Captain's log

Title: Captain's log
Author: Enide Dear
Pairing: Valenwind
Rating: Work safe
A/N: Art trade for who had a rather specific prompt I hope you like it!

Day 1: Lucretia's Cave

"Vince?!"

Vince…ince…ince…

Scowling in the eerie light of mako crystals, Cid strode up to the altar beneath the gaze of the comatose woman, but it was empty. He spent another few hours checking behind every pillar, rock and outcrop he could find until he was certain the gunman wasn't there, all the while having the creepy feeling of being watched disapprovingly from behind shut eyelids and crystal.

"Well, ta had yer chance," he muttered at the ex-scientist. "Now it's my turn." He sighed and scratched his head. "If I can find the damn vampire."

Day 2: Flying

Day 3: Niebelheim

"Vince?!"

There was no echo. Piles of books and research documents sucked up all sounds in the damp caves. Slightly dreading what he might see in this evil place, Cid managed to push the heavy stone lid on Vincent's coffin aside. Empty, and no sign of anyone being down here for years either. Just like the rest of the mansion.

"Look, he's scared and he's hurt. His life ain't been a walk in the damn park, ya know." Cid explained to the two- headed freak that came roaring out of the shadows to attack him. "And when people are like that they retreat ta places of safety, familiar places." He impaled the shrieking monster, neatly cutting off one of its heads. "Don't look at me like that. I know this is a gods awful place but, hey, Vince got his issues." He chopped of the other head and the monster fell thrashing to the ground. Cid sighed and lit his cig. "So the question is, where ta go next?"

Day 5: Flying, again

Day 6-8: Northern Crater

"Vince?! Vince?!"

The Northern Crater had blown sky high, taking most of the continent with it. Cid spend futile days searching through the rubble, looking for hidden caves and killing - or in some cases running - from the occasional monster.

"What can I say, the guy stole my heart," grumbling, Cid hefted his spear tighter. Tonberries where tough bastards, for all that they looked like one of Reeve's stuffed toys. "Always so sad. So beautiful. So much stronger than he oughta be. And," he got in a good stab, pushing the green creature back a few paces, "ya can't argue with that ass in those leather pants either."

Day 9: Flying. Saw some gulls. One stuck in engine, %)/&¤#!

Day 10-11: Mideel

"Where the Hell are ya, Vince?" Cid muttered to himself, sipping his tea. He didn't really expect the gunman to be here, but the place was starting to build itself up after Weapon's attack, and he needed a day of rest and tea to gather his thoughts and get that damn bird cleaned out of the engine.

"Ya haven't happened ta see a tall, dark and handsome stranger around, have ya?" He asked the Inn keeper, the Shop Keepers, the paranoid woman with her cats and the woman at the tea shop. No one had, although quite a few of them expressed their sorrow over the lack of tall, dark and handsome strangers in their lives. Well, Cid thought, let 'em mope. He wasn't going to sit around waiting, he was going to find his man! Wheter said man wanted him to or not.

Day 12: Flying. Avoiding damn birds

Day 12-18: Midgard, Edge

"Is Vince here, damn it?!"

Banging his fist in Reeve's desk, Cid managed only to get that stupid bob-head doll of Reeve's to fall over and Cait to scurry for cover. Reeve himself just sighed.

"Not since the incidents with the remnants. He disappeared…."

"I know he disappeared, I'm trying ta find him! What about ShinRa?" Vincent would rather cut off his own foot and eat it raw than re-join Shinra, but Cid was getting desperate. "And don't give me any crap, I know they're funding WRO."

Reeve gave him access to all archives, including the secret ones. There were no sign of any Turks except the four Cid expected, but he did learn a few interesting things in those classified files, such as Rude being a former race-car driver, Tseng suffering from OCD (like that was any secret), Elena being the youngest of five siblings, all of whom had died in a tragic and somewhat mysterious accident years ago and Reno being allergic to fabric softeners. He made a mental note to at some time smuggle in Ocean Breeze Softener in the Turks laundry room, but made no other progress.

Day 19: Flying back to Rocket Town

Day 20: Flying the Hell away from Rocket Town, to damn depressing to sit around moping.

Day 21: 7:th Heaven

"Vince ain't gone! He's jest damn hard ta find." Scowling, Cid accepted another shot of whiskey from Tifa who looked down on him with sad, liquid eyes. He ignored the look. "Ya know how it is, girl. Yer as stubborn as me when it comes to matters like these."

Tifa threw a covered glance at another small blonde in a corner, sighed, nodded and poured them both another shot.

Days 22 - 30: Randomly flying around the world. Cosmo Canyon, Junon, Wutai and so on. No sign of Vincent anywhere.

There was no point in landing anymore, because Cid could for the life of him not figure out any other place to go. He'd been everywhere, searched through likely, probable and even highly unlikely places. He'd scoured Gaia, pretty much. But no sign of Vincent anywhere.
Yeah, he was the first to admit he might have handled this badly. He'd been running around like a headless chocobo all over the planet, trying to lift every rock. It was tiring, frustrating work and it was starting to wear him down.

Trying to gather his thoughts, he made a cup of tea and stood by the airships great window, the comforting hum of finely tuned engines calming him slightly. He'd always been more comfortable in the air anyway and during their travelled the Highwind had become a second home to most of Avalanche. There was a special kind of freedom in the feeling of being on your way, heading for a destination but not yet there…

Cid dropped his teacup. He knew where Vincent was.

Striding down the empty corridors, Cid felt his hands shake but didn't know if it was anger, hope of something altogether different that affected him so much. He opened a door that he hadn't thought about since before Sephiroth's first defeat. The door to Vincent's cabin.

It was dark in there, and it smelled like dust and, strangely enough, like rust. A sound like someone crunching up old paper could be heard, faintly, and two yellow spots appeared glowing in the dark. Cid's heart lurched.

"Chaos? The Hell are ya doing here?" The demons only came out when Vincent were hurt, and Chaos only when the gunman was…seriously hurt.

"Trying to keep us all alive," came the snarled answer from between fanged jaws. As Cid's eyes adjusted to the gloom he could see that the demon, who shared Vincent's deceptively stick-like body structure, looked even more emancipated and pale than normal. The visible skin was dry, almost flaky, the hair had lost its shine and there was a tiredness over him that was something completely different than Vincent's normal watchful motionless stance.

Slowly Cid walked over to the bed. Dry lips cracked as Chaos drew them back from sharp fangs, but the demon was too tired to put any real danger into the threat.

"Holy shit." It felt like Cid's gut turned to water when he looked down on the bedding; it was covered with old, dried blood, so dried in that it looked - and smelled - like rust. "How long have ya stupid gits been here?!"

"About a month, the way you count time." Chaos sighed but didn't' protest as Cid started to remove clothing, looking for wounds. He found new scars, but nothing needing attention. The damage had already healed on its own, although it must have been horribly painful.

"Why?"

Yellow eyes blinked up at him.
"The host came here to die. He was badly wounded. He wanted to die where he felt…safe. Of course, once he'd suffered enough and was close enough to death, I manifested. And I have no intention of dying. I managed to heal us, but was too drained of energy and resources to do anything but stay here."

"Well why the hell didn't ya come tell me ya were here then?!" Distraught, Cid looked down at the bird-thin limbs, the wings that looked like they'd been made out of papier-mâché. More a skeleton than a living being; if it hadn't been for the demon's own internal fire, they'd both be dead, host and demon.

Chaos closed his eyes, exhausted.

"Host didn't want to see you sad. Looks like he failed with that as so much else in his life."

Cid was about to say something outraged over that, but the demon had already passed over into sleep. The pilot didn't realize he was crying until something wet and warm hit his cheek.
Wiping at his eyes with a snarl, Cid went to work. If nothing else, it would keep his mind too occupied to think.

Day 30: Back to Midgard

"I need 20 boxes of intravenous drip, peniciliin, bandages new bed clothes, soft bathing sponges and a crate of cigaretts delivered *outside* the Highwind before noon. Don't bother getting me any tea, ya might know yer way 'round weed, but ya couldn't spot a decent tea if it crawled up yer pointy nose."

"And why the fuck would I get you anything, yo?" Reno stared at the harassed-looking pilot that had tracked him down in a bar.

"'Cause I got a bottle of laundry detergant here and I ain't afraid ta use it."

Cid got his stuff and took of the next day.

Day 31-51: Back flying

It took weeks, almost months to nurse Vincent and the demons back to life. Although in truth, Cid saw little of the gunman. Either Chaos was still taking over because they were too weak for the gunman's body to handle, or there were something else behind it. Sometimes when Cid turned his back to fiddle with the drip or clean the sick room, he could see red eyes in a human face reflecting off metal surfaces or windows as the Turk looked at him. But when he turned back it was always the stare of demon eyes that met his. Vincent never said anything either, although Chaos, as he grew stronger, got more talkative.

"It wasn't an accident. It was a suicide attempt." Chaos was strong enough now to sit propped up in the bed, carefully watching the human. Bat-like wings spread across the room, their fanning stirring the still air. He looked much better now, the skin once more healthy, the body putting on weight. Neither Vincent nore Chaos had ever been exactly plump though, and the naked limbs still looked fragile to Cid.

"Yeah? What for?" The pilot asked, handing the demon a platter of food. The demon poked at the potatoes and meat, but ate it with a determination that had little to do with actual enjoyment.

"He had done his part. Atoned for his sins. He could see no reason to live on."

"And ya can?"

A toothy grin met him.

"I make my own reasons, mortal."

"Easy if yer a demon, I guess. I wanna talk to Vince." Crossing his arms, Cid stared down at the bed. He hadn't pushed this before, but the demon seemed healthy enough. There should be no reason for Vincent to hide anymore - at least no physical reason.

"No."

"Look, I'm tired of this fucking game of hide and seek! Get Vince out ta me right now!"
Chaos shrugged and put away the empty platter.

"He can see no reason why."

Cid looked down at the demon, furious thoughts racing through his mind. Slowly he shrugged off his jacket.

"Then I'll give him one."

Chaos eyes got wide as the pilot sat down on his bed, and then wider again as Cid pulled off his work gloves with his teeth and a rough-skinned but tender hand caressed down the demon's cheek.

The demon was given no chance to protest or fight as he was drawn up in the pilot's lap, face to face with the scruffy, stubbly, stubborn man who had flown around Gaia looking for them and nursed them back to health. Great bat wings spread out across the room and fangs shone but even so Chaos felt naked and vulnerable sitting in the man's lap. When Cid gently pushed him forward, deeper into the embrace, he didn't even think of fighting. Nor when strong soft lips brushed over his, tongue darting in to taste.

There was a sudden shimmer in Cid's lap and the weight grew slightly heavier, the balance slightly different and suddenly the demon was gone, leaving behind a tall gunman who couldn't quite meet Cid's eyes.

"Hey," Cid stroke the dark hair. "There ya are. I've missed ya."

"I was afraid." Vincent's voice was just a soft whisper. "Afraid to stop hiding."

"Yer not afraid anymore, though?"

Red eyes met blue. A small smile tugged pale lips.

"No."

Day 52 - eternity. If ya keep flying long and fast enough into the west, the sun will never set for you.