By Kristen Gupton-Williams

Brad let Cid into the base and took him straight to the infirmary, knowing that was where everyone was. Since Brad still had a lot of work to do on the chopper before retiring for the evening, he left Cid outside the infirmary doors alone. The pilot gathered himself before entering, having been given the story of the night’s events by his friend. Part of him feared what he would find on the other side, so he took a deep breath, and then entered.

Tifa was lying in a bed pushed up against Vincent’s and was the first one to see Cid walk in. "I knew that had to be you in the plane! Are you okay? How’s the baby?"

Cid made his way directly to her side and smiled. "I’m all right, and so’s the kid." His eyes caught sight of her bandaged leg, and he became concerned. "What’s that?"

She shrugged. "I got shot, but it’s nothing. I’ll be fine."

To say that Cid was dismayed about Tifa’s injury would be an understatement, but when he looked over and saw Vincent’s badly dented and broken body he realized that Tifa had gotten off lightly. "Shit, he’s the mother fucker I ran into with the plane, isn’t he?"

Vincent weakly opened his eyes upon hearing Cid’s familiar cursing. "Hey…"

"You screwed up my damned plane, you bastard. You owe me," Cid replied, only half-serious. He turned his attention back to Tifa, quickly realizing that Vincent was in no shape to talk. "So everyone’s doing okay?"

She dropped her gaze and sighed, "Tseng hasn’t come out of surgery yet, so I don’t know."

"Oh," Cid nodded shallowly in response. The baby in his arms started to fuss and he realized that he had nothing with him to feed the infant. "Crap, all the kid’s formula is in the plane."

Reno, looking for some diversion from the long wait to hear of his boss’s status piped up. "We’ve got some stuff in the commissary. I’ll take you there."

Cid glanced back down at Tifa, wanting her permission to leave. "You okay?"

"Yeah, go ahead." She grinned, touched by his concern.

Just a few seconds after they left, Quigley ran into the room, having disappeared for a long time into his research station. He had a loaded syringe in his right hand. He saw Angel sitting by her father’s bedside and went to her. "I need to talk to you!"

Angel, knowing that it was out of character for Quigley to display such excitement became concerned. "What is it?"

"Come with me, I need to talk to you in the hall." Quigley said, already moving toward the door.

Angel followed as requested. Once they were alone outside the infirmary, she crossed her arms over her chest. "What’s going on, Quig?"

He held the syringe up before his face. "I’ve done it."

"Done what?" she asked.

"I’ve copied Hojo’s formula. I can get rid of Chaos once and for all." Quigley was down right giddy. "I can cure your father!"

Angel was amazed. "I can’t believe it! That’s wonderful!"

"Yeah, so I think we should do it right now," he said.

Angel was well aware of how hard it had been on Vincent when Hojo had used this same concoction. "Right now? I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean, he’s just been through a major trauma. This might just kill him."

"I don’t think you can afford to wait," Quigley retorted flatly. "That monster within him knows what we’re trying to do. If we try and wait in order to give him time to recuperate, Chaos might try to escape again. We can’t afford to risk anyone else getting hurt or killed over this. We have to do it now, while he’s down."

Angel regretted that Dr. Arlin was in surgery at the moment. She knew that Janice would side with her on the issue of waiting at least a while before inoculating Vincent. If he died as a result of this drug, she would never forgive herself. "No, he’s just too weak!"

"Look Angel," Quigley said gently, "I know you’re scared, but what if we do wait and someone else gets killed? Will you be able to live with that? If Vincent was in any position to make decisions for himself right now, what do you think he’d want?"

Angel knew that the scientist was right, no matter how much it pained her. Chaos was just too dangerous to let go any longer. She felt tears come to her eyes, and stared down at the ground. "I know what you’re saying is right, Quig, but I can’t make a choice that may cost my father his life."

Quigley regretted what he was about to say. "Then you don’t have to make the choice, I’m doing it for you."

She just watched helplessly as Quigley pushed passed her back into the infirmary. In a state of shock, she followed him at a distance.

Quigley returned to Vincent’s bedside and made eye contact with Tifa. "I’ve got to give him an injection real quick."

Tifa knit her brows, seeing the look on Angel’s face across the bed. "What’s going on?"

Quigley reached down and picked up the intravenous line that was hooked up to the I.V. running into Vincent’s neck. He found the injection port and drove the syringe’s needle into it, slowly starting to inject the chemical into Vincent’s body.

Within a few short seconds, Vincent’s body began violent seizures and a strangled cry came from him.

Tifa sat upright and went white. "What the Hell’s happening?"

Quigley, done with the syringe let it fall to the floor and reached out, practically lying across Vincent to keep him from flinging himself onto the floor. "Killing Chaos!"

Angel snapped out of her daze and immediately ran toward the drug cabinet. She quickly drew up a dose of diazepam and ran back to her father’s bedside. She picked up the intravenous line that Quigley had used and gave Vincent the bolus of Valium. Within a few sort moments, Vincent’s seizures halted and he became deeply sedated.

Tifa was in utter confusion over what had just happened, but quickly figured it out. "That was the same stuff that Hojo gave him in the lab, wasn’t it?"

"Yes." Quigley puffed, exhausted over holding the convulsing man down. "We’re going to have to give him that every day until we can be certain that the demon is gone once and for all."

"You mean he’s going to have to go through that repeatedly?" Tifa said, horrified.

"No, that reaction only happens as the demon’s genetics are destroyed. Further doses should have much diminished reactions as there will be less actually happening." Quigley tried to sound reassuring, but was really only going on speculation. "I think we’ve seen the worst of it now."