Chapter Twenty Four
Cid had spent a few hours working on his plane, and he was finally done with what he needed to do. He walked back into the house and placed a box containing some components under the kitchen table before going into the living room and finding Jin reading to L.C. The pilot leaned in the doorway staring at them together, knowing in his heart that he'd done the right thing by getting Jin back into his son's life.
She noticed his return and put the book down. "So, what were you so busy out there doing?"
He shrugged. "Nothing much. Hey, I'm gonna go get cleaned up and then we can go to that place that you really like for dinner, okay?"
Jin cocked an eyebrow. Generally, it was like pulling teeth to get Cid to take her to the expensive Wutain restaurant, as he hated both the food there and the price. "Really?"
Cid gave her an honest smile. "Yeah. Get ready."
An hour later, the three of them were sitting at a table, having their dinner. Cid had ordered the most inoffensive thing on the menu, and sat watching his wife and son have at the items they'd ordered for themselves. Much to the pilot's dismay, Jin had convinced L.C. that Wutain cuisine was palatable, and the boy had taken to ordering whatever the woman did.
Tonight, though, Cid didn't give them a hard time about it like he usually did. In fact, he just sat there in complete silence watching them, a faint smile upon his lips.
Jin, accustomed to his typical bashing of her dietary choices finally looked up over at him, seeing the expression that he wore. "Cid?"
"Yeah?"
"Is there something on your mind?" she asked, reaching across the table and grabbing one of his hands.
"Naw," he lied and as usual, did a bad job of it.
She frowned briefly. "Come on, what is it?"
"Nothing." Cid reached over and picked up one of the pieces of fish from her plate.
Jin watched in amazement as he popped the stolen morsel into his mouth and chewed it up. He'd always claimed he could be chased around the block with what she ordered for dinner here, but now he'd willingly just tried it for the first time. "Did you honestly just do that or am I hallucinating?"
He shrugged, swallowing what he'd eaten. "You know, that ain't half as bad as I'd figured it'd be."
Now, Jin was terrified. "Cid?"
"What?"
"L.C., stay here, you're dad and I will be right back." Jin locked gazes with the pilot. "Come with me, now."
Cid followed as she led him away from the table and outside of the restaurant doors. "What's up?"
"You tell me!" Jin stood close enough to him that her body was touching his. "You've been acting really weird since going to the doctor the other day. Tell me what he said, Cid."
The pilot knit his brow for a moment and stood up a little taller. "Well, uh, it's bad. He told me that I've only got a few weeks now."
Jin closed her eyes and drew in a jagged breath. "Damn it…"
He put his arms around her. "It's all right, Jin. I'm okay with it."
"I don't want to lose you…" Tears came to her eyes and she buried her face in his chest.
"I know, but hey, there's nothing that can be done about it." Cid brought her out to arm's length. "Don't worry about it, please. I don't intend to lay around and suffer for a long time or anything. It won't be that bad."
Jin figured that he just had no grasp of what he was truly in for. After watching her family members pass from cancer, she knew that lying around and suffering went without saying. "I wasted these last few months and now this is happening…"
Cid shook her slightly. "Jin, why beat yourself up over it? I fucked up too, if you'll recall. I'm just happy beyond words that you're here now, and that you're going to take care of my boy. That's all I could have ever hoped for."
She wiped her eyes with her hands. "It's just that I love you so much."
He brought her close again. "And I love you, too. Let's not worry about it for tonight, though, and let's make this the best evening we've ever had, okay?"
Jin nodded. She would give him whatever he wanted. "All right."
After finishing dinner, they'd returned to the house. It was late and Cid put his son to bed, dragging the ritual out a little longer than usual. Finally, L.C. went to sleep, and the pilot returned to the family room, finding Jin on the couch.
Cid sat beside her, seeing that she was crying again. He put an arm around her shoulders. "Jin, don't, okay?"
"I can't help it. I can't just stuff my feelings, Cid." Jin wouldn't meet his gaze, ashamed at herself for crying.
"Tell me honestly, what is it that you fear most?" he asked, resting his head against hers.
"You suffering." Jin frowned. "The thought of you being in pain… I hate it. I don't want to be alone, but having you die like this… I think that's the worst part."
Cid smiled. She had nothing to worry about as far as he was concerned. "Jin, don't stress about that, okay? I just want us to be happy tonight. No crying, no worrying. Let's just live in the moment."
Not being able to figure him and his strange mood out, Jin submitted to his request. "Then what is it you want to do?"
He ran a hand through her hair. "You know, there is one thing that I've never done."
She cocked an eyebrow at him again. "And that is?"
Cid rose up and took her hand. "Come on."
Jin followed him out of the house and across the small field behind it until they were at the plane. Cid opened the door on the side of it and motioned for her to get in.
Cid followed her in and closed the door.
She stood between the seats in the passenger compartment. "What are we doing in here? Surely we're not taking off when L.C.'s back in the house asleep."
Cid took her into his arms. "Naw, we don't need to leave the ground for this."
The female mechanic caught the innuendo in his voice. "Really? In here, in your precious plane?"
"Yeah, in my precious fuckin' plane." He made a low growl and pressed his lips to Jin's. Cid thrust his tongue into her mouth, running it along hers.
Jin groaned softly in response, pushing her body closer to his. She placed her hands behind his neck, keeping him pulled to her forcefully.
His hands found their way to the zipper that ran down the back of her dress, and he slowly pulled it down. Once that was done, he pushed it off of her, letting it fall to the floor. Cid took a step back and examined her, seeing that she'd put on a corset, garter belt, and stockings beneath her dress. He couldn't help but smile as he studied her. Jin looked like one of the pin-up girls the pilot had painted onto one of his planes. "You know that stuff drives me crazy."
"Well, I figured you deserved it for humoring me and taking me to that place tonight," she replied, reaching out and pushing his jacket from his body. "Now, what is it exactly that you've got in mind, Mr. Highwind?"
"Everything." He undid his belt and pulled it away, letting it join his jacket on the floor. "And I want you to do what you do best."
Jin gave him an evil sneer. "Oh do you? Then you're going to have to say it."
As he undid the waist to his pants, he mirrored her expression. "I want you to hurt me."
Jin had come to appreciate Cid's slightly masochistic desires over the years, and indulging them was something she'd grown good at. She reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him forward hard by it, tearing the fabric as she did so. Jin forced him down into another kiss while she undid the few buttons that had remained intact on his shirt, before pulling it from him. Her hands then made quick work of pushing off his already loosened pants, taking down his boxers at the same time.
Cid stood there before her unclothed, waiting for her to make the next move. The whole scenario of this taking place here on his plane had been a fantasy of Cid's that he had carried for years, but he'd never dared. It seemed like the last line for him to cross sexually, but now he was at the end of his life so he figured he might as well do it.
Jin examined him in return, seeing that he was ready, very ready. Her lace up boots were still on and she raised up her right leg, placing the point of her boot before his stomach, then pushing him back as hard as she could with it.
Cid fell back into one of the plush passenger seats, his skin stinging from her kick. He gave her a smirk. "Come on, you can do better than that."
Jin walked over to him and stood before his seat. She leaned forward and placed her knee between his legs, pushing it up against him hard enough for it to hurt.
Cid drew in a sharp breath at this contact. He reached up and undid the first couple of hooks on the front of her corset, but before he got very far, she smacked his hand away. "I didn't say you could do that, did I?"
He smirked. "No, you didn't."
She pushed even harder with her knee.
"Oh fuck," he grunted in response, as the pain kicked up to another level.
Jin relented and got to her knees before him. She let her hands trail up his thighs. "What do you want, Cid?"
He put his hands along the sides of her face and guided her downward. Cid leaned back, knowing that she would humor him.
Jin licked him for a few seconds, making his arousal worse, before taking him into her mouth. She dug her nails into his legs as she worked, making him writhe in response.
Cid watched her actions, guiding her pace with his hands that were now entangled in her hair. The pilot growled when she'd occasionally let her teeth graze him. She was doing that on purpose, and he couldn't have been happier.
Not wanting to push him over the edge before she got what she wanted, Jin eventually sat back, enjoying the impassioned expression that Cid now wore. "How was that?"
"Fucking wonderful." Cid gave her his smirk. "What do you want?"
There was one thing that he'd never done, and Jin figured she'd try her luck. "What you won't do. You did say we were going to do everything."
The pilot tensed his jaw. "Jin, I've never-"
She cut him off by standing up and unclipping her garters, then pulling off her panties. "Well, you're going to. I've done that for you plenty of times, it's your turn."
He watched as she sat in the seat across from his, letting her knees fall away from one another once she was situated. Cid stared at her for a moment, before forcing himself to move. The pilot was aware that he wouldn't get anything else that he wanted unless he obeyed her demand. After all she'd put up with from him over the years, he owed her at least this much.
Jin smiled as Cid came over and knelt before her. She reached down and pulled back against her inner thighs, exposing herself to him completely. "Go on, do it."
Cid met her gaze for a moment, looking for a reprieve from her but not getting one. He lowered himself and closed his eyes, doing what he figured he was supposed to.
She gasped when she felt his tongue upon her, pleased that he'd finally complied. Still, this was his first time with this particular act, and Jin knew he needed a little guidance. "Go a little lower…"
He obeyed, and felt her tense her body in response. Cid quickly came to realize that doing this to her was making his own level of arousal greater, and much to his surprise-- he found out that he liked doing it. Cid slipped two of his fingers into her while he continued to explore her with his tongue.
"Cid…" Jin didn't stop him as his continued stimulation of her bought her to climax. Her entire body responded by shuddering and she groaned in her ecstasy.
The pilot sat back, impressed with how quickly he'd just brought her to this. "It's that good, huh?"
She sat up straight in the seat and scooted all the way to the edge of it. Jin put her hands on his shoulders. "Fuck me."
Cid readily complied and drove into Jin, finding his mark within her-- making her immediately begin crying out again. He made his own sounds in response and couldn't help himself from commenting. "Greedy tonight, huh?"
Jin just grunted back in response, before pushing him away. She quickly got up from where she was sitting and turned around, getting on her knees, her upper body resting on the seat.
Cid got behind her and back to the task at hand, placing his left arm down and around her waist, to hold her to him. He held onto her shoulder with his right hand, and he bent forward, so his mouth was close to the back of her neck. "Jin…I love you."
She nearly couldn't respond as he was reaching that certain place within her again, driving her over the edge for a second time. Jin finally answered him as she came once more. "I love you, too…"
Knowing that she was pleased yet again, Cid figured he'd ask for another favor. "Jin, one more thing and we'll have done everything."
This was something that she was reluctant to give, but she had before and she would now. "Okay…"
"Thanks…" Cid withdrew momentarily, only to drive back into her in a different place. The increased tension here would make him finish quickly.
Jin made a pained cry at this, and Cid put his right hand close to her mouth, allowing her to bite him in response to whatever discomfort he was causing her.
All of this was just too much and Cid was quickly brought to the end. He collapsed gasping against her back. "Damn…Jin, that was great."
She giggled a little to herself, and moved to get out from beneath him. "Yeah, it was."
Cid moved to get up into the seat Jin had been leaning on and he reached out for his wife, pulling her over. She sat on his lap and rested back against his chest, just happy that he was still here for the time being.
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In the morning, Cid took Jin and L.C. out to breakfast at their favorite place. He ate more than he probably should have, but he loved the pancakes here. Once that was done, they went back to the house.
Cid sat with L.C. and Jin while they watched a movie on television. When it was over, he figured he had to do what he felt he needed to. He got up from the couch and knelt down at his son's side. "L.C.?"
"Yeah?" he turned to face his father.
"You know I love you, right?" Cid said, placing his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Sure, I love you, too." L.C. gave him a smile, knowing that it was a little weird for his dad to just come over and say this.
"I'm gonna go out for a while. I did some things to the plane that I need to test out, and you're gonna stay here with Jin." He smiled at his boy.
"I can't go?" His son suddenly looked crushed.
"Naw, not this time, kid. You know I take the plane up alone after working on it," he sighed, not wanting his boy to see the truth.
L.C. took it in stride. "Okay, but when you're done, I get the next flight."
He tousled his son's hair before giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You bet. Do what Jin tells you."
"Cool." L.C. faced the television again.
Cid stood up and looked at Jin. "I'm going on a test flight to check out the things I did yesterday."
She got up and put her arms around him. "Be careful."
The pilot gave her a grin. "Sure thing. I love you."
"I love you, too." She closed her eyes as their lips briefly met. "Don't go too far until you know that everything's all right."
"Yeah." Cid backed away from her, taking a mental picture of the scene. "Bye."
"Bye." Jin watched as he retreated through the kitchen.
He stopped by the refrigerator and pulled out a few beers and grabbed his jacket before walking out the back door and toward the plane. The pilot got to his aircraft and admired it for a moment, running his hands over the edges of the propellers one at a time, until they had all been checked, as was his preflight ritual. That done, he got in and set the beers he'd brought in the co-pilot's seat before strapping himself in.
Before he started the engines, he pulled out his cell phone and called a number that he'd memorized.
Angel answered, "Hello?"
"Hey, Tifa's there somewhere, right?" he asked, already knowing she was.
"Yes, just a moment." Angel walked from the control room and to Tifa's quarters, finding the other woman inside. She held the phone out to her.
Tifa put it to her ear. "Hello?"
"It's me."
She smiled, but kept her voice low, not wanting Aaron to hear. "Cid? What's up?"
"I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're doing." He settled back into his seat, the way it felt around him all too familiar.
"Oh, well, I'm all right. They got Vincent out of the lab, but he ran away." She had to push back the tears, knowing that Cid hated it when she cried. "But they've helped Aaron so he won't turn into that thing again."
"Good, and how's Charlotte?" he asked, frowning as his heartbreak over the baby cut through him.
"She's doing great! Never cries, and Aaron really likes her. He's been holding her a lot. Oh, guess what?" The excitement in her voice became clear.
"What's that?" Cid smiled a little.
"Jaras is going to be a father. Can you believe it?" Tifa grinned at the thought.
"No shit? Great, more freaks in the freak show, then," he laughed.
"You're terrible, Cid."
He didn't mock her this time, and his smile faltered. "Yeah."
"Cid?" Instantly she knew that something was wrong. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." He forced himself to smile. "I'm going to be all right. Don't worry about it. Like I said, I was just checking in. Tifa?"
"Yes?"
"I love you, you know that, right?"
Tifa smiled to herself, despite the strange sadness that came into her heart. "Yes, and I love you, too."
"Okay, well, I've got to go. Bye."
"Bye." She kept the phone to her ear until she heard him hang up a few seconds later. Tifa passed the phone back to Angel.
Angel saw the unusual expression on Tifa's face. "Is something wrong?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, he just sounded sort of…weird."
"Well, I'm sure he's all right." Angel gave her friend a smile.
Tifa stood up and sighed. "I guess so."
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Cid got the plane into the air and circled over the town, looking down upon the familiar scenery for a while before pointing the plane south. It would take about an hour to reach the mountains.
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Jin went into the kitchen to go see what there was to make for lunch. After rummaging around for a while, her eye was caught by the box sitting beneath the kitchen table. Out of her curiosity, she went over and pulled it out, setting it upon the table's surface. She looked inside.
It was the transponder from Cid's plane. This was the one piece of equipment that no aircraft ever was supposed to fly without. The purpose of the device was to allow the plane to be tracked from the ground and by other aircraft. Without it, the plane was practically invisible and if it crashed, there would be no way to locate it.
If it crashed.
If.
Jin felt her hands begin to shake and she ran over to the small radio unit that Cid had set up in the corner. She pressed the transmit button. "Cid? Come in! Cid?"
He heard her voice through the static and sighed before replying. "Cid here."
"Come back!"
The pilot tensed his jaw. "No."
"Cid, what do you think you're doing?" Jin asked, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Saving everyone the trouble of watching me die some slow, horrible death, Jin." There were tears evident in his voice.
She came unglued. "Come back right now! You can't do this! Please, Cid! Turn around and land!"
"Sorry, Jin, but I can't do that." He had to wipe his eyes. "It's better this way."
"How is killing yourself going to make things better?" Jin's knees went weak and she had to brace herself against the desk that the radio rested upon.
"Get it through your fucking head, woman." Cid's tone turned angry as he forced himself to get mad. "I don't want anyone to see me die like that! I want to be remembered like I am, before I get any worse. I just want to fly for a while, okay?"
"Cid!" Jin waited for a response but didn't get one. "Cid!"
He closed his eyes, listening to her cry for a few moments, but mercifully, the plane flew out of range of the small radio and it grew silent.
He flew on for about an hour before the meager fuel supply that he'd put in the plane ran out. The engines stalled and came back on a few times, before giving up completely. The normal rumble of the plane went silent, and all Cid could hear was the wind blowing over the fuselage. There was something both peaceful and terrifying in that moment. The plane could still successfully land at this point, being light enough to glide to the ground, but Cid had no intention of the plane meeting the Earth in a way that wouldn't be fatal. There were mountains not far now, and he banked the silent plane toward them.
He couldn't believe that this was it. Cid reached over to the copilot's seat and grabbed one of the beer bottles that he'd brought with him. He flipped off the top and took a huge swig. It may have been a little warm, but it was good. Then he reached into his coat pocket, coming up with his old lighter and the pack of cigarettes. Even though it had been seven years since he'd lit up and smoked, his hands made quick work of getting the pack opened and a cigarette to his lips. He lit up and took a long drag, letting the familiar sensation wash over him. Without a doubt, it was the best fucking smoke he'd ever had.
With the cigarette in his mouth, and the beer in his hand, he reached down and undid the seat belt, figuring that it wasn't needed for what he intended to do. The plane bucked slightly as it hit an updraft rising from the mountains below. He took his hands off of the control stick and let it slowly pull itself forward. The plane began to descend.
The tears were marking his face in broad tracks now, as he watched the altimeter needle begin to count down. It was literally like watching the last few moments of his life run out.
He realized that without any fuel, when the plane hit the rock riddled mountains below that it wouldn't erupt into flames, but rather it would just be torn to shreds-- and him along with it. This was fine, he didn't want to be burned anyway. The plane would crumple, being strewn over the snowy landscape. The clouds in the sky hinted at more snow. If he were lucky, new flakes would soon fall, covering up the evidence of his demise.
He thought of what the destroyed plane would look like as it was covered in ice. The plane…
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Angel had remained in Tifa's room after her conversation with Cid an hour before. The phone in her pocket rang again, and she pulled it out once more. "Hello?"
"I…I need to talk to Tifa," came a hysterical woman's voice from the other end of the line.
"Just a minute." Angel handed it over to her. "You're popular."
Tifa took the phone. "Hello?"
"Tifa, it's Jin."
She had no idea why this woman would be calling her in a million years. "Oh, uh, hey."
"Have you talked to Cid?" she asked, trying to hold back her tears for a moment.
Tifa wasn't sure if she should confess or not, wondering if they had been fighting over him still calling her. "Actually, he did about an hour ago, just to check up on me."
"But he hasn't stopped by or anything?" Jin had possessed some vague hope that the pilot would have stopped at the ASRIO base before committing to his death in order to see Tifa one last time.
"No, why? What's going on, Jin? You sound really upset." Tifa leaned forward, fearing the answer.
"He took off…he's gone off to kill himself, Tifa." Jin broke down and sobbed again.
"Oh shit." Tifa stood up.
"Cid…he pulled the transponder out of his plane so we can't even track him…" Jin collapsed back into one of the kitchen chairs. "I begged him to come back, but he flew out of radio range, and he won't answer his phone."
"Okay, uh, damn… Jin, I don't know what to do!" Tifa felt a lump come up in her throat and tears ran down her cheeks.
The door to the room opened. It was Porter and Quigley, and they'd dispensed with knocking in their excitement.
Tifa looked over at the two men, wondering what was going on. "Jin, hold on for a sec."
Quigley came right over to Tifa. "You're not going to believe this!"
At the moment, Tifa felt that anything was possible. "What?"
"In the lab, Vincent had Jaras take a computer. It was brought back here, and we managed to crack all six encryption codes on the thing in just these few days! It's amazing!" Quigley was down right giddy.
"I'm sorry, Quig, but I really don't care right now. Jin's on the phone with me telling me that Cid's…that he's gone off to kill himself." Tifa closed her eyes and looked away.
Quigley looked at Porter. "Oh shit…"
"Tifa…" Porter came closer. "Is he still alive?"
"We don't know," she shot back.
"Well, if he is we need to get a hold of him. What Quig was trying to tell you is that on that computer that Vincent had us take, is the cure for cancer!" Porter put his hands upon her shoulders, needing her to believe him.
Tifa blinked up at him for a few seconds. "A…a cure? For cancer?"
Porter nodded in response.
She put the phone back to her ear. "Jin, did you hear any of that?"
"Yeah, are they serious?"
"Yes."
"Shit! He won't answer his phone and he's out of radio range! What in the fuck can we do?" Jin's anguish went to a new level.
Tifa hung her head and sighed. She was absolutely heartbroken. "I don't know."