Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch75 - A Wedding, A Disaster Pt. 2

Jocasta fought the urge to get off that car and walk her way to Costa del Sol. They had just gotten off the ferry and she drove the car off the boat. She entered the highway that would lead them straight to their destination. She hadn't driven in a while. She had almost forgotten how to do it, but Tifa was too busy comforting Shera on the back seats with the kids, and she'd be damned if she ever trusted Yuffie to handle a car. The young Wutaian had settled her one foot lazily on top of the shelf that stored the airbags.

"Yuffie, sit straight and put on your belt. I will not say this again," Jocasta growled at the oblivious ninja.

"C'mon, dramaqueen! Always being such a grump!" Yuffie groaned as she sank further into the passenger's seat.

"Yuffie! Quit being a dumb kid and listen to your elders!" Tifa's voice came from the backseat.

Yuffie laughed "Well, dramaqueen is old-" but she was cut by a hit on her stomach that came from Jocasta's elbow. It was powerful enough to knock her breath out. Yuffie coughed and winced loudly. She sat properly on her seat and her hands reached for the belt "Okay! Okay! Alright! Jeez, dramaqueen!" she buckled up "That hurt!" she protested.

"So does my punch. You don't wanna taste it on your face, do you?" Jocasta shot back.

And then Tifa's voice came warningly from the back "Joe!"

Jocasta drew in a deep, shaky breath, to calm down her nerves and she tried to focus on driving.

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Vincent didn't know how in the world it had happened. He just knew that it had and he groaned irritatingly, rubbing his forehead. Actually, he knew how. From the moment he laid foot on that car, he knew it was going to pull out a malfunction halfway to Costa del Sol. Cid said the engine had overheated. He waited for it to cool down before he opened the front and started checking on possible solutions.

Vincent had almost gotten used to listening to Cid's senseless cursing while he pulled out things with the help of screwdrivers and tools that he had always stored in a case on the trunk. He watched Cid as he took off his jacket and sprawled it on the pavement. He lied down on his back, with multiple curses hanging from his lips, and he dragged himself beneath the car. Vincent almost cringed.

"You're gonna ruin the suit, Cid," Vincent said.

"Fuck the goddamn suit!"

"Vamps' right! Get the hell up," Barret nodded.

"I could try and fix it, with a few instructions," Cloud suggested.

"Y'all shut up! Nobody fuckin' touches her except me! Not ma goddamn fault I'm the only fuckin' engineer here!"

They all just sighed and waited for Cid's instructions on the tools that he'd ask them to hand over. The sun was high and hot in the sky. The lands around the road were barren and dry. It was no surprise. It was July. Vincent could already feel the sweat running down his back and gritted his teeth, holding back a groan of irritation. The heat wasn't irritating because he didn't feel the temperature as tensely as the other three did, but he was ruining the brand-new suit.

He took off his jacket and tossed it on his seat through the open window. Barret and Cloud had already taken off theirs and they had rolled their sleeves up their elbows. He couldn't have imagined they'd end up stuck in the middle of nowhere, with Cid, the groom, lying on the pavement, fixing a sixty-year-old car, with the heat of July hitting right on top of their heads, and a wedding happening in- Vincent checked the watch around his wrist and his eyes widened. Five minutes.