Taking Care of Reno: Meteorfall
Chapter 4: Raid
by Desha
Reno smiled slightly as Elena leaned into him. He could get used to this. He probably shouldn’t get used to it, but he certainly could. Being allowed to do basically anything you wanted and not having to compromise with one’s significant other was decidedly enjoyable.
But he was fairly certain Elena would eventually get tired of video games all afternoon, pizza for dinner, and movies until dawn.
He’d been a little all over the place, emotionally, after they’d returned from lunch… though as long as he didn’t let himself dwell on Sector 7 and instead focused more on the beautiful woman who was so willingly catering to his every request, he’d found that he could generally stave off the inevitable feelings of guilt for awhile. Elena had pointedly shut off the TV shortly after they’d gotten back… nearly every channel was running wall to wall coverage of the ongoing rescue efforts. He knew she was only trying to protect him… but on some level, he wanted to watch. Every person they pulled out of that mess alive was one less death on his conscience.
Unfortunately, the dead seemed to be far outnumbering the living… so in retrospect, it was probably better that he wasn’t watching.
“What are you thinking about?” Elena suddenly asked, gazing up at him from her position nestled against his side.
“Mostly, you…” he replied, grinning. Which was at least half-true. A great deal of his attention for the last hour or two had been devoted to her rather than the movies they’d been watching, fighting off the various other things that had tried to creep into his mind. Elena rolled her eyes and giggled.
“Reno…”
“What? You’re what I spend most of my time thinkin’ about anyway… Why would that ever change?”
“Oh, really?” she teased, “So what were you thinking about me just now, then?”
“Heh… I was thinkin’ how I’d probably be a mess right now if you weren’t here. And how havin’ someone who’ll put up we me bein’ a mess makes me less worried about the possibility of shit eventually fallin’ apart… And how fuckin’ amazing you are for still wanting to deal with all that after all the other shit I’ve put you through.” His grin faded into a more genuine smile. “You’re a lot stronger than I’ll ever be, ‘Lena… You know that, right?”
“What in Shiva’s name are you talking about?” she scoffed. “I cry at the drop of a hat…”
“And then ya pick yourself right back up and do whatever needs to be done. Me… I dwell on shit ‘n beat myself up ’til someone comes along and snaps me out of it.” Reno pressed a kiss to her forehead and chuckled. “Trust me… I’ve got issues.”
“I think I’ll keep you anyway,” she teased. “But… you and your issues need a good night’s sleep tonight. So this is the last movie. We’re going to bed as soon as its over.”
The redhead’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “‘Lena… it’s not even gonna be eight by the time this is over…”
“That’s right…”
“I’m not even tired,” he pointed out. “I’m sure as fuck not gonna be tired in another ninety minutes… And don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not really in the mood for anything else that’s gonna wear me out tonight…”
“Dr. Ward did prescribe something to help you sleep…” Elena was quick to point out, and Reno frowned. He’d been avoiding everything the doctor had sent home with him, really… but the sedatives, in particular.
“No.”
“Why not?” Elena asked, curious.
“‘Cause… I don’t like it. I don’t wake up like I usually do when I take that shit.”
“Well… that’s sort of the whole point…” she argued.
“They don’t stop me from dreamin’, ‘Lena… and Ward doesn’t want me on the stuff that does. Neither do I, to be honest… even though I’m pretty sure my dreams aren’t gonna be so great for awhile. You ever been stuck in a nightmare you can’t wake up from, even after you’ve figured out it was a fuckin’ nightmare? ‘Cause I have. It’s not a lot of fun.” He shuddered slightly. The last time that had happened had been years ago… long before Elena had been promoted to the Turks. He’d been in the hospital recovering from a deep stab wound – a mission gone about as bad as it could have gone, wherein he’d lost not only the VIP he was meant to be guarding, but also a fellow Turk – and a nurse had ignored the note Ward had left on his chart regarding his preferences. It had felt like it had gone on for days… though really, from what he’d pieced together later, it had only been a few hours.
Nightmares really weren’t a regular occurrence for him under normal circumstances… but stress definitely affected his dreams, and he knew himself well enough to be certain that he’d be having more than his fair share of them for the time being.
Elena’s grip tightened around him. “I’ll wake you up.”
He very nearly agreed in spite of his misgivings… if only to give her a little peace of mind. But he didn’t get the chance to answer. The obnoxiously shrill, and distinctly familiar, sound of the alert tone emanating from his former rookie’s PHS chose that very moment to interrupt, causing both Turks to jump slightly, startled. He could hear his own phone echoing the cry from the bedroom.
Tseng was… intensely annoyed… as he made his way out of Heidegger’s office. Mostly because that was really the most he ever allowed himself to be in the presence of his department head. Otherwise, it was fairly likely he would have punched a wall. Or Heidegger. Rude was waiting for him.
Building Security really was the very definition of useless. Not only had they allowed three members of the apparently-not-as-dead-as-they’d-thought Avalanche to infiltrate the building, the idiots couldn’t even manage the relatively simple task of tracking them. And for some Leviathan-forsaken reason, that was Tseng’s fault. He suspected it was because, otherwise, it would have been Heidegger’s.
He said nothing… Only motioned for his subordinate to follow him to the elevators. They had terrorists to hunt.
“This all could have been avoided if the President had simply let us shoot them!” Tseng finally growled, as the doors slid shut behind them. He jabbed at the button that would take them to the holding cells where Aerith was being held. She was undoubtedly their objective.
“Elena checked in while you were with Heidegger,” Rude simply commented. “She and Reno saw the alert. Wanted to know if she should head in.”
“I trust you told her we’d handle things?” the Wutaiian replied, visibly calming a bit. The other man nodded.
“Figured you’d want her to stay with him. Especially since this sort of means the entire operation in Sector 7 was for nothing…”
Tseng cringed… The thought hadn’t yet occurred to him. Reno wasn’t going to like that one bit. He wasn’t especially happy about it himself, now that he had the chance to consider it. The elevator stopped, and the pair of them rushed out, heading for the holding cells… only to find them empty. A lone security officer was manning the workstation outside of the corridor.
“Where is she?” the Turk leader asked, without preamble.
“The woman you brought in the other day? Hojo had her taken to the main biologics lab an hour ago.”
That figured. Leviathan forbid anything ever be easy. His scowl deepened.
“Lock down everything except the executive elevators,” he said to the younger man, before turning back to Rude. “If we miss them in the lab, we’ll take them when they’ve realized the other ways are blocked.”
He waited for the slightly terrified guard to nod his understanding and started back toward the elevators, Rude in tow.
“You seem upset,” Rude chided him as they re-boarded the car and headed upstairs.
“And you are irritatingly calm…” he snapped back. The bald Turk only smirked. Tseng knew he was beginning to let his temper show… which was something he generally tried to avoid… but it had been a long, stressful few days and he was very nearly at the end of his patience with the idiocy of the company executives. However… There was nothing to gain from letting himself become distracted by his own frustration. The Turk leader forced himself to calm down, drawing in a deep breath and slowly releasing it. “… fortunately for me…” he added, glancing sidelong at his fellow Turk. Rude shrugged.
The elevator chimed when it reached the sixty-eighth floor, and they hurried out.
“Hmph… think we’re too late,” Rude commented. Tseng had little choice but to agree. The remains of… something… lay in the middle of the lab. Judging by the absolute mess that surrounded it, it hadn’t gone down quietly. The Turk leader’s eyes narrowed angrily… Hojo really was a bastard. He was certain the creature had been intentionally set loose. Probably to stop the invaders from reclaiming Aerith. He wondered if the scientist had even bothered to give any consideration to the young woman’s safety in doing so. He doubted it.
“Take the elevator back down. Check every floor if you have to. I’ll take the stairs and do the same.” A floor by floor search would be slow going… but with only the executive elevators operational, the area to cover was drastically cut down. Rude wordlessly disappeared back into the car.
Tseng ran for the stairs, sliding his access card and keying in the override code to allow him into the stairwell. He descended to the sixty-seventh floor, ignoring the guard at the holding cell station and opening the the massive security door that separated it from Hojo’s specimen lab, slipping silently inside.
There was no movement inside… Hojo’s lab personnel seemed to have already evacuated. The only sound in the darkened space was the quiet mewling of the various specimens in their crates. The Turk leader made a quick sweep of the room, but came up empty and turned to head back to the stairs.
A soft gurgling sound made him freeze and spin back around, eyes roving the cramped space and finally settling on the large containment tank in the corner.
Jenova.
Tseng shook his head. Of all the creatures stored up here, the headless creature floating harmlessly in that tank was the least of his worries. The sound was probably just the machinery circulating whatever that fluid was inside. Though, he mused to himself, he did have to agree with Rude on one thing… It was a disquieting sight, even knowing it was long-since dead.
He hurried back to the stairs and headed down to sixty-six… only to nearly run headlong into the very people he was looking for. Two, of them, at any rate… trying to unlock the door with a stolen keycard. He smiled slightly… they’d been trapped by the security lockdown.
“Aerith. Miss Lockheart.”
The girl jumped in surprise, spinning to face him… Her companion, on the other hand, fell into a fighting stance ready to take him on. He saw the punch coming a mile away. Tifa lunged for him, but Tseng was ready for it. He caught her by the elbow and used the woman’s own momentum to throw her into the wall.
“Tifa!” Aerith shouted, concerned for her friend when she went down.
“As much as it pains me… I’m under orders not to kill you. Yet. But as I have no such restrictions against gravely injuring you, I would suggest surrendering.”
“Bastard…” the woman hissed. She was on her feet again surprisingly quickly. She charged him again… slightly more controlled this time, but no more effective that her first attempt. Tseng did have to admit, though… she was skilled. He’d been in enough fights to recognize ability when he saw it. If she hadn’t been so angry, she might have even been a challenge.
The Wutaiian Turk ducked her attack and neatly swept her legs out from under her, sending her to the floor a second time. Before she could recover, he’d pinned her with one knee pressed firmly into her back and snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists.
He paused, sensing someone approaching from behind.
“Aerith, please… Don’t,” Tseng said without looking up from his task. “I really have no desire to hurt you, but I will if you attack me. Don’t force my hand.”
He waited for a response, and a moment later, a loud metallic clatter echoed though the stairwell. Tseng spared a brief glance over his shoulder, seeing the young woman’s staff lying on the ground beside her.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“…”
Rude was watching, motionless and silent, from the doorway of a darkened office, as two of his targets… and something else entirely… filed past him, running for the elevators. Whatever that cat-like creature was, Avalanche had to have acquired it from Hojo’s lab. He wondered what their interest was in it.
He caught the faint sound of the stairwell door opening behind him, spotting Tseng as he emerged, and stepped out of his own hiding place just as the ex-Soldier and Avalanche’s leader hurried into the elevator with their furry friend. He covered the distance in a matter of second, calmly stepping in with them.
“Would you press ‘Up’ please,” he asked, much to the surprise of the elevator’s occupants.
“Turks…” Cloud muttered, just as Tseng joined them. “Must’ve been a trap all along.”
There was no room to fight… and with the two of them blocking the only exit, no escape, either.
“If you’re wise, you’ll come quietly,” the Turk leader added, looking pointedly at Barret and the gun mounted to his arm. The two men looked at one another, and Strife shook his head in response. His compatriot deflated slightly. “Good choice. Restrain them.”
The other Turk handcuffed both men… no easy task when it came to the one with the gun arm, but he managed it.
Tseng drew his PHS out of his jacket pocket and dialed Heidegger. “Sir… We have them. We’re bringing them up now,” his said, as he pressed the button for sixty-seven. The elevator rose for a few seconds and then opened with a soft chime. “Take them to the President’s office. I’ll join you with their other friend in a moment.”
Reno stood on the balcony looking out over the city. He couldn’t really see much of what used to be Sector 7 from there – he could only just make out the corner of the Number 7 Reactor at the edge of the Plate – but he could picture it. The gaping hole the size of a small town, neatly sliced away from the edges of Sector 8 and the unfinished Sector 6. The news crews that were almost certainly still buzzing around the scene, reporting back to their stations on the current death toll and thrusting cameras into the faces of survivors being transported out.
All those people.
His grip on the railing tightened. It was all for nothing. Thousands were dead, and somehow… somehow those Avalanche fuckers were still alive. At least before tonight he could have told himself that those thousands had died in the name of protecting the rest of the city. It was a bit of a stretch… but he could have at least made the argument. Those who’d ended up collateral damage… their deaths were utterly meaningless now.
The redhead let his gaze drop to the street below. Eight stories up. The people on the Sector 7 Plate had fallen much farther than that, but eight stories would be just as fatal.
He laughed mirthlessly and looked back out across the Plate. He doubted he had balls to ever try anything like that. Even in his worst moments… and there had been a fair few over the years… he’d never seriously considered it. Besides which… Reno knew better than most the pain others would endure if he went down that road. He had people who cared about him… and he could never do that to them. He’d inflicted enough suffering in recent days anyway.
“… Reno?” Elena’s hesitant voice broke in on his thoughts. He sighed and leaned forward on the railing, letting his arms take most of his weight. He wasn’t technically supposed to be using his injured leg yet… but the pain was more or less tolerable for short distances. He’d been ignoring his crutches for the last hour or so and limping slowly from room to room. He glanced back at her with a weak smile.
“Hey.”
“Come back inside, okay?” she said, and he saw her gaze sweep downwards, nervously.
“Relax, ‘Lena… I’m not plannin’ on jumpin’.”
“Come back inside anyway.” She moved closer to him until she could touch him, her hand coming to rest on his back before running gently down his spine and back up. “I made hot chocolate.”
“It’s eighty degrees out here.”
“I’ll turn up the air conditioning,” she replied, and Reno could hear the slight undertone of worry in her voice. He snorted a soft laugh, wondering how he hadn’t realized that she was this protective of him, before turning away from the view and following her back into their apartment. It wasn’t long before he found himself back on the couch with a mug of the promised beverage in his hands.
“I know it’s kind of a weird time of year for it, but it’s Nana’s recipe,” she said, joining him with her own mug. “It always seems to make me feel better.”
“Heard anything else from the boss yet?” he asked, taking a sip. It was good… hot and rich and creamy and sweet enough to make a person’s teeth ache.
“Not yet. Drink.” she prodded insistently, and he obeyed without a second thought.
“Think we might as well forget about goin’ to bed early tonight,” Reno sighed. Hell, he’d be lucky if he managed to get to sleep at all. And even if he did, he doubted he’d stay asleep. Elena hummed noncommittally in reply, and the redhead got the impression that she thought otherwise. He drained the rest of the drink and wrapped an arm around her. “Seriously, ‘Lena… I got too much on my mind. But don’t worry about stayin’ up all night with me. I’ll be fine. ‘Sides… Tseng might need you tomorrow. Not gonna be any good to him if you’re fallin’ asleep at your desk all day.”
He leaned his head against her shoulder and let his eyes close for a moment. A few minutes later, he had to force them back open. He yawned, tiredly and nestled himself into a more comfortable position. Maybe he was a little more drained than he’d thought.
“Come on,” Elena said gently, “Let’s get you to bed before you’re out cold.” She pulled him to his feet and slipped under his arm, supporting some of his weight as she started guiding him to the bedroom.
Something was wrong. It took him much longer than it should have to realize it, but something was definitely wrong. His thoughts felt sluggish… his body strangely uncoordinated. And he was so sleepy all of a sudden… Reno’s eyes narrowed as he tried to focus, seeking a reason for it, and he could only come up with one. As she was tucking him into the bed he looked up at her, questioningly. Accusingly.
She wouldn’t. Would she?
“… ‘Lena?”
Elena looked away, guilt blanketing her face. “I’m really sorry, Reno. Please don’t be mad. I… I knew you wouldn’t take them otherwise…”
He suddenly felt cold in spite of the summer heat. She’d drugged him?! Anger vied with betrayal as he tried to keep his eyes from closing again. And, he had to admit, he was a little terrified as well, wondering just how rough a night lay ahead of him if he couldn’t wake himself from his dreams.
“Move,” Rude intoned in a voice that wasn’t to be argued with. He shoved the the terrorist leader forward a few steps.
“Goddamn Shinra scum,” Barret spat back when he stumbled, but he took the hint and continued on up the wide staircase. Behind him, Tseng followed, urging along the rest of his little group, and keeping a close eye on the ex-Soldier.
The President had insisted on this. And even afterward, when he was finished with them, they were to return them to the holding cells. Shinra still demanded a public execution. Rude was sorely tempted, after all the trouble they’d caused, to ensure they met with an unfortunate accident on the way back down. It wouldn’t have been the first time… but he’d leave that decision up to Tseng.
Rude pushed open the heavy mahogany door that lead to the President’s office, and the two Turks lined their prisoners up in front of his enormous desk. Bertrand Shinra looked down at them, smug in his assurance that he was the one in control.
“Where’s Aerith?!” Cloud demanded before the executive could say anything, drawing an annoyed frown from the man.
“In a safe place.” He got up from his desk and circled around towards the assembled group. “She’s very important to us. My Turks have been ordered to ensure she remains safe. That girl is unique… One of a kind, in fact. She’s the last surviving Ancient, you know. The Cetra, they called themselves… a powerful race that’s now little more than a forgotten page in history.”
“A Cetra? That girl is a survivor of the Cetra?” the crimson-furred beast asked in astonishment. Though if it was astonished, Rude was moreso… but he was careful not to allow his reaction to show any such thing. He’d had no idea the creature was intelligent. What in Odin’s name was Hojo doing up in that lab of his these days? The President, apparently, didn’t find it especially odd.
“Oh, yes. I’m expecting quite a lot from her. She will lead Shinra Company into a new era. With her, we will finally locate the Promised Land.”
The cat-like specimen scoffed. “The Promised Land? A legend.”
“We shall see… It’s much too appealing an opportunity to ignore. Think of it… A land, lush and fertile… completely untouched for centuries. And if the land is fertile…”
“Then there’s gotta be mako!” Barret angrily cut him off.
“You’re not as big a fool as you look,” the President quipped, smiling nastily, “Yes… a place so filled with mako, it will render our money-sucking reactors unnecessary. And Shinra will be the one to tap it… That is where we will built our Neo-Midgar, Shinra’s crowning glory!”
Barret struggled against his bonds, furious, and Rude backhanded him. The man glared at him viciously, but ceased his attempts to break free. Tifa started to go for the Turk, but at a look from the ex-Soldier, apparently thought better of it.
“Shit… Quit dreamin’…” Barret finally muttered. Shinra smirked.
“All it takes for dreams to come true is money and science… and I have both in great abundance,” he boasted. “Well… I think that’s all for our little meeting. The next time I see you will be when you finally answer for your crimes against the people of Midgar. Lock them up.”
Tseng ushered the group out, but Barret wasn’t quite ready to go. He lunged towards the President, and Rude caught him before he could get out of control.
“Hold it!” he shouted, as the Turk began to drag him off, “I got a lot I wanna say to you!”
Rude twisted the man’s arm upwards, eliciting a pained gasp. A little more and he could easily snap it. “Move,” he commanded a second time, and Barret had no choice but to obey.
The pair of Turks herded their prisoners towards the elevator… Not the elaborate glass-walled executive elevators this time, but the more common ones, hidden away in a far corner of the main lobby. Tseng pressed the button that would deliver them to the detention cells.
“If it’s any consolation for your failure, the President has ordered that your execution be swift and relatively painless,” Tseng said as they guided them to their cells. “In.” He gestured to the two cells on the end, placing Barret and Hojo’s creature into one, and Tifa and Cloud into the other, securely locking the doors behind them.
“Goddamn murderers…” Barret growled in reply. “You’ll get yours someday. For every last person in Sector 7 you bastards killed.”
“Perhaps,” Tseng replied with a slight shrug. “Though I’ve never really been much of a believer in karma, to be honest. But tell me… What do you think you deserve in return for those lives you claimed in Sector 1?”
He didn’t wait for a reply before turning his back on the cell and walking down the hallway. Rude fell into step behind him. Tseng paused briefly at the last door, but didn’t look inside.
“… Goodnight, Aerith,” he said, somewhat sadly, before leaving them all behind.
“Go home already.”
Tseng moved his arm away from his eyes and sat up, squinting briefly as his vision readjusted to the light in the office.
“Unless I’m far more tired than I realized, I do believe I’m not the only Turk guilty of working late,” the Turk leader responded with a half smile. Rude pointedly picked up his jacket from the back of his chair.
“This Turk’s done for the night. Go home. They’re not going anywhere.”
Tseng swung his legs over the edge of the couch and got to his feet, stretching. “I’m not concerned about that. Our prisoners are secure… It’s our other issue that’s keeping me here.”
“The lab break-in?” Rude said, incredulously. “You don’t really think anything’s gonna happen with that tonight, do you? The whole building was on high alert not three hours ago, and security’s been doubled on that floor because of our guests. They’d have to be nuts to try again so soon.”
The Wutaiian Turk sighed. “Yes… You’re probably right. Still, though…”
Rude snorted softly. “You work too damn hard.”
“Oh, really? I was actually quite relaxed until you interrupted me just now. Just what have you been doing for the last two hours?” he queried, smirking, but like his fellow-Turk, he reached across the couch and grabbed his own jacket.
“Found my missing lookout, finally.” There was a definite note of anger in the other man’s tone. “Turns out an old friend of his ran into him while he was supposed to be watching Aerith’s house and made him a better offer. One of my other informants just let me know the son of a bitch is strung out over in a Sector 2 drug den. Shoulda known better than to get Dominic to do it. Been clean for awhile now, but once a junkie, always a junkie.”
“And the little girl we sent to Mrs. Gainsborough?”
“She’s still there. Seems okay,” Rude shrugged. “Not that it really matters to us now.”
Tseng shook his head. “No, I suppose professionally it doesn’t. Though I do feel somewhat responsible for her. It’s hardly her fault who her father is. She’s an unfortunate casualty of circumstance.”
“Planning on taking her in or something?” Rude chuckled, and Tseng rolled his eyes. Feelings of personal responsibility aside, he wasn’t exactly a suitable guardian for a small child even had he been willing.
“I doubt I’d have to. Elmyra will likely keep her. It hardly makes up for us stealing her own daughter from her, but… it’s something.”
Rude slung his jacket over one shoulder and headed out the door. “You’re getting philosophical, Tseng. Go home and get some sleep.”
The sheer amount of dust in the air was enough to choke him with every breath. It gathered in his nose, making it itch incessantly, and filled his mouth with a dry grittiness that he couldn’t rid himself of. It stung his eyes, leaving them watering, and coated his skin in a filthy layer. Still, he forced his way through it, scanning the ruins desperately for Elena.
He hadn’t been able to reach her. It had come down so fast. One moment, she was standing there, mere feet from him. The next, she’d vanished in an avalanche of debris. By the time he’d recovered, she was nowhere to be seen… and so he’d started to search.
He’d been at it for hours. Maybe even a day by now. His lungs ached from breathing in the dust-filled air and he was so very tired, a sense of hopelessness bringing the fatigue on faster with every passing moment.
He didn’t know what he was going to do without her. Didn’t even want to consider it. But the longer he searched, the more certain he became that she was gone. He could feel it, deep inside… like a piece of him had been torn out and utterly destroyed. He knew the truth… he just didn’t want to admit it. Admitting it would mean admitting that he’d killed her, and he wasn’t sure he could live with that. He didn’t know if he even wanted to try.
“…’Lena…” he whispered, a quiet sob. What was the point? There was nothing alive down here. Even if he did find her, there wouldn’t be anything left but an empty shell. He didn’t want to see her like that.
Loss. Despair. Hopelessness. They consumed him… paralyzed him… sending him to his knees in the rubble. She was gone, and with her so too was the best part of him.
Elena woke, rubbing at her eyes blearily, not quite aware enough to figure out what had roused her. A moment later, it became painfully obvious, as Reno’s body twitched in her grasp. She heard him sob quietly, her name choked out so softly she barely caught it. The sheer amount of despair contained in that single word made her breath catch in her throat.
“Reno?” she said, shaking him slightly. His only response was to curl in on himself. She reached over him, flipping on the bedside light. “Reno… Wake up,” she prodded. She frowned when he didn’t. Normally, it took no effort at all to jar the redhead from even a sound sleep… Apparently, he hadn’t been exaggerating about the effects of sedatives on him, because now she was shaking him almost violently and getting nothing for the effort.
“Come on… Reno, please, wake up. You need to wake up!” Her stomach twisted nervously, wondering if she’d made a terrible mistake dosing him like that. She’d only wanted him to sleep. She’d thought he was just being stubborn… that she was helping. This wasn’t helping.
Elena didn’t know what it was he was experiencing, but whatever it was he looked… distraught. She tapped cheek with the palm of her hand, hoping it might get through to him… briefly even considered slapping him, though she didn’t want to.
She had very nearly reached a point of desperation great enough that she was considering waking up Tseng… or Ward… or maybe both of them for advice. The thought of Ward for whatever reason called up memories of movies she’d seen… doctors trying to rouse unresponsive patients. Not knowing what else to try, she pressed her knuckles into his breastbone, rubbing firmly, mimicking those scenes. It took a moment, but his eyes snapped open at last, much to her surprise. Who knew that actually worked?
“‘Lena?!” he managed, almost as if he were shocked to see her. Elena sighed in relief, and gathered him into her arms. She could feel his heart hammering in his chest… He was shaking.
“Shh… It’s alright. It was only a dream,” she murmured softly next to his ear, and his arms reflexively wrapped around her, clinging to her so tight it was almost painful.
“I don’t want to sleep anymore…” he whispered, though it was clear he was already having to fight to stay awake. He hadn’t been out that long… it would probably be hours yet before the sedatives she’d given him wore off completely.
Rude walked into the office ten minutes late. Given the extra hours he’d put in the night before, he doubted Tseng would care. Not surprisingly, the Turk leader was already at his desk, calmly sipping a cup of tea and reading through the morning’s emails.
“You could have slept in a bit, you know…” he commented without looking up. Rude smirked.
“So could you.”
Tseng glanced up at the comment and shrugged. “I seriously considered it… but I wanted to check in on Reno this morning.”
“And?” Rude asked, quirking an eyebrow upwards. He’d intended to stop by as well… but he actually had ended up oversleeping, and had been in a rush as a result. The Turk leader frowned.
“Apparently he didn’t have a good night. And he’s rather… upset… with Elena. She’ll be in shortly. I suggested they spend a little time apart and cool off.”
Rude stopped short halfway to his desk. “Say that again?” He’d never known Reno to have ever been more than vaguely irritated with the woman. And even then, it was generally in a professional capacity… He’d begun to think that Elena could do no wrong in his friend’s eyes.
Tseng shifted awkwardly. “Apparently, Elena took it upon herself to make sure Reno got a good night’s sleep…”
“Meaning?” he prodded, peering over his sunglasses.
“She slipped him something and knocked him out. You can imagine how things went from there, I’m sure. He was less than pleased when he woke up. I arrived at the tail end of him saying a number of things I’m fairly certainly he already regrets.”
Rude shook his head and dropped into his chair with a sigh. The redhead hated being sedated. And having it done without his knowledge? No wonder he was pissed. Though to be fair to Elena… she probably hadn’t realized just what she was doing to him. Her experiences with Reno’s somewhat over-the-top reactions to certain medications were limited. For that matter, her experience with Reno’s temper was limited… as far as he was aware, the pair had only ever had one fight the entire time they’d been together, and not a particularly serious one at that.
He had no time to think any further on the matter, however, as Elena chose that very moment to join them. Rude looked up at her, expecting her usual greeting. He didn’t get it. Instead she managed only a quick wave before retreating behind her computer screen.
Rude didn’t have to be especially observant to be able to tell she’d been crying. Her eyes were still puffy and faintly red.
“He’ll get over it,” the bald Turk stated, shuffling some papers around his desk. Elena looked up, surprised.
“You already know?”
“I apologize if I overstepped, but I thought I’d spare you the trouble of explaining for a second time today…” Tseng called out from his own office.
Elena managed a small smile, but then quickly returned to the morose mood that had accompanied her arrival. “I just feel like I did something unforgivably awful to him. It was so hard to wake him up… and then when I finally did, he was trying so hard to stay awake, but he couldn’t and the whole disaster started all over again.” She let her head drop into her arms on her desk. “I’m afraid he’ll never trust me again.”
“Well… I see you’re acquiring your significant other’s flare for the dramatic…” the Turk leader commented, joining her. He smiled reassuringly. “Rude’s right. He will get over it. He’s angry and stressed, and probably more than slightly exhausted right now, but I’m sure he realizes that you were only trying to help.”
She sighed and looked up at him. “Do you want to know what the worst part is, sir?” she asked, not waiting for an answer. “It wasn’t just that he was mad. It was the way he looked at me. Like I’d stabbed him in the back.”
“Elena… Trust me. I have made my share of foolish mistakes where Reno is concerned. By the time you get home tonight, he’ll have forgiven you… assuming he hasn’t already. He’s never been one to hold a grudge for long, and the last thing he would want to do is cause you further worry…”
“I hope so, sir…” the youngest of the Turks said, miserably.
Reno stared at his PHS and the message he’d typed in and groaned. He’d been trying to text Elena for over an hour, but nothing he came up with seemed like the right thing to say. He didn’t want to lie to her and tell her he wasn’t still upset… because he definitely was. At the same time, though, he knew she had to be pretty pissed at herself for last night… and he didn’t want her to feel worse than she already did. He growled, annoyed and deleted everything he’d typed, starting again from scratch.
He hadn’t gotten more than three words in when he was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. The redhead sighed, slightly relieved at the excuse to set this task aside for a moment, and grabbed his crutches, hobbling over to the entryway. On the way, he cursed the fact that he needed them again. Apparently, he’d overdone it a little yesterday going without them all afternoon and evening, and now his knee was swollen and stiff and painful to the point that it outright refused to support his weight. Ward wasn’t going to be real happy with him if it didn’t improve by his next appointment with her.
Reno opened the door… somewhat cautiously given that he wasn’t expecting any visitors.
“‘Bout time, slowpoke!” His guest giggled and poked playfully at him with one of her own crutches.
“Lira? What’re you doin’ here?”
“What? I can’t come visit?” the woman asked, shrugging. “Elena told me you got hurt and you’d be on leave for awhile… so I figured you’d be hangin’ around the house drivin’ yourself nuts. Thought I’d come keep you company for awhile. You look terrible, by the way…”
“Yeah. Thanks,” he replied, with a soft chuckle. He moved back a little to let her in. “How’s the leg?”
“At the moment? Great. Just got back from the hospital and mako session number five. Dr. Ward says I’ll probably only need two or three more.” She shut the door behind her and Reno trailed her as she made her way to the couch. Before she sat down though, she turned to face him, a mischievous grin on her face. “Okay… Honest opinion…” Lira began, before lifting her t-shirt and giving him an unimpeded view of her upper body from the collarbone down. “Can you tell yet?”
Reno snickered in spite of the lousy day he was having. Lira had never been overly fond of bras. Pregnancy didn’t seem to have changed that. “That a serious question? Or were ya just lookin’ for an excuse to flash me?”
“Mmm… Little of both…” she teased. “So? What’s the verdict? Can you tell?”
He shook his head. “Sorry…”
Lira sighed, somewhat disappointed, and let her shirt fall back into place. “Oh, well… Guess it’s still too soon.”
“Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this excited, Lira.”
“… Yeah. It’s weird. I mean… I never really thought about havin’ kids. Most of the girls at the Honeybee who end up pregnant… well… they don’t usually decide to stay pregnant. Always kinda figured that if it happened, I’d just pay a visit to the potions shop over in the marketplace and… that’d be that.” She finally lowered herself onto the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table with a soft groan. “It’s a little different when it’s real, though. I mean… I guess I sort of suspected before Dr. Ward told me. I put off findin’ out for sure though… ’cause then I’d have to start seriously thinkin’ about what I was gonna do about it. And then she tells me, and my first thought… wasn’t what I expected it to be.”
Reno winced and lowered himself down onto the couch next to her. “Ah, fuck, that hurts… Yeah? What were you expectin’?”
“I guess… not to care, maybe? I’m not even sure, really.” She let her hand rest protectively over her belly. “Soon as she said it though… only thing I could think was I gotta get the fuck outta Wall Market. I won’t raise a kid in a goddamn whorehouse.” She lifted her shirt again, just past her naval. “You sure you can’t tell yet?”
The redhead snorted softly and poked at the exposed skin. “Okay…you’re just tryin’ to get me to say you’re gettin’ fat so you can yell at me, aren’t you?” he said, smirking. Lira laughed and playfully punched him in the shoulder.
“You’ve seen through my clever plan,” she snickered. “So anyway… How are you doin’? Elena was kinda vague about what happened. Just said that you were a little beat up after the mess down in Seven.”
Reno sighed and sank back against the cushions. “Honestly, Lira… I’ve been better.”
Lira studied him for a long moment, frowning in concern. “You’re not kidding…” she commented. “I was just joking around before, but you really do look kinda terrible. Did you really get that badly hurt?”
“Nah… Just took a couple rounds to the leg. Coulda been worse…” the redhead replied. “But… I didn’t sleep so great last night. And I kinda yelled at ‘Lena this mornin’…”
“Hmm…” The woman eyed him, and Reno couldn’t help but think she was taking stock of every little detail. “What’d you do?” she asked, accusingly. The redhead glared.
“Goddammit… I didn’t do shit!” he insisted. “She thought it’d be a terrific idea to drug me before she hauled me off to bed. Spent the whole fuckin’ night either living my worst nightmares, or desperately trying not to fall back asleep after she woke me from ’em. She had no right to do that to me! I was pissed when that shit finally wore off.” Reno sighed and snatched one of the throw pillows beside him, fingers clenching the fabric, angrily. “… And then I yelled at her and said a lot of shit I didn’t really mean, and Tseng showed up to check on me and ended up ordering her to head into the office today instead of stayin’ here with me. Been sitting here for fuck only knows how long tryin’ to figure out what to say to her.”
Lira’s fingers stole around to the back of his neck, massaging the tense muscles. “Poor Reno…” she purred. She shook her head lightly. “What in the wide world had you so freaked out last night to begin with? There must’ve been a reason she resorted to somethin’ like that…”
The redhead shifted uncomfortably. He couldn’t exactly explain himself. The whole operation was classified… and most of the people outside of Shinra who knew about it were either dead or sitting in a holding cell waiting to be executed. That aside… he wasn’t quite sure how Lira might react to knowing he’d been directly responsibly for… how many thousands of deaths? In the end, though, he decided to tell her at least part of the truth.
“Sector 7…” he said at last. “We damn near got caught in the collapse ourselves. Last night… I kept dreaming about what woulda happened if not all of us had made it out. It started out bad, and it just kept gettin’ worse and worse. Got to the point that I was startin’ to have trouble tellin’ what was real… watchin’ the most important people in my life die over and over again, or wakin’ up to ‘Lena tryin’ to comfort me. I kept thinkin’… one of these can’t be real. What if it’s ‘Lena?”
“That sounds awful…” Lira gasped.
“Tch… Think ya just won the award for understatement of the year. I’m still pretty ticked about it… but what really sucks is that she thought she was doin’ me favor. I don’t wanna be mad at her, Lira. I can’t help it, though. Last night was fuckin’ torture. But I don’t want her to start thinkin’ she did somethin’ I’m never gonna forgive…”
“Hmm… You know what you need?” the woman asked, petting him lightly. Reno raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “You need a nice long nap.”
“Right…” he said with a derisive snort, “Just what I wanna do. Go back to sleep.”
Lira giggled quietly. “Oh, cut the sarcasm. I’m tryin’ to help ya. I’ll stick around and make sure you don’t have any bad dreams… or at least wake you up if you start to.”
“You’re assumin’ I could fall asleep right now even if I wanted to…”
“Reno… You look like you’re half asleep already,” Lira teased. “But I have a solution for that. A little birdie told me that you like gettin’ read to…”
Reno’s eyes narrowed as she reached for the book that Elena had left on the coffee table. “Who told you that?” he demanded, cheeks flushing faintly. As if he couldn’t guess. She’d just come from Ward… who had been entirely too amused to see Elena settling in with that damn book yesterday. At the rate he was going, any semblance of a reputation he’d managed to acquire as a Turk was going to be utterly obliterated by the time he was cleared for active duty.
“Just calm down and relax,” said Lira, as she shifted over a bit. “Here… lie down and get comfortable, and I’ll read to you for awhile.”
“No!” Reno crossed his arms, glaring indignantly. The woman smirked and opened the book.
“Well… fine, then. Lie down and get comfortable, and I’ll read to the baby for awhile. You can listen, too,” Lira said, snickering. Reno rolled his eyes, but laid back, letting his head rest on her lap. He turned his head slightly so he was facing her stomach.
“Kid… If I were you, I’d get real comfortable with the idea that your mom is always gonna get her way.”
Tseng hit the mat, hard… both surprised and impressed. It wasn’t often Elena managed to take him down so thoroughly. He calmly accepted the young woman’s proffered hand and pulled himself to his feet.
“I see you’ve calmed down a bit,” he commented, smiling slightly, but Elena shook her head.
“Not really, sir… just channeled my frustration into something more productive than sulking.”
“Hmm…” The Turk leader suddenly caught her wrist, and twisted her arm behind her back. She’d seen it coming, though, and managed to avoid it when he attempted to sweep her legs out from under her. Instead, she threw her weight back and forced him to the ground again, breaking his grip on her arm. “Well… It seems to be working for you. Either that, or I’ve gotten a bit lax with my own practice…”
He stood again. “Which reminds me…” he continued, taking up a more defensive stance this time. “I’ve been meaning to ask… do you intend to continue training with materia?”
Elena paused, caught a bit off-guard by the question. “Yes, sir… I think so,” she replied. “I still prefer my gun, but… materia is kind of a nice backup.”
She suddenly struck out at him, attacking from the left. The Wutaiian easily dodged the blow.
“Then I think a new tutor is in order,” he said. He followed up with an attack of his own, throwing her to one side as she came at him from the right. She hit the mat and rolled to her feet again.
“Sir?”
“I’m afraid you’ve already reached the limits of my own skill. Rude has never bothered to learn more than the basics, and of course materia is hardly Reno’s forte given that he tends to do more damage to himself than to his opponent… when he can manage to get it to do anything at all.” He dropped to one knee and let the momentum of Elena’s next attempt carry her over his shoulder. She landed behind him, flat on her back with a loud oof.
“Then… who did you have in mind, sir?” she asked, hiding a soft groan as she got back to her feet.
“I had thought about requesting training from Soldier. They’re the experts, after all. Failing that, there’s the materia corps in Junon… though that will almost certainly require you to spend far more time there than I would like. With Avalanche finally taken care of, though, it would be feasible.”
“I thought Soldier didn’t like us…”
Tseng smirked, and caught her leg as she aimed a kick at him. “The director doesn’t… but the members themselves are fairly indifferent to her opinion. A few of them I even count as friends. If nothing else, I could probably talk one of them into working with you unofficially.” He released his grip on her and glanced at his watch. “In any case, I’ll try the official route first. For now, though… I believe its lunch time. Would you care to join me?”
Elena smile faintly. “Thank you, sir… But I was actually going to run home. I… um… need to pick up a few things. I’m going to stay in the office sleeping quarters tonight.”
The Turk leader sighed and shook his head. “Elena… Don’t you think you’re over-reacting a bit?”
“He’s still angry… I know it. I would’ve heard from him by now if he wanted to talk to me,” she said. “And I don’t want to end up getting into another fight. He has enough to deal with.”
The pair left the training area and began walking towards the locker rooms. Before they could part ways, Tseng reached for her, grabbing her shoulder. “You’re going about this in entirely the wrong way.”
“Sir?”
“Avoiding conflict never solves anything. Go home. You’re supposed to be on vacation time as it is… use it.”
“But…”
“If you really think he’ll be better off without you, even temporarily, you haven’t been paying attention, Elena.”
Elena leaned back against the wall of the elevator car. No matter how many times she rehearsed what she was going to say, it never seemed quite right. Tseng may have been right… avoiding this wouldn’t fix it. But she had her doubts that confronting it head on would be any better. A part of her hoped that Reno had gotten frustrated being stuck inside all day and gone out for some fresh air, so she could sneak out with what she’d need overnight and quietly disappear back to the office. She didn’t think Tseng would approve, though. The elevator stopped at the eighth floor and she stepped out, making her way down the hallway toward her apartment.
This morning really had been bad. It was the first time she could ever remember Reno being truly irate over something she’d done… not that she hadn’t deserved it. She’d condemned him to close to eight hours of pure emotional torment. And worse, she’d done it in such an underhanded way. The betrayal in his eyes had hurt far worse than the angry words… though there had been plenty of those, too. It had ultimately been Tseng who’d brokered a temporary truce… one long enough for her to get dressed and ready for work, and slip out the door. She’d held it together until she reached her car… and then had spent the next ten minutes in tears over her own stupidity before she managed to calm down enough to drive herself to the office.
She desperately hoped this wasn’t going to be a repeat of this morning.
Putting aside her feelings of dread for the moment, she unlocked the door and pushed it open. It was surprisingly silent inside. There was no music, no sounds of gunfire from one of the redhead’s video games, no screams of terror from the TV… not even Snuffy’s usual happy-to-see-her chirring from his cage. Elena closed the door behind her, glancing curiously toward the little ferret’s cage, spotting him snoozing peacefully with his head in his food bowl.
As she stepped farther into the room, two more figures caught her eye. Reno was curled up on the couch, his head resting contentedly on Lira’s lap. Her fingers on one hand were splayed across his head, entwined in his hair, and the other loosely held Elena’s book of short stories. Both were sound asleep, and she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy that it was Lira looking after him and not her.
Lira knew him so much better than she did. She understood him better. And she certainly would never have been stupid enough to try and sedate the redhead into a good night’s sleep.
It occurred to her that, if Lira was here, then maybe it really was better that she stay at the office tonight. Reno would have someone to make sure he was alright, and it would give him a little longer to cool off. They could start fresh in the morning.
She started to creep past them, towards the bedroom, intent on tucking some pajamas and a few other things into an overnight bag.
“‘Lena?” Elena froze momentarily, then slowly turned to find Reno pushing himself upright, one hand rubbing blearily at his eyes. “Thought you were workin’ all day…”
“I’m… going right back,” she replied, somewhat sheepishly. “I was just going to pack a few things and…”
“Pack?” he echoed, still sounding half asleep. His eyes widened, suddenly panicked. “Where the fuck are you goin’?” He groped for the crutches that were leaning against the end of the couch, sending them clattering to the floor. The unexpected commotion very quickly roused Lira as well.
“What in Shiva’s name is goin’ on?” she asked, yawning. Her gaze soon fell on the other woman and she grinned. “Oh… Elena. You’re home! ‘Bout time… Reno? What are you doin’?”
The redhead was turned at an awkward angle, attempting to fish his crutches out from under the coffee table. “The fuck’s it look like I’m doin’? I’m tryin’ to get my ass off this couch! Ah, fuck it…”
He abandoned his quest for the crutches and untwisted himself before forcing himself to his feet. Reno only managed a single step towards Elena before his injured knee buckled painfully underneath him, sending him to the floor with a sharp cry.
“Reno!” the two women chorused. Elena rushed over to him.
“Ah… son of a bitch… The fuck’d I just do?!” he ground out between clenched teeth as his fellow-Turk hauled him back onto the couch. He leaned his head back, panting softly.
“Hate to break it to ya,” Lira replied, lifting his leg as gently as she could to prop it up on the coffee table, “But I think you mighta dislocated somethin’…”
“Since when can you dislocate your fuckin’ knee?!” He winced, trying to bend it, only to be rewarded by a wave of pain radiating from the injury.
“I-I’ll call Ward,” Elena said quickly, reaching for her PHS and heading into the kitchen.
“… I’m pretty sure you can dislocate any joint, Reno,” Lira replied, deadpan, “What the hell were you thinkin’?”
“What anyone who’s only half awake would think if their girlfriend told ’em she came home to pack. That I had to fuckin’ grab her before she could walk out the fuckin’ door!” He groaned in pain. “Fuck… And I thought doin’ this to my shoulder hurt…”
Elena returned with a bag of ice, hoping it would help. “Reno… I… I didn’t mean I was leaving you…”
“Yeah, well… I kinda panicked, wakin’ up like that ‘n shit,” he said, with a soft grunt of relief at the feeling of cold against the abused knee.
“Hello? Elena?” Ward’s voice was tiny coming from the PHS, and Elena realized that she’d very nearly forgotten that she’d dialed her. She raised the phone back to her ear.
“Sorry, Dr. Ward… I got a little distracted…”
There was a long-suffering sigh on the other end of the line. “Well, what’s he done ta himself now, then?”
“Got it. I’ll let him know.” Rude ended the call and tucked his PHS back into his jacket.
“You’ll let him know what?” a voice behind him asked, curious. “If it’s about Elena returning to her working vacation instead of coming back from lunch, I’m already aware. I suggested it.”
The bald Turk actually jumped slightly… Tseng had managed to catch him by surprise with one of his mysterious, out-of-nowhere appearances for once.
“She’s taking Reno to the hospital. He decided he could get around without the crutches, and dislocated his knee. Ward’s already waiting for him.”
Tseng pinched the bridge of his nose and suppressed the urge to groan. “Do you think Elena would hold it against me if I simply tied him to the bed until Ward clears him for duty?” he sighed. Rude simply chuckled in reply.
“So… what’s on the schedule for the rest of the day?” he asked. The Turk leader had been tapped for a meeting with the President shortly after he’d returned from lunch. He wondered if they were finally going to be allowed to dispose of their prisoners.
“In the first place, some minor preparations for Rufus’ homecoming. He’ll be arriving around six for the monthly board meeting and dinner in the executive conference room. I’ll need you to move the executive helicopter to the secondary helipad in Sector 3 before then to make room for his transport.”
“No problem,” Rude said with a shrug. It was a fifteen minute job, max, even factoring in walking back to the office.
“And… Avalanche,” Tseng continued. “The President has at last decided to stop leaving their fate up to chance. We’re to deal with them first thing tomorrow morning. He’s scheduled time on all of the major local networks.”
“We’re gonna do it live?”
The Turk leader nodded. “Mmm… Distasteful, if you ask me, but as no one bothered to do so… yes.”
“Gonna call Elena in?”
“No. I see no need. I’m fairly certain you and I are still capable of hitting a target at close range,” he said, with a hint of humor in his voice, “And besides which, the less public exposure the Turks get, the better. I see little to gain from having all of our faces broadcast across Midgar.”
Rude smirked. “Not looking forward to your fifteen minutes of fame?”
“Fifteen minutes seems rather excessive, don’t you think? I wasn’t planning on it taking more than fifteen seconds or so.” He turned to gaze out the window. “I can handle it myself if you prefer. I am aware that you were somewhat fond of Miss Lockheart.”
“She’s a pretty face. Doesn’t go any deeper than that,” the other Turk assured him. He had to admit… that wasn’t entirely true. Tifa had made an impression on him. She was strong and capable… but there was a certain vulnerability in her that he found endearing. If circumstances had been different… if they weren’t on opposing sides that had no hope of reconciliation… he might have been tempted to think of her as more than just a pretty face. But he’d known from the start how this would end… and he’d been very careful not to let his thoughts stray in that direction. Too much.
“In that case… there’s nothing else to do but wait for once. You’re free to see to anything you’ve been putting off lately. I, on the other hand… need to decide what to do about Reno’s evaluation.”
“Thought he was cleared…” Rude said, concerned. If something had changed, he hadn’t been told… and that would definitely irk him. Tseng chuckled and shook his head.
“Not that that evaluation. His evaluation as second. You haven’t forgotten that I’d intended to hold it soon, have you? It’s somewhat overdue… particularly with Elena’s promotion. But clearly he’s not up to it physically at the moment. And I have my doubts about mentally, as well. To be honest, I’m debating whether or not I should simply cancel it entirely… At this point, it’s little more than tradition for tradition’s sake anyway. Reno has more than proven himself to me over the years, and that’s all that really matters.”
The bald Turk relaxed at that. He had,in fact, forgotten all about it, to be honest… in spite of being asked to help with the planning several weeks ago.
“I say postpone it. Don’t cancel.”
Tseng’s eyebrows quirked upwards. “Oh?”
“He’ll be disappointed if he misses out.”
“… He does enjoy having the opportunity to show off a bit, doesn’t he?” Tseng mused, thoughtfully.
“Likes having the opportunity to make you proud of him, too…” Rude pointed out.
“I swear ta Odin… Yer going ta drive me mad one of these days,” Dr. Ward sighed, as she gently prodded the redhead’s knee. “Can yeh feel anything now?”
Reno shook his head in the negative. “Nope. Totally numb.”
“Hmph.” The doctor slowly flexed the joint, bending the injured knee and lifting it up to his chest. “Now just yeh try and stay relaxed. This will only take a second or two…”
She pressed hard against the dislocation as she straightened his leg, and it snapped back into place with an audible pop. Ward motioned to the nurse to immobilize it for her.
“Yeh’ll be fine… if yeh listen to me this time and stay off that leg,” she said, crossly. “And don’t yeh think for a minute I don’t know yeh’ve been putting yer weight on it when I told yeh not to. That swelling isn’t just from the fresh damage.”
“Is this going to keep him sidelined even longer?” Elena asked, hesitantly. She’d been lingering on the periphery since the doctor had arrived to meet them in the emergency room, watching silently.
“Mmm… Hard ta say quite yet, but I don’t think so. As long as my little headache actually gives it a chance ta heal instead of re-injuring it, that is…”
“Tch… not like I did it on purpose, Doc…”
Dr. Ward smirked and held out a sucker to him, only to sharply pull it back when he reached for it. “Yeh give me yer word I won’t see yeh in here again before yer next appointment.”
“Yeah, yeah… I promise,” the redhead muttered. He reached for the treat again, but Ward didn’t relent.
“AND that yeh’ll keep that splint on until I say otherwise?”
Reno rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. Can I have my candy now?”
Ward finally handed it over, and turned to Elena. “Take him home and keep him off his feet for the rest of the night. He’s to use his crutches… no exceptions. I want absolutely no weight on that leg.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she hurriedly agreed, and spent the next several minutes escorting her injured lover back out to the car.
“So are ya finally gonna tell me what the hell that was all about?” Reno asked. He crawled awkwardly into the passenger seat, wincing as he pulled his leg in behind him. Whatever Ward had used on him to reduce the pain while she fixed him was already beginning to wear off.
“What?” Elena asked, not sure what he was referring to.
“Why were you comin’ home to pack?” The pain had temporarily pushed that question aside… but now that it had returned to more bearable levels, familiar worries were quickly starting to creep, unbidden, into his mind. He’d fallen asleep before he’d ever gotten around to finishing the message he’d planned on sending her… and regretted that now.
She blushed slightly, and turned her attention on the road. “I-I was… I thought I’d… stay at headquarters tonight. Er… Especially when I saw that Lira was there.”
Reno blinked, not certain how to respond to that. “You’re not thinkin’ there’s somethin’ goin’ on between us, are you?” he asked, “‘Cause there’s definitely not.”
“No!” Elena quickly replied, shaking her head, “Of course not… I just… after last night… and this morning… I thought maybe you’d rather I not be there for a little while. And I felt a lot better about it, knowing Lira’d be around if you needed someone to talk to.”
He relaxed slightly and leaned back in the seat. “Heh… well, if you were tryin’ to scare me outta being mad at you, I think it worked…”
“Reno… I’m –”
“I need you, ‘Lena,” he interrupted, suddenly serious. “No matter how pissed off I am at you, I need you. Not Lira… Not Tseng… Not Rude. You. So don’t go disappearin’ on me… okay? You’re what’s holdin’ me together right now.”
“Reno…”
“Look, I’m… I’m still comin’ to terms with what I did. I’m alright most of the time… I think. But when I’m not, you’re what pulls me back to myself. So… don’t let me run ya off. ‘Cause I love you. And I need you.”
The biologics lab was dark… its staff well on their way home for the evening. Tseng sighed and leaned back in his chair, eyes still on the security feed. He knew that Rude thought he was wasting his time. After all, it really was very slim odds that their mysterious intruder would return so soon after another major security incident. And even if they did, his cameras would be watching.
Nevermind the fact that he was technically supposed to be on his way to the heliport to greet Rufus and escort him to his father. He would be arriving shortly. The Turk leader shook his head and shut off the monitor, standing and walking out into the main office.
“Hmph… Our long lost executive here already?” Rude asked, glancing up from his own monitor.
“Not quite… but soon. And, frankly, I could use some fresh air. I feel as though I’ve been pent up in this office all day.”
“Maybe because you have…” Rude was quick to point out. “You’ve been watching those camera feeds all afternoon. See anything interesting?”
Tseng shook his head and laughed. “For a moment, I was quite certain I saw Jenova move… but other than that, no.” It had been something of a shock, actually. He’d spent a solid fifteen minutes staring at the screen afterward before he was finally convinced he’d imagined it. He’d definitely been at it much too long… That was another reason for wanting to take a break. The pair left the office, and Tseng turned towards the elevators… only to be stopped by his fellow-Turk. Rude shook his head.
“They shut them down after five for maintenance tonight. Only ones still working are the executive elevators.”
“Ah. Well… I suppose we’re taking the stairs to the roof, then.”
Rude followed the Turk leader upwards, past the sixtieth floor… the sixty-fifth… the sixty-seventh… When they reached the sixty-eighth floor, however, both men stopped short, staring in shock. The metal paneling of the wall was deeply gouged near the doorway leading onto the floor proper… but far more disturbing than that was the trail of crimson that lead from the door and up the stairs to sixty-nine. The coppery scent that hung in the air left neither man in any doubt of what it was.
“President Shinra…” Rude said, in a foreboding tone.
“Upstairs. Now!”
Weapons drawn, the two Turks rushed up the next flight of stairs to the executive floor, following the blood trail. It led them through the sixty-ninth floor’s entrance, and around to the executive lobby. Rude was the first to spot the bodies, silently drawing his fellow-Turk’s attention to them.
One of them, Tseng recognized as the president’s receptionist… a young red-haired woman, well known around the company as a bit of a flirt. She’d been nearly sliced in two. Whoever – or whatever – had done this, had to have been incredibly strong. It looked to have been done with a single blow.
The second body was that of a middle-aged man in a suit and tie… Judging by the papers that littered the floor around him, he was from the legal department. His eyes stared lifelessly up at the ceiling, a look of terror frozen on his face.
They left them where they lay and hurried on. The blood trail continued up the curving staircase to their left. On its twin to their right was a third body… a much younger man, his head hanging at a impossible angle, neck clearly broken. He looked to have been simply tossed there, like he was nothing to his attacker.
Tseng took the stairs two at a time, rushing to push open the heavy doors that led to President Shinra’s office. Something told him that they were already much too late. Moments later, that suspicion was confirmed.
The Turks entered the office, eyes drawn immediately to the President’s desk in the center of the room. The President himself was slumped over on the desktop, the razor-sharp blade of a massive nodachi sword impaling him between his shoulders. The sheer amount of blood pooling around him was proof enough the man was already dead.
“Lock down the building, and divert Rufus’ transport,” Tseng said, grimly. The blood trail continued out onto the balcony, and the Wutaiian Turk followed it cautiously while his cohort started making calls. There was nothing to be found outside. Only more blood, and a handprint on the railing. He looked down over the edge, to the street seventy floors down… but saw nothing. Traffic below flowed unimpeded, and pedestrians meandered by unaware that anything was wrong in Shinra Headquarters.
Where the hell had this… thing… come from?
He turned back striding purposefully through the office and back down the stairs. Rude followed him, still on the phone with building security. As they entered the back stairwell, he hung up.
“I sent Rufus’ helicopter straight to the family home. The building is going into a full lockdown now,” he relayed as they descended. They stopped on sixty-eight, following the trail backwards into Hojo’s lab.
“What in Leviathan’s name has that lunatic created now?” Tseng muttered. He unlocked the door and moved on. The blood led them to a cargo elevator at the far end of the lab.
“… Came from sixty-seven,” Rude commented. The Turk leader keyed in the override code for the elevator and stepped inside.
“Take the stairs… just in case anything else is loose down there.”
Rude nodded and headed back the way they’d come. Tseng, meanwhile, hit the button to drop down to the floor below. When it stopped, he peered out, gun poised to fire if needed. The sound of terrified animals filled the space, but nothing seemed to be moving outside of the cages. He slowly made his way into the lab, guided by the bloody trail on the floor and feeling surprisingly calm, given the circumstances.
Beyond the cages, he heard the quite woosh of the the electronic door opening, and hoped it was simply Rude moving into position.
The trail led him across the floor… to a large containment tank. Its door had been ripped off its hinges, the floor around it a puddle of preservative liquid. Rude rounded the corner, his own weapon in hand. He stopped short as he saw the familiar tank.
“… Told you that damn thing wasn’t as dead as everyone thought.”
~fin~
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