Chapter 46: Life in a Northern Town

Summary: Tifa enjoys driving - it's meditative. It lets her think, or maybe it just lets the subconscious thoughts bubble to the surface. (Working title: Tifa levels up.)

AN: For some reason, this chapter didn't go live when I posted it (about 2 months ago). I know ff-net has been having issues, but wow! My apologies for not noticing sooner.

Tifa agreed to drive the Hauler the next day, as the only person in their group who'd had a full night's sleep. It had snowed in the night and the road was lightly coated in white. The tires had slipped a little pulling back out onto the road. Now they were on the graded gravel surface, it was barely thick enough to cause problems.

Her companions didn't need to know that, though. Driving in snow gave her an excuse to not speak into the tense atmosphere that filled the cab. However, an hour later, the tension was getting to be unbearable.

In the background the ancient machine pinged and chugged, adding a discordant rhythm to the worn tape playing on low. Her tense grip on the steering wheel wasn't because of the noise. They'd rolled up the windows because of the cold, but it wasn't the stuffiness that was making breathing hard.

It was because there was tension between Zack and Aerith when there'd never been tension before.

Tifa was pretty sure she knew why they weren't speaking: Zack's theory about the Lifestream.

Sure, Aerith had made jokes about it, but it had been easy to see that it really upset her. Tifa was upset at the idea, and she didn't descend from a race that was bound to it. If he was right, it meant Aerith wasn't different from the Jeniroths, and who wanted to think they were as much of an abomination as the things they were hunting?

Then Sephiroth had invaded what was supposed to have been Aerith's relaxing communing thing and had essentially confirmed that the meteor was designed to destroy the planet. Tifa had had to channel some of Cloud's pragmatic "what can we do about it now" attitude to get to sleep, (she was kind of surprised it had worked) but Aerith hadn't. Tifa had gone to sleep to the sound of Aerith's unhappy shifting and sighing.

Now they were on the road, with the rhythm of the tires and the engine, Aerith should've been lulled to sleep, but she wasn't. Instead, she was still when she would normally be squirming and looking all around. She was quiet, when she usually chattered about everything and nothing. She was under Zack's arm, as usual, and she was leaning into her boyfriend, but she wasn't snuggling.

Above her oblivious head, Tifa shared a worried glance with Zack. He replied with a shrug that was more in his eyebrows than his shoulders.

It was too much. If the tension didn't break soon, she'd end up steering them into a tree.

"Have you ever been to Rocket Town?" It was the first non-inflammatory thing that occurred to her.

He looked relieved. "Actually, yeah," he said. "It was… Oh, wow. It was eight years ago. So, like, it wasn't even built, really. Just a couple prefabs for equipment and workers.

"If there was nothing here, why were you sent?"

"There were monsters here," he replied softly. "Me and… Angeal – my mentor – he was assigned, and he brought me with him. Came on a mission to clear out some monsters around the build site. Bagnadranas, in fact. Like that thing we fought in the scrapyard before this whole mess started."

Tifa was surprised that she had to really think to remember the encounter: the bounty in The Scrapyard, Art being obnoxious – Aerith had stood up for her. That was the day they'd learned that Roman Shinra had been killed

So much had happened since then that it seemed like barely a blip now. "I'm surprised you didn't come through it during your–" she paused. There was no polite way to end that.

"My 'Year on the Run'?" he finished for her. He shook his head "Rocket Town is completely Shinra's. Shinra built it; Shinra staffs it; Shinra owns it. I didn't go near the place."

"Oh." That made sense now that he'd pointed it out.

She remembered Master Zangan had taken them around Rocket Town. Or had he gone in while she stayed in the forest? Maybe. If the town was so thoroughly Shinra, he might not have risked it.

She also remembered that Shinra had been very proud of their space program once upon a time. The launch had been in the papers, on the TV and bulletin boards. There'd been countdowns and contests. Then nothing. Just a short statement about "unforeseen incidents" and "indeterminate delays" and then silence.

Tifa had barely reached Midgar when it happened (or didn't happen) and aside from a grim delight that their rocket had flopped, she'd been uninterested in the end of Shinra dreams for space exploration.

"Do you really think the rocket's still on the platform?" She asked instead of anything deeper.

"That's what Cloud said," Zack replied. "And considering the stuff they're willing to let rust under the plate, it wouldn't surprise me."

"But…." She trailed off into silence. Uncertain what question she wanted to ask. He raised an eyebrow at her, so she kept going. "Shinra's very prideful – the old president and the company," she said. "You'd think leaving their failed rocket there for anyone to see would be… I dunno, embarrassing?"

"Well," he started then stopped. "Huh, it is kind of weird, I guess. But on the other hand, how many civilians actually get out to Rocket Town?"

She stared at him. "Lots," she stated. "Lots of small towns use it as a supply centre. Nibelheim used to have a regular run to it. When the pass was open, at least."

He shook his head. "Shinra wouldn't care about remote northern villages out here. None of the powerful people in Midgar, nobody from Kalm – those are the people Shinra cared about."

Aerith let out a soft snore, and Zack smiled with such fondness that Tifa had to look away.

Looking under the trees, she could see where snow was building up. A grim reminder of the amount of time they'd spent on the road already. Well, it had only been two months, but it felt much longer.

"What are you going to do after?" he asked Tifa softly. "You got any plans?"

Without thinking, Tifa answered, "I want to rebuild the bar."

Zack looked at her, surprised. "Yeah?"

She nodded then ducked her head and looked out the side window. Sure, she'd been thinking about it, but she hadn't made a decision – not a firm one. Except maybe she had, but she hadn't acknowledged it. Not out loud anyway. And now that she'd said it felt like a kernel of brightness deep inside her. But it was also really freaking scary, and should she really do that, asked a familiar chorus of childhood voices.

She pushed against the chorus, but they'd had a lot of practice being heard.

"That's really cool!" Zack said with genuine enthusiasm and blasted the chorus apart. "It suits you."

She looked at him. "Yeah?" Her voice came out annoyingly tentative.

Zack nodded, still smiling. "Seventh Heaven was a great place. Welcoming, accepting, but no-nonsense. Kinda like you."

The kernel turned into a bubble that grew into certainty. She was really going to do it. She, Tifa Lockhart, daughter of Brian and Thea Lockhart, Mayor and Mayoress of Nibelheim, was going to own a bar because she wanted to, because she liked it.

Zack hadn't finished talking. "The only thing that makes as much sense is if you teach little kids how to fight like you do." He lifted his free hand and gave the air a couple quick jabs.

"I couldn't do that!" She wasn't a master. She had really only dabbled since moving to Midgar.

"Yeah, maybe not," he agreed sadly. "I don't know how much time it takes to run a good bar, but it's probably a lot."

She just stared at him as if stunned. "Depends on the staff." she finally said. She could do that couldn't she. Sure, she wasn't a master like Master Zangan had been, but her style wasn't pure Wutaian either. The katas Master Zangan had taught her nearly a decade ago were just the basis of how she fought today. She'd learned some moves from Biggs and from Cloud, and yes, from Zack Fair. She'd adapted a bunch of them into something new, since she was actually out fighting monsters and not just practicing in the backyard.

It was a thought, though. It was a possibility – another possibility. Her life was full of possibilities now and Tifa didn't really know what to do with that.

"What about you?" she asked. "What will you do after?"

"Same as what I'm doing now, I guess," he answered quickly. "Helping people, trying to keep them safe."

"But you won't need the money," she said, frowning.

"If Shinra doesn't renege on the deal," he said with a cynical sneer before visibly shrugging it off. He gave her a wide smile. "Besides, I can get paid in chickens and hugs."

Tifa just looked at him. What kind of business model was that?

His smile softened, "Being a mercenary doesn't need to be about gil," he explained. "It's like you and your bar, I'm good at it, I enjoy it, and it's something people need, so chicken and hugs - whatever they have to give. Adaptability is a good trait to have," he went on. "Plus, I'd get bored if I wasn't doing something."

"Then maybe you should teach little kids how to fight." Tifa gave him a teasing smile. But then stopped. "You'd be good at it," she added softly, because he would. Zack Fair, SOLDIER and former Shinra stooge, would be fantastic teaching Marlene and her friend with the cats, or those kids from Leaf House. He would train them to protect themselves – from the huge rats, if nothing else. Or he would join them in just moving their bodies with joy – leaping and twirling just because they could.

Zack stared out the side window while he processed the suggestion, thought of new possibilities, and Tifa let him. She watched Cloud and Genesis riding their Hardy-Daytonas in front of them. She looked at the trees, mostly hardy pines and firs now, and thought of the bar she'd build.

This time, when quiet settled in the small cabin, it was comfortable – a return to the hard-won ease they'd built up over the weeks of travel. The miles passed with only the ping of the motor and the blurred melody on the old music tape for noise. Eventually, Zack's ragged snore joined Aerith's soft one and Tifa had to smile.

The weak winter sun rose to its apex. It became was warm enough that Tifa rolled the window down. She stopped when the window mechanism squealed, but it was enough to let in some crisp, fresh air. It was almost mountain air, and Tifa breathed it in deep.

She would always miss the Nibelheim of her childhood, but maybe, just maybe, she didn't miss being a child anymore. Maybe she no longer felt like something magical and immutable had been stolen from her – her mythical imagined future. It would probably never have happened exactly like she'd dreamed, but she'd clung to the idea of it because she hadn't grown out of it naturally.

She'd told Zack that healing took time and self-reflection. She'd finally given herself both and it was scary and wonderful and weird, but that bright bubble of possibilities felt more comfortable than the anger and grief she'd held onto for so long. She felt mostly ready to let go of the myth.

It took less than an hour for her to see the tip of a rocket sticking up above the trees, and by that time the bubble had shrunk, and Tifa was again unsure of her choices. But there was still that kernel that said, "don't go back". That said it was right and it was okay for her to want to own a bar. It didn't mean she was forgetting her roots.

Hopefully, if she kept working at it, the certainty would come back.

And even if it didn't, she thought fiercely, she was going to do it anyway!

The road, which had been graded dirt since Corel, bumped suddenly to pavement and the jolt was enough to bring Zack suddenly and viciously awake. If he hadn't been seating in the cabin of the Hauler, he'd've pulled his sword out for sure.

His movement managed to awaken Aerith, who snuffled and screwed up her face as if waking up was the most horrible thing ever! She rejected consciousness by snuggling even deeper into Zack side. The ex-SOLDIER automatically looked down and Tifa saw him process Aerith's presence next to him. He relaxed as suddenly as he'd woken up.

"Nearly there," Tifa announced when she had enough saliva.

They were close enough to the town that he had to duck his head to look through the top of the windshield to see over the trees. "Huh," he grunted. "That's a rocket, all right."

Ahead of her, Cloud signalled a stop, so Tifa dutifully pulled off behind the two bikes. They piled out of the truck's cabin, taking advantage of the break to stretch. Their breath made little dragon puffs in the cold air.

"Original plan was to find a science guy, but we all probably stink," Cloud said bluntly. "So, inn first; drop everyone off. Then I need to find a place to fix the U-joint. Then talk to someone about the thing in the sky. Sound good?"

Genesis smirked and sidled closer to Cloud. "Darling Cloud, would it be possible for us to share a room tonight? I promise I won't mind if you come in a little, uh, greased up." Cloud looked back and gave a sharp nod.

Tifa raised her hand. "I want to stay at a different hotel."

Zack nodded agreement and Aerith giggled.

Genesis, instead of being embarrassed, just smiled wider. "Oh, I do so hope separate hotels will be needed," he purred.

Cloud ignored him. "Think there's a few inns here, so should work. Zack. You want the bike, so I can drive the truck?" Zack agreed happily and Tifa remembered he'd driven a bike after he'd escaped.

At first, Aerith wanted to go with him, but she was in her normal dress and her hair was down, and in the end, it was just quicker to drive into town and stop at the nearest hotel rather than fuss.

Tifa tuned out of the conversation when Aerith started teasing Cloud about Genesis. (She especially didn't want to hear Aerith giving Cloud suggestions she'd gotten out of a book!) Instead, she let herself doze as they covered the remaining distance to Shinra's Rocket Town. Eyes half shut she watched the trees pass, saw a deer eating something off a tree's bark, and measured the depth of snow on the forest floor. Not much. Not nearly as much as Nibelheim would've had in the middle of winter.

Tifa wasn't sure what she'd expected of a town built for science, but it wasn't this. Instead of being the steel and pipes of Midgar, Rocket Town had been built like a 200-year-old village the eastern continent. It duplicated Kalm's historic structures with dark beams and white plaster. It had Kalm's steep roofs that were built to withstand the northern plains rainy winters and windy days. At least those would let the snow slide off them. Midgar's flat roofs would've collapsed after one heavy snowfall.

At least streets had been plowed, and a coating of small rocks gave the tires something to grip. Oddly, though, Tifa didn't see any of Shinra's security forces – no troopers, no SOLDIERs – just bundled up civilians walking quickly between buildings.

And the rocket.

It loomed over the far end of the town, slightly tipped as if mildly drunk.

"That's sooo ridiculous!" Aerith declared, clapping her hands together under her chin. "I love it!"

Though Rocket Town, like the town it was based on, didn't use neon lights or gaudy signs, it was easy to pick out the inns. Tifa was glad to see there was more than one. She'd said it as a joke, but she didn't actually want to hear Cloud and Genesis (or Aerith and Zack, either). She was glad for them, she was, but being the only one in bed alone… It made her different. Again.

Ahead of them, Zack and Genesis stopped at the first hotel on the street. It was a comfortable-looking two (or maybe three) storey building – it was hard to tell with how steeply the roof was pitched. Cloud pulled up behind the bikes and waited while Tifa and Aerith climbed out with their packs. Genesis was waiting to take their place.

Aerith giggled. "Have fun!" she said, waving them off. Then she shivered. "Oh, it's really cold!"

"We should look at cold weather gear while we're here," Tifa said. "Coats, mitts, boots." And long pants, she had to concede. She didn't find it that cold yet, but she also didn't want to risk frostbite.

"Sounds like a good idea," Zack agreed. "Let's get our rooms and then we can check out the town."

"In a couple hours," Aerith said.

Zack looked at her in surprise. "Wh–" Aerith shot him a significant look. He stopped talking and rubbed the back of his head instead. "Yeah, so, two hours?" he asked smiling down at Aerith. "That sound good to you, Teef?"

Tifa made herself shrug, but then thought of a hot bath and maybe some hot chocolate, like when she was a kid. "Sure."

Tifa led the way into the motel, leaving the couple behind to exchange mostly chaste kisses in the cold.

[Hana hits on Tifa

The woman behind the desk wasn't what Tifa was expecting from Rocket Town, either. She was young and rather pretty. She had a nicely shaped body – less overt muscle than Tifa was used to seeing these days, but still nice. What made the clerk stand out was the very blue hair, tattoos on her arm, and the piercings in her nose, eyebrow and lip. She would've been at home in any of the bars back in Midgar but looked out of place here.

As they came in, she looked up from whatever she was reading on the desk and gave Tifa a long, assessing look.

"Hello," Tifa said politely. "I need two rooms." She tipped her chin at Aerith and Zack who'd just entered, holding hands and looking at nothing but each other. "Theirs needs to have one large bed, but I can take whatever."

The clerk stood up from her stool. "Why don't you want a large bed," she asked, pushing a button on her keyboard. Tifa heard the hum of a computer coming to life.

"Uh, because I'm by myself?" Surely it was obvious, Tifa thought. No need to rub it in.

The clerk gave her a side-eyed look. "Pretty woman like you doesn't need to be alone."

Tifa wondered if the clerk was trying to set her up with someone. Maybe she thought Tifa was a sex worker? "I'm good, thanks," she said more coldly.

The clerk just raised an eyebrow. "I'll need ID – for the rooms." Tifa handed hers over. The clerk looked at it. Then gave Tifa another long look as if she didn't believe the picture. "My name is Hana, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Hana." Tifa replied, tucking away ID away.

"It's fifty gil for the 'big bed', and forty for the single." She leaned over the counter. "Though, if you do want an upgrade – to double occupancy – I can still do that. Tifa. That's a nice name."

"Thank you?" Tifa was getting really confused. The clerk was being both really polite and professional, but at the same time, almost rude.

Tifa's confusion must have shown on her face, because Hana's smile softened into something that could've been regretful. "Here's your keys, Tifa." She held onto them for an extra moment. "If you change your mind about having company tonight, I'm off shift at eight."

Hana sat back down, leaving Tifa holding the two keys. She explained which key belonged to which room and ended her speech with a professional smile. "Enjoy your stay."

Tifa almost walked away from the weirdness, before deciding that, no: she would ask her question. "Do the rooms have hot chocolate mix and kettles?"

Hana looked up at her. "No, but we do have room service. They'll bring it up to you," she laughed, but not unkindly. "Don't forget to give Raoul a tip. He's saving up money to get out of this shithole." It's an easy thing to agree to – especially since it let her slip away.

Waiting for the elevator, Tifa handed Aerith their key. "You're on the third floor; I'm on the second."

Zack kept his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ceiling. Aerith laughed happily, teasing him by stepping too close.

Tifa distracted herself by thinking about that bath. It would actually be perfect for relaxing, she decided, if it was a private bath. The bath at Nibelheim's inn had been shared, but surely Shinra's Rocket Town would have private baths?

It was something else she should've asked. She tried to picture herself walking back up to the desk, back up to Hana with her weird tone, and couldn't. She'd find out soon enough anyway.

"I'm going to take the stairs," she announced after several uncomfortable minutes. "You two enjoy yourselves," she added to be polite.

It wasn't a big hotel, so it didn't take Tifa long to find her room. The first thing she did, aside from dropping her bag and taking off her dirty boots, was to check the facilities.

There was a private bath. A big bathtub, too.

She couldn't stop the smile, wondered why she'd bothered trying. She was allowed to enjoy herself. Gods knew this trip hadn't been a vacation.

Now to get some hot chocolate….

There was a fake-leather bound menu near a phone. The inn would deliver not just hot chocolate, but food. She picked a salad as something that would be good cold but changed her mind. If she was going to laze in the bath, might as well go full-decadent and eat in it. Chicken fingers and fries… (which would also be good cold if she changed her mind again).

It took surprisingly little time for her order to arrive, carried on a tray by a stick of a boy with the reddish eyes endemic to people in this area. Tifa had the same eyes. They were her mother's eyes, she'd been told.

She tipped him (as instructed). Changed her mind about eating in the bath but took the hot chocolate with her. She'd already started filling the bathtub and steam filled the air. She relaxed into the heat and just let herself enjoy this.

The hot chocolate was really good! Tifa didn't think they'd made it from a powder. Maybe they'd melted actual chocolate. She closed her eyes. As the hot water heated her from the outside, the drink warmed her inside.

They could do this. They could save the planet.

Barret could have his mako-free energy and Shinra would die.

She could have her bar.

Aerith would get her SOLDIER and Cloud would have… whoever he wanted.

It would all be alright.

She'd eventually find someone who didn't think of her boobs first.

Tifa's eyes popped open.

Hana had looked at Tifa's breasts. Hana had looked at Tifa's lips before licking her own.

Hana had been flirting with Tifa!

Had she been, though?

Tifa reviewed the whole scene at the desk, and it made sense – it absolutely fit. Hana hadn't been propositioning her – well, she had been, but not for sex work. Hana had, maybe still did, want to have sex with Tifa.

How did that even work between women?

Tifa shook that thought away in favour of going over the conversation again, just to be sure, but the thought came back: how did two women have intercourse?

Tifa wasn't so naïve to believe that sex was always "insert Tab A into Slot B", but still… There needed to be some friction, right?

She tried to picture it: Hana's hands touching her, doing… something. Maybe Hana would slide her thigh between Tifa's legs…

All of a sudden, Tifa didn't need the hot water or the hot chocolate to feel warm. Her private parts were tingling, and her breath was a little short.

She sat up, letting the water slosh wherever.

She put her cup down on the edge with a decisive clink.

That was enough of that.

.o00o.

It was snowing again. Vincent barely felt it.

He stood on the roof of a warehouse in Rocket Town, and watched Cloud Strife work on the antique truck they'd bought instead of taking one the new models Tseng had offered. The move had been both smart and short-sighted.

Smart because the old truck had less technology built in, meaning the Turks had fewer ways to monitor them. It also meant Strife could do exactly what he was doing now: fix it when it broke down. Shinra's newer models often required a Shinra garage and a Shinra mechanic.

However, it had been short-sighted because a vehicle like that was going to break down and when it did, parts might be harder to find away from Midgar. They'd also underestimated Tseng. Even though he couldn't monitor the truck in Shinra's network, it hadn't stopped the Turks from putting tracking devices on the vehicle.

Of course, Strife hadn't hesitated to remove all of the devices he'd found, and apparently, he'd found all of them. It was why Vincent was here, watching them, after all. As a favour, called in by his old partner and negotiated with his replacement.

He lifted the Turk-issued PHS he'd been given and entered the number from memory. Unlike commercial devices, the PHSs used by the Turks had no problem connecting in remote and unpopulated areas. It was just one of the many improvements Shinra chose to keep to itself.

"Yes." Tseng's voice was smooth, calm. Distinctly different from Veld's default bellow.

"They're in Rocket Town; repairing their vehicle," he replied.

"Will you have access to it?" Meaning, would he be able to plant another device.

"Probably. I'll know their destination tomorrow anyways." Unless they went back the way they came, there were only two routes out of Rocket Town: the northern road took them to a ferry to the Northern Continent. The southern route would take them to Nibelheim.

If Vincent were a betting man (if he was still a man at all), he would put all his gil on Nibelheim.

"Best to be sure," Tseng ordered.

"Very well," he said before ending the call.

He'd already told Tseng about the group's travel through the Corel Desert. He'd actually watched them try to use their PHSs but hadn't gotten close enough to overhear who they'd been trying to contact. Not that he would've told Tseng, he decided. His loyalty to Veld didn't run that deep.

He spun the PHS between his claws – flip, STOP, flip, STOP – while he watched Strife work on the Hauler. He watched Rhapsodos watch Strife, and he thought.

He'd read the files Tseng had provided, so he knew what Rhapsodos had done, but they were just words. He had no connection to the events of five years ago and so felt no animosity towards the red-haired former SOLDIER.

Why was he here?

In his hunt for ways to help his newly rediscovered daughter, Veld had woken Vincent from his sleep and talked him into remaining in the world of the living, and he'd agreed. It had helped that it was Veld asking him – his old partner, his only confidante – and that Vincent hadn't realized how much time had passed. In his coffin, it had felt like weeks, but it had been years, decades! What had help more was Veld's promise that the order for Hojo's execution (which Veld said would be forthcoming) would go to Vincent.

He'd barely helped in the fight against Zirconiade, unwilling to trust Chaos to side against the planet's other WEAPON, but it had been very satisfying to get most of Turks away from Shinra afterwards, stripping the company that had abandoned him of most of its teeth.

That had been a year ago. Veld and his daughter were securely settled in a southern town, both of them rebuilding their lives and themselves. Hojo's kill order had never been given, even after the madman had retired.

Yet Vincent was still here, doing the company's bidding. Why?

Veld had lied to him. Considering what had been at stake, Vincent could understand and even forgive Veld somewhat. But Veld wasn't in charge of the Turks, and Vincent didn't know Tseng. Or Reno, or any of the other remaining Turks. He owed them… nothing.

With Hojo dead, Vincent could retreat back to the mansion, back to his basement, but as much as that would be simple, the time for sleep had passed. He had control of the various creatures that had been grafted into him. Retreating now wouldn't be protective, but cowardly.

He could walk away from this mission, and part of him definitely thought he should, but he'd heard the team talk about Sephiroth. They'd argued about whether they'd have to kill him (even though the reports said Sephiroth was already dead. Killed five years ago in the very town in which Vincent had been killed.) Fair and the ancient, Gainsborough, wanted to save Lucrecia's child if they could. Strife and Rhapsodos seemed non-committal. Only Tifa Lockhart seemed set on killing him.

If it came down to pure strength, or survivability, Vincent knew he had them all outclassed. Chaos resided in him – a weapon of the planet, an immortal harbinger of destruction. However, Chaos was unlikely to care if Sephiroth survived as long as it did, so bringing it out to fight Lucrecia's son was not the optimal move.

Thinking of Sephiroth brought Vincent back to thoughts of Lucrecia…

They'd only had that one afternoon together, and she'd assured him that birth control wasn't a problem. The next day, Vincent had been called back to Midgar. By the time he'd returned to Nibelheim, she'd turned to Hojo.

Vincent had just assumed that Sephiroth had been Hojo's child, born early because of the experiments they'd done. But…

He'd seen the pictures of "Shinra's Greatest Warrior". Yes, he had Lucrecia's hair; he had her cheeks and her hands, but Sephiroth had Vincent's height and chin, not Hojo's.

If his help could make the difference between killing Sephiroth and merely subduing him until he could be reasoned with, didn't Vincent owe that to the man who was possibly his son?