Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 91: Christmas Eve…ventful

Reno yawned over a freshly brewed cup of coffee, not quite awake just yet, wrapped in a robe, and still tired from the previous night. A quiet voice giggled softly behind him.

“Oh, come on… I know I didn’t wear ya out that bad last night…”

The redhead snickered and turned to look at her, not the least bit surprised to find her suddenly standing naked in his kitchen.

“You wanna bet? Lira, I think you mighta damn near killed me last night,” he said with a teasing grin. He looked her over, unabashedly taking in the sight of her perfect figure, and smirked. “But as near death experiences go… I’ll take that any day. Come out to finish the job?”

“No,” she replied, with a laugh, “I came out to get breakfast. You’re not the only one who had a workout last night.” Lira leaned over and kissed him, and her voice turned sultry. “Merry Christmas, Reno…”

“You always get me the best Christmas presents…” he replied, grinning. Lira smiled back at him and straightened up.

“I know,” she replied, cheerfully, “So… what’s for breakfast?”

“Well… I was thinkin’ we could –” he began, only to be interrupted by a sharp knock at his door. Reno blinked in surprise, his gaze shifting in the direction of the sound. “Who the fuck’d be looking for me this time of the mornin’ on my day off?” he wondered aloud, as he got to his feet.

It certainly wasn’t Rude… He’d warned him ahead of time that Lira would be spending the night, since the last couple of times that had happened, his friend had gotten an eyeful when he’d shown up unexpectedly at the younger Turk’s door the next morning. And Tseng was still out of town trying to convince Kai to come home. And if it was anything work related, someone most likely would’ve called him, rather than coming to get him in person.

Well, he supposed there was really only one way to find out. Reno strolled across the living room, turned the lock, and opened the door.

“Boss?” he queried, slightly shocked to find his mentor there. Tseng gave him a faint smile.

“I apologize for the unannounced arrival. I only just made it back to town, my phone battery is long dead at this point, and as your apartment was just as close to my arrival point as mine is, I thought we might have breakfast. I… have news.”

“About Kai?” Reno asked, opening the door wider, and gesturing for him to come in. Tseng stepped through the door, and into the living room, only to stop short a moment later, eyes coming to rest on the still very naked woman leaning casually against the counter in the kitchenette.

“… Yes, though I didn’t mean to… interrupt anything.”

“Hi, there,” Lira said, smiling warmly, and Reno sighed.

“Tch… Ya know, sometimes I swear you get off on flashin’ my coworkers, Lira…”

The woman giggled and waved as she disappeared into the bedroom… to find some clothes, Reno hoped.

“You… are obviously otherwise occupied at the moment,” Tseng said, diplomatically, as the door gently shut behind her. “Perhaps lunch would be a better idea…”

Reno snickered and shook his head. “Nah… Lira was gonna take off pretty soon anyway. She’s got a Christmas thing with some of the other Market girls this afternoon. She just likes to tease me. Heh… ‘sides, after everything she did to me last night, I’m not sure I even got another round left in me right now…”

“That’s… far more information than I needed, thank you,” Tseng replied, with slight roll of his eyes.

---

“Hey, Victor? Can I borrow your finger for a second?”

Victor’s brow furrowed, and he glanced up from the pancake he’d been just about to flip. He shook his head and resumed the motion, leaving it cook on the other side for a bit.

“My what?” he called back in response, confused.

“Your finger!”

“It’s… kind of attached to me?” the rookie Turk replied. He heard Zephyr snickering in the other room, and a moment later she poked her head into the kitchen.

“I’m wrapping presents. I need help tying the bows,” she explained.

“Sort of waiting until the last minute, aren’t you? The party is in…” He paused, and glanced at the digital clock on the back of the stove. “… less than eight hours.”

“Just because you had all your shopping and all your wrapping done almost two weeks ago doesn’t mean we’re all so efficient,” she teased, “Oh! Is breakfast ready? I’m starved!”

“As a matter of fact…” the older rookie answered, lifting the edge of the pancake with a spatula, and deciding it was done. He quickly removed it from the griddle, along with it’s five friends, and split them between two plates before handing one off to Zephyr. “Yes.”

Zephyr grinned and took her breakfast over to the table, where bacon and hash browns also awaited her. She took her seat and reached for the syrup. Victor laughed softly and shook his head. He’d been a little unsure about this living arrangement at first… even though he was the one who’d suggested it to begin with. Aside from the slight weirdness that inherently came with living with a girl, there was also the fact that he was seven years older than her and considerably more experienced in life.

But Zephyr, as it turned out, made for a terrific roommate. She was generally quiet, she didn’t mind sharing the cooking and cleaning duties with him… and he much preferred living with someone he was already acquainted with, rather than advertising for some random person to split the rent with him. Plus, he’d started to think of her a bit like a little sister by now, so it really wasn’t as strange living with her as he’d worried it was going to be.

“So… what do you think this party’s going to be like?” she asked, her mouth crammed three quarters full of syrup-drenched pancake. She swallowed the mass, and chased it with a swig of milk. “I mean… what do Turks do at parties?”

“The same thing most people do at parties, I’d imagine,” Victor said, taking a seat across from her. “Eat, drink, talk… that sort of thing.”

“Really? You think so?”

“Why? What were you picturing?” the older rookie asked with a soft laugh. Zephyr shrugged.

“I don’t know. I guess that just seems so… normal.”

Victor grinned. “They’re just people, Zeph. Same as you and me. Most of them just happen to outrank us, that’s all.”

Zephyr laughed quietly. “You’re right… I guess I’m still just trying to make a good impression. Honestly? The only people I really feel totally comfortable around is still just you and Ryu. And maaaaybe Reno… but only when we’re not in the training hall,” She suddenly frowned. “I hope everyone likes their gifts. It’s really hard shopping for people you don’t know all that well…”

“Is there anything you don’t worry about?” Victor teased, as he started in on his own breakfast, and Zephyr giggled.

“Nothing comes to mind…” she replied with a laugh, and then frowned slightly. “Er… do you think they’ll like their gifts?”

Victor grinned. “I’m sure Liam will love it…” he said, stressing their fellow rookie’s name teasingly. Zephyr’s cheeks immediately went pink, and the older rookie snickered loudly before stuffing a bite of pancake into his mouth.

“W-what? I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about…” she quickly said, shaking her head in denial.

Victor snorted in amusement.

“Oh, come on… You like him. Just admit it,” he replied.

“I do not!” she squeaked, but the deepening tomato-red hue – which had, by now, spread from her cheeks to her entire face – said otherwise.

“Uh huh… sure…” Victor chuckled, turning his attention back to his breakfast.

Zephyr was quiet for several seconds, before finally squeaking out in a soft voice, “… You don’t think the others know, do you?”

“Well… I don’t think Liam’s figured it out yet, anyway…” Victor said, grinning back at her. The younger rookie groaned in embarrassment, and he finally took pity on her. “Why don’t just tell him? You know… I’ve kind of been getting the feeling he might like you, too, lately.”

Zephyr choked on the gulp of milk she’d just taken.

“He does?” she cried, excitedly once the coughing fit had subsided. Victor shrugged, feigning indifference… but the truth was, he’d noticed that their fellow rookie had been eyeing her almost since they’d arrived at Turk headquarters on their first day. The kid wasn’t exactly subtle about it, even if he hadn’t yet worked up the courage to make a move.

“Only one way to find out…” he pointed out.

---

“So… is this good news, or bad news?” the redhead finally queried in between bites of a breakfast burrito. Tseng grimaced slightly at his own, similar, meal. This wasn’t quite what he’d had in mind when he’d invited his protege to breakfast… but with it being Christmas Eve Day, their options were a bit limited. Most of the more upscale places were closed for the holiday – or only opening for dinner service that evening – leaving them only with a small selection of fast food to choose from. Reno had been… entirely too enthusiastic… about patronizing this restaurant for Tseng to deny him. Still… it was better than either one of them cooking.

Lira had, rather wisely in Tseng’s opinion, bowed out of joining them.

“I… suppose it depends on how you look at it,” the Wutaiian Turk replied, venturing to take a bite. It wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. A bit too greasy for his taste… but surprisingly flavorful. Reno paused in his own effort at devouring the culinary concoction and sighed.

“She’s not comin’ back, is she?” he said in a resigned tone.

“No. She’s not,” said Tseng. “I’m afraid she’s dead set on this path… Nothing I said even began to change her mind.”

Reno frowned at his burrito and set it down on the paper wrapper it had come in.

“So that’s it, then,” he stated. “Kind of a shit Christmas present…”

Tseng flashed him an understanding smile.

“It’s not what either one of us wanted for Christmas. But… in the end, Kai needs to do what’s right for her. Not what we want. She will be returning to Midgar around the end of January. I did manage to talk her into that much, at least. Initially, she’d planned on living on that Leviathan-forsaken island until the spring thaw.”

Reno snorted softly. “I always knew she was nuts…”

Tseng couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at the pronouncement. He didn’t entirely disagree. Kai had always been a little… questionably sane. But that was hardly something unheard of for the members of their ranks. Frankly, Tseng was convinced that you had to be just a little crazy to want to do their job.

“It’s gonna be weird without her around,” his protege added, “Kai’s been here since ya first brought me up here.”

“I know,” he replied, a little sadly, “Kai has been a Turk for nearly as long as I have. We were recruits together, promoted not even a year apart. It’s… going to be very strange for me,as well.”

“… So does that mean another new rookie?” the redhead hesitantly asked, and Tseng got the distinct impression that he was a little torn about even voicing the question. But wholly justified in it. After all… any newly promoted recruits would be, in part, his responsibility.

“Not immediately. You’ve seen just how much effort goes into the selection process. We’ll have to do that all over again, plus Veld and I would like to wait at least until Liam is a bit closer to his own promotion… just to keep us from spreading ourselves too thin when it comes to training, seeing as we’ll be down a senior Turk,” Tseng answered, “But yes… we will eventually want to find someone to take her place on the team.”

Reno was silent for a while, staring at his food, rather than eating it. Tseng mentally sighed. It took quite a lot to make the redhead lose his appetite. He was just about to say something when his protege spoke again.

“I almost hate to ask… but is she gonna be here for Christmas?” he asked, raising his eyes to meet his mentor’s… and Tseng was slightly ashamed to admit that he was forced to look away.

“No,” he said, quietly.

The redhead’s shoulders slumped, but he just nodded in understanding.

“I know how disappointed you must be…” Tseng prodded, “I really do wish the news was better.”

“Tch… It is what it is…” Reno replied, somewhat blandly. He heaved a sigh, and then looked up at his mentor. “I’m not gonna let this ruin my whole holiday. Last year was a bust. It’s not happenin’ again.”

“Fortunately, I’m relatively certain that Veld has refrained from inviting Scarlet to our party tonight,” the Turk lieutenant gently teased.

The redhead snorted softly. “Yeah, well… if she turns up uninvited, I’m leavin’ early,” he deadpanned.

Tseng chuckled in response. “Should she, or any other member of the executive board, for some reason turn up uninvited, I wholeheartedly support shutting off the lights and pretending no one is home.”

Reno couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips at that pronouncement… in spite of the seriousness of their prior topic of conversation. He grinned faintly and resumed his breakfast, shaking his head in apparent amusement.

“Heh… ya know, half of me almost wants to see that happen. ‘Cause by that point, most of us are gonna be drunk off our asses, ‘n tellin’ drunks to shut up and pretend they’re not there is usually hilarious,” he snickered.

The Wutaiian chuckled at the mental image that brought up… and simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. It was Christmas Eve. Today, of all days, he really hadn’t wanted to have to tell his former rookie that a member of their family was leaving them, and wouldn’t even be returning for the holiday, but the mere fact of his own return would have immediately signaled that there was news to be had, and there would be no hiding it. He was glad to see the redhead taking it so well.

Though, to be fair, after his own conversation with Kai, Reno probably had at least an inkling that the woman wouldn’t be dissuaded. The hope he’d been clinging to for the past week or so was a small one. Tseng had been clinging to it, as well.

As he’d said, it was going to be strange without Kai on the team anymore. But it was just something they were going to have to get used to. A new year was coming, and, it seemed, it was bringing change along with it, whether they were prepared for it or not.

---

“Felicia? What in Shiva’s name are you doing?”

The teenager yelped in surprise as she spun around, and whatever it was she was holding in her hand was quickly hidden behind her back.

“Nothing…” she hurriedly replied. Veld smirked at his daughter.

“Nothing, eh?” he said, craning his neck in an effort to peer behind her. “What have you got there?”

“Nothing…” she repeated, her face taking on a pinkish coloring.

“Felicia…” he intoned, a faint hint of warning in his voice. The girl rolled her eyes and hesitantly brought her hand out. She was holding a small bundle of mistletoe dangling from a string. Veld cocked a questioning eyebrow.

“What?” she protested, “It’s tradition!”

The Turk commander chuckled faintly. “And just which one of my Turks are you hoping catches you under it?” he teased. As if he really needed to ask. She’d already quadruple-checked that Reno would be joining them for the party tonight. He silently reminded himself to warn the young Turk ahead of time… before Felicia spotted him. Or trapped him under the mistletoe.

“Dad!” she groaned, in a scandalized tone. Veld shook his head and left her to it, musing silently that his little girl was growing up entirely too fast. At least she wasn’t bringing home a boyfriend for Christmas just yet. He wasn’t entirely sure he was ready for that. A little crush on one of his subordinates was harmless enough, however.

“Don’t forget to put clean sheets on the bed in the guest room, like you mother asked you to. Tseng will be spending the night.”

Though really, it was far more likely that everyone would be staying over. That’s what usually happened, after all. Last man standing got the privilege of doing so in an actual bed, and that privilege generally went to his protege. Everyone else slept wherever they passed out.

“I won’t…” she replied, with a slight roll of her eyes, before returning to the task of fastening the little bundle of greenery to the top of the door jamb. Veld laughed quietly to himself and made his way into the kitchen. There was a roast already in the oven, on low heat so it would cook slowly over the course of the afternoon and be ready just in time for dinner when their guests arrived. The stove was crowded with pots and pans of all sizes, each one simmering softly and emitting delicious aromas. Esme always went all out during the holidays, particularly when they were having company. Coming from a transplanted Mideelian lineage that had made its way to Kalm around five generations ago, this was almost a given, and she’d learned her lessons well from her mother and grandmother.

He occasionally joked that her cooking was the real reason he’d married her. She occasionally joked that if he kept making thatjoke, he’d get the business-end of her best frying pan upside the head one of these days.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked as his wife drifted across the room to check on one of the dishes and gave it a quick stir.

“Yes… Keep out from underfoot,” Esme replied with a laughing smile, as he reached for one of the decorated cookies on a platter on the counter. “And no sampling!”

Veld guiltily withdrew his hand from the sweet treats.

“If you’re so desperate for something to do, go and shovel the front walk. It’s buried again,” she added, checking on her roast.

“It’s still snowing, my love…” he replied, pulling her into an embrace and placing a kiss on her lips. Esme looked up at him and smirked.

“And?”

“Well… it will only be buried again as soon as I finish,” Veld pointed out.

“Exactly. So, when you’ve finished, you’ll have a whole new projectto keep you out of my kitchen,” she said, with a teasing laugh.

---

Traffic on the public trains was almost shockingly light that evening, Liam mused as he huddled near one of the little heat vents on the platform in an effort to keep warm while he waited. The station was was practically deserted… barring a few employees who looked like they would have preferred to have been just about anywhere but here right now. Not that he could really blame them. No one wanted to work on Christmas Eve.

He glanced down at his watch and then up at the clock above the platform, and noticed that his timepiece was running a little fast. He huffed softly and set down the bag he was carrying to reset it. Just as he did so, a dark figure darted out of the shadow of a support column. Before Liam even realized what was happening, his bag had been snatched and the thief was rapidly retreated towards the stairs that led to street level.

“Hey!” Liam shouted, and took off after him. The guy was fast, he had to give him that… but his gifts were in that bag. No way was the rookie letting him get away.

As it turned out, however, he needn’t have worried. Just as the thief reached the top of the stairs, he collided, headlong, with an immovable object. Liam snickered loudly as he closed the distance between them.

“Nice timing, Sykes,” the rookie said, with a wide grin. He snatched his bag back, shouldering it, before turning to glare at the guy who’d tried to take it. Sykes, blinked for a moment in confusion, but quickly caught on to what had happened. He folded his arms over his chest, staring down at the would-be thief and blocking any chance he might have had at an empty-handed escape.

The thief scrambled to his feet and tried to push his way past Liam instead… only to be neatly dropped back to the ground and pinned there by the rookie.

“Get off me!” the thief, whom, Liam was pretty sure, couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old.

“Hmph… You’d think people would know better than to try and mug a Turk…” Sykes commented, watching the boy struggle. Liam’s captive suddenly froze.

“W-wait… what?” he stammered.

“You really ought to pick your targets a little more carefully next time,” Sykes said, “Or better yet… don’t pick any at all.”

“What should I do with him?” Liam asked, looking up at his friend. Sykes shrugged.

“You’re the one he tried to rob. Up to you,” he replied, and then added, “Train’s coming any minute. Might want to hurry.”

Liam had to try very hard not to laugh at the connotations of that otherwise innocent observation… because it more than apparent that their prisoner had taken it to mean that they were planning on dumping him onto the tracks… not that they were going to miss their ride. He began to fight, futilely, against the Turk, in a desperate attempt to free himself.

“No… Let me go! Please!” he begged, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know!”

The rookie grinned, somewhat evilly.

“Tell ya what… It’s Christmas, and I’m in a generous kinda mood,” he said, channeling his best inner Reno. “So… you promise you’re not gonna pull this shit on anyone else today… and I won’t kill ya.”

By then, Sykes had picked up on the impression of their superior and had dissolved into silent snickers.

“I-I promise…” the thief pleaded. Liam held him in place for a few seconds longer, before finally releasing his hold. The boy shot to his feet and took off running. As soon as he was out of sight, Sykes burst out laughing.

“Not bad, huh?” Liam said, grinning, “I sounded like him, right?”

“You didn’t swear enough…” Sykes replied, just as the train pulled into the station.

---

Rufus closed his eyes and quietly sipped a glass of eggnog. Normally, he couldn’t stomach such overly rich beverages, but it was the holidays, after all, and the indulgence seemed far more enjoyable than usual… though he had no plans to guzzle it the way his father did, and his glass contained far less brandy than what he usually saw the senior Shinra pour.

This was his idea of a relaxing holiday. Being left in peace in front of a warm fire with a drink and a good book. He was eternally grateful that he’d managed to excuse himself from the company Christmas party this year. He’d had enough of public appearances. Between the seemingly never-ending press conferences revolving around Gongaga, and the Wutai debacle over the summer, Rufus had reached the point that he very much wanted to simply be left alone for awhile.

His father could keep the damn party. He needed a break.

Left to his own devices, Rufus was almost certain he’d have grown up to be the textbook definition of an introvert. He’d always been shy, quiet, and bookish as a young child. It was his father who had dragged him, kicking and screaming, out of that shell… and he had to admit, there were times he longed to crawl back into it. His position made that difficult, however, and he’d long ago accepted that it was his destiny to live a far more public life than he would have preferred.

That didn’t, however, mean that he wasn’t allowed to take some time for himself once in awhile… which he fully intended to do tonight. The family manor was empty. The servants had been dismissed for the next twenty-four hours to spend Christmas with their families, and Father would be enjoying himself with his guests at Company Headquarters until the early hours of Christmas morning.

The Shinra heir breathed a long sigh of relief at the very thought. It was the perfect Christmas gift. The only question on his mind now was… what should he do with it?

Certainly sitting in front of the fire was enjoyable enough… but it was a rarity anymore that he was so completely on his own. No servants, no security, no Father. He had free run of… well, of the entire city, really, if he wanted it.

“Hmm…” he mused out loud, as he contemplated his options, “A quiet night in? Or bit of an adventure?”

A smirk suddenly twitched at the corners of his lips as he remembered that his father had, just a week ago, taken delivery of the latest luxury sports car developed by Shinra’s transportation division. The very first off the assembly line. It was quite a piece of machinery, and it looked every bit the part… and Rufus hadn’t been permitted to so much as touch the shiny red beast.

He wondered how it handled in the snow?

---

The snow wasn’t letting up at all. In fact, as she made her way down the sidewalk, towards the train station, Petra was convinced it had actually begun coming down faster just in the few short minutes she’d been walking. Thankfully, that didn’t matter much to the city’s train system. The majority of it was below street level, and thus shielded from the elements, and what was open to the sky was kept meticulously maintained.

The sidewalks, however, were not. And as a result, she was running a little behind. It was hard to hurry through ankle deep snow, and she’d already been held up at the last major intersection due to traffic leaving the shopping district. If she didn’t hurry she was going to miss her train and be stuck waiting for the next one… which would almost certainly make her late to the start of Veld’s Christmas party.

She huffed softly in the frosty air. Things, she believed, always happened for a reason… but at the moment, she really couldn’t see any reason important enough that justified making her late for Christmas dinner.

… Which was right about the time that a red sports car blew through a stoplight, its brake lights indicating that the driver was desperately trying to stop its momentum, and fishtailed. It spun out a moment later, careening backwards into the guardrail of the upcoming overpass, and right through the metal barrier, before coming to a halt, hanging precariously over the edge.

~end chapter 91~