Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 54: Revelations

Reno shuddered at the sensation of icy metal being pressed against his bare chest.

“Geez, Doc… can’t ya warm that thing up first for a change?!” he groused, annoyed. Dr. Ward snorted softly.

“Take a deep breath fer me,” she replied, holding the stethoscope in place rather than making a move to grant the request. The redhead grumbled softly, but did as he was told, inhaling deeply while she listened to whatever the fuck it was she was listening to.

His chest still felt a little tight when he did that… but not nearly as bad as it had been when he’d first been released from the hospital. Back then, just breathing normally had been uncomfortable for awhile. It wasn’t so much that he had difficulty breathing… it was more that his injured lung protested with a deep, aching pain each and every time it was forced to expand. Thankfully, that unpleasant sensation had been steadily dwindling over the past few weeks.

The stethoscope moved downwards, to his lower ribs, just above the healed bullet wound.

“Again…” Ward prompted him. It went on like that for several minutes before she was finally satisfied… and by then Reno himself was feeling a little light-headed from all the intentional hyperventilating.

Next, she probed the exterior wounds, checking for any signs of infection or reopening.

“Hmm… Any further pain around the wound sites?” she queried.

“No… like I told ya last week. That shit’s been healin’ up just fine.”

Ward straightened up and looked at him, arching a slender eyebrow. Reno rolled his eyes.

“Tch… I know. Language… Sorry,” he muttered. Ward chuckled softly.

“Well, now… someone’s on their best behavior taday… Yeh must really want yer treat.”

“Come on, Doc… You know as well as I do this isn’t about the candy. Are you lettin’ me go back to work or not!?”

“How’s yer appetite?” she asked, ignoring the question.

“I eat constantly. Same as always. Can I go back to work?”

“How often are yeh needing ta take yer pain medication?”

“Ugh… I’m hardly takin’ any at all. Usually just a couple pills in the mornin’ if I’m sore when I first wake up ‘n start movin’ around again. Can I go back to work?”

“Any signs of fever since I saw yeh last? Chills? Night sweats?”

“No, no, and no. Can I go back to work?”

“No coughing or shortness of breath?”

“No! And while were at it, no dizzy spells, sharp pains, bleedin’, or passin’ out, either. But my Ifrit-forsaken blood pressure’s gonna be through the roof by the time you’re finished, at this rate. Now can I please go back to work?!” he begged.

Ward gestured to the couch and Reno grudgingly took a seat, folding his arms over his chest in a huff.

“Tseng said yeh were getting ta be a wee bit fed up with convalescence. I see he wasn’t exaggerating…” she chuckled softly, sitting down beside him.

“Dooooc…” he moaned, plaintively, “You’re killin’ me, here. Are you gonna clear me or not?”

Dr. Ward smiled. “Are yeh sure yeh wouldn’t like another week or two off? I’m sure I could justify it if yer not quite ready…”

“I swear to Shiva, Doc…” the redhead growled, prompting a laugh from the aging physician.

“Yer cleared,” she pronounced, and Reno breathed a long sigh of relief, letting his body sink back into the softness of the couch cushions. “Fer light duty only, starting on Monday. I want yeh ta ease yerself back inta training slowly. Don’t push yerself too hard, too soon. And if I hear tell yer anywhere near that Titan-forsaken obstacle course ‘o yers before the next time I see yeh, I’ll personally strap yeh ta a bed fer another month. We’ll reevaluate in two weeks.”

“Whatever you say, Doc… long as it gets me the heck outta my apartment,” Reno readily agreed.

“Hmph… Do me a favor and try ta avoid gettin’ yerself shot, maimed, or poisoned again fer a wee bit,” she replied, tucking her equipment back into her bag. “Yer medical records are startin’ ta take up a positively obscene amount ‘o room in my filing cabinets.”

“Heh… Well, maybe if you didn’tdrag me down to Medical for some Shiva-forsaken shot all the time, they wouldn’t be so full…” Reno said, grinning back at her, his mood having instantly improved the moment she’d set him free.

“Oh, please. Yeh get the occasional flu jab or vaccine booster. If I really wanted ta torture yeh like yeh claim I do, I’ve a whole host o’ other thing I could be giving yeh…” She smirked slightly as she snapped her case shut. “Would yeh like nice vitamin injection?”

“No,” Reno deadpanned. Ward snickered quietly to herself and got to her feet.

“Suit yerself, then. I’ll let Tseng know ta expect yeh on Monday, ‘n I’ll see yeh downstairs in Medical in two weeks,” she replied, and smirked knowingly, “… Or however soon yeh inevitably ignore medical advice ‘n overdo it, yeh little troublemaker.”

---

Remy was scowling as she exited the secure room in the basement of the Shinra Building. If Tseng had been a more fanciful person, he might have sworn up and down that storm clouds were hovering just over her head, so dour was her present mood.

“Nothing?” he ventured, and the younger Turk startled violently at the query, apparently having been too lost in her own thoughts to have noticed him waiting outside the door.

“Sir,” she breathed, eyes still slightly widened from the unexpected jump scare.

“Forgive me. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”

Remy waved her hand, dismissively at the apology. “She hasn’t said a word. It was more than apparent from the beginning that she’s been trained to resist interrogation, but frankly I’m rather stunned that she hasn’t broken after so long. I’m beginning to think this may be futile.”

Tseng sighed softly. “That’s… unfortunate. I was hoping you’d made at least some progress with her. Veld wants to send Kai back in.”

“Tseng… Kai’s in no state of mind to deal with an interrogation right now. Especially this interrogation,” she replied, her frown deepening.

“I know. Which is why I was rather hoping to avoid it.”

“She’s been seeing her therapist again, you know,” Remy stated, bluntly.

“Yes. She already told me. I’d been encouraging her to do so for weeks, in fact,” Tseng replied, gesturing to a small room a little ways down the hall. Remy obligingly followed him inside, and took a seat at the small meeting table in the center as he shut the door behind them.

“Are you worried about her?” she asked when he joined her. The senior Turk slowly exhaled, pressing his fingertips together.

“At present? No. She’s been very open about how this is affecting her and receptive to help in dealing with it,” he said, somewhat cautiously, “I am, however, concerned about what having to face that woman again might do to her. At the very least, I have no intention of allowing her to go in there alone. That’s why I’ve asked Veld to wait before making a final decision on the matter.”

“Wait for what, exactly?”

“For Reno,” Tseng replied, the ghost of a smile turning up the corners of his mouth for a brief moment. “Medical is evaluating him today for a possible return to work. He’ll almost certainly be restricted to light duty in the office… As such, I thought an interrogation might be an excellent way to start him off. Under Kai’s direction, of course.”

Remy looked up at him, surprised. “He’s being cleared?” she asked, hopefully. She’d missed the redhead. They all had. She’d gone to his apartment a number of times while he’d been laid up, but it just wasn’t the same as having him in the office… as having things finally get back to normal.

At the same time, though, a part of her dreaded his return… because she’d decided that once he was healed and back at work, she couldn’t continue to pretend anymore. The thought of breaking things off with him while he was in the hospital had seemed outright unconscionable, and doing so while he was still bedridden at home hadn’t felt any less cold-hearted. But now? Now he was better. He was healed. And… she needed to be honest with him.

“Dr. Ward didn’t guarantee anything when I last spoke to her… but she was very optimistic. And Reno will certainly do everything in his power to convince her he’s ready. He’s desperate to get out of the house and back to work,” Tseng answered, oblivious to her private thoughts, “Particularly after Rude informed him about the new rookies.”

Remy couldn’t help the quiet laugh that escaped her lips. “I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me. He does seem fond of the ones we already have…”

“Mmm… I’ve seldom come across a Turk who was a more naturally gifted trainer…” Tseng opined.

“He’ll… make an excellent Second in Command someday,” Remy agreed.

Tseng looked away awkwardly for a moment, uncertain of how to respond, and cleared his throat.

“You know, then,” he said at last, and the younger Turk snorted softly.

“Tseng, I think at this point just about everyone knows. Except Reno himself, apparently.”

“I… had planned to discuss my intentions with you before it became common knowledge. It’s just somehow never felt like the right time. I know how long you’ve desired a command role.” He sighed quietly. “It seems I waited too long. I’m sorry.”

Remy shook her head. She’d had quite a lot of time to think about things by now.

“I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed. But… I’ve always known that I was never in a good position for promotion,” she responded. “And frankly, if you were to take command tomorrow, I feel that I would make a far superior lieutenant. But that’s not reality. The reality is that Veld isn’t going anywhere for a long time, and when he does eventually step down… Reno will be ready.”

“For what it’s worth… you would make an exceptional second in command,” the Turk lieutenant offered.

“Just not your second in command,” Remy noted, with a somewhat sad smile.

---

Reno flopped onto the ground, breathing heavily and trying to ignore the sharp stitch in his side, as sweat continued to drench his t-shirt. He stared upwards at the clouds drifting by above him and groaned before forcing himself to roll over and get up, kneeling on the soft grass. A water bottle suddenly appeared next to his right cheek, and he wordlessly reached for it, hurriedly downing a quarter of its contents and ignoring the quiet laughter that accompanied the drink.

It was Saturday morning… two days after being officially cleared by Ward, and two days more before he would make his return to the office.

“I think you may be just a bit out of practice…” Tseng chuckled. Reno glanced over at him, side-eye.

“Can’t imagine why…” he snarked. He’d barely managed a lap and a half around the park behind Tseng’s apartment… Three miles. His normal workout was five. Of course, considering this was the first time he’d run anywhere in over a month, three miles really wasn’t too shabby… even if he did feel like Tseng might have to call an ambulance for him at any second right now. He had a long way to go to get back into fighting form, though.

His mentor offered him a hand, which he gratefully accepted, pulling himself to his feet again.

“Come on… let’s take a break. Justinia did tell you to ease back into training, after all. There’s no need to attempt a full workout the very first time you’re allowed to exercise again. She won’t be happy if you have to report an injury before you’ve even clocked in for your first day back.”

“Boss, if I hurt myself before my first day back, there’s no way in hell I’m tellin’ Ward about it. She’ll skin me alive,” Reno laughed. “Or worse, put me right back on restriction for bein’ such a dumbass.”

They made their way over to a wooden bench that sat in the shade of a large maple tree, and Reno happily collapsed onto it. He sat there for a moment, sipping the cool water from the bottle and catching his breath. A moment later, he looked over at his mentor.

“So what’s on the schedule for Monday, Boss?” he asked, a teasing note in his voice, “Filing? Data entry? Or my favorite… transcription?”

The senior Turk snorted softly before taking a drink from his own water bottle.

“You really must have been desperate to get out of your apartment. First, you all but beg me to go running with you first thing on a Saturday morning… now you’re requesting to handle our office’s paperwork the moment you return?”

“I wasn’t kiddin’, boss… I was goin’ nuts cooped up like that. At this point, you could tell me to reorganize the whole Shiva-forsaken archive room ‘n I’d do it with a smile.”

“Hmm… I’ll have to keep that in mind. The archive room could use a good cleaning…” Tseng teased, “But actually, I had something a little less tedious in mind for you. We haven’t had much success extracting any useful information from our Zenshou… guest… even after all this time. Veld wants to make one last attempt before we terminate her.”

“H-he wants me to do it?” the redhead sputtered, somewhat shocked. Not that he didn’t know his way around an interrogation room by now… but if none of the more experienced interrogators on the team had had any luck, the the hell kinda chance did he stand?

“Actually, Veld wants Kai to handle the interview. I want you to accompany her as backup.”

Reno frowned slightly. He may have been out of the loop… but he wasn’t that out of the loop. Rude had filled him in on what had gone down between Kai and the Zenshou infiltrator – right around the time he’d finally gotten to the point that he was with it enough to notice that everyone on the team was coming to visit him… except her. When Rude had told him about the whole mess with her credentials, and how they’d ended up in the hands of the Zenshou in the first place, it hadn’t been hard to figure out the reason for her continued absence.

In fact, he planned on that being the first thing he addressed when he walked into the office on Monday.

“You… sure that’s a good idea, Boss?” he asked, uncertainly.

“Honestly… no. That’s why I’d like you to join her. To remind her why we need that information and to keep her mind off of… other matters. To say that she was devastated when she learned the truth of her little fling’s identity would be a gross understatement. Feel up to it?”

“Yeah… sure. Whatever ya need me to do, Boss…” Reno replied. “Uh… ya mind if I make a request, though?”

“Go right ahead.”

“Can I talk to Kai before ya send us in? Alone? There’s some shit her ‘n me need ta get straight first. Like the fact that she isn’t the reason I got shot.”

Tseng smiled slightly. “Hopefully you will have better luck convincing her of that than I have…”

“Heh… so other than helpin’ interrogate the bitch that tried to kill me… what else ya got for me? Like… how many unfiled reports you guys got saved up for me to handle?”

His mentor laughed at the query and shook his head. “I’m sure there are more than enough to keep you at your desk for the foreseeable future. It seems as though there always are. But… I do have other things to keep you occupied, and resuming your training regimen takes priority over paperwork for the time being. I would very much like to see you back in the field sooner rather than later.”

“Yeah… You ‘n me both, Boss,” Reno said with a grin.

“Particularly given that we’ll have new rookies soon,” Tseng continued, “Adding three more people to our roster is going to be… a challenge. I have a feeling I’ll be relying on you more than ever for awhile. I’ve never had to wrangle six at once before.”

“So when the hell are you gonna tell me who ya ended up pickin’?”

“As it turns out, your top three selections matched up with my top three selections… as well as two of Veld’s. Assuming they all accept, we’ll be taking on Victor Reese and Ryuunosuke Taiko, and I ultimately convinced Veld that Zephyr Latchley would be up to the task, as well.”

The redhead blinked in surprise.

“Wait… seriously? You guys went with all my recommendations?”

“As I stated… two out of the three were unanimous picks. We were all quite confident in Taiko and Reese early on in the process,” Tseng replied, with a slight shrug of his shoulders, “And you made some very convincing arguments in Latchley’s favor. Enough to quell any misgivings I may have initially had, and enough that with both of us behind her, Veld was on board with the choice, as well.”

“Heh… so… I guess that means if I end up bein’ wrong about her, I’m never hearin’ the end of it, huh…” the redhead nervously laughed. Tseng smiled and shook his head.

“You were not wrong. Have a little confidence, Reno,” he said, smirking slightly, “You’re going to need it, after all. Six rookies are going to be quite the handful, even with the both of us keeping them in line.”

“… Guess I better hurry the fuck up ‘n get back in shape, then,” the younger Turk snickered.

---

Monday morning found Reno wide awake and anxious to get out the door before the sun had even risen. The quiet darkness of the early hour was a little disconcerting. Typically, if he was awake this early, it was only because he had to be. Being up while it was still dark outside, of his own free will, was almost unheard of.

But he’d never wanted to go to work more than he did right now. He showered, dressed, ate breakfast… and then cleaned his living room, washed the dishes, and put his laundry away… Whatever it took to kill some time. Eventually, though, he ran out of things to do. It was barely six am.

With a frustrated groan, he flopped down onto the couch, glaring at the sun that was rising outside his window.

“Come on… Hurry up already!” he muttered. This was ridiculous. No wonder he didn’t usually get up early. It was sheer torture. “Ah, fuck this. I’m goin’ in now.”

He could always burn off a little energy on the track or in the pool before he had to report to headquarters. It was certainly better than sitting around watching the clock, anyway. He grabbed his keys off the counter and headed for the door.

The streets were largely empty as he pulled out of the parking lot. Just a handful of early morning commuters, though he knew that wouldn’t be the case for long. Still, by the time he reached the Shinra Building at the heart of the city, traffic was still sparse compared to his normal drive in to work. The morning rush hour had yet to hit.

He wondered, vaguely, as he pulled into the parking deck, if he might have beaten Tseng to the office for once… and shortly thereafter discovered that, no… he had not. His mentor’s custom sports car was already there, in its usual space. He laughed quietly as he pulled in next to it. That figured.

Reno got out of his car and made his way over to the elevator, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for it to arrive from one of the upper floors. After what felt like an eternity, it finally chimed and the door wooshed open. He grinned as he stepped inside and pressed the button for the fifty-eighth floor, and moments later, was being whisked upwards.

He leaned against the back wall of the car and breathed a relieved sigh. It felt good to be back.

The elevator stopped at the nineteenth floor, and the doors opened with their familiar chime to let someone else on board. Nineteen was Legal… Apparently the company lawyers started their day just as early as his mentor tended to. He obligingly shuffled over a bit, to make sure he was out of his fellow-employee’s way… only to come face to face with quite possibly the last person he’d expected to run into first thing in the morning.

Rufus seemed just as surprised as the redhead was, and for a moment, he just stared, wordlessly, until the doors swept shut behind him and the elevator resumed its journey upwards.

“So… You’ve finally decided to start earning your paycheck again instead of sitting around at home on the company dime all day, have you?” he greeted him, quickly recovering from their unexpected meeting.

“Trust me, it was no vacation, sir. I’da come back a lot sooner, if the Doc had let me,” Reno replied, grinning slightly, “Next time I almost get myself killed savin’ your ass, I’m formally requestin’ that I get to recover in Costa del Sol.”

“Hmph… next time, try and do it properly, and I may actually consider granting said request. I was bruised for nearly a week from you pushing me to the floor,” Rufus responded, rolling his eyes.

“You’re welcome,” the redhead snickered.

“I don’t recall thanking you,” the Shinra heir deadpanned. Reno simply smirked in response, as the elevator slowed to a stop on Fifty-eight and the door opened again. He started to step out, only to be momentarily blocked by the vice president.

“I’m… pleased that you’ve returned,” he said, in a somewhat clipped, though genuinely sincere tone, before removing himself from the redhead’s path.

“Careful, sir,” Reno replied, as he strolled into the hallway, “Ya keep sayin’ things like that, I might start to think you actually like me or somethin’…”

Rufus snorted in contempt. “Get back to work, Slum Rat. You have seven weeks worth of absences to make up for,” he sneered, as the doors closed again. Reno’s grin widened in response, and he turned on his heel, purposefully striding towards Tseng’s office.

“Mornin’, Boss,” he crowed loudly, poking his head into the room, and causing the senior Turk to nearly jump out of his skin, one hand instinctively reaching for his weapon before recognition dawned.

“For Levithan’s sake, Reno… are you trying to get shot again?” he breathed, relaxing. The redhead snickered and stepped fully inside.

“Heh… consider it payback for all the times you’ve snuck up on me over the years.”

“What are you doing here already? I’d have thought you wouldn’t have even rolled out of bed yet.”

“Tch… I barely slept last night,” Reno said, “All I could think about was finally comin’ back. Figured I’d just get an early start, since my brain wasn’t gonna let me sleep anyway. Got anything for me to do?”

Tseng chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “If you’re really that eager, I do have some requisition forms that need to be turned in downstairs… but you may want to simply sit down and relax for a bit. As I recall, you wanted to speak to Kai privately before the day got started. I expect she’ll be in shortly. She has a standing appointment early on Mondays and comes upstairs immediately after.”

Reno shrugged and gladly sat himself down in one of the chairs in front of Tseng’s desk.

“So… where are we at with the new rookies?”

“Now that selections have been made, it’s just a matter of holding final evaluations. Then, assuming that nothing glaringly disqualifying comes to light at said evaluations, Veld will formally offer each of them a promotion to the Turks. They’ll have one week to either accept or decline,” he replied, and then glanced up at him. “Incidentally… keep your Wednesday afternoon schedule open. You’ll be joining us to observe.”

The redhead blinked in surprise. “Uh… ‘kay, I guess,” he replied, somewhat puzzled. “But why do ya want me there? You already know what I think of ’em…”

Tseng sighed heavily and sat up slightly in the chair before leaning forward and steepling his fingertips in front of him.

“There’s… something we’re long overdue to discuss.”

“… Am I already in trouble for somethin’? ‘Cause that’s the look you always give me when I’m in trouble…” Reno said, nervously.

Tseng snorted in laughter, the serious expression dropping from his face for a moment.

“No, you’re not in trouble,” he snickered, before quickly collecting himself, “But it is a very serious matter, and I’ve been putting it off entirely too long. We… need to talk about your future.”

“… Yeah, that doesn’t sound ominous at all…” Reno commented, warily. Tseng smiled faintly and shook his head.

“Well… I suppose it depends on how you look at it, honestly.” He relaxed then, dropping his hands to the desktop. “Forgive me… I’m not trying to worry you. I’ve simply been struggling to find the right time for this conversation. I’m not entirely certain this is it, but… as I said, I’ve delayed this far longer than is justified. You have a right to know, particularly since it seems that everyone else already does.”

“Know what?” he asked, brows furrowing in confusion.

“You asked me why your presence is required during the final evaluations,” Tseng began, “It’s… for the same reason your input was sought in their selection in the first place. And why I was so eager to involve you in training duties. And in Sykes’ Hell Week. They are things you’re going to need to understand… so that, eventually, you’ll be equipped to handle them yourself.”

It took a very, very long moment for his mentor’s words to fully register… and even when they did, Reno still wasn’t sure he’d heard him correctly.

“I-I… um… You’re… sayin’ that… Boss? What the hell are you sayin’?” he finally managed to get out, eyes widening more with each syllable.

“I’m saying that there is a long-standing tradition in the Turks. It’s by no means a hard and fast rule, but it frequently tends to come about simply due to the nature of the relationship between a Second in Command and his First Rookie,” Tseng replied, “I’m saying that… I intend for you to succeed me, Reno. As Second in Command of the Turks.”

Reno felt his mouth go inexplicably dry when he attempted to respond. So much so that no words would form. A faint buzzing filled his ears, and for a brief moment, his mind went utterly blank. The next second, the full weight of what Tseng had just said seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks. Shock intermingled with sheer terror, confusion, and a desire to plead with the senior Turk to take it back, that he wasn’t ready for that much responsibility – that he could never be ready – threatened to overwhelm him.

But somewhere underneath all of that was a burgeoning pride. Granted, it was largely being drowned out by everything else… but it was there. Tseng… thought highly enough of him that he wanted him to be his Second. Him.

“Reno?”

He blinked, shaking himself from his daze, and suddenly realized that Tseng had, at some point while the younger man was completely freaking the hell out, moved to his side and was gently massaging the pressure point on the back of his neck. Tseng chuckled softly.

“It’s alright. I had much the same reaction when Veld told me that I’d be in command one day.”

Reno took a steadying breath, letting the sensation of Tseng’s hand on his overly tense muscles calm him a bit.

“Y-you want me to take over for you?” he finally squeaked. He shook his head. “No. No way… I can’t. I’m not –”

“Ready?” Tseng said, smiling. “Of course you’re not ready. We’ve barely even begun your training. Reno, I don’t expect you to take command this very second. I don’t expect you to take command for several years yet. But I can’t continue to keep you in the dark about this. I have to prepare you for a very difficult role, and it would be nearly impossible, at least in the long term, for me to do so without telling you what that role is.”

Reno swallow sharply, nodding in understanding.

“… That’s… one hell of a welcome back,” he breathed.

Tseng laughed and took up residence in the chair beside him. “To be fair, I wasn’t planning on springing it on you quite like this. I thought I’d let you settle back into your daily routine a bit first… but I’m afraid your curiosity made it necessary. I was rather hoping you wouldn’t start asking questions as soon as you returned to work. But… as you did, continuing to hide it felt… disingenuous. You deserve better than that.”

“So… wait,” he said, as his brain finally caught up fully with the conversation, “You said everyone else already knows?!”

“If it makes you feel any better, I was as surprised by that as you seem to be. It would appear I wasn’t quite as adept at hiding it from them as I was at hiding it from you. Remy informed me a short while ago that most of the others have known for some time now.”

Reno shook his head and gave a somewhat feeble laugh. “Ya know… Rude kept tryin’ to tell me… ‘n I totally brushed it off. Thought he was nuts, ’cause why the hell would I even be in the running when you got Remy ‘n Kai to pick from?” He glanced up at his mentor, frowning slightly. “Why didn’t you pick Remy insteada me?”

“It’s… hard to put into words. I need someone with more than just leadership ability. I need someone who can both act independently and be an extension of myself, when necessary. Remy… could do the job. I have no doubt as to that. But while she may know the job better… you know me better.” He paused a moment and shook his head. “Veld and I have have always been very close… Since my first day as a Turk, he’s been almost a second father to me. The thought of of having a Second who can’t say the same… doesn’t sit well with me.”

Reno inhaled somewhat shakily as he processed that statement. It was a little hard to imagine Tseng needing him for… well… much of anything, really. At least in so much as there wasn’t someone else who could do the job just as well, if not better, than he could.

“What if…” he began, and had to swallow sharply as his throat threatened to close up around the lump that had suddenly formed in it. “What if I fuck everything up? I’m not you, Tseng… I dunno howto run things around here.”

“Then you bring shame and dishonor upon me, the Turks, and everything we stand for,” his mentor replied, solemnly, and Reno immediately went pale. Tseng smiled. “That was intended to be a joke.”

The redhead let out the breath he hadn’t, until just then, realized he was holding.

“Your jokes are fuckin’ terrible…” he replied, shuddering slightly. Tseng chuckled quietly.

“Duly noted.” The Turk lieutenant leaned forward in his chair, and rested a hand on his protege’s shoulder. “You will not fuck everything up.” He snorted softly in laughter, “At least… no more than I did when I was first promoted to Second. I have faith in you.”

“Yeah… but…”

“Reno… you’re far more capable than you tend to give yourself credit for. You always have been. And you have always excelled in the end, no matter how many mistakes it takes you to get there.” He smirked slightly. “Except, perhaps, when it comes to materia. I’ll admit… that was a truly epic failure on your part.”

Reno groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Yeah… can we not mention that again? Like… ever? That was probably one of the dumbest things I ever did as a rookie… And considerin’ all the dumb shit I did, that’s sayin’ something.”

“I agree,” Tseng chuckled, “But… you learned from the mistake. Just as you’ll learn from future mistakes, of which, if my own experience is anything to go by, there will be many. It doesn’t mean you’re ill-suited for the job. Just that you’re inexperienced… and experience only comes with time.”

Reno glanced up at the senior Turk and sighed.

“You’re sure about this?” he asked, hesitantly, “I mean… ya still have time to back out, here…”

“I’m sure about you,” Tseng replied.

The redhead snorted softly. “Yeah, well… ya wouldn’t be if you had any idea how completely freaked out I am right now.”

His mentor smiled warmly, and gave the younger Turk’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before getting to his feet and moving back behind his desk again. “Don’t be ridiculous. I very nearly fainted when Veld officially informed me of my impending promotion, and I was half-expecting it at the time,” he snickered, but then glanced up at the sound of footsteps passing by his door out in the hallway. “I believe Kai has just returned… if you’re done freaking out and still wish to speak with her.”

Reno stood up somewhat unsteadily before collecting himself and managing a faint grin. “Heh… I’m still gonna go talk to her, but just for the record? I’m gonna be freakin’ out for the rest of the damn day. Maybe all week.”

~end chapter 54~