One Stroke: Part II

by xLadyxLibertyx

This is a continuation of Bjanik's One Stroke. Hojo's still dead, and Sephiroth and crew lived happily ever after, or did they?

37. Attack on Mideel Base

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.

A/N—For Chapter 37, we're back on Mideel Island.

(6:00 am, Mideel—Mideel Base; 8:00 pm, Wutai; 4:00 am, Midgar; midnight, Gongaga)

The car bumped and jerked as it flew along the road. In his haste to get to the hospital, Sephiroth had taken the wheel of the car that had driven him to the communications center. He snarled. Shots fired! A helicopter standing by! He had to get to Tessa! He could just see it in his mind—his wife was being kidnapped again! He'd assumed that since the bases were "his," that his wife and child would be safe on one—bad assumption! A snippet of the conversation he'd had with Malik as they entered the base now came back to haunt him:

"There go probably half the people I still have here."

"Sounds like I left you thin, Malik."

"Yes, I'm thin, but my people are needed elsewhere… Nothing much ever happens in Mideel."

"'Nothing much ever happens in Mideel,' eh, Malik?" Sephiroth glanced at his local base commander sitting next to him in the front seat. Malik probably wouldn't have caught up with Sephiroth when the General had run for the car, but the automobile had proven just a bit balky in starting. Malik had just closed his PHS after listening to reports from the fighting at the hospital.

"Nothing much—just when you're here, Seph…" Malik watched the first direct light of the morning chase itself across his commander's face. The sun was working its way over the horizon. At least they'd be able to see what they were up against; the reports Malik had heard contained the usual elements of uncertainty.

"Situation?" Sephiroth knew Malik had been talking to his people.

"I've got about a half-dozen MPs onsite. At least two MPs are dead in the hospital basement."

"The basement?!" For the first time Sephiroth turned to look at Malik. "Don't tell me?! Hollander?!"

"Yes, his cell door was opened, unlocked. The enemy forced my guards to give them their access codes then killed them. Hollander may be gone already."

"Damn it! I ordered Genesis' body completely destroyed, but I'll bet Hollander has tissue samples from Genesis and Angeal stashed somewhere." Sephiroth paused. In order to recreate those two, Hollander would want the baby's Jenova tissue! He should have killed Hollander on sight! "How many people will we have to work with at the hospital?"

"My base personnel are trickling in; I'd say two dozen will be there when we arrive. We'll have about another hundred as soon as everyone gets here from Banora. Unfortunately, I don't expect them for another fifteen to twenty minutes."

How about it, Vincent? Where are you? The base is under attack—their target is probably Tessa!

Just a second. Sephiroth could tell that Vincent was talking to Verdot seated next to him. Verdot says we're twenty minutes from the base. He's going to talk to Rude to push the RVs up to their top speed. We can maybe be there in fifteen minutes.

Get here! "If there's a helicopter, then they're planning to leave by air. Have that crazy, fast-airship pilot, Highwind, get that machine of his to the hospital. We may well need it."

"Right." Malik re-opened his PHS.

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"Pulled our friggin' asses out of bed to be ready to go, then left us high and dry…" Cid Highwind's tirade was suddenly interrupted by the ring tone of his PHS. "Inconsiderate bastards!" He whipped the phone from the carrier on his belt and flipped it open. Outrage was written across his face as he listened to the voice on the other end. "Ex-cu-u-use me, but I do not take orders from…" The angry expression on Cid Highwind's face was suddenly replaced by one of incredulity. "Since when?!"

Shera raised an eyebrow at her boss. "What's happened?"

Absently flapping a hand in Shera's direction to wave his assistant away, Cid shook his head; he was still listening to the voice on the other end of his PHS. "Ye-ah?! What kind of money did you say again? … Wha-at?!" Cid's jaw dropped to his chest. "Yeah. And you need it where? When?" With vague nods of his head, Cid closed his PHS. "Shera, we've been transferred to the Scientific Department; that's under the General's wife, right?! Our budget's been… tripled…"

Shera cocked an eyebrow at Cid's statement. "Tripled?! From when? From before Tuesti cut our budget or after…? Cid?"

"From before." Cid's voice had a wistful note in it Shera had rarely heard. Indeed, his face had an expression she'd rarely seen; Cid was smiling! In fact, his face was shining, almost beatific. Eek! In her experience only one thing could make him look like that: visions of his next airship were dancing before his eyes! Oh well, so much for her long-planned, often-postponed, vacation! Shera quietly stepped between Cid and the airship's wheel and lifted his jaw to its closed position. "So… where are we going?"

Cid took a half-step back and looked at Shera blankly. "We're going across the base to the hospital to wait for orders."

"Oh. All right." Shera moved away from the wheel. "We probably should go then. Don't you think?"

"Ye-ah… I guess you're right." Cid took a deep breath, and his eyes focused on Shera. "Shera, check that blasted starboard stabilizer we've been having so much trouble with." He paused, and his smile broadened across his face again. "We can replace it when we get back!" Cid suddenly leaned forward and started flipping switches with one hand while the other shook on the wheel. "We've gotta move!"

Shera smiled. That was more like Cid. As she turned to the right side of the ship, she released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Cid was talking again; really he sounded more like his normal self. No, check that. He sounded downright happy!

"**(&^%#)^&* Earl Gray tea ()*&*^ three cups of sugar (&*?(&%*^?!%(*&*(^!&^&^~%#))*#!^# chocobo *^&#(!^*(&%?^*(?&#!)*"

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Surrounded by armed men firing machine guns, Vester Hollander stumbled to the top of a low rise. There in the swale below him sat their escape vehicle; rotors turning, a large, dark helicopter was warming up for take-off. Several fast-looking cars also sat about the helicopter—getaway vehicles for the troops, Hollander guessed. The machine gunners spread out across the crest of the ridge and continued firing to keep off pursuers.

Dan Hutchins stood at the bottom of the rise, outside the range of the rotor blades, and shouted into his PHS. "Got her yet?" Hutchins paused and listened. "Blast! How did we not know they'd moved her…? But you've got her now…? What do you mean, 'not yet'…? Shortly…? All right. We're moving! Get everyone out of there! Pull out now!" Hutchins closed his PHS, looked up the hill, and spotted Hollander. "Vester! Get in! We have to go now! We're way behind schedule! The sun'll be up soon!"

Two guards with machine guns sat in the middle pair of three rows of helicopter seats, along with a pilot who sat alone in the front row. Hollander climbed in next to the pilot. He swore he heard the chopper moan as Hutchins sat in the far back row. Hutchins put on a headset to communicate in the noisy aircraft, and Hollander, looking over his shoulder toward his rescuer in the back, followed suit. "Dan, where're we going?"

Hutchins huffed. "First we pick up the General's wife, then the coast—as fast as we can get there! I've got a boat waiting to take us to the mainland. I've made arrangements for you and her to eventually get to Midgar." Looking worried, Hutchins leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his ample stomach.

Hollander could hear Hutchins' seat creak, winced at the sound, then nodded at Hutchins' arrangements. "Good. Deepground."

"Yeah… Me, though. I'm not telling anybody where I'm going, and the less even I know, the better. The head of the Turks has put a huge price on my head—right up there with yours, I'll have you know!"

"Thanks for getting me the General's wife. I need her baby's tissue."

"Well, of course, and she's worth a lot of money! Where I'm going, I'll need it!"

Vester Hollander turned back to the front of the helicopter. Yes, he did need Tessa Romera's child. Hollander smiled to himself, though. There was one other possibility—two actually, of course. Hollander hadn't been knocked unconscious on the RV when the young Soldier had hit him, and he'd learned something in that time—that Hojo had produced a sentient clone of Sephiroth! Who would have believed that Hojo could have pulled off such a feat?! Of course, he'd rather deal with a fetus than two fully-grown, sword-wielding, part-Jenovans, but new possibilities had to be considered… Suddenly the rhythm and whine of the rotors increased, and the helicopter shuddered. With the large Hutchins on board, Hollander held his breath until the helicopter was off the ground.

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Dressed all in white—hospital gown, terry cloth robe, and a towel about her wet hair—Tessa Romera stepped from the tiny bathroom in her hospital room. She'd heard the sound of the door to her room closing and then a thud. "Leonard, that was qui…"

Tessa froze, gasped, then reached out a hand. Poor Leonard was out cold and lying face down on the floor near the door! The back of his head was bloody, and two loaded syringes had rolled away from a tray near his hand. Suddenly Tessa felt herself jerked backward against a hard body. An arm pressed itself around her right shoulder and held a knife to her throat, while another arm crushed her left shoulder. "Don't move. Don't make a sound."

Tessa thought back to her training—check out the blade length. It was about six inches long, and the tip was near her adam's apple ready to cut across her carotid arteries. Yes! She knew this one! Zack had trained her on it! Tessa took a deep breath and forced her tight muscles to relax, though she could see that the room had taken on a greenish haze. Don't let him see your eyes. Not yet. Make him think he's got you, that you're cringing in fear—shake a little. Get him to relax. Make him vulnerable. Maybe even learn something. "What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"You're coming with us."

"Where? Why?" Tessa could feel herself shaking; she wasn't sure she was acting.

"Who cares?! You're worth a lot of money to someone. That's all that matters." The man pulled her backward across the room. Tessa could feel a breeze on the backs of her bare calves. The window must be open. Was he going to take her out of the room that way? Then what?! He'd said "us." There might be someone else behind her, too, if the window were open. She couldn't imagine "going up" without an accomplice; with the hospital enclosing the courtyard below her window, "down" wasn't likely. Wait. Wait until we're closer to the window. What's between here and there? Walking backward, Tessa could see nothing on the lounger or on the small table that she could use as a weapon. She remembered a broad bench in front of the window. We'll have to climb up on that to get out—he might just look back over his shoulder when we get there. Passive... Wait...

Tessa felt the man pause, and his breath left her neck. Now. She raised her hands and pressed his knife hand hard against her chest, dropped her body low, drove his own knife deep into the man's abdomen below his rib cage ("Don't get it caught in his ribs. You'll probably need the knife!" Thank you, Zack!), and ripped it toward her. His blood fanned out. The man cursed and reached for Tessa's head with his left hand but caught the towel around her hair instead. Tessa drove her teeth into the man's right hand and pushed the knife deeper into his abdomen, swirled it twice, then yanked it out of his body and hand. She could feel him trying to grab her about her thick waist even as she attempted to move away from him.

Damn! All the blood was destroying her traction! She slipped as she turned and brandished the knife then saw for the first time that second man she'd guessed was there. Great. The second man was standing on the window seat, and he held a gun with a silencer trained on her! "Like he said, 'don't move, don't make a sound.' Drop the knife."

Tessa sized up her attackers: two orderlies—dressed in lavender and pale yellow, no less. The original attacker, Mr. Pale Yellow, was lying on the floor and clutching his side with his eyes closed but was still breathing. At least she hadn't killed him—maybe not a good thing. What would a Soldier do? Sephiroth, Zack? Attack, of course, but her? For all her weird strength and Soldier training, she would play for time. Stall. "Why? I'm the General's wife. Do you really want the wrath of all Soldier coming down on you?"

The gunman responded. "We'll be long gone and well paid. Step this way, or I'll shoot."

"No. You need me alive, don't you? It's the baby you really want, isn't it?"

"Yeah, alive. But 'barely's' okay." Tessa could see the man's finger pull back on the trigger, a puff of smoke appeared, and a spinning bullet emerged from the barrel. She knew where it was heading, her right shoulder—was this the "precog" the Soldiers all mentioned? hadn't she always known these sorts of things?—potentially incapacitating but not deadly. She bent her knees, leaned back as if under a bar, and watched the bullet spin over her shoulder and plant itself in the cabinet behind her.

Now lying on the floor, Tessa's fingers nudged something cool and plastic. What? Leonard's needles! Tessa released her captured knife and, without taking her eyes from the gunman, grasped the syringe and flung it side-armed at the man—better to throw the syringe than her knife! The needle spun and whistled then punctured the man's eye! The lavender-garbed man dropped the gun, flung his hands to his face, pulled out the syringe, threw it back at Tessa—missed!—then turned to the window to make his escape.

Tessa could now see a rope hanging outside the room. Oddly, she realized that the sun was coming up! The former gunman, now with blood running from his eye, grabbed the rope and called out the window. "Pull me up!"

Tessa suddenly recognized a sound she'd been hearing since she stepped from the bathroom—a helicopter! "No, you are so not getting away!" Tessa reached for the foot of the bed and tried to rise. Just then the door to the corridor opened, and Cloud ran in.

"Doctor Ro…!"

"Don't let him get away!" Tessa flung an arm in the direction of her attacker; his foot and the rope were disappearing from the window.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Cloud was across the room in a jump. Crouching on his knees on the bench, he leaned out the window, looked up the wall, then stood and jumped out and up. One of the orderlies Cloud had seen earlier was about twenty feet above him, almost to the building's top fifth floor. Cloud caught the man's foot then added his second hand to grasp the man's ankle. Wham! The man kicked Cloud in the face! Cloud felt the wet warmth of blood. Bastard might have broken my nose! I like my nose! Levering his legs, Cloud got his feet against the wall of the building and pulled. Have to stop him! The assailant, unable to withstand Soldier strength, lost his grip on the rope. Together he and Cloud fell.

"CLOUD!!"

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The helicopter hovered above the building. "Come on, come on!" Dan Hutchins looked down at his underlings standing atop the flat-roofed hospital. They were looking down over the edge of the building; the rope in their hands had gone slack. Suddenly the chopper moved beyond the edge, and all the occupants could see to the ground-level courtyard below them. Two men in hospital scrubs were struggling on the ground. A woman with a mane of coppery hair looked out of a second floor window directly below the hanging rope. Other windows were opening, and people were starting to look out. Hutchins knew his people had taken care of the hospital security staff; the blond kid fighting on the ground had to be a Soldier judging by the sword he was using. Damn, his man was going to lose this fight—and lose it quickly. Hutchins' men on the roof were getting out their guns and moving to point them over the edge of the roof.

"There! That's her! Get her! Her! GET HER!" Hollander was screaming and pointing at the woman.

Hutchins looked where Hollander was pointing. So that was the General's wife!

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Cloud landed in the ground-grabbing, one-leg-bent-the-other-leg-straight-to-the-side stance he preferred for jumping. He stood, took the sword from his back, and sliced at a downward angle for the fake orderly's left collar bone. Cloud knew he needed the guy alive. Destroying his collar bone should stop this fight quickly—Dr. Romera had clearly wanted the man captured. The attacker, however, stepped forward and raised his right arm and, contacting the flat of the blade, knocked the Baby Buster away. So the man had some training. Fine. Continuing the turn initiated by the man's block, Cloud spun completely around. He connected with his right elbow to the man's chin then pressed his left forearm to the man's chest. Setting his right calf behind the man's right calf, Cloud pulled his foot back and pushed his forearm away from his own body. The double motion dropped the fake orderly to the ground, and, after a whoosh of breath, he raised his hands in surrender. Cloud stepped closer and lowered the tip of his sword to the man's throat. Cloud smiled. Now he had him.

Suddenly, bullets rained down! Crap! Can't stand still with bullets coming at you! Got to get under cover! Spinning again, Cloud spotted a nearby entrance into the hospital. Run! Oof! Cloud tripped. Roll! Flinging his right arm out to keep the sword away from his body, Cloud tucked his chin into his chest and put down his left shoulder. Sheeze. Rolling while holding a sword is not easy! With no heavy protective gear on, you could easily cut yourself! Nuts! He'd have to ask Major Niven about that some time! Hell, the major would probably make them practice rolling with swords and do it without armor! May want to keep your mouth shut, Cloud…

Bounding to his feet, Cloud made it through the plate-glass door, but held it open as a shield and looked out. Damn! The bad guy wasn't moving—probably dead!—killed by his own cohorts! Remember, Cloud, they're lousy shots! Or good shots, but lousy people. At least Dr. Romera was no longer looking out the window. What?! Suddenly the gunfire stopped, but the roaring of the helicopter increased! The chopper was moving downward to hover outside Dr. Romera's window! Could they still get her from there?! Nuts! RUN, CLOUD! Stairs, stairs, stairs?! WHERE ARE THE STAIRS?!

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Upon seeing Cloud and her lavender attacker struggling and plunging passed her room, Tessa rushed to the window. Avoiding the now-unconscious, pale-yellow-clad attacker and the pool of his blood by the window seat, Tessa leaned out the window and saw Cloud land safely. He seemed all right, though his face was bloody. Cloud took out his sword and quickly subdued the lavender-clad man.

Suddenly the roar of the helicopter increased, and Tessa jerked her head skyward. "No!" The chopper was coming down—hovering outside her window! Worse, she realized that bullets were raining down outside her window—toward Cloud!—but a man in the helicopter was waving frantically in her direction. Was that Dr. Hollander in that seat?! Two other men with machine guns were aiming at her through her window via an open sliding door in the chopper's side!

Lowering her hand with its captured knife, Tessa backed away from the window, fear now on her face. Think! Don't panic! Tessa took a deep breath. What would Sephiroth do? What would Zack do? Tessa laughed a bit hysterically at the thought. What wouldn't they do?! Both men would probably jump through a hail of bullets and attack the chopper head on! That was not a good idea for her, however—especially not with a baby inside her. Suddenly, Tessa knew the bullets were coming her way. She flattened her body against the bathroom wall. No, they're getting closer! Tessa ducked behind the lounge chair for cover, but the bullets ripped through the padding. They were getting too close! Tessa knew she wouldn't last much longer. A thought crossed her mind. If she attempted to surrender, would the bullets stop before they hit her? Hit Lucy? Lavender man had said "barely" alive was all right for her condition as far as they were concerned. Tessa glanced in Leonard's direction. They were in trouble. Somehow she had to get them out of here!

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"Crap!" How had he run right by the door to the stairs?! Cloud yanked on the emergency exit door handle. Locked?! No! People were probably only supposed to come out it rather than go in, but he had to get to Dr. Romera! Well, there was always the direct approach…

Cloud took a step back from the door, hefted his Baby Buster, took a deep breath, felt mako burn, and sent the sword slashing into the fire door near the frame. Metal screamed, and Cloud, knowing what was coming, rolled to the side to avoid it. Metal shrapnel still cut Cloud's left forearm. Even his Soldier body armor wouldn't have stopped that! The tortured door swung with a whine away from the wall. Bounding to his feet, Cloud yanked the door open and ran up the stairs. The whir of the helicopter rotors grew in Cloud's ears.

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Suddenly the sound of bullets pounding on the helicopter's side reached Dan Hutchins' ears even through his headset. The base MPs must have taken out his guys on the roof! Damn it! It was too late to capture the woman now! They had to get away!

"Back off! We're taking fire! BACK OFF!"

"Damn it, Hutchins! We can't leave! We have to capture her!" Vester Hollander roared through the microphone at his friend. Blast! Hutchins, that coward, was ordering the pilot away from the building! It was just a few bullets after all! The pilot, uncertain whose orders to follow, went first up then down causing the chopper to shake. "Keep firing!" Hollander waved a hand frantically toward the hospital room. "Watch for her to surrender then get her on the chopper!" Hollander wasn't about to leave his precious Jenova tissue behind. Not when she was so close! He needed her too much! For his sons!

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"Leonard!"

When he didn't respond, Tessa tentatively reached a hand in her doctor's direction, but the scream of a ricochet caused her to pull it back quickly. While she at least had some cover, poor Leonard was completely exposed—and still bleeding from his scalp wound! Tessa wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but she had to get them out of this room and away from that horrid helicopter!

Wait a minute... Earlier she'd had trouble with traction on this floor. Maybe she could slide along the floor—the slick, linoleum floor! Tessa stuck the knife between the wooden frame of the chair behind her and its vinyl-covered padding, lay down on the floor on her side with her back to the bullets and tried propelling herself with her hands and feet. Yes! This could work! She wished she could lie on her stomach—she'd be less exposed that way—but Lucy just wasn't going to allow that right now. As she neared the end of the lounger, Tessa grasped its leg and pushed it forward. Have to take her cover with her… Just count on her unnatural strength… One floor tile at a time… Easy… Push herself along with her hands and feet… Grab the chair leg and shove it… Crawl on her side… Shove…

Inching her way to Caperton, Tessa finally grasped the poor man and pulled him alongside her. Thank goodness the floors were typical, slippery hospital floors! All right, and now to get to the door… She shoved Leonard's body in that direction. Next she pushed her long chair. Hm. She was getting good at this shoving business! Suddenly she realized she had moved them as far as they could go.

Tessa looked over Leonard's body and examined the door. How was she going to turn that handle without getting hit?! As she looked down, she realized that the back of Leonard's head was matted with blood. No! Poor Leonard. All he'd wanted in coming to Mideel was to help her! She sighed. If they could get out of here, and if it was less than twenty minutes since he'd been hit, maybe she could cure his head injury with materia, if she could find some—all of which brought her back to getting out of here. At least their position was better. With a glance back at the chair Tessa realized the poor lounger was "shot"—foam rubber was sticking out of the vinyl covering everywhere; she noted the humor but just couldn't bring herself to laugh. They were now in a more protected area to the side of the sink cabinet with the bathroom wall also obscuring their position.

Just then the door moved toward Leonard's head, and a knee covered in orangey fabric poked into the doorway.

"Dr. Romera?!" Tessa heard her name shouted over the rattle of the bullets overhead. Tessa did laugh at that. It was Cloud. Again. Dear peach Cloud…

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"What are you doing?! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Hutchins knew then that his old friend, Vester Hollander, was insane. To save the rest of their skins, he should just push the scientist out the open door! "TAKE US UP!!" He roared the order through the headset microphone.

Finally the pilot looked over his shoulder at Hutchins, nodded, and pulled back on the stick. The helicopter rose to the accompaniment of Hollander's shrieks.

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Suddenly the bullets stopped, and Cloud, with one eye and a knee in the slightly open doorway, could hear the helicopter's roar moving away from the window. They were safe—at least for the moment. Dr. Romera pulled Dr. Caperton's body away from the door, and Cloud opened it wider.

"Cloud, grab Leonard's shoulders and pull him into the hall. We've got to help him."

"Right." Careful of the doctor's bleeding head, Cloud ducked and pulled the man's body toward him. From the hall, two nurse aids came toward Cloud; one pulled a stretcher and the other reached to help put the doctor on the movable bed. Between the three of them, they got Dr. Caperton onto the gurney.

"We'll take him down to emergency." Cloud watched for a second as the women moved away toward the nearby elevator before he pushed the door to Dr. Romera's room open again.

"Dr. Romera?!" Cloud froze, and his eyes went wide. Tessa Romera, the General's wife, was lying on the floor huddled on her side next to a chair, her eyes closed. Cloud couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

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Coming out of the stairwell next to the elevator shaft and followed by Malik, Sephiroth spotted Cloud. The blond boy was dressed in light-colored hospital scrubs and combat boots with his sword on his back and was standing bent over in the doorway to Tessa's room! What the…? Had the firing they'd heard been directed here?! "Strife?!"

"General!" The boy started, spun out of the doorway, and came to attention. Sephiroth paused just an instant. The Third Class had blood seeping from his nose and running down his left forearm from a deep cut.

"Malik, see to him." Sephiroth pushed the door to his wife's room open with a bang. Sweet Shiva! Sephiroth felt a tightening in his chest and throat. Where was she?! There was no body in the bed, though with foam flecks swirling in the air, it was hard to see. Sephiroth then caught the smell of blood in the air. "Tes-sa?!" His eye caught a hint of motion on the floor near his feet. "Tessa!"

Tessa stirred, her body tensed, and she opened her eyes. Where was Leonard? Cloud? There was no shriek of bullets, no whir of helicopter rotors. Maybe they'd survived?! Suddenly she realized two black leather boots were near her nose. She felt herself crushed in leather-clad arms and her head cradled against skin. Tessa smiled and sighed. Sephiroth… She was safe.

"Tess?"

"Hm?"

Sephiroth laid his cheek against his wife's copper hair and breathed in the scent of her. "Are you all right?! And the baby?"

Tessa stirred and tried to sit. Sephiroth relaxed his hold on her and helped her to sit before him, but he didn't remove his hands from her upper arms. Tessa could see her husband's inner eyelids flicking across his green, cat-slit-pupiled eyes. She shook her head and raised a hand to his cheek. "It's all right, now. I'm all right, and I'm sure Lucy's all right too." Tessa took Sephiroth's right hand from her arm and pressed it to her stomach. "There. Do you feel it? She's kicking! I think she was fighting too."

Sephiroth's face broke into a smile. "Fighting too? Were you fighting, my love?"

Tessa smiled. "Of course. When I stepped out of the bathroom after my shower, a man grabbed me from behind and put knife to my throat. I did what Zack trained me to do." At his look of confusion, Tessa continued. "You know, that self-defense move, 'knife at throat from behind'. The man's still over by the window seat."

Sephiroth's eyes, which just a second ago had been near-tears, went wide and round as he spotted a body lying in a pool of blood partially hidden by the bed and table. That so easily could have been Tessa! While he'd wanted Tessa to be trained to use her abilities, he'd never expected her to need to do so! Somewhere in the back of his brain he had supposed he would be there to protect her if she were ever attacked. He shook his head slightly. "And you weren't scared?"

Tessa shook her head and smiled. "Terrified, but I survived. Here…" Tessa pulled the knife she'd captured from her attacker from its spot inside the chair frame. "See? I actually disarmed him…"

Sephiroth's hand on his wife's stomach flew to the handle of the bloody knife she held before him. Turning it sideways, he glared at the blade. There, stamped on the metal just above the handle was the seal of Mideel's division of Shinra Security.

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Glinting in the early morning sunshine, a black helicopter moved steadily away from the Mideel Base hospital. In his seat at the rear of the chopper, Dan Hutchins, former head of Shinra Security for the island of Mideel, grimaced and reviewed his situation. It wasn't good. His old friend, Dr. Vester Hollander, was insane and had nearly got them all killed. Well, fine. The people in Midgar who had put up the money for Hollander's rescue didn't need to know the state of the man's mind. As long as they paid soon, Hutchins would be in the clear with them. They'd still want Tessa Romera's baby, but she certainly would be going back to Midgar shortly. They could get her themselves for all he cared. The money for her would just have been icing on the cake of his retirement fund anyway.

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Sephiroth slid the damning dagger into an inside pocket of his coat. He would have a word with Tseng about that dagger when the man arrived. They'd need it for evidence.

"Hey! I'm very attached to that knife—I worked hard for it!" Tessa knew she sounded foolish, but she held out her hand for the blade nonetheless.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at his wife's statement then relented; in his experience, all Soldiers were fond of their weapons to varying degrees, but especially if they had captured them from their enemies. "Here." From behind his back, Sephiroth pulled a sheathed Soldier dagger from its hiding place at the back of his kisori. He'd rarely needed it, but he had it, nonetheless. "You keep this with you at all times until we get back to Midgar. Understand?" Tessa nodded, grasped the sheath, and pulled the saw-tooth-edged blade to examine it. She looked as though she knew what she was doing; indeed, Tessa looked as though she liked what she saw! Just how much had Zack taught her anyway?! Sephiroth knew he had to leave soon—Hollander was still at large—but there was something else he needed to know first. "And other than fighting, how are you?"

Tessa nodded, set the knife at her side on the floor, and leaned her head against her husband's chest once again. His arms wrapped around her. She snuggled closer. How she loved this, even sitting on the hard floor—her wonderful, hard, slippery, linoleum, hospital floor, she reminded herself! "Leonard, before he got hurt, had performed a cure on my cervix. He seemed to think Lucy and I were going to be all right, but he had wanted to re-examine me in a couple of hours."

"Wait, 'hurt'? What happened to Caperton?"

Looking sad, Tessa turned in her husband's arms. "While I was in the shower, Leonard had ordered two injections for me—antibiotics and vitamins. When I got out, he was lying on the floor. The back of his head had been smashed in. I think the men who tried to kidnap me probably knocked him out. Come to think of it, they may even have been the ones to deliver the syringes to the room."

"And where was Strife in all this?!" Sephiroth sounded as though he was on the verge of having Cloud's hide.

Tessa shook her head. "Leonard had relieved Cloud, so Cloud could go and take a shower in the doctor's lounge. I'm sure all Leonard did was open the door…" Tessa took her husband's face in her hands. "Sephiroth. We owe Leonard Caperton so much! I think the nurses took him to the emergency room. If I hurry, and if I can find some heal materia, there may still be time to perform a cure on him; otherwise, he'll probably have to undergo surgery and a long recovery period. The man has four children! The staff is probably prepping him now…"

Sephiroth nodded. They did owe Caperton, but "Don't you need to rest?"

"I do—I will!—but first I have to find Leonard…"

Sephiroth nodded again. Among the many things he admired about her including her courage and willingness to help, he now added Tessa's sense of honor. Zack had said she'd make a lousy recruit, but Sephiroth knew she'd have made a magnificent Soldier! Yes, he was so glad this woman was his wife, and soon-to-be the mother of his children! "All right." Gathering his wife in his arms, he captured her lips and kissed her with an intensity that surprised them both. From outside the window, there suddenly came a roar.

Tessa jerked in her husband's arms in alarm and looked toward the window. "Is that the helicopter back again?!"

"No-o. I'd say it's my ride." Tessa turned back startled—was he leaving?! Sephiroth raised a hand to brush back a few bits of his wife's wayward hair. He smiled gently; after all she'd been through, her hair was still half damp and trying to wrap itself around his fingers. He could never get enough of her hair or her shining aqua eyes. "I can't let Hollander escape. If I let him go, you and Lucy will never be safe. Come on. Let's find Caperton." Sephiroth rose to his feet, gathered his wife—and child—in his arms, and left the damaged room.