Aftermath

Author’s Note: And so, another transitional chapter arrives to allow the plot to move forward. The stage must be set, so that the actors can read their lines and make you believe in the parts they are playing. It doesn't feel right to rush things. Hopefully dear readers, you will agree with me when all of this is said and done...

Thank you to...
- Youkofox, for your beta and being available today to help me get it published on time!
- Squallfan, for your review. Rufus is... a muse best left to another story. *chuckles* Although, he will be making at least one more important appearance in this one.
- Iggy Lovechild, for your review and all that other stuff. Please keep Rufus away from me, ok? I don't care how you do it, but find a way. Seriously, he's all yours. *covers eyes*
- Pyra, for your review. Your reviews honestly crack me the hell up. *hugs*
- Akito Souma, for your review. ^_^

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Chapter 6: Dealing

Cloud arrived back at 7th Heaven in record time. He knew the way to Healin by heart now. He’d been back and forth so many times; it seemed like he always had some reason to be up there.

And now you have another reason, Cloud thought.

Parking his bike in the yard, he hoped that Tifa wouldn’t notice why he was back so soon. He wasn’t sure how he would explain it to her exactly. Forgetting the packages was one thing, but deliberately leaving them behind so that Reno would be comfortable on the back of his bike was totally different. Tifa wouldn’t buy the first explanation, because Cloud was starting to doubt it was true anyway. She’d see right through him and probably get to the truth of the matter before he’d even sorted it out in his own head.

The door to the bar was locked and Cloud was glad that he had remembered his keys. Everything was dark inside, and no one seemed to be home.

“Hello?”

When he received no answer, he sighed with relief. An empty bar meant that he didn’t have to answer any difficult questions from Tifa, or try to explain himself to anyone. Hell, this meant that he didn’t have to think about it at all if he didn’t want to. Strangely though, he couldn’t stop his mind from going over what had happened with Reno earlier that morning.

Cloud had done a good job of hiding his affections and past relationships. It’s not that he hid anything on purpose, he just didn’t volunteer any information when the subject came up. The only thing his friends really knew, is that he’d been pretty fond of Aerith, but after she’d died, the discussion about whether or not they were actually dating died, too.

Then the assumptions came. Everyone always assumed that he was with Tifa. It was so frustrating, but he couldn’t really fault anyone for thinking that way. Had he been the one on the outside looking in, he probably would have thought the same thing. After all, he was living with her and they had taken on the responsibility of caring for two adopted children. Cid was the worst when it came to his relationship with Tifa; the pilot was always asking him when they were going to officially tie the knot.

Even the old lady next door called Tifa his wife and Cloud really didn’t have the heart to deny it. His neighbor meant well, but things had changed since she was a young woman. Men and women could live together and not be married. These days families were even more mixed up due to all of the deaths related to the war, meteor, and Geostigma. Sometimes a family was just a bunch of friends living together: that’s what his family was, anyway.

Maybe people could sense that something had happened between the two of them, but they couldn’t quite figure out that nothing serious had come of it. Cloud was fairly certain that Tifa had made a few awkward attempts to see if he was interested in her over the last couple years, but he couldn’t be completely sure. No matter how many times she came knocking on his door in the middle of the night, there just wasn’t any lasting passion between them afterwards. They’d slept together a few times, but nothing specific was ever clarified when it came to their relationship. The sex didn’t feel right either; it was like they were just going through the motions.

He remembered clearly the last time she’d visited his room with only one thing on her mind. . .

“So, do you like this dress?”

Tifa had shown up at his bedroom door, wearing a frilly black dress. Cloud’s eyes lingered as he slowly came to the realization that this dress wasn’t exactly formal wear. The top shimmered like silk and the bottom was partially see-through.

“Mmm, it’s nice,” he said, hurriedly turning his attention back to the pile of paperwork on his desk.

She moved to stand behind him, planting light kisses on the back of his neck. They’d been down this road before. The last time had ended with both of them feeling worse than before they’d started.

“Umm, probably not a good ide—“

Her hand covered his mouth and she slid her body around him, climbing into his lap. She pulled his hands off his desk one by one and wrapped them around her waist. Cloud removed her hand from his mouth and he tried again to protest.

“Have you been drinking?”

“Of course not,” she said. “I’ve just missed you.”

“But, this isn’t—“

Tifa’s mouth covered his suddenly and he felt her fingers move to unbuckle his belt. Unable to resist the urges rising within him, he instinctually returned her kiss.

A moment later, she’d freed him from the confines of his pants. All thoughts of talking her out of doing this melted right out of his mind, as flesh touched flesh. The last coherent thought he had was the one that sealed the deal: the little nightie she was wearing was crotchless.

The whole event had been twenty minutes of emotionless fucking before they’d both finally gotten off, and then she’d asked if she could cuddle up in his bed with him. Cloud had let her lay with him, but that night he didn’t sleep at all. He couldn’t even touch her, because when he tried, his hands burned with terrible self-loathing. He knew he didn’t love her, so why did he give in and allow something like that to happen?

Well, he was lonely; he knew that much was true. Secondly, he knew that she was lonely, too.

In the morning, he’d acted like nothing happened and so had she. Neither one of them had wanted to talk about it and so many things were left unsaid. As forward as she could be on those rare occasions she sought him out at night, when it came to directly addressing the exact nature of their relationship, she bailed out on him: every damn time. He certainly wasn’t one to force the issue; it made him feel terrible to even think about the situation much less talk about it. The air was tense between them for a few days immediately after, because the unspoken meaning of the way they’d left things was crystal clear: they were friends and nothing more.

Still, Tifa didn’t seem to want to let him go completely and it was probably his own fault. Cloud was hesitant to move forward, and often told himself it was because he didn’t want to hurt her.

He’d not been dating anyone, or even thinking about anyone else for that matter. The more he thought about it now, the more it felt things needed to change. If he knew that he didn’t want anything serious from Tifa, he needed to make sure she knew that and then move on. Otherwise, he was sending the wrong signals to her. The two of them could be caught in his hellacious emotional limbo forever; that seemed unbearable.

“I think she wants you to move on, man…”

Reno’s voice suddenly broke in on his thoughts: a statement from two weeks ago when Reno had been standing in the kids’ bedroom, trying to help him sort through the mess that had become his life. Apparently, Reno and Tifa had something in common. They both wanted Cloud to get his shit together, except. . . Reno had said it in a way that made more sense. They weren’t just talking about his self-inflicted guilt trips about the past either. They were talking about everything, including his love life. The problem was, Cloud didn’t know exactly how he was supposed to move forward.

When he was honest with himself, he knew that he hadn’t really had a real interest in anyone since. . . Zack.

No one knew about his prior affections for Zack, except maybe Aerith, and she certainly didn’t seem like the type to give away any of his secrets: especially not now. He felt so stupid for the way his brain had messed everything up and made him think he was Zack, and had blocked out so many things he held close to his heart. Now that things were starting to become clearer in his memory, his current state of mind was improving as well, but it was a horribly slow process.

The way Reno had been acting toward him recently reminded him of the way Zack had often treated him. Not that they were the same person; Cloud was perfectly aware that Reno and Zack were both very different people. The willingness Reno had demonstrated by allowing a former enemy the chance to become a friend caused a door within Cloud to open just slightly, wide enough for light to begin to shine through and make him take notice of what might be on the other side.

Cloud shook his head, trying to stop his train of thought. Reno was no Zack. It would be foolish of him to confuse the two. But he had to admit, that Reno was the first person who’d caused him to think about someone other than himself in a long time. He owed it to himself to explore this experience fully. He probably owed it to Reno, too, for taking a chance on him.

Cloud sighed, frustrated at the way things worked out sometimes. He never felt like he was in control of his own destiny. He sure as hell wouldn’t have arranged for things to be happening the way they currently were. Of all the people in the universe who could have piqued his interest, why did it have to be Reno?

He didn’t exactly like the Turk, despite the fact that he was attracted to him. Cloud struggled to make a mental list of all the things he didn’t like about the red-head.

He blinked in stunned silence, as he realized that he couldn’t really think of anything to dislike about him. Other than all the shit surrounding Shinra, he didn’t really know a damn thing about Reno. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. So far, he’d discovered that Reno was fun, friendly, and willing to hang out with someone who’d tried to kill him countless times. That either made the Turk crazy, stupid, or both.

Cloud leaned on the bar and rubbed his forehead with his fingertips. Being attracted to Reno seemed like such a foreign concept to him. It almost made him want to find the nearest toilet and hurl. No matter how much he wanted to deny his interest, he knew that he was going to have to deal with it at some point. He supposed that ignoring the situation wouldn’t do him any good. He was going to have to make time to talk to Reno and figure out what exactly the red-head expected from him.

“Cloud?” Cloud jumped, as a deep voice brought him out of his thoughts.

“Vincent,” Cloud said. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I was just thinking, I guess,” Cloud said. He turned around, to get a good look at his friend. Old worries surfaced from the night before as he looked Vincent over, subconsciously checking for any hint of trouble. “Everything ok?”

Vincent nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“You had me worried,” Cloud said.

“I figured as much after I heard your message. I thought I better stop by.”

“You really ought to get a phone.”

Vincent threw his cape out to the side and pointed at his belt. “I have one now. I bought it this morning.”

“You did?” Cloud blinked in surprise. Recovering quickly, he took his phone out of his pocket. “You have my number, right? Call me so I can store your number.”

Vincent snapped the phone off of his belt and punched a few numbers. Cloud’s phone rang and he answered it, immediately hanging up. He hit two buttons, and spoke Vincent’s name into the phone.

“You should put me in your phonebook so you don’t have to dial it like that every time,” Cloud said.

“I’m not sure how.”

“I can do it for you,” Cloud said.

Vincent handed over his phone and watched from a distance as Cloud took a few seconds to figure out how his phone functioned. It was a different program than Cloud was used to, but it was easy enough to work. He added a few numbers of their mutual friends and made sure to include his own.

“Your phone is voice activated, too. If you want to call me, you press this button and say my name. Or you could just pick it from the menu.”

Cloud leaned over to show Vincent the menu and Vincent nodded, seeming to understand. Cloud gave the phone back and watched as the ex-Turk pressed a button and spoke into his phone.

“Cloud.”

A couple seconds later, Cloud’s phone began to ring. He answered it and hung up right away again.

“Good, it works.” He looked at Vincent, suddenly remembering that his raven-haired friend hadn’t come to the 7th Heaven to get free “how-to-use-your-phone” lessons. “How long have you been waiting for me?”

“Not long. Tifa said you’d be back soon.” Vincent’s eyes darted to the pile of packages on the bar counter, as he clipped his phone back onto his belt. “She said you forgot your deliveries.”

Cloud swallowed nervously realizing that Tifa had noticed his forgetfulness after all. He was sure he’d hear about that later. He watched his friend, hoping that he wouldn’t have to talk about anything that had happened over the last twenty-four hours. Vincent wouldn’t judge him nearly as harshly as Tifa would, but he just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.

Vincent flicked on the main light, causing both of them to squint momentarily as their eyes adjusted to the light. He walked over to where the boxes were piled up, and just stood there silently staring at them.

“So, what did you need from me?”

Vincent didn’t seem to be listening and he didn’t respond to Cloud’s question. He suddenly grabbed one of the boxes and started ripping it open, using his claw as a razor sharp edge.

“Hey, don’t do that! I’ll need to rewrap it,” Cloud said. He made a lightning quick grab for the package, but Vincent was faster. The ex-Turk held Cloud back gently, resting one hand on his chest; in his other hand, he held the package’s return address label at eye-level so that Cloud could read it.

“You’re delivering packages for Seneco?”

“Who?”

Vincent sighed, and continued to open the box. Intrigued by what Vincent was doing, Cloud forced himself to settle down, resigning himself to the fact that he’d just have to put it all back together again once his friend had finished with his inexplicable inspection. Vincent’s behavior was distressing because it put his business reputation at risk. It was Cloud’s general policy that anything people brought to him, he’d deliver with no questions asked. Opening things and taking a look-see at what was inside wasn’t something he was real comfortable with.

“You really should watch the news,” Vincent said, a serious tone in his voice. “He’s a dangerous mafia figurehead, Cloud.”

“I’ve never heard of him.”

“Obviously not. You wouldn’t have accepted this job if you had.”

Vincent dropped the open box onto the bar counter and took a step back. Cloud looked at Vincent questioningly before looking inside. He had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like what he found, but still hoped that maybe his friend was just overreacting a bit. As he peered inside the box, his stomach felt sick.

“Cigarettes?”

“Not quite,” Vincent said. “They’re coolies.”

“Oh, no. . .” Cloud paled and quickly shut the box. “I can’t be responsible for transporting candy-laced cigarettes. I’ll be tossing this shit into the incinerator on my way out.”

“Careful, you can’t just get rid of it. There’s a lot of money in that box. If it doesn’t show up, Seneco will probably send someone to look for it.”

Cloud bristled, knowing that what Vincent was saying was true. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He almost wished that he’d remained in the dark about this one. After all, he would have just delivered the package and never even known what he’d been delivering. Ignorance was such bliss.

“I don’t want to put Tifa and the kids in danger,” Cloud said quietly.

“Then you’ll need to be careful how you deal with it.”

Cloud looked at the return address label, and his eyes narrowed with confusion. “This address is strange. Isn’t that the old Shinra building?”

Vincent looked at the label again, and shrugged. “It could be. It looks like it’s definitely a location on the top plate.”

“Maybe it’s a fake address. I didn’t think anyone lived in old Midgar anymore.”

The dark-haired man hid his lips behind his red cape for a moment before speaking. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Cloud. Something’s happening on the upper plates. I’ve seen people in places that have been abandoned for a long time.”

“What have you been doing hanging around there?”

Vincent hesitated in answering immediately. He looked at Cloud, as if sizing up how much he could freely talk about. Finally, he answered vaguely, “I’ve been meeting with Reeve on an unrelated project.”

“Reeve?”

“I’ve been hearing rumors about Shinra—“

“What now?” Cloud said, interrupting his friend. An angry expression painted his face and the fingers on his right hand curled into a fist. His mood was changing so fast, he didn’t notice Vincent’s surprised reaction to his sudden outburst.

“Well, nothing bad, if that’s what you were expecting. The company appears to be out of commission officially, aside from a few token employees. It’s just that Rufus’ name has been floating around as one of the anonymous contributors to several Edge beautification efforts.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. That bastard is probably just putting on a good face so the people of Edge don’t run over to Healin and burn down his research facility,” Cloud said angrily. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s involved with Seneco and these drugs somehow.”

Cloud stopped, finally realizing that he was taking his anger out on the wrong person. His fingers went back to his forehead as he tried to get himself under control. Just the mere mention of the Shinra empire made him so furious. It was a knee-jerk reaction: one he struggled with constantly.

“I highly doubt it. Rufus has done some pretty underhanded things, but I wouldn’t be so quick to call him a drug dealer.”

“I don’t know. . .”

“I still can’t believe that he’s alive,” Vincent said quietly. “I remember seeing a couple of the Turks bringing him out of the tower. I would have said something a long time ago, but I just assumed there was no way Rufus would recover from the injuries he’d received. Reno didn’t think so either.”

“You saw Reno there?” The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He cringed inwardly, hoping that Vincent didn’t think it was strange for him to ask specifically about the red-headed Turk.

Vincent nodded, showing no sign that he thought the question was odd. “Yuffie’s sensors missed Rufus. It was Reno who found the President and managed to get him to the emergency crews before they cleared out.”

“He should’ve left him there,” Cloud muttered, picking at the label on the box in front of him.

Vincent frowned. Cloud met his friend’s gaze and was unsure why Vincent seemed to have lost a bit of his Shinra-hating zeal. So what if that rich prick was funding humanitarian efforts now? It didn’t change anything he’d done in the past. Cloud’s attention shifted back to Vincent and he noticed that the ex-Turk seemed to be struggling with exactly how to phrase what he wanted to say.

“It’s possible that a near-death experience might change a man’s heart,” Vincent said. “Perhaps he is trying to atone the only way he knows how.”

Cloud didn’t know what to say to that. Vincent sounded like he was talking more about himself than Rufus Shinra, and if he was, Cloud didn’t really want to upset him by disagreeing with the sentiment.

After a long moment of silence, Cloud finally spoke. “So, what are we going to do about Seneco and this package?”

“That’s really up to you.”

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A/N: Please review, and be kind. ^_^