Blood: 21

Midgar

The medical bay was dimly lit, a couple of candles burning on the windowsill and beside the beds. Rose blinked against them, their little light painful to her sore eyes. Everything was so quiet, not even the beeping of an ECG machine to be heard. There was something, but it sounded like quiet humming. She focused on Shirley, standing at the end of her bed, rubbing her ankle. Evan was nowhere to be seen.

Shirley hummed quietly to herself, something to break the deathly silence. There were three patients needing her care now, one having slipped away in the night. She manipulated Rose's ankle, glad to feel her tendon tighten down the back of her leg. She would be able to use it at least, even if it would be painful for a while.

"What's going on?" Rose croaked, attempting to sit up.

Shirley frowned, "Don't try and sit up. Not yet."

"Why?"

"I don't think it's a good idea. That should be enough." Not feeling strong enough to argue, Rose obeyed, laying back and clasping her hands on her chest. Shirley continued to manipulate her ankle. "You're lucky, this leg of yours will still work."

"Oh." What else could she say? "Why is it so dark in here?"

Shirley huffed, "You slept through it, didn't you?" What? "Meteor fell last night. Somehow, somewhy, we are all still here. Unfortunately, it knocked out electricity throughout Junon. I lost a man last night because his life support cut out. The generators didn't come online, so he was screwed. Now we're down to candles and campfires."

Meteor had come down? Rose looked around, "Where's Evan?"

"Off trying to get in touch with your friend. Now," She glanced at Rose, turning her attention back to her work, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven."

"Good. And your birthday?"

"Twenty third of September. What is this about?"

The look Shirley gave her was enough to silence her, but the nurse explained none the less, "I'm trying to ensure that your head is all right. Now please answer the questions and stop griping. What's your mother's name?"

"Lynette."

"And your father?"

"Coulthard."

"Good. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Rose shook her head, regretting it instantly as a throbbing pain hit her. Shirley continued, "What school did you go to?"

"Hawethorne junior. Then I was home-schooled when we moved to the mountains."

"Why was that?"

"Why was I home-schooled?"

"No, why did you all move to the mountains?"

"Oh. My grandpa died and pa inherited his farm. We moved up there so pa could ranch mountain chocobos."

"I see." Shirley set Rose's foot down carefully on the bedspread, wandering away to fetch a roll of bandage from the cupboard.

Rose watched her, feeling unusually calm. For once she felt no need for alertness. If Meteor had fallen, and the world was the way it should be, then there was nothing to worry about. She had survived, and that was the main thing. Selfish as it sounded, she could carry on with her life and do what she wanted with it.

Evan's entry to the medical bay snapped her out of it. "Evan."

He faltered, surprised to see her awake. "Rose." He crossed to her bed and took up a seat in his chair, "How are you feeling?"

She pushed herself to sit, carefully, aware Shirley kept one eye on her. "I'm fine. Leg hurts, but otherwise all right. Have you heard from Tessi?"

Evan shook his head, "No. I can only pray he found somewhere safe to shelter from Meteor."

Rose said nothing, grimacing as Shirley began bandaging her ankle. Evan took her hand, glad that she was all right. There was one less thing to worry about while searching for Tessi. "You must be happy." He said suddenly, glancing across the room at the furthest bed. Rose frowned, following his line of sight.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise to see Tseng there, sleeping quietly. "Tseng?" She looked round at Evan, "I forgot he was here. Why's he unconscious?"

"To help him heal." Shirley explained, not taking her eyes off her work. Rose nodded, settling back against the headboard of her bed.

"At least I'm not alone. All I need to make this perfect is pa and Muffin."

"Muffin?"

"Her dog." Evan explained. "And Tessi. He should be here."

"Yeah." Rose agreed. "He should be here too." She smiled, looking up at Evan with placid green eyes, "Quiet rest is something none of us would be allowed."

"I take it your friend is lively?"

Evan answered Shirley's question with a nod, before turning his attention back on Rose, "Is there anything you want? Something to read?"

"I take it I'm going to be here a little while?"

Shirley grunted, "You can walk about if you want, but it won't be comfortable. I recommend you rest for a few days."

Rose nodded, looking up at Evan, "Could you get your hands on some of the old TTF tapes? If I can't practice myself, I would quite like to visually go over some of the old programs and see what I can pick up." Evan was surprised,

"You want to watch old Turks' training sessions?"

"Mmmm hmmmm."

Shirley rose to that, sticking her hands on her hips, "You better have no intention of trying any moves if you want your heel better."

"I intend only to watch, I assure you."

Evan rubbed the back of his neck, sucking in a breath through his teeth and walking away a little. "It'll have to be on one of those old portable sets. You know the ones? With the battery packs?" She did know them, all too well. "What years? Recent? Stone age?"

"Variety."

"Skill level?"

"Fully-fledged. I just want to run over some of the refresher and maintenance sessions."

"All right." He smiled suddenly, throwing her a sly glance out the corner of his eye, "I'll root out a couple of Trey's old sessions. We can watch them together – I'll bring the popcorn."

"I'll find the remote for freeze-frames."

"It's going to be a good night."

---------

"This place is totaled." Yuffie's comment stopped just short of Cid's brain. He made a point of ignoring destructive comments made by her; ninety per cent being aimed at him as they were, it helped his delicately balanced blood pressure.

Still, he enjoyed watching her dash ahead a little way and turn a few circles, swinging her arms around and whistling up at the dark and rainy sky. All the same, it was expected of him to grumble at her. The situation did call for it. "Get back here and shaddap!" He barked, pointing at the ground beside himself, "This is a disaster zone if ya hadn't noticed!"

She halted, turning on one foot to glare back at him, fists clenched on her hips, "Who're you to tell me what to do all the time, OLD MAN! I can do what I want!"

"Cid kinda does have a point, Yuffie." Cloud interjected, a little shy of a possible outburst directed his way. "Bad things have happened here tonight. A lot of people have died."

"That's right." Clearly satisfied that Cloud was firmly on his side, Cid continued, "This situation calls for, dammit... what's the word? Vincent?" He looked round at his 'friend'.

"Decorum."

"Yeah. Decorum. Something you don't have."

"I do so have decorum!" She cried, thumbing at her chest, "I'll show you all!" With that she turned and stomped off, arms folded across her chest, but quiet as a mouse.

Cid chuckled, turning to Cloud and grinning. Cloud said nothing, the feud between Cid and Yuffie nothing really to do with him. Yes, he would try and quell the battles when they broke out, but really he was just one of the soldiers sheltering in the trenches with a pan on his head, keeping out the way of the never-ending war raging in the air around him.

Barret snapped him from his thoughts, "Damn. Thought she'd never shut her flappin' mouth."

"Shinra invaded Wutai again, they'd all be old and grey by the time she finished clap-trapping at 'em." Nobody said anything in answer to Cid's remark. Vincent shot him an unseen glare, correcting himself and focusing on something else.

By now Yuffie was out of sight, having stormed off round the corner and off the street. The sight which met her in the main square stopped her in her tracks. 'Oh my GAWD.'

Rescue squads rushed back and forth, civilians digging through piles of rubble with their bare hands. The fountain in the center had been torn in half, the archway above cascaded down on top of it in a storm of bricks and mortar. Water flooded out of the base, soaking the ground in a constant stream. Buildings lining the square had the tops shorn off, leaving more bricks and cables blocking the roads out.

Yuffie had never seen so many flashing lights in her life, several ambulances standing at the only other clear exit. "You guys, come quick!" She called back over her shoulder down the street to her teammates.

Cloud came at the run, Barret and Tifa hot on his heels. He halted beside Yuffie, unsure what to say to the destruction in front of him. Barret knew exactly what to say, "Holy shit."

Cid, Vincent and Red arrived, Cid speechless. Yes, the streets they had walked so far had been a mess, but the square had people, lots and lots of people. He looked at Cloud for instruction, clearing his throat to get his friend's attention.

Cloud hesitated, Barret shoving his shoulder, jarring him into action. "Uh, we need to help out. This is Sector one, so Barret, Tifa and I will stay here and see what we can do, Cid, you and Vincent go with Yuffie and start on Sector eight. Highwind crew and Red can go to Sector five. We'll move sector by sector and meet up as we go along. Nobody argued with that, each team breaking off and heading to their designated areas.

Barret wasted no time getting involved. He started over to the fountain and set to work beside an old woman, digging through the rubble. Cloud and Tifa joined him.

After about Five minutes, Barret sat up straight and wiped his brow. "This is useless. We ain't gettin' anywhere."

Tifa frowned, sitting back on her feet, "What do you suggest?"

"Hell, I dunno. I'm lost."

"It's what everyone's doing." Cloud pointed out, nodding towards the rescue workers. Sure enough they were using their hands to get through the dustier rubble.

"That don't say much for us, seeing as they's trained and we're jes' helping out." A jingling caught Barret's attention.

A golden retriever ran by, its collar jingling as it went, its jowls flapping in time to its gait. He followed it with his eyes, looking on in surprise as it ran up and stopped beside a tall, long-haired red head. His blood began to boil. Of all the people he did not want to see right then, Reno was topping the list.

Cloud and Tifa watched, horrified, Barret get to his feet, slide down the rubble pile and march across the square towards his enemy.

"Reno!" The red head didn't respond apparently talking on a cellphone. "Reno! Look at me when I talk to you dammit!" Still nothing direct, though a little confused glancing around went on. That was the last straw. Barret quickened his pace, snarling as he reached out and grabbed his prey by the scruff of the neck, hoisting him up to eye level with one hand. "What the fuck're you..." He trailed off, finding a greying middle-aged man staring back at him. What could he say? He had made a mistake. "I... uh-"

His captive did not seem the slightest bit bothered, clutching his cellphone and folding his arms across his chest. "Are you gonna put me down? This is an important call I'm trying to make." Wordlessly, Barret lowered him to the ground. Still not fazed, the red head turned away and continued his telephone conversation, "Yo Nickel? You still there? Excellent. Yeah. Do what you can, I'll keep it going out here. If you find him, give him my love and wish him luck, yeah? Well, in that case let me know. Fuck, I don't know, just get going, you're making my eyes water." He flipped the phone closed, putting it in his pocket and turning on one heel to face Barret.

'You damn tall.' Was the first thought that ran through Barret's mind, surprised to find himself looking up at someone for once. "Uh, I'm sorry." he apologised, "I thought you were someone else.

The hard look he received almost made him flinch. Surprise overcame him, a broad, diamond smile breaking out across the other man's face.

"Don't worry. Happens all the time."

"Yo!" The two of them looked round, Barret frowning to see Kotch run up and salute the red head, "We got the properties cleared, boss. What do we do now?"

"The 'bees all accounted for?"

"Yessir!"

"Then take a break. Get all the uninjured ones up here to practice their night nurse routines. 'Cept Brandy, I got a special job for her."

Barret lowered his eyes, unwilling to consort with Kotch at any time. He wrinkled his nose, surprised yet again, this time to see that the man standing in front of him wore snake skin cowboy boots.

Kotch saluted again, turning and making for the clear street, just as Cloud and Tifa arrived. "What did he want?" Tifa asked, more than a hint of distaste to her voice.

"Helpin' out. 'Parently." Barret murmured, still surprised himself.

Kotch out of sight, the red head turned his attention back on Barret. "Well, no hard feelings on my side. Name's Trey." He shook Barret's hand hard, "Head doorman of the HoneyBee Inn."

"Uh, Barret Wallace-"

"Leader of AVALANCHE. I know who you are." He glanced at Tifa, "Tifa Lockheart, proprietor of Seventh Heaven, near HoneyBee. I take it a career in pleasure didn't appeal?"

She shrugged, rubbing her arm nervously, "Not really. No."

"Ah well." He started at the sight of Cloud, raising an eyebrow and pointing at him, "I know you. Sweaty palms guy. AKA Cloud Strife. Ex-SOLDIER."

Cloud shook Trey's hand, a little unsure about the whole easy-going, yet formal greetings going on. "Sort of." Trey was an interesting guy; tall, with long red hair pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck, the cut spiking it out at irregular intervals, a flyaway tuft on his head held tidily in place under a white hair clip. Though he didn't look particularly old – very few lines on his face – he was beginning to go grey at the roots. His eyes were blue, but looked a bit red, almost as thought he had been crying, or was about to, and his skin retained a summery tan, though Midgar couldn't have done much for it. He dressed summery also, wearing an orange suede waistcoat over a very finely-woven, almost transparent white shirt. He covered his bottom half in flared blue jeans with large turn-ups, just hiding his boots until he rested his leg. He looked eccentric. "You're checking this area on your own?"

Trey shook his head, "Nah. I'm not checking anything. Just picking up some thing's for a friend, hey, Muffin?" He ruffled the golden retriever's hair. The dog wagged his tail, shaking himself down and weaving his way through Trey's legs to nose at Cloud's knee for attention.

"Muffin?"

Trey waved him off, "He belongs to a girl." Tifa pointedly ignored that remark, bringing Trey's attention on her immediately, "Calm down, ma'am. Was just a joke." A little impatient with her, he shook his head and whistled to Muffin, the dog breaking away from Cloud and taking up his position at Trey's left leg. "Good luck with the whole rescue operation. I gotta get going, and judging by the look on miss non-whore's face, y'all condemned me as a selfish waste of space. I have someone to find and HoneyBees to organise. Adiós."

He walked away, Muffin trailing close at his heel. Barret watched him go, a little confused as to what just happened. "You know, I really thought that guy was Reno."

"I can see why." Tifa remarked, walking away herself to continue searching the rubble. Cloud shrugged at her behaviour, darting off after her to catch up.

Clear of AVALANCHE, Trey reached into his pocket and took out a white hair band. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he glanced down at Muffin. "I know this is a long shot. God help me, but here." He held the band down for the dog to sniff. Muffin seemed interested, nosing the band around his palm for a good minute. Trey closed his hand around it, getting to one knee level with the pooch, "Muffin, I really need you to come through for me on this one. You do, and I'll give you anything you want. Food, the finest kibbles, bitches, a collar with your name on it. I don't care. Just... find Reno for me, boy. Go find him." Muffin didn't move. Trey shook his head, resigned. "Too long a shot for you." The dog didn't understand.

The sound of rotors above drew Trey to look up, a Shinra helicopter cruising overhead. "Only one of those I've seen since the close shave earlier. Damn you, Hojo." He followed it across the lightning split sky, frowning to see it heading out of the city. "Only a damn fool would fly in this weather. Meteorological storm in the wake of a meteorite entering the atmosphere. Asking for trouble. Making for Junon too. Be lucky if they get there."

Muffin nosed his hand, aware that something was wrong with him, just not able to comprehend what. Trey looked down at him, flashing that smile of his briefly. "Come on, Muffin. Let's find my baby."

(NOTE: Trey's still alive. By the way, TTF Stands for tactical training facility. Sorry about the long chapter, but I want to get to the heart of the story where the action and the point can actually get out. The problem with this story is that it's two stories in one, past and present, so it's taking longer to get to the point than it would if it was just one story line. When it's complete I'm going to post it up on my website as two different stories under the same title if that makes sense.)