Sorry there was a longer than usual gap in updates on this story. I was a little mentally tired and it was just easier to work on the other…you know, no plot to think up there ; )

In any event, we're on the downhill side of this thing...yay.

Chapter 38

Several more hours went by and there was no news passed from the surgery suite to Tifa. She was more than a little concerned, not understanding what could be taking so long. After all, Angel had told her that Vincent's neck and arm simply needed to be closed up and then that would be it.

In that time, Tifa had returned once to go and nurse Charlotte, finding both Aaron and Reno asleep on her couch. She was thankful for this, not wishing yet to have to explain to her son what was taking place. With the baby fed and again placed sleeping in the nest of pillows on the bed, Tifa had gone back to the infirmary.

Cid had fallen asleep after a while, and his father and brother had both remained there with Tifa. She'd felt out of place as Cid Sr. and Brad occasionally discussed things in hushed tones. Tifa was learning to appreciate that Cid's family's skeletons seemed to be potentially just as involved as Vincent's. She did not yet know that their families were all one in the same.

Finally, the doors to the surgery suite opened, and Quigley, looking tired and stressed, hurried out. He attempted to get out of the infirmary, but Tifa got up and intercepted him before the researcher got the chance.

"Quig, what's going on?" she asked, taking a hold of his sleeve.

The color literally drained from his face. "They're done with him. He'll be out in a little bit."

Tifa knew that something was up-- something Quigley didn't want to tell her about. "Quig..?"

He shook his head and pulled his arm out of her grip. If nothing else, he still hadn't recovered from Aaron's attack and Tifa's attempt to restrain him hurt. "He's fine, Tifa. I need to go and check on some stuff."

Resigning to the fact that he wasn't going to tell her a damn thing, Tifa just watched him retreat. The easy going and usually good-natured Quigley that she'd become to know over the years seemed…absent.

Tifa trudged back over to the seat she'd been sitting in and took it back up again. She gazed over at where Cid Sr. and Brad were at the injured man's bedside and slowly moved her stare between them, kicking herself inwardly for never having realized on her own that Cid and Brad were related. Yes, their coloring was different-- Cid, the blue-eyed, well, formerly blue-eyed blond, and Brad dark haired and with matching eyes-- but other things about them were more than similar. They were built the same, with the same shape to their faces. Cid was slightly more hawk nosed than Brad, making Tifa think that Brad must have some resemblance to his mother. Cid on the other hand was no more than a carbon copy of his father. Tifa found herself wondering what Cid's mother had looked like, since she'd apparently passed nothing onto her son.

Her contemplation was interrupted when the surgery doors opened once more and Janice emerged, some of her assistants pushing Vincent's bed along behind her. Tifa instantly shot to her feet and tried to go to Vincent's side as his bed was put in its place, but Janice stopped her, placing her hands upon Tifa's shoulders.

Tifa looked into the doctor's eyes. "I want to see him!"

"I need to tell you--" Dr. Arlin found herself cut off.

"I want to see him and I'm going to see him now!" Tifa pushed the doctor's hands from her and she ran over to Vincent's bedside. She looked down upon him, seeing that the side of his neck was covered with a bandage. Out of her curiosity, she grabbed the sheet that covered his body and started to lift it, wanting to see what had been done with his left arm.

Tifa's eyes went wide and she stopped breathing. The sheet fell from her hand, covering Vincent again. Her entire body began to shake and she slowly turned around, to face Janice, who now had Angel standing beside her. There was a tightness in Tifa's throat and tears in her eyes by the time she locked gazes with Dr. Arlin. "Wh…what in the hell did you do?"

"It's just temporary. It's going to take about four months for a new arm to be cloned for him, Tifa. This way, he'll at least have use--" Once more, Janice wasn't allowed to finish.

"Didn't you stop to think for a fucking minute what in the hell he's going to think when he wakes up and sees that God forsaken thing attached to him?" Tifa motioned back toward her husband, who was still mercifully asleep. When she'd looked under the sheet, she'd seen that the cybernetic left arm from his artificial body he'd possessed seven years ago had been installed upon what was left of his damaged arm. "What were you thinking? Why in the hell did you even have that thing still?"

"So you think he'd prefer to be without an arm completely for four months rather than at least have that?" Janice crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you'd be grateful that we could help him out like this and that you'd be glad that Quigley had kept the components of Vincent's old body on hand!"

Tifa's jaw just dropped. She was at a complete loss for what to say. After going back to Vincent's bedside, she reached down and picked up his right hand, then letting the tears come freely.

Angel came up behind her and placed her hand upon Tifa's shoulder. "He's going to be all right, and like Janice said, in four months, we'll be able to give him back the real thing."

Tifa shook her head and wiped her eyes with her free hand. "He hated it…having parts to him that weren't real… I felt what it was like to have that thing hooked up to my own body after his surgery, Angel. You guys don't have any idea…"

"It's the best we could do for now." Angel's voice was quiet.

"And what about the anti-Chaos drug?" Tifa asked.

Janice heard this and came closer. "We'll wait until morning, when his wounds have healed."

Tifa was thankful for this. At least his injuries would be able to repair themselves. "Okay."

"I'm sorry that this happened, Tifa. But if he'd stayed here and undergone his Chaos treatment to completion like he was supposed to, this could have been avoided." Dr. Arlin moved to the opposite side of the bed from Tifa, her anger at Vincent for his past actions clear.

"Cid's demon attacked him!" Tifa knit her brow and glared up at the doctor. "If it wasn't for Chaos, who knows how things would have turned out."

"You think Cid's demon attacked him. No one saw what really took place and neither Vincent nor Cid is in the position to tell us right now," Janice scoffed back.

Tifa was struck by the absolute animosity coming from Dr. Arlin and wondered if it had just been because of her initial outburst or if it went further than that. "Janice? Are you just mad at me or are you pissed at Vincent?"

The memory of opening the toxicology report that stated that Vincent had overdosed and killed Spencer surfaced. "Vincent."

"Why?" Tifa locked gazes with the other woman.

"I know he was on the ferium and being manipulated by Shinra, but he still did some horrible things, Tifa." Janice pushed her glasses up higher.

From over near Cid's bed, came Brad's voice. "Tifa, some of us just…aren't too sure."

She looked over her shoulder at the chopper pilot. The realization that there were apparently several people in the base that held Vincent's drug induced actions against him drilled into her. "You guys think..?"

"I'm not saying we think anything in particular, but Tifa, look at all that happened. You know, it's just all been…" Brad's voice trailed off and he shrugged, feeling like he'd overstepped his boundaries.

"Okay." Tifa turned her eyes back to her still sleeping husband. She possessed no question as to what was in Vincent's heart. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Tifa knew that it had all come out of the ferium. Besides, if anyone had a reason to doubt Vincent, then that would be Reno, and he at least seemed fine with everything. "That's okay."

Everyone fell silent as they saw the pain their lack of faith in Vincent caused her.

Porter chose that moment to walk in, realizing that he'd stumbled in on an awkward situation. He approached Tifa's side and offered her a weak smile. "Hey, how is everything?"

She shook her head, looking down at Vincent again. "Nothing…other than some people thinking that my husband is some deranged psychopath."

Porter frowned. "What?"

Tifa glanced up at Janice who was walking away. "Apparently, Janice and Brad believe what Vincent did while on the ferium wasn't necessarily because of the ferium."

Porter bit his bottom lip upon hearing this pained statement from Tifa. He was one of those guilty of holding such reservations. "Oh…"

Hearing the tone of his voice, told Tifa all that she needed to know. "You too, huh?"

The former Turk shoved his hands into his pockets and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I…I do or at least I did, but Reno seems so damned sure about him…"

"It's fine." Tifa bent down and kissed Vincent's lips gently. "We'll go home as soon as he's better and then you won't have to worry about it anymore. Vincent wouldn't want to be somewhere that everyone doubted or hated him."

"No one hates him, Tifa." Angel said, stepping between Porter and her. "It's just that a lot happened and whereas you and I honestly know Vincent, there are others who will just have to come around in their own time about it."

"It doesn't matter." Tifa straightened back up, feeling new tears in her eyes. "Like I said, once he's better, we can go home. We won't bother anyone anymore."

A strained and pained voice managed to make itself heard. "Tiff…you and Sue can't go…I still need you guys."

Tifa spun around to see that Cid had awoken, and was looking over at her. She let go of Vincent's hand and went over to the pilot's side. Offering him a smile, Tifa reached out and touched the side of his face. She hadn't before been able to really appreciate the new look of his eyes, and it sent a chill down her spine. "Cid, are you okay?"

He was shaking a little and his color was terrible. His gold eyes possessed no shine to them, and looked more tired than humanly possible. "It fuckin' hurts."

"Just try and stay still. Dr. Arlin will give you more for the pain if you need it," Tifa said, trying to comfort him.

"What in the hell did they do to me?" Cid asked, closing his eyes as the misery of his condition got the better of him.

Angel had followed Tifa over and went to the other side of his bed. "We pulled the three bullets out of you that Reno fired. Two of them luckily didn't really do all that much damage, but the third hit your spleen and we had to remove it."

Cid, not being particularly savvy in the ways of anatomy or medicine, opened his eyes and looked over at Angel. "I'm hopin' that's not something I needed."

"You'll be completely fine without it," Angel replied quietly.

The elder Highwind got up from where he was sitting and stretched. He stood next to Tifa and gazed down at his son. "You gonna be all right, Junior?"

"Sure." Cid wasn't really feeling like he was at the moment, but he was going to put up the best front he could for his old man.

"Okay." Cid Sr. reached down and picked up one of his son's hands. "Look, I hate to do this, but it's pretty fuckin' late and I'm older than hell. I need to go get somethin' to eat and then go to bed."

Cid nodded as best he could the way he was laying. "You go do that."

"Yeah, I better head home, too." Brad came to the other side of his bed. "I'll take you to go get some dinner, Dad."

The old man looked at his other son. "I'd appreciate that, Bradley."

Cid couldn't help but smile at the situation. "Go on, get."

Having his permission, the chopper pilot and his father said goodbye and then left the infirmary.

"Cid, are you okay if I go back over to Vincent? I want to be beside him when he wakes up," Tifa said quietly.

He forced a smile for her. "Yeah."

"Thanks." She bent and gave him a quick kiss before going back to Vincent's bedside.

Cid watched her walk away, wishing that Jin could be here. He wondered what she was doing by now, and if she was on her way after hopefully finding his note. Dr. Arlin soon came to his side, however, and injected more pain medication into his I.V. line, driving him back into unconsciousness.

Porter was still at Vincent's bedside. He looked at Tifa briefly. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Tifa shook her head while taking Vincent's right hand back up in her own. "I don't think so. I guess you could go by and make sure that Aaron, Charlotte, and Reno are behaving."

Porter smiled. "Well, the first two probably are."

Tifa couldn't help it and she laughed. "Right."

"I'll go check on them then." Porter placed his hand upon her shoulder. "Everything's going to be all right."

Tifa just nodded and closed her eyes.

Not knowing what else to do, Porter slipped from the infirmary and made his way to Tifa and Vincent's room. When he got there, he found that the door was unlocked. He stepped inside, finding the baby sleeping on the bed, and Aaron and Reno still passed out on the couch. Quietly, he went forward and then reached out and shook his boss gently.

Reno was a little startled, and looked up at the man before him. He glanced to the side, seeing Aaron sleeping. Without disturbing the boy, Reno managed to get up and he went with Porter over toward the corner. "What's up?"

Porter shrugged. "They got the two of them patched up, I guess. Mr. Highwind is going to be all right, and so is Vincent."

"Good deal." Reno thought for a moment. "And what about drugging them so that they don't pull anymore shit?"

"Quigley told me that they intend to keep the two of them pretty well sedated between now and morning. That should give them the time they need to repair their wounds. Once that's done, we're injecting them with the drugs Quigley has made up." Porter dropped his gaze to the floor, thinking about how upset the researcher had been.

Reno's eye widened. "So he's got the one for Cid made up?"

"It'll be done by morning, and Vincent's is finished."

"Good fuckin' job." Reno couldn't help but smile. The speed at which Quigley and Porter could get things done was, at times, mind-boggling. "That's great."

"Yeah, the thing is, with as fast as that thing developed within Mr. Highwind, he's going to have to get injections of that stuff on a daily basis," Porter said, some regret in his voice. "I mean, we may be able to treat Aaron and Vincent with a couple of doses and then cut them loose for a few years, but Cid is a whole other story."

"Oh…" Reno shoved his hands into his pockets. "He's not going to be okay with that."

"I know." The former Turk shrugged. "But it's the best we can do under the circumstances."

"Then we have to get the real cure from Shinra and we have to do it fast."

Porter fell silent. Like Reno, he wasn't big on the prospects of yet another mission so soon. Things just seemed too disorganized at the moment for any such thing to work right.

"I know what you're thinking, and you're right." Reno locked gazes with his new second in command. "It has to be done, though."

"Yeah, that's what I'm figuring." Porter sighed.

"We're going to have to go in to the Junon facility, get into the computer and find the real formula, download it, and bail." Reno shifted where he stood, trying to come up with ideas.

"Oh fuck," Porter groaned, closing his eyes.

"What?"

He looked at his boss. "You do know what that means, right?"

Reno didn't. "What?"

"We're…we're going to have to send Quigley in with the mission team. He'll be the only one able to find that formula and know if it's the right thing or not." Porter dreaded sending his best friend on such a quest. Quigley was not mission material.

"Oh…" Reno bit his bottom lip, knowing that Porter was right. "That's not cool."

"No, and he's going to freak out about it when we tell him."

"Yeah, especially after seeing what happened to Spencer…shit." Reno closed his eye and sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Poor fuckin' Spencer."

Porter had a question that he figured he needed to get out once and for all. He gestured for Reno to follow him and they slipped from the room and into the corridor. In the chance that Aaron awoke, Porter didn't want this conversation taking place around the boy.

Once in the hall, Porter turned to his boss again. "Reno, I'm guessing that you had Janice do some kind of post mortem study on Spencer, correct?"

He already knew where this was going. "Yeah."

"Was it really the ferium withdrawal that killed him?" Porter asked flatly.

Reno tensed his jaw, immediately regretting doing so, as it shot a pain through his head. Janice and he had discussed the tox report and Reno knew full well that Vincent had killed the other man. He didn't want to tell Porter the truth.

By the way Reno suddenly became uncomfortable, Porter knew the answer. "What did Vincent do to kill him?"

Reno looked away. Somehow, by relaying this information, he felt that he was betraying his father-in-law. "O.D."

"So he gave Spencer more ferium?"

"Yeah, when he was alone with him in the infirmary." Reno was ashamed of himself for talking.

"The question was raised tonight over whether Vincent did all of that because of his own addiction to ferium or if…" Porter's voice failed him.

Of this, Reno had no doubt. "Look, I'm only going to say this one more time. Vinny's a good guy and he would never do any of that without being manipulated into doing so."

"But he was a fucking Turk, Reno! He used to kill for a living." Porter's reservations about the situation refused to vanish so easily.

Reno, against his better judgement, backhanded Porter across the face. Porter reeled back from the blow, covering his cheek with his hand and then turning back to Reno. "What the fuck was that?"

Reno pointed an accusatory finger at his friend. "Yeah, he was a fuckin' Turk, just like the rest of us, Port. Don't you ever forget that and don't you ever doubt Vinny!"

Porter, never having been thusly bitch slapped wasn't really sure how to react. He straightened back up and let his hand fall away from his face, the sting still lingering in his cheek. "I'm sorry…"

"You better be. And if I hear anyone else daring to say shit about how they think Vinny did any of that because he wanted to, they'll find their asses out on the street, you got me?" Reno was angrier in that moment than he could remember being.

From the way things had been when he'd gone to the infirmary earlier, Porter knew he wasn't alone in his questioning of Vincent's motivations. "Then you need to talk to Janice and Brad about things."

"God damn it!" Reno threw his hands up in the air. "He shot me in the fuckin' face and I know that Vinny's okay! I would think that if I was all right with the situation, that everyone else would be able to get over it!"

"I'm sorry," Porter restated, his words feeling pathetically inadequate.

"Just don't do it again." Reno crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll talk with the others in the morning. And don't you dare tell Quigley that Vincent killed his brother, or there will be hell to pay. I don't need him doubting Vincent, too."

Porter nodded submissively. He had never been honestly reprimanded by Reno before, and didn't like it. All of the verbal abuse he'd suffered while working for Hojo resurfaced and his entire demeanor changed. He dropped his gaze to the floor and slouched.

Reno saw this change in him and had to ask. "Port, are you okay?"

He sighed heavily and turned, walking away. Porter wanted nothing more than to go and be with Rayna. "No… I'll see you later."

Now feeling badly for having blown up at Porter, Reno shuffled back into Tifa and Vincent's room to continue his baby sitting assignment. He made his way back to the couch and sat next to the sleeping boy. Reno reached into his back pocket and pulled out his flask, downing its remaining warm contents in a few swallows. He let the burn of the alcohol wash over him and then tucked the flask back away. Reno turned his head to look over at Aaron, seeing that the boy's eyes were open. He offered the kid a faint smile.

"You too?" Aaron asked lazily.

"Huh?"

Aaron sat up. "You drink, too, like my dad."

"Just a little. Just when people piss me off." Reno felt bad at having been seen giving into his vice.

"You're always pissed off."

"Yeah, I know." Reno hung his head.

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

Tifa had pulled a chair over so that she could sit at Vincent's side and keep a hold of his right hand. Eventually, he stirred and she stood up, hoping that he would open his eyes. "Vincent?"

He groaned and moved slightly.

Tifa bent forward and placed a hand against his cheek. "Vincent?"

"Tifa…" he whispered back, not opening his eyes.

"Can you look at me?" she asked.

"I won't."

"What?" Tifa was confused by his answer.

"I'm not opening my eyes. I can feel it, Tifa. I know what they did and I don't want to see it." Vincent's mouth pulled down into a painful frown.

"Oh…" She moved her hand to stroke his hair. "It's just temporary, Vincent. They said that they can give you back a real one in a few months. They can clone one."

"No." A tear made its way from the corner of his eye.

"No?"

"Tifa…I have a brand new baby at home. If they try and give me a new arm, that means that it will be completely useless for a few months while the nerve grafts take hold. I can't be…crippled like that when I've got a baby to help you take care of. I have to keep what they've given me." Vincent was still not looking.

"Vincent, don't worry about helping me at home. If getting your arm taken care of is what it's going to take to make you feel good about yourself and make you happy, then we're doing it." Tifa wasn't going to let him sacrifice his happiness because of some sense of duty to her. She owed him that much and a whole lot more.

"No."

She sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. "Vincent…"

He dared to open his eyes a little and moved to look at her. "No. No more surgery, all right? What are the chances of me having that arm ripped off twice in my life?"

Tifa didn't quite follow. "I don't know."

"Pretty small, don't you think?"

She nodded.

"I'd say that was some sort of sign from fate that maybe I'm not supposed to have it." Vincent gave some pathetic excuse for a smile.

Tifa shook her head and wiped the tear away from his face. "Vincent, come on. I don't want you to be miserable if they can fix it."

"I thought before that getting back my normal body would solve all of my problems and let me be happy, Tifa. It didn't work though, did it?" He looked away from her.

"Things got rough, but having your body back was so important to you…"

"It was, but like I said, I ended up unhappy and miserable anyway. So, getting this arm taken care of ultimately isn't going to make that much difference. What I need to be happy has nothing to do with my body. I understand that now." Vincent's eyes narrowed.

"What do you need to be happy, then?" Tifa asked, hearing Janice coming up behind her.

Vincent closed his eyes as he heard the doctor's approach, fearing what would be done to him next.

Janice, without a word, picked up Vincent's I.V. line and injected something into it before walking away.

Tifa waited for the doctor to be out of earshot, then she asked again. "Vincent, what do you need to be happy?"

He opened his eyes and attempted to answer, but the bolus of pain medication he'd just been given caused him to slip from consciousness, without giving Tifa the answer that she so desperately sought.

Seeing that she'd lost him again, Tifa hung her head and sighed. Resolving that he'd be asleep for a while, she reluctantly got up from the bed and walked out of the infirmary, heading back toward her room.

When she got there, she found Aaron and Reno sitting on the couch, talking quietly. Reno looked when she entered and he reached over, patting Aaron on the head before getting up. He walked over to Tifa and she could immediately see that Reno's eye was red, indicating that he'd been upset and possibly crying.

"Reno? Is something wrong?" Tifa asked, placing her hand upon his shoulder.

"Come here." Reno went over to the door and opened it, taking her out into the corridor. He shut the door behind them and then turned to her. "Mini Vinny's been talking to me for a while, and uh, he's basically clued me in on everything that's been happening at home between Vinny and you. Now, I had some of the story, but he's given the rest of it to me and… Basically, Tifa, he's scared."

"Scared of what?" Tifa cocked her head to the side.

"Despite what both you and Vincent have promised him, I guess he's freaked out that things are going to go back to the way they were. Tifa, the things he's said tonight… damn it, I'm really worried about him. I think he's been hiding his feelings for a long time and I'm not really sure that you and Vinny know what's really going on inside of him." Reno stared down at his shoes, knowing full well that Aaron had just opened up to him in a way that generally, only Jaras was privileged.

Tifa didn't quite know what to say in response to this. "Well I…"

"He told me that he's been thinking for a while about running away and going to Mideel." Reno looked at her again.

"To be with his brother?"

"Yeah." Reno shrugged. "He told me that he'd rather you and Vinny be together for a while to see if you really are going to change the way things have been without him there, so that if you start fighting, he doesn't have to see it. Tifa, Aaron wants to go live with Jaras for a while, and really, I think you and Vinny have enough shit to muddle through that it might actually be a good idea."

Tifa felt like the wind had been knocked out of her and she leaned against the wall. The thought that her son was upset enough to actually want to leave was overwhelming. Aaron had been so happy when Vincent had come home that she thought things were going to be all right. The boy still had doubts, though, and quite frankly, after all she'd put him through, she couldn't honestly blame him.

Reno saw the misery and guilt wash over Tifa and he went forward and took her into his arms. "Look, at least he admitted to someone how he was feeling, Tifa. If Jaras can watch him for a while, that will give you and Vincent some room to speak freely. Plus, it will give the two of you a chance to focus on Charlotte, too. Vinny's already missed too much of her life."

Tifa hated to admit it, but Reno was absolutely right. She and Vincent could use some time alone to deal with things, and if they were going to just break down fighting, Aaron needed to be spared that, too. "Okay."

"Look, we can call Jaras and Jeanine in the morning and see if they're game to watch him for a while. If they can, I can have Brad take him down there." Reno offered her a smile and backed out of her embrace.

"Okay." Tifa looked at the ground. "That sound's good. Reno?"

He just looked at her expectantly.

"Thanks for talking to him and watching them tonight." Tifa smiled up at him.

He raised his hands and looked away shyly. "No problem, I was glad to do it. Besides, I got that free show and all."

"Free show?" Tifa cocked an eyebrow at him, not understanding.

"Yeah, you know, when you came by earlier and nursed Charlotte right in front of me. That was cool." Reno smirked.

"Reno!" Tifa stepped forward and shoved him for all she was worth, sending him back against the other wall of the corridor. "I thought you were asleep!"

"Hey! I'm not sayin' I got off on it or anything! It was just a beautiful experience to see a mother feed her baby, that's all! I swear!" Reno honestly looked sincere.

"Oh right! I think I know you better than that!" Tifa couldn't help but doubt his claim.

"I swear to God, that's the truth! Angel…Angel never let me watch." Reno flushed red.

"Because she knows what kind of pervert you are, Reno!" Despite it all, Tifa smiled, finding Reno just too ridiculous.

"No one ever believes me." Reno sulked and started to walk away. "I'm heading to bed. Angel and me are staying in the base tonight, in case anyone else decides to throw any more temper tantrums. I'll see ya in the morning, Tifa."

She shook her head, laughing to herself. "Good night, Reno."

With that, Tifa went inside, seeing that Aaron had fallen asleep on the couch. She took a blanket from the closet and placed it over him before going and taking care of Charlotte and going to bed.