If Misery Loves Company

Static

Chapter 17

By Kristen Gupton-Williams

So, it was right back into the fray after that. We got word that Shin Ra was gathering something called Huge Materia to use against the Meteor that Sephiroth had summoned. Now, we weren't exactly sure how Shin Ra was going to use it and to what purpose, but we knew that we had to intervene. No matter what Shin Ra did, it was always bass akwards and…

Well, they couldn't be trusted with the power imbued by the Huge Materia. Not a chance.

We went to Corel first, on the tail of Shin Ra. I hated that town, always had. It was nothing more than an old prison mining camp, but it was Barrett's old home and if I learned anything, it was that you didn't knock that shit hole around that big mother fucker.

I did, at least, get to screw around with a train in the ensuing events. That was kinda cool. After all, what guy didn't dream of engineering a train when they were a kid?

Well, you sure did, but you were all hot and bothered by anything that was metal and moved from the day you could walk.

Given.

Thing was, I got torn up real good in our fight. We did manage to get the Huge Materia, but after that, I wasn't much good. We crashed at the inn that was in town.

I lay awake that night, in horrible pain from what we'd been through. We were short on funds and I'd found myself having to share a room with Vincent.

I sat on the edge of my bed, switching my gaze between the phone and old Vinny. I wanted him to get up from his bed and leave the Goddamned room or go to the bathroom to take a piss or something. I wanted to call Shera awful bad, but I wasn't about to do so with Vincent there listening in.

But, the dense fucker just laid there on his bed, repeatedly taking apart his gun and then reassembling it. For HOURS this went on.

Click, snap, click, snap.

If it had been damn near anyone else, I would have ripped that gun outta their hands and chucked it out the window.

Click, snap, click, snap.

…but you were scared of Vincent.

That I was. I'd seen what he could do when he was pissed. Not only that, but the son of a bitch had been a Turk, and like anyone with half a brain in their head, I knew that you didn't fuck with Turks.

It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd at least spoken to me, but he didn't. He was utterly silent, as he was most of the time.

My frustration got the better of me and I finally got up from the bed and walked out of the room. I looked for a phone in the lobby, but there wasn't one. It was getting really late, and I knew I was running the risk of Shera going to bed.

I stepped out into the night and lit up a cigarette. That was the one thing that Vincent had been vocal about on more than one occasion. In fact, the first time we'd been stuck in a room together…

"The ship is yours, Highwind, however, when we are in a hotel or close confines, you will not smoke around me," he'd said.

"What the fuck? I didn't think vampires had to worry about gettin' lung cancer from second hand smoke," I'd shot right back.

Vincent had moved across the room in a flash, the barrel of his gun placed squarely against my left temple before I had a chance to react. "I will remind you again, Highwind, that I am not a vampire. And I simply do not wish to stink like you do."

Boxers still dry, Captain?

Barely…

"V…Vin… c'mon, guy…" I'd stuttered, not knowing if the crazy fuck was going to off me or not. There was no hint of any joke in his red eyes, that's for sure. The way he happened to be in front of me, I gave thought to the only defensive maneuver I could think of.

Kick him!

"It won't work," Vincent outright growled at me, his metal claw landing heavily on my right shoulder and tightening painfully. I guess he'd read my mind. He was spooky like that.

I was really getting freaked out at that point. He was just too Goddamned close, and I could swear that I heard his finger actually tightening on the trigger. Reactions took over and I raised my left knee quickly, nailing him between the legs.

Vincent's eyebrow quirked, but he didn't flinch.

Nothin'. Nada.

Then he did the strangest thing.

He smiled.

Vincent Valentine, former Turk, actually smiled. "Pathetic."

He let go of me and reholstered his gun.

I slid down the wall, my ass hitting the floor, my heart in my throat.

It was right then and there that I'd opted NEVER to fuck with or criticize Vincent ever again. Any man that could be kicked square in the stones and not fold up like a house of cards was either the toughest fucker ever to walk the Earth or secretly a woman.

I wasn't willing to find out for sure in either case. He'd gotten my attention.

Flash forward to where I was.

So…. I was outside, cigarette lit up, looking around for a fucking phone.

Thing was? Corel was such a dive that all the pay phones had been vandalized and ruined years ago and no one was going to ever bother to repair them.

After my fourth cigarette and coming up empty handed, I just decided to cope with the fact Vincent was going to have to hear my conversation and I went back to the room. Upon entering, I found Vincent lying on his bed, reading some book he'd picked up along the way.

He didn't seem to pay me any attention as I went and sat on my bed again.

I reached over and picked up the phone, quickly dialing the number to the house.

Shera answered on the third ring. "Captain?"
I couldn't help but smile instantly. "Assumed it would be me, eh?"

"You're the only one that calls."

Well, I guess she had a point there. "Maybe so. How ya doin'?"

"Oh… same old thing. Just… hung around the house and watched the news," she said quietly. "I just wish I knew more about what you were up to."

I closed my eyes and hung my head, envisioning her. "What I don't tell you, Shin Ra can't force outta ya, later. I just don't wanna get ya in trouble, Goddamnit."

She fell silent for a moment. "I… I see."

"I'd love to be able to tell ya, Shera, don't get me wrong. It's just… you know how it is."

Again, there was a brief silence.

I knew that I couldn't risk staying on the line too long. Chances were, all the calls to the house were being traced. "I… I should probably go."

"Yes, Captain."

"You… you take care. I'll call tomorrow," I said, feeling some annoying tension in my throat. "G'night."

"Good night, Captain…" she whispered back before hanging up.

I placed the phone down and sighed.

"You are pathetic."

I snapped my head up, to see that Vincent was still reading his book, but he'd definitely spoken. Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea I'd ever had, but I had to get some clarification. "Pardon?"

"A love never admitted serves no one," he said under his breath.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't need any advice from you."

Vincent moved, closing his book and sitting up. He got to the edge of his bed and looked me dead on. "If you don't confess how you feel, sooner or later you will lose your chance with her. Do not make that mistake."

The fact that Vincent Valentine was trying to stick his nose in my love life (or lack thereof) perplexed me. "I don't rightly think it's any of your busine—"

I was cut off as he stood up quickly and leaned down, nose to nose with me. "Highwind… do not make my mistake in life. You love Shera, yes?"

"Y…well… I mean…"

His eyes narrowed. "Do you love Shera?"

I felt my head bob in a nod.

One of his eyebrows quirked and he backed up, sitting on his bed again. "Then you must confess."

This was beyond weird and I wasn't really sure I wanted to be having this conversation. "What if she don't feel the same way, though?"

"The longer you wait, the greater the chance she won't. The two of you, though… the way you interact, the way she's tolerated you for so long, I think it's obvious." With that, he picked up his book again and laid down.

I didn't really know what in the fuck to say to that, and he'd obviously shut me out again as he got to reading once more.

Step up from him almost killing you, though!

Can it.

In any event, the next day we headed to Fort Condor to chase down the next bit of Huge Materia. That was all one big circle jerk, but we ended up with a second bit of the crap. Afterward, we went to go check on Tifa and Cloud in Mideel. The place was destroyed in an earthquake, though, and one of those Weapon things from the planet cropped up.

Tifa and Cloud were both lost in the Lifestream, but we found them before too long and pulled them out. We had to take a few days off for them to try and recuperate.

Now, it was then that I started to get really worried. You see, that night, I again managed to find a phone and I tried to call Shera, but there wasn't any answer. I panicked, and found a radio in the town that we had holed up in and again, I tried to signal her. "Rocket, this is Highwind, over."

Static.

"Rocket, this is Highwind, OVER!" I called out again.

Just the hiss of dead air.

Consequences of potentially being tracked or not, I kept calling out.

For two hours.

Nothing.

She wasn't answering and I didn't know why. It didn't sit well with me. I didn't sleep at all that night, or the following nights, either. I wanted to just bail and go to Rocket to check on her again, but there was just no way. I wondered if there was some chance that Meteor was causing interference with the phones and radios. I had no way of knowing for sure.

Cloud made a recovery, and we carried on to Junon, after the last piece of Huge Materia.

Fast forward through that shit, find out they're taking the last chunk of that crap to… Rocket!

We made our way to Rocket as quick as I could fly my ship. I was suddenly terrified that the reason I hadn't been able to get a hold of Shera was because Shin Ra was obviously there and that something had happened to her.

…and if somethin' has happened to her?

Well, then, there wouldn't have been much reason for me to save the world after all, would there?

No, there wouldn't.

So, I did the only thing I could and I flew.