Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 10: Long Days

Tseng made his way into the office earlier than usual the next morning, intent on catching up on some of the paperwork that seemed to have gotten away from him over the last few weeks. Having a brand new rookie to care for always seemed to put him a bit behind, and Liam was no exception. The young man seemed to be settling in at last, however.

Truth be told, he’d been a little concerned about him at first. For much of his first week on the job, he’d shied away from the other rookies, and most of the senior Turks, as well. The Turk lieutenant had, in fact, been on the verge of discussing this self-imposed isolation with his newly promoted Turkling, but that meeting had been unexpectedly preempted by Reno… who had dragged all of the rookies, along with Rude and Cissnei, out for pizza – and likely beer, as well, though it was pointedly never mentioned – after work. Liam had been much more social afterwards… though still a quiet and reserved young man on the whole.

The Turk leader smiled slightly to himself. He’d learned later that Reno had noticed the same issue and taken it upon himself to rectify it. He really would make an excellent second in command one day. His ability to read a situation – as well as the people involved – was truly a gift. But then… Tseng had recognized that much the first time they’d met. It was a large part of the reason he’d ultimately decided that he wanted him for the Turks, and the reason he’d returned to the slums after the injuries from his previous trip below had healed to covertly take a second look at the boy.

The elevator arrived at the Turks’ offices, and Tseng made his way out into the empty hallway. He enjoyed the peace and quiet their little slice of the Shinra Building afforded him before the others eventually filtered in. It was a nice way to ease into the day. This morning, however, something felt a bit… off.

And it didn’t take him long to spot the reason for it. As he made his way around the floor, looking for whatever it was that seemed so out of place, he came across the door to one of the small overnight quarters left wide open… and frowned as he spotted his protege thoroughly passed out on the bed inside, face buried against one of the pillows, still in uniform from the day before.

Tseng slipped into the room and laid a hand on the redhead’s back, rather surprised when he didn’t immediately wake. Reno was a notoriously light sleeper, and typically it took almost nothing to rouse him. He shook the younger Turk slightly, and was rewarded with a faint groan as he slowly rolled over, blinking up at him with bleary, tired eyes.

“Reno?” he queried, somewhat concerned.

“Mmph… what time is it?” Reno asked, yawning.

“Nearly seven thirty.”

“… What’re ya doin’ here so late, boss?” He stretched slightly until his shoulder cracked discomfortingly, and Tseng winced. He really did wish his former rookie would do something about that… It drove him mad sometimes.

“Seven thirty in the morning…” the Turk lieutenant amended. “Are you alright?”

“Ugh… Knew I shoulda ate somethin’ besides a goddamn candy bar last night…” the redhead muttered forcing himself upright. He scrubbed his hands over his face and groaned. “Guess trainin’ yesterday took more outta me than I realized.”

Tseng folded his arms over his chest and fixed the redhead with a pointed look… leading Reno to roll his eyes.

“Tch… I know. No skippin’ meals. I was just really beat.”

“Which likely only compounded the effects of not eating,” the Turk lieutenant chastised him, before gently taking hold of his arm. “Come on. Let’s get you fed… preferably before Justinia gets word of this.”

Reno snickered quietly. “What? Ya think I’m gonna rat myself out to the Doc?”

“Hmph… Hardly. But that woman doesn’t miss much, and she’s far too fond of you to let any rumor of ill-health pass without investigating. Which you know perfectly well,” he said, and then smirked, “So… let’s go and find you some breakfast before I somehow wind up in trouble again for neglecting you.”

“Aw, come on, boss,” the redhead teased, “I’m not your responsibility anymore…”

“Hmph… the law may see it that way. Veld may see it that way. Even Shinra Company as a whole may see it that way,” Tseng replied, jokingly “But I can guarantee you that the good doctor does not. I’m quite certain that any illness, injury, or minor inconvenience that befalls you will somehow be entirely my fault for the rest of my days, at least in her eyes.”

And… to be fair, Tseng was quite certain he would never be able to fully abdicate responsibility for the young man himself, either. No matter how much his protege grew in both his personal and professional life, Reno would always be his first rookie on some level. He couldn’t help but remain firmly attached to the precocious redhead.

“Heh… that’s what ya get for basically adoptin’ an underage slum rat,” the younger Turk grinned.

“Mmm… I shall be sure to studiously avoid making that mistake again in the future,” he deadpanned. Reno laughed as they made their way towards the elevators.

“Ouch, man… You really know how to hurt a guy.”

Tseng chuckled and shook his head. “I suppose I’ll have to treat you to breakfast now, to make up for that comment,” he said, pressing the button for the parking deck.

“Or ya could let me drive your car to the restaurant…”

“I don’t feel that much remorse,” Tseng returned, dryly, and Reno snickered as the elevator doors closed.

---

Much of the remainder of the week was spent in the same vein as the beginning… though Reno made it a point to avoid letting himself get so completely worn down a second time. Still… he hadn’t trained this hard for this long since his rookie days, and he was a little surprised to rediscover just how rough it really was. He’d definitely let himself get a little spoiled since his promotion. He certainly had no great difficulty falling asleep each night.

It probably didn’t help that Ashland was a real hardass when it came to ordering him around, too… though to be fair, Reno did kind of like the guy. In addition, Ashland seemed to recognize that he was being hard on the redhead, and was trying his best not to push him too far. But, that being said, they had a deadline, after all. Reno was supposed to be ready to try entering the lab by Monday. It was a real crash course he was getting.

On top of that, he was also worried about Kai. Everyone was. The senior Turk had been slowly recovering, but three nights ago, there had been an unexpected setback and an emergency surgery to remove a clot from her lung. She was hanging in there, but she still had a ways to go before she’d be back on her feet again.

At least she was awake now, though. They’d finally brought her out of sedation yesterday, and though she was currently in a somewhat medieval-looking contraption that was allegedly meant to stop her from moving her injured shoulder and neck, she had been in a surprisingly good mood when Reno had gone with Tseng to pay her a visit last night after work.

Tseng had seemed… relieved. His mentor was a master at hiding his feelings, but the redhead knew him well enough by now to be able to tell when the man was worried. And he’d been very worried since he’d found out just how serious Kai’s injuries had really been. So had Reno, for that matter. Veld had rather noticeably understated things when he’d first called them in Corel… though, in all fairness to the Turk leader, that may have been because he hadn’t had all the information himself yet at the time.

Reno grunted softly as he struggled into his wetsuit once again. He’d never been a fan of skin-tight anything – not on himself, anyway – and his opinion hadn’t been altered much in its favor since starting this training. The rubbery material chafed when he wore it too long, leaving an ugly rash on the various places it rubbed the worst. His back and upper thighs seemed particularly sensitive to it, and he’d been forced to visit Medical twice now for relief at the end of the day. All things considered, he’d be glad when this was over. Learning how to do shit like this was cool and all… but having it all thrown at him at once, day in and day out, kind of sucked.

Plus, it hadn’t slipped his mind that when he did this for real, it wasn’t going to be in a nice, temperature controlled swimming pool. It was going to be in the ocean. In the middle of the fucking winter. All alone. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was starting to feel more than slightly apprehensive about the idea.

Fortunately, if all went according to plan, he wouldn’t actually be in the water all that long. They’d take him to the lab site in a submarine… He’d only be out there long enough to get from the sub to the lab’s airlock. Maybe fifteen minutes, on the high end. Assuming everything went according to plan…

He could think of any number of things that could go wrong. For example, being grabbed by a giant sea monster and dragged into the abyss to have his body drained of vital fluids… which certainly didn’t sound overly appealing. He paused momentarily in his efforts to zip up his wetsuit and shook his head, suddenly laughing.

“Man… I gotta stop watchin’ bad horror movies right before bed…” he snickered softly to himself. Or at the very least, avoid the ones that were tangentially related to upcoming missions. Vampire Squids from the Depths was definitely not a good choice for last night’s entertainment…

---

Liam shook his head as he watched Sykes begin to make the same mistake he’d already made twice in training sessions before today’s. A part of him desperately wanted to warn him… but his new friend would never learn to do it properly himself if people pointed out his mistakes before he made them. The rookie did, however, take a rather obvious, long step back. Sykes glanced up at the sudden movement, and blinked as a look of realization crossed his face. Too late, however… The device he was working on “exploded” seconds later.

“Not again!” Sykes lamented with a cough as smoke filled the air. There was a soft ripple of laughter behind them.

“Well? What’d yeh do wrong?” Sato asked, and Sykes sighed.

“I… forgot to connect a ground wire?” he ventured, and the senior Turk nodded. The rookie cringed and sank down onto a nearby stool. “You know… maybe it’d be safer for everyone involved if I just carried Liam around with me in case I ever have to defuse a bomb.”

The odd mental image of being folded up and stuffed into the older rookie’s pocket like some sort of living multi-tool slipped into his mind so quickly and so unbidden that Liam couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well… I guess that could save me some money on travel expenses…” he snickered. Sykes glanced over at him and grinned in response.

“Heh… Alright yeh lot. We’ll pick this up again next week. Off ta Rude fer range practice, then,” Sato laughed.

“Hmph… off to sit back and let Petra hand our asses to us, more like,” Liam chuckled, as they headed out into the hallway and started towards the elevator. He sighed softly. “You know… I like Rude and all… but I kind of miss Reno teaching us. He explains things better.”

Sykes grunted softly in agreement. “What do you think this big secret mission is that they’ve got him working on, anyway? I heard he’s been training with Ashland. Exclusively.”

“I don’t know,” Liam replied, as they stepped into the elevator car. “But I saw him the other day as I was getting ready to head home. He looked like he was ready to drop. Whatever it is he’s doing, he’s putting in a lot of hours on it.”

“Better him than us, I guess,” Sykes snickered. “I put in enough hours already. Speaking of… um… how close are you to being able to take your helicopter certification exam?”

The elevator deposited them on the thirty-third floor, and the pair quickly disembarked.

“I still need another eighteen hours of flight time before I can even think about it… I did most of my simulator time as a recruit, but actual in-air hours? Not even close. Why?”

“… Mine’s coming up. I was kind of wondering if… maybe you’d help me review a little? I mean… I know what I’m doing, but… it never hurts to go over procedure. And you’re better at that sort of thing than I am.”

Liam, blinked, a little surprised by the request. It wasn’t exactly often that he got asked for help… even before he’d joined the Turks. His tendency to blend into the background was so great that no one ever thought to ask him.

“Er… Yeah. Sure. I can help you with that.”

Sykes flashed him a wide grin, pushing open the door to the firing range. Rude and Petra were already there, waiting for them.

“Thanks.”

---

“Uuuuggggggghhh…”

“Long day?” Rude asked, not looking up from his computer monitor. He had a few more intelligence reports to sort through before the weekend, and the day was almost over. Reno flopped into the chair at his own desk and leaned back.

“Long week,” he replied. “And I don’t even get a break for the weekend. Hey, ya mind doin’ me a favor, pal?”

“Sure. What?”

“I think I’m just gonna camp out here in the office ’til Monday since I still got more trainin’ to do. Ya mind runnin’ by my place ‘n shovin’ some clothes in a bag for me? I’d do it myself, but I got a meeting with Veld ‘n Ashland to go over shit for Monday after the afternoon briefing ‘n I have no idea how long it’s gonna take. Got a feelin’ I’m just gonna want to eat somethin’ ‘n crash for the night by the time they’re done with me.”

“No problem. Want me to bring you dinner, too?”

The redhead grinned. “I would love you forever if you did.”

Rude snorted softly in amusement. “I’m starting to think you only like me because I keep feeding you. Kind of like a stray dog.”

Reno laughed, and folded his hands behind his head, leaning back in the chair far enough to gaze up at the ceiling. “Ya know… that’s not so far off, when ya really think about it. Sure as fuck never had so many people lookin’ out for me down in the slums. Doesn’t exactly give me a whole lotta incentive to go back to that life.” He gave a soft laugh and added, “Hell, the way Kai’s always pettin’ my fuckin’ hair, maybe I might as well be a stray… She does it so damn much, I’m almost startin’ to like it at this point.”

Rude snickered and stood up, rounding his desk. He circled around behind the redhead and smirked as he reached out and ran his fingers through his hair. The younger Turk growled, annoyed, and rolled his eyes, batting his friend’s hand away.

“Cut it the fuck out, will ya?” he muttered, “I was jokin’ about that.”

“Anyway…” Rude chuckled as he resumed his seat, “How’s the training going? Gonna be ready by Monday?”

“Think so. I mean… ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. Tch… hope this shit’s worth it. Sounds like a whole lotta risk for not that much gain, to me.” He shrugged. “But… whatever. Orders are orders. They tell me to wrap myself up in rubber ‘n jump in the Shiva-forsaken ocean, guess that’s what I’m gonna do.” He sat up straighter a moment later. “Hey… since we’re on the subject of food…”

“We are?” Rude teased.

“Tch… Well, we were two minutes ago, before you decided I was the team puppy,” Reno shot back, laughing, “Anyway, since we’re on the subject of food, I was kinda wonderin’… Whaddya think about me makin’ dinner for ya sometime?”

Rude paled slightly as the memory of the last time he’d eaten the redhead’s cooking forced its way into his mind.

“… Reno. We’ve been down that road before…”

The younger Turk rolled his eyes a second time. “For fuck’s sake… You’re really never gonna let me forget about that, are ya? Geez, man… I learned my lesson. No questionable meat this time. In fact, I’ll even go one step farther ‘n promise no meat at all if you’re really that paranoid. Come on… gimme a second chance. I swear I won’t make ya sick this time. I just wanna do somethin’ nice for you. I’ve gotten a lot better at it…”

“…”

Rude hesitated. As much as he trusted Reno in most endeavors, he still very vividly remembered the aftermath of the last time he’d eaten something prepared by the former slum-dweller with the cast-iron stomach. He had, quite literally, never been so sick in his entire life. He really didn’t want history to repeat itself.

Then again… it hadn’t been entirely Reno’s fault. His friend had been so used to devouring whatever he could get his hands on that he hadn’t even stopped to wonder if the meat he’d used might have gone off. Particularly since he himself had apparently built up a bit of an immunity of sorts to such things over the years. And Rude couldn’t hold one little mistake against the best friend he’d ever had forever… no matter how many times he might end up puking afterwards.

“… Alright,” he said at last. The redhead’s grin widened.

“Awesome! How’s Wednesday night sound? I’ll make dinner… then I can kick your ass at chess for awhile, if ya want… Just a nice relaxin’ way to wind down from this nightmare of an assignment.”

Rude snickered softly. “You’re going to kick my ass at chess, huh?”

To be honest… that’s probably exactly what would happen. He’d beaten the redhead a handful of times… but for the most part those few victories had been sheer luck. Usually, he got trounced. And he knew that Reno didn’t really enjoy the game the way he did… he only played at all because Rude liked it. The fact that he was offering a match without being prompted was rare indeed.

“Okay… Wednesday it is,” he agreed. “Anything I should stock up on?”

“Nah… I’ll make whatever ya got work. I’m at my best when I gotta improvise,” Reno replied, grinning.

“… You trying to make me rethink this decision already?” the older Turk said, jokingly. The redhead’s only response was to flip him off. Rude laughed and began making a mental list of items in his kitchen he needed to restock before next Wednesday.

---

“All of this?” Tseng queried, slightly shocked at the length of the list. There were well over thirty items. It would be a lot for the entire team to wrangle, much less one young redhead with all of a week’s worth of diving experience under his belt.

“As much of it as he can locate, yes,” Veld replied. “The lab was evacuated just minutes before it was buried. They didn’t have time to take anything with them. And given that we may not have another shot at this any time soon, the various departments would like to recover as much as we possibly can.”

It wasn’t merely data that had made it onto the inventory list. There were at least dozen preserved specimens, some prototype equipment, as well as what looked to be a handful of personal items. Tseng made a note to go through it more thoroughly later and prioritize the requests. He didn’t want Reno down there on his own any longer than he had to be, and he wasn’t about to order him to risk his life for some scientist’s family photos.

Still… it was going to take longer than they’d initially assumed. Pulling the drives from the labs servers and workstations and stowing them in a waterproof container was relatively easy. Hauling out several additional pounds of equipment and specimens would likely take multiple trips. Tseng glanced over at Ashland.

“Are you certain he’s up for this?” he asked. “He’s had so little time to prepare…”

“He’ll do just fine,” the former Turk replied. “We’ll go over everything again this weekend, just in case, but the kid takes to water like a damn fish… And if he gets into trouble, we’re not going to be too far away.”

“We?” Tseng queried raising an eyebrow. Ashland chuckled softly and shrugged.

“Once a Turk, always a Turk,” he said, “I’d kind of like to see this through to the end, if you don’t mind. Just… uh… don’t mention it to the little woman when you drop me off in Cosmo Canyon after we wrap things up. That’s a fight I’d rather not have.”

Tseng did his best to suppress a laugh. Ashland’s wife had not been overly enthusiastic about her husband returning to Shinra… even temporarily. It had taken more than a few assurances on the Turk lieutenant’s part to convince her that he wouldn’t be returning in a coffin… and even then she hadn’t been thrilled when he’d said yes.

Veld didn’t bother to hide his amusement, nor did Ashland.

“I miss out on a joke or somethin’?” a voice queried from the open door to the briefing room, and Tseng turned to see that his protege had turned up early. The afternoon meeting wasn’t due to start for another ten minutes.

“Nope,” Ashland replied, good-naturedly, “Just taking bets on how much you’re going to hate me come Monday morning.”

~end chapter 10~