Hi, guys. I'm sorry this is not the promised sequel to Bloodied Needles, but this popped into my head when I watched A Man Apart. And so instead of writing on my Reno/Yuffie story, I'm tinkering on a Rude-centric oneshot from Reno's perspective...hmm...I gave him a real dirty mouth too... The names of the player Turks from 'Before Crisis' I got from FFcompilation(dot)co(dot)uk. I hope they don't mind. Oh, yeah, I realise Reno's probably not meant to be younger than Andrew but this is my story and let's be honest in AC the guy barely looks twenty.

Reno: I do WHAT???

Naril: Aww come on... it is kind of a fact you know.

Reno: I look older than that weird Sephiroth clone!!!

Naril: Looking older than Kadaj isn't really hard, you know. Just like looking more manly than him... *carries on writing the story as if he wasn't there*

Rude: *appears out of nowhere* She's got a point.

Reno: GAAAAAHH!!! I'm gonna kill her!!!

Naril: Where is Kadaj anyways? He hasn't bothered me about a story in like...forever?

Reno: uhm.... ya see.... errr...

Closet door: *remains silent*

Naril: ....*sniffes* What's that smell?

Rude: ...

Naril: Enjoy the oneshot guys. *goes to investigate* Oh,...and WARNING!!! This is rated for gore and violence. And I mean it!!!

Broken Rage

Man, I never thought I'd see the day. I didn't want to either, but here we are, sitting in front of the bossman's office, waiting for him and Tseng to come out and give us fucking hell. I'm leaning against the wall, watching my partner slumped over forward in his chair. He's been staring at his bruised knuckles for what seems to be hours. There's another chair next to his, but right this moment I'd rather keep my distance. Yeah, I admit it, he's kinda scaring me. It's my job to snap on a mission, yo, not his. He's supposed to be the one to calm me down! Not the other way round.

Ah fuck, I guess we had it coming. I'd had a hunch something was up and now the shit hit the fan.

***

I don't really know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, Rude and Samantha got real close. It might have been because she had to improve on her hand-to-hand and he was a more patient teacher than Cyr. I mean the girl's got a right hook that gives us guys a headache for a week.

To tell the truth, if it had been Cyr he was spending his time with, it wouldn't have caught me off-guard as much. Her being another fist-fighter and all. Sam was more like me than him. Always trying to prove herself, showing off, being reckless and stuff. Maybe that was what had fucked everything up in the end.

I just know that at some point, I had just been made senior and we'd been partnered up, he started to spend less time with me at bars getting hammered after work, and stayed behind for training sessions. It was bloody irritating, too. I mean, I hung out with Andy and Rafe, but we often ended up doing fucking stupid things together and I'd kinda depended on Rude to be there and play the sensible one.

One day, I just went up and said it.

"Rude, yo! What's up with you? We haven't done any bar-hopping for ages! It's Friday, man! Why d'you wanna do training today?" I actually blocked his way out of the men's locker room. If you wanted Rude to talk to you, you had to actually force him into it; or you'd end up getting beaten into a pile of crap.

"Sorry. I promised." He said, calm as ever as he waited for me to finally get outta the way. Like I was going to after an answer like that.

"What d'you mean, you promised? That was our thing! You just gonna leave me hanging?" To tell you the truth, I was actually real worried he'd gotten back to not liking me. Hell, for all I know, he got sick of playing my damn babysitter everytime Andy and I ended up higher than the bloody moon. I can't help it, the guy just knew where to get the good stuff.

I knew Rude was bothered by it, he actually talked to me about it more than once. It usually kinda ended with me bursting out of the office with a black eye and him with a busted up lip or the other way round. So maybe he decided he wanted nothing to do with me anymore?

He must've sensed what was going on, because he actually put a big hand on my scrawny shoulder. I tried not to flinch, but hey, I was bleeding 16 and still hadn't really managed to control that instinct and he knew it wasn't intentional. "I'll come along tomorrow."

"Man! What aren't you telling me? You got a girl or something?"

His cheeks turned red. My big bad partner actually blushed and I thought it was hilarious. "Of course not."

"You so do, yo. Which one is it?" I'd completely forgotten about my worry from earlier and concentrated on finding out which of our girls he'd started seeing.

"I'm just helping Sam with her hand-to..."

-"Yeah, right." I knew I shouldn't have grinned like an idiot, but back then I never thought the man had it in him.

***

Just like now. I chance another glance at him. I probably underestimated the situation. It wouldn't be something new. I honestly didn't think them seeing each other was this serious. Yeah, so it had been two years since then, but I didn't ever take the time to think about it.

I bang the back of my head against the wall. Dammit, I really, really needed a smoke. Thing is though, I can't just leave him here like that. Fuck knows what he'd do. I bet this had been boiling up inside of him for weeks now. I should have known. Shit, why hadn't I known? He can just look at me for one second and he knows what I'm gonna do or say next. Why can't I be like that?

Ever since he'd come back from that fucking mission something about him had bothered me. Maybe I should have asked? Maybe if I hadn't been so bloody busy trying to drink and smoke all the shit away that happened, I might have been able to actually stop this before it went this far.

***

I'll never forget the sight of him when he got out of the car. He and Sam had been on this mission. Fuck knows what they tried to find out, but the guys must have been tipped off. We hadn't heard shit from them ever since they left in the morning.

When the car pulled into the garage, none of us suspected anything. I'd been down there only 'cause Andy was gonna show me how to hotwire those new four-by-fours that came in, apparently unstealable. I got up just as Rude climbed out. You can't imagine how fucking shocking it is to see your best friend with a suit almost soaked through with blood. And I ain't talking a stain. I'm talking almost completely covered in it, like he got too close to a freaking red fountain. The type you only get if you cut open an artery. In our job you learn to recognise that.

Before any of us could say anything, he walked to the other side of the car and opened the backdoor. I remember thinking that he was limping, but that was as far as I got in assessing him, because that's when he pulled her body out from the backseat.

Now, it isn't like I haven't seen my share of bodies. I grew up in the Slums, the first time I killed someone was when I was twelve. Alright, it had been in self-defence then; doesn't help one bit with the nightmares I got afterwards. His fault for thinking he could just try to shag a little boy and get away with it.

Seeing Sam's corpse though, that shook all of us, whatever we had seen before. It had been two years since the last Turk died and none of us had known the guy. This,...this was different. Everyone stared at the plastic-like skin and the huge gap through the left side of her chest cavity. Okay, so it wasn't a real gap, it was a wound. But in my head it looked like she'd been ripped open. Maybe that was just me imagining things though. I mean by then I'd gotten used to the clean kills we usually carried out. One shot through the head and another one through the neck to make sure the guy really stayed down.

Call me a weakling, but I was sorta rooted to the spot then and there. I couldn't actually believe my eyes. I don't know what happened after that, but I think I remember Rude wanting to head for the infirmary and Gun stepping in to stop him. She must have said something real rational, like she always does and I think that finally hit home with the big guy, 'cause he put her body down on one of the work benches and walked out.

Looking back I should have followed him. I should have been there for him. I mean, hell, the guy's always looking out for me, least I could have done was to make sure he would be okay. But me being the stupid idiot that I am, I stayed where I was, watching as Cissnei took off her jacket and draped it over Sam's face and the ugly wound.

By the time Rude came back, something had changed about him. I couldn't pinpoint it, but now I realise that he must've decided that he would just push it down somewhere into the deepest fucking corner of his mind. He didn't say anything about what happened. Not to us anyways. There's always the report he gave Veld, but that was probably the last time he talked in days. Veld sent him off-duty for a week after that.

***

When he got back he came into my office and dragged me off on this mission that apparently the boss had given us. I ain't stupid. I knew he was lying, but hey, when have I ever stuck to the rules, yo? So we went down to Sector 6 and watched this guy. I guess he must've been some kinda dealer or something. Anyway, we grabbed him off the street and had a lil chat with him. Only he wasn't being very cooperative.

"I ain't got a clue what the fuck you two are on about." The guy stood before us, smug like he'd just won the fucking lottery and just out-right laughed us in the face.

"Look, man. We don't really have a whole lotta patience. Now how about you give us an address at least and we'll walk off without actually turning you into a pulp o'meat?" I said, by then I could feel the tension my partner was giving off and I just wanted to get outta there.

"I ain't telling you anything else."

"Oh, sorry!" I gave him a mock apologetic look and turned to Rude, smirking. "He ain't telling us anything else." Generally that was the sign for him to play the reasonable one, while I threatened the guy until he half-way pisses himself. It's how we always worked.

"He isn't?" The big guy asked then, taking out his revolver. I didn't know what the hell he was up to, otherwise I would have stopped him. I mean there are limits even to how far us Turks go at an interrogation... Well, not really, but he still worried me.

He shook out all the bullets apart from one and I got this really bad feeling in my gut that was telling me that this had been a fucking stupid idea. He was gonna go for the Wutainese interrogation style.

"Alright, I wanna know where your boss is." He explained in a voice that to anyone else would have thought sounded calm and aimed the gun at the kid. Thing is, I knew he wasn't. The gloved hand holding the gun was more tense than a bloody bahamut right before it tries to blast you into oblivion.

"Man, I don't even know who you're talking about." The kid did not flinch at the gun pointing at him, I had to give him that. I turned back to my partner whose finger tightened around the trigger.

"Rude, man..."

CLICK

I'll just admit it. The sound when he pulled the trigger made me flinch. The kid looked even more shaken. Heh, guess I would too if that gun had been pointed at me.

"Seriously, dude. I don't..."

CLICK

"Try again." My partner growled. I was just standing there, looking back and forth between Rude and the kid. I didn't know what the fuck to do. Maybe it would get us what he wanted and then he'd get back to normal?

CLICK

"Shit! Man, tell him to stop!" The kid turned wide bloodshot eyes at me. I couldn't help it. I felt sorry for the guy.

"Rude..." I started, but he completely ignored me. I wasn't stupid enough to try and physically get in his way. Normally, we might have been pretty evenly matched. His strength, my speed and so on. Only this time I wasn't sure if he might not just turn the gun at me if he felt pushed.

CLICK

"FUCKING STOP IT!" Kid's voice was about three octaves higher than when we first talked to him. I mean he was probably shitting his pants right now. Not that I can blame him. It also meant though that he really didn't know anything, otherwise he would have told us by now.

"Rude...let's go, yo..."

CLICK

"GODAMMIT! He's down at Wallmarket for fuck's sake!" Suddenly he just puked out information, even giving us a phone number.

***

We didn't go back to headquarters. Nope, I let him talk me right into going after whatever shitface it was he was after. Which leads us here. We burst right into an on-going investigation that was meant to be undercover and now the old arsehole Heidegger's out for blood. He had given the order for Sam and Rude to go figure this out and now apparently it had all been for nothing. My guess is he wanted to make business with these suckers. It wouldn't surprise me at all, yo.

Of course Veld had to pick up the crap. Thank Ifrit he did, but I can't help but wonder why Rude went on a rampage like he did. Yeah, our job consists of a lot of assassinations, but shit,... that wasn't just killing what he did. It was fucking slaughter. Sure, I watched his back, but everything else was something I just wanted to forget.

He looks up at me, but I quickly drop my gaze to the floor. I can't talk to him right now. I don't even know what to say. A little nervous when he doesn't look away again, I scratch my head. I'm trying to not let him see that he scared the crap outta me.

"Reno?" His voice doesn't even sound like his. It's too thick. Too hoarse. That ain't my partner. Whatever happened I could always rely on my partner to keep his cool. I don't know what to do with this guy across from me.

"Hm?" Gods, but I needed a smoke.

"Thanks for... sticking with me in this..."

I bite my tongue to hold back anything I might regret saying. Instead, I mumble a short: "Sure, yo."

Thankfully the door opens and Tseng is standing there, saving me from any awkward conversation that might have happened otherwise. "Come in." Is all he says and I get the feeling this isn't the end of it. Shit, now I gotta find some kinda way to get us two outta this. Rude ain't gonna be much help.

He just gets up obediently, back to being as stoic as ever. As if the last four hours hadn't even happened. I shake my head to myself, before following them. At least now I wouldn't let him down. I owe him that at least.

***

I barely had time to get my goddamn gun out, before he stormed in, kicking in the rusty metal door without even making sure I'm following him. His gun spit bullets in all directions, taking out anyone in sight. I don't think he even knew what the hell he was doing. I hurried up after him, but all I found in the room were a bunch of corpses and a few still in the process of dying.

This one guy looked at me with huge glassy eyes. They're gray. His breath was bubbling with pinkish froth and I just know that he'd have to choke on his own goddamn blood. He reached for me, his hand covered in the blood from multiple chest wounds. This couldn't be the work of a Turk, could it?

"H..hel...p" He mouthed around the liquid filling his mouth. I didn't think at all. I just lifted my gun and planted a bullet between his eyes. It was all I could do for the poor bastard.

I did the same to a few others, all the time wondering how Rude had snapped like this. We killed on order and we did it efficiently and quickly. That's what Veld had taught me ever since I first set foot in the training facility. Killing a bunch of people like this, so pointlessly and without having to was that one last borderline I hadn't yet crossed. And I bloody hoped I wouldn't ever turn into this mindless beast Rude had turned into. I actually contemplated running and leaving him then and there. I didn't want any part in this. At least that's what I told myself.

Then again, I was ready to bet my last bag of loco-weed that this guy Rude was after had killed Sam. The image of her body flashed through my mind. Her big brown eyes open, staring at nothing. Whoever had done that to her did deserve to fucking die. I made up my mind and re-checked the ammo in my gun. If I ran out I still had my EMR in it's holster hidden in my sleeve.

There was a loud bang from the room Rude had barged into. It wasn't a gunshot.

I didn't wait for anything else to happen, but raced through the door, bringing my gun up just in time to shoot a creep who had tried to sneak up on Rude from behind. He had apparently emptied his clip, because he was pinning a guy to the wall, blind for anything else around him. He was bleeding from a shot-wound to his side, but didn't even seem to notice it. It's not like he couldn't have healed it real quick. He'd started carrying around a restore-materia after the thing with Sam had happened. I think he was still blaming himself.

He didn't say anything. The guy he was holding was screaming his fucking lungs out, but Rude just drew his fist back to punch him without so much as a simple explanation. The first hit crushed the bastard's nose.

It was all I managed to see, because then I heard a familiar sound behind me and whipped around, killing off the guy with the pumpgun aiming at me with another head-shot. That must have been my seventh one that day. I stayed like this, keeping them away from Rude. This was his business and I knew that. So I'd be the one to make sure we got out of this alive.

Rude's target must have been their leader or something. Or maybe these people just had a deathwish. I was kept busy for longer than I'd thought anyways. They just kept coming at us. One of them actually graced my thigh, destroying another one of my uniforms. Another thing Veld would love me for when we got back.

When I thought it was safe, I turned around and froze.

The guy was dead. That was the one obvious thing. What had once been his face, was nothing but an undefinable mass of blood and what looked like crushed bones. There was grayish goo splattered over the ground around the corpse and there was just no bloody way anyone was still alive like this.

Rude was still at it though. He still held the body up by the throat, his free fist slamming into the remains again and again. I was stuck on the floor where I stood. I couldn't move. His punches were weakening, I could tell. That didn't bother him. He carried on, droplets of blood all over his shirt and face. I bet he couldn't even see out of his sunglasses anymore.

Honestly, I hadn't been sick in years and in our job, that means something. Watching this though, I had to turn away and hurled up all I'd eaten that day. I couldn't have stopped it even if I'd have wanted to. Shiva, I wish I could just forget that day.

After a while I stood up straight again and wiped my mouth with my sleeve. The sounds Rude's fists made on impact were still going and I decided that I would have to stop him before he broke his own hands.

So I walked up beside him, pointedly trying to avoid the sight of the dead bastard in his grasp. It still made me gag.

"Rude, man. We gotta get outta here, yo."

He turned his head towards me slowly. His glasses were still in place. If I think about it, I hadn't seen him without them since Sam had died. His face was blank too, so there was no way to tell what the hell he was thinking. I tried my best not to actually take a step back . For all I knew, he didn't even know me right then. It was fucking scary. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again and just kept on staring at me.

I was really starting to sweat then. My hand was twitching for my EMR. My gun had no bullets left at all and I wouldn't ever shoot at my partner. Not even in a situation like this.

Then, thank the gods, he turned around and headed for the exit. I hesitated, but then he stopped by the door to the outside, waiting. So I followed, keeping my eyes fixed on his bloodied form rather than the corpses lying around, because even if I'm a Turk, there's some things that I just can't get over. I guess it's the same for him.

FIN

Naril: Jeez I must've watched AC about four times whilst writing this. *knocks on Kadaj's closet* ...Kadaj? You still there? *pushes door open*

Reno: uhm...he...errr...he said something about...

Naril: WHAT THE HELL?!

Kadaj: *caught in the process of ripping out pages off a book* ohhhh...crap. *still throws the rest into a burning garbage can*

Naril: THOSE ARE MY HISTORY BOOKS YOU LITTLE....!!!! *strangles him Homer Simpson style*

Kadaj: ARRGHHH....

Rude: *sweatdrops*

Reno: *shrugs* Yeah, he said he was gonna get rid of your books so you would have more time to write a story about him...

Naril: WHY DID YOU NOT STOP HIM!!!! I NEED THEM THEY WON'T LET ME STUDY IF I DON'T PASS THIS EXAM!!!!

Reno: Yeah, well don't blame us for choosing the wrong subjects two years ago. Seriously, yo. *walks off to get himself a chocolate cookie* Hmm...homemade...*notices reader* Oh,yea...if you review, Naril promised some cookies. Personally I ain't got no clue how she's gonna send them over the internet, but yeah... count yourself cookied...and review!