Staying Down

Chapter 1

H-Chan: Good morning Folks! I started writing this at a normal hour... around maybe 6 or 7 PM it is now the next day.

D-Chan: I am soooo tired.... all I wanna do is check my howrse and go to sleep. H-Chan won't spoil the plot for me and I have a headache and the Ancora family reunion is today. (for those of you confused -Ancora Psychiatric Hospital of Hammonton NJ) No we aren't all nuts but by the end of this we will wish we were.

H-Chan: We put the fun in dysfunctional... minus the fun part lol. I don't own FF VII so yeah...

Reno moaned, if there was one thing he knew... it was that Tseng was damned good with his mouth. However it was all over much to soon, Reno couldn't handle the things that Tseng was doing to him. Bad memories cropped up every where and Reno just couldn't trust the intentions of anyone when it came to his body. Reno grunted as he pulled Tseng up from his chest to look at him "Tseng... I can't. We have to stop." Tseng blinks his pretty brown eyes at Reno and raises is eyebrows in the most adorable confused expression Reno had ever seen. Reno's face soften slightly "I'm sorry. I just can't do it.... we have to stop... I'm sorry.. Please.. can I go?" Tseng slowly pulls away from Reno and his face hardens slightly "Of course Reno." Reno's face falls "Please, please Tseng don't be angry with me. I... I can't explain it. It's to much, I'm not.. I can't" Reno lets out an explosive breathe. "Please Tseng I just can't not right now. I know you don't understand Tseng, but then how could you." Reno chuckles "You didn't live my life. I've never told any of you... any of it.. Tseng it's horrifying. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

Tseng cocks his head "Try me Reno, and start at the beginning." Reno shrugs "Yeah sure.. I suppose I should start at birth then huh?" Tseng stares blankly at Reno and Reno shrugs again "Or more precisely at my conception... or the meeting of my parents.. or something" Tseng rolls his eyes "Reno just start wherever your most comfortable." Reno laughs for a good minute before grinning at Tseng "If I did that I'd be starting two years into my Turk training. That wouldn't be fair to you so.. I guess the beginning. My birth I guess. I suppose I should say it started 20 years ago I think... not sure about my age never had anyone around to tell me that stuff. I was much to young to understand anyways."

(20 years ago)

A small squalling infant is brought into the world only to be held by his quickly fading mother before being taken to his father who is told what the mother named him and that he will be raising him alone. His father looks blankly down at the infant and nods his head and hands the baby back to the nurse and moves down the hall to say goodbye to his wife. Six years go by with Reno growing normally with a distant father but well cared for. Three months after his sixth birthday Reno's father fell ill. Without the money to get treatment the man died within four months. Reno was left with out a father and had no wheres to go. Six year old Reno was on the streets. Life on the streets isn't easy for a pretty little six year old.

(Several Days After Father's Death)

Reno whimpers on the ground of the alley he's in. He was hungry and he hurt everywhere, he was filthy too. Things had happened to him in this last week that he didn't want to remember. Men and women alike had touched him and done things to him that just made him feel sick. Just a few moments ago two men had done things to him and he didn't know why, they'd laughed at him as he lay crying after they'd finished with him. Still crying he slowly pulls his filthy and ripped clothing back on and exits the alley way. Wiping his eyes he glances around to see if anyone is paying attention to him, no one is so he makes his way towards the empty warehouse he'd been staying in the last two nights he'd been out here. It was hard to get into, it required a lot of climbing and squeezing through small places but it kept him safe. He'd never leave it if he didn't have to eat. Still crying he throws himself down on top of some old smelly blankets and falls asleep.

He's awoken the next morning by being poked and muttering. Sitting up quickly he scrambles back and looks wildly about the room. He sees several teens and younger kids all staring at him. "Wha... what?" is all Reno can get out before what seems to be the eldest teen steps forward and kneels before him. "Hey kid? You ok?" The elder teen asks as he stares down at Reno in a questioning manner. Reno stares at him wide eyed as tears spring to his eyes once more. "Please... please.. no." Reno shakes his head and mumbles continuously through his tears and sobs. The teen shakes his head looking horrified "No ,no kid. I'm not... I swear. I'm not going to touch you, I promise. We aren't like them, we're family." Reno tearfully glances around the room one more time and hiccups. "You.. you won't?" The elder boy nods "We won't touch you in anyway your uncomfortable with. Why don't you join us... we can't completely protect you but we can keep you from the worst of it, and teach you to protect yourself somewhat. What do you say kid?"

Several minutes of silence go by as Reno seems to think about it. "I... I'm Reno." Reno holds out his left hand and is pulled up by the much older boy "Well Reno, I'm Saint and this is my gang of misfits." Reno looks to the other children and nods at them slowly. The other kids smile at him and settle down about the large warehouse. Saint turns to Reno "Your lucky we found you kid. This is one of our normal haunts.. but as you can see it's a tad... blocked off... we didn't know if we'd all be able to get in but we managed." Reno blinks up at him "Normal haunts?" Saint smiles at him and nods "Yeah we roam from place to place, it makes it harder for Shinra scum to catch us if we move around a lot." Reno cocks his head and nods "Yeah I suppose that makes sense." Reno returns to his bundle of blankets and watches the other kids talk and play with each other cowed by how easily they interact with each other. Saint plops down next to him and smiles at him "Confusing isn't it? How easily we interact despite the fact you can tell we've been through enough experiences with human beings to never trust another one again." Reno nods at him and continues to glance around.

(One Year Goes By)

A seven year old Reno glances around the market and quick spots all the easy targets for pickpocketing. After selecting his targets he stealthily enters the crowd and carefully goes about liberating peoples wallets from them. He knew no one in the slums carried enough money for anything good but accumulated it became enough for something to ease his and the others hunger. Besides Reno was the best thief they had in the group, he always brought in the largest amount of wallets. His skills were highly praised and they fostered his skills whenever they could. They knew Reno was smart and damn was he fast. Reno just seemed to soak up whatever was said in front of him. He remembered everything that was said to him and others around him, as well as everything done. He also required a special diet. Reno wouldn't touch meat... or eggs.. but he'd drink milk and eat cheese. Reno's diet was.. expensive to say the least but since he brought in the most they tried very hard for him.

Of course they didn't deprive the other members of the gang... they just couldn't afford to lose Reno, they'd never be able to replace him. If they did lose him they would leave a majority of their members without food more often then not. Reno was the pride of their little group. He got along with everyone really well, that paired with his skills made him invaluable. Saint was particularly fond of him, thought of him as a little brother. Most of the gang thought of him as a brother, a little brother an older brother. All the same to them really, he was a sure part of the group now. A fixture amongst their people. Reno was capable of fitting into any group, if they were young enough or stupid enough to over look him easily. Reno was good at making people over look him so long as they didn't find him attractive... or he was able to hide from them long enough to get in and out as quick as possible. Reno could do almost anything in under ten minutes, he was incredibly fast.

His speed was unmatched, none of the other kids enjoyed sparring with him so he could learn defense. Not that it mattered he was quick enough that he could avoid most anything, some of them even joked that he could avoid bullets. Thankfully no one had yet to test that theory. They were pretty sure that Reno wasn't bullet proof.... or knife proof for that matter or any kind of proof... just really fast. He healed pretty fast too... but thats besides the point, he was good at everything they put in front of him... and if he wasn't good at it he continued to practice until he was nearly perfect at it. He watched and learned everything he could, he wanted to learn all he could whenever he could. Enough about his learning habbits though he'd managed to nab every wallet he'd had marked down as a possible steal. He had a totally of twelve wallets from that batch alone and he still had the rest of the day, for now however it was good if he just let the market relax after his theft. Once things calmed down again he'd steal some more, after that he'd find another place to go.

For now he'd sit back in his hiding place and count his fortune. It probably wasn't much because of the fact he was stealing it from the people of the slums, but gil was gil. All gil was good as far as Reno was concerned, he liked gil he really liked gil. Gil made Reno's world go 'round, he liked to spend it just as much as he liked to gain it. Not that he got a lot of it or even spent it on more then food or clothes but he did sometimes manage to get other things. He had a watch and a switchblade but that was 'bout all really. If he wanted anything else he stole it... mostly anyways. He didn't really get a chance to get anything else cause it was the slums but sometimes he managed to get a leg up onto the plate and get some neat stuff. When he got half a chance at the good stuff he tried really hard and usually he got some good stuff that he either sold or he kept it to play with. Either way it all ended well for Reno. You see Reno had seen many people come and go from the gang, sometimes not always on good terms. He knew very well that things could end badly for people without a gang. He'd seen more then enough kids who thought they were touch enough and could protect themselves. Things never ended well, and most of the time they weren't allowed back into the gang if they asked. Depending on the status they left in, if it was on really bad terms it was a definite no.

Reno kept himself in good with the gang so nothing to bad would happen to him, and some pretty bad things could happen to him and he knew it. He'd been by himself for an entire week before the gang had found him. Some sick stuff had happened that he rather wouldn't remember. Though with his memory the best he could do was block it out or just not think about it. His memory was all to good, he never forgot anything that happened to him... sadly enough he even remembered his birth, which he knew for a fact was weird cause no one else he knew could. But things were good for him, he had anything he wanted so long as he could acquire it. He had more then a dozen friends all of which he lived with. Things were good and he only wished nothing would change but he knew eventually it would. Things would change and with his luck it wouldn't be for the better. Bad things happened to good people, and bad people for that matter. Good things were actually looked upon with great suspicion, they didn't happen often and If they did it usually wasn't to people like them. Reno was considered a good thing and he had happened a long time ago.

(Present Day)

"You see things weren't pretty Tseng, I was dirty... and useless back then. Sure I had lots of things to do and I was helpful to the gang. But a gang isn't a job it isn't a solid paycheck, and it's illegal what we did." Reno moves away from Tseng to throw himself down on the bed, making himself comfortable. Tseng cocks his head and sits carefully beside him "Please continue Reno, What else happened?" Reno chuckles "Things get worse from here... You see, by age ten I was a killer."

(10 years ago)

"Get offa me!" the young redhead yells as he's grabbed by a man who is laughing at him with his friends. Reno glares angrily and strikes out at the man who quickly angers "You little shit!" The man lashes out and hits Reno upside his head, hard. Reno yelps and shrinks down on himself, the men laugh again. Reno scowls "What the hell do you want!?" The men laugh again and the one that seems to be their leader grins at him "What do you think we want? Your a pretty little thing... we just want a little fun. Right boys?" the man turns to his friends and they all burst into laughter as Reno's face goes from angry to horrified. Reno begins to struggle much more then before and pleading with his captors. This just causes the men to laugh more. Reno panicking pleads more "Please, please no! I don't want this, I can't do it! Not again please no!" The men laugh and the leader bends down more to Reno's level "Aw come on Red. You don't want to deprive us of our fun do you?" Reno's eyes widen as he realizes that this is actually going to happen to him, again.

Reno is thrown down onto the ground of the dirty building that they'd dragged him into. As soon as they let go Reno remembers his knife, of course he's unable to get to it in time before he's pulled off of the ground and slammed into a wall. Reno groans and opens his eyes to look at the man before him and glares. The man smiles at him creepily before letting him go to unbuckle his pants, this give Reno his chance. Reno pulls his switchblade from his pocket and releases the blade "Leave me alone, I don't wanna hurt nobody!" The man glances back at him then his eyes narrow on the blade before he laughs"go on kids try and stick that thing in me!" He goes to grab the knife only to have Reno dodge away from him and lash out with the knife which finds it's mark between the mans ribs. The man falls instantly to his knees staring up at Reno wide eyed and a pained expression on his face as he slowly falls forward onto the ground at Reno's feet. Reno stares wide eyed at the body of the man before taking a few quick steps backwards before looking up at the other two men who look more then pissed.

Five hours go by and Reno finds himself curled up in a little ball hidden behind a large trash receptacle in a dark alley. He'd killed all three men, all three. He was horrified at how easy it had been and how he almost didn't feel guilty about it. He knew the Shinra grunts would be looking for him, and so would his gang. He needed to stay away for a while, to get the grunts off his trail and to keep them away from his gang. He couldn't let them near the gang, they'd destroy them all, reform programs, schools, orphanages. There would be no one left, and Reno couldn't allow that. So he ran and he stayed gone for months until everything calmed down and the searches for him became less and sloppy.

(Present Day)

Reno turns his head towards Tseng "It was the day I realized what I was fully capable of. How easy death was to hand out, and how easy it was to run from everything and remain invisible until it was all over. The gang was happy to see me when I came back, but they seemed to notice that something was different about me. They stayed away, no one was close with me after that." Reno rolls onto his side and throws his arm across Tseng's waist. Tseng turns his head towards Reno before rolling to face the other man "Reno, go to sleep. You can continue in the morning. Your tired, sleep now." Reno closes his eyes and smiles at Tseng "Ok yeah, I'll sleep." Slowly both men drift off into sleep.

H-Chan: Well... we finished this day. It's 10:40 PM, we made it through the reunion and I managed to do some writing while I was there.

Reno: Poor baby, you had to go through all that and they got your laptop wet.

H-Chan: I survived... chased the kids around... water balloons... pain pills for my headache....

D-Chan: * snores *

H-Chan: Poor D-Chan, sound asleep. Remember to review people. However I'm heading to bed good night folks.