What to do

"So. These two are so tough to beat that it took a 10:2 ratio to punch the blond in the face once?"

"Yes sir."

"And all of our boys were armed?"

"Yes sir."

"Well then. Get me Theo. That bastard will do anything I tell him."

The days drew into weeks, all the while with the Seventh Heaven recovering. Barret left once again, promising that the next time he returned he would take Marlene and Denzel into a house he was looking to buy. Not everything was perfect, however. After Cloud and Tifa humiliated the Blood Bullets they became a target, and ever stronger (but still inconsequential) gang members and groups arrived to challenge the pair. Along with up front fights, thieves would often break into the house at night, stealing items and slowing recovery, no matter how good of locks the pair bought. Eventually, people started avoiding the Seventh Heaven for fear of becoming targets themselves.

Around two in the afternoon one dead weekday, Tifa slapped her washcloth down onto the counter and went outside before the armed assailant had time to fire a shot into the bulletproof windows.

A tall man jeered down at Tifa. He had jet black hair spiked up sloppily and had a headband around his forehead. His scarred, dark complexion and destroyed left eye let Tifa know that he was used often by the Blood Bullets. He said in a haughty, damaged voice, "A little girl like you is who's givin' my boys trouble? Where's your boyfriend hiding?"

Ignoring his comment, Tifa sprinted towards the man and ducked under his arm as he attempted to shoot her. She kicked his ankles, hearing a pleasing crack, and the man toppled with a growl.

"A big boy like you is having trouble with little old me?" Tifa sneered as the man got back to his feet. Cloud trotted outside and sighed when he saw the wounded gang banger.

"Another?" he put his hands in his pockets.

"Hmph. You'll pay for that, missy," the tall man growled. He jumped past Tifa, heading for the house, but was blocked by Cloud, "Outa the way, short stuff," he aimed to kick Cloud in the stomach, but was dodged and ended up with Cloud's gloved fist in his face. The man stumbled back and Tifa tripped him a second time, knocking him flat on his back. He jumped to his feet in an instant and fired at Cloud, who blocked with his sword as he advanced. Other gang members emerged from the woodwork and Tifa could practically hear the multiple locks click into place on every door on the street. From the perceived safety of behind windows, a few faces peeked out from curtains. The large man bore down on Cloud, drawing a hidden blade and locking steel with the experienced swordsman.

"Cloud, you take care of big guy. I'll get the grunts. Back me up when you can," Tifa said hurriedly before getting low, casting a handful of protective spells on herself and Cloud, and rushing the large group.

"Obviously," Cloud grunted, struggling to push out of the clash with the other sword. He pulled back and swiped at the larger man's legs, ducking quickly out of reach of the large assassin's thin blade.

Tifa focused on her group of delinquents. Doing a rough crowd estimate was easy. The problem from there was how to deal with close to 30 armed thugs. She couldn't go too crazy with magic or she would damage neighbor's houses or hurt civilians. Keeping this in mind, her options were limited mostly to demi, light fire, and thunder spells. The group surrounded Tifa, confident in their numbers, and a mild bloodbath ensued. Tifa was leaping from person to person, relying heavily on her mastered Demi materia for the beginning of the battle to wear her attackers down, then switched to fire and thunder materia about the time that Cloud joined her. This "no kill" policy that she and Cloud had adopted was becoming very hard to maintain the more the gang members attacked their house. A short while into the fight, Shelke ran out of the house and assisted in bringing down the shrinking, troublesome group, and with that extra fighter, the Blood Bullets were slowly taken under control.

After all of the grunts had been knocked out or had fled, Cloud, Tifa, and Shelke walked over to where Cloud had cast Stop to keep their big attacker from attacking. Cloud turned to Tifa and Shelke and caught his breath, "What do we do with this one?"

Tifa knelt next to the struggling immobilized man, "If any of you garbage target our house again," she huffed, "I will call every single friend that I have, we will personally come to your base-we know exactly where it is- and we will rip your party apart from the inside out. Got it?"

"I will notify Reeve," Shelke walked a pace away and pulled out her cell.

Cloud huffed and took Tifa's elbow, "Come on. It'll be a bit before the spell wears off…"Cloud paused. He looked around for something before looking at his and Tifa's captive, "Shit!" Cloud grabbed Tifa and Shelke and ran into the house as the bomb strapped under the man's shirt went off, spewing shrapnel and body parts everywhere. Tifa yelped as she and Cloud flew into the door with such force that it was knocked off its hinges. Cloud hissed and bit his lip as he and the girls landed with a thud several feet inside of the bar.

Shelke looked outside in utter astonishment, "Why would someone kill themselves in such a stupid way?"

Tifa shook her head and she and Cloud sat up, "A…" she shook her head again.

"A suicide bomber…" Cloud looked back out the door at the gruesome street and the torn up main body of their first attacker. People were opening their doors to look out and yell at the sight, which was tugging other curious neighbors into looking, "A god damn suicide bomber just attacked the house."

Shelke couldn't hide her confusion. Ever since arriving to live with Cloud and Tifa, the girl had become ever more expressive, "This is going too far," she noted, "Something has to be done."

Tifa nodded and stood, "I-I'm going to go get Marlene and Denzel from school. Cloud, you coming?"

Cloud stood, "Yeah, can you take care of yourself if this place gets attacked again, Shelke? Or do you want to come with us?"

"I will stay here. If I leave, the house will be totally open and there will be no one to keep anyone from robbing you blind," she picked up her phone, "Are you still there, Reeve?...You need to eliminate the Blood Bullets as your next priority...I don't care. Cloud, Tifa, you go and get the children."

Cloud nodded, "Thanks, Shelke. Just shoot us a call if you need anything, even if just to pick up a snack or something."

"I do not see how that is important, but okay, I will call you if I need anything. I know you know where their base is, Reeve. We gave you the information weeks ago."

Tifa took Cloud by the sleeve and started toward the back door, but Cloud stopped her and guided her upstairs to change clothes before leaving. Both he and Tifa were covered in dirt and had a smattering of blood on them. Not quite appropriate to pick the kids up from school.

Once out of the house, Cloud looked over at Tifa, "Are you alright?"

She nodded, "Yeah! I'm fine!"

"…"

Tifa laughed, "What? Why wouldn't I be fine? None of us got hurt, and the only real damage was to the door frame."

"I can see you shaking."

Tifa's lip twitched like it did when she was a kid and she was about to cry, "I'm fine."

"You're worried about the kids?"

"Well, it's my job to worry about them," Tifa laughed again a bit too loudly, "I just felt like hanging out with them. Maybe grabbing a treat to eat."

Cloud grabbed Tifa by the shoulders and looked her in the eye, "I'm not letting Marlene and Denzel see you like this. They'll know something's wrong, and seeing you this scared will terrify them."

"I'm not-"

Cloud rubbed Tifa's arms awkwardly, "Just calm down first."

Tifa's voice shook, "Why? Why, why, why can't the world just leave us alone? Why?"

"Because we lived in Nibelheim when it burned down. Because we're cursed to protect others. Because we're just that damn unlucky. I don't know. But we have to deal with it. Or move out of the city, that's always an option."

Tifa coughed to cover a sob and pressed herself close to Cloud, "I can't believe they sent a man to his death just to hurt us. Imagine if they got a hold of Marlene and Denzel!?"

"That won't happen," Cloud assured.

Tifa smacked him and looked him in the eye, "You said it yourself! They've been kidnapped on our watch before! Loz took Marlene from me when we were in the same damn room! The only way to end this is to go and rip apart every stupid gang in this stupid city! If we only got rid of the-"

"Reeve is working as best as he can, Tifa. He's already gotten two of the biggest gangs under control. A lot of the smaller ones have already collapsed."

"But more keep on popping up wherever one dies! They're like cockroaches!"

"Yeah, but so was Deepground. And I'm pretty sure that the average Deepground soldier is tougher to beat than the average criminal."

"Yeah…but none of them blew up a bomb strapped to their chest in front of our house."

"Yeah...We should probably find a safe house for Marlene and Denzel to stay at until this gets taken care of. Hey, maybe they could stay with Elmyra. You remember Aeris' mom?"

Tifa felt suddenly very guilty. Ever since they had gotten Marlene back from Mrs. Gainsborough, she had hardly given the woman a second thought, "Yeah. Marlene already knows her. Doesn't she live in Kalm?"

"Last I checked. We should make sure she's alright after the whole Deepground fiasco, though."

"…Are you sure it's okay to ask her for a favor like this? I mean, we haven't talked with her since just after Meter fell other than you doing a couple of deliveries for her."

Cloud shrugged, "She's out best bet right now," he started taking count on his fingers, "Vincent is who-knows-where. I doubt he went back to that coffin. Barret obviously can't take them. I'll be damned if Yuffie takes them. Cid and Shera are an option, but they're in Rocket Town. Reeve is in Edge and way too busy. Our only other choice would be Nanaki, and I'm not sure how he'd do with kids."

"Yeah, you're right. But for now, let's go get said children from school before they get taken hostage or something."

"You're all right now?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Cloud," Tifa gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek. Cloud did an awkward cough/laugh and blushed before taking Tifa by the hand and leading the way to Marlene and Denzel's school. Despite Tifa's calm demeanor though, Cloud could still feel her hand trembling. In light of the current situation, the best way to deal with what just happened was to hide it in the same closet as everything else that was wrong with Cloud and Tifa's lives.

Woo! This has got to be my quickest update ever! The writing process is flowing from my fingertips! But not really, that would be weird. But it still feels that way :D