Chapter Thirty-Six:

A/N: I'm just letting you all know now that these three chapters are the tops in writing, in my opinion. Plot-wise, though, it's still up in the air. And I'm changing the rating from T to M, and after you read you'll know why.

Chocobo Nunchaku: You think Rinoa was shot? Hmm... not touching that one.

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"That was close," Tessa said to herself as Holt wrapped a strip of cloth around her right hand. She gripped the armrest with her left hand as he tightened the makeshift bandage. It felt like white-hot needles were being pressed into her palm.

Holt looked up at her with a quizzical expression. He was kneeling on the floor as Tifa, Liana, and a man she hadn't met before stared at her with their mouths hanging open.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, trying to ignore the elephant in the room.

"I'm not sure," Tessa lied as she shifted in the chair. Her face was no longer hidden by her long locks of red hair, which were now lying around her feet. Instead, the black- and blue-tinged bruises on her face were harshly evident, along with the wounds she had received down in the sewer. However, these bruises were much fresher, just beginning to turn. "I don't really remember what happened."

"We knew that there were problems," Tifa stepped forward and laid a hand on Tessa's forearm. The warm sensation of skin on skin seemed to improve the situation slightly for the redhead, even if it was accusatory. Tifa looked into Tessa's eyes, and she could tell the other woman was searching for the truth. "We didn't know that they were this bad."

Holt let go of Tessa's hand. The white sheet, which had been torn into strips, was already crimson in several areas and it was spreading across the fabric like an invading army. She squeezed it, painfully testing to see if the digits were still working. When she took her eyes away from Tifa and looked at Holt, the man couldn't seem to look her in the face.

"Did you…" the fourth person, the new guy, asked Tessa. She briefly wondered why she hadn't met him until that moment. She had already met Andrea and Caloe, the young mother and her infant daughter. Then there had been Divel and Lotak, the tour guides of the museum who had escaped the early carnage by locking themselves in one of the bathrooms. "Did you really?"

"I had no choice," she said as she rubbed her leg, trying to get some of the feeling back where the circulation had been cut off.

"Child, what have you done?" Liana asked in her peculiar accent. Tessa had tried forever to place it, but its familiarity only seemed to make it harder. The wrinkled face was contorted in a mask of pain. Not for herself, the pain was for Tessa.

"Could you guys leave us alone, please?" Holt asked his companions in a raspy voice. Tessa grew fidgety as Liana shuffled out of the room, followed by Tifa and the unnamed man. After the door closed behind them, Holt stood up and walked to it. The click of the lock was followed by a long silence.

Tessa bit her lip and cradled her injured hand against her chest, staining the Galbadian uniform with blood. She wasn't sure what was going to happen, but Holt grabbed another chair and dragged it to where he could sit in front of her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he gently grabbed Tessa's injured hand. He held it tenderly between his own two strong, healthy one. His chin was covered with a five o'clock shadow that only served to make him look older. "Are you hurt anywhere else? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I think I've pretty much done everything," Tessa said darkly. She gave a bitter laugh before closing her eyes sighing.

"I guess that's true," Holt concurred sadly. "Can't you think of why it happened? I mean, it was just so improbable. I've thought of doing it myself several times, but…"

"…but you're not that crazy," Tessa finished his sentence. "What typical chauvinistic thinking. Hyne, I hate men."

"I was going to say that I wasn't that crazy, yes," Holt admitted, "but the circumstances were different for me. I guess I just didn't realize how dangerous…"

Tessa interrupted Holt again, but not with words. Her left hand was on the back of his head, grabbing a fistful of hair as she kissed the man almost three times her age.

It had been four years since she had last kissed someone, four years since anyone had wanted to kiss her. Sure, Phelan was smitten, but she didn't count him. He didn't know what had happened, the torture she had gone through. Her old friends had stopped speaking to her. Thalia, the head of the Festival Committee at Lotia Garden, called her "broken goods" with a sneer after it happened.

The only people that didn't seem to care were the only friends she had left behind when she transferred, Liana and Dave. Except for Hunter, who continued to act as though nothing had happened. All that did was make Tessa madder. It was like he refused to acknowledge what had happened to her, to Alex. It seemed like a betrayal to her memory.

"I'm sorry," Tessa sadly laughed as she pulled away. "I don't know what that was."

Holt didn't answer. He just let go of Tessa's hand and caressed the sides of her face with his. Leaning in, he kissed her much more gently than she had him. Tessa closed her eyes and let herself get caught in the moment. Her own good hand ran along Holt's right arm and onto his broad shoulder. She moved her chair to get closer to him, so that she could feel every inch of his body. The wrinkles of his face were the most pleasing to her touch, each one telling a story of a moment in his life.

They stood up and pressed their bodies together, and their lips parted and met again. Tessa's knees were still wobbly, so Holt wrapped his arms around her waist and held her up. It made her feel good that he was looking past her wounds and at her, or, at least, that's what she thought. However, it also scared her to death.

Reluctantly, she pulled away for a second time. Tears were in her eyes and she was hating herself for being so weak. I don't need a man, right? she reminded herself.

"What is it?" Holt asked as he gasped for breath. "Did I do something wrong?"

Tessa shook her head, afraid that her voice would give away her insecurities. She blinked back her tears and looked at the floor.

Holt began rubbing her arms, but she stepped away again. His face grew red and angry. "Fine, fuck you, you stupid tease." He stormed off and slammed the door behind him.

The night sky rumbled and a lightning bolt streaked across the sky. Tessa twitched and walked to the window. Fat raindrops began pelting the window with such force that they shook the frame. Illuminated under the streetlights, the Rots wandered aimlessly, unbothered by the downpour.

Thinking back, Tessa realized that she was finally getting what she wanted. "It's about fucking time."

She held her bandaged hand up to her chest and sighed, exhaling hundreds of emotions at once. Tessa walked to the door and opened, listening to see if Holt was within earshot. When she was finally satisfied that he was gone, the redhead stepped into the hallway and softly closed the door.

After the click, signifying everything was in place door-wise, Macone sat up and sniffed the air. The smell of blood was heavy and he stared blankly at his hand for a few seconds before standing up. He wandered around the room searching for something that wasn't there, completely oblivious to the letter opener sticking out of his chest.