4. "We're going where?"

The four trotted over to follow the toy cat into the room. It was easy conclude how this had once been a library that was now partly reshaped into a laboratory. In a tank, filled with green fluid, they saw the unconscious Vincent.

Tifa gasped horrified as she ran forward.

"Dear planet," she said with a tear-strained voice. "Who would...?"

Rufus, the only one halting in the door way, did not answer. Heidegger must have thought the same as he had upon seeing the powers within the dark man. Imagine an army filled with Vincent Valentines powers...

Cloud studied the control panel and frowned. "We have to open it... Somehow..."

Tifa placed a hand on the glass, studying Vincent's face, barely daring to speak her thoughts out loud. "Is he alive...?"

Everyone stared silently at the tank, the only noise was the oxygen bubbles inside the tank, and a moment later, Cloud cleared his throat. "Of course he is! Now... How does this damn thing work?!"

He rubbed his neck in frustration while Barret glanced down at the control panel over his shoulder. "I say we let it rain bullets. That usually get things right!"

Cait Sith came wobbling over and pushed them aside. "Are you crazy?! There must be some mechanism here..." He began examining the different buttons.

Everybody jumped as a loud hiss was suddenly heard from the tank.

"Cait!" Cloud warned, "what did you do?!"

The toy cat waved its hands confused and wobbled over. "I-I'm not quite sure... but I think..."

The words faded as the green liquid was drained from the tank and Cloud walked over to gently move Tifa aside. His hand was actually shaking as he pushed the handle on the tank and opened it, catching Vincent as he fell forward.

Tifa stood in front of the unconscious man and pulled back his wet hair with both her hands. "Vincent...? Can you hear me?"

Without his bandana and shirt, Vincent looked painfully human.

"Vincent...?" Tifa could have broken out in a relived cry when Vincent suddenly drew in a deep breath and began coughing.

"Yeah!" Barret exclaimed, receiving a startled look from Rufus.

Cloud helped Vincent out of the tank as the former turk stumbled forward, absently pushing Cloud away before sinking down on his knees, while still coughing up the fluid from his lungs. Tifa kneeled down beside him and stroke his cold and damp back. "That's it, Vincent. Come back to us."

Seeing him shiver and fight for air, Rufus suddenly felt sick for having thought the same thoughts as Heidegger obviously had acted on.

Vincent forced his eyes open and only years of practice allowed him to will himself calm. His sight was blurry and he felt like throwing up, but forced the feeling away. Drawing a final shivering breath, he raised his head slightly, meeting Tifa's worried eyes. "You should not have come for me," Vincent said, his voice barely audible.

"We never leave a friend behind," Cloud said, kneeling beside him as well.

Tifa nodded, and stroke away a wet lock of Vincents hair from his face.

"Not to be a party-break here," Rufus muttered, turning away, "but shouldn't we get out of here before reinforcements arrive?"

Barret snorted and glared over at the ex-president. "I never thought I would hear myself say this, but the brat is right. We should shake a leg."

Cloud nodded and placed a hand on Vincent's shoulder. "Can you walk?"

Everybody started as Yuffie suddenly came running into the room again, carrying a big bundle. "Look what I found!" She exclaimed proudly and dumped it in front of Cloud; Vincent's shirt, cape and gun, along with Rufus' and Tifa's weapons.

Vincent quickly took a hold of his shirt and managed to stand up on unstable legs.

"Here," Tifa offered and reached out to help him on with the shirt.

Vincent jerked away from her touch and shook his head. "I'll manage."

Blinking confused, Tifa let her hands sink. "Okay..." She glanced over as someone nudged her shoulder and numbly accepted her fighting gloves that Rufus handed her.

"Come on," Cloud said quietly, "Red is waiting outside Nibelheim with chocobos..."

Refusing to accept any help, Vincent followed the others as he struggled to stay conscious. Tifa kept throwing quick, worried glances back at him, not understanding why he wouldn't let anyone help him. The Restore materia had gotten him up on his feet again, but it could not heal a tampered mind.

As they walked up the whirling stairs, Rufus finally got a chance to think about what had almost happened before their rescue. He gazed over at Tifa, who seemed too occupied worrying over the ghost of a man rather then to take notice of being watched herself. She was a pretty girl, no arguments there. And how she could stay so naive after living in this world was a mystery to him! Rufus sighed quietly, wondering what else could possibly go wrong.

They had just reached the bottom of the stairs in the main hall, when out of nowhere, a grenade exploded right in front of them.

Rufus hit to floor hard and felt the air being knocked out of him. Shaking the dizziness off, he jumped to his feet and saw Cloud, Yuffie and Barret doing the same. The ex-president whirled around, only now to see six soldiers in Heidegger-uniforms firing at them.

Rufus dodged the heaviest assault, but bit back a groan of surprise as he felt a bullet graze his shoulder, and fired back simultaneously with Barret.

"Head for the door!" Cloud shouted through the gun-fire. Yuffie and Cait Sith run for their lives.

Mentally cursing child-ninjas and toy-cats for cowardliness, Rufus fired a shot and took a few steps back before firing again. He saw Barret and Vincent doing the same, and Cloud throwing Ice3 at the soldiers, causing two of the soldiers to collapse. But then the soldier in the front threw another grenade and Rufus knew he was unable to avoid it.

The explosion blocked out every other sound to his ears and he felt himself getting flung through the air; hitting the floor even harder than the last time. Battling fiercely against the urge to throw up, Rufus fought his way up on his knees, only to have his gaze fall upon a figure a few meters from him.

Tifa was lying face down on the floor, but he quickly noticed the growing pond of blood underneath her. Blindly firing at the soldiers, Rufus stumbled and ran over to her. "Tifa!"

He fired a final shot before lowering the shotgun and concentrated on the unconscious figure on the floor. "Tifa...?"

Rufus placed the shotgun in its holster and carefully turned her around, paling at the sight of the blood that was pouring from the deep wound in her stomach. "Oh man... This is not good... not good at all..."

He numbly fumbled forward Restore, and threw a Cure3, exhaling relived as the wound closed. "Tifa? Come on, wake up!"

Cloud threw another Bolt3 at the soldiers, stumbling backwards along with Barret and Vincent who both fired non-stop, but then saw Rufus kneeling over the blood-soaked Tifa.

The ex-president heard Cloud call out for Tifa, and quickly gathered her up in his arms, setting course for the main door.

Rufus held the limp Tifa close as he backed away towards the door, letting Barret, Vincent and Cloud do the fighting. The ground shook as the wrath of Ifrit was released, and Rufus sighed relived when they finally slammed the door behind them and had free passage to the town gate.

"Tifa!" Cloud exclaimed and ran over, feeling the ice cold fear that he'd lost her too.

Rufus swallowed hard as he gazed down at all the blood that still covered her. "She'll survive." He flinched back a step as Cloud reached out to take Tifa from him. "No! I'll... I'll take her."

Cloud shook his head in objection. "To hell with you, ShinRa! I'll take care of her, she's my friend!"

Rufus eyes narrowed and he lifted his chin slightly. "You'll take care of her? Like you made sure nothing happened to that Ancient? Right!" He saw how Cloud paled under the harsh words and turned to walk towards the town gate.

Raw pain shot through Cloud at the memory of Aeris and the self-blame for him not being able to protect her, for being too late, returned. He drew a shivering breath and would have stormed after Rufus if a gentle hand had not landed on his shoulder. Cloud gazed over at the tired face of Vincent.

"Let him go. He'll take care of her."

Cloud shook his head and clenched his fists, sneering "He has no right!"

Vincent put on his bandanna and corrected his blood red cape. "I think Rufus ShinRa only has Tifa's best at heart. You have nothing to fear from him."

The former turk then followed towards the town gate and Barret scratched his neck. "I'm not so sure..."

It was common knowledge that chocobos weren't of the smartest species, but the bird made no move whatsoever to disobey Rufus ShinRa, and Red wondered if the chocobo could feel the ex-presidents determination.

The giant cat suddenly had his answer as to how Rufus had survived the encounter with Weapon; he simply refused to die. If there was one man able to set his will over anything else, including death, it would be Rufus ShinRa.

Only now his face was pale with worry as he held the unconscious Tifa in front of him.

"You'd better be alright, Lockhart, or I'll never forgive you," Rufus mumbled, the minutes feeling like hours, and the hours felt like days. When they finally reached Rocket Town, there was something wrong in the air.

Yuffie pointed out tire tracks to and from the town. Lots of tire tracks. "Hey, guys... Seems like we just missed a major party here!"

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked confused, struggling to keep his chocobo still.

The young ninja jumped off to point at the tracks and let her bird run off. "See? ShinRa trucks!"

Rufus froze and hastily gazed over at Rocket Town. "The Highwind..." He said in a low voice, "we were just a decoy. Heidegger was after the Highwind all along, that's why he captured us. He knew you would come to the rescue, leaving the Highwind and her crew unguarded..."

Cloud's eyes darted over to the town as well, easily recognizing that the airship was gone. "Cid!" He set the chocobo in a wild run for Rocket Town, quickly followed by the others.

The few people out of their houses froze at the sight of Cloud and his party and a suffocating silence followed them on their way to Cid's house.

Rufus cautiously glanced around, refusing to be surprised by soldiers again. "We're too late," he stated silently.

Cloud sent him an annoyed glare. "Everybody stay sharp. They might have left someone behind as a welcome-home committee."

Rocket Town laid ghostly still as they made their way and finally halted outside Cid's silent house.

"Ready?" Cloud asked and everybody nodded. When Cloud reached out to open the door, someone pulled it open from the inside, causing the party to jump into fighting positions.

Rufus clutched Tifa a little closer as he backed up a few steps.

Shera's brown eyes widened in horror as she found herself staring into Barret's gun arm and instinctively lifted a hand to her mouth to stifle a shriek. Cloud quickly shoved away the gun at the well-known sight of the woman, putting away the sword as well, attempting to calm her down. "Shera! What's happened? What's with the tire-tracks? Where's the Highwind?"

Letting her shivering hand fall, Shera's brown eyes watered with tears. "They came right after you left. Suddenly the entire town was filled with trucks and soldiers... Captain knew they were after the Highwind, and told me and Rain to stay indoors while he talked to them. I tried to stop him, Cloud, I really did..."

Silent tears fell to the ground as she remembered her goodbye with the captain, and Cloud placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Shera... We'll get him back. Don't worry about Cid. You know how tough he is. He'll be fine. Don't you worry."

Rufus frowned slightly. - Who were 'they' and who was this Rain? He cleared his throat and stared directly at Cloud. "Maybe we should continue this chat inside?"

Cloud's gaze fell on the unconscious Tifa in the arms of his hated enemy and sighed resigned as he looked over at Shera again. "Yeah..." He gently guided the shivering Shera inside and the others quickly followed.

Rufus gently laid Tifa down on the bed and watched her for a few seconds. He suddenly found himself stroking away a lock of her hair from her face. Snapping out of his daze, he reached over for the Phoenix Down Yuffie had brought but found himself hesitating. The crushed feathers of a Phoenix bird was strong enough to wake a person from the deepest coma, and only in the rare, fatal, occasion did fail to work. Rufus drew a deep breath, then threw the precious cure.

He watched in silence as a few sparks of colour appeared and drizzled down on Tifa. A heartbeat passed in the dead silent room. Then another. Then she slowly opened her eyes and he exhaled relived.

Tifa blinked in drowsy confusion. "Rufus...?"

Rufus took her seeking hand and nodded. "it's me. You took a bullet, Lockhart, but you're back in Rocket Town now. You should get some sleep."

Tifa sighed satisfied at the comfort of his warm hand, but then got a worried frown. She forced her tired eyes open and glanced up at Rufus again. "Cloud...? Vincent...?"

"Everybody made it back here just fine. You were the one who got hit." Rufus interrupted, deciding to let her rest before she got the news about Mr Highwind himself. "Sleep now." He watched her fight against her weariness, still filled with questions, and so he sat down on the bed beside her while still holding her hand. "Rest and you can ask all the questions you want later. I promise to tell you everything you want to know, ok?"

Rufus saw a ever so small smile on her lips as Tifa's eyes closed.

"D'you promise...?" She mumbled,

He nodded. "I promise." Only then did he see and feel her drift off, this time into a natural, re-charging sleep. Watching her for a little while, he then lifted her hand to his lips before gently placing it by her side and quietly left the room.

A low discussion was heard from the living room. Rufus halted in the doorway and frowned annoyed as nobody even appeared to notice him. Cloud stood talking to Shera, who'd sunk down on a chair and did her best to explain what had happened, while the others stood slightly dispersed around in the room. The ex-president leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms, finally letting his mind catch up with everything that had happened.

Heidegger was rapidly gathering the pieces of the ShinRa empire in a surprisingly clever manner. It was way too smart to be his thinking alone, someone else was behind him again, no doubt. Rufus shifted uneasily, too deep in thought to remember how the shoulder he was now leaning against the door frame was actually grazed by a bullet back in Nibelheim.

To use him, Tifa and Vincent as bait to lure the others away from Rocket Town also required more cunning thinking then Heidegger was capable of. Who was really behind all of this?

A few minutes later, Cloud turned towards the others and sighed. "They're heading for Midgar..."

Rufus shifted again, not quite liking the nervous feeling he got at the thought of returning to where he almost were killed by that damned WEAPON. "And how do you expect to enter? Heidegger must have the entrances blocked, and they know you're coming!" He finally straightened, taking the pressure off the wounded shoulder and met the eyes of everyone in turn.

No. Not everyone, Rufus noticed. Where was Vincent?

Barret got up from his chair with a threatening look and clenched his fist. "Whadya saying? You ain't gonna help?! I'm sure you had dozens of sneak-ways in and out of Midgar as a back-up in case we decided to crash in on y'all!"

Rufus snorted offended and stuck his chin out as he flicked back a lock of his hair. "Hah! I would never sneak about as a common criminal, unlike you! And as for the possible routes I do know into that city, so does Heidegger. That piss ant used to work for me, remember?" He glared at Barret and this caused Cloud to quickly step in between them.

"Alright. Point taken. But we still need to get into Midgar!" The former SOLDIER gave them each a warning look. "Any ideas as to how were going to achieve that goal?"

There was a short silence, then a tiny voice spoke up. "I know a way..."

Everybody turned to gaze at the woman in the door. Rufus frowned suspiciously as this was a face he did not know. "Who's that?"

The woman fidgeted nervously."My n-name is Rain, Mr ShinRa... I used to work as a waitress in Midgar."

Shera came over and placed a protective arm around her shoulders, meeting Rufus eyes with a clear, silent message for him to behave.

The ex-president snorted and gesticulated faintly. "And you think this route is somehow miraculously overseen by the ShinRa troops?"

Feeling a little braver, Rain met his eyes as she nodded. "Its been used for years and years by smugglers and the ShinRa guards has never come near it once." She finally had to look away from his arrogant gaze, still feeling that lifetime-taught awe for the ShinRa presidents.

Cloud glanced around at the others, seeing it as their only option. "What do you say?" He asked while ignoring Yuffie's suggestion for a head-on attack.

Barret shrugged. "We ain't got much other choice."

Red lifted his head and nodded slowly. "I say we do it."

"Yupp. All or nothing!" Cait Sith nodded as well.

Cloud turned to Rufus and raised his eyebrows.

The ex-president shifted uneasily, feeling the eyes of everyone on him. "Alright! Fine! Whatever!" He muttered and crossed his arms defensively.

Cloud gazed back at Rain and gave a tiny smile. "Okay then, smuggler route it is."