Chapter 7

"She's a what? Cloud man, you sure do pick 'em." Tifa shook her head as Cloud ranted on about his day's happenings, though he was beginning to get more annoyed at the fact that Tifa just didn't seem to be taking him all that seriously.

"Tifa! Stop making fun!" Tifa opened her eyes wide, surprised at the blonde's sudden outburst. She was only trying to lighten the situation, though she could see why he might be touchy on the subject.

"Sorry. You're right. I shouldn't. If it was Reno I'd be the same as you are now." Tifa sighed softly as she watched Cloud calm down.

"No. I'm sorry. I just don't know what to do. Every minute puts Kotetsu and her friends in more and more danger..." Tifa nodded, not sure that talking right now was the best thing to do. "You should have seen her. If it had been under other circumstances, I'd have probably been impressed." Tifa laughed softly, glad Cloud had seemed to pull himself from whatever downer he had almost disappeared on.

"I'm sure Reno will have a good plan, plus he should be here any minute." Tifa set down the small glass she had been relentlessly polishing, to distract her from the raging tornado that Cloud was at times.

"Reno!" Cloud scoffed. "Reno can kiss my ass!" Tifa frowned in annoyance. "He'll have her dead before he'll let me blow his stupid cover. Like I don't know how to make it look like she escaped. God his disbelief in me is astounding after all I've done for him." Tifa smiled softly, glad that he hadn't taken to completely destroying the red head this time.

"His heart's in the right place, he's just a little more tactful than you are." Cloud rounded on Tifa, a fire burning in his eyes.

"Tactful? What the hell is wrong with you? That man couldn't organise himself out of a paper bag, even if there were signs pointing to the opening! And he was standing in the god damned opening! On a conveyor belt that took him out of the bloody bag!" Tifa continued to dry her cups as she let Cloud poke fun at her lover.

"You up and go, and Reno analyses the situation, before he ups and goes." Cloud couldn't believe his ears.

"Are we still talking about Reno, the red haired Reno, the Reno that you are betraying everything we believe in to be with?" Tifa let his jibe go as she started to put the cups away, though it was getting very difficult to ignore Cloud's unfairness.

"Yes we are talking about the same damn Reno. I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes, but he's got quite a good brain in him." Cloud made to protest, but Tifa continued on none the less. "And! He's gotten us out of a lot of trouble, you can't deny that."

"Most of those times were his fault that we were in the god damn trouble in the first place!" Tifa again shrugged off Cloud's argument.

"And he is going to sort this mess and we will get these kids out. Reno knows that place much better than we do, and it would be wise of us to wait and see how they plan to deal with things." Cloud huffed in annoyance.

"He's late. Bad start that I hope doesn't reflect the rest of this mission." Tifa rolled her eyes as she watched Cloud sulk in his seat.

...

Kotetsu woke with a shocker of a headache, her eyes screwing shut in pain. She tried her best to rid herself of her latest memories, silently begging those she had hurt and killed to forgive her. This was an all too common occurrence these days, and she doubted it was going to get much better...

She sat up slowly with her head in her hands, her palms pushing hard into her eyes to try and stifle the pain a little. Images of the night before flooded through her like a violent stormy sea of regret, Arashi standing prominent in the ever growing list of dead people in her mind.

Jumping to her feet she shook her head, wobbling slightly at the slight dizziness that had come over her. She analysed her knew room, impressed with the camping bed and tiny set of drawers she had been provided with. The most she had ever owned. She vaguely wondered how she would deal with looking after such things as she approached one of the walls. The room was indeed a lot different than she was used to, the sharp stoney floor replaced with a smooth, but terribly cold, metal one. Her walls, which had been covered in crumbling plaster and flaking paint, were now a shiny, reflective, metallic barrier, keeping her from the outside world. So close, yet so far.

She stared for a moment at the slightly blurred version of herself in the wall, her eyes curious. She had only ever seen her reflection a few times in her life, and she had never much liked it. She took a step closer to the dark figure, her fingers reaching out to touch it. Reflections had always confused her. How did they work, and how did they know exactly what you were about to do, and then copy it perfectly. In the very few occasions she would come face to face with herself like this, Kotetsu had often tried to catch her reflection out, but soon came to fear that she had possibly met her match in speed and intelligence.

And it scared her greatly.

Kotetsu shook her head as she dropped her hand, worried that if she touched herself, she might get sucked into the wall, and trapped forever. She couldn't help but wonder if all this alone time to think was making her a little bit irrational, but she had more important things at hand to deal with.

Kotetsu made her way to what she guessed was the doorway to the room she was being kept in. She fumbled about with the cracks of the presumed door, trying desperately to find some kind of handle, but there was no such luck. She figured there must be only one, and on the outside, so that people could get in, but she couldn't get out.

Clever.

Her minder must have warned her new owners of her terrible track record of escaping.

Kotestsu then dropped to the floor, laying her head flush with the bottom of the door. She was saddened to find that it was fixed tightly against the floor, meaning no improvisational handle finding. She again checked the seams of the door, desperate to find any kind of leverage she could.

Then an idea hit her.

...

"Cloud, get that fecking thing out of my face before I turn and leave!" Reno bellowed at the blonde, who sat all nonchalant at a table just to the left of the door, his sward resting nicely on Reno's collar bone.

"You're late." Cloud's stoic look sent chills down Reno's spine, fear clearly evident in his voice.

"So?" He tried to step further into the inn, but Cloud didn't let up on the grip of his sword. "Tifa! He's doing it again!" Cloud tried his best not to smirk at the man in front of him.

Correction. The boy in front of him.

"God, Cloud! Can't you just behave for one moment while he's here? You're wasting time, and Reno can do that on his own, no help needed." Tifa folded her arms as she sat down, gesturing for the two squabbling males to join her. Cloud normally wouldn't let up so easily, but there were more pressing matters at hand, other than the constant torture of the redhead.

"Okay, next week- "

"Sooner." Cloud didn't care what the red head had to tell them, he was going to go as soon as possible, no matter what. Reno huffed as he began again, trying his best not to get riled up.

"Next week! Rufus is going to take the weapons- "

"They're children!" it was Tifa's turn to stress out the redhead.

"Out for a demonstration!" Reno eyed the pair as he readjusted himself in his seat, clearly annoyed."So the extraction has to happen soon." Cloud nodded as he got to his feet. "Not now you idiot! And incidentally," he turned to Tifa as if to also put her in her place, "they're not children. I checked their files and they are all above the age of sixteen. Kotetsu is seventeen by the way." Cloud's eyes narrowed as he leant on his sward threateningly, though seemed to be distracted somewhat by this new information. Kotetsu was not under age at all, just extremely malnourished. Reno just rolled his eyes, used to the ill treatment the blonde channelled towards him. "Tomorrow." Cloud reluctantly sat back in his seat.

"Tomorrow? Isn't that a bit soon?" Tifa's voice rang out, and Reno almost lost his temper at yet another interruption. Too late! Too soon! Cloud scoffed in annoyance.

"They could die Tifa. They need to be extracted hours ago!" Tifa rolled her eyes at Cloud as she continued to look at Reno.

"Yes I appreciate that, but surely Rufus will know Cloud's been tipped off?" Reno sighed and rubbed his face roughly.

"Okay guys. If you don't shut up, I can't tell you what's happening. No more interruptions?" Cloud scoffed while Tifa glared at the red head.

"Pardon?" Reno smiled sweetly as he tried his best to stop himself from backtracking and apologising. Tifa was one tough and scary chick when she wanted to be.

"Honey. Please, can I continue?" Tifa nodded curtly though still seemed to be quite unimpressed. "Okay, this is what's happening. We meet at Six in the morning tomorrow, and then..."

...

Kotetsu strained her body as she pulled at the ridiculously tough set of drawers. She had managed to pull out the drawers and was now trying to tear the metal base apart. Her muscles ached as her eyes watered, the exertion clearly too much for her. She still had much recovering to do.

"Shit." She felt the metal give slightly, but only a little, causing one of her fingers to be cut slightly on the corner. She stuck the appendage in her mouth as she rethought her strategy. Her whole room was like a fortress she had never experienced before, and it was scaring her slightly, making her feel more than a little claustrophobic. She felt panic well up in her as she threw the base unit against the wall and immediately regretted the resonating clanging sound it seemed to make. First off of the wall and then two or three times off of the floor before she caught it again, her arms circling it and hugging it against her body as she waited to see if anyone came. And then another idea hit her.

...

"Reno, this plan might actually work!" Reno rolled his eyes at Tifa, wishing she wouldn't make these kinds of jokes in front of Cloud.

"Yeah Reno. Might." Because the blonde always seemed to want to join in. "But if it doesn't -"

"Yes, yes I know the score. Your swards gonna go somewhere and I'm not gonna like it." Reno rolled his eyes again as he pushed himself up from his seat. He straightened his suit jacket as he headed back to the door. "I gotta head back to work, get things ready for tomorrow. Rufus thinks I'm catching up on paper work." Tifa seemed a little disappointed, but she smiled at Reno none the less. She had grown rather attached to the man, and had confided in Cloud that she was feeling rather lonely recently with Reno being so busy. Cloud had tried to understand, but with Reno, it was very hard.

"Well, just be careful okay?" Reno nodded and smiled at Tifa, and Cloud was beginning to feel very out of place indeed.

"Well I'm going to get some sleep so I'm all ready for tomorrow." Cloud made a quick excuse and left the bar area, "Night." letting the two have some privacy. He hoped Tifa had noticed his kind gesture, but she was probably too caught up in her worrying. He sighed as he reached his bedroom, feeling quite tired all of a sudden. His bed called out to him as he crossed his room, kicking off his shoes and flopping down onto the soft sheets. He didn't even bother to change out of his clothes as he felt his eyes fall shut and sleep take him.

Tomorrow, he was going to see Kotetsu again.

...

Kotetsu pressed her ear against the door, desperately trying to hear any sign of anyone coming to shut her up. The drawer unit base lay in a crumpled heap on the floor, and some small dents were now set in her surprisingly strong walls.

Kotetsu sighed as she remained alone in her little room, her frustration rising.

And then she heard it.

"Shut the fuck up in there!" Kotetsu almost squealed with joy as she grabbed her new toy, and continued to bounce it off of the wall like a ball. She heard the sounds of locks being undone, and she dashed to the door. It opened with a strange hissing sound, but Kotetsu was ready. The guard entered her room with his gun raised, his eyes darting about the small area looking for the girl. He didn't stand a chance as Kotetsu's foot connected with his chin, sending him soaring through the air and back out into the hall. Kotetsu pranced happily out of her cell, amazed that her plan had worked. She studied the man now twitching on the floor, interested in his uniform. He seemed ready for any sort of attack, his metallic guards all over his body seeming to be a bit much for a business building.

Maybe there business was war? That would make sense why the guard was so dressed up.

Kotetsu shrugged to herself as she made her way down the hall, unsure of which way to go. She had been unconscious when she had been put in her room, and had no idea how or even when she had gotten there. Her feet padded along the cold floor as she rushed through the winding corridors, listening intently for anyone around her.

It was not long before she came across another tightly shut door, her body visibly slumping as she cursed under her breath. She had a horrible suspicion that these doors were going to be a common problem in her escape, and she still had no idea how they worked.

She pressed her body up against the metal door, listening hard to the other side. And then she noticed a strange contraption up in the corner, where the wall met the ceiling. It made strange noises, almost the same as her door, as it adjusted itself to look right at her.

Now that couldn't be good.

Kotetsu left at a sprint, heading down another long and winding corridor. It wasn't long before she was skidding to a halt, only to come face to face with another door. And yet again, the contraption was there, adjusting itself noisily to stare at her. She dashed off down another corridor, feeling her heart beat faster and faster within her chest. She cursed as her footfalls became louder, her tired body not cooperating as well as she had hoped it would. She stopped in her tracks when a loud noise started to sound and the walls around her flashed red. She could feel herself panic a little as the noise continued.

Ahead, troops with guns ran to meet her. She desperately did not want to hurt anyone else, and so about turned and dashed around a corner out of the squad's sight.

"Stop right there! We have you surrounded!" Kotetsu almost kicked the wall in rage as she practically ran into another squad of guns, her calculating mind now planning an attack.

"Step back men. That is no way to treat our new addition." Kotetsu felt her hair stand on end as the assertive voice of her new owner echoed off of the surrounding walls.

She was doomed.

Herro! glad to see you all back to read this next chapter. I realise it is quite small in word count, but I will make it up to in the next chapter.

This was one of those really annoying transitional ones, which is all over the place and a bit boring storyline wise. But it is needed to fill in a few gaps... My brain is now mush XD

Hope you like and I will have the next one up as soon as possible

Enjoy!