Untouchable Pt. 4

Cid held the damaged arm and let his fingers trace the raised blue veins, all the way down to where the tips of his fingers would have been if they weren't all negative energy. Vincent didn't know what to do, the way he touched him was a feeling he'd not felt in over twenty years. Cid's presence calmed Chaos and oddly enough, his own being. Crimson eyes dropped and he watched as Cid turned it over in his hands and traced the scars from the scalpel, it made him look away in shame.

"Cid…"

"Ya know, scars tell stories…" He interrupted. "Of a life lived. Battles won. Yours are no different."

Vincent's heart raced in his chest, his eyes slowly coming back to see Cid's hand in his.

"This one…" He ran a thumb across the blackened flesh once more feeling the raised scar just above his thumb. "This doesn't look like it was from a lab."

He was right. That one was different, and it made Vincent take pause.

"It isn't." He replied, his voice barely over a whisper. "That scar came from my first assignment as a Turk." He wanted to leave it at that, but it was like he couldn't stop talking. "My target ran from me…I punched through a window and dragged him out."

Cid smiled and a laugh bubbled in his chest.

"Bet he shit his pants!"

Vincent stared at him in disbelief.

"See Vince, not all these are from there." He said, his laughing dying down. "But…yer right. Yer healed." He laid his arm on his knee and reached under the table for the gauntlet that Vincent was so eager to get back. For what felt like an agonizing wait, he watched as Cid pulled it from the box and unwrapped it from an old t-shirt but just before the last of the fabric was removed, he looked up at Vincent and smiled excitedly.

"Close yer eyes Vince."

"I don't…"

"Close 'em." He said again.

Sighing, he was defeated and closed his eyes. His heightened senses let him hear it as the clawed fingers touched together and suddenly, he felt as soft leather touched his skin, sliding up until he felt Cid twist it to lock it in place. There was a low hum in his chest as the contacts touched and control surged back into the muscles and tendons. His hand instinctively flexed the clawed tips, a soft hiss escaped his lips.

"A'ight…open 'em."

When he did and looked down, his breath caught in his chest. Slowly, he raised it to eye level and seeing how the light reflected off the intricate filigree engravings. From the tips of his sharp fingers to the cuff that kept it all protected, was the most beautiful patterns he'd every seen. He was too stunned to speak. The massive fissure was gone, and it looked as if it was never damaged in the first place.

"Move yer fingers." Cid was almost bouncing he was so excited.

Vincent did and his mouth parted with surprise. They had never moved so smoothly before. He couldn't recall the last time a knuckle didn't catch or squeak. It had moved like it did when it first was attached to his arm, maybe better.

"Cid…how did you…" He barely found a voice as he turned his arm to see the underside where he did an even more intricate pattern on the tip's underside.

"I've been busy. Besides…if ya need it to function might as well have a little flair too. Ya had so much dirt and shit in that thing I'm surprised she still worked." He beamed.

Vincent didn't know what to say. No one had ever done anything like this for him and yet here Cid did it without being asked to. Cid improved on something that he had for over 20 years and never knew it needed improvement. He flexed his fingers and saw Cid's eyes follow the talons, talking about how the designs resemble one's life a young Turk to now and he spoke of how the thicker lines were the same as the vein's underneath.

"Thems your lifeblood Vince."

"Cid…I don't know what to say…"

Thank you is a good start host.

Red eyes rimmed gold and he looked at Cid. "Thank you, Captain. I…I wasn't expecting this…" He admitted, flexing and curling his fingers in awe over how easily it moved as if it were actual bone under skin.

"Aww, it's good. I've been dyin' to get my hands on that thing." Cid reached out and took the deadly arm in his again, turning it enough to move the sharp fingers from impaling him. "I've sharpened them so…watch it when you scratch yer ass. Not that they needed to be sharper…but…ya know."

This was why Chaos trusted him. Because Cid trusted them. Trusted Chaos, trusted him. To hold something that could easily kill in a single flick of a wrist like it was nothing more than a glove, was astounding. Chaos purred again and internally; Vincent rolled his eyes.

"You didn't have to do all this." Vincent said softly watching as Cid gave it one more once over for him.

"I know. I wanted to." He replied. "I like ya Vince. Even with all yer partners in crime hiding in that pretty head of yers."

Vincent swallowed hard and hid his face in his cloak again.

"I…I like you too. Chaos says he likes you as well."

Cid beamed. "I knew I'd get ol' bat boy to come around!" He slapped his knee out of laughter.

"I have a new project though, well a few actually…" He admitted, reaching for his teacup.

An ebony eyebrow piqued in curiosity.

"What are they?"

Cid smirked and sipped his tea. "Well fer one, gettin' ya outta that thing. I wanna see yer face." He said unabashed. "Fer two…maybe getting you to stay the night sometime." Cid took another sip of his tea and swirled it around, watching the leaves dance in the liquid. "Three…maybe gettin' to call ya mine for the rest of our lives together." He added softer.

His cheeks flushed a dark pink and he hid behind his cape, thinking on Cid's words and how he just put his heart out on his sleeve and waited for Vincent to either pick it up and keep it or stab it with his newly repaired claw. Cid glanced up briefly from his teacup to see Vincent staring at him, but he couldn't read him.

"I mean, I get it if ya don't." Cid watched Vincent move his clawed hand back to Cid's knee where it had been resting and as he admired his own work, he heard a pull of leather and buckles popping. His heart jumped into his throat and when he looked up, that red cloak was gone and now pooled around the floor of his chair. Vincent sat in silence, eyes not meeting and hair falling forward to block his face, but Cid swore he saw a damned angel, even if he did have demon wings.

"Damn Vince…" He whispered, his calloused hand reaching out to move his thick hair from his face. "You just made me the happiest guy in the world."

Red eyes shifted to meet sky blues and Cid looked genuinely happy, the little crinkles around his eyes were back when he smiled. A real smile.

"It is just a face Cid." Vincent said softly, letting the pilot push his hair back over his shoulder.

"Not to me."

The night went and morning came, Cloud and Tifa waiting for the Captain to get them in the air. He was never known to leave late and here they were, forty minutes past their time. When he finally emerged, he was humming a song they only heard once before and that was when he got to go to space. Cloud and Tifa looked at each confused. She elbowed him hard when Vincent slipped out into the shadows of the bridge and down the stairs into the sunlight. They both watched as blue eyes followed him as he took up his usual spot by one of the large portside windows, arms crossed tightly over his chest and pretending the world didn't exist.

Cloud swore he saw a smile behind that red mantle.

Tifa swore there was a hitch in his step.

Neither of them would never learn the details of what transpired in his cabin that night. Except now, Vincent called him Chief and had a bandanna in his pocket.