Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 57: Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Reno woke to the sound of running water, and it took him several seconds to recognize it as Remy’s shower. He yawned and rolled over, eyes falling on the clock on the bedside table… and groaned. It was five in the morning.

He snorted softly in laughter and rolled back the other way, cocooning himself again and burrowing deeper into the covers. If she wanted to get up before the damn sun, that was her business. He was perfectly happy to stay in bed until the last possible second – or at least until she booted him out of said bed and informed him that he’d be late for work if he didn’t get up.

He wasn’t exactly surprised he was still tired, either. Remy had been insatiable last night. Not that he was complaining. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who’d missed their little get-togethers… and after seven weeks of involuntary celibacy, he’d been more than happy to step up to the challenge. He grinned slightly at the thought of cramming seven weeks worth of sex into one night… which was, admittedly, a little bit of an exaggeration, but at the moment, that’s more or less what it felt liked he’d done… and he was pretty sure he could have gone again if she’d wanted him to. It was almost too bad they had to work today.

A few minutes later, he heard the water turn off. Reno sighed and poked his head out from under the blanket. He supposed that was his cue to get his ass out of bed and get cleaned up so he could run home and change into fresh clothes before he was due at the office.

He yawned again and grudgingly started the process of untangling himself from the covers. A short while later, he made his way out of the bedroom just in time to see Remy emerging from the bathroom, toweling her hair dry.

“Mornin’…” he said, grinning widely, “Leave me any hot water?”

Remy rolled her eyes. “There’s plenty…” she replied with a slight smile.

“Wanna come check? Just to make sure?”

“I’ve already had a shower, Reno…” the senior Turk answered, shaking her head. The redhead shrugged.

“Just thought I’d offer…” he smirked, “Ya know… in case ya somehow didn’t get enough of me last night.”

“Go,” she ordered, pointing to the bathroom door. He flashed her another grin and did as he was told… feeling her eyes still hungrily roving over him for the entirety of the short walk.

---

Remy breathed a sigh of relief as the door closed behind him. It was tempting. So very tempting. Last night had been… quite possibly the most incredible night she’d ever had with the redhead. The thought of it being the last time was heartbreaking. So much so that she’d almost given in and accepted the offer to join him in the shower.

But it only would have postponed the inevitable. She’d made up her mind, and she wasn’t going to back out simply because her body still craved his touch after a long night of lovemaking. Remy sighed and cinched her robe tighter before making her way into the kitchen and turning on the coffeemaker. She had to do this now. If she didn’t, she was all but certain she’d talk herself out of it, and then she’d have to start all over again.

It was several nerve-wracking minutes before Reno emerged, freshly showered and wrapped in a towel.

“Just gonna grab my clothes ‘n head out…” he called over his shoulder, before poking his head back out of the room, eyeing the coffee pot from across the room, “Uh… Unless ya maybe made enough for me, too?”

Remy wordlessly retrieved a second mug from the cabinet and filled it, setting it on the table for him, and taking a seat.

“You’re awesome, Remy… Be right back,” he grinned. Remy closed her eyes and bit back a groan. Why did he have to be so adorably sweet? She took a steadying breath, and waited. And then got to her feet, again.

Sugar. He liked sugar. Remy hurriedly snatched the little jar of it from the counter, and set it on the table next to his mug, along with a spoon. She resumed her seat, staring down into her own coffee, and remained like that until he finally strolled out of her bedroom, dressed in yesterday’s clothes, his hair still damp and loose from its usual ponytail.

Why in Leviathan’s name was she so nervous about this? They had, from the start, mutually agreed that this wasn’t a relationship. No expectations. No commitments. If she wanted to break it off, she was perfectly within her rights to do so any time she wanted to. She wanted to believe it was because she didn’t want to hurt him… but ultimately, she was forced to admit that it was because she’d be hurt if he wasn’t.

He meant something to her. That was the whole reason for ending things with the redhead. But, she couldn’t help but think that it would sting if it turned out that she meant nothing to him after all this time. And she felt incredibly selfish for thinking that way, particularly since it would be better for them both if her burgeoning feelings weren’t reciprocated.

Reno laughed softly to himself as he dumped a distinctly unhealthy amount of sugar into his coffee, and happily took a long sip of the overly-sweetened beverage.

“Heh… After last night, I got a feelin’ I’m gonna need a lot moreof this if I’m gonna be good for much of anything today,” he snickered, teasingly.

Remy exhaled, and slowly raised her eyes to meet his.

“Reno… we need to talk.”

The younger Turk paused, blinking in surprise at the serious note in her voice.

“Uh oh…” he replied, frowning slightly, “What’d I do?”

---

Tseng set the helicopter down neatly on top of the Shinra Building. It was still early… but his tasks in Junon were long since done, and Viridia, along with a rather large number of her subordinates, had shipped out just over an hour ago, en route to Gongaga. They’d be dealing with the clean up of the destroyed reactor and the town… and investigating further into the explosion itself, now that Shinra knew it was no accident. She’d very kindly offered him her quarters for a couple more hours… but with her leaving and his own tasks already done, there was little reason to linger in Junon. He’d opted to return home… even if it was a bit early to be walking into the office.

As he stepped aboard the elevator, he suddenly realized that he was rather intensely looking forward to today. After all, it wasn’t every day he had the opportunity to tell a rookie he was being promoted. That, combined with a lovely evening spent with Viridia, the excitement of the upcoming arrival of three new rookies, as well as Reno’s recent and long-awaited return, had placed him in an undeniably pleasant mood. It was shaping up to be a good week.

The elevator slowed to a halt and chimed on the sixty-sixth floor, and Tseng briefly cursed himself for getting too complacent. The executive offices. He sighed, hoping that Heidegger hadn’t suddenly decided to arrive early, as well. If anything could ruin his almost chipper outlook on the morning, it would be the General Affairs Department head. As the doors slid open, however, the Turk lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tseng,” Rufus greeted him, a note of surprise in his voice. “You’re rather early this morning. Even by your standards…”

“I’m just back from Junon, sir. I would have preferred to stop at home first, before coming into the office… but I’m afraid my neighborhood is notably lacking in helipads. Parking would have been… difficult.”

Rufus cocked an eyebrow at the joke. “And in an unusually good mood, as well, I see…” he commented.

The Turk chuckled softly, smiling.

“One of my rookie Turks is being promoted today. I’m very much looking forward to telling him.” He paused for a moment, eyeing the vice president curiously. “But just what brings you in so early?”

Rufus sighed and pressed the button for nineteen.

“I’m not in early. I never left last night. It’s this Ramuh-forsaken PR mess with the Gongaga reactor. Someone leaked details of the theft to the public yesterday. I’ve been fielding calls from the accursed press for hours, in between attempting to get some idea of our liability here from Legal. Scarlet and that damned project of hers may have opened us up to a rather hefty negligence lawsuit, all because she didn’t think conducting weapons research in a reactor might require a few more precautions than one of her purpose-built labs.” He shook his head and shifted the stack of folders he was holding to his other arm. “Incidentally… we’ll likely be sending a legal representative to Gongaga shortly. They’ll require security. I doubt the remaining residents will be particularly happy to see us. They’re already threatening to refuse us further access to the reactor site.”

“On what grounds?” Tseng asked, making a mental note to mention the escort request to Veld as soon as he arrived.

“Shinra Company doesn’t actually own the land. Only the facility… and, as the facility is more or less gone, legally, we’re rather limited in our rights.”

“Shinra doesn’t own the land they built the reactor on?” the Turk lieutenant repeated, shocked. Rufus snorted in irritated laughter.

“It was Father’s first reactor project. Mistakes were made,” he replied, dryly, “Unfortunately, they’re coming back to bite us. We may not be allowed to rebuild… and while we could certainly take the land by force, I think the Company has had enough negative publicity of late. Father agrees. The Gongaga reactor will likely end up being a total loss.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Tseng frowned.

“Very,” Rufus agreed.

The elevator arrived at the fifty-eighth floor, and Tseng stepped out into headquarters, allowing Rufus to continue on, down to the legal department.

“Should you need to take a short break from everything later… I doubt anyone would come looking for you in my office,” Tseng said before the doors slid shut again.

“I might very well take you up on the offer,” Rufus responded as they closed.

---

“You didn’t do anything,” Remy said, shaking her head.

“… Then why are you lookin’ at me like you’re about to say somethin’ I’m not gonna like hearin’?” the redhead asked, cautiously, his coffee utterly forgotten for the moment. In the back of his mind, he was already going through the possibilities. She didn’t seem… angry. She looked more worried than anything else, honestly.

His eyes widened slightly as the most obvious one occurred to him, and he swallowed sharply.

“Uhhh… you’re not… ya know… like… pregnant. Right?” he asked, nervously. He was always careful about that. That last thing he wanted to do was get some poor girl knocked up. But… mistakes did happen. It was always possible that he could’ve slipped up.

“W-what? No!” Remy hurriedly said, shaking her head vigorously in denial, “No! Nothing like that!”

The redhead breathed a sigh of relief and sank down in the chair.

“Fuck’s sake, Remy..” he groaned, “Don’t scare a guy like that…” He ran a hand though his hair, silently willing his heart to stop pounding frantically in his chest. One thing he knew for certain… he was even less cut out to be a father than he was to be a husband. The thought of accidentally ending up as one was nothing short of terrifying…

“That’s the first conclusion you jump to?” Remy said, raising an eyebrow.

“Tch… we’ve been sleepin’ together for… how long now? Then suddenly ya hit me with a ‘we have to talk’?” he defensively replied, “What the hell would you be thinkin’?”

Remy rolled her eyes. “Well… I’m not,” she stated, definitively, “But we do need to talk.” She paused for a moment, as though searching for the right words. Finally, she looked up at him. “I…” Remy sighed and dropped her gaze again. “I can’t… do this anymore.”

Reno blinked in surprise. That was certainly the last thing he’d expected her to say.

“So… you’re dumpin’ me?” he asked… somewhat teasingly, since this whole arrangement had been made on the basis of it not actually being anything more than a convenient fuck. A flicker of sadness flashed though Remy’s eyes, and he quickly realized that that was not the right response. “Remy… come on. What’s goin’ on? I mean… if you don’t wanna hook up anymore, I’m okay with that… but… I’d kinda like to know why. Sure seemed like you were enjoyin’ yourself last night. And if I did somethin’ wrong –”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Remy repeated, “That’s… kind of the problem.”

The redhead stared back at her in utter confusion. “… Okay. I’m lost.”

She cast him a pained look and shifted her gaze down at her hands, which were folded in front of her on the table.

“Reno… you’ve been nothing but sweet and caring and attentive the entire time we’ve been… whatever it is we are. I’ve… honestly never had a lover like you, and you’re right. I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.”

“So why mess with a good thing?” he asked, still thoroughly mystified. She looked up at him again, and he could see the resolve in her expression now.

“Because it’s too good.” Remy pushed her chair back and got to her feet, slowly pacing her apartment’s little dining area. “I told you from the start… I was only looking for a physical relationship.”

“I’m not askin’ ya for anything more than that…” Reno replied, shaking his head, still not understanding.

“I know. The problem is… it’s not just physical for me anymore.”

The younger Turk sat for a moment in stunned silence at the admission. Sure… Remy’d really started showing him a side of herself he hadn’t been acquainted with prior to the whole friends with benefits thing, but he hadn’t realized…

Remy finally stopped pacing and resumed her seat at the table. “Our lives are inherently dangerous,” she said, “Either one of us could just… end up not coming home one day. You almost didn’t come home, not that long ago. I can’t… I won’t let myself fall in love with a fellow Turk. Because I’ve seen what can happen to the person left behind. And I know it’s completely selfish and self-serving on my part, but I won’t risk subjecting myself to that kind of pain.”

“Y-you’re… in love with me?” Reno stammered, and Remy smiled faintly.

“No. I do love you… but as a friend and as a fellow Turk and as a part of my family…” she replied, and then gave him a somewhat sad look. “But… I can see it going farther than that all too easily if this continues. That’s not what I want… and I know it’s not what you want, either.”

“So… last night was, what? One last fling for old times’ sake?” he asked.

“Something like that,” she admitted, “I’m sorry, Reno.”

“Nothin’ to be sorry for,” he said with a slight grin, “Told ya… no strings attached. It was fun while it lasted. Heh… I am gonna miss this, though. You’re fuckin’ amazing, Remy.”

“You’re… not so bad yourself,” she replied, with a faintly amused half smile.

He suddenly frowned and glanced over at her. “Look… I kinda figured this probably wasn’t gonna be a long-term thing, anyway, but… it’s not gonna be weird between us now, is it? ‘Cause I mean… I’m fine with you not wantin’ to shack up with me anymore, but I’d be seriously upset if it fucked up us bein’ friends. ‘Cause… ya know… you matter to me.”

Remy shook her head. “I would never want things to be awkward just because we’re not… doing this anymore. No one knows about our little arrangement, so no one will be asking uncomfortable questions. We’ll… just go back to the way things were before.”

“Can we maybe still hang out sometimes?” Reno queried, uncertainly, “Without the sex, of course. I do like doin’ other stuff with you, ya know…”

Remy looked away for a moment, and the redhead felt his stomach sink. That was never a promising response.

“I… don’t think that would be a good idea. Not right now, anyway,” Remy softly replied.

And there it was. He was losing a friend over this. His devastation must have shown on his face, because Remy stood up and walked around the table to him, one hand gently cupping his cheek.

“I just… need some distance for awhile. Not forever. Just… until you’re not so much of a temptation anymore.”

Reno dropped his gaze, and focused his attention on his half-finished cup of coffee. He really didn’t know what to say to that. On one hand, Remy wasn’t completely writing him off… but “until he wasn’t so much of a temptation” was awfully subjective. When the hell would that be? A couple weeks? A month? Significantly longer? He swallowed sharply against the annoyingly persistent lump in his throat.

“Reno… I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you. Especially not like this. But there’s just no other way,” she said, quietly.

“I should probably go,” the redhead replied, hurriedly getting to his feet. He was peripherally aware of the senior Turk calling something after him, but ignored it in favor of a hasty retreat.

---

The announcement of Sykes’ promotion that morning had been met with shocked disbelief from the former rookie and excited congratulations from everyone else.

By mid-afternoon, the the entire team was was in the mood for a party. Well… mostly. For Reno, his enthusiasm had somewhat been tempered by the memory of his conversation with Remy earlier that morning. He really did like her. Maybe more than he’d realized, in fact. The reality of her ending things with him had hurt, particularly since she’d been so insistent that it was nothing that he had done that had caused it.

The worst part of it, though, was the fact that she didn’t even want to be around him outside of work for awhile. He was disappointed about losing a lover… but losing a friend – even if only temporarily – was so much worse. But… it didn’t look like there was a whole hell of a lot he could do about it.

Following Tseng’s announcement, Reno had made one of his own… telling everyone to head straight over to the Turk lieutenant’s apartment immediately after work to celebrate their newly minted Turk.

Presently, he and Rude were sacrificing their lunch break to do a little shopping for said celebration.

“So… I was thinkin’ burgers,” the redhead offered as they made their way towards the meat section at the back of the grocery store, “I’ll even help out on the grill.”

Rude eyed him incredulously.

“We’re supposed to be celebrating a promotion. Not trying to put the whole team in the hospital with food poisoning,” he joked. Reno rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Rude. When are you finally gonna let that go?” he sighed.

“When the nightmares finally stop,” he shot back, grinning teasingly, which, Reno suspected, was meant to draw a laugh. Unfortunately, he just wasn’t in the mood. Rude frowned and paused in his bid for the meats.

“… Okay. What’s up with you today?” he demanded, “You’ve been in a weird mood all morning.”

The redhead mentally cringed. He hadn’t realized he’d been that obvious. He’d just had a lot on his mind.

“It’s… nothin’,” he replied with a shake of his head, and attempted to resume his earlier course… only to be pointedly blocked by Rude and the shopping cart.

“Uh huh…” the older Turk replied, folding his arms over his chest and staring him down through dark lenses. Reno rolled his eyes. He knew that look all too well. It was the one that usually preceded an unplanned trip to the company pool.

“Don’t even think about it…” he warned.

“Too late. And you know I’ll do a lot more than just think about it. Spill.”

“Tch… Fine. I got dumped, okay?” he muttered, annoyed. Rude raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Since when were you even seeing someone?” he asked, slightly shocked.

“… I… wasn’t. I mean… I was. Kinda.” He groaned and ran scrubbed his hands over his face. Finally, he sighed in frustration. “Ugh… Hang on, lemme just start at the beginning.”

Rude cocked his head to one side, but said nothing, waiting for the redhead to continue. Reno, meanwhile, was mentally editing his story to exclude any details that might lead back to Remy.

“So… me ‘n this chick have been hookin’ up for awhile now. Ya know… totally casual. Just in it for the sex. Thing is… she was gettin’ to be a pretty good friend, too. I mean, we were already friends before all that, but we were gettin’ to be better friends after we started sleepin’ together. Then this mornin’ she tells me that we’re done ’cause she’s gettin’ a little too into me… which I’m fine with, ’cause it was never s’posed to be about anything more than the occasional fuck, but then she tells me that she doesn’t wanna even hang out as friends for awhile ’cause I’m apparently too much of a temptation for her.” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m okay with not gettin’ laid… but, it’s kinda lookin’ like I mighta fucked up a pretty cool friendship all ’cause I was thinkin’ with my dick instead of my brain.”

“… Ouch,” Rude breathed.

“Yeah.”

Both Turks were silent for several moments, standing in, what Reno belatedly realized was the condiment aisle.

“I think you’re right. Burgers do sound pretty good,” Rude suddenly said, grabbing a jar of pickles and setting it in the cart. Reno smiled gratefully at the purposefully abrupt change in subject.

“Okay… Burgers it is, then” the redhead quickly acknowledged, as they continued on, “And I’ll run the grill.”

Rude stopped short a second time in the middle of the aisle. “Absolutely not.”

“Oh, come on… Why not?”

“Remind me… which of us set a kitchen on fire making pancakes?”

“Okay, okay,” Reno with a soft laugh, “Ya don’t have to bring that up. Again.”

The bald Turk flashed him a smile and placed an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in tight against his side for a moment. “If you promise to stay away from anything that might burst into flames, maybe I’ll let you make the salad.”

Reno snorted softly and elbowed his way behind the cart, taking over pushing it while his friend started piling things into it. It wasn’t long before their shopping cart was fully loaded with everything from ground beef to scallions.

And it also wasn’t long before the redhead was feeling a little less depressed over the whole Remy thing. For the moment, anyway. Rude always seemed to know how to cheer him up.

Reno made a quick detour while Rude was debating whether he’d have time to bake fresh rolls or not, and returned shortly with two cases of beer.

“Not bartending tonight?” Rude asked.

“Eh… I would… but Tseng told me to take it easy on the booze since we all gotta show up at work in the mornin’. ‘Sides… Sykes doesn’t usually go for the hard stuff anyway, ‘n it’s his party. We done here?”

Rude nodded. “Think so. We should have everything I need. I’m doing stuffed burgers, Caesar salad, and grilled summer squash… and I’m making banana cream pie for dessert.”

“Stuffed burgers?” Reno parroted, curious, “Stuffed with what, exactly?”

“Two options to pick from. Wild mushrooms and blue cheese, or cheddar and bacon,” he replied with a grin. The redhead laughed.

“You really don’t do simple meals, do ya, pal? Lemme guess. You’re makin’ your own hamburger buns, too…” he snickered.

Rude shrugged. “It’s not really all that hard, you know. Just takes a little more time. And, more importantly, it’s worth it.” He laughed softly, himself, “But no… I decided against making fresh rolls. I’d need to start almost an hour earlier to pull that off and still be able to serve on time. Come on… let’s get this paid for.”

---

Liam poked at the suspiciously grayish meat on his plate. It was allegedly a pork cutlet… but beneath the soggy breading, it looked like anything but actual pork.

“I’m not eating this…” he finally said, shaking his head.

“I told you to get the soup instead,” Sykes snickered, “It’s just as awful, but at least it doesn’t look like it’s been sitting the the back of the freezer for six years.”

Petra giggled softly. “You two need to start bringing lunch from home, like I do,” she opined, “Just because the cafeteria is free for employees doesn’t mean your saving anything by eating here. Especially if it hops off the plate and kills you… which… that thing just might.”

Liam snorted in laughter and nudged his plate away from him. And then thought better of it and pointedly stabbed his fork though the center of the cutlet… just in case it got any ideas.

“Well, at least dinner’s going to be good. I heard Rude talking to Reno before we came downstairs. He’s going to cook for us tonight. They’re out shopping right now,” said Sykes.

“Oh, I love Rude’s cooking!” Petra exclaimed, “I wonder what we’re having?”

“Whatever it is, I hope there’s dessert,” Liam said, grinning, “Rude makes the best desserts.”

The others murmured in agreement and the conversation trailed off briefly as they continued their lunch. Liam was the first to pipe up again.

“So… you’re going to tell us what they do at the afternoon briefing… right Sykes?” he teasingly asked. It had been an ongoing joke between the three of them for some time now, wondering just what it was that the senior Turks got up to when they weren’t around. Now, one of them was finally in a position to find out for sure.

“Heh… if you’re expectin’ him to give ya all the gory details ’bout our secret afternoon orgies, you’re gonna be sorely disappointed. We’re swearin’ him to secrecy…” a familiar voice joked, and the trio turned their attention on the Turk currently making their way towards the table. Reno grinned and dropped into the seat across from Petra. Liam choked on the sip of milk he’d just taken, trying to force down the mouthful… only to fail epically as, instead, it shot out of his nose, spraying halfway across the table.

“Ew!” Petra groaned. Sykes and the redhead, meanwhile, both cracked up.

“Ugh…” Liam moaned, groping for a napkin, “Seriously… Why me?”

“Oh, man…” Reno snickered, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, “That was fuckin’ classic…”

“I thought you were shopping for the party, sir,” Petra commented, doing her best to ignore the pool of milk. Reno shrugged.

“Shopping’s done. Rude’s takin’ care of gettin’ it over to Tseng’s place, ‘n I headed back here so I wouldn’t be late meetin’ you two rookies for sparring practice. And ’cause I haven’t had lunch yet,” he replied, and then turned his gaze on Liam’s abandoned plate, “You gonna eat that?”

“All yours, sir…” he replied. The senior Turk grinned and grabbed the fork that was sticking out of the top of the cutlet, bringing the mystery meat to his mouth and biting off a large chunk of it.

“So how’s it feel, Sykes?” Reno asked, glancing over at the freshly-promoted Turk.

“Good,” he replied, grinning back at him, “Kind of… completely terrifying, but good.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right…” the redhead sniggered, taking another bite.

“What was it like for you when you were promoted, sir?” Petra asked.

“Me? Heh… it was straight up stunned disbelief when the Boss told me I wasn’t a rookie anymore. Actually got promoted same time Rude did. It was right before the war ended.” He suddenly laughed. “Hell, I was so shocked… I almost don’t remember any of what Tseng even said to me. Just… that he was proud of me. The promotion was cool ‘n all, but… hearin’ that was best feelin’ in the world.”

Sykes grinned back at him. “Bet your party was pretty epic…”

Reno shook his head. “Nah… I didn’t have a party. Boss took me out to dinner at the Silver Swan, though.”

“W-wait… you didn’t get a party to celebrate your promotion?” Liam stammered.

“He voluntarily declined a party,” Tseng’s voice interrupted, joining the small gathering seemingly from nowhere, and circling around behind his protege. He rested a hand on the younger Turk’s shoulder. “He said it should be Rude’s day and he didn’t want to make him share the spotlight. He wouldn’t even allow me to tell anyone until the following week, and by then we had our hands rather full with the war ending. There was simply no time for a second celebration.”

Reno rolled his eyes. “Come on, Boss… quit makin’ it sound like it was some kinda big deal. I just wanted Rude to get the attention he deserved.”

Tseng snorted softly. “And yet you still occasionally wonder why I take such pride you…” he commented, before turning his attention on the pair of rookies. “I’ll be joining you for your afternoon training. Sykes, I realize you were scheduled to accompany Remy for the afternoon, but there’s a last minute courier run to Fort Condor I need you to handle. If you’ve finished your lunch, I can fill you in on the details.”

“Yes, sir,” Sykes replied, getting to his feet. Tseng nodded, and escorted him off, heading, Liam presumed, back to headquarters. Reno grinned as they left.

“So… which one of you wants to be paired with me, ‘n which one’s stuck gettin’ their ass handed to ’em by Tseng?” he jokingly asked. Liam glanced over at Petra.

“Dibs on Reno…” he quickly said, and at his fellow Turk’s curious expression, he shrugged. “What? He’s still on medical restriction. I might actually have a shot at taking him down for once.”

“Heh… ya think so,huh, rookie?” the senior Turk replied with a smirk.

---

Liam… did not have a shot at taking Reno down.

And Petra had been only too happy to remind him of that, repeatedly, during the ride over to Tseng’s apartment after work. He took the gentle ribbing in stride… after all, he’d kind of deserved it. Medical restriction or not, Reno hadn’t pulled any punches, and their sparring match had ended with the rookie face down on the floor, his cheek pressed firmly into the practice mats, while the redhead held him in place with a knee in his back until he cried uncle.

The trio weren’t the first to arrive at the party. The two rookies, and the former rookie, were greeted at the door by the aforementioned redhead, whose eyes immediately zeroed in on Liam, fixing him with a teasingly smug grin before stepping back and granting them access.

“Mushrooms ‘n blue cheese or cheddar ‘n bacon?” he asked, as they made their way inside.

“For… what?” Liam asked.

“On your burgers. Or… in your burgers, actually. Rude’s doin’ fancy ones. And how many do ya want? I’m havin’ one of each, personally. And probably whatever’s leftover later.”

“Mushrooms. Just one,” Petra replied, giggling at the redhead’s jubilant mood.

“Bacon, definitely. Two of them, please,” Sykes said, “I’m starved.”

“They both sound good… One of each for me,” Liam added.

“Hey, Rude! Two more mushroom ‘n three more bacon!” Reno called over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

“Got it,” the reply came from the other room.

“Heh… come on in ‘n make yourselves comfy,” the senior Turk said, ushering them into the living room. “Kai ‘n Remy are out on the back patio ‘n Tseng’s… around here somewhere. Now that you guys are here, we’re just waitin’ on Veld.”

As if on cue, Tseng emerged from the kitchen, beers in hand. “As it would seem you’ve already had your orders taken, may I offer you a drink?” he chuckled, holding the bottles out to them.

“Thank you, sir,” Sykes, replied, grinning happily.

“Could… I just have a glass of water, please?” Liam somewhat hesitantly queried, triggering hastily covered laughter from his friends… and not so hastily covered laughter from Reno and Tseng.

“Well… ‘least the kid learned his lesson…” the redhead snickered, turning to his mentor.

---

Reno leaned casually against the door frame that led to the kitchen, watching the trio as they happily congratulated Sykes on his promotion – yet again – and offered of a toast. The three of them reminded him a little of they way he and Rude and Cissnei had been together… and he hoped that they would never have to deal with the loss of one of their little circle the way he and Rude had.

But that was a threat that would always loom over them. Some days, it was easier to ignore than others. Today, for Reno at least, it was next to impossible to avoid thinking about how much his life had changed in such a relatively short span of time. One rookie was already moving up in rank, and Petra wouldn’t be that far behind. He’d found out that Tseng wanted to train him as his successor. And then there was Remy, who had rather abruptly reminded him how easy it was for a friendship to be forever altered. In her case, all he could really do was sit back and let her sort things out for herself in her own time… and hope that eventually he got back what he’d lost. And all of that had happened just this week!

“Hey,” Rude prodded from the kitchen, interrupting his quiet self-reflection, “You’re supposed to be making that salad.”

Reno snickered and pulled his gaze away from the trio, drifting back over to the counter.

“Still thinking about your friend?” Rude asked.

“Yeah, kinda… but I’ll be fine,” he said with a shrug, “Shit happens, right? Sucks, but… I’ll get over it.”

Rude nodded and headed back outside to tend to the grill, and the redhead wandered over to the counter where the various ingredients for the salad had been laid out for him.

He would get over it. Eventually. But for right now, he was okay with feeling a little sorry for himself over what had happened with Remy.

~end chapter 57~