Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 37: On Your Marks…

“Oh… Ow. That had hurt,” Reno noted, cringing as he watched the… well… to call him uncoordinated would have almost been kind… young man take a swinging bag to the chest. It sent him flying into one of the wooden buildings that lined the faux street. He crumpled to the ground, where he lay for a moment, thoroughly dazed.

The redhead glanced down at the dossier in front of him. Fitzsimmons, Aden. Twenty-two, hailing originally from the Great Glacier. Thus far – aside from the fact that he was presently laid out flat on the ground – his physical abilities hadn’t exactly set him apart. He’d already exceeded the slowest time of anyone in the group by about fifteen seconds, and he hadn’t even reached the flag yet.

Still… Reno wasn’t entirely willing to discount him. According to his file, the kid’s parents were researchers at an outpost near Gaia’s Cliff, and he himself had just completed degrees in chemistry and geology before joining the recruitment program five months ago. So… maybe not the most physically gifted, but the guy definitely seemed to have some brains.

Although, at the rate he was going, those brains were gonna end up scrambled. Reno cringed again as the recruit clambered to his feet, only to get broadsided by the bag a second time as it swung back in the other direction.

Reno felt a little bad for the guy. He obviously was pretty far behind the others when it came to the obstacle course. But damned if he didn’t want it. The redhead watched as the recruit struggled through the remaining distance – taking several more hits in the process – to the flag and clawed his way up the pole to seize it… only to almost immediately lose his grip on said pole and drop back to the ground in a barely controlled slide. Still… he’d grabbed it. It had been a last ditch effort, but the flag was in his hand, and quite honestly, no one seemed more surprised by the fact than Aden did. He hesitated a whole three seconds, just staring at it before apparently remembering that he was only halfway done and taking off, back towards where he’d started from.

Tseng shook his head as the young recruit stumbled and nearly went down again.

“I almost wish I could simply call an end to this and put him out of his misery…” he commented. Reno snickered.

“Yeah… I know what ya mean. This kinda hurts just to watch. Can’t fault the guy for his determination, though. He’s gettin’ his ass kicked like there’s no tomorrow, but he’s still tryin’.”

“… There… is something to be said for that,” Tseng noted, thoughtfully, reaching for the dossier. “And as I recall, his marksmanship has been rather impressive. He’s also highly educated, which could be beneficial. I’m not sure that’s enough to carry him through, however, if he can’t perform physically.”

The redhead shrugged. “I kinda sucked at this shit at first, too, ya know… Remember what I looked like after the first time Kai put me through the gauntlet?”

“Hmm…” was all Tseng said in response.

The young man finally crossed the finish line, and dropped to his knees, panting in exhaustion. His final time had been almost a full minute and a half longer than anyone else.

“He’s only been in the program for five months, and you’re right… he does seem very driven. I don’t think he’s ready quite yet, but it may be too soon to write him off entirely. Perhaps a candidate for the next round of promotions…”

Reno had to agree with that assessment. Right now… there was just no way in hell Aden was gonna be on the same level as anyone else they chose. But who knew what the future might hold? The kid needed more training, plain and simple, and while his own rookie career had proven that a Turk could be trained in the field… something told him that in this kid’s case, it wouldn’t work out so great.

“That’s the last of them,” Tseng noted, closing the dossier, and gathering the folders into a pile. In all, they’d observed fourteen potential Turks. At least six of them, Reno had been pretty impressed by. Tseng stood up and turned to look at him, smirking faintly. “Well? Are you ready?”

Reno snickered and got to his feet. “I am so kickin’ your ass, Boss.”

“… We shall see.”

The younger Turk heard a definite note of challenge in his mentor’s voice, and grinned in response, following him down from the observation room and through the door leading to the obstacle course. The would-be Turks looked up in surprise at their unexpected appearance, as Tseng pulled one of the instructors aside to speak to him.

Reno, meanwhile, lingered near the entrance, silently watching the recruits as they watched him right back. There had been some very enthusiastic conversation when they’d walked in, and he was sure he’d caught Tseng’s name whispered more than once. They obviously knew we he was… though they seemed to still be trying to puzzle out the redhead’s identity. He imagined that it was more than apparent that he was a Turk… though the reason for him accompanying the Turks’ second in command was likely a little mystifying. He still found it decidedly weird himself.

At last Tseng stepped away from the instructors and rejoined the younger Turk, turning to face the recruits.

“I suspect most of you have at least some idea of who I am, but for those not as informed as your comrades, my name is Tseng Itsudake. I am second in command of the Turks,” he said, before turning to the redhead, “This is Reno Donovan, my personal protege.”

Reno blinked, slightly caught off guard, as he’d never actually been introduced as such. Sure, as Tseng’s first rookie, he supposed that’s what he technically was… but his mentor hadn’t gone out of his way to mention it to anyone like that before. He didn’t have much time to think about it, however, as Tseng quickly moved on.

“As I’m sure you have all heard by now, promotions to the Turks are presently under consideration. We’ve been observing today, and, as such, have decided that a small demonstration is in order.”

“Recruits! Line up on the sideline!” one of the instructors ordered, and the young men and women scurried back over to the small, cordoned-off area along the edge of the course where they’d previously been observing from. The second man in the military fatigues followed them.

“Just couldn’t resist showing off, eh, Tseng?” the instructor chuckled.

“Actually, I was challenged to this,” Tseng replied, as he slipped his jacket off, and folded it neatly over a railing next to the starting line. He nodded towards Reno. “… on pain of having to feed him should my time be slower.”

The instructor snorted. “Him? Seems like you’d be getting off pretty easy, win or lose.”

The senior Turk laughed softly and the redhead couldn’t help but grin widely himself.

“Don’t let his appearance deceive you. You, my friend, have never been to dinner with Reno. He is the human embodiment of a bottomless pit, and I’ve already treated him to lunch today. If I’m forced to pay for dinner as well, I may very well go broke.”

The man laughed and held up a stopwatch.

“Runner, take your mark!” he declared, and the senior Turk stepped up to the starting line, preparing to make a mad dash for the flag one hundred and twenty yards away while Reno stood by, watching in anticipation. “Go!”

---

It had been quite some time since he’d done this. Years, in fact. That’s not to say he was out of shape by any stretch of the imagination, but the familiarity he’d once had with this course had faded over time. There had also been a number of changes since his rookie days.

Still, as he hurdled over the hood of a car blocking his path and sidestepped the first of the swinging bags, he was confident that he could meet, if not better, his old personal best of a minute nine. After all… he’d fought his way through much more difficult terrain in the years since his promotion. This little obstacle course was largely geared towards beginners. The Gauntlet back at headquarters was far more demanding.

And as he found himself knocked off his feet, he cursed himself for his complacency. Tseng let himself fall into a graceful roll, quickly recovering from the stumble, and vowing to be more careful. After all… he had fourteen recruits watching him. He could hardly afford another foolish mistake like that. Moreover, Reno was watching.

He ducked beneath a barrage of rubber balls sent flying his way by a series of air cannons, and skirted around a cluster of trash cans, before sprinting towards the streetlight. It took him mere seconds to scale it and snatch the flag from its hook, and prize in hand, he dropped, landing neatly on the ground below.

All that remained now was the return trip. Smoke jetted into the street, obscuring his view of the path ahead of him. He hurried into it, listening more than watching for the pendulum-like bags he knew were waiting for him, and dodged the first easily. The second, however, he misjudged slightly, and was forced to stop short as it sailed into his path, missing him by mere inches. He swore under his breath in Wutaiian.

That delay was going to cost him. Every second counted in this run, because his young protege was no slouch when it came to speed. Reno’s endurance was sometimes a bit lacking, but the redhead’s natural agility and coordination made him incredibly fast over short distances. He’d have to make up the time in the final sprint.

Another barrage of projectiles was… mostly… avoided. He did take one stinging hit to the small of his back, but it was easy enough to ignore. He hit the ground in a forward roll, not willing to risk being toppled by the next set of swinging bags, and once he was safely past them, sprung to his feet again and raced for the finish line. Tseng flew over it, flag clutched tightly in his right hand.

“One minute, seven seconds!” the instructor declared, and Tseng smiled to himself as he fought to catch his breath. He’d shaved a solid two seconds off of his old record. He glanced up at the redhead and allowed himself a smirk.

“Let’s see if you can beat that,” he goaded the younger Turk.

---

“That all ya got, Boss?” Reno teased… though in reality, he wasn’t anywhere near as confident as he sounded. Seriously… a minute fucking seven? That was gonna be hard to beat. Not totally impossible, but… hell, he’d seen at least two significant stumbles during Tseng’s run and the senior Turk had still managed a time like that. Reno would almost have to have a near perfect run to even have a chance.

That, of course, didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. Dinner was on the line. And so were bragging rights. He really wanted those bragging rights. After all, it wasn’t every day that he could say he beat Tseng at… much of anything. His mentor was just too fucking good.

The recruits seemed to be rather impressed with the Turk lieutenant’s performance as well. Reno couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there was certainly plenty of conversation going on among their ranks.

It took a couple of minutes for the instructors to reset the course, but it wasn’t long before the redhead was standing at the starting line. One plus to going second… he’d gotten a chance to see Tseng’s strategy before he had to try it himself. And it was certainly an effective strategy. He had a feeling he could improve on it, though. There was one point where the senior Turk had been forced to pause, or take a hit. That had cost him a few precious seconds, and now Reno knew not to make the same mistake. It was still going to be tricky getting through there in time to beat him, though.

“Runner, take your mark!”

Reno flashed his mentor a wide grin, before readying himself for his own attempt.

“Go!”

He left the line at a sprint, hoping that, if he could save some time early on, he’d have a little bit longer when it came to the more difficult parts of the course. He opted for the same path Tseng had taken to start out with, sliding across the hood of the car. It was simply far more direct than going around.

When he reached the first of the bags, however, instead of sidestepping the way Tseng had, he went straight into a forward roll, avoiding them entirely. Once he was back on his feet, he kept low, and used the dumpster for cover from the air cannons before jumping the trash cans just beyond. That just left the flag at the top of the streetlight.

It was an easy climb… but he quickly realized he could shave a tiny bit more off off of his final time if he had a little bit of a boost. That in mind, instead of skirting around the second parked car, he planted a foot on the hood and ran straight up onto the roof, jumping for the pole. He managed to grab on about three quarters of the way up, and hurried to pull himself up the rest of the way, snagging hold of the flag, and immediately dropping the the ground with it.

“Halfway there…” he breathed, as he turned just in time to see his path filling with smoke. This was going to take some effort. He could only just make out the vague outlines of the bags as they swung wildly through the cloud of smoke, and he paused for the briefest of moments before sprinting forward, hoping he had the timing right. He ducked the incoming volley of projectiles and ran for it, easily slipping past the first of the bags. When he reached the second, however, he suddenly realized that the smoke had completely obscured the one beyond it.

He swore loudly and altered course in an attempt to compensate… only just managing to avoid a hit that likely would have sent him flying had it connected. A second barrage of rubber balls from the air cannons was likewise avoided with some quick footwork and a dive for cover behind a bench along the side of the street, and he quickly chastised himself. He should have just taken the hit and kept going they way Tseng had. Finding cover had left him in a less than ideal position to deal with the final set of swinging bags.

There was nothing for it now, however. He swiftly dodged the last of the pendulums, hurtled himself over the hood of the initial car for the second time, and crossed the finish line at a dead run that carried him several paces beyond the line before he could stop himself.

“One minute, nine seconds!”

“Fuck…” he swore softly as he panted from the exertion, turning to face his mentor… who looked entirely too pleased by the loss. The redhead managed a laugh and shook his head. “Guess dinner’s on me tonight, after all…”

Tseng chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, before turning his attention on the recruits, who, by then, were making their way back over towards the starting area.

“That is the level of skill the Turks expect you to eventually attain,” he said, “We’ll be watching.”

With that, he nodded to the instructors and headed for the door. Reno hurried after him, still breathing somewhat heavily. Once in the hallway, he sighed.

“So much for kickin’ your ass…” he said somewhat wistfully. Tseng placed a hand on his back and guided his protege back towards the building entrance and out onto the street.

“I have to admit… I was a bit concerned for a while there. If you’d chosen to endure the air cannons on the return trip I think you very well may have beaten my time,” he said, smiling. “Either way, however… it was a good run.”

“Heh… just not good enough to get me outta shellin’ out for dinner,” the redhead snickered.

“A fact I intend to take full advantage of. After all… I have a date tonight, remember?” Tseng replied with a teasing look. He paused for a moment in his bid for the car, and his hand moved to the redhead’s shoulder, squeezing slightly as he looked the younger man over. At last, he shook his head and laughed. “You really have come such a long way since the day I first brought you to the Plate…”

Reno shrugged, slightly embarrassed by the compliment. “Yeah, well… I have a pretty good teacher, ya know…”

“Or perhaps I just have an exceptional student,” Tseng replied with a quiet chuckle. He glanced at his watch. “I think we should hurry if we want get back in time to conduct Sykes’ next evaluation.” He smirked and added. “And then, we’ll meet Viridia for dinner. I don’t know about you, but our little race worked up quite an appetite.”

“You ‘don’t know about me’?” Reno repeated with a snort of incredulity. Tseng laughed as he climbed into the car.

“You’re right. I really don’t know what I was even thinking, saying that.”

---

Sykes breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he made his way down to the train station beneath Shinra Headquarters. He’d been absolutely certain that something else was going to happened today… but, as he’d learned just a little while ago from Petra, Tseng had actually been out of the building all afternoon. He’d been worried over nothing. And now he was on his way home. Safe. Until tomorrow, at any rate.

Oh, sure… he’d been hearing the rumors about being tested “anytime, anywhere” since he was in the recruitment program… but surely that was just something they told recruits to scare them. Just a mind game they played to keep them off-balance. At least that’s what Petra kept insisting. Liam didn’t seem wasn’t quite as convinced… but Petra had a habit of being right about these things. He was going to go with her opinion on this one.

Besides… if he didn’t, he was liable to spend the entire week looking over his shoulder and unable to sleep for fear of a middle of the night evaluation.

The platform was largely empty when he reached it. No real surprise, given that he’d stayed a little later than usual, and missed the first train. Most of Shinra’s employees had already cleared out, and only a few stragglers like himself remained waiting for the next train. He spared a glance up at the clock above the entrance. He had another eleven minutes before it was due.

He shrugged and changed course, making his way over to one of the snack machines that lined the far end of the station. The rookie perused its offerings, looking for something to tide him over until he got home and had time to make some actual food.

As he was silently debating between the ultra spicy corn chips and the sandwich crackers with peanut butter, a faint chill went down his spine and the unpleasant feeling that he was being watched settled over him. He turned away from the machine, scanning his surroundings, but saw nothing. In fact, aside from an older man half asleep on one of the benches waiting for the train, and a janitor sweeping up trash near the stairs… there was no one. Sykes shook his head.

“This whole Hell Week thing is making me paranoid…” he breathed. But no matter how he tried to convince himself it was all in his mind, the rookie couldn’t shake the thought that someone was there. After another few moments, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He abandoned his quest for snacks, and walked back over towards the main platform, subtly scanning every inch of the station, every corner, every shadow in search of his mysterious stalker. Sykes’ hands clenched into fists as his apprehension began to increase. He wasn’t imagining this. Someone was there.

And when the attack finally came, he was ready for it. What he wasn’t ready for, however, was for it to come from two completely different directions. A figure cloaked in black tackled him from behind, and the rookie instinctively shook the assailant off, sending him flying into a trash can. It toppled over with a loud clatter that echoed in the spacious terminal, spilling its contents on the floor. His attacker landed nearby, flat on his back, and Sykes turned to advance on him.

Before he could take more than a step or two, however, a second body collided with his, sending him staggering to the left, off-balance. The next thing he knew, he was fending off a flurry of kicks and punches, deflecting them as best he could while trying to get a hit or two of his own in. This second stalker was almost too fast to keep up with, though… and when the first recovered from his unexpected flight and joined in, Sykes knew he was outmatched.

He responded with a wild, and admittedly somewhat desperate, haymaker, catching the smaller of the two in the side of the head. He went down with a loud grunt, but the second man took advantage of the sudden opening in Sykes’ defense, hooking his ankle and knocking his legs out from under him. The rookie, too, went down and, within seconds, found himself pinned in place with his arm bent roughly behind his back.

It was a hold that he knew how to break, however. He kicked out at his captor’s legs, catching him by surprise, and the grip on his wrist loosened enough that he could twist free. He rolled to one side, and kicked upwards, aiming for the man’s chest. His attacker was still too fast for him, however, and dodged the incoming blow.

“Enough,” the man said, and Sykes froze in shock at the familiar voice. The man lowered the hood of his sweatshirt, revealing a notably pleased-looking Tseng. Sykes heard a faint groan to his left, and glanced over to see the other assailant picking himself up off of the ground.

“Fuck, man… Remind me never to piss you off…” Reno said rubbing his head. “Think my ears are actually ringin’ after that one…”

Sykes flushed slightly in embarrassment as he realized he’d just thoroughly clobbered a senior Turk.

“… Sorry, sir.”

“Don’t be,” Tseng said, “That was quite a performance.” He nodded to the redhead, and Reno quickly hurried over to join him. “Goodnight, Sykes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He smirked somewhat fiendishly, and added, “Bright and early…”

With that, he turned, leaving the rookie standing on the train platform, the redhead falling into step beside him.

“Can we eat now?” Sykes heard Reno ask as the pair walked back towards the stairs that led into the Shinra Building.

The rookie groaned softly to himself. It was technically still only the first day of Hell Week.

---

Tseng watched, amused, as his protege fumbled inexpertly with a pair of chopsticks. Their food had arrived almost five minutes ago, but the younger Turk had only managed two or three bites in that time. A soft snickering could be heard just outside of his current range of view, as footsteps approached their table.

“You’re holding them too close to the end. Try moving your fingers back a bit.”

The Turk lieutenant smiled as he turned to see Viridia walking up to them. He got up from his seat and and kissed her before pulling a chair out for her.

“Who the hell came up with these things, anyway…” the redhead grumbled, as Viridia joined them… but did as the woman advised and was soon having far better luck with his meal. Tseng turned to his lover, and chuckled.

“I hope you don’t mind me ordering for you. Reno was, allegedly, starving when we arrived, and I didn’t want you to have to wait for your food while we already had ours.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine. You know what I like,” she replied, and grinned, “I didn’t expect extra company tonight, though…”

“Normally, I would prefer a quiet meal alone with you… but Reno lost bet,” Tseng noted, with an uncharacteristically smug grin, “As a result, he’ll be paying for our dinner tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah…” the redhead muttered softly as he dropped whatever morsel he’d succeeded in capturing, and growled in frustration. “Assumin’ I even get to eat…”

The senior Turk shook his head and laughed.

“They will provide a fork if you ask…”

Reno rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna get this, even if I gotta starve to death in the process…” he muttered.

“That seems just a little counterproductive, don’t you think?” Viridia snickered, and Reno pulled his attention away from his plate just long enough to shoot her a vaguely annoyed glare. The younger man finally succeeded in snagging a particularly elusive slice of beef and getting it into his mouth.

“Why the sudden determination to learn a new skill, if you don’t mind me asking?” Tseng asked.

“Rude said I’d have to if I ended up on the security team in Wutai ’cause we’d be stickin’ around for the formal dinner ‘n shit. Figured I’d get a jump on it.”

“Ah…” Tseng acknowledged. “In that case, remove your elbows from the table and sit up straight. If you’re going to learn, you may as well learn properly.”

Reno groaned and did as he was told, causing both of his dining companions to laugh softly.

“Hey, Boss? Are there really like forty rules for usin’ these things, or was Remy just shittin’ me?” he asked. Tseng smiled indulgently.

“Forty… may be a slight exaggeration. But, yes, there is a fair amount of etiquette surrounding meals in general. Especially those of the formal variety.” He chuckled again, and teasingly added, “Really, I suppose it’s for the best that you learn now. After all, improper usage is a sign of poor upbringing, and given that you’re my protege…”

He trailed off, and Reno heaved a heavy sigh.

“Yeah, great. No pressure.”

The Wutaiian Turk smiled and Viridia had to smother an amused giggle.

“You worry too much sometimes, Reno,” his mentor said, gently, “No one will fault you for a slip or two, knowing that you were raised in an entirely different culture. I’ve never been overly adherent to such things, myself, to be honest. At least not since I was old enough to protest them being forced upon me. My parents are… somewhat excruciatingly traditional.”

“Hmph… from what you’ve told me, that’s putting it mildly,” Viridia snorted, and Reno got the impression that she was none too pleased with the Wutaiian Turk’s family. “Particularly considering what they did to you…”

Tseng sighed and glanced over at her. “I know you don’t agree with it… but all the disapproval in the world will not change my father’s mind about what I did, nor about my currently disowned status.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t still be angry with him for it,” Viridia said, firmly. The senior Turk smiled somewhat sadly.

“And your anger on my behalf will never go unappreciated… but perhaps we could stick to less depressing topics over dinner?”

“So… What’dya mean they’re excruciatingly traditional?” the redhead asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from that particular sore spot. Tseng didn’t talk much about what had happened between himself and his father, and Reno didn’t have to wonder why. He returned to the task of pincering the various edibles on his plate.

“Merely that they very strictly kept to what I suppose you could call the ‘old ways’ when I was a child. They became a bit more open-minded once my siblings and I grew up, but they’re still rather fastidious about any number of traditions. I was always a bit more… modern… in my thinking and preferences. My father and I routinely butted heads over such matters, particularly when I became more rebellious as a teenager.”

Reno snorted faintly, and swallowed the bite he’d taken.

“Boss, no offense, but tryin’ to picture you as a ‘rebellious teenager’ is kinda like tryin’ to picture Sykes doin’ that ice dancin’ shit he says he did back home,” he snickered, and Viridia nearly choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. Tseng joined them in their amusement and calmly took another bite of his own dinner.

“I… eventually grew out of that phase. Thankfully. But, I can assure you… I was quite the defiant little troublemaker at sixteen or so,” he replied, and shook his head. “I pity my poor mother for what I must have put her through. I suspect I may have been even more troublesome than you were at that age in some ways. Though in my defense, I never stole a car or had to have someone bail me out of jail in the middle of the night… or blew up my living space.”

“You’re never gonna let me forget about that are ya?” Reno said, rolling his eyes. He grinned a moment later. “Heh… but I’m not buyin’ it. No way you were worse than me.”

“I’m sorry, Tseng, but I’m going to have to agree with Reno, here…” Viridia interjected, snickering. “He was nothing but trouble when you first found him.”

“Hey!” the redhead faux-protested, grinning, “Come on… I was bad, but I wasn’t that bad…”

“Oh?” Tseng queried teasingly, raising an eyebrow in challenge, and then smiled. “Well, I suppose it’s a matter of perspective, really, anyway. To be fair, I didn’t dare misbehave publicly. At least not on purpose. I would have been skinned alive within five minutes of my father learning of my misdeeds. But I was never the most obedient of sons, and more than once I went against my father’s wishes solely because whatever I happened to be doing was against his wishes. It’s how I wound up in Midgar, in fact.”

The redhead stopped eating momentarily and looked up at the senior Turk, curious.

“Okay… now that’s a story I wanna hear,” he said, grin widening, before taking another bite.

“Hmm… Well, I suppose it began when I was engaged to be married.”

Reno immediately choked, and spent the next several seconds violently coughing as Tseng sat calmly across the table from him. Once he’d managed to clear his airway, the younger man reached for his drink and downed about half of it, in an attempt to placate his abused windpipe. Eventually, he wiped away the tears from his eyes and returned his attention to his mentor, ignoring the stares he was receiving from several of the other tables.

“Ya know, if ya accidentally kill me, you guys are gonna have to pay for your own dinners, Boss…” he snarked.

Tseng smiled and sipped his tea for a moment before answering.

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t resist,” he chuckled.

“The fuck d’ya mean you were engaged?” Reno demanded, ignoring the apology. Viridia grinned and reached for Tseng’s hand, gently entwining her fingers with his.

“You mean he’s never told you about… the other woman?” she joked. The Turk lieutenant rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the ribbing.

“I meant just that. I was technically engaged. My father had made an arrangement with a long-time family friend that I would marry his youngest daughter as soon as we were of age. It’s a practice that has largely fallen out of favor in Wutai, but as I mentioned… my parents are traditionalists. Their marriage had been an arranged one. If it was good enough for them, my father was of the opinion that it was good enough for me. I… disagreed. Vehemently.”

Reno’s eyes widened. “Wait… so he just… tried to marry you off? Just like that?”

“More or less. There was some bargaining involved, as being the middle child, I was a slightly less desirable match than one of my elder brothers would have been. But the short of it is that an agreement was reached, and I was to marry the girl in the spring of my eighteenth year,” Tseng replied, “So… the night before I was to meet my intended, I said goodbye to my sister, snuck out of the house, and stowed away on the first ship leaving Wutai. I ended up in Midgar about a week later, and applied to the recruitment program at the earliest available opportunity. My father was, to put it mildly, less than pleased when he found out… but by that point there really wasn’t anything he could do about it.”

Reno stared at him, mouth slightly agape, his meal forgotten for the moment.

“… You serious?”

Tseng and Viridia laughed at the reaction and his mentor took another bite.

“I was always very much the black sheep of the family, I’m afraid,” he snickered, “The life my father wanted for me… was not the life I wanted. I eventually realized that, unless I did something about it myself, that was the life I’d be stuck with.”

The redhead blinked and turned back to his food, shaking his head in vague disbelief.

“Geez, Boss… always knew you were a badass, but… fuck.”

“I was a headstrong, and somewhat foolish, young man who thought he knew everything. Thankfully, I was accepted into the program immediately. Had I not been… I had no backup plan, very little money with me, and no place to stay,” Tseng admitted, “Fortunately, the risk turned out to be worth it and things worked out in my favor.”

“I don’t think I’da had the balls to do all that…” the younger Turk chuckled. “Hell, I’d still be stuck down in the slums if you hadn’t come along.”

“Perhaps,” Tseng acknowledged, “Though I have my doubts on that. It may have taken longer… but I think you would have found a way out of there on your own, eventually.”

Reno snorted. “Tch… Don’t kid yourself. I’d be in Wall Market with Lira by now. And most likely not tendin’ bar like I was when you found me. Gettin’ out was just a fantasy, no matter how much I wanted it. I was too busy just survivin’ to even try.” He looked up at him, an earnest expression on his face. “I’m not like Lira. I don’t have it in me to do that shit. That kinda life woulda killed me, eventually. It woulda worn me down ’til there was nothin’ left, just like it did my mom. You saved me, Tseng.”

The Wutaiian Turk reached across the table and rested his hand on top of the redhead’s.

“Consider it returning the favor, then,” he replied, “I’m not sure you’ve ever realized it, but if I hadn’tmet you when I did, I very well might not be here.”

The redhead blinked in surprise. “Boss?” he queried.

“You gave me the chance to escape my pursuers that night. Had they seen me, it’s very unlikely I would have survived the ensuing confrontation. I was injured, and they had me outnumbered. The odds were… not good… that I would have walked away from it if it had come down to another fight. Even with your timely distraction, I was lucky I made it to my extraction point when I did. I was bleeding rather badly at the time.”

He had, in fact, been barely half-conscious by the time Aaron had arrived in the helicopter. He didn’t remember much of anything after that until he woke up at Midgar General Hospital some time after sunrise, mid-transfusion.

Reno looked up at him, shock clearly etched across his face.

“How come ya never told me?” he breathed.

“Or me?” Viridia added, folding her arms over her chest and staring him down.

The Turk lieutenant chuckled softly and brushed the back of his hand softly over his lover’s cheek. “In your case… you worry enough about me, and though it was certainly serious injury, it wasn’t so serious that I felt I should have Veld summon you from Junon to sit at my bedside. Once the bleeding was finally under control, I was fine. In fact, I was released that very afternoon with nothing more than some stitches and an order for a day or two of quiet relaxation at home to show for it.”

He turned back to Reno. “In yours… it was mostly pride, I suppose. I’ve grown rather accustomed to you looking up to me. A part of me doesn’t want to risk losing any of that admiration. But you’re not a child anymore, or a rookie, or even an inexperienced young Turk. You are very much becoming my equal, and I have no business remaining on such a high pedestal any longer.”

The redhead gave a somewhat self-deprecating laugh, and returned his attention to his food once more.

“I kinda don’t even know what to say to that…”

Tseng smiled and resumed his own meal. “A response isn’t necessary.”

~end chapter 37~