Taking Care of Reno: Advent Children
Chapter 15: The Chase
“… Are we going to need to get a hose?” Rude asked. It had been nearly a full minute, and the two Turks’ lips were still firmly pressed together. Reno lifted a hand from its position on Elena’s hip and flipped his partner off without breaking the kiss.
“Please do,” Rufus requested. “I’ve seen all of this display I care to. If we allow it to continue much longer, they’re liable to be ripping each other’s clothes off in the middle of the street next.”
Reno calmly redirected his still-extended finger at the President.
“You’re fired,” Rufus deadpanned in response.
“Reno… Elena… That’s quite enough. We’re not done here…” said Tseng, though it was plain he was struggling to contain a laugh at his superior’s dire pronouncement. The younger Turk reluctantly pulled away from his wife.
“We’ll pick this up again later,” he promised, grinning widely, and sneaking in one more quick kiss the moment Tseng turned his gaze on the rest of the team.
“There are a lot of terrified people… and some of them are bound to be hurt. On top of that, those three have what they came for.” He glanced skyward, at the airship that was moving swiftly off in the same direction Cloud and the three men had gone. “It would appear that the rest of Avalanche is moving to join Cloud. I think we should lend them a hand. I assume you two are still in possession of a helicopter?”
“Yep. Parked it over at the Shinra Offices, Boss.”
Tseng nodded. “Take Rufus to the office, and then you and Rude go after them. Offer whatever assistance you can. Elena and I will clean up here and join you in the air.”
The redhead cast a longing glance at Elena, but nodded and joined his partner in flanking the executive, and escorting him away from the general direction of trouble. Elena watched him go, and nearly called out to him before he was out of earshot, but Tseng gently gripped her shoulder.
“Tell him after this is finished.”
“… Yes, sir,” she replied, somewhat resigned.
“Pick up the pace, sir,” Reno said as the three of them moved as quickly as possible through the disorder of the city center, the President sandwiched between the two Turks. “I don’t want you out here and exposed any longer than you have to be.”
“I doubt they’re coming back,” Rufus said, dryly… but he did quicken his step. Truth be told, he didn’t want to be out here right now, either. That fall had rattled him more than he cared to admit, he suddenly realized… and at the moment, all he really wanted was to be safely tucked away in an office somewhere. And he would have preferred to have his Turks there with him.
“I doubt it, too. But we’re sure as hell not leavin’ you out here on your own. Sooner you’re safe, sooner we can see about gettin’ Jenova back. Tch… Unless you wanna trust Strife not to destroy it soon as he gets his hands on it, ‘n there goes your cure.”
Rufus shook his head. “Were I that concerned over its destruction, I never would have thrown it from the building and then tried to destroy it myself on the way down.”
Reno stopped short, and Rufus very nearly walked right into him as he spun to face him.
“You threw it?” the redhead repeated in disbelief. “What the fuck were you thinkin’?”
The executive snorted softly. “You know, I’m sorely tempted to fire you a second time… which I’m quite sure would be some sort of record… for taking that tone with me. Yes. I threw it. You two idiots were about five seconds from being beaten to a pulp. A distraction was required.”
Reno frowned, his expression an odd mixture of disapproval and gratitude. “… Yeah. Okay, now’s definitely not the time, but when we get home, you ‘n me ‘n Tseng are gonna sit down and have very a long discussion about you riskin’ your life like that,” he said, before turning back towards their destination.
At last, they reached the large office building and mounted the stairs out front, bursting through the doors unapologetically and sweeping past the handful of staff that had crept out of their hiding places once the sounds of battle had faded.
“President Shinra!” a young receptionist gasped in surprise. The group largely ignored the stares and hushed whispers, and made for the elevator, taking it up to the top floor. Apparently word spread quickly, because by the time they arrived, the door to the largest of the floor’s offices stood open, a middle aged man with a smartly trimmed beard waiting to escort them inside.
“Heh… Tuesti,” Reno said with a nod of greeting. “Figures you’d still be workin’ even with all that shit goin’ on outside.”
Reeve Tuesti smiled fondly. The former Shinra executive didn’t officially work for the company anymore. He’d taken much of what remained of the Urban Development Department and formed the World Regenesis Organization. The WRO oversaw the construction of Edge, among other things… though they were heavily bankrolled by Shinra Company, and Reeve had his own space in the company’s branch office in Edge. It was largely just a matter of public relations. Shinra’s reputation had rebounded since the Meteor incident… but only slightly. WRO, for all intents and purposes, was still a division of Shinra… just not formally acknowledged as one.
“Actually… I’ve been lending a hand,” he replied, “Or, rather, a robot. Cait Sith just boarded the Sierra with the rest of Avalanche.”
“What a coincidence. We’re on our way to help out, too. Look after the President for us, will ya?”
“Tseng! Behind you!” Elena called out, and Tseng automatically turned, gun leveled at the newly acquired target. He fired three shots in quick succession and the dog-like creature dropped. Several yards to his left, he heard two more shots, and turned in time to see another fall at the youngest Turk’s feet.
“Do you see any more of them?!” he shouted, scanning the area. Most were already lying dead or dying when they’d arrived in the plaza, casualties of Bahamut’s earlier indiscriminate rampage… but a handful of the sharp-clawed fiends were still slinking about.
“I think that’s the last of them, sir.”
A shrill scream rang out from a nearby side street, followed by an angry roar.
“It seems not,” the Wutaiian Turk replied, and he took off toward the sound. He had been hoping to make this quick. In spite of his stubborn protests to the contrary… he was in no condition to be in the field. Everything ached, and every movement sent a fresh wave of pain shooting through his chest from the broken ribs he was doing his best to ignore. But there was a job to be done. His personal comfort was just going to have to wait.
He’d have liked to have seen Elena off her feet, as well. Her injuries may have been so minor as to have been negligible, but she was in no condition to be out here, either… though he had the sneaking suspicion that the woman would have protested his stance, had he voiced it. It was, perhaps, a little old fashioned of him, but Tseng had been raised under the notion that a pregnant woman was to be made comfortable and catered to. Certainly not placed in mortal peril and required to fight her way to safety.
The two Turks sprinted towards the cry of distress, rounding the corner just in time to see one of the creatures advancing on a small group. Elena fired first, and the Turk leader got in a shot or two for good measure, putting the monster down before rushing over to check on them. He blinked in momentary surprise as he recognized one of them.
“Justinia…”
It was only then that he realized that they were standing mere feet from the door to her clinic. Tseng tucked his gun into its holster and knelt down beside her. Her arm was bloodied, but beyond that, she seemed alright. The little girl clutching a moogle doll and the young woman clutching her just as tightly appeared unscathed.
“… Tseng!” the doctor breathed, as her gaze flickered from him to Elena and back again. “Oh, thank Shiva. Yeh have no idea how glad I am ta see the two of yeh… I was convinced yeh were both dead.” She eyed the bandage on his forehead and frowned. “What have yeh gone and done ta yerself, now?”
“Nothing you can’t fix, I’m sure,” he replied, smiling gently, as he helped the aging doctor to her feet. “But later. For now, let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“Got ’em,” Reno’s voice said over his headset, and Rude redirected his gaze towards the cockpit’s windshield. Below them, on the highway, a full-on high speed chase had unfolded, with Kadaj’s motorcycle in the lead, Cloud Strife hot on his trail, and Yazoo and Loz bringing up the rear. The intermittent flashes from the pair at the back, told him that Strife might have a bit of a problem. “Strife looks like he could use some help. What’dya say we swat us a couple of flies?”
Rude smirked. “Can I use the big fly swatter?” he asked, deftly loading the rocket launcher he’d procured from the weapons locker back in Healin.
“Tch… You have all the fun.”
Kadaj took took the upcoming exit at the last moment, leaving Cloud – now thoroughly occupied with the other two – no time to alter course.
“Hmph… See if you can get ’em off Strife for a second or two and get me a clear shot,” Rude replied. Reno grinned and thumbed the safety lock on the control stick off.
“You losers are chasin’ the wrong guy…” he murmured. A moment later, the pavement behind the two men was riddled with a hail of bullets, as the redhead pulled the trigger on the copter’s twin guns.
He had to admit… when Loz swung around on his bike and started shooting back – with guns mounted to the front of the damn thing no less – he was more than a little surprised. Particularly when several of the shots hit the ballistic glass of the windscreen with a sharp crack. It didn’t do any significant damage, but it was decidedly unnerving, watching bullets bounce off a transparent surface mere feet from his face.
“Rude, shoot those assholes already, will ya?”
Rude was already perched in the helicopter’s doorway, the launcher resting on his shoulder as he took aim at the roadway just ahead of the two men. He pulled the trigger and the rocket sailed away from the copter, leaving a trail of white smoke behind it. Seconds later, the highway exploded, effectively cutting Yazoo and Loz off from their quarry.
“Heh… Hope they’re not gonna take that outta our paychecks,” Reno’s voice cut in, as he circled the resulting mess to watch their inevitably ticked-off opponents come to a screeching halt.
Except that they didn’t.
Before either Turk even realized what was happening, Yazoo gunned it, racing up the remains of the overpass and sending himself, and his bike, airborne. Rude’s eyes widened incredulously as the motorcycle and its rider were suddenly coming straight at him through the open side door. He tried to flatten himself against the back of the aircraft, but he didn’t have the time. The front wheel hit him hard, sending him through the opening on the opposite side of the cabin.
“Reno!” he shouted as he fell, and as he did, he heard a gunshot and felt his stomach turn. The redhead was strapped in. If Yazoo had shot him, it would have been point-blank… even Reno wasn’t quick enough avoid something like that.
The moment the thought crossed his mind… the helicopter began to spin wildly.
They’d hardly been in the air a few minutes. Ward had all but yelled at him to go and help someone who needed it, and he hadn’t been inclined to disobey. He and Elena were now on their way to meet up with the rest of the team.
Tseng swore as he watched the out of control aircraft ahead of him begin a rapid descent.
“Reno!” Elena cried out next to him, and he glanced over long enough to see that her gaze was now firmly locked onto the damaged copter.
He’d never seen anything quite like it… and had two of his best friends not been careening towards certain doom, he might have even been impressed with the maneuver Yazoo had just pulled off. As it was, however, the only thing on his mind was doing whatever he could to save his Turks.
“Elena… Get that back door open,” he ordered. If they could just survive the crash, he and Elena could get them out of there. Get them taken care of. And the sooner they were on board the better their chances would be.
The aircraft spun again, and Tseng inhaled sharply. Rude was clinging desperately to the copter’s landing gear, trying to hang on as best he could while the machine itself was doing it’s damnedest to shake him off. There was little he could do for him, however. Their course was taking them straight towards a communications tower. If they struck it, and he and Elena were too close, they might all end up going down.
He’d missed. Reno nearly laughed. The son of a bitch had him dead to rights… could’ve blown his head clean off at that range… and he’d missed. His relief didn’t last long, however.
Reno heard Rude call his name and watched as the motorcycle passed through the cabin unscathed. He saw the rocket launcher plummet. His first thought was that Rude had almost certainly gone with it, and he instinctively banked in that direction. He wasn’t entirely sure what the hell he thought he was going to do if he spotted his partner, but he had to try.
The attempt was short-lived. The control stick came free in his hand. He stared at it for half a second in utter confusion, until it suddenly dawned on him.
The fucker hadn’t missed anything. He’d hit his real target dead on. Reno ripped off his headset and unclipped himself from the restraint harness, hurrying into the back of the helicopter.
“No, no, no! Don’t do this to me!” he muttered, looking around and seeing no sign of his partner. He reached the door, peering down at the ground as the aircraft started to go into a spin. There was no sign of Rude…
Until, that is, he finally looked to his left, and almost laughed for a second time.
“Hey… Rude! You’re alright!”
The bald Turk looked up with him from his awkward position on the helicopter’s wheel well, glaring. “Oh, yeah. I’m just peachy,” he shot back.
The redhead went to help him, but froze as a very massive and very stationary object caught his eye. They were going to hit… and if they hit, it wasn’t very likely that they were going to walk away from it.
“Oh, fuck…” he breathed. “Rude, bail! Now!”
“You nuts?” the other man asked in disbelief.
“Probably!” Reno replied… and then he jumped.
~end chapter 15~
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