Chapter Twenty Seven

The train came to a stop a little after nine in the morning. Amy had fallen asleep in her seat somewhere around three in the morning. Cid had hung on a little longer, as he'd gone and locked himself into the bathroom as another horrible bout of coughing had come over him. He ended up collapsing on the bathroom floor and passing out, finally regaining the ability to breathe and function again after about an hour. The pilot had then slogged back to his own seat and had fallen into a cough-riddled sleep. When the train quit moving and he was jostled awake, he felt worse than he ever had.

Amy opened her eyes and looked over at him, seeing that he looked like hell. "Mr. Highwind? Are you all right?"

Cid struggled up from his seat and threw his pack over his shoulder again. "Yeah, I'm okay."

She could tell that he was lying, but knew better than to question a man like him about his physical well being. Amy followed him off of the train and out of the station. Although the walk to the ASRIO base would have only taken about half an hour from where they were, Amy knew enough to realize that Cid wasn't up for it. She hailed a cab and they made the short ride to the airfield in silence.

Once there, they walked to the control tower. Amy pulled her key from her pocket and slipped it into the lock. They went down together, until they had to part ways. Amy intended to head for the control room, which was in the opposite direction from where Cid needed to go. She extended her hand to him. "I enjoyed getting to know you, Mr. Highwind. I hope we can talk again before either you or I leave here."

Cid gave her a warm smile and accepted her hand. "Yeah, you, too."

He watched her go for a moment, before turning to the private quarters. Cid hoped that he remembered where everyone's room was at, and he sure as hell hoped they were all in the same rooms as before.

The pilot stopped in front of a door and knocked.

Jaras opened it, confused for a moment at seeing Cid there. "Wh…where did you come from? You're alive?"

After stifling a cough, Cid nodded. "Yeah, I'm still around. Hey, is Tifa still across the hall?" he asked, pointing to the door directly behind him.

Jaras' eyes narrowed. He wasn't all that sure that he liked the idea of Cid being near Tifa again. "Yes, she is, along with the children."

"Okay, uh, can you do me a huge favor?" Cid scratched the back of his head, feeling the tension that was coming from the man before him.

His jaw tensed, as he felt a little of the Sephiroth side of him stir. "Perhaps."

"I just want to see her for a sec, to let her know I'm okay before heading off to the infirmary, but I know Aaron would have a hard time knowing that I was around." He stopped for a moment and shrugged. "I guess what I'm hopin' is that you'll go in there for a little and keep Aaron occupied. Then have her come out here so I can just say hi."

Jaras stood a little taller and considered the situation. "And you're sure that it's just to say 'hi'?"

Cid huffed and rolled his eyes. "Damn it, come on, guy. I just wanna let her know that I'm alive, okay? She was pretty freaked out the other day."

"I know she was, I sat there and held her for several hours while she cried, thinking first that you'd committed suicide, and then that my father had killed you." Jaras eyes dilated slightly. "Speaking of which, where were you? Where is my father?"

The pilot met Jaras' eyes, seeing the very thing in them that had made him fear Vincent on several occasions over the years. "I don't know where he is, okay?"

"Well, where were you at the time you saw him?" Jaras asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Look, Jaras, he took off shortly after I ran into him, okay? I don't know where in the hell he went. All I want is to go let Tifa know that I'm all right. If you want to question me afterward and kick my ass, then fine, but right now, the best I can do is to at least get Tifa to quit worrin' about me." Cid puffed up a bit as he said this, trying to seem a little more intimidating, even though Jaras towered far over him. "And I'm gonna need a phone so I can call my wife and let her know that I'm all right, too."

Jaras quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "Why don't we just call your wife first?"

Cid realized what he was doing, and took the phone, quickly dialing.

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Jin was asleep in a kitchen chair, slumped over the table. She hadn't slept at all the night that Cid had spent with Vincent in her sorrowed state. Having believed Cid dead, Jin hadn't functioned at all the day before, just sitting around the house crying and feeling sick to her stomach. L.C. had spent the last two nights at the neighbor's house. Jin had simply told them that Cid was out of town and that she was terribly ill, and that she didn't want L.C. exposed to whatever she had.

When the phone rang, she slowly lifted her head from the table and looked over where it was sitting on the kitchen counter. She sighed heavily and forced herself over to answer. "Yeah?"

Cid heard the exhaustion and mournfulness in her voice. Instantly, he felt like the worst person in the world for having brought her to this. "Jin, I hope to God that you can forgive me for scaring you."

Jin couldn't believe that it was him. She slid down the cabinets and sat on the floor, feeling her body shaking. "C…Cid? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Jin, I'm sorry. I was going to do it, but then I got to thinking about how I couldn't wreck the plane since L.C. needed it and so I landed. I would've called you sooner, but I was out in the middle of fucking no where." Cid turned away from Jaras, but knew that the other man was staring at him, listening to his conversation. "I'd run out of fuel and it took me a while to get back to civilization. I came to ASRIO. I was told that they have something that could help me."

Jin felt a sudden spike of doubt. "You're at ASRIO? Tifa's there, isn't she?"

"She is, but I haven't seen her, I just got here. Just in case you're thinkin' that I just ran off to see her or something, I didn't. Jaras is right here, if you want to ask him." Cid looked over his shoulder at the man in question.

Jaras just cocked an eyebrow.

Jin felt tears in her eyes, even though she'd believed herself incapable of crying anymore. "No…Cid, I want to see you!"

"I want you here, too." Cid leaned back against the wall in the corridor.

"Okay, I'm going to go get L.C. and we'll get on the next airship out of town." Jin managed back up to her feet, feeling like she was in a dream and that she was going to wake at any moment, back into a world where Cid was dead.

"Sounds good. Jin?" He closed his eyes for a moment, shutting out the rest of the world.

"Yeah?" She did much the same.

"Can you ever forgive me for this?" he asked, his voice unusually quiet and serious.

"Yes, I love you, Cid." Jin couldn't help but wonder. "How are they going to help you?"

"We'll talk about it when you get here, okay?" Cid didn't want to drop the seemingly unbelievable possibility of a cure on her over the phone. "And I love you, too."

"I'm going to go so I can get out of here. I just want to be with you again, Cid." For the first time in a day and a half, Jin smiled. "Bye."

"All right, I'll see you when you get here. Goodbye." Cid turned off the phone and came back over to Jaras, handing it over.

Jaras looked at Cid and considered his expression carefully. The pilot was smiling, with more color in his cheeks than had been there before. He had the look of a man that had just spoken with someone he loved. Jaras took back his phone and put it in his pocket before stepping from his doorway. "All right, you wait here, I'll get her."

"Thanks." Cid gave him a quick smile and remained in his spot as Jaras knocked on Tifa's door.

She opened it and looked up at Jaras. "Hey, what's up?"

He cocked an eyebrow again. "I'm going to come in and talk with my little brother for a moment, and you're going to wait in the hall."

The complete lack of humor in his tone and face scared her a little, and she figured that she needed to comply. "Okay, Charlotte's sleeping on the bed, keep an eye on her."

Jaras gave her a quick nod and then pushed past her, going over and sitting next to his younger brother on the couch.

Tifa looked over at Jaras for a moment until he raised his hand and pointed at the door, indicating that she needed to step out. She sighed and walked out the door and right into Cid's arms.

Tifa squealed as she was pulled against him, not sure what was going on. Intrinsically, she knew it was Cid, but how this was possible was beyond her. "Cid? Oh my God!"

He closed his eyes as she put her arms around him in return. "I'm sorry you were scared."

Her frustration over the situation came up and she slammed one of her fists against his chest while she cried into his jacket. "God damn you! We were terrified! I thought that Vincent…" She looked up at him, looking hopeful. "Cid? Is Vincent here?"

Cid stroked her hair and shook his head. "No, just me."

"Oh…" She placed her head against his chest again. "Where is he?"

He closed his eyes, not happy with having to lie to her. "I don't know. He helped me get to where I could come here, and then he disappeared."

Tifa took a step back from him, knitting her brow. "He…he helped you?"

Cid honestly smiled. "Yeah, he probably saved my life, actually. I wouldn't have made it here without him, Tiff. He told me to tell you that he loved you."

She was silent for a moment as tears danced in her eyes. "Where did you last see him? Maybe he's still there!"

"No, he's long gone by now." He wiped away one of the tears that trailed down her cheek. The fact that he could confess the truth and get someone to Vincent before he died was paining him deeply. Yet, Cid had made Vincent a promise, and since he'd already betrayed Vincent once he couldn't do it again, even if it was for this. "Don't worry about it, Tiff. He'll…he'll be okay."

Although she was ecstatic that her best friend had survived and come back to her, it was eclipsed by her continued misery of Vincent's absence. "I love him, Cid. I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Cid dropped his gaze to the floor, torn up over his oath to Vincent. "I don't know either, Tifa, and I sure as hell wish that I did. I really do."

Tifa remained before him in silence for a moment, at a loss for words. Finally, she asked, "Do you want to go see Quigley and Porter?"

He gave her a smile. "Yeah, let's go do that."

Instinctively, Tifa reached for his hand but stopped herself. "I guess we shouldn't do that."

The pilot didn't really see a problem with something as innocent as hand holding. "We did it for fourteen years when we were together, Tiff. I don't think that it was the source of our troubles."

She gave him a smile. "Yeah, but do you think Jin would have a problem with it?"

This was something he didn't have to think over long. "Yeah, she'd kick both our butts for it."

"Then we can't." Tifa reached out and tugged on the sleeve of his jacket playfully. "Let me tell Jaras that I'll be back in a moment. I'm guessing you sent him in to keep Aaron from knowing you were here, right?"

Cid raised his eyebrows. "The kid doesn't like me, Tiff. Besides, I think I'm the last person he wants to see right now. I'm guessing it'll be better if the fact I'm here wasn't thrown in his face."

Tifa understood. Aaron wasn't well for the pilot at the moment. "Okay, stay here. I'll be right back."

A short while later, Tifa led Cid into the lab, where Porter and Quigley were already busy at work. When they saw the pilot, they dropped what they were doing and came over.

Quigley was the first one to speak up. "How in the world are you here?"

"Took the train," Cid replied without much humor.

Porter snickered at the reply. "I think he meant to say that we're a little shocked to see you."

Cid just shrugged. His embarrassment over failing in his suicide attempt as well as the knowledge that he'd profoundly upset all of those that cared for him was coming up.

"Well, in any event," Quigley motioned over to where the laptop stolen from the lab was sitting, linked up to his own computer, "it's all on there. The cure for what ails you, Mr. Highwind."

The pilot walked over to the computer and squinted at the screen. All the writing upon it was in medical jargon and meant nothing to him. "If that's what you say, sure."

"It's actually really interesting stuff." Quigley went over and landed in the chair sitting before the computer, forcing Cid to step back. He hit a few keys and a picture of a DNA helix came up. "The drug they came up with for this is pretty amazing. It binds to the defective area in the genetic sequence that causes the cells to go out of control. Once that's done, those cells no longer keep dividing like mad and they start acting like normal cells again. Of course, the masses are still present, but they're no longer malignant, which means they can be surgically removed and there's no regrowth. Otherwise, they can be left alone and eventually, according to the research, they'll just sort of go away on their own as the body rights itself."

Cid thought he understood more or less. "So, you give me this stuff and then possibly cut me open to get out whatever grew in me?"

"Well, unfortunately, when it comes to the lungs, they tend to get really infiltrated with the cancer, so generally the removal of anything involves taking entire sections of the lungs with it. You won't feel good for a long time, and you'll still cough, but over the course of several months, your condition will just sort of regress until you're fine." Quigley hit a few more keys, making the chemical formulation for the drug come up on the screen.

Cid was a little disappointed to hear this. Somehow, he'd hoped that the cure would be something quick. This wasn't shaping up to be fast at all, and still suffering with the coughing for some time to come didn't thrill him. "Oh."

"I know, it's not a quick fix, but you'll live," Porter said as he came up behind the pilot.

"So, when can you give me this stuff?" he asked, leaning over Quigley to get a better look at the pictures playing across the screen.

Quigley shrugged. "I've got the compounding machine working on it right now, but it's an extraordinarily complex chemical, so it's going to take a few more days."

Cid sighed heavily and turned toward Tifa, shaking his head. "I've been getting really bad these last few days. There've been a couple of times when I felt like I was dyin' already."

Seeing the pain in his expression, she went over and put her arms around him. "It's just a few more days, Cid. Let's take you to the infirmary and see what Janice can do to keep you comfortable until they get it ready."

Resigning to his illness, the pilot nodded and agreed. Sitting in a hospital bed was the last thing that he wanted to do, but his attacks after meeting Vincent and on the train the night before had scared him horribly. Cid had truly thought he wasn't going to survive those. "Okay."

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Angel was once more slumped over her desk, staring at all of the reports spread out before her. How Reno could have managed to get through all of this crap on a daily basis and still have time to screw around online or gaming was beyond her. Then again, she figured he probably just blew a lot of this stuff off.

She was startled when someone slammed another paper down onto her desk. Angel looked up at whoever was standing there with their hand upon the sheet. It was Reno. "Oh, hey."

He gave her a wicked smile. "Read it and fuckin' weep, Babe."

Angel pulled the paper from beneath his hand and held it up. It was from the doctor he had been sent to the day before.

After extensive testing of Reno Sparks, I hearby certify him to be of sound mind. His cognitive abilities, while unconventional, are exceptional and aside from a small issue with word recognition, I find him to be mentally able to return to whatever position he held before his injury.

Injuries to the front part of the brain can cause personality changes, and this may account for his presently easily agitated and confrontational tendencies. These should be monitored.

Signed,

Dr. Flemming

Angel laughed hysterically. "He said you're easily agitated and confrontational! Holy crap, his evaluation hit it dead on, except you were always like that."

"Oh, ha ha." Reno crossed his arms over his chest. "The guy was a grade A prick. But he said I was just fine."

"Other than your personality disorder, he did." She shook her head. "Being hard to get along with isn't really the sort of quality we're looking for in an ASRIO leader."

He honestly became annoyed that she wasn't praising him for having earned the comment of possessing exceptional cognitive abilities. "You don't even care that he said I was smart."

Seeing his pout, Angel stood up. "I don't need him to tell me that, Reno, I've known it for years."

His face brightened at this. "That's better. You're gonna hurt my self-esteem unless you say stuff like that more often."

"Oh Reno," she sighed, looking down at the messy desktop before her. "So, you want this job back now?"

The former Turk gave her a smile. "Actually, I was thinkin' that we could go perform a little base inspection together first."

"And what exactly would we be inspecting?" Angel dared to ask.

He brought his cane up off the floor and rested it back against his right shoulder, mocking his old pose with his night staff. "Our old room and each other. See if I'm really fit to return to duty in all ways or not."

Up until now, Reno hadn't tried to have sex with her since getting shot. She figured that she needed to indulge him as he attempted to get back into the proverbial saddle. Angel came around the desk and took his hand. "Well then, Sir, I believe we have an inspection to conduct."

Reno's smile widened and he put the tip of his tongue between his front teeth, in his devilish expression. "That's right, I'm gonna show you who's boss around here. No one takes away my job. Like Tseng said, fuck the rules."

Angel cocked an eyebrow at him. "When did he ever say that? He wasn't one for cursing, Reno."

"Sure he did, for dramatic effect." He started to lead her out of the control room. "Did it all the fuckin' time."

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Quigley decided to leave the lab and head back to his room for a while, since his arm was bothering him. He'd been allowed out of the sling a few days before and he'd started using it again, but his injury still hurt him and right now the researcher just wanted some of the pain medication that Janice had given him.

As he shuffled down the hall in his usual manner, he passed someone else but he didn't look at them, since he was mired in his misery.

The person he passed stopped behind him and cleared their throat.

Quigley perked to attention and turned back, seeing whom it was. "Oh, hey! When did you get here?"

Amy gave him a brief smile. "This morning."

The researcher walked up to Amy and embraced her for a few seconds, before stepping back. "God, I haven't seen you in what? Three years?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've been in Junon this whole time."

"Yeah, uh, I heard what happened there before you left, and I'm really sorry you had to go through all of that," Quigley said quietly, looking into her eyes.

Amy nodded weakly. "Yeah, it was pretty rough."

He saw that he needed to change the subject, but there was only one place for the conversation to go. Quigley dropped his gaze to the ground, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious. "Hey, I'm sorry I didn't call you."

"Don't worry about it. We only went on that one date and nothing happened." She forced her smile to linger. Amy had gotten a crush on the researcher during her stay in the base several years back. Although they'd spoken many times, she hadn't gotten up the nerve to ask him out until three days before she was sent to begin working in Junon. Their date had gone well, but Quigley had been too shy to even give her a good night kiss, and then she hadn't seen him again before she left. That had hurt her feelings considerably, but enough time had passed that she'd gotten over it. "It's okay."

He didn't seem particularly comforted by her reply. "No, really, I've felt bad about it for a long time. I liked you a lot, and I was afraid that after being such a failure during our date that you wouldn't really want anything to do with me."

"What do you mean failure on our date? It was great, Quig." Her smile once more turned sincere.

His eyes went wide. "Really? I felt like I kept saying the stupidest things all night and then when I walked you back to your room, I wanted to give you a kiss but I figured that…never mind, I'm just rambling."

Amy was quickly remembering what it was that she'd seen in the introverted man. "You figured what? You can't just start a statement like that and then leave it hanging."

Embarrassed, Quigley flushed bright red. "Well, uh, it's just that…you're a far prettier than any of the other women I've ever gone out with, and I felt like you were way out of my league. I mean, look at me."

Amy blushed in return. She wasn't used to such comments on her appearance. "You really thought that?"

Quigley produced an awkward shrug and dropped his gaze to the ground. "Yeah, and you've gotten even…more…oh man…"

She giggled and reached out, shoving him playfully. "You're just being nice."

If nothing else, Quigley never lied and he met her gaze again. "No, it's the truth."

"I'm guessing you're probably seeing someone now though, right?" Amy asked, figuring that a guy like him surely would have a girlfriend. He was far too nice to still be on the market.

If it was possible, Quigley turned even redder. "No, actually, I'm not. I haven't had a real girlfriend in ages."

Amy looked into his puppy dog eyes and smiled. "Well, uh, is there any chance you'd want to maybe try a second date?"

Quigley's heart raced and he had to consciously keep from hyperventilating. "Yeah, absolutely."

"Okay." Her excitement over this was infectious. "Are you still in the same room?"

He just simply nodded.

"All right. I can come by at seven, if that's okay?"

Once more, he nodded.

Amy stepped right up to him and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll see you then."

It wasn't until she'd walked a considerable distance down the hall that he managed to reply. "Okay."

Quigley quickly realized that he'd hidden his injured arm behind his back for the duration of their conversation and he laughed at himself for doing so.

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Cid sat upon a bed in the infirmary with his shirt off and Tifa standing at his side. Dr. Arlin was reading over the copy of his medical record that had been faxed to her by Cid's doctor in Rocket. After reviewing the chart, she set it down and took out her stethoscope and placed it against his chest, listening as he took several breaths for her.

Several minutes passed as Janice listened to him before she stuffed her stethoscope back in her pocket. She then took his other vitals before going over and making her own notes on his record.

The pilot waited for some sort of answer from Dr. Arlin, and grew impatient with her continued silence. "Well?"

Janice sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Honestly? You sound terrible and from examining you, I'm fairly confident that you've developed a case of pneumonia on top of everything else. You're a very sick man, Cid."

"Tell me something I don't know," he shot back, disliking the whole situation.

"I'm going to put you on oxygen and get an I.V. started so I can begin administering some antibiotics to you. If we don't, pneumonia will kill you before the cancer does."

"That's just fucking great, Doc." Cid rolled his eyes and settled back into the pillows. "They have a cure for my cancer and I die of pneumonia."

"Well, I intend to do everything in my power to prevent that from happening." Janice reached over and grabbed his hand for a moment. "We're going to get you through this."

Cid nodded and looked at Tifa, the fear of suffering obvious in his eyes. "Okay."

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Vincent realized that he was freezing. He opened his eyes to find himself outside of the cave, lying in the snow. Instantly, he knew that Chaos had taken him over after he'd fallen asleep last night and he sat up, seeing that he was unclothed. The fact that no remnants of his outfit were upon him made him at least hopeful that the demon had possessed the foresight to strip him down before taking over his body, lest he die of exposure after giving up control.

As Vincent got his bearings, he saw bloodstains in the snow around him, as well as several yellow feathers. He scrambled to his knees and picked up one of the plumes, immediately knowing that he'd hurt Dirk. "Oh no…"

He got to his feet, his anguish over his chocobo for the moment blocking out the fact that he was hypothermic from being unclothed and in the snow. Vincent looked around for a carcass, but didn't see one. Surely if Chaos had killed the bird to eat it there would be remains somewhere. Yet, Vincent still felt hungry, so he figured that Dirk had probably been injured and run away.

He steeled himself beyond crying, but it wasn't all that easy in his present starved and emotional state. Vincent made his way back to the cave, and saw a sight that confused him.

Dirk was within, sitting next to the remains of the fire with all of Vincent's clothes rolled up together and tucked under his wing. When he saw Vincent, the crest on the top of his head raised and he made an excited warbling sound.

Vincent slowly approached the bird, wondering if he'd be terrified of him after whatever had taken place the night before.

The chocobo didn't seem particularly phased by the man's approach and remained in place.

Once he got up directly beside the bird, he extended his hand and stroked the top of its head. "You're not scared?"

Dirk blinked back at him and then moved his head to the side, training his eye upon Vincent's chest.

Vincent followed the bird's stare and saw three distinct claw marks across his chest, and he realized that it was a typical wound from a chocobo kicking. "Oh crap, that was my blood out there?" He examined the bird for a moment, finding it to be uninjured.

Dirk reached down beneath his wing and grabbed Vincent's clothes in his beak, picking them up and then holding them out toward him.

He accepted his outfit, grateful that it was warm from being held by the bird and he hastily dressed, finally realizing how cold he was. "Thanks."

Dirk just watched him dress, not seeming all that impressed with the situation.

The night before, they had fallen asleep and at some point, Chaos had managed to gain control over Vincent.

Chaos had gotten up and silently shed Vincent's clothing before heading out of the cave prior to transforming, figuring that the chocobo would be cornered inside and easy enough to kill. Once he had Vincent's body completely changed, the demon had tried to go back in, but had been met with a rude surprise.

Dirk, having accepted Vincent as his flock mate, had decided that the cave was their den and his territorial instincts had arisen when the monster had intruded. Since Chaos neither looked nor smelled like Vincent in any way, Dirk had reacted as he would have to any stranger that tried to get into the cave without Vincent's consent. He'd charged the demon and while Chaos was tough, chocobos are formidable animals armed with deadly beaks and vicious kicks.

The demon had attempted to strike the bird down, but had done no more than ended up with a handful of feathers. Dirk in turn had spun around and kicked Chaos in the center of the chest as hard as he could, throwing the demon backward and down the small incline that led up to the cave's entrance.

Not able to hold on to Vincent's body any longer thanks to his starved state, Chaos had given up and let Vincent have his own body back.

Dirk, in the meanwhile, didn't understand what had happened to Vincent and not being overly intelligent, he'd pushed together the clothes and acted as though they were a part of his master by guarding them the rest of the night.

Vincent, of course, was completely unaware of what had happened, aside from the fact that he'd been kicked at some point. He didn't understand why Dirk wasn't scared or trying to run away from him, but the bird wasn't.

Chaos, in the meantime, was simply too exhausted to comment on the situation at all.

It had now been six days since Vincent had eaten. He found that the simple act of getting dressed had made him tired, and he sat down beside the chocobo and leaned back against it. For Vincent, time was running thin.

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Tifa returned to her room once Cid had been delivered to the infirmary and put on oxygen. She felt bad for leaving his side, but since she had her children to tend to, there wasn't much of a choice.

Upon entering her room, Tifa spotted Jaras pacing with Charlotte in his arms. The baby was fussing, and he was doing his best to calm her, but he wasn't having much luck. She came over and claimed her daughter, causing Jaras to quickly look relieved.

"I don't know how I'm going to do that," he said quietly as he went over and sat back down next to Aaron.

"It's different when it's your own baby, Jaras." Tifa sat down on the edge of the bed, the baby soon falling asleep in her arms.

He shook his head. "I don't know, I worry what sort of father I'm going to be. Jeanine thinks that I'll do fine, but…"

"Well, from how you've interacted with Aaron all of his life, I agree with her." She smiled over at him. "I told you that the other day."

Jaras just shrugged and then turned his attention to Aaron as he continued to play with his new video game.

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Reno went to the infirmary having gotten word that Cid was there. Having just partaken in an escapade with Angel, he was feeling more like his old cocky self, and it reflected in the way he carried himself.

He threw open the door to the infirmary and strolled in, spotting the pilot lying propped up in one of the beds. Reno went over to him and turned a nearby chair around backward before straddling it and sitting. The former Turk stared at Cid for a few minutes not saying anything.

Cid was just there, with oxygen cannulas beneath his nose. Even with this help, he was clearly having trouble breathing and overall, he simply looked miserable.

The pilot, in turn examined Reno, not having seen him since he'd been shot by Vincent. While his injury was for the most part concealed by the way he now kept his hair, the eye patch was still obvious and Cid felt bad for him. "Sue really did a number on you, huh?"

Reno frowned for a moment. "Yeah, fuckin' Vinny."

"You're feeling okay, though?" Cid asked.

"It hurts, but hey, my family still loves me so who gives a rat's ass, right?" The ASRIO leader smiled.

"Well, you seem to be handling it pretty damn well." Cid was prevented from saying anything further for a few minutes as he had a small coughing fit.

Reno waited for Cid to get himself back together, looking away until the pilot had quieted down. Then he turned his stare to Cid. "Okay, I know you were with Vincent day before yesterday, and I need you to tell me where that was."

Cid shook his head. "He wouldn't be there anymore."

"I don't care, tell me where it was so I at least have a starting point." Reno locked gazes with Cid, needing him to know how important this was.

"God damn it, Reno, I'd tell you, but I made a fucking promise to the guy and I'm not going to betray him again. I owe him my life." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, well I made a promise to a certain little woman and her two kids." Reno leaned forward further. "I'd say my promise outvotes yours."

"Look, I don't want Tifa hurt any more than she already has been, but damn it…" Cid had to catch his breath. "Vincent had his reasons. He doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"Well, what in the hell do you think he's doing by hiding from them? Because from what I've seen, they ain't exactly having the times of their lives. Angel, Jaras, Tifa, Aaron, and that baby all need him. I need to put that family back together so that just maybe his two little kids can have a chance at a normal life." His lone eye narrowed, showing the desperation behind his words.

The pilot tensed his jaw several times before saying anything. "I told him I wouldn't tell anyone where he was, but…I didn't say anything to him about telling anyone where he wasn't."

Reno smiled. "Okay, so we'll play twenty questions."

Cid nodded. "Sure."

"All right." Reno thought for a moment. "You got here on a train, so he's not on another continent, right?"

"Yeah."

The former Turk looked pleased. "Okay. So, North or South?"

"He ain't North."

"So he's in the South. City of the Ancients?" Reno asked.

"No, he ain't there. He's not in a city at all."

Reno wracked his brain. Geography wasn't his strongest skill. "That probably rules out Cosmo, Gongaga, and the Golden Saucer, right?"

Cid nodded.

"That pretty much just leaves the mountains."

"I only said I'd say where he wasn't."

Reno raised his eyebrow. "So, he's in the mountains. That's a lot of turf to cover."

"Actually, the mountains sort of surround it." Cid didn't feel like he'd overstepped the line with this. "And he ain't in the water by the place he's at, either."

Reno shot back up to his feet. "Oh fuck, he's in that cave, isn't he?"

"Like I said, I'd only tell you where he wasn't." Cid gave him a wink.

"Man, I could kiss you right now." Reno was ecstatic.

Cid raised his hands before him. "You don't even want to go there with me right now. I'd just knock your ass out."

"Yeah, all right I'll try to hold myself back." Reno started toward the infirmary door. "Thanks, old man."

The pilot would have argued being called this, but at the moment, that's pretty much how he felt. "No problem, Reno. Get Sunshine home to Tifa."

"I'll do my fuckin' best." Reno exited the room, leaving Cid alone with his thoughts.