Disclaimers: Not mine, yadda.
Forgiven
Well I went down to the local coffee store
The menu went from the ceiling all the way down to the floor
Decaf, cappuccino, or latte said the cashier
I said gimme a small cup of coffee and let me get the hell up outta here—Keb Mo, Keep it Simple
Cloud tried to fix his coffee at the overcrowded condiment bar, not having much success in the matter. At least four people jostled for milk, lowfat milk, cream, flavored non dairy creamer, sugar, raw sugar, a dazzling array of artificial sweeteners, and cocoa powder while he reached for a top to put on his medium coffee, milk and sugar, and napkin to wipe up what he had spilled.
A morning cuppa should not be this fucking complicated.
But the first winter chill in Edge had brought in the madding crowds in their stylish new trenches; the college crowd trying painfully to be unique in identical hip length jackets, scarves, and berets; the well heeled housewives in fur trimmed wool coats. Only three stood out to his observant eye: himself, a tall dark-haired man in a worn floor-length duster, dark glasses, and gloves at the counter, and a bleary eyed wino in a tattered cloth jacket who had been trying to steal creamers from the to-go stand while Cloud was closing up his coffee. It was the wino who caught his attention now, with the jerky movements of a man in withdrawal.
Not withdrawal. Scared. About to do something he is scared to do. Cloud had seen too many battles, too many people do stupid things for stupid reasons, not to know that look. He instictively went to the knife hidden in his belt a half second too late as the wino put his own switchblade against his throat.
"Comin' with me, now, aren't ya? Some hero of the planet you lookin now. Ya jest comin' with old Jake now. Yah. Just comin' on out the door like they told me to do. Jest-"
Jake's words were cut off with a roaring boom as the man at the counter threw off his coat and glasses in one motion, and shot him straight through the window, cleanly missing every other patron in the shop.
"That was subtle."
"Subtle will get you killed. Here." Vincent re-holstered Cerberus under his duster and handed Cloud a stack of napkins he had picked up from the counter.
"You remembered napkins?" Cloud was floored. He usually forgot them when he wasn't being kidnapped.
"You'd have preferred those little flavored creamer thingies? You missed a spot. Oh, here, I'll do it." He reached over and cleaned the blood off his friend's neck and went back to drinking his coffee. Cloud wordlessly drank his, since Vincent had been nice enough to pick it up off the table on his way out.
"Why are we going into the ShinRa building?" Vincent once again horrified the receptionist, this time by tossing the stack of bloody napkins in her wastebasket.
"Because that was their coffee shop I shot up. Oh hell, Rufus loves me enough already. I figure we might as well hang out in the lobby until his minions call." He propped his feet up on the table. "Don't look at me like that. Someone was trying to kidnap you. You heard what he said. We are here to make a report to the proper authorities for an incident occurring on their lawfully held property. Now, I'm going to wash the cordite off my hands so I can eat my breakfast muffin; it could be hours before these yahoos pull the monkey brains out of their asses."
It was less than ten minutes. Cloud was still vaguely in shock while Vincent ate the remainder of his muffin out of the wrapper, tossing the trash into the President's wastebasket much the same as he had the napkins earlier. That was Vincent for you; even litter could make a statement, if need be.
"Really, Valentine, did you need to kill him? And you broke a very expensive window."
"He had a knife at Cloud's throat, and was making every attempt to kidnap him. Yes, I felt deadly force was called for. Send me a bill for the window." He sucked a crumb out from under his fingernail, and glared.
"If he were alive, we could…interrogate him."
"If he hadn't held a knife to my friend's throat, he would be alive."
Tseng could see this was going nowhere. "I believe we have enough footage from the shop's security cameras to go over. I'll have Elena start on it immediately. Vincent, Cloud, please make a full statement to Reno and Rude. I'll set up an interview room for you. Sir, we'll let you know when we find out anything." Until then, please don't pester me or my people for "updates."
Down in the interview rooms, Reno pulled Cloud aside. "Are you all right? Really all right, not that 'I'm fine' bullshit, all right." Rude and Vincent shared a look.
"I do not do that….Rude, do I do that?"
Rude's only comment was a sudden fascination with his tie. Cloud rolled his eyes and gave a tiny smile. "I think so. I was still mentally working on escape when Vin blew his head off and it was a moot point after that."
Reno pulled him into a tight hug, just out of range of the interview cameras. Over Cloud's shoulder he mouthed to Vincent, "Thank you."
Vincent only nodded. He was, really, only too happy to help.
Reno took Vincent's statement, thinking he would be able to handle it more clinically than hearing it from Cloud's point of view. Nearly an hour—and a period of becoming reacquainted with his breakfast—later, he had to admit he was wrong. When the statement was entered into the record he looked up to Vincent, shaken, and admitted, "I am not sure I should be on this case."
"I am. Wrath is a very good tool. You will find the people behind this because you want to. And you, Reno, will make them suffer."
"Most people would have an issue with that." Reno was used to the judgment of others, the value system of those who were not accustomed to getting paid for murder and mayhem. Hell, Vincent did it on a volunteer basis now, it seemed. He remembered his calm expression while slitting the throat of a man who had dared try to take Rude's life. He might as well have been doing laundry.
Vincent tilted his head to the side. "Most people. We have seen enough not to be most people. Am I right?"
He couldn't argue with the man.
"Are you sure you want to see this? Either of you?"
"Elena. Rude and I are on this case. We are supposed to be finding out who attempted a kidnapping on ShinRa property." It was a thin excuse and they all knew it. Rufus was sucking up to Cloud and trying to prove to the public that ShinRa could keep the peace, such as it was. And avenge the breaking of his precious window, most likely. But if it afforded Reno his revenge, they would all go with it.
She cued the recording and Reno's soul went cold.
We have seen enough not to be most people.
He thought that was true, before that moment, but the sight of a knife at Cloud's throat did things to him that a lifetime of ShinRa indoctrination had not.
He would kill them. He would kill them all if he had to tear up every square inch of the streets beneath his feet to find him, he would kill them. In the meantime, he would pull it together, become the sharpest profiler and investigator the Turks had ever known, but when that was done….
"Partner?"
"I'm good. Let's crack this thing."