Final Fantasy VII
Enrapture
- - -
Reno screamed. He pounded his fists against the walls, threw a chair against the door and screamed until no voice came. The tray lay bent and the food scattered around the windowless room. One bed. One chair. One door. And Reno smeared the sterile white with blood of his bruised hands. The lights dimmed, signalling the end of a day and allowing sleep. Reno's voice was long gone, yet he kept screaming; ragged and hoarse.
- - -
Who knew how long the lights had been on when he awoke again? The room was cleaned. There was a new tray of food. His hands were bandaged and his head pounded dully. He'd been drugged again, Reno realized. Crawling towards the tray that sat upon a chair by the door, the turk knew he had to eat. At the very least he had to drink. Then, shaking, Reno picked up the plastic mug of water and sipped cautiously. One look at the food and he lost his appetite.
The empty mug hit the floor seconds before Reno. He did not care to stay awake. He wanted to dream himself far from this room, even at the risk of starving.
- - -
Hunger raged in him as Reno woke again. The lights were dim; the beginning or end of a day. Glancing around, the redhead noted the tray still where he'd left it. He ate all of what was offered. Blue eyes darted back and forth, as if he feared that someone would appear from thin air and take the food away. There was nothing to drink, though. With one last glance around, Reno moved towards the bed and crawled up under the cover.
- - -
Tseng was there when he woke up. Reno blinked and quickly pulled himself from the bed, falling to the floor when his feet failed him. He lifted his eyes in a silent plea. His voice was rough and his throat ached. The other turk sighed and turned his head away, even if only for a moment.
"Reno, we need to purge it from you. Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"
Reno shook his head, eyes still pleading. The disappointment was clear in Tseng. The redhead reached towards his superior, whispering questions, desperate for an answer, begging for freedom.
- - -
Soldiers were restringing him. When had they gotten there? Tseng was groaning in pain; half pulled and half carried out from the room by Rude. Reno blinked in confusion. Beyond the open door stood Elena, face a display of horror, and Rufus, mirroring Tseng's earlier disappointment. A man in a white coat bowed next to Reno and readied an injection that the turk knew he'd seen before. His eyes snapped back towards the ones outside, his friends, his co-workers and his boss.
"No… no! Not again! Not again! Please!"
The needle pierced his skin and the world faded, taking all anxious faces with it.
- - -
Rude was there when he woke up. The room was different. Still white, but padded. Reno swallowed as he looked around the new cell.
"...what happened to Tseng?"
He winced at his own voice. He winced at Rude's tightening expression.
"You slammed him into the wall, Reno. He's got a concussion."
Reno shook his head. He had done nothing of the sort. Rude was lying. Reno had not, would not, attack Tseng.
"You don't remember."
It was a statement made by Rude. The bald turk rose up and banged on the door. Reno did not have the strength to call after him. Why would Rude lie to him?
- - -
Those eyes were there, staring at him through the dark. Reno lifted his hand and reached towards the eyes, wishing to once more touch the face that framed them. But the eyes disappeared, as afterimages tend to, and Reno wept. A shout tore from his throat without him even realizing it.
- - -
Blood tests had been taken. There had been soldiers watching him suspiciously. Reno had not reacted. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why he was kept in this room. Why were people accusing him for things he knew he didn't do? No one spoke to him though he kept asking them. Yet there was little he could do as the soldiers itched for their weapons at the slightest hitch in Reno's voice.
Before soon the redhead was left alone again.
- - -
The lights were diming away. Reno paced back and forth, back and forth, whispering hurried answers to the enquiring voices and casting paranoid looks at the door. Those beautiful, captivating eyes followed his every move from the ever growing darkness. Reno smiled at them and kept pacing.
- - -
From the corner of his eye, being violently pushed against the wall as he was, Reno could tell that the doctor was dead. Why there was a dead body in his cell was beyond him, but it seemed that everyone accused him. It would have been amusing if it hadn't been so frustrating. Reno was sure he would remember killing the man. After all, the corpse was barely minutes old. A needle struck deep through one eye. Nearly an instant death helped by the drugs injected straight to the brain. Or that was what he caught from the conversation outside the now open door. Reno felt rage bubbling to the surface.
"They were right… they were right about all of you! Fuck you! Fuck Shinra!"
The talk outside silenced. Reno strained his neck and saw Rufus, accompanied by Rude, enter the room.
"Who was right, Reno? Who did you talk with, and what did they say?"
Rufus voice was calm and collected. Reno paled, realizing that he'd betrayed the owner of those eyes. But then he sneered.
"Let me go. I have to go back. I want to go back."
Rufus questioned him again, but Reno would rather die than betray those eyes. There was a far too familiar sting at the base of Reno's neck and the world faded once again.
- - -
The lights dimmed, the lights came back. The lights dimmed, the lights came back. Food four times a day. He ate perhaps once or twice. Time went on. Days passed. Weeks? Months? Reno did not know. After a while, he no longer cared.
- - -
Memories assaulted him one night. Memories he could not believe were real. Maybe Shinra had genetically created and inserted the memories. They had to be faked. Why would those eyes lie to him? Reno screamed and raged and demanded to talk with someone, anyone. No one acknowledged his calls.
- - -
Reno looked up tiredly when the door opened. So far there was the death of two doctors, broken bones of one soldier and Tseng's concussion blamed on him. As if reading his mind, the Wutaian turk walked into the room and looked down at where Reno was sitting. The padded door was closed and locked behind him. Tseng opened his mouth to speak but Reno beat him to it.
"I'm sorry about the head."
The words clearly shocked Tseng. Reno merely gave a miserable smile.
"You… remember?"
Reno buried his face in his hands. Tseng, at long last feeling like some progress had been made, kneeled down and continued quickly.
"Reno, you have to tell me everything. We need to know everything that happened on your mission. Then we can help you."
"Get out."
Tseng frowned. Reno's voice was calm, oddly so considering his situation.
"It's coming back."
Tseng took a step back and banged on the door.
- - -
Rude came before the lights dimmed. He told Reno that Tseng had a fractured wrist, but nothing too serious. The soldier was slightly worse off. Reno took the news in emotionlessly, never opening his eyes. He could not bring himself to care. Not when those eyes were looking at him through his closed lids and a soft voice spoke in his ear.
- - -
A/N:
Sometimes, my imagination supplies me with images that make little sense. Some like the illogical random, some don't. Sticks and stones, dear readers, sticks and stones.