3-0 PDS

By Kristen Williams

The intercom system aboard the Highwind crackled to life. "Attention! All crew members to the bridge immediately…please."

Vincent was on the deck, looking over the edge at the clouds below. The sound of Cid’s voice prompted him to roll his eyes in annoyment. "Not again. I’m getting real tired of running down there seventeen times a day."

Within a few minutes, everyone was in the bridge. Tifa and Yuffie stood together giggling about something that none of the men present cared about. Barret, Cloud, Cait Sith, and Red were also huddled, complaining about the lack of decent food on the ship. Vincent was standing alone on the perimeter of the room, back turned to the others. He wasn’t in the sociable mood, but then again he never was.

Cid then made his entrance and went slowly to the head of the bridge. He scanned over the group briefly; making certain that everyone had shown up as he had ordered. Before starting his lecture, he pulled a cigarette from a pocket and lit it. After a few drags, he pulled it from his lips and held it at his side. "I know you’re all wondering why I asked you here." He took another puff. "I think we need to discuss our plan."

All those assembled mumbled amongst themselves for a moment, except for Vincent who still had his back turned.

Cid flicked some ashes onto the floor. "We’re going to the crater tomorrow, for what I believe to be the final battle with that son of a bitch. So, who’s got any idea of what we are supposed to do there?"

Cloud stepped forward, electing himself the spokesman for the group. "We have to go in there and find Sephiroth. As to how were going to kill him once we’re there, I think is something will have to figure out once we can see exactly what he has become."

Vincent laughed quietly to himself. They really have no idea what they are going to find down there tomorrow.

Cid dropped his cigarette and narrowed his eyes. "You have something to say Valentine?"

He shrugged, not bothering to look at the pilot.

Enraged, Cid made his way over to the cloaked man. "I said, you got something to say?"

Again, Vincent shrugged. He would not humor Cid and his power trip.

Losing his temper, Cid kicked Vincent in the back. Unprepared for this attack, Vincent flew forward, slamming into the wall before crumpling to the floor. Cid’s eyes were caught by the glimmer of blood sprayed across the bulkhead.

Vincent got back to his feet, and finally turned to face Cid. A narrow stream of blood was running from his right temple, making its way down his cheek. He stood staring at Cid. The only sound in the room was the occasional dull tap of blood dripping from Vincent’s chin.

Cid felt no remorse for what he had just done. "Well Valentine?"

Vincent reached out and clamped Cid’s right arm in the talons of his cybernetic claw. Cid was forced to his knees as Vincent twisted his arm painfully. He was very tempted to separate the pilot from his arm permanently.

The others present had gathered around. Although wishing to stop this confrontation, no one was actually up to the task of interfering with a fight between these two. Such a fight had been inevitable, and all those present knew that the only way this could end would be for one of these two men to submit to the other.

Vincent looked up at the others. Yuffie stood with her hands over her mouth, Cloud with his mouth agape, Barret with his arms folded across his chest, Cait Sith for the moment perfectly still, Red XIII flicking the flame tipped end of his tail nervously. The corner of Vincent’s mouth tugged upward slightly, no one recognized this for what it was; Vincent was smiling. The grin faded however, when he looked over to Tifa. She was staring back at him, and there were tears in her eyes.

He let go of Cid and took a step back. He dropped his gaze from the woman’s stare.

The pilot rubbed his arm where it had been grasped by the mechanical hand. "Son of a bitch. You’re lucky I don’t kick your ass for that."

Vincent ached to pull his gun from its holster and to end Cid’s impudence once and for all, but he stopped himself. Killing the pilot would only short them another body in the fight with Sephiroth, or at least that’s the excuse he used to justify allowing Cid to live. He started for the door of the bridge. Cid called something out after him as he retreated, but the curse was cut short when Vincent slammed the door behind him.

Vincent made his way back up to the deck. The cold air that whipped at him sent a sharp pain through his head. He reached up and touched the laceration Cid had given him. It wasn’t too bad he thought, although he knew he should probably get a few stitches in it to curb the bleeding a bit.

He heard a sound behind him and spun. Tifa was standing there, wringing her hands together anxiously. "Hi."

"Cid allowed you to escape the meeting?" Vincent turned back to look down over the edge.

She came over to his side. "I’ve kind of had it with Cid’s attitude."

He nodded slightly in agreement. "I think we all have."

"Ummm…" Tifa turned her head to look at him.

Vincent could feel her stare but did not look back. "What?"

"You want me to take care of that?" Her voice was nearly a whisper.

Narrowing his eyes, he turned his gaze to meet hers. "Huh?"

She pointed to the side of his face. "Your cut. I could clean it up for you."

He shrugged and looked away. "Won’t your boyfriend get a little jealous if he catches you tending to someone else’s wounds?"

His tone was a bit biting, and she turned away. "Cloud is not my boyfriend."

"Have you told him that?" Vincent allowed himself to smile since she could not see.

She kicked at the deck. "We are friends, that’s it. He was in love with Aeris."

Vincent sighed at the thought of the girl’s death. "Oh…but you still love him."

"Is it that obvious?" She smiled briefly.

"Yes, and so I can’t help but wonder what you are doing up here with me?" He cocked his head.

Tifa turned to look at him. "I like you Vincent and I want us to be friends."

In a rare display of emotion, his eyes went wide. Vincent had never really had any friends before. To him, the world had always been cleanly divided into three groups; lovers, coworkers, and enemies. The thought of this girl wanting to be his friend was alien to him. "Why?"

She came closer to him again. Tifa reached up and grabbed one of his raven locks playfully and gave it a slight tug. "Because you need friends, Vincent."

After having his hair released from her grip, he flipped it over his shoulder to keep it out of her reach. He was amused that she had dared to do what she had done. "I still don’t know why you would want to be my friend. I’m afraid I’m always in a bad mood and I am terribly socially inept."

A warm smile crossed her face. "It’s kinda cute. So?"

He was caught a little off guard by her expression. Rarely had anyone ever looked at him with such kindness. "Huh?"

"So can I take care of your cut there or not?" She stood on tiptoe to get a better look at the wound. "You’ll bleed to death if you don’t let me do something soon."

"If it will make you happy." He resigned to allow her this one indignity on him.

She clapped her hands together, just a little too excited at her success. "Alright, come on."

Vincent followed silently as she grabbed a corner of his cloak and practically dragged him below deck. She led him to the infirmary. He took a seat on one of the beds while she proceeded to gather her medical supplies.

Once she had her tray loaded she pulled it next to where he had landed. His eyes caught sight of the medical instruments and the small foil package of suture material.

"You’re going to give me stitches?" He knew he needed them, but the thought of her doing it seemed somewhat odd.

She smiled. "It’s all right. I’ve had plenty of practice on Cloud."

He wasn’t entirely reassured by this as she picked up a small syringe of lidocaine to numb the wound. "Okay… You better be good with the suture thread stuff."

"It’s called three ought PDS. It’s purple, it will look real nice." She narrowed her eyes. "You want to take the thingie off?" She motioned toward his head.

He reached up and pulled the red strip of fabric that he kept his hair tamed with away. At once, his face was obscured as his locks fell down. "I don’t know what a help that will be."

She still seemed displeased. "Can ya shed the cloak to?"

"No." The high collar of his cloak served to hide his face. He didn’t want anyone to see him. There was something precious about maintaining some anonymity that he wasn’t willing to surrender.

"Okay, that’s fine." She came over and pushed back his hair.

He winced as she injected the lidocaine into his temple. The sting of the medicine was almost as bad as the injury itself but after a few seconds the pain was gone. "So, how bad is it?"

She considered the laceration for a second. "Two and a half inches at best, but you know these head wounds always bleed like crazy."

"Yeah." A cold trickle ran down the side of his face as she cleaned the wound. He figured the least he could do would be to attempt to have a conversation. "So, uh, what are your plans after this is all over with?"

Her concentration prevented her from answering right away. "Well…I think I’ll probably go with Cloud, try to see if I can salvage anything with him."

His instinct was to nod in response but he caught himself from doing so knowing that it would make Tifa’s job harder. "I see."

"And yourself?" She had completed her first suture of a dozen.

"I really have no idea." The thought of an idle life where his memories would haunt him was horrifying. "Maybe I won’t survive the fight."

She whacked the back of his head. "Don’t say things like that. You will too survive. Isn’t there anywhere you want to go?"

"Somewhere I can be alone, I guess." Vincent closed his eyes, knowing that he was becoming a monster that no one would be safe around.

"No family or anything?" Only after these words had already fallen from her lips did she realize how inappropriate they were. Idiot, she thought, he’s been asleep for damn near thirty years, and all of his family is probably dead.

He let her comment slide. "No."

She was aware of the void in his heart where Lucrecia had resided, and she pitied him. "Well, if we all lose touch after this, I hope you’ll look me up someday. I’m curios to see what you end up doing."

Vincent made a halfhearted response. "I’ll see you again, I’m sure."

She set her needle holders and forceps down on the tray. "There you are, good as new."

"Thanks." He stood up. "Well, I think I’m going to turn in."

"Okay." She grinned. "Take care of that now. Those stitches need to come out in ten to fourteen days."

Vincent studied her for a moment. She was a very attractive girl and if he still hadn’t been so hurt over Lucrecia’s fate, he knew he would feel more for her. "Well then, good night."

She watched as he started to retreat. "Hey Vincent?"

He glanced back over his shoulder at her. "Yeah?"

"Uh…" She shifted uncomfortably. "Thanks for your time. I know you have a hard time being friendly like that."

He diverted his gaze shyly. "Well, I wasn’t acting."

"Oh, so you mean you really are going to let me be your friend?" She folded her arms across her chest.

Vincent nodded and brought his gaze back up to meet hers. "Yeah. You’re not so bad. Hell, if I had to choose someone on this ship to be with after tomorrow…I would pick you. Good night, Tifa."

She stood there trying to understand exactly what he had meant by his last comment after he left the room, but her concentration was broken after a few moments.

Cloud walked in, looking a little relieved. "God, I’ve been looking all over for you ever since you took off after Vincent."

"Sorry." She looked down at the floor. "I knew he needed some patching up after Cid’s little attack."

His eyes went wide. "And he let you?"

She nodded.

"Wow girl, you are amazing." Cloud smiled. "He won’t even talk to the rest of us, and he lets you stitch him?"

"Well, he’s not as bad as you all make him out to be." She was proud to have gained Vincent’s trust. "He is a decent guy, he’s just hurting a lot right now. You and the others need to try and be a little more patient and understanding with him."

Cloud laughed. "Sorry, but that’s not really a ‘male’ department, Tifa. Maybe he’s being nice to you ‘cause he likes you."

She rolled her eyes. "Give me a break. So what if he did? You got a problem with that?"

He came over to her and placed his arms around her waist. "Oh Tifa… You know I’m just messing with you, right?"

"Yeah." She laid her head against his chest. "What is going to happen after tomorrow?"

She felt him shrug. "Dunno."

"You and me, though…are we going to end up together or do you want to go off on your own?" Her voice wavered a bit as she said this.

"Tifa, you are my best friend… No, more than that and you know it." He held her tighter. "I want you to be with me wherever I go."

She looked up at him. "But as a friend or what?"

He looked a little confused and was silent.

"Look Cloud, I know you miss Aeris…I know how you felt for her." There were tears in her eyes. "I love you, and would do anything for you, but I need to know exactly what you plan for me. If we are never going to be more than friends, that’s fine, but I need to know so that I can get on with my life."

"Tifa!" Cloud brought his hands up to hold her face. "I did like Aeris, but she is gone! You’re the one who’s always been there for me, the one who will always be there for me. I would have to be some kind of an idiot to turn you away."

In her heart, these words were translated. As in, Aeris is gone, and I’m what’s left.

Still seeing the tears in her eyes, Cloud furrowed his brow. "What’s wrong? Did Vincent say something tonight that upset you?"

She shook her head. "He didn’t say anything. It’s just that when I watch him, I see what can happen when you allow yourself to forever hold on to a love that never becomes anything. I don’t want to end up like that. It’s so sad."

"God Tifa!" Cloud smiled. "I think there is a lot more going on inside that man than that. I love you. Don’t ever worry about that, all right?"

"Okay." She reciprocated his smile, satisfied with his answer. "So, is Cid like totally pissed off or what?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, I’ll tell you on the way to our quarters."