Reno was used to his big mouth getting him into a lot of trouble, but the predicament he found himself in just then surpassed anything he had ever imagined. Pressed face first against the wall of the dirtiest hell-hole even he had ever seen – and he had seen a lot, mind you – Reno found himself unable to move, as a man three times his weight and remarkably taller than himself had his arm pressed against the Turk's neck to keep him firmly and painfully in place while the other hand unceremoniously ripped open the red-head's white shirt and pulled down his trousers.

The young Turk struggled against the iron hold with all his might, but to no avail at all. The brute was just too strong and too bulky to be pushed away and Reno had left his EMR behind to seem less suspicious.

Everything had been going so well recently, he should have known it wouldn't last, Reno thought, tears springing to his eyes as he felt the enormous man's breath against his neck, his erection pressing against the red-head's entrance. No warning, no lubrication and the guy was large in every sense. Reno just knew this was going to hurt like hell. But he really didn't mind the physical pain as much as the emotional awareness of what was happening to him.

Since his last encounter with Vincent, Reno hadn't slept with a single person. He had taken the gunman's words to heart more than he had ever imagined he would. After all, they had never been more than acquaintances. But for some reason the ex-Turk managed to provide Reno with a sense of security and clear guidance every time he was near him. What Vincent had done and said during their last meeting had puzzled the red-head to no end and he still couldn't grasp the reason for it, but he just couldn't find it in himself to disobey the other man.

One thing, though, Reno hadn't done. He had not gone to Vincent for help when the president had given him the next job to obtain information from a man who was an on-and-off informant of ShinRa, a man the red-headed Turk had slept with before to make him surrender said information. Reno had wanted to do accomplish the task without help, trying out a mixture of threats and persuasion, but the brute would have nothing of that. There was only one kind of persuasion he would accept and since the Turk was obviously unwilling to cooperate, the criminal had decided to take what he wanted.

Reno cursed himself inwardly, as he felt the man's enormous member push inside him, causing no little amount of pain, but the Turk refused to cry out. If he had only at least told Vincent where he was going, maybe this wouldn't be happening. Tears of pain and humiliation began to stream down the red-head's cheeks. He felt so dirty that moment and lower than he had ever been before.

A loud bang suddenly resounded from outside and then several more shortly after. Then shouts of rage and agony could be heard as well as loud engines revving up. Apparently there was a gang feud going on in this area. But all those realisations were pushed to the back of Reno's mind in one instance of self-preserving clarity. The large man standing behind the Turk had become distracted by what was going on outside, because the sounds of gunfire were coming ever nearer. Reno saw this moment, just this one instance as his only chance to escape and so he turned around with incredible speed and rammed his knee into the brute's groin full force.

The man cursed loudly und doubled over in pain, shouting obscenities at Reno that were completely lost on the Turk as he quickly pulled up his trousers and began to run. Out of the door, and across the street where the shootout went on. The red-head occasionally had to dodge some bullets, but he was soon clear of the feuding gangs and running at full speed, adrenaline coursing through his body.

Reno could soon feel the adrenaline-high fading, though and being replaced by the gravity of the situation he had just escaped. The colour slowly drained from his face and he was overcome by intense nausea which caused him to retch violently onto the sidewalk of the deserted street he had wound up in.

After having stopped dry-heaving when nothing more would leave his stomach, Reno continued walking, his entire body shaking badly. He knew he needed to go somewhere. That guy had yelled after the Turk that he would come after him and Reno was certain that the brute was pissed off enough to go through with his pursuit. He mere thought nearly made Reno's knees buckle with fear, but he pressed on, going to the only place he could think of going at that moment.

He red-headed Turk soon found himself standing on the second floor of an old run-down apartment building in front of a scruffy wooden door which had a dull-golden number 17 nailed to it. His body almost working mechanically now, Reno knocked on the door twice and then waited, unseeing eyes staring at the dirty floor.

The door creaked open after a few moments, and Vincent appeared, raising an eyebrow in surprise at seeing Reno standing there, staring at the ground. It hadn't yet registered in the young Turk's confused mind that Vincent was staring at him with a look of concern appearing on his features as he took in Reno's dishevelled appearance, the ripped shirt and trousers and the bruises that had begun to show on the red-head's face.

"Reno, what happened?" the ex-Turk asked, a slight urgency tinting his usually calm voice.

It was only then that Reno looked up at Vincent, eyes wide and shining. Then the young Turk practically flung himself at Vincent and began to sob uncontrollably, clinging to the gunman's shirt as if his life depended on the support.

Vincent's crimson eyes widened for a moment before his senses kicked in and he pulled the distraught red-head fully inside the flat, closing the door behind them. There was nothing more in the room than a chair, a bed, a small table and a TV. That was really all Vincent's apartment consisted of, except for a small kitchen and a bathroom.

The dark-haired man led Reno to the bed where he sat them both down. Reno was still crying and shaking uncontrollably so Vincent slowly brought his leather-gloved hand up to rub small circles on the red-head's back while he spoke calming words or reassurance.

It took a long time for Reno to calm down enough to stop the flow of tears, although he was still hiccoughing from time to time. Leaning against Vincent, almost being embraced by the gunman who was still rubbing the red-head's back, Reno became completely still and quiet, his body as well as his mind aching and exhausted.

"Reno, what happened?" Vincent asked again after a while, his voice calm and quiet so that he wouldn't upset Reno any more than he already was. The young Turk took a deep breath and began to tell Vincent what had occurred earlier that night. He began shaking again, fresh tears springing to his cerulean eyes.

Vincent immediately pulled Reno close again and held him, trying to calm the younger man, telling him that everything would be alright. Reno was crying again, though not as hard as he had been before.

"I'm so dirty." The red-head choked, his tears soaking into the material of Vincent's shirt.

"You're not." The gunman wanted so much to convince Reno. "It wasn't your fault. Not ever."

"But I – " Reno couldn't say any more than that, because Vincent's lips had descended on his softly, effectively swallowing any further words. The gunman broke the kiss soon, but didn't move away from Reno, their foreheads still resting together. "It was not you, Reno. He is the problem. You did nothing to ever deserve what that criminal did to you." Vincent's crimson eyes were staring intently into the young Turk's, as if strengthening every word and meaning he was trying to convey. "Do you understand that?"

Reno nodded mutely. He understood and he wanted to believe Vincent's words so badly. Resting his head on Vincent's shoulder, Reno murmured "I understand." As some more tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. The ex-Turk's arms came up to wrap around the red-head's body securely as he pulled him into a closer embrace and a more comfortable position on the bed. "Sleep now." Vincent advised softly. Reno soon gave in to the exhaustion and fell prey to a light fitful sleep.

Vincent seemed completely calm and unchanged on the outside, but inside his mind and heart an anger more intense than anything he had felt in a long time was boiling. He would see to it that the man who had violated Reno would meet his end by either Vincent's gun or his hands.

Reno had barely been asleep properly when a crash resounded from outside the door. He immediately jumped up from the bed, looking at Vincent with crystal clear fear written in his expression.

Someone was now hammering against the door, trying to break it down in earnest. "I know you're in there, bitch." A man's rough voice screams.

"He's here." Reno breathed, feeling as if his blood was freezing in his veins. Vincent simply laid a hand on Reno's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze before going to the table where the Cerberus, his trusted three-barrelled gun was lying.

That idiot obviously has no idea whose door he has come knocking at, or more likely come to knock down, Vincent thought as he swiftly loaded the gun and readied it. This would be the end of that bastard. Weapon ready to fire, Vincent purposefully strode to the door, opening it with his gun arm outstretched.

The man standing outside had barely enough time to look confused at the gunman opening the door before Vincent pulled the trigger and three bullets ripped right through the brute's chest, making him fall over backwards, dead.

Reno had watched the whole scene with a mixture of fear, confusion and mild horror. During the whole display Vincent's expression hadn't changed once. It had always been an unreadable ivory mask.

Securing the gun, Vincent laid it back to where it belonged.

"Fuck." Reno exclaimed shakily, his eyes travelling from Vincent to the dead body and back to Vincent.

Vincent let out a silent breath of annoyance. "Indeed. Now I will have to get rid of his body."

Vincent's eyes had met Reno's by now and although his expression still hadn't changed, the red-head knew that the ex-Turk was only trying to lighten the mood. Reno gave a small shaky grin in response. But Vincent was right. The corpse had to go and the red-head had absolutely no desire to see that ugly face any longer.

"I need a shower." Reno decided his voice slightly hoarse and sounding tired. Vincent nodded in understanding and showed Reno to the bathroom, giving him some towels and a change of clothes. They were black of course and carried Vincent's scent; Reno noticed later on which brought the night's first genuine smile onto his face.

Vincent produced two keys from one of his pockets and handed one to Reno. "Lock the door from the inside, if it makes you feel safer. But remember to remove the key fro the lock or I won't be able to get in." Vincent took a glance back at the corpse lying in his living room. He really did have to get rid of it right now.

"I'll be back soon." The ex-Turk assured, and began to go about removing the dead body, while Reno took a scalding hot shower.