Title: The Delivery Service
Rated: M (Violence, language, possible sexual situations)
Pairing: Definite Cloud x Tifa. Just might take some time.
Summary: "What are you, exactly?"
Cloud Strife looked down at the man, his crew standing behind him. He extended a hand, helping the wounded one up.
"We're a delivery service."
A/N: So it actually begins. I have no idea what I am doing in these collections of stories. Just... roll with it.
THE DELIVERY SERVICE
CHAPTER TWO: A DAY IN THE LIFE
The side of the motorcycle opened with a soft whoosh sound. Cloud Strife; ex-terrorist, current delivery boy; replaced his sword and let the side close with a click. He looked around at the carnage around him. In his travels, he encountered a tiny nest of allemanges. Cloud always winced when he saw them- something about the giant one eye in the monsters always unnerved him. Now that the fight was over, he indulged himself in a little shiver, then kicked his bike in gear and rode off.
Fenrir moved fast through the tiny forest outside of Mideel. Cloud had made a delivery of medical supplies to the wrecked town, glowing green with lifestream. The citizens seem to be okay with living there still, simply erecting the town again around the green pools. Cloud was always amazed at the fortitude of people. It seemed that no matter what life threw at them, they always seemed able to adjust.
And there has been a lot to adjust to, Cloud thought as he wove through a batch of flowers, careful to not destroy the whole bed. I seem to be able to adjust to it as well. Go me. He added with a tiny hint of sarcasm, but knew that he should be proud of himself as well. Cloud thought he had made great progress, personally, after being cured of geostigma. He was more open. He was less riddled with angst. He enjoyed laughing and spending time with his friends, which he had so few of.
Cloud cherished them, however. He respected them and trusted them fully. Tifa Lockhart, his closest companion, who could comfort a crying child with a gentle touch yet use that same hand to punch through a brick wall. Barrett Wallace, who was a wonderful father to Marlene, even though she biologically was not his. Nanaki, who was wise beyond his years yet still liked to play chase with the local kids. Even Yuffie Kisaragi, whose explosive energy could light up a whole city, let alone a roo-
Cloud winced. Yuffie, who was currently missing. No one knew where she went. She left no note, called no phone. Her father had no idea where she was. There was no sign of struggle in her home. There was no sign of her anywhere.
It has been six months since her disappearance. The second the group found out about it, Vincent Valentine disappeared as well- though they knew he was out looking for the girl on his own. Vincent seemed to have a soft spot for the young lady. The man called a few times on his new cell phone, yet answered no calls recieved. He had no success.
Cloud shook his head, clearing his mind of the sadness building. We will find her. She is family. He had to clear his mind and get ready for his next delivery, he would need to be focused. It was not exactly bandaids he would be delivering next.
He made his way towards the docks, preparing to board a boat set for Junon. In a day's time, he made it to the busy city and walked down the back alleys to a sleazy hole in the wall.
Cloud knocked on the door, waiting for the short balding man to answer it. When he did, Cloud smiled at the man threatingly.
"Alex Nakamura?"
"Yes."
"You are wanted in Wutai for domestic violence, attempted murder and rape of an eleven year old girl. I'm here to bring you in. Please come quietly, I believe that would be best for you." Cloud said, watching as the other man turn pale.
"Fuck off! I ain't going nowhere with ye!" The man tried to close the door.
Cloud simply extended one hand and stopped the door. He glowered at the criminal. "You were given a chance. Now I'm going to have to be angry with you." The young blonde stepped forward, letting the man scramble backwards in fear.
"Ye can't do shit. Wutai police ain't got no jurisdiction here."
Cloud smiled unnervingly again. The other man shivered. "I am not police. My client said to find you, bring you in. He didn't say you had to be alive. Instead, he insisted that you weren't."
The other man desperately swung out a fist, which Cloud caught in his strong hand easily. He almost laughed at the situation- Cloud knew he was not going to murder the man. He never would kill anyone, unless in extreme situations.
But he was not above making unwilling participants hurt.
"Ye... ye can't. Ye can't do this."
Cloud easily pulled the man toward him and twisted his arm around so the back of him was pressed against his chest. "You have no idea what I can do."
"Who are ya? Huh?!"
Cloud allowed the sick smile to return once again. "I'm a delivery boy."
Tifa Lockart sighed as she scrubbed the already clean table again. This place, her bar, her home... was spotless. Glimmering with cleanliness. It had been so for the past couple of months, with customers simply passing by the opened doors. She had small rushes of people here and there- particularly on weekends, after the oil miners got paid- and that was just enough to be able to pay the bills and to keep herself stocked.
Not that she had to buy many supplies, anyway. The bartender always seemed to be in stock of everything, even overstocked at times. She had to cancel the last two weeks of deliveries, which made Cloud frown at her and question why she had to. Tifa never explained, just shrugged at the man as she pushed an unpaid bill under the counter. Cloud was upset at losing a reliable customer, but he was more upset that his closest friend had seen fit to not trust him with what was going on.
The brunette sighed again as she moved away from the table and walked towards the bar. This Monday afternoon was a bust. Tifa lifted the hatch, went behind the counter, and put her towel away in her bleach bucket. That was when she noticed something- she was running low on gin, one of her most popular and cheapest drinks. Tifa also noted that she was low on those cocktail onions that personally made her gag, but were popular with her patrons.
Tifa could not help the big grin on her face. Finally! Something pro-active to do. She opened the register and was relieved to find that she had just enough money to cover the goods, and the delivery charge. Still smiling, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pressed the speed-dial one.
After a couple of rings, a warm voice answered. "Hello, Tifa. What is going on?"
"Hey, Cloud. Nothing much, I just need to place an order."
There was a pause. "I'm glad. What do you need?"
Tifa noticed his pause, and wondered what the man was thinking. "Just a case of gin and cocktail onions. Can you pick them up on your way home?"
"Absolutely. Do you need them by a certain date?" Cloud asked, and unbeknowest to Tifa, had his fingers crossed that his friend would need them by tomorrow- that would mean she was busy, and business was getting better at the bar. He would willingly push his other delivery to the next day if she needed the product soon.
"No. Take your time." Tifa said cheerfully, but felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "I hope things are going well for you, wherever you are."
"Wutai. Yes they are, just collecting payment for my last job. I'm going to Rocket Town after this."
Tifa smiled. For Cloud, this was a lot of information he just gave, and he gave it willingly. She was so proud of her friend. "May I ask what you had to deliver?"
"It might be better for you to not know." Cloud shifted the phone around, judging by the odd muffled sound. Tifa felt her stomach clench. "It was unsavory business."
Tifa perked up a bit. That was Cloud - speak for he was willing to share, but it might be best to do it in person. Yet something was bothering her. "I don't really like it when you do those kind of deliveries."
"Need to pay the bills somehow."
"You know damn well you make enough money legitimately." Tifa argued, but knew she was going to lose this fight. Too many times people contacted Cloud with a tale of woe, or some sort of injustice that happened. Then they offered money. Sometimes Cloud took it, sometimes he didn't.
Like the soft heart he was, the ex-terrorist accepted each and every job.
"When I get back home I have to get ready for another job." There was a pause, and when he came back on, Tifa could tell Cloud was smiling. "I would need some help."
"I'm in."
"I knew you would be. A case of gin and those onion things. Got it. See you Friday."
"Bye, Cloud. Be safe." The phone died in her ear, but Tifa knew he heard the sentiment. It was how she always ended their conversations.
Feeling elated at her brief but wonderful conversation with her friend, Tifa reached over at the radio and turned the machine on. An upbeat tune flowed out of it, and Tifa started humming along with the song.
The door to her bar swung open, her friend Barrett Wallace and his daughter Marlene walked in. The young girl practically ran to Tifa, who already had her arms open for her hug. Barrett chuckled at the sight and sat down in his usual chair at the bar, waiting for his excited daughter to jump up next to him. The ten year old sat next to her father and smiled up at him.
"Can I get a soda, Papa?"
Barrett nodded. "One soda for the lady. Give me a beer."
Tifa grinned. "You got it." The bartender went to get the drinks. "How are you doing?"
"Not bad." Barrett accepted his beer and took a deep drag from it. "My crew found 'nother reservoir. Was happy to write out their bonus checks fer them."
Tifa nodded. "Nice. Well, I'm prepared for their celebrations. Got the room." Tifa waved her hand at the empty place, and Barrett frowned at her.
"Teef, ya know I can help ya out. Accept it."
"Yeah! Papa has a lot of money now!" Marlene giggled, sipping her soda.
Barrett flushed a little, but nodded. "Ain't got a lot to spend it on. Let me help ya out. Yer family."
Tifa shook her head. "I've told you a thousand times to stop. I'm fine. Really."
Ruby red eyes locked with deep brown ones. If Marlene was not around, Barrett would go a couple of rounds with Tifa. But instead, he sighed and said "Alright."
Marlene finished her soda. "Tifa, do you want to come to my school play on Friday? I play the princess in it!"
"I know!" Tifa said, excitedly. She recalled all the nights of pin pricks on her fingers as she tried to sew the little girl's costume together; how could she forgot that she played the princess with the impossibly pink lacy dress? "I will be there. Cloud too."
"Cloud will be there!" Marlene's face shone, her grin growing bigger, if at all possible.
"Yup. Said he would make it home Friday morning." Tifa smiled.
"Nice to see the needle-head. I actually miss him." Barrett said, thinking. "It's been like two months since I last saw him."
"You know Cloud. He likes to stay busy." Tifa emphasized the last word, and Barrett caught her meaning.
"Ah. Well then, we'll see ya both Friday. Don't be late." Barrett tapped the bar top, leaving the money for the two drinks behind. "See ya later."
"Bye, Tifa!" Marlene waved goodbye, following her father out the door.
Tifa waved back at her, smiling. The smile faded when she saw that Barrett had left one hundred gill for a 10 gill order.
Barrett walked in his office, slightly uncomfortable that he had to be a boss for the day. Normally he liked to be down their with his workers; digging in the soil, placing pipes in the ground and furnaces in homes for people. Every once in a while, however, he had to be the boss; that meant he was stuck inside on a beautiful day filling out paperwork with his secretary and making phone calls.
Barrett shook his head. He had found oil. He was helping his fellow man out more than he had ever done before. He felt accomplished; he made the decision to stay at home in an office... for Marlene. It was not fair that the girl only saw her father a few times a year, while he selfishly went to travel around the world and have fun looking for more oil reserves.
Yet, and especially during the spring season, he missed the adventure. Barrett missed riding in his truck, or in one of Cid's airships that he employed for his business. He missed being dirty, and scraping by to make ends meet.
The wealth he earned was of great help, certainly, especially when it came to his daughter. She was able to go to a good school, a school he help found actually; and she was living in a modest but safe and sturdy house. The father never had to worry if his daughter was going to eat that night, or that he would not be able to get her medicine if she ever got sick. It was a relief.
Though I got all this money now, too much, and I ain't deserving of it all. Barrett sighed, alerting his secretary. Drew looked up from his desk.
"Everything alright, sir?" Drew asked, his pen pausing mid-sentence. He was busy issuing an order for new trucks.
"Yeah." Barrett signed off on the week's pay and threw it in his out box. "Just bored. Think I might donate to the hospital again. Maybe the school. We need help with a park. I think a park would be nice for the neighborhood."
"Excellent idea, Boss. I'm pretty sure we have the money in the budget for such donations."
"Nah, I'll do it myself. Got too much fucking gill as it is." Barrett stood up and walked around the desk. "How's that going?"
"Fine, Boss. We're almost done with this work." Drew motioned to his stack of papers. "Just got to submit a work order to Highwind Mechanics, send the check to Strife Delivery, and make sure Sheila gets the pay checks printed on time. Should only take twenty minutes."
"After thats done, go home. Ye did good today."
"Okay. You stepping out, Barrett?" Drew said, itching to turn on the radio and listen to music as he finished his work.
"Yeah. See ya tomorrow."
"Goodnight." Drew nodded, and Barrett left his trusty secretary behind.
Really ought to make that kid partner, amount of work he does. Barrett nodded. He deserves this so much more than I do.
His cell phone dinged, the sound meaning that he got a text message. He snarled. He hated that texting thing. Just call him on the phone, it was so much easier. The big man took his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.
Get me that fucking order! See you Friday. - CID
"Yer so lucky yer on my good side, ya little shit." Barrett muttered to himself, and closed his phone. The excitement for Friday was bubbling up inside of him. Everyone was coming to see Marlene's play- everyone except for Yuffie and Vincent, however. That stung a bit. If only they knew where their friend was, but as it is, everyone else was coming on Friday night for the show and for dinner afterwards.
The family was coming together.