Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 80: To Test a Turk

“Sir? Your security escort is here,” his secretary’s voice intoned over the intercom on his desk. Rufus set aside the latest environmental impact report from the Gongaga area, and pressed the button on the little console.

“Send him in.”

The door opened a moment later, and, somewhat to his surprise as he’d been expecting the Slum Rat, Tseng walked into the room… sans crutches, for a change. Rufus smirked slightly.

“Ah… I see you’ve finally decided to get back to work…” he commented. The Turk lieutenant chuckled softly.

“Yes, sir. I thought two weeks of intensive physical therapy was more than sufficient… though Dr. Ward, I’m fairly certain, would have liked to have kept me on medical restriction longer. I was getting a bit bored, just sitting around supervising, however.”

“Good… that slum rat of yours has been becoming rather tedious of late. I’m ready for a change of pace… and some intelligent conversation,” Rufus noted, as he stood up and gathered a few things from his desk into a briefcase. “Preferably conversation that isn’t strewn with expletives every few seconds. For Ramuh’s sake, can’t you do anything about the mouth on that creature?”

Tseng laughed softly. “Unfortunately, trying to get Reno to stop swearing is likely akin to talking a fish into climbing a tree. Though if it truly annoys you, you could always follow Dr. Ward’s lead and bribe him… That seems to work, at least to a point.”

“Hmph… After being forced to spend your entire recuperation listening to that uncultured drawl of his every time I’ve had to leave the office for another damned press conference, I may just consider it. Just what is the going rate for civility?”

“Justinia has been using candy for years now. I believe it’s somewhere around five gil a bag,” the Turk replied, gesturing towards the door. Rufus snorted and made his way out into the hallway, and began walking towards the elevator, his security in tow.

“I should have known he’d be cheap.”

The young vice president had had his fill of the Slum Rat of late… particularly since for the past two weeks or so, he’d known that Tseng’s recovery was finally nearing an end, and he was anxious to see his friend back on duty again. On top of that, Gongaga had, at last, tentatively agreed to some remediation assistance from Shinra Company after cleaning up a destroyed reactor had proven… difficult for the townsfolk… to say the least. That, of course, had led to any number of interviews, announcements, and press conferences… and, naturally, Rufus being the designated point of contact for the press at his father’s insistence, that had meant far more time than usual in the obnoxious redhead’s company.

Normally, he could tolerate the idiot. Occasionally, he could even go so far as to say that enjoyed his presence on a press outing, and every once in awhile he was even grateful to have him around… but there was definitely a limit to how much of him he could stand without a recovery period. He was glad to have Tseng back.

“By the way, I hear you’ve taken to outsourcing your training duties to the Junon Materia Corps…” Rufus said, conversationally, as they boarded the elevator, “Is the Slum Rat not up to the task you’ve set for him, after all?”

“It would be more accurate to say that none of us are up to this particular task, sir,” Tseng replied, not rising to the obvious bait. “One of our newest rookies is a very advanced materia user, and frankly, his skill already surpasses that of everyone on the team… myself included. And… as the Materia Corps was gracious enough to allow him to practice with them, I thought it only logical to come to an arrangement with them to assist us in training the others in the basics, as well.” He paused for a moment, apparently considering whether or not to continue, “Though, in point of fact, sir… Reno can’t use materia himself. It’s a limitation that we’ve had to find a work around for.”

Rufus cocked an eyebrow. “Can’t?” he repeated, “Or can’t be bothered to learn?”

Tseng sighed, a somewhat exasperated sound. “Can’t. He tried to learn until the point of collapse as a rookie… at which point we mutually agreed to halt the training, as it was adversely affecting his health.” He shook his head, frowning. “Reno can be extremely laid back… but he isn’t lazy, sir.”

The vice president snorted loudly in contempt.

“I’m quite aware of that, thank you,” he replied, rolling his eyes, before teasingly adding, “I detest acknowledging the thought that that pain in my backside is right about anything, but in this case he’s entirely correct… you really have no sense of humor.” The elevator pinged and opened at the rooftop helipad, and Rufus couldn’t help but smirk. “Incidentally, I was already aware of your precious protege’s ‘limitations’. It came up when he mentioned the new training schedule to me last week. How do you think I knew what you were up to with the Materia Corps, to begin with?”

“Then why are you intentionally goading me about it?” the Turk lieutenant asked, ushering him into the waiting executive helicopter. As soon as they were aboard, the pilot began his pre-flight. Rufus smiled.

“Because you get so entertainingly defensive over even the smallest slight towards that little miscreant. You’re a hard man to irritate, Tseng, and I’ve yet to find anything that irritates you more.”

“Perhaps I should have agreed to another week on medical restriction…” Tseng deadpanned, drawing a genuine laugh from the young executive as they settled back for the ride.

Rufus’ answer was really only part of the reason for the teasing… but, of course, Tseng couldn’t be allowed to know about that. Not only would it ruin Veld’s carefully crafted – and expensive to set up – surprise evaluation… it could potentially influence the outcome of the little side bet he had going with the Slum Rat regarding said outcome.

And after all… now that the senior Turk was back on his feet again, it was only a matter of time before he was tested…

---

Liam rolled a small sphere of ice materia between his fingers, staring deeply into the swirling lights within. Until a couple of weeks ago, he really hadn’t given much thought to materia-based combat, but after a few lessons – and watching Ryu absolutely dominate some of actual members of the Materia Corps in their practice matches – he was starting to see the appeal. He wasn’t yet sure if he wanted to dedicate any significant amount of his training time to learning the ins and outs of magic, but he was definitely planning on adding it to his arsenal in one way or another.

Petra, oddly enough, didn’t seem as interested in it. Of all of them, he’d thought that she would have jumped at the opportunity, given that she already used it as part of her weaponry, anyway… but she’d told him after their most recent lesson that she just didn’t feel “balanced” using it for more than that. In fact, by then, she’d already told Reno that she wasn’t going to continue past basic instruction, which would only consist of another four or five sessions in Junon.

He hoped that Zephyr wasn’t thinking along the same lines, though. To be honest, she was the whole reason he’d even volunteered to go on that first trip to Junon… and while he did want to learn more about materia use, he… kind of didn’t want to miss out on spending time with her. Even if it was just in the training hall.

Zephyr was… amazing. Funny… smart… and great to talk to. Well… when he got up the nerve to actually talk to her outside of their little group of rookies, that is. He still tended to be little quiet and reserved when he was on his own. It was hard enough to come up with an excuse to say something when he didn’t have someone else driving the conversation. How he was ever going to get up the nerve to ask her on a date… he had no idea.

“Hey, rookie!”

Liam yelped in surprise, and there was a flash of magical energy as the wall on the opposite side of the room was encased in a thick layer of ice.

Reno stopped dead in his approach and turned to look at the unexpected glacier that had appeared at one end of the lounge… and then began to laugh.

“Okay… I think I’m gonna stop sneakin’ up on you guys for awhile, before someone ends up turnin’ me into a Turksicle or somethin’…” he snickered. The rookie blinked and sheepishly set the materia sphere down on the small table in front of the couch.

“… Sorry, sir. I guess I let my mind wander a little…”

“Heh… maybe put the materia down before ya start daydreamin’ next time?” the redhead suggested.

“Yes, sir,” Liam replied, feeling his cheeks go red. “I… uh… didn’t realize that you could cast a spell without actually meaning to.”

Reno meandered over to the new ice wall, poking at it. “Yeah, me neither,” he laughed, “Not that I know all that much about the stuff to begin with…”

The rookie cocked his head to one side. “Is that why you’re not teaching us yourself, sir?” he asked, curious, “I just thought it was because of Ryu.”

The senior Turk sighed and rubbed a hand along the back of his neck.

“Yeah… I’m… probably the last person anyone’d ever recruit to teach ’em ’bout using materia,” he replied with a somewhat awkward chuckle. “On account of me not bein’ able to… ya know… use it. At all.”

“Sir?” Liam questioned, blinking in shock. The redhead grinned slightly.

“Yeah… I totally can’t use magic. ‘Bout killed myself tryin’ as a rookie. It just doesn’t work right for me.”

“You can’t cast any magic?” Liam parroted, wide-eyed. He honestly never would have thought that Reno,of all people, would be telling him something like that. The senior Turk seemed to be an expert in just about everything.

“Well… I can kinda cast lighting spells. Sometimes. Really weak ones that have about a fifty-fifty shot of reboundin’ on me and a hundred percent chance of completely missin’ whatever I’m aimin’ at. Other than that? I got nothin’. And believe me, it’s not for lack of tryin’. I tried ’til I literally passed out.”

“An eight hour coma is a little more than ‘passing out’,” a voice from the doorway bluntly stated, and the rookie looked up to see Rude standing at the entrance to the lounge, his eyes locked on the frozen wall. “I’m… not even going to ask what that’s all about.”

“It wasn’t eight hours. It was only like… six. Seven and a half, tops,” Reno shot back.

“Hmph… whatever you say,” Rude replied, smirking. He looked over at the rookie, “He scared the hell out of Tseng. Wore himself down so bad that at his last lesson, he dropped like a rock as soon as he tried casting a spell and didn’t wake up until the end of the day.”

“Tch… what do you know? You weren’t even there, asshole,” the other senior Turk replied, rolling his eyes.

“No… but Cissnei was, and she told me everything,” he said, grinning.

Liam snickered quietly as the pair continued to jokingly bicker for a few more moments… all the while, thinking about how cool Reno really was. He didn’t try to hide his mistakes or short-comings from the rookies he was mentoring. He owned them… and even laughed about them. It was a level of confidence that the rookie sometimes felt that he could only dream of achieving himself.

“Um… so… what do we do about the ice sculpture over there?” the redhead suddenly asked, drawing Liam’s attention back over to the wall. Rude shrugged in response.

“Find a mop and wait for it to melt?” he offered. Reno snorted a quiet laugh and then sighed.

“Guess I better send a message down to building maintenance…”

---

“Reno!” Veld’s voice called out sharply from his office doorway as the redhead was making his way back to his new office. The younger Turk jumped in surprise at the summons, and spun around to face the Turk leader.

“I didn’t do it!” he reflexively protested. Veld looked at him rather oddly and narrowed his eyes.

“Do what?” he asked.

“Uh… Nothin’?” Reno hurriedly backpedaled. Of course Veld didn’t know about the iced over lounge wall quite yet. How the hell could he? It had only just happened. For that matter… even if he knew, why would he think to blame the one member of the team who couldn’t cast a spell to save his life for it?

“Hmm…” The senior Turk eyed him suspiciously, but didn’t press the issue. “I need to speak to you for a moment.”

Reno shrugged, glad he didn’t have to explain and immediately rat out the rookie before the mess got cleaned up, and changed course to head into the senior Turk’s office instead of his own. The door was surreptitiously closed behind him as he took a seat.

“Why is it that every time I call you into my office you act so guilty?” Veld queried, that same note of suspicion still lingering in his voice.

“It’s not every time, sir. Just when ya jump-scare me, soundin’ like you’re about five seconds from officially reprimandin’ me with a crowbar upside the head…” the younger Turk said in response. Which was true. The senior Turk had a very authoritative and commanding voice that occasionally still caught the younger Turk off guard. Veld snorted loudly in amusement.

“Hmph… I suppose I was a bit unnecessarily loud. In any case… I just wanted to make sure you’re prepared for Tseng’s evaluation. Now that he’s back on full duty, I plan to proceed with it at the end of the week on Friday… assuming that works with the vice president’s schedule, as well.”

Reno nodded. “I’m good to go. Just say the word, sir.”

“Excellent. And you’ve told no one?”

“Heh… not even Rude knows about this, sir,” the redhead replied, chuckling softly, which drew an unexpected laugh from the Turk commander as well.

“That is quite an accomplishment, given that he seems to know things before even I do…” he said.

He was right. It hadn’t been an easy task keeping Rude in the dark… because in truth, Reno really wanted to talk about it. He was more than happy to help out with this, but he had a few misgivings about the setup… and Rufus wasn’t exactly someone you went spilling your guts to. He was,however, the only other person who knew about this, which meant that he was the only one the redhead could talk to.

The sum total of that attempt at conversation had ended in a bet on how the eval would ultimately end… which didn’t really help him work through his own concerns.

“Plan for sometime late in the afternoon. I fully suspect Tseng will be a bit… shaken… afterwards, and I’m not so cruel as to force him to sit through an entire day of work after the evaluation is over.”

“Yes, sir,” Reno said.

He had a feeling that Veld was right about that,too. Tseng was going to be “shaken”, all right. Anyone would be with what Veld had planned, but Tseng in particular… well… Suffice it to say that Reno completely understood the point of the evaluation, and even saw the necessity of it from a purely logical standpoint. But he didn’t particularly like the thought of putting someone he cared deeply about through something that was virtually guaranteed to freak the ever-living hell out of him… even if it was only for a few minutes.

“I have to know,” Veld said, breaking in on his silent musings, and Reno suddenly realized he’d been sitting in silence and likely staring off into space for far longer than was appropriate. He shook his head.

“Yeah. I know… I just…” he said, shrugging somewhat uselessly.

“It will be over quickly. I have no intention of drawing this out. I don’t wish to torture him any more than you do.”

“Think he’s gonna be mad?” Reno asked, and to his surprise, Veld chuckled.

“Oh, I’m fairly certain he’s going to be furious. At me, at least. But I think he’ll come to understand my reasoning when I explain things. You did.”

“Heh… yeah. But I’m not the one bein’ tested,” Reno replied.

---

The work week was a slog. Everything felt like it was dragging by at a snail’s pace, and even that week’s trip to Junon for the rookies’ materia training session did little to alleviate the tediousness. Finally, though, Friday arrived, and though nothing seemed out of the ordinary as Reno walked into the office that morning, he knew better. In just a matter of hours, he’d be joining Veld and Rufus in conducting Tseng’s evaluation.

It was going to be a long, anxiety-inducing day for him. He couldn’t say anything or let on that something was going down that afternoon… all while dealing with his normal training duties and any other assignments that came his way.

And then there was his office.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like having some space he could call his own. There was just… so much of it. And, for the most part, he was the only one who ever occupied it. He’d actually taken to spending more of his time working in the lounge than he did at his desk, just so that he had some occasional human interaction.

In fact, he was just preparing to make the trip down the hall when someone knocked lightly on the doorframe of his open door. The redhead looked up and his jaw dropped slightly.

“Remy?” he queried, more than slightly shocked to see the still-recovering Turk. She smiled and stepped inside.

“I’m… not officially back on duty yet. But I couldn’t take another day of doing nothing, so I thought I’d check in and say hello and catch up on some of the paperwork I left behind when Rude and I took off for Wutai… and maybe meet the new rookies while I’m at it.”

Reno grinned in response. “Are you ‘n Tseng havin’ some kinda secret competition to see who’s the team’s biggest workaholic or somethin’?”

“If we were… I assure you, I would win easily,” the aforementioned Turk lieutenant stated as he walked up behind her. He chuckled softly and smiled. “It’s good to see you up and about again, Remy.”

“It’s good to be up and about. And I will definitely be cleared for full duty by Monday, thank Leviathan,” she replied. “I should have been cleared for at least restricted duty a week ago. I feel fine.”

“Remy… You were captured and tortured. Physical injuries were only part of what was inflicted on you. Take the time you need to recover fully.”

“I did. And I have, and now I’m ready to get back to work,” she replied, with determination. “You know I don’t like to sit around, wallowing in my own self pity. I need to be doing something.”

Tseng sighed and shook his head, the hint of a smile still on his lips.

“Yes… I know,” he acquiesced. “In that case… welcome back.”

“I see a few things have changed since I’ve been gone,” she said, gesturing to Reno’s new office.

“Boss thought I needed it,” the redhead snickered. He glanced around at the still largely empty, save for the furniture, room. “I think I could probably make due with only about half of it, though. Seriously, Boss… what the hell am I s’posed to do with all this?”

“You’ll figure it out,” Tseng replied in a teasing tone, “The way you tend to hoard things, I doubt it will remain this pristine for long, anyway…”

“Oh, ha ha…” Reno retorted, rolling his eyes. “And I don’t hoard stuff.”

“Didn’t Rude, just a few months ago, have to stage an intervention because you could no longer access your own closet?” Remy suddenly piped up, smirking slightly. Reno cringed.

“… Maybe.”

Tseng raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “I never heard about that…”

Reno smirked and rested his elbow on the desk, propping his chin up on one hand.

“Ya know what one of the benefits of having your own office is?” he asked, “Ya can kick everyone else out whenever you want to and no one’s got room to complain about it.”

Remy smothered a laugh, as did Tseng.

“Well… as we seem to be on the brink of being banished anyway…” the Turk lieutenant said, turning to Remy, “I think now is as good a time as any to introduce you to our new teammates. I know at least two of them have already arrived this morning.” He glanced back are Reno. “We’ll see you at the morning briefing.”

---

“Ugh… What a waste of time…” Rufus muttered looking down at his watch, “I was planning on leaving a bit early tonight. Before anyone else has a chance to call and demand another interview.”

Tseng smiled understandingly. It had been a long day. The young executive’s schedule had been more than a little packed since the announcement that Shinra Company and Gongaga had come to an agreement on the reactor cleanup efforts had gone public. Rufus’ naturally solitary nature had been put sorely to the test lately. Thankfully, the weekend loomed, and the young man would finally be getting some much-deserved rest.

But first… they had an appointment with Professor Hojo.

“Not that I would ever advocate for such a course of action… but you could always cancel this meeting and tell the Professor that something else came up at the last minute.”

Rufus snorted softly. “At best that would only grant me a reprieve until he inevitably reschedules whatever this blasted demonstration of his is on Monday. At worst, I’d have to deal with Father being annoyed all weekend because his favorite pet scientist lodged a complaint that I was ignoring him. My week has been stressful enough. I don’t wish to take office politics home with me on my days off.”

The elevator stopped short of their destination – the fifty-second floor, where the Weapons Department generally held their demonstrations for the executive board. The doors opened, instead, on the fifty-third floor… Materia Research. They were greeted by a familiar – though somewhat out of place – figure.

“Hey, Boss…” Reno said, stepping aboard.

“Materia Research?” the senior Turk queried, an eyebrow rising in curiosity. The redhead shrugged.

“Ryu asked me if there was any way he could get permission to check it out some time, since we didn’t really get too in depth with most of the departments on the building tour. I’m kinda friendly with one of the lab assistants down here, so I thought I’d see if I could get her to pull some strings for him.” He glanced over at the vice president. “Don’t tell me another TV station wants to talk to ya about Gongaga…”

“Hmph… No. Though I’d almost prefer an interview. The press, loathsome as they are, are still marginally less unpleasant than one of Hojo’s presentations.” Rufus smirked. “Care to join us?”

“Ugh… no thanks. In fact… I’ll just catch the next elevator,” the younger Turk replied, stepping back before the doors could close. Rufus’ smirk became more pronounced.

“Join us,” he said, in a tone that very clearly wasn’t a request. Reno sighed, and stepped back into the elevator car, resigned.

“Tch… I shoulda just called Kate instead of comin’ down in person…” he muttered. Tseng couldn’t help but chuckle softly at his protege’s irritated expression.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad…” he opined… though, frankly, he had his doubts about that. When Hojo wanted to demonstrate one of his projects for a member or members of the Board, said demonstrations tended to be a little… over the top. The man certainly liked to maximize the impression they left. The Turk lieutenant recalled one such presentation, many years ago, that had left him both nauseated and horrifyinglyimpressed.

Neither Reno nor Rufus look especially convinced of his assertation, either.

The elevator finally chimed again, letting them out on the fifty-second floor, and the three of them stepped out into the hallway. Tseng slid his ID through the reader on the security door for the demonstration arena and it beeped in response, as the lock clicked open.

The arena took up most of the entire fifty-second floor. He knew from experience that there were a few maintenance and storage rooms on the far side… but for the most part, it was just one big open space with a high ceiling. Along one wall stood bleacher-style seating for observers, as well as a large, luxury suite for the executive board. The President liked to make quite the spectacle of his weapons demos… at least the ones that weren’t classified. It wasn’t at all unusual to see members of the press with cameras sitting in those stands to witness Shinra Company’s latest creation in action.

Today, however, the seats were empty. A private showing, then… which didn’t surprise Tseng, as much of Hojo’s work was classified at the highest levels the company had. Rufus seemed to be the only member of the board attending… which did seem just a little odd, considering the amount of setup that had obviously gone into whatever this was.

The arena floor, which would normally be largely empty, barring, perhaps, a few targets or obstacles, was almost cramped with what seemed to be temporarily walls, each made from a metal panel about eight feet high. There didn’t seems to be much organization to them… It was certainly maze-like, but hardly what the Turk would have classified as an actual maze. He shuddered slightly as he suddenly recognized it for what it was. Simulated cover. The walls were there to act as stand-ins for trees or rocks or vehicles or whatever sort of hiding places were present naturally in whatever environment Hojo’s “specimens” preferred.

And if the cover was needed, that almost certainly meant that there was something that was going to be hiding from whatever Hojo decided to release into the arena. Wonderful. Tseng hated it when the Biologics Department field tested a predator. Hojo had a habit of making his genetically engineered creations both vicious and deadly. The zenenes were a perfect example… and those Leviathan-be-damned things were still loose up in the mountains somewhere.

“So… what’s Hojo got for us today?” Reno asked, knocking on one of the panels. They were quite solidly anchored. It sent a metallic clang echoing throughout the large space. Rufus snorted in contempt.

“Something he’s spent an obscene amount of money creating, I’m sure,” he sneered, “Where is that lunatic, anyway? I don’t have all day for this… The least he could do is be punctual.”

The moment the words left his mouth, a loud alarm blared from somewhere above them. Tseng turned just in time to see the emergency barrier close over the door they’d just come through and swore loudly. Someone had just activated a security lockdown.

“The fuck?” Reno swore, eyes widening as the room’s three other entrances were similarly barred in quick succession. “Uh… Boss?”

“I don’t know,” he hurriedly replied, answering the unasked question of ‘what the hell is going on?’, “Get Rufus to the executive observation suite.”

Whatever was happening, that suite would be the most secure place to wait it out. It was built like a miniature bunker to protect the board members from any stray munitions that might miss their targets. Before they could make any progress towards that goal, however… the alarm stopped and the lights went out.

“Tseng?!” he heard Rufus gasp nearby, a note of fear in the young man’s voice. A low growl emanated from somewhere in the arena.

“That…can’t possibly be a good sound,” said Reno.

“Move,” Tseng replied, his voice hushed. “Stay together, be quiet, and move as quickly as you can towards the observation section.”

It wasn’t going to be a easy walk. The door they’d entered through was on the opposite side of the arena as the seating. The room was nearly pitch black, and they had any number of obstacles in their way… And on top of that, it was very likely they were now being hunted. Tseng unholstered his gun, and flipped the safety off. He heard a faint snap a few feet to his left that told him that Reno had done the same with his EMR.

The growl came again, and the Turk lieutenant was absolutely certain that it was closer to them this time. Then the emergency lights flickered to life, casting the entire space in a dull orange glow.

“Do not separate,” Tseng cautioned, as he saw Reno take a step towards the simulated cover. Normally, moving as a group in such a situation would be unwise… but with so many twists and turns in the path that lay before them, separating now would almost certainly result in at least one of them being attacked where help was unable to reach them. He grabbed Rufus’ by the sleeve of his jacket and pulled the executive behind him. “Reno… watch the rear. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, and I for one don’t want to be caught from behind by whatever it may be.”

“Got it,” the redhead replied, slipping into a position where he could keep an eye on their backs. The eerie lighting lent a foreboding aura to the shadows cast by the panels as they made their careful way across the arena, and the silence that had settled over the place was punctuated every now and then by that same low, angry growl they’d heard when the lights had gone out. Each time, it seemed to come from a different direction, leaving Tseng thoroughly unable to pin down its location.

“Where the fuck is it?” Reno hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. As if in reply, the unknown creature growled again, and this time, the sound came from directly in front of them, just on the other side of one of the panels. Tseng immediately flattened himself against the wall, pushing Rufus against it as well, and Reno was quick to follow suit.

Tseng could hear a faint tapping… claws on the cold metal floor, perhaps… and he held his breath, not daring to make even the slightest movement and give them away. Reno urgently elbowed him in the ribs, and pointed to their left… where a shadow was moving. Tseng nodded and gestured for the redhead to take the lead, as he was farthest from the movement. Reno carefully leaned himself out past the end of the panel, checking that it was clear, and then waved for them to follow as he slipped around to the other side.

They moved quickly from there, dodging left and right around the walls that blocked their progress, and taking as direct a route as they could manage towards the safety of the observation suite. Several more times, they were forced to stop and alter course as the creature got a bit too close. By the time they reached the far wall of the arena that separated the seating from the demonstration floor, Tseng was on high alert. Fear… adrenaline… and a determination to keep his charge safe seemed to push every sense he had to the limit.

In spite of that, he still had literally no idea where the creature hunting them was. It seemed to move at an impossible speed. He hadn’t been able to track it the entire time they were making their escape. One moment, they would hear it from what sounded like halfway across the floor… the next, the fleeting shadow would flit by just meters away from them.

The seating area was elevated quite high above the floor. A good ten feet, in fact. It had entrances at either end, but somehow, they’d wound up in nearly the middle.

“Up and over. Rufus first,” Tseng said, and his protege nodded. He turned to the young executive. “When you get up there, head straight for the observation suite. Don’t wait for us. We’ll be right behind you.” Tseng cupped his hands and hoisted the vice president upwards. Rufus struggled a bit at the top of the wall, trying to pull himself up, but eventually made it and scurried upright.

“You next, Boss,” Reno said, as Tseng was getting into position to repeat the process with the younger Turk. He paused a moment, hesitating, but Reno shook his head, “Last one up’s gonna need to be pulled up. I’m a hell of a lot easier to lift.”

“Alright,” Tseng agreed, and let his protege boast him up and over the wall. He stood at the railing, that separated the front row of seats from the edge and turned to reach down for the redhead… just as what could only be described as a roar, reverberated off of the walls.

“Shit!” Reno shouted, in a somewhat panicked voice, and Tseng caught sight of the shadow again, now closing in on the trapped Turk, who quickly dove for cover behind a nearby panel. Almost simultaneously, Rufus’ voice echoed him… if not in vulgarity, then at least in tone.

“Tseng!”

The Turk lieutenant’s head whipped around, and what he saw made his blood run cold. A dark shape – a second shadow – was advancing on Rufus, as well. Tseng drew raised his weapon and took aim, squeezing off three shots in quick succession… but they seemed to do absolutely nothing! He was certain he’d hit his mark, but whatever the thing was hadn’t so much as flinched. Rufus stumbled and fell backwards, landing awkwardly between the rows of seats as he tried to back away from from it.

“Boss!” Reno called out, “Get me outta here!”

Reno had been driven out of his hiding spot and was up against the wall as the first shadowy mass advanced on him.

And with cold dread, Tseng realized that he had to choose. Save Rufus, and get him to safety inside of the observation suite… or stay, and pull Reno out of harm’s way before the creature down below got to him. He didn’t have time to do both.

He hastily holstered his apparently useless firearm and made a mad dash for the vice president. The creature roared in anger as he approached, but he ignored it and reached down hauling Rufus to his feet and propelling both the Shinra heir and himself through the door of the suite. At the last possible moment, he spun around and kicked the door shut, barring it with the security brace on the inside.

“Tseng!” he heard Reno call out for him, and his heart twisted painfully at the thought of having abandoned him.

“Run!…” he pleaded, urging the redhead to flee. Seconds later, the emergency lights went out, plunging them into darkness once again, and twin roars seemed to shake the entire arena.

“RENO!” he shouted, eyes wide as he stared into blackness, one hand pressed against the ballistic glass of the observation suite. As the sound faded away, he strained to hear the slightest indication that the redhead had escaped… but there was nothing. His hand slowly dropped away from the glass to hang limply at his side.

“No…” His breath caught painfully in his throat, and for a long moment, he forgot how to breathe at all. No… this couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t have lost Reno. But he knew he had… and the pain it brought him was more than he’d ever even imagined. The seconds that followed that realization felt like hours. Hours in which he felt as if he were dying as well… and just as he’d nearly convinced himself that dying was exactly what he was doing, the lights came back on.

Tseng very nearly tripped over his own two feet, he backpedaled so quickly from glass… but to fair, the last thing he’d expected to suddenly be confronted with was the sight of his own mentor standing on the opposite side… with Reno beside him, safe and whole. He was only saved from utter humiliation in that respect by Rufus quickly steadying him.

Moments later, he was wrenching the security bar out of his way and throwing the door open in desperation. He dragged the redhead into relieved embrace, holding him tight against his chest.

“Oh, thank Leviathan…” he breathed, shakily. Rufus appeared beside him a moment later, and the young executive was likewise dragged into his arms to join the redhead.

“Congratulations…” Veld said, “You passed.”

Tseng looked up at his mentor, puzzled.

“Passed?” he parroted, not understanding, and still not yet willing to relinquish his grasp on the two young men he was very likely borderline-suffocating by that point.

“Your final evaluation,” the senior Turk clarified, smiling broadly.

---

In the few short minutes it had taken them to return to Turk headquarters, Tseng had gone from relieved to numb with disbelief to quietly fuming, and, finally, to simmering, barely repressed rage.

How dare Veld do that to him in the name of “evaluation”? He knew the fear he’d lived with after Mayu had died… that he’d lose Reno or Rufus one day. That he’d never come back from such a loss. He knew what that fear had done to him, and how long it had taken to overcome it. And he knew that it still lingered, perpetually, in the back of Tseng’s mind.

And then to force him into a situation where loss was inevitable. To make him believe it was real. He couldn’t understand how his mentor – a man who had, for years, been like a second father to him, and later a surrogate father to him after his own had cut ties him – could do something so intentionally cruel.

“Sir? Reno? Would the two of you please excuse us?” Veld said, as they arrived on the fifty-eighth floor.

“Of course,” Rufus replied, and, rather than stepping back into the elevator, made his way down the hall.

“Yeah… sure, sir,” Reno said, a little more hesitantly… pointedly side-eyeing his own mentor, and Tseng had no doubt in his mind that his protege was wondering whether or not this was going to turn violent. Tseng was wondering that himself, at the moment.

Veld guided him into his office, settling him in one of the more comfortable chairs by the window, rather than the ones in front of his desk. It didn’t escape the younger Turk’s notice that a pot of tea was waiting on the sidetable, and Tseng couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“So… that was my final evaluation,” he stated, blandly, accepting the proffered cup, but not drinking.

“Yes. It was,” Veld replied. Tseng snorted quietly, “And I’m very pleased with the results.

“I’m so glad to have made the right choice, and opted for Company over family,” he said coldly and with no small amount of sarcasm. He took an irritated sip of the hot tea. The Turk commander shook his head and gave him an understanding smile.

“There was no right choice, Tseng,” he said, and the younger Turk immediately choked.

“What?” he sputtered.

“It was always meant to be an impossible choice. No matter which option you selected, you would have been correct. I never cared which of them you ultimately chose to save. That wasn’t the point of the evaluation.”

“Then… what was?” Tseng queried, now thoroughly confused.

“That you made a choice,” Veld said, reaching out and resting a hand on his protege’s shoulder. The younger Turk blinked, trying to make sense of what he was being told, and Veld chuckled. “I’m sorry to have put you through that. I truly am. But I needed to know. One day… such a scenario might be morethan just a scenario. There may really come a time when it comes down to Rufus… or Reno. I needed to know that, if you had to, you could make that choice.”

Tseng was speechless for a moment, as he considered, and rejected, several responses before finally settling on, “Why?”

Veld leaned back in his own chair and sighed.

“Because. You love them both. Rufus has been your charge for… most of his life, and virtually all of your career as a Turk. You watched him grow up, protected him… helped to shape the man he is today. And Reno? Hmph… Reno might as well be your own son at this point. Losing either one of them would devastate you beyond words. Losing both because you hesitated in choosing which to save and ended up saving neither?… I think that, quite likely, would kill you.”

Tseng let his gaze drop to the golden liquid in his cup and felt his rage… not entirely subside, but quiet a bit, at least. Because his mentor was right. Losing them both – and especially losing them both because of his own inability to choose between them – was something he almost certainly could never recover from. They were… the most important parts of his family, and had been for quite some time now.

He set the tea aside, closing his eyes and pressing a hand to his forehead as a new thought washed over him, bringing with it a wave of guilt.

“What am I going to say to Reno?” he whispered, “I… just abandoned him. Left him to die. Even if it was only a simulation –”

“Reno understands the nature of the evaluation far better than you might think,” Veld replied, and smirked slightly. “He helped me plan it, in fact. Those creatures were his idea… and it was also his idea to borrow SOLDIER’s VR projector to create them. He really is remarkably adept at this. I don’t envy the rookies who have to face his Hell Week evaluations.”

Tseng gave a quiet laugh. “Nor do I…” he admitted before quickly sobering. “But still…”

“I did discuss the possibility with him, you know,” Veld said, and Tseng looked up in surprise. His mentor snorted softly. “For Odin’s sake, Tseng… He may not be my protege, but it’s not as if I don’t interact with him at all. I know perfectly well he’s struggled with… shall we say… abandonment issues… most of his life. And I’m more than aware of how much effort you’ve put into helping him overcome those issues. He was far more worried about what sort of effect this little test of mine was going to have on you than what decision you made in the heat of the moment.”

To be far… that did sound like Reno. His young protege had a tendency to show more concern for others than he did for himself at times. But he also had his own ghosts in his past… and Tseng knew just how hard that sort of thing could be to ignore. The sooner he spoke to the redhead one on one, the better.

“I know this is a lot to take in, and you’ve had a less than pleasant afternoon,” said Veld, “so I won’t hold you here any longer than I have to. But I do want to tell you how very proud I am of you, Tseng. You have been the finest second in command I could have hoped for, and I know you’ll be just as fine a commander when your time comes. You’re ready for it, and when you do finally step into my role, you will excel at it.”

“Thank you,” Tseng replied, swallowing sharply. Hearing those words was a little… surreal. He wasn’t sure he could honestly say that he believed himself to be ready yet. There was so much he was still unsure of at times. So many mistakes he still made. And here was the man he admired most in the world, telling him that he’d passed his every test. That there was nothing left to evaluate. Nothing left to prove to him.

Veld chuckled quietly.

“You are ready,” he reiterated. “I sure you still don’t feel like it… but you are.” He smirked. “Don’t expect me to announce my retirement anytime soon,though. I plan on sticking around for awhile yet.”

Tseng let a small, and admittedly, slightly relieved, laugh escape.

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

---

“Tch… How long are you plannin’ on sittin’ there, staring at me?” Reno finally asked, rolling his eyes at the supremely smug look on the Rufus’ face as he sat calmly in one of the chairs across the desk from the Turk.

“Just until you say it.”

“Ugh…” he groaned, “Fine. You won the fuckin’ bet… alright? Ya happy?”

How he’d ever let the brat talk him into that one, he’d never know… but somehow, they’d ended up betting on which of then Tseng would save. Rufus, naturally, had bet on himself… leaving the redhead to do likewise.

“Very. Now… about my prize…”

Reno sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“Yeah, yeah… I know. I owe ya a ‘favor of your choosing’,” he grumbled, “So what is I gotta do?”

Rufus reached into his jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper. He set it on the desk and slid it over to him.

“Sign here,” he demanded. Reno raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Uh… what am I signin’, exactly?” the Turk queried, as he scanned the first few lines of the document.

“Just a little promissory note, explicitly stating that which you just verbally confirmed we’ve agreed to,” the executive replied, “You see… I don’t need a favor at just this moment. But I certainly intend to collect eventually. This is my insurance that neither of us forget the formalities of the deal.”

It was a short document. Barely half a page long, and it seemed to say exactly what Rufus claimed it did. Reno shook his head, but reached for one of the pens tucked neatly into the new glass penholder on his desk.

“What? My word’s not good enough for you?” he asked, slightly insulted. He’d never welshed on a bet in his life.

“As Father has always told me… Trust a man’s word, but always get it in writing, too.”

“Why do I feel like I’m signin’ my soul over to you…?” he muttered as he grudgingly signed his name to the document and slid it back. Rufus looked it over, smiled in satisfaction, and tucked the page into his jacket pocket.

“Don’t be ridiculous… That would involve far more paperwork,” the executive shot back, and Reno honestly couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. He actually wouldn’t have put it past him to have a template for something like that filed away somewhere… just in case it ever came up.

Rufus glanced at his watch and frowned. “Just how much longer do you think Veld is going to keep him in there?”

“I’m guessin’ they kinda have a lot to talk about,” Reno replied with a shrug, and then snickered. “Ya know… assumin’ Veld can get a word in edgewise while Tseng’s tryin’ to punch him in the face.”

“Mmm, he did seem less than pleased to find out that it had all been a test, didn’t he?” Rufus concurred, his frown deepening. “Though… considering his reaction when you ‘died’, I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise.” He looked away, turning his gaze on the door. “I can’t recall ever seeing him look so… broken. Not even when you –” He cut himself off. “Not even in Wutai.”

“Almost dyin’s a lot different than actually dyin’,” Reno said after a moment’s pause. Rufus suddenly looked back at him.

“Why do you think he chose me over you?” he asked.

“Heh… think the only person who knows the answer to that question is Tseng.”

“If you had to guess…” Rufus prompted, and Reno eyed him strangely, wondering why the hell it was so important to him at the moment.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “He thought he could get to you faster? He thought I’d have the best shot of fending for myself? He thought it was already too late for me? Take your pick…”

He intentionally didn’t voice several other options… For instance, that Rufus was more important, or that his duty was to the Company first. They remained unspoken and unacknowledged… but not unconsidered. And he… had his own feelings about them. Which he didn’t really want to discuss with Rufus.

“I didn’t have time to think,” a voice suddenly interjected from the doorway, and both young men looked up to find the subject of their conversation had joined them. “I’m not sure even I know why I made the decision I did. My only thought was that… I had to save one of you.”

“Veld still in one piece?” Reno asked, only half-jokingly. Tseng gave a small laugh.

“Yes… He is,” he replied, “His explanation for recent events was enough to stave off a no holds barred showdown between the two of us.”

“Heh… ya know that’s almost too bad, ’cause that’s some shit I’d pay to see…” the redhead snickered. Rufus snorted in contempt, rolling his eyes at the comment.

“Well… it seems we’re back to his usual idiocy,” the vice president snarked, “That being the case… I’ll take my leave. As much as I would like to stay and discuss, Father is having guests for dinner tonight and I’m expected to make an appearance.”

“Good night, Rufus,” Tseng chuckled, as the younger man got to his feet. He paused in front of the senior Turk.

“Congratulations,” he added, in what was quite possibly the most sincere tone of voice Reno had ever heard from the brat, before slipping out the door. Tseng smiled slightly as he shut it behind him, and then turned back to the redhead. He sighed, and took the seat the executive had just vacated.

“I feel as though I owe you an apology for –”

“So… I’m gonna stop ya right there,” Reno cut in, and his mentor looked up in surprise. The younger Turk grinned. “Yeah, you can yell at me for interruptin’ later… but I wanna go first here, ’cause I’ve had like… forever… to think about this shit ‘n what it’d feel like if I ended up bein’ the one that got left behind.”

“I… see,” Tseng said, clearly caught off guard.

“I’m not mad,” he continued, “And I’m not like… disappointed I didn’t make the cut.”

“Reno… it’s not that –”

“I know. Look… I get it. You had to pick one of us. That was the whole point. The whole thing was designed to be a shitty situation, with an outcome that was gonna suck no matter what it was.” He paused a moment, brow furrowed as he tried to find the right words to explain. “I actually… think I’m weirdly kinda glad you went after Rufus ‘n not me. I mean… sort of. I’m not thrilled with the idea of dyin’ ‘n I’m definitely not lookin’ to get eaten by one of Hojo’s projects or anything like that. I just… ya know… I think I’d feel responsible. If it came down to him or me, ‘n he died, I mean. That’s somethin’ I kinda don’t really wanna have to live with. I mean… I could live with it, if I had to, but… ugh… I don’t really know how to say this. Just… I’m not mad about it. Okay? ‘Cause I know how much it must’ve hurt you to do it.”

That was far more rambling than he’d intended it to be, and he couldn’t help but cringe slightly at how lame it all sounded once he’d finally managed to spit it out. But like he’d told Tseng several times in the years they’d known each other… eloquent was just not something he was good at.

Apparently, it didn’t really matter, though. Tseng stood and rounded the desk, and a moment later, Reno found himself in a near-crushing embrace for the second time that day.

~end chapter 80~