Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 15: A Clean Slate

“Yeh bring him straight ta the medical suite, right this instant!” Ward continued, and Tseng found himself having to bear the impact of her purse against his shoulder or risk losing his grip on the redhead. “Now!”

Justinia Ward was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry… and at the moment, she seemed downright enraged. She was also about the only person Tseng knew outside of the company executives who wasn’t the least bit afraid of the Turks. Tseng followed her without objection, careful to keep Reno between himself and the doctor for the time being. The sixty-two year old might not be much of a physical threat in general, but dear Leviathan, if the woman managed to get ahold of an ear…

He’d suffered that particular treatment at her hands only once. That was more than enough. It was worse than when his grandmother had done it to him as a child. And just as had been the case with his grandmother, Tseng had been rendered powerless in her ironclad grip.

“Poor thing…” Dr. Ward all but cooed at the redhead, who, for his part, seemed to be in a state of shock at the sudden flurry of attention directed at himself. It wasn’t long before the rookie was perched on her exam table as the doctor inspected the plethora of bruises that covered him from head to toe. Tseng had to admit… even he was a little surprised by the amount of damage he seemed to have sustained. What in the nine hells had Kai done to him? Surely she hadn’t set the difficulty on the course any higher than beginner…

At last, Ward seemed satisfied that the injuries were largely superficial.

“Yer suspended from training until Monday,” the doctor declared, and turned her gaze on the senior Turk. “Is that clear?”

“Perfectly,” he quickly responded. There were plenty of other things they could tackle tomorrow that didn’t involve the gym or the training hall. Ward gently prodded the redhead’s ankle, and Tseng noticed, somewhat worriedly, that he flinched. The woman clucked her tongue in disapproval.

“And yer ta ice that ankle tonight. It’s only bruised, but it’ll heal much faster with a bit of cold.” She turned and narrowed her eyes at Tseng, resting her hand on her hips. “And as for yeh… Just what did yeh do ta cause this, anyway?!”

Tseng dropped his gaze, chastised. “I had an assignment outside of the city today. Kai took over Reno’s training, and it seems she… had him run the gauntlet. Twice.”

“That Shiva-forsaken obstacle course yeh’ve built on thirty-three?! Yer lucky this is all that happened! What in Odin’s name was that girl thinking, putting him through that so soon?!” She shook her head somewhat violently. “No… Don’t even tell me. It’ll only keep me up at night. The whole lot of yeh are out of yer minds.” Ward advanced on him, poking a finger firmly into his chest. “Yeh take him home. Yeh feed him. And yeh make sure he stays off that ankle tonight. And if I find out yeh’ve been ignoring me, yeh’ll be the next one on that table!”

The Turk lieutenant nodded somewhat mutely, and Dr. Ward, pressed a piece of candy into his ward’s hand before finally sending them off. As the pair stepped into the elevator, the redhead looked up at him.

“Ya know… I kinda get the feelin’ that I don’t ever wanna get the Doc pissed off at me.”

“… You do not,” Tseng replied, as the doors slid shut.

---

Reno woke the next morning to find himself so stiff and sore that, for a moment at least, he was half-convinced he was incapable of moving. His entire body seemed to ache. At last, he managed to lift an arm, inspecting the normally pale skin… which was presently a mottled purplish-black in several places. He sighed softly.

If this was what it took to be a Turk… he wasn’t sure he’d last another week, much less through all of training. The redhead had no illusions about his ability. He was a weakling. Sure, he had speed and damned good balance… but he was shit in a real fight. Always had been. Hell, the only reason he could climb as well as he could was because he weighed next to nothing. It had nothing to do with upper body strength… or rather his serious lack thereof.

He stared up at the ceiling fan that spun lazily above his bed. He was warm… he was safe… he was comfortable… and he’d never be able to measure up enough to stay that way. If yesterday didn’t prove that, he didn’t know what would. And it wouldn’t be long before Tseng figured that out, too, assuming he hadn’t already. Kai certainly hadn’t been shy about informing him that his performance had been pathetic.

With a groan, he rolled over enough to see the clock on the nightstand… and groaned again, this time in dismay. It was five to eight. He’d overslept, and apparently Tseng hadn’t bothered to wake him. Hell, Tseng had probably left for work already. Reno pushed himself upright and swung his legs over the side of the bed, standing up and wincing as his injured ankle protested slightly at first.

Moving would help. He knew that from experience.

Reno made his way to the door, hoping that Tseng had left him something to eat. In spite of the doctor’s demands, he’d just been too fucking tired last night to even make the attempt… and he was paying for that now. He was starving. At last, he dragged himself into the kitchen. And found it already occupied.

“You’re up,” Tseng noted.

“… Uh… shouldn’t you be at work by now?” the redhead asked, slightly confused.

“I could hardly leave without you. You have neither your own car, nor a train pass yet… which we really should remedy today. Nevermind that the trains can be more than a little confusing for someone who’s never ridden them before, particularly during the morning rush.”

Reno somewhat sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with one hand. “Yeah… I kinda just assumed you probably wouldn’t want me… ya know… there.”

Tseng frowned and gestured for him to take a seat at the table.

“What happened yesterday should never have happened at all… The gauntlet is not meant for rookies who haven’t yet undergone any sort of training, and Kai damn well knows that. Her actions were completely irresponsible, and I will be informing her as such as soon as I see her next. It was certainly no fault of yours,” he said, emphatically, and then shook his head. “I should have taken you with me yesterday instead of leaving you in her hands.” Tseng sighed and sat down across from the redhead. “This week has not gone at all as I had planned, I’m afraid…”

The Turk lieutenant was silent for a moment… and Reno couldn’t help but wonder if he really was reevaluating his decision make him a Turk in the first place.

“I have a confession to make,” he said at last. “I… have never done this before. And I seem to be doing it entirely wrong. Unfortunately, you are the one paying for my inexperience.”

Reno cocked his head to one side. “What d’ya mean you’ve never done this before?”

“A second in command doesn’t simply start out training all of our incoming rookies. He works with the commander, sharing that responsibility, until his superior decides that he’s ready to take on the task on his own. You’re the first I’ve ever been permitted to train without Veld guiding me. It’s… proving far more difficult than I had assumed, particularly given that my mistakes have a direct impact on you.”

“… That mean you’re givin’ up on me already?” the redhead asked, cautiously. He’d known this whole thing had to be too good to be true. He was no Turk.

“Absolutely not,” Tseng replied, lifting his gaze from the table. “I’m actually far more concerned about you giving up on me… if only for the sake of self-preservation.”

The redhead snorted a quiet laugh. “What? ‘Cause of this? Tch… This is nothin’. Had my ass kicked way worse than this before…” He leaned back in his chair, looking over the marks that littered his arms and chest. “Um… Tell ya what. How ’bout we just pretend none of this Ifrit-forsaken week ever happened and just start this whole thing over. I didn’t sneak out and get picked up by the cops after you told me not to do somethin’ stupid, and you didn’t abandon me to be pummeled into dust by a knife-wielding psycho.”

Tseng chuckled. “That is… generous of you.”

“And, of course, that means I’m not stuck hanging out in my room all weekend… right?” the redhead ventured.

“I suppose you have been quite thoroughly punished at this point, however unintentional it was.”

“That a yes?”

“Yes. You are free to do as you please this weekend,” Tseng replied. Reno grinned… He’d been hoping the Turk would say that. Because he really wanted to check on Lira. “For now, however… get dressed. We still have a full day of work before said weekend.”

“Thought the Doc said no training?”

The senior Turk smiled faintly. “There are plenty of other things for you to learn…”

---

A short time later, the redhead found himself staring somewhat blankly at the gun on the table in front of him. He glanced up uncertainly at Tseng, before awkwardly working the slide off. He frowned in concentration as various other parts followed. Tseng had taken the damn thing apart in a matter of seconds. Reno was quickly discovering that it wasn’t quite so simple as he’d made it look.

“Tell me again why I’m doin’ this?” he asked as a spring suddenly escaped his grasp, shooting across the table and skittering dangerously close to the edge. Tseng retrieved it for him and set it with the rest of the pieces.

“Because no matter what weapon you ultimately find that you prefer, all Turks are expected to be proficient with firearms. That includes general maintenance. To clean a gun, you have to be able to take it apart.”

Reno finally snapped the last part out of place and grinned triumphantly.

“Ha! Got it.”

Tseng smirked slightly.

“Very good,” he replied, “Now… Put it back together.”

The redhead’s grin quickly faded. “W-wait… What? What’dya mean, ‘put it back together’?”

The senior Turk laughed and took a seat next to him.

“A clean gun is of little use if it remains in pieces.”

Reno glared at him. “Bet it’d still hurt like hell if I threw it at you…”

“Perhaps. But you’d have to actually land a hit,” Tseng said, smiling, “And frankly, I don’t think you’ve progressed to that point quite yet.”

The rookie muttered something unflattering before he sighed in defeat and resigned himself to attempting to reassemble the pile of gun parts… and hoped that this wasn’t going to be the entire day’s activity.

---

Saturday was the one day of the week Tseng permitted himself to sleep in a bit… though he seldom let that indulgence extend much beyond eight thirty in the morning. When he awoke this Saturday morning, however, Tseng couldn’t help but think that something wasn’t quite right. The apartment felt suspiciously empty. He made his way down the hall, pausing briefly to peer into Reno’s open bedroom door. As suspected, he was missing. Tseng frowned and continued on toward the kitchen.

A few dishes had been left stacked next to the sink, but beyond that, there seemed to be no trace of the redhead. It was then that he noticed the sheet of paper lying on the table. He picked it up and cringed slightly at the god-awful handwriting that greeted him, squinting as he tried to make sense of it. Thankfully, it was a short note.

‘Tseng,’ it read, ‘Went to see a friend. Back later. Reno.’

His first thought was that his young protege had made plans of some sort with Rude. The two of them seemed to have bonded surprisingly quickly. If that was the case, Reno would be fine… Rude knew the city well, and the young rookie from Rocket Town had struck him as being extremely responsible right from the start. Surely the two of them couldn’t get into too much trouble.

Though… if the aforementioned ‘friend’ was Rude, why not simply say so in the note?

---

Reno frowned at the schedule displayed prominently on the large screen. Tseng hadn’t been kidding when he’d said the Ifrit-forsaken trains could be confusing. Thus far, he’d managed to get on the wrong damn one twice now. He’d gone from Sector One to Sector Eight, and from there he’d somehow ended up in Sector Four. He was trying to get to Sector Five… and then, hop the train to Wall Market.

“… Okay…” he sighed to himself, “So, the Green line goes to Seven… and then I have to get on the… Red line to get to Five?”

“Red line’s an express on Saturdays. You want the Blue.”

Reno grinned at the sound of the familiar voice, and turned.

“Rude!” he sighed in relief. “What are you doin’ here?”

The bald Turk shrugged. “Truck’s in for a tune up. Figured I get some shopping done while I wait. What’s in Five?”

“Heh… Train to Wall Market. Assumin’ I’m readin’ this shit right,” he replied, gesturing at the schedule. “Who the fuck came up with this mess, anyway?”

Rude snickered. “Transportation department. You’re… going to Wall Market?”

“… Yeah. Lira, ya know? Shit happened so fast… she doesn’t even know I’m up here yet. And I was s’posed ta go see her Friday after she got off work. Probably wasn’t real happy when I didn’t show. Figure I better tell her what’s goin’ on before she gets too worried.”

“Can’t just call her?”

Reno shook her head. “I tried leavin’ her a message at the Honeybee last night, but I kinda got the impression that they get a lot of calls like that for the girls and they tend to ignore ’em. She doesn’t have a phone of her own.”

“Got cash on you?”

“… Some…” the redhead replied, not sure where the other rookie was going with this.

“You should get her one before you head down. Better than leaving messages she might not get.”

“Heh… Not a bad idea. Any clue where I can buy one?”

Rude smiled faintly, and gestured to the stairs leading up to the street. “Let me introduce you to Sector Four…”

~end chapter 15~