Story Name: Behind the Bullet

By: Real-fan05

Series: Final Fantasy VII

Rating: PG, simply because of what Vincent does.

Chapters/One Shot: One shot

Summary: Vincent shows Cid his strange way of relaxation.

Pairing: Light Cid x Vincent

A/N: Wow, I have not stepped in the FFVII fan fiction since the horror that was Love Is a Sin. (Please, never read it) This is actually good quality, trust me. This is much better then most of what I've written. (That isn't too much) Please, just read it and review. (This is also a break story before I go back to my baby, Night and Day Are Opposites) Enjoy the scheming Vincent!

OoO

"Aah."

Cid Highwind took a long draw from his cigarette, holding the smoke inside his mouth for a moment before releasing it through his nostrils. Finally, he could smoke a cig in peace. No ShinRa, no Meteor, and most thankfully, no Sephiroth.

"This is the fuckin' life." Relaxing into the back of his lawn chair, Cid closed his eyes, but was awoken by a loud bang. Lazily opening one eye, he glanced over towards a caped figure standing some feet away, shooting carefully placed targets with the gun known as Death Penalty and hitting the middle dead-on, seemingly effortless.

A long sigh escaped from Cid's lips. Damn that Valentine. He always had to start "perfecting his aim" the moment Cid chose to relax. That was some shitty timing on Vincent's part, Cid thought. But it wouldn't get to him. Nope, not this time. There would be no angry outburst, no Cid throwing curses at Vincent left and right, and there certainly would be no smirking Vincent, obviously enjoying Cid's annoyance and pain.

Hopefully, like the last time this happened, Shera would come out and politely ask Vincent to "please stop his infernal racket", and he would listen, just like the last time. Vincent was always nice to Shera.

Cid grunted and adjusted himself to be more comfortable. This time, to block even so much as the visual of that damn cape, Cid pulled his hat over his eyes and forced himself to feel relaxed, calm and ignore that annoying asshole.

Bang.

Cid's eye twitched, but he said nothing.

Bang.

A vein popped up in Cid's forehead.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The cigarette that had been sitting between his index and middle finger lifelessly fell to the ground as Cid's hand formed a fist and began to shake.

BOOM.

Cid shot out of his seat and looked furiously over towards Vincent, who was lovingly blowing off the barrel of a shotgun. One of the targets had been completely knocked down, several bullet holes lined up in the middle. As his pilot friend approached him swearing loudly, Vincent paid no attention whatsoever.

"Dammit Vincent, are you fuckin' insane! Every single time I start to relax, you gotta come out here to your stupid-ass target practice shit and wake me up! I don't know why the fuck Shera even let you come and stay with us for awhile…you don't do shit except this…this shit! How many fucking times do I have to tell you…wait, are you even fucking listening?"

More anger then ever before boiled up inside of Cid. Vincent was not even facing him, but was rather again facing his targets, this time with that same pistol as before, but there was no firing. Instead, Vincent was doing something that Cid couldn't see. So he hastily stepped to the side of Vincent, poking him violently with his index finger. "Dammit, Valentine," he muttered. "Can't you just give me some goddamn time to relax?" At this, Vincent turned around suddenly to face the shorter man, a strange look in his eyes that Cid had never seen before and a small smile on his lips.

Vincent's cape fluttered behind him as he turned up behind Cid. "Why, Cid, isn't relaxing all you've been doing since the defeat of Sephiroth?"

Cid scratched his head, but didn't move otherwise. "Uh…no, Vin. I work hard around this town. Fixin' my airplanes and shit…helping townspeople…Shera…you know, shit like that…so that ain't true, Vin."

Vincent placed his hand on Cid's shoulder. "But you still want to relax, isn't that right?"

"Uh…right."

In one fluid motion, Vincent was in front of Cid again, smiling even wider then before, with that same strange look in his eyes. "Alright then, Cid Highwind, I will show you how I relax. Or, rather then relax, I will say, free my mind."

Cid raised an eyebrow as Vincent began to prepare his pistol at a cracked wooden table near them. "Vin, I didn't ask for this."

There went that same damn look again, Cid thought. "Who said you asked?"

A minute or two later, Vincent was ready. He stood up and thrust the pistol at Cid, who looked at with a lost look on his face. "Seriously, Vin what the fuck am I going to do with a pistol? Shoot you?" Vincent chuckled but still held his human hand with the pistol out. "No, fool, you are going to shoot-" The claw pointed towards the targets, "-Those."

Cid continued to look lost before Vincent placed the gun in his hands. It was so smooth against his fingers that an actual shiver ran through Cid's body as he stared at it. Could shooting things really be…relaxing? Cid couldn't see how that was possible. He glanced at the gun, then up at Vincent, (Who was smiling at him like never before) then back down at the gun, then up at Vincent once again.

"Look, Cid," Vincent walked to his same position as before, except now he was directly behind Cid with his head hovering above his right shoulder. Discomfort filled up inside of Cid, who shifted slightly without meaning to.

Another chuckle from Vincent. "I am not trying anything to your discomfort, Cid. I am just going to guide you through this. Now, grip the gun in your right hand like this…yes, that's good." Cid thought of the way Vincent would grip his gun, holding it so expertly in his human hand…shooting enemies with ease…a blank look on his face…damn, he was getting carried away. Cid gripped the pistol and pointed it upward toward the middle target, which had no bullet holes in it. Obviously Vincent had kept it clean for a reason…

Vincent's arms wrapped around Cid's body, so his human hand could grip Cid's arm softly. The smile that seemed permanent on Vincent's lips grew bigger, and Cid noticed that out of the corner of his eye. "Gee Vin, you're gettin' pretty fucking happy for teaching someone how to shoot the shit out of things." Cid grunted uncomfortably.

Ignoring Cid's obvious embarrassment and discomfort, Vincent slid his hand oh-so-slowly down to meet Cid's hand, where he held the gun along with Cid. "Now," he stated, "We are going to shoot that target there. Let's see how you do." Cid rolled his eyes before he started to pull the trigger, but Vincent stopped him. "Ah, ah ah, what do you do first? Cock the gun." Cid sighed, but did as he was told. For some reason, a bubble of excitement grew in the bottom of his stomach. "Alright, now aim." Cid closed one of eyes, aiming fire, and shot the pistol.

BANG. The shot indented somewhere near the edge of the target.

"HOLY SHIT, VIN!" Cid screamed, accidentally leaning all his weight into his friend, who did not seem to mind. "I didn't know it was THAT fucking loud up close!" He released the gun from his hands (Dropping it the ground) and wiped sweat off his brow. Then, realizing he was still somehow locked in Vincent's embrace, freed himself and expeditiously pulled a packet of cigarettes and a lighter out of his coat pocket, lighting himself one.

Vincent's smile had not yet faded. He was staring at Cid intently, all the while stroking his claw absentmindedly. "What the fuck are you starin' at, Vin?" Cid took a long draw and blew the smoke out of his mouth without even savoring it.

"Oh, you're shaking."

Cid looked down. Indeed, his knees were knocking and the cigarette was shaking violently along with his hand.

"Well, I'm just surprised, that's all. I didn't know how fucking loud that damn gun would be. How the hell will your mind clear from doing shooting things?"

Vincent clucked and waggled his index finger. "Just targets, Cid, just targets. And, if you want, I can put a silencer on the pistol-"

Cid threw his hands in the air. "Hell no, Vin! That scared the shit out of me! And I don't like shooting things! I'm goin' back to my chair…"

But before Cid could get even halfway there, he felt a familiar grip on his arm and the hot breath of Vincent on his ear.

"I know it takes some getting used to to be behind the bullet, but I rest assured, if I adjust a few things, you will be able to at least free your mind."

Cid stopped dead cold, turning around to face the gunner. "Fine, you asshole," He took another draw. "But if some shit goes wrong, I swear Vincent Valentine, your ass will be grass and I sure as hell will be smoking it."

Vincent chuckled and began to fix the gun. Within a few seconds, he was once again placing the gun in Cid's hands. "Now try it," he said, standing to the side to watch how this all turned out for Cid.

Cid swallowed and aimed the pistol. He set his eyes on where he wanted to shoot, and hesitated for a second, before realizing his 'audience' was waiting. His eyes fell on Vincent, who was gesturing his hand, "Come on."

Cid fired.

Silence. But the shot was very, very close to the center.

There was silence between the two of them for a moment, before Cid let out a whoop of happiness. What had been so exciting about hitting the target in the middle? Cid had no clue, but he didn't give a damn, and he liked it. Putting the gun back up in position, Cid shot again. And again. And again. And again, and again, until when he pulled the trigger, nothing happened.

"What the hell?"

Vincent let out a low chuckle and approached Cid. "I believe you have run out of bullets. Did that ever cross your mind?"

"Uh, no."

The gunner took the gun out of Cid's hands and allowed him to come back down to reality. When Cid finally did arrive back from wherever he was, he dropped down to the ground in a snow-angel position and laughed.

"Whew. That was…fucking…crazy."

Vincent bent down next to Cid. "I'll say. You went psychotic on one clip. And look what you did to my poor target."

Cid lifted his head. The entire target was smoking, every single bullet hole on the center. Cid dropped his head back down and let out another laugh.

"Damn, I'm good."

"A natural, I would call you." Vincent offered his hand to Cid, who graciously took it and got up. After dusting himself off and lighting another cigarette, Cid murmured an embarrassed "thank you" to Vincent, who listened with that same strange look in his eyes. "You know, Vin, I might just do that again sometime. So I don't know how to repay your ass."

Vincent smirked. "Oh, there is a way."

Cid looked up and stared at his friend with interest. "Okay, tell me."

"Kiss me."

The cigarette fell from Cid's mouth as it dropped open.

"What…the…fuck? Why do you want me to kiss you?"

Vincent looked around innocently. "Hm. I don't know. Because…maybe…you are an unbearably adorable idiot that I happen to be attracted to?"

Cid could not believe what he was hearing. He shook his head several times, and then cleaned his ears with his fingers. Still, what Vincent had just said was ringing continuously in his head. Fucking…Vincent Valentine just said what he thought he said? Cid pinched his cheek to make sure he wasn't dreaming. In a very unrealistic dream.

"I-I…I'm not gonna fucking kiss you! That's…crazy, dammit!"

"Or is it?" Vincent reloaded the gun and took off the silencer with swiftness. He aimed it to the target closest to the house, closest to Shera's room. "I want it to be a good kiss too, not a peck. A quality kiss."

Sweat beaded Cid's brow. "You ass, you wouldn't."

Vincent smiled. "Yes, I would. And, you wouldn't want to disturb the lovely Shera from her beauty sleep more then you already did? I believe I saw her stick her head in the window when you went crazy with my pistol."

Cid thought for a minute, then firmly shook his head no. "That's…that's something I just won't do, Vin." Vincent did not put the gun down, instead cocking it, very, very slowly. It appeared he was serious about the damn thing.

The pilot groaned inwardly. Vincent was too damn smart. And there was obviously no way out of this situation, besides waking up Shera, who would most likely bang Cid upside the head with a frying pan, because that simply was the way she was when she was woken up abruptly.

"Fuck," Cid whispered under his breath. Vincent was holding a steady gaze at him, prepared to fire if Cid did not do something soon. He knew Cid was still suffering ambiguity on the situation, so to speed up his decision, Vincent pressed very lightly on the trigger.

"Dammit, Vincent!"

Cid ran up to Vincent and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him down to make their lips meet. He didn't make it a little peck, either. Cid put quite a bit of effort into the kiss, making it deep, long, and enjoyable. Oh, it certainly was a quality kiss. It was so good that Vincent dropped the pistol and wrapped his arms around Cid's waist, doing whatever he wanted to Cid's mouth with his.

Finally, they needed air. They let go of each other completely. Cid let out a long breath of air, while Vincent licked his lips in appreciation. After Cid had caught his breath, he glanced at Vincent.

"Well, there's your goddamn kiss."

Vincent smiled again. "That certainly was high quality, Cid. My lips feel swollen now."

Cid didn't know whether to take that as compliment or insult, but he chose compliment. He grinned and blushed, wiping the sweat off of his face. "Thanks, I guess."

Vincent smiled and straightened up his cape. "You are quite the kisser, Cid."

The blush deepened. "You ain't so bad yourself, Vin."

There was an awkward silence as the moment before sunk in. The two men did not look at each other and said nothing. Finally, Cid spoke up.

"Shit, Vin, I need to go to you to relax more often."

They both smiled.