Taking Care of Reno: Meteorfall
Chapter 22: Off Duty
“Let. Me. Get. This. Straight.” Rufus glared outward at the darkened coastline, his right hand roughly pinching the bridge of his nose as he strained to keep his temper in check. Though, frankly, he wasn’t quite certain why he was even bothering to do so at this point. He slowly turned to face the trio standing in front of his desk. “You,” he said with a scowl, pointing squarely at Reno, “managed to get yourself yanked out of the field mid-assignment.” The President redirected his gaze at Rude. “You lost, not one, but two huge materia crystals to a terrorist organization.” His eyes were back on the redhead a second later, “And you, again, lost the third one, along with two submarines!”
“In my defense, there wasn’t a whole lot I coulda done about Avalanche hijacking that second sub.”
Rufus ground his teeth and took a few steps toward the red-haired Turk, stopping inches from his face. “I don’t care.”
The redhead seemed to realize that his usual behavior was not going to be tolerated just now and swallowed whatever he’d intended to say next, responding only with “… Understood, sir.”
The executive narrowed his eyes, but backed away, circling back around behind the desk.
“This is entirely unacceptable.”
“Sir, we did everything we could to –”
“Silence,” Rufus coolly cut the woman off, and had Elena’s mouth snapped shut any harder, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d chipped a tooth. “You only bear less of the blame for this debacle, and only because you, at no point, were in charge. I suggest not rushing to either of your associates’ defense right now.”
He took a seat at the desk and folded his hands before him, in a deceptively calm posture.
“In case you three idiots have forgotten… we are facing a planet-wide crisis. We cannot afford to fail… If we should do so, it will not simply be the end of Shinra Company… It will be the end of everything.”
“We’ll get them back,” Reno stated, “And get rid of Avalanche while we’re at it.”
“There’s no time to waste tracking those bastards down! We have a limited window in which to launch the rocket. If we wait too long, we’ll merely be decimated by the meteor’s debris rather than the meteor itself!” Rufus shouted in frustration. “All of you… get out my sight. I’ll deal with your worthless hides in the morning.”
He saw Reno glance sidelong at the other two, before opening his mouth to speak again.
“NOW!” he roared, before the other man could say anything, leaning forward menacingly in his chair. The surprised look on the redhead’s face did not go unnoticed as the three of them hesitated half a second longer, and then filed out of his office without further comment.
Rufus sank back in his chair and exhaled slowly, eyes still on the door. A part of him wished one of them had actually be stupid enough to disobey him so that the rage and frustration – and much as he was loathe to admit it, the fear – of the past few days might finally find an outlet. He would desperately have liked to have hit something at the moment.
This was madness. How was he supposed to stop someone like Sephiroth? Every step he’d taken thus far seemed mired in failure. And yet, if he didn’t stop him, they were doomed… and it would be Shinra Company’s fault. What in Rumah’s name was he supposed to do?
“… Think that’s the closest Rufus has ever come to actually gettin’ into it with us,” Reno said when they were well out of earshot. Rude nodded sagely.
“I saw it, too. He wanted a fight. Just barely stopped himself from starting one.”
“Can’t exactly blame him. We fucked up…” the redhead replied. “Worse, we fucked up when it really counted.” He shook his head. “We’re goin’ after that materia again, and this time we’re bringin’ it back. Rufus might not think there’s time to do it, but all we really gotta do is figure out where those fuckers are hidin’ it. Screw stealth, screw the spy games… we go in, guns blazing. Fuck ’em all. We do it right, maybe we get the Highwind back, too.”
He jumped slightly when Elena’s hand slipped into his own.
“First, you’re going to see Ward,” she said, and when he went to protest, she silenced him with a glare. “She ordered it… You’re going. Then you’re going to bed, because after the day you’ve had you need it. We’ll figure out how to find Avalanche again in the morning.”
Reno looked imploringly over at Rude for support, but his partner only smirked. “You really think I’m gonna argue with her?”
He sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Ya know… Last I checked, I was in command, not ‘Lena.”
Rude snorted softly. “Keep telling yourself that…” he teased. Reno glared at the other man and quickened his pace down the hallway. “Now, where are yougoing in such a hurry?”
The redhead smirked.
“Tch… Where d’ya think? If I’ve been overthrown by my own girlfriend, I’m gonna go see the Doc before ‘Lena ends up pissed at me, too. Can you imagine her givin’ a formal reprimand? And we always thought it was bad when Tseng did it…”
Elena woke to the loud hum of machinery, and the creaking of metal. She blinked and tried to sit up, but was held firmly in place by the arms wrapped around her.
“Mmph… Don’t bother worryin’ ’bout the noise…” Reno murmured against her collarbone. “They’re movin’ the canon today’s all.”
She smiled warmly, and nuzzled him. “Well, it’s going to be hard to get back to sleep with all that going on out there…” she replied. The sun was barely up… but the day started early on a military base, even by her standards. Reno finally deigned to open his eyes, and Elena felt his fingers glide gently along her hip.
“Who says we gotta go back to sleep?”
A knock at the door to their quarters stopped her from replying, and Reno groaned.
“Fuck… seriously?”
Elena snickered and untangled herself from his grasp, before climbing out of bed and walking over to answer the summons. Before she opened the door, she glanced down and refastened the buttons on her pajamas that the sneaky redhead had somehow managed to undo without her noticing, and glanced back at him, accusingly.
“What?” he asked with an innocent smile. She giggled quietly and answered the door.
“Apparently Rude says so,” she called back over her shoulder with a teasing grin. The aforementioned Turk’s eyebrow rose in curiosity, but he didn’t ask.
“Figured you two were probably up. Never known Reno to be able to sleep through noise like that,” he said, nodding toward the windows that overlooked the base’s main drag.
“Well, I was certainly plannin’on gettin’ something up this morning…” the redhead muttered under his breath, and Elena rolled her eyes. “There a reason you’re already awake, dressed, and lookin’ like you’re goin’ somewhere?” He tossed the covers aside and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, before standing up and stretching.
Rude smirked slightly. “There a reason you’re still half asleep, naked, and looking like you wish I’d leave you alone?”
“Yeah,” the redhead shot back, “and she’s standin’ right in front of you. So? What’s goin’ on?”
“Ran into Rufus on the way down to see what they’re serving for breakfast. He wants to see us ‘at our earliest convenience’… by which, I’m pretty sure he means now.”
“Why am I not surprised?” the other Turk sighed, and reached for the pile of clothes he’d left half unpacked the after his arrival in Junon. “Ya know, if I didn’t already know exactly how pissed he is at us, I’d be sorely tempted to show up in his office as-is in return for ruinin’ my morning.”
“Reno… please get dressed,” Elena piped up, suddenly looking vaguely concerned by the possibility.
Reno snickered. “Yeah, yeah… I may be slightly nuts, but I’m not gonna tempt fate like that. ‘Sides… the little bastard’s probably armed,” he replied, pulling on his pants, “And impressive as it is, I don’t think my –”
“Don’t even say it,” Elena groaned, not having much trouble guessing where that train of thought was headed.
“– dick would be any match for a shotgun,” he finished, undeterred.
“Definitely not an image I needed in my head this early,” Rude deadpanned, reaching for the doorknob. “Or ever. I’ll just wait outside.”
Elena turned back and headed for her own bag, pulling out a fresh uniform and stripping out of her pajamas… only to be enthusiastically groped from behind once she’d done so. Reno trailed kisses along the side of her neck and down her shoulder.
“Reno!” she whispered harshly, though she couldn’t quite swallow the laugh before it escaped.
“Just a taste of what I got in mind for when we actually have time for that sort of thing…” he said, spinning her around to face him, and looking her over unabashedly. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”
She smiled and slipped out of his arms so she could finish dressing. “Almost daily,” she giggled, and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “But I never seem to get tired of it. Now will you please get dressed?”
A few scant minutes later all three of them were, once again, standing before Rufus’ desk.
“What the hell do you mean you’re sendin’ us to Wutai?!” Reno leveled an angry glare at the executive, who was remarkably unperturbed by the sudden increase in volume. He snorted derisively and crossed one leg over the other.
“I’m not certain I could be any clearer if I tried. Exactly which part of ‘I’m sending you to Wutai’ is so difficult for that pea-sized brain of yours to process?”
Reno leaned forward over the top of Rufus’ desk. “And just what are we supposed to do in Wutai?”
“Frankly… I don’t really care,” the President replied, in a voice like ice, his gaze never wavering from the Turk’s. “The three of you are utterly worthless to me as you are. It’s one idiotic mistake after another, and I’m sick of it. Go to Wutai, get your heads on straight, and come back ready to do your jobs… or lose them.”
The redhead stared at the other man incredulously, and then looked back as his teammates.
“You can’t be serious… You were the one goin’ off last night about how we’re all screwed if we don’t take down Sephiroth and his fuckin’ space rock! How the hell are we s’posed to do shit from Wutai?”
Rufus shot to his feet and leaned in towards the irate Turk, hands resting on the desktop. “Watch your tone with me, Turk. You would be wise not to forget your place!”
Reno had to physically bite down on his tongue to stop himself from giving the man a piece of his mind… and even then, he came damned close to going off on him. It was only the fact that, if he did, he’d likely take Elena and Rude down with him, that kept him from reaching across the desk and throttling the brat.
“You’re leaving. Now. Get out. I’ll summon you if and when you’re needed again,” Rufus said dismissively, seeing that he’d obviously won their little standoff. Reno scowled, and turned on his heel, storming out of the executive office, only faintly aware that the rest of his team quickly followed him. He didn’t look back.
When they reached the elevator, he stopped in front of it, still seething… and then punched the control panel as hard as he could. The plastic moulding all but shattered, several now-visible wires sparked, and the light behind the button flickered and went out.
“Reno…” Elena gasped softly, and she reached for him, laying her hand on his shoulder. He shook her off.
“That son of a bitch!” he growled, rounding on them both, and it was only because Elena instinctively took a less than subtle step back from him that he froze, and realized how he must look. Even Rude’s expression betrayed a certain level of shock. The elevator chimed and opened, snapping him further out of his rage, and he was suddenly aware that his left hand was throbbing painfully. Reno glanced down at it, and at the blood that was now dripping onto the floor from the deep gouges in his knuckles.
“Reno?” Elena tried again, and this time he looked up at her with an apologetic expression, shoulders slumping.
“Sorry…” he said softly. Rude stepped forward and nudged him aboard the elevator. Elena followed, pressing the button for the ground floor.
“What do we do now?” his partner asked, and Reno shook his head.
“… Guess we go to Wutai,” he replied, defeated, and looked down at his hand, “… Right after one of you sneaks into the med bay for me and steals me some bandages… ’cause I am not explainin’ this one to Ward.”
“Ah… Good. You’re awake for once.”
Tseng lifted his head slightly and caught sight of a familiar figure striding purposefully into his room.
“I doubt any of the patients are getting any sleep at the moment. Not with that Leviathan-forsaken racket going on outside,” the Turk leader replied. “To what do I own the pleasure, sir?”
“You lodged a complaint a short while ago that you were not being kept up-to-date with regards to current events,” Rufus said, conversationally. “I thought to rectify that personally.”
Tseng raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “What have you done?”
Rufus snorted derisively and crossed his arms over his chest. “Nothing I’m not well within my rights to do.”
“Sir…”
“I’ve officially unofficially relieved those miscreants of yours of duty,” he stated flatly, and Tseng’s jaw dropped slightly.
“Rufus… You can’t –”
“I most certainly can, and I have. I’ve ordered them off to Wutai, with instructions not to return until I say otherwise,” he said, cutting the older man off. “They’re useless to me as they are. Rude lacks the necessary leadership ability to take over indefinitely, Elena is still entirely too green to be put in charge of a potted plant, let alone the Turks, and even I can see that the slum rat is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. What good are they if they can no longer function?”
“And just what are they to do in Wutai?”
Rufus shrugged and stood beside Tseng’s bed. “I didn’t specify. Officially, they’re on assignment… and as such I doubt it will take them long to figure out that they still have access to the corporate credit account. But as I’ve given them no orders to follow once they arrive… beyond ‘don’t come back’… what they chose to do with that access is up to them.”
The Turk leader eyed his superior, curiously. “Sir… ?”
The younger man smirked somewhat mischievously. “If you’re worried about them being bored in your homeland, rest assured… I didn’t select that location on a whim. I’m sure they’ll find somethingto entertain them. Or rather… someone, assuming the report I received from our Wutaiian division is correct.”
Judging by the self-satisfied look on his face, the young executive was very pleased indeed with whatever little scheme he’d come up with. And Tseng couldn’t help but be curious.
“Who have you sent them after?” he asked.
“No one,” Rufus replied, still smirking, “But it seems that an… old friend of my father’s… is hiding out in the Wutaiian capitol city. And I doubt they’ll be able to resist paying him a visit once they hear about it. Your lieutenant in particular. I understand he has a rather profound dislike of the old pervert.”
“Corneo…”
It was a statement, not a question, and Rufus nodded in confirmation.
“Are you certain this is wise, sir? We’re facing the very real possibility of the destruction of the entire planet. The Turks would be better employed working to prevent that than chasing after a low-priority target half a world away.”
“That’s precisely why I’ve done this,” said the President, “I need my Turks, Tseng. Perhaps now more than ever. And I need them able to do whatever needs to be done… something very few people are capable of, when it comes right down to it. If that requires temporarily sending them off on a vacation of sorts, then so be it. We have time. Not much, but some. I would prefer to lose a few days than to lose them.”
The young man had always been fairly candid with him, but this was the first time that Tseng could recall him expressing such a level of concern for his Turks. And somehow, Tseng had a feeling that he knew why.
Under that smug, collected facade, Rufus was scared. He could see it… in the dark circles beneath the younger man’s eyes that grew more noticeable with every visit he paid him… in the less than perfectly combed, pale blond hair… and in the way his posture no longer radiated Rufus’ usual confidence. He was a man under immense strain… and had Tseng been at his side, where he belonged, instead of trapped in this damned hospital bed, he would have realized it much sooner. He was scared… and the Turks had been his protectors from the day he was born. The thought of them suddenly not being there had to be hard to deal with.
And why shouldn’t Rufus be frightened? They were facing the end of the world, after all, if they didn’t do something to stop it.
“You will inform me when you recall them to Junon, of course?” Tseng asked.
“Of course.”
A loud thud echoed from outside, and Tseng could just see the shadow of a large crane as it swung by the window.
“Assuming I make it through the next few days with my own sanity intact. What in Rumah’s name are those fools doing out there now?” Rufus groused, and peered through the glass, “If they’ve damaged that canon, so help me…”
Elena turned and looked back over her shoulder, at the redhead who’d sequestered himself in the back of the helicopter. Reno was sulking. There was no other word for it. He’d refused the pilot’s seat, and even turned down the co-pilot chair, leaving the controls to Rude with Elena as his backup.
She sighed softly. None of them were happy about the unexpected ‘vacation’ they’d been ordered to embark upon, but Reno was taking it especially hard. Once the initial anger at Rufus had passed, he’d fallen more or less silent, even while Rude was bandaging his bloodied knuckles for him. She shared the sentiment… but there wasn’t much they could do. Until Rufus summoned them back, they were off duty and not permitted to return.
If Rufus summoned them back.
Rude, for one didn’t seem especially concerned by the executive’s demand that they take themselves just about as far from his presence as physically possible – or if he was, he hid it well – but Elena had her doubts. She knew Rufus could be a little petulant, but this… this was going too far. They’d essentially been banished. And as guilty as she felt about it, she couldn’t stop the thought that they wouldn’t be in this situation if Tseng had been in command when it entered her mind.
It really wasn’t fair to Reno. He was skilled leader… when he was focused. But as much as it pained her to admit it, the redhead’s focus just wasn’t what it should have been lately.
She sighed again. Maybe this would be good for him. Maybe it would be good for all of them. Since Tseng’s injury, she’d felt more than a little lost, and she knew she wasn’t the only one. Were it not for the looming crisis currently facing the planet, she might have even felt a little relieved to have been going to Wutai.
A third sigh escaped her lips and Reno finally looked up.
“Tch… You gonna do that the whole way there?” he asked, in a tone of sullen irritation.
“… Sorry,” she replied, slightly embarrassed. She actually hadn’t realized the two men would have been able to hear so quiet a sound over the headsets. Reno shrugged, suddenly indifferent to the momentary distraction and went back to staring blankly out the at the ocean. Elena glanced over at Rude, who met her gaze and frowned… but a moment later, he subtly shook his head.
It wasn’t hard to interpret the gesture to mean that they’d discuss it when they were on the ground. Which, if the sandy shoreline coming into view ahead of them was any indication, would be very soon.
“Coming up on Wutai,” Rude said, “How far out do you want to set down?”
“Like it fuckin’ matters…” the redhead muttered. “Not like we’re here in any official capacity. Who the fuck cares if word gets around?”
Rude cast a vaguely annoyed glance back at his partner, but said nothing. Instead, he headed towards a narrow band of mountainous terrain that straddled the interior of the island, skirting along the main ridge until the elevation began to drop sharply. Not too far off, Elena could make out a large settlement tucked in beside a smaller set of peaks… and belatedly realized, as she recognized the faces carved into the stone, that it must have been the Wutaiian capitol city. It wasn’t nearly as big as she’d always thought it was. The statues, on the other hand…
Carved centuries ago, the Da-Chou statue, along with its fellow stone deities, was famous the world over. Her brother, Belane, had told her all about his visits to the monument. If she remembered correctly, Da-Chou was a water god in Wutaiian legend, and the only true master of the mighty Leviathan. The names of the other statues eluded her for the moment, but she was fairly certain that they each represented some aspect or element of life. Bel had once told her that, because Wutai was an island nation, and so much of its livelihood came from the sea, Da-Chou was especially revered… and that was why his carving was the most prominent of the four.
They swung back towards the shore and circled north, landing well outside of town, in the shadow of the mountain. The engine whined to a stop, and Elena pulled her headset off, hanging it on the small hook on the side of her seat.
“… Well?” she asked, uncertain of where they should even go, “We’re here… Now what?”
Reno stood and haphazardly tossed his own headset onto his seat before hauling open the door.
“I don’t know about you two… but I’m going straight to the Ifrit-be-damned Turtle’s Paradise and not comin’ out ’til I’m good ‘n drunk,” he replied, sourly.
“How much longer?” Rufus asked. The image of Heidegger on the video call grunted as a technician squeezed past him.
“Three more days, at least. Palmer’s idiots wanted another week, but I convinced them it was in their best interest to speed things up. One in particular keeps babbling about the damned oxygen tanks.”
Rufus fought the urge to scoff. “You’re hardly an expert. Get it done quickly but don’t rush the people who actually know what they’re doing. The last thing I want is another malfunction on the launch pad,” he said, coldly. Heidegger stammered an acknowledgment and quickly found an excuse to end the call.
Dear Rumah, how he hated that fat bastard. Rufus stood and crossed the room to his bookshelves, pulling down a worn copy of one of his favorite plays. He raised an eyebrow, noting that it had been bookmarked at some point, and curious, he opened it to the page.
“When time is running short and all one has left to face is the relentless approach of mortality, a man’s true nature either shines resplendent or casts a shadow upon all he has made,” he read aloud. He snorted softly. It was bizarrely appropriate to the situation, with a morally superior tone he’d long associated with only one person. “Very cute, Tseng,” he muttered and snapped the book shut in his hand before tucking it back onto the shelf and selecting another. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture today. Even less for one that had obviously been planned in advanced and planted like a time-bomb where he was certain to come across it eventually.
It didn’t help that he was feeling, somewhat inexplicably, guilty.
Initially, he’d been quite pleased with himself. The look on Reno’s face when he’d all but banished him and his team to another continent had brought back fond memories of simpler times… Times when he had no real responsibility on his shoulders and was free to torment the redhead at his leisure. Ten years ago, it would have been a crowning achievement of a prank, and the Turk probably would even have agreed… eventually.
Oh, certainly… he’d been furious over number of the errors they’d managed to rack up in the course of attempting to procure the huge materia for Palmer’s rocket… but the real reason he’d sent them away was because he wanted them mad enough to come back fighting. Particularly his current head Turk. The idea had come to him just as he’d been falling asleep that night. Even Rufus had to acknowledge that Reno was more than capable of leading… he just needed the proper motivation to pull his head out of his ass and start acting like it. It was just another mind game… and eventually the redhead would figure it out, just as he always did.
Hell, he’d half expected to be called on it immediately. That he hadn’t been was what was nagging at him right now. There was a very real possibility that this could all blow up in his face and that he’d end up doing more harm than good. For all he knew, the troubled Turk was sitting in a bar calmly drinking himself into oblivion right now instead of taking advantage of Rufus’ generosity.
Fortunately… he’d already planned ahead for that possibility. He had his own eyes and ears in Wutai… and if he didn’t hear that the Turks were in hot pursuit of one Don Corneo within twenty-four hours, he was going to make sure they were put on his trail.
“Shit’s terrible…” Reno slurred… and downed nearly half the bottle of rice wine in one go. It was his fourth. On top of several beers and a few shots of something called baijiu. Elena rested a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention away from it, briefly.
“Reno… Don’t you think that’s enough? Let’s… let’s go and get some fresh air. And maybe something to eat.”
He shrugged her off and took another swig straight from the bottle. “Told ya… ‘m not goin’ anywhere ’til’m good ‘n drunk,” he replied, and tilted his head back and drained the remaining liquor. Too far back, apparently, because before either Elena or Rude had time to react, he was on the floor, out cold.
Rude snorted softly. “Pretty sure you’ve reached that point, partner,” he sighed and stood, picking the smaller Turk up and tossing him over a shoulder. He jerked his head towards the door. “Come on. Let’s go find somewhere he can sleep it off.”
Elena hurried to follow. If she’d been a little concerned about the redhead’s unusual behavior before they’d reached the island, she was now unapologetically worried about him. Ever since the confrontation with Rufus he’d seemed… off. The initial anger she could understand. But once that had faded, he’d become almost withdrawn, as though he were just going through the motions. And now this. Reno typically drank for fun… not to completely obliterate reality. She couldn’t help but think back to the morning she’d found him passed out on the couch with an empty bottle not long after Sector 7. This seemed a little too much the same.
“… Rude?”
“For once, I’m not quite sure what’s going through his head,” the bald Turk answered before she even asked the question. Elena sighed and glanced up at Reno, who hung limply over the other man’s shoulder, thoroughly disconnected from the world for the time being, and reached out, letting her fingers trail along his cheek. This wasn’t her Reno.
“What are we going to do?” she asked, and hoped that Rude hadn’t noticed the slight waver in her voice as she spoke… though she doubted she was that lucky. He paused in front of the door of the local inn, and turned to look at her.
“For tonight… Sleep.”
Lira groaned, and flushed the contents of her stomach before turning on the tap and rinsing her mouth with fresh, cold water. She was really beginning to hate morning sickness.
“Can’t you give mama a break?” she asked, looking down at her abdomen. “I miss bein’ able to enjoy breakfast…”
At first, she’d thought she’d lucked out… She hadn’t felt nauseous at all up until last week. Now it was pretty much a daily occurrence. Her doctor – the one who’d taken over for Ward, who still wasn’t back – had assured her that it was perfectly normal… but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
The woman walked back into the living room and took a seat on the couch, flipping on the TV.
That Ward was still out of town concerned her. It almost certainly meant that at least one of the Turks was in bad shape. And as much as a part of her felt that maybe they deserved it… she knew them too well to ever voice that opinion out loud. They weren’t inherently bad people. Not really. They’d done terrible things, yes… but not without reason, and she’d never known any of them to relish it.
And as much as the betrayal she’d felt when she’d learned that Reno had been responsibly for the Sector 7 collapse still hurt… she couldn’t find it in herself to wish ill on him. If anything, she’d grown steadily more worried about him the longer Ward was gone. He hadn’t even tried to contact her recently, and she honestly wasn’t sure if it was because he was physically unable to do so… or because he’d given up hope of her ever speaking to him again.
And if he were that badly hurt, would any of his teammate have thought to tell her about it? They rarely had in the past… though Tseng had once, years ago, turned up at the Honeybee to find her when Reno had been so seriously injured that he wasn’t sure the little redhead would make it though the night.
Lira shook her head and changed the channel. If it were that bad, someone would have contacted her. Elena, at the very least, would have made the attempt… wouldn’t she? The screen suddenly switched to a breaking news bulletin, and she blinked as she watched a pair of huge airships approaching the city, a truly massive load supported between them. She turned up the volume to find out what was going on.
“– cannon has arrived from Junon. Shinra Company has had little to say about the weapon’s sudden relocation, but experts speculate that it is intended to pierce the strange barrier that appeared over the Northern Crater at the same time Meteor appeared in the sky. Shinra’s construction division has been working around the clock, rushing to prepare a scaffolding for the cannon ahead of its arrival. The company has warned residents in Sectors One, Three, Five, and Seven to expect brief blackouts later today as power connections are rerouted and tested. Alterations to the remaining sectors’s power grid are scheduled for later in the week.”
Lira levered herself off the couch and moved to the window, looking out to the south, and had little trouble spotting the pair of aircraft and their cargo. Her eyes widened slightly… she never would have thought something so big could stay in the air.
“In other Crisis news, new estimates of the Meteor’s speed have leaked from Shinra Company’s science division. Previous estimates placed its arrival between twenty and thirty days. Revised data has drastically decreased those numbers and according to unnamed sources within the company, Shinra now expects the meteor to reach the point of no return in less than two weeks. There have been numerous reports of activity in and around Rocket Town, of an attempt to destroy the meteor before it reaches the planet. When asked about a possible launch of the Shinra No. 26 rocket, Shinra Company had no comment.”
She aimed the remote at the TV and shut it off. Of course they had no comment. Shinra never told anyone what they were up to. It was one of the many reasons she’d never really trusted them. It was also the other reason she’d stayed behind in the slums, even after Reno’s many offers to bring her topside. Yes, she felt far more at home down below… but living on the Plate also meant working for Shinra, one way or another. There was hardly a business up here they didn’t have some stake in. Of course, she wasn’t naïve enough to think that they didn’t have plenty of tendrils firmly embedded in the slums, as well… but at least down there, she’d had the luxury of distance.
Lira sighed and pressed a hand to her belly. It had always been an illusion, and she knew it. Working for Corneo wasn’t really that far removed from working for Shinra. They took a cut of damn near everything. But it had been easier to pretend that she was her own person down below, and not just another Shinra drone. Now, though… if she wanted to stay in Midgar, she was going to have to give that illusion up… because she couldn’t let Reno support her forever.
She had no doubt that he would if she allowed it. Even if she refused to ever see him again, he’d never let her go hungry or homeless. If she wanted to, she could live, rent-free, right here in his old apartment for the rest of her life… because Reno would take care of her, just as he always had. Because she was still a part of his family, whether she loved him or hated him.
As that acknowledgment settled firmly into the forefront of her mind, she realized that she had to talk to him. She wasn’t ready to forgive… but much of her anger had been quelled. All that was left was hurt, and that would never go away until she said what she needed to say to the redhead. She reached for her phone.
Reno groaned loudly, and as he rolled over, trying to figure out what had woken him, he was convinced that his head was going to split in two. His stomach ached, a reminder that drinking on an empty stomach was a terrible, terrible idea.
He only had himself to blame for that. Elena had tried to dissuade him after the first bottle and coax some food into him, but he’d been hellbent on getting blackout drunk last night, and even she hadn’t been able to stop him. He’d quite thoroughly succeeded in reaching his goal, too… he couldn’t remember a damn thing after he’d ordered those shots of baijiu. Only the fact that he was presently lying on a very comfortably futon, and not in a gutter, told him that his friends hadn’t abandoned him.
The sound that had woken him broke the silence in the room again, and it took him another few moments to realized it was his Ifrit-be-damned phone. He spotted it on a table across the room, connected to its charger.
“Fuck that…” he muttered, and rolled back over, pulling a pillow over his head to drown out the ringtone, unwilling to make the effort. If it was that important, they’d leave a message.
In spite the warm comfort of the bedroll, and the effects of his hangover, it was surprisingly difficult to pretend that the last few days hadn’t happened. That he hadn’t failed so spectacularly at the one thing he’d been training for years to do that he’d been banished to another country. He could only imagine Tseng’s disappointment in him as a leader when Rufus got around to telling him. And worse yet, he’d taken the whole team down with his sorry ass. Rude and Elena shouldn’t have been punished… none of this was their fault. But where Rufus was concerned, it was often a case of guilt by association.
He sat up slowly, wincing as his head throbbed, and looked around. There were two more futons, both slept in, but no other sign of his fellow Turks, and he frowned, wondering where they’d gone. With no small amount of effort, he staggered to his feet, and pulled on some clothes. First order of business was to find them and apologize profusely… both for getting them into this mess and for likely being a drunken asshole last night. He stopped short well before he reached the door, however, and moments later did a quick about face, rushing for the bathroom.
Correction… first order of business was to try and avoid puking all over himself.
“… I’m not eating that,” Elena stated firmly, dubiously eying the tiny whole squid perched on top of a mound of rice and vegetables.
“Give it a chance. Odori-don is a delicacy. You’ll never find it in Midgar.”
She shook her head. “Rude… you know I enjoy trying new foods, but it’s… looking at me.”
Rude suddenly smirked. “If that bothers you, just wait until you see why it’s called the dancing squid…” he replied, reaching for the soy sauce. He calmly poured it over the squid’s tentacles and Elena’s eyes widened in horror as the little sea creature began to move.
“I’m not eating that,” she quickly reiterated. The movement finally ceased, and the other Turk gave a quiet chuckle at her reaction.
“It’s not really alive… it’s just the muscle reacting to the salt in the soy sauce.”
“Oh, great… so it’s a zombie squid. That’s much more appetizing,” she said, dryly. Rude simply shook his head and lifted it out of the bowl. Elena watched the tentacles writhe as he bit a few of them off.
“You don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Let’s… keep it that way. I’ll stick to food that doesn’t try to crawl away,” she replied, and turned her attention on the tuna rolls on her own plate. “… Do you think Reno’s awake yet?”
The redhead had still been out when they’re returned from breakfast. Not wanting to disturb him, given that he likely wasn’t going to be feeling too great when he finally did wake up, they’d set out to do a little exploring without him. Elena had never been to Wutai before… but Rude had, any number of times. He made for an excellent tour guide. Though it probably would have been easier to enjoy it had the circumstances of their visit not been so unpleasant.
He’d led her around much of the town, visiting temples and pagodas, shops, and street-side markets. When it was nearing eleven, he’d suggested an early lunch before setting off again.
“Probably. Doubt he’s in any shape to play tourist, though.”
Elena sighed. As much tempting as it was to spend the afternoon seeing the sights, she couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Reno all by himself all day.
“Rude, you dick. You got that dancin’ squid shit and didn’t wait for me so I could see the look on ‘Lena’s face? Some friend you are…”
“Hmph… I stand corrected,” Rude commented, raising an eyebrow at his friend’s sudden appearance.
“Reno!” Elena cried, abandoning her food to get up and practically drag him over to their table. “How are you feeling? You look pale… Are you hungry?”
The redhead groaned faintly. “Not quite yet,” he admitted. “Stomach’s still a little sensitive after last night.”
“Should’ve listened to Elena…” Rude replied.
“Yeah… I know,” Reno said, dropping his gaze for a moment. “Look… I’m sorry about pullin’ that on you two. I just… It wasn’t a good way to deal with shit, but I’ve had so much shit to deal with lately, I… guess I just took the easy way out.”
“Reno…” she started, only to be silenced by a somewhat pleading look.
“It’s my fault Avalanche got hold of that materia… my fault we lost one of the best chances Shinra had at stoppin’ Meteor, and my fault we’re stuck here. Apparently I really suck at doin’ Tseng’s job.” His fist clenched, and Elena let her hand rest gently on top of his. “Never thought that when the time came to take over for him I’d end up bein’ such a complete screwup and lettin’ everyone down. Ten years of bein’ trained for this, and I’m completely worthless.”
“Oh, Reno… You’re not,” Elena hurried to reassure him. Rude, however, seemed to have other ideas.
“Yeah. You are. So pull your head out of your ass and do it right.” He frowned as Reno looked up at him in surprise, but went on. It needed to be said. “This can’t continue. You’ve asked for time to work through things, but time’s running out. Suck it up, Reno. The Turks need a leader.”
“Rude!” Elena stared at him in shocked disbelief.
“And you need to stop enabling him,” he added. Reno glared at him, angrily.
“Hey… Don’t go blamin’ ‘Lena for me bein’ a shit leader. None of this is on her.”
“You’re not a shit leader. I know that. Elena knows that. And you can be damn sure that Tseng knows that. But you’re constantly doubting yourself lately and it’s screwing us over. Get your head back in the game before its too late,” he said, getting up from the table. “Come find me when you’re ready to get back to work.”
With that, he left the pair of them sitting alone at the table, and disappeared through the door to the cafe. Elena watched him go, hardly believing that Rude, of all people, would say something like that.
“That what you think, too?”
Her gaze swiveled back to her lover, who was staring pensively at the half-eaten dish his partner had left behind.
“I…” she began, intending to reassure him… before admitting to herself that Rude was right. She wasn’t doing him any favors by not being honest. “I think he might have a point. I know a lot’s happened and you’re doing your best but…”
“But I’ve had my mind on shit besides the job.” The redhead scowled and stood up. “Screw this. I’m done.”
“R-Reno?”
“The fuckin’ world’s gettin’ ready to end, and Rufus sends us on ‘vacation’. Tch… If that’s what ten years of loyalty gets ya, then fuck him and fuck Shinra. I’m done.”
Elena followed him as he headed out the door. “Reno… You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I?” he asked, pulling up short just outside. “Obviously we’re not needed, or we wouldn’t be here. So why should I keep givin’ a shit about a company that doesn’t give one back? Rufus wants me to take a vacation? Fine. I’m takin’ a permanent one. Think I’ll start right where I left off last night.”
As she watched him make his way down the street, she realized something. Reno wasn’t simply angry and frustrated… He was also hurt.
Reno had gone to the Turtle’s Paradise, fully intending to do exactly what he’d told Elena he was going to do; pick up where he’d left off the previous evening. Instead, he found himself, nearly an hour later, only halfway through his second beer. Somewhere between the cafe and the bar, drinking himself into oblivion had lost its appeal.
The initial storm of thoughts had, mercifully died down, and he was left with only one. What was he if he wasn’t a Turk? It had been all he’d known for more than a decade… his entire adult life, and a good chunk of his teenage years as well. And did it even matter at this point? It was, after all, highly likely that in a few more weeks he, along with everyone else, wouldn’t be alive to care. A part of him… a very large part of him… was giving serious consideration to making good on his threat to simply take a permanent vacation, ask Elena to marry him, and spend whatever time they had left holed up in the nearest inn, showing her exactly how much he loved her.
But there was still that niggling bit of guilt over abdicating his responsibilities… especially now. He took a long swig from his beer and sighed. What was he really abdicating? Rufus had already essentially stripped him of command anyway. His only real responsibility was to Rude and Elena now. Shinra had decided it could get by without him.
“Drunk yet?” a voice asked, and a moment later the seat beside him was suddenly occupied. Reno snorted softly and raised his beer in mock salute.
“Haven’t even made it through two yet… ‘course I’m probably still half drunk from last night anyway.”
Rude rested his elbows on the table, not looking at the redhead. “I had to say something, you know. You’re not getting anywhere spinning your wheels the way you have been.”
Reno took another swig, but said nothing.
“We’re you serious about what you said to Elena?”
“Was when I said it,” he replied, truthfully. Though now that he’d had some time to mull things over on his own, he really couldn’t say what he planned to do.
“For the record… I’m going back as soon as Rufus summons us.”
Reno glanced over at him and shook his head. “Why bother?”
“You know why.”
“‘Lena goin’, too?” he asked. That would be the deciding point for him. If Elena returned to Shinra, he’d go, as well. He couldn’t not. Rude shrugged.
“Ask her yourself,” Rude replied, tossing a glance over his shoulder. The redhead followed his gaze, and easily spotted the woman standing near the door. Apparently, his partner had asked her to give them a minute or two. Acknowledged at last, she made her way over to the pair. Before he could ask her anything, however…
“There they are!” an unfamiliar voice shouted, and moments later, two Shinra soldiers scurried up to their table. “We’d heard the Turks were here… We need your help! We’ve finally located Don Corneo. He’s here in Wutai!”
Reno stared at the two men incredulously.
“Tch… what a drag.”
“W-what was that?” one of them queried, apparently not sure he’d heard the Turk right.
“We’re off duty. And we’re not in any mood to run around savin’ your butts. Do your own damn jobs.”
“Sir… we know you’re off duty, but…”
“If you knew that, then quit botherin’ us. Lookin’ at you is makin’ me sober,” he shot back, cutting the young man off, and turning his attention back to his beer. Any other day, he suddenly realized, he’d have jumped at the opportunity to take out Corneo. Right now though… the old pervert hardly seemed worth the effort.
“B-but… all Shinra personnel have orders to find him,” the soldier continued. Reno simply took another drink and ignored him. “Fine! We’ll get him without any help from the Turks… You just wait and see!”
He turned on his heel and stormed out the door, his companion only a few steps behind. A moment later, he angrily poked his head back inside. “And don’t think headquarters isn’t going to hear about this!”
“Reno… What are you doing?” Elena asked when they were finally gone. “Corneo is a priority target. This is no way for a Turk to act… You’ve never sacrificed your professionalism like this…”
“A pro isn’t someone who sacrifices himself for his job, ‘Lena. That’s just a fool.” He’d done enough sacrificing for Shinra’s sake. He had no more to give. Elena’s irate expression very nearly made him reconsider, however.
“Well, off duty or not, I’m going to do my job,” the woman stated adamantly, and hurried off after the two soldiers.
“… We should go after her.”
“Relax. ‘Lena can handle herself. She wants to put a bullet in Corneo, more power to her. I’m off duty on Rufus’ personal orders… and I’m not doin’ him any favors.”
She couldn’t believe Reno had actually refused a standing order. Corneo had a target on his back… and while he wasn’t their highest priority under current circumstances, they were still under orders to take him out if they had the chance, off duty or not. But more than being in disbelief, she was… scared. Maybe he really didn’t plan on going back to Shinra. She couldn’t imagine the Turks without him. She wasn’t even sure she could imagine returning to Junon without him. If he decided to stay… she couldn’t in all honesty say that she’d been willing to leave him here. Not even if it meant giving up the Turks alongside him.
Elena shook her head and continued down the street. If Reno wasn’t going to help with this mission, she’d just have to do it herself… and that meant she had to focus on Corneo, not the redhead.
She quickly found that to be easier said than done.
She hated seeing Reno like this. And worse, she felt powerless to do anything to help. That plain and simple fact was made so much worse by the knowledge that every time she could remember needing someone to fix things… Reno had been there, and he’d made everything better. She couldn’t seem to do the same for him, no matter how hard she tried.
A sudden shriek jerked her attention back to the task at hand, and some distance away, she spotted her target… And Corneo wasn’t alone. Another man she didn’t recognize was with him, and in his grasp, a young girl was struggling to break free.
“Let GO of me, you jerks!” the girl shouted, and managed to free one arm. She turned, in an attempt to flee, and Elena blinked in surprise when she saw her face.
Yuffie. The little ninja girl that had joined up with Avalanche. Were they here, too?
Elena darted out of sight, and worked her way closer to Corneo.
“Oh ho… She’s feisty. I like it when they squirm…” he said, sidling up to the girl, who regarded him with obvious distaste.
“Ugh… grossness…” Yuffie groaned, disgusted. Elena couldn’t help but agree. She was just a kid… and Corneo was ogling her like she was one of his brothel girls. The Turk drew her weapon, and readied herself. Two against one, and she had the advantage of distance. She liked her odds already… and they’d be even better once the girl was loose.
She stepped out of the shadows of the ally she’d crept into, fully prepared to take one or both of them out immediately… and was tackled from behind. Elena hit the ground with a loud omph and lost her grip on her weapon. Her attacker pinned her, his knee pressed roughly into her spine as he forced her arms behind her back.
“Well, well, well, well, well…” Corneo chuckled, his interest momentarily redirected away from the girl as he made his way over to his new captive. “What do we have here? A pretty little blonde? Oh, I adore blonds… Bring her, too.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Corneo,” her captor replied, much too close to her ear, as he hauled her to her feet again. She could feel his fetid breath on her skin, and suppressed a shudder. “Just so ya know, missy… we get whichever one of you the boss decides he doesn’t want. Hope he goes for the Wutaiian brat. You look like a lot more fun to me…”
Elena jerked to one side and jammed her elbow into his gut in reply. He grunted in pain, and delivered a sharp kick to the back of her knee, causing it to buckle and sending her to the ground again. A hard slap across the face stopped her from recovering, and the next moment, she was seized again and roughly dragged off toward a small shrine.
“Get off me! You’re gonna regret ever messing with a ninja like me!” Yuffie was shouting as she struggled.
“Tie them up… and make it tight,” Corneo said, ignoring the protests. “We wouldn’t want them wandering off before I’ve had a chance to decide which of them will be joining me tonight.”
“Let us go, you sick pervert,” Elena hissed, and Corneo turned his attention back on her. He paused in front of her with a curious expression on his face.
“You look familiar…” he stated, and she grimaced as his eyes roved over her body. It was only then that he finally recognized her uniform. He smiled lewdly and gripped her tie, twirling it around his finger for a moment. “Ah… A Turk! And a pretty one, too. Oh, tonight is going to be fun…” he added, gleefully rubbing his hands together.
“She’s been gone awhile. We should go find her.”
Reno looked up from his still unfinished second beer. “Can’t have been that long. This thing’s still half full.”
“That’s because you’ve been staring at it for the last twenty minutes like it’d have all the answers if you could just figure out how to get to ’em…” Rude replied with a faint snort. “Now get off your sorry ass and go back up your girlfriend before she gets herself into trouble.”
“‘Lena can take care of herself…” But even so, the redhead did get to his feet, and Rude smirked. “Ah, shut up… You really think I’m just gonna sit here while she’s out there chasin’ that pervert around the city? Come one… Let’s go find her. Tch… She’ll probably already have finished the son of a bitch off by the time we do.”
A few minutes later, the pair found themselves prowling the back allies of the Wutaiian capitol, looking for any sign of the absent Turk. They quickly covered the market, and then a few of the shrines. Just as they were getting ready to move on to the next block, Rude came to a sudden halt and knelt down.
“Something interesting?”
“…” Rude reached for something in the shadows, and then stood, a grim look on his face. He held up the object that had captured his attention. Reno’s eyes narrowed as he recognized Elena’s gun.
“… Fuck.” His fists clenched angrily at his sides. “He lays one finger on her, I’m personally gonna rip off his junk and cram it down his throat. And then I’m gonna –”
The sound of nearby gunfire curtailed his description of the pain he intended to inflict upon the man, and both Turks were immediately on alert as they hurried towards it. They found themselves in front of a small shrine, who’d doors had been flung wide. The familiar sounds of a fight emanated from within… though they didn’t last long. As Reno and Rude ran for the shrine, several figures appeared in the doorway, and they pulled up short.
“You assholes again. The fuck are you doin’ here?” the redhead growled in recognition.
“Corneo kidnapped Yuffie,” Cloud Strife responded in a similar tone, “Looked like he had a friend of yours,too.”
“… Elena,” Rude breathed, and Reno felt his angry flare violently. That bastard was going to die. He turned to his partner.
“Come on, Rude… let’s go give him a taste of what the Turks do when ya cross ’em.” He started off in the only direction Corneo could have gone without running into them on the way out, but quickly turned back toward the members of Avalanche, more of whom had made their way out of the shrine by then. “The statue’s the only place they coulda run off to. We want our Turk back. You want your ninja back. So let’s agree not to get in each other’s way, huh?”
“Fine by me,” Cloud replied and motioned for the rest of the group to follow him. At the base of the mountain, they paused again.
“Me ‘n Rude are gonna split up. You assholes can do whatever the hell you want, ‘long as you don’t endanger ‘Lena. We’ll return the favor ‘n keep the kid safe if we find ’em first.”
“Agreed,” Cloud said, and Tifa echoed the sentiment beside him. Reno turned his gaze on the red-clad figure of Vincent Valentine, who gave an affirmative nod. The redhead didn’t trust Strife as far as he could throw him… but the former-Turk he was willing to at least give the benefit of the doubt. That settled, he and Rude took off down opposite paths.
Elena kicked out at Corneo’s lacky, though it was little more than a glancing blow. He smirked lewdly and swatted her ass before strapping her ankles together as well. She wasn’t entirely certain what Corneo had planned for the two women, but the fact that she was presently securely fastened to a wooden cross, her arms painfully outstretched, didn’t bode well.
The two men who’d captured them for Corneo gave a hard tug on the rope, hoisting her upwards and onto the face of the statue. The Turk winced as her restraints tightened around her wrists. Yuffie was quickly given similar treatment.
“What’s he gonna do with us?” the younger woman asked, a thin layer of bravado doing what it could to cover up her obvious fear.
“I don’t think we want to hang around and find out…” Elena replied, pulling hard at her bonds. She succeeded only further chafing the skin of her wrist. Her eyes fell on Coreno below them on the ledge.
“You two… go back to the trail head and make sure no one disturbs us.” As his minions obediently disappeared around a bend, he looked up at his two captives. “Well, now… Decisions, decisions. Which one of you wants to be my playmate for the evening?”
“No one in their right mind would want to get anywhere near you, Corneo…” Elena spat back.
“LET… ME… GO!” Yuffie shouted at the top of her lungs. The old pervert laughed.
“Hmm… Delicious. Scrumptious! I think I’ve found a new hobby. Which shall it be? Hmm?”
He took a few steps to his left and gazed up at Elena. “Should I go with you?” he asked, teasingly, “You’re quite the beauty. You could have easily been one of my girls back home. I bet those tits of yours are even real…”
“Watch it, pal… I’m a Turk.”
He cackled to himself and wandered back beneath Yuffie. “Or… maybe… you. I do like them young and fresh…”
“Ugh… If I’d known with was gonna happen, I would’ve taken rope escape lessons more seriously…” the young ninja muttered just loud enough for Elena to hear. Somehow, the Turk didn’t think it would have made a difference. She’d taken those lessons very seriously, and still found herself unable to get loose.
“Oh, it’s so hard to choose…” Corneo continued, and laughed again, “If I were just a few years younger, I’d take you both!”
“Pig…” Elena replied, “You’re going to pay for this.”
He grinned widely and waggled a finger at her. “Now, now… behave yourself, or I’ll have to spank you,” he chuckled, “Hmm… That settles it. I’ve made my choice. My companion for the night will be…”
His dramatic pause went on far too long, and Elena rolled her eyes. Corneo pointed up at Yuffie.
“… the cheerful one!”
The ninja girl thrashed against her ropes, but they held fast. “GROSSNESS! Don’t mess with me, old man. I wouldn’t go near you even to steal your materia!”
“Ooooh! And she’s saucy, too! Whee! Alright, then, that’s settled… Let’s get to it!” He reached for the rope holding Yuffie in place, but an unexpected commotion on the mountain path made him pause.
“W-what? What’s going on?! Who’s there?” Corneo asked, a sudden look of concern coming over him, and Elena grinned widely to herself. Reno and Rude must have gotten worried about her. It was about time.
But as she watched, it wasn’t her compatriots who emerged from around the bend… but rather some other familiar figures.
“Oh, man! Cloud!” Yuffie cried, sounding relieved.
Corneo backed off a step or two. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Don’t tell me you forgot…” Cloud responded, insulted. Tifa joined him.
“The fall into that trap back in Wall Market really hurt!”
A look of recognition came over the man’s face and he glared at them. “Oh… It’s you. Now I remember. It’s because of you that I had to leave my little paradise in the Slums. None of you know how much I’ve suffered since then…”
Tifa stepped forward, cutting him off. “We don’t want to hear it. Just let the two of them go!”
“So serious!” he replied, mockingly, “Well… I suppose this is no time for me to be fooling around, either, then. You killed my poor little Aps back in Midgar. I think I’ll make you play with my new pet… while I continue my search for a bride.” Corneo raised his arms into the air. “Rapps! Come here!”
Elena’s eyes widened as, in response to his call, an ear-splitting roar rent the air, followed by the flapping of huge leathery wings. Cloud and the rest of Avalanche fell into a defensive stance as a creature rose from the valley below.
“I-is that what I think it is?” she asked, turning to the ninja girl beside her.
“… Yep. That would be a dragon,” Yuffie replied, paling slightly.
“Where’s Corneo!” Reno demanded, and when his prisoner refused to answer him, he decided to jog the man’s memory… with a hard left cross. He’d run into the pair as he’d retraced his steps after hitting a deadend, and it had become painfully obvious that they were working for his quarry. The two men had been dutifully guarding the trail head. He’d killed one immediately. The other he’d spared long enough to interrogate and hopefully save himself the trouble of having to search the entire damned mountain.
“Let’s try that again,” he growled, “Where’s Corneo?”
“D-da-Chou statue… Under the Da-Chou statue’s head! T-take the second path on the right!”
Reno smiled coldly. “There now… That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked, and relaxed his grip on the man, who breathed a sigh of relief. It was short-lived. The Turk slipped around behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck. A swift jerk to the left, followed by a sickeningly satisfying crack, and Corneo’s henchman went limp in his arms. He dropped him unceremoniously to the ground, and reached for his PHS… only to stop as a loud, bellowing roar echoed over the mountains.
Reno swore under his breath, and hoped that Rude wouldn’t be too far behind as he started up the trail. It didn’t take him long to figure out which way to go, and as he round a corner, he came face to face with it’s source.
Fortunately for him, the creature seemed to be in its death throes by the time he was that close… courtesy of a hail of bullet delivered by the team of Barret Wallace and Vincent Valentine. Strife darted forward, his stupidly massive sword poised to strike the killing blow. The dragon gave one final wail and fell to the ground, moments later tumbling from the ledge and into the valley. Corneo stood at the far end of the trail, a look of utmost shock etched on his face as Cloud stalked menacingly toward him.
“Wait…” he pleaded, “Just wait a second!”
“Shut up!” Strife hissed, angrily.
“Just listen to me,” Corneo begged, raising his hand imploringly. “It won’t take long. Why do you think a man like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life? I’ll give you a choice… One… Because he’s ready to die? Two… Because he’s sure to win? Or three… Because he’s clueless?”
Reno frowned… He was stalling. What sort of ace did that bastard have up his sleeve now? It wasn’t like Corneo to bluff.
“Because he’s ready to die,” Cloud answered, and raised his sword. Corneo smirked and reached into his jacket, pulling out what looked like a small remote control, and pressed a button. Twin explosions echoed off the cliffs above them, and Reno looked up for the first time… horrified at what he saw, as a pair of frightened screams followed the blasts.
Elena and Yuffie were tethered to the cliff face. And falling! His heart caught in his throat as he watched them plummet… only for the two women to jerk to a sudden stop, hanging upside down, swaying violently for several moments. Corneo laughed viciously.
“That’s button one. If I push button two, that bottom support goes next and we’ll have a couple of squashed tomatoes to scrap off the bottom of the trail.”
“Damn it…” Strife swore.
“Now… You just turn yourselves right around and head back down the mountain. I’ll be keeping these two beauties. And that one, too!”
“You coward!” Tifa spat, as she realize he was looking at her. Corneo only smiled wider. Reno grudgingly forced himself to remain out of sight for the moment. He couldn’t attack now… not with Corneo holding Elena hostage. If only he had a way to distract him. Just for a moment.
A slight movement on a higher ledge caught his eye… and he grinned.
“It looks like I’m the one laughing last…” Corneo boasted as Avalanche began to back down.
“No… That would be us,” Reno stated and stepped out of his hiding place, calmly pushing past the group of terrorists and pausing on top of the huge thumb of Da-Chou’s stone hand.
“A-another Turk?” his target sputtered, surprised.
“You knew this was gonna happen. When someone leaks company secrets, they send us out to make sure those leaks get plugged. You’ve had this comin’ for a long time, Corneo. I’m gonna take care of you… personally.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’m taking them with me!” he declared and held up the remote, thumb poised over the button. As soon as it was in view, a shot rang out from the far ledge striking his arm and sending the device clattering to the ground. Corneo cried out in pain and staggered backwards, stumbling over the loose rocks and toppling, with a shout, over the end of the hand’s fingers. He clung to the stone desperately, trying to pull himself back up, but with his injured arm, it was impossible.
“Good timing, Rude,” Reno called out to his partner. The bald Turk nodded and smirked, raising a hand in a casual wave.
“… Let’s get to work,” he called back. Reno hopped down from his perch and took his time strolling over to his the fallen foe. He stopped inches from where his good hand gripped the rock. He could see the strain in the other man’s face… it was taking everything he had to hold himself there. The Turk smiled coldly, and stood on his fingers. Corneo howled in pain, and probably would have fallen then and there, had the redhead not been effectively pinning him to the rock.
“I’ll do ya a favor and make this quick,” he said, “Why do you think we went to all the trouble of teaming up with those assholes just to finally get our hands on you?” He smirked and adopted a tone very similar to the one Corneo himself had used just a few minutes ago. “One… Because we’re ready to die? Two… Because we were sure we’d win? Or three… Because we were clueless?”
“T-two! Number two!” he shouted through gritted teeth. Reno gave a mirthless laugh.
“Trick question. They were all wrong.” He leaned forward putting his full weight on the man’s fingers, eliciting another pained cry.
“No! Wait, stop…!”
“The correct answer was…” Reno began, and suddenly removed his foot. Corneo screamed, terrified, as he lost his grip and fell.
“… because it’s out job.” Rude finished for him. The screaming abruptly stopped, and Reno peered over the edge at what was left of Don Corneo, far below.
“Damn right,” he said, more to himself than to the others.
“Reno!” Elena called out, and the redhead quickly turned his attention away from his former target. She still hung, precariously from Corneo’s little restraints, as did the girl Avalanche was looking for.
“‘Lena… Don’t move. We’re comin’.”
Before he could start toward her, his PHS rang, and the redhead swore, immediately recognizing the ringtone. Of all the times for Rufus to decide to call. He grudgingly answered it.
“Yeah?”
“I trust you’ve had enough fun on your vacation at this point… I have a new assignment for you. Get back to Junon.” the President’s voice informed him from the tiny speaker.
“We’ll get on that right away,” he replied, and ended the call. As he did so, Reno’s gaze landed firmly on the cat-like automaton at the back of the group. Somehow the timing didn’t seem quite so coincidental after all…
“Was that Rufus?” Elena asked, her tone decidedly annoyed as being left, literally, hanging so the redhead could take a phone call. Reno smirked.
“Yeah… Wants us to find that Cloud guy,” he replied, glancing over at the former Soldier. Cloud and his allies reached for their weapons.
“Are we on?” Rude asked, and Reno quickly shook his head. They may have been enemies… but the group had been willing to assist them in rescuing Elena. He was willing to give them a pass just this once.
“Nope. Today we’re off duty.”
“Hey! Heeeeey! Who cares about your stupid vacation?! Get! Me! Down!” the ninja shouted angrily from high above them, and Reno rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah… We’re comin’, ya fucking pain in the ass…” he replied. “Hang in there, ‘Lena. I’ll have ya down in no time.”
~fin~
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