Taking Care of Reno: Advent Children
Chapter 8: The Attack
He didn’t have time to move… which, for Reno, was saying something. Kadaj’s fist slammed brutally into his gut, doubling the Turk over and dropping him to his knees. He recovered enough to dart backwards before the second strike hit him… but it ultimately didn’t matter. While he’d been watching the younger man’s left hand, his right had snatched the EMR from Reno’s belt. The redhead heard the familiar crackle of electricity, and a half second later, sizzling pain lanced through his chest. He collapsed at Kadaj’s feet, muscles still twitching from the electric shock, and unable to do much more than wheeze.
It had happened so fast…
“One more step and I’ll finish him off.”
Rude froze, turning back to look at the intruder.
“Now be a good little lapdog, and fetch the President for me,” Kadaj continued.
“No need for that,” a voice interrupted, and Reno could hear the sound of Rufus’ wheelchair rolling into the room. He tried to speak, to yell at the little idiot to get the hell out of there, but all he could manage at the moment was a loud gasping moan. How fucking high had his mag-rod been set at? He couldn’t seem to remember. Judging by his reaction, though… pretty goddamn high.
Kadaj stepped over Reno’s prone form, and a moment later, the Turk heard a second crackle and a strained cry. Something heavy dropped to the floor. Rude.
“Boy, do I hate liars…” Kadaj intoned, and Reno strained to turn to face the direction his voice was coming from. His body didn’t seem to want to cooperate. Something clattered to the floor, and a few seconds later, his electro-mag rod rolled across the floor and into his field of view. “You told me he had Mother. But he didn’t.”
“I apologize,” Rufus responded in a surprisingly calm tone. “The truth is our cargo fell from the helicopter while my associates here were running from you. I’m afraid they were careless.”
Had he been capable of it, Reno would have glared at him for that little insult. Though he had to admin… misdirection wasn’t a terrible plan, given the circumstances.
“Is that right… ?”
He wasn’t buying it. There was no doubt in Reno’s mind that Kadaj knew Rufus was lying through his teeth.
“I swear it,” the President replied. Reno finally regained enough control over his muscles to claw his way around to face the two men. Rude lay nearby, in much the same state as himself.
“Fine. Then swear on these.” Kadaj tossed something onto the coffee table… and whatever it was, the effect it had on Rufus was obvious.
“Why did you do this?” he asked, angrily, and the Turk suddenly found himself desperate to see what their enemy had shown him. Kadaj circled the wheelchair, smiling coldly.
“We need Mother’s power. The Reunion is coming… and we need her.”
Reno coughed faintly. It was getting easier to breathe… and he wasn’t convulsing quite so badly now. Kadaj looked down at him and smirked.
“Reunion?” Rufus asked, drawing his attention away from the injured Turk.
“My brothers and sisters who share Mother’s cells will all assemble… and together, we’ll take our revenge on this planet. We’ve already sent out the invitations…” he replied. “But you’ve gone and hidden the guest of honor… haven’t you, Mr. President?”
“What invitations?”
Kadaj chuckled mirthlessly. “Why… Geostigma, of course,” he replied, his twisted smile widening. He reached out and lifted the corner of the blanket away from Rufus’ hand. “Ah… I see you’ve received yours already. Mother’s legacy… It created the Stigma. And it created me. That’s why we need her. Geostigma and a legacy aren’t enough. Not for a true Reunion. When I find where you’ve hidden her… I will be whole again.”
“What do you mean?” Reno could hear an edge to Rufus’ voice now… and the Turk suddenly realized just how afraid his charge truly was. Kadaj knelt in front of him, gazing upwards at his face.
“Surely you’ve figured it out by now…”
Whatever Rufus saw in that moment was enough to silence him, and when Kadaj finally stood, Reno could see the executive’s face. He was pale. Reno forced himself upwards, off of the floor, propping himself up on one elbow, and reached for his discarded weapon as Kadaj slipped behind Rufus and began pushing his chair forward. His fingers closed weakly around the handle just as the pair passed by. Kadaj paused for a moment and looked down at him, smiling thinly… and kicked him in the head.
That was the last thing Reno remembered.
“There!”
Elena peered out into the distance, and finally picked out the tiny silhouette Vincent was pointing to against the waves.
“I’ll get Tseng,” she said. The former Turk nodded in acknowledgment, and she took off toward the treeline, following the wide path that led to the Bone Village. When she got there, she found Tseng leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree, apparently resting after having made his way out of the tent.
“Elena?” he queried when he noticed her approach.
“You’re supposed to be laying down, sir.” Her tone was exasperated, but really… she was glad to see him on his feet again. Even if he had looked better. She slipped beneath his arm, offering her support. “Our ride’s here.”
Tseng straightened, the prospect of finally leaving for home lending him strength for the moment, and the pair made their way down to the beach as quickly as they could. When they arrived, they found a fire burning on the sand, and a boat drawing closer and closer to shore.
“I was beginning to think we might be living here on a more permanent basis…” Tseng said as they approached, and Vincent glanced back at him.
“Mmm… I was starting to get a bit concerned myself.”
He woke to the sound of voices… though it took several moments before he could make any sense of their words. Something cold was pressed against the side of his head, and he sighed softly as it took away some of the pain.
“Reno? Can yeh hear me?”
The redhead groaned softly and forced his eyes open.
“Yeah, Doc… I can hear ya. Now lower the volume, will ya? I got the mother of all headaches…”
“Hmph. That’s gratitude for yeh…” Dr. Ward replied, with a relieved smile. Reno caught sight of Rude hovering worriedly just over the woman’s shoulder.
“Rufus?”
Rude shook his head. “Gone.”
“Fuck. Any idea where?”
“… No.” He tucked his PHS back into his jacket. “But one of my contacts just let me know the other two were spotted in Edge about fifteen minutes ago.”
Reno got to his feet, still holding the ice pack to his head.
“And just where do yeh think yer going?”
“Soon as my ears stop ringin’, I’m goin’ to Edge to beat the ever-livin’ shit outta those fuckers.” He ignored the disparaging look his language received from the good doctor, and turned to Rude. “You good with that, partner?”
“Ready when you are.”
Ward made a noise of disapproval, but said nothing. Instead, she retrieved a bottle from her bag and shook two pills into the palm of her hand.
“Fer the headache,” she said, offering them to him. He downed them and smirked.
“What? No demands I stay put and let you torture me?”
“Hmph… As if yeh’d actually listen,” Ward replied with a derisive snort. She, too, stood and began packing supplies back into her medical bag. “Well? Go on then. Just try ta bring yer sorry backside home in one piece fer once. I have more than enough ta keep me busy without having ta patch yeh up every other second.”
“Heh… No promises, Doc.” He turned to Rude. “I’ll get the copter ready. You raid the weapons closet.”
Rude nodded, and the redhead hurried off, leaving him alone with Ward.
“… Need a favor,” he said when his partner was out of earshot.
“And just what sort of favor might that be?”
The bald Turk reached into his jacket and withdrew a pair of Shinra ID cards… Tseng and Elena’s photographs stared back at him from behind a spattering of dried blood. He handed them to the doctor.
“Don’t tell Reno.”
Dr. Ward’s face fell, and she blinked back tears. “Oh, sweet Shiva…” she breathed, hesitantly taking the cards from him.
“… I can’t get Rufus back on my own,” he added. “And if this means what I think it means, he’ll either give up entirely… or do something stupid.”
“So that’s yer answer, then. Just hide it from him instead of letting him mourn.”
Rude looked away guiltily. He didn’t want to lie to his best friend. But he also didn’t want to lose him, as well. The moment he’d spotted those IDs sitting unassumingly on the coffee table, he’d known that he couldn’t let Reno see them. Not until this was over.
“… Please.”
The doctor glared at him, and hastily shoved the ID cards into her bag.
“Fer the record, I don’t approve,” she said, angrily. “… but I’ll keep quiet fer the time being, if only ta prevent him from going off half-cocked and getting himself killed.”
Rude nodded in acknowledgment, and turned to go and retrieve the weapons from the secure locker.
“Yeh look after him, Rude,” Ward called as he was leaving, “And yeh look after yerself, too.”
“As soon as we arrive in Kalm –”
“Don’t wait for us,” Tseng said firmly, cutting off the former Turk. “With us gone, those three will be going after Jenova directly, assuming they haven’t already. Elena and I will try to get ahold of a phone… but if we can’t, the others need to be warned as soon as possible. We’ll only slow you down.”
“You’re sure?” Vincent asked and the Turk leader nodded.
“We’ll make our way back on our own.”
“As you wish,” he replied.
Elena approached him and laid a hand on his arm.
“If you see Reno and Rude before we do… tell them we’re okay.”
“I will.”
The tiny marina north of Kalm wasn’t yet in sight. It would be several more hours before they arrived. Tseng cautiously prodded his tender ribs, and winced. They would ache for some time, he was sure, and the constant rocking of the boat certainly wasn’t helping any… but they’d feel much better once they were properly wrapped and his movements restricted. Some painkillers wouldn’t hurt, either.
“The first thing we’re going to do when we get there is find you a doctor,” said Elena.
“No… the first thing we’re going to do is find a phone.”
The younger Turk smiled slightly and shook her head. She gently grasped his arm, coaxing him back towards the cabin the crew of the supply ship had lent to them.
“I’m sure the doctor will have one, sir.”
The helicopter touched down with a soft bump on the roof of the Shinra offices in Edge. The building was tiny compared to Shinra’s former headquarters… but then, with most of the company’s operations now being run from Junon, it was really more of a satellite branch than anything else. Mostly, the staff there just oversaw the development projects in Edge. The place was full of architects and engineers, rather than scientists and Soldiers.
Reno and Rude stepped out into the warm summer sun. Any other day, the redhead would have been tempted to take his time wandering the streets of the new city. It wasn’t Midgar… not by a long shot… but it was close enough that he always seemed to feel at home there.
Healin Lodge was beautiful. It was quiet. It was peaceful. But Reno had lived most of his life in the city… and there were occasions when he missed the noise and the people and the urban chaos.
Today, though, he had no time to enjoy the sights and sounds that were so familiar to him.
“Which way?” he asked as they made their way along one of the main streets. Rude nodded toward the city center.
“Said she’d meet us at the Plaza.”
The Plaza was what the locals had taken to calling the the area surrounding the memorial statue near the center of Edge. It commemorated those lost when Meteor had decimated Midgar, and was the point from which the entire city had begun to spiral outward.
It didn’t take them long to reach it.
“Hmm… Over there,” Rude said, angling towards an alley just north of the statue. An older woman, probably in her late fifties, stood in the shadows. She eyed the redhead somewhat warily as the two men approached, but seemed satisfied that he wasn’t a threat.
“What’s going on?” Rude asked without preamble, as they joined her.
“Like I said on the phone… two men. White hair, dressed in black. I didn’t see ’em until they were leavin’, but my neighbor says they were here for hours. Lookin’ for the kids.”
“What kids?” Reno asked.
“The ones with the Stigma. They piled as many as they could find into an old pickup truck and the one with the long hair took off with ’em.”
“What about the other?” Rude queried.
The woman shook her head. “He headed off towards the ruins on a motorcycle.”
Reno glanced over at his partner. “What the hell do they want with a bunch of sick kids?”
“My grandson… he’s got it, too. He said they claimed to have a cure. But somethin’ about those two didn’t sit right with him. He came home instead of goin’ off with ’em.”
Lucky he did, Reno thought to himself. Both for their sake and his. Ifrit only knew what those assholes were going to do to them.
“Any idea where they were heading?”
“Not sure about the truck. It was on the road out of town. But the one on the bike looked to be headin’ for the old Sector Five slums.”
“Guess we start there, then,” Reno said, and his partner nodded in agreement.
The woman looked at them anxiously for a moment. “You… You don’t think they really have a cure. Do you?” she asked, and Reno suspected she was wondering if her grandson had made the right choice in staying behind.
“No,” he said, definitively, “I think they want to use those kids for their own sick plans…”
~end chapter 8~
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