Chapter Thirty Three

Aaron woke up and stared up at the ceiling for several minutes, thinking. In his morning tiredness, his mind drifted over many things. He gave passing thought to L.C. forgiving him and what it had felt like when the demon had taken him over. Also came fleeting consideration of L.C.'s father, but Aaron quickly pushed those thoughts to the side. Then he wondered about his brother, Jaras. Knowing that Jaras was going to be a father saddened Aaron on some level. He knew that with a child of his own, the amount of time and attention he would get from Jaras would diminish and although Aaron wasn't jealous, it did hurt.

Finally, he sat up and got out of bed, figuring that laying there dwelling on life in general wasn't going to help him at all. The boy opened the door to his bedroom and stepped into the hall. He heard Charlotte making quiet sounds in the nursery and he headed toward his mother's room, intending to let her know that the baby was up.

Aaron reached out and tried to open the door to the master bedroom, but found it locked. He thought this strange as it was usually left unlocked. Still, the boy had a trick and was determined to get in. He went out into the kitchen and opened the junk drawer and searched around inside of it for a moment, before coming up with one of the long and narrow shafted screwdrivers that his father kept for gun repair. With this in hand, Aaron returned to the door and slipped the tool silently into the lock release on the outside of the door and turned it just right so that the latch released. That done, he went and put the screwdriver back in the kitchen before returning and opening the door.

As he pushed it open, it met resistance and Aaron looked down, seeing that there was a little bit of red fabric under the door. He had the door open enough that he could reach inside and he knelt down and did so, to get a hold of whatever was inhibiting the door's movement. He pulled and got the item, bringing it out and looking at it.

Aaron's eyes went wide. It was the cloak his father had gotten right before leaving. The boy began to shake, hoping beyond hope that this meant that his father was within.

Once more he pushed on the door, and this time it swung open freely. Aaron stepped forward slowly, clutching the cloak to his chest. He walked over to his father's side of the bed and smiled as he saw what he had most hoped to. Unable to contain himself, he dropped the cloak to the ground and threw himself onto his father. "Dad!"

Vincent woke with a start, feeling Aaron suddenly lying upon him. He remained on his back for a few moments, putting his arms around Aaron as the boy cried against him briefly. "Hey, Aaron."

Tifa got up quietly, wanting Vincent and Aaron to have their moment. She left the room to go take care of Charlotte.

Aaron finally got himself together and he sat up, remaining at Vincent's side. "I…I was worried that I'd never see you again."

Vincent sat up as well, leaning back against the headboard. He looked into Aaron's eyes, seeing them now the same red as his own. "I would never have left you forever, Aaron."

The boy looked over, seeing that his mother had disappeared for the time being. "Are you going to stay?"

He gave his son a smile and reached out, patting the boy on the back. "I am."

"Okay." Aaron grinned. He knew that the worst was now over, at least as far as his family was concerned. "I really didn't want Cid as a dad."

Vincent sighed and looked away. "I wouldn't wish that upon you."

Aaron moved so that he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with his father, cuddling into his side. "But, you and mom…you're not going to fight anymore, right?"

Vincent knew that his son needed comforting and he put his arm around him, holding him close. "I've come to understand where most of the fighting was coming from, and it's something that has been dealt with. I know your mother and I will need to work on some things, but Aaron, I swear to you that things will be better."

Tifa returned, with Charlotte in her arms. She came over and sat close to Vincent and Aaron. "Vincent?"

He looked over at his wife. "Yes?"

She held Charlotte out toward him. "Want to hold her?"

Before she'd finished her question, he was already reaching for the baby girl. Vincent pulled the little girl close to his chest and smiled down at her. "Tifa?"

"Hm?"

He brought his eyes up from his daughter's face. "I was really touched that you named her Charlotte."

"I thought it was…your last wish." Tears threatened in her eyes, when she suffered the memory of Reno coming to tell her Vincent was dead.

Aaron, sensing that things were heading into serious territory, slipped from the bed and headed toward the kitchen. He was going to have some breakfast.

Vincent offered her a brief smile as Aaron walked out, but it quickly faded. "However, her middle name…I'm guessing that was a result of you thinking that Cid was her father?"

Tifa flushed red and looked away. "Oh…well…yeah, but we can change it."

Vincent shook his head and looked back down at the baby. "No, it's fine. He's been an important part of our lives over the years, despite certain…indiscretions."

"Are you sure?" Tifa was willing to give Vincent whatever he wanted, for fear that she'd lose him again. His departure had gotten her attention in a big way.

He sighed and then gazed back over at her. "Yes, Tifa. If it wasn't, I would say so."

She offered him a smile. "Okay."

"Tifa?" Vincent once more looked over at her.

"Yes?"

"She's beautiful." His voice grew quiet. "Another perfect baby, and you…already look great."

Tifa figured he was just being nice with that last comment. "Vincent…you don't have to pretend that everything's fine. Go ahead and let it out…I deserve it for what I did."

He shook his head and frowned. "I am to blame as well. Everything…all of this, we both bear the blame. I should have been more honest with you."

"Honest?"

Vincent nodded. "Yes. When I started having the seizures, part of me knew what was really going on, but I tried to deny it. It was Chaos. No longer being able to take over my body, when he'd fight me, I'd seize. He's been in the back of my mind, influencing my thoughts. I drank to push him away. He…he wanted to destroy our marriage, hoping that I would finally get upset enough at some point so that he could come out. I guess his plan worked in a way."

Tifa absorbed all of this, the story making sense. "And as I felt alienated from you…I started to rely on Cid too much."

"Too much." Vincent looked back down at his daughter.

"Vincent, why did you save Cid? I mean, after all that we did, he said you got him someplace where he could get back to ASRIO." Tifa scooted a little closer to him.

"Because he…" Vincent's voice trailed off for a moment. "I kept thinking about L.C. I couldn't let that kid lose his father. Cid is the most important thing in that boy's life. I had to save him and to be honest with you, Tifa, I…I wasn't as mad at him once he was there for a while as I thought I would be. For a while, we were even joking around." Vincent's lips pulled up into a grin. "He made me believe in the morning that he'd died in the night, scaring me. I, however, got my revenge."

Tifa cocked her head to the side, wondering what Vincent could have done to get the better of the pilot. "How?"

Vincent's cheeks turned red. "Well, I sort of led him to believe for a few minutes that…I was in love with him."

Tifa's jaw dropped, and then she started laughing. "Oh my God! What did he do?"

"Abject panic. Well worth it, I assure you." Vincent was rather pleased with the reaction he'd gotten from the other man.

"Wow, that…that was a little more than I would have expected from you!" she managed, between giggles.

"I couldn't resist. He had it coming after his little prank that morning." Vincent saw that Charlotte had fallen asleep and he carefully placed her down on the mattress next to him, before getting off of the bed.

As he started to walk past her and toward the dresser, Tifa reached out and grabbed one of his hands, pulling him before her as she still sat on the bed. She put her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his stomach. "Vincent…"

He brought his right hand up and stroked her hair, gazing down at her. "Yes?"

"I love you."

Vincent smiled. "I love you, too."

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Six in the morning and Cid crawled out of bed. He'd been up late as Jin and his father had sat talking about every possible embarrassing childhood moment of his that the old man could remember. Cid had said little to his dad during the conversation, leaving the social interaction up to his wife. After all, she'd been the one to insist that he go out and acknowledge his father in the first place.

As he dressed, Jin roused from her sleep and rolled onto her side to watch him. "Hey."

"What's up?" Cid said under his breath as he pulled on his boxers.

"Your dad's a riot," she said lazily.

"He seemed to be on a mission to try and embarrass the hell out of me last night, thank you very much." Cid now had a tee shirt on as well.

Jin sat up and ran her hands through her hair. "No, he was just reminiscing. The fact that he remembers all of those little things shows how much he really loves you, Cid."

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked back at her. "Look, I ain't just ending the last seventeen years of silence based on the fact you like the guy's stories."

Jin got up and walked over to him. "I didn't ask you to."

Cid cocked an eyebrow and looked her up and down. Jin always slept in the nude and he approved. "Yeah, well, still. He and I got some issues."

"Everyone has issues, Cid." She slid her arms around his waist.

Since he hadn't gotten any time alone with her the day before after his father's arrival, Cid had something to tell her. "Remember that half brother I mentioned?"

Jin just nodded in response.

"I asked him yesterday who he was, since I never knew, and you're never gonna guess who in the hell it is." Cid put his arms around her in return, loving the way she felt against him.

"Is it someone we know?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh…" Jin took a step back and thought for a moment. "If I had to take a wild guess at it… and this is just a wild guess, I'd have to say maybe…Brad?"

Cid was impressed, but wasn't going to let her know that she was correct right away. "Why would you pick him?"

"Because he's a darker haired version of you, Cid," Jin laughed. "He might not be quite as foul mouthed as you, but he's always reminded me of you in a lot of ways. Except he flies that lame ass chopper instead of airships and planes, you know, the aircraft of real men."

Cid smiled at her insinuated compliment. "Well, Jin, you're dead on with your guess."

Her eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly serious." Cid crossed his arms over his chest again.

"Okay, I can believe that, and I can understand you never knowing, but if old man Highwind is Brad's dad, too, then surely Brad put two and two together and knew that you were his brother, even if you didn't." Jin's eyes narrowed in thought.

"Right, so the question is why in the hell ain't he said nothin' all these years? I've known the guy since we were in the service together." Cid himself couldn't really understand.

Jin went over and picked up the phone, holding it out to her husband. "Find out."

"Not this early." Cid didn't take the phone from her.

"Fine." Jin turned away from him and began dialing Brad's number.

"Hey!" Cid tackled her, knocking her back to the bed and sending the phone flying from her hand. "I said not this early!"

Jin struggled beneath him for a moment, but she was pinned under him on her stomach. "Let me up!"

Cid didn't exactly move to let her free, in fact, he reached out and grabbed her wrists, holding them to the bed so that she was effectively trapped. "Naw, I don't think so."

With her arms out of commission, Jin tried to wriggle free using her legs, but as she flailed, his legs got between hers, making her position that much more vulnerable to him. "Get up, damn it!"

Cid put his lips close to her ear. There was a fire burning within him, despite the fact he usually wasn't one for morning romps. "I am."

Jin quit struggling beneath him, realizing what was on his mind from his tone and the way he pushed his hips against her. "Oh…"

Cid reached down and pushed his boxers back. He wasn't used to the level of sexual aggression he was feeling and he couldn't fight it. "You got a problem with that?"

Jin wasn't necessarily used to him being this much of an aggressor, especially this early in the day. She decided to play along. "No, Sir."

"That's right." In one swift movement, he forced his way into her with her still lying on her stomach beneath him.

Jin cried out at his sudden and rough intrusion. "Cid!"

He growled as he starting thrusting hard, his mouth still close to her ear. "Shut up."

Something was wrong and Jin knew it. Once more she started to struggle beneath him, but there was no getting away. Cid outweighed her considerably and he was very strong. Instead of the usual bliss that he always was able to throw her into with his prowess, Jin was in pain from the angle and violence of his drives into her. "Get off!"

Once more came a growl from him. "Soon, Jin…"

"Damn it, Cid! You're hurting me!" Jin was getting scared, and her fighting became stronger, but still, she couldn't get out from under him.

Don't listen to her! It's good for her to be on the receiving end of the pain every once in a while.

Cid snapped back into control of himself and stopped moving, panting to catch his breath and downright terrified to have heard that voice again. He began shaking and he moved away from her, going over and falling to his hands and knees on the floor. "What's…what's happening to me?"

Jin got up and pulled the bed sheet around her, going over and standing a few feet away from him. Her anger and fear abated a little as she realized that something was wrong with her husband. "Cid?"

"Jin…something's wrong with me…" Cid managed to get to his knees and he looked up at her, sweat rolling down his face and his body still trembling.

Jin knelt before him, locking into his gaze, not accustomed to seeing fear in the man before her. "Cid?"

His eyes darted away, and his mouth moved to form a word, but nothing came out during his first two attempts. "Something…there's something in my head…"

She didn't understand. "What are you talking about?"

"I think I'm going crazy, Jin."

From the look she saw on his face, Jin knew that he was telling the absolute truth. She let go of the sheet and put her hands upon his shoulders. "Cid…are you okay?"

He didn't reply, other than to pull her to him and hold her close. "God damn it Jin, I'm sorry… Did I hurt you?"

She whispered her reply as he nuzzled down between her neck and shoulder, opting to lie a little. "No, I was just more scared than anything. Right now, I'm worried about you."

Cid managed to get a hold of himself and he unsteadily got to his feet after a few minutes. He ran his hands down his face, trying desperately to get his composure back together. "It's gotta be the fuckin' stress…"

"Okay, look, your dad's going home today and after that, we'll go see Brad, have him go help you get the plane, and then you, L.C., and I will go on a trip somewhere." Jin rose up, putting her hands on the sides of his face. "Then we can just relax for a while, all right?"

Cid smiled a pathetic smile, and nodded. "All right."

"Good." Jin moved away from him and over to the dresser, wanting to get dressed. She was worried about Cid, but since she didn't know what to do for him, Jin opted to turn to other things. "I'm going to go out there and start making some breakfast, because if your dad is anything like you, I'm guessing he gets up before the chickens and wakes up hungry."

"That he does." Cid shuffled over to the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans.

Jin finished dressing and left the room. As she walked out into the kitchen, she spotted Cid Sr. sitting at the table with L.C. at his side.

The old man looked over at her and gave her the trademark Highwind smirk. "Hey little lady."

"Did you sleep all right?" Jin asked, as she went over and pulled out a carton of eggs from the refrigerator.

"Yeah, I did all right. Got up 'round five and found my grandkid spookin' around. We just been sitting here talkin'." He smiled as he watched her get to the task of making what looked like omelets for breakfast.

"What have you talked about, L.C.?" she asked her stepson.

The boy's eyes lit up. "Grandpa told me all kinds of stuff! He was in the Air Force, before Shinra took over the military, and he flew fighters!"

Jin looked back over her shoulder as she got the eggs broken and into a bowl. "Really?"

"Yeah!" L.C. had been absolutely taken with his grandfather's stories. "He's really cool, Mom."

She completely turned around. Jin wasn't quite yet used to being called that, but she liked it. "I'm glad you've gotten to meet him, L.C."

"Well, I'm glad you talked Junior into lettin' me see the kid," Cid Sr. said, getting up from the table and walking toward her. "Can I help you with whatever it is your makin'?"

Jin raised her eyebrows. Her husband never offered to help in the kitchen unless she was deathly ill, so this was clearly not a trait he'd inherited from his father. "I appreciate the offer, but you're our guest."

He shrugged and went back over to where he'd been sitting. "So, what do you do?"

Jin replied while working on making their breakfast. "Well, I was an airship mechanic. I'm hoping to get a new job at the port in town."

The old man was impressed. "Mechanic, huh? Not too many women airship mechanics around."

"Tell me about it." Jin smiled to herself. "I was only one of three women in my classes back in the day."

"Good for you." He crossed his arms over his chest. "You seem like a good woman."

"Thanks," Jin laughed back. Cid's dad may have been a little backward, but she liked him well enough.

Cid finally emerged from the bedroom. He landed across from his dad, choosing to ignore him for the time being.

"What's on your mind, Junior?" the elder Highwind asked, seeing that his son seemed distressed.

He leaned back in his seat, not feeling like conversation. "Nothin'."

"Still a lousy liar." The old man smiled. "I ain't gonna harass you none. At least the boy talks to me."

"That's why you're here, isn't it?" Cid shot back.

He reached over and patted his grandson on the head. "It sure is."

Cid watched his father touch his boy and felt a spike of anger well up within him and whereas it should have settled back, it didn't and he tensed his jaw.

Come on! He would be easy to kill at his point, Cid. He's old and weak.

The pilot closed his eyes and swallowed hard, not happy with yet another intrusion by the voice that had taken up residence within him. Still feeling the anger within him growing, Cid got up and went out the back door, making his way over to the bench and sitting. He put his head in his hands. "What the fuck is wrong with me?"

Nothing, you're better than you've ever been, and you're not alone anymore. You will never be alone again.

Seeing that the voice was responding to him, Cid asked, "Who are you?"

I have no name. You have to give me a name. Name the beast, give him an identity, the identity begets the form.

He didn't understand. "What?"

A name, you must give me a name.

"I ain't givin' some fuckin' voice in my head a name."

I'm not just a voice, Cid.

"Yeah, you are. I guess that's it, then. I've lost my mind."

You are quite sane.

"God damn it, shut up!"

If you keep talking aloud like that, others will believe you to have lost your mind, Cid. All you need to do is think.

Cid frowned and closed his eyes. All right, then where in the fuck did you come from?

I don't know.

Shit, Cid thought to himself. This is fuckin' ridiculous.

You will have to come to accept my presence. To fight me will be pointless. Name me, Cid.

He opened his eyes up and looked out at the sunrise. "This isn't happening…"

As the voice continued to rant with him, Cid stood up. He was scared and suddenly a thought crossed his mind. Quickly, he ran into the house, not bothering to look at anyone as he went back to the bedroom and locked himself in.

Cid caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror hanging behind the dresser and stared.

His blue eyes were blue no more. They were a golden yellow-- the color of the average house cat. Cid stood transfixed by his image for several minutes, afraid to move. The pilot figured he was either now hallucinating along with hearing the voice or there was another alternative.

This was real.

He backed away from the mirror until he felt the bed against the backs of his legs and he sat. The phone was on the floor in front of him and he reached down. His fingers made out a phone number that he was all too used to calling.

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Quigley sat with the laptop computer stolen from the lab on his desk in front of him. His arms were folded upon his desktop, and his head rested upon them as he just stared at the formula displayed on the screen. He'd gone over it at least fifty times, and the researcher had reassured himself that he'd entered the formula exactly into the analyzer. Quigley sighed heavily, eyes still locked upon the screen as they had been for well over two hours.

Porter got up from where he was sitting and came over, putting his hands upon Quigley's shoulders. "Come on, you didn't screw up."

"It didn't work like it was supposed to," Quigley sighed, while rubbing his eyes and sitting up straight.

"But it worked. You're killing yourself over this, Quig." Porter reached over and pushed down the computer's screen, clicking it into its closed position. "You didn't even go to your room last night, did you?"

"No, Amy came by and brought me dinner, then she hung out with me for a while before going to bed." Quigley's eyes were red as he looked at his friend.

Porter moved around and went to lean on Quigley's desk. "Come on, Quig."

The researcher smiled and turned red. "You…might not want to touch my desk for a while."

The former Turk didn't get the hint right away. "Why?"

Quigley laughed, recalling he and Amy's slightly awkward encounter in the lab the night before. "I had sex here."

"Ack!" Porter quickly stepped away from the desk, wiping his hand upon his pant leg. "Not in the lab, Quig!"

He laughed over at his friend. "Please, like you and Rayna have never gone at it in here?"

Quigley had him there and he smiled. "Well, yeah, but that's not gross."

The researcher laughed again. "Oh, I see. Not to change the subject, but have you talked to Rayna about the whole maybe having a kid thing?"

Porter went and landed in a chair close by. "Yeah, actually, I did."

"What did she say?" Quigley turned in his seat to face his friend.

"She's game." Porter looked thoughtful. "Actually, she was really razzed."

"Cool." Quigley reached over and picked up a binder full of papers from his desk. "I've got all the details on the procedure we need to carry out here. Go give it to Janice and she'll give you your instructions."

Porter took the notebook and shook his head. "My instructions are going to be to jerk off into a cup, right? I think I can take care of that."

Quigley smiled and snickered. "Yeah, well…yeah."

"Well, if this ends up working, Quig, Rayna and I are going to owe you." Porter flipped through the pages in the binder, scanning over them.

"Hey, it's nothing." Quigley turned back to face the computer on his desk once more and reopened it. He went right back to staring at the formula for the cancer drug, knowing that something was terribly wrong.

Porter, seeing that Quigley was a lost cause for the time being got up and left the lab, wanting to go give the binder he'd been handed to Dr. Arlin.

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Tifa was out with the two children in the family room, and Vincent had retreated back into the master bathroom. He was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the wall. The bottle of the anti-Chaos drug that he'd left ASRIO with was placed on the ground before him and he'd already drawn up the appropriate dose in a syringe. He'd used a hair ribbon of Tifa's as a make shift tourniquet around his upper left arm, and he was preparing to aim his needle for his vein when he heard the phone ring. Instinctively, he stopped. If, on the off chance, that the call was for him, he didn't really want Tifa walking in on him in this situation.

The phone rang for a total of three times and then stopped. Vincent waited, ready to hide the evidence of what he was doing. Sure enough, a few seconds later he could hear Tifa walking down the hall.

In a flash, Vincent had the vial and syringe stashed beneath the bathroom sink and he pulled the ribbon from his arm. He got up and stood close to the door.

"Vincent?" came Tifa's voice from the other side.

"Yes?" he asked, wondering who would be calling him.

"The phone's for you."

Hoping that it would be someone he could blow off for the time being, he asked, "Who is it?"

"Well, it's Cid," Tifa replied quietly, muffled through the door.

Vincent knit his brow and reached out, opening the door. He examined Tifa as she stood there with the phone held out before her. She looked concerned and that, in turn, worried him. "Cid?"

"Yeah, he sounds upset and he said he wants to talk to you." Tifa literally placed the phone into Vincent's hand.

He put the phone to his ear as Tifa went back out to keep an eye on the baby. "Cid?"

There was a brief pause. "Sue? You're home, huh?"

"Obviously."

"Look, guy, I've got to talk to you." Cid was still sitting on his bed, leaning forward with his eyes closed, trying to shut out the world around him.

Vincent could hear the anxiety in the other man's voice, even if he was trying to hide it. "Go on."

"Uh, yesterday I was standin' out talking to my dad, and I heard a voice in my head."

Vincent didn't catch the last part, his mind had stopped in the middle of the statement. "You said your father was dead, Cid."

"Yeah, I know, he ain't, that was a load of shit." Cid scowled to himself, wanting to get to the point of the matter, not rehash his father's existence. "But that's not what I need to talk to you about."

Hearing the serious edge to the pilot's voice told Vincent that he needed to just go with it. "All right."

"So, I heard a voice in my head, clear as day, scared the hell out of me."

Vincent shrugged, even though he was on the phone. "Just the once?"

"No, today it started talkin' to me a whole bunch more and…damn it, I sorta hurt Jin this morning. It was like…something just took over. Now, I came in here and looked in the mirror and my eyes…Sue, my eyes changed color." Cid hoped somehow that Vincent would be able to help him. "I think I'm doing that fuckin' thing you and Aaron do, or at least, did."

This had Vincent's attention and he stood up. "Cid, are you telling me the truth?"

"Look, I wouldn't fuck with you about something like this." His voice betrayed how terrified he was. "Do you think that I'm somehow…"

Vincent couldn't understand right off the bat how Cid could be suffering what seemed to be the onset of an inner demon. From what he'd learned, it took about six years for one to gather up the ability to come out, and nothing had ever happened to the pilot where such a thing could have been introduced into him. Then, he recalled the miraculous recovery Cid had gone through from his cancer just days before. Vincent's mind flashed with a thought, but his main concern was keeping everyone safe before Cid snapped, and with as pissed off as the man tended to be, it probably wouldn't be long. "Cid, here's what we need to do. We have to get you back to ASRIO so they can help you like they did Aaron and I. But, in the meanwhile, you need to get yourself somewhere isolated, where you can't hurt anyone. Whatever you do, try not to get angry or upset at all. Any strong emotion could trigger something a lot worse than what you've gone through."

Cid nodded, understanding. "When can they come and get me? If I hurt anyone… Sue, this is bad, isn't it?"

Vincent wasn't about to lie to him. "Yes. I'll call Reno right now and see what we can do. Where should we pick you up?"

Cid had to think. Obviously, he had to leave the house so that Jin and his family weren't put at risk. "Shit, I don't know…if I had my fuckin' plane I could just climb in it and fly myself--"

Vincent wasn't sure why Cid had stopped mid sentence. "What's that?"

"I know what to do. I'm flyin' myself to the ASRIO base. I know you just got home to your family and all, Sunshine, but…" Cid felt really awkward making the request he wanted to.

"Do you want me to go there to be with you?" Vincent already knew the answer.

"Yeah." Cid felt that he needed the companionship of the only person who could understand what he was going through, even if that happened to be Vincent.

Vincent sighed heavily. Leaving his family again was the last thing he wanted to do, and he knew that if he was going back to ASRIO, that he was taking them with him. When it boiled down to it, Vincent knew good and well that somehow, Cid had told Reno where he was and he did owe the man his life…then again, he'd saved Cid's as well. Like it or not, they meant more to one another than they ever wanted to let on to the rest of the world. "Okay, I'll talk to Tifa and we'll get there. I'll call Reno and apprise him of the situation and I suppose he can send the helicopter out to get us."

"Us? You're bringing your whole herd?" Cid asked, surprised that Vincent wasn't just going to cut out on his own.

"No, I can't leave Tifa alone with the kids again. She's been alone too much."

"Good enough. Okay, I'm gettin' out of here before somethin' bad happens." Cid stood up.

Vincent smiled to himself. For whatever reason, Cid's tendency to have a drawl in his speech had deepened since the last time they'd spoken. He couldn't help himself. "Your accent has gotten worse."

Cid huffed and rolled his eyes. This didn't seem important at the moment. "That's because I've been listenin' to my God damned dad go on and on for the last day. Has that effect on me. I'm goin'."

"Wait, how are you going to fly yourself there when your plane is still up in the mountains?" Vincent didn't understand. "Did you somehow go and get it already?"

"No." Cid hung up. He had things to do, and shooting the breeze with Vincent any longer wasn't one of them.

Vincent sighed and sat back down on the bed. He quickly dialed his son-in-law's number.

"What?" came Reno's voice.

"It's Vincent, we have a problem."

"What a fuckin' surprise!" Reno was at his desk within the base.

"This is serious, Reno." He was already annoyed with the man.

"Oh, right, don't wanna piss you off or you'll shoot me in the face again, and I've only got half my face left at this point." He reached over and hit a button on his computer, ending the game of Snood he'd been playing.

Vincent opted just to get on with it. "I need you to send out Brad to pick us up and bring us back to the base."

"Why? Is something wrong with Aaron?" Reno asked.

"No, it's not a problem with us, but Cid just called, and he's heading back to the base, and he asked that we come, too." Vincent flopped onto his back, knowing that any conversation with Reno wasn't going to be easy, but then again, he felt that he deserved whatever Reno dished out to him. He had, after all, almost killed the guy.
The ASRIO leader now knew that it was serious. "He was pretty eager to get out of here. Why would he be coming back?"

"Reno, he's got something wrong with him. He said he started hearing voices. From what he described to me, it sounds like he's got something developing inside of him like Chaos." Vincent closed his eyes, trying to imagine how truly horrible it would be for someone as volatile as Cid to possess such a thing.

"Wow, really?" Reno straightened up in his seat. "How'd that happen?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm starting to wonder if it didn't have something to do with the drug that he was given to cure his cancer," Vincent said quietly.

"Oh…" Reno's eye went wide and he grew nervous. After all the trouble that both Vincent and Aaron's demons had caused, he was loathe to deal with yet another such monster in his base. "If he fucks anyone up, I'm not going to be happy, Vinny."

"Well, this just started happening to him yesterday, so we should still be all right, I hope. He said he's flying over to your place ASAP." He rolled over onto his side, knowing exactly why Reno wasn't pleased.

"Cid's a mean old bastard, Vinny. If he blows his lid, and that's a given that he will because he tends to do that, you know it ain't going to be pretty." Reno frowned. "Knowing that, do you really want to be dragging your family down here?"

Vincent thought for a moment, Reno was right. It could be dangerous, but then again, if Tifa and the children remained in the room, they would be out of danger's way. However, Tifa would, at some point, sneak out just to make sure that Cid was okay. He gave a bemused passing thought to chaining her to something in their room so that she wouldn't be able to do that. "I can't leave them alone here, Reno."

"All right. I'll get on Brad to come get you." Reno stood up. "I'll go talk with the guys to see if they can start maybe making something to help Cid when he gets here."

"Good. Bye." Vincent turned off the phone and sat up. Life with this family was never simple and like it or not, Cid was part of that damn family.