As they turn the corner and enter the hall that housed the Captain's quarters, a loud whistle greets them.

"Captain on deck, all hands salute!"

There's the loud rustle of dozens of hands going up all at once to their brows - Byron at the fore, a coxswain's whistle between his teeth.

"Welcome back, Cap'n! Good to see you again..." The big cook trails off quietly, as he takes in the pair, the blonde still bandaged, silent, head hung. Vincent meets Byron's questioning eyes, and shakes his head.

"Goddamnit, Byron," Cid says under his breath. He knows where he is - he's familiar enough with the corridors and twists and turns to know Vincent's brought him before his room. He steps away from Vincent, finding the door with his fingertips, and goes inside, closing the door after him, leaving an awkward and guilty silence in his wake.

Byron awkwardly turns about and waves the crowd back. "Go on, shoo! I'm the only one that gets paid to be beautiful, go on, shoo, get out, get back to work!" The crew scampers, whispering amongst themselves.

"What happened? I thought it was going to be a simple surgery," Byron hisses, taking Vincent aside, away from Cid's door.

"It's complicated," Vincent replies simply. Byron makes a noise of frustration.

"Shit, Vince, for once in your incredibly long life could you just... fucking talk? What the Hell happened?"

Vincent glances at Cid's door. "The doctor examined him, and said there was nothing he could do. Without some substantially advanced, possibly non-existent procedures, he will not see again through that eye. He's devastated."

Byron sighs gustily. "Well fuck. What the fuck are we going to do? Fuck. Fuck."

"Nothing for now. We need time we don't have. Get Wills to sift through his contacts and connections for any and all advanced or experimental procedures, legal or no. We'll check out any of the leads that check out. Tell Thomlinn to take over for Wills, we need him on this 24/7. In the meantime... hope that he pulls himself by his own bootstraps, before we have to do it for him. Understood?"

Byron just blinks at him. ".... holy fuck, who the Hell are you?"

"Just do it," Vincent growls, turning on his heel and letting himself into Cid's room.

Vincent enters just in time to hear a loud crash, as Cid brings down his chest of draws into the floor. He stumbles about, tearing everything apart. He throws small objects, topples large pieces of furniture, and hits his fists into the wall when all else fails, screaming and venting his rage.

Vincent wastes no time, rushing up behind Cid and looping his arms beneath Cid's, tugging him back against him.

Cid fights Vincent only for a little while before he collapses into the Gunman's hold, sobbing and cursing. Where his left eye is, the bandage starts to turn red, stained by his bloody tears.

Vincent doesn't say anything, shifting his hold so that his arms were wrapped around Cid's chest, clutching them together tightly.

"I'll kill 'em!" Cid says hoarsely, weakly. "I'll track the fuckers down, an' kill 'em fer doin' this te me!"

"Then do it," Vincent growls lowly. "Do whatever you need to do. I'll help you. But don't do this, Chief. Not this."

Cid shakes his head, crumpling. "Fuck... Fuck... It's over Vince. It's over. What'm I gonna do? First the space mission, now I can't even fly a goddamn remote-controlled fuckin' helicopter if I wanted."

Vincent carefully lowers them both to the floor, not letting Cid go. As soon as they're down, he gives Cid a shake.

"What the Hell is that," Vincent growls. "It sounds a Hell of a lot like giving up. Like surrender. Cid Highwind doesn't surrender anything to anyone - not even the last roll at dinner. Why the Hell wouldn't you fight for your eyes - for your life?"

Cid says nothing to that, limp and overtaxed.

Vincent swallows, and continues more quietly.













"....If you can't, I will. That's what I'm here for. I will not leave your side. I will not give up. I will fight for you."

Cid drops his head lower, turning it away, overcome.

Vincent sits with his arms around him for a moment longer. "Come on. Let's get you up on the bed. Those bandages need replacing. And your boxers are all over the floor. Come on." He starts standing, dragging Cid up with him.