Chapter 19

No more of the day was spent practising at the Seventh Heaven Bar. Danny and Jim were yet to return, and it had been a few hours. There was quite a crowd, clearly attracted by the thought of a band playing. Quite a rarity in the slums. The ploy had worked well. Cid and Barrett stood with their arms folded at the bar. Fifteen minutes until show time, and half the band weren't here. Barrett could see Aeris sitting with a young man at a table near the front of the stage. The man in question didn't look particularly happy. He was staring off with a miserable expression on his face. Aeris was sipping some wine, her first glass, and scanning the room, turning to the door every so often. Seems she didn't know where Danny and Jim had disappeared to either.

"They'd better show up." Cid growled, grabbing a glass and cleaning it mechanically.

"If they don't show up they can forget comin' back here, I'll punch their faces in." Barrett replied, still confused about what had happened to Tifa earlier. Tifa had eventually come out of the back and told him not to worry, and that seeing Danny and Jim had been a bit of a shock not only because of the news they had brought with them, but the fact they were good friends from childhood. Barrett was a little annoyed Danny had not mentioned this, but decided it wasn't important. Tifa had been unusually quiet the whole afternoon, she had worn a blank expression for most of that time. It worried both Barrett and Cid a little, and they decided if it continued they should try and help her somehow. Neither knew quite how, but they figured they'd cross that bridge if they came to it. The doors swung open and both bar owners breathed a sigh of relief, it was Danny and Jim. Both were looking sullen, but they were here, and that was what was important.

"Yo, guys!" Barrett called. The two friends wandered over, neither glancing at Aeris or Jerad, probably not even knowing they were there. Tifa had taken a step back from the bar, she was staring at them as if they were the spawn of hell itself. Again, neither seemed to notice. They too were in worlds of their own.

"Surrounded by damn zombies." Barrett mumbled to Cid, who chuckled and shook his head.

"You guys ready for this?" Cid took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.

"Yeah, ready when you are." Danny said, nodding.

"Let's go get ready." Barrett exited the bar and headed onto stage to begin adjusting his bass guitar. Danny glanced at Tifa briefly, but the look she gave him was one harsh enough to make him turn his head away and walk towards the stage, followed by Jim and Cid.

"Hey, Danny! Good luck!" Aeris called.

"I'll bet he can't even sing." Jerad growled, bending a fork next to him until it snapped.

"Jerad! Don't be such a grump." She replied, smiling as Danny gave her a thumbs up.

"I don't see why you made me come here." Jerad told her, folding his arms.

"Like you had anything else to do." She rolled her eyes, poking him. "Have some fun for once."

"I'll have fun laughing at that idiot when he starts singing." Jerad replied with a growl. He stood up. "I'm going to get something to drink!" He stormed towards the bar and sat down on a stool, looking up and seeing Tifa. He felt himself go numb. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen! He stared at her and forgot what he had even come to the bar for. She herself was pretty zoned out, staring blankly where the stage was. It was like that for a few minutes, until Tifa noticed somebody was sitting there and shook her head, her eyes opening widely.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sir! I didn't see you sitting there!"

"It's fine…" Jerad smiled at her. Tifa nodded and walked over to him.

"What can I get you?"

"First… don't call me sir, please." He laughed a little, and she managed a smile, although smiling was the last of things she felt like doing. "I'll have… well, just a beer." He said, gazing at her. She nodded, her grin faded and she looked a little confused as she poured him a beer and handed it to him. He paid her double what it cost and told her to keep the change. She shrugged, thanking him.

"So… you work here often?" Jerad asked, taking a sip of his beer.

Tifa had turned back to the stage, where the guys were tuning up. His voice made her jump a little. "Oh! Oh, yes, I'm an owner…"

"With the other two guys?" He asked.

"That's right… Barrett, Cid and myself run the place."

"You sure are pretty." He said. She turned to him and laughed a little.

"Yeah, I've heard that before when I've told people I own the bar. Do you just want to ask for the free drink now or wait a little while?"

Jerad shook his head vigorously. "No! I'm serious! You are very pretty!"

She could see his sincerity and smiled at that. "Thank you… I'm flattered you think so."

"I sure do." He kept looking at her, taking another sip. She became a little nervous, he was not a bad-looking guy, but he was too young for her, by the looks of it. He had to be around seventeen… besides, she had too much other things to worry about. He began talking again, and she found herself in another conversation with him, wondering how long he was going to sit there and distract her. Her answer came in the form of gunshots from the entrance of the bar. Screams rose from the audience and before people began running in a blind panic, a loud voice had made itself clear over the frantic cries.

"Nobody move! As long as we all co-operate, nobody is going to get hurt!"

It didn't take Danny, Jim, Aeris or Jerad long to recognise whose voice that was. It seemed the Turks had followed them after all, and Tseng once again had them in a rather vulnerable position. Reno and Rude filed behind Tseng, their guns aimed, smirks plastered on both their faces. Rude's smirk was almost a straight face, but for the furthest corners of his mouth twitching up slightly. The band members had hit the ground when the gunshots had rung out, Danny was still on his stomach, staring at Tseng in the doorway. Jim had crawled off the stage, but Danny knew he couldn't do the same, the bar was now dead quiet, other than the heavy breathing of the frightened audience… and maybe his own too. He ducked his head so it was facing the stage, perhaps they wouldn't recognise the top of his head? It was worth a shot. Either that, or they'd shoot him right there and it wouldn't matter anyway.

"Who owns this place?" Tseng's barked, sounding impatient. Barrett slowly walked to the front of the stage, his Bass Guitar still strapped over his shoulder.

"That'd be me… what the hell do you want?"

Tseng smiled and turned to Barrett slowly. "Ah, well, since you asked… we're actually after a couple of rebels, you may know them, they go by the names of Danny Whise and Jim Gildard. We heard they were in this area."

'That's it…' Danny thought, sighing. 'He'll turn us in now. It's over.'

"Don't know what the hell you're talkin' about." Barrett said sternly. Danny breathed a huge sigh of relief, seemed there were some people in the slums that could be trusted. There was then more gunshots, this time coming from the other way, aimed at the Turks. The three men ducked, looking surprised. Tifa lowered her gun briefly, chucking a couple of hand guns to Barrett and Cid from under the bar. Danny scrambled to the back of the stage and rolled off, landing next to Jim, who was peering out from the side, where he could see the Turks. Danny noticed they now wore angry expressions, growling but not moving a muscle. The three owners must have had their guns pointed directly at them.

"Don't do this… you better co-operate… or this bar goes under." Tseng growled, not taking his eyes off Barrett, who had his gun directly pointed at the leader of the Turks' head.

"You busted into our house, we're gonna make you pay for that." Barrett replied evenly. The crowd inside the bar were glaring at the Turks, a look of fury in their eyes. The men and women of sector 7 were not fond of the Turks, and it seemed they were supportive of the offensive action taken by Barrett, Tifa and Cid, who still had the weapons aimed at the three intruders.

"Not likely." Reno replied, as Rude dug a small device out of his pocket and threw it into the crowd, who threw up their hands, screaming as the device exploded, but only to release a smokescreen that covered the entire bar.

"Dammit, I can't see a thing!" Barrett yelled over the panicked cries of the crowd.

"We've got to do something! The Turks will find their way through the smoke and take them out!" Jim said. He and Danny were still crouched behind the stage. Danny nodded, climbing onto the stage and feeling around. He touched a large arm and got a whack in the head, stumbling back; he held his head and groaned.

"Barrett, it's me!"

"Oh, sorry." Came the gruff reply. Danny assumed he wasn't bleeding or seriously hurt, and continued forward, careful to make sure he didn't fall off the edge of the stage. The smoke was still extremely heavy and he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He knew Barrett had been near the centre of the stage, so he moved in that direction, brushing past Barrett, who nearly struck him again, and eventually finding what he was after, the microphone. He grabbed it and tapped it, sure enough, it was on.

"Don't let the Turks get what they want!" He yelled into the microphone. "They can't come in our sector and do this to us! Beat them back! Get them out of this bar and the hell out of our sector! The Turks are not welcome here!"

He hoped this would motivate the crowd to begin fighting back against the Turks, and it seemed to do so. Soon enough he heard scuffles in front of him, and what sounded like the voice of Tseng yelling for a retreat. Sure enough, as the smoke became less dense he could make out bodies streaming towards and out of the bar entrance. He leapt off the stage and pushed past the crowd to get outside, the crowd stood in front of the bar, fists raised and screaming obscenities at the Turks. The ALIEN spies stood further back, all three had some bruises but seemingly no serious injuries. They all looked shocked, Rude's black glasses were cracked, but he still wore them. He had a scowl on his normally stony face. Reno and Tseng looked far more surprised than angry. Reno was clutching his arm. They'd managed to retain their guns, and held them at the crowd. It was the only thing keeping the raging mass of incensed people at bay.

"We can't shoot them." Reno said quietly. "If news got to other sectors they'd revolt for sure, especially if they hear of an uprising being the cause."

"We'll retreat for now… but this is far from over!" Tseng replied with a smirk and with a contemptuous look at the crowd he took off to the exit of sector 7, followed by his comrades. The crowd cheered and yelled many phrases which were aimed to ensure they didn't come back any time soon. Danny turned around, seeing the others behind him, he wandered back to them.

"They've gone, for now."

"I didn't expect that." Jim said, patting Danny's shoulder. "Good thinking, though."

"These people need something to fight for. They'll take mostly any order given to them, if they think it's just." Cid folded his arms, taking out a cigarette. "Yep, that did the trick alright. I think we're out of business, though." He lit it up and puffed.

"Oh yeah… it's over." Said Barrett with a shake of his head.

"I'm sorry…" Danny sighed, looking at Barrett and Cid, but daring not to look at Tifa. "It's our fault."

"Yeah, you're right, it is!" Tifa walked up to Danny and planted her finger on his chest, staring at him with tears in her eyes. "It isn't bad enough you ruined my life once, now you're coming to do it again!"

"I didn't ruin your life…" He held his hands up, backing away.

"I hate you!" She screamed and ran back into the bar. He stood there with a dejected look on his face, he hadn't expected her to be happy with him, but he had also not expected her to be so angry. Had she really been that upset with him?

"Hey… don't worry 'bout it." Barrett put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "We weren't doin' great financially anyway. Doubt we woulda lasted another year."

"What I would like to know…" Cid stepped forward, curiosity etched onto his face. "Is why they're after you... and what you're doing here."