I'm sorry if this story is getting stupid. It's almost over, really it is.

Chapter 51

Jaras smiled as his wife came back and sat next to him. "So?"

She picked up one of his hands and looked into his eyes. "Jaras, there's absolutely no trace of Jenova in you whatsoever."

He shook his head and frowned. "No, that's not right!"

"It is, the Mako treatment the other day worked." She reached up and touched the side of his face. "Whatever's bothering you, it's not Jenova madness."

"But Sephiroth…and…" He looked completely lost.

"Jaras, the Mako itself can cause mental side effects. You know that." Jeanine moved a little closer to him.

"But it feels just like it did all those years ago… It has to be the Jenova." Jaras was starting to feel sick to his stomach.

She considered him for a moment. There was the lingering possibility in the back of her mind that Jaras was, simply put, losing his mind-- Jenova, Mako, or otherwise. "Well, there's no Jenova in you. It should get better within a few days. All we can do is wait and see, okay?"

He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Jaras really did feel something horribly wrong within his mind, and life felt as though it was honestly getting out of control. "I don't really have a choice."

"Let's go home." Jeanine stood up and extended a hand toward him to help him up.

Reluctantly, Jaras followed.

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Reno sat with his wife beside him, being faced with Dr. Zennell.

"So, you claim that not only are they talking to you, but you've been passed information by them that you otherwise didn't know?" the psychologist asked, steepling his fingers before him.

"Right, that's what I said." Reno was sitting with his arms folded across his chest, irritated that he kept being asked questions of things he'd just said.

Angel, picking up on his annoyance, placed a hand upon his knee. "Calm down."

"Mr. Sparks," the doctor crossed his legs and cleared his throat, "it's possible that these so-called 'unknown' things that they are telling you are in fact, things that you knew in your subconscious."

"I didn't have a fuckin' clue over the stuff I've been told!" Reno had gone through quite enough.

"I know this is all very frustrating to you right now, Mr. Sparks, but you have to remember, you suffered a considerable brain injury. What you may honestly believe might not really be happening. I mean, before this happened, would you have believed someone if they told you that they were talking to the dead?" the doctor asked.

"Well, no, but…" He looked over at Angel, hoping that she'd bail him out of this.

"I think it's very important that we get to the bottom of this quickly." Dr. Zennell got up from his chair and went over to his desk, picking up Reno's file. "I'm going to recommend that you be admitted to the hospital here so that we can run some tests and see if there's a reason for what you've been experiencing."

Reno shook his head and his eye grew wide. "You're gonna throw me in the loony bin?"

"We are admitting you to the hospital, Mr. Sparks. This may be something that can be corrected with some treatment and possibly medication." The doctor reached back and pushed some sort of call button on his desk.

"I'm not crazy! Babe! Tell him! Tell him I'm not crazy!" Reno was looking at her, desperate for any help.

After hearing the entire two hour conversation that had just occurred between the doctor and her husband, Angel couldn't hide the tears anymore. Everything that she had heard had, more or less, confirmed it for her that Reno was, indeed, mentally ill. "Reno, please, don't make this any worse…"

Reno's heart rate skyrocketed and he leapt up from his seat. "You're not gonna stand by me? You…you think I'm crazy, too? Everyone thinks I'm nuts?"

The doctor looked over at Angel. "Paranoia-- not uncommon with this sort of thing. Do we have your consent, Mrs. Sparks?"

Reno froze and looked at his wife. "Consent? Consent for what?"

Angel just nodded and closed her eyes. "Yes."

The doctor hit one more button on his desk, and the door opened, two male nurses appearing. "Mr. Sparks, they will show you to your room so that you can get settled in."

"No…" Reno raised his hands in defense. "I'm not going!"

Angel got up and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Reno, just let them run the tests, all right? It's not a big deal."

Seeing the look in her eyes, his resolve to fight his way out of this withered. If it's what Angel wanted, then he would do it, no matter how terrified he was. "Fuck…Babe…"

"It's going to be all right, Reno." She forced a smile. "I won't leave you, okay?"

He was shaking, his complexion flushed in his stress. "Damn it…"

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Quigley went back into the lab after dinner with Amy and walked over to the compounding machine. He examined the display and to his surprise, it was done. "Great!"

The researcher opened the machine and pulled out the small vial of medication within it. He held it up and inspected it, seeing that the liquid within it was a light purple color.

Suddenly, an overwhelming cold came over him as Porter's ghost walked up behind the blond, to have a look at the drug as well.

Quigley, instantly getting the willies, turned around, seeing that no one was there, but feeling Porter's distinct presence. The thought that Reno perhaps hadn't been joking or simply insane crossed his mind. Feeling a little stupid for doing so as it went against every logical bone in his body, he quietly whispered out, "P…Port?"

There was no response.

Quigley sighed and hung his head, not really having expected any sort of reply.

Then, some of the papers sitting on Porter's desk were moved aside.

Quigley felt his hackles rise. Porter would always sit on the edge of his desk when talking, always moving whatever papers that might be in his way to the position they now took up.

Quigley felt his blood run cold. There was no vent that could have moved the papers…and he was scared. "Port?"

Nothing.

The blond steeled himself and went closer to the desk, immediately being overwhelmed with the cold feeling again. Quigley suddenly flashed with a thought. If the cold was real and not just a figment of his imagination, then it could be measured. Still feeling frightened and stupid, Quigley made a simple request. "Port…stay there, okay?"

Porter, invisible to his friend, crossed his arms over his chest, keeping exactly where he was on the edge of his desk.

Quigley went over to a drawer and pulled out a digital thermal scanner. He turned it on and took a reading of the ambient temperature of the room.

It read sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.

Seeing that it was working, he then held it out before him and started toward Porter's desk. Surely enough, once he was close, the reading dropped-- a lot.

When the digits quit changing, the reading leveled out at forty-one.

Forty-one.

There was no reason for this one spot in the room to be twenty-seven degrees colder than the rest of the room. Quigley moved around, and found that the temperature reading instantly went back to sixty-eight. Once more feeling like an ass, but strangely excited at the possibility, he asked, "Okay, now, go over by the compounder."

After waiting a while, Quigley then went toward the machine. Once again, the reading dropped right back down to forty-one.

"Holy crap…" he whispered under his breath. "Port…you're really there?"

There was no response.

Quigley didn't need any, though. He asked Porter to move to one more place, and once more he was able to track him with the scanner. Knowing that he had to go vindicate Reno, Quigley flew out of the lab and out to go find Angel.

He searched the entire base and then went up and to their house, but couldn't find any sign of either Angel or Reno whatsoever. Finally, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and decided to simply give calling a shot. He hit Angel's number and waited.

"Hello?"

He sat on the steps outside the ASRIO leader's home. "Angel? Where are you?"

She looked over her shoulder to where Reno was sitting on his hospital bed, looking absolutely fit to be tied. "The hospital."

"Is something wrong?" Quigley asked, concerned.

"Reno's just going to be evaluated a bit."

The researcher sighed heavily. He didn't know what he was going to say that was going to come out not making him seem as insane as Reno. His mind grasped at straws. "Just wait, don't let them do anything to him yet. I…I uh, just checked into some things and…"

"And what?" Angel turned away from her husband, picking up on something very strange from Quigley.

"Just wait, I'll be there in a few minutes." Quigley got up and put his phone back in his pocket before heading toward the hospital.

He arrived there within a half an hour and was taken to the room Reno had been placed in. When he entered, he found Reno still sitting on the bed infuriated, Angel dutifully at his side, and Dr. Zennell, trying to explain the battery of tests he was recommending.

When Reno noticed that Quigley had arrived, he looked away from the doctor and met the blonde's stare. "Oh good, you're here to watch them fuck with me, too?"

"Actually, no." Quigley had been given a bit of a chance to think about things on the way to the hospital. He thought he might have an explanation that would potentially please the doctor. "I was just doing some things in the base…and I took some EMF readings, you know, where you thought you saw the uh, ghosts."

Reno had no idea what Quig was up to, and just narrowed his eye.

This comment, however, caught the doctor's attention. "EMF readings, you say?"

"Yeah," Quigley tried his best to pull off the lie, "I've heard that if they're strong enough, they can affect people's minds to some degree. Make them feel things and what not."

"That's true. What did you find?" the doctor asked.

"That the readings in those places were very, very high. I mean, the base is full of all kinds of equipment and wiring." Quigley crossed his arms over his chest. Lying had never been a strong suit of his. He turned his gaze over toward Reno. "You've never seen any so-called ghosts outside of the base, right?"

This was all over Reno's head, but he knew enough to realize that Quigley was trying to get him off the hook for being nuts for some reason. "No, I haven't seen nothing outside of the base."

Quigley looked back at the doctor. "Could it be that with the injury that he sustained that he's just maybe more sensitive to the waves in the base?"

"It's entirely possible." Dr. Zennell turned to Reno. "I'm willing, perhaps, to let you just try staying out of the base for a few days to see if the hallucinations stop."

Reno sighed in relief and hopped up from the bed. "Thank fuckin' God!"

Angel, not knowing that Quigley was lying, but pleased to have what could be a reasonable answer for Reno's visions, was clearly happy. "Quigley, I owe you one."

"Sure." The blond looked back at Reno. "So, can we go back to the house for a while? I've got some things I need to talk to you about, anyway."

Reno looked to the doctor for final permission to leave.

Dr. Zennell turned his gaze over to Angel. "You keep a close eye on him. If there's any hint that something's wrong, you get him back here immediately, understand?"

"Yes, of course," she replied, offering him a smile.

"Good then. I'll call in a few days if I don't hear anything to get an update. If this turns out to be it, he'll need to stay out of the base, lest he suffer more hallucinations." With that, the doctor turned and left the room.

Reno, Angel, and Quigley started back to the house, going along in silence. Once home, Angel made Quigley promise to keep an eye on her husband as she went to go collect their daughter.

Once they were alone, Reno landed on his couch and looked at Quigley. "So what in the fuck are these PMF thingies?"

"EMFs, Reno." Quigley sat in a chair. "Electo-Magnetic Fields, but it doesn't matter, I didn't really check for them."

Reno suddenly looked very confused. "What? But you told the doctor…"

Quigley nodded. "I know what I told the doctor. I couldn't very well just tell him that I'd found out that you really were seeing ghosts and that you weren't insane. I would have ended up committed as well."

Reno shot up to his feet. "Wait, you…you believe me?"

"I do now." Quigley offered a weak smile.

"Why? Did you see something?" Reno fell back onto the couch.

"It's more that I felt something." Quigley was embarrassed to discuss this, even in the presence of the only person that would honestly believe him. "I got that cold feeling again and decided to see if I could measure it, and it worked. It was Port… I told him to go to a different place in the room and sure enough, the cold spot moved. You're not crazy-- at least not in regard to this."

Reno looked absolutely delighted and he got up again and ran across the room, throwing his arms around Quigley's neck. "I fuckin' love you, Quiggers!"

The researcher pushed Reno away. "Yeah, great. Get off of me."

"Okay." Reno stepped back from where the blond was sitting "Seriously, though, thanks."

"It's all right." Quigley then reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial he'd taken from the compounder prior to his experience with Porter's spirit. "And, I've got the drug made up."

Reno snagged the vial from his hand and examined it. "That's fucking great! Wow… Does Vinny know yet?"

"No." Quigley stood up and reclaimed the vial. "I'm going to go tell him when I get back to the base. I'm eager to see if it actually works out right."

"Well, let's go back and do it!"

Quigley shook his head. "No, you have to stay here for a few days and put up a good show, otherwise they'll take you right back into that hospital."

"Fuck." Reno immediately looked upset.

"You need to not let anyone else know what you've been seeing, Reno, or they will take you back. You know that." Quigley put the vial back in his pocket.

Not being free to do as he wished was agonizing, but staying at home was far better than going back to the hospital. Reno relinquished himself to his fate. "Fine, fuck it."

"Don't worry. I'll tell Angel in a day or so that I took care of the EMF readings in those locations and you'll be allowed back in. Just…don't screw up again, okay?" Quigley offered him a smile.

"Yeah fine, we'll do it your way." Reno gave a lopsided grin.

They heard the door to the house open and close, as well as Dana's talking, indicating that Angel was back.

"Good. I'm going to head back to the base and get going on Vincent. I'll see you later." Quigley turned and started for the door.

"Okay, thanks." Reno looked over his shoulder and then at Quigley's retreating form. "Tseng says for you to be careful with his brother, too!"

"I really don't want to hear that from you, Reno." Quigley didn't miss a beat and stepped out the door, closing it behind him.

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Vincent was sitting with Tifa in their room, presently holding his infant daughter when a knock came to the door. He got up, keeping the baby held to him with his right arm, and answered. "Quigley?"

"Hey." He looked around Vincent and spotted Tifa on the couch. "Can I come in for a minute?"

"Sure," Vincent replied, stepping aside and letting the researcher by. "What's going on?"

"Well, I've got the drug made up."

Tifa shot up from the couch. "Are you serious?"

"I am." Quigley offered her a smile. "I just left it in the infirmary on my way here. I've got Dr. Ritchie setting things up for you to be given it."

"Now?" Vincent hadn't been expecting this to happen so soon and was honestly surprised.

"Yes." Quigley switched his gaze between the two of them. "I'm…I'm going to go wait in the infirmary. The two of you come along whenever you're ready."

They just watched in silence as Quigley departed, closing the door behind him. Once they were alone, Tifa broke down into tears. "Oh Vincent…"

He knit his brow and came back over, placing his free left arm around her shoulders. "Tifa?"

"I'm scared…what…what if it isn't what they think? I mean, they were wrong with Cid..." She made no attempt to cover her fear.

Vincent looked into her eyes. "Tifa, it will work. I know it will work."

"You don't know that…"

"I promised you before, when I was going to undergo my surgery to get my own body back that I'd be fine and I was, wasn't I?" he asked.

She nodded shallowly.

"And now I'm promising you again, everything will be fine. This will fix me once and for all, then they can take care of Cid and Aaron." Vincent kissed her cheek gently. "There is nothing for you to fear."

Tifa forced away the tears. "Okay."

"Do you want us to see if Cid and Jin will watch Charlotte while this is done?" Vincent kept his arm around her, but turned toward the door.

"Yeah, okay."

They grabbed the baby's bag and headed toward Cid's room, finding him present with his wife.

Cid opened the door, standing there in his boxers and a tee shirt. "What's up?"

"Quigley has the drug made for me." Vincent met the pilot's eyes.

"No shit? That was quick." Cid crossed his arms over his chest. "And lemme guess, you want me to watch the kid while you go and get it done, right?"

"We'd really appreciate it, Cid," Tifa replied, the diaper bag in her hands.

He shrugged. "Yeah well, as much baby sittin' as you did when L.C. was little, I owe you." Cid outstretched his arms, indicating that he wanted Vincent to hand over the child. Honestly, Cid was still attached to the baby, father or not and was eager to hold her again.

Vincent complied and passed over his daughter. "Thanks, Cid."

"No problem." Cid considered the baby in his arms for a moment, before looking at Vincent again. "And uh, good luck, guy."

He openly smiled in response. "Thank you, Cid."

"Yeah well, you should probably get to that, then." Cid held out one of his hands toward Tifa, motioning for the baby's things.

She passed them over. "I'll come by in a while and let you know how it goes."

He locked gazes with Tifa for a moment, wanting her to know that he'd be there for her if things didn't go well. "All right, I'll be waiting."

"Okay." With that, Vincent took Tifa's hand and led her away. She looked back over her shoulder one more time as she retreated with her husband, seeing that Cid was still there, watching them go as well.