Guilt’s Cost: Part XLIII

Comfort

Reno and Angel decided to continue their night stroll as Tifa and Tseng headed off toward the airfield. Despite her injuries, Tifa practically dragged Tseng along. Within ten minutes they found themselves walking through the gates to the airfield. As they did this, the small twin engine plane alit on the runway. Tifa’s excited cheers broke the night air.

The plane finally taxied to a grassy area and came to a stop. As the engines were cut, the propellers slowly ground to a halt and the door on the side of the plane was thrown open. Cid appeared and flicked a spent cigarette out onto the grass.

Giving no heed to the pain it caused her; Tifa ran to Cid and embraced him. "Oh Cid! I’m so glad you’re here!"

He returned the embrace, clapping her back firmly with his hands. "It’s good to see you, too."

Tifa eventually took a step back and wiped the tears of joy from her eyes. "How’s Shera?"

"Shera?" Cid rolled his eyes. "She’s had some crazy girl friend of hers staying with us for the last week, and when Tseng asked me to come give you a ride I jumped at the opportunity. Those women were drivin’ me nuts with their constant banter about the baby. I just hope she doesn’t decide to squeeze the kid out while I’m gone. I made her promise to wait."

Tifa smiled, finding great comfort in the presence of this man. "I’m so happy you’re going with me!"

Cid looked over at Tseng who had moved closer. "So what’s up? You didn’t give me much info over the phone about this."

"I’m afraid that all I can tell you, Mr. Highwind, is that you are to take Tifa to Mideel tomorrow, and then bring her home as quickly as possible. Once you are there, you will learn more." Tseng replied with a faint smile.

"Just Tifa?" Cid narrowed his eyes. "What about Sue?"

Tseng just stared, not understanding.

Tifa slapped Cid in the arm, realizing what he meant. "It’s Tsuvati, and he can’t go."

"Why’s that?" Cid turned is gaze back down to Tifa.

She wanted to tell Cid everything, but found her words cut off as tears rose in her throat.

Cid at once felt awkward and placed his arms lightly around Tifa. He hated it when girls cried, it just made him feel weird. "Aw now, hey don’t do that!"

Tseng took another step forward. "I’m afraid that my brother has returned to stasis. He was having trouble controlling Chaos and it was all I could think of to help him."

Cid furrowed his brow. "God Damn, you guys only been gone a couple weeks and the shit hits the fan, huh?"

Tseng motioned for Cid and Tifa to follow as he made his way to the control tower. "Come, I will show you."

Cid walked behind the former Turk with Tifa at his side. He had no real idea of what had happened, and half dreaded what he would find out. His nerves were frayed and he reached into his pocket and pulled out another cigarette.

Tifa glanced at him as the flame from his lighter drew her attention.

Cid noticed her gaze and took the cigarette from his lips and held it out to her. "What, want some?"

She smiled and raised a hand. "No, after working in a bar for so long I think I’ve gotten my fair share of smoke, thanks."

He shrugged and brought it back up to his lips. Cid looked ahead seeing Tseng opening the door at the base of the control tower. "What, the base is in there?"

"It’s underground." Tifa sighed. "You’d be surprised how big it is down there. It goes all the way under town."

"Sounds like a pretty good operation he’s got then." Cid replied after a long drag, allowing the smoke to curl up from his nostrils.

It gave Tifa the creeps when he did that and she looked away. "Thanks for coming to help get me to Mideel tomorrow."

"No problem." He smiled as they passed Tseng who was holding the door open for them. "Besides like I said, I needed a break from the home front for awhile."

They waited for a moment in the corridor until Tseng had the door closed again. He made his way back to them. "Tifa, will you be all right to take Cid to see Vincent alone?"

She nodded, not wishing to say anything for fear the tears would return.

Tseng smiled and patted her on the shoulder before heading off. "Okay, I’ll see you to in the morning then."

Tifa led Cid to the cellblock in silence. She took him straight to where Vincent’s stasis box lay. "There he is."

Cid leaned over the box and inspected it briefly, seeing Vincent asleep inside. "God Damn, that brings back some bad memories, huh?"

Tifa hung her head. "Yeah. He climbed into it this afternoon."

Cid turned his attention back to her. "What made him do it?"

"Chaos did something to me the other day." Tifa answered in a whisper. The pain of the memory was clear on her face.

"What did that mother fucker do to you?" Cid got angry at the thought of Tifa being hurt. He had a wide protective streak when it came to females.

Tifa started to cry again. "He… Chaos raped me."

Cid sighed deeply, furious to hear her tell him the truth and uncomfortable with her renewed crying. "Holy shit, Tifa. I’m sorry."

She turned to him and buried her face into his flight jacket. The cool fabric of it felt good against her flushed face. "Oh Cid! You should have seen Vincent before he locked himself in there! He looked like death."

He let the remains of his cigarette fall to the floor and put his arms around her not knowing what else to do to comfort her. "The Hell with him, I would be more worried about you."

"But I love him, Cid! I miss him already!" Tifa’s words were mumbled into his coat.

"Oh Tifa…" Cid hated these situations. "He’ll be fine. Like I’ve said before, Vincent is one tough bastard. Whatever I can do to make you feel better, let me know."

Tifa managed to look up at him. "Having you here is already helping. Tseng couldn’t have picked someone better to help me."

Cid frowned to see tears still in her eyes. He put one of his hands on the back of her head and pushed her face back into his chest. "Finish your crying."

"Cid!" Tifa laughed as she wriggled free. "Did I ever tell you you’re terrible?"

"More times than I can count." Cid finally relaxed upon seeing her smile.

"Well that’s not so high, is it?" Tifa retorted.

"That does it!" Cid reached out and pulled her face first back into his coat. "Stay the Hell there ‘til you learn to respect your elders."

They heard a snicker behind them, and Cid turned to see Reno standing against the wall behind them. He immediately let go of Tifa and assumed a defensive posture.

Tifa ran to get between Cid and Reno as quickly as she could. "No Cid!"

Reno ran a hand through his hair as he eyed the old pilot. "Shit, Tifa! Every guy you bring here wants to kick my ass."

Cid put his arms back at his sides realizing that Reno for some reason wasn’t a threat. "Reno huh?"

Tifa sighed in relief at having prevented another fight. "Yes, Reno works here for Tseng."

"I’ll be damned." Cid put his hands on his hips.

Reno straightened up and walked a little closer. "Yes, it is I Reno, secret agent extrordinaire."

Another laugh was heard from the shadows and Angel stepped forward. "That would imply that you actually do something."

Reno spun to look at his mate. "Hey, you’re gonna damage my ego saying things like that!"

Angel laughed again. "I don’t think there is any danger of that happening."

Cid’s eye was caught by the beautiful dark-haired vixen. He walked to her and extended his hand. "Cid Highwind, and you are?"

Reno reached over and pulled Cid back by the collar of his coat. "Down boy, that’s my fiancée, and besides, you wouldn’t like her, she’s old Vinny’s kid."

Cid’s eyes went wide and he turned to Tifa. "The Hell? Sunshine has a daughter?"

Tifa smiled. "Yeah, her name is Angel. She was created in a Shin Ra lab a few years ago. She is wonderful."

Cid turned back to face Angel. "Hot damn, who would have guessed Sue could have such a good looking kid."

Angel was flattered and embarrassed. "Thank you, Mr. Highwind… I think."

Tifa nudged Cid in the side. "You’re married anyway."

He looked down at her with an expression of annoyance. "Married, not dead. I can still look, just not touch."