Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Part 1: Disappearance

Reno stared down at the note in his hands. Written in elegant, flowing script, each letter of every word was deliberately and perfectly formed with great care, flowery poetic verse sprawled across the lightly perfumed stationary. He could think of only one word to describe it… nauseating.

“Another one?” a voice behind him asked. Reno turned and found Rude eyeing him from the door.

“Yeah… The woman cannot take a hint,” replied the red-haired Turk, “You’d think we were engaged, the way she sounds in these letters. I mean come on… I never even went out with her. And you know something else? I think she’s been following me. She’s conveniently ‘run into me’ one too many times today for it to be coincidence. And last night she just happened to be loitering outside my favorite bar…”

Rude walked into the room, and waited patiently for Reno to finish his rant, occasionally nodding to show that he was still paying attention. At the same time he had to mentally remind himself not to look too amused, keeping his expression unreadable, his demeanor stoic. When this had all started, it had been somewhat irritating to have to listen to Reno’s complaints about the woman who was, as his fellow Turk put it, obsessed with him. Now it had evolved into a running joke, mostly because Rude and Tseng – and especially Elena – found it ironic that for once their womanizing friend was going to great lengths to avoid a member of the opposite sex rather than pursuing her. The notes Reno kept receiving from her only made it all the more interesting, as they often ventured beyond merely sappy and into the realm of sickeningly sweet.

“And she’s been sending me more than just notes, too,” Reno continued, seemingly oblivious to his friend’s well-hidden amusement, “You don’t even want to know what she left outside my door this morning…”

“Of course we don’t want to know… But you’re going to tell us anyway, aren’t you?” called a new voice from the door of the lounge. Tseng entered the room and strolled casually over to the couch Reno was stretched out on, “I assume we’re talking about Miss Rashaad again.”

“Who else?” Rude commented.

“Well?” Tseng prodded.

“Well what?” Reno asked, crumpling the note and tossing it across the room. It hit the wall and dropped into the wastebasket below.

“What did she send you?” asked Tseng.

“Oh… right,” Reno replied, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling something out, “This.”

Tseng couldn’t suppress the soft, throaty chuckle that escaped his lips, and even Rude smirked at the sight of the leopard-print thong Reno was holding up.

“And dare I ask why you’re carrying it around in your pocket?” said the Turk leader.

“Sure… I’m being stalked and all you two can do is laugh,” Reno grumbled.

“It’s a harmless crush, Reno – though admittedly, a persistent one. Just tell her that you’re not interested,” Tseng replied.

“You think I haven’t tried that?” said Reno, glaring at the older man, “Ya know, being irresistible to women has it’s downsides…” Any farther comments were forgotten as the door opened a third time, admitting the only female member of the Turks.

“Hmph… Just so this little gift isn’t a total waste…” said Reno, and he stretched the waistband of the underwear, taking aim and sling-shotting it at Elena. He grinned sadistically when it hit its target… Elena, on the other hand, squealed in disgust and threw the offending garment to the floor.

“Reno! You’re suppose to wash your laundry… Not use it as ammunition!” she cried.

“I claim no ownership of *that*,” Reno replied. Elena glanced at the other two Turks.

“Is this about that Taina woman again?” she asked, ignoring the glare her question received from Reno.

“Don’t you people understand? She’s nuts… Obsessed!” Reno stated, and Rude could tell another “That woman…” rant was on its way. Who knew a sweet little secretary could have such an effect on the usually laid-back lady’s man? Though he had to admit, some of the notes the fiery young Turk had shown him had bordered on creepy. Still, Rude suspected that what really bothered Reno about Taina Rashaad was the fact that, for once, he was the prey instead of the predator. Well, that and the fact that Taina seemed to be effectively keeping all other prospective dates away from Reno, claiming him as her own.

“Fine… If none of you are gonna take this seriously, I’m outta here,” Reno grumbled, “I’m going to lunch.”

‘Translation, I’m going to the nearest bar…’ Rude thought, recognizing Reno’s tone of voice, and suddenly realized that he’d tuned the younger man out completely for the last few minutes. He watched Reno storm out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

“…”

“Well, someone’s certainly in a bad mood today,” Elena commented, staring after Reno.

———-

The Phoenix Inn was empty save for a few ever-present drunks passed out at the bar. The thick cloud of cigarette smoke that usually hung in the air was nothing more than a stale odor left over from the previous night. But then, it was still early. The dim lighting lent the large room a comfortable atmosphere, though the unusual quiet seemed almost blasphemous to a place that, at night, was so crowded and noisy a person had to shout to carry on a conversation. A radio droned softly at one end of the bar, spewing out a country-western song… something about a dead dog and pick-up trucks, cheating women and shotguns.

‘Why do all these damn songs sound the same?’ Reno mused as he plopped down on a barstool as far from the radio as he could get. “Mornin’ Angie,” he drawled, flashing the bartender a half-hearted grin.

“Don’tcha think it’s a little early, Reno? Even for you?” the plump woman replied, looking the redhead over with an appraising eye and a tolerant smile. As much trouble as the Turk could be, she liked him… mostly because he always paid his tab (and the cost of any damages his drunken escapades caused to her bar). That was a lot more than she could say for some of her customers. Besides which, having a Turk as a regular deterred some of the worst of the bar-crawlers from causing her too much trouble.

“Figured I get a headstart,” he replied, “Gimme my usual.”

“Why the mid-morning binge?” Angie asked conversationally, pouring the drink, “Shouldn’t you be working… as I assume Rude is? What brings ya to my doorstep, hon?”

“Reno! Hi!” The high-pitched voice pierced the air like a knife. Reno groaned.

“That’s what,” he muttered, not turning around in the hopes that the owner to the voice would just go away. Naturally, he had no such luck. A pair of arms wrapped around his torso and the person behind him planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Taina, for the last time, leave me alone,” Reno hissed through clenched teeth.

“Oh you’re silly… Why would I do that?” she asked, plucking the glass from his hand, and darting back a step. Reno sighed and spun around to face her, more annoyed than he’d been all day, if that was possible.

“What do you want, Taina?” he muttered, eyeing his drink.

“I want to talk about our anniversary.”

“What?!” he exclaimed, nearly falling off the barstool in his scramble to get to his feet, “That’s it… Taina, I’m not interested in you, I’ve never been interested in you, and there is no anniversary for us to talk about! Now will you please stop this?!”

“Well fine then,” she said, handing him back his glass, “I suppose we can wait til tonight to talk… You really should be at work anyway. Drinking so early in the day isn’t good for a person.”

She kissed him again and practically skipped out of the bar. Reno watched her go in silent disbelief… The woman was nuts.

“That girl is definitely not quite right in the head,” Angie commented.

Reno downed his drink in one gulp and set the glass on the bar. “Glad someone finally agrees with me…” he replied, repressing a frustrated sigh, “See ya Angie.”

He headed for the door, wondering if he’d missed anything while he’d been gone. He doubted it. Until he had to leave for Junon with Elena, there probably wouldn’t be much for him to do… aside from the pile of reports he’d been putting off filing for the last week, that is. As he stepped onto the street, he paused, raising a hand to his temple as his head spun slightly. He blinked once, trying to clear his suddenly blurred vision. The dizziness only worsened as he staggered a few steps forward, leaning against the outer wall of the building for support, and ignoring the looks he received from the few passers-by, fairly certain that they simply regarded him as nothing more than a drunk, at last collapsing to his knees as the strange feeling of vertigo claimed him. The last thing he saw was Taina’s face as she stooped to look him in the eyes. He thought she said something, but he was too far gone to make it out, and then everything went dark.

———-

“Where’s Reno? He and Elena were supposed to leave for Junon nearly an hour ago,” Tseng said, clearly more than a little irritated by the young Turk’s absence. Rude frowned.

“I haven’t seen him…”

“If he’s passed out in a bar somewhere, I swear…” Tseng began, before forcing himself to stop and take a deep breath. Regaining his hold on his composure, he continued, “He knew I was sending him with Elena…”

“…”

“I’ll just have to go with her myself,” Tseng sighed, knowing full well that Rude was too busy with his own assignment to accompany the newest addition to their ranks, “When you see Reno, tell him that I plan to have a very long talk with him when I return.”

Rude nodded his understanding. A part of him felt sorry for Reno… Being on the receiving end of a reprimand from Tseng was not exactly a pleasant experience… A physical beating probably would have been almost fun in comparison. The Turk leader had a manner of speaking that could make a person feel very small and very helpless… and moreover, very sorry they’d ever ticked him off. And yet his voice rarely rose above it’s usual calm tone… dangerously calm, you could call it. It was more mentally draining than anything else, and of course there was always the ever-present fact that Tseng knew more ways to kill a man than Rude could count. On more than one occasion, Rude had seen Reno walking out of Tseng’s office, usually looking a shade or two paler than when he’d gone in. Rude himself had been in that position – though not as often as Reno… and clearly one never got used to it – and had probably been in much the same state when it was over.

On the other hand, Reno had brought it on himself. Rude couldn’t blame Tseng for being angry… it was an extremely annoying inconvenience… not to mention unprofessional. He watched as Tseng left for the helipad. Only someone as close to the man as a fellow Turk would have noticed the frustrated, almost malevolent look in his eyes that the Turk leader was so careful to conceal behind a calm and collected exterior.

‘Good thing he’ll have time to cool down before Reno has to deal with him,’ Rude noted.

———-

Reno groaned softly and tried to ignore the painful throbbing that radiated through his skull, blinking back the grogginess he felt and trying to figure out where the hell he was… and for that mater, how he’d gotten there. The air around him seemed thick and viscous as he lifted his head. His vision was blurred and he felt as though all of his energy had been leeched right out of him.

“Oh! You’re awake!”

The voice, cheerful and feminine, seemed to come from a million miles away, and Reno forced his gaze to shift in the direction of the sound. The outline of a person stood in the doorway.

“Now I know you’re not feeling your best right now… but this was the only way I could get you to come home. You’re always so busy at work… And tomorrow is so very special!”

‘Taina?’ he thought, trying to form the word, but no sound came out. He throat was so very dry…

“Don’t you worry… By tomorrow night you’ll be just fine. Everything will be just fine,” she added, sauntering up to him and kissing him lightly.

‘Tomorrow night?’ His dazed mind fought to make sense of Taina’s words, as she left the room, closing the door behind her. But his brain seemed to be temporarily out of order.

———-

“Reno? Call me,” Rude said into the phone. That was the third message he’d left on Reno’s voice mail today. He sighed and hung up. There had been no word from his friend since that morning. As soon as he’d gotten off work, Rude had stopped at all of Reno’s favorite bars, but the young Turk was nowhere to be found. The only person he’d talked to who’d even seen Reno that day was Angie, the owner of the Phoenix Inn… but she said he’d left hours ago… right after a young lady had come in, bothering him. Rude had a pretty good idea who that had been. He flipped through the directory of employee phone numbers, quickly locating Taina Rashaad’s number and dialing, on the off-chance that Reno had gone somewhere with her for whatever reason. She picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?” the annoyingly cheerful voice answered.

“Miss Rashaad? My name is Rude. I’m looking for Reno…”

“Oh, oh! Rude? You work with Reno, don’t you? How nice… You’re so lucky to be able to spend so much time with him. He’s such a wonderful man…” she replied, evading the question, and rambling on with no end in sight. Rude could see why the woman so annoyed Reno.

“Have you seen him today?” he asked, having no alternative but to interrupt her.

“Well, I saw him this morning… at the Phoenix Inn,” she replied.

“Do you know where he is now?”

“No… I haven’t seen him since this morning. He didn’t seem to be in the best of moods. In fact, he was downright irritable… Oh, but why do you ask? He’s alright, isn’t he?”

“He’s missing,” Rude stated, deciding it was best to give no farther details on the matter.

“Oh dear…” said Taina, “You don’t think something’s happened to him, do you? I couldn’t bear the thought of losing my Reno…”

“I’m sure he’s fine… Thanks anyway.”

“Oh… Well, goodbye then. Do call me as soon as you hear from him…”

“…” Rude quickly hung up the phone. He’d looked everywhere he could think of, and turned up nothing but one dead end after another. Even Reno’s PHS was of no help… He’d left it in the lounge when he’d stormed off that morning. For lack of any better ideas, Rude decided to make one last sweep of the bars…

———-

Tseng was in a bad mood. He had been ever since he’d left for Junon, and Elena didn’t like it. She certainly didn’t envy Reno right now, and she was more than a little annoyed with him herself at this point herself… always telling her she was weak and that she talked too much – she’d even heard someone say that Reno’d accused her of being an airhead, though she didn’t have any way to confirm it – and here he’d just up and disappeared, completely ignoring his job… and while she’d gotten to spend a good deal of time with Tseng instead of the egotistical redhead, the black cloud that seemed to hang over the man had ruined any chance of getting to know him better on this little mission. It had been all business, even after everything had been taken care of. The two Turks sat in awkward silence… awkward for Elena at any rate. Tseng seemed to be absorbed in his own thoughts, probably mentally rehearsing the dressing-down he was going to give Reno the next time he saw him. Elena gazed out of the Plexiglas window of the helicopter, watching the ground below as they flew over it, back to Midgar.

Thankfully, they soon arrived at their destination, the helicopter setting down with a soft bump on the roof of the Shin-Ra building. Tseng climbed out, offering his hand to Elena to help her down – partly out of courtesy, and partly to make up for the less-than-pleasant company he must have been – which she eagerly accepted. The two of them headed for the elevator, descending into the building in search of Reno and Rude. They found Rude alone in the Turk’s private lounge, looking somewhat tired and a bit more rumpled than usual.

“Where’s Reno?” Tseng asked.

“Don’t know,” Rude replied, raising his sunglasses to rub his eyes.

“You don’t know? How can you not know? You must have seen him at some point in the last twenty four hours,” Tseng hissed. Rude shook his head.

“No one knows where he is. I was out all night looking,” said Rude. The unexpected information took a moment to sink in, and Tseng blinked in uncharacteristic surprise.

“I want him found,” he said at last, his prior annoyance now replaced with concern.

———-

‘Not good,’ Reno commented mentally, his mind finally clear enough to form and process a coherent thought… though all he’d been able to figure out with any certainty was that Taina had been the one who’d brought him here – wherever here was – and that she must have drugged him in order to do it. He had to get out.

He dragged himself slowly to the edge of the bed he lay on, his body unwilling to do what he wanted it to, and tumbled gracelessly onto the floor. Unable to get to his feet, he crawled toward the door, and with much effort managed to get it open. He found a modestly decorated living room on the other side and across the living room, another door. Reno crept toward it, hoping Taina was busy somewhere else so he’d have time to escape. As he worked his way across the thick carpeting, he suddenly came across a phone cord.

‘Rude…’ he thought, following the cord and locating the phone… He searched his mind for his fellow Turk’s PHS number, dialing slowly, having to focus all of his concentration on that normally simple task, and sighing in relief at the sound of ringing on the other end of the line.

“Rude here…” came the reply. Reno clutched the phone like a lifeline, desperate to tell him that Taina had him… that he’d been kidnapped and that he was too drugged up to do anything about it…

“Rude… help…” was all he could manage. The phone was suddenly plucked from his hand and hung up.

“Ah, ah ah… Naughty, naughty… I think you need a little something to make you behave…”

Reno’s body was propped up and the rim of a glass pressed to his lips.

“Now drink up,” Taina cooed. She tilted the glass and Reno had no choice but to swallow its contents or choke. A moment later, he was only distantly aware of someone dragging him across the carpet, back to the room he’d just escaped from.

———-

“Reno?” There was no reply, and a few seconds later, the connection was cut off. The plaintive words repeated themselves in him mind as he tucked the PHS back into his pocket.

“He just said… ‘Help’…” Rude said in answer to Tseng’s questioning gaze. But what concerned him more was the way he’d said it… somewhat slurred and with a barely restrained tone of desperation… and very un-Reno like. A frown etched its way across Tseng’s features, mirroring the expression on Rude’s face.

“What are we going to do?” asked Elena breaking the brief silence and voicing the question that was on all of their minds, “We don’t even know where to start looking.”

———-

“Oh sweetheart… We’re going to be so happy now…” Taina whispered, “Just you and me… forever… Like it was always meant to be…”

She hummed softly to herself as she unbuttoned Reno’s shirt, easing it off and trailing a hand over the pale skin beneath.

“Just have to get you dressed and ready for tonight,” she said, oblivious to the fact that the young Turk was still heavily sedated. She tossed the shirt onto the floor, alongside the rest of his uniform before removing a fresh set of clothes from the closet. Reno remained about as responsive as a rag doll as Taina carefully redressed him. She took special care with the tie, making sure it was straight. Her fingers slid around to the back of his neck, loosening and removing the band that held back his long red hair, before retrieving a brush from the nightstand. She brushed it until it was smooth and silky, every last one of the stray locks neatly in it’s proper place, and then tied it back into a ponytail, stroking her fingers down it in a gentle caress.

-end part 1-