Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 92: Surprise!

The following morning started out dull and gray as the clouds that had moved in the previous afternoon seemed to have settled in for the long haul. On the bright side, they didn’t seem to be inclined to dump another deluge on the pair of Turks… which made loading the research specimens into the helicopter far less painful than it might have been otherwise.

They’d initially planned on doing it last night… but the hike back from the reactor had been an agonizingly long one, made that much longer due to the remains of a large rockslide blocking the path. It had forced them to backtrack and take and even longer route, which, in turn, had led them to a rather treacherous cliff they’d been forced to scale to get back on the main trail. The sun had been setting by the time they’d made their return, and neither Shay nor Reno had been in any mood to punish themselves further. Instead, they’d scraped together a quick dinner from the food stores in the kitchen, and mutually agreed to turn in for the night a bit early.

Reno had passed out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow, and was pretty sure he hadn’t moved so much as a finger again until the sun was up. So much for Rodney’s theory about the old mansion being haunted. The redhead had slept like a log both nights he’d spent there.

“Well? What do you think?” Shay asked as they hefted the last of the crates into the helicopter’s cargo section. “Shall we pay a visit to one of Costa del Sol’s fine dining establishments on the way home, or just refuel and go?”

The redhead shrugged. “Tempting… How late ya s’pose we’ll get in to Midgar if we stop?”

“Just late enough for me to successfully miss the afternoon briefing, hopefully,” Shay snickered.

Reno laughed, grinning at the senior Turk. “And people accuse me of being lazy…”

“Hmph… Trust me, if you had to attended the afternoon briefing, you’d be looking for an excuse to skip it, as well. Unless something major is happening, they’re almost always terribly dull. Better enjoy being a rookie while you still can. It won’t be long before you’ll have to go to them, too.”

“Why? You know somethin’ I don’t?” Reno teased, and Shay shook his head.

“Well, you’ve already told me Rude’s in the process of being promoted. You didn’t arrive that long after he did. It just seems reasonable to assume you’re about due as well.”

“Tch… Rude’s got like four months seniority on me. Think I still got some time before I qualify,” the redhead replied, dismissively.

“Actually… I’m a little surprised you weren’t promoted first. Or at the very least, right alongside him. It’s not just based on seniority, you know. It’s also based on merit and performance… and not to stroke your ego too much, but your performance can hardly be called lacking,” Shay said, holding up his hand as he began to tick off examples, “You prevented one kidnapping entirely on your own. You risked your life to prevent a second kidnapping. You figured out that our uninvited Wutaiian guests were going after the Sector 5 pillar rather than the reactors… And let us not forget that you were the one who took charge during the attack on the street fair.” His face split into a wide grin. “Face it, Reno… you’re almost as big an over-achiever as your mentor is.”

Reno scoffed and rolled his eyes, as he climbed into the helicopter and made himself comfortable in the co-pilot’s seat. Sure, he’d had some shining moments… but so had everyone else on the team at one point or another. A few lucky breaks didn’t equate to being deserving of special treatment.

“Yeah, okay, Shay…” he chuckled. The senior Turk followed suit and strapped himself in next to the rookie.

“Laugh all you want… but I bet it’s coming sooner than you think,” Shay said, reaching over to start up the engines.

---

Tseng sighed quietly as he stood outside of Veld’s office, hand poised to knock. He was dreading the response he was bound to receive the moment he told his mentor why he was there. Veld could be unbearably smug at times like this.

But the plain and simple fact was… he was right and Tseng was wrong. And the longer the Turk lieutenant put off admitting it, the worse it was going to be. He finally knocked.

“Come in,” Veld’s voice called from within, and Tseng somewhat hesitantly pushed the door open, stepping inside. He closed it behind him and made his way over to the older Turk’s desk, taking a seat in one of the plush chairs in front of it. “Something I can do for you?” his mentor asked, and Tseng was all but certain he could already detect a hint of what was to come.

“I… would like to revisit our discussion on promoting Reno,” he said, and then immediately glared at the senior Turk, cutting off the words that were quickly forming on the man’s lips. “Don’t you dare say it.”

“I told you so,” Veld replied, ignoring the threatening tone. Tseng scowled and folded his arms over his chest. The other man laughed. “Oh, don’t be like it. You knew I was right all along.”

“Yes… but you needn’t rub it in,” Tseng muttered.

“Might I asked what finally got you to see reason?”

The Wutaiian Turk sighed. “Tres was a bit less… diplomatic… than you were in pointing out my error in judgment. I believe the phrase ‘dick move’ was used,” he replied, rolling his eyes, “Vulgarity aside… he was right. And so were you. Reno… isn’t a rookie anymore. He’s a Turk in all but rank, and it’s time I rectified that. It would be selfish of me not to.”

Veld smirked and opened the top drawer of his desk, and handed him a stack of papers.

“I’ve taken the liberty of filling everything out for you. It just needs your signature.”

“A bit presumptuous, don’t you think?” the Turk lieutenant replied, slightly irritated, as he reached for a pen.

“Not really. I knew it wouldn’t long before you decided to do right by him.”

Tseng paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, and exhaling slowly before finally signing his name to the bottom of the form. He swallowed harshly. There was a certain note of finality to this. A part of his life that he had just ended with the stroke of a pen.

“It’s not an end, you know,” Veld added, seeming to read his thoughts, “It’s just the beginning of the next chapter. You should be very proud.”

“I am very proud of him,” Tseng replied, “I always have been.”

Veld chuckled softly. “I’m sure you are. But I actually meant that you should be proud of yourself. You’ve trained an excellent Turk. One that I myself had more than my share of doubts about when you first demanded him. It takes talent and dedication to take someone with no training or discipline whatsoever and turn them into one of our most promising field agents. You’ve done well… and you’re not the only mentor who can take pride in his protege today.”

Tseng dropped his gaze slightly unable to force back the smile that was working its way across his face. Veld snorted, shaking his head.

“I know I’ve worked hard to instill a bit more modesty in you than what you came to Midgar with… but there’s nothing wrong with taking pride in your accomplishments. A little won’t irrevocably corrupt you,” he teased.

“Yes, sir,” Tseng laughed quietly, glancing up, “May I be the one to tell him?”

“Of course. He’s your rookie, after all. For now, at any rate. The paperwork’s been filed since Monday of course, but Tres has asked me to hold off announcing Rude’s promotion until Friday. If you wish, the two of us can make things a double surprise.”

Tseng snickered. “I will be truly astounded if the secret of Rude’s promotion manages to stay a secret until the actual announcement. Tres has already had to enlist at least two accomplices that I know of in order to facilitate the celebration party. It’s really only a matter of time before the rest of them find out. I’m certainly not adverse to a double announcement to the rest of the team, but if you don’t mind, sir, I’d like to inform Reno ahead of time. In private.”

“Entirely up to you,” Veld replied with a shrug. “Mind if I ask why?”

“Because I’m not quite certain what his reaction will be. I don’t wish to catch him completely unaware with something like this. Reno occasionally needs time to… warm… to the idea of a major change. I’m sure you recall my report on what happened when he unintentionally found out I had plans to move him into his own apartment before I had the chance to discuss it with him properly…”

“As I recall,” Veld said, with thinly veiled laughter, “… that particular incident resulted in your protege discovering and stopping a Wutaiian plot to bomb the Junon base. Perhaps you should reconsider. This time he may inadvertently end the war entirely, somehow.”

Tseng shook his head, laughing. “He does have a tendency to rather miraculously wander into the right place at the right time… doesn’t he?”

Veld studied his protege for a moment. “It’s good to see you laughing again.”

“I… It… feels good, as well,” the Turk lieutenant replied, “I’m a bit hesitant to confer any sort of praise onto the psychiatric staff’s methods, but… it does seem to be helping. Things seem far less devastating. Or at the very least, it’s manageable now… in a way that it wasn’t before. Most days.”

“Losing your entire family is no small thing to overcome,” said Veld, “I should have seen how much you were struggling sooner.”

“There’s… always a chance I’ll eventually be forgiven,” Tseng said, though even to his own ears, the claim didn’t sound very convincing. His father would never forget what his son had done. Tseng doubted that forgiveness would ever come… nor that he would ever really redeem himself enough to actually deserve it. “But even if I’m not… I’m hardly alone. The Turks are my family, too, and have been since the moment I became one of them. They always will be. I think I forgot that for a time.”

---

Reno cracked his neck as the shore came into sight. It was still a ways off, but home was growing ever closer. They’d spent a couple of hours in Costa del Sol, having a quiet, relaxing lunch, and the redhead had, more than ever, wished that he could stick around and really see everything the resort town had to offer. Swimming in the ocean looked like a blast. So did the bars. And the women walked around all day in next to nothing. It was a fucking paradise.

But today wasn’t a vacation day. They’d stretched it out as long as they feasibly could, but eventually, the pair had to get on their way again. Reno had taken over as pilot for the final leg of their trip. A short hop across the ocean and on to Midgar. They’d even lucked out and picked up a bit of a tailwind, and Reno grinned slightly… Shay probably wasn’t going to miss that afternoon briefing after all.

He wondered if Rude’s promotion had been announced yet. He wasn’t sure how long something like that took to be made official… or if Tres was even going to hold off letting the soon to be ex-rookie know until after it was official. Or, come to think of it, if it was something the Turks even made a big deal about beyond just congratulating the person being promoted. He’d have to check in with Cissnei and see where things were at before he said anything. He didn’t want to spoil anything, after all.

Assuming Rude hadn’t already sniffed out the mystery on his own. The redhead wouldn’t have put it past him to spoil his own surprise. He always seemed to know pretty much everything that went on at headquarters, whether he was supposed to know about it or not.

Reno could see the city now, in the distance. It would only be another twenty or thirty minutes… Of course, then, he’d probably have to help unload all the crap they were hauling back from Nibelheim. And escort it to wherever Hojo was storing it. Most of it was classified. He hoped Hojo didn’t decide to show up to inspect the shipment personally. He’d managed to avoid the creepy little scientist for months… He hadn’t had any direct interaction with Hojo since the man’s unexpected nighttime visit to the Turks’ offices, and he wouldn’t mind keeping it that way. The guy made his skin crawl.

A faint snore – a truly bizarre sound over the headsets, as they tended to give everything a tinny, electronic quality – interrupted his silent musings, and the redhead looked over at his fellow Turk. Shay had apparently dozed off at some point. He was sitting low in his seat, arms crossed over his chest, his head leaning against the plexiglass window next to him.

Of course… he’d probably be doing the same thing – or trying to, at least – in Shay’s place. There really was fuck all to do while flying over water. The scenery was a bit… limited… and the two of them had more or less talked themselves out by then.

Reno yawned and turned his attention back at the approaching shoreline.

Boring scenery or no, he just liked being in the air. It was… freeing. He’d spent so much of his life trapped in a soulless, sunless pit. Moving up to the Plate had been eye-opening. Learning to fly, though… that had been life-changing. When he was a kid, the thought of visiting every sector of the Slums had seemed like it would have been an impossible task. The Slums were just too fucking big. When he’d gotten older, it had seemed slightly less daunting, but still a massive undertaking to even try.

He’d been a naïve little bastard. The Slums were nothing. There were little more than a tiny speck on the planet’s surface. Even the first time he’d seen Midgar from the air, mind-blowing as it had been, hadn’t even scratched the surface of how much more was out there.

When the war with Wutai finally ended, he was going to ask Tseng about using some of his vacation time. He really wanted to see more… even if it was just one place at a time. Maybe his mentor would even be willing to come with him somewhere. He was pretty sure Tseng could use a little time to just relax and not worry about things back home… especially having been sidelined for so long. Just some time to not think about his responsibilities.

Soon they were over Midgar, buzzing over the buildings and crowded roadways. The copter landed on its helipad with a soft bump and Reno turned his attention on the still-slumbering Turk in the co-pilot’s chair. He pulled his headset off and hung it on the peg behind his seat.

“Yo Shay…” he prodded. Shay snored faintly and attempted to roll over. His seat’s harness held him firmly in place, however. Reno rolled his eyes and lifted one side of the other Turk’s headset away from his ear. “Shay! Wake up!”

The senior Turk jumped violently as the redhead sat snickering unabashedly nearby. His head swiveled in confusion as he tried to get his bearings, before finally settling his gaze on the rookie.

“W-What?” he stammered, and Reno laughed.

“Wake up, man… we’re here,” he replied, a smirk firmly embedded on his face.

Shay rubbed a hand over his face and forced himself upright, fumbling for his harness’ release.

“How long was I out?” he asked, finally freeing himself from the restraints.

“Since about ten minutes off the Costa del Sol coast.” Reno got to his feet and climbed out onto the roof of the Shinra Building. “Heh… Home, sweet home.”

Shay groaned softly as he stretched himself out. He glanced at his watch… and groaned louder. “You couldn’t have maybe slowed us down a bit? Fifteen more minutes and I could definitely have made a case for skipping the briefing…”

“Sorry,” Reno shrugged.

“Hmph. No you’re not,” Shay chuckled, good-naturedly, drawing his PHS from his jacket. “Ah, well… I’ll let the lab know their specimens are here. Why don’t you go check in with headquarters.”

“Sure you don’t need me? Lotta shit to unload…”

Shay shook his head. “Not our problem anymore. Our job was just to get it here. Hojo will have to coordinate getting it downstairs himself. It’s not as if he doesn’t have the staff…”

“Oh, good… I wasn’t lookin’ forward to dealin’ with that asshole,” Reno replied, with a relieved sigh. He reached into the helicopter and grabbed the bottle of rum from the storage locker, before departing with a wave to Shay. “See ya downstairs!”

A short elevator ride later, and he was stepping into the Turks’ domain once again. He started towards Cissnei’s office, hoping she was around so that he could drop off her requested purchase before he ran into Rude and had to explain why he was hauling a bottle of alcohol around headquarters. Reno rounded a corner, grinning as he saw that his path was clear. He quickened his pace, reaching his fellow rookie’s office door with no one the wiser.

Or so he thought.

“Reno… Good. You’re back,” Tseng’s voice addressed him, just as he was raising his hand to knock. The redhead swore softly to himself and turned, finding his mentor suddenly standing just a few feet behind him.

“Boss… seriously. You gotta start wearin’ a bell or somethin’.”

“I fail to see how that would benefit me in any way,” Tseng replied, perfectly straight-faced, “In any case, I need to speak with you.” His eyebrow rose slightly as the Turk lieutenant somewhat belatedly realized what Reno was holding. “After work plans?” he queried.

“Heh… Not exactly. Cissnei asked me do a little shoppin’ for her if we happened to refuel in Costa del Sol. It’s a gift. Ya know… for you-know-who’s you-know-what.”

Tseng smiled slightly and shook his head. “I told Veld that wouldn’t stay a secret for long… It seems word has gotten around before even I anticipated, if you already knew about it before you left for Nibelheim. Cissnei and Rodney are both out on assignment at the moment. I suggest you leave it on her desk, and then join me in my office.”

“Yes, sir,” the redhead replied. He slipped through the door to deposit the gift discretely next to Cissnei’s computer monitor and then quickly rejoined Tseng in the hallway. “So… what’s up?”

Tseng motioned for him to follow as he started off towards his own office. Reno frowned slightly, wondering what was going on… Apparently, whatever it was Tseng wanted to talk to him about wasn’t something he wanted to discuss where anyone else might overhear.

His first thought was that he’d fucked up somehow… though it was dismissed almost as soon as it had occurred to him. For one thing… he hadn’t been around to fuck anything up for the last two days. And he couldn’t think of anything that had gone horribly wrong prior to his departure, so… A new assignment, maybe? Though that would hardly be grounds for a confidential, private chat.

His frown deepened. He was pretty sure Tseng’s re-evaluation was coming up soon. Maybe it had already happened. Maybe it was bad news, and his mentor wanted to be the one to break it to him. But… Tseng didn’t seem particularly upset. If anything, he was in a pretty good mood at the moment, as far as Reno could tell.

How doubted anything serious had happened with the Wutai situation, either, while he and Shay had been out of town… Putting aside the fact that they would have been notified of a major event, the office would have been buzzing with activity, were that the case. Instead, every indication was that today had been a fairly quiet, uneventful day.

By the time they reached the Turk lieutenant’s office, Reno had considered and dismissed almost a dozen possibilities. Tseng ushered him inside and closed the door behind him… locking it, for good measure. Reno’s eyebrows rose in surprise. That was unusual. Whatever Tseng wanted to say to him, it seemed that he didn’t want to risk anyone barging while he was saying it.

“Uh… So I’m just gonna ask, for once, instead of drivin’ myself crazy. Is this, ya know… good news, or bad news?” the rookie finally queried. Tseng laughed quietly and took a seat at his desk.

“Good news. Sit down, Reno.”

The rookie slipped into one of the chairs opposite his mentor and looked up at him curiously. Tseng seemed to take a moment to collect himself before he finally spoke.

“I had intended to inform you, first and foremost, of Rude’s imminent promotion… but it seems the rumor mill has already taken care of that for me,” he began. “You know… back when Rude was still just a recruit, the Turks suffered a… rather significant loss. More than half of the team was wiped out. We lost a lot of good friends that day.”

Reno blinked in surprise. “I… No one ever told me,” he whispered.

“It was the perfect storm of poor timing, outdated intelligence, and over-commitment of resources. We walked into it thinking it would be a textbook takedown and recovery. It… was not,” Tseng said, a little sadly, “It was no one’s fault, really. It was just one of those rare instances where absolutely everything that possibly can go wrong, did go wrong. Shinra has tried to keep it quiet. The incident didn’t exactly make us, or the company as a whole, look good. But word still got around in certain circles. The initiates in the recruiting program caught wind of it, and nearly all of them dropped out. Rude was one of only a handful who chose to stay, and the only one even close to being ready to move up in rank. He was promoted almost immediately… though to be completely fair to him, he had already been flagged as a top choice for the next round of new rookies… The incident merely sped things up a bit.”

“… Why are you tellin’ me this?” Reno asked, not quite able to figure out where this conversation was going exactly.

“To put things in perspective. Despite the accelerated timeline, Rude had, if I recall correctly, over a year of training already under his belt when he was made a rookie Turk. He’s been a Turk for about two years… and is now being promoted to full status. That’s three years and change he’s been working towards this,” Tseng said, and then smiled widely. “You accomplished it in only half that time.”

Reno opened his mouth, but no words came out. In fact, his entire brain seemed to have momentarily switched off completely. It was several seconds before he recovered enough to formulate an even vaguely coherent response.

“I… huh?” he managed. Tseng chuckled and stood up, rounding the desk and taking a seat in the chair beside Reno’s.

“Effective immediately, you are promoted to full Turk status.”

Reno felt faint for a moment as Tseng’s words finally registered. He… was being promoted? Now?!

“Reno?” Tseng prodded.

“Y-yeah… still kinda processin’ this…” the redhead replied. His mentor smiled, shaking his head.

“And Veld wondered why I wanted to tell you privately rather than in front of the entire team on Friday,” he snickered.

“You’re… sure I’m ready?” he asked, still somewhat bewildered. He didn’t exactly feel ready. Hell, at the moment, he actually felt slightly terrified, for some reason. As a rookie, he had a pretty damn good excuse any time he screwed up – he was still learning. Now, though…

“Yes, I’m sure,” Tseng replied, letting a hand rest gently on his protege’s shoulder.

“So, I… guess that means I can’t come runnin’ to you anymore the next time I get myself in trouble…”

Tseng snorted disbelievingly. “Hardly. It’s still my job to keep my Turks in line and see to it that they’re taken care of. It just means I’ll be far more annoyed should I have to drag myself out of bed to bail you out of jail at two in the morning from now on.”

“Tch… come on, boss. I haven’t been arrested in like… months,” Reno replied, rolling his eyes. But he grinned widely at the joke. At least he was pretty sure Tseng was only kidding about that. Then again…

“Let’s keep it that way, shall we?” said Tseng, “I’m still your mentor, rookie or not. This just means that you’ve proven yourself capable of acting without my constant supervision. And I think it goes without saying… though I will most certainly say it anyway… you have made me very proud, Reno.”

The former rookie ducked his head slightly, feeling a somewhat uncomfortable warmth spreading over his face. Tseng, however, was having none of it, and reached out, lifting his chin until the redhead was looking at him again.

“I am very proud of you, and you have more than earned the right to be proud of yourself.”

Reno forcibly blinked back the moisture that was rapidly welling up in the corners of his eyes, still smiling in what, he was sure, had to look like the goofiest fucking expression he could imagine. He couldn’t help it. Hearing those words from Tseng… It made him feel like he’d accomplished something he shouldn’t have even been able to.

Tseng chuckled softly. “I suppose this means that Rude will be sharing his party after work on Friday.”

“There’s a party?” Reno queried, finally snapping out of his brief reverie.

“Ah… a secret that’s somehow still remained a secret,” he laughed, “Yes. There’s a party… immediately after work on Friday, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Tres insisted. Besides which, I think everyone could stand to unwind a bit.”

Reno cocked his head to one side, thinking for a moment. “Hey, Tseng? Um… Ya think we could maybe like… hold off on tellin’ everyone that I’m bein’ promoted, too? Just ’til Monday?”

“Whatever for?” Tseng queried, an eyebrow rising in surprise. Reno shrugged.

“‘Cause… I don’t wanna take away from Rude’s day. You said yourself… he’s been at it for like three years now. And him ‘n Tres don’t get nearly enough credit for everything they do around here. He deserves to have the spotlight to himself.”

Tseng smiled slightly. “Alright. I suppose there’s no harm in postponing the official announcement, if that’s what you want. I’ll let Veld know. On the condition that you join me for dinner tonight.”

“You’re… not cookin’, right?” Reno inquired, snickering.

“No. I assure you that I am not,” the Turk lieutenant chuckled, “Actually, I thought I’d treat you to one of the more high-end establishments in Sector 4, given the occasion. The restaurant at the Silver Swan hotel is excellent.”

“Heh… Deal.”

Tseng nodded and stood. “Good. Now that that’s settled… get back to work,” he said, fondly.

---

Friday. Some weeks it was a slog just to get to the end of the day. Other weeks, it was non-stop running, and hoping things wouldn’t spill over into the weekend. This week, it seemed to be somewhere between the two extremes. Everyone had plenty to do… but at the same time, they couldn’t wait for the end of the day.

Usually, Rude hated being the center of attention. He’d never cared for being under close scrutiny, or having people come up to him to talk to him every few minutes, or even just knowing that he was personally on everyone’s mind for whatever reason. It made him feel uncomfortable and exposed.

Today, though, was different.

It had been a little disconcerting at first, after Veld announced to the entire team at the morning’s briefing that he now a fully-fledged Turk – and as he’d promised Cissnei, he’d done his best not to let on that he’d known ahead of time – but after awhile, he’d gone from quietly enduring the attention to enjoying the parade of congratulations being bestowed upon him.

He’d really done it.

He’d lasted in the recruitment program. He’d survived initial rookie training. Made it through Hell Week… and he’d finally proven himself to both his mentor and the team. It was a hell of an accomplishment, and an honor.

The only downside he could see was that there was now an invisible bar that separated him from his fellow – well, formerly fellow, now – rookies. It was odd to think that, for example, he now had the official authority to tell Reno what to do. Even though he’d been training longer than the redhead, and even though he privately thought of him as a younger sibling he occasionally needed to slap upside the head, he couldn’t help but look up to the rookie Turk as a sort of pseudo-superior in his professional life. Reno was a natural born leader, while Rude had always been more of a follower. He didn’t have any aspirations for command, and doubted he ever would. His friend, though… even if Reno hadn’t been Tseng’s personal protege, Rude still would have pegged him as an eventual contender for Second some day. And he’d be damned good at it, too.

Rude made his way back to his office following the afternoon briefing – his first ever – and dropped into his chair with a soft grunt. The attention had been nice… but he was ready for a quiet break. Especially since there was a party starting shortly that he wasn’t supposed to know about yet.

“So how’s it feel not bein’ a rookie anymore?” Reno teased, as he leaned back in his own chair, arms behind his head.

“Hmph… Pretty good,” Rude replied, and grinned slightly. “Could do without the extra meetings, though.”

Reno laughed and leaned forward until he was sitting upright again. “Ya know… Shay said pretty much the same thing the other day.” He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a small, wrapped package, before tossing it to his friend. “Gotcha somethin’. Figured I’d give it to ya now instead of makin’ ya open it in front of everyone at the party I know you know’s happenin’ later. How’s Tres gettin’ ya there without actually tellin’ ya about it, anyway?”

“He did tell me. Said he was taking me out to celebrate,” Rude replied with a smirk and tore open the paper. “He just neglected to mention that everyone else would be there, too.”

“Tch… you’re the worst person on the planet to try ‘n keep a secret from, ya know that, right?”

“I take that as a compliment,” the older Turk snickered, as he opened the box. He blinked in surprise, and then looked up at the redhead. “How’d you know?”

He’d actually thought he’d kept this particular interest more or less under wraps. Shadow and Sword was something of a guilty pleasure… It had been horrendously popular ever since its debut earlier that year, and he was a little embarrassed to admit that he’d fallen for the hype and gotten swept up in the intriguing little TV show. Now, he never missed an episode. But people seemed to fall into one of two camps – those who adored it, and those who looked at its fans and simply shook their heads. He knew for a fact that Reno was of the latter description. The redhead grinned as Rude lifted the detailed figurine of Martesh, the Lady of Shadows, out of the box. He’d even gotten him his favorite character.

“Tch… gimme a break, Rude. You’ve got her as your fuckin’ screensaver,” Reno snickered.

Alright… so maybe he hadn’t been quite as diligent as he should have been about keeping it out of the office. He hadn’t been able to resist.

“Thanks, Reno,” he replied, smiling. The redhead gave him a dismissive wave, and made himself comfortable again.

“So, not to change the subject or anything, but what’s this shit I’ve been hearin’ ’bout Sephiroth?” Reno asked. He propped his feet up on the desk and tilted his chair back until it was only just balancing on its back legs. “Somethin’ ’bout Mr. Super SOLDIER facin’ down some kinda monster?”

Rude nodded. It had been the primary focus of the afternoon briefing, in fact. A condensed version had already been leaked to the media, with promises of more details to come later in the evening… so he wasn’t surprised that Reno’d already heard something about it.

“Apparently Godo finally decided to play his trump card. He used materia to summon Leviathan to defend the capital.”

Reno teetered precariously in his chair as his curiosity was suddenly piqued. “Wait… like Leviathan, Leviathan? Like the ‘what in Leviathan’s name’ kinda Leviathan? That Leviathan?”

“Say ‘Leviathan’ a few more times, why don’t you?” Rude snickered, noting the redhead slightly awed expression.

“Nah… It’s startin’ to sound weird to me after all that. Seriously though… Sephiroth fought it?”

Rude nodded. “And won, from what the reports say. Single-handedly.”

“Tch… no way…” the redhead breathed, shaking his head in disbelief, “No one’s that strong… are they?”

“I’m just telling you what the reports are saying,” Rude shrugged.

“Fuck, man… Glad the son of a bitch is on our side. Think this’ll finally end it? I mean… what the hell else could Godo have up his sleeve?”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see,” Rude said, though at the briefing, the consensus among the senior Turks had been along the same lines. Wutai wasn’t a large country, by any means… and though their warriors were strong and well-trained, Shinra simply had more soldiers than they did… and they would continue to throw them at Wutai until Wutai had nothing left. A summoned creature would almost have to have been their end game… a last-ditch effort at victory. They’d holed up in the capital, shored up defenses until it was an impenetrable fortress, and waited for Shinra to commit vast amounts of troops, hoping that Leviathan would wipe them out in one fell swoop. It looked like Wutai had gambled and lost. If that was the case, the only recourse that didn’t involve massive casualties was surrender.

“Hey… you two workin’ in here, or gossipin’?” Tres’ voice queried as he poked his head through the open door.

“Aren’t you the one who tells me at least once a week that gossip is part of our job?” Rude replied.

“Your job… not his,” the senior Turk replied with a smirk, “Quittin’ time. You ready to head out?”

Rude nodded and gathered his things to leave before giving his friend a quick wave.

“Later, Rude,” Reno replied with a knowing grin.

---

It felt almost like his birthday. Everyone had gotten him something, and by the time he’d unwrapped it all, the party was in full swing with Sato playing music on Tseng’s stereo, Reno tackling drink requests as best he could from the limited options he’d been presented with, and Saya and Kai running in and out of the backdoor as they took turns keeping an eye on the grill they’d set up on the patio.

It was… perfect. For a little while, everyone seemed to forget that there was still a war going on, and were just hanging out at a perfectly normal family barbecue. Tres sat down next to him on the couch and pressed a cold beer into Rude’s hand.

“You totally fuckin’ knew, didn’t ya?” he said, grinning.

“Since Tuesday,” Rude replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“It was Sato, wasn’t it. I knew that cripshay-fucking asshole’d never be able to keep his mouth shut.”

“You taught me to never compromise a source,” the younger Turk grinned back, drawing a laugh from his mentor.

“Taught ya too goddamn well, I think,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re a damn fine intelligence agent, Rude.” He smirked slightly, “Hell, I might just fuckin’ retire and turn it all over to you.”

Rude snorted in amusement, “Pretty sure I’ve still got some things to learn.”

“One or two, maybe,” Tres agreed, playfully punching him in the shoulder. “You’re a good kid.” The senior Turk leaned back against the couch cushions and took a long swig of his own beer before turning back to Rude. “So… how’s it feel?”

“… Different. In a good way, but… definitely different.”

“Yeah, well… you earned it, kid. Don’t doubt that for even a second.”

Rude beamed at his mentor, and took a drink from his own beer. With Tres, you frequently had to read between the lines. He seldom openly praised anyone or anything… and his respect had to be earned. There were no exceptions. Hearing Tres say that about him was… special.

“So… now that you’re a big boy Turk,” Tres teased, “I think it’s time we start looking at puttin’ you out in the field without me more. Got somethin’ for ya down below on Monday. Nice easy networking opportunity to start ya out with.”

“Thought you said to never go down to the Slums on my own.”

“Didn’t say you’d be goin’ alone. Just that you wouldn’t be goin’ with me. But don’t dwell on that shit tonight. We’ll worry ’bout it next week. This is a goddamn party!” he replied, raising his drink with a laugh. Rude mirrored him and the pair happily drank to his success.

~end chapter 92~