Retarded Monkey with Guns (luzzu) wrote in balfonheim_port, @ 2007-08-01 14:10:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | cid/vin, ffvii, the calm after the storm |
The Calm after the Storm (working title) Chapter 5
Fandom:FFVII
Rating:PG-13
Summary:Chaos has returned to the planet along with Omega, but for Vincent there are still issues to deal with left in their wake. For the rest of Gaia, there's a planet that needs to heal and rebuild. The WRO on one side, opposing factions on the other, life doesn't seem to get any smoother.
Author notes:The rating of this fic may well go up. For anyone stumbling onto my fic journal, hello. Just so you know, this fic will contain a m/m relationship. Just a heads up.
Disclaimer:FFVII and all it entails belong to Square Enix.
“The WRO is a military organisation, Reeve. They are really no different from SOLDIER,” Rufus said.
Reeve paced the floor of his office, deciding the best answer to give, knowing exactly where Rufus was leading this conversation to. “The WRO needed to be more military in light of the Deepground situation. We do what we must to keep the people safe, but we are a long way from SOLDIER.”
“The people are now safe.” Rufus paused for a second and then smiled. “Why do you then, still carry guns?”
Was he being tested? Given past conduct when in a position of power, Reeve thought that if anything, the man sitting casually here in his office with Rude standing obediently to one side of him had far more reason to be questioned. Pushing to one side his momentary confusion, he replied to Rufus’ question. “The soldiers within the WRO are only a small part of the organisation, Rufus. We have specialists in many fields either working or volunteering for us.”
Still with the same serene smile that had unnerved many opponents; both political and personal, Rufus made one last attempt to disarm his opponent. “Excellent. I like to know my money is being spent well.”
“We do the best we can,” Reeve said, confident he hadn’t missed a beat.
If Rufus was disappointed that his sudden admission hadn’t made Reeve stumble, then he didn’t show it. “I had Elena looking into why that Dual Horn turned up. As you raised concerns, I decided it warranted following up.”
“And did your investigation show anything?” His tone was curious, yet cautious.
“Indeed it did. A lead one of your men kindly gave us was followed. It would seem our interrogation methods are a little different from yours; but either way, it brought up some very interesting information. I presume you’ve heard of the fringe group VEHGA?”
“Yes, I believe they are the group that have similar goals to the old AVALANCH.” Reeve nodded. He had heard of the group, but as a newly recognised organisation there was little known about them.
“They feel they fight for the planet, but the similarity ends there. The name stands for The Voluntary Extinction of Humans on Gaia Association. They are a group that believe in mass voluntary extinction of all life for the sake of the planet. For the most part, the group are a bunch of peaceable idiots that hold strong beliefs, but it is no more than a ideology to them. But there are a few that take it further,” Rufus explained.
“I see. I take it that the few individuals that are the problem are more finding a cause to fight rather than true believers. I get the impression this is just another bandwagon for them to jump on.”
“Most likely, otherwise they would need to drop the ‘Voluntary’ should they start killing people.”
He ignored the younger man's seeming pleasure at the possibility of conflict and the casualness in his statement. “I take it this group has something to do with the incident,” Reeve said, bringing the conversation back on track.
“It does. It was the extremists that loosed the Dual Horn into Midgar. I think you’ll find they are responsible for a lot of the other minor set backs you’ve been having. It would seem they are small in number, but it shows that with every success their confidence grows.” Rufus gestured towards the door with a finger, Rude nodded and left. Rufus continued speaking. “That they are small in number is of little significance, some of the greatest threats Shinra has faced has come from small groups.”
Reeve smiled inwardly at the reference to the last incarnation of AVALANCH and his own involvement with the group. “So now we know there is a threat, we should act.”
“At the moment, I would suggest proceeding slowly. Give them enough rope to hang themselves with,” Rufus said smiling at the prospect.
“I agree.” Reeve’s brow furrowed slightly as he followed the thought through to its natural conclusion. “But my concern is for the workers and residents, not acting now could cause more casualties.”
“This is true, so I suggest we work together on this one. You keep the people safe as best as possible, discreetly so as not to raise an alarm among the people or any suspicion. I will find someone to infiltrate the group and act from the inside. We’ll give them something really big to go for.”
“How big are we talking?” Reeve eyed him suspiciously, knowing what was coming.
“We need something of enormous importance.” Rufus smiled. Again.
Reeve sighed. Rufus was determined to find out what Reeve knew, and this fringe group had given Rufus the perfect opening. The only thing left for Reeve to do, was confirm everything Rufus had said to be true and decide how much to actually tell him.
* * *
The kitchen in Cid’s house hadn’t changed, with the exception the Shera had given it a new lick of paint to brighten it up. It was cosy and inviting, not that Vincent took much notice other than to decline the offer of tea. He sat there quietly feeling like an intruder as Cid and Shera argued.
“Reeve needs some help, and I’m going.”
“Goddamnit woman, I need you to take care of things here.”
Shera sighed noisily, rolling her eyes. Her voice calmed. “Cid, I’m an engineer. Reeve needs an engineer. He didn’t ask for me specifically, but I offered as I have experience with the technology he’s dealing with. You didn’t rebuild that airship on your own.”
Cid knew when he was defeated. Shera wanted to do something and he’d learnt from experience she would stubbornly persevere until it got done. “Fine, but make sure the Tiny Bronco is up and running before you leave.”
“It’s already done.” She smiled. “Do you think I spend my time around this place moping and waiting for you to come home?”
Cid huffed. “Come on, Vince. We got other things to be doin’.” As he stood in the doorway, he looked over his shoulder at Shera. “And don’t forget to take a coat, its cold this time of year there.” With that he followed Vincent through the door.
“It’s cold there all times of year, numbskull.” Shera called out after him affectionately. She heard Cid laugh.
Walking to the airship just past the outskirts of the small town, Cid smiled. “Shera called yesterday to tell me she was planning on going to Icicle to meet with some of the team there then work on the power generator in Great Glacier. I told her what I thought of her working with the WRO, she hung up on me.”
“Reeve will appreciate her help,” Vincent said.
“That’s what worries me. She’s a damn good engineer, the finest I’ve got. Nothing against Reeve, but I’ve no intention of losing my best to him.” He lit a cigarette. “The fact she’s my wife and I can still come home to her every night’s got nothing to do with it.”
Vincent knew he didn’t need to point out that Cid worked for the WRO and so, by default, so did Shera. Cid acknowledged that it was down to Reeve he had his ship and work, but he still saw himself more of an independent offshoot from the WRO, he just didn’t mind when Reeve asked him favours.
Back onboard the Shera, Cid pointed out their destination on the map. “There’s a small peninsula just to the west of the old materia cave, I’ll park my girl near there then we’ll have to scout the area on Chocobo.”
“I thought we were going to land near Wutai.”
“Yeah, then I remembered the plain to the south of Wutai, then we can cross the bridge to the peninsula.”
Vincent nodded. “That makes more sense.”
“It’s also further away from Yuffie.” Cid grimaced at the thought of her. Cid liked the girl really, but only in short doses and provided she didn’t talk too much. Or vomit over his airship for that matter as well.
Vincent didn’t say anything in reply. While he and Yuffie weren’t exactly close, she had saved his life on more than one occasion. Irritating as she could be, she was still a valuable comrade, but he still understood Cid’s sentiments.
When they arrived on the Wutain continent and had unloaded the chocobos, they set out from the grassy plain toward the bridge that led to the mountainous region. Even on the chocobos the journey took many hours; that Cid’s bird was slowed by the cart it was pulling that contained provisions for at least three days didn‘t help. They managed to avoid any monsters on route, which was another benefit of travelling by chocobo. Despite research no one ever could explain why monsters didn’t attack chocobos; Cid thought it was the smell.
Arriving at the bridge, they tethered the chocobos and rested for a while. Cid looked out over the expanse that was the first Wutai Bridge. “You know, on first glance, the bridge is quite primitive in design,” he said to Vincent as he admired the handiwork. “But when you know a thing or two about engineering, you realise what an enormous feat it was to make it. And that it’s been standing for so long.”
Vincent smiled. Cid’s eyes lit up like a kid in a sweet shop when he talked about technology. Nothing more so than airships and space travel, but good engineering of any kind came close. “Shall I leave you two alone?”
Cid laughed. “Well, if everyone’s rested enough, we should get a move on.”
They arrived west of the cave, hot and uncomfortable. They set up camp and searched along the base of the mountain. After hours of no sign of anything they extended their search further up the mountain as far as they could safely get and continued scanning the area until nightfall.
Returning to the camp after their latest and final search of the second day, Cid lit up the remains of his last cigarette, the night was drawing in so he lit the small portable lamp. “Another goddamn day and still nothing.” Cid complained as he pulled his boots off and rubbed his aching feet.
“Maybe tomorrow will yield something.” Vincent said as he pulled out a file of papers and began to read.
“It bloody better. As much as I don’t tire of your company, Vince, I’m fed up of the heat and dust of this place; and I can’t get a damn signal to talk to Shera.” He lay back heavily onto his sleeping bag realising that it was quite true. Despite the number of days they had no spent almost continuously in each others company, it wasn’t starting to feel tedious. If anything, he found he wished Vincent would talk more. Turning onto his side he looked at Vincent. “What’s that, anythin' good?”
“It’s quite interesting.”
Cid grinned at Vincent‘s typical lack of response. “So. You gonna tell me or do I have to guess?”
“Monsters. It has little relevance to what we’re looking for, but Reeve gave me a copy of Professor Gast’s theories on Jenova, after his resignation from the JENOVA project.”
“What’d he do that for?”
“He thought I might be interested. Gast had some interesting theories,” Vincent said.
“About Jenova?”
“About Jenova’s effect to shape the flora and fauna of the planet. He learnt that Jenova had infected the Cetra with a virus. This turned them into monsters, as was testified to in that recording we saw in Icicle. A lot of monsters are just naturally evolved fauna, but if you look at some of the world’s monsters, they don’t follow standard patterns. Some people have been studying them for years because of their unusual traits.”
Cid lay on his back, staring at the ceiling of the tent. “Understandable. I always thought those Hell Houses in Midgar were too weird even for a monster.”
Vincent smiled. “I remember my first run in with one of those. I didn’t come out too well.”
Cid laughed. “Picturing you strugglin' against something that weak…” he paused and shook his head. “Nah, still can’t see it.”
The report put to one side, Cid reminisced about his first encounter with a Hell House in Midgar, which prompted Vincent to return in kind.
Cid awoke the following morning to more heat and dust, and as expected, no Vincent. He grouched as he as he reached for his cigarette packet and remembered it was empty. Finding an emergency packet of cigarette papers, he found some old dog ends on the floor outside the tent and removed the remaining tobacco in them, hoping he had enough to make one reasonable cigarette. “If you even think about sayin’ anything, don’t bother,” he said as Vincent’s shadow cast over him. He looked up to see him standing there, quite expressionless.
“What you feel you must do to feed your habit is your own business,” He said simply and entered the tent to retrieve some equipment for the days search.
Cid ducked his head back in. “Sorry. It’s a habit. Shera moans at me for doing this.” He rolled the tobacco in the paper and looked satisfied with it.
That Cid was giving him automatic responses he would normally say to his wife, Vincent found strangely amusing, so he decided that to say nothing in response would probably be the better option. “If we find nothing today, we should return to the airship before nightfall.”
“I’m a hundred percent with you on that. I think I’ve a packet stashed onboard somewhere.”
Vincent took his equipment outside, sat down and took his gun out of its holster. Then with meticulous precision took the weapon apart, cleaned the dust out of it and put it back together. It had taken a while to learn, and even though it could be removed, it suited Vincent to become quite dexterous at everything with his claw, including the care of his gun.
Cid, having emerged from the tent a short while previously, was cleaning the dust out of some of the more delicate and temperamental equipment - the kettle.
Both men sat in comfortable silence until they were ready to set out.
[Chapter 1][Chapter 2][chapter 3][Chapter 4]