CHP 9: Attack on Junon

Summary: With the city under attack by Sapphire Weapon, Cait Sith and Reeve hurry to help their friends escape - and not get caught.

Featuring: Reeve, Rita, Cait Sith, Barret, The Turks, ShinRa, and a special appearance from Sapphire Weapon

Notes: I'm so excited for this chapter, as it has a lot of stuff in it that I couldn't wait to get to writing when I first started this story. Enjoy!

The world shook. From the ocean burst an enormous creature with shimmering sapphire scales. Its screech sent shockwaves down Rita's spine. Startled, she almost pitched over the railing until Veld's steel arm steadied her. Heart hammering in her throat, Rita stared as the monster rose to its full height.

Reeve warned her that something had happened at the Northern Crater. But not until now did the full weight of his caution settle in her bones. The monster was huge. It looked hideous. Thrashing tentacles, gnashing teeth, it twisted from out of a foaming whorl with wails that pierced Rita's eardrums and chilled her to her core.

Could ShinRa defend against that?

"Well, whadda'ya know," Veld tugged her arm, "that's our cue to get the hell out. C'mon, I've got a bunker, we should be nice and secure—"

"I can't go with you!" Flush with panic, Rita ignored her fear and dug her heels in, pulling against Veld's grip and craning toward the fortress under siege. "What about Reeve?"

Veld stared at her with an indiscernible expression before whistling. "Ms. Spencer, you want return to the building that's currently under attack by that," the monster's eyes glowed, energy gathering in front of its gaping maw, "you're a grown woman and I won't stop you. But we part ways here." Giving her one last once over, Veld added, "Take care to not die. That certainly would disappoint your boss."

"I'll be sure not to, and you do the same."

He gave her arm a light squeeze before hurrying off. Another screech of the beast and shake of the earth tore Rita's gaze from Veld's retreating form and back to the Junon Fortress.

She needed to find Reeve.

The glass walls trembled in their panes as the Weapon sliced through the ocean toward Headquarters. Crackling with glowing energy, from behind its razor-teeth the beast spit blazing fireballs, blue in their heat. Fire crashed against the bronzed fortress walls, melting the weaker elements of the facade. Yet the fortress held.

Reeve peered out the tested windows to spy flames licking away at the metal pier, hoping Rita and Veld were somewhere safe.

"What's the status of the Sister Ray?" Rufus barked at one of the cannon engineers, who had begun scrambling to their posts at the alarm shrills. The nervous man wiped away the sweat from his brow as he studied the computer.

"It's ready from the earlier testing today."

"Then fire at will!"

The panicked engineer did. The Sister Ray's lever pulled with click-hiss, and the mighty gun roared to life. Pistons churning, the Sister Ray locked and loaded. The machine glowed emerald, then shone white with heat. The sound and space around Reeve boomed—there was a high-pitched whine, muted fuzz, the room spinning from the sheer force of the blast. He clutched his head.

As the sounds refocused he vaguely heard Rufus shout, "Status!?"

"Direct hit! But the Weapon seems too far out for it to have done much damage, sir!"

"Fire again!"

"You can't—" Reeve cut in, voice hoarse, "the cannon needs time to recharge!"

Rufus' frown grew pronounced. Beside him Heidegger growled, "Heavy artillery in meantime!"

The guardsman unleashed their volley, the heavy guns from Junon's fortress sparkled across the sky, ripping across the ocean's reflection below. Artillery peppered the Weapon's face, but it did not stall.

The door burst open. "General Heidegger," a panicked guard shouted, "one of the prisoners has escaped!"

The vein in Heidegger's temple throbbed as his eyes widened in shock. Before he could respond, Rufus cut in coldly, "Handle it, General." Heidegger didn't argue, fleeing the room with haste.

"I should go too," Reeve took his chance to cut in, steeling himself for Rufus' hard glare. "I'm no use here. I need to find Rita, make sure she's safe."

It was with the barest emotion Rufus nodded approval, and Reeve rushed out.

He thanked his lucky stars and Domino's materia, too, and hoped his luck would hold. The lie he told was a white one, one Rufus easily swallowed. Of course Reeve wanted to find Rita.

But first, a prison break.

"This is a shit prison break." Barret cursed again as another surge of bullets whiffed passed the computer terminal he'd taken refuge behind. Before Cait Sith could reply, a third volley of gunfire peppered the walls. From outside they heard a screeching cry.

"Save yer feedback fer later!" The cat turned sharply around the corner, agility outstripping Barret, who scrambled just in time behind the wall as bullets ricocheted against it. "Now's not tha time!"

Across their mindlink, Reeve warned: Guards mobilizing on each floor. Get to the lift fast as you can!

"No weapons, no materia—you really just ran in blind, huh!?"

"I needed to save yeh!"

"But Tifa's still back there," Barret grimaced as the guard's footsteps drew nearer. "And I got no ammo." He pumped his gun-arm, punching the air angrily. "So what now, cat?"

"Jes' run to the elevator!"

They rushed ahead, turns tight and just out of reach of their pursuers. Approaching the lift, Barret mashed the button. The light stayed dull.

"What's goin' on!?" Barret spat at Cait Sith. The cat examined the panel, and cursed.

"It's locked down. We're not gettin' through without a keycard." Something not even Reeve could help with now.

"Shit." Barret craned his neck to glance backward. Two guards had rounded the hallway, guns drawn. "Shiiit!" Metal arm raised in defense, Barret shielded Cait Sith.

A bright glow and a teal shimmer engulfed them just as the soldiers opened fire.

Both Barret and Cait Sith winced as gunfire pierced the air, yet to no avail—the bullets shattered against a translucent barrier, scattering on the ground as opal dust. The guards stood shocked, one firing again, but the magical wall held firm.

"Thought you said you didn't have any materia!" Barret whipped around to Cait Sith, who shook his head.

"I don't."

"I never know what the hell is goin' on," Barret grumbled, and then without further warning charged the soldiers, hurtling into nearest one and sending the man flying against the wall with a deafening crack. He crumpled.

Before the other guard could react, a gray blur of arms encircled his neck, a swift kick sweeping the soldier's leg from underneath. The man thudded to the ground. Not hesitating, Barret leaned over, slamming his fist into the man's face twice until he slumped unmoving.

Then, both Barret and Cait Sith turned to face their rescuer, shining orb clutched in her hand.

"Looks like this did come in handy," she looked from the Barrier materia to Cait Sith with a smile. "Veld was right," she said, pocketing it.

"Rita!" Cait Sith ran forward and jumped into her arms, and she hugged him against her. "What are yeh doing here?"

"Trying to find—you." Rita glanced furtively at Barret, catching her breath. "You know what I mean."

"Aye. Safe an' sound downstairs, no need to worry about 'im."

"The hell's going on here?" Barret cut in. "Who're you, lady?"

"A friend." Cait Sith was quick to respond. "Rita, meet Barret Wallace." Her eyes widened, but before she could speak he continued, "You don' happen to have the card that'll get us in here, do yeh lassie?" Cait Sith gestured toward the locked elevator lift.

Rita reached into her pocket. "Sure do," she waved a keycard and unlocked the lift.

"Wait." Barret stomped. "We can't leave yet. Not without Tifa."

Rita stalled. "What are you talking about?"

"She's trapped in the gas chamber. We couldn't get past Scarlet—she locked us out." Cait Sith's ears drooped with his shameful explanation. Rita raised a knuckle to her lips, pursing them in though as she scanned the hallway.

As she spied the wall of computer terminals, her face brightened. "Scarlet may have locked out you one way," she twirled the keycard between her fingers, "but I think I can get you in another. Here," she waved them over, slotting the key into the machine and powering it up. "Veld mentioned being able to access ShinRa secrets. I bet I can get the fortress blueprints."

After a minute of searching her face shone with triumph. "Ah ha!" A map of the building enlarged on the screen, and Rita pointed out a spot to Cait Sith. "We're here, and you should be small enough to climb through the vents—" her finger traced the map "—there. Once you're through, you—"

"—can free Tifa." Cait Sith bounced with excited understanding. "And yeh'll wait here?"

"No," Rita said. "The fortress is under attack, and everyone is scattered. Now is the best chance to make an escape."

"Yeah," Barret scoffed. "And how?"

"If yeh can get outside to the airfield, yeh can steal an airship!" Cait Sith chimed in. "I doubt it's being guarded now!"

"Not a bad plan, but how the hell are we getting from here to there?" Barret snapped. "The guards'll be ready by now. I can't just walk out the front door and one barrier materia ain't gonna cut it for fighting our way out."

Cait Sith's ears drooped again. "Aye, tha's true. And Rita can't be seen helping either."

She was silent, head hung in thought. With slow deliberate words, she looked at Barret and said, "What if you had a hostage?"

Barret's jaw dropped. "What if I what?"

"You've escaped. You've taken me hostage, 'forced' me to help you. Using me as a shield, you walk out the front door. They won't fire on me."

"You sure about that?" Barret's laugh was harsh, bitter. "Lady, your company doesn't give a shit about you! Shooting you ain't all that different from droppin' a plate."

Rita trembled, guilt etching her face for the briefest moment. But then she looked at Cait Sith.

"You're right. My company doesn't care about me." She smiled at the cat. "But there's someone down there who does." She looked back toward Barret. "Please trust me, Mr. Wallace."

Barret looked at Cait Sith. From the other end of their link, there was a tremor of fear, but then the link tensed taut with resolve, and Cait Sith's confidence rose. "It's tha best plan we've got."

"You promise you'll save Tifa?"

"Aye. I promise on my life."

Barret nodded slowly. "All right, then. Don't got any other options." His eyes locked with Rita's. "Let's do this."

They helped Cait Sith wriggle into the ceiling vent near the locked gas chamber holding Tifa captive, then Rita and Barret entered the lift.

"You should probably stand like—" Rita positioned Barret's arms, one hand to hold her, one gun-arm aimed at her head "—this." Barret took up the position, body stiff, awkwardness etched in his face, and then Rita pressed the button. The lift began to descend.

"I don't like this shit."

"Nor do I, Mr. Wallace." She craned her neck up to look at him and hoped her smile looked sufficiently sympathetic. "If it's any consolation to you, think of it as payback."

"What's that now?"

Her heart thudded in her chest. "You could technically say I helped kidnap Marlene." She felt him stiffen against her and continued quickly, "We made sure to keep her safe the whole time, I promise. And it certainly wasn't my idea…but still, helping you now is the least I can offer as an apology."

His dark eyes bore into her with suspicion. "You controllin' Cait Sith?"

She was genuinely surprised by the question. "No."

"But you're close with the person who is."

That's one way to put it, she thought. "Yes."

Barret nodded, digesting her words. "All right. All right. That works for me." He softened. "Marlene...tell me. She doin' okay? She safe?"

"Yes, I promise. She's completely safe now, and the entire time I was with her, the most excitement was watching Lil' Stamp."

"I hate Lil' Stamp."

Rita shifted sheepishly. "So Biggs mentioned."

"Biggs?" She held Barret's full attention. "You know Biggs?"

"Let's just say I'm close with a few members of AVALANCHE."

For the first time, Barret half-smiled. "Well, shit, lady, shoulda said something earlier." He looked abashed. "Sorry again about the gun in the face. Helluva first introduction."

"I'm not taking it personally." The lift neared the lobby floor. He steadied his grip on her, and Rita took one last moment to adjust the angle of his gun on her. "Just make sure to really sell it."

"Yeah, sure, you too." Barret snorted. The elevator chimed. "It's show time."

As Reeve arrived to the lobby, he saw Heidegger had beaten him there—and so had the remaining Turks. Elena, Reno, and Rude stood at the ready, flanked by soldiers with guns drawn. Reeve had made it only just in time—the lift chimed, and the doors began to open.

To their credit, Barret and Rita sold the act of looking menacing and menaced, respectively. Reeve would have believed it—if he didn't know any better. Lacking his knowledge and luck, Heidegger and the Turks seemed to buy the ruse, each freezing upon the site of Rita's helpless form, gun-arm thrust in her face.

Never mind the gun lacked any bullets. That, ShinRa didn't need to know.

At first, no one moved. Then, in tentative motion Barret inched forward and Rita shuffled along, him ducking down to crouch behind her as a shield.

ShinRa did not know how to respond. Elena looked between her from Reno to Rude, clear doubt etched on her face—whatever happened next, it was clear she didn't want to hurt Rita. Her fellow Turks seemed to share her sentiment, and the guards alongside them too. When none of them moved, Barret and Rita stepped forward again.

From beside Reeve, this triggered Heidegger, who enraged shouted, "FIRE!"

"NO!"

Reeve leapt forward, placing himself between a now truly terrified AVALANCHE and ShinRa's weapons. Elena's jaw dropped outright. The guards cast nervous glances backwards at Heidegger, but heeded Reeve's command—they did not fire.

Heidegger looked apoplectic. "WHAT ARE YOU—"

"You can't hurt one of our own!" Reeve stood his ground, wide-stance and arms outstretched.

"Get the hell out of the way, Tuesti!" Heidegger hissed before shouting to the guards, "I said 'FIRE'!"

But Elena now relaxed her stance and defiantly faced Heidegger, drawing the guards' attention. "But he's right. And we can't fire on him."

Heidegger's face turned to outraged puce, every vein from temple to neck looking as if they would pop and marched forward with clenched fists, side-stepping the Turks and Reeve.

A shrieking cry pierced the air, followed by a BOOM and once again the building shook. Everyone startled.

Barret capitalized on his chance, launching Rita like a bullet through the air—right at the General. She toppled into the older man with surprising force, pummeling him straight onto his back as she landed with dead weight.

Before the guards could react and open fire at Barret, the song of spinning metal whistled through the air. A shuriken sliced a gun right out of a soldier's hands before slinging back to its owner, who had busted through the lobby doors and wasted no time unpinning a small grenade.

"Wutai sends its regards, General!" Yuffie shouted as the smoke bomb exploded, covering the room with thick pink plumes. "AVALANCHE, out!" With a sardonic salute, the ninja grabbed Barret and together they disappeared into the thick cloud.

Sputtering from the smoke, Heidegger roughly threw Rita aside and staggered to his feet. "After them," he coughed, and the uninjured guards took off.

Reeve hurried to his assistant, pulling her up and to his chest, his heart thudding so loudly he was sure she could hear it, pressed against him as she were. She made no motion to pull away, instead burying her face into his shirt, white knuckles closed tight gripped around his jacket, lean frame trembling. He rubbed at her back, hoping it soothed her.

Elena approached them with timid steps, but before she could say a word, Heidegger stormed over, towering above the Urban Development team.

"What the hell was that?!"

From over the intercom a voice called, "Direct cannon hit!" Followed by, "Weapon, down!"

Wriggling his way through the vent, Cait Sith came upon a narrower enclosure with fanned slits barring his way through. "Och, only way is to break 'em." Fiddling with the screws, he hastily pried apart the metal, finally slipping past the jagged edges and continuing through the vent. At the end of the shaft he spied another grate, this one with a sickly green mist venting through.

Shite. Poison gas. Scarlet had activated the chamber, meaning there was little time left. Cait Sith needed to get in there now.

Springing the screws loose, the cat crawled through the opening and sprang into the room.

"Cait Sith!?" Tifa shouted with a mixture of shock and relief, her head heavy and eyes half-lidded—it seemed she were already feeling the effects of the poison. From the other side of the room there was a bang.

"What's that? Who's there?" Scarlet's shrill voice rang with a note of panic. Not bothering to respond, Cait Sith glanced around the room. Light streamed in from a gash in the wall—it seemed the Sapphire Weapon's attack had breached the hull of the Fortress successfully, after all. To their luck, gas seeped from the opening in the wall—it likely was the only thing keeping Tifa from succumbing entirely to the poison's effects. Neither Cait Sith nor Reeve were sure if they had Domino to thank for such luck, but there was no dwelling on it. Cait Sith hurried to the control panel, prying it open.

Listen to the machine, Reeve's voice coaxed over their connection, and Cait Sith did so, hearing the whispers of energy inside the metal much in the way his creator did. Letting the machine guide him, the cat found the wire and pulled.

The gas shut off. From the other side of the door, Scarlet began forcing open the latch.

Listening again, Cait Sith and Reeve directed the machine to Unlock. It heeded them, and the metal cuffs chaining Tifa released.

With a grateful sigh, she scooped the cat doll into her arms and hugged him. "Am I glad to see you."

"No time, dearie." From behind them, the door began turning open. "We've gotta go." They both looked toward the gash in the wall.

"Guess we're climbing, huh?" Tifa motioned Cait Sith to hold tight to her and took off through the gap, clambering up toward the roof of the fortress, to the gun of the Sister Ray itself. Beneath them still inside the building, they could hear Scarlet loudly curse, and the clacking the heels sprinting away.

Tifa scaled to the top of the cannon with relative ease in spite of the extra load, but it seemed the extra time made all the difference. At the top, Scarlet awaited.

"Not many places you could go," her ruby lips splitting into a sinister grin. And then moving with surprising speed and grace, Scarlet struck Tifa.

Unprepared, winded from the climb, and still feeling the effects of poison gas (or so Cait Sith surmised), Tifa was caught off-guard and flew backwards from the strike.

"No yeh don't!" Cait Sith shouted, launching himself at Scarlet. She swatted him away with ease and a disgusted shout.

"Ugh, stay away from me you mangy pest!" She kicked him down.

"Och, yeh scabby, howlin'—" the second kick sent the cat flying off to the edge of the roof. Without delay, Scarlet launched herself at Tifa again, who'd barely recovered from the first volley. Three blows landed before the martial artist responded with any of her usual panache.

On Scarlet's fourth attempt, the blow glanced off Tifa's blocking arm, and Scarlet's follow-up hook missed entirely. With recovered swiftness, Tifa dodged another attempt.

Then she returned with a one-two punch of her own.

The first blow brushed Scarlet's cheek, but the second slammed square in the nose with a sickening crunch. Down Scarlet went, blood spraying and blonde hair thudding the metal deck below.

"Shite!" Cait Sith stared from Scarlet's limp form to Tifa, posing triumphantly with clenched fists above her. Before he could say any more, a whir of propellers roared through the air. Rising to greet them at the top of the cannon flew an airship. On the side, emblazoned with red paint read Highwind. On the deck with a victorious smiles on their faces waved Barret and Yuffie.

They made it, Reeve and Cait Sith both flooded with relief. "Looks like there's our ride!" Cait Sith called to Tifa, and together they ran toward the ladder outstretched for them. Safely on-board Barret folded them into his giant arms, squeezing tight.

"Glad to see ya both." Giving Cait Sith a meaningful look Barret added, "Thanks for keeping your promise. And the suggestion." He waved around at the airship. "Nice escape plan. Cid was happy to have his ship back."

"Figured so!" They hurried inside, but Barret motioned for Cait Sith to stay back.

"Thank you again." The man appeared sheepish yet sincere. "Ain't no point in pride. You really came through back there, ShinRa man. Appreciate it."

"Made a promise, aye?"

"Yeah, you sure did." Barret conceded, before adding with a sly smile. "So...tell me about this Rita."

Reeve's heart jolted and Cait Sith eyed Barret warily. "What about?"

"She mentioned you two are close. She's cute—guessin' girlfriend?" Barret smirked and before Cait Sith could protest, he added with dramatic flourish, "I know who you really are."

Cait Sith gave a start. "Yeh think so now, do yeh?" Despite his best effort, his voice pitched up nervously. Barret laughed.

"Yeah, seems pretty obvious to me. You were there." He snorted again. "She was counting on someone who cared about her."

"Ah." It...had been obvious, hadn't it?

"Didn't expect such a fancy suit," Barret admitted. Spying Cait Sith's expression, he added, "Don't worry. I won't tell any of the others yet." His smile looked conspiratorial.

Reeve felt a wave of relief wash over him and Cait Sith said, "Least yeh owe us, really, if yeh think about it."

Barret swatted at him, but it lacked any real malice. "Shut up, ya damn cat."

"So AVALANCHE escaped." The President paced before them, voice cold. Despite ShinRa's victory over the monster, their losses had been extravagant. The damage to the city had been devastating enough—the harbor in ruins, ShinRa's most prized airship stolen, the fortress itself sustaining heavy injury.

Losing the leaders of AVALANCHE though, was a PR loss even the Sister Ray's success could not overshadow. Rufus scanned his disheveled Directors, face flat; it was only when he came upon Rita that he piqued with interest. "What happened?"

The air fled her chest. None of others had directly questioned Rita about how she'd encountered Barret in the first place, and Reeve had gallantly managed to shield her from further questioning so far. But now Rufus was doing the questioning.

And Rufus was smarter than all of them.

"I was trying to find a safe place inside the building." Rita began. "Some guards directed me down a hallway. That's when he grabbed me." The lie slipped off her tongue so smoothly, she surprised even herself. When had she gotten so used to this?

The thought was overconfident—Rufus did not seem so easily convinced, staring intently at her with silent scrutiny. "You were not able to fight back?"

"I'm only a novice. Not good enough to defend against a firearm." Gamely, she met his gaze.

And then she received an unexpected hand. "It's true. Our lessons didn't get that far, sir." Elena's interjection was wholly unexpected, unabashed and straightforward as it were directed to the President. Yet after a moment of staring, Rufus relented, accepting the tale and turning away from Rita.

Gratitude flooded Rita, and for the first time since their fight, she let herself look openly at Elena, whose eyes briefly met hers with emotion Rita couldn't discern.

Rufus had moved on, barking orders at the engineers standing at the ready. "Hasten all the preparations. We're advancing our schedule—the cannon is moving to Midgar with no further delay."

"Won't be a problem, Mr. President. The cannon has more than proved its impressive capabilities," Scarlet cooed, though the normal effect of her flattery was undercut by her reddened nose and blood-spattered dress.

With a cold glare, Rufus said, "When your cannon actually manages to stop AVALANCHE or Sephiroth, then I will be impressed by its capabilities." Scarlet's smug smirk dissolved. "Back to work," Rufus barked before stalking away.

No sooner had he did Scarlet twist and hiss at Rita. "Just had to go get damseled, didn't you?"

"That's enough, Scarlet," Reeve stepped between them just as Heidegger marched forward.

"And you, Tuesti, you have no authority to order my men! You interfered with our operation!"

Reeve wasn't listening. Placing a gentle hand on the small of Rita's back he steered them both toward the exit. "We can discuss this later," he called dismissively to the others over his shoulder, and Rita found herself amazed by his uncharacteristic nerve. "We have our orders from the President in the meantime."

If either Director wanted to continue the argument, they were cut off by Elena, once again ceremoniously ignoring protocol and jogging alongside the Urban Development team. "Hey, let me walk you to your helipad, yeah?"

"Thank you," Rita said quickly, and the three hurried out before Scarlet or Heidegger could launch further complaint.

"I'm glad you're okay Rita," Elena began soon as they were out. "And I'm sorry about...well, everything."

Rita shook her off. "It's okay. I understand."

"Elena," Reeve said, "I mean it when I say thank you. If it weren't for you, Heidegger wouldn't have held back."

She smirked, "Yeah, well, I'm not afraid of Heidegger."

The airfield remained surprising unscathed from the Weapon's attack. Already awaiting with their chopper was Felix, tension writ plainly in the hard-coiled muscles of his arms as he made his final preparations. Spying their approach, his face lit up with relief.

"Am I glad to see you all in one piece!" He gave Reeve and Rita a toothy grin and, ignoring all propriety, a hug. Elena stood amused before giving Rita one last glance.

"I hope that we're...okay?"

Rita wasn't sure how to respond. "I think we will be." She smiled at Elena. "Thank you again," and they departed.

The damage from the attack was considerable now viewed from the air. Junon's economy would be devastated. The supply chain issues would likely spill over to Midgar and other cities across the planet. Another catastrophe to add to their loaded plates.

They didn't speak of this. Instead, Felix only commented to Reeve to say, "I unlocked the airfield gate and it happened just like you predicted—no one was around, so they climbed right on-board and lifted off." He whistled. "Gotta say, never thought I'd see Cid Highwind again, that damn coot. Can't say I blame him though—it was his ship!" Felix chuckled. "Talk about luck, eh?"

Rita spied Reeve thumb something in his pocket. "Luck, indeed."

They collapsed into each other on Reeve's couch, having remained silent and utterly exhausted the duration of the trip back to Midgar, lost in their thoughts about the Weapon and the very close call they'd encountered. Unceremoniously, Rita kicked off her heels and stretched out, brushing further against Reeve.

"Quite a day."

He snorted. "One way to put it, lass," he drawled, too tired to bother hiding his accent.

"We got lucky."

"We made some of our own luck," he pulled from his pocket the Luck materia. "The Mayor gave this to me before I left for Junon. So I guess I did get lucky in that."

Reeve could see the emotion welling in her eyes. Gingerly placing the orb on the table, he sat up, and took her hands in his.

"I'm sorry again. For everything I've put you through. Getting involved with AVALANCHE was more than you bargained for."

She shook her head, freckled nose turning pink as regained her composure. "It's okay. I know you've only ever meant well." Taking a steadying breath, she smiled at him. "Besides…we made it."

"We did..." He felt his heart begin to race now. He'd rehearsed this on the ride back, had vowed he would put it off no longer, but now he was here the cowardice of his body began to overtake the courage of his heart.

Sensing his unease, Rita squeezed his hand, and Reeve felt steadied. He began again.

"Rita, there's something I have to tell you." Her eyes shone with expectation, her lips parted into a soft smile. "Rita, I—" she looked so beautiful that his nerve nearly failed again. "Wow, I'm-I'm really floundering here, aren't I? Sorry," he felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

She squeezed his hand again. "I think I have an idea of what you're going to say." Her smile seemed brighter now, "and I'll admit, part of me wants to help you and put you out of your misery." She leaned closer to him, their noses nearly touching. "But," she giggled, "after everything I've had to go through, another part of me wants to see you suffer through this."

Reeve laughed, the butterflies in his stomach finally un-fluttering. He let one hand go to wrap his arm around her and pull her nearer still. "This is hardly suffering, Rita. But even if it were, I'd gladly suffer for loving you. Which I do, Rita." His heart leapt to his throat as he said, "I love you."

"I shouldn't have to say it," Rita's smile looked sweeter to him than he could ever remember, her fingers lightly tracing his palm, rippling gentle pleasure through him. "But in case it isn't obvious, Reeve, I love you too."

"Nae, yeh don't have to say it," he admitted. "But I like hearing it."

Rita beamed. "Anytime."

"You're right, though." Reeve chuckled, wrapping his other arm around her in a full embrace now, pulling her flush against him, nuzzling his nose to hers. "It was obvious. Once I finally knew what to look for, that is."

"Well, if it helps you, I can think of a few ways to make it even more obvious."

"A few, huh?" Reeve smiled as their lips met, and the world melted away.