A/N: I know, I know. I really shouldn't be starting a new one with all the other projects. But I'm gonna be updating them within the next week, I swear!

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Square Enix does. And for their creation, Squeenix has my undying love. I DO, however, own the characters of Rafe and Dr. Rydstrom.

Warnings: Eventual yaoi, m-preg, violence, blood, swearing.

--Chapter One

The day had started out so well.

The sun was shining, the birds chirping, and Reno had only been an hour late for work.

Upon arriving, he and the rest of the Turks had been informed that the whereabouts of a notorious group of terrorists had been discovered near the border of Wutai. Even after the whole Deep Ground incident had been dealt with, there were still those who didn't trust the WRO, simply because one of its main benefactors was none other than Rufus Shinra, whose company had lead the world through several crisis in the past.

The terrorists were calling themselves 'Neo-AVALANCHE' in a vain effort to sound as noble as the group of heroes that had saved the world time and time again. Reno had scoffed at the name, thinking it stupid that anyone would want to name their group after the one lead by the Chocobo-headed bastard known as Cloud Strife.

Their mission was simple: The Turks, along with a select group of WRO operatives, were to infiltrate the N-A compound and take their leaders alive. They would be interrogated thoroughly to discover the hiding places of some of the other foolish groups that tried to preach their Anti-Shinra dogma.



Getting into the compound had been simple enough. The Turks had flown in one chopper, and the WRO group of ten had flown in a slightly larger one. Once inside, however, Reno knew something was up almost immediately. There wasn't a person in sight, and the halls looked like no one had lived there in years. He had just turned towards his comrades to relay his suspicions when shots broke out down the hall. He and the others evacuated the building quickly, recognizing a trap when they saw one. Sadly, three of the WRO members hadn't been so lucky.

All thoughts of successfully completing their mission were quickly discarded when they saw the thirty or so armed men making their way out of the surrounding forest, no doubt with more waiting out of sight. Reno had just enough time to grab Elena and drag her behind an abandoned transport before the men opened fire. A quick glance around during the lull that followed showed him that Tseng and Rude had found cover as well, and that two more of the WRO men had been killed. With a grimace, he realized that the only way to make it out of this was to somehow make it to their chopper. His fingers ran over the warm Fire materia in his pocket.

--

He signaled to the others, using well rehearsed hand signals to tell them about his plan. Then he leaned back against the transport, heaving a mental sigh. For the love of Gaia, this better work. Then, wishing he had a smoke to calm his nerves, he quickly stood and cast Firaga into the amassing attackers. The fireballs had barely left his hands before he started for the larger WRO chopper. He heard the shouts of those he had hit, along with the loud clatter of gunfire. Someone running behind him gave a shout and fell to the ground, but he couldn't afford to look back a see who it had been.

Soon, he had reached the chopper and was busy at the controls, getting it warmed up and ready as the others piled inside. "Dammit. Sure as fuck wish this coulda been my chopper, yo!" As the propeller blades slowly whirred to life, he watched anxiously as Rude and Tseng covered the others boarding the chopper. Buy this time, only three of the WRO men were left, and one of them was badly injured. Elena and Tseng piled into the back with the soldiers, while Rude took his customary seat in the Co-pilot's chair. Rude broke his usual silence.

"Hopefully these assholes don't know about our transport ship, otherwise…"



"…we're fucked," Reno finished. Rude gave a grim nod, and Reno hoped to whatever gods were out there that these people didn't know about the ship. It was a large airship and well-equipped, but currently it would be a sitting duck ripe for an ambush. "Well, buddy. I say we get the Hell outta here!"

Reno eased back on the controls, barely waiting for Tseng to slam the side door. The chopper lifted easily, and the attackers nearest to it were forced to shield their eyes from the wind-blown grit and debris that was being whipped around them. Those farther back began to open fire on the helicopter. As they continued to rise and make a slow turn in the direction of their transport, Reno cackled. "Hah! Thought you fuckers could get rid of the Turks with that stupid trick?! It'll take a lot more than that to take down-"

Suddenly a large crack appeared in the windshield. Everyone was shocked. Everyone except Rude. He could see the two small bullet holes that had caused it, and he had been the only one to see Reno jerk back in his seat at the same moment that the crack appeared. He turned fully to stare at Reno, seeing the look of wide-eyed surprise on his face. "Reno, are you…" Then the red-headed Turk suddenly slumped forward against his harness, his weight falling against the controls and sending the chopper into a dizzying downward spiral.

With the ground approaching fast, Rude grabbed the co-pilot's controls and yanked them back. Precious seconds went by as the chopper struggled to respond, but finally they were back up in the air and speeding off in the right direction. Sparing a quick glance at his partner, Rude could see that Reno was still slumped over in his seat, with blood staining the back of his jacket. "Tseng. I need you to get Reno out of the pilot's seat. He's been shot, and I don't know how badly he's wounded."

Tseng, who had been on his PHS relaying their failure to Rufus, nodded and quickly finished his report. Pocketing his phone, he slid up between the pilot and co-pilot seats. It wasn't until then that he too was able to see the bullet holes in the windshield. He muttered something in Wutaian (No doubt a curse, Rude thought.), and grabbed hold of Reno's right shoulder. As gently as he could, he pushed the red-head upright in the seat and unbuckled his harness. His swearing increased in volume as he got a good look at his second in command.



One of the bullets had penetrated the left side of Reno's abdomen, a few inches above his hip. Blood, thick and dark, poured from the wound in torrents. Tseng quickly removed his jacket and pressed it to the wound, using the sleeves to tie it in place. Then his eyes traveled upward. There had been two holes in the windshield, and though he hoped that one had missed, he had to be sure.

Against all of his hopes, the second bullet had hit its mark. It had hit in the juncture of Reno's neck and left shoulder, right above his collar bone. The wound went through and through, the bullet now embedded in the back of his chair, leaving a gaping hole in Reno's neck almost an inch wide. Reno, while normally pale, had no color left to his face, making the crescent tattoos stand out vividly. His breaths were short and rapid, and a small trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. His eyes, jade green and glowing slightly with the mako that all Turks shared, were half open and glazed over, staring into nothing.

As carefully as he could, Tseng wrapped one arm around Reno's shoulders and the other under his knees, lifting him as gently as possible. Carrying him in the confined space was awkward, but he managed to get the red-head in to the passenger compartment of the chopper and lay him carefully on the floor. Without waiting for instruction, one of the WRO stood to take the vacant chair at the controls.

Elena forced back tears, even as she handed Tseng her own jacket to cover the wound in Reno's neck. The Wutaian took Reno's uninjured shoulder in his grasp and gently shook it. "Reno. Hey, Reno. Are you still with us?" Dull eyes blinked slowly several times before recognition set in.

"Yo…Boss man." His voice sounded weak and was tinged with pain. "What's goin' on? What am I… doin' back here?" Tseng's normally stern face softened at the injured Turk's confusion. "Don't you remember, Reno? We had just taken off. You've been shot."

The red-head did remember. He remembered taunting their assailants, remembered the sudden crack in the windshield, the explosions of pain in the neck and stomach. After that, it had all gone dark. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he weakly struggled to get up. "Wait…Rude?"



"I'm right here, partner." Reno felt a strong hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down. Reno sighed and laughed weakly. "Guess it was pretty stupid of me to think we were home free yet, huh?" His laughter turned into weak coughing. More blood welled up in his throat, forcing it's way out of his mouth. Alarm flashed across Tseng's face.

"Reno, you need to calm down. We'll be to the transport soon, and then it's just a few hours until we reach Edge. Do you think you can hold on until then?" When he didn't get a response, his heart froze. "Reno!"

I can hear you, man, Reno thought, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't respond. Numbness had spread out from the two wounds, and a seeping chill had taken over. Dimly, he registered Elena and Rude calling out for him as well. It's alright, guys. I'm… just gonna…sleep for a while…

--

Reno shot bolt upright, panting heavily. Sweat dripped off of his body as he fought to regain some sense of control. What the Hell?! Was that some kind of dream?

As his eyes began to adjust to the dim light, he began to wonder if that was really the case. But when he was finally able to take in his surroundings, a horrified certainty set in.

He was lying on a cold metal table. Intravenous tubes ran down to his arms, filled with unknown liquids. He found himself to be completely naked except for the thin white sheet that covered him. Arms shaking, he began to frantically rip out the IVs, wincing in pain when the needles left his skin. He quickly swung his legs over the side of the table, but when he tried to stand, he fell hard to the floor. The breath was knocked out of him when he felt a horrible pain in his stomach and a dull ache in his neck. He forced himself to his feet, wrapping the sheet around himself. Looking down, he noticed a long jagged scar running from one hip to the other, along with a small scar from a bullet hole above his left hip. The bullet scar, however, was black. What the Hell?!

He staggered across the room, towards the wide, swinging double doors. He stopped, however, when he saw his reflection in the mirror over the hand washing station by the door. Moving closer, he was startled by his own reflection.

His hair was longer than it had been the day they'd left for that mission, by a good several inches at least. Also, he could see the scar from the bullet that had pierced his neck, and it was black just like the other one. So absorbed was he in his own reflection, that he didn't notice the other presence in the room until he heard the loud clank of a metal tray hitting the floor. He whipped around, his heart beating crazily in his chest.

Standing in the doorway was a young man that Reno judged could be no older than twenty one. His short messy hair was dyed a shocking blue, and his one visible eye was a vivid green; his right eye was covered with a plain white patch. The tray he had dropped was covered with several medical instruments, along with replacements for some of the IVs that had been attached to Reno.

"The Hell? Dr. Rydstrom said you were never supposed to wake up." As he took a step forward, Reno reflexively backed away, until he could feel the cold hard wall behind him. "Who the Hell are you?! What the fuck am I doin' here?!"

The blue-haired man held out his hands in a calming gesture. "Relax. My name is Raphael Evans, though most people just call me Rafe. You are in a small lab in what's left of Modeoheim." Rafe watched him for a moment before slapping himself on the forehead. "Great. They bring this guy in, the 'Good Doctor' does some creepy shit, and suddenly the guy wakes up three months later."

Reno's eyes widened. "Three months! And why the Hell am I in Modeoheim and not Edge? Last I heard, Modeoheim was deserted."

Rafe shrugged. "For the most part, this place has been abandoned since the whole Genesis thing, but if you want to keep research a secret, it's a good place to start. And as for Edge, your 

guys think you're dead. Because, frankly, you were. Dr. Rydstrom decided to bring you here for experiments or whatnot, and here you are."

The fact that this guy was saying this all matter-of-factly was kind of confusing for Reno, but he was having a hard time believing it. "Why the Hell are you spouting this all calm? You seriously think I'm gonna believe all this shit?" Once again, Rafe shrugged. "Doesn't matter if you believe me or not, it's the truth. And for why I'm telling you all this…It's your body, man, and I felt you had the right to know. This shit doesn't sit well with me."

Reno glared. "If this is true, and you don't like it here, then why are you here in the first place?" Rafe's eyes grew distant. "Truth is, if it wasn't for Rydstrom, I wouldn't be here right now. That and I don't really think I'd make it outside. I don't know anyone but him and a few of his colleagues." He went silent for a moment, then gave himself a little shake. "Anyway, I suggest you get back on that table. He won't kill you or cause you any lasting harm because of what you're carrying, but he can make your life more unbearable than it seems now."

"If you seriously expect me to be a good boy and go back to letting you guys-" He stopped and ran Rafe's words through his mind once more. "What I'm carrying? What the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Rafe seemed to momentarily be at a loss for words. The look on his face told Reno that he was deciding what he should and should not tell him. Finally, with a resigned sigh, Rafe looked him in the eyes.

"You're carrying a child, Reno. And before you ask, I don't know who the other parent is supposed to be or even why it's so important, but it's the truth."

Reno wanted to deny it, wanted to question the younger man's sanity. But he couldn't. The look in Rafe's eye told him that the blue-haired man didn't want to believe it either. Plus there were the stitches on his abdomen and the strange sensation of something out of place. Suddenly the room started to spin and go dark. Before he knew it, he was falling, merciful blackness coming to take him away.

Rafe managed to catch him before he could hit the ground, and he hefted the red-headed Turk in his arms before setting him back down on the metal table from which he'd risen. It was true 

what he'd said; he really didn't like being here and helping the doctor do these kinds of things to people, but he hadn't much other choice.

As he began to carefully reconnect the IVs to the other man's arms, he started to wonder if there wasn't a way for both of them to get out of this horrible situation.

--Chapter One end--

A/N: So what did y'all think? I know I should be getting to all my other fics, but trust me, I'm working on them! Kismet High will get its update soon, and, believe it or not, so will Souls and Iron!

Anywho, you all know the drill people!