DECEMBER 10TH, [ ν ] - εγλ 0007

SEVENTH HEAVEN BAR, SECTOR SEVEN SLUMS

Wealth rises. The sunniest spot on the street, the tallest point on the hill, the highest apartment in the block- wealth goes to the top before anywhere else, then, once settled, once sunk into the stonework, starts its slow journey back down. Wealth never moves quickly. It trickles; catches on every crack, every hole in the road; greedy fingers snatch at it as it passes; hands reach, collect as much as they can, gather it to them and hold it close; and the longer it trickles the less is left as scraps here and there are caught, used, treasured, lost, in avenues and neighbourhoods, in terraces and rooms above shops; until there is nothing left but the dregs for those in the lowest places to fight over, die over, in those quiet, desperate, unseen corners of the world that no-one chooses and no-one remembers until it's too late.

In Midgar there was nowhere lower than the slums and you could be sure as anything there weren't a trace of wealth making it that far down. Sure, Shinra talked big, always going on about making life better for everyone with Mako energy, but Barret couldn't see any trace of that down here. No sun, no sky, just that goddamn Plate. "Why stay," he'd heard some company bigwig asking on the bar's nearly busted television one day. "If life is so hard for those hanging on down there, why do they stay?"

Barret snorted. Where the Hell else were they gonna go? The desert stretched away from the city, a hundred miles in every direction, and even if you made it across that, what then? Make it to a new town? Start a new life? Barret doubted it. If you'd been begging every day of your life down in the Midgar slums odds were you'd just end up in the dirt begging every day anywhere else.

For years he'd done his best. When Shinra had come to Correl he'd even been excited. But too much had passed, too many days since then trying to make the best of the hand he'd been dealt since then. Hand… He caught himself before reaching for the handle of the bar door with his prosthesis. Damn it. Been a while since he'd made that kinda slip-up.

Locked. Looked like he was the first back. It'd been touch and go there for a while, patrols round every corner, but a couple quick dashes down blind alleys and a hefty ton of blind luck found him in lower areas that even the braver members of Shinra's army would think twice before following. The bar was dark when he finally got the door open. Damn hinges. With the constant dust everything was jammed in days down here. Amazing Tifa managed to stay in business at all when customers could barely get the door open.

All of a sudden, out of the gloom, a figure charged at him, arms raised, voice shrieking. "Daddy!"

Barret couldn't help but grin. He swept the little girl up into his arms, spinning her round. "Marlene! What'd I tell you 'bout stayin' downstairs 'til I was home?!" He proudly sat her on his shoulder.

Marlene prodded him playfully. "You're home now."

"Not what I meant and you know it. C'mon, if yer up you can help me get the lights turned on, I can't see a damn thing in here!"

Giggling, Marlene hopped down and ducked behind the bar. A fumbling with switches, a crackle of electricity and the dim bar lights blinked into life one by one. Even the power they got down here was nothing compared to up top. Whatever was left once every sector had had their fill. Barret hoped the blackout after the explosion lasted a while; give 'em all a taste of what life was like below when you couldn't just get everything you wanted when you wanted it.

"Did you get the job done, Daddy?"

"You betcha we did!"

"Taught 'em a lesson, huh?"

"Hell yeah." He sat down heavily, bar stool creaking under the weight. "Talkin' of lessons, you get yer homework done while we was gone like I said?"

She grinned up at him. "You betcha! It was super easy too."

Barret couldn't help but smile. There may not have been blood between them but when was it ever true that you needed blood to be a father? Marlene was still the best damn thing that'd ever happened to him.

With a rattle of locks the door burst open again behind them, two familiar figure tumbling in; Biggs and Wedge, the latter looking more than a little worse for wear. "Holy crap," he panted, clutching at his barrel chest. "That was way, WAY too close!"

"Time to work on that cardio, buddy," Biggs said, patting the short young man's shoulder. He too was looking out of breath, his customary headband eschew and stained with sweat. "In this line of work I see a lot more running for our lives in future." He looked over at Barret, smiling. "We did good, huh?"

Barret smiled back, Marlene hopping back onto his shoulder. "We did great."

So Wedge and Biggs had made it at least. They were good folks, all of them, good folks who deserved better, but Barret didn't have any illusions. Shinra weren't gonna just let them go. They'd have to get faster, smarter, if they were gonna keep this up.

Biggs glanced around the bar. "The others not back yet? Tifa? Jessie?"

A voice from the doorway; "Right behind you." Jessie stood framed in the doorway. She was covered it cuts and bruises, a red line oozing above her left eye. "And I could really use a drink."

"You look like it," Biggs replied, running over to her. "What happened!?"

"Shinra happened. I was stupid, took a wrong turn and got trapped. Had to fight my way out. Now how about that drink? Tifa!"

"She ain't here yet."

"Seriously? Damn." She limped around the bar, grabbing a cold can from one of the two small fridges. "I figured she'd be the first of us home."

Barret drummed his fingers on the bar. He'd figured the same thing; out of all of 'em Tifa had seemed the only dead cert on getting out of tonight unscathed. So why the Hell wasn't she back yet?

As if on cue there was a knocking on the door. The room fell silent. Barret gestured with his good hand; Get down. Jessie ducked behind the bar with Marlene, Wedge and Biggs pressing themselves against the wall. Barret crept to the door, cursing every squeaking floorboard on the way. More knocking. He reached out, seizing the door handle; then with a yell threw it open, bringing his machine gun arm to bear.

Tifa yelled back at him, startled by the multiple barrels now inches from her face. "Barret," she hissed. "Put that damn thing down!"

"God damn, girl, you scared us!"

"What, you think Shinra are gonna knock? Come on, give me a hand with her."

For the first time Barret noticed the girl leaning heavily on Tifa's shoulder. "Who's she!?"

"Just someone I met on the way home, she got caught up in a scrap with me and I had to pull her out there with me."

"Dammit, Tifa, this ain't the time to be pickin' up strays-"

"We can argue about it later, right now can we just get inside?" She ducked under his arm, pulling the girl with her. She sat her on a barstool, steadying her. It had been a long night. Clinging onto the train had been even harder with Aerith under her arm. They'd ridden all the way to the end of the line, to a rusted-over graveyard of abandoned carriages, just to make sure no one was still following them. Scrambling their way through had been tough going; more than once Tifa had been certain they wouldn't make it, that one of them would slip up, get hurt, something, that something would make them unable to continue. But by some miracle they'd made it. Aerith was tougher than she looked, Tifa had to give her that. There was something about her, a delicacy to herself that made you want to protect her, but not while being without strength; she put Tifa in mind of someone who'd perhaps seen too much, enough to break most people, but who had chosen instead to stay strong, and wasn't afraid to share that strength.

Barret looked at the newcomer. Tifa was always bringing in some kid she'd found in the slums, trying to fix every damn problem for every damn person. He sighed inwardly. Not like that would ever change. "So," he said, gesturing to Jessie to pass over some drinks. "Where'd Tifa pick you up from?"

"I was on the streets after the explosion, when the men from Shinra started attacking. If Tifa hadn't found me I would've…" Her voiced trailed away, scared by the possibilities.

"Damn," catcalled Barret, grinning proudly." You must've had the best seat in the house then! What did you think? Do we do good work or what?"

"Wait… You did that?" Aerith leaned away from them, fear filling her eyes. "The explosion? The fire? That was all you?"

"Hell yeah it was!" Barret grinned proudly. "Showin' those up there that the little guys down here still matter!"

Aerith was quiet for a moment. She stared from Barret to Tifa, as if looking for some kind of sign, maybe some glimpse it could all still be some crazy joke. At last she spoke. "I know people up there. Just living on the Plate doesn't make them guilty of anything. It doesn't mean they deserve to get hurt."

"It's what's gotta be done. Someone's got to save the planet from Shinra. If we don't do it, who will?"

Aerith's eyes flashed with anger. "So now it's okay to kill? To hate people you don't even know?"

"That ain't what I'm sayin'-"

"It's wonderful, wanting to defend the planet, but you're all talking about hurting so many people! Is that so different to Shinra?"

The room fell into a hush. Barret's face was stormy. "It ain't like that."

"You can keep telling yourself that. It won't make it true." She stood, a little wavering at first, but grew stronger, more certain. "Thank you for helping me, but it's time for me to go." The door swung shut behind her.

Cursing under her breath, Tifa ran after her. Outside, Sector Seven sat in its perpetual grey twilight, lit by old bulbs and faded neon that glowed like forgotten promises. Tifa called out to the girl already striding away. "Aerith, wait-"

"I have to go home, Tifa. I'm not like you, I'm not a terrorist."

"If you could stay, if you saw what we're trying to do-"

"No! I'm sorry, I just can't be a part of this."

Tifa could see that there was nothing she could say to persuade her. "I guess.. I'll see you around then?"

Aerith closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, calming herself. "Listen. I'm glad I met you, and I truly do think you're a good person. I'm very grateful for how you saved me. I just wish you could see that what you're doing won't get you what you want." She opened her eyes again, managing a smile. "I have a little flower patch in the church under Sector Five. If you're ever around feel free to drop in."

Tifa smiled back. "I will."

With that the flower girl was gone, and suddenly the gloom was that much deeper, the air that much colder. Tifa shivered. She already missed those quick, clever eyes and that smile… She'd have to see when she could next get away. She could probably do with some time in a church anyway. The scared face of the SOLDIER she'd helped Barret kill swum into her mind, his desperate eyes still pleading with her, begging-

She shook her head, bringing herself back to the moment. Focus. There was still work to do.

Back in the bar things had gotten heated. Barret still stood, facing Wedge, Biggs and Jessie now by his side. "The Hell you talkin' about now?"

"Listen, I know a guy who knows a guy. He can get us fake IDs, the good stuff, fool the scans and everything."

"And what the Hell we need those for?"

"We don't," Wedge said, rolling his eyes. "I just don't particularly fancy another journey that could end with me painted across rail tracks!"

Jessie snorted. "So that's your answer? Fake identification prints? You really think Shinra won't notice a whole bunch of those coming through at once?"

"What's going on," Tifa asked, confused.

"Wedge seems to think trusting some Wall Market paper maker is a better option than riding the rails like last time."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me."

Jessie spun towards her, shock clear on her face. "Seriously? You trust it?"

"No. I trust my friends." She turned to Wedge. "You really think this'll work?"

Wedge practically glowed. "I do."

"Then I'm with Wedge." Barret opened his mouth, ready to object, but Tifa silenced him with a glance. "Look, we got lucky last night, but by now they've figured out how we got in and out. There's no way the trains won't be watched and you know as well as I do that they're the only way to get from here to the Plate. We stand a much better chance of getting through if we're on board than if we stay on the roof again."

"Dammit…"

"You know I'm right, Barret."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. How quickly can you get these things anyhow?"

"Well I guess that depends," Wedge shrugged. "When were you thinking we'd do the next attack? If it's still happening that is."

"Of course it's still happening," Jessie said angrily. "Listen, after last night all of us have to be in this a hundred percent. No matter what that girl said, we're in this to the end. Right, Barret?"

"Right."

"Great. So when are we doing this?"

Barret grinned, his teeth wolfish in the gloom "Tonight. We're gonna get 'em while they're hurtin' and attack again tonight." He glanced out the window, ignoring the looks of shock on the faces of everyone else. Far above them the vast, dark bulk of the Plate blocked out any rays of morning sun that those lucky bastards up above got to taste. Things were gonna change. Barret's eyes hardened. "Shinra ain't gonna know what hit 'em."