Taking Care of Reno: Meteorfall
Chapter 1: An Avalanche of Trouble
Author’s Note: This is the continuation of Taking Care of Reno (Remastered), and begins right were its predecessor left off. It will follow the events that occur during the original Final Fantasy VII, as told from the perspective of the Turks.
“The waiting’s fuckin’ killin’ me, man,” Reno muttered, walking slowly along the sidewalk. Rude grunted softly in agreement. He wasn’t enjoying this much either. It wouldn’t have been quite so bad if they had something else to occupy their time with… but for now, the pair were stuck in Sector 5, not far from the reactor, just waiting for Avalanche to make their next move. They knew with certainty that it would be tonight… when tonight was a little more tenuous. They were there early… and keeping their distance for the time being, just in case Avalanche had scouts watching the area. The group didn’t need to know just yet that the Turks were onto them.
Tseng and Elena were likewise positioned and playing the waiting game elsewhere in Midgar… but their job was to ensure the safety of the president. Reno and Rude had the responsibility of minimizing damage to the reactor. A bomb would go off as Avalanche planned… just not the bomb they were expecting. The Turks would be disarming that one, and placing one of their own; a much smaller one that would shut down the reactor for a short while, but not cause any serious destruction or danger to the populace. Number 5 would be back up and running within a week, but the terrorist group would take the fall for the bombing.
It seemed, to Rude at least, like a lot of hassle just for the sake of swaying public opinion farther in Shinra’s favor, and a great deal of unnecessary risk. But the president had ordered it. It was his job to obey those orders. He glanced up after a moment, and realized that his partner was no longer walking beside him.
“… Something wrong?”
Reno was staring into a shop window, a thoughtful expression on his face. He shook his head, but didn’t turn away from whatever had caught his eye. Rude backtracked a few steps, joining him. His eyebrow rose in surprise when he followed the redhead’s gaze.
“Reno?”
“Ya think she’d say yes if I ever asked her?”
It wasn’t a flashy ring… Just a diamond in a simple gold setting. But then, Elena didn’t wear much in the way of jewelry… and what little she did wear tended to be similarly simple. Rude had a feeling that would be exactly the sort of ring she’d prefer.
“… You thinking about asking her?”
The redhead shrugged, noncommittally. “You know I don’t give a fuck about ceremonies ‘n shit,” he replied, “I’m fine with things the way they are. But ‘Lena… She’s kind of a romantic, ya know? I think it’d be important to her to make it official eventually.”
“Buy the ring.”
Reno glanced sideways at his partner, laughing. “For fuck’s sake, Rude… I was just askin’ if you thought she’d be up for it one of these days. Don’t you think actually buyin’ it is rushin’ things a little? We haven’t even been together three months yet.”
Rude snorted softly. “Please. You’ve been together a year and half. You just didn’t realize it until a few months ago. Buy the damn ring.”
The redhead rolled his eyes, and started down the sidewalk again. “And do what with it? It’s not like I’m planning on askin’ her soon. I mean, come on… Jumpin’ straight from moving in together… which wasn’t exactly planned, by the way… to proposin’? I want her to stay with me… not send her running,” he countered.
“… You don’t have to ask right away just because you have a ring.”
“Y-yeah… I guess you kinda have a point there…” he mused, pausing and glancing back towards the shop. He suddenly shook his head, vehemently. “The fuck am I even thinkin’? What if she found the damn thing? You ever seen how obsessively that woman cleans? There’s nowhere in that apartment I could hide it and be even reasonably sure she wouldn’t just come across it before I get around to askin’… And then I’d have to ask her right away ’cause she’d know it was comin’ and she’d be expectin’ it.”
The bald Turk snickered quietly. He wasn’t quite sure if the man was trying to talk himself into buying it or out of it at this point.
“Buy the ring,” he repeated again, “I’ll hold onto it for you until you’re ready.”
“… Seriously?” Reno queried, still sounding decidedly uncertain.
“Buy the ring.”
“You’re startin’ to sound like a broken record, partner…” He turned away and started walking again. “No way. It’s way too fuckin’ soon to be thinkin’ about shit like that…”
Rude shrugged and hurried after him, quickly falling into step beside him. His friend really could be ridiculously stubborn. But sometimes, he just needed the right sort of push to get him over it.
“Hmph… Guess you’re right,” he replied, “It’s not as if we’re in a dangerous line of work that might kill us at any moment. No sense rushing into things… Especially when you know it’s what you want more than anything. Just hold off awhile.”
Reno stopped and glared at him for a moment, before turning on his heel and storming back the way they’d come.
“Now where are you going?” Rude called after him, smirking slightly. As if he really had to ask.
“Where do you fuckin’ think? To buy the goddamn ring,” came the annoyed reply.
She’d missed dinner. Nana and Del’s last night in Midgar, and she’d missed dinner. She wished they could stay longer, but they had things to tend to back in Veraheim. They couldn’t hang around in Midgar forever… And really, given recent events, maybe it was just as well they headed home and got themselves out of harm’s way.
Elena’s phone chimed softly with an incoming message. It was Reno with news. She hurriedly dialed Tseng to relay the information.
“Sir? Security just confirmed there’s movement in the tunnels. Reno and Rude are moving in now.”
“Understood…” Tseng’s voice replied over her PHS. “Be ready to evacuate.”
“Yes, sir. Standing by.”
Elena took a deep breath and released it slowly, as her fingers curled around the helicopter controls. She couldn’t help feeling nervous. The safety of all three of her fellow Turks, and the president of the company was riding on her piloting skills. President Shinra planned to confront the members of Avalanche personally before leaving them to their fate… a fate which was to be recorded, edited, and presented on an emergency news broadcast to the public in the morning. At the same time, Reno and Rude would be neutralizing the terrorist group’s bomb and replacing it with a much smaller one. The plan was for her to pick up the pair of them as they exited the reactor, then arrive in time to whisk both the president, and Tseng, who would be keeping a close watch over him from the shadows, away from the area as well.
There wasn’t much margin for error. And it certainly didn’t help knowing that the two Turks currently entering the reactor were going to be messing around, trying to disarm some sort of half-assed, jury-rigged explosive device. She was pretty sure she was going to be on edge until everyone was safely aboard the helicopter.
She’d be glad when Avalanche was out of the picture… though she wished the president had just let them finish the group off as soon as Rude had found them. There was no good reason that she could see to be putting themselves at risk like this. It was all for some stupid, ultimately pointless, show-boating that the president could turn into good PR. Most of the Plate was already out for blood when it came to Avalanche after their attack on Sector 1. Shinra really didn’t need any further justification to crush them to a pulp.
Elena sighed. It wasn’t her place to question their orders. Tseng didn’t like this idea any more than she did… neither did Reno. Or Rude. But it was what the president demanded. He wanted a spectacle that would paint Shinra as Midgar’s guardian angel… and that’s what he was going to get.
Reno watched as the small group made their way out. He’d counted six initially. Half had already taken off. The last three were leaving now.
“Looks like your girlfriend is helpin’ out tonight. Bad luck, pal… Shoulda asked her out before she painted a target on her back,” he quietly goaded the other man as they watched the remaining members haul ass out of the reactor core.
“… Can’t a guy have crush without being mocked for it?” Rude replied, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Tch… Not when said crush is a wanted terrorist plantin’ bombs in mako reactors. ‘Sides… you only like her for her tits. Just admit it…” the redhead said with a grin. Rude snorted derisively… but didn’t actually deny it. Reno smirked and watched as the busty bartender and her friends boarded the elevator and disappeared. “Time to move, partner.”
Oh, how he would have loved to have just ended things for those bastards while they’d been right in front of him. But their job was remain unseen and take care of that bomb. Rude nodded and tailed him as Reno sprinted towards the room that housed the reactor core. He kept a careful watch, just in case any other Avalanche operatives had slipped in without him noticing and stuck around to make sure nothing went wrong… but the place was empty.
The two Turks hurried along the wide catwalk that led to the core, and the redhead let out a low whistle upon seeing what they were dealing with.
“Fuck, man… These assholes aren’t playin’ around.” No wonder the Number 1 Reactor had gone down in flames. They’d certainly packed enough C-4 into this one. Reno was no demolitions expert, but the damn thing was the size of his head. And it was counting down. “This isn’t gonna be a problem, is it?”
“… Could be worse,” Rude said shrugging as he pulled out a set of tools and went to work.
“You’re sure you know what you’re doin’ with that shit, right, pal?”
“Hmph… you want to disarm it?” he shot back.
“I’ll get the next one,” Reno joked. Not that he didn’t know how to do it… but frankly, he’d never needed to put those skills to the test outside of training with dummy rigs that wouldn’t blow him to pieces if he fucked up. Rude, at least, had done this a couple of times in the field. The redhead was really just there to watch his back in case of trouble. “Just don’t fuckin’ blow us up, huh?”
“Catch.”
“Fuck, man!” the redhead cried as Rude chucked the bomb at him. He nearly dropped it, juggling it from one hand to the other for a moment before finally getting a solid grip on the device. “You tryin’ to kill us or somethin’?!” It took him a moment to realize that the timer had already gone dark.
Rude chuckled, and began placing their own explosives. “Relax. That stuff’s perfectly safe with the detonator removed.”
“That was not funny, you son of a bitch…”
“Done. Let’s go,” Rude replied, standing up. Reno couldn’t help but notice the amused expression he now wore.
“Fuck you, Rude. I’m tellin’ ‘Lena you threw a fuckin’ bomb at me. Just wait ’til she gets her hands on you.”
Tseng scowled, hidden from view. His weapon was pointed squarely at the man with the gun arm. He seemed, by far, the most volatile of the group and he would definitely be the first one taken down if Tseng had to intervene, the president’s precious video be damned. The ex-Soldier wouldn’t be far behind, and then the girl.
This was foolishness. Utter foolishness. The president could be dead seven times over before he could do anything about it, the way he’d positioned himself. Tseng had wanted him to stay out of reach, on the upper catwalk… and in fact had believed he’d talked the man into just that… right up until the point President Shinra had walked out behind Avalanche as they’d attempted to escape the soldiers sent out to pen them in. The Wutaiian Turk was indescribably angry that his charge had opted to change the plan without informing him.
It was times like this he wished he had Elena’s marksmanship. Tseng was a good shot. The rookie was better… and had a level confidence in her aim that he’d somehow allowed to degrade in himself over the years. There had been a time when he knew with absolute certainty that his bullet would hit within millimeters of its mark… any other outcome would have been inconceivable. But that had been years ago. Regardless… now wasn’t the time to start doubting his own skill. He might not be able to quite measure up to Elena these days, but he could certainly manage a fatal headshot or three from this distance.
“So… you all must be that… What was it again?” the President asked, with infuriating calm.
“Avalanche! And don’t you forget it!” their leader replied, clearly angered by the executive’s apparent lack of concern… which, knowing Bertrand Shinra, was exactly the reaction he’d intended. His bodyguard, meanwhile, was internally cringing. Was it really necessary to provoke them like that? He watched in silence, finger tense on the trigger as the blonde man stepped forward, and adjusted his aim to a new target.
“Long time no see, Mr. President,” he said.
“Hmph… and you must be the traitor. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t recognize you… but I can’t be expected to remember the name of everyone who works for me,” Shinra sneered, “Unless of course you managed to become another Sephiroth… but I hardly think that’s likely. A pity. He was brilliant… perhaps too brilliant.”
Tseng narrowed his eyes as the female member of the group seemed to tense at that remark. An interesting reaction… Rude’s intel had indicated she came from Nibelheim originally. But Tseng was certain she hadn’t been among the few survivors they’d found after Sephiroth had burned it to the ground. She couldn’t know the truth. And yet… her posture was telling him that she was furious at the mere mention of the legendary Soldier.
“Don’t give a damn about no Sephiroth!” the leader – Wallace, if he recalled correctly… Barret Wallace – snapped back at the President. “This place is goin’ up with hell of a bang pretty soon. Just like the Number 1 Reactor. Serves you bastards right!”
“Such a waste,” Shinra replied, with a dismissive wave, “I wonder… Do you know how hated you are right now for the lives your little display over in Sector 1 cost? Well, it hardly matters one way or the other. You won’t be around long enough to hear the people of Midgar calling for blood. It’s unfortunate we have to sacrifice yet another reactor just to get rid of vermin like you…”
“Vermin?! That’s all you can say? Vermin?!” Barret growled, pushing out in front of his two comrades. Tseng eyed the gun mounted to his arm. “You Shinra scum are the vermin, killin’ the planet! And that makes you King Vermin! So… shut up, jackass!”
The Turk leader snorted softly. The man wasn’t exactly the most articulate of terrorists. The sound of rotor blades cutting through the air suddenly caught his attention, and he breathed a soft sigh of relief. Reno and Rude must have finished their task… the President’s ride was here.
And none too soon, as far as Tseng was concerned.
“… You are beginning to bore me,” Shinra stated, glancing subtly to his right. By now he had to have been able to see the approaching helicopter. “I’m a very busy man, so if you’ll excuse me… I have a dinner I must attend tonight.”
The aircraft finally rose to the level of the catwalk, and Tseng could see his teammates on board – Reno and Rude, both with weapons drawn and covering the President from inside, while Elena held it steady, waiting for him to board.
“Dinner?!” Barret started forward angrily, only coming to a halt when he looked up and saw the guns aimed at him. “Don’t gimme that! I ain’t even started wit’ you yet!”
The President smiled condescendingly. “Not to worry. I’ve made arrangements for a playmate for all of you…” He snapped his fingers and right on cue, a loud mechanical hum could be heard above the whine of the helicopter engines.
“What’s that sound?” the woman asked, looking around for the source as her large, angry friend backed up nervously.
“The hell is this?!” Barret demanded. The ex-Soldier, Cloud Strife, fell into a defensive stance, ready for an attack as an intimidating robot emerged from its hiding place.
Tseng shook his head. Another of Scarlet’s little inventions. He would have preferred the simplicity of a bullet to the head, but apparently the Turks’ way of doing things didn’t make for good television. He couldn’t help but harbor a few reservations about using the mechanical monstrosity, though. Scarlet’s Guard Scorpion had done nothing to stop the group in the Number 1 Reactor… and her Proud Clod had been felled by little more than the woman’s grudge against Elena. He hoped this creation was a bit more effective.
The President, however, was positively beaming. “Meet Airbuster… our new techo-Soldier. Our Weapons Development Department created him. The data he’ll extract from your corpses should be of great use to us in future experiments.”
With that, he turned to the copter and allowed Reno to help him aboard. Strife ran forward, apparently hoping to stop him, but Elena hurried to raise them out of the man’s range before leaving the soon-to-be battleground all together.
Tseng relaxed. The President was safe. His team was safe. That was his cue to exit as well. He slipped away from his perch, and up a nearby ladder, heading for his rendezvous point. The helicopter reappeared moments after he reached it, a rope ladder tumbling from the open door. He seized it and hauled himself up.
“I trust everything went according to plan on your end?”
“No problem, Boss,” the redhead replied, as the Turk leader took a seat beside him. “Should be goin’ off in about thirty seconds.”
“Excellent,” the President piped up. “I want the footage from the catwalk recovered as soon as possible. See to it that it’s delivered to the marketing department immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” Tseng acknowledged, before turning to the rookie at the controls. They could do that from the office. There was no need to linger. “Elena, take us back to headquarters.”
Before she could answer, a loud explosion echoed across the sector, and large area below them went dark. Tseng leaned forward, gazing out through the cockpit window. Aside from several darkened city blocks, things looked perfectly fine… just as planned. And if Scarlet’s drone had done its job effectively, that was the end of their Avalanche problem, as well.
The sped across the city, landing minutes later on top of Shinra Company Headquarters.
“Good work, Tseng…” President Shinra said, as he disembarked, “You and your team did well this evening.”
The Wutaiian Turk gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Thank you, sir,” he said, as the executive disappeared into the elevator. When he was gone, Tseng shook his head, and turned back to the others. “What a waste of time. Rude… see to that footage before you leave for the night. Elena… I’ll leave the helicopter to you.”
The rookie nodded and headed off to see to securing and refueling the aircraft as the other three Turks made their way inside.
“I have a task for you, as well, that I would like you to handle in the morning,” Tseng said as the elevator doors closed behind them, glancing over at the redhead.
“Sure, what’s up, Boss?” Reno replied.
“Aerith.”
He blinked in surprise. “You want her picked up? Why the sudden rush?”
“Because if Heidegger is to be believed, the president is going to demand that we find her soon. He’s wants to move forward with the Neo-Midgar project… a desire that has not been officially announced to anyone yet, including some members of the board, so keep quiet about it. I trust you know where to find her?”
“Yeah, no problem there… Not like she makes a habit of hidin’. I’ll head down first thing.”
“Take a a few security officers with you when you go.”
“Boss?” Reno asked, looking slightly annoyed by the request. Tseng chuckled softly.
“I’m well aware you could easily manage her on your own. It’s not intended as a slight. Security has been clamoring for field training and Heidegger has been pushing me to agree to it. A relatively boring and uneventful trip to the slums might… give them pause… about placing such demands on our time.”
“Tch… Fuckin’ pain in the ass,” he muttered in reply, “Fine… Guess I can always use ’em as a human shield if she gets pissed at me…”
The three Turks stepped out of the elevator, and strolled towards their office.
“Afraid of the flower girl?” Rude teased. Reno fixed him with a smirk.
“Don’t ever underestimate an angry woman, pal… Ya never know what they might try. I’ve already ended up on the ground holdin’ myself once this week, thanks to that goddamn bartender of yours.”
“Five more minutes…”
Reno sighed, sorely tempted to agree to the quiet demand… especially with the warmth of Elena’s body permeating his own skin and her fingers gently twirling a lock of his hair. Hell… normally, he’d be the one begging for a few more minutes under the covers. He nuzzled her, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Mmm… Sorry, ‘Lena. Tseng wants the girl first thing. I gotta get up.”
Elena propped herself up on one elbow, but didn’t release him. Instead, her palm slid in a tempting caress across his bare chest, and down his stomach, pausing suggestively just past his hips.
“That’s not what I meant…” he smirked at the unspoken offer. Elena sank back down, and wrapped her arms around him.
“Two more minutes?” she pleaded, with a soft smile. “We finally don’t have to worry about things blowing up any more. Can’t we hold off on the kidnapping for a little while and enjoy it?”
Reno grinned and rolled over, pinning her against the pillows. He couldn’t say know no to her. “‘Kay… two more minutes,” he grinned, “But then I really do need to go take care of this…” He straddled her, and let his hands roam along her sides as their lips met. “Ya know… I’m startin’ to think maybe I’m not the only pervert in this relationship…” he teased.
Elena smiled warmly. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” he responded, stealing one final kiss. “But I gotta go to work, so quit tryin’ to tempt me into somethin’ that’s, A, gonna take a lot longer than two minutes if ya want it done right, and B, is definitely gonna wake up our guests in the next room. After two weeks, I don’t have that much self-control left.”
The rookie groaned at the joke and untangled herself from her boyfriend. She held onto his hand as he left the bed, only releasing it as he began to move away.
“Tonight?” she asked, as he dressed, and his grinned widened. Her family would be heading home later this morning. He was a little sad to see Nana go… but on the bright side, it meant that they would finally have the place all to themselves again. Thank Ifrit… He wasn’t sure how many more nights he could stand lying next to her in bed and not being allowed to do anything for fear of Elena’s houseguests overhearing something.
“Just try ‘n stop me…” Reno pulled on his jacket, and tucked his backup weapon into its holster, before returning to the bed. If he’d had the time right now, he’d have just said to hell with worrying about waking people up. He wanted her. Badly. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her again. “I’ll see ya at work, ‘Lena.”
She wasn’t at home. Her mother was there, and so he’d kept carefully out of sight, waiting to get eyes on his target… but it soon became clear that he wasn’t the only person who was up and about unbearably early this morning.
“Hear this girl’s something special.”
“What’s so special about her?”
“Hell, I dunno. But they’re sending the Turks after her, ain’t they?”
Reno clamped down on the desire to just ditch these assholes. The three of them weren’t exactly helping… and more to the point, they’d been driving him nuts since he picked them up. He hoped Tseng was right and this assignment ended up being so boring and by the book that Security would stop their requests for field training. Because if he had to make this a regular thing, he was gonna end up strangling someone.
“Would you fuckwits keep it down already?” he finally hissed. “We’re gonna be at this all day if my target notices you and takes off runnin’. I have other shit to do today, ya know… Fuckin’ amateurs…”
He ignored the glares from the three members of building security – he had to forcibly remind himself that Tseng had specifically asked him not to refer to them as rent-a-cops while they were with him – and left his hiding place near the little garden, heading back out into Sector 5. They scurried to follow him.
If she wasn’t at home, odds were good that she’d either be at the church, or on her way up to the Plate to sell her flowers. Reno hoped she was at the church. He didn’t really want to cause a scene in a more public area… and he definitely didn’t want to risk letting her get hurt if some idiot do-gooder decided to intervene on her behalf. Aerith was cute and vulnerable-looking… anyone not looking to take advantage of her tended to wantto help her. And if he needed proof of that, he didn’t have to look any farther than Tseng.
He had only briefly met Tseng’s younger sister… just before she’d died, in fact. She’d come across in much the same way as the flower girl. Adorable, sweet, and delicate. And also like the flower girl, he’d very quickly discovered that looks could be deceiving. He’d learned that lesson right after Mayu had effortlessly knocked his feet out from under him and dropped him to the floor for sneaking a peak down her blouse… and then held him there with his fingers bent backwards until he’d apologized and sworn he’d never do it again.
Reno had always assumed that the similarities contributed heavily to the his mentor’s desire to do what he could to shield the young woman he was now searching for from Shinra. Granted, Aerith wasn’t very likely to kick his ass the way Mayu had… but she probably wouldn’t come quietly, either.
He was shaken from his musing by the sound of a discharging EMR. Reno stopped dead and spun around to glare at his ‘backup’… who seemed to be comparing armament.
“Put that shit away… I fuckin’ told you. No weapons. She gets hurt ’cause one of you does somethin’ stupid, I’m turning my boss loose on your sorry asses,” he growled, irritated. “Now fuckin’ move!”
“What if she tries to run?” one of them asked.
“Then we chase her,” the redhead said, through gritted teeth. “We do not shoot, stab, electrocute, or otherwise injure this target. Clear?”
“Well, what if she attacks us first?”
“I don’t care if she fuckin’ summons Ifrit to deep fry your ass,” he replied as they were nearing the church, “She comes back with so much as a scratch on her, I’ll make sure all three of you get volunteered for whatever Hojo needs specimens for next. Now, shut the hell up while I see if she’s in there.”
Reno shook his head and left his security detail on the street as he strode up to the door and slipped silently inside. It didn’t take him long to spot her… though much to his surprise, she wasn’t alone. Aerith was laughing quietly, apparently at something her companion had said. Reno’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized the man. It was the damn ex-Soldier. How the fuck had he managed to survive? And how’d he end up here?
“What’s so funny?” Strife was asking her.
“Sorry… I just…” Aerith suddenly glanced his way, and froze. The redhead cringed as he heard the door creak open behind him, and resisted the urge to turn around and smack some sense into his entourage. Idiots.
‘Great,’ he thought, ‘Now she’s gonna know why I’m here.’
He’d been hoping to talk to her first… maybe even convince her to come with him instead of being dragged off. That definitely wasn’t going to be happening now. Though to be fair, it probably wouldn’t have happened anyway with Soldier-boy over there, hanging around. Strife was already eying him… sizing him up. Aerith stepped back, behind her new friend.
“Say, Cloud… Have you ever been a bodyguard?” she asked.
Reno groaned softly. That figured. He never seemed to catch a break. The pair of them seemed to be discussing it, now, and apparently reached an agreement. At last, Cloud turned away from Aerith and started towards him.
“I don’t know who you are, but…” he began, only to pause, mumbling to himself, “You don’t know me… ?” His expression went blank for a few seconds. “Oh, yeah… I know you. That uniform…” he continued.
Reno blinked, caught slightly by surprise. Something was off with this guy.
“H-hey… this one’s a little weird…” one of the guards behind Reno said, sounding a little nervous.
‘Tch… No shit,’ he thought. He didn’t like it… fuck only knew what the guy was capable of. He’d somehow managed to survive Scarlet’s techno-Soldier, and judging by the disquieting glow of his eyes, his line about formerly being with Soldier was no marketing gimmick. This asshole had been exposed to mako. A lot of it. If he wasn’t Soldier, Reno wasn’t sure he wanted to know what he was.
“Reno! Want him taken out?” the guard to his right asked, just a little too enthusiastically for the redhead’s taste.
“I haven’t decided yet…” he replied, casting an annoyed glance at the man… whom he recognized as the member of the trio who’d been playing with his weapon earlier. He looked like he was just itching for a fight. Something told Reno that this wasn’t going to end well…
“Don’t fight here! You’ll ruin the flowers!” Aerith suddenly called out, and to the Turk’s shock, Strife actually backed off. “This way!”
He scowled as the pair of them darted towards the back of the church. Of course she wasn’t going to make this easy.
“Alright, you morons… Let’s go get ’em,” he muttered, starting forward. “And don’t step on the…” Something crunched softly underfoot, and he looked down and sighed. Typical. “… Flowers.”
He pointedly ignored the snickering behind him and hurried off in the direction his target had disappeared.
Elena made her way into the office, arms loaded down with food. Nana had sent breakfast – ostensibly for the Tseng and Rude… if the two men had suddenly started to eat like Reno, that is.
She’d gotten her five more minutes with the redhead after all. Nana was already awake and cooking when he’d headed for the door. It had been a slightly tearful goodbye, and her grandmother hadn’t let Reno leave until she’d fed him, hugged him, and told him she’d miss him… and then fed him again, for good measure, insisting that he was still too skinny. In spite of it all, the redhead had definitely looked like he really hadn’t wanted to leave so soon… but he had an assignment to take care of, and Tseng wouldn’t be happy if he put it off. The rookie, meanwhile, hadn’t been allowed to leave until she’d had breakfast as well, and then agreed to help prepare and take still more food to Tseng and Rude. She was a little late getting in today because of it.
She smiled to herself as she maneuvered her way through the door. She was going to miss having Nana around just as much as Reno would. The next vacation she got, she was definitely spending it in Veraheim.
“Good morning!” she chirped as she stepped into the office, setting down her load on her desk for the moment. “I hope you’re both hungry!”
The two men were hovering over Rude’s computer screen… Neither looked especially happy.
“… What happened now?” she asked, automatically, recognizing the expression.
“We’ve been reviewing the security footage from last night. It seems the President’s plan wasn’t quite as foolproof as he believed it to be,” Tseng replied with an irritated shake of his head. “Our terrorists escaped.”
“… Though on the bright side, Scarlet now has some terrific video of her Airbuster being completely decimated,” Rude added, and Elena couldn’t help but think he looked just a little sadistically pleased by that fact. She sort of felt the same way herself. Scarlet’s ego could stand to be knocked down a peg or two.
“When are we going after them?”
Tseng frowned. “We’ve been asked to wait. Heidegger and President Shinra are planning something. In the mean time, I’ve already been in contact with Corneo.”
“Sir?” the rookie queried, slightly confused. Rude turned to face her and smirked.
“Told you… He can sometimes be useful. Avalanche hasn’t returned to their hideout, and by now a lot of my people in Seven might be a little too recognizable. He’s doing a little reconnaissance for us.”
“In exchange for quite a large sum of money, and my agreement to look the other way on a certain transaction we were planning to interrupt,” Tseng added. “With luck, he’ll be able to give us a location before the end of the day.”
“Who’s doin’ what now?” a new voice interrupted, “… And do I smell bacon?”
The rookie laughed softly and glanced back toward the door as Reno stepped inside.
“Ah… Reno,” Tseng said, following her gaze. He paused upon seeing that he was alone. “You haven’t already taken Aerith to the holding cells, have you?”
“So, uh…” he began, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, “About that… I kinda didn’t get her. But on the plus side, I don’t think Security’s gonna be buggin’ us about field training anymore. Might be lodgin’ a complaint later, though…”
“Naturally…” Tseng said with a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. “As if today wasn’t already shaping up to be one giant headache. What’s gone wrong now?”
“One of those Avalanche fuckers made it out alive… the ex-Solider. Apparently, he’s friends with Aerith now. My… backup… decided to try their luck against him. Against my orders, I might add. I fuckin’ told ’em no goddamn weapons, ’cause if the girl got hurt, it was gonna be their hide and probably mine, too. Idiots started shootin’,” he said, disgusted, “And before ya ask… they managed to miss the girl. She’s fine. So’s that Strife guy, for that matter. Those fuckwits couldn’t hit shit to save their lives.”
“Where are they now?” the Turk leader ground out.
“Downstairs in medical. Nothin’ life-threatening, but they’re gonna be hurtin’ for awhile. Soldier-boy got the drop on ’em. Literally. Dropped a couple of barrels on two of ’em and knocked the third off a staircase.”
Tseng snorted in contempt. “Good.” He sighed softly. “We’ll try again later today. Without the additional personnel this time.”
“So what’d I miss? You three look like Heidegger canceled Christmas next year…” Reno asked, gravitating towards the covered containers of food on Elena’s desk. He lifted the lid on one and grinned as he found the bacon he’d detected earlier.
“Strife wasn’t the only member of Avalanche to escape.”
The redhead rolled his eyes. “Well, that figures. Fuckin’ joke of a plan to begin with. President shoulda just let us off ’em soon as Rude found ’em. Over ‘n done with. Anyone else eatin’ this?”
“It’s a goodbye present from Nana…” Elena answered, with a teasing smile, “For Tseng and Rude, not for you.”
“… I suppose I could be tempted…” Tseng responded. “If nothing else, it will make for a welcome last meal. The President is already aware that two members of Avalanche made it out alive. I’m not looking forward to informing him that the ex-Soldier survived as well.”
The remainder of the day was spent waiting. Waiting to hear from Corneo. Waiting for the President to make a decision on what to do once Avalanche was located. Waiting to for the workday to end.
Reno really hated waiting.
So much so that he’d opted to give in to Elena’s request for some practice time with him instead of Tseng, and her slowly growing collection of preferred materia. Which was why he presently found himself in their usual training space, watching as the rookie tried to decide what she was going to hit him with this time. Though, he mused, this was kind of the perfect opportunity to give her the little gift he’d picked up for her. As it had turned out, the little accessory shop he’d chanced past the other day had more to offer than just a ring.
“Hey… ‘Lena?” he said, breaking in on her decision-making process. The woman looked up, curiously.
“Yeah?”
Reno grinned. “I got somethin’ for ya,” he replied, pulling the the item from his pocket. “Since you’re kinda gettin’ into this whole materia thing, I figured a decent armlet might come in handy. The one you’ve been usin’ to train with is kinda crap.”
He held it out to her, and she smiled. The band was soft leather with bronze and mythril metalwork and had a distinctly feminine flare to it. Moreover, it contained several more slots for materia spheres than the old one.
“Guy at the shop called it a Minerva band,” Reno added, “Said it’s got some defensive properties to it, too, like the one I borrowed off Rude…”
“Oh, Reno… Thank you!” Elena grinned as she leaned in an pressed a quick kiss to his lips. She giggled softly. “You’re not just trying to get me in a good mood for tonight, are you?”
“‘Course not… This is strictly ’cause ya need the right equipment for the job.” He flashed her a teasing smirk and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. “Puttin’ you in a good mood is just a happy side effect.”
The rookie laughed and fastened it around her forearm, then snapped a few of the materia spheres into the slots. “Know what would put me in an even better mood?” she purred suggestively, prodding him gently in the ribs.
“What?”
She smiled innocently and slipped out of his grasp. “If you gave me a target to aim for.”
The redhead groaned softly, but sighed and took up his position on the other side of the room. “Alright… but just remember. Any damage ya do to me now is gonna have a direct impact on just how energetic I’m feelin’ once we’re off work…”
Rude stabbed idly at the salad in front of him, largely ignoring his lunch. Neither Corneo’s agents nor his own had yet had any luck in finding the missing terrorists. The flower girl, however, had been spotted at home… still in the company of the ex-Soldier, Strife. As such, Tseng had decided to hold off on trying to take her again, in the hopes that they would eventually separate. If they did, they might be able to simply follow the man straight back to his friends in Sector 7. Rude had one of his more trusted informants keeping watch, but for the time being, Cloud Strife seemed to be staying put. The Turks were stuck playing the waiting game for now.
“Tch… What’s up with you?” Reno’s voice suddenly broke in on his musings. The bald Turk glanced up at his partner and shrugged.
“Just thinking,” he replied as the redhead set his plate down and joined him, “Where’s Elena?”
“Showin’ off her new armlet to Tseng. She’ll be down in a few.” He bit into a piece of fried chicken. “Fuck, man… I don’t know what the hell you did to those guys in the kitchen to scare ’em into shapin’ up, but their standards are way up. This is actually good.”
“I just showed them how it was supposed to be done,” Rude replied, with a faint grin, “… And threatened them a little. Thought that armlet was supposed to be a promotion gift.”
“… Yeah. I kinda couldn’t wait to give it to her,” he replied, with an embarrassed laugh. “I know I’m spoilin’ her a little, but I mean… I just made the recommendation to Tseng. He’s still gotta approve it and put the paperwork ‘n shit through… and busy as we are right now, it might be awhile yet.”
“Gonna be sad to see your rookie go?”
Reno rolled his eyes. “She’s not goin’ anywhere… she’s just gettin’ a new rank.”
“But she won’t be your rookie anymore. No more probationary status. She’ll be a full-fledged Turk. Our little Elena’s all grown up,” he teased.
“You tryin’ to make me rethink this or somethin’?” Reno shot back, chuckling, and Rude laughed.
“Does she know she’s up for promotion?”
Reno shook his head. “Not yet. I kinda wanted to surprise her. Maybe take her out for lunch and tell her… ya know, once it’s official.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not interested in hearing about your sex life?” Rude asked, with a taunting smirk.
“Not that kind of lunch, asshole. Figured we’d all go.”
“I’m even less interested in participating in your sex life,” the other Turk deadpanned.
“Very funny.”
Rude chuckled and turned back to his salad, finally taking a bite. The redhead was right. Standards in the kitchen were up.
“So… If you already gave her the armlet, what are you getting her for her promotion, then?”
“Not sure yet,” Reno replied, finishing off one piece of chicken and starting in on another. “Guess I better figure it out though. The boss might not have time to approve promotions right this second, but he’ll get to it as soon as he can. Doesn’t leave me much time to go shoppin’.”
“Hmph… Got a nice ring you could give her…”
“… You’re startin’ to sound an awful lot like Lira, partner,” the redhead muttered, “Neither one of you are gonna be satisfied ’til me ‘n ‘Lena are hitched…”
The other Turk smiled slightly. “The difference is that Lira’s already planning the proposal, the wedding, the honeymoon, your first kid, and the next five or so. I’m just trying to get you married before you talk yourself out of it. Baby steps.”
“Just do me one favor, Rude…” he sighed, resigned to his fate.
“What’s that?”
“For the love of Ifrit, don’t tell Lira I bought ‘Lena a ring… She finds out, she’ll probably do the proposin’ for me.”
The following morning, Reno found himself seated next to Tseng in the executive conference room. Heidegger had taken up the seat normally reserved for the President… who apparently had decided to skip the meeting and leave it to his subordinate. Why the hell they were meeting here and not Heidegger’s office, the redhead could only guess at…
“President Shinra is disappointed,” Heidegger began, standing up and glaring at the pair of Turks. “Avalanche escaped all because of your botched plan.”
“It wasn’t our plan!” Reno growled, angrily, returning the other man’s glare until Tseng elbowed him. “… sir. We did our part.”
“That doesn’t matter! You were in charge of the operation, and you failed to eliminate the targets!” the man huffed, puffing out his chest and pacing at the head of the room. The pompous executive smirked. “Fortunately for you, I was able to convince the President that you deserve a second chance.”
“That’s gracious of you, sir,” Tseng replied, without any trace of sincerity. “We’ll eliminate them as soon as our contacts in the slums locate them. It shouldn’t take long.”
“That’s not good enough,” Heidegger stated, “The President wants it taken care of immediately.”
“Sir… There’s little we can do until we locate the group again…” the Turk leader began.
“We’re going to take them out all at once,” he interrupted, with a dismissive wave. “You’re reasonably confident they’ve fled back to the Sector 7 slums, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” Tseng said, cautiously. Reno remained silent… he wasn’t sure he liked where this was going.
“Then we’ll simply destroy the Sector 7 slums.”
“WHAT?!” the redhead shouted, rising to his feet and bracing himself against the table, thoroughly blindsided by the declaration. “You can’t be serious… You have any idea how many people are down there?”
“I have to agree with Reno, sir. We will locate the group. There’s no need to take such drastic action.”
“It’s already been decided. In two hours, the Turks will activate the Emergency Plate Release system over Sector 7. Shinra will blame the incident on Avalanche.”
Reno felt his blood run cold. “The Plate Release system? But… that won’t just take out the slums…”
“That will destroy the enter sector…” Tseng finished for him, in disbelief. “Sir… We can’t possibly evacuate the Sector 7 Plate in less than two hours…”
“There will be no evacuation and no warnings to the public. Make your preparations and get to it!”
With that, the executive strode out of the conference room, leaving two very shocked Turks in his wake.
Reno glanced over at Tseng. The Wutaiian looked noticeably pale. “Boss… the death toll in the slums alone’ll be in the thousands…”
“And the Plate will easily double it,” he said, softly.
“This is fuckin’ wrong. We’re talking about killin’ thousands of innocent people just to get at a handful assholes. Even Avalanche’s attacks didn’t cause that much destruction!”
Tseng was silent for a long moment. At last, he shook his head in resignation. “If you have friends in Sector 7… tell them to get out. Don’t tell them why.”
“Boss…”
The Turk leader’s fist clenched angrily, and Reno wasn’t certain if that anger was directed at Heidegger or Tseng himself. He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath before he spoke again.
“We have our orders. We will carry them out,” he said, simply, “Shinra has ordered sacrifices like this before. We always knew it was only a matter of time before he did it again. If there is anyone you care about in Sector 7… warn them now. Tell Rude and Elena to do the same, and have Rude warn Corneo as well so he can pull his people out. Quietly. We have two hours to prepare.”
“We’re really goin’ through with this?” the redhead asked, hoping his mentor would think of some way to avoid it.
“There’s little choice. The order has been given. We’ll save the few we can, but in the end… it’s our job.”
“Sometimes our job sucks,” Reno muttered, prompting a weak smile from the other man.
“Yes… It does.”
The redhead turned and strode towards the door, but paused halfway there and glanced back. “So… Who’s actually gonna do it?”
“You, Rude, and I will draw for it. I think we’d all prefer leaving it up to blind fortune than asking for a volunteer.”
Reno nodded. “I’ll let him know,” he said, “And… Thanks for not makin’ ‘Lena do it. Not sure she’s ready for somethin’ like that.”
“I doubt any of us are ‘ready’ to kill thousands of people with the press of a button,” Tseng replied. “But Elena is still a rookie… your recommendation for promotion aside. I can’t in good conscience subject her to that. Go on back to the office. I’ll join you shortly.”
Rude knew something was wrong the moment Reno walked through the door. The redhead was far too quiet and somber. He seen that look before. He’d been given an assignment he wasn’t happy about… and not simply because it inconvenienced or annoyed him. The last time Reno had looked like that was when he’d been sent deal with a fellow Turk who’d turned traitor.
Elena could see it, too, he could tell. She was watching him, uncertain of whether or not she should even ask.
“We got orders from the President,” Reno said after a moment, matter-of-factly. There was none of his usual joking or half-hearted complaining, and Rude sat up in his chair. Whatever this was, it was big. “In two hours… we’re droppin’ the Sector 7 Plate on Avalanche.”
“… The Plate?” Rude repeated, half convinced he’d misheard his friend. He glanced over at Elena, who looked utterly horrified. Reno gave a grim nod.
“B-but… Two hours? How are we going to get so many people out in just two hours?” Elena stammered.
Rude shook his head. “… We’re not, are we…” There was no way to do it… it was simply too large an area, and the panic that would almost certainly ensue would only make it worse.
“No… We’re not,” the redhead confirmed. “The President has ordered no evacuation, and no public announcements. Tseng’s given us permission to quietly warn Corneo and anyone we know personally in the Sector.”
Rude was already making a mental list of his people down in Seven. Most he could contact without any great effort, but there might be one or two that were a little trickier. He reached for his PHS, pulling up contact information. Elena was still staring at the redhead in disbelief.
“‘Lena… there’s no time to sit around thinkin’ about this. If you know anyone over in Seven, call ’em. Now. Tell ’em to get the hell outta the sector… but don’t give ’em any specifics. Incitin’ a panic’s not gonna do anyone any good.”
The rookie swallowed sharply and fumbled for her own phone. “R-right…” she managed, and Rude could clearly see her hands shaking.
“Anyone volunteered yet?” Rude asked, and he caught Elena out of the corner of his eye looking at him in confusion. Reno shook his head in the negative.
“No volunteers. Boss says we’re gonna draw for it. Leave it up to chance.”
“Draw for what?” Elena finally asked.
“To decide who’s gonna be the one to push the button.”
Tseng returned to them some thirty minutes later, looking noticeably defeated. Elena looked up from her PHS. She’d managed to get ahold of her friend, Sadi, in Sector 7 and was pretty sure she’d convinced her to leave… It hadn’t been an easy feat, not being able to tell her why, though. Her father’s old friend, Bastion lived in the sector as well… but by now he was at work at the Number 6 Reactor, well out of harm’s way. She’d left him a message not to go home, anyway.
“Goin’ by your expression, I’m guessin’ you didn’t have any luck gettin’ us outta this…” Reno spoke up, breaking the long silence that had fallen between them as they’d been working to warn friends of the impending danger. The Wutaiian Turk shook his head.
“I really didn’t think I would. But I had to at least try.”
“Tch… Guess that’s it, then. You ready, partner?” Reno asked, and Elena saw his hand move to the drawer of his desk. He withdrew a small black pouch and tossed it onto the desktop.
“What’s that?” the rookie asked.
Rude stood and made his way across the room. “… Tradition.”
“I’m not entirely sure which of our ranks actually started it,” Tseng elaborated, picking up the little bag. “It was going on long before I was recruited. There are, occasionally, particularly nasty assignments that no one wishes to voluntarily take on, nor assign. The second-in-command has always kept this on hand for such occasions.”
As Elena stood and joined the group, he dumped the contents onto Reno’s desk. Several white stones fell out, along with a single black one. Tseng picked up the black stone, and two of the others, dropping them back into the pouch.
“Sir… that’s only three…” the rookie pointed out.
“You’re not going to be drawing, Elena,” the Turk leader replied, “I won’t force this on a rookie.” Elena narrowed her eyes, angrily. It wasn’t that she wanted to be the one to have to do it… but sitting it out felt wrong. It was too big to just accept a pass on based on her rank.
“I want to.”
“‘Lena…” Reno began, only to be cut off.
“No. I know I’m still a rookie… but I’m just as much as Turk as any of you. If the rest of you have to draw, I want to, too. We’re all in this together, aren’t we?”
Tseng was silent for a moment, but at last he sighed and picked up a third white stone, dropping it in with the others. “Far be it from me to tell you you’re any less of a Turk than the rest of us,” he said, softly, and Elena couldn’t help the faint smile that ghosted across her lips at that comment. He handed the bag back to Reno.
“Who wants to go first?” the redhead asked, holding it up so that none of them could see inside.
“I will.” Tseng reached in and drew out the first of the four stones, opening his hand to reveal the smooth, white object.
“I’ll go next,” Elena said before either of the other two men could volunteer, and mirrored the Turk leader’s actions, drawing out one of her own. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief from her fellow Turks when they saw that it, too, was white.
“Guess it’s down to you ‘n me, partner,” Reno said, glancing over at Rude. Elena felt chilled as Rude nodded and reached in for a stone. She felt vaguely sick as she realized that she was hoping it would be the black one. She desperately didn’t want it to be Reno. She didn’t want it to be Rude, either… but it had to be one of them.
Rude withdrew his hand and hesitated, eyes meeting his partner’s for a moment, before he uncurled his fingers. Elena felt the color drain from her face when she saw it.
Reno shook his head with a sigh, and dumped the last remaining stone into his own hand, it’s black surface somehow even darker against his pale skin.
“Well… Fuck.”
~fin~
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