As much as Cid disliked Cloud’s idea of steering, he trusted him as long as he knew how to land and take off without making any buildings shorter. Plus, Cid wasn’t about to let go of Vincent anytime soon.

Instead of flying, though, Cloud just stood there and watched his two friends with great concern.

Cid had taken the braid out of Vincent’s hair, not wanting anything to remind him of what had happened. He kept stroking Vincent’s hair, slowly working the tangles out—mostly to reassure Vincent, who was very anxious and on edge, but partly to flatten out the waves made by being in a braid for so long. On occaision Cid would kiss Vincent or say some soothing noise. He would tell Vincent he missed him and that he never wanted Vincent to leave him again and not to worry.

Vincent just sat on Cid’s lap, clinging to him as if he thought someone was going to hurt him or take him away if he let go. His red eyes were wide and he kept looking around the plane in confusion and fear. He was very confused and disoriented—the last thing he remembered was being on top of the stairs, in his house, in Rocket Town, in early February. Now he was in a plane, formerly in the lifestream, in Mideel, it was now late April, and someone had messed with his hair and changed his clothes. Only now did he remember when Cid’s birthday was and he wondered what had happened that was so bad that Cid wasn’t yelling at him about it. Somewhere in between the two times he remembered vague voices, and that his arm hurt.

He would keep telling Cid he was still afraid every now and then—meaning he was scared shitless and had no idea what was going on—and Cid would just say something and try to calm him down. He didn’t notice the worried looks Cid was throwing Cloud every time he spoke up or how Cloud would just shrug and shake his head. He wasn’t looking at either of them.

Cid and Cloud silently argued a bout what to tell Vincent or how to get out of telling him altogether. Neither of them could think of anything and eventually Vincent made it a Now or Never situation.

"Can I go home now?"

Cid and Cloud pointed at each other and started to tell the other it should be them to tell him.

"What’s going on?" Vincent asked, starting to get up.

"It’s okay, it’s going to be okay," Cid said, pulling Vincent closer.

Vincent shoved and struggled to get away.

"Vince—"

"They just want to do some tests and see if you’re okay," Cloud said.

"TESTS?"

"Goddamnit—no, you hold still—Cloud, you keep your damn mouth shut!"

"I don’t want to! Let me go! Let me go!"

"No, hold still and let me finish my sentence. Cloud, what are you doing?"

"Come on, let’s get your seatbelt on," Cloud said, putting a hand on Vincent’s left shoulder.

"No! Get off!" Vincent flinched violently, managing to punch Cloud in the face, and fell on the floor. "No!"

"Vincent!" Cid yelled. He got off his seat and tried to get a good grip on Vincent’s legs, but Cloud was faster. Cloud was also clumsier and had worse luck. Vincent kicked him in the ribs as he flipped himself over and almost took off. Cid managed to tackle him first and yelled at Cloud to take off.

Cloud hesitated. The reason he hadn’t taken off in the plane while they were cuddling was, despite his bad driving—or possibly because of it—he wanted both of them to be wearing their seatbelts.

Seeing Vincent start to cry because all his escape options were gone with Cid pinning him down, Cloud grabbed the controls and they began to move.

"Calm down," Cid told Vincent, who didn’t want to listen. "Calm down, I’m not hurting you."

It was true; it was just his weight holding Vincent down. Cid had had a lot of practice as a kid on different ways of wrestling and considered himself an expert. "Let me finish my sentence—Cloud, don’t you dare say anything!" He sat up and pulled Vincent with him, turning him around to look him in the eyes. "Look, this was the only way I could even get you outta that damn room!"

"What room?"

Everyone was quiet for a minute and Cloud almost forgot to pull up.

Cid and Vincent went sliding down the floor. Cid took most of the impact against the wall, but never let go of Vincent.

"How did I get here? What’s going on? I’m not—"

"You’re not going nuts. You’re okay. You—You had an attack. You were in a coma." He brushed the long hair out of Vincent’s face as Vincent absorbed the information. "Calm down please. I know you’re angry with me. Please listen. I had to agree to take you back. It was the only way they’d let me take you here in the first place. It was the only way I’d get you back."

"I don’t want to."

"I know. I’m sorry. Look—"

"They’re going to take me away! They’re going to keep me somewhere and I’ll never see you again!"

"No they won’t. Let me finish. I may have agreed to take you back, but I never agreed to let them do anything to you. I’m going to kill them if they try anything like that."

Thankfully, Vincent kept from crying through the rest of the flight. Cid got him to sit down in his own seat, but Vincent refused to be strapped in, in any way, so seatbelts were out and Cid had to divide his attention between Cloud’s driving and Vincent, who preferred Cid’s lap for a seat.

Cid was too worried—and busy dragging Vincent with him and apologizing the whole time—to remind Cloud to call the girls at home.

The doctors recognized Cid and Vincent immediately from all the noise they were making. They weren’t at all surprised at it, just at Vincent’s sudden change in condition.

After hours of screaming, threats, squabbling, haggling, yelling, a crying fit from Vincent when the doctor tried to explain one test that involved heavy sedation (that idea was dismissed immediately), and one escape attempt that was rather pathetic in execution, they were all in agreement about what was going to happen.

The doctor wanted to do a sleep test and use the EEG on Vincent for a few days to test for trauma or disorders, as well as a blood test, but he had to agree not to use any needles or wires for the three to let him even touch Vincent. Eventually, all he could get them to agree on, and very reluctantly, was a CT scan and a mild checkup.

He couldn’t get any answers out of Vincent about how he was feeling. Vincent kept refusing to answer, save for the occasional ‘I want to go home.’

Vincent clung to Cid as he was led down the hallway. He tried to keep as much distance between himself and the doctor.

Cloud followed, worried Vincent would have a fit or Cid would start a fight. He could almost hear Cid’s teeth grinding together.

The doctor paused to ask a nurse something. No one but the nurse could make it out and she dashed down the hallway, off to… do something.

They were lead into a room; Cloud was the only one who noted the WARNING: RADIATION KEEP CLEAR OF MACHINES sign before the doctor started talking to Vincent and he had to pay attention.

"This will only take a few minutes," the doctor said.

Vincent didn’t looked convinced or even relieved; in fact, he looked like he was going to be ill.

"It’s just a scan. It does the same thing as an X-ray. This is going to eliminate a few parts of the examination and will give you a lot more privacy during it." The speech wasn’t working. Everyone could see it was leading up to something uncomfortable, and probably painful.

"We’ll need you to take off your clothes—"

"No!" Vincent yelped and back up onto Cid’s foot.

If Cid noticed, he didn’t say anything. He just held Vincent by the shoulders, ready to let go and swing a punch at the doctor.

"There’s a changing room over there with some gowns in it."

"No," Vincent repeated.

"We can’t have you wearing your clothes during the scan. You can’t wear anything metal. You can keep the arm, but you’ll need to unbuckle it."

"Not my clothes…"

"You’d need to take them off for the exams, too. We can forgo a lot of poking and prodding if we have a scan. Everything will be a lot easier and faster. No one will be in the changing room with you if you don’t want them to."

"I don’t see what your big deal is!" Cid yelled at the doctor.

"Those are metal buttons—"

"Vince—" Cloud started.

"YOU shut up!" Cid yelled at him.

"Those pants have a metal fly. They’ll interfere."

"Why the hell do you need his to take his pants off? Why the fuck are you even looking there? Get your scan outta Vincent’s underwear, you freak!"

"I don’t want to take my pants off!" Vincent yelled. "I… I didn’t even take them off for him! Ever!"

"Shit," Cloud whispered. This wasn’t going right at all. The lifestream didn’t fix things, it just helped you think things out. Whatever good it had done was about to be undone with someone’s good intentions.

Vincent was gripping the edge of his pants as if someone were about to rip them off of him. He’d always worn his pants with two belts and hiked up to his waist. Cloud had once bunked with him. He knew the pants were large around the legs, but tight enough to stay up by themselves. He even wore them into and out of the bathroom for showers. He slept in them. Cloud had always wondered what it was all about, but never pressed the issue. Cid accidentally told him vaguely about Hojo at a bar in Gold Saucer once. Cid had been half-drunk and extremely pissed. Cloud wasn’t sure if Cid ever remembered telling him, and never brought it up. But knowing what had happened made it hard to weigh the situation in any direction.

The doctor just seemed to want to make sure Vincent didn’t even have a papercut; Vincent was obviously scared and looked like he was about to go into shock or charge out the door, even in his slightly dizzy state; Cid had his hand in a fist and look like he was going to punch the doctor’s head off.

"Is he wearing anything under his pants?"

"Why the hell do you care?"

"I’M NOT TAKING MY BOXERS OFF!"

"Get outta his damn pants!"

"Maybe—"

"You keep out of this, Cloud!"

"He can keep them on if he wants—"

"Keep what on?" all three asked.

"He can keep his underwear on during the scan. He can have his pants on for the exams. He can put the buckles back on as well."

They all turned to Vincent, who nodded slightly, though he was no less afraid.

"It’ll only take a few minutes. Have you eaten anything recently?"

"Only some water," Cloud answered for him

"That’s perfect. I’m going to help the radiologist for a few minutes; I’ll be back."

Cloud stood behind everyone as the doctor left and Vincent dashed into the changing room. He wasn’t in a hurry to change, he just wanted as much privacy as he could get.

Cid sighed and wandered into the room after Vincent. Cloud had no idea what to do and tried not to think about how complicated the machine looked.

"Vince…?"

Vincent was sitting on the little shelf that also served as a seat. He hadn’t even started taking anything off and he just stared at the floor. "What’s wrong with me?"

"How should I know—I mean—Nothing—I—you’re fine. Even in your head—I mean—Look, there’s nothing WRONG. Please, Vincent, I’m sorry."

"Why do I keep ending up here?"

"Because… Because none of this is any of your fucking fault. I—Fuck, tell there’s something I can do to make this up to you."

Vincent was silent for a long time and so was Cid.

"Please don’t hate me…" the both said at the same time.

"Please don’t." Cid was the one who managed to continue. "I mean, if it makes you happy, go ahead and fucking hate me, but… I had no idea what that stuff was going to do to you. Hell, the lifestream’s made up of dead stuff, who the hell knows how safe that is! This whole thing worries the fuck outta me."

"I’m scared."

"I know," Cid said, kneeling in front of him and putting his hand on Vincent’s face. "I am too. Nothing’s fucking simple anymore."

"It was never simple for me."

"Of course it was. You were happy, remember? You worked on the Highwind. You lived with me and Shera."

"I was took medicines"

"They made oyu feel better. You were still you."

"I—"

"You were never insane, Vincent. You’re not going to be. I promise."

"You can’t promise something like that."

"I just did. I love you, damnit; and I’m always fucking going to."

"How’s Shera? I kinda remember something happening. It didn’t make any sense, and I couldn’t move, but…"

"She’s just roughed up a bit. She doesn’t blame you. She just wants you back."

"Cid, I’ve never taken my clothes off for a doctor before."

"He’s not going to try anything. I’m going to watch. I’ll kill him if he touches you wrong."

"Can you…?"

"Sure. Whatever it is, sure."

"Just stay close," Vincent said, starting to unbutton his shirt. Cid helped him slip it over the elbow of his mechanical arm and held onto it for Vincent. Vincent hesitated before taking off his belts, but not for too long. "Thanks," he said, as Cid picked the shoes up off the floor. "For everything."

"Just don’t run after any other crazy girlfriends when you got me."

"You’re not a girlfriend," Vincent said, not wanting to relinquish his pants.

"You know what I mean."

"I always do." Vincent smiled.

They exited the changing room in silence.

The doctor was back and had set up the machine.

Cloud looked like he was trying to figure it out; the doctor kept shoving him away when he leaned to close or was about to poke something.

The machine was huge. At best description, it was a huge, long box with a circular hole in it and a platform with a pillow on it, sticking out like some sort of tongue.

Vincent approached the machine, still carrying his pants in front of him, but backed up a step when he noticed the straps on the platform that were obviously for holding someone down.

"Just lie down on the bed," the doctor instructed, touching a button and lowering the platform. "This’ll take about ten minutes. We need you to take off the buckles."

Cloud tried to help by taking the pants out of Vincent’s hands, but was stopped by Cid punching his arm. Cid adjusted the clothes in his arms and started undoing the buckles. Vincent kept his gaze on the doctor, who did nothing. In fact, the doctor stayed on the opposite side of the platform and asked Cloud if anyone had ever adjusted the brace since it was put on.

Cloud shrugged and so did Cid one he’d finished with all the buckles.

"You may feel a bit claustrophobic, would you like to take an oral sedative before we start?"

"No," Vincent said, keeping his eyes on the doctor as he handed his pants to Cid. The doctor just looked at his face, his gaze never wavered. Vincent felt reassured at that. It was better than Hojo always looking him up and down. He never really knew why Hojo did that—he’d done it for years before Lucrecia trnasferred to the Jenova project and either of them ever met her.

The doctor offered Vincent a hand up, but Vincent refused. The doctor didn’t seem to mind, he just held the pillow in place as Vincent lay down and put his head on it.

Cid took a step forward as the doctor touched Vincent, ready to tear him off at any second.

"Arms by your sides, little farther away. Feet like this. Let’s move those buckles out of the way. Now, try not to move. Don’t touch that, Mr. Strife."

"Hey, is there anyway I can stay in the room with him?" Cid asked.

"There are some lead aprons over there. Put one on and keep your distance." The doctor seemed quite positive about everything, a big change from the last time any of them had seen him; Hojo was always worried when working on something, either about the wound or the intelligence of the person who got it.

The platform was raised slightly and Cid finished tying the heavy apron on himself. Cloud was yanked away from the machine one last time. "Come along, Mr. Strife," the doctor said and let go as he went into the adjoining room.

Cid his goggles over his eyes as an automatic precaution.

The doctor came out, grabbed Cloud by the shoulder and dragged him out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"You okay?" Cid asked, keeping his distance as he was told.

Vincent didn’t have time to think of an answer.

"Keep still while we do the scan please; you’re going to hear some noises as we take the scan," they heard from somewhere inside the machine. They both figured there was a microphone inside. "We need you to hold your breath while the table moves. Speak up if there’s anything painful and we’ll stop the scan."

The platform began to move, sliding into the gantry and the ring began to spin in place. Vincent kept his eyes on Cid until he was obscured by the side of the machine. The platform stopped and the most of the lights in the machine turned off. His feet were about six inches away from the opening of the gantry.

"What are they doing?"

"They’re lookin’ at some monitors, and pushing Cloud away form the buttons. They seem to be interested in something. The woman at the monitor’s pointing at something. I can’t really tell what they’re looking at. Looks like Cloud doesn’t either. You okay in there?"

"I’m not sure."

"All right, it’s over," they heard the radiologist say over the microphone. "Don’t get up until the bed stops moving."

"Vince, you okay?" Cid asked, taking the lead apron off and dropping it on the floor.

The bed slowly moved out of the tunnel of the scanner, but apparently not fast enough for Vincent sudden condition.

Vincent rolled over and Cid wasn’t fast enough to keep him from crashing to the floor.

"Get me out of here," Vincent said, clinging to Cid’s leg. He was shaking and his mouth moved as if he were numb from cold. His eyes were dilated, and he seemed to have a hard to time focusing them.

"Vince, Come on. I told you , there’s no more fucking aliens or anything."

"I don’t care, get me out of here."

Background