A/N: Holy jalapenos they're coming fast now! I know! I had most of the major scenes already written because they just spew out of my head when I see them, but there was a lot of filler that needed to be completed. And always, always tweaking and smoothing to do. Also, I feel like I've been pushing the line with the 'T' rating and there some darkness ahead, so I'm moving it to M.

Trigger warning: Graphic violence. References to non-con and a minor.

Chapter 22: Vengeance

Tifa jerked awake when the door opened, dread and pain flooding back to her in a single second.

"Tifa!" The voice she heard was so much more welcome than the one Tifa had anticipated. Jo ran over to the cage and grabbed the bars. "Are you ok? Where have you been? I haven't seen you for days and I thought for sure you had disappeared like Mary and it was my fault and—"

Tifa put her hands over Jo's smaller fingers. "Jo, relax! I'm fine. Really. I'm ok." Jo looked at her like she didn't know whether to believe her. "Really. He just put me in this dark room in the basement and—" she paused, seeing Jo's brows drawing together. "What?"

"The pit," Jo said darkly. "Things…happen in there. And you never know for sure if it's real or your imagination, because your head goes funny."

Tifa squeezed her fingers. "You've been there before?"

Jo nodded, her eyes distant. "Mary, too. She was always…different after she came back from that place. I'm pretty sure that's where she went before she…disappeared."

"I'm still the same," Tifa stressed. "And we're still breaking out of here. Hey." She brought the teen's attention back to her eyes. "Did you get some cardboard?"

Jo deflated like a balloon. "I did, but I didn't bring it. It's back in the bedroom, tucked under my mattress."

Tifa sighed. "Ok. Alright. We'll get it next time. Just a little longer."

Jo seemed sincerely disheartened, and Tifa couldn't help but notice that she was looking a little worse for the wear. There were little bruises on her upper arms that looked suspiciously like fingers. There was swelling around her jaw and her cheekbone was an angry violet color.

"Has Ricky been a little rougher with you recently?" Tifa asked gently.

Jo shrugged and looked down. "It was my fault. He warned me to stop, but I kept asking where you were. It wasn't my place."

Tifa reached through the bars and tipped her chin up gently. "Hey. It's not your fault. Ok? No matter what, he shouldn't be hurting you. That's not how people resolve differences. And asking questions is how you learn. It should never be a bad thing, especially for a kid."

Jo just scowled. "I don't even care. I was more worried about what he was doing to you." Her eyes scanned over Tifa, but there were no wounds to be seen.

"I kind of…tricked him into giving me most of an X-potion yesterday," Tifa said, grinning wryly. "So don't worry about me. I'm back in fighting shape now. So once we get that cardboard, Ricky is in big trouble." She tried to smile, but her lips stuck to her teeth. "Man, I would kill for some water, though."

"Oh!" Without explanation, Jo jumped to her feet and ran across the room to the giant red-quilted bed. She knelt down next to it and opened a small fridge Tifa had never noticed before. After a moment, she triumphantly held a water bottle up over her head.

Tifa was so happy she could have cried, but that would have been counterproductive. When Jo returned to the cage and passed the bottle through the bars, she wasted no time in cracking it open and taking a big swallow. She practically moaned with pleasure. "Oh, Jo. You are a saint."

Jo looked almost embarrassed by her praise. She tucked her hair behind her ear self-consciously. "It was the last one. Just…don't let Nicky see, ok? You didn't earn it."

"Got it," Tifa said, nodding seriously. The last thing she wanted was to make things any worse for Jo. She also needed to remember to take it slow. The little bit she had drunk yesterday helped, and the potion had contained a little liquid itself, but she was still pretty dehydrated. "What are you doing here by yourself?" she asked, forcing herself to screw the cap on the bottle, at least for a few seconds.

"Oh, some new guy came to get me today," she said. "He brought me to the door, but he didn't seem to know what he was doing. He just let me walk in by myself."

"Charles said something about all the security guards getting sick yesterday," Tifa mused, allowing herself another small swallow.

The sound of the doorknob turning drew both of their gazes. Tifa hurriedly crammed the water bottle between the bars, trying to shove it into the small space between the cage and the floor. Jo's eyes grew wider, but it was too late for her to move.

"Jo? Why aren't you waiting where you're supposed to be?" Ricky asked sharply.

"Sorry, Daddy," she said immediately, ducking her head.

The top of the forbidden water bottle still stuck partway through the bars. Tifa moved to sit over the square, hoping he wouldn't look too closely. Jo scurried toward the center of the room, but Ricky stopped her.

"No. It's alright. Go sit down in the chair, Jo. I'm not ready for you yet."

Jo's eyes flickered over to Tifa in alarm, but she quickly ducked her head and did as she was told. Ricky strolled over in front of the cage and squatted down to look at her.

"You're looking better today, Tifa."

Tifa stared at him for a moment, wondering what response he was expecting. "Yes…thank you," she finally said.

"Thank you, Daddy," he enunciated, looking disappointed in her.

Tifa quickly repeated his words, but he seemed to have his mind elsewhere.

"The other day, when I asked you how Fluffy was enjoying prison, you told me he was still there."

"I said I hadn't seen him for months," Tifa quickly corrected. "I…I haven't. I don't know where he is."

"But you know he's not in prison," Ricky said, drilling her with his eyes.

Tifa's heart pounded loudly in her chest. How much did he know? He must have seen their release papers, which clearly showed that they were released together the day after they were arrested.

"I…know he was released back then…" Tifa said carefully.

"So you lied."

"No! I didn't…"

"And now you're lying again."

"Well I knew he was released at the time," Tifa waffled, "but I thought you meant he got arrested again! I thought—"

"Oh! Well then you must have been so surprised when he called you." Ricky produced a phone from his pocket with a silver chocobo charm dangling from a chain on top. He pressed a few buttons, and the familiar sound of her voicemail played over the speakerphone.

"Tifa…hey. It's…Cloud."

Tifa's breath caught in her throat. He called. He finally called her, and she was trapped here. She could have just waited instead of charging in, trying to play hero as if he needed saving.

"I didn't get that message," Tifa said, trying to smother the tremble in her voice. "I was telling the truth. I hadn't heard from him in months."

"I don't know if I can trust you anymore," Ricky said regretfully. "You see? That's the problem with being an uppity little bitch. No one believes you, even when you tell the truth."

He shook his head slowly. "I just don't know what to do with you. I thought we were making progress yesterday, but this…" Ricky got slowly to his feet. "We're going to have to do something about this." Without another word, he left the room.

Tifa let out the breath she was holding and turned around to pull the water bottle from beneath the cage. She twisted off the cap and guzzled the remainder of the bottle. It was a risk to drink it all at once, but if he was going to put her back into that black hole, it was one she had to take. She had to get water while she had a chance.

She crammed the empty water bottle back into its place beneath the cage and turned around to find Jo gripping the bars on the side of the cage, her eyes wide with fear.

"Tifa," she said urgently. "Find a place to go."

"What? Jo, I can't—"

"In your head," Jo interrupted. "Think of someplace where you were happy, and float away from your body. That's how you get through it."

Tifa felt her heart break all over again for the girl, and she squeezed the hand gripping the bars. "Thank you, Jo. I'll be fine. Now get back to your chair before he comes back!"

Jo nodded and hurried back across the room. She sat down and gripped the armrests, bouncing her legs nervously.

Tifa gave her an encouraging smile.

You have to bend before you break...

It was time.

When Cloud returned to the computers, Echo was looking distinctly guilty.

"Did you find anything?" Cloud asked.

"I can't find anything with the GPS, but I was able to triangulate the signal by bouncing it off the nearest towers," he said.

"Yeah? What did that tell you?" Cloud asked, trying to look past Echo to see the screen.

"Well…not much," he said with a grimace. "It gives us a very wide range, so all I can say for sure is that she's somewhere in the area of Costa del Sol."

Cloud sighed and tapped his fingers against the desk. "Is that all you can do? You can't pin her location down any better than that?"

"Not without having a live call," he said. "But…" he looked away and trailed off.

"What?" Cloud prompted. He was desperate for any kind of information.

"I um…I might have…accidentally seen the message," Echo said, glancing up quickly for his reaction.

Cloud rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Ok…well?"

Seeming relieved that he wasn't going to get in trouble, Echo perked up. "Well, if you'll let me transfer the video on to my computer, I think I can get some information from it."

'Oh, how lovely! You'll get to watch her betrayal in full detail on the big screen!'

"I…" Cloud plopped down in one of the chairs, shaking his head. "Fine. Do it." He had the terrible feeling that Tifa was in trouble, and right now he was grasping at straws to find her. It wasn't the time for modesty, even if the boy was barely old enough to shave.

"Ok!" Echo went to a cupboard and began digging for the appropriate cable, chattering as he did so. "See, there wasn't much you could get from the message, but I noticed something funny about the black parts of the video. I mean, I could see the editing wasn't professional, so I thought maybe…"

He returned to the computer and connected it to the phone. Momentarily, the files began transferring.

"Ok, let's see...it should be right here…" He clicked through some folders, and then Tifa's face was there on the screen, frozen on a grotesque image. The gauntness was even more pronounced with the enhancement of the large monitor.

Echo had opened it in some kind of editing application, and he began tapping at the keyboard. Menus popped up and disappeared on the screen as he worked, although he rarely touched the mouse. Cloud tried to follow what he was doing at first, but then his eyes were drawn to the changes manifesting on the image. He watched in rapt fascination as the dark areas began to lighten. After several tweaks, they had the full picture.

"Ha! I was right!" Echo crowed. "He didn't even cut out the rest of the picture. He just blacked it out! What a simpleton! We're so—" He quieted suddenly, noticing the look on Cloud's face.

The new details that had emerged from the picture were disturbing. Underneath Tifa's head, he could see crisscrossed bars of some sort, and beneath that, a dark red carpet. On the very edge of the image, he could see baseboards and the bottom of some fancy red wallpaper.

"A cage," he said quietly. "He's keeping her in a cage?"

Echo looked back at the image and grimaced. "Sure looks like it." He paused. "Does that carpet and wallpaper look familiar to you? I feel like I've seen it somewhere."

"I don't know," Cloud said, frowning. "Can you clean up the rest of the video so we can see if there are any more clues?

"Um, not easily," Echo said. "Not with the black removed. I'd have to do it frame by frame and it would take way too long. I don't think we'd get much more out of it anyway. The camera doesn't move very much."

Cloud sat back in his chair and studied the screen. "They didn't want me to see the cage or any more of her body. So whoever sent this wanted to make it look like Tifa was doing this willingly. Why the hell would someone make this and send it to me?"

"I don't know," Echo said, frowning. "If I had to guess, I'd say just to upset you. Make you think she was cheating. Who would want to hurt you?"

Cloud shook his head slowly. "Here? I don't know. Maybe one of the clients I collected from? Or marked? But how would they get to her? How did they even find her?" He pursed his lips as he studied the screen. They had the full picture from the video now, but they still knew nothing about her location. "Can you find one or two frames where the camera moved the most and clean those up?" Cloud asked. "Maybe we'll get lucky and see something else around the edges."

"Sure," Echo said. "I can try and isolate some of the noise from the background too, if you think it would help. Maybe that'll give us some clues about where she's being held."

The audio was nothing but distracting, and Cloud would rather not ever hear it ever again, but if Echo could eliminate those sounds, maybe there was something useful there.

"Yeah. Thanks, Echo," Cloud said. "I don't know what I'd do without you here."

Echo shrugged, turning away. "You'd find a way to beat the bad guys. You always do." He put his fingers on the keyboard, but then stopped and turned back to Cloud. "Hey, um…about that live call. Have you tried calling her back?"

"Yeah, I tried," Cloud said. "It went straight to her voicemail."

"Want to try again?" Echo asked. "I might be able to trace it while it's live."

"Even if it just goes to voicemail?"

"Maybe," Echo said. "It's worth a try, right?"

"Ok. Let's do it," Cloud said, picking up a new thread of hope.

"Give me just a second." Echo did something on his computer and then unplugged the phone and handed it to Cloud. "Ok, go."

Cloud pressed the redial option and set it to speakerphone. He really didn't expect anything to happen, so he set it on the desk next to Echo and began pacing. It was picked up on the third ring.

"Fluffy! I can't believe you called me! I've missed you so much." The voice was cheerful and taunting.

Cloud lunged for the desk and snatched up the phone.

"Who is this?" Cloud demanded.

"Aww, you don't remember me? After what we had together, I can't believe that."

The voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. "Where the fuck is Tifa?"

"Oh, don't worry," said the patronizing voice through the speaker. "She's with me. She's having a grand old time here."

"If you fucking touch her—"

"If I fucking touch her what?" he taunted. "I was just going to play with her now, so why don't you tell me what you're going to do if I fucking touch her."

The flame of rage burned brighter. "I am going to cut you into pieces. When I find you—"

"Oh, but you won't," he interrupted. "And if you do…you will wish you didn't. You're way out of your league here, friend. Worthless. Useless. You shouldn't have crossed me."

"Who is this?!" he demanded again, but the voice on the other end just laughed.

"I'd love to sit here and listen to you make empty threats all day, but Tifa is waiting. I'll bring her something extra special, just for you."

"I'm going to find you, and I—"

The amusement disappeared from the voice on the phone. "Go ahead and try. I dare you."

*Click*

The cheap plastic of the phone cracked within Cloud's grip. He spun around to look at Echo. "Tell me you got it."

Echo turned around slowly in his chair. "It's…blocked."

The plastic crumbled completely in his hand, splintering into fragments. "Shit. Shit!" He hurled the busted burner phone against the far wall, where any chance of rescuing the microchip inside was shattered.

"…Cloud? Are you ok?" He spun to look at the teenager, who visibly flinched. "Your…your eyes are turning green. The way Jeff's used to when…"

Oh. Cloud closed his eyes and made a conscious effort to breathe deeply and tuck away the anger. He couldn't afford to be losing control to her, especially now. He'd taught this to Denzel. He'd taught it to Lexi. He should know better.

When he reopened his eyes, he was calm. "Sorry," he said, sinking into a chair.

"Who…was that?" Echo asked when he felt it was safe to talk. "He seemed to know you."

"I don't know," Cloud said, frowning. "His voice triggered something in me…" Pure, unadulterated rage. "But I can't remember why."

"What was that name he was calling you? Puffy? Muffy?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't remember hearing anything like that."

"Yeah, he said something like that at the beginning of the call," Echo said, frowning.

Something tugged on the edge of Cloud's memory. Ruffy…Muffy…Buffy…Cuffy...Duffy...Fuffy...

"Fluffy," Cloud said, sitting up suddenly. "It's…it's Ricky! That hairy bastard has Tifa!" He shot to his feet. "Are you sure that phone is around the Costa del Sol area?"

"Yeah," Echo said, looking back at his screen. "Yeah, I can see the tower he was using. It's actually not far from here."

Cloud braced his hands on the desk and leaned on them, closing his eyes and using every ounce of the discipline he'd mastered to slow his heart down and think logically. How do I find him? Let's think this through. Why would he be here? Either it's a complete coincidence that we landed in the same place, or he's been planning his revenge for months. Option 1: Coincidence. How did he end up here after he left Edge? Does he have family here? Are there business connections I can track down? That's a couple leads to follow up. Option 2: Planned. Did he follow me here and somehow lure Tifa? Or was he following Tifa, planning to use her all along?

Either way, Ricky now knew he was coming, and he had to be planning some kind of trap. Or else he was just that confident Cloud wouldn't be able to touch him. Cloud really, really prayed it was the latter, because he would enjoy shattering that illusion. If it were the former - well, it didn't matter. He was still going.

"You know…" Echo said hesitantly. "That voice sounds familiar to me, too. I think it was in one of the videos from Brother Nicky's parties."

Cloud stared at him. "Was he one of the guests? Did he give any clue about where he was staying?"

"I…" Echo looked up at him, wide-eyed and pale. "I think it's him. I think Ricky is Brother Nicky."

Cloud's head was spinning. How could that be possible? He'd met Ricky in Edge, and it wasn't like there was an open application to join the Brotherhood. He sifted through his memory banks, trying to recall what he'd learned in his research.

It was a very old organization, stretching back over centuries with some very specific guiding principles. There was a Fatherhead, the position currently held by Seraphim, and then six Brothers, each allocated to a specific portion of the "family business." Each Brother held his role until he either retired or, quite frequently, met his untimely end. At that time, someone within the organization would be nominated and voted in by the remaining Brothers and Fatherhead. There was a strict set of criteria for nominees, including over twenty-five years of continuous service as an employee. The person must also show a profound talent in the role for which they are being nominated, and bring something unique into the organization. Although the criteria allowed for an unexpected star to rise through the ranks, most of the people who were eventually nominated as a Brother were integrated into the family as children. They were scouted for their potential at a very young age, often taken from their families. They were raised knowing nothing but the Brotherhood.

The role occupied by Nicky was known as The Architect. The Architect Brother would be responsible for design and upkeep of the compound. He would also be heavily involved in the physical security of the buildings and the gated entrances. The positive and negative fences Echo had described were relatively new technology that Nicky had helped design, and his residence was currently piloting it.

So if Ricky truly was Brother Nicky, what was he doing in Edge? Shouldn't he have been here at the coast, doing his Brotherly duties?

"Do you have an employee photo?" Cloud asked.

"He wouldn't be in with the employees," Echo said, turning back to the computer and typing rapidly. "But there are archived photos of 'The Family' taken every five years. Hang on, I'll find the most recent."

Several minutes later, Echo pulled up a sepia tinted photograph of seven men wearing expensive tailored suits. It looked like it had been posed, but with an attempt to make it seem candid. Seraphim stood in the middle, his thumb and forefinger stroking his chin, looking both smug and dignified.

Cloud's eyes locked on a man to the left of Seraphim, who was holding a martini glass and laughing at something.

"That's him. That's Ricky," Cloud said, tapping on the screen. Younger and thinner, but as hairy as ever.

"So…he has both of them?" Echo asked. "Tifa and Jo?" Then he gasped suddenly. "I know where she is! I remember that carpet."

Now that he had the missing pieces, Cloud remembered, too. It was hard to forget something so horrifying. "Wet room," he said grimly.

Denzel burst through the door to Lexi's room, startling Ms. Joya and the two girls.

"Denzel! Where have you been?" Ms. Joya asked. "I brought up—"

"It's her negative ability!" he said, gasping for breath. "She has to use it to get rid of the negative energy and then she'll be healed," he panted.

The others just stared at him. "Her…what?" Marlene asked hesitantly.

"Lexi." Denzel ignored the others and addressed her directly. "Remember that time you got really pissed at Cloud when he was trying to teach you to control it, and you did something and then stormed out? It's the same thing that happened when Chuck pushed you too far with his machine. That's what you need to do. You just have to push out the negative energy and your soul will be healed!"

The newly returned color from Marlene's healing drained from Lexi's face. "I…I can't do that. I won't do that again. It hurts people too much."

"But it will heal you!" Denzel insisted. "When you help people, when you take away our hurt, it damages your soul, Lexi. You're holding all that pain inside your soul, and you need to release it so it stops making your body sick!"

Lexi was still shaking her head. "No. No! I wouldn't force that on anyone!"

Denzel dropped down to his knees in front of her, pushing Marlene aside. He took Lexi's hands in his own. "You wouldn't be forcing anyone, Lex. I'm volunteering. Just do it once. I'll get over it. We all get over it eventually, right? It's only you that holds onto it. So you'll only be hurting me for a little bit, and then you'll be healthy again!"

"What about after that?" Lexi asked, so quietly it was almost a whisper. "It will just come back."

"Not if you don't use it!" Denzel said.

"I don't want to stop helping people," Lexi said with a determined set to her jaw. "I can't just sit and watch people hurting, knowing I can help them."

"Lexi!" Marlene said, stomping her foot. "Don't you understand? You are going to die if you don't stop! So what if people are hurting?! It's not worth your life!"

"Don't you understand?" Lexi shot back. "This is the first time my life has even had meaning!" Her voice cracked, and she was suddenly fighting back tears. "How would you feel if you were forbidden to heal anyone ever again, and you had to sit there and watch them bleeding out, knowing you could help them?"

Marlene's jaw snapped shut. She knew exactly how that felt. After the ether overdose, Cloud and Tifa thought she was too fragile to heal anyone else. She'd had to take drastic measures to prove to them that she was strong enough.

"I was given this ability for a reason," Lexi continued. "It makes me special. And if I just sit on it and don't use it, then it's a waste of my life anyway."

The silence after the outburst was deafening. It was Ms. Joya who eventually broke it.

"Perhaps you could be more selective about using it in the future," she suggested gently.

Lexi swallowed and nodded hesitantly. "Maybe I could. But I won't hurt Denzel like that. It's too much all at once."

"No," Ms. Joya said before Denzel could object. "No, I agree. Adolescent egos are fragile. Emotions are so raw and explosive. I don't know if someone his age would be…mature enough to get over it."

The three adolescents stared up at her.

"You'll do it on me, dear," she said firmly. "I've made mistakes in my life, but I've accepted them. I haven't experienced the horrible trauma that you children have, all losing your parents at such a tender young age. My emotions are mature and stable. I can handle it."

"But…can you…even do it if you're not angry?" Marlene asked Lexi hesitantly.

"I can," Lexi said, looking uncomfortable. "Ever since Chuck hooked me up to that machine, I've been able to control it more easily. But…" Lexi looked up at Ms. Joya. "I don't want to do it to you, either. It's horrible, Ms. J! It hurts people so much!"

"Well," Ms. Joya said briskly, "I don't believe you have much choice in the matter. I am the housemother here. What I say goes, and I say that you use me to make yourself get better." She smiled gently at Lexi. "Besides, you say it gives your life meaning to help people. Well, I don't have any special powers. I want to have that meaning. Let me do this for you, so my life can have meaning, too."

Lexi dug her bare toes into the fibers of the carpet. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course, dear," she said kindly. Then she turned to Denzel briskly. "Your dinner is cold now, and you'll be late for workgroup if you don't leave soon. Come down to the kitchen with me and we'll warm it up. You have five minutes to eat."

"Oh. Ok," Denzel said. He turned back to Lexi. "I can't watch you wither away anymore. You say you don't want to hurt me, but this hurts me." His eyes bored into her. "Please, Lexi, just do it. Get better." Then he got to his feet and left through the door Ms. Joya was holding open.

"Marlene, you need to leave for your workgroup in a few minutes too," she said, then closed the door behind her.

"Ok, what was that about?" Marlene demanded as soon as they were alone.

"What?" Lexi asked, wide-eyed and innocent.

"With Denzel!" Marlene said. "That look he gave you! It was so intense!"

Lexi looked away and shrugged. "We've gotten to be pretty good friends since we came here."

"You're friends?" Marlene snorted. "He doesn't look at his other friends that way. Or is there some other meaning of "friends" in this place? He says he's just friends with Alicia, too."

Lexi flinched visibly at the mention of Alicia.

"Ok, what is going on in this place?" Marlene asked, propping her hands on her hips. "Why is everyone lying to me?"

"I don't know why he's lying," Lexi said, unable to look her in the eye. "But they're definitely more than friends."

"Why do you say that?" Marlene asked.

"Well, I…" Lexi sighed and stood, walking over to the window. "Never mind."

"No! Lexi, tell me! You're my best friend and I came here to be with you, but I feel like you're all in some little circle and I'm stuck on the outside." Like always.

Lexi continued staring out the window. Marlene felt tears welling up in her eyes. No, no, no, stupid! I'm not going to cry over something so stupid!

For the first time in her life, when she became friends with Lexi, she'd felt what it was like to be included. She loved her family and she felt safe to be herself at home, but having a friend was different. Lexi chose her. She wanted to be around her. And now even Lexi was pushing her away, keeping secrets and shutting her down.

"I walked in on them…doing it."

Marlene swiped hastily at her eyes. "Huh? Doing what?"

Lexi finally turned around to look at her, eyebrows raised.

"Oh that?" Marlene squealed. "In here? Ew!"

Lexi snorted and turned to the window again.

"Well…what did he say? When it happened?" Marlene asked.

"Nothing."

"He just looked at you and kept going? Gaia, Denzel! What's wrong with him?!"

"No, he…" Lexi said. "I don't think he knows that I saw. He didn't see me."

Marlene threw her hands up in the air. "What an idiot! Ugh! Tifa would be so disappointed in him."

Lexi actually chuckled, although she did seem a bit traumatized by the memory. "Hey, aren't you going to be late for workgroup?"

"Yeah, I guess I should get going," Marlene said. "But the thing Ms. Joya said…I mean, there's really nothing to think about, is there? She'll feel bad, but she'll get over it. Cloud got over it after a while, and he's been through a lot." Marlene didn't have the full story, but she had enough pieces from overheard conversations to know that some really bad stuff had happened in his past. "And…it's the only thing that will make you better."

Lexi lowered her head and didn't answer.

"Well…ok. I'll try to stop by after workgroup if it's not too late." She smiled at the back of her friend's head, hoping she could feel it somehow. "Bye, Lex."

It was a long time before Ricky returned. He strolled back through the door, holding something in his hand. It was a black leather cord, wrapped around an intricate black handle about the size of a drumstick. As its length unraveled, she saw that the cord split into five long fingers. Along the length of each of the fingers, knots were tied at uneven intervals.

He stopped in front of her cage, letting the cord swish lazily back and forth on the floor. Something was different about him. He was even more smug than usual. "Unfortunately, my boys are feeling a little under the weather today, so they won't be able to handle your punishment," he said, sounding not the least bit sorry. "So I suppose I'll have to do it myself."

Ricky wrapped his free hand around the cord and pulled it lazily through his fist as he spoke.

"The problem is, I don't think you're learning your lesson, Tifa. You have no sense of self-preservation. So…Jo is going to take it for you. Two lashes for lying."

"No!" Tifa lunged forward, grasping the bars. Finally, she understood what he was up to. This is why he brought Jo.

"Get over here, Jo," Ricky said, pointing to the wall near the front of the cage. "Hands against the wall."

"Ricky, no! It's my crime. She hasn't done anything to deserve that."

Jo was walking obediently toward the wall as he had instructed. Her hands shook at her sides, but she quickly balled them into fists to hide it. She was trying so hard to be strong.

"Ricky!" Tifa slammed her hand against the bars, trying desperately to get his attention. "Stop it! I…I won't try anything. I swear. Just leave her out of it."

Ricky turned toward her slowly. One shagging brow raised suggestively. "Well. I lowered it to two for Jo. For you, it's five."

"Fine! Five. Just…let her go back to the bedroom. This is between you and me."

Ricky cracked the whip toward the cage, and Tifa snatched back her fingers as the leather snapped loudly against the metal bars. His eyes were cold.

"You don't get to make the rules here. This is my house."

Tifa closed her mouth and lowered her head. She didn't know whether this was an act, or if the whip was giving him some kind of power trip, but Ricky was acting like a different person. She had seen enough crazy in her life to know when someone was skating on the edge.

He will kill you, Tifa.

He was dangerous now, and Jo was caught between them.

Fortunately, her submissiveness seemed to calm him. He pulled in a deep breath through his nose and nodded.

"Five lashes for you," he said. "And then you can repay me for yesterday. But Jo's not going anywhere. She's going to watch. It will be educational for her."

Finally, Tifa nodded. It's only pain. Only humiliation. You have to bend before you break. And Jo has suffered enough.

"Good," he said curtly.

Watching her closely, Ricky approached the cage and pressed his thumb against the pad. The bolt disengaged with a loud click. He backed away to give her space, one hand hovering casually above his watch. All of the lights on Jo's collar were once again lit. If he decided that Tifa was stepping out of line, Jo would be the one who felt it. He nodded toward the wall, where a hook protruded from slightly above her height. It blurred in her vision for a moment. Tifa blinked hard and shook her head, and it came back into focus.

"Hook the chain of your cuffs on that," he said. He stood directly behind Jo, brushing the whip menacingly along the floor.

Tifa cautiously pushed open the door of her cage. She didn't quite see the point in the hook. If she could hook her cuffs onto it, she could just as easily remove them, but she did as she was told. The metal cuff clanked loudly, and she stared straight ahead at the wall. Behind her, his footsteps came closer.

Do your worst, Ricky. You haven't even come close to breaking me.

There was a jerk at her back and a loud ripping sound. Ricky had torn open the back of her dress, from her neck down to her waist, exposing her bare skin.

Tifa kept her face as stoic as possible. She must not let him see fear.

This is nothing compared to the beating in the basement. Nothing compared to fighting all day in the scorching sun with teeth marks in your arm and marlboro breath in your nose. It won't really even hurt. It will just – "AHHH!"

Five burning lines ripped through the flesh of her back, gouging into her skin with each of the knots. This wasn't a toy. This wasn't some sex prop. It was real, and it was meant to hurt. Maim. Disfigure.

"What was that, Tifa? I couldn't hear you."

Steadying her ragged breath, Tifa gritted her teeth and straightened her back.

"Oh?" Ricky sounded impressed. "Well, the first one is just to prime the skin. Don't worry; it only gets better from here."

Jo's voice rang in her head. 'Think of a place where you were happy…'

The picture by the bed. The park and the camera and the shooting star. Tifa closed her eyes and traveled back to that place, with the cool grass and the clearest nighttime sky she had ever seen.

"You can't take a picture with both of us in it," she laughed, loosening the tie on her rolled-up sleeping bag.

"Sure I can," Cloud insisted. "I'll just hold it like this –" he held the beat up 35mm camera at arm's length, "—and then push the button like this."

Tifa chuckled and turned away from him to unzip the bag. She shook it open and laid it out on the grass with the slippery side on the bottom. One corner was flopped over, so she bent over to straighten it. A bright flash lit up the night, and Tifa spun around.

"Did you just take a picture of my ass?" she demanded.

If there had been enough light to see it, she was sure his face would have been turning pink. He was still like a teenager in a lot of ways, although he had come a long way since he'd accepted the truth about his past. He tried to shrug it off. "I like your ass."

"AHHH!" The scream was wrenched from her throat. Five new searing lines laid parallel to the first ones.

"Ohhhh, that's better," Ricky said, sounding excited. Something hot and wet pressed against the fresh wounds and she jerked in pain.

Is that…his tongue? Is he actually licking my blood right now? She shuddered in disgust as the heat of his breath tickled her ear.

"Remember how I told you that I like the collars because they don't leave lasting pain or marks on my girls? Well, I've learned something from you, Tifa Lockhart. I've learned that…I like to see you hurt. Because I know I'm hurting him, too. What's that you say? He can't see this? Oh, don't worry. He will."

Float away, Tifa. Go back to that night. He noticed you unzipped your sleeping bag and laid it out flat like a blanket.

Tifa closed her eyes, pushing away the pain and the disgust and the fear...everything but the memory.

"You're going to get pretty cold with your sleeping bag unzipped," Cloud said, digging through his pack.

"You'll keep me warm…won't you?"

His big blue eyes snapped up at her teasing tone.

"I-in a minute. There's something I…it's not a big deal or anything. I mean…" Cloud stammered.

Tifa hid her smile. She was wearing her new lingerie. It was baby blue and silky, and she had bought it specifically for this occasion – a celebration of the world not ending. They had finally broken through the childhood-friends-with-awkward-flirting stage that night under the Highwind, but with the world-changing events in the following days, they hadn't spoken of it since. She could almost believe it had never happened, that she had dreamed it all. This camping trip – this lingerie – was meant to be a nudge to remind him of what they had together; what they were together.

His reaction was everything she had hoped for. He was looking for something in his bag, but he seemed to be having a serious problem finding it. She sat on the open sleeping bag, trying to pretend she didn't notice that he couldn't take his eyes off of her, but she was starting to wonder if he would ever be able to find what he was looking for or complete his thought. She decided to help him out. She pulled the other unzipped sleeping bag over the top of her, hiding her curvaceous, almost visible figure.

"Can you look for it later?" Tifa asked. "I'm getting cold over here."

*Crack*

Tifa gasped and jerked forward, but there was nowhere to go. Her cuffed hands were above her head, her face to the wall, and she had unconsciously moved away from the whip. She pressed her cheek against the cool sheetrock and forced herself to breathe through the pain. It would be over soon. Until then, she had somewhere else to be.

He pulled back his side of the sleeping bag, exposing her thinly covered skin to the cool evening air. He looked unsure of himself as he slid in next to her and lay stiffly on his back, his arm barely touching hers. Tifa lifted his arm so she could snuggle underneath it and lay on her side, resting her cheek and hand on his chest. His sweater was scratchy and didn't smell wonderful, but she could feel his heat radiating through it. He seemed to be looking for a safe place to rest his hand, finally settling on her hip. She could feel the tension in his muscles, hear the rapid-fire beating of his heart.

Five new strips burned across her back, crossing over the top of the others. She heard her voice cry out, but she felt strangely disconnected. Maybe she really was floating away. Part of her was still there, feeling the sting of the whip, but part of her was clinging to a young and inexperienced Cloud, five nights after meteor, in between their unzipped sleeping bags.

"So what were you looking for earlier?"

He was much more relaxed now, almost ragdoll loose and drunkenly happy, but not from the wine. The top sleeping bag was pushed down by their feet, but that was fine; Tifa was no longer anywhere near cold.

"Oh." He started to sit up, but she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Just tell me about it. You can show me later. I'm comfortable," she said.

"It's just…it's stupid," he said, settling back with his free arm behind his head. "And now I made such a big deal out of it and you'll just be disappointed because it's really nothing special."

"Ok. I won't have any expectations." She gave a theatrical yawn, trying to prove that she really wasn't all that intrigued.

"Well, it's just a map. I made it. I mean, I drew it. It's just a bunch of places I want to see. I want to save up for a motorcycle, and I was thinking maybe you'd ride with me and we could..." He laughed and turned his head away. "Never mind. It's dumb."

Tifa knew now what the hook was for. It was the only thing keeping her upright.

In the next second the pain of five cords burned up her nerves, a different direction yet again, tearing the skin from her back. Hot blood burned down her skin in rivulets and stained the ruined dress.

She sagged against the wall, letting the pressure against her wrists hold her weight.

"You want to go on the road again? After we just got back?"

"I just…Something doesn't feel right. I don't like staying in one place for too long. I feel like I'm being chased, and if I don't keep moving, something is going to catch me." He sat up, pulling away from her. "Never mind. I shouldn't have asked. I just thought…"

Tifa stared at his profile in the dark, at those crazy spikes that gave him such a unique silhouette. Now that the heavy burden they'd carried for so long was finally gone, they had their own demons to confront. She had been so focused on their goal, so driven for so long, that she had absolutely no idea what to do next. She had no anchor. Except…him. Wherever she ended up, whatever she wound up doing, she knew she wanted him there with her.

She sat up next to him, leaning back against her hands. "I'll ride with you."

He turned to look at her with a hesitant smile. "Yeah? I mean, I know you probably want to settle down soon…"

She tipped back her head to stare up at that clear, star sprinkled sky, free from any looming apocalypse. Settle down? Where would they even go? Midgar was in shambles. There was nothing waiting for them back at Nibelheim.

"Soon…but not yet." She returned his hesitant smile. "Maybe we can just enjoy being young for a while."

A hairy hand slapped lightly against her face. "Hey. Stay awake. I'm not done with you yet."

Tifa gasped and stood upright. Maybe that bottle of water wasn't enough to make up for the past few days or weeks or months without it. She felt so spaced out, almost like she was drifting away.

Ricky dropped the whip and stepped closer, sandwiching her between his body and the wall. Then he grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.

Tifa braced herself for more pain, but instead, his lips caressed her neck. "Tell me how much better I am than him."

Tifa tried to catch up with his train of thought. The memory had felt so real, but now her brain felt like a rabbit stumbling in circles, too drunk to figure out what was happening around it. "What? Who?"

His teeth sunk into her neck, not in a sensual, pain-bordering-on-pleasure type of bite, but a savage pinch of delicate flesh.

She gasped and jerked in surprise. His touch was repulsing, but it was nothing compared to the fire burning up her back. He breathed against her neck, hot and heavy. "Tell me how you fantasize about me when you're with him."

…Cloud? This is about Cloud? Did he miss the part where I said I haven't seen him in months?

"I…uh…"

The hand bracing him against the wall disappeared, and from behind them, Jo screamed.

"Jo!" Tifa tried to turn her head to look, but the fist wrapped in her hair held it tightly in place. It's that damn watch! Even if I can protect myself from the necklace, my plan will never work. He'll use it on her.

"What were you saying, Tifa?" His fingertips brushed lightly over the tears on her back, setting her nerves on fire.

"I pretend his skin is…soft and furry," she said in a rush. "…like making love t—on a bear rug. In front of a fireplace."

"Yes," he hissed. "He could never feel the way I do. Soft under the fingertips. Hot under the covers." He wrapped an arm around her ribs, pulling her closer against him. She bit back a grunt of pain.

"Tell me how pathetic he is. Tell me he's less of a man."

"He…he's…pathetic…" She could feel herself sagging again, the pressure of the cuffs holding her weight. It was only the hook and Ricky himself holding her up now.

"You can do better than that, Tifa."

She jerked awake again when Jo cried out.

"Ricky stop it! Please!" Tifa begged. "Leave her alone."

"You're the one doing this to her," Ricky snapped. "Consequences, Tifa."

"Ok! Ok. I'll do whatever you want. Just…just tell me what you want."

Ricky was growing impatient. He reached up and grabbed her breast roughly, squeezing painfully with hands that only knew how to hurt. The buttons of his shirt dug into the open wounds on her back, and she struggled not to vomit.

"What I want?" He snarled in her ear. "It's not something you can give to me. It's something I can only take."

A sparkle of light danced in her vision.

"I want him to know that I broke you."

His fingers dug in deeper, his bruising grip marring tender flesh.

"I want him to know that I own you."

He squeezed harder with each word he emphasized, pressing and releasing, like a massage gone horribly wrong.

"I want him to know that I have destroyed every piece of you. That you are nothing but a shell of who he used to love."

The hatred in his words burned into her breast. Even the light could feel it, bobbing along in time with his words. It blurred in her vision, becoming a featureless white ball.

"That you can't even remember what he felt like anymore, because all you can feel is me…over and over and over again."

The light was a reflection of his feelings.

"And you will never forget our first time. The way you screamed. Begged for mercy. Cursed his name for putting you through this. Because, make no mistake, Tifa. Cloud is the reason you're going to have the worst night of your life." Ricky was panting now, his maniacally squeezing hand leaving bruises on top of bruises. "I could be gentle, you know. I could make it better. But I won't. Because of him."

...Because of...Cloud?

Her head was in a fog. She watched the light bouncing around on the wall, trying to make sense of the things he was saying.

He released her hair and her head fell forward, forcing her to look down.

The light was a reflection of….of his watch. That watch, inches from her face. It was right there on his wrist, the key that held her and Jo hostage. Her mind struggled to do something with that information. She knew it was important, but the siren song of sleep was pulling her under.

His other hand was doing something behind her back. She heard the sound of jingling. Unbuckling. Unzipping. Fabric sliding.

Understanding clicked in her brain - what was about to happen. A surge of adrenaline shot through her, waking up her drunken brain, her numbing limbs.

In one fluid movement, Tifa raised her arms and freed them from the hook, twisted her hips, and jammed an elbow into the side of his head. She felt the vibration of the fracture. With his pants halfway down his thighs, he couldn't even get away gracefully. As he stumbled backwards, she pivoted on one foot and spun around, jamming a knee into his gut.

Ricky let out a harsh "hngh" of air and doubled over.

He was frantically trying to escape, backing up with tiny stutter-steps bound by his pants, but Tifa clung tightly to his wrist. His eyes were wide with fear, with the understanding that he had underestimated her, yet again. The hunter had become the hunted, stuck in a trap that he had more than earned.

Tifa yanked on his arm, spinning him backwards like an uncoordinated dance partner. Then she twisted it around behind his back and forced it up toward his shoulder blade.

That was when he really started to scream. Submission moves were designed to end a conflict, and for good reason. Right about now, Ricky probably felt like his arm was about to snap off at the shoulder. "Does that hurt?" she asked. "I could be gentle...but I won't."

The room was dimming and brightening in her vision, but she stayed focused on that arm. She hooked one foot around the front of his leg and jerked it to the side. He fell forward and she fell with him, recovering at the last moment to bring up her knee and pin him to the ground. The room spun slightly. She shook her head as hard as she dared.

"Tifa! W-wait! Wait. We can work something out. Fifty-fifty. A partnership!"

"No thanks. I've seen how you treat your partners," Tifa spat, using one knee to wedge between his thighs, forcing his legs apart.

He struggled to turn his head back toward her. "Fine, just m-money! For both of you! You don't have to see me ever again! Money for the rest of your lives!"

"And leave you free to prey on some other little girl? I don't think so, Ricky."

She should have realized all along that she didn't need to disable the necklace. She only needed to take away his remote. And there it was, pinned against his back where he could never reach it. But it was still too close for comfort. With her free hand, she tugged open the clasp and dragged it over his hand.

"I won't! I promise I won't! I'll be a hermit for the rest of my life if that's what it takes!" His breath was drawn sharply over his throat. "Please Tifa, please! I know you're angry right now, but you're not thinking clearly. You can get revenge for just this moment, or you can spend the rest of your life in paradise."

Tifa tossed the watch away and then reached between his legs to reposition him.

"Well, here's the thing," she said. "I don't know if I can trust you anymore. You see? That's the problem with being a slimy, predatory piece of shit. No one believes you, even when you…" The world blurred again, and Tifa struggled to regain her train of thought. "…tell the truth."

Ricky began hyperventilating. Either he'd figured out what she was about to do, or he'd figured out that there was nothing he could offer her to weasel out of trouble this time.

"Think about Jo!" he screamed hysterically. "You're being selfish! She'll be set for life! She'll never have to worry about being hungry or cold or lonely ever again! Or else she can starve on the streets so you can have your one moment."

"Do you remember a promise I made to you, back in Edge?" The room started to tilt, but she had to finish this. She bit down on her tongue, trying to force another surge of adrenaline. "I promised that if you ever touched Alicia again…" she shifted her weight, pressing down between his legs with her knee. "I would crush them."

"I didn't!" His voice was shrill. "I never saw her again!" He started to scream with the pitch and strength of an opera singer, thrashing, struggling to choose between two extreme pains. He could shift and let off the pressure in one place, but it would only make the other worse. He couldn't choose. The cushion beneath her knee popped and deflated like a water balloon.

Then his scream started to fade out, and there was nothing else her hormones could do. The tunnel engulfed her.

*Buzz*

*Buzzzz*

*Buzzzzzzzzzz*

Cloud pressed impatiently on the button at the front gate.

"What?! Damn man, hold your chocobos!" the voice finally came through the speaker.

"I'm here about the interim guard job," Cloud said.

A long sigh garbled the speaker. "Uh, you're not supposed to be coming until the morning."

"No, Mick said tonight. He said he needed me for the night shift."

"Ahhh, fuck. Mick's all over the place tonight. Well, he's already gone home, but…I suppose I can do the intake stuff. Just…lemme turn off the fences…"

A minute later, the gate clicked loudly. Cloud pulled it open and started up the walkway. A low growl met his ears from the left, followed almost immediately by a loud snarl from the right. He whipped out his swords and held them at both sides, but his head was pulled toward the snarl, which was the more immediate threat. A large black dog was charging straight toward him.

He spared a quick glance to his left, where another dog was stalking, but not yet charging. He raised the sword in his right hand, ready to fend off the animal, but just before he reached him, there was a rapid beeping sound, and the dog turned sharply to the side and stopped. Confused, Cloud stared at it, unaware that the dog on the left had silently moved up and had nearly reached the walking path. Without so much as a warning snarl, it lunged at Cloud.

Nearly falling backwards with surprise, Cloud slashed his sword upward to protect his left flank, but there was nothing to hit. The dog appeared to collide with absolutely nothing in thin air, letting out a piercing yelp that was abruptly cut off when she was thrown violently backward. She thumped limply to the ground, her glassy eyes staring at nothing.

"Shit…" Cloud breathed.

As he stood there staring at the dogs – one still watching him suspiciously from five feet away, the other a pile of fur – the front door opened. A young man, or possibly a woman, came plodding down the steps with a sigh.

"Damn, Kita, again?" They had one side of their head shaved, the other kept long and arched over the shaved side on top. Their face was covered with piercings, which was a bit of a shock for Cloud. As part of the 'image' the Brothers wanted for their employees, extreme hair styles were frowned upon, and piercings were strictly forbidden. It appeared they made exceptions.

The androgynous line-pusher stomped across the lawn to the limp dog and nudged it with their foot.

"Is it dead?" Cloud took a step toward them, but was stopped with a briskly raised hand.

"You as dumb as Kita? You don't wanna cross that fence, dude."

Cloud stopped. "You just crossed it…"

"Yeah well, I'm special." They flashed Cloud a quick smile, crossed back over to the walking path, and held out their hand. "Nara."

Cloud took the hand, examining it as he did – small, but not really delicate. "Jacob."

Nara nodded and began walking toward the house, signaling Cloud to follow. "Girl."

"What?" Cloud asked, startled.

She laughed out loud. "It's written all over your face, man."

"Oh. Sorry," Cloud said guiltily. He knew he didn't have a particularly masculine face, and it was a bit of a sore spot for him, so he felt bad for mentally questioning Nara.

"No big," she said, leading him inside the front door.

Up close, Cloud could see that she was even younger than she appeared at first glance. She couldn't have been more than fifteen, with piercing grey eyes. In addition to the piercings and wild hair, he could see tattoos on her collarbone, slipping under her shirt, and several smaller ones on her arms. All in all, she definitely didn't fit the mold of a typical Brothers employee.

"Come back here, let's get you chipped," she said.

They walked into a small room just past the entryway. Nara picked up a small device with a black surface, much like the one he had seen used at the back gate on the security videos. When she held it out to him, it was easy to match the matte black to the fingerprint sensor on his own apartment door.

He pressed his index finger against the surface and watched as his picture and all of his employee details appeared on a screen against the far wall. Nara glanced up at it and checked it against something on her computer.

"All right, you get level one access, so…" She walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a plastic wrapped syringe. As she walked back, she ripped open the plastic with her teeth. "Wrist," she said, holding out her hand.

Hesitantly, he held out his arm, palm down. Nara grabbed his wrist and flipped it over to expose the underside, then shoved in the needle and compressed the plunger. It was nothing but a small pinch, and Cloud couldn't see anything that had been inserted, but he could feel a lump when he ran his finger over the skin.

Nara still hadn't released his wrist, and now she pressed the first two fingers of her right hand over the place where the chip had been inserted. There was a brief green glow on her fingers before she removed them. She did it slowly, letting her fingers run over the back of his hand before letting go.

Cloud stared down at his wrist. "What did you just do?" he asked.

"I just programmed it with level one access," Nara said casually.

"Ok, but…how?" Cloud asked.

Nara threw away the syringe and plastic wrapping, then turned around and leaned against the table with a grin. "I told you, I'm special." Her face was turning slightly pink, and Cloud couldn't help but notice the way her eyes were wandering.

'She's one of mine.'

It was the first time Jenova had spoken since he'd arrived at the mansion, and he almost jumped.

"She's from Edge?" Cloud asked.

Nara's eyes snapped back to his. "Yeah. I lived there years ago. Do I know you?"

Her response was a relief. She didn't know who he was. The geostigma children had been in some kind of weird trance and didn't actually see him in the Forgotten City, but most of the people in Edge knew who he was anyway. He supposed Nara would have been a child back then.

"Um, no," Cloud said. "I just…recognized your face. I remember seeing you around Mr. Mio's store."

"Oh." Nara relaxed again. It was an educated guess – Mr. Mio had a little candy counter and was known to give out free "samples" to the kids when they came around, so his store was frequently filled with children.

"Ok, so let me show you the route you'll be covering," she said, turning back to the computer. She pulled up a version of the floor plan Echo had shown him, but this one was covered with lines of several different colors. "Alright, so level one access lets you cross any of these blue lines. You'll be patrolling from this hallway—" She traced her finger along one of the back hallways which came to a T, and then down both directions from the T. "You'll also need to open the doors and check into the rooms all along the hall. Open them, look inside, and shut them again. If you see anyone without an employee badge, secure them and call the main control room." She held out a handful of white plastic strips that looked like giant zip ties.

"Ok, got it," Cloud said, trying to take the strips from her hand, but she held them – and his eye – for a few seconds too long. When she finally let go, he shoved the strips into one of his side pockets. "What are all these other colors on the map?"

"Oh, don't worry about any of those. You need a higher security level for those." Then she laughed and put her hand on his arm. "Actually you should worry about them, because if you try to cross them you'll end up like poor, dumb Kita out there."

"Is she…dead?" Cloud asked, taking a step back, out of her reach.

Nara laughed again. "Dead? No. She's just paralyzed. Should wear off in ten minutes or so. Pretty damn harsh security to have invisible barriers that kill, isn't it?"

That's exactly what Cloud had been thinking, and had been much more nervous about the mission since he had seen it. His anxiety lowered a notch. "So…how many levels of security are there?"

Echo had shown him the blueprints with the red and green fences, so he was quite surprised when she responded. "Seven."

"Wha—really? Why? What could he possibly have that needs that kind of security?"

Nara raised an eyebrow and shook her finger at him playfully. "Don't be asking those kinds of questions around here. Nicky likes his secrets."

"Hm. Thanks for the tip." She smiled at him. "So what would I have to do to get level seven clearance?"

Nara gave a short laugh. "Curious one, aren't you?" She leaned back on the table. "You don't. There's only like two people here who get it. Nicky's most trusted. And me, of course."

"Why you?" Cloud asked.

"Told you," Nara said. "I'm special." Cloud said nothing, and after a moment, she added proudly, "I actually control the security systems. No one can get past those fences unless I let them. There's no other way to program these chips. It's foolproof security."

'Magnetism. That's all we need to know.'

He felt her trying to push her way in again. She was getting stronger with every batch of cells he absorbed, but he wasn't exhausted this time, and he was determined to reach Tifa, so there was no way she was going to overcome his will without a fight.

"Stop it," he said sharply.

"What?" Nara's expression contorted into surprise.

'We got the information we need. Let me take the cells.'

"No. That's not why we're here," Cloud insisted. "Leave her alone."

Nara began to back away from him. "Um, are you ok?"

'Don't let her walk away, Love. We need those cells to get through all of the security levels. Do you want that or not?'

Cloud shook his head and brought his attention back to Nara. "Sorry, what did you say?"

She continued backing away. "You know what? Why don't you come back in the morning when Mick is here?" She laughed nervously. "I'm not really qualified to train in a new guard, you know?"

'You're about to lose your one chance to get through security.'

"Nara, wait." Cloud reached for her arm, but she jerked it out of his reach, then turned and sprinted away.

'Let me in.' He felt the nudging against his mind again.

"No. Back off." Cloud ran after the girl. "Nara! I didn't mean to—"

*Smack*

Before he could understand what had happened, Cloud found himself staring up at the ceiling. He tried to get up, but his muscles didn't respond. He tried to speak, but his mouth didn't even move. Nara came into his vision and knelt down at his side. At least his eyes could move to follow her, but that seemed to be the only thing he could control.

She picked up his wrists and placed them together on his torso. Then she pulled out one of those white strips and zip tied them together.

'Are you happy now?'

Nara had walked behind his head and was attempting to drag him by the arms, but her feet were slipping on the smooth tile, and she only managed to yank him inches at a time. Cloud knew he was a lot heavier than he looked - something to do with the density of mako-juiced muscle - and a girl that size wasn't going to get very far. She struggled for a few minutes, but soon enough, gave up and sat down against the wall at his side.

"I'm so stupid."

Cloud's eyes were rolled as far as possible to the right, and he could just barely see her at the edge of his vision. She had her knees pulled up with her arms laid across them.

"You know, my mom always said I have the worst taste in guys. But you were cute, and you looked…I dunno…safe. I guess looks don't account for crazy."

She pulled her knees closer and dropped her head on them.

"I never should have let you in. I'm gonna be in so much trouble when Mick gets in. Shit, if he tells Nicky…" Then she sat up straight. "No, you know what? Nicky needs me. He can't control this system without me. And if Mick tries to punish me, I'll box him in with a fence." Unexpectedly, she moved forward and looked down at Cloud. "Just so you know, that's what you're in. You're surrounded by a negative fence, so if you try to do anything other than sit up when you can move again, you'll be right back to where you started." She scowled. "Shit, why am I even telling you this?"

Then she looked guilty. She scooted back against the wall, just at the edge of his vision again. "Damn it. I hate seeing you like this and I don't know why. I don't even know you. But I feel like I do. Am I making any sense at all right now?" She laughed dryly. "I probably sound about as crazy as you."

They sat there in silence for what seemed like forever before Cloud was able to start wiggling his fingers. From there, it was like a thaw that moved slowly through his body. He rolled carefully onto his side and sat up.

"Hey," Nara greeted him as if he'd just woken from a nap.

"I…didn't mean to scare you," Cloud said finally. "I just…talk to myself sometimes."

"Don't you dare tell me I overreacted," Nara said sharply. "You didn't see yourself. Your eyes were trying to change color or something. And your head…" She shook her own head. "You looked scary as shit."

"Sorry…" Cloud grimaced, not sure what else to say. "Can you let me out of here, please? I promise I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

"Sure you won't." She laughed flatly. "No, I've already made too many stupid decisions tonight. I'm not gonna do anything to make it worse."

'Quit trying to reason with her. Just let me take her cells and be done with it.'

Cloud didn't dare speak to her out loud again, but personally, he didn't think it would be a bad thing for this girl if he got those cells out. Of course, she wouldn't be able to do her job anymore, but that hadn't been such a bad thing for Jeff, right? She was probably just as tired of being angry and being used. Before he could talk himself out of it, he began to raise his hands – both of them, since they were still tied together.

'You'll kill her,' Jenova interrupted sharply. 'She has far too many for you to remove without hurting her.'

Cloud sighed and dropped his hands. It would be just like those kids in Edge. He was too indelicate to remove them without seriously injuring the person. Nara was just watching him curiously, and he supposed at this point, it didn't matter if she thought him crazy or not.

"You're sure I'll be able to get through all the gates after you do this?"

"What?" Nara blinked. "No way, I'm not changing your security clearance."

'Yes, I'm sure. I understand how she was doing it now. She's just changing bits with magnetism.'

"And you'll return control as soon as you're done?"

"Control of what? Are you talking to yourself again?" Nara blurted.

'Honestly, Love, I have no desire to live out your dull life. I just want to put myself back together.'

"And she'll be ok when you're done?"

'Just like she was before I met her.'

Cloud looked at Nara, who was beginning to look nervous again. "Ok," Cloud said. "Ok, fine. Do it."

Cloud ceded control. Jenova took over.