CHAPTER X

"Are you okay?"

Tifa turned to see Caraca standing beside her. She ran her hand through her hair and then nodded. Seeing all the people looking at her, she became embarrassed. She turned away, mumbling something unintelligible and went back to work, hoping that everyone would forget what just happened. Though that might not be true, it didn't take long for the music and women on the stage to draw the customers attention away from Tifa and soon enough things were back to normal.

It wasn't that easy, however, for her to forget what happened herself. She couldn't believe she had made such a scene in front of everyone. Why did Reno have to come here? Wasn't it bad enough he bothered her at home? If she hadn't talked to him she was sure he would have gotten in a fight with Caraca. She didn't need him coming here and causing trouble. She certainly didn't expect all this to have come from her simple act of kindness. She was beginning to regret having ever met him again.

Later on, when the bar closed, she still had a bad taste left over in her mouth. She pulled on her coat and followed the others out, grateful that the night was over. She just wanted to get home and throw herself in bed. It had been a pretty miserable day.

Caraca came over to her as they departed.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked.

Tifa nodded, smiling her gratitude for his concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine.," she responded.

"All right. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too."

He walked off. Tifa stood there for a moment watching him.

Karen was so lucky. Why couldn't she meet a guy like Caraca? But no, all she ever seemed to end up with were weirdos or misfits. It wasn't fair. Still, she really didn't know Caraca well enough to judge, did she? For all she knew he might have as many faults as every other guy she met, she just didn't see them because she didn't know him that well.

Was that really what she thought though? Did she really think Brent was a weirdo or a misfit? Thinking about it he really didn't seem to fit in either of those categories. Not for the first time she wondered if it wasn't the men she met that were the problem, but instead herself. Maybe she was just too picky.

The streetlights illuminated her starkly as she started down the block. There was no moon tonight, and deep pits of blackness lay wherever the streetlights could not reach. She pulled her collar closer about her. It was cold tonight, but that was hardly news.

She had only walked a few paces when a stirring in the darkness of a stairwell in front of a closed liquor store caught her attention.

She drew back, her hands coming up as she realized there was someone there. A moment only and then she slowly lowered her hands. The man was lying on the ground, obviously no threat. Just some drunk who had crawled into the stairwell to get off the street.

Some drunk...

She slowly took a step closer, staring into the darkness. The stairs themselves blocked off the light and it was difficult to see. That looked like the jacket Reno was wearing...

She hesitantly stepped closer. He was laying on his side, his face toward the ground, hidden in the shadows. A bottle stood beside him on the pavement. She was right over the man now. She stooped down, ready to jump backwards at any moment.

"Oh no," she said softly.

It was Reno.

She reached down and grabbed hold of him, turning him over onto his back. He moaned.

"Reno," she said, shaking him.

He mumbled something unintelligible.

"Reno, get up!" she said.

The ground was ice cold. He only wore a light jacket. If he stayed there she was afraid he would freeze to death.

"Reno!" she shouted.

He lifted a hand and tried feebly to push her away.

"Lemme alone," he muttered.

"Reno, you have to get up," she pleaded. "You can't stay here. Why didn't you go home like I told you to?"

He was like a dead weight. She couldn't do it without his help. She shook him violently.

"Reno, snap out of it!"

He groaned. He looked around, but really didn't seem to see her. However, she seemed to have brought some life back into him. He managed to lift himself to a sitting position.

"C'mon Reno," she said. She tugged on him again. He turned his head to the side and she heard a retching sound.

"No!" she cried. She tried to twist herself out of the way, but she couldn't get clear without letting him go and she was afraid if she did that he'd fall back down again. She felt something wet slap against her leg and the nauseating smell of vomit mixed with alcohol stung her nostrils.

"Dammit!" she exclaimed, looking down at the dark stain on her leg. She suddenly began to feel nauseous herself.

She shifted her weight, trying to get a better grip on him. As she did so her foot turned and she knocked over his bottle, sending it clattering away from her. Reno immediately looked around, his hand reaching out.

"Where's my bottle?" he mumbled.

"Forget about that," she said to him. "You have to get up."

"Ain't goin' nowhere without my bottle," he insisted.

She shook her head, he was still being a stubborn jackass. The bottle was empty anyway, though he didn't seem to notice.

"I'll give it back to you when you get up," she told him.

That seemed to have some effect. He didn't seem to help much, but it was enough and with her help he staggered to his feet. Tifa looked around once this had been accomplished. She realized she had no idea what to do with him now. One thing was for sure, she sure as hell wasn't going to take him back to her place again.

He had told her where he lived the first time they had met. The street anyway, but she couldn't remember.

"Where do you live?" she questioned.

Reno just looked around slowly.

"Where do you live?" she said again, more loudly.

"Quit yer shoutin' woman," he grumbled.

"Reno," she said disgustedly. She stood there for a moment, trying hard just to keep him upright. It was obvious she wasn't going to get a coherent answer out of him. She had to wonder why she was doing this at all, after the way he had treated her. She should just leave him here to his fate. She had helped him once and lived to regret it.

Still, no matter how much sense it might make for her, she couldn't just abandon him. She looked down at him, hesitated a moment, then lifted her hand and reached into his pocket.

"Umm, a little lower baby," he muttered.

She just gave him a disgusted look.

She pulled out some papers. It was hard to do with one hand. She lifted them to her face, trying to see what they were in the dark.

A license with the name Donald Rumsfeld on it. It had an address, but considering the name on the card, she wasn't sure she could trust it.

The second item looked like some kind of check.

She looked closer. It was a check. Made out in Reno's name too. Some kind of severance pay?

Had he lost his job?

She stared at it, trying to scrutinize it more closely. It had both an address and today's date on it.

She sighed. Losing his job didn't excuse his behavior, but it made her a little bit more understanding.

The street address on the check wasn't that far away. She had never been there but she thought she could find it.

"Let's go," she said to him.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Once she got him going he moved more or less under his own power, she just had to keep him on his feet and kind of steer him in the right direction. Reno didn't say much, just mumbled something she couldn't understand every once in a while and occasionally tried to push her away. Eventually she found herself walking down a narrow winding street on the far west side of the city. This was an older section of town, most of the building run down. Actually, it didn't look all that different from where she lived.

They reached the door to his place. She pushed him against the wall, using that to prop him up.

"I need your keys," she told him.

He didn't seem to be paying attention to her at first, but then he shoved his hand into his pocket. Fumbling around, he eventually pulled out a small set of keys, but dropped them immediately.

"Oops," he said, sounding greatly amused.

Tifa bent down and scooped up the keys. Not seeing much point in asking him which was the right one, she tried them all one by one until the door clicked open.

There were no lights on inside. The illumination from the streetlights outside were enough to direct her to a couch which she let Reno tumble down onto. Walking back to the entrance she found the light switch. She flicked it on and closed the door.

She blinked, looking around slowly, then flinched backward as she saw a cockroach scurry away along the floor. It disappeared under the baseboard along the far wall. The place wasn't very big. In fact, even that was generous. It was downright tiny. The room the front door led into was no bigger than the living room in her apartment, yet this one served as a living room kitchenette combination. The furniture was simple and functional. The couch she had dropped Reno on was an off white color. She wasn't really sure if that was the actual color or it was just dirty. Opposite the couch stood a small metal stand with a television on it. Beside that was a small wooden writing desk with a black metal folding chair in front of it. In one corner of the room the sandy colored carpet had been replaced with yellowish linoleum with some kind of crest shaped design in it. This area served as the kitchenette and held a tiny table with two chairs that didn't match the table nor each other, a refrigerator and stove. The walls were a cream colored wallpaper. There were no pictures or anything else hung from them, nor any plants or any other type of personal touches. The place had the sterile look of a motel room. In fact, she had seen motel rooms that looked more like home.

What she was looking for right now, however, was a phone. There was one on the desk. She walked over and picked it up, dialing quickly. She stood there while it rang.

"Priscilla?" she said when it was picked up. "Were you sleeping? Okay, sorry. Umm, something came up. An emergency. I know it's late but I'm going to be a bit yet, is that okay? Really? No, I'm not exactly sure when I'll be back. I don't think I'll be too much longer though. So you don't mind staying? All right, that's great. Thanks a lot, you're an angel. Go back to sleep and I'll see you in a little while."

Tifa hung up the phone. With that out of the way she turned her attention back to Reno.

She wasn't about to pamper him. This was all his own stupid fault and if he suffered for it that was his own damn problem. He seemed perfectly comfortable lying there fully clothed and she seriously considered just leaving him. She had already done more for him than he deserved. She walked over to him and touched his arm. He was still ice cold. He wasn't going to freeze to death now but still she felt the need to make him at least a little more comfortable.

She tugged off his shoes and dropped them on the floor. After a few contortions she managed to get his jacket off as well. He seemed to be asleep now, and didn't really respond even when she moved him except with an incoherent word or two. He still smelled of vomit, or was it her? She couldn't tell for sure. She looked him over and he really didn't seem to have gotten much on himself, just used her for target practice. How generous of him. There was a small hallway off the living room that held a closet and the entranceways to the bedroom and bathroom. She pulled open the folding door of the closet and looked inside, eventually spying a blanket tossed on the floor. She pulled it out and walked back over to Reno, placing it on top of him.

That was the best she could do for him. She wasn't taking off any more of his clothes. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. She looked around distastefully. The place could use a good cleaning. She removed a towel from the rack on the wall beside the shower stall, wet it, and tried to wipe Reno's little gift off her pant leg as best she could. Even when she was done her jeans still reeked. Again, however, there wasn't much she could do about it. She didn't have anything else to change into. Reno was in no condition to find her something, and she certainly wasn't going to go rooting around in his drawers on her own.

She exited the bathroom and stopped opposite his bedroom door. It was closed. Curious she opened it a bit, enough to let the light from the hall filter in. The room was similar to the living room. A queen size bed filled most of it, the midnight blue blanket strewn haphazardly across it. A small dresser and a lamp. Nothing else. The walls were covered with the same wallpaper as the other room and were also unadorned.

Feeling slightly guilty for snooping she closed the door and walked back into the living room. She looked at Reno. He was out like a light and looked comfortable enough. She really had no reason to hang around any longer. Priscilla had told her to take as long as she liked but she still felt bad about keeping the young girl.

She started for the door, walking past the television set. She stopped suddenly as something lying on top of it caught her eye. She stared, a frown pinching her forehead, then reached down and picked up the picture that lay there, the picture of her and Karisa.

She looked over at Reno, then at the picture again. It was definitely the picture that had been stolen from her apartment. How the hell had Reno ended up with it?

A million thoughts flew through her mind at once. Had he stolen it? That didn't seem to make any sense. He had been with her when they had walked in on the burglar. Then how had it come here? Had he found the picture somehow? If so, why hadn't he returned it to her?

Cradling the picture in her hands she walked slowly back over to Reno.

Or had this been some kind of set up? Some kind of elaborate game he was playing? Had he known the person who did this, might it even have been under his orders? That would explain how easily the man got away. Maybe Reno wasn't trying to catch him. Maybe it had all been a show put on just for appearances, but to what purpose? Why would Reno want to steal one of her pictures? That didn't seem to make any sense either. Unless he had been after something else. But what? Still, from what she knew about him, she wouldn't put something like that past him.

"Reno!"

No response.

She bent down closer his face, reaching out to shake him.

"Reno!"

He grumbled.

She sat down on the couch beside him, idly poking him in the head a few times, just to be annoying, but he didn't seem to care. He was too far gone. She wasn't going to be able to get anything out of him. Dammit. She really wanted to hear what kind of explanation he could come up with for this.

Knowing him, it would be a doozy.

Still, there didn't seem to be much she could do about it at the moment. He wasn't going to tell her anything tonight. The answers would have to wait, no matter how anxious she was for them.

She stood up, preparing to leave again when her exit was interrupted a second time, this time by the sound of the front door opening.

She spun around, bringing her fists up as she saw a tall bald man enter the room. He glanced up and saw her immediately.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know..." he started, but then he stopped, a look of surprise and puzzlement forming on his face as he looked at her more closely.

"Tifa?" he said finally.

Tifa lowered her hands.

"Hello Rude."

He walked slowly forward, looking at her and Reno on the couch, then around the room and back to her.

"What... what are you doing here?"

"Reno got pass out drunk," she replied. "I helped get him home."

He closed the door behind him.

"But... where did you come from?"

"Huh?"

"Where did you come from? Where did you hook up with Reno? I haven't seen you in years."

"Oh, what, did you just get back?" she asked, remembering Rude had been away on a trip.

"I was in Costa del Sol. I got back two days ago. How do you know about that?"

"Reno told me."

"When?"

"Last week when I first met him," she replied.

"You met him a week ago?"

"Uh, yeah," she said slowly. "Wait a minute. Now I'm confused. Are you saying this isn't the first time you've seen him since you've been back?"

"Nope," Rude replied.

"And he didn't tell you about me?"

Rude shook his head.

"Didn't mention a word."

Tifa frowned.

"That's strange..."

"What have you got there?"

Tifa looked down and saw she still had the picture clenched in her hands. She lifted it up and showed it to Rude.

"A picture of me and my daughter," she told him. "I found it on the TV set," she finished, pointing.

"You have a daughter?"

"Yeah," she replied.

Rude walked over and lifted the picture to get a better look.

"She's cute," he said after a moment.

"Thank you," Tifa replied. "Her name is Karisa."

Rude let his hands fall to his sides.

"And you found it on Reno's TV set?"

"Yes," she replied. "It was stolen from my apartment. Reno chased the burglar but he got away."

A lifting of one eyebrow was Rude's only indication of surprise.

"Stranger and stranger," he muttered. "I see I seem to have missed quite a bit."

"Yeah," she agreed.

He slipped off his coat and tossed it onto the couch on top of Reno. He turned to look at her again.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked.

Tifa just stood there looking at him. It seemed like such a strange question for him to ask. He looked exactly the same. He hadn't changed one single bit. She really should be getting back, but still Priscilla had told her to take as long as she needed.

"Yeah, sure," she replied.

He walked over to the kitchen area and put a pot of hot water on the stove. Tifa sat down on one of the chairs.

"So, you're married huh?"

Immediately Tifa became uncomfortable. He looked at her but her gaze fell to the floor.

"Well.. actually, no," she said.

He was silent for a moment.

"So then, who's Karisa's father, if you don't mind my asking."

She fell silent. It wasn't any big deal. She should just tell him. Reno was right, it wasn't a big secret. How would Karisa feel if she knew Tifa was ashamed to tell people who her father was?

Even so she found she couldn't get herself to say. If she did she'd have to tell the whole story, and she wasn't prepared for that.

"Does it really matter?" she questioned.

Rude didn't reply. Eventually the silence became unbearable and she raised her eyes. Rude was standing by the stove looking at her thoughtfully.

"No," he said finally. "I suppose not."

An uncomfortable silence fell. Tifa groped around for some other subject to bring up.

"I can't believe Reno didn't tell you about me," she finally said.

Rude shrugged.

"Well, maybe he just didn't get a chance. Our last conversation ended rather abruptly."

"How so?"

"We had an argument about a job offer in Costa del Sol. I thought we should consider it but he wasn't interested."

"Maybe he'll change his mind now," she said.

"What makes you say that?"

"I found a check for severance pay in his pocket. I think he got fired."

"Shit," Rude muttered. He gave her a look. "What were you doing in his pockets?"

"Believe me, it wasn't my idea!" Tifa replied defensively. "I needed to know where he lived, and he was too drunk to tell me!"

Rude nodded, the hint of a smile on his face.

The pot began to whistle. Rude removed it from the stove shortly thereafter they both had piping hot cups of tea in front of them.

"If he lost his job that's really going to suck," Rude said. "This place is a dump, but it's cheap. Even so, I know he can barely afford it. I think he's already late with the rent."

Tifa took a sip from her cup.

"Well, maybe it's a good thing this other offer came along then," she said.

"It doesn't matter," Rude replied. "He won't take it."

"Why not?"

"It's for a pimp."

Tifa gave him a look.

"He won't work for a pimp?"

"Nope," Rude replied. "It's against his code. Says beating up on woman isn't a manly thing to do."

Tifa was surprised. That was something she didn't know about Reno and frankly, she admired his conviction. Her respect for him went up about a thousandth of a notch.

"Really? I didn't know he was like that," she said.

"Can't blame him really, I suppose," Rude continued. "Still, a man's gotta make a living somehow."

Tifa nodded, holding the cup in both hands in front of her.

"So what's he going to do then?"

"I don't know," Rude replied. "We'll come up with something though. We always do. Maybe I can get him a job as a bouncer somewhere."

Tifa glanced over at Reno.

"I don't think he's the type," she said.

"Why not? He can fight."

"Oh, I know that," she responded. "I think I've still got some of the bruises from when we went up against you guys. That's not the point though. He doesn't look like a bouncer. Yeah, I know what you're going to say, what difference does that make as long as he can fight, but it's not that simple. The main job of a bouncer is to stop a fight before it even starts. Once the fight begins, even if the bouncer wins the bar could still be wrecked. Ideally you want someone as a bouncer who's so physically imposing that people take one look at him and don't want to start a fight in the first place."

Rude took a sip of his tea and sat back in his chair, looking thoughtfully over at Reno.

"I guess you're right," he conceded. "Reno is kinda scrawny looking."

"Yeah," Tifa agreed. "He looks even thinner than when he worked for Shinra."

Rude scratched the back of his head.

"I'm kinda worried about him."

"Why's that?"

"Well... " Rude hesitated, as if he was reluctant to tell her whatever it was that he was thinking. "I think you know how he felt about the Turks. They were his life man. They were everything to him. When you guys took down Shinra that was all over. I don't think he's ever really gotten over it."

Tifa looked down at her cup. She had sort of known that all along.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to apologize for causing the downfall of Shinra," she said.

"You're sorry but you're not going to say you're sorry?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. Don't worry about it. Reno never blamed any of you for what happened. Even Cloud. It was never anything personal. You had a job to do and so did we. It just so happened you did your job a little better. That's life."

Tifa drank down the last of her tea.

"I'm just worried he might step off a windowsill one of these days," Rude continued.

"Or drink himself to death?"

"Yeah, more likely."

She didn't know what to say. She didn't want to delve into Reno's psyche. Whatever was going on in his head, it was his own fault. He'd had as much a chance as anyone to straighten out his life, but for whatever reason he chose not to. She had to keep telling herself it had nothing to do with her. He had insinuated his way into her life in the worst possible way, and she had just gone along. She didn't know why, but looking at it objectively it had to stop. He couldn't keep doing this to her or she was just going to end up being dragged down with him. No matter how bad she felt for him somewhere along the long she had to start worrying about herself.

She looked pensively at her now empty cup.

"Rude..."

"Yeah?"

Reno wasn't a bad looking guy. Deep down inside she had to admit to a bit of attraction to his looks and the roguish figure that he cut. There was a certain kind of appeal there but it wasn't enough to offset the downside of his personality. She wasn't in love with Brent but she needed him and Reno was bound to poison that relationship if it wasn't already doomed by his actions. Frankly she thought she should be furious at him for so blatantly trying to butt into her life. She wasn't furious, but even so it just couldn't continue. She didn't want Brent to tell her what to do or who to see but neither did Reno have any right to make that decision for her. He had beaten up her boyfriend and made a huge scene where she worked. It had to stop. It just had to.

"Reno's been... causing me a lot of trouble."

Rude looked at her curiously.

"What else is new?" he said wryly.

She related the events of the day. Rude listened impassively.

"I can't get him to leave me alone Rude. He just treats everything as a big joke. Brent is very important to me and he's taken it up in his own mind that the guy is a jerk. Even if that's true, it's up to me to decide that, not him. At first I admit, I thought his behavior was kind of cute, but its gone beyond that. I don't even know why he's doing it, but it's not a game anymore. He's really screwing up my life. I can't have him treating Brent that way, or anyone else I see, I can't have him coming into the club and causing trouble. I just can't..."

She fell silent, shaking her head slowly.

Rude nodded.

"Yeah, I can understand. So what do you want me to do?"

"I just want you to talk to him. Someone has to make him understand that he can't do this, that he has to leave me alone."

Rude regarded Reno, lying like a dead thing on the couch.

"Yeah, well that may be easier said than done. You know how he can be sometimes. Most of the time the best way to get Reno to not do something is to tell him to do it."

Tifa nodded.

"He's probably still mad at me about that whole pimp thing, so my influence my be at a low right now, but I'll do what I can. I'll talk to him."

"Thanks Rude."

"Hey, what are old enemies for?"

Tifa smiled. Then she looked down at her empty cup.

"I guess I better get going."

She stood up and put on her coat. Rude got to his feet as well and saw her to the door.

"It was nice seeing you again," Rude told her.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Same here."

He opened the door and she looked back at Reno, nearly buried under the blanket and Rude's coat. He was so much like a little kid, always running around and doing whatever he wanted with no thought of the consequences. Even when he did something stupid she couldn't seem to get mad at him. In a way it was innocent, it was like he just didn't realize the consequences of what he did, but she knew that was just a facade. That was exactly what he wanted people to think. Inside he was just a cold calculating man who used every little thing to his advantage. She had to forget about the boyish charm and remember that. She didn't want him interfering with her life anymore.

She stepped out the door, but turned and put her hand on the frame before Rude could close it. She looked back at Reno one more time, sleeping peacefully.

Rude glanced back to, then at her again.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

She hesitated for a moment, then forced herself to shake her head.

"No," she said. "Just tell him..."

Rude stood there looking at her patiently.

"Just tell him I said... goodbye."

Then she turned and walked away.