Taking Care of Reno: Advent Children
Chapter 12: The Pawns
“That was delicious.”
Elena smiled slightly and shook her head. “You can thank Rude for it. All I had to do was put it in the oven. It looks like he’s been busy lately. I think we could probably eat for a week or more off everything he’s got prepped.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. He cooks when he’s upset,” Tseng commented. He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a moment. After almost two weeks, first of starvation, and then of essentially living off of field rations, just about anything would have looked like a banquet. Coming home to a literal one waiting for them had been unexpected, but pleasant. A full belly was a welcome change.
“… Then he must be really upset. Because there isn’t an inch to spare in that fridge. It’s packed tight.” She paused for a moment, staring down at her now empty plate. “I hope they’re okay.”
“They will be fine Elena. I’m sure they had a good reason for leaving Healin. And I’m sure we’ll hear all about it when we find them. For now, though… It’s getting late. We should get some sleep. We’re leaving for Edge first thing in the morning.”
“Edge, sir?”
“Well… Clearly they’re not in Junon. Nor Kalm, as we just came from there. Unless they were forced entirely into hiding, Edge seems the most likely place for them to go.”
“What about Fort Condor?” Elena asked. The little mountain fortress was still technically under Shinra control… though the company really only kept a small garrison of Junon soldiers there to monitor the deactivated reactor while it was being dismantled.
“Perhaps. But I don’t think it would be their first choice. Rufus mentioned that there have been some mako leaks lately. Small… but frequent. They’re taking apart the reactor core at present, and it can be hazardous,” the Turk leader replied, as he got to his feet, wincing as he held one hand to his injured ribs. “We’ll try Edge first.”
“Yes, sir,” said Elena, though she herself didn’t get up right away. “Goodnight.”
“Don’t stay up all night worrying,” he replied, gently, “It’s not good for the baby. Goodnight, Elena.”
“… Hey, Lira?” Reno queried around a mouthful of toast the following morning.
“Ugh. Reno, that’s disgusting. Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she replied, as she bounced Cole softly on her knee, the little boy squealing with delight. The redhead obediently swallowed.
“Yeah, yeah… Anyway, I know it’s kinda last minute ‘n shi–”
“And don’t you dare curse in front of the baby…” Lira warned, “We’ve been over this. I know it’s a lifelong habit at this point, but I do not want Cole repeatin’ half of what comes out of your mouth.”
Reno rolled his eyes. “Like he even knows what it means,” he muttered.
“He doesn’t need to know what it means to repeat it. Over, and over, and over again. We learned that lesson when his first word ended up being ‘beer’… didn’t we, Reno?”
“… That was not my fault!”
“Yes, it was,” Rude helpfully called out from the kitchen.
“Yeah, okay, fine, it was totally my fault. But you gotta admit… it was hilarious,” he replied, grinning. His grin was quickly squelched by Lira’s glare.
“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get him to stop saying it? My neighbors probably all think I’m a lush.”
Reno sniggered at the comment, but quickly sobered when Lira shot him another dirty look. “… Uh… yeah. Anyway. Back to what I’ve been tryin’ to ask ya… Think you’d be up for a last minute trip over to Kalm today?”
Lira looked up from her son. “Well… I was going to check in on Talia and Fawn tomorrow, and maybe stay a day or two to help out. I guess I could leave a little early. Why?”
“Two reasons…” Reno replied. “One… Tseng and ‘Lena are there. Or at least they were twelve hours ago. They apparently don’t have their phones, so we’re kinda out of contact. If you happen to run into ’em before they head back this way, I’d be grateful if you could let ’em know where we are and why we’re here. The boss isn’t gonna be real happy we let Rufus get kidnapped, but he should know as soon as possible.”
Lira eyed him suspiciously. “What’s the second reason?”
“… I got a bad feelin’ those assholes are gonna make Edge a whole lot less safe ’til we do somethin’ about ’em. And I don’t want you or Cole gettin’ caught up in Shinra business. Not again. Not after I almost lost you the last time.”
He still blamed himself for that. Lira had been tortured… She could have died. Likely would have died, had they not caught up to Jericho when they did. And afterwards, she’d spent weeks recovering. He wasn’t about to risk putting her through something like that again. And he certainly didn’t want Cole caught in the crossfire, either.
Cole demanded to be put down, and his mother obliged, setting him free to make his slightly unsteady way over to the redhead. He grinned up at him, tugging on Reno’s pant leg.
“Up down, Unca Reno!”
It was his new favorite game to play with his “Uncle Reno”. Reno smirked and stood up, picking the boy up and flipping him upside down. He dangled him precariously by his ankles as Cole giggled madly. Lira rolled her eyes.
“Do you have to get him all wound up like that? Especially right before you expect me to leave for Kalm?”
The redhead suddenly saw a perfect opportunity for a little payback after last night’s insistence that he become a father sooner rather than later. He flashed her an evil grin and hoisted her inverted son up so that they were face to face.
“Hey, Cole… Tell mommy what Uncle Reno’s favorite drink is!”
“BEER!” the toddler squealed, and laughed. “Beer, beer, beer, beer, beer!”
“Reno!” his mother groaned.
Rufus had fallen into a doze at some point. At first he wasn’t quite sure what had woken him, as all around him was silence and darkness. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been stuck there, either… Overnight, at the very least.
A part of him wondered if this place… wherever the hell it was… was meant to be his tomb. Would Kadaj even bother coming back for him? Perhaps. When he found himself unable to locate Jenova’s remains in the city, almost certainly. But what then? Would he attack?
If he did, Rufus would be revealed almost immediately. The specimen container was too bulky to keep hidden without the aid of the blanket. And he had little doubt that, once he outlived his usefulness, he would be disposed of.
The thought frightened him. It wasn’t as if he’d never been in danger before… but previously, he’d always known that someone would come for him. This time, though, he was on his own. Tseng and Elena were… well, he couldn’t be absolutely certain, but it was at least very possible they were both dead. Reno and Rude were still alive… probably… but he had no idea how badly they’d been injured. Kadaj had put them out of commission quite effectively, and Rufus doubted he would have left them a clue as to where he was headed next. There was simply no one else to come to his rescue.
The President’s grip tightened unconsciously around the other object the blanket concealed. It was smaller than his old shotgun, but it packed just as much of a punch… though it lacked his old weapon’s shattershot. He’d insisted on it… over a year ago, in fact. And he’d recruited Elena to help him learn to use it. Tseng had wholeheartedly approved of the young executive learning to better defend himself, and even Reno had refrained from too much mockery of his poor aim when he’d first started on real target practice. Though he couldn’t hope to come close to the youngest Turk’s abilities with a firearm, at the very least he could say that he was now capable of hitting the broad side of a barn.
He had no idea, though, if that would be enough if it really came down to Kadaj and himself. A part of him desperately hoped he wouldn’t have to find out… and he wondered if that made him a coward.
He was no Turk, that much was certain. His Turks were fearless and fierce, and he admired them for that. They had trained for years to be the best at what they did, and it showed. If he ordered them to risk their lives, he knew they would obey without question. His father had relished having that sort of power at his fingertips.
To Rufus… it was a heavy burden.
They weren’t simply his employees anymore. They hadn’t been in a very long time. He had no real family left, and the four of them had come to fill that void to some extent. But even so… they were first and foremost his protectors. They would die for him if they had to, and knowing that was painful… because it was the last thing he wanted.
Rufus lifted his head at the sudden sound of creaking hinges, and squinted slightly as a light-filled crack slowly spread in front of him. The door was open. And a moment later, Kadaj’s dark silhouette appeared in the doorway.
“Good morning, Mr. President… are you ready to tell me where Mother is yet?”
“Well? Where to? Back to the church?” Rude asked as he and Reno made their way towards the center of town. They’d seen Lira and Cole safely off, and then set out to find their missing executive.
“Unless you’ve heard somethin’ and forgot to share, seems like as good a place to start as any.”
Rude shook his head, and fell into step beside his partner. The sun was already shining bright in the sky… it was going to be hot, he could tell. The summers seemed to have gotten quite a bit warmer since Meteor, actually… at least in the north. Icicle Inn’s peak skiing season had been shortened by nearly a month, and Midgar’s weather now nearly rivaled that of Costa del Sol at mid-summer. No one was quite certain of the reason for it, though the theory was that Meteor had been so massive that it had shifted the planet’s orbit slightly.
Rude wasn’t complaining… Frankly, he enjoyed the warmer weather. It reminded him a bit of his summers in Rocket Town as a child.
The redhead suddenly stopped short, head tilted slightly.
“The fuck’s goin’ on up there?” he asked, more to himself than to his partner. Rude heard it, too. It sounded like a crowd… a fairly decent-sized one, in fact… all talking at once. Reno took off at a cautious jog all the way to the corner, his fellow-Turk following behind him. He peered around the corner of a building, just as Rude caught up to him.
“Heh… Looks like we’re skipping church today, partner,” he said, nodding towards the Plaza.
“Hmph… So what else is new? You haven’t been to church since your wedding,” Rude responded, joining him.
He could hear the disturbance more clearly now, and as he, too, glanced out at the sight, his eyes widened.
“What do you think you’re doing?! Give us back our children!” someone yelled out. Rude’s attention, however, was on the spectacle at the center of the crowd. It was the kids. All of them, as far as he could tell. They stood, golem-like, encircling the Meteor monument. Inside their protective circle, two men with white hair were wrapping a chain around the statue.
“… Always nice when the bad guys come to us for a change,” Rude commented, and Reno smirked.
“Can’t say I disagree,” he replied, but quickly frowned, “… but where’s that Kadaj asshole?”
“Hmph… Maybe we should ask them.”
Rufus’ detached demeanor belied the slowly growing terror he felt as Kadaj wheeled him forward and into an elevator. He still had no idea where he was… and now he had no idea where he was being taken, either. When the chime sounded and the doors opened, however, he was certain it was nowhere he wanted to be.
A rough breeze buffeted him, threatening to whip the blanket away from his face.
“Why does humankind even bother? You wreck everything you’ve ever made… then you start over like it’ll be any different the next time,” Kadaj mused, as he pushed him forward. Steel girders and unfinished walls surrounded them, and as they approached the edge of the floor, Rufus found himself looking out over Edge. From very high up. He swallowed sharply, and forced a calm he didn’t really feel into his voice.
“I suppose we’re simply not very good at facing our memories,” he responded, “We prefer a more gilded past… finding something worthwhile buried amongst the rubble to build a future upon.”
“Is that why you went looking for Mother? To… ‘gild the past’?”
“Hardly. We were trying to rid ourselves of a more immediate problem.”
Kadaj laughed faintly. “You mean the Stigma? You brought that on yourselves,” he said. “My, my… Shinra Company really does have a short memory.”
“No… I haven’t forgotten,” Rufus said, darkly. His attempts to cure the disease were proof of that. How could he forget? How could he ever forget that it was Shinra Company that discovered Jenova? That birthed a monster from its DNA? That nearly destroyed everyone and everything in pursuit of greed? That had triggered a global pandemic with no known cure? No… he hadn’t forgotten.
“No?” the other man asked, “Is that why you continue to hide Mother from us? To… atone?” He laughed again, more coldly this time. “Do you really think you can? Ever? For what you’ve done? Will the masses forgive you once you’ve delivered them their cure? Adulate you as they once did? Is that what you hope to achieve?”
“I want to correct the mistakes of the past… even though I know I cannot,” Rufus said, “But I can try to repair the damage.”
Kadaj moved to stand beside him, looking down on the city below.
“Look at them, Mr. President. Do you think they care for your change of heart? Most have already lost loved ones to the Stigma. Your cure can’t bring them back. Your cure doesn’t even exist yet. You can’t save them. Any of them. Why not just give in to the inevitable?”
“And make things that much easier for you? I think not,” the President said, with conviction.
~end chapter 12~
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