**Disclaimer**: I do not own Final Fantasy 7; I do not own Reno, Rufus, Rude, or Tseng. I DO own the irritating Secretary, the outfit she is wearing, and the hole in Rufus' roof. Somehow I get the feeling I got the short end of the stick…
Chapter 4
Rufus woke up feeling like his eyes were either filled with gravel, cemented together, or both.
Groaning softly he lifted his heavy head off of the pillow and rubbed at his raw eyes, trying to make them work, or to at least open. He yawned then gave up and let himself fall back into the folds of his pillow, screwing his eyes shut tighter, determined to ignore that fact that it was daylight, and go straight back to sleep.
He was dozing off quite pleasantly in fact when he suddenly found himself sitting bolt upright, and blinking trying to figure out how he'd gotten there.
"…Damnit Rude! You coulda said it was loaded!!" came the yell from the other room and Rufus realised it had been the sound of a gunshot that had jolted him from his dreaming.
Stopping only to grab the robe on the end of his bed and throw it over his shoulders, Rufus ran out of his room to be greeted by a sight he was sure didn't happen everyday. Reno and Rude were standing by the coffee table in the centre of a selection of guns that made the ShinRa armoury look bare.
Rufus managed to pry his eyes away from the guns and stared at Reno, and the man-mountain Rude, and saw that they were staring upwards. Rufus numbly let his eyes follow their gaze upwards to see his newly acquired skylight, bits and pieces of mortar still sifting down to lay on the shoulders of the two men below it.
Rufus felt his mouth open and close speechlessly as he stared at the hole in the roof then suddenly he found his voice.
"What the hell are you two doing?!?"
Reno jumped slightly and turned to face Rufus, an automatic shotgun in his hands and a guilty look on his face.
"Just a little redecorating." He said trying to sound nonchalant and gesturing at the roof, "Don't you think a little sun coming in just here makes the room look a little brighter?"
Rufus simply glared at Reno and the man went a little pale.
"No? Well I guess I should go get someone to fix that up then." He started making his way to the door, "I'll just be…"
"Hold it right there." Rufus' voice was deceptively calm, and Reno froze in place. "No-one is going anywhere till one of you tells me exactly what you thought you were doing with all these guns."
There was a moment of silence, "Looking…" Reno shot a dirty look in Rude's direction. "I didn't expect them to be loaded."
Rufus stared at Reno till the man started to get uncomfortable, "'Looking'? It looks like you've got the entire ShinRa armoury in here and then some! That's a lot for just 'looking'!"
Reno shrugged and decided to try logic; hey sometimes it worked, "We're Turks, it's our job to look at stuff like this."
"In my apartment?"
"Well I can't exactly go somewhere else." Reno unloaded the shotgun he was still holding then threw it on the couch, "If you must know, this is a haul from a terrorist group from sector 4. We had to go over them and two of us is faster then one." Reno ignored the look Rude was directing at him and gestured at the armament selection, "Either way we're finished."
Rufus glared at the red headed Turk then pinned his gaze on Rude, "Go find someone to repair that," he pointed at the hole in his roof, "then both of you get this mess cleaned up."
With another glare at Reno, Rufus turned and walked back into his room intent on getting dressed so he could get out of the apartment while the unexpected repairs were being made.
He'd just shut the door and leaned back on it, attempting to regain his control on his irritation at Reno, when he heard the rumble of voices through the door.
"Reno," the slightly muffled voice was Rude', "please tell me there is a very good reason why Rufus is wearing your robe."
Rufus looked down at himself and groaned, Great, just great.
****
Reno glared at Rude. This is not good, how do I get out of this one? Should I tell him the truth? Would he believe me? "He's borrowing it. Don't you have to go get some builders or something?" he quickly started picking up some of the guns and storing them back in their packs.
Rude didn't look too much like he was being distracted. His eye's never leaving Reno, he began picking up the guns nearest him and putting them away.
"Why is he borrowing it?" Rude didn't talk much, but when your Bosses son, and that's a boss that would be willing to pick you up and throw you out of the 70th floor window, just to see if you bounce at the bottom, appears before you, wearing his bodyguards robe, you know it's time to exceed your word quota for the year and find out exactly what was happening.
Reno ignored the question in favour of cleaning up, but felt Rude's eyes burrowing into the back of his head. Ok… So he's going to bug me till I say something to reassure him…
"Well you know. He was half naked at the time, looked a little cold." Eh… that didn't sound too reassuring.
Reno noticed that the sounds of cleaning behind him had stopped and he turned to see Rude staring at him with an unreadable expression.
"What?" Rude's staring was beginning to make Reno nervous, "Hello? Earth to Rude," He waved hand in front of the big man's face, "come in Rude, why are you staring at me like I just pulled on a chocobo outfit and started doing a hula?" Huh… bad choice of description. Didn't I do that at the last office party? Well that'll explain how I recognise that look…
"Reno… you didn't…" Rude began, then rephrased what he was about to say, "Reno if you seduce that kid I'll personally chop you into small pieces and feed you to the Midgar Zolom." Rude stated in the calm, deadly voice he was feared through most of ShinRa for.
Reno froze, the gun he'd been picking up dropping from his hand in shock, "If I what?? Are you insane?!" his voice was getting louder with every word, "Geez! Sure he's cute Rude, gorgeous even, but I do not have that much of a death wish." He threw his hands up in the air, "Why don't I just throw myself off the top of the ShinRa tower now and be done with it?" Reno felt himself blushing unaccountably and growled.
"Man Rude, if he even knew we were discussing this he'd flip a gasket, and I'm sure Tseng would be thrilled to find he's the only Turk left in our department."
"You might consider lowering your voice then." Rude said raising an eyebrow then leaning over to continue picking up the mess they'd made. With a reaction like that, he was sure no funny business had gone on.
Reno froze and stared at the door Rufus had disappeared behind.
"You think he heard us?"
Rude grunted, but otherwise ignored such an obvious question.
"Damn…"
Then the door that was under Reno's scrutiny opened and Rufus stepped out.
****
Rufus pulled on his clothes slowly as he listened to the hushed voices on the other side of the door.
What on earth could Rude be thinking had happened? Sure it was embarrassing to be caught wearing subordinates' clothes, but the giant Turk sounded so deathly serious.
As Rufus pulled his vest on over the rest of his clothes he moved closer to the door to hear them better.
"Reno… you didn't…" There was a pause, didn't? Didn't what? "Reno if you seduce that kid I'll personally chop you into small pieces and feed you to the Midgar Zolom."
Rufus froze, his fingers stilling as it fastened the last button on his vest.
S…Seduce? Seduce?! Rufus' mind shut down and he stared at the door in front of him in shock.
Outside the door the conversation continued but Rufus hardly heard it, Seduce…that would mean he's…No. Things like that didn't happen… The conversation tuned back in again.
"…You insane?! Geez! Sure he's cute Rude, gorgeous even, but I do not have that much of a death wish. Why don't I just throw myself off the top of the ShinRa tower now and be done with it? Man Rude, if he even knew we were discussing this he'd flip a gasket, and I'm sure Tseng would be thrilled to find he's the only Turk left in our department."
Rufus blinked then finished fastening the last button on his vest and calmly smoothed the piece of clothing down.
I didn't just hear what I thought I heard. I'm either still sound asleep, or I'm imagining things from my shock at seeing a hole in my roof.
"You think he heard us?"
Rufus picked up his coat from where it lay across a chair and pulled it on, fastening the buttons then straightened the cuffs.
"Damn…"
Rufus pushed his hair back out of his eyes with the back of his hand then opened the door of his room and stepped out to look with a blank expression at a deathly pale Reno.
The room descended into silence, then Rufus narrowed his eyes at Rude.
"I believe I gave an order to do with fixing that hole in my roof?" He said mildly. The kind of mild that made you desperately wish you were on the other side of the planet.
"Sir." Rude grunted then, with a last glance at Reno, left the apartment.
Rufus glanced around the room slowly then gestured at Reno and began walking towards the door, "Come. I have things to do at the office."
For a moment Reno stood silent, "But it's Sunday."
Rufus ignored him and continued walking from the apartment. Reno ran to catch up.
****
There were more people in the building then Reno would have expected, at least a small workforce in each department, and twice the amount of normal security.
They had been stopped at almost every doorway along the way, and Reno was sure that if they were stopped one more time, Rufus was going to throw who ever it was out of the nearest window.
Well how many more people can their be, that last guy said that normally no-one is aloud up this high on a Sunday so it should be a case of 'out of the elevator, down the corridor, into the office'. No stops.
As Reno finished the thought, the elevator came to a stop on the 69th floor and the doors slowly slid open.
Quickly the two men stepped out and Reno glanced around as he followed Rufus through the foyer, So far, so good. Not a soul in… spoke to soon.
"Vice-President Rufus! Whatever are you doing here today? Is there anything you need? I can get it for you. Do you need help with anything?"
Reno groaned silently, great the horny secretary. And… what on earth is she wearing? Reno blinked at the woman and moved his eyes to the pieces of fabric that covered the windows he could see, by the life stream… she matches the damned curtains!
Rufus marched past the woman without bothering to even glance at her, and headed for his office.
"Vice-President Rufus? Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? A Soda? Breakfast?" The woman chased after them, prattling enough to give even Reno a headache.
They had just reached Rufus' office when the woman slid in front of them.
"Let me get that door for you Mr ShinRa, are you absolutely sure I can't get you anything, a glass of water? Anything, Sir?"
Rufus froze in front of the woman who was blocking their way, then gestured at Reno, "If she doesn't get out of my way in the next three seconds, throw her out the window."
Reno blinked and the secretary blanched.
"Uhm, excuse me sir. I just remembered some urgent work I need to get to. Please don't hesitate to call me if you need anything!" The woman slid out from in front of the two men then nearly ran back the way they had come.
Reno hid a smile; the kid had flare if nothing else, would have made an excellent Turk.
"Stay out here." Rufus made a vague 'stay' gesture at Reno then entered his office shutting the door behind him.
Reno stood stock still, startled.
What am I? A Puppy?
Reno flopped himself down in Diane's chair, and put his feet up on the desk.
'Sit. Reno, sit.' Good boy. Stay… Putting his hands behind his head, Reno leaned back in the chair and made himself comfortable, closing his eyes, and if you're a good boy, maybe later I'll take you for a walk! Aren't you just the best little doggy in the world! Grunting in disgust he let himself drop into a light doze.
****
Rufus threw himself down in his chair and glared at the top of his desk, obviously he hadn't lied to Reno when he'd said he had work to do. He cursed; well it'll all have to wait until tomorrow. I have bigger things to do today. He glanced up at the door hesitantly, and if I'm lucky, Shadow out there won't take it in his head he needs to be in here.
One eye still on the door, he stood and began to straighten the piles of paperwork on his desk, searching the room briefly with his eyes, looking for anything that seemed out of place.
Today he was going to begin what he'd thought of the night before, finding out why old man ShinRa had had his former Vice-President killed. And first on the order of business was finding her personal documents. Anything that she would have had hidden that could tell him where to begin searching.
Biting his bottom lip he straightened from his now orderly desk and surveyed the office again, this is going to take forever.
****
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Reno stated flatly, not bothering to open his eyes.
"Oh… I…Ahhh…" The voice was slightly high pitched and feminine, "I was just going to take Vice-President Rufus a drink."
Reno conceded to opening a single eye and stared impassively at the woman standing by Rufus' office door, a steaming cup of something in one hand and the other still wrapped around the door handle.
"Bad idea." Reno said, "If you open that door. I'll have to shoot you."
The woman's eyes went wider and she stepped away from the door, wrapping both hands around the cup of drink.
"You… you wouldn't…?"
Reno took his feet off the desk and stood up, stretching, then pulled his gun from it's holster, spun it on his finger and then pointed it straight at her, "Well, orders are orders. You understand right?"
The woman 'eeped' and fled back down the hall to her station at the front desk.
Reno snorted and put his gun away, "Where did she get the fabric to make that outfit anyway? And why would she even want to?"
He flopped back down into his chair and began to chew on a nail.
Wonder if the kid's still mad at me for putting the hole in his roof. It's not like it was my fault though…Maybe I should put my head round the door and check on him, it's not like anything could get in there this high up… better safe then sorry.
Decision made, Reno climbed lightly to his feet and walked around the desk, to the door, and silently pushed it open.
The sight that greeted him startled him to say the least. The room was in a shambles. Rufus had pulled books off shelves, plants off tables and any furniture he could move was in the centre of the room. Rufus himself was perched on a brightly polished table, stretching up to run his hands through an air duct that was slightly to far up the wall for him to reach easily.
Glancing around the room again Reno didn't know what to think, spring cleaning in reverse? Maybe he thinks the room is bugged, or maybe… hmmm, I think I was right, if he's doing what I think he's doing he would have made a good Turk. Curious, he stepped further into the room and shut the door quietly behind him, then coughed.
Rufus' reaction would have been comical if Reno wasn't certain that he'd just forfeited his job and probably his chances of growing any older.
The boy leapt nearly halfway up the wall in fright and came down facing Reno, his back pressed hard against the wall.
"Reno?" His eyes were wide as saucers till he figured out that it was indeed Reno, then his face dropped into a glare, "I thought I told you to wait outside?"
Reno nodded, "Just checking up, Sir." His eyes travelled around the messy office again then settled on Rufus quizzically, "What are you doing?"
****
"Just checking up, Sir." The Turks eyes travelled around the shambles Rufus had made of his office, then settled on the young VP with a raised eyebrow, "What are you doing?"
Rufus glared at Reno and he knew he was blushing.
"None of your business. Get out!" So I can put everything back together. Damn, what a mess. And I didn't even find anything.
"If it has anything to do with your safety then it is my business." Reno stated calmly, watching Rufus.
"It has nothing to do with my safety. Now, Get. Out."
"And if you were to fall off that table and break your neck?"
Rufus stared at Reno flabbergasted.
"Fall off the table? I've been climbing around on tables since I could walk. I'm not an invalid."
"And I'm not about to let you become one because of an accident while you're under my care." Reno eyed Rufus and the table he was on, "Now, Sir, if you would climb down and explain what you're doing."
Rufus felt a white hot rage course through him, "Under your care!? I'm not a child; I can take care of myself! And I will come down off the table when I feel like it, I'm not finished here." Rufus clenched his hands into fists and fought to control himself after his outburst, "And what I'm doing is my business. Now, do I have to repeat my order?"
He knew he was reacting like a spoilt brat. In a rare moment of clarity he could see full well that he may as well be threatening to hold his breath till he got what he wanted. But Damnit! He has no right to disobey me. If I give an order he should follow it to the letter, not stand around ignoring it.
Which was exactly what the man was doing. He stood in front of Rufus, as if he hadn't heard a word of what the boy had just said.
Growling in exasperation Rufus decided he may as well get down off the table, I'd look like a fool if I tried to search that duct again anyway. It's far too high.
He grudgingly slipped to the floor the stood glaring Reno, hands on hips and his fringe falling into his eyes.
"Happy? Now get out!"
Reno stood for a moment longer, watching Rufus then nodded slightly and left the room. Rufus sighed in relief then looked around the room groaning. Maybe I should have let him stay and help me clean up…
****
~~~~~
It was cold.
He was sure that it wasn't the room that was cold. It had actually been warm until He had stuck the needle in his arm, pumping some strange green stuff, which glowed, into him.
He shivered and wrapped his arms around himself; trying to keep whatever heat he still had in him where it was.
"… There seems to be a severe drop in body temperature. Symptoms involve: Shivering, higher levels of glycogen are being burnt; blood flow to extremities is decreasing."
Reno ignored the man and concentrated on trying to stop his shivering, rubbing his hands over his arms in an attempt to warm them. By the time the wave of shivering stopped he was beginning to feel drowsy.
"Subject seems to be loosing consciousness, motor controls are decreasing rapidly." There were a few beeps indicating the man was checking the machinery he'd hooked Reno up too. "…Multiple points of rapid tissue degeneration. My readings indicate the nervous system is being corroded away. It seems the enhanced mako is acting like a cross between a natural acid and a virus."
Reno tried to focus on the sound of the hated mans voice as another wave of shivering hit him and this time didn't stop. Reno closed his eyes and bit back a moan as the dull ache that had been throbbing within him suddenly turned into a sharp pain and his muscles began to twitch. He was in agony.
"Enhanced mako has reached the heart; subject is going into arrest. Cell corruption has reached 63% and rising; samples of blood and DNA are being gathered…"
Reno didn't hear anything anymore. His world consisted of nothing but white-hot pain and bouts of darkness and eye-watering light, which flashed across his vision. He wanted the pain to stop, it had to stop; he couldn't handle it. His body was on fire and it was a block of ice. Thousands of knives sliced through him, and he was being pounded from all directions. It had to stop. He had to get away. He would get away. The pain must stop. It would stop! MAKE IT STOP!!
Darkness…
Then light.
Blinding white light. He couldn't see.
He blinked his watering eyes against the glare and focused on something he could hear, a vaguely familiar sound, but not one that was comforting.
"… Subject has regained all functions it had before the experiment. Not a single cell is damaged. In fact the enhanced mako has improved them. His regenerative abilities have increased 10 fold at least; I have no doubts that he could recover from say… a gunshot wound or a sword thrust, within a matter of hours.
"This is really quite amazing. I hadn't thought this specimen would be as responsive as it is to these experiments. I had thought it quite weak, and it is compared to the specimen from the Jenova project, but it really is amazing for something so completely un-enhanced and young. I do believe it will be useful as a test subject for any potentially damaging tests we wish to do on the specimen for the Jenova project. So there are no regrettable mistakes….
The voice faded out again as Reno felt the world around him spin and his head grow fuzzy… then darkness consumed him once again.
~~~~~~~
-=-=-=-
Reno sat up panting and closed his eyes, attempting to make his heart stop trying to pound a hole through his chest.
Sweat glistened on his forehead and he noticed dimly that his blankets were tangled around his legs. He finally got his breathing under control and opened his eyes to stare blindly into the darkroom. In an instant he realised that two pieces of the room was darker then the rest.
He slipped his hand under his pillow and got a firm grip on his gun as a familiar voice said softly, "Turning the light on."
Instantly he relaxed and closed his eyes as the light flicked on and blinked them to get his vision back, then glanced at the two men standing in his door way.
Rude stood silently, hands behind his back, and just slightly in front of him Tseng stood impassively, one eyebrow raised in Reno's direction.
Reno scowled at them and sat up properly on the bed, pulling the blankets up around his waist, his gun still in his hand.
"Well?" The dream had left him feeling churlish and he wasn't in the mood for a game of 'guess the reason we snuck into your room in the middle of the night'.
The corners of Tseng's mouth turned upwards slightly and he stepped forward to throw a Manilla folder into Reno's lap, "We have the beginnings I believe."
Reno dropped his gun and flicked the folder open and his eyes widened at what he saw, "Gosh. She really was busy, wasn't she?" He flicked a few more pieces of paper over and whistled under his breath, "She should have been a bit more careful after she got this stuff into her hands."
Tseng nodded, "What does the boy know of it?"
Reno blinked and looked up at the leader of the Turks, "I don't think he knows anything… yet. He is looking though; I caught him today ripping his office to pieces. Where did you find these? He'd pretty much checked over every inch of that office and I was surprised he didn't find what he was looking for."
Tseng shrugged and took the folder back from Reno and handed it to Rude, "She was slightly smarter then her untimely demise indicates. She hid them in plan sight, in the top draw of her secretary's desk in fact.
Reno nodded, "Makes sense. Diane is a smart girl. So what are we going to do? And what do I do about the kid?"
"Nothing at the moment, I want to do a bit more inside work. And keep your eye on Rufus. If my sources are right, and they almost always are, that boy is smart. Smart enough to figure out what is going on, and I want to know the instant he finds out anything he isn't supposed too. Try to keep him out of it, too. He could get in deeper then he ever wanted too if he's not careful."
Reno nodded then a though occurred to him; "I want to put him through basic training."
Tseng looked at Reno curiously.
"If everything goes according to plan, he's going to be the head of the company, sooner rather then later. I think about now would be a good opportunity to make sure he knows what the Turks are, what we do and make sure he learns not to get to much in our way. If there's a chance to get us out from under the thumb of the main power then I think we should take it."
Tseng tilted his head slightly, his lips once again turning upwards in a near-smile, "Agreed. I trust you'll do your best to do as you've said without resorting to anything… drastic. Rude will be keeping an eye on you."
Reno stopped himself from rolling his eyes; trust mister big shot to keep me under observation. I bet my big lump of a partner reported what happened this morning. Simply lovely, now they all think I'm going to push the kid into a closet and rape him.
"Yes Sir."
Tseng nodded then gestured and he and Rude left the room silently. Reno lay back in the bed and went over everything he'd just found out.
Well it's about time someone figured out what that old man and his 'people' are up too. I just wish there was something we could do about it other then watching.
Deep in thought he caressed the handle of his gun then sighed and slipped it back under his pillow as he stood up and walked across the room to the light switch. He may as well go back to sleep, tomorrow wasn't going to be a nice day. No doubt Rufus wouldn't like the idea of Turk training, and it was going to be Reno's job to convince his otherwise.
With a humourless chuckle he flicked off the light, and went back to bed.
Please R&R! You can even e-mail me! I crave feedback!
