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CHAPTER TEN - REASSIGNMENT

'It's just one of those days … when you don't wanna wake up … you don't really know why … but you wanna justify … rippin someone's head off … no human contact … and if you interact … your life is on contract … your best bet is to just stay away its just one of those days … I think you better quit … or you'll be leavin with a fat lip … I think you better quit … its just one of those days … feelin like a freight train … first one to complain … leaves with the blood stain … damn right I'm a maniac … you better watch your back … my suggestion … is to keep your distance … cause right now I'm dangerous … you know I pack a chainsaw … and if my day keeps going this way … I just might break something tonight … so come and get it … (Limp Bizkit: Break Stuff (edited)')'

Shantytown. Mayor's Tent. Morning.

"You want me to be a monster exterminator?!" Tifa was incredulous as she listened to Reeve outline his plan for reopening the Mythril Mines to them. She could feel Reno's eyes on her back, both boring into her and mocking her at the same time. She turned to glare at him.

"Could be worse, dear." Reno's "dear" dripped with pure sarcasm. "I could be going with you."

Reeve shut his eyes, trying to block out what appeared to be the start of yet another argument between the two of them. Elena had already briefed him on the events that had transpired during his trip to Kalm, and while knowing the two of them had a failed romance between them certainly shed light into the dark crevices of the mystery as to why Reno and Tifa held so much animosity towards one another, it didn't make dealing with it any easier.

"So that's it!" Tifa spun around and faced Reeve again. "You're getting rid of me to keep Reno and I from fighting."

Reeve opened his eyes as Tifa accused him of what was only a minor benefit of the reassignment.

"That's not the purpose of assigning you to head the Mines Safety Taskforce. You're the best person I have available for the job. I've seen you fight, Tifa. You're lethal."

"I'll take a beating trying to get rid of the Midgar Zolom. That thing takes several experienced fighters to kill… or someone with the sword skills of Sephiroth or Cloud." Tifa finished softly, remembering the Zolom impaled on the large stake outside the mines the first time she'd gone through them.

Speaking Cloud's name brought a stabbing pain into her heart that she quickly pushed away. There was no sense in dwelling on him now. She kept telling herself that he had made his choice. She just hoped one day that she'd truly believe it and be able to put Cloud Strife from her heart.

"I'm not completely concerned about the Midgar Zolom." Reeve explained. "It's the other creatures inside the mines that worry me. Even though Cait and I weren't with you when Avalanche journeyed through them, I remember the stories told by the others aboard the Highwind during our travels together. Your fighting skills are first rate, and," he glanced quickly at the Turks standing in the office with them. "far superior to the skills of any of the others here."

Reno opened his mouth to say something, but Elena quickly covered it with her hand. She glared at him when he bit her for her efforts and pulled her hand quickly away, muttering rare obscenities under her breath. Reno merely smirked at her, as if to say, 'What'd you expect?' But he kept his mouth shut, for now.

It had been quite awhile since they had battled their way through the mines, and while the creatures had seemed tough then, Tifa's skills and strength had grown exponentially since that time, but she was still skeptical. Did she really want to go back to that? To the fighting?

She glanced over at Reno, who was apparently still fuming over Reeve's last comment. Maybe dealing with the monsters in the mines would be better than dealing with the monster that haunted her everywhere she went here. For someone who hated her so much, he certainly seemed to do his best to seek her out to throw yet another taunt about their past on her. Although she was trying desperately to keep from fighting with him, it was hard for her not to fight back, and she ended up spending most nights crying herself to sleep after another round of listening to Reno make her out to be a whore looking for a cheap fuck instead of the shy, naive, virgin she had been. The man he had been then was gone, replaced by this callous, crude, smirking devil that haunted her.

She sighed silently as she realized that all her life had been a fight of some sort. From the time her mother died, it had been a fight to keep her father together, then when she had fallen from the bridge, a fight for life. She had felt like she was fighting Cloud the night she made him make his promise at the well, and then again, the biggest fight for her life after she had been slashed by Sephiroth's masamune. And there was the fight to survive in Midgar once she had healed enough to be released from the hospital, and the times spent with Nathan… Reno… to be replaced by the fight for the Planet and against Sephiroth… and now, here she was again, still fighting in the aftermath.

Zangan had once told her that people are born to be many things. Some are leaders, some are followers, some are survivors, and some are fighters. Maybe it was time to admit to herself that she was one of the fighters.

She looked away from Reno who gave her a challenging look as if to say 'You can't do it' and back to Reeve. "I'll need a few days to prepare. What sort of reinforcements are you going to give me?"

Tifa suddenly regretted that Yuffie had her share of the materia, knowing that while she wouldn't need the Knights of the Round or most of the other high level materia, the lesser powered materia such as Choco/Mog, Restore, Fire, Ice, and Lightning would be convenient to have.

"There are several ex-members of Soldier looking for a good fight. If needed I can advertise for mercenary services, but I'm leery of doing that knowing the unsavory types that can attract and knowing that there are perfectly capable ex-Soldiers out there needing the work."

Reeve didn't have to say the unspoken thought that hung in his head as it hung in hers too at the mention of mercenaries. There was no point attracting the attention of Cloud Strife right now. She was having enough trouble dealing with Reno and adjusting to being friends instead of enemies with the remnants of Shinra that she now worked with. She didn't need the added stress of Cloud and his guilt over Aeris on her back in addition to the rest. Even though Cloud was an extremely powerful fighter, he wouldn't be a good addition to this assignment.

Tifa nodded. "How many Soldiers? There were a lot of monsters there before we took many of them out, but I could always sense more lurking in the shadows watching."

"As many as you need without disturbing the integrity of the mines. The mayor of Kalm is looking forward to seeing the mines re-open and getting his people back to work." Reeve's tone was hopeful. Even though she hadn't said she would yet, he was certain that she had already agreed to the assignment despite her earlier reservations.

"Good." Tifa nodded again, her expression distant as if calculating odds against the types of creatures that she had stored in her memory.

"The Soldiers will have some materia with them. Nothing really exciting like the Knights of the Round or Bahamut Zero, but the basics. Heal, Restore, Life, Lightning, Bio, Fire, and Ice. Maybe a Counter Attack and a Sense here and there."

Tifa nodded again. "Those will be useful." She smiled at Reeve. "I wasn't looking forward to fighting without those basics or with the idea of trying to persuade Yuffie to let me borrow some of hers."

"Still can't fight without your materia?" Reno's voice came from behind her. Elena didn't even try to stop him this time. The angry bite wound from her earlier efforts was still throbbing, and she really would've liked some ice.

Tifa's eyes were flashing as she spun to face him. "I can fight just fine without my materia. I was taught by the best. Care for a demonstration?" She flexed her fingers in her leather gloves, limbering them up. She wasn't wearing the Premium Heart, but she knew that she could mop the floor with Reno with her bare fists if she needed to.

Reno shrugged and whipped out the Electro-Mag rod. "Why not? You've been claiming you can kick my ass for months now. Maybe you should prove it. Prove that you are tough enough to kill the monsters in the mines." He challenged her, flipping the switch on the nightstick to turn the current on.

"Reno." Rude spoke from the corner, breaking the silence he had maintained throughout the entire conversation.

"Don't try and stop this, Rude." Reno spoke, his tone even and cold. "She's been after this for a long time. Haven't you, Tifa. Haven't you been wanting to prove that you're better than me? Saving the world? Leaving me there in Corel after you got what you wanted. Ska-"

One punch. She'd been resisting it for a long time, but he'd finally gone too far. Unfortunately for him, he was too busy flinging insults at her to see it coming. She flexed her fingers in her gloves one final time before unleashing her fist. One well-timed uppercut to the jaw and Reno was on the floor, his nightstick falling from his grip and clattering to the ground nearby.

"Ha! Don't think this proves anything! You still haven't kicked my ass!" Despite being laid out on the floor, but still conscious, Reno couldn't resist having the last word.

Rude rolled his eyes beneath his sunglasses before walking over, and in a very uncharacteristic move, he picked Reno up off the floor and flung him over his shoulder before carrying him out of the tent.

"Reno, you talk too much." Elena had a hard time stifling the giggle that she felt welling up inside her as she gave into the temptation to say the very thing Reno and Tseng had always said to her. She followed Rude and Reno out of the tent, but not before turning and flashing Tifa a smile as if to tell her 'Great job!"

"Fuck you, Elena." Reno responded with all the dignity that he could muster being carted away over Rude's shoulder as he was.

"I'm sorry, Reeve." Tifa was apologetic as she faced the mayor. "I didn't really mean to deck him."

Reeve could only shake his head. There was no point in punishing either one of them over the incident. Reno had clearly deserved what he had gotten, and he was fairly certain that it would be sometime before Reno forgot this latest indignity. Although, Reno being Reno… Reeve sighed.

"I shouldn't say this, being the mayor and all, but he did deserve it." Reeve's expression turned serious as he continued. "Be careful, Tifa. He is still a Turk."

"Reno doesn't scare me." Tifa shrugged, appearing to shake off the warning. "And I've got a team to put together. Where can I find these Soldiers?"

"I'll have them meet you outside the mess hall."

Tifa smiled and turned to walk towards the door. "I'd appreciate that."

"Oh, and Tifa?"

"Yes, Reeve?" She turned in the doorway of the tent.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Tifa smiled as she departed, feeling, for the first time since the end of the Meteor Incident, like she really belonged here. Maybe not everything that came from Shinra was bad after all.