I'm really sorry in the delay in updates on this story lately. I've been getting ready for Ani-Magic and have been finishing various costumes and what not. Really, really, sorry! Now, the convention has come and gone and things can settle back into…normalish?

Oh, and thanks, Ezzy, for reminding me about the scene breaks. I forget to replace the symbols I use in word with the dashes before uploading...bad self. Bad.

Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 43

Jaras was sitting behind the counter in his bookstore, staring blankly at the ledgers before him. He'd come to the store that afternoon, as sitting around the house had grown annoying to him since he knew he had things to attend to at the store after being away.

Yet, his stomach was still unsettled, and he found focusing on the task at hand to be troublesome. He looked up when he heard the door open and instantly smiled as Aaron walked in, escorted by Jeanine. "Little brother…"

Aaron ran forward and around the counter. Jaras dropped to his knees as to be on the boy's level as they embraced. Jeanine kept her distance, knowing that the two brothers needed their space.

Jaras finally brought Aaron out to arm's length. "How are you?"

The boy had tears in his eyes. "As long as Mom and Dad work things out…I'll be all right. I'm just glad to be here with you."

"Well, I'm glad to have you." Jaras offered him a smile and stood back up. "Are you hungry?"

He simply nodded.

Jaras took his brother's hand and he looked over at Jeanine. "I'm going to go take him to that place he likes. Do you want to come along?"

Jeanine smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Besides, I think the two of you could use some time together."

"Okay." Jaras glanced down at Aaron. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Aaron grinned. He found himself finally able to relax.

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Vincent and Tifa were sitting nestled together on the couch when a knock came to the door of their room. Sighing heavily, Vincent got up and went over to answer.

Upon opening the door, he saw that it was Cid, and moreover, he could see that the pilot had been crying. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, my dad just died."

Tifa heard this from where she was sitting and ran over, pushing past Vincent. "What? Are you serious?"

Cid nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Tifa went forward and put her arms around him.

Cid closed his eyes momentarily during the embrace, but quickly stepped back from Tifa, since Jin was standing beside him. "It's okay…"

Vincent was at a loss for what to say at all, and just stood there with his mouth slightly agape.

Cid looked at the other man. "Close your mouth, Sue. You look like an idiot."

"But…he seemed fine. What happened?" Vincent forced himself to ask.

"Dunno." Cid shoved his hands into his pockets. "We were just walkin' along and he sorta keeled over. I got him to the infirmary, but within just a few minutes, it was over."

"I'm so sorry…" Tifa said again quietly, retreating back to Vincent's side. She had taken a liking to the man in the short time that she'd known him and was heartbroken.

"At least I got to be there," the pilot sighed, trying to comfort himself in some way.

Jin stepped closer to him and placed her arm around his waist. "And at least L.C. got to meet him."

"Yeah." Cid brought his bloodshot eyes up to meet Vincent's gaze. "So, uh, I was gonna head up into town with Jin here and go have a drink in the old man's honor… If you guys wanted to come along, that…" He choked up and dropped his stare to the floor.

"We'd love to, if it's all right with Jin," Tifa said quietly, knowing that the other woman wasn't well for her.

"It would mean a lot to Cid if you two came along," Jin replied, swallowing her pride this one time for her husband's sake.

Tifa suddenly became thoughtful. "Oh, but the baby… We can't really take a baby to a bar."

Cid suddenly realized the logic in this, and also that it would be a bad idea to take Vincent, a recovering alcoholic to such a place. "Well, we can just go take care of it in a regular restaurant, so the two of you can get something other than alcohol."

Tifa smiled and spun to go back and get Charlotte.

Vincent dropped his gaze to the ground, still feeling a little awkward in Cid's presence. His cybernetic left hand twitched at his side in his discomfort.

Cid couldn't help but stare. "It's workin' all right?"

Vincent knew what he was talking about even if not looking. "Yeah."

Tifa reappeared with the baby strapped into her carrier seat. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, they were walking from the base and toward town.

Vincent held the baby carrier in his left hand, and kept Tifa's within his right. They went along, lagging behind Cid and Jin a short distance.

"I can't believe he just died like that," Tifa said under her breath.

"He seemed healthy." Vincent shrugged. "He was up there in years, though, and he smoked just as much as Cid used to."

"Yeah." Tifa looked over at Vincent. "Cid seems pretty upset about it."

"As well he should, I suppose."

Tifa turned her eyes back to the couple walking ahead of them. "At least Jin came along to be with him through this."

Vincent couldn't help but express his approval of this, because he knew that if Cid's wife hadn't shown up, that the pilot would be using Tifa to get through this. "Yes."

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Reno's phone went off and he answered. "Yeah?"

"It's Brad." The sound of the helicopter's rotors was blaring in the background. "I was just calling so you could tell Tifa and Vincent that I dropped Aaron off in Mideel safely."

"That's great, I'll tell them." Reno realized that he had to break the news to the chopper pilot. "Uh, Brad, I've got something to tell you."

"What's that?"

Reno swallowed hard. "A little while ago, damn it, your dad…he passed away."

Brad was silent for a moment. "Are you serious?"

"I'm afraid so." He leaned against the wall. "Cid was with him when it happened. I guess it was fast at least."

"Oh…" The pilot didn't know exactly what he was supposed to say upon getting this news, or even how he should honestly feel about the situation. He'd spent most of his life thinking that when he got word of the elder Highwind's death that it wouldn't faze him that much. That wasn't turning out to be the case since they'd spent some time together at Cid's beside. "Okay."

"I'm sorry." With that, Reno hung up, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. He went to Tifa and Vincent's room to try and tell them that Aaron had arrived at Jaras' safely, but found that they were gone. "Crap."

He stood there before their room, debating over what to do.

"Reno."

The ASRIO leader spun quickly, spotting Tseng standing behind him. Not accustomed to seeing his dead friend just out and about, Reno couldn't help but jump back a short distance. "Oh fuck! What are you doing out here?"

Tseng smiled faintly and took a step closer. "Nothing much."

Reno just froze in place for a few seconds, wondering how weird it would look if someone saw him standing here talking to himself. He didn't suppose that anyone else would be able to see Tseng. However, something immediately came to mind. "So, you aren't just a figment of my imagination."

"I'm not?" Tseng asked, levity in his voice.

"You knew that Vincent and Cid were sorta related, or that we're all part of the same extended family, anyway." Reno crossed his arms over his chest. "I never would've thought that possible, but you called it."

"The benefits of being dead, I guess." Tseng laughed to himself.

"So, uh, is there something you need to tell me?" Reno asked, not supposing that he was seeing his dead comrade merely on a social level.

"Just letting you know that I'll be around when you need me, or when your men do." With that, Tseng vanished when Reno dared to blink.

Reno jumped a second time when the phone in his pocket went off once more. "What?"

"I have an idea." Rude was sitting on the couch in his small apartment.

"Shoot." Reno smiled, finally feeling like things might be heading down the right track.

"If I don't have to worry about working for Shinra anymore, and your guys need into that lab in a nice calm way so they can get what they need to get, then I say fuck it and I'll take them in personally." Rude pulled his sunglasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Are you fuckin' serious?" Reno's eye went wide. "You'd do that?"

"Sure." Rude grinned, enjoying Reno's disbelief. "It'll be no big deal. I meet your guys in Junon, escort them into the lab, order everyone who might be in there to bail, and let them get to work. Once that's done, I lead them out and we all come home to your base. Easy."

"I'm not going gay on you or anything, but damn it, I love you." Reno was ecstatic.

"Your wife said the same thing to me a while back. Up for a three way?" Rude shot back jokingly.

"Perv," Reno laughed. "It's gonna be real good to have you here. When do you want to do this thing?"

"Well, I have to go with the president to Gongaga tomorrow, but I can skip out after that and get to Junon."

Reno nodded, thinking. "Okay, know where the Mayfield hotel is?"

"Yup."

"Good, go hang out there, and I'll make sure that my guys meet you in the lobby there by two in the afternoon, day after tomorrow. Sound like a plan?" he asked.

Rude was onboard with this. It was going to be the most exciting thing that he'd been a part of in years. "Right. I'll meet them then."

Reno flipped his phone closed as Rude hung up without any further pleasantries as per his norm. "This is gonna be cool."

Obscured in the shadows and hidden mostly by a corner, Porter watched the past several minutes of Reno's activity with concern. The phone call that Reno had just made wasn't bothering him, but his previous episode of talking to himself like there had been someone standing nearby had worried the former Turk. He wondered if there might be more wrong with Reno than anyone suspected. Silently, he retreated back down the hall the other way, debating if he should discuss this with anyone.

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Cid picked up his shot glass of tequila from the table and lifted it up. "To the old man… I guess I'll miss him."

All the others raised their drinks in response. Vincent took a sip of his iced tea and looked over at Cid. "I know this is probably a bad time, but I have a question to ask you."

The pilot downed his drink in one swallow, and locked gazes with the other man as he set his emptied glass back upon the table. "What's that, Sue?"

Vincent felt horribly self-conscious, but knew it had to be done. "I…I am going to marry Tifa again, and I was hoping that perhaps the two of you could be our witnesses. I know it might be a little inappropriate in light of all that has happened, but…"

"Marry her again? Did you do some foolish damn thing like divorce her while you were hidin'?" Cid crossed his arms over his chest, switching his gaze between Tifa and Vincent.

Vincent turned red and dropped his gaze to the table before him. "No, I did no such thing. It's just that…I feel that we need a completely new start, and this is the best way I know."

Inwardly, Cid was pleased to hear this. He'd been afraid that Vincent and Tifa might give up on trying to save their relationship. Since he himself was now married to Jin, he had no problem in seeing Tifa reconcile with Vincent. Of course, in his heart he knew that if Jin hadn't come back to him that he wouldn't have been happy with this news at all. However, things seemed to be getting back to something resembling normal. "Sure, we'll do it, won't we, Jin?"

She nodded eagerly. Getting some sort of confirmation that Vincent and Tifa did still want to be together would set the mechanic's mind at ease. "Yeah, we'll do it."

"Thank you." Vincent was still embarrassed by the whole thing, but felt a little better about it when Tifa placed her hand upon his leg beneath the table.

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Brandon was sitting in his clinic in Mideel, writing up the chart to the last patient he'd seen when he heard someone walk through the door. He'd sent both his receptionist and nurse home for the day as it had been slow, and he wondered who it was. Brandon stood up and looked into the reception area of the clinic and his eyes went wide. "Janice?"

She looked over at him, her eyes red and teary. "Brandon…"

He was in shock. Brandon hadn't seen her in the flesh in over a year as her job kept her busy and unable to come out for casual visits. Still, they had maintained their relationship over the years through their nightly phone conversations. "What…what are you doing here?"

"I quit." She came over toward him as he stepped out from behind the reception desk.

They embraced for several minutes before he brought her out to arm's length. "What do you mean you quit?"

"I mean I quit. I left ASRIO and I didn't know where else to go…" Dr. Arlin wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

While he had been aware of her stress in the base over the last few months, he never would have imagined her leaving. "I can't believe you would do that, Janice."

"I know…but, it's just too much anymore." She moved away from him and then went and sat in one of the waiting room chairs.

"What happened?" Brandon took up the chair next to hers, and took hold of one of her hands.

"That little prick Reno tried to drill me a new one early this morning and I snapped. I left after that." She sighed heavily.

"You left because he yelled at you?" Brandon asked.

"Not really, it just seemed as good an excuse to cut and run as I was going to get." Janice sank back into her chair, her exhaustion getting the better of her. "I'm tired, I've been burned out for a long time…I had to leave."

"Janice, what's really going on? I know you better than that. I mean, you were there for close to fifteen years. You wouldn't just leave because you were burned out. We all get that way in this field every once in a while." He tightened the grip he had on her hand.

"Yeah, we all do, but I'm working in basically a military type situation. I see young men dying constantly, not just the old and sick. It's taken it's toll on me, and I've poured so much of my energy and time into it that…well, I've basically thrown my entire life away to work for the ASRIO cause. Maybe I'm becoming selfish, but I want something for me now. For instance, you and I have been together for ages, but we could probably count all the times we've actually been face to face with our fingers." Janice ran a hand through her hair. "I haven't had any sort of a life since joining ASRIO, Brandon, and I want one."

The fact that she would come to him was touching. "Well, you know you're welcome to stay with me as long as you like. Hell, stay here forever if you want."

Janice offered him a weak smile. "I just might."

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Angel was sitting at Dr. Arlin's desk in the infirmary, doing her best to keep things going in the absence of the doctor. She had already administered some first aid to a few that had been injured around the base, and although she was more than capable of handling most things just fine on her own, not having Janice to fall back on was making her a nervous wreck. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn't hear Porter enter or notice him sit in one of the chairs before her.

"Angel?"

Startled, she dropped the pen she'd been holding and came to attention. "Oh, God, Porter? What's up?"

He immediately looked uncomfortable and folded his hands upon his lap. "I think we need to talk about Reno."

"Why?" Angel rested her arms upon the desk and met Porter's stare.

"I was walking down the hall, and I caught him talking to himself." He was ashamed for having watched in secret, but what was done was done.

Angel smiled. "Reno talks to himself constantly. He always has."

"I know, but this was different." Porter shrugged. "He wasn't just ranting to himself like he does, he was honestly acting as though he was speaking with someone else. Even pausing for their replies. I don't know, I just got the weirdest feeling…"

She considered this for a moment. "He's been under a lot of stress."

"Yeah, but Angel, this was creepy." Porter hung his head. "Maybe there isn't anything to it, but I just had to throw it out there. I know he got a pass from that doctor about his mental functions, but I think we need to keep a close eye on him."

Angel outright laughed. "Well, I live with him, so I think that's about as close as we can get."

Porter smiled. "True."

"I'll let you know if I notice anything strange. I don't mean to be rude, but I need to finish getting stuff here organized for when Doctor Ritchie arrives." She motioned toward all of the papers spread out before her.

Porter got up, nodding. "All right. When's he getting here?"

"In about half an hour." Angel leaned back in her seat. "I wonder where Janice is?"

"I haven't a clue." Porter moved toward the door. "I'll see you around."

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Brad arrived back at the base and didn't bother with his usual post flight work on the helicopter. Instead, he just left it on the airfield, not even going to the trouble of putting her back in the hanger.

He walked toward the base and went down inside. The chopper pilot went straight to Cid's room and knocked.

Cid answered shortly thereafter. Faced with his brother, he didn't say a thing, simply stepping forward and taking Brad into his arms.

They remained that way for several minutes until Brad finally stepped back. He wiped his eyes and met Cid's gaze. "I'm really sorry that I wasn't here."

"You had orders, it's not your fault." Cid was fighting a sting in his own eyes. "At least he didn't have to lay around and suffer for weeks or months."

"Go figure, with as poorly as he always took care of himself that he'd even make it this long," Brad sighed, getting his composure back together.

"Yeah," Cid replied, shoving his hands down into his pockets. "I guess we're just lucky to have gotten to see him and work things out between all of us."

"True." Brad dropped his gaze to the floor. "Look, I feel a little bad, though, about never mentioning to you about us being brothers. Like I said, I just didn't want to associate you with him."

"I understand." Cid smiled faintly. "Even so, I always sorta wondered. I mean, I knew I had a brother, and I figured that he would probably be somethin' like me, and you were about as much like me as anyone."

Brad laughed to himself. "I suppose I am." He looked past Cid and into the room, spotting Jin lying on the bed. "So, how are things between you and Jingles?"

Cid looked over his shoulder for a moment at his sleeping wife. "Good, things have been good. She's been one hell of a sport, considerin' all that I've pulled off over the last year. And I never thanked you for sending her my way again."

"I had to. I don't mean to piss you off or anything, but the whole idea of you and Tifa…that just bothered the hell out of me." The chopper pilot ran a hand through his hair. "What in the fuck were you thinking?"

Cid stepped out into the hall and shut the room door, not really wishing Jin to hear any of this if she awoke. "I'd just…had feelings for Tifa all along and the thought of her being alone after Vincent was supposedly dead with a new baby…"

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why you were fucking around with her before that." Brad crossed his arms over his chest.

"It only happened once before that, guy." Cid's eyes narrowed. "And it wasn't somethin' that I was particularly proud of. As it turns out, she and I…well, when it gets right down to it, we never would've lasted as a couple very long, whether or not Vincent had been alive. Make me fall in love with my best friend, but make us incompatible as a couple. Joke of the fuckin' Universe."

"But don't you love Jin?" Brad let his arms fall back to his sides, seeing how much Cid was still in pain over the whole chain of events.

"I love Jin, yes. I have since I hooked up with her years ago, but I've still always had a thing for Tifa. Jin and I actually get along, though." Cid smiled to himself.

Brad shook his head. He was aware of how turbulent Cid and Jin's relationship had been at times. "If what you and Jin have going on can be called getting along, I'd hate to see what it was like between you and Tifa."

"Yeah, but see, when Jin gets pissed, she gets it out and lets me know. She doesn't just sit and brood, and she doesn't let the past eat away at her constantly. That's Tifa's flaw. She's just as sulky and inwardly depressed as Sunshine is, and I can't deal with that shit on a daily basis." Cid leaned back against the wall. "Doesn't matter anymore, anyway. It looks like Tifa and Sue are gonna honestly give reconciliation a shot and to be honest with you, I hope it works out, for the kids if nothing else."

"That's good." Brad couldn't honestly relate. Once he'd met Lilly, he'd never looked back and he and his wife had never even had a serious fight in all the years of their marriage. Then again, he wasn't always on the verge of flying off the handle like his brother, and he tended to be a little more easy going all around. "Well, I'm going to head home for the night, I just wanted to stop by and make sure that you were doing all right."

"I am." Cid met Brad's gaze as he straightened back up. "By the way, I'm having the old man cremated and I was thinking that I'd take him up in his plane and then let his ashes go up in the sky. I…I want you to come along with me."

Brad looked thoughtful. This was far more sentimental than he was used to seeing Cid. "I think he would have liked that. Just let me know when and I'll be there."

"Okay." Cid turned his back to the other man and went to go into his room, hiding the tears that had finally managed through. "Bye."

"Bye." Brad watched as he closed the door and then strolled away. Getting home to Lilly was foremost on his mind. He thanked God under his breath as he went that his life had turned out like it had.

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Tifa and Vincent were sitting on their couch, watching television. Charlotte was sleeping in her crib, leaving them in peace for the time being.

Actually, to say they were watching television wouldn't be exactly correct. While Vincent was staring in the general direction of it, his mind was elsewhere, wandering blankly about that past few weeks and all that had happened. He was also distracted by the constant low drone of the mechanical heart he now possessed.

Tifa, in the meanwhile, paid no attention to the television at all. She was nestled into Vincent's side, staring up at him. Part of her knew that she was incredibly lucky that he had returned. After a time, she couldn't help but ask. "Vincent, what were you planning on doing when you left?"

He didn't respond immediately, as he had to think about her words for a moment. "After I was removed from the lab?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

Vincent looked down into her eyes and knit his brow. "I was going to break a promise to you."

She sat back a little and considered him. "What promise was that?"

He sighed heavily and looked away from her. "My honest intent was to just to vanish once and for all. I intended to die."

Although she had suspected such a thing, it hurt to hear him say it. When she had finally been reunited with him not so long ago, it had been obvious that he'd suffered some self-induced torture. He was still thinner than he had been in years and hadn't yet recuperated completely. "How so?"

"Since Chaos wouldn't allow me to outright kill myself by putting a bullet in my brain, I went off somewhere isolated where I could starve myself to death without the worry of anyone finding me." Vincent finally looked into her eyes again. "However, as is so often the case in my life, Cid decided to interfere with that plan."

"Well, thank God for his dumb luck on stumbling upon you, Vincent." Tifa put her arms around him and held him tight. "The both of you going off to kill yourselves at the same time and then ending up saving each other…"

Vincent didn't particularly feel like keeping up this line of discussion and so turned his eyes back toward the television.

Tifa could see him retreating back into himself and knew not to push him, although he seemed to be lacking the desire to fight on any level. She thought about it for a moment, and then remembered how unemotional he'd been after going through his initial rounds of anti-Chaos treatments several years back. He had claimed then that losing Chaos had left him feeling empty, and she wondered if that's what he was feeling now. "Vincent?"

He glanced at her again, his face betraying no emotion. Silently, he anticipated her question.

"How are you feeling?"

Vincent tensed his jaw for a moment, as the contemplated his response. His red eyes displayed something once he looked at her. "Relieved to be with you. Disappointed to have this," he said, lifting his left arm slightly. "Other than that, I'm just… I don't know. Chaos is silent. My mind is quieter than I've gotten used to it being. It's just unusual."

Tifa reached up and touched the side of his face. "But are you okay? I mean, are you really okay?"

"I swore to you that there would be no more secrets between us, Tifa. If there was something bothering me right now, I would tell you." He figured he knew what was on her mind. "Remember, Chaos made me more excitable, emotional, or whatever than I tend to naturally be. I think we had this discussion some years ago."

"I know, that's what I was thinking." Tifa pushed a few stray strands of his hair back.

"I love you, Tifa. Don't think that just because I'm not saying much that something's wrong. I'm content." He offered her a faint smile, but it was genuine. "After all the fighting and yelling that I've put you through over the course of our marriage, I would think that you would welcome some peace."

She couldn't help but laugh a little at this. "I guess. I'm just having to get used to the old Vincent again."

"I know." Vincent stood up and then turned toward her. "But…if I'm not mistaken, it was the 'old Vincent' that you initially fell in love with, correct?"

Tifa moved to get up from the couch as well, and took his hands into her own. "Yes, it was. Like I've said, I missed you."

Vincent leaned forward and kissed her.

They were interrupted shortly thereafter by a knock at the door.

Vincent pulled away from Tifa, clearly annoyed, and went to answer. When he saw that it was Reno, he wondered what was going on.

Reno pushed his way past Vincent and stepped inside. He walked right over to the baby's crib and looked in, seeing that Charlotte was asleep. Nodding in approval, he turned to face Tifa. "She seems to be doing all right, huh?"

Tifa nodded in response. "Yeah, she's been an easy baby so far."

"Cool…hope my next one is, too. Dana was…busy." Reno went over and sat on the edge of the bed. "So, hey, I wanted to talk to you guys."

"What's up?" Tifa asked, going and sitting next to him. She was still finding it hard to look at him since being shot without staring.

Reno kept his gaze trained on the floor before him. "I talked to Rude, we're going in to get the real cure for cancer from the lab. That cure can be manipulated to get Chaos out of you, Aaron, and whatever in the hell is in Cid, or so we've been led to believe. So, I just wanted to let you guys know that. My guys are going in day after tomorrow."

Vincent, on instinct, spoke before he truly contemplated the situation. "I'm going."

Tifa's eyes went wide and she slowly turned toward him. Without a word, she reached out, grabbed his right arm in a painfully tight grip and pulled him mercilessly out of the room and into the hall. Once out of the room and no longer in danger of waking the baby, Tifa unloaded. "Pardon the fuck out of me, but did you just say you were going?"

Vincent realized his mistake. "I was just…"

"You were just nothing! This is how all of this shit started!" Tifa thought about how bad an idea it was to be screaming at him, but this was something she wasn't going to let slide and there was no way she was tolerating him doing this. "Vincent, you can't do that sort of thing anymore! Get it through your fucking head! You have a family and obligations to them!"

"I realize that, and that's why I'm going. I need to see to it that we get that cure so that Aaron can be helped." Vincent kept his tone calm, knowing better than to raise his voice.

"No, your obligation is to be alive and around for them. Let Reno's men take care of it. That's always been one of my beefs with you, Vincent! You need to trust others to handle things for you." Tifa felt her anger wane a bit when she saw the look on his face turn to one of absolute dejection.

Vincent averted his stare from her and his shoulders slumped. "Trust others…"

Tifa sighed and moved closer to him. "Please, Vincent, just let them handle this. It's their job. It would be far worse for Aaron to be without you than to have you and just undergo some injections every few years."

Vincent held his tongue and thought for a moment. "You're right."

Tifa stepped a little closer, but didn't say anything.

"You're right… and I have no business going. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not in any shape to go, nor should I." Vincent closed his eyes, the shame of admitting a weakness washing over him.

"Besides," Reno said, having opened the door and stepped out behind them without their notice, "I wouldn't have let you go anyway. Not after all the fuckin' trouble we've gone through to bail your ass out of that lab more than once."

Vincent hung his head and then went back into the room. He went toward the couch and landed upon it. Reno and Tifa also came back into the room. Tifa sat at Vincent's side, putting an arm around his shoulders.

Reno sat back on the edge of the bed, facing them. "So, as I was saying before your little hissy fit, we're going in to get it day after tomorrow. The team is going to consist of Porter, Quigley, Kimo, and Ericson."

Vincent cocked an eyebrow and looked at his son-in-law. "You're refusing to let me go, but you're sending Quigley in?"

Reno raised his hands. "Yeah, but I'm not sending him in because I want to. He's going because he's the only one who'll know what to look for in the ways of the cure in the computer system. Rude's gonna get them in, take them up, they'll get the info and bail. It should be pretty straight forward. Wanna know that best part, though?"

"What's that?" Tifa asked, humoring him.

"Rude's leaving Shinra after that and coming here. Isn't that cool?" Reno's excitement over this prospect was obvious, however, it didn't have much of an impact upon Tifa and Vincent. He looked at them and then got up from the couch. "Well, I'm pretty razzed about it, anyway. I'm headin' home for the night, I'll see you two in the morning or something."

"Bye, Reno," Tifa said after him as he let himself out.

Vincent continued to sit in silence after they were alone again.

Tifa looked up at him. "Vincent?"

"It's all right. I just have to let go of my pride a little." He shrugged weakly. "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed, but I know I have absolutely no right to go in there."

"Okay. Are you ready for bed yet?" Tifa asked, already moving to get up.

He offered her a smile and then stood. "Yeah."