Barret peered cautiously around the jagged edge of a broken glass window. "All clear ova here!" he yelled, his voice echoing off the walls. Tifa covered her ears.
"Can you be quieter?" she said, her voice loud but not as loud as Barret's. "And besides, what did you expect? A stampede of monsters?" She laughed. "Despite the…creepiness of this place, its very unlikely that a monster would climb all the way through a city just to reach the top of the old Shinra Tower!" Barret ignored her, stepping farther out along the side of the room, away from the central office.
She rolled her eyes, but nonetheless she shivered. "It's ghosts I'm worried about…" It was not quite a year since Rufus Shinra had been violently killed atop his perch, towering over the city as the explosion shook its core. No one had been up her since…. She hugged herself with her long arms and followed after Barret.
***
Cloud was exploring the other side of the wreaked tower, wondering where Rufus was. The brat should be lying somewhere, maybe cut up--but maybe in one piece. It was possible that he'd died by hitting his head against something from the force of the explosion, and not from the broken glass…
And then he stumbled on some debris and fell face-first into a very soft, white jacket.
Cloud jerked back, half in fear and half in disgust, landing hard on his back. He winced as he picked himself up, dusting miniscule glass fragments off of his pants, trying to ignore the body lying nearly at his feet. Finally he crossed his arms and looked down at the corpse.
The body of Rufus Shinra was nearly perfectly preserved, by some trick of nature. Although the skin on his face looked dry and ready to crumble, the hair lack-luster, and the angles sharpened by loss of flesh, his body was in very good shape. The clothes, despite some bloodstains, were neat, and his shoes were already nearly off his feet.
For some reason, Cloud got a sick, disgusting idea.
He began.
***
Barret sucked in his breath as he gazed over the edge, staring at the half-ruined city of Midgar below them. "Teef, come here for a second--"
Tifa sidled down the ledge next to him, carefully anchoring herself on a jutting edge of glass. She stood on her toes and peered over Barret's shoulder, then whistled. "It looks so small from up here," she said in a hushed tone. "No wonder the President had this tower built so high, with his office on the very top. It's like God, so far above us humans…"
Barret snorted. "Shinra wasn't no god, an' he never will be. And neither will Rufus--he's dead an' gone, and thank God he is!"
Tifa blinked at him, then grinned, starting back along the ledge. He shrugged and glanced down at the mangled remains of what once was a screwed-up city, his face unreadable, and slowly followed after the nervous girl.
She reached the end of the ledge and leapt quickly to safety, trembling slightly as she crouched on the floor. "Heights aren't my thing," she confided to the air in front of her with a quiet sigh of relief.
Something moved.
Tifa straightened slowly, trying to ignore the goose bumps that flashed across her flesh like a wave of fear. The feeling that something was watching her made her clench her teeth, her fists forming tight balls of finger and leather in rebellion against what she couldn't see. Ominously, the feeling grew more intense.
She whirled around, her feet landing solidly and her fists raised in a fighting position.
A pale face framed by tumbling blond hair stared at her with haunted blue eyes. "Tiiiiifa…" a hollow voice moaned, a whisper of air against her hair.
Tifa shrieked, her lungs emptying themselves into the fall of terror and anger that flowed from her throat, filling the air with pain. Her fist connected with the haunt's jaw, and with a loud cracking sound his head snapped back. She kicked savagely out with her metal-shod boot and sent him flying into a wall, literally arcing through the air. Tifa's scream finally found words. "BARRET!!!"
Barret, still peering over the edge, heard a sudden scream from inside. It went on and on as he stumbled along the ledge, his feet sometimes missing the solid concrete before grasping the rough surface and propelling him forward. He burst into the room, landing in a near-crouch, and blindly fired a round off in one direction. Tifa's scream ended as she stood, her hands still raised--but her face twisted in an expression of horror.
Barret stood up and glared at her, more from anger at being afraid than anger at her. "What's wrong?"
She pointed soundlessly across the room, where a broken and bleeding body lay against the wall. The blond hair drooped into the figure's face, and the white suit was splattered with blood and gunpowder, punctured by bullets. Even from a distance, there was no mistaking who the person was.
"#*$^@&% $@#^*$^!" Barret cursed. "That $@#^*$^ is back from the #*$^@&% dead, dammit! How the #*$^@&% hell did he #*$^@&' do it!?"
Tifa shook her head, speechless, then darted forward. Kneeling next to the body, she stared at it and slowly lifted the falling cascade of hair. "…Barret?" she said breathlessly, her own hair falling over her shoulder to conceal her face.
He squinted. "Huh?"
"…It isn't Rufus."
Barret stared at her for a moment. "What the #*$^ do you mean, it isn't Rufus? It sure's hell is!!"
She shook her head. "C'mere." Her voice trembled slightly, and she colored behind her veil of hair with shame. Barret trotted over, glancing around cautiously. She looked up at him, her dark eyes full of emotion, and tilted the body's face upward.
It was…Cloud.
Who moaned.
Tifa gasped and tugged her weapon off, laying one delicate finger to his neck and feeling for a pulse. "It's there, just a bit weak," she reported as Barret began a non-stop barrage of Cure spells. She watched as the ravaged man's body healed, the holes in his white jacket revealing new skin until his body and health were in perfect shape.
Barret took a step backwards, looking down at his handiwork, and frowned. "Is his brain workin'?" he asked when Cloud didn't spring to his feet, rejuvenated.
Tifa ran her hand over his forehead, pulling his hair out of his eyes. "I…I think he's in shock," she replied quietly.
Barret thought for a moment, his brow still furrowed, then snapped his fingers. "Got it."
She glanced over her shoulder. "Huh?"
He smirked at her for a moment, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. "Give him a big smackeroo, Teef!"
Tifa blinked. "…" was her only reply.
He grinned. "Look, spike is gonna be like that 'till one of us can bring him outta his shock, Teef. That'll get him--don' you worry."
She raised one eyebrow. "You have a sick mind, Barret." He gestured with his gun arm at the alive but "absent" man on the floor. She glanced down at Cloud, wrinkled her nose, and leaned forward.
And suddenly, in the middle of the kiss, he began to respond.
With an "eep!" she pulled away, gasping for air. "Cloud!!!" she yelped, as he managed to leer groggily at her. Barret snickered. "Heh, heh…!"
Cloud grinned at her. "I didn't know you cared!" he murmured to her, and she blushed and stood up.
"Well, you're alive at least…" Tifa glared down at him, pulling her weapon back on her fist and adjusting the straps. "Although it was a close thing--what the hell do you think you were trying to do, you idiot?!"
He winced. "It was just a joke," he whined.
Barret stared at him. "A very, very sick joke, you $@#^*$^! Where'd you get the suit an' everything…?"
Cloud turned a very interesting shade of red and mumbled something. Although Tifa turned pale, Barret blinked. "Huh?" he asked intelligently.
"He took the clothes of Rufus's corpse." Tifa supplied.
Barret gagged. "What the--dammit, tha's just #*$^@&' SICK, man!" Cloud mumbled something else and stood up, dusting the suit off. Tifa put one hand over her mouth and stepped back, a pained expression on her face as she retreated.
The blond man shrugged and scratched his head. "…I didn't know you two were so neurotic."
Barret threw his hands up and stomped off. A string of curses followed in his wake, drifting back to reach Tifa and Cloud's ears… "#*$^@&%,#*$^@&%#*$^@&% %)#@%^*@! @)(!$&%*($#@…"
Tifa winced, her face returning to its normal color…mostly. She sighed. "Cloud, that was pretty juvenile. We're in the middle of this ruined tower, where anything could creep up on us, and you decided to strip a dead man, wear his clothes, and sneak up on me--just as a joke?!"
Cloud shrugged again, then smirked. "Well, Teef…I just have to say one thing."
She blinked, uncertain. "What?"
"You kiss well."
A slapping sound resounded through the tower, and Tifa soon joined Barret.
Cloud moaned. "#*$^@&%…..$#*&…."
***
Yuffie tapped her foot against the concrete, yawning. "Hey Cid--what d'you thinks keeping them?" Cid shrugged and tossed his cigarette to the ground, grinding it with one foot.
"Dunno," came the short reply.
Suddenly, Barret came stomping out of the building. Without looking around, he made his way down the street, his face like a thundercloud. "Hey-!" Cid exclaimed as Barret's thudding footsteps shook the newly lit cigarette out of his mouth.Yuffie stared at the tall man's retreating back, and sighed.
"Well, the others should be coming soon…"
As if to prove her right, Tifa pushed the glass doors open and frowned after Barret, her arms crossed and her rich brown eyes stormy. She nodded curtly to Cid and Yuffie. "Ready?" They nodded in reply and started off.
…No one was left to see Cloud push open the doors and fall on side. If they had, the first question they would have asked was, "What happened to you?" The second would have been, "What's that on your face?"
Author's Note: Okay, I know this is a pathetic story, but...it's not my fault! Rufus fans, don't flame me pwweaaaase? I like Rufus too...this wasn't my idea, my friend gave it to me. It stuck in my head, so the next time I saw her, I asked her if I could use the idea. She said, "What?" So I took that as a yes. x.x;;