A/N: Chapter 3! Not much to note on this time, but thank you to those of you who have reviewed thus far, you have no idea what it means to me. I like constructive criticism! Please review; it tells me what you like, what you don't like, and helps me improve! Onto the next chapter!


He was surprised she didn't scream; she opened her mouth as if she were going to, but thought better of it after she processed what he'd said.

"My fault? Maybe you should have the sense to go to your Turks if you're feeling woozy after one drink? I gave you enough to make you pass out in front of everyone, but nooooo, you had to come waltzing back to the bar." She was doing this thing where it sounded like she was trying to whisper, but yell at the same time.

"Well if you hadn't been throwing yourself all over me…" he started, but was silenced by her finger pointed in his face.

"No sir. Don't you dare. I was not throwing myself at you. Playful flirting, maybe. But I was not begging you to go home with me. But maybe I should've, seems like you would have had no problem leaving with a perfect stranger. Are you seriously trying to put your guilt of your situation on me when I actually was successful in doing my job? Do you think that would work on one of your Turks? Now listen, I wasn't planning on taking you, I was expecting to take your father. From what I hear, you two don't have the most love for each other, so I doubt you would have cared if he was the one in your position now. Unfortunately, if something doesn't go quite as planned, we must improvise, and now you're in the crosshairs. I suggest, Mr. Shinra that you behave as a good, quiet, little hostage or I may not be able to stop the boys from roughing you up." She said as she glared down at him, crossing her arms indignantly.

Dumbfounded by the tongue lashing he just received, Rufus realized that he did not have a clever retort. It wasn't often that happened. But, she was right. He closed his mouth and eased his attitude. "Fine then. What exactly is it that you want from me? What are the terms of my kidnapping?"

Tifa chewed on her lower lip, in thought. "I'm only the transporter. I'm not the one who's going to be questioning you. That will be Cloud. I'm sure he'll let you know the terms. Now I came in here to be nice and check on you, and make sure that Barrett didn't give you a concussion."

"Well, I feel as though I've been hit by a truck, and my hands are numb, so there's that."

Tifa swept his hair off his forehead and stared determinedly into each of his eyes. "Do you have a headache?"

"I would call it more of a migraine." He replied as he squinted from the light above her head, staring back into her chestnut eyes.

"Well, you're probably dehydrated, so I'll get you some water."

"With some ice."

She sighed but it melted into a smirk. "You know, you really shouldn't make demands while you're being held hostage. You're lucky I'm not making you drink out of that trough."

Rufus eyed the moldy wooden trough to his left. The thought of drinking out of it made his stomach churn. "I suppose plain water is fine."

Tifa chuckled on her way out of the makeshift cell. "That's what I thought."

He had to admit, he was beginning to like her spirited wit. He knew how they treated prisoners at the ShinRa HQ, and she was being an angel in comparison. She didn't seem to want to hurt him in any way. And she seemed to care for his general well-being. But then again, she wasn't the one he was dreading, it was that brute named Barrett.

He heard voices outside the stall. "Is he up yet? We need to get some information out of him before we contact ShinRa."

There was a pause before she answered. "He's conscious, but he's still out of it. He wouldn't be able to really answer any of your questions yet. I'm getting him some water to wake him up."

"Tifa, we really don't have a lot of time to dilly dally. Wake him up, or I will."

"I got it, Cloud. Relax."

Rufus squinted toward the stall door, trying to see out of the window's bars. Maybe he was still out of it; the guy's hair looked like a chocobo.

Tifa soon re-entered his cell and whispered, "You better figure out how you're going to play this. You're running out of time, and Cloud will not be nice if you act like a snarky bastard. Here, drink this."

He looked at the cup in her hand and looked back up at her. "I don't know, the last time I took a drink from you, it didn't turn out so well."

Her jaw visibly clenched. "You are making it so hard for me to feel sorry for you right now -"

Rufus chuckled. "It was a joke. I was trying to lighten the mood; I would definitely like some water."

She raised the cup to his lips. To his surprise, the water was cold, and ice bumped against his teeth. He gulped it down, ignoring the brain freeze. He'd never been so grateful for another human being in his entire life. Which raised the question in his mind to his lips, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

She froze for a moment. "…I don't know. I guess I feel the slightest guilt that it ended up being you and not your dad. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. Cloud says that's one of my weaknesses."

They both heard footsteps approaching; the blonde man with the chocobo spikes entered the stall.

"That must be Cloud." Rufus thought. He squinted at the new arrival and swayed back forth, appearing dazed. "Whozzat?"

Tifa looked at Rufus, then back at Cloud. "See Cloud, I told you he's still not totally coherent yet."

Cloud stepped over to Tifa and grabbed the cup from her hands. "We don't have time for this." He said as he poured the rest of the contents over Rufus' head.

The stinging, icy water caused Rufus to suck in a breath instinctively, but he couldn't breathe out. Ice slid down his collar and into his jacket. He shook his head to move his wet freezing hair out of his eyes.

Cloud bent down to look their captive in the face. "Are you awake?"

"I suppose I am now." Rufus finally breathed out, glaring into eyes equally as icy blue as his own. His wet hair was plastered around his face.

Tifa bit her lip. "Cloud…"

The blonde with the spikes turned to look at her. "Tifa, I think it'd be best if you just waited outside. I don't want you in here for this. Baby Shinra and I need to chat alone."

"But I –"

Cloud pointed to the door, but spoke gently. "Mosey, Tifa. Shut the door behind you, please."

As Cloud turned back to face Rufus, Tifa shot the bound man a concerned look before slowly turning to walk out the door.


"Yes, I remember seeing her seeing her about to leave. It was her shift to set up and work until 9; I work the rest of the shift and I'll close it down. She got picked up by her friend. Big black guy, I think he works as a bouncer at her bar… 7th Heaven I think it's called. I don't know his name."

"Do you happen to know where she lives?" Reno asked the bartender who was now working the party.

She shook her head. "No, I've only worked events like this with her. Mayor Domino has us bartend for his parties because he's visited our local bars, liked how we look, liked how we act with patrons, and liked how we make drinks. Is she in some sorta trouble, Mister?"

"No, no, of course not. We're looking to ask her to bartend an event of our own. Our boss liked her… a lot." Reno replied with a grin.

The bartender giggled. "I see. Yeah, she does get a few admirers. I have her phone number, but it's the landline for her bar." She handed Reno Tifa's business card. "It also has the address of her bar."

"Thank you ma'am. You've been very helpful." The two Turks turned to leave.

"I take it we're paying a visit to 7th Heaven?" Rude asked his coworker.

"That would be correct, bud. There might be a clue to where she's taken Rufus." Reno started walking faster.

Rude nodded. "When exactly do you plan on calling Tseng?"

"After we search Tifa's bar. I have a good feeling; we will find something to help us. Then I can confidently call Tseng and lie to him."

"That doesn't make any sense, but alright, this is your plan." Rude got into the driver's seat. "I'll drive this time; I don't want to die tonight."

Curling his lip, Reno replied, "Oh ha ha. Yeah, good one, I'm a bad driver."

Rude rolled his eyes. "Just get in."