I do not own FF7 or any of its characters.
However it has not stopped me wishing to shave my head, wear shades and get some cool ass ear peircings.
This fic popped into my head so thought I'd write it, but before we start just bear in mind that mentally I'm a newbie to the world of FF7.
This is a Reno/Rude fic as a priority but there will be chapters, such as this first one, where Tseng and Rufus take some focus.
Be warned, Reno and Rude are more than good friends in this - if that turns you off do not read this.
CHASE - by Sigmund17
In the Healin Lodge time seemed to drag on. In an office with a rather picturesque view of mountains and the sky, Rufus sat back in his wheelchair. Once more he looked up at the clock which seemed to mock him by going slower than he wanted it to. He sighed, oh well, no one liked paperwork but a few more hours and he could call it a day. He looked down at his hands and rubbed the back of the right hand with a satisfied smile. All afflictions of Geostigma were banished from his system and he was once more healthy. Well, he was as healthy as could be expected for a young man who'd been in a few near death situations.
He stretched, looking down at the desk with it's many forms from the WRO. He gave a small grunt as he browsed through the few on the top of the large pile, they were mostly financial problems he was being asked to help with. ShinRa had to atone and Rufus Shinra was more than content to offer what assistance he could to support the ongoing work of rebuilding and repairing the damage his company had inflicted upon the planet.
Even so, paperwork was horribly monotonous sometimes.
He frowned as something else caught his eye. It was the picture on the morning newspaper. He leaned over and pressed a button.
"Tseng. Would you come to my office please?"
The man in charge of the 'General Affairs Department' came in. Tseng was young for his status as the Director of the Turks, but he'd proven he was more than capable of managing his position even before recent events.
He and his fellow Turk, Elena, had recently been under torture by Kadaj and his gang during the latest Midgar crisis. But for all they'd been put through the Director and his companion had recovered magnificently from the ordeal. You'd have never have thought Elena had been in any danger from her attitude on returning to active service, and beyond a few remaining cuts and bruises Tseng was now fit for duty as well.
The Director ran a hand through his raven hair to tidy a stray end and he bowed "Good morning sir." the man politely greeted his boss before returning to an attentive stance.
Rufus smiled "Good Morning to you too Tseng. Have you seen the newspaper?"
The Director frowned "No Sir, I haven't. Why?"
Rufus raised his eyebrows. That was unusual for Tseng. His Director of General Affairs normally took a keen interest in everyday matters no matter how inconsequential they appeared at the time because it was often part of his job. A man could not manage general affairs if he was not aware of them after all.
"It might be of interest to you." The President of ShinRa prompted, and pushed the morning print towards the Turk's Director.
Tseng scanned his eyes down it and his brow furrowed.
"Hm. 'Missing woman found dead'." he quoted and he mumbled softly under his breath as he further scanned it for more details, "Single, professional woman... missing for days... no word... highly out of character... found dead outside ciy limits, believed attacked by wild monsters by investigators." he raised a questioning eyebrow at his superior.
The Company President leaned forward and tapped at the print, indicating for his Director to read the obituary.
As Tseng reached the lower part of the page his eyes widened and he looked at his boss "This woman was one of our previous employee's." he stated.
Rufus nodded and settled back in his chair. "None of whom are normally so careless to go out there alone. It might be an unfortunate accident but I want you to investigate this Tseng."
The Turk nodded "Of course sir. I'll get Reno and Rude on it right away."
It was the President's turn to look puzzled "I'm sure they're entitled to some leave."
Tseng looked amused at the offer. "Sir, they're both fit and ready. If I giv them leave then they'll have nothing to occcupy their time."
Rufus didn't need to ask why that a bad thing.
"Reno?"
"Precisely."
"Ah."
At the back of a slightly disreputable bar, two Turks were playing pool and drinking beer. The taller of them was losing and sat down on a stool, watching the black ball blur down the green and neatly fell into the hole for the umpteenth time. He decided that with a losing streak of thirteen- nil, that the final pool game of the evening was now over.
"Oh yes! Who's the man, yo?"
Rude grunted and looked up at his partner who was now victory dancing his way around the table.
"Come on, yo I asked you nice..." the red head teased him "Come on Rudey..."
"You're the man." Rude finished with a sigh.
"Oh yeah! That's right, you heard the man, yo! I'm the man! Reno, the ultimate pool player! Reno the most badassiest, most talented, handsome, charismatic..."
This might take a while...as Reno droned on Rude checked his watch and slowly supped at what was left of his beer. A few minutes later, after way too much self congratulation over a pool game Reno seemed to finally be winding down with a list of what he labelled 'desirable' traits that he possessed.
"Who can drink five alchoholics under the table? Me baby! Reno the awesome! Who kicks ass at all forms of Pub sports, including the less celebrated beer mat flipping? Reno, yo!"
Rude rolled his eyes, the last time they'd played the latter Reno had been so drunk he'd flipped the wrong mat and soaked three people with his lager. Since then he'd refused to play and Reno claimed championship by default.
"Who rocks the Rudsters boat enough that I should charge him admission rates for the ride?" Reno laughed carelessly "Me, man, Reno! Your bestest best buddy!" he whooped and threw his hand in the air.
Rude noted Reno's wobbly stance... Yep. Time to call it a night for pub crawling, unless he wanted to carry Reno.
As the smaller Turk reached for the pitcher to fill up a fresh pint with beer Rude leaned over and plucked the glass neatly from his friends hand. "You've had enough." he warned him.
"Aw come on Rude! The night's still young!" Reno protested.
"And if you want to live to a see it get old you're not having anything else but water for the next hour, and I'm driving."
"You! You drive like an old lady!"
"Ever get beat up by a pensioner?" Rude growled.
The red head stopped and threw his head back laughing like a hyena.
"Rude!" he gasped for air "You... you just made a joke, yo!"
"Yeah." the bald Turk sighed "And I'm bored. What's say we grab pizza and head home?"
"Whatever you say Granma!"
Outside their much frequented pizza delivery Reno paced and smoked his cigarette. The food was good and the price reasonable, but the location was crappy as it was right on a windy corner and tonight that wind had a chill in it. He felt the wind bite at his exposed face and rapped on the glass. His partners head turned slightly from inside the much warmer take out.
Reno indicated for Rude to speed it along a bit. The bald headed Turk smirked and raised an eyebrow to point out he'd take his sweet time now he knew it was an issue. The red head swore and gave his colleague the finger.
Rude grinned at his partner from inside the shop. The poor guy behind the waiting area looked suitably nervous as Rude towered over him and browsed the menu. The big guy was pretty intimidating even when he tried not to be. He sighed and took off his shades which at least made him look a little less stone faced and grim.
"A 'Meat special' and a 'Hot 'n spicy', both stuffed crusts and no side orders." he said.
The guy quickly wrote it down and then asked "What size pizza's are they sir?"
Rude looked outside at his annoyed partner who was making a show of stamping his feet and rubbing his hands to keep warm.
"Make 'em large." he fished out his wallet and paid.
A few minutes later Rude came out with two large boxes.
"Oh, now that's what I'm talkin' about, yo!" Reno whooped. He reached for his box and Rude sighed, his fried was way too impatient.
The lid rose and steam flowered off a generous pizza adourned with peppers, onion and spicy hot sauce, Reno winced and hissed as he burned his fingers trying to pick up a slice.
Rude chuckled "Bit too hot?"
His colleague glared at him "Nah, my fingers are too cold. I've got a colleague who liked leaving me to catch hypothermia!"
Rude grunted and they crossed the road. A few minutes later they found the parking lot and the car.
Rude had acquired a Humvee a while back, at the time it had been quite beat up and in need of a good service. However Rude had declined the offer of company's engineers to fix it up for him in favour of doing it all himself. It had taken time and he'd had to learn it from scratch but the end result in front of him with all the suitable adjustments and upgrades made 'Flo' one of his more proud achievements.
"Good girl." Rude crooned and ran a hand over her bonnet.
Reno rolled his eyes "Shall I leave you two alone?" he drawled sarcastically and got in.
"No." Rude said and opened the door of the black Humvee "You ain't drivin' Flo."
"But I drive the chopper's all the time! I'm the driver!"
"And you also crash a lot of 'em! You don't ever get to drive my Flo! Now get in the passenger side."
Reno got "It's just a stupid car Rude..."
"It's my car. Besides, she needs a gentle touch."
Reno snorted and took the pizza's as Rude started the Humvee up and they made their way back home.
As Reno opened the front door to their apartment he heard Rude locking up Flo behind him. He rolled his eyes once more, it was just a damn car! There was no need to bum over the damn thing like it was some precious...
Hold on, was he jealous of the attention the car was receiving? Come on Reno!
"Yo Rude!" he called "We eatin' those now or do you want me to save 'em for later?"
His partner strolled up next to him with a puzzled frown "Now. Why?"
Reno hid his smirk as he went inside and put the pizza's on the table/ "Well I just figured you might need to tuck Flo away, maybe read her a bedtime story..." he chuckled and waited for Rude to punch his arm for the sarcasm.
He was suitably surprised when his partner's hand grabbed the scruff of his collar and pulled him back toward the big man who leaned in and pressed the stunned Reno into a kiss.
Reno let out a gasp, then felt Rude's tongue inside his mouth. He moaned and sucked on it before letting his own tongue play a little. For a few long moments they stayed there in the corridor, Reno kissed him back harder, breathing hard through his nose. As their lips met again and again in the passionate moment he felt the strong hands playing with his hair and the other resting gently on his back.
He trembled suddenly pulled away.
"E-easy hot chocolate!" he gasped "You'll make me melt!"
His friend and lover brushed fingers up his cheek. "You love it." the bald man purred into his ears.
Reno's stomach knotted and thrills went up his arms and back from that sexy purr. "Oh I so love it!" he agreed and pulled the big guy in for another kiss.
His parted lips were just about to press against his partners when a loud buzz made them both pause.
From the kitchen side Reno's phone began to sing out that work was calling.
"The Turk theme?" Rude asked curiously.
"Well at least I know who's calling." Reno explained himself a little defensively.
He picked up the phone and hit the answer putton.
"Hello greyflaps. Home for the terminally flatulant." he joked.
Rude indicated he'd be through in the sitting room and took the food through with some plates.
Tseng's voice was professional on the line "Very funny Reno."
"Well I thought so. What's up?"
"I've got a job for you both."
"Whoa, really? And here I was thinking we already had jobs! Thanks for clearing that up Director-"
"Reno be serious. One of ShinRa's former collegues was found dead this morning."
The red head's mannerisms changed in an instant "Who and how?" he asked.
"I don't know her name yet, but I don't believe for an instant it was wild monsters like the newspapers are saying. First thing tomorrow you and Rude come to the Healin Lodge, I'll have everything ready for you by then."
The line cut off, Reno stared at empty space for a moment. He was pissed off. ShinRa had lots of enemies, but even Reno wouldn't deny there was a good reason for that.
But hating a company and its employees for nearly destroying a planet did not excuse murder. Someone had seriously fucked with the wrong guys if they thought they could get away with it too.
Time to go to work, he thought with a smirk.
"Rude" he called as he headed back through to his partner "We get today's paper in this morning's post partner?"
Please R+R, feedback really appreciated as I'd like to know if I've made any major errors.
