Edit: I can't believe anybody would actually read this considering the whole damn thing wasn't even split up properly. OMFG stupid astericks...choking...bloody hell...rant...rave...dfjajsalkll;dasf;ds,alfdasc...

So. It should be a bit easier to read it now. And now..I'm going to do the dreaded and see how the separations look on my other story. Dear Jesus.

And then the sweet lord said that this story is capable of making some sense.

Rated PG-13 for mature situations and mild cursing. You've been warned.

Author's Notes: Oh my God. This story has gone to Hell. Corny…is the word I suppose that should be used. I actually ended up not liking it so much that I decided to not split it up in chapters or anything. I apologize for that. It's a pretty quick read anyway, I would think.

Anyway, there is some drama and some angst. But there's a bit of romance as well. And it's not finished…I don't think it ever will be either. I just got very bored and disappointed with trying to write this. There's a sort of conclusion type of a thing near the end.

G A W D Y F O R T U N E S

Part 2: Paraphernalia

By: Xtine

"Fuck!" was the first word that escaped the injured man's throat. He halfheartedly sat up in bed leaning on his elbows as he looked down at his swollen abdomen. Squinting his eyes a bit at the bright lights he looked around at his surroundings disorientated.

"Look whose finally back from the dead," a familiar female voice loomed over him. He looked towards the direction of the voice and a fuzzy blonde figurine stood in front of him with another figure beside her.

"Took him long enough," a deep voice responded to the female.

"What the Hell is going on?" Reno asked, still dazed and confused.

"Well, we found you DEAD in an abandoned building," the girl mused.

"Dead…" he whispered as images of a faceless woman started forming in his head.

"Almost dead, really," the man corrected the girl. "If we hadn't been there when we were you would have been dead."

"Rude," Reno was finally able to put a name on the voice. "What the fuck is going on?"

A chuckle escaped the other man's lips and he crossed his arms across his chest. "The Turks are back in business."

"How? I know Shinra is rebuilding, but with Reeve in power, I seriously doubt the Turks are really needed. There's no opposing force..."

"It's not that big of a thing, Jesus Rude, you make it sound like we're going to go around and kill cities of people looking for them," Elena jumped in on the conversation. "There's just a very powerful man that wants the members of AVALANCHE dead once and for all."

"Why? What did they do to him?" Reno for once defended the group of rebels that he used to hate so much. Rude and Elena were taken back by his defense.

"Why does it matter? You're kind of in debt to him now anyway, as it is his money and his doctors that brought you back to life," Elena informed.

Rude gave a chuckle of amusement. "Looks like somebody's gone soft!"

"I haven't gone soft!" Reno's pride was resurfacing. "Fine, what is he paying?"

A grin spread across Rude's face. "Ten million gil."

"He'll give us an extra 5 million for each one we bring back alive!" Elena chimed in.

Reno's gaze went down across his naked torso and he look at the tubes and monitors that had been placed in his body to keep him alive. The woman returned to his memory; her loving smile, her sweet scent, and her soft voice now all plagued his mind but he still could not completely recollect the significance she had or clearly depict what she looked like. He figured it would come in time.

xoxoxox

Three and a half months…Tifa thought as she looked up at the clock that chimed as the minute hand hit the top of the hour. She gave a sigh and tried to push off the memories of Reno's "death" out of her current thoughts.

Tifa Lockheart wiped the inside of a shot glass, drying the damp glass off. Being satisfied with the result, she placed it back on the rack where there was a long line of them waiting to be used. The day was still young as the sun held its place firmly high in the sky, illuminating the tables through the front windows of her bar.

She was concentrating hard on the task at hand until she heard the familiar noise of her phone ringing. She wasn't startled by the interruption, just annoyed. As of late she very rarely answered her phone. Her friends never called her, and if they were to, it would be on her PHS, which was sitting in the bottom of the drawer of her nightstand—switched off.

She let herself become very obsolete to anyone around her, and to be honest one could closely relate her actions being much like Vincent's. She was really only alive at night, gorging her customers with their routines.

Four…five…Tifa counted the rings and then listened to the split second of static that was then followed by her voice.

"Hi, you've reached Tifa Lockheart. I'm not available to come to the phone right now so please leave your number and I'll call back as soon as I can," her recorded voice depicted her normal optimistic attitude. She listened intently curious to see if the call was important enough that they were actually going to leave a message.

"This message is for Tifa Lockheart," a professional male voice started speaking, "this is Dr. Young. I'm a bit concerned about you not showing up for you second appointment, and I'm sorry to inform you that you've now reached past the date where we can perform the abortion. I would like to suggest however that you call the office back and set up a new appointment to get yourself on an annual checkup list. Our number is…"

Tifa simply blocked out the rest of the message. Twice she had called for an abortion, and twice she didn't show. The last time she called they even had said that it was past the date when they could perform the operation, but she plead and they were to make an exception for her.

She was three and a half months along now and her belly was starting to swell, making it more and more apparent of the situation she was now in.

Another bastard child for Reno, she thought solemnly. I want to believe the words you said to me on those nights, but even if you were still alive, I wonder if you really would have stuck around.

Her gaze left the shot glass in front of her and took the attention of the sun beaming into her bar. She felt so weak now, as every day was spent entirely alone. All the times she was so optimistic, she now realized it was because when she had her friends around, she had something to be optimistic about. But now Cloud was gone, and the betrayal between Barret and her was too much for either of them to ever forgive.

She also took the realization that if any of the other members of AVALANCHE were to find out that she was harboring the offspring of their enemy, she would be disowned by all of them. At least this way, she had the comfort of knowing that a few of her old friends still thought she was the optimistic happy bartender that she always was.

All those reasons led her to believe that getting an abortion would help set her life straight. But every time the dates grew closer she became more scared, and when the day finally rolled around, she simply stayed in bed and couldn't convince herself to make it to the hospital. Each time she never even called to cancel. She just sat in bed, crying at the unfortunate turn that her life now took.

Tifa paused from her cleaning for a moment and set down the almost dried shot glass to place her hand lightly on her belly. She felt a small tremor inside of it, signaling that the life inside was becoming restless.

A sigh escaped her lips as she let her mind wander into what her future was to be like. Already she had tried hiring helpers for her bar, for the fact that once her baby was born she wouldn't have time (not to mention it doesn't look good) to be taking care of an infant while serving customers. She hadn't even received one phone call of interest in the past three weeks.

Sadly her customers were growing less and less by the week. The rebuilding of Midgar had been cancelled, as the workers were becoming unruly and more money was being put into the ruins than what it was worth.

Junon (being the second biggest city in the world and the location of most of the military forces) was the best bet to become the new Shinra headquarters. President Reeve took up residency there and many businesses had started to rebuild there after the fall of Midgar anyway.

Maybe I should move to Junon, she was always giving it a thought, but now she was starting to go into her savings account, seeing as though her bar was now not even making enough to pay her month's rent.

Stupid Cloud! She cursed inside of her head and slammed her fist on the counter. Why did you have to donate so much money into the rebuilding of Midgar…Honestly?

She gave another deep sigh knowing that there was nothing she could do about the past. Cloud had left her more than half of what they had banked together. She was grateful for that.

However, now she was left to think of her demise, as she would start to make minimum wage and be living in the levels of poverty. She kept finding herself more and more depressed as the world would soon look upon one of the savior's of the planet as another overworked, depressed, single mom who would never marry because of the rut she had gotten herself into.

A tear streaked down her cheek as she leaned her forehead into the palm of her hand and rested her elbow onto the table, which would support her upper torso. Another tear followed suit of the first, and for once the light hearted, optimistic girl let herself indulge in her depression.

xoxox

Another week passed and Reno was now up and walking again. He still hadn't managed to completely recollect the woman that he dreamed about at night, but he tried to not worry about it right now, for he had more important plans laid out.

Reno strolled over to a table with chairs that Rude and Elena were busy planning at and twirled one of the chairs around so he could rest his arms and chin on the back of it. Elena rolled her eyes at his immature act.

"I still wish we could know why he wants them dead," Reno was perplexed.

"We were trained not to ask questions," Elena responded with a precise tone.

"Yeah, but I just want to know if it's an old grudge that this guy has or if there's something more," Reno brainstormed. "What if it's some other crazy man like Sephiroth looking for the Promised Land and wants the team rid of before they become a hassle?"

"I doubt it." Elena in fact found his ideas absurd. Rude cocked his eyebrow at the two and then continued looking through the database that he had brought up on his computer.

"So Reno, after the whole planet disaster, what did you end up doing?" Elena asked intrigued as to what the rogue had done with his spare time. "I would hope it was something other than get drunk and pay prostitutes."

Reno was actually offended by her statement but just shrugged his shoulders in response. "I actually don't really remember all too much right now. Things are slowly coming back to me…but there are still a lot of open holes. For instance, I remember going to Kalm for some business, but what I actually ended up doing there, I can't really recall. And any time before that was definitely a blur…you know, drunk nights and prostitutes." He gave a sarcastic grin to appease Elena.

"Oh yeah! We've been meaning to ask you about your time in Kalm, actually," Elena started.

"Elena--" Rude tried to interrupt, knowing that it probably wouldn't be a good subject to bring up.

"Because when we collected your dead body, little Lockheart seemed pretty upset about it," Elena continued to inquire, completely ignoring Rude.

"What? Hah, maybe I killed somebody important to her!" Reno gloated and took in a deep sigh while putting his arms over his head. "Maybe I killed that damn Strife. Actually, that would be sad…I would definitely want to remember the look on his face before I pulled the trigger."

"Yeah but Tifa was--!"

"So wait, you don't remember anything that happened there?" Rude broke Elena's sentence.

"Hell no. I was probably just doing some drug deal because they said that's the town to be at," Reno explained.

"But--" Elena tried to interject.

"Obviously it was nothing," Rude quieted her again. He turned his head toward their blonde haired companion, and even though she couldn't see the look in his eyes (due to his sunglasses) she hushed herself on the subject.

"So what's the game plan, Stan," Reno retorted towards Rude, his childish behavior surfacing, which showed he was obviously feeling much better.

"Tifa is living alone in Kalm now," Rude explained. "I've been intersecting her phone calls as of late and she hasn't had any contact with the rest of the members for at least 3 months now, so she'll be our first target. And we can even take her alive..."

"When do I get to meet the big man?" Reno asked, now getting more curious on the situation at hand.

"You don't," Elena explained. "We actually haven't even met him. He had a 'little gang' I guess you could say come to us and ask us about this mission. They even gave us 1 million up front, but they promised that if we didn't go through with it that they would have us found and killed."

"Not too bad of a deal. Especially since they're all split up now it won't even be impossible to kill them all," Rude gave his two cents.

"So when do we leave?" Elena asked Rude, enthusiastic as always.

"As soon as I smoke," Reno replied and headed out towards the door to get his dreaded nicotine fix. With his last comment, he stood up and walked out what appeared to be the nearest exit.

"Why didn't you want me to say anything?" Elena finally asked Rude as soon as the door shut behind Reno.

"Something happened between the two and if he were to remember what happened, he wouldn't go through with the plan."

"Oh, I doubt that. It's Reno you're talking about," Elena argued, knowing that Reno had no feelings in his little black heart.

Rude nodded his head in agreement, "But still, it's not a chance worth risking."

xoxox

Tifa sat down on a stool, exhausted from the days work. She ended up closing the bar earlier than expected due to the lack of customers. She became a bit annoyed when she looked into her tip jar and noticed that she had only managed to collect some coins.

A small cup of orange juice rested next to her, which she proceeded to sip out of as she let her weary body rest a moment before getting herself ready for bed. She was just about to stand from the stool when she heard a persistent knocking at the front of her bar.

"The bar's closed," she called to the visitor, who even after hearing that seemed to continue knocking.

"I said the bar is closed!" Tifa repeated, now growing a bit anxious as the unwanted visitor now tried pulling on the door to open it. She stood up quickly and walked behind her bar, seeing that it wasn't going to be long until this person barged down the door.

She held up a glass for defense as she heard the person now kicking at the door. The metal on the door rattled and clanged until it finally was unable to support the person's effort to get inside.

The glass she held in her hand shattered after dropping to the ground. The man she saw before her had to be a ghost, as it was the only explanation for him being there. She covered her mouth as she gasped in air, trying to decipher if she was dreaming or if he was really standing before her.

Reno raised his eyebrow at the woman, glad to see that his entrance had frightened her. Upon seeing her however, he found the visions of the woman in his dream flashing at him, making him take a second glance at Tifa.

This is absurd! Reno thought to himself and pulled himself back together. This isn't a time for my stupid fantasies...

He brushed the thought off and hastily closed the front bar doors behind him, signaling to the other two that he could handle the matter alone. He had only looked behind him for a second as he shut the doors, and to his amazement Tifa had leapt over the bar counter and hurried her little legs over to him.

Reno didn't even have time to put up any defenses before he felt her little fists pounding on his chest. She hit him hard enough to get his attention, but not nearly hard enough to make any sort of impact. He stood dumbfounded as his eyes noticed the tears that were raging from her eyeballs.

"You fucking bastard!" he heard her curse between sobs. "I thought you were dead! You left me alone…!"

"Whoa!" Reno exclaimed, trying to get her to stop.

Tifa continued on however, and finally she said something that caught Reno's attention. "…I'm not going to be the mother of another one of your bastard children…!"

Reno finally put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her at arm's length away. Confusion was written on his face, as he looked down at her, awestruck to hear the words that had just come out of her mouth.

What did she just say…? Reno gave her a puzzled look before speaking. "What was that?" His voice became stern.

"You fucking heard me." It was a rare occasion when the young woman was wryled up enough to curse every other sentence. "You've probably been alive and well for the past few months…I should have known better to expect anymore from a Turk…!"

She hit a soft spot on him because he took pride in knowing that he was now an ex-Turk…although ironically he was now he was on a mercenary mission to destroy AVALANCHE, again (which of course was besides the point).

"Look," he pointed one of his fingers toward her, feeling the heat of their argument grow. "I don't know what you've been smoking, but there's no fucking way I'm the father of any shit-faced baby of yours! What the Hell would 'Reno' be doing sleeping with one of his enemies anyway? I know I've stooped low before, but that's just fucked."

Tifa choked on his words. How can you be saying things like that? The time we had spent…were you really just playing me? Of course you were…I should have known better—to trust a Turk.

"This is fucked. You're a lying bitch because I've never even touched a hair on your body unless it was in combat," Reno justified his side.

"Are you saying you don't remember those nights...?" she asked, now bewildered as she tried to reason her anger.

"I realize you own the only bar in town…" Reno for some reason distinctly remembered that fact about Kalm. "And maybe I stopped in to get a drink. But beyond that, I would remember who I fucked."

"Barret shot you in the back," Tifa proceeded to try and rally his memory. "…Do you remember that?"

Reno stood for a minute and guided his eyes to the ground as he tried to remember the reason why he had to be hospitalized. He, in fact, couldn't even remember how long he had been lying on the medical bed. Shaking his head he stepped up to her and clamped his hand tightly around her mouth and took her left arm and secured it tightly behind her back in a position where he could break it instantly if she tried to struggle.

"I don't have fucking time for this…I've got a mission, and you're the lucky lady that gets to be apart of it," Reno's voice held the same hard and cruel tone she remembered when he pressed the button to blow up Sector Seven. A tear slid down her cheek and fell on Reno's hand, which a small part of his mind took notice of. That same part of his mind drowned in that single tear as well…feeling the heartache that he was causing her, regretting it, knowing that this wasn't how it was supposed to be.

He guided her out the front door of her own bar, being firm and not really taking the time to be concerned for her well being as he walked his hostage towards a black van that was parked a few yards down the road. The back doors were left open to reveal the closed off quarters of a typical utility type van. Reno hastily threw Tifa's lithe form in the back, noticing the clang of the metal flooring when her body came to a sudden halt. She hoisted her body up to take a final look at Reno as he shut the two van doors, blocking out whatever light the night had to offer.

Tifa found herself surging with anger from the betrayal of her father's baby. She hit the metal floor with her fist as she gritted her teeth together, disappointed in herself for letting him take her so easily. But the anger wore off, and soon she found herself curled up in the fetal position in one of the corners, trying to keep herself warm on the cool metal. It didn't take long before tears were choking her breath.

Reno hopped into the passenger's seat of the van, not saying a word as his comrades gave him a curious eye. Rude ignored the redhead's bout of silence and turned the key to the van to start the vehicle. Elena was squished between the two and a look of annoyance was pressed on her face.

"Why do I have to sit in the mi--" Elena started to complain but found herself interrupted.

"Stop complaining," Reno spoke rather fiercely. He was tired, and his mind was now reeling on about the events that took place inside the bar. Over and over he tried to decipher everything that Tifa had said, trying to put the pieces together. And now he was still left intrigued about why he had 6 holes in his torso.

"Hey," Reno finally ended up breaking the long minutes of silence. "Did any of you two see who shot me?"

Elena shrugged her shoulders knowing that Rude was too concentrated on the road to really be much conversation. "No, we just picked up your dying body."

"Picked it up? How the Hell did you guys know where I was at?"

"The man we're working for is very powerful," Rude actually had a chance to speak.

"Yeah, he was the one that told us to go to Kalm and look for you. And surprisingly, the day we arrived there some men guided us to an ambulance and told us to 'put on some costumes because an anonymous call to the police said that your friend got shot'," Elena explained. "So we hopped inside the ambulance and sure enough, we found you in some abandoned building bleeding to death."

"How coincidental..." Reno sort of just muttered, not really interested as he looked out into the endless night, trying to rewind the events that had played. It just doesn't make sense...he found himself repeating over and over until his head rested against the van window and sleep consumed his conscious.

xoxox

Tifa didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until she was jolted awake. Light seeped in through the cracks of the van she was in hinting that the morning had come, meaning that they had taken her a long way from her home, and sadly, she knew that nobody important would notice she was missing for a long time.

She heard the trio up front have a short conversation between them but the words were all muffled by the wall of steel that the noise had to bleed through. That was when she took an acceptance to her fate, knowing that at least this was an easy way out.

Hopefully they'll put that 12 gauge in the back of my head...she thought solemnly to herself as she stared off into the darkness of the van. Come on Tifa! She felt another part of her brain trying to lift her spirits. You can't give up that easily! You've been in worst situations, don't be a quitter now. At least try...there is another life to put into the equation now, whether you want to admit it or not. It's not like that life chose who his father is...

A tear welled in her eye and she gritted her teeth together. Somehow whenever her adrenaline got going that other voice of sanity would pop up and try to guide her. She liked it, as it told her that she still had that light inside of her and that it hadn't burned out yet.

xoxox

Reno cautiously opened the back doors to the van, letting the light seep in ever so tantalizingly slow. Tifa's eyebrows furrowed as she saw the familiar face. She knew there was nothing she could do at this moment, so she simply turned her gaze away from him, angry at the fact that this man was now completely erasing her existence in his memory.

Reno spoke quietly towards her, finding himself still lost in their last statements. "You need to come out. We have to stay at this inn for the next few days."

Tifa didn't even take a glance at him as she shifted her weight and helped herself up to walk out of the van. She jumped out, landing on her two feet in a pile of sand. She squinted her eyes as she took in her surroundings, which happened to be absolutely nothing except a small motel that the van they had transported her in parked in front.

She looked about and saw Rude and Elena standing in front of one of the room doors, Rude having a phone glued to his ear, obviously listening intently to instructions.

"Over here!" Elena urged as she pointed inside the room. "This is the room you'll stay in."

"Oh how nice of you guys to give me my own room," Tifa gave a wry smile, knowing that there was something more to it.

"Well, there are only two beds in each room. So we figured that one of us could keep watch on you while the others sleep or do whatever. It'll just be easier," Elena explained, loving that fact that she was the center of attention for the moment. "I mean, no offense, but you just don't seem to be very threatening in your condition."

Tifa just shook her head and walked solemnly in the room that they had assigned for her.

"Reno, you'll have the first--" Rude started to bark orders.

Reno simply shook his head. "Hell no, I caught her. One of you two can take the first watch."

Rude cocked an eyebrow at him, noticing that his normal quirky attitude just wasn't quite there this morning. He shrugged his shoulders at his remark and then pointed Elena into the room. Elena nodded her head and obediently followed in behind Tifa, locking the door abruptly.

Rude made his way into the room next door and took a last glance at Reno who had just nestled himself up against one of the tall beams that supported the overhang of the roof.

"You coming in?" Rude asked.

Reno just shook his head, "No, I'm taking a smoke."

And with that Rude walked in the room and shut the door behind him, making sure to keep it unlocked for when his teammate would decide to enter. Reno however just stared at the ground as he fumbled in his blouse breast pocket grasping for his pack of cigarettes. He finally managed to pull the package out and he took one of the small death sticks and placed it on his lips.

What the Hell am I supposed to do now? the red head pondered to himself. He was going to have to face her...alone...and he was now worried about the truth. He was afraid that maybe she hadn't gone completely psycho and that she was carrying his child. Then what? He couldn't be a father...he didn't know how. It definitely wasn't his time to settle down and raise a family. Way too many women to play with still.

However the part that scared him the most was the voice inside of him that was eager to see her. The part of him that felt this aching pain each time he saw those wine orbs look longingly at him. Her rose lips were beckoning to him and he began to fantasize what it had to have been like to hold her and caress her lithe form.

Stop it! You're a sick puppy. Although, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get in her pants one time before we have to give her up...

He took a hard drag off his cigarette, as he conscience suddenly seemed to burst into flames. Never in his life had the thought of "getting into somebody's pants" bothered him, but now he felt his stomach turn.

Running is hand over his face to wipe the sweat off his brow, he took the opportunity to snag the cigarette from his lips and throw the beast to the ground letting it's ember explode into small fireworks upon impact. He then hastily made his way inside and took control of the television that Rude had taken advantage of.

xoxox

Tifa sat at the edge of her bed, hunched over and looking down to her feet. She was trying to plot a way of escape, but sadly Elena had made a point and in her condition she was an easy foe to bring down. Her thoughts however became interrupted when she heard the other female's voice trying to start a conversation.

"So," Elena made an attempt to start casual conversation. "How far along are you?"

Tifa took a minute to respond. "...3 1/2 months."

"If you don't mind me asking," Elena tried to stay as casual as she could, "Who's the father?"

Tifa knew the question was coming, just not so soon. She was sort of hoping that the two would just sit in awkward silence the entire time, but now she had to think of an excuse for the child's father. The saddest part is that she couldn't just simply say that she didn't know, due to the fact that it would make her sound like a whore. Cloud...that's a good idea.

"It's Cloud's," Tifa forced a smile on her lips as she turned her gaze towards Elena.

"Oh," Elena seemed a bit bewildered, considering the fact that due to their research Cloud seemed to have left the area close to the time that they had picked up Reno. "I bet he's excited."

"Yeah," Tifa turned her gaze back towards a wall. "Absolutely enthralled."

And the conversation ceased as Elena found it becoming just too awkward to pry anymore, although the curiosity about what relationship she had formed with Reno still plagued her. She knew however, that there would be a time and place for those answers, and now was not it.

xoxox

Night soon fell the morning sun fast approached. Elena and Rude had taken the night shifts and were now enraged that Reno had found almost every excuse to skip out on his turn for watch.

"Reno, get your ass in there!" Elena contorted as Reno tried to weasel his way out again.

"Yeah, what is your problem?" Rude asked, quite astonished at his friend's resistance.

"I'm just stressed out! I've got six holes in my chest and you want me to go in there with that crazy woman," Reno became a bit too stubborn.

"She isn't that crazy," Rude defended Tifa. Elena rolled her eyes and walked into the empty room leaving the two men in front of Tifa's door arguing over the watch duty. Rude finally shrugged his shoulders and walked in the opposite direction of Reno, leaving him there with no alternative other than to walk into the room and take his shift.

He dug his hands deep in his pockets and slinked his way into the room and shut the door behind him before sitting on the bed. Tifa eyed him carefully as he walked in the room, as a hawk would eye its prey.

Silence hung in the air as Reno threw his legs onto the bed and leaned against the back headrest and snatched the remote to the TV. He quickly turned it on, hoping that this is all that there would be to it.

Tifa however took her gaze away from him and onto the floor. She still fastened herself on the edge on the bed with her knees hugging her chest as she stared endlessly at the floor below.

The silence was starting to kill her. She had so many questions to ask and knowing that he was still alive and sitting in the same room with her made it unbearable to just sit and take the pain.

"Reno…" she uttered his name barely above a whisper.

Fuck, he thought to himself, dreading the time when she was going to speak. At the same time however, he felt almost relieved that the silence was finally broke between them.

"What?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Do you remember who shot you?" she asked quietly, her voice softening but she tried to stay strong.

"I was shot in the back, it's not like I could have seen who it was," Reno made the mistake of making excuses.

"Do you remember what you were doing when you got shot?" Flashbacks kept forming in Tifa's head, and her stomach turned as she felt his body jolt against hers as the bullets penetrated his back. And most of all she remembered the last words that came from his mouth, and that last kiss as his lips became faint and weak from the last breath he took.

Reno stayed silent, annoyed at the fact that Tifa thought that he had treated her different than other girls. It was definitely time to set her straight, and let dead dogs lie.

"You know, I might be the father of your child, but sadly, he's going to be a bastard child just like the 50 other women that I've slept with," he spoke harsher than intended, and for some reason he regretted his tone of voice.

Tifa felt her lip quiver as the truth came pouring out to her. It hurt so much worst than when she was just imagining the scenario in her head. But then again, in that scenario he was always dead...

"Well guess what Princess," he decided to give her a pet name. "You're not special...and in about 36 hours somebody that does want you is going to have you. So cheer up!"

"How can you say that?" Tifa didn't even notice the words spilling from her mouth. "You don't remember the night we spent together? The way you kissed me...the way you touched me..."

"I do it with every woman," Reno now placed his eyes on her just to find that her gaze was now meeting his. Those eyes are so gorgeous...he found his inner thoughts reeling as he saw the tears glisten in them.

Tifa turned her gaze away again and a sort of psychotic smile spread on her lips as she reminisced out loud their last moments. "I was with you...when you got shot. We were going to have our fairytale ending. The shit had hit the fan, and everybody knew about what was going on, and Cloud was able to let go. I came to you, and in our happiest moment you were shot in the back by Barret..."

Reno looked down at the bed, trying not to listen to her but at the same time strangely intrigued by every syllable she had to say.

"...You said you loved me...and we kissed until you finally fell limp in my arms."

"Stop it," Reno demanded. "You're freaking me out. I've never had a girl so obsessed with me that she started making up stories." Yeah, she's just making it up... He always had a way of convincing himself.

"Oh am I?" Tifa stood up abruptly and her eyes darted down onto his with a fire burning inside of them. "Then fuck me Reno...fuck me like you do to all those other whores that you've been with."

Reno was off guard by her very cliché dare. He laughed to himself as he saw her now standing and actually daring him to have sex with her. He had to admit that he was strangely turned on by her act.

Finding that his pride had now taking control of the situation he stood up and looked down at her, the same fire reflecting in his own eyes.

"Fine," he stated coldly as he then forcefully pushed his lips down upon hers, hoping that she would back down from his approach. To his amazement though she didn't back down and in fact she pressed her lips against his just as fiercely and almost in unison they found themselves entwining their arms around each other, their kiss becoming more passionate as her fingers slipped through his hair while her other hand crept up the back of his shirt to touch his bare flesh. One of Reno's hands immediately found it's way to her buttocks which it groped longingly while the other slipped up and down her back, feeling the form that he held onto so tightly.

Something inside Reno clicked, and he became so ignited with this fiery passion that he pushed himself away from her. He was out of breath as he looked down at the woman that stood before him and his face held an expression of loss and confusion. He became deathly afraid of that flame that he just felt, because it was so familiar, and so wonderful...it was a euphoria that he just didn't have an explanation for.

A saddened smile was perched on Tifa's lips as she also felt that same feeling being ignited within her, and she almost wished that she had left things to be, because now she just longed to touch him, to hold him and to just be in his arms once again.

"Why won't you fuck me, like you fuck those other girls?" Tifa asked, her eyes pleading for his attention.

His sparking blue eyes locked onto hers for a minute and he had to high tail it. All the emotion that was welling up inside of him was scaring the piss out of him. He opened the door to the motel and immediately ripped out one of his cigarettes, which he promptly lit and took very long drags on.

"Way to watch her," Elena had just so happened to grab a snack at the snack machine that was outside of the owner's office when she noticed him dart out of the room to grab a smoke.

Reno completely ignored her and ran his hand through his hair as he stared blankly at the ground. Elena raised an eyebrow at him, disappointed by the fact that he didn't try to attack her with his words or anything.

"What the Hell is the matter with you?" Elena finally had to ask, noticing that ever since they stole Tifa that he had been acting way out of character. "You haven't been yourself lately."

Reno took another drag and gave a short "nothing" in his exhale.

"Whatever," Elena retorted and went to consult Rude that they were going to have to probably do the last watches before the next day.

xoxox

Night fell and the midnight hours came and Rude finally convinced Reno to take one last watch on her before they were to hand her over. Elena was absolutely exhausted and Rude was definitely feeling the effects of sleep deprivation himself.

Reno nodded in agreement as he quietly entered the dark room, taking notice to the sleeping figure on the far bed. Just looking at her form made his heart race and it seemed to take everything within him to stop himself from slipping into bed beside her.

Pull yourself together, he urged himself, knowing that some men were coming to take her away at daybreak. But he was still so troubled by the fact that he had never felt so much passion before in a single kiss, and he knew that it was a feeling that he would never get from any other woman.

But maybe it was just his normal horn dog self, considering he had been under for 3 months.

I wanna feel it one last time, he finally convinced himself as he sat himself cautiously on the side of the bed where she slept, trying not to stir her yet. It couldn't hurt.

He looked down longingly at her, taking in her every curve, and for some reason finding her swollen tummy very sexy. He felt himself having a longing to hold her, and to caress her lithe form and feel the life that was being created inside her.

Finally giving into a bit of his temptation, he reached the back of his hand down towards the pale skin of her cheek and took in the soft warmth that it radiated.

Tifa stirred beneath his touch and awoke from her slumber to see Reno's sapphire eyes glowing in the darkness at her.

"I don't know what happened earlier," Reno started to confess about their previous meeting. "But I think I'm ready to try again."

He hadn't even given her a moment to respond before he knelt down and placed his lips on hers, but this time he did it ever so softly. Just as the kiss had begun images began to invade his cranium. Images of him walking down the street and that first chance encounter between the two. The first night they were together, and then they're ordeal at the supermarket.

He broke off the kiss and pulled back as he clasped his hands around his head. The memories just wouldn't stop! Fumbled conversations the two had, all of the scenes they played out, and especially the drama that had unfolded in the short time of his arrival, just kept playing and replaying in his head.

It almost felt like a freight train had suddenly hit him. To have so much suddenly fill your conscious was nauseating. His thoughts finally lingered on their last moments, as he felt the gunshots enter through his back and looked down to see the horrified look on the young woman's face before him. He remembered the feeling of absolute weakness as his knees buckled and he plummeted to the ground. The world around him grew eerily darker by the second and he remembered his desperate last thoughts reeling through his head.

He remembered the last words he spoke to her, which indeed were "I love you". And sadly he could also remember his final thoughts as the world closed in and no words could come out. Damn...dying sucks. He thought to himself, as he felt quite overwhelmed from the emotional moments the last two had shared.

Tifa sat up and was dumbfounded by his actions. What is his problem? She pondered as he once again broke the kiss.

She was about to break the silence with a cocky statement to his unusual action until she heard him chuckling to himself.

"I...don't even know where to start," Reno confessed, his gaze lowered to the floor, trying to fumble out the words of everything he had just felt. Damn! He cursed in his head as he thought of everything that he wanted to say to her, how he just wanted to take her in his arms and never let go. But his pride stopped him on that part, and he ran his fingers through his hair as he then realized what he was about to do to her by handing her over to these people.

Tifa was still as confused as before. "Start? What are you talking about?"

She hadn't meant to be snappy, but her hormones were out of whack because of her pregnancy and the whole situation was really starting to just irritate her. Not to mention she was really beginning to have the urge to just get a good jab in on Reno...right in the face.

"I just have a hard time believing that I won you over in only three days," Reno grinned and he turned to face her, waiting for her to react.

Tifa felt her heart start pounding as the words he spoke seeped into her brain and especially that typical wry grin that spread on his lips as he said it. Is he messing with me? She drowned that idea though as a tear welled in her eye and a smile crept on her lips.

"You mean…you…" she was overwhelmed by his statement and somehow managed to forget the word 'remember'.

"Probably more than I would like to. But I suppose it makes up for other moments," he grinned at her, knowing that they were on the same level as they talked about the memories the two had shared.

In a heartbeat she reached out to him and her responded immediately by taking her swiftly into his arms. He felt her small body weep against his chest while he rested his chin firmly on the side of her head. He held onto her tightly, never wanting to let her form go.

Neither had any comprehension how much time had passed before Reno broke the silence. "We have to get out of here."

"You've got that van out front..."

"No good," Reno shot down the idea. "That was the van that our "employers" gave us so God only knows what the hell they rigged in that thing."

Reno loosened his grip around the woman and proceeded to stand up and pace around the room trying to think of an escape plan.

"Well thanks to you guys we're out in the middle of nowhere," Tifa sassed.

Reno moved his mouth without speaking as he mocked her. "Call that friend of yours...the-the Highwind guy."

"You mean Cid?" Tifa corrected his terminology with an actual name.

"Whatever. He's got an airship. He can get his ass here in no time," Reno grinned at his valiant thought.

Tifa lowered her head thinking of the outcome of her coming on deck with a Turk, but to be frank, there really wasn't any other option.

"We have to take the other two with us too," Reno added in making Tifa's eyes widen with shock.

"Are you nuts? Cid is going to flip just seeing you, let alone all three of you..!" Tifa argued.

"This guy will kill them if he finds out that they don't have you," Reno spoke sternly at the seriousness of the situation.

Tifa fell silent and shook her head but finally realized that there was no other option. She nodded her head to him motioning her understanding and stood up to head outside to the nearest payphone.

xoxox

"Who the fuck is calling me at 2 fucking am!" the man on the other side of the receiver was obviously annoyed when the phone continued to ring, even after he had attempted to hang it up the last three times.

"Hey," Tifa spoke quietly and cautiously to not upset him anymore.

"What? Teef?" Cid asked, bewildered to be hearing from her so early in the morning.

"I'm sorry to bother you so early," she immediately apologized before going on with her plea, "but I need some help."

"Why? What's the matter?" Cid grew concerned enough to sit up in his bed which roused the woman that was lying next to him.

"Uh..." she really wasn't sure how to explain what she wanted to say. "A lot has happened since that last time we spoke, and I don't have time to explain everything right now. I just need you to trace this call and come get me…"

"Are you hurt?" Cid became wildly concerned now.

"No, no...I'm not hurt. All I know is that I'm in some motel that I think is a somewhere near Midgar. So please just come and quickly. I don't have much time." She hung up with her last request and then peered over to Reno who was focused solely on the cigarette that he grasped between his fingers.

"He'll come," Tifa spoke confidently as she strolled back towards his form and took a seat on the ground next to him to wait for their fate.

xoxox

"Cloud!" Cid hollered down the hall of his house as he grabbed his flight jacket from the coat rack. "Cloud! Get your fucking ass up!"

His curses ringed in the house as he stomped his way to the room where he and Shera had allowed the wandering nomad to reside in. He hastily threw open the door to see a very groggy and puzzled Cloud making an attempt to sit up in bed.

"What the Hell?" Cloud mumbled as he looked over at the clock that rested on his nightstand. "It's 2 o' clock in the morning..."

"Tifa's in trouble," Cid spoke hastily knowing that those three words could rouse the hero faster than any other one's. Cid exited quickly knowing that Cloud would obediently and diligently follow the old pilot.

"Is she okay?" Cloud was up faster than he expected.

"Yeah, but we have to get her. She's in the middle of nowhere past the Midgar Ruins...I know that much. But I couldn't get the call traced to it's exact location," Cid explained as he exited from the house and started walking towards the outskirts of town. "And I don't know why the Hell she's there, but it sounded urgent."

Cloud wore no expression as he leapt onto the ladder that led to the deck of the Highwind. It was only a matter of minutes before they made their way to the cockpit and started her engines.

Cloud looked out the front window of the Highwind, finding himself growing more worried as every minute passed. Don't worry Teef...Your hero is coming.

xoxox

Reno took one last deep breath before barging into Rude and Elena's room. He replayed the conversation he would have with them over and over again, but somehow when he actually started speaking none of it came out right, or more of less none of it came out at all.

"What the fuck Reno?" Rude questioned the red head as he saw him standing in the doorway.

"The deal's off," Reno spoke sternly.

"What?" Rude was bewildered. "Are you nuts?"

By now Elena had to become roused from the two males talking and she sat up in bed, trying to figure out what had just been said between the two.

"Reno, aren't you supposed to be watching--" Elena intruded on the conversation but was cut short when she saw the woman she was speaking of walk inside the hotel and take a stand next to Reno.

Rude cocked an eyebrow and started chuckling and merely shook his head. "All right Reno, but you have to promise that when we go to a bar that you're going to tell me how exactly this came about."

Elena was shocked and dumbfounded and quite oblivious to what Rude was talking about. She tried to take control of the situation and persuade Rude's decision, but she was hushed quickly by the man from his stern glare.

"So what is your plan of escape then?" Rude started a conversation with Reno as the two women fell silent.

xoxox

Hours passed and Reno started pacing in the room as he watched the hour turn to 5. He became anxious that maybe this old pilot wasn't as reliable as Tifa had made him seem to be and he dreaded the thoughts of having to watch some men take away this woman that he once again found. And especially now, since he felt very obligated to protect her and his child from everything that wanted to harm them.

And as if on cue they heard a loud knock on the front door. Reno jumped and was the first on the situation, as he didn't even bother to look out the peephole before opening the door widely.

However the only thing he ended up finding was a 6-foot blade pointed directly towards his throat. His gaze quickly averted from the blade to the holder of the weapon and for the first time he felt relieved to see that blonde emo kid standing in front of him.

"Cloud..." Tifa was the first to speak his name after recognizing him. She walked out the front door and proceeded to give him a loving embrace of gratitude, knowing that they were going to be safe.

A pain of jealously ran down Reno as he saw this other man take her so willingly into his arms.

"I thought you were dead," Cloud presumed and lowered his sword from the to be victim's neck.

"Shit, you should know that it takes more than that to kill a Turk," Reno grinned. Rude laughed at Reno's remark which made Cloud raise his defenses again, as he hadn't noticed that there were more inside of the room.

"They're coming with us..." Tifa finally broke the news, making Cloud take a step back trying to figure out this situation. He looked down at Tifa, and for the first time he noticed her abnormal swollen belly, which she immediately tried to hide from his prying eyes.

"I don't have time to explain right now," she proceeded on, "We just need to go."

"Tifa...are you...?" Cloud spoke with apprehension towards her.

"Please!" she blurted, making it apparent how urgent it was to go. Her final plea finally got the point across and without hesitation Cloud led them down the road about half a mile to where the Highwind was hovering just off the main road a bit.

xoxox

"What the fuck are the Turks doing on my deck!" Cid yelled at the two that were standing in front of him. Cloud stood not very shaken by the man's temper and simply placed his arms over his chest while he waited an explanation from Tifa.

"I guess I should start at the beginning..." Tifa spoke quietly as she then spoke of the whole story that had happened from the start of her and Cloud's engagement up to the current situation. "And I don't know who this guy is that wants me or if he wants you guys too..."

Cid stood bewildered at the whole thing, but couldn't help but avert his eyes to her abnormally swollen belly, just as Cloud had.

"Tifa..? I just have one question..." Cid began to ask.

She huffed already knowing what the question was and she crossed her arms over her chest and made sure to turn her head and avert her eyes to the ground before she spoke the answer.

"Yes..." she was barely audible. "...I'm pregnant with his baby."

Both Cid and Cloud felt their jaws drop from the news and things felt a bit awkward in the trio. Somehow a congratulation just didn't seem appropriate from the way she spoke of the news, so Cid tried to take the awkwardness out of the air by changing the subject.

"I guess we should go talk to them and figure out what exactly is going on," Cid suggested while scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," Cloud responded, letting the pilot take the lead towards the deck. He made sure however to give Tifa a comforting hand on her back before following the old pilot. A sad smile spread on her lips as she watched the two go and then she obediently followed down after them.

Author's notes: So you know a story sucks when there's astericks showing that there is a scene jump every five paragraphs, hence the reason why I've given up on getting to the end of this. Pretty much it's a happy ending. The person that was going after them ended up being nothing more that the big Don Corneo (I can't remember his exact name) but the big pimp guy from the beginning of the game.

They scare the piss out of him again and blah blah blah…Choice words are thrown between Cloud and Reno about his fathering capabilities and how Cloud feels like he should try and help because he doesn't feel that the Turk is up to it considering he doesn't even have a job. Which just leads to the two having a bad relationship…but Tifa is happy to be with him!

Anyway, my plan is to make some cutesy one shots of memorable moments of Tifa and Reno later on. I just need to get away from this angst/drama for a while. Think happy thoughts!

Much love to you all that help inspire me to write!