SEVEN

After a few more hours, we headed back upstairs for lunch. As Tifa and Marlene went behind the bar, Biggs and I sat at one of the tables. I chatted with him for a bit, my head feeling a lot better now, although it still stung a bit if I touched it. But a good night's sleep later would help it heal well enough. So I didn't worry about it too much. Biggs watched me closely, his eyes wandering to my bandage every now and then, but he didn't say anything else about the close call I'd had last night. I knew he'd still worry, though. Just like always.

The aromas of Tifa's cooking were starting to tease our noses when Wedge walked through the doors, right on time and grinning eagerly. I laughed and waved, not a bit surprised, and he came right over to join us. Then my heart skipped a beat when Cloud came in a moment later. He nodded to us, then had a seat at the bar. I gazed lovingly at him and forgot all about the faint throbbing in my head. I lost track of what the guys were saying, too. All I knew was Cloud.

"Jessie," Biggs tapped my shoulder.

When he did, I nearly jumped out of my seat. "Oh! What?"

He grinned. "You like him, don'tcha?"

"Huh?" I blinked.

"The merc," Biggs chuckled. "You look at him the same way Wedge looks at a slice of Tifa's double chocolate cake."

I stared at him. "Biggs!"

"Well, you do," Wedge teased. "Not hard to see, you know."

"Breathe a word about it to him or to anyone else and I'll kick both your asses!" I whispered, blushing furiously. Then I smirked. "And also tell Tifa and Lena about how you guys feel about them. Bet they'd find that really interesting, wouldn't you say?"

Wedge blinked. "Huh!? Uh, well… nevermind."

Biggs loosened his collar. "Yeah, what he said. Just, um… go ahead and forget we brought up it up, alright?"

"Brought what up?" Tifa asked as she came over.

"N-Nothing!" he insisted, his own cheeks turning pink.

I giggled as Tifa handed me a drink. "Right!"

"Well then, are you guys ready to eat?" she laughed, setting drinks down in front Biggs and Wedge, too.

"Oh, yeah!" Wedge replied, rubbing his hands together.

Tifa smiled, then headed behind the bar. As she did, I looked over at Cloud again and had an idea. When she brought him his food just a few minutes later and then gave us ours, I leaned back in my chair and beckoned to him with a sweep of my arm.

"Cloud, come join us!" I called. "It'll be fun!"

"Not interested," he said.

I winked, not a bit surprised. "Thought you'd say that."

Picking up my plate and glass, I went over to the bar and had a seat on the stool next to Cloud, setting my things down in front of me. As I did, Biggs and Wedge stared at me for a moment, looked at each other in amusement, then shrugged and went back to their plates. I giggled a little as I gazed fondly at my friends, realizing I should've known they'd figure out how I felt about Cloud before long. I hadn't really hid it very well, and I was surprised Tifa hadn't caught on yet.

"Not eating with your friends?" he asked as I looked at him.

I shook my head and smirked as I dug into my lunch. "They'll live. I just thought you might like some company, no matter what you said. No one should have to eat alone."

He sipped his drink. "Guess you can stay."

"I feel honored!" I grinned. "So anyway, I'm gonna work on getting those passcodes after lunch. Wanna watch?"

"Yeah, might be interesting," Cloud nodded.

I felt my heart speed up a bit. "Great! I've been looking forward to showing you what I can do. You'll be amazed!"

When we'd finished eating, we got up. As I stretched for a moment, I saw that Wedge was still happily chowing down. But Biggs was done, standing up after we did and giving me, Wedge, and Tifa a jaunty little wave before hugging Marlene. She was at another table with Tifa while they ate their own lunch. Barret was still out doing his rounds, but he'd probably show up later and do his refueling then.

"Gotta go, guys," Biggs said. "Promised my sister I'd help her with a few things when I got back. Stuff for the kids, you know. Lena's excited to come back here and see you guys, though."

"Tell her we said hi," Tifa smiled.

I nodded. "And bring her over to visit soon, okay?"

"Will do!" Biggs promised. "Later!"

Then he headed outside, and once he was gone, I led Cloud over to the pinball machine with the hidden elevator, not minding one bit that we had to stand pretty close to each other as we rode it downstairs. We shared a glance in the dimness, and I couldn't help smiling at him. His gorgeous baby blues gazed at me from only a foot away, filling my belly with feathers and making my heart race.

"Kinda cozy, huh?" I giggled.

"Yeah," he said. "How'd you guys come up with this thing?"

I grinned as the elevator stopped and we strode into the basement. "I made it! Thought it'd be more fun than just a normal elevator. Easier to hide, too. What do you think, Cloud?"

"It works," he shrugged.

I laughed, playfully elbowing him in the ribs and loving how much of a natural straight man Cloud was. Best I'd ever seen. "Well, of course it does, dummy! But do you like it?"

Cloud scratched his head. "Yeah, Jessie. It's nice."

"Thanks!" I said as I sat at my desk.

While I turned on my computer and got to work, Cloud pulled up a chair from the table and sat next to me to watch. I did my best to try and keep the butterflies in my stomach under control as I tapped a few keys and sped through the system. And soon enough, the login screen for Shinra's main network came up. There was a password prompt, but I didn't even bother with it. Instead, I bypassed it entirely with a couple of quick commands. The screen faded for a moment or two, then came back up showing Shinra's central database.

I flashed Cloud a cheeky little smile. "And we're in!"

"Know what we're looking for?" he asked.

"Of course, Cloud," I answered, lifting an eyebrow. "I know Shinra's system inside and out. There's a whole lot in here, so it'll take a while to search through it all, but the passcodes for the reactor doors should be here. Don't know that they'll be together, though. Shinra might've kept them stored separately as a security measure."

Cloud gazed intently at the screen. "Makes sense."

We were so close that as he leaned forward to get a better look, his arm brushed lightly against mine. As my heart raced faster, I smiled at him and laughed softly, my nerves so jumbled up I nearly forgot what I was doing. Cloud swallowed and slowly sat back again in his seat as he gazed at me. I held it for a moment, then took a breath and focused on my work. Wasn't easy, though. He was such a dream.

While Cloud watched, I spent the next few hours searching for the passcodes. I checked the entire mainframe, list after list, one section at a time. As I'd thought, they were in different places, and it took quite a while for me to find them. Shinra had hidden them pretty well, but not well enough. By late in the afternoon, not long before dark, I had them. They hadn't been stored in plain text, though. Shinra knew better than that. And so did I. I'd been expecting this.

"Looks like they're encrypted," I said, checking the files.

"Can you decode them?" Cloud wondered.

I winked at him and laughed. "Is mako green? You better believe I can! I'm only one of the best hackers in Midgar."

"Right, stupid question," he said.

"There are no stupid questions, Cloud," I assured him. "It's how we learn. Don't be afraid to ask me anything, okay?"

He nodded. "I'll remember that."

I froze, my fingers on the keyboard, when I heard him. The way he spoke, what he said… it felt so familiar, like I'd heard it before long ago. But where? When? I didn't know. But as I looked curiously at him as if I were seeing him for the first time again, I couldn't help feeling as if I'd met him before somewhere. I just wished I could remember. That was, if I wasn't just imagining the whole thing.

"Jessie? You alright?" Cloud asked as I composed myself.

"Yeah, sorry," I apologized, smiling sheepishly at him. "Just startled me, is all. You probably don't even know why."

He didn't argue. "Not really."

I put my hands in my lap for a moment and did my best to explain. "I just had a little deja vu, that's all. I know this is gonna sound strange, but… I feel like we've met before. Not since you came to the slums, but before that. Another time, another place."

"Really?" Cloud said, his gaze thoughtful.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I can't remember. But what you said, it felt like I'd heard you say that before, a long time ago. It was so familiar, but I can't figure out why. Probably sounds silly to you."

He shook his head. "No, Jessie. It doesn't. I… I feel it, too."

"You do?" I gaped. "I thought it was just me…"

Cloud started to reply, then winced and grabbed his head with his right hand. The fit passed a moment later, though, and he slowly let go as I called his name, gently nudging his shoulder and looking at him in concern. I didn't like this, not at all, and I remembered all too well how he'd had one of these headaches over at my place the night we first met. Or met again, if my hunch about us was right. I couldn't shake that odd sense of familiarity I felt about him.

"Cloud? Are you alright?" I wondered.

He shook his head and straightened up. "I'm fine."

I wasn't so sure. "Another one, huh? I'm worried about you."

"I'll be okay," Cloud replied. "But anyway, yeah, it feels like I've run into you before somewhere. Other than the slums, that is. But… I don't remember where, any more than you do. Sorry."

I gently squeezed his shoulder. "No need to apologize. It makes me feel a little better, actually. Maybe we can figure it out together, you and I. Kinda feels like we were destined to meet, huh?"

He nodded. "Maybe."

Smiling, I went back to work. I liked the idea that Cloud and I had met before somewhere, even if I couldn't remember it yet. I hoped that I would, sooner or later. It felt like it might be important somehow, but I didn't know why. In any case, there wasn't much I could do about it at the moment. And I had a job to do. So I got to it, my fingers flying over the keyboard as Cloud continued to watch.

After finishing up my work about an hour or so later, I shut down my computer and headed upstairs with Cloud to relax and unwind for a bit. Tifa was there, and so were Barret and Wedge. Cloud kept pretty much to himself and didn't say much to anyone but me and Tifa, which didn't surprise me at all. I was a little worried that he and Barret would go at it again, but they didn't, though Barret did throw some suspicious looks his way. Cloud just ignored them.

The evening crowd filtered in once the bar opened, and for a while it was busy and full of activity. Wedge and I had dinner and played one of the pinball machines and a couple games of darts while Cloud sat at the bar surveying the scene and Tifa busied herself serving drinks and helping everyone. Barret, with Marlene sitting on his lap at the bar, ate as well and kept a close eye on the customers. Between him and Cloud, nobody cut up, not even Johnny. He just guzzled his beer while his eyes followed Tifa's every move around the room.

I couldn't help giggling a little about it. Johnny was brash and a bit excitable at times, but he wasn't a bad guy. I just hoped he'd get himself together and make something of himself. With his short, dark red hair and jean jacket, he was pretty recognizable and a regular at the bar. As I took my turn at darts, he came over to join me and Wedge. The night was getting on, and soon it would be closing time. Johnny would often stay right up until the doors shut behind him.

"Hey, guys," he said. "Mind if I join ya for a round or two?"

"Be my guest," I smiled, handing him a dart.

Wedge chuckled. "Just don't hit the wall this time."

"I'm not drunk today… yet," Johnny answered. "So don'tcha worry about me, bro. I'll keep 'em all on the board!"

"Fair enough," I replied.

He went on, throwing his dart. "So, uh… what do you know about this Cloud guy? He really Tifa's childhood friend?"

I nodded. "Yeah, they grew up together."

Johnny sighed. "Figures. That's about what she told me. Think she's into him? Guy just shows up outta nowhere one day, an' now my Tifa's got her eyes on him all the damn time…"

"I, uh… I don't know," I said, looking away.

Wedge noticed but thankfully didn't say anything about it. "Maybe she's just glad to see him again. They were probably apart for years. So I wouldn't worry too much about it."

Although he was talking to Johnny, I knew Wedge had also meant his reply for me as well. I really hoped he was right, but I couldn't keep from worrying about it. I glanced over at Cloud, feathers floating lazily in my stomach as my heart raced. I knew I had to talk with Tifa sooner or later about him, I was just scared to do it.

At closing time, Barret started ushering Johnny and everybody else out. As he did, Wedge also waved and left. When Cloud walked over to see me as I waited near the door, I flashed him a smirk, knowing it was time for him to walk me home. But before we left, he glanced at Tifa as she was wiping down the bar and nodded. She did the same, giving me a reassuring smile before getting back to work.

"What was that?" I asked Cloud when we were outside.

He started walking. "Nothing you need to worry about, Jessie. Let's just get you home. And be sure to stay there."

I laughed. "Alrighty, then. Bodyguard knows best!"

Once we made it over to my house, I wished Cloud goodnight and headed inside. It felt good to be home again, even though I'd only been gone for a day. After unfastening my long hair from its high ponytail, I changed into some nightclothes—just some black pajama bottoms and a dark blue T-shirt—and got into bed. I read my LOVELESS book for a while, the one Barret and Marlene had gotten me for my birthday, then switched out the lights and went to sleep.

It must've been a few hours later when I jerked awake at the sound of someone knocking insistently on the door. Who would be here now, in the middle of the night? Hopefully not anyone from the Vice gang. I wasn't about to take any chances, though. After getting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I peeped through the window, sighing in relief when I saw it was just Cloud and Tifa. They looked worried, although I didn't know why. Had something happened?

I opened the door. "Tifa? Cloud? Everything alright?"

"Jessie!" Tifa pulled me into her arms.

"Nice to see you, too," I laughed, hugging her back.

She chuckled as we let go. "Sorry to wake you. Cloud and I thought you might be in trouble, that's all."

"Thanks, guys," I said. "It's been a quiet night, though."

"Glad to hear it," Cloud replied.

Then I realized that Tifa's shoulder was bleeding a little from a bad scrape. "What happened, Tifa? You're hurt!"

"It's a long story," she answered. "Cloud can fill you in."

"Me?" he blinked.

Tifa smiled. "I should go check on Marlene. And I've gotta get this patched up anyway. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Then she waved and headed down the road toward the bar, leaving me alone with Cloud. Had she done that on purpose? It was almost too much to hope for, but… I couldn't help feeling a little rush of joy about it nevertheless. Cloud watched her go for a moment, and he seemed as surprised at what she'd done as I was.

I giggled as I stood in the doorway with my arms folded in front of me. "Guess you guys had quite an evening, huh?"

"You could say that," he shrugged.

"Well, come on in and tell me about it," I said, beckoning to him as I stepped inside. "I really wanna know."

He followed me into the house and closed the door behind him as I went over to the little table by the bed. My heart skipped a beat to see in his beautiful baby blues the relief he couldn't quite hide. He must've been more worried about me than I thought. Made me so happy to see it. And him, of course. As he leaned that giant sword of his against the wall, I motioned toward the table and chairs.

"Have a seat," I said.

Cloud did, folding his arms in front of him. "Didn't mean to startle you. But, as Tifa said, we thought you might need us."

I smiled. "Don't sweat it. It's always good to see you, Cloud."

"It's good to be seen," he nodded.

"Oh, the feeling's definitely mutual," I grinned, sitting down across from him on the edge of my bed and giggling.

Cloud blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah," I replied. "But anyway, where'd you guys go tonight? When I heard the door, I was afraid it might've been Vice again."

"They wouldn't bother knocking," he quipped.

I laughed. "Yeah, I guess that's true. I'm a little afraid that they'll be coming after me again. Not that I won't fight if I have to. I can do that. I'm just tired of them bothering me."

I was also worried about Lena. She couldn't hide at the Leaf House forever, and I knew she didn't want to. I decided that since I had Cloud here, I'd talk to him about dealing with the gang for good. But I wanted to hear what he and Tifa had been up to first. Then we'd make plans to put those thugs out of business permanently.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore," Cloud said.

My jaw fell open. "What…?"

He took a breath. "Tifa and I… we went after them tonight. Had us a little chat with the leader, a guy named Braddock."

"Oh, I remember him," I grimaced. "Ugly and vicious."

"And dead. He didn't like being told to leave you alone. So Tifa and I had to fight him. And his friends. Didn't work out very well for them, though. But he'd already found out where you live, Jessie, and had sent a dozen men to kill you. So we ran all the way back here from Sector 5 to catch them. And we did, just in time."

My eyes went wide, and my heart just melted as I gazed at him. As I realized what Cloud had just done for me—and for Lena, although he didn't know it—I found myself falling in love with him even more. He'd gone up against Braddock and his goons for me. Sure, Tifa had helped, but Cloud had been right in on it as well. If anyone could've take down Braddock, it was him. No doubt about it. And he'd saved me again, had taken out those terrible thugs before they could get here and make sure I never woke up. My hero had protected me.

"So that's why you looked so worried," I murmured, finally finding my voice. "Oh, Cloud… why didn't you tell me?"

"You'd have wanted to come along," he explained.

I laughed in agreement. "Damn right I would've! But I understand why you didn't want me to. It's very sweet."

Cloud shrugged. "I just… had to keep you safe."

For a moment, I looked down at my lap, overcome and oddly shy. I felt my heart racing, and it was all I could do to keep up. And then, as I glanced at him again, I knew how I wanted to reward him. My eyes on his, I stood up, walked over, and dropped into his lap, draping my arms around his neck and laying my head on his shoulder. Cloud blinked, as adorably surprised as I'd known he'd be.

"Thank you," I sighed contentedly. "For what you did for me."

Cloud swallowed, hesitantly sliding his arms around my waist. "I… I'm supposed to be your hero, right?"

I smiled up at him. "You are my hero, Cloud."

"Well, then… you're welcome," he said.

"You know, you're gonna have to let me save you someday, or we'll never be even," I teased, giving him a little wink.

Cloud shook his head. "Let's hope you won't have to."

I giggled. "Oh, come on, merc! Even you need help sometimes."

"Guess I know who to call, then," he said.

"Ha! You'd better believe it!" I agreed. "I'll be there for you, Cloud. Anytime. A girl's gotta take care of her hero."

And I would, always. I knew that I wasn't near as good as he was in a fight, but I'd do what I could to help him and back him up. With Vice finally down for the count, I could focus my efforts on Reactor 1. I just hoped I could convince Cloud to stay after the mission. I didn't want to say goodbye, no matter how he felt about me. Although I'd only known him for a couple weeks, I couldn't imagine not having him in my life. It was like he belonged, like he'd always been there. Maybe it was just that I was crazy in love, but… he really made me happy.

He looked at me. "Ready to get up?"

"Just a little longer…" I said, snuggling closer. "If it's okay."

"It's fine," he answered.

I smiled. "Thanks, Cloud. You know, I could really get used to this. You're pretty good at it, actually."

"Uh, I am?" he wondered, adorably confused.

"Yep!" I giggled, sighing contentedly as I enjoyed being close so to my hero. "There's no safer place for me to be than in the loving arms of the gorgeous merc that kicked Vice's ass for me."

He swallowed. "I… just did what I wanted to do…"

"I know," I whispered, gazing up at him. "And it makes me happy. I haven't felt this way in a long time."

"What way?" Cloud asked.

I shook my head, wishing I could tell him. "It's a little complicated, sorry. I'm not ready to talk about it just yet."

He didn't mind. "Take your time."

"I appreciate it, Cloud," I told him, lightly patting his shoulder as I let go of him and stood back up. "I promise I'll tell you sooner or later. A nice, long talk. Just you and me. Okay?"

"Yeah," he agreed, getting to his feet as well.

I walked Cloud to the door. "But anyway, I was thinking tomorrow we could go over to Sector 4 to do some scavenging and put together a new cart. If you're up for it, that is."

He nodded. "Sure. And the Hardy?"

"Of course!" I laughed. "We'll work on that, too. So get some sleep, mister. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

I waved as Cloud walked outside, and he lifted his hand slightly in return. Not much, but it was enough. We gazed at each other for a long moment, and then he turned and headed quietly down the dirt road to Seventh Heaven. I watched him go, my heart pounding, then went back into the house and got back into bed.

For a while, I just laid there staring at the ceiling as I thought about Cloud, how he made me feel, and how he'd dealt with the Vice gang for me to keep me safe. Now I wouldn't have to worry about them coming after me anymore. And neither would Lena. What Cloud had done was surely gonna go a long way toward helping her trust him when she did finally meet him. As I started to fall asleep, I made a mental note to tell her and Biggs the good news tomorrow.

Lena would surely be glad to be able to go home again, and finding out about Vice's fall would definitely help her recovery from everything she'd gone through at their hands. And now, I could concentrate on the preparations for the Reactor 1 mission without having to look over my shoulder anymore. Like Tifa, I worried a little about how Shinra would retaliate after we shut that thing down. Because I knew they would. But whatever they did, I was gonna be ready.