, you know that." Reno frowned and looked away from her.

He was in denial of the situation. Angel knew that down deep, Reno understood the rules of attrition set forth by his predecessors in the company. "No, recuperating is your only concern right now."

"I want to get back to work." Reno never thought that these words would ever pass his lips in his lifetime, but there they were, and he meant them.

While Reno could go back to working for ASRIO, the rules clearly stated that upon death or massive head injury, that the next in command be put in charge. This was to prevent someone from potential mental impairment from running the organization, and Reno's wound qualified hands down. He would never again head up ASRIO. That was his wife's job now.

Angel felt her heart break as she forced him to face the fact. "Reno, you know the rules."

"But I'm fine! There's nothing wrong with me at all! So I lost an eye! Big fucking deal!" Reno felt the heat of tears. This job had been all he'd known for years, and the thought of losing his power cut right through him. The idea that he was going to be made into little more than a grunt again hurt him deeply.

She brushed away the tear that trailed down his cheek. "Reno, you know how it is, and you know the reason for it. The rules are the rules, and I'm not going to change them."

"Babe…if you're the leader now, you can change them! You can keep the head injury thing, but make it mean that the person in question has to come out retarded or something! It's not fair…I'm okay…" His voice grew weak and he looked away from her. He knew that this was a futile battle that he wouldn't win. "Fuck it."

"I'm sorry, Reno." Angel bent down and gave him a kiss. "You know I'm going to need you right at my side all of the time."

"No, if you're here working, then I'm gonna be at home watching the squirt. She's not going into daycare, we made that decision a long time ago, remember?" Reno looked at her again.

He was right. Angel smiled at him. "Well, I guess she's going to be spending a little more time down here in the base with us. Besides, she starts school next week. That's seven hours a day that she's gone and you can be here with me. Don't stress about it."

"Fine." Reno pouted. "Can you at least get my…"

"What?"

Reno fell silent. He wanted to ask her to bring his small hand held video game to him, and although he could picture it in his mind, and knew what it was called, for some reason, he simply couldn't say it. "What's wrong with me?"

Angel bent down lower. "Reno?"

"I want to ask you for something, and I know what it is and what its called, but I can't say it…" Reno looked scared, and unconsciously, his hands came together making the gesture of how he held the device.

Angel straightened up. Reno wasn't all right. "Just a second, I'm getting Janice."

The doctor was working in her office, finishing up Quigley's chart when the door opened. "Angel?"

"Reno's having trouble." Angel took a few steps forward.

Janice got up. "What's wrong?"

"He's got some sort of glitch in his mind. He tried to tell me to get something from the house, but he can't tell me what it is, and he seems really freaked out." Angel shrugged. "It's not just that he can't think of what it's called, he says he can, but he absolutely can't say it."

"That's the sort of problem we needed to look out for, considering where the bullet fragments are lodged." Janice wasn't all that surprised to hear this. Reno was bound to have some sort of dysfunction. "We can test this."

Angel followed Janice out and over to Reno's bedside. The doctor pulled a small notepad and a pen from her pocket. "Reno, you can't remember what you want Angel to bring from the house?"

"No, I know what it is, but I can't say it." He looked profoundly distressed.

Janice handed him the pen and held the notepad so he could write on it. "See if you can write down what it is."

Reno didn't see how he was going to be able to write it out if he couldn't say it, but as he watched, his hand reached out to the paper and he quickly wrote the words video game. He was shocked. "What the fuck?"

Janice showed the notepad to Angel. "He wants his game."

Angel was amazed.

"Keep this notepad, and if he has trouble expressing anything else, just have him write it. The two halves of his brain aren't communicating normally. Once he's well enough, we can take him up to town and have an MRI done to see exactly where the problem lies." Janice offered a smile. "Or it may just resolve on its own with time."

Angel just nodded and took the notepad. "Okay."

Reno continued to stare at the pen in his hand. This was not going to be easy.

------------------------------

Quigley was lying on the couch in Rayna and Porter's room. They insisted that he stay with them during his recovery, as they knew that life for him in his temporarily one armed state was going to be difficult.

Porter had gone to the lab for a little while, leaving the researcher with Rayna, who was doting on him.

Later, Porter returned and he sat in a chair close to Quigley. "How are you doing?"

Quigley, still nicely buzzed from his pain medication gave him a lazy smile. "Great."

Porter grinned back at him. "Well, I tested the batch of the Chaos drug that you made, and it checks out, so I'm trying to think of why it didn't work on Aaron."

"Well," Quigley sat up, he'd been giving this very thing some thought, "Aaron is Vincent's son, which is to say that he was created using just one cell from Vincent, and one from Tifa."

Porter just sat back and listened. When Quigley was trying to muddle through things, it was best just to let him do so on his own.

"So, he obviously inherited something from his father." He pursed his lips for a moment and thought. "Which means that Vincent wasn't completely cured as we had believed."

"But he's shown no sign of that demon since he was treated." Porter crossed his arms over his chest.

"Right, he's shown no outward signs." Quigley raised his eyebrows. "Maybe, the drug only took away Chaos' ability to physically manifest himself, but it didn't actually eradicate him entirely. If that was the case, and there's something left of that demon within Vincent, and that demon was embedded into him on a genetic level, so maybe he did pass something on."

"But what he would have passed on should have been comparable to whatever he still has in himself, and again, Vincent can't manifest the demon anymore, so why can Aaron?" Porter asked.

Quigley ran his free hand through his hair. "Well, from what we had learned from Hojo's research, the Chaos demon uses RNA to take over Vincent's body. The drug may have just lysed the part of the sequence that let Chaos manifest, but left other parts intact. RNA mutates easily enough, and something could have happened when Aaron was conceived. One small mutation and boom, the demon could show up physically again."

Porter considered this for a moment. "That could be, or it could be something else."

"What do you think?" Quigley had the utmost respect for his partner's insights. He wondered for a moment how someone as naturally gifted in the sciences had ever ended up as a Turk.

"Okay, the drug destroyed Chaos' RNA, and maybe it did kill off all of it, but perhaps the demon wasn't just strictly made up of RNA sequences." Porter leaned back in his chair.

"Go on." Quigley was intrigued.

"In the research, it says that Chaos was introduced into Vincent using a carrier virus, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe that carrier virus didn't infect Vincent with RNA. Maybe that carrier virus actually contained a DNA sequence that was fused with Vincent's own genetic code. Perhaps that DNA sequence spurred his body to produce the RNA sequences that gave the demon a consciousness and the ability to transform Vincent's body. From what we read, Vincent didn't show the ability to turn into Chaos right after Hojo infected him. In fact, if you'll remember, there was a part that explicitly said that it would take Vincent's body years to produce enough of those RNA sequences in order to give Chaos the ability to show himself. He was in stasis for twenty-seven years, and during that time, Chaos was able to gear up for action. But if he hadn't been in stasis, who's to say that it might not have just taken a few years? Vincent hasn't physically manifested the demon since he was supposedly cured, but maybe it's just a matter of time before he does. And if Aaron inherited something like that, maybe it's just taken the six years he's been alive for this to finally happen." Porter was pleased with himself.

"And if that's the case, then that means that Vincent, wherever in the hell he is and assuming that he's still alive…" Quigley's eyes went wide. "Fuck, he might do it, too."

Porter nodded. "Yeah."

"But that doesn't explain why the drug didn't work on Aaron." Quigley looked thoughtful.

"Actually, in a way, it might." Porter cocked his head to the side. "Spontaneous mutations take place during sex cell generation all of the time. One small change to the portion of the DNA that makes up Chaos or whatever Aaron's calling his, and the enzyme within the drug might no longer be capable of lysing the RNA sequence. That drug was designed specifically for Vincent's demon. If Aaron's is just the tiniest bit different, then bingo, no effect."

Quigley was silent for a moment. Porter was absolutely right. "I'll be damned. We have to come up with a drug either to go after the specific RNA in Aaron, or one that can actually get the DNA sequence out of his genetic make up! Porter, to the Bat Cave!"

"You're hilarious when you're stoned, Quig." Porter got up and went to his side. "Let's see how much trouble we can get into working with you dazed."

"Let's go." Quigley let Porter help him up from the couch.

------------------------------

Tifa sat nursing the baby down in the prison block. She heard someone approaching and draped one of the baby's blankets over her shoulder, keeping herself covered, not wanting one of the men to come in and see her like this.

Angel appeared around the corner with her phone, or rather Reno's former phone, in her hand. "Someone wants to talk to you."

Tifa took the phone and propped it between her ear and shoulder so she wouldn't have to disturb the baby as she fed. "Hello?"

"Hey." It was Cid, and he knew she'd recognize his voice.

She smiled weakly, her heartbreak over how things had turned out between them welling up. "Hey yourself. What's up?"

He was quiet for a moment, but finally got up the nerve. "Well, I was callin' just to let you know that I got married to Jin a little while ago."

Tifa knit her brow and bit her bottom lip for a second. This wasn't necessarily the news she wanted to hear. "Oh…okay. That was a little fast."

"Yeah, I know, but like you said, when it comes down to it, time ain't a luxury I've got." Cid was presently sitting on the small bench outside his back door.

"I know." Tifa tried to be a good sport about it. "So, what's L.C. think?"

Cid smiled. "He's all excited. Started calling Jin 'Mom' right afterward. Says it's cool to finally be in a real family."

"That's sweet." Tifa couldn't help but grin a little. L.C. was unbearably cute. "I'm glad that he's happy with it."

"Yeah, he's really missed Jin. That's sorta one of the reasons I went through with it so fast. I mean, I've really put that boy through hell over the last few months, with what went on between Jin and me, and then all that stuff with you. He deserves to have an intact home, and I figured that I could give him that for at least a little while, you know." Cid leaned forward where he sat, staring down at the dirt. "Look, I'm really sorry about everything, Tiff."

She felt tears in her eyes. "It's okay, Cid. You've done what you had to do. Like you said, we were great friends, but we sucked as a couple. We couldn't keep it together for more than a few days."

Cid knew it was a little inappropriate, but couldn't help himself. "Yeah, and now you've got a new trick to teach the next guy you take to bed, huh?"

Tifa outright laughed and flushed red. "I'll admit, you're good, Cid. Being able to do that is going to be a requirement for my guys from now on."

The fact that she would joke with Cid about this made him feel like maybe as friends, they still had a chance. "How's Charlotte?"

"She's doing great."

"And Aaron? Have they been able to help him?" Cid asked.

She looked over to where her son was still sleeping. "They tried the drug this morning, but it didn't work. Aaron turned into that thing and tore up Quigley's arm pretty bad."

Upon hearing the researcher's name, Cid bristled. "Well that mother fucker had it coming. Too bad Aaron didn't rip something else off the bastard while he was at it."

"Cid! Be nice!" Tifa frowned.

"No." He kicked at a rock on the ground before him.

Tifa couldn't help but laugh at him again. "So, it was okay for you to screw around, but not her, huh?"

"Fine, take Quigley's side." Cid smiled, letting his anger go. "I'll just say it was karma and that he's been repaid."

"You're terrible, Cid," Tifa said back.

He mocked her tone. "You're terrible, Cid, yeah, I've heard that one. Come up with somethin' new sometime, okay?"

"We're going to be all right, aren't we?" Tifa asked, feeling much better after this brief conversation.

"I'm starting to think that we just might, Tiff." Cid grinned and looked over, seeing that the others were ready to go out. "I'm gonna go. We're having some sort of stupid reception dinner thing."

"Okay. Have fun." Tifa was a little disappointed that he had to go.

"I'll try. You know I hate this sort of thing." Cid stood up. "Oh, and Tifa?"

"Yes?"

"I still love you, okay?" He felt himself smiling again.

"I love you, too, Cid."

"Okay. Bye." With that, he hung up.

Tifa, smiling, handed the phone back to Angel.

"Is everything okay?" the ASRIO leader asked, putting the phone back into her pocket.

"He married Jin today, I guess." Tifa could tell that the baby was done and got her shirt back on right before pulling the blanket off of her shoulder.

Angel was pleased to hear this, since she felt that it meant that from now on, Cid would stay where he belonged. She hadn't been happy with the pilot hooking up with Tifa at all. "Good."

Tifa caught her tone and was about to question her on it, when Jaras walked in. He'd apparently gone into town and bought a few things for Aaron, since he had a bag from the toy store in his hand. He saw that Aaron was still sleeping, and he set the bag down next to the bars so his brother could get to it when he awoke.

Tifa smiled at Jaras. "What's in the bag?"

"I got him a video game thing." Jaras crossed his arms over his chest. "I figured that he'd like it. He'd mentioned to me once on the phone that he wanted one. I supposed that this was just as good a time as any for him to get it."

"That's really sweet, Jaras." Tifa was grateful for the kindness that Vincent's eldest son had shown Aaron.

"He's my little brother, I had to do something for him." Jaras figured he'd share his news with Tifa now. "By the way, Jeanine is pregnant."

Tifa's eyes went wide. "What?"

"I'm going to be a father, apparently." Jaras smiled faintly. He did have some anxiety over how the baby would turn out-- if the Jenova that had been injected into him would have any effect.

"Oh Jaras! That's great! I know Jeanine's wanted a baby for a long time." Tifa smiled widely.

"Yes, she has." He shrugged. "As long as she's happy, then so am I."

"God, with as great as you do with Aaron, I know you'll be wonderful as a dad." Tifa said this with complete sincerity.

"Thanks." Jaras blushed slightly at the comment.

Angel was relieved. "When Janice told her, Jeanine got really nervous. She thought you would absolutely panic."

"I would have thought so, too. The other day she mentioned that it could be a possibility and at that time, well, I wasn't particularly thrilled with the notion. But then she sort of vented her feelings on the whole situation and I began to realize that maybe I'd been wrong to drag my feet on the subject for so long, and then I just felt bad about it. So, when she told me today that she was in fact going to have a baby, my reservations about it for the most part disappeared. As long as the baby turns out normal and healthy, then things will be all right." Jaras smiled to himself, thinking of how happy Jeanine had been acting since giving him the news.

"Speaking of which, where is she?" Tifa asked, not having seen the other woman in a while.

"She's been very tired for the last few days, and she's taking her second nap today." Jaras eyes flashed with his depth of emotion for his wife. He was clearly a man in love.

Then, Angel's phone rang.

She pulled it back out of her pocket and answered. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Sparks, it's Rude."

Quickly, she motioned of Tifa and Jaras to be quiet. "Yes, Rude, how are things going?"

"Your agent, Ms. Veller, has successfully gotten into the lab, and she's with Dr. Methius," he reported.

Angel was impressed. "That's great! I owe you."

"Don't get too excited yet." Rude pushed up his sunglasses. He was sitting in his favorite diner outside of the Midgar Shinra building, having his dinner. "I spoke with her today, and also to Dr. Methius himself, as he called me to tell me that his new Turk wasn't exactly what he was looking for."

She grew nervous. "Is there any news?"

"Yes." Rude took a drink from his beer quickly. "Mr. Valentine arrived last night."

Angel went over and sat on one of the chairs that had been brought down to Tifa's cell. "He did?"

"Yes. He told the doctor that he killed Reno, and then provided him with the supposed information. Dr. Methius saw that the disc that Mr. Valentine had produced was in fact blank, and feeling that Mr. Valentine should have been more diligent about assuring that the information hadn't been wiped like it seemingly had, he proceeded to beat him severely. Dr. Methius said that Mr. Valentine had actually seemed happy that the information had been taken from him, and that he was proud of Sephiroth for betraying him." Rude picked up the bottle of ketchup from the table and began dumping it upon the pile of fries on his plate. "But he didn't kill him, yet."

To hear what she just had, told Angel that her father truly wasn't an evil traitor. What he'd done, he'd simply carried out because of the ferium and Peirte's manipulation. Knowing that he was alive was a profound relief, and she felt tears come to her eyes. "He's alive…"

"For the moment, but not for long. It would seem that Mr. Valentine was on ferium, and Dr. Methius is withholding any more of it from him. From what I heard, the withdrawal from it almost killed him." Rude stuffed a few of his fries into his mouth. "Dr. Methius outright said that he planned on torturing Vincent to death, just to see how much he can bear."

Angel gasped. "God no… We have to do something."

"No, you have to do something. I've done all I can in this case. I gotten someone in that lab for you, so you have your plant. It's in ASRIO's hands now. I can't risk blowing my own cover, so I won't be contacting Ms. Veller any more. She's all yours." Rude hung up.