The assignment had been supposed to have been such a simple thing. Go to the crater, get Jenova's remains, climb back into the chopper, and go. Unfortunately, as the slim redhead that now lay barely conscious on a bed made out of animal furs and blankets on the floor of the crater itself had discovered, many times it was the tasks that were supposed to be the simplest to complete which were the ones that most often went wrong. The voices from outside the cavern Reno was in seemed to come to him as if from a distance, from underwater, garbled, the words not clearly discernable to the scattered and damaged mind.
"Loz and I want to KEEP him, Kadaj, and I really don't see the harm in it! He's likely not going to survive very long anyway, even if you don't kill him outright once you have what you want from the ShinRa, there's no harm at all in letting Loz and I play with him a little for the time he's still alive. " Yazoo was pacing, long silver hair draping down the slim back as the remnant of the great General Sephiroth pinned the eyes of the smallest of the three, the catslit pupils narrowing in irritation with Kadaj's decision to rob them of their ill gotten toy.
By the time Yazoo had finished speaking, there was gunfire from the top of the crater, the loud booms of a large caliber rifle, echoing off the rock walls in a way much like cannon fire, but they were mere 45 caliber rounds with the sounds enhanced by the acoustics of the place. A tattered crimson cape wound like a living thing around the intruder, matching the hellfire of the blood red eyes that showed above the clasped collar of the cloak.
Vincent wasted little time in lifting the nude and bloodied form up from the pile of blankets that had been dumped around the lithe Turk, wrapping his cape around Reno for modesty's sake and to keep the young man from freezing to death as he held the three off with the huge triple barrel for a moment, those orbs narrowed as he assessed the injuries, noting the blood on the inside of the pale thighs, the cuts and bruises all over the slim body, and the strident quality of the boy's breathing, rage beginning to boil inside of the normally even tempered gunner. It was not that he cared for the hot headed Turk, really. He didn't, any more than he did the company Reno worked for, but what these three had done was something he could not condone.
"I'm taking the Turk with me. . .and if any of you follow, or attempt to stop me, you will find that I am a much better shot than you may be prepared for." Vincent's voice was little more than a low growl, the brimstone eyes flashing to a burnished gold for a moment before returning to red as he fought back the beasts within that wanted to tear the three boys apart for their treatment of another human being. He glared at the three as he lifted the bound form up into one arm, the gun held in the gauntleted hand still trained on the three remnants as he leaped up onto the rim of the crater to go.
Kadaj growled. He was not going to lose his bargaining chip quite so easily, and there was a hissing sound as he pulled Souba free of its sheath, leaping at Vincent with a dangerous snarl on the pale lips. He hoped to be able to grab the Turk from Vincent's arms and eliminate the other in one movement, but he hadn't expected the firearms expert to be QUITE so fast. The booming sound that followed was accompanied by a SQUAWK from the shortest of the boys as one of the large slugs dug its way through the leather clad shoulder. He could do little more than grip his shoulder and watch the caped man escape with their prey. "I am going to kill that asshole when I meet him again. . . slowly and painfully."
The world had dropped away totally for Reno by the time rescue had come for him. The swelling of the brain tissue inside his skull -- caused by his head slamming into the wall that Kadaj had thrown him against when he'd attempted to escape after the torture -- had rendered him so deeply unconscious that a rise to the waking world was not even a possibility for now. Had he not been rescued he would simply have sunk even deeper into the darkness until he reached a point of no return. Instead, he was trapped inside his own mind, and that was not a friendly place at all.
The flow of images flowed behind the trembling eyelids like a broken filmreel, the ravaged consciousness unable to stop them. Sounds, smells, all of them assaulted the spirit that was buried under the dross of injury. Reno was able to hear his own screams as the memories played out before his mind's eye, the tearing sensation ripping up his spine in bright hot sparks of anguish as Kadaj laughed that insane bray of his, the one that said he was having entirely too much fun breaking the normally vibrant young man.
Horridly enough, as the coppery scent that Reno knew was his own blood filled the air, the natural masochistic streak that he had possessed since he was a teenager flaring up, causing arousal to seize him even as pain filled his body, the hot dry friction tearing up mucus membranes becoming less so as blood from the lacerations slicked the passageway that Kadaj had pushed himself into. "Where is mother? The sooner you tell us, the sooner I will let you return to your boss and coworkers. But if you don't tell me, I will kill you, and it won't be quick or easy, I promise."
The slim Turk didn't speak, even as climax raced over his nerves, much to his shame. He would not give it away, would not tell them where the remains of Jenova were, would not put not only those he cared for, but the world at large, in danger. The beatings came next, the blade taking tiny slices out of his flesh, the screams ringing off the rock walls. He had lost track of the number of blows that were landed on him after a time. Finally, even nude, he tried to escape, knowing he had a better chance of survival, even though in the freezing cold and blowing snow, than he did remaining their captive.
One of the tiny fists lashed out, knocking the Turk into the wall, Reno's head hitting the rocks with an ominous sounding crack, pain flaring through his nerves for a moment before darkness swept over him. The flashback came to its end, returning his consciousness to the darkness.