Good cop bad cop pt.4

A/N: Blimey, part four already XD I promise I'll make this a good one, to make up for the absence

The police radio was blaring out directions and the sirens were loud in her ears. Despite the situation, Tifa found herself excited. After nearly three weeks of fruitless searching, clueless envelopes revealing only that Canary had been watching her every move, if the regular photos were anything to go by, Tifa was getting pretty bored of the office. So when the chief had offered her the chance to go with them to a robbery, she had jumped at the chance. She was practically buzzing in her seat.

She had been fretting and worrying over the note Canary had left her in the first envelope. So far, Aerith was the only one on the force who knew about the note. They had sat up late together one night trying to work it out. They had discovered that some of the letters had been written in bold, reading; 'Vampires tend their victims. They leave the opportunity. This cannot hide their ways, but they always make the move. So, Lockheart how is your neck?'

At first it had terrified them, but after rifling through all the papers and files on the case, they had come across a text which read the drug they were accused of dealing as encouraging vampiric tendencies, resulting in attacks where people had been bitten. Test results on a sample of the drug revealed that it induced a state of hysteria, in which the victim was easily angered and their favoured choice of attack seemed to be biting. So no real Vampirism then. Phew.

Now, Tifa was shuffling in her seat, fingers fiddling absentmindedly with the trigger of her gun as she leant over to stare out of the front windscreen of the vehicle. They were getting close now, the voice over the radio said so, and Tifa was just itching to pull her trigger on some bad guys. As soon as the car pulled over she was out, running to the building and peering inside. A couple of guys were holding guns and there were the shopkeeper and his family crouched on the floor. Damn, Tifa thought, hostages.

She crouched low and ran along underneath the windows, standing up again and pressing herself to the wall when she got to the other side. She jerked her gun twice at the officers waiting ready on her command, signalling they should surround the shop. Then, without a backward glance, she turned round the corner and scurried into the building through the back door. It brought her right behind the counter and she froze. She could practically hear the breath on the back of her neck. She looked up, cursing under her breath as a pair of green eyes stared down at her.

The man looked almost amused as she stood up straight, the gun raised in her hands either side of her head. He tutted, looking her up and down and he folded his arms over his chest. "Oh dear inspector, not really your lucky day is it?"

She snarled, bringing the gun down and firing two shots into his left kneecap, and vaulted the counter. The man went down with a shout behind her, and two guns flew up front of her as she landed. She only had time to hear Aerith's scream and the four shots that sounded in front of her, before the dull thuds of the bullets hitting her ribs, and then the world went black.

The first thing she knew, was that she wanted to throw up. Helpfully there was a bucket by the side of her bed, and she grabbed it, lurching sideways to vomit into it. But nothing came up; she just lay there, breathlessly heaving into the bin. Once the initial feeling of nausea had passed, she dumped the bin back on the floor and lay back in her bed, clutching her middle. It was almost unbearably painful, and she felt almost twice as thick as she normally did, her stomach and one shoulder being swathed in bandages. Her head also felt heavy, and upon reaching a hand up to her forehead, she discovered that too was wrapped up tightly. She decided she must have been shot, four times if she remembered correctly. She wondered where the last bullet had hit. She could ask in the morning.

She lay still in the darkness staring up at the white ceiling above her. She couldn't get back to sleep, she knew that; she was far too uncomfortable and hot to sleep, but throwing the covers off would probably hurt, and it wouldn't do her any good to be cold. She huffed out a sigh, closing her eyes and trying not to think about how badly she'd messed up. But that was what happened wasn't it, when you got too cocky, you mess up, and she'd messed up so badly she'd gotten shot. Four times.

She was just wondering how Aerith was, because she was pretty sure cid wouldn't scream like that, when she heard a noise at the window. She turned her head to see it open and a pale, blond head appear from the darkness. She huffed again and returned to staring at the ceiling. She could hear him climbing through the window and nearing the bed, pulling a chair from somewhere in the shadows. He sat close to her head. "Teef?..."

She could already feel her heart hammering against her chest at the concern in his voice, pure and honest concern. There was nothing confident, or triumphant about the way he said her name, it was just a soft, almost pleading beg for her to be alright, it reminded her of a small boy, innocent and unguarded. She gulped, suddenly nervous, more nervous than she had been with him in her flat, more nervous than when he had kissed her. She nodded once.

She heard the sigh of relief and felt his breath ghost over her as he reached for her hand by her side. "God – When Pup told me you were injured I didn't know what to do. I was going spare sitting there all day with phones ringing and no news coming in."

She didn't know why he was telling her this but she let him continue anyway. "There were people running round and round trying to find out what happened to you – dead or alive, and where you were being treated? All we really knew was you'd been shot in the head."

He squeezed her hand, shuddering. "I - I don't want you to die. Ever."

She turned to look at him, shocked. His face was unreadable under the shadow of his hair in the dark room. She whispered, "But- I'll put you in prison."

He lifted his head at her voice, it was so weak and frail, she almost felt disgusted with herself for being so pathetic and helpless. He said, a hint of amusement drifting back into his voice, "Not like that you won't Lockheart." Then, "Do you remember the guys who shot you?"

She shook her head. He huffed, "Fine. It doesn't matter, would have helped though."

He looked mischievously at her, leant in close to her ear, so close she could smell the shampoo he used, and whispered, "Once you get out of here, how do you feel about dinner?"

She gulped at the memory of their last meal together, and Canary kissed her throat, chuckling. "Well, whatever, I guess I should leave you to sleep, since you don't seem to be too badly damaged."

Then he stood to leave, and just as he turned, she caught his sleeve. He looked surprised when she held on, tugging him down over her so she could whisper in his ear. "I'd much prefer a movie."

'Ha. Chew on that.'

A/N: So? Nice new development there XD I just couldn't help making cloud open up to Tifa a little more, it was too tempting to resist! XD Well, leave a comment and any more requests are very welcome. I have the assassin drabble done, I just need to type it, and the AU fic is on the way I promise XD