Author's Note – I know everyone's expecting action and I shall deliver as best as I can in the next couple of chapters. I'd like to add however that this story is first and foremost a love story and I plan to keep it that way. Hope there aren't any objections.

So let's get on with it…

Disclaimer – Oh yeah, every once in awhile I have to remind everyone that I make no profit in this. Cloud Strife and other characters and locations from Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children are the property of Square-Enix.

Chapter 20 – One Chance

I surfed the TV channels, having gone through all 999 channels at least three times. Nothing caught my fancy…I wasn't really paying attention anyway because I was bored.

Barret had picked up Marlene and Denzel, just to get them out for awhile. Aeris went with them. They were going to the Gold Saucer and weren't coming back for a couple days. Tifa was with Rufus. I hadn't been invited and it irked the hell out of me.

I tossed the TV remote on the coffee table and leaned back with my arms folded.

Samurai bounced back and forth from one end of the room to the other, chasing invisible mice or whatever he thought he was seeing. I watched him for a few minutes, following him with my eyes. He changed direction and suddenly crawled up my leg, digging his claws in my pants.

"Owww, you stupid cat!"

He put his paws on my chest and came up to sniff my chin before meowing loudly.

I looked into his huge eyes and he stared back as if asking me what was wrong. For only three or four months old, this kitten sure was insightful. I reached for the bottle of beer I had been nursing for the last hour and took a swig, but it had sat too long and now it was warm. I held the bottle out to Samurai and he sniffed the end of it.

He meowed and bounced off my lap. Guess he didn't like beer.

I got up and started pacing. Maybe I could go for another ride on the Hardy and go as far as the Chocobo Farm. "Yeah, that's what I'll do." I grabbed my keys and left the apartment.

Tseng and Rude intercepted me on my way to the garage.

"The boss wants to see you," said Tseng.

"I'm going for a ride." I kept walking and they kept following.

"We've been ordered to carry you, if necessary," added Rude.

I laughed without humor. "Yeah, go ahead and try it. I'll introduce you to my fist."

"What's your problem today?"

"I don't have a problem. Just leave me alone."

"I know this place can get to you after awhile, but come on, Cloud."

"Don't make me repeat myself."

I went around the corner and music echoed down the corridor. As I got closer, I noticed a whiney voice was accompanying the music. I was about to pass the billiard room when I saw Tifa inside. I stopped in my tracks and Rude and Tseng nearly collided into me.

Tifa was talking to Rufus near the back windows.

I stepped into the room and started walking toward them. But something else caught my eye. Reno was singing to the music into a microphone and it made me stop and stare in astonishment at him.

"Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me. Don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me. Don't cha. Don't cha."

Rude and Tseng came to stand on either side of me to watch Reno.

"Don't you wish your girlfriend was raw like me. Don't you wish your girlfriend was fun like me. Don't cha. Don't cha." The redhead swayed his hips in a circle and then obscenely pumped his midsection in the air.

I frowned and turned to Rude. "Is he serious?"

"You have no idea."

I closed my eyes and shook my head at the absurd scene in front of me. This was the same guy who tried to kill me a dozen times last year. I turned and walked away, trying desperately to get the image out of my head of him gyrating his hips. Gods, that was gross!

Tifa looked irritated with Rufus. They both stopped talking as I came up to them.

"What's going on?" I asked.

She looked down with a shrug and shook her head. "Nothing."

Rufus's expression was as unreadable as usual. "We were discussing the color of the new Shinra guard uniforms."

I frowned at him. "Do I look like I just fell off a garbage truck?"

Shinra smirked but didn't say anything more.

"Rufus won't let me go visit my friends," Tifa blurted out. "This place is worse than the academy. Nothing to do."

I knew how she felt. But at least this place had facilities like a swimming pool, a game room and some other things to keep a person busy. I had already done all of it...at least twice. I tended to get bored easily. "Well, Tifa, I think Rufus is right." I couldn't believe I was agreeing with him for once.

She stared at me with a frown. She was going to argue with me, I could feel it coming.

Before she could say anything more, I turned back to Shinra. "We gotta do something, Rufus. We can't stay here forever."

"That's what I called you to discuss, Cloud." He glanced over at Rude and gave him a nod.

The big guy snapped his fingers and herded the non-essential personnel out of the room, including the bartender. All that remained besides me, Tifa and Rufus were Rude, Reno, Tseng and Elena.

Tseng went to the juke box and pulled the plug.

I glanced toward Reno.

Reno sang another verse before realizing the music had stopped and he angrily turned to Tseng. "'Ey! Plug that back in, dipshit!"

Rufus stepped toward the center of the room. "Knock it off, Reno."

I reached for Tifa's hand, but she pulled it away and went to sit at one of the card tables. Judging by her body language, legs crossed, arms folded across her chest…yeah, she was pissed at me again. So what else was new. I walked over and sat next to her.

Everyone took a seat at the other tables while Rufus remained standing.

"Since I haven't received any further communication from Mr Dalton, it looks as though I have no choice but to take matters into my own hands." Rufus turned to Tseng. "Your report?"

"We've combed every inch of the North Cave," said Tseng. "There was nothing there but a few monsters we had to dispatch. No signs of any human habitation."

I turned to Rufus. "What about the Forgotten Capital? Somebody could be hanging out in the underground cavern. They knew right away that Tifa and I were there."

"You made a call to Rufus," Elena chimed in. "They traced your cellphone signal."

"My phone's not traceable," I defended. "I paid a lot of gil to make sure that no…"

"Cloud," Rufus interrupted. "We're not dealing with an amateur. Floyd Dalton is a mastermind. If he wanted to trace an untraceable cell signal, he'd find a way."

Now he tells me? If I had known that from the beginning I wouldn't have used my cellphone at all. "You know, Shinra, I'm more than mildly disturbed by this. You told me to call you when we got to the Forgotten Capital. It almost sounds to me like you wanted the attack to come."

"I won't lie to you, Cloud. I greatly hoped you would have left one of them alive to be questioned."

Oh, this just got better and better. "So sorry to disappoint you. But thanks for that, cuz it got my motorcycle destroyed and nearly killed me." I tried to keep my voice under control. But what I wanted to do was get up and leave. Whatever made me think I could trust Shinra?

"I apologize. I know how much that motorcycle meant to you."

"No, you don't." So much for the control. "You don't know jack shit about me!"

"Take it easy, Cloud," said Elena.

I turned to look at her. "I should take it easy? This coming from the neurotic Turk who couldn't keep her mouth shut. Practically broadcasted everything you idiots were up to."

"How'd you like my foot up your ass?" she threatened.

"I'll remember that next time I'm constipated."

"Must we continue to dwell in the past?" Shinra interjected, his hands raised in a calming fashion, like that would pacify me.

"You're a lecherous snake, Shinra." I slammed my fist on the card table, causing stacks of playing chips to bounce around. "You'll use anybody, including your own sister, to get what you want. If I didn't know the person responsible for informing the reporter about your relation to Tifa, I would have thought you staged the whole thing yourself. So what the fuck else haven't you told us? Are you planning to resurrect Sephiroth to go against his former mentor?"

Rufus pressed his fingertips together in a steeple and stared down at his hands. "I don't censure your lack of trust in me." He looked up, his eyes focused on me. "But you must understand my position. I have no choice but to use whatever means are at my disposal to bring Dalton out of hiding."

"Well, I'm tired of being everyone's pawn. Everytime I turn around, I'm getting fucked in the ass. Not anymore. I'm leaving tonight and I'm taking Tifa with me."

"Cloud, you don't understand," said Shinra.

"Fuck you!" I angrily crossed my arms and looked away. My eyes drifted over to Tifa. Her anger toward me had turned into a look of concern. Now what? Maybe she was thinking she'd be better off here than with me.

"He wants what I cannot give him," Rufus continued.

I reached for Tifa's hand, about to ask her if she was afraid to go with me. But Rufus's next words ran my blood cold.

"He wants what's left of Jenova."

My eyes shot over to Shinra. "Wait a minute. There's more of that thing still around?"

He didn't respond, which confirmed the answer to my question. The lousy prick had Jenova remains stashed somewhere. To use for what?

"Who's Jenova?" asked Tifa.

I released Tifa's hand and leaned forward on the table. "So the cannon schematics, the location of the Promised Land…that's all bullshit."

"He did ask for those things, but I find it hard to believe that a man of Dalton's caliber would find any use for a cannon or hold any belief in a fabled land that only exists in our minds."

"Did he specifically say he wanted Jenova?"

"No, but it's all I have to give that's of any value to him. He's not interested in wealth or the destruction of cities. He wants to rule it all…just as Sephiroth did."

"How did he find out you still had pieces of it?" Something still didn't sound right to me. He was still hiding something.

"He helped us orchestrate the retrieval of the remains from the North Cave a few months ago. I made sure the pieces were kept separate. When Kadaj and his gang appeared a couple months ago, they didn't know there was more of Jenova left than just its head."

I wanted to laugh at the foolishness coming out of Shinra's mouth. "That's just brilliant."

"Will someone please tell me who this Jenova is?" Tifa asked in frustration.

Elena decided to do the honors. "Jenova was an extraterrestrial that crash landed on the planet in a meteor about two thousand years ago. It intended to infect everything with an insanity inducing virus. The victims at the time were the Cetra. Most of them fled, but some survivors remained to fight and defend the planet."

Tifa's surprised expression was almost comical.

Elena continued. "They managed to defeat Jenova and confined it in the fissure created by its landing. Professor Gast of Shinra Corp unearthed the mummified remains of Jenova, thinking he had found a Cetra. Gast was given authorization to conduct experiments on the cells. Thinking he could produce a Cetra, he combined the cells with the fetus of an unborn child. Sephiroth was the resulting product."

Tifa suddenly turned to me. "Cloud, you told me Professor Hojo injected you with Jenova cells."

"That's right. When Zack and I were held captive by him."

She looked alittle revolted. "So you have alien cells inside you?"

I really didn't want to have this discussion with her in front of everybody. I thought she had known about Jenova. Hopefully this wouldn't change anything between us. What if knowing I had alien cells in my body disgusted her? I turned to Shinra, wanting to steer the conversation back to the issue at hand. "Can we get back on track here? Where're you keeping the remains of Jenova?"

Rufus shook his head. "It's in your best interest that you don't know."

"Fine. Let's get this guy out in the open then."

"How?" asked Reno.

"He wants Rufus Shinra. I say we get him back out in the public. Someplace like the Gold Saucer."

"Yeah, sure, that's a great idea," he added sarcastically. "Why don't we all shave our heads, jump on the back of a moogle and dance around like fucking idiots?"

I ignored Reno's rant. "President Shinra visiting the Gold Saucer is big news to a lot of people. Especially if it involves the donation of a certain artifact to Dio's Show Room of Shit."

"Are you out of your mind?" blurted Tseng. "Rufus would be a sitting duck. We can't get enough guards to…"

Shinra held a hand up to silence Tseng. "What certain artifact are you referring to, Cloud?"

"A piece of Jenova."

He seemed to be mulling it over, rubbing his chin.

"Dalton doesn't know you know what he's really after, right?" I asked.

"I haven't given him the impression that I know."

"Perfect. He'll think it's an easy way to get what he wants."

"Or he'll be smart and think it's a trap," said Tseng.

"The asshole hasn't called with any threats for over a week. He wants Rufus to feel comfortable again. He's waiting for him to slip up. This is our chance to nail him."

"Cloud's right," said Shinra. "We'll have only one chance at this. We have to do it right."

Rude shook his head. "I don't understand what we're doing."

I frowned at him. "What don't you understand, dickhead? We're not breeding chocobos here."

Rufus walked toward my table, but turned to Elena. "Make arrangements to reserve the Presidential suite at the Gold Saucer for two days from today and inform Dio that I will be contributing a special Jenova artifact to his museum. Tseng, make sure the word gets out. I want to see it in the papers by tomorrow. Rude, besides you and Reno, I want you to pick ten guards to accompany us to the Gold Saucer."

"Ten?" Rude lowered his sunglasses down his nose. "Just ten?"

"Ten in uniforms. But I want another fifty in civilian clothes. They need to be scattered throughout the place before I arrive in two days. You're all dismissed," he added before sitting down next to me.

Tseng, Reno, Rude and Elena left the billiard room.

Rufus folded his hands on top of the table and turned to Tifa. "I'd like a word alone with Cloud, if you don't mind, Tifa."

"Don't have a choice, do I?" she replied. She reached up and turned my face toward her before she leaned over and kissed me on the mouth. Just to emphasis her rebellious nature, she sank her teeth on my lower lip and released it with a rough slurp. "See you back at the apartment."

Well, that was totally uncalled for. As she got up from the table and walked out, I awkwardly reached up to wipe my lip under Shinra's scrutiny.

"I have a difficult choice to make, Cloud."

"What's that?"

"If we allow Tifa to go to the Gold Saucer with us, we risk putting her life in danger."

"But if she stays behind, there's just as much risk that Dalton could have someone sneak in and take her."

"Precisely."

"Tifa comes with. I'll keep her safe."

Rufus nodded.

I frowned at him as a thought entered my mind. "What the hell're you still doing with pieces of Jenova?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I retrieved Jenova's remains from the North Cave so they could be disposed of properly?"

"Not for a second."

"We made major scientific breakthroughs in the past, all in conjunction to the creature's cells. There's so much more we can accomplish if given the opportunity to study the effects of the cells in a controlled environment."

"If it's not Dalton, then someone else is gonna step up and try to use the cells for the wrong reasons. Add some high doses of Mako to the mix and you got yourself a certifiable monster. Jenova's remains have to be destroyed, Rufus, you know it just as well as I do."

"Yes, Cloud. I'm well aware."

I walked into the apartment and searched for Tifa. She was upstairs in our bedroom, lying on the bed, playing with Samurai.

I plopped myself down next to her on the bed and waited for her to look at me.

She continued to shake a string above the kitten, making him bounce around in a circle. "So I guess I'm not going to the Gold Saucer." She gave me a brief glance. "That is what Rufus wanted to talk to you about, right?"

"Yes."

"When're you leaving?"

"In two days."

She frowned and clammed up for a moment as she teased Samurai with the string. Then she tossed it aside and turned to me angrily. "This is so not fair, Cloud. Why can't I go?"

I smiled at her. "Who said you're not going?"

Her expression instantly changed. "I'm going?"

"'Course you are."

Tifa got so excited, she crawled up on my back and started bouncing. "Woohoo! I'm going!"

I would have thought it felt good, if she wasn't pushing the air out of my lungs with each bounce.

She finally stopped moving and wrapped her arms around my neck from behind. "I've wanted to go there for the longest time. The chocobo races, the rollercoaster, the battle square, the gondola ride…You'll take me on the gondola, won't you?"

"We're not going there to have fun, Tifa. We're trying to catch a madman."

"I know, but can't we have just alittle fun?" She started licking my ear.

How could I possibly say no? "Maybe just alittle."

She sat up, straddled around my waist and slipped her hands under my teeshirt to scratch my back for a few minutes.

I closed my eyes. It felt so damned good.

"Cloud?"

My eyes popped open. I knew what was coming. She was going to question me about the Jenova cells Professor Hojo injected in me six years ago.

"Do the Jenova cells give you special abilities?" she asked as she continued to lightly scratch my back.

"Nothing really special. I'm a lot stronger than I would be without them. I can jump from certain heights without breaking any bones.

She got off my back and reclined on her side next to me. "So no hidden monsters in there anywhere?"

If she only knew what kind of creatures Vincent could turn into, she'd be pretty freaked out. I shifted over on my side to face her. "No. I'm exactly what you see." I scooted closer to her. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Yes."

"Good." I tilted her face up and kissed her. She opened her mouth and met my tongue halfway. Hell, if Rufus had told me Tifa would have to stay at Healin, I would have stayed with her. I didn't want her out of my sight for any length of time.

After several minutes of insatiable kissing, Tifa pulled away and rolled me on my back. She disappeared below my waist and worked on undoing my trousers.

My mind floated with disturbing thoughts of all that could go wrong at the Gold Saucer…Sephiroth's mentor…It wasn't going to be easy to get him, if in fact he came at all.

I closed my eyes as Tifa made me forget everything except the movement of her mouth on me.

Teeheehee…can you guess what's going on in that last part? Oh, and I hope you enjoyed Reno's karaoke attempt. I didn't pick the song. My hubby thought it would be funny if he sang it.

Please review! Thanks.