Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 37: Winter is Coming

The snow stuck around for most of the week. Then it largely melted off… and then it snowed again, blanketing the city in white once more. This time, though, it looked to be staying for the long haul. Winter was officially here, and there was no going back.

Tseng shuddered just looking out the window. Where he’d grown up, snow was unheard of, save for in the mountainous regions… and even then, only near the peaks. The majority of Wutai was borderline tropical most of the year. The worst they ever got in the lowlands in the winter were days upon days of chilly rain.

Winter was one of the few things Tseng had never managed to grow accustomed to in Midgar. The drastic change from fall, when, for the most part, once could make do with light jacket until fairly late in the year, always seemed to hit him abnormally hard. He suspected that his first cold of the year wasn’t far off.

It never failed. No matter how well he took care of himself, he inevitably ended up spending a week or more sniffling and sneezing at his desk shortly following the first snow. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to it… and he hoped that Reno wasn’t as prone to such weather-related illnesses as he tended to be. It made him miserable and cranky, and he wasn’t quite sure how he’d deal with having to care for both himself and someone who was just as miserable and cranky as he was.

He could already feel the fatigue seeping in.

He sighed in resignation and refilled his mug with more tea. His mother had always considered it a cure-all. Any time he’d ever been ill as a child, she plied him with it until he felt as though he might burst. Honestly, he had no idea whether or not it actually helped… but it certainly couldn’t hurt. As a result, he’d almost always nearly doubled his rate of consumption when the weather grew colder, lest he suffer even more than usual for lack of the liquid’s alleged healing properties.

“Coffeeeeeee…” a sleepy voice groaned from the direction of the hallway, and Tseng chuckled quietly as he turned to greet his… mostly awake… rookie.

“Good morning to you, as well,” he teased. The redhead shot him a halfhearted glare and dragged himself into the kitchen, where a fresh pot already awaited him. Tseng had finally given in and purchased a coffemaker. The rate at which the redhead went through it had made it cheaper than continuing to buy instant coffee in the long run… as well as more efficient in the mornings, as he could simply set it to brew while he prepared his own breakfast, so that it would be ready once Reno finally dragged himself out of bed. The caffeine usually perked the teen right up, and tended to result in him being more likely to be ready to leave on time.

Reno poured himself a cup and stirred in his usual ridiculous amount of sugar before gulping it down and repeating the process. It wasn’t until the third cup that he finally seemed to finish waking up.

“Mornin’…” he said at last, with a wide yawn.

“You seem tired,” Tseng replied, smirking slightly. Reno rolled his eyes.

“Tch… You’d be tired, too, if you’d been stuck on a stakeout with Remy ’til two in the fuckin’ mornin’. Thought those assholes were never gonna turn up.”

“It went well, then?”

Reno had been assigned to the senior Turk for his very first stakeout. Really, Tseng would have preferred to have gone with him himself, but other duties had prevented him from doing so last night. The redhead shrugged.

“I guess. I mean… they eventually showed up. We nabbed ’em. End of story. Not real difficult… just boring as all fuck,” he replied, shaking his head. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Remy, but she’s not real big on conversation when she’s workin’. Think I mighta started talkin’ to myself at one point outta sheer desperation.”

Tseng snorted softly in laughter. He he was well acquainted with the young woman’s personality. Remy wasn’t always the friendliest of Turks… not because she disliked her colleagues, but simply because she tended to be extraordinarily focused on the task at hand, and deeply annoyed by anything that broke that focus.

“Well… you’ll be happy to know that we should have a relatively easy day ahead of us. Escort duty in the morning, and… as something of a treat for you… Veld has informed me that I’ve been putting off your flight training for far too long. Apparently self-preservation and personal terror are not valid reasons to delay preparing you for your pilot’s certification.”

The rookie choked on the sip he’d just taken.

“I finally get to fly the copter?!” he cried, excitedly.

“No… you get to practice in Soldier’s flight simulator. Actual instruction will start once things have thawed a bit. Icy weather can result in all sorts of complications that a novice shouldn’t be expected to handle.”

“Long as I finally get to get started…” the redhead said, grinning. “So how long’s this escort shit gonna take?”

“Most of the morning, I suspect. Rufus is Christmas shopping for his father, and he can be rather… picky.”

Reno groaned loudly. “… Rufus? I gotta spend the whole fuckin’ morning with that dick?”

Tseng laughed and finished off his tea.

“You can’t avoid him indefinitely, Reno. And don’t think I haven’t realized that that’s precisely what you’ve been doing. He is the vice president of the company, and you will have to learn to work with him.”

“Uggggh… But he’s such an asshole.”

“If the two of you would give each other a chance, I’m quite certain you would find that you actually have a lot in common. But regardless of your personal opinion of him, he is your superior and mine. This petty grudge you have against him cannot continue… at least not while you’re on duty.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Reno sighed. “Fine. I guess I can put up with the brat without stranglin’ him for a few hours.”

“That’s all I ask. For now,” Tseng chuckled.

---

“I gotta go,” Rude said softly. Warm arms encircled him, and Margaret tenderly nuzzled his chest.

“See you tonight?” she asked, and the rookie flashed her an apologetic grin.

“Sorry… I promised to help Reno with something. Tomorrow night?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Him again. Seriously, Rude, I don’t know what you see in that idiot.” She cuddled up to him and pressed a gentle kiss against his throat. “All he ever does is cause you trouble.”

“… He’s my best friend. And he’s no worse than Abigail,” he teased. He snickered softly. “In fact, he’s pretty much the guy version of your best friend.”

“Except that Abby’s never gotten me arrested,” she laughed. “Please,Rude? You see him all day at work. You can hang out with him another time. I really want to see you tonight. My parents are in town to visit for a couple of days. I… was kind of hoping you might come out to dinner with us.”

Rude blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected that.

“… You… want me to meet your parents?”

Margaret smiled and let her head rest on his chest. “Mmhmm… and they’re heading off to Kalm to see my sister tomorrow morning, and then home to Nibelheim. So it really needs to be tonight.”

“… I guess Reno wouldn’t mind too much if I helped him out some other time…” Rude replied, rolling over and pinning her. She giggled as he kissed her.

---

The morning briefing seemed to drag on for ages. As Reno soon found out, all of the members of the executive board were entitled to personal escorts any time they wanted them… and according to Saya, it wasn’t unusual for escort requests to triple over the holidays. Not so much because there was any sense of increased danger… but rather because a few of the executives had discovered that shopping with a couple of intimidating Turks standing at their back often netted them shorter waits in line and easier wins in arguments with other shoppers over items that were in short supply. Heidegger, apparently, was one of the worst offenders. In fact, the man had no fewer than five separate requests in at the moment, which would keep an escort team tied up for the remainder of the week and into next, including weekend duty.

Luca and Shay were stuck with him for most of those requests. Having to babysit Rufus for the morning was suddenly looking a lot less unappealing to the redhead. He hid a yawn, and tried to pay attention to Veld, who was presently handing out assignments to those of his Turks that hadn’t been roped into escort duty yet. Apparently, he didn’t hide it quite well enough.

“Am I boring you, Reno?” the Turk leader asked. The redhead quickly sat up and shook his head.

“No sir… Remy just kept me up all night,” he replied, and smirked at the senior Turk sitting beside him. “You wouldn’t believe how demanding she can be when she’s got ya in the back seat of a car.”

A round of sniggers quickly erupted from the other Turks seated at the conference table, and and even Veld laughed quietly. Remy, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at the rookie.

“I really should have known better than to ask,” the Turk leader chuckled. “As I was saying… Tres. I need you and Rude working with the twins today on that purported leak from the biologics department. If someone in the company is really talking to the press about the Soldier program, I want it quashed immediately. Have a… chat… with the reporter as well.”

“Yes, sir,” Tres replied.

“Alright… you all have your assignments. Dismissed.”

There was a loud shuffling of chairs as the other Turks stood and made their way to the door. Remy, however, remained right where she was, still angrily eying the redhead.

“If you think you’re going to get away with embarrassing me like that, you’ve got another thing coming to you, Rookie,” she declared. Reno snickered and got up, intent on following Tseng out into the hallway.

“Ah, lighten up Remy. It was just a joke. No one thought I was bein’ serious about that shit.”

“Hmph.”

He flashed her a wide grin and ducked out the door, finding his mentor waiting for him.

“I hope you’re not planning on coming to me to save you when she enacts her revenge,” he said, smiling, “Come on… Rufus is expecting us in ten minutes.”

“Yeah, ‘kay… lemme just go grab my coat,” Reno replied, and hurried off to his office. Rude had beaten him there, and was already gathering his own supplies for the day. “Hey… you lookin’ forward to tonight?”

The bald Turk turned and awkwardly cleared his throat. “… About that. Can we do it another time?”

“Why? Somethin’ come up?”

“… Well…”

The redhead rolled his eyes. “No… Don’t tell me. Margaret wants ya to do somethin’ with her tonight. Come on, man. I asked ya to help me with this like a week and a half ago. How fuckin’ far in advance do I gotta book time with you these days?”

“… Sorry. It’s just… it’s kind of important. And we’ve got over a month and a half before you move out. You don’t need to start getting stuff right this second.”

“Yeah… but I wanna have at least some idea of what I want so I’m not runnin’ all over Midgar like a maniac tryin’ to make my new apartment livable. ‘Sides… if they got somethin’ I like, I wanna put it on layaway ‘n start payin’ on it now, so I’m not completely broke within a week of movin’ outta Tseng’s place.”

Though he’d been more than a little nervous about it at first, Reno had warmed to the idea of having his own apartment surprisingly quickly. In recent weeks, he’d actually found himself looking forward to it, in fact. So much so that he was eager to start looking for items to furnish said apartment with. Rude was supposed to help him out.

“We’ll go this weekend. Okay?” Rude offered, and the redhead sighed heavily in disappointment.

“Yeah… alright. Fine. Catch ya later, then.”

“Move it, Rude! We got a tight schedule to keep!” Tres called from out in the hall. Rude gave his friend a quick wave and hurried to report to his mentor. Reno grabbed his coat from the hook by the door and hesitated a moment longer.

He was starting to wonder just how serious Rude really was about this girl. Lately, about ninety percent of his off-duty time seemed to revolve around her, and the redhead wasn’t the least bit ashamed to admit that he was getting a little jealous of the fact. He was glad Rude seemed so happy with her… but for fuck’s sake, now the guy wasn’t just spending all his time with Margaret… he was ditching plans they’d made together well in advance.

He didn’t like to think it, but Reno was beginning to worry that Rude just… liked her better. And really, how was he supposed to compete with a girlfriend, anyway? It wouldn’t the first time he’d been dumped by a friend in favor of a chick over the years… but it would definitely be the first time he’d been dumped by one he’d grown as close to as Rude. It stung. In fact, it stung even worse than when Rude had so callously turned down his invitation to visit Lira because of what his girlfriend might think of him hanging out with a prostitute. That,at least, he’d apologized for – profusely – the following morning… and had even ended up joining him, in the end. This, though, felt different. It cut much deeper than a few poorly chosen words.

He shook his head and pulled on his coat. He’d have to worry about that sort of thing later. Right now, he had escort duty. With Rufus.

---

Tseng sneezed – again – and uttered a faint groan behind a handkerchief. He’d known this was going to happen. He’d been hoping that he was wrong when he felt it coming on almost as soon as he’d woken up that morning… but as the day wore on, he found himself growing more and more weary. And then the sneezing had started.

“Barely three weeks into the snowy season and you’re already sick?” a somewhat bored-looking Rufus snickered in response.

“Three weeks may well be a new record for me,” the Turk lieutenant replied, in a put-out tone of voice. “And the others wonder why I so dislike this time of year.”

“Hmph… well, do try to keep your germs to yourself. I’m going to Icicle Inn this weekend and I refuse to cancel my plans over a Shiva-forsaken cold.”

“I will endeavor to avoid contaminating y-you–” He sneezed again, more violently this time. “… sir.”

“Uh… you sure you’re up for this, Boss?” Reno asked somewhat cautiously, turning to glance back at the pair seated behind him in the company limousine. He’d been relegated to the front, next to Rufus’ driver, but the partition that would normally separate the two sections had been left down.

“It’s only a cold. I’ll manage… as I must do every year,” Tseng sighed. The car pulled up in front of a large department store in Sector 4, and the driver hurried to hop out and open the door for his passengers… leaving the redhead to fend for himself. Reno grumbled softly at the slight – and he didn’t miss the smug look on Rufus’ face as he did so – and stepped out onto the street, rounding the car to join Tseng and the vice president.

They made their way inside, and Reno couldn’t help but be impressed by the high-end store. He’d been to plenty of the businesses in the sector… but nothing like this. He had a feeling that most of what they sold here was well out of his budget. Rufus paused briefly, inspecting a small display of designer wallets, before continuing on farther into the store. It didn’t take Reno long to realize that he was making his way over to the jewelry counter.

“Hmm…” the blonde man murmured, peering into one of the display cases filled with gold and diamond cufflinks, tie clips, money clips and the like. “I had been considering a watch… but Father already has so many.”

Reno suppressed a groan and hung back slightly, content to simply stand guard while Rufus perused the store’s wares. To be honest, he never really got the appeal of shit like that. Most of it was pretty gaudy, in his opinion. The only reason to own a diamond-encrusted gold tie clip was to be able to say you owned a fucking diamond-encrusted gold tie clip. A cheap one did exactly the same thing.

He shrugged. Whatever… What Rufus got his dad for Christmas was none of his business.

Nearly two hours later, however, the redhead was just about ready to pick out the damn thing for him. Rufus had inspected dozens of items and found them all lacking. Worse, the entire proceeding was punctuated at intervals by Tseng’s sneezing, and the senior Turk was looking decidedly more tired than he had earlier that morning.

He hoped Tseng was right, and it was just a cold. It seemed to be hitting him awfully hard, though… and it had come, more or less, out of nowhere. The man had been perfectly fine just last night.

At last, Rufus shook his head.

“These simply won’t do. Come… Let’s try elsewhere,” he declared.

It went on in much the same vein for six more stores. At the seventh, Rufus hesitated, and Tseng seemed to shake himself from the slight stupor he’d fallen into during the car ride.

“Sir…” he said, somewhat quietly, as Rufus was stepping out of the car. “Are you sure you –”

“Stay with the car, Tseng. You’re clearly not feeling well,” Rufus said, shortly, cutting him off. The Turk leader opened his mouth to protest, but Rufus shot him an annoyed look and snapped his fingers at the redhead. “Hurry up, Slum Rat. We’ve wasted enough time on this errand. Surely there must be something my father will like here. And that was an order, Tseng. Stay.”

Reno muttered something unflattering under his breath, but hurried to respond to the summons. Though… he couldn’t be too irritated with the young executive. Tseng waslooking less than stellar at the moment, and he was glad the brat wasn’t going to drag him around yet another store.

“Reno…” Tseng said quietly, before he could climb out. “Please keep a close eye on Rufus here. Bring him back immediately if anything seems… amiss.”

“… Boss?” Reno queried, slightly confused by the odd request.

“Now, Slum Rat…” Rufus insisted, and the redhead rolled his eyes.

“I’m not gonna kill him. I’m not gonna kill him,” he sighed to himself, and climbed out to join his current assignment without waiting for an answer. Reno silently followed the vice president inside, through a set of revolving doors, and couldn’t stop the low whistle that escaped his lips at the sight that greeted him. If the previous stores had been out of his budget… this one he couldn’t have afforded if he’d sold his soul. Rufus smirked at him, very smugly amused by his reaction.

“A bit above you usual standard, Slum Rat?” he asked, snottily. “Of course, I suppose when one spends most of one’s life digging through dumpsters and sleeping in filth… just about anything more civilized would be well above standard.”

Reno ignored the comment and simply followed the older boy deeper into the store, towards the jewelry counters near the back. He still didn’t quite understand what made Rufus seem to hate him so much… though he had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t merely to do with his life before the Turks. He’d seen Rufus interact with Tres on several occasions and there was none of the animosity… none of the name calling. If anything, Rufus seemed to have a certain amount of respect for Tres, however tenuous. He got the distinct impression that the whole ‘slum rat’ bit was just an attempt to get under Reno’s skin… though the why still eluded him.

He saw Rufus’ gaze wander towards the registers as they passed them by, and for a moment, the man looked almost… nervous. He pointedly turned away from them and continued his trek to the jewelry counter. Reno frowned slightly. Was that what Tseng had meant by ‘amiss’? He shook the thought from his head and dutifully stood guard while Rufus looked over a batch of mythril watches.

Some twenty minutes later he finally made a decision, opting for one of the most expensive models, and ordering the clerk to wrap it for him.

‘Thank fuck,’ Reno thought to himself. This assignment was nearly over. He trailed behind the vice president as they were shown to the registers to check out, biting back a yawn. It was nice to have an easy assignment after having been up half the night watching an empty warehouse from the back seat of Remy’s car… but still. This was incredibly boring and he had to put up with the brat.

He watched Rufus out of the corner of his eye as he paid for his purchase and they waited for the gift to be wrapped… and all the while, the executive seemed to become more and more anxious and fidgety. When the clerk stepped away for a moment to retrieve more ribbon from the back, the redhead took the opportunity to get some revenge for the the trip thus far.

“What’s up with you?” he asked, and grinned, clapping the older boy on the back hard enough to knock him forward a couple feet. Rufus jumped in sudden fright. He spun and glared at the Turk.

“Do. Not. Touch me,” he growled through gritted teeth. Reno actually backed up a step, so intense was Rufus’ anger.

“Whoa… Easy, sir. It was just a joke.” He held up his hands, placating and backed off, wondering what the hell that was all about. For his part, Rufus seemed to realize that his response was more than a little out of the norm and quickly schooled his expression. He turned away from the Turk, and calmly straightened his tie… though it did nothing to detract from the slightly pale hue that had come over his features.

“So… You okay, sir?” Reno cautiously ventured.

“Perfectly fine,” the executive responded, haughtily.

“… If you say so,” he said, though it was more than apparent that the Turk wasn’t buying it. Rufus remained stubbornly silent until the clerk returned with his wrapped purchase. He thanked the man, and took his leave, his escort hurrying to keep pace with his rapid exit.

“I suppose you expect an explanation,” Rufus spat as they neared the doors.

“Uh… wouldn’t mind one. But I’m not expectin’ anything, sir.”

“Good. Because I have no wish to discuss it. Particularly with a slum rat like you.”

They stepped through the doors and made the short walk to the waiting limo, whereupon Reno turned to get into the front seat. Rufus, it seemed, had other plans, all but shoving him into the back ahead of him and climbing in behind.

“Back to office, Emil,” he commanded the driver. Reno blinked in slight confusion as he settled himself into the plush seats. Rufus calmly reached over and pressed the button to close the partition, giving them some privacy.

“Sir?” Tseng queried.

“I’m fine,” Rufus snapped.

“Rufus…” the senior Turk tried again. The executive didn’t answer this time, merely folded his arms over his chest and sank back into the seat. “I would have come with you… ill or not. There was no need do that on your own.”

“Tch… and what exactly am I?” Reno muttered, slightly miffed at the dismissal of his presence. Tseng shot him a look that plainly told him to be quiet and rested a hand on the Shinra heir’s shoulder. Rufus snorted softly.

“Go on, then. I’m sure you’re planning on filling him in on the intricate details of my anxieties at some point, aren’t you? You seem to tell the little urchin everything anyway.”

Tseng didn’t seem bothered in the least by Rufus’ cold tone. Reno, though, blinked as something finally clicked into place for him… and he wondered how he’d missed it before. Rufus didn’t like him… because Tseng did. It was much the way he himself felt about Margaret, but taken to the extreme. Rufus was jealous that the redhead suddenly commanded more of Tseng’s attention than he did. He didn’t have long to ponder his new realization, however.

“Rufus hasn’t been in that store for… several… years now. Nor, for that matter, have I…” He smiled slightly, “Not that I have much call to shop in this part of the sector, regardless.”

“… ‘kay…” Reno replied, an eyebrow rising in curiosity. The limo merged into traffic and started back towards the city center. Tseng shook his head slightly.

“You’re already aware that Rufus was nearly kidnapped as a child. That store is where it happened. And… where he lost his mother.”

The executive seemed to shrink down in the seat slightly, as if bracing himself for something. It didn’t take Reno long to figure out what. He was expecting mockery for his weakness. Or maybe just cold indifference. The redhead wasn’t inclined toward either. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back, out of his eyes and slowly exhaled.

“… Your braver than me, sir,” he said at last. “I still haven’t been back to where my mom died. And I don’t ever plan on goin’.”

Rufus glanced up at him in surprise, but didn’t comment. He simply cleared his throat awkwardly and refocused his attention on the window.

“Ah… we’re nearly there,” he commented, as they neared the entrance to the Shinra Building’s parking deck.

It was only once the vice president was escorted safely inside, and the two Turks had stepped aboard the elevator to return to headquarters, that Tseng finally spoke again.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” the redhead asked, curiously raising an eyebrow. Tseng chuckled quietly, only to be interrupted by a loud sneeze.

“For saying what you said. Rufus has always been a very proud young man… He despises showing any sort of weakness. Sometimes to his detriment. I think hearing that you don’t view his reaction as such… made it easier for him.” The Turk lieutenant was suddenly assailed by a coughing fit, that left him leaning against the wall of the elevator.

“Uh… Boss? Maaaaaybe you better take a break. You’re not lookin’ so great. Or soundin’ so great.”

“I’m perfectly fine. I have no intention of being brought to my knees by a Leviathan-forsaken cold. Now… we’re due at Soldier headquarters in an hour for your flight sim training. Why don’t you go and get some lunch before we start?”

“Have it your way…” Reno replied with a shrug, “But don’t blame me when you’re on the floor coughin’ up a lung ’cause ya didn’t take my advice.”

“Duly noted,” Tseng said, with a faint chuckled. “You are officially absolved of any and all responsibility for my general health.”

---

Reno was a little surprised to find that he was the only Turk in the cafeteria… though, given all the escort requests, maybe he shouldn’t have been. Schedules were bound to be all over the place for awhile. He shrugged and got in line, hurrying to procure a portion of whatever was on offer today.

He grimaced slightly at the options. Sad-looking broiled chicken, which he knew from experience tasted positively vile… tuna casserole, that he’d repeatedly been warned against ever attempting to ingest by nearly everyone on the team… and some sort of murky vegetable-beef soup. He finally picked the soup, along with some mashed potatoes, a couple of bread rolls, and a large slice of blueberry pie. Dessert, at least, the cafeteria staff had a hard time fucking up. He carried his plate over to an empty table and sat down, spearing a bite of the pie first.

“Yer supposed ta eat yer dessert after yeh’ve finished the rest of yer meal,” a familiar voice chastised from behind him. Reno turned and spotted Dr. Ward making her way over to him.

“Why?” he asked, smirking.

“So yeh have room for the more nutritious food. Filling up on sugar just isn’t healthy.”

“Tch… Give me a break, Doc. If there ever comes a time I can’t finish what’s in front of me, you better be around… ’cause there’d be somethin’ seriously wrong with me.”

Ward laughed, and gave her patient a soft pat on the shoulder.

“Yeh do have a point there, I suppose.” She looked him over appraisingly for a moment or two before finally nodding in approval. “Well… yeh seem ta be filling out a bit, at least. Finally. I’d still like ta see yeh put on a bit more weight, though.”

Reno rolled his eyes dramatically. “Five seconds ago you were complainin’ about me starting with dessert, and now you’re complainin’ about me bein’ too skinny. Make up your mind, Doc.”

“I just want yeh healthy,” she chuckled. “I see enough of yer lot with all the injuries yeh seem ta sustain. I don’t like seein’ any of yeh sick ta boot.”

Reno snickered quietly. “Well… then you’re not gonna wanna run into Tseng any time soon…”

“Oh? And just why not?” the aging doctor asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Guy’s been pale as fuck and sneezin’ his head off half the mornin’. I told him to take a break, but he just said ‘no Leviathan-forsaken cold is gonna kick my ass’. Or… ya know… somethin’ along those lines.”

“Did he, now… ?” Ward responded with a deep frown, folding her arms across her chest. “Hmph. Seems I’ve one more patient ta see before I take my lunch break…” She turned to take her leave, only to pause and glance back at the redhead. “And what have I told yeh about watching yer language?”

“… Sorry,” Reno sheepishly answered.

---

Reno stepped out of the elevator about ten minutes later. He’d cut his lunch short, eager to get started on learning to fly the helicopter, and hoped that Tseng hadn’t wandered off on him. He was just turning the corner towards his mentor’s office, when out of nowhere, a pair of hands grabbed him and dragged him bodily into one of the other offices.

“Yeh dinnae want ta go down there just yet…” Sato said, gravely, gripping him firmly by his right arm.

“Aye… Yer in a wee bit ‘o trouble, sweetie…” Saya echoed with a slight giggle, her hands holding him by the left arm just as tightly.

“W-what?” Reno asked, looking back and forth between the pair in alarm. “What’d I do?!”

Sato suddenly broke out in a wide grin. “Yeh snitched on Tseng’s what yeh did,” he snickered. “Ward’s in his office right now, tellin’ him off right proper fer workin’ sick.”

“Don’t get us wrong… the man’s a bloody workaholic ‘n frankly, he looks like he needs ta be in bed at the moment… but dear Odin is he ever gonna be pissed at yeh when the good doctor’s through with ‘im,” Saya added.

The redhead groaned, and sagged in their grasp. He never should’ve opened his damn mouth… or at the very least he should have been smart enough to tell Ward not to mention names when she went up to see his mentor.

“One of you wanna do me a favor and kill me? If I let Tseng do it, I’m pretty sure I’ll suffer… ‘Least you guys might show me some mercy and make it quick.”

“Saya?” a voice called from the hallway. A moment later, the stern-looking figure of Veld appeared in the doorway. “Have you seen – ah… Reno. There you are.” The Turk leader smirked slightly and stepped into the office. “Tseng has just been relieved of duty for the day by order of the medical staff. I’m sending him home to rest. You’re with Remy for the remainder of the afternoon.”

“Just the afternoon, sir?” the redhead replied, and Veld chuckled.

“I’m sure he won’t be feeling quite so murderous by the time you’re done for the day… though you could always sleep here, if you’re that worried about what might befall you at home. Remy is in her office.”

“Yes, sir.”

---

Reno instinctively braced himself as the view through the cockpit’s windshield spun crazily and the sound of the craft’s warning alarms blared painfully in his ears. A moment later, a deceptively friendly female voice informed him that the simulation was complete and the view in front of him shifted to display his rating.

“That was terrible,” Remy stated. “Let’s reset and try it again.”

“Ya know… I’m startin’ to think you’re enjoying watchin’ me fail.”

It was the twelfth time he’d crashed… and it had easily been the most spectacular crash of the bunch. Somehow, he’d drifted into a strong crosswind and been blown backwards before he could compensate. The tail rotor had struck the communications antenna, which had sheered off half the back of the helicopter and sent him spiraling, out of control, over a thousand feet to the ground. He’d torpedoed into Number Four Substation B, and – the computer informed him – annihilated three square blocks of the shopping district with the resulting explosion… an estimated death toll of five hundred and forty.

Remy smirked and pressed the reset button.

“Again,” she repeated, “We have time for one more attempt. And this time, try not to kill anyone.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Reno muttered, turning back to the controls. The takeoff went smoothly. He was actually getting pretty good at that part. And this time, when the crosswind hit him, he was ready for it, and steered hard to the left to avoid the antenna. “Ha! How’s that?”

His moment of triumph was short-lived. The engine failure alarm shrieked out a warning, and a moment later, the controls went dead.

“The fuck?!” he shouted, no idea what he’d done wrong this time. The aircraft dropped like a stone, slamming into the roof of the Shinra Building, teetering on the edge for a a few seconds until, with the painful squeal of metal on concrete, it plummeted over the side, tumbling as it went. The view through the windshield almost made him nauseous.

“Simulation complete,” the digital voice intoned, and the screen flashed up a failure message, along with a estimated death toll of thirty-five.

“Okay… I give. How’d I fuck up that time?”

Remy leaned back in the copilot’s seat. “You didn’t,” she replied.

“… The hell ya mean, ‘I didn’t’? Obviously I fucked something up. If that had been real, I’d be splattered across half of Sector 0.”

“Hmph. Sometimes things aren’t pilot error. Sometimes the equipment just… fails,” she replied, and he was almost certain the woman smirked at him briefly before quickly schooling her expression. Reno’s eyes widened.

“You did that on purpose!”

“Yes. I did.”

“Why?!” he demanded, glaring at her.

“Because it’s a good lesson for you to learn,” Remy replied. And then she definitely did smirk at him. “And because you embarrassed me at the morning briefing.”

“… You’ve been screwin’ with me the whole time we’ve been in here, haven’t you?”

“I may have set the difficulty level significantly higher than what you’re presently capable of, yes,” Remy said, with knowing smile, “I now consider us even. Don’t make a joke at my expense again.”

“Tch… and I thought Tseng had no sense of humor,” Reno groaned as he freed himself from the simulator’s harness. The senior Turk followed him out, and escorted him to the elevators. Remy snickered as they stepped aboard.

“From what I hear… you’d better hope he does. The last time Tseng took time off for an illness, I believe I was still a rookie.”

The redhead groaned again and pressed the button for Fifty-eight, wondering if maybe he really should consider sleeping at the office tonight.

---

Reno rounded the corner and made his way up to the front door of Tseng’s apartment around six p.m… considerably later than he usually got home after work, but he’d lingered for a short while, talking to the twins once Remy had finished with him before hopping the train to Sector 1, and then had made a small detour to his mentor’s favorite restaurant to pick up some dinner for the two of them.

He let himself in as silently as he could. The television was on, the volume turned down low, and the redhead easily spotted the senior Turk, sleeping sounding on the couch.

Reno hurried to kick his boots off, and hung up his coat, before carrying the bag of take-out into the living room and setting it on the coffee table. Tseng gave a wheezy-sounding cough and rolled over slightly in his sleep, pulling the blanket he was wrapped in tighter. The redhead frowned slightly, reaching out a hand and laying the backs of his fingers across the other Turk’s forehead. It was noticeably warm. Tseng stirred, and a moment later, his eyes fluttered open, straining to focus on the figure beside him. He sat up with a groan.

“What time is it?” he asked, and Reno couldn’t help but notice how scratchy his voice sounded.

“Eh… ’round six,” he replied. “You eat yet? I stopped at Wu Long’s on the way home.”

The Wutaiian chuckled quietly, which quickly dissolved into more coughing.

“There was no need for a peace offering. Ward would have found out eventually, even had you not mentioned it to her. The damned woman has an irritating habit of checking in on me after the weather turns.”

Reno grinned. “Guess I’m not the only one she likes to torture.”

“Hardly. You are only her most recent acquisition,” Tseng replied, smiling faintly. He shook his head. “I’m officially sidelined until my fever is gone… which likely means I will be staying in bed tomorrow.”

“Good. ‘Cause ya look like death warmed over.” At his mentor’s glare, the redhead merely smirked and started unpacking their dinner. “What? If I looked like that, you’d probably make me stay in bed the entire fuckin’ week.”

“Perhaps,” he acknowledged. “Was Veld able to find someone to oversee your training after I left?”

“Yeah. Stuck me in there with Remy. She decided to take her revenge for this mornin’ by crankin’ up the difficulty level to Impossible without tellin’ me.”

Tseng laughed. “Did you manage to learn anything?”

“Tch… how to crash?”

“I would have preferred she teach you how not to do that,” he replied, dryly. “I’m sorry. I know you were looking forward to that training.”

“Another time. We got all winter, right?” Reno said, shrugging. He opened up one of the containers and passed it over to Tseng.

“We do,” Tseng agreed, and then chuckled, “Assuming you refrain from annoying Remy any further…”

~end chapter 37~