Summary: Tifa isn't sure she wants to be part of this group, but it's not really a choice she has down here. Still, she'll keep her eyes open. But a former SOLDIER turns out to be the last thing she needs to be concerned about.

Chapter 16: Unwelcoming Halls

Tifa wondered what the hells she was doing, following Zack Fair. Sure, he seemed decent, seemed to know what he was doing, but he was still SOLDIER – one of Shinra's pet bully boys.

He'd ditched the uniform – boy, had he ever – but SOLDIERs couldn't be trusted. Whatever Shinra did to make them super strong, super fast, super hard to kill, also made them super crazy. She'd already known about Sephiroth, but just look at what Fair had said about Rhapsodos and Hewley.

Not that she, or any of them, had much choice about who they were going to fight with. They were two layers down in another one of Shinra's Evil Fucking Labs, and goddess knew what they could encounter.

They distributed their gear, pooling all their materia to try to make the best matches for everyone for what they might encounter. Like Cloud pointed out, most monsters were weak to Blizzard and most people were weak to fire – so all they made sure all the Ice and Fire materia was equipped.

They'd found a couple decent battle packs, and she, Cloud, and Zack loaded themselves up with the heavy potions. Aerith kept Marlene's tiny pink backpack because, "Physical strength isn't my strong suit. Besides, the colour suits me." She'd smiled, inviting Tifa to join in the joke, but all Tifa could think was that Aerith's eyes were just so green.

It was an odd thing to think about another woman.

"Alrighty-then. We just about ready?" Fair asked. He stood back, hands on hips, and looked at each of them in turn and they all just stood there and let him.

Fair gave a small, mocking smile. "I only have one word of advice," he said. "No matter the situation never let go your pride as a mercenary. Got it?

Tifa shifted, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Seriously?" Did he think they were his private army?

Zack's smile brightened. "Nah. Let's do what we need to so we can get the fuck out of here."

That at least Tifa could fully support. "Which way?"

Fair squinted and looked about. Behind where they landed, the room ended, but there seemed to be a ladder down to a lower level. In front of them, there was dimly lit corridor.

"If it helps," Tifa said. "I think that way's north." She tipped her chin at the corridor.

He smiled, relieved. "North should take us to the central hub," he reminded the group. "Hopefully, there'll be more exits that way."

Like Tifa expected, Cloud just shrugged. Aerith, however, made her agreement sound like they were on the bestest adventure ever!

Tifa didn't know how she did it. How could Aerith be so optimistic when the world was literally falling down around them? Yet…. There was something magnetic about that attitude. It certainly had enough power to pull Tifa's attention to the caster again and again.

"Tifa!" Zack's voice pulled her out of her reverie. He smiled as if he knew what she'd been thinking about. Considering she'd been thinking about his girlfriend, Tifa hoped not.

As melee fighters, she and Zack took the lead heading into the passageway. Cloud guarded their rear, and Aerith was protected in the middle. The corridor was wide, dimly lit, and curved for no reason that Tifa could figure out. They came across large rats that were even uglier than doom rats, gorgers, and swarms of nasty flying bugs she'd never seen before.

Cloud, who'd kept Assess equipped for just these encounters, had nothing useful to say about them. "They're bugs," he shrugged. "Just hit 'em real hard."

They came to a Y intersection. The passage on the left was skinnier than the one on the right. Fair asked. "Anybody got any idea which way is north?" He looked at her when he said it, but hopefully – not as if he expected her to know.

Tifa went back over their journey, plotting it out in her mind the way she used to map the trails around Nibelheim. "Right," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Pretty sure," she said not waiting for him. He bounced up beside her anyway.

"Y'know, it's the weirdest thing," he said casually. "Put me anywhere outdoors – jungle, desert, a wide open plain – and I don't get lost. Ever. Anything underground though…." He shook his head.

"You hear anything up ahead," she asked instead of chit-chatting. His smile dimmed, but he obediently listened only to report air fans and maybe more bugs.

He was right.

Every once in a while, there'd be a hatch in the corridor, like the kind she'd seen in submarine movies, but not once was the heavy door closed let alone locked.

"If Shinra's doing evil experiments under its biggest city, you'd think they'd do better with their security," she said in disgust as they passed through yet another unlatched door.

Beside her, Fair laughed. "Their security has always been awful," he said. "Every couple of months we'd be called out to round up escaped experiments."

Tifa looked at him. "You're an escaped experiment now."

That wiped his smile away. "Yeah, I suppose so." Tifa tried not to feel bad, but she hadn't meant it to sound so mean. Fair was… He was being a good guy, and Tifa had never thought he was evil, not like President Shinra.

But he'd been part of something evil, and he'd seemed proud of it. Then, when she'd asked him, he hadn't helped to make it right. She told herself that she could work with him, without having to like him.

She still felt bad.

Another sharp turn took them into a long corridor lined with storage boxes on shelves. "How long'd it take them to build all this under our feet?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

"I imagine they started digging at the same time they started building Midgar," Fair said. "So that'd be…"

"Forty years," Cloud filled in when Fair stalled.

"Forty years," Fair repeated. "Fuuuuck. I am not looking forward to finding out what they've been doing down here all that time."

"Should we see what's in the boxes?" Aerith asked.

There were hundreds of them.

"Uhh," Fair stalled.

"Take too long," Cloud said. "And we got all we can carry."

Aerith seemed wistful about not getting to break anything

They cleared out some more bugaboos and turned the corner. It was blocked with rubble.

"Ugh," Tifa muttered.

Fair swung his sword onto his left shoulder. "No problem." He leaned back, right fist bunched, left leg up. A huff of breath, gathering energy that made him crackle. Then Fair stepped forward and his fist slammed into the piled stones.

They vaporized.

"Yes!" Fair pumped his fist. Tifa's ears popped from the change in pressure and she had to swallow a couple times to get them to equalize.

He looked up at her. "Have you been practicing it?" he asked.

Tifa shook her head. "No real place to do that kind of damage," she said.

"Yeah, I suppose," Fair gave her a sympathetic look. "Next blockage is all yours. Want me to run through the move again?"

Before Tifa remembered she was angry with the SOLDIER, she'd already nodded her head. So that's how they spent the next fifteen minutes of their journey, with him giving her a refresher.

They still paid attention to where they were going, killing more bugs and rats, but mostly Fair explained again how he channeled his power into his physical body and then out through his fist. The next time they came across a passage blocked with rubble, he let Tifa try to break it.

It wasn't the same – they weren't coming out of a fight, not even a small one – but Tifa was a good student. She was disciplined and determined. She was in tune with her body in a way many people weren't – even soldiers. Her body was the weapon, and her mind had the power, and this was no different from training with Master Zangan.

She focused that power, leaning back on her right foot, and when she felt there was enough of energy, she punched forward, slamming her left foot down and throwing her fist in front of her. The boulders weren't turned into dust, but they broke and scattered.

Zack cheered. Aerith offered her a high five. Cloud just nodded but he had a smile on his face, so he was pleased too.

Tifa couldn't help but bounce a little. "That was great!" she said to Zack. "I wonder if I can use that technique in other moves? Like, I've always wanted to be able to hit more than one target."

"Oh yeah," Zack laughed. "That's a handy skill to have. There should be a way to ricochet off one target into another…"

Then it was Tifa's turn to talk, getting Zack's advice and asking him questions. Never once did he pass off or joke about her desire to get better, to be stronger. He told her a funny story about exploding one of Shinra's training simulators, and she laughed.

The passageway they'd taken ended in a huge air conditioning fan. Thankfully, it wasn't moving now, or they would've been sucked into the massive blades and chopped into pieces.

"Why… These fucking tunnels," Zack groaned. "Are we even still heading north?" He looked at her, but all Tifa could do was shrug. He was right about the tunnels: they were fucking stupid.

"What's on the other side do you think?" Aerith asked, still cheerily curious.

A thunderous roar filled the passageway. It wasn't mechanical.

"Nothing good," Cloud answered.

"Right," Zack said firmly. "Might as well keep going. Fuck." He stepped through and looked up. "Seems clear," he said before he started climbing. Aerith skipped through, staring at everything as if she could pull secrets from the cement. (Given what she'd said about being a Cetra, Tifa wasn't ruling it out.)

Cloud looked at her, calmly waiting for her to go ahead of him.

There was a part of Tifa that was abso-fucking-lutely sure that it would start spinning the moment she stepped onto it, and she braced herself to block or jump, but nothing happened. Cloud stepped out next to her just moments later. She heard him let out a relieved breath and felt better about being nervous.

She looked up. Zack was near the top – and she could see up Aerith's skirt.

She looked down and tried to stop her cheeks from colouring.

"Want me to go up first; block the view?" Cloud asked.

Tifa nodded. It was stupid – it was really stupid – but the idea of looking up and seeing under Aerith's skirt made her feel… weird. Like she was intruding on something private. Thankfully, Cloud didn't suffer the same feeling, so he just climbed up fast and steady in front of her.

"Goat's balls," she heard Cloud mutter. He began to climb even faster. Tifa wasn't sure what he'd heard, but it couldn't have been anything good. She matched his pace. Their feet hit the metal rungs with sharp tap-tat-taps.

It didn't take long for her to hear the sounds of battle: Zack shouting as he swung his sword, the odd bird-like sound as Aerith used her staff, and the growls and yelps of a beast – maybe two.

Cloud reached the top and climbed over. Tifa was right behind him.

It was like she'd thought except there were three beasts facing off against Aerith and Zack. They'd obviously once been hounds, but now they looked more like the thing they'd fought in Scrap Boulevard this morning.

It had just been this morning, Tifa realized, even as she ran to flank one of the creatures. Less than a day – much less than a day. It was a jarring realization, but there was no time to explore it.

She had a moment to focus her power and she used it to throw her version of Zack's Iron Fist. It hit the beast squarely in the ribs and it staggered. It was an opportunity they couldn't waste, so she and Cloud concentrated on hitting it and hitting it until it was knocked down and stayed down. It didn't take as long as it had this morning.

"I'm doing a lot more damage with these gloves!" she said to Cloud.

He gave her a small smile. "Good."

One of the beasts ran towards Aerith and they moved to intercept. Cloud cast Stop before it got to her, and Tifa kicked it to the bottom of the stairwell. "Hopefully, it doesn't know how to climb."

Cloud snorted. "It'll climb."

By the time it did jump back up, Zack had already taken care of the third one, so all four of them were waiting. They fell back into the same pattern they'd had in the corridor: Zack and Tifa up front, Cloud casting from the middle and protecting Aerith, and Aerith…. Maybe it was her part-Cetra heritage, but Tifa had never known that someone could cast such powerful magic.

Once all three of the beasts were taken care of, slowly dissolving into the Lifestream, they could look around the platform they'd climbed up to. The first thing Tifa noticed were the cages. There were several large ones, with thick bars bent like Ramah's Lightning. A metal walkway separated them.

"Bet that's where these wee beasties came from," Zack said, echoing Tifa's own thoughts.

There was another thunderous roar from some trapped (or not) beast. It seemed much closer now. It seemed like this path might take them right to it.

Unlike Tifa, Cloud wasn't looking for the source of that roar. Instead, he was looking down at the dissolving hounds. "Aerith," he said quietly. It pulled everyone's attention to him. "That black stuff left behind. Izit natural?" He pointed his chin at the stained metal. Tifa looked too, and she could see what Cloud was asking about. It was liquid, but thick. Purplish-black, it looked like heated tar but smelled like rotten meat.

Aerith crouched close. She put her hand out, holding it above the stuff but not touching it. She closed her eyes, and they waited. One moment. Two…

"It's Jenova," Aerith finally said. "Her cells were in the creature. But Jenova's not of the Planet, and her cells don't belong in the Lifestream." She shook her hand as if it stung.

Cloud frowned. "So, her… taint, it's being filtered out?"

Aerith shut her eyes again and clasped her hands under her chin as if in prayer.

"I don't know." She finally shook her head. "It's too hard to hear anything down here."

"'zit okay to kill them?" Cloud asked.

Both Tifa and Zack stared at him. "We can't just pet them. Ask them nicely to get out of our way," she said in what she thought was a very reasonable tone.

Zack jerked at thumb at her. "What she said."

Cloud looked at each of them. "Jenova poisons living things, mutates them, yah?" They nodded. "If the Lifestream is part of the planet, then killing creatures mutated with Jenova cells takes that taint into it." For a moment, the only sound was the soft hum of the lights. Then Zack turned away, cursing long and loudly. Tifa agreed with all of it.

"If the planet gets poisoned," Aerith said. "Then we're all doomed anyway."

"We need to fix this," Tifa said.

"Yes." Aerith nodded. "Somehow."

"Will fire destroy the Jenova cells?" Tifa asked. "Do it fast enough, maybe they won't get in to the Lifestream at all."

The green sparkles were just beginning to form beneath the skin of the beasts when she finally nodded. They seemed heavy, weighted down. Aerith considered it briefly before nodding. "Should work," she said.

Cloud already had his Fire Materia out. In a flash he had it equipped and blasted the carcass with Fire.

It didn't completely dissolve.

He gave the next one a Fira. It dissolved.

He grunted. "Gonna eat up my MP."

"We'll keep an eye out for ethers," Zack said, coming back to the group. "And if we come across a lab – or anything that might hold any kind of research – we raid it. Right?" They all nodded because there was no other option. "For right now, we gotta get out of this place. Now we can keep going." He waved to indicate the way forward, through a massive metal door that was bent enough to allow passage. "The worst we've encountered in this area are these bloodhounds. But can't say that'll continue."

"That's where the roaring is coming from?" Aerith asked. As if in answer, there was another bellow, followed by the sounds of smashing, as if something huge was punching a wall to get out.

"Other option is through that crack." He jerked his chin to the left. "It might go to a different area of this complex, or it might go to a completely different one."

"With things worse than that?" Cloud jerked his head at whatever was making all the racket.

"Maybe." Zack nodded, sadly. "Don't underestimate the crazy shit Shinra's willing to develop."

"Never," Tifa vowed.

"Check out the crack." Cloud didn't sheath his sword as he walked over to the damaged wall. He didn't go into it, but just peered through the 2-metre-long gash. "I see light. More blue than this one." he added.

"Could be how they know which section they're in," Tifa suggested.

"Think I hear people, too."

"I'll go first. Be ready with healing," Zack said cheerfully, but Tifa noticed that he took a breath before heading in. Aerith hummed in disapproval and cast Barrier on her boyfriend. As he stepped into the darkness of the crack, the magic shimmered green, and then faded from view.

For such a big man, Zack Fair could step very quietly. Tifa could hardly hear him moving over the dirt and rubble. She only knew where he was because he blocked the light from the other side.

"Me next," she said, and stepped into darkness. The light from far corridor lined the stones with blue shimmering shadows. It made it hard for her to judge where the obstacles were. As long as she kept her eyes down, she saw enough to not trip. Behind her, she heard first Aerith and then Cloud start the trek.

Zack was already in the corridor, big buster sword out and ready.

"Anything?" she asked.

"Those people Cloud heard are to the right of here."

Tifa sighed. "Is approaching anyone down here really a good idea?"

Aerith stepped out. "People often have answers, she said.

Zack shrugged. "My instinct says so?"

Cloud stepped out of the crack. "Your instinct usually tells you to run towards monsters," he pointed out. "However, I'm as lost as balls on a doe, so whatever."

Zack stopped to stare at him. "Balls on a doe?" he repeated. "That's worse than 'scaley dragon tits'. Where the fuck do you get these from?"

"I think they're cute," Aerith said. Of course, she did. Zack gave her a fond look.

To Tifa's surprise, Cloud was blushing. "Cloud?"

He sighed. "Walk and talk?" He started down the right passage, and everyone hurried to take up position. "I come from a small town; nobody swears where a woman will hear, yah?"

Tifa nods. "It was considered very vulgar," she tells the others.

Cloud continued, "In Midgar, everybody swears. Even the women."

"Hells yeah!" Tifa said with a smile.

"I don't," Aerith pointed out.

Cloud ignored them. "Lots of small-town kids in the cadets when I joined. They all started swearing more than the locals to prove they weren't country anymore." He shrugged. "Wanted to be different so decided to, dunno, play it up."

"So Nibelheimers don't go around saying 'wolf nuts' and 'goat balls'?" Zack asked.

Tifa shook her head. "Not that I ever heard."

"Scaly dragon tits?" Aerith asked in an oh-so-very-innocent tone that had to be fake.

"Made up," Cloud confirmed. Zack burst out laughing, and even Cloud smiled.

By this time, corridor had curved enough that their entry point was out of sight, and maybe laughing wasn't the smartest move when sneaking around one of Shinra's secret labs, but nothing could have prepared them for the sound of cackling laughter joining them.

"What the fuck?" Zack said, instantly on guard. Aerith recast Barrier on him and then cast it on Tifa. Whoever it was laughed some more. A terrified scream followed. Zack didn't move.

"What are we waiting for?" Tifa whispered to him.

"I was thinking that if that's one of Shinra's scientists, we should let them experience the full glory of dealing with one of their fucking experiments."

"You mean let it kill them." Tifa couldn't keep the disapproval out of her voice.

His eyebrows went up. "You were going to blow up a reactor."

"We weren't going to kill anybody."

Fair just laughed – softly. "How about workers in the reactor? Or people under the plate who could've had huge pieces of it fall on them? Don't they count?"

Tifa wanted to respond, but honestly? They hadn't really considered any of that. "Nobody lives in Sector 1's ground floor.

"There're people there," Cloud said. "Not a lot, but they eke out a living."

Aerith leaned forward between them. "If it's a scientist, we might want to question them."

Fair finally nodded. "Fine. Let's go rescue the scuzzball." Then he strode down the corridor as if he were the only one in it.

"Drama much," Tifa muttered reflexively, but she followed.

The corridor directly ahead of them was clear, but there was a large open door to the left. As they got closer, she could hear the laughing voice speaking. It was a woman with a thick accent that Tifa didn't recognize. "Try again, fool. Where is the professor?!"

Whatever her target might have said in response was lost when Zack walked up to the door and said, "Hi there. We're lost. Think you can help?"

"Goat's balls," Tifa muttered and charged in after him.

The room was large but cramped. There was a small table with a cheap folding chair just to the left. A small fridge and food warmer next to it. The rest of the room had metal shelving filled with bottles of steel polish and window cleaner. boxes of light bulbs, and mops and brooms still in their plastic wraps. It was the janitor's break-slash-supply room. Currently, there were two people in it. One, the obvious target, was a slim, dark-haired man with a tidy beard and shallow cuts all over his torso. The other, likely the source of both the cackling laughter and the shallow cuts was… Dramatic, was an understatement.

Tifa's first impression was she was all red, but actually her outfit consisted of a black top almost like a corset but with red sleeves. From the back a long red fur train dragged on the floor. She had elbow-length articulated steel gloves and thigh-high boots that Tifa kinda liked, but there was a weird blue glow outlining the pieces of her costume that seemed out of place.

"Who are you?" The woman's voice was flat.

"I'm Zack, and you are?" Tifa knew Zack was smiling. She also knew it wasn't working. As much as possible, Tifa moved away from him trying to give them both room to move.

The woman flicked her fingers at Zack. "Go away, raggedy man, before I decide to kill you for sport."

"Can't," Zack said soft and friendly. "Like I said, we're lost, and I figure that poor guy you're torturing knows the way out."

Finally, she turned to face Zack fully. She gave him a long look, down then up, sneering at his garish clothing. "You think you can stop me, raggedy man? Me? Rosso the Crimson!

"The Crimson?" Zack laughed. "Are you a fan of Genesis or something?"

"Genesis. That weakling!" she spat. "I do not understand why Hojo brought him to us." Zack froze and Tifa went on high alert.

"Genesis is one of you?" His tone was far more serious than it had been up to now, but Rosso didn't notice.

"He is not of us! He is not Tsviet!" She lifted her chin. "He was brought to us mere months ago. Spouting that poem as if it makes him profound instead of weak."

"Well, fuck. That's Genesis all right," Zack said lightly. He balanced lightly on his toes, ready to move. Tifa could see Aerith and Cloud standing behind him in the corridor waiting for the signal. Tifa couldn't help bouncing a little at the tension. She let it build up her chi.

The guy Rosso'd been tormenting slowly dropped to the floor and quietly crawled under the table. Smart guy.

"Hojo says he is key to the formula, but all he does is gloat," she said.

Zack nodded. "Fucking Hojo, man. I swear I'm going to kill him first chance I get."

"No!" Rosso stepped towards him. She was nearly the same height. "Weiss is dying. The professor must be brought to Weiss alive. He must save Weiss. That is all that is important."

"I don't suppose you'd take me to Genesis?" Zack opened his eyes wide, pleading.

Rosso sneered. "You are not nearly as cute as you think you are. And since you cannot or will not help me. I think it is time for you to die."

A wide, double-bladed bow-shaped weapon appeared in her left hand, but their side was already moving.

Cloud cast Slow on her and Tifa saw the heavy fog seep into Rosso's body. Aerith had her fancy battle flower up so when she cast Lightning, Rosso was hit twice. Zack swung his buster.

They'd linked up the Double Cut materia with Sneak Attack and it finally kinda worked. Rosso didn't have a chance to block the first swing, but she blocked the second with her heavy bow-like weapon. Sword and bow scraped along each other causing sparks.

Tifa broke up their showdown with a whirling uppercut. Rosso flew up into the ceiling, hitting the metal panels with a crash. The woman twisted as she fell, landing in a crouch. Her right hand touched the floor but her left still held her weapon. "Fools! The Deepground soldiers were bred to kill. I, Rosso, bathed in the blood of a hundred soldiers! I reveled in it."

The guy under the table sprayed her in the face with heavy-duty cleaning fluid.

Rosso shrieked and grabbed at her eyes with her free hand. Zack cut off her head.

"Why is her blood purple?" It was an asinine question, but there was a lot of it, and it didn't look normal.

"I'd say it was maroon," Aerith said lightly, but she was already kneeling next to a pool of it, hand out, trying to sense what Rosso had been made of. She didn't even get very close before jerking her hand away.

"Was she talking about Genesis Rhapsodos?" Cloud asked from the doorway. "SOLDIER First Class, dead since Year 1, Genesis Rhapsodos?"

Zack looked up from where he was examining the edge of his buster sword and made an unhappy affirmative noise. "She said he was quoting poetry. One'll get you ten that it's Loveless." He went back to his blade, running his fingers along its surface. He must've found something wrong because he swore. "Wear, tear and rust. Dammit!"

Tifa ignored Zack and gave the guy under the table a friendly smile. "Hi."

"He just cut off her head," the guy under the table said. He was still staring at the body as if waiting for it to get back up.

Tifa nodded. "Yah, he really did."

"He really did that?" Cloud said to Zack. "Thought that was, dunno, a publicity thing."

"Ready to come out of there?" Tifa asked the guy.

Zack gave an unhappy laugh. "No, Genesis really did read it all the time. Knew it by heart and would quote it instead of answering a simple fucking question."

"So, we going to rescue him." Cloud said it as a statement and Tifa stopped trying to coax the janitor out from under the table.

"You don't want to go down there," the janitor said.

Zack looked down at the guy. "You know where Genesis is?"

"No! Not exactly" The guy waved his hand furiously, trying to erase what he'd just said. "It's Deepground. They're all fanatics and seriously enhanced and outsiders aren't welcome down there."

"You know where the entrance is, though. Right?" Fair's bright eyes were calculating, though the poor janitor probably just saw the smile.

"Well, yeah. I go past it on my rounds."

Fair's smile widened. He held out a hand. "Hiya! I'm Zack. That's Tifa–" He nodded at her, before jerking a thumb behind him. "Aerith and Cloud."

The guy took Fair's hand and was hauled to his feet. "Baz. I'm just the custodian."

"That's okay, Baz," Fair said. "We're not going to kill you."

"Yeah, well," Baz said with a resigned sigh. "If you don't the experiments will. Half the cages were damaged in the explosion, and I'm not a fighter."

"Dunno," Tifa said. "Was pretty quick thinking with the spray bottle." She gave him an encouraging smile, but Baz didn't look encouraged.

Cloud cast Fira on Rosso's body. "Got any ethers?" he asked.

Baz blinked. "Jeff usually has a couple in his locker. He smuggles them out and sells them on the black market."

Tifa got him to show her Jeff's locker while Cloud cast another Fira on the rest of the body. It filled the large room with the horrible smell of overcooked meat and blood.

Zack, who'd been keeping watch on the corridor, called out. "More escapees coming our way," and whatever break they'd been having was over.

.o0|0o.

Once the shaking stopped, Wedge looked around the pie-shaped area where he'd sheltered from the falling buildings. He'd managed to pull five cats and one small dog in with him. More had joined as the shaking went on, but none of them were leaving now that it had stopped.

It made him wonder if there was going to be more quakes, so he waited, cross-legged in his corner, petting at least three animals at once. (Like darts, it was a skill he'd practiced. A lot.)

He wondered if Biggs was okay. And Jesse. And Barret, of course. Marlene was so small, but she should be safe at Seventh Heaven with Tifa. It was a strong building. He ran through the list of people he cared about (there were a lot), before deciding that he'd only find out if everyone was okay by actually going out.

"I have to go now," he said to a grey tabby he'd only seen from a distance before. It just blinked its large, yellow eyes at him.

"I'll be back, though," he told the long-haired, stubby tailed one that was missing a part of its ear.

"I'll bring food," he assured the puppy, who was being groomed by Elfadunk, a huge, blue-haired matron who ruled Wedge's usual crew.

Then he gently removed the cats from his lap and shoulder, placing them close to Elfa, who licked them automatically.

He had to shimmy a little to get through the narrow opening, and then he had to push aside a piece of corrugated tin roofing that had sliced into the ground just outside. Some dirt fell off it but shifting it didn't cause a landslide so that's what mattered, right?

His little alcove now had a noticeable downward slope towards the entrance.

"That's probably not good," he said. Three different pairs of eyes blinked at him but didn't leave their safe spots. He didn't try to lure them out, either. His target right now, was his two-footed friends.

First stop: Seventh Heaven.

End note: Happy holidays, everyone. May your celebrations be joyous, and may your families and loved ones be healthy.