ii. they who seek

The next time Reno passed the bar, it was awfully silent. Something turned in the pit of his stomach as the ringing in his ears became louder and louder.

Tapping the rod across his shoulders, he threw the wooden door open, not flinching when it hit the wall and began to slowly come back. His footsteps creaked through the vicinity as he inspected the area. The tables were strewn across the floor, and he didn't remember the glasses and bottles being broken on the shelf.

There was a thud upstairs, and a roar. He quirked his eyebrow lazily before looking around, trying to piece together the scene.

The window had been smashed in, as though someone threw a rock or catapulted themselves in. Why they didn't use the door, though, he couldn't really answer. He noted that the walls had been scratched, carved into even by blades, and there was a bullet hole in the counter.

Reno wondered if Tifa was alone, or if she even needed any help.

He saw a figure in the far corner move and breathe in. He rubbed the side of his face with his free hand as he approached and saw a little girl huddled in the far corner of the room, behind the cupboards and with a blanket sort of her head. He didn't really recognise her, or know whose child she could possibly be, but her hair strongly reminded him of that Ancient. The one who was successful in her part of defending the Planet.

"Get up," Reno huffed.

The girl trembled as she stood, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. She appeared quite healthy – a testament to Tifa's care – but afraid. It didn't suit her as she looked up at him. There was a cut on her cheek, and though the blood was dry, she could not help but continuously touch it.

"Stop that," he then growled, seizing her hand and moving it away from her face.

His fingers curled around her wrist as he began to lead her out of the house, and although she kept fighting, he still retained a significant amount of his former, Turk strength. Even as she kicked the back of his knee in, he buckled, but did not fall or release her.

Reno glared at the child when she attempted to gnaw on his wrist, and it took quite a bit of his self control to reel in slapping her across the face. He pulled her up so that she was on the edge of her toes as they stood just outside of Seventh Heaven, "We're going on a little adventure, yo. It'll be a while."

The girl still did not trust him, but she learnt to stop fighting him quickly, because he had a very tight grip and any time she tried something, she was pulled to the very tips of her toes, where it was difficult to stand. As the shape of the bar she called home grew smaller and smaller the farther they went, as Edge vanished and they were swallowed by Midgar's third and fourth sectors, she began to wonder.

She scraped through her memories of the stories Tifa told her, trying to see if this man possibly knew her in some way. A name did not fall, but a description matched; and so she pressed, "You know Tifa?"

"Of course I know Tifa," he replied, hanging a right, "She's hit me in the face plenty of times."

Context didn't need to be given, but the girl seemed pleased that he'd suffered on account of Tifa's martial arts somewhere in the past. She seemed to really settle down then, walking right alongside him and looking around at the hollow faces as they passed through sector five and came to –

"The church?" she asked, "You've been here?"

"On assignment," he answered tersely, throwing the door open. They lumbered inside, shutting the door behind them, and it was only then that he let go of her wrist.

She rubbed her wrist viciously and glared up at the stranger before noticing that Yuffie's materia remained in the far back of the room. She rushed over to it, carefully walking around the bright, sunny flowers, and sat on the top of it, as though it were a chair. She had sat in the pews before and she deemed them very uncomfortable.

"You're safer here with me than back home," Reno leant against one of the stone pillars, tapping the rod against the stone surface as the ringing in his ears faded away to a point. Peace, for a while. Not silence by any means, but it was as quiet as it would get, "What happened?"

"Remnants," she sighed.

A small smirk, "So Sephiroth's finally made his move."

Whether or not this Planet would become his vessel would be told in time, but what was important was that after two years, he had given up waiting for a possible challenge. Sephiroth chose to act, and he was coming to pick off the last of AVALANCHE one by one. What did that mean for him, the last of the Turks? He had information he could offer, but beyond that, he had no use. He would inevitably be hunted sometime after.

The girl looked to him before noticing that he was rather calm right now, placid even. Aside from being rough, he so far hadn't harmed her – and besides, she was curious about the marks on his face. Deciding on a course of action, she called him over. Reno looked confused at first, but he followed, eventually squatting down to her height she could look at him in the face.

She placed her small hands on his cheekbones and then traced the curves quietly. Reno did not react, "What happened?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Reno merely shrugged and offered her a tiny smile as she took her hands away from his face and looked at his eyes. Her own then widened curiously, "Mako eyes?"

"What's your name?" he pressed, not willing to divulge any more information to a child.

"Marlene," she placed her hands in her lap and smiled at him, "The youngest member of AVALANCHE!"

If Sephiroth was after AVALANCHE, then this child would be killed too. The fact stirred nothing beneath his iron shield, and no pity or sorrow of any sort formed. He maintained his stance, though, keeping eye contact with the girl who only earlier was terrified for her life, and yet here, there was a braveness that he recognised very quickly.

"Tifa's kid?"

Marlene hesitated, her voice slowing and then eventually lowering towards the end of her statement, "Tifa's my caretaker now... My Father was Barrett Wallace."

Ah, the guy with the gun arm. He remembered him, and he could see the braveness that they shared. The first time that they faced off, he had cracked a joke to Rude, only to then be promptly shot in the thigh for it. He still had that scar.

He supposed that AVALANCHE wasn't all bad... They were just on different sides, working towards a relatively common goal through different means. Reno had wanted to help the Planet and its citizens become strong, and they did too by eliminating Shinra. Therefore, they were a threat to him, to the Turks, to Rufus, to Shinra. But now, without any of that –

"You never told me your name," Marlene stated softly.

Reno stood and turned away, going to sit against a nearby pew, "I'm nobody, yo."

Hours must've gone by. Marlene fell asleep in front of the materia box in the flowers and with the blanket over her body by the time the door was almost ripped off its hinges. And there was Tifa, in a complete state of panic; and then there was relief washing over her face as she charged down the church and towards the waking youth.

"Took you long enough," Reno chimed, causing Tifa to falter at the last few steps.

As wine-coloured eyes shifted until they lay upon him, he laughed. She was somewhere between furious and thankful, and she wasn't sure which emotion to really take hold of. As she helped Marlene to her feet, she monitored the man and noted that he had exhibited the same behaviour as a few weeks ago, only the actions were much more vicious, less controlled. Adjust his sleeves, adjust his goggles, tap his rod on the ground –

"Are you alright?" Tifa inquired.

Reno laughed again. It was the laugh that finally made her decide which emotion she should be swallowed by, and as she marched over, ready to strike him, Reno was already on his feet, electro-mag rod in hand and blocking the kick that had come. She stopped, then, realising that despite being broken and despite being disturbed, he was still the Turk she had fought countless times two years ago. He was still as sharp as ever.

He cocked his head to the side and lowered the rod once she lowered her stance, "Remnants, right?"

Tifa nodded slowly and drew Marlene close to her. Marlene held onto Tifa's clothes with a tight grip, even though she was very sleepy, and watched the exchange, "I don't know if they've gone after Cid or Yuffie just yet, but I don't think I can stay here in Edge anymore. Not if it's going to put Marlene in danger. "

"Why do you think I brought her to the church?" he scowled.

She paused. It was a very un-Reno-like thing to do, but aside from the cut from the cocky remnant, there was no damage on her. He had let her sleep, the blanket her over body, and simply remained vigilant. He took her here because he didn't know anywhere else that was safe, or that he knew she could find them.

And then, "Thank you."

Reno shrugged and looked to the church door, "You need to get out of here."

Tifa wondered about him. What would he do if she left? He seemed to like dropping in on her for his own amusement, and she would be lying if she said she was glad to see a familiar face, even if he had been a former enemy. But aside from being strange, he hadn't really done anything new to warrant her distrust. At the same time, the only thing he had done anything aside from take Marlene to safety to gain her trust.

"I think I'll wait here," she replied curtly, letting go of Marlene and ushering her back towards the bed of sorts. She grabbed her cellphone and began to dial a number, "For Cid and Yuffie, so we can all leave together. You too."

A crack in his guard. Reno quirked an eyebrow, surprised, and awaited an explanation.

"I see you long for the sun again. I see your hope," she raised the phone to her ear, waiting for the other to pick up, "You hope for something that resembles freedom. For things to become easier, without Sephiroth and the remnants. I see it, and it burns brightly. I need all the hopeful people I can get if we have any chance of seeing this thing end."

She does not trust him, Reno was well aware of that. But at the same time, she cannot let such an asset go by in their quiet struggle, in their quiet rebuilding. For a fleeting moment, he wondered if her contacts were dead like his – if there was anybody else out there who could help them aside from the two they were waiting for.

Marlene looked away when he glanced at her. She seemed to trust him enough now, but she was just a child. Young, and stupid.

He placed a hand to his head as the ringing increased. The other hand twitched.

The girl noticed immediately and approached, taking Reno's hand, "Geostigma?"

He knew of the disease. Many people had it. Sephiroth called it a 'blessing', and said that he could not wait for them to join his family as they prepared the Planet to be their vessel. But he knew that he did not have Geostigma – there were no marks on his body, no dark patches, no dying skin.

He slid his hand from hers and looked up to the ceiling, slouching again, "No. Insanity."

She did not understand, for she was much too young, but Tifa caught the statement anyhow and glanced at him whilst speaking to whoever was on the other side. If he was to tag along as per her invite to the unknown destination, then she would have to seriously monitor him, for everyone's safety.

He was volatile, and he knew it. Therefore, he was extremely dangerous.