A/N: Somewhat shorter, but that is because a lemon has been cut from this chapter per terms and conditions.

Chapter 17: Underwater Race

"Wow!!" Yuffie exclaimed, pressing her hands and nose up to the cool, thick glass of the underwater walkway leading from Junon to the underwater reactor. She smiled with glee as she took in the wonders of the deep ocean from her lucky position. It wasn't a sight she often was privy to, and despite being on mission, she decided to take it for all it was worth.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to smile up at its owner. Amber eyes winked at her happily before turning to gaze out the thick glass as well.

"It is a beautiful creation despite having been built by ShinRa," Reeve murmured, squeezing her shoulder briefly in an affection gesture before allowing his hand to drop to his side.

Yuffie giggled though she kept her nose pressed to the glass. "Do you… regret working for them?" she asked slowly, displaying a surprising amount of tact.

The ex-executive sighed and turned away from the view, unconsciously tossing a throwing knife up and down with one hand. "There were times that I could do good with their money and influence, keeping my integrity as well as could. And then of course, I would never regret meeting Re-- him." A brief smile crossed his features, almost wistful before he continued. "I cannot in all honesty say I would change the way things turned out."

Over to the side, completely ignoring their conversation, Cloud was kneeling, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "I wonder what this is?" he asked, absentmindedly running his hands over a thick leather-bound book. There was a script on the cover but it was in a language that he didn't recognize.

The Wutaiian turned to look at it, before shrugging in disinterest, returning her gaze to the glass and the myriads of brightly colored fish that swam by her view. "Where did you get it?"

"You turned that creature, the Ghost Ship, into it," Reeve answered, giving her another affectionate pat on the head. "Maybe Nanaki knows something about it or it might even come in handy later."

Yuffie huffed, rolling her eyes at both men as she turned from the glass and tapped her shuriken. "If Nanaki had given me his Mystify materia like I asked, I wouldn't have been confused in the first place." She announced, before adding in a quieter mutter, "Stingy old wolf."

Reeve smiled at her youth and shook his head, gaze already sliding towards the door that would lead them into the reactor's core, where the Huge Materia was being stored. "Should we continue then?"

Cloud nodded, hefting up the sword that the crew had bought for him in Mideel, as a 'Great! You're back!' gift. "Wait until Rufus hears I'm back," he announced, unable to contain his glee at finally being back on his feet again and understanding himself. Aeris had done a lot for him... he only wished he could see her for real again.

Reeve chuckled at their leader's antics as Yuffie giggled, hefting up her shuriken menacingly. Exchanging glances, the three members of AVALANCHE headed into the ShinRa reactor.

Cid Highwind still lay in his bed, despite the late hour of the day. It was well-past the time in any normal person should be sleeping, but the exhaustion and stress from the past few weeks coupled with the warmth wrapped around him was enough to make him linger. Especially since he was comfortable among a pile of blankets and limbs, with Vincent wrapped around him, one arm even thrown possessively over his chest, giving him even more of a reason to remain. It wasn't often that he was awake and Vincent wasn't, so he took the moment for what it was, admiring the other man and simply relaxing in the peaceful quiet.

He turned his head to side and found his nose buried in a pile of spicy smelling black hair. Vincent had nuzzled his way onto his shoulder and fell asleep promptly after sex earlier in the day, as if he were even more exhausted than the pilot. He now breathed evenly, seemingly sound asleep and for once, not plagued by the nightmares that were usually so frequent, his face actually lax and peaceful, not pinched with terror.

Cid knew he had them, even if Vincent didn't say anything about it. The few times they had slept together, Cid had been woken up by restless movements or frightened murmuring. And though insanely curious to know what could cause the normally stoic gunman to have such looks of fright, he refrained from asking. Vincent could be quite bristly if he poked in the wrong direction.

The captain smiled at the brief thought, entertained by memories of crimson eyes flashing with slight irritation, and rubbed a gentle hand over the gunman's bare back. He could feel the soft, pale skin beneath his fingertips, interspersed with upraised scars and marks that he didn't even want to consider. In nameless voices they told of unspeakable tortures and horrors that made him shudder every time. Not that they bothered Cid aesthetically, just that he hated to think of what had been done to Vincent, or what the man had suffered through.

He had not expected them to reconcile, especially after Vincent's reaction the first time they had slept together. Vincent ran so quickly that Cid half expected to get whiplash. Nor had he anticipated Vincent to be the one to make the first move either. He couldn't say that he wasn't happy about it, however.

He simply enjoyed spending time with Vincent which brought to mind their most recent and purely strange conversation. It seemed uncharacteristic for the normally reticent gunman to speak generally, a conversation just for the hell of it, not that Cid minded of course. He was rather pleased to see Vincent finally opening up. He knew that the man couldn't be all gloom and doom; he just needed to find someone to trust again. And without pushing, the gunman had opened up to Cid and he felt pleased by that.

He wasn't sure how to define their relationship. They were lovers, sure enough, and it probably wouldn't be a good idea if one of them decided to randomly fuck another person but he wasn't sure if there was commitment or anything else. Vincent was decidedly skittish and Cid... he wasn't quite sure what he wanted. He knew he wanted Vincent but as for what his feelings were, what his heart said, he hadn't really thought about it.

Only, the desperate need to have the gunman beside him was beginning to get slightly worrisome.

Chewing his lip in thought, Cid turned his head away from the thick mop of black hair, blue eyes searching for the cigarettes that he remembered lying almost reverently on the dresser earlier. He spotted the small packet, and the lighter pushed into the foil and reached for them happily, careful not to disturb the sleeping man on his chest.

"You really should quit, you know," Vincent's smooth and silky voice stated softly, causing the pilot to startle. He had thought the gunman asleep, the sneaky bastard.

Cid rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath as he grabbed his vice and pushed himself to a sitting position, no longer concerned with disturbing the obviously awake pale man. Vincent rose with his movements, though he didn't remove his head from Cid's chest and the two lazily reclined against the headboard, which was a cold contrast to Cid's bare back.

There was the quiet snick of a lighter and a happy exhale before the pilot finally responded, attempting to ignore the subtle trace of fingers over his naked chest. "I'll quit when I'm damn ready to," he muttered around the cigarette, "and it's not looking like that'll be anytime soon."

Vincent shook his head, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as his finger wandered over to one flat, dusky nipple, the smooth pad tracing over the soft flesh. Cid's skin goosebumped as the nipple slowly began to harden beneath Vincent's touch, and he rolled the pebbled flesh between his fingertips, a somewhat devilish expression on his face.

Cid groaned at the distraction and sucked deeply on his cigarette, closing his eyes in satisfaction. "Ya keep doing that and we might never leave this bed," he warned, though he couldn't necessarily see where that was a bad thing.

"Is that a promise?" Vincent queried, turning his head to the side and letting warm, moist air ghost over Cid's flesh before drawing the unattended flattened nipple into his mouth, laving his tongue over the dusky flesh until it, too, hardened. His other hand continued to pinch its twin. The blond moaned again at his touch, hand holding the cigarette trembling slightly as the sheets bunched around his waist gradually began to tent.

Cid reached out with his free hand and tangled it among the thick black strands of Vincent's hair, encouraging him. Smiling to himself, the gunman nipped lightly on the nub of flesh as he allowed his hand to slip down the hard plane of the pilot's abdomen, dipping beneath the sheets for the already hardening member.

"Damn!" Cid cursed, cigarette burning away, nearly forgotten in his hold as another moan escaped his mouth. "You're a horny bastard, aren't ya?"

Vincent paused in his ministrations without realizing it, the sudden thought occurring to him that he could have explained all the reasons why. That Cid made him forget, that he made him feel... all right, for lack of a better term. That being with the pilot chased away all the guilt and the regret and every negative feeling he harbored deep inside. It washed away the taint he could still feel against his skin, the taint that he knew was there despite the fact he couldn't remember it. And even if he wanted to cling to those unhappy thoughts and his remorse for failing Lucrecia, around Cid he simply couldn't and that frightened him beyond belief.

He could have told Cid just how different he was around the pilot or that he was starting to change, in some little way and he didn't understand that either. Or that with Cid he felt he was worth something, even with an infested body of demons. That Cid made him feel needed and wanted. He could have said a lot of things that he probably would have regretted since it would bring out every last one of his vulnerabilities and despite the trust he had granted the pilot, he didn't think he could take that step.

Nor could he completely walk away from Lucrecia or what he knew he once felt for her. Something inside kept holding him back. His own loathing for his inadequacies. His self-revile. It all withheld that most important part of him from perhaps the only person that could help to heal him. He wasn't ready for all his walls to come down, but damn if Cid didn't keep knocking without even having to try. It simply came down to the truth, that if he really wanted to keep his distance, he would sneak from the bed in the middle of the night like some mistress than actually stay every time.

He wanted to walk away, but like someone starving for attention and maybe even a bit of abuse, Vincent kept returning. No matter what he told himself, he couldn't find it in him to leave anymore. He wanted and it was simply that and he didn't know what to do with it, the need and the desire to be free.

He could have said so many things, but instead of blurting out his heart, he kept it simple, easy, something he couldn't regret but was still the truth. Because all in all, he still was not ready to divulge that part of him. He was still afraid and like a coward, he ran away.

His hand, which had briefly stilled, picked up the steady rhythm once more. "Only for you…" Vincent murmured against Cid's chest, knowing that it was the truth. The pilot was the only one allowed to see any side of him other than the silence. "Only for you."

"They've already harvested the materia," Yuffie commented glumly as she slashed at another ShinRa soldier, easily dispensing with the grunt. A splash of blood soared through the air but she hardly paid it any attention as he tumbled to the ground.. Her eyes were locked on the visible mechanical arm in the distance, transporting the huge materia.

Cloud growled, tightening his grip on his sword as he watched the mechanical arm move the materia from the reactor into a waiting submarine. He dimly heard the sounds of booted feet across the floor, more minor soldiers who did nothing more than delay them because they were ineffective in halting their progress completely.

Reeve tossed several knives at a control panel before they could enter; however, cutting off the power. It sputtered and hissed, sending sparks flying into the air, but did its duty, closing and locking the automated door.

"We can still retrieve it," the ex-executive huffed. "If we can stop the submarine..." he trailed off, his meaning quite clear as he pushed past them, stepping over fallen soldiers and heading for the opposite end of the platform.

Cloud and Yuffie exchanged glances before following after the ex-ShinRa. They tore through the doors and into the submarine dock, weapons held at the ready in case more enemies thought to stop them. However, they ended up nearly crashing into Reeve who had stopped in his tracks, seemingly unable to move. He stood rigidly, his eyes locked on the path in front of him.

"Did we make it?" the blond asked as he nimbly side stepped, wondering what in the hell had bothered the ex-executive enough to make him halt in place.

"What are you doing?" A voice came from the walkway in front of them. Cloud shifted his gaze towards a man whose back was to them, dressed in a dark blue suit with a scarlet-haired ponytail that he hadn't even noticed. "Help load," continued the nameless man as he turned to face them.

It was Reno.

"Cloud!... Reeve?" the Turk exclaimed, nearly stepping backwards in shock. Yuffie had been completely ignored.

Cloud, however, wasted no time. He narrowed his eyes. "Give us the huge materia, Reno," the ex-SOLDIER growled as he leveled his sword menacingly.

Reno tapped his Electro Rod against his shoulder and glared at them. "ShinRa is trying to save the world, you spiky-haired freak!" His mako eyes narrowed, but flicked to the third man for an instant before moving back. "I thought Sephiroth killed your punk ass!" He stated, his voice strangely calm.

The blond gritted his teeth in anger. "You have no idea what the hell you're doing!!" he growled. "I will take it by force if I have to."

"There is knowledge in that materia that we can't afford to lose. Perhaps even a better way to destroy Meteor," Reeve interjected softly, face incredibly pale as if he had seen a ghost. Yuffie glanced at him strangely, before furtively looking to Reno as well. Something was definitely up. "You are making a mistake."

A strange expression crossed the Turk's face, but it was gone in an instant. He rolled his eyes, regaining his composure. "Being as none of us speak Ancient, we're workin' with what we got."

"You don't have to do this," the ex-executive continued in a voice that bordered on pleading. His companions looked to their friend in confusion, Cloud's eyebrows rising nearly to his hairline. "We don't have to fight if it is for the sake of everyone. Can't you see that?"

Aquamarine eyes seemed to soften for just a moment from their hardened look before he shook his head and took several steps back. "No," he said simply before continuing, "Unfortunately, I don't have time to deal with you. My priority is the Huge Materia!" He signaled with his hand moments before a huge metal creature moved in front of him, snapping its steel claws dangerously at the friends. The Turk smirked.

"However, Carry Armor will be more than happy to entertain you." He waved dismissively at them before dashing away, casting a glance back towards the friends that only Reeve caught, but the ninja discreetly noticed.

"Damn!" Cloud cursed, fingers tightening around the Crystal Sword as he took an unconscious step backwards from the massive creature that towered over him. "Looks like we are going to have to fight!" he growled as a clamped hand reached out for him.

"It was just a distraction…" Reeve murmured more to himself than the others as Cloud kicked the mangled heap of metal that was once their enemy in disgust. "They never meant to kill us. That creature was far too weak." He sighed, shaking his head. "It worked; however, the submarine is gone."

Yuffie gave him a strange look, but a metallic gleam caught her eye. "There's another!" she exclaimed, pointing to the submarine platform. Indeed a second one, greyish blue in color, was still docked, though it swarmed with ShinRa soldiers.

"We're taking it by force if we have to," Cloud announced grimly, giving one last violent kick to the annoying piece of rubbish at his feet. The others nodded, quickly following his example.

They forced their way onto the sub, easily dispatching with the weak outer guard. Once inside, they crawled through the tight cramped spaces to get to the control room for the sub. They did not have much time to catch up to the leader submarine with the Huge materia.

After dispatching the obviously frightened captain and his two subordinates within, Cloud took a seat at one of the control panels and gazed at the myriad knobs and buttons with a look of complete and utter incomprehension. He didn't even know where to begin.

"Dammit! I should have brought Cid!" he cursed aloud, angrily banging his fist on the control panel. It beeped at him furiously before the submarine gave a sudden shake.

"Don't worry! I can do this!" Reeve smiled, sliding into the empty seat next to him. The blond and the ninja gaped at the ex-executive as he smoothly flipped switches and proceeded to move the submarine slowly out of the dock.

Brown eyes widened in shock. "H... how?" she stuttered, unable to formulate a complete sentence.

Reeve shrugged, his amber eyes sparkling with mischief. "You guys are slow! It took forever for you to get to Gold Saucer. I occupied my time in Wonder Square and finally learned to beat that damn submarine game."

Cloud continued to gape even as the submarine began to sink into the water and headed for the small tunnel that connected the underwater dock with the open ocean.

Panting, slightly overwhelmed by the intense orgasm, Vincent kissed Cid's collarbone, before resting his head on the pilot's chest. He could feel Cid's heaving breaths beneath him but couldn't find it in him to pull away for the moment. He was simply too tired.

They stayed like that for several minutes, allowing their heart rates to even out and their breathing to return to normal. It was nice, a somewhat peaceful moment as each tried to work out the confusing feelings that were suddenly bombarding them.

Vincent was the first to stir, his legs beginning to go numb. Cid took the hint and carefully climbed off of him as the gunman slid to the edge of the bed, an odd strange gleam in his eyes. He couldn't quite explain it; he just had the feeling that something had changed. He idly touched the wetness on his chest and stomach.

"I need a shower," he murmured, more to himself than Cid, still distracted by all the thoughts running through his mind.

Cid nodded, stretching across the bed to reach for his cigarettes. He, too, had noticed a strange change or shift, but was unwilling to comment on it. That had gone far beyond simple fucking even if words hadn't been spoken, or tears shed. He didn't comment, however, when Vincent rose from the bed and gracefully headed to Cid's private bathroom, though the pilot couldn't resist watching him go, eyes glued to a pale backside.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette as he mused, idly noticing the sound of the shower starting. The change in position, the almost desperate way that Vincent had clung to him, it was very strange. As if, in some silent way he was being shown that Vincent needed him. And as much as he might have wanted to, judging by the odd new beat inside of him, he didn't know what Vincent truly wanted and he was half-afraid of putting more into something that hadn't yet been defined. It wouldn't do for him to get attached too early and set himself up for heartbreak later on. He didn't want another Kyle.

The blond groaned as he put out his cigarette; it suddenly tasting like ash in his mouth at the return of wanted memories of amethyst eyes. Vincent might have needed him, but the man had yet to realize that the feeling was mutual, if he even knew what he wanted at all.

Cid climbed to his feet, determined to slip into the shower and see if he could surprise Vincent. There was something he wanted to ask the gunman and judging by the strange but not necessarily negative tension in the air, now was the perfect time.

However, a sudden knock at his main door disrupted his plans. Cursing to himself, he found a robe and threw it over his nakedness before stomping over to the door and pulling it out, managing to growl out a violent, "What?"

Brown eyes blinked at him. Barret. "Cloud called," the big man explained, shifting slightly in his stance. "We gotta get them at Junon and rush to Rocket Town."

Frowning, the captain started to wave his hands in dismissal. "Then go tell the actual pilot! I'm on vacation," he grumbled. What a stupid reason for bothering him--wait. He peered at Barret. "Did you say Rocket Town?"

The older man shifted uncomfortably once again, as if just noticing the other man's half-dressed state and most likely catching sight of what was a new mark on his collarbone. He nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah. ShinRa's taking the Huge Materia and they're going to use the Rocket."

"No, the hell they ain't!" the Captain spluttered angrily, shouting at the dark-skinned man though he was just the messenger. "Tell that bloody pilot to use max speed and tell that spiky haired idiot that I'm coming too and he better not leave me behind!" Cid made as if to slam the door in Barret's face.

"Wait!" Barret said, beefy hand stopping the door immediately. Blue eyes narrowed as Cid impatiently waited for him to say his peace. "Have ya seen Vincent? Cloud told me to tell him to come."

"No," the blond muttered crossly. "But if I see him, I'll tell him." He finished slamming the door in Barret's face and stormed into his room, kicking at his desk angrily and instantly regretting the action when pain lanced through his foot.

"God-fucking-dammit!" he cursed loudly, rage beginning to build inside of him. ShinRa thought they could screw him over not once but twice? The nerve, the audacity, the--

"Cid?"

The pilot's head snapped up as he paused in his frantic pacing, noticing that Vincent was standing directly in front of him, a towel wrapped around his waist and looking slightly concerned, perhaps even a bit wary.

Cid shook his head. "Cloud is lookin' for ya," he muttered, beginning his frantic pacing once more.

Vincent furrowed his brow. "They are back already? And why me?"

The pilot shrugged, a quick and almost violent emotion. "They're now," he spat. "ShinRa's got the last Huge Materia and they're headin' for Rocket Town."

"Why on Gaia would they be going there?"

"Why the fuck else?" Cid yelled, nearly tearing out his hair in frustration. "Dammit! Fucking ShinRa doing everything they can to destroy my dreams and now they want to take my last chance at the stars?" He growled out of pure aggravation. He had placed his every hope in that rocket. Everything he had left home for and struggled for was in his sweat and blood, poured over that one simple machine.

Vincent frowned again. That still didn't explain why Cloud wanted to take Vincent and not Cid. He mused inwardly as he searched the room for his clothes, for the moment ignoring the other's frantic pacing. Last night they had been haphazardly thrown in various directions in their hurry to get undressed and into bed.

"Why didn't Cloud tell you to come then?" He threw on his clothes, slowed down only by the many buckles of his cloak and belts.

The pilot threw up his hands. "Hell if I should know! But if he fuckin' thinks I'm staying behind here, he's dead fuckin' wrong!!" He suddenly whirled on his heels and started heading for the bathroom, grabbing up clothes along his way.

Vincent moved so quickly he was surprised that he had even shifted positions himself. He intercepted Cid on his way to the bathroom and grabbed the angry pilot by the shoulders, kissing him deeply. Vincent didn't know why he chose to do so; it was just that a strange urging had struck him all at once. And Cid seemed to relax only slightly under his touch though the tenseness in his shoulders did not ease.

"I'm going to go meet with Cloud and see if I can stall him." With those words, Vincent walked away from Cid and headed for the door, peering out furtively before opening it and disappearing.

The pilot still stood stunned where the dark-haired man had left him a few minutes later, wondering what the hell had happened before reason returned. He rushed around once more, hurriedly trying to redress not even knowing that the gunman was wondering the same damn thing as he moved swiftly down the hall.