Hello one and all! Cyn here with a new fic [finally]. To all my fans, I will be posting chapter 4 of Child's Blood shortly. Don't hate me just yet. Lol. Anyway. This lovely fic is a collab effort between Cuzosu and myself, in honor of The Seventh Heaven's forum owner, Spoppy. Do read and enjyo! And btw - LANGUAGE AND YAOI! Don't like it? Dont read! THat's all!

Remember Reviews = LOVE!

Cyn~*

Rufus stared at the picture on his desk, sighing as he tipped it over with a nimble finger. He watched the gold-rimmed frame plop atop the mahogany of his desk and he sighed. Righting the photo, he proceeded to knock it back over, this time with enough force to create a crack in the protective glass. With a sudden grimace, he struggled to stand, wanting nothing more than to dull the pain in his limbs. His father had not been pleased that Rufus hadn't sent out SOLDIERs sooner, and mistakes weren't tolerated.

But the ShinRa youth knew of a fantastic bar in Sector Five - all thanks due to his best friend, Reno Sinclair. What use was knowing of a bar if he didn't down some alcohol from time to time? Tonight in particular was a good night to drown pain. His thoughts alit briefly on his bodyguard, who was also the leader of the TURKs. Should I tell him I'm leaving? After a short pause, he decided against it. Rufus knew his tongue loosened when he drank, and if Tseng was there the blond just knew he'd open his mouth and say something about his feelings that the ebony-haired man wasn't prepared to hear.

Upright at last, Rufus put his plan into motion. Sneaking from his office, he slipped past the room where the head TURK was bent over paperwork, and was out the front gates of his father's compound in minutes. He followed the well-worn path he'd taken when he'd traveled with Reno to the bar, and he had to work to control the limp in his left leg as he wandered the Sectors. It wasn't difficult to find the way; the streets of Midgar were tattered things, grooves worn in them from use, and it was easy to walk along mindlessly toward the bar, his primary focus on keeping the limp minimal. This wasn't the first time he'd up and vanished, only to have Tseng find him, Reno trailing worriedly at his superior's heels. The pair would end up dragging him back to headquarters, wherein Reno would bandage the Vice President up while Tseng reamed him a new one with a lecture about how dangerous it was to run off on his own. Rufus could almost perfectly recall the pitch the lead TURK's voice as he spoke. A shiver of longing tried to run up and down his spine, making him remember he needed to hide his limp.

It wasn't long before he reached the bar and went inside. He perched on a bar stool and ordered a tall shot of straight whiskey, knowing full well the beverage would burn his throat and make his pain dissipate in minutes.

Reno tapped twice on his superior's door, not bothering to wait for an answer as he twisted the doorknob and entered. "Heya, bossman," he smirked.

The ebony-haired TURK sighed. "Reno, what could you possibly want this time?" Tseng inquired, tone showing clearly that he was in no mood for the redhead's antics.

"Just comin' to check up on ya, yo," Reno replied, waving a file between two nimble fingers. "And I finished that mission report ya wanted, so I figured I'd drop it off and steal Rufus for a bit."

Tseng's chocolate gaze lifted to meet the swirling, smoky blue orbs of his second-in-command. "Rufus is in his office at the moment, taking care of some last-minute paperwork, so graciously bestowed upon him by his father." The matter-of-fact tone disguised the sarcasm the redhead knew his boss wanted to express.

Reno whistled low under his breath. "Day-yum," he said. "Then do tell me why his office is empty with a cracked picture laying on the desk?"

The redhead was worried. Not so much about Rufus' physical health - the man had been trained by TURKs, after all, and no one the TURKs trained was bad at fighting - but more for his mental state. Rufus didn't bother shucking his guards to go on drinking binges these days. Mostly he went drinking with Reno, who fought as well drunk as he did sober. But when the blond did decide to evade his guards and drink by himself, it was because of an overload of stress. And the problem with this was that his guards inevitably found him, inebriated and saying more than he would have even semi-sober, and would be embarrassed as all hell the next morning. To make things worse, having to hide his injuries would only stress him out worse and entice him to drink yet more.

Tseng's presence was bound to make it worse. If Reno had been thinking, he would have just left quietly, picked up the blond, and either dragged him home or stayed and drank with him. But hindsight was 20-20, and it was too late now. The most Reno could do was neglect to mention the notion that their blond boss was likely at a certain bar.

Rufus Shin-Ra was no one's fool. He was an arrogant, snide and prickly bastard. But what he lacked in kindness he made up for in finesse, and he did nothing half-ass. Which explained why there was currently a pile of thugs who'd tried to 'teach him a lesson' all bruised and battered - and no few with bullet holes - around his bar stool and he was downing whiskey like there was no tomorrow. The barkeep had started making him pay for his mugs, since he'd broken the first three over thick heads.

He knew Reno and Tseng would be here soon. How soon depended on Reno's mood, because the redhead could easily make the connection between his mood and what he'd want to do. It was just a matter of whether or not he was feeling lenient or not.

I cracked the picture on the desk, but it didn't help. Maybe next time I should break the desk.

It was an idle thought, and one he probably wouldn't act on. Anyway, he knew there would be a next time, so what was the point in musing over it? Abuse wasn't a notion he cared to entertain; it happened to him often enough. The populace wasn't alone in fearing President Shin-Ra. Grimacing, he lifted his drink to his lips and downed the rest of it, satisfied with the burning that went with it.

And then his thoughts drifted to his bodyguard again. For a while, the TURKs had been his captors - though they'd taken on the task of training him yet further while they were at it, and surely that task had not been set to them - and Rufus had known that the one least likely to question orders and most likely to actually take his life...was Tseng. Tseng, the ebony-haired Wutainian man who was meticulous, organized, efficient, obedient, and hid a fiery temper beneath that emotionless facade.

Blond hair waved as Rufus shook his head. I wouldn't have minded it, if he'd taken me out then. Because it would have been him, and I knew it. But this...this is killing me... I can't take this any more... It crossed his mind that slow strangulation was one of the worst ways to die, and he resolved to never kill a person slowly without a reason.

The bartender refilled his mug with the strongest whiskey in the bar, familiar with this process by now. Whether alone or accompanied by Reno, the blond inevitably ordered the highest proof he had. If he'd arrived in a car, the barkeep would have requested the keys.

Hefting the whiskey, Rufus held it up for a second in a silent, drunken toast to his crush. Hope you realize what you're missing, being such a hardass and always behaving. A sigh escaped him. Prior experience with his raven-haired bodyguard had made it clear: Tseng was the type who broke before he bent, and he was stubborn enough that breaking would probably be the death of him. The blond eyed his drink again. ...what the hell, he shrugged, and gulped it down.

Reno knew it wasn't physically possible, but his mind was kicking his ass at the moment. He was walking alongside Tseng, the pair in search of Rufus. Although, once the redhead thought about it, he knew exactly where the man had likely run off to. The bar in Sector Five - the first place Rufus had let it slip that he had feelings for Reno's superior. Not that Reno blamed the blonde youth.

Tseng was the silent one. Okay, not as much as Rude, but close enough. Hell, Reno had seen his CO take a bullet to the shoulder and walk out merely cringing once at the pain. Personally, the redhead was still having trouble coping with that one time, but he had Cloud to keep him company at night, while his best friend was longing for the ebony-haired man striding silently beside him. Well, he had been silent, until now.

"Reno?"

The redhead jumped a little as Tseng's voice pulled him from his musings. "Yeah, bossman?" he asked, sounding as casual as he could.

"Would you by chance know where Rufus has run off to?" the Wutaian TURK inquired.

Reno knew his boss would see his face pale a little. Wait, is that even possible? He shook his head. "Nah, I dunno where we'd find him, bossman," was his simple response. "If I knew, don't ya think I'da said something before we left?"

Tseng briefly pondered this point, but gave a slight shake of his head, ebony hair shifting slightly in its pony tail as he did so. "You are quite capable of keeping your mouth shut when you think it appropriate, Reno, although everyone else finds it impossible to quiet your tongue." Dark eyes shot another assessing glance at his underling before resuming the search for ShinRa's Vice President. "Keeping Rufus out of my reach seems to be one such incident, am I wrong?"

One eyebrow quirked, exhibiting the redhead's amusement. "No, because no one's with him, yo. Or have you forgotten that we called all available TURKs to see if they had his locale?" His tone was defensive, because he knew that Tseng knew the assumption was correct.

When it came to his closest friend, he did have a tendency of remaining silent about things. Just...not when Rufus had gone out on his own. Not when he didn't know what condition the blonde was in. Definitely not when no one was with the male to keep a watch on him when necessary. Threats on every ShinRa exec arrived daily. That included the Vice President, wherever in Shiva's green earth he'd vanished to. Reno gnawed the inside of his cheek as discreetly as he could, staring back at the dark chocolate gaze that seemed to bore into him.

Ebony hair shifted as Tseng tilted his head, every inch a predator observing his prey. No doubt Reno could feel the nature of the gaze, because the redhead slowly took a step forward and began walking once more. Tseng quirked a brow and soon took his place beside his second-in-command.

"Where are we going?" he queried quietly, thinking Reno would give in. Really, he should have known better. No one made any command position in the ShinRa, let alone the TURKs, if they were weak-willed.

"To look for our missing VP, bossman," he said. Reno didn't know whether to be nonchalant to piss Tseng off, or irritated because he didn't like having to deal with this kind of situation. "No offense, but the longer we stand here in a stalemate, the longer he's alone out there with no one to watch his back." He kicked loose stones as he kept his face down and walked, brooding as he walked alongside the Wutaian man. At last, he came to a decision and looked up. "Why do you have to be such a hardass?"

"A what?" Tseng inquired, and blinked. Given his tone and actions, this may have some bearing on the current situation... But what in Leviathan's name do I have to do with Rufus's actions?

Reno groaned. "Oh, for fuck's sake, man!" he half whined. "You don't even realize how much of a pain in the ass you are? You're always so goddamned obedient and organized and you never once go off and just have a good time!"

"I don't see the point in excess pleasure," was Tseng's calmly argued point.

Reno could feel the scream of frustration welling in his throat, but he choked it back and forced the words out. "That's my point!" he insisted. "Being so uptight about everything has made you blind in like…every fucking possible way!" He wanted to pull his hair out in a furious, futile gesture, but then he remembered how fond Cloud was of running his fingers through it. Potent rage unable to be fully stifled, still it sufficed to bare gritted teeth at the world - and especially his CO. What he didn't realize was that he hadn't been so open and brutally honest with Tseng since the Wutaian man had pulled him, quite literally, out of a drug-infested, filthy ditch, the day he'd brought Reno to the company.

Tseng quirked a brow. "You haven't been so foul in language since I brought you to ShinRa," he observed.

"Huh?" Wheels suddenly turned in his head. As it turned out, the older man was right. "Well, I get my ass kicked if I cuss in front of the Pres, and Zack usually smacks me around just playing, but it hurts. So I guess it was overdue," he shrugged. "Why do-" He blinked when he realized he was ahead of Tseng. "Yo, bossman, what's up?" he asked, backing up to look into the window.

Reno froze. In the window, downing what had to be a hundredth shot of whiskey, was the blonde they'd been in search for. "When the hell did we get to Sector Five?" he asked, letting slip that he'd known where Rufus had been all along.

"We didn't. You did," Tseng said simply, walking in the door with quiet confidence.

"Fuck me backwards," Reno grumbled, debating on whether or not he wanted to see this exchange.

Rufus seemed pretty messed up. In Reno's opinion, he looked completely and utterly shitfaced. And the redhead was an old hand at drinking until the completely shitfaced stage; he'd been there plenty of times before. That blonde head was going to have the hangover from hell in the morning, he knew. Biting his lip, he looked back towards Headquarters, and then at the window, where Tseng had now taken a seat on the far side of Rufus. He was about to open the door when his phone went off. Knowing the tone, he took it as a sign to stay out of the bar, and spun on his heel to return to the awaiting bombshell SOLDIER back at HQ.

So! THere's part one. You guys like? Cuzo and I are working on part two, so be as patient as possible with us! xD