By Kristen Gupton-Williams

The sickly sound of metal being pierced by Cid’s spear filled the room. Vincent at once stopped his advance as Chaos slipped out of control. Vincent’s consciousness was slammed back into his body and he looked down in confusion upon feeling the pain in the lower right side of his abdomen.

Cid felt the spear jerked from his hands as Vincent staggered backward, taking the weapon that was embedded in his body with him. At once it was clear to the pilot that Vincent was himself again and seeing the pained expression on his face made him almost sick. "Oh shit…"

Vincent took another shaky step back as he continued to stare down at the wound. He had no real idea of what had happened or why Cid’s weapon was stuck into him. "What happened?"

Tifa, who was standing behind Vincent, could see the silver tip of the spear protruding from his back as it had passed cleanly through him. "Vincent! Oh no…"

Slowly, Vincent reached down and placed his hands on the shaft of the spear and began to pull it out. This was no small task as the metal of his body tried to hold fast to the weapon but finally it relented. He allowed the spear to fall to the floor as his eyes remained fixed on the wound. Shortly after the weapon was removed, a viscous clear liquid began to ooze forth from his body. Within a matter of seconds, Vincent felt all the strength in his right leg and arm fade and he collapsed.

Tifa knelt at his side, tears burning in her eyes. She felt completely helpless and cradled Vincent to her. "Vincent, come on, are you okay?"

Cid came over, his face a ghastly shade due to his shock. "Shit… did I kill him?"

Vincent opened his eyes and blinked up at the pilot. "I am not dead, Cid."

Although his voice was weak, it was a huge relief to Cid. He fell to his knees before Vincent to inspect what had been done. "Do you think I hit anything important?"

Vincent actually had to think for a moment, as the pain he was in clouded his mind. Still having no real idea of what had occurred he wasn’t certain. "I can’t move my right side…"

Cid reached out and touched the fluid still trickling from the wound. He brought it up and felt it between his fingers before smelling it. He knitted his brow and huffed. "Hydraulic oil. I must have hit the line that serves your right side."

In his shocked state, this held little meaning to Vincent. All he knew was that he was half paralyzed and didn’t like it. "Can it be fixed?"

"Everything can be fixed, Sunshine." Cid scoffed, returning to his normal self. "The question is, do we fix you if you’re gonna go psycho on us again?"

"Chaos?" Vincent turned his neck so he could look at Tifa. "Is that what happened?"

She just nodded to him, continuing to hold him tightly.

"How?" Vincent’s voice wavered. "How can that be?"

"I don’t know, but that’s what happened." Cid answered for him, getting up. "I think I should get on the phone to Tseng."

Both Tifa and Vincent looked at him with approval.

***

Despite the early hour Tseng was already up and dressed, making his way down one of the many corridors within the airship. There were things that he had to attend to even while still on the way home to Costa del Sol. He pulled the phone from his pocket as it started to ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, it’s Cid." The pilot’s voice cracked.

Tseng knew at once that something was terribly wrong. "What is it, Mr. Highwind?"

"It’s Vincent." Cid sighed as he ran his free hand through his hair. "He did that fucking Chaos thing again."

"No, you’re not serious are you?" He asked, knowing full well that Cid was not in the business of joking.

"It’s no shit." Cid huffed back. "He flipped out and came after me. I had to defend myself…"

"What happened?" Tseng steadied himself against the nearest wall. His heart pounded with his anxiety.

"I speared him." Cid replied, matter of factly.

Suddenly feeling sick to his stomach, Tseng took a few moments to respond. "Oh God, is he okay?"

"Well," Cid shrugged despite the fact that he was on the phone, "I got him pretty good, but it looks like all I did was hit a hydraulic line or something. He doesn’t seem to be able to move his right side in any event."

"Damn it." Tseng slammed a hand into the wall he was leaning on. "I don’t see how this could happen!"

"Me neither." Cid said back. "Everything’s fine at the moment but I thought I should call you right away."

"I appreciate that." Tseng sighed, stepping away from the wall as he concentrated on calming down. "All right, let me talk to some of my men and I’ll get back to you when I figure something out."

"Fair enough," Cid’s tone was apprehensive, "but just so you know, if he threatens Tifa or my kid, I have no qualms about taking him out."

Tseng swallowed hard, well aware that the pilot was dead serious and rightly so. "I understand, bye."

"Bye." Cid hung up.

After a few moments of thought, Tseng ran to the room Quigley was in.

***

Cid set the phone back into its cradle and went back toward where Tifa and Vincent were huddled in the hall. "Okay, I got a hold of your little sister, Sunshine."

In his pain, Vincent hardly flinched at the way Cid referred to both him and his brother. "What did he say?"

"He’s gonna call back in a little." Cid said, picking up his spear from the floor and going to prop it back up in the corner of his room.

Tifa looked over at him. "Can you help me get Vincent to the bed?"

Cid sighed, already knowing how heavy Vincent was. "Yeah, all right."

He half carried, half dragged Vincent back to the guestroom and laid him out on the bed. He then looked again at the wound he had inflicted. In the better light offered here, Cid was able to visualize the damage done better.

Tifa, seeing that Cid was inspecting the injury, came to his side. "What is it?"

"Pretty much what I expected." Cid said, straightening up. I just cut a line. I can fix it."

Tifa looked at Vincent as Cid disappeared into the hall. "Oh that’s great."

Vincent frowned, but it wasn’t from his obvious pain. "I don’t want him working on me."

"You mean to tell me that you would rather be half paralyzed then let Cid fix you?" Tifa crossed her arms. "I know you don’t like being messed with, but honestly Vincent."

The thought of Cid actually working on him was making Vincent very nervous. "Tifa, just have him leave me alone, okay? I’m sure Tseng will have someone here quickly."

"Okay, so let me put it this way to you," Tifa scoffed. "You either let Cid fix you and end your pain, or he’s going to have to be the one helping you to the bathroom every few hours because you know damned well that I’m not near strong enough to haul you around."

Vincent just blinked up at her for a few moments as the reality of what she had just said sank in. At once the memory of having to be assisted going to the bathroom when his body was short-circuited after the escape from the lab surfaced. That was bad enough, but the thought of Cid having to do for him what the male nurse did was by far more humbling. Besides, he knew full well that Cid would never, ever let him live it down. "Fine, have it your way."