White Desire

Chapter 12

"It was so nice to have Tifa here again. It's sad that she had to go back to work." Marlene was whining as Vincent carried her back and forth within his arms. Lately it had seemed that everyone was playing with the young girl, not that she could complain. She'd been a little sad once her deemed elder 'sister' had left, so she needed that comfort that the others were giving. She nuzzled her nose into Vincent's red cloak with a soft smile and released a soft giggle.

A week passed and Tifa was called back off to work. The others had to agree that while she'd been out she'd seemed awfully depressed. She wasn't as moody as she typically was, but she'd just been strangely quiet and thoughtful as though there was something upon her mind. The others had yet to talk about this, and most were probably just trying to avoid it. It wasn't a comfortable subject and no one had any solutions, so they preferred to be ignorant.

Cloud watched the vampyre-like one and couldn't resist giving a chuckle. Marlene was one of the few who had the power to make him seem more human. "Vincent, you need a kid of your own. I'm surprised Barret hasn't turned you away yet. You're always walkin' around with Marlene like she's your daughter instead. You know, though, you two look much more similar than Barret and Marlene." He always liked poking fun at those two for their appearances. For those that didn't know, they usually said that Barret's wife had been white and Marlene had gotten more of her mother in her. It wasn't too far off from the truth and no one outside of their little circle needed to know the real story behind it.

Vincent scowled at the younger blonde-haired one and shook his head in a chiding manner. "Please. You need to find something better to do than to mock others because you're feeling less than a man." That was a bit cold. One could always expect that from Vincent, though. He wasn't always straight forward about the things upon his mind, but he had no problem when someone overstepped the boundaries...and Cloud had a tendency to do that a lot. He liked to push the limits to see what would happen, and even when he knew there were bad consequences, he still wanted to see those types of things through. Most in the group joked and considered him 'mentally autistic' because of that. They were only joking, of course.

Yuffie held up her hands and waved them back and forth frantically. "Stop it, you guys! We shouldn't be fighting! I mean, come on, look at us. We're not doing anything and Tifa's out there fighting against Shin-Ra all by herself. We should be doing everything we can not to cause any trouble for her when she comes home every day." The ninja didn't often say things that made sense, but everyone knew that what she said was hitting home awfully close. Tifa was out almost every day working for Shin-Ra and trying to make their world a better place. "Let's leave the fighting to her and keep everything here running smoothly. It's the very least we can do for making her endure such things every day." At least Yuffie wasn't completely heartless. Yes, sure, she cared about her materia, but she did care about her friends too.

The others didn't really have a choice except to agree with her. They should have done more, but not even Cloud could think of anything outside of flowers and chocolates, which were reserved for Valentine's Day...or so he thought. After combining their talents and complaints together, they had cleaned the bar from top to bottom, leaving no bar stool unturned. Following that, Marlene was sent out with Yuffie to Elmyra Gainsborough's home to gather some white lilies for Tifa. The two females had insisted that flowers were good for any time and the only place to get flowers in the city was at Elmyra's home.

Even after all the time that had passed by, Aerith's adopted mother still remained in close contact with the others and they considered a very special person. Cloud was still feeling guilty of Aerith's death and probably would forevermore no matter what anyone else said, and therefore, knowing someone as close to the female clad in pink, he needed to protect them. That was that.

Following the tiring escapade, the others found themselves in the basement, sitting around as though they were to make more plans for the brunette once she arrived back in the bar. Ever since that day they'd all spoken, Tifa didn't dress up anymore, even when the rumours of a date popped up. She'd left the wire frames and and the recording device as well. Cloud wondered if she would be all right, but he never pressed the subject. There was no need to upset her further. He wanted to see her smile, but he didn't ask for that either. And the more he thought about the subject, the more he wanted to ask about it...until he couldn't resist it any more.

"Pardon me if I'm being a little over protective--" His eyebrows narrowed as he looked over the others. He was expecting some kind of interruption and he wanted to prevent those before they could take place. "--but I am slightly concerned about Tifa. Hasn't anyone else been thinking that she's been acting just a little strange...?" He wondered if the others had been thinking on that as much as he had. Probably not. Everyone's been so hyped up, I doubt they've really be able to look past themselves. He couldn't exactly blame them. For the first time in seven years (since the battle had unofficially begun), they had someone who could give them all the information on the Shin-Ra company and its future intentions. It was exciting, all right. Exciting, and more than just a little dangerous for the person doing the work.

The others remained quiet, all except Marlene. She'd have been the first to respond, but Barret silenced her with a rather large machine gun barrel. Sometimes it was better for the young girl not to say anything at all, and right now was definitely one of those times. The middle-aged black man looked around to his comrades and then shook his head slowly, perhaps out of disbelief. Cloud had every right to be worried. It would be heartless of someone to tell him to try and feel otherwise. "I'z agreez! Cloud is right! Tifa's been actin' real odd lately. I say we'z should confront her and ask."

Vincent shook his head and protest as he rose to his feet and began to stride back and forth. When he paced, he always had the appearance that he was strutting. It must have been his grace and eloquence. "That's not a good idea. Tifa tends to shy away when she's being interrogated. It's not as though I'm disagreeing; I just think we need a different way of approaching her about it." Another good point made by the seemingly young man. He'd lived through a lot and had seen much more than anyone else in the group (...probably). He started to continue when there was a sharp knock heard originating from the bar's front door. Who could that be at this time of day...?

The bar didn't often get visitors in the day, which was why it was so perfect for the others to be there and meet in the basement. Had it been busy, they would've have been able to accomplish so much or attempt to do so. Marlene had so kindly offered to take care of whoever it was and when she didn't return a few minutes later, the others cautiously took to the stairs.

In the doorway stood Reno along with a bald-headed young man sporting a rather suave pair of sunglasses. Cloud paused in his footsteps once he faced them and then he narrowed his eyebrows at the two, a hand raising to the red ribbon tied to his left bicep. For just a brief moment, there was a spasm of pain that ran through his arm. It hadn't happened since the Silver-Haired Men had appeared...and that was for other reasons. Perhaps it was the idea of seeing Reno and Rude. They weren't exactly on the right terms, but they weren't on bad terms either. It was difficult to say.

"A warm welcome from the Turks. To whom do we owe the thanks?" There was more than just a little sarcasm dripping from his voice. When his eyes met the small pale girl at Rude's side, he planted a foot forward and then paused as Reno held out his rod. "...What are you guys planning?" It was such a mistake to let Marlene answer the door. She was very much a weakness to the rest of the group and it seemed the bad people knew it. It looked like Cloud was going to need to create a plan in the next few minutes.

Reno tapped the tip of his rod against the palm of his other hand as Marlene tried to push herself forward, only to be pulled back by the other shade-clad young man. There was a small smile curling over his lips. He liked Cloud; he really did, but there were some times when the difference was too great. He was personally irritated because this was the other half of Tifa's life. How it would be so much easier if she worked for Shin-Ra solely. "Well, well, Cloud Strife. It's nice to see you again, yo. We'll be taking this lovely young lady with us." He gestured to Marlene and then planted the tip of his rod to the ground and leaned his body weight against it.

"Like hell ya will!" Barret had started to raise his gun arm, when Cloud held up his hand to stop him. Even Cloud knew where they had to be careful. The young blonde-haired man shook his head. "...Is this under the order of Rufus? Or is this just something you guys are planning with someone else? What are you guys after?" He was angry, but he was doing the best he could to contain himself. Had Tifa been there she probably would have let loose and caused lots of problems for the two clad-in-blue young men.

Reno and Rude exchanged glances with each other. Usually they weren't to say anything about their jobs. This time, however, was a different case. They'd had the exclusive permission to let this through. They had a boundary, though, and wouldn't overstep it. "Well...Shin-Ra received information that AVALANCHE was planning on sending one of its members into the company to infiltrate and leak Shin-Ra's company information to the public. The president regrets to inform you that if he finds the person you've selected for this mission and do indeed carry it out, he will have your little messenger 'taken care of'." The red-haired man knew that everyone was aware of the definition of that phrase. He didn't need to explain himself further. He gestured to Marlene. "The young girl is added reassurance that you won't continue with your plans."

Had they been found out? Even worse, had Tifa been found out? The others had a reason to be worried now and they definitely had a reason to pull the brunette out of the mission. If they didn't, then their ally would be paying the ultimate price...with her life. No matter what else happened, they couldn't lose Tifa to the Shin-Ra now, or Marlene, for that matter. They'd gotten too far to just drop out of the race, and Cloud suddenly needed to have that plan...and nothing was coming to him (how unexpected). He gritted his teeth together angrily. He'd have to let Reno and Rude go for now. He just needed to have one last question answered. Depending on how the response came, the members of the former faction might be forced to leave Edge temporarily. If that was the case, they'd come back much stronger than before and Shin-Ra would have no choice except to bow to their power. "How did you guys supposedly arrive at this conclusion? How did you guys get this idea into your heads?" He had to word that carefully. There was no need to play into their hands.

That was another one of those questions that normally shouldn't have been answered. Reno, however, was quite fond of bragging and this was another one of those perfect opportunities to do so. "I will answer your question only because it pleases me to indulge in the boss's intelligence. Not unlike you, he also has his own spies who do quite a nice job." It was a little interesting to be talking about Tifa to her own allies...or people who she thought of as allies. If he really wanted to, he could turn things completely upside down, by revealing the situation that Tifa was in. That would ruin a lot of things. And the only reason he didn't, was because he knew he'd have hell to pay for it. He turned his back to the others, propping his rod upon his shoulder. "So...until we meet again, yo. As long as no more plans get made, nothing will happen to the little girl. And we'll send her back in a week or so. Be good little kids and try not to cause any trouble."

There was silence as the sounds of gentle footsteps were heard when the three exited. It took a few minutes, before anyone in the group felt they could speak again. Before Barret could completely lose his temper, Cloud turned to the others and shook his head slowly. "We've gotta get Tifa out of Shin-Ra. Even if they haven't found her yet, they will and you heard Reno. Rufus will kill her." He couldn't stand for that. He was nearly as angry as Barret was, and for the first time in a while, he was doing reasonably well at concealing that fact.

Vincent shook his head and he wandered behind the bar counter. "I don't think that's necessarily true. Even with the heartless of men, they are often overcome with weakness when it comes to the female gender." Of course there were some exceptions here and there. Sephiroth might have been one of them, from so long ago, and so were the Silver-Haired Men. He didn't know Rufus well enough to make an accurate judgment of how the man would respond. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know him that well.

"...You don't know the guy like I do. He's probably like the old president." Cloud paced back and forth anxiously. All of this talk and nothing was really happening at all. It made him nervous. "Rufus doesn't like handling public things and usually hires someone else to do it for him. If he was going to kill Tifa, he wouldn't do it himself. And if he did, it wouldn't be any different from shooting a man. That guy thinks all people are the same. Everyone else is below him and it doesn't matter what gender they are or what type of job they have. He can't be bribed and he can't be beaten. He seriously is the ultimate ruler of Edge. Everyone who seems to think he's a figurehead has absolutely no idea just how much his power influences everyone." From what he could remember at his young age, Rufus had been the same as a younger man. Even as the vice president of his company, there was an incredible dark streak. They should've known the problems that would arise. "...We don't have a choice. As soon as Tifa comes back, we have to convince her to stay. I'm sure she won't disagree once she finds out that Rufus will kill her if she's found out."

A man of no emotions, a man of no smiles, and no faces outside of the coldness he showed the world; Rufus was not someone to be trifled with and the threat he'd just made proved exactly that. Now, if only they could open Tifa's eyes to the truth. And even if they had attempted to do so, what if it didn't work? Cloud was worrying...and perhaps a little too much.