Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 58: Siblings

Reno scowled as he passed through building security on Wednesday. The entire building was on heightened alert. Even the parking deck, which already required you to present a company ID to enter, had added security personnel and checkpoints since last week. It took him almost ten minutes just to get into the damn building… and it was going to remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Tres and Rude had concluded that the threat of a Wutaiian attack on Midgar was a valid one… and both they and Sato and Saya were working to track down any further information on the operation. The rest of the Turks were largely in a holding pattern of sorts. Veld had decided that putting everyone on the same case was akin to advertising to Wutai the fact that they knew what was coming, and the Turk leader didn’t want to tip their hand so soon.

So, while Rude was off playing spy with the little task force, Reno was, for the most part bored out of his mind. Thus far, the most excitement he’d had all week had been sitting in on the interrogation of a man Saya and Sato had brought in earlier. They hadn’t learned much of anything new… but at least it broke the monotony.

Tseng and Rodney had returned from Junon on Monday, and they’d brought Remy with them. The senior Turk had been in a foul mood every time Reno’d tried to talk to her… so for the moment, he’d decided to avoid her until whatever had crawled up her ass finally crawled back out again. If Rodney had noticed the change in Remy’s temperament, he was pretending to be oblivious… though at least he wasn’t bugging her about whatever was on her mind.

Reno sighed and leaned back in his chair, twirling a pen between his fingers as he debated which of the piles of intelligence reports to start on. Even though Dr. Ward had finally cleared him for duty on Monday, with Rude off running around Midgar with Tres, he’d been assigned the tedious task of dealing with the incoming reports on matters not related to the tensions between Shinra and Wutai… and frankly, he was beginning to wonder how Rude managed to get through all this crap without going cross-eyed. No matter how many he read and summarized for Veld and the others, more just kept showing up on his desk.

He groaned in resignation, tilting his chair back onto it’s back legs, as though the physical distance might make the pile look slightly less intimidating.

“Reno?” a voice suddenly called, and the redhead yelped in surprise… not only from the unexpected interruption, but also from the fall he suddenly found himself gracelessly engaged in as his chair tilted back just a little too far. He hit the floor with a loud thud.

“… Ow.”

Tseng snorted in quiet laughter and helped him back to his feet, while Cissnei tried her best to smother her own giggling from just outside his office door.

“I thought you might need a break by now,” his mentor said, shaking his head, “Though the sort that could result from throwing oneself on the floor isn’t quite what I had in mind.”

“Boss, I’m about five seconds from shootin’ myself in the foot just so I got an excuse to drag my ass down to Medical. I seriously need to get away from these things…”

“There’s no need for such extremes,” the Turk lieutenant chuckled. “As it happens, I found Cissnei in much the same mindset a short while ago. I’ve decided to turn the two of you loose for an hour or so, and reserved time in the flight simulator. You may go now.”

“Oh, thank Shiva…” the redhead groaned in relief, heading for the door.

“Incidentally,” Tseng called as the rookie brushed passed, “If you’re not doing anything this evening… my sister is arriving later today. I assume you still wish to meet her?”

Reno paused and looked back, grinning. With everything that had been going on all week, he’d damn near forgotten about the impending visit.

“Hell, yeah, I still wanna meet her,” he replied.

“Good. Cissnei… You’re welcome to join us, as well, if you’re free…”

“Thank you, sir… That would be lovely,” the rookie replied, smiling.

Tseng nodded and waved the two rookies off. Reno flashed him a grin and hurried off toward the elevators with Cissnei in tow.

“Is that really a good idea?” she asked as they made their way down the hallway, “His sister coming? With the way things are right now, I mean… It’s not exactly the safest time to be traveling to or from Wutai.”

“Tch… if she was my kid sister, I think I’d want her as close as possible. Not on the other side of the fuckin’ planet. Especially now.”

“I guess,” Cissnei replied, though she still sounded slightly unconvinced. At last she shook her head. “Anyway, I’m glad we’re finally getting a break. Do you have any idea how aggravating transcribing interrogations can be? Ugh… especially the way Luca mumbles to himself sometimes.”

“If it’s anything like readin’ report after report after report all day… yeah. I got a pretty good idea.”

The other rookie smirked slightly. “Well… at least we don’t have it as bad as Rodney. I think he’s starting to regret volunteering for Veld’s ‘special’ assignment. He looked absolutely miserable when I saw him this morning.”

Reno couldn’t help but laugh at that. Rodney had been the first Turk with his hand in the air when Veld had asked for a volunteer from amongst the Turks still in headquarters… and it had bitten him in the ass. The redheadknew better than to volunteer for something without knowing what it was first, and apparently so did Cissnei… and pretty much everyone else in the room. Which meant that Rodney had ended up filling the roll of official liaison to the executive board all week… working directly under Heidegger.

“Heh… better him than me. Literally. I’m pretty sure I’m still at the top of Heidegger’s shit list.”

Cissnei snickered as they entered the elevator. “Hey… Can I ask you something?”

“If it’s about why Heidegger looks like he wants to strangle me every time he sees me… no,” he joked, grinning widely. His fellow rookie laughed and shook her head in the negative.

“No. Though now you’ve got me curious,” she laughed, “But… no. I was just thinking… does Rude seem… I don’t know, a little down lately? Granted, I haven’t seen much of him this week, but when I do he’s just so… quiet. Er… More than usual, I mean.”

Reno sighed and leaned back against the wall of the elevator car as it carried them off toward the flight simulators.

“Yeah… uh… maybe don’t bring that up around him right now. Girlfriend dumped him over the weekend. He’s tryin’ to play it cool ‘n act like it’s not botherin’ him that much, but… yeah. I think he’s takin’ it harder than he’s lettin’ on. He really liked her.”

“Oh. Wow… Poor guy. That’s always rough.”

“Heh… and that’s why I’m only interested women for the sex. You let ’em hook ya like that, you’re practically beggin‘ to get your heart ripped out.”

Cissnei feigned an affronted look and paused, mid-stride, setting her hands on her hips.

“Oh, is that so…?”

“Er… I didn’t mean you,” he quickly backpedelled… and realized that that probably sounded even worse. “Wait… That didn’t come out right…”

Fortunately, Cissnei just laughed.

“I know what you meant. Just you wait Mr. I’m So Cool I Don’t Need a Girlfriend. One of these days you’ll meet someone who’ll have you changing your tune.”

“Tch… Never gonna happen,” he snorted derisively as the elevator dropped them off.

---

Rude sighed and nudged an empty can away from the edge of the alleyway. With a furtive glance to make sure no one was around, he kicked it, booting into the encroaching shadows with a loud clatter. It didn’t make him feel any better.

And that annoyed him. He was supposed to be out here, keeping watch while Tres was inside talking to one of his more paranoid informants. Instead, he kept finding his thoughts drifting – as they had been for days now – back to Margaret. He hadn’t heard from her at all… and the times he’d tried calling her, she hadn’t picked up.

Deep down, he knew it was over. But his heart stubbornly refused to give up the tiny flicker of hope that if he could just talk to her, they could still work this out. He’d even gone so far as to plant himself outside of her apartment building last night, waiting for her to get off work… until he’d suddenly realized how stalkerish skulking around in the landscaping made him look and awkwardly beat a hasty retreat home before she’d shown up.

He knew he needed to let it go… but he just couldn’t seem to do it.

“Rude…”

Maybe if he sent her something. Flowers… something. Just to let her know that he still cared about her, without actually pushing his physical presence on her.

“Hey… Rude.”

Or would that just make things worse? She’d made it pretty clear that they were done. And even if she didn’t mean it… or meant it at the time but was having second thoughts… maybe he should just give her time to reevaluate rather than making pleading overtures.

“Fuckin’ A… Rude!” Tres’ voice – and not-so-gentle smack to the back of his head – broke in on his silent musings over his love life. Rude stumbled forward a step or two before turning to face his mentor, a decidedly embarrassed look on his face. Tres, meanwhile, looked less than pleased.

“Okay… What’s goin’ on with you? And I don’t give a shit if it’s none of my business. You’ve been mopin’ around since Monday, and now you’re out in the field, lookin’ like you’re thinkin’ about everything except your job. Fuckin’ lucky I wasn’t some asshole comin’ up on ya with a knife. What gives?”

The rookie mentally groaned.

“…”

Tres folded his arms over his chest and stared him down.

“We ain’t goin’ nowhere ’til you spill it…”

“… I got dumped,” he finally admitted. Tres rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Goddammit…” he muttered, shaking his head in exasperation, “Fuckin’ teenagers. Alright, you listen, and you listen good. I like ya, kid, but you need to pull your head outta your ass and focus. We’re lookin’ at a potential war here… and trust me when I say, Wutai doesn’t give a shit about your love life. That girl? She doesn’t matter. The job matters. Work now… sulk later. Or get yourself a rentgirl for the night. Whatever, so long as it’s on your own time. Otherwise I’ll send ya back topside to sit behind a desk ’til you can pay attention to somethin’ other than your dick and the fact that no one’s ridin’ it anymore.”

“…” Rude ducked his head slightly. He knew Tres was right, but it still hurt to hear him say that. His mentor sighed.

“Rude… I’d love to give ya a shoulder to cry on. I really would. I’ve been there before, and yeah… it sucks. But we just don’t have that luxury right now. So you need to either get it together… immediately… or tell me to send you back to headquarters. Save the pity party for when you’re off duty. Got it?”

“… Got it,” Rude replied, chastised.

“Good… ’cause we got at least four more visits to make down here, and one of ’em’s over in Sector 2. Ask the redhead sometime… you don’t fuck around in Two. I need to know you got my back.”

Rude took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, forcing himself to let the lingering thoughts of Margaret go. Maybe he could fix things. Maybe he couldn’t. But Tres was right… he couldn’t let his attention keep wandering back to his broken relationship when they were in the middle of trying to stop a war. If he did, he was liable to get them both killed.

---

Veld was still scanning through the document. It wasn’t a long memo, by any means. The fact that he had to have reread it at least six times just since Tseng had entered his office, however, told him that whatever it said, his superior wasn’t happy about. At last, he set it aside and massaged his temples, leaning back in his chair.

“Not the news you were hoping for, I take it?” the Turk lieutenant surmised, taking a seat in front of his desk. Veld snorted softly.

“You could say that. The executive board wants any Wutaiian infiltration teams eliminated with extreme prejudice. If and when we find them, we take them out.”

Tseng curiously raised an eyebrow. “They don’t want them interrogated first?”

“No. They don’t. And they would prefer it be public, if at all possible. Make sure the people know that Wutai was the aggressor in this situation.”

“Where’s this coming from?” he asked, surprised. Shinra Company had, for almost three years now, taken the position that open conflict was to be avoided at all costs. Veld shook his head grimly.

“I believe that the thought of being attacked here at home has struck a chord with the President. He’s also toying with the idea of sending Rufus to stay in Junon until either the current situation is resolved or one of us finally declares war on the other.”

“I don’t imagine Rufus is overly thrilled with that idea,” Tseng replied, barely suppressing a groan. Rufus hated it when his father became too overprotective of him. And sequestering him inside Shinra’s most powerful fortress for an indeterminant amount of time certainly fit the bill. No… the vice president would not be pleased if such a thing came to pass. Veld only gave a short, clipped – and rather mirthless – laugh.

“I very seriously doubt it,” he agreed, “Assuming he’s even been told yet, which given that he hasn’t made an appearance here yet to whine to you, I suspect he hasn’t.”

“Sir…”

Veld held up a hand, halting any further commentary.

“Yes, I know… You dislike it when I say things like that. I will grudgingly admit that he’s been far less prone to that sort of thing since being named to his new position. But you’re still far too accommodating of him, Tseng. You always have been.”

“Not without reason, sir,” the Wutaiian Turk responded, stiffly. Rufus was a minor point of contention between the two of them. Veld was of the opinion that Tseng allowed Rufus entirely too much leverage at times. The Turk lieutenant maintained that Rufus was a special case and his unusually close relationship with the young man was ultimately beneficial to the whole team… a point which Veld acknowledged but didn’t entirely like. The Turk leader chuckled softly and shook his head.

“Well… let’s save that old argument for another time, shall we? I think we have more pressing matters at the moment.”

“Yes, sir,” Tseng replied, glad not to have to rehash old conversations on the subject. “Have you heard anything from the investigation teams yet?”

“Saya and Sato are on their way back now. They seem to have come up empty over in Sector 5. Tres and Rude are still down below. They checked in a little over an hour ago, saying they might be onto something.”

“Are we planning on a late night?” Tseng somewhat hesitantly asked, and hoped that it wasn’t apparent in his voice. Mayu was due to arrive not long after he was done for the night… and he’d promised to meet her. His little sister was not going to like being stood up. Veld smirked slightly.

“I certainly am. You, however, are going to see to your family. I think I can spare you, and the rookies, for one evening.” Tseng blinked in surprise, and his mentor laughed. “I overheard Reno and Cissnei talking about your guest earlier today. You should have said something.”

“Sir…”

“Tseng, when was the last time you went home?”

Tseng paused for a moment. “Almost a year ago. I returned for one of the spring festivals…”

“Precisely. Spend some time with your sister. If I find I can’t get by without you, I’ll call you.”

The Turk lieutenant smiled gratefully. “Thank you, sir.”

“Besides which… after the last time she visited, I’d hate to think what Mayu might do to me if I deprived her of her brother a second time…” Veld added, teasingly.

---

Reno groaned and rolled his neck from side to side, trying to work out the annoying kink that had developed at some point over the last four hours. The flight sim had been a nice distraction, but he’d returned to his office to find that they pile of reports had only grown in his absence. He jumped slightly when a hand softly squeezed the back of his neck and started a gentle massage, and turned sharply to look at his unexpected visitor. Cissnei snickered at his expression.

“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered, rolling his eyes, “What… are you takin’ lessons on sneakin’ up on people from Tseng now?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she laughed, “How goes the paperwork?”

“Rude’s gonna kill me when he sees how bad I’ve fucked up his filing system…” He glanced over at the clock and smirked. “But thankfully, I’m not gonna be here when he sees it. Quittin’ time!”

“What was that about me killing you?” a voice asked, and the aforementioned rookie appeared, hovering near the doorway. The redhead groaned.

“Anyone ever tell ya it’s rude to eavesdrop?” he shot back. Rude chuckled.

“Guess my parents named me right, then… You ready to go?”

“Heh… Tseng invite you to the party, too?”

The other rookie nodded. “And Rodney. They’re waiting for us in the lounge. Which of you is riding with me?”

Reno raised an eyebrow in curiosity, and Rude simply shook his head.

“Rodney’s bike is in for repairs and neither one of you have a car… and Tseng’s picking up Mayu at the train station on the way, so between her and her luggage, it’s probably going to get a little cramped with all five of you jammed in there,” he explained.

“… Good point,” Cissnei replied, “I’ll go with you. I hate tight spaces.”

Rude nodded, and the group made their way down the hall towards the lounge, just in time to see Tseng and their fellow rookie, emerging from the room as well. Cissnei flashed the other rookie a warm smile as they approached… a gesture that wasn’t returned. Instead, it was met with a borderline scowl.

“Tch… What’s with you?” Reno asked.

“Rodney is less than pleased that I’m unable to find someone to replace him on Heidegger’s detail,” Tseng supplied, and for just a moment, the redhead was certain he spotted the barest hint of a smirk on his mentor’s lips.

Reno sniggered loudly. “Yeah, well, maybe next time he’ll wait to hear what the assignment actually is before volunteerin’…”

“Sir, why don’t I switch with Reno?” Rodney replied, staring pointedly at the other rookie. “After all… I could use more experience with the intelligence reports.”

“Because I would like Reno to survive to see his next birthday,” Tseng chuckled. “Somehow I don’t think putting him at our department head’s beck and call would be conducive to that goal. Heidegger has already tied to kill him once.”

“Yeah, okay… You definitely needto tell me what that’s all about,” Cissnei laughed, nudging the redhead with her elbow.

“… Some other time. Preferably when I’m really drunk,” Reno snickered, prompting a reproving look, followed by faint laughter, from Rude.

“And on that note…” Tseng said, glancing at his watch, “… we should get going. My sister will be arriving at the Sector 1 station shortly.”

Rodney looked as though he wanted to continue the conversation, but held his tongue, opting instead to follow the Turk lieutenant towards the elevator. Moments later, they were descending towards the parking deck. When they reached their destination, Rude and Cissnei split off, heading for Rude’s truck, while the rest of the group made their way over to Tseng’s waiting car.

“Shotgun!” the redhead shouted, rushing ahead of Rodney and aiming for the passenger side door. He heard a faint growl of annoyance behind him and quickened footsteps as the other rookie took off after him. Neither of them got very far.

Reno was unexpectedly jerked to a sharp halt as something seized hold of the collar of his shirt, and a split second later, Rodney pulled up short next to him with a loud urk.

“Back seat, both of you,” Tseng commanded, finally releasing his grip on the pair, and smirked, “Mayu has priority seating.”

“Tch… like we couldn’t’ve switched when we got there?” Reno muttered, rubbing his neck. But he obeyed, clambering into the back alongside Rodney. For once, they other rookie looked to be in agreement with the redhead… though of course he didn’t actually voice that opinion. Reno settled in and pulled the seatbelt across his body.

Conversation largely stalled as they pulled out onto the street, driving headlong into the evening commuter traffic. As much as Reno was looking forward to the day that he could finally afford a decent car of his own, at the moment, he was grateful to have Tseng as a chauffeur. He wasn’t exactly… confident… in his own driving abilities quite yet – owing largely to the fact that he spent far more time in the Turks’ helicopter than behind the wheel of a car. Heavy traffic still made him a little nervous, and this time of day, everyone was jostling for position, both on the city streets and on the freeway, in the effort to get home as quickly as possible.

It didn’t even phase Tseng. The man drove as though he owned the road itself. Of course, it probably helped that seeing the shiny, sleek black sports car coming up fast in their rearview mirror with no signs of slowing down tended to make other drivers get the hell out of the way.

They made it to the station in under twenty minutes… which, considering how bad traffic really was tonight, was nothing short of a miracle. Tseng guided the car neatly up to the curb, pulling to a stop in the loading zone and getting out. As soon as he did so, Reno spotted a young woman, waving enthusiastically from a short distance away.

“… Whoa.” he breathed, eyebrows rising in an expression of surprise. “That’s Tseng’s sister?”

She was absolutely gorgeous. A perfect, heart-shaped face framed by jet-black hair that hung in a long braid that trailed down past her waist, and dark eyes, accentuated with a soft violet eyeshadow and long lashes. She was dressed in pale purple skirt that clung tightly to her hips before flaring outwards at mid-thigh and falling just past her knees. A white collared blouse, and black school girl-style tie completed the look. Reno watched as she dragged a heavy suitcase towards them, and as Tseng finally reached her, he took the bag from her.

The girl responded by throwing her arms around him in a warm hug. Tseng returned the embrace, and Reno grinned widely. The senior Turk wasn’t exactly known as one of the most affectionate people in Midgar… but you certainly wouldn’t know it from the way he greeted his little sister.

At last, he escorted her back to the car, tucking her luggage into the trunk and opening the door for her. She climbed inside and immediately twisted around in her seat, to face the pair of rookies in the back.

“Hi!” she said, warmly, with a wide, friendly smile, “I’m Mayu.”

~end chapter 58~