Obligatory Disclaimer:
I don't own any characters you recognize from Final Fantasy VII, they are all the property of Tetsuya Nomura and/or Square-Enix.
Author's Note: Review? Please? It'd be awfully nice of you.
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Reno felt his temples thumping, but his body was too tired to allow him to put a hand to his head. He was lying on the ground comfortably. His eyes remained closed, and he realized that he was drifting back into consciousness. He heard two voices not too far from him, and felt warmth – a fire, perhaps?
"So is he a bad man?"
"No, sweet, I don't think he's a bad man."
"But he was trying to hurt you."
"Because I attacked him, darling. I think I mistook his intentions. I don't think he ever wanted to hurt you."
"Then why did he come to get me?"
"It was just an odd job. He's just trying to make his way in the world, sweet, just like you or I."
"Really?"
"Yes, sweet, really. Now you go ahead and lay down here, and get a good night's rest. Tomorrow we will arrive in Midgar."
"Okay." The little girl's voice said agreeably. Reno waited until he heard the little girl's soft breathing slow to a soothing, sleepy pace before he spoke.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Reno said, groaning a little as he turned his head and opened his eyes to face the woman.
She was sitting the ground leaning on one hand and turned to face him, the fire crackling behind her.
"Oh, so you're awake. I'm sorry about that… conflict we had earlier. I've dressed your wounds – they're mainly superficial, I only bothered with the more serious ones – and I've used the little white magic I know to reduce the swelling on the lump I left on the back of your skull."
"I appreciate it, yo." Reno said, moving one hand to cradle the back of his head.
She smiled in response. He decided that he liked her much better when she smiled. It was certainly better than the other side of her he had seen. She gesticulated to his face with a frown. He put a hand up and felt a small cut of some kind.
"I stitched up that part of your cheek, there. I didn't mean to hit you with the sharp end." She stuck out her hand. "My name is Alcestis Mirro."
He took her hand and gave it a small shake. He made sure it was firm, though. He didn't want her to think him weak, even in this state. "Just call me Reno."
"Okay, Reno." She turned around and busied herself with something, and just as he sat up she turned back and handed him a bowl of stew.
Reno took a small taste. He was surprised to find that it was actually pretty good – better than what he usually ate for dinner, at any rate.
"I wish all the people who knocked me unconscious dressed my wounds and fed me." He said. She smiled weakly, but then frowned.
"When you woke up just a minute ago. You said thanks for the vote of confidence?"
Reno swallowed and nodded. "It was nice of you to inform the kid that I'm not the next Sephiroth coming to dice her up, yo. I'm really not a bad guy, you know." His more casual, slangy dialect told her he was starting to feel more comfortable.
Alcestis nodded. "I believe you. I think we can even give you the tissue sample you need. It's for Geostigma research, right?"
Reno's chin bobbed up and down as he chewed on whatever vegetable it was in the stew.
"I figured. Everyone's been asking her a bit of her blood, or dead skin, or hair – all because of her near-perfect immune system."
Reno swallowed again, took a moment to reflect on how good the food felt in his stomach, and asked "So why are you headed to Midgar?"
Alcestis glared off into nothing, and replied "Her parents were killed in some kind of accident a few weeks ago. A friend of mine has been taking care of her, but asked me to take her to another friend in Midgar. I guess she has a friend there who runs an orphanage."
Reno barely choked the surprised sound threatening to escape his lips. "Is her name Tifa Lockhart?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Do you know her?"
Reno grunted. "Yeah, I know her. She's tried to kill me a time or two."
Alcestis' eyes narrowed. "Because she's a part of AVALANCHE. Which means that you must be a Turk."
Reno stabbed an imaginary knife into his heart. "You got me, yo."
"Then I was right to knock you out. All of ShinRa's cronies are compassionless brutes. I ought to knock you out now!" She said. He was surprised at the sheer hatred in her voice, but was more concerned with her reaching for her staff.
Reno dropped the now empty bowl and put his arms over his head. "Settle down, Lady! It's just a job. The Turks don't have crap to do now except play bodyguard for Master ShinRa. I don't know if you've heard – I think he's trying to keep it quiet – but he himself has got Geostigma."
Again, the anger drained from her face as it had during battle. She nodded. "That would make sense. That would explain why he wants the tissue sample."
He focused on her face. "That was a pretty neat trick you pulled, right before you knocked me out, yo."
She blushed slightly, but did not smile. She hardly smiled at all, he noticed. "Teleportation is not widely used among black mages. It's considered a red mage's trick, something cheap or underhanded. I think it's just damn useful."
"I'd say so. I'm glad you're being friendly with me now, believe me, yo."
She inclined her head and looked at him curiously. "You're really not a bad guy, huh? You seem all right."
Reno just stared at her. This woman – though she was relatively attractive and Reno had no objections to her taking a liking to him – had tried to kill him the last time he had been awake.
"Do you trust easily?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I used to, but not so much anymore. It depends."
"On what?"
"Whatever my intuition tells me. I jumped you because I was worried about Lerina, but now that we're not trying to knock each other out, I figure you're an all right sort of guy. Would you have any problem with escorting us to Tifa's?"
Reno nodded. "I can get you into the city without a whole lot of trouble, yo. The guards recognize me as a Turk, and as a result they tend to let me do whatever the hell I want with whoever the hell I want. So… sure, why the hell not?"
Alcestis flashed him a grateful smile, which Reno found made him feel strangely good. Must be one of those weird things that mages have.
"Thank you, Reno. You go ahead and lay back down. I'm going to stand watch."
Reno started to settle in, but then took a good look at her body language. It showed strength, of course – Reno doubted she would allow for nothing else – but it also showed fatigue.
"Have you been standing watch every night you've been traveling?" he asked.
She nodded.
"You go ahead and sleep, yo. I'll stand watch."
She gave him a deadpan stare. "I don't trust you that much."
Reno put his hands up. "Hey, it's my skin, too. I'd rather have you with me than against me, yo. If you wake up and find I'm not here, you can hunt me down in Midgar and peel the flesh from my bones with your weird staffy thing over there. Besides, you think I'm going to kill you in your sleep? Wander away into the darkness, to fight the monsters alone?"
Alcestis considered it, and went ahead and laid down in the blankets she had made up for Reno.
"If you're not here when I wake up, though, I will hunt you down as you suggested." She warned.
"I expected nothing less. Besides, it'll be peaceful tonight. At this point, the monsters have probably got it figured that you'll wipe them out, yo."
Alcestis nodded one more time, already looking sleepy. Reno watched her drift off to sleep and then turned his attention to the forest.
