3 ~ A Little Conversation

I knew Rufus was watching me, probably smirking inside, knowing there was absolutely no reason to keep me here because he wasn't going to comply to Mutten's wishes no matter how the man abused me. It kind of made me sad, to be honest, but it made sense as well. Mutten it seemed needed those plans from Rufus, so the ex-President had leverage by not saying a word until he was given his freedom.

"The Turks will be looking for me," he finally said aloud. I looked up at him into his blue eyes; as usual, they remained calm.

"Looking for you," I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice. "No one cares if I'm alive or dead. You're the important one, not me. If they find me, I'll probably get told off and fired." So yeah, I was being a little mouthy, but the way I saw it, I was going to be killed eventually, so I might as well.

"That is true," said Rufus, completely unfazed by my words. "They are loyal to me, not you. You meanwhile were stupid. You shouldn't have tried to take on all those men by yourself. The smart move would have been to run away and find Tseng or Rude. At the very least, my men would have some idea who to go after."

"Well excuse me for panicking in front of a mob!" I burst out, feeling tears sting my eyes. Dammit, why was I crying so much? Right, right, shot by a gun, head hit hard by a bat and, oh yeah, slapped a few times by a hand as big as my face. It kind of got to a person after a while, you know. Oh, and did I mention the lousy sympathy I was not getting?

"He won't kill you," said Rufus as he looked around the horrible looking room. "Not for a while yet. He's going to see how much I can stand seeing you abused and broken." He looked back at me. His eyes weren't warm or sympathetic; they weren't cold either though. "Be prepared for anything."

"Yes President," I replied, unsure if I was sarcastic and sincere. My head slumped down, chin touching my chest as my hair fell over to cover my face. Of all the things I could've imagined happening to me… this wasn't one of them.

Dammit. I never did get to wear that coveted navy blue suit either.

^.^

It was maybe a few hours or a day later. I was in pain and rather out of my senses, probably. I couldn't remember anything since I had last spoken to Rufus; maybe I had fallen asleep? I don't know. It was the smell though that had caught my nose's attention. Something smelled very good, and my stomach agreed as well.

I lifted my head and looked in the direction from where the smell wafted and saw a woman, maybe my mother's age, near Rufus. She had a bowl in her hand and was feeding him. I couldn't help but stare and lick my dry lips. I was hungry and thirsty and it smelled so good, whatever it was.

Once she was done, she wiped his face with what I guessed was a wet cloth, as well as his hands. She even combed his hair some before leaving it alone and turning to leave. I continued watching her, hoping maybe she would come my way.

"Feed the girl," said Rufus out of the blue. I was shocked, and somehow, even parched me seemed to be able to create tears of gratefulness that prickled my eyes. He was actually being thoughtful. Who would have thought?

"I have to follow orders," replied the woman, looking my way. Her expression seemed conflicted, as if she wanted to help but was too scared too.

"Just… a little?" I pleaded. Pleading. Ekh. How I hated it. No one liked a begging dog. But, I couldn't say I wasn't used to it even if I hated it. Living in the slums, you grew up begging and pleading even when you didn't have to. It became something of a habit.

The woman swallowed before her face clenched and she hurried away from us and quickly made her way out of the door that led to this horrible room. I let out a dejected sigh and my head slumped low. I didn't care at the moment if Rufus saw me as weak and unworthy. I was weak. And I was pretty sure my arm was going to be incapacitated for a long time if they didn't do something about that damn bullet.

As if someone had read my mind, an hour or so later, someone else came down, a doctor. As I expected, he went to Rufus first to take care of his wounds. I simply closed my eyes and pretended to not even notice. I wasn't going to beg again.

Which was why I was surprised when I felt a hand on good shoulder. I opened my bleary eyes to look at the old doctor, who was speaking words that I didn't really get. He kept shaking his head, so I guess he didn't like what he saw. Hey, neither did I, so the feeling was unanimous.

He eventually took the bullet out and bandaged my arm as well as cleaned the bump on my head before forcing me to eat some pills. I admit I refused for a moment, not wanting to be knocked out. But after a moment I submitted. Being knocked out couldn't be as bad as being tied up here.

^.^

Surprise, surprise. There had been a sleeping drug in those pills. But, apparently there had also been some painkillers in there, and when I woke up half a day later, it was still in effect. I was very surprised to find my arms weren't bound either. I wondered why.

"Finally awake," came Rufus' voice. I lifted my head and looked his way, nodding. My head fell heavy, as if I had just had a lot to drink.

"Yes, President," I replied, voice rather hoarse. My mouth was dry and when I swallowed it felt like sandpaper lined my throat.

"You can call me Rufus," he said, voice a little wry. "From the looks of it, I am not looking to be President for a while."

I lifted my good arm and brushed the hair away from my face to get a better look at him. He still had his air of cold regality, but his eyes seemed a little softer, if that was possible. Or maybe the blue was just more pleasing to the eyes than the harsh red of this room.

"You'll… be," I replied, brown eyes blinking before looking away. It wasn't just an in the moment thing to say. If anyone could do it, I was sure Rufus could. He had that kind of personality. He was cold and ruthless, but he had brains and did his share of the work. If it wasn't for him, the Turks wouldn't even be around anymore.

"I will," he said, nodding once. "I don't believe I said I have given up. I've only said it won't be for a while.

We both remained quiet for a while, each in our own world, only the sounds of footsteps upstairs as well as the complaints from my stomach breaking the silence. My mind kept wandering to life before I was picked up by Mrs. Race, my adopted mother. I'd been a thieving street rat then, managing to pick through scraps from garbage bins and scarfing them down before anyone could try and take them from me. Many times the food would be rotten and I'd end up sick.

Still… I couldn't remember the feeling until now. Having a home, a bed, simple but warm and fresh food had come with the price of forgetting how I used to feel before. Hunger like this would have been normal just ten years ago.

"Why did you accept the housekeeping job?" I looked up at Rufus, not realizing he had still been looking my way.

"Oh…" I had think about it a moment before deciding to just come out with it. "The promise… of remuneration when ShinRa is back up. And maybe… finally joining the Turks." But I didn't think either was possible at the moment.

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "So you believe that ShinRa has a chance to come back to power?"

I nodded slowly. "If anyone can… then it's ShinRa… or at least you, Pres- Rufus. You saved the Turks."

He was quiet for a while, as if analyzing all I had said. I returned to my very fun task of staring at my covered legs, thinking about nothing in particular.

"There's a water bottle near you." I looked at Rufus once more and saw him pointing to the ground next to me. "The woman put it there. It isn't a lot but it's better than nothing."

My eyes widened and I looked down. There it was! I smiled a little, dry lips cracking in the process, but I didn't care. Stretching my arm out as much as I could, I managed to grab the top of the bottle with my index and middle finger, ignoring the cramp in my arm as I brought the bottle back to me and greedily opened it.

The water was room temperature and tasted a little stale, and it smelled like it had been in there for a while. I couldn't care less. This was the drink of life for me at the moment, and I guzzled most of it down before stopping.

"Would… you like some?" I asked.

Rufus shook his head, a strange look on his face. "No, it's all yours. You would do good to drink all of it. There is no telling when you'll get more."

"Yes sir," I replied sincerely and downed the rest of the water before setting the bottle back down on the floor, letting out a huge sigh.

"Good." Rufus now seemed to have a thoughtful and calculating look on his face. He then took in a breath and let it out. "He will be coming in soon and he'll probably hurt you again. Be prepared. We'll leave eventually."

He seemed so sure that he would be found. How could he know that?

Then I realized he had said 'we'.

"Yes, Rufus," I replied, a small and contained smile on my face, even though inside I felt a rush of warmth. I would stay strong and take it on. I wouldn't let Mutten get the best of me.

Note: Thanks to DaHobbit and Anna for the reviews!