No, I haven't played the game, so this is an approximation of characterization. It's also YAOI, so if male/male relationships disgust you, don't read this. I also haven't seen the Tiny Bronco so there might be some inaccuracies.
None of this is mine.

His chocobo was dead.

Cursing silently, Vincent gripped his gun with both hands, firing repeatedly at the creatures charging him, all ten-foot long masses of corded muscle and russet fur, with whip-like tails and sharp teeth. The first clip emptying as one dropped with a squeal, he released it, letting it tumble to the ground as he slammed a fresh one into the weapon and opened fire again. A monster leaping at him squealed like the first and went down, writhing and snapping at the dirt, but more were behind it. Vincent backed up, his cloak flapping around him in the strong wind as he kept firing, hoping he'd run out of monsters before he ran out of bullets. It was becoming obvious he'd run out of space first though. He'd been ambushed by the pack at the edge of a cliff overlooking a series of valleys five hundred feet straight down and there wasn't anywhere for him to retreat to. He'd be overrun before he could gun them all down.

Vincent dropped another empty clip and grabbed a new one, slapping it in just as one beast took advantage of the brief lull to leap at him, mouth gaping. Vincent shoved his gun down its throat and pulled the trigger while it dented its teeth on the weapon's steel. Blood sprayed him and with a grunt he tore the arm free, careful not to lose the gun, turned and shot another point-blank through the eye.

There were ten more left, all Mako-infused. The Mako plants were all shut down, but the beasts they'd mutated were still strong and didn't act like normal animals. Vincent had killed five of the pack already. Any normal beasts would have cut their losses and run, but these, he knew, would fight to the death.

They charged. Desperately, Vincent switched hands and fired repeatedly, wishing he had somewhere to retreat to, and three of the animals fell before the rest were on him. He caught the first one by the throat with his metal claw and tore through fur and skin while shooting another about to take off his right arm at the shoulder. That left his front wide open though, and Vincent gasped as one slashed him across the chest, leaving deep furrows in his skin that bled madly, almost making him faint with sudden pain. Gritting his teeth, he kicked it. Vincent wasn't much of a fan of hand to hand combat, but his black boots had pointed, steel tipped toes for the few times he needed to engage in it. The animal grunted as the steel caved in its ribs on the right side of its body, but it was still on its feet. The rest started to move in.

Dizzy from blood loss, Vincent staggered back, right to the edge of the cliff now, his hair whipping around his face as he looked down it. Falling that far seemed better than becoming a bunch of Mako monsters' lunch, but not by much and he struggled to find a way out. Chaos was churning inside him, trying to break free and he bit his lip. It always came out when he was badly wounded, but he'd sworn when AVALANCHE disbanded that he'd never rely on it again. It could beat these creatures easily, but then it would just go on to its next victim and there was no guarantee that wouldn't be a human. Better he die now than rip some village apart.

Not that he wouldn't go down fighting. Vincent shot another of the beasts between the eyes. They were trying to climb over the bodies of their dead to get at him now, giving him a few moments' respite to try and catch his breath with a chest that didn't seem to want to inhale air. Vincent gasped desperately, his knees weakening, his hair and cloak blowing in the winds until he thought they'd pull him off the cliff, and his ears roaring loud as an aircraft. Chaos laughed in his mind, trying to take control.

Then the Tiny Bronco roared over the ridge, the little ship only thirty feet above the ground as it swept over the pack, making them look up in stupid surprise, much like what Vincent felt.

"Cid?"

The Tiny Bronco opened fire, the guns at the nose hitting with pinpoint accuracy and turning the surviving animals right in front of Vincent into screaming hamburger. Vincent threw his hand up over his face, too surprised by his rescue and deafened by the engines of the ship to hear the crack in the rock beneath him.

"Hey, Vincent!" Cid's voice sounded from the ship. "I see I have to save your ass again!"

Vincent made a face at the sound of his friend laughing, not that he didn't mind the rescue, but he was pretty sure Cid wouldn't let him forget about it for a while. Instead he made himself wonder how Cid had known how to find him. They hadn't seen one another in two weeks. Was Cid following him?

Its initial warning unheard, the rock under Vincent gave way. Startled, he tried to catch his balance, then lost it entirely as the shelf of rock he stood on, along with the corpses on it, all gave way and slid off the edge of the cliff.

"Vincent!" Cid screamed.

Vincent went down in a storm of dirt and bodies. With nothing to grab onto, he tangled in his cloak, trying to fight free and catch ANYthing as the Tiny Bronco dove after him, awkward against the side of the cliff, Cid's swearing punctuating everything. Five hundred feet straight down, Vincent remembered in his panic. How fast was he going to be falling at the end of five hundred feet?

Vincent hit an outcrop of rock. Agony shot through him, making it impossible to grab hold, then everything faded to black as he rolled limply off and fell again, blissfully unconscious.

Cid swore repeatedly as he tried to make the Tiny Bronco dive down beside the cliff without smashing into it, desperately trying to catch the red and black figure caught in the storm of falling dirt and flesh. He'd been thanking Lady Luck that he heard Vincent's gun going off as he flew to Rocket Town. There was no way he'd mistake the sound of the Death Penalty for anything else and its echo had travelled for miles. But now he cursed her as he winced, watching helplessly as Vincent suddenly landed hard on a spear of rock jutting out from the cliff and rolled off bonelessly. Catching him would be much harder with him unconscious and unable to help, but if he didn't, Vincent was as good as dead. Cid doubted his Jenova cells could bring him back from turning himself into paste, vicious as some of the wounds he'd seen it heal before had been. Granted, Vincent survived putting his own gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger, but there was no telling how long Cid would have to nurse him this time if he went splat and lived through it.

"Shit shit shit, I'm getting too fucking OLD for this!" Cid swore non-stop, almost biting through his cigar as he dove the tiny ship straight down, through a mess of dirt, rock and body parts towards his former team-mate and hopefully future lover. Providing he could pull his ass out of this. His hand hovered over the control for a net under the main landing gear of the ship. He usually used it for hauling excess cargo with the little ship, but it would serve as a rescue net, providing he didn't tear it on the cliff or all that other junk falling down. He'd have to get close enough to net Vincent, while leaving himself enough time to pull out. From the frantic beeping of his proximity detector, that margin was rapidly getting smaller.

Below him, Vincent suddenly jerked. Cid had a half a second to think he'd come to when the dark haired man's back split open. Cid's eyes widened and a pair of bat-like wings shot out, spreading as the rest of Vincent disappeared into a long dark, tightly muscled form with vicious claws and curled horns.

Chaos swept away from the cliff. Cid gaped at it, then swore and yanked back on the controls. Tiny Bronco protested loudly, engines screaming while he pulled her nose up, and half an acre of pine trees lost their tops as he crashed through them and started to regain a more normal altitude.

He didn't even spare a thought for how close he'd come. Chaos was a rapidly dwindling dot on his view screen, heading away from him at a rapid clip, wings beating evenly. Vincent was completely buried under the demon's consciousness, Cid knew that, and cursed again. Chaos would kill anything it saw just for the fun of it and Vincent couldn't stop it, which left it up to him. Shooting it would mean killing Vincent though, so he tried to figure out if the net would hold it.

"Fat fucking chance," he muttered and hit the accelerators.

Tiny Bronco leaped after the distant figure. Chaos was soaring from side to side now, riding the air currents lazily over the valleys. It looked back at him and Cid saw the flash of its teeth as it hissed at him, then took off as fast as it could.

At least it ain't attacking, he thought to himself. Chaos could probably open the armour of his ship like a tin can and his romantic prospects concerning Vincent were definitely never going to get anywhere if he ended up being eaten by him.

Chaos was fast, but it only had wings, not afterburners. Grinning, Cid hit the power switch for the main engines and was pushed back into his seat as Tiny Bronco raced after the demon, not slowing until he drew even with it. Chaos flew only a hundred feet off his starboard side, snarling at him, then rolled and dove.

"You think you can get away from me that fuckin' easy?" Cid grinned and followed it. They'd left the forests behind for canyon scrub and the winds between the cliff walls was vicious, pushing in all directions without warning. Chaos surfed through them, the demonic hiss over its shoulder an obvious challenge before it dove into the heart of the worst. Unable to resist a dare, Cid followed him, losing a few plates off Tiny Bronco's sides in the process, but able to keep up.

The two of them raced through the canyons, Chaos' smaller size offset by Tiny Bronco's proximity detectors. They twisted around turns and columns of rocks, charged over a lake in the centre of one canyon, the creatures floating on it diving at the sight of them, then pulled up and over the edge onto the grasslands beyond. Neck and neck, they raced for some invisible finish line Cid wasn't able to quantify and in some way hoped they'd never reach. Racing a demon. He didn't know his day was going to turn out so good and he whooped with glee, echoed by Chaos' roar.

Below them, the grasslands swept by in an ocean of grass occasionally dotted by trees. A line crossed it ahead and Cid swore as he saw Chaos' sudden interest in what quickly became a road, with a caravan of men and chocobos on it.

"Oh no you don't, you freak," he growled. Chaos started to dive for the now scattering targets, then screamed as Cid put the Tiny Bronco between him and it. Barely twenty feet above the ground, he rocketed over the caravan at more than the sound level, Chaos above, and knocked them all over. "Oops," he grinned. "Least I saved yer fuckin' asses." He saw one lift a middle finger in his direction in the back views. "Same to you!"

A growl brought his attention up. "Oh, shit…"

Chaos now crouched on the nose of the Tiny Bronco, only a single windshield separating them as it snarled in at the pilot. "Aw," Cid cooed. "Pissed that daddy wouldn't let you have your lunch? Too fuckin' bad." He hit the accelerator.

Immediately, Chaos flattened against the windshield from the force of their passage, Cid laughing at the look of surprise on its face. They swept up on an ascending arc, the demon grimacing as Cid leaned back, grinning at it. "Don't mess with me, you stupid monster. Your master may be the sexiest thing this side of Icicle Inn, but you're just a big dumb bird, aren't you?"

Chaos glared at him, then with a massive heave of its arms, pushed itself up off the windshield. Cid had a moment to wonder if he was in real trouble, then the demon turned to face the front, wings half spreading as it dug its claws in and grinned into the wind. It looked to be enjoying itself.

"Who the fuck knew? I've got the world's biggest hood ornament."

Right at the front of Tiny Bronco, Chaos leaned into the wind, roaring at their speed, and Cid obliged it, pushing the ship faster than before. The demon looked back at him, a gleam in its eyes, then laughed and changed.

"FUCK!" Cid screamed.

At over seven hundred miles an hour, the only reason Vincent Valentine wasn't sucked right off over the back of the ship or into the engines was because his metal claw was caught in the holes Chaos' claws made. He screamed in pain as he was abruptly yanked off his feet, almost losing his whole arm, and twisted there, unable to get a grip on anything with his good arm. His eyes were squeezed shut against the force of the wind, the tears forced loose splattering against the windshield.

"Hang on, Vincent!" Cid yelped, slowly bringing the ship's speed down. He didn't dare just hit the brakes for fear of Vincent flipping off the front of the ship instead. He had to get him inside. Vincent was losing what little grip he had, his good hand flailing in the wind, his metal one only holding on by three claws now. Drops of oil started splattering against the windshield as another claw slipped free.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck!' Cid slammed a fist down on a little red button on the control panel. In case of a fire in the engines of the ship, the windshield was designed to blow out to allow the pilot to escape. Now it flew out bottom first, flipping it up and away, luckily not hitting Vincent.

A second later, Vincent completely lost his grip and flew straight into the wind-torn control room, slamming hard into Cid just as he hit the autopilot. They both crashed into the floor at the back of the cockpit as Tiny Bronco slowed to an easy hover, awaiting new commands.

Cid blinked dizzily from his position on the floor, half smothered under Vincent's weight, who lay on top of him in a very interesting and compromising position. Cid grinned at him as the dark haired man lifted his head and looked at him blearily. His black hair was a mess of tangles and the strips of cloth he used to try and keep it under control had come loose and slipped down to loop around his eyes and nose.

"Well, now," Cid leered. "Isn't this intriguing?"

Vincent looked at him a moment longer, then his eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted.

"Damn," Cid muttered.

Vincent woke up under clean white sheets. Not quite awake yet, he stretched luxuriously, enjoying the feel of the crisp cotton on his bare skin and the gentle rush of the breeze through the branches of the tree he was lying under. Tree?

"GODDAMNIT!"

Vincent blinked. He was lying under an elm tree on a vast expanse of green grass and wildflowers, wrapped in a white sheet, listening to Cid curse as he tried to fix the Tiny Bronco a few hundred feet away. Vincent could hear him cursing both Chaos and windshields from where he lay. Vaguely, Vincent remembered fighting a bunch of Mako beasts and Cid sort of coming to his rescue, then diving over the edge of the cliff after him when he fell. That was followed by a thankfully short, terrifying memory of clinging to the nose of the Tiny Bronco as it raced along at what felt like speeds enough to leave the planet, then losing his grip and ending up crashing into Cid. He supposed he must have fainted at that point, since he didn't remember anything else. Cid obviously landed here to give him a chance to recover while he repaired the ship. He just hoped he didn't take the opportunity to -

Vincent peeked under the sheet. Yup, butt naked.

Vincent sighed, rolling his eyes as more cursing sounded from Tiny Bronco's direction. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Cid Highwind had made his intentions abundantly clear the last time they were together. For some obscure reason Vincent didn't even want to try and understand, Cid wanted to sleep with him. Probably it was just a one time fling he wanted, which was the last thing Vincent needed to think about. His destiny was to be alone, no matter how he might feel about his friend. Besides, he didn't want to be a 'one time fling'.

Wincing at how sore he felt, Vincent stood up, wrapping the sheet around himself one-handed. His left forearm was a mess. One of the claws was gone, two of the others badly battered. He couldn't even move it, though from the look of it, that was from Cid disabling it and not overly extensive internal damage. There was no sign of his clothes - probably Cid's idea of a joke - but he could see a small lake beyond where the Tiny Bronco was parked. Suddenly feeling grimy, he looked at the Tiny Bronco. No sign of Cid. Getting a good grip on the sheet around his bare frame, Vincent ran for it.

The whole front panel of the Tiny Bronco was going to have to be replaced. Cursing all demons thoroughly, Cid lit a new cigarette and climbed back out onto the nose. He'd have to solder the holes closed for now. What possessed him to race a demon anyway?

A flash of white and black caught his attention and Cid felt a wide grin cross his face at the sight of Vincent scurrying towards the lake. He was hunched over with a white sheet wrapped around himself, his long hair trailing behind as he moved fast as he dared in bare feet. Oh yeah, now he remembered, leering at the amount of exposed back the other man was unintentionally showing. In fact, from the looks of it, the sheet was looping downwards to show quite a bit more than he was sure his friend meant to.

"Nice butt, Vince!" he yelled and laughed as the other man just about danced in place trying to mummify himself in the sheet and flash the pilot the finger, both before hopping over a bush and vanishing. A splash followed a moment later.

Cid sat down on the nose of his ship and chuckled, savouring his cigarette. Stripping Vincent down while he ostensibly looked for injuries was probably going a little far, but Cid had never claimed to be subtle. Besides, Vincent Valentine nude was a truly wonderful sight, one meant to be enjoyed, though he'd slug anyone other than himself who tried to enjoy it.

For a moment, he contemplated going to check how much more of his friend he could see, but decided to focus on the repairs for the moment at least. Vincent looked to be shy, apparently, which only made the chase that much more appealing. He'd let him have his bath in peace. At least the first half of it.

Chuckling to himself, Cid went to see if he could figure out some way of replacing the windshield and wondering how willing Vincent might be to 'pay him back' for its loss.

Jerk.

Sullenly, Vincent sat on the rock floor of the little lake next to a boulder, his metal arm propped on it to stay dry as he used his good arm to try and wash his hair and body. It was a difficult process, one which didn't help his mood any.

Who did Cid Highwind think he was? Who did he think Vincent was? Didn't he recognize a monster when he saw one? What possessed the stupid man to think there could be any sort of relationship between them, even if it was just for sex. Anyone Vincent even tried to care for ended up dead or insane or worse. Lucrecia, Sephiroth, his parents… Vincent had come to the understanding that he was cursed a long time ago. The only thing he could do was avoid people, shun any sort of relationship. He'd tried to kill himself, but Hojo's experiments had made that impossible. All he could do now was hide away, steer clear of everyone so as to protect them. Only Cid kept screwing that up by finding him. Was the idiotic man following him around, or was he just unlucky?

Vincent dunked his head underwater, scrubbing vigorously, then threw his head back, an arc of water and black hair gleaming in the sunlight. The hair dripped limply around his face and he started trying to comb it out with his fingers, grimacing at the snarls.

He'd have to tell Cid to leave him alone, he decided. Tell him that there was nothing between them, there would never be anything between them, and if he didn't leave him alone, Vincent would shoot him next time. He made a face at that thought.

"Right, Vincent," he muttered to himself. "Protect him by killing him yourself. Real bright."

"Hey, Vince!"

Vincent had been sitting mostly cross-legged in water that only came up to his navel. At the sound of Cid's voice, he slammed his knees together, covering himself as he glared up at the rough-shaven blonde who pushed his way through the brush.

"How dare you take my clothes off!" he snapped.

Cid took his cigarette out of his mouth and blew a smoke ring. "Is that any way to thank the man who saved your life?"

Vincent looked down. "Thank you," he muttered. "But you shouldn't have taken my clothes!"

Cid grinned, spreading his arms innocently. "I was just checking you for injuries."

"Chaos heals my-!" Vincent started to yell, then cleared his throat. "Chaos heals my wounds whenever I turn into it," he repeated in a more normal tone of voice. He didn't want Cid to know how much he flustered him. "I didn't have any wounds to worry about."

"The way you came flying through that window? You mighta broken a rib or something. I didn't want to take the chance." He grinned and walked towards him, pulling off his goggles and denim jacket. "How about I wash your hair for you?"

Vincent started wishing he did have a gun. "No! Stay away from me!"

Cid stopped, looking hurt. "Hey, I'm just tryin' to help a friend. You want your hair clean, right? Well, you ain't gonna get it clean with only one hand and if you get any water in that claw of yours before I fix it, you are going to be seriously fucked."

Vincent looked down. That sounded reasonable, and he was having a hard time getting his hair washed by himself. "Okay… but don't try anything and leave your pants on!"

"You kiddin' me? You know how fuckin' long it takes denim to dry?" Cid stripped to his jockey shorts, grinned at him and stepped into the water, cursing as he waded over and sat down behind him. Vincent peered at him uncertainly over his shoulder. He'd tell him to leave him alone once he fixed his claw. He'd make Cid understand that he was a danger to be around. He should be with that Shera woman, who wasn't a threat to him. She seemed to want Cid's attention at any rate. Not like him.

Cid put his hands on his shoulder. "Lean back," he ordered. Grudgingly, Vincent did so, still trying to protect his dignity as he lay back in the water, his head nearly between Cid's knees. The pilot started to work his hands through his long hair, gently rinsing out the dirt and oil, fingers moving through the tangles and scrubbing his scalp.

It felt good. Vincent closed his eyes, relaxing slowly as the tension in his body flowed away at Cid's touch on his skull. He sighed, content for the moment in spite of himself with the sun beating warmly on his body where it was out of the water and the contrasting coolness that he half floated, half lay in.

"Like that, do you?" Cid chuckled. He worked out the last of the tangles, leaving Vincent's hair to float freely in the water, his fingers continuing to massage his scalp and temples, working down to his neck and shoulders. Vincent started to doze. He'd definitely tell him later.

Suddenly, Vincent tasted cigarettes. Startled, he realized that Cid was kissing him, bending over him in the water and thrashed, nearly dunking his metal arm as he rolled away from him and onto his feet, his good hand over his genitals and his face beet red.

"I told you not to try anything funny!"

Cid stood up, grinning at him. "Ain't nothing funny about kissing a beautiful man," he told him. Belatedly, Vincent realized that Cid's jockey shorts went transparent when wet and he was very aroused. Blushing even harder, he spun his back on him, then remembered he wasn't wearing anything jerked his hands behind him to cover himself.

Cid laughed, his voice deep and clear. "Boy, you are just so fucking self conscious, aren't you?" He stepped up behind him and Vincent shivered as he felt his hands on his shoulders. "I never would have pegged you for shy before today." He started kissing his back, tongue flicking along his spine and sending little shocks of pleasure right through Vincent's skin. It felt good, terrifyingly good.

"The grass is warm over under the trees," Cid whispered into his ear. "Why don't we go over there and get to know each other better?" His hands slid around in front of Vincent and downwards to find his own arousal.

Vincent bolted for the bank. "N-no!" He tried to pick up the sheet with his metal hand, then waved it at Cid as he grabbed the sheet with his real hand instead and pulled it up to cover himself as best he could. "I-I need my claw fixed!"

Cid sighed, standing shin deep in the water with his hands on his hips and totally unselfconscious about his own near nudity. "Okay, okay, whatever you say."

Carefully, Cid touched a soldering iron to Vincent's claw, welding one of the final pieces of armour in place. Vincent sat at arm's length, to protect himself from sparks he claimed, his eyes turned away to avoid the bright light of the iron. He was completely dressed, his face half hidden by his red cloak.

"It's gettin' to be 35° today," Cid told him evenly. Vincent just shrugged. "You don't think you're maybe wearing a bit too much?" The dark-haired man shook his head a little too quickly. He was sweating but Cid wasn't sure it was due entirely to the heat.

Cid grinned, shifting his cigarette to the other side of his mouth. He'd gone a bit too far at the lake - okay he'd gone a lot too far, and he was sure he was going to regret it - but Vincent was just too beautiful. He couldn't resist touching him and he would have fucked him senseless if Vincent let him. Let being the operative word. Vincent was quiet, but Cid had no illusions that he was weak. If he truly didn't want the attention, Cid would have had a claw shoved up his ass a long time ago. Still, he did know when to pull back and let his target regroup.

"You want a lift anywhere?" Cid asked innocently.

"No. Thank you."

"It's a long walk to nowhere without a chocobo," Cid noted. "And your gun's still at the bottom of that cliff."

Vincent sighed at the loss of the Death Penalty but still didn't look at him. "I'll be fine."

Cid turned the soldering iron off and leaned back, shoving his goggles back onto the top of his head. "Done."

Vincent pulled the hand to him, carefully flexing it and extending each finger. "Thank you," he said again.

"Anything for you," Cid grinned.

Vincent looked at him, probably wondering what veiled innuendos were hidden in that statement, then stood. "I have to go."

"See ya next time, Vince!"

Vincent didn't answer, instead just walking across the grass until he was out of sight. It took nearly an hour before Cid couldn't see him anymore on the great grasslands, but he watched him every moment. There would be another time, he was sure of that. Grinning, he got up to finish the work on Tiny Bronco. He had to get back to that cliff and find Vincent's gun. After all, it wouldn't do to show up unannounced a second time without bringing a gift.