Tifa and Rude ambled along the shaded paths. It had quickly become apparent that nobody at the lodge knew the woman they were trying to find. Annoyed by the constant blank faces in response to their questions they'd taken the opportunity to wander around the grounds, not feeling much like finding Reno or Cloud. Tifa was tired of the constant bickering she'd been listening to all morning, and Rude vehemently shared her sentiments.

Frustration acting as a common ground, they'd gotten to talking. The conversation moved on to her favourite Turk.

"Has he always been like this?"

"Pretty much," Rude replied.

They were heading further out from the clusters of white cabins now. The paths had been carefully maintained, allowing patients to more easily take in the calming scenery. There were signposts dotted around designating the trails and the route back to the main hospital, and handrails lining the neat walkways.

Tifa dragged her fingers along the rail at her side. "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"Put up with him."

He shrugged. "Practise."

"I wish Cloud would just ignore him," she sighed wearily. "He only makes it worse."

"Reno will get bored."

"Do you really believe that?"

Rude paused, giving it some consideration. "No."

"Somebody's going to end up with a black eye," she pointed out dryly.

"Or worse."

The display of machismo earlier worried her. Reno had kept on pushing and Cloud had kept on refusing to back down. The banter had quickly stopped being funny, becoming even less so when they'd started swinging weapons around.

They were acting like children.

She'd seen Cloud lose his temper before and wasn't particularly looking forward to scraping either of them off the floor. He needed to accept that the Turks were allies now, whether he liked it or not.

Of course allies didn't exactly do justice to the thoughts that plagued her when she thought about Reno. She'd definitely crossed a line there, and although it was still just about visible on the horizon she didn't know how long she could keep a hold of it.

"Well if either of them thinks they're getting sympathy from me they've got another thing coming."

He chuckled. "That seems fair."

"Yeah."

This was nice, she realised. She'd always assumed Rude to be a poor conversationalist but it turned out he was just more reserved than his more temperamental colleague. He spoke calmly and politely in his deep baritone, just giving enough to keep the conversation going. It was a little like talking to Vincent, only Rude was more likely to smile.

"So who would you put your money on?" he asked.

There was a very familiar smirk tugging at his lips. She wondered whether he'd picked that up from Reno. Tifa considered her answer carefully.

"Reno's pretty fast…" she said diplomatically.

"Don't worry. My money's on Strife too."

She laughed. "You know you Turks aren't so bad."

"Not all the time."

There was a waterfall up ahead. They stopped on the bridge, admiring the view. Tifa inhaled slowly, revelling in the scent of grass and trees and cool, clean water. It tugged at memories of other days spent outside, of walking until her feet were blistered and squabbling whilst trying to set up camp. The threat had always been there; Shinra, Sephiroth, Meteor… But there had still been good times. Evenings where she'd sat on the grass with Aerith and Yuffie, laughing until tears had rolled down her cheeks. She'd never expected she'd miss it this much.

It was certainly a relief to be away from the city. The land around Edge had been too badly damaged by the behemoth corpse of Midgar for anything green to really flourish and Healen Lodge was truly beautiful. She leaned on the parapet, staring down into the swirling water.

"This is perfect," she sighed, as her hair fluttered in the breeze.

"Sure is," Rude replied.

When she looked up he was watching her. He looked away quickly.

"Reno told me about Veld and the others," she murmured. "You two have known each other for a long time."

"He told you that?" He sounded surprised but shrugged it off. "It's been a while."

Her heart had broken a little when he'd opened up to her. They always pretended everything was so black and white. Like Avalanche blowing up the reactors; it was for the greater good but it still hurt people. That grey area was important and Reno was so grey she barely knew where to begin. For all the cocky swaggering around there was a vulnerability to him that had tripped her, sending her spiralling to the ground.

His lips had set her upright again. Her body warmed at the thought.

"Do you think they've killed each other yet?" she asked idly, watching a leaf as it skimmed the ripples far below them.

"No." Rude checked his watch, smiling slyly. "Reno's still giving it the big I am."

Tifa laughed. "He does that, doesn't he?"

"Don't get me started," he muttered.

"At least he can hold a conversation. Talking to Cloud is like talking to a brick wall."

"I can see that."

She leaned further forward, working the tension from her shoulders. "Do you think we should check on them?"

"They'll be alright. Reno needs to get it out of his system. He'll back off when he gets his ass handed to him."

"You sound pretty sure about that."

"I get Reno."

"I think I'm starting to," she replied quietly.

It was a while before Rude spoke again. When he did there was a slight edge to his voice. "We should head back."

"Yeah."

He sighed, bumping his arm against hers amicably. "I'll never hear the end of it if Reno gets beat up."

"Come on then."

A glint caught her eye, deep within the trees in front of them. Sunlight reflecting on a lens.

Tifa squinted. "Did you see that?"

He straightened up. A figure moved in the shadows.

"We should probably check that out."

He pushed off from the bridge and sprinted down the path. Tifa followed.

The Turk was fast. His long legs ate up the ground as he raced into the forest. She followed closely behind, chest burning from the sudden exertion. Branches whipped her arms and face as they veered from the path. The atmosphere turned oppressive, choked out by the thickness of the trees around them.

When Rude skidded to a halt she stopped running, falling in beside him. The silence surrounding them was eerie, broken by the constant thud of the blood pounding in her ears. The air tasted damp and musty, thick with rotting leaves.

"Which way did they go?" she panted.

It was too dark here. The light was obscured by the canopy above them.

Rude held a hand up in warning, glancing sharply to their left.

She heard it just as his body collided with her shoulder; a branch snapped by a clumsy boot. She stumbled heavily, dropping to the floor as Rude's large frame crouched in front of her.

The bolt of energy cracked through the trees like a gunshot, narrowly missing them. The air stank of ozone and burnt wood.

He hauled her to her feet and dragged her further into the forest as another bolt raced overhead, sending splinters and singed leaves raining down on them.

Silence resumed.

Rude was leaning heavily against the tree they'd taken cover behind.

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding his arm to his chest. His fingers were jerking erratically.

She nodded, rubbing the elbow she'd landed on. "Yeah. Are you?"

There was a scorch mark on the sleeve of his jacket. She could just make out charred skin beneath it. He inspected it briefly, hand still twitching uselessly from the electric shock.

"I'll live."

They waited.

"Do you think they've gone?"

"Sounds like it." His expression was grim. "This complicates things."

"They're using materia…"

"Yeah." He snapped his PHS out of his pocket and dialled out. "Reno. We've got a problem."

Tifa straightened up slowly, only half listening to the conversation. Her hair floated around her, static crackling in the air. She vividly remembered being hit by bolt materia; it wasn't an experience she was keen to repeat. It would be a short while before Rude regained full use of his arm and that burn needed looking at.

Materia wasn't easy to find; not these days. Powers forged in the life-stream, depleted when Meteor was destroyed. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes she might not have thought it possible.

Rude pocketed his PHS, expression guarded. "Come on…"

When they reached the helipad Cloud and Reno were already there. The tension between the two men was obvious. Cloud stood, arms folded, staring out into the distance. Reno stood a good way away from him, tapping his mag-rod irritably against his shoulder.

"Looks promising," Rude commented dryly. He flexed the fingers of his injured hand gingerly.

By the time Cloud seemed to register their presence she was close enough to touch him. His eyes snapped onto her, lacking any trace of warmth. "She was here."

His reaction left her cold. "She's gone?"

"Looks like it."

Rude moved his shoulder carefully. "We were being watched."

"You're getting too slow, partner," said Reno as he wandered over. He eyed up Rude's arm and winced. "Good thing we're already at a hospital."

"I was trying to keep Tifa out of harm's way," he replied defensively.

"She doesn't need your help," Cloud growled.

Tifa glanced at him. Something was clearly wrong. His eyes were narrowed, but his attention was on Reno.

"You alright?" He reached out to touch her bruised elbow but stopped when he noticed Cloud was watching him. He ran his fingers through his hair instead.

"I'm fine," she replied. "What did you find?"

His face darkened. "You don't want to know."

"Photos of us. The Turks." Cloud's voice was bitter. "You."

"Looks like they've been following us for months."

She folded her arms across her chest, feeling the chill in the air. Rude was still flexing his fingers; the burn on his arm looked painful and his jaw was tight.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

"Find them," said Cloud angrily, turning his attention to Rude. "You let them escape."

"Cloud..."

"We didn't know they had materia," Rude replied levelly. "We weren't prepared. It wasn't safe to engage."

"That's on you, Turk."

"Come on man." Reno's eyes narrowed. "After all… Rude did save your girl."

Cloud took a step towards him, fists clenched. "We're leaving. Now."

"To go where?" Reno gestured at thin air. "I don't know if you've noticed but we've got nothing."

"North Corel. That's where Garrison is. That's where she'll be."

"We don't know that. Anyway, the Director and Elena are already there. I'll give them the heads up."

"I don't care," he spat. "I don't trust you."

Reno rolled his eyes. "This shit's getting old. Look around. We're not your enemy."

"Cloud... Reno's right," she reasoned; voice soft. "We don't have anything to go on. And Rude's hurt. We need to think this through."

"Exactly," Reno added smugly. "We stay here and wait for orders."

"No. We're leaving."

Agitated, Reno snapped his weapon against his shoulder. "We stay here. We wait."

"You don't own me," Cloud snarled, heading for the chopper.

It exploded.

Tifa ducked instinctively, shielding her face with her arms. Beside her Reno followed suit, throwing one arm over her and forcing her lower to the ground.

Time slowed. Her ears were ringing. She could feel the heat from the burning wreck even at this distance. Oily black smoke billowed into the air.

Rude straightened up, whistling through his teeth. "Damn..."

From her position on the floor, she watched him head towards Cloud. Both men were staring at the burning helicopter.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself, Reno kissed her.

It was fast and hard, a crush of heat against her mouth that was gone before she'd even registered what was happening. He skimmed his thumb lightly across her lip and she shivered.

"Finally." He grinned. "You alright?"

"You need to seriously rethink your priorities," she hissed, cheeks burning.

"Do I?" His feigned innocence and helped her to her feet.

They joined the others, staring at the carnage. It was a long while before anybody spoke.

"Huh," said Reno, head tilted to one side as he surveyed the damage. "Didn't see that one coming."

"No," Rude agreed.

"Amateurs. What do you reckon?"

"Five out of ten," Rude replied, after some consideration.

"Nah. Solid four and a half."

Cloud stared at them. "Is this some kind of joke to you?"

"No. I intend to take this very seriously." Reno's smile turned feral. "But right now I'm just glad that my sorry ass wasn't on board."

She watched the flames licking the sky, heart racing. Pieces of burning debris rained down around them.

Reno clamped his arm around Cloud's shoulders. "Doesn't look like we're going anywhere."

Cloud shrugged him off angrily. "What do we do now?"

"Whatever you want. I don't care."

Rude shrugged, still watching the burning wreckage.

Reno threw them a lazy salute over his shoulder, grinning like an idiot. "Ladies and gentlemen… I am out."

"Where are you going?" Tifa called after him.

"To find myself a drink."