It's been a while again and this chapter has been waiting a while for posting. I actually planned to shorten it a little before I uploaded it, but I have not been so horrible motivated over the last few weeks and I scarcely find time to write.
So, I thought that rather than making you wait much longer, I might as well bother you with a little longer chapter.
Please enjoy.
Chapter 35: Reeve: The Price We Pay
"As a symbol of sin, hurled from another world, it towers over the eerie rubble of the Fallen City, itself a ruin of Shin-Ra's glory. Behold, everyone, this graveyard of guilt, the feast that quietness and darkness hold over Midgar today. Once called 'Mako City', Shin-Ra's symbol of might and prosperity is nothing more today than a symbol for a man's sins and his punishment. Hybris and Nemesis of not even a dynasty.
"Here are the ruin of Sector Seven, a mountain of dirt, the last struggle of a tyrant to conquer the masses. It is nothing more a sign of how futile his tyranny was … and of how many victims it cost.
"But the ruins of Midgar do not only hold sin but also salvation, for below the rubble in what were the former slums, we find a church ..."
Reeve switched out the TV. Someone had told him that this documentation was worth watching and had given him a copy. Yet, he could not find it was. Of course, what the woman said was true, and very poetic. But she said nothing no one already knew. Just spread unhappy rumours further. He gave a sigh and looked at the files on his table.
Over three weeks since Cloud had returned. Over three weeks since Reeve had hoped that things would turn back to normal.
They had not. Freakish summer weather had overwhelmed Edge like a plague, slowed the building units down, made him worry that the water would not last. The drop he had taken from Cloud's vial still resisted all attempts of analysis. They knew all ingredients, but – mixed together, they just did not work.
Reeve asked himself why on Gaia he struck that bargain with Tifa to give the vial to Rufus.
Oh, he knew why. He had known then that she would make it, and while Rufus would be cured, she would return to Cloud. He had been so angry when Cloud had told him that Rufus had been there at their house. That Tifa had let him stay there. That she had lied to him. So, he had made her promise that, if he gave her the vial, she would return to Cloud. Not to them.
He regretted that promise. It had not been fair. It was not his job to fix everyone's lives, and it had been cruel towards Tifa, but he had thought everything would go back to normal. That Tifa would realise how much she loved Cloud and what a horrible mistake she had made with listening to Rufus. Yet, every time he saw Tifa and Cloud, he could literally feel the estrangement between them. And he missed Tifa's frequent visits.
And then, there was that business with Sulfur, of course. Sulfur Environmental Technolegies. The company that had sprung up from nowhere. The company that bought up all the environmental companies Rufus could not prove were associated with Shin-Ra. The company that within a week had tripled Shin-Ra's seize and was threatening to come close to WRO. The company about which they did not know more than who owed it – Hendric and Minerva Paul. Of whom no one knew where to find them, registration offices still being down ever since Meteor.
A company so grand and nothing known about them.
Shin-Ra was positively frantic about it. If it had not been mean, Reeve would have laughed at Rufus, gleefully, for tying himself up in his own web. If he had not been uneasy about Sulfur, too.
And White Geostigma patients had started disappearing again. Not in a flash like last time. Not in a frenzy. But it had already been four. Maybe five. And Reeve only waited for the day when their bodies were found.
If that had not been enough, there had been what seemed to be an accident in one of Shin-Ra's power plants up in the mountains. But it did not truly look like and accident.
His telephone rang.
He picked it up.
His secretary told him that Tseng of the Turks had arrived.
He asked her to show him in and moments later, the door opened to admit the Turk and Reeve almost sucked in his breath. The Turk – was in his Turk suit, of course. But he also had his hair a lot shorter and he looked exactly like that overzealous Turk Reeve had met so many years ago for the first time. Not a hair out of place and his face all calm, all duty, but the black eyes burning with zeal.
Rufus' loyal watchdog.
Vice President – no, official President of Shin-Ra, Inc. as Rufus still continued faking death. Reeve had never thought that a Turk would one day become head of Shin-Ra, even if only for show.
And now, said Turk approached him surrounded in calmness.
"Good morning, Reeve," he said with a short nod of his head. His left arm, Reeve noticed, was strapped to his body, but it looked exactly like an arm. There was a black glove over the hand, there was nothing that suggested it was a prosthesis.
"Good to see you, Tseng! - How is you arm?"
"Better."
"Please, have a seat!" He pointed at the visitors' chairs in front of his desk. How could an arm that was missing become better?
"Thank you," the Turk said and lowered himself onto one of them. His calm always surprised Reeve. As if he were the eye of a storm. He had never seen the Turk enraged.
"Well, I would never have supposed that a Turk would once become official president of Shin-Ra, Inc. - Congratulations!"
There was a tiny smile on Tseng's face that Reeve could not place. It seemed bemused and Reeve had no idea why. Was the Turk triumphing? Or was he, Reeve, missing something? But different from Rufus, Tseng did not give a smooth reply aimed to leave Reeve at loss but tell him exactly what Rufus wanted him to think. Tseng... seemed to prefer to leave one in darkness. It made Reeve feel uneasy although he had always liked the Turk.
"How is Rufus, anyway?" Reeve asked on, tried to sound natural and without triumph as he surrounded the desk. But if he had hoped for surprise – or even a reaction – from Tseng, he had mistaken. Rufus himself would have now started some kind of game. Yet, Tseng just looked at him, coal black eyes that seemed to assess everything. "Busy."
He did not even deny it, then! Reeve could not but smile even if he felt very angry they had lied to him and most of all played with him. "I thought he was dead?"
"He got better."
Reeve blinked at Tseng, trying to find out if the Turk had just joked. He could not read much on the Turk's face and it made him slightly uneasy. "Oh... really?"
"He doesn't have New Geostigma. We thought he did, but a thorough examination proved that wrong. Just a most unfortunate cold. So, there's not much of a need to act as if he were dead anymore. We'd still ask you to keep silent about it for a while, though."
Reeve nodded, feeling suddenly sad. He was not surprised to hear the proof for it that they had used that vial. But it reminded him just how much that plan had failed. He did not like to keep silent about Rufus' survival but maybe, for Shin-Ra to survive, that was necessary. Especially now that Sulfur Inc. had appeared. And if he still wanted Rufus to fund WRO, it maybe was not such a good idea to help destroy Shin-Ra.
"Will he come in your stead from now on?" Reeve asked. He did not mind Tseng. Even though Rufus was easier to read... well, maybe not easier to read, but more emotional, he preferred the cool presence of the Turk. After all, he had a certain admiration for the Turk's skills and most of all for his devotion. It had to be true devotion if he was back on his feet already. But Reeve also noticed that Tseng was not wearing anything that suggested that Rufus was listening in on their conversation or even giving Tseng orders.
Tseng gave a half shake. "If you come to Junon, he'll see you. That is, unless you'd rather deal with me?"
Reeve lifted his shoulder. "It might be a good idea to talk to him from time to time."
Tseng nodded. "He agrees."
"Have you heard anything new about Sulfur Inc.?" Reeve started with what was the actual reason for their meeting and kept his eyes closely on Tseng.
There was a flash of uneasiness on the Turk's face, anger maybe even. "Of course we have. They are buying up everything we owned in Edge. And a lot more. - I am here to ask, too, if you were able to secure at least some document from our building?"
Reeve shook his head. "I'm sorry. But when we got there, everything had burned."
"That is a pity. Do you know anything about their aims?"
Reeve shook his head. "They haven't made an appearance, yet. I sent invitations to their company building – it seems to be here in Edge, too, but it's tiny – but so far, no one has responded. - Do you know anything?" That was of course why he had wanted to talk to Shin-Ra. While WRO had a wide network, Shin-Ra still had the better intelligence. Way better with the Turks.
Tseng placed a file on the table. "It is obvious that their leaders are well funded."
"Hendric and Minerva Paul?"
"We believe that those two names are merely a pseudonym. But we can't get our hands on the organizational documents – the office burned during the riot and we suppose that they keep their own locked up somewhere."
Reeve frowned. "We believe so, too. Before you will tell me about your suspicion, let me mention ours first: I think that 'Sulfur' is awefully close to 'Rufus'. At least, if read backwards..."
"It says 'Ruflus'."
Reeve gave a nod and tried to look threatening.
Tseng either did not notice the look or chose not to. "May I point out to you that Rufus got the best education Gaia had to offer? He does know how to spell his name."
Was there a hint of protectiveness in Tseng's voice or was it void as usual? At least, his eyes seemed a little more alive. "Maybe the L is for decoy?" Reeve suggested. "Or he chose it to commemorate his dead brother?"
Tseng raised an eyebrow. "I'm not even sure he even bothers to remember Lazard's name. The only thing Rufus sees in Lazard is the unfortunate result of some indiscretion on his father's side. Fortunately a dead one."
And what did you see in him? Reeve asked himself as Tseng's reply sent a cold shiver down his spine. Tseng had worked with Lazard, he had known the man. But quite a few people Tseng had worked with were dead. Reeve asked himself if it bothered the Turk.
"Maybe they wanted the analogy. Maybe, they aren't even aware of it. I would think that more likely. After all, they are putting the number 32.065 in the upper corner of their logo. That rather points towards the element."
"Yes, but why would anyone choose an element for a company's name? Why sulphur?"
Tseng shrugged. "S is a lucky letter in Wutai. It's the other half of eternity. It could also be an abbreviation. Besides, sulphur is not an element without merits. It is important in the human body, omnipresent and not that unimportant in chemical industry."
Reeve frowned. "It's not the most positively connoted element."
"Neither would be Phosphor. Although certainly more suited for an electric power company. But it's a little hard to tell what it signifies if one doesn't even know the creators."
Reeve gave a sigh and nodded. "True." Then, he nodded at the file that Tseng was carrying. "But you have an idea, don't you?"
"Of course we do." There was almost the hint of a smile in the Turk's face. For, yes, of course they did. They were the Turks. They would not have been as efficient if they had not been able to figure things out. It was – degrading – to still be relying on Shin-Ra's secret service to find out things like this.
Tseng slid the file over the table. It looked old, it looked well used and it looked top secret. "Rufus allowed me to borrow it to you for a few days."
"How kind." But he studied Tseng carefully. "What does he expect in exchange?" Rufus never did things for free. There was always a catch.
"We would like to know what you know about the disappearing of New Geostigma patients. Not the ones before the riot. We know what happened to them. We would also like to know if you happen to know something about that accident that occurred a few days ago in one of our power plants."
Reeve studied the file. It made sense to collaborate with Shin-Ra again. It had been useful the last time … maybe it would be this time, too. And he needed this file. Even if it was a wrong guess, he needed to know which direction the Turks were guessing in. It might tell him whether he should be careful about this one... whether Shin-Ra was not, maybe, involved, despite all Tseng said. "We don't have much on the accident, but I'll sent you the file. Concerning the White Geostigma patients – there haven't been any bodies, yet. I've ordered to put the death sentence onto halt for now... I mean, we will wait to execute Fontainebleau and Scipione. They haven't had contact to anyone outside the prison, so they can't be responsible for the current murders. But I think they might know something."
"Have you questioned them already?"
You know that we have as well as we know that you have. "Yes. I'll sent you a copy of the protocol... if you'll sent me one of yours. But they claim they know nothing."
Tseng nodded. "Of course."
"I already have everyone watched who might have associated with them."
"That makes sense. I'll sent you our Turk-files on them. Maybe, they will be helpful."
Reeve asked himself why Tseng volunteered them. Maybe, they had not been helpful to the Turks?
"Rufus also suggests that we should, for now, just watch Sulfur Inc.. They'll show themselves in good time."
Reeve nodded. "That sounds reasonable. If you don't mind to wait, I can give you the files right away. I think I can also let you talk to Christian. He deals with the accident in the mountains."
"That would be very kind," Tseng replied and rose. Reeve noticed that, while his movement was smooth, he seemed a little slower on the left side. The prosthesis had to be very heavy indeed.
"Thank you for coming."
"Of course."
Reeve pointed his hand at the Turk whose handshake was firm, dry and short, strangely unremarkable. "Get well soon."
The Turk inclined his head a little. "Thank you." The heavy doors closed behind him and with it, Reeve felt himself respire, staring after the dark Turk. Shin-Ra, they sometimes felt like evil spirits, hurled from another world. Rufus did, and Tseng did even more so.
He closed his eyes, opened them after another deep breath and there, as if dropped by dark imaginings, lay the file on the dark mahogany. It had was of an ugly, old yellow, the edges were well used, dented in and the strap around it worn. It was thick and it lay there on the table promising nothing but trouble. The Turk-seal on it was faded, not so the top-secret mark. Or at least, the top-secret mark was younger. It had been sealed, opened only recently. It stared back at him sinisterly.
Reeve looked at it without touching it. Had it been smart to take it? It made him obliged to Shin-Ra. On the other hand – maybe, Shin-Ra was trying to manipulate him and this new company had everything to do with Shin-Ra. Then again, did not Rufus have enough trouble already? He surely did not need to create another fake company to make WRO look the other way... they had to be struggling for survival anyway.
And it would be very stupid indeed to choose a name that was so close to 'Rufus'.
Reeve surrounded the desk, hesitated yet another moment before he opened the file. Behind him, outside the window, the desert was buzzing with the heat, the horizon swimming into the sky.
The air conditioner kept the temperature inside his office level.
He opened the file.
The first sheet was a curriculum vitae. Tamara Young, said the headline. It had been typed in a Turk's office.
It was the photo of a young officer that caught Reeve's attention as he was about to flip through the worn and yellowed paper. He darkly remembered the face... and the name, come to think of it. There had been this girl, a few classes above him when he was still at university. She had been tutor in one or two of his seminars on business. He darkly remembered her wearing a crisp uniform. People had talked about her; Her parents had been very wealthy and she had always had those parties were everyone of consequence had been invited to. He, never. She had been beautiful and completely out of his league like many another girl. He hadn't thought about her in years like all the others who had been of consequence then, forgotten for years now, most of them dead.
An apprehensive cold was gripping his stomach as he turned the page. He had known this file would be trouble.
There was another photo of her, taken a few years later, bad quality. It must have been part of a larger photo, and all he could make out was what seemed to be a woman wearing a General's uniform.
He turned to the vita, suddenly curious about that woman he had never exchanged more than three words with. That part of the past he was trying to forget about.
Tamara Young had been made Lieutenant General during the war in Wutai and had been one of those put in charge of the genocide. However, it seems that at one point of her career before that, she came into contact with... other ideas. The essay on the next side estimated that contact to have taken place about four years before the Wutai campaign had started. It seemed she had made friends with environmentalists, people opposed to war and most of all to Shin-Ra. Luckily for her not the explosive-handling type. From what Reeve could extract from the essay about them – yet another page – their aim had been to infiltrate the upper circles of Shin-Ra, Inc. and change the world to the better. They had been obviously watched closely by the Turks.
Reeve felt his fingers being strangely sweaty as he drew a deep breath. Nothing remarkable so far. Nothing that would have made her top-secret. He turned back to the front page where the girl on the photo smiled at him and the General on the other still looked grim.
During the campaign in Wutai, the text went on, some years into the war, Tamara had gone AWOL with at an entire regiment.
Reeve wasn't sure he remembered something about that particular incident. There had been so many incidents during the war in Wutai that it was hard to remember than all. Besides, he had been very much involved with finding his place in Shin-Ra at that point of time. The date suggested that it had been about twelve years after the inauguration of Shinra Tower, four years before Rufus had tried to have his father killed. Had he been Vice President at that time already? Two years before he, Reeve, had realised what was truly going on inside Shin-Ra.
He turned back to the text.
There was no reason given why she had gone AWOL, but it had gone to the dogs. It seemed most of the soldiers in her regiment had been killed, although she had managed to escape with a guy – Hendric Powell...Reeve hesitated and looked at the Sulfur file. The second owner of Sulfur was called Hendric Paul. Coincident? Not if the Turks handed him this file.
However, the file went on, said Powell had been dealt with by the Turks. Almost five years later.
Reeve tried to remember what had happened in that year. The war in Wutai had been over. Rufus had been Vice President, judging by the date, he must have been imprisoned in Junon for about over a year already. Reeve himself had been very, very careful with voicing critique. It had been about three and a half years before Meteor, and in Wutai, Hendric Powell had been found by the Turks. The file did not state what had happened to him, but Reeve was quite sure that it had ended six feet deep. The short report kind of suggested it. Exactly three years, too, before most of the Turks had been killed.
It seemed, however, that the Turks had been unable to retrieve the war chest of the regiment (pay for about half a year for the entire regiment down to the last infantryman), and that Tamara Young had never been found.
Reeve massaged the bridge of his nose. He did not like being confronted with Shin-Ra's more dirty past and this looked as dirty as it got.
He did not like to be confronted with his own past, especially how long it had taken him to realise just how evil Shin-Ra had truly been. Given, he had been raised while Shin-Ra had come to power. He had been in his teens when the Tower and Midgar had been built, when Mako was introduced and when everyone had be euphoric about Shin-Ra. But if he had listened for even one moment to his mother – if he had not been so very fixed on becoming an engineer, on realising his dreams and innovations – he might have realised much early. Maybe he had realised earlier, but it had only been thirteen years after the Tower had been constructed, at the height of the genocide in Wutai, that he had admitted to himself that he was working for murderers. That he had started criticising them... it had taken him still another six years before he had fully turned against Shin-Ra, thanks to Cait Sith. He was well aware that this was nothing to be proud of.
Reeve closed the file, felt himself slightly shivering. Maybe, the Turks' guess was not half bad. Tamara Young had the education to build up a company. While Reeve was not sure which reasons she had, she definitely had the ideological background for an environmental company... it even made much sense that she was buying up Shin-Ra property.
He would have his own people look into it. He did not like that she should have come back from Wutai out of nowhere... and that it made so much sense. He knew that it made sense to come back now.
Gaia, he still remembered the girl in class. Her long, dark hair, those shining eyes, the ever perfect uniform, the sun in her hair and her zeal!
He remembered a lot of people with that zeal, a lot of summer afternoons when they had sat together in the arcades of the university – he with his friends and their new robots – while the sun had been warm, when the future had still been so bright and mako the solution to every problem. He even remembered the smells, how they had met to roam through Midgar's streets and stare at the reactors. When President Shin-Ra had still been a hero. When Rufus had been a perfect little prince, paraded and envied on every possible occasion. When the civil war in Wutai had not been more than a mere problem, soon to be fixed.
Happy days.
He did not even know if any of his friends from back then had survived Meteor.
Tifa looked worried when she entered the office. Worried and tired and Reeve felt his heart sinking. When he had made her promise to return to Cloud, he had hoped that, within a few days, she would have found her equilibrium again. That Cloud would cheer her up and that she would be happy once again. But that spark in her eyes was still missing.
"It's nice of you to come," Reeve said and smiled at her. Beautiful Tifa!
Tifa replied his smile. "Well, I thought if Denzel's here for check up, I could come and see you, too... it's been more than two weeks and... well, I guess I wanted to say I was sorry." She looked at him.
Reeve blinked, surprised. "Sorry? For what?"
She gave a sigh. "I lied, of course. About Rufus, I mean. That I knew where he was. Cloud told you, didn't he? Well, he obviously did, you wouldn't have given them the vial otherwise..."
"Oh," Reeve made, surprised. He had not supposed she would excuse, but – maybe it was a sign how much she valued his friendship. She had taken her time with excusing, but at least, she did. So, she did at least care a little about him. "Well... they are Shin-Ra... and I don't think he gave you much of a choice, did he?"
Tifa shrugged, looking down. "You know there's always a choice."
Reeve did not quite understand if she was referring to anything but the situation.
"It wasn't right and I guess I knew at that time, but... well... I'm sorry, Reeve. You always try to help and it's just not fair to treat you like this."
Reeve smiled at her, felt his heart warming once again. "Thank you."
Tifa looked at him, surprised, maybe, by his answer.
"Is... is Cloud settling in, at least?" he asked, sat down on his chair. The sun was shining brightly into the room, drawing patterns onto the floor, the dust dancing in the light, Tifa's hair shimmered brown in such intense sunlight. "Can I offer you something to drink, perhaps? It has to be hellishly hot outside!"
"It is... I can't remember it has ever been so hot here around this time of the year... water would be nice, I suppose."
Reeve got up again and went to the cabinet where he kept the drinks. Cool, of course. He remembered how Tseng had frowned at the ice in his water. Tifa would not, he knew. The air that came in through the air-conditioner smelled of dust and as he walked by, he could see Edge cooking below his feet, the building sides sparkling in the sunlight, the busy people moving through the streets, the working men who took care of the leftovers from the riot. He loved Edge, despite everything.
"Here you go." He handed the cold glass to Tifa who took it and sipped at it, frowning a little.
"No, I think you can't say that he's settling in... nor that everything's alright." She gave a sigh, smiled at him. "I know I've complained all these months that I want him back, but... things have changed. He has changed, he is broodier than before and... I think I have changed, too. You know, I think the problem is he just can't accept that things changed here. He's gone for... more than half a year and just expects everything to be like it was before... you see?"
Reeve gave a non-committal nod. He felt sorry for her. And for Cloud. He could very much imagine how surprised Cloud must have been, returning home and finding Rufus of all people in front of their doorstep.
Tifa took another sip from her water. She had not taken a seat but walked up and down. "I mean, I know I'm not innocent, either. I... well, I started dealing with Shin-Ra. But I believed Cloud was dead. And suddenly, out of the blue, he's back and... wants me to worship him for bringing that stupid medicine for Denzel! - I'm not saying that I'm not thankful for that, I'm sure he saved Denzel's life, but... where was he when Denzel got shot? It was not him who saved his life, then. For Gaia's sake, Reeve! It's been over half a year without any kind of news!" She gave a sigh. "The worst thing is that... I mean, I feel guilty about the entire thing."
"What entire thing?" Reeve asked.
"Rufus... Shin-Ra, Cloud. I mean, I thought Cloud was dead. I would not – I would not have gotten that deeply involved with Shin-Ra if I had known Cloud was still alive. Or cared enough to come back one day. I really didn't know. Still, I feel guilty about what I did and... I feel also guilty about Rufus. I treated him really, really badly. I know you don't like him, but... I think he really cared and nobody deserves to be treated like that..."
"He'll get over it. Believe me, he treated people worse." Tried to have them executed, for example. How could Tifa even feel sorry? Did she not know that Rufus had been most likely playing one of his games with her?
"Well, that does not make it any better how I treated him, does it? It's like... I don't know, I behaved like a bitch, although at that moment, it seemed sensible to behave that way and... He saved Denzel, Reeve. Picked him up and... he did not even tried to have him imprisoned when Denzel tried to kill him!"
Reeve sat down on the table next to her, studied her. He pressed the guilt away again that rose when Tifa mentioned the affair in which Denzel had nearly been killed and that it had been, in the end, his fault because he had let the boy get away. "Everything comes at a price, Tifa. For everyone." Reeve gave a sigh, thinking about her as well as himself and most of all about Cloud who had been so very stupid not to call back and to risk the most precious thing he had been graced with. Whatever had happened, Reeve was still worried about her. "Well, perhaps not for Rufus," he added as an afterthought, not even aware that he said it out loud. It had been an idea that had been on his mind for quite a while.
Tifa spun around, and Reeve was angry with himself that he had even mentioned him. "What do you mean by that?"
Reeve shrugged. He might as well tell her. Even if it was silly. But he did worry about her. And he worried about Cloud. "Haven't you watched him? People around him get hurt. But never he himself. Not really, anyway. He tried to kill his father seven years ago. Nothing happened to him, but – well, most of the Turks were killed in the aftermath of that matter. The people he engaged for that matter, too. I'm quite certain his father had Reno drop the plate because Reno was one of Rufus'... associates. Old president Shinra got killed shortly after they met again. Meteor happened because of his company, people died, suffered, Rufus just walks away without a scratch. Geostigma happened, he contrived it, thousands died, even on the last day, and he is healed in the last minute. And now this affair. He trusted the nobility to be too naïve and it wasn't him who paid. Tseng paid. He lost his arm. You paid. Rufus only got healed again.
"He barged into your life and upset the balance between you and Cloud, just like that. And yet, it is you who pays. And Cloud.
"People who meet him get hurt. His mother, his father, quite a few of his teachers, his associates when he tried to kill his father, the Turks who cared for him while his father had him imprisoned, Reno, his employees, Elena and Tseng got abducted and tortured by Kadaj when he had Jenova's head, now again Tseng. Your children, you.
Never him. Not one of them close to him ever died, whatever happened, nothing ever touched him. And I'm not counting his parents as closed to him. His father certainly not. His mother – well, for all I know he had nannies.
"I don't know why, but … people around him get hurt a lot."
Tifa starred at him and he had no clue what she was thinking. It was, he had to admit, rather silly to say things like that out loud, but... it were an awful lot of coincidences. He was sure Rufus himself was not causing them willingly – even he was not manipulative or ruthless enough for that. Reeve had thought about it from time to time ever since the Kadaj incident, ever since Shin-Ra had gotten up again. He should have added Deep Ground, too, maybe. Perhaps it was one of lifestream's odd jokes. Let the son's surrounding pay for the sins of his father. Taint everything black that he touched. But it did seem true; people who came into contact with Rufus quickly ran out of luck, one way or the other. Most times for the worst.
"That's horrible!", Tifa gasped.
"I'm sorry," Reeve said. "But I thought it might be a good thing to tell you."
"The poor man!"
Reeve blinked at her. "I don't think he cares." He knew he had no business of saying that. But he did not want her get hurt once again. He wanted her to be with Cloud, he wanted her to be happy again. That was at least much better than being associated with Rufus and his ill-fated company.
Tifa opened her mouth but closed it again in the same moment. "I'll... I'll have to think about it."
Reeve nodded. "If Cloud comes here, I'll talk to him... I know that you thought him dead. I did, too. So, um, if that helps, I don't think what happened was your fault... I'll tell him that he should really have called."
Tifa smiled at him but much to Reeve's misery it was a smile as if she felt it was too late for that. "That's very kind of you, Reeve, but... please, don't. He'll only think I made you say so and that'll get him angry at you. I don't want him to be angry at you, too."
"Don't worry about me, Tifa. I'll just be happy if everything's back to normal."
Tifa smiled back at him, gave a sigh. "Yes. So will I... so will I." She looked so terribly hopeless.
"Come on, you do still love him, don't you?"
Tifa nodded. "Yes, I'm sure I do."
Reeve smiled. "See, no worry in the world, then."
Tifa laughed. "Right... no worry in the world... which reminds me... when I brought Denzel down for examinations, one of the doctors mentioned that... that some of your wards have disappeared... again..." The anxiousness was all over her face again.
Reeve nodded. "Yes, that's true. But – I talked to the doctors. I don't think it's the same as during the murders. I mean, we haven't found any bodies, and there's no way anyone is able to excess the water from the church. I have it monitored all around the clock. The doctors tell me those two who disappeared, they were also very fed up with being here, being examined and not cured." That was all true, but nonetheless, he was definitely bothered. He hoped it did not show in his voice.
Tifa smiled. "Well, I'm glad the spots are slowly disappearing on Denzel's skin but... I … well, if there's anything close to … to those murders again, I would like to help, 'cause... if it hadn't been for Cloud it would be still Denzel, you know?"
Reeve nodded. "Of course. But I don't think there's anything to be worried about." At least not yet. He was not about to tell her about the cooperation with Shin-Ra, though. That sounded far too much like worrying.
Tifa nodded, turned her thumbs which was a strange sight. "Actually, I'm also here because I would like to ask you if – if there's something else I could help you with. You know, you've been so kind and you always listen to me and give good advices. I'd like to help your company with, well, my skills."
Reeve looked at her, surprised. This came – suddenly. He had not expected anything like it. "I'll think about it. Maybe, there's something. I'll give it a thought."
Tifa nodded shortly. "Well, thanks for your time. Thanks for listening and... well... I'm glad you did listen."
Reeve smiled back. "Of course. Always."
Tifa shook her head with a sad smile. "You're really too kind for this world, Reeve." With that, the door closed behind her and left Reeve in deep thought.
Too kind for this world – was he truly? Or was he just a bastard to talk Tifa out of Rufus because if he could not have her, Cloud was still the best way out, he being just mostly gone. He just had her because he needed a home to be cosy at from time to time. He did not love her, Reeve was quite certain. He was not sure Cloud knew, but he himself was sure in that observation. Cloud had just given in to her.
And he, Reeve? He was tired. He was tired of all the lies, all the hope and all the disappointment. It was time to stop pinning after her like a school boy. The door had closed behind her and he knew it was just stupid to even think of her. He would risk their friendship with it in the end..., and he was just tired. Maybe, … well, it was time. High time.
Uh, yes. I hope you liked it.
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