Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or anything related.

No warnings this time.

Chapter 10

He was supposed to be mopping her room. A man had come through earlier and had thrown up before even getting started with his selected girl. Cloud was glad, he didn't want anyone hurting er and drunk men were never gentle.

Yes, he was supposed to be mopping but instead he was awkwardly watching a girl as she combed her hair. He'd been watching this particular girl since she'd arrived. Her name was Tifa and he had a crush on her. But he wasn't going to talk to her, she dealt with a lot of unwanted attention, the last thing she needed was him hanging around.

But whenever they passed buy, she always gave him a nice smile. Sure, that didn't mean much at all, maybe she was just being nice to him, but maybe it meant she wouldn't mind if he talked to her. "Oh! um..." he looked up and saw her looking at him, "Is there something you need?" she was combing her hair.

"Uh, I came to mop up a spill..." he said, "I mean, someone threw up."

"Yeah, right near the closet." she wrinkled her nose, "It kind of smells." He entered the room and looked towards the mess, "How long were you standing there?"

"Oh... you know, just a little bit..." he rubbed his head, "I didn't want to just walk in, thisis your room after all."

"No, it isn't." she said, "My room is back at home." She shook her head, "But thanks for the consideration."

He nodded and started to clean. He couldn't help but look around the room. He'd cleaned many rooms in this place and he noticed that this one and another girl's rooms were just as bland as they had been when they'd moved in. Even the most reluctant girls had found a way to make themselves feel comfortable. But Tifa's walls were bare and the entire place seemed cold.

"You could decorate. I think you're allowed to do that." he said.

"There's no point." Tifa said, "This isn't my home and I won't try to make it one." Cloud immediately realized that she was one of the girls who Don thought was plotting an escape. She hadn't been punished yet, because there was no evidence. But more then once, he'd seen Don grab her and they'd just stare. Tifa's face would always be blank but Don's face held a warning.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Did Don send you here?" she asked suddenly, putting her comb down and facing him completely. She looked nervous, maybe a little scared. "I haven't done anything wrong and if he sent you to-"

"He isn't here." Cloud cut in.

"What?" she blinked. Tifa got up and closed the door, "Where is he?"

"Uh, he took Zack and that girl and I think some servants. He's going to be in Italy for a while." Cloud said.

"Italy!" Tifa covered her mouth after the outburst... "Who... Who did he take?"

"That girl, the one Zack's always around." Cloud said, "I don't know her name but she has brown hair and she's in room-"

"238." Tifa said.

"Yes." he nodded.

"Oh god... he took Aerith!" Tifa ran her fingers through her hair, "This is bad."

"Tifa... you..." he took a breath, "You've been planning to escape, haven't you?"

"No." she shook her head.

"I won't tell anyone! I want..." he stepped closer, "I want to come too."

"No." she said again.

"Okay. I shouldn't have said anything." he turned away and rushed to mop up the mess. What was he thinking? This was the first time he'd ever spoken to her and he was already asking about things that would get them in trouble.

"Cloud... Where are you from?" she asked quietly, "How long have you been here?"

"I...I've been here for a few months." he said, "But I'm not from anywhere, not really."

"What do you mean?" Tifa asked.

"I grew up in places like this. I think my mom was a prostitute somewhere and they just kind of raised me as a servant." he said, "Then people just kind of sold me around to other places."

"So, you've never had a real life?" Tifa asked, "You wouldn't understand how important it is for me to get home."

"Maybe not." Cloud mumbled.

"But if you meant it... I can let you come with me." Tifa said. She walked over to him and whispered into his ear, "I mean, I'm going to America and you can come too..." He knew he wouldn't live with her if they did go, she had a family and he wasn't a part of it. But he wanted to make sure she got home safely and maybe he could have a family too.

0.o.0.o.0

Minerva always met Kadaj at the coffee shop. It was near the edge of town, between two farms actually, so there wasn't much business there. "My brother owns the place." Kadaj explained, "The farmer's wives always come out here. They need a place to talk and the prices are good."

"Yeah." she nodded, "But honestly this stuff tastes like mud." Kadaj laughed and she smiled. They had been doing this for a few days and they hadn't said much about Aerith. She wanted to find her baby as soon as possible, but Kadaj said it would take time. He had another brother named Loz, who was apparently a private investigator, and he was on the case. He showed her picture after picture of the cases he'd solved and it made her hopeful. If he could find these missing people, then surely they could find her baby girl, right?

"I said she'd been spotted recently," Kadaj started, "And I sent Loz to go ask for security tapes. I saw her at a gas station."

"Yes, was she with anyone? Did you see who?" she asked.

"No, she was alone buying a box of bandaids." Kadaj said. Minerva stiffened, "Hey, but she didn't look hurt! She just looked nervous."

"Right..." she nodded.

"Now, the fact that they were at the gas station means that they were probably leaving town and it has been almost two weeks, so I asked Loz to put a rush on it." Kadaj said.

"Thank you." but she was afraid the case had already run cold.

"Yeah, how's your family?" Kadaj asked, "I'm sure this is hard on all of them."

"Well, yes..." Minerva stopped, she hadn't seen her husband at all recently and she did nothing but yell at Genesis... "We're a little distant now."

"I see it a lot when we do kidnapping cases. You can't let your life fall apart, you need to be strong. If your family breaks now, what will your daughter have to return to?" he asked. She didn't notice that he'd grabbed her hand, she just knew he was right.

"I should go and see them..." she stood up, feeling a little dizzy, "I should make dinner..." Why was she so tired? Maybe it was because she wasn't eating or sleeping right, it was all coming to bite her on the butt now, she needed to take care of herself.

"Here, i'll drive you home." Kadaj offered.

"No, i'm fine. I can get there myself." she smiled, "Thank you for the help."

"No problem." Kadaj nodded. He locked eyes with his brother, Yazoo, and the tall man came from behind the counter. She was suddenly feeling a little nervous, "He'll walk you to your car."

"No, I don't need help." she smiled, "And my car is right outside." She started for the door, trying not to wobble. Kadaj's words echoed in her mind as she got behind the wheel and drove off. She needed to keep her family together.

She grabbed her phone and called Genesis. It rang a few times before he answered, "Yeah?"

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Um... I guess." he said.

"I was going to make dinner, but I think we should order something." she was feeling sick, and her vision was blurring, she needed to get home.

"Like, seriously?" Genesis asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm not feeling good, but yeah, i'm serious."

"Pizza?" Genesis asked. The car swerved and the jolt seemed to wake her up a bit. She was almost home though.

"Yes, order and i'll pay when I get back."

"And can we get wings?" Genesis asked, "Hot wings?"

"Yes." she nodded. She almost ran a red light.

"And soda?" he asked hopefully.

"We have water." she said.

"I had to try." he mumbled.

"Alright, order it." They said goodbye and she tried to focus on driving. She made it home and stumbled in. Her stomach burned and she rushed to the bathroom before throwing up. It had to have been the coffee.

"Hey. I-" Genesis stopped, "I didn't order it... I wasn't sure what you wanted."

"O-oh, just get anything." she coughed, "I'm not feeling well right now, do we have any medicine?

"What? Just any kind of medicine?" Genesis asked, "All we have are painkillers and cough syrup."

"I have no idea what's wrong with me." she said, "So just get what we have."

Genesis left and she stood up, wiping her mouth and heading to the kitchen for some water. She immediately stopped the moment she saw all the broken dishes. "Genesis...?"

"Oh... um..." he put the medicine on the table, "I was washing the dishes and..."

"Don't worry about it." she said. There were no more glasses for her to use. So she took the medicine dry.

"Um, Minerva... You look like this girl I saw once." Genesis said, "I saw her at a party..."

"The one I said you couldn't go to?" Minerva looked at him. Genesis shrugged and got the broom.

"She was wobbling around and stuff. But she was all pale and sweaty too. It was weird because she only had water." Genesis said. He started to sweep up the glass, "But then we found out someone drugged her. Tyler and I took her home."

"That's why I don't want you to-" she stopped, "You think I was drugged?"

"Well, yeah. Where were you?" Genesis asked.

"I went to get coffee..." In a strange coffee shop in the middle of nowhere... "It did taste funny." she said.

There was silence as Genesis cleaned up the glass. Maybe Yazoo had drugged her... She'd have to start meeting Kadaj at a more public place. Minerva found her purse and pulled out her wallet, "Here um... pay for the Pizza..." she said, "I have to go to sleep."

"I didn't order it." Genesis said again. He helped her up the stairs, "But maybe tomorrow?"

"I'll make dinner tomorrow, okay?" she said.

"Yeah," he nodded, "You know, I can run to the store and get you-"

"No!" she didn't mean to shout at him, "No... I don't need anything, just stay here, okay?" Genesis looked confused, and maybe she was acting a little weird, but she wasn't going to send him out to get her anything. Not when that was how Aerith was taken, she would be fine in the morning.

"You're being really weird." Genesis said, "But I think it's because someone drugged you. Maybe we should call the police."

"We can't..." she said, "Don't call anyone. I'll be fine." Kadaj wouldn't help her find Aerith if she got his brother arrested. She would have to deal with it, at least until she found her baby.

0.o.0.o.0

Kadaj sat back and sighed, "This coffee really does taste horrible." he told Yazoo.

"Then maybe you should come back her and make it." Yahoo suggested lazily, "You never said it had to taste good, she just needed to drink enough of it."

"But she didn't!" Kadaj shouted, "Because you made it taste horrible! And she got away too... She's going to realize we drugged her and then what? Then we lost another $20,000!"

"That would be your fault." Yahoo said calmly, "Why are you playing games anyway? Why did you drug her if you weren't going to bring her in? Why not just snatch her like we did with the girl?"

"Because... She's always in public places and too many people saw me with her. If she goes missing before they forget they saw us together, suspicion will be on me, okay?" Kadaj said, "And we need to keep her interested until then."

"I think," Yazoo turned his head to Kadaj, "You want to have sex with her. is that why you drugged her?"

"I will, once we get her." Kodak laughed, "We all will. And no, that isn't why I drugged her."

"No, you want to have actual sex." Yahoo said, "That the girl really got to you." Kadaj glared at his brother. He knew what the older boy was talking about. The last girl they'd taken, after Aerith... She'd told him that the only reason they kidnapped young girls was because they couldn't get anyone their age into bed. He'd gotten angry and he'd tried to prove to her that he could. But she just kept insulting him! And then he'd started punching her and punching her...

He'd killed that girl and then he'd thrown her into the lake. "Maybe I do need to prove it. I can have sex without forcing someone!" he said, "And once I do, we're gonna fuck her until she can't walk and sell her to the highest bidder like we did with her daughter."

Yazoo was smiling as he walked away and Kadaj felt like smashing the cup of coffee against the window. Instead, he decided to work on another fake story about Aerith. He'd drugged her today, so he chances might have been ruined... But the next time she came back, and she would come back, he was going to end the day with her in his bed.

A/N: It's easy for me to forget that there are other characters in this story. But hey, I'm fixing that now. Trying to at least...