Chapter 2 – Captive
A/N: Firstly thank you to IWOBYD, KCVII, pangpond and Gen for their reviews, you guys are awesome! Second while I was writing this chap I realised that I've made Tifa quite a bit more cynical than canon in FFVII, but yeah given the past I've given her I think it's justified. Lol, this is fandom, these things are allowed to happen.
Disclaimer: Square Enix owns Final Fantasy VII. I'm just a person who procrastinates way too much.
Tifa kept her eyes closed and lay still as she felt the fog of sleep lift slowly form her mind and body, a few minutes of analysis and the element of surprise was a valuable thing, and as young woman recalled her abduction, it may well save her life.
The first thing the brunette was acutely aware of was her parched throat and the thick blindfold covering her eyes. She soon also established she was lying in an extremely uncomfortable position on the floor or possibly a large table with her arms restrained behind her back. When she sensed the cold, hard metal cuffing her wrists, her heartbeat quickened and she was even further alarmed when she realised her feet were also chained together and she'd been frisked and was without any weapons. But despite her situation Tifa kept a rein on her emotion and maintained her facade. Perhaps the only very small positive in this situation was that she was almost certain her captor was not present at the moment, which at least left the FIA agent the element of surprise which she could use to her advantage to escape.
'Tell me Miss Lockhart, how long do you intend to continue this charade for?'
Tifa sharply inhaled sharply in shock, not only did this bastard know she was awake but more importantly he also knew her true identity.
'What do you want?' she spat and struggling desperately against her restraints.
'Now, now,' he said in a low mocking voice 'that's not a very nice way to talk to someone. Perhaps I should teach you some manners.'
Tifa gasped as a heavy boot slammed into her back grinding her body into the ground and as she was prepared to buck the offending foot off her she froze. Pressed against her bare and vulnerable neck was a smooth and deadly blade of metal.
'If you wish to keep that pretty head of yours attached to your neck, you will submit and learn to behave. You will comply to my demands and you shall not taint my name by saying it aloud, you will address me as either Sir or Master.'
The field agent felt her kidnapper increase the pressure of the blade against her jugular and just cut deep enough to draw blood. It was a clear threat, but Tifa knew he wouldn't kill her, well not until he got what information he wanted at least, or else she would be dead already, so she kept her mouth closed, refusing to yield to her unseen enemy.
'I am giving you one chance Miss Lockhart, either way I will get what I want, it is your choice how we do this.'
Then you have no choice but to it the hard way, Tifa thought determinedly. If she went down she would go down fighting and without the shame of spilling information that would condemn her loved ones. Besides she had to live to destroy Shinra and kill the man who had murdered her father. Tifa wouldn't lie to herself and call it justice as some people excused it for, it was revenge plain and simple and it might be immoral and even perhaps logically groundless, but as famously said 'all is fair in love and war'. With that thought Tifa steeled her resolve and banished the lurking fear that had been creeping in on her to the furthest corners of her mind.
The seconds crawled by and Tifa could feel her blood steadily ooze from the gash and slide along her skin before dripping away, but that didn't matter to her. Clamed by reminding herself of why she had chosen to become a spy in the first place and of her resolve, Tifa held her silence.
Unexpectedly the foot bearing down upon her back lifted and the sword too was removed almost making Tifa frown, what was he planning to do now?
'I have no time for your naive stubbornness and stupidity, I will return in five days to see if you are more willing. You would do well to remember that a dog should not bite the hand that feeds it.'
The last sentence was said with such superior mocking that it brought her anger to surface again.
'You're the dog, you Shinra trash!'
Tifa knew she shouldn't have and that she would be punished for such an insult but for the moment she didn't care, she hated Shinra and all things associated with the corrupt organization and she wanted him to know it and feel her laothing. She clenched her jaws and braced herself as she heard her captor shift his feet closer to her and both her instincts and mind told her what would happen next. A booted foot slammed ruthlessly into her stomach, the force from the blow also sending the young woman skidding across the concrete into a wall. Though Tifa's mid section was in agony and she was sure she'd have severe bruising and some internal bleeding, she knew she was lucky her spin hadn't crashed into the cement with more force. Groaning Tifa lay on her side and reflexively curled herself into a ball. As she lay moaning in pain, she distantly heard a door being slam shut.
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She didn't know how long she'd been here for. She didn't know if it was night or day. She didn't know how to escape.
Tifa assumed five days hadn't passed yet as her abductor had not returned to interrogate her yet, but there way of knowing whether he was telling the truth or not. For all the she knew he might've left for a more important mission and left her to rot, he might've already uncover the information he required and decided to let her die slowly of starvation, hell he might even be dead by now killed by a lethal allergy to peanuts. The young spy snorted with laughter at the last idea, then wondered if she was losing her sanity, seriously what kind of sane person would be giggling in this sort of situation? She was trapped, chained, blind, dehydrated, starved and suffering from insomnia.
By now the AFI agent was sure her sleep deprivation was caused by the drugs that were spiked in her only water source. Since she had become suspicious, Tifa had avoided drinking all together and only allowed herself to occasionally wet her chapped lips. Though her throat was parched and the stale air she was breathing felt like it was sandpapering her trachea, she remained resilient. In her current state, she couldn't think properly and if her captor was to come and torture her now or any time soon, she didn't trust her muddled and drugged up brain not to let something important slip from her mouth.
Her stomach suddenly chose to make its empty presence know again. Tifa moaned, if she didn't know any better she would have sworn the organ was slowly digesting itself and if she didn't get food she would be left with a gaping hole in her mid-drift. But unlike her throat which felt constantly raw, the brunette knew her hunger pains came and went and would disappear again in due time. Doing her best to ignore the pleas of her stomach for sustenance, Tifa shifted slightly so that she was sitting with her shoulder and head against the wall. The sound of her chains rattling and clanking as the moved seemed impossibly loud in the confines of her dungeon.
It was dark. There only light was coming from the pale silvery glow from the waning moon outside her window, Tifa could just make out the black silhouette of a man.
'Wake up, Tifa wake up.'
The eight year old girl instantly recognized the deep familiar voice of her father that was now laced with urgency. Tifa drowsily sat up and blinked in confusion.
'Papa what's wrong?'
'Get dressed, quickly darling.'
The mayor's daughter frowned but complied. As she pulled on her clothes, the young girl grew worried. She might've only be eight but she was no fool, she knew about the war, she knew her all the meetings and talks in the town square were about what to do before the war arrived in Nibelheim.
'Papa, are the soldiers coming to Nibelheim?' Tifa asked biting her lip as she tied her shoelaces.
'Maybe, but they're not here now Tifa,' replied her father as he took her dainty hand in his much larger one and lead her downstairs.
When the front door was opened Tifa was surprised to see a black car with its driver's side window rolled down. A young woman with short hair wearing a stern expression on her face sat behind the wheel. Her father squat down so he was at eye level with her.
'Where are we going, Papa?'
Tifa's father looked down and took a deep breathe before looking his daughter straight in the eye.
'Remember how we went on holiday to Wutai earlier this year and we stayed with one of Daddy's friends and he had a little girl who you played with called Yuffie? You're going to be staying with them for a while. This nice lady here works with me is a good friend of mine and she'll be taking you to Wutai. Now this is important so pay attention to what I say to you, Tifa. Remember how I told you that lying is bad, but sometimes it's okay if it's to protect people you love? Well, now is one of those times. This lady's name is Lisa Hillcrest and from now on you will tell people she is your aunt. If anyone asks you will you say lived in Midgar with your parents before they died in a car accident – '
The woman who Tifa had just found out would be her 'aunt' gave a polite cough.
'Excuse me for interrupting, sir, but I believe I can fill your daughter in on the story later, time is not a luxury we have at present.'
Mr Lockhart sighed and in a rare show of affection pulled his daughter into a tight embrace. Tifa could feel the rough stubble on the side of his of face, smell his unique tobaccoish scent and hear his deep breathing. But most of all Tifa felt warm, safe and loved, that nothing in the world could possibly harm her here, wrapped in her father's arms. After what could have been five seconds or five hours, Tifa's father gently tried released his arms, but the young girl refused to let go. The eight year old usually never cried but at the moment tears cascade freely down her face.
'W-why c-can't you c-come wi-th-th me?' she sobbed.
'Oh Tifa, I wish more than anything that I could go with you! I wouldn't leave you unless there was absolutely no other way. But I have to look after all the other people here too.'
'But I-I love you, Papa!'
'I love too darling, more than anything in whole world. I promise that I'll come for you, I promise I'll see you again in Wutai.'
Tifa had stopped her crying now but was still clinging furiously to her father's neck.
'Come on Tifa, if you let go we can make a pinky promise.'
The mayor's daughter considered for a while before reluctantly releasing her father's neck. She stood unhappily as the pair entwined their smallest fingers, but was filled with childish reassurance after the ritual was completed, after all her father had never broken a promise to her so there was no way her Papa could break a pinky promise.
Tifa's father kissed her one last time on the forehead before ushering her into the automobile. The young girl watched her father from the rear window as he grew smaller the smaller till he vanished completely when the vehicle turned around a bend.
Tifa woke with a start, she hadn't even noticed that she'd managed to fall asleep. She sighed when she thought about how dramatically her life had changed since then. As her father had planned she went on to live in the Wutai Royal Palace where she spent twelve years under the guise Tiffany Hillcrest, orphaned niece palace servant, Lisa Hillcrest.
Her father's had left her many secret documents and stated he wished for his real identity and work to be revealed to his daughter upon her fifteenth birthday, but it seemed Tifa had inherited her father's brilliance at the intelligence game and discovered the information through her own means not long after she turned twelve. That day the tiny flame of hope she had cherished inside her heart that her beloved father was alive was extinguished by both numerous classified reports and the confirmation from her mentor.
Shortly after he had sent his only daughter to Wutai, SOLDIERs had launched a surprise attack during the dead of night and razed the whole village before capturing her father and imprisoning him. Despite the best efforts of Frontier Allied Intelligence, they were unable to locate Mr Lockhart alive. His corpse, which bore the evidence of much physical torture, had been found by chance along a remote stretch of river. Lisa told Tifa that they believed her father had resisted till the end and refused to yield any information, but to the young girl it was cold comfort.
With the realisation of the harsh brutality of how not only her father but the her friends in Nibelheim and the people of the once free world had been made suffer, Tifa wept and swore and vowed to follow in her father's footsteps and would live to see Shinra's downfall. Perhaps back then the only thing that had stopped her turning completely bitter and bent on revenge was the support and love of her best friend Yuffie, the mischievous and carefree ninja princess.
Thinking of the vow she'd made nine years ago and her close Wutain friend, the female spy forced her herself abandon her reverie. There would be time to reminisce later she thought, right now she had more than enough to deal with at the present. And now that she could actually think straight again, perhaps she could do something about her situation. There was no way she would be able to break or unlock her shackles but Tifa could feel the blindfold beginning to loosen. Like a snake trying to shed its skin, Tifa rubbed and scraped the fabric against the wall. Just when the she felt the coarse strip of material had really begin to slacken and begin to slide down, Tifa froze.
It was the unmistakeable sound of the soft clicking of a door unlocking and opening. While she forced herself to take steady breaths, the spy could not stop the erratic pounding of her heart or the cold sweat that beaded on forehead. With each steady, powerful step, Tifa's dread mounted and he heart raced faster. He halted inches from her lithe frame, the echo of his footfalls faded into nothingness only to be claimed by a thick, smothering silence. The air was thick with tension and Tifa braced herself for the physical abuse she knew that would inevitably come as taut and over strained nerves were stretched to breaking point.
'Allow me to assist you with that Miss Lockhart.'
For a moment Tifa forgot how to breathe, had she really gone crazy that soon? The young agent's confusion and shocked only increased when the hand she expected to strike her instead moved almost delicately to untangle her hair from the blindfold before proceeding to untie it.
Tifa remained still as her captor continued his work, she was completely stupefied by this sudden nonviolent and unaggressive behaviour. As the brunette convinced herself that her enemy was just messing with her phyc and possibly insane himself, the blindfold fell revealing a sight that Tifa never expected to see.
The young woman felt as though her body had been thrown into icy water and her brain had shot circuited. There crouching above her with those cold, piercing eyes and malicious smile was the imposing and most feared man of the Shinra military.
'.... Sephiroth'
A/N: Not the most surprising cliff hanger I guess, but I couldn't resist some sort of semi-dramatic and shocking (for Tifa at least) entry for Sephy. I know there wasn't much interaction between the pair and this chap was mostly focused on Tifa's past but, I guarantee you more SephxTifa action next chapter.
Now hit the review button, you know you want to! XD
