By Kristen Gupton-Williams

Brad was in the hanger helping Cid rebuild what was left of his plane when the cell phone in his pocket rang. He set down the small engine part that he was working on and answered. "Brad here."

Reno didn't bother with pleasantries. "You need to go pick up that Jaras guy from Mideel."

He propped the phone against his shoulder as he tried to wipe the grease from his hands on a nearby rag. "Mideel? Now?"

"No, dumb ass, I thought maybe we could start planning ahead for next year's company picnic." Reno shook his head in disgust. This was one of those times that he knew everyone was acting mildly retarded just to annoy him. "Of course now."

Brad was going to have to get used to Reno's management style or kill him; he wasn't quite sure which would happen first at this point. "All right, God damn it."

"Good. We're going to head out in the airship for Wutai tonight. Do you think you can be back by then?" Reno asked, his tone still not friendly.

"Whoa, back up there." Brad crossed his arms over his chest as he did the math in his head. "How in the hell am I going to get to Mideel and back in time for the airship ride to Wutai tonight? Mideel ain't that friggin' close you know."

"Well then how long will it take you?" Reno was growing impatient.

"If I leave right now, and that's a big if since I haven't finished the tune up of my chopper, I can get there and back by maybe noon tomorrow." Brad glanced over at the helicopter that presently had the shroud to its engine removed.

"Well get it fixed and get in the air. I want you back yesterday." Reno flipped close the phone before the pilot could protest any further.

Brad put his phone away and turned to Cid. "Reno's a real prick, you know that?"

"Yeah, I've had the pleasure." Cid scoffed back. "What's up his ass this morning?"

"He wants me to go to Mideel and get Jaras. He seems to think that I should be able to do that and get back by tonight." He leaned against the side of his chopper.

"Well, if you had any fucking sense in your head, and you don't, you would have a plane around that could make that trip instead of this shit pile you call a chopper." Cid shot back as he moved away from his plane and over to check on his baby, sleeping under the workbench.

"Can it, Highwind." Brad patted the side of the helicopter. "As it stands, you don't even have a working plane so don't bust my chops about it."

"What the hell, I'll help you get that death trap back together so you can get going." Cid grumbled as he moved toward Brad. "Obviously my bird isn't going to fly again any time soon."

***

Once back in the base, Tifa and Vincent made their way to the cafeteria, starving for some breakfast. They looked for someone to sit with while they ate and quickly spotted Porter and Rayna taking up a table toward the back.

Vincent and Tifa approached them, hoping they weren't intruding. Vincent asked permission before setting his tray down. "Mind if we join you?"

Porter brought his tired eyes up to meet Vincent's, "No, go ahead."

With that, Tifa and Vincent sat. The night before on the beach, Tifa had told Vincent about Porter's sacrifice of his dog in order to get the part that saved Vincent's life. Having had pets as a child in Wutai, Vincent knew the pain of losing one and knew that he needed to both thank and apologize to the young man. "Porter, I know what you did for me the other night, and I want you to know that I appreciate it."

Porter blinked at him blankly, not wanting to relive the pain he had felt the night his dog died. "Sure thing."

Vincent could see the misery hidden behind the former Turk's expression. "And I'm sorry… if there is anything I can ever do to repay you, let me know."

He shook his head slowly and dropped his gaze. There wasn't anything anyone could do to bring back the dog and he surely thought that was the only way to rid himself of the sadness he felt. "It's fine, it had to be done, there wasn't a choice."

Vincent could see the man's Turk training in hiding his feelings trying to come into play, but that had always been something Porter hadn't been highly proficient at. Not to mention the certain amount of bravado that Porter was trying to display in front of the women present regarding his loss. After all, Porter had been raised by the type of father who wouldn't so much as shed a tear over a pet's passing.

An uncomfortable silence passed between the two men until Tifa broke the silence. "Rayna, I have to go up to do some shopping today so I can get something to wear on our trip to Wutai. Any chance you want to go?"

Rayna jumped at the opportunity to get out of the dark base for a few hours. She herself had come here with little more than the clothes on her back and despite the few things she had purchased since, her closet still was a little bare. "I'd love to."

"Great!" Tifa openly displayed her enthusiasm at the impending shopping trip. "I figured that Vincent wouldn't want to go."

Rayna smiled. "Porter here isn't to big on those sorts of excursions either, that's just men for you. Besides, I think he doesn't really feel up to walking all over town yet."

Porter had to agree with his girlfriend there; it hadn't been all that long since his hip replacement surgery and such a day out would have pained him physically. "Yeah, I'm still not one hundred percent yet but I'm close."

She reached across the table and stroked his cheek. "You're doing wonderfully considering the extent of the repair. Even the doctor is pleased with how well you're doing."

Porter blushed slightly, not accustomed to compliments or praise no matter how justly earned. Over his years working at Shin Ra, Hojo had managed to destroy most of the confidence Porter had built up in his lifetime. Rayna however, always had kind words for him, eternally grateful for the fact he had saved her life.

Vincent got an idea that at first he tried to shake off knowing that it probably wasn't appropriate, but it failed to recede. By the end of breakfast, he had decided that he had something he had to go do while the women were out on their buying spree. He got up, kissed Tifa on the lips and excused himself from the table, making his way to go find Reno.

***

After Vincent had managed to track Reno down and get directions he had gone up into the city. He made his way to the outskirts of town in a rented car, finding himself out of the 'touristy' part of town and into what would have to be described as the 'slums' of Costa del Sol. The neighborhood he drove through wasn't particularly bad, just not near as clean and flashy as the rest of the town. Eventually he found his destination and parked his car out front of an inconspicuous white building.

Vincent slid out of the car and walked inside. There was a woman sitting behind a counter who gave him barely any notice until she had finished reading an article in the magazine she held.

Clearly annoyed at his intrusion, she pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. "Can I help you?"

Vincent shrugged, still arguing with himself over whether he should go through with this or not. "Yeah…"

The woman leaned on the counter and stared at him. "Lost, found, or just looking?"

"Looking," Vincent said in a tone that was more a question than a statement.

She rolled her eyes and hit a button, unlatching a door next to the counter. "Go on in. Strays and turn-ins are on the left. Cats to the right."

Vincent nodded in thanks and pushed through the door. He walked forward, the obligatory smell of all animal shelters immediately hitting him like a ton of bricks. His sensitive nose couldn't take it, and he soon pulled up the collar of his shirt over his lower face.

The sounds of barking dogs echoed rudely through the cinderblock building, only getting worse when all the impounded animals saw Vincent enter the ward. He was faced with a long corridor, flanked on either side by kennels filled with various shapes and sizes of dogs. Vincent walked forward, seeing animal after animal. Some of them jumped up against the chain link gates to their runs with exuberant excitement, while others stood their ground with a much more menacing greeting for the stranger.

Never having been faced with such a variety of dogs, Vincent was beginning to doubt that he would find the right canine. Then he came to the last kennel and forgot about everything else, even letting go of his shirt and again breathing the kennel air.

Sitting there was decidedly the most piteous looking animal Vincent had ever seen. Certainly this animal had been picked up as a stray and hadn't been fed for a very long time before arriving here. The black and brown basset hound sat looking up at him silently, just waving its tail hopefully. The droopy dark eyes seemed to convey something that Vincent understood very well. Seeing the pathetic and starved dog reminded Vincent of his own captivity and at once he knew he was looking at the dog he needed to free from this place.

Vincent looked around, spotting an Animal Control officer writing something on a clipboard a short distance away. "Sir?"

The man looked at Vincent through heavily tinted glasses. "Yes?"

"How do I go about getting this dog?" Vincent asked, pointing down at his intended jailbird.

The officer came over to see exactly which animal Vincent was indicating. Upon seeing the emaciated basset the officer made a slightly amused face. "You want that dog?"

Vincent didn't see what the officer found so humorous. "Yes, I do."

"You did look at all the other dogs here, right?" The man said, pulling a slip lead from his pocket.

Vincent nodded, still not getting it. "Yes, and I want that one. What's the problem with that?"

The officer shrugged. "Usually people don't come in here and get the dog that's in the worst shape, that's all. You sure?"

Vincent looked down at the basset again and knit his brows. He didn't see anything but a dog that just knew he was here to save him. "Yes."

The officer opened the kennel and placed the lead around the dog's neck, then handing the other end to Vincent. "Okay then, take him up front and the clerk will get you checked out."

"Thanks." Vincent accepted the leash and went back up to the front counter.

The same annoyed woman stood up to look over the counter and see the dog that Vincent intended to take. She shook her head in dismay and pulled out some paperwork. "Name, address, and the adoption fee is fifty gil."

Vincent picked up a pen and filled out the paperwork as best he could, not actually having an address to place on the application. He just made something up and wrote it down, hoping that the clerk wasn't going to call him on the false address and name. That done, he pulled his debit card out of his wallet and laid it on the counter.

The woman took the papers, pulled off the duplicates and ran the debit card through a machine. After a few moments, the card was approved and she stapled the receipt to the other papers and handed them to Vincent. She then pulled out a small plastic bag from under the counter. "Here's your complementary starter kit. There's a coupon for a free vet check in there along with some dog food and flea preventative."

Vincent took the bag and headed out the door, the relieved dog trotting along at his side. He picked the dog up and placed it in the passenger seat of the car before going around to his own side and getting in.

Once in the car, Vincent rummaged through the gift bag and found the vet check coupon. He found an address and phone number on it and called, quickly setting up an appointment to get the dog examined.

He drove to the animal hospital and went in. The receptionist gave him some paperwork to do and he took a seat in the waiting room while filling it out. As he wrote, a young veterinary technician dressed in scrubs started to walk by and then stopped upon seeing the dog. Her face broke into a broad smile as she knelt down to be on the dog's level. She then looked up and examined the man sitting before her, taking notice at his attractiveness. "You're the one who just adopted the dog from the pound, aren't you?"

Vincent looked at her and nodded. "Did I talk to you on the phone?"

She began petting the dog. "Sure did. I was getting the phone while the receptionist was at lunch. Normally I hide in the back, helping the doctors with surgery. Poor guy, that was really kind of you to adopt one in this shape."

Vincent hadn't even bothered to notice that the dog was male. "Well, he just looked like the right one."

She sighed, still stroking the animal. "I hear that. They sort of just find you. What are you going to name him?"

"I hadn't really thought of that. I'm actually getting him for a friend." Vincent considered the animal for a moment. "What do you think we should call him?"

The technician flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. "I had a basset named Virgil and this guy looks a lot like him."

"Virgil, huh?" Vincent thought for a moment and then wrote Virgil down on the patient information sheet he was filling out. "Then Virgil it is."

The technician giggled, tickled that this man would name his dog after hers. "Good choice."

About half an hour later, Vincent was on his way back to the base, having gotten the dog all of his needed vaccines and a small tube of medicine to use in the dog's ears. The doctor had discovered the animal had an infection and was going to need to use the ointment for a week. During the exam the doctor had otherwise given the dog a clean bill of health and had informed Vincent that Virgil had already been neutered and was well mannered. Before leaving, the technician had again congratulated him on the adoption and gave him her name in case he needed to call with any future questions.