All canon Turks belong to Squeenix. Jaydrex belongs to Mik-san
This gets pretty fluffy at the end . . . I am not responsible for any cavities caused by my fluff
A few weeks of missions, paperwork, and very little information from Jaydrex to anyone about her past went by, and Ceria was getting really into the swing of the job. She was starting to enjoy herself, although still very much avoiding Rude, when the day came that they didn't have a mission. Sitting on a couch in the lounge, she glared at the door, wanting someone to come in with something to do that wasn't paperwork. She only had one report left to do, and then she'd be even more bored, so she was putting it off.
Jaydrex was walking through the halls, attempting to entertain herself since she'd finished her paperwork and the one report that Ceria kept putting off when Reno sidled up next to her
"'Sup, Reaperchick?" he grinned.
"Hello, Reno." she said flatly before quickening her pace a bit.
"Hey, where ya goin so fast? I just wanna talk with ya." he said, catching up with her easily
"I'm busy, back off."
"Whoa whoa whoa . . ." he caught her by the shoulder and turned her around to face him "what's so bad about talkin' to a friend?"
Flushing, she squeaked and looked around for an escape. Seeing Rufus wheeling down the hall for who knew what, she broke free and ran behind him.
"What the . . ." Reno asked noone in particular.
"What exactly is going on here?" Rufus asked, turning to look over his shoulder.
"I was just tryin' to talk to her." Reno looked confused.
"And just what were you trying to talk to her about?"
"Just wanna get to know her. We work together and all that shit, so . . ." the redhead shrugged.
"And she works alongside Ceria, not you. Does Ceria know that much more than you do?"
"Not . . . really . . ." Jay muttered from behind the wheelchair.
"I don't know much 'bout Ceria neither." the lanky turk muttered before nearly being knocked into the wall by the auburn haired woman.
"Speaking of which . . . and what may I ask are you running from?"
"Um, nothing. Nobody." she stuttered out a little too quickly as she used Reno for a shield.
"Bull." Jay accused from her hiding place.
"Shush, you!" the other female pointed from behind the redhead.
"I can only ascertain that both of our new Turks know the whys of their choice in hiding behind us." the blonde stated, clearly not amused by their antics.
"Maybe . . ." Ceria drew out.
"I'm not talking." Jay mumbled.
"So what you're telling me is that you've dragged both me and Reno into your situation, and won't explain why."
"Sorry . . ." Jay whispered.
"As there were no missions today, I can only assume that it's an inter-office dilemma. Perhaps something to do with your coworkers?" he glanced pointedly at Reno.
"Oh he bothers everyone, that's not important." Ceria smirked, not seeing her shield glance over his shoulder.
"Heya partner!" Reno drawled, waving at the bald Turk.
Squeaking and looking a bit panicked, Ceria abandoned her hiding place behind the redhead and joined her partner behind Rufus.
"My hiding spot, find your own!" Jay hissed at her.
"You can share! I'm keeping your secrets too!" the auburn haired woman hissed back.
"I'm beginning to feel like a piece of furniture." Rufus commented dryly.
"Sorry, bossman, it's just r-really hard t-to explain." Ceria said, stuttering a little as Reno's partner turned to look at her.
The redhead was just about talking his partner's ear off about anything and everything, and it was starting to irritate everyone.
"I suggest you find another hiding place." he replied, clearly not suggesting it.
Ceria squeaked and fled down the hallway, turning a corner rapidly and nearly falling down in the process. Jay sighed and stood up, irritation clear on her face.
"Reno talks too much." she said simply.
"True, but there's very little anyone can do about it." the blonde stated, ready to turn back to his office.
"Watch me." she stated, striding towards the lanky man.
Reno finally noticed her at the last minute, before she grabbed his collar, yanked him down and kissed him. Shoving him away, she turned back to the wheelchaired man.
"That, is how you shut him up. Now if you don't mind, I have a partner to find."
The redhead was staring after her like a gaping fish, causing both Rufus and Rude to chuckle at him silently. Jaydrex stormed down the hallway, looking for her partner, her face bright red. She found the other woman down the hallway she'd turned down, berating herself for being stupid. The silver haired woman shook her head and stood over her partner, who was sitting against the wall.
"You're never going to get anywhere that way."
"Whaddya mean?" Ceria replied, looking up.
Her partner just shook her head and pulled her to her feet. She started shoving her down the hallway, back to their offices. While Rufus still spent most of his time in Healin, they did have offices in a nearby building, where everyone did their actual work. It was these offices they were currently in, and Jay was muttering under her breath, not even answering the woman she was pushing.
Another week of missions and paperwork passed, and the next Monday, Tseng was waiting for them all at the door.
"Dude, what the fuck? You stalkin us now?" Reno asked with a wide grin.
"No, just switching you up for a couple of missions today."
"Great! I call Jay!"
"No, you're working with Ceria."
"Dammit!"
The girls just rolled their eyes at each other, a silent agreement that he was being an idiot, yet again. Jay and Rude were sent on a mission that required a lot of stealth and quick incapacitation, which their partners grudgingly accepted that they'd be bad at. However, they did get an assignment that suited them as well. As they walked to the designated place, Reno decided to grill his temporary partner.
"So, you know a bit of something about your partner, right?"
"Pfft. Yeah, right." she rolled her eyes, walking with her arms wrapped around herself.
"What, she don't talk with you either? She works with you!"
"Oh, she talks with me, but if you think I'm spilling her secrets, you're insane."
"Aww, c'mon Cerie! I'll tell ya anything you wanna know." he offered hopefully.
"Considering she could kill me at the drop of a hat, I don't think the price is worth the information." she said, flushing pink.
"You wanna know somethin. I know you wanna know somethin!" he smirked.
"That may or may not be true, but regardless, I will not spill Jay's secrets for it."
"Aright, aright . . . how about yourself?" he grinned, crossing his arms.
Heaving a huge sigh, she rolled her hazel eyes in aggravation. He'd obviously not give up until she told him something.
"Fine. What is it that has you so curious about me?"
"How come you keep runnin' from my partner?"
"Sorry, that bit's classified. On a need to know basis, and you don't need to know." she said, mouth pursed and a warning look in her eyes.
"Damn, getting good info outta you two is like pullin' teeth. From Neo Bahamut."
"Sorry, those juicy bits have to wait. What else do you want to know?" she smirked, plucking a stray hair from her jacket.
"How 'bout your family, they any good to ya?" From the groan she made, he would suppose not.
"They wanted me to be this perfect porcelain doll . . . my hair, gods, they wouldn't let me cut it. It went down to my ankles, and I was always put in this overly fussy, gothic lolita style of dress, never pants, couldn't play outside, couldn't even talk unless I was asked a question, and they always told me what to say. They didn't want a child, they wanted a living doll." she leaned against a wall and sulked at the memory.
"They ever try to kill ya?"
"Yeah, a few times. Usually poison, why?"
"Just askin. So was Devar a rebellion for you?"
"Fuck no, he was just some dipshit that was halfway decent in bed."
"Only halfway?" he grinned.
"I don't care how good you think you are, you ain't getting . . . no."
"Wasn't askin' for me. I got my eye on someone else."
"Why do I get the feeling I don't want to ask who." she muttered to herself.
"That's on a need to know basis." he smirked, throwing her own words back at her.
She stared at him, her best 'don't fuck with me' look on. She blinked a few times, then looked away.
"You're full of shit." she stated, pushing away from the wall to keep an eye on their target.
They followed the guy for a while, not really speaking to each other; Reno thinking he'd stumbled across one of her secrets, Ceria stubbornly refusing to believe what he'd implied. Although, thinking about it, he could have meant either the person he was asking for was a need-to-know, or the person he was interested in. She'd automatically thought he'd meant the person he was asking for, totally ignoring the other bit, since it didn't concern her. It was one of her flaws, she supposed.
"So who's the need to know? The person you're asking for, or the one you're after?"
"Oh I'll tell ya who I'm after, that's no big deal. Hell, I thought it was obvious."
" . . . Jay." she said flatly, earning a sheepish shrug from the redhead."Great, so I have a secret admirer, and I'm guessing you won't tell me who it is until . . . I tell you why I run."
"Exactly." he grinned.
"I'll wait to find out."
"Aww, you're no fun. I can keep a secret ya know." Ceria looked at him with trepidation before laughing.
"Yeah, sure." came her sarcasm laden reply.
"Yaknow, that hurts. Just for that, I'll tell the person who likes ya not to do nothin."
"Oh for fuck's sake Red. Yes, I like someone. No, I'm not telling you who it is, nor am I telling you how I react to people I like. For all you know I could be a clingy little bitch when I like someone. Is that enough to patch up your bruised ego?" She growled out, arms akimbo.
"It'll have to do." he muttered through a pout, then slowly grinned. "I bet I know who it is." he added in a sing-song voice.
"Fine, genius, who is it, since you know me oh so well." She turned to huff at him, arms crossed.
Reno grinned widely. "I bet it's my buddy, and you're just too shy to be 'round him."
"Of all the asinine . . . you're delusional Red." she scoffed, shaking her head and walking away.
The lanky Turk chuckled; he'd seen the little blush that she tried to hide. He'd be telling Rude all about the talk he had with her as soon as they got back, if they ever did. This guy was giving them the runaround, and it was starting to get irritating.
"Let's just jump his stupid ass and get this over with!" she huffed in frustration.
"Gotta wait an see what he does with that folder shit, you know that."
"Ugh!" she groaned, falling backwards onto the roof they were sitting on.
"Tired of bein' a Turk already? Thought you could go until retirement." he smirked, leaning back on his hands to look at her.
"Noone said nothin' bout stalkin people." she grumbled.
"Sure we did. Not our fault you fell asleep durin' that."
She just closed her eyes and flipped him off. "Let me know when he does something."
"Get up, lazy ass."
"He movin?"
"Not yet."
"Then I ain't either. Why I gotta put up with you when all you wanna do is harass me about who I like . . ." she grumbled some more.
"Cerie . . . give it up. I already figured it out."
"Figured what out?" she rolled her eyes.
"That you keep runnin from Rude cuz ya don't want him to know you like him."
"Reno, you keep that kind of half-assed ideas up, you're gonna find out you're a lot dumber than you think you are." she sighed, turning away from him.
"I bet you're blushin' again. That's why ya turned away." he smirked.
In a flash, she was up and on her feet, tackling him, with a pen pressed into his neck. Aqua eyes shot wide, and a fine tremor of concern ran through his body.
"I fucking told you to shut your goddamn mouth, and you didn't fucking listen. You do that shit again, you won't get a warning. You are fucking wrong, just accept it. You keep pushing me like this, you'll find out just how pissy I can get." She glared at him, her eyes a deep emerald green with gold flecks.
"Ok, you're right, you don't have the hots for Rude, and never did." he said shakily.
Narrowing her eyes one last time at him, she climbed off of his chest, where she'd been sitting. Capping the pen slowly, she returned to her seat on the roof, watching him guardedly as he slowly sat back up. Once she was sure he wouldn't say anything more, she looked down at the apartment they were watching.
"He's on the move, let's go, ass." She said tightly, heading to the adjoining roof.
Swallowing back a smart remark, he followed her, just out of arm's reach. He was going to keep her distance from her for a good long time after that. She might be damned good at what she did, but she was scary as hell when she got pissed. In fact, the whole rest of the mission was passed in silence. Ceria was still fuming angrily when they returned, to find their partners already back and well relaxed.
"Did you get the-" Tseng started as Ceria stormed past him.
"Ask him." she growled, grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels from the liquor cabinet and storming into her office, slamming the door behind her.
"God damn, Reno, what did you do?" Elena asked, breaking the silence that followed the outburst.
Jay silently followed her partner into the office, to find her already half drunk, and breaking things.
"What did he do?" she asked calmly, almost as if soothing a child.
"He fucking found out! God damn asshole had to rub my fucking face in it too! As if I fucking was some damn dog that messed on the fucking carpet!"
"Found out about what?"
The empty bottle of whiskey hit the wall, shattering before the other woman replied. "That I fuckin' . . ." she stumbled against the desk " . . . fuckin desk. You fuckin know . . ." she trailed off, leaning on the desk.
"Ceria . . ."
"He found out I fucking love Rude, dammit!" she screamed, pounding her fist into the desk. "And he was a total fucking ass about it!" she added, falling onto the desk again.
"Excuse me for a moment . . ." Jay said, walking to the door.
Everyone was staring at the door when Jay came out of it, shutting it softly behind her. Noone said a word as she walked over to Reno, and proceeded to bitchslap him into the nearest filing cabinet. As he slid to the floor, a rather large and deep dent was revealed in the side of the cabinet.
"Don't. Fuck. With my partner." she told the redhead before turning back to the office.
Watching her enter the office again, he blinked a few times, noting that it hadn't started hurting yet. That was bad. He wanted to grab her, explain that he had no idea it was such a touchy subject for her, and that she'd already threatened him, but he didn't want to risk ruining any chance of a relationship with her. He'd fucked up, he knew it, and deserved all that he got from it.
"Sorry." he whispered, knowing that wouldn't fix anything, but it was all he had.
Closing the door behind her again, Jay turned to her partner, who was winding down from her rant. Ceria had slid to her knees on the floor, and didn't even realize she was crying.
"I fucking wanted . . . dammit, it was mine to tell!" she sobbed out loudly.
Sighing, Rude walked over to his partner, to see how extensive the damage was to his head. Reno hadn't built up the tolerance to being whacked in the head that he had, and from the size of the dent, it wasn't good. He wasn't exactly gentle with the redhead though, pulling his head one way or the other. Why did he have to mess with Ceria? He should've just kept his mouth shut about interoffice relationships. He already had planned to tell Ceria how he felt about her, even had a good plan for doing so, but thanks to Reno's interference, he was going to have to change that plan. Maybe on the roof, since the door locked from the inside, and she couldn't run then.
"Ow." Reno remarked as his head was pulled in an awkward angle.
"It's your own fault, so shut up." the taller, bald man muttered.
Reno only shrugged, still looking unhappy about the whole situation. Rude really couldn't claim that his partner had a right to be or not, since he'd had no exact clue as to what was said on that mission, but he'd bet it was in fact the redhead's fault and that he shouldn't complain. It might actually be best to plan fast, let her cool down overnight, and hopefully he could get her to the rooftop tomorrow to settle things, maybe ease her mind, since it didn't seem very stable right now. But hearing what she'd yelled . . . it was definitely surprising, since she pretty much avoided him at all times. If he weren't so shy, he'd go into that office right now and tell her that he felt the same about her, but not only did it not seem the right time, he was still very shy.
"How bad's the concussion? I know he has one." Tseng asked.
Rude just looked at him, and hauled the much smaller turk to the infirmary for the night. Reno would be lucky to get any sleep tonight, being woken up every hour. It served him right, just like the throbbing headache he'd have for a while. Not that Rude hated his partner, per se, but he'd upset Ceria, which not only upset Jay, but himself as well. Granted the end result was that he now knew that she didn't hate him, but if she needed to be that upset to say it . . . either she wasn't comfortable with it, or she was just as shy as he.
"Is . . . are we ok in here?" Elena asked, poking her head in the office.
Ceria was curled up on the floor, crying drunken tears. Jay was rubbing the other woman's back, silently comforting her. The blonde woman walked in and shut the door after her.
"I know how you feel, Ceria. Really, I do. But . . . at least he's not a workoholic." she grinned, trying to get the woman to laugh.
She didn't respond at first, just wound down on the crying, as she was running out of tears.
"We gotta find some way of cheering you up. C'mon, let's have a girls' night out. I know Tseng will let us off early after all that."
"All . . . that?" she rasped out.
"We heard stuff breaking, and you were screaming a lot."
"Everyone knows now, don't they?"
Elena wasn't sure if she should tell her or not; if she did, she would probably freak out again and they'd never cheer her up again. If she didn't, the girl would probably get angry at her later when she found out that she had kept it from her.
"Even if they were paying attention, they probably figured you were just shouting out random drunk nonsense." Jay sighed, pulling Ceria to her feet.
Still stumbling about, and half drunk, the auburn haired woman nearly pulled her partner down with her until the blonde came around to support the other side. Together, they hauled the drunken girl out the door. Seeing the three edge sideways through the door, Tseng raised an eyebrow.
"We're gonna go get her sober and cheered up." Elena said, pointing out of the office.
Waving them off, the Wutaian went back to his paperwork. The paperwork that he'd have to fill out from this afternoon's mess would be insane. Damage reports, what had been yelled, he'd eventually have to find out from both sides why it had happened in the first place, it was a hassle dealing with interoffice squabbles. Why one had to happen now, with so few missions to do, he supposed was a benefit, since then he wouldn't have anything to distract him from the paperwork, but it didn't make him any less irritated.
Pulling into the parking lot, Elena looked over at the recently drunk and distraught woman in the backseat with her partner.
"Think she's sober enough to shop?" she asked Jay.
"Noone's ever drunk enough not to." the silver-haired woman grinned.
They walked into the mall, and headed for the shoe store. This wasn't, of course, your average shoe store. Wall to wall Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks, and Isaac Mizrahis everywhere, in every size and color. Ceria snapped out of her daze and dashed to the Blahniks immediately. Grabbing a pair of houristra2s and koyus in size 8 ½, she moved from designer to designer, grabbing nearly half a dozen pairs of shoes.
"Ceria, those houristras are over a thousand gil!" Jay stared in shock.
"So?"
"What do you need thousand-gil shoes for?"
"They look good, they'll look awesome on me, and this is therapy."
"Spending all your money is therapy?"
"You forgot how much we get paid, didn't you?"
"Fine." the other woman sighed. "Don't come to me when you're starving."
Scoffing, Ceria paid for her shoes, then grinned at Elena.
"To Nordstroms!" she cried out, grabbing her partner's hand and dragging her off down the mall.
Jay found herself lost in a whirlwind of black suits, blonde hair, and auburn hair. Not only were they trying all sorts of things on, they'd shoved a bunch of clothes at her and made her try on things too. Most of them she'd never wear on her own, but she humored them anyways. They convinced her to buy some of the outfits though, saying that they could be used to torture anyone she liked.
The shopping spree lasted a good four hours, with shoes, clothes, and even jewelry shopping, all to help Ceria feel better. By the time they went home, she was closer to sober, and quite happy. They were all pretty tired though, so they went home, for the most part imagining driving some of their coworkers crazy with the new outfits and so on.
The next morning, Ceria was pulled into Tseng's office to help with paperwork on yesterday's incident.
"Do I have to remember all of that now? It's not exactly good memories, ya know."
"You have to face it someday. May as well get it over with."
"Hm." she continued writing, a frown creasing her brow.
The door opened behind her, and she glanced back, frown turning to a scowl as she saw who had entered. Purposely ignoring her coworker as he sat next to her, to fill out his share of the paperwork, she didn't notice the large bandage around his head. Part of the metal cabinet had cut a small gash in his scalp.
"Cerie?" he asked quietly.
She only glared sideglance at him and continued writing.
"Ceria, I'm really sorry, I didn't realize . . ."
"No, you didn't. Now shut up so I can focus."
Sighing, Reno continued filling out his paperwork, slipping a small envelope under a stack of papers she had yet to fill out. Pulling the redhead off to the side, Tseng quietly suggested he take his paperwork to his own office, and stay there for the rest of the day. Stressed out Turks in his office was the last thing he needed. As it was, it was another slow day, so the massive quantities of paperwork were the only bit of entertainment or distraction from the lack of action the Turks would have. Noone, not even Tseng, liked slow days.
Popping her neck, Ceria looked up at the Wutaian.
"How much did you hear?"
"Hmm?"
"Yesterday, when I was screaming and breaking things. How much did you hear of it?"
"Do you really want me to answer? Or are you looking for someone new to take out your anger on?"
"It would help me if he'd stop being so damn apologetic. It's easier to be pissed off when he's being cocky as usual."
"Why do you want to be pissed off?" the silence stretched for a moment before she sighed.
"Protection. I don't know if I want to feel like this. It scares me."
"Why? Does caring about someone make them vulnerable?"
"In my family it does . . . and I don't want to have to deal with another Devar."
"Who?"
"The one who lost to an alarm clock. I explained it to only one person, I should have remembered that."
"And who did you explain it to?"
Ceria opened her mouth to speak, but paused, then heaved a sigh. Shaking her head, she picked up the paperwork she hadn't done yet, then saw the small envelope. Tseng still looked at her, waiting for an answer to his question, as she opened it and read the brief, typewritten note inside.
"I . . . I'll have to get back to this . . . something apparently important has just come up." she said, dashing out the door.
Tseng watched her leave, then gathered the sheaf of papers and took them to her office. Rereading the note, Ceria noted that she was already late, by about ten minutes. It said that they'd be there for an hour, but she hated being late to anything. It didn't say who it was from, just that they wanted to see her on the roof, and that it was important. Taking the stairs, she started to get apprehensive – with it unclear who was up there, and her having no knowledge of where the envelope had come from, it could be anything.
Walking through the door to the rooftop, she let it close behind her, not knowing that it would lock. Standing a few feet from the door, she looked around to see if she could see anyone, but noone was apparently up there. Frowning, she was just about to turn back when she sensed someone come up behind her. Turning around, she came face to, well, chest, with Rude. Flushing bright red, she backed herself into the door, letting out a squeak when she found it locked. The taller man looked away, almost as though he were disappointed.
"What is it about me that scares you?" he asked, just above a whisper.
"I -it - it's n-n-not th-that . . . uh . . . shit." she stuttered.
He tilted his head briefly, offering the chance to explain. She only stuttered more.
"I would think after that first day, that you'd know you can tell me anything, Ceria." he took off his sunglasses, golden-green eyes full of compassion.
Her eyes screwed shut, battling the tears that threatened to fall. Sliding to her knees, she covered her face in her hands. Giving a part of herself to someone else still scared the hell out of her, especially due to her parents.
"I . . . fuck . . . goddamnit . . . I love you, ok?" she choked out.
Kneeling down next to her, he gathered her up in his arms. Her body was shaking with something akin to a blend of fear and nervousness.
"Ceria, I wanted you to come up here so I could tell you the same thing." he murmured into her hair.
The shaking stopped a moment or so after his confession, and she looked up at him, her hazel-green eyes red from the crying. She blinked a bit, trying to get rid of the dry itchiness.
"I'm . . . I'm not perfect. I won't wear dresses, I'm not girly . . . I . . ." she started, completely certain that he would end up like her parents.
"I wouldn't want you to be perfect and wear dresses."
"I'm not letting my hair grow either."
"That's fine."
"And I'll say whatever the hell I want, when I wanna."
"Go ahead."
Screwing her eyes shut again, she started sobbing about how terrible her parents had been, about the ankle length hair and the lolita dresses, how she'd never been allowed to speak, and she just wanted to have fun. Leaning into him, she clutched at his jacket and cried about how she wanted to stop running so many times, but her parent's mindfucking kept stopping her. Rude sat there, listening to the woman crying out her problems, a very soft smile on his face. She was finally talking to him again. Once she'd ranted herself out, and was just resting there, curled up against him, he gently brought her chin up to look at him.
"Ceria . . . I love you for who you are, not who I want you to be." he murmured before kissing her.