Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 90: A Start to the Holidays

Petra let out a low groan and hugged her pillow tighter against her ears. This was ridiculous. As it turned out, Rude and Sykes weren’t the only people on this trip who snored. Their co-pilot did as well. And the pilot kept reaching over and stealing her blanket in his sleep.

In the end, President Shinra had ended up making dinner plans. And then it had been cocktails. Followed by a friendly poker game in the lodge’s downstairs bar. Which was all well and good, but it meant that they did in fact end up spending the night. Rufus had turned in quite early, notably miffed at being stuck on the glacier, but President Shinra had stayed out until well past midnight… and thus, so had the Turks.

Now, most of them were sprawled out on the floor. Sykes had won the coin toss for the bed, but it was a tiny mattress, and with his naturally large build, he pretty much took up all of it… so no sharing, even if he’d wanted to. No matter though. She wouldn’t have really minded sleeping on the floor… if she’d been able to actually sleep.

A moment later, Petra gave a frustrated sigh and sat up, setting her pillow aside. There had to be somewhere else she could get some rest. Maybe down in the lobby? Surely it was abandoned at this time of night, and she wouldn’t be bothering anyone… or be bothered in return. A soft laugh reached her ears from the darkness.

“I told ya it was gonna suck…” Reno’s disembodied voice teased, quietly.

“Yes, sir…” she tiredly lamented. She quickly gathered up her blanket and pillow. “I’m… going to try my luck sleeping in the lobby. Do you want to come?”

The senior Turk chuckled. “Nah… trust me, I’ll just keep ya up with my constant tossin’ and turnin’. ‘Sides… I’m used to this. I’ll manage. Go on… get outta here.”

She nodded, though in hind sight, she doubted he could see her, and carefully navigated her way over and around the bodies on the floor. Petra eased the door open and slipped out into the hallway… and blissful silence. She breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the stairs.

Away from the cacophony of their shared hotel room, Petra found that night on the Great Glacier was almost as peaceful and still as night in the canyons. It was probably the most notable thing she missed about home. Midgar was… beautiful in its own way. But the city never really slept. Someone, somewhere, was always awake and doing something. But back home in Cosmo Canyon? When the lights went out and everyone settled in for the night, it was nothing but quiet. The only sounds were those of the planet around them.

It was like that here, too.

As she descended the stairs and wandered into the lobby, looking for a comfortable place to sleep, she noticed that the fire was still burning in the big stone hearth that took up most of one wall. She grinned faintly to herself. That was certainly convenient. Given how cold it was outside, she’d been a little worried that the open space of the lobby might not have been the coziest place in town.

Petra set her pillow and blanket down on one end of a long couch before making her way over to the arched windows at the front of the lodge. She gazed out at the snow-covered town. More snow had fallen during the evening hours, and all of the tracks and and footprints that had marred the smooth surface had been buried by it, leaving behind a pristine blanket of white.

This place had a special energy all its own. She’d felt it the moment they’d landed. In spite of the ice and the snow… or… maybe because of it. She wasn’t really sure. But the Great Glacier held secrets… she could sense them.

Of course, most people would have called that claim a bunch of new age bullshit. She knew that a lot of people thought that crystals and auras and spiritual balance and meditation were all silly. But she didn’t care. Maybe it was all in her mind, when it came right down to it… but she had long believed that the mind was a very powerful thing.

“Peaceful, isn’t it?” a voice spoke, interrupting her silence musings, and Petra jumped, violently startled by the sudden interjection. She spun around, eyes scanning the shadows for its source, finally falling on a particularly dark corner just outside of the light thrown by the hearth. The figure leaned forward slightly into the light.

“Sir?” she queried, surprised. How in Titan’s name had she not noticed him there when she’d come downstairs? Rufus smirked slightly.

“I thought you Turks were trained to be observant…” he said, needling her slightly. Petra couldn’t help but giggle softly.

“Yes, sir… we are. But in my defense, I’ve been dealing with the consequences of sharing a hotel room with half the team. They snore. Terribly. I was so grateful to finally be somewhere quiet, I wasn’t thinking about checking for potential threats.”

“Hmph…” Rufus snorted, before lifting a glass to his lips, the liquid inside amber in the firelight. “I myself was too annoyed to sleep. Hence the nightcap at nearly two in the morning…”

“Annoyed, sir?”

“Yes, annoyed. Father knew damned well that I already hand plans for the weekend, and he dragged me along to the frozen north anyway. And then had the nerve to extend the trip without even asking me if I mind. Which I do,” the vice president replied, sourly, before grumbling, “If we’re not in the air by eight o’clock tomorrow morning… I’m taking the helicopter and leaving him behind. He can spend Christmas here, for all I care. I am not missing the entire festival.”

Petra blinked slightly in surprise at the venom in the young executive’s voice. He was, indeed, annoyed at the present situation. In fact, she was fairly certain he was well passed merely annoyed.

“I… I’m not entirely sure Reno will sign off on that, sir…” she said in response, and distinctly saw Rufus roll his eyes.

“It’s hardly his decision. I’m the one who ensures that little slum rat gets paid his exorbitantly high salary on a regular basis,” he pointed out, and then smirked. “Besides… much as he irritates me, I will admit that he’s obscenely reliable. He’s well aware of my reasons for going and I suspect he will do whatever he can to accommodate my wishes.”

Petra frowned slightly at the comment. She still didn’t fully understand the dynamic between the Shinra heir and the senior Turk. There was definitely a good deal of mutual respect… even if it was generally occluded behind a thick cloud of sarcasm and sniping. And she knew that Reno, at least, liked his executive counterpart to a point. She couldn’t say with any great certainty that they were friends, however.

“Sir… could I ask you something about Reno?” she ventured.

Rufus huffed loudly, and she was pretty sure she saw him roll his eyes again.

“Why is it that every time that idiot gets brought up, even tangentially, the entire conversation turns to focus on him exclusively?”

“Well… his is my superior, sir…”

“I hardly see why that should be my misfortune…” he quipped, and Petra couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“It’s just… Why so much disdain, sir? You said yourself that he’s reliable. I can’t imagine that you really dislike him as much as you claim to…”

The executive snorted softly, and took another sip of his drink.

“The Slum Rat and I have a very long history. I find him, to put it mildly, somewhat disagreeably plebeian and thoroughly annoying on a personal level… but I also owe him a great deal, up to, and including my life. Moreover, I trust him, which is far more than I can say for most people,” he replied, and then sighed, in a somewhat defeated manner, before admitting, “You’re not entirelywrong. I don’t dislike him, nor do I have any particular ill will towards him. We’re simply not especially compatible outside of company business in most instances. As I said… he irritates me.”

Petra frowned thoughtfully and took a seat on the couch. “You’re… a very difficult man to get close to, aren’t you, sir?” she replied, and only in hind sight realized just how brazen she was being. She wasn’t sure if it was the sleep deprivation, or simply that she’d grown more comfortably around the executive that brought it out in her.

To her relief, Rufus merely snorted in amusement at the comment. He swirled the remaining alcohol in his glass for a moment before finishing it off.

“I suppose I am,” he answered, simply, before getting to his feet. He smirked slightly in the darkness, “Though to be fair, few people have the audacity to try. Goodnight.”

Petra blinked in surprise at the rather candid response. It wasn’t what she had been expecting… but for some reason, she couldn’t help but feel as though she’d just passed some sort of test.

“Goodnight, sir,” she called out, softly, to the vice president’s retreating form.

---

Reno groaned as a ray of bright, early morning sunshine found its way through the one gap in the heavy curtains on the far wall, and directly into his retinas the second he opened his eyes. The redhead forced himself off of the floor, yawning widely… and almost immediately stumbled over the blanket-covered lump a few steps from where he’d been asleep just moments ago. He landed on top of said lump with a lump thud, followed by a string of profanity.

Rude, so unceremoniously jarred to wakefulness, instinctively shoved the sudden weight off of his person, and Reno landed in a heap next to him. He sighed and rolled onto his back staring up at the ceiling, unwilling to move any farther just yet.

“Well… today’s startin’ out real good…” the younger Turk muttered. Rude snorted loudly and pushed his covers away, sitting up.

“You’re the worst alarm clock ever…” he deadpanned, and Reno couldn’t help but snicker.

“Sorry,” he replied, he replied, forcing himself upright again and stretching his arms over his head with a jaw-cracking yawn.

“It can’t already be time to get up…” Sykes’ voice grumbled from the nearby bed.

“Tch… what’re you complainin’ about? You slept all night. Between your snorin’ and Rude’s definitely-snorin’-even-though-he-won’t-admit-it, I’m lucky I’m not wakin’ up deaf. And ya drove poor Petra outta the room hours ago.”

“… I don’t snore,” Rude stated.

“The fuck you don’t,” the redhead shot back, and glanced around the tiny room, noting a couple of additional absences, “Anyway… get up. Looks like our pilots already beat us to it. What the hell time is it, anyway?” Even as he said it, he was groping somewhat blindly towards the little sidetable where he’d left his watch and a few other things the night before. He finally found it, and gazed blearily at its face. Seven in the morning. “Shit.”

“What?” Rude asked.

“We’re s’posed to leave in like an hour, ‘n we still gotta get the VIPs up ‘n movin’. We’re never gonna have time for breakfast…”

Sykes gave a laugh and dragged himself to the edge of the mattress, swinging his legs over and recoiling slightly as bare feet came in contact with the polished wood floor.

“Yeah, laugh it up…” Reno groused, “Just you wait ‘n see how shitty a mood I’m in when I’m not only sleep deprived but don’t get fed before I gotta deal with Company execs first thing in the mornin’…”

Rude snickered and clambered to his feet, pulling the redhead up along with him.

“Better hurry up and get dressed, then. You’re field commander. That means you get to go wake up the VIPs,” he teased.

“Heh… Ya think so, huh?” Reno replied with a grin, “See… That’s not what I was thinkin’. I was thinkin’ that, since I’m in charge, I oughta be delegatin’ shit like that to my subordinates. So… which one of you wants to go knock on the President’s door?”

“Not it!” Sykes quickly said, and Reno’s grin widened as he turned to face Rude… who openly groaned in response.

“… Fine,” he said, with a feigned dramatic sigh, “If I don’t make it back alive… take care of my goldfish for me.”

Reno snickered as his fellow Turk hurriedly dressed and slipped out the door. Reno quickly moved to follow suit.

“I’m gonna go round up Petra ‘n see if I can score us somethin’ to eat. Or at least some coffee. Go check in with the pilots and see where they’re at, timewise. Pretty sure the VP wants to head for home, ASAP… and the less time the President has to make even more changes to the schedule, the better.”

“Yes, sir,” Sykes replied. Reno pulled on his jacket, and grabbed his phone and weapon from the table, before leaving the younger Turk to his orders, and making his way downstairs. As he did so, he massaged the back of his neck, trying to work out the kink. In the past, sleeping on the floor – or anywhere else, for that matter – had never really bothered him. Either he’d finally found a position that didn’t agree with him, or he was going a little soft.

Of course, it had been years now since he’d been forced to sleep wherever and however he could find safety, so… maybe there was some truth to that. His life had never been an easy one, by any means… but it wasn’t easy in much, much different ways now. For one, it generally didn’t include sleeping on the floor next to two human buzzsaws these days.

He laughed softly to himself. Like hell Rude didn’t snore…

“Good morning, sir!” a familiar voice called out to him almost as soon as he set foot on the ground floor of the lodge. He blinked in unabashed surprise at the sight that greeted him. Petra and Rufus were settled in front of the lobby’s massive hearth, enjoying breakfast and coffee, and, apparently, having a perfectly civil conversation prior to his arrival. The senior Turk made his way over, skirting around the end of the long sofa.

“Mornin’…” he replied, eyeing the vice president with no small amount of curiosity. If he noticed, Rufus didn’t opt to elaborate on his choice in dining companions.

“When will we be ready depart?” he asked, instead. Reno shook his head.

“Just sent Sykes out to check on the copter. But the pilots were up at the crack of dawn, so I wouldn’t think it’d take ’em too much longer to have things good to go, sir.”

“Good… and you informed my father of our detour to Kalm?”

“Yes, sir…” he replied, “But… uh… I got my doubts as to whether or not he’ll actually remember me tellin’ him. After you turned in for the night, the President ‘n the race officials were up pretty late. He wasn’t exactly… ya know… sober… by the time we got him upstairs.”

Rufus rolled his eyes in exasperation. “What would it take to convince you to simply leave him here to sleep it off and come back for him later?”

Reno chuckled. “Unless you can guarantee it won’t end in me gettin’ skinned alive… forget it.”

“I doubt he’d even notice you were gone,” Rufus snorted.

“Yeah… well… I’m not worried so much about what the President’ll do to me, sir,” he replied, snickering. “In fact I’m pretty sure he’d never have the chance to lay a finger on me before either Tseng or Veld… or both of ’em… ripped me to shreds.”

“Hmph,” Rufus responded, smirking, “Coward.”

“Damn straight, sir,” Reno said, grinning. Petra, too, couldn’t help but giggle softly at the comment. “But I did send Rude to wake him up, so hopefully, we’ll at least be able to get in the air at a decent hour.”

“Good,” Rufus said, with a nod.

---

Shortly before ten a.m., the executive helicopter touched down on the rooftop of Shinra Headquarters. Rufus and Petra, as planned, had disembarked in Kalm, heading for the festival with a request for the pilots to return for them later that evening. Reno had flirted with the idea sticking with them… but technically, he was the president’s escort on this assignment, and he was primarily responsible for making sure the senior executive made it home safely. Besides… Petra had proven herself perfectly capable of keeping Rufus in line on her own.

It was strange… but he was almost a little resentful of that. But he supposed that that was just something he’d have to get used to. After all, like Tseng had told him not long ago, he couldn’t remain the brat’s personal escort indefinitely. One of these days, Veld was going to retire, Tseng was going to take over as commander, and he’d be thrust into the role of second… with all the responsibilities said role entailed. He was looking forward to it with equal parts eagerness and dread. It was a great honor to be hand-picked for command the way he had been… but it was as terrifying as it was gratifying, and though he was one hundred percent on board with the idea by now, he still wasn’t sure how he was ever going to be ready for it when the time came.

But if that was the hand life had decided to deal him, well… he was only too happy to play it. He wasn’t sure if he really subscribed to the whole idea of “fate”, or whatever, but it was hard to deny that a lot of things in his life had just sort of… fallen into place for him. Meeting Lira… Meeting Tseng… getting recruited… Going with the flow instead of fighting against it seemed to work for him well enough, and he was fine with that. If his fate or destiny – or whatever the fuck it was that was pulling the strings – was for him to end up in charge of the the Turks someday, who was he to try and change that? Why risk messing with a good thing?

“Hey… doing anything this afternoon?” Rude asked, as they were making their way across the parking deck, having already descended from the rooftop. It being the weekend, Sykes had bid them goodbye just moments ago, and continued down to the train station beneath the building. The President, meanwhile, was already climbing into his limo… looking very tired, and very hung over.

“Other than droppin’ the Pres at home and callin’ Veld with an update? Nope,” Reno replied.

“Wanna come over and hang out? Maybe go sledding? I’ll make lunch before we head out…”

“Sure,” the redhead said, with a grin, “Heh… but ya know, ya don’t have to bribe me with food. Not that I’m complainin’…”

Rude smirked slightly. “Yeah… but I like cooking for someone other than just myself once in awhile.”

“Cool… I’ll head for your place soon as I get this assignment wrapped up.”

“See ya then,” Rude replied with a wave, and headed off to where he’d left his truck. Reno returned the wave and hurried after the executive, climbing into the front seat of the luxury car.

---

Tseng winced as he forced himself to stand up straight, hands awkwardly massaging the protesting muscles in his back. After hours of chopping firewood and helping Kai with any number of other tasks the previous day, he’d gone to bed sore, and woken up even more so, only to it all over again.

“You’re getting terribly out of shape, Tseng…” his friend teased, as she walked by on her way back to her little shelter, arms laden with another load of split logs.

“For Leviathan’s sake, how much wood does one person need?” he asked, biting back a groan. Kai snorted in laughter.

“For the rest of the winter? Or just for this week?” she asked, teasingly. Tseng shook his head.

“Explain to me again why you find this enjoyable…” he deadpanned, following her with his own stack.

Kai set her load down at the edge of the rather substantial pile they’d built up and brushed her gloved hands off on her pant legs.

“It’s nature. Nature is beautiful, and peaceful, and restorative,” she replied, smiling.

“… Nature is freezing, desolate, and potentially deadly,” the Wutaiian Turk muttered in response, dumping his load on the pile as well.

“You’re such a city boy…” the younger woman snickered, rolling her eyes at him.

“You do realize that I grew up on a large country estate in the Midori Valley, don’t you? The nearest village was almost a two hour walk, and even that would hardly be considered a ‘city’…”

“And do you realize that you’ve lived in Midgar for well over a decade now?” she shot back, “City life has spoiled you, Tseng…”

Tseng huffed, exhaling a cloud of steam in the frosty winter air… but didn’t argue the point. She was, after all, entirely correct in the assessment. He’d been quite thoroughly acclimated to life in a large metropolitan area at this point, and harbored no desire to change that. Quieter, less bustling places were nice for a visit… but he couldn’t picture himself living someplace like Kalm or Nibelheim… or even many places in Wutai, for that matter, outside of, perhaps, the capital city. Not anymore. He’d grown quite fond of his crowded steel and concrete home.

“So…” Kai began, pausing in her wood-stacking efforts for the time being, “I was planning on making a trip to the mainland this afternoon for supplies. And I assume you’re expected back in Midgar sooner or later. If we’re going to catch the ferry, we’re going to have to haul some of this out to the beach to signal them.”

Tseng looked at the woodpile, and then at Kai… and then back again.

“You’re seriously telling me I have to move that again?”

“Not all of it…” Kai grinned.

“Reno’s right. You’re insane,” the Turk lieutenant informed her, “Anyone who would willingly live like this for any amount of time is insane.” He sighed and picked up the armload of logs he’d just set down. “And, in point of fact, no one is expecting me back right away. Headquarters is closed for the holidays starting on Monday. Realistically, I have no plans until until Christmas Eve.”

“Planning on sticking around for awhile now that you’ve found me?”

“Will it make a difference?” he asked, pointedly.

“No,” Kai replied, shaking her head. Tseng sighed.

“You know I hate camping…”

“There’s an inn back at the village… with running water and heat and everything,” she replied, with a quiet laugh, “Wimp.”

“… I suppose a few more days wouldn’t be remiss,” the Wutaiian Turk agreed.

---

“Race ya back to the top!”

Rude hadn’t even yet had time to right himself. The last sled run down the drainage channel had ended with him fishtailing and then spinning out completely near the bottom. Reno had tumbled to a stop about fifteen feet beyond where he had, and sprung to his feet, ready for the next run.

The older Turk snorted in amusement as he watched his friend climb the ladder that led back to street level, plastic sled slung over one shoulder. Watching Reno playing in the snow was a lot like watching a five year old. The man had boundless energy, no apparent sense of the frigid cold, and a mission to enjoy the day like it was his last. It was hard not to get caught up in his excitement.

Rude hopped to his feet as well, and ran after his friend, following him up the ladder… though he didn’t even attempt to “race” him. Any race against the lanky redhead was a lost cause from the start. Rude simply didn’t have the requisite speed to keep up with him, much less beat him.

Not that he cared. It was one of the things that made them such ideal partners. Reno had speed… he had strength. He had gift for gathering information… Reno had a gift for putting that information to its best use. Reno led… he followed. The important thing was that they played off one another to a degree that few people could even begin to claim.

“Hey, Rude,” Reno called out to him, somewhat breathlessly, already at the top of the run again, “What’d’ya wanna do for dinner?”

He smirked slightly to himself, and mentally added that he cooked… and Reno ate everything in sight. Lunch had been devoured in less than time than it had taken him to make it, before they’d ventured outside.

“Hmph… I already know what you’re thinking,” Rude chuckled, “No Shiva-forsaken pineapple. Pineapple does not belong on pizza. You order pineapple, I’m throwing the whole thing out.”

Reno cackled and launched himself down the incline, headfirst, flat on his belly, whizzing past the other Turk before he’d even made it the last few yards to the top. Rude shook his head, laughing quietly to himself, and upped his pace in a small effort to catch up.

Sometimes, he mused, it was hard to reconcile off-duty Reno with his on-duty counterpart. His friend was, very much, still a child at heart, and Rude assumed that had a lot to do with the fact that he’d kind of missed out on his actual childhood. Reno’d had to grow up fast in the slums. He’d had to learn to take care of himself at an age where no child should be expected to do so. That had to have taken a toll on him.

And yet, when they were working, Reno was… well, perhaps not quite a consummate professional, like his mentor, but it was more than plain that he took his job seriously. A part of him wondered how being promoted to second in command would ultimately alter his friend. Would he stay the fun-loving bundle of energy he was now? Or would he mellow and mature… eventually becoming more like the man who had trained him for the position in the first place?

Command was a great deal of responsibility, after all. And while Rude was absolutely certain his friend was up to the challenge, he couldn’t help but think about how things would inevitably have to change. Their recent separation of office space was just the beginning. Not that that he necessarily viewed it as a bad thing… just… an uncertainty. Rude had never been fond of uncertainty.

Fortunately, though… that promotion was still a long time off. Veld had no plans to retire any time soon, and Reno, for his part, still had a lot to learn.

“Hurry up, ya slow poke!” Reno called out to him from the bottom of the channel, and Rude rolled his eyes.

Yeah… Reno’s promotion was definitely not something he needed to worry about just yet.

---

Kalm was a lovely little village. Petra hadn’t spent much time there in the course of her duties, but every time she had visited, it had lived up to its name. Peaceful, welcoming… calm. It was it little like home, actually. Well… in a way. Cosmo Canyon, too, was known for its peaceful serenity. Home, however, held a certain naturalistic charm that Kalm, with it’s rustic architecture and growing dependence on mako power, lacked.

Not that it made it any less appealing to her. It was just… different. She didn’t mind different.

She was,however, beginning to mind the cold. Much of the Festival was held outside, so of course that meant that she and Rufus had been wandering the snow-covered streets for literally hours now with only a short break now and then to warm up in a shop or cafe. It hadn’t been too bad while the sun had been shining brightly in the sky, but as dusk set in, the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped.

Thankfully, their ride back to Midgar would be arriving shortly. And yet, as much as she longed to get back to her nice, cozy apartment, a part of her would be disappointed when today was over.

Her charge was much, much different when he wasn’t working. When he didn’t have to be the Vice President of Shinra Company, and could just be Rufus, he was the person that she’d really only glimpsed before.

He smiled more, for one thing. He laughed. He did things simply because he enjoyed them. He wasn’t constantly on edge for fear that someone might find a crack in his armor and exploit it. She liked this side of Rufus Shinra… though she felt a little sorry for him, in that he so rarely felt he was able to show it.

They made their way across a wooden bridge that spanned a small lake near the edge of town. The helicopter would be meeting them just beyond, in just a few more minutes. As they reached the center, the vice president paused, gazing out at the frozen expanse of water, and gave a small laugh.

“Sir?” Petra queried, curious. Rufus shook his head.

“Nothing… It merely occurred to me that I once very nearly fell into this lake.”

The Turk giggled softly. “You mean… when you and Reno were fighting on the ice?”

He spun to look at her, a faint look of surprise etched on his features. “How do you know about that?” he asked, a hint of accusation in his tone.

“He… may have mentioned it to me, sir,” she replied, smiling slightly. Rufus rolled his eyes.

“Hmph… I never knew the slum rat was such a gossip…” he muttered, “Though I probably shouldn’t be surprised. He never shuts up, after all.”

Rufus returned his gaze to the ice.

“Still… I suppose that incident was something of a turning point for me,” he mused. “I’m quite certain he hated me at the time… but he still put himself in danger to protect me. I began to realize, then, that you can’t buy that sort of loyalty and selflessness. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

He turned back towards Petra.

“Tseng and the slum rat share that rather uncommon quality. Both have nearly died to ensure that I continued breathing, and would do so again, without hesitation,” he added, cocking his head slightly to one side. “So tell me… do you share it as well?”

Her first instinct was to respond that yes… absolutely she would be willing to die for him. It was her job. Her duty. But the more she thought about it, the more uncertain she was. It was a lot to ask of someone. To give up their life for you.

“I… honestly don’t know, sir,” she was forced to admit, “I don’t think anyone can knowunless they’re actually in that situation.”

Rufus snorted an amused laugh as the sound of helicopter blades churning in the air broke the quiet of the evening.

“A fair answer,” he replied, turning toward their arriving transport, “Honesty is almost as rare a quality, in my experience.”

~end chapter 90~