Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 27: Not Again

Tseng was, rather uncharacteristically, running late. Extremely late, by his standards… though in reality, as he stepped aboard the elevator, he still had nearly three minutes remaining before he was actually due in the office. He was, however, quite fond of easing into his day in quiet solitude before the others began to arrive. It seemed that he’d be skipping that part of his routine, today… and it was all thanks to his new neighbor, who, unfortunately for Tseng’s schedule, shared his habit of running early in the morning.

The woman – who he had been enthusiastically informed was a widow named Beatrice, was sixty-seven years young, had four children, two grandchildren and a third on the way, and was thinking about signing up for a pottery class – had caught up to him on his second lap, and… talked. Incessantly. Oh, she’d been friendly and polite, certainly… but she simply would not shut up! It had taken him quite some time to even get a word in, and by the time he finally had managed to interrupt her, it was too late. The bit of extra padding he built into his schedule for just such unexpected circumstances had been exhausted. He’d had to rather rudely – to his chagrin, as respect for one’s elders was something that was deeply ingrained in him during his childhood – disengage from his new-found best friend and rush home to shower and drive in to work.

He sighed as the elevator deposited him in the Turks’ offices and shook his head. No matter… It had only cost him his personal time today. He’d just have to be more careful to avoid being swept up in conversation the next time he bumped into her… which, he was quite certain would be in the very near future. She’d promised him lemon squares, as, in addition to pottery, baking was also apparently among her many varied interests.

As the doors slid shut behind him, Kai rounded the corner and stopped short, staring at him wide-eyed. She looked down at her watch, and then back up at the Wutaiian Turk, gaping.

“Are… you just now getting in?” she asked, bewildered. Tseng chuckled softly and strolled over to her.

“I was unexpectedly detained during my run. It seems I have a new neighbor and in addition to being an early riser, she’s quite… personable,” he replied, “Is Reno here yet? There was something I wanted to speak to him about before the morning briefing.”

“Yeah, he is, but Veld sent him off on an errand right before you got here. He and Remy headed out a few minutes ago.”

“What errand?” Tseng queried, curious. Kai shrugged.

“No idea. You’ll have to ask Veld. I just saw them as they were leaving,” she said, “But word on the street is that Rude was in talking to him very early this morning. Sounds like we might have a fresh lead on our SOLIDER killer.”

“Hmph… It figures. The one day I’m late…” the Turk lieutenant muttered, shaking his head, “Thank you… I’ll see you at the briefing.”

Kai snorted softly as he walked away. “Right on time is not the same as being late, Tseng,” she teasingly called after him.

---

Scarlet was in one hell of a snit when the pair of Turks arrived in her domain, barking orders at some poor underling who was scurrying after her, taking copious notes, as she drifted from one project to the next. Reno exhaled slowly as he approached. Maybe he’d get lucky and she was in too shitty a mood to concern herself with ogling him today.

The moment she spotted him, however, it became disturbingly apparent that he wasn’t that lucky. The redhead only just succeeded in hiding the shudder that ran down his spine as the woman locked eyes with him and smiled coquettishly, her attention suddenly entirely on him.

“Send those notes to the team leads. I want progress reports by tomorrow afternoon,” she demanded of her assistant, who nodded sharply before turning on his heel and scurrying towards one of the doors on the other side of the lab. When he was gone, Scarlet strode towards the pair of Turks… though it was more than apparent that her interest was only directed at one of them.

“Well, hello there,” she purred, one hand rising to caress his cheek before it slipped behind him, unabashedly fondling his ponytail. Reno had to physically stop himself from flinching at her touch. He swallowed sharply as he found himself unable to hold her gaze. “And what can I do for you this morning?”

“We’re here to check on one of your projects, ma’am,” Remy stated, before Reno could choke out an answer, “SOLDIER has been field testing it for you. We’ve received intelligence that there may be a bounty on it. Veld has asked that we confirm your labs are taking appropriate security measures.”

“The G7 gatling laser?” she asked, waving her free hand dismissively as the other continued to toy with Reno’s hair. “Of course we’re taking appropriate measures. When it’s not in the field, it’s being stored in SOLDIER’s weapons vault, and only myself, the Director of SOLDIER, and the SOLDIER she hand-picked to do the testing have the access code for its cage.” She gazed at the redhead with a predatory smile. “That gun isn’t going anywhere without my say so. Why don’t I… take you downstairs and show you just how secure it is?”

Her tone left very little to the imagination. Reno wanted nothing more than to tell the lustful executive fuck the hell off… but at the moment, he couldn’t seem to move, much less speak. And he desperately wanted her to stop fucking touching him, already. Unfortunately, his lack of response, only seemed to encourage Scarlet, as her hand began to trace a slow path down the back of his neck, sliding slowly along his spine, until it reached his waist… and then, to his horror, continued down until she was firmly cupping his backside with her taloned fingers.

“Thank you, ma’am… That won’t be necessary,” he heard Remy grind out over his shoulder, and a moment later, the senior Turk was pulling him away from the executive, and not so subtly shoving him behind her, placing herself between Reno and a very annoyed Scarlet. Reno instinctively shrank back, silently berating himself for being such an Ifrit-forsaken coward as Remy calmly stared the woman down.

“Hmph… Well, then… if that’s all you wanted, then toddle on back to your headquarters. I have a lot to do today, and no time to listen to a petulant little girl prattling on about security,” Scarlet sniffed, haughtily, before turning her attention back on Reno. “You can stay.”

“We have a lot to do today, as well, I’m afraid, ma’am,” Remy answered for him, smiling icily at the executive before physically turning the redhead back towards the exit. It was all he could do not to simply make a run for it. He heard Scarlet make a disapproving sound before they finally stepped out of the lab and started down the hallway. Reno didn’t relax until they were safely inside the elevator, with the door closed behind them. Finally out of her range, he shuddered violently, and glanced over at Remy.

“… Thanks.”

The senior Turk didn’t answer immediately, and as the redhead raised his eyes to her face, he suddenly realized that she was fuming.

“… Petulant little girl?!” she seethed, eyes narrowed in anger. A moment later, she shook her head and Reno could swear the normally prim and proper Turk growled before finally looking over at him. “Ugh… Are you alright?”

“… Uh… depends. You pissed at Scarlet, or at me?”

“Scarlet,” Remy spat, as though the executive’s name itself was the most vile of curses. “The nerve of that woman!” She folded her hands in front of her and inhaled deeply, holding the breath for a few seconds before slowly releasing it. When she looked up at him again, she seemed moderately calmer. “No wonder Tseng doesn’t want you left alone with her. I’m serious… are you alright?”

“Yeah… I’m okay,” the redhead replied, “Tch… more embarrassed I froze up like that than anything else. I wasn’t expectin’ her to start pawin’ at me with you standin’ right there.”

“Reno, you –”

“I don’t wanna talk about it. We got the info Veld wanted. Let’s just… get back to work.”

The senior Turk obligingly fell silent… though the redhead could tell that there was plenty more she wanted to say on the subject. He really didn’t want to have that discussion, though. It was bad enough he’d just… let… Scarlet do that to him the first time. At least then he’d been able to write it off as a result of being stuck with her in an enclosed space, alone, with no one to back him up. What the hell was his excuse this time?

Why the fuck hadn’t he said something? Or pushed her off of him? Or hell… even just backed away from the bitch? Instead… he froze. He froze and let her do whatever the fuck she wanted without protest.

He didn’t have much time to think about how upset he was with himself, however, because the moment the elevator doors opened on the fifty-eighth floor, he was greeted by the sight of Tseng’s scowling face.

“My office. Both of you. Now,” Tseng demanded, his voice dangerously quiet. Reno blinked in shock, trying to figure out what the fuck he could have possibly done to piss him off that much… and it worried him immensely when nothing at all came to mind. Whatever it was, it must have been serious, because his mentor looked absolutely livid.

Which, in and of itself was a bit frightening. Reno had seen Tseng angry before… but at the moment, he looked – and sounded – as if he was barely restraining a fury that was burning just below the surface. It was so far removed from his normally calm and collected exterior that, had he not been deeply concerned that Tseng’s rage was directed at him for some reason, Reno almost might have laughed.

He glanced over at Remy, who looked just as mystified and concerned as he felt, and fell into step behind her as she trailed the Turk lieutenant back to his office as ordered. Tseng ushered the pair inside and shut the door behind them a bit more firmly than was strictly necessary before storming over to his desk.

“Did she try anything?” he asked, turning to Remy, without preamble, and the other Turk’s expression quickly morphed to match his.

“She did a bit more than just try, sir,” she replied, and her tone left no illusion as to just how she felt about that.

“I want full, written statements from both of you,” Tseng said, “And I want nothing left out. Veld may not be willing to file a formal complaint against Scarlet for harassment due to her position on the executive board, but I can damn well document it!”

When it finally clicked that the Wutaiian Turk’s anger was directed at Scarlet rather than him, he could only stare in confusion.

“H-how’d you even know…” he began, only to be cut off by a sharp shake of Tseng’s head.

“Kai informed me that Veld had sent the two of you out of the office on some assignment before I arrived this morning. Naturally, I checked in with him to see what I’d missed. To say that I am not at all pleased with his decision rather grossly understates just how angry I truly am at the moment,” he replied, before directing his attention at Remy, “A written statement. Now, if you would.”

“Hmph… With pleasure, sir,” Remy said, and turned on her heel, heading off, Reno presumed, to her own office to get started. Tseng sighed gently guided his protege over to one of the chairs in front of his desk, squeezing his uninjured shoulder as he did so.

“I’m sorry,” Tseng said, urging him to sit, and taking up residence in the chair beside him. “I can assure you that Veld will not be making that mistake twice. I made my feelings on the matter very clear to him. Are you alright?”

Reno breathed a silent sigh of relief – both at not being in trouble, and at the prospect of not being sent off into Scarlet’s clutches again any time soon – and relaxed slightly in his chair.

“I’m fine,” he said, somewhat subdued. “Not sure whether I should be glad Remy was there, or fuckin’ mortified, though. I guess glad… seein’ as how I’d probably still be stuck up there, doin’ fuck knows what, otherwise.”

“What happened?” Tseng pressed, and Reno shook his head.

“I mean… nothin’ really. Not like after the Christmas party, I mean. She just… ya know… grabbed my ass a little ‘n invited me to tour a secure weapons vault with her. Alone.”

He wasn’t sure, at first, why he was downplaying it so much for Tseng. He just couldn’t seem to bring himself to admit how terrified he’d been in that moment… and how disgusted he was at his own inaction to stop it. A moment later, it hit him. If he was ashamed of not standing up for himself, how was Tseng going to view his lack of protest? It was, after all, pretty goddamned pathetic when he really thought about it. All he’d had to do was say no. It’s not as if the weapons researcher was gonna be able to overpower him… even with only one good arm.

Tseng frowned, but whatever he’d been planning on saying was interrupted by a knock on the door. He scowled faintly and glanced up.

“Come in,” he called out. A moment later, Kai poked her head inside.

“Hate to intrude,” she said, and Reno couldn’t help but snort softly. Kai practically lived to intrude. “But the briefing’s starting…”

Tseng looked at his watch and swore under his breath.

“We’ll have to finish this conversation later,” he said, “It seems everyone is waiting on us.”

---

By lunch time, the story of Tseng’s… heated… conversation with Veld that morning had made the rounds. The entire office had heard, though the subject of the disagreement remained unknown to most. Speculation, however, had reached betting levels. Sato, from what Rude had heard, had fifty gil riding on a fight over something Rufus had done… and apparently the rookies were of the opinion that it had been an argument regarding the next future Turk to be chosen from the recruitment program.

Rude, though he hadn’t been able to confirm it yet, suspected that neither was the case. He very seriously doubted that Tseng had been happy when he’d learned where Veld had sent Reno that morning… and the redhead himself hadn’t been in the best of moods upon his return. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had time to ask his friend about it. Reno had been assigned to training duty with the rookies, and Rude had had an appointment to keep over at the Sector 5 train station. Though on the bright side, he did now have a minor lead on the mysterious buyer the Zenshou seemed to be working for. The requests had originated on the western continent. It didn’t exactly narrow things down, but it was a start.

It had cost him most of his day, however. The information had come at a price. Specifically, a favor. His contact had run afoul of one of the gang leaders down in the slums… to the point that, if they caught up to him, he probably wasn’t going to walk away from the encounter alive. Their meeting at the station was intended to help him flee. Rude had packed him off to Lower Junon and set him up with a place to stay for short time. It had taken awhile to get him there safely, as he’d opted to escort him personally and had only ground transportation at his disposal at the time.

It was a little unfortunate, since the man would almost certainly be of little use to him now as an informant… but then, one never knew. Besides… that was the bargain he’d made with any number of the contacts in his network. Information in exchange for money and protection. It was the same way his mentor had done things, and frankly, it worked. He’d seen no reason to change tactics after Tres had died, and it had served him well thus far. If it had been good enough for Tres, it was was good enough for him.

He still missed Tres.

Their relationship hadn’t been like the one between Tseng and Reno… Tres had never really been a surrogate parent to him, or anything like that. But they’d still been close. He’d been named as Tres’ successor almost as soon as the man had taken an interest in him. Tres had considered passing on his skills to be one of, if not the, most important things he’d ever do as a Turk. It was a lot to live up to… because his mentor had been truly exceptional at what he did.

Rude still had the letter his mentor had left for him. Tres had never been what you might call a sentimental person… but his final words to him had left Rude in tears, all the same. Knowing just how highly Tres had really thought of him had cemented his resolve to live up to the standard set by his predecessor.

As he rode the elevator up from the parking deck, he glanced at his watch and frowned. It almost wasn’t worth reporting in at this point. Hell, by they time he stepped into the office, everyone else would be on their way out. He could easily just head home for the day.

The doors opened, and Rude sighed, knowing that if he did that, he’d just have to play catch-up tomorrow. He wanted to at least check his messages and make sure nothing important had come in while he was out of town, and get a quick write-up of what his informant had told him on paper while it was still fresh in his mind.

“Tch… ’bout time you got back,” Reno greeted him as he walked into their shared office, and it was obvious that the younger Turk was preparing to leave. “I don’t know about you, but after the day I’ve had, I could use a drink. You wanna grab a beer or two on the way home?”

“Tempting…” Rude replied, “… but I have a couple things I really need to get done before I take off. Could meet up later if you want.”

Reno shook his head. “Nah… We gotta work tomorrow. Don’t wanna make it too late a night. Heh… for either of us. Don’t spend all night with your Ifrit-forsaken reports, huh? I’ll see ya in the mornin’.”

“Hmph… ‘night,” he replied with a quiet laugh, giving his friend a wave as he slipped out the door. Once he was gone, Rude settled himself in front of his computer with a soft groan, and started scanning though the latest intelligence reports.

---

Reno tossed back a shot of vodka, and followed it with a beer chaser, as he sat at the end of the bar at one of his favorite spots. The Vis-a-Vis Bar was notorious for two things: the cheap drink specials… and the lack of attention they paid to IDing their clientele. The redhead had never once had someone question his fake ID there.

Which was why he’d opted for the small detour over to Sector 2, rather than going to one of the bars closer to his own neighborhood in Sector 3. He just wanted to have a drink or two without worrying about getting hassled about his age… though, to be fair, that seemed to happen a lot less frequently these days. Apparently, he was finally starting to look his age. Still… he wasn’t in the mood to take the risk tonight. He polished off the chaser and motioned for another round, helping himself to the pretzels on the bar while he waited.

The bartender had only just set his order down in front of him when he heard a disapproving ‘hmph’ from directly behind him, and smirked slightly at the familiar sound. He turned in his seat, and laughed softly. Of all the luck…

“Yeah, yeah… I know,” he said before Remy could chastise him for his underage drinking. The senior Turk rolled her eyes and took up residence on the bar stool beside him.

“Just how many fake IDs have you got?” she asked, “I’m quite certain I confiscated one just a few months ago.”

Reno sighed and reached for his wallet, pulling out the offending card and holding it out to her. To his surprise, however, Remy shook her head.

“Oh, forget it. You’ll just get another one, anyway,” she said, “… Besides. You could probably use a stiff drink after what happened this morning.”

The redhead gratefully tucked the ID away, glad that she was going to look the other way this time. The damn things weren’t cheap, and Sato had a habit of tacking on an extra fee when they had to be replaced too often.

“Heh… well, we both know why I’m here. What’s your excuse?” Reno asked, “Little far from home, aren’t ya?”

Remy lived clear over in Sector 7… so this was more more than slightly out of the way for her. To his surprise, the senior Turk chuckled softly.

“Yes, I suppose I am. But you just can’t get a decent sake over in Seven since the Izakaya went out of business…”

Reno tossed back his second shot and snickered quietly into his beer. He’d never actually had sake before moving to the Plate… but he’d found that he honestly he didn’t really care for it, particularly warm, the way Remy liked it. He supposed it was something of an acquired taste. After all, he personally had a distinct fondness for vodka when it came to the hard stuff… but he knew plenty of people who couldn’t stomach it at all unless it was mixed with something. He also knew that, as a beer – and it was technically a beer, even if most people did refer to it as rice wine – sake came in any number of varieties and no two brewers were quite the same. He’d only ever tried a couple of them, so he wasn’t exactly an expert. Yet.

“You seem to be in a much better mood, now,” Remy commented, and the redhead shrugged… and winced slightly as his shoulder protested the movement.

“It was a shitty day. Day’s over,” he replied.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what happened… ?”

Reno sighed and set his beer down. “Look… I know ya just wanna help, but honestly? I’d kinda rather ya just let it go. You put a stop to it before shit got outta hand, Tseng let Veld have it for stickin’ me in that situation with no warning, and it’s not gonna happen again. I’ll live.”

Remy shook her head, but finally smiled faintly. “Well… then at least let me buy your next round.”

The redhead grinned somewhat mischievously.

“Hey, I’d never turn down free booze… but, uh… you sure you wanna do that? Ya know… after what happened the last time you started buyin’ me drinks at a bar? Heh… at this bar, come to think of it…”

“Oh, get over yourself,” the senior Turk replied, rolling her eyes at the memory, “That was a one-time momentary lapse in judgment at a particularly stressful time in both of our lives.”

“I’m just sayin’…” Reno teased, “You have a history of gettin’ me drunk ‘n havin’ your way with me. Not that I had any complaints about that…”

Nope… No complaints at all, there. And though he teased her about how they’d wound up in bed together – maybe a little more than he should have, sometimes – he’d never really felt taken advantage of, despite the circumstances. And he’d never quite managed to talk her into round two, either. That certainly didn’t stop him from occasionally making the suggestion, however. If nothing else, her indignant reaction was usually good for a laugh.

“I can safely say that’s not going to happen again,” Remy said, firmly, and waved the bartender over. “Another for him.”

Reno smirked and accepted the drinks, downing the shot and raising his beer in salute.

---

Remy woke to an electronic screeching in her ear and a faint pounding in her head. She groaned, swatting groggily at her nightstand until it finally stopped. It couldn’t possibly be time to get up already. Obviously, she’d overdone it a bit last night. She really ought to know her limits better by now.

She sighed, and curled up against her pillow. Another five minutes wouldn’t hurt. She always set her alarm extra early anyway. There was plenty of time. The senior Turk sighed and nestled her head into the soft warmth beneath her.

Just… five more minutes. Maybe ten.

She smiled sleepily as a gentle pressure on her back lulled her back towards slumber, as if her covers were pulling her into a warm embrace. And then her eyes snapped open, as she realized she was in fact, being embraced, and that her “pillow” had a heartbeat and was breathing softly. A feeling of deja vu came over her, as she suddenly found herself very much awake and the brain fog began to clear, reawakening memories of the previous evening.

“… No. Not again…” she groaned, in disbelief. She did not get drunk and sleep with Reno again. She refused to even accept the idea… even if the visions of last night presently flashing in front of her eyes were telling her otherwise. Her “pillow” snickered.

“Hey… ya can’t say I didn’t warn ya.”

Remy pulled away from her unexpected lover, and propped herself up on one arm. The redhead lay there, gazing up at her, wearing a decidedly smug grin, and all the denial in the world couldn’t change the fact that she currently had a very naked twenty year old redhead in bed with her.

“Wipe that smirk off your face,” she said with a resigned sigh. Did she really have no self control whatsoever? What in Leviathan’s name was it about the little imp that seemed to draw her in like this? She felt a blush creeping into her cheeks and was immensely grateful for the early morning shadows. That question was entirely too easy to answer, unfortunately. Reno was blatantly attractive and unabashedly sexual. And, unless her sake-soaked brain was exaggerating things to truly tawdry romance novel levels, he was also… very talented in that department, as well.

Reno’s grin widened momentarily, before it faded to a somewhat more serious expression.

“Um… all teasin’ aside… you’re not gonna, like, freak out ‘n start avoidin’ me again, are ya? ‘Cause, I mean… I’m guessin’ this wasn’t exactly… ya know… entirely intentional for either of us.” He paused for a moment, studying her. Remy sighed and laid back down, letting her head rest on Reno’s chest, her arm draped across his torso.

Dear Leviathan, he’d changed so much just in the short time she’d known him. The first time she’d met him, he was scrawny, undisciplined, nervous…

Alright… admittedly, he could still be a bit undisciplined at times. But he certainly wasn’t the scrawny, nervous little sixteen year old she’d been introduced to just over three years ago. Or, for that matter, the slightly less scrawny and nervous little seventeen year old she’d inadvertently gone to bed with more than two years ago. Her fingers lightly grazed his soft, porcelain skin and the firm, taut muscles of his stomach.

Reno was… undeniably an adult now. He wasn’ta rookie anymore, either. And he’d certainly been more than willing last night, even if copious amounts of alcohol had been involved. For both of them.

And frankly, it had been awhile for her. Her level of dedication to her job had a notable effect on her love life… as did her general aversion to going to bed with the first warm body that came along. Present company excepted, apparently…

She hadn’t been with anyone since… well, for far too long.

She lifted her head slightly, her eyes falling on Reno’s face and the vaguely curious expression he now wore as he waited for an answer. For Leviathan’s sake… did he really have to be so pretty? It made him much too difficult to resist. Especially given that she had rather spectacularly failed resisting twice now.

Which… made her wonder why she was even bothering to try. The longer she pondered on it, the less sense it made. She honestly couldn’t come up with a plausible reason to deny herself from indulging in such activities with a fellow consenting adult she was clearly attracted to.

“… Is… that offer still open?” she suddenly found herself asking. The redhead blinked.

“… Offer?” he queried, with a look of confusion.

“The one you first made me quite some time ago. Free, no-strings-attached sex? Whenever I wanted it? If I recall correctly, you said all I had to do was ask…”

The teasing grin returned in an instant.

“Heh… You finally askin’?”

She almost couldn’t believe it herself, but… yes. Apparently, she was.

“We have exactly thirty-eight minutes before we need to be up, dressed, and out the door if we’re going to be on time for work… and I intend to be on time for work. Skip the foreplay,” she stated, and Reno’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Yes, ma’am…” he snickered, and rolled over, taking her with him. Remy found herself beneath the slender redhead, as he obligingly – and enthusiastically – did exactly as she’d requested.

~end chapter 27~