Wahoo! Chapter six! I'm so happy that I've finally been able to get it done.

Disclaimer: If I owned FF7 I would probably still be writing fanfictions just to see if anyone would still love my unofficial ideas. That, or I'd be writing fanfics about something else. Doesn't matter though, I don't own it anyway.

Chapter 6: Would you like to?

It seemed that no answer was going to come to Tifa from staring at the computer screen in front of her. No matter how many times she read the file and the news report over, she just couldn't put together the connection. What did a security guard have to do with anything? If it was important enough to lie to all of Midgar, than it had to be the key to understanding the whole ordeal. She just couldn't figure out what.

"Did I skip over something?" she murmured before she noticed the time on the clock. It had officially become morning less than an hour ago, and it was obvious that she wasn't going to get anywhere without more information. With a sigh, she closed the file and stood. Taking it back to Tseng's office seemed like the most reasonable thing to do.

After putting it back where she had found it, she headed to the elevator and went down to the first floor. The door slid open and as she got off, she pulled her hair out of her regular loose ponytail and let it hang loose.

"You should wear it like that more often," commented a deep voice.

Tifa jumped and whirled around. Rude stood next to the elevator behind her, and the plain look he always had was still in place despite the fact that Tifa had nearly had a heart attack on him.

"Rude," she said, getting use to the fact she always acted like an idiot around him, "what are you doing here so late?"

"Finished a job," he replied.

Tifa just adored how Rude left so much for her to reply intelligently on.

"Going home?" he asked her.

"Oh, yeah, I just got off of work."

"Like an escort?" he asked.

His question took her aback. Was he offering to take her home? Why in the world would he be interested in doing something like that? And it wasn't as if she would need a man to walk her home, she could take care of herself. Still, his offer intrigued her and she shrugged.

"Only if you don't mind," she answered.

He nodded and began to walk away. She followed in step behind him out the building and past a couple streets before he said something.

"You don't have to walk back there," he said as he stopped.

She looked at him curiously before moving next to him. Satisfied, he continued in his regular pace. She stole him a glance ever other step. He was so mysterious, like he was intentionally hiding his emotions. Then again, maybe that was just her normal paranoia of ShinRa and it's employees. Yet, she had to admit that there was something interesting about the man.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

She blushed at being caught. "No, I just…" She fished around in her head for an excuse. "I guess I was just wondering why you always wore sunglasses. It pretty dark already, even with the street lamps."

"Because," he said and left it at that.

Tifa mentally sighed at his answer. Yeah, he was definitely doing it on purpose. "I'd just like to be able to see your face for real, that's all."

No response came from him.

She noticed her apartment building coming into view and dug into her pocket for her card key that would let her in. Security was tight everywhere on the plate.

"Thanks for the walk home," she said. She leaned on the door, waiting for some kind of goodbye.

He nodded and almost turned to walk away until he faltered. She noticed him swallow before he spoke. "Would you like me to take them off?"

She didn't say anything at first, not sure what to say. Finally she just whispered a small "yes" and waited with baited breath as he slid them off.

His eyes were breath taking. He had blue eyes that looked green in the right light. It took a moment to realize that she was mistaken. One was green, one was blue. Was that why he wore the glasses?

"Strange?" he asked.

"Not at all," she breathed and thought, 'They're beautiful.'

"Not the look a killer should have."

"Doesn't make them strange." She made a snap decision that she was sure she would regret later. "Would you like to come up for coffee?"

He shrugged and she smiled, opening the door to let him in. The elevator was broken, so they needed to take the stairs, but after about fifteen minutes they were inside of her apartment. He sat himself on the couch as she slipped into the kitchen to get two cups ready.

"Is instant alright? It's all I have time for in the morning," she called.

"Fine," he replied without raising his voice.

She turned on the sink water and waited for it to heat up. She'd never cared for boiling hot coffee herself and heating an entire pot for two cups seemed pointless.

Walking back into the living room, Tifa noticed Rude looking at the end table. He was focused on one of the many pictures she had on it. It was her as a child and her mother.

She stopped short, not even sure why. For some reason, Rude looking at the picture didn't bother her like she would have expected her to. Slowly, she sat next to him and handed him his coffee. He took it silently.

"How old were you in this?" he asked her.

"I was… twelve," she replied as she tried to remember. "And that's my mother next to me."

"Beautiful."

"Thanks, I always thought she looked pretty," she said with a smile.

He shook his head. "Didn't mean her."

Tiff blushed a little at his compliment. 'He's being pretty friendly tonight, what is going on?' she thought.

"Would you like to go out for dinner tomorrow?" Rude asked suddenly.

Tiff noticed that he wasn't looking at her, but instead, still gazing at that picture. He didn't seem to want to look her in the eyes. Could it be possible that he was interested in her? She mentally shook her head no. Even if he did, she had a purpose to take care of, and he was from ShinRa. No matter how kind he and Reno seemed to her they were still Turks, still killers who'd do anything to get the satisfaction of a paycheck.

'But you're a Turk too. You're willing to do all the things that they are in order to further your own goals.' Tifa tried to push the thought away but it still bubbled in the back of her mind.

"I… suppose I could go," she said hesitantly. "It sounds like fun."

He nodded. After a few moments of silence that neither seemed comfortable to break, Rude stood and downed his coffee in one gulp. Tifa raised her eyebrows.

"Leaving?" she asked.

Rude nodded his head again and put on his glasses. Tifa didn't bother to see him to the door, not sure she wanted to. There was a small feeling of relief that he was gone as she heard the door shut behind him, but it felt slightly different than her feelings from before. She wasn't sure, but it seemed like there was the slightest traits of regret mixed up in her heart as well. She didn't really understand why she was feeling this way. It was probably just sleep that she needed, she told herself as she got up to go to bed. She just flopped onto the mattress, not even bothering to undress.

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The way Reno kept stealing knowing glances at Tifa the next morning was irksome. The two were driving to work together and Reno was continuing to take long looks at her like he expected her to do a trick. The smile he had that seemed more smug than usual didn't help either.

"What?" she asked eventually.

"Have anything planned for this evening?" he asked.

Tifa glared. "How did you-"

"Yah, I knew he'd do it," Reno said happily. "Took me about a day to convince him he should just talk to you."

"Wait. You mean you set this up?" she asked.

"Of course. Poor guy really likes you, but he'd have never said anything even if the world were ending. Ya wouldn't think it, but he's pretty shy."

"Oh." Tifa said softly.

Reno chuckled. "You too?"

"No," she snapped. "I've just never been on a date before. And besides, the only guy I liked enough to consider going out with… I haven't seen in years."

Reno gave her an odd look and she steadfastly ignored it by looking out the window. She had the feeling she had said too much.

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Shorter than usual, and I'm sorry about that, but this was giving me such a problem that it wasn't even funny. I don't even want to go into how much crap went on while I was trying to write this. Also, please let me know if the romance is okay. I'm trying very hard not to rush things between them but have it going fast enough that it's actually interesting. A review would be appreciated.