Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 46: Parade Day

“Owwwww…”

He immediately wished he hadn’t done that. Just the sound of his own voice hurt. Now that he was awake, he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be an option at the moment. Sunlight was peeking through the windows, growing brighter and brighter by the second, and his roommate was already up and about, getting ready for the day. At last, he sat up, moaning as the pounding in his head increased a hundred-fold.

“Oh, sweet mother of Hades… Is this what being drunk is like?” he lamented, rubbing his temples in a futile effort to subdue the pain.

“Nope… this is what being hungover is like,” Sykes snickered… far too loudly for Liam’s taste. The teenager staggered to his feet, grimacing as he received a direct beam of sunlight to the face. He clapped a hand to his mouth as his stomach protested the movement, and spent several moments breathing slowly and deeply through his nose.

“Ugh… Why would anyone want to do this to themselves?” he finally lamented.

“It’s your own fault. Reno warned you to take it easy…”

“I’m never drinking again…” the youngest Turk decreed. Sykes paused in his attempts at getting dressed, and rested a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder.

“That’s just the hangover talking,” he replied, with a sympathetic smile. “Anyway… Reno left strict instructions when he and Tseng got back last night. He said your breakfast is aspirin, eggs, dry toast, coffee, and aspirin. Nothing else. If that stays down, then as much water as you can drink without making yourself feel worse.”

“… You said aspirin twice.”

“I know. He said you’re probably going to need a booster after the first dose… but to get some food in you first because, and I quote, ‘too much of that shit all at once’ll murder your stomach’,” Sykes noted, with a soft laugh, handing him a bottle of pills.

---

“Geez… you’re up early…” a voice addressed him as Reno made his way out onto their floor’s shared balcony. He caught sight of Kai perched on the railing, and leaning back against the corner support column. Reno yawned and stretched his arms over his head, working out the stiffness in his muscles.

It was true. The sun was barely up, it was so early. Normally, the redhead would still be happily asleep this time of the morning… but today he had things to do.

“Yeah, well… parade day ‘n shit. Boss is bound to come lookin’ for me early anyway… Figured I’d get a head start ‘n do it on my own terms. ‘Sides… I wanna check in on the rookies before shit really gets started. Liam… uh… went a little overboard on the sake last night when I wasn’t lookin’…”

The diminutive Turk snorted softly.

“Some Turkling-sitter you are…” she snickered.

“Tch… yeah, fuck you, too, Kai,” the redhead shot back, good-naturedly.

“Oh, Baby Turkling… When are you going to accept that you’re just not my type?”

Reno rolled his eyes in response. “When are you gonna accept that that joke got old about three years ago ‘n at this point you’re just beatin’ it to death?”

“Right about the time I stop calling you Baby Turkling,” she replied, with a wide grin.

“Oh… so never, then. Yeah… okay. Just so we’re clear on that.”

Kai laughed and hopped down from her improvised seat, strolling over to the younger Turk and taking him by the arm.

“Come on. I’ll let you take me to breakfast at that nice little place across the street so you can bask in my glorious presence. You know… to make up for your disappointment over not winning me over,” she giggled, “… You’re buying.”

“… Hey, Kai? When the hell’d you go completely nuts?” Reno teased back.

“Honey, I was born this way,” she laughed, escorting him to the stairway that lead down to the hotel’s main lobby. They made their way over to a small cafe just across the street. Reno was a little surprised to see the place open already… but then, the whole town seemed to be slowly waking up, so maybe it wasn’t so unusual after all.

In short order, they’d been seated and served, and the redhead found himself enjoying quite a spread. There were things he’d consider normal breakfast fare, including fruit and rice porridge and eggs… and more than a few things that he wouldn’t have expected, like the generous cut of fish and the hot, flavorful broth with tofu and green onions floating in it.

“Ya know… the hotel does have a free breakfast buffet for guests,” Reno pointed out.

“Yeah… and it’s all the same generic, blah food we can get anytime back home, because all hotels cater to tourists. The restaurants in the capitol are fantastic… No way am I missing out while I’m here,” Kai said, digging into her own meal. “Have fun at the festival last night?”

Reno arched an eyebrow. “How’d you know I went?”

“Oh, please. Like Tseng was going to pass up an opportunity to show off to his precious Baby Turkling,” she said, with an exaggerated eyeroll. “… Besides… I went to check it out, too. I saw you two at one of the food stalls.”

He blinked in surprise. “How come ya didn’t come join us?”

“Because if Tseng had wanted to make it a group thing, he would have invited me himself. He was looking to spend some quality time with you, and I didn’t want to take that away from him,” she replied, shrugging, “… Um… and I might’ve kinda met someone I wanted to spend some quality time of my own with last night, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, so ya were just too busy tryin’ to get laid to come say hi…” the redhead grinned, shoving a piece of some sort of omelet into his mouth.

“You really don’t do subtle, do you, Baby Turkling?” Kai said with soft laugh, before smirking, “And I did more than try. You know… I’m not usually one for anonymous hookups. I’m really not. But dear Shiva she was gorgeous. And… she kinda reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago.”

Reno paused in his assault on his breakfast and glanced up at her.

“… Alyssa?” he ventured, somewhat hesitantly. Kai smiled faintly and turned her attention back on her food.

“It’s… been awhile since someone made me feel the way she did. Even for just a little while.”

“Hey, Kai? Can I ask you somethin’?”

“About Alyssa?” she replied. “Sure. Shoot.”

“No. Well… yeah. I mean… Kinda,” he began, somewhat awkwardly. This definitely wasn’t a conversation he’d been planning on having right this second, but it was so hard for him to work up the courage to broach the subject with her normally, and since it had somehow come up…

He took a breath and exhaled slowly, trying to decide how to word his question without making him sound like kind of a judgmental asshole, before finally opting to just fucking ask.

“How come it’s so fuckin’ easy for you?” he blurted out, a hint of frustration in his voice. “I’ve been tryin’ ‘n tryin’ ‘n tryin’, ‘n I still can’t hardly think about my mom without… without feelin’ like I’m gonna make a total idiot of myself if I do it for too long. How come you can just… talk about people you’ve lost like it’s no big deal?”

Kai reached for his hand and gently covered it with her own, lightly stroking his skin with her thumb.

“It’s easy for me now…” she corrected him, “It broke me when it happened, and I hurt for a long time. But I don’t think I can break anymore than I already have. Alyssa was… very special to me. We were happy together. I don’t want to forget that and I don’t want to forget her. Sometimes the only way to move on from pain like that is to just let yourself feel it all, even if it feels like you won’t survive it.”

Reno sighed, and stared down at their hands. Not quite sure how to respond to that… so he didn’t. Instead he moved on to the next car on his somewhat disjointed train of thought.

“… So… Rude found someone that knew my mom,” Reno stated, in an offhanded manner he didn’t really feel. If Kai noticed the abrupt shift in subject, she didn’t comment on it.

“Oh, yeah? You gonna go meet ’em?”

“Already did. It was… a lot to take in. I found some shit out that I never knew,” he replied, “Nothin’ bad or anything, just…”

“Just… normal things that she probably would’ve told you about herself if she was still around?”

“… Yeah,” he breathed, “I still don’t even know how I feel about it all. I mean… on one hand, it was cool hearin’ shit I didn’t know. But… on the other… now I’m thinkin’ about her when I least expect to be. Like… I’ll be eatin’ lunch, and remember that her friend told me she had this weird love of cheese ‘n peanut butter sandwiches.”

“Okay… first of all? Gross,” said Kai, with a trace of teasing in her tone. “I think we’ve figured out why you’ll eat anything. It’s obviously genetic. Second… Is that really such a bad thing to think about?” She smiled and coaxed his gaze back up to her face. “I mean… I know that it hurts. Believe me, I know. But… does it hurt more than not knowing that about her at all?”

Reno paused a moment, considering the point. What was worse? Missing someone to the point that it could be physically painful? Or missing them and knowing that there was so much about them you’ve forgotten or never even were aware of in the first place.

“No,” he finally said.

“Well… then I’d consider that progress. Wounds like that don’t heal overnight, Baby Turkling. It takes time and effort… and really amazing friends who refuse to abandon you. Even when you’re pissed at one of them and treat him like crap for… literally years… before you finally get the hell over yourself and make up.”

“Tch… well, this is gettin’ to be way more serious a conversation than I wanted to have this mornin’…” the redhead said after a moment, forcing a laugh. He never should have brought the whole thing up. Not now, anyway. Not on assignment, when he had to be focused on the job. It was just… too much to handle. He couldn’t.

Kai smiled understandingly.

“Let’s… save it for when we’re back in Midgar, okay? Whenever you’re ready to talk.”

The redhead breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Yeah. That… sounds good.”

The senior Turk smirked in amusement a moment later.

“Seriously, though. Cheese and peanut butter? Ick…”

Reno laughed again… genuinely this time.

“Hey, don’t knock it ’til ya try it. Mom was definitely onto somethin’ there. It’s actually pretty good.”

---

Liam swallowed harshly against the last bite of egg on his plate – which briefly tried to make its return after the first attempt, and had to be swallowed again – and groaned. Sykes had run off to get seconds on his own breakfast from the hotel’s buffet… and Petra hadn’t come downstairs yet. He was on his own for the moment. The rookie laid his head down on the table in utter misery, wishing that someone would just come along and shoot him already.

“I hate ta say I told ya so, but…”

“No offense, sir, but, could you just… not?” the young Turk managed, minutely lifting his head to seek out the source of the voice. The redhead snickered and slide into the chair next to his, rubbing a hand along the rookie’s back for a moment, prompting a soft whimper from the suffering young man.

“That bad, huh?”

“Uggggghhh…”

Reno laughed softly. “Yeah, I know that feeling,” he teased.

“I think I’m dying, sir…”

“Heh… and I’m the one who always gets accused of bein’ over-dramatic…” the senior Turk snarked. He set something down on the table in front of him with a soft thunk. “Here. Drink this… It’ll help take the edge off.”

Liam slowly sat up. His head was still throbbing… and his stomach didn’t feel any better than his head did, frankly. Both, he was relatively certain, were about to explode… one way or another. He eyed the dark red liquid and the innocent-looking celery stalk sticking out of the top of the glass with uncertainty. He could faintly smell the scent of alcohol over whatever else was in the glass, and it made him recoil in disgust.

“Look, I know the last thing ya think ya want right now is more booze, but just trust me on this one. It’s not very much,” the redhead prodded.

Against his better judgment, Liam reached for the glass and brought it to his lips, taking an experimental sip. He immediately gagged on the chilled, peppery concoction, coughing violently as his eyes watered in response to both the burning sensation in the back of his throat and the sharp spike of pain that lanced through his skull.

“Yeah… maybe don’t choke on it, though,” Reno amended, patting him on the back until the coughing fit subsided.

“It tastes terrible…” Liam finally forced out. And it really did. It wasn’t just the alcohol… the whole thing was some sort of unholy potion specifically designed to offend the tastebuds. The red color very obviously came from tomato juice… but the rest. Oh, dear Ifrit, the rest…

The alcohol burned. The spiciness burned. Hell, even the acid from the tomato juice kind of burned. It had a distinct saltiness to it under all the other flavors that assailed him, and there was an odd, unpleasant, and somewhat oily taste that lingered on his tongue. He heard the senior Turk snickering quietly to himself.

“I know. It’s not the most appetizin’ shit when ya already feel like shit, but just hold your nose ‘n down it. It’s either that, or explain to Veld why ya look like you’re about five seconds from pukin’ up everything you’ve ever eaten,” Reno replied, “… which, full disclosure, you’re probably gonna end up havin’ to do anyway, but believe me, it’s way worse when you’re barely keepin’ your breakfast down.”

Liam dutifully took the advice, pinching his nose shut and chugging the contents of the glass, leaving behind only a few somewhat gory-looking ice cubes and the stalk of celery.

“Blegh!” Liam shuddered at the aftertaste, “What’s in that?”

“You don’t wanna know. It’s… kinda my own variation on a Bloody Mary. Tastes like hell, but it’ll fix a minor hangover like yours in no time flat. Eat the celery. It’ll kill some of that… uh… flavor,” Reno replied, unabashedly smirking at the younger man.

“This is a minor hangover?” the rookie queried, incredulously. He absently bit down on the crunchy vegetable. The senior Turk was right. The slightly sour taste of the stalk did seem to banish the worst of the aftertaste almost immediately.

“You made it down here under your own power, didn’t ya?” the redhead grinned. “If you can still stand up and walk without havin’ to run for the nearest bucket to puke in the next mornin’, yeah… it’s pretty minor.”

Liam’s eyes widened. “It can be worse than this?!”

“Heh… you don’t drink much, do ya, kiddo?”

“No… and I’m definitely not gonna start,” he replied, dropping the uneaten leafy end of the celery stalk back into the empty glass.

“Maybe next time you’ll listen when someone with more experience gives ya a little friendly advice…” Reno said, grinning widely. “Heh… just be glad I’m a lot less of a sadist than Kai. When I told her I had to go check on you, she thought I oughta just let ya suffer to make sure ya learned your lesson. Feelin’ better?”

Liam was about to answer in the negative, but blinked in surprise as he realized that… while he couldn’t by any means claim that he felt good, the nausea, at least, had largely begun to subside, and his headache had diminished to a dull roar.

“I… yeah, a little bit.”

“Good. Get some coffee before ya head out to your post, take some more aspirin if ya haven’t already, ‘n don’t let yourself get too dehydrated today. I gotta go meet up with the Boss. Rufus’ll be anxious to get the parade started,” Reno said, getting to his feet.

“Hmph… playing Hangover Fairy this morning?” Rude’s voice suddenly cut in, as the senior Turk approached the table, plate in hand. Sykes and Petra weren’t far behind.

“Hey, someone’s gotta make sure the kid stays on his feet today…” Reno shrugged. “Anyway… like I was just tellin’ the kid, I gotta go before the V.P. starts bitchin’ about me not bein’ right where he wants me to be, right when he wants me to be there. Keep the rookies in line for me, will ya partner?”

Rude gave the redhead a slight nod of acknowledgment and Reno took off, heading back upstairs towards, Liam assumed, the dual penthouse suites where the President and Vice President were sequestered. When he was gone, Liam turned back to the small group at the table. Petra was tentatively sniffing at the empty glass, a vaguely disgusted look on her face.

“What was in this? It smells awful…”

Rude snorted in laughter.

“Reno’s custom hangover cure. Works great, but… you don’t want the recipe.”

---

Reno very nearly ran directly into Tseng as he bounded up the stairs. The two members of the Shinra army guarding the stairwell audibly snickered at the twin expressions of surprise on the Turks’ faces before quickly falling silent again and resuming their watch.

“Sorry, Boss…” the redhead hastily apologized, “Got up early ‘n somehow I’m still runnin’ a little behind this mornin’.”

“I was just heading down to find you,” Tseng replied, gesturing towards the vice president’s room, and ushering him inside. He closed the door behind them. “You’ve eaten, then, I take it?” he asked, noting the four strips of bacon in the younger man’s hand. Reno had swiped them off the buffet before he’d hit the stairs. He quickly shoved them into his mouth.

“Yeah… I’m all good,” he mumbled around the food, “Checked in on the rookies, too, while I was at it.”

“And are they all… fit for duty?” Tseng queried, raising an eyebrow. Reno forced down the mouthful of meat, swallowing harshly.

“Eh… Liam was lookin’ kinda green, but I hooked him up with a little secret recipe of mine. Think he’ll manage. The other two seemed fine.”

“Good,” Tseng nodded, “In that case –”

“In that case, it’s about damned time you finally hauled your useless backside out of bed. We’re going to be late,” Rufus broke in, emerging from the suite’s bedroom. He’d forgone his white jacket – which, in the last year or so had become almost a sort of trademark for the young executive – in favor of something a little more summer-friendly; plain black pants, a black button down, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a white vest, with deep crimson trim, and a red tie.

Rufus gave Reno’s own outfit a somewhat sneering once-over.

“Who in Ramuh’s name taught you how to put on a tie? And tuck your shirt in, you lazy slob. The news cameras are already outside.”

Reno glanced over at Tseng. “Hey… Boss? You don’t happen to have a pair of pliers on ya, do you?”

“No. Why?” Tseng cautiously inquired.

“… ‘Cause I think the stick’s up there a lot farther than it –”

“Finish that sentence, and you’ll be carrying my sedan instead of merely walking beside it,” Rufus snapped before storming off to the other side of the room and stepping out onto the suite’s private balcony.

“… Boss?” Reno asked, in a low voice. Rufus was always a kind of a dick… but he was in a particularly bad mood this morning.

“It seems there was a disagreement of some sort with his father after I left last night. I’m not certain of the specifics. He’s been like this since I arrived.”

“Oh, wonderful…” the redhead breathed. “That’ll be fun to deal with all day.”

“Please, don’t antagonize him today,” Tseng sighed, “He has a history of behaving… rashly… when he’s in a mood like this and we already have more than enough to worry about.”

“Yeah, yeah… No fuckin’ with the brat. I got it.”

The Turk lieutenant chuckled faintly, shaking his head. “Though I’m sure you’re already aware, I’m still going to point out that referring to the vice president as ‘the brat’ would almost certainly qualify as antagonizing him.”

“Boss, me just existing antagonizes Rufus…” the redhead replied, grinning widely.

---

Rude grimaced as sweat trickled down his back. It was going to be a hot one. Hotter for him – and the rest of the team – given that they were going to be on their feet and walking most of the morning. He was just glad that the parade wasn’t going to be obscenely long. Once that was done, he and most of the others could take a little bit of a break, and fall back to mere observation rather than active escort duty. Only the executive details needed to be directly on hand for the subsequent tour of the city.

He knew at least one of their number was exceedingly grateful for that. Liam was definitely suffering. But… they’d done what they could for him. He’d just have to push through it. Rude wasn’t really that concerned. So long as he did what Reno had told him, he’d be fine. Miserable… but fine.

Some ways ahead of him, he could easily make out the familiar shock of red that denoted his friend’s position in the parade. Meanwhile, Rude and Kai were stationed near the middle of the procession, alongside a small contingent of Shinra SOLDIERS made up of Second and Third Class. Director Faine had outright refused to pull her First Class personnel out of their training regimen for a parade.

Frankly, it was probably a good thing that someone – Rufus, if the rumors were to be believed – had talked the President out of insisting on that. Rude had heard that the man had specifically wanted Sephiroth… Somehow, he didn’t think that would have gone over so well. The powerful SOLDIER may have been a hero in Midgar and beyond, but in Wutai? He was the man who had single-handedly defeated the great Leviathan and cost them the war. Rude doubted he’d have received a particularly warm welcome.

And if anyone did feel they’d missed out for not seeing the Shinra war hero, you certainly wouldn’t have known it. The festival crowds seemed to be enjoying the parade, regardless. The music from the performers out in front could likely be heard all over the city, and their foreign guests were sandwiched between groups in costume, acrobats, and dancers. Between that, and the vendors walking the streets, selling food and souvenirs, everyone seemed to be having a good time.

“I have to admit… this beats the pants off of the President’s usual parades…” Kai proclaimed, beside him.

“Hmph… let’s hope it doesn’t give him any new ideas. Personally, I don’t want to be on the team stuck hauling him around Junon in a sedan chair.”

“… Me neither,” Kai snickered. Rude raised a curious eyebrow and pointedly looked down at the much smaller Turk.

“I don’t think you’d have to worry. They put you on that detail, and the whole thing would be lop-sided,” Rude replied with a slight smirk.

“Ah, one of the few perks of being short…” she retorted, grinning. Rude chuckled and turned his gaze back on the crowd. The streets really were packed… but as they rounded a corner, one small group in particular caught his eye, and he very nearly stopped short in surprise.

“Rude?” Kai queried.

“… Up ahead. By the alley,” he said, quickly composing himself and turning away from the aforementioned subject. He was Wutaiian. Probably about as tall as Rude, though not as broad, and leaning casually against the wall of a building, watching the parade. Watching it… very closely.

“Who is he?”

“Zenshou. One of the ones that escaped from Junon.”

He was the one that Rude had clobbered, as a matter of fact. Of course, it could just be a coincidence… the Zenshou almost certainly had a base of some sort here in Wutai. It would only make sense that they’d be out and about on a day like today. But he didn’t like the idea of one of their number sniffing around in such close proximity to the President.

“Let the others know. I’m gonna hang back and keep an eye on him. Just in case.”

Kai subtly nodded and Rude took the next available opportunity to slip into the spectators along the side of the street. He hurriedly backtracked and flanked his target, finding a quiet alcove in the shadows from which to observe him, unseen.

---

“… Boss,” Reno said, quietly, quickening his pace slightly to match his mentor’s stride. He nodded to the message displayed on his phone.

“I saw,” Tseng calmly replied. “It’s unlikely they’ll attempt anything during the parade. Between the Turks and SOLDIER, an attack of any sort would be suicide.”

“Yeah. That’s not so much what I’m worried about,” the redhead said, glancing around. “These assholes are thieves, not assassins, right? And we’re all here… with one of ’em keepin’ an eye on us.”

The Turk lieutenant frowned noticeably but didn’t answer right away. Finally, he turned his attention back on his protege.

“Send a message to Sykes. Have him return to the hotel and ensure that no one has gained access to our quarters, particularly the President’s suite. He brought a little gift for Lord Godo that he means to present this evening. It’s under guard in his room. I’m not certain it’s anything the Zenshou would be interested in, but it certainly can’t hurt to double check.”

“Yes, sir,” Reno replied, before dropping back to his assigned position while he keyed in the requested text message to the rookie. He wondered, vaguely, what the President was planning on giving the emperor of Wutai… though – assuming the Zenshou hadn’t already snatched it – he supposed he’d find out tonight.

The idea that that’s what they were after bothered him, however. It made perfect sense… but for some reason, it something still nagged at him. What the hell else would they be looking to get their hand on, though? Anything of technological or tactical importance that might appeal to them was safely back in Midgar…

~end chapter 46~