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[There's a pause before she responds.]

I don't think I tried hard enough to stop him.

It only would have him angry if you had.

I know that.

[This whole situation is terrible.]

I guess... I also don't entirely blame him.

And you feel bad about that?

Yes. Sort of. I don't know.

Tifa.

You're a good woman, yeah? If you don't want to be involved in any of this...

Don't.

[It comes out sharper than she'd intended. To be fair, she's killed people for less, hasn't she? Guards just doing their job, but getting in her way. Innocent people who happened to be near the reactors when they blew.]

I'm already involved, aren't I? I just don't want to know what he did to him.

I wasn't gonna tell you.

And I do not want to make you into a worse person.

[She makes a soft, noncommittal noise. She thinks that would be hard for him to manage, with all the lives already on her hands. And really, there's no way for her to make up for that. Tifa just has a terrible opinion of herself in general, really.]

I'm not going to stay quiet if I don't agree with something you two are doing.

I'm not going to not do something because you don't like it.

[He's firm and unapologetic here, but not harsh.]

I know you aren't, and I know Duster won't, either.

[So here they are!]

And you'll keep protesting, right, and we'll keep doing what we're gonna do anyway. And then someday you may get used to it, and stop protesting.

Is that what you want? For our brutal ways to become normal for you?

I'm not...

[She catches herself, scrubbing her hands over her face on the other side of the tablet. When she continues, her voice is softer and shaky.]

I'm not as great of a person as you think I am, you know.

[Oooh, that guilt.]

What do you want me to do, pretend neither of you exist and never talk to you again?

I know you spend time around criminals. But you aren't one yourself, yeah?

[She is such a hypocrite, isn't she? Tifa doesn't respond for a long moment, then lets out another breath.]

Do you remember when I told you I was part of an anti-ShinRa group? We planted bombs in the mako reactors around the city and... set them off. A lot of people died. I knew a lot of people were going to die, and I did it anyway.

[She hasn't talked to anyone about this until now. Not here, at least. Her voice sounds oddly clipped, like she's forcing the words out.]

So I guess I don't have much room to judge either of you, even if I don't like it.

You aren't Watson. I don't feel judged by you.

[She was expecting immediate judgment from him, honestly, so when it doesn't come, she flounders a bit.]

Well. Good.

[That's... something? She doesn't really know how she feels right now.]

But you do feel guilt for it, yeah?

[He continues in that same tone as before - it's almost gentle, and not mockingly so.]

And I do not.

[He feels guilt for not being there with Royce. If Royce hadn't been alone when he'd gone up against House, he wouldn't have come away from the encounter with a concussion and broken fingers.]

Yes.

[She does feel guilty for that, but she wouldn't feel guilty for killing Sephiroth, or Rufus, or Scarlet or Hojo or the Turks. She doesn't feel guilty for killing any of the members of SOLDIER she's faced. She wonders where that leaves her. Suddenly she just feels... tired.]

House is horrible. I don't even know if this will get him to stop messing with Duster.

The man has some very big problems, yeah? Clearly. Problems that I do not care much about, but a healthy man wouldn't act the way he does.

[Alfie wonders if he was like this before Norfinbury, or if his experiences in the town twisted him - made him angry, bitter, desperate.]

Stopping a long time ago would have been the normal, sensible reaction. But he isn't normal or sensible at all.

You're right. He's not.

[Another sigh!]

I'll take care of Duster, and I'll let you know how he's doing.

Yeah.

Think about what I said. And know that I said it because I do care for you.

[Oh, Alfie.]

I care about you, too. Both of you.

[Which is why she's not going anywhere.]

Stay safe, okay?

[He sighs. Very heavily.]

I'm gonna keep pushing on towards the tunnel.

Okay. We'll try to catch up. I'll let you know what Duster and Cloud say.

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devoutish - 2016-07-04 03:42 (UTC) - Expand