Chapter 11:- Friends?

(60 hours remain)

Zzzpt…krrck…zzzpt…

Sounds of sparking and electricity buzzed into Cloud's ears. He moved himself off the desk he was resting on, arms and neck straining from being in the same position for too long. He stretched his arms out and moved his head side to side to loosen the tense muscles. Looking around the room he noticed that he, Vincent and Cid were the only ones in there. Vincent was still asleep with the sleeping cub next to his head and Cid was tampering with his metal arm, trying to fix it (hence the electrical sounds). It was at that time that it dawned on Cloud. He had fallen asleep! His gaze hastily moved to the window. It was dark outside,

"How long have I been asleep for!?" Cloud shrieked, alerting Cid and disturbing the cub's slumber.

"'Bout nine hours, I'd say" Cid answered, continuing his work on Vincent's arm. Cloud cursed under his breath.

"Why didn't anybody wake me!?" Cloud cried. Neither of them noticed but Cloud's shrieking was disturbing Vincent. . His eyebrow twitched and his bandaged fingers moved slightly to the side..

"Tifa wanted ya' to sleep and beside, a herd of elephants wouldn't have woken ya' up."

"But I've just wasted a whole lot of time! I could've been working on a cure for Vincent!"

"Relax would'ja ! Everyone else has already started while you were sleeping." Cid explained. Cloud calmed a little, knowing that their search had begun, but he still felt guilty that while he slept everyone else was doing all the work.

"There!" Cid claimed proudly, setting his tools on the floor'" Good as new…well…it will be when Barret finishes the new metal casing." Cloud had to admit it. Cid was good with electronics and engineering…even if he does have a bad mouth and can be a pain in the ass sometimes..

",,,uunh…" Vincent groaned. Cloud's attention immediately turned to him, hoping to see him awake.

"Would you…mind…keeping…it down?" He asked wearily, voice muffled by the oxygen mask. He brought his bandaged hand up and gripped his aching head.

"Sure," Cloud replied, moving closer to him," Hoe do you feel?" A stupid question. Cloud knew that now that Vincent was awake he would undoubtedly be in a lot of pain with the constant throbbing of his wounds and the frequent burning of geostigma.

"Horrible." Vincent answered, just as Cloud had suspected. Vincent's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room as he surveyed his surroundings. He soon came to realise where he was. A place he despised. His eyes narrowed.

"Why am I in a hospital?" He scowled, the loathing in his voice perfectly clear. Cloud only smirked and Vincent never got his answer. Instead he continued to scan the room with his crimson eyes while the cub licked his face, glad to see Vincent awake again.. Vincent eventually noticed Cid sitting in a chair next to Cloud and shuffled nervously, uncomfortable with the pilot's presence. Cid got the message and stood up

His work here was done so before leaving he said, "It's gonna be a long night. I'm gonna grab us some coffee." And then exited the room. Silence followed as Cloud and Vincent were left alone.. So many questions buzzed in Cloud's head, all of them needing answers, but he kept quiet . Vincent had only just woken up after being heavily drugged and operated on, he didn't need to be bombarded with questions right now. Maybe just one would suffice.

"Why didn't you tell us?" It was the most obvious of them all but it needed to be known.

"I could ask you the same thing." Was Vincent's answer

"That's not the answer I was looking for."

"I don't see how it differs." Vincent was right, Cloud knew that, but it still didn't answer him completely.

"So you think we wouldn't' notice if you just dropped dead all of a sudden?" Cloud retaliated, when Vincent didn't answer he added, "Or that we wouldn't care?"

It took a few minutes for Vincent to think, but then he said "I planned to leave Avalanche before that happened." This left Cloud dumbfounded, "I'll admit, having Avalanche hunting me down like a dog and wanting me dead wasn't part of my plan, but it soon came to work. That way I would die and none of you would care."

Cloud snapped. He slammed his fist on the desk beside him, startling Vincent and causing the cub to yelp at him.

"None of us would care!?" Cloud yelled, making the cub cower closer to Vincent, "How would we not!? Believe it or not, Vincent, you're our friend and nothing can change that! Those members of Avalanche who hunted you down were blinded by confusion and just wanted an excuse to find you!" He yelled, purposely not mentioning the names of 'those members of Avalanche.' For a moment Vincent eyes were locked onto the rage filled mako ones of Cloud., but then he turned away. He had not told anyone, but the word 'friend' hurt him too much to bear. A generation ago, he had friends, back when he was a Turk. But after a series of events that eventually lead to betrayal and murder, he rid himself of such things as friends. He did not think himself as Cloud's friend, more of a partner- a comrade – whatever you want to call it. Just not 'friend'

"What does it matter? Either way I'm going to die."

"No you're not. We're going to help you get through this." Cloud said, his voice softer and calmer now.

"And by denying it you're admitting it."

Cloud paused. Anything he said was only going to be twisted and manipulated into something else. Vincent was not in a talkative mood.

"Listen," Cloud started, choosing his words carefully, "I understand the p-"

"Understand?" Vincent cut in, "How can anyone possibly understand?"

He did it again! Cloud realised a straight conversation was not going to happen anytime soon. He decided to give up and just sit in silence. He had just grabbed a chair and was about to sit down when Vincent suddenly cried out. His newly fixed metal arm darted out to his flesh one and gripped it so tightly that the claws almost drew blood.. The room was filled with commotion again as Cloud jumped back up and the cub yelped continuously.

"Vincent! What's wrong? Is it the geostigma?" Cloud asked fretfully. Vincent couldn't answer but gave an agonising yell of pain.

"Hang in there Vincent ! The pain will pass soon!" Cloud reassured. But it didn't, and the pain was overwhelming him, pushing him off the edge of consciousness . Vincent was down-and-out again seconds later but his arm still convulsed as the burning of geostigma surged through it.. Defeated, Cloud slumped back in his chair. This had been the worst surge of geostigma pain yet and Vincent had defiantly been weakened a lot more now. But this only made Cloud all the more determined to find a cure. He'd make sure Vincent survived. It was at this point that Cid re-entered the room carrying three foam cups of coffee.

No sooner did he walk into the room did he say, "Why do I get the feelin' I've missed somethin'?"