Taking Care of Reno: Meteorfall
Chapter 15: Downtime
“You’re an asshole, rattin’ me out like that,” Reno stated, as he strolled back toward the mostly empty table in the mess hall a short while later. Ward had turned him loose on his promise that he’d go and get something to eat… for real this time, not just to put in an appearance at the breakfast table. To his surprise, he’d found his partner waiting for him right where he’d left him. He set his new tray down and took a seat across from him.
“… Sorry.” Rude glanced at him over the top of his sunglasses, uncertainly.
“Tch… Don’t be,” the redhead replied with a shrug before digging into the ridiculously unhealthy amount of bacon he’d forced the cafeteria staff to pile onto his plate. Knowing that Tseng was doing at least alright, if not especially terrific, had restored his appetite a bit. And given that he’d missed out on lunch in the hectic scramble to get to Junon as quickly as possible yesterday, and then skipped dinner that night in favor of hiding out in the local oversized artillery piece, he’d suddenly realized that he’d let himself go far longer than he should have without eating. It was starting to make him light-headed… and that he just didn’t need right now.
“… So what’d she say?” Rude asked, his tone still a little cautious. Reno shifted somewhat awkwardly, cramming several pieces of bacon and half of a biscuit into his mouth.
“Mmm mmph…”
“Care to try that again?” his partner ventured, finally cracking a smile. The redhead swallowed and grinned.
“I’m good,” he repeated, “… Well… provisionally.” He caught sight of the eyebrow rising from behind the dark lenses in curiosity. “She threatened to send me home if I didn’t do exactly what she told me to.”
Rude frowned slightly. “What do you have to do?” he asked, and Reno didn’t miss the quiet note of guilt in his voice.
“Heh… well, for starters, I gotta quit skippin’ meals. Not that that’s really been a problem up ’til yesterday…” He bit into some kind of cinnamon pastry, expecting a welcome sugar rush, only to find it surprisingly bland. He glared at it in contempt. “Tch… Leave it to the military to fuck up junk food,” he muttered. The Turk shrugged and ate it anyway.
“What else?” Rude asked, apparently having caught onto his hesitation in telling him everything.
“… I… kinda gotta take some shit she gave me,” he said with a sigh. Rude eyed him, patiently waiting for him to elaborate. “Antidepressants, okay? She put me on fuckin’ antidepressants.”
If his partner was at all surprised by the admission, he didn’t show it.
“Gonna take ’em?”
“Like I have choice?” Reno shot back. “It’s either take ’em, or pack my shit and go sit behind a desk for fuck only knows how long… and I’m not about to leave you guys out here on your own.”
“Good.”
Reno paused in his mission to clear his plate for a moment, and looked up at the other Turk with a slightly pleading expression. “Don’t tell ‘Lena, though, ‘kay?”
That earned him not one, but two raised eyebrows.
“Please?” he added, “I just… I don’t want her knowin’ the Doc’s got me on that shit.”
“… Why?” Rude asked, sounding genuinely surprised, and the redhead gave him a odd look.
“‘Cause…” he replied, “It’s fuckin’ humiliating and I don’t want her thinkin’ less of me. Just promise me you won’t say anything about it to her…”
Rude shook his head, and Reno was fairly certain he’d just rolled his eyes at him behind his shades as well.
“Fine. I won’t tell her. But for the record I think you’re being stupid.”
“Yeah… Thanks for that vote of confidence, pal.” He downed the rest of his coffee before he went on. “On a completely unrelated subject… Doc said I can go see Tseng soon as I got some food in me. You comin’ with me?”
“Eat faster.”
“You’re still here?”
Viridia jumped slightly, roused from the light doze she’d fallen into. She turned her head, searching for the source of her sudden wake-up call, her eyes falling on none other than the President of Shinra himself. The security chief quickly got to her feet, coming to attention.
“Sir. I’m… not scheduled for duty today, so I –”
“There’s no need for explanations, Commander. I’m well aware of the nature of your relationship with my head Turk. It was more of an observation than a question.”
Rufus joined her beside Tseng’s bed, looking down at the wounded man appraisingly. “I understand he was awake briefly this morning.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Elena? I’m told there’s no change as of yet…”
“Not as far as I’ve heard, sir.”
For a moment, Viridia was certain she saw a look of regret cross the man’s face. It was gone almost as soon as she’d noticed it.
She was fairly well-acquainted with the young President. His safety had been largely her responsibility for the duration of his extended stay in Junon. For quite some time, she’d been thoroughly convinced that he couldn’t stand her… even though Tseng had insisted otherwise. The little brat had made a game of escaping from her security force’s watchful eye at every opportunity, just so he could rub it in her face later.
A few times, he’d even left the base entirely and she’d been forced to call on the Turks for help in locating him. It had led to an intense dislike of the company heir at first… though it had eventually dawned on her that the man was simply bored out of his mind and desperately looking for stimulation. Her opinion of him had shifted a bit after that.
“Tch… How come no one told us there was a party?” a voice from the door said, interrupting her thoughts, and Viridia smiled as Reno and Rude made their way inside. The redhead seemed much more like his old self this morning, and she was glad. As much trouble as he tended to make for her any time he showed up in Junon, deep down he was a sweetheart and seeing him so distraught yesterday had been heartwrenching.
Rufus snorted softly in contempt. “Perhaps because if we had, you’d have invited yourself. As you seem to have done anyway…”
The redhead smirked. “So what’s the point of not tellin’ me about it, then?” he asked, innocently, before becoming more serious, “How’s the boss doin’?”
“Ward says he’ll probably be in and out of consciousness for the next few days. They have him on a lot of painkillers. But he’s responding well to the mako treatments,” Viridia replied. She stepped away from the bedside and approached the younger Turk. “How are you doing?”
She hadn’t seen him since he’d taken off so suddenly yesterday. Rude had stopped her from going after him, and told her that he’d handle it. That was the last she’d seen of either of them until now.
“Fine…” Reno said with an awkwardly dismissive shrug, brushing past her a moment later to get to his superior. Viridia glanced up at Rude.
“He’s… better,” the other Turk said quietly. She nodded in understanding. When they’d spoken after he’d first arrived on base, Tseng hadn’t been able to tell her much due to security restrictions, but from what she’d gathered, something that had happened back in Midgar was already weighing heavily on his lieutenant well before the Turk leader and Elena had been put out of commission. She’d caught brief snippets of the news over the past couple of weeks, so she knew about the bombings and the tragedy in Sector 7… and assumed they were related to the redhead’s present state of mind. She would have liked to have asked… but she doubted Reno would be able to tell her anything Tseng hadn’t already, even if he wanted to.
She watched as Reno took the seat she herself had recently vacated, resting a hand on Tseng’s shoulder. Unexpectedly, the Wutaiian Turk’s own hand moved slowly to cover it, and the redhead started in surprise. He grinned widely at the sight of his mentor awake.
“‘Bout damn time you woke up, boss. I was startin’ to worry I was gonna have to do some actual work for a change… and your job kinda sucks,” he said, and Viridia was almost certain his voice seemed a little thicker than usual, as though he were trying very hard not to let his emotions get the best of him. Tseng let his fingers coil around Reno’s, squeezing weakly. Rude and Rufus both crammed themselves in beside the bed, and Viridia hurried over to join them.
“For Shiva’s sake…” Ward sighed, as she walked in on the impromptu gathering. She folded her arms stubbornly across her chest. “I realize yer all worried about him, and I’m sorry… but yeh can’t all be in here at once. He needs ta rest and recover, and he’s not going ta be able ta do that with the lot of yeh hovering over him like that. One of yeh can stay… for ten more minutes. The rest of yeh, go and find someone else ta harass for awhile.”
Rufus narrowed his eyes at the woman. “How dare you tell me what to do… You work for me, and I don’t care if –”
“Uhh…” the redhead quickly interrupted with a worried laugh, as he and Rude each seized the executive by an arm, all but dragging him towards the door. “Yeah… Vir can stick around. We’re goin’…” He quickly dropped his voice to an urgent whisper. “Don’t piss off the Doc, sir. Trust me… nothin’ good ever comes of it.”
Viridia resumed her earlier seat, snickering softly to herself. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought the pair of Turks were actually afraid of the aging physician. She watched as they bustled the President out of the room.
“Ten minutes,” Ward reiterated, before following them.
“Interesting little family you’ve got, Tseng…” she said, smiling as she reached out and lightly brushed the jet black hair away from her lover’s forehead.
“Let go of me…” Rufus ground out, clearly angry, and his Turks obligingly released him.
“Heh… Sorry, sir… But one thing we don’t do is tick off Ward,” the redhead repeated. Rude was nodding sagely behind him. The President scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“I never realized how easily cowed you two are. Afraid of a doddering old woman. Pathetic.”
“Wouldn’t let her hear ya call her that either,” Reno replied, smirking. “You need us for anything?”
“Briefly. I… had intended to call off this hunt. After what happened at the temple, it seemed far less profitable a venture than it did back in Midgar. However…” he said, pausing, uncomfortably, “If Reeve is to be believed, leaving Sephiroth to his own devices may be far more dangerous than I thought. I can’t simply drop this matter.”
“Heh… Guess we better finish what we started, then, huh partner?” said Reno. He glanced over at Rude, who cracked his knuckles and smirked. Tseng had trained them well, Rufus mused silently to himself. He was asking them to risk their lives on nothing more than his say-so… and there was no hesitation. He was grateful… both to his long-time friend, and to the two men Tseng considered his own.
“I’m expecting a fresh report from Reeve this evening. We’ll decide where to go from there, and I’ll fill you in on the details of his earlier report then as well.”
Reno nodded. “In that case… I’ll be hangin’ out with ‘Lena for awhile if ya need me.”
Rufus waved him off, and the redhead disappeared down a side hallway, heading for the woman’s room. The President turned to Rude, studying him for a moment.
“Should I be worried about him?”
“… He’ll manage.”
Reno sighed and curled himself in closer to Elena’s unconscious form, willing himself to relax.
“I have gotta be the most pathetic son of a bitch on the planet. Don’t know what you see in me sometimes…” he murmured softly against her shoulder. Sitting beside her hadn’t been enough. It hadn’t been long before he’d given in, and climbed in beside her, holding her as she slept and wishing she could hold him back. He pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. “You’re beautiful when you’re asleep… but I like you better awake. Don’t keep me waitin’ too long.”
At some point, he must have drifted off, because the next thing he was aware of was a finger prodding him gently between his shoulder blades. He growled softly, annoyed and turned to see who’d woken him. He’d actually been sleeping very peacefully for a change, and Ifrit knew he needed it.
“Sorry… Rude sent me to find you. Rufus is waiting for the two of you in his office.”
The redhead blinked in confusion for a moment before glancing towards the window, and the descending darkness beyond, and then back towards the intruding security chief.
“Ah, fuck… Have I been out all afternoon?” he asked, sitting up. Viridia smiled warmly.
“Guess so, if you’ve been here the whole time. Not that I’m complaining… I have far fewer incident reports to deal with when you’re not running around loose on my base.”
Reno shook his head and cast one final glance at Elena before getting to his feet and stretching. “Better not keep ’em waitin’, then…” He looked at her, sure she could see the worry in his eyes. “Hey… Vir? How long you really think she’s gonna be like this?”
“It’s a little hard to say, since I don’t have a very good idea of what sort of casting level she’s at. But Full Cure is exceptionally hard to use. It requires huge amounts of mana. I overdid it with it a couple of times and was useless for hours afterwards… and I’ve been using materia for almost twenty years now.”
The redhead let his shoulders slump. That wasn’t the answer he’d been hoping for.
“If it helps, though… I don’t think it was entirely her mana that cast that spell. I think she borrowed some. If that’s the case, she might wake up sooner than she would otherwise.”
“You can ‘borrow’ mana?” Reno asked, brow furrowed. That was something he’d never heard of. He’d always been told that people had a finite amount of magical energy, and once it was used up, it took time to replenish itself.
“Well… Sort of. It’s not a very well documented phenomenon, and no one’s really sure how or why it sometimes happens. But frankly, it’s the only explanation I can come up with for why she was able to do what she did. It shouldn’t have been possible. I think she accidentally tapped into Tseng’s reserves… and maybe even the energy around temple itself… and used it to save him.”
Reno snorted softly. “Ya know… I think you fuckin’ materia users just make shit up to suit whatever scenario you got in mind.” he replied, only half serious. Still… It sounded like a load of crap to him. But then, he couldn’t exactly offer a better explanation.
Viridia chuckled. “Well… No one ever said it was an exact science. Come on… I’ll walk you. Knowing you, you’ll be scaling those damn support towers again the moment I turn my back on you. Can’t let you out of my sight for a minute…”
The redhead rolled his eyes, but flashed her a quick smile. He’d always liked Vir. He was pretty sure she hadn’t always liked him… but she’d warmed to him eventually. Truth be told, he’d always been a little disappointed she’d never joined the Turks. She’d have made a great one… and it certainly would have made Tseng happy to have her in Midgar rather than Junon.
Reno was strongly of the opinion that his mentor didn’t get laid nearly enough… though he’d long since stopped mentioning that opinion in conversation. Largely because of the thinly veiled threats of extra paperwork if he didn’t. Besides which… he was pretty sure the Wutaiian was a lot more into the woman than he let on. It was more than just convenient sex. For both of them. How much more, he wasn’t quite as sure of.
“Relax, Vir… Not really feelin’ up to drivin’ ya nuts right now. Maybe after ‘Lena wakes up,” he replied as he let her guide him out of Elena’s room and down the hallway. Viridia laughed, shaking her head, and Reno eyed her curiously.
“What?”
“It’s just that… I haven’t seen much of you in the past few months. You’ve changed so much since the last time I spent more than five minutes alone with you,” she said, a smile on her lips. “You really are in love with her, aren’t you…”
He sighed and dropped his gaze. It had been funny at first, but this whole ‘Wow… You found someone?!’ reaction he seemed to get from… literally just about everyone he’d ever met… was starting to get a little old. He supposed he kind of deserved it, but still…
“Is it really that hard to believe?” he asked. They stepped out of the building and into the evening air. A stiff breeze was blowing in from the ocean, and the air smelled like rain. Viridia paused, and looked him over for a moment.
“No. It really isn’t,” she replied, “You’re just fun to tease.”
“Tch… cut a guy a break, Vir. I’ve had a rough couple of weeks,” he replied, returning her smile.
“I never cut you a break… and you’d hate it if I did,” she shot back, good-naturedly elbowing him in the ribs. “Just imagine… me not getting on your case. It’d just be weird.”
She was right, he had to admit. As much as he appreciated all the support and kindness from his fellow Turks, he didn’t mind at all having someone around still treating him the same way they always had.
“So…” Viridia went on as they headed towards the administration building. A few tiny drops of rain hit his skin, the cool spray waking him up a bit. “You never did really tell me how you two ended up together.”
Reno gave a faint laugh. “It wasn’t easy. ”
The lieutenant commander paused, mid-stride and folded her arms over her chest, staring at him in a mixture of amusement and disbelief. “Oh, please. You’re really going to stand there, with a straight face, and tell me that the obnoxious little horn-dog who’s probably been in more bunkhouses around here than most of my entire staff combined had trouble getting a date?”
“She wasn’t interested. And I didn’t push her to reconsider, ’cause ‘Lena’s my first rookie and no matter what, we gotta work together. I didn’t wanna fuck things up between us.” He’d certainly spent more than enough time hinting, though… before he’d finally given up and the hinting had turned entirely to joking. He still clearly remembered how thoroughly shocked he’d been when Elena had kissed him that night. He’d been so caught off guard, he’d half-thought he’d been hallucinating at first.
Viridia grinned. “Guess you changed her mind, though…”
“Still not entirely sure how,” he replied, resuming course toward the administration building. “One second I’m droppin’ her off at her place… the next, she’s kissin’ me and we’re in bed together having the best sex of my fuckin’ life.” He grinned to himself. “Heh… and then she dumped me.”
The woman blinked in surprise. “She dumped you?” she asked, catching up to him with a few quick strides.
“Well… told me she wasn’t up for a second date, anyway.”
“Why?”
“‘Cause I’m an obnoxious little horn-dog who’s probably been in more bunkhouses around here than your entire staff combined…” he replied with a laugh. Reno shrugged. “We worked it out. Took awhile, though.”
At last they reached their destination, entering the building and making their way to the elevators at the far end of the foyer.
“Hmph… so when’s the wedding?” Viridia chuckled, and judging by her tone, the redhead was fairly sure she was trying to goad him into a denial that things were that serious. Normally, he’d have played along… but in this particular instance, honesty seemed like the best policy.
“Depends on when I finally work up the nerve to ask.”
That stopped her dead in her tracks… and Reno smirked slightly to himself as he pretended he hadn’t noticed and continued on toward his meeting. “Hey, now!” she called after him as she scurried to catch up. “You can’t just say something like that and walk off…”
The redhead stepped aboard an elevator and hit the button for the executive office and suite, waving to the security chief as they began to close.
“Catch ya later, Vir…” he said, grinning. Her protests were cut off as the doors shut and the car whisked him upwards.
That had felt… good. He’d been so tightly wound before Tseng had regained consciousness, he’d almost forgotten how much better something as simple as laughing could make him feel. And he was sure he’d left Viridia at least mildly entertained as well.
He hadn’t been kidding… He really did intend to ask Elena to marry him just as soon as he found the courage to do so. It was just… what if she said no? He didn’t think she’d say no… but what if? There were plenty of reasons for her to turn him down… not the least of which was the fact that she could have him for as long as she wanted him whether they got married or not. He certainly wasn’t going anywhere unless she kicked him to the curb.
But somehow, asking her to make things official seemed huge to him… which, frankly, struck him as downright bizarre given his general attitude toward such things. Reno had always lived by the philosophy that a ring was just a ring. If you wanted someone, you offered yourself to them and that was that. They either wanted you back or they didn’t. No tedious ceremonies or legal documents or expensive jewelry required.
He’d offered himself to a lot of women over the years. None of them had been interested in keeping him, nor had he been interested in more than a little mutual gratification. Elena was so very different.
Plus… it had been such a short amount of time for them. He didn’t want to make things weird by trying to coax her into a promise she wasn’t ready to make. He’d willingly agreed that she could have him all to herself… but he’d never made the same request of her. He’d never needed to… not only because he very seriously doubted she’d go out looking for other lovers while they were together, but also because – at the time at least – as long as she came back to him in the end, he could have lived with it if she had. It wouldn’t have made him happy… but he could have lived with it.
Though now that he thought about it, he was admittedly reconsidering that stance. The thought of her with someone… anyone… else made him cringe. And he was goingto ask her. Just as soon as he stopped being such a coward about it.
The elevator opened and Reno stepped out, walking down the hallway towards Rufus’ office. The door stood open, and he could already hear voices from within.
“What storm drain has that damn slum rat crawled into now? I sent Commander Nacelle off to locate him nearly an hour ago…” the President intoned, clearly annoyed.
“… It was ten minutes ago, sir.”
“Please… It didn’t take me anywhere near ten minutes to get here,” the redhead said, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the noticeable look of relief on his partner’s face. “What?”
“Tried calling you. Three times. You didn’t answer.”
Reno’s brow furrowed, puzzled, as he pulled his PHS from his pocket. He couldn’t possibly have been that asleep. He ran his thumb over the button for the screen, intent on checking his call log… It remained dark.
“Ah, fuck…” he muttered. “Forgot to charge the damn thing last night. Battery’s dead. Sorry…”
Rufus scoffed quietly, but didn’t comment on the oversight. “Now that we’re all here… finally… Reeve Tuesti informed me yesterday that the item housed inside the temple was some sort of materia. A very destructive one. It seems that Sephiroth has also managed to acquire said materia, thanks in no small part to those idiot terrorists. And as I hardly trust those fools, it would appear that it falls to Shinra to clean up the mess.”
“Tch… Well, that’s nothin’ new for us,is it Rude?” Reno replied, perching himself on the corner of the President’s desk and folding his arms. “We’re always stuck cleanin’ up other people’s messes. What do you need us to do?”
“I spoke with Reeve an hour ago. His robot and Avalanche are heading north… towards the northern continent. That Cetra girl that was with them has run off and they believe she is trying to stop Sephiroth on her own… though Rumah only knows how she plans to do that…” he said, with a roll of his eyes.
Reno frowned… Aerith had gone after Sephiroth? Aerith? The kid had a lot of spirit, but she was no fighter. What the hell did she think she was gonna do? Particularly alone…
“However… as we don’t yet know where Sephiroth is, I’ve decided to let Avalanche handle that problem for us. Reeve will monitor them. When they locate him, the Highwind will move in and finish him from the air. Once and for all this time. I want a body.”
“‘Kay… so the military’s gonna handle the hard part. What about me ‘n Rude?”
“Even with Sephiroth dealt with, there’s still the matter of the black materia. Retrieve it. Avalanche will almost certainly be after it as well, and, assuming Sephiroth doesn’t simply end them before we get there, it’s hardly something that should be in their hands… Besides which, it may prove fruitful to our own interests. If they’re still alive, deal with them as well, once they’ve outlived their usefulness.”
“So… basically, you got nothin’ for us ’til we actually have an opening to snatch the materia…” Reno said, vaguely irritated. Not that he wanted to go and confront Sephiroth one on one personally, but sitting around doing nothing didn’t sound like much fun, either.
“Hardly…” Rufus replied, dryly. “To begin with, you can look into a report that Don Corneo was sighted in Mideel.”
The redhead perked up at that. “Corneo… That slimeball finally crawled out of his hole?”
He wasn’t going to lie… the thought of finally being able to put the hurt on that asshole appealed to him. He’d been too valuable to harm back in Midgar, but now that he’d abandoned his sleazy little empire, the son of a bitch was fair game, as far as Reno was concerned. All the girls the Don had exploited over the years deserved a little payback, in his opinion… especially Lira. He didn’t care if she hated him… he was always going to care about her, and if he had the opportunity to make Corneo pay for treating her and all those other women like a commodity, he was more than happy to take it.
“So it would seem. And as my father did order him put out of our misery before his death…”
“On it,” the redhead replied with a cold grin. Finally… something he was going to enjoy handling. “Come on, partner… Let’s go get ready to hunt us down a pervert.”
And if he was lucky, by the time he got back, Elena would be awake and he could take some time to soothe his rather frayed nerves in her company. Then… they’d get a location on their rogue Soldier, bomb the ever-living hell out of the fucker, pick up that materia Rufus was so interested in, and go the fuck home. He was putting in for a vacation for both of them when this was all over… and making good on his promise to take Elena to Costa del Sol. Maybe he’d even take her ring along with him. The beach was pretty romantic. She’d like being proposed to there…
The following morning, Reno was up before the sun. He’d taken the pills as Ward had demanded he do… but he had slept restlessly. Eventually he’d simply given up. Thankfully, his restlessness had at least not been fueled by nightmares for a change. It had been more from excitement. Corneo’d had this coming for a long time, and the Turk was going to enjoy meting out a little justice.
He’d already raided the mess hall, and dropped in on Elena… though the latter had required some stealthy avoidance of the medical staff on duty to reach her. Nothing had changed since he’d left her the previous evening, but he hadn’t wanted to leave on a mission without saying goodbye, just on the off chance she might be able to hear him. It seemed a little unlucky not to.
Now, he was making his way back toward the administrative guest quarters. Rude probably wasn’t up yet… and he probably wasn’t going to be happy to be woken up… but Reno was anxious to get started. As he reached his partner’s quarters, he didn’t bother knocking, instead simply picking the lock and slipping inside. As expected, his fellow-Turk was still sound asleep in bed.
Reno smirked and crossed the room, and in one fluid motion, yanked the pillow out from under the sleeping man’s head with one hand, while simultaneously stripping away his blanket with the other. Rude’s head hit the mattress with a soft thump, and his eyes snapped open in alarm. Reno had to dart back to avoid the fist that reflexively came barreling in his general direction.
“… What the hell are you doing up?” Rude grumbled, finally realizing who his snickering harasser was. “It’s still dark outside.” He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawing widely.
“Thought we’d get an early start.”
The bald Turk raised an eyebrow. “You want to go to work early?” he replied with a derisive snort, and rolled his neck until it gave a satisfying crack. He turned his gaze back on the redhead. “Are you sure Ward put you on antidepressants and not stimulants?”
Reno grinned and slung the pillow at the other man’s head. Rude caught it before it could hit him. “Just get up. Findin’ Corneo is still gonna take some effort, even knowin’ roughly where he is. Mideel’s a big island. Sooner we get started, the better.”
“I’m not going to get to go back to sleep for a couple hours, am I?” Rude sighed.
“Sleep on the helicoipter.”
“Remind me again why we’re friends?” he said, a faint smile crossing his face as he got to his feet.
“‘Cause I’m so loveable. Now move your ass.”
His entire body ached. It wasn’t just the open wound in his abdomen, though that was certainly the worst of it… especially when the painkillers began to wear off. It felt like every nerve he possessed had been systematically stimulated to the point of fatigue.
He vaguely recalled hearing the words ‘spinal injury’ from Ward at some point, though frankly, he’d been so drugged out since he’d awoken he hardly knew where he was half the time. Given that he was quite sure he could still move his toes, however, he assumed that whatever injury Sephiroth had left him with wasn’t completely irreparable. The way his extremities tingled uncomfortably at all hours of the day and night, however, made him wonder if he should expect some sort of permanent nerve damage.
The fact that he had the presence of mind to wonder about that at all told him that the drugs were wearing off again… which meant that someone would likely be in shortly to dose him. He wished they wouldn’t. At least not immediately. He would have liked to have had at least a short period of lucidity, no matter how much pain it might leave him in. This half-way point seemed to be as close as he got.
As soon as Ward endeavored to remove this Leviathan-forsaken tube from his throat, he intended to inform her of his wishes, but until then, he’d effectively been rendered mute and he lacked the strength to attempt to write out any sort of message. For the past… day? Two days? Hell, he could have been lying there for a month for all he could tell… In any case, for however long he’d been confined to this bed, his time had been occupied by little more than bouts of repeated mako therapy, annoyingly undignified – but admittedly necessary – procedures performed by the medical staff, and regular visits from Viridia and Dr. Ward. Most of it through the haze of powerful painkillers.
He still didn’t remember much prior to waking up in Junon. The feeling of relief at seeing Elena outside the temple… Saying goodbye to her… Feeling himself slipping into unconsciousness… All of that he vividly recalled. But afterwards? There was almost nothing. Vague memories of pain, of bright lights, of a general sense of urgency surrounding him… but nothing more. He supposed that was a blessing. If Ward’s demeanor when he’d first been conscious enough to understand what had happened was anything to go by, he’d been in bad shape. He still was in bad shape… but he’d noticed that the people caring for him didn’t seem to be looking at him as though his next breath might be his last any longer.
But more than his present condition, the mission’s status worried him. Had Sephiroth found a way to obtain the contents of the temple? Had Avalanche confronted him? Had Aerith confronted him? Had any of them survived? Did Rufus know about any of it? Surely, he must, at least in part… Even if Reeve’s robotic cat had been destroyed, there was nothing preventing the executive from reporting back to the President. He was safely in Midgar, after all.
And where was Elena? Reno and Rude had both turned up, but the recently-promoted former rookie was nowhere to be seen. Ward had said all of his Turks were safe… Why, then was she so conspicuously absent?
He heard the door to his room open and turned his head minutely to one side, trying to see who it was. He was only able to catch a brief flash of pale blue… a color he’d come to recognize as the uniform of the resident nursing staff. A moment later a young, somewhat put-upon-looking man was at his bedside, needle in hand, poised to inject its content into his IV. If he’d noticed that the Turk was awake, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“Hold off on his next dose if yeh would.”
The man jumped noticeably and drew his hand back, turning to face the newcomer. “Y-yes, doctor,” he answered sounding slightly confused and stepped back from Tseng’s bedside.
“Yeh can leave that with me. I’ll see ta it that he gets it once I’ve had a moment ta speak with him,” the voice said, as Ward finally stepped into view. The nurse replaced the protective cap over the needle and set it on the table next to him.
“Er… Yes, ma’am,” he replied, and mere seconds later, he was gone. Ward chuckled.
“I think I’ve got half the unit walking on eggshells. Yeh should see them scatter when I pop in on a group of them unexpectedly. I suppose I’ve gotten a bit accustomed ta dealing with staff who are just as used to me as I am to them…” she said, smiling. “… though I have ta admit… it’s fun ta watch.”
Had he been capable of it, Tseng would have laughed. The doctor was certainly acerbic… even downright intimidating when she was angry enough… but it was hard to imagine legitimately being frightened of her. She was by no means a large or particularly athletic woman, though even in her seventies she was remarkably spry. And she was was perfectly pleasant so long as you didn’t annoy her. But then… he’d known her for nearly fifteen years. He supposed that did make him a bit biased.
“Good news… Yer latest x-rays show that the mako treatments have worked wonders on that collapsed lung of yers. So that tube’s coming out.”
Finally. Tangible progress. He fixed his gaze on her, questioningly and she smirked.
“Yes… now,” she added in answer to his unvoiced question. Ward gently prised the tape that held the tube in place away from his skin. “Just relax for me and take a deep breath.”
He did so, and a moment later very nearly gagged as the somewhat shockingly long piece of plastic was drawn out of his windpipe and set aside. He coughed, weakly, eyes watering slightly.
Tseng tried to speak, but it took several attempts to find his voice. When he finally did, it seemed rough.
“I detest those things,” he said, only slightly louder than a whisper. It certainly wasn’t his first time… and he never seemed to get used to it.
“So yeh’ve told me… every time yeh’ve had one removed.”
He swallowed experimentally, wincing slightly at the horrendously dry feeling in his throat. “Where is Rufus? I need to speak with him,” he said, ignoring it for the time being.
“His office, I assume. From what I hear, he’s preparing that airship of his for another try against Sephiroth. But I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it soon enough. Even though yer definitely not going ta be fit for duty any time soon…”
“And my Turks?”
“The terrible twosome has been sent off somewhere. They left earlier this morning,” she replied, taking a seat next to him.
“Where?” he asked, wondering what had happened now.
“Now how in Shiva’s name should I know? D’yeh think his highness the President discusses that sort of thing with me?”
He glared at her. In the back of his mind, he realized he was, perhaps, being a bit unreasonable with the doctor. She may have had much higher than average security clearance, but that certainly didn’t mean that they made a habit of keeping her in the loop on Turks operations. At the moment, however, he was perfectly fine with being unreasonable. “Fine… then perhaps you’d care to tell me why Reno and Rude didn’t take Elena with them.”
“Hmph…” Ward crossed her arms over her chest and returned his glare easily twofold. “Most likely because an unconscious woman isn’t likely ta be of much help ta them.”
Tseng blinked, unable to think of a reply right away. Ward smirked slightly.
“Yeh mind yer manners, Tseng, and I’ll mind mine. Elena’s alright… She just overdid it a bit saving yer sorry hide.”
“Would you care to elaborate? Or am I to remain in the dark as punishment for my attitude?”
Dr. Ward chuckled. “She tried ta put yeh back together herself. I don’t know where that girl got her hands on a bit of Full Cure materia, but yer Lieutenant Commander Nacelle seemed terribly impressed with the results. Took a lot out of the poor thing, though. She’s been asleep for days. We’re looking after her here in the medical unit.”
The Turk leader tried, and failed miserably, to sit up, having to bit back a sharp yelp as his injuries rather vehemently protested the movement.
“For Ifrit’s sake…” Ward sighed, clucking her tongue reproachfully. “What makes yeh think yer in any condition ta move, much less haul yerself out of bed and down the hall ta check on someone that doesn’t need checking on? … Which I’m assuming is what yeh intended.”
“… Too goddamn many drugs, addling my senses,” Tseng replied with a groan. That had been a spectacularly bad idea. He suddenly felt as though he’d just been impaled all over again. He sank back against his pillow, eyes squeezed shut as he waited for it to pass.
“Hmph… Well, I think now’s as good a time as any ta give yeh a few more, then.”
“Wait…” he said, still panting softly. “I want to speak with Rufus first… and I can’t do that if I’m barely lucid.”
“Stubborn pain in my backside’s what yeh are…” the doctor muttered, but she pocketed the syringe she’d only just retrieved from the bedside table. “Fine… I’ll send someone ta go and fetch him for yeh. But then, yer going ta take a nice long nap before yer next treatment.” Ward sighed and made her way towards the door. “I’m not sure who this recovery is going ta feel longer for… yeh or me…”
Tseng smiled faintly at her retreating figure. He suspected they’d both be ready to shoot one another by the time he was back on his feet.
“Fuck, man… swear this place gets more humid every time I’m stuck comin’ here,” Reno muttered, pushing aside a huge leaf that glistened with moisture… and scowled as the one directly above it showered him with its own wet burden.
“It’s the tropics. What were you expecting?” He had to admit, though, it was getting to him, too. Turk uniforms were clearly not intended as safari wear. The sweat had his shirt plastered so thoroughly to his back, it might as well have been a second skin. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the redhead hadn’t landed them in the middle of nowhere, and decided to walk to the nearest town. Granted, if Corneo really was hiding out in Mideel, a helicopter emblazoned with the Shinra logo would probably send him back into hiding before they ever saw a trace of him… but this nature hike from hell they’d embarked upon almost wasn’t worth it.
“Yeah, yeah… Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Why the hell do people live here? I mean… Costa del Sol’s hot as fuck, too, but at least there you don’t feel like you’re tryin’ to breathe underwater the second you step outside.” He slapped the side of his neck, and drew his hand back, grimacing at the carnage before wiping it on his pant leg. “And these fuckin’ mutant mosquitoes seriously have it out for me…”
Rude snickered softly to himself. Reno had never been what anyone would describe as outdoorsy. Missions that required roughing it in the wilderness were inevitably met with baneful glares before he ultimately did as he was ordered… Rude had long been convinced that Tseng used them as punishment back when Reno had been a rookie Turk. His partner was a city boy to the core, and he was happiest in his own environment. Rude himself had never minded such missions… he actually enjoyed the assignments that took him out of the city once in awhile.
To a point. Rocket Town, where he’d grown up, wasn’t exactly an isolated country town. But it was certainly no urban metropolis, either. Thankfully, though, Mideel wasn’t really ‘the wilderness’. In fact, he was pretty sure that he could see a cobble-lined path up ahead.
“Oh, thank fuck…” Reno sighed, sighting it as well. Moments later they emerged onto a small crossroad that led off in three different directions. “So… which way d’ya think?”
Rude glanced up at the signpost that pointed the way to various destinations. “Oban’s tiny. Hard to hide from the locals, but not much traffic for ’em to talk to, either. Loth is more touristy. Lots of people coming and going. Banora’s back the way we came… at least a few hours walk. Never been there. Hear it used to be a farming town. Mostly abandoned now.”
“Tch… all good places to hide. But knowin’ Corneo, no matter how scared he is of Shinra, he’ll want someplace with a little action. I vote Loth.”
Rude nodded. That had been his thought as well. The redhead would have hated the comparison… but Corneo was about as outdoorsy as Reno was. He’d stick to places that catered to all the creature comforts he was used to.
“Hey… didn’t you once tell me you have a cousin or somethin’ somewhere in Mideel?” Reno asked as they started down the road to Loth.
“… An aunt. Mom’s younger sister,” Rude replied. He shrugged. “Might have cousins by now, too. Haven’t seen her since I was six. They had some big fight and never spoke again.” To be honest, he really hadn’t thought of the mysterious woman who’d shown up unannounced to his sixth birthday party in years. It had been a strange encounter all around… all he really knew about her was that her name was Iris, and she lived somewhere in Mideel. He could only assume that her surname was Chambliss… as that had been his mother’s maiden name… since he didn’t know if she had ever married or not.
“Huh… Ever tried lookin’ for her?”
He could have, he supposed, made more of an effort to locate her. But something about the way his aunt and his mother had interacted the one time she’d come to visit had put him off the idea. He’d never asked what had happened between them… but he couldn’t shake the feeling that trying to find out would result in digging up some long-buried family skeletons.
“… No.”
Reno paused and glanced back at him. “Tch… and you have the balls to accuse me of keepin’ shit to myself,” he replied, half-joking… but, Rude was fairly certain, half-serious. “If I had family out there somewhere, I’d wanna…”
“Don’t.”
The redhead blinked in surprise, but mercifully cut off his comment.
“… You’re my family. You and Tseng and Elena. I don’t need to go looking for more.”
Reno shrugged and continued down the road. “If you say so, partner. So… Since you obviously don’t wanna talk about that… I’m thinkin’ we start our search for Corneo at the first place with air conditioning we come across.”
“Hmph… Good plan,” the bald Turk replied with a soft laugh.
She felt as though she’d been asleep for days… and was somehow still exhausted. It took every ounce of her concentration to focus enough to untangle herself from the sheets that covered her, though by the time she managed it, she found herself falling.
It was a short drop.
Elena landed, facedown on the floor next to her bed with a loud oomph and slowly pushed herself to her knees, dazed. The tile floor was cold against her bare knees, and she very much wanted to get off of it. Her fingers gripped the sheets, and she hauled herself halfway upright before stopping to rest as she tried to figure out what was wrong with her.
The next thing she knew, someone was lifting her off of the floor and setting her back in bed. By that point, however, her eyes had grown heavy again, and she all she could manage was a murmured ‘thank you’ to whomever had come to her aid before she drifted off again.
Rufus cast one final glance back at the door before moving on. He’d been in a hurry, but the quiet thud had pulled him to a stop a few short steps from his destination. He shook his head and made a mental note to mention to Ward that her other patient wasn’t being properly monitored… and was slowly waking up.
In the meantime, however, he had other matters to discuss. Tseng was awake, and asking for him… and he had news of his own to relate to the Turk leader. Reeve had contacted him not long ago to inform him that Avalanche was looking for a way into the City of the Ancients, as they believed that the Cetra girl had gone there to find a way to prevent Sephiroth from using the black materia.
He stepped silently into the room, finding his friend much as he’d left him the previous afternoon. Tseng seemed far more alert this time, however, his eyes opening moments after the President had entered.
“Since when did it become appropriate to have me summoned…?” Rufus asked, by way of greeting. The injured Turk smiled faintly.
“I would have preferred to come to you personally, but I seem to be rather immobile at the moment. I’ll try not to let it become a habit, sir.”
“See that you don’t,” the executive replied, before softening slightly. “You’re… improving, then?”
“I suppose you could call it improvement, insomuch as I don’t appear to be dying at the moment. Frankly, though, being skewered is a decidedly unpleasant experience that I hope never to repeat. That’s not why I asked Ward to send for you, however. Did Mr. Tuesti tell you what happened at the temple?”
Rufus took a seat and nodded, grimly. “Yes… and we have a problem. Sephiroth got what he went there for. Some sort of black materia… He believes it to be a form of ultimate destructive magic. Apparently he thinks he can use it to become a god. The man is completely and utterly insane.”
The Turk leader frowned. “You’re right. That is a problem. What do you propose we do about it?”
“I’m letting Avalanche track Sephiroth. I see no point in wasting company assets on that endeavor any longer. Reeve is keeping me up to date, and the Highwind is being outfitted with additional weaponry. I’m not about to make the same mistake twice. We’ll take him out from a distance this time rather than luring him to us. Avalanche should provide a much needed distraction… He’ll never see us coming.”
Tseng closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. “And the materia?”
“The Turks will recover it… and deal with any surviving terrorists… once the dust has cleared.”
“And what do you intend to do with it, sir?” he asked, somewhat warily Rufus thought. The President looked away for a moment. His first instinct had been to give it to the research labs to study. It would undoubtedly provide profitable research material for years. “If I may make a suggestion, sir?” Tseng prodded when he didn’t answer right away.
“Go on…”
“Bury it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The Cetra sealed it in that temple for a reason. You didn’t see the murals on the walls, sir… the destruction they showed. That thing is dangerous. Much too dangerous for anyone in the company to possess, and certainly too dangerous to experiment with. Lock it away, and forget it ever existed.”
“You’re serious…” Rufus said, surprised. Tseng had always been a bit more on the cautious side than his predecessor, but it was rare that he offered such dire commentary.
“Perfectly,” the Wutaiian replied. “If you’ll recall, sir… the Cetra were all but wiped out, and no one knows why. You said yourself, Sephiroth believes it to be the ultimate destructive magic. Who would you trust with that kind of power? Heidegger? Scarlet? Hojo?”
Rufus shuddered slightly. The prospect of any one of those fools getting their hands on something that dangerous was slightly terrifying. Rumah only knew what they might do.
“I see your point,” he grudgingly conceded. “I’ll… take it under advisement. Regardless, we likely have some time yet before we need to worry about with to do with it. We have to get it first.”
Tseng laid back and closed his eyes again, and Rufus couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked. Just this short conversation seemed to be taking a lot out of him… and he was beginning to realize that the man was in no small amount of pain as well. He’d always been an expert at hiding it, but the younger man could see it in his face, and the furrow of his brow, and the way his arms unconsciously wrapped around his abdomen beneath the covers, as if to protect the injury.
“I’ll get that accursed doctor for you…” he said, standing.
“Before you do, sir… Where did you send my Turks?” Tseng asked, suddenly looking up at him again.
“Mideel,” Rufus answered, “They needed a distraction… and I wish to see Corneo’s head on a platter.”
“Ah…” Tseng acknowledged, relaxing noticeably, “Reno, at least, should enjoy that assignment. He’s always hated him…”
‘So have I,’ Rufus thought to himself, but he only nodded and slipped out into the hall. He was fairly certain Tseng believed he didn’t know of his father’s involvement with Corneo… but he knew. He’d always known. And he also knew that if it weren’t for his father’s taste for whores, his mother might still be alive.
It was growing dark by the time Rufus made his way back to his private quarters from the executive offices. Reno and Rude had briefly reported in to inform him that they had nothing to inform him of. Aside from that, much of his time had been spent overseeing the retrofits of the Highwind. While he was confident that the airship would be able to challenge the rogue Soldier, particularly with the element of surprise backing them, he’d ordered the installation of an experimental emergency system that had been slated to be implemented several months from now. He’d demanded his engineers have it completed and functioning by the end of the week.
The system’s purpose was two-fold… In the first place, it was intended to jettison any extra weight the craft for conceivably do without and still remain aloft. In the second, it also involved installing dual mako-powered turbine engines that could propel the airship at nearly three times its normal speed. The Highwind would be able to run like a bat out of hell should it become necessary. The work was proceeding on schedule.
He yawned as he flipped on the lights in his quarters. Perhaps he’s skip his usual evening bath and go straight to bed. It had been a long day, after all.
Before he could decide one way or the other, however, his PHS rang, and he noted Reeve Tuesti’s name and number displayed across the screen. Odd… Tuesti had already reported in today. Something must have happened. He accepted the call, hoping for good news for a change.
“Yes? What it is, Reeve?” he asked, anxiously.
“Sir…” the man began, and the emotion in his voice, though somewhat concealed, was clear. “Avalanche found Sephiroth at the City of the Ancients… Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that he found them. He… killed the Aerith.”
Rufus was silent for a short moment. The Cetra girl was dead? He was passingly acquainted with the young woman’s file. She was no threat to a Solider. Why bother killing her? The only logical reason he could come up with was that she had known something the others didn’t. Something that might have had the potential to derail his plans.
“Do they know why?”
“No, sir… We’d only just found her there in the city. Sephiroth… came out of nowhere. She never saw it coming. Cloud tried to challenge him, but he just laughed and went on raving about becoming one with the planet. Then he was gone as quickly as he came and we were left fighting some sort of… creature…that grew out of something he dropped.”
The President scowled. “He’s gone, then…”
“Yes, sir. But we know where this time. He practically dared Cloud to follow him. He’s heading north to the Great Glacier.”
What was Sephiroth’s interest in the traitor, he wondered. Was it just that Strife was a fellow Soldier? Did he perhaps think to entice him to his cause based on their shared history? Somehow he doubted that. Were that the case, he wouldn’t have murdered the girl.
“Then that’s where we’ll target him. The snow fields are virtually empty. He’ll have nowhere to run from an air assault. Stick with them, Reeve, and let me know of any further developments immediately.”
“Understood, sir.”
The call dropped and Rufus sat down on the edge of his bed. This would soon be over… and he was glad. Once these loose ends were tied up… once the threat had been dealt with… he could go home. He missed home.
He wanted desperately to ask Tseng’s opinion on this latest turn of events. That, however, would have to wait until morning. For now… Rufus was going to bed.
~end of disc 1 – please insert disc 2~
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