Sorry about the wait :( I lost my laptop charger, so I had to use miscellaneus computers to get this chapter done
Rest
"I gotta say," Cait Sith said, "I'm surprised that you survived with only the injuries that you have, Cloud."
"You've said that already," Cloud mumbled. His eyes remained closed as he leaned back against the wall of the truck. The vehicle hit a bump and Cloud snapped his head forward with a hiss.
"How bad is it?" Tifa turned Cloud's chin away from her and tried to see through his hair to the injury underneath. She didn't say anything, but she was worried about how much blood he had lost. His skin was cool and clammy, and he was paler than usual.
"It hurts, but I'm fine," he replied.
"You gonna spoil that boy, Teef," Barret scoffed.
"I think that with all we've been through, we deserve a bit of spoiling," Cloud shot back.
Barret laughed, "True dat! True dat! Man, you funny when you're sleepy, Spike!"
"Mf," Cloud placed his elbows on his knees and hung his head. He started tapping his foot quickly.
"Oh, Barret, leave him alone," Tifa laughed, "And you should watch your daughter."
"Eh?" Barret looked over and reacted just soon enough to keep a sleeping Marlene from toppling to the floor with Denzel. He pulled the kids into his lap, "C'mere, you two."
Cait hopped up onto Barret's knee, "Never took you for the fatherly type, mun!"
"Ah, shut it. I been takin' care o' Marlene since she was a toddler, and she likes Denzel. As long as he don't get any funny ideas, I like him just fine."
Tifa laughed and gently pulled Cloud close to her so that he was resting on her shoulder.
"How 'bout you go tease Tifa and tell her to marry that stupid boy, already?" Barret said with a mischievous smirk.
"Oi, he's got a point, Tifa. You two obviously have eyes only for each other," Cait Sith joined in with a cackle.
Tifa flushed deeply, "Knock it off, you two, before I do it for you. He's hurt."
"Huh! If I got busted up like wonderboy here, would you be my pillow? Pretty please, Teef?" Barret cooed.
Tifa kicked him in the shin.
"Ouch! Damn! That's the leg Spike kicked!"
"Serves you right," Tifa huffed, "So, Reeve. Where exactly are you taking us?"
The Cait froze while Reeve took control of its speech and movement.
"The old President Shinra had a bunch of bunkers built all over the continent. I'm bringing you to one close to the complex that I'm housing the WRO from, but far enough out of the way that you won't be targeted unless someone knows who and where you are. And so you don't wonder if I'm underestimating all of you, it's for the children's sakes. I want you to stay with them."
"Course we're stayin' with the kids. You crazy or sumthin'?" Barret replied, shaking the doll off his knee.
The robotic cat landed neatly with a display of stars, "Alright, good. You should be about there, just give the driver another 5 to 10 minutes. Vincent and I are out, but I'm having some friends of mine meet you at the entrance."
"Okay. Are you going to shut this Cait down now, or set it on auto?" Tifa asked.
"I'm putting him on auto. He needs to guide you to the entrance of the bunker. You can't get to the entrance you're arriving at by car, and it's hard to find. Bye, guys."
"Bye, Reeve," Tifa and Barret replied.
The Cait Sith doll froze for a moment while its controls were returned to auto, then bounced up to its Moogle and rested.
A few minutes later, the vehicle came to a stop and the driver got out.
"We're here. Do you want me to wheel the bike in, help Cloud, or help the kids?"
"You can get the bike. Barret has the kids and I'll get Cloud," Tifa replied.
Once roused, Cloud was mostly able to follow Cait Sith unassisted, although Tifa was there in case he needed help. The group followed the cat through a small, thick forest, which eventually led to small cliffs. Cait walked along the side of the cliffs for about 100 feet, then started climbing with the help of several moderately sized outcroppings.
"Yo, Cait. Cain'tchu see we got stuff that'd be hard to carry up a cliffside?" Barret called.
Cloud glared.
"Reeve had a good idea of the condition your group would be in. Just wait a second," Cait replied before continuing its ascent and going out of sight. Sometime later, a piece of the cliff opened like a door.
"Hm, well isn't that quaint?" Tifa mused.
"Let's go," Cloud started walking. Tifa caught up with him and grabbed his elbow when he stumbled.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
"Don't worry about me. I'm just a little dizzy," he replied as he straightened and continued up the hallway.
Tifa sighed and followed. The group made their way high into the cliffs after meeting back up with Cait Sith. Denzel woke up on the way and insisted on walking. All was silent during the long walk through a confounding web of tunnels, and the only light was from bulbs over the head of the walkers that activated when they walked near them. The man who had driven Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the children to the edge of the forest was constantly looking around the tunnels; forward to make sure he didn't run himself or Cloud's bike into anything, sideways to gauge the width of the tunnels and to look at the patterns of rock in the wall, and back to make sure they weren't being followed. It was getting on Barret's nerves. By the time that the group had made it to the end of their trek, Barret was displaying a positively award-winning amount of self control. Tifa fretted as she saw Cloud progressively become more prone to stumbling, but remained silent.
Cait Sith bounced up to a metal door blocking the tunnel off and kicked the wall next to it, popping a keypad put. After punching in the appropriate password, the door rose into the ceiling to reveal a metal hallway stretching far to the left and right. Cloud groaned silently from his spot on the wall. Tifa rubbed his shoulder.
"You ain't the only one tired o' walkin', Spike," Barret growled.
"Oh, don't worry!" Cait Sith assured, "It's not much further!" and away he bounced.
The cat hadn't lied. Within the next 3 minutes, the group was in a bunker sparsely, but richly furnished in a style only the old President Shinra would deem "good". The main room had a large, gaudy rug in the middle of it with a single armchair and a sofa arranged on it, while the adjoining bedroom had a single, massive bed backed up against the wall. A closet revealed a plethora of spare blankets and some pillows (and shiny black shoes under oversized suits), while the kitchen held no more than what was necessary: a stove, oven, counter, and recently stocked food in the cabinets and fridge. At least Reeve had a nice place for everyone.
While everyone was settling down, Tifa tried to help Cloud get back to sleep, but the guy seemed far too restless to get anywhere close. He would lay down for a minute or so, then sit up and fidget. Either tapping a foot or twiddling his fingers or messing with his hair. Anything to keep himself moving, really. Then he would lie back down and try to get comfortable, but the constant flipping and turning itself would keep him up.
"Do you want me to cast sleep?" Tifa asked after watching Cloud flop around for about 10 minutes.
"Would you please?" the disgruntled blond muttered, totally encumbered by pillows and the large comforter.
"Sure."
Cloud was out in an instant. Tifa walked over to the side of the tangled bed and worked at freeing Cloud from his self-made prison. Once she accomplished her task, she sat on the edge of the bed and played with Cloud's hair.