Desha's Reno of the Turks Fan Fiction

Chapter 99: Secrets and Lies

“Reno?”

“If you got more paperwork for me… I’m not here,” the redhead stated, glowering at the tower of forms and reports that had piled up in his inbox over the course of the past couple of weeks. Though, if he was being honest, it was kind of his own fault. He’d been studiously ignoring it, in favor of focusing on the rookies and the general disorder that had accompanied the change in command after Veld’s death. “Now if you got an actual assignment for me…”

Tseng chuckled softly.

“I’m afraid not. Though soon, perhaps. Remy checked in from Nibelheim earlier this morning. She and Liam have indeed found evidence of some sort of aggressive creature near the reactor site. Possibly more than one. Heidegger has ordered them recalled and is floating the idea of sending in SOLDIER to investigate further and clear whatever they are out, depending on their full report later today. If he does so, I intend to push to have a Turk accompany them… though I’m relatively certain that Director Faine will fight me on it. Hmph… Particularly if I try to send you.”

“Tch… Faine,” Reno muttered, annoyed. “Is she ever gonna let that go? I mean… it was more her fuckin’ daughter’s fault than mine when ya get right down to it…”

The Turk leader shook his head. “Something tells me… no. She will not. But that’s not the reason I’m here. Did you forget? We have our weekly progress meeting…”

The redhead blinked. “Well, yeah… but not ’til like… after lunch,” he said, slightly confused. Tseng smirked.

“It’s one fifteen,” he stated, and Reno instinctively looked down at his watch… and nearly did a double take before swearing loudly under his breath. Not only was he late for their meeting… he’d fucking missed out on food! Tseng laughed softly and rounded the younger Turk’s desk, retrieving his coat from a hook on the wall.

“Let’s make it a lunch meeting, shall we? I missed my usual meal time, as well, thanks to our illustrious department head,” the senior Turk continued, holding out the garment to his second in command.

“We can do that?” the redhead asked, cocking his head to one side, and Tseng snorted softly in amusement.

“Am I, or am I not, in charge of this team? I believe that, if I wish to hold a meeting over lunch with my second in command, I’m am quite thoroughly within my rights to do so.”

“Don’t gotta ask me twice,” Reno responded with a grin. He got to his feet and pulled on his coat. “Uh… Wutaiian again?”

Tseng shook his head in the negative. “I’m rather in the mood for something a bit different today. Costan, perhaps?”

“Heh… lookin’ for somethin’ to remind you of the beach, Boss?” the younger Turk snickered. “I mean… we do still have a couple more months of winter…”

“Don’t remind me…” Tseng deadpanned, “I, for one, will be grateful when I can walk outside and not immediately feel as though I’ve just stepped out onto the Great Glacier.”

“Aw, come on… it’s not that cold,” Reno teased him as they made their way down the hall towards the elevators. Which was, in fact, a blatant lie. A week ago, the temperature had straight up plummeted and the city had been subjected to one of the biggest snowstorms in its history. Shinra Company had been forced to all but shut down for three days on account, and the temperature hadn’t risen out of single digits for more than a few hours at a time since. Tseng had been less than happy about it.

Tseng eyed him for a moment, and then pointedly pressed the call button for the elevator.

“Clearly the stress of your new position is getting to you…” he replied. Reno grinned in reply.

They rode together downstairs to the parking deck, and the younger Turk happily hopped into the passenger seat of Tseng’s car. As they pulled out onto the street, Tseng glanced over at him.

“I have to confess… I have something of an ulterior motive for getting you out of the building,” he said, turning onto a small side street that would bypass the worst of the traffic and spit them out onto one of the main roads in Sector 4. “There are… some things we need to discuss. Things that I would prefer to discuss away from Company property.”

Reno nodded in understanding, though he couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved by the statement. If it was something that Tseng didn’t want to talk about where Company ears might be listening… then odds were good it was both something serious, and something that had the potential to get someone into trouble. And he was pretty sure he knew was it was.

He had yet to bring up Petra’s… indiscretion… with the vice president to Tseng. They’d both been dealing with so much over the past two weeks, and it just never seemed like the right time. Obviously, he’d found out, somehow, though. Maybe Rufus had preemptively confessed. Or, more likely, maybe Petra had. Reno wasn’t sure if Petra was in trouble now, or if he was in trouble for the omission… or hell, maybe Tseng was ticked at them both. Either way, he was going to have some explaining to do. There really wasn’t a good justification for putting off telling him for so long. Truth was… he just really didn’t want to rat her out, even though he knew he had to.

Tseng pulled into the parking lot of one of the nicer Costan restaurants in the sector, and parked near the doors. They made their way inside, and found that he lunch rush still seemed to be in full swing. After a short wait, however, they were seated by the hostess, and given menus and water. When their waiter arrived a few minutes later, Tseng ordered them an appetizer of queso fundido and tortilla chips before the pair ordered their meals.

As they sat back to wait for their food, Reno sighed, and decided that he’d be better off just getting it over with. If Tseng was pissed about Petra and Rufus, he wasn’t going to be any less pissed by the time their lunch arrived.

“So…” the redhead began, hesitantly, “I think I kinda already know what this is about…”

Tseng looked surprised by the declaration, but didn’t comment. Reno took that as a sign to continue.

“Look, I know Ishoulda said somethin’ sooner, but it happened like… literally two minutes before Rude called to tell me about Veld. It kinda got put on the back burner for awhile. And with everything else goin’ on lately… I just kept puttin’ shit off, and puttin’ shit off, ’til I was way overdue on tellin’ you about it,” he explained, “I’m really sorry, Boss…”

Tseng steepled his fingers in front of him and looked the redhead directly in the eye.

“I see…” was all he said. Reno cringed slightly and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Exactly how much trouble am I in?” he ventured, and to his surprise, Tseng smirked.

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about…” he replied. The redhead blinked, unable to find the words right away.

“W-wait… so you don’t already know about Rufus kissin’ Petra?” he sputtered. Now it was Tseng’s turn to look shocked.

“I… did not. Though I would very much appreciate a detailed report,” he said, frowning, “Now.”

“Uh… right,” Reno breathed, realizing he’d outed all three of them now. “So… we were, ya know… in Wutai, and I went to check in with the captain of the Highwind. And when I came back… they were… yeah. Full on make out session.”

Tseng’s frown deepened. “How long has this been going on?”

“According to Petra… he kissed her at the Christmas party, too. But it was only those two times. And she said it wouldn’t happen again.”

The Turk leader sighed. “I see I’m going to have to have a little chat with Rufus later today… And Petra, as well.”

“I’m sorry for not tellin’ you sooner, Boss…” the redhead reiterated, but Tseng merely shook his head.

“There were, admittedly, far more urgent things that have needed our attention of late. I won’t hold the delay against you too much, given the circumstances,” he said, smiling faintly. “Just don’t make a habit of it, please?”

“Right. Got it,” Reno said with an audible sigh of relief. He furrowed his brow and turned his gaze back on his mentor. “So… wait. If that’s not what you wanted to talk to me about… what is?”

Tseng’s reply was briefly interrupted by the arrival of their appetizer, and as curious as the redhead was about the senior Turk’s reasons for an off-site meeting, hunger quickly won out. He eagerly made a grab for the chips and dug into the molten cheese dip. The senior Turk helped himself, as well, and there was a short pause while they both enjoyed some of the dish.

At last, though, Tseng answered him.

“I… have been debating with myself for several days now as to whether I should inform you of this at all, given the possible repercussions should anyone else find out,” he began, “But in the end, I realized that I truly hated hiding it from Veld… and I would ultimately despise keeping it from you even more. I want to be very clear that this is not for the general knowledge of the rest of the team, as information on the subject is classified at a fairly high level at this time. You and I are the only members of the Turks with the required clearance.”

Reno swallowed the bite he’d just taken, and gave his mentor his full attention at that proclamation. He didn’t think there was anything that Tseng didn’t tell Veld. Learning that he’d been keeping something a secret – and not just something benign, but something so sensitive that the rest of the team didn’t even have high enough security clearance to even know the basics – was more than a little off-putting. Tseng sighed.

“I suppose it would be best to simply start at the beginning,” he said, “Four years ago, shortly after my return from… personal leave… and subsequent reinstatement, I was given a very minor assignment in the Sector 5 slums; to investigate a lead on the location of two people of interest, and if the subjects were found, to bring them back to Headquarters. I went below, as ordered, and later reported back that the lead had been a dead end.” He hesitated for a moment, somewhat nervously taking a deep breath before continuing. “It was the first, and only, time I have ever disobeyed a direct order from Veld.”

Reno openly stared at his mentor, in shock. It took him several moments to process what he was hearing. And several more to realize what he was actually saying.

“So… you did find ’em, then. And you let ’em go…” he theorized.

“Yes,” Tseng answered, cutting directly to the chase, “Or, more precisely, I found one of them. I then hid the fact from my commander.”

“Okay…” the redhead said, somewhat suspiciously, as he ran through several reasons as to why the senior Turk would do something like that. He didn’t particularly like the implications of most of them. Tseng gave him a slightly amused smile.

“I still know exactly where the subject is. I could retrieve her at any time I wish. I… choose not to.”

Reno shook his head.

“Okay, are you gonna tell me why, or you just gonna sit there and torment me? ‘Cause ya know I’ve already come up with like… a dozen ‘n a half possibilities here, right?”

“The first subject in question is a young girl, presently age sixteen or so. The other… was her mother, whom, I learned, had died. I have done many distasteful things in my time as a Turk, and most of them I don’t lose much sleep over. But taking an orphaned child from her adoptive parent, only to turn her over to the likes of Hojo for Leviathan only knows what purpose…” He sighed heavily and looked up at the younger Turk. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Particularly not so soon after losing Mayu. I’ve been concealing the fact, and her, ever since. Even from Veld.”

The redhead didn’t know what to say. On one hand… he totally got it. Kidnapping a literal kid in order to turn her into some kind of experiment was pretty low, even for the Turks. On the other… orders were orders. Turks were expected to obey without question.

“I realize this puts you in a somewhat difficult position,” Tseng added, “By all rights, you should report me directly to Heidegger for something like this.”

Reno snorted loudly. “Yeah, right,” he laughed, “Like I’m really gonna do that.”

Tseng chuckled softly, giving him a small smile.

“Yes… I rather expected you wouldn’t be particularly eager to take such a course of action,” he said, but quickly sobered, “It is, however, still very much willful disobedience on my part. There is a standing order for her retrieval, with no expiration date. I don’t know exactly what Hojo’s interest in Aerith is… just that it relates to her status as the last of her people and that he’s not likely to simply forget about her. It would have been far easier to keep you in the dark on this matter… but frankly, it would never sit right with me if I did. Lying to Veld was… a burden I chose to bear for the sake of an innocent girl. Lying to you, however, would be unconscionable. I need your trust, and beginning our new roles by blatantly violating it will never work.”

“So… we plannin’ to keep hidin’ this kid?” Reno asked.

“We?” Tseng queried, raising an eyebrow.

“Tch… well, I know now. And we’ve pretty much established that I’m not gonna be ratting you out to Heidegger or anyone else. ‘Sides… Hojo’s an asshole. I don’t want some poor kid gettin’ handed over to him for fuck knows what, either. So… yeah. Are we plannin’ to keep hidin’ the kid, or what?”

“For as long as we are able to do so… yes,” Tseng replied with a grateful smile. “There may, unfortunately, come a time when it’s no longer feasible, but until that time comes… I intend to offer her whatever protection I can.”

Reno shrugged. “… ‘kay. Count me in.”

“I should probably be concerned that you agreed to subvert regulations so easily,” Tseng noted, “But I can’t deny that it’s very much the response I had hoped for.”

Reno looked up at him.

“Yeah…” he replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head, “I mean… we’re pretty much fucked if anyone else finds out about it, and it’d be a totally different story if she was some kinda security threat. But I’m still learnin’, remember? Unless I’m really convinced that you’re wrong… I think I’m just kinda gonna defer to you for awhile. Just ’til I get better at this, anyway.”

“Your confidence in me is very gratifying… and hopefully not misplaced,” Tseng said, somewhat teasingly.

“Heh… I figure if you trust me not to completely screw this up, it’s only fair I do the same, right?” the redhead said, snickering. His mentor snorted softly in amusement.

“Well, now that that’s settled…” Tseng said, just as their main course arrived, “I, for one, am starving.”

“Isn’t that my line, Boss?” Reno joked, taking in the mouth-watering plate that had just been set in front of him, and reaching for his silverware.

---

“Tseng of the Turks to see you, sir,” his secretary’s voice intoned over the intercom, and Rufus calmly set aside his pen and the document he’d been about to sign.

“Send him in,” he responded. A moment later, Tseng walked into his office, closing the door behind him.

“You and I need to discuss something, sir…” he stated, not waiting to be welcomed or invited to sit. The vice president sighed.

“Let me guess. The Slum Rat finally got around to tattling on me,” he said, the annoyance in his voice almost matching the annoyance that showed on his friend’s face. He wasn’t surprised the redhead had informed on him. Reno had made it abundantly clear that he would do so eventually. He was actually far more shocked that it had taken him as long as it did.

“Reno did apprise me of the conduct between Petra and yourself during the Wutai trip, yes,” Tseng stated, clearly unamused, “As well as what happened at the Christmas party. I want your word that it will not continue.”

Rufus rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, calmly crossing one leg over the other, and pressing his fingertips together in front of him.

“And… if I were to refuse your request?” he queried, curious, before pointedly looking the older man in the eyes, “Because let us be very clear. It is a request. You may have the authority to order Petra to stay away from me, but you cannot order me to stay away from Petra.”

Tseng, to his credit, didn’t waiver. Not that Rufus had expected him to.

“Then I’m afraid that I cannot in good conscience continue to assign her to your details, sir,” the Turk Commander responded, “I… would prefer not to take so drastic a step, frankly… but I have a responsibility to protect my Turks to the best of my ability, and fraternizing with Company leadership is not in any of our best interests. If your father were to find out…”

“Yes, yes…” Rufus said, dismissively waving a hand, “If Father learned that I opted to take up with a lowly employee rather than one of his hand-picked high-bred gold-diggers, my unfortunate partner would be the one to bear the brunt of his wrath, not myself. Your little peon was only too happy to point that out when he discovered us.”

And, to be fair, the obnoxious bastard had been entirely correct in that assumption. Father simply would never tolerate his sole heir choosing a partner that he felt was “beneath him”. Of course that never stopped the senior Shinra from doing so on a regular basis – and the younger man was entirely too aware of his father’s after hours proclivities – but where Rufus was concerned, it was very much a case of “do as I say, and not as I do”. The utter hypocrisy nauseated him at times.

“Rufus…” Tseng began in a somewhat warning tone.

“I still maintain that it’s no one else’s damned business,” the younger Shinra muttered, “But I also have no desire to lose access to any of my preferred security. If you intend to withhold Petra without my agreement, then it seems I have little choice in the matter.”

Tseng looked decidedly relieved at his declaration. Rufus smirked and reached for the mug of coffee sitting near the edge of his desk. He took a sip and made a mental note to request a fresh cup soon, as the temperature was edging towards unpleasantly cool.

“So… aside from informing on his superiors, what else has that sad excuse for a second in command been doing? I haven’t seen him in easily over a week. Has he abandoned conducting his training sessions with your newest personnel already?” the vice president casually asked, gesturing towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. Tseng, his official task now fulfilled, obligingly accepted the offer.

“A sudden change in command is always a bit chaotic. Particularly when the incoming Second has honestly not had the requite training for the role. Reno is… learning on job,” the Turk leader replied, with a quiet laugh. “He’s been kept rather occupied in the office as a result… though things should calm down a bit soon.”

Rufus snorted softly. “Well? What did you expect, appointing someone so obviously unqualified?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it you who stormed into my office upon learning of my decision to chose an alternate and demanded I promote Reno, as planned?” Tseng pointed out, and Rufus found himself thoroughly irritated by the obvious smirk that was peeking through his professional facade.

“Only because your alternate annoys me even more than the Slum Rat…” he deadpanned.

“I supposed I could have offered it to Kai…” Tseng teased.

“The psychopath with all the knives?” Rufus shot back, “Ramuh help us all if it was a choice between her and your pet street urchin… I suppose next you’ll tell me that the only other option was the mute.”

Tseng openly laughed at that comment.

“I can assure you, Rude is not mute, sir,” he chuckled, “but… you are correct about him being the only other option. Neither Sykes nor Petra have been in the field long enough to take on such a position… and obviously the rookies are out of the question.”

Rufus rolled his eyes. “Are you at least going to teach him to be civilized, now that he will be more regularly interacting with those who are considerably higher than him in station?” he asked, “I can just imagine the next board meeting he’s present for. The idiot can’t utter even the simplest sentence without some sort of profanity or vulgarity emerging from that never-closing mouth of his…”

The senior Turk merely smiled. “I don’t see the need, frankly. Reno’s vocabulary has never had an impact upon his job performance. And it might, in fact,liven some of those meetings up a bit…”

The vice president barked a notably amused laugh. “Perhaps…” he conceded.

---

Reno winced as he gently rubbed at the newly acquired bruise in the center of his lower back, and groaned softly. Someone behind him snickered.

“You’re out of practice,” Kai teased, poking him in the shoulder. “Okay, let’s go again…”

The redhead groaned louder and obediently followed her back across the huge training room, to the beginning of the Guantlet’s run. Halfway there, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Wait a second… why the fuck am I doin’ this? I outrank you now!” he said, folding his arms over his chest, stubbornly. Kai’s grinned widely and reversed course, walking up to him.

“I was wondering when you’d realize that…” she laughed, and then she smirked at him, “Only took ya three runs…”

“Ugh…” was the only response he could manage, shaking his head. Kai giggled a little madly, but obligingly halted their trek back to the starting line.

“Alright, alright…” she said, still grinning, “I guess I’ve pulverized you enough for today… sir.” She put so much emphasis on the “sir” that it nearly sounded like an insult. Reno sighed.

“Ya know, I’m almost startin’ to miss ‘Baby Turkling’…” he muttered. Though, to her credit, Kai had been as good as her word. His first day as Second in Command really had been the last time she’d called him by her silly little nickname, either in front of the others or in private. He didn’t really miss it, per se… but there was a certain finality to being rid of the moniker at last. As if a chapter of his life had closed for good, and a new one had begun. He wasn’t quite sure why that change was the one that had really driven that fact home for him, particularly when so much else had changed lately… but for some reason, it was.

“What’s the matter? Not a fan of ‘sir’?” she asked, giggling softly.

“Tch… ya know, I’m used to it from the rookies. They call everyone sir. But it’s fuckin’ weird that everyone else does it now,” the redhead replied, shaking his head. “You ‘n Remy have outranked me since the beginning… technically, so has Rude. And it’s even weirder when he says it. Heh… ‘course, he usually does it just to annoy me, but still…”

“It kind of weirded you out when the rookies first started calling you sir, too, you know…” Kai laughingly pointed out, “Just give it awhile. Before you know it, it’ll be second nature for everyone. Including you.”

“Yeah… I guess,” the younger Turk conceded. “Hmph… now if I could just get an assignment that doesn’t involve writin’ ’til my hand cramps up…”

“You wouldn’t be stuck in Paperwork Hell if you hadn’t let it pile up on you…” the diminutive Turk happily pointed out in an almost sing-song tone.

“Yeah… I know…” the redhead deadpanned. “At least the Boss is thinkin’ about sending me off to Nibelheim when SOLDIER goes in to clear out whatever’s nosin’ around the reactor. That’ll be kind of a nice change of pace. You realize I’ve barely even left the fuckin’ office in the last two weeks? Everything’s Tseng’s needed me to do has been shit related to me bein’ promoted. I haven’t even been down to the training hall lately…”

“Yeah, that last run really made that abundantly clear…” Kai giggled, as they made their way towards the locker rooms, “It’ll get back to normal eventually. Some thing happened when Veld and Tseng took over. Bureaucracy is a pain in the ass.”

They paused outside of the doors.

“Hey… Kai? Can I ask ya something?” Reno queried.

“Shoot,” she said with a shrug.

“Was Tseng… ya know… nervous at all? When he became Second, I mean. ‘Cause he said he was pretty freaked out, but… I’m really havin’ a hard time picturin’ him like that. I keep thinkin’… maybe he just said that ’cause I’m still pretty freaked out.”

Kai stared at him somewhat mutely for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

“Oh… Reno, sweetie…” she laughed, “Tseng was a wreck. An absolute wreck. For about the first week, it was almost like he forgot how to be a functional human being, much less a Turk. And then by the third week or so, he was pretty much the exact opposite. He went all super-Turk for awhile. I’m talking completely over-inflated sense of confidence… to the point that he actually called an executive by their given name during a board meeting.” She snickered, her entire body shaking. “I didn’t let him live that one down for months…”

Reno couldn’t help but grin slightly at the mental image that knowledge conjured up. Kai, took a deep breath, getting her joviality under control. She grinned back at him.

“Look… you met Tseng after he grew up. You’ve never known the less professional, less competent, less mature version of him that I used to know. He’s human. He’s had a lot more time to figure things out than you have, but he’s still human. And when he was first starting out, he definitely wasn’t the Second in Command he’d learned to be by the time you met him. Stop trying to compare yourself now to what took him years to become… okay?” She smirked, knowingly. “And don’t try to tell me that you haven’t been, because I know damn well that you have.”

Reno scoffed and rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it. Truth was… he really had been having those thoughts. It just seemed like such an overwhelmingly daunting height to reach, and he very much felt like he was going to be in Tseng’s shadow for a long time yet.

“Anyway… Go get cleaned up. Afternoon briefing’s in twenty, and I’m dying to hear what Remy and Liam found in Nibelheim,” she said, shooing him off towards the men’s lockers.

“Tch… knowin’ our luck, they probably found zenene nest or somethin’…”

“Hmph… well, if they did, I’m not volunteering for extermination duty. I had my fill of those bastards the last time we had to deal with them,” Kai responded, before pushing open the door to the women’s locker room and disappearing inside.

---

Reno suppressed a yawn as he and Kai rode the elevator back upstairs to the fifty-eighth floor. It had been a long day, but until he’d stepped under a scorchingly hot shower a short while ago, he hadn’t realized just how long. Now that his muscles had finally untensed a bit, the fatigue was setting in with a vengeance. He was glad it was almost quitting time.

“Hey,” Kai said, leaving back against on of the walls of the elevator car, “You free this weekend, by any chance?”

The redhead shrugged. “I guess… why?”

“I’m running back down to Ferryport on Saturday. I left in such a hurry, my camp is still on the island, along with a buttload of supplies and equipment I need to pick up. Wouldn’t mind a little company, and I thought maybe you’d like to get out of the city for a day or two.”

Reno eyed her appraisingly. “You gonna make me ride an Ifrit-forsaken chocobo all the way down there?” he asked.

“Yep!” Kai replied, with a grin.

“And I s’pose we’re gonna have to spent the night on your stupid island, too…”

“Probably.”

The younger Turk sighed.

“Tch… Fine. But only ’cause I’ve been cooped up in my office for so long that even nature sounds almost enjoyable.”

Kai snorted in laughter.

“I am not huntin’ my own dinner, though,” he warned her, “We’re bringin’ food with us. End of discussion.”

“Fair enough,” she giggled as the doors opened at Turk Headquarters.

They headed down the hallway towards the conference room, and found that, of the senior members of the team, only Sykes had already arrived and taken his seat. Kai slipped into a chair near the back of the room, while Reno made his way up to the front… something else he was still getting used to. He didn’t always have much to contribute to the briefings, but he was expected to be by Tseng’s side at the head of the table, regardless. He took the seat next to Rude – who had shifted his own seat in solidarity shortly after the redhead had been promoted – and rolled his neck until it gave a satisfying crack. Rude chuckled.

“Have a good workout?”

“Hmph… would’ve been better if I’d realized I coulda called it quits before the third Shiva-be-damned time Kai dragged me through the gauntlet. I’m gettin’ a tattoo on the back of my hand that says I don’t gotta take orders from that little psycho anymore…” he grumbled, and his friend snickered quietly.

Further discussion was put on hold as Remy and Liam, freshly returned from Nibelheim, joined the group. A moment later, Tseng entered, with Petra trailing slightly behind him. She looked… not necessarily upset, really, but… something. Reno quickly recognized the expression as embarrassment. Apparently, the Turk leader’d decided to have that “talk” with her before the meeting.

“I realize it’s a bit unusual to invite a rookie to the afternoon briefing,” Tseng said, nodding towards the youngest of the meeting’s attendees, “But as this report is just as much Liam’s as it is Remy’s to make, it seemed only appropriate.”

Of course, it also didn’t exactly hurt that Tseng was preparing to promote the rookie in the near future anyway. Reno smirked faintly but refrained from commenting. It was something the redhead had brought up earlier in the week. He’d actually been thinking about mentioning it for a few weeks now, but Veld’s death had kind of derailed the discussion temporarily. Odds were pretty good that by this time next week, Liam would officially be a full Turk.

“So what’d you two find up there? Because if it’s zenenes or anything else Hojo cooked up in one of his labs… I’m officially putting in a vacation request,” Kai commented before Remy could begin her report. She shot the diminutive Turk and irritated glare for the interruption.

“We found quite a lot of evidence of some sort of animal activity. But neither of us ever saw the animal… or animals… themselves,” Remy began. “The good news is that they seem to be largely keeping clear of the reactor. There were some signs that they’d been in the general vicinity, but the few tracks we managed to find looked to be quite old, and most had been obliterated by the winter weather long before we got there.”

“The bad news is that they’re not staying away from the town itself,” Liam chimed in, “Almost everyone we talked to has had at least some trouble with them. Usually it’s out buildings being broken into in the night, and food stores being eaten, but there was one report of a disappearance on the mountain.”

“Which we were not able to definitively connect to our investigation,” Remy pointedly added. “I personally think it’s nothing more than slightly more aggressive than usual nibelwolves. It’s been a particularly harsh winter in the mountains this year. They’re looking for food. Simple as that. They’ve already been to the reactor, and passed it by as there was nothing for them to eat there. The manor’s main facilities are secure underground. There’s little to no threat to Company assets, in my opinion.”

Liam didn’t seem to care much for that assessment, and Reno didn’t have to wonder why.

“So Company’s shit fine… but what about the fuckin’ town?” the redhead asked, and Remy let slip an audible sigh. And judging by the rookie’s expression, that was almost certainly a discussion they’d already had. At length. After all, that flight back from the western continent was a fairly long one.

“The town is not Shinra property,” Remy replied, “nor is anyone outside of the manor a Shinra employee.”

Which was harsh… but true. Nibelheim was just a sleepy little mountain town that happened to host a couple of major Company assets. Not a Company asset itself. And if the issue was neither of Shinra’s own making nor threatening their tech or their staff, they really weren’t obligated to do anything about it. Hungry nibelwolves just weren’t a Shinra problem.

Reno mentally sighed. There went his possible Nibelheim assignment.

Tseng nodded and gestured for the pair to sit down.

“We’ll keep an eye on things. In all likelihood, the problem will simply go away on its own when the spring thaw arrives and their natural prey begins to emerge from their winter hibernation… but I will recommend increased monitoring at the reactor,” he said, and frowned for a moment, before turning to his second in command, “Reno… didn’t you install a number of remote cameras at the Nibelheim reactor some time ago?”

“Yeah… me ‘n Shay did like… right when the war was startin’,” the redhead confirmed. “But the batteries on those things have gotta be long dead by now…”

“Perhaps some of the manor staff can be coerced into servicing them for us,” the Turk leader mused, glancing over at Remy. “Had I thought of it earlier, I’d have sent the appropriate equipment with you two and saved them the trouble.”

“Think Heidegger will still want to send SOLIDER in?” Reno asked, vaguely curious if he might still have a shot at getting out of the city.

“I will, of course, inform him of our findings,” Tseng replied, “But if it really is nothing more serious than nibelwolves, I doubt it’s going to be a very high priority. Knowing his dislike for committing resources unnecessarily, he’ll probably order us to reevaluate in a month or two, rather than sending another team immediately.”

Rude elbowed him slightly. “Looks like you’re stuck with paperwork hell for awhile,” he teased, and the redhead rolled his eyes at his friend.

“Hey, Boss… can I order him to do my paperwork?” the younger Turk grumbled. Tseng chuckled quietly.

“No,” he stated, smirking, “You may not.”

---

Petra inhaled deeply, holding the breath for a count of ten, before slowly exhaling as she waited for the elevator. She’d stayed later than usual, for a quick run on the company track. It was just too Shiva-be-damned cold to run in her favorite park right now, and after the afternoon she’d had, she’d needed a run.

Actually, what she needed was a mug of warm chai, a lengthy meditation session, and then a hole to crawl into… but she’d settled for running laps. She’d never been reprimanded before… and though Tseng hadn’t been overly harsh with her, he hadn’t minced words, either. Her conduct with Rufus had been inappropriate. She knew that. And she knew that the Turk leader couldn’t permit it.

Having it all dredged up again, and gone over in excruciating detail, though… that had been humiliating. Mostly because she hadn’t even realized that Reno would be so… thorough… in his report. And apparently he’d seen more than she realized. Not that she could blame him for his attention to detail. After all… that was one of the reasons he was so good at what he did. And he was duty bound to report everything he knew to Tseng.

Besides… it wasn’t Reno’s fault she’d been reprimanded. It was her own.

There was just something… intoxicating… about Rufus Shinra. He was intelligent. He was was poised. He was devilishly handsome.

And… he was off limits. Tseng had been very clear about that. Mostly, she gathered, it was for her own sake, as Rufus’ father would almost certainly throw a fit if he found out, and the President was known to be a bit mercurial. If she managed to find herself on the wrong side of his good will, things probably wouldn’t bode well for her career as a Turk. She understood all of that.

And yet… she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

Petra had been enamored of the roguish vice president from the moment she’d first set eyes on him. At first, it had been nothing more than a harmless crush. But now… now she was starting to think it had grown into something more without either of them meaning for it to happen. And she couldn’t even tell herself that there was no chance that Rufus felt the same way… because both of the times they’d kissed, he’d been the one to initiate it. There was something between them. They both felt it. They both wanted to act on it. Had acted on it. Twice, in fact. And she began to wonder… if she had to choose between Rufus and being a Turk, would she be able to? And what would she choose?

Of course, that was really neither here nor there. She’d promised Tseng that she wouldn’t pursue a relationship with the Shinra heir… and, though it was admittedly a bit of a loophole, what were the odds that he’d try and pursue one with her?

Petra sighed as the elevator finally chimed, announcing its arrival. Apparently someone upstairs had been holding things up, because it had taken far longer than usual. The doors opened, and she moved to step inside… only to freeze as she locked eyes with the very subject of her internal debate.

“Sir…” she managed, a little breathlessly, and hesitated a moment before finally stepping into the elevator car.

“Petra,” he answered, with a nod. She turned and pressed the button that would take her down to the train station beneath the building. Rufus raised an eyebrow.

“The trains?” he queried, a faint note of disdain in his voice, “Really?”

“Well… it’s either that, or walk home,” she said, somewhat jokingly, before hurriedly adding, “Sir.”

Rufus rolled his eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. My driver can make an extra stop.” He paused a moment, as if mulling something over. “Though… I had been considering dining out this evening. And Tseng does tend to get annoyed when I wander off without my security…”

“Sir… I don’t know if that’s –”

“Ah… he spoke to you as well, then,” he sighed, as though confirming a long held suspicion. “I thought as much. Tseng is nothing if not thorough.”

“Yes, sir…” she agreed.

“Well… then I suppose I’ll simply have to go without any security tonight. Though Ramuh only knows what sort of threats might await me. I hope I don’t get myself into too much trouble,” Rufus said, with a somewhat mischievous smile.

“I… Sir, you really shouldn’t…” Petra protested. She knew exactly what he was doing, of course. And she had to admit, she was terribly tempted to just go along with it.

“Oh… but I fully intend to,” Rufus said, as the elevator arrived on the parking deck, “So… Join me for dinner.” He paused, and smirked slightly, “Or let me walk out onto the streets of Midgar, unguarded. Your choice.”

“I… I really can’t, sir,” she replied, though it pained her to do so.

“Ah. I see. Pity,” the vice president sighed, and stepped out of the elevator, leaving her behind. He walked away, heading for the waiting limousine, and Petra found herself torn between the promise she’d made to Tseng… and the promise of finding out if there really could be something between her and the young executive. Petra took a deep breath, holding it as the elevator doors began to close, and began to count to ten… her usual method when she needed to collect her thoughts.

She only made it to two before stopping the doors from closing and stepping out of the elevator, as well.

~end chapter 99~