Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 49: Daytripping

Reno woke up… somewhat to his chagrin… curled up on the floor next to an open window. The faint breeze combined with a particularly enthusiastic bird and decidedly too much sunlight made it impossibly to stay asleep. A pillow had been tucked beneath his head at some point, and, he noticed, he’d been stripped of his jacket and sidearm. He groaned softly as he sat up and stretched… and realized that this wasn’t his room at all.

“I would have moved you somewhere more comfortable… but I was fairly certain I’d wake you if I tried. You seemed tired… I didn’t want to disturb you unnecessarily.”

Oh… right. He’d stuck around for awhile last night after they’d returned from their unplanned trip to the hot spring and sent Rufus off to bed… The redhead yawned and dragged himself upright, clambering to his feet and rubbing his eyes.

“Tch… I can sleep anywhere. Soakin’ in that hot spring musta made me extra sleepy, though. Think I was pretty much dead to the world all night,” he replied, glancing over at Tseng, who seemed to be ready for the day already. The Turk lieutenant chuckled softly and strode over to his protege, steering him over towards the door.

“Mmm… Yes, it can have that effect. Go and clean up. I’ll meet your downstairs for breakfast.”

“Yeah… H-hey, hang on. Where the hell’s Veld?” Reno asked, blinking in confusion. They’d all doubled up on rooms. Tseng was bunking with the Turk leader. The senior Turk shook his head.

“Already awake and working,” Tseng replied, “In case you’d forgotten, there’s a rookie that needs to be disciplined for underestimating his tolerance to the local… refreshments.”

Reno cringed.

“Ouch… Don’t tell me the poor kid’s gettin’ reprimanded now…”

“Well, I suppose Veld could have done so last night, but the President returned quite late, apparently. I’m not sure it would have had quite the same effect had said reprimand been delivered while Liam was half-asleep,” Tseng teasingly replied. Reno snorted in quiet laughter.

“Think you’re underestimatin’ Veld, Boss… I know if he walked in ‘n woke me up for a formal reprimand in the middle of the night, I’d not only be wide fuckin’ awake for the whole thing, I’d probably shit myself for good measure.”

“And thank you so very much for that mental image right before breakfast…” Tseng deadpanned, rolling his eyes. “Go and put on some fresh clothes. You’re considerably more… wrinkled… than usual.”

“Heh… Yes, sir,” Reno replied, grinning widely. He turned to go, only to be unexpectedly held back by his mentor. Before he could question it, Tseng had pulled him into an embrace, one hand rising to coax his head down onto his shoulder.

“Thank you. For looking out for me last night.”

“Tch… Come on, Boss. What else was I gonna do? You’re always there when I need you.”

The senior Turk released him a moment later, and shooed him off. Reno hurried off to his own room, slipping quickly inside. Rude, it seemed, was already up and about, as he found their shared space already vacated. He quickly showered and pulled on a clean uniform and was out the door barely five minutes later, taking the stairs two at a time towards the breakfast buffet. Now that he was fully awake… he was starving.

That was likely because he hadn’t really been able to enjoy dinner last night. In spite of Rufus’ claims that his attention was on his plate rather than the conversation, the Shinra heir was really only half-right. Reno’s attention certainly hadn’t been on the conversation… but it hadn’t been on his plate, either. He’d spent most of the meal focused on Tseng. So much so, that he was pretty sure he’d hardly actually eaten more than a few bites.

When he’d learned who those people were… he hadn’t been sure what was going to happen. To be honest, he was low-key expecting a fight of some sort to break out, and had prepared himself for that eventuality. He was not, however, ready to see Tseng’s father just… sit there, acting as though his own son wasn’t sitting right across the table from him.

At one point last night, he’d tried to imagine what he would do if he were in Tseng’s shoes… He’d gone through over a dozen possibilities in his head; everything from screaming at them in anger in front of the entire gathering to quietly withdrawing from the room and not looking back. He still didn’t know how he would have reacted. And in the end, he’d realized that Tseng probably didn’t know how to react to that, either. Which would certainly explain why he’d basically just… shut down and stopped reacting altogether.

Reno shook his head as he rounded a corner and spotted Rude and two of the rookies already eating… and then Tseng himself, filling his plate from the offerings on the buffet. As he was making his way over to join him, a rather pale-looking figure emerged from a small side room and Reno came to an abrupt halt. He snickered quietly, shaking his head as he altered course.

“Fuck, rookie… You’re not hungover again are ya?” he teased as he placed an arm around Liam’s shoulders and guided him towards the food.

“No, sir, absolutely not!” he squeaked, somehow managing to go a shade or two paler than he already was as his eyes widened in abject horror. Reno couldn’t hold back a laugh as the younger Turk viciously shook his head in denial.

“Relax, kiddo…” he grinned, “Man… what the hell’d Veld do to ya?”

“Reprimanded him… obviously,” Tseng answered for him with a faint smirk, strolling up to the pair and handing one of the two plates he was holding to the startled rookie. He took charge of the rookie from his protege and guided him towards the table the others were sitting at. Reno snorted in amusement and resumed his beeline towards the buffet.

A few short minutes later, he rejoined the group, his own plate loaded down with a little of everything on offer. Kai had been right, he realized. The hotel really did cater to tourists. The fare was surprisingly… ordinary. Bacon, scrambled eggs, donuts, pancakes, fruits, bagels… Pretty much what you’d find just about anywhere back home. All of it tasty and well-prepared… but he definitely understood now why Kai had been so adamant about going someplace else yesterday morning. And given that she wasn’t there this morning, either, he guessed that she’d done so again. Apparently she’d taken Remy with her, as well, this time, as she was nowhere to be seen, either.

The redhead took a seat across from Liam, and chuckled softly.

“Hey, Boss? Is that what I used to look like after a reprimand from Veld?” he asked, before shoving most of a cream-filled chocolate donut into his mouth.

“Used to?” Tseng responded, cocking an eyebrow in challenge, “Reno, you still emerge from Veld’s office looking like that.”

Rude snorted in laughter, choking slightly on the orange juice he’d just taken a sip of. Reno just rolled his eyes.

“Very funny… I’ll have you know that it’s been almost a year since my last formal reprimand. And you were the one that laid into me that time… You’re way scarier than Veld when you’re pissed off, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Tseng replied, teasingly.

“What were you reprimanded for, sir?” Sykes suddenly asked, a noticeably surprised look on his face.

“Uh…” Reno frowned, thinking back. “Ya know… I actually don’t remember what the last one was all about. Used to get in trouble so much, it all kinda runs together.”

“Super glue,” Rude helpfully prompted, and the redhead’s face split into a wide grin.

“Ohhhhh… Right. That,” he snickered, “Yeah, I… mighta gone just a little too far with that prank. I kinda didn’t realize the stuff worked that well.”

“… What did you glue?” Liam asked, a look of morbid curiosity on his face. Before he could answer, Tseng sighed.

“It was… more of a who than a what,” he replied, shaking his head, “He’s just lucky the victim of said prank was content with allowing me to handle disciplining him.”

“Um… You do know Rufus got me back for that himself, too, don’t ya, Boss?”

The Turk lieutenant blinked, clearly caught off-guard by the information, and Reno’s grin widened. He casually took a sip of his coffee.

“Why the hell do ya think he was so ‘content’ with just lettin’ you yell at me? He already had his revenge all planned out,” he added, smirking, “Asshole got me good, too…”

“You played a prank on the vice president?” Liam interjected, jaw dropping. “And you’re still alive?”

“By some miracle, yes…” Rude confirmed, shaking his head in a perfect mirror of the Turk lieutenant. The redhead merely sniggered into his coffee cup.

Their short-lived prank war had largely died out back when he was still a rookie… but every once in awhile, he liked to pull out his bag of tricks. You know… just to keep the Shinra heir on his toes.

In the executive’s defense, Rufus usually gave as good as he got. The thing with the super glue, though… that hadn’t turned out quite the way Reno’d envisioned. He’d only intended to slightly inconvenience the brat. Not trap him in his office with one hand stuck to his desk for the better part of an afternoon. Apparently that particular brand bonded to skin just as well as it bonded to everything else. And apparently it did so almost immediately on contact. Rufus hadn’t been pleased… and Reno had ended up feeling pretty bad about it, given that his prank had resulted in the vice president missing a couple of important meetings and pretty much fucked up his whole week since they had to be rescheduled to fit with every other appointment that was already packed into a very over-scheduled few days.

But like he’d told Tseng, the brat had most definitely gotten him back for it. They’d ended up sharing an elevator just as Reno had arrived one morning about a week later. Rufus had clearly been waiting for him. The older boy had smirked and then calmly dropped two cans of aerosol body spray, their triggers strapped down with cable ties, before he all but dove through the doors and out into parking deck just as the elevator closed. He’d then used his executive override code to send the car non-stop to the roof, leaving the unfortunate Turk in what essentially amounted to a make-shift gas chamber for the 70-story ride. The redhead had absolutely reeked of cheap body spray for two days straight, the smell was so deeply embedded in his skin.

It was a pretty fucking epic retaliation, actually. Reno had been impressed. Well… once he’d finally managed to wash the pre-teen boy stink off, that is.

“Well, I for one, never want to go through that ever again… It was awful,” Liam breathed, turning his attention back on his plate. Tseng chuckled and lightly gave the youngest rookie’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Sir? Why did you play a joke on the Vice President?” Petra asked.

“Because he’s out of his damn mind,” Rude opined, as he spread a thin layer of butter over his toast.

“It’s just, Rufus seems so… nice,” Petra continued, “A little… er… abrupt… maybe…”

Both Sykes and Liam were staring at her by then, and the rookie blushed slightly under the scrutiny. The redhead laughed and downed a second donut.

“Ah, Rufus is okay. He just likes to give me shit. I’m more than happy to give it right back.”

“Much to my everlasting dismay,” Tseng sighed, though Reno was positive he caught just the barest hint of a smile from his mentor.

Rude genuinely thought the redhead was nuts for poking the hornet’s nest so flippantly when it came to Rufus… but Tseng got it. Reno’s relationship with Rufus was… admittedly a little odd. By all appearances, they couldn’t stand one another. And probably about ninety percent of the time, that wasn’t all that far from the truth. But the redhead had actually come to hold the brat in pretty high esteem… even more so since his little intervention with Scarlet not so long ago. All the pranks and petty bickering aside, Reno trusted him. Besides which… he’d shown, on more than one occasion, just how important Tseng was to him, and that went a long way in Reno’s book.

Reno, however, ignored his mentor’s commentary and grinned back at the rookie.

“I’m totally tellin’ him you think he’s ‘nice’, by the way,” he teased, watching as the young woman’s face turned bright red.

---

“No luck, then?” Remy inquired as she helped herself to the tomagoyaki on the plate they were sharing, smiling slightly at the familiar slightly sweet, eggy taste. She hadn’t had one this good since her grandfather had passed away… though his were still superior.

Kai groaned and shook her head.

“It’s long gone,” she sighed, “I looked everywhere. And anyway… I’m absolutely positive I didn’t just drop it somewhere like an idiot. Someone had to have lifted it. Ugh… why me? Getting pick-pocketed is something a Turkling would fall for. Not a seasoned Turk.”

Remy laughed softly at her friend’s obvious annoyance.

“I suppose we all need a reminder now and then…” she offered, “Next time, watch your back.”

Kai sighed and shook her head. “You know what the worst part is? I was having a terrific time up until I realized it was missing. Now I’m out eight hundred gil, I’ve got no credentials until I can get a new ID card back at headquarters, and Veld’s angry with me about the potential for a security breach. Which, I mean, he’s absolutely in the right on that, but it doesn’t make it any less irritating…”

“It was a very expensive reminder…” Remy agreed.

“Well… at least I got laid,” Kai finally shrugged, causing her dining companion to choke.

“Kai!” Remy hissed, slightly mortified as several other early morning diners looked over at them disapprovingly.

“What? I did…”

“That’s hardly appropriate breakfast conversation. And besides which, we’re on assignment. A little professional decorum in public, please?”

“Oh, for Shiva’s sake. We’re not even on duty yet today. And just because you don’t have any sordid tales of your love life to share this morning doesn’t mean I’m not going to tell you about mine,” she teased, “I don’t care what they say about him down in the secretarial pool, Reno doesn’t have a monopoly on debauchery.”

“My ‘sordid tales’ are no one’s business by my own,” Remy replied, somewhat stiffly… and vaguely wondered just what it was that they said about the redhead down in the secretarial pool. Kai laughed openly at her statement.

“Give me a break, Remy,” she giggled, “When’s the last time you even went out with a guy, let alone brought one home with you?”

“I really couldn’t say,” the other Turk said in a clipped tone.

Well… wouldn’t say, would actually be more accurate. The last time had been just a few days before they’d left for Wutai… not that that was any of Kai’s business. Reno had spent the night, and it had been… lovely. Her little redhead knew exactly what she liked by now, and he was more than happy to give it to her. Taking him on as a lover was proving to be one of the best decisions she’d ever made. He was enthusiastic, obedient, talented… and perfectly discrete, even if he did like to tease her now and then about the secretive nature of their relationship.

“Exactly my point,” Kai giggled. “Remy, honey… everyone needs a little attention now and then. Even you.”

“For Leviathan’s sake, Kai… This is neither the time nor the place to discuss what sort of… attention… either of us needs,” she groaned, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Reno may have had a company-wide reputation for being a pervert… but catch Kai in the right mood and she could easily give the younger Turk a run for his money.

“Suit yourself,” the diminutive Turk said with a shrug, “But I for one am glad I took the opportunity when it presented itself. She was amazing. No regrets. I… haven’t been with someone like that in a long time.”

Remy’s disapproving glare softened slightly. It hadn’t been so long ago that Kai would have balked at the mere thought of saying something like that. Her friend had suffered immensely when they’d lost Alyssa. Just the fact that she was opening herself up to relationships again – even just brief, sex-driven flings – was a small miracle. The woman, for all her teasing, rarely went out with anyone more than once, and from what she’d told Remy, very few of those dates ever ended with more than a goodnight kiss. It was… good… that she was starting to move on.

“Well… I’m happy for you. But it’s still not appropriate breakfast conversation.”

“I never said it was,” Kai replied, grinning teasingly, “But that never seems to stop Reno. Why should it stop me?”

Remy cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned our resident pervert for no particular reason this morning. Is… there something you want to tell me?”

At that, Kai laughed. “Oh, Titan, no. Don’t get me wrong, Reno’s absolutely adorable. But aside from the fact that I really haven’t gone for a guy in… god, I don’t even know how long at this point… I’ve just never been into that delicate pretty-boy look he’s got going.”

The relief Remy felt at that statement seemed odd. After all, she didn’t have any particular claim to the redhead. They’d outright agreed from the start that this wasn’t a monogamous or commited relationship by any means. Still… for whatever reason she was glad to know that he wasn’t sleeping with Kai, as well.

“He’s just been on my mind a lot lately, that’s all,” Kai continued, oblivious to her friend’s reaction. “Especially now that Tseng is starting to get him specialized for leadership. He’s come such a long way since he was a little baby Turkling.”

Remy snorted softly. “I was under the impression that you still think he is a little baby Turkling.”

“I like to tease him,” Kai replied, smiling, “But… I’ve had to accept that he’s almost all grown up at this point. And that one of these days, we’re all going to be calling him Sir instead of Baby Turkling.”

“I would just like to point out that I,for one, have never called him, or any other rookie, ‘Baby Turkling’,” Remy responded, rolling her eyes at the name. Kai did, however, have a point. As much as it pained her to admit it, someday Reno was going to be their superior. It was all but given, at this point, that Tseng was preparing him to take over as Second in Command when Veld eventually stepped down. For Remy, that knowledge was… bittersweet.

She had long desired to take on a leadership role within the Turks… but the reality was that there were simply too few such roles available. She had nearly gotten her wish when the Junon branch office almost took off… but the war had quashed that chance, and at the moment, there were far too few of them to even consider restarting the project. For a time, she’d quietly entertained the possibility of taking over for Tseng when Veld finally decided to retire, but it was more than clear that that was not Tseng’s plan of succession. He wanted Reno.

And it wasn’t as if Reno wouldn’t make a good Second. She simply thought she could do better. She had more experience. More training. More seniority. Hell, she’d already taken over Tseng’s duties once… albeit temporarily… while he’d been on extended personal leave. But that wasn’t always how things worked in the Turks. And she couldn’t even blame Reno for it. It wasn’t his fault. It was just the way her cards had fallen.

“Well, you should probably give it a try at least once before you miss your chance altogether…” Kai snickered, drawing Remy out of her inner monologue, “… that is if Tseng ever gets around to actually telling him about it. Apparently he hasn’t yet.”

Remy blinked.

“I-I… beg your pardon?” she stammered, “Reno doesn’t know?”

“Nope. Tseng’s keeping him in the dark. Why, I don’t know. If it was me, that’s not something I’d want sprung on me out of nowhere five minutes before I’m expected to take over… but it’s not my call. Rude says that Reno thinks it’ll probably be you that gets promoted to Second. Or maybe me… but probably you. My Baby Turkling doesn’t have a clue.”

“How can he not know?” Remy breathed, the question not really directed at her breakfast companion, but rather to the universe in general.

---

“Hey… so… I meant to ask…” Reno commented as he and Tseng were making their way upstairs to collect Rufus for the first planned event of the day… a tour of the Highwind for Lord Godo and his kid. It would be immediately followed by a flight over the island nation, a stop at one of the southern temples, and lunch aboard Shinra’s flagship craft during the return trip. “What the hell was it that the President was givin’ Godo? We fucked off last night before he got around to it.”

“A scale model of the Highwind the Midgar fabrication lab created prior to the airship’s construction,” Tseng said, chuckling softly. “Rufus was apparently quite displeased to find out it was being given away. He’s always been rather intrigued by his father’s model collection. Particularly the one of the Junon canon in the President’s office on base. They were strictly off limits when he was a child.”

“You seriously tryin’ to convince me that someone actually told the brat he couldn’t have somethin’ he wanted?” the redhead snickered.

“They’re… rather expensive models,” Tseng replied, “The detail on them is quite extensive, and some of them are even functional. They’re certainly not toys that are meant to be played with. Rufus has always been rather… put out… that he’s never been trusted with one.”

“So’s that what they were arguin’ about yesterday?”

The Turk lieutenant shook his head. “I don’t believe so, no. He’s known for weeks that it was intended as a gift. I’m still not certain what the issue was yesterday. But then I haven’t yet asked, either. I’ve… had other things on my mind.”

“Yeah,” Reno said, somewhat awkwardly. “Any idea if we’re… ya know… gonna be runnin’ into your dad again?”

“I doubt it. His invitation was issued as a favor to someone else. It probably doesn’t extend to any of the other planned events this week. In all likelihood they’re on their way home by now.”

“… You okay?”

His mentor paused before the final flight of stairs and turned to him, smiling slightly.

“Yes. It would perhaps be a bit of a stretch to say that I’m fine, but I’m… recovered enough, now that the initial shock of seeing them again has passed.” He shook his head and laughed quietly. “The sheer number of people who have expressed their concern for me since I woke up this morning has been more than enough of a reminder of who my family really is.”

Reno grinned and obediently fell into step beside his mentor as he continued their trek upwards. Moments later, they were knocking on Rufus’ door.

“Enter!” a slightly muffled voice called out, and Tseng frowned as he reached for the doorknob and gave it a sharp turn.

“Sir… Why exactly was this door unlocked?” he asked, as soon as he stepped inside. “You’re well aware of travel protocol…”

Rufus glanced up, unconcerned, from the book he’d been reading, and smirked slightly.

“I merely wanted to make sure you were back on your game this morning. Whether or not you immediately begin nagging me about personal safety is an excellent indicator of just how focused you are.”

The redhead gave a laughing snort at the response, but didn’t comment. Every once in a while, Rufus could be almost amusing.

“I do not nag,” Tseng replied in an affronted tone, as he folded his arms over his chest, “I merely issue timely reminders as often as I deem necessary to ensure compliance.”

“Uh… Boss? I hate to tell ya this, but that’s basically the definition of nagging,” the redhead snickered.

“I do not nag,” Tseng repeated, firmly. “Are you ready to leave, sir? Your father is expecting us to meet him in the lobby in five minutes.”

Rufus tucked a slip of paper into his book to mark his place and set it aside on a small table. He wordlessly stood up and strode over to the pair of Turks.

“I am. Hopefully, Father will be as punctual as I am. I’m quite looking forward to today’s little day trip. So… if you’re finished nagging me about my unlocked door…”

Tseng’s eye twitched slightly, but he didn’t rise to the bait this time. Instead he remained exactly where he was, arms still folded over his chest, eyeing the young executive.

“You have you PHS?” he queried, to which Rufus rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I have my PHS.”

“And your tracking device?”

It was standard issue on long trips like this… a policy that had been quietly implemented during the war and that had been kept around afterwards in spite of the lower threat level. Rufus glared at him.

“Yes, I have my Ramuh-forsaken tracking device,” he sighed, pushing back a sleeve to reveal the thin, silver bracelet encircling his left wrist.

“And your weapon?”

“Not that I’ll have any need of it on board the Highwind, but yes.” It was more than clear that the Shinra heir was growing tired of the questions.

“A jacket in case it gets chilly?” Tseng probed.

Rufus narrowed his eyes at the senior Turk.

“… You’re doing this to get back at me for calling you a nag, aren’t you?”

Tseng’s lips twitched into a smug smile, and Reno almost immediately cracked up.

“Oh, shut up, you idiot,” Rufus snapped at the laughing redhead, before turning back to Tseng. “Alright… you’ve had your little revenge. Now, let’s go… I don’t wish to be late.”

---

Rufus closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the rush of the wind and the warm sunlight as the Highwind soared through the summer sky. It truly was a technological marvel, even by Shinra’s high standards. He’d always loved the airships… but the Highwind really was something else. He’d been enamored of the craft since the earliest days of its design, studying every plan… every model. He probably knew it almost as well as the crew itself did by now, even if he didn’t fully understand all of the intricacies of how it kept itself aloft.

There was something about flight that he found enticing. Perhaps it was just that fact that it was largely forbidden to him. He’d asked his father many times over the years to allow Tseng to teach him to fly one of the company helicopters, and was always denied on the grounds that it was much too dangerous.

Of course, there was no danger in riding in one. He could do that all he liked. But Ramuh forbid he actually be in control of the craft. He might inadvertently kill himself. His father could be such a hypocrite at times. He’d been the same way about the Shinra heir learning to drive… and in fact, Rufus likely still wouldn’t have been able to do that, had he not taken matters into his own hands and learned behind the senior Shinra’s back.

He smirked silently to himself. His father was still trying to determine just who had done the teaching, and Rufus wasn’t about to tell him that it had been Tseng.

Rufus finally opened his eyes again and gazed over the railing that surrounded the Highwind’s upper deck. They were over the mountains by now, and some distance away, he could just make out the location of the new mako reactor they would be officially opening in a few days time. He had to admit… he took a certain amount of pride in that particular reactor. Once the treaty with Wutai had finally been signed, responsibility for its construction had fallen to him. He’d overseen the entire project, from design approval to construction materials to the assignment and hiring of the staff to build it.

He was far more involved here than he’d been in his first major project… the reactor at Corel. His role in Corel had been a matter of shrewd negotiation and selling the townspeople on the idea. In Wutai, however, that part of the process had already been taken care of for him. Corel may have been his first project as vice president of Shinra Company, but the Wutai Reactor was the first for which he truly felt a sense of ownership. He was looking forward to finally seeing it up close and in person at the end of the week.

For now, though, he would have to be content with the view from the air.

Rufus glanced back over his shoulder and snorted softly. His father was still schmoozing the Wutaiian Emperor at the far end of the deck. Godo Kisuragi, he supposed, was a competent enough leader… but the man had wildly miscalculated his chances of success against Shinra Company. It was a foolish mistake that had cost him a great deal, both in terms of reputation and confidence. Now, instead of a proud warrior… he was deferential and submissive, eager to please those who’d been victorious over him.

In a way, Rufus pitied him. Wutai would feel the repercussions of his error for many years to come, and Godo himself would likely never be as revered as he once was. All simply because he thought he could win.

But that was hardly his problem. Rufus had the good fortune to have been on the winning side, and whatever he may have felt for Godo’s self-made predicament was vastly over-shadowed by that victory. Perhaps the next time someone considered challenging Shinra Company, they would think twice before actually acting on such an absurd idea.

He turned away from the small group surrounding his father, and considered stepping below deck for a short while. The engines, when running, were truly a sight to behold, and now was an excellent opportunity to go and take a look. That thought in mind, he stepped back from the railing and headed towards the door that would take him down into the bowels of the airship.

He glanced over at his security detail and smirked as he noted that the Slum Rat wasn’t giving him his full, undivided attention. Decision made, Rufus slipped through the door, unnoticed by the obnoxious redhead, and started down the narrow staircase that led towards the engine room… and almost as soon as he reached the bottom, had to dodge out of sight behind a large bulkhead to avoid being spotted by one of Tseng’s other Turks patrolling the lower decks. He didn’t recognize her, oddly enough. She was Wutaiian, and fairly young. The only Turks of Wutaiian lineage that Rufus was familiar with were Tseng himself and that irritatingly by-the-book woman, Remy. But it was certainly a Turk uniform she was wearing… and he was well aware that there were three rookies presently in training. He’d only had the opportunity to meet one of them to date. The girl must have been another of their newer members.

He quickly opted to take the longer way around to the engines, in the hopes of avoiding her patrol route.

~end chapter 49~