CHAPTER XXIV

The wind moaned as it funneled down the street, the icy touch of it causing Tifa to pull her collar tighter around her neck as she walked. The sun shone palely in the sky above, when she could see it between the buildings, that was, but even at it's zenith it was never very high in the sky this time of year, and the warmth of the summer sun just seemed a long faded memory.

She turned the corner, the wind lessening, and walked down the street towards the Halo & Horns. The streets here were normally lit up with neon lights that hung over the doors of the liquor shops, x rated theaters and strip joints that crowded the road, but this early in the morning, all was quiet.

She stopped at the entrance to the Halo & Horns, raising her eyes to look at the marquee above the door.

LIVE NUDE GIRLS!
FEATURING TIFA LOCKHEART
SAVIOR OF THE PLANET
ONE NIGHT ONLY! FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

She felt something twist in her stomach, and suddenly she was shivering, and she didn't think it was from the cold. Up to now it had been just an idea, a thought in her head, just talk between her and Bernard, but seeing that sign, seeing her name up there, brought home the reality of it. Bernard hadn't wasted any time, had he? It had only been the day before yesterday that she had agreed. She supposed it really shouldn't surprise her. He had wanted this to happen for a long time.

Was she really going to do this?

She wrapped her arms around herself, then lowered her head and walked into the building.

There was no one inside. Tifa took off her coat and hung it up, then put on a pot of coffee. About ten minutes later she looked up as the door opened. Delphine walked in, looking around and smiling when she saw Tifa.

"Hi Teef. I see you're already here."

"Haven't been here long," Tifa replied. It was just after ten o'clock in the morning. Light from the sun filtered through the shutters on the windows.

Delphine walked over to the bar and hung up her coat behind it.

"There's coffee made," Tifa said, even though it was not necessary. Delphine had already caught the aroma hanging in the air.

"Thanks," Delphine replied. She walked over to the pot and poured herself a cup.

Tifa drained the last of her own cup. She wasn't really a coffee drinker, but she would drink it on occasion. Besides, she felt she needed something to calm her nerves, though she wasn't sure coffee would do the trick, she thought, eyeing the bottles behind the bar.

It didn't take long for Delphine to finish her cup. Tifa waited patiently, in no rush. She stood there, shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously until Delphine tossed her Styrofoam cup in the wastebasket. She lifted her head and looked at Tifa.

"So, you ready?"

Tifa licked her lips to wet them, her mouth feeling oddly dry even after drinking her coffee.

"I guess," she said reluctantly.

She had told Delphine what she intended to do, and the young girl had agreed to show her the ropes and help her develop a routine. Bernard had agreed to let them use the Halo & Horns during off hours to come in and rehearse. This way there would be no one around to bother them, or to make Tifa even more nervous than she was.

Delphine looked at Tifa with an experienced eye.

"Okay, the first thing we need to do is pick out an outfit for you."

The younger girl led Tifa through the curtains into the back, taking her into the wardrobe room. Tifa stood there as Delphine walked slowly down the aisle between the racks of clothing. She stopped every once in a while to look over and outfit and then at Tifa. Eventually she halted and pulled one out. She turned to look at Tifa.

"Here you go!"

Tifa just stood there, looking at the outfit Delphine had decided upon.

"A nurse?" she said finally.

"Trust me, it's you."

Tifa wasn't so sure, but didn't see much point in arguing. Reluctantly she took the outfit from her friend.

"I'll meet you back on the dance floor," Delphine told her and walked away.

Tifa looked at the outfit for a moment, then sighed. She had a feeling her second thoughts were only going to get worse as the day wore on.

She put on the outfit. There wasn't really that much to it. Undergarments that were so small as to seem almost pointless. A white dress so ridiculously short it would even put her old miniskirt to shame, and to top it off, a stethoscope to hang around her neck.

She stood there looking at herself in the mirror when she was done. Already she felt embarrassed.

Swallowing, she walked back into the other room. Delphine was standing on the dance floor, waiting for her.

"Oh, you look so cute!" she exclaimed.

A sentiment Tifa did not share.

"Whatever," she muttered.

"Okay, music," Delphine went on. "What kind do you like?"

"Umm, I don't know."

"C'mon, there must be something you like. What's your favorite?"

"I like pretty much anything," Tifa replied.

"Well, go pick something out!"

Tifa walked over to the CD player on a shelf behind the dance floor and started to look through the CD's in the rack beside it. She stooped down to look them over, slowly going through each one. Delphine stood on the dance floor for a while, until she got impatient, then walked over to Tifa.

"Is it that hard a decision?"

Tifa shrugged. It wasn't. She just wasn't anxious to do this and was taking every opportunity she had to delay things. She realized that wasn't going to make matters any better but she just couldn't help it.

"How about this?" she said, picking out a CD.

"No, that's too slow. You need something fast, and upbeat!"

Tifa looked at the CD in her hand for a moment, then put it back.

"All right, you pick something out," she said.

Delphine placed her hands on her hips, but instead of saying something just nodded. She took a CD from the rack and put it in the player. The music started to play, quite loudly, and she lowered the volume.

"We can turn it up later," she told Tifa. "You have to be able to hear me right now. This is one of my favorites."

She led Tifa back onto the dance floor.

"All right. We'll start with a few simple steps. You already know how to dance normally so this should be pretty easy to grasp. Just watch."

Delphine started to move across the floor.

"One, two, one, two, left, back, turn, forward, back and stop," she said as she moved gracefully around the dance floor. She stopped with her arms outstretched, palms up.

"Think you can do that?"

"That looks easy enough," Tifa replied.

They did it together a few times and then Delphine started to make it more complicated.

"That's it. You don't have to follow exactly. You can come up with your own moves as long as they fit the music. Just let yourself feel it and do what comes naturally."

Tifa followed Delphine as best she could, and doing fine for a while. Delphine bent down, grabbing hold of her ankles. When Tifa did the same Delphine eyed her critically.

"No, get your butt up higher!"

Tifa turned red, hesitated a moment, then tried to do as her friend suggested. Appeased, Delphine ran her hands up her legs and then over her breasts.

Tifa's hands got as far as her waist.

Delphine stopped, looking at her.

"C'mon, what are you waiting for?" she questioned.

Tifa didn't really have a reply.

Delphine spun around her, still moving to the music.

"Tifa, you're a very sexy woman. There's no harm in showing it off a little."

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Tifa said doubtfully.

"You just have to get into it a little!" Delphine responded. "Doesn't it feel good to be the center of attention?"

"Not like that!" Tifa replied.

"Oh come on! Here, take off your dress."

"Delphine!"

"Oh lighten up!"

She stopped suddenly in front of Tifa. She reached up and started to unbutton her blouse.

"Would you feel better if I took my own clothes off?"

"No!"

Delphine laughed.

"Would you relax! How many times have you seen me out on the dance floor?"

"I... I never really paid much attention," Tifa stammered.

"Its really no big deal at all," Delphine reassured her.

"How can you be so... uninhibited?" Tifa questioned.

"I don't know," Delphine replied, spinning around. "I'm proud of my body. I think there's a little exhibitionist in all of us."

"I'm not so sure about that," Tifa replied.

Delphine glided across the dance floor than stopped again.

"C'mon Tifa! Don't you think there's a little something exciting about it all? Don't you want to be a star?"

"I...no, not really," Tifa said slowly.

Delphine looked at her for a moment with a 'what am I going to do with you?' look, then she pressed her hands against her hips.

"It's not going to be any fun if you don't get into it," she admonished. "If you can't take your clothes off in front of me, how are you going to do it in front of a hundred guys?"

Tifa paled. Her mouth opened, then closed. She sank slowly down until she was sitting on the floor.

"Thank you for putting that image in my head," she said.

Delphine just stood there, looking at Tifa, who didn't seem in any rush to get up. Finally she walked over and sat down on the floor beside her friend.

"Why are you doing this again?"

Tifa didn't look at her, just sat there, making little circles on the parquet dance floor with her finger.

"It's for a friend of mine," she said eventually. "He's being evicted unless he pays his back rent, and he doesn't have it."

Delphine lifted her knees and wrapped her arms around them.

"He's being evicted?"

"Uh huh."

She looked at Tifa thoughtfully.

"And you're going to dance to get the money for him?"

Tifa nodded.

"Wow," Delphine commented with a shake of her head. "You must really love this guy."

"Huh?"

"I said you must really love him. I mean, I know how you feel about dancing, about how you never wanted to do it. You must really care about this guy to be willing to do something like that for him."

Delphine might have said something more, but Tifa wasn't listening. What Delphine had already said was ringing in her ears. All this time she had been thinking about how she was going to do this, how she could possibly pull it off, and yet, for some reason, she'd never really questioned her motives, never asked why. It was silly, really. And now, Delphine's simple words seemed like a cannon going off in her ear. Her young friend was absolutely right. She had sworn a long time ago never to do this. She had stuck to that through all these years, through whatever hardship she had faced she had never wavered. And now, now she was doing it... for Reno?

It didn't make sense. It didn't make any sense at all. Why had she agreed? Why would she be willing to do this for him? Yes, he'd saved her daughter's life, but that wasn't it. She knew that wasn't it. That made her grateful but still she would never do something like this for him because of that. Not unless it was life or death and an eviction notice was not that.

So why?

She couldn't say. She couldn't think. For some reason her brain seemed unwilling to process this information. Yes, she liked him. She had warmed to him, she had to admit. In spite of what almost happened the other night there was a bond forming between them, but... she hadn't thought it was this strong. There had to be more to it than simple friendship in order for her to be willing to do something like this for him. There had to.

Did she love him?

Just the thought of that made the breath catch in her throat. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be. It had taken her long enough just to get used to the idea of them being friends. Anything more than that was inconceivable.

Or was it?

They'd been spending a lot of time together. Now that Brent was gone she assumed that was just an expression of her loneliness and to a certain extent that was true, but giving it a hard look she had to think there was more to it than that. She had found out that there was a lot more to Reno than met the eye. There was a real person buried deep inside that cocky persona of his. It was a person she had gotten to know, gotten to even admire a little, in spite of his faults.

But love?

That was taking it too far. Or so she thought. Still, she couldn't hide from what she was doing. She had volunteered to do this and the truth was, she knew deep down in her heart she would never have done this for any other man she had ever had a relationship with.

"Umm, are you okay?"

Delphine's question brought Tifa back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Tifa said slowly.

Delphine looked at her for a moment, then grinned.

"You really spaced out there for a minute," she observed.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Tifa agreed. "I just... never thought about that. I don't know. I don't know if I love him or not. It's... complicated."

"Well, it looks like love to me," Delphine commented.

Tifa looked at her, then nudged her with her elbow.

"Why don't you just ask him to move in with you?" the younger girl suggested.

Tifa stared at the wall in front of them

"I wish it were that simple," she replied. "You know, it's so stupid. If he had just come to me when it happened and said he was being evicted and didn't have the gil to pay and asked if he could live with me for a while I probably would have said yes. Instead he got drunk off his ass and when I went over there..."

She wasn't sure how to continue, but she saw Delphine's eyes widen.

"Is this that Reno guy you mentioned?" she asked.

Tifa nodded.

"The one who... got a little rough?"

Tifa just sat there, thinking back to that night. She wanted to forget what happened, but she knew she couldn't. She kept telling herself it wasn't his fault, that it was the drink that had done it to him, but that didn't hold water and she knew it. After all, no one had forced him to reach for the bottle.

She nodded again.

"He didn't..." Delphine said slowly.

"No," Tifa replied quickly, after realizing what Delphine was implying. "He got a hold of himself before anything really serious happened. But still, how can I trust him now? How do I know he's not going to do something stupid like this again? I have a three year old child at home!"

And that was it, that was the clincher. She didn't dare expose Karisa to that. If he wanted to play rough with her, fine, she was a big girl, she could take it, but she wasn't going to take the chance of a drunk Reno being in the same house as her daughter. She didn't think Reno would ever hurt Karisa, but before the other night she would have never thought he'd have done what he did to her either. Even if he didn't hurt her, he was still sure to end up drunk somewhere along the line, and what kind of example would that be for Karisa? It was one thing to bring him home late at night to sober him up, it was another to have him living with them. She didn't want her daughter subjected to anything like that.

"Yeah, yeah, I can understand that," Delphine agreed. "He doesn't have anyone else he can stay with?"

"He had a friend named Rude who I'm almost certain would take him in but I don't know if he'll ask. You know, that stupid male pride thing."

Delphine just nodded.

"So what are you going to do?"

Tifa folded her arms together and stared blankly at the floor.

"I don't know," she said finally. "This is the only way to get the money that I can think of. The thing is, I don't know if I can. I'm just not like you Delphine. The very idea of taking off my clothes like that makes me panic stricken. Even if I want to, I don't know if I'm capable! I don't know why I even said I'd do this in the first place. I'm... I'm just so confused!"

Delphine reached out and laid a hand on her friends shoulder.

"It's all right Tifa. You know you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Tifa looked up unhappily.

"But that's just it. I have to. It's the only way to get the money. Besides, Bernard's depending on me now. I already told him I would."

"Hey, you know Bernard will understand if you decide to change your mind," Delphine told her.

Tifa lowered her head and nodded.

"Yeah, I do, but still, I know he'll be disappointed. He thinks he's going to rake in a lot of gil. I'll feel bad if I chicken out now."

"As bad as you'll feel going out there?" Delphine questioned.

"I... I don't know," Tifa replied. "Probably not, but how else will I get the money?"

"I don't know," Delphine replied. "I can't tell you what to do. All I can say is you're going to have to make up your mind. We're not getting much rehearsing done and you don't have a lot of time til Friday. If you're going to do it, or if you're even still thinking about doing it, you should at least be prepared."

Delphine got to her feet.

"C'mon. Let's try some more. Don't think of it as exotic dancing, just think of it as having fun with your friend. Don't worry about Friday, a lot can happen before then. Your boyfriend might get the money himself somehow, or that friend of his might ask him to stay. There are plenty of things that can happen that can get you out of this, right?"

Tifa sat there looking at the floor for a bit more, then raised her head and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed.

"All right then. Let's go. Get your butt up here and let's have some fun!"

Tifa took a deep breath, then squared her shoulders and stood up. Putting on her game face she turned to look at Delphine.

"All right. I'll try!"


Reno felt like shit, which wasn't really anything new for him. There was a difference this time, however. He'd gotten drunk before, gone too far too many times to count. A lifetime of drinking did acclimate one to it's effects, but never completely. If he drank enough he still got headaches, dry throat, upset stomach and he had certainly drunk enough the other day to qualify. Still, it was two days ago now, the physical effects had worn off.

No, he didn't feel like shit because of his drinking, he felt like shit because of what he had done, what he had done to Tifa.

He was surprised he remembered, to be truthful. After drinking that much he was surprised he remembered anything at all. Yes, there were some blurry parts, and a few details he wasn't quite sure of, but he remembered most of it. The significant parts, anyway.

She had surprised him that night, that was for sure. She had said she would help, when she found out he was being evicted. He wasn't sure how. He didn't think she had the gil. Yet just the fact that she had said she would was a surprise, after what he had done. He still couldn't believe she hadn't kicked the shit out of him. He'd certainly deserved it.

He was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Had been for the better part of the day since he had woken up. It wasn't like him to be like this. It wasn't like him to feel bad about doing something like that. It wasn't like him to feel bad about anything he did, actually. He wasn't one to fret over past actions. So why the hell did he feel this way now? What the hell was wrong with him?

He knew the answer to that. What was wrong with him was a certain chocolate haired girl.

Damn her! Things always used to be so simple, so easy for him, but she was complicating things. He didn't like feeling like this. Guilt was alien to him. He took what he wanted and if that left anyone else shortchanged, well, too bad for them.

But she was changing everything.

He hadn't talked to her since that day. He wasn't sure what to say to her. For once it seemed his legendary bravado was failing him. She had said she'd help, even after what he had done. It was obvious she had still wanted to be friends. This just made him feel worse. He didn't deserve that. It would have been simpler if she hated him.

He should be looking for a job. He'd been without work for a week now and had yet to try to find another one. He wasn't sure why. It just seemed like such a hassle. Stupid, yes, but that was how he felt. He didn't know how he was going to survive, didn't want to think about it. Tifa had told him he couldn't hide from his problems yet that seemed to be exactly what he was determined to do.

He had spent most of the morning staring up at his ceiling, trying to find the meaning of life in the pattern of cracks that resided there.

He had not been successful.

Abruptly he pulled himself to his feet. There wasn't any point in this. He wasn't going to accomplish anything lying here all day. Tifa was right, he couldn't hide from this. He had to do something, had to do something and he was running out of time.

He bent down, dropping to his knees and lowering his head to look under the bed. He rooted around beneath it for a few moments, then pulled out and old ratty looking suitcase.

He lifted it up onto the bed, parting the zipper until the two sides fell open. He stood up again.

No, he couldn't hide from this, which pretty much left him with two choices.

Face his problems...

... or run from them.

He turned again, toward his dresser this time. He pulled open the top drawer and extracted a handful of clothes, shoving them willy nilly into the suitcase.

He could be on a bus out of here in an hour, on his way to Fort Condor. Or he could take a ship over to Costa del Sol. He had enough gil to get him there. Why not? The weather there was sure to be a hell of a lot better. Or he could go on, south down to Gongaga, or maybe stop at the Gold Saucer and try his hand at some gambling.

Rude would understand. It wouldn't be the first time he did something like this. And Tifa...

Tifa.

He'd be out of her hair. She wouldn't have to put up with him anymore. She'd be better off this way. Besides, would she really be surprised? Bolting and running was, after all, a time honored male tradition.

Just like someone else she knew?

He had picked up another wad of clothes. He turned back toward the suitcase, but instead of putting them in it he found himself sinking down to sit on the bed, the clothes still clutched in his hands.

She's loved Cloud so much and he'd turned his back on her, walked out without so much as a goodbye. And here he was, doing the same thing. Maybe now he understood a little how Cloud felt.

He almost had to laugh at that. Never in his life would he have thought he'd feel sympathy for that spiky haired jerk, or understanding at his decision to walk out on such a caring wonderful girl. Maybe, just maybe, Cloud had walked out because he thought he didn't deserve her.

How would she feel when she found out, he couldn't help but wonder. It was obvious that she had been devastated when Cloud left her. It was obvious she hadn't gotten over it even yet, might never get over it. What kind of a blow to her would it be for him to do the same thing? She was a brave girl, a strong girl, but yet he knew just how fragile she was inside. She tried to hide it, tried to put up a brave front, but he had gotten to know her a lot better and he could see the hurt that dwelt in her, that might never let her go. How much could one person take before it was too much?

He let himself fall back onto the bed until he was once more staring at the ceiling, the clothes falling out of his hands in a heap around him.

What was he thinking? How could he compare himself to Cloud in her heart? This was nonsense. She loved Cloud. She certainly didn't feel the same way about him. They were friends yes, but he didn't think it could be more than that, could ever be more than that. He could probably walk out of her life and she wouldn't miss him at all, might even be happy he was gone.

He lifted his hands and slid them behind his head, sighing.

Maybe. Who knows? He didn't know what to think anymore. He only knew he didn't want to leave, didn't want to never see her again, even if it was for both their own good. He looked at the clothes lying on the bed, then scooped them up and tossed them back at the open drawer. A few went in but most fell on the dresser or the floor around it. He didn't care.

He still had time to decide. His eviction wasn't scheduled until next week. Something might come up. There was no rush. If he decided to leave, he had plenty of time to make that decision.


Perhaps it was the way he carried himself. Perhaps it was the look in his eye. Most likely however, it was the nasty looking scar that ran from near his eye to below his lip that caused the people walking down the street in the opposite direction to give the man a wide berth.

Drax didn't care. Well, no, that wasn't exactly true. The fact of the matter was he liked it. He liked people to look at him and feel a sudden fear. He liked the fact that children would take one glance at him and run crying to their parents, that woman would pale and lower their eyes, that men would turn away as soon as they felt his gaze upon them. He was the shadow in the dark room, the cold chill running down someone's back, the knife in the dark that ripped at your flesh, showing no hesitation or mercy.

Or so he liked to think of himself. Even when he was a little kid playing make believe with his friends, he had always wanted to be the villain.

He was walking now down the street in a rather run down section or western Junon. It wasn't a part of Junon he frequented often even though he seemed to fit in rather well. No, he wasn't here for his afternoon constitutional. He was here for a purpose.

He looked up at the buildings in front of him. He could see the sign for the Halo & Horns just a short way down the block. As he got closer he slowed, looking up at the marquee above the entrance. He stopped for a moment.

It hadn't been hard to find out what he wanted to know. A few carefully placed questions had gotten him the information he'd needed. He hadn't even been compelled to resort to more forceful means. A pity, but perhaps he could make up for that later on. Tifa Lockheart. That was the name of Reno's current flame. Twenty four years old. Long brown hair. Brown eyes. Five foot four inches tall. Measurements... well, they weren't important but some men would consider them impressive. She lived the past four years at 3416 Edmond Street, not far from the elevator to the lower level. She'd been working at the Halo & Horns for the past three years. She was a bartender. She wasn't a stripper.

Or that was the word he had gotten, he thought, looking up at the sign. Apparently not all the information he had obtained was accurate.

Still, this was a minor detail. He opened the door and entered the building.

She also worked part time at a martial arts school. She had been personally trained by Zangan and was considered one of his best students. She had been a member of Avalanche and had helped them defeat General Sephiroth at the northern crater.

She was no pushover. He appreciated that. It had been quite a while since he had had a challenge.

She had a three year old daughter named Karisa. Father unknown. Up until a few days ago the child had been a patient in Junon General suffering from Meteor Fever.

She wasn't there anymore and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

Three people were in the room when Drax entered. A male in jeans and a white tee shirt stood by the audio equipment at the back of the room. His well muscled physique made Drax peg him as the bouncer. The two other occupants were both female. A young and rather petite girl with short black hair was making her way between the tables that filled the room where the dance floor wasn't. She didn't fit the description and he dismissed her immediately.

The third person stood behind the bar and was obviously the girl he was looking for. He kept his eyes on her as he slowly walked over. He was impressed. The description hadn't mentioned just how attractive she was. The hint of a sardonic smile flickered briefly on his lips. Terrorizing women had always been something he particularly enjoyed, and a beautiful one made it that much more interesting.

Tifa looked up at the sound of the door opening. They had just opened for business ten minutes ago and often didn't get any customers in for the first hour or so. The girls didn't start dancing until later in the day. Anyone who came in now was just looking for a drink.

Tifa wasn't usually one to make snap judgments. She was used to seeing all kinds of people working in a place like this. A strip joint wasn't exactly the kind of place that fine upstanding citizens of the community were likely to congregate. No, the dregs of society was a more apt description of the kind of people who came here. Still, she had seen plenty of rough looking people here who minded their own business and never bothered anyone. In fact, this could be said for most of the people who showed up. You couldn't always tell how a person was going to act just by looking at them, yet even so, working in the bar had given her a certain feel for people, a feel that for the most part turned out to be correct, and the feeling she was getting from this man could be expressed in two words.

Bad news.

The scar didn't help any. The ugly rent that ran along his cheek made his face appear to carry a permanent grimace. It wasn't that though. Tifa had seen uglier mugs that she hadn't felt this way about. Besides, she was hardly one to hold a scar against someone, seeing as how she was marred herself.

It was more the look in his eyes. She couldn't tell what color they were. They looked almost black, and could have been a deep blue or a deep brown. She couldn't say for sure. Most people's eyes were expressive, a window to their personality. This man's eyes almost made her flinch when she looked at them. He was looking at her even as he walked toward the bar, and just seeing his gaze upon her gave her a sudden chill. They were the eyes of a hawk, a killer, and he was making no attempt to hide it. Most people's eyes were filled with life, but in his, she saw only death.

He stopped when he reached the bar, then sat down in a chair right in front of her. For a moment she just stood there looking at him, then she forced a smile onto her face.

"What'll ya have?" she asked.

Slowly his head turned, looking around the room. It wasn't a look of curiosity. No, it was more the look of someone casing the place out for a potential ambush.

Eventually his gaze returned to her.

"A red wine."

It was an unusual request. She didn't get much call for wine in this place. Still, they did have a few bottles under the bar, usually asked for by one of the few women who might come in the place.

"Comin' up," she said. It took her a bit of time to find the bottle she was looking for. They were pushed way in the back. Eventually she did, however. She stood up again, the bottle in hand, and poured a glass, then slid it over in front of the man.

He lifted it up, but instead of drinking just stared at the liquid inside.

"I've always admired a fine red wine," he spoke. "Such a lovely color. The color of blood, don't you think?"

Tifa just stood there. Not exactly a common observation. She sighed to herself, wondering why she always seemed to end up with all the wackos.

"That'll be two fifty," she said.

The man put the glass to his lips and drained it, then set it back down on the counter. Tifa stood in front of him, unimpressed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some gil, placing a five down in front of him.

Tifa reached out and took the money, but as she did so his had shot forward, encircling her wrist and at the same time his head rose, looking up right into Tifa's eyes.

"Have you ever been raped?"

Tifa blanched. She'd heard all kinds of outrageous and disgusting questions while working this job. They didn't bother her much. She thought herself pretty much immune to such things by now, but no one had ever asked her anything like that before.

That's got to be the worst pick up line I've heard in my life was the first response she considered. She discarded that one quickly. She had met plenty of men who might think a question like that funny, their sick idea of a way to break the ice. This guy didn't look that way. He wasn't smiling. She didn't know if he could smile. Instead he was staring at her with a predatory look, a look that, in spite of her ability to defend herself and the fact that Caraca was standing not far away, made her more nervous than she'd like to admit.

What the hell kind of question is that was the next reply considered. That seemed a bit more appropriate. Still, a response like that would show her shock and surprise, which was most likely exactly what the question was designed to elicit and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction, never mind that the look on her face had already given away how she felt.

Eventually she decided that a question like that did not even deserve to be dignified with a response.

"Let go of me," she said evenly.

Instead his hand tightened on her wrist. She tried to pull her arm away but soon realized that she would not be able to break his grip that simply. She felt like her hand was locked in a vice. She could feel his fingers digging into her skin. The man was much stronger than he looked. Slowly she felt her left hand clenching into a fist.

A movement caught her attention, and she looked up to see Caraca slowly making his way over to them, a questioning look on his face. It was obvious he had sensed that something wasn't quite right.

Abruptly letting go of her wrist, the man stood up, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat. He did smile now, it seemed he could do so after all, but it was not a pleasant smile. No, it was twisted, warped, a smile filled with cruel malice. She stared at him, a look of displeasure painted on her face.

"Until we meet again," he said softly.

Then with a nod of his head he turned and walked away. A moment later he was out the door and gone.

Caraca and Delphine came up beside Tifa and looked at her.

"What was that all about?" the bouncer questioned.

Tifa just stood there for a moment looking at the door the man had just disappeared through. She was kind of wondering the same thing herself.

"I have no idea," she said with a shrug.