Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are the OCs. Only five chapters left! It's all out of the frying pan and into the fire now. Enjoy!

..:-X-:..

137 – So Far

It was midmorning of her first day back in the office that Tifa became suspicious that her interns and co-workers were popping into her office, not as much to welcome her back, but rather to coo and play with Mikayla.

After debating about it and talking with Leon for hours over the course of her maternity leave, Tifa had come to the conclusion that she didn't want to be separated from Mikayla for an entire day yet, therefore she wouldn't be. So, instead of hiring a babysitter or daycare, she had simply brought her daughter to work with her. Aside from five minutes of crying, the baby had been perfect.

"She doesn't really do much, does she?" One of her interns, Sergeant Garrett Park, said, tapping his index finger against the bottom of Mikayla's foot.

"She sleeps a lot, contrary to what a lot of people say…Except at night, she's not so much a fan of sleeping at night." Tifa smirked. "What do you need, Park?"

Mikayla, who happened to currently be awake, looked up at Park and giggled, waving her fists. Park was a mountain of a man, towering over the younger recruits in Tifa's Combat Department. He had a square face, a gravelly voice, a shaved head, and narrow dark eyes, but his most recognizable feature aside from his size was the jagged scar that almost split his face in half. The scar started in the middle of his forehead at the hairline, carved its way over the bridge of his nose, slid down his cheek and under his right eye, and curled toward his ear.

The lumpy scar tissue and his overall intense demeanor tended to deter most soldiers and civilians, but Mikayla was reacting better to Park than she had reacted to most of the soldiers who tottered into Tifa's office to ogle at her. Tifa was chalking it up to the scar reminding her of Leon; though, while Leon's scar was a fairly clean line, Park's was a jagged, horrendous thing that had healed unusually and left chunks of his cheek missing.

The large man looked to Tifa. "Ma'am, it's come to my attention, and I think you should be aware of the specialty team that's being assembled under Commander Highwind and Merlin's authority."

Tifa sat back in her seat. "Is this about that missing satellite?"

Park grunted. "No, ma'am, this is about a missing person."

Tifa blinked, puzzled. Missing persons was the jurisdiction of the local police authorities, not the military. Unless it was one of their own on a mission, if they had a soldier MIA in the field, that was a different situation.

"Who?" She asked.

Park frowned, "Civilian cold case, Beth Marshall. Missing for twenty years, showed up a few months ago. She just disappeared again from an institution."

Tifa knit her brow, "Why the spotlight?"

"She's a special interest case for Merlin." Park informed. "Word is that Highwind thinks she has a connection to the black out."

"Black out?" Tifa lifted an eyebrow.

Park's frown deepened. "Since the satellite disappeared, a perimeter world called the Sun Kingdom experienced a worldwide black out. Not just power, the sun darkened, and the entire population had a spontaneous loss of consciousness."

Tifa was already reaching for her desk phone, "Who knows about this?"

"Everyone." At Tifa's sharp look, Park dropped his gaze. "Sorry, ma'am. It's been kept under wraps, away from the media."

"Dismissed." Tifa dialed Cid's number.

Park wordlessly left, closing her office door after himself.

"Hello?" Was Cid's greeting on the phone.

"What's with the secrecy? What are you up to?" Tifa opened.

The man let out a low curse. "Tifa, this isn't your puddle to splash in."

"Bull." Tifa glanced over to Mikayla, who was distracted by her own fists. "I had twelve soldiers stationed on that world. And what's with this missing person cold case?"

"Your soldiers are fine. I sent Major Banks and a squad out there. No casualties, no side effects, no nothing." Cid replied. "And the Marshall girl—"

"—escaped from an institution?" Tifa pressed. "Is she dangerous?"

"No, not from what I've gathered." He sounded exasperated. "Please, Tifa, you got enough on your plate getting back to your own department. Me and Merlin got this under control."

"I'm not—" Tifa took a breath, "I'm not trying to stir up anything. I just want to know what 'this' is and why it has to be kept under control."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out too." Cid exhaled. "Merlin's keeping it all pretty close to the chest, but I've listened to recorded sessions he had with her…Somethin' ain't right."

Tifa chewed the side of her lip. "Okay, well…Could you let me know of any developments?"

He gave a long sigh. "Sure. Just…keep it quiet, all right? We don't want a panic."

"Why would there be a panic?" Tifa asked. "You said she wasn't dangerous."

"Not from what I've gathered." He said quietly.

Tifa pursed her lips, looking at her infant daughter. "Find her, Cid."

..:-X-:..

138 – Far Enough

"I've never understood the whole 'walk the girl home' thing." Tabaeus mused aloud as she and Jake reached her apartment door. "I guess it's the whole chivalry spiel: make sure the woman gets home safely, but…I can handle myself. In fact, I should probably walk YOU home."

Jake gave a mock-laugh. "Oh, you think you're clever. Have you ever considered that I'm just a great guy who doesn't want to ditch you at your street?"

Tabaeus snorted and brought out her door key. "Oh, all right. I stand corrected."

"If we got jumped right now," he raised his fists. "Boom, I'd take that mother out."

"Right." She unlocked her door but didn't immediately open it.

"I'm a tough son of a gun. I'd protect you." He said with a wink.

"And if I don't need protecting?" She said, bordering on flirtatious as she faced him.

His face fell but he took a slow step toward her. "Can you just let me feel like a man for once without showing me up?" He smirked.

She grinned, leaning in closer. "It's not my job to protect your ego."

When he offered no comeback, she closed the distance between them, kissing him on the lips slowly. She meant it as a goodnight kiss, a quick peck on the lips to send him home with a smile after a successful third date. However, she found herself lingering and reluctant to detach from him. When he didn't withdraw either, she tilted her head slightly, deepening the kiss.

Jake moved closer, his hands moving to her sides as he kissed her. The motion caused her to lean back against her door, involuntarily twisting the knob and granting them access to her apartment. They stepped back into the meager space that served as a living room, kitchen, and dining room, his arms around her and her hands on his shoulders. She backed up against the dining room table abruptly and he stumbled against her.

He was warm and it had been so long since she had been physically close to anyone. Tabaeus kissed him hungrily and wrapped her arms around his neck. Jake reciprocated the kiss but suddenly not just on her lips. He was kissing her chin and her jaw and was working his way down her neck. She gasped lightly at the sensation, reclining her head involuntarily.

She ran a hand through his hair and persuasively tugged him back up to her face, kissing him and smiling into it. She could feel him smiling too, but she could also feel his hands at the base of her blouse, sliding under the fabric and starting to work the shirt up. Her heart began to race, and a flood of mixed emotions crashed through her chest: excitement, anxiety, anticipation, fear, pleasure…and panic.

The last time she had been with someone…

"Jake—" Her hands slid down, grasping his arms.

"Tabaeus." He whispered through a kiss against her neck.

"Jake, stop." She exhaled harshly.

Her tone made him pause, and, in a flash, his hands were off of her, and he leaned away, withdrawing. Relief and disappointment both clouded her, and she shrunk slightly.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, straightening her blouse.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking worried.

"Yes." She nodded quickly before stopping. "I'm—" She swallowed. "I'm sorry, but…not yet. Not tonight."

She was breathing fast, and horror swept through her. Was she going to have a panic attack? Seriously? Now? In front of Jake? Thinking about it didn't help and she held her arms about herself, shoulders hunching defensively.

"Okay." Jake looked alarmed now, lifting his hands palm forward placatingly. "That's okay. I'm not—Tabaeus, it's okay."

Tabaeus swallowed hard and looked at him. He was looking back at her, watching her, seeing her. He was seeing her in a way that she had made sure never to be seen: as vulnerable, as weak, as pathetic. Here a man was showing her physical affection for the first time in years, and she was not only shying away, but she was going into panic mode? Humiliating.

She straightened away from the table, loosening her arms from her sides and raising a hand. "Goodnight, Jake." She said softly, with an air of forced composure.

Jake looked perplexed and slightly hurt by the dismissal. "Wait…Can we talk about this? Because I'm confused…"

Tabaeus hid a grimace. He was reaching out to her, she acknowledged that, but she didn't know how to process it. She couldn't explain to him what was going through her mind in that moment. She wanted nothing more than to be with him tonight. The feel of his body so close to hers had been startlingly intoxicating, and his kiss…But at the same time, the idea terrified her. She didn't want their first time together to feel like that.

"No." She shook her head briefly. "We'll...talk tomorrow. I promise."

His expression of hurt deepened. "Don't push me away. Please."

You're a robot, Tabaeus. Mindy Tallman's words echoed.

She inhaled. "I'm not. Jake." She reached out and put her hand on his chest, looking him in the eyes. "I promise we'll talk tomorrow. Tonight, I need…to think."

"Okay." He looked disappointed but he nodded. "Call me if you need anything."

As soon as she was alone after he left, Tabaeus sank to her seat on the floor and cried.

..:-X-:..

139 – Too Far

Crack.

Aerith didn't know what happened, what exactly went wrong, or when it started to go wrong. All she knew in that moment was that she was dying.

Crack.

The floor was cool against her back, but the blood was warm in her mouth, and she coughed, turning her head. The pale blue-green crystals were lying where she'd dropped them, steam rising from the violent reaction that they'd unleashed. Scorch marks were carved across the stone floor of the old laboratory in the center of the old castle ruins of Radiant Garden. She had hoped…had thought that being closer to their origination would help her to stabilize the reaction and get a better view of what these stones could do.

She had tried…All these months, she had been trying to access the consciousness of Radiant Garden's heart. Not to control it or use it for any purpose, just…to understand. Pain throbbed through her chest, and Aerith winced, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She had wanted to contact the sentience of their world, and ever since that first attempt, the world had answered her. Quietly, wordlessly, but with a gentle mirth that had felt welcoming and curious. It had been curious about her just as much as she had been curious about it.

Fumes from the undercurrent curled up like smoke from her hands, where her skin had burned from the summoning. They undulated in the air above her and spread thin, dissipating in the draft of the castle. She coughed again, the spasm sending another spiral of pain up her back and blurring her vision.

Crack.

She could hear it.

Whispers. Some sounded like whispers…Others sounded like screaming, but they were so far away that their voices had dulled to echoes. Voices so close they were almost in her head.

She could feel it too.

Every shift, every shudder, every quiver of the world around her: it was like her nerve endings had become attached to the nerve endings of the planet, and all of its feelings filtered through into her body. Hyperawareness slammed across her mind like a sledgehammer, and she cried out in pain, overwhelmed.

"Stop…" She whispered, closing her eyes. "Take it away…I'm sorry…Make it stop…"

Stop…The whispers hissed.

Crack.

Stop…The others screamed.

She could hear the cracking…She could feel it like it was her own bones cracking, succumbing to some kind of immense pressure. It reached so much deeper than that, though. Through the stone floor, through the beams and the concrete and the wood that held this castle together, the crack was reaching farther and deeper into the bowels of the castle than she had ever thought existed. But they did exist, because she could feel them. In that moment, she could feel everything in Radiant Garden.

The crack started where the crystals had landed, jettisoned through the floor and toward the heart of the castle…The heart of the world? Aerith wheezed; it was getting harder to breathe.

"Let me go…" She gasped. "Please…stop…"

Stop…The whispers continued, mimicking her. Stop. Stop it. Stop it. STOP IT.

The screams joined in, much closer now, practically in her ear: STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT.

They weren't mimicking her though. They weren't mocking her. They weren't even referencing her, she realized through the fog of pain. They were screaming at the crack. The snare of nothingness that was separating matter as it stretched toward the soul of the castle.

Deeper and deeper the crack reached, and the world's fear made her own pulse accelerate. It was getting too close. It was nearing something that it should never get close to. Fear morphed into horror, gripping Aerith for reasons that she couldn't fathom. She had no idea what was down there, only that it should NEVER be touched. The crack in the floor had reached too far, it was getting too close, and it was her fault.

The floor shuddered under her body, and Aerith cried out, trying to move her limbs, but they were too sore and sprained to obey her.

Another voice reached through the chaos then, and light rushed up out of the crack in the floor like a flash light being turned on the in darkness.

"Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum it goes…" A woman's voice, close, real.

The light roared up in wisps of blue-green smoke, just like the undercurrent that she had been accessing for the past year.

"You'll find him Nowhere…" The voice continued.

"What?" Aerith gasped, unable to breathe. "Who's there? Help me, please…"

"They're all in cages…"

The smoke thickened into columns, wrapping around themselves like arms.

"Word like a ravine…ravine-ravine-ravine…"

Aerith screamed as the arms abruptly rushed forward, slamming around her in a violent hug. Oblivion swallowed her.

"Boom."

The lights went out, the undercurrent faded, and the chamber darkened, leaving only a shadowy figure of a woman standing over Aerith's motionless body.

"So messy…"

..:-X-:..

Preview for next week: No tears came; Cloud wasn't sure his body was capable of tears anymore.