Of Turks and Rain
by crystalamaris (a.k.a crystaladept and abudai)
A.N.- This is the sequel to Of Turks and Coffee. This is Reno's story of why they keep coffee away from him, and the reason he drinks coffee. Based after Advent Children.
WARNING- Spoilers for Crisis Core and the game, if you haven't played either... though I really don't know why you're reading this if you haven't even played the original game. Rated pg-13 for possible language, mentioned rape, and violence.
Summary- Elena's curiosity finally gets the best of her. While at Healin Inn, she confronts Reno on his past and coffee.
--
The ground was soaked as she trotted through the rain, hurrying to get back to the warmth and the dryness that was Healin Inn. In her arms, she clutched two bags of groceries. It had been raining for two days now, causing misery in the ex-Turk's base. Reno had disappeared into the attic and hadn't emerged. Rude had attempted to coax him out, but wound up with a lamp to the head. Instead, the bald ex-Turk was playing checkers with Tseng, who wasn't even paying full attention to the game. He kept on glancing at Rufus. The ex-President of Shinra was staring out the window, with an occasional glance up at the ceiling. He was no longer bound to a wheelchair, most of his injuries having healed. All three of them looked up as Elena hurried through the door, struggling to keep hold of the bags while trying to close the door.
"Let me help you," Rude said, taking one of the bags. Elena nodded gratefully, glad to be rid of at least one of her burdens.
"Is he still up there?"
"Still hasn't moved. Probably won't until the rain stops." Elena set her bag down on the counter and glanced at the trap door that led to the attic.
"Maybe I should go talk to him."
"Wear full body armor," Tseng answered, gesturing at Rude. Elena chuckled and pulled down the trap door.
--
Reno sat there, arms hugging his knees, staring out the window. He didn't even flinch when the trap door hit the floor with a thud. He barely blinked as a soft voice broke through the silence he was enjoying.
"Care to talk about it?" Reno turned his head and looked at her.
"Close the door, 'Laney... Don't want others to hear. I owe you this explanation at least." Elena wrinkled her nose at the nickname, but hastened to do as he asked. Soon, the only light came from the random flashes of lightning.
"Is this about the coffee, and how Tseng knows about it?"
"Yeah... just... listen. Please don't interrupt me. I've been thinking about how I was going to explain this, and I guess I should start from the beginning." Elena settled in on the floor, suddenly wishing she had popcorn.
--
-Reno's POV-
I guess it all started when I was a kid, living in the slums. My dad was a drunk and my mom was a whore... though I guess that's life in the slums, right?
(Elena nodded)
It was one day that I couldn't take it anymore. I think it was raining above the plate, because the ground was wet and water was dripping from above. I left home, wanting to get away from it all. I wound up four sectors over... Sector Six, I think. By that time, I was cold and tired. Some nice guy offered me something to drink, said it'd warm me up.
I woke up an hour or so later in a back alley. (He paused, turning away from Elena and looking out the window) I don't think the coffee was laced with anything... just that my body couldn't handle the caffeine. They had raped me while I was passed out. At least, I'm assuming there was more then one. I stopped drinking coffee at that moment. The prospect of passing out in any random spot frightened me.
So life went on and I learned the way of the street. It wasn't long before I joined the Turks. I figured, hey look, a new life. I had a job, I found new friends, and I was having fun. After the academy... which I'm surprised they passed me, I went to the Shinra building. That was about ten or so years ago. I met a rookie Soldier while there. Guess what his name was.
("Cloud?")
Naw... Not Cloud... I think that would've scared me. I didn't even see anything of Cloud until a few years later. It was Zack. We hit it off right away. Do you know that our personalities were pretty darn close? We were the best team when it came to practical jokes.
("Scary...")
Yeah... Tseng thought so too. He learned to keep his door locked, even while in his office. We wound up with alot of lumps on the head from Angeal.
("Um..." Elena paused, remembering not to interrupt.)
Angeal trained Zack. He was the original owner of the Buster Sword. KIA, if I'm not mistaken. Though I truly began to doubt those reports, seeing how Angeal, Genisis, Sephiroth, Zack, and a few others were reported KIA and yet they appeared later. It was after Zack was reported KIA that this happened.
(Elena twitched, wanting to know more, but keeping her mouth shut.)
Cissnei was in the Nibelheim area, tracking Hojo's report of run away experiments. I overheard Tseng's conversation with her after she found them. It was Zack and Cloud. He called her back and called for me. He wanted me to help retrieve them alive.
That was the second time I drank coffee, and the reason why Tseng won't let me drink it anymore. Not that I'd want to, yo.
I overdosed on coffee a couple of days later. Zack was officially dead. He'd been overkilled by a bunch of infintry men. Cloud survived, though, we didn't know that until later. Cissnei quit just after, and I slept for several days.
I threw myself into my work. Not caring about anything. But during the order to drop the plate on sector seven, I saw him. I saw Cloud. I'd seen him before, but I wasn't really sure it was him.
That's when I started second
--
Reno never finished his statement. Elena was up off the floor and pulling him into a hug.
"You've been building up all this stress for so many years. You can cry, you know. There's no reason to hold it in."
"I'm a Turk."
"And emotions equal death, right? Reality check, Reno. You're not a Turk anymore. Cry. Let it all go."
So he did. Clinging to Elena's shoulder, he sobbed, even as the rain continued to fall. Elena gazed out the window, watching the rain start to die down.
--
Downstairs, three people scrambled to return to looking like they were doing something productive when the pair finally came down stairs.
"Yo! The rain finally stopped! We can really go outside again!" Reno chirped, looking like he never even cried.
"What did we miss?" Elena asked, hiding a giggle at the sight she beheld.
"Nothing," Rude answered.
"It's not nice to eavesdrop, ya know," said Reno, whipping the upside down newspaper out of Rude's hands and depositing it on the coffee table, before pulling Elena's romance book out of Rufus's hands. Tseng was the only one who actually looked like he was doing what he normally does. Arms clasped behind his back, staring out the window.
You know what? To Reno, it never felt so good to laugh. From then on, though it rained, he never got depressed. Although coffee still affected him...
--
A.N.- Che... that was entirely cruddy. I lost track of what I wanted to do. Er... R+R please. I'm gonna go and see if I can find the rest of Absent Without Leave before I wind up with a mob at my door with torches and pitchforks...