Chapter 6 – Feel the Frustration
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A pile of charred wood resting on the conference table to her right, a hole in her ceiling, broken glass and tables littering the bar above…and there she was, sprawled out on the couch in the AVALANCHE base making out with a SOLDIER she had been trying to forcibly remove from her establishment just moments before.
At first, Zack had been a bit shocked at her brazen approach; seconds earlier she was ready to snap his head off, and now she was running her hands up through his hair, pulling him down closer and nipping lightly at his lips as she demanded entrance into his mouth. Normally, SOLDIERs were taught to resist all forms of seduction when working with the enemy, and had this been any normal enemy Zack would have complied with that order completely. However, it was unheard of to have an enemy this hot and willing laid out beneath you. So, Zack forgot altogether what roles they played in this whole SOLDIER/terrorist game and returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm.
The rest of the evening was spent in a euphoric haze of lust and release from their pent-up frustration. From the couch to the table and finally ending up on the floor, their earlier scuffle turned into a battle of a whole new type. Finally satisfied, Zack slipped his arms around her waist, coaxing her back toward the couch. He flopped down and pulled a boneless Tifa down on top of him, sliding her body into the crook of his arm between his side and the couch back. They lay like that for what seemed like hours, too exhausted to speak at first until Tifa finally made the first move.
"That was…" she mumbled, still trying to clear the post-coital haze from her mind.
"Wonderful, amazing, mind-blowing…yeah, I've heard them all before. I agree." Zack snickered, running his hand through her hair.
Her head rested on his chest for a moment longer, listening to the slowing beat of his heart when suddenly, Tifa snapped up. "Oh shit…"
Zack tilted his head to the side and looked up at her in confusion. "Barret and the others are gonna come back and freak out. How am I going to explain this giant hole in the ceiling…er, floor…" she cursed and jumped off the couch, recovering her strewn clothing and dressing as quickly as she could. He propped himself on an elbow and watched her sudden turn of emotion with an amused smirk.
"Why not just tell them the truth? A ShinRa SOLDIER came in, trashed the place, but you beat him," he mumbled, stifling a yawn as he stretched out on the couch.
"Because if I tell them a member of SOLDIER is still stalking me, I'm going to become a liability. Plus I didn't exactly beat you…" she trailed off as she began discarding the charred ceiling chunks into a nearby garbage bin.
He chuckled, "I don't think I could gather the strength to take on a ten-year-old right now, let alone you…mmm, that was wild. I'd say you won this time."
A glare in his direction was enough to rouse that missing strength into his limbs, allowing him to hoist himself from the couch, put his boxers and pants back on, and assist her with the downstairs cleanup. As they worked, Tifa began trying to devise a good excuse for the damaged conditions her bar and their headquarters were now in.
"Remember, I said I'd help fix all this, y'know." Zack offered, sweeping up the last of the soot from the burnt wood.
"And just how do I explain to them that I talked the enemy into helping me repair the bar?" she questioned.
"Tell them the truth. He was sorry at first for causing the mess, and was even more eager to stick around and help her out after the great lay thereafter…" he snickered, barely avoiding the punch she sent toward his shoulder.
"Barret and the others can't know about this…I'll get them to move to another safe house while we repair this place. I'll think of some kind of excuse…but right now, you need to get out of here. They could come back any time, and the last thing I need now is to have to explain this whole mess."
Zack nodded and sat back down, lacing up his boots and pulling his shirt on before standing once more. Leaning in, he kissed her softly, "I'll be back in two days to help fix things. Get things settled with them while I'm gone. And don't miss me too much." He winked and pinched her rear playfully as he walked over to the lift under the pinball machine and took it to the floor above. Tifa flopped down on the couch and held her head in her hands in exasperation as she heard the sound of his sword being lifted from the ground and the back door slamming shut shortly thereafter.
Returning to the top level to clean up the broken glass, Tifa noticed his materia bracelet lying forgotten in the corner of the room. She picked it up and examined it, each small marble glowing dimly with its own light. Four green and a yellow…each having some sort of significance unknown to her. She clipped it onto her own wrist and continued cleaning, figuring she would give it back when he returned. It was then that she realized she had just accepted a SOLDIER into her life, and that alone was going to cause some big problems with her current side-profession, as well as the closest thing she had left to family. Her mind was already overloaded from that night with the various revelations and confusion, and having yet to recover from the previous issues, it merely filed this new problem in the "we'll deal with it when it arises" category and let her body continue on its cleaning journey.
Zack entered back into the barracks of ShinRa headquarters that night with an extra spring in his step. Not only had he been able to finally get back in contact with the brunette vixen that had captivated him back in Nibelheim, but somehow he had managed to capture her attention as well. He did feel a little guilty at having to destroy her happy memories of her childhood infatuation, but not knowing the fate of her lost love as well, he figured it was better he convince her to live for what was there for her now, which was him at that point. Kicking his boots off and flopping down on his bed, he reached up to his wrist to activate his Cure materia and heal the few little scars and marks from their battle and the more fulfilling activities thereafter. However, his hand met skin where it should have met metal and he cursed when he remembered that the bracelet had been snatched away during their battle.
"All the more reason to visit her again anyway…" he chuckled, letting sleep claim him. The small circular bruises on his neck and the red scars down his torso were remnants of a battle he wouldn't mind keeping a few days longer.
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Telling the story of how there came to be a large hole in the middle of her bar counter was much easier when she did so in front of a mirror. Yet there Tifa stood, leaning against the splintered counter with a gaping hole in the floor to her right, the faint smell of charred wood still lingering in the air. Luckily it was a minor thing, and the presence of flame damage was overlooked. Her story was that during a delivery, a full keg was knocked over onto the bar and crashed through the flooring. The weakness was blamed on termites, as it was an old establishment, and to four of the five regulars who stood before her, the story seemed plausible enough to satisfy their curiosity. Marlene, Jesse, Biggs and Wedge were more than willing to take a 'vacation' to Kalm during the repairs. The rustic little town was full of interesting spots for distractions from their normal lives. Wedge was already dreaming of fishing in the forest lakes by the time Tifa had finished explaining. Barrett, however, was a different story. As the four rushed upstairs to start packing, he approached Tifa with an expression that said he knew something was up.
"There's somethin' y'ain't tellin' us..." Barret said, looking her straight in the eyes.
Somehow, she matched his serious expression, glancing up at his face to answer, "It's my bar, I can handle routine repairs like this myself. Having you all around is just going to cause too much trouble. It'll be fixed in two weeks, just move the operations to Kalm until then, how hard can it be?"
He sighed, turning away and heading toward the lift, "Fine fine, your reasons are your own. Jes' don't get yourself into more trouble, ok?"
Her expression soured toward his turned back. More trouble...as if he were referring to her capture from the last mission. Team relations had been a bit forced after the incident, and a vacation to Kalm as a group would have been the best idea to hopefully regain their lost cohesion, but there was no way she could trust her bar repairs to Zack alone. Tifa's subconscious chimed in that her ulterior motive was to get him alone again without fear of being caught, but as quickly as that naughty little thought entered her mind, she shoved it aside.
Just as promised, Zack arrived two days after the bar was damaged, supply truck loaded with wood, paint, and a variety of tools. If there was one thing she could say about his antics, he was certainly good about making up for their damage. Questions relating to just how he was able to swipe a ShinRa supply truck and the materials were left unanswered. Zack skirted most of the talk about just how he managed to get away with most of the things that he did.
While sanding down the newly attached portion of the bar counter, Tifa couldn't help but watch Zack as he hammered the replacement legs back into one of the tables he had broken. He worked hard and fast, but everything he did was complete perfection...much like he was in bed. She shook her head side to side to clear the dirty little voice from her mind, something that had been happening more recently since her involvement with the black-haired SOLDIER. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips and she reached back to pull her hair into a messy bun to keep it from getting in her way as she grabbed the small can of varnish that was sitting at her feet. Within minutes, the top of the bar was glistening with a drying coat of sealant that made the whole thing look like new. Pleased with her work, she set her tools down and grabbed a pair of glasses from behind the counter. Filling them with cold water, she headed over to where Zack was working to offer him a much needed break.
They had been working all morning and well into the afternoon, pausing only long enough for a short lunch and dinner break, and night had set in, marking the end of a full day of repairs. Even with the cool night air floating in through the open windows, Zack had removed his shirt and was working in the now moonlit front room. She handed the water to him and hopped up onto one of the newly repaired tables, "I can't believe the progress we made today..."
He grinned, gulping down the water and setting the glass on the table beside her, "I assume since you didn't fall flat on the floor after hopping up there, I did a good job, huh?"
She laughed, "I suppose I can give you that. Should have called you a few months ago when the back door needed replacing, too."
Zack took their playful banter as a cue that their work for the night was over and crawled on top of the table to sit cross-legged behind her, running his hands up her arms to start kneading at her shoulders. She tensed a bit at first, still on guard, but soon relaxed into the wonderful things his hands were doing to her sore muscles. It was a picture of contentment, and she soon realized that she hadn't felt this at ease in her own bar for quite some time since the ShinRa capture incident. Suddenly, she was reminded of her current situation and shook him loose from her shoulders. Zack quirked his head at her, confused as to why she suddenly pulled away, and she saw the confusion in his eyes as she turned to face him.
"We can't continue with this, us. If the others found out that I-"
"That you what?" he cut her off, "That you're boning a SOLDIER now?"
She cringed at his bluntness, but it was true. The others wouldn't take lightly to her even associating with a SOLDIER on a first name basis, let alone going to bed with one. He could see the wheels turning in her head with each new issue that their involvement brought up. His palms caught her shoulders, pulling her back into his embrace,
"I know what you're thinking. I don't want our positions in our professional lives to come into play with all this, either. I want us to be together as people, not as titles. Don't look at us as a SOLDIER and an AVALANCHE member, look at us for who we are: a man and a woman. You can't deny that there's something between us. I don't think there's any reason we should have to change what we do for the sake of this, for now we just need to go with it and take care of things as they arise, not worry about what COULD happen."
His carefree nature somehow spread into Tifa's subconscious, helping push aside all the doubts, anger, and fear their involvement had brought into her mind. As he worked his strong hands along her upper back, his lips came close to her ear,
"If you're that worried about your teammates finding out about us, come back to my room instead tonight..."
Goosebumps spread along her arms as she shivered from the hot breath against her neck and the deep hum of his voice.
"And just how am I supposed to get in there? I didn't exactly have much luck the last time."
He chuckled, running his hands down her arms and then wrapping them around her waist, his chin now resting on her shoulder as he kissed lightly at her neck.
"The security measures may be tight, but there's one class of guest that the guards always turn their heads for. Let's just say the low number of female SOLDIERs means that certain...shall we say, provisions, need to be made to keep the morale up."
Tifa considered his explanation for a minute before it sank in. "You want me to dress up like a hooker?!" She jumped off the table and turned to face him, the fire lighting up in her deep crimson eyes.
He grinned at her, "Look, just slip on something skimpy and hang all over me, no one will even notice. It's normal to see girls come and go with recruits at all hours of the night and morning."
Before Tifa could protest any further, Zack had stood from the table and grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her up to the bedrooms on the second floor. He tipped her back toward the bed and opened her closet, searching through for something that was fitting for her newly assumed identity of a woman of the night. Shoulders deep in clothing, he let out a triumphant cheer as he pulled out probably the last outfit Tifa ever thought he would grab. Dangling from the hanger in his hands was her old high school uniform, white collared shirt, pleated skirt and all.
Her jaw nearly hit the floor, "Y-you want me to wear THAT?!"
"Well, everything else in here either screams 'martial artist' or 'barmaid', and not in the sexy way. I've seen plenty of women wearing this sort of thing on the job, it'll work perfectly." His reasoning was almost a bit too solid, as if he had a ton of experience in this area, and Tifa shot him an accusing glare. He swallowed hard and tossed the outfit on the bed, "Well, that's my recommendation...I'll, uh, be downstairs waiting in case you find something better..."
She waited until the door was shut before looking back down at her uniform on the bed. He did have one point, all her other clothing was mainly training gi, her mission uniforms which had already been captured on ShinRa surveillance, and baggy shirts and sweatpants for when she did serious cleaning. She hadn't the need for any sort of formal or sexy clothing, since her life as of late had been devoted to two things: Seventh Heaven and AVALANCHE. Slumping her shoulders in defeat, she rifled through her closet to find the matching black flats and knee-high stockings that completed the ensemble, cursing herself for keeping such an embarrassing piece of nostalgia.
Moments later, Tifa tiptoed down the stairs, flushing slightly as she tugged down the hem of the skirt. While the clothing hadn't changed at all in the years since it was retired to the back of her closet, her body had grown in all the right places, making the fit a bit absurd. Her further developed breasts strained at the buttons of the shirt, hidden only by the small black scarf that dangled between them. Her height had increased a few inches as well, causing the bottom to stop short a few inches above her waist, showing off an ample expanse of her torso. The skirt, which used to come to just above her knees, was now stopping short at mid-thigh and rode up with every move she made. The ensemble was complete with white stockings which came up to mid-calf, making her long, toned legs look even longer with the short skirt.
Zack's jaw was on the floor as he watched her decend the stairs and suddenly Tifa felt all too ridiculous in her current attire. Without a word he pulled his shirt back on, picked up his sword, and held his hand out for hers. They left the bar and locked up, taking to the back alleys to head toward ShinRa, avoiding as much of the late night traffic as they could, lest her attire draw any unwanted attention.
When they approached the gated outer yards of the ShinRa building, Zack slipped an arm around Tifa's waist, pulling her closer in a possessive gesture to alert the other men in the area that she was his for the night. However, his display of ownership didn't deter most of the guards and other recruits from ogling his companion. Appreciative studies of her body were being done at every checkpoint, and she could feel them undressing her with their eyes. Suddenly, Tifa felt like a piece of meat dangling over a pack of hungry wolves. Either Zack lied about most of the men bringing companions into the barracks, or this lot just couldn't afford it. Either way, she gripped onto his arm tighter, her other fist balling up as she restrained herself from sending it flying into the face of the next pervert that stared at her ass.
Finally, her walk of humiliation was over as the card key swept through the lock of Zack's room. She stepped in and examined her surroundings once more, vaguely remembering the last time she was there with a slight blush. Meanwhile, Zack had kicked his boots off into a corner and moved over to his desk, picking up his digital camera to snap a candid shot of her. She jumped at the flash and pouted at him, making a move to recover the camera. Another click and he laughed, "Now that was a cute one, think I'll make that the wallpaper on my computer later."
She glared at him and snatched the camera from his hands, going in to delete the images until she started to flip through them. The set taken before had been from their first meeting a few months prior, images of her sleeping almost peacefully in his bed. Tifa glanced up at him, smirking slightly, "I didn't know you were into voyeurism. Any other fetishes I should know about?"
The camera was rescued from her grip and slipped into the drawer below before he spun her around and leaned her against the edge of the desk, slipping his hand up the back of the skirt as he did so. "Didn't know when I'd get to see you like that again, so I wanted a memento. Plus I think you look cute when you sleep, but even cuter in this skirt..."
A streak of mischief slipped into Tifa's mind and she grabbed his wrist, pulling it away from her body so she could hop up to sit on the desk. She deliberately crossed her legs at the knees, letting the skirt ride up just enough to give a slight peek at the lace panties that hid underneath. Her arms were crossed under her chest, pushing her breasts up and tugging at the buttons even more. If he was going to play games, so would she.
"Well, TEACHER, now that you've got me to your office, what did you want to see me about, hm?" Her words were laced with a hint of sarcasm, but the face she looked up at him with showed pure innocence.
He quirked his eyebrows at her sudden change in mood, and his roving eyes swept down her body, grinning at the obvious display she was putting on. Zack placed his hands on the desk on either side of her hips and leaned in close, "Well, I think you're in need for an after-class lesson, since I've heard you can be a very bad girl at times, hm?"
The innocent look was replaced with a slightly feral grin as Tifa uncrossed her legs, folding her hands on her lap and sitting up straight like a model student. Her breasts shifted forward until they were almost touching his chest as she looked up straight into his eyes, "So what are you going to teach me?"
The lump in his throat returned as his mouth ran dry, but Zack regained his composure and continued with their little role-play. He could smell the faint hint of perfume on her neck, and her breasts were just shy of pressing against his chest, both stimulations adding to the growing hardness in his pants. He struggled to keep his cool as he answered her. "Well, that depends...what is the student eager to learn about?"
She couldn't help but take this little charade and run with it, seeing that it had obviously disrupted his usual cocky demeanor. Her finger traced up along his jaw as she leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "Whatever will get me an A in this class..." The statement was punctuated by a light squeeze to the bulge in his pants, "How about we start with an anatomy lesson?"
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To be continued in Chapter 7 - Love is a Battlefield