Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 81: Out of the Office

“Don’t bother sitting down,” Rufus huffed, and brushed past the rookie Turk just as he was walking into the Vice President’s office the following morning. Reno did a quick about face, falling into step beside the executive. His charge pressed the button for the roof.

“Uh… Where are we goin’, sir?”

Rufus snorted softly in contempt. “Ugh… That blasted meeting in Kalm,” he muttered, sourly, in response, “Father wants me to gain some additional insight on the reactors before I continue negotiations, so we’re going for a little tour of one.”

“… Is that such a good idea, sir?” the redhead asked, “We, uh… we still haven’t confirmed that the guys who just tried to blow ’em up are outta the city yet.”

“Hmph… hence why we’re heading to the roof and not the parking deck.” The elevator chimed at their destination and the pair stepped out into the warm summer air, making their way towards the large executive helicopter. Reno had only flown in that beast once… on his first trip to Junon. And he’d never actually piloted it.

Thankfully, it turned out that he wasn’t going to need a crash course in doing so quite yet. A pilot was already waiting for them upon arrival. Reno followed Rufus into the back of the aircraft and settled into one of the plush leather seats. For a few moments the pair lapsed into an awkward silence. It was Rufus who finally broke it.

“I heard about last week’s… loss,” he said, in a rather clipped voice, as though struggling to maintain the expected level decorum while at the same time attempting to restrain his usual snide inflection. Reno wasn’t quite sure what sort of answer was expected of him, so he merely responded with a nod of acknowledgment. Rufus turned his gaze to the window for a few seconds as the helicopter lifted into the air, before suddenly returning his sole attention to the redhead. “Is Tseng alright?” he blurted out, unexpectedly.

Reno blinked in surprise and stammered . “I… uh… he’s… Why are you askin’ exactly?” he finally managed. “He say somethin’ about it to ya yesterday?”

“Not in so many words, no. But something was certainly odd about his behavior,” Rufus replied, “And though it pains me to admit that I must go through you of all people for information… you spend far more time in his company than I do of late…”

The redhead sighed quietly. “So… you noticed it, too, huh?” he replied. Tseng had been… well, it was a little hard to put his finger on it, really. He wasn’t withdrawn. He wasn’t visibly upset. Hell, he wasn’t even overcompensatingly happy, as if he were trying to cover up whatever was going through his head. He just wasn’t quite… normal. Not since the funeral. Maybe not since Luca’s death, and Reno just hadn’t caught on immediately.

“I have, indeed. Luca is hardly the first Turk to die,” Rufus stated… rather bluntly, in the redhead’s opinion, and he did his best not to be annoyed by it. “But Tseng has never seemed quite so… off… before. I’d almost venture to say that he was distracted all day yesterday, and Tseng is never distracted.”

“I don’t know what’s goin’ on with him,” Reno sighed, “Ya want my best guess, though, I think he’s still dealin’ with what happened to his sister, ‘n Luca gettin’ killed just opened up the wound again.”

The vice president scoffed and rolled his eyes. “That happened months ago,” he sneered. Reno glared back at him.

“Not even two months yet,” he ground out, but Rufus merely waved a dismissive hand.

“Semantics…” he replied, “My point is that he’s had more than enough time to get over that.”

“Yeah?” the redhead said, coldly, “How long did it take you to get over your mom gettin’ gunned down like a fuckin’ dog?”

Rufus suddenly lunged at him seizing him roughly by the collar of his shirt, his face only inches from Reno’s.

“You will not speak of my mother like that, you vile little slum rat!”

The rookie Turk didn’t say anything. He just continued to look the older boy dead in the eye until Rufus finally released him and sat back in his seat a furious expression on his face.

“Yeah… I know. That was a low blow, and I’m an asshole for sayin’ it,” the redhead said at last. “I’m guessin’ you never really got over that. I know I sure as fuck never got over my mom dyin’. Tseng ‘n his sister were close. He’s not just gonna suddenly forget about the fact that somethin’ he did got her killed.”

The young executive continued to glower at the Turk… but after a moment, his expression faded to one that was more contemplative than angry. It was quite some time before he spoke again.

“So… what do we do about it?”

“Tch… fuck if I know,” Reno replied. When Rufus shot another glare in his direction, he returned it, folding his arms over his chest. “What? I look like a goddamn psychiatrist to you? I. Don’t. Know. … Okay? I’m worried about him, too, but I don’t fuckin’ know what to do to fix this shit! I don’t have all the goddamn answers!”

The redhead suddenly realized that his charge was looking at him, shock etched clearly on his face… and maybe even a little bit of dejection. Reno took a deep breath, releasing it slowly in an effort to calm down.

“… Sorry, sir,” he said a moment later. They weren’t going to accomplish anything fighting with one another. And as big a pain in the ass as Rufus could be, he knew the vice president cared about Tseng and wanted him to be alright just as much as Reno did. By then, however, the helicopter was descending towards a small landing pad on top of Reactor No. 1. Rufus peered out the window and quickly schooled his expression.

“We’ll have to continue this discussion later,” he said, “Hopefully, this waste of time won’t take up my entire day.”

---

Tseng was settled in his office, a mug of tea steaming unobtrusively on his desk as he leafed through the collection of unfiled reports Reno had retrieved yesterday from Luca’s office. There really weren’t that many. The Turk had always been good at keeping up with his paperwork. His notes, likewise, were neat and organized, detailing all of his recent assignments. Those might take a bit longer to go through. Tseng would have to compare them with already entered reports, as well as those in the other stack of papers, and determine what, if anything, needed to be formally added to the Turks’ records.

He could probably have just have Cissnei do it. The rookie was temporarily sidelined due to her injury, and likely eager for something to do… but she also seemed to be taking Luca’s death quite hard. He suspected it was survivor’s guilt. He had died and she had lived. Tseng knew how unfair that could feel. Thrusting his notes and reports on her might not be the kindest thing to do right now.

For the time being, though, he set them aside and turned to the box of items to be returned to Luca’s family. Ostensibly, he had to double check it just to make sure that nothing classified had made its way into the collection… but he trusted Reno’s judgment on that. It was more morbid curiosity that drove him to snoop through the box.

And, perhaps, the desire for one last connection with his friend.

On top was a photo album, with a note protruding from its pages. Remy’s handwriting, noting that his rookie had been unsure of what to do with this particular item. Tseng understood why as soon as he opened it. The album seemed to be dedicated exclusively to his Turk brethren, with pictures dating all the way back to Luca’s days as a rookie over six years ago. Tseng had never even known he kept such a record of his second family.

He leafed through it briefly and it was almost as if he were watching him progress from new recruit to full fledged Turk all over again. It ended with several snapshots taken during Reno’s most recent birthday party, and some additional loose photos of various events after that, tucked into the back, not yet secured beneath the protective plastic of the pages.

He snapped it shut and set it on his desk. A part of him felt guilty for wanting to keep it. After all, there were many photos of Luca that resided amongst those of the rest of the Turks, and his family might want to have them. But at the same time, that book enshrined Luca’s other family. It was tangible evidence of just how important they’d all been to him.

It would stay here, he quickly decided. Perhaps on the shelf in the lounge, where everyone could have access to it. They deserved that much, at least… didn’t they?

---

Reno did his best to suppress the yawn he felt coming on, but wasn’t entirely successful in the endeavor. Dear Ifrit, he’d never been so bored. The initial tour of the reactor was actually pretty cool… even if it had been overly long. He’d gotten to see a lot of stuff he’d had to rush past when he and Tres were clearing Number 6 reactor last week. Lot’s of machinery and turbines and pipes… not to mention the control room. But after the tour had wound down, he and Rufus had been lead to a small conference room where a man – wearing what had to have been the thickest damn glasses in existence – had begun to lecture them on the hows and whys of mako as an energy source.

It was a whole lot of very long, very scientific sounding words that Reno didn’t have the faintest idea what they meant… and the asshole didn’t seem to be in the mood to define them. Actually, he didn’t seem to be in the mood to even pause for a breath. He just rambled on and on and on… and on. After awhile, the Turk had been forced to either tune him out for the most part, or succumb to the desire to fall asleep.

Rufus made a faint sound next to him, drawing the rookie’s attention back to his charge… and Reno quickly realized that the vice president had, in fact, fallen asleep. The sound appeared to have been a very quiet snore. Reno smirked and elbowed him sharply in the side, startling the executive awake. If their lecturer noticed, he didn’t give any indication of it… he simply continued on, in the same droning monotone he’d been using for…

Reno glanced down at his watch.

… the last two hours? Seriously? He bit back a groan, wondering just how much more the guy had to say on the subject of mako reactors, and looked over at Rufus.

“This is intolerable…” the vice president muttered under his breath as he sat up slightly in his seat. A moment later, he was on his feet. “I’ve heard enough.”

The reactor employee paused just long enough for their tour guide, who’d been hanging out in the back corner of the room, to get a word in.

“Er… um… thank you, Arlin. You can get back to the monitoring room, now,” he said. The other man blinked owlishly from behind his thick lenses and awkwardly shuffled off towards the door, mumbling something about ‘just about to get to the good part’, and Reno allowed himself a brief sigh of relief. “I am sorry if that was a little on the dry side, sir. But… er… the President did ask us to be thorough…”

“That was more than thorough,” Rufus replied, dryly, “Was there anything else planned for this tour?”

“I… No, sir. I think you’ve seen just about everything the facility has to offer.”

Rufus nodded and turned on his heel so fast that Reno very nearly tripped over himself as he scrambled to his feet and hurried after him. He didn’t speak again until they were back aboard the helicopter.

“Four Ramuh-forsaken hours,” he hissed, a scowl firmly embedded on his face, “Half my day wasted on this…”

The copter lifted into the air once more and Reno leaned back in his seat.

“Coulda been worse, sir,” he shrugged.

“How?” Rufus asked with a snort of contempt.

“Coulda got stuck with Rodney as your escort today instead of me,” he grinned.

The vice president rolled his eyes. “Unlikely. I made it very clear to Veld that he was not to be assigned to me again until his attitude improves. Which, if I am any judge of character at all, will be exactly… never.”

“Um… If it’s not outta line to ask, sir… what the fuck did Rodney do to piss ya off so bad?”

“Do? Nothing,” Rufus replied, “He didn’t have to do anything. It became more than obvious within the first five minutes of being stuck with that obsequious little toad that he’s little more than a manipulative, self-serving, yes-man. My father relishes surrounding himself with such useless cannon-fodder. I do not.”

Reno snickered quietly. “Yeah… he is kind of a brown-noser, isn’t he?”

“That term hardly even begins to describe him. Had he sucked up to me any harder, I’m quite certain he would have eventually managed to invert himself. It was pathetic. I much preferred the other one Veld sent,” said Rufus, “She, at least, seemed genuinely dedicated to doing her job rather than advancing her career… as well as passably intelligent. And she is far less irritating than you are.”

“Ya know, I think that’s about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say about anyone, sir. Heh… well, anyone who wasn’t Tseng.”

The other boy shook his head and gazed out the window. “I wasn’t trying to be ‘nice’. I was merely stating a fact. And incidentally, you are easily the most irritating individual I’ve ever had the displeasure of having to interact with. I had to dismiss a perfectly good secretary just to ensure your presence today.” Before Reno could fully process that statement, Rufus’ eyes suddenly narrowed and his full and undivided attention was directed to the outside of the aircraft. He pressed the intercom button on the little console embedded on the wall. “Where in Ramuh’s name are you going? I specifically told you to take us straight back to company headquarters!”

Reno twisted in his seat to get a better view outside of the aircraft, and felt his stomach sink in response to what he saw. They’d started off heading for the office… he was sure of that. But at some point, the pilot had made a wide turn – so wide he hadn’t even felt it happening – towards the south side of the city. By now, they were rapidly approaching the edge of the Plate once again.

“I want an answer!” Rufus continued to demand when his previous inquiry was met with silence from the cockpit. A moment later, there was a loud crackle, followed by a hiss, and the speaker went dead. The sinking sensation in his gut noticeably increased and Reno got to his feet, moving toward the door that separated passengers from crew. He pulled hard on the handle, and found it locked.

“Fuck…” he muttered as the most likely scenario for what was happening began to take shape in his mind.

“What is this? What’s happening?” the vice president asked, a faint note of panic in the young man’s voice.

“I… uh… kinda hate to say this, but… I think you mighta just been kidnapped.” Reno reached into his jacket for his PHS and flipped it open, only to discover that there was no signal. “Oh, come on… Again?!” He turned to Rufus. “I got no service. Try yours.”

The vice president reached into his pocket for his phone, only to freeze, and then begin patting himself down, searching for the device. A moment later, he visibly cringed.

“I… seem to have left it at the office.”

“Oh, terrific…” Reno muttered, shoving his own currently useless PHS back where it had come from. Of course, if he couldn’t get a signal on his phone, Rufus probably couldn’t either – and that was probably by design… these assholes had knocked out communications once before, already – but still… it was the principle of the thing, dammit! Tseng had been on Rufus’ case, well… pretty much since Reno’d been recruited, and even more so since things between Shinra and Wutai had begun to get bad… to make sure to always have his phone on him.

“What do we do now?!” Rufus asked.

To be honest… Reno had absolutely no idea what standard protocol was for dealing with enemy combatants hijacking a helicopter and kidnapping the vice president. Calling in backup was, obviously, not an option at the moment. They had no means of communication. The door to the outside had a manual override, he knew. It could be opened from within in case of an emergency… but they were hundreds of feet in the air right now. It wasn’t as if they could just hop out and make a run for it.

That only left the option of trying to take control of the aircraft back from their pilot. Reno internally groaned. Even if he could get through the cockpit door, and even if he managed to take the guy out without getting shot himself… he still wasn’t certified on this type of helicopter. But then, he supposed, a rough, improvised landing was probably better than ending up prisoners of the Wutaiians.

Not that he was likely to be taken prisoner. Rufus was the only one with any value to them. Reno, on the other hand, was entirely expendable, and would probably have a bullet in his head about thirty seconds after they got wherever the fuck they were going.

“Fuck… Okay. You, get as far to the back of this thing as you can get, and put anything solid you can find between you ‘n the cockpit,” the redhead said, drawing his gun and checking the magazine.

“And just what are you going to do?” demanded Rufus.

“I’m gonna try real hard not to kill us both.”

“How very reassuring…” the executive deadpanned, but he hurried to duck behind the farthest row of seats, nonetheless.

---

“Hey. How’s the arm feeling?” Rude asked, taking a seat beside Cissnei at the Turks’ usual cafeteria table. Medical had finally let him rid himself of the crutches. His wound was still healing, but it wouldn’t be too much longer before he was back to a hundred percent. He was even allowed back in the training hall starting tomorrow, provided he started out easy.

“It’s not so bad,” she replied, “The doctor said there will probably be some scarring, but there’s no nerve damage, and it’s not nearly as painful as it was a week ago…” She smiled faintly as she noticed his newly regained mobility. “It looks like you’re doing better, too.”

“Getting there. I’m hoping Tres will give me something other than paperwork to do this afternoon.”

Cissnei sighed. “I know what you mean. I feel so completely useless right now.” She paused for a moment before adding, “… Not that I was much use last week before I got hurt.”

Rude shook his head. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true. I did nothing. Nothing! I just stood there like an idiot until Luca pushed me down. And look what happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. I just…” she sighed heavily and let her gaze drop to her largely untouched plate. “Why him and not me? Not that I’m not glad to be here, but… I can’t help feeling like I didn’t earn it. It’s not fair that I get to live and Luca… doesn’t.”

Rude was silent for a moment, considering his words carefully before he finally answered her. “Life isn’t fair. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and all you can do is watch,” he replied, “And sometimes bad things happen, and you can do something… like Luca did.”

“I guess so,” Cissnei said. She glanced up at him. “Would you do something like that?”

The other rookie shrugged. “Don’t know. I don’t think anyone can know for sure until they’re in that situation.”

She managed a faint smile. “Luca didn’t even hesitate,” she mused, and then the smile faded, “I don’t know if I could have done what he did if our positions had been reversed. It’s sort of expected of us, though, isn’t it? I always thought… I just instinctively understood what that meant. It was just a given. Something a Turk had to accept. And then I lived through it, and I’m not so sure I really understood that sort of sacrifice at all before now.”

“I –” Rude began, only to be interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice calling to them.

“Rude! Cissnei!” Shay yelled as he tore across the cafeteria towards them. He reached their table slightly out of breath, and looking somewhat frantic. “Veld sent me to find you guys and tell you to get back upstairs. Now. Cell communication just dropped all over the Plate again. We think it’s the start of another attack.”

The pair immediately abandoned their lunches and hurried after the senior Turk, heading back to the fifty-eighth floor. When they arrived, they found most of the team convened in the briefing room. Notably absent from the meeting were Tres and Reno. The former made his appearance moments later, striding through the door with what looked like several printouts of status reports from the various monitoring stations around the city.

“Where’s Reno?” Cissnei queried, more to Rude than to the room at large… but apparently her voice carried, because Tseng looked up at the mention of his rookie’s name.

“With the vice president. Unfortunately, we’re not entirely certain where that is at the moment,” he replied, and Rude could plainly hear the worried undertone to his reply.

~end chapter 81~