Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 77: A Return to Routine

Early Monday morning found Reno stretching his arms over his head and yawing widely as the elevator carried him upwards. It wasn’t that he’d ignored his mentor’s orders to rest and recover over the weekend – hell, he’d completely crashed and just slept half of Sunday – it was more the fact that he was at work at a ridiculously early hour. Like… Tseng early.

Tseng was, in fact, the reason for his unusually prompt arrival, actually. The senior Turk had specifically said he was getting his cast off today, even if he had to do it himself… and he was fed up enough with the thing that Reno didn’t for a second believe he was exaggerating. If the Doc turned him down, he wouldn’t put it past Tseng to take a hacksaw to it, and the redhead wanted to be there… both to witness the rare willful disobedience, and… just in case he got a little too enthusiastic. Reno’d sawed a cast off once. The endeavor had ultimately resulted in nine stitches in his arm, a very peeved Dr. Ward, and the the loss of his treat for his next three visits.

He snickered quietly to himself picturing the look on the doctor’s face if he was the one dragging the Turk lieutenant in for once… rather than the other way around. The elevator pinged and opened its doors on the fifty-eighth floor, and Reno very nearly walked directly into Ryu as soon as he set foot in the hallway.

“Sir!” the rookie yelped, caught by surprise and the redhead couldn’t help notice the somewhat guilty expression on his face.

“Hey,” he replied, “Here a little early, aren’tcha, rookie?”

Ryu awkwardly cleared his throat, and the next thing Reno knew, the young Wutiian was bowing deeply in front of him.

“Sir, I wanted to apologize for my abysmal behavior before you left on assignment and formally request your forgiveness,” he hurriedly said, maintaining the somewhat awkward-looking position even after he’d finished speaking.

“Uh…” the redhead began, unsure of how to respond to that. He’d thought they’d cleared that one up over a week ago. Before he could formulate an answer, however, a menacing shadow appeared behind the young rookie, and Ryu stiffened noticeably.

“… This the newbie who called you a slum rat?” Rude intoned in a low and dangerous growl. Reno snorted softly.

“Yeah, this is Ryu,” he said, grinning. The Wutaiian Turk hesitantly looked up, and his eyes went wide when he realized that a much larger Turk was suddenly looming over him. Rude cracked his knuckles. The rookie opened his mouth, lips forming words that his voice couldn’t quite produce, and Reno laughed. “Knock it off, partner. Rufus already took care of scarin’ the kid straight.”

Rude backed down, chuckling softly as Reno rolled his eyes.

“Relax. Rude’s a big softy at heart,” he snickered, turning his attention back on Ryu – who hadn’t, as yet, even dared to move. Rude snorted contemptuously and pushed his ever-present sunglasses higher on the bridge of his nose.

“Am not,” he shot back.

“Yeah? What’d you do yesterday?” the redhead demanded, still grinning.

“… Baked cookies,” his fellow Turk admitted.

“Uh huh… Yeah. Not soft at all,” Reno teased, and then refocused his gaze on the rookie again. “I already told ya… we’re good. You don’t gotta keep apologizin’. What are you doin’ here this time of the mornin’ anyway?”

“Er… I’ve… been practicing on the firing range in the mornings, sir… I just stopped at the office to get some tea first.”

“Raidin’ Tseng’s not-so-secret breakroom tea stash? Man, talk about a glutton for punishment…” the redhead snickered, and Ryu’s face went white. “I’m kidding,” Reno couldn’t help but laugh, “Anything in the lounge is fair game. Learn to relax a little, Ryu…”

The rookie breathed a sigh of relief and Reno shook his head.

“Go on ‘n practice already. We’ll see ya at the mornin’ briefing.”

“Yes, sir…” Ryu quickly replied, and hurried over the the elevator. The redhead turned back to Rude and shot him a slightly disapproving look.

“And you…” he began, only to almost immediately drop the ruse as the elevator doors shut behind him and return to his old grinning self, “That was fuckin’ hilarious, man. I think the poor kid seriously thought you were gonna snap him in half for a second there…”

“Hmph… Big softy at heart, my ass…” he snorted.

“Speakin’ of… you brought those cookies in to share… right?”

Rude smirked. “They’re in the lounge.”

---

Tseng looked up from his computer monitor at the sound of knocking on his office door, and briefly glanced at his watch. It was a bit early for anyone else to be here, yet… save Ryu, who, for the last week had made a habit of coming in to practice on the firing range before the day got started.

“Yes? Come in,” he called out, expecting the rookies, and was more than a little surprised when his protege stuck his head into the office instead.

“Mornin’, Boss!” Reno crowed before stepping fully through the door and plopping himself into one of the chairs in front of the Tseng’s desk.

“What are you doing here?” the senior Turk queried, making no attempt to mask his confusion.

“I… work here?” the redhead replied, with a teasing grin. Tseng sighed and shook his head.

“I meant what are you doing here so early? You’re normally still half asleep right now.”

Reno laughed. “Yeah, well… you said that cast was comin’ off today one way or another… I figured someone oughta be here just in case it ends up bein’ ‘another’. Ya know… considerin’ how badly I mangled my arm when I did it.”

“Well… I hate to disappoint, but I’m afraid you’re already too late. It was successfully removed without further injury nearly twenty minutes ago,” the Turk lieutenant replied, with a somewhat mischievous look. Reno raised an eyebrow.

“With or without the Doc’s blessing?” he asked.

“Without,” Tseng stated.

“Heh… then ya might be jumpin’ the gun a little with that whole ‘without further injury’ part… ’cause she’s gonna fuckin’ kill you.”

“That would be a violation of her her Hippocratic oath,” his mentor stated, “… And besides which… this is one instance when I think it will ultimately be preferable to ask forgiveness rather than permission. She can’t be angry with me for going against medical orders if she hasn’t yet given those orders.”

“I take it back. She’s not gonna kill you. She’s gonna brutally murder you,” Reno laughed.

“I think I can hold my own, should it come down to a battle to the death,” Tseng deadpanned, “But as it happens, your early arrival is actually very convenient. There’sa small matter I wanted to discuss with you before we find ourselves so busy with the rookies we have no time to talk about anything else…”

Reno cocked his head to one side and leaned forward, curious.

“What’s up?”

Tseng chuckled softly and turned slightly in his chair so that he was facing the younger Turk directly.

“Bear in mind… I’m merely making a suggestion. I’m by no means ordering you to comply. I’m well aware of your general aversion to changes in your routine,” he began, and the redhead frowned slightly.

“Tch… I don’t have an aversion to changes in my routine,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. Tseng suddenly laughed… and continued laughing for several seconds while his protege openly glowered at his response.

“Reno… when you first learned you were moving into your own apartment, you ran off in a huff and got lost in the woods,” he pointed out, “You very much dislike change once you’ve grown comfortable with something.”

Reno folded his arms stubbornly over his chest, his cheeks visibly turning slightly pink. “That was three fuckin’ years ago… Almost four. I was a kid.”

Tseng cast him a knowing smile. “Just… don’t immediately dismiss the idea out of hand. Take the time to think about it. I don’t need an answer right away so there’s no rush.”

“You haven’t even told me what this great idea of your is yet…” he grumbled.

“I’d like you to consider new office accommodations,” Tseng said, finally getting to the point. “Tres’ old workspace would be far better suited to Rude’s duties, and it really should be his as a matter of succession anyway… and you could use a bit more space yourself. We’ve not yet repurposed Shay’s former office. It’s nearly twice the size of yours… and has the added benefit of being closer to mine.”

Reno blinked in surprise… and, somewhat unexpectedly, dread.

“You… wanna separate me ‘n Rude?” he asked. He’d been Rude’s officemate since… well pretty much since the beginning. Tseng had assigned him to that office the same week he’d been recruited. He liked sharing an office with his best friend. Tseng sighed and chuckled quietly, shaking his head.

“No. Nevermind that I doubt I could actually do so even if I tried,” he said, smiling slightly, “But you’re both outgrowing that space. You’re not rookies anymore. You’re not even green Turks anymore. You both have new and growing responsibilities. That closet of an office is not going to be suitable forever.”

“Yeah…” he admitted, hesitantly. Tseng did have a point. Rude’s filing system was starting to rival the Turks’ archive room… and there had been more than a couple of instances when one of the rookies had wanted to talk to the redhead privately… which had resulted in either the two of them adjourning to the lounge or Reno kicking Rude out for a little while. That sort of thing was only going to become more frequent. But for some reason, when he thought about abandoning that dinky little office, his stomach twisted uncomfortably.

Maybe Tseng was right. Maybe he really did kinda have an “aversion to change”.

“As I said… it’s only a suggestion. For the moment, anyway,” Tseng added, “Give it some consideration.”

“… Yeah, okay,” Reno finally relented, “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask,” Tseng said with a nod, “Now… if you’ll excuse me, I think I had better get my inevitable audience with the good doctor over with – before she hears about it secondhand and comes for me.”

Reno suddenly smirked. “I’ll come with ya,” he said, eagerly climbing to his feet, and Tseng raised an eyebrow.

“You’re… willingly… coming down to Medical?” he asked, somewhat incredulously.

“Heh… Doc’s gonna tear you a new one, Boss. No way am I missin’ out on seein’ that in person.”

---

“Hey… Boss?” Reno queried as they were on their way down to the Ninth floor. “What’s gonna happen with Kai?”

“She is currently suspended. For how long… well… Veld will be addressing that in the morning briefing. Which, I suspect will be a bit late today,” his mentor replied, somewhat guardedly.

“Why?”

Tseng sighed and shook his head. “Because, when you returned on Saturday, I ordered her to report for a mandatory psych eval this morning. Veld will likely want time to review it, and to speak with her as well, before making any official commentary on the subject.”

“… Oh,” the redhead said, sullenly.

“You disagree with that action?” Tseng asked, and judging by his tone, Reno got the impression that he he really did want to know what his protege thought.

“No… not exactly, I mean…” He took a brief moment to compose his thoughts, and then continued, “I’d be the first one to tell ya that her mind’s not a hundred percent on the job right now ‘n that she coulda done a lot more damage than she did with that shit she pulled.”

“But?” the older Turk prodded. Reno shrugged.

“But… I get where she’s comin’ from. And it feels really shitty punishin’ her for it. ‘Specially by slappin’ her with a full-on suspension…”

“I know,” Tseng said, simply, and Reno glanced up at him, a little surprised by the admission. The senior Turk smiled slightly. “She is my best friend, after all. I don’t relish having to do any of this, and neither does Veld… but it’s not something we can allow to continue unchecked, no matter what our personal feelings may be.”

Reno snorted in faint laughter.

“This is another one of those responsibilities I’m gonna be growin’ into, huh?”

“No reliable person will ever tell you that leadership is easy… and anyone who does is either utterly mad or lying through their teeth,” Tseng replied, sagely.

“Gee, Boss… ya make it sound so appealing…” he snickered as the elevator chimed and the doors opened at their destination.

“Best that you learn it sooner rather than later,” Tseng said, stepping off of the elevator, and making his way towards the medical suite on his crutches. He paused for a moment and turned back to look at the redhead, smirking, “Particularly if your prediction turns out to be correct and I’m on my way to meet my untimely end. You may well be taking over for me far sooner than either of us planned…”

The comment drew a quiet snicker from the redhead, who quickly fell into step beside his mentor. The pair stepped into the medical suite, and found it quiet and largely empty… save for a young nurse refilling supply carts.

“Looks like ya lucked out, Boss,” Reno said, “Doc’s not in yet.”

“Tseng Itsudake!” an irate-sounding voice unexpectedly demanded from directly behind the two men, and both Turks jumped in sudden fright. Reno spun on his heel, eyes wide as he came face to face with the aforementioned physician, while Tseng turned a bit less gracefully on his crutches. Justinia Ward was scowling angrily at the senior Turk, her gaze lingering on his very obviously cast-less leg. “Just what in Titan’s name have yeh done!?”

She was still wearing her outdoor coat, and had a large bag slung over one shoulder, apparently having only just arrived.

“He cut off the cast,” Reno helpfully explained, trying to suppress both laughter and mild terror.

“I can see that,” Dr. Ward snapped, clearly not amused, as she folded her arms over her chest. “I told yeh I’d reevalute yeh on Wednesday. Unless I’m very much mistaken, it is not Wednesday.”

Before either of the Turks knew what was happening, Ward’s hand shot out and seized hold of Tseng’s left ear, and Reno saw a surprisingly fearful expression cross his mentor’s face as he realized what she intended, before it was replaced by a look of supreme discomfort.

“Right then… Hobble yer sorry backside inta the exam room and we’ll see just how much trouble yer in fer yer blatant foolishness,” she said, all but dragging the Wutaiian Turk with her behind one of the curtains.

The redhead couldn’t help but snicker quietly to himself. Seeing Tseng literally dragged off by the ear was a little surreal… Definitely worth the trip down to Nine.

---

“Hey, Zephyr! Victor! Hold up!” Liam called out as he ran for the elevator. His fellow rookies paused at the sound of their names and turned to look back. Zephyr broke into a wide smile as she recognized him.

“Morning, Liam,” she replied, holding the elevator door so he could scramble aboard.

“So I heard from Petra that everyone’s back from Wutai,” the more senior rookie noted, slightly breathless, as the car started upwards toward their offices, “And that there’s some pretty big news…”

“What kind of news?” Victor queried, curious.

“Not sure. She said she couldn’t discuss it yet. So I’m guessing it’s something mission related.”

“Oooh… exciting!” Zephyr said with a grin. The elevator stopped again on the ninth floor, long before their selected destination, to let someone else on. As the doors opened, the three rookies were greeted by the sight of a very familiar redhead and his mentor. Reno was snickering quietly, and only did so harder when Tseng momentarily stopped short upon seeing who was in the elevator.

“Oh! Sir… You’ve had the cast removed!” Zephyr remarked, which – for some reason – caused the redhead to go from quiet snickering to outright laughter.

Tseng rolled his eyes and joined them in the car.

“Will you stop laughing, please?” he addressed the younger man in a somewhat exasperated tone. Liam cocked his head at the pair, confused.

“What’s so funny?” he asked. Reno opened his mouth to reply, but Tseng quickly cut him off.

“Not. A. Word.”

“Ah, come on, Boss… It’s good news!” Reno responded, grinning widely, and turning to the rookies, “Tseng’s off full restriction. The Doc’s lettin’ him start physical therapy for his ankle a little early.” He paused and grinned even wider, “Well… that’s what she decided after she finished chewin’ him out for takin’ a hacksaw to his cast without permission…”

“Reno!” Tseng snapped.

“Really laid into him, too…” he continued, ignoring his superior, “I don’t think even I’ve managed to piss her off that much… That woman’s got some real creative replacements for swearin’ at ya…”

“Continue, and you will be filling out the month’s requisition forms for the rest of the day,” the Turk lieutenant said, in a warning tone.

The younger Turk obligingly held up his hands in surrender. “Alright… alright… Geez.”

By then, all three of the rookies had begun to join in on his amusement, but quickly stifled their laughter. Liam was the first to venture to change the subject as the elevator carried them upwards to Turk headquarters.

“So… Petra said everyone’s back…” he offered and Tseng, somewhat gratefully, nodded.

“Remy will be out of the office a bit longer, recovering from injuries sustained before her rescue… but yes. Everyone has returned in more or less one piece. Veld will be going into detail during the morning briefing.”

The three rookies shared a look between them, eager to know what exactly “going into detail” would involve.

“And the Zenshou?” Victor asked. To Liam’s surprise, Tseng smiled slightly. Not the typical reaction when the blackmarket gang came up in conversation.

“As I said… Veld will be going into detail on the events of the past few days at the morning briefing. Suffice it to say that there will be good news, and… less good news, in that regard.”

Before any of them could inquire further, the elevator chimed, opening on the fifty-eighth floor, and the five of them exited into the hallway. Tseng nodded a dismissal and started towards his own office… but didn’t get far.

“Tseng…” a stern voice, that didn’t sound particularly happy at just that moment, called out from the far end of the hallway. The Wutaiian Turk froze for a moment and then sighed, turning to face his mentor as he strode down the hallway. “Would you care to explain the phone call I just received from Dr. Ward down in Medical?”

Reno smirked slightly and quickly herded the three rookies in the opposite direction, prodding them towards the lounge.

“Good luck, Boss,” he called over his shoulder.

---

“… Oh my god… so good…” Zephyr said in something dangerously close to a moan as she bit into her third cookie.

“Hey… save some for the rest of us, Rookie,” Reno teased, grabbing two for himself and retreating to the couch. He flopped down beside Victor, who was also enjoying one of the treats with his cup of coffee. The redhead inhaled the sweet aroma of the dessert before stuffing half of it into his mouth. “Man,I missed havin’ Rude around…”

“Me, too,” Liam agreed, helping himself to one as well, “Where is he, anyway?”

“Tch… Knowin’ him? Probably catchin’ up on all the intelligence reports he couldn’t access while he was in Wutai,” the redhead chuckled, “Guy’s an addict.”

“Hmph… Says the guy double-fisting baked goods at eight oh five in the morning…” a voice from the doorway accused, and a tall, muscular Turk Zephyr had never seen before walked into the lounge, a pair of sunglasses hiding his eyes from view. Reno merely grinned and raised a hand, gesturing to the new arrival.

“Guys, this is Rude. Rude… the other two newbies,” he said, sweeping his arm towards two recently promoted rookies, “That’s Zephyr, and this is Victor.”

Victor set his coffee aside and stood up, walking over to the senior Turk and holding out a hand.

“Nice to finally meet you, sir,” he greeted him.

“Hello,” Zephyr added, with a wave, “So… you made these? They’re amazing!”

She wasn’t certain, but she thought the bald Turk blushed faintly at the compliment.

“So in addition to bein’ our part-time personal chef, Rude’s also our resident intelligence specialist,” Reno added, with a teasing grin, “If ya got any secrets… they’re not gonna stay secret for long. He’s got all the dirt on everyone around here. He’s a real asshole ’bout sharin’ it, though. Practically gotta torture it outta him.”

“Unless you want dirt on Reno,” Rude deadpanned, lowering his sunglasses and looking directly at the redhead, “I’d be happy to tell you a few things about him.”

“Like I said… he’s a real asshole,” Reno snickered, “Ya finally manage to find your desk underneath all that crap in our office, Partner?”

“Hmph… We’re going to be having a little talk about that later,” Rude replied.

“Heh… Yeah, I know…” the smaller Turk said, having the decency to look slightly ashamed. Zephyr couldn’t help but giggle softly. She’d seen the inside of Reno’s office. It… kind of looked like an explosion had gone off at some point and no one had ever bothered to clean it up. She hadn’t, however, realized until now that it wasn’t just his office, and she vaguely wondered how on earth the two of them managed without tripping over one another.

By then Victor had cocked his head to one side, a question obviously on his mind.

“Sir?” he said, addressing Reno, “Did you say… partner? I didn’t know Turks worked in assigned pairs.”

The redhead laughed, and so did Rude.

“He meant that more in the partner in crime sense. He does his best to get us into trouble. I do my best to keep us out of it,” Rude chuckled, shaking his head. “But we do tend to pair up in the field a lot, too, because we work so well together.”

“It’s the perfect partnership,” Reno added, a teasing note to his voice, “Rude keeps me sane ‘n I drive him nuts.”

Rude snorted softly, but didn’t disagree, and Zephyr couldn’t help but grin in response. The two of them reminded her of a couple of neighbors back home. Two brothers. Completely inseparable… and always up to something.

“In any case… those cookies are for everyone. At least give the others a fighting chance.”

“Hey, I’ve only had two…” Reno protested, and then nodded at Zephyr. “Newbie over there’s the one practically swallowin’ ’em whole… She’s reaching for at least number five by my count.”

Zephyr paused in her effort to select yet another cookie from the plate, and spun back to face the group, her face going bright red.

“S-sorry… They’re just so good…” she stammered, embarrassed. Liam grinned at her.

“Trust me, you’re not the only one. I think I gained almost ten pounds my first few weeks on the job…” he snickered. The door to the lounge opened again, and the small group was joined by Ryu and Sykes… and Zephyr couldn’t help but notice that Ryu somewhat hesitantly edged his way around the newly-returned senior Turk as he made his way over to one of the chairs near the table.

“Hey, Ryu… You met Rude yet?” Victor asked.

“… Er… yes. We… met earlier…” Ryu replied, and Zephyr detected a very obvious nervousness in his voice. Reno sniggered and popped the remaining chunk of his second cookie into his mouth.

“Fuck, Rude… I think ya mighta traumatized him a little.”

Zephyr glanced over at Ryu and giggled. He did look a little pale. She offered him a cookie from the plate, which he quietly accepted.

The conversation continued in much the same vein for quite some time. Eventually, Petra joined them as well… though Zephyr was a little surprised to note that there was no sign of Kai. If anyone else had noticed, however, no one said anything. After awhile Zephyr glanced up at the clock on the wall, and gasped softly. It was well past time for the morning briefing to start, and they were all still hanging around the lounge eating cookies.

“Sir…” she said, pointing at the time, “We’re late for the briefing!”

“Crap, I knew there was somethin’ I was forgetting. Don’t worry ’bout it… briefing’s gonna be a little late this mornin’,” Reno said, frowning slightly.

“What’s going on?” Sykes asked. Reno glanced over at Rude, who merely shrugged.

“Uh…” the redhead began, somewhat uncertainly, “That’s kinda for Veld to explain, not me. Whole lotta shit went down over the weekend…”

“Is this about the ‘less good’ news Tseng mentioned in the elevator, sir?” Victor asked.

“It’s about a lot of shit… but yeah, that’s part of it,” Reno confirmed, “And I don’t have all the details myself yet, so… I don’t wanna go spreadin’ shit that might not be totally accurate anymore.”

“A wise decision,” a new voice interjected from the doorway, and Zephyr turned to see that at some point during the conversation, Tseng has noiselessly entered the room. “But wholly moot at this point. Veld is ready to start the briefing. If you’ll all be good enough to join us…”

~end chapter 77~