White Desire
Chapter 16
A couple days had passed and Tifa had avoided Vincent as much as humanly possible. Avoiding Rufus, on the other hand wasn't something that could be done. She really wanted to forget all of the things that had happened. She was feeling more than a little confused and she couldn't understand why. She had enjoyed her time with Rufus at the fund raiser. Vincent had interrupted that and questioned her the entire way to the slums. How was she supposed to answer? Was she to pretend that she felt absolutely nothing for the blonde-haired young man? Was she to continue with this charade? The mirror of her mentality had begun to crack that night when the vampyre-like one had discovered them together on the terrace. And each day that passed caused that crack to expand. Any time now she would break down and her sanity would be in peril.
The morning she finally decided to confide in him was a day before she went into work, wondering how everything would go. It hadn't seemed any different between Rufus and herself and she was relieved over that. At least one relationship hadn't turned sour...yet. Wanting to avoid any other potential listeners, she'd pulled Vincent into her room, and locked the door after him. She didn't really know where to begin and although he had taken a seat upon her bed, she was pacing back and forth in a rather nervous state.
Vincent's ruddy-hued eyes looked over her and he watched with a faint gleam of interest. "Tifa, what is it that you want to say?" He was fairly annoyed that she was taking up his time in this way, but he wasn't exactly going to say it...yet. "You might as well just get it out now. I don't have time to be waiting on you forever, you know." He really didn't like coming off as rude, but Tifa had irritated him to such a point, that resisting the temptation to say something was incredibly difficult. When she continued to pace, he finally reached out a hand and stopped her, before tugging her over to the window. "I already know what we're going to talk about. I don't think you should be spending any extra curricular time with the president of the Shin-Ra Company. Rufus Shin-Ra is not a man to be trifled with. I don't know what it is you hope to accomplish by playing with him, but you should not be treating him as a toy. When he finds out, you'll be done for and so will the rest of us." He didn't want to think that she was betraying him and the others. That seemed so unlikely. He was still confused, though, and wondering if he wanted any sort of explanation.
As she looked outside, her gaze passed over the lush greenery in the far off distance and it made her realise how much she wanted to be free. She wanted to be liberated. She wanted to be able to make decisions without being reprimanded or judged for them. The outside influence in her life was what she wanted to get rid of. Then she turned back to him and shook her head slowly. "It's not what you think, Vincent. President Shin-Ra was using me as an escape from Scarlet at the fund raiser. That's all it was. You just...happened to walk in on an interesting situation. There's nothing else there, all right?" She shook her head at him in almost a scolding fashion. She didn't want him thinking the wrong things, even if he was right in thinking them.
Vincent mimicked her, shaking his head, and then he leaned against the wall, raising his arms to enfold over his chest thoughtfully. "I didn't say anything. Now that you've mentioned that, though, I'm starting to wonder. What else have you possibly been doing behind our backs? Every time you go somewhere, are you really doing something for Shin-Ra?" He had no idea just how close he was. He was slightly nervous to receive a response from her. He wanted her to say the negative. He hoped that she would. The look upon her face was so easy to read and he narrowed his eyes before tightening his left claw. A sudden thrusting motion was made, and he'd planted a rather large hole in Tifa's wall, just above the dresser beside the window. "Damn it, Tifa! What the hell are you doing!"
The brunette raised her hands and waved them back and forth frantically. "Sshhh! Please quiet down! I don't...I don't want the others to know about this, but I'll tell you...but you have to promise me that you won't dare repeat what I tell you to anyone or anything! Not even yourself!" She was finally going to talk. She would confess what she had been up to and she hoped Vincent wouldn't be anywhere near as angry as he seemed at the current moment. He was becoming intimidating and after she'd seen what his force had done to her wall, she wanted to avoid becoming like that at any cost. There was a soft sigh given and she slipped her hands behind her back. "...President Shin-Ra told me that if I didn't comply with his requests that he couldn't guarantee your guys' safety. I've...I've been unofficially working for Shin-Ra since I went in for the interview with the president. When I became his secretary, it was the official title given to me. I've been paid to spy on the group. Everything that Cloud has planned, I've relayed to President Shin-Ra. When we went to Wutai, it was set up. Scarlet knew we were coming to let them out. That's why we got away with it all." Before he could protest, she turned to him and gestured wildly with her hands. "But...Cloud was wrong! Everything he told us...! Well, not everything, but half of what he told us was wrong! We've been wrong! Don't you understand?" She reached forward and began to shake him back and forth, almost violently.
The room was trembling before his orbs and he rose both of his hands, the claw and the human to take hers gently. Of course he was angry. Everything she had told him had just confirmed those things he hadn't wanted to hear. He couldn't understand how she could have gotten away with this and not let anything go. She'd hidden this from them so well and for quite a while. Part of him was a little impressed, although he had to take great strength to ignore that. She was not to be commended for her actions. Personally, he thought he should be turning her in. However, she trusted him and the trust of an ally was very important, even to him. He wasn't quite sure he could still label her as an ally though... "Tifa." Then something else she had said caught his attention. She'd stated that Cloud was wrong, or at least his information was. "...Wait. When you said Cloud was wrong...? What did you mean?" His eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her. If she knew what was good for her, she'd explain clearly and refrain from leaving anything out.
He was still holding her hands and when his grasp grew, she winced only slightly, trying to pull herself back. Unable to do so, her lips parted and she began to speak. "The night that I had the date with Reno, he was called away. I took the time while I was there to look through the documents on the company. Shin-Ra's plans to rebuild Midgar do not include the use of mako or other harmful materials. They aren't planning anything outside of what they've told the public. If they can't rebuild Midgar, they're going to create Neo-Midgar. President Shin-Ra has not found a new reliable energy source yet, though, so that's causing some problems. The sectors one through four of Midgar have currently been completed in construction. Although money is not an issue, the lack of harmless energy is slowing down the process. It is thought that they found that source beneath the mountain pass in Wutai, though. The last I had heard, Shin-Ra released the lock on the town and the citizens returned from Rocket Town. I believe that there are still soldiers in the mine, though, searching for that source." When his hands had loosened their grasp, she pulled away and rubbed at her wrists in a gentle manner. "So as I said, Cloud's information was wrong. Or perhaps it's not so much wrong as it was created by his hatred for the company. I can understand why he feels that way, but he no longer has the right to hold the past actions over them. There's so much that he doesn't understand. President Shin-Ra has attempted to save us many times and succeeded. Although his father did not have pure intentions, he was working with AVALANCHE to overthrow the former president. He provided us with the money for our missions and our pay. So in reality, we were all working for Shin-Ra back then, and continued doing so, until the first president passed away." She felt like she had so much more to say, but she just didn't know where to go from there.
Vincent's left claw rose to his chin and it was apparent he was more than thoughtful. Everything she had just said to him came as a bit of a shock. He didn't know whether he could believe her or not. Then again, she had done the research herself and discovered the findings. Why would she lie about that? He knew that she was concerned about the citizens of Edge. That was why she had gone on that interview so long ago. If she was as vindictive as it seemed she was with the betrayal, then she would not have put so much effort into the mission. Part of him understood that she had been put into a very compromising position. It was either to betray her friends, or betray the company that had hired her and risk losing her friends. Tifa was connected to her comrades and would have done anything for them. So if she was hurting them to save them, Vincent could scarcely understand the situation. He paced back and forth and then paused as he looked to her. "...I have reasons to believe that it shall take me a great amount of time to understand everything you have just said. I am not stating that I do not believe you, I am merely caught by surprise by your news. This is really something that should be said to the others. If the Shin-Ra Company isn't doing anything wrong, then we need to stop trying to infiltrate their headquarters and expose them for nothing. All that's going to do is create more enemies for us."
She shook her head at him quickly. "We can't tell the others! Because then they'll ask how you found out and if they find out I told you, they'll know what happened and once President Shin-Ra discovers that I told you his plan, then he'll think I betrayed him and I could lose my jo--I mean, lose you guys." She didn't want to admit it, but she had grown very fond of the company and thoroughly enjoyed working there. She didn't mind that she was Rufus's secretary. If anything, she felt a little flattered every day that she'd walk in and she'd be working on the papers he had signed, and filing the important documents that he had read through and placed aside for her. She was beginning to like the idea of working for the company. She was beginning to like the idea of Shin-Ra. And she was beginning to like the idea of Rufus.
Her slip of the tongue had not gone unnoticed, but Vincent chose to ignore it for that time and he gave a very subtle nod. It probably wasn't wise to say anything just yet. He would, however, interfere with any of Cloud's plans for the future that he had. That meant, he would insist they take a break from Shin-Ra and focus on the Strife Delivery Service instead. He felt it would be more beneficial and Tifa would no longer have such pressure on her. If she broke down in front of Rufus, he didn't want to know what was going to happen. Although he, himself, had been quite furious, he knew that Rufus's temper had no bounds and it was likely he would execute some type of brash action. "Very well then. We won't say anything to the others just yet." The sound of Tifa's cell phone vibrating caught his attention and he watched her with feigned interest.
She withdrew the device and pulled it to her ear, before allowing her soft tone to ring out. "Tifa Lockhart. How may I be of service?" It seemed a rather rose hue had pervaded over her cheeks and her eyelashes fluttered a couple of times and she looked over to Vincent, mouthing the words 'President Shin-Ra' to him. "O-oh. Y-yes, I'm terribly sorry. I...I...ran into a bit of trouble. I'll be leaving right away, Sir." Another pause ensued and she tilted her head to the side. "Yes, Sir. Of course. I'll bring you some as soon as I arrive. No, no. I'm sure Reno and Rude won't mind too terribly much. And...yes, yes. If they do, I'll escort them to your office right away, Sir. Yes. All right." Then she pulled the phone away and hung up, before giving a soft sigh. "...I'm late for work. He was calling to see if I was even going to come in today. He sounded a little angry."
Vincent thought it strange that she would be so concerned about what Rufus thought. He knew there was something more, but he also sensed that she had a lot on her mind and it was best not to intrude just yet. "Yes, you are. I apologise for keeping you here. You should leave now." He wandered over to the door and opened it for her. As she stepped past him, his right hand reached out and very gently ruffled her hair, not enough to mess it up, though. "Try not to worry so much. Stress doesn't look nice on you, Tifa." There was a kind smile curling at the corners of his lips and he gave a gentle push out the door.
After she had left, he wandered aimlessly downstairs into the bar, where Cloud was sitting at the table. He looked a little expectant or shocked perhaps. The black-haired one couldn't really tell. "...Is everything all right, Cloud?" The blonde turned to him and was silent for a few moments and then he stood up, shaking his head slowly. Really. Tifa had just quickly passed by him and pretty much just pushed him to the side. She must have been late for work, but there wasn't even a farewell that was exchanged between the two. He gave a gentle sigh and then wandered over to the vampyre-like one. "...I guess I'm a little worried about Tifa. She looked strange this morning. Do you think she's okay?"
His more pale companion nodded slowly. Although he knew what was going on, he would keep his promise and not say a word to anyone. At least, not until it was the right time. "Yes. She's going to be just fine." Then he turned his gaze back to Cloud and folded his arms over his chest after gesturing to the stairs by the basement. "We all need to sit down and have a talk in the basement. Gather everyone together, so we can discuss things and the plans of action from here on out." It was time to put things into motion. They weren't going to be carrying out anything against Shin-Ra for a while, and not again unless Tifa discovered something of use. Receiving a nod from the blonde, they parted ways but only for a few moments.
