Chapter Thirty Four
Cid remained in his bedroom for several minutes, debating how he was going to go about doing what he needed to. He dug around in one of the nightstand drawers and came up with a pen and paper and wrote a note that he left on the bed. That done, he pulled his jacket from the closet and went over to the bedroom window. Cid opened it and climbed outside, seeing his father's plane sitting out on the airfield and he started toward it, looking over his shoulder constantly to make sure that no one saw him.
Cid Sr. finished the breakfast that Jin had given him, and he got up from the table to go wash his plate. He turned on the water and looked out the window before him. "What the hell?"
"What is it?" Jin asked, sitting at the kitchen table.
"God damned Junior's up to somethin'." The old man set his plate in the sink and hurried over to the door and went outside.
Cid was about halfway to the plane when he heard his father behind him. He looked back over his shoulder to see the old man running to catch up with him. Resolving that he wasn't going to be stopped, Cid started running for all he was worth toward the airplane. If he knew his dad, and he thought he did, the keys would still be in the thing and stealing it would be easy enough-- but only if he could get there before his father.
But the elder Highwind was nothing to be laughed at, even at his advanced age. The man was fast and he was gaining on his son. "What the fuck you doin'?"
Cid growled between clenched teeth. "Don't follow me, God damn it!"
There was no way his was letting his son on his plane without him. Cid Sr. went faster.
Cid hit the side of the plane hard, reaching up and pulling open the door. He scrambled to get inside, but his dad was soon there as well, and as Cid tried to close the door, his dad grabbed a hold of it from the other side and fought to get in. "Damn it, old man! Let go!"
On the outside of the plane, the elder Highwind was giving it all he had. "No fuckin' way! You ain't stealin' my plane!"
Suddenly, Cid felt something stirring within him and he remembered Vincent's order not to get upset or worked up emotionally. He let go of the door and his father flung it open, looking up at his son with daggers in his eyes. "What's up with you?"
Cid turned and made his way up to the cockpit. He needed to get to ASRIO and if he had to do so with his father along for the ride, then that's what he'd do.
"Answer me, boy!" Cid Sr. climbed into the plane, pulling the door closed behind him.
Cid landed in the pilot's seat and sure enough, saw the ignition keys still in place. "I need to use your plane."
"Over my dead body!" He was now standing right behind his son. "Get outta my seat!"
Cid disregarded him and fired up the engines. "Get out or you're goin' with me."
Not willing to relinquish his aircraft to anyone else, the elder Highwind grabbed the collar of Cid's jacket and attempted to pull him from his seat.
Cid had already strapped himself in and all his father's attempt to removed him did was choke him. "Knock it the hell off!"
"I ain't just lettin' you take her!" Resolving that he couldn't get his son from the pilot's seat, he landed in the copilot's place-- a place he didn't like. "Where we goin'?"
Cid released the plane's breaks and it began to roll forward. "I need to go get some help for something."
"You ain't even gonna go tell Jin what's goin' on?" he asked, getting his own belt fastened.
"No time." Cid glanced over the various gauges displayed before him, getting familiar with the plane. It was an older than his, and it took him a second to get oriented, despite the fact that this had been the plane he'd learned to fly in.
The old man didn't understand but he could see that his son was clearly on some sort of determined mission. He settled back into his seat and crossed his arms over his chest as the plane lifted from the ground and into the sky.
A tense silence fell over them as Cid banked the craft around to head east, toward the ASRIO base. He did his best to calm himself, Vincent's words still ringing in his mind.
Unexpectedly, an amused laugh came from the old man. "Junior?"
He glanced over at his dad. "Yeah?"
Keeping his gaze fixed forward, he sighed. "You remember the last time we flew together like this?"
Cid scowled and thought back. It had been ages ago. "Yeah, I do. The day before my flight test."
"How long ago was that?" he asked.
Cid had to do the math. "I was fourteen, so…it's been thirty two years."
The elder Highwind turned in his seat to face his son. "Been a while."
Cid, not really giving any thought to it looked at his father in return. "Yeah."
"What the hell?" His father's expression contorted into confusion. "What happened you your eyes, Junior?"
Quickly, Cid looked away. In his anxiety over his father tagging along, he'd completely forgotten about his changed eye color. "I don't know. Somethin's wrong with me, that's why I needed to leave."
Cid Sr. settled back in his seat. "That's some weird shit. People's eyes don't just go changin' color like that."
"Yeah, I know, hence why I'm goin' to get it checked out." Cid shook his head, hating how his father needed to point out the obvious.
Seeing that his son wasn't keen on discussing the situation, he turned to look out the cockpit window again. After a few minutes, he spoke up, his voice quiet. "Junior?"
"What?" Cid clipped back, still annoyed with everything.
"I…I'm sorry. I know I let you down."
Cid leaned forward and looked out at the sky, seeming to search for something. "No pigs…"
"Huh?" The old man didn't understand.
Cid settled back into his seat. "Oh, I thought I heard you say you were sorry, but I don't see any pig out there flyin', so I guess I was hearing things."
"Damn it, Junior." He didn't find any humor in his son's jest. "I'm tryin' to be serious here."
Cid sighed deeply and tightened his grip on the control stick. "Fine."
"I wanted to let you know how sorry I was for lettin' you down." Cid Sr.'s cheeks gained some color, reflecting his discomfort with his admittal.
The younger man scoffed, "Let me down? Let me down? You fuckin' abandoned me and Mom so you could go off with Joanna and your other kid."
"I tried to keep in contact with you after that, but every time I saw you, Junior, you'd just be pissed off the whole time. Eventually, I guess I just figured you hated me." His voice betrayed his regret.
"That's because I did," he shot back. "Then when Mom died, you brought Joanna to the fuckin' funeral! How could you do that?"
"I didn't want to go alone. I figured that everyone else there pretty much hated me, and I just brought her so I wouldn't feel so…out of place, I guess." He hung his head and stared down at his hands that had now fallen to his lap.
"Then you shouldn't of fuckin' come at all."
The old man hastily reached up to his face, brushing away the unfamiliar moisture from his eyes. "But I loved your mother… I had to pay my respects."
"If you loved her, you had a funny way of showin' it by screwing another woman for twelve or thirteen years behind her back." Cid glanced over at his father for a moment, seeing the miserable expression he bore.
"Our marriage fell all to Hell, I'll admit that, but I still cared for her. I know you want to put all the blame for everything bad back then upon me, but Eden--"
Cid cut him off. "Don't you dare go trying to pass any of the responsibility onto Mom!"
"I'm just tryin' to say that she'd made certain things clear to me long before I ever started cheatin', Junior." He looked over at his son. "You know that she and I only got married because she got pregnant?"
This was news to Cid. "I knew I was born only about eight months after your anniversary…"
"Yeah well, you weren't premature by any means." The old man sighed. "She told me that we'd be married so that you would have a real family, but that she…she didn't really love me."
Cid heard his father's voice waver and noticed something he'd never seen upon his father's face before-- tears. In a rare moment, Cid was speechless.
"She didn't love me, Junior. That's why I turned to Joanna. Yeah, I know she was married, but she sorta felt like she was in the same boat, since her husband was more interested in his job than her. He was never around. We were just both lonely, and she did love me." Cid Sr. closed his eyes for a moment. "When you were about five, your mother's sister, Lucy, went missing. Your mom and I flew out to Nibelheim to go and look for her, since she'd last been sent there by her work. Durin' that trip, Eden basically told me that she knew what I was doin' with Joanna and that as long as I kept it hidden from you, that she didn't fuckin' care. She finally divorced me seven years later not because she 'found out' about my affair, but because she herself had taken interest in another man."
The sadness in his father's voice told Cid that the old man was being completely honest. He absorbed all that he'd heard, suddenly feeling some remorse. He remembered his mother seeing a guy named Buster shortly after the divorce. "I…had no idea about all that."
"No, because she made me swear never to tell you." He looked out the window again. "I agreed to bear all the blame for everything, since I'd gotten her pregnant in the first place."
Cid hung his head for a moment before looking over at his father. "I wish I'd known."
"Would it have made any difference in the way you feel about me?" he asked, his voice hopeless and miserable.
Cid was honest. "It already has."
A protracted silence fell over them at that point, and Cid's mind searched for something to discuss. Finally, he brought up the only thing he could think of. "So, Mom's sister, Lucy… I've heard her mentioned in passing, but I never really knew anything about her or that she'd vanished."
The old man nodded. "Yeah, she just sorta disappeared. I'd met her a couple times, and she was all right, I guess. Bit of a geek, but pleasant. Looked somethin' like your mother, but with long brown hair. After she was gone, your mother tried not to talk about her…I guess the thought of what might have happened to her was just too much."
"Lucy…" Cid thought for a moment. "There was a lot of weird stuff goin' on in Nibelheim back then, from what I've learned. My friend, Vincent, was there at the time. He was a Turk."
"Oh, so he worked for Shinra, too? Hell, if that's the case, he may have even known your aunt." He looked over at his son. "You'll have to ask him if he knew her by her real name, Lucrecia Jameson."
Cid squeaked-- he actually squeaked as a response to this refused to come from his lips. His eyes went wide and he looked over at his father.
"Somethin' wrong, Junior?"
"Wh…what did you say her name was?"
"Lucrecia. I figured you knew at least that much." He crossed his arms over his chest again, wondering what his son's reaction meant. "Why?"
Cid swallowed hard and flipped on the autopilot, needing to get his nerves under control. "It's just that I feel like my world just got real fuckin' small all the sudden. First, I find out that Brad's my brother, and now you're tellin' me that Lucrecia's my aunt?"
"So what? You heard of her?" Cid Sr. was suddenly very interested.
"Yeah, I heard more about her than I think I ever wanted."
"Your friend Victor knew her?" he asked.
"His name's Vincent, and yeah, he knew her. In fact, he got her knocked up." Cid shook his head, disgusted with the whole thing.
"What?" He didn't understand. "Lucy never had any kids."
"Yeah, she did. Once she was pregnant, she was experimented on by a scientist working for Shinra and then when she had the baby, she died." Cid didn't necessarily like recounting this tale to his father.
"Holy shit in a hand basket…are you sure? What happened to the kid? I mean…shit!" He turned in his seat to face his son.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Like everyone else on the planet, you've heard of her kid, too." Cid looked over at his father. "Sephiroth."
"You fuckin' with me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it, old man." Cid shrugged. "It's just all one big mess."
"Damn." Cid Sr. shook his head. "Sephiroth, you say? Wow… He's dead, though, so that's that, I guess."
Cid outright laughed. "You wanna hear a story?"
The elder Highwind nodded. "Yeah, I suppose."
"Get comfortable." Cid then proceeded to tell his father the entire story of his time with AVALANCHE, and then of the events that had unfolded seven years later when Vincent was reintroduced into his life and Sephiroth had turned back up in the incarnation of Jaras.
His father just sat silently, taking it all in. He'd known, thanks to news reports, that his son had been involved in the fight against Meteor, but to hear it now from him was amazing. How very twisted all of the details were, and how they all fit together was a little mind boggling. Cid Sr. suddenly realized how much he'd missed out on by not having his son in his life for all those years. At least they had whatever time he had left.
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Vincent, having forgotten completely about giving himself his second dose of the anti-Chaos drug walked from the bedroom to find Tifa and the kids in the family room.
She looked over at him expectantly, knowing that Cid only would have asked to speak with her husband if it was serious. "What did Cid want?"
He landed beside her on the couch, sighing heavily. "We're going back to the ASRIO base to meet Cid."
"What's going on?" she asked, putting her hand upon his leg.
Vincent stared down where she was touching him for a moment, liking the feeling. He shook off the inappropriate thought that had slipped its way into his mind and met her gaze again. "Something's wrong with him and he feels that he needs me to be with him."
Tifa was stymied. "Why?"
"He started hearing a voice in his head the other day, and he claims that his eyes have changed color. Cid honestly believes that he's got something like Chaos within him," he replied quietly.
Tifa gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "What? How?"
"I don't really know," he said quietly, putting his arm around her shoulders. "But he feels that since I'm the only one who can relate to him on this, that he needs me with him. So, since I have no intention of leaving you alone, I'm having Brad come out to pick all of us up so we can go there together."
She nodded in acceptance. "Vincent?"
He looked into her eyes. "Yes?"
"I'm…really impressed that you're willing to be there for Cid. It will mean a lot to him, and to me." She offered him an honest smile.
Vincent reflected her expression briefly. "I want you to understand, Tifa, that until we know exactly what's going on with him, that I want you to remain in the room with the children. If anything happened to any of you…"
"I know. That's fine. As long as I'm close to where you are, I'll be happy. Actually, Angel's spending a lot of time in her house up in town, and I could go there and stay with her." Tifa wouldn't mind spending time with Angel at all. She and Vincent's daughter had become very close over the years.
"That would be ideal, then I wouldn't have to be concerned with your well being." Vincent got up from the couch. "I'm going to go pack some things for us."
She watched him walk from the room and then turned her eyes over to where Aaron was sitting on the floor, holding Charlotte in his arms. "Did you hear that?"
The boy nodded. "Yeah."
"Is that okay with you?"
Figuring that he could busy himself with engaging Reno in more video game play, Aaron didn't mind. Besides, being away would prevent him from having to return to school on Monday. He was loathe to face the other students with his eyes now red. Surely, he would have been taunted for them. "I don't mind."
"Aaron, are you happy that your father has returned?" Tifa asked, not having heard much out of her son all day.
He almost laughed and brought his gaze to bear upon hers. "Good God, yes."
"Language, Sweetie," she said back to him softly.
"Sorry." He gave a sheepish grin, his untamed hair falling into his eyes.
She couldn't help but smile. It had been a long time since she'd seen Aaron as relaxed as he looked in that moment. Tifa was grateful.
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Amy came by to see Quigley, finding him still at his desk agonizing over the formula. She walked up behind him and put her hands upon his shoulders. "Quig?"
He turned slowly around to look at her, a lazy smile coming to his lips. "Amy, hi."
"Still fretting over that?" she asked, motioning toward the screen.
"I just can't shake the feeling I've got." He got up from his seat, stretching.
"I can help you shake it," Amy said, giving him a wink.
"Oh…" Quigley grinned and took her into his arms. He turned his body until he had her backed up against the desk. "You know, I told Port what we did last night…gave him the jibblies."
"Quig! You don't go around telling people things like that!" Amy feigned anger, but it clearly wasn't sincere.
"I didn't tell people, I told Port." Quigley leaned forward and kissed her.
Amy steadied herself against the desk, her hands resting upon the surface behind her. Unintentionally, her left hand landed upon the edge of the computer's keyboard, pushing a random assortment of keys. As she did so, the image on the screen changed, and the computer produced a beep, drawing Quigley's attention.
He pulled from the kiss and looked down at the computer. What he saw caught his attention. Quigley looked at Amy with wide eyes. "What did you just do?"
"I don't know, I sort of accidentally put my hand on the keyboard." Amy wondered if she'd ruined something, due to his shocked expression.
Quigley gave her a nod and then dropped back into his seat. There was new text upon the screen, overlying the previous image of the formula. He quickly got to reading.
What kind of fool would I be to put the actual formula of such an important drug onto this? If you're reading this, then I assume that you've stolen my computer and furthermore, if you've looked into it this far, I can only suspect that you're wondering why the drug didn't work as it was supposed to after you gave it to some poor bastard.
Yes, the cancer drug the research on this computer describes does exist, but I changed out the portion of the file that contained the actual formulation for it with something else.
You may have spared someone from cancer, but you've damned them to a whole other fate. I wonder how bad it's already gotten by the time you discovered this hidden screen?
What you are witnessing in the subject is my attempt to improve upon a bit of work by my predecessor, Hojo. He had managed to take demon DNA and embed it in a carrier virus for injection into human subjects. The downfall of this was that the onset of change within the subject took well over six years.
I, of course, was able to improve upon this. I've found a way to alter the subject's DNA without the use of a carrier virus and the alterations within them begin within days. I can only hope that you've injected this into someone important to you. Such is your deserved punishment for stealing my computer.
Now, I suppose you're wondering if there's a cure for what has befallen the subject? Ironically, the actual cancer cure drug that this file was supposed to represent can be changed to counteract the alteration drug that you've created, but that file is not on this computer.
Better luck next time. You reap what you sow.
Dr. Peirte W. Methius
Quigley slammed his head down onto the desk. "God fucking damn it!"
It was a rare thing for Quigley to curse and Amy knew it. She knelt beside his chair. "Quig? What is it? What's wrong?"
"I…I screwed up." There were tears of bitter self-disappointment in his eyes. "I trusted the damn research… Oh God, what have I done?"
The door to the lab flew open and Reno strolled in. "Quig! I need to fuckin' talk to you!"
He closed his eyes and sighed, before turning in his seat to face his boss. "I need to talk to you, too."
Reno, not accustomed to seeing Quigley look upset, decided to let the man speak. He went to a vacant chair and sat. "What's up?"
Quigley managed to steel himself from breaking down completely. "I messed up…"
"Yeah?" Reno leaned forward in this seat, his cane resting across his knees.
He gestured back at the computer. "I just found a hidden file that says the drug formulation on this thing isn't to cure cancer. It's to change someone into some kind of monster, I'm guessing along the lines of what happened to Vincent and Aaron, except that it works a lot faster."
Reno nodded, going over Vincent's phone call again in his mind. "Yeah, well, that's why I'm here. Vinny called, said that Cid's on his way as we speak. He's freakin' out."
Quigley's eyes went wide. "Damn it… Okay, we're going to have to confine him and see if we can get a temporary fix going for him with a drug along the lines of what we made for Vincent and Aaron. And then we're going to have to get the real formula for the cancer cure from Shinra, because what I just read on the computer said that the cancer drug can be altered to cure the demons."
"Aw fuck!" Reno let his head fall back, a move he instantly regretted as a pain shot through him from the motion. "Another raid? You're telling me that we have to go on another raid into the Junon lab?"
"We don't have any plants there anymore." Quigley crossed his arms over his chest. "We have to get the actual formula one way or another. There are thousands of people dying of the disease that we can save if we get it. Besides, revealing that Shinra has been sitting on this for years would be a huge blow against them."
Hurting Shinra appealed to Reno, even if another mission at the moment didn't. He sighed and trained his gaze upon Quigley. "Okay, we've got to do what we've got to do. I'm gonna have some guys ready to restrain Cid when he gets here. I'll see you later."
Quigley nodded and watched as Reno left. He was miserable, wracked with guilt about injecting Cid with an untested drug. Never would he have imagined that someone would have been so evil as to switch the formula like that, but Peirte had been that evil, and even after his death he had managed to do his twisted work. Quigley was never one to wish bad things upon someone, but for the moment, he couldn't help but hope that the son of a bitch was rotting in Hell.
Amy couldn't stand to see Quigley like this. She reached out and picked up his hand. "Come on, Quig. You have to get out of here for a while."
Reluctantly, he stood up and followed as she pulled him from the lab. It really was the last place he wanted to be for the time being. He had thought he was on a winning streak with getting Amy and curing Cid, now his baby brother's death and the fact he'd done something so terrible to Cid crushed in on him. The researcher couldn't help but wonder how he was going to screw things up with Amy. Everything he did seemed doomed to failure.
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Jin had watched the spectacle of Cid and his father fighting their way into the plane that morning, and hadn't taken her eyes from the scene until the plane lifted up into the sky. Although she had no idea what was going on, she figured that any means of getting Cid and his father alone where they could possibly talk was worth it.
Now, afternoon was setting in and they hadn't returned and she began to worry. L.C. had questioned her as to where his dad and grandfather had gone to, but since she'd had no idea, she was unable to respond.
She had pulled a load of laundry from the drier and carried it back to the bedroom to be folded. When she tossed the clothes upon the bed, she saw the note lying upon her pillow. Jin picked it up and read it.
Jin,
I'm going to the ASRIO base for a while. I'm not cutting out on you because I want to, but yesterday, I started hearing voices and this morning, I noticed a change in my eyes. I've got that same fucking thing that Vincent's been plagued with, I just know it. Since I don't want to risk hurting you or L.C., I'm going in the hopes that the guys at the base can help me before things get too bad. I'll call you as soon as I can.
Love you,
Cid
Jin felt her heart race and she let the note fall to the floor. If Cid was worried enough to have bolted out of the house and attempt to steal his father's plane, then it must truly be bad. Her hands started shaking and she sat down on the edge of the bed, and allowed herself to cry.
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It didn't take too long before Cid found himself circling over the airfield above the ASRIO base. The people there were familiar enough now to grant him landing clearance without any hassle. Once the plane was on the ground, he parked it and looked over at his dad. "This is it."
"Crappy landin', Junior. Bounced twice." Cid Sr. had his eighth cigarette of the flight still held between his lips.
Cid rolled his eyes and sighed, opting to use the excuse he'd been given by his own son many times. "I was landing in a crosswind. Give me a break."
The elder Highwind shrugged and unfastened his seatbelt before moving from his seat. He threw open the door and looked around, flicking his cigarette out onto the tarmac. "Awful fuckin' hot here for winter."
Cid pushed past him and exited the plane. "It's Costa. I'm sure you've been here before."
"I ain't. I've avoided this nightmare my whole life. God damned tourist trap. Makes me sick." He followed his son.
Cid saw Reno standing with several men at his side toward the control tower and headed for them. He already knew what he was in for after watching ASRIO deal with Vincent and Aaron. The pilot raised his hands to show his harmless intent as he got closer.
Don't do this, Cid. It's suicide. Turn around and leave.
No, Cid thought back, tensing his jaw. I know what I have to do and I'm going to do it.
Idiot, the voice growled back.
"Hey." Reno had a pair of handcuffs dangling from his right hand. "I'm thinking you know the drill."
Cid nodded and lowered his hands, extending his wrists toward the ASRIO leader. "Yeah, just get on with it."
Reno gave him a fleeting smile and then quickly got him bound with the cuffs. "There. Comfy?"
"Junior? What's goin' on?" Cid Sr. didn't like the sight of his boy being restrained.
"Who in the flying fuck are you?" Reno asked, scrutinizing the old man. He motioned between Cid and the elder Highwind. "You two have got to be related."
"Damn straight," the old man shot back. "I'm his dad, and I'm wonderin' why you got him shackled up like that?"
Reno shrugged. "Because some of us have a nasty tendency to turn into some sort of psycho killing monster when we're upset, and I'll give you three guesses which of us it is."
Cid Sr.'s eyes narrowed and he looked at his son. "Junior?"
"Bingo!" Reno smiled and laced one of his arms through Cid's. "Now, let's go get our fly boy into a nice little cell, shall we?"
The old man trotted a few steps to get to his son's side again as Reno led him toward the base entrance. He noticed that the other four men that were walking along side them were all armed. "What's goin' on?"
Cid glanced over at his dad. "I'll tell you once we get inside."
Reno opened the base door and continued on his way until he had gotten Cid to the detention block. He went over to the cell that Aaron had occupied a while before and motioned for Cid to go in.
The pilot obeyed and cringed slightly when the steel door was slammed close behind him. The sudden feeling that came over him upon being confined made him nervous and a sweat broke across his skin.
"Put your hands through the bars and I'll get the cuff off ya." Reno jingled his keys out before him.
Cid did as ordered and quickly his restraints were removed. He rubbed his wrists for a moment before pulling off his jacket and tossing it over onto the small bed. Cid had a phobia of entrapment and looking around the cell, seeing no means of escape got the better of him and he felt himself begin to shake.
Reno seemed a little amused by this and with Cid safely on the other side of the bars and unable to reach him, he couldn't resist. "Aw, Cid! Don't act so freaked out. We'll probably remember to feed you, and the torturer doesn't come in until Wednesday."
"Shut up and go away, Reno." Cid wasn't in the mood to be messed with.
"I see how it is." Reno turned away. "You only love me for my base."
"Knock it off." Cid went and landed heavily upon the bunk, glancing over at his father who was standing beside the former Turk.
"Actually, Cid," Reno spun back around to face him, his voice quiet, "I'll give you whatever you want. Turns out…this is our fault."
Cid's interest was piqued. "Really?"
Reno nodded slowly as to not make himself dizzy. "Yeah, I was talkin' to Quiggers earlier and it turns out that the so-called cancer drug we made and gave you…well, it's actually something like the Chaos drug. The nut job in the Shinra lab switched the formulas."
He drew in a jagged breath and hung his head. Cid had suspected this in the back of his mind since his eyes had changed that morning, but to hear it actually said was crushing. "Jesus, Joseph, and Mary."
Reno's shoulders slumped as he realized that Cid was going to actually break down. "Look, I've got my guys working on it. Quigger's will come by at some point to get a blood sample from you or some such, and then we can make up something to keep it under control like Vinny and his kid."
Without looking, Cid nodded a little. "Okay."
Reno motioned to his men and they departed the cellblock. He figured now would be a good time for Cid and his father to be alone.
The old man came right up to the bars of Cid's cell. "What in the hell is goin' on?"
"They gave me a drug that they thought was the cure for lung cancer. I was dyin' from it." He couldn't bring himself to look at his father.
This hit the elder Highwind hard. "Wait, you were dyin' and you didn't even tell me?"
After learning all he had about his father that morning, Cid suddenly felt horrible about it. "No, not that I really would have had much of a chance. Things got a little complicated right about then."
"My oldest boy almost dies and he doesn't tell me?" He leaned against the bars. Cid Sr. was heartbroken to hear this, but not entirely surprised.
"I'm sorry." Cid felt a tear make its way down his cheek and he didn't wipe it away. He figured with his head hung as it was, that his dad wouldn't be able to see.
Cid Sr. let this sink in for a minute before going on. "So they somehow came up with some supposed cure and gave it to you, only to find out now that it was somethin' else?"
"Yeah." His shoulders heaved with his emotion. Cid was having a tough time keeping control over his emotions. "It got rid of the cancer, but it put some sort of monster in me. My friend Vincent I mentioned before…he's got the same fuckin' sort of thing. I've seen what it did to his life and to him and…I'm…I'm afraid."
"Come here."
Cid looked over at his dad.
"I said come here, Junior."
He rose up and slogged over to where his father was standing against the bars.
The old man then did something he hadn't done to Cid in well over three decades. He reached though the bars and grabbed his son, pulling him into an embrace, despite the bars that were between them.
Cid was a little shocked by this at first, but quickly submitted and reached through the bars, putting his arms around his father in return. Now being held, he let go and cried.
A/N- I'm having a sad day…I know what would make me feel better! Lots of reviews! I find it hard to believe that I'm only really hearing from about 8 of the 150 people that are reading through this! Come on, I'll love you forever!