Final Fantasy VII:
Destiny of the One Winged Angel Chapter: 12 – Old Allies"What?!" a gruff voice exclaimed, heated in the emotions of anger and disbelief. Cloud dodged, as a glass of whisky aimed for his head smashed against the wall behind him. He barely had time to react, when a huge hand grabbed hold of him around the collar and slammed him against the wall where the glass had shattered. "You son of a bitch! Just what in Holy's name, how could you let this happen?!" Barrett raged, as he pushed his gun arm up under the blond mans chin.
"Hey…Barrett…I couldn't do anything…" Cloud stammered, his eyes wide with fear and shock. He had seen the dark skinned man angry on countless times, but never had he seen him this angry. He risked a swallow, gulping back the rush of explanations that tried to fight their way out of his system. He wouldn't try to justify his inability to protect them; there was no way he could since he should have been able to protect them, regardless of his physical state.
"Barrett…right," came the tentative tones of Tsengs voice, the big man turned on him with a snarl and withering glare to match, "Cloud was practically incapacitated, he couldn't have made it in time to rescue them," he continued, matching the others dark gaze coolly. Seeing that he couldn't win this argument by force, Barrett shoved Cloud roughly against the wall, then stalked off behind the counter. He picked out a shot glass to replace the one he had broken, and filled it to the brim with a mix of rum and whisky. He took a seat and downed the shot in one take, then began to fill up another.
"Daddy…" came a gentle and meek voice, a little girl, she was no more than nine and had once had a mop of brown hair, which she had allowed to grow and was now brushing her shoulders. Her dark eyes against fair skin looked up into her fathers, as he met her worried gaze, "Daddy, I'm sure Cloud would have protected them if he was able to…and I know that he would do anything to go find Tifa and Lumira…" she said reassuringly. She had only had a few moments to meet the girl who was only a few years older than her, before she and Tifa had made off to find Cloud. Barrett's gaze softened and he looked back up at Cloud, who still stood against the wall beside the door. A momentary smile flashed across his face, as he took in the almost child-like fear Cloud held within him, his pupils were still pinpricks, and he looked ready to bolt at the first sign of hostility.
"Come on Cloud, take a seat…I'm not going to hurt you, although I will if you don't order a drink…you take a seat too," the big man said, indicating the last comment to Tseng. Cloud removed himself from the wall, somewhat timidly and took a seat at the very end of the counter, keeping at least four seats between him and the former AVALANCHE leader. Tseng watched and stifled a small laugh, then made his way to a seat opposite to Barrett, who gave the blond an odd look along with an arched eyebrow, "come closer you fool," sensing that this was a private matter, Marlene left the company of the three men to go into the residential part of the bar.
"Yeah, you're making an ass of yourself, so scoot up," Tseng added, backing Barrett's words up, while the dark man took out two more shot glasses and placed them by the former Turk. Clouds face flushed crimson at the humiliating words that were spoken, and so slowly made his way to a seat next to Tseng, as he ordered his drink of rum and vodka, with a hint of lime.
"Plain iced vodka…with lemon," Cloud said, answering Barrett's questioning look, as he moved one of the two extra glasses towards him.
"So, tell me again what happened, maybe I can help in someway," the dark man said as he poured the drinks and turned to retrieve fresh lemon and lime. When he placed the sliced fruit in the glasses, Tseng took his up and drank it after giving it a customary swirl, while Cloud looked at his in a distrusting manner.
"Come on Cloud, drink it it's not like I drugged the fruit or anything…" Barrett said, somewhat perplexed by this behaviour. Feeling ashamed at his suspicion, Cloud took his up and followed suit with Tseng, swirling then drinking, "honestly…where has the trust gone, I mean you don't see a guy for five years and already he's someone to be stepped around with," he continued to say, as he refilled their glasses.
"Well… in case you haven't already guessed, I'm Tseng," the former Turk said, as he took up his refill.
"Yeah…thought I recognised you from somewhere…but I swear you died back at the Temple," Barrett answered, filling his own mix of rum and whisky, it appeared, to Cloud, that that was the only thing that kept Barrett from demanding what had happened in a violent manner, 'Well that and Marlene,' he thought, as he drunk his iced vodka. As they drank, Tseng and Cloud relayed the account of what had happened since Cloud had left two days ago, and how Tseng was back from the grave, so to speak. Barrett hadn't said a word throughout the whole thing, and so when they had finished their tale, it appeared for a moment that he would do something aggressive, since he had his one good arm clutched tightly about his shot glass, and his brow twitched above his closed eyes.
"Um…Barrett…are you-" Cloud began to ask, his tone slow and tentative, but was cut off as he jumped back from Barrett's fist which had swung out and slammed at the spot where Cloud had just sat, shattering the glass that was still within his hand. Tseng just watched silently, unsure whether to interrupt as Cloud had done, then resorted to studying his partially empty glass.
"Dammit Strife! Why does trouble seem to follow you everywhere?" he said, his gruff voice deliberately low as he struggled to keep it calm. Red blood had begun to bloom in his hand, forming small rivers that coursed its way down along the lines of his palm. He kneeled down behind the counter, and sounds of items being moved were promptly heard then ended, as the big man reappeared with a first aid kit. He popped it open and took out a roll of bandages and some antiseptic, Tseng offered his help and began to tend to the wound while Barrett simply looked puzzled for a moment, then continued, "I wish I could come with you, I mean this threat is obviously serious…but I can't come, I have to take care of Marlene…but what I can do is make sure that you're well equipped…how about going out to fetch a few things, and I'll have some stuff ready for you to take when you come back," he finished with a companionate smile, as Tseng tied the bandages and made sure it was secure.
"Okay…" was all Cloud could manage as a response, as Tseng downed the last of his drink and went up to stand beside Cloud, before the two left the 'Seventh Heaven' bar and stepped out into the somewhat busy streets of New Midgar. "So…where to first…?" he asked, meeting Tsengs gaze.
"Weapons…I need to check out the daggers," he said, then caught Cloud's questioning look, "I gave up using guns when I no longer became a Turk…besides I'm more adept at close range," he commented, adding a light smile to the statement. Cloud frowned as he tried to understand the humour, then his eyes widened in understanding, Tseng laughed as he caught the expression, but didn't grace him with the true meaning.
~*~
"I guess that's everything that we may need…I wonder what Barrett could possibly have that could be of use to us," Cloud wondered as they re-entered the brightly lit bar. The shattered glass had been cleared and Barrett was there, behind the counter greeting them with a smile. Their eyes scanned the area, but nothing seemed out of place and there didn't appear to be any form of supplied present, 'I knew he was just chatting crap…' the blond thought as he walked in and set his bag down.
"I'd take that back, if I were you, Cloud," came a familiar soft voice that once held ice, but now seemed to border on a lighter note. Cloud and Tseng turned as one to face the voice, the owner emerging from the shadows cast by the open door, as he closed it. The man was tall and had black hair, which had at one point been long and unruly but was now neat and tied back. He still wore the red bandanna, but it was no longer wrapped through his hair, but under it, allowing the longer strands to frame his face. His familiar, long red cape was about his shoulders, framing the black shirt studded with silver buttons along each side, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He no longer wore the metal glove and claw on his left arm, instead it was replaced with a similar fingerless glove to the one he wore on his right hand, and his boots were no longer metal plated, instead he wore black boots that were hardly discernible against his black trousers. "Anything else missing from my usual appearance?" he asked, the tone still unusually misplaced. Clouds eyes traced the mans perfect face, now full of colour although it was still far from any other persons normal complexion, his dark red eyes twinkled as he spotted that the man no longer covered his mouth.
"V-Vincent…?" the blond man queried, his tone expressing his doubt. It was hard to believe that this could be the man that slept around in coffins, or at least he did up until they found him in the basement of Nibelheim Mansion. An involuntary shudder ran through him, as memories of what used to go on there surfaced in his system. A smile broke through on Vincent's face, making him look less like he normally did and increase Clouds sense of doubt.
"The one and only, now wipe that stupid look off your face, you're making yourself look like an ass," he said, echoing Tsengs words from earlier that day. Clouds face flushed as the words affected him again, 'I am not being an ass, I'm just being cautious,' he thought as the red-eyed man chuckled, "well…if it isn't Tseng…long time no see," he said, landing his eyes on the cool form of the one time head of the Turks, "no need to explain, Barrett already told me," he added catching the questioning look on the others face, "so when do we leave?" Tseng looked at Cloud, who in turn looked at Barrett.
"Hey, don't look at me, I kept up my end of the bargain," he said, busying himself with wiping some glasses.
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked, not understanding what the big man had meant.
"I called Vincent, that's what I meant when I said I could make sure that you were well equipped for your journey," he sighed exasperatingly, while Vincent checked his gun, the QuickSilver.
"In that case, we leave as soon as possible, preferably now," the blond said, his former light tones diminishing as his previous feelings of anger and desperation settled in. He had to make it up to Tifa; he had to rescue her and Lumira from that man.