Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 32: Pride Before the Fall

When Reno woke the next morning, it was with a feeling of dread. Tseng had sent him off to bed last night with the warning that they’d be ‘discussing’ his punishment when heads were cooler and tempers weren’t running quite so high. And for that much, he was grateful… but he knew he was in trouble. No matter how much Tseng had calmed down, last night was a screw-up of the epic variety, and his mentor wasn’t going to just let him off the hook with a warning and a slap on the wrist. He’d be lucky if he set foot out of his room for anything other than work until he was thirty.

Which was why, when his alarm went off, the redhead groaned in dismay and forced himself from his bed, intent on presenting himself at the his earliest inconvenience… before the Wutaiian Turk had cause to come in and rouse him. He was in deep enough shit as it was… there was no sense in aggravating the man further.

“Wish me luck, Mr Foo-foo. Think I’m gonna need it…” Reno sighed, as he tucked his treasured stuffed bunny beneath one of his pillows, and hurried to pull on some clothes. It was Saturday… which usually meant that Tseng would spend an extra hour or two in bed, enjoying the peace and quiet that came with an obligation-free morning, before getting up, having breakfast, and heading out for a somewhat truncated version of his morning run. Something told the rookie, however, that his mentor wouldn’t be sleeping in this morning.

He soon discovered that he was correct in that assumption.

Tseng was seated at the kitchen table, dressed not for his run, but for the day, and Reno wondered if something – aside from his impending punishment – was going on. Tseng was a creature of habit and seldom varied his routine. The redhead silently braced himself as he prepared to make his presence known.

“Sit down,” Tseng said, evenly, before Reno even had the chance to reveal himself. “We have a few things to talk about.”

He sighed. The Turk lieutenant certainly didn’t sound as thoroughly pissed off as he had last night… but he definitely wasn’t happy, either. He quickly took a seat opposite the senior Turk.

“Last night was an utterly appalling example of poor judgment, irresponsibility, and outright stupidity. You were granted a level of trust, and you almost immediately decided to abuse it. Six months ago, I might have been inclined to be somewhat lenient with you, but at this point, you’ve been here long enough to know that such behavior will not be tolerated,” Tseng began. The rookie held his breath, preparing for the worst. “I am… extraordinarily… disappointed in your choices, Reno.”

And there it was. Reno couldn’t remember a time when so few words had cut so deeply. He dropped his gaze to the tabletop and swallowed. His throat felt thick, and a deep-seated nervousness was rising in his gut.

“… I know, sir,” he managed to say. “… I’m sorry.”

“As we’ve already discussed, you will not be going to Costa del Sol. You will also not be given any field work until I’ve returned to Midgar, and will instead spend extra time in the training hall. Your curfew is reinstated indefinitely… and you will now be home by eight ‘o clock until I say otherwise. For this coming week, however, you are restricted to the apartment. You will go straight to the office in the morning and come straight home in the evening, where you will remain… and if I learn that you dared disobey me while I’m gone, it will not end well for you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir… Completely.”

“Furthermore… as Saya will be joining the security team, Kai will be in charge of you for the duration of my absence.”

Reno resisted the urge to groan. Kai was a pain in the ass at the best of times… and he had the distinct impression that that was exactly why Tseng had decided to leave him to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the diminutive Turk… but what she lacked in size, she more than made up for in zealousness. She was the one who ran him through the gauntlet his first week as a Turk. Twice. And she never failed to cut him down to size any time she felt he needed it.

Plus… the constant’Turkling’ comments got really annoying after awhile.

“She will escort you to and from work. She has also quite graciously agreed to be thoroughly inconvenienced, and will check in on you at random intervals while off-duty…” Tseng added. Reno cringed… Kai wasn’t just in charge of him. She was his fucking babysitter. “While I am in Costa del Sol, there will be no alcohol and no guests… and Leviathan help you if you ever even think about touching my car again, now or in the future.”

By the time his mentor was finished, Reno felt lower than dirt. He couldn’t even be indignant over the punishment… as even he felt he deserved it. One word from the senior Turk’s diatribe stood out strongly against all the rest. Disappointed. He hadn’t actually realized it until that moment, but Reno desperately didn’t want to be a disappointment. Not to Tseng.

He silently vowed, then and there, that he would earn back his mentor’s trust and pride… no matter what he had to do.

---

Monday arrived, and Tseng left… along with Rude and Saya. Tseng, at least, had departed early that morning, even before Reno had awoken, without so much as a goodbye. Reno sighed as he halfheartedly poked at a piece of toast. He hadn’t dared set foot outside for his usual run that morning. Tseng hadn’t clarified whether or not that was allowed while he was grounded… and he wasn’t about to take a chance. He’d run at work, on the track on Thirty-one.

A loud knock interrupted his breakfast, and he hurried to down the coffee, at least, before rushing to the door to let Kai in. She stood on the little porch out front, arms crossed over her chest.

“I told you naughty Turklings missed out on the fun,” she said, smugly. “And from what I hear, you were very, very naughty.” She flashed him an obnoxious grin. “Did you really steal Tseng’s baby and go on a joyride in the middle of the night?”

The redhead sighed. “… Yeah. I took the car.”

Kai shook her head in disbelief. “You have any idea how much he loves that car? You’re lucky to be alive, my little Turkling,” she laughed.

“… Can we just go to work, already?”

She shrugged and tossed him a helmet, and gestured to the motorcycle waiting out front.

If he’d thought Tseng’s driving could be a little wild, it was nothing compared to Kai’s weaving in and out of traffic. More than once, Reno was convinced he was about to die, only to receive a last-second reprieve as she skirted whatever happened to be in her path. By the time they arrived at the Shinra Building, his arms were wrapped around her waist in something of a deathgrip.

Somehow, though, they made it without incident. Kai pulled into a space, and shut off the bike before removing her helmet.

“You can let go now,” she snickered, when the redhead didn’t initially move a muscle. He didn’t answer. Instead, he simply forced his over-tensed muscles to relax, releasing his hold on the woman, and followed her to the elevator.

“Tseng left pretty specific instructions on what I’m supposed to do with you,” Kai added, almost gleefully, as they headed upstairs. “No field work at all. You get to train. Then you get to do paperwork for the rest of us. Then you get to train some more. Day after day… all week long. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“… Super fun,” Reno replied with no small amount of sarcasm.

“Oh… and because you enjoy it so very much, we’ll be running the gauntlet twice a day, before and after lunch.”

“… Shoulda seen that comin’…” he muttered in response. Kai had a particular fondness for the obstacle course. Apparently, she’d helped design it and took great pride in having held the record completion time for three years running.

“You’re also not going to be attending morning briefings. If there’s anything you need to know, I’ll pass it along later in the day,” the senior Turk continued, “Since you’re not allowed to leave the apartment to run, you’ll be running laps in the morning until I come back downstairs to get you.”

Well, that certainly took care of any uncertainty on that matter. When Tseng had said he wasn’t to leave the apartment for any reason other than work, he’d definitely meant any reason. The redhead was glad he’d opted to err on the side of caution that morning. He didn’t need any more screw-ups right now.

Kai dropped him off on the thirty-first floor, and Reno headed for the locker room to change. It was going to be a long week… but he was going to do whatever was asked of him, no matter how much it sucked, and he wasn’t going to complain. He was going to prove to Tseng that bringing him into the Turks wasn’t a mistake and that he’d learned his lesson. Whatever it took.

---

Tseng was unusually silent for much of the flight to Costa del Sol. They’d left earlier than originally anticipated… a last minute change in itinerary so that President Shinra could see to a minor business meeting upon arrival. He’d spent several frantic minutes contacting Rude and Saya, after having been woken unexpectedly early… so frantic he’d quite literally forgotten about waking Reno as well until he was halfway out the door. By then, however, he’d had no time to spare.

He supposed it didn’t really matter. Kai would be arriving later to take him to the office, anyway… but he still didn’t like leaving so abruptly. He’d had a few last minute instructions for the redhead. But Kai would take care of informing him of them.

Rufus was sleeping soundly in one of the seats across from him, pointedly facing away from his father’s new girlfriend… and the company’s newest executive. Scarlet had just three weeks prior been appointed head of Weapons Research and given a spot on the executive board… and it was no secret how she’d gotten that promotion, either. Veld had been vaguely disgusted by the blatant favoritism being shown, when he’d informed his lieutenant of the staff change… but such things weren’t the Turks’ concern. She was an executive now, and was to be granted the full level of protection that came with it. He made a mental note to speak to Rufus about it at some point… he doubted very much that the younger Shinra was especially pleased.

For the moment, through, he did his best to put the subject of nepotism out of his mind. He imagined that, had he been able to come, Reno would have been napping peacefully, just as Rufus was. It was unfortunate… Tseng had been looking forward to the assignment up until Friday night. He’d wanted the rookie to see that not every mission outside of the city was like their trip to Gongaga… and he’d wanted Reno to be able to enjoy himself for a short while, after what he’d had to do in the little village.

But he couldn’t just let Friday’s actions slide, even if he’d wanted to… and truth be told, he was still rather angry about it, to boot. Reno needed discipline… and he was going to get it. Even if it meant missing out on a rare trip to Costa del Sol.

“Sir?” Rude inquired softly, next to him. The Turk lieutenant turned to look at him.

“Yes?”

“If it’s not out of line of me to ask… Why’d you end up taking me on this mission and not Reno?”

One of Tseng’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He’d assumed that Reno would have called his friend to inform him of what had happened at some point during the weekend. He’d placed a number of restrictions on the redhead, but cutting him off from his primary means of communication wasn’t one of them.

“Reno… thought it would be amusing to take a little trip on Friday evening,” he explained, “In my car… without a license and without my permission. He was returned to me by the police later that night. As such, I didn’t think rewarding him with a working vacation on the beach would be appropriate. It seemed only fair that you be next in line.”

That… and he’d wanted to separate the two of them to give Reno time to think long and hard about what he’d done. Having his friend around, even if it was only at work, would just provide a distraction from his punishment. Truth be told, that was why he’d assigned Saya to the detail, as well. The woman had a tendency to be somewhat softhearted when it came to the team’s rookies. He knew damn well that she’d have babied him at every opportunity if he’d left her in Midgar.

“… He is still alive… isn’t he, sir?” Rude asked, somewhat stunned by the new information. Tseng smirked. His attachment to his vehicle was rather well-documented amongst the other Turks. After all… it wasn’t everyday that Rufus Shinra personally granted a Turk a gift.

“Yes… Alive and well. Fortunately, I did manage to restrain myself in that respect, at least,” he replied, “… Barely.”

---

The week went by agonizingly slowly for the redhead. Day after day, he followed the same set routine. Morning run while all of the other Turks attended the briefing. Hand to hand training with either Kai or Remy for an hour, followed by solo practice, the gun range, and then the pool while they tended to their assignments. Then the gauntlet, followed by lunch, and a couple hours of forced filing of paperwork for everyone else on the team. He’d very quickly become their office slave in the afternoon, and he hated it. Then it was time for weight training, a second round of hand to hand, another run on the gauntlet, and then straight back to the apartment on the back of Kai’s Ifrit-be-damned motorcycle… because apparently a full day of torture wasn’t enough. He had to be scared half to death on the way home, too.

By Thursday night, Reno was nearly at his limit, both physically and mentally.

He staggered into the apartment and collapsed face down onto the couch with a loud groan. He ached all over. Kai, he was almost certain, had ratcheted up the difficulty level on the gauntlet for his second run that day, and he felt it. He was exhausted.

But it would be worth it. He’d take his punishment like a Turk. He’d make it through this week, and he’d show Tseng that he was serious about not continuing to fuck up. It was just one more day. All he had to do was make it to the weekend. Then Tseng would come home, see that he was behaving, and things would go back to normal.

Reno’s stomach growled loudly, but instead of dragging himself to the kitchen, he curled up in the center of the couch and closed his eyes. He was too fucking tired to eat. Hell, he’d probably end up falling asleep in the middle of fixing dinner and burn down the fucking building with his luck. He’d eat in the morning. Right now, he just wanted eight uninterrupted hours of sleep before his final day of torment.

He woke some time later to the sound of loud knocking on the door, and sat up, startled from a sound sleep. He glanced around in confusion for a moment, wondering who the fuck would be visiting so late at night… until he realized that bright morning sunlight was streaming through the windows. He swore and made his way unsteadily to the door, shaking the fog from his head as he went.

“Rise and shine, my little Turkling!” Kai greeted him with far too much enthusiasm for his taste. “Time to go!”

“I got time for breakfast at least?” he asked. He glanced down at himself, suddenly realizing that he was still in uniform from the previous day. He really must have been tired.

“Sorry… you’ll just have to grab something at the office. I’m running late myself… we’re gonna hit all kinds of traffic if we wait any longer.”

Reno bit back a yawn and nodded, closing the door behind him and following her to her bike.

---

“Kai… a moment?” Veld called out to the younger Turk as she was preparing to head back downstairs to check on the rookie after the morning briefing.

“Sir?”

“I just wanted to ask after Reno. Think he’ll ever do something that foolish again?” the Turk leader chuckled softly. Kai grinned.

“Not after I’m through with him, he won’t.”

“Don’t get carried away,” he replied, holding up a finger in warning. “Tseng asked you to discipline him. Not torture him.”

“Oh, he’s fine. And he’s cut almost thirty seconds off his time on the gauntlet,” she replied dismissively. “We’re going for a personal best today.”

“Kai…” Veld said, a note of warning in his voice, “Remember… he’s still only a rookie. And a very young one at that. Don’t push him too hard on that obstacle course of yours. You could seriously injure him if you’re not careful.”

Kai sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She knew what she was doing. Probably more than Tseng sometimes. Reno would be fine… and he’d certainly never steal another car as long as he lived.

“Yes, sir,” she replied, with a slight grin “I’ll be careful not to break Tseng’s precious little Turkling.”

---

Reno stared at his lunch, trying to will it off the plate and into his mouth. When that failed miserably, he sighed in defeat. His arms felt leaden. Kai had switched things up after the morning briefing. They’d skipped the training hall altogether and gone straight to the gauntlet. Then they’d skipped the gun range and headed back to the gym instead for a run and weight training. He’d done so many bicep curls, that by the time she’d dismissed him for lunch, he’d been worried that his arms were going to fall off before she allowed him to stop.

“Fuck it,” he muttered and leaned forward, dropping his face to plate-level and taking a bite.

Food… real, actual food. He moaned faintly as he chewed. All he’d had time to snag for breakfast were some bagels. Whoever had brought those abominations in this morning ought to have been smacked upside the head. They were just like donuts… except instead of being sweet and delicious, they were terrible and wrong. He’d choked down three of the damn things anyway, owing sheerly to the fact that if he hadn’t, he’d have never made it to lunch.

“Um… What are you doing, exactly?” a voice asked, and the rookie paused in his hands-free assault on his turkey sandwich to glance up at the new arrival. Shay was standing at the opposite side of the table, plate in hand, looking like he was debating on whether he should join the rookie or find somewhere… saner… to sit.

“What? You never seen a guy eat lunch before?” he asked, sitting up straight again.

“Not like a starving, crazed nibelwolf, no…”

Reno snorted a quiet laugh. Maybe he was being just a little bit of a drama queen. He was sore… but not that sore.

“I’m just really… beat,” he sighed. Shay smiled warmly.

“Hey, at least it’s almost over, right?”

“Thank Ifrit…” the rookie breathed. “I just hope Tseng doesn’t think I need another week of this before I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not sure I could take it.”

Shay laughed and dug into his own plate of food.

“Oh, come on… Tseng couldn’t have been that mad at you. I mean… it’s just a car.”

Reno shook his head. “Oh, believe me… it’s more than just a car to him. Found that out the hard way. Plus he wasn’t real happy ’bout me gettin’ arrested again, either. I’ve never seen him so pissed… I’m just gonna keep my fuckin’ head down, do whatever Kai tells me to, and pray I’m not still on his shitlist when he gets back on Sunday.”

“Did I hear a little Turkling call my name?” Kai interrupted, descending upon their table, and ruffling the redhead’s hair. “You done eating yet?”

Reno glanced down at his mostly eaten sandwich, and then back up at the senior Turk. “You in a hurry or somethin’?” he queried. Kai snickered.

“I’ve got good news and bad news… The bad news is that there’s no paperwork for you today,” she said with an exageratingly sad frown. That didn’t exactly sound like ‘bad news’ to Reno. He eyed her suspiciously.

“… What’s the good news?”

“Good news is… You now have time to run the gauntlet twice this afternoon!”

He couldn’t help it… in spite of doing his best not to utter a single complaint all week, he groaned. Twice more?

“… Kai? Are you tryin’ to kill me?” he asked. Her grin widened noticeably.

“Hurry up and finish that… and then meet me at the gauntlet,” she replied, patting him on the head. With that, she turned and all but skipped out the cafeteria doors. Reno sighed and picked up the last bite of his sandwich, popping it in his mouth.

“Shay, do me a favor?”

“Sure… What?”

“If I don’t survive this, tell Rude I’d like my ashes spread over the Gold Saucer.”

“Will do,” Shay snickered.

---

“Come on, Rookie! You’re almost there! Push it!”

Reno would have glared at her… but at the moment, Kai was still about eleven feet above him, and most of his concentration was focused on locating his next handhold. She was right though. This was his second post-lunch runthough. He was almost there. Once he made it up the climbing tower, down the zipline, and through the shooting gallery… his week of punishment would end. He could go home, curl up in bed, and sleep until Sunday afternoon when Tseng returned. He was so close, he could taste it.

The redhead could feel the sweat pouring down his back. He was uncomfortable and sticky and desperately wanted a shower. It was making his hands slick as well, and he hurriedly wiped his free hand across his shirt before reaching up for the next hold.

Apparently, it wasn’t quite enough. The moment he shifted his weight, he felt his fingers slipping. Reno desperately tried to backtrack, but it was too late. He was going down, and that was all there was to it. Twenty feet didn’t see all that high in the grand scheme of things… but the drop seemed to take forever. He was distantly aware of Kai calling his name in alarm, but his attention was more focused on the almost slow-motion approach of the ground.

Seconds later, he hit the mat at the base of the tower, landing on his side with a sickeningly loud crunch. It was several seconds, however, before the pain of the injury actually registered. When it did, though… for a moment, he was certain he was going to pass out. Sharp pain lanced down his left arm, starting at his shoulder and leaving his fingertips tingling unpleasantly.

“Reno! Hang on, it’s alright… ” Kai said, easing him onto his back. The redhead all but screamed, as the movement seemed to intensify the pain tenfold. His vision swam.

“Fuuuck!”

“Sorry… sorry… Where’s it hurt?” she asked, her voice surprisingly calm.

“Shoulder…” the rookie ground out, and the woman’s fingers were immediately prodding the injury, making his breath catch in his throat. He let out a low, pained moan at the slight pressure.

“Crap. Okay, well… that’s definitely dislocated. Anything else hurt?” Reno shook his head, and Kai carefully helped him sit up. “Come on. Let’s get you down to Medical. They’ll have you fixed up in no time.”

Reno winced as she pulled him to his feet and slipped beneath his good arm to support him. For a moment, he vaguely wondered why. His legs were just fine. It was his arm that felt like it had been torn halfway off. He figured it out as he took the first step towards the exit and nearly fell over as the movement jostled his shoulder slightly, sending another wave of agony coursing through him. He was suddenly glad she was there… because he almost certainly would have fallen over, otherwise.

They made their way to the elevator and down to the ninth floor, where Kai helped him through the door to the medical bay. A younger male doctor was apparently on duty today. He looked at the new arrivals through narrow, wire-rimmed glasses for a moment before hurrying over.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Fell a good twenty feet from a climbing structure in the gym,” Kai explained for him, “Shoulder’s out of joint.”

“Any other injuries?” the doctor inquired, escorting them over to a small exam table, “Any dizziness, vomiting, double vision?”

Reno shook his head. “Tch… Landed on my shoulder, not my head. And it’s fuckin’ killin’ me. Can’t you do somethin’, already?”

“Yeah, come on, doc… pop that sucker back into place. He’s really hurting.”

The doctor shook his head as he examined the redhead. “It’s in the wrong position for a dislocation. It looks to me like it’s separated. He’s torn the ligaments between the collarbone and the shoulder blade. Sorry… but he needs an x-ray before we do anything. Trying to rearticulate a shoulder that’s not actually dislocated will only make things worse. I’ll give him something for the pain, and then arrange to have him taken to Midgar General.”

Reno groaned. Great… so much for ending the week without screwing something up.

The doctor disappeared behind a screen for a moment… only to emerge holding a large needle. Reno cringed. This just kept getting better and better…

---

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Reno wasn’t feeling a damn thing. Whatever that doc had given him… he liked it. He grinned up at Kai, somewhat dazed.

“Heh… I feel pretty good now,” he said, and wondered why his speech seemed so heavily slurred. “I don’t think we need to go to the… hostital… hopsicle… hostilcal…” he frowned. None of those sounded right. “… ya know… the doctor place… after all…”

“Trust me, Reno… We need to go,” she snickered, as the orderlies wheeled him inside, “Think that guy might’ve given you just a little too much. You’re high as a damn kite.”

He blinked in confusion. Was that what this was? He honestly didn’t know… The one, and subsequently only, time he’d taken something trying to get high, he’d ended up hiding in a closet for a couple hours, convinced that some nameless, faceless person was trying to murder him. He’d had a lingering sense of paranoia for days afterwards. He’d never tried that shit again, and for years had wondered why so many people seemed to think it was so great. If this was what it was supposed to feel like… he suddenly understood.

“Now what’s this, then?” a familiar voice asked before he could respond. Dr. Ward was approaching rapidly, and Reno tried to sit up, grinning. Kai hurriedly coaxed him back down, as the doctor joined them. “Oh, my little headache… How in Shiva’s name did yeh do this ta yerself?”

“Heh… her fault,” he replied, still grinning madly as he pointed at Kai with his injured left arm. Or tried to point. He found that he couldn’t really lift it very well, and it just sort of flopped to one side. The redhead laughed, and tried it again, only to achieve the same result. Ward quickly seized him and held him still.

“For Odin’s sake… When Alonso called to tell me that one of my patients was being admitted, he didn’t say anything about drugging him out of his mind! How much did he give the poor thing?!”

“I don’t know but… he was pretty loopy the whole trip here,” Kai replied.

Dr. Ward shook her head and directed them to a room down the hall. “Well… at least he’s not in pain fer the moment,” she sighed, “Let’s see ta getting that x-ray done, and find out just how much damage there is. If he’s lucky we can get him inta a sling and an ice pack and call it a day. If he’s not… he may well be in fer a bit of an operation.”

---

Reno, as it turned out, was not lucky. The x-ray showed that the ligament had completely detached from the bone, leaving his shoulder unanchored. Ward had quickly scheduled him for surgery to have it reattached, but it would have to wait until tomorrow morning. In the mean time, he was receiving regular doses of pain killers… which, after the initial novelty had worn thin, had soon become less than pleasant.

“I don’t think I like this anymore…” he whispered to the empty room. Everything seemed… distorted. Sounds, faces, the way the bedsheets felt against his skin… even the smells that surrounded him. Though the latter might have been due more to his inexperience with hospitals than with the drugs. It was like living in some bizarre, not-quite-right world than he couldn’t leave… and it was starting to freak him out.

Worse, Kai had run off somewhere a short while ago, leaving him alone with his thoughts. And those thoughts had taken a turn for the dark. He’d failed. He couldn’t go one goddamn week without fucking something up. The fact that he was laying in a hospital bed, pumped full of painkillers, waiting to have his shoulder surgically reattached or whatever, was proof of that. Tseng was going to be so… disappointed. Again.

What was he going to do if the Turk lieutenant decided he just wasn’t worth the hassle anymore? Could he even be a Turk if his mentor gave up on him? He doubted it. After all, if Tseng didn’t want him, who would? And if he wasn’t a Turk, he’d have no way to support himself up here on the Plate. He didn’t have any real skills… unless, of course, someone was in need of a seventeen year old bartender who wasn’t even allowed in the bars topside.

He’d end up back in the Slums.

His chest tightened uncomfortably at that thought. He couldn’t go back to that life. He’d never be able to take it after this long. He’d die down there. The same way his mother had. He didn’t want to die…

He suddenly felt overwhelmingly restless, the need to move outweighing the need to avoid aggravating his injury. The blanket on top of him was too constricting. He felt as though he was suffocating, and he shoved it aside, kicking it to the floor. It didn’t help. He couldn’t breathe right. Every time he took a breath, if felt as though someone were sitting on his chest, preventing his lungs from filling.

He was worthless. A screw-up that no one really wanted, least of all Tseng.

His breathing was rapid and forced now, leaving him dizzy as he sat up in bed, trying to alleviate the sense of pressure on his chest. He somehow managed to find his feet, standing shakily next to the bed. The tile floor was cold underfoot, and he suddenly found that he was much too warm. He dropped to his knees first, feeling the slight tug of the annoying little monitors Ward had stuck all over him as they started to pull away from his skin. He didn’t care. He slowly dropped the rest of the way to the floor, savoring the delicious coolness of the tile against his skin.

There was a sharp pinch as the IV pulled free of his uninjured arm, but he didn’t give a shit about that, either… though he did wish that irritating beeping would quit already. Some of the tightness in his chest eased in this new position… but still, he coughed weakly trying to catch his breath.

“Reno?!”

Kai was suddenly kneeling next to him, and he whimpered softly in distress.

“Don’t let him send me back…” he pleaded, ignoring the frantic calls for Dr. Ward and the subsequent arrival of medical personnel to lift him back into bed. They didn’t matter. He just kept repeating those six words, over and over again, until darkness mercifully claimed him.

---

Kai paced near Reno’s bed, pausing occasionally to glance over at the pale redhead in concern. Ward had ultimately had to sedate him. She looked up as the door to the room opened, and the doctor returned.

“What the hell was all that?” she demanded. Ward shook her head.

“That was a drug-induced panic attack. Apparently he doesn’t respond well ta narcotic painkillers… a little fact I’ve added ta his medical records in very large, very bold print so that we don’t have a repeat of this the next time he ends up here,” the aging doctor responded as she checked on her patient. “Though in the interim, it is going ta be a bit of a problem, seeing as he’s going ta be in quite a lot of pain until we get that shoulder fixed… not ta mention the recovery time. I can give him non-narcotic alternatives, but they probably won’t be nearly as effective.”

Kai sighed, and looked down at the rookie again. Tseng wasn’t going to be happy about this.

“Out of curiosity… do yeh have any idea what he meant by ‘don’t let him send me back’?” Ward asked as she was taking the sleeping teenager’s blood pressure. Kai shrugged.

“I’d assume that ‘he’ is Tseng. And there’s really only one place anyone could send him back to.”

“… The slums,” Ward said, gravely. She shook her head. “Why would he be worrying about something like that?”

“… Uh… Tseng’s kinda ticked off at him at the moment. Or at least he was before he left town on assignment. Reno pulled a pretty stupid stunt last week and got himself arrested,” Kai replied, before adding, “But he’s not that ticked. And even if he were, he’d never just dropkick the kid back down there. Reno knows that.”

“Are yeh so sure about that?” the doctor asked. She didn’t wait for a reply. “Well… At any rate, he seems ta be resting comfortably enough now. We’ll keep him sedated fer the time being, and I’ll see what I can do about moving that surgery up a bit. The sooner the better, I think. Yeh can go home if yeh like. I’ll take good care of him.”

Kai snorted derisively.

“You kidding, Doc? Tseng would absolutely kill me if I just left him here. Hell, he’s probably gonna kill me anyway for letting him get hurt in the first place. Assuming Veld doesn’t get to me first,” she said with a sigh, “He warned me about pushing him too hard on the gauntlet.”

“Hmph… a pity he has ta suffer in order fer yeh ta learn that lesson,” Ward replied, before turning from her patient. “I’ll be back ta check in on him later. Yeh’ve been here enough over the years, I’m sure yeh already know where the coffee machine and the like are.”

With that, she retreated, leaving the senior Turk alone with the rookie. Kai shook her head and stepped over to Reno’s bedside, lightly running her fingers through his hair.

“I’m really sorry about this, kiddo. You weren’t supposed to get hurt.”

---

Tseng had just settled in for the night. The President had insisted upon turning in early, as they’d be leaving first thing in the morning. It had taken some cajoling to convince Rufus to do the same, but the Turk had finally managed to convince him to head off to bed, leaving the small security team free to retire as well. Saya was already asleep when he’d looked in on her, and Rude was making his way back to his own bed the last he’d seen of him.

The Wutaiian sighed contentedly and shut off the light. It had been an utterly textbook, and enjoyably relaxing, assignment. Everything had gone smoothly and all that remained was the trip home in the morning. It wasn’t often that absolutely nothing went wrong.

So naturally, the very moment that thought had entered his head, his PHS rang.

Tseng grimaced and turned the light back on, before reaching for the phone and noting the caller ID with no small amount of trepidation. Justinia Ward did not call him for anything trivial. Especially not at nine-thirty at night. There were only a handful of reasons she’d be contacting him and not, say, Veld right now… and most of them had to do with a certain red-haired seventeen year old.

“Tseng here,” he quickly answered, fearing the worst.

“I know it’s late… and before yeh get yerself all worked up, no, it’s not, strictly speaking, an emergency. I just thought yeh might appreciate a little advance warning.”

“… Advance warning about what, exactly?”

“Yer little rookie is here with me at Midgar General. Seems he took a bit of a tumble on that Shiva-forsaken obstacle course yer so fond of and separated his shoulder. He’s scheduled fer surgery in the morning.”

Tseng swore loudly in his native tongue, and climbed out of bed, stalking toward the window and gazing out towards Midgar.

“Yeh watch yer language, young man. Don’t think I don’t recognize cursing just because it’s being done in Wutaiian. Now then… he’s going ta be just fine, but he’ll be on restricted duty fer at least a week. Probably closer ta two. I suggest yeh plan accordingly. Incidentally… it’s his left arm, so… if yeh were thinking about putting him behind a desk, I don’t think he’ll be much good to yeh as a secretary fer awhile.”

Though he appreciated the information, frankly, finding something for the redhead to occupy himself with for the next two weeks was the farthest thing from his mind right now.

“May I speak to him?” Tseng asked.

“I’m afraid not. He had a bad reaction ta some medication. I had him sedated ta calm him down… and so that he doesn’t have ta suffer through the night without any pain relief, since I’m a little hesitant ta just go experimenting ta see he what he can and can’t tolerate right before surgery.”

Tseng sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he took a seat on the edge of the bed. The fact that he was presently a ocean away from an injured rookie – one that should have been right there alongsidehim – didn’t sit well with him.

“There is one more thing,” Ward continued, and he could hear the slight hesitation in her voice.

“What?”

“He wasn’t entirely… lucid… at the time, mind yeh, due ta the medication. But before I sedated him, he kept repeating something. Right up until he drifted off, in fact. Kai doesn’t seem ta think it’s anything ta worry about, but… I think yeh still might want ta sit him down when yeh get home and find out what’s going through that boy’s head.”

Tseng frowned slightly in concern. “What did he say?” he asked.

“Don’t let him send me back.”

The Wutaiian Turk exhaled slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“He knows I’d never do that. I took great care to assure him as such the last time this came up.”

“Well… as I said. He wasn’t exactly with it at the time, and painkillers’ll do funny things ta people who have a sensitivity to them,” Ward replied. “Still… it might not be such a terrible idea ta reiterate that yer not about ta abandon him. Seems the notion’s still floating about somewhere in the back of his mind.”

“Thank you, Justinia. Is anyone staying with him?” Someone had damn well better be staying with him… and that someone better have been Kai if she knew was was good for her.

“Kai’s sitting with him. Don’t yeh worry. We’ll take good care of him until yeh get here. If Kai’s got yer schedule right, he should be in the recovery ward by the time yeh land.”

“Noted. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Tseng. Try not ta worry. He’s in good hands.”

He ended the call and set the phone aside. Reno would be fine. There wasn’t a physician on the planet he trusted more than Justinia. As she’d said… his rookie was in good hands. And it wasn’t as if he could actually do anything, even if he were there right now.

Of course… that knowledge didn’t make sleep come any easier to him.

---

“Reno…”

The redhead couldn’t seem to open his eyes. His eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Just trying to lift them was exhausting. For that matter… he couldn’t move much of anything else at the moment, either.

Where in the nine hells was he? He couldn’t seem to remember shit. He had a vague recollection of falling… and then intense pain. After that, everything was muddled and hard to sort out.

“Hey, Turkling… Come on. Can you hear me, or what?” the voice asked, and the rookie turned his head slightly towards its source.

“Mmph…”

Nope. No good on talking, either. The fuck was wrong with him?

“Oh, fer Shiva’s sake… Don’t pester the poor thing. He hasn’t fully come out of the anesthesia yet…” a new voice replied. He felt a gentle pressure against his chest as he was enveloped in warmth. Fingers lightly brushed his hair back from his forehead.

Anesthesia… he knew that word. It was one he’d only recently added to his vocabulary, during a conversation with Luca about injuries he’d sustained on the job. Crap… had he been hurt? His head felt like a jumbled mess, and he couldn’t think clearly. The redhead tried to reach out toward the voices, only to be assailed by sudden pain the moment he moved his arm. He gasped softly, eyes reflexively flying open. He squinted in the somewhat harsh light that he suddenly found himself bathed in.

“Yeh keep that arm still, yeh daft thing. Yeh’ll pull yer stitches out if yeh go waving it about!” Dr. Ward chastised. The redhead groaned faintly and turned his head to his left, taking stock of the bandages that were wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm. They encircled his chest, as well, keeping the appendage immobilized… unless he forced it to move.

He blinked slowly as some of the confusion cleared. He’d fallen. He’d been climbing the gauntlet’s tower, and he’d fallen just as he was nearing the top.

He also remembered the sound it had made when he’d hit the floor very clearly. His shoulder was aching slightly after the attempt at moving it. Apparently it hadn’t been a good sound.

“Hey,” Kai interjected, peering down at him. “How ya feeling?”

The redhead blinked again and then closed his eyes.

“Hungry…” he murmured. Starving was more like it. How fucking long had he been here? He remembered now… Kai had dragged him back to the fucking obstacle course right after lunch. They’d been at it until nearly quitting time… and then he fell. He briefly opened his eyes again, this time turning his gaze toward the windows. It was daylight. At the very least, he’d missed dinner and breakfast. Maybe today’s lunch, too.

“Well… that settles it. If his first thought is food, he must be fine,” the senior Turk snickered. Ward scoffed, and pressed a button on the wall, raising the head of the bed until the rookie found himself sitting up.

“There, now. Better?” she asked, and Reno nodded. “Yeh just sit back and relax. Yeh’ve only just come out of surgery. Yeh can eat once yer a little more awake. It’ll be a bit before yer feeling yerself again.”

“What’d I do?” he asked, groggily. He remembered falling. He remembered the crunch on impact with the floor. He vaguely remembered staggering down to Medical with Kai. Beyond that, though… it was still a blank. Obviously he’d done some serious damage to himself. He wondered just how serious.

“Yeh tore a ligament in yer shoulder. Caused it ta separate. Nothing we couldn’t fix for yeh, but yer going ta be laid up fer a bit, and probably more than a little sore while yeh recover.”

The redhead sighed and let his head flop back against the pillow.

“Tseng’s gonna be pissed…”

“Yeah. Thanks for reminding me,” Kai said, dryly. “I almost managed to forget how much trouble I’m gonna be in.” She shook her head and sighed. “Well… at least he won’t find out about this for another hour or two. Got some time to put my affairs in order.”

Ward chuckled softly.

“Oh… I informed him Reno was here last night.”

“You what?!” Kai all but shrieked.

“Well, he is Reno’s legal guardian,” the doctor huffed, clearly annoyed, “Of course I notified him.”

“Oh, man… I’m dead,” Kai groaned.

---

Tseng sat somewhat rigidly by Reno’s bedside. The rookie had been sound asleep when he’d arrived twenty minutes ago, and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to wake him. In fact… he wasn’t entirely certain he could wake him… He hadn’t so much as stirred when a nurse had come in to check on him a short while ago. Normally, the slightest sound or physical contact seemed to rouse him immediately. Right now, though, the redhead was dead to the world.

Ward had said he’d come through surgery with no problem. So long as he took it easy, and kept the injury immobilized, he’d be good as new in two to three weeks.

Reno made a soft, vaguely irritated noise, and attempted to roll onto his side… only to be prevented from doing so by the pillows Ward had tucked in on either side of him to stop him from doing just that. Apparently the realization that he was trapped on his back was enough to pull him from sleep. A moment later, blue eyes fluttered open, and almost immediately locked onto Tseng.

“How do you feel?” the Wutaiian Turk asked. Reno flinched slightly as he shifted position.

“Like I fell off a climbing tower, I guess…”

Tseng snorted a soft laugh. “I suppose that makes sense, given how you got here.”

He reached out and brushed a few stray locks of hair off of the rookie’s forehead. Unexpectedly, Reno pulled his head away from his touch and dropped his gaze.

“… I’m sorry.”

Tseng frowned slightly and shook his head. “Haven’t we already been through this once?” he asked. “Hmph… come to think of it, you were under Kai’s supervision that time, as well. You are not at fault for the mistakes of those training you.”

“… I mean for bein’ such a… ya know. Such a disappointment. I tried… I really, really tried. I couldn’t even make it through the week without doin’ somethin’ stupid.”

Tseng blinked in shock, not quite certain how to respond to such a statement. At last he simple shook his head.

“What in Leviathan’s name put the idea that I consider you to be a disappointment into your head?”

“You said so. Before you left,” he replied, daring a glance up at his mentor. Tseng groaned and found himself automatically pinching the bridge of his now between his thumb and forefinger. If this kept up, he was going permanently disfigure himself doing that.

“Reno… I said I was disappointed in your behavior and lack of judgment. And I most certainly was and still am. It was inexcusable. But I never said or meant to imply that you are a disappointment to me. And I certainly would never hold you accountable for an accident during training that, from what I’ve been told, resulted from your supervisor pushing you to the brink of exhaustion. I will be speaking to Kai about that, however…”

“So… you’re not still ticked at me for takin’ your car without askin’?” the redhead asked, cautiously.

“Annoyed, would be more accurate, at this point,” Tseng replied, smiling faintly. “But I think before we discuss that any farther, I think there is something I need to be very explicit about with you.”

Reno visibly cringed, apparently expecting the worst.

“Reno… You are not prefect. And you never will be,” he stated, calmly. “I’ve yet to meet anyone who is, and I don’t expect you to be the first. I only expect you to do the best you are capable of. Last Friday absolutely did not fit that criteria…”

“… Yeah,” the redhead whispered, staring down at his fingernails.

“That being said, I want there to be absolutely no uncertainty about one matter in particular. I will not, under any circumstances, return you to where I found you. And I don’t want you to fear that. Ever. I give you my word… No matter what you may do, I will never send you back to the Slums.”

“Not even if I turn out to be a total fuckup as a Turk?” the rookie queried. Tseng chuckled quietly.

“You won’t. But no… not even if Veld personally ejected you from our ranks with extreme prejudice,” he replied, gently lifting the teenager’s chin until he could see his eyes. “I’ve… grown to care about you Reno. I could never simply abandon you.”

The rookie awkwardly turned his head away from his mentor and gave a somewhat self-deprecating snort.

“Well… Now I feel pretty fuckin’ stupid.”

Tseng chuckled lightly, and moved closer. “Perhaps next time… just ask when you’re uncertain of something. I’m sorry I left you with the impression that you had somehow failed me. You’re… very self-reliant, Reno. Sometimes I forget that you’re still only seventeen and don’t always react like an adult.”

The redhead’s stomach suddenly gave an angry growl.

“Uh… not to kill the mood or anything… but I think I’ve missed like four or five meals at this point. Can I please eat somethin’?” he asked with a pleading expression. Tseng smirked.

“… And then there are times when your age is painfully obvious,” he snickered. “I’ll go and check with Dr. Ward.”

The Turk lieutenant stood and left the redhead on his own, quietly closing the door to the room behind him as he went off in search of the doctor. A short distance down the hall, he spotted another familiar figure instead, however, and quickly approached on silent feet, coming to a halt directly behind the woman as she retrieved a cup of coffee from the vending machine.

“Kai.”

The younger Turk yelped in surprised and dropped the cup as she turned to confront the unexpected interloper.

“Goddammit, Tseng… That was the last of my change,” she said, glaring at him.

“This is the second time I’ve left Reno in your care and returned to find him injured.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “For Shiva’s sake… it was an accident. And the kid’s going to be fine.”

Tseng crossed his arms over his chest. “Forgive me if I’m having a difficult time believing that,” he replied, coolly, “It wasn’t so long ago that you accused me of using him to prove something. As I recall, your sentiment was along the lines of ‘I’m going to get him killed and his blood will be on my hands… just like Allisa’s.’ If this is about her, then kindly have the decency to say so to my face. Don’t take it out on a teenager who had nothing to do with it.”

Kai narrowed her eyes as him. “It. Was. An. Accident,” she repeated, “Fuck you, Tseng. You and I have our issues… but I’m not some fucking psychopath who’d go after a fellow Turk just to get back at you. I happen to like Reno. Everyone does, in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t want to see him hurt any more than you do… so don’t go making bullshit accusations that have no basis in reality.”

He was silent for a long moment, staring at her appraisingly, before finally backing down.

“I believe you,” he replied. He turned and started down the hallway again, intent on resuming his search for Dr. Ward. “Still, Kai. This was the second time. There will not be a third,” he added, without looking back.

~end chapter 32~