Author's Note: Here's another chapter! Writing chaptered stories are a labor of love indeed…one that I am not used to! So I hope everyone's enjoying it thus far.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I am paid nothing, but I enjoy playing with FFVII's characters! :D

Chapter 2

Tifa stared at the phone still debating whether she should tell Cloud about Loz's return. He seemed harmless, but she didn't trust him. It could all be an act, though from what she had seen in the church, deception wasn't his style. He was more of an in-your-face kind of guy.

She was startled out of her thoughts when the phone she was staring at suddenly rang. She reached out and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Tifa? It's Jake."

"Hi Jake," she said as she took a deep breath. "Do you have a price for me yet?"

"I sure do," he answered. "For everything, Cloud is looking at forty-five hundred gil. That includes the labor."

Tifa's heart nearly stopped at the price, but it was within the amount Cloud had told her to expect. "Okay, Cloud left enough for that. So when do you think it will be done?"

"Tomorrow evening," Jake said with a smile. "I've gotta get back to work, but I'm going to stop by for a drink later. I'll see you tonight, Teef."

"Yeah, I'll see you then," she answered.

She replaced the phone in its cradle and sighed. Everything had been going so well. Why did one of Sephiroth's remnants have to come back? Couldn't they all have a little peace for a while? She picked up the phone and began dialing Cloud's cell phone number, but stopped and slammed the phone down again. Calling Cloud wouldn't do anything except ruin his well-deserved vacation and bring him rushing back to protect her. She didn't need any protection anyway. She had held her own against him in the church, until he had cheated with his materia-enhanced speed and the strange weapon he wore on his arm. Plus, Reno and Rude had been regular fixtures at Seventh Heaven since they had all worked together to stop the reunion so if anything did happen, she would have them as backup.

She sighed as she looked at the clock. She had a lot of work to do before opening the bar and it wouldn't get done by itself, so she had to put her concerns on ice until later.


The bar was busy, even for the end of the week. Tifa was happily run off her feet as she chatted with customers and served drinks.

"Hey babe! What's shakin'?"

Tifa turned and smiled at Reno when he dropped himself into a stool in front of her. He and Rude had been there for a while and when Reno was drinking as much as he was this night, he became a shameless flirt.

"Not much, Reno," she said as she wiped her hands on a towel. "You want another of the usual?"

"You got it!" he said with a wink.

"How about you, Rude?" she asked.

"Another whisky, please," he answered as he sat in the stool beside his partner.

"So, are you both worn out from a hard week of industrial espionage and assassinations?" she said with smirk.

Reno grabbed his chest dramatically. "Babe! We don't do that kind of thing! Well…not anymore, that is. We're legit now and let me tell you, being legit is way more work!"

"And you know how lazy he is," Rude said dryly as he sipped the whisky Tifa had put in front of him.

"Rude, how could you?" Reno asked plaintively. "We're supposed to be friends!"

Tifa laughed and shook her head. She was about to say something when she noticed Jake enter the bar…with Loz.

Reno noticed the look on her face and turned to see what it was that had caused her pale so dramatically.

"Ah. I see you've noticed our friend there, huh?" he asked dryly.

"You know about him?" she asked as previous distrust began to flare.

Reno could see the familiar look in her eyes. "It's not as bad as you think, babe, I swear!" He could see she didn't believe him, so he leaned in closer to her. "Listen, we were doing our usual 'clean up' after Cloud's last battle with Sephiroth and when we were leaving, we found that one by his motorcycle like he hadn't just been blown to smithereens by a materia-induced explosion! The president had us bring him back to Healen and he had him all checked out. He doesn't remember anything!"

"What about the Sephiroth gene that allowed Kadaj to summon Sephiroth?" Tifa asked.

"It seems as though the Lifestream nullified its power," Rude said. "I assume you've looked him in the eye?"

She nodded. "Yeah and they're just as creepy as they ever were."

"Creepy, yeah," Reno said. "But they're not Sephiroth's eyes. They're creepy green…just like Cloud's are creepy blue."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she shook her head.

"When the scientists were checking him out, they said he reads like the SOLDIER recruits did once they had been exposed to the Jenova cells," Rude explained. "Without his memories and the Sephiroth gene dormant, he doesn't appear to be a threat."

"In other words, he's like Cloud," Reno said with a smirk. "Just less moody than Spikey."

Tifa couldn't stop the smile that formed. "He's getting better Reno."

The redhead smirked and snorted. "Took the dude long enough."

Tifa laughed, but it slowly died in her throat when Loz sat beside Reno. She cleared her throat and smiled tightly. "What can I get you?"

"Whisky," he said before looking at the two Turks. "Haven't seen you two in a while. Did you finally stop following me?"

"We weren't following you," Reno protested. "We were just making sure you didn't get into any trouble, that's all."

Loz smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure you follow every stranger you meet, right?"

"Something like that," Rude said dryly.

Tifa put Loz's drink in front of him and watched him take a sip. He watched her stare at him while he stared right back at her. Reno noticed the tension and cleared his throat.

"So, I hear you're working at Axel's Custom Bikes," he said. "Got anything interesting on the go there?"

"Just the bike Tifa brought in," Loz said. "It's one of the boss' favorite customs apparently."

Reno nearly choked on his vodka. "You're working on Fenrir?" He turned and looked at Tifa. "Does Spikey know Sideburns here is touching his precious Fenrir?"

"It's not a big deal, Reno," she said as she glared at him.

"Who's Spikey?" Loz asked.

"The moody son of a bitch that owns that bike," Reno said.

Loz nodded and looked up at Tifa. "Boyfriend?"

She blushed and shook her head. "Not really. He's a…roommate."

Reno again nearly choked on his drink. Rude slapped his back as he coughed slightly. "Roommate?"

"Reno, do you want a kick in the ass?" Tifa bit out.

He smirked as he looked her up and down. "Babe, you can pretty much do whatever you want to me."

Rude winced before grabbing Reno by the back of his neck. "I think it's time we head out. Unless you need us to stay a little longer."

Tifa knew he was referring to how she felt about Loz being there. She smiled and shook her head. "No, I'll be fine," she assured him. "Don't forget to force-feed Reno plenty of water so he won't be anymore useless to you tomorrow than he usually is."

"Don't worry, I will," he said with a smirk.

"Hey, I'm not useless," Reno protested before grinning. "I'll miss you, Teef!"

She shook her head. "Reno, you'll be back tomorrow like you always are!"

Loz watched Rude and Reno leave before looking back at her. "Is he always like that?"

She shrugged and smiled slightly. "Pretty much."

"He's interesting," Loz said as he watched her scoop up tips left by previous customers while gathering empty glasses off the bar at the same time. "He was nice to me when I met them."

Tifa looked up at the thoughtful look on his face. "He was?"

He nodded. "The others that were there were all civil to me, but…"

"But what?" she asked with a frown.

"I don't know," he said as he shook his head. "It was almost like they all knew something about me, but no one wanted to talk about it."

She was about to say something when Jake walked up beside Loz.

"Hey Tifa," he said with a smile before looking at Loz. "I'm going to head out. You need a ride?"

Loz shook his head. "I'll be fine."

Jake smiled and handed Tifa some money. "No change, Tifa. I'll call you tomorrow when Fenrir is ready."

She smiled and nodded. "Thanks Jake."

Loz stayed for the rest of the night. He kept to himself and didn't try to engage Tifa in any more conversation. He seemed to be content to just watch the people around him. He watched the few bar fights that broke out and smirked when Tifa had to throw the troublemakers out. He admired her strength and the fact that she wasn't going to let anyone else run her bar and if that meant kicking out a paying customer, then so be it. He found himself wishing that she didn't look at him like everyone else did.

Tifa looked at the clock and decided it was time to close up. "Okay everyone! It's time to drink up and pay up because this piece of heaven is about to close up!"

Her patrons all moaned, but one by one they all finished their drinks and paid before filing out. Occasionally a few would glare at Loz, but he just glared right back. A couple of times a small group of men would crowd around him, trying to unnerve him, but he ignored them and focused on finishing his drink. Even though the silver haired man was no friend of hers, she detested testosterone driven bullying and rested a hand on the counter.

"Can I help you guys with anything or are all of you trying to compete for this handsome guy's phone number?" she sweetly asked a particularly large angry looking group of men that had gathered beside Loz.

She smirked as they all straightened up and muttered under their breaths about meeting him outside. Once Loz was the only one left, she locked the door and switched off the 'open' sign. When she turned to look at him again he was already on his feet and walking towards her.

"I left enough to cover my tab on the bar," he said.

"Thanks," she said. She waited for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Do you want to stay for a bit until that group of overgrown boys leaves?"

"I can handle them," he said with a shrug.

"I know you can," she said. "But there are six of them and just one of you. Plus, they already seem to hate you. Do you think it's a good idea to antagonize them further?"

He smirked slightly. "Probably not. I didn't think you'd want me hanging around you though now that we're alone."

She frowned slightly as she walked around him back towards the bar. "What makes you say that?"

He snorted as he rolled his eyes. "You practically ran down the street after you dropped the bike off and when I came in here tonight, you looked at me as though I was supposed to be dead. What did I do to you?"

"Are you sure…?"

"Everyone seems to hate me," he said as he sat down on the stool he had been sitting on for most of the night. "You are no different."

Tifa looked at him and felt guilty. If he really had no memory of his past, was it fair for her to hold a grudge? If the Lifestream sent him back, surely he had a purpose or at least deserved another chance at life.

"Do you really not remember anything of your past?" she asked.

He shrugged and shook his head. "All I know is what President Shinra told me."

"And that was…what, exactly?" she asked, curious to hear what tale Rufus had spun for the remnant.

"He just said that I had worked with a couple of other guys to facilitate a 'reunion' with someone we all called 'mother'," he said with a frown. "I have no idea who 'mother' is and I have no memories of any other guys or anything before Reno and Rude finding me. Apparently, I should already know them too. They mentioned something about shooting at their helicopter."

Tifa was startled out of his story by the phone ringing. She sighed and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Tifa, it's me," Cloud said on the other end. "I figured you would be closing the bar, so I thought I'd give you a call. The kids miss you…I miss you too."

"I miss you guys too," she said with a smile.

"Are you planning on joining us in Wutai?" he asked.

Tifa looked at Loz who was just looking around at his surroundings, apparently not listening to her conversation.

"Tifa?" Cloud said with a frown in voice. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry," she said as she shook her head. "I just zoned out. The bar's busy and you deserve some quality time with the kids. They've really missed you."

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" Cloud asked doubtfully.

Tifa looked at Loz again before smiling and saying, "Everything's fine, Cloud."

"Okay," he said reluctantly. "If you change your mind, just give me a call."

She smiled and nodded. "I will, I promise. Good night, Cloud."

"Good night, Tifa."

Loz looked at her once she had hung up the phone. "I think it's okay for me to head out."

Tifa nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow when I pick the bike up."

"Sure," Loz said as he walked over to the door and unlocked it. "Thanks for the talk."

"That's just part of my job description," she said with a nervous smile.

He just nodded and walked out the door. She again locked the door behind him and leaned against the wall. She had to find out if he was lying or if he really had lost his memory. She pushed away from the wall and headed up the stairs, extinguishing lights as she went. She had to be sure for herself before she told Cloud anything. Tomorrow she would come up with a plan to figure out what the truth was regarding his memories, but for tonight, she would sleep. She was going to need all the rest she could get.