Hey guys. Thank you so much for reading my other fanfics. Many of you have given me such wonderful comments that just make my day. Well I'm 19 now and I've just finished my second year of university. I stumbled upon this fanfic that I started writting a couple years ago and I decided to finish it and post it. I don't really have any ideas for any other so far so I'm not too sure if I will be my last fanfic. I still love reading all of yours though so I'll be around here somewhere :P
Just a warning, I was not so nice to the characters in this story. I guess the title reflects the mood I was in at the moment. Anyways I hope you enjoy it!
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Tifa ran through the cold, wet streets of sector VII. Her feet splashed through the puddles made by the many potholes that lined the streets and the now pouring rain. Her broken shoes didn't provide her much aid in her futile attempt to keep her feet dry. Tifa turned into an alley way hoping to lose the men that were after her. She found a cardboard box and hid behind it. Tifa forced her eyes shut and hoped she would never be found. A hope that was a foolish one considering who was after her. The soldiers of ShinRa never failed to find what they were looking for.
Tifa thought back to the events that lead to the panicked state she was now in. She heard tat Cloud and Barret were staring to retaliate against ShinRa. Tifa was more then willing to do her part since she despised them as much as the two boys. Barret sent Tifa to attempt to free some of the Avalanche captives in ShinRa's prison. Tifa succeeded and Jessie and Biggs now free. This, of course, sent the President into a rage and she was now being hunted. Tifa hoped Barret appreciated this.
Tifa's breath quickened when she heard heavy footsteps pounding towards her. The group of soldiers entered the alley way. Tifa held her breath. Her arm was grabbed and she was pulled to her feet. Her thin body was pushed against the wall as one of the guard inspected her.
"Yeah, this is the one" he gave a nod. Before Tifa could react she was knocked out by a harsh hit on the head. The soldiers smirking faces and egotistical laugh was all she could see and hear before everything went black.
Tifa slowly opened her eyes. She was freezing cold and laying on a hard steel bed. Her head was rested on a paper thin pillow. Tifa sat up slowly. The pain from the blow she had receive started to take its effect. A sharp pain shot through her head but it soon subsided. Tifa stood up and looked at herself. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were ripped and covered in mud. Tifa sighed with sorrow as she looked at the bars containing her within this place. She knew where she was, she was in the ShinRa building and wanted nothing more then to get out.
Tifa tried her best to fix herself up. She brushed the dirt off her torn clothing and smoothed out her hair. She walked to the bars of her cell and moved her finger to touch it. She was greeted with a painful dose of electricity, she withdrew her hand quickly and made a mental note never to do that again.
"Hey look, this one's awake" She heard one of the guards say off in the distance. Tifa listened as foot steppes approached her and she backed away from the bars.
"Okay, lets get her out" The other said and opened a latch in the door. "Put you hands in here, honey." Tifa decided, much against her will, that it was best to do what she was told, for now. Tifa slid her arms through the hole and hand cuffs snapped around her wrists. Tifa stepped back as the door opened, the first guard grabbed her arm harshly and pulled her along. He lead her to a room labelled "showers." He pushed Tifa inside and threw some dark blue clothing at her.
"Shower and put those on," with those little instructions he slammed the door shut. Tifa jumped as the hand cuffs fell off her wrists. Tifa stood alone in a very dark room. She could barely make out the shower head and dial. She felt so alone as the metal door clicked shut, indicating it had been locked. Tifa stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. She turned on the water and shivered as the cold water hit her body. There was no other option than cold, no matter how far Tifa turned the dial, either way the temperature remained the same.
She quickly scrubbed her hair with a bar of soap then cleaned the rest of her body. She rinsed everything off and hopped out of the shower. She used the small towel she had left to dry herself off. Her hair always took work to take care of but she managed to get it somewhat dry. Tifa got dressed in the fitted navy pants and put on the matching vest. Tifa looked around the room for a way out, there was none, no windows or anything. She sighed and turned to the button that said 'Press when finished.' She pushed it and a flap in the door opened.
"Wrists" A voice demanded. Tifa put her wrists through the door and another set of cuffs snapped onto them. Tifa stepped back as the door opened, then she was dragged to another location in the prison. It was a open room with a few maids present. Tifa was lead to a mirror where a thin blonde haired girl walked over to her. She was dressed in a navy blue uniform and looked very professional.
"I'll take it from here boys" She dismissed the guards. The girl sat Tifa down. "I'm Elena"
"I'm Tifa" She told her, unsure if the girl was even interested.
"I've heard about you. You're the first one in years to get all the way into the prison. The boss is going to want to have a long talk with you" Elena informed her.
"Oh" Tifa frowned. Elena picked up a brushed and combed out Tifa's hair. The usual thick strand fell over her shoulder and the rest flowed down far past her waist. Tifa told Elena where to tie her hair and Elena did so.
"Prison is miserable but the least I can do is make you look good. Took me years to convince the Boss to let me do all this" Elena smiled gently. Tifa managed to smile for the first time that day but it was short and small. Elena took her arm and led her to the main part of the ShinRa building. They entered a large glass elevator and Elena pushed a button. Tifa waited quietly as it traveled upwards. She looked at the city around her. Barret was down there somewhere, Tifa hoped he was planning her escape.
Elena took her up the stairs to Mr. Shinra's desk and Elena places her in front of him. Elena cleared her throat and the president looked up from his work.
"Sir, this is the girl who broke into our prison, Tifa Lockhart" Elena said and pushed Tifa forward. Everyone in the room had their eyes locked on her, including Rufus Shinra who emerged from the shadows and joined his father. Tifa locked eyes with him and wished she never had, his stare alone made her want to cry. It was so cold, Tifa looked to the ground.
"So you're Tifa Lockhart? Well you should be proud to have done what you did" Mr. Shinra seemed to be complimenting or congratulating her but his tone made her uneasy. "No one has ever done what you have, unfortunately it'll be your down fall." Tifa bit her lip.
"Rufus, my boy, what should we do with her. Kill her?" Mr. Shinra seemed delighted at the thought, and it sickened Tifa.
"Use her," Rufus uttered to everyone's surprise.
"What do you mean" Mr. Shinra questioned his son. Tifa also stared at him in with doubt in her eyes, she couldn't read what he was thinking. His eyes and face reviled nothing.
"She broke through our defences, why not sue her to make them better. She's valuable to us" Rufus explained as if it was the most obvious concept ever.
"Brilliant boy, that's a perfect idea" Mr. Shinra sneered in a tone that made Tifa cringe. "Rufus show her around, then take her to Hojo"
"What? Why can't Elena do it?" Rufus snapped in a low growl.
"Because she's needed to bring me the other prisoners and I'll never have you go against my word, boy" Mr. Shinra snapped back at his son, narrowing his eyes. Mr. Shinra clicked a remote and made Tifa's cuffs snap open and fall to the ground. "Make a run for it Miss Lockhart and you'll be killed." Tifa swallowed and gave a slow nod. Rufus walked past her and Tifa followed after him. She watched his back with fear thinking he would turn around and shoot her at any minute.
"You'll be living in the prison, you already know where that is" Rufus told her. His voice was filled with disinterest. Tifa gave a slow nod and Rufus led her down one floor. He did not tell her much about this floor, he just informed her his office was there and if she needed to tell him something that is where she could find him.
"I don't like to be bothered so do not enter unless I give you permission" Rufus hissed a warning. On the next level down were the labs where she would be working. Tifa thought they would be stopping here but instead he took her down to the first level of the ShinRa building. This floor contained the main entrance leading out to the streets of sector I, which Tifa eyed with longing.
"Bath rooms are here, there are more in the building but those are the ones you are allowed to use" Rufus informed her, emphasizing 'you' as if she was something disgusting and worthless. Tifa looked towards the door, she could run. She'd be killed but maybe she could get far enough away and stay alive. Her thoughts were interrupted as a hand grabbed her wrist and she was pushed against a wall. Her tiny frame smashed into the wall and Tifa softly gasped in pain from the blow. She arm was twisted up behind her back so she couldn't move and a strong body pressed up against her back. Tifa felt Rufus' hot breath on her neck and by her ear. She was terrified of what he would do, why was treating her like this?
"Thinking about running?" He hissed into her ear. Tifa's eyes widened, he had seen her looking towards the door. "Let me tell you this Tifa," Rufus said her name with a romantic care that made Tifa want to puke. "You can run but we'd kill you. Well not we, ME. I don't take kindly to traders and I don't like people who disobey me. Understand?" Tifa nodded. "Out loud."
"Yes" Tifa breathed out. She was trembling when he let her go and he whirled her around to face him. She shook in front of him, cursing her body for it's current weakness. The corner of his lips curled into a small smirk, Tifa glared at him, was getting a kick out of doing this to her? Gross. Tifa was disgusted by him.
"Lets go," Rufus grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into the elevator once again. They went back up into the lab area and Rufus shoved her out of the elevator. "Go to Hojo's lab." Those were his last words as the elevator doors shut and he left her alone. Tifa let out a huge breath and sunk to the floor. She wanted to get our of here so badly but the fear Rufus had instilled in her was keeping her from running.
Tifa stopped shaking and rose to her feet once again. She made her way to Hojo's lab and stepped inside. The man that greeted her was just as disgusting as the rest of the ShinRa employees. He was an ungracefully thin man with bones threatening to penetrate through his skin at any minute. His hair was a mess and glasses hung down over his nose.
"Miss Lockhart, how nice to meet you" He said in a slimy tone that made Tifa shiver.
"Hello" She greeted, relieved he didn't offer to shake hands, for Tifa never want to touch him.
"I'll show you around," Hojo turned around and faced the rest of the lab. "Over there is the science department, we do experiments in there with Mako. Stay away from there" His bony finger pointed to the corner with massive amounts of equipment and glowing test tubes. "Over there is the weapons lab. That's where you'll be working with Scarlet to make improvements to our security." Hojo gestured over to where a scantily clad woman with bleach blond hair stood.
Tifa made her way over to her, she was glad to be away from Hojo. Scarlet looked her up and down. In a shrill voice, she spoke to Tifa and Tifa realized that she wasn't any better then Hojo.
"So you're the one who broke through my design" Scarlet gave her an evil stare.
"Yes" Tifa confirmed and Scarlet continued to glare.
"Okay, lets get to work" Scarlet sat down at her computer and pointed to the one Tifa was to use.
"We'll go over the tape footage first" Tifa sat and watched herself enter the building and begin her attack. Tifa was not interested in this at all. She did nothing but kick guards around and stole their keys to gain access to the prison and other parts of ShinRa. Tifa didn't want to put tons of people out of work and so she decided it would be best if she said nothing about the guards. She would wait for Scarlet to suggest something about her technology and Tifa would agree that it needed improvement. That way she would know her way around the ShinRa's defences if she ever needed to break in again… after she got out. Plus she'd be wasting their money by making them pay for new equipment and Tifa was more then happy to do that.
Tifa worked with Scarlet who constantly asked her questions about her physical shape and martial art skills. She would type in Tifa's answers after each question and save them on the computer. Scarlet asked if the lasers had missed her, Tifa said they had and they should get new ones with better aim and Scarlet agreed and wrote it down. Tifa then suggested new cameras for these ones were fuzzy and the range of motion was limited. Scarlet once again agreed. Tifa was starting to think she could get Scarlet to build her anything she wanted as long as it was "for the good of ShinRa."
Ending with Scarlet deciding to replace every single camera in the building Tifa was about to be sent back to the prison. The phone rang before she could leave and Scarlet picked it up. Tifa tried to listen but could only hear Scarlet's side of the conversation.
"Yes, no, yeah she did, no she didn't, no, yeah, okay, I understand, you want what!? Yes… Sir, bye" Scarlet hung up the phone and turned to face Tifa. The woman hadn't seemed to mind her before but it was clear now she hated Tifa. "The president wants you to eat dinner with us. All the employees from the top three floors eat together and by default your one of them."
"Oh" Tifa blinked. She would rather eat in her cell. She could tell Scarlet was not happy about the arrangement but Tifa could careless about her feelings. She just didn't want to sit around the ShinRa faculty and have them staring at her. Tifa sighed, she figured there was nothing she could do. If she refused out of politeness the president would probably kill her for not appreciating the hospitality of the ShinRa company.
Scarlet, Hojo and a shaking Tifa walked down the hall. They were met by two men. One was tall and had no hair. The other was had fiery red hair and a huge grin on his face. Tifa almost smiled, she was surprised someone could be so happy while working here.
"What's cooking in the lab today?" He asked Hojo and grinned even more.
"You'll be tomorrow if you keep asking that" Hojo replied, humour could be found in his tone.
"Reno and Rude, back from another Mako trip I see" Scarlet greeted.
"Yeah, we found tons, Rufus should be happy" The red haired one said. Tifa was still trying to decide which one was Reno and which one was Rude. That's when the happy boy turned his attention to Tifa and she backed away slightly, Reno smirked. "Who's this?"
"That's Tifa Lockhart" Scarlet introduced her, "She broke through our defence and freed some prisoners and so we're using her to improve our defences."
"Awesome! I would've paid to see that. I'm Reno and that's Rude" Reno pointed to the frowning man behind her. Tifa smiled slightly at them both but she soon resumed frowning when she remembered the dinner.
"Reno who's side are you on? Her breaking into ShinRa is not 'awesome'" Scarlet hissed and continued walking. Reno rolled his eyes at her departing figure and stuck his tongue out. Tifa could tell she was going to be able to stand him a lot more than the others.
The group made their way to a large room with a huge table filled with tons of food in the middle. Mr. ShinRa was already seated at the very top of the table. Rufus sat on his right. Across from him was an empty chair. Tifa would have to ask about that, her curiosity was getting the best for her about the chair. Scarlet and two other fat men sat at the top closest to the President along with Hojo amongst them.
Reno, Rude and Elena sat in a group after that. Elena patted the chair next to her. Tifa moved slowly over to it and sunk into it as far as she could hoping to disappear from sight. Tifa felt very undressed amongst all these people in suits and dresses and herself only in her ill-fitting prison clothing,
Reno started shovelling food onto his plate, as did everyone else. Tifa just blinked, she wasn't sure what to do. She was extremely hungry but didn't want to eat for fear of being shot. Tifa got a quick glace of Rufus, he was staring at her with amusement. Tifa frowned, she hated him.
"Here Tifa" Elena put some food on her plate seeing as how the girl would not do it herself.
"Thanks" Tifa said quietly and slowly ate the huge helping she had received. At least she knew of the eat properly at a fancy dinner, feeling confident as her used her knife and fork more gracefully than Scarlet. After she was finished she whispered to Elena. "Who's the empty chair for?"
"That's for Rufus' bride, once he gets one, or Mr. Shinra's. Who ever is first" Elena explained.
"Oh" Tifa shrugged. Tifa waited while everyone finished. She didn't dare look up but she could feel several pairs of eyes on her.
"Elena, take Miss Lockhart back to her cell please. Thank you for joining us Tifa" Mr. Shinra said.
"Thank you" Tifa said so quietly everyone could barely hear her. Elena stood up and Tifa followed her out. Tifa was more then happy to be locked back in her cell. She, surprisingly enough, felt safe in here rather then being outside. Tifa laid down on the cold table, somehow deemed a bed, and closed her eyes. She was freezing but somehow found a way to fall asleep.
"Rufus?" Mr. Shinra started.
"Yes Sir" Rufus replied as he walked with his father toward the elevators.
"When do you plan to get married? I'm not going to be here forever and if you're luck with women continues there will be no woman to help you take over when I'm gone" Mr. Shinra told him.
"I'll marry someone when I find them" Rufus said flatly.
"Rufus I'm sick of this, if you don't find a wife in two weeks. I'm assigning you someone. I need to know there'll be and heir" Mr. Shinra snapped.
"What? Absolutely not!" Rufus growled. Mr. Shinra looked at his son with murderous eyes.
"You will not disobey me" Mr. Shinra told him in a tone that ended all arguments. Rufus furiously stomped off to his room while Mr. Shinra rode the elevator up to his room. Rufus narrowed his eyes at the city below.
"I'll find someone" Rufus muttered, "I'm not letting my father win."
