Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 53: Seven Weeks Later…

He was trapped. And worse, he’d fucking walked right into it. What in the Nine Hells had he been thinking, taking their bait like that?! In hindsight, the setup had been obvious. He’d been at this too damn long… He was losing his edge, and it was gonna cost him, big time.

Well… there was really nothing he could do about it now. If he was going down, he was taking as many of them with him as he could. He reloaded his weapon and ducked behind what meager cover there was in the dead end alleyway. And he waited.

The first of his pursuers peered around the corner, and he immediately let loose a barrage of gunfire, clipping the attacker, but not taking him down. In response, his ears where suddenly filled with the sound of bullets flying, as one of their number sprayed the narrow space with machine gun fire.

He wasn’t going to last long. And as his opponents advanced on him, slowly backing him into the corner, he pulled out his secret weapon. The last of his grenades. Reno smirked as he readied himself, and when they were close enough, he lobbed it directly at them. It was close enough that the blast radius would almost certainly take him out as well… but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make if it meant delivering a little retribution to the assholes that were planning on gunning him down.

He laughed, mere moments before the grenade exploded, and was rewarded with the sight of the four-man team scrambling so desperately to get away from his impromptu trap that they ended up blocking one another into the narrow space in their attempt to flee.

And then the grenade blew. Reno laughed as the screen turned red and the Game Over text appeared over his avatar, proclaiming the results of the match to be a stalemate.

“Ha! Suck it, losers!” he shouted, switching over to area chat. His personal victory celebration was met with angry swearing over his headset. “Yeah… you try ‘n fuck me like that, I’m fuckin’ you right back, assholes!” He grinned and backed out of the completed match, returning to the game lobby to wait for the next round to start.

The redhead yawned, stretching his arms over his head and rolling his neck. To be honest, he probably ought to take a break… maybe get something to eat. But then… it wasn’t like he had anywhere to be. He could do this all night, if he felt like it. He was still on medical leave, same as he’d been for the last seven Ifrit-be-damned weeks.

Seven very long Ifrit-be-damned weeks.

Though to be fair, it was only recently that he really had the energy to do much more than eat, sleep, and watch TV. Even video games had seemed like too damn much effort until just a short while ago. Hell, when Ward had finally proclaimed him healed enough to continue his recovery at home, Tseng had had to physically carry him into his apartment. Just walking from his mentor’s car to the elevator had worn him out.

It had sucked. He’d wanted so badly to be up and about after four weeks in a hospital bed, getting poked and prodded ever hour or so, dealing with constant visits from Ward… not to mention being totally out of the loop on what was going on at headquarters until someone finally bothered to tell him.

For fuck’s sake, he’d even missed out on Petra’s Hell Week… something he was still pretty salty about, even though Tseng had spent literal hours recounting her performance for him after the fact.

But even after he’d come home, the physical limitations imposed on him by his injuries were pretty impossible to ignore. There had been more than one instance where he’d been left gasping for air after overdoing it, as his still healing lung struggled to pull in enough oxygen to satisfy him. In the end, he’d had no choice but to give up and adhere to Ward’s instructions.

Bed rest. No strenuous activity. Do your Ifrit-forsaken physical therapy exercises… which consisted mainly of a lot of deep breathing. It was pure hell. He’d basically been told to stay in bed and not die.

The countdown to the next match hit single digits, and reached for the controller again. Truth be told, he was getting a little bored with the game. All the good players had migrated to the third entry in the series by now. He was still stuck playing the second, having been unable to get out to a store and buy a copy of the new game.

Just as the timer hit zero, a knock at his door pulled his attention away from the screen. The redhead rolled his eyes, and swore under his breath. With his luck, it was probably Ward coming to check in on him again. He sighed and dropped out of the match, tossing his headset and controller onto the coffee table and dragging himself off of the couch.

Before he could reach the door, however, he heard the faint snap of the lock and the doorknob turned, granting access to his visitor. Reno snorted softly.

“Sure, just let yourself right on in,” he snickered, as Rude stepped inside, arms laden with bags from the grocery store down the street.

“I’ve been knocking for five minutes now. Figured you were asleep again.”

Reno laughed and sheepishly rubbed a hand over the back of his head. “Oh. Uh… Sorry. I had headphones on. Must not’ve heard ya ’til that last time.”

Rude snickered and set the bags on the counter that separated the redhead’s living room from the kichenette.

“You still sane?” he teased, and then smirked, “Well… as sane you as ever get, I mean…”

“Ugh… Barely. Seriously, man… if I gotta spend much longer hangin’ out alone in my apartment, I’m gonna lose it. You got any idea how boring shit is when you’re not allowed to do anything but sit around all day?”

“At least as boring as it was yesterday when you asked me the exact same question,” Rude replied, with a laugh.

“Tch… See? I really am goin’ nuts. I don’t even remember that. So… How was work?”

Rude shrugged and started unpacking. “You didn’t miss much,” he said, and then smirked, “You know… other than the new rookies.”

“What?!” Reno all but shouted, eyes going wide, “When did Veld ‘n the Boss make their picks for the new rookies?! And how come no one told me who they finally picked?!”

Rude grinned, and then laughed out loud at the redhead’s reaction.

“Relax,” he sniggered, “They’re not actually here yet. Veld just announced that he and Tseng are conducting final evaluations on the top three. If all goes well, offers will officially be made for promotion, and they’ll be coming on board in about two weeks. They didn’t tell us any more than that.”

Reno shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Great. You guys get new rookies, ‘n I’m gonna be stuck at home still. This sucks!”

“Hmph… It could be worse, you know.”

The redhead sighed, and dramatically rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah… I know. I’m lucky to even be alive. Medical restriction still sucks. Bein’ outta the loop sucks. Everything sucks.”

Rude shook his head, but didn’t push the issue. “Go sit down. I’m making you dinner tonight.”

Reno suddenly grinned slightly. “Oh… finally somethin’ that doesn’t suck,” he laughed, “What are we havin’?”

“Your favorite.”

“Pizza?” the younger man joked. Rude shot him an exasperated look from behind his sunglasses.

“You other favorite,” he deadpanned.

Reno smirked. “… Donuts? I mean, that’s more of a breakfast thing, but hey, I’m down…”

“I’m making you almond crusted tilapia, and you’re damn well gonna enjoy it,” Rude laughed, shaking a fistful of fresh asparagus at him.

“Ooooh, that favorite,” Reno teasingly snickered. Actually… the dish really was one that he always looked forward to. Not just because Rude was goddamned amazing in the kitchen, but also because… that recipe was the very first thing he’d ever cooked for him. It had sort of a sentimental value to the redhead. And it certainly didn’t hurt that it was fucking delicious.

Reno settled himself back on the couch, and let Rude take over the tiny kitchen space.

“Hey, Rude?” he called out after a few minutes of companionable silence.

“Yeah?”

“So… I was thinkin’…”

“Uh oh… Nothing good ever happens when you start off a conversation like that…” Rude quickly shot back, trying to hide his grin. Reno flipped him off.

“Yeah, fuck you, too, Rude. Anyways… I was thinkin’ maybe it’s time I learn to cook. Like, I mean… legit learned how. And, you did kinda offer to teach me…”

Rude paused in whatever it was he was doing to the fish fillet on the cutting board and blinked somewhat owlishly.

“I did?” he finally managed. Reno sniggered in laughter.

“Well… ya at least joked about eliminating the city’s biggest fire hazard…” he replied, thinking back on the conversation. “It was at that place in Mideel. Ya know… when we were lookin’ into that sword that got stolen. The one with that fuckin’ incredible apple stuff.”

Rude snorted softly. “That was months ago,” he chuckled.

“Yeah… I know. But I mean… would ya be up for it?”

The bald Turk shrugged. “Sure. But you’re still banned from my kitchen until the end of eternity, so we’ll have to do it at your place.”

“Fine with me!” Reno said, getting to his feet again.

“Sit back down. I’m not letting you anywhere near the stove until Ward clears you for field duty. The way you cook, we’ll probably have to evacuate at some point and I don’t want to have to worry about you passing out on the stairs.”

“Oh, ha, fuckin’ ha, ha, ha,” the younger Turk responded, dryly. Rude flashed him a wide smile, and went back to his tilapia fillets. Reno sighed. “Wish she would clear me, though. I’m not kiddin’, Rude. I hate bein’ stuck here all day while the rest of you guys are workin’. It’s boring and it’s lonely and I fuckin’ hate it.”

“It can’t be that bad…”

“No, it is. It is that bad. I mean… yeah, someone usually comes by after work for an hour or two, ‘n Lira’s been dropping in on the weekends when she can, but the rest of the time… I’m here all by myself, all fuckin’ day long, day after day, week after Ifrit-forsaken week! At this point, I’d be happy to come in just to do paperwork!” he lamented, flopping over on the couch and burying his face in a pillow. He stayed that way until felt the cushions beside him sink down with a new occupant’s weight, and a light touch settled between his shoulder blades. “I don’t like bein’ stuck all alone for so long…” he added, voice still muffled by the pillow.

“It won’t be for much longer,” Rude said, reassuringly. “You’re already looking a lot better than you were just last week. I’m sure Dr. Ward will clear you for at least light duty soon…”

Reno whined in frustration against the pillow. A moment later, he found himself being lifted upright, and found his friend looking at him in concern. He dropped his gaze, embarrassed by his own behavior. He was acting like a goddamned five year old, and he knew it… but he was just so sick of this. Yeah, he could distract himself for a little while with video games or movies or porn or whatever… but ultimately he ran out of shit to do and he was back to contemplating his depressingly lonely existence, being confined to his apartment without his teammates. For fuck’s sake, he couldn’t drink ’cause he was still on painkillers. He couldn’t smoke because up until recently he’d had a bullet-sized hole in his lung. Hell, he couldn’t even fuck, because… well, to be fair, he could probably have managed it, but it kinda took two people, and Lira was following Dr. Ward’s instructions that he take it easy to the letter. He doubted Remy would have been any more inclined towards rule-breaking… and he certainly wasn’t up to trolling for a date just yet.

The redhead sighed. He’d been sober, celibate, and nicotine-free for entirely too long at this point.

“Tch… just ignore, me, pal,” he muttered, “I’m totally goin’ stir crazy, that’s all…”

“Hmph… I probably would be by now, too, to be honest,” Rude said, brushing a few strands of hair out of the redhead’s eyes. “When’s Ward due back to check on you again?”

“Tomorrow, I think. Why?”

“Do yourself a favor and tell her how crazy this is making you.”

“Tch… what good’s that gonna do. Just ’cause I’m slowly losin’ my mind doesn’t mean I’m healin’ any faster,” Reno grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. Rude shook his head.

“No. But she might come up with something that could help. Your problem is you never wanna ask. You just assume everything is hopeless and suffer in silence.”

“I do not…” he replied, rolling his eyes.

“Uh huh…” Rude said, more than a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. “You had appendicitis as a rookie and thought you were just going to work through the pain instead of telling anyone you were sick.”

“… We had a lot of shit we were dealin’ with. There was a war startin’. We needed all hands on deck!” Reno protested.

“And then you wouldn’t take anything for the pain after they removed said appendix…”

“Yeah… ’cause I had such a wonderful time on pain drugs the first time they gave ’em to me…” he snorted… and belatedly realized that his ‘defense’ didn’t exactly counter Rude’s argument that he tended to assume the worst.

“Mmm hmm. Remind me… How many years did you just tolerate your medication wearing off too soon because the dosage was all wrong for that weird-ass metabolism of yours?” Rude smirked, recognizing that he’d already won.

“Umm…”

“And I won’t even mention just how many time’s I’ve had to throw you into the pool…”

Reno rolled his eyes. “You’re not gonna mention it, huh?” he deadpanned.

“You’re giant pain in the ass…” Rude said firmly, ignoring the comment and grinning at him. “But you have a family who cares about you. So ask us for help sometimes instead of making me force you to.”

“And again… fuck you, too, Rude,” Reno laughed. “Okay, okay… Fine. So apparently, I’m an eternal pessimist. I’ll talk to the Doc next time she’s here. Happy?”

The older Turk chuckled and gently ruffled his friend’s hair.

“Very. Come on. If I’m gonna eventually be giving you cooking lessons, you might as well get some observation time in first. Let’s go finish dinner,” he said, standing up. Reno moved to follow suit, only to have Rude pause and turn back towards him, a stern expression on his face. “Touch. Nothing.”

---

“I’m still not certain about Latchley,” Veld said, shaking his head. “I’ll admit, she’s certainly very skilled, but I think she would benefit from another year in recruit training.”

“I know she has a bit of a… shall we say, wild streak, sir… but I respectfully disagree. She’s undisciplined… not untrainable. I’m confident in her ability to adapt her behavior.”

“What? Once wasn’t enough for you?” the Turk leader queried.

“Sir?”

Veld chuckled softly. “She’s not all that different from Reno… at least in that regard. I would have thought you’d had your fill with him. Or have you just selectively forgotten all of the mayhem he caused as a rookie.”

Tseng set the personnel folder aside, and leaned back in his seat, smiling faintly.

“No, sir… I can assure you, I most certainly have not forgotten what Reno was like as a rookie. And I thank Leviathan on a daily basis that he grew out of that stage fairly quickly, all things considered.” He shook his head and sighed. “I do share your concerns. But her propensity for mischief aside, I truly do think she’ll do well as a Turk. Reno agrees, and frankly, I’m inclined to trust his judgment on this… perhaps even more than my own, sometimes. And if we wait, we may lose her to SOLDIER. I’ve heard rumors that she and Taiko both have caught Faine’s eye.”

“Hmph… Faine,” Veld groaned with a roll of his eyes at the mention of the Director of SOLDIER, “Alright. If you really think that you and Reno can reign in her wilder tendencies, she’s all yours.” The Turk leader reached for his coffee, and took a sip, grimacing at the now decidedly cool temperature. “Speaking of whom… how is he doing? I’m afraid I haven’t had the chance to check in on him in person recently.”

“He would very much like to come back to work, sir,” Tseng replied with a soft laugh. “I believe his exact words were… ‘I’ll even do the goddamned filing all day… Please just get me outta here!’…”

“What’s Ward’s opinion?” Veld asked.

“She’ll be giving him a full evaluation tomorrow… but she has tentatively said that, barring any unforeseen discoveries during said evaluation, she’s comfortable releasing him from full restriction to light duty.”

Veld nodded and then gave a quiet laugh. “I’ll be glad to see him back in the office. I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but… it’s been too quiet around here, lately.”

“I think everyone will agree with that sentiment, sir,” Tseng chuckled.

“And what about Kai?” the senior Turk inquired, and the smile quickly fell from Tseng’s face.

“She still blames herself,” he sighed. “I can’t even convince her to go and see him, even though I know Reno would welcome a visit from her. She… just can’t seem to let go of the guilt. That’s the other reason I’ll be glad when Reno is cleared to return to the office. I think finally having no choice but to face him is really the only thing that’s going to help convince her she’s not responsible for his injury.”

“It was her carelessness that led to the security breach,” Veld pointed out, and raised a placating hand when his protege scowled and opened his mouth to defend the younger Turk, “Don’t argue that point with me, Tseng. You’ll lose. I’m not saying she deserves this self-inflicted punishment of hers. I’m just saying that she does have cause to blame herself. Trying to convince her otherwise is likely futile. She needs to come to terms with it… not simply be absolved of her mistake.”

Tseng sighed and leaned back in his chair. Veld was right, of course. Guilt could be a difficult, if not impossible, thing to rid oneself of… He knew that better than anyone, having thus far been unsuccessful in completely assuaging his own. But Kai was not solely to blame for what had happened. Security could have been tighter, particularly after the theft of her credentials became known. He could have accompanied Rufus personally to look for his temple offering instead of letting him go on his own. There were any number of points in the timeline where something done differently would have resulted in a much less messy outcome. This was not exclusively on Kai’s shoulders, even through she’d firmly placed it there.

“Remy tells me that she has made no further progress with our prisoner. It’s been over a month. It may be time to consider sending Kai back in,” Veld stated.

“Sir…”

“I know. But she is the best interrogator we’ve got, and the damned Zenshou are getting to be a real pain in the ass. Two attempted break-ins at secure Shinra facilities, and one successful theft from Fort Condor just since we returned from Wutai. It can’t continue. Rude is doing his best to stay ahead of them, and to his credit, he’s the reason we’ve had only one theft rather than three… but he’s only one Turk. We need insider intel so we can stop this at the source.”

“Yes, sir,” the Wutaiian Turk sighed. He paused a moment in thought. “I’d prefer she not go alone, though.”

“Are you volunteering?”

“If necessary… but I think I may have a better idea. Though it would be contingent upon Reno being cleared to return to work.”

Veld nodded in understanding. “You want to send him in with her. Are you sure? You said yourself she can’t even bring herself to visit him at the moment… He may end up being more of a distraction than a help to her.”

“Perhaps. But, if you’ll forgive me for being a bit egotistical… I know Kai better than anyone. Having him there as a constant reminder of what that woman nearly cost us will provide ample motivation to obtain the information we need.”

The Turk leader was silent for a moment as he took another sip of his coffee, before glowering at the cold liquid and setting it aside.

“I’ll take it under consideration. After all, as you said, it’s contingent upon your protege returning to work, and this isn’t something I want to delay if he’s not yet able to.”

“Yes, sir.”

Veld glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall on the far side of the room.

“In any event… we’re not going to accomplish much more tonight. It’s late, and I suspect everyone else has gone home by now. I suggest we do the same,” he continued, “Hmph… before Esme has me sleeping on the coach for working late again. Care to join me as backup? She’s far less inclined to yell when I bring a dinner guest…”

Tseng smiled but shook his head.

“I’d intended to stop by and see Reno on the way home to ask if he needs anything,” he replied, and then chuckled, “And to offer my continued moral support as he descends slowly into madness, trapped in his apartment.” A moment later, however, he reconsidered. “Though if Esme doesn’t mind keeping a plate warm for me, while I run that particular errand…”

“We’ll see you in hour or so,” Veld warmly laughed, getting up from his chair.

---

Reno sighed in content, enjoying the dual pleasure of a full belly and good company.

“Hey, Rude? You want a roommate? ‘Cause I could definitely get used to you cookin’ for me every night…”

Rude looked up from the plate he’d just plunged into the soapy water, and eyed his friend.

“Hmph… Reno, I love you like a brother… but if I had to live with you, I’m pretty sure I’d kill you,” he teasingly replied. The redhead grinned widely from his position on the couch.

“Fair enough,” he snickered. He closed his eyes and settled back against the cushions, yawning slightly. Dinner had made him sleepy. “Man… I’m seriously lookin’ forward to gettin’ back to work, but gettin’ myself back into shape’s gonna be a bitch. I’ve been sittin’ around literally doin’ nothin’ for weeks now. Between you feedin’ me all the time, ‘n me bein’ so fuckin’ lazy since I got put on leave, I think I mighta actually gained weight for like the first time in my entire life.”

“You are looking a little pudgy…” Rude joked, “You must’ve put on a whole pound. Maybe even a pound and a half.”

Reno snorted in laughter. “Hey, you joke about that, but that’s a lot for me.”

Hell… sometimes he had to work just to keep the weight on his scrawny frame when things really picked up on the job. Ward had told him, years ago, that he might eventually outgrow his hyperactive metabolism… but if it was going to happen, it didn’t seem to be happening yet. And at this point, he honestly had his doubts that it ever would. Not that it really bothered him these days… Now that he wasn’t scavenging for damn near every meal, it was easy enough to snack whenever he needed to. It was just something he had to keep an eye on every now and then… or else Ward would get after him for “not taking care of himself”.

Back in the slums, food had always been his number one worry. Well… really, Lira had been his number one worry, but when he was talking strictly about his own needs, it was definitely food. How the hell he’d managed to survive for so long on such meager rations was anyone’s guess.

When they were younger, Lira had occasionally joked that he was starving even when he was full… and now he kind of wondered if maybe that wasn’t so far from the truth. Hunger was almost a perpetual state of existence for him as a kid, to the point that he’d taught himself to largely ignore it unless it got really bad. Maybe that had just been his body’s way of telling him that he wasn’t quite normal.

Whatever the case may have been, he was grateful those days were behind him… because he definitely preferred not being hungry all the damn time.

“Don’t worry… A few trips through the gauntlet will get you back on track,” Rude commented from the kitchen. Reno laughed.

“Geez, Rude… Didn’t I come close enough to gettin’ killed? You want me to start off runnin’ the fuckin’ gauntlet soon as I get back?”

Rude’s reply was interrupted by sharp knock at the door. The redhead moved to get up, but the older Turk waved him off.

“I got it,” he said, drying his hands on a dish towel and making his way around the counter. Reno shrugged and made himself comfortable again. He wasn’t used to this whole being waited on hand and foot thing… but he was pretty sure he could get to like it. He snickered faintly to himself, noting that he probably shouldn’t let himself get to like it too much. It wasn’t going to last forever. He certainly wasn’t going to complain about it, though.

“Sir,” Rude said by way of greeting, as he opened the door, and Reno twisted slightly to see who his visitor was, grinning as he spotted Tseng standing just outside.

“Ah… I see I’m not the only one who thought to check in on the prisoner this evening.”

“Hmph… Someone has to come over and feed him. Otherwise, he’d just order pizza for every meal.”

“Nothin’ wrong with pizza,” the redhead piped up from the couch, but he silently laughed at the comment. Rude was absolutely right. Since being introduced to the real thing three years ago – not the cardboard-tasting crap they called pizza down in the slums – it had become one of his favorite things ever. He had exactly zero issue with eating pizza for every meal for days at a time, and would happily have done so if his friend hadn’t insisted on a somewhat more varied and healthier diet while he was recuperating.

Tseng shook his head and stepped into the apartment, and made his way over to his protege.

“Well… you seem to be in a far better mood than when I last left you.”

“Well, yeah. Rude fed me,” Reno smirked, jokingly.

“Would you like something, sir? I could –”

“That’s not necessary. Thank you, though. I’ve already accepted a dinner invitation from Veld… I’m just here to make sure Reno hasn’t clawed his way through the walls yet and to remind him that Justinia will be arriving tomorrow at nine for his weekly evaluation.”

“Uggggggggh…” the redhead groaned, letting his head flop back against the couch cushions. “Great. Just how I wanna spend my mornin’… gettin’ poked ‘n prodded ‘n threatened with needles ‘n rectal thermometers ‘n shit…”

Rude snorted loudly at his friend’s lamentations, and quickly tried to cover the reaction by biting into one of the cookies from the plate he’d left out on the kitchen counter. Reno shot him a glare.

“Yeah… You won’t be laughin’ so hard when she’s tryin’ to shove one of those things up your ass some time…”

“I wasn’t aware you’d had the… uh… pleasure…” Tseng snickered.

“Yeah, there was no pleasure involved with that bullshit,” he muttered in reply. “Just ’cause a guy’s got a fuckin’ hose down his throat… Couldn’t even fuckin’ complain about it ’til they took that thing out. Two goddamn days later. I’m sure some people enjoy that sorta thing, but I’m not into the whole medical procedures as a fetish scene. If somethin’s gettin’ shoved up my ass, it better be a –”

“Please don’t finish that sentence. I really don’t want to know what you enjoy having shoved up your ass…” Rude cut in, rolling his eyes.

“Nor do I. Particularly since I haven’t eaten yet,” Tseng agreed.

“Fuckin’ prudes…” the redhead snickered, grinning mischievously. “Fine. Be that way. Hey, Boss? Speakin’ of the Doc… she didn’t happen to mention anything about me, uh… ya know… not being stuck sittin’ around doin’ nothin’ all day anytime soon? Did she?”

Tseng smiled slightly. “As a matter of fact…”

“Please tell me she’s lettin’ me go back to work,” he begged, clasping his hands in front of him, pleading, “Please, Tseng… I can’t take much more of this.”

“It will depend upon your evaluation tomorrow. But…” his mentor replied, pausing for a moment, and torturing him with the anticipation, “… She did say she a return to light duty was a strong possibility.”

“Oh, thank Ifrit…” Reno breathed, groaning in relief. The senior Turk smiled and shook his head.

“It’s not absolutely certain yet. You still need a clean bill of health,” he cautioned him, “But I think I speak for the entire team when I say I hope it goes well tomorrow. Even Veld thinks the office has gotten too quiet without you.”

Reno blinked, and instantly looked up at his mentor.

“… Is Veld losin’ his mind, too?” he joked.

“I’ll be sure to ask him when I join him for dinner later,” Tseng chuckled.

---

Reno was awake uncharacteristically early the following morning. He hadn’t been able to sleep in late the way he normally did when he didn’t have to get up and go to work… his brain simply wouldn’t allow it, demanding that he think non-stop about Ward’s visit and whether or not she’d clear him for duty. Sure, he’d probably be behind a desk for awhile… but anything was better than another week sequestered at home.

But mostly, he was worried that she’d decide something was still wrong with him. He’d ultimately been laughing at his own complaints last night with Rude, but… the prospect of legitimately being sidelined even longer had kept him up late, staring blankly up at the ceiling above his bed. He didn’t like being sedentary and isolated. Visitors were a bright spot in his days, but eventually, they left. He just felt so… cut off. Life was going on without him.

By eight o’clock, he was showered, dressed, and eating breakfast. By eight forty-five, he was pacing his living room almost frantically and cursing Ward for not showing up for his appointment early, pausing only long enough to occasionally peer out of the window, looking for her car to pull into the parking lot. Each time he didn’t spot her, led to another round of frustrated swearing, followed by more pacing.

At eight fifty-three, a familiar car finally turned into the parking lot entrance. Reno all but plastered himself against the sliding glass door that led out onto the balcony, watching as, with agonizing slowness, Dr. Ward stepped out of the vehicle, gathered up her bag, and made her way inside the building.

“Oh, thank Ifrit…” he breathed. He didn’t think he’d ever been happier to see the Doc in the entire time he’d known her… and that included the time she’d miraculously shown up in Junon with the antidote after he’d been poisoned by Hojo’s blob-monster. The redhead scurried over to the door, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited… before finally yanking open the door and standing there, eyes fixated on the elevator a few doors down from his apartment.

After what felt like a literal eternity, it finally chimed and the doors slid open, depositing one Justinia Ward in the hallway. The doctor stopped short, surprised, when she caught sight of him, and then smiled and resumed her trek towards his apartment.

“Ah… Looking forward ta seeing me fer once, are yeh, my little headache?” she teased, as he hurriedly ushered her inside.

~end chapter 53~