Chapter 9



Tifa shifted her weight from her left foot to her right as she watched the workers load the last piece of furniture onto their truck. Hours had passed since she and Reno had first stepped through the revolving doors of the furniture store. She hadn't realized they would be shopping that long and hoped everything was ok back at headquarters.

Other than being a tad worried about Cloud and the others, Tifa didn't mind the lengthy shopping session. She couldn't say the same for Reno, unfortunately. After the first twenty minutes had passed and they were still combing through aisles of beds, Reno would have been content to just purchase the first twin-sized bed that he saw. Tifa, however, explained that this was his mother's room they were decorating, and she deserved the perfect queen-sized bed...


...even if it took most of an hour to select one.


After they had chosen a bed Reno was ready to leave but Tifa had just gotten started. Before the session was over she (with his money, of course) had purchased a bureau and nightstand set along with some shelves. On their way out she picked up some fresh linen for his mother and called it a day or well, night.

On the way back to Reno's apartment Reno phoned headquarters to find out what everyone had been up to. Tifa sat in the passenger seat stiff as a board as Reno made one impossibly sharp turn after another. He narrowly missed wrecking dozens of parked vehicles but he never lost his cool. He just leaned back in the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel and the other clutching his PHS to his left ear. Tifa gripped the edges of her seat until her knuckles were white. She was flung towards the dashboard but halted by the weak efforts of the black seatbelt across her torso. Finally calm enough to speak, Tifa slowly turned to face Reno with murder in her wine-colored eyes.

"Will you put...the ::damn:: PHS...away before you get us killed!?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

He scanned the road ahead of them with mild disinterest, "If you don't like my driving, Tifa no one is stopping you from walking."

"I'll be lucky if I ::can:: walk after this ride."

One of Reno's famous smirks found its place on his face, "Funny, you aren't the first woman to have said something like that to me..."

Tifa rolled her eyes with a defeated sigh, "Why do feel as though I wont be the last?"

Surprisingly, when the light turned green Reno didn't squash the gas pedal as he had been doing. For once, Tifa noticed she wasn't slammed into the black fabric of her seat when they went forward.

They pulled into the lot of his apartment and Tifa unbuckled her seatbelt with shaky hands.

"You can relax, sweetheart. I wasn't going to crash."

"How could I have thought otherwise?" Tifa replied with nervous sarcasm.

A few moments later the furniture truck pulled in after them and parked near the building's wall. Tifa stared dumbfounded as the driver and worker climbed out seemingly fine and undisturbed at having to follow Reno's treacherous lead through Midgar traffic. She had to commend them; she couldn't keep up with Reno's driving and she had been *in* the car.

Reno took over the unloading process, pointing and ordering the men about. Their purchases were in the apartment and arranged about the room in record timing. Tifa admired the now furnished spare room with pride.

"Now this room is ready for your mom."

"Took us long enough," he muttered with agitation.

Tifa checked her watch.

"I should get back to headquarters," Tifa stated wearied. She started for the door but stopped. She turned to Reno with a smirk. "What? No 'thank you'?"

Reno approached her with a sly grin, "I don't do verbal gratitude..."

He neared her until they were inches apart. Keeping his suspiciously hungry gaze at her eyes he continued speaking, his voice dangerously low, "I tend to be a little...physical when it comes to expressing my gratitude."

Tifa drew herself to her full height and glared back at him defiantly, "The only physical contact between you and I would be me capping your perverted rump back to headquarters."

"Was that a threat Tifa?"

"Was yours an invitation?"

"Interpret it whichever way suits you." He took a lingering step back to allow her a path to the door.

She turned smartly, allowing the ends of her hair to grace his arm. At the front door Reno stopped her with a chuckle. "Don't you need a ride back?"

"Not from you, Reno."

His eyebrows narrowed slightly with confusion. If he had offered any other woman a ride they'd be in the passenger seat before he finished the sentence.

"Well, good luck on the train then."

Tifa closed the front door and continued out of the building. Rolling her eyes she let out a sigh, "At least with the train I have a standing chance of getting to the headquarters in one piece."



::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::



Cloud reached across Casca's bed to tuck her in.

"You're going to love Elmyra. She lives over in Kalm. After breakfast we can head over there first thing tomorrow."

"I guess I should be excited," Casca replied sorrowfully. "The closest thing to Aeris I'll ever know is her mother. But I still feel so empty about all of this."

Cloud took one of her hands and gave it a squeeze, "You're going to have to be strong, Casca. Aeris was, she proved that to the entire planet."

"You are right, Cloud. This is just going to take some time."

"You get some rest." Cloud gave her a comforting smile. "We want you to be perfect when the doctors look you over tomorrow."

Casca allowed herself a small chuckle, "Good night, Cloud."

" G' night."

Cloud closed the door behind him with a soft click and made his way to Giovanna's door. He opened it quietly and stuck his head inside. The room was dark except for the dim light from the desk lamp. He closed the door back and headed aimlessly down the hall.

Where was Tifa?

She should have been back by now. The hallways were only lit by a few lights on the wall instead of the fluorescent ones overhead. Reeve was most likely in his office. Rude had taken Elena back to her apartment over an hour ago to help her decipher the notes from the underground software. Cloud had helped the Turks bring up dozens of discs and whatever Elena thought might be of help.

He was pretty ready to end the day but refused to go to sleep until he was sure Tifa was back safe. An angry frown entered the picture. He should have gone with Tifa. He knew letting Tifa go with Reno alone was probably a bad idea. Reno couldn't be trusted. If he could press button to drop the plate on thousands of innocent people with a clear conscience, what was there to stop him from hurting Tifa. A certain rage always boiled within Cloud when Reno sent his hungry gaze in Tifa's direction. Reno would pay if he was responsible for Tifa ever being hurt.

Or maybe Cloud was just overreacting. Tifa was definitely capable of handling herself. Besides, Tifa had excellent judgment. She had proved herself of being able to handle Reno.

He would just feel better when Tifa got back, Cloud decided. As a matter fact, he would just call to check on her. That would take care of his worries. And that's just what he did after pulling his PHS from his back pocket.



::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::



Lao-Anne breathed a sigh of relief when Cloud closed the door to Giovanna's room. She rose from her hiding place behind the door and quietly approached the bed. Giovanna was still unconscious, thanks to her drug. Loa-Anne was lucky. She had administered the sedative just before she heard Cloud's footsteps. Now she had to get this woman out of the building.

Lao-Anne fished for her PHS and expertly entered seven familiar digits.

"H'lo?"

"It's me, Cole. I've got her under, now I need you by the elevator waiting for me," she whispered calmly.

"No problem...but which one?" Cole asked.

"It's one on the first floor: 1C."

"Ok. I'll head over there."

"Good, but be quiet. We haven't drawn any attention and I want to keep it that way."

"Alright alright! I'll be good."

There was a soft beep as Cole hung up his extension, Lao-Anne doing the same. She stared at the sleeping woman for a moment, contemplating the best way to carry her to the elevator. Then she wrapped her in the sheet and slung her over her shoulder. Peering both ways, Loa-Anne made as much of a dash as she could towards the elevator. Once inside, she kept watching the elevator shaft parallel to hers hoping no one would get on.

She made it to the first floor uneventfully and grinned when Cole's muscular form came into view. He effortlessly took Giovanna from her shoulders and led the way to the parking lot. They took their time ducking security cameras and made it to their car without raising alarm. Lao-Anne took the wheel and sped out of the parking lot towards her apartment grinning with confident satisfaction.



::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::



Tifa had just gotten off the train when her PHS beeped.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Cloud."

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just checking to see if everything was all right. You've been gone all day," Cloud explained with a note of concern.

"Oh I'm fine. I'm walking towards HQ now. I should be there in ten minutes."

"Where's Reno? I thought he was bringing you back." Cloud's voice was suspicious.

"I decided not to ride back with him..."

"Why? What did he do to you?" Cloud interrupted, his voice rising a bit.

"He didn't do anything *to* me Cloud...relax. I just felt like taking the train. He should be there in a few minutes."

"I swear if he did anything to hurt you, let me know and I'll take care of him."

"I said nothing happened. Don't worry...that's my department," she added with a chuckle. "I'll see you in a few."

Tifa hung up the PHS with a small smile. Cloud was so funny sometimes.


::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::::O::


Back at HQ a sneaky voice caught Cloud's attention.

"You'll take care of who?"

Cloud spun around to find Reno sauntering up to him with his nightstick casually slung over his shoulder. Cloud narrowed his fiery blue eyes.

"Anyone who thinks they can hurt Tifa," he replied coolly.

"Got someone in mind?" he challenged innocently.

"Oh I can think of a few people with the tenacity to try something."

Reno brushed pass Cloud with confidence. "Keep thinking Strife," he muttered almost inaudibly.

Cloud stood in the hallway glaring poison daggers at Reno as he opened the door to Giovanna's room. He had just turned and continued down the hall when he felt more than heard the door to Giovanna's room slam. The hairs on his neck stood on end as the atmosphere was touched with the electricity of Reno's nightstick.

"Where...is...she?" he growled from down the hall.

Reno was steadily approaching Cloud with his nightstick charged and held away from him. His eyes were glowing with the fire of his anger. For a second, Reno had made Cloud more nervous than he had ever been.

"Where is who?" he asked with as much vehemence as he could muster.

"My MOTHER DAMMIT!" Reno's words echoed of the walls and settled on Cloud's spine.

"How the hell should I know? She was in her room the last time I saw her."

Reno was almost upon him now. Cloud unsheathed his sword and took a step back. He hadn't intended to fight Reno but if that's what Reno was looking for...

"You are lying. If you don't tell me where she is Cloud you're going to wish you *did* perish at the reactor in Nibelheim."

Cloud tried to meet his gaze with as much intensity but he was confused. He really didn't know what Reno was talking about. First of all, he hadn't even realized Giovanna was Reno's mother. Now she had disappeared? He hadn't heard anything. How would he know where she was?

"Maybe she went to the bathroom? Did...you...check...in...there?" he asked sarcastically slow.

Reno didn't answer. He raised his nightstick in preparation to fry Cloud. Cloud held his sword down in front of him, ready for anything Reno could throw at him. Something just wasn't right.

"I didn't touch her, Reno. But if you're willing to fight me rather than look for her, be my guest."

Reno didn't move. He continued to glare at Cloud until he could calm himself. Then he dropped his arm and took off in a jog towards Dr. Naid's office. Cloud stood there trying to figure out was going on. He sheathed his sword and took off in the same direction as Reno, stopping to look in on the sleeping Casca. Something was definitely amiss.



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Author's Notes:


The soup is now simmering! Mwuhahahaaa!!
All my projects are finished now...thank Odin. I have finals this week and some of the school days end early so I'll try to get some more writing done. Thanx for hanging in there gang.

Questions (-:  :-) Comments = drunkpoodle@yahoo.com