A gunshot sounded in the distance, painting the walls of a distant room with blood and gore. Rufus swept his hair back from his eyes, knowing full well who had been shot and why. The small room he was sitting in now was not to his liking, but as he was cuffed to the wall he had no choice but to stay in it until his gun-wielding savior came to unchain him. He lounged against the wall behind him languidly, examining the cuffs on his wrists with disinterest. He was getting too used to these situations. It was one thing to be kidnapped; it was another thing to be kidnapped more than once. He must have fallen into enemy hands at least six times throughout his life now. He never stayed in the palm of the enemy for long, but being in the situation at all upset him deeply. More gunshots rang out, closer to his tiny room, and he looked up, his thin blonde hair drifting over his eyes.

Rufus stared at the crack under the door, frowning as something obscured the thin light that had kept his prison from being completely dark. He could hear a familiar voice cursing under the sound of gunshots and he no longer wondered why the light was gone. It was obviously not Tseng who was coming to his rescue. Tseng wouldn't be wasting so many bullets and he would not have let a corpse block the door. Tseng would know that once the light was extinguished Rufus felt the first tinges of fear. Sure, being kidnapped had been frightening, but he had always had some kind of light to let him see everything around him. Now Rufus stood straighter in his tiny room, pressing his back to the wall and giving the cuffs at his wrists a strong tug. He was done waiting patiently for his rescue, every moment that passed was another moment he would harass his rescuer for making him wait.

Rufus frowned as something heavy slammed against the doorframe, pushing a dark fluid under the crack of the door. The room filled with the strong and unmistakable odor of blood, causing Rufus' nose to wrinkle against his face. He hated the stench of blood. Blood flowed through his veins and that was where blood was supposed to stay. Blood was not supposed to spill onto the floor or the walls, but Rufus knew that in this case, unless the blood belonged to his rescuer, the blood was necessary to keep his blood in his veins. He already had a mouthful of complaints for his rescuer about the wait and the lack of light, but he might let the blood issue slide.

Rufus tried to look at his watch, only barely able to see the glowing hands as he tried to calculate how much time he had spent waiting since he was first taken. He gave up, the lack of light hindering his sight to the point where he saw double when he tried to focus on the tiny light coming from his watch. He would have to remember to replace the useless thing when he finally got home. A full glowing face would be required for the next watch.

Rufus jumped as holes began peppering the door to his prison, letting light into the room in small increments. Once the shooter determined that the wood was weak enough, a gloved fist smashed through the most heavily peppered part of the door, leaving a hole large enough for the shooter to slide his arm into to unlock the door. The door feebly turned inward, forcing Rufus to turn his face and blink violently at the sudden gush of light that flowed over him. He held his cuffed together hands up to try and block the light, peering through his fingers to try and identify his rescuer. "Reno?"

"Who else ya fucktart?" Reno strode across the room, his feet coloring the floor as red as his hair.

"I thought Tseng would come for me." Rufus squeezed his eyes shut as Reno pulled his hands down from his face to tinker with the cuffs enveloping his wrists.

"Well then you forgot your daddy took Tseng to Corel with him." Reno examined the cuffs with a frown, wiping blood from the corner of his eye as a stream trickled down his forehead. "If you want to be saved by Tseng then wait here for a couple days, I'll let ya."

"No, I don't want to wait a few days for Tseng, but…" Rufus blinked and did his best to seem unaffected by the state Reno was in. The man had blood leaking tears in both flesh and fabric, prompting a un-often felt sympathy from Rufus. His voice didn't betray the emotion, however; "you're the one they sent? Was there no one else?"

Reno looked Rufus in the eye, "Want me to go find someone else? It should only take an hour or two to run my ass back to Junon and grab someone willing to kill all the bastards that are going to re-capture this place and beat the shit out of you for being too stupid to get rescued."

Rufus shook his head, swallowing as he sensed the serious and biting tone clipping the end of each word Reno spoke. It was clear he would have to save his complaints until at least after the cuffs were removed. "I'd like to go back with you."

"Then don't fuckin' complain about being saved by me." Reno tugged the chain attached to Rufus' cuffs out of the wall, frowning at the ease with which it gave. "Damn these bastards were stupid. Didn't you even try to save yourself?"

"I have no weapons and my hands are cuffed. No, I didn't try and save myself." Rufus frowned as Reno wound the chain around his arm and tugged him forward. "What the hell are you doing? Aren't you going to take the cuffs off?"

"I kinda like having you on a leash, bossman." Reno grinned and wiped more blood off his face, staining the supple leather of his glove dark. "I think I'll lead you out like this." Reno walked forward, tugging his makeshift leash hard to force movement from Rufus' stiff legs.

Rufus stumbled forward, frowning deeply. "Reno, uncuff me! Now! That's an order!"

Reno spun and pulled Rufus closer with the leash, grabbing him by the front of his suit and lifting him off his toes. "Listen, Rufus, I am not following a single godsdamned order today. I'm giving orders today. If you want me to follow orders I'll leave your skinny ass here like your loving father told me to."

Rufus went wide-eyed, surprised by the strength in Reno's bleeding arms and the poison-laced words that the red-head had slipped into his ears. "W-what!"

"Yeah, that's right, brat. Your dad didn't want to pay the ransom and he didn't want to pay anyone to come get you." Reno struggled to hold Rufus the few inches off of the floor that he held him and it took all of his effort to keep his arms from shaking, but he had a point to make and, even though the position he put Rufus in had the blonde looking down at him, he was the one in control and tonight that was how it was supposed to be.

Rufus gripped Reno's arms, wanting the red-head to put him down so he could think properly. He was not supposed to be looking down at Reno, Reno was taller than him. He didn't like the way Reno's blood-streaked face looked from above. He searched Reno's pale blue eyes for the hint of a lie, hoping that he'd find it hiding behind the truth beaconing out at him, "If he refused to pay anyone to come get me, why are you here?"

Reno frowned at that, rekindling Rufus' hope for a lie, "I'm off the clock, brat. I'm not getting paid. Hell, I'll probably have my pay docked for this."

Rufus scanned Reno's eyes as the red-head began lowering him to the floor. "Why did you come then?"

"Because you officially owe me a beer now." Reno set Rufus on the floor, not releasing the grip on the man's suit. He was starting to have trouble focusing on the blonde in front of him.

"That's all you want for this? A beer?" Rufus raised an eyebrow, peeling Reno's hands from the front of his suit with difficulty.

"Anything else you decide to give me is in appreciation not debt." Reno grabbed the chain dangling from Rufus' arms and wrapped it around his arm again, not wanting the blonde to have room to roam away from him. "Let's go, I need a fucking band-aid."

Rufus followed Reno with less resistance than he had given the man earlier. He looked at the carnage littering the hallway outside the room he had been held in, noting the smashed in doors that lined the hall. Reno had obviously done quite a bit of searching and had wasted more than one bullet trying to find him. That meant that not only was the red-head saving him for no pay, he was saving him with his own resources. Reno had never been issued a gun by the company as Tseng didn't trust him to keep it properly. Rufus wasn't even sure Reno owned his own gun and the lack of a gun visible on the red-head's person solidified that thought. Reno had probably stolen a gun and ammunition from the men he had killed to get to Rufus.

Reno dragged Rufus into the parking area outside the building Rufus had been kept in; looking through the rows of cars for one that suited his tastes. He grinned as he spotted a black sports car, tugging Rufus to the window. "I've always wanted one of these bad boys." Rufus opened his mouth to protest, but Reno was already smashing his elbow through the paper-thin window. He winced as glass cut into his arm and he pulled out the more visible chunks before opening the door and shoving Rufus into the car. "Sit down and shut up while I hotwire this thing."

Rufus crawled over the console and sat, watching as Reno twisted himself below the dashboard and began tearing apart the paneling of the car, grabbing hold of wires and tugging them apart. Reno had the car started in mere moments and Rufus could only watch as his bloodstained rescuer pulled himself into a sitting position inside the car with obvious pain. Rufus knew better than to comment on the state Reno was in as the red-head had the same temperament Tseng did in situations like the one they were in. Once Rufus had been told to shut up, he had better shut up until he was asked a direct question.

Reno drove in silence, trying to calculate how much blood he had lost and how much more he likely had in him. He could hear his fragile pulse pounding in his ears, but he had no way to measure out how much of the necessary substance he had left. He watched Rufus out of the corner of his eye, noting the way blue eyes followed the blood dripping down his face. So he had taken a blow to the head, what was the big deal? It was only a little blood after all and it wasn't like he had never been bludgeoned before. Hell, part of his Turk training had involved a several day beating that had broken bones and punctured organs. Reno was tough enough to handle the un-tallied injuries he had now.

Rufus didn't speak until the stolen car came to a stop in front of the ritzy apartment complex he lived in. "I've got a beer or two in the fridge and some band-aids. You can come up and have them."

"No shit I'm going to come up, Rufus, I'm not letting your scrawny ass out of my sight until there's another Turk willing to look after you. After what just happened you don't get to be left alone. Ever. Tonight was fucking ridiculous." Reno parked the car and got out on shaking legs, noting the blood of blood he left on the leather seat with distaste. "Shit. You better have heavy duty band-aids, brat."

Rufus got out of the car as Reno began tugging on his leash-bound hands. "Don't pull, I'm coming."

"Well come faster." Reno tugged Rufus' chain until the white-clad man was out of the car, his knees stained with blood from the seat.

Rufus sighed and followed Reno into his apartment complex, glad that it was so late in the night that no one was in the lobby. He would definitely get evicted if anyone saw him right now. "Let's take the elevator. I don't need you to bleed all over the stairs."

"Fuck you, Rufus." Reno frowned and jabbed a bloody thumb against the up button of the elevator.

Rufus rolled his eyes and stepped into the elevator. "Just try not to bleed so much."

Reno jabbed the button for Rufus' penthouse and leaned back against the wall of the elevator, grinning at Rufus as his blood ran down the sleek metal wall in thin rivulets. The cold metal soothed his throbbing back and he shook as he started to realize what sort of shape he was really in. The elevator couldn't rise fast enough for his liking and when the time came for Rufus to flash his keycard for entrance to his penthouse Reno dug it out of the blonde's pocket for him, much to Rufus' chagrin.

They stumbled into the apartment, Reno from lack of blood and Rufus because Reno was tugging hard at his arms. Reno sunk to the floor as he started to feel the full effect of the night's misadventure. Rufus knelt next to him in a rare show of concern, but Reno pushed the blonde aside, forcing his legs to support him again so he could walk to the kitchen where the tiled floor would keep Rufus from whining about ruined flooring.

Once Reno reached the kitchen, all bets were off. He no longer cared if Rufus saw his vulnerability for what it was. He stripped off the blood, glass, and shrapnel pierced jacket he wore, tossing it on the kitchen floor. He let the heavy chain slip from his numbing fingers and sunk to the floor, shakily unbuttoning his previously white shirt, letting it land beside the jacket. "Go get a first aid kit, Rufus. Quick."

Rufus gathered up his chain and rushed to his bathroom, grabbing all the medical supplies he had. He rushed them back to the kitchen, scared of the tone Reno had used when asking for them. Reno hadn't been cruel or aloof like he had been earlier, he had sounded weak, as if his lungs didn't have the air to fill out his voice. With bound hands and no permission he began dressing the immediate wounds he saw on Reno's back, noting that all he could see were thin and superficial scratches. It seemed that, aside from the blood pouring out of a gash in Reno's elbow and the large somewhat bloody bump on Reno's forehead, all the other large globs of blood coating Reno came from other sources than himself. Reno didn't complain as Rufus disinfected and swabbed dry each wound, making Rufus worry more. He had seen Reno give doctors hell for cleaning up worse looking injuries and he had expected similar treatment, but he supposed that Reno gave the doctors hell for show. And, as Rufus poured some painkillers down the red-head's throat and stroked his neck until he swallowed them, Rufus decided he must no longer warrant a show of Reno's edge and venom. He had seen enough of it firsthand.

Reno focused on breathing as Rufus cleaned his wounds, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see any pity when Rufus looked him over. He was having enough trouble dealing with the idea that Rufus, selfish, ungrateful Rufus, was treating his wounds as gently as he could. It was odd, but he supposed that Rufus felt some form of gratitude towards him for saving his life simply because he knew it was in danger. He knew he'd catch hell for what he had done from Rufus' father, but he didn't care. Rufus' father was an ass and that was all there was to it.

Rufus finished cleaning the blood off of Reno's front, holding the red-head in the crook of his arm and tapping his face lightly. It was hard to hold him when his hands were cuffed together, but he did what he could. "Reno, wake up. If you've got a concussion you can't go to sleep."

Reno pushed Rufus' hand away from his face and let his head fall back against Rufus' chest. "I'm not sleeping; I'm too busy trying not to die to sleep. You fuckin' owe me for tonight, Rufus."

"I know I do." Rufus watched Reno's face, glad the Turk's eyes were closed so that he wouldn't see the concern he knew was pouring out of his eyes with a tear or two that he was never supposed to cry. As stony as he often appeared, he was able to drop his façade so long as no one saw.

Reno smiled weakly as he felt a small warm droplet touch his chest. "You've got a leak, Rufus."

"Don't open your eyes and you won't even notice it." Rufus adjusted his linked hands around Reno's shoulders, wishing he could have the chain and cuffs removed.

"Until I get leaked on again, you mean. I think I deserve to see your leak, don't you?" Reno opened his eyes and frowned as Rufus' promptly turned his face away. "Come on, Rufus, look at me dammit."

Rufus shook his head. "No. I don't want to."

Reno shrugged and grabbed Rufus' chin. "If you won't look at me willingly, I'll just make you look."

"Knock it off, Reno!" Rufus pulled his head back from Reno's grip.

Reno rolled his eyes and grabbed the chain, quickly wrapping it around Rufus' neck and tugging as hard as his shaking arms would allow. "Look at me, damn you! I'm sitting in your lap ready to strangle you if you don't fuckin' look!"

Rufus moved with the chain, frowning as he faced Reno. "There, I'm looking. Satisfied?"

"Course not." Reno kept pressure on the chain, determined to pull Rufus as close as he could.

Rufus blinked and let his head touch Reno's neck, unsure what the red-head wanted. "What are you doing?"

"Making you hold me properly." Reno released the chain and draped his shaking arms around Rufus' shoulders so the other man couldn't pull away.

Rufus listened to Reno's pulse beat against his ear, confused but content to let his confusion lie. Reno was injured and in pain from saving him and if Reno needed to be held then who better to hold him than the one who caused his pain? It didn't make a lot of sense to Rufus, but he didn't mind holding Reno. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Reno wasn't as bony as he looked.

Reno smiled and tangled his hand in Rufus' hair, pulling his head up from his neck. He liked Rufus resting there, but he had something to say before he potentially passed out in the comfort of Rufus' arms. "Hey, wanna know why I saved you?"

"I thought it was for beer?" Rufus raised an eyebrow. He hadn't thought Reno had any ulterior motives. Reno would do just about anything for free booze.

"Well, that's a bonus, I don't deny I wanted some beer, hell I still want some beer, but that wasn't the main reason I saved you." Reno smiled and moved his hand from Rufus' hair to the back of his neck, stroking his fingertips in tiny circles.

Rufus shivered as Reno's fingers played on his neck. "Why then?"

"Because I wanted to make tonight a night we never talk about." Reno grinned and draped the chain over his shoulders, shivering at the feel of cold metal against his bruised flesh. "How about it?"

Rufus blinked and looked at Reno, considering his options for a moment. He liked Reno, but he wasn't sure how well he liked him. However, Reno just said it would become a night they never talked about, so perhaps he planned on making it a one-night stand kind of arrangement? Rufus could handle that; most of his relationships were like that anyways. He needed a good fuck buddy anyways and if Reno could perform as well as he always bragged he could then Rufus might promote him to that status. For tonight, he would do what he had to so he could get the damned cuffs off his wrists. He held his hands up to Reno's eyelevel. "Un-cuff me and it's a deal."

Reno stood and dragged Rufus to his feet, draping the chain over his shoulder and tugging the blonde behind him on his makeshift leash. "It's a deal." As much as he liked the idea of Rufus handcuffed the way he was now, he would compromise with the blonde if it meant he still got what he wanted out of the situation. Besides, Rufus just said to un-cuff him, that didn't meant that later he couldn't re-cuff him in a more convenient position, perhaps with his hands at the bedposts?

Rufus followed with a smile, letting Reno drag him like a sad puppy. "So this is turning out to be a pretty good day for me. I got kidnapped and found out my father hates me enough to let me get killed, but hey, now I get laid."

Reno laughed and tugged Rufus into his bedroom, noting that the decorative wood of the headboard was thin enough that he could cuff Rufus' hands around it with ease. "Yeah, you're getting laid, but you're going to be sore in the morning." Reno was going to be sore in about five minutes, but that was because he was sore already and moving only made it worse. He could stand a little soreness though, especially when he was reminded by a cold metal leash of what little price he had had to pay for Rufus' life that night.

"Is that a promise?" Rufus grinned lewdly, holding his hands out to Reno as the red-head pushed him onto the bed.

"I don't make promises, I make bets." Reno dug into his pocket and found one of the hairpins he captured his elusive bangs in every now and again. He plunged the thin metal strip into the cuffs and quickly undid the lock, releasing Rufus from his bonds.

"So what are the odds of you winning the bet that I'm going to be sore in the morning?" Rufus rubbed his wrists in relief, glad that he could finally stretch his hands as far apart as he wanted to.

Reno grinned and straddled Rufus. "I've got a ninety-nine percent chance of winning."

"Sounds like we'll have a good time then." Rufus stroked Reno's sides gently and stifled any further banter by capturing thin red lips with his own.

Author's Note: I don't know where this story came from, but I know I was listening to the song 'I Can't Take It' by All American Rejects for a few hours on repeat while I started it and that it was finished during math class. I've started writing in classes now so that I can try and keep up with my plotbunnies. My stories will be updated more regularly if I continue to do so. Yay!