Description: This is my first attempt at fanfiction. It's a one-shot about Rude and someone from his past. Sorry if I get some details wrong, I never actually played FFVII, I've only watched cutscenes from some of the games and read the wiki for research (which is still very limited information, to my frustration). I wish I could play the game though for I am hopelessly addicted to the characters and story. Please let me know how I did. :)
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy VII or anything about it. (Although I wish I did.) I did make up a couple of characters though, Rude's acquaintance being one of them.
"Do you see him?" Reno asked.
"No."
Rude scanned the faces of the bar again to make sure, but he knew that their guy wasn't there. The Turk didn't think he would be. After blowing the deal with Rufus, Rossum knew he'd better hide. That's the whole reason they were there. Tseng and Elena had done some investigating and learned that the most likely area that he would run to is Kalm. While Rossum wasn't clever, actually being rather reckless, he had very elusive for the past week, which made this mission all the more irritating. They had hoped he would make a mistake and hit one of the local bars which they knew he had a habit of doing. If there's anything Rossum liked to do, it was drink.
"Guess the idiot is smarter than he looks," Reno sighed, sitting back in his chair, the glass in front of him empty. They'd been at the bar since it opened, scrutinizing anyone who came in. They probably seemed like suspicious characters, especially to the owner who had studied them cautiously when they took a seat and didn't order any alcohol. Not that Reno hadn't tried. Rude had to kick him under the table very hard when he rattled off a long list of drinks he wanted. Reno winced, glared at him, and then bitterly ordered two ginger ales instead.
It was early, so there weren't many people in the bar. It was the time Rossum usually liked to drink, showing up right as the bar opened and then leaving before most people came in so he could do his dirty dealing. Generally the flood came in after the work day ended, especially when there were power outages. They still happened every other day and it caused people to get cranky and stressed. They liked to drown their frustration out with a good glass or too, which is probably why bars were one of the few businesses that were doing well. Kalm was behind in getting their power back compared to Edge and Junon, where Rufus was trying to rebuild Shinra out of the WRO's way. Out here, they didn't get the first priority from either company. Of course, they tried to do whatever they could, but even the power back at HQ was shaky and Reeve barely keeps Edge up and running each day. Neither of them could help Kalm if they couldn't even help themselves.
An hour before the rush usually came in, the few people who were there left, leaving the bar empty except for Reno and Rude who remained in their dark corner. The owner had retreated to the back giving them one more suspicious look before he did.
"I say we tell Tseng we had no luck," Reno said, stretching in his chair. "Rossum's probably hiding in one of his secret warehouses anyway. Or maybe Elena just messed up and sent us all here for no reason. Either way, he's not here."
Rude nodded, his muscles getting stiff from sitting there all day. It would be pointless to stay. At this time, Rossum would usually already be drunk and looking for trouble to cause. They might as well meet up with the others and see what they found. "You call."
Reno pulled out his PHS and was talking to Elena when the door opened and three men stumbled through it. They grinned at each other seeming not to notice Reno and Rude in the corner as they took a seat at the bar. One look at them and Rude could tell that they were already drunk. Way too drunk for four in the afternoon and looking for another drink.
"Bartender," one of them called out too loudly, pounding a fist on the bar. "A drink!"
His two companions shouted out agreement.
The bartender came out from the back. Only this time, it wasn't the owner. It was a woman. When Rude saw her, his whole body froze.
He recognized her immediately. It had been years since he had last seen her, yet so much about her looked the same. Her hair was a long black mane down her back that flickered brown in the light as she moved. It was a huge contrast to her pale skin that always reminded Rude of moonlight on a clear, dark night. She walked with the same slight sway in her hips too. Her body was still in good shape, a fact that Rude wished he hadn't noticed, and she had retained the girlish features of her face, even though it was obvious that she was about as old as Rude was. The only thing that was missing was her crooked smile, which Rude remembered she usually wore. Now, she was frowning slightly.
Rude glanced at Reno who was still talking on the phone. They should leave. He wanted to leave. She couldn't recognize him. While the chances of her doing that were slim in his suit and with his sunglasses on, he didn't want to risk it. It would lead to something he didn't want to face. But when Rude looked over the three men again, he knew that they were trouble. He couldn't just leave her to deal with them herself, even if she was capable of handling it.
The woman's eyes narrowed as she studied the men who were barely able to keep still. Rude knew that she could tell the same thing he was thinking. "Sorry guys, but it looks like you've had enough to drink already."
The man who had first called out and who seemed to be the leader of the group glared at her, standing up. "And who are you to tell me and my buddies what we've had enough of? Why don't you shut that pretty little mouth of yours and start pouring some drinks?"
Reno hung up his phone and Rude kicked him under the table, lighter than the first time but enough to get his attention. When his partner caught his eye, he nodded towards the bar. Reno raised his eyebrows but then grinned, the challenging look already in his eyes.
The woman placed her hands on her hips. "You don't need any more drinks. You had enough at the bar you were probably just at which kicked you out, like I'm doing right now. So why don't you and your buddies leave before I call Mick out here?"
The man's face contorted in anger. He reached out leaning over the bar and grabbed her arm. "Listen, I said to—"
He was cut off as the woman punched him square in the face. The man staggered backwards, trying to hold onto the bar for support. His drunken state made it hard for him though. He clawed at the polished wood until his buddies finally helped him stand back up. Rude almost smiled. She never was one to let someone walk all over her. And touching her without her permission was also something you didn't do unless you wanted a black eye. Rude had learned that the hard way.
The man regained his balance after a moment and this time, the men on either side of him were standing too.
"I'll get you for that," the man snarled. He grabbed the front of her shirt and yanked her halfway over the bar. Rude's body tensed and he almost leapt out of his chair. But right then, the owner, who Rude assumed was Mick, came out.
"Hey!" he said, walking towards the three men glaring at them. "What do you think you're-?"
Suddenly the other two men were on him. The bartender had no problem fending off the first guy, blocking his swipe and then shoving him against the bar. But then the second man attacked him from the side while he was distracted. He grabbed onto his neck and then pulled him backwards. The first guy recovered and tackled him, bringing all three of them to the floor. Together the two friends wrestled with the bartender and pinned him down.
"What was that about your friend?" the first man smirked at the woman who was struggling in his grasp. "I think he's busy."
She grabbed his arm, trying to make him release her, but his grip was strong and he was too far out of reach for her to do anything else.
Suddenly, Rude was out of his seat. He walked over to the man and tapped his shoulder. The man turned, his eyes first widening in surprise. Apparently he hadn't noticed them sitting there, and by the look on the woman's face, she hadn't either. The man quickly recovered though and growled, "What?"
"Let the lady go."
The man only sneered at him. "And what if I don't?"
It was all the invitation Rude needed.
He hit him in the throat first, causing the man to let go of the woman, choking. When the man grabbed his throat, stepping backwards slightly, Rude grabbed him by the shoulders and knocked his head against his, stunning the man even further. Then he kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling to the floor. Seeing their leader on the ground, the other two men released the bartender and came at Rude. Their attacks were sloppy though and the alcohol made their movements slow. Rude had no trouble blocking the punches of one of them before grabbing him and then smashing his head against the bar. When he turned around, looking for the other one, he saw Reno standing over him with his EMR in his hands, the man already knocked out with a bleeding nose. Reno smirked down at the body, and Rude almost felt bad for the guy. His partner had been looking for a fight all day.
Rude straightened his suit then turned to Mick who had gotten to his feet. "Thanks for the drinks," he said, pulling out some money and offering it towards him.
The owner shook his head though. "Keep it. They're on me."
Rude paused but then put the money back in his pocket. He ignored the way the woman was scrutinizing his face and turned to Reno. "Think we should escort these gentlemen out?" he asked.
"Well it'd certainly be the polite thing to do," Reno replied, tucking his EMR safely away.
Rude grabbed the shirt of the leader who was still coughing and the other man he had taken out who was holding the side if his head, groaning. Reno lifted the unconscious man. They dragged them out of the bar and threw them onto the ground.
"Go," Rude said.
"And take your sleepy friend with you," Reno said.
The two men glared at them but picked up the unconscious guy and left.
"You didn't have to knock him out," Rude said, once they were gone.
Reno shrugged. "I got carried away."
"Any word on Rossum?"
"Nope." Reno sighed. "We're supposed to meet up with Tseng and Elena at the meeting point."
He nodded. "Okay."
"Hey Rude, do you think-"
"I knew it was you."
Both Turks turned at the interruption. Rude stiffened when he saw her. The woman from the bar had followed them outside. The exact thing he had hoped she wouldn't do.
"Rude," she said, shooting her familiar smile. "It's been a while."
Reno looked at him. "You know her?"
"Elisa," he said in greeting and as an answer to Reno's question. His instincts told him to walk away, right now. Nothing good could come from this, especially with Reno here.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she said, beaming up at him. "And now, here you are, saving me like always. I can't believe I recognized you after all this time. You've definitely changed a lot."
Rude didn't answer. He didn't know how and he didn't want to.
"My friend owns the bar. He's grateful for your help. Would you like to stay for a drink? He said that you didn't really order any real drinks before and he insists that you have something. It'd be on the house."
Reno perked up at the mention of alcohol, or rather, free alcohol. "Hey, I could go for a—"
"No." Rude said it with such force, he saw Elisa recoil a bit before she blinked in surprise. That wasn't like her but he guess he wasn't the only one who had changed in the past years. "We don't drink on the job," he added at her hurt look.
"Oh come on, Rude," Reno whined. "It's just a drink. And it's an old friend. I'm sure Tseng would understand."
Rude turned to give Reno a hard look, which was hard through his glasses, but his partner seemed to get the hint.
"No," he repeated, starting to turn away. "We have to go."
"Rude, wait," she said.
He stopped and reluctantly looked back at her.
"You should come visit sometime," she said. "I work here every day. We could catch up. After all, so much has happened since we last saw each other. Please." Her eyes flicked downward, taking in his suit before meeting his eyes again. "When you're not on the job."
Rude saw the eager look on her face. It pained him a little to see how excited she was to see him, while he only wanted to be walking away. Not that he still cared about her, or even that he was still angry at her. His life now just couldn't have her anywhere in it.
"I'll try," was all he said, in order to please her for the moment.
She smiled and nodded. "Good."
"Reno," he said, turning and walking away. Surprisingly his partner followed him without saying anything. Rude knew though, as they walked away from the bar together, that his partner's silence wouldn't last long. It rarely ever did.
"So how do you know her?" Reno asked. It was evening by the time Reno and Rude had been able to meet up with Tseng and Elena. Then, the two other Turks had brought them to a warehouse that showed evidence it belonged to Rossum and that he had been there recently. The problem was, they didn't know how recent, and their target could have left the city already. To regroup and look over the information they had, they had all gone back to the living space they had rented for a week. Reno had been too busy to bug Rude.
Until now.
Rude sighed inwardly. He had been dreading this moment the whole night.
"It was a long time ago," he said, shortly.
"Oh come on, you gotta give me more than that."
Rude glared at him, but in the barely lit room, he doubted Reno could see through his glasses.
"She reminds me of Tifa," the red-head went on. "Like the way she just punched the guy in the face. That was great. Bet the man didn't see that coming…Is that why you had a crush on her? They look like they could be sisters. They're not, are they? Because that'd be kind of freaky—"
"It was before I joined the Turks," Rude said, cutting him off.
Reno raised his eyebrows at him. "Girlfriend?"
"She was the reason I left," he said, avoiding the question.
His partner frowned. "Oh."
"Can you please just let this one go? It's getting late."
"Fine, fine," Reno said, holding up his hands in surrender. But Rude knew that he would still be badgering him about it later. And if for some reason Reno had decided to let it go…well, the next thing that happened killed any chances of that.
Elena walked in looking both confused and curious while trying to appear professional at the same time. "Rude," she said, "there's someone here to see you. She says her name is Elisa."
Rude froze and Reno gave a low whistle. "Looks like your old flame is hard to put out," he sniggered.
Elena's eyes widened, all pretense of being professional dropping. "What? Who-?"
"Reno," Rude bit out. The last thing he wanted was for everyone to know. But knowing Reno, the chances of that were very slim.
His partner shrugged. "Might wanna tell your girl that we're trying to lay low. So to try and keep her mouth shut."
Rude only nodded before leaving the room. He ignored the sudden yelps coming from Reno as Elena attacked him, demanding for him to tell her everything. Out in the living room, he ran into Tseng.
"She's in there," the head-Turk said, nodding towards the bedroom that they all shared.
"I'll get rid of her," Rude said.
Tseng seemed to study him for a moment before turning to a cup of tea he had in his hand. "She's your acquaintance."
He tried to act like he didn't care, but by the slight tilt of his mouth, Rude knew that he was displeased. It was rare for one of them to run into someone they knew from before. Most people didn't come out after Meteor. Even less survived Deepground. But it was better if they didn't meet people who they once knew. It could get in the way of the job.
Rude stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He didn't want anybody to hear this.
"Rude," she said, turning and smiling at him. "Hi."
"How did you find me?" he asked.
"I asked around. I knew someone was bound to know where Turks were staying."
Rude must have frowned, or maybe she could just read him so well because she suddenly looked worried. "Why? Was I not supposed to?"
No, she wasn't. Having someone asking around for the Turks was not good, at least not in this case. She was alerting everyone to their presence whether they knew them or not.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I just—"
"Don't worry about it," he interrupted, although his mind was churning. They'd have to move. To the other side of town, maybe. Not like it'd help much. If Rossum had heard, he'd probably flee the continent. Even if he wasn't here in Kalm as Elena's research suggested, he must have friends who now could warn him that they were coming for him.
Damn. They'd have a lot of cleaning up to do.
She smiled, hesitant this time. Rude sighed, trying to bring his thoughts to the problem in front of him right now instead. He'd tell the others later, after she was taken care of. "What do you want, Ellie?" he asked, trying to sound kind instead of impatient. He'd never been good at trying to sound kind though. At least the look on the woman's face told him he had succeeded somewhat.
"I don't know," she admitted. "Seeing you today, it was…"
"Surprising," he finished.
"Yes. Surprising and…nice," she said. "I haven't seen anyone from my childhood for a long time."
Rude waited for her to go on. She glanced at the door.
"Those other people, they're Turks too, right?" she asked.
He nodded.
"And you're all living here?" she asked, glancing around at the bedroom which only had bedding on the floor and nothing else.
"For the time being," he said.
She looked at him, tilting her head. "So you're leaving? Soon?"
"Tomorrow," he said. Tonight if they could manage it. But he thought it was best if she didn't know that.
She looked around the room again. "Only one mattress?"
"Elena's," Rude said. They had given it to her despite her protests that they were being sexist. Reno and Rude only had some blankets on the floor, which Rude didn't mind but left Reno complaining all day about his back. Tseng had insisted on sleeping on the couch near the door, not that the Director slept much anyway. "We weren't planning to stay long."
"Elena," she said, nodding. "The blonde. Are you two…?"
He realized what she was asking and shifted uncomfortably. He knew why she was here now and he couldn't give it to her. Not after what she did. And not after Chelsea.
"We're just co-workers," he said.
"Oh," she said, looking away. "That's nice." Then she snuck a look at him again. "She's very pretty."
Rude didn't answer again, keeping his face as expressionless as possible.
She took a deep breath before finally she blurted it out. "Do you remember that night?"
He automatically knew what she was referring to. "Elisa," he warned.
"It was so beautiful—"
"Don't," he said, his voice hard.
She looked straight into his eyes with her own soft, brown ones. "I still think about it you know. What it would have been like if we were different. We were so young. Too young, maybe, to make it happen. But I like to imagine…"
"You shouldn't have come here," Rude finally said. Up until this point, he realized, he had somewhat tried to spare her feelings. He didn't know why. Maybe because on some level he still felt he had a connection to her. It was probably the same connection that made her come after him. But he couldn't anymore. He didn't want to bring up the old memories and feelings again. He had put them away a long time ago. That's why he had wanted to leave the second he saw her. He knew that it would only end as this.
Elisa stared at him. Her face whirled with mixed emotions. Confusion, hurt, understanding, guilt. She was usually good at hiding her emotions as he now was with his. But she had told him once that he was the one person she couldn't keep her feelings from.
That had turned out to be a lie.
"I loved you, you know that right?"
Rude looked away. "Yes. But in the end, it doesn't matter."
"It matters to me," she said.
"Elisa, I can't do this," he said. "There's too much that's changed." He looked back at her. "You should go."
She was silent. Rude knew that she was hurt, but he couldn't help that. Except that when he caught a glimpse of her face, something inside him twitched.
"Well, then at least let me thank you for saving me."
"You never needed saving," he said.
"No, but you did it anyway." Her face darkened. "Until I screwed that up." She took in his suit again. "It's why you became a Turk isn't it? It's why you left?" Her eyes traveled back up to his face. "Maybe it was for the better then."
Rude shifted again. "If it helps," he said, "I forgave you a long time ago."
She smiled at him, the light in her eyes dimmed. "Yes. But I never did." She stepped closer to him. "Can I….can I see your eyes? Just once, before I go."
It was stupid. He shouldn't do it. But deep down, he felt like he owed her something. And he hated that.
He reached up and took his sunglasses off, letting her eyes gaze into his. She stepped forward again to get a better look. He resisted the urge to step back.
"Despite how much you've changed, your eyes are just like I remembered," she said, softly.
He didn't have a reply to that. And it turned out he didn't have to have one. She moved fast, like she was afraid if he knew what she was doing, he would stop her. And she was right, he would have. But instead, he merely jerked back slightly in surprise. He didn't pull away though. Her hand was on the back of his neck, holding him there not by strength but by weakness. Her lips were soft and they felt more familiar to him than they should have, especially after all this time. Even the way she tasted and how her body felt against his was the same. It was almost like they were teenagers again, when they were completely in love and neither of them had doubts about anything.
She drew back, breaking the spell. "You'll always be my first," she whispered. Then she gave that sad smile again and left the room, leaving him forever.
Rude didn't move for a while, even after he heard the front door close and the murmurs of the other Turks in the other room start up. He would never see her again, he realized. And he was glad to know that he felt okay with that. They had their goodbye that they had never had before, and now she could move on like he had long ago.
Finally, he reached up and put his glasses back on. He turned and walked determinedly from the room to tell the others that they were leaving.
Time to get back to work.
Rude is one of my favorite characters (although to be fair, ALL of the characters are my favorite ones) so I thought I'd just write something for him. It upsets me that he and Chelsea didn't get together, because I definitely ship them. But now if anything I ship Rude and myself. Anyway, you can infer what they were talking about and who Elisa was to him. I didn't really have any specific idea about how she betrayed him (except maybe finding another lover perhaps?) so you can come up with that on your own.
Please review. I'd really like to know how my first piece of fanfiction went.