Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 97: Preparations Complete

Tres hadn’t stopped grinning since he’d walked into the Turks’ temporary command center. In fact, he was pretty sure his overly pleased expression remained firmly in place until Rude arrived fifteen minutes later, when he finally let out a loud laugh.

“Guess who owes me dinner!” he shouted across the echoy space. Rude sighed and shook his head, but smiled good-naturedly.

“A bet’s a bet. Where are we going?” he chuckled. Cissnei glanced back and forth between the pair.

“What bet?” she asked, curious.

“Heh… This sucker bet me he could finished settin’ up ‘fore I did. And now… it’s time to pay up,” Tres replied, slapping the younger man on the back. “Care ta join us, rookie? His treat…”

“… I don’t remember the bet including me covering guests, too…” Rude pointed out.

“Hmph… Well, ya certainly can’t expect a lady to pay when she’d been invited out to dinner,” Tres teased, “That’s just plain unchivalrous.”

Rude snickered in response. “You wanna come?” he asked, turning to the rookie, “Looks like I’m buying.”

Cissnei giggled softly. “You don’t have to,” she laughed, “But, that being said, I definitely wouldn’t mind something other than mess hall chow tonight. Um… let me just go clean up a little.”

Tres watched the rookie run off and then turned back to his protege, elbowing him in the side.

“Ya know… you could do a lot worse…” he chuckled. Rude’s eyebrow rose from behind the dark lenses of his sunglasses and Tres was forced to roll his eyes. “Oh, come on… She’s sweet on ya, kid. Has been practically since the day she walked into headquarters. You had to’ve noticed by now…”

“… I… might have gotten that impression.”

Tres snorted loudly. “So… what? Not interested?”

“…”

“Don’t tell me you’re still pinin’ after the one that dumped your sorry ass…” he said, fixing him with an annoyed look.

“N-no… It’s not that,” the younger Turk said hurriedly, shaking his head in denial. “I’m over Margaret. It’s just… we work together. What if… things didn’t work out between us? My last girlfriend hasn’t even spoken to me since we broke up.”

Tres nodded in understanding. “Yeah… s’pose I can see that. Look… I’m not tryin’ to push ya into anything. But she does pretty obviously like ya. If you’re not gonna take her up on the offer, it’d be a lot kinder to let her down gently then to just keep pretendin’ you don’t notice.”

“… Yeah…” Rude replied, hesitantly. Tres laughed. He got the distinct impression that that was the last thing his protege wanted to do. Rude was a bright kid and a good Turk, but when it came to women, he really was kind of hopeless. Not that Tres had the best track record himself in that department.

“Well, ya don’t gotta do anything about it tonight,” he added, snickering loudly. His protege smiled shyly, and Tres grinned back at him. “But… uh… maybe take some time to give it a little more consideration before you make a decision one way or the other. No one understands a Turk like another Turk, after all. Might be that the love of your life’s been starin’ ya right in the face all this time. Wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.”

No… it certainly wouldn’t be the first time it had happened. He’d seen first hand how deeply in love Kai and Alyssa had been… and even though they’d lost Alyssa far too soon, he knew that Kai still treasured the time they’d had together. Tseng, too, pussy-whipped as he was, was head over heals for Viridia, even if he wouldn’t admit it. She wasn’t technically a Turk, but she could have been if she’d wanted it. Veld had made a valiant effort in that regard and as far as Tres was concerned, that counted.

Hell… if he thought it wouldn’t likely end in him getting his balls ripped off, he’d have tried making a move on Remy a long time ago. As much as they butted heads, he’d always admired how driven she was, and how she never gave up, even when things seemed to be falling apart around her. And it certainly didn’t hurt that she was a bit of a looker, too. He’d never quite found the courage to go for it, though… Truth be told, he was probably the last person Rude ought to be taking relationship advice from, now that he thought about it.

Fortunately, Cissnei chose that moment to return to them, grinning widely as she tied her hair back into a ponytail. Tres glanced over at Rude, who seemed to be watching her a bit more appraisingly than before.

“Alright, let’s get a move on!” the senior Turk declared, turning to head out, “Hope you haven’t spent all of that nice big raise ya just got yet, kid… ’cause I’m fuckin’ starvin’!”

---

“Well, well, well… Look who finally decided to show up and get some work done,” a familiar voice greeted Reno as he exited the serving line in the base’s mess hall later that evening, tray laden in food. He turned his head, searching out the source of the taunt.

“I’d hardly call it working. He’s clearly just here to eat,” a second commentator opined, and the redhead’s gaze finally settled on a table in the corner. He grinned when he recognized Tseng and his dining companion, Viridia, and hurried over to them.

“Hey… I just spent the last hour and a half flyin’ here with Rufus and then gettin’ his royal pain in my ass settled into his quarters. I think I’ve earned a decent meal.”

Tseng frowned slightly. “Have there been issues? I was under the impression Rufus was quite looking forward to this trip. He’s usually a bit less… antagonistic… when he’s not being forced into something.”

Reno grinned and shook his head. “Nah… Nothing major. Actually, he hasn’t been too bad at all today, really. Compared to normal, I mean. He even said somethin’ that could almost be classified as nice to me earlier. Damn near fainted from shock…”

The Turk lieutenant chuckled and made a bit more room at the table for the younger man. Reno took a seat, setting his tray down in front of him, and wasted no time digging into his dinner.

“So… I miss anything interestin’ ’round here?” he asked between bites.

“Nothing of consequence,” said Tseng, “Though I’ve heard tell that Saya very nearly threw Sato off the end of the cannon earlier during their bomb sweep. Something about a prank that went unappreciated. It’s secondhand hearsay, however… I’m afraid I’ve not yet been able to confirm the incident even happened.”

“Oh, it happened, all right,” Viridia interjected, “I got that report straight from one of my corporals, who saw the whole thing.”

Reno snickered, wondering just what sort of trick the Mideelian had pulled this time. Saya usually didn’t put up with any of her cousin’s crap. Son of a bitch was probably lucky to still be alive if he pranked her out on the cannon.

“But on the plus side…” Tseng continued, “at this point all security measures are in place, and everything is on schedule.”

“Heh… careful, Boss. You’re gonna jinx us talkin’ like that.”

Viridia laughed. “He’s right, you know. You’re just asking for something to go horribly wrong, saying that.”

“Superstitious nonsense,” Tseng said, dismissively… though, Reno noted, he very quickly changed the subject as he turned to Viridia, “Is it true they’re taking bets on the length of President Shinra’s speech in the officers’ barracks?”

The lieutenant commander smirked. “Absolutely not. Gambling is strictly prohibited in the barracks.”

Reno snorted softly as he plowed through a pile of mashed potatoes. “So what kinda odds are they givin’?”

“Twenty to one it only goes on for half an hour. Seven to one he hits the two hour mark and calls it a day. The captain’s got a hundred gil riding on him making it to two hours, fifteen minutes. Even at only three to one odds, it would make for a nice little payout.”

“Hmph… strictly prohibited, eh?” Tseng chuckled.

“Absolutely. In the barracks,” she replied, grinning, “Of course, I can hardly police what the ranks get up to off-base…”

“That why everyone else is missin’ in action instead of eatin’ tonight?” Reno snickered.

“It’s entirely possible. Sato, at the very least, will certainly be placing a wager or two, and he’ll probably drag Shay along, as well, in the hopes of securing financing for a larger bet…” the Turk lieutenant said with a shake of his head. “It’s very fortunate that Shay doesn’t typically gamble. He’s terrible at it.” The redhead smirked and went back to his dinner… and as he did so, couldn’t help but think how much more like his old self Tseng seemed lately. Whatever the hell Veld and Ward and whoever else had been involved were doing… it was working. He couldn’t quite put it into words, but Reno could see the change in him.

And he was glad to see it. He’d been worried. Worried that his mentor would slip back into the black mood he’d fallen into after Mayu had died. Worried that, if it happened again, he might not be able to climb back out this time. Worried that… he might still lose the closest thing to a parent he’d had since he was scrawny little five year old in the slums. It was a relief seeing him like this.

“In any case… as you and Remy are assigned exclusively to the executive security details, I’ve decided to exempt you from overnight surveillance duty,” Tseng continued. “I expect you to use that time to ensure you’re well-rested for tomorrow.”

“Heh… In other words, stay the hell outta the bar,” the redhead translated, laughing.

“I actually meant that you should go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight,” the Turk lieutenant replied, before fixing him with a stern look, “But now that you’ve brought it up, I’ll amend that with stay out of the bar.”

“You know,” Viridia chimed in, teasingly, “I was under the impression that he’d graduated from being your rookie. Do you even still have the authority to enforce bedtime and sobriety?”

“Old habits die hard,” a familiar voice answered as Veld, having at last made his way through the serving line, strolled towards the little group. “Especially for over-protective mentors. Just ask Tseng how long it took me to finally stop pestering him about his savings…”

“You stopped?” Tseng shot back, arching an eyebrow, “When was that, exactly… ?”

Veld chuckled and took a seat next to his second in command. “Well… I’m much better about refraining these days, anyway.”

The reply brought a round of snickers from the others. Truth be told… Reno didn’t really mind when Tseng made little comments like that, though. No one but his mother had ever bothered when he’d been a kid, that was for sure. Little reminders that someone cared enough to nag you about silly things like getting enough sleep or not spending all of your gil on junk you didn’t need were oddly comforting.

“So,” he asked, redirecting the conversation back to the previous subject, “What’s with the surveillance duty, anyway? I thought Junon was a fuckin’ fortress.”

“It is,” Viridia firmly declared, “but I suppose a little paranoia never hurt anyone.” She looked pointedly over at Veld. “I’m certainly not taking it as a slight against my security personnel,” she teased.

“Considering the recent incidents involving Rufus, we’re simply not taking any chances. Shinra and Wutai may be at peace, but any time the President makes a public appearance there’s a risk. Especially when it’s as well-publicized and highly attended as this signing,” said Veld, “There’s also the little matter of our mercenary acquaintances still being on the loose… though they’ve likely moved on to other contracts by now.”

“Tres has organized duty shifts to keep an eye on his camera network and to supplement the normal base security patrols. Kai and myself have the dubious pleasure of taking first shift,” Tseng added, and glanced down at his watch, “… which I should be leaving for, actually. I’ll see you all in the morning.”

Viridia smiled. “I’ll walk you, then. I need to check in with command, anyway.”

With that, the pair stood, and Reno gave them a quick wave before they headed out, leaving the remaining two Turks to their own devices. Veld, meanwhile, started in on his own meal.

“Before youopt to take your mentor’s advice and turn in for the evening,” he said, nodding at the redhead, “… there’s one last item you, Remy, and I need to go over. Should something occur at any point tomorrow that requires the quick removal of the President and Vice President, we have primary and secondary escape routes planned out. I’d like to do a physical walk through tonight and again first thing in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me, sir,” the redhead replied. The two Turks fell into a brief silence as conversation took a back seat to hunger. It was Reno who broke it a moment later. “You ever get the chance to talk to Rodney?”

Veld shook his head, and swallowed the bite of roast pork he’d taken.

“Not yet… Unfortunately, I was detained by the President before I could catch up to him. But I will speak to him. The more I’ve thought about your concerns, the more interested I am in knowing just where those ideas might be coming from. I don’t much care for the thought of someone feeding my rookies propaganda behind my back,” the Turk leader responded, and Reno heard a definite note of irritation in his voice.

---

A few hours later, Tseng glanced away from the monitors for a moment and yawned. The busy day seemed to finally be catching up to him, and even though he’d had far later nights as a Turk over the years, he was ready to get some sleep. Thankfully, his shift was nearly over. Rodney and Shay would be arriving to relieve him shortly, and he could finally head off to bed.

Hopefully, Reno had taken his advice and turned in early. He wouldn’t have time for a break tomorrow. As the vice president’s security detail, he would need to be alert and focused until the day’s events concluded and the executives were safely on their way back to Midgar. He smiled slightly at the thought. Veld hadn’t needed any convincing to put Reno on that assignment. It was a testament to just how far his rookie – former rookie, he quickly reminded himself – had come. Tseng had had a hand in training any number of new Turks, but Veld had been right when he’d told him that a First Rookie would be very, very different.

Some slight movement on one of the video monitors caught his eye, and he looked up just in time to spot Kai as she drifted past the camera outside of their secure hanger. The Turk lieutenant sat up straighter in his chair as he heard the soft ping of the electronic lock, followed by the sound of the door opening and her footsteps heading toward him.

“All quiet on the western front,” Kai said, “Next shift here yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m sure they won’t be long,” Tseng replied, “I hope you patrolled more than just the western half of the base…”

Kai rolled her eyes. “That was movie reference, for Shiva’s sake… Don’t be so literal,” she replied, lightly punching him in the shoulder as she slipped past him and dropped into a nearby chair. Tseng laughed softly and returned his gaze to the monitors.

It had started out somewhat cautiously… but he’d soon found that his old friendship with Kai hadn’t been quite so hopeless as he’d long thought. Several long talks over the past few weeks had helped – in more ways than one – and, for now, at least, they seemed to be easing back into the relationship they’d had prior to the mission that had cost Alyssa her life, and he was glad for it. He’d… missed his friend.

“Giving the Turklings the graveyard shifts, eh?” Kai continued, glancing at the schedule posted on the wall. Shay and Rodney would take over for them, and then Cissnei and Saya would finish off the overnights. Rude and Tres would have the entirety of the day shift. She reached for the pot of coffee on one of the long folding tables… before thinking better of it, given that she’d be off to bed soon, and settling for water instead.

“According to Tres, that’s what rookies are for,” Tseng replied, snickering. He didn’t entirely agree that someone should be stuck with the jobs no one else wanted simply because they lacked experience… but at the moment he wasn’t inclined to contradict the other Turk. It meant that he got to go to sleep at a semi-reasonable hour tonight.

Right on cure, two shadows darted past the camera outside, and the lock pinged again, announcing the arrival of the next shift.

“Speak of the devil and he’ll appear,” Kai said, grinning as they pair stepped into the light of the hanger. Shay shook his head, chuckling.

“I’m not even going to ask why I’ve suddenly been named the devil…”

Rodney rolled his eyes, but refrained from commenting.

“Ugh… Did I miss the memo that said common sayings need to be taken literally tonight, or what?” Kai asked.

“I believe we discussed it after you left to place your bet on the President’s speech,” Tseng deadpanned, getting up from behind the bank of video monitors. Kai fixed him with a look that seemed equal parts amused and annoyed.

“Tseng… do us all a favor and leave the jokes to your protege. He’s so much better at them.”

The Turk lieutenant smirked and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, pulling it on before turning to the new arrivals.

“It’s been quiet thus far,” he said, nodding to the displays. “If you whichever of you is monitoring the cameras was hoping for some late night entertainment, I think you’re going to be disappointed.”

“Same on patrol,” Kai added. “Aside from a few very drunk soldiers sneaking back to the barracks after curfew… if you can call what they were doing ‘sneaking‘… I didn’t see anything of note the whole time I was out there.”

“Duly noted,” Shay replied, “Guess we’ll take it from here, then.”

Tseng nodded. “Good night,” he said as he and Kai turned to leave.

“Good night, sir,” Rodney called after them. The pair slipped into the darkness of the base, and started walking towards the administration building.

“What do you suppose are the odds of Veld giving us all a nice, long vacation after this is done?” Kai queried, grinning widely.

“All of us at once? Slim to none,” he replied, and then smirked, “Which is why I’ve already made my request for a month from yesterday.”

Kai looked over at him in surprise. “Tseng Itsudake is taking a vacation?” she said, incredulously, “Did I miss the memo on the apocalypse coming, too?”

“I’m not that bad about taking time off…” the Wutaiian Turk scoffed.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Kai teased, “Says Shinra’s most dedicated workaholic. So where are you going?”

“Costa del Sol,” he replied. “It’s… been awhile… since I was there for purely personal pleasure. And Viridia has some leave coming up. I thought it might be nice to spend a little time together without having to worry about our respective responsibilities for a change.”

“You thought so, huh?” she replied, eyeing him.

“… She thought it might be nice. And I very eagerly agreed with her,” he amended.

“Hmph… no surprise there.” Kai shook her head. “Maybe now that your little baby Turkling is all grown up you’ll take better care of yourself.”

“And just what’s that supposed to mean?” Tseng inquired, an eyebrow rising curiously.

“Oh, come on… you’ve been putting yourself second for his sake since his first day on the Plate. You even came back to work way before you were really ready because you were worried about him.” She smiled warmly. “Which, I would expect no less from you. You basically adopted the kid, after all. But Reno’s a big boy now. It’s about damn time you started looking after yourself again.”

“Reno has never been a burden to me,” he replied, somewhat defensively. Yes, he had needed quite a bit more of Tseng’s undivided attention than he’d initially expected, and there had certainly been times when the senior Turk had felt more than a little lost in balancing discipline and compassion with the younger Turk… but even in hindsight, he wouldn’t have changed things. Kai only snickered.

“Of course he was. Just because it was one you were happy to bear doesn’t make it any less a burden. He needed more than a mentor. He needed a parent… and that’s what you became for him. That’s above and beyond, if you ask me. Burdens aren’t necessarily bad things, you know. Sometimes they’re worth it.”

“… He is more than worth any minor inconvenience I may have suffered on account,” Tseng replied, firmly, as they reached a small alley that cut over to the next block of buildings. The Turk lieutenant turned down it.

“I never said he wasn’t… and where the hell are you going? Our quarters are this way,” Kai said, stopping at the end of the alley pointing in the direction they’d previously been walking. Tseng paused and turned back to look at her, before smiling.

“I’m aware of that… but Viridia’s quarters are this way, and I’d hate to keep her waiting just for the sake of keeping up appearances,” he replied simply. The other Turk blinked in surprise and then shook her head, laughing.

“Nevermind what I was saying,” she said, “It sounds like you’re already taking my advice…”

Tseng chuckled and continued down the alley, towards the base’s officers’ quarters.

“Good night, Kai,” he called back over his shoulder.

---

Reno sighed, staring up at the ceiling, and wondered why, when he most needed to be well-rested, his brain always seemed to refuse to shut itself off for the night. He was pretty sure that a major part of the driving force behind his current wakefulness was that he was more than a little excited about tomorrow. Sure, he had a job to do… but the idea of getting to ride in a parade with Ifrit only knew how many people watching made him a little giddy. That, and the fact that the whole reason tomorrow was happening at all was because the goddamned war was over.

He’d also heard a rumor going around that Sephiroth might be in attendance, too, and… well, he wasn’t exactly a fanboy, but it was fucking Sephiroth, for fuck’s sake. He wouldn’t say no to the chance to meet the guy.

The redhead grunted softly as he rolled over onto his side and pulled the covers over his head, curling up into a tight little ball in the center of the bed. It was times like this he still occasionally reverted to his old sleeping habits. There was something oddly comforting about it that usually seemed to force his body to relax even when his brain was demanding otherwise.

Tonight was, apparently, the exception to the rule. No matter how hard he tried to relax, sleep refused to come. Finally, he surrendered and climbed out of bed, grabbing his cigarettes off the side table as he went, striding across the dark room to the narrow balcony that overlooked Junon.

The night was cool, but not unpleasantly so, and the soft breeze blowing in from the ocean smelled strongly of salt. He pulled a cigarette from the pack, setting it between his lips as he lit it and inhaled. He knew it was technically against the rules… but hell, who was gonna bitch at him about it at this time of night?

He leaned forward, propping his elbow on the railing and resting his chin on his palm as he gazed out at the inky black sea. Very faintly in the distance he could make out a handful of lights bobbing up and down on the waves. Probably a cargo ship… or maybe a ferry, bringing in more people who’d be attending the festivities. The last he’d heard the number of expected spectators had been close to two thousand, and they surely weren’t all spending the night down in Lower Junon.

He knew that some had passed through the security checks already and had holed up in the inns on the base… but those rooms probably couldn’t handle more than a few hundred people. Maybe another fifty or so were staying down below. Most people would be arriving by plane or boat in the morning, or venturing across the plains from nearby towns. Remy had seemed particularly concerned about security around the elevator, and the logistics of so many people using the damned thing. He was glad that was something that he wasn’t going to have to deal with. Crowd control didn’t sound like an especially fun assignment this time around.

The moon was barely a sliver in the sky… though the stars were out, and shown clearly in the darkness. You just didn’t get views like this in Midgar. For all the city’s grandeur, it didn’t lend itself well to star-gazing. Too much light. You couldn’t see them as well in Junon as you could in, for instance, Kalm… but they were a lot brighter than they were in Midgar.

The redhead exhaled a cloud of smoke and yawned as he flicked the ash from his cigarette into the breeze. He let his gaze drop to the street below and saw a dark figure approaching the administrative building. As it passed under a pole light, he recognized the figure as Kai, and realized that they must have just changed shifts over in their little temporary headquarters. She suddenly paused, as if realizing that she was being watched, and looked around, seeking out the source of her surveillance.

Reno grinned and took a long drag off the cigarette.

“Paranoid much?” he called down to her. Kai looked up at him, and even though it was too dark to actually see it, he was almost certain she rolled her eyes at him.

“Baby Turklings are supposed to be in bed,” she stated, starting forward again, towards the doors. “And put that thing out.”

“You ever gonna quite callin’ me that?” he replied.

“Nope,” the diminutive Turk called back. A moment later, he heard the door swing shut as she entered the building. Reno snickered and took one last drag before obligingly doing as he’d been told. He was finally starting to feel sleepy now. About damn time, too. He yawned again and glanced up at the stars one more time before turning and walking back into his room, shutting the balcony door behind him.

---

A figure crept silently across the darkened base, keeping well out of the bright lights that illuminated the tarmac. Most of the base’s personnel may have been slumbering, but Junon never truly slept. There were always patrols, late night arrivals from overseas, and even the odd after-hours training drill.

But those were familiar routines that could be easily avoided.

And tonight they had to be avoided. Being seen was not an option. Those damned cameras that had been added certainly didn’t make things any easier. That was definitely an unexpected obstacle… but nothing that couldn’t be overcome. Security was probably tighter tonight than it had ever been.

And tomorrow it probably wouldn’t be any less so. Fortunately, there was no need to worry about tomorrow’s security.

The figure slipped unseen into an alcove as a pair of soldiers rounded the corner of a nearby building, on patrol. Once they’d passed by, spotting the next camera took a moment, but it was easy enough to elude its watchful gaze once its location was known. Just a little farther…

It didn’t help that the current mission had a time limit. Going missing for too long would lead to questions, and questions would lead to suspicion. And suspicion would ruin everything.

The elevator was just ahead. Junon’s only connection to the ground below. The only way – short of an aircraft or a submarine that could reach the underwater reactor and its causeway – to gain access to the base.

The two soldiers standing guard at its doors never even knew what hit them.

~end chapter 97~