Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This collection is mine, as are Duke, McCallister, and the recruits. Enjoy!

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116 – Top Dog Part Three

For The Glaistig

The loud crash of something breaking made Tifa cringe. Leon had asked her to take Duke to the dog competition across town, since he had a meeting and would meet them there. While Duke was not an out of control dog, she definitely only took orders from Leon. Tifa was painfully learning this fact as she tried to get Duke first on a leash, then out the door, and then to navigate through Radiant Garden.

"Lady! Does this animal belong to you?" An irate shop owner was yelling.

Duke was barking over the commotion, even though a few nearby children were giggling and the adults nearby were looking disapproving. Tifa spotted the dog and the shop owner of the local antique store. A large red vase was on its side, broken in three pieces, red pottery spotting the concrete like blood almost.

"Duke." Tifa groaned, walking over to the dog.

"Is that your dog?" The man snapped.

"Yeah—well, no. I'm sorry." She said, grabbing Duke by the collar.

"That was a very old and unique piece of art, lady!"

"I know, okay? Sorry." She tugged Duke away from the scene. "I'll pay for it."

"Damn right you'll pay for it." He said, hands on his hips.

Tifa straightened, "Hey, I said I'd pay for it. No reason to be an ass." She hooked Duke's leash around her wrist and dug for her munny pouch. "How much was it?"

"Twelve hundred munny."

She balked, "Oh please."

Duke barked and tugged at the leash, not appreciating being restrained.

"Twelve hundred munny." The owner said staunchly.

Oh this was ridiculous. It was a big ugly vase and the world was glad to be rid of it. She swallowed the urge to verbalize that thought as she thumbed through the munny in her bag. She was almost running late as it was and was in no mood to deal with this guy.

"I've only got five hundred on me." She said.

"Then you owe seven hundred more." He pressed.

Tifa groaned and glanced away, spotting Leon not far away. "It'll have to be five hundred, because that's all I've got and I'm in a hurry."

Duke took her distraction as an opportunity and bolted. The leash popped off Tifa's wrist and the dog chased one of the kids into the store.

Or, she would have if, the owner hadn't grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and pulled her out of the store.

"No! Keep this…this animal," He hissed, "away from my precious antiques!"

Something about the man's tone must have triggered something, because Duke's lip suddenly peeled back. Tifa had never seen an aggressive bone in the dog's body.

"Duke," Tifa took a step forward, "Here, girl. Down."

The owner had also seen Duke's teeth reveal themselves, and he had snatched up a broom, holding it like a weapon. Tifa glanced over again, but had lost sight of Leon. Duke barked, but made no motion to attack. She was just making a show, Tifa figured. She bet the dog was just trying to make the guy back off.

Crazy antique guy didn't see this though, and jabbed the broom forward, looking like he had half a mind to kick the dog out of the way. "Stupid bitch." He growled.

Tifa kicked the broom out of the man's hand, grabbed his arm, twisted him around, and slammed him face first against the wall.

"Listen, you stupid bitch." Tifa hissed, pinning his face against the wall. "New proposition. You pay for this fugly vase yourself, and I won't tell this dog's owner that you just about hit her."

The owner groaned, "You're not—"

"No, she's not mine, but she belongs to a very close friend of mine, and he doesn't have my tolerance." She said, "Deal?"

"Deal." He whimpered.

Tifa shoved him hard against the wall and took Duke's leash. For once, Duke didn't fight her grip and snorted through her nose at the man before trotting after Tifa, tongue lolling. In their wake the owner was left dazed, muttering something about unicorns and a rainbow.

(To be continued…)

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117 – Contact Lost

For raiko. EXE

Tifa stepped over the twisted metal frame of a bicycle and ducked under a sheet of broken drywall. "Leon? Leon, can you hear me? Are you here?" She called out.

The tornado had ripped through Radiant Garden just three hours earlier. The Alliance had sent a squad down to the old residential district where the damage was the worst. Leon had taken charge and broken the squad into four smaller groups to fan out and cover more ground. Tifa had tended to the industrial district, and was almost done with delegating damage recon to other squad members when the radio had crackled.

"Sir? Sir, please respond." came the voice of Private Harper Connelly, one of Leon's.

Tifa had paused at that, but signed off on the industrial sect and turned toward the Marketplace.

"Harper, what's your position? I've three people here who need help." Cooper replied.

"I've lost contact with the Major General." Harper was saying, then on the other frequency. "Report, I've lost contact with the squad leader. Repeat. Contact lost with Major General Leonhart."

That was half an hour ago.

Now Tifa was in the residential district, picking through the gutted buildings where Leon's recruits had last seen him. Victims were still being evacuated. Ambulances were stationed wherever there was a viable path to drive on. Rescue workers in bright yellow and soldiers in uniform were scurrying to and fro, carrying supplies and back braces out of the disemboweled homes.

Climbing through the broken remains of a garage, she peered through the new hole in the house. "Leon? Major General Leonhart!" She yelled louder.

Some debris shifted a few hours down, but too much for one person to generate. She'd moved away from the main crowd of rescuers. If Leon had dropped his radio or gotten stuck somewhere near the crew, they'd have found him by now, if Tifa knew Harper.

The buildings in the residential district were old and new, renovated and newly constructed, rundown and re-vamped. But they were all damaged now in one way or another. If it wasn't the Heartless then it was nature. Tifa huffed as she moved farther from the main group, calling out to Leon every so often, like Marco Polo.

Always looking for someone, aren't we, Tifa? She sighed to herself as she entered what looked to have been a very nicely decorated living room, now in shambles. A door was hanging open at an angle. She'd spent how long looking for Cloud? Now she was looking for Leon.

No, this was different. Cloud had been avoiding her like the plague, disappearing for weeks on end and leaving her to wonder if he was even alive or not…but he always took the time to say goodbye to Aerith…No, no, bad road, don't go down it. She shook herself. Besides, Leon was more likely…buried under a ton of debris and broken house.

Frowning at that, she stepped over an upturned couch and out into a scrambled back yard, where the wing of a Gummi Ship had landed. Funny how the idea of abandonment didn't occur to her anymore. Leon wouldn't do that. She'd made him swear it. She'd watch his back and he'd always be there. Sort of that unspoken friendship pact that kids on a playground make.

Whatever, it was working.

Still, there was that comfort in knowing that when she went back to the apartment they rented together, he would either be there or a note would be there for her. Asleep probably or the note hastily written to barely legible, but it was evidence of being there. That was enough.

"H-hey."

The noise stopped her short, and she straightened. "Hello?" She called back.

"Tifa?"

"Leon?" She gauged where the voice was coming from, skirting around the remains of a storage shed. Something was moving near the back of it.

"Over here." She saw his hand giving a little wave and nearly hit her knees.

She hadn't realized how anxious she had actually been getting. "I'm coming."

The back yard of the property was a nest of broken fences and splintered trees, and a riding lawn mower skewed at an angle against the shed wall. As she reached the shed, she knelt down to look under the mess where Leon's hand had come from. She grabbed the hand.

"Hey." She greeted. "I can't leave you alone for one minute, can I?"

"Oh, haha." He sounded strained, but otherwise all right.

Tifa glanced at the lawn mower, which she realized had landed pretty much squarely on his legs. "What happened?"

"Thought I heard someone in that shed." He said, shifting under the plank that had landed across his chest. "Something came unbalanced and this damn mower landed on me."

"The other person?" She said, lifting up the plank and moving it aside.

Leon blinked at the light, pupils uneven and concussed. "A cat."

"What?" She said, quickly running a hand down his neck and torso and finding no broken bones or open wounds.

He seemed disoriented. "It was a cat."

"Just your luck." Tifa smirked, surveying the lawn mower.

"I hate cats." He grunted, sitting up as much as he could.

Tifa spotted the broken radio and then marks on the mower that evidenced how he'd tried to get himself freed on his own. "Didn't think to yell for help?"

She nearly laughed as soon as she said it and Leon's exasperated expression only made it harder not to. To imagine Leon yelling for help was like imagining McCallister refusing a mission. Not going to happen.

"I think my leg's busted…or at least it feels like it is." He said, glaring at the mower.

Tifa crouched down and saw blood seeping through the knee of his pant leg. "Something not good, either way." She straightened, "I'll lift it up, you roll out of the way."

"I already tried—"

"Well, I'm not trapped under it. I might have an advantage." She winked and ruffled his hair, just because she knew it annoyed him.

His glare would have to be enough, because she could tell he was in pain, regardless of his Mr. Macho bravado. Tifa let her snickers wear off and gripped the lawn mower under the fender and behind the seat, getting a firm grasp and bracing her leg beside Leon's hip.

"One…two…three." She gritted her teeth and shoved at the machine.

Leon tensed but Tifa couldn't let up now that the mower was moving. She pushed harder at it until the center of gravity shifted. Leon got his elbows under him and scooted back out of the way, in case the machine toppled the wrong way and landed on the rest of him.

The wreckage fell to the ground, however, and both Tifa and Leon let out loud breaths of relief. It looked like the blades under the mower had dug into skin and muscle just above Leon's knee, while most of the weight had landed on his hip.

Tifa cast a quick Cura Spell over his knee and then moved behind him.

"Where's the squad?" He asked, breathing heavily now that it was over.

"Still getting people out across the district…What possessed you to scout this far off?" She said, shoving her arms under his shoulders and half dragging, half lifting him out of the rubble zone.

He started to swat her off, but ended up just letting her go, using his good leg to help push himself out of the hole while his other leg mended. "Nobody hit this house."

"And I'm sure that cat really appreciated it." She grunted, kneeling down so that they both sat heavily on the grass.

She let her arms linger under his shoulders and he slumped back against her for a moment before sitting up to catch his breath. She gave his chest a light squeeze and then retracted her arms. There, maybe they were even now. He pulled her from her own emotional wreckage and now she had returned the favor…only with a lawn mower.

Ah, it counted in her book.

Leon was on his feet first, stretching his back and testing out his healed leg. His bruised hip was bothering him, but if he could walk on it, he wouldn't want another healing spell, the stubborn jerk. Tifa remained where she was on her seat, glancing from him to the mower.

"To think, the mighty Leon, taken down by a lawn mower." She chided.

Leon rolled his eyes and looked down at her in annoyance. He offered a hand, looking away from her. She snickered and took the hand, pulling herself up.

"Oh I tease." She said, dusting herself off. "You're just so cute when you're annoyed."

He ignored her jab. Oh come on, he wasn't nursing wounded pride? Over her? They'd been through enough by now that pride and dignity had gone out the window between them.

"You know you like me." She wasn't sure what possessed her to say that, but it was said.

"No I don't." He grunted, but his tone was lighter now.

"Then you're just going to have to start." She chirped, "I just saved you from the lawn mower of death, so you're going to like me. You're going to like me." She repeated with a grin.

He paused, looking at her, all the humor gone.

Tifa stopped grinning, "You just got a really weird look on your face."

"Just." He lifted a hand, turning to go back to the squad. "Thanks for watching my back."

Tifa lifted an eyebrow, "Are you ok—" She cleared her throat, "Thanks for being there."

Maybe she hadn't gotten him out of the wreckage yet after all.

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A/N 117: Props to who catches why Leon got a weird look on his face at the end.

These prompts keep getting better and more challenging. Thanks guys! Super special awesome potato casserole for everybody who's reviewed so far!