Taking Care of Reno: Nibelheim
Chapter 1: No Time to Rest
“… Why did we get stuck with this job?” Weston asked. He paused, grumbling, and planted himself on a convenient boulder before taking off his shoe and shaking a large pebble out of it. “I didn’t put in four years of undergraduate study, two years for my Masters, another three years so far towards an eventual PhD in biochemistry, and an internship in the middle of flipping nowhere, just to end up as a glorified electrician dragging my butt up a Titan-be-cursed mountain.”
Ai laughed and turned back to face her colleague. “I’m not sure we’d even qualify as electricians on this one. All we’re going up there to do is replace some batteries.”
Weston groaned. “That doesn’t make me feel better,” he deadpanned, “I was at the top of my graduating class and this is what I’m relegated to? I went to college so I wouldn’t have to make a living doing manual labor, you know…”
“Wes, we’re interns. We get the shitwork. You know that, I know that, and Dr. Monroe definitely knows that,” she said. She grinned at him, “So suck it up, Buttercup, and get your ass up the mountain.”
He sighed heavily at the mention of their supervisor’s name, and grudgingly pulled his shoe back on, before readjusting the straps on his backpack. That was another thing. Why was he stuck carrying the stupid batteries? Ai Himura was all about breaking the glass ceiling and female empowerment and gender equality any other time… but the second there’s heavy lifting to be done? She foists it off on the guy.
Though… to be fair, she was the one who actually knew where the heck they were going. He’d never been to the reactor himself. In fact, he’d only come onboard with the program at the end of last fall. Ai, even though she’d only just finished her Masters degree a year ago, had been interning at the Shinra Lab in Nibelheim for almost twice as long as he had. She’d wanted “real world experience” before applying to Midgar University’s doctoral program.
And because she did have more experience, at least as far as Dr. Monroe was concerned, Ai was the one who went up the mountain trail every week since the snow had melted to check the mako levels in the incubation tanks. The trip probably would have taken twice as long without her leading the way. And okay… the batteries weren’t really that heavy. He just hated hiking. And nature. And getting stuck with shitwork.
When he’d signed onto this internship, he’d expected to be making breakthroughs and working with Shinra Company’s top minds. Instead, most of his time was spent cleaning lab equipment and making dinner runs. Ai certainly didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she actually embraced being a go-for. She said you had to pay your dues, just like any other career. You had to get your foot in that door somehow.
And really, she was undoubtedly right. An internship, especially one with a lab under the direct oversight of Shinra’s own Professor Hojo, would look amazing on his résumé… and given that his ultimate goal was to go to work for the Advanced Medical Research unit at Shinra Headquarters in Midgar, he needed a good recommendation.
So… honorary mountainside electrician it was.
“Are you sure the nibelwolves aren’t still hanging around up here?” Wes asked as they made their way across an anxiety-inducing rope bridge. Ai shook her head.
“I’ve never once seen a nibelwolf up at the reactor,” she said, firmly. “Not even so much as a paw print. Besides… as soon as things thawed out, they stopped scavenging in town. Why would they still be around here now, when all their prey is down in the valley?”
He supposed she would know. After all, while her primary interest was genetics, Ai also held degrees in veterinary biology and animal behavior. Her research centered around genetic manipulation of behavioral traits… which, though, admittedly interesting at times, wasn’t really Weston’s cup of tea. His interests lay in the potential uses of mako as a biochemical agent. Most people thought that mako exposure was too dangerous to be beneficial… but the Shinra Company medical research labs had released several peer reviewed papers on the healing properties of raw mako over the past few years… a subject that he’d found absolutely fascinating from the moment he’d read the initial published findings.
At last, after much climbing – and griping on his part – the Nibelheim Mako Reactor loomed before them. They made their way up to the entrance, and Ai swiped her access card. The door slid open with a loud, mechanical hum.
“So… where are these cameras we’re supposed to be fixing?” Wes asked.
“There’s supposed to be one right outside the door we just came in, four in here, and another four in the pod chamber,” Ai replied. She looked around. “Umm… I’ve noticed a couple of them before, but we may have to hunt the rest down. I guess… start in here, then do the pod chamber?”
Wes shrugged, and started looking for the cameras. They found the first one midway up the wall, tethered to a pipe.
“Any idea why they want them powered up again, all of a sudden?” he inquired, pulling the device down. “These things look like they haven’t been touched in years. The batteries can’t possibly last that long.”
“Nope. Dr. Monroe only said it was a special request from the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department. Whatever that is.”
Weston paused, mid-stride.
“W-wait… the Turks?” he stammered, and Ai looked at him, puzzled.
“Turks?” she repeated, and Wes briefly wondered how in Hades’ name she’d never heard of the Turks. Everyone in Midgar knew about them. And then it dawned on him that Ai had never actually been to Midgar. She’d gone to school in her home country of Wutai, and had transitioned to the internship program right after. Wes shook his head.
“They’re Shinra elite. Covert ops, security, internal investigations… that sort of thing,” he explained, “Basically… people you never want to tick off.”
“Huh… Well, if they’re security, I guess that might explain why they want their cameras back up and running,” she shrugged.
“Yeah… I guess…” Wes said, unconvinced. The Turks weren’t just security. He’d grown up in Midgar. Born and raised. The Turks were the city’s boogeymen… and he really couldn’t imagine what interest they’d have in an experimental mako reactor.
Of course… he also wasn’t about to not do what was asked of him, knowing that it was a special request from the Turks, either. The sooner they finished and got out of here, the better, as far as he was concerned.
As he was prying the battery compartment on the camera open, a hiss, like gas escaping, echoed from the direction of the pod chamber. The noise was followed by a loud clang. Both interns looked up from what they were doing, searching out the source of the sounds.
“What was that?” Wes asked.
“… I… don’t know. It sounded like a seal releasing,” Ai said, setting the camera she’d been working on aside. “Um… I’ll be right back. I’m going to go check the equipment. There might have been a malfunction or a lock failure or something. One of the pods was having some technical issues last week. Dr. Monroe said she’d send a tech up to take a look, but I guess she hasn’t gotten around to it yet.”
Wes nodded as Ai got to her feet and hurried off. A moment later, he finally got the camera open. He pulled out the old battery and replaced it with one of the new ones. He wiped the dust off of the lens and then put it back where he’d found it, pressing the button on the front to activate it. The device latched itself onto the pipe again, and a red light blinked for a moment before glowing steadily… which he assumed meant it was working again.
“Well… that’s one,” he said to himself. He turned to grab the next camera, but before he had the chance, a terrified shriek broke the relative silence of the room, and the next thing he knew, Ai was fleeing the pod chamber at a dead sprint, her face pale with fear.
“RUN!” she screamed.
Tseng stalked his subject on silent feet, careful not to let him get too far ahead, but hanging back far enough that he wouldn’t be noticed. The Sector 1 slums held a fair number of permanent residents… but in this particular area, near the central pillar, homesteads were sparse, particularly adjacent to the Sector 8 trainyard… which many denizens of the slums believed was haunted. Apparently his current surveillance target didn’t ascribe to such rumors. He’d slipped though the area completely unperturbed – save for a minor scare involving a scavenging cripshay.
The Turk had been coming down here far more often, of late. Not interacting… just observing. He’d compiled quite a detailed file on the young man, but still wanted more. After all, he’d probably only have one shot at making his case, and he needed it to be a strong one. What he was asking for was almost unprecedented, and while it was a request he was eager to make… he didn’t want to put his chances of it being granted at risk by jumping the gun. Not after how much time he’d invested already.
“Hey! Kid!” a gruff, unpleasant voice suddenly demanded, and Tseng’s eyes narrowed as his subject was grabbed from behind by a much larger individual that, apparently, neither one of them had initially seen. Tseng swore under his breath in Wutaiian, as the man backhanded the boy he’d been tailing and sent him sprawling to the ground, before seizing him by the shirt and hauling him up to his face. “Hand over your cash,” the newcomer spat.
Tseng’s fingers coiled around the grip of his gun under his jacket. He wasn’t technically supposed to intervene, unless there was serious risk to the subject. Only observe. And to be fair, it might prove useful for his report to see how the boy handled himself in such a situation. Still… he was mildly concerned. The man was obviously no stranger to violence, as evidenced by the partly healed gash above his right eye and recently bruised knuckles.
When the boy refused his demand, the man delivered a particularly vicious punch directly to his face, splitting his would-be victim’s lip. Tseng frowned and drew his weapon. This was getting out of hand. His report would be useless if the subject was murdered before he could even present it. Before he’d taken aim, however, the boy surprised his his attacker. Tseng had known he was armed with a knife, but had only given him fifty-fifty odds of actually using it. Typically, from his observations, the subject preferred to talk his way out of trouble… or simply flee. It seemed, this time, he intended to fight back.
The effort was a somewhat hesitant one, though, driven mainly by fear and self-preservation… He clearly didn’t want to have to kill him, and the boy’s inexperience showed. It did, however, force his assailant to release him and back off, stunned and in pain. Tseng expected the boy to run, but he seemed to be a bit too surprised by his own desperate act to make good his escape. When he turned, looking pale and terrified, Tseng realized that the young man had gravely misjudged the outcome of his retaliation. He thought the man had been subdued.
He sighed as the attacker staggered upright while the teenager’s back was still turned. There was nothing for it, now. Intervention would be required.
“You little guttershit!” the injured man screamed, as he yanked the blade out of his chest and went after the boy again, managing to seize him and press the blade to his throat before Tseng could reveal himself. He could see the panic in his subject’s eyes.
“Let him go,” the Turk calmly ordered, as he stepped into their line of vision, gun already trained on his target.
“Why don’t ya make me, assho–” the man began, and Tseng didn’t give him the opportunity to finish his demand. He simply pulled the trigger, and put a bullet in the man’s brain before he could do any further damage to his subject. The shot purposefully grazed the boy’s cheek. A gentle reminder, of sorts, not to be so complacent in the future.
The boy scampered away from his attacker, eyes locked firmly on the dead man… the person who’d put him in that condition momentarily forgotten. Tseng made his way over, tucking his gun back into its holster, and placed a hand on the the boy’s shoulder… who jumped violently at the sudden contact, his attention quickly redirected, wide eyes staring up at the Turk as though he wasn’t sure whether he should thank him, or run for his life. Tseng eyed the minor wound on his cheek, as well as the split lip, and reached into a pocket, pulling out a handkerchief, which was tentatively accepted.
“The next time you try to kill someone… make sure you’re fully committed to it,” he advised, before bending down to retrieve the dropped knife. He offered it back to the boy and added. “Otherwise, you’re liable to wind up dead yourself.”
The teenager nodded mutely, still staring at the Turk. Tseng mentally sighed. There was simply no time to observe further. His subject had nearly been killed today. He was going to need to speed up his timeline. The sooner he made his case and obtained approval, the sooner he could get him out of this place.
“I’ll be seeing you again, Reno. Very soon, I suspect,” he said, turning and walking away.
Tseng jolted awake moments later, sitting up in bed. He glanced over at the clock, and nearly groaned when he saw that it was not quite five in the morning. He scrubbed his hands over his face, and briefly debated whether or not it was worth the effort of attempting to go back to sleep only to wake up for his morning run in another hour or so.
He decided that it likely was not.
The Turk leader shook his head and dragged himself from beneath the covers, pulling on a robe and stuffing his feet into his slippers as he stood up. Yawning, he made his way out of his bedroom and down the hall to the living room.
He wasn’t really surprised by the dream. After all, Reno’s anniversary was next week. Five years as a Turk… and yet, Tseng could still clearly picture that terrified little red-haired orphan who’d come far too close to being a junkie’s most recent victim. He was slightly ashamed to admit it… but his concern at the time had been more for himself than for Reno. If he’d missed out on the young man, he’d have had to find someone else… and the longer he’d watched the redhead, the more determined he’d become to recruit him.
Tseng had spotted his potential almost the very moment he’d met him… and it hadn’t taken long before he knew he wanted him on the team. But he was far too young back then. The Wutaiian Turk had intended to wait until he was of age… but that day in the Slums had changed his mind. Reno had still been a month or two shy of turning seventeen at the time, and Tseng had been too impatient and too worried about potentially losing his recruit to wait another year and change.
Now, Reno was not only coming up fast on his twenty-first birthday, he was second in command of the very team Veld had initially thought him too young to even be considered for. And moreover, he’d become far more important to Tseng than the Wutaiian Turk had ever thought possible.
Back then, he hadn’t really given much thought to the danger he was putting the teenager in by pulling him into the life he had in store for him. That guilt had come later, after he’d grown close to his first rookie, and begun to see him as more than simply an item on his professional checklist. After so long, however, it was hard not to think about it, sometimes… though he’d gotten significantly better at not letting such thoughts dominate him.
It helped that Reno was no longer a frightened child. He was a well-trained – mostly responsible – adult, who was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.
Still… this time of year inevitably reignited the memory of the day Tseng had resolutely made his case to his own mentor, and demanded permission to bring Reno into the fold. Cementing that demand had been his request to make Reno his First Rookie.
Though the timing hadn’t been quite what he’d intended… life had a funny way of working itself out. If he hadn’t recruited the redhead when he did, doing so likely would have been delayed quite some time by the war. And if that delay had happened, he might not have been recruited at all, because without Reno to lure him back, Tseng was almost certain he would have followed through on resigning altogether after his sister’s untimely death.
Tseng chuckled softly to himself. The early hour was making him far more introspective than usual. He supposed, since he was up anyway, he ought make productive use of his time. He could get his run out of the way a bit early today, shower, dress, have a nice leisurely breakfast at the cafe down the block, rather than eating the same thing he did every morning… and then perhaps stop somewhere and place an order for a special treat for his recently minted lieutenant to celebrate the upcoming milestone. Something with far too much sugar, of course.
In Tseng’s opinion, he deserved a nice, peaceful morning for a change. It hadn’t been an easy couple of months, by any stretch of the imagination. It had taken time for Tseng to adjust to his new role as Commander… on top of mourning the all too sudden loss of his friend and mentor and giving his Second in Command a crash course on the intricacies of his own new rank.
Thank Leviathan that Reno was a fast learner, because Tseng was having to cram a least two years’ worth of training into into a tiny fraction of the time he’d expected to have. The redhead wasn’t quite up to speed yet, but given how much information Tseng had been relentlessly throwing at him for the past eleven weeks, his progress was rather remarkable. If he’d been in his young protege’s position, he was fairly confident he’d have suffered a nervous breakdown, due to sheer overload, by now. He felt terrible for pushing Reno so hard sometimes… but there really wasn’t any other way. They’d both committed themselves to this, and now they had to make it work, whatever it took.
At least it was finally beginning to warm up outside.
Tseng stepped out onto his back porch, and found that the temperature beyond his climate controlled apartment was chilly, but not bitingly cold, as it had been since the holidays. In fact, the last vestiges of snow seemed to have finally melted off, leaving only the emerging green space of the park behind his apartment building. The sun wasn’t up yet, and the area was bathed in the gentle glow of the mako-powered streetlights that lined its periphery. A light mist hung low to the ground, giving the little park a somewhat ethereal quality.
He was perfectly happy to bid winter farewell for another year. In all the time he’d resided in Midgar, he never had fully acclimated to that particular season. Something told him he never truly would.
Eventually, though, looking out over the park grew tiresome, and Tseng retreated back inside to change into some workout clothes, and start his run.
The apartment was quiet and the room was still dark, and Petra was hesitant to disturb that peaceful silence… but it was time to get up. Her morning yoga beckoned.
It was going to be a busy day, she already knew. Rufus was traveling south to Mideel for three days, and she was going with him as security… and she was eager to spend some time with him away from prying eyes.
They’d been careful to keep their burgeoning relationship a secret. No one else knew, or even suspected. She didn’t really like not being able to at least tell Sykes and Liam… but doing so would have put them in an awkward position if Tseng ever found out that she was blatantly violating the agreement she’d made. She didn’t much like lying to her commanding officer, either… but the alternative was to push aside her feelings for the Shinra heir and pretend they didn’t exist. She didn’t think she could do that, even if she wanted to.
And frankly, she didn’t want to.
Some would probably have blamed the forbidden nature of the relationship. And though that part was admittedly enticing, Petra didn’t think for a moment that that was the root of her infatuation with Rufus. The younger Shinra had an allure all his own that she found intoxicating. He really wasn’t the person the public largely believed him to be. He could be guarded, yes… but he wasn’t cold, the way so many described him. He could be brutally honest in his commentary… but he wasn’t cruel. And he most certainly could be difficult to read… unless he didn’t mind you being able to read him. In reality, Rufus was charming, intelligent, and almost shockingly witty at times… and she loved that he let her see that side of himself.
They’d opted to take things slowly… partly due to the danger to her career, should their relationship become public prematurely, and partly due to their own somewhat hectic schedules of late that had severely limited that time they were able to spend together. That was, in fact, why she was so looking forward to this trip to Mideel. Three days of her not being pulled into some other assignment, and him not being dragged into a meeting… it was practically a vacation!
Of course… there was still business to be seen to. Shinra Company was in talks with a local landowner to build a power relay station on the coast that would help better distribute the energy generated at the Wutaiian reactor. But beyond those negotiations, it was just going to be her and Rufus, alone in Mideel…
Reno yawned tiredly as he rolled over, expecting to curl onto his side and wrap his arms around his extra pillow… and promptly found himself on the floor instead. He landed on the unforgiving tile with a loud oof!
Groaning, he sat up… suddenly reminded that he’d opted to spend the night in the sleeping quarters at headquarters last night.
“Goddammit…” he sighed, righting himself and clambering to his feet, only to drop back onto the small bed a moment later. Yesterday had been a very long day… the latest in a very long week. Hell, it had been a long month at this point. Between learning to do his new job, actually doing his new job, and helping Tseng do his new job… well… let’s just say he’d been putting in more than a few extra hours for awhile now. Last night, he’d been so tired, he hadn’t even bothered making the attempt at going home. He’d just headed downstairs, raided the cafeteria for a shitastic dinner, and returned to the office to pass the fuck out.
It was at least the fifth time in the last two weeks he’d resorted to doing that.
There just didn’t seem to be enough hours in the day anymore. Tseng had assured him that it was only temporary, while he learned everything he needed to know to be a competent Second in Command – at a breakneck pace that was stressing him out more than anything he’d ever experienced – but if there was an end to the seemingly endless lessons in bureaucracy, diplomacy, and company politics, Reno couldn’t see it yet.
Not to mention all the shit he suddenly had clearance for and was expected to know about, at least in passing. And the board meetings, where the executives still looked at him with doubt and judging glares. For Shiva’s sake, he knew that, at only twenty, he was the youngest Second in Command in the history of the Turks. And that was on top of already having been the youngest ever recruit to be promoted to the Turks in the first place. He didn’t need the constant reminders that the Board all thought he was just some dumb kid.
But he was determined to tough it out. Tseng was relying on him to get this right, and he wasn’t planning on letting his mentor down.
Reno cracked an eye open just long enough to steal a glance at the alarm clock beside his cot, and immediately groaned again. It was already after seven. Even if he did manage to get back to sleep, the damn clock was just going to wake him up in fifteen minutes. He silently thanked every deity he’d ever heard of that the weekend was almost upon them… He didn’t think he could take much more of this if he didn’t get a break soon.
Fridays, and the weekends that tended to follow them, had become his saving grace of late. It was rare that he woke up before two in the afternoon most Saturdays since his promotion. He was just that beat from the week. And when he was awake, he’d become a virtual homebody, as well, just not having the energy or the drive to get out of his apartment during his few precious hours of downtime. Truthfully, he kind of hated the isolation… but the alternative just seemed like far more work than he was willing to put into it at the moment. He hadn’t even been down to see Lira in… four weeks? Five? Longer? He’d kind of lost track at this point…
“You slept at the office again.”
The familiar tone was matter-of-fact, not questioning… and notably concerned. The redhead blearily lifted his head off of the pillow and expended the minimum effort required to focus on the person speaking to him.
“I heard a thud,” the new arrival continued, by way of explanation. Reno sighed and grudgingly sat up again.
“Yeah…” he sighed, rubbing his eyes, “I kinda forgot I spent the night here, and rolled over expectin’ there to be more bed…”
Tseng moved fully into the room and took the handful of steps needed to make his way over to his protege.
“Reno…” he began.
“I know… I shouldn’t be doin’ this,” Reno said, cutting him off.
“Actually, I was going to say that you should have said something last night. I would have been more than happy to take you home.”
“Tch… yeah, I… uh… was kinda still workin’ after you left for the night,” he admitted, somewhat sheepishly. Tseng cocked an eyebrow, and Reno cringed slightly. “I sorta forgot I still needed to do next week’s training schedule.”
Tseng sighed and shook his head. “It could have waited.”
“Not if you wanted it to get done before next week,” Reno halfheartedly protested, “I won’t have time to do it today, and tomorrow’s not lookin’ any better. Not with all the crap we got on ourschedule… ‘n Rude keeps gettin’ on me ’bout takin’ work home with me.”
The Turk leader frowned slightly for a moment, seemingly considering something, before finally fixing the redhead with a resolved look.
“This simply can’t continue,” Tseng stated, with determination, “You’re running yourself ragged.”
Reno looked up sharply, suddenly very much awake.
“N-no… I’m good. Tomorrow’s Friday, ‘n then we all got a couple of days off. I’ll be fine,” he quickly replied, in a slight panic. He could handle this, and he wasn’t about to give his mentor any reason to think he couldn’t. Before he could continue, however, Tseng’s fingers clamped firmly around the back of his neck, expertly finding the pressure points there, and gently massaging them.
“I can quite literally feel the tension in you, right now,” Tseng’s voice said, as the slight manipulation of those pressure points all but forced the younger Turk to shut his eyes in contented response. Too much of this, and he’d be asleep again, alarm clock be damned. Reno struggled to open his eyes again, with little success. Tseng didn’t stop what he was doing until the redhead ceased fighting against it and relaxed moderately.
When he finally did release him, Reno glared at him, slightly annoyed.
“Don’t do that…” he grumbled, and Tseng chuckled softly in response. “Boss, seriously… I can do this!”
“I know you can,” the Turk leader said, shifting his grip from the back of the neck to his protege’s shoulder, “But I’m also not blind. I can very clearly see the toll this is taking on you.” He sighed softly, and gave the younger man’s shoulder a squeeze. “You haven’t had a proper rest since Christmas. This was supposed to be years of training. Not weeks. No matter how much I want to have you up to speed as soon as possible, it’s not worth destroying you both mentally and physically. You’re exhausted, and you’re going to reach a breaking point soon, even if you don’t want to admit it. That you haven’t already reached that point is undeniable proof of your suitability for this role… but even you can’t keep up this pace indefinitely. You need a break.”
“Tch… that’s what the weekend’s for, Boss…” Reno shrugged… though truthfully, he didn’t at all disagree. He’d started to look forward to Friday afternoons the way a starving man looked forward to a three course meal. And Mondays… Mondays had taken on a special dread all their own.
“I mean a real break,” Tseng said, decisively. “I want you to skip our meeting with the Board this afternoon, and leave early. Go home. Pack for a week. I’ll be by to pick you up at six. Sharp.”
“Uh… pick me up for what, exactly?” the redhead asked, in both curiosity and trepidation.
“I’m taking you to Healin Lodge.”
~end chapter 1~
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