Title: The Camel and The Straw
Author: Takebuo Ishimatsu
Pairing(s): Rufus/Reno, various others
Summary: Rufus finally pushes Reno too hard, ordering him to do the one thing he'd never do. Now the redhead's gone AWAL with the help of AVALANCHE & it's up to the blond to get him back in one piece.
Warning: This fic is YAOI/SLASH/MxM. Go away ye man-lovin' haters. Once again, there is quite a bit of cussing in this fic, though not as much as Misconceptions (I hope). All the characters in my version of FFVII are gay with horrible potty mouths. XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.
AN: Well, this has been sitting on my computer for a long time and I've been working on it on and off for months and months. It's almost finished so I finally decided to start posting it. Sorry to those of you waiting for Misconceptions 4 (I am working on it!) but I've just felt like writing other stuff lately.
Chapter 1 – It Begins
"With all due respect, sir, I don't think that's a good idea, yo. Killing the Double D's would piss Strife off like no otha' and Shinra don't need Sephiroth's ass-kicker on its tail at the moment," Reno said with a smirk, trying to remain playful and non-caring. He couldn't let the President know the truth about Tifa if he wanted his partner to have even the tiniest bit of happiness.
"'With all due respect,' Reno, I don't believe it's your place to decide what's best for my company. In order to protect Shinra's future, we need to stop all possible problems before they become such, starting with AVALANCHE." Trying to keep calm as to not give the extraordinarily perceptive man any clue as to his motives, the blond allowed just a hint of a steel to enter his voice. Inside, however, he was fuming at the thought of the redhead disobeying him for that…that…tramp!
I knew it! Never has my Turk refused one of my orders! Never! That walking pair of tits has him enthralled! Probably has him convinced that they're in love or some pathetic shit as that! Stupid whore! He's only supposed to be with me!
"Yes, of course, sir. But, couldn't we maybe start with the ninja or maybe that cat-dog-wolf-thingy? Ya know, make it look like a minor un-Strife-related accident so they don't go nosing around afterwards?" Rufus had to admit, if he actually wanted to kill off all of AVALANCHE, his Vice Director's plan was more stable than his. But since he only actually wanted that little tart gone, his own arrangement would do fine.
"And here I was thinking that my third-in-command could handle a simple assassination job without getting caught! Are you telling me you don't have the skills required to complete this mission, Turk?" Rufus's voice had shifted from annoyed-commanding to flat-out condescending. He knew that his remark had hit home as the other man stiffened slightly.
In truth, he could easily have one of the others do it, with Tseng perhaps even being the best choice for such a delicate job, but he needed to know that the other would place the Turks, place him, before her. It wasn't as if he was making him chose between himself and Tseng or he and Rude.
"I can do it, sir. I'll need a little time, yo. Gotta set things up right."
Rufus thought for a moment, trying to see if he could get out of that one without risking the other getting caught. Eventually he just nodded and waved a hand at the Turk, a clear dismissal.
He leaned back in his chair smirking once his Vice Director had left. The redhead would be a little annoyed with him for a while but nothing he couldn't smooth over eventually.
You belong to me Reno. All Turks are mine, but you most of all. You just don't know it yet.
Satisfied that the case was closed, he went back to looking over some random data that the WRO had sent over, half of which he couldn't even read. Needless to say, he was rather shocked by what Tseng had to tell him a few weeks later.
RENO-RUFUS-RENO-RUDE-RENO-TSENG-RENO-CISSNEI-RENO-ELENA
Shit. Shit! SHIT! SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!
That was about the sum of the redhead's thoughts as he hurried about his inn room, throwing stuff into his suitcase left and right. He paused mid-throw, momentarily staring down at the shampoo bottle in his hand.
Wait, this ain't mine. "Morning Fresh," huh? Hmm..."For long-lasting bounce and shape!" Don't know if I wanna trust an inn freebee, but this might be cool to try. Maybe I could mix-Wait! WTF are you doing man! Go, go, go!
Reno came back to reality with a burst of panic. He threw the shampoo bottle across the room and went back to snatching up everything useful he could find. He could just imagine the look on Rude's face if he saw him running around in a half-crazed frenzy, stealing towels and toilet paper from a two-room inn in the middle of nowhere.
Oh man! *Rude.* He's always gonna think I betrayed him, yo! Well, better than the alternative, I s'pose.
There was no way in hell he was going to drag the other into this. He'd never let the big guy know that he'd quit for him; it'd only make him feel guilty forever.
Reno winced, realizing the next time he saw his partner he'd be looking down the barrel of a gun as well. At least, he hoped there would be a gun.
I may not have been the best partner ever, yo, but I tried, damn it! Ok, I did break his sunglasses like 4,000 times, and there was that one time I got him totally shit-faced and dropped him off at that pervy old man's house, but - damn it! - he'd better not smash my face in!
Still cringing at the image of getting the crap beat out of him before his inevitable demise, he finally closed his suitcase and tied the three item-stuffed pillow cases together (also courtesy of the Gongaga inn). He was a red and black blur as he dashed out the door and down the stairs. He hurried over to helicopter he'd flown, his own personal one to use when on duty, before coming to a dead stop only a foot away.
Good thinking, Reno. Let's take the *ShinRa* chopper, with it's *GPS locator* and fly off into the sunset. Man, this shit's really fucked me up. What the hell am I doing, yo?
Taking a calming breath, Reno relaxed as much as was possible, given the situation. Seeming more like his usual Turk self, the redhead calmly sauntered back towards the inn, his normal air of uncaring arrogance once again in place.
"Hey you!"
The elderly gentleman who ran the establishment gave Reno "The Look" before murmuring something about rude brats who should learn to mind their elders. He continued sweeping, acting as if nothing had happened. Reno just rolled his eyes.
"Damn geezer," he whispered softly to himself.
"You gotta car or something, yo?" he said louder.
"What's it to you?" The man was by now eyeing the Turk, a clear expression of distrust on his face. His eyes caught sight of the pillow cases full of inn supplies for the first time. He gave Reno another Look, but didn't say anything. In general, if a Turk wanted to steal something of yours, it was best to just consider it gone, no matter the fact that this particular one appeared to be a damn stupid brat.
"What're you lookin' at?" Reno snapped. The old man just raised his eyebrow, and Reno rolled his eyes in return.
"Hey, you saw that 'copter I came in on, right yo?"
The other man just nodded. It'd been kind of hard to miss the redhead's entrance, given that the small town had only about a hundred people left, none of which were particularly wealthy or important. The only reason ShinRa had even cared enough to send someone was due to the fact that they were still trying to rebuild their empire. First they'd have to win back the people's trust, starting with the old mako reactor sights such as this one.
"I'll trade ya. Your vehicle for the 'copter. What do you think, yo?" Reno was by now bouncing on the balls of his feet, the only outward sign he gave of his stress. He ran a hand through his hair and gave the other one of his playful smiles, as if he randomly asked people if they wanted a ShinRa first-grade presidential helicopter on a day-to-day basis.
"Why?" The man's eyes were narrowed. It was no secret that Reno was a Turk, and even if one of them could be trusted, Turks had many enemies.
Damn little punk probably has some assassin on his tail and wants me to take his ticking time-bomb off his hands. Probably blow the whole damn town to pieces first time it's started up.
Reno sighed. Truthfully he wasn't surprised, who in their right mind would trust him? Hell, some days he wondered about trusting himself. However, he just couldn't wait an hour for the man to finally give him his answer.
He dropped his usual playboy look and showed the old man his true face, the face of a cold-hearted killer. The innkeeper dropped the broom and started to back away as Reno advanced on him. The Turk grabbed the front of his shirt, and pushed him up against the nearby wall, as gently as he could while still trying to scare the shit out of the old man. He didn't want the geezer to have a heart attack, after all.
"Look here, you damn old fart. I don't have time for this shit, yo! I need to get out of here, and I can't take the 'copter with me. Yes or no answer, NOW!"
While the old man still looked about ready to piss his pants, he also got a thoughtful look in his eyes.
Trained assassin or not, I've been up front all day and I'm positive nobody's gone by that bird. Nobody new has even entered town. And the only other people who'd be able to hit him in the sky are those in other helicopters, and the only people who have other helicopters are professional pilots and…
The old man gave Reno another searching look before nodding his head slowly. He was immediately released. Once safely away from the Turk, he motioned for Reno to follow him before leading the redhead out to a garage in the back of the building. He pointed to a motorcycle, one a bit smaller than Strife's, before pulling out his keys and tossing them to Reno. A set of helicopter keys went flying back at him in exchange.
No joke? That hundred-year-old fart can actually ride this baby? Now I've seen it all, yo.
The redhead walked over to the bike before suddenly whirling around and smacking something with his EMR. He blinked down at the black backpack that he'd hit before giving the old man an incredulous look.
"You attacked me with a backpack, yo?" The old man snorted and shook his head at the younger man.
"Damn stupid punk, I didn't attack anything. Take that! I think you'll need that more than I ever did." With that, the older man gave a pointed look at the pillow cases and then left completely.
Reno eyed the bag for a moment before snatching it up and dumping everything in it. He slung it over his shoulder and hopped on the bike, speeding out of the small garage without further ado.
AN: Well, what do you think so far? I have to admit, of all the fics & original stories I've ever done, both posted & not, on either account, this is the one I'm most pleased with. That said, I would greatly appreciate it if some feedback was left. It doesn't have to be all lovey-dovey either; if something seems off or just sounds weird, let me know. It'd like to know both your favorite and non-favorite parts! Most importantly, I hope it doesn't flow oddly (since it's been written at different times over a few months).
As I said, it's almost finished (I hope…I keep getting ideas ^_^0) so new chapters should be posted fairly quickly. I just have to fix them up a little & finish the fic.
Posted 1/6/10
