Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 65: The Press Conference

Liam hit the floor with a loud grunt as Zephyr easily took him down for the third time since their sparring practice had begun. He groaned faintly and stared up at the ceiling for a moment.

“Enough,” Tseng’s voice interrupted before he could stagger to his feet and they could begin again. “Petra and… Victor. You’re up.”

The rookie bit back a sigh and accepted the hand Zephyr offered to him. Reno grinned at the pair as they stepped off the mat and walked over to where the others were watching. Liam flopped down onto the bench and reached for his water bottle.

“Ya know… when I told ya to take it easy on the newbies, I didn’t mean to just let ’em kick your ass…” the redhead joked as he took a seat next to them on the bench.

“I wasn’t letting her do anything, sir,” he muttered, wincing as he gingerly probing at what he suspected was going to be a nice big bruise on his hip. Zephyr shot the two of them a faint glare and folded her arms over her chest.

“Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I need someone to let me beat him, sir,” she declared, and the redhead snickered loudly.

“Ah, I’m just teasin’…” he replied, “… ‘Sides… I just meant ’cause you’re new. Trust me… I’ve had my ass kicked plenty of times by women. I know better.”

Ryu glanced over at them and silently rolled his eyes at the conversation. He returned his attention back to the others just in time to watch as Victor took Petra to the mat… only to be very quickly flipped and pinned himself by the more senior rookie.

The red-haired Turk didn’t exactly come across as the most competent of people, he silently mused to himself. The day had really only just started, and Ryu, thus far, had counted no less than nine wholly inappropriate jokes, four instances of what almost certainly bordered on sexual harassment, two examples of blatant disrespect towards a superior… and he was pretty sure that if he ever dared to take more than two steps into the man’s disaster of an office, he might never find his way back out again.

He’d been thinking about all of his new teammates since after he’d gotten off of work yesterday… and as first impressions went, Reno’s had been decidedly lacking. Today’s interactions weren’t exactly improving his opinion of the senior Turk. Even Kai – whom he was fairly convinced, after she greeted Zephyr with a knife to the throat at the morning briefing, was indeed a little crazy – seemed like more of a Turk than Reno did.

Veld and Tseng had certainly impressed him, though. The pair had the bearing of true leadership and professionalism. Sykes, too, from what he had seen went about his job with efficiency and decorum. And as for his fellow rookies, they both appeared quite skilled… though Liam struck him as perhaps just a bit naïve at times.

“Hmph… pathetic,” a voice to his right muttered, loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the ongoing fight, and Tseng momentarily turned towards the source… as did Ryu. He was slightly shocked to see Rufus Shinra standing not six feet away from him, watching the exercise.

“Good morning, sir,” the Turk lieutenant greeted the vice president, “Something I can do for you?”

“I was merely curious as to whether or not any of these new so-called Turks are actually worth the exorbitant amount of money my Company is investing in them,” Rufus replied, folding his arms over his chest and stepping forward for a better look. “And I thought you were on medical leave. Isn’t this sort of thing what that useless excuse for a protege of yours is for?” He glanced disdainfully over at the redhead. “Hmph… Lazing about on company time, as usual, I see…”

“Nice to see you, too, sir,” Reno replied, with a wide grin.

Petra sent Victor staggering backwards. It took him several long seconds to recover, and before he did, she’d swept his feet out from under him, and twisted his arm behind his back. Tseng smiled slightly.

“Well done, Petra.” He turned back towards the bench. “Ryu… Your turn.”

The Wutaiian rookie hurried to stand up and make his way out onto the mats, where Petra was waiting for him. As he did so, he heard a derisive snort.

“Really, Tseng… Is this the best group you could come up with? Two of them don’t look as though they could even take me on, and the third was just beaten by a girl half his size.”

Reno laughed obnoxiously from his position on the bench. “Maybe you oughta challenge one of ’em, yourself, then, sir. Bet Zephyr’d have somethin’ to show ya ’bout fightin’ with girls…”

Rufus pointedly rolled his eyes at the Turk.

“As entertaining as I’m sure that would be, I’m afraid I have other matters to see to,” he shot back, and then shifted his focus to Tseng, “I do, however, require your pet slum rat’s undivided attention later this afternoon, if he’s finished sitting around on his useless backside by then. I’ll be giving a press conference regarding the environmental impact of the explosion at the Gongaga reactor and will need security.”

“Yes, sir,” Tseng replied, “Reno will report to your office after lunch.”

“Good,” the vice president replied, and turned on his heel to stride off… only to pause and glance back, over his shoulder, “And make the little twit do some actual work for a change.”

When he was gone, Tseng chuckled softly. “Well? You heard the vice president, Reno… It seems you’ve been ordered to participate in this demonstration.”

“Ugh…” the redhead moaned with an exaggerated sigh, as he got to his feet, drawing a laugh from both Liam and Zephyr, and a quiet snicker from Victor, as well. He grinned as he stepped onto the mat, taking Petra’s place against Ryu. “Okay, rookie… let’s see whatcha got.”

---

By the time lunch rolled around, all five of the rookies had found themselves starving and crammed into an elevator with several other employees on their way down to the cafeteria on Thirty-five. Zephyr heaved a loud sigh of relief as the doors finally opened and then stepped out into the much more spacious hallway.

“Not a fan of elevators?” Liam asked, somewhat jokingly. Zephyr blushed faintly.

“Er… well…”

Victor smiled warmly and looped an arm over her shoulders, having to bend down slightly to match her height. “It’s not the elevator. Zephyr just doesn’t like tight spaces.”

“Victor!” she hissed, embarrassed.

“Well, you don’t. And everyone’s going to find out sooner or later, just like they did back in recruitment. Better to just get it over with.”

The younger Turk sighed. She’d been claustrophobic since she was little… the result of a minor misadventure when she was six that had left her trapped beneath a collapsed woodshed for almost an hour before her grandfather had finally been able to pull her out. She hated the fact that small, enclosed spaces now made her so nervous. Sure, she could usually push through the anxiety… but it was always there.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Petra, “Everyone is afraid of something.”

“Anyway,” Liam interjected, mercifully changing the subject. “I wonder what’s for lunch? After all that sparring, I could eat a chocobo… Feathers and all.”

Zephyr giggled and flashed him a grateful smile as the conversation quickly re-centered itself on the possibilities they might find on offer in the cafeteria. It wasn’t long before they’d each made their selections from the day’s menu and found a seat at an empty table.

“What is this?” Ryu queried, hesitantly dipping a spoon into something disturbingly resembling lumpy mud.

“That’s the chili. It’s actually not as bad as it looks,” said Liam. Ryu cautiously lifted his spoon to his mouth and took a taste… and immediately spat it into his napkin. “Well… I mean, it’s bad. But it’s not as bad as it looks,” Liam clarified.

“The cafeteria is a little… um…” Petra began.

“Gross. The cafeteria is gross,” Liam finished for her, “But… it’s free.”

“And sometimes it’s even edible,” a new voice piped up, and the rookies spotted Reno making his way over to them, along with Sykes. He sat down across from Ryu while Sykes drifted over towards the end of the table where Liam and Petra were seated. “So… you gonna finish that?”

“Not unless someone forces me to…” Ryu replied, shoving the bowl towards the center of the table, and turning, instead, to the relatively safe-looking salad he’d chosen. The redhead grinned at him and happily reached for the bowl of sludge, pulling it over to his side. Ryu grimaced in vague disgust as he began shoveling it into his mouth.

“Just so you guys know… Reno will eat literally anything…” Liam snickered.

“And come back for seconds,” Sykes added with a laugh.

“Hey, waste not, want not, right?” the senior Turk replied, as he polished off the rest of the bowl. “‘Sides… anything that doesn’t kill me makes me less hungry. Anyway… hate to eat ‘n run, but Rufus is probably glarin’ a hole in his office door waitin’ for me to take him to his press conference. I’m just here to let you rookies know there’s a change in schedule this afternoon. You’re gonna be with Kai instead of Veld.”

Liam and Petra let out twin groans of dismay.

“It’s not even gauntlet day…” the younger of the two lamented. Reno shrugged and got to his feet.

“Sorry, kiddo… Veld got dragged into a meeting with Heidegger. And with the Boss still on crutches, Sykes workin’ on his own assignment, ‘n me stuck babysittin’ the VP for the afternoon, ‘fraid ya don’t have much of a choice.” He smirked knowingly. “Have fun…”

With that, the redhead was off, leaving the rookies to fend for themselves.

“… Babysitting?” Ryu echoed, indignantly, once the senior Turk was gone. “He calls providing security for the vice president of the Company babysitting? Shouldn’t we be taking things just a bit more seriously than that?”

Petra giggled softly and shook her head. “‘Reno’ and ‘serious’ are two words that don’t typically go together,” she replied, jokingly.

“I’m beginning to see that,” Ryu dryly replied.

“You get used to it after awhile,” Sykes added.

“You know, frankly, I’m not so sure that’s something we should be letting ourselves ‘just get used to’,” the younger rookie proclaimed, stabbing another forkful of lettuce. “The Turks are responsible for the continued safety of the entire company, and he seems to think everything is just something to laugh at.”

Sykes frowned. “We all know that… but no one can be serious all the time. Reno likes to joke around… especially with us… but he’s really dedicated to the job, and he’s really good at it.”

“And he’s the best trainer on the team,” Petra said, “Even better than Tseng.”

“Plus he’s easy to talk to,” Liam added, “And he’s never too busy to actually listen to you when you have a problem.”

Ryu blinked, surprised that everyone seemed so quick to defend the senior Turk. Finally, he shook his head. “I just don’t think executive security is something to joke about.”

Sykes flashed him a wide grin. “Yeah, well… Just wait until you’re assigned to a few executive security details.”

---

“It’s about time,” Rufus greeted him as soon as he walked through the door. Well… technically he didn’t even make it through the door. Reno had barely set foot inside of the reception area of Rufus’ office when the vice president emerged and stalked towards him. He brushed past the Turk, leaving him to scurry to catch up.

“What’s the hurry? Boss said this thing wasn’t happening ’til one thirty. We got almost an hour before ya gotta be there ‘n we’re only goin’ across town…”

“I want to get out of here before the research department insists upon updating me with new figures. Again. I’ve only had the morning to prepare for this Ramuh-be-damned thing, and I simply cannot handle reworking my statements for a fourth time!” he groused as they stepped into the elevator. Rufus pressed the button for the parking deck, before muttering, “I don’t even particularly like public speaking to begin with. I like it even less when I’m ill-prepared.”

“Well… look on the bright side. ‘Least this time they probably won’t be throwin’ tomatoes at you,” Reno teased, and the younger Shinra rolled his eyes.

“Hmph… should they make any such attempt, I will be using you as a human shield.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time…” the redhead snickered. Rufus glowered at him for a moment.

“I did not mean I wish to have a repeat of Wutai,” he finally stated, bluntly. The redhead blinked in surprise. The elevator arrived and Rufus stormed out into the parking deck, making a beeline towards the waiting limousine. The driver opened the door for him, and he climbed into the back. Reno hurried to follow, sliding into a seat just as Rufus was raising the partition that separated them from the driver.

Besides the hum of the engine as they pulled out onto the street, the car remained silent for several minutes.

“… Still thinkin’ about what happened, sir?” Reno finally asked. Rufus scoffed and turned his gaze out one of the windows, ignoring him. For a short while, he continued to glower at the passing scenery, and ignored the Turk. Eventually, though, he exhaled a long, drawn out breath.

“This… will be my first public appearance since that Ramuh-forsaken Zenshou attacked me,” he stated, still refusing to look at the redhead. “Up until today, I’ve had the luxury of being able to remain locked away behind the protection of Company Headquarters and the Turks. I’m…” He dropped the volume of his voice to the point Reno only just caught what he said next. “… nervous.”

To say he was stunned would have been an understatement. Oh, Reno wasn’t the least bit shocked that the Shinra heir was a little more concerned than usual about his safety. Not after coming a lot closer than anyone would have liked to getting shot, and then watching his security escort almost bleed to death right in front of him. No, the shocking part was that he’d admitted it. Rufus Shinra did not show weakness. Not to the public, not to the executive board, and most certainly not to the redhead.

“Look. It’s gonna be fine. No one’s gettin’ anywhere near you on my watch, and anyone dumb enough to try’s goin’ down hard.”

Rufus snorted softly, and at last deigned to meet his gaze.

“Hmph… I honestly can’t decide whether you’re uncommonly brave… or uncommonly stupid.”

Reno grinned widely in response, as the quip was far more in character for the stuck up executive.

“Probably both,” he jokingly replied.

---

Zephyr yelped as two more of the little rubber balls slammed into her lower back. She stumbled and very nearly went down, but somehow managed to stay on her feet long enough to quite literally fling herself bodily through the narrow opening at the end of the shooting gallery. She lay on the ground, panting from the exertion. She spotted Ryu slumped against the wall a few feet away, just as winded as she was. Victor, Liam, and Petra were only doing slightly better.

“Up and at ’em, Turklings… that was good, but I know you can do better!” Kai proclaimed, “Get some water, catch your breath, and then we’re gonna do it again!”

The five rookies collectively groaned at the pronouncement. It was met with a quiet laugh from the senior Turk before she left them and headed back to the start of the course to reset.

“Sometimes I really do wonder if Kai is attempting to send us on to the next life…” Petra sighed as she forced herself upright.

“How many… more times… do we have to… do this?” Zephyr managed to get out between gasps.

“Hopefully this is the last. I’m exhausted…” Liam breathed. He stood up and started the long slog back to the beginning of the obstacle course. The rest of the group grudgingly joined him. As they arrived at the line once more, the doors to the massive space swung inward, admitting Veld, closely followed by Tseng.

“Are our newest Turks enjoying the gauntlet?” Veld queried, as they approached.

“Are our newest Turks going to survive the gauntlet?” Tseng countered, eyeing the sweaty, panting rookies.

“Oh, they’re fine,” Kai replied, turning to the group. “Besides… I was only kidding. That was their last run of the day.”

“Thank Hades,” Victor breathed, and Zephyr quickly found herself agreeing wholeheartedly.

Kai snickered loudly. “Oh, come on… we only ran it twice. Next times, we’re going to try for three!” she said, gleefully.

“Kai…” Tseng intoned, somewhat warningly, and the senior Turk rolled her eyes, “Don’t get carried away. I shouldn’t have to remind you what happened the last time you pushed a rookie too hard before he was ready…”

“It’s not even set above beginner yet…” she replied, “And besides… since you made me install all those Shiva-be-damned safety nets, it’s almost impossible to get hurt on it now.”

Tseng sighed and shook his head. “In any case… the five of you may hit the showers and return to the office for a short break… after which I will be introducing our newest Turks to the archive room and the incident report backlog.”

Liam looked over at Petra, eyes widening. “I just realized… I’m not the lowest ranking rookie anymore. I’m done being tapped first for backlog duty!”

“If you feel that you’ll miss the experience…” Tseng began, a somewhat teasing note in his voice, and Liam quickly shook his head.

“No, sir! They can have it.”

Tseng chuckled softly and turned to leave, crutches clicking softly against the floor. “If you’re certain…”

Veld smirked but said nothing, and trailed him out.

“Alright, Turklings… you heard the man. Get cleaned up and get your butts back upstairs,” Kai ordered, grinning at them.

The very relieved group of rookies hurried to drag themselves off to the locker rooms. Zephyr followed Petra into the women’s half of the space, yanking off her sweatshirt as she did so.

“Hey, Petra?” she called after the older rookie as she turned on one of the showers on the far wall and stripped out of the rest of her workout clothes, “What did Tseng mean about Kai pushing a rookie too hard?”

“I’m not really sure… I suppose he could have been talking about what happened to Reno,” the senior rookie replied. “Reno told me that he’s the reason we have nets now. He said he fell from the climbing tower as a rookie.”

“Ouch…” Zephyr said, wincing at the thought. The climbing tower on the gauntlet was a good twenty feet tall. She certainly wouldn’t want to fall off of it without something to catch her… not that she’d had much difficulty getting up it. Growing up in the mountains, she’d been making far more technical climbs than that for most of her life. She sighed as she stepped under the spray of warm water, letting it wash over her abused muscles. The shooting gallery, though… that had given her some trouble. She glanced down at her thighs and noted that she could already make out a handful of small bruises blossoming on her skin. “Ugh… I look like I’ve been trampled by levicrons thanks to those stupid balls…”

She heard Petra giggle from the next shower stall. “You just need to get the timing down. The beginner level has a recognizable firing pattern. Wait until Kai turns up the difficulty… They’re really hard to avoid on expert, because the shots are random.”

“Terrific…” the other rookie moaned.

---

Some time later all five of the team’s rookies found themselves back in the Turks’ offices, spread out around the lounge in varying states of recovery. Victor only too happily helped himself to coffee, and settled back on the couch by the window to relax a little before being given his next task.

“So… is this what every day is going to be like?” Zephyr asked, glancing over at Liam and Petra. The younger of the two shook his head.

“Oh, this was nothing,” he said, grinning. “Kai gets us every Thursday afternoon for gauntlet runs, if we don’t have other assignments. Imagine today… and add an extra two hours to it.”

“And then the rest of them time, we rotate between Reno and Tseng for general workouts, range practice, sparring, and weapons training… and the others sometimes take over for a little variety,” Petra added.

“What about materia?” Ryu queried, “Don’t they cover it at all?”

“We don’t really have any materia users, per se,” Petra replied, “I use it for weapon and armor augmentation, but I’m not really much of a caster. Tseng covered the basics with us, but even he doesn’t make a habit of equipping it, and I don’t think Reno uses it at all. My understanding is that SOLDIER tends to poach most of the recruits that are highly skilled with materia before we can get to them, so for the most part, it’s a little outside of our skill set.”

“Guess that makes you the new team expert, then, huh, Ryu?” Victor chuckled. Petra perked up, her interest piqued.

“You’re a materia user?” she asked, and the other rookie nodded, “Passive, defensive, or offensive?”

“All of the above,” said Ryu, “My grandfather began teaching me when I was seven.”

“It’s his specialty,” Zephyr chimed in, “Ryu doesn’t even use other weapons. Personally though, I’ll take my bladed staff over his materia any day.”

“What about you, Victor?” Liam inquired, “What’s your weapon of choice?”

“Me?” the older rookie said, shrugging dismissively, “I don’t really have one. I guess I’m sort of what you might call a… jack of all trades. I’ve been trained on everything from small arms to heavy ordnance. Even had a short stint on the crew for Junon’s big cannon before I transferred to the Calypso.”

“A thoroughly impractical weapon if ever there was one…” Ryu commented rolling his eyes, and Victor snickered loudly.

“It isn’t meant to be practical. It’s meant to scare the hell out of people,” he shot back, “You ever heard of anyone even thinking about attacking Junon from the water? No… you haven’t. Not with that big son of a bitch pointed at ’em.”

The Wutaiian rookie scoffed, but dropped the argument with a shake of his head.

“There is something to be said for intimidation over confrontation,” someone pointed out.

Ryu let out an audible gasp as he turned, wide-eyed, towards the sound of the voice, and found Tseng standing just a few feet behind him.

“Sir!” he yelped, and the two more senior rookies snickered quietly. Tseng’s lips quirked upwards into a brief smile before resuming a more professional expression.

“I trust you’ve all had the chance to catch your breath by now?” he queried.

“Yes, sir,” Petra replied. Tseng nodded.

“Good. Then you and Liam may see to your assigned tasks. The rest of you… follow me,” he said, before turning and making his way back into the hallway.

“Where in Leviathan’s name did he come from?!” Ryu hissed, as Zephyr and Victor moved to follow the Turk lieutenant.

“You’ll get used to it,” Liam and Petra inadvertently chorused.

---

Reno was keeping a much closer eye on the crowd than usual. Not so much because he was expecting trouble, but more because if there was trouble, he wanted to get out in front of it before Rufus noticed it. For the most part, though, things were orderly and relatively calm. They were mostly reporters, anyway… and though a few of them were a little aggressive with their questions, no one seemed to be of a mind to start any real problems.

He intended to keep it that way.

Rufus had been through enough lately, in his opinion… and while maybe almost being shot wasn’t quite the same as actually being shot and spending seven weeks recovering, he was still feeling oddly protective of the brat. Particularly after the car ride to get here.

If there was one thing he could say about the vice president, it was that he didn’t let stressful situations control him. Oh, sure… he wasn’t above bitching and moaning, and even snapping at his subordinates… but no matter how big the problem, he knew what had to be done, and he did it, no matter what it took. And he did it with class. Today, though… Reno could see the facade cracking ever so slightly.

It had started with the unexpected admission of his trepidation over the public appearance in general, but the closer they got to their destination, the more tense the younger Shinra had become. It hadn’t been anything he’d actually said to him during the drive. Reno could just tell that something was off. It was the way he’d kept unusually close to the redhead as they’d stepped out of the limo. The way he’d subtly looked off to the side even after he’d walked out on stage, as if making absolutely sure that his Turk was still there. The way his knuckles had briefly gone white as he gripped the sides of the podium.

But if someone hadn’t been looking for those little signs, Reno had a feeling they’d never have noticed. If they hadn’t known to look, all they would have seen was the dignified, young vice president of Shinra Company calmly delivering an update regarding the situation in Gongaga. Rufus’ public persona was unflappable. It was cool and aloof, and strictly business. But behind it all, he was scared… and knowing that pissed Reno off to no end.

He didn’t care how much of a brat his charge could be at times… Rufus had never signed up for being shot at and threatened and put in danger just for leaving his office, and he was legitimately angry that there were people out there that thought they could get away with making the executive feel like he was under constant threat. Rufus could be a dick sometimes, but he didn’t deserve to live in fear for his own safety.

He didn’t have time to ruminate on those thoughts, at the moment, however. Out of the corner of his eye, Reno spotted someone making their way towards the front of the crowd. He wasn’t moving quickly. Every once in awhile, he’d just shoulder his way a few steps closer to the vice president. The Turk frowned, and hurriedly re-scanned the space, looking to see whether or not the man had friends out there somewhere. He didn’t see anyone else behaving suspiciously…

Reno began to move towards the man, being careful not to draw any more attention to himself than was strictly necessary, one hand already reaching for his weapon, just in case. By now, he could see that his suspect was holding a large styrofoam cup, his hand moving towards the lid to remove it, all the while closing in on the stage.

At that point, the Turk decided that enough was enough, and pushed his way into the audience, abandoning stealth altogether. The man spotted him and glared, obviously recognizing him as security, before quickening his pace towards the vice president, as those attending the press conference started to become aware that something was happening.

If he’d had a clear shot, the redhead might have taken it right then. But there were just too many people and too much confusion. Besides which, taking the man out most likely would have resulted in the shot triggering an all-out panic in the crowd, cutting him off from Rufus… something he wasn’t willing to risk. Instead, he doubled his pace, shoving spectators out of his way without regard, until he caught up to the man. His hand closed around the would-be assailant’s arm and he roughly pulled him away from his intended target.

The man spun towards the Turk, a look a fury on his face, and he hurled the contents of the cup at him before Reno could dart out of the way.

“Shrina has blood on their hands!” he shouted, and the redhead found himself, along with several bystanders, suddenly doused in cold, sticky crimson. Reno wasted no time in tackling the son of a bitch to the ground. They struggled for a few moments, slipping and sliding in the widening puddle, with the man screaming about how Shinra were murderers… Shinra was responsible for Gongaga… Shinra had blood on their hands. Even after Reno managed to snap a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, the man continued to shout and struggle, fighting to make sure that everyone in the room took notice.

Finally, after what felt like a small eternity, the Midgar police officers that had been on site for crowd control broke through the people gathered around the Turk and the flailing man, and took him into custody, hauling him bodily out of the space to a waiting police car.

Reno stood up, his gaze immediately going to the podium at the front of the room, where Rufus was still standing, looking more than a little shocked. The Turk made a beeline for him, the gathered reporters all but leaping out of his way this time, and hurriedly escorted him off the stage. By the time they reached the limo and were safely ensconced in the back seat, Rufus was wide-eyed and staring at him wordlessly.

The redhead glanced down at himself and grimaced at the mess. He looked like he’d just walked out of a slaughterhouse.

“Tch… so much for this uniform…” he muttered, before looking up at the vice president again, “You alright, sir?”

“Is… that actual blood?” the executive asked in a somewhat shaky voice. By now, a familiar, coppery scent – emanating from Reno’s clothes – had begun to fill the enclosed passenger section of the limousine. The redhead rubbed his fingers together, noting the sticky sensation, and then brought them to his nose, smelling them.

“Ugh… Yeah. Pretty sure it is. Seriously, man… gross.”

“I think… I’m going to be sick,” Rufus suddenly declared, his face going somewhat alarmingly white. The next thing Reno knew, the Shinra heir was doubled over and spewing the remains of his lunch onto the floor of the car. Reno could only stare, blinking in silent shock, as he watched the executive heave for several seconds. When it finally passed, Rufus groaned, and flopped over on the seat, drawing his knees to his chest and panting softly.

Reno knocked on the partition, alerting the driver that he should get moving, and the limo started its slow trek back to Shinra Company headquarters.

“Well… that was humiliating,” Rufus muttered. His face was still pale, but now, in a bizarre contrast, his cheeks had taken on a noticeably pink hue, that stood out even more than it normally would have against the otherwise bloodless skin surrounding the blush. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, through Reno wasn’t sure if it was because he was still nauseated by the blood or because he simply didn’t want to face the Turk after that display.

“Hey, it coulda been worse. ‘Least ya didn’t puke on me,” Reno said, teasingly. “Thank Ifrit, ’cause I got enough of a mess to clean up when we get back.”

Rufus mustered up enough strength to glare at him for a brief moment, before sinking back down with a soft moan. Reno cleaned his hands off as best he could and turned to the tiny mini-bar secreted away behind a panel on one side of the car’s interior and selecting a bottle of bourbon. He poured some into a glass, and shifted over towards the vice president.

“Here. It’ll get rid of that taste in your mouth,” he said, offering it to him. Rufus exhaled slowly and seemed to gather himself a bit before finally sitting up an accepting the proffered liquor. He downed it with a shudder and then sat silently staring into the empty glass.

Reno snorted softly and refilled it for him, which the executive again swallowed in one go.

“Better?” he asked, setting the bottle aside.

“… Yes,” Rufus replied, quietly. The previous silence resumed, and the pair sat, avoiding one another’s gaze until the car was circling around to the entrance to the Shinra Building’s parking deck. Rufus glanced down at the mess and cringed.

“Tch… you can blame it on me if ya want…” the redhead sighed, and the executive suddenly looked up at him in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“Someone starts askin’ ’bout the giant puddle of puke in the back seat, just tell ’em it was me. I won’t say anything,” he shrugged. “No one’s gonna care if I look like a wimp. ‘Sides… I’m the one covered in blood from fuck only knows who or what. I got a pretty good excuse.”

Rufus’ eyes narrowed in suspicion. “And just what do you want in exchange?” he asked.

Reno smirked. “Nothin’. Wouldn’t complain if ya picked up the tab for my dry cleaning, but… not a dealbreaker.” He glanced down at his uniform again, and made a face of disgust, “Ugh… Assumin’ this can even be salvaged…”

His white shirt may as well have been dyed red, it was so thoroughly covered, and while his jacket and the front of his pants may not have shown the stain, they were just as saturated. He wasn’t sure anyone would even be willing to try to clean them… and while they didn’t, strictly speaking, need to be dry cleaned, he sure as hell wasn’t tossing them in with the rest of his laundry. It would probably be easier to just chuck the Shiva-be-damned biohazard of a uniform in the trash and put a new one on the company expense account.

“… Why?” the Shinra heir returned in a disbelieving tone.

“One… ’cause, it’s my job to protect you. Reputation matters to you. It doesn’t mean shit to me,” he replied, “And two… ’cause I still owe ya somethin’ for that whole thing with Scarlet. You didn’t have to go outta your way to get her off my back, but ya did.”

Rufus snorted derisively. “You don’t consider taking a bullet intended for me repayment enough?”

The redhead grinned in response. “Nah… That was a work obligation. I get paid to get shot at. You did me a favor, so now I’m doin’ you one.”

The vice president said nothing for several moments. Finally, the car came to a stop inside of the building’s private parking deck. He turned towards the door, pushing it open, rather than waiting for the driver to do so for him. Reno climbed out after him, away from the mix of unpleasant odors lingering heavily inside. Rufus turned back, looking the Turk over briefly.

“… If you do attempt to have that disaster cleaned rather than simply burning it… send the bill to my office,” he said, and started towards the elevator. Reno snickered quietly to himself as he followed.

---

He’d thought about heading up to the gym showers first to clean himself up a bit and change into something a little less blood-soaked… but in the end, the redhead decided that he probably ought to report in first, before either Tseng or Veld caught a breaking news report about the vice president nearly being assaulted by a protester. That thought in mind, he’d left Rufus behind to ride up to his office on his own and stepped out into the hallway on Fifty-eight…

… only to be immediately assailed by Kai, who’s eyes widened in horror as she rounded the corner and caught sight of him.

“Reno?!” she shouted, rushing towards him, “Tseng! Veld! Get out here… now!”

“W-whoa!” Reno sputtered holding up his hands to ward her off, but she was already on him, prodding him and searching for the source of all the blood.

Seconds later, he heard other footsteps rushing towards him, and Veld rounded the corner. At about the same time, Tseng emerged from the archive room down the hall.

“Where are you hit?” Kai asked.

“What’s going on?” Veld demanded as he reached the pair.

“Reno? What in Leviathan’s name happened? Are you alright?” came the inevitable query from Tseng as his crutches carried him over, as well.

Reno rolled his eyes. “Guys… I’m fine. Not my blood.”

There was a palpable sense of relief… for a moment anyway.

“Where’s Rufus?” Tseng asked, concerned.

“On his way back upstairs,” said Reno, shaking his head, “Relax… no one got hurt. Some asshole thought it’d be funny to try ‘n chuck a bucket of blood on the V.P. in the middle of the press conference over what happened in Gongaga. Got me instead. It’s handled. Guy’s in police custody, ‘n Rufus is safe ‘n sound.”

Kai punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that!” she demanded, and stomped off towards the lounge.

“Yeah, ’cause this was all my idea…” Reno called after her. He shook his head, and turned his attention back on Tseng. “You might wanna go check on the brat, Boss. He’s not hurt or anything, but he’s a little freaked out.”

“Go. I’ll keep an eye on our new rookies for you,” Veld said, and started off towards the archive room. He paused and turned back to Reno, “And you go and clean up before you scare anyone else half to death.”

“Heh… Yes, sir,” the redhead replied.

---

Tseng slipped into the office as soon as he was granted permission to do so, closing the door firmly behind him. The curtains had been flung wide, revealing a truly magnificent view of the city, and Rufus was standing there, silently looking out at it as he nursed a glass of amber-colored liquid.

“I heard your press conference was rather… eventful,” the Turk lieutenant said, making his way over.

“I suppose that’s one word for it,” Rufus replied, blandly. Tseng joined him at the window, clasping his hands behind his back and gazing out at the sight. Midgar seemed remarkably peacefully from so high up. It was several minutes before the younger Shinra spoke again.

“… For a moment, I was all but certain it was happening again,” he said, quietly.

“Understandable, given the circumstances,” Tseng acknowledged.

“I’m beginning to lose track of just how many times I’ve cheated death, thanks to you… and… Reno.”

The senior Turk raised an eyebrow in curiosity. It was a bit rare that Rufus actually referred to the redhead by name, rather than “the Slum Rat” or one of his many other somewhat disparaging nicknames. It was just the nature of their relationship. The vice president had christened him as such within hours of meeting him… and Reno had responded in kind, dubbing him the Brat, or occasionally, a “dick”. By now, there was no malice or even hard feelings behind the titles. It was… simply how they interacted.

“That’s why we’re here, sir,” the Wutaiian Turk said, gently.

“And just how many more times can you cheat death? Any of you?” he asked, eyes coming to rest on him. “It’s your job to risk your life for mine… but I never asked for that. I never wanted that. Not from you. Not from your protege. Not from anyone.”

“You’re right. It’s our job,” Tseng replied, “… But that’s not the sole reason why I would willingly give my life to protect yours. You’re not merely the means to a paycheck to me, Rufus. I’ve known you since you were a child. I’ve watched you grow up. You are a treasured friend, and someone I care very much for, personally. And though you and Reno may not always get along… I suspect that you’re more than a paycheck to him, as well, after so long.”

Rufus turned back to the window. By now, clouds were moving in, darkening the afternoon sky, and it was beginning to look like rain.

“Inform Reno that the cost of his next vacation will be covered in full. Regardless of where he chooses to take it,” he said at last, now looking back at the senior Turk. Tseng smiled slightly, and chuckled softly to himself. That was about as close to a “thank you” as anyone could ever hope to receive from Rufus Shinra, after all.

~end chapter 65~