I had this idea stuck in my head for ages and had wanted to post it for 'This Is It! but life seems to have had different plans so now, sadly this will be my tribute to Michael Jackson. I grew up with his music, my mother was a fan from the beginning and I knew his songs apart from other music if I only heard a few chords from the beginning by the time I was three. I hope you watch over your kids, Michael! 'Gone too soon'
The story itself was inspired by both a fan-art of the Turks as 1920s/30s gangsters and the lyrics below. It's also a stand-alone as most people will have guessed and not related to my chapter-story.
Smooth Criminal
As he came into the window it was a sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down
It was her doom.
Annie
Are you o.k.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
Annie
Are you O.K.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
Annie
Are you o.k.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
Annie
Are you o.k.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
Annie
Are you o.k.?
Will you tell us that you're o.k.?
There's a sign in the window that he struck you -
A crescendo
Annie!
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
Then you ran into the bedroom
You were struck down
It was your doom.
Annie
Are you o.k.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
You've been hit by
You've been hit by a smooth criminal.
So they came into the out-way
It was Sunday - what a black day!
Mouth to mouth resuscitation
Sounding heartbeats
Intimidations.
Annie
Are you o.k.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
Annie
Are you o.k.
Will you tell us that you're o.k.?...
Annie
Are you o.k.? So
Annie
Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.
Annie?
You've been hit by
You've been struck by a smooth criminal.
Okay
I want everybody to clear the area right now!
Annie
Are you o.k.
Will you tell us that you're o.k.?
-
Michael Jackson
The redhead in the bar did not stick out in any way. Usually his hair was a dead give away, but not here. In the slums around Edge, he was just another punk in a corner. His head was down, seemingly only caring for the drink in front of him.
In reality, aquamarine eyes were fixed on a petite black-haired girl who sat in a booth with a group of others playing poker. Ever since entering the bar she had not left the safety of the group, but soon enough it would be her turn of getting the next round of drinks. He could wait.
He lighted another cigarette and lent back in his seat. A Turk learnt to be patient early on, even if it never was his favourite discipline. Besides, he had only taken this assignment because Rufus had threatened to fire him if he didn't. Before he could even take a drag, the girl got up and made her way through the crowds.
Rolling his eyes, he snuffed the perfectly good smoke out and rose to his feet. Of course she would pick that time to give him an opportunity. It was just like her to ruin his night even more.
His eyes were glued to her black short hair, weaving his way through the mob without really looking where he was going. She went to the bar, squeezing past a few of the more intoxicated customers to lean against the counter. She did not even seem to notice the multitude of male eyes following her every move.
With a smirk, the Turk went to stand beside her, casually putting his glass down onto the top of the counter.
"Say, are you old enough for that yet?" He spoke to the racks of bottle across from them, almost as if talking to himself.
In the corner of his vision he could see her flinch, but she quickly recovered. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was full of contempt. So she was not happy to see him, big deal. He kept the smirk on his face as he turned to look at her, just to annoy her.
"Someone who knows for a fact that you should not be here, princess." He emphasised the last word, watching her face turn beet-red, "especially because I also know that you were told to stay at your apartment."
"This is none of you're damn business, Turkey!"
-"Actually it is." He leant closer, "See, if you get killed in our city, it makes the company look pretty damn bad. So we'd rather you stayed alive until you leave."
"If Rufus is so worried, why doesn't he buy the whole freaking gang out there? I'm sure a Turk like you has better things to do with his night; assassinations and all that. You don't want to be here and I don't want you to be here, so why don't you bugger off and let me have my fun?"
For a moment Reno froze. Apparently she was more pissed at him than he had thought. He quickly sobered, taking care to smirk at her dangerously.
"Careful there brat. I don't see any of your buddies around, but those guys are right here. In case you missed it, there's at least 9 of them and the way I see it I am the only thing between them and you right now."
She tensed almost immediately. So her training had not been that bad, apart from the fact that she had failed to notice her followers.
The ninja's face blanched and her hand slid to her side, where he guessed she was hiding her throwing stars. "I can handle myself, Turk-boy!" The words were forceful as always. She almost had him fooled, if it was not for the nervous twitch in her fingers.
She looked about ready to bolt and even though he could easily catch her again, he grabbed her slim arm before she could move. He had been told to handle this with sensibility, so he would do anything he could to avoid a scene.
Her eyes flew up to meet his expressionless ones at the contact. He told himself that his chest did not tighten up at the anger in her eyes.
"Look, I know you think you could just take them out, trust me, but this time we better just leave." He hissed, tightening his grip a little, to get the message across. Her eyes narrowed and she nodded towards the poker-table. "I wanna get my money first."
He did not know if she was just trying to tick him off or if she was for real. Did she not understand the danger she was in?
"For all I care you could have won a few millions there, you're coming with me. I didn't follow you here. I followed them. I take it you wanna live a little longer. So we're leaving, now!"
She swallowed visibly, her whole body tense. He wondered if he would be too if he was in her place, but shook the thought off. The people after her were a gang of outcast wutainese looking for revenge; there was no time for sugar-coating it.
"Here is what we'll do: You're gonna come with me, quietly and without any bull, and then nothing happens that will let them know you're gone."
"Where are they?"
-"I'm not telling you because they'll know they're busted. One of them blew himself up in a train just 'cause he thought you were in there, you don't wanna know what they'll do if they find out you're not an easy target."
***
He led her home, cursing silently how Shinra didn't have the budget for a car. Why Reeve's new company could not take care of this was a mystery to him. They took enough turns to have shaken off her followers. He was pretty confident she would be safe in the apartment. It was in a building full of CCTV after all. In his bad mood, he did not even notice her unusual silence.
"Right," He announced when she walked through the door, "I gotta get back and look for these suckers. This time, don't do anything stupid."
Yuffie shot him a more than annoyed look, the fear in her eyes visible even though she tried to conceal it. "Fine. Whatever!" She slammed the door in his face and bolted it.
When she turned around to face the empty apartment Reeve had organised for her, she swallowed down the bad feeling creeping up inside her. What was the point in having someone guard her on her way home who then simply left her by herself. So this building was apparently safe, she did not trust that one bit. She did not want to admit it to herself, but she would have felt a lot safer if the Turk had stayed around.
Not that she needed him around. In fact, she would have a talk with Reeve right now. Never mind how late at night it was. With a huff, she went over to the couch and threw herself down at the same time that she flipped her phone open. That was when she noticed the shadow outside the window.
For a split second she frowned. Was this not the third floor? Then instinct set in and her hand had grabbed the first throwing star and let it fly before her brain really caught up with the situation. It broke through the glass, shattered the window and sliced the figure across what looked to be the shoulder.
As soon as she recognised the glint of metal in the gloved hand as a gun, she dove under the table, throwing it over to have at least a small barrier against the bullets that started to rain down on her. Someone had to hear this, right?
Her eyes darted around the room, searching for her conformer. She caught a glimpse of it through the door in the bedroom. Cursing under her breath, she rushed to throw three more of her small weapons at the assailant, who by now had landed on his feet in front of the destroyed window.
She saw him stagger as one of them hit him in the lower arm, blood gushing forth. she had not had time to aim, so this had been pure attacker dropped to his knees, hand pressing against the heavily bleeding cut.
The ninja decided to take this as her chance, and made a dash for her bedroom. If she could only get her primary weapon, she could end this. Only in her rush did she miss the second man appearing behind the first one.
The crackle of a machine gun suddenly filled her ears; she felt a piercing pain her in the back just as she reached for her conformer and white hot agony blossomed through her whole body. She gasped and realised that she must have been hit. Trying to ignore the paralyzing feeling, she stumbled towards where her conformer lay, only to fall to her knees when her legs did give out.
She barely heard the door being kicked down. Neither did she see the redheaded Turk fire several shots at the masked man.
The first assassin went down almost immediately, hit in the head twice. The second one hid behind the sofa, only the barrel of the machine gun visible.
Reno dodged the bullets just barely, ducking under the same table that the ninja had hidden behind. His back to the already chipping wood, he checked his magazine. He should have really made sure to bring a fully loaded weapon. He had not expected that much trouble. Beside him he spotted a fallen over salt-shaker and he smirked when it gave him an idea. He dropped his weapon with a loud clang and waited, motionless.
The firing only stopped when the assassin noticed the lack of responding bullets. Reno grasped a fistful of the white crystals when he heard the hesitating footsteps creeping closer. What an amateur.
The barrel of the weapon peaked around the corner first and the Turk resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Before the attacker could even see him, he had grabbed it, twisting it in the same moment, so that the man in his surprise lost his grip. Far from admitting defeat though, he launched himself at the redhead and they tumbled to the floor.
Despite having the wind knocked out of him, Reno grasped the other man by the jacket and twisted to throw him off. Nonetheless it took him too long to get to his feet and the masked man was already charging at him again.
In one swift motion, Reno lifted the hand in which he had still kept the salt somehow and blew it straight into the eye-slit of the mask. The man reeled back in pain, hands going to his eyes immediately.
It was the opportunity the Turk had waited for and he jumped for the gun that had fallen not far from him. With a scream of rage he pulled the trigger, felling the man in an instant. He kept his hand on the trigger, releasing a few more shots, just to satisfy the adrenaline coursing through his body.
When he made sure the guy was really dead, he turned around, looking for the ninja he was sure should by now have come out to finish the guy off herself. Only then did he see her lying on the carpet in the bedroom.
He fell to his knees beside her, just when she groaned a little and turned onto her side. She winced and he rushed to help her turn onto her back fully, only to hear her let out a choked cry of pain.
"Yuffie! Are you okay?" That was when he saw the blood smeared on his hands where he had touched her. "Damn!" He quickly turned her onto her side to look at her injury.
"You better not die on me, yo. Reeve and Rufus'll both kill me, d'you know that?" He muttered, frantically searching through his pockets for the potion he always carried around. He adjusted her in his grip and found her eyes flutter open.
"S-smooth, Turkey..." She managed a weak little grin.
"Shut up and hold still, will ya?" He could not quite hide the relief sounding in his voice. Without a fuss she let him turn her onto her stomach again. That in itself was worrying.
"I gotta get that little sucker out first. You don't got any tweezers around?"
She blinked a little blearily but nodded. "Bathroom."
"You scared the crap outta me!"
"S-scared the crap outta myself, Turkey."
***
"Will you be okay until the cavalery gets here?" Reno asked when he had her patched up as much as he could manage by himself. She was still too pale for his liking.
She nodded silently and bit her lip. "So... lucky ya came back, I guess." Her voice was small, almost timid.
He shrugged, sitting back on his heels to put some much-needed space between them. "I figured something was fishy."
"You would know, wouldn't you?" She mumbled, perhaps not even intending for him to hear.
Again, he just shrugged and got to his feet, taking in the mess around them and deciding to investigate her attackers. "Who better to get rid of some criminals than a criminal?" He poked the body next to the sofa with the tip of his shoe.
"Well,...thanks I guess..."
He shot her a look and went back to studying the men. "No problem, brat."
"Uhm... you wanna... uhm...meet up at Tifa's bar sometime?"
He blinked at her, not quite believing she had said what he had heard.
"Doesn't mean I like you." She then added a little too quickly.
He snorted and was about to say something, when the sound of many footsteps sounded from the corridor. "That was quick." Just to be sure, he took out his gun again, the one he had taken from the second attacker still lying by his feet.
Yuffie rolled her eyes as he quickly put it away again when two uniformed men followed by Reeve entered through the broken door. "You do realise that if it had been more of them, they would have tried to be more quiet!"
He shot her a look and turned to the new arrivals. "You gotta look over your security system again!" He greeted the former Shinra executive.
"Thank you, Reno, I guessed as much." Reeve replied dryly and took off the fedora* he was wearing. He glanced around the room until he spotted Yuffie. In three strides he was by her side.
"Are you okay?" He asked the ninja, who grimaced at him.
"You know, I could have handled it." She muttered, half-pouting and not very convincingly.
"Sure, Yuffie.
"Yeah, if you didn't have me." Reno smirked and grabbed Reeve's hat out of his hands. He turned back towards where Yuffie sat on her bed, watching the activity in the trashed apartment, walking over to stand by her side, all the while playing with the hat, spinning it between his fingers.
"So, looks like you'll be taken care off." He commented, putting it on with a grin in Reeve's direction. After a moments thought he tipped it slightly and pulled it further into his face.
"Yeah." She was worrying her lip, eyes wandering to the bloodstains on the carpet under the window. Then she seemed to shake herself out of it and looked up to meet his gaze. She frowned.
"What is that on your head?"
-"A hat." He remarked dryly.
"You look like an idiot."
-"Love you too, brat." He smirked, winking at her.
*Did not know there was a special name for this hat-style.