Disclaimer: I Do not own FF7, it's characters, or anything dealing with Square Enix. This is a work of literary fiction and I do not gain anything from it our than personal pleasure.

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing on a public forum, I have helped write a few things for my MELLON guni_tatsuhiko, I also Beta- read for her. I'm not sure yet where this story is going but I hope you all enjoy it. Whether you do or don't, I would love to hear what you think. Thanks Ya'll! Oh lord, my hick is showing, for shame!

A Knight In Shining Red Armor: Chapter 1

The group was deep in discussion when Reno walked in. "What's up, yo?" He said, as he strutted into the lounge at ShinRa Headquarters. Cloud and Tifa were sitting on a loveseat by themselves with Vincent, Reeve, Yuffie, Barrett and Cid squeezed onto one long couch across from them.

Looking to win the arguement, Yuffie piped up, "Reno, what do you think? Is Vincent hot? Tif and I are trying to compliment him, but he won't listen to reason."

"How would I know, yo? I'm not gay." Reno's anwser got mixed reviews.

"Sure you're not." Cloud said with a smile and a wink.

"Yeah, come on man, we know you swing that way." Cid hollered out.

Reno was a little stunned, "Seriously, I'm not gay, yo." Rude walked in then and gave a sympathetic glance towards him. "I'll admit, when I first became a TURK, I did give it the ol' college try, but I couldn't do it. I like chicks, yo. Plain and simple."

No one looked convinced. "Reno, you'd fuck anything in a skirt, male or female. If Vincent dressed up, you can't say you wouldn't do him." Yuffie said with a smirk, as Vincent looked like he was going to lose his lunch.

"Contrary to popular belief, no, I wouldn't. And the only 'thing' I'm fucking, is my wife, and she rarely wears skirts." He said matter- of- factly.

At first Tifa didn't catch on. "Whatev- Wait. Did you say 'wife'? Sorry Reno, even if we DID believe that you weren't gay, there's no way we'd believe you're married." Her statement was followed by several head shakes from the peanut gallery on the adjacent couch.

Reno just smiled, "Whatever, yo, believe what you want, but I have proof." He nodded towards Rude, who was trying to get a soda out of the vending machine. "Rude was my best man. Ain't that right, partner?" Rude nodded, but kept hitting the change release button on the machine. The group still looked at him in disbelief.

"Ok, I'll bite. Rude, care to shed some light on this discussion?" Reeve asked, always the optimist. Rude gave the machine up as a lost cause and walked over to the group.

"I suppose. Ask away." He said.

"Ok, say Reno is telling the truth, and he is married. What'd he do, get her knocked up?" Cloud said, jokingly.

"No, he and Keela have been married for two years now, and Dreya just turned one." Rude stated with a shrug, then added, "Keela isn't the type to jump into anything." When he looked back at the assembled party, he smiled and nudged Reno, who was still trying to work out how he came off as gay. The faces staring back at him were nothing short of ridiculous.

For awhile, no one spoke. To describe the looks as 'shock and awe', would be an understatement. Surprisingly, Tifa gathered her wits first. "Who's Dreya?" She asked.

Reno, still reeling from what they were insinuating, blurted out, "My daughter. You guys seriously thought I was GAY? That's harsh, yo, way to challenge my manliness." He looked at Rude for some moral support, but he was met with a devilish grin. "What's that look for, partner?" He asked Rude, accusingly.

Rude kept on smiling as he replied, "I'm telling Keela."

Reno deadpanned. "Awe, come on, yo. That ain't fair!" He pleaded.

Rude chuckled as he pulled out his phone and hit a speed dial. The volume on his phone was eerily loud, as silence washed over the room.

Ru? What's going on! Is Reno alright?

"He's fine, Kee."

Oh, good. You scared me. You don't usually call during work. Wait, why didyou call?

"We were having an interesting conversation, figured I'd let you in on it."

*Sigh* What kind of conversation, Ru? What did you do...

"Nothing. It just seems to be the general consensus that Reno is gay."

*Chuckle* How's he taking it?

"Oh, you know Reno."

Yes I do. Clearly you aren't helping the situation.

"Well you can help clear it up if you want. Here's Tifa."

With a grin, he handed the phone over to an uneasy Tifa.

"Hello?"

, right? It's good to finally talk to you.

"What do you mean, finally?"

Reno talks about you guys all the time, it's nice to have a voice to go with the name.

"He does? Wow, we've never heard about you."

*Chuckles* Yeah, you'd almost think he was ashamed of me or something.

Tifa didn't know how to respond to that.

I'm kidding, Tifa. I know Reno isn't ashamed of me. Far from it, in fact. He flaunts me shamelessly. *Baby Crying* Hey, Tifa, I'll have to talk to you when I get there, duty calls.

"Ok. We'll see you soon."

Tifa hung up and handed the phone back to Rude. Turning to sit back down, six sets of eyes stared at her. "What?" She asked.

"Well?" Yuffie asked.

"Oh, she seems nice. She said she'd talk to us when she gets here." Tifa said, absentmindedly.

Reno, ever the eager beaver, checked his watch. "Cool, yo, it's almost quittin' time. Keela always picks me up out back. Come meet her if you want."

The group followed Reno and Rude out the back of ShinRa headquarters, after a minute or so, a pearlescent white SUV pulled up. Reno, like a kid on christmas, ran to the back door and started unstrapping the little girl seated inside. They stared in silence as the woman made her way over to them. She was only an inch or two shorter than Reno, with long midnight black hair falling in natural ringlets down her back and resting on her hips. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with tall black leather boots, hidden under the pants legs.

Cloud was mesmerized by her eyes, golden brown with hints of dark chocolate. He'd seen those eyes before... but not on her. His thoughts were interrupted by a joyous giggle. Reno had the toddler out of her carseat and was pretending to throw her in the air. The one year old was the spitting image of her mother, except for the bright reddness of her hair, which was exactly like Reno's.

Next to Cloud, Rude was smiling widely at the child, who had seen him and was reaching out from her father's arms. Reno took pity on her and walked her over by him , pretending to toss her. "There's my Angel." Rude said, as he grabbed her. .

"Unky Ru!" Dreya laughed, as she hugged his neck.

"Hi Princess, were you a good girl for your mama today?" Rude asked. Dreya only nodded.

As Reno formally introduced everyone to his wife, Cloud took the time to figure out where he'd seen those eyes before. Drawing a blank, he turned back to Rude and Dreya, the TURK was in a tug of war for his trademark sunglasses. No one else was paying them too much attention, too busy introducing themselves to Keela. At first Cloud had thought Reno's daughter had called Rude 'uncle' since he and Reno were partners, thinking it was sweet. But now that he had a moment to observe them, he thought different. Dreya was her mother's daughter alright, she even had her eyes, and with Rude's eyes no longer hidden behind his shades, he realized where he had seen the unusual color before. Keela and Dreya had Rude's eyes.

Rude had turned to ask Cloud a question, once Dreya had allowed him to put his glasses back on, when he saw the look of recognition on his face.

"Cloud?" He turned when Rude called him name.

"You're related, aren't you?" He asked, already knowing the answer. He must have said it louder than he thought because Keela appeared in front of them and took Dreya out of Rude's arms.

"Rude is my older brother. Why?" She didn't wait for an answer, at that same moment Dreya was reaching for her Uncle again but all she managed to grab ahold of was the holster of his gun, causing her mother to lose her hold on her. "Anthony, grab her!" She yelled at Rude, in a panic. Rude took the toddler from his sister and looked around at the group. Looks of amusement were on each and every face. A tirade of things were said at once.

"Anthony?" Came from Barrett.

"You let your partner marry your sister?" Was asked by Cid.

"You really aren't gay!" Was shouted by Yuffie, aimed at Reno.

"Wow, who know Reno would score such a hottie?" Was observed by Tifa.

Vincent and Reeve were smiling like idiots. And Cloud, usually the most level headed of the bunch, looked like he was going to scream. "This is ridiculous." He said, trying to seem calm.

Rude looked uneasy as he spoke. He answered Barrett first.

"Anthony is my first name, Rude is short for Rudow, my last name." Receiving several nods, he continued. Next he answered Cid. "I didn't let Reno do anything, Keela is a big girl, she can decide for herself. However, Reno knew the consequences if she got hurt. Besides, I wouldn't trade Andreya for anything." They could all see how much he loved his niece. "And, Tifa? Don't refer to my baby sister as a 'hottie', that's kind of a sore spot." He was smiling when he finished answering the questions.

Reno suddenly remembered what Yuffie had said. He swung around and looked at her dead in the face, holding back a grin. "Told you." The only thing missing from his childish declaration was that he hadn't stuck his tongue out, surprisingly. Keela admonished his behavior.

"Act your age, Montonati." She said, sternly, using his last name. She then smiled at Tifa and put her hand on the woman's arm, "Don't mind Ru, he's rough around the edges, you know that. And thank you for the compliment." When she finished, she shot her brother a warning look. All she got in return was a wide smile. She turned to walk back over by the SUV, when she winced, bringing her hand to her ribs. Reno saw her pain and ran over to her. He only had time to catch her, before she fell to the ground in a pain induced faint. "Keela!" Reno couldn't keep the worry from his voice.

At her father's words, Dreya buried her face into Rude's neck. The movement caught her uncle's attention. "It's ok, Koibito." The toddler just shook her head velhemetly. "Andreya... look at me Angel." Rude waited for her to look up before he asked, "Do you know what happened to your mama, Koibito?" The child nodded slowly.

Reno saw his daughter nodding and asked her, desperately, "Dreya, baby, what happened to mommy?"

All the one year old was able to say in response, was, "I sorry, Daddy," before she began crying all over her uncle's suit.