Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. These ditties are mine, as are Duke and McCallister. My hurt/comfort lobe of the brain got tapped and this happened. Some OOCness may have resulted in the attempt. Please let me know. Enjoy!
..:-X-:..
037 – Torture
It was a choked, mangled noise, desperate and agonized.
"Oh my god…" Tifa ran into the torture chamber, eyes fixated on Leon, bloody and tied to a chair.
The perpetrator started in surprise at being found out. Leon's blood soaked the villain up to the elbows, and the knife was still in his hand…
McCallister charged in with her gun leveled. "Holy…Freeze! You have the right to remain silent..."
While the private rattled off rights, Tifa hurried over to Leon, untying his wrists from the chair and giving him a quick check over.
"—Not a soldier—Fractured—Circle—" He was choking out.
"Shh, it's okay." Tifa said, panic lacing her voice. "We gotcha. You're okay."
God, blood was everywhere…all the wounds looked superficial…small blessings. Swallowing hard, she gestured to two of the soldiers who'd come with her and McCallister on the raid. They obediently came forward and she straightened.
"Get him to the hospital. I don't think anything is broken, but be careful just the same." She ordered.
They nodded and with her got Leon on his feet. "Can you walk?"
"M'all right." He was rasping, blood dribbling over his lips.
"Oh shush, no one believes you." Tifa said shakily, steadying him until the two soldiers got a good grip on him.
They led him out of the horror room, and it tore Tifa up inside not to go with them. Instead, she looked to the torture master as McCallister fell quiet.
Without preamble, Tifa took McCallister's gun, lifted it, and emptied the clip into the perpetrator's chest. Unable to utter so much as a dying gasp, he hit the wall from the repetitive blows and sank to the floor, into a pool of his own blood.
McCallister's eyes were wide and her breathing was sharp. Tifa swallowed, flexed her jaw, and handed the private her gun back.
"He tried to run, so I took him out." She said quietly.
"I'll tell them he…he tried to run, ma'am." McCallister nodded, understanding.
Tifa gave her an even look, and then went to catch up to Leon and the soldiers.
..:-X-:..
038 – Quarantine
It was a false alarm, but there had been no way to know that until after.
"Outbreak? What does that mean?" Leon held the phone to his ear as he hurried down the main street.
"Some sort of pink smoke…gas…leaked in and now they're sealing off the building." Tifa was saying on the other end. "Disease control is already here and taking samples: Haz-Mat, plastic wrap and all."
"Wait, you're there?" Leon turned the corner, heading toward the zone that was being quarantined.
"Um…technically."
"Technically…Care to be specific?"
"I'm inside." She said evenly. "I was in the building when the gas showed up. I'm being sealed in with the other workers."
Leon picked up his pace, just short of running toward the building now. "You didn't think to mention that earlier?"
"Whether you know or not, I'm still stuck in here."
"That is bullshit and you know it." He spotted the building, literally being wrapped in plastic sheets, surrounded by police, any and all access prevented. "Are you all right?" He asked quietly.
"Fine. No negative symptoms to any workers so far. Odorless, tasteless, it's all faded away now." Tifa rattled off the facts like a report.
Leon kept the phone against his ear with white knuckles, shouldering through the crowd surrounding the quarantined building.
"Sir—" One of the police lifted a hand to stop him.
Leon sent him a scalding look and the man let him through. He ducked under the yellow tape and strode up to the plastic-blocked windows. "I'm here." He said into the phone.
"I know." She said.
He looked up and recognized Tifa standing on the other side of the plastic and glass, phone to her ear. She offered a little wave from the other side but didn't hang up.
"Hi." Her voice cracked over the phone.
"Hi." He replied, an unfamiliar knot twisting painfully in his insides.
Tifa was sealed in this building with an unknown substance that could be airborne-biochemical warfare for all they knew, and he was…useless. Swallowing, he shifted his hold on the phone.
"So…" He said after a beat. "This sucks."
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"I'm…waiting." He shrugged.
"What? For what? Leon, this quarantine could last for hours…days. You can't seriously—"
"I've got nothing better to do." He shrugged again.
It sounded like Tifa sniffled on the other end, but he didn't say anything.
"Thanks." She murmured.
..:-X-:..
039 - Rock, Paper, Scissors
"I am not doing the report on this." Leon shook his head.
"Yes you are. It's your turn." Tifa said matter-of-factly.
"No it's not." He argued. "Last time, you ran the mission and I got stuck with the paperwork. It's your turn to do the report and mine to do the mission."
"Our last mission was Enchanted Castle, which YOU ran."
"You headed the mission in Atlantica last week."
"That doesn't count."
"I had to do the paperwork. It definitely counts."
Tifa finally turned and glared at him. Leon just glared back. They stalemated like that for a few seconds before Tifa tilted her head.
"Fine." She hissed, "Since neither of us can come to a compromise…We have to settle this like adults."
"Fine." He said loftily.
They both glared and each lifted a fist. Wordlessly, they shook their fists up and down three times before throwing.
"Yes!" Tifa beamed. "Rock beats scissors." She knocked her fist against his knuckles in a crushing motion.
"Dammit." Leon hissed, begrudgingly handing her the mission file. "Have your fun."
Tifa chuckled and took the file. "I'll send you a postcard from Olympus." She teased.
"Get out of my office." He said flatly, shooing her toward the door.
She laughed and left.
