Guilt’s Cost: Part XLI

Reprimand

Tseng stood holding Tifa for a long time. Eventually he needed to go and talk to Dr. Arlin about what she had called him home for.

"Tifa, do you want me to see you to your room?" Tseng said, staring down into her tear stained face.

She backed up from him, shaking her head. "No, I want to stay here just a little longer."

He didn’t want to abandon her here, but knew she wouldn’t go until she was ready. "All right, but I want you to promise me you’ll get some rest in a little while."

"Yeah, I promise." Tifa forced a smile for his benefit, and watched him walk away. Once he was gone, she staggered into the open cell.

The casket took up the opposite end of the room. It sent chills through her to look at it, reminding her of the first time she saw it underneath the Shin Ra mansion. She had to steel herself for each step she took toward it, somehow afraid of this inanimate object. Upon reaching its side she knelt down carefully, resting her hands on its surface. Tifa leaned forward until she was looking through the tiny viewing window in its lid.

In the darkness of its interior she saw Vincent. His eyes were closed, his face expressionless. He didn’t look at peace like someone that was dead, just frozen in the moment the chamber had cast him into sleep. She watched for any sign of life, but he didn’t even seem to breathe. Staring into his unconscious face her tears came anew. Tifa, in her exhaustion rested her body on the casket, laying her cheek next to the glass window. She cried with abandon knowing that no one could hear. On occasion, she would slam a fist onto the smooth surface of the box in frustration. When Vincent had been sealed inside, so had all of her remaining hope.

"That is the saddest fucking thing I ever saw." Someone said from the doorway. "I remember in the Turks when someone would die. There would be a funeral, and inevitably there was always some weepy-eyed widow who’d throw herself on the coffin. I think those women wanted to be lowered into the ground with their dead men. Is that what you want now?"

Tifa wiped her eyes and turned to see Reno leaning up against the wall a short ways off. "Hi…"

He straightened up and took a few long strides toward her. "I always figured that funerals for dead Turks were kind of like Mafia ones. There were always a lot of people there who didn’t officially ‘know’ what had befallen the deceased. The corpse always just laid there, its multiple gunshot wounds neatly hidden beneath clothing and makeup."

Tifa watched him speechless. She had never seen an expression of sadness on Reno’s face, and it touched something within her.

He bent over the casket and looked down into the viewing window. With his right hand he reached down and knocked on the glass. "Hey Vinny, you in there?"

Tifa didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his antics, and so did nothing.

Reno appeared to grow angry and he kicked the side of the box. "Fuck you, Vinny!"

Tifa jumped from his outburst, confused.

"You fucking selfish son of a bitch!" Reno kicked it again. "What the fuck did I tell you, huh? Look what you’ve fucking done to Tifa! She’s crying her God Damned eyes out over you, you sorry piece of shit!"

"Reno..?" Tifa backed away, somewhat afraid of the former Turk’s ranting.

"God Damn it!" He turned his back to the casket for a moment, only to spin around and slam his hand into the top of it. "My baby wouldn’t marry me until you came. I was really fucking looking forward to that, you know? Now, she’ll probably want to wait until you get the fuck back out of there! Shit, I swear Vinny, are you only capable of thinking about yourself? Cause that’s what it looks like from here! I told you not to let this happen! Tseng may have thought this stasis thing was a good idea, but look how you’ve fucked everyone around you!"

Tifa rose to her feet. She never would have expected such a passionate display from him. "Reno, are you all right?"

He quit assaulting the coffin to look over at Tifa, relieved that she had finally spoken. "Sorry, was that a little over the top?"

She smiled, feeling that it was inappropriate to do so. "Maybe a little."

He returned her grin. "I think I watched to many gangster movies growing up."

"That was quite…inspired." Tifa took a few steps to his side. "Thanks."

He placed his arm around her shoulders. "You know the old saying about the widow fucking some hot young guy on the dead man’s casket?"

Tifa looked at him blankly. His innuendo flying over her head. "What?"

"Want to give it a try?" Reno pulled her closer.

She shoved his arm off of her and took a step back. "Jeez, you are a pig! Vincent’s isn’t dead, and I wouldn’t call you ‘hot’."

Reno feigned a pout. "Just trying to make the best of a shitty situation here, that’s all."

Tifa couldn’t help but smile. She knew he was trying to make her feel better despite the crudeness of his words. "Reno, how does Angel put up with it?"

"Cause unlike you, she does think I’m ‘hot’." He said, donning a self-satisfied grin.

Tifa was quickly realizing exactly what was in Reno that appealed to Angel, and she felt a slight blush creep across her cheeks.

Reno took her red face as a sign that he had embarrassed her. "Well Hell, I think we should ditch this place. Think Vinny would mind if I took you out for dinner?"

"Vincent might not care, but what about Angel?" Tifa asked, her smile still lingering.

"Sorry Tifa, I plan on bringing her. I think I need an escort to make sure you don’t go off trying to hit on me. I am spoken for." Reno extended his hand to Tifa and led her away from the prison block.

***

Tseng left Dr. Arlin’s office shaking. If what she had told him was true, there could be severe consequences. He needed to find Tifa immediately. As Dr. Arlin had suggested over the phone, she was the best person to check up on what might be happening in Mideel. He made his way to the phone quickly to make one call to arrange Tifa’s transportation before finding her.

He searched the base frantically looking for Tifa, the urgency of the news he had been given driving him on. After asking around, he came to learn that Tifa, Angel, and Reno had gone up to Costa del Sol for dinner. Tseng made his way up to town using one of the several passages up from the base. The night air was warm and humid, and he for once regretted wearing a suit.

There was only one restaurant in town that he knew Angel and Reno would go to and he headed straight for it. Once inside, he spotted the trio taking up a booth in the back.

Tseng slid into the booth next to Tifa, and everyone seemed surprised for him to be there.

"You actually left the base?" Angel asked with a wide smile.

Visibly shaken, he rested his elbows on the table and sighed. "I needed to find Tifa. Dr. Arlin just informed me of what she found out."

Tifa leaned closer to him, curiosity getting the best of her. "What is it?"

"Tifa, when you were in Mideel with Cloud during his recovery from Mako poisoning, you came to know Brandon, did you not?" Tseng asked, finally managing to calm himself down.

Tifa’s face brightened at the mention of the doctor’s name. "Oh yes! He was so good to us, how is he?"

"Fine, but there is something he needs you to go to Mideel for." Tseng replied before picking up a water glass from the table.

"Why is that?" As much as she would love to see Brandon again, the thought of traveling at this point did not appeal to her.

"I know this is going to sound strange, but I would rather not tell you. What you don’t know others can’t get from you." Tseng pulled a small vial of pills from his pocket and opened it. He downed one white tablet before tucking the bottle back away. His heart was bothering him and he didn’t want to risk another attack. "I think it would be best for you to go to Mideel and see Brandon so that he can show you himself. Once you are able to confirm or refute his claim, you are to come back to this base immediately. I do not want you to call anyone or talk whatsoever."

Reno cocked an eyebrow. "God Damn, that sensitive, huh?"

"Yes." Tseng replied shortly. "I know you probably don’t feel up to this right now, Tifa, but I really need you to do this."

Tifa hung her head while absent-mindedly pushing a crust of bread across her plate. "You’re right, I don’t want to go. I feel like I should stay here, you know…"

"Hey Tifa," Reno kicked her under the table lightly. "It’s okay. I’m pretty sure Angel and I can show the stiff in the box a good time while you’re away. Hell, I bet he doesn’t even notice."

Angel cringed from the crudeness of her mate’s words but relaxed when she saw Tifa actually smile in response. "Tifa, don’t tell me you’re starting to like Reno!"

Tifa’s smile broadened. "Angel, believe it or not, he managed to say some things to me today that were really rather…sweet."

Angel laughed and nudged Reno. "You got her fooled, huh?"

"All the ladies love me, babe." Reno leaned back and put his hands behind his head.

Tifa fell silent and switched her gaze back between Angel and Tseng. It was in a way hard to be so close to these two who could remind her of Vincent so easily. She finally let her gaze fall back to the table’s surface.

Tseng could feel her unrest and put an arm around her shoulders. "Are you doing okay?"

She nuzzled into him, perhaps just a little quicker than she should have. It was too tempting for her to pretend Tseng was Vincent as she felt him against her. "Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just been a rough couple of days, that’s all."

Angel couldn’t bear the look of pain on Tifa’s face and she reached across the table and grasped one of Tifa’s hands. "Yes, it has."

Everyone present turned their eyes to Angel as they heard tears in her voice. She was being torn apart inside at the plight of her father, but until now she had been hiding it well.

Nothing hurt Reno more than to see Angel in pain and he pulled her close. "The old man’s really getting you down too, huh?"

She just hung her head and sighed. "Yes. It doesn’t seem fair… I’ve waited all these years to meet him, and when I finally do, he’s taken away."

Reno kissed her cheek and wiped one of her tears away. "Hey baby, he won’t be in there forever," He turned his gaze to Tseng, "will he?"

Tseng heard the threat underlying Reno’s question. He was impressed at the former Turk's nerve to take such a tone with him. "I have men working on it right now. But they’ve never been up against such a thing, so I can’t really say how long it will take. I know all of you are holding some resentment for me right now about bringing that stasis box here, but I only did it to protect you, and Vincent."

A small spike of anger welled up in Tifa and she moved out of Tseng’s embrace. Whether it was for a good intention or not, Tseng had been the one to make it possible for Vincent to climb back into that box. At the same time, her anger was undermined by the fact that it had been Vincent himself that had sealed the chamber. "I’m not hungry anymore."

Angel and Reno nodded in agreement and started to get up. Reno made a move to pick up the bill, but Tseng snatched it from the table first. "I’m afraid I ruined dinner, so I’ll get it."

Reno felt no need to argue for once. "Right boss."

They walked slowly away from the restaurant. Not wishing to go back down into the base too quickly they wandered through the streets of the town. Reno and Angel led the way, with Reno having his arm draped lazily around Angel’s shoulders. Tifa and Tseng followed a few paces behind. Tifa’s injuries from the day before were already starting to hurt less and she found this stroll not painful.

As they went, no one said much. After a few blocks Tifa sighed sadly and it caught Tseng’s attention. He truly felt some guilt over all that had happened and he took her hand in his. Tifa didn’t resist and kept her gaze cast to the ground again trying to imagine that Tseng was Vincent again.

Tseng had a suspicion that she was using him like that, and didn’t mind. If he could comfort her by allowing Tifa this one small fantasy, then that is what he would do. In a way he was using her too. As those that passed by saw him hand in hand with this beautiful girl no one would give any thought to the possibility that he was gay. It felt good to be looked upon as normal for once, even if it was only pretend.

Tifa finally broke the silence. "When do I have to leave?"

"I’ll be taking you up to the airport tomorrow morning. I want to get you to Mideel as soon as possible." He said quietly.

Tifa dared to rest her head against his shoulder as they continued on. "Great, another two days on an airship, huh?"

Tseng laughed to himself. "No, Tifa. I want you there tomorrow, so no airship."

Tifa stopped walking and looked up at him. "But there’s only one thing that could get me there that quick!"

"That’s right." Tseng smiled at her, sensing her excitement. "You’re going by airplane."

"Where did you find one of those?" Tifa’s eyes grew wide.

"I think you know." He said, not able to resist putting his arm around her.

Tifa covered her mouth with her hands and jumped; a move she immediately regretted. "Ouch… Oh my God! Do you mean..?"

"Cid?" He felt pleased to see real happiness on her face.

She squealed in delight, causing Reno and Angel to realize that their companions were back down the street a ways. "Cid? Cid is here?"

"He should be shortly." Tseng replied.

As if on cue, the sound of a plane circling over head could be heard. Tifa looked up spotting the blinking lights of the plane in the night sky. "Hey! There he is!"