Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 39: Home Again, Gone Again

Reno stealthily made his way back up to the house. He’d been gone a little longer than he’d intended to be… Hopefully no one had noticed. As he slipped back inside, Rude and Farn were emerging from the living room.

“If you do happen to hear from him again,” Rude said, handing him a card with his contact information on it, “Please let us know.”

“Aye, I’ll be sure ta do that,” the gentleman said with a nod. He ushered them out the door, closing it behind them, leaving the two Turks on their own in the night.

“Find anything interesting?” Rude asked as they strolled down the front walk. Reno smirked and pulled up the photo on his phone.

“How’s this for interesting?” he asked. Rude took the device from him, and studied the image for a moment, before pausing in his tracks and grinning faintly.

“I really need to put in a request for a PHS upgrade…”

“I wasn’t talkin’ about the fuckin’ camera, asshole,” the redhead laughed, rolling his eyes. “He’s got it hidden in a little storage shed back in the trees. What’dya think? Confront him ‘n see what he really knows?”

“Doubt we’re going to get to the bottom of this any other way,” Rude replied, handing him back his phone. The pair of them did an about face, and walked back up to the door. Rude knocked.

A few moment later, their new suspect poked peered out at them a look of confusion on his face.

“Eh… Somethin’ else I can help yeh with?”

Reno held up the image of a very old sword nestled in a shipping crate.

“Yeah… ya can explain why you just spent the last hour lyin’ to us,” he said. Farn paled in response and vehemently shook his head.

“I-it’s not what yeh think!” he hurriedly stammered.

“Might wanna start explainin’, then…” the redhead stated. “We don’t much like bein’ jerked around.”

Rude cracked his knuckles, and for a moment Reno half thought their new friend was going to pass out.

“How long have you had the Kingsword,” the older Turk queried, and Farn groaned, shaking his head.

“It isnae the Kingsword! I swear ta yeh… It’s not what yeh think. Er… not exactly, that is…” he said, hesitantly.

“Start talking’…” Reno demanded, folding his arms over his chest.

“It’s… It’s a replica, alright?” Farn sighed. “Maybe I wasnae quite honest with yeh… I did take that bloody thief up on his offer. But I didnae want ta risk that son o’ a sea worm, Dio, comin’ after us fer it back… so I paid ta have a duplicate made.” He scowled angrily and shook his head. “Plan was ta have ’em switched out, with no one bein’ the wiser… but when it came time ta do it, he wanted double what he was askin’ fer originally! I couldnae afford that. That damned replica wasnae cheap. Even with the donations we had from the town ta try ‘n buy it back from Dio, I couldnae pay. So the deal was off. Havenae heard from him since. Not e’en after the real one went missin’!”

“Tch… Why the hell didn’t you just tell us that in the first place?” the redhead asked. Farn somewhat sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

“… Er… Well… I just put in an order fer new machinery fer the quarry, so I’m a might short on cash ’til I get it paid off. I had ta… borrow… a wee bit from the donation fund ta pay fer the fake. I… er… I didnae exactly have permission, yeh see, ‘n if Melinda were ta find out, she’d be servin’ my balls up fer her cafe’s lunch special. Eh… yer… not goin’ ta tell her… are yeh?”

“Did the man you made this deal with mention any other buyers for the sword after you had to back out?” Rude inquired, ignoring the plea.

“No… He didnae say a thing. Just turned ’round ‘n left.”

Reno glanced over at Rude… who shook his head. “Let’s go,” he sighed, turning back to the path leading out to the main road. Reno quickly fell into step beside him.

“Yer… yer not goin’ ta tell Melinda… Right? Right?!” Farn called after them.

---

“You buy it?” Rude asked as they made their way back into town. Reno pulled the half smoked cigarette out of his pocket, relighting it.

“I definitely buy that he doesn’t want his pal Melinda findin’ out he was dippin’ into the donation funds…” he replied, with a quiet snicker. “The rest of it?” He shrugged. “I can see it goin’ either way… but I’m kinda leaning towards believin’ him. Ya ask me, our middle man probably found another buyer who was willin’ to up the price, ‘n came back to see if he could squeeze a little more outta Farn first. When he couldn’t, he just scrapped the whole replacin’ it with a fake idea, ‘n had the Zenshou nab it for the other buyer. Sounds to me like he’s gettin’ greedy.”

He took a drag off the cigarette, and sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

“But even if the guy’s still lying through his teeth ‘n that thing’s real… the guy who sold it to him’s long gone, and I doubt he was dumb enough to leave a forwarding address for us to beat outta his client. Sorry, pal… but I think we hit a dead end here.”

“… Was afraid of that,” Rude muttered.

“Hey… don’t take it so personally, man. Face it… we’re not gonna get these guys ’til we catch ’em in the act again, like we did in Junon. Tch… ‘n next time, we don’t let ’em outta our sight ’til they tell us who keeps hirin’ ’em to steal our shit.”

Rude snorted in laughter and elbowed the redhead.

“Hmph… now who’s taking it personally?” he teased. It was no secret that his friend had been more than a little pissed about their prisoners escaping after they’d gone to all the trouble of catching them in Junon. He’d bitched about it the entire flight back to Midgar, and through most of the following day.

“Tch… we worked for that fuckin’ capture. After all the hassle we went through kickin’ their asses, the least they coulda done is be polite about it ‘n stayed in their damn holding cells. ‘Specially after the damage they did to Vir. Fuckin’ Zenshou assholes…”

“… ‘Cause that’s what you would’ve done, if you’d been the one captured?” he snickered in response.

“Oh, shut up,” Reno laughed, “… ‘sides… When has anyone ever accused me of havin’ any kinda decent manners, anyway?”

Rude shook his head, smiling. He knew the younger Turk wasn’t even close to being serious, but the absurdity the conversation had devolved into did at least make him feel a little less irritated at having wasted both his and Reno’s time coming to Mideel.

“You hungry?” he asked. Reno stopped dead in his tracks and shot him a look that plainly said he thought his fellow Turk had just said the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. Rude chuckled. “Nevermind. Let’s just get some dinner.”

“Best idea I’ve heard since lunch…” the redhead replied, grinning. Rude rolled his eyes and they resumed their course back to town. “So… How d’ya think Hell Week’s goin’?”

---

“Holy Hades, Rookie… What happened to you?” Kai asked as Sykes stumbled into headquarters the following morning. Day three. It was only day three. How in Ifrit’s name could it only be day three?!

He… hadn’t slept well. Every time he’d finally started to drift off, he’d end up jerking himself awake again, convinced that there was someone in the room with him… and that that someone was almost certainly Tseng. Four times, he’d actually gotten up to check. It hadn’t made for the most restful night.

And then, he’d convinced himself that he was being tailed during his entire commute to work. He’d spent the entirety of the train ride, looking over his shoulder, scanning the other passengers in search of anyone who looked even remotely suspicious. By the time he’d made it through the Sector 0 station, he couldn’t decide if he was being followed, or if he was just completely losing it. As soon as he was able, he’d made a mad dash for the elevators and delivered himself directly to the fifty-eighth floor.

Kai poked him gently in the arm.

“Um… Sykes? Anyone home?” she prodded. The rookie Turk blinked tiredly and sighed.

“… Is it too late to consider other career options?” he finally asked, with a barely repressed groan. Kai flashed him a somewhat off-putting grin, and nudged him towards the lounge.

“Oh, come on… you’re almost halfway done. Take a deep breath, get yourself some coffee… and prepare yourself for the next round of torture, ’cause Tseng’s probably already here this morning.”

This time, Sykes really did groan. Loudly and at great length.

“For fuck’s sake, Kai… cut the kid a break, will ya?” a familiar voice responded from the doorway, and both Turks turned to see Reno and Rude walking in behind them.

“You’re already back?” Kai queried in surprise, “What time’d you guys leave Mideel to get here this early.”

“Ugh… I don’t even wanna think about it,” the redhead moaned, and glared at Rude, “This asshole got me up practically right after I fell asleep so we’d make the Shiva-be-damned mornin’ briefing. Is there coffee? ‘Cause I need more coffee.”

Rude rolled his eyes but said nothing in his defense. Reno didn’t bother waiting for an answer… He headed straight for the coffeemaker and poured himself a large mugful of the beverage. The bald Turk snickered quietly and joined him a moment later, procuring some for himself before making a quick exit.

“Where’s he off to in such a hurry?” Kai asked.

“Tch… where d’ya think? He’s gotta check his mornin’ intelligence reports, or he’ll go into withdrawal,” the redhead joked, “Boss in yet?”

“Haven’t seen him, but… it’s Tseng. When’s the last time he was anything less than half an hour early?” Kai replied with a snicker, and then glanced at her watch with a sigh, “Uh oh… Guess I better get to work, too, actually. I have to keep the other rookies busy today.” She looked pointedly at Reno. “Tell him that I’d better not miss anything good!”

“Yeah, yeah… whatever, ya undersized little sadist,” Reno said with a smirk. The diminutive Turk grinned somewhat ferally.

“Watch it, Baby Turkling, or I’ll teach you the real meaning of that word,” she laughed, heading for the door.

“Always knew you had a thing for me, Kai!” Reno teasingly called after her. The senior Turk stuck her arm back inside the room, middle finger raised, and the redhead’s grin widened. “… That an offer?”

“Tell your mentor that you’re a huge pervert, too!” Kai’s voice responded as the limb vanished from sight. Reno chuckled and took a long sip of his coffee before turning back to Sykes. He looked him over for a moment.

“Geez, kid… You get hit by the train this mornin’ or what?”

Sykes groaned and let himself drop onto the couch. “I’m not gonna make it, sir…” he replied, shaking his head. “I can’t sleep. I can’t concentrate. I can’t stop looking over my shoulder everywhere I go…”

The redhead frowned slightly and joined him on the couch.

“Whoa… relax, kid. You’re lettin’ this get to ya way more than it oughta be. I know it’s not exactly the most enjoyable thing on the planet, but… end of the day it’s just an eval, not life or death. What is it that’s gotcha so freaked out?”

Sykes sighed and rubbed his tired eyes with the palms of his hands.

“I’m just so worried I’m going to fail…”

Before this had all started, he’d thought he was ready for it. He’d even been looking forward to it, a little, thinking it would be the perfect opportunity to really show his superiors how much he’d learned. And then the stupid elevator. And the next-to-impossible-to-pick locks in the shooting gallery. And his conversation with Remy…

“Tch… You’re not gonna fail,” Reno said, shaking his head. “Ya literally can’t. There’s no real passin’ or failin’ in Hell Week. All Tseng’s doin’ is lookin’ for places ya need to improve. It’s how we figure out the best way to direct your training from here on out.”

Sykes swallowed sharply and looked over at the senior Turk. “But… Remy said you almost got fired during Hell Week…”

The redhead’s eyeroll was so pronounced, Sykes half wondered if he’d hurt himself doing it.

“For fuck’s sake. The hell’s Remy thinkin’, tellin’ you that?” he muttered. “Look… That didn’t have shit to do with Hell Week. I accidentally pissed off Heidegger after an exercise. Like… scorched-earth-level pissed off. That’s what almost got me fired.” He paused and snickered quietly, “Tch… well, actually it almost got me strangled first. But yeah, had nothin’ at all to do with any of my evals.”

“I-it didn’t?” Sykes stammered, a wave of relief washing over him.

“No! ‘Course not… Like I said, all we’re tryin’ to do is figure out the best way to keep trainin’ ya.”

The rookie Turk released a long breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding and sank bonelessly down onto the couch cushions. Quiet laughter brought his attention back to the present.

“Tch… and everyone thinks I worry about too much pointless shit…”

“Sir?” Sykes queried, a bit mystified by the comment. Reno grinned.

“Oh, yeah… I get stuck thinkin’ about somethin’ too long and I can come up with all kinds of worst case scenarios ‘n freak myself out,” he snickered. “Hell, Rude used to chuck me in the company pool as a rookie just to snap me outta it when it got really bad.” He took another swig of his coffee and got to his feet. “Seriously, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. I know I’m probably a total hypocrite sayin’ that, seein’ as I hardly ever take my own advice, but… do yourself a favor ‘n don’t be like me on this one,” he snickered, “… ’cause I don’t think I could lift ya, much less toss ya in the pool.”

The rookie snorted softly in laughter at the mental image that conjured up… and a second time when he pictured Rude sending the redhead flying into the water, as well. Reno grinned.

“Anyway… speakin’ of Rude, I probably oughta give him a hand with the report on our Mideel assignment before the mornin’ briefing. Come find me if you’re still drivin’ yourself nuts later, though… ‘kay?”

“Yes, sir…” Sykes replied, gratefully. The senior Turk slipped out the door, leaving the rookie to his own thoughts.

---

Reno blinked and stopped short as the elevator doors opened further down the hallway and Tseng emerged into Turk headquarters. He shook his head and silently quickened his pace in an effort to catch up to his mentor before he was spotted.

“How the hell’d I manage to beat ya here?” he asked as he came up beside him, and the Turk lieutenant jumped slightly in surprise. Reno smirked. It wasn’t often he managed to give Tseng a taste of his own medicine.

“I’d very much like to know that myself,” the somewhat bewildered Turk answered, “I wasn’t expecting you and Rude to be back for hours…”

Reno shrugged. “Lead was a bust. We decided to high-tail it home rather than keep wastin’ our time on a dead end.” He snorted softly, “By which I mean Rude woke me up while it was still dark out ‘n told me we were leavin’. Tch… had to snag breakfast from the crapateria when we got in ’cause nothin’ was open yet in Mideel when we left.”

“Good,” Tseng said with a smile, “Then you’re available to help me with Syke’s next exercise.”

“Heh… Sure,” the redhead replied, “But… uh… ya think we can maybe give the kid a little while to recover before we start in on him again? Apparently Remy mentioned to him that I almost got shit-canned during my Hell Week but didn’t actually tell ‘im why. He was really freakin’ out…”

The Wutaiian Turk frowned. “I trust you’ve already explained the particulars of that matter to him?”

“Yeah… I took care of it. I’ll check in on him again later, but I think he’ll be fine.”

Tseng nodded. “Thank you for informing me. I’ll have a little chat with Remy later about such comments. She’s usually far more discerning in what she tells the rookies. Hell Week is stressful enough on its own. The last thing any of them need is misconstrued anecdotes putting them even further on edge.” He paused a moment in thought and then nodded to himself, apparently having come to a decision. “I’ll postpone Sykes’ next exercise until after lunch, as well. If you think he needs a short reprieve, I’m inclined to trust your judgment. You’ll be available then?”

“Long as Veld doesn’t have anything else for me this afternoon,” Reno shrugged. His mentor chuckled.

“I’ve actually asked him to ensure that your assignments have some flexibility this week, for just that reason. Unless Rude has plans to commandeer you again for his priority investigation, of course.”

“Heh… Guess I’m all yours, then, Boss… ’cause I’m pretty sure Rude’s gonna be holed up in our office all day lookin’ for his next lead in that mountain of reports he gets every week,” the redhead replied, with a slight grin. He swore… if he were stuck with Rude’s job, he’d have lost his mind a long time ago. It was information overload. He really didn’t know how his friend kept it all straight. But then… that’s why he wasn’t an intelligence specialist. He’d rather be out in the field or in the training hall with the rookies.

Tseng smiled. “Join me after the morning briefing, then. I’ll fill you in on today’s to-do list.”

“Yes, sir,” Reno replied, and taking that as a dismissal, hurried off towards his own office to help Rude out with the mission report, as he’d initially intended. He only got a few steps however, before he stopped and turned back.

“Oh, yeah! Almost forgot,” he said, with a teasing grin, “Kai says to tell ya that she’d better not miss anything good while she’s rookie sittin’ today. And that I’m a huge pervert.”

Tseng laughed and shook his head. “As if I wasn’t already aware of that,” he chuckled, turning towards his own office.

---

“Oh, man…” Reno groaned, stretching his arms above his head as he walked through the door of his office, “Ya know… I love flyin’, but that flight back from Mideel sucked. Feel like I’ve been packed into a box for the last four hours.”

He settled himself at his desk, and reached for a blank report form. Rude glanced up from his email.

“… What are you doing?” he asked.

“Tch… What’s it look like I’m doin’. I’m starting my report.”

The bald Turk got up from his chair and crossed the room, before rounding his friend’s desk. He stood there a moment, eyeing him, before extending a hand and pressing it against the younger Turk’s forehead.

“What the hell are you doin’?” he asked, echoing the question.

“Checking for a fever. If you’re doing paperwork first thing in the morning, without being asked, you must be sick.”

Reno glowered and batted his had away. Rude responded by grinning back at him teasingly, and ruffling his hair before returning to his desk.

“Asshole,” the redhead muttered, though he was pretty sure a hint of a laugh snuck out before he could stop it, “I just figured you’re busy as all fuck with this investigation… Least I can do it handle some of the shit work for ya.”

“Hmph… thanks,” Rude replied. “So what’s on the Hell Week agenda for today? Tseng tell you yet? … I assume that’s where you’ve been…”

“Heh… actually, I was mostly explainin’ to Sykes’ that he’s not gonna get tossed out on his ass if he fucks up one of the evals. Remy kinda let what happened to me slip, but didn’t give him any context. Think the poor kid was already mentally edittin’ his résumé…” he snickered, “… and then I ran into Tseng. Didn’t give me specifics yet, though. Just a general timeframe.”

“And you’re not going to share?” Rude prodded, and the redhead rolled his eyes.

“No. I’m not, ya nosy pain in the ass,” he shot back, and then smirked, “Aside from the fact that I’m not supposed to tell anyone… I like knowing something you don’t for a change. You got any idea how rare that is?”

Rude merely snorted softly in laughter and turned his attention back on the screen. Reno, meanwhile, bit back a sigh as he looked down at the empty form, grabbed a pen, and began composing the write-up of their trip to Mideel in his head. He hated reports. He could very clearly see the sequence of events in his head, but it never seemed to translate well onto paper for him. His prose was always somewhat awkward and stilted… probably owing to the fact that he’d never really learned to do it properly. And then there was his handwriting. Remy had made a valiant effort over the last few years at helping him with that, and there had been some improvement… but it was still barely legible, even to him. He didn’t mind typing the damned things so much – even though he wasn’t a particularly efficient typist, either – but regulations required an original handwritten copy, as well as a typed version. Which was why he inevitably ended up putting it off as long as humanly possible. He knew his reports were awful, and he hated subjecting the others to them almost as much as he hated writing them. It was embarrassing.

But… they had to get done eventually, and he certainly couldn’t say that he didn’t need the practice.

He’d managed all of two and a quarter sentences when the door to their office was unceremoniously flung open and a very impatient-looking Rufus Shinra stormed in, his eyes purposefully seeking out the redhead.

“Whatever you’re doing, it can wait. You’re with me. Right now,” he stated. With that, he turned on his heel and stalked off into the hall again, not bothering to wait for a reply. Reno blinked and cast a quick glance over at Rude, who could only shrug.

“Uhh… Guess, I’ll… just do the report later then…” Reno said, brow furrowing as he got to his feet and hurried after the obnoxious executive. By the time he caught up, Rufus had already rounded the corner and was jabbing the button for the elevator.

“We’re going to Gongaga. There’s been an… incident,” Rufus declared. The elevator arrived with a soft ping, the doors sliding open to allow them access.

“Uh… what kinda ‘incident’, sir?” the redhead queried. He didn’t like the tone of Rufus’ inflection one bit. It sounded entirely too much like the sort of “incident” that might mean making a few people quietly disappear.

“The kind that is liable to end up being a public relations nightmare if we don’t get out in front of it, immediately,” the vice president replied. And Reno could tell he was serious. Normally, Rufus was merely annoyed when he had to deal with PR problems… but at the moment, he looked notably worried.

“Should… we be makin’ a detour to the nearest weapons locker, sir?” he hesitantly asked. Of course, he was armed… but an EMR and his backup weapon were pretty minimal if he was going to be handling any kind of angry crowds or the like.

“I very seriously doubt anyone there will be in any shape to cause that sort of problem,” Rufus replied, “There was an explosion. At the reactor.”

Reno’s eyes widened, and memories of the Sector 6 explosion, came to his mind, unbidden. Gongaga was nowhere near as big as any of the Midgar reactors… but having one blow up, no matter what the size, was kind of a big deal. Especially as close to the town as it was.

“My job is to handle the press… whom, I’m sure, are already circling like vultures. Father wants everyone to see that Shinra Company’s response is immediate and sincere. Your job is to make sure I get in and out in one piece, seeing as we don’t yet know who or what caused the explosion.”

“Yes, sir,” Reno replied. “Any idea how bad things are?”

“I don’t have specific numbers yet. But suffice it to say it’s not good. Easily half the town is employed at the reactor.”

Things really must have been serious. There was none of their usual banter. None of the insults. None of the borderline inappropriate teasing. Rufus was focused exclusively on his job, rather than needling the redhead. And more than that, he seemed… nervous.

Oh, he was hiding it well… but Rufus was definitely on-edge. Of course, Reno had to admit, if he had to go stand in front of a bunch of reporters and explain that Shinra Company’s reactor had just killed a bunch of people… he probably wouldn’t be a bastion of calm, himself. They rode in relative silence, up to the roof.

The executive helicopter was already prepped and ready to go. The pair hurried inside, and Rufus settled into one of the plush seats in preparation for takeoff. Reno moved to swing the passenger section door shut… only for it to be blocked at the last minute as, much to his abject horror, Scarlet forced herself through the opening.

“What are you doing here?” Rufus demanded.

“I was running a project at the Gongaga reactor,” the weapons researcher sniffed, haughtily. “I want to see if there’s anything salvageable.”

Rufus snorted in contempt. “You won’t even be able to get near the site, you useless hag,” he scoffed, “The mako levels are much too high right now. We’re not even going to the town proper. It’s been evacuated. We’re visiting the emergency camp that’s been set up outside of the contamination zone.”

“I’m going anyway,” Scarlet replied, and then smirked nastily, as she plopped herself into one of the seats opposite the vice president. “I have your daddy’s blessing…”

Reno could swear he actually heard the sound of the younger executive’s teeth grinding in irritation. His eyes narrowed, staring Scarlet down, but she simply sat their, a smug look on her face.

“Fine,” he spat, and turned to Reno, “Well? Don’t just stand there! Close the door before anyone else decides to barge in, and inform the pilot that we’re ready to leave.”

Reno pulled the door to the aircraft shut, and made his way over to the intercom to give the pilot the all-clear. As he did so, he had to walk past Scarlet. The moment his back was turned, he felt her fingers make contact, not even remotely subtle in their efforts at pinching his ass. He had to physically repress the shudder her touch sent down his spine, and suddenly found that his mouth had gone dry as he realized that… he was going to be trapped a thousand feet in the air, in undeniably close quarters, for the next few hours.

With Scarlet.

~end chapter 39~