Shadowplay

Chapter 11: Prisoner

Vincent lay there watching her sleep for another couple of hours. She had been exhausted, more so emotionally than physically and she bore it all without complaint. Carefully, as not to wake her, he slipped out of her bed and her apartment. Barely making his way into the hall before his phone rang.

"Reeve."

'Is Tifa asleep?'

"Yes. I am coming now."

He closed the phone cutting off Reeve from saying anything else and went to his apartment to change into the expected suit. Reeve met him inside the club, the pair did not address one another till they were closed in the office. Vincent stood with his arms crossed and ignored Reeve's gesture to sit.

"She asked you to stay with her."

Vincent didn't answer. It was obvious that he had been absent and he had already confirmed via the phone call that he had been with her. He noticed the way Reeve's shoulders fell slightly. Guilt stabbed at him. He wasn't even certain what he and Tifa were. The truth was Reeve would be a safer better option for her future.

Reeve sighed and chose not to talk about it further. He changed the topic.

"I looked into Scarlet and you were right. I found nothing to suggest she was here for any other reason than misfortune." He tapped the end of a pen against his desk restlessly. "Emerald is cremated tomorrow and there is still nothing on Topaz."

"The Azure?"

"Half sold. You have the gil for Tifa and she can placate Leon a bit longer. I'm not sure how he is going to react to her not seeing him today. I am surprised he didn't send someone to check on her."

"He has his security outside the apartment block. They will know she is there and not working. Did Marcus come in?"

"Briefly. Looking smug as can be." Reeve threw the pen on the table. "I feel like we aren't getting anywhere. We know little more than we did when we began and we've lost two people."

"Three."

"What?"

"One of the security guards is missing. I checked out his apartment yesterday and there is no sign of him anywhere."

"We're in trouble Vincent. They are in our club and we have nothing."

"Progress is slow but it is progress. We know that Leon's "Boss" may not be "The Boss" and that is more than we began with. We took an entire key of Azure off the street and we have Tifa working the inside. You cannot say all of this has been for nothing."

"No. You're right. We need to move forward though and Tifa is becoming more at risk. Something needs to change."

"No."

"Vincent…"

"No. If we send her to Platinum permanently there is less chance we can protect her."

"It's our best bet to gain Leon's trust. She needs to be seen as his."

"Has it occurred to you that Leon will be expecting Tifa to sleep with him?"

Reeve froze. "There… W…we can find ways to get around that."

"And if we lose sight of her and he takes what he wants? He is not the type of man to take no for an answer. Scarlet attacking in the bathroom may have saved Tifa from that last night. I am certain Leon was going to try."

Reeve nodded. "Alright. But Leon is eventually going to tell her to quit here."

"Only when he gets everything he wants. He still doesn't know who the owner is and he only has half the files, none of which are ours."

"Then we need to push him to trust Tifa. Give her my file."

"If he finds out you are a Turk he will label you a bigger threat than ever."

"What do you think he will do to you when he finds out who you are?"

"I don't think Chaos will let me go without a fight."

They sat discussing the ins and outs of each scenario. Going over every possible down fall until they had exhausted the topic and had nothing left but to wait and see what would happen.

They closed the club down and left the WRO crew to clean up. Then met with Cid and Barrett, so they could go as a group to wake Tifa and talk about the files. Vincent was half way down the hall when the feeling hit him. An icy sensation settled into his veins, spurring him to rush past the surprised trio and burst into Tifa's room.

He burst the lock when he smashed her door in and ran into her room. It was empty. The only sign that anything had happened were the smashed fragments that used to be her bedside lamp and the open window leading towards the back of her building. She was gone.

…

Tifa groaned and tried to roll over. Something wouldn't let her. She woke in a panic feeling herself bound in place and remembering little other than hands grabbing her while she had slept. Something sharp stabbed into her arm and then… nothing.

She forced herself to calm down and run a self-evaluation. She was sore, but not injured and she felt relatively unharmed which meant they either wanted something from her, or she was valuable for another reason. Leverage? Sounds nearby spurred her to fake unconsciousness. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing into a low shallow tempo.

"She better be unharmed, Marcus."

"Yeah boss, she's fine. Waited till the guard dog fucked off and grabbed her quick. Might be a bit groggy for a while though."

"They should know she is missing by now." Tifa heard Leon's smug grating laughter.

"All this just to piss off Vincent? Seems like you coulda' just told her to come here."

"I am making a statement. She didn't show up to meet me as expected and spent the evening with him. If she won't come to me I will take what is mine."

"So you're gonna let her go?"

"No. She is going to tell me everything she knows about Cerberus' head of security and in return he gets to live and she will get to walk around with less bruises. You are her new personal bodyguard Marcus. Don't let her out of your sight."

"Roger that. Want me to untie her?"

"Yes. We can't have my princess waking in fear. It's my job to instil that."

Tifa froze, hoping she gave off a convincing appearance while trying to determine her surroundings via sound. She felt Marcus untie her. She heard footsteps, near and far. She heard muffled conversation in the distance including more than one voice, and when she felt she might finally be alone she dared to open her eyes and sit up.

She was in a bed. A very large four-poster bed in a bedroom decorated much the same as the gauche room at Platinum. Whoever decorated these rooms seemed to be attempting an old elegant renaissance feel, and failed by placing too much into one space.

Along the wall opposite the bedroom door sat a heavy dresser with a turning vanity mirror. One look and she knew it was antique and it was completely wasted in this horrible room. It was only while eyeing the furniture that she began to note the finer details of scattered feminine objects.

She saw raspberry soft fabric… a dress perhaps, draped over the wooden chair in front of the dresser. Perfume, a simple array of cosmetics and as she stood she noticed several shoe boxes stacked at the end of the bed. It was clear this was either a guest room or at the least a woman's room.

In her distraction she failed to hear the approaching footsteps. Marcus opened the door and startled her into a gasp. He held up his hands in surrender.

"Chill princess. You're not gonna get hurt. Just wanted to see if you were awake and tell you to get ready. There's a bathroom out here if you need to shower and everything you need is either in there or here. Boss will be waiting for you." He winked and shut the door behind him leaving Tifa feeling like a dove in a gilded cage.

…

"The sleazy lackey is gone and so's the guards." Cid sat down and lit a cigarette. For the first time Vincent didn't even look at him in rebuke.

"She won't be at Platinum. He's too smart for that."

Reeve sat on the sofa next to Barrett. Cid straddled one of Tifa's kitchen chairs backwards and Vincent leant against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed and his head bowed.

"Leon has a house outside of town. It's a large building with security fences and cameras. I bet he took her there." Vincent nodded his agreement and met Reeve's gaze.

"It seems the likely option. There are no ransom notes or signs of serious trauma. I do not believe he harmed her or intends to. For the moment."

Barrett stood up with a grunt and went to grab a beer from the fridge. "What I dun' get is why he took her now. He musta known she was gonna go with him eventually."

Vincent sighed. "He took her to get to me."

"Because she gets cosy with ya in the club once a night? Seems off." Cid's frown echoed his confusion.

"No." Reeve was looking at Vincent. He had caught on. "She didn't show up at Platinum today. She was with Vincent the entire time and if Leon had someone come and check on her… what would they have seen Vincent?"

He didn't answer. But the fire in eyes when he pinned Reeve beneath it said he shouldn't push his luck.

"In Leon's eyes she ignored an order and spent that time with Vincent. This is personal."

Vincent ignored the stares he was getting from all three men, angered with himself for not realising that Leon would take it as a slight against him. There was a window in her room. It was small, but clear enough of a view into it with the lamp on if someone bothered to climb up the building behind the apartments. Even if that was a far-fetched thought, it would not have taken much for them to see Vincent leave late in the night and assume that he was the one with her.

"So now what?" Barrett broke the tension before it could turn hostile.

"I'm going to check Leon's house." Vincent left not answering Reeve's call's to come back. Reeve gave a cry of frustration.

"I'm gonna go see I can learn somethin' off the street." Barrett abandoned his beer and started for the door.

"I'm goin' with ya." Cid waved his phone at Reeve. "Ya'll know how to find us."

Reeve sat on Tifa's sofa staring down at his clenched hands feeling utterly useless. He had to admit he was also jealous. It was clear that Tifa had feelings toward Vincent but he was unsure how deeply Vincent felt for her. He pulled out his phone and began making a few calls all the while chastising himself for not being honest and telling Tifa what he felt.

…

She walked down the hall slowly. The entire building, in every corner she saw, filled with the same overdone antiquated theme. The paintings on the walls cluttered together and bumped frames obscuring the wallpaper beneath it and none of them were straight. She mused the askew art was a perfect metaphor for the house. She came across a maid and opened her mouth to ask for direction, but the maid only waved her hand urging Tifa to follow.

Large double wooden doors opened to allow her into a sitting room with an executive sized desk at the front of it. Marcus was laying on one of the sofa's with his feet propped up on the arm. He was reading a newspaper. Leon stood from behind the desk and came towards her, all the while dragging his eyes all over her body as he was want to do.

"Much prettier." The raspberry dress floated around mid-thigh in a soft skirt. The strapless top was decorated beading along the bust line, it was simple, but particularly feminine and she knew he purposefully wanted her to feel like the weaker sex.

"I don't feel pretty. I feel like someone stabbed with a needle in my sleep." She shot Marcus a dark look. He didn't even notice.

Leon giggled. A high-pitched girlish noise she was unable to prevent from causing her to cringe. He stopped, his eyes narrowing.

"Did you have a nice evening Ruby? Get some sleep?"

"Up until I was drugged I was perfectly happy."

"I'm sure you were. All wrapped up in the embrace of your guard lover. I am sure he is missing you about now."

Tifa realised what he was about then. She cursed herself for being so weak and not attending his midday lunch request.

"I needed some time."

"I'm sure you did." He grabbed her wrist and forced her into an empty sofa. "Now I need something from you."

She stared at him waiting.

"You are going to tell me everything you know about Vincent and when I ask a question you will answer it. So long as I am satisfied you will remain in one piece."

There was an ominous clicking noise behind her head. She felt something hard press into her skull.

"I am sure you understand what happens if I am dissatisfied."

She nodded obediently, even while her mind concocted multiple escape options. Beginning with, but not limited to, grabbing the gun that had been pointed at her head and killing Leon with a point-blank bullet.

"His name is…"

"Vincent."

"Very funny. Vincent what?"

Tifa hesitated. What were the odds he would recognise the name? Probably not so great. Cloud's name was the more infamous of all of them. Vincent had avoided any public exposure. She lied anyway.
"Nanaki."

"Interesting. Where is he from?"

"Wutai, originally."

"He was something before he was head of security. I want to know where he came from."

Tifa couldn't resist, she wanted to see Leon's face.

"He's a Turk."

Leon actually went white. It took all of Tifa's strength to not giggle. She had to look away to hide the grin.
"A Turk? You are certain?"

"Yes. He and Reeve are both Turks."

There was a snapping of paper opposite her and she watched as Marcus sat up and discarded his reading material. He looked horrified.

"I see." His nervous gaze darted from Marcus to her rapidly. "What is he doing here?"

"Running a club."

"Reeve is running a club, he is just security. What purpose does he have here?"

"He's the owner."

That floored them. Marcus jumped up from the sofa with shock. Leon waved him back down to sit.

"That explains why you favour him. Of course you would bed a Turk and the owner."

Tifa almost argued that she hadn't bedded him. She chose that silence was the greater power at the moment. However the thought that this man's vanity was so great he couldn't see past himself was rather incredible. He honestly thought that two Turks would go out of their way just to spite him.

Marcus broke the pregnant pause. "We should tell the boss."

"No! I don't want him coming here and making a mess of my club."

"But he's a Turk, he might know them…"

"SHUT UP."
Now Marcus was efficiently cowed into silence Leon started pacing back and forth in front of Tifa. His pace was anxious and the gun pointed at her head trembled.

"Not to interrupt your pensive pacing, but could the man with the gun please point it somewhere else now?"

Leon stopped and nodded to the unseen gun wielder. The press of metal disappeared much to Tifa's immediate relief. Leon kept pacing.

"Your name!"

Tifa blinked. "My name?"

"YES!" The stress was starting to show on Leon's patience.

"Marlene."

"Marlene what?"

"Wallace."

Leon stopped pacing and scoffed. "No wonder they call you Ruby. Where are you from?"

"Midgar. Now Edge."

"And you did what? Stop making me ask every tiny question and get on with it!"

"I lived in sector seven before the plate fell. I ran a bar. I have always been a barmaid."

He grunted and resumed his pacing taking her word at face value.

"I came here to find better work. There is nothing left in Midgar but wasteland. Reeve gave me job because I came recommended by Emerald. We worked private functions a long time ago."

"You were a whore?"

"No."

Leon stopped pacing, "Well you're going to be."

Sorry that took so long. With the last ME3 DLC's coming out we've been farming credits for the multiplayer portion tomorrow. BUY ALL THE THINGS!