Defying Gravity

General Disclaimer: The characters being written about have not given me permission to write about them, and I gain no profit whatsoever from this. I simply use them to further my writing skills, and don't believe anything I write about to be true, no matter how much I wish it might be sometimes. Don't sue, because I have no money anyway. :)

Author's Note: Whoo, I have a general idea of where this is going now. Feels great. My fingers are itching to write smex, but I am going to hold out for a long while. I want this to actually have a point, not just be in existence for the smut. So, stay with me guys! Thanks to Draco's Daughter, Vaishin, and Aeriths-Rain for being the first people to review! Your comments made me smile.

General Info: Set some time after Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus never happened.

Chapter Two: The Offer

These walls don't talk,
Even when somebody knocks,
These walls don't stand,
For anyone else but themselves,
These walls don't fall,
Even when gravity's failing us all

- Fair To Midland - Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes

Reno had a slight problem when it came to Rufus' office. Whenever anybody was called there, especially the Turks, it was never a good thing. He could distinctly remember the last time he had set foot in the ridiculously expansive room. Elena and him had just finished an assassination mission which had worn them both down quite a bit—their target was quick, and obviously had more experience than his file had let on. In the end, they'd brought him down, but not before he shot a bullet straight through Elena's shoulder. Reno, who was supposed to be protecting the rookie, had failed to see the gun in time, and that failure was the reason he was called down to speak with Rufus.

That mishap had cost him two weeks pay, and he'd made a point not to screw up ever again, which was why he was rather confused about being called down now. To the best of his memory, he hadn't messed anything up lately—his last mission was to retrieve the files at Shinra's mansion, and that had been completed successfully. Well, as successful as a mission could have gone with Vincent Valentine thrown in to the mix.

Either way, that wasn't enough to warrant Rufus' attention.

Biting his lip as he stubbed out his cigarette—because Rufus was one person you did not want to smoke around—Reno walked up to the grand oak doors. He tossed a wink at Rufus' secretary, who simply ignored him. She'd dealt with Reno enough to know his flirtatious nature, and she wasn't about to be pulled in. "Go on in," she said, pressing the buzzer to let Rufus know Reno had arrived.

The redhead sighed and pushed the doors open, keeping his eyes locked on the floor as he walked in and closed them. "Ya wanted ta see me, Sir?"

"Sit down."

Reno cracked his fingers as he sat down (a nervous habit gained from his childhood in the slums) and finally looked up. He held back a resigned sigh when he saw Tseng standing off to the right of Rufus' expensive desk. If whatever he had done required Tseng's presence as well, Reno assumed he was pretty much fired.

Turning his attention to the President in front of him, he recognized that the man was irritated. He was usually angry, but the way he tapped his pen notified Reno that it'd be best if he kept his mouth shut. Papers, disks, and videos littered the desk, and Reno frowned. They were Hojo's documents. They were the ones Reno had gathered the day before. Wondering what he could have possibly done wrong, Reno looked back at Rufus with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Sir?"

"You missed something, Reno. Of all the things you could have missed, you missed the thing that matters most."

As he slammed the pen down and leaned forward in his chair, Rufus Shinra continued speaking. "Vincent's files, Reno. They aren't here. I don't know what sort of deal you struck with him…"

"Deal?" Reno repeated, confused as ever, but smart enough to move his chair back. "Sir, I didn't—"

"With all due respect, Sir, Reno has no reason to strike any sort of deal with Valentine. It's more likely that Valentine has already disposed of them, or hidden them somewhere." Tseng interrupted, giving his subordinate a harsh look of warning—shut up, Reno, while you still have the chance. "I will gladly pay a visit to him and see what—"

"No," Rufus muttered, standing up. He pulled an envelope from one of his drawers and passed it to Reno. "Reno will go back and sort things out." He linked his hands behind his back and stood in front of the only window in his office, staring out at Edge. Shinra had managed to re-establish its hold on Midgar's replacement, but it hadn't come easy. Rufus took a few minutes every day to remember his duty. He was going to make up for Midgar, and he was going to earn Edge's trust once and for all.

After a moment, he announced, "If you fail this time, Reno, consider yourself demoted."

"This is fucking unfair," Reno whined as both he and Tseng entered the elevator to take them down to the Department of Administrative Research. "I'm the one who gets blamed even though Vamp-Boy did all the shit ta be blamed for."

"You should have known Vincent wouldn't trust anybody with his information. The least you could have done is asked."

"An' what! He woulda shot my ass outta there so fast, I'd be sayin' hi to the lifestream before I even knew what happened."

Tseng cringed, quickly stepping out of the confining space as the elevator doors opened. "You may not like it, Reno, but you will have to deal with it." He gave him a sharp look before the doors closed. "I don't want to see you back here until you have Valentine's files."

Reno clenched his fist as he pressed the button to take him down to the parking levels. "Fuck…" He muttered. He glanced down at the manila envelope clutched within his hands, and took the time to open it and hopefully gain some insight in to why the hell Shinra needed Vincent Valentine's information so badly.

It was the last thing Reno thought he would be doing on a Friday night, and it wasn't something he was looking forward to either. It was for this reason that he didn't even bother knocking on the imposing doors of the mansion that met him, instead content to just stroll in unannounced. Vincent was probably going to kill him in any case, so he might as well go out in style.

Relieved that he wasn't met with the wrong end of Cerberus, Reno cast his eyes around the dark entrance. It was late—9:45pm to be exact—and there was no sign of the ex-Turk. Still wary, Reno tiptoed in to the kitchen to make sure. When he discovered it empty and dark, he frowned. Well, if Vincent wasn't going to protect his alcohol, he figured he ought to have a drink. Grabbing a beer from the fridge (he was wary of who the package belonged to, since the black-haired man didn't seem the type to drink the cheap stuff; Reno decided they must've been Barret or Cid's), he twisted the cap off and took a swig, smiling at the familiar taste.

As he idly knocked half of the bottle back, he decided to take advantage of Vincent's absence. Time to do some exploring¸ he thought.

He wandered around the house, not really bothering to hide his presence because sooner or later he'd have to talk to the man who lived there. He searched room after room for any hidden documents, but realized it was futile. Vincent would never leave something as significant as his files out in the open, so the only way to get a hold of them would be through asking.

Something Reno was not looking forward to at all.

"Yo, Vince! Ya here?" Reno shouted, jumping at a small thump from behind him. Whirling around, he discovered that it was just a cat. The feline's sleek, raven fur and piercing eyes reminded Reno a lot of whom he assumed was the cat's owner. He shuddered as it passed him by. He was never very suspicious, but given the atmosphere and mission he was on, his nerves were on edge.

Picking up the pace a little, Reno proceeded through the upper levels of the house until he came to a closed door that looked like it was frequently used. This would probably be his final destination, he mused, watching as a soft light flickered from underneath the doorframe. He knocked on it gently. "V-Vincent?" He cursed the animal now rubbing against his leg for making him stutter, and tried again. "Vincent, it's Reno again. From the Turks…"

A moment passed during which Reno thought he might pass out on the spot, and then there were clunking footsteps approaching the door, and he was positive he was about to die. For safety's sake, he placed his hand on his gun and bit his lip.

When the door opened, Reno couldn't have been more shocked.

"You cut your hair," Reno said in a tiny voice. His fear was forgotten in the oddness of the moment. He held back a snort, noticing that Vincent had seemed weirder ever since Kadaj's gang was finished off. Weirder, perhaps, only because it was simply so out-of-character to see him wear any clothing other than black and red, and for him to act cold and mysterious. Now he almost seemed…

Reno paused.

"And you have a cat," he stated.

Vincent arched an eyebrow. "Why are you here this time?"

Reno shook his head and laughed slightly. "Oh, ya know. Jus' couldn't get enough of ya last time…" He rolled his eyes as he stepped in. "Nah, seriously, I need more files."

"I thought you had collected all of them," Vincent started, twitching as Reno made himself comfortable on his couch, "when you were here last. There's more?"

"I got everythin' in Hojo's lab, yeah," Reno said, stretching his neck to see around the dimly lit room. A fireplace crackled in front of him and a gigantic bed was to his back, it's sheets neatly folded and pillows fluffed. The entire room reeked of Vincent Valentine in its colours and atmosphere. Reno had to wonder if the man had a fetish for black and red. "But, uhh… well, ya probably aren't gonna like this, but I'm just the messenger so don't shoot me. We need your files. The ones Hojo had about his experiments on you and shit."

"Those are gone, not that I would hand them over to the Turks in the first place."

Reno winced. "Figured as much." He stood up and drank the last of the beer he still held. "Ya don't have copies or anythin'?"

"Why does Shinra need my files?" There was a dangerous tone there, and Reno reminded himself to play it safe. He walked to the fireplace and tapped his fingers against the mantle, enjoying the warmth.

"Ah, can't really tell ya that 'cuz I don't know much myself." He hesitated as Vincent stared at him, clearly sensing the lie. After a second, he wavered. "Alright, alright… Ya know Shinra's tryin' ta correct the past an' all? Well, Rufus wants ta fix your past."

"I need no fixing." Vincent bit out as he strolled forward and grabbed the empty beer bottle out of Reno's hand. He tossed it in to a tiny garbage can at the corner of the room and stood there, apparently thinking. He bent his head and sighed.

Reno watched him out of curiosity mostly, believing that the side he was seeing of Vincent Valentine was a side not many people got to see. He watched as the man moved to the door, hesitated, and then turned back to him.

"You should leave."

"We can get them outta your head, Vincent," Reno offered, rooted to the spot. He couldn't leave. Coming back empty-handed would be a good deal worse than suffering a bruise or two from Valentine. "Chaos, and the others."

"I don't need—"

"Can't ya just talk ta Rufus then? Ya don't need ta bring your file," because at this point Reno was sure some sort of file still existed, "but just hear him out. I can't really come back without nuthin'. Think about my job, man."

It was a desperate plea that he knew would have no effect, considering the uncharacteristic snort he received. "I'd be doing the world a favour by having you fired."

"Ouch," Reno muttered sarcastically. "I don't really give a shit what ya think of the Turks or Shinra, 'cause this has nuthin' ta do with 'em. We're offerin' ta fix ya, dude. Cure you, whatever ya wanna call it." He crossed his arms across his chest and cocked his head. "Ya'd be dumb not ta try."

Vincent's gaze moved from the redhead to the crackling fire beside him, and it seemed to stay there for quite a while. He brought a hand to his head and rubbed his temple, letting his eyes shut briefly before turning them back to the Turk.

"I will speak with Rufus Shinra, but that is it."

Reno could have jumped for joy, but he figured it was best to hold it in. Instead, he let a large breath escape his lips and moved his eyes heavenwards. That was one thing accomplished, and one awkward thing left to ask.

"Great, but do ya think ya can let me stay here for the night? It's late, an' my apartment is in the Shinra building… I'd be demoted if I came back without ya."

Vincent lifted a hand in the air and waved it about his head, nodding. "You may. There is a guest room down the hall to your left."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it." He yawned, making his way to the door. "We'll leave at noon tomorrow," he said lazily.

He didn't stay to see Vincent's answering nod.