A/N: I reuploaded this chapter with some corrections. If you see any mistakes, please let me know! If you notice all the spelling mistakes I have in these authors notes...that's how the entire story would be without spell checker...
Disclaimer: talking on phone What do you mean I lost the auction!? Who outbid me? WHAT? 4KIDS?! wakes up Ohmigawd it was just a dream! I don't own Final Fantasy...and neither does 4Kids.
Who He Is
Part II
The long red cape made no sound as it barley brushed the ground behind it's owner. The cape halted it's movements as the tall man wearing it came to a sudden stop.
"I know you are there. Show yourself." Two figures appeared as if out of a nonexistent mist behind the caped man. Both figures bore grim expressions. The caped man turned.
"Valentine."
"Sephiroth. Zack." If Vincent was surprised at the sudden appearance of the two dead men he did not show it.
"ShinRa's new headquarters. You know where it is."
"There is little I don't know that happens in this city," Vincent's red eyes flashed as they met Sephiroth's brilliant blue ones.
"Where, then?" Zack stepped forward, impatient already with the ex-Turk.
"Why?" Zack opened his mouth to answer, but Sephiroth spoke before he could.
"Personal business."
--
The only sounds in the office came from the ancient clock on the wall and the constant scratching of Rufus' pen.
Tseng sighed for what seemed the hundredth time in the hour, moving another stack of papers aside as he sorted though ShinRa's old files.
"Tseng. If you have something to say, then say it. Your constant sighing is getting on my nerves." Tseng put down the file he had just started reading. He frowned, trying to think of a way to tell the President what he thought, without making the already agitated man angrier.
"Sir…Rufus…do you think that what you asked of Reno might have been harsh?" The pen scratching stopped, leaving the only sound in the room to be the clock, ticking away the long seconds of silence.
"Reno knew it would happen sooner or later. Better now before he gets too attached."
"What's wrong with that? Reno has been alone all his life. What's wrong with him being with some one?" Rufus set his pen down and ran his fingers though his hair, pushing it out of this face. There was another long silence. Tseng had assumed the President wasn't going to answer him when his finally spoke.
"It's to protect him. If Reno stays with Cloud, then he'll fall in love with him. And if he loves him, he'll do anything to protect him. Strife has a was a attracting trouble. I don't want Reno dieing over him."
"Reno has that same knack. Besides, don't you think it's a little too late?"
--
Vincent sighed. He should have known the two ex-SOLDIERs would be showing up sooner or later.
"He's not there." Zack tensed. He hadn't expected Vincent to know his and Sephiroth's motives.
"Where?" Sephiroth's hand was clenched tightly into a fist, his eyes icy.
"I just saw him on 4th Street. He's heading to this apartment." The two ex-SOLDIERs already knew where to go. They disappeared immediately, ignoring or perhaps not hearing Vincent's shout for them to wait.
--
Reno threw his keys onto whatever surface was nearby to catch them (table, counter, floor…) and let out a long sigh. It had been a long day. The days seemed to get longer ever since…
How long had it been? Reno grabbed a beer and sank into the sofa in front of the TV. Three days. Only three days since he had called and left that message on Cloud's phone. What a shitty way to break up with someone. But the Turk couldn't have done it to the blonde's face. Cloud would have seen right threw him.
The Turk hadn't seen the blond since. Good thing, too. He wasn't sure if he could keep a strong façade in front of the delivery boy.
Reno had just closed his eyes and was thinking about getting some aspirin for his aching head when he heard the door to his apartment burst open. The Turk didn't even bother to open his eyes.
"Who the fuck is it?"
"Surprise." A hand at his throat and he was pushed against the wall by an inhuman force. The red head gasped and opened his eyes.
"Wha…Zack…" This had to be a bad dream. He must have dozed off. But the fingers cutting off his air supply said otherwise.
"Zack, don't kill him." That voice. Not that voice. He was dropped back onto the couch, gasping for breath.
"S-Sephiroth.." The nightmare, and his once friend, had both come to kill him. Or hurt him, at least. Two pairs of cold eyes starred down on him as the Turk quickly composed himself.
"What do you want?" Neither answered him for a while.
"What's your problem?" Zack shot the question at him, for lack of anything better to say.
"I have a lot of problems. What the fuck do you want?" Sephiroth suddenly leaned in very close, his face not far from Reno's.
"I think you know why we're here. Revenge. For Cloud." Reno inwardly flinched at the name, but kept his face firm.
"Revenge? For what?"
"Don't fuck around!" Zack had grabbed him again, this time by his shirt collor, lifting him up off the couch.
"For breaking his heart? We slept together a few times. It was nothing personal, and he knew it." Zack's grip tightened.
"That's a fucking lie and you know it. You hut him, and now we're going to hurt you."
"Like I even give a fuck." Zack was livid. Sephiroth placed a clam hand on the man's shoulder, halting him from any further movement.
"Reno…" the silver-haired man's voice was uncharacteristically soft. "you loved him…" Reno scoffed.
"Fuck that. It was sex." Sephiroth struck the red head, sending him out of Zack's loosened grip and into a nearby wall. It all happened quick as lightning. Then Zack's sword was at Reno's neck.
"Fucking asshole bastard Turk! You where just using him like one of your fucking whores!"
"Zack, stop!" Vincent has appeared in the open doorway. "Remember who he is." Zack kept his sword still, but didn't relax his grip.
"Yah, I just remembered who the fuck he is. He's a fucking ShinRa dog."
"He's a Turk."
"Valentine, where are you going with this? His profession has nothing to do with the fact his ass is dead." Vincent's eyes were on Reno, who gazed steadily back, his eyes set, determined, cold.
"He's been trained to look you in the eye and tell you anything he wants you to believe," Vincent said quietly, his eyes never leaving Reno's. Sephiroth looked from Vincent to Reno, digesting the ex-Turk's words.
"All of you get the fuck out of my apartment," Reno said softly, but menacingly. Zack moved his sword closer to Reno's neck. The red head didn't flinch.
"Turk training is not like SOLDIER training," Vincent continued. "You learn brute strength, a military lifestyle." The man starred deeply into Reno's eyes. "Turks are entrusted with more critical information. ShinRa has to trust if they are captured they will not leak any of it. SOLDIERs are super-human, but Turks where not meant to be just human, either. President Shinra didn't just want body guards, he wanted legends, so that everybody would know a fear to the name Shinra."
"That's interesting, but what does it all mean? Your saying that he's…lying?" Zack briefly let his eyes flicker to Vincent's face as he said this.
"Precisely."
"What the fuck ever. If your going to kill me fucking do it or get out."
"You love him." Sephiroth's voice was soft again. It sounded…weird…
Reno glared at him. "Get. Out."
"You love Cloud."
"Get. The. Fuck. Out. Now."
"You love Cloud Strife!"
"WHAT DOES IT FUCKING MATTER!?" Zack's sword was gone, and he stepped back, surprised at the sudden rise in Reno's voice. "It's not like ever going work out anyway! Better now than later. Fuck…" The redhead slumped against the wall again. They had broken through to him. This had never happened before. He's been through the harshest interrogations and tortures and never spilled a drop of information. Nobody had ever broken through his hard mask of 'I'm ShinRa dog and I don't give a shit'. He swallowed, for some reason, he couldn't breath.
"Reno…" The new voice startled him. He had only heard it a few times before, and was unsure of it's owner…but who else could it be. Aerith pulled the redhead into an embrace, and Reno noticed his face was wet. What the hell is wrong with me? But he couldn't stop. He hated it. He hated Sephiroth and Vincent for breaking through his mask. He hated Rufus for making him choose between the job and people he cared about, and the one person he loved more than anything. He hated himself for note choosing Cloud. And he hated Cloud. For loving him back.
Aerith hummed quietly in his ear. He was dimly aware of the room emptying, but didn't care.
"Reno, go now. Cloud needs you. Don't let him be lonely anymore." Reno pulled away and looked into the flower girl's eyes. "You don't have to be lonely anymore."
--
Cloud sat at the bar. But he wasn't at the 7th Heaven. Tifa had expressed concern about him moping around a lot lately, as hard as he tried to hide it. She had told the blond to go out and do something. Cloud had ridden up to visit Zack's memorial-grave, but didn't really feel like sticking around. He knew he couldn't return back to the 7th Heaven yet, so now he was stuck in Lucky John's, a dirty, cramped bar on the other side of Edge.
"Hey cutie, what's with the long face?" A man Cloud did not recognize took the seat next to him. Out of politeness, Cloud started talking to the man. But when the man, Garry, offered to buy him a refill on his drink, he declined. "What's wrong, got a girlfriend…or maybe a boyfriend?" Cloud felt his breath catch.
"Well, no…"
"Then what's the problem?"
"Excuse me, I believe I'm the problem." Cloud's eyes widened. The bar was so crowded he hadn't seen Reno walk up. Garry turned around, glaring at the Turk.
"Who the hell are you?" Reno starred past at Cloud, who met his gaze tintivly.
"Whoever he wants me to be," the redhead replied softly.
"Sorry, bud, but I was hear first," Garry stood up, he matched the Turk's tall height.
"Oh, really?" The redhead reached out, and picked up an empty beer bottle from the bar top. In one swift motion, he banged it over the edge of the bar, breaking it in jagged halves. "Well, turns out I don't give a shit. Besides, I believe I have a former claim on him." Reno looked meaningfully at Cloud. "…If he still wants me." A voice in Cloud's head screamed 'Yes!' but his voice didn't seem to work, so just nodded, still locked with the redhead's eyes.
"Hey," the bartender had come over. "I don't want any fights in here. You got a beef, take it outside." Cloud ignored the fact the old bartender had used the word 'beef' and stepped past Garry, taking the bottle out of Reno's hand, and replacing it with his own hand.
"I'll always still want you." Cloud hadn't realized the words where true until he said them. But he meant it completely.
--
They were back outside, under the stars once again. Cloud didn't really remember leaving the bar, just getting on his bike and Reno telling him to drive, he wanted to get the fuck out of there. They laid down in the cool grass, hand's intertwined.
"I'm sorry."
"Won't Rufus be mad?"
"I don't care anymore. I don't want to loose you." The shared a sweat kiss.
"Hey…" Reno said after they had broken apart.
"Yah?"
"That bartender said 'beef'…" Cloud laughed. Reno was weird. He made mistakes, he got mad easily, he could be forgetful, and he had a psycho for a boss, but that was him. It was who he was, and Cloud loved every piece of it.