AN: For ADarkerShade, who wrote a lovely fic about where Reno and Rude were during Meteor fall and what they were doing. In my review I wondered where the other Turks were, and if anyone was with Rufus at that moment. I didn't like the thought of him being alone waiting for the end. Her response was: "I'd love to read a Rufus at Kalm story - I quite like the idea of him being alone, although I doubt he was. Perhaps one of the BC Turks was with him - or Veld? That could be interesting. Or Tseng? Would you write it, or are you just too busy?"
The answer to her question is Yes. Yes I am too busy, but yes I will write it because the story was in my head the moment she made the suggestion.
This is based on Before Crisis and The Case of Shinra, and WARNING this does contain some spoilers for both of those entries in the compilation.
The streets of Kalm overflowed with refugees. They came from Midgar, fleeing the coming disaster: Meteor. Some didn't stop in Kalm but kept on as if they could outrun the end of the world.
There was a house in Kalm owned by the Shinra family, one of many such properties scattered around the planet. After all, they owned the world. Yet, of all the places he could have gone, Rufus Shinra had chosen to come to Kalm.
Shinra tower had been destroyed and there was nowhere safe in Midgar. Rufus had bid his Turks to take him to Kalm, as it was the closest he could be to Midgar. Even at the end of the world, Rufus Shinra would not run.
In his bed Rufus stirred, waking from the drug-induced dream. Painkillers always had that effect on him. He wouldn't have taken them if Tseng hadn't insisted. Not that Rufus had put up much of a fight. He didn't want to seem like some belligerent child. Besides, as much as he preferred to keep his wits about him, if the pain wasn't absolutely unbearable, what was the point now?
The world was about to end and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. So if they were all going to die, why bother being coherent? True, it might not end. Perhaps somehow the Planet could fight back, but even if hope remained there was precious little Rufus Shinra could do now.
Weapon's blast had left him bloodied, bruised and broken. It was a wonder he'd survived at all. As it was, his crushed heel and shattered ribs left him bedridden. He should have still been hospitalized, but his Turks had advised him it wouldn't be safe to stay where anyone might find out his identity.
How many people blamed him for this?
It was no good wishing he could have done more, or that things could have been different. You couldn't change the past you could only atone. He gave the Turks leave to do as they wished. Tseng had ordered them to Midgar to help with the evacuation. If the world didn't end, they would do what they could to save as many lives as possible. If it did, then it wouldn't matter where they were; might as well go out doing something worth doing.
Unbeknownst to Rufus, Rude had remarked that it was just like Tseng to use his last orders for good deeds, and at the moment Rufus thought much the same. The Turks were on patrol in Midgar, and Rufus was alone. Not that the prospect of dying alone bothered him. The prospect of dying now and the world ending like this made him angry, but being alone did not daunt him. There was nothing the Turks could have done to ease his mind if they were here in any case. So better they go where they could be of some use.
Or perhaps Rufus was just too proud to have asked them to stay. Imagine Rufus Shinra asking someone to stay with him and hold his hand because they were going to die and he was afraid. Rufus had laughed at the thought of that.
Yet, now as Rufus woke he sensed someone else was in the room. He sat up despite the pain and turned on the bedside lamp. His next move would have been to reach for a weapon. However, when the light flooded the room it became apparent that it wouldn't be necessary.
"I thought one of you might come back," said Rufus, "but I didn't expect it to be you."
"No, I suppose you expected Tseng?" asked Veld. "You were talking in your sleep." The former leader of the Turks pulled up a chair and took a seat.
"I'd thought he'd died," said Rufus. "It was a surprise to see him again. Then again, he was probably just as surprised to see me." Rufus thought back to that moment at the hospital.
Tseng had been the only one in the room when Rufus returned to consciousness. For a moment, Rufus had thought he'd died, or that it was some dream. Then Tseng had put a hand on his shoulder and Rufus knew he was real.
"You're alive," Rufus had said.
"So are you," Tseng had replied. Their eyes had met, and all the things Rufus had never said to him that he'd wish he'd said once he thought Tseng was gone, came to mind. Except Rufus hadn't said anything at all. Instead he'd pulled Tseng close and kissed him, without so much as caring if he should.
Rufus pulled himself back to the present and regarded Veld. "You'll have to forgive me," he said, "my mind is a little hazy; the pain killers do that to me. It's my own fault for taking them, of course, but I wasn't expecting company."
"Least of all me," said Veld.
"I knew you were alive," said Rufus.
"Thanks to you," said Veld. "You always were a clever boy."
"Why are you here?" asked Rufus.
"I brought the remainder of the Turks to join with your forces in Midgar. I asked after you and Tseng told me where you were. You shouldn't have been left alone."
Rufus shrugged. "It's the end of the world, does it matter?" he asked. "Besides, they'll do more good out there than here."
"You'll do more good if you're kept safe," said Veld. "Not that you'll listen, but even if you don't have the man power to spare I'd suggested keeping someone with you. Just in case the world doesn't end. You'll have your work cut out for you then."
"So is that why you're here? To protect me?" asked Rufus.
"My people- your people, are taking care of things in Midgar. Someone should be here with you. Besides, if this is the end of the world, I wanted to thank you before the end. For what you did, for Felecia and me; for all of them."
"It wasn't for your sake," said Rufus. He laid back down, but turned his head to face the elderly Turk. "I did it for myself."
"So you say," said Veld. He got up and found a decanter of brandy in the liquor cabinet on the other side of the room. After pouring himself a drink he returned to his seat. "You care about the Turks?"
"I valuethem, yes," said Rufus.
"It seems the sentiment is mutual," said Veld. "I spoke with Tseng, he said Reno and Rude pulled you out of a emergency shelter under the building. I remember when they built the tower. It was your idea wasn't it? The escape route?"
"My father told you about that?" asked Rufus.
"We were close once," said Veld, "almost friends, but that was a long time ago. Your father had more of a sense of humor back then, enough to put in that escape hatch in the office, even though he thought it was ridiculous. Amazing foresight on your part, especially for a five year old."
"He thought I was stupid," said Rufus, "a natural born loser." He ran hand through his, brushing his bangs away from his face. "My father always thought I was a loser. I was never good enough to be his son."
"If it's any consolation," said Veld. He raised his glass and took a sip. "You wereright, and I bet you're pretty glad that you made the suggestion. Survival seems like winning to me. Besides, no one would have been good enough; you weren't him. But he did love you."
Rufus laughed out loud, but it was excruciating, even with the painkillers. "Oh Veld, please stop. I'll laugh myself sick."
Veld shook his head and gazed out the window. "He didn't know how to show it, I'll give you that," said Veld. "He had his empire to run, but there are plenty of less important men who make the same mistakes. Incompetent parents who love their children but indulge and neglect them, and are hated by them in return."
"He deserved to be hated," said Rufus, "and I wasn't alone in that."
"Perhaps you're right," said Veld.
"And I didn't try to kill him because I hated him," said Rufus. He laughed again, despite the pain. "I was doing exactly what a good Shinra should have done. In my way I was showing him I was worthy, the only way I could. The only way he'd see it. Not that I'm without remorse…I…I owe you an apology, for what I put you and your subordinates through, for the innocent lives I put in danger." Another laugh and he brushed his hair away a second time. "You probably don't believe that though, anymore than I believe my father cared for me."
"I accept your apology," said Veld, "but you've all ready done better than simply saying you're sorry. You made up for what you did. You saved us all."
"So I'm forgiven? For that at least," asked Rufus. "I'm glad to hear it."
Veld smiled and took another drink. "I think that's why you saved us," he said, "because you wanted to set things right, make up for what you did. From the fact Reno and Rude went back for you, I suppose they consider it more than even. You have their loyalty, until the end of the world, and maybe even after that. Oh, and since you managed to get out of the shelter, I imagine you guessed the passcode?"
"Yes," said Rufus.
"Did you know it was the late President's habit to use the same passcode for almost everything?" asked Veld. "Any equipment that he might be using. Didn't really have a head for memorizing different numbers, so he used the one set of numbers he'd never forget; his son's birthday."
Rufus was silent for moment. There was so much that had gone unsaid, his relationship with his father was broken beyond repair long before the Old Man died. Now it was too late.
"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Rufus.
"Because I think you should know," said Veld. "I think he would have wanted you to know."
"You think you owe him that?" asked Rufus. "You think you owe him anything after what he did? The minute you turned your back on Shin-ra you were dead to him, and he-"
"Oh I know," said Veld. "All the same I pity him, even after all he did. He drove his children away, lost one son permanently, and even though the other lived there never was much of chance for a relationship. He died alone, his only family thousands of miles away. At the very least, I hope you might remember him as more than just a monster. He cared about you, and believe me Rufus, if you didn't mean a lot to him he would have killed you years ago."
"And I would have deserved it," said Rufus. "Still, I doubt his mercy had anything to do with affection. You know what the problem is with good men, Veld?"
"What's that?" he asked.
"They know what they would do in a given situation, because it's the right thing, and because they're good men, they can't understand how anyone could do or even contemplate anything different. You probably think parents love their children absolutely and value their well being above all else, because that's what you would do."
It was Veld's turn to laugh. "I'm a Turk, Rufus," said Veld. "The things I've done, the mistakes I've made. I am hardly what you'd call a good man."
"Being a Turk and being a good person are hardly mutually exclusive," said Rufus. "At least, I don't believe that was ever your intention."
"Ah intentions," said Veld, "you don't seem the type to put much stock in intentions, it's what you do or what you don't do that matters in the end. So tell me, President Rufus Shinra, what are you going to do now?"
"Now?" asked Rufus. "Well right now I'm going to lay here and wait for the world to end, it's the fated day." Rufus smirked and pulled himself up again. It hurt to sit up, but it was easier to see that way. The bed faced an enormous balcony whose windowed doors were currently blocked by thick drapery. "Why don't you open the curtains, and we can watch together."
Veld stood and pulled the curtains open. "And if the world doesn't end?" he prompted. "What will you do the day after the fated day?"
Rufus chuckled again and smiled. "I'll be happy," said Rufus. "I'm not ready to go or for the world to go. I suppose I'll rebuild. Start from scratch. All those refugees from Midgar will need somewhere to go, a new place to call home. If we can't build out of the ashes we'll build at the edge. If Shin-ra Company is over, then the world will need a new power, some new organization for a new beginning. I'll leave the name up to Reeve; he was always better at things like that…if he's still alive. I hope so; he was the only one on the board I actually liked, except for you of course."
"You liked me?" asked Veld. He sounded bemused as he came to reclaim his seat.
"Just because I tried to kill you once doesn't mean I didn't like you," said Rufus. "I respected you, more than my own father, in fact. You were a good man, a hard man, but better than most, especially at Shin-ra. You looked after your own, and you were smart. Well as smart as someone who cares too much can be. I always said love is the enemy of reason, or maybe that was someone else who said it and I just adopted the motto."
"Don't be so quick to discount love," said Veld, "or underestimate the power of caring. I think you care more than you let on. Tell me, you're young and wealthy, why stay and rebuild? You could easily disappear and live out the rest of your life in peace and comfort."
"At the risk of sounding like Reno, where is the fun in that?" asked Rufus. "Besides, even if Shin-ra is gone, this is still my world, and someone has to look after it. My company is responsible for the mess it's in, after all, so it's my responsibility."
"I'd tell you your father would have been proud," said Veld, "but I doubt you'd believe me. So I'll tell you this, you've come a long way Rufus." He put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you."
A flash of brilliant green light flooded the room. Even this far from Midgar they could see the Lifestream as it erupted to combat the threat from above. Rufus's eyes widened as he bore witness to the miracle. At that moment Rufus knew there would be a tomorrow, a day after that day. The day the world didn't end.
AN: Finally, credit to Licoriceallsorts for one of Veld's lines that I took from a conversation I had with her over a year ago. I think it was the first conversation we ever had. I left a rather impassioned review to her fic "Death is Part of the Process" (READ IT) criticizing her for being too sympathetic to the President, and making it clear that I took Rufus's side. Her response, and incites into The President's relationship with his son were used almost verbatim for Veld's dialogue here.
Licorice, I hope you don't mind I borrowed some of your words/ideas and gave them to Veld. Full credit to you, and if you do mind I'll of course remove and rewrite.
And I doubt anyone will really be interested in this fic (other than the person it was meant for) because I doubt "what was Rufus doing when Meteor fell?" is a burning question for many people, and this answer isn't a very interesting answer (I think having some sort of yaoi encounter with Tseng or another of the younger Turks would be much more interesting answer, or at least an answer more people would be interested in reading (I know I would be)). All the same, this is for you ADarkerShade, hope you like it.