Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 42: Moving Out

Reno shoved the remainder of his clothes into a box, haphazardly cramming in as much as he could. There really wasn’t that much to pack… but considering the fact that, when he’d first arrived at Tseng’s apartment, all he had was what could fit in a backpack and the clothes he happened to be wearing at the time, the precariously leaning pile of cardboard boxes was fairly impressive. He actually hadn’t even realized that he’d accumulated so much… stuff.

It felt like a lifetime ago that Tseng had extracted him from Sector 2. It hadn’t even been a year quite yet. He was really going to miss living here. But on the other hand… he had a brand new apartment all his own, right upstairs from Rude, just waiting for him.

Speaking of whom…

“Hey,” a voice prodded him from the doorway, and the redhead glanced up from his efforts at closing the over-stuffed box. “Ready to start loading?”

“Just about,” Reno replied with a grin, “This is the last one. So… I still haven’t seen the place. Any idea what it’s like?”

Rude shrugged. “Everything in the building’s pretty much the same until you get to the top couple of floors. Yours is probably just like mine…” He glanced at the stack of boxes. “You sure that’s everything?”

“Think so.”

“Not quite,” Tseng stated as he strolled up behind Rude. The older rookie quickly ducked out of his way, and Reno smirked as he spotted what his mentor was holding. “I would, after all, hate to deprive you of your one true love.”

“Heh… So no custody battles over her, huh?” the redhead snickered, accepting the coffee maker. Tseng smiled.

“I think I can manage to content myself with my tea.”

Reno turned and took one last look around his former bedroom.

“… Guess that’s it, then.”

Rude nodded and hefted one of the boxes, carrying it out to his waiting truck. The redhead sighed almost inaudibly and a moment later, Tseng’s hand gently squeezed the back of his neck hitting a pressure point and all but forcing the rookie to relax slightly.

“You are always welcome here.”

“Heh… Yeah. I know,” Reno replied, turning to him with a grin.

“Good. Then let’s get you moved out so I can finally have some peace and quiet,” the Turk lieutenant teased.

---

“Where do you want this?” Rude asked, as he followed his friend through the door of the apartment.

“Eh… anywhere. I’ll sort shit out later.” He was far too enthralled with exploring his new home to care about something as trivial as unpacking. It wasn’t large… Hell, it was nowhere near as roomy as Tseng’s place was, consisting of a kitchen that spilled out into a living room, separated only by a small, waist-high wall that jutted out across part of the opening, and a doorway on the far side of the room that led into the bedroom, which, in turn, held doors leading to a small bathroom and a cramped closet. A sliding glass door on the wall across from the kitchen offered access to a narrow balcony.

The place was furnished… in that there was a bed and a pair of beat up wooden chairs and a rather worn looking couch abandoned by the former tenant. Reno peered into a couple of cabinets in the kitchen and found a somewhat mismatched set of dishes and utensils, and one badly dented frying pan.

All in all… it was as Rude said. Pretty much just like his apartment downstairs, but lacking the the lived-in feeling of an occupied abode. Tseng ran a fingertip along the top of the little dividing wall and grimaced slightly at the dust it collected.

“First… a little cleaning is in order, I think. And then we’ll see to getting some more appropriate furnishings,” he said, and glanced over at the bare windows. “Or at the very least, some curtains.”

Reno laughed and made his way into the bedroom to take a closer look. It really wasn’t bad. A little dusty after having been uninhabited for a few weeks, maybe, but he didn’t really mind that. And at least he didn’t have to mess around sleeping on the floor tonight. The bed looked plenty comfortable. With a grin, he flopped down onto it… and yelped in surprise when the mattress started moving underneath him, prompting him to scurry back to his feet almost immediately in order to assess the threat level it presented.

“… What the actual fuck?” he said, to no one in particular, and hesitantly prodded the bed with one finger. The mattress beneath the sheets undulated lazily. Tseng peered through the door, a concerned look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

Reno shook his head and pointed. “The bed’s fuckin’ moving!” He poked at it again to demonstrate.

Tseng chuckled and ducked back into the living room.

“It’s only a waterbed. If you don’t care for it, we can always drain it and replace it,” he called back to him.

The redhead eyed the oddity with no small amount of uncertainty before at last slowly lowering himself down onto it again and laying back. As he did so, his eyes widened.

“… Oh, dear Ifrit… This is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever laid on.”

Rude poked his head in, smirking. “So… not draining it, then?”

“No one is gonna fucking touch this bed. This bed is the greatest thing ever. Why the fuck would anyone leave this behind?!”

“Think we’ve lost him, sir,” Rude called back over his shoulder to the Turk lieutenant with a snort of laughter.

---

By the time Monday rolled around, Reno was mostly settled. There were still a few things he’d need to buy eventually, but all in all, he’d managed to make his new little home very cozy in the short time he’d been in residence. Rude had insisted on helping him pick out new cookware to replace the rather pathetic frying pan they’d found in the kitchen… not that he was likely to be doing much with it, but he supposed it never hurt to have it on hand, just in case one day actually learned to cook. Tseng had joined him in picking up the handful of items the redhead had put on layaway awhile back in preparation for the move… the first of which was a massive TV which Reno had immediately hooked his new game system up to.

But by far his favorite part of the entire weekend had been his first night alone in his new waterbed. He’d fallen in love with the damn thing… and more to the point, he’d slept like a log, which was unusual for him.

So much so that his alarm startled him badly enough that he very nearly fell… overboard. Fortunately, the sides of the bed kept him safely on the mattress. He yawned as he sat up, stretching, and crawled out from beneath the blankets.

As much as he would have liked to sleep in a little, he was riding to work with Rude this morning, and he didn’t want to keep his friend waiting. Eventually, he was planning on getting a car of his own, now that he was officially licensed to drive, but was a little torn on what he actually wanted. He could get some shitty, beat up piece of crap now, which would get him from point A to point B. Or he could hold off for awhile and save for something nice. As tempting as the instant gratification of buying a piece of crap was… having a car he actually liked seemed to be winning out. And, as Tseng had pointed out, it was probably a better investment, in the long run.

In the mean time, there was always Rude… and barring that, the trains weren’t really all that bad.

Right now, though, he didn’t have time to think about his future car. He needed to get up, get ready for work, and get downstairs to meet up with Rude.

Fifteen minutes later, he’d showered, dressed, and was bolting down a bowl of cereal and his third cup of coffee. He smirked slightly wondering what Tseng would think of him skipping out on his run this morning in favor of staying in bed longer. He couldn’t exactly say that he disliked not getting up before the sun had even properly risen to jog four miles… though he knew he probably shouldn’t get into the habit of slacking off on training. He’d built up a fair bit of muscle over the past nine or ten months, and while he was still skinny as a rail, he had some noticeable definition to his body now… and vain as it might have been to admit it, he didn’t want to lose it.

Lira, for one, certainly seemed to approve of his new physique… He grinned slightly, thinking about bringing her here. As far as he knew, Lira’d never been on the Plate before. And, after all… he still needed to break in that new bed of his. Sex on a moving surface ought to be something of an experience. And… maybe he could make her stay a little more… permanent… while he was at it. He was making good money. He had a place of his own. There was no reason why she couldn’t stay with him, even if she wanted to eventually get her own apartment. She didn’t need to keep selling herself down in Wall Market. There was lots of work up here for people who wanted it. Hell, maybe he could even get Tseng to pull a few strings and find her something at Shinra Company. He could see her maybe working on forty-eight with Izzy or something. The two of them would be best friends within about five seconds.

That would have to wait though. A quick glance at the clock told him that he was going to be late getting downstairs if he kept getting lost in thought. He finished off his breakfast and grabbed his coat, pulling it on as he was walking out the door, and caught the first elevator down. Rude was already waiting for him when he stepped out… if by ‘waiting’ one meant making out with his girlfriend.

“Mornin’,” the redhead grinned, unabashedly interrupting. “Guess I don’t really gotta ask what you got up to last night.”

Rude hurriedly broke away from Margaret, blushing. The woman, meanwhile, openly glared at the interloper.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” she asked in a clipped tone.

“Heh… Yeah. Same place as Rude. And he’s kinda my ride, so…”

Margaret rolled her eyes and gave Rude one last kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Reno snickered softly. “Guess I don’t really gotta ask what you’re doin’ tonight either…”

She shot him a vaguely disgusted look and turned on her heel with an audible ‘Ugh…’ before heading out towards the parking lot.

“Do you have to say things like that around her?” Rude asked as she slipped out the door.

“I s’pose I don’t have to…” he said, smirking.

“… She really doesn’t like it, Reno.”

“Tch… Alright. I’ll try ‘n tone it down a little.”

“Thanks. Ready to go?”

“Ready when you are,” the redhead replied.

---

Luca greeted the pair less than a second after they stepped into headquarters.

“Don’t bother taking your coats off. You two are with me and Remy today… and we’re heading out of town, soon as I rustle up the necessary equipment.”

They didn’t have time to ask where they were going. The senior Turk slipped past them and into the elevator they’d just vacated, disappearing from view moments later. Rude raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses, and Reno could only shrug in reply.

“Guess we just wait here for him?” the redhead suggested.

“No, you come with me, so I can get you two briefed,” a voice replied, and Reno turned just in time to spot Remy rounding the corner, walking swiftly towards them. She didn’t pause… merely continued straight past them, down the hallway toward her office. The pair of rookies looked at one another for a moment, and then wordlessly followed.

“I apologize if I seem rushed, but Veld wants us moving out in fifteen minutes,” she continued as they stepped into the room.

“What’s goin’ on?” Reno asked.

“We have thief. Or more specifically, the materia research department has one. Some very rare materia samples seem to have walked off overnight. The lab is restricted, and all but two people with access are accounted for. Luca tracked down some emails that pointed to one of them meeting up with a buyer. ”

“Meetin’ ’em where?”

“Icicle Inn,” she said. “I hope you two aren’t sick of snow yet… because there’s a lot more where we’re going.”

---

Tseng was silent, lost in thought, as he sat in the chair opposite Veld.

“Are you going to drink that, or just sit their staring into the depths of your tea for the next few hours,” the Turk leader chuckled, rousing his lieutenant for the first time in several minutes.

“I don’t see why I couldn’t have gone in Remy’s place.”

“Because you can’t always be there to back Reno up. While his training is your responsibility, he needs field experience working with others on the team, as well. Without you. And you yourself suggested pairing him up with Rude more often. Besides… you have your own assignment to look after, which is just as important as theft of company property.” He snickered quietly. “I would think you’d appreciate a day or two to yourself. There is quite a bit of planning involved, after all, and don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve been putting it off.”

Tseng snorted a soft laugh and finally deigned to take a sip from his mug. “Point taken. I suppose I’m just… not quite ready for it. Moving him out of my home was difficult enough. Hell Week means he’s yet another step closer to –”

“To not being your rookie anymore,” Veld finished for him. The Turk leader shook his head. “No one stays a rookie forever, Tseng. I didn’t, you didn’t, and Reno won’t either. Time marches on, and we march right along with it.”

“I am acquainted with the concept of the passage of time, sir.” He smiled slightly. “Though… I suppose a reminder never hurt. It simply doesn’t seem that long ago that I recruited him, sometimes. Now he’s going on missions without me… training for his pilot’s certification… living on his own. He hardly needs me now.”

Veld laughed openly at that statement.

“Tseng, that may be the most ridiculous thing that’s ever left your lips. He’s still a rookie, and even after he’s promoted off of probationary status, he’ll still be the youngest Turk we’ve ever had. You were far more mature than he is when you made full Turk. I don’t think I need to remind you how long you lasted before calling me at two in the morning because you –”

“Let’s not speak of that incident,” Tseng quickly interrupted. “Ever. Especially in front of Reno.”

Veld smirked. “I trust I’ve made my point, then?”

“Yes, sir,” Tseng said, smiling slightly.

“And… Hell Week?”

“Will begin next week, as scheduled,” Tseng acknowledged.

“Good. I have to admit, I’m looking forward to seeing whether his score on the strategy eval was a fluke or not. And if it was not, I want that boy’s IQ tested. I’d very much like to know just how smart that little smartass of yours really is.”

---

Reno stepped out into a cold that could only be the result of winter on a glacier, and coughed as it almost immediately took his breath away. The boat that had carried them there rocked lazily back and forth in the narrow bay as he made his way across the deck. Apparently, someone had decided that a helicopter with the Shinra logo painted on the side might spook their quarry. Thus, their arrival had been somewhat less than ostentatious.

“Holy crap,” he muttered as the others joined him. “The air actually hurts my goddamn face. Why the fuck would people wanna live somewhere that the air hurts your face?!”

“Yeah… Kinda sucks this time of year,” Luca agreed, “But you drop by in the spring or summer or even early fall, and it’s some of the best skiing on the planet. I come up every year for a week – or two, if I’ve got the vacation time saved up – in the summer and stay with my grandad. He used to be a world champion downhill racer back in the day, ya know. Of course… I always preferred my snowboard to skis.”

“We’re not here on vacation,” Remy declared, redirecting them towards the town. “And we have quite a walk ahead of us.”

She started of, disembarking the ship and began the slow trudge towards the resort town in the distance. Reno shivered violently and zipped his coat up as far as it would go, before nudging his goggles down over his eyes and hiking his scarf up to cover his nose and mouth. The less bare skin exposed to the weather, the better, in his opinion.

The trail leading to Icicle Inn was well marked, but iced over and the snow had drifted in several places, making the task of finding ones footing interesting to say the least. Rude slid unsteadily on a particularly slick spot, and probably would have faceplanted had the redhead not wedged himself under his arm to support him until he regained his balance. His fellow rookie nodded a quick thanks and continued on, following Remy and Luca.

By the time they reached the village, Reno could hardly even feel his fingertips. Luca led them up to a small cottage and knocked at the door. A few moments later, and old man answered.

“Luca?” he queried, “What in Shiva’s name are you doing back here so soon, lad? I barely sent ya home a week ago!”

The senior Turk grinned widely. “Wish I could say I just couldn’t stay away from the ski slopes… but we’re here looking for a thief. Could use a place to warm up while we wait for our targets to show themselves.”

“Well, get inside,” he replied, waving them through the door. “Come on, now… hurry up before we let Old Man Winter in along with you.”

Reno didn’t need telling twice. The door shut behind him and he groaned in relief as he spotted the wood-burning stove in the corner, flames glowing brightly from withing. He yanked his gloves of with his teeth and held his hands out over it, sighing as the heat permeated his half-frozen digits.

“Grandad, this is Remy… and these two are Rude and Reno.”

The old man smiled widely and held a hand out to Remy. “Salvator Bishop. Pleasure to finally meet a few of you face to face. My grandson’s told me all about his fellow Turks.”

“Hopefully within the confines of the company confidentiality agreement,” Remy replied. Luca grinned widely.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not giving away trade secrets or anything. I just enjoy telling stories… like that time you and I were undercover in Mideel trying to infiltrate that smugglers ring and you ended up getting so hammered trying to keep up with them that you –”

“Finish that sentence, and I will kill you,” the senior Turk stated, and joined Reno over by the stove to warm up. The rookie glanced over his shoulder at Luca.

“… You’re gonna tell me that story, though, right?”

Remy glowered at him. “No. He’s not.”

“Sorry, kid,” Luca said with a shrug. Remy gave a curt nod and wandered off over to the window near the front door. Her fellow Turk let a smile creep over his face and winked. “I’ll tell ya on the way home,” he replied in a whisper.

---

It was some hours later. Night was falling rapidly, and Reno had to do a double-take at the clock to confirm that it was really only 3:30pm. He glanced out the window again, watching darkness settle over the snowy town.

“… the fuck?” he murmured, more to himself that the other three Turks.

“What?” Luca asked, joining him, and peering out into the evening shadows.

“It’s three in the afternoon…”

His fellow Turk snorted a soft laugh and ruffled the rookie’s hair. “Yeah? We’re also less than a hundred miles from the pole, genius.”

The redhead eyed the older Turk curiously, searching his memory for a reason why that statement would make any kind of sense. When it became obvious that he really had no idea what his superior was talking about, Luca snickered. Rude, at last, took pity on him.

“They only get about three hours of daylight up here in the winter. Sun barely even makes it over the horizon this time of year.”

“Yep,” Luca added, “We got here right about the peak of the afternoon… that’s as light as it gets.”

Reno blinked somewhat owlishly as he processed that. “… So you’re tellin’ me that not only does the fuckin’ air hurt your face here. It’s also dark like… ninety-nine percent of the Shiva-be-damned day?!”

“Eighty-seven and a half percent,” the other teen replied, with a smirk, “You’re terrible at math.”

“Seriously, man… why the hell would anyone wanna live here?” the redhead said, somewhat exasperated… and vaguely annoyed that he’d been expected to just know something like that. He was perfectly aware that there were likely… gaps… in his education, but he didn’t need it pointed out and laughed at.

“Will you three pipe down? I’m supposed to be watching for our target.”

“Because poking fun at the rookie’s gonna make him harder for you to spot?” Luca chided. “And besides which, you’re the one who volunteered to take the first watch. Tres is right, Remy… you really need to lighten up once in awhile.”

“Some of us take our job seriously, Luca,” she shot back, never pulling her gaze away from the window. “And some of us don’t think mocking someone for not having the same advantages growing up that you did is all that funny.”

That statement very quickly put a stop to the quiet snickering coming from the other two Turks… something for which Reno was grateful. Remy may have been a stickler for the rules, a killjoy, and an all around pain in the ass most of the time because of it, but you certainly couldn’t accuse her of being unwilling to call someone out when they were being a dick.

Rude cast him an apologetic look, and for a moment, Luca looked as though he intended to say something as well… but he never got the chance.

“There he is,” Remy said, rising from her position by the window.

The four of them hurried out into the darkness, which by then had taken hold in earnest. The only illumination came from the windows of the houses, and a handful of lights mounted at intervals on tall poles along the main street. Reno soon spotted a shadowy figure making its way up the front steps of the large inn near the center of town. As he passed under the light above the door, the redhead could see that the man matched the photo they’d been given of their suspect, and had to wonder how Remy had managed to recognize the guy in the dark from that far off.

They broke into pairs, Remy and Luca heading in from the front while he and Rude circled around behind the building to prevent the thief from escaping out the back if he spotted his pursuers. The two rookies were under orders to act as backup only, and leave the heavy lifting to the more seasoned Turks unless absolutely necessary… but Reno couldn’t help but hope that the guy slipped past the others.

His experience in the field was still very much in its fledgling stages. He got out once in awhile, but never for anything especially important or dangerous. He wanted to do more… he just wasn’t allowed to yet. And frankly, it was starting to irritate him. He had almost a year’s worth of training. He knew what he was doing. He wanted the chance to prove it.

A slight movement ahead of the pair of rookies suddenly caught his eye, and he grabbed for the back of Rude’s coat, yanking him to a halt, and all but dragging him – which was no easy task, considering that Rude had several inches and several pounds on him – into the narrow gap between the inn and a small out-building. He ignored his friend’s questioning expression for the moment, opting instead to peek out from his impromptu hiding place at whatever it was he’d seen.

At first, he thought it was just one man. But after several long seconds of staring, he realized that another, smaller, figure was standing in the shadow of the first. A man and a woman, maybe. They seemed to be watching the inn very intently.

“What’s up?” Rude finally whispered, insistently.

“… Think I mighta just caught sight of the assholes our thief is here to meet,” he replied, never taking his eyes off of the pair. The smaller one suddenly darted out of the shadows and through the rear entrance of the building, and Reno saw that it was, indeed, a woman. Wutaiian, perhaps thirty… the ease with which she moved in perfect silence across the the snow took him by surprise. She emerged mere seconds later, before the redhead could even relay what was happening to his fellow rookie, and signaled her partner.

Reno realized, in that moment, that Remy and Luca had been made. The thief’s contacts had noticed something was up and were retreating.

“Come on,” he hissed, urgently, at Rude.

“… We’re supposed to –”

“Come on,” he repeated, as the pair slid back into the shadows. There was no way he was just going let them vanish on him. He was taking those two down with or without Rude. His boots crunched loudly in the snow, and he vaguely wondered how the hell that woman had crossed the same stretch of ground so soundlessly. A moment later, new footsteps echoed his own, as the other rookie hurried to follow.

As they rounded the corner, expecting a chase, Reno had to throw himself to the ground as something – several somethings, actually – sharp and metallic flashed in the light of a street lamp. Kai had thrown enough knives at him in training for him to recognize that sight immediately. He was dimly aware of a series of dull thuds some distance behind him as the blades embedded themselves into something wooden.

“You would be foolish to continue,” a voice said from the shadows.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” he called back, “Two against two seems like pretty even odds to me.”

“You would be foolish to continue,” a second voice repeated… and Reno froze. It had come from behind him. He swore under his breath. He’d been in such a hurry to prove himself that he hadn’t stopped to think, and he’d just been outmaneuvered because of it. Her partner had broken off and flanked them. The sound of a gun being cocked in the darkness was enough to send a chill down his spine.

“That materia would have fetched a good price. Were we not running late for another meeting, we’d see what sort of deal we could barter for it with your lives. That being the case, you’re fortunate there’s no profit for us in killing a pair of Turks today. We’re leaving now,” the woman stated. “Don’t follow. You’ll regret it.”

With that, both of them seemed to vanish, swallowed up by the shadows. It was several long moments before Reno dared breathe again. He looked back at his partner, who seemed to be in a similar frame of mind.

“Rude… the next time I try and do somethin’ that fuckin’ dumb, tackle me and pin me to the ground ’til I come to my fuckin’ senses.”

“Gladly,” the other rookie said with a soft snort, before smacking Reno in the back of the head. He grinned and started back toward the inn, the younger teen trailing a few steps behind him. As they reached the small road behind the the inn, the redhead glanced back over his shoulder. A figure stood at the far end of the ally, silent and menacing, watching them go. He didn’t look back a second time.

“Oh, thank Leviathan…” Remy’s voice breathed in relief, and the pair found themselves being hauled bodily into the building almost as soon as they reached their destination. The twin looks of concern on the senior Turks’ faces were a little hard to miss.

“What the hell happened?” Luca asked, holding up a particularly wicked-looking throwing star, which Reno now saw was engraved with some sort of emblem. “We were about five seconds from going after you two. We found a bunch these embedded in the back wall and assumed the worst. The goddamn Zenshou… figures those assholes would be involved.”

“The… what?” Reno queried, turning to Rude… who could only shrug, just as mystified as his fellow rookie.

“The Zenshou are blackmarket traders operating out of Wutai,” Remy replied, “I’m not surprised you don’t know of them. They’re relatively new. An offshoot of one of the Wutaiian gangs… and quite vicious because of it. Now, what happened?”

Reno shifted somewhat uncomfortably. “Uh… for the record, it was my idea to try ‘n nab ’em. Rude just followed me to make sure I didn’t die.”

“You went after them?!” Luca cried, incredulously. Remy, meanwhile was frowning deeply. She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the two of them.

“Your orders were to secure the back entrance. Nothing more.”

“Yeah, but –” Reno started, only to be silenced by the senior Turk.

“No. You failed to follow the orders you were given. You put yourself and Rude in danger. And you left Luca and I without any backup. What would have happened had we needed you in there? You’re smarter than this, Reno. You need to start acting like it. There’s no excuse.”

The redhead dropped his gaze, conceding the argument.

“I’ll be detailing this in my report, and recommending a formal reprimand. For both of you,” she continued, before turning and heading off to the back room of the inn. As the door swung shut behind her, Reno caught a glimpse of the target they’d been sent after, seated in a chair, his hands cuffed behind his back.

“Ouch,” Luca said once she was out of earshot, “Sucks to be you guys. But you kinda deserved that.”

He shook his head and followed the other Turk to help deal with their prisoner. Reno glanced guiltily over at Rude.

“So… How pissed at me are you?” he asked.

“Hmph… for almost getting me killed and earning me a formal reprimand? … I’ll tell you after Veld and Tseng finish biting our heads off. If we survive it.”

~end chapter 42~