Rude woke up in a foreign bed, seriously hurt and Reno wasn't there. Panicking quietly he tried to locate his phone or his knuckledusters or at least his damn shades, to no avail. *I'm not tied up but that doesn't mean much. I'm so badly cut up I couldn't crawl out of here.* Yesterday was a series of hazy, bloody memories, some of which would probably make sense if he gave them time but a Turks first instinct was to fight or flee and right now he couldn't do either.

He jolted and the awful wound in his side tore open a bit as the door was kicked open.

"Hey, yer awake. Good fer ya. I brought ya breakfast." A grumpy blonde man in about his own age came in, carrying a plate with food on it and some of the pieces in Rude's head clicked into place. *The airship. Captain Highwind. I am in no direct danger.* Sure, Turks and Avalanche had fought before, but they had an uneasy truce now. And Heroes didn't just kick people of airplanes, apparently. Rude let himself relax a fraction. Then he tensed up again.

"The phone. Did I make a call last night?" He mumbled as Cid slammed down the plate and started pouring something.

"What the Hell is with ya people and yer phones? Ya called that little shithead of a friend of yers, sure."

"What did I say?" Rude pushed.

"I don't know, something about fruit." Cid shrugged, completely unaware of the mortal danger they were both in. "Heh, maybe ya said ya went bananas."

"Peachy?"

"Yeah, that's it. Why?" Cid frowned as Rude sighed with relief and slumped down in bed again.

"That is the code word for not activating the bomb."

"Bomb? What fucking bomb?!" Cid jumped.

"If a Turk goes down there is always the last resort of….blowing everything around them to pieces. As vengeance. And, depending on what they're doing to the Turk, as a last mercy." Rude closed his eyes. "I was gone so long without reporting, it must have been a matter of minutes before Tseng decided to activate. Good thing I made the call."

Cid was staring, his jaw dropped.

"Ya son of a bitch! Ya were gonna blow up my ship when I rescued ya?! I ought ta throw ya out and then ya can blow up some piece of random shit wilderness and monsters instead!"

"You are safe now, mr Highwind…."

"I don't care about being safe, I care about my fucking ship, ya hear me?! Where is that damn bomb, I'm gonna kick it out the rear end!" He started to rifle through the clothes on the floor.

"Here." Rude knocked on his chest. "It's in here, Captain Highwind."

Again Cid just stared, dumbfounded. Then, to Rude's utter surprise, he started laughing.

"Yer just fucking crazy, aren't ya? All Turks are fucking crazy, and I'm fucking crazy fer letting ya stay onboard! Here have some breakfast. Can't have ya dying on me now with all the trouble ya put me through." He handed over a cup and some small pieces of dry bread. Rude, still exhausted with bloodloss and pain, stared at it.

"What is this?" He frowned. Next to the bed, Cid was happily sipping away, dunking the small pieces in the cup.

"Tea and crackers, man. Food of the gods. Oughtta put some hair on yer chest!"

Rude sighed and started to doggedly try to get the tiny nourishment into his famished body. *It could have been worse." He told himself sternly. *It could have been a lot worse.*

Rude fell asleep after 'breakfast' and Cid studied him for a while. His features were pale and drawn by the pain but even without the suit on, he was a handsome man. Strong looking to, and not a word of complaint about pain. Stoic. Quiet. All things Cid appreciated. And he smelled of explosives, which was also….nice.

He left some more tea by the bedside, and used his Cure once more for all the good it did. And, just to be sure, he plugged in the cellphone and put it within easy reach.

Fortunately for Rude, dinner was a lot more substantial than breakfast had been. Mashed potatoes, peas and meatloaf. Again Cid came to sit by his bed as they ate which was nice. He wasn't much for talking but he liked to listen.

"So, where are we?" He asked, trying to eat neatly despite being famished. Cid had helped him sit up and packed a few pillows behind his back.

"200 miles from Bone Village, 200 miles from Icicle Inn and probably closer ta space then ta any human settlements." Cid shrugged. "Ya picked a bad time ta be a stow away if ya wanted ta reach Midgar any time soon."

"Tseng would pay you for a detour…" he started but fell quiet as Cid glared at him.

"I don't care what ShinRa does, I gave my word I'd deliver this as soon as I could and the word of Cid fucking Highwind is worth something, damn it!" The blonde scowled over his meatloaf. "Ya jest sit back and see this as an extended vacation, 'cause yer not going anywhere. There's nothing but snow for miles and miles and even when we reach Icicle Inn, the fastest way ta Midgar is still with me. So don't fuck up, don't mess up, don't be a dick and I'll fly ya back ta Midgar all nice and sweet once my job is done. And I do expect someone in ShinRa ta pay me fer fuel, Gods damn it."

Rude felt his shoulders slump, but he nodded reluctantly.

"It is your ship, captain." And there really wasn't much he could do about it; he couldn't fly a ship himself, and he had a feeling that threatening the volatile captain would get him tossed out of the cargo bay, wounded or not. Besides, it wasn't as if had anything particularly reason to get to Midgar quickly, really. The Turks could handle themselves without him for a few days now that they knew he was going to be fine.

"Why were ya in my cargo deck bleeding yer guts out anyway?" Cid asked, munching peas.

"Got shot."

"No shit." Cid rolled his eyes but didn't press the matter. Rude sighed

"A mission went wrong, I got shot and I was far away from assistance. It was pure instinct and the fact that you were leaving that made me jump your ship. I just needed to get away, fast."

"And ya didn't think ya let me know." It wasn't a question. "I don't leave people bleedin' ta death ya know. I don't even leave Turks that way."

"Blood loss. I wasn't thinking straight." He squirmed a little, not noticeable, at Cid's hard stare. "….fine. I don't trust anyone who isn't a Turk."

"Well, yer stuck with trusting me fer a week or so." Cid rose and stretched. "And I guess I'm stuck trusting ya not ta kill me in my sleep or something. See ya later. Ship won't fly itself over mountains in a snowstorm."