Thank you everyone for the favorites & follows! I'll do my best to live up to your expectations :) Also, there seemed to be some confusion... this is not a Cloud/Zack romance story (sorry!). I updated the pairings for the story; for some reason they didn't make it through, so I apologize for the confusion! It's fixed now. Also, I'm changing the "M" rating to "T" as people, ah, started assuming this was a porno. It's not. Like oh my god, it most definitely is not, and I'll never be making that mistake again. Sorry again everyone. I'm so embarrassed lol

Anyway, I'll leave my replies to reviews at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!


The streetlight flickered to life outside of Seventh Heaven, a small bar nestled in the Midgar slums. Compared to the dilapidated buildings surrounding it, it was sweet. Quaint, even, with all the comforts of a home half-remembered. Lights were strung across the main doorway and their warm glow kissed the porch beneath them, the staircase beyond that, to dirt road meandering out front. Twangy music and the sound of pouring glasses strummed through the front door. It was a warm sound, inviting in all the right ways.

Tifa smiled to another patron as she poured another drink, something colorful and strong, before sliding it to the man sitting in front of her. "Thirty gil," she told him, but was already turning towards her next customer before the sweet clink of gil hit the counter.

The bar was busy. Just the way Tifa liked it, and not just for the gil busy nights like these brought in. She loved the company. The conversation, the stories, all wrapped up in the acoustic music that reminded her of home. But only the good parts of home, like a certain blond-haired boy and the stars above them. And not… the rest of it.

Her hand tightened on a glass, nearly shattering it, when the bell by the front door jingled. Tifa instinctively smoothed her expression and welcomed whoever walked in as she brought food to another table. The food wasn't much – this was a bar, after all – but the grateful faces eased something in her. They murmured their thanks as she dropped off the chips and returned to their conversation, something about Wutai, something else about Shinra.

Shinra.

Anger flashed through her, quick and hot, and she impatiently pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. But she was grateful for the anger. For a moment, she had forgotten why she was here. Why working as a bartender at Seventh Heaven was only a side gig.

As if summoned by her thoughts, a tall, dark man passed by her on his way to the back. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, but there was no mistaking that characteristic glower. Nor could she ignore the massive gun he used as an arm, which earned more than a few pointed stares from nearby customers. But they were used to it by now.

"Teef, close up early," Barret Wallace said as he walked by. "We got somethin' to discuss." He shot her a look. "You know. Avalanche business."

Tifa involuntarily tensed even as she nodded. The fire in her chest faded into something harder, something colder, but she never stopped smiling. Never stopped serving her customers, never failed to make them feel welcome on this warm, muggy night.

But when the last customer left, or Barret shooed them out the door, Tifa had already started wiping down the counter. Even after Barret had already headed into the basement to wait for the rest of the Avalanche members. Tifa… needed a moment. Though she had attended nearly all of the Avalanche meetings, she still had to prepare herself.

The chime of a bell dragged her attention upward, just in time to see a woman walk through the door. A red band pulled the woman's hair out of her eyes as she glanced around the room, scowling, before her copper gaze landed on Tifa. Her lips, red and full, pulled into a smile.

"Barret working you to the bone, huh?" Jessie said as she walked towards the counter. Well, more like sauntered to the counter. Jessie had been born and raised for the stage, and though plans changed – plans always changed, Tifa knew – Jessie never failed to look like she was walking down some red carpet.

Tifa shrugged, smiling to herself as she scrubbed a particularly stubborn stain. "I enjoy it," she said simply.

Jessie laughed. "That's good," she said. "I get'a feeling we'll be using the bar more and more. Is Barret already down?"

Tifa sighed. "Take a wild guess."

"Always in a hurry," she said with another laugh, and made her way to the pinball machine in the corner. It was an old thing, completely forgettable at first glance – Tifa wasn't even sure that it still worked – but that was the entire point, now wasn't it. To be inconspicuous. "See you in a bit," Jessie continued as she stood in front of it and pulled the lever.

There was a hiss of steam and gears began to grind, a horrible sound that set Tifa's teeth on edge. Then the floor beneath Jessie shuddered and began to descend. Jessie waved goodbye until she vanished beneath the floor, and all went silent again.

Tifa sighed, giving up on the stain and moving onto a dirty glass. She didn't think she would ever get used to that.

Then the door jingled again. "Just missed her, Biggs," Tifa said without looking up.

The man, also wearing a red band over his forehead, scowled even as the corners of his lips twitched into a smile. "Damn, she's quick," he said. He scratched his hair with a gloved hand. "I thought I'd be the first one today."

"Next time," Tifa grinned. "Barret's down there too."

Biggs sighed. "So I'm not second, but third?"

"Pretty much."

"Lovely." Biggs moved to the pinball machine. "I'll see you down there?"

Tifa nodded. "See you in a bit." Biggs grinned and pulled the level, and he too disappeared beneath the floorboards.

Before Tifa could begin wiping down the glass, the door jingled again. She glanced up just in time to see Wedge kick the door open, a pastry box in his hands. "Heya, Teef," the bigger man said cheerfully as he shuffled inside, but not before kicking the door closed behind him. "Wanna donut?"

Tifa's eyes widened. A donut? "Where did you get those?"

"My neighbor," Wedge grinned.

"The older one? Or the couple?"

"Older one." Wedge sat down on the counter in front of her and opened the box. Any dreary thoughts from the day fled Tifa's mind as her eyes flicked across the glazed pastry puffs – or at least, the few that remained after Wedge's walk to the bar. The lights above made their sweet glaze shine. And god, they were still warm. Tifa hardly could pay attention to Wedge ashe continued, "So I had been watching her cat, right? And she was so grateful that she got her daughter to bring her some donuts from the upper plate. Except she brought too much, you get me?"

Tifa selected a smaller one – she didn't want to seem greedy, after all. The pastry was warm and sticky in her fingers, and she nearly sighed from pleasure. "I get you."

"So like, of course she couldn't eat all of the donuts by herself, right? And because I did such a good job watching her cat, she decided to give me a box." Wedge grinned, clearly pleased with himself as he helped himself to another donut. "A whole box, Tifa. Just the fuel I need for our mission." Suddenly his eyes widened. "Uh, speaking of missions and all, am I the first one?" His face lit up. "Am I finally first."

Tifa laughed, recalling what Biggs had said. "No, technically Barret was today. Jessie was second, Biggs was third."

"Even Biggs got here before me?" Wedge's expression fell. "I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"Well if you hurry, you may just beat me," Tifa teased. She held up the rag and cup, which was just beginning to sparkle. "I have a few more glasses to clean before I can quit."

"Oh man. Thanks Teef." Wedge pushed himself off of the barstool and hurried to the pinball machine, the box cradled in his arms like a child. "I owe you one."

"Don't worry about it," Tifa said, waving him off. Wedge grinned to her as he pulled the level and he, too, disappear into the floor.

Tifa cleaned the last of the glasses, no longer distracted, before also heading to the pinball machine. The floor shuddered beneath her as she braced herself and pulled the lever. There was a moan of metal, a jolt, and suddenly the cheery lights of the bar faded as she descended into the basement. The smell of fried food and acidic alcohol was replaced by dust and musk.

Seventh Heaven's basement was small and dingy, but that was okay. She secretly thought that it was cozy. There were only a few tables and chairs – leftovers from when the bar had first been constructed, as well as a white board pressed against the wall. But there were other things too, like old paintings that didn't fit the bar's theme. An old bed pushed against the side. Boxes filled with teacups, antique forks, coffee-stained books.

One of these days, Tifa thought as she stepped off the elevator, I'm going to have to clean things down here.

As she already knew, she was the last to arrive. Barret stood in front of the board, his fingers pinched around a marker. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge sat in the table in front of them, looking somewhat interested.

"Tifa!" Barret called, waving his gun-arm at her. Its metal gleamed beneath the dim light. "You're late."

"The dishes weren't going to clean themselves," was her reply as she took a seat beside Jessie, who had shifted to make room for her. The older girl's eyes sparkled as she held up a donut, and Tifa only shook her head no – she had already had one. "So," Tifa continued, turning her attention back to Barret. "Where did you guys leave off?"

"We were at the part where Barret plants the bomb and blows the reactor to hell," Biggs replied.

Barret smiled, toothy and almost feral. "Damn straight."

"Really?" Tifa flicked her eyes to the board, where Barret had drawn a crude representation of Sector 5's mako reactor. "We're actually going to blow it up?"

"Of course, Tifa!" Barret's voice rose an octave. "Those Shinra bastards are killing the planet, and those reactors are doing all of th' dirty work! You gonna just let them continue dredging up the Planet's lifeblood? Gonna let the planet continue cryin' out in pain?"

Tifa glanced to Jessie, who only returned her expression with a pained smile. Even Biggs and Wedge shot her sympathetic glances. When Barret got like this… well, simply put, there was just no stopping him.

"Of course not," Tifa finally replied. She knew what she was signing up for when she joined Avalanche. She knew this would be part of the gig. "When… When do we start?"

"As soon as I finish the bomb," Jessie replied, licking her fingers of icing. "Not as easy as it sounds, believe me."

"And as soon as I finish gathering intel," Biggs added. He leaned forward, his fingers interlocked beneath his chin. "We're almost there – maybe a few more days. Need to map out our path to the reactor core."

Barret scowled. "A few days? That's too damn long!" But after a pause, he rubbed the back of his head and continued, "Ah! Whatever. Jus' make damn sure that the intel is accurate, ya here me? Lives are on the line here!"

Biggs grinned. "Of course. My intel is always accurate."

"Hell yeah it is," Jessie grinned. "Shinra won't even know what hit them!"

Tifa grinned at their enthusiasm, but at the same time, something shifted inside of her. Her gaze dragged back to Barret's drawing of the mako reactor; at its dark walls, its emerald-green pillars of spewing mako, the bright burst of red from an explosion. She wanted to deal a major blow to Shirna. She wanted to blow Shinra all the way to hell.

But was this - blowing up the reactor, and potentially harming everyone below it – the best way to do that? God, what if people died?

Tifa lowered her head, and her hair shifted to cover her bright, wine-colored eyes. Suddenly, the basement wasn't so cozy. It was suffocating.


Anon: Holy fuck man, did you even read the description? I suggest you try reading them before drawing your own conclusions as to what the story is about... like oh my god, I'm kinda shook to be honest. I can't believe you thought that, let alone comment about it on my story.