Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 72: Of Zenenes and SOLDIERS and… Bad Decisions

The weekend went by entirely too quickly, and the work week began at a breakneck pace… and never slowed down. Half the time, Reno didn’t know if he was coming or going, and he was pretty sure everyone else on the team felt the same way. Everyone was busy.

On Monday, Tres, Rude, and somewhat inexplicably, Rodney, had all but vanished off the face of the planet, disappearing into the senior Turk’s office immediately following the morning briefing. As of lunch time, they still hadn’t reappeared, and Reno had only seen any them sporadically in the days following.

Luca – as the Turk’s only real expert on computers – had departed headquarters entirely to pay a visit to the eleventh floor, overseeing numerous security tasks assigned to the IT department. There was some concern about Wutaiian operatives gaining control of sensitive network nodes or some such technobabble that Reno honestly didn’t understand and had no desire to get involved in.

Sato and Saya had been dispatched to Junon, en route to some other undisclosed location. Tres had turned up rumors that the mysterious ‘Fuhito’ was definitely working directly for the Wutaiian government and not just acting of their own accord or through an intermediary, and that he had recruited a man named Istev into his little mercenary group. There was still very little information available on Fuhito himself, but Istev, and his penchant for bombings, was someone that Tres was passingly familiar with… and given the new target’s fondness for all things explosive, sending the Turk’s resident demolitions expert had only been logical. Saya had gone with him primarily to prevent anything that wasn’t meant to be blown up from blowing up.

Shay, meanwhile, had been partnered up with Cissnei and both were assigned exclusively to executive escort detail. If a member of the board needed to venture outside of the building for company business, they were to be accompanied by the two Turks.

And Tseng… well, Reno wasn’t entirelysure what Tseng was doing. All he knew was that it had something to do with SOLDIER, the assignment was highly classified, and he’d be spending the lion’s share of his time on their floor all week instead of in the Turks’ offices. Remy was essentially standing in for him again as second in command at headquarters for the duration.

As for Reno… he had somehow managed to draw the short stick when it came to assignments. Shay and Cissnei may have been assigned to the executives, but Rufus was getting a personal, dedicated bodyguard. The elevator doors opened on the executive floor and the redhead made his way into the vice president’s office. Rufus’ secretary smiled at him as he entered, and the rookie quickly flashed her a grin of his own.

The woman was hot. Platinum blond hair that hung almost to her tight little ass… piercing blue eyes… tiny waist… and she wasn’t lacking up top, either. Maybe not the biggest tits Reno’d ever come across, but certainly… ample.

He’d been testing the waters with her since Monday.

Carrie had been polite and formal at first – everything you’d expect from the vice president’s personal secretary – but he was making steady progress. He’d had plenty of time to do so, that’s for sure. Veld had ordered him not to let Rufus go anywhere without him. That required sitting outside the brat’s office, in the private reception area, for a pretty significant chunk of the day with nothing much to do besides hit on Carrie. And for the past four days, he’d made damn good use of that time.

“Mornin’,” he said, sitting down in his usual seat in the corner. Carrie’s smile widened.

“Good mornin’, Reno. I’ll let the vice president know you’re here.”

---

Tseng rubbed a hand across his eyes and yawned as he waited for the briefing to begin. He hadn’t slept well at all last night. Or for most of the week, for that matter. It was beginning to wear on him, and he was glad that tomorrow was Friday.

It had begun after Veld had asked him to do these Leviathan-be-damned briefings. He was beginning to think that he’d underestimated just how much it would weigh on his already sorely-tested conscience. Even if he was doing it for all the right reasons… he was still betraying his homeland. And apparently his subconscious had decided to punish him for that by withholding sleep. He’d struggled for hours last night just to relax enough drift off… and when he finally had,his alarm had gone off, alerting him to the fact that it was time to get ready for another day at work.

He sighed heavily. SOLDIER would be shipping out tomorrow afternoon. He just had to make it until then. Once they were on their way to Wutai, he’d be returned to his own team… and hopefully he could finally get a decent night’s rest again.

It wasn’t just the briefings, however. Yesterday, he’d received a letter from his youngest brother. He’d secretly gone against his father’s wishes in contacting him – and had made it very clear that he wouldn’t be doing so again in the future, except in the most extenuating of circumstances – and written to tell him that three of their brothers were joining the war effort and that their father was throwing all of his support behind Lord Godo, offering up land for his men to encamp on, food for the Wutaiian troops, and even significant sums of money to the cause. Hiro Itsudake had a personal vendetta against Shinra, and he was planning to do anything in his power to ensure that Wutai emerged victorious and that the company and all those who worked for them suffered for its sins.

Tseng had felt oddly numb after reading that. Koto hadn’t come right out and said so, but the implication had been clear. Tseng deserved the same fate as the rest of Shinra in his father’s eyes. He hadn’t expected forgiveness… not by any stretch of the imagination. But having his father’s hatred for him reaffirmed like that…

Any sliver of hope for a future reconciliation he may have still been harboring had immediately died. It hadn’t be much hope to begin with, but it was most certainly non-existent now. He would never be welcome as part of his family again. That acceptance had settled in the pit of his stomach like rock and sat there, cold and immovable. It still remained, days later.

“Good morning, Tseng,” Director Faine said briskly as she strode into the meeting room, and the Turk had to physically stop himself from jumping in surprise. Yes… he definitely need some sleep if he was allowing SOLDIERs, of all people, to creep up on him. The specialized military weren’t exactly known for their stealth. Quite the opposite, in fact. SOLDIERs were flashy… almost inhumanly strong, and encouraged to demonstrate that strength at every opportunity.

And a step behind the woman was, perhaps, the flashiest of all of them. Or at the very least, the most recognizable.

It was hard to miss him, after all. Even without the dark cloak and the shoulder armor and the massive sword – which, thankfully, he wasn’t carrying at the moment – it would be difficult not to notice the tall, virtually flawless young man, with long silver hair that trailed in a fluid cascade down the length of his back. He stood out easily as much as Reno did in a crowd. Perhaps even more so, given his self-assured bearing and his sharp gaze.

Sephiroth.

SOLDIER’s golden boy. Tseng had, of course, been somewhat familiar with the man prior to this assignment – had even been on assignments where he, too, was present – but had never actually had cause to be formally introduced. Sephiroth was the poster child for the SOLDIER program. He’d made quite the reputation for himself over the years, rising so quickly through the ranks his ascent was almost unheard of. It was rumored that he was being groomed to take over for Faine eventually… though the woman’s retirement was still years away, and Tseng, over the course of their meetings this week, had come away with the distinct impression that Sephiroth himself wasn’t especially interested in her job. He seemed the type to prefer to remain a SOLDIER for life… not squander his years behind a desk.

He would have been suited for it, though, if he’d been of the mind to do it. The Turks as a whole were somewhat of the opinion that SOLDIER was more brawn than brains… and through Tseng knew that to be far from the truth – for the most part, at least – Sephiroth was uncommonly intelligent for a mere fighter. The questions he asked had given the Turk lieutenant a fair amount of insight into his thought process… and Tseng had been somewhat surprised to find himself thinking that he could potentially have made an excellent Turk, given the opportunity.

The pair of them took a seat at the table, and Tseng sat up slightly. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the last day of these meetings. He could hold out that long.

“Good morning, Director… Sir,” he responded, with a nod to each, “Where shall we start today?”

---

“You! Off your lazy, worthless backside, now!” Rufus demanded as he stormed out of his office. He’d barely even glanced at the Turk, but Reno had little trouble determining that the vice president was talking to him and not the secretary. The brat was halfway out the door before Reno caught up to him. He said nothing until they were safely in the elevator.

“The hell crawled up your ass this morning, sir?” he asked, leaning back against the wall.

“Hojo,” Rufus muttered, jabbing at the elevator buttons.

“… Tight fit?” the redhead snickered. The executive shot him a glare, and Reno raised his hands in surrender, “Okay, okay… not appropriate. So what’s that weirdo up to now?”

Rufus scowled and shook his head. “He has some sort of experiment he wishes to demonstrate. Father is too busy to see to it personally, and so it has fallen to me to determine whether or not it is something that might be of benefit to us in Wutai.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad…” Reno replied, wondering why his charge seemed so thoroughly annoyed by it. The blonde man shot him a rather nasty smirk.

“I take it you’ve never had the… pleasure… of witnessing one of Hojo’s ‘demonstrations’ before…”

“… No?” And he wondered just how he was supposed to interpret that. Obviously Rufus found it to be something distasteful. But then, the brat apparently found sitting on Reno’s couch to be distasteful, so he wasn’t sure just how accurate a gauge ‘distasteful’ was when it came to the vice president. On the other hand, Hojo was… bizarre. And creepy. And Reno had definite doubts about the fucker’s overall sanity in general. Who the fuck even knew what the guy got up to in that lab of his?

“Hmph… perhaps this will be worth my time after all,” Rufus commented, haughty, “… if only to see the look on your face.”

The elevator stopped on sixty-eight, and the doors opened, revealing an open area with some sort of holding cell off to one side. Something paced restlessly inside. Reno’s eyes widened.

“What in the everlivin’ fuck is that?” he asked.

The creature had a vaguely cat-like appearance, though it was like no cat Reno had ever seen. And he’d seen some pretty odd creatures living down in the slums. It was covered in mottled brown fur and the long curved claws on its front paws clicked dangerously on the metal floor of its enclosure. The spiked protrusions along its back didn’t look especially inviting either. When it spotted the new arrivals seconds later, it bared a set of decidedly dangerous-looking teeth and threw itself at the transparent wall that separated it from its prey.

And Reno had absolutely no doubt in his mind that the thing did consider him prey.

“That is a zenene,” a nasally voice responded. The Turk looked over in the direction of the sound and saw Hojo calmly making his way towards them, hands clasped behind his back. “Where is the president?”

“My father is busy with other matters at present,” Rufus said, stiffly, “He has left this to me.”

“Hmmm…” was Hojo’s only response. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the scientist was less than pleased about having his demonstration delegated to the vice president. “Well… let’s proceed then, shall we?”

“Let’s,” the executive replied, coldly.

Hojo turned to one of his assistants. “Prepare to introduce the other specimen.” The young man hurried off and disappeared behind a large door on the other side of the room. Hojo, meanwhile, gestured toward the caged animal and escorted his two guests over. “Zenenes are the result of nearly eight years worth of research, selective breeding, mako infusion, and genetic manipulation. The finished product is what you see here.”

Rufus stepped up to the cage, and the creature immediately lunged at him, slamming into the transparent barrier twice before resuming it’s slow, methodical pacing. It’s eyes, however, remained locked on the executive. Reno subtly slipped his gun out of its holster and thumbed the safety off… just in case the damn thing somehow got out.

“They are highly intelligent, and thus also highly trainable. They are suited to virtually any terrain. They can climb, swim, run… Obviously, we’ve not been able to simply release one in an open area, but in the lab, their speed is comparable to most small motorized vehicles. This one has been clocked at nearly forty miles per hour.”

“And just what is it you propose we do with these… zenenes?” Rufus asked.

“Use them against Wutai, of course. They are extremely aggressive hunters, with a pack mentality. Their bite is venomous, and their claws can tear through flesh as though it were paper. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Before Rufus could agree, Hojo had already pressed a button on a nearby command console. A loud hum vibrated throughout the lab, and Reno watched as an opening appeared in the bottom of the cage. An elevator lifted a much smaller cage into view. Inside was a creature that Reno immediately recognized as a nibelwolf. He remembered seeing them not long after he’d arrived on the Plate during his and Rude’s somewhat ill-fated trip to the Sector 7 Zoo.

“I’m sure you’re well aware of the nibelwolf’s reputation for ferocity,” Hojo continued, “but they are nothing compared to a zenene.”

The two creatures were already staring one another down. The nibelwolf was growling angrily at the zenene, who, in return, hissed back viciously and bared its long fangs. It arched its back, making the spikes along its spine stand up.

Hojo pressed another button, opening the smaller cage, and the nibelwolf attacked. The zenene, however, was more than ready for it, and sent the creature flying with a swipe of its claws. Blood spattered the wall of the containment unit as the nibelwolf yelped in pain. For the next few minutes, Reno could only watch in nauseated horror as the zenene tore its opponent to shreds. It wasn’t content with merely killing the nibelwolf, either. It destroyed it. Even after the pained cries of the dying animal had ceased, the zenene continued in its bloodlust.

Rufus took an involuntary step back from sight before him, and Reno had to physically clamp down on his desire to puke right then and there. He’d never seen anything quite so… brutal. And Hojo wanted to turn these things loose on people?!

The scientist turned to his two observers, a smile firmly plastered on his face.

“As you can see, they would be highly effective against enemy combatants,” he concluded.

“Indeed,” Rufus replied, “I shall… inform the President of the results of this little demonstration at the earliest opportunity.”

Hojo’s eerie smile widened almost imperceptibly. “Thank you, sir,” he replied, before wandering off to order his lab assistants to clean up the mess. Reno swallowed the bile rising in his throat. The guy was fucking sick.

Rufus didn’t linger, and the redhead wasn’t about to be left behind there, hurrying to follow the vice president back into the elevator and return to his office. As the elevator descended, Reno glanced over at the executive.

“What the fuck?” was all he could manage.

“I was wrong,” Rufus replied, “Your reaction was not worth having to see that.”

“You’re… not seriously gonna recommend that we actually use those things, are ya, sir?”

“Absolutely not,” the other man replied, disgusted. The elevator dropped them off at the executive floor, and Rufus disappeared into his office, telling his secretary to hold his calls for the next hour and leaving Reno once again in the waiting area.

The redhead shuddered slightly. He really could have done without having to watch that. Hopefully, Hojo wouldn’t have any more ‘demonstrations’ while he was stuck here babysitting Rufus.

“Is everything alright?” Carrie asked, looking up at him. Reno shook his head and strolled over, perching himself on the corner of her desk.

“Nothin’ a nice quiet dinner with a pretty blonde wouldn’t make me forget,” he replied, with a warm smile. “You free tonight?”

---

Tseng felt utterly wiped after a full day in SOLDIER headquarters, just as he’d felt by the end of every other day this week. He wanted nothing more than to go home, have some tea, and try to sleep… and if that didn’t work, perhaps something a bit stronger than tea. With any luck, there was still a bottle or two of Reno’s vodka hiding in the back of one of the kitchen cupboards. Surely he couldn’t have finished all of it following Mayu’s death…

Not his favorite spirit, by any stretch, but it would certainly get the job done.

With a sigh, he realized that it was only Thursday. Drinking himself to sleep was not an option when he had to work in the morning. He shook his head and stepped out of the elevator and back onto his home turf. The Turk offices had never seemed more inviting.

“You look tired,” Remy said by way of greeting as he passed her on his way to his own office. The Turk lieutenant paused.

“Tired doesn’t even begin to describe it,” he replied, glancing back at her over his shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve ever longed more for a weekend.”

The other Turk changed course and fell into step beside him.

“Is there anything I can do, sir?”

“No,” Tseng said, shaking his head in the negative, “It’s only one more day. I’ll manage.”

Remy nodded and the pair lapsed into silence for a few moments. At last, they arrived at Tseng’s office, and the senior Turk turned away to see to her own duties… but paused.

“Sir?” she queried, and Tseng looked up at her questioningly, “It’s probably not my place, but…” she began, before awkwardly clearing her throat, “It’s just that… a little while before you returned from Wutai… someone told me that a leader should ask her team for help when she needs it, because even the best leaders can’t handle everything on their own. And he was absolutely right. I’d like to think that extends to more than just the job, sir. So… if there is anything I can do…”

Tseng smiled slightly. “I appreciate that, Remy,” he replied. “And should I think of anything, I will ask.”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a nod before taking her leave.

He knew he never would before the words had even left his mouth. Because really… what could Remy – or any of them, for that matter – do for him besides simply being there? They couldn’t bring Mayu back from the dead. They couldn’t make his family stop hating him. They couldn’t assuage him of the guilt he still felt like he was drowning in most days. What could he possibly ask of them that would make even the slightest difference?

But he still appreciated the offer. If nothing else, it reminded him that they cared.

He stepped back into his office and began gathering his things to go home for the evening.

---

“O-oh… oh, god… Oh, Reno, yes!”

Fuck, he loved women who screamed in bed. Even when it devolved into unintelligible moans and cries, it still turned him on. Carrie was definitely a screamer… and he could feel himself getting close, urged on by her voice all but wailing his name.

They’d been at it for… well, he hadn’t really been paying much attention to the clock, to be honest. He had more interesting things on his mind at the moment. Suffice it to say, they’d been at it for awhile now, having come straight from work at the end of the day to her place. And his lover didn’t seem inclined to ask him to stop any time soon. She wanted him bad. Hell, they hadn’t even made it to dinner. They’d started this in the kitchen. And then progressed to the couch in the living room… the balcony… the bedroom. At the rate they were going, by the time they finished they’d have fucked in every room of her apartment. And Reno had absolutely zero issues with that.

“Oh, fuck, don’t stop!” Carrie screamed, and he felt her nails claw at the bare flesh of his back, her legs wrapping around his waist, forcing him deeper.

He was moments from losing himself in sheer pleasure when the bedroom door swung inward, slamming into the wall with an angry, banging thud.

“You WHORE!” a voice suddenly thundered, and the redhead very unexpectedly found himself shoved bodily off of his lover. He landed with a loud thump on the floor trying to figure out what in Ifrit’s name had just happened. The gunshot and the bullet that hit the wall behind him very quickly snapped him out of his lustful haze.

“Fuck!” he shouted, seeing the barrel of a handgun leveled at his head, and dove for cover. Two more shots were fire.

“Ned! Ned, stop!” he heard Carrie shouting, “It’s not what it looks like!”

Reno scanned the room looking for his clothes while the unexpected visitor was somewhat distracted by the woman’s pleas… only to realize that they were scattered all over one of the other rooms at present… and he cringed as he realized that the gun ‘Ned’ was trying to shoot him with was probably his own.

“It’s ‘not what it looks like’?” the man shouted, disbelief evident in his voice, and in spite of the situation, the redhead couldn’t help but echo the thought in his own head. Unless the guy was half blind, it was exactly what it looked like.

“It… It was just a… a… a last fling! Before we’re… you know…”

“Before we’re stuck with each other? Does marrying me really seem that awful?!” Ned snapped back at her, and Reno mentally groaned. He didn’t like where this was going one bit. There hadn’t been a ring. He was absolutely sure there hadn’t been a ring… because if there had been, he wouldn’t have gone anywhere near her. He’d been around when his friend Kel had made that mistake once. The fallout hadn’t been pretty. Getting into bed with a married woman – or even an engaged one – was a headache he just didn’t need, no matter how hot she was.

“… Uh… I’m just… gonna go now,” the Turk said, slowly rising from his hiding place. He immediately had to duck again as three more shots were sent his way. ‘Okay,’ he thought, ‘Bad idea…‘

Unless he’d miscounted, that was six bullets so far. His magazine held fifteen. He was pinned down, the exit blocked by one very pissed off jilted fiance, and to top it all off, he was naked. Yeah… it really didn’t get much worse than this. He glanced up from his position on the floor. The sliding doors to the balcony were still open.

And they were only on the third floor…

Two more shots sailed past his head when the redhead shifted position to make a run for it… and then he heard the tell-tail click of a gun jamming and silently thanked every deity he’d ever heard of for small miracles. He took off at a sprint across the room and didn’t bother looking back, flinging himself through the doors and vaulting over the railing. He caught himself on the lower ledge and started the long, somewhat frenzied, climb down to the street below.

Naked.

---

Rude groaned as he rolled over in bed, groping blindly for the PHS that was ringing on his nightstand. It took him several moments to locate it, but he at last managed to answer it, yawning so widely his jaw cracked.

“Rude here,” he said, trying to wake himself up a bit more. His gaze shifted over to the clock that glowed red in the darkness. After midnight. If someone was calling this late, it had to be important. Possibly an attack on company headquarters, or even the city itself…

“Uh… hey, pal… I hate to do this to ya again, but…”

Or… possibly not an attack at all. It could always just be Reno needing bail and a ride home in the middle of the Odin-forsaken night.

“You can’t be serious,” he replied, after recognizing the voice on the other end of the line.

“Sector 5, Police Sub-Station F…” Reno sighed, “Bring clothes. I kinda… lost mine. Again.”

“…”

“Please don’t make me call Tseng to come get me… The guy’s barely even been back a week.”

Rude shook his head and tossed the covers aside, climbing out of bed.

“Be there in ten.”

~end chapter 72~