Recollecting

"...Vincent?" Shera blinked into the phone, curious as to why and from where the gunslinger was calling her. She looked down at the caller ID, seeing Vincent's cell phone number and name flashing on the small screen before she put the phone back to her ear. "What are you calling for?"

"I was wondering how you were doing." His voice was as soft as she remembered it being, the quiet, yet deep timbre of his voice remarkably calming her down instead of angering her, like she thought it would. Other than his voice, it was silent on the other end of the phone.

"Well, as good as a woman living without her husband and carrying his child can be, I suppose." She shifted the laundry basket she was carrying to rest on her hip, the phone resting between cheek and shoulder as she patted her stomach with a sigh.

"I see. That's good."

"Anything else?" There was a pause on the line, and Shera frowned a bit. "Exactly where are you staying at the moment?"

"At a close friend's house, outside of Costa Del Sol."

"And you're probably burnt to a crisp, hissing at the sunlight, and wondering when you can come back at a time that would spare yourself my matronly wrath?" She rolled her eyes as she walked to the laundry room, setting the basket on the top of the dryer.

"Yes."

"And if I wanted you to stay away longer?"

"I would do so."

Shera walked out of the laundry room, glancing around the house that was, since the messiest man on God's green Earth was now at a military camp pushing papers and pushups was gone, as clean as she's like. She really didn't, for all practical reasons, need Vincent at the house, nor did she really want him back right then. She wasn't exactly lonely, as once every woman in Rocket Town found out she was pregnant she'd been recieving more visits in a day than she had her entire stay at the Highwind house. She wasn't in any kind of danger either, as Rocket Town was small enough that the townsfolk protected thier own like a giant neighborhood watch. She knit an eyebrow, trying to push aside her (temporary?) disklike of the tall, silent gun man on the other line to think about if she actually NEEDED him for anything. She huffed into the phone before speaking again. "Do you want to come home?"

"Yes."

Vincent alway was the straight foreward one. He didn't hestiate to say yes, either, and his tone was almost...desperate? "...How would you be getting back?"

"I'm not sure."

"Well, when you've found a way, call back and talk to me then." Shera took the phone away from her ear, pushing the off button before he had a chance to respond, tossing the cordless phone of the couch with a 'hmmph'. The last thing she wanted to think about now was the tall, silent house wrecker coming back so soon, and more about the persistant oil stain on her lab coat that wouldn't come out.
*********************

Vincent stared down at his cell phone as the call was dropped after Shera spoke, and he flipped it closed with a small noise that was equal to a growl. However bluntly she put it, Shera had a point. Reno had flown Tseng and Cid to wherever the base camp was, and he didn't have a way to contact him...not that he could stand being that long in the presence of the red haired man. He rememberd all too clear the last time Reno got 'fresh' with him, and was sure Reno would remember the bloody nose as well. He could always hire a pilot to take him to Rocket Town, but that required money he didn't have with him at the moment.

He flipped through his list of contacts, sure Barett, Cloud, Red, Tifa and Yuffie had no way to come and get him. He paused when he came across Reeve's and Tseng's numbers, debating. Reeve he had worked with, and Vincent knew the W.R.O. president could probably send someone to go and get him. He decided against Tseng as he pushed the send button to call Reeve, seeing as he already owned Tseng a limb or two for the things he was already doing. The phone line picked up, and he waited as the phone rang, finally picking up on the ninth ring.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end sounded a bit out of breath, and Vincent wondered if he had called the right number.

"Reeve? It's Vincent."

"AH, Vincent. I was hoping you would call me."

Vincent lifted an eyebrow, wondering if he should be concerned at Reeve's amused tone of voice. "Oh. And why is that."

"WEll, Tseng and Cid got here just fine, although I'm glad they brought both of them together or Tseng would have rearranged my face for me."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently when he found out that the OTHER Special Ops person he was working with was Cid, he was more than a little upset. Thankfully Cid acted as my body gaurd, as he usually has does. Tseng wasn't happy when I told him he and Cid had to share a cabin and a bed as well."

Vincent squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm beginning to change my mind about your intelligence."

"You know as well as I do that if those two are going to EVER work together and get anything done, they have to tolerate each other first. Believe it or not, the whole bed thing was only because Tseng accepted so late, and therefor I had no time to purhcase, move, and install another bed in that cabin. It involves more paperwork than you can imagine."

"I don't know who I should feel more sorry for."

"Tell me about it. Anyway, I'm sure this isn't the reason you called. What can I do for you, Vincent?"

"I'd hate to impose, but I was wondering if you had a pilot and a chopper free."

"Well, I do, actually. Where are you going?"

"Rocket Town."

There was a pause, then a sigh. "I'll send one around early tomorrow morning. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes though, Vincent. Good luck."

"Thank you. I have a feeling I'll need it. Reeve...can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"You and Cid....what happened between the two of you?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and Vincent thought he'd been disconnected from the other man until he heard a heavy sigh come through the earpeice. "Miscommunication and confused signals."

"I see...." Vincent let it trail off there, hoping Reeve would catch the hint he wouldn't ask about it anymore.

"...Would you like to talk to Cid?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright. Let me patch you through. Good bye Vincent. I'll talk to you later." There was a pause, a click, and then ringing as the phone line was sent through to wherever Cid was stationed. It barely rang before the phone was picked up, and a rough 'what?!' was shouted over the phone.

"I'm so glad you're in a good mood, Cid"

"...Vince?"
**************************

Cid stopped, all his anger forgotten as he heard the soft, deep voice over the phone say his name, almost making him drop the shirt that was in his hands. "...Vince? Shit, baby that really you?" Cid tossed the shirt back into his duffel bag, sitting down on the (thankfully) over sized bed with a grin.

"I fail to see who else it could be."

"Man, am I gald to hear your voice. You won't believe how pissed off I am at Reeve right now. Not only does he take his sweet time, now that ass is making me an-....how'd you get this number?" The thought just crossed Cid's mind as he glanced out of the window into the base ground, his eyes focusing on the miles and miles of open grassland outside of the compound. "This is a private line."

"Mmm, the I called up the ass and had him transfer me."

"Gotcha. You doin' alright by yourself over there so far?" Cid lay down on his back, staring up at the wooden ceiling above him. He wasn't sure where Tseng was in the cabin, not that he really cared at the moment.

"I called Shera."

"Oh." Cid noticed how the gunner's voice had dropped a bit of it's happy tone. "...and?"

"Reeve has arranged for a pilot to come and pick me up from Wutaii and take me back to Rocket Town tomorrow morning."

"I see..." Cid shifted a bit, turning his head to look out of the window. For being close to winter, the sunlight was bright and a hot, and he squinted against it as he thought. "You sure she's going t' let you come back right now, though? I'm she's still pissed as high hell at the both of us."

"As she should be...but she didn't tell me not to. She told me to get a ride out there and call her."

"She always could be a cryptic bitch when she wanted to be...but that's good. That's damn good she's lettin' ya come back so soon." Cid huffed a bit, slicking his hair back as he closed his eyes. He swore between Reeve, Tseng, and now this he'd be suffering a six month headache. "Hope she just doesn't explode on ya."

"Hmm. Cid?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

A smile crept onto the pilot's face as looked back up at the ceiling with could be called a happy purr. "Ah never get sick of hearin' you say that...you know I love you, too."

"I know." Vincent paused, content just to hear the sound of Cid breathing over the phone. He found it was a habit he had developed whenever he was feeling down, just to listen to the blonde breathing, talking, or anything. He sighed a minute or two, shifting the phone to his other ear. "I'm going to go ahead and call Shera back...try not to kill each other over there, Cid, and warn Tseng ahead of time that you tend to SPRAWL."

"AH DON'T SPAAAWL!"

"Be safe Cid. Love you." Vincent ended the phone call before the volume of Cid's yelling broke his speakers, the smile fading as he looked down at his recent call list. CID HOME was the second, the number he took a second to compose himself before he called. It only took a few rings before Shera picked the line up. "I have a chopper that will be picking me up and dropping me off tomorrow."

"Well, then...I will see you tomorrow." The line went dead after the brief response, and Vincent closed the phone with a sigh. Sighing...he had a feeling he'd be doing a lot of that lately.
************************

Tseng leaned against the doorframe, watching the shorter man spreading out on the bed, rumpling the clean bedsheets and probably making them dirty as he put his boots up on them. He heard the beginning of the phone call, listening only briefly as he washed his face in the bathroom. He peeked into the bedroom when Cid finished yelling, and the pilot was just now staring at the phone, his grin falling into a small smile that soon dropped to thoughtful somberness. Tseng just stood there, watching Cid lay there as he stared at the ceiling. The look on the blonde's face should have been a nice change- instead, it only bothered the brunette for frustratingly unknown reasons. Tseng broke the silence by hitting his fist on the door, making the relaxed man on the bed jump lightly, Cid's face instantly glaring at him. "You even THINK about SPRAAAWLIN' and I'll kill you, understand?" Tseng's eyes narrowed into slits for emphasis as he continued to unpack.

"Fuck you, asshole."

"Not in a million years, Highwind."
********************

The chopper landed almost 12 hours after he had gotten off of the phone with Cid, the dust in the backyard of the Highwind household kicking up, making it hard to see. The chopper barely landed before Vincent jumped out, waving to the pilot before the chopper took off again. The dust settled a bit, and Vincent looke up to see a familiar outline of a person standing by the back door. Vincent couhged a bit, swallowing hard as he walked towards Shera, his head hung a little lower than normal. She stood there, her arms crossed as she watched him approach. "Have a safe trip?"

"Yes m'amm."

Shera lifted a brow at the 'm'amm', but said nothing otherwise. "Well...come inside and we'll talk about your duties while you're here."

"Yes m'amm." Vincent followed after the smaller woman, holding in a sigh. As he entered, the usually warm house struck him with a chill. It was going to be a LOONG six moths.
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AN- MMrr, not smut here, since Cid's at camp and Vince in solitary confinment, so most lemon in most middle chapters will be self love or flashbacks. This wouldn't be a yaoi fic without the yaoi. :3

Oh and I cahnged my mind. the Side fic WILL be yaoi. my own personal CidXreeve challange. Let's see if I can pull it off.

edited 3/14/08