After declaring him her target, she was expecting some kind of look of shock, maybe an open mouth, that dumb blinking thing Cid sometimes did when she said something inappropriate enough to get the pilot all huffy and self-righteous, like he didn't swear enough for all of Gaia. Reno just looked at her, totally deadpanned, before he checked his watch and looked over his shoulder at the door.

"Right." he said. He was beyond understanding whatever completely screwed up method lay behind the madness, especially since he was pretty certain it was all madness. If it wasn't happening before, it really wasn't happening now, because now after she'd made a big deal about him not asking her to come over, said she wouldn't anyway, but would getting into his pants at some indiscriminate time despite it all, he was pretty sure he'd just discovered something about Yuffie Kisaragi.

She was crazy as all get out, and probably the type who did things to you in your sleep.

So he was thinking at this time, as her smile slowly turned to a frown, that maybe he had dodged a major bullet not asking her to come over. That maybe he had dodged another incident of waking up to a girl with a buzzing razor in one hand and his ponytail in the other.

"That's all you have to say?" she said, her words partly muffled by all the bar noise.

"Yeah, pretty much. And that's all I'm gonna say."

"You know, you better be more fun than this in bed, or this won't be worth it at all." That, got the face she'd hoped for.

"Princess, you are way too pure for my kind of fun."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." He looked around the bar, then back at her. "I have a sixth sense about these things. I'm thinking that the only action you've ever gotten is runnin' around in the forest or some shit-"

"Excuse me, what? Running around in the forest, what is that-"

"You know, ducking behind bushes, hidin' from the bunnies and throwin' you're stars at trees..." Yuffie stilled, looked like murder personified.

"Say one more word, Reno. One more word, and you will realize why wise men fear the kunoichi." She crossed one slim arm over the other, just waiting for him to say something. He sighed, figuring it probably wasn't to wise to poke a crazy bear with a stick. Yuffie seemed to realize the other thing he had been insinuating. "Oh, and I get plenty of action. Like, tons."

"Tons huh? Does your daddy know that what you're up to?" Yuffie glanced down at the floor in the split second before her eyes were back beaming up at him, dark and unamused. Now, he'd made a career in dealing with people, and most of the time it was just a job that needed to be done, set with clear objectives right from the get go. There really wasn't as much 'people reading' and detective work as a lot of people thought, and the few times he and Rude had to do any of that, Rude had taken care of that part.

Reno was fine just assuming a hand twitch was a hand twitch, though his time as a Turk and even as kid on the streets told him there was almost always something behind it. He just wasn't great at figuring out what. Reno was good at getting his hands dirty and moving right on with his life and that's why he was so good at his job. But that look he knew. That thing Yuffie had just done with her eyes told him that 'daddy' was a definite hot button.

Rude would be so proud of him, even though Reno clearly had a distinct advantage in this area. He was actually still trying to figure out why he constantly attracted girls with daddy issues.

"Can we not talk about my father right now? Thanks." she sighed. "Way to ruin the mood Reno." he shrugged, endured the awkward silence that followed.

"My bad."

"S'okay." she said easily, as if he hadn't said anything at all. She tapped her chin, "So...what do you say we get outta here?" He laughed.

"So it's okay when you use it?"

"Well, obviously. I make it sound cool. Not lame, like you." She looked around the bar. "And I'm not taking you to my place, I'm taking you somewhere better."

"I'd love to kid, but some of us actually have work in the morn-"

"I figured you'd say that, so I'm gonna propose something. You come with me, if I get...that girl, to come along." She nodded towards a busty redhead sitting alone at one of the tables. Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you are ready for my kind of fun." he said, still eyeing the girl she'd pointed out. Yuffie shuddered.

"Okay, no. That's gross. She's just a bit of incentive. A way to get the ball rolling."

"Wait, is this you trying to get into my pants?" he asked. Yuffie turned a distracted eye on him.

"...What? Oh, yeah totally." Reno looked utterly confused. Why would she invite another girl along who was clearly more his type, and clearly sure to attract most if not all of his attention? That was no way to get into his bed, that was a sure fire way to get ignored, at least for the night. Reno was just going to be honest about it.

"So, how-" Yuffie patted his tie with one surprisingly dainty hand. Reno thought, that maybe if not for that mouth, Yuffie might seem every part the demure Wutain princess.

"Don't you worry about how this is gonna work. Just know that it is, okay?" Reno was silent. "Now, do you agree to the terms?"

"Fine. You get that girl to come along, I'll go." Yuffie smiled and promptly turned to walk towards the other woman, sitting down in the chair opposite her. Reno watched the exchange closely, a bit incredulously and couldn't help but be impressed. Whatever Yuffie was saying had that girl looking slyly over at him in no time flat. And then the girl nodded, and they were both rising. He couldn't believe it. Was it possible that she was better at picking up girls than he was? Nah, there was no way. He found himself wondering what had been said, but as the other girl approached him with Yuffie trailing closely behind, he figured he should just count his blessings and forget it. It was probably better he didn't know anyway. He snorted, so much for being completely alert at work tomorrow. It didn't matter anyway, he hadn't been completely alert at work for at least a year.

"Hi, I'm Candy." Reno smiled. Of course she was. Yuffie stood by smiling deviously enough to raise the same kind of suspicion he always felt around her.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Candy." Yuffie's phone rang, and he watched her pull it out of her pocket, look at the id and flip it open. He turned his attention back to Candy, who he just realized was saying something back to him. He was pleased to see she was a natural red. The trick to it was, not looking at the eyebrows or the even the roots. It was all in the skin. True reds had a particular pallor to the skin. Like milk.

"I can't talk right now. You tell Akira that I don't care-" But Yuffie's voice kept on undercutting his own thoughts on the girl before him, and his eyes strayed to where Yuffie stood frowning against her phone. "There's nothing underneath that land I told you bef-" A hand on the front of his shirt drew his attention back to Candy.

"What's your name?" he smiled.

"Reno." He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Yours is better." The girl giggled, and through her laugh he heard the snap of Yuffie's phone being flipped closed. He looked over to see her flip it open again and start fiddling with the buttons.

"You're so sweet."

"With a name like that, I'd guess you'd know." She giggled again, and he saw Yuffie roll her eyes out of the corner of his eye and continue fiddling with her phone. She smiled down at the face of her phone and then flipped it closed again. Reno returned his gaze to the petite redhead.

"So…what do you say we get outta here?" He pretended not to hear the muffled laugh behind the woman, and smiled good naturedly when the girl promptly agreed. Lame, his ass. All three of them started out of the bar, the ninja trailing rather inconspicuously behind. He didn't know what she had told the girl, but she didn't seem to be bothered at all by the tagging presence. Whenever Reno glanced back at Yuffie she was fiddling with her phone, and after a while, just as he had thought, he'd pretty much forgotten she was there. At least until she called up at them.

"Hey, we gotta stop here first." Yuffie came up and attached herself to his arm. "Candy, we gotta you know…get one of his…um…prescriptions. You can never be too careful, right?" He looked down at her pale arm hooked into his. The 'what are you doing' look was answered with a 'just go along with it look.' Candy already looked as if she understood something he didn't. The white florescent lights of the little convenience store flooded out over them as the trio walked inside, this time with Candy trailing behind. Once in, the girl went browsing around on her own, and Yuffie marched Reno up to the counter. Slipping her arm out of his, she rang the bell for the clerk. Reno turned to her.

"What are you up to Kisaragi?" He looked around and spotted the other girl some aisles over, catching her eye and smiling. He turned back to look at Yuffie, his smile fallen. Yuffie shrugged.

"I needed to make a stop first." She rang the bell again.

"I got that. What I don't get is why I need…prescriptions?"

"Oh that. I told her you were terminally ill." He looked at her.

"Bullshit." he still made an effort to keep his voice low. Yuffie rang the bell three more times.

"I did, I said…" Yuffie tried not to laugh. "That you could be kicking the bucket tomorrow for all we knew and that... you had never known the touch of a woman."

"She bought that?"

"Yeah, crazy right? I might believe the terminally ill thing, but for anyone to think that you'd be a virgin…Tch, I don't know about people sometimes."

"Hey, watch it Kisaragi."

"That's nurse Kisaragi to you." Reno nodded, so that was how she'd done it.

"So, what do you really need here?" Yuffie looked up at him, and he really thought at that moment a nice pair of horns and a big red fork would have done her just fine.

"You're going to buy me cigars." Reno didn't even blink.

"No, I'm not." Yuffie handed him a wad of gil.

"Yes you are."

"By them yourself."

"If I could I wouldn't be asking you to." Reno only stared at her. "Look, in another year I'll be old enough to buy them, but right now I can't, so can you please just do it?" Reno looked towards the clerk, who was slowly approaching the counter.

"You smoke?" He raised one red eyebrow. Yuffie nodded so hard, her hair fell into her face.

"All the time."

"Yeah?" Reno whipped out his pack of cigarettes, flipped it open. "Take one." Yuffie swallowed, went to take one. When she got one out, after a while of fretting and changing her mind on which one she was going to pick, he pressed his lighter into her hand. Yuffie thought it felt like the first time she'd ever taken hold of a nunchaku. It was just as solid and cold and…lethal. He smiled. "Scared?"

"No." She said quickly. Why should she be scared? Her grandmother hadn't ever been seen not smoking that ultra pure Wutain tobacco.

"Then put it in your mouth." Yuffie glared at him, but did like he said. "And light her up." He said, barely above a whisper. She held the lighter up to the cigarette, but her thumb kept slipping off of the switch, and she felt her heart beating loud in her ears. Reno watched her struggle with it, could see she was nervous, and obviously so green. Watching her try her damndest to smoke, was actually strangely…endearing. But after about thirty seconds of failed attempts, he took his lighter back.

"That's why I'm not getting you cigars."

"You smoke all the time!"

"That's right. I smoke. You clearly don't."

"Fine I don't. Maybe I'm just not a cigarette person, but I betcha I'm a cigar person. I just wanna try it, and no one else will get them for me, even Cid wouldn't."

"So you'd thought I'd get them for you?"

"Well, you are a Turk."

"That I am."

"So who else could I find that is more morally corrupt?"

"Huh."

"Please?" He leaned forward, grabbed the cigarette from her mouth with his middle and forefinger. For the split second her lip came into contact with the inside of his finger, he almost forgot that she wasn't even legal. Shiva, hadn't he called it? "Nothing doing princess. Once you start, you don't stop. And seriously, I don't see you handling a cigarette, let alone a cigar. One puff and I know your lights would be way out."

"Do you wish you never started?" she asked, finding his face rather close.

"Never, it's the sweetest vice there ever was." Yuffie sighed as the clerk came up and grouchily declared smoking was prohibited, before asking them what they wanted. Reno cleared his throat.

"Just one cigar please, Mideel…yeah thanks." Yuffie looked at him. "It's for me." Reno said, smirking. "I suddenly have a taste for one." Yuffie crossed her arms huffily.

"Whatever, make sure you get some aspirin, that can be your 'prescription'."

"Can do, nurse princess."

Yuffie's next stop and final destination brought the three of them to a rather new club called the 'Cutting Edge.' Again, Yuffie attached herself to the arm Candy wasn't already on and they all approached the entrance. The sign clearly said twenty one and up, and suddenly Reno started to see a trend. The man at the entrance stopped them, asked them all for id. And as it turned out only Reno had his on him.

"I'll tell you what buddy, I'll let you vouch for one girl." Yuffie's violent tug on his arm and downright evil glare promised pain if he didn't choose her. But he was slowly becoming wise to her scheming, and yeah, it was a little insulting. So as a bit of payback, and he because he wanted what he wanted, he chose Candy.

He waved the cigar on the way in, and was sure Yuffie's face was priceless, but he didn't feel like looking back, and Candy was waving goodbye anyway. Inside, it was just packed enough to make it hot just from the body heat. He took a seat at the bar, and Candy sat beside him, let her chin rest in her hands.

"Reno?" The music was so loud he almost didn't hear her.

"What babe."

"You probably should've picked her."

"What?" He turned to her, and he watched her stare into her drink.

"Well, I don't know…what if something happens to you…who will give you your medicine?" He massaged the back of her neck. She was pretty, but clearly not that bright.

"Nothing's gonna happen to me."

"Oh okay." There was a long silence. "But what if it does? And she's out there all alone."

"She'll be alright, she's resourceful."

"But what if she's not?"

"Candy, she will be, okay?" There was a long silence in which he tried not to think about the girl he'd left outside of the nightclub. Seventeen years old, Shiva. That girl was something else. Probably still trying to get in. Maybe walking home. Alone, in the dark. Reno sighed, damnit. "Candy let's-" but she was already up, talking to someone else. Reno shrugged and went to exit the club. When he stepped outside, lo and behold there she was, still trying to get a sucker to escort her in. He took her away from the rather annoyed crowd, and she struggled a little but eventually she was walking beside him when she either realized it was hopeless, or that he didn't plan on letting go.

"Where's Candy?"

"Not with me, that's for sure." He lit up a cigarette.

"Wow, really? How do you strike out with a set up like that?"

"You have nurse like nurse Kisaragi, that's how." He blew out a cloud of smoke. "You woulda thought you were getting beaten and raped out here the way she was worryin' over you."

"Aw." Yuffie said, genuinely touched.

"'Aw' to the rape or the worrying?" Yuffie swatted him.

"Aw, because you're a jealous bastard and she likes me more than she likes you."

"Why don't you get into her pants then."

"Because I'm getting into yours." She said easily. Reno stopped.

"No you're not. Don't think I don't know what you're doing." He said. Yuffie raised both of her eyebrows and leaned forward, into the light of the one of the street lamps.

"What am I doing?"

"Don't play innocent with me kid, you're not great at it. You don't really want to get into my pants, all you want is for me to help you do all the shit you can't do because you're like…eleven." Yuffie shoved him.

"I'm seventeen and a half, asshole."

"Whatever, I'm too tired for games right now."

"And…I totally am seducing you, you just haven't noticed yet."

"If I haven't noticed yet, I think it's safe to say that you're doing a terrible job."

"You'll see."

"The only thing I plan on seeing right now is my bed." They resumed walking. He sighed. "Where's your place?"

"Two blocks from here." She said. "It's a really rough neighborhood, in fact every night someone's knifed. To death. But I'll be okay…"

"Yup. I'm sure you will." He said, tossing his cigarette. She stopped and stamped her foot.

"Reno…"

"Fine. Hurry the hell up." And he proceeded to walk her home under the streetlights, something he normally didn't do, even if a girl did put out. And when he looked to the ninja's face for a reason, he found none because her face was dark in the night, and she talked so damn much he couldn't even hear his own thoughts.

Author's Note : Thank you all so much for the reviews! I guess with this first chapter, I have officially committed to a storyline that is definitely forming, but not all together yet. But something's there at least, and the next chapter should both shed some light on this chapter and continue the journey.