10/30-I will never hurt you.
Something stung in her skin. Her eyes blinked awake as her cheek throbbed. There was a red blur to her left and she blinked her eyes to force it to focus. "G-Genesis?" Why did he hit her?
Her vision cleared and she saw that the red blur was a woman. She looked at her crossly; one perfectly done eyebrow arched in annoyance. "I don't have all day to wait on you. Follow me or I'll slap you again."
Tifa frowned, did a quick look around and realized that she was yet in another place she did not recognize. That little girl and whoever she was working with must've kidnapped her.
"Did you hear me?" The redhead said as she raised her palm again. But before she could bring her hand down, Tifa turned to her side and kneed the woman's ankle, sending her down. Without giving her a quarter, Tifa grabbed the woman's wrist and tugged to turn her until she had the woman pinned down with her body.
"Who are you and where am I?" Tifa hissed as she twisted the wrist that she held, causing the other woman to grimace in pain. The woman tossed her perfectly coiffed hair and snarled, muttering expletives that would have made Cid proud. She twisted the wrist that she held again, eliciting further cries of pain.
"Well done." A voice said and she turned to see a dark haired man in black walk in from a door in the corner of the room. Tifa squinted from where she held the other woman. There was something familiar about him... "Vincent?" she blinked as she waited to get a good look on his face.
He settled near the light and the frown became visible in his bandaged face. "Who?"
"Don't just stand there! Get this bitch off of me!" The woman called out from beneath as she struggled. Tifa eyed the man warily, using her other arm to silently feel for her belt and the materias slotted within.
"I quite like where you are, Rosso." He said as he ignored her and turned his red tinted eyes back to Tifa.
"Why you—" The woman called Rosso glared. Tifa tightened her hold and, in one fluid movement, placed her foot at the back of head to push her firmly down. Further protests were muffled by her red hair.
Nero turned one visible red eye down the woman then flicked his wrist, and suddenly she stopped struggling. She looked down to see a hair thin needle stuck into the vein of Rosso's arm. She looked back at him with shock in her eyes. "Did you just—"
"She'll come around in an hour or so. Now come with me."
She frowned and stood up from the limp body of the woman. "I am not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on!" she exclaimed.
Nero turned back to her with an unreadable look on his bandaged face. "You can either come with me willingly or I can drag you there."
Tifa opened her mouth to protest but Nero had already moved toward through the door and she followed with a huff. She was determined to get to the bottom of this. There was no way that she would allow herself to be... She stopped in her tracks. Did she just smell chicken? Her nose led the way and she turned to a large room with a table in the middle.
And there was food.
She stared, unable to believe what she's seeing. "Oh god, I knew it. I'm dead."
"I assure you, you're not." She jumped at the sound of another voice in the room. She looked around to see Nero standing next to a large man who wore clothes that were as white as his hair. "My name is Weiss. And on behalf of the Tsviets, I welcome you among our midst."
Her eyes darted from the man back to the food. Her stomach grumbled silently inside her. She cleared her throat and forced herself to look away from the spread. "Why am I here?"
"Because you need our protection. Miss Heart, I don't think you realize—"
She frowned, irritated at the use of the name. They must've been trailing them to have gotten wind of that term of endearment. "How can I accept protection from a group that tried to harm me before?" She cut in.
Weiss took her interruption graciously. "A mistake. We have since altered our strategy to approach you." He eyed her patiently.
She chose her words carefully. "What do you want from me?"
Weiss and Nero were silent for a while then when Nero spoke it was quiet and child like voice. "Did you come from the surface?'
She nodded warily.
Weiss turned to his brother and nodded. "We wanted to know if... it's still possible to go up."
"Is that all that what you want? Information?" Tifa looked from Nero to Weiss, both intimidating creatures on their own rights, and suddenly it all made sense to her. From Nero's wings and bandaged body to Weiss' shock white hair... They were not normal people. Considering where they are, these people could only be more of Shin-Ra's biological experiments.
Weiss smiled. And Tifa could almost believe that they were human, still. "And we want Genesis' cooperation."
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Cooperation for what? If you think you can manipulate him by using me, that's not going to work. I am no one to him."
"He almost killed my brother for touching you, and he is currently ripping the city apart in search of you. You cannot be the "nothing" you believe."
She shook her head, feeling light headed all of the sudden. "He barely even knows me." She raised her hand to massage her temples. What was the idiot trying to prove now, after flying off and leaving her to starve? Tifa clenched her fist and turned to them. She looked down at the food set in the table. There was nothing for it now. If she wanted to eat, she might as well play ball with them. But she had to set some ground rules.
"I will not answer any more questions until you answer mine. Now, what do you need his cooperation for?"
Weiss waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing sinister as you might believe. We want him to acknowledge us, that's all."
She frowned. "Why would you want him to 'acknowledge' you? What good would that do?"
Weiss smiled, a strange sort of smile that was tinged with sadness. Almost. "Perhaps an exchange of information is in order." Weiss gestured to the empty seats at the table and her feet took her there in a heartbeat. Before he spoke his next words, Tifa had already shoved a small, round pastry-like dish in her mouth. "You can ask us whatever you like, and we will explain as we are able."
Tifa swallowed and took a drink from a nearby glass of water. She sighed. That felt divine. Then she looked at Weiss who had also taken a seat in front of her and had an amused smile in his face. "I refuse to be used as bait." She said as she reached out for a slice of the chicken. "I will answer all the questions you may have about the surface as well, however, do not ask me about my past, and do not ask me about Genesis either because up until a few days ago, I didn't even know him."
Weiss nodded. "Very well. I accept those terms. You are our guest, not our prisoner. Let us partake of this meal then, to seal the deal." He gestured at his brother to come take a seat beside them and he did. Suddenly the little girl who called herself Shelke and one other large muscled man came into sight and they all took their respective seats on the table. Weiss looked around. "Where is Rosso?"
"I put her to sleep. She was being rude to our guest." Nero said as he used his talon-like fingers to skewer a meat from the plate. She watched the large guy with blue hair dig into some... fruit? She had never seen the likes of it before but it smelled kind of sweet. Shelke was chewing quietly from her plate. Tifa watched them all and it was almost like watching a family eat.
She caught Nero's eye at one point and breathed out the question that was simmering in her mind. "How do I know this is not a trap?"
Weiss looked at everyone else first before he turned back to her. "We promise never to hurt you. We would never willingly harm our Father, or those whom he cherishes."
Tifa choked on the food she suddenly swallowed while everyone resumed their meal in silence.
A / N: I'm super sorry for the lateness of this chapter. Major, major life changes. Including a change in country of residence has prevented me from updating. I hope to resume normal updating sched in the near future, since things are starting to quiet down around here.
Stick around, and thank you so much for leaving reviews. They are, much, much appreciated.