Chapter 18: Help

After things had settled down a bit more and she saw that all the men were willing to fall back into their routines, Tifa headed for the mess she'd left at the top of the stairs. It needed to be cleaned up but –

"Hey, Teef." Barrett had followed her. She knew he still needed to talk to her and so she'd wandered over to a semi-private area so he could. Pulling a mop, some cleaning rags and a bag out of the kitchen closet, she looked back at him. Some of the drain this had done to her must have showed because he came over and rested his huge hand on her shoulder. His other hand was a mechanical implant. Gatling gun. Moving between towns through the wildness wasn't exactly a safe line of work.

"That boy really shouldn't be here."

She gave a soft sound, half chuckle, half comment on his statement. Shaking her head she reached up to give his arm a squeeze.

"Yes, he should Barrett. He's sick but we're used to that here. And you saw – no one's going to touch Denzel and Marlene while he's around."

Barrett grunted and scowled.

"Just cause he's dangerous to other people don't mean he's not dangerous to you too, Teef," he lectured her sternly. Like the father she'd never had. "An' what's he doin' in your bed anyway? Why ain't he in one of the kid's beds?"

"He's in my bed because it's the room closest to the stairs and I couldn't drag him any further." Which was the truth. Mostly. She thought.

"Not like I can't pick him up an' carry him into the kid's room" Barrett told her. Which she thought was either brave of him or foolish considering Cloud had already tried to gut him once. "He can have one bed an' that sick lady can have the other an' you and the kids can sleep safe in your own room."

Technically, it made sense. However – she didn't want Leon and his group to have any more contact with Cloud than absolutely necessary. If they figured out he might have been at the Mako reactor… or worse, they figured his sword might have been what almost killed Shera… if they would blow up a reactor full of people she didn't think a heat of the moment response to a helpless Cloud would make much difference to them. Of course there was no way she could tell Barrett that either. Gentle she laid a hand on his beefy arm.

"I'm going to give the group in the bar the kid's room for tonight. And I want either me or one of the kids to be able to keep an eye on Cloud all night long which means one of us would have to sleep in there with them." Barrett frowned as he thought that over. "Which means my room would be practically unused because you know I'm not going to leave the kids alone when I've got strangers here. It makes sense to leave him in my room."

Barrett's frown deepened. Tifa thought, for a spur of the moment excuse, it actually sounded surprisingly logical.

"But it don't look right, Teef. He's – he's a guy. An' he's in your bed. It just – " he folded his arms as best he could with the metal in the way. "I'm not letting anyone start any mean rumors about you. You're my little girl and I ain't letting people talk about you. You're not like that."

It was so sweet Tifa stood on tiptoe to give his cheek a light kiss. He went as red as his dark skin would allow and she smiled at him.

"Thanks, Barrett. But with two kids and Aerith in there, I don't think anything could happen even if anyone wanted it to."

Barrett frowned but then he reached out and took the mop from her.

"You go upstairs an' get Aerith to look at that hurt girl in your bar. I can clean up whatever mess you're fixin' to."

She shouldn't have but – with a nod and a smile she handed over her cleaning supplies.

"I dropped a crate of beer on the cellar steps when I heard Marlene scream."

Then she headed into the bar area.

"I'm going to go get Aerith to help with Shera," she announced to the men that were sitting at the table in deep conversation. "After that, if you're careful, I think we can move her into the kid's room."

Leon's head rose and his eyes looked at her. She saw concern and gratefulness warring in them. Gentle she gave him a smile.

"It's okay. I wouldn't be able to stop worrying if you went anywhere else with her."

With that she headed up the stairs and tapped lightly on her bedroom door before letting herself in. The kids and Aerith were sitting on the bed surrounding Cloud's still unconscious form. Apparently the kids had been showing Aerith the needle scars on the inside of his arm. Privacy and personal information didn't hold much water in this house if you couldn't defend them yourself, Tifa thought with a smile.

"Denzel, I need you and Marlene to drag one of your mattresses back into your room and set up a bed with clean sheets. We're going to move Shera in there after Aerith has a chance to look at her."

With a mission, and still full of energy from recent incidents, Denzel and Marlene leaped off the bed and started moving with determination. Aerith looked up at her friend.

"When you said things were weird, you really weren't kidding, were you?"

Tifa laughed quietly.

"Oh, you have no idea."

While the kids dragged things around and went in and out of the room, effectively blocking the chance of eavesdropping by anyone, Tifa quietly filled Aerith in on everything – everything – that had happened and that she knew so far. By the end, Aerith's eyes were satisfyingly huge in her pale face. After a long moment, she said:

"It's kind of exciting, isn't it?"

Tifa broke into a smile she couldn't stop at her friend's summary.

"Yeah" she agreed with a quiet laugh. "And scary and nerve wrecking and a little bit sad too."

Aerith tapped her chin thoughtfully and looked down at Cloud, still unconscious between them.

"I like him here" she decided and again Tifa had to stifle a chuckle. Aerith looked at her and her friend's face softened as she leaned forward to touch Tifa's cheek.

"You're happy again. That deep down happy that sinks into your soul. I can tell."

"Aerith…" Tifa warned with an indulgent smile and her friend shook her head.

"No. Don't pretend you're not, Teef. Its okay and I won't say it again but don't deny it to yourself. I wanted you to realize it so you could enjoy it."

The 'while it lasts' hung unsaid in the air. Nothing in the slums lasted forever, bright emotions most of all. But – when they did come… Tifa didn't agree with her friend about the 'happy'. But she didn't deny it either.

"Come on" she took Aerith's hands in hers. "I want you to look at the woman downstairs."

Aerith's eyes slid to the giant sword, again propped up against the wall where it had been previously. Everything Tifa suspected, Aerith knew now too. But she didn't make any judgments any more than Tifa had. Instead she squeezed Tifa's hands and smiled.

"All right."

Tifa left the children bustling around between the rooms and went downstairs with her friend.

"Cid, this is Aerith. Leon, you remember her from the convention? Aerith – Cid, Leon, Shera." Introductions out of the way, she let Aerith and Cid head over to where Shera was lying motionless and she sat down in the chair across from Leon. Face very serious, she told him:

"I think you should tell Barrett what you do."

His brows twitched low for a moment and he folded his hands on the table. He didn't dismiss the idea outright, which told her that he respected her enough to trust her judgment. Instead he simply asked:

"Why?"

"Barrett runs cargo. From Midgar to everywhere on all three continents. He's one of the fastest and the best there is and he'll get things where no one else can." She paused and watched Leon's eyes. "He's not picky about what he transports and he has no love of Shinra. He's a good man. Once he's decided to be loyal he won't break it. He's moral too even though he pretends he's not. And – he would never do anything to hurt me." She met Leon's grey eyes with hers. "He could help you. You need help."

His eyes held hers and she watched the different thoughts and emotions run through them. His hands moved across the table and closed warm around hers. He exhaled.

"Why are you risking so much?"

Tifa gave him a wry smile.

"Because I believe you. Shinra is going to kill our planet. Already things won't grow around the reactors and the monsters seem to get more every year. Someone's got to do something and if I can't be helpful, at least I can be useful. Because of Denzel and Marlene. And – and because I remember what it used to be like to live in the sun every day and I don't want to be the last one to do that."

She wasn't sure the explanation made entire sense. She wasn't sure she entirely understood why she was doing what she was either. But – she knew she had to do something. She was using the life of the planet for her own comfort and convenience as much as anyone else. Just as guilty and the children of tomorrow would blame her just as much as anyone else. Someone had to do something before it was too late.

Leon's hands squeezed hers gently and his shy, quiet smile touched his mouth.

"Okay. I'll go talk to him."

She gave him a smile of her own in return.

"He's in the basement on the stairs. He's trying to clean up the mess I made when I dropped a crate of beer. Ten minutes ago he would have been too stubborn to take your help but by now he's worn himself down trying to do it with only one hand. If you offer to help him – it just might lead to something."

Leon shook his head at her and smiled.

"Remind me to never underestimate you."

She shook her head and stood up. Aerith stood up from where she'd been kneeling next to Shera as well. Her friend looked drained but all she said was:

"It should be okay to move her now. And I think the fever will break soon too."

Tifa had no idea how her friend did it without materia. She didn't even try to figure it out anymore. But if Aerith said it, than it was true. She gave Leon a gentle push toward the kitchen.

"We'll make sure Shera is tucked in. You go be useful."

He went one way and Cid carried Shera the other, following Tifa and Aerith up the stairs and into the children's bedroom where Marlene's bed was set up and waiting. Gentle, the gruff man set the woman in the bed and Tifa watched the color come back to his face as Shera sighed and turned onto her side. Aerith's magic at work. Leaving the two of them together, Tifa steered her friend out of the room and into her own where she gave her siblings a nod of approval for their work in the other room.

"Get some sleep" she directed her friend to the mattress left on the floor and Aerith went without argument. Tifa tucked her in the same way she tucked in the children once her friend was lying down and in less time than that took, Aerith was sound asleep. Tifa looked at the sleeping forms in her bedroom – thought about the one in the children's room – and thought to herself that she was going to have to expand the building if this kept up. Strangely, it felt – good though and Tifa accepted that without trying to figure out why too hard. Knowing her friend would wake up if Cloud got restless, Tifa gestured to her brother and sister.

"Come on" she ushered them toward the door. "Let's go do something and stretch our legs."

"Playground?" Marlene asked hopefully and Tifa gave another look at the two sleeping occupants in the room. With a nod, she agreed.

"Playground."