This is just a little one-shot I decided to write last night (or rather this morning). I couldn't sleep AT ALL (damn allergies!) So I just laid in bed and thought about my new idea. I may turn it into an actual story later on, depending on how many reviews I get.
Disclaimer: What do you think...!
All Odds Against Us
Reno sat silently as he piloted the ShinRa helicopter back towards their base at the ShinRa mansion. The Turks'most recent mission had sent them to Midgar, where they met a young woman named Karra with an "unusual" talent. (A/N her name is pronounced karr-ruh by the way, not kair-ruh) Not wanting anything to do with the girl at first, the four Turks assumed by her unfriendly facade that she was a heartless killer. And the fact that she had severely injured Reno didn't help her case either. The woman had redeemed herself, however, when she saved their lives and helped them all (including herself) to escape. After they were free, Tseng asked Karra if she would want to join the Turks, and with nothing better to do with herself, the woman accepted. Now they were on their way back to the the mansion in Nebelheim...and no one had any idea what to say.
"So...where you from?" Elena tried in vain to start a conversation with the girl sitting to her right. Tseng sat directly behind Elena with Rude next to him. The two men in the back of the chopper were doing their best to just stay out of the whole "conflict."
"I'd rather not say..." Karra answered.
"Why not?" Reno asked with sarcasm. "You got somethin' to hide?"
"Reno!" Elena screamed at the redhead sitting in front of her. "Why are you being so rude! ..Uhh...no offence, Rude."
"None taken," the man answered from the back.
"That's like the third time in the past hour that you've said something uncalled for about her!" Elena continued.
Reno didn't answer...he didn't need to. Everyone knew why he was upset. Especially Karra, since she was the one who caused it.
My damned heart, Karra thought to herself, peering out the window of the helicopter and trying to avoid eye contact with Reno. Why the hell does love even have to exist? All it does is cause problems...But...I can't deny that there's something different about him.
Reno sighed as he piloted the chopper, paying more attention to his thoughts than he was his steering. Why in God's name do women have to be so moody! He asked himself. I mean, one second she says she likes me, and the next thing I know she's pushing me away and telling me to forget she ever mentioned the word "love." I think I speak for all men when I say I wish I knew what the hell was going on in women's heads.
"Reno! Pay attention!" Elena screamed.
Reno suddenly awoke from his thoughts to find that he was about to steer the chopper into the wing an airplane. "Gah!" He quickly grabbed the controls and jerked them to the right to avoid a collision. "Eh, sorry 'bout that."
Once the chopper was back to normal, everything else went back to normal too...no one said anything to anyone.
"Eh... so, um...uh..." Elena stuttered. The silence of everyone around her was driving her insane! "Oh darn it! I've run out of pathetic conversational topics," Elena complained. "Tseng. Rude. Help me here." The two men looked at each other as if to mentally say, "You say something." "No, I'm not saying anything! You say something!" Of course...neither one of them said a word.
Elena sighed in disappointment. "Fine. Don't help me."
"If you want someone to talk, just interrogate her," Reno suggested, gesturing to Karra. "I mean, she seems to like interrogation so much."
Elena then kicked the back of Reno's seat and the helicopter temporarily swerved as Reno tried to regain the controls...again (A/N personally, I would never kick the seat of the pilot...bad idea! Oh, and by the way, Karra had interrogated Reno back in Midgar. Hence the comment he just made). "I've had just about enough of your stupid remarks, Reno!" Elena fumed. "So just shut up, before I throw you out of this chopper and steer it myself the rest of the way back!"
"You pilot it? With you piloting, I think I'd rather you throw me out."
"Reno!" Tseng suddenly talked for the first time in the past hour. "I order you not to say another word for the rest of the flight unless you are spoken to."
"Whatever," he answered nonchalantly.
"That's 'Yes, Sir,' Reno. Now answer me correctly."
Reno sighed heavily. "Yes, Sir," he said as he raised his right hand and flicked his boss off.
Tseng echoed Reno's sigh. This is gonna be the longest flight of my life... he thought, placing a hand on his head and feeling the beginnings of a major headache.
-- -- -- -- -- --
The whole flight took approximately three hours...three very long hours. But once they got back to ShinRa headquarters, they still had the problem of convincing the president, Rufus Shinra, to let the new girl join.
"Sir, I promise you wont be disappointed with her. She has inhuman abilities that you could use to your advantage," Tseng tried to persuade him.
"And just what kind of 'inhuman abilities' does she have?" Rufus asked with suspicion.
"To be perfectly honest President Sir, I don't understand them myself. But if it'll help to convince you, these abilities almost killed Reno."
"Almost killed my biggest headache?" he joked, something he didn't do very often. "Well, if there's a chance it'll get rid of Reno, I guess she's worth checking out. Send her in."
A few moments later, Tseng stepped back into Rufus's office with a thin, black haired woman beside him. Her hair was about shoulder length, her eyes a deep shade of red, and her expression...nonexistent.
"So, you're Karra," Rufus said from behind his desk. "Tell me, why should I let you join us?"
"Because," she answered. "if you're willing to hire people as useless as...a certain person whose name will not be mentioned, then you'll probably hire just about anyone."
Rufus was silent for a few seconds, trying to figure out who she was insulting more: him or Reno. "Rule number one, Karra. Never imply that I don't know how to do my job."
"I'll make a mental note..."
"Now, what is this ability of yours that I keep hearing so much about?"
"I can't show you, Sir."
Rufus raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. "And why not?"
"Because, I don't want to kill. Mygift issomething that I myself am still trying to figure out. All I can say is that if I were to place my hands on you, there's a chance you could drop dead if I left them there too long."
Rufus then looked at Tseng as if to ask him if this was true. Tseng nodded his head at the president's unspoken question. "If you don't believe her, just ask Reno."
Karra looked back at Tseng and shook her head. "What did I say about not mentioning that name?"
Tseng just smiled, a rare sight to see on his face. "My apologies."
Rufus caught himself chuckling quietly. "So she doesn't like Reno, huh? Well, then she should fit in perfectly. Karra, you're hired."
"Thank you, Sir." She then bowed politely and left the room along with Tseng.
-- -- -- -- -- --
A few days had passed now since Karra had joined ShinRa Inc. and things were just starting to get back into a normal routine...sort of.
"Karra," Tsengcalled to his new assistant. She was working directly under him until she could get the hang of things. "Could you bring these papers to Reno?" he handed her a stack of papers without looking up from his computer.
"...I can't go in there, Sir."
He then lifted his head and stared at the woman. "And why not?" he asked, as if he didn't know the answer.
"Because," she started. "He's...eh...well, I'm not...I mean, he wont...I don't know," the nineteen year old stuttered.
"Hmm...Too awkward?" Tseng asked.
"...Yeah..." Karra was embarrassed to talk to anyone about the whole situation with her and Reno. It was bad enough that she had made a fool of herself by falling for him. ...But what was worse is that she still kind of liked him...Of course, no one else needed to know that part. Especially not Reno.
Tseng sighed loudly and placed a hand over his face. "This feud has gone on long enough." He stood up and motioned towards the door of his office leading out to the main hall. "Come with me."
"Where are you going? Tseng?" she slowly followed behind him out the door. "You're not gonna make me talk to him, are you? ...Oh, shit. You are!"
Tseng opened up the door of Reno and Rude's office. The two men just stared at their black haired coworkers. "Anything wrong, Sir" Rude asked after an awkward pause.
"Yes, something is wrong. Rude, would you mind stepping out for a little while. I think these two have some things they need to discuss.
"Ugh, thank God," answered Rude, exasperated. "I've been putting up with Reno for the past three days. It's about time someone finally did something." Rude rolled out his office chair from behind his desk, and walked towards the door.
"What?" Reno yelled. "I have nothing to discuss with her!"
"Likewise," Karra said, turning to face Tseng, hoping that maybe her pleading expression would make him change his mind. "There's really nothing to talk about."
"Have fun," Tseng answered, closing the door behind him and Rude.
"TSENG!" Reno and Karra yelled at the same time.
Karra sighed, banging the door one time with her fist to let Tseng and Rude know that she was pissed at them.
"Why did you agree to join ShinRa?" Reno bluntly asked her.
Karra remained silent, not really sure what to say.
"Do you even want to be here? Or did you just have nothing better to do?"
"I..." she stuttered. It's so unusual for me to be intimidated by anyone, she thought to herself. Why am I so afraid to speak? Why do I care so much about him being mad at me! People are always mad at me, it's not out of the ordinary. Maybe...he's just out of the ordinary. "Of course I want to be here," she finally answered. "I mean, I don't really want to be here in this room right now, but I do wanna be here."
Reno waited to see if she would say anything else, trying his best to avoid eye contact. "Is that all you have to say?"
"I really am sorry, okay?" she said, turning to face him. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you...in any way." Now it was her turn to wait and see what he would say next. To her disappointment however, Reno just sat there with his elbow on the desk and his hand over the side of his face. "It's not your fault," she continued when she realized he wasn't gonna say anything. "It's nothing you did. I just don't wanna hurt you. I mean, you've seen what these hands do when they touch someone."
"So...you hurt me because you didn't wanna hurt me?" Reno asked, smiling for the first time in a few days.
"I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but yes."
"Well, I'm not usually one to hold a grudge," Reno said in a more serious tone.
Karra stared at him, contemplating whether she wanted to know where he was going with this.
"I don't know why I'd wanna start holding one now." He stood and walked over to Karra who hadn't moved from her spot in front of the door.
Karra smiled in relief. "So, we're okay now?"
"Yeah, Reno answered. "We're okay." He placed his hands on her arms, which luckily for him were covered by her uniform, and pressed his lips gently against hers, wincing slightly in pain as her strange ability began to burn his skin. "I'm hoping this heals quickly," Reno half joked, rubbing his fingers against his lips to see how bad they were.
"I have no idea," she answered, laughing slightly as she wondered what the others would say about his burned lips. "Do you think Tseng, Rude, and Elena are out there eavesdropping on us?"
"...Probably..."
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So wha'dya think? I apologize if it doesn't fully make sense. This is actually just a small bit of a much bigger story. If I do get enough reviews to continue, the longer story would have a lot more detail than this short story did. Leave a review please!