HAPPY BIRTHDAY VINCENT!!!! Yes i'm back with two brand new chapters and on vincent's b'day (woohoo :)) thx 4 being patient with me and sorry bout all the cliffys. i don't mean to do them they just come. any way...ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

Chapter 10:- Just resting

(3 days remain)

Cloud returned to the waiting Avalanche crew. Each one of them hoped for good news and the expression on their faces demanded information. He sighed.

"I'm not going to lie to you guys," He began, choosing his words carefully so as not to freak they out, "Tifa, Cid, myself and now Reeve already know this but…" He paused and pondered the thought of telling them or not. Would it make them go into 'breakdown mode' and make things harder?

"What is it Cloud?" Yuffie asked. No, it wouldn't be right to keep them in the dark, Vincent was their friend too, and they deserved to know.

"Vincent…Vincent is…sick…in a way…" Cloud continued. He would tell them slowly and ease them into the situation.

"Whaddya mean, Spike?" Barret asked.

"Well, he's not in as good a condition as we thought he was…"

"He wasn't in a good condition at all." Yuffie argued, starting to get annoyed at the pace Cloud was going at.

"What are you trying to say?" Nanaki queried, tilting his head slightly. Though he suspected what Cloud was trying to say he was not completely sure.

"He's got…umm…" Cloud trailed off and hesitated.

"Out with it!" Barret cried raising his voice a little.

"HE HAS GEOSTIGMA!!" Cloud yelled. So much for letting it out slowly. He was frustrated with being interrupted so much that he just blurted it out. When he calmed down he realised he had said it so suddenly and looked at each one of the members. . Those that knew had turned their gaze on the floor but those that didn't had a look of shock on their faces.

"WHAT!!?" the uninformed crew members cried in unison.

"We need to keep our cool." Cloud said trying to calm them.

"KEEP OUR COOL!? HE HAS FRIGGIN' GEOSTIGMA!! HOW THE #$! ARE WE S'POSE TO KEEP OUR COOL!?" Barret yelled, unable to control the volume of his voice...

"I don't know how but we just have to. We only have about three days to cure him and we can't afford to waste any time." Cloud said. Barret slumped into a chair and held his hand in his hand. He shook his head, denying the inevitable truth, but ha knew of the fatal effects of geostigma.

"But there is no cure." He said glumly. Cloud glared at him. As he predicted, they were going into 'breakdown mode.' They still had a chance to save Vincent, as slight as it was, yet they were losing hope. They could save a world on the brink of destruction, but a mere disease is all it takes to stop them. Cloud was ashamed for Avalanche.

"So you're going to give up and let him die?" Cloud scolded. Disbelief formed on the crew's faces, but no-one had the heart to make eye contact with Cloud. They weren't strong enough, they couldn't carry this burden.

"Even if there was a cure it could take years to find it…it would be too late by then." Barret's voice was as glum as ever.

"I don't believe this!" Cloud scoffed, turning around so his back was facing them, "How can you give up! You're Avalanche! You saved the world! You're gonna let a disease stand in your way? Pathetic!" The crew was silent. They knew Cloud was right but they couldn't shake the helpless feeling they all shared. "Vincent needs us right now! The stigma is slowly killing him and we're the only ones who have a chance of saving him." Cloud's speech seemed to have no effect at all. Avalanche still remained sorrowful with Cid, Barret and Yuffie blaming themselves. Cloud also noticed Barret muttering quiet prayers under his breath. With a heavy sigh Cloud decided to go to plan B: Emotional Blackmail.

"Put it this way then," He started, gaining a little attention from the dull crew," If Vincent dies, he dies. We have a chance to save him but if he doesn't make it the burden of his death won't be so hard if we at least try. He'll know we tried and he'll be thankful for it. But if you just sit on your lazy asses and watch him die then you don't deserve to call yourself his friend!"

Silence. You could hear a pin drop from a mile away.

Cid was never one to contemplate things, he was more of a shoot-first-ask-questions-later type of person, yet here he was thinking over and replaying every word Cloud had just said. He was right. Right about everything. A friend doesn't run while another friend was in trouble, they stay and fight together, no matter the consequences. All this was just like one of those many battles they had on their quest to stop Sephiroth and just like those battles they would stick together, fight together and most importantly…win together. It was all in the line of work.

Cid scolded at himself, great, now he was getting sentimental.

"Sooooo…" Cid began, breaking the silence. Cloud turned around as all eyes turned on Cid.

"When do we kick the s#!t outta this stigma?"

Cloud smiled, Avalanche was back.

Before Cloud could answer though a voice behind him said, "Put that thought on hold, you have to visit Vincent first."

Cloud spun around and found a smiling Reeve standing behind him.

"The doctors have closed his wounds and taken him to the forth floor, room thirteen. You'll be glad to know he was regaining conscience but this during the operation so they had to put him under anaesthetic, of course." Reeve explained.

"Thanks Reeve." Cloud said.

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Only mere minutes later, Avalanche followed Reeve to where Vincent was on the forth floor. It was a private room (curtesy of Reeve) with a window that could somehow see over the looming buildings of Midgar and show the vast ocean behind. In the centre of the side wall was the bed that Vincent rested on. For once he didn't seem to be in pain and, besides the occasional twitching of his now malfunctioning left arm, was resting peacefully and unmoving.. Even his breathing seemed regular, though aided with an oxygen mask. A network of bandages wound their around his entire torso and right arm, looking almost like a white shirt with only on sleeve (Vincent…in a white shirt? Now that was a drastic change from his usual black!) while his blood-stained shirt and cloak had been folded neatly and placed on the bedside desk. Cloud move closer to the bed with the rest following suit. The cub leapt out of Tifa's arms and onto Vincent's bed. He trotted over to the pillow, padded it with his paws and circling three times before finally getting comfortable next to Vincent's head and curled up into a ball, shutting his violet eyes.. Cloud guessed the cub needed rest too. It was only midday but even Cloud was feeling exhausted and he was sure the rest of Avalanche felt the same way. Though no matter how much he wanted to rest there was no time for it. There was work to be done…but maybe he'll just sit for a while. He pulled up a chair and sat, as did the others except for Reeve who said he had some work to do and would drop by later.

They waited patiently for the effects of the anaesthetic to wear off. Avalanche began to talk among themselves while Cloud immersed himself in thought. Eventually his head grew heavy. He rested it on the desk, using his arms as a 'pillow.' He wasn't going to fall asleep, he was just resting. He figured that since he was resting his head, why not rest his eyes too.? Just for a minute, he was not going to fall asleep. He yawned. Not falling asleep!!! Just resting…just…resting…