Chloe laughed as she heard him, shaking her head. "Midgar, it's from the game Final Fantasy VII, Jack. It was also the name the Normans gave the Earth realm as well, but that's a different thing. I knew that guy looked familiar, but I thought I was going crazy." She sighed. "I'm not sure how it happened, I've seen cosplayers before, to be sure, but never ones that good. I think, honestly, he might be the real thing. As to what he was doing in CTU when it blew up. . .no idea." She listened for Jack's reaction to that, she had known him long enough that she could almost predict it by now. "And before you tell me I'm crazy, that was the only two references I could find, and the one, as much as I'd like it to, makes no sense. The realm covers the whole world, he said it was a city."
The dead silence over the phone spoke volumes, and Chloe almost laughed, but she knew how crazy it sounded, and she wasn't going to laugh at him for stunned silence when she'd said something so crazy, coming to the conclusion because it was the only one aside from the guy being crazy himself that made any sense, and he was far too well trained not to legitimately be what he said he was. "I'd say he was nuts, but Jack, he's too good not to be what he says he is, and no police force around here would train and hire someone who was certifiable. It wouldn't happen."
They got into the building, one the desk nurses recognizing Jack right away, she led them back to the waiting room on the trauma floor. "As soon as he's out of surgery, I'll send a nurse to come get you and take you back to see him."
"Chloe...you can't actually be serious?" Jack said disbelievingly into the phone. Chloe could be a smartass, for sure, but she wasn't really much of a prankster, so Jack was inclined to believe this was for real, as crazy as it sounded. "A video game character?" He chuckled softly.
"No, I'm not laughing at you, Chloe," he said, wanting to make sure she didn't think such a thing. "I'm just laughing because it sounds so...crazy. What the hell would cause something like this to happen?"
Upon arriving at the hospital, Jack and Jurgen, the linguist who'd driven in with him, were ushered into a waiting room. Jack turned to Jurgen, unsure of how to tell him Chloe's findings.
"Okay, Chloe's gotten some background on Reno," Jack told him, smirking. "Good thing you're already sitting down..."
Jurgen just quirked a brow at Jack. He was half expecting something crazy anyway, because Jack had the damnedest luck for it, but what he would hear would be enough to make him wonder if the man was utterly out of his mind. But for the moment he supposed it didn't much matter; They needed the information in order to figure out who had had it in for them like that, though they had to wait for the man to wake up for that. "Lay it on me. It isn't as if I haven't heard stranger things before this." He just gave Jack one of those looks that said he could take it.
Of course he had no idea what Jack was going to propose, or that his reaction would be choking on the bottle of water he'd bought to drink during the long wait for the kid to come out of surgery when he heard. He tended to believe most anything Jack said, anyway, the man had never lied to him yet, and he doubted Jack intended to start now. It was just that what he was about to hear would be something he'd have a hard time swallowing.
"If this was coming from anyone other than Chloe, I wouldn't have believed it myself," Jack told Jurgen. "But Chloe's never bullshitted me, or anyone else for that matter. She told me...that Midgar's a place from a video game - Final Fantasy VII - and Reno is from that world." He studied Jurgen for a reaction, but the linguist simply stared at him, the trace of a smirk playing on his lips.
Jack frowned. "Seriously, Jurgen. You know that I don't bullshit anyone either. I believe what Chloe told me, I just...don't know what to do with that, where to start." He stood up and began pacing, scratching his head. "I mean...how did he get here? How's he going to get back?" Thinking about that made Jack pause a moment, and feel some empathy toward the mysterious redhead; surely he had family, friends, a career back in his world...would he ever see them again?
"Wonder when he'll be out of surgery," Jack murmured as he took his seat again.
That question was soon answered by a gurney being wheeled by, the figure on it wrapped in bandages around his ribs with a tube sticking out from under it. The chest tube was to drain the air from the chest cavity to allow the lung to re-inflate, a painful necessity. He was settled into his room, into the bed, and it wasn't all that long before jewel-toned eyes began to flutter open, a soft moan slipping free of him as consciousness began to return. The first thing to come to his mind was that he hurt. The second was that he was nude, and thus rather cold. The third was that he wasn't alone in the room, the man who had damn near beaten his ass senseless and the linguist that had helped him made himself understood were there with him.
"Man, remind me not to get myself blown up again, ne?" Speech was difficult, but Reno was Reno and had to push even if he shouldn't. "Ow. . .fucking ow." He used Wutaian because he knew Jack would understand him, even though he had very little presence of mind right for that moment. "I have no idea what language you're speakin', but I have gotta learn it." Reno was also worried about how he was going to get home but he needed to survive long enough to figure that out first. And that meant not getting himself into situations where he would be hurt again.
Jorgen snorted. He liked this guy already, even though he barely knew him. "He sounds like you, Jack, I swear." He was waiting for Jack to swat him for it, but it was true.
Jack gave Jurgen a look and rolled his eyes. "Shut it, Jurgen," he muttered, smirking. Jack and Jurgen followed alongside the gurney as the orderly pushed Reno down to the recovery room; having no next of kin, the two CTU agents were allowed to accompany the mysterious redhead.
"So," Jack said, settling into the chair closest to Reno. "We figured out where you're from. And I do believe this is the first time I've ever told anyone this." He called up several websites on his PDA that Chloe had sent to him, gamer websites and Wiki pages that detailed the game.
"You...are apparently a fictional character in a video game," Jack said, showing Reno the info on his smartphone. "Here, take a look. I know...it sounds insane, and it sounds like some bullshit story...I'm having trouble believing it myself."
"So I guess the question is...if you're not real...how in the hell are you here? You look pretty damned real to me," Jack said plainly, his eye wandering up and down the slim frame. He inadvertently licked his lips as he did so, something that did not go unnoticed by Reno.
"Well, it's pretty damn obvious I'm real." Reno rolled his eyes as he shifted to try to get comfortable, gasping a bit at the pain the movement caused. "As to how I got here, well. . that would be the fault of one Professor Hojo. He thinks playing with everything from animals to the space time continuum is a fun hobby." He snorted at that, and then shook his head. "As to why I'd be in a video game well. . ." and he leaned all the way back, hands folding behind his head. "I'm just that good, zo to." He hadn't been able to resist the quip, at all. He heard Jorgen make a noise deep in his throat as the redhead made grabby hands at the phone, wanting to see it for himself.
"Well, fuck me. . .talk about breaking the fourth fucking wall, yo. This begs the question, how did this Sakaguchi guy know about us? Some of this shit's not accurate, but a good deal of it is, and I wanna know how the Hell he knows this shit, because that he does is just fucking with my head, seriously." Reno had never imagined someone on another world knowing they even existed, much less knowing enough to make a story out of their lives. "He doesn't know my partner is from Costa del Sol, and he has an annoying little brother named Eric that has hit on every single fucking chick he's ever brought home. He also doesn't know I grew up in the slums of Sector Seven, but still. . .this blows me away, dude."
And a soft noise, and his eyes soften a bit. "Also doesn't know I was sleepin' with Tseng an' the boss man. . .that alla us were friends, Hell, they're the closest to family I got left."
Something about what Reno had said sounded strange though. "Hojo?" Jack repeated. "What does Howard Johnson's have to do with this?" he asked, as Jurgen snickered. "Shut up, Jurgen. Be professional, for chrissakes."
Jack coughed uncomfortably at the last bit of information. Slept with his boss? Jack wondered. I probably don't want to know the details...And he wasn't about to ask, either, it really wasn't relevant.
"Look," Jack said, pulling his chair up closer. "I don't know how it happened, and you're obviously feeling...a bit out of place here, so far from home. And I'm sure you miss your familiy and friends, too."
"Thing is," Jack continued. "I need your help. You're my only witness to the explosion...and I need to find out who's behind the attack. If you help me, I'll do everything in my power to get you back home...if such a thing is even possible. But if it is, you have my word, I will help you get back there."
He nodded. "On one condition, yo. You help me learn your language, because if I'm gonna be here for any length of time at all, I need to know how to speak the language, I need to know how to blend in, and it ain't gonna happen unless I do." Reno sighed, his head craning down. Jack had been wise enough not to ask about his coworkers, which he was glad of. Talking about home when he wasn't sure, even with Jack's reassurance, that he ever could get back, was painful, and the last thing he wanted to do was even start to tear up in front of these men he barely knew. "I'll tell you what I remember. . .I'll even. . help you find 'em, once I'm strong enough. I need a place to stay, if you can."
Jurgen exchanged a look with Jack, and quietly said "Could bring him the laptop I use for work that has the Rosetta Stone software on it. It won't be perfect, but it'd at least help him learn enough English to speak it passably. The accent would be a bit odd, but I figure as long as he's understandable, it'll be fine." The linguist shrugged, not wanting to say too much, and not wanting to call attention to the fact that Reno looked very upset and seemed the type of guy who wouldn't deal with being coddled well, even if he was injured and it was making keeping his emotions in check harder.
Reno had turned his face toward the wall, his eyes were starting to mist up and he didn't want to show it. He missed Tseng and Rufus terribly, it wasn't anywhere near an exclusive thing, it was something where they all just needed to fuck ever once in a while and indulged each other, but still, they were family, and to be away from them with no way to know if he could ever go home again hurt more than he knew how to say.
Jack sighed quietly and leaned back in his seat, exchanging a glance with Jurgen. He nodded at the suggestion of that laptop, it was a good idea to get Reno started, he figured.
"Jurgen's idea is a good one," Jack said, addressing Reno again in Japanese. "We'll let you use the laptop, it's got a software program on it to help you learn English. I can help you too...I'm fluent in quite a few languages myself."
"As for a place to stay..." Jack began, then hesitated. It wasn't often he invited someone into his home other than Kim - not since Teri died, let alone a complete stranger. Yet here Jack was, about to offer lodging to this intriguing redhead with the strange accent, strange background, and even stranger hair.
Yeah, your accent isn't going to be the only thing preventing you from blending in, Jack thought with an amused grin. Aloud, he said to Reno, "I live alone. You can stay with me while you learn English...and I'll try to help you assimilate. Sound good?"
"Thank you." the words were heartfelt, a smile crossing his face though he looked very wan. "Could you bring the computer in now? I wanna learn as fast as I can. I hate being helpless, being unable to communicate drives me up a frickin' wall. Always has." He shook his head at that, hoping to be out of here soon. Reno had always hated hospitals, convalescence drove him batty due to the fact that it involved him having to stay still, which drove him almost as nuts as not being able to communicate. He had a great amount of energy normally, and despised having to lay down and being stuck that way. He wanted to get started on something useful for learning how to get by here.
"I'll bring it up when I head back for dinner, which should actually be pretty soon." Jurgen nodded a confirmation of that. He felt sorry for the guy, really. He knew how he felt, when he'd left Norway he'd felt just as lost as confused. He hadn't known a lick of English, having been raised around Norwegian his whole life, he'd not known the culture, he'd come here for a better job, and to make a home for himself, maybe have some to send back to his family. It hadn't been an easy adjustment at all, but he'd made it, even as difficult as it had been. He wanted to help this guy make it too.
The fact that Jack was already beginning to take a shine to the kid, his eyes lighting up in a way he hadn't seen since Teri had died and he and Kim had stopped talking? Even more reason to help.
"That'll help a lot, the sooner you start, the better," Jack said, nodding. "Plus like I said, I can help you too. Don't push yourself too hard, though...you've been through a lot, punctured lung and everything."
"Sounds like you'll be here a few days at least, but you might get released sooner if you heal well enough, Jack informed Reno. "I live in the hills, it's a short drive, so I'll come and get you when you're ready to be released."
Jack paused for a moment, then continued. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" he asked him. "Anything...out of the ordinary you've noticed, since you found yourself here?" He groaned inwardly, realizing the absurdity of his question; the entire situation itself, was out of the ordinary.
"I saw a man, dark tan skin, dark eyes. . about your height with broad shoulders. If I had a pen an' a pad, I could probably sketch him, I'm pretty good at it." To be honest Reno was a pretty good sketch artist, and it didn't take him all that long to get it done once Jurgen passed him the small pad he had and his pen. The guy had faintly arabic features, though his nose was crooked as if it had been broken a few times, the detail not one many would have remembered, and Reno had done well to do so. Still, as he finished and set the pad down, he couldn't help but look out the window, a sudden sharp pang of homesickness overwhelming him for a moment. He let out a shuddering breath. He wasn't going to let down his guard enough to cry in front of these people, no matter how badly it hurt right now to have been drug here.
Damn, that face looks familiar...Jack thought, as Reno's hand moved quickly over the paper, sketching out a rough portrait of that man he'd seen. He couldn't place a name to the face, not just yet, but it would come soon, Jack was sure. He would have Chloe scan it and run it through the facial recognition software anyway, and hope for a possible match. It was not much to go on, but it was a start.
"Thank you," Jack said quietly and gratefully to Reno, as he took the completed sketch from him. "This is really good...you obviously have a good eye and memory for detail...I think this will help us a lot."
"Jack. . .? I wanted to say thanks, yo. . .for carin' enough to wanna make sure I had a place and didn't end up on th'streets. It means a lot." The words weren't ones he'd imagined saying in any language, but he had never thought a stranger would give enough of a shit about him to keep him from dying, particularly one that had about kicked his ass when they'd first met. The tendency for people not to give a shit about anyone but themselves and their own had made him pretty jaded, considering he'd spent most of his adolescence on the street, and to be pleasantly surprised that someone had tried had touched him, though he wasn't going to outright admit it.
When Reno thanked Jack for his kindness, the CTU agent suddenly felt self-conscious, and merely shrugged it off. "It's nothing," Jack insisted, though he couldn't deny that he felt some strange pull toward Reno, and he couldn't explain why he felt that way, either.
After Jurgen left for lunch and came back up with the laptop, he dove right into the English lessons, only to have Chloe come back up with Jack a while later to find him with his head laying over the open keyboard and the screen dark, the speakers still sounding out the words in English as his twitching fingers hit the buttons of the trackpad and made the program continue to run. "That should not make me want to pull out my phone and snap a photo as much as it does. That is almost insanely adorable, and a bit sad too. He's putting a lot of work into trying to fit in. And I have an odd feeling, Jack, a lot of it is because he likes you." Jack rolled his eyes at Chloe's ribbing and teasing, but her words made him think for a moment. No, Jack told himself. Reno's only trying to assimilate...nothing more, nothing less. Gotta admire his dedication, too...