Playing Nurse

Cloud had to admit, he felt horrible when he made Marlene worry. But did she have to find it necessary to give him the cold shoulder? This was even worse than when she hid from Cloud by going behind Vincent of all people. The vampire. Although, the girl did make a mean cup of hot chocolate.

When Cloud got to the hiding place that Tifa had found for the group, she shooed Marlene away with Zell in tow, and asked Denzel if he would keep Marlene company. Once the kids were gone, Tifa and Barret worked on making sure that Cloud didn't bleed out, a head wound and a mutilated upper torso causing the blond to listlessly sit (or lay) whenever Tifa or Barret did anything for his injuries. Once his bleeding was satisfactorily stopped, Tifa cast a light cure spell to make sure the wounds didn't open easily. Restore materia did well in emergencies, but it was always best to let the body heal itself whenever possible. Tifa sent Barret to get the kids while she helped Cloud to a resting place.

The hiding spot that Tifa had found was in the mountains north of Kalm, and she thanked Fenrir's speed for being able to get to and from Edge so quickly. Half assisting, half dragging Cloud, Tifa made her way to a dip in the mountain made by a gathering of earth around a clump of trees, and set her burden down.

"Sorry," Cloud slowly shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

"You're fine. Just rest for a while," Tifa said as she sat down next to him.

The pair sat in silence for a few seconds before Cloud fell over onto Tifa's shoulder, apparently asleep.

"Cloud…" Tifa sighed quietly as she stared at the man net to her. He didn't move other than the slow rise and fall of his ribs.

"Yo, Teef!" Barret called as he returned with the children, "How's Spike doin'?"

Cloud's face contorted, "Barret. Shut up. I'm sleeping," he grumbled before settling more onto Tifa and silencing once more.

Tifa's jaw dropped and her face flushed a bright crimson, "You're awake?!"

Cloud grunted.

Barret laughed somewhat quietly and Marlene 'Aww'ed at the pair.

"Anyways," Barret smirked, "Whaddaya want me to do with the baby?"

"Just give him here," Tifa replied and extended her free arm, which Barret willingly put the sleeping Zell into.

"Now, I don' know if this is the right time to ask this, but…whose baby izee?"

"He belonged to a friend," Tifa said as she looked down at the baby in her arm, "But we're going to have to give him away. He can't live with us the way we are now."

"Why not? You know 'im better'n anyone else, Teef."

"We have no way to feed him, Barret. He's just now started trying mashed solid food, and I only have what I was able to grab before leaving the bar."

"Tifa?" Denzel stepped forward, "What do we do now? Where are we going to live?"

"I don't know, Denzel. Until this all blows over, I suppose we'll just take what we can get-"

Tifa's cellphone rang and she hurriedly offered Zell to Barret, then answered, "Hello?"

"Is everyone with you, Tifa?" Reeve asked.

"Yes. Well…we don't have Zelda. She got lost in the attack…"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is everyone in good condition?"

"Cloud got injured badly when he stayed in Edge to look for Zelda, and I have some scrapes on my arms and legs-"

"Honey, those are more serious than just 'scrapes'," Barret scoffed.

"Shut up, Barret. But everyone else is fine."

"Barret's with you?"

"Yes. Would you like to talk with him?"

"I'd actually like to talk to Cloud if I can. I imagine that it wasn't a grunt's lucky shot that took him down. It was likely a Tsviet. A Deepground elite."

"Deepground…so they were the ones that attacked?"

"Yes. Can I talk to Cloud?"

"Um, hold on a second, he's dead asleep."

"Alright. Thank you, Tifa."

Tifa set the phone in her lap and shook Cloud's uninjured shoulder lightly, "Cloud, Reeve's on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

When Cloud remained motionless, Marlene and Denzel joined in the light pursuit of waking him. It didn't take long before Barret got impatient and covered Zell's ears.

"YO! Spike! Wake UP, dumbass!"

Cloud snapped to attention and kicked Barret in the kneecap, "What the hell, Barret?!"

Denzel smirked. Tifa shot him a look.

"Those are grownup words. Only use them when you're really mad," she warned.

Denzel nodded and Tifa handed the phone to Cloud, "Reeve wants to talk to you."

"Hm," Cloud accepted Tifa's phone and held it to his ear, "Reeve?"

"How are you, Cloud?"

"I've been better. Although…nevermind."

"Nevermind what?"

"Forget it. What did you want to ask me?" No way was Cloud ever telling Reeve he felt better because he got to sleep next to Tifa.

"What did the person who hurt you look like?"

"There were two. One of them called herself Rosso the Crimson. The other one dwarfed Barret and was blue."

"Dwarfed me? Damn, Spike, you musta been hit harder than I thought!"

"I'm injured, not stupid. The guy was at least 8 feet tall."

Tifa lightly touched Cloud's head, "You've lost a lot of blood. You might not be thinking clearly."

Cloud scowled, "I'm thinking fine. I didn't believe it myself when I first saw the guy. But he obviously had Mako in his system, as did Rosso. You've seen what Mako can do to people."

Tifa raised her eyebrows, then lowered her head.

"Well," Reeve continued, "I'd say that, against two of the strongest Tsviets, you did well enough if you survived, Cloud. The big one you described goes by Azul."

"Hmph, figures," Cloud scoffed. His head reeled and he closed his eyes, "Hey. Reeve. Do you have a place where…five or six people and a bike can stay?"

"Of course. I'll send a truck your way."

Tifa held her hand out for the phone. Cloud handed it to her and settled back down onto her shoulder to sleep more (after shooting a warning glance at Barret not to make any comments).

"It's Tifa again. We're north of Kalm in the mountains. And do you know of any safe orphanages far from here?"

"No. I could look for some, but why? I didn't think you'd be able to part with Denzel at this point."

Denzel froze, "I'm not-"

"No, I could never give Denzel away! He's family, Reeve! Don't worry, Denzel," Tifa smiled at the boy, who returned the gesture, before returning her attention to the phone, "I'm talking about a baby that a friend of mine had, but she was lost in the battle over Edge. He needs a place to stay as soon as possible. We only have a little bit of food for him."

"Ah, I'll see what I can do, Tifa, but I can't make any promises about how near or far the orphanage will be."

"Just as long as it's safe."

"Right, well I have to go, Tifa. Vincent and I are on our way to Edge."

"Stay safe, Reeve. And pass that along to Vincent."

There was a "Thanks, Tifa," not far in the distance. Tifa smiled. There was a shuffling as the phone switched hands and then Vincent's voice was louder in the speaker, "And I might know a good orphanage to send the kid to. I'll have to check into it, though, to see if it's still there after all this time."

"Really? Thank you, Vincent. I'll let you two go now. Stay safe. When this all gets done with, I think I'll be in the mood to cook a big meal, so let Cid, Yuffie, and Nanaki know if you get the chance. Did you hear that, Reeve!"

"Sure did!" he called back, "Looking forward to it!"

"Hmph," Vincent chuckled, "Right. Bye, Tifa," he hung up.

Barret handed Zell back to Tifa, then adjusted Marlene, who had insisted on being picked up and was quickly succumbing to sleep. Denzel slowly made his way to Tifa's other side and sat down.

"Can I lean on you, too?" he asked shyly.

Tifa laughed quietly, "Of course, Denzel. Didn't you hear me? You're family, and all of the family is allowed in the dog pile," she smiled teasingly.

"Ha! Wudja mind if I joined in, too, Teef?"

"If you can find a spot that wouldn't crush anybody," Tifa laughed back.

Denzel moved a bit to give Barret a space next to Tifa like everybody else. Barret ruffled Denzel's hair and sat down, "Thanks, Denzel!"

Cloud made a noise in his sleep and Tifa played with the side of his sweater, somewhat upset that she'd have to find another navy blue, sleeveless, ribbed sweater in his size with a turtleneck. And they could be expensive if not found in the right place! This last one, Tifa had gotten lucky at a second hand shop. It had been a bit big, but all Tifa had to do was throw it in the wash to make it the right size. She yawned and wondered if Reeve's contact would be able to find them. All she had said was that the group was in the Kalm Mountains.

Tifa and Barret fought sleep and kept watch for the truck Reeve sent, but for the next couple hours, nothing happened. Everyone except those two slept like rocks and wouldn't be disturbed.

"Damn," Barret sighed after a while, "Why am I so sleepy? I just got here. And where's that truck?"

"We shouldn't be this sleepy…" Tifa dug through her bag and tossed Barret an esuna, "Something's hoping for an easy feast."

"That explains it," Barret drank the esuna and prepped his gun in case anything came along that wasn't wanted.

Tifa dug through her bag some more and pulled out a small handful of ribbons, "Want one?" she asked while tying one around her wrist. She tied one onto Cloud's wrist and offered one of the last two to Barret, who took it somewhat reluctantly.

"Never could figure out why a damn ribbon is the best status ward out there…"

Tifa shrugged lightly, rousing Cloud.

"Mm?" the blond looked blearily at Tifa.

"It's nothing. I just gave you a ribbon," she said pointing to the fabric on Cloud's wrist. Cloud stared at it and his face soured.

"I hate these things."

"But they work wonders. So, sh," Tifa responded.

"I think I'm gonna stand with Spike on this one," Barret rumbled before settling down in his spot once more.

Cloud had drifted back into sleep (entirely of his own accord this time) by the time the truck arrived to pick them all up.