Another chapter, a little earlier this time because I don´t know if I have the time to update during the weekend.

Thanks again to PfenixB for the awesome betaing (btw: she has written a great story starring Vincent and Cid, it´s called 'Hansel and Gretel'. I highly recommend reading it :))

Warnings for this chapter: uhm... more swearing, bruises and drama?

Enjoy!

6

The next morning Yazoo was in a considerably better mood, if not elated. As elated as Yazoo could be in the presence of a moody Cid Highwind, that was. But even the mechanic's grumpy face couldn't do anything to wipe away that stupidly happy expression radiating from under the mask of cool indifference the youth always wore when he was at work.

"Whatcha so happy 'bout?" Cid growled, finding it extremely annoying and fumbling for his well deserved morning cigarette.

"What, do I have to justify it?" Yazoo replied coolly, adding with a mean smirk "Maybe you should get laid once in a while, it would definitely do your attitude some good. You seem a little… frustrated."

"An get maself beaten inta a bloody pulp? Na thanks; can do without dat," the mechanic shot back, effectively smacking the rapturous expression from his assistant´s face, as he slowly tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "I have no idea what you want to say with that inept comment."

"Yeah," Cid snorted, blowing out a cloud of smoke "I´m talkin 'bout da friggin bruise on yer arm for starters."

"I believe I already told you that I got this because I fell down the stairs," the silver haired man replied, clearly not enjoying this conversation.

"An' here I thought it was ma bloody store dat caused ya 'accidental' bruises," came the snappy reply. Cid leaned against the counter, arms crossed over his chest and shooting his assistance a challenging, daring and slightly sarcastic look. The obligatory cig was dangling from the corner of his mouth, thin trails of smoke idly crawling towards the ceiling and mingling with the dusty air.

Yazoo looked a little taken aback for a moment, but then his fine brows drew together as he replied "I do not have to listen to this. It's not your business and just because you don't get anything into your bed doesn't mean that you have to badmouth everyone else's relationships." With that he pressed his pouty lips together, turned on his heels and went off to his store room.

"Yeah? I dun giva bloody damn ´bout ya an ya shagga!" Cid yelled after him, banging the door shut behind him in agitation as he withdrew into his garage.

Honestly who did the bitch think he was?! As if Cid didn´t have other things to do than sticking his nose into other peoples lifes! Because he HAD and he definitely didn´t give a bloody damn about the sissy!

Smashing the screwdriver into the tool box, he reached for another cigarette and swore to himself to never ever say a word to the runt again.

And he was true to his word for another week.

They barely spoke to each other, but that wasn´t much of a change to the days before.

It was on a Tuesday, though, that he opened the front door and the usual spot where Yazoo was leaning on was vacant. Frowning, he had a look to the left and right, but there was no silver haired youth to be seen, only dust trailed over the hot, glimmering street.

Cid also didn´t say anything when two hours later his assistance limped past the counter, mumbling a curt apology with downcast eyes and went straight to his store room.

Cid kept his mouth shut when Yazoo showed him is brand new engagement ring, a thin silver band with a green stone, the following day. He even agreed to come to the wedding; Yazoo had graciously mentioned he could come to if he felt like it. There had been a slightly gleeful and haughty undertone when he made the offering, though. Probably wanted to rub it under the mechanic's nose how fine he was.

There were moments though, where Cid just wanted to grab the boy by the shoulder and shake all the ignorance and stupidity out of him. But he didn´t.

It wasn't Cid's business and as long as Yazoo was efficient at work there was no way in hell he'd say anything!

It was on the following Friday that he had enough.

Sitting hunched over his paperwork and with a mayor headache trying to make a sense out of all the numbers and letters, a sound caught his ears.

"Holy shit, nat again!"

Jumping to his feet and grabbing for his spear, the mechanic didn't even bother throwing over a shirt or putting out his cig. Fuming and with absolute violent intent, Cid silently rushed down the stairs, eager to just beat the shit out of whoever dared to invade his home at 3 am in the fucking morning!

He had enough of being mister nice guy, for once and for all!

The noise came from the broken window Cid hadn´t repaired yet and angrily the mechanic directed his spear at it, with the other hand smashing on the light switch and growling frighteningly "Now ya bloody damn-" He stopped then, though, narrowing his eyes.

"Yazoo?"

Confused, Cid withdrew his spear as he noticed the hunched figure on the floor that looked up at him with equally big eyes.

"Whadda hell ya doin here?!"

"I was just… I," the young man tried to find an excuse but then just gave up and admitted unemotionally, "I had an argument with Reno… I didn't know where else to go…"

"So ya planned on sleepin on ma floor," Cid concluded, adding with biting sarcasm and a bit of gloating satisfaction "Sorry pal but yer problems ain't ma business."

His brief feeling of triumph was over when he noticed the blank expression and the utter confusion hidden underneath, as the young man said slowly "My apologies, I´ll just go-"

The sound of the spear colliding with the wall as Cid leaned his weapon aside, made the boy flinch and stop in his speech.

Sighing, the mechanic crouched down and reached out to the sitting figure but Yazoo automatically shifted away, shielding his head on reflex as if he expected Cid to lash out at him.

"Oi kid, stop dat, I ain't hurtin ya," the blond frowned, withdrawing his hand and rubbing over his chin. He so wanted a cig now…

"I'm sorry, of course you would not…" Yazoo managed, licking his lips and looking up at Cid again, but still protectively bending over his left arm.

"May I see dat arm?" Cid asked, trying to speak slowly and clearly so as not to upset the bemused youth.

Yazoo blinked at him, then looked uncertainly towards his arm but eventually lifted it slowly so Cid got better access. Carefully the man rolled up the sleeve and made a face when he saw the thing being violet and red, and unhealthily swollen.

"Can ya move ya fingas?" he asked, observing how Yazoo tried to move his shaking fingers and then carefully feeling the limb up.

"Nat broken," the mechanic mumbled, a little relieved. "Can ya stand up n walk?"

He got a curt nod, but had to help up the youth anyway and also needed to support him, as Yazoo slowly limped beside him. They made it up the stairs to Cid´s apartment and eventually the man sat his assistance down on the sofa in his small living room, switching on a floor lamp.

"Need ta wash dat with alcohol," he informed the youth and vanished in the kitchen to get some high-proof alcohol he usually kept for cleaning his oily hands.

Yazoo didn't say anything, just had a somewhat withdrawn look through the small apartment.

It was camped and disorganized, just like the shop -and Cid in general- was. One could easily tell that this was a bachelor's household, totally lacking the sense of coziness and warmth that usually came with a woman's presence. The room was furnished only with the most necessary, and the rest of the space was occupied by tools and machine-parts. The ragged poster of a pin-up girl hung shamelessly from one wall, saucily winking at the blank-faced youth. All in all the apartment looked like some strange mixture of a garage and a living room colliding. It even smelled of oil and dust up here, the only difference from the garage was the heavy, underlying smell of cooked food. It wasn't an unpleasant fragrance, though.

Coming back into the living room, the mechanic placed the bottle of alcohol on the crowded table, shoving away an ashtray and some magazines, and crouched down before the trembling youth.

"Need yer arm," Cid instructed much softer than one would have expected from him. Yazoo just held his arm towards the man, clenching his teeth as the biting alcohol made contact with the abused skin.

Rubbing over the red flesh with the cloth swiftly, Cid tried to zone out the muffled, pained pants and concentrated on his job. It really looked awful and the mechanic didn't want to think about what force had been necessary to destroy it so thoroughly. Eventually he was done, putting the cloth aside and asking "Ya have any otha injuries?"

Yazoo looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. "On my back… And my legs."

Sighing, Cid rubbed his eyes, then said "Could ya undress?"

The youth nodded again, hesitantly and awkwardly took off his shirt and turned his back towards his employer.

"What the fuck?!" the man gasped upon seeing the cluster of red welts and almost black bruises marring the porcelain skin. Some of them oozed blood, others looked distinctively older and already half healed.

Cid sat beside the teen, bending over the arched back and taking a closer look. It seemed like someone had whipped the boy with a belt or something. And there, in the middle of a particular devious bruise was the imprint of a… ring?

"Ya fiancé did this?" It was more of a bitter statement than an actual question.

Yazoo remained silent for a moment, but then said almost inaudibly "He loves me. It´s just that he's really having a hard time with not finding a job, and when he has drunk too much alcohol, he gets… a little angry sometimes."

"A little angry?" Cid snorted in disbelieve, briefly closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to not yell. "Let me tell ya sumthin kiddo, I've had ma fair share of problems an frustration too, but I neva eva hurt ma woman! An so do othas without havin ta beat deir lovas inta bloody pulps, ya hear me? Ain't da first time he´s done dat, eh?"

"It's not his fault!" Yazoo snapped, making Cid shake his head in exasperation.

"Den whose fault is it? Yas?!"

"Actually yes, it is," the teen 'admitted', drawing his legs towards his chest and hugging them with a cold look while Cid grabbed for the bottle and the cloth again. "I know how much he loves me but how stressed he is, so I should not provoke him. He's a bit jealous."

"Dat's nat love kiddo, dat's just sick," the mechanic replied, head tilted and focused on the youth´s back.

"He's not!" Yazoo objected almost angrily, shooting Cid a look from behind his bangs and explaining "He´s always saying how sorry he is and that it actually hurts him more than me."

"Yeah?" Cid doubted and pressed the alcohol-soaked cloth to an open wound, making the teen flinch on purpose. "Ya feel dat? I bet ya friggin Reno ain't had da faintest idea o' what dat feels like. How long ya intend ta take it? Till he´s beaten ya dead?"

Yazoo remained silent, only leaning his head against his knees and letting Cid take care of his abused body. He was still trembling, looking physically and emotionally exhausted and just simply too tired to fight now.

Cid wasn´t even sure if he could blame the boy for his ignorance. Admittedly Reno had even almost blinded him with his boyish charm and open shows of affection. How was Yazoo, who trusted and loved him, supposed to see that this relationship wasn't anything to do with love anymore? It was simply destructive and if he didn´t start facing reality Yazoo would find himself in a hospital next time, if not worse.

Setting aside the cloth and the bottle again, Cid grabbed for a much needed cigarette, asking if Yazoo felt able to treat his legs himself or if he required Cid's help. The teen answered that he could do it himself and the mechanic retreated into his small bathroom to give him some privacy. And because he really thought he couldn't take seeing any more bruises and welts without snapping and paying Reno a little visit to make him experience firsthand how it really felt!

He really didn´t get it… What could drive a person to do such things? Maybe one could do such things to a person he really hated, but one he loved? Shaking his head, the mechanic sat down on the closed toilet seat, brushing the tip of his cig against the sink and taking another deep drag.

It was a crime on itself no doubt, but doing it to someone like Yazoo… This was really sick. That was not to say that Cid wasn´t sometimes tempted to smack that smug expression from his assistant's face, but thinking and actually doing were two entirely different things and Cid would never EVER take the last step!

Besides, he hadn't been under the impression that Yazoo was particularly offending towards Reno, quite the contrary. He obviously tried to please his boyfriend, going so far as to defend him for his brutal actions and blaming himself.

Throwing the cigarette out of the open window, Cid glanced at his watch and waited for another twenty minutes, taking a quick shower while he was trapped here anyway.

When he came back to the living room Yazoo was already sound asleep, a blanket thrown over his slim, abused body. Closing the bottle and setting it aside, the mechanic decided to leave the paperwork be and take a nap too. God knew he needed it.

Don´t worry, I will elaborate the events I just broached. I know it seems a bit rushed but these things will be told from Yazoo´s POV^^

luvyuyu: You suspected right, Reno did somehing to Yazoo :) About Reno robbing Cid´s shop: this thought crossed my mind as well and I found it to be a really tempting idea, but in the end it wouldn´t have fit into the plotline and just unneccesarily complicated it, so I had to abandon it :(

Valitiel: Yes, that doesn´t look good, does it? And it wasn´t a very clever lie Reno gave...^^

Koumori-chan: Haha, yes, I really don´t know why it always happens to him XD Some day I´ll write a fic with him being the aggressor^^ Well, the abuser actually is Reno... But this doesn´t mean that he is a wholly bad person, I think. We´ll just have to see how things are developing ;)

jennie300303: Oh I´m sorry, but actually I did make Reno an abusive lover :( But there is always a reason why people act like they do, and I certainly will not just simply let him be a superficial, evil antagonist in this story. And people always could change, couldn´t they? ;)

Xyleel: Oh hallo! Schön dich hier zu sehen *echt freu* Haha, denk ich mir auch immer: solange Yazoo dabei ist (und sich auch einigermaßen wie Yazoo verhält) ist alles okay ;) Aber freut mich dass es bis jetzt funktioniert. Es wird noch kompliziert wenn die beiden sich dann erst mal als potentielle Partner füreinander entdecken *seufz* Mal sehen ob ich das hinkriege. Ja, naja, Reno ist etwas durch den Wind in dieser Story, aber er ist ja nicht abgrundtief böse. Etwas überfordert vielleicht. Aber ich will nicht zuviel verraten^^

sareyva: Yes, you are defintely, right: there´s slowly trust building between them. Cid´s just in denial^^ As you already know now it really was Reno, and his excuse was VERY lame, yes. Actually I only made Reno and Yazoo a pair because I didn´t have the nerv to dscribe 2 developing relationships :D The one with Cid and Yazoo is complicated enough *sigh* But it´s fun to write them and hopefully things will stay unpredicatable ;)

Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, I appreciate that very much!!!

:)