If Misery Love Company

Chapter 15

Usefulness

((Game dialogue present in this chapter, so there ya go.))

By Kristen Gupton-Williams

I have a question to ask ya, dear reader.

Why is it, that just when you finally accept whatever rut it is that life molds you down into, whether it be good or bad, your whole world will, infallibly, get turned ass over teakettle?

Near as I could figure, Shera and I had been doing our thing for about four years. Yeah, I had some issues, minor crises… but things were what they were, and we got by. I'd long since before given up on my dream of ever getting into space, accepting my failure. It was a wound that was slow to heal, sure, but it wasn't fresh anymore and there were, occasionally, days that I went around not giving it much thought.

Then, that damn phone rang.

Shera happened to answer it since it was during 'business hours'. "Highwind Charters, how can I help you?"

I happened to look up from reading the paper, noticing the strange look in her eye as she nodded in response to whoever was on the line. "Who is it?"

"Just…just a moment, I'll get him right away!" she said, striding toward me quickly, some really bizarre expression on her face. Shera extended the phone toward me, her hand shaking a little. "Captain… You need to take this call…"

I didn't really like talking to anyone in the morning, but there was something going on, I could gather that much from her demeanor. I took the phone from her and got out of my chair. "Highwind here."

"Captain Highwind, this is Palmer."

I felt my eyes narrow as particular resentments I had about the man on the other end of the line surfaced. "What, in Christ's name, do you want?"

"I'm calling to inform you that President Rufus will be visiting you within a few days to discuss… things," he said. I could practically hear his fat ass jiggling over the line, and it sounded like the bastard was talking to me with his mouth full, too. Some things never changed.

Now, I may not be the sharpest guy ever born, but there were only a few reasons that I could think of that would involve the new president coming out to see me personally. There had been a lot of wild rumors going around that the planet was in some sort of danger, and that the president was struggling for popularity. Now, the Space Program had been pretty Goddamned popular, and it would create a great diversion for the general population to get their minds off of whatever mess Shin Ra had otherwise created in the world.

In a nut shell? He had my attention. "Rufus is coming here, to Rocket, to see me?"

"Hey, hey! There is no one else in Rocket, Cid my friend, worth talking to!" he cackled.

Friend my ass, you fat fuck…

I held my tongue. My heart rate had tripled in my speculation. If this was my last chance to get my white ass into space, I was gonna do all I could to get there. Even if it meant… swallowing my pride and playing nice. I'd done it before, after all. "I… I'll make sure everythin' is in order then, Sir."

"Good man, Captain," he replied, and I could literally hear yet another powdered donut going into his mouth. Probably complete with crumbs all over his Goddamned shirt. "Palmer out."

I remained standing there, staring out the window toward the rocket with the phone to my ear for several minutes after the dial tone returned.

What the fuck just happened? Was that real? Shera been feedin' me some weird tea or somethin'?

"C…Captain?"

It must be to restart the Space Program, right? There is NO other reason for the president himself to be coming to see me…

"Captain?"

I snapped out of my state and spun around to see Shera standing there behind me. She looked scared on some level, her hands clasped together before her chest. "It was Palmer."

She offered a shallow nod, obviously already savvy to that fact. "What… did he want?"
I didn't answer right away because if I said what I had just thought aloud, it would make it harder to deny. I brushed past her and went into the kitchen, hanging up the phone. That done, I grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and opened it, downing it at once.

Entering the kitchen behind me, Shera watched me drink. "Captain?"

I set the bottle down, gave a belch, and turned to face her. "President's comin'…"

She blinked at me a few times. "President Rufus? Coming here?"

Note to self, we have to get Shera a check up at the ear doctor.

"Ain't that what I just said?" I shot back, placing my hands on my hips.

Old habits die hard, eh?

But as always, Shera didn't get rattled. She broke into a smile. "Why?"

I took a deep breath and looked at the floorboards for a moment. "He didn't say but… there's only one reason for the president to come here… and that's to restart the Space Program."

Shera gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Do you really think..?"

Already feeling an incredible amount of weight on my shoulders, I slipped right back into ass mode. "No, Shera, I like getting' my mother fuckin' hopes up so that they can be utterly destroyed again!"

Have we just back stepped several years, Cid?

We're talking SPACE HERE, GODDAMNIT!

She just nodded. "Well, shall I call the charter clients and tell them we'll be unavailable?"

Now she was getting it. "Yeah… put them on standby for the next few days. Get all the rocket plans we still have out. I'm gonna get out there in that thing and start seeing what we can save. I think… I think she'll still go up if we restore her a little."

I didn't hear anything else from her after that as I walked right out the back door and got to work. There were hundreds of systems on that rust bucket to rehash and I only had a few days to show the president that I was serious.

I worked on that rocket day and night after that. Finally, a few days after the call, I got another saying that the president would be there the following day. I didn't sleep at all that night. I couldn't. I did try around four in the morning to get in bed, but after lying awake for an hour, I gave up, showered, and went back to work.

I'd become harder on Shera again, except this time, I consciously knew I was being a prick. I mean… I'd been aware of it before, but now… well, it hurt me more even though it seemed to slide right off of her back. I was just so damn stressed. I felt like this really was my last chance to amount to anything.

I went out in the predawn light and got back to work. Shera arrived soon as well, helping me silently. When I would look over at her, she'd just offer me a smile and keep at whatever task I'd assigned her.

I was getting a little weird in my exhaustion and I looked over at her at one point. Over the sound of the various powered up systems, I called to her. "Hey, wanna christen this fucker?"

Shera looked up at me, probably not having heard what I said. "Captain?"

I smirked. "Wanna christen this fucker?"

"We don't have any champagne," she chirped back.

Shit on two counts. She did hear you and she didn't pick up on what you REALLY meant by 'christen'.

Yeah, it had been a long shot that the girl would have understood that I honestly meant I wanted to drill her brains out on the flight deck floor. I couldn't help it… the tension in me was at an all time high and seeing her there, dirty, elbow deep in wires and machinery…

Well, it was Goddamned sexy.

But little innocent Shera didn't get the hint.

…and I wasn't gonna get too close to her and stand up to give her one, either.

I just turned back to my work, grumbling a little to myself as I waited for my forward gunner to go at ease again.

A while later, Shera disappeared, and I presumed it was to get the noon tea going. I needed it, but I resigned to stay where I was, working. I had no idea exactly when the president was going to show up, but I was determined to get as much done as I could in the meanwhile.

It wasn't much later that I went outside of the rocket to have a smoke and rid myself of the mild claustrophobia that had set in by being in that rocket for so long. There was a group of people that I didn't fucking know from Adam climbing the stairs toward me. The first one was wearing a SOLDIER uniform and I thought for sure that they were with the president.

Still… I hadn't seen any cars arrive and something was just… off. "What're you guys doin' here?"

The SOLDIER approached me. "We heard the captain was here."

My eyes narrowed. How could I not be recognized for who I was? "Captain? I'm the Captain! The name's Cid. Everyone calls me 'Captain', though. What'd ya want?"

"Tell me about this rocket."

"You gotta be fuckin' with me, son," I said back, finishing my cigarette and casting it over the railing. Obviously, he wasn't with the damn president, but if he wanted to know about the rocket, well then, I'd tell him. I launched into the story of the rocket's creation and then Shin Ra's subsequent loss of interest in it. Finally, I turned my eyes up toward the craft beside us. "Look at this rusted rocket. I was supposed to be the first man in space with this. Everyday, it tilts a little bit more. At this rate, I don't know which will come first, this thing falling down or me gettin' outta here. My last hope is to talk to the President..."

"Is Rufus coming?" the kid asked, obviously the spokesman for the group.

I nodded, letting my excitement get the better of me. "Yeah! It must be news about restarting the Space Program. A young president, that's what we needed! He still has dreams, too!"

The young SOLDIER then said something that hit me out of left field. "Can we borrow the Tiny Bronco?"

I actually had to light up another cigarette before answering him, lest I take his spiked head off his shoulders. "Are you out of your fuckin' mind? That's my most cherished possession! I can't let you take it!"

The kid just looked at me.

"Fuck, you wanna schedule a charter, go back to the house and talk to Shera. Get outta my hair," I growled at him, profoundly irritated that the president had yet to show.

I lingered up on the scaffolding for several minutes, finishing that other smoke before resigning that I wanted my damn tea and returning to the house. Upon entering, I saw that same group of people just standing around in my kitchen, Shera there with them.

I went to my chair at the table, furious. I wanted my tea, and this was no way to treat company. I was on the verge of having a fucking meltdown. "What the fuck, Shera? What, are you blind?! We got guests! Get some tea, Goddamnit!"

"I… I'm sorry," she whispered, going over to the stove and fidgeting with the teapot.

The SOLDIER boy's eyes went a little wide. "Really, don't mind us…"

I was in no mood for any of this. "SHUT UP! Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your Goddamned tea! Damn, I'm pissed! Shera, I'll be in the backyard tunin' up the plane. An' make sure to serve them some tea, all right?"

She nodded at me before I stormed out, needing my space.

I went through the motions of looking at a few things on the plane, but I wasn't into it. All I really did was burn through four more cigarettes before going back to the house. When I did, I saw all of them still just standing around the kitchen and there was no tea made. "Shera?! You still haven't served 'em tea?!"

She jumped a little and grabbed the cups from the cabinet. "I… I'm sorry!"

Part of me felt bad, but it wasn't strong enough to push aside my rage and stress. The way the SOLDIER and his friends just seemed to be hovering around was making me nervous, too. "Hurry up and sit down, or ain't my hospitality good enough for ya?"

They immediately let their asses hit the chairs.

I looked over at the clock. "They're late… where is Rufus?"

Then it happened. The back door was hurled open and Palmer's fat ass walked in. "Hey, hey! Long time, no see! So, Cid, how ya been?"

As if it was a fuckin' social call…

I tried to be pleasant, but I had certain social inadiquacies… "Well, if it ain't fat man Palmer. How long were you figurin' on keepin' me waitin'!? So? When's the Space Program gonna start up again?"

He blew me off. "Hey, hey, I don't know! The president's outside, so why don't you ask him?"

I'm moderately surprised I didn't just have an aneurysm, and I stormed out the door. "Goddamit! Good for nothin' fat fuck!"

Charging outside, I found the president standing next to his limo behind the house. I took a moment to collect myself, knowing that I couldn't risk anything. "Sir, I'm glad you've arrived."

Rufus, hell, he wasn't much more than a kid. There was an undeniable air of arrogance about him. "Captain Highwind, I presume?"

I nodded. "That's me. So… I can only assume that you're here to discuss the Space Program with me?"

He laughed. He fuckin' laughed. "Captain… the Space Program was a dismal failure, due in large part to your own incompetence in the control of your support staff. Why ever, pray tell, would the company waste any more money on such a worthless endeavor?"

If I wouldn't have been shot to death instantly by his Turks, I would have strangled the little fuck right then and there. "What the…! You got me all excited for nothin'?! Then, what'd you come here for?!"

Rufus, crossed his arms over his chest. "I want to borrow the Tiny Bronco. We're going after Sephiroth, but it seems like we've been going in the wrong direction. But now, we think we know where he's headed. But, we have to cross the ocean. That's why we want your plane..."

That was it. The company had raped everything from my life. I was furious. "Fuck no! First the airship, then the rocket, and now the Tiny Bronco? Shin Ra took outer space away from me and now you want to take the sky away from me, too?!"

"Oh my," Rufus quipped like the little aristocrat piece of shit he was, "You seem to forget that it was because of Shin Ra, that you were able to fly in the first place."

"What?!" I was so beyond pissed that I couldn't rightly think of anything to say. I was shaking and I felt like I was on the verge of a heart attack.

The young president waved a hand, dismissing me. "It's of no matter, if you won't give it to us, I'll just kill you and take it."

Just as I resolved to go ahead and beat the living shit out of the fucker, the unmistakable sound of my plane being fired up caught everyone's attention. I didn't know who was flying it, and I didn't much care! They weren't getting it and I started to run like I'd never run before. My plane, the second greatest love of my life was taxiing down the grass airstrip, and I was determined to catch it. The sudden burst of gunshots behind me only served to spur me on faster.

I managed to get a hand on the door, pulling it open and hoisting myself inside, just as I felt a horrible sting in my right leg. I'd been hit by one of those bullets, but I didn't care. The plane was full of the jerkwad SOLDIER's friends with the SOLDIER himself at the controls. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and literally ripped him from the pilot's seat before taking my rightful place. I got the plane up into the air, but she protested and bucked wildly as per her namesake, and I knew she was fucked. "Shit! The tail's been hit!"

I didn't pay much mind to what took place behind me after that, struggling to keep us airborne just long enough to get the plane away from Rocket and out of Shin Ra's reach. I also was terrified over what was happening to Shera back at the house, but that was out of my control for the moment. They had no beef with her, maybe they left her alone.

I nursed the plane over the hills and I spotted the river. Now, being as that she was equipped with pontoons for water landings, I knew it was our best shot as I was losing the battle to keep her airworthy. "This is gonna be a big splash! Hold onto yer drawers, an' don't piss in em!"

Within a few seconds, we hit the water, hard. I think I blacked out for a few moments after the impact, and when I opened my eyes, I realized we were on the water and more or less, in one piece. I got out, and lashed the plane to a old dock on the river bank.

The SOLDIER, whose name I figured was Cloud in short order, got the tongue lashing of his life from me as I looked my plane over. "What the fuck was that about? Why'd you try and steal my shit?"

He stood there with the others. "It was either us or Shin Ra…"

Point taken. "What did you think you were gonna do with 'er?"

"We're going after Sephiroth."

I hopped off the wing of the plane and walked up to him, jabbing him in the center of the chest with my finger. "What the FUCK is this shit about Sephiroth? That mother fucker has been dead for like… five years. Why're y'all and Shin Ra all chasin' ghosts for?"

He looked me dead in the eye, his friends encircling us. "Sephiroth is back and he's trying to destroy the planet. If it wasn't serious, Shin Ra wouldn't be trying to find him now, would they?"

The kid had a point there. Shin Ra wouldn't be going to the trouble of even having the president involved if it wasn't something significant. Still, I wasn't involved in that shit. I looked back at my badly damaged plane. "She won't fly anymore."

The SOLDIER looked at the plane as well. "Can't we use it as a boat?"

I was honestly at the end of my rope. "Fuck! Do whatever you want!"

"Cid, what are you going to do now?" he asked me.

I turned to him slowly. First off, I didn't think he knew me close to well enough to be callin' me 'Cid', and I sure as hell didn't see what business it was of his what I was going to do. I sat heavily in the sand of the beach and hung my head. With my plane trashed, my charter business was a no go, and with the Space Program having been ripped from my grip, I was lost. "Dunno. I'm history with Shin Ra and I've given up on the town."

Cloud sat next to me. "How about your wife, Shera?"

My last nerve was frayed and, as had become my habit since I met her, I did the lowest possible thing and took it out on Shera. At least she wasn't there to hear it. "Wife? Don't make me laugh! Just thinkin' about marryin' her gives me the chills. What're you guys gonna do?"

At that point, the SOLDIER proceeded to tell me more about Sephiroth, the trouble the planet was in, and their intent to thwart Shin Ra.

I listened and thought. Here they were, a bunch of damn disjointed merceneries, trying to go against the most powerful things on the planet. I didn't see how they were going to get it done without help. I may have been washed up in most venues, but I had been a military man for most my adult life, and I knew I possibly had the skills they lacked. In short, I had nothing to lose. "I didn't know any of that but… What the hell? Sign me up."

They agreed to have me on the team.

Immediately my mood lightened a little, since it felt like I finally maybe had some purpose or usefulness. Also, with Shin Ra having a death order out on me, there was no real rush for me to go home.

But you're worried about Shera…

That I was. I went back into the plane for a little privacy as I checked the gunshot wound to my leg. As I sat there in the plane cleaning it, the radio cracked to life. "Captian?"

I scrambled for the handset. "Shera…"

"Are you all right?" she asked, sounding scared.

Despite the fact I was working on a bullet hole in my leg, I smiled to be talking to her, knowing she was all right. "I'm fine. The plane's fucked up and we're actually on the water right now but… I'm fine. They… they didn't do anythin' to ya afterward, did they?"

"No, Sir, they just left witout a word to me," she answered meekly.

I was overwhelmed with relief to hear that, and I closed my eyes, imagining her in the corner of the kitchen at the radio. "Good, I'm real glad to hear that. Look, if they do come back, just cooperate and do what they say. I don't want ya gettin' hurt. These guys have told me exactly what's goin' on and I'm gonna help 'em out with a few things. I'll be home as soon as I can, okay?"

There was a momentary hesitation before she replied. "Yes, Captain."

I knew I had to keep it short lest I be traced. "All right, Miss Shera. I… I'll talk to you later."

From that moment on, I was with AVALANCHE and I had a mission.

Maybe life wasn't done with me yet.