Chapter 2: Rubens
Rufus opened his. The room was not big and poorly furnished. Only the bed, a closet and a little table next to the bed. The window was open and the curtains were waving in the air. He reached for his forehead and flinched when he touched the injury over his left eye that blooded pretty bad last night.
He looked at his arms. Blisters had appeared and burned a bit. He lifted the blanket sat up looked down his torso and saw that there were blisters as well. He frowned and uncovered his legs. No blisters. Then he hesitated and looked into his boxers.
"Phew!" he made and felt back into the pillows relieved to see that everything was still intact. His leg wasn't aching so much anymore. He only felt it pounding a little. Carefully he rolled out of the bed and stepped nearly on Dark Nation who was still sleeping.
"Sorry girl" he said and caressed her head. She did not even look up to him.
"Yeah.. don't mind me…" he said bitterly.
He limped to the door that seemed to reach to a bathroom and opened it. When he switched on the light he frowned as he saw his image in a mirror in front of him.
"Wow… " He said. "What a mess".
His hair stood up in all directions and his face was still dirty. The cut on his forehead ran down his left eyebrow and continued on the left cheek. At least the eye didn't seem to be injured. Blisters also ruined the smooth features on his face. He grinned. No wonder that the women had not recognized him. He wouldn't have been able recognize himself.
Rufus opened the water crane and washed his face with cool water. Then he took a towel and cleaned his body as much as the blisters on his torso and arms allowed it.
The barkeeper just put down tray with milk and rolls on the table next to the bed when she heard the toilet flush. He looked up when she heard Rufus opening the door.
"Hey lad. You don't look so bad when you are cleaned" she said with a smile on her face.
"I am not a lad!" he answered cold.
"I know who you are. Your forgot your wallet downstairs yesterday" she said and pointed on the tray where is wallet was lying.
He frowned.
"Don't worry. I will not tell anyone," she said.
"Why not?" he asked and looked at her sceptically.
"Because I don't want a mob of hundreds angry people here," she answered.
"Sounds reasonable to me" he said.
He flinched and reached down to his leg when he felt pain again rushing through it.
The women reached out and steadied him.
"Take it easy. You should not stand so long," she said.
He looked around.
"Where are my clothes?" he asked.
"In the laundry" she answered.
"Thanks" said Rufus.
"No thanks needed President Shin-Ra. I took the money I needed out of your wallet" she said with a smile.
He froze.
"Please.. Call me just Rufus," he said with a bitter face. "President Shin-Ra was my old man".
"You should drop that name for a while anyway," the barkeeper advised. "Nobody should know who you are."
He sat down on the bed looked at Dark Nation and nodded. It sounded reasonable to him. He ran with this hand through his hair.
"How should I be named then?" he asked.
"What about… Rubens?" she asked.
He lifted an eyebrow then shrugged.
"My name is Gina by the way" she introduced herself and reached out.
"Nice to become acquainted with you. My name is Rubens" he said with a sly smile on his face and shook her hand.
"I guess you will keep a scar over your left eye" she said and reached out to look at the injury. "But don't worry. Girls like scars".
He twitched with the right corner or his mouth.
"After what happened to me I guess I am supposed to be happy," meant dry.
"You should," she said. "But now you should sleep and rest enough".
He lay down. She covered him with the blanket and wanted to go.
"Gina… what about the meteor?" he asked.
She did not look at him.
"It is still there," she said.
Rufus flipped back the blanket and limped to the window as fast as he could
There was it. Meteor. It looked so dangerous that he turned around again immediately.
"Right…I failed…" he said frustrated and slammed with his fist against the wall next to the window. Suddenly he looked at his fist seeming to be surprised by his own reaction.
"And I can't do nothing against it…" he said. "What am I now?"
He limped back into the bed and covered himself.
"You are not dead," she answered with a smile.
"My whole life I was supposed to run this damn company. Now I have not even that anymore. What am I good for now?" he said with a sad voice.
"I cannot answer your question Rubens but I think that you should sleep now," she said.
This was it what Rufus did for the next two days. And when meteor fell from the sky Rufus did that what all others did. He prayed with all his heart. He did not want to die. And then the miracle happened. Holy was cast and the planet defended itself. The day after the planet still existed. And that was also the day he met her again.
Rufus woke up and felt again the pain in his leg. The sun was shining outside. Was he hearing birds singing?
In the slums of sector seven?
He flipped the blanket away and limped to the window. He rubbed his eyes looked outside. The plates were away. All he could see above him where the blue sky and the clouds. The smog had lifted and he could breathe the fresh air. The city on the other side looked disastrous. Nearly completely destroyed. He graped his pants, boots, his turtleneck and the cap out of the closet. He had to see it with his own eyes. He dressed himself quick and limped out of the room down the stairs.
"Gina?" he called.
"I am outside Rubens!" she could hear her call him.
He opened the door and limped outside put on the cap and pulled it deep into his face. Speechless he saw up into the blue sky again where the birds were flying. Rufus doubted that anyone in the slums had ever seen the blue sky. He looked around at the destruction that was caused by the meteor. Nearly the half of the houses were destroyed. The rest of them including the bar had lost the roof. But the people around were only watching into the sky and looked happy. He looked into the direction where the shin-ra tower was standing before. It vanished completely with the plate.
"What is left of you now old man?" he thought loud and a sly smile was on his face.
Gina looked at him.
"My old man.. he wanted to control the world with money. I tried to control with fear… what will control the city now…" he said absently.
Rufus put his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
"We have a lot to do Gina!" he said and reached her his wallet.
"Here.. Go and buy all the food you can get. We will need it! Hurry. Until dawn everything has to be finished" he told her.
She looked at him in surprise but the stern sound in his voice told her to listen to him. She took the wallet and went off.
Rufus looked after her and went back into the house.
The sound of pounding filled the area when Rufus was standing high on a ladder and boarded up the windows with nails. He pounded in the last nail for this window and looked around.
"That's it.. Only two more to go" he said and looked satisfied at his work. There were enough boards lying around in the area to board up hundreds of windows and he was surprised to be quite talented in this kind of action. The man had turned around his cap to have a better sight for his work and wiped away the sweat on his forehead with the sleeve of his turtleneck.
"What do you think you are doing here?" he heard the voice of a girl from below.
He rolled with his eyes when he took another nail out of his mouth and started to pound it as well into the board before him. He had heard that question often this day.
"That is quite easy to see or not?" he said tired. "You should go home and do the same!"
"Yeah?" he heard the voice behind him.
"Yes. Take this as an advice!" he said without changing the sound of his voice.
"Well… That is interesting in sight of the fact that this is my bar you are pounding nails in!" she said harsh.
Rufus stopped pounding and looked down in order to see who was speaking. He lifted an eyebrow first and then looked at her with wide eyes. He did recognize her. He nearly loosed the balance because of his wounded leg. Carefully and slow he climbed down the ladder and limped to her.
"I know you… " He stuttered. "You are Miss Lockheart! Right?"
"Rufus Shin-Ra" she said and slapped him right into his face.
When he looked up again she slapped him again and then with her fist right on his left eye.
He staggered and lost the balance. His leg gave up and he fell on the ground. Tifa took him by his collar and shacked him.
"You should be dead! DEAD!" she screamed.
He did not respond or defend himself. He only closed his eyes and let himself be punched by her. Alone this fact made her even angrier and she slapped him again and again. Her wine-red eyes glared in fury into his face. The wound on his forehead had opened again and he began to bleed. Tifa saw at the blood on her fist.
Rufus lifted his right and touched her with blood-covered hand. His left eye ached and he tasted the blood in his mouth. She really had a lot of strength.
"The guard left the key… yes?" he said with a weak smile.
She frowned and looked at him.
"How do you know about the key?" she asked.
He did not answer.
"I have to finish this before dawn.." he said silently and moved his eyes to the right in order not to look into her eyes.
Tifa took him by the collar again and dragged him up.
"I want an answer Shin-Ra!" she demanded in fury. She could see clearly the sweat on his face. Was he becoming nervous?
"I don't have to explain my actions to you!" he said trying to sound cold.
The grip on his collar tightened and she dragged him into the bar where she pushed him into a chair.
"You are in my bar now Shin-Ra and here I do the interrogations!" she spat.
"An interrogation?" he asked cold and crossed his arms. "We don't have time now for that. If that happens what I suppose what will happen tonight then we should be ready!" he said and stood up again.
"When I am finished we can continue that interrogation, ok?" he continued und turned around to leave the bar.
Tifa instead had other plans and graped him by the shoulder in order to turn him around. When she looked him to his blue eyes she got even more furious.
"Take me serious!" she screamed and punched him again right into his face.
This blow got Rufus off his feet again and he felt his nose break under her fist.
"Tifa! Please stop it! " She heard a voice from the door.
It was Gina who was obviously just coming from shopping. She looked in shock at Rufus who was lying on the floor and held his bleeding nose. Tears ran down his cheek which was natural reaction after this blow. One of the bags she was holding felt on the floor.
"What is going on here?" she asked in horror and ran beside Rufus to kneel beside him.
The women ran with her hand over the wound on his forehead and frowned.
"Rubens! You have high fever!" she stated.
"Rubens?" Tifa asked sneering.
"It's ok Gina. She knows exactly who I am" Rufus meant still holding his nose and raised.
"Did you get the food?" he asked looking at her.
She nodded in response.
"Good", he said and stood up.
"I go on outside and finish there", he meant raising a hand and vanished through the door.
"But your…" Gina started.
"No time!" she heard his voice from outside.
"…fever!" the woman ended.
Tifa was cooking in anger.
"How he dares to ignore me like that?" she meant with clenched fists.
"Tifa! Hold it… I guess he is trying to defend this place here!" Gina meant holding her back.
Tifa looked at her in surprise.
"What is that supposed to mean now?" she asked.
"I guess he expects great uprisings this night" the woman explained in worry.
The pounding started again.
"You mean…" Tifa started and looked at Gina with wide eyes.
"Yes.. many people without homes looking for food" the woman meant dry.
The pounding stopped.
"But what is he doing here?" asked the girl in anger.
They could hear his steps on the ladder climbing down.
"He came here in the night about two days ago and had bad injuries" Gina said.
"After what did happen to him he should be even dead!" meant Tifa.
They heard him climbing up the ladder again and placing a board in front of the window. The pounding started again.
"HEY! I cannot hear myself thinking!" the girl called.
"Then think louder!" Rufus answered plain.
Tifa clenched her fists again.
"That guy !" she stated. "He makes me crazy!"
"What is the matter with you anyway? I never saw you acting like that before!" Gina asked.
The girl sighed.
"I know.. I know.." she started. "It is just.. he looks so much like Cloud! That freak!"
"Cloud Strife?" Gina got curious. "Where is he anyway?"
"He left me to find a way to get his precious Aerith back!" he said angry and crossed her arms in front of her.
The pounding had stopped again. They did not notice that Rufus was standing in the door.
"So the punches weren't even meant for me?" he said with wide eyes slapped with his hand on his forehead
"Idiot!" He cursed himself because he had forgotten the wound.
Tifa sighed but then she frowned.
"Hey! You judged me to death didn't you !" she stated.
He came in and sat on a chair playing with the hammer in his hands.
"Well.. The key you found.. That was my key.. I ordered one of the guards to leave it in the cell.." he explained nervous.
"But the gas!" she hissed.
"Well.. actually.. that was not deadly gas… it only was supposed to make you unconscious" he continued while scratching the back of his head.
"But to the people you would have been dead and they would have had their will to see somebody suffer.. it was all a great charade.." he followed.
There was a great silence in the room and Tifa didn't know if she could trust her ears.
Rufus looked on his feed.
"I guess my father was right and I am a weakling.." he meant dry. "I never killed somebody or judged any death-sentences".
Rufus gaze became cold.
"My father on the other hand was always really efficient in this matter" he said in a cold voice remembering the incident a few months ago in sector 7.
Suddenly he woke up from his thoughts and limped back outside. With wide eyes they followed his steps and heard him climbing up gain. The pounding started again.
"Come and help to get the food in!" Gina said and patted Tifa's shoulder. "And you really should not call him Rufus outside. If somebody finds out that he is here.. we could get into trouble" she added.
"Rubens then?" Tifa asked.
"We agreed on that name" the woman answered and went outside.
When Tifa stepped outside she looked up to Rufus who seemed to be pounding in the last nails.
"Great work! Looks good!" she meant sarcastically. "Will you fix the roof tomorrow?".
"Let's see if the rest of the house will still exist tomorrow" he answered without changing the expression in his face and pounded in the last nail.
Again he wiped away the sweat on his forehead and looked up to the sun with narrow eyes. I had really became hot until noon.
Suddenly he felt dizzy. The area around him began to spin around and he lost the balance. His foot slipped and felt. He felt the coolness of the air around him and saw the blue sky above. Then Rufus felt the pain in his back when he hit on the ground. He only watched up into the sky and suddenly saw Tifa's face replacing the sun.
The world became silent around him and he closed his eyes.
"Ru-" she stopped herself. "Rubens! You ok?" she called.
Gina laid her hand on his forehead.
"Tifa! He is nearly glowing!" she said in shock. "Help me to bring him back into bed."
They carried him back into the dark house and brought him back to bed.
Gina took off his boots quickly and undressed his pants. Tifa blushed and turned around. When she turned back again she saw her friend unwrapping the bandage on his leg.
"Oh no!" she said. "As I thought! It is an infection!"
Tifa gasped in shock. The deep wound in his tight was swollen and red. He breathed hard and the sweat was rolled down his face. His eye she had punched a few minutes ago had become blue. And his nose wasn't in a good shape either.
"Gina.." she breathed. "What have I done to that poor guy?"
"I know what you should do now to him!" she answered. "Get me clean cool water and towels. We have to clean the wound! Hurry! And get me the bandages I bought from outside."
Tifa vanished through the door.
Gina looked worried as he started to murmur in sleep.
"Please…don't hurt me anymore" he said barely audible.
"How can you wear this warm thing in that heat anyway?" she wondered loud.
She sat on the bed and sat him up to take off his turtleneck.
When she saw his pale back she stopped with wide eyes.
Tifa was standing in the door with towels a bottle of alcohol and a bowl in her hands.
"What is wrong?" she asked.
"Seems that you are not the only one who used him as a punching-ball" Gina said in a dry tune.
She tugged off the turtleneck and looked at the deep scars and burnmarks on his muscular back she just had revealed.
"Must be many years old.." she thought loud and laid him back again.
Dark Nation just woke up. She had slept in a corner of a room and walked to the bed where here master was laying. She rubbed her head against Tifa's knee as if she were begging her to make him healthy again.
"You like him, huh?" she said and cat's head and it liked her hand in response.
"But what can we do?" she asked and looked at Gina.
The woman gave her a worried look.
"Tifa… I am not a doctor…" she said. "At the moment we can only clean the wound and keep the fever down. But…"
"But?" the girl asked.
"If the infection and the fever doesn't go down he could loose the leg" said Gina not looking at Tifa.
"Gangrene?" she asked in horror.
Her friend only nodded.
"Let us clean that and try to hold his fever down.. That is all we can do at the moment" she said sad.
Rufus murmured in sleep.
Tifa sat on the bed next to him and dried his forehead with a towel while Gina did her best to clean the wound and disinfected it with the alcohol.
Tifa frowned and took out her PHS.
"Who are you calling?" asked Gina?
"The Shin-Ra emergency hotline of course!" said Tifa. "He is their president and this is an emergency or not?"
She dialed the emergency call number and waited and a recorded female voice answered.
"Thank you for calling the Shin-Ra emergency hotline. At the moment all lines are overloaded. Please try again later. The Shin-Ra Electricpower Company thanks for your trust and appreciation. Thank you for calling the Shin-Ra emergency hotline. At the moment all lines are overloaded.."
Tifa hung up.
"Your company sucks!" she cursed and looked at Rufus.
Gina was just bandaging his leg again and looked at her.
"At the moment all are calling and some of the lines are interrupted" she said. "Try it again later or find an employee of the company out there".
"Yeah.. right!" Tifa said dry. "Help! Your president is in my bar and is about to die at the moment! Do you think they would believe me?"
Gina scratched the back of her head.
"I guess you are right.." she said and gave Rufus a thoughtful gaze.
"What is up?" the girl asked.
"You know what is funny?" asked her friend. "I saw him a few days ago and I am absolutely sure that the scars weren't there".
"You said that they seem to be years old" Tifa meant surprised.
"I know but I tell you.. a few days ago he was standing there at the window and had no scars on his back!" Gina said and pointed at the window.
"Scars don't come and go. I am sure you are mistaken in that" the girl said.
"Lets let him sleep for a while" she added and left the room.
Gina looked at Rufus for a moment but followed Tifa and shut the door behind her.