Intoxication Part 4/5 [Cloud/Tifa, AU, R]

[ocvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

Title: Intoxication Part 4/5

Author: Valk

Rating: R

Warnings: Language, sex, deception, politics

Word Count: 15,501

Prompt: Cloud/Tifa, Remedy, “If you are the poison…”

A/N: Poor Cloud… All he did was fall in love…

Cloud sat in his office, leaning back in his plush leather chair. He glanced down at his hands before looking out the window at the empty blue June sky. Three months… Three months since you left me. Damn it… I can’t believe I fell for your tricks.

 

His cell phone buzzed and he picked it up, looking at the screen for the caller I.D. Thinking out loud, he mumbled, “Unknown caller? That’s odd.” He touched the answer option on the screen and held it to his ear. “Hello? Who are you and how did you get ahold of this number?”

 

The small voice on the other end whispered brokenly. “…Cloud?”

 

He jumped out of his chair. “Tifa?!”

 

“Cloud, I-I’m sorry, I…”

 

“You have a lot of gall to call me after what you did.”

 

“I know, I just… I’m really sorry, Cloud…”

 

“Tifa, why are you calling me?”

 

“I wanted to tell you that I quit the WRO. I crushed the codes and never told the others that I had them. I just… thought about what you said… About how the others wouldn’t give a damn about innocents. I left and I want to help.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Please meet me at the bistro on the corner of Third and St. Argent’s. The bistro where we first met… I’ll explain there. If you want to bring SOLDIER to arrest me, go ahead. It’s the least I deserve. If you don’t show at all, I’ll understand. But, please… There’s something I need to say to you face-to-face.”

 

“What time?”

 

“Um… You get off at four on Fridays, right?”

 

“I have an hour lunch.”

 

“Does one work?”

 

He glanced at the time in the corner of his computer. “Alright. One o’clock. That gives us a half-hour.”

 

“Thank you, Cloud.”

 

He hung up the phone and slipped it in his pocket before opening the top drawer of his desk and pulling his personal firearm from inside. He checked the ammunition before slipping it into the holster under his jacket and walking out to the elevator. On his way past his secretary’s desk, he said, “I’m taking lunch, Kunsel. Watch the fort while I’m gone, okay?”

 

He looked up from the pages on his desk. “Yes, Sir!”

 

Cloud made his way down to his car and took a deep breath before starting the ignition. He pulled out of the private section of the parking garage. After going through all the security, he continued off in the direction of the bistro while hoping to get there before she did.

 

He arrived at his destination and found a parking space before making his way up to the doors. Walking inside, he scanned the room before spying Tifa sitting with her back to the door. He made his way over to her and slid in the booth opposite her, the same places they’d been in almost a year ago. She looked up at him with deep sorrow in her eyes before turning her eyes back to the white tablecloth.

 

Folding his hands, he looked at her squarely and spoke, “What did you want to say?”

 

“Cloud, I know you won’t ever be able to forgive me, but I… I want you to know that I really did love you. Yes, in the beginning, it was all a ploy, but as time went by, I realized I was slowly falling for you.”

 

“Tifa… I fell in love with you. I gave you my heart and I trusted you to take care of it. You broke it in the worst possible way. You lied to me, betrayed me, and threatened to kill me. I can’t trust you, Tifa. Never again.”

 

Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. “I understand, Cloud. I-I’m here to turn myself in.” She raised her hands above the table as if waiting for him to cuff her. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know about the WRO. I’m through with them.”

 

“Tifa… I’m going to ask one question and I hope you’ll be honest with me.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Hm?”

“Why are you surrendering yourself? You do know there’s a death penalty for all terrorists, right?”

 

“I don’t care. I’ve had enough of that life.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Cloud? Aren’t you going to cuff me? I know you carry a pair with you.”

 

“No, I’m not. Unlike you, I can’t bring myself to do that to the one I ‘love.’”

 

“Cloud, I…”

 

“Save it, Tifa.”

 

She blinked her tears back and looked up at him. “Cloud…” Her hand slipped into her bag and Cloud automatically reached for his weapon, pausing when she pulled out a small box. “I don’t have a right to wear this, but I still kept it the whole time.”

 

He froze, recognizing it as the box that accompanied the diamond ring he’d given her in February, on Valentine’s Day. “Tifa… If you felt that way, why did you do the things you did?”

 

“Because I believed in what I was fighting for. I believed I was doing what was right for mankind. I didn’t think I had the right to be selfish and live my life for myself with you.”

 

“Tifa, love isn’t about living for yourself… If you really loved me, you would’ve seen that love is about living for the one you care about. Living your life with them and for them just because it feels right. There’s nothing else to say about it.”

 

“Cloud, I… I really do love you, but I… Here. This belongs to you.” She slid the box back across the table towards him. “You deserve to find a woman who will treat you properly.”

 

He picked it up and opened the box to look at the ring. “Tifa… I gave you this because I knew I loved you and I knew I would never find another woman that I would ever love as much as you.”

 

“But, Cloud… Surely you don’t want me to wear your ring anymore, right?”

 

“Tifa, I…” He closed the box and pocketed it. “Let’s go. I’m sure there’s someone who would like to know about the WRO.”

 

~^~^~

 

Tifa sat in the passenger seat of Cloud’s car, sighing once before speaking, “After Nibelheim collapsed, I vowed to get revenge on ShinRa. I worked in a bar. I listened, I learned, and, eventually, I started pulling off small jobs. Gradually, they became deeper and deeper and, one day, the WRO contacted me. I joined up because I thought it was the perfect opportunity. I stopped thinking for myself and started to think I was thinking for the people… I was such a fool.”

 

He stayed silent as he pulled up outside his apartment, causing Tifa to look up in surprise. “What… What are we doing here…?”

 

He sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Come on up.”

 

“…Okay.”

 

He led her up the stairs and opened the door, glancing around to make sure Zack was still at work before walking inside. “Alright. Over here.” He pulled the coat closet open and moved the umbrella rack out and threw the jackets onto the couch. “Get in.”

 

“Huh…?”

 

“Tifa… I’m saving your life, here. The least you can do is follow along.”

 

She nodded. “Okay.” Slipping inside, she watched as Cloud held a pair of handcuffs towards her. She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said-”

 

“I’m not cuffing you. You have the choice to go straight to the grave if you want.”

 

She sighed and took them, fastening one wrist and pausing as Cloud stopped her from doing the other. Instead, he took the other end and attached it to the hanging bar in the closet before handing her a prepaid, untraceable cell phone. She looked at him before accepting it. “Cloud, I don’t follow.”

 

“That phone is programmed to send an alarm signal to my phone the second it sends a call. In which case, I’ll have SOLDIER here so quick you won’t even be able to blink. If you want to live, you’ll wait until I call you. Answer with a fake name, or a name you used as a member of the WRO. You’ll be my private, anonymous contact who will only give information over the phone.  Once there, you’ll negotiate for immunity in exchange for information. How much information do you have, exactly?”

 

“I was the top field agent. The best. I dealt directly with First, our leader. I don’t know names, but I can give you locations and physical descriptions.”

 

“Good enough for an arrest. I’ll ask you one more time. Are you sure you want to do this?”

 

She nodded slowly. “Mm-hm. I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt… It shouldn’t have taken me this long to come to this decision, but it did. I started to doubt it when you said they’d just destroy the reactors. I’ve had power as the lead agent for so long, I forgot that not everyone thinks like I do. See, our leader just has a personal vendetta against ShinRa. He doesn’t give a lick for anyone who gets in-between.”

 

“Tifa, I’ll call you in a minute. You understand what I’m trying to do?”

 

“Yeah. I’ll follow your lead.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Cloud? …Thank you.”

 

He nodded once and turned on his heel before marching out.

 

~^~^~

 

Cloud stood before the president himself and the rest of his Cabinet. “Sir, I have an anonymous contact who claims to have information about the WRO, but they’ll only speak by phone. I have their number and I’ve already tried tracking it. It’s an unregistered cell phone. One of those prepaid, untraceable ones. Should I arrange a group meeting to discuss their terms?”

 

The president nodded. “Do it. I want the WRO taken out. You have permission to grant him anything he wants.”

 

Aerith, having been previously briefed by Cloud on the exact situation, asked, “Even immunity?”

 

“Yes, even immunity.”

 

~^~^~

 

Cloud walked into the conference room a week later with a sigh, bringing with him one of his closest friends, Aerith, and a master negotiator, a man by the name of Sephiroth. He sat down at the head of the table and, after glancing at his notes for the number, dialed the cell phone he’d given to Tifa.

 

Her voice sounded over the speaker phone, carrying the same cold bite she’d worn when she’d first shown her true colors. “It’s about time.”

 

Cloud sighed to himself to gain his composure before replying, “My apologies, Miss…?”

 

“You can call me Bartender. That was my name among the WRO. And you are?”

 

“My name is Cloud Strife, Secretary of Defense for President ShinRa. Here with me are Aerith Gainsborough, the Press Secretary, and Sephiroth Crescent, Head of External Communications and Foreign Affairs.”

 

“Is that a bunch of fancy gibberish to say he can talk his way out of a cornfield?”

 

Sephiroth sighed. “Miss Bartender. I understand you wish to surrender all information regarding the WRO?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What, may I ask, do you hope to gain in return?”

 

“That depends on what information you ask for.”

 

“And that would depend on what information you can give.”

 

“Understandable. I was known as Bartender among the WRO because we desired a stealthy approach above all else. I can’t give you names, but I can give you physical descriptions and current and future locations. I can also offer weak points and warehouse sites where we stored all of our weaponry.”

 

Aerith snuck a brief glance at Cloud before saying, “I want to ask you something that I hope you can answer.”

 

“What is it? I’ll try my best.”

 

“What triggered your decision to leave? Surely if you have information like you say, you must’ve been privy to their deeper secrets. Why would one as deep into this sort of thing just suddenly decide to turn herself in?”

 

“It wasn’t a sudden decision. But my exact reasons are not your concern. Just know that I will be providing you with accurate information.”

 

Sephiroth leaned back in his chair and crossed his fingers in front of him. “How can we be so sure?”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“How can we be sure this information is accurate?”

 

“Do you have any other opti-” Her voice cut off and she released a gasp. “I have to go. They’ve found me.”

 

The line went dead and Aerith looked up to glance at Cloud. He wore a panicked expression that only lasted for a brief moment. After schooling his face to appear impassive, he stood and gathered his notes before heading out the door. His friend followed after him, staying silent until they reached his office and shut the door.

 

Cloud paused in front of his desk and turned to face Aerith. “I need an excuse.”

 

She nodded. “I know. Just go. I’ll make up some BS about how you felt sick and I pushed you out the door. Just act the part on your way out.”

 

He pulled his gun out of the top drawer and tucked it into his coat. “Thanks, Aerith.”

 

~^~^~

 

This is getting nowhere! Tifa sat on the stool inside the closet, one hand cuffed to the hanging bar. She held a paperclip in the other hand that she’d smuggled from Cloud’s desk on her way back from a bathroom break. Shifting the end of it inside the hole of the cuffs, she cursed silently as she heard two members of the WRO moving through Cloud’s apartment. The sound of glass breaking sounded outside and she forced herself to stay patient with her lock picking.

 

The door to the apartment opened and Tifa froze. Cloud can’t be back yet…! That means…! Zack!

 

She cursed again as Zack’s voice sounded, “Hey! Who the hell are you guys?”

 

The light voice of the woman known as Shuriken replied, “We are WRO. We are here to claim what should be ours.”

 

Tifa felt the lever of the cuffs release and wrenched her hand free as a gunshot echoed, followed by the sound of Zack releasing a panicked yelp. She shoved at the accordion doors to open it from the inside and leapt out, tackling Zack to the floor and down behind the couch before hissing, “Stay down.”

 

He nodded his affirmation as she jumped to her feet and hurdled the couch to face Shuriken and her partner, Pilot. She raised her fists in a ready stance and said, “What are you two doing here for?”

 

“Heh,” the red-headed man with a ponytail gave a snort. “A better question is, what are you doing in the target’s closet?”

 

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

 

The two of them kept their eyes on her and raised their weapons. She lunged forward, snapping a kick into Pilot’s chest. He stumbled backwards and tried to catch his balance as Shuriken fired. Tifa dodged the shot by instinct alone and countered with a jab-cross-roundhouse combo before turning and ducking Pilot’s incoming fist.

 

Shuriken came up behind her in a pincer attack and managed to land a hit to her side. Tifa cringed for a moment before falling back into focus and throwing a well-aimed kick to Pilot’s face. She grabbed his weapon from his grip and fired it at him before turning sharply. Looking up just quickly enough, she saw Zack peeking up over the couch to watch her fight while missing the auburn-haired woman’s gun pointing towards him. Tifa lunged over to him just as a loud burst sounded behind her.

 

She felt a sharp pain pierce her left side and glanced down to see her mid-back quickly staining red. Cursing under her breath, she glanced up to see Shuriken watching her, weapon pointed to fire again. Her vision started to blur and she felt the gun in her hand slowly pry free and another shot was fired. I love you, Cloud… I’m sorry for everything… was her last thought as she slumped down over the back of the sofa.