(( I like this chapter although it seems short it'sgot a lot of insight))

-1One and one and one is three

Knight in shining Mirrors

Watching the people below his window scurry around, making the work that made them worthy of the pay checks they got handed to them by their secretaries every month.

They all walked the same way, with a destination ahead of them they took brisk, long strides and greeted one another with curt nods and maybe if they were friendly a smile.

Rufus watched a couple taking there break on the bench in the courtyard, unaware there employer was watching them. Cold blue eyes observed the small talk, the man offered his woman a piece of his lunch and the woman refused because she didn't want to eat his meal. he, on the other hand, took a drink of her orange juice in a bottle with a smile, not wanting to offend her by rejecting it.

His icy depths watched this, it was strange to him, why had the woman given up her juice when the man himself had given her nothing?

Why did she let him? He had struggled with the same concept since his younger years at school.

He had everything, and yet when his father pulled him from private school and gotten him his own private tutors. That had not broken Rufus's heart, after all, the kids at the private school were nothing to him, they couldn't give him anything.

As a child, he had struggled with orders from the teachers his father paid well to teach him, he struggled later on with orders from his obsessive father. He didn't, however, struggled with any order his only one trusted friend had given him.

Tseng had been one of the first men to guard him, he was his first and would be his only friend.

Suddenly, Rufus wanted so hard to be Tseng's world, he wanted to have Tseng with him all the time.

Tseng never complained, even when Rufus, as a troubled teen, had insisted that Tseng sleep in the same room as him. Young Rufus had been so insecure about everything that Tseng just nodded and moved a bed into the sleeping chambers of his young charge.

Tseng never taught Rufus anything, he never expected anything from his blond companion. Rufus felt so at ease around the man, who had been young back then.

Everyone in the world expected something from Rufus, whether it be that he understand the latest Trig lesson or that he grow up to become the greatest business man on earth and take over the biggest company the universe had ever seen. Everyone wanted something from Rufus from the time he had been very small. The only problem was, Rufus, put through all the best schooling, learned from all the masters, had the best training. Rufus had never learned to give, never. He learned just what everyone around him taught him, he learned to take.

Everyone always took from him, wanted something. So he learned with the icy cruelty of his fathers lashes and the beating of rod on flesh, how to take.

Even Tseng, who had given him everything he ever needed up until now, had never taught him to give.

Because Tseng had never wanted something from Rufus, how could he give anything to Tseng?

Why? Tseng didn't want anything.

The same quality Reno had.

Reno had come to Shinar a grease monkey out of work with no background no schooling, no family no history. Rude, who had brought the boy to the company and paid for all Reno's training to become one of the best Turks, had said nothing about how he knew Reno, why he would want to pay for his training.

Although his investments had paid him back Rude continued to support Reno.

It was a friendship that Rufus had grown to be jealous over, to an extreme extent. To where he couldn't concentrate on work with both of them around him at once and sent Rude on door duty while Reno stayed with him.

It never made sense to him, why he was jealous, he wanted something that they had, but he couldn't take it. It was something Rufus could never take from them, he could never take it. That was an obstacle he had never encountered in his life. He couldn't take it. What could he do about it then?

Well, he had found the answer in rods, in whips in knives in lust.

Rufus was a man of lust, he lusted for power, after wealth and he couldn't help himself when it came to Reno.

He was so envious of Reno, of how he worked of how he lived, of what he had.

None of this made sense to Rufus, maybe it never would, why was he envious of that?

Reno was a mixed blood fool with no family a job far below him, a social status so below Rufus he couldn't even see it.

He was paid by HIS company, Rufus's company owned Reno. He owned Reno, he had taken Reno. Yet Reno still remained out of reach, Reno floated so high above him, and yet it was impossible, Reno was scum. Yet he was above him. Why? Why?

Rufus wracked his brain with the same questions, every day, every time he seen those beautiful glowing blue eyes accompanied by the wink and smile that Reno always passed his way.

How could Reno do that? How? It was impossible, why couldn't Rufus have that? He wanted it. He wanted it so badly, and he couldn't take it.

No matter how hard he beat Reno, no matter how much he brought him down, Reno was always above him. How? Why? No one was above Rufus… No one.

Why couldn't Rufus have that? He wanted it.

Tseng came into the door and startled Rufus out of his angry thoughts, with a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Sir?" he asked and Rufus threw the hand off of his shoulder, cold. He was frustrated, angry, sad, lonely all at once. Tsengs eyes held a helplessness that Rufus recognized all too well, it was a helplessness that only appeared when he was obligated by his job.

"Rude and Reno?" Rufus asked, watching the couple on the bench smile together, they got up and the woman got a kiss on the cheek and a hug before they parted to work again.

Tseng stood for a few seconds, Forcing Rufus to turn and look at him.

"Reno's sick, Rudes with him at home, Elena and I are here in there stead." Rufus nodded, sitting down in his desk and folding one leg over the other, watching the door where Elena was standing outside of.

"Tseng."

"Sir?"

"You are dismissed." Tseng, with one last glance down at his troubled president, nodded curtly, like everyone else, and walked to the door, closing it carefully on the way out.

Rufus watched him, he never sent Tseng out of the room, that was why the Turk had remained after there conversation. Yet he couldn't stand Tseng right now, his frustrations seemed to double when Tseng was around.

Rufus picked up the phone at his desk, paged his secretary.

She answered in her cheery young female voice.

"Yes sir?" Rufus sighed, running a hand through his blond hair.

"sir?"

"Yes, I'd like you to send some flowers." the girl gave a curt yes to his orders, like everyone else. Rufus relayed Reno and Rudes apartment address to her and she gave the same yes sir each time he said something, like a operated answering system.

"What kind of flowers sir?"

"Pink and red roses…. I'll send a note down with Tseng you will attach it to the flowers." the girl gave the same:

"Yes sir."

"Is that all sir?"

"Yes, good day Kim."

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"I'm sure glad we work with Tseng and Elena." Reno said as he finished picking up the glasses and dishes he had ate off of.

Rude nodded with a noise Reno took for a yes.

"Tseng loves his work though, probably glad we didn't come into work." Reno chuckled, the man was so….different. Tseng took everything seriously, his job was no exception.

Sometimes the red head would bother the ram rod straight man with little pats on the back or ruffling his hair, he never got a rise out of Tseng, no one did. But he always tried even if he always failed.

His persistence was something Rude admired about Reno, the way he could get handed down and slashed across the face and beat almost to within an inch of death and still get up to face his foe. Rude looked into those eyes and saw a determination that was subject to no corrosion, not even fear of death. It was pure and hot, burning behind sweet blue eyes that hid the snake behind the flower.

"Rude…." The darker skinned man looked up from his thoughts, watching the amusement in Reno's eyes as the red head leaned against the counter top with his arms folded over his chest.

"…Whatcha lookin' at yo?" He asked with a playful smirk painting his pink lips.

Rude said nothing, smiling warmly and putting his paper down to give Reno his full attention because the way he was standing, Reno wanted it.

"Why were you looking at me that way? So…" Reno pushed his body off of the counter to stand straight and walk over to Rude, leaning over the table to lean his forehead onto Rudes.

Well Reno waltzed over with plenty of swing in his hips and slowly, leaned over the table to press his forehead against Rudes and breath hot breath over the others lips, that's a better way to put it for Rudes next movement to make sense. The taller Turk tilted his head a bit, letting Reno watch those green eyes over the sunglasses that Rude had slipped down his nose.

The smile was still painted on Reno's face and had spread to his eyes, sparkling with trouble.

Not a word was said, Reno's one long finger rose steadily to touch the muscle of Rudes neck and run down it's length. This it's self made Rude swallow and Reno chuckle at the big man.

Rude cursed himself, he was always so strange when it came to Reno.. Everything was strange when it came to Reno.

Reno moved his lover half around the table, without moving his torso or head which remained glued to Rude.

Reno had never addressed his unhealthy attraction to Rude before, he never had the courage to do so.

He considered it unhealthy mostly because it was Rude, a big man who he respected too much to ever touch. Something, however, had changed that. Reno felt the other mans muscles tense, he felt Rudes body react to his touch, he knew that in a few seconds Rude would start sweating buckets and that he had paralyzed Rude, Rude could not move.

He was powerful, which was strange to him because Reno was a puppet, he was a stranger to power. Physical power was no stranger but Reno had never experienced power of the mental sort. Certainly Rude was more powerful then him with his extra body mass and strength, but he had Rude pinned.

Reno saw it in his partners panicked eyes, those green depths normally so thoughtful calm and collected grew almost a shade lighter. The green orbs darted from Reno's eyes to his lips, his lips slightly parted.

Reno watched a single drop of sweat roll down Rudes neck, it distracted Reno from Rudes eyes.

The red head reached over with his finger, suddenly amazed by the creamy dark color of Rudes skin and how smooth it was. His hand played where his eyes followed, down Rudes neck and his fingers and thumb pushed aside the shirt to see the collar bone where his fingers danced. This, however, was different then the first time. Reno was rewarded for his fingers with a quick intake of breath from Rude.

And like a child who found out that he could get a reaction from the animal by poking it with a stick, Reno looked up at Rude. He wasn't ready for what laid behind those eyes, not ready at all. Behind the sunglasses that tumbled off of his face and ticked Reno's nose on the way down to rest on his lap.

Within those intelligent eyes laid a ocean of passion was so deep and vast Reno wondered how Rude ever managed to hide it.

It captured him, instantly rendering him helpless. Just as suddenly as he had looked up Reno was ensnared in the trap and he realized. All his control, all how power over Rude. He could make Rude gasp, make the bigger man sweat, make him tense up. It was nothing compared to the helplessness he felt when he looked into Rudes eyes.

Understanding.

They always had that, Reno and Rude had always had understanding it was nothing new to them, but somehow understanding seemed a word unfitting for what they felt then and there.

Staring into one another's eyes, lost so deeply the would could fall apart around them and they wouldn't care nor even notice.

It was a completeness, a oneness between them, a sudden realization that yes, they felt the same. Reno saw it there in Rudes eyes, Rude found the same emotions he had reflected in the deepest parts of Reno's soul.

It was a long time before either of the two moved, it was a moment no one wanted to break, no one wanted to end. Reno could of spent an eternity in the wholeness that they had, it didn't even seem that hard to not blink with those eyes holding his lids open.

When some one did finally move, it was slow and steady Rude, who brought Reno's hand softly up from his shirt to his face and kissed Reno's knuckles softly.

Reno, who was always the fast moving type, came out of the trance and, ruining Rudes romantic gesture, pulled his hand around, stood up, yanked Rudes chin up and slammed his needy lips against Rudes slightly surprised ones.

For a few seconds Rude recovered from shock then slowly, surely and to Reno's relief, Rude kissed Reno's lips right back, Returning the passion they held together.

As soon as the red head was sure he had Rude he put his hands on either side of his partners face, drawing him in more. He was plenty surprised to fell Rudes arms around his torso, holding him close.

Slowly but surely the hesitance melted away from the kiss and passion overtook it, turning it's innocence into sweet flame that was only a spark compared to what they really felt for each other.

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Tseng had heard Rufus's muffled voice from behind the door, it said a few things in an irritated yet still collected tone. That ice that never melted nor broke could be almost seen surrounding his president and it worried him. It worried Tseng for Reno's sake and for the presidents sake. The woutia man could feel the ice, it gripped him almost physically, giving him goose bumps on his pail skin.

Seeing Rufus do what he did to Reno. Seeing Rufus hit Reno was like watching Rufus kick a small child in the face. It shook the foundations of Tsengs soul, if his very being to see his young charge do those horribly cruel things to his fellow Turk. It scared him.

The cycle of violence, it says somewhere in ink that it's not only a cycle of one life time, one person. No, this cycle continues through the generations of the abused.

It was not long ago Tseng was forced to remain silent, to watch in utter horror as his current employer beat his child against and with things such as chair legs and desks.

The Past president had not been fond of his son, and if had the icy cold man had not found a way to express it during his life time.

Tseng had watched in helplessness, he had watched Rufus the bright, intelligent boy who wanted nothing but to please and make friends turn into the man his father used to be.

Slowly but surely that love Rufus had once had as a boy, that happiness and warmth he had once possessed not so long ago to Tseng. He watched all the joy, all the empathy all the love and all the sunlight bleed out of Rufus through wounds inflicted by his fathers hands on his body in rivers of red.

But most of all by wounds inflicted on his souls, in rivers of tears.

Those twin rivers eventually froze up and stopped flowing, because Tseng knew that Rufus still had kindness still had love still had warmth. It was just suppressed by the icy coldness.

It hadn't been a dramatic change, no Rufus, like any other human being, hadn't gotten to this sad sad existence over night. It had taken Years, a whole life time of violence and abuse. Hundreds of fists, thousands of words, millions of tears, to make Rufus the way he was.

Tseng had watched it all. He had watched a happy glowing Rufus turn into the monster that he was today.

He watched it happen, helplessly in the shadows he had been the silent observer of history.

So Tseng knew what Rufus was, he a monster formed the same way a dog trainer trains his dog to fight.

Years, it had taken years and still that little bit of warmth Rufus had left, that little bit of love. It was fighting to be free of his ice, struggling violently against it's cold imprisonment to be at the surface once again.

Who knows when or if the love Rufus felt would get it's way through the darkness and frozen tears that was Rufus's sad soul. All Tseng knew was that until that warmth got it's way and melted the years of ice, Reno would continue to pay the price like Rufus had with his father.

It was a strange thing love, where you cling to something that causes you so much pain. You can't bare to live without it yet living with it seems impossible.

Rufus's heart wanted to love, it's human nature, we are not meant to be alone. Yet the president is terrified. Rufus the untouchable is shaking in his expensive dress shoes he's terrified of what he's feeling, it's been years, since he was a child, years since his heart has spoken. It's speaking again and Rufus is afraid if he hears what it has to say that his icy shields will be shattered and he will be left defenseless, helpless.

As hard as it is to imagine Rufus as a defenseless warm glowing ball of love, Tseng had felt that warmth.

Once upon a long time ago, when the Turk was a newbie and Rufus a troubled teen, he had felt the soft warm glow of Rufus's friendship, of his love.

Rufus didn't seem to remember that being helpless to someone wasn't all that bad, that once you opened up to someone they could actually give you so much more then you could have on your own.

No, instead of letting Reno in like he should, instead of hearing his heart out, of taking down his defenses and letting the warm glow of love out to heal all that battered hurt he has dealt to Reno already.

He continues to want Reno, continues to want Reno's love. But Reno can not give Rufus his love as much as force a ray of sunlight through a steel door. Rufus gets frustrated and takes it all out on Reno.

Tseng was a quiet observer, he knew when to speak and when to keep his tongue in line, he knew what is important and what to remember. He was histories silent hero. He kept all this to himself, distanced himself from his emotions much like Rufus did.

He did not freeze them as much as look at them though, analytical Tseng wondered why more then some of the Shinra staff did. He kept quiet, kept still until he was spoken to.

"Tseng, please enter the room." Elena gave her partner a glance, hearing the presidents voice on the mic outside the door.

Tseng didn't spare the other a second glance, didn't hesitated like the rest of them did because he knew.

He simply turned, opened the door and stepped into the office building Rufus occupied.

The look on Rufus's face gave every little detail away.

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((I'm sorry for the wait, I really like this fiction how it's going I'm glad to see that you guys like it too, hope I gave you some insight for poorRufu's sake.))