And we're back. I've been itching to post this one for a while now, and I hope you're all gonna enjoy it.

Chapter 1

Cloud Strife, she reflected, was a god. Not one of those all powerful, could-destroy-you-with-a-glance gods, even if he was plenty strong. No, he was one of those hot ones, the ones you wouldn't mind making a little demigod with, like in legends of old. All thunder and lightning and golden bed sheets.

That, Jessie found, was a pretty good description of the ex-SOLDIER. Especially after he had swept in to save her life earlier tonight.

It could be that she had a tiny crush on him. Just a little attraction.

Tifa had introduced him to her and the others just the other day and the first thing she had wondered was: where the hell did her best friend manage to hide this hottie?

The next was: what was their relationship?

Her first instinct was to grill Tifa for all the information she wanted, but the other woman was quick to say that Cloud and her were childhood friends.

But Jessie could tell that wasn't entirely the truth. The way that Tifa looked at him, the way they talked and acted around each other, it all spoke a different language. Even Johnny seemed to have picked up on it over the days that Cloud had been around 7th Heaven and had made himself scarce, and the guy never missed a chance to try and fail at making goo goo eyes at Tifa!

Then there was the flower. One didn't just casually give away one of the rare flowers in Midgar to a mere childhood friend.

Something about it was weird.

With a sigh, she rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, giving her eyes a little rest from the computer screen. She was currently upgrading everyone's IDs, since after the explosion today, Shinra was sure to be putting all their systems on high alert. They wouldn't get them near the reactors no matter how much she upgraded them after yesterday, but they should last for the initial surface scan inside the train when she was done with them. The plan was to jump off the train and head towards the reactor from inside the plate anyway, but no need to get Shinra on their tail any sooner than need be.

Stretching herself a little she turned around and eyed the table in the middle of their little hideout. Maybe a power nap would do her some good?

Jessie rose from her seat and laid down on the table, pushing some of the papers that were lying on it to the side, then used one of her arms as a pillow.

Closing her eyes, she drifted off.

Jessie was in the shower, washing the stress of the day away, when she heard the door open. A scowl formed on her face and she was ready to give the guys an earful for walking in on her again, but the words were silenced by the sight before her.

Cloud Strife in all his natural glory. And, oh my, he was impressive.

"Hope you don't mind," he said with that confident, almost arrogant tone of his. Jessie, on her end, could only shake her head.

Oh, she definitely did not mind. At all.

As if he owned the place he walked up to her and joined her in the shower.

"I've been noticing you looking at me," he told her, and Jessie took a little step back away from him, her back hitting the wall.

"D-did you now?" she asked and swallowed hard, the sight of the water hitting his naked body doing things to her that made her want to do things with him.

"Mhm." He placed a hand on the wall beside her head and leaned in closer, and Jessie could feel her body heat up even more. With a smirk, he closed the gap and crashed his lips against her own.

Almost instantly her arms went around his neck.

Don't mind if I do, she thought and pressed her naked body against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest, and she moaned into the kiss as she felt him grab her ass tightly.

He lifted her up with his amazing strength, and she locked her legs behind his back. No foreplay needed.

Jessie pressed her eyes shut as he shoved himself inside her. Her last hook up had been some time ago, so the feeling of his dick inside her, filling her up so good, was especially intense.

Wasting no time, Cloud immediately started to thrust himself in and out of her, pushing her against the wall as he fucked her.

Jessie tore her lips away. "Mhm, yeah. Fuck me," she moaned.

His thrusts became harder, and she had to fight with herself not to grow louder and wake up the entire place. She was pretty sure none of the others would appreciate her screwing the new guy.

Especially not Tifa.

Tifa! Oh fuck, what was she doing!?

She opened her eyes, intent on stopping what Cloud and her were doing right now. But instead of looking into a pair of mako tinted SOLDIER eyes, she found herself gazing into a familiar pair of carmine eyes, and instead of Cloud it was now Tifa holding her against the wall, thrusting three fingers into her wet pussy while her thumb was playing with her clit in delicious ways.

Her friend dipped her head forward, planting her lips around one of her nipples and started sucking on it. Jessie tangled one of her hands into Tifa's long hair, trying to pull her closer, and she felt the other woman smile as she flicked her tongue over the hardened nub.

"Oh, Tifa..." she breathed out as her friend raised her head to capture her lips. Jessie closed her eyes again and let herself sink into the kiss while the other woman pleasured her.

A whine escaped her when Tifa eventually pulled back, and she buried her face into the crook of the barmaid's neck.

"Cloud?" she heard Tifa chuckle next to her ear. "We both know who you really want."

Jessie pulled her head back to look at the other woman with wide eyes.

"Wake up!"

Jessie awoke with a start, heart beating up to her neck, and she nearly fell from the table as she sat up. She licked her dry lips, rising to her feet and pacing up and down, trying to calm herself down and dispel that vision from her mind.

It was just a dream.

But it was also very real. She sat down in front of the computer, holding her head in her hands.

Dammit, Jessie. We've been over this a million times, she berated herself. You agreed to be friends. She's your best friend!

She is!

So why couldn't she let go?

When Barret had introduced her to Tifa, she had been intrigued. A girl that was younger than her, but seemed to carry the weight of decades of experience on her shoulders, who owned a bar and clearly had a grudge against Shinra. But instead of being cynical and bitter, she was supportive and kind.

And she was simply...striking. Beautiful dark hair, the most striking of red eyes, that could stare deep into your soul, shapely legs that never seemed to end, and a body frankly made for bedrooms.

She had been head over heels.

Part of her still was. Every time their eyes locked she felt that tightness in her chest that made her want to reach out and kiss her again.

She was like a drug, and Jessie had been hooked right after her first taste and was now craving more.

But she knew that Tifa didn't feel the same, and she accepted that, was happy to call Tifa her best friend, someone that she could confide in, in ways that she couldn't any of the others. Yet no matter how many dates or hookups she's had, there was always a part inside her heart for Tifa, and Tifa only.

So it made her current predicament of being attracted to Tifa's childhood friend all the more awkward now.

It was a very nice dream though, the horny part of her mind said, and Jessie shook her head, slapping her cheeks. She needed something to focus on!

Jessie grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels and saw that they were all still showing an emergency broadcast about the explosion of Reactor 1. After a while she decided on one and listened to the news anchor recite completely made up facts about Avalanche. She drowned him out, instead focusing on the number on the lower right corner of the screen.

The official death toll.

Despite the heat inside the basement, Jessie felt herself grow cold as she read the number over and over. So many people died because of her bomb. The majority weren't even Shinra, because the explosion was way bigger than she had calculated. Was there an error in the data they had gathered from the old Avalanche or did she make a mistake somewhere?

Innocent people died tonight, and it was her fault. Barret had given them a speech earlier, how nothing worth fighting for came without sacrifices, but it still didn't remove the bitter taste of it all.

But she could make sure they didn't make the same mistake again. Using the rolls under the chair, she rolled towards the workbench where the bomb for the next mission was lying. Running some numbers in her head she grabbed one of her tools and went to work. She couldn't bring back the people that died tonight, but she could make sure this one destroyed only the reactor.

As Jessie started to make adjustments on the bomb, she missed the fact that there was still one more ID that she hadn't upgraded completely: Cloud's.

The next morning was about as awkward as expected given her dream, and she couldn't look Tifa in the eyes as she served them breakfast.

Cloud was thankfully not awake yet, so she didn't have to deal with that additional awkwardness and instead focused on her scrambled eggs and coffee.

She was just listening to Biggs rambling on about something or other to Wedge, when her friend sat down opposite of her.

"You alright?" Tifa asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at her.

"Y-yeah," Jessie managed to say, eyes flickering towards the other woman. She was instantly bombarded with visions of the dream, Tifa in all her naked glory for her to see and admire, and Jessie had to fight with herself not to get hot and bothered. Shaking her head, the vision dissipated and only her friend remained, looking at her with concern, and Jessie gave her a weak smile. "Just… didn't get much sleep is all."

It wasn't a lie, per se. While it was what occupied her mind, she also did not get a lot of sleep as she adjusted the bomb so that the explosion should be more focused on the reactor itself, and keep civilian casualties to a minimum.

Or at least she hoped.

"Maybe you should sit this one out, then?" Tifa offered.

"Nah, I'm fine," Jessie assured her. She had pulled all nighters in the past and still performed reasonably well when it mattered. "I'll just lie down when I get back."

"Mhm," Tifa hummed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'll be joining you all on the mission today."

That made Jessie look at her friend in surprise. She rarely went on missions with them, since someone had to run things on this end. For her to actually join them there had to be a good reason.

"Want to spend more time with Cloud?" Jessie asked lightly, the corner of her lip turning into a small smirk.

"No, that's not it." Tifa shook her head, then averted her eyes and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "At least not fully. There's just something I need to make sure..."

Now it was Jessie that tilted her head, and she wanted to inquire further when she felt Biggs nudge her in the shoulder.

"Boss wants us to get ready," he told her and Jessie huffed in slight annoyance, then turned her attention back to her door, shooting Tifa a quick little smile.

Fine, she'll ask her after the mission.

After finishing her meal she slapped Biggs lightly on the shoulder, to tell him she was ready, and rose to her feet with the others. As they were making their way out of the door, Jessie halted in her tracks as she heard footsteps and two voices coming from upstairs.

"You snore like a damn Behemoth, anyone ever tell you that?" she heard Cloud say, followed by a grumble from Barret.

"You sure you quit SOLDIER and they just didn't toss yer ass out on the street?" Barret shot back.

"Well, those two are starting to get along," she said and walked away from the door and back up to Tifa, who was shaking her head.

"The worst part is that you're probably right." They both chuckled at that. From her own experience she knew that giving each other shit was a good way to bond.

Jessie then remembered something and her hand went to her pocket, pulling out an ID and holding it out to Tifa. "This one's for Cloud, could you give it to him for me?"

"Sure," Tifa said and took the ID from her. Frankly, Jessie didn't want to see Cloud right now, because she was sure she would make a fool out of herself.

Giving Tifa a little wave she headed out of the door, just in time for Barret and Cloud to arrive.

"Morning Cloud," she heard Tifa greet him, a bit more cheerful now. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mhm. Next to you, who wouldn't?"

"I don't know what you mean," Tifa said and she could hear the teasing in her voice at the pretty blatant flirting from Cloud.

Jessie glanced over her shoulder, glaring in his direction, before she realized what she was doing and all but stormed off to catch up with Biggs and Wedge, her face beet red.

"You alright?" Biggs asked her, eyebrows raised.

"I'm fine," she said and brushed past him, bumping into his shoulder as she did so.

"Testy," Biggs muttered, earning himself a sound of disapproval from Wedge as they all headed to the train station.

After they arrived, Jessie sat down on the steps and looked down to the ground.

"Seriously, you alright?" Biggs asked again, sitting down next to her. She sighed. He could be a huge ass, but deep down he was a nice guy and he didn't deserve her bad mood.

"Just a lot of things on my mind." The innocent people that died because of them, her attraction towards Cloud, her deeper feelings for Tifa. She had never been good with situations where she wasn't in control, and this felt way out of her control.

"You wanna talk about it?" he put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze.

"Honestly?" She shook her head. "No. But thanks for offering."

"Always," he said and let go of her. They waited for a while, and Biggs and Wedge started to joke around a little to get rid of the tension, until they could see Barret, Cloud and Tifa finally arriving.

"Showtime," Jessie said as they rose to their feet and entered the train. They had just sat down when Barret burst into the car and she could already see he was in a bad mood.

"Yo!" he called out to them. "Looks like this ain't a private car, so split up!"

He didn't even finish his sentence and they had already gotten to their feet and headed into the next car.

"I wonder what put him into a bad mood," Jessie said as the sliding door closed and she leaned against the wall nearby.

"I can think of something blond and spiky," Biggs said with a grin and walked to the other end of the car with Wedge. Jessie snorted and shook her head with a small grin.

Jessie turned and looked through the window in the door, as Barret pulled his gun on some poor suit cowering in fear. She honestly doubted that he would truly have shot the guy, but regardless Tifa ran up to him and de-escalated the situation while Cloud stood in the back, a mixture of annoyance and amusement on his face.

They talked amongst themselves before the train shook, as the cars were connected and the train slowly started to leave the station.

"Good morning, and welcome to Midgar Lines. Arrival at Sector 4 Station will be at 11:45. Have a pleasant day." She heard the mechanized voice of the train's computer system say through the speakers on the ceiling.

Her eyes went to her watch. That meant they only had a couple of minutes until they needed to get off this train. They'd be cutting it close, she knew.

Maybe we should've waited until the next attack... But Barret had insisted to strike while the iron was hot, and he was the leader.

Her eyes turned back to the window, and she saw Tifa stand in front of the monitor embedded into the wall. Her mind went back to that night they had their date. Showing people the train station was a bit of an ice breaker to her, that's why she had shown it to her, and Cloud the previous night.

She watched as Tifa waved Cloud over, and say something to him as he had joined her, turning around and pointing at the monitor. Wait a minute, was she—

Jessie pressed herself against the door, trying to hear what they were saying, but the sound of the train drowned out any words. After a moment Tifa turned around and Jessie could see that she was giggling.

Her heart started to beat like a drum, as she saw Cloud step awfully close to her friend.

She was flirting with him!

And using her own tactic to boot.

Jessie didn't know who she should be jealous of right now, Tifa for blatantly flirting with the guy she was crushing on, or Cloud for being the target of Tifa's flirt.

She released a shuddering sigh, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against the cool glass of the window, trying to tame that green eyed monster roaring inside her right now.

She was such a fucking mess…

All of a sudden, the alarms started. That was weird, they weren't near the Sector 4 checkpoint.

"Type A security alert," the voice from the speakers said. "Unidentified passengers confirmed. A search of all cars will be conducted, please remain calm."

What!?

This shouldn't be possible. She had upgraded everyone's IDs personally, even with the train system on high alert, it shouldn't have caught them. She went through her memory, checked off all IDs on her mental list, and it was then that she realized her error.

She didn't finish Cloud's.

"Shit!" she hissed, and slammed her fist against the button that would open the door and ran through it.

"We're in trouble!" she all but shouted towards the three of them, holding out her hands when Tifa wanted to further inquire. "I'll explain later, just get into the next car!"

She then ran back through the door.

"Unidentified passengers located in Car #1, preparing for lock down," the train's system said.

Jessie turned around, as Cloud, Barret and Tifa just made it in time before the door was locked.

"Car #1 locked down. Upgrading to Level 2 warning."

Biggs and Wedge were already standing in the doorway to the next car, and Biggs motioned for them to hurry up.

"Just run!" Jessie shouted at the other three, before following her own advice, and ran for the door. Biggs and Wedge ran up ahead, with the former pulling out his handgun, while Jessie remained to make sure the others wouldn't get left behind.

After the door locked behind them the warning lights stopped, returning the car into its usual lighting, and for just a second Jessie thought they might have made it.

"We clear!?" Barret demanded, only for the train system to speak up again.

"Upgrading to Level 3 warning."

Dammit!

"Another check. If we're caught we're done for," she said. "We've got to get to the end of the train, that's our only chance to get past it!"

After saying this, she ran up ahead. Some older fellow seemed to have caught on, that they were the ones responsible and made himself to stand in their way.

No you don't, Jessie thought and rammed her knee into his stomach, before punching his lights out, causing him to tumble to the side. A part of her, the one that was still angry about the sight from not even a minute earlier, enjoyed that, to vent some of those feelings.

Giving the man one last glance, she ran into the next car. She didn't stop this time, confident that the others would follow. When she arrived in the last car she had to pause for a second to take in the sight of a group of security guards lying on the ground. Dead.

She looked at Biggs at the far side of the car, giving her a nod, and she ran towards him, clapping Wedge on the shoulder as she passed him, and she started to fiddle around with the train door to force it to open up.

"All cars on lock down, upgrading to maximum security warning." The calm computer voice said as the others joined. Shit. That meant they were going to send out mechanized security to check the entire area.

"We made it!" Barret shouted as he ran towards Biggs and her, waving towards Cloud and Tifa to follow him. "This way!"

Jessie was just done and with a press of a button the door opened. She had to shield her eyes from the wind blowing into her face, and she stepped backwards until she stood besides Biggs.

"We're gonna dive outta here!" Barret told the others.

"...Scary...huh," Tifa said, turning towards Cloud, a tinge of nervousness in her voice as she tried to make a bit light of their situation.

"Too late to be sayin' that now," Cloud said with a raised brow. "Why did you come along, anyway?"

Jessie watched as Tifa's expression darkened a little, and her friend turned around, looking down to the metal floor of the train car. "Because..."

"Hey, you two! There ain't no time for that!" Barret interrupted her and moved out of the way, but Jessie already knew what she was going to say.

Because of you, she thought, just a little bitterly.

"Right," she heard Tifa mutter, then walk towards the door. She took a few calming breaths, before turning back towards Cloud.

"I've made up my mind," she said to him, her face full of determination, then jumped out.

Cloud turned to Barret. "Mind if I go first?" he asked with a small smirk, like he was discussing who would start the pool match.

Barret gave him a smirk of his own. "A leader always stays to the end. Don't worry about me, just go!

"And don't go gettin' your spiky ass hurt, this is just the beginnin' of the mission!" he added as Cloud made for the door.

Cloud just shrugged lightly and jumped.

Next, it was Barret's turn. Calmly he walked over to the door and glanced over his shoulder at them.

"Later! You take care of the rest!" he told them, then jumped off.

Ever since writing Journey of a Barmaid and putting some focus on Jessie I had the desire to write someting from her perspective. Her doubts and fears, her feelings towards Tifa and crush on Cloud.

Ah it must be pretty confusing being Jessie right now!

Anyway. Hope you enjoyed it. Read and Review! :)